Chapter Summaries

Bai Jun, a laid-back Earth-Balance Commission clerk, investigated a merchant’s supposedly haunted shop and invented a feng shui diagnosis that earned him Noble Moral Acclaim. His draw rewarded him with the Sacred Judgment of Heavenly Fire, while his account of his past revealed how he had settled on Luofu after years of travel.

• Pure Ink Steward Jing Yan sent Bai Jun to investigate an Outworlder merchant’s troubled shop in the rain.
• Bai Jun examined the building and blamed its bad layout and a nearby market for the merchant’s misfortunes.
• Bai Jun told the merchant to move out within three days and promised to handle the house, earning 10 Noble Moral Acclaim.
• Bai Jun used his 100 accumulated points to draw the Sacred Judgment of Heavenly Fire.
• Bai Jun reflected on his transmigration, his journey from Zhuming through Yaoqing to Luofu, and the system that rewarded his deeds unpredictably.

Bai Jun returned to the Earth-Balance Commission, where Jing Yan praised his record before he went to lunch with Qing Que. Their teasing meal left Qing Que quietly hoping Bai Jun would see her as a woman, while Bai Jun continued to misunderstand her feelings.

• Bai Jun considered the unexplained abilities he had drawn, including Mind Catcher and Sacred Judgment of Heavenly Fire, but could not figure out how to use the new one.
• Bai Jun returned to the Public Office, where Jing Yan marked his latest five-star review and his colleagues admired his record as Best Clerk.
• Bai Jun declined lunch with his coworkers and met Qing Que at a shop in Exalting Sanctum.
• Qing Que asked about Bai Jun's new residence and his compass, then silently thought that he smelled good, causing Bai Jun to choke on his tea.
• Qing Que traded her messy Tapir Roll for Bai Jun's and ate his spicy beef offal, then insisted she was already an adult when Bai Jun called her childish.

Bai Jun teased Da Hao about Jing Yan’s feelings, prompting Da Hao to timidly invite her to dinner and earning Bai Jun Noble Moral Acclaim. On his way home, Bai Jun encountered Tingyun, who asked him to give her a ride.

• Bai Jun told Qing Que he was nineteen and soon to be twenty, then left her confused when he declined her invitations and she clutched his hand apologetically.
• Bai Jun slept for two hours at the Public Office before Jing Yan woke him and ordered him to clean the bulletin board.
• Da Hao returned from a meeting and suggested Bai Jun could become a steward, but Bai Jun rejected the idea and teased Da Hao about Jing Yan being pursued.
• Jing Yan overheard Bai Jun encouraging Da Hao to consider the people around him, and Da Hao finally asked Jing Yan to have dinner with him.
• Bai Jun earned ten Noble Moral Acclaim, left work early, and encountered Tingyun at the Starcruiser Sea Hub, where she asked him for a ride.

Tingyun tried to persuade Bai Jun to spend the evening with her, but he escaped after tricking her into turning away. Bai Jun secretly complimented her hairpin, then went back to the Public Office to retrieve his saber and found the Pine Smoke Steward there.

• Tingyun met Bai Jun after returning with the Minghuo Merchant Group and insisted he call her benefactor because of the debt she owed him.
• Tingyun told Bai Jun she had delivered gifts to his home and reminded him how much she cherished the folding fan he had given her.
• Tingyun invited Bai Jun to the Starcruiser Sea Hub and tried to tempt him with an evening of entertainment and a stay at the Yichen Inn, but he refused and fled.
• Tingyun turned around after Bai Jun claimed the Foxkin team had won the streetball championship, then realized he had escaped and heard him compliment her hairpin from afar.
• Bai Jun watched Tingyun regain her smile, realized he had left his saber in his locker, and returned to the Public Office, where he met the Pine Smoke Steward.

Bai Jun teased Songyan at the Public Office, then went to Aurum Alley for dinner and helped an injured elderly woman. He reached his new residence, fixed its dripping faucet, and resolved to confront the Aurum Alley Chamber of Commerce about its aging water valves.

• Songyan told Bai Jun that Da Hao had gone home with Jing Yan, and Bai Jun admitted to himself that his teasing had unexpectedly brought them together.
• Songyan secretly photographed Bai Jun, but Bai Jun caught him and beat him after discovering his plan to sell the picture.
• Bai Jun left the Public Office, bought dinner in Aurum Alley, and helped an elderly woman who had fallen, earning five Praise for Noble Morality points.
• Bai Jun reached his new residence and found that its dripping faucet stopped when he tightened an old water valve.
• Bai Jun blamed the Chamber of Commerce's neglect of the aging valves for frightening away new Outworlder tenants and decided to address the problem.

Bai Jun captured a newborn Suiyang in an Aurum Alley room and sent the Ten Lords Bureau a report, then stayed up gaming with Silver Hacker and faced a morning of exhaustion. At breakfast, he ran into Jing Fang, a freeloading impostor who recognized Bai Jun as someone important and panicked under his questioning.

• Bai Jun found a weak Suiyang hiding near the merchant’s room and persuaded it to enter his sword rather than be handed to the Ten Lords Bureau.
• Bai Jun messaged Snowy Coat about Suiyang sightings, then agreed to play a game with Silver Hacker after she offered him a greatsword.
• Bai Jun regretted gaming late into the night, got up for work, and enjoyed breakfast at his usual shop.
• Jing Fang entered the shop, claimed he was General Jing Yuan’s younger brother, and ordered an expensive meal.
• Jing Fang approached Bai Jun’s window seat, recognized him from Shence Mansion, and begged him to call him Jing Qi instead.
• Bai Jun questioned Jing Fang about recognizing him, while Jing Fang denied knowing who he was.

Bai Jun forced Jing Fang to repay the restaurants he had swindled by pretending to be Jing Yuan’s younger brother, then learned that Jing Yuan had returned and went to Shence Mansion. He reunited with Jing Yuan, discussed Yan Qing’s absence, and revealed that Yan Qing’s sword-buying debts had left him broke.

• Bai Jun confronted Jing Fang, made him promise to repay the meals he had fraudulently obtained, and warned him not to scam the breakfast shop again.
• The proprietor confirmed that Jing Yuan had returned the previous day, and Bai Jun left after secretly leaving money behind.
• Bai Jun regretted spending his remaining money, then headed to Shence Mansion to see Jing Yuan before his work at the Earth-Balance Commission began.
• Bai Jun found Jing Yuan practicing with his Formation Blade, and the two exchanged teasing remarks after their reunion.
• Jing Yuan told Bai Jun that Yan Qing was away with the fleet, and Bai Jun showed him the IOUs for Yan Qing’s sword purchases.

Bai Jun visited the injured Jing Yuan, beat him at Star Array Chess, and secretly took two of his pieces before leaving the Shence Mansion with candy. Back at the Earth-Balance Commission, Bai Jun worried about having almost no money, and Qing Que invited him to play cards just as he admitted he could not afford food.

• Bai Jun rejected Jing Yuan’s offer of money, then watched Qing Que scold Jing Yuan for training against the healer’s orders while he was injured.
• Jing Yuan dragged Bai Jun into a Star Array Chess game, cheated by removing pieces, and lost when Bai Jun used Jing Yuan’s own no-takebacks rule against him.
• Bai Jun left the Shence Mansion with candy and secretly pocketed two of Jing Yuan’s star pieces, earning praise for noble morality.
• At the Earth-Balance Commission, Bai Jun calculated how long his remaining money could feed him while the attendants enjoyed a quiet day.
• Qing Que spotted Bai Jun through the Public Office window and invited him to play cards, but Bai Jun told her he could not afford food, much less a game.

Bai Jun accompanied Qing Que to play Imperial Jade Card Game, where Qing Que won repeatedly while Bai Jun lost and let her decorate his face with paper slips. Fu Xuan found them at the parlor, silenced Qing Que with a formation, and began questioning Bai Jun, who still had not realized she was there.

• Qing Que promised to cover Bai Jun's expenses and invited him to play Imperial Jade Card Game, and Bai Jun gave her Shence Mansion candy.
• Bai Jun persuaded two reluctant card players to join by promising to share game secrets, and Qing Que won round after round while Bai Jun lost.
• Qing Que collected the stakes from the two players and stuck paper slips on Bai Jun's face as his penalty for losing.
• Fu Xuan appeared at the card parlor, restrained Qing Que's tongue with a formation, and the two card players fled after thanking her.
• Fu Xuan signaled Qing Que to answer Bai Jun, but the formation made Qing Que deny that Fu Xuan had arrived while Bai Jun remained unaware.

Fu Xuan caught Bai Jun and ordered him to meet her at the Divination Bureau, while Tingyun later bound him to herself and took him to lunch and a market errand. Tingyun brought Bai Jun to negotiate for Sky-Jade Ore with the merchant Shen Sha, whose attention was captured by Bai Jun’s looks.

• Fu Xuan appeared, questioned Bai Jun about calling her scary, ordered him to visit her office at four, and dragged Qing Que away.
• Tingyun caught Bai Jun with a curiosa rope and took him to a restaurant, where she fed him while they discussed his past on the Yaoqing and Zhuming.
• Tingyun charged Bai Jun for their meal and, when he could not pay, made him accompany her as collateral for his debt.
• Tingyun explained that the Tianbo Division wanted to buy Sky-Jade Ore from merchants in the market and persuaded Bai Jun to help by promising him dinner and desserts.
• Tingyun introduced Bai Jun as her close friend to Shen Sha, who hosted them in her lavish reception hall and began discussing her family business.

Tingyun and Bai Jun negotiated with Shen Sha for her Sky-Jade Ore, but Bai Jun exposed that much of it was Li-Ying Stone and secured a lower price. After leaving Tingyun, Bai Jun found Bailu treating patients in the Starcruiser Sea Hub, where she mistook his harmless symptoms for a prank.

• Tingyun offered to buy all of Shen Sha's Sky-Jade Ore, and Shen Sha revealed that she had nearly three million tons in stock.
• Bai Jun inspected the ore and explained that much of it was Li-Ying Stone rather than Sky-Jade Stone, forcing Shen Sha to admit her deception and lower the price to 80,000 Credits per ton.
• Shen Sha offered Bai Jun a mining consultant position, but he refused and left after reminding Tingyun that their two-hour agreement had ended.
• Bai Jun wandered through the Starcruiser Sea Hub and came upon Bailu diagnosing and treating patients beneath a bridge.
• Bailu examined Bai Jun's pulse, found no illness, and became angry when she realized he might be teasing her.

Bai Jun reunited with Bailu at the Starcruiser Sea Hub and promised to take her out, while Dan He allowed the outing and gave him money for their expenses. The chapter ended with Bai Jun asking Bailu what she wanted to eat before sunset.

• Bailu happily jumped into Bai Jun's arms, and they joked about her escape from the Alchemy Commission and his past attempts to bring her back.
• Bailu complained about the Dragon Masters and bit Bai Jun after he absentmindedly touched her head again.
• Dan He found Bailu, but Bai Jun refused to hand her over until Dan He agreed to let them spend time together and return before sunset.
• Dan He warned Bai Jun not to remove Bailu's Chimu Restraint, and he said he understood while examining it.
• Bai Jun asked Dan He for money, and she left him a stack of Credits after an angry exchange.
• Bai Jun tucked away the Credits and asked Bailu what she wanted to eat during their outing.

Bai Jun and Bailu spent the afternoon eating their way through Aurum Alley, where Bailu learned that Bai Jun wore a Vidyadhara dragon scale given to him by a friend and teacher from Zhuming. After a boy collided with Bai Jun and fled, Bailu identified white powder on his clothes as prohibited Soul-Returning Vitality Powder, leaving them to confront a troubling mystery.

• Bai Jun carried an excited Bailu on his shoulders through Aurum Alley, where she asked about the Vidyadhara scent around him and he explained that his necklace held a dragon scale gifted by a friend and teacher from Zhuming.
• Bai Jun and Bailu ate at Aunt Gao's stall, discussed her improving health and business, and playfully bickered over Bailu's dislike of green peppers and mushrooms.
• Bai Jun and Bailu left money for Aunt Gao and headed toward Tongfu Pavilion, but chose another dessert shop when they saw the crowd.
• A thin boy rushed out of an alley and collided with Bai Jun, then fled with the bundle he had been carrying.
• Bailu smelled the white powder on Bai Jun's robe and identified it as Soul-Returning Vitality Powder, a tightly controlled medicine used for late-stage mara symptoms.
• Bai Jun recognized the seriousness of the prohibited medicine and felt that something was wrong, while Bailu anxiously asked what they should do.

Bai Jun tracked Qiu Zhou to his home and found that Qiu Zhou’s father had become a monstrous Mara-struck Body. After killing the creature and saving the badly wounded boy, Bai Jun asked who had given him the Soul-Returning Vitality Powder.

• Bai Jun pursued Qiu Zhou through Aurum Alley, then asked Third Brother Huo for help identifying the boy.
• Third Brother Huo identified Qiu Zhou and explained his family’s tragic circumstances and where he might live.
• Qiu Zhou reached home with the medicine and discovered his father had transformed into a grotesque monster.
• Qiu Zhou’s father bit off his left hand as he tried to give him the medicine.
• Bai Jun arrived, killed the Mara-struck Body with his saber, and bound Qiu Zhou’s wound.
• Bai Jun asked who had given Qiu Zhou the Soul-Returning Vitality Powder, and Qiu Zhou said it was an apothecary.

Bai Jun investigated the Medicine King's Legacy after rescuing Qiu Zhou and learned from Qiu Zhou's diary that a Cultivator had given him medicine that briefly eased his father's Mara-struck condition before causing a deadly mutation. The next morning, Bai Jun heard Qiu Zhou had received a twenty-five-year sentence and, still troubled by the Cultivator, was approached by Song Yan at work.

• Qiu Zhou fell asleep before revealing where the Cultivator was, so Bai Jun carried him outside and secretly took his diary before the Cloud Cavalry arrived.
• Bai Jun handed Qiu Zhou over to the Cloud Cavalry, then reunited with a tearful Bailu and left with her and Dan He.
• The Cultivator recorded that his experiment on Qiu Kui had briefly eased the Mara-struck condition before causing a severe mutation, and recommended eliminating Bai Jun.
• Bai Jun read Qiu Zhou's diary and learned that the Cultivator of the Medicine King's Legacy had supplied powder that first improved Qiu Zhou's father, then failed as his condition deteriorated.
• Bai Jun heard that the Ten Lords Bureau had sentenced Qiu Zhou to twenty-five years in prison, then struggled to focus at the Earth-Balance Commission Public Office.
• Song Yan approached Bai Jun and asked whether something was bothering him.

Bai Jun took over Songyan’s missing-cat commission to get out of the office, then rushed to save a girl from falling into the skiff sea. The girl, Sushang, accidentally injured him during the rescue and tried to stop his nosebleed with her sleeve.

• Songyan shared a tale about a mysterious swordsman who defeated the Flame Wheel Eight Leaves, and Bai Jun denied knowing anything about it.
• Songyan gave Bai Jun a missing-cat photograph and suggested he use the commission to take a break; Bai Jun accepted the job from Jing Yan.
• Bai Jun traveled to the Starcruiser Sea Hub, gave visiting Outworlders directions, and spotted Sushang leaning over a railing to catch a flower petal.
• Bai Jun grabbed Sushang’s leg and pulled her to safety, but she struck his chest and nose as they fell.
• Sushang stained her sleeve while stopping Bai Jun’s nosebleed and apologized, but Bai Jun told her not to call him her benefactor.

After saving Sushang, Bai Jun reluctantly accepted her insistence on repaying him and took her to buy Qiongshi Bird Skewers. He learned she had come from Yaoqing to join the Cloud Cavalry, and agreed to lead her to the registration office.

• Bai Jun cleaned Sushang's injured wrist, but she insisted she had to take responsibility for him because he had saved her.
• Bai Jun persuaded Sushang to repay him with a Qiongshi Bird Skewer and to call him Bai Jun instead of Benefactor.
• Bai Jun recognized the Xuanyuan Sword and realized Sushang was Su Yi's daughter, then led her to snack stalls on Xuan Ye Avenue.
• Sushang bought two expensive Qiongshi Bird Skewers and, after admiring Bai Jun, tucked a white flower beside his ear.
• Sushang told Bai Jun she had come to the Luofu to join the Cloud Cavalry and asked him to take her to the registration office.
• Bai Jun agreed to guide Sushang, who tearfully praised him and wiped her tears on his clothes.

Jing Yuan, Fu Xuan, and Yukong argued over whether Bai Jun should join the Divination Bureau, the Cloud Cavalry, or the Tianbo Division. After Bai Jun arrived with Sushang, the three seized him and dragged him into Sichen Palace, where their dispute continued.

• Tingyun handled the Sky-Jade Ore inventory while Yukong thanked Shen Sha for arranging the shipment.
• Fu Xuan pressed Jing Yuan to sign an agreement promising to recommend her as the next General and asked him to transfer Bai Jun to the Divination Bureau.
• Jing Yuan and Fu Xuan argued over Bai Jun, and Yukong tried to claim him for the Tianbo Division before all three rejected her suggestion.
• Bai Jun brought Sushang to Sichen Palace, then tried to sneak away after spotting Jing Yuan, Fu Xuan, and Yukong.
• Sushang called out to Bai Jun, prompting Yukong to grab him and press his finger onto a contract before the Divine Monarch carried him to Jing Yuan.
• Jing Yuan, Yukong, and Fu Xuan dragged Bai Jun into Sichen Palace and continued arguing over which division he would join.

Bai Jun told Jing Yuan, Yukong, and Fu Xuan about the Medicine King's Legacy and went with Fu Xuan to the Divination Bureau for its records. After learning the group's history, he helped Fu Xuan tidy her office, where their teasing turned into an awkward encounter over her pantyhose, and the chapter ended with Fu Xuan ordering him to take off his armor.

• Bai Jun escaped the trio's argument over whose child was best by bringing up the Mara-struck Body incident in Aurum Alley and revealing the Medicine King's Legacy's involvement.
• Fu Xuan took Bai Jun to the Divination Bureau, while Jing Yuan and Yukong lamented that he had agreed to go with her first.
• Fu Xuan explained that the modern Medicine King's Legacy was a criminal organization less than thirty years old and that it could not be eradicated without risking new movements arising in its place.
• Bai Jun found Fu Xuan's office in disarray and helped her clean it, then accidentally pulled her spare pantyhose from among the papers.
• Fu Xuan offered Bai Jun a position at the Divination Bureau, but he refused; she then scolded him for taking Qing Que to play cards and standing her up.
• Fu Xuan stopped Bai Jun from leaving and ordered him to take off his armor, then pulled open his upper garment herself.

Fu Xuan divined Bai Jun’s fate and discovered a blazing force within his soul, then sent him away after warning him that fortune and hardship would come together. At the Divination Bureau, Qing Que mistook Bai Jun’s messages from Silver Hacker for evidence of a romance, and Bai Jun’s attempt to reassure her ended with Silver Hacker reappearing after he deleted the contact.

• Fu Xuan searched Bai Jun’s Path, endured a painful vision of a radiant fire within his soul, and told him to wait for destiny to reveal itself.
• Qing Que caught a disdainful white cat outside the Divination Bureau, then mistook Bai Jun’s messages from Silver Hacker for proof that he had a romantic partner.
• Qing Que punched Bai Jun and ran off crying, and Bai Jun found her beside a vending machine and explained that Silver Hacker was only an online gaming friend.
• Bai Jun deleted Silver Hacker from his Jade Omen to reassure Qing Que, but new messages from Silver Hacker appeared immediately afterward.