Recaps

Gong Hao made Su Xinghe a Demon Extermination Guard and guided him through the bureau’s token exchange system. Su Xinghe spent his new points to obtain the Iron Body Art, while the danger from Li Shunjun remained unresolved.

• Su Xinghe and Zhou Yingjun decided to give the Beheading Gang a push to keep Lin County’s factions from entering the western city.
• Gong Hao warned Su Xinghe that the Inspection Bureau’s Sky-Patrolling Ravens could be controlled and said he had destroyed records of Su Xinghe’s former identity.
• Gong Hao made Su Xinghe Demon Extermination Guard Yi Thirteen, exchanged points for him, and told him to monitor nearby Outer Demons and contact Zhang Baichuan if he found anything.
• Gong Hao said Tingyun had informed the Heavenly One Sword Sect about Li Shunjun’s attack, but he was unsure whether the sect could find the hidden Grandmaster.
• Su Xinghe inspected his token, received one hundred points from Gong Hao, and chose to exchange them for the Iron Body Art.

Su Xinghe advanced into the Seventh-Rank Transformation Realm and met Zhang Baichuan to seek support against threats in Lin County. Zhang agreed to put the Inspection Bureau at Su’s disposal against the Peaceful Heaven Sect and offered him authority to choose the new city defense captain and Public Security Office head.

• Su Xinghe practiced the Iron Body Art, gained experience, and saw his Fate Panel register his Seventh-Rank realm.
• Gong Hao advised Su Xinghe to acquire force-amplifying secret arts and told him to seek out Zhang Baichuan before departing.
• Su Xinghe visited the Martial Dao Bureau and met Zhang Baichuan, revealing the token that established his standing.
• Su Xinghe relayed Gong Hao’s instructions about the Outer Demons, and Zhang Baichuan offered the Inspection Bureau’s support if they found the Peaceful Heaven Sect’s stronghold.
• Su Xinghe raised concerns about his family’s safety amid the unrest, and Zhang Baichuan gave him seals and invited him to choose two local officials.

Su Xinghe secured Zhang Baichuan’s help, arranged to move his family to a safer home in North City, and began cultivating the Iron Body Art. After settling his family in their new estate, he left alone to keep them out of sight of the Peaceful Heaven Sect and the Lu Family.

• Su Xinghe persuaded Zhang Baichuan to revoke the Beheading Gang’s bounties and promised to warn them about North City.
• Su Xinghe enlisted Zhou Yingjun to help distribute the city defense county lieutenant’s seal and arranged to move his family from Narcissus Street.
• Su Xinghe practiced the Iron Body Art for the first time, using his Qi-Blood foundation to begin its introductory circulation.
• The Su Family sold their Narcissus Street home and general store, and the new owners took over the business.
• Su Xinghe moved his family into a North City estate, gave Su Haitao the deed and money, and left alone to keep them safe.

Su Xinghe arranged for Lu Sandao to secure his family and began eliminating Lin County’s gangs to consolidate the city’s underworld. The White Ape Martial Academy’s forces confronted the Mountain City martial warriors at Clearwater Lotus Pond docks, where a powerful leader appeared to challenge them.

• Su Xinghe gave Lu Sandao money, pills, and responsibility for protecting his family, then asked him to identify the forces disrupting Lin County.
• Lu Sandao reported on the city’s competing factions, and Su Xinghe decided to target the smaller gangs across the south and west while leaving other territories alone.
• Su Xinghe trained the Iron Body Art, while over the next six days Zhou Yingjun and the White Ape Martial Academy seized gang territories and opened Brokerage Guild branches.
• Mountain City martial warriors expanded their influence toward the western city through the Clearwater Lotus Pond docks, and the White Ape Martial Academy issued them a withdrawal ultimatum.
• Big Bear and Zhou Yingjun brought their forces to the docks on the ultimatum’s final day, where a powerful leader emerged from the courtyard and mocked them.

Su Xinghe confronted Princess Red Lotus and was immobilized as she probed his mind and forced him to cultivate the Red Lotus Treasure Vase Qi. She discovered his abundant innate soul power and identified him as a Martial Saint Seed.

• Su Xinghe watched White Ape Martial Academy's fighters enter Lin County, intending to enforce Zhou Yingjun's rules against them.
• Princess Red Lotus appeared behind Su Xinghe and overpowered him with a force field before he could escape.
• Su Xinghe recognized Li Shunjun among the three grandmasters accompanying Princess Red Lotus and wondered why the Bandit Suppression Bureau chief was with the Peaceful Heaven Sect.
• Princess Red Lotus questioned Su Xinghe about his vanished soul power and touched his forehead, forcing the Red Lotus Treasure Vase Qi visualization technique to begin cultivating.
• Su Xinghe's Fate Panel recorded experience gains in the incomplete technique, while Princess Red Lotus sensed his Spirit Sea and declared him a Martial Saint Seed.

Princess Red Lotus ordered Su Xinghe to remain by her side and cultivate the Red Lotus Treasure Vase Qi, while Li Shunjun grew jealous and was promised the same secret art. When Su Xinghe tried to protect the people at the mountain’s foot, Li Shunjun attacked them, killing several people.

• Princess Red Lotus ordered Su Xinghe to stay with her and cultivate the Red Lotus Treasure Vase Qi, assigning Li Shunjun to supervise him.
• Li Shunjun protested that Su Xinghe did not deserve such treatment, so Princess Red Lotus agreed to teach him the secret art too.
• Princess Red Lotus took Su Xinghe’s black iron longsword and ordered Li Shunjun to kill the people at the foot of the mountain.
• Su Xinghe begged Princess Red Lotus to spare the people below, but she refused to change her order.
• Li Shunjun struck at the courtyard below, killing several people, including members of the Beheading Gang.

Su Xinghe was captured by Princess Red Lotus and Li Shunjun and imprisoned beneath Tongzi Ward, where a powerful Demon Qi Domain suppressed his abilities. He began cultivating Listening to Tides Art in his cell, then a dangerous maid arrived to serve his meal.

• Su Xinghe agreed to cultivate, but Li Shunjun stripped him of his Treasure Notes, pills, token, and saber sheath.
• Princess Red Lotus and Li Shunjun transported Su Xinghe through underground passages to a secret chamber beneath Tongzi Ward, where he suspected the Peaceful Heaven Sect was raising an Outer Demon.
• A powerful Demon Qi Domain suppressed Su Xinghe's Qi-Blood and Internal Force, leaving him unable to escape or use most of his techniques.
• Su Xinghe discovered he could cultivate Listening to Tides Art in the Demon Qi Domain and used all eight silver figures to gain experience.
• A white-dressed maid with Eighth Rank blood-colored aura entered Su Xinghe's chamber and offered to serve him his meal.

Su Xinghe endured starvation in the Peaceful Heaven Sect’s secret chamber until he drank Sacred Beast Essence Blood and passed out. He woke weak and realized White One had used him to extract his mental strength through the Red Lotus Treasure Vase Qi.

• Su Xinghe questioned White One, who told him she was his first maid and served him Sacred Beast Essence Blood, but he refused to eat it.
• Su Xinghe cultivated the Listening to Tides Art while the lack of food and water steadily weakened him.
• After five days without water, Su Xinghe finally ate the Sacred Beast Essence Blood and drank water White One brought him.
• The essence blood activated the Incomplete Red Lotus Treasure Vase Qi, and Su Xinghe lost consciousness as it drew on his Spirit Sea.
• Su Xinghe woke with extreme weakness and realized White One had extracted his mental strength through the visualization secret technique.

Su Xinghe discovered that his cultivation had been badly depleted and began using Sacred Beast Essence Blood to rapidly train the Ascending Dragon Stance. After White One returned with more food, he realized he still lacked the strength to kill her and was left hungry and tempted by the offered essence blood.

• Su Xinghe checked his Fate Panel, saw that the Red Lotus Treasure Vase Qi was empty and his Listening to Tides Art had nearly regressed, and chose to cultivate the Ascending Dragon Stance.
• Su Xinghe used the Sacred Beast Essence Blood’s nutrients to repeatedly practice the stance, gaining experience as his Qi-Blood power flowed.
• Li Shunjun remained unable to visualize the Red Lotus Treasure Vase Qi and, despairing over his situation, called for Sacred Beast Essence Blood and Black One.
• Princess Red Lotus replenished White One with a blood-red pill and ordered her daily essence-blood allotment doubled in hopes of another surprise.
• White One brought Su Xinghe two bowls of Sacred Beast Essence Blood; he struck her but lacked the Qi-Blood power to kill her, then picked up the food as his hunger overcame him.

Su Xinghe endured repeated draining by Princess Red Lotus’s servants while secretly cultivating his defensive arts and studying the Red Lotus Treasure Vase Qi. After breaking through to Sixth-Rank True Force, he believed he would soon turn the tables.

• Su Xinghe resisted White One’s Sacred Beast Essence Blood and spent more than ten days cultivating his Listening to Tides Art, Ascending Dragon Stance, Iron Body Art, and Red Lotus Treasure Vase Qi.
• Su Xinghe advanced his Iron Body Art and tempered his five viscera, then broke the Ascending Dragon Stance through to Transcendent Mastery.
• White One used a blue pill to overwhelm Su Xinghe and drain his soul power, while he secretly circulated the Ascending Dragon Stance and learned more of the Red Lotus Treasure Vase Qi.
• Li Shunjun realized he had spent twenty days failing to cultivate his secret art and angrily called for Black One.
• Princess Red Lotus noticed that she had received less soul power, so she ordered White One to bring White Two next time.
• After enduring repeated visits from eight figures in white dresses, Su Xinghe broke through to Sixth-Rank True Force and resolved to turn the tables.

Su Xinghe continued cultivating under the Demon Qi Domain while Princess Red Lotus and her maids drained his soul power through the secret art. After half a year, his Listening to Tides Art reached Peak Perfection, and he sensed that Little White Bat might be nearby but could not reach him through the domain.

• Su Xinghe refined his five viscera and bowels, broke through to Sixth-Rank True Force, and found his new power suppressed by the Demon Qi Domain.
• Princess Red Lotus sent eight maids to feed Su Xinghe Sacred Beast Essence Blood, and he cooperated while continuing to cultivate.
• Li Shunjun failed to master the secret art and grew more intent on investigating what was happening in the chamber next door.
• Princess Red Lotus faced the eight maids herself, then declared that she would personally deliver Su Xinghe’s meals next time.
• White One became Su Xinghe’s sole meal attendant, and his Listening to Tides Art reached Peak Perfection after another stretch of cultivation.
• Su Xinghe sensed Little White Bat intermittently in the depths of his Spirit Sea, though the Demon Qi Domain seemed to keep her from reaching him.

Su Xinghe woke after Princess Red Lotus used her Mental Force Field on him and discovered that she had drained much of his Listening to Tides Art while completing his Red Lotus Treasure Vase Qi into a supreme Mental Secret Art. The new art let him move freely within the Demon Qi Domain, and as his strength returned, he began condensing Internal Force into Sixth-Rank True Force.

• Su Xinghe studied Red Lotus Treasure Vase Qi (Modified) until Princess Red Lotus arrived, knocked him unconscious, and left to break through to Baleful Condensation.
• Princess Red Lotus told White One to have Black One bring Su Xinghe meals and warned her not to sneak a bite.
• Su Xinghe woke to find that his Listening to Tides Art had lost nearly 120,000 experience points, while Red Lotus Treasure Vase Qi had become a complete Mental Secret Art.
• Su Xinghe extended his perception through the Demon Qi Domain and found that the Outer Demon no longer suppressed him.
• Su Xinghe used the golden Astral Qi in his dantian to pierce the stone bed with his finger.
• Su Xinghe recovered his Qi-Blood power and circulated the Iron Body Art until his Internal Force condensed into True Force.

Su Xinghe cultivated the Red Lotus Treasure Vase Qi, gained control over the blood-red Demon Qi Domain, and used it to ambush Li Shunjun. Li Shunjun collapsed but remained alive, leaving Su Xinghe to reach for the black iron longsword to finish him.

• Su Xinghe visualized a blood moon while studying the Red Lotus Treasure Vase Qi and discovered that his spiritual will could tint his Astral Qi and imitate a blood-red force field.
• Su Xinghe practiced the secret art until it reached Hall-Entering and formed a connection with the Demon Qi Domain above the secret chamber.
• Su Xinghe used the secret art to draw down the Demon Qi Domain, which let him control its mist without suffering its suppression.
• Li Shunjun entered the chamber while Princess Red Lotus's aura was distant, but the mist suppressed his Core Qi Domain as Su Xinghe ambushed him with a powerful Astral Qi punch.
• Li Shunjun collapsed but still breathed, and his black iron longsword fell from beneath his robe as Su Xinghe prepared to use it.

Su Xinghe escaped the secret chamber after killing Li Shunjun and found Little White Bat absorbing the bloodflames around the Rift-Sky Bloodflame Darkgold Bat. After Little White finished absorbing the greater demon, Su Xinghe fled through the deserted underground passage and reached a staircase leading upward.

• Su Xinghe killed Li Shunjun, looted his belongings, and rushed out of the chamber.
• Su Xinghe knocked a dark figure into a wall, avoided a seventh-rank warrior and the other Peaceful Heaven Sect guardians, and followed his sixth sense through the passage.
• Su Xinghe found Little White Bat beside the altar, where the Rift-Sky Bloodflame Darkgold Bat identified itself as the clan's Mother Empress and asked him to take its inheritor to the clan's homeland.
• Little White Bat returned to the altar and absorbed the bloodflames and demonic qi while Su Xinghe swallowed twenty premium bone-forging pills and gained a strand of astral qi.
• Little White Bat finished absorbing the greater demon and returned to Su Xinghe; finding the passage deserted, Su Xinghe ran to a stone staircase leading upward.

Su Xinghe escaped the underground chamber and learned that Lu Xuanji had returned as a Baleful Convergence expert and Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince, while the Lu Family had devastated his allies and forced his family into hiding. After deciding to avenge them despite the danger, Su Xinghe learned of Cao Mao’s ties to Consort Cao and began considering how to exploit the conflict between the imperial factions.

• Su Xinghe escaped with Little White, learned the season had changed, and headed toward his family’s teahouse while avoiding Princess Red Lotus.
• Zhang Whiskers told Su Xinghe that Lu Xuanji had returned, crushed their forces, and left Su Xinghe’s family hiding in Niu Family Village.
• Su Xinghe learned that Zhang Baichuan had helped protect his family and the White Ape Martial Academy’s survivors, but Zhang warned him against attacking the Lu Family.
• Su Xinghe resolved to avenge his allies and family, even if he had to become an outlaw, and prepared to leave Lin County.
• Zhang Baichuan told Su Xinghe about Cao Mao, a former army centurion tied to Consort Cao’s faction, and Su Xinghe considered using the rivalry between the imperial factions against Lu Xuanji.

Su Xinghe gathered allies to attack the Lu Family after reporting another Peaceful Heaven Sect breeding nest, while Elder Xie revealed he had reached the Seventh Rank. At White Jade Manor, Lu Zhengkun celebrated his new marriage to Yulan, whose royal backing unsettled the Lu household and provoked Hongxiu.

• Su Xinghe asked Zhang Baichuan to notify Jia Six that he had found another Peaceful Heaven Sect demonic beast breeding nest.
• Su Xinghe visited the wounded Zhou Yingjun and Lu Kui, and Zhou Yingjun promised to teach Lu Kui martial arts after he recovered.
• Xie Guang revealed that he had broken through to the Seventh Rank and agreed to join Su Xinghe in a major undertaking.
• Zhou Hao and more than a dozen Great River Gang disciples joined Su Xinghe, while two Beheading Gang members followed as they set out to attack the Lu Family.
• Lu Zhengkun celebrated his marriage to Yulan at White Jade Manor as Lin County factions pledged loyalty to the Lu Family.
• Yulan ordered the guests to leave, and Hongxiu angrily vowed to report Lu Zhengkun for marrying a woman backed by the princess.

Su Xinghe, Xie Guang, and the Head-Chopping Bandits attacked the Lu Family’s concubine banquet, cutting down its guards and confronting Lu Zhengkun. Lu Zhengkun died from a single slash, leaving the Lu Family’s gathering in chaos.

• Su Xinghe recognized the manor as Qi Rui'an’s former lair and learned Lu Zhengkun was holding a banquet to take a concubine.
• Su Xinghe killed Lu Tianhua and fought the sixth-rank eunuch, while Little White Bat helped finish the eunuch.
• Xie Guang, Zhou Hao, and the Head-Chopping Bandits blocked the banquet hall as Big Bear challenged Lu Zhengkun.
• Su Xinghe arrived and revealed his strength, prompting Lu Zhengkun to attack Xie Guang.
• An unseen slash blasted through Lu Zhengkun’s chest, and Big Bear struck at his neck with his saber.

Su Xinghe and the White Ape Martial Academy slaughtered the Lu Family estate and uncovered the Golden Ape Earth-Splitting Art, then he reunited with his family and urged them to leave Lin County. As the authorities spread a cover story and the conspirators regrouped, Su Xinghe warned Xie Guang that Lu Xuanji could return and asked him to consider leaving with him.

• Xie Guang and Su Xinghe's group attacked the Lu Family estate, killed Lu Zhengquan and Yulan, and cut down the estate's defenders.
• Su Xinghe recognized Hongxiu as connected to the Veteran's Trade House's destruction, killed her, and recovered the Golden Ape Earth-Splitting Art from her bundle.
• Su Xinghe visited his family in Niu Family Village and suggested taking them to Qingzhou Prefecture City, but they chose to remain for the time being.
• Zhang Baichuan delayed reporting the estate's destruction, prompting Qingzhou Academy to urgently warn the Capital that events in Lin County had changed.
• The Public Security Office blamed the Peaceful Heaven Sect for the massacre, while the city's underground purge ended and Xie Guang discussed misleading Lu Xuanji toward the Prestigious Li Family.
• Big Bear gave Xie Guang five thousand taels as compensation for the White Ape Martial Academy giving up the county commandant post, and Su Xinghe urged Xie Guang to consider leaving with him.

Su Xinghe received Force-Forging Pills and decided to leave Lin County for Qingzhou, where missions from the Demon Suppression Bureau could help him afford the resources needed to advance. After testing a pill, he discovered that it rapidly produced Astral Qi and made Force Condensation far cheaper and faster.

• Big Bear gave Su Xinghe two bottles of sixth-rank pills, while Lu Sandao received Qi-Nourishing Pills.
• Su Xinghe told Xie Guang he planned to leave Lin County because advancing through the Sixth-Rank Realm would cost more than the impoverished county could provide.
• Su Xinghe returned to Niu Family Village, ate with his parents, and gave Su Haitao advice on his martial arts.
• Su Xinghe examined a Force-Forging Pill, swallowed it, and circulated the Iron Body Art to refine its power.
• Su Xinghe checked his Fate Panel and found that the pill had advanced his Force Condensation by one percent, producing ten wisps of Astral Qi in about the time it took to drink a cup of tea.

Su Xinghe waited for news from the Demon Suppression Bureau while cultivating, then gained a new insight into Grandmaster domains after Gong Hao arrived. The chapter left him undergoing a profound transformation as his understanding of martial arts advanced.

• Su Xinghe told his family he was going to Qingzhou Prefecture, then returned to the city to await news from the Demon Suppression Bureau.
• Su Xinghe refined ten Sixth-Rank Force-Forging Pills, increased his Astral Qi, and continued cultivating with Little White Bat nearby.
• Gong Hao arrived, noticed Su Xinghe's Sixth-Rank breakthrough, and used his Mental Force Field to examine him.
• The Listening to Tides Art helped Su Xinghe resist Gong Hao's probing and glimpse the principles behind a Grandmaster's domain.
• Gong Hao took Su Xinghe to the Peaceful Heaven Sect stronghold beneath the Clear Lotus Pond docks, and Su Xinghe studied the operation of Gong Hao's Core Qi Domain during their journey.
• Su Xinghe comprehended a new foundation of martial laws, and sixteen silver figures appeared in his Consciousness Space.

Su Xinghe discovered a new secret art that veiled him in Astral Qi, then accompanied Gong Hao to investigate the hidden passage and report the destroyed Greater Demon. Gong Hao recorded the operation on Su Xinghe’s token, awarding him twenty Demon Suppression Bureau points.

• Su Xinghe’s sudden enlightenment produced First Insight into Light and Darkness, and the Fate Panel confirmed the secret art and granted it experience.
• Gong Hao and Su Xinghe reached the viewing pavilion, where Gong Hao entered the passage and found traces of a suppressed Greater Demon.
• Su Xinghe told Gong Hao how he had escaped captivity after helping Rift-Sky Mother Empress ambush Li Shunjun, leaving out some details.
• Gong Hao explained that the Demon Suppression Bureau awarded points for Outer Demon kills and estimated the Demon Core was worth forty or fifty points, but Su Xinghe kept it for Little White Bat.
• Gong Hao recorded the operation on Su Xinghe’s token, which showed twenty remaining points.

Su Xinghe learned that Lu Xuanji’s rise made his safety uncertain, and Gong Hao advised him to reach the Fifth Rank while Zhang Baichuan mobilized officers to investigate a Peaceful Heaven Sect lair. After checking his Fate Panel, Su Xinghe discovered that the Listening to Tides Art had become Water Conception and began considering the meaning of his other arts.

• Su Xinghe asked Gong Hao to exchange his points for Force-Forging Pills, then told him he planned to go to Qingzhou because Lu Xuanji had become Junior Guardian of the Crown Prince and the Lu Family had been wiped out.
• Gong Hao said Qingzhou could provide a place to lie low, advised Su Xinghe to reach the Fifth Rank, and proposed asking Zhang Baichuan to handle the Greater Demon's lair.
• Su Xinghe told Zhang Baichuan about the Peaceful Heaven Sect lair, and Zhang gathered more than a hundred martial warriors to search its passages and bring in nearby households for questioning.
• The officers broke through the cavern ceiling above the altar, letting water from the Clear Lotus Pond docks flood in, while Gong Hao left and Su Xinghe stayed behind to check his Fate Panel.
• Su Xinghe saw that the Listening to Tides Art had become Water Conception, counted sixteen silver figures in his Consciousness Space, and wondered whether Red Lotus Treasure Vase Qi represented Fire Intent.

Su Xinghe tested Water Conception, learned its power and heavy cost, then spent time with his family before agreeing to escort Zhou Hao to the Extreme Dao Mountain Academy’s recruitment gathering. The carriage left for Qingzhou Prefecture City, with Su Xinghe joining it secretly after saying goodbye to his family.

• Su Xinghe tested Water Conception on rats and bandits, finding that it could crush ordinary fighters but consumed his Spirit Sea’s energy rapidly.
• Su Xinghe continued cultivating and hunting bandits until Water Conception reached Hall-Entering, which doubled its range.
• Zhou Yingjun asked Su Xinghe to escort his son Zhou Hao to the Extreme Dao Mountain Academy’s year-end recruitment gathering because his injuries prevented him from traveling.
• Su Xinghe promised to get Zhou Hao safely to the prefectural city and asked Zhou Yingjun to watch over his family in Niu Family Village.
• Lu Sandao drove Zhou Hao’s carriage north through the mountains, and Su Xinghe secretly joined it at midnight after bidding farewell to his family.

Lu Xuanji arrived at his ruined family manor and learned that evidence pointed both to the Peaceful Heaven Sect and to the powerful Li Family. Enraged, he prepared to seek revenge, but a glimpse of Lin County made him stop and wait.

• Zou Zhe told Lu Xuanji that the Martial Dao Bureau and townspeople blamed the Peaceful Heaven Sect, and Lu Xuanji rejected the accusation.
• Chen Hao showed Lu Xuanji a broken saber bearing White Tiger True Force, which suggested the Li Family’s military retainers had fought at the manor.
• Zou Zhe explained the Li Family’s immense power and its long history of suppressing the Lu Family.
• Lu Xuanji resolved to attack the Li Family, then looked toward Lin County and ordered the others to wait.

Su Xinghe and his companions left Lin County and traveled toward Qingzhou Prefecture City, witnessing Lu Xuanji’s clashes with powerful opponents and advanced weapons along the way. They arrived safely, but Su Xinghe sensed an invisible barrier surrounding the city and continued to wonder whether the Desolate Region was truly a prison.

• Princess Red Lotus used Fire Intent to dispel Lu Xuanji’s aurora attack, then claimed Lin County with Cao Mao’s support as Lu Xuanji fled.
• Su Xinghe and his companions saw Lu Xuanji pursue a young man in blue near Taiguang Prefecture City, where the city’s divine guardian weapons blasted apart Lu Xuanji’s flying mount and attack.
• Su Xinghe recalled the Rift-Sky Mother Empress’s claim that the Desolate Region was a prison and wondered what lay beyond it.
• The group hurried onward for eight days, avoiding bandits and fearing Lu Xuanji’s pursuit.
• Su Xinghe arrived with his companions at Qingzhou Prefecture City and sensed an invisible barrier surrounding it.