Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “Schemes of the Underworld”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun is surprised by how easily Wang Weimin’s location is discovered. Liang Haiqing deduces his hiding place, while Feng Jun independently tracks him down.
• Although Feng Jun lacks the authority and time to arrest Wang Weimin himself, Xu Leigang offers to mobilize patrol officers, and Sister Hong arranges for her associate Xiao Wen to capture him.
• Xiao Wen retrieves Wang Weimin from Dynamic Seafood City and transports him toward Yang City with remarkable speed, demonstrating the efficiency and influence of Sister Hong’s underworld connections.
• Sister Hong devises a way to hand Wang Weimin over without exposing her people: Wang and his fleeing driver are heavily intoxicated and left outside the May First Patrol Bureau. A trainee officer discovers Wang’s identity through the cooperation notice and takes him into custody.
• Feng Jun considers more severe ways to ensure Wang cannot escape, including staging a drunk-driving accident or drugging him, but Sister Hong and Wang Haifeng caution that obvious injuries or drug involvement could expose them and give Jubaozhai grounds to interfere.
• After Wang is dealt with, Feng Jun prepares to move into the villa at Peach Blossom Valley. He transfers most of his supplies there but keeps some equipment at the other villa to avoid attracting attention.
• He asks Xu Leigang about installing a generator and fuel tank, but Xu instead offers to arrange a dedicated power line, since the developing tourist area has abundant electricity.
• Reflecting on his rapidly improving circumstances, Feng Jun realizes that he has rented increasingly better places but still lacks a true sense of belonging. He resolves that his next home will be one he owns.
• The chapter ends with Zhang Wei informing Feng Jun that the sample silver dollars he requested are ready for inspection.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun: Becomes increasingly influential and capable of mobilizing powerful allies, but also shows a darker, more vengeful side. His anger toward Wang Weimin stems from the repeated attempts on his life, and he seriously considers harsh retaliation. At the same time, his growing wealth and status make him reflect on his unsettled lifestyle and desire for a permanent home.
• Sister Hong: Her reputation as a sophisticated and highly connected social figure is reinforced. She efficiently arranges Wang’s capture and understands how to exploit bureaucratic procedures while avoiding direct involvement.
• Wang Haifeng: Acts as a practical and morally cautious counterbalance to Feng Jun and Sister Hong. He questions how Wang can be delivered safely and objects strongly to involving drugs or creating excessive evidence.
• Xu Leigang: Demonstrates loyalty and gratitude by offering official assistance in capturing Wang and helping Feng Jun secure reliable electricity for his villa.
• Wang Weimin: His repeated hostility toward Feng Jun finally results in his capture and handover to the authorities.
• Xiao Wen: Is revealed to be a highly capable subordinate of Sister Hong, able to extract Wang from a potentially dangerous nightlife venue quickly and discreetly.

Significant Themes

• Reciprocity and social value: Feng Jun recognizes that people help those who have earned trust, demonstrated ability, or offered meaningful favors. He views Sister Hong’s aid as genuine friendship rather than merely self-interest.
• Power and influence: The chapter contrasts formal authority with informal networks. Sister Hong’s connections and understanding of social systems prove more effective than ordinary legal procedures.
• Justice versus vengeance: Feng Jun’s desire to punish Wang exceeds the basic goal of turning him over to the authorities, raising questions about how far retaliation should go when someone has repeatedly endangered him.
• The dangers of criminal entanglement: The characters carefully balance efficiency against the risk of leaving evidence, provoking Jubaozhai, or becoming legally responsible for assault, illegal detention, or drug-related crimes.
• Wealth and belonging: Feng Jun’s improved financial position gives him access to better living conditions, yet he remains emotionally unsettled. His determination to buy a home reflects his desire for stability and permanence.
• Changing circumstances: Feng Jun reflects on how quickly his life has transformed. Problems that once required begging and negotiation can now be solved easily through his money and connections.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun and Sister Hong discuss the safest method of handing Wang Weimin over to the Patrol Bureau, with Sister Hong offering practical underworld strategies and Feng Jun proposing increasingly severe alternatives.
• Wang Haifeng challenges both of them, warning that staged injuries, drunk driving, or drug use could create evidence and legal complications.
• Xu Leigang supports Feng Jun by offering patrol assistance and later arranging a dedicated power line, reinforcing their mutual trust.
• Feng Jun, Wang Haifeng, Xu Leigang, and Sister Hong observe Wang Weimin’s successful handover from a restaurant across the street.
• Zhang Wei’s final phone call shifts the story toward Feng Jun’s next project: examining the prepared sample silver dollars.

Chapter Summary: “The Old Driver Takes Off”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhang Wei successfully produces a sample batch of silver dollars for Feng Jun. The newly manufactured coins are even more refined than those Feng Jun obtained from the Phone Plane.
• Feng Jun orders two tons of silver dollars and asks Zhang Wei to preserve the molds for future production. The order will take about a week, allowing Feng Jun to remain in the mountain villa and recharge his Stone Ring.
• During this week, Feng Jun continues practicing Tai Chi Breathing and completes the fifth form. His internal force becomes strong enough to break glass and snap a branch from a distance.
• Xu Leigang informs Feng Jun that the villa’s dedicated power line and distribution room have been completed in only seven days. He refuses to charge Feng Jun for the construction.
• Xu asks Feng Jun whether he can monitor another person’s phone calls. Feng Jun declines, unwilling to become involved in illegal or officially regulated surveillance.
• Feng Jun instead offers to help with Xu’s severe weight problem by giving him a Body-Tempering Pill.
• Xu initially laughs at the idea, but Feng Jun demonstrates his supernatural strength by snapping a branch with projected force and crushing a piece of gravel in his fingers.
• Convinced of Feng Jun’s abilities, Xu enthusiastically asks to buy the pill and wonders whether it can “cleanse the marrow and transform the tendons.”

Character Development

• Feng Jun becomes increasingly powerful and confident. His training has advanced to the point where he can release force through the air, yet he remains cautious about revealing his abilities or becoming involved in troublesome matters.
• Feng also shows practical judgment: he refuses Xu’s request for phone surveillance but is willing to help him in a safer, more personal way.
• Xu Leigang is shown to be capable and generous, having arranged Feng’s electrical infrastructure quickly and at no cost. He is also humorous, skeptical, and somewhat tactless, but his attitude changes dramatically after witnessing Feng’s power.
• Xu’s desperation regarding his weight and health makes him receptive to Feng’s pill. His respect for Feng shifts from ordinary business acquaintance to genuine admiration, even calling him “Master Feng” and “sir.”
• Zhang Wei is motivated primarily by financial gain. Although puzzled by Feng’s unusual order, he chooses not to question it because the deal will earn him a commission.

Significant Themes

• Power and credibility: Feng Jun’s supernatural abilities cannot be easily explained, and physical demonstrations become the only way to convince skeptical outsiders.
• Money and relationships: Financial incentives influence Zhang Wei, while Xu’s assistance with the villa reflects the growing value of his relationship with Feng Jun.
• Secrecy and restraint: Feng Jun carefully hides the origins of the silver dollars and avoids questionable activities such as illegal call monitoring.
• Transformation and self-improvement: The Body-Tempering Pill represents more than weight loss; it offers Xu the possibility of repairing his health and strengthening his body.
• Modern industry versus supernatural cultivation: Industrial production enables Feng’s large-scale silver-dollar order, while his personal training gives him abilities far beyond ordinary technology.

Character Interactions

• Feng and Zhang Wei maintain a practical, businesslike relationship, with Zhang accepting Feng’s unexplained demands for the sake of profit.
• Feng and Xu have a more informal and teasing relationship. Xu jokes about Feng being an “old hand behind the wheel,” while Feng responds with mild irritation and a supernatural demonstration.
• Feng refuses to prove himself repeatedly when Xu challenges him, showing that he does not need external validation.
• After realizing he has misjudged Feng, Xu apologizes enthusiastically and begs to purchase the Body-Tempering Pill, creating a new dynamic in which he views Feng as both benefactor and martial master.

Chapter Summary: “A Thrilling Experience”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun offers Xu Leigang a Body-Tempering Pill for free as thanks for their friendship and Xu’s help with practical matters, including arranging a dedicated internet line and previously assisting him with the patrol captain.
• Feng explains that the pill can regulate Xu’s health and help him lose weight, which appeals to Xu because he worries about the dangers of his obesity.
• Xu becomes increasingly convinced that Feng is connected to a powerful, secret martial-arts sect. He speculates that Feng’s jade, internal energy, and miraculous pills come from this hidden inheritance.
• Xu asks whether Feng accepts disciples, but Feng warns him not to pry further.
• Feng initially plans to give Xu only a quarter of a pill, believing that an ordinary person without qi cultivation might not withstand more. Xu’s pride and military background lead him to insist on taking half.
• The pill causes severe pain almost immediately. Xu suffers intense stomach pain, sweating, trembling, dehydration, and repeated fainting, but refuses to cry out and endures the ordeal through sheer willpower.
• After roughly an hour, Xu recovers enough to stand and reports feeling unusually relaxed and ravenously hungry.
• Feng notices that Xu’s body is emitting a foul odor and oily residue, which they interpret as impurities being expelled through the marrow-cleansing process. Xu eagerly heads off to bathe.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun is shown as generous but also vain and playful. He gives the pill freely because he values sincerity and friendship, yet exaggerates his martial abilities to impress Xu. He also demonstrates caution by initially limiting the dosage to protect his friend.
• Xu Leigang develops from a practical acquaintance into an enthusiastic believer in Feng’s mysterious abilities. He becomes convinced that Feng is a martial-arts master from a reclusive sect and briefly hopes to become his disciple.
• Xu’s pride and military identity are emphasized. Although he underestimates the pill’s power, he displays remarkable endurance, refusing to complain even while suffering enough pain to faint repeatedly.
• Their friendship strengthens through mutual trust, favors, teasing, and Xu’s willingness to accept Feng’s extraordinary treatment.

Significant Themes

• Friendship and reciprocity: Feng frames the pill as a free gift based on shared trust and past favors rather than money.
• Appearance versus reality: Xu looks harmless and overweight but proves exceptionally tough; Feng appears calm and omnipotent while privately exaggerating his abilities.
• Pride and endurance: Xu’s insistence on taking a larger dose reflects both courage and stubbornness, turning the treatment into a test of personal toughness.
• Mystery and imagination: Xu constructs an elaborate explanation for Feng’s powers, showing how people interpret unexplained abilities through familiar wuxia conventions.
• Transformation: The pill represents both literal physical improvement and the beginning of Xu’s deeper involvement with Feng’s extraordinary world.

Character Interactions

• Feng and Xu repeatedly exchange playful challenges, with Feng warning him about the pain and Xu refusing to appear weak.
• Xu’s questions about Feng’s sect and discipleship reveal his growing admiration, while Feng’s evasive answers preserve his mystery.
• During the treatment, Feng acts as both benefactor and observer, concerned enough to limit the dose but amused by Xu’s stubbornness.
• Afterward, Feng keeps his distance because of Xu’s unpleasant odor, while Xu excitedly interprets the bodily changes as proof that the pill is cleansing him.

Chapter Summary: Astonishingly Otherworldly

Key Plot Points and Events

• Xu Leigang takes a Body-Tempering Pill from Feng Jun. Although the experience is extremely painful, it causes him to sweat out large amounts of grime and feel noticeably lighter. Convinced that the pill is genuine, he abandons his remaining doubts about Feng Jun.
• After eating an enormous meal to recover, Xu asks how many pills he needs before sensing qi. Feng explains that qi cultivation requires a cultivation method and clarifies that the single pill was intended only to help Xu lose weight, not begin cultivation.
• Feng reflects on the commercial potential and danger of bringing medicinal pills from the Phone Plane into the real world. Because he alone can smuggle them across planes, he recognizes the pills as a monopoly but decides not to distribute them widely.
• Feng privately charges himself with an enormous electrical current. Xu witnesses this and assumes Feng may be practicing a supernatural “lightning art.” Feng refuses to explain, simply telling him “no.”
• Xu becomes increasingly attentive and eager to prove his usefulness after realizing that Feng is the person most likely to provide him with access to extraordinary resources.
• Zhang Wei informs Feng that two tons of silver dollars—around forty thousand coins worth over eight million Xia Currency—are ready for collection. Xu arranges for soldiers to transport and protect them, even offering to compensate Feng at double value if anything goes wrong.
• Zhang Wei and Wang Haifeng become suspicious of Xu’s unusually submissive behavior toward Feng. Xu claims only that Feng once lent him money and that he is repaying the favor, concealing the true reason for his loyalty.
• After the silver dollars are delivered to Feng’s villa, Feng asks Xu to help acquire military weapons for use overseas, particularly rifles, mortars, explosives, or even artillery.
• Xu initially considers these requests nearly impossible because of Xia Nation’s strict weapons controls, but suggests that overseas delivery might be feasible. He eventually realizes that decommissioned or regularly destroyed shells could provide a possible route to obtaining mortars.

Character Developments

• Xu Leigang: Becomes completely convinced of Feng’s supernatural abilities after taking the pill. His gratitude turns into eager flattery and almost servile loyalty. He views Feng as a gateway to the legendary world of cultivation and is determined to demonstrate his usefulness, especially through his military connections.
• Feng Jun: Shows increasing awareness of the economic and strategic value of his interplanar resources. He remains cautious about giving Xu more pills, believing rewards should depend on performance. He also begins preparing more seriously for dangers in the Phone Plane by seeking powerful weapons.
• Zhang Wei and Wang Haifeng: Become puzzled by Xu’s unusual conduct. They recognize that his relationship with Feng is deeper or more unequal than ordinary business cooperation, though they cannot determine its true nature.

Significant Themes

• Power, scarcity, and monopoly: Feng understands that rare resources are valuable precisely because they are difficult to obtain. He plans to control the supply of medicinal pills rather than distribute them freely.
• Loyalty and indebtedness: Xu interprets Feng’s help as a profound favor and attempts to repay it through service, flattery, and access to his connections.
• Cultivation versus modern society: Xu sees Feng’s abilities as proof that the legendary worlds of wuxia and xianxia may be real, making ordinary society seem dull and insignificant by comparison.
• Interplanar smuggling and commercialization: Feng’s original dream of getting rich through smuggling evolves into the far more extraordinary business of moving jade, medicines, and potentially weapons between worlds.
• Preparation and escalation: Feng’s interest shifts from personal cultivation and profit toward acquiring explosives and military hardware, emphasizing the increasing scale of the threats he expects to face.

Character Interactions

• Xu repeatedly addresses Feng as “Master Feng,” treating him with reverence and eagerly accepting his judgments.
• Feng deliberately limits what he gives Xu, warning that high-quality resources are scarce and implying that further rewards must be earned.
• Zhang Wei probes Xu about his relationship with Feng, but Xu avoids revealing his dependence and instead offers Zhang military assistance.
• Xu offers Feng extensive protection for the silver dollars, while Feng rejects conspicuous military guards to avoid drawing attention.
• Feng and Xu negotiate over weapons, with Feng requesting increasingly powerful equipment and Xu balancing his desire to help against the legal and logistical difficulties of obtaining it.

Chapter Summary: “A Chance to Curry Favor”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun realizes that mortar shells, rather than mortars themselves, are the important item for his purposes. However, concerned about the danger and legal implications, he decides to request hand grenades instead, along with TNT if Xu Leigang can obtain it from overseas.
• Xu Leigang confirms that Feng Jun will not use the explosives domestically. Feng vaguely explains that they are needed for matters involving “cultivators,” further convincing Xu that Feng possesses a mysterious opportunity or hidden identity.
• Feng asks Xu to arrange delivery of a generator to his parents’ shop, which frequently loses power. Xu eagerly agrees, seeing the task as a chance to curry favor with Feng’s family and strengthen their relationship.
• Xu also asks when he can take another Body-Tempering Pill. Feng permits him to take half, but after Xu worries about being physically fit enough to deliver the generator, Feng allows him to take only a quarter initially and promises another quarter afterward.
• Xu arranges the generator immediately, takes the reduced dose of the pill, experiences less pain than before, and personally delivers and installs the generator for Feng’s parents.
• While waiting for Xu to obtain the explosives, Feng remains at the Peach Blossom Valley villa. He moves a generator and gold there but delays returning to the Phone Plane until the weapons arrive.
• Feng continues speaking with Hao Fengjing, mainly discussing the stock market. Their relationship remains cautious: although they get along well, Hao refuses to visit his villa because of concerns about reputation and possible misunderstandings.
• The chapter ends with the arrival of a well-dressed middle-aged couple and a sturdy young man at Feng’s villa. The woman coldly confirms his identity, while the young man orders him to lower his phone. Feng immediately becomes defensive, records them, and angrily asserts his right to act freely on his own property.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun demonstrates increased caution and strategic thinking. He avoids directly obtaining mortars, chooses hand grenades as a safer alternative, and remains vague about his true purposes. He also shows filial concern by arranging a generator for his parents.
• Xu Leigang becomes increasingly devoted to Feng and views him as someone who has gained a rare opportunity. Rather than plotting to rob Feng, Xu hopes that serving him may eventually lead to a similar chance for himself. His willingness to personally deliver the generator shows his eagerness to gain Feng’s trust.
• Xu also displays practical judgment: he chooses a smaller dose of the Body-Tempering Pill so that its effects will not interfere with his responsibilities.
• Hao Fengjing is shown as cautious and socially aware. She trusts Feng to some extent but maintains boundaries by refusing to visit his private residence.
• The newly arrived visitors are introduced as intimidating and confrontational, particularly the young man and the cold middle-aged woman, setting up a likely conflict with Feng.

Significant Themes

• Power and influence: Xu’s eagerness to serve Feng reflects how people seek favor from those they believe possess extraordinary power or opportunities.
• Secrecy and ambiguity: Feng carefully conceals the truth about the Phone Plane, cultivators, and his need for explosives, while Xu tries to interpret the clues without daring to ask too much.
• Filial responsibility: Despite his extraordinary activities, Feng remains concerned with ordinary family matters, especially ensuring that his parents have reliable electricity.
• Trust and reputation: Feng and Hao’s interactions highlight the importance of boundaries, public perception, and cautious trust.
• Ordinary society versus extraordinary forces: The chapter contrasts modern social order and legal concerns with Feng’s increasingly dangerous, supernatural, or cultivation-related activities.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun and Xu Leigang: Their relationship becomes more mutually beneficial. Feng relies on Xu for discreet arrangements, while Xu sees every favor as an investment in Feng’s goodwill and possibly his own future advancement.
• Feng Jun and Hao Fengjing: Their conversations are friendly but restrained, centering on stocks rather than intimacy. Both understand the implications of private meetings and maintain distance.
• Feng Jun and the visitors: Their first encounter is immediately hostile. Feng reacts to their commanding behavior by recording them and challenging their authority, establishing that he will not tolerate intimidation even at his own villa.

Chapter Summary: “Drawing the Line”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun refuses to negotiate with Wang Tiechen, chairman of Jubaozhai, who arrives with his wife and a burly young man to discuss “business.”
• Feng immediately recognizes Wang Tiechen as Wang Weimin’s father and recalls the older man’s previous arrogance during their phone conversation.
• Wang claims to have come sincerely to turn their hostility into friendship, apologizing for underestimating Feng after learning that Feng has connections with the General Administration.
• Feng rejects the apology, criticizing Jubaozhai for changing its attitude based solely on a person’s power and status.
• The conversation quickly becomes hostile. Feng insults Wang Tiechen, his wife, and their son, while Wang’s wife repeatedly threatens and provokes him.
• Wang Tiechen explains that he is willing to “pay the price” by offering cooperation, but Feng refuses both cooperation and reconciliation. He insists that Jubaozhai’s conflict with him began with Wang Weimin and that they must bear the consequences.
• Wang warns Feng that Jubaozhai still has enough influence to retaliate and tells him to consider the cost of making them an enemy.
• Wang’s wife reveals that they intend to have Wang Weimin released from detention through medical parole, possibly by claiming mental illness.
• Feng points out that he has recorded the entire exchange, potentially exposing any manipulation of the legal process.
• Wang openly confirms that they may use Wang Weimin’s alleged mental instability as grounds for release.
• Feng responds with a final warning: if Wang Weimin is released on medical parole, Feng will retaliate against Jubaozhai and vows to destroy the organization alongside him.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun remains confident, confrontational, and entirely unwilling to submit to intimidation. He refuses to compromise simply because Jubaozhai is powerful and makes clear that he values principles and personal boundaries over profit.
• Feng also demonstrates strategic awareness by recording the conversation and using the recording to counter Jubaozhai’s possible manipulation of the authorities.
• Wang Tiechen shifts from false politeness to open hostility when Feng refuses cooperation. Though he initially presents himself as conciliatory, he never truly abandons his belief in Jubaozhai’s power and influence.
• Wang Tiechen’s wife is emotional, aggressive, and fiercely protective of her son. Her anger repeatedly undermines the family’s attempt to appear reasonable, though she also reveals their plan to secure Wang Weimin’s release.
• Wang Weimin, though absent, remains the central cause of the confrontation. His family’s actions show that they intend to protect him through influence rather than accept responsibility for his actions.

Significant Themes

• Power and social hierarchy: Jubaozhai treats people according to their wealth, influence, and connections, believing that the powerful deserve respect while the weak can be disregarded.
• Arrogance versus justice: Feng rejects both the Wang family’s intimidation and their attempt to manipulate legal procedures, insisting that wrongdoing must have consequences.
• Negotiation as disguised coercion: Although Wang Tiechen claims to offer cooperation and reconciliation, his words are paired with threats, revealing that the proposal is really an attempt to pressure Feng into backing down.
• Defiance and deterrence: Feng’s insults and final warning are designed not merely to vent anger but to establish a clear boundary and deter further interference.
• Influence versus principle: The chapter contrasts Jubaozhai’s reliance on connections and legal loopholes with Feng’s refusal to yield, even when he recognizes that the Wangs possess greater institutional power.

Character Interactions

• Feng and Wang Tiechen engage in a tense verbal confrontation in which Wang alternates between politeness, apology, warnings, and veiled threats.
• Feng repeatedly dismisses Wang’s attempts at reconciliation, arguing that Jubaozhai caused the conflict and therefore cannot decide unilaterally when it ends.
• Feng and Wang Tiechen’s wife clash most violently. She insults and threatens him, while Feng responds with increasingly personal mockery, provoking her into losing control.
• Wang restrains his wife several times, maintaining a calmer exterior and trying to keep the confrontation focused on bargaining and intimidation.
• The encounter ends without reconciliation. Wang Tiechen withdraws to pursue his own methods, while Feng openly declares that any attempt to free Wang Weimin through medical parole will trigger a direct attack on Jubaozhai.

Chapter Summary: “A Different Kind of Selfie (Second Update)”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Wang Tiechen and his wife leave after refusing to abandon or betray Jubaozhai, openly challenging Feng Jun’s threat. Their defiance enrages Feng Jun, but he realizes that his local connections cannot safely counter the power of mental illness.
• Feng Jun considers asking Xu Leigang for help but rejects the idea because the Xu Family’s favors are limited and he must preserve their support for more serious threats from Long City. He also remains unwilling to exchange favors for cultivation techniques before the time is right.
• Curious about whether Wang Weimin has been released, Feng Jun uses the Stone Ring to enter Jingjing’s Douniu livestream. He sees Jingjing with two different men in a hotel but confirms that neither is Wang Weimin, suggesting that Wang Weimin is still being held by the Patrol Bureau.
• While watching the livestream, Feng Jun discovers an important limitation of Phone Space: time in the real world continues to pass when he observes it through a camera. Around thirty minutes pass outside, and his phone battery drops significantly. He also notices that rain has begun falling, confirming that the outside world has not stopped.
• Feng Jun theorizes that isolated spaces such as the cultivation world are separated from reality and do not experience synchronized time, while camera feeds create a connection between Phone Space and the real world.
• To test the theory, he prepares a camera, a power bank, three hundred kilograms of silver dollars, and another phone before entering the Phone Plane.
• Inside the Phone Plane, everything appears unchanged, confirming that time there has remained frozen while Feng Jun lived through months of events in reality.
• His sudden appearance with a drastically shorter hairstyle shocks Lang Zhen and Deng Lao’er, who believe Feng Jun has only been inside briefly. Feng Jun avoids explaining the change and instead asks about their remaining silver.
• Lang Zhen reports that only fifty-three silver dollars remain. Feifei then arrives with news that more people are bringing large stones to sell, creating an immediate problem because Feng Jun’s group may not have enough money to continue buying them.

Character Development

• Feng Jun: Becomes more cautious and analytical after discovering that time passes during certain Phone Space observations. He recognizes that misunderstanding this rule could endanger him and immediately begins testing it. His priorities also remain pragmatic: he refuses to waste the Xu Family’s limited assistance on Jubaozhai and focuses on preserving resources for greater threats.
• Wang Tiechen and his wife: Demonstrate strong loyalty and resolve by protecting Jubaozhai despite Feng Jun’s intimidation.
• Jingjing: Is shown involved in a secretive or provocative encounter with two men, though her motives and relationship to them remain unclear.
• Wang Weimin: Though absent, his continued detention is implied by the fact that neither man with Jingjing is him.
• Lang Zhen and Deng Lao’er: Continue serving Feng Jun and managing the stone-buying operation, but their reactions reveal how strange Feng Jun’s sudden changes appear from their perspective.
• Feifei: Acts as an alert messenger, reporting the arrival of new stone sellers and emphasizing the growing pressure on the operation.

Significant Themes

• The danger of incomplete knowledge: Feng Jun’s mistaken belief that real-world time stopped nearly leads him to overlook a potentially life-threatening weakness.
• Separation between worlds: The chapter explores how different spaces operate under different temporal rules and how technology—especially cameras—can bridge those worlds.
• Resource management and strategic restraint: Feng Jun carefully weighs when to use favors, money, energy, and powerful allies, refusing to spend valuable resources on relatively minor conflicts.
• Disorientation and identity: His changed hairstyle and clothing emphasize the psychological strain of living across worlds with radically different timelines.
• Loyalty and defiance: Wang Tiechen and his wife’s refusal to abandon Jubaozhai contrasts with Feng Jun’s growing frustration and highlights the stakes of the conflict.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun mentally weighs his options against the Wang couple’s defiance and concludes that neither Zhang Wei nor Sister Hong can help him overcome the influence of mental illness.
• He indirectly investigates Wang Weimin through Jingjing’s livestream, using the men’s identities to infer Wang’s continued detention.
• Feng Jun reasons through the Phone Space time anomaly alone, then validates the issue through a controlled experiment.
• Upon entering the Phone Plane, he shocks Lang Zhen and Deng Lao’er with his altered appearance. Lang Zhen respectfully discusses their dwindling silver supply, while Feifei interrupts with news of more sellers, leaving Feng Jun’s group facing a serious financial bottleneck.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun gives Lang Zhen and Deng Lao’er three thousand newly minted silver dollars, claiming he obtained them from inside the hut. Lang Zhen realizes Feng Jun likely used his storage bag, while Deng Lao’er suspects the money may be counterfeit.
• Deng Lao’er suddenly senses that Feng Jun has advanced from an ordinary person to a Martial Master after spending only a short time inside the room.
• Feng Jun casually confirms that he began cultivating “just now,” astonishing Deng Lao’er, who has trained for over ten years and remains only a High-Rank Martial Warrior.
• Deng Lao’er presses Feng Jun for information about his cultivation technique, but Lang Zhen stops him, arguing that Feng Jun’s abilities are part of his mysterious identity as a Divine Doctor and immortal cultivator.
• When approaching people are spotted, Feng Jun returns to the hut and uses the Maolin Phone to enter Liaoliao Space through Caring Sister Hong’s account.
• He experiments with her phone camera, observes Sister Hong, and discovers that phone spaces can be accessed through another phone’s interface. He then leaves the cultivation world and returns to modern society, bringing more jade with him.
• Feng Jun compares the clocks on different phones and discovers several important rules about the Phone Space:
  • Spaces can be entered recursively or “stacked.”
  • Time outside does not automatically stop; its passage depends on Feng Jun’s intent.
  • Phones continue recording time differently depending on where they are.
  • He can observe modern society from the cultivation plane without signal or Wi-Fi.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun demonstrates a terrifyingly rapid cultivation speed, reaching the Martial Master realm almost instantly. His growing powers further establish him as an extraordinary and unpredictable figure.
• He also becomes more scientifically curious, deliberately testing the rules governing the Phone Space and carefully analyzing the results.
• Deng Lao’er shifts from skepticism and curiosity to genuine fear and disbelief. Feng Jun’s advancement undermines his understanding of cultivation and makes him feel inferior after years of effort.
• Lang Zhen remains comparatively calm and trusting. He accepts that Feng Jun’s supernatural abilities are plausible because of his status as an immortal cultivator and Divine Doctor.
• Sister Hong appears only through Feng Jun’s surveillance, but her casual behavior in modern society provides a contrast to the dangerous cultivation world.

Significant Themes

• Power and inequality: Feng Jun’s instant advancement contrasts sharply with Deng Lao’er’s decade of hard training, emphasizing the overwhelming gap between ordinary cultivators and Feng Jun.
• Mystery and secrecy: Feng Jun conceals the true source of his powers, money, and cultivation, while Lang Zhen and Deng Lao’er struggle to understand him.
• Trust versus suspicion: Deng Lao’er questions Feng Jun’s actions, whereas Lang Zhen chooses to trust him and avoid prying into matters beyond his station.
• Technology and supernatural power: The Phone Space functions as an impossibly powerful bridge between modern technology and the cultivation world.
• Time and reality: Feng Jun’s experiments reveal that time behaves differently across spaces and may be influenced by his choices, expanding the story’s exploration of alternate realities.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun reassures the two bodyguards about the silver dollars, while Lang Zhen prevents Deng Lao’er from questioning him too aggressively.
• Deng Lao’er confronts Feng Jun about his sudden cultivation breakthrough, expressing shock and frustration. Feng Jun responds with genuine confusion, believing Martial Master cultivation to be easy.
• Lang Zhen defends Feng Jun’s secrecy and reminds Deng Lao’er that their duty is simply to protect their employer.
• Feng Jun privately observes Sister Hong through Liaoliao Space, marking another instance of his growing ability to interact with and surveil the modern world from the cultivation plane.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun conducts experiments to determine what happens to his physical body when he enters the Phone Plane’s cultivation space.
• Camera footage confirms that his real body disappears completely for the duration of his trip and reappears abruptly upon his return. This proves that his travel is physical rather than merely spiritual or mental.
• He realizes that dying, becoming brain-dead, or otherwise being incapacitated in the cultivation plane would permanently end his life in the real world. Consequently, he understands that self-preservation must be his highest priority.
• The Maolin Phone and its connected power bank vanish along with him, rather than remaining behind. Feng Jun interprets this as a form of temporary assimilation, similar to the disappearance of the Stone Ring. This discovery reassures him that others will not witness the strange sight of a person disappearing while his phone remains suspended in midair.
• He spends another energy point testing what happens when he enters livestream or social applications. He avoids Douniu Live because he does not want to spy on strangers and instead briefly watches Jingjing.
• During the three-minute viewing period, his physical body remains motionless outside, resembling a statue. He also experiences intense hunger afterward, realizing that time spent in other spaces still affects his body’s physical needs.
• Having used energy points several times, Feng Jun calls Zhang Weihong (“Sister Hong”) and asks her to bring food to Peach Blossom Valley.
• Their playful conversation reveals increasing familiarity and flirtatious tension. Sister Hong agrees to come, but secretly decides to bring Xiao Wu, the cafeteria chef, along for safety or convenience.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun: Gains a clearer understanding of the risks and mechanics of his ability. He moves from speculation to cautious certainty, recognizing that his physical life is directly tied to his survival in the cultivation plane. He also displays curiosity, caution, practicality, and a somewhat playful attitude toward women, while becoming more comfortable teasing Sister Hong.
• Zhang Weihong/Sister Hong: Shows a warmer, more flirtatious side than Feng Jun usually sees in her professional role. She teases him about marriage and his absence over the previous ten days, suggesting that she cares about maintaining contact. At the same time, she remains practical and cautious by arranging for Xiao Wu to accompany her.
• Xiao Wu: Though he does not appear directly, he is established as Sister Hong’s trusted chef and someone she can rely on when traveling with her.

Significant Themes

• Identity and physical existence: Feng Jun’s concern shifts from abstract questions of consciousness to the concrete state of his body during interplanar travel.
• Risk and survival: The confirmation that his real body physically disappears—and that death in the cultivation world would be permanent—raises the stakes of his adventures.
• Knowledge through experimentation: Feng Jun uses cameras and carefully controlled tests to replace guesses with evidence, emphasizing the importance of understanding the rules of his supernatural abilities.
• The cost of power: Each experiment consumes energy points, while extended use produces physical hunger, showing that his abilities are not limitless or consequence-free.
• Intimacy and social relationships: Feng Jun’s interactions with Sister Hong blend business history, friendship, flirtation, and mutual curiosity, signaling a developing personal relationship.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun reviews his own disappearance on camera, privately reasoning through the implications of his body and phone vanishing together.
• He briefly observes Jingjing through the phone, though his curiosity is mixed with self-restraint and awareness that he is intruding on someone else’s life.
• His phone call with Sister Hong is lighthearted and teasing. He jokes about saving money for a wife and compliments her beauty, while she mocks his sudden interest in marriage and his dramatic hunger.
• Sister Hong accepts his invitation to eat but playfully questions whether he has ulterior motives. Despite the flirtation, she also has business to discuss and takes sensible precautions by bringing Xiao Wu with her.

Chapter Summary: “Attitude Toward Investment (Second Update)”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Sister Hong visits Feng Jun during rainy weather, bringing Xiao Wu, her former subordinate and chef, along with a large supply of prepared ingredients.
• While Xiao Wu cooks, Feng Jun and Sister Hong drink tea and discuss recent events, including the Wang family’s attempt to get Wang Weimin released by obtaining a psychiatric certificate.
• Over a large meal and several drinks, Sister Hong reveals that she wants to help a friend raise money for a business project.
• Feng Jun refuses to lend money to or invest in someone he does not personally know. He explains that although he wants to invest, he will not risk his capital in unfamiliar fields when he already has reliable ways to earn money.
• Sister Hong changes tactics and proposes that Feng Jun purchase a three-mu plot of land near Central Park and Moon Lake. The land, originally intended for a bird garden, is in an excellent location and could be used to build a private villa.
• The plot costs forty-five million yuan, with construction expected to require another ten or twenty million. Feng Jun hesitates because he has already lent Xu Leigang forty-five million and is uncertain whether he wants to invest so heavily in Yang City.
• Instead of buying the land directly, Feng Jun offers Sister Hong another arrangement: he has acquired more high-quality jade, and she can help sell it in exchange for a ten-percent commission.
• Sister Hong is interested but cannot afford to buy the jade outright. Feng Jun refuses to sell it to her on credit, suggesting that business should not test their trust.
• The chapter ends with Sister Hong joking that Feng Jun, once her subordinate, is now making her work for him.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun shows increasing financial confidence and independence. He is generous toward people he trusts but cautious with unfamiliar investments and unwilling to be pressured by emotional appeals.
• He also demonstrates a pragmatic attitude toward wealth: he prefers dependable profits and avoids spending heavily in a city where he does not feel a strong sense of belonging.
• Sister Hong remains capable, socially perceptive, and persistent. She initially tries to secure financing for her friend, then cleverly presents the land as a personal opportunity for Feng Jun.
• Her concern for her friend reveals loyalty, while her willingness to negotiate with Feng Jun shows practical business sense.
• Xiao Wu functions mainly as support, preparing the meal and creating the setting for Feng Jun and Sister Hong’s conversation.
• Feng Jun’s relationship with Sister Hong becomes more familiar and mutually business-oriented, though their conversation retains a degree of playful ambiguity.

Significant Themes

• Trust and risk in business: Feng Jun distinguishes sharply between helping someone he trusts and investing in a stranger’s project.
• Financial independence: His wealth gives him the freedom to refuse opportunities rather than accept every chance to make money.
• Pragmatism versus emotional pressure: Sister Hong appeals to friendship and the rarity of the land, but Feng Jun continues to evaluate the deal according to cost, usefulness, and long-term plans.
• Changing social status: Feng Jun’s transformation from subordinate to wealthy businessman alters his relationship with Sister Hong, reversing their former power dynamic.
• Belonging and identity: Feng Jun’s hesitation about building in Yang City reflects his uncertainty about remaining there and his lingering alienation from the local society.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun and Sister Hong share tea, food, wine, and lightly flirtatious conversation, but Xiao Wu’s presence prevents the meeting from becoming more intimate.
• They discuss the Wang family, with Feng Jun expressing contempt for their attempt to exploit psychiatric certification.
• Sister Hong repeatedly tries to persuade Feng Jun to help her friend, first through investment or lending and then through the land proposal.
• Feng Jun makes clear that he would help Sister Hong personally, but not automatically extend the same trust to her acquaintances.
• Their final exchange turns the proposed business arrangement into playful banter: Sister Hong jokes about becoming his employee, while Feng Jun offers her a profitable commission-based role.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun and Sister Hong discuss selling another large batch of jade. Feng plans to use the profits—potentially close to two hundred million—to buy land and build a villa.
• Feng entrusts Sister Hong with handling the jade sales to Li Dafu and Henglong. She will earn a commission, while Feng avoids the time-consuming negotiations.
• Their conversation becomes flirtatious when Feng jokingly says Sister Hong is worth far more than two hundred million. She is secretly affected by the compliment, despite pretending to remain composed.
• Feng grabs Sister Hong’s cold hand, creating an intimate and awkward moment. Xiao Wu interrupts while bringing in the final dish, and Sister Hong quickly disguises her embarrassment by claiming her hands are naturally cold.
• Sister Hong warns Feng not to tease her, but he continues playfully until she redirects the conversation toward business. Feng admits he has another, more important venture underway but refuses to explain it yet.
• Sister Hong leaves with Xiao Wu and four pieces of jade to begin negotiations. Feng accepts the risk of trusting her, reasoning that his jade supply is effectively unlimited and that constant suspicion would be exhausting.
• Two days later, Xu Leigang returns from his task and brings Feng Jun’s mother, Zhang Junyi, to Yang City.
• Zhang Junyi has come because she worries about her son living far from home. She is pleased that he appears more mature and financially successful but is also suspicious about how he could afford an expensive generator after only a few months in Yang City.
• When she sees Feng, she notices that he looks taller but thin and immediately worries that he is not eating properly. She then asks about his girlfriend, prompting Feng to consider—but ultimately reject—the idea of hiring a woman to pretend to be his partner.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun displays increasing wealth and confidence, allowing him to delegate the jade business rather than personally manage it. He is also more relaxed and flirtatious, especially with Sister Hong, though he remains secretive about his main source of income and future plans.
• Sister Hong shows strong emotional control and social intelligence. Although Feng’s praise and physical contact affect her, she quickly regains composure and redirects the interaction toward business. Her willingness to manage the jade sales indicates growing trust and cooperation with Feng.
• Zhang Junyi is introduced as a caring but anxious mother. Her concerns reflect both maternal love and her own difficult marriage history. She is proud of Feng’s independence but remains worried that he may be hiding financial problems or suffering away from home.
• Xu Leigang acts as a reliable intermediary, completing Feng’s assignment and bringing his mother to visit him.
• Xiao Wu unintentionally interrupts Feng and Sister Hong’s intimate exchange, then discreetly removes himself from the situation.

Significant Themes

• Trust and risk: Feng chooses to trust Sister Hong despite knowing that wealth can tempt people into betrayal. He prefers accepting limited risk over living in constant suspicion.
• Wealth and changing status: Feng’s sudden financial success has transformed his position, relationships, and self-confidence. Sister Hong’s reaction also shows how wealth influences attraction and social judgment.
• Flirtation versus restraint: Feng’s bold teasing contrasts with Sister Hong’s controlled responses. Their interactions suggest mutual attraction but remain unresolved.
• Maternal concern and family expectations: Zhang Junyi’s visit embodies the idea that a mother continues to worry when her son leaves home, especially when he refuses the secure path his parents envisioned.
• Secrecy and independence: Feng keeps his true business and capabilities hidden, even from his mother and Sister Hong, emphasizing his desire to control his own life and protect his secrets.
• Reality versus webnovel fantasies: Feng humorously rejects the unrealistic idea of simply finding a beautiful woman to pose as his girlfriend, acknowledging the complications such deception would create.

Important Character Interactions

• Feng Jun and Sister Hong: Their business partnership is mixed with increasingly suggestive banter and possible romantic tension. Feng openly flirts, while Sister Hong hides her emotional reactions behind composure and practical business talk.
• Feng Jun and Xiao Wu: Xiao Wu’s interruption exposes the awkwardness between Feng and Sister Hong, but Sister Hong smoothly handles the situation.
• Feng Jun and Zhang Junyi: Their reunion is affectionate and humorous. Zhang worries about his health and finances, while Feng tries to reassure her and avoid revealing too much.
• Zhang Junyi and Feng’s absent girlfriend: Her questions reveal her hope that Feng has recovered emotionally after his breakup and may now be building a stable personal life.

Chapter Summary: “Making Money with Your Head Held High”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun reassures his mother, Zhang Junyi, that his sudden wealth comes from an honest jade business rather than anything criminal. He explains that he has discovered an unknown jade-producing region and works with partners, using his business-management background to oversee operations.
• Zhang Junyi accepts his explanation but warns him to protect the secret of his jade source and leave the business if it becomes too dangerous. She stays in Yang City for five days, cooking for him, before returning home because her absence leaves Feng Wenhui struggling to run their family shop alone.
• During her visit, Feng Jun secretly spends his days charging energy at the villa near the barren mountain and his nights cultivating in Peach Blossom Valley.
• Sister Hong completes sales negotiations with Li Dafu and Henglong, selling twelve pieces of jade for more than seventy million yuan. The price is lower than expected because the growing supply has reduced the jade’s rarity and caused bidding enthusiasm to decline.
• The large amount of jade entering Yang City begins affecting the local jewelry market. Some merchants jokingly accuse “Boss Feng” of driving down jade prices, prompting Sister Hong to suggest selling in the Southern Heaven Region instead.
• Feng Jun agrees to let Sister Hong handle out-of-province sales. He retains over twenty million yuan for constructing a villa after setting aside forty-five million for land, while Sister Hong earns more than seven million in commissions.
• Their conversation becomes flirtatious and teasing when Feng Jun suggests that giving Sister Hong control of his sales channels should require her to “pay a price.” She angrily accuses him of turning business discussions into dirty jokes, then leaves to manage future sales.
• Xu Leigang arrives with fifty grenades, forty mortar shells, and a mortar, obtained through risky connections. Feng Jun promises to help him acquire a cultivation technique in return.
• Xu Leigang asks for another Body-Tempering Pill after experiencing weight loss and increased energy from his previous dose. Feng Jun refuses for now, explaining that the pills should be saved for use alongside cultivation after Xu obtains a technique.
• The chapter ends with Sister Hong informing Feng Jun that Wang Weimin has been released on medical bail. Although she has used her connections to apply pressure, Jubaozhai has intervened heavily, making it difficult to keep influencing the case.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun has become financially secure and increasingly detached from the exhausting, dangerous process of personally selling jade. He now relies on intermediaries and partners, reflecting his growing power and confidence. At the same time, he remains protective of his family and careful to preserve his mother’s trust.
• Zhang Junyi is shown as principled and cautious. Her insistence that wealth must be earned “standing upright” reinforces the moral standards of Feng’s family. She worries about the risks of his business but ultimately accepts his explanation.
• Sister Hong proves highly capable in negotiation and business management, earning a substantial commission while helping Feng Jun expand his market. She also shows increasing independence and sensitivity toward Feng Jun’s provocative teasing.
• Xu Leigang becomes more committed to Feng Jun and increasingly trusts him to obtain a cultivation technique. His physical improvements from the Body-Tempering Pill strengthen his loyalty and enthusiasm.
• Wang Weimin’s release suggests that Feng Jun’s enemies or rivals still possess considerable influence, especially through Jubaozhai.

Significant Themes

• Honest wealth versus moral compromise: Zhang Junyi’s insistence on “making money with one’s head held high” establishes the chapter’s central ethical concern. Feng Jun’s success is presented as legitimate, though the secrecy and dangers surrounding his jade source complicate that claim.
• The economics of scarcity: The jade’s value falls as supply increases, demonstrating how rarity, market psychology, and irrational bidding affect prices.
• Delegation and growing power: Feng Jun has progressed from personally struggling to sell one piece of jade to having others manage entire sales operations for him.
• Risk and hidden consequences: The dangerous acquisition of weapons, the secrecy of the jade source, and Wang Weimin’s release all show that Feng Jun’s expanding wealth attracts danger.
• Trust and leverage: Relationships are shaped by mutual dependence—Sister Hong controls sales channels, Xu Leigang risks himself to obtain weapons, and Feng Jun offers money or cultivation opportunities in return for loyalty.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun and Zhang Junyi: Their conversation combines maternal concern, moral guidance, and growing but cautious trust. Feng Jun carefully tailors his explanation to reassure her.
• Feng Jun and Sister Hong: Their business partnership is effective but marked by playful sexual tension and an ongoing struggle over control. Sister Hong wants authority over the sales network, while Feng Jun jokes that such authority gives her leverage over him.
• Feng Jun and Xu Leigang: Their relationship is based on mutual benefit and increasing loyalty. Xu provides weapons and logistical help, while Feng Jun promises access to cultivation and manages Xu’s use of Body-Tempering Pills.
• Sister Hong and Feng Jun regarding Wang Weimin: Her report introduces a new threat and shows that she is actively protecting Feng Jun’s interests, though even her connections cannot fully counter Jubaozhai’s influence.

Chapter Summary: “Strong-Arm Buying and Selling”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Wang Weimin’s robbery case is largely neutralized because Jubaozhai uses its influence to secure the release of one of the main offenders, Wang Tiechen. Sister Hong warns Feng Jun that pursuing the matter immediately would be costly.
• Feng Jun agrees to wait, preferring to remain low-profile and avoid making his intentions obvious. Sister Hong suggests slowly exhausting Wang Tiechen’s connections rather than confronting him directly.
• Xu Leigang angrily offers to have people beat Wang Tiechen, motivated by personal outrage rather than a desire for Feng Jun’s gratitude. Feng Jun does not stop him but considers the idea pointless and advises him to stay safe.
• Feng Jun returns to the cultivation world, where Lang Zhen and Deng Lao’er are negotiating over three enormous pieces of mutton-fat white jade.
• Lang Zhen values the jade at eighty silver dollars, while the sellers from Zhao Family Fort demand at least two hundred. Their inflated price and aggressive behavior reveal that they likely came prepared to provoke or pressure the escort group.
• The negotiation escalates when the sellers insult Heroic Wind Escort Agency and imply that Lang Zhen and the others were failures who could no longer remain there.
• The sellers mock Lang Zhen as a “cripple,” unaware that he has recovered as a Martial Master after receiving the Meridian Opening Pill.
• Enraged, Lang Zhen cuts off the leading seller’s arm with overwhelming speed. He warns that since the man despises cripples, they can both become crippled.
• Realizing Lang Zhen is far more dangerous than expected, the injured man retreats with his companions and threatens that Zhao Family Fort will seek revenge.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun demonstrates patience and strategic restraint. Rather than retaliating immediately against Jubaozhai, he chooses to wait until their political protection weakens.
• Sister Hong shows her characteristic pragmatism and long-term approach to conflict. She is willing to wear down an opponent’s connections over time.
• Xu Leigang reveals his direct, martial temperament. He dislikes underhanded behavior and wants to respond openly, even when doing so has little practical value.
• Lang Zhen displays the fierce pride and killing intent of his former identity as Lone Wolf. His recovery has restored not only his physical strength but also his confidence and status.
• Deng Lao’er and Deng the Elder reinforce the authority and combat strength of Feng Jun’s group, discouraging the sellers from relying entirely on their numerical advantage.
• The Zhao Family Fort leader is exposed as arrogant but cautious. Though he attempts to intimidate the group, he recognizes the danger of provoking a genuine Martial Master once Lang Zhen reveals his power.

Significant Themes

• Strategic patience versus impulsive retaliation: Feng Jun and Sister Hong favor delayed, calculated action, while Xu Leigang and Lang Zhen are more comfortable with direct confrontation.
• Power and social status: The sellers assume that numbers and family connections will protect them, but the status of a Martial Master quickly changes the balance of power.
• The consequences of disrespect: Insulting Lang Zhen’s former disability and challenging his identity provokes a much harsher response than the original price dispute.
• Hidden strength and mistaken judgment: The sellers misjudge Lang Zhen because they see only his unremarkable appearance and presumed crippled condition.
• Negotiation backed by force: Though the conflict begins as a commercial disagreement over jade, both sides understand that bargaining power ultimately depends on martial strength, reputation, and connections.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun and Sister Hong discuss the risks of confronting Jubaozhai, agreeing that time and indirect pressure are more effective than immediate revenge.
• Feng Jun and Xu Leigang differ in temperament: Xu wants to settle matters physically, while Feng Jun sees such action as emotionally satisfying but strategically useless.
• Lang Zhen and the Zhao Family Fort leader engage in an escalating exchange of insults. The leader’s mockery of Lang Zhen’s past disability triggers Lang Zhen’s decisive attack.
• Deng Lao’er and Deng the Elder support Lang Zhen during the confrontation, their presence showing that Feng Jun’s group is not intimidated by the larger Zhao Family Fort contingent.
• The chapter ends with the Zhao Family Fort party retreating, leaving the jade behind and signaling that the dispute will likely lead to future retaliation.

Chapter Summary: “There Must Be Light”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After Zhao Family Fort’s people retreat, Lang Zhen leaves them alive but makes it clear that another confrontation is inevitable. Four villagers remain behind to watch Feng Jun’s group.
• Deng Lao’er and his brother prepare for a possible attack. They debate whether to defend the purchased stones at the risk of dying or retreat and preserve their lives.
• Lang Zhen defers the decision to Feng Jun, expressing strong confidence in the Divine Physician’s abilities despite Feng Jun being only a Beginner Martial Master.
• As night and rain arrive, the group takes shelter. Deng Lao’er keeps watch while Feifei cooks.
• Feng Jun emerges with a powerful electric lighting device made from several focused xenon bulbs. When activated, it illuminates the area almost like daylight, eliminating the danger of a surprise night attack.
• The Zhao Family Fort watchers are shocked and frightened by the unfamiliar, overwhelmingly bright lights.
• The chapter explains that Zhao Family Fort initially hesitated to provoke Feng Jun because they believed the group included members of the powerful Heroic Wind Escort Agency. After learning that Lang Zhen and the Ye brothers were no longer affiliated with the agency, the village’s local Martial Master encouraged them to exploit Feng Jun’s apparent wealth.
• Zhao Family Fort had planned to pressure Feng Jun gradually, beginning with an unreasonable demand for two hundred silver dollars. Lang Zhen’s sudden and ruthless retaliation disrupted their plan.

Character Developments

• Lang Zhen demonstrates calmness, decisiveness, and practical leadership. Though he recognizes the danger, he does not panic and trusts Feng Jun’s superior abilities.
• Deng Lao’er remains impulsive, energetic, and eager for confrontation. He views the conflict as an exciting chance to settle grudges and immediately recognizes the electric lamps’ military value.
• Deng Lao’er’s elder brother shows responsibility and professional ethics. Though willing to fight, he is concerned about whether defending the stones would be reckless. His respect for Lang Zhen and Feng Jun grows when reassured that Feng Jun has a plan.
• Feng Jun reveals another aspect of his technological and scientific ingenuity by creating powerful electric lamps. His preparation shows foresight: he understands that darkness would give Zhao Family Fort a tactical advantage.
• The Zhao Family Fort villagers are portrayed as opportunistic and increasingly emboldened by greed. Their confidence collapses when they encounter Lang Zhen’s strength and Feng Jun’s advanced technology.
• Feifei quietly supports the group by preparing food and maintaining camp life amid the tension.

Significant Themes

• Courage versus recklessness: The characters distinguish genuine bravery from blindly fighting an overwhelmingly larger force.
• Professional duty and honor: The escort guards feel obligated to protect the goods entrusted to them, even when doing so may be dangerous.
• Trust in hidden strength: Lang Zhen’s confidence in Feng Jun reflects the recurring idea that appearances—such as Feng Jun’s rank or Lang Zhen’s crippled body—can be deeply misleading.
• Technology as a source of power: Feng Jun’s electric lamps transform the battlefield by removing darkness as an advantage for the enemy. Technology functions almost like a supernatural weapon in this world.
• Greed and rationalized injustice: Zhao Family Fort disguises its desire for Feng Jun’s money as a complaint about discrimination, revealing how envy can be turned into a justification for extortion.
• Escalation through testing boundaries: The villagers deliberately probe Feng Jun’s limits, showing how seemingly minor demands can develop into serious violence when one side mistakes restraint for weakness.

Character Interactions

• Lang Zhen encourages the Deng brothers to remain alert while acknowledging that the conflict cannot be avoided.
• The brothers look to Lang Zhen for guidance, especially over whether to stand and fight or withdraw.
• Lang Zhen redirects the decision to Feng Jun, reinforcing Feng Jun’s authority within the group.
• Deng Lao’er reacts enthusiastically to Feng Jun’s invention, while Feng Jun explains its practical purpose: preventing a nighttime ambush.
• The unseen conflict between Feng Jun’s group and Zhao Family Fort intensifies as the villagers’ surveillance turns into fear after witnessing the electric lights.

Chapter Summary: “Menacing”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The four watchers monitoring Feng Jun’s group decide that the strange lighting device must be reported to Zhao Family Fort. They conclude that the powerful xenon lamp makes a nighttime assault impossible because it would expose and blind the attackers.
• One scout races through the rain to inform the Zhao family. He reaches Second Master Zhao, the fort’s only remaining Martial Master, who is observing the dazzling light from a nearby hill.
• Second Master Zhao cancels the planned night raid and orders his people to keep watch. He decides to confront Feng Jun’s group openly the following day.
• The Zhao family learns that the injured “cripple” is actually Lang Zhen, formerly known as the formidable “Lone Wolf.” Lang Zhen once killed an Intermediate Martial Master, and although his cultivation later declined, his defeat of a High-Rank Martial Warrior suggests that much of his strength has returned.
• The next day, Second Master Zhao brings more than twenty clansmen to confront the group. He challenges Lang Zhen’s ability to fight and accuses him of attacking a Zhao family member.
• Lang Zhen remains contemptuous and refuses to be intimidated, insisting that even without a fully stabilized Martial Master realm, he could still kill Second Master Zhao.
• Second Master Zhao attempts to exploit the situation commercially, raising the price of the three stones from two hundred to three hundred silver dollars while claiming to defend the local people’s interests.
• Tensions erupt when a Zhao family disciple kicks Feifei, who is carrying her sleeping younger brother. Rather than risk injuring the child, Feifei deliberately takes the kick and is sent staggering backward, spitting blood.
• Deng Lao’er, enraged by the attack on Feifei, draws his sword and charges. Second Master Zhao intervenes with his soft whip, placing Deng Lao’er in serious danger.
• Just as the whip is about to strike, the supposedly insignificant young man hidden in the room—implied to be Feng Jun—shouts angrily and releases a powerful finger-force attack.

Character Developments

• Second Master Zhao is presented as cautious, calculating, and politically minded. Though confident in his family’s numerical advantage, he recognizes Lang Zhen’s danger and chooses negotiation before violence. He is also shamelessly opportunistic, increasing the stone price while disguising greed as concern for the community.
• Lang Zhen remains proud, detached, and intimidating. His cultivation may not have fully recovered, but his reputation and confidence continue to command respect. His background as a soldier briefly influences his response when he hears that the injured man’s brother serves in the county army.
• Feifei demonstrates courage and self-sacrifice. She protects her sleeping brother by intentionally taking the kick meant for the basket, revealing her loyalty to the group and her willingness to endure pain for her family.
• Deng Lao’er shows his strong sense of justice and loyalty. The attack on Feifei causes him to lose his composure and immediately defend her, reflecting his belief in righteousness.
• Feng Jun shifts from the background into a position of direct power. Although the Zhao family dismisses him as merely a wealthy merchant, his furious intervention and finger force reveal that he is far more capable and dangerous than they assume.
• The Zhao family scouts show practical judgment by recognizing that the xenon lamp neutralizes the advantage of a night raid.

Significant Themes

• Intimidation and hidden strength: The bright lamp initially frightens and restrains the Zhao family, while Feng Jun’s concealed power creates a second, more personal surprise.
• Pride versus prudence: Second Master Zhao wants to preserve his family’s authority but understands that Lang Zhen cannot be attacked recklessly.
• Loyalty and protection: Feifei protects her brother, and Deng Lao’er responds fiercely to her injury, emphasizing the group’s bonds.
• Social arrogance and underestimation: The Zhao family looks down on Feifei and dismisses Feng Jun as a merchant, exposing how prejudice can blind them to genuine threats.
• Power and reputation: Lang Zhen’s past achievements continue to influence how others assess him, even though his current cultivation is unstable.
• Greed disguised as justice: Second Master Zhao invokes the welfare of local people while exploiting the situation to demand a higher price.

Character Interactions

• The scouts report to Second Master Zhao, whose decision reflects their warning about the xenon lamp.
• Second Master Zhao and Lang Zhen engage in a tense verbal confrontation marked by mutual provocation and restrained hostility.
• Deng Lao’er confronts the Zhao family after a disciple attacks Feifei.
• Second Master Zhao attempts to stop Deng Lao’er with his soft whip, forcing the conflict toward open violence.
• Feng Jun finally intervenes from inside the room, redirecting the confrontation and signaling that the Zhao family has seriously underestimated the group’s true leader.

Chapter Summary: “What Is Fair”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhao Second Lord confronts Feng Jun’s group after the Zhao family’s young warrior attacks Feifei, a seven-year-old girl.
• Feng Jun reveals himself as an Intermediate Martial Master, surprising Zhao Second Lord, who had assumed he was the weakest member of the group.
• When Zhao Second Lord attacks Deng Lao’er with his cloth whip, Feng Jun uses projected finger wind to strike the weapon rather than the man. The blow severs Zhao’s control of the whip, causing its heavy dark-iron plaque to rebound and badly injure Zhao in the chest.
• Enraged by Feifei’s mistreatment, Deng Lao’er attacks the Zhao family’s Mid-Rank Martial Warrior. His powerful sword strike breaks the opponent’s saber and forces him into retreat.
• Two Zhao family members attempt to intervene, but Lang Zhen stops them with sleeve arrows. When two High-Rank Martial Warriors attack Lang Zhen, he repels them with finger wind, though they narrowly evade the attacks.
• Feng Jun exits the house and checks on Feifei. She claims she is fine despite coughing up blood, revealing both her physical injury and her grim familiarity with violence.
• Zhao Second Lord orders everyone to stop, but Deng Lao’er continues pursuing the Zhao warrior. Feng Jun refuses to restrain him and insults Zhao’s authority.
• Zhao attempts to justify intervention by claiming that Feifei is a Zhige County local and that the conflict is an “internal matter.” Lang Zhen counters that Feifei was hired by Feng Jun’s group and is therefore under their protection.
• The dispute escalates when a final voice threatens to kill Zhao Second Lord if he speaks again.

Character Developments

• Zhao Second Lord is shown to be a mediocre fighter despite being a Martial Master, but he possesses strong observational judgment. His confidence collapses when Feng Jun proves to be an Intermediate Martial Master. His hypocrisy also becomes clear: he demands fairness only after his side is disadvantaged.
• Feng Jun demonstrates both technical skill and tactical intelligence by targeting Zhao’s whip instead of attacking him directly. He also makes clear that he protects those under his authority and will respond harshly to disrespect.
• Lang Zhen/Lone Wolf acts as a powerful deterrent and protector. He disables those attempting to interfere and firmly rejects Zhao’s claim that outside intervention is illegitimate.
• Deng Lao’er becomes fiercely protective of Feifei. His anger drives him to pursue the warrior who attacked her, transforming the confrontation into a personal retaliation.
• Feifei displays remarkable resilience, minimizing her injuries even while coughing blood. Her statement that she is “used to it” suggests a history of hardship and mistreatment.
• Zhao Family warriors are revealed to rely on group intervention and intimidation when their advantage begins to disappear.

Significant Themes

• The hypocrisy of “fairness”: Zhao Second Lord calls for a fair fight only when his own people are losing. Lang Zhen exposes the contradiction by pointing out that the Zhao warrior had attacked a defenseless child.
• Protection and responsibility: Feng Jun’s group treats Feifei as one of their own because she works for them, challenging Zhao’s attempt to exclude outsiders from the dispute.
• Power and hierarchy: Differences in cultivation realm create overwhelming advantages, while superior technique and judgment can still determine the outcome.
• Justice versus territorialism: Zhao appeals to local identity—claiming that Zhige people should handle their own affairs—but this is shown as a self-serving excuse to shield wrongdoing.
• Violence against the vulnerable: The contrast between a Mid-Rank Martial Warrior attacking a young girl and Deng Lao’er pursuing that warrior emphasizes the moral imbalance underlying the conflict.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun and Zhao Second Lord: Their exchange shifts from surprise to open hostility. Feng Jun’s contempt for Zhao’s authority reflects his refusal to tolerate arrogance or hypocrisy.
• Lang Zhen and Zhao Second Lord: Lang Zhen directly challenges Zhao’s claims and prevents the Zhao family from turning the confrontation into a group battle.
• Deng Lao’er and the Zhao warrior: Their clash represents retaliation for Feifei’s attack. Deng Lao’er fights with lethal intent, while his opponent survives mainly by retreating.
• Feng Jun and Feifei: Feng Jun shows unusual concern for the girl, checking her injuries and implicitly confirming that she is under his protection.
• The Zhao family and Feng Jun’s group: The confrontation evolves from a local dispute into a broader contest over who has the right to defend Feifei and define what “fairness” means.

Chapter Summary: “What Is a Life Worth?”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Jun discovers that Feifei, a young orphan working for his group, has been severely beaten by members of Zhao Family Fort. Furious, he condemns their cruelty and makes it clear that he is willing to kill over the attack.
• Zhao Second Lord, who had previously relied on his family’s numbers and local influence, is intimidated by Feng Jun’s status as an Intermediate Martial Master and becomes unwilling to challenge him.
• Deng Lao’er pursues the Zhao family Martial Warrior who injured Feifei and nearly kills him with a sword strike. The man begs for mercy and offers compensation.
• Deng Lao’er asks Feifei whether she wants revenge or payment. Feifei, despite her injuries, chooses compensation rather than killing, showing her kind and practical nature.
• The injured Martial Warrior first offers ten silver dollars, but Feng Jun argues that a person’s life should be worth more than that. Under pressure, the man raises the offer to thirty silver dollars, claiming that he has no more money.
• When the man says he must return to Zhao Family Fort to obtain the payment, Lang Zhen slaps him for speaking disrespectfully to Feng Jun and orders him to answer obediently.
• Feng Jun eventually allows the three disputed stones to count as part of the payment. Lang Zhen also demands several weapons and Zhao Second Lord’s valuable piece of black iron, converting the confrontation into a forced settlement.
• The Zhao family members pool their limited cash and surrender valuables because they are too weak to resist. They retreat humiliated, while Zhao Second Lord vows revenge and considers appealing to his elder brother, a powerful Martial Master serving in the army at Xiyin City.

Character Developments

• Feng Jun reveals a fierce protective instinct toward Feifei. His anger is directed not only at her attackers but also at the social system that treats orphans as worthless. He uses his power decisively to defend her.
• Feifei demonstrates compassion and restraint by refusing to demand the Martial Warrior’s death. At the same time, her willingness to accept compensation reflects her poverty and pragmatic understanding of survival.
• Deng Lao’er begins the confrontation eager to kill the man who hurt Feifei, but he loses his bloodlust after wounding him and realizes that the offender may not deserve death. His decision to ask Feifei’s preference shows an emerging sense of justice.
• Lang Zhen acts as the group’s intimidating enforcer. He has no hesitation about using violence or exploiting the Zhao family’s weakness, displaying the harsh pragmatism of an experienced escort master.
• The Zhao family Martial Warrior shifts from arrogance to fear and submission. Although he tries to bargain and conceal his resentment, he ultimately accepts humiliation to preserve his life.
• Zhao Second Lord loses control of the situation. His confidence in the Zhao family’s numbers collapses once Feng Jun appears, and he leaves with deep resentment and plans for retaliation.

Significant Themes

• The value of life: The chapter directly questions how much a human life is worth. The Martial Warrior tries to buy his survival cheaply, while Feng Jun insists that his life must carry a higher price than the compensation offered for Feifei’s suffering.
• Power and justice: Justice is not enforced through law but through strength. The Zhao family abused Feifei because she was powerless, while Feng Jun’s arrival reverses the power dynamic.
• The oppression of orphans and the vulnerable: Feifei’s treatment reflects a society in which children without family protection have little social or economic value. Her injuries are considered tolerable because she is an orphan.
• Mercy versus vengeance: Deng Lao’er initially wants to kill the offender but ultimately allows Feifei to choose. Her mercy prevents the conflict from becoming a bloodbath.
• Pragmatism and moral ambiguity: Feng Jun’s group defends Feifei but also extorts the Zhao family, taking stones, weapons, money, and black iron. The chapter presents them as protectors who are not idealistic heroes; survival and power shape their morality.
• Consequences of arrogance: The Zhao family’s assumption that numbers alone would guarantee victory leads to humiliation and material loss. Their failure to assess Feng Jun’s strength properly creates the crisis.

Character Interactions

• Feng Jun confronts Zhao Second Lord and the Zhao family over Feifei’s abuse, establishing a clear power imbalance.
• Deng Lao’er and the fleeing Martial Warrior negotiate through threats, pursuit, and bargaining, with Feifei ultimately influencing the outcome.
• Lang Zhen reinforces Feng Jun’s authority by striking the Martial Warrior for disrespect and later collecting weapons and valuables.
• Feifei’s compassionate choice moderates Deng Lao’er’s anger and prevents the offender from being killed.
• Zhao Second Lord and his clansmen are forced to submit collectively, surrendering their possessions while privately plotting revenge.
• The chapter ends by setting up a future conflict with Zhao Second Lord’s elder brother, a near-Intermediate Martial Master whose involvement could challenge Feng Jun’s group.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Second Master Zhao debates whether Zhao Family Fort should retaliate against Feng Jun’s group after their earlier clash. Although the Zhao family could probably overwhelm the four opponents, the potential casualties and danger of retaliation make an open assault seem costly.
• To preserve the family’s reputation and demonstrate its strength, Second Master Zhao orders the ancestral Battle Bow to be brought out. He also seeks outside assistance from the powerful Tian Family of Dongmu County, offering information about Feng Jun’s strange equipment and alleged ability to identify Immortal Crystals.
• The Tian Family becomes interested in Feng Jun’s possessions and sends Lord Luo, an Innate Expert, along with several Martial Masters. Lord Luo remains cautious, warning against assuming Feng Jun possesses an immortal legacy and agreeing to let others test him first.
• Meanwhile, Lang Zhen examines Feifei and discovers that her internal organs have shifted slightly. He assures her that she will recover after several days of rest and medicine, though his grim expression reveals his concern.
• Lang Zhen admits he fears retaliation from Zhao Family Fort but maintains that avoiding unnecessary killing is beneficial to Martial Warriors’ cultivation.
• Feng Jun leaves the group to test his mysterious weapons and equipment. Several thunderous blasts and explosive sounds are heard from the distance, suggesting that he is experimenting with powerful modern firearms.
• For two nights, Feng Jun’s xenon lamp illuminates the camp like daylight, attracting the attention of Zhao Family Fort and the Tian Family, who observe from twenty li away while trying to determine the source of the strange device.
• On the third morning, Feifei and Deng Lao’er discover a large force approaching. Using Feng Jun’s binoculars, Deng Lao’er identifies two or three hundred people from Zhao Family Fort advancing openly toward them.

Character Developments

• Second Master Zhao demonstrates both strategic caution and ruthlessness. He understands that revenge may be dangerous, yet he believes Zhao Family Fort must act to preserve its authority. His willingness to expose Feng Jun’s possible connection to immortals shows how far he is prepared to go.
• Lang Zhen is revealed as protective and morally restrained. He worries about the group’s safety and Feifei’s condition but believes killing should be minimized because it may harm a Martial Warrior’s cultivation.
• Feifei remains courageous and perceptive despite her injury. Her fear that she might die highlights her vulnerability, while her ability to read Lang Zhen’s expression shows her emotional awareness.
• Deng Lao’er is curious and impulsive but also perceptive. He correctly predicts that Zhao Family Fort will rely on its numerical superiority and attack openly rather than use an ambush.
• Feng Jun remains mysterious and self-directed. His private weapons testing reveals that he possesses technology far beyond the understanding of the martial world.
• Lord Luo appears powerful but extremely cautious. His fear of provoking immortals contrasts with the Zhao family’s greed and ignorance, showing that greater knowledge has made him more wary rather than more confident.

Significant Themes

• Power versus cost: Zhao Family Fort must balance its need to preserve prestige against the lives and resources an attack might consume.
• Reputation and dominance: The Zhao family believes failing to retaliate would cause surrounding villages to lose respect for them.
• Ignorance versus knowledge: The Zhao family speculates wildly about Feng Jun’s technology and immortal connections, while Lord Luo understands enough about immortals to fear the consequences of interference.
• Technology mistaken for immortality: Feng Jun’s lamps, binoculars, and weapons appear supernatural to the martial artists, emphasizing the gulf between modern technology and the cultivation world.
• Restraint and morality: Lang Zhen’s belief that fewer killings aid cultivation introduces a moral dimension to martial power and contrasts with Zhao Family Fort’s desire for vengeance.
• Hidden strength and uncertainty: Neither side fully understands the other’s capabilities. The Zhao family possesses a Battle Bow and numerical strength, while Feng Jun’s true weapons remain unknown.

Character Interactions

• Second Master Zhao clashes with members of his family over whether retaliation is worth the risk, ultimately asserting authority by ordering the Battle Bow and contacting the Tian Family.
• Zhao family members speculate about Feng Jun’s iron rod and strange equipment, while Second Master Zhao manipulates the Tian Family by suggesting Feng Jun can identify Immortal Crystals.
• Lang Zhen reassures Feifei about her recovery while indirectly warning Deng Lao’er that the group must remain prepared for retaliation.
• Lang Zhen silently prevents Deng Lao’er from following Feng Jun during his weapons test, preserving Feng Jun’s privacy.
• Second Master Zhao and Lord Luo cooperate uneasily. Zhao wants to exploit Feng Jun’s secrets, while Lord Luo is reluctant to provoke anyone connected to immortals.
• Feifei and Deng Lao’er discover the approaching army, and Lang Zhen and Deng the Elder immediately join them to assess the threat. The chapter ends with Zhao Family Fort openly advancing in overwhelming numbers.

Chapter Summary: “What Counts as a Sneak Attack (Second Update)”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lang Zhen explains that Zhao Family Fort’s large force has not yet openly attacked; instead, the Zhao clan is cautiously testing Lone Wolf’s reaction while trying to maintain plausible deniability.
• He warns the Zhao forces not to approach within two li, borrowing a phrase from Feng Jun’s caravan-guarding experience.
• Zhao Second Lord dismisses the warning, insisting that the roads belong to everyone and that outsiders have no right to establish rules in Zhige County.
• To discourage Lone Wolf from attacking, Zhao Second Lord places elderly people, women, and children at the front of the advancing group, intending to exploit local moral expectations and win public sympathy.
• The Zhao forces deliberately enter the two-li boundary and accelerate toward Lone Wolf’s position. Lang Zhen becomes angry, realizing they are taking advantage of Lone Wolf’s outsider status.
• Feng Jun emerges and asks whether the Zhao clan has actually done anything deserving death. Lang Zhen privately considers Feng Jun too restrained, believing that threatening encirclement would normally justify a preemptive attack.
• Feng Jun and Lang Zhen identify a distant archer carrying a battle bow. Lang orders the Deng brothers to hide, while Feng Jun remains behind to confront the threat.
• Feng Jun uses a submachine gun to shoot the battle bow from several hundred meters away. The bow shatters just as it is being drawn, and a broken limb strikes the archer in the eye.
• Zhao Second Lord angrily accuses Lone Wolf of launching a “sneak attack,” despite the Zhao clan having ignored a clear warning and prepared to fire first.
• Shocked by the destruction of the battle bow, Zhao Second Lord appeals to Lord Luo for justice and offers him the enemy’s weapon in addition to the previously agreed rewards.
• Lord Luo immediately questions whether the weapon is truly a high-quality Battle Weapon, hinting that he may be more interested in its actual value than in Zhao Second Lord’s emotional claims.

Character Developments

• Lang Zhen demonstrates practical experience and a sophisticated understanding of how powerful families survive. Although he dislikes cautious, two-faced behavior, he recognizes that such methods often preserve a clan more effectively than reckless retaliation.
• Deng Lao’er reveals his youthful, direct-minded attitude toward conflict, preferring decisive revenge over hesitation. His discussion with Lang Zhen shows the beginning of a more mature understanding of clan survival.
• Feng Jun remains morally cautious and reluctant to kill without clear justification. However, he proves remarkably capable under pressure, using unfamiliar modern weaponry with precision and destroying a battle weapon at extreme range.
• The Deng brothers react quickly and comically to the danger of the battle bow, abandoning the exposed position as soon as they learn of the threat.
• Zhao Second Lord is revealed as manipulative and self-serving. He hides behind social morality, uses vulnerable clan members as shields, and deliberately redefines “sneak attack” to make his own actions appear legitimate.
• Lord Luo appears skeptical and calculating. Rather than immediately accepting Zhao Second Lord’s accusation, he questions the quality and value of the claimed Battle Weapon.

Significant Themes

• Pragmatism versus honor: The chapter contrasts Lang Zhen’s understanding of cautious survival with Deng Lao’er’s preference for direct action.
• Moral rules as weapons: Zhao Second Lord exploits social sympathy toward the elderly, women, and children to limit Lone Wolf’s freedom to respond.
• Hypocrisy and double standards: Zhao Second Lord considers drawing a battle bow acceptable but labels Feng Jun’s retaliatory shot a sneak attack, demonstrating how power can manipulate definitions of justice.
• Outsider versus local authority: The Zhao clan believes that local customs and territory belong to them, while Lone Wolf’s group is treated as unwelcome outsiders who have no right to issue warnings.
• Modern technology against martial power: Feng Jun’s submachine gun successfully counters a powerful Battle Weapon, emphasizing the unpredictability of his technological advantages.
• Restraint and escalation: Feng Jun’s refusal to kill indiscriminately contrasts with Lang Zhen’s more ruthless survival instincts, while the Zhao clan’s provocations steadily push the situation toward open conflict.

Character Interactions

• Lang Zhen and Deng Lao’er debate whether cautious family politics represent cowardice or a viable survival strategy.
• Lang Zhen issues the formal warning to Zhao Family Fort, establishing a clear boundary before any attack.
• Zhao Second Lord deliberately ignores the warning and uses his weaker clan members to pressure Lone Wolf morally.
• Lang Zhen urges the Deng brothers to retreat when he identifies the battle bow, while Feng Jun stays to face the archer.
• Feng Jun’s successful shot disproves the Zhao clan’s confidence and humiliates Zhao Second Lord.
• Zhao Second Lord seeks Lord Luo’s support by offering additional rewards, but Lord Luo responds with suspicion rather than sympathy.

Chapter Summary: “Weakness Is the Original Sin”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lord Luo exposes Zhao Second Lord’s claim that the destroyed ancestral war bow was a “top-grade war weapon” as a deliberate exaggeration. He explains that war bows are fragile precision weapons, especially when fully drawn, so its destruction does not prove overwhelming enemy strength.
• The bow’s broken limb fatally pierces the archer’s eye and brain, causing Zhao Family Fort to suffer another casualty.
• Zhao Second Lord kneels before Lord Luo and asks him to help avenge the dead archer. Lord Luo angrily accuses him of trying to manipulate him with the supposed value of the bow.
• To appease Lord Luo, Zhao Second Lord offers fifty jin of Black Iron. Lord Luo pretends to be offended that his dignity is valued so cheaply, while secretly welcoming both the payment and the opportunity to intervene.
• Zhao Second Lord invokes the Zhao Family’s connection to a Long City noble, hoping to pressure Lord Luo into stopping. Lord Luo reacts with apparent fury, though he privately does not fear the noble’s influence.
• Zhao Second Lord claims he will apologize to the outsiders and end the conflict, but this is another tactic: he believes Lord Luo will not want to lose access to the outsiders’ valuable technology.
• Lord Luo realizes that the outsiders’ “thin iron tube” can fire steel pellets at extreme speed without using internal energy. He recognizes that mass production of such weapons could allow ordinary people to kill Martial Warriors, Martial Masters, and potentially threaten Innate Experts. He therefore intends to seize and study the weapon.
• Lord Luo argues that Zhao Family Fort must not apologize because doing so would bring disgrace upon the family and Zhige County. He declares, “Weakness is the original sin,” then volunteers to personally lead the attack.
• Zhao Second Lord mistakenly believes he has successfully manipulated Lord Luo by exploiting his greed for the supposed “Immortal’s Legacy.”
• Lord Luo orders four Martial Masters to attack the outsiders, warning them to be cautious of the ranged weapon. The four warriors charge forward, confident that the single device can be evaded.
• Lang Zhen prepares to confront the advancing enemies, claiming the pale-faced Martial Master for himself. Deng the Elder assigns the dark-faced opponent to himself and his brother.

Character Developments

• Lord Luo is revealed as calculating, arrogant, and highly opportunistic. He sees through Zhao Second Lord’s deception but deliberately pretends to be offended so he can extract compensation and a legitimate excuse to seize the outsiders’ weapon. His interest shifts from simple revenge to controlling technology capable of transforming warfare.
• Zhao Second Lord proves clever but overconfident. He tries to manipulate Lord Luo through exaggeration, payment, and references to a Long City noble. Although he believes his scheme is succeeding, he fails to realize that Lord Luo is manipulating him in return.
• The Zhao Family Fort is shown to be politically vulnerable and desperate for outside support. Its hidden Black Iron resources and distant connection to Long City give it leverage, but not enough to control Lord Luo.
• Lang Zhen responds decisively under pressure, immediately choosing an opponent and taking responsibility for part of the defense.
• Deng the Elder demonstrates composure and leadership by quickly dividing the enemy forces between himself and his brother.

Significant Themes

• Weakness as the “original sin”: The chapter presents weakness as the condition that invites exploitation. Zhao Second Lord recognizes that his inability to defeat the outsiders is his true failure, while Lord Luo turns this principle into a justification for violence.
• Manipulation and hidden motives: Both Lord Luo and Zhao Second Lord attempt to use each other, but Lord Luo is more perceptive and ultimately maintains the advantage.
• Power beyond conventional cultivation: The outsiders’ firearm-like weapon challenges the established hierarchy of Martial Warriors and Innate Experts because it allows ordinary people to wield lethal long-range power without internal energy.
• Greed and political leverage: Black Iron, noble connections, and the rumored Immortal’s Legacy are all treated as tools for bargaining. Yet personal strength—especially Lord Luo’s Innate status—ultimately outweighs wealth and political associations.
• Technology as a threat to social order: Lord Luo understands that the weapon’s greatest importance lies not in its usefulness to him personally, but in its potential to arm the majority of the population and radically alter the balance of power.

Character Interactions

• Lord Luo humiliates and interrogates Zhao Second Lord, forcing him to admit that the war bow’s destruction does not demonstrate extraordinary enemy power.
• Zhao Second Lord alternates between pleading, bribing, and subtly threatening Lord Luo, while Lord Luo responds with feigned outrage and concealed satisfaction.
• Their exchange becomes a contest of manipulation: Zhao Second Lord believes he is luring Lord Luo toward the outsiders, while Lord Luo is actually using Zhao’s words as justification to attack.
• Lord Luo’s command places the four Martial Masters directly against Lang Zhen, Deng the Elder, and their allies, setting up the next battle.