Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “Kazilan”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Ziran and Snow enter an extravagant banquet hosted by the Ancient Clans of the Void Expanse. Their status as the only human guests immediately attracts widespread attention.
• A Stonefolk attendant recognizes Li Ziran’s special VIP invitation and escorts them to an elevated private platform with an excellent view of the banquet and the Skeleton Orchestra.
• The invitation is revealed to be associated with Kazilan, though the attendant claims not to know who specifically invited them.
• Li Ziran encourages the nervous Snow to relax and request a song. She chooses “Song of Snow,” an old Snow Woman clan song that reminds her of her mother and childhood.
• The orchestra performs the song with Snow Women dancers. The performance deeply moves Snow, allowing her to forget her fear and enjoy the banquet.
• Snow asks Li Ziran about music from his homeland. His inability to name one causes a brief emotional shift, as his memories of home are unclear and painful.
• Snow comforts him by inviting him to dance. Their intimacy develops into a prolonged kiss, with Li Ziran becoming unusually calm and emotionally unrestrained.
• While dancing, Li Ziran experiences a new level of freedom and control over his Void Chains, symbolically connecting his emotional release with his growing mastery of his powers.
• Their private moment is interrupted by Cat Three, who arrives with a striking woman dressed identically to Snow. The woman is revealed to be Kazilan, though she is not human.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran: Displays a protective and considerate side toward Snow, helping her feel safe in an intimidating environment. The music and closeness with Snow allow him to temporarily abandon his usual calculations and restraints. His emotional freedom appears to improve his control over the Void Chains.
• Snow: Initially frightened and overwhelmed by the banquet, she gradually becomes confident and joyful while listening to her clan’s song. She reveals emotional sensitivity and compassion by comforting Li Ziran when he struggles with memories of home. Her relationship with him becomes openly intimate.
• Cat Three: Appears at the end of the chapter, teasingly acknowledging the couple’s intimacy and introducing the chapter’s central figure.
• Kazilan: Makes her entrance as a beautiful, mysterious woman who resembles a human and wears the same crimson dress as Snow. Her nonhuman identity and connection to the invitation establish her as an important and potentially dangerous figure.

Significant Themes

• Music as memory and identity: “Song of Snow” reconnects Snow with her mother, childhood, and cultural heritage. Music also exposes Li Ziran’s buried feelings about his lost homeland.
• Freedom from restraint: The banquet, dancing, and kiss allow Li Ziran to abandon his constant vigilance. This emotional freedom is mirrored by the breaking and flowing of his Void Chains.
• Intimacy amid danger: Although surrounded by powerful and suspicious beings, Li Ziran and Snow create a private emotional space together.
• The contrast between life and the inhuman: Their presence as humans among strange races emphasizes their vulnerability, while Kazilan’s human appearance despite being nonhuman complicates that distinction.
• Luxury and power: The exclusive banquet and VIP platform demonstrate Kazilan’s influence and the hierarchy among the Void Expanse’s races.

Character Interactions

• Li Ziran carefully reassures Snow and invites her to choose the music, strengthening their trust.
• Snow’s emotional reaction to “Song of Snow” reveals her vulnerability, while Li Ziran supports her enjoyment rather than focusing on the surrounding danger.
• Snow reverses their earlier roles by pouring Li Ziran a drink and encouraging him to dance, then comforts him when he becomes melancholic.
• Their dance develops into a passionate kiss, showing their growing romantic and physical attraction.
• Cat Three interrupts them with amusement rather than hostility, while Kazilan silently observes, suggesting that she may already understand or be testing their relationship.

Chapter Summary: “Kazilan, the Great Beauty”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Ziran and Snow attend a banquet after receiving a ceremonial red robe and invitation from Kazilan, Christie's chief auctioneer. Cat Three stands obediently beside Kazilan.
• Kazilan studies Li Ziran’s Void Chains, recognizing that they are unusually smooth and powerful. She also compliments Snow’s appearance in the ceremonial outfit.
• Kazilan reveals that she has connections with influential figures, including the human William, and has been monitoring Li Ziran’s growing potential.
• She discusses Li Ziran’s recent auction activities and confirms that his shells can generate a Tide capable of allowing life to exist independently in the Void Expanse.
• Kazilan warns that Li Ziran’s funds—seven hundred thousand Void Coins—are insufficient to secure valuable land after the continents divide. She tells him the Wasteland, his birthplace, may cost over 16.28 million Void Coins because the Undead Race wants it.
• She offers to provide twenty million Void Coins so Li Ziran can purchase the Wasteland, claiming he would eventually recover the investment.
• Li Ziran realizes the offer is not generosity. Kazilan wants the technology behind the Void Chains and directly proposes buying them.
• Although the enormous sum could secure Li Ziran’s future, he refuses internally because he considers the Void Chains more valuable than money and essential to his survival and future technological development.
• Kazilan then reveals her true form: her beautiful body is merely a shell composed of countless fleas. The insects scatter, regroup, and reconstruct an unsettling humanoid form.
• The revelation horrifies Li Ziran and Snow. Li Ziran is so disgusted by Kazilan’s form—and even by Snow’s previously beautiful appearance—that he feels he may never again be capable of loving a woman.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran demonstrates increasing caution and strategic awareness. He recognizes Kazilan’s offer as a calculated attempt to acquire his greatest asset rather than a charitable gesture.
• His commitment to technology deepens: he values the Void Chains as a foundation for creating and controlling Tide, placing knowledge and capability above wealth.
• Li Ziran’s perception of beauty is violently altered by Kazilan’s transformation. His disgust extends beyond Kazilan to Snow, suggesting a lasting psychological wound.
• Snow is shown as self-conscious and awed by Kazilan’s beauty. She compares herself unfavorably to Kazilan, but becomes frightened and physically dependent on Li Ziran after Kazilan reveals her insect form.
• Kazilan presents herself as elegant, friendly, and generous, but is revealed to be manipulative and physically horrifying. Her interest in Li Ziran is primarily connected to the Void Chains.
• Cat Three remains respectful and obedient, serving as the link between Li Ziran and Kazilan.

Significant Themes

• Technology versus wealth: Li Ziran refuses to sell the Void Chains because genuine power and knowledge are more valuable to him than money.
• Appearance versus reality: Kazilan’s peerless beauty is exposed as an artificial shell hiding a mass of fleas, emphasizing the danger of trusting appearances.
• Predation and manipulation: Kazilan’s offer resembles a predator tempting prey with wealth. Li Ziran recognizes that her generosity comes with a hidden cost.
• Identity and disgust: The transformation destroys Li Ziran’s idealized perception of beauty and threatens his ability to form romantic attachments.
• Survival and independence: The Void Chains may allow life to exist in the Void Expanse, making them crucial to the future survival and migration of living beings.

Character Interactions

• Kazilan uses compliments and flattering conversation to establish rapport with Li Ziran while probing his resources and ambitions.
• Li Ziran responds politely but evasively, refusing to reveal the full capabilities of his shells or Void Chains.
• Their negotiation becomes increasingly direct: Kazilan offers twenty million Void Coins, while Li Ziran questions what she truly wants in return.
• Snow’s presence highlights the contrast between ordinary beauty and Kazilan’s supernatural allure. After Kazilan’s transformation, Snow clings to Li Ziran for protection.
• The chapter ends with Kazilan’s horrifying revelation overwhelming the social atmosphere, replacing elegance and temptation with fear and revulsion.

Chapter Summary: “Fortune”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Ziran meets Kazilan, who appears in a body identical to Snow’s but is actually a human-shaped manifestation of the Insect Race—an enormous colony of fleas controlled by a mother insect. The revelation disgusts and unsettles him.
• Cat Three explains that Kazilan is a powerful figure: a chief auctioneer at Christie’s, worth roughly five million Void Coins personally, with additional assets and access to the Insect Race’s reserves.
• Kazilan offers to provide Li Ziran with twenty million Void Coins, enough to help him acquire a continent. Li Ziran distrusts the offer and asks what she wants in return.
• Kazilan reveals that her Void Chains are collapsing. She wants Li Ziran’s help understanding or repairing the Chains he has comprehended, offering her entire fortune in exchange.
• Li Ziran refuses the offer, wary of anyone willing to risk everything. Kazilan then lowers her demand, offering five million Void Coins for an explanation of the “rotating circles” and the formation of the points that created Tide within the dissected centipede shell.
• Li Ziran realizes Kazilan has dissected the centipede shell sold through Christie’s and may have studied, detected, or even reproduced his Void Chains. He pretends to be drunk and has Snow lead him away to avoid answering.
• Before he leaves, Kazilan displays an image of the Red Soil Continent and reveals its deep internal structure. She traces tunnels through the continent’s strata, magma, the Dungeon, and previously unknown rock layers until reaching a vast, sealed underground sea.
• Kazilan produces a bottle containing a single drop of black material extracted from this underground sea. Within it, Li Ziran sees intersecting golden-yellow and emerald-green Chains, apparently fused elements of the Red Soil Continent’s eight great Chains.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran remains cautious and pragmatic. He refuses Kazilan’s enormous offer because he suspects hidden motives and fears becoming involved with someone who has staked her entire fortune. His ability to disguise his alarm by pretending to be drunk shows his resourcefulness.
• Kazilan is established as both refined and terrifying. Though she appears elegant and gentle, she represents a massive, highly organized insect colony and possesses advanced knowledge of Void Chains. Her willingness to risk her entire fortune suggests desperation and determination.
• Cat Three acts as an intermediary and provides important information about Kazilan’s wealth and status. Her pride in her teacher also hints at Kazilan’s influence within Christie’s and the Insect Race.
• Snow demonstrates quiet understanding and cooperation, immediately recognizing Li Ziran’s signal and helping him leave.
• Anfuni is present but largely silent, serving as part of the group observing the negotiation.

Significant Themes

• Appearance versus reality: Kazilan’s beautiful human form conceals a swarm of fleas, emphasizing the danger of judging beings by their appearance.
• Power through collectivity: The Insect Race’s strength comes not from individual bodies but from the coordinated force of millions of insects and their shared Void Chains.
• Desperation and risk: Kazilan’s offer of her “entire fortune” reveals how far she is willing to go to preserve or advance her power, while Li Ziran views such total commitment as dangerous irrationality.
• Knowledge as leverage: Both sides withhold critical information. Kazilan seeks Li Ziran’s understanding of the Void Chains, while Li Ziran tries to discover her true capabilities and motives.
• Hidden structures and deeper mysteries: The underground sea and the black substance suggest that the Red Soil Continent contains an unknown source or concentration of fused Chains, expanding the mystery surrounding Tide and the continent’s internal nature.

Important Character Interactions

• Kazilan and Li Ziran negotiate indirectly, with Kazilan repeatedly increasing the value of her offers while Li Ziran probes her motives.
• Cat Three strengthens Kazilan’s credibility by explaining her wealth and influence, but her words also alert Li Ziran to the scale of the resources involved.
• Li Ziran uses Snow as an excuse to escape the conversation, and Snow cooperates without needing an explanation.
• Kazilan maintains a playful, teasing tone—even mocking Li Ziran’s feigned drunkenness—while simultaneously revealing information meant to impress, pressure, or entice him.
• The final revelation of the underground sea shifts the interaction from a financial negotiation to a potentially much larger discovery about the Red Soil Continent’s Chains.

Li Ziran tasted the rare substance Origin and recognized it as the ultimate element that bound the Red Soil Continent’s chains together. Learning that continental fragments could carry more Origin, he sought a way to obtain funding without surrendering his Void Chains.

• Li Ziran swallowed Kazilan’s Origin and sensed the continent’s many elements, including the Void Chains that bound them together.
• Kazilan explained that Origin was rare, could merge souls with continents, and might be obtained when the Red Soil Continent shattered.
• Li Ziran considered how to evolve a shell from layered elements rather than rely on forced fusion with a continent.
• Li Ziran decided he needed land near the Continental Core to secure more Origin, but suspected Kazilan wanted his Void Chains.
• Li Ziran asked Kazilan how much funding she would provide if he demonstrated how to manufacture a Tidal Shell.

Chapter Summary: “Cooperation Is a Win-Win”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Ziran approaches Kazilan hoping to secure funding and establish a long-term partnership. He wants to sell Tidal Shells as a source of income while keeping the secret of his Void Chains hidden.
• He proposes a price of two million Void Coins. Kazilan agrees immediately, but her eagerness is suspicious.
• To demonstrate the shells’ value, Li Ziran assembles several examples, including humanoid shells, a Black Dragon, a centipede, and a Stonefolk. He explains that the shells can be customized, are highly compatible with souls, and could be produced in unlimited quantities.
• Kazilan dismisses the shells as worthless “trash.” She destroys the Black Dragon shell using fleas, revealing that she has no interest in selling or buying shells. Her true objective is Li Ziran’s Void Chains and the knowledge connected to Origin.
• Li Ziran realizes that what he believed could be a mutually beneficial business arrangement is actually an attempt by Kazilan to manipulate and consume him.
• When Li Ziran tries to leave, the banquet hall transforms into a sea of fleas. Kazilan indirectly threatens Snow, making it clear that refusal could endanger his companion.
• Li Ziran protects himself and Snow with a powerful tide of Natural Force and light, burning away any fleas that approach.
• After a tense standoff, Kazilan withdraws rather than fight. She leaves behind a card containing a Teleportation Array and gives Li Ziran three days to reconsider her offer.
• Li Ziran refuses to take the card, determined not to weaken his resolve. He decides to obtain a continental fragment and seize control of Origin himself before the auction.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran: Begins the chapter confident in his craftsmanship and optimistic about cooperation, but becomes increasingly wary as Kazilan exposes her predatory motives. He demonstrates caution, resolve, and protectiveness toward Snow, ultimately rejecting an opportunity that might compromise his independence.
• Kazilan: Reveals herself to be far more ambitious and dangerous than Li Ziran expected. She is uninterested in ordinary wealth and values only Origin and the Void Chains. Her polite, elegant manner conceals a threatening and manipulative nature.
• Snow: Initially fascinated and confused by Li Ziran’s shell-making, she becomes frightened when Kazilan threatens her. She instinctively takes shelter behind Li Ziran, reinforcing their trust and dependence on one another.
• Cat Three: Watches Li Ziran’s demonstration with amusement and appears to understand more about the situation than Snow, though he does not intervene directly.

Significant Themes

• False cooperation and hidden motives: What appears to be a mutually beneficial partnership may conceal an attempt at exploitation.
• Independence versus temptation: Li Ziran must choose between immediate financial support and protecting the secrets that could determine his future.
• Power and intimidation: Kazilan uses her control over the banquet hall and her threat against Snow to pressure Li Ziran into submission.
• Trust and vigilance: Li Ziran learns that intelligence and apparent generosity do not necessarily indicate sincerity.
• Determination and self-reliance: Rather than depend on Kazilan, Li Ziran resolves to secure a continental fragment and control Origin through his own efforts.

Character Interactions

• Li Ziran and Kazilan begin with a seemingly commercial negotiation, but their exchange gradually becomes a confrontation over the Void Chains and Origin.
• Kazilan praises Li Ziran’s craftsmanship before contemptuously destroying one of his creations, deliberately undermining his confidence and revealing her true priorities.
• Kazilan threatens Snow to pressure Li Ziran, while Li Ziran responds by shielding Snow and confronting Kazilan directly.
• Their standoff ends without open combat, but Kazilan leaves the door open for renewed contact, while Li Ziran deliberately rejects the means of returning to her.

Chapter Summary: My Shell Is Out of Print

Key Plot Points and Events

• After Li Ziran leaves the banquet, several fleas secretly emerge from the VIP platform and discuss him. They plan to obtain his Void Chains, believe he is difficult to control, and consider sabotaging him while gathering the twenty million Void Coins needed to buy the chains.
• Li Ziran becomes determined to obtain Origin Liquid, the condensed essence of the Red Soil Continent. He believes it contains immense power and recognizes that it will become permanently scarce once the continent is divided into auctioned fragments.
• Returning to his room, Li Ziran tells Snow and Goni that he wants to purchase one of the continental fragments, possibly Hippo Ancient City. The fragment will likely cost at least two million Void Coins, while they currently possess only seven hundred thousand and have just three days to raise the rest.
• Goni offers five hundred thousand of his own money, bringing their available funds to approximately 1.2 million. Li Ziran plans to borrow the remaining amount from Quentin’s organization.
• Quentin explains that his organization can normally lend Li Ziran only three hundred thousand Void Coins. A larger loan would require valuable collateral, and the organization would heavily undervalue whatever Li provides.
• Li first presents three Tidal Shells, but Quentin dismisses them as worthless. Snow then reveals that Li created the shells previously listed—and suddenly recalled—by Christie’s. She claims their unique Tide allows ordinary beings to survive in the Void Expanse without a Derivative Space.
• Quentin becomes interested. Li offers to let the organization test the shells before assigning them a price, hoping they can serve as collateral and increase his borrowing limit.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran becomes unusually urgent and single-minded. His desire for Origin Liquid pushes him into financial risk and forces him to seek loans despite his usual caution about money.
• Goni demonstrates loyalty by offering a substantial portion of his own wealth. He also remains pragmatic, warning Li about the dangers of borrowing from Quentin’s organization.
• Snow proves herself highly perceptive and persuasive. She understands the value of Li’s shells and skillfully presents them in a way that makes Quentin reconsider them.
• Quentin is portrayed as both opportunistic and constrained by organizational rules. Although he seems eager to lend money, he cannot approve a large loan without adequate collateral.
• The fleas reveal that Li Ziran is being watched and targeted by outside forces seeking the Void Chains.

Significant Themes

• Scarcity and irreversible loss: Origin Liquid is finite, and the division of the Red Soil Continent will end its production, making every drop extraordinarily valuable.
• Ambition versus financial limitation: Li Ziran recognizes a rare opportunity but lacks the resources to seize it, creating tension between his goals and practical constraints.
• Hidden value and misjudgment: The Tidal Shells appear worthless to Quentin, yet they may possess revolutionary survival technology. The chapter emphasizes how easily unfamiliar or poorly marketed inventions can be overlooked.
• Manipulation and commercial power: Both the fleas and Quentin’s organization seek to control valuable assets through surveillance, debt, pricing, and leverage.
• Trust and cooperation: Li relies on Goni’s financial support and Snow’s ability to promote his creations, showing that his progress depends increasingly on allies.

Character Interactions

• The fleas conspire against Li Ziran while discussing the Void Chains and their financial strategy.
• Li Ziran and Goni discuss the cost of buying a continental fragment, with Goni offering money and cautioning Li against excessive borrowing.
• Li and Quentin negotiate a loan. Quentin refuses the requested eight hundred thousand but suggests using valuable goods as collateral.
• Quentin initially mocks the Tidal Shells, while Snow challenges his assumptions by revealing their connection to Christie’s recalled product.
• Li supports Snow’s claims by calmly agreeing to let Quentin test the shells, leaving their value to be proven through results.

Li Ziran tried to find funding for his plans by selling Tidal Shells in an unused shop, but his first customers left without buying anything. When the shop’s owner confronted him, Li Ziran destroyed the crocodile’s tail with his stitching power and offered rent despite having no money.

• Quentin took Li Ziran’s three shells to try to sell and gave him a token to use if he needed help.
• Goni explained how powerful groups in the Void Expanse earned Void Coins, and Li Ziran decided to seek out a way to trade with bandits.
• Li Ziran led Snow and Goni to an empty shop, set up a Tidal Shell business, and posted prices ranging from 500 to 100,000 Void Coins.
• Several passersby rejected Snow’s pitch, while Li Ziran slept and Goni collected no money.
• The shop’s crocodile owner attacked Goni, but Li Ziran shredded the crocodile’s tail with his stitching power.
• Li Ziran offered to pay the crocodile rent, then admitted he had no money and proposed putting up collateral instead.

Chapter Summary: “Li, This Business Has No Profit”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Ziran attempts to make his first sale by offering Crocodile a Tidal Shell package priced at 3,000 Void Coins, discounted to 2,400 because Crocodile owns the shop. After deducting the 1,000-coin rent, Li demands 1,400 Void Coins.
• Crocodile realizes Li is effectively asking him to pay for taking over or altering his own body. Enraged, he attacks the shop, but Li effortlessly uses Void Strike to erase Crocodile’s forelimbs and tail.
• A crowd gathers. Crocodile pretends to be helpless and wronged, loudly accusing Li and Christie’s of unfairness. The onlookers sympathize with him and begin criticizing Li.
• Auctioneers from Christie’s arrive to stop the disturbance. One of them is Cat Three, who recognizes Li as an honored guest of his teacher and immediately reframes the conflict as a misunderstanding.
• To protect Christie’s reputation and his own position, Cat Three buys Crocodile’s opportunity himself. He gives Crocodile 1,000 Void Coins for the shop’s rent and pays Li the required 1,400 coins, claiming the alteration quota.
• Cat Three explains that Li’s service is highly valuable but is unlikely to make much money in the small shop. He recommends using Christie’s Void Network to sell Void Chains instead and then leaves to meet his teacher.
• After hearing about the Tidal Shell’s ability to grant independent survival, resist the Derivative Tide, and escape Derivative Space, the crowd becomes interested and begins entering the shop to ask questions.
• Crocodile regrets rejecting the offer, but when he asks whether he can still receive the original deal, Li informs him that the price has risen to 3,000 Void Coins.
• Although Li has not yet completed a sale, he becomes confident that customers will eventually appear. He considers Crocodile’s resistance and dramatic behavior a useful form of publicity.

2. Character Developments

• Li Ziran: Demonstrates overwhelming power, commercial cleverness, and a calm, almost playful attitude toward conflict. He remains focused on selling his service rather than seeking revenge. His confidence grows as the crowd becomes interested in the Tidal Shell.
• Crocodile: Initially tries to exploit Li by demanding rent, then reacts with anger when Li turns the situation around. He reveals himself to be physically powerful but cowardly, manipulative, and theatrically emotional. His greed and hesitation cause him to lose an extraordinary opportunity.
• Cat Three: Shows practical judgment and political awareness. Though he does not want to become involved, he protects Christie’s reputation and Li’s status by purchasing the quota himself. His comments also reveal concern for Li’s inefficient business strategy.
• Snow: Worries that the conflict will damage Li and jeopardize their relationship with Christie’s. Her concern highlights her more cautious and socially aware nature.
• Goni: Similarly fears that the disturbance may cause Christie’s to revoke their auction privileges, showing his awareness of the larger political consequences.
• The crowd: Shifts quickly from sympathy for Crocodile to curiosity about Li’s product. Their changing attitude demonstrates how reputation and perceived authority influence public opinion.

3. Significant Themes

• Value and missed opportunities: Crocodile rejects a life-changing service because of its price, only to realize later that he has sacrificed a priceless chance for short-term financial caution.
• Power versus public perception: Li clearly dominates Crocodile physically, but Crocodile temporarily gains public sympathy through performance and manipulation. Authority and reputation ultimately determine the outcome.
• Business and exploitation: The chapter humorously presents Li’s attempt to run a business in which the product is extraordinarily valuable but difficult for ordinary customers to afford.
• Institutional reputation and self-interest: Cat Three intervenes less out of concern for justice than to protect Christie’s name and his own position within the organization.
• Opportunity and timing: Li’s limited three-day stall and Crocodile’s refusal emphasize that rare opportunities may disappear quickly.
• Publicity through conflict: Although the confrontation initially threatens Li’s reputation, it unintentionally draws attention to his service and brings potential customers into the shop.

4. Character Interactions

• Li and Crocodile: Their exchange begins as a sales negotiation but becomes a power struggle. Li exposes Crocodile’s greed, defeats him effortlessly, and later raises the price when Crocodile tries to reconsider.
• Crocodile and the crowd: Crocodile manipulates the onlookers through exaggerated crying and accusations, persuading them to defend him against Li.
• Li and the crowd: The crowd initially condemns Li, but their attitude changes once they learn about the Tidal Shell’s remarkable benefits.
• Cat Three and Li: Cat Three publicly confirms Li’s importance as Christie’s honored guest and purchases the alteration quota, preserving their relationship while resolving the dispute.
• Cat Three and Crocodile: Cat Three dismisses Crocodile’s complaints, pays him for the shop, and mocks him for failing to appreciate the opportunity.
• Snow and Goni with Li: Both quietly worry about the political and reputational damage caused by the conflict, contrasting with Li’s relaxed confidence.

Kazilan sought powerful Void Chains for the Red Soil Continent cores and ordered Cat Three to isolate Li Ziran, while Li Ziran’s shop struggled to attract paying customers. A Brass Giant finally paid five thousand Void Coins for a full-body modification, and Li Ziran told Snow to prepare for a crowd.

• Kazilan discussed the coming auction with Cat Three, explaining that she needed supreme Void Chains to merge with a Red Soil Continent core.
• Cat Three warned Kazilan about Li Ziran, but she refused to interfere openly and ordered Cat Three to cut off his outside dealings and keep others from noticing him.
• Li Ziran modified a Stonefolk customer’s cerebellum for five hundred Void Coins, while Snow worried that their shop was earning too little to meet their financial needs.
• After the shop remained quiet into the next day, a Brass Giant arrived and agreed to pay five thousand Void Coins for a full-body modification.
• Snow announced the sale, and Li Ziran led the Brass Giant to the operating table before telling Snow to have customers line up when the shop got crowded.

Li Ziran’s shell-modification shop drew a crowd after Bashan’s survival in the Void Expanse spread, but Li’s slow work left them far short of the Void Coins needed for Christie's auction. With the auction starting at midnight, Li ordered the shop to close at noon despite the long queue.

• Li Ziran spent nearly three hours modifying the Brass Giant’s shell while Snow doubted that customers would come.
• Four Orcs arrived seeking modifications, and Snow lined them up and called Li Ziran back to work.
• More customers crowded in after hearing that Bashan had survived the true Void Expanse and returned unharmed after dragging an enemy inside.
• Li Ziran modified only five customers overnight as the queue grew to two lines of fifty people each.
• Snow warned Li Ziran that the auction began at midnight and asked him to work faster, but he refused shortcuts and ordered the shop to close at noon.

Chapter Summary: “Stirring Up the Market”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Ziran abruptly closes his shell-modification business at noon, despite nearly a hundred customers waiting with large amounts of Void Coins.
• Snow is forced to turn away the Golden-Feathered Eagle and the other customers. Their frustration escalates into shouting, accusations, and damage to the shop.
• Li Ziran refuses to compensate or continue operating, claiming he must conserve his strength for the midnight auction. He leaves with Snow and Goni.
• Back at the Mill, Snow questions his seemingly irresponsible behavior. Goni and Li explain that individual customers cannot provide enough money quickly enough. They need powerful organizations or wealthy groups willing to invest or lend them at least five hundred thousand Void Coins.
• Li’s deliberate refusal is revealed as a strategy: by creating scarcity and making himself difficult to reach, he hopes to attract major clients interested in his valuable shell-modification technology.
• Potential customers repeatedly attempt to contact Li through the tavern, but Snow turns them away under his instructions. Several formidable beings discuss the usefulness of the Tidal Shell, particularly its ability to let users survive briefly in the Absolute Void.
• The chapter ends when Anfuni returns from exploring Christie’s Derivative Space and asks Li to modify thirty shells for her Primordial Elf friends. Li accepts the deal but regards it as only a preliminary opportunity, believing a much larger customer is about to appear.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran demonstrates increasing business cunning. He deliberately sacrifices immediate profits and customer goodwill to create demand, attract influential clients, and secure a major financial opportunity before the auction.
• Snow begins the chapter confused and troubled by Li’s behavior, especially because it contradicts her understanding that business depends on reliability. By the end, she recognizes his manipulation of scarcity and starts to understand his business strategy.
• Goni understands Li’s plan from the beginning and helps explain that their financial needs require large-scale investors rather than ordinary customers.
• Anfuni returns with improved prospects after meeting the Primordial Elves. She shows trust in Li by acting as an intermediary for her people and requesting thirty shell modifications.
• The waiting customers, especially the Golden-Feathered Eagle, shift from hopeful clients to angry and desperate petitioners, emphasizing how valuable Li’s technology has become.

Significant Themes

• Scarcity creates value: Li intentionally limits access to his services so that customers will compete for his attention and offer more favorable terms.
• Short-term profit versus long-term gain: Li rejects potentially lucrative immediate business in pursuit of a much larger investment or partnership.
• Power of unique technology: The Tidal Shell’s ability to protect users in the Absolute Void makes Li’s services highly desirable to powerful groups.
• Business as strategy and manipulation: The chapter presents commerce as a contest of information, timing, reputation, and leverage rather than simple exchange.
• Ambition and risk: Li needs enormous funds to compete for valuable continent fragments at the auction, forcing him to take bold risks and provoke potential customers.

Important Character Interactions

• Snow and the Golden-Feathered Eagle: Snow apologetically denies him service, while he remains persistent and increasingly frustrated after waiting for hours.
• Li and the crowd: Li dismisses their complaints and refuses compensation, reinforcing his deliberate aloofness.
• Li, Snow, and Goni: Goni reveals the reasoning behind Li’s actions, helping Snow understand that they need major clients rather than many small customers.
• Snow and the tavern visitors: Snow repeatedly blocks powerful figures from meeting Li, maintaining the appearance that he is inaccessible and preparing for the auction.
• Anfuni and Li: Anfuni asks Li to help the Primordial Elves, securing thirty potential customers. Li accepts but clearly expects a more important client to arrive through the attention his strategy has generated.

Chapter Summary: “The Panda Clan Needs Its Own House”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Anfuni returns after learning that the Tidal Shell has become a sensation throughout the Void Expanse. Because the shells can function independently outside Derivative Spaces, they offer ordinary beings greater mobility, trade opportunities, survival options, and even defensive capabilities.
• She asks Li Ziran to allow the Primordial Elves to receive Tidal Shell modifications. Li agrees immediately and gives Anfuni authority to decide how many Elves may be treated.
• Three Primordial Elves undergo the modification. Li performs the procedures extremely quickly, completing them in less than an hour. The Elves promise to gather funds for the remaining thirty, potentially helping finance Li’s upcoming auction.
• News of the Primordial Elves’ treatment causes unrest in the tavern. Other groups realize Li has time to perform modifications and begin demanding access.
• Through the bartender, Li announces that only three modification slots are available, with a minimum order of 50,000 Void Coins. Payment must be advanced, and the highest bidders will be chosen after one hour.
• Major factions begin competing. The Grasshopper Insect Race offers 50,000 Void Coins, while the Golden Dragon Clan raises the offer to 180,000. Other groups combine their resources to compete.
• Quentin returns and is shocked by how valuable the Tidal Shells have suddenly become. He recognizes that Li is using advance orders to raise money, likely for the purchase of a continent fragment.
• Quentin offers Li a 500,000-Void-Coin loan, along with favorable interest terms, but Li rejects it as insufficient. When Li hints that he needs one million, Quentin insists that 500,000 is his limit.
• Li provokes Quentin by suggesting that other bidders may become his future business partners. Quentin loses his composure and declares that Li’s business belongs to him.
• Li reveals that he has already prepared an authorization document granting Quentin unlimited rights to develop and sell the Tidal Shells. The document could allow Quentin to earn enormous wealth, provided he can obtain the necessary funds.
• Cat Three emerges and reveals that recommending Quentin was his idea. He explains that the Panda Clan needs enough wealth to establish a home of its own.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran demonstrates that his apparent lack of ability or time is deliberate. He performs the modifications rapidly and uses the sudden demand to control the market, raise capital, and pressure Quentin. His calm, manipulative negotiation style becomes increasingly evident.
• Anfuni gains unexpected authority from Li. His trust allows her to represent the Primordial Elves and make decisions on their behalf, giving her greater confidence and importance.
• Snow grows more suspicious of Li’s true abilities and motives. She notices that he is far more capable than he pretends and becomes protective of his interests when Quentin acts aggressively.
• Quentin shifts from confident financier to anxious rival. He realizes that his influence depends on his money and fears being replaced by wealthier bidders. His emotional outburst reveals greed, desperation, and a strong desire to control the Tidal Shell trade.
• Cat Three is revealed to be actively planning for the Panda Clan’s future. His goal is not merely profit but securing an independent home and foundation for his people.

Significant Themes

• Supply, demand, and control of resources: Li turns the Tidal Shells into a scarce and highly valuable commodity by limiting access and requiring advance payment.
• Trust versus greed: Quentin claims to trust Li, but his actions are motivated largely by the fear of losing a profitable opportunity. Li recognizes this distinction and exploits it.
• Power through opportunity: Li’s authorization document offers Quentin immense potential wealth, but only if Quentin can gather enough capital and take the risk.
• Strategic deception: Li’s modest storefront persona hides his real capabilities and allows him to manipulate competitors and investors.
• Building a homeland: The final revelation frames the business negotiations as part of a larger goal: giving the Panda Clan an independent place to live.

Character Interactions

• Anfuni and Li Ziran: Their conversation establishes Li’s trust in Anfuni and gives her authority over the Primordial Elves’ participation.
• Li, Snow, and Goni: They operate the modification business together, with Goni handling payments, Snow recording information, and Li performing the procedures.
• The bartender and the tavern’s customers: The bartender becomes the public messenger for Li’s auction-like bidding process, while desperate factions compete for limited slots.
• Li and Quentin: Their negotiation forms the chapter’s central conflict. Li rejects Quentin’s loan, manipulates his fear of losing the business, and then offers him exclusive commercial rights.
• Li and Cat Three: Cat Three’s final statement reveals that Li’s dealings are connected to a broader Panda Clan strategy, giving the chapter its concluding purpose.

Li Ziran tried to secure financing for the midnight auction through Quentin, but Quentin refused until Cat Three revealed the Panda Clan’s remaining members and Li Ziran pressured him to help. Quentin left to raise Void Coins, while Cat Three disclosed that Kazilan had also blocked Li Ziran’s backup source of funds.

• Quentin tore up the authorization document, rejected Li Ziran’s proposal, and tried to end their dealings.
• Li Ziran told Quentin he needed a guarantor to raise millions of Void Coins quickly, not a loan from Quentin’s organization.
• When Quentin hesitated, Li Ziran tied the benefits for the Panda Clan to how many Void Coins Quentin could secure, and Cat Three showed him the clan’s remaining members inside the Mill.
• Quentin rushed off to raise funds after Li Ziran demanded actual Void Coins before the midnight auction.
• Snow discovered that the hall had been emptied, and Cat Three admitted Kazilan had ordered the customers away to keep Li Ziran from obtaining more Void Coins.

Kazilan shut down Li Ziran’s customers and pressured him to surrender control of the Tidal Shells, leaving his funding plans in jeopardy before the auction. When Quentin arrived demanding to see his tribe, Li showed him the Pandas already transformed by the shells’ unusual black and white tides.

• Cat Three told Li Ziran that Kazilan had expelled the individual buyers and Primordial Elves, and warned that even William had submitted to her.
• Snow, Anfuni, and Li waited for news and funding as the auction approached, while Goni went to check on the promised Void Coins.
• Jin Potter arrived and reported that Kazilan had publicly claimed management rights over Tidal Shells in Christie's Derivative Space.
• Li decided to attend the auction despite the lack of news from Goni, then met Quentin, who angrily demanded to know what had happened to his tribe.
• Li took Quentin to the eighth floor, where Quentin found thirteen Pandas suspended in swirling black and white tides, their Tidal Shells apparently already modified.

Li Ziran left Quentin’s tribe after learning the Pandas had gained Void Chains, while Quentin offered to raise at least two million Void Coins for the auction. At Christie's Auction House, Kazilan greeted Li Ziran and threatened Snow, leaving Li facing the auctioneer as the ceremony began.

• Li Ziran told Quentin to take his tribe and live well, but Quentin stopped him and offered a White Slip worth one hundred thousand Void Coins.
• Snow rejected Quentin’s offer, but Quentin promised to secure at least two million Void Coins within three hours by seeking backing from people he knew.
• Quentin hurried away to raise the money, while Li Ziran led Snow and Anfuni to Christie's Auction House for the auction.
• Li Ziran saw the auction house’s grand displays, which showed Black Beetles dividing the Red Soil Continent into fifty-six pieces.
• Kazilan approached Li Ziran on the auction house steps, and Snow retreated when Kazilan turned her fingertip into black fleas.

Li Ziran rejected Kazilan’s pressure to sell her his Void Chains and entered the Christie's auction, hoping to secure land and build a Tidal Shell production base. The first parcel opened at a price far above his expectations, leaving him with only 789,000 Void Coins to bid.

• Li Ziran learned that Goni had likely been detained by Six Flavors House after Kazilan passed information to them, and she demanded three million Void Coins to resolve the matter.
• Kazilan offered Li Ziran twenty million Void Coins for his Void Chains, but he refused to give them up and focused instead on building a market for Tidal Shells.
• Li Ziran questioned whether Six Flavors House could settle everything for a price, then left Kazilan to attend the auction.
• Kazilan told Cat Three that Li Ziran's prospective Tidal Shell buyers had been restricted and ordered him to keep Li Ziran from obtaining Void Coins at Christie's.
• Li Ziran exchanged his funds, took bidding paddles with Jin Potter, Snow, and Anfuni, and heard the first land parcel open at 630,000 Void Coins.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• The auction for the Red Soil Continent begins with the Outer Sea Regions. The first coastal fragment sells for 765,000 Void Coins to Jibat of the Black Whale Race, whose species is especially suited to deep-sea territory.
• Twelve Outer Sea Regions are rapidly sold, generally for around 720,000 Void Coins each, demonstrating both the auction’s competitiveness and the immense interest in the continent’s division.
• Li Ziran and his companions—Snow and Anfuni—remain mostly spectators because their funds are limited. Li is briefly tempted by the excitement of bidding but quickly regains his composure.
• When the Deep-Sea Region begins, Li attempts to bid on a region containing abundant trenches, materials, and a Demon Derivative Space. However, Sea Folk competitors immediately drive up the price, and Li’s attempts are also obstructed when the Void Chains interfere with his bidding paddle.
• Kazilan offers Li one million Void Coins, supposedly for free, through a Stonefolk intermediary. Li firmly refuses, recognizing the offer as bait and fearing that accepting it would create greater dependence and greed.
• The auction continues at extraordinary speed, with oceanic regions sold off in rapid succession. Snow and Anfuni fall silent as Li becomes a passive observer, while Jin Potter remains excited by the spectacle.
• Once the auction reaches the Coastal Regions, the auctioneer changes to Gelong, one of Christie's three most famous auctioneers.
• Gelong explains that Christie's discovered the “Origin” within the Red Soil Continent and has spent thirty years studying it with several major races. He claims that merging one’s soul with the continent and abandoning one’s original shell is the most advanced cultivation method known.
• To demonstrate Origin’s power, Gelong cuts off part of his finger. The severed piece regenerates into a miniature duplicate of himself, shocking the entire auction house.
• Gelong argues that dividing the Red Soil Continent will not destroy the Void Expanse. Instead, its Origin will allow the fragments to evolve independently, effectively creating fifty-five additional continents.

2. Character Developments

• Li Ziran shows restraint and strategic patience. Though he briefly experiences the intoxicating thrill of being spotlighted during the auction, he does not let vanity control him. He refuses Kazilan’s financial assistance, demonstrating independence, caution, and resistance to manipulation.
• Li also reveals uncertainty about how to use deep-sea territory, suggesting that he is waiting for a more suitable target rather than buying merely for prestige.
• Anfuni becomes increasingly anxious as the auction progresses and realizes that their limited wealth may exclude them from the best regions. She strongly advocates purchasing the Deep-Sea Region because of its resources and Demon Derivative Space.
• Snow is emotionally invested in the bidding and becomes frustrated when their chances disappear. Her excitement gradually turns into silence as Li’s lack of funds becomes apparent.
• Kazilan is portrayed as opportunistic and manipulative. Her offer of money appears generous but is treated by Li as a trap designed to place him in her debt.
• Gelong emerges as a highly intelligent, scholarly, and influential Dragon Race figure. His demonstration of Origin establishes him as both an authority and a source of unsettling new knowledge.
• Jibat and the Black Whale Race are characterized as practical buyers whose biological adaptation makes the first deep-sea region especially valuable to them.

3. Significant Themes

• Power of wealth and status: The auction emphasizes that money determines who has the right to participate, while even Li’s concentration and potential cannot compensate for insufficient funds.
• Temptation and independence: Li’s refusal of Kazilan’s million Void Coins reflects his fear of becoming indebted and his unwillingness to accept suspicious generosity.
• Transformation and evolution: The Origin introduces a new form of cultivation based on abandoning one’s physical shell and merging with the Red Soil Continent.
• Regeneration and immortality: Gelong’s self-replicating severed finger demonstrates that Origin can restore or reproduce life, suggesting revolutionary possibilities for cultivation and survival.
• Destruction as creation: The continent’s division is presented not as simple ruin, but as a process that may generate new worlds and opportunities.
• Competition among races: Different regions appeal to different species according to their biology, resources, and strategic needs, showing how the auction reshapes the balance of power across the Void Expanse.

4. Character Interactions

• Snow and Anfuni repeatedly urge Li to bid, while Li remains calm and refuses to act without a clear purpose.
• Li reassures Anfuni after their failed bid and emphasizes that the Deep-Sea Region was not truly his goal.
• Kazilan communicates through the Stonefolk intermediary, offering Li financial aid. Li politely rejects the offer, while Snow is shocked that he would refuse free money.
• The chapter closes with the entire auction house—including Li—focused on Gelong’s demonstration of Origin. His revelation shifts the event from a mere land auction into a major disclosure about the future of cultivation and the structure of the Void Expanse.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Gelong, Christie's chief auctioneer, presents the future benefits of acquiring fragments of the Red Soil Continent: new cultivation methods, survival in the Void Expanse, unique territories, and the ability to merge one’s soul with a continent fragment.
• He demonstrates a mysterious Heptagram Chain. A human soul enters a mountain range, and after ten minutes the entire range awakens with a unified consciousness, proving that the chain enables a soul to possess an impossibly large body.
• The demonstration convinces the auction’s powerful guests that the same method may allow them to merge with continent fragments.
• Gelong distributes booklets containing:
  • A map and structural information about the Red Soil Continent.
  • The complete assembly method for the Heptagram Chain.
  • Instructions for locating and refining Origin, including methods for using it to split the flesh.
• Li Ziran studies the continent and discovers that it is not a conventional sphere. Its underside is a vast, jagged structure, while the Tide covers its inhabited surface, making the continent resemble a gigantic mothership.
• The Sagula Great Desert is detached from the Red Soil Continent and put up for auction. Bidding begins aggressively, with the Red Dragon Clan and other powerful factions competing.
• Li Ziran leaves the auction hall, apparently to get fresh air, but actually to confront someone connected to a secret payment.
• Snow follows him and discovers that Li has identified the person who gave him one million Void Coins. The chapter ends as Li asks, “Who?” about the hidden creature behind the pillar.

2. Character Developments

• Gelong is revealed as an exceptionally skilled and ambitious auctioneer. His presentation combines entertainment, technical knowledge, and strategic generosity. By giving away the Heptagram Chain and information about Origin, he ensures that every faction understands the value of the continent fragments and becomes eager to compete.
• Li Ziran remains analytical and cautious. He immediately recognizes that the Heptagram Chain is responsible for the mountain range’s possession and understands its enormous strategic value. However, rather than joining the bidding frenzy, he questions the chain’s unexplained energy source and refuses to act out of desperation.
• Li also demonstrates sharp awareness and hidden motives: his departure from the auction is deliberate, and he has already noticed the mysterious benefactor who supplied Snow with one million Void Coins.
• Snow shows loyalty and concern for Li. She admits that, because of her impoverished upbringing, she would willingly surrender the Void Chains in exchange for survival. Her conversation with Li highlights their different approaches to risk and desperation.
• Anfuni is surprised and concerned when Li leaves, showing her continued attentiveness to his behavior.
• The auction’s powerful participants, including the Red Dragon Clan, become increasingly aggressive as they realize the continent fragments offer both survival and immense power.

3. Significant Themes

• Power through possession and transformation: The Heptagram Chain allows souls to expand and inhabit bodies vastly larger than themselves, suggesting that power may come from restructuring the soul rather than merely accumulating energy.
• The mystery of energy and law: Li questions how the soul can expand a thousandfold without an obvious energy source. This challenges his understanding of Void Chains, which should alter laws rather than create power.
• Knowledge as a weapon: Gelong’s decision to distribute detailed instructions freely appears generous, but it also manipulates the entire auction house into competing more fiercely for continent fragments.
• Survival versus principle: Snow’s willingness to surrender the Void Chains for survival contrasts with Li’s refusal to make such a choice while alternatives remain.
• Scale and hidden reality: The Red Soil Continent is revealed to be a bizarre artificial or semi-artificial structure rather than a normal world, emphasizing the vastness and unfamiliarity of the Void Expanse.
• Competition and strategic manipulation: The auction becomes less a simple sale and more a contest among major factions, with Gelong carefully engineering desire and conflict.

4. Character Interactions

• Gelong jokes with the audience and theatrically guides them from curiosity to excitement through the possession demonstration.
• Li Ziran silently analyzes the demonstration and the booklet’s contents, interpreting the Heptagram Chain more deeply than most of the audience.
• Anfuni questions Li when he leaves, but he reassures her and encourages the group to continue watching the auction.
• Snow follows Li outside, expresses doubt about their chances, and argues from a survival-oriented perspective.
• Li responds by exposing Snow’s hidden financial connection, revealing that someone gave her one million Void Coins. His confrontation with the concealed creature sets up the chapter’s cliffhanger.

Chapter Summary: “My Funds Are Very Ample”

Key Plot Points and Events

• A Dark-Spotted Stonefolk secretly gives Li Ziran a White Slip containing one million Void Coins. The money comes from the entire Dark-Spotted Stonefolk community, not Kazilan.
• The Stonefolk explains that Quentin, a trusted businessman who has supported their race for years, instructed him to deliver the money. In exchange, he asks Li Ziran to purchase land where the Dark-Spotted Stonefolk can settle.
• Although Li Ziran cannot promise that he can obtain land, he accepts the money. The funds are transferred to his Black Bar, providing crucial financial support.
• Anfuni reports that the major races are competing for the Red Soil Continent’s valuable regions. Land prices are expected to reach several million Void Coins, making the group’s funds seem insufficient.
• The auction announces that Hippo Ancient City, a strategically located and historically significant area, will be sold separately with a starting price of 1.2 million Void Coins.
• Li Ziran begins bidding, quickly raising the price from 1.5 million to 1.7 million and then unexpectedly continuing to 1.9 million.
• Kazilan intervenes, bidding three million Void Coins in an apparent attempt to defeat and humiliate him.
• Li Ziran reveals that he can still bid, raising the price to 3.01 million, then 3.51 million and 3.61 million. He confidently provokes Kazilan, claiming his “funds are very ample.”
• The chapter ends with Kazilan and the auction house audience shocked by Li Ziran’s seemingly unexplained wealth.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran becomes more confident and strategically aggressive. Rather than being intimidated by the auction’s powerful competitors, he uses his unexpected wealth to challenge Kazilan publicly and manipulate the bidding.
• Snow shifts from relief at receiving the Stonefolk’s money to confusion and astonishment as Li Ziran repeatedly bids beyond the amount she knows he possesses.
• Anfuni demonstrates her usefulness by gathering intelligence about the auction’s major competitors and projected land prices, though she too is bewildered by Li Ziran’s financial situation.
• The Dark-Spotted Stonefolk representative is shown to be deeply loyal and sincere. His race is willing to risk its entire fortune because of its faith in Quentin and hope for a secure homeland.
• Quentin gains importance despite not appearing directly. His generosity, reliability, and concern for marginalized groups have earned him extraordinary trust.
• Kazilan becomes openly antagonistic toward Li Ziran. Her confidence turns to anger and suspicion when he matches and exceeds her bids.
• Cat Three acts as Kazilan’s cautious adviser, recognizing that Li Ziran’s unexplained wealth makes him dangerous and warning her not to underestimate him.

Significant Themes

• Trust and loyalty: The Stonefolk’s willingness to surrender their fortune reflects their profound trust in Quentin and their belief in Li Ziran’s potential.
• Generosity and social responsibility: Quentin is praised for helping ordinary people and disadvantaged women without discrimination, suggesting that kindness and fairness create powerful alliances.
• Wealth and power: The auction reveals a world where money determines access to territory, influence, and survival. Li Ziran’s sudden financial strength dramatically changes his position.
• Hidden strength and deception: Li Ziran conceals the true extent of his resources, allowing others to underestimate him before he takes control of the situation.
• Competition and political maneuvering: The auction is not merely commerce; it is a contest among powerful races, with bids serving as displays of status and attempts to suppress rivals.
• Hope for a homeland: The Stonefolk’s request introduces the emotional importance of land—not simply as property, but as safety and belonging for an entire displaced race.

Character Interactions

• The Stonefolk representative and Li Ziran negotiate the one-million-coin contribution, with the Stonefolk insisting that the money need not be repaid if Li Ziran will help their people.
• Snow questions Li Ziran’s decision to accept the money and later reacts with disbelief as his bids exceed what she believes he can afford.
• Anfuni gives Li Ziran and the others information about the competing races and the rising land prices.
• Kazilan directly challenges Li Ziran by bidding three million for Hippo Ancient City, turning the auction into a personal confrontation.
• Li Ziran responds by repeatedly raising her bids and teasing her, transforming what appears to be a financial contest into a psychological battle.
• Cat Three attempts to restrain Kazilan, but Li Ziran’s confidence and mysterious resources keep the confrontation escalating.

Li Ziran won Hippo Ancient City at auction after Kazilan declined to outbid him, and Jin Potter revealed that he had secretly gathered the funds from Tidal Shell customers. As Li Ziran celebrated his new territory, Cat Three passed him a note directing him to Goni’s location.

• Kazilan questioned Li Ziran’s source of funds but ultimately let the bidding end at 3,610,000 Void Coins, and Gelong announced Li Ziran as the winner of Hippo Ancient City.
• Li Ziran accepted the city’s exclusive token and told Kazilan that acquiring Hippo Ancient City had always been his dream.
• Jin Potter explained that he had collected 3,230,000 Void Coins in deposits from 227 beings who wanted Tidal Shells.
• Kazilan blamed Cat Three for failing to track Li Ziran’s funds and ordered him to secure money for the upcoming core bidding.
• Cat Three gave Li Ziran a note stating that Goni was at the Mill, third floor, room 3018.