Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• After Qin Geng’s apprenticeship ceremony, Master Ye explains that martial arts ultimately depend on training the body: Bright Force hardens the flesh and bones, Hidden Force develops penetrating, controllable power, and Transforming Force brings the whole body into unified command. Training requires carefully damaging the body, then restoring it through food and medicine.
• Ye demonstrates vivid Dragon and Tiger Forms, then tests Qin Geng in sparring. Qin initially attacks too directly, but learns to adapt as Ye repeatedly redirects and throws him. The intense practice sharpens Qin’s understanding of his force and forms, and he advances to Martial Artist (Bright Force), Level 14.
• Ye prescribes daily wood-chopping to develop Hidden Force, along with medicinal cuisine and nourishing meat or herbs. Zheng gives Qin a bottle of liniment to treat his bruises.
• Qin tells Zheng and Lu that he intends to provoke a public scandal at the Su Family to draw attention away from his aunt and protect her from the family and the Foreigners. Lu rejects Qin’s plan to ruin his own reputation.
• Lu proposes using the Su patriarch’s seventieth-birthday banquet, coinciding with an expected official warrant and public business involving the Dragon King Society, to make Qin’s status as Ye’s disciple known. He promises to investigate the Su Family, protect Qin’s aunt, and find a way to resolve matters openly and honorably.

Character development

• Qin Geng proves resilient and quick to learn: he welcomes punishment as instruction, adapts his fighting, and improves rapidly. He also shows deep loyalty to his aunt, initially willing to sacrifice his own reputation for her safety.
• Ye Lanzen emerges as a demanding but affectionate teacher. He grounds martial theory in practical bodily conditioning and recognizes Qin’s talent and potential.
• Lu Xingmin reveals his protective loyalty beneath his swagger and scheming manner, refusing to let Qin shoulder the blame alone.
• Zheng Tonghe supports Qin both practically—with medical care—and emotionally, reinforcing his trust in their fellow disciples.

Significant themes

• Martial growth through hardship: Progress comes from controlled strain, recovery, and discipline—not technique alone.
• The body as the foundation of skill: Force and mastery depend on conditioning, nutrition, and medicine.
• Belonging and mutual support: Qin discovers that joining the Ye School means gaining brothers who will share responsibility and protect him.
• Honor versus self-sacrifice: Qin’s willingness to accept disgrace is challenged by the idea that protecting family can be done without sacrificing his own dignity.

Character interactions

• Ye teaches Qin through explanation, demonstration, and rigorous sparring, while Zheng and Lu observe his progress.
• Zheng offers Qin practical care, and Lu bluntly challenges his self-sacrificing plan.
• Qin accepts his senior brothers’ help, moved by their willingness to protect him and his aunt; the group leaves determined to confront the Su Family publicly rather than let Qin act alone.

Plot points and events

• Over the half-month since Master Xin’s death, Qin Geng has settled in Tianjin and trained intensely: Xingyi practice, sparring at the Ye Residence, and swimming against the Xun River’s current. He also checks Master Xin’s grave on Origin Mountain and confirms it remains undisturbed.
• Qin’s reputation as “Fifth Master” has spread, exaggerated by teahouse storytellers into a heroic tale about fighting Water Corpses. Though he dismisses the fiction, townspeople now treat him with awe.
• His martial progress is accelerating under Ye Lanzen’s instruction, but his growing strength demands more food, medicine, and money than his current income can provide.
• Li Gou brings word from Abacus Song: on the fifteenth, Ten Thousand Treasures Brokerage and the Dragon King Society plan to take twenty or thirty children into Bell Mountain’s Ghost’s Dread, apparently for foreign experiments.
• Qin gathers Lu Xingmin, Third Master Cao, Daoist Miaoxuan, and Zheng Tonghe. They agree the children must be saved, but fear acting without official authorization could be treated as rebellion. The officials’ delay leaves them on the brink of taking matters into their own hands.
• Lu’s paper effigy signals that an order has arrived. Qin meets his Eighth Senior Brother, Li Tingyun, who has forcibly taken the imperial token from hesitant authorities. Its sole command is “Kill.”
• Li Tingyun accepts responsibility and claims the credit for the operation. He orders Lu to block Bell Mountain’s escape routes, Zheng to prepare medicine, and the Beggars’ Gang to surround the Dragon King Society and Ten Thousand Treasures Brokerage. He names Qin and Third Master Cao as the vanguard for the assault on February fifteenth.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Geng becomes more disciplined and capable under Ye Lanzen’s guidance, while his expanding strength brings practical financial pressures. He is increasingly treated as a trusted member of the Ye School and is eager to act against the abuse of children.
• Lu Xingmin shows both anger at official cowardice and loyalty to Qin, then quickly shifts into planning once the order arrives.
• Third Master Cao, Daoist Miaoxuan, and Zheng Tonghe each commit to rescuing the children despite the risks; Miaoxuan’s personal care for orphans makes the threat especially painful to her.
• Li Tingyun is introduced as Qin’s bold, authoritative senior brother. He combines personal courage with strategic command, staking his own position on the mission and organizing the group’s response.
• Abacus Song, though absent, serves as a crucial source of intelligence, while Li Gou relays the news to Qin.

Significant themes

• Justice versus bureaucracy: Officials’ hesitation contrasts with the group’s willingness to act, while the “Kill” token finally gives their intervention official backing.
• Protection of the vulnerable: The threatened children embody the human cost of foreign exploitation and criminal trafficking.
• Loyalty and collective responsibility: The Ye School’s allies stand together, and Li Tingyun openly assumes the consequences of their actions.
• Training and its costs: Qin’s growing martial ability reflects disciplined mentorship, but also demands increasing material resources.
• Reputation versus reality: The storyteller’s embellished legend contrasts with Qin’s modest awareness of what actually happened.

Key plot points and events

• Li Tingyun and the senior brothers set a plan to ambush the Dragon King Society at Heaven-Reaching Gate on February 15. Lu Xingmin warns Qin Geng to monitor Abacus Song and reassures him that men are guarding his aunt.
• Qin Geng goes to Great Willow Shoal to train in the river. After four hours underwater, his Fisherman profession reaches level 20 and unlocks Waterborne Spirit, letting him resist cold and pressure, shed water, and see clearly in dark depths.
• Exploring the riverbed, Qin Geng discovers a rare Black-Armored Bullhead Carp, prized for its nourishing flesh and blood. He defeats it underwater and carries it to the Fishery Enclosure to learn its value.
• A low-level attendant tries to cheat Qin Geng, offering only one hundred copper coins and threatening to confiscate the fish. Steward Ghost Scale Zhao recognizes both the fish and Qin Geng, apologizes, and offers ten silver dollars. Qin Geng accepts the quoted price as fair but keeps the fish rather than selling it.
• Zhao dismisses the attendant and warns him that Qin Geng was training, not merely fishing, and is feared for his strength in the water.

Character developments

• Qin Geng grows more capable and confident in water. His new talent turns the river from an obstacle into an advantage, allowing him to dive deeper, see better, and fight effectively underwater.
• His strength and reputation are becoming widely recognized: even the Fishery Enclosure’s staff know him as “Fifth Master Qin.”
• Ghost Scale Zhao shifts from alarm at the commotion to eager deference once he recognizes Qin Geng.
• The attendant’s arrogance collapses into fear after he learns Qin Geng’s identity.

Significant themes

• Training through hardship: Qin Geng advances by deliberately seeking dangerous environments and testing his limits.
• Power and reputation: The same catch that invites exploitation when Qin Geng appears to be an ordinary fisherman earns a respectful offer once his identity is known.
• Resourcefulness and self-reliance: Qin Geng uses his professions, physical conditioning, and knowledge of aquatic life to secure valuable resources.
• Tension before conflict: The planned ambush and the ominous mood over Tianjin foreshadow a larger confrontation.

Character interactions

• Lu Xingmin and the other senior brothers support Qin Geng, giving him intelligence and protection while preparing for the coming fight.
• Qin Geng’s encounter with the attendant exposes the Fishery Enclosure’s bullying practices; Qin Geng remains calm and quietly demonstrates that intimidation will not move him.
• Ghost Scale Zhao intervenes, compensates for the attendant’s insult with a fair offer, and escorts Qin Geng out. Afterward, he reprimands the attendant and reflects on Qin Geng’s formidable aquatic skill.

Plot points and events

• After a profitable night fishing, Qin Geng encounters Chuanzi, a West City carriage driver badly beaten by the Ten Thousand Treasures Brokerage. The brokers have seized Chuanzi’s younger sister under a fraudulent lifelong contract, apparently to supply children for foreign buyers.
• Chuanzi begs Qin Geng to take him in and teach him, hoping to gain the strength to avenge his sister. Recognizing his exceptional swimming ability and the value of having skilled people on the river, Qin Geng promises to help and sends him to the South City Carriage House to work under manager Xu Chun.
• Qin Geng uses his earnings to buy three days of costly medicinal training supplies from his Second Senior Brother, Zheng Tonghe. Zheng first offers them for free, but Qin insists on paying, arguing that martial training is a long-term expense and that accepting charity would make him a burden.
• For half a month, Qin follows an arduous routine: medicinal soup and baths, punishing training with Ye Lanzen, and afternoon dives in the Xun River. His Martial Artist experience rises rapidly, while his Way Cultivator progress slows because his Waterborne Spirit makes familiar waters less dangerous.
• By the fifteenth day of the second month, Qin can split a thick elm post into six clean pieces with one punch, nearing the Hidden Force stage. He sets out for Osmanthus Fragrance Studio, intending to settle accounts with the foreigners and Ten Thousand Treasures Brokerage.

Character development

• Qin Geng grows stronger and more strategic. He sees Chuanzi not only as someone in need but as a promising recruit for his plans to control Tianjin’s waterways. He also asserts his independence by paying for his training rather than relying on the Ye School’s resources.
• Chuanzi is driven by grief and desperation over his sister’s abduction, but his remarkable water skills give him a path toward survival and future strength.
• Zheng Tonghe shows generosity and loyalty, then respects Qin Geng’s insistence on standing on his own feet.
• Ye Lanzen continues as a demanding instructor whose brutal training helps turn Qin Geng’s medicinal regimen into rapid progress.

Significant themes

• Survival and exploitation: Ordinary people with useful skills are still trapped by poverty and predatory institutions.
• Strength and responsibility: Qin Geng’s growing power leads him to build a network of capable allies, not merely rely on himself.
• Independence and mutual respect: Qin’s refusal of free medicine expresses his desire to remain a responsible martial brother rather than become a dependent.
• Progress through hardship: Painful training yields remarkable gains, while reduced danger slows Qin’s cultivation—suggesting advancement requires confronting real challenges.

Character interactions

• Chuanzi approaches Qin Geng as a desperate petitioner; Qin listens, recognizes his talent, and offers him work and protection.
• Qin and Zheng Tonghe negotiate the cost of medicine, turning a generous offer into an exchange grounded in mutual respect.
• Ye Lanzen pushes Qin through relentless physical instruction, while Qin endures and improves.
• Qin’s plans increasingly connect his personal growth to the broader conflict with the Dragon King Society, the brokerage, and foreign interests in the river.

Key plot points and events

• On February 15, Li Tingyun leads six allies into Bell Mountain to raid Ghost’s Dread Valley, while Lu Xingmin stays behind to seal the only entrance with a Thousand Yin Soul-Locking Formation so no one can escape.
• Li Tingyun guides the party through the mountain’s Ghost Wall illusions, showing a level of Way Cultivation that lets him trust his steps over what his eyes see.
• From a ledge above the valley, the group finds foreign doctor Li Zhizhen, his two formidable associates, and several Tianjin collaborators. The foreigners have drugged and controlled dozens of children and turned murdered cart-company bosses into Snake Corpses.
• Li Zhizhen reveals his plan: capture Qin Geng and transform his unusually perfect body into a Snake Corpse, then use Iron-Eyed Zhu’s remains to locate treasures guarding Tianjin’s underground Dragon Vein. Severing it, he believes, will weaken the Great Xin Dynasty and let the foreigners claim the land.
• Li Zhizhen offers Jiang Hailong a repulsive “antidote.” Before Jiang can take it, Qi Hongsheng destroys it and alerts the hidden rescuers, urging them to attack.
• Li Tingyun, Qin Geng, and Daoist Miaoxuan launch an ambush. Li Tingyun attacks Li Zhizhen; Qin Geng charges the Snake Corpses; Miaoxuan sends burning talismans toward the children. Li Zhizhen’s hulking bodyguard meets Li Tingyun’s blade, and the valley erupts into combat. Abacus Song hides in a tree, while the Snake Corpses rush the attackers. The chapter ends mid-fight.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Tingyun emerges as a skilled Way Cultivator and decisive leader, navigating supernatural terrain and launching the attack without hesitation.
• Qin Geng recognizes the danger of the experiments and fights with bare hands, while learning that Li Zhizhen considers him valuable material for transformation.
• Qi Hongsheng, previously appearing to be a collaborator, reveals his allegiance to the rescuers by destroying the “antidote” and exposing their position. His action surprises Abacus Song.
• Abacus Song is also secretly opposed to Li Zhizhen, but stays hidden and watches for a chance to survive.
• Jiang Hailong is revealed as a frightened, resentful subordinate, dependent on Li Zhizhen’s drugs and desperate for power.
• Li Zhizhen is exposed as a calculating enemy whose experiments and political ambitions include enslaving children, creating Snake Corpses, and sabotaging the dynasty’s fortunes.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and betrayal: apparent turncoats prove divided in their loyalties, while collaborators submit out of fear or self-interest.
• Power through exploitation: Li Zhizhen treats people—including children, corpses, and his own allies—as tools.
• Duty and resistance: the rescuers risk themselves to stop the scheme and protect Tianjin, while the plan threatens the wider nation.
• Perception and trust: Bell Mountain’s illusions make reliance on ordinary sight dangerous; Li Tingyun’s cultivated instincts reveal a deeper way of navigating reality.

Plot points and events

• Li Tingyun duels a burly foreign fighter, using nimble Bagua saber techniques to wound and behead him. A second foreigner traps Li in freezing white mist released from a Purple Clay Teapot.
• Qin Geng battles the Snake Corpses—people transformed into monstrous, snake-infested fighters—and destroys them with overwhelming strength. Miaoxuan burns the snakes that escape the bodies and uses talismans to protect and restrain the abducted children.
• Physician Zheng Tonghe tries to disperse the mist with medicinal techniques, but Doctor Henry, Li Zhizhen, counters with poisonous miasma. He forces Jiang Hailong to attack by threatening to withhold Jiang’s addiction antidote.
• Third Master Cao shoots Jiang rather than accept his proposed martial-world duel. Cao Xiaoliu joins in, and Third Master Cao kills the wounded Jiang with a shovel.
• Qin Geng kills Li Zhizhen, whose poison cannot penetrate Qin’s protective Waterborne Spirit ability. Zheng’s medicinal art then clears the lingering miasma.
• With Li Tingyun still trapped, Qi Hongsheng identifies the teapot as the source of the Water Prison: it contains an imprisoned Water Cultivator’s Living Soul. Miaoxuan’s tracking talisman finds it, and Qin smashes it. The mist disappears, revealing that Li has killed the short foreigner inside.
• The group reunites among the defeated enemies and rescued children, relieved and triumphant.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Geng displays the full force of his martial training, kills the Snake Corpses and Li Zhizhen, and advances to level sixteen as a Martial Artist.
• Li Tingyun survives the Water Prison and kills its keeper, emerging cold and battered but still defiant.
• Third Master Cao rejects Jiang’s appeal to traditional dueling rules, arguing that the crisis makes such formalities meaningless. Cao Xiaoliu shares his anger over the children’s abduction and helps kill Jiang.
• Miaoxuan combines combat and protection, destroying the escaped snakes and safeguarding the children; she later tracks down the teapot.
• Zheng Tonghe supports the fight with medicinal arts, though Li Zhizhen’s poison forces him to struggle.
• Qi Hongsheng, usually reserved, reveals unexpected knowledge of Water Cultivator methods and helps the group rescue Li. Li recognizes him as “Old Third Qi,” hinting at their past connection.

Significant themes

• Justice versus convention: Cao rejects martial-world etiquette when confronting collaborators and child abductors.
• Protection of the vulnerable: The heroes’ violence is framed as a response to the exploitation of children and other living victims.
• Cooperation and complementary skills: Martial strength, medicine, talismans, and specialized knowledge all prove necessary to win.
• Corruption and consequence: Jiang and Li Zhizhen’s cruelty and manipulation culminate in their deaths, while the heroes’ hard-won victory restores hope.

Key plot points and events

• After the battle at Ghost’s Dread, Li Tingyun recognizes Qi Hongsheng as a covert agent who infiltrated the Dragon King Society. Qi explains that a powerful patron sent him to investigate Tianjin and that he endured a bizarre marriage to a paper figure to earn Jiang Hailong’s trust.
• The group gathers the Foreigners’ remains, the transformed Snake Corpses, and the broken Purple Clay Teapot as evidence and potential credit. Their grim work is briefly lightened by teasing about Qin Geng’s excessive force.
• Daoist Miaoxuan revives the thirty or forty children whom the cult had drugged and bound. Terrified by the bloodshed, they panic until Third Master Cao calms them with sweets, authority, and a rope to keep them together.
• Abacus Song, who hid in a tree during the fight, begs to join the group. Cao accepts him because his knowledge of the Dragon King Society’s accounts may prove useful, while warning him not to betray them.
• On the return journey, Li and Qi discuss Qi’s undercover ordeal and his commitment to protecting the people and the Dragon Vein, regardless of his reputation.
• At Heaven-Reaching Gate, Lu Xingmin explains that he contained the powerful, resentful spirit of an imprisoned Water Cultivator, using a formation, substitute paper people, and a Rebirth Mantra to send it on.
• The group returns to the waiting carriages. Li assigns Qin Geng and Cao Xiaoliu the task of bringing the rescued children home, giving them a chance to earn public trust through visible service.

Character developments

• Qi Hongsheng is revealed as a patient, self-sacrificing infiltrator whose apparent oddity and compromised reputation concealed a serious mission.
• Third Master Cao shows a tender, capable side as he comforts the children, drawing on experience raising Cao Xiaoliu.
• Qin Geng remains formidable in battle but is awkward around frightened children; he also recognizes his seniors’ effort to help him build a respected public standing.
• Lu Xingmin is shown to have played a crucial, less visible role by preventing the Water Cultivator’s resentment from escaping and endangering others.
• Abacus Song remains cowardly and ingratiating, but his knowledge makes him potentially useful.

Significant themes

• Public service and earned reputation: Bringing the children home can win lasting gratitude in a way that secret victories cannot.
• Duty and sacrifice: Qi accepts personal humiliation for the sake of his mission and the wider community.
• Compassion alongside violence: The rescuers move from brutal combat to protecting and comforting vulnerable children.
• Hidden dangers and responsibility: Defeating enemies is not enough; the group must also contain supernatural threats and preserve evidence.

Character interactions

• Li and Qi exchange familiar teasing that gives way to mutual respect for Qi’s sacrifice.
• Third Master Cao’s coarse humor and unexpectedly gentle reassurance help calm the children, while Qin Geng and the others watch in surprise.
• Cao reluctantly brings Abacus Song along under threat, balancing distrust with practical need.
• Lu’s account earns the group’s appreciation for his unseen work at the mountain pass.
• Li, Cao, and Lu deliberately entrust Qin Geng and Cao Xiaoliu with returning the children, mentoring them toward a stronger place in the community.

Chapter summary

• Plot and events: Xu Li Mao fulfills his promise to publish twenty updates on the book’s first day. He announces that additional bonus updates may follow, especially if readers send monthly votes. The new book has reached first place on the monthly-vote chart, and an Alliance Leader donation from “Shangjiu Kanglong” prompts another promise of bonus updates.
• Character development: Xu Li Mao comes across as energetic, grateful, and eager to keep his word. He openly celebrates the book’s success while urging readers to help it climb even higher.
• Themes: The chapter emphasizes the bond between author and readers, gratitude for community support, and the excitement of competing for popularity through votes and donations.
• Character interactions: Xu Li Mao addresses readers directly, thanks them for their votes and support, acknowledges the donor, and playfully begs for more votes. The chapter is primarily an author’s appeal rather than a story scene.

Key plot points and events

• Qin Geng and Cao Xiaoliu bring children rescued from the kidnappers’ stronghold to Ping’an County’s yamen to identify their families. At first, two gate runners try to turn them away, but chief coroner Zhang recognizes Qin Geng and grants them immediate access to the household registers.
• With help from the clerks, they locate the children’s homes and split up to return them. Coroner Zhang sends yamen staff along, lending the effort official support.
• Qin Geng returns a boy to his father at Lu Village Restaurant, where diners recognize him from a storyteller’s tale about his exploits. The reunion turns the restaurant into a celebration of Qin Geng’s courage and kindness.
• At another home, Qin Geng suspects a poor scholar sold his daughter. Rather than attack the man and risk worsening the girl’s situation, Qin Geng pretends she has a rare, prosperous fate. Li Gou plays the threatening thug, prompting the scholar to reclaim and promise to care for her. Qin Geng warns that he will check on the child.
• The last girl, Nier, is brought to Qin Geng’s quarters. He summons her brother, Chuanzi, who has been working at the rickshaw firm. The siblings reunite in tears, and Chuanzi repeatedly kowtows, pledging his life to Qin Geng for rescuing her. Qin Geng stops him, gives him money for a meal, and tells him to care for Nier.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Geng shows both authority and compassion: his reputation opens doors at the yamen, but he uses tact and deception rather than violence to protect a child from her own father. He also treats Chuanzi’s gratitude gently, valuing him as a trusted helper rather than demanding submission.
• Chuanzi is overwhelmed by the return of his sister, revealing how deeply he loves her and how fiercely loyal he has become to Qin Geng.
• Cao Xiaoliu works alongside Qin Geng and helps divide the task of returning the children.
• Coroner Zhang demonstrates his respect for Qin Geng by personally arranging the records search and providing official escorts.
• Li Gou supports Qin Geng’s plans, using a deliberately intimidating performance to make the scholar protect his daughter.
• The scholar appears neglectful and self-interested, but greed and fear can be turned toward safeguarding his daughter—at least for now.

Significant themes

• Compassion amid a brutal society: Returning the children matters because the poor and vulnerable have little protection.
• Practical, morally complicated justice: Qin Geng must use social insight and deception where direct force could make a child’s life worse.
• Loyalty forged through kindness: Chuanzi’s fierce devotion grows from Qin Geng’s willingness to risk himself for someone with little power.
• Reputation and authority: Qin Geng’s growing fame earns him cooperation, but his actions—not merely his legend—show what makes him worthy of respect.

Plot points and events

• At Rouge Studio, Cao Xiaoliu vents after learning that some rescued children had been sold by their own parents because their families were starving. He fears the children will simply be sold again once the authorities’ attention fades.
• Third Master Cao contrasts Xiaoliu’s blunt anger with Qin Geng’s more calculated response to a similarly cruel father. Qin had used promises, superstition, and intimidation to make the man value his son, without provoking him into taking revenge on the child.
• The group discusses the continuing threat posed by Ten Thousand Treasures Brokerage and the Dragon King Society. They learn that the brokerage supplied children to the Beggars’ Gang’s brutal Martial Begging faction, whose members mutilate children to make them more profitable as beggars.
• The group expects Qin and Xiaoliu to receive official appointments for their role in exposing a plot against the Great Xin dynasty’s Dragon Vein. Qi Hongsheng jokes about how his humiliating part in the operation might be written up to win him a post.
• Fourth Senior Brother Chu Xing arrives, polished and theatrical despite being a Beggars’ Gang elder. He reports that the brokerage’s leaders, Dragon King Society members, and Jiang Hailong’s family have been arrested. He intends to question Abacus Song, whom Third Master Cao asks him to spare if he proves uninvolved.
• Chu urges the group to seize control of local transport and waterway businesses before the court’s appointment decree arrives. Third Master Cao explains that an official title alone means little: lasting authority comes from controlling useful resources, relationships, and local networks.
• He lays out plans for Xiaoliu to inherit his connections in the antiques and tomb-raiding trades, while Qin is to take control of Ping’an County Town’s carriage firms, porters, boats, docks, and Dragon King Society territory. Qin accepts the guidance and thanks his senior brothers and Third Master.

Character developments

• Qin Geng shows tact and practical insight in dealing with abusive parents, and begins reconsidering the value of an official post. He now understands it as a route to building real influence, not merely receiving a title.
• Cao Xiaoliu is shaken by the parents’ betrayal of their children and struggles with anger and helplessness. His concern reflects growing compassion and moral seriousness, even as he learns that direct confrontation is not always effective.
• Third Master Cao acts as a mentor, teaching that survival and authority depend on understanding people and building local power.
• Chu Xing is introduced as a refined, languid-looking man whose elegance contrasts with his decisive control of a powerful network.
• Qi Hongsheng remains shamelessly comic, turning an embarrassing sacrifice into a possible advantage in securing an official appointment.

Significant themes

• Compassion versus practical action: Wanting to save people is not enough; effective help may require understanding what motivates those who endanger them.
• Power and legitimacy: Official rank is fragile without resources, reputation, and local support.
• Corruption and exploitation: The chapter exposes the poverty and cruelty behind child trafficking and the systematic abuse of children by Martial Begging.
• Building roots in troubled times: The characters seek not just appointments but durable influence over the institutions and livelihoods of their territory.

Character interactions

• Third Master teases and corrects Xiaoliu, using Qin’s successful handling of a cruel father to teach him how to read people.
• The senior brothers praise Qin’s resourcefulness, while their laughter and banter—especially with Qi—lighten the meeting’s grim subject matter.
• Third Master negotiates Abacus Song’s safety with Chu Xing, who agrees to release him if he is innocent.
• Third Master’s candid lesson on power brings Qin and Xiaoliu into the group’s longer-term plans; Qin responds with gratitude and a renewed sense of belonging.

Plot and key events

• Abacus Song returns from interrogation and pledges himself to Qin Geng. He reports that Jiang Hailong’s death has shattered the Dragon King Society, leaving its waterways, fishery enclosures, and businesses up for control.
• Four senior martial artists remain as potential rivals: Tie Dashan, Sun Ergou, Feng Liu, and Ma San. Third Master Cao suggests they could be framed and imprisoned, but Qin refuses to punish men who have been cleared of wrongdoing. He says he would rather establish his authority openly through strength.
• Abacus Song arranges a meeting aboard Jiang Hailong’s deserted pleasure barge. Tie Dashan and Sun Ergou quickly submit to Qin, as do the minor leaders accompanying them.
• Feng Liu hangs back, while Ma San explains that he and a close friend founded the Dragon King Society to protect people who worked and traveled on the river. He thanks Qin for avenging his friend, but argues that leadership of the waterways should belong to someone who understands the water.
• Ma San challenges Qin to an underwater breath-holding race: both must swim two li to a pier and back without surfacing. Qin accepts, confident in his newly acquired aquatic abilities. The chapter ends as he prepares to enter the water.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Geng consolidates his authority while demonstrating restraint and confidence. He rejects using official power to suppress innocent rivals, preferring a fair contest; he also recognizes Ma San’s principles and potential value.
• Abacus Song shifts from frightened survivor to eager, capable supporter, organizing the negotiations and offering Qin practical help. His loyalty is reinforced by his awe of Qin.
• Tie Dashan and Sun Ergou choose submission over confrontation, partly because Qin’s reputation and powerful backing make resistance seem futile.
• Ma San emerges as a loyal, principled former founder whose concern is preserving his friend’s original purpose, not simply claiming power. His gratitude to Qin coexists with his challenge to Qin’s authority over the river.
• Feng Liu remains guarded and calculating, using Ma San’s argument while apparently keeping his own intentions concealed.
• Third Master Cao reminds the group that authority can be abused, implicitly warning Abacus Song and testing Qin’s judgment.

Significant themes

• Legitimate leadership versus coercion: Qin insists that authority should be earned rather than imposed through false charges.
• Reputation and power: Qin’s growing fame weakens opposition before a fight even begins.
• Loyalty, justice, and legacy: Ma San honors his dead friend and the Society’s founding mission, while Qin’s past acts of public charity support his claim to rule.
• Different kinds of strength: Martial prowess may command respect on land, but Ma San argues that leadership on the river requires specialized knowledge—setting up a test of Qin’s adaptability.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• To test Qin Geng’s underwater ability against Ma San, the river men place two distinctive pieces of Red Sandstone beneath a pier. Ma San and Qin Geng dive into the muddy Xun River to retrieve them while the group times the challenge with incense.
• Qin Geng returns almost immediately with his stone, barely using a fifth of the incense. Ma San surfaces much later, exhausted and astonished by Qin Geng’s speed. He yields and accepts Qin Geng’s authority over Tianjin’s waterways.
• Ghost Eye Feng Liu also claims to submit, then invites Qin Geng upstairs for tea and to discuss the Dragon King Society’s affairs.
• Qin Geng detects signs that the tea has been poisoned, including its unusual vapor and odor. Feng Liu’s deception exposed, he attacks with his poisonous Black Baleful Poison Palm.
• Qin Geng counters by launching the heavy table at Feng Liu, then uses extraordinary footwork to appear behind him. He kills Feng Liu with a single palm strike.
• When the spilled tea burns through the floor, the others see how deadly the poison was. They kneel and pledge themselves to Qin Geng.

Character developments

• Qin Geng demonstrates exceptional underwater speed, perception, composure, and lethal martial strength. His calm authority turns the river men’s test into a decisive show of power.
• Ma San, initially confident in his reputation as a master swimmer, recognizes Qin Geng’s superiority and pledges sincere loyalty.
• Feng Liu’s fawning submission is revealed as a cover for an assassination attempt. Once confronted, his confidence gives way to terror, and he is killed.
• Abacus Song worries that Qin Geng might lose the test and considers how to preserve his standing, but Qin Geng’s victory makes intervention unnecessary.
• The other river leaders move from uncertainty and guardedness to fear and open allegiance after witnessing Qin Geng’s abilities.

Significant themes

• Power and legitimacy: Qin Geng earns authority through unmistakable demonstrations of skill, then reinforces it by dealing decisively with betrayal.
• Loyalty versus deception: Ma San’s submission is genuine, while Feng Liu’s polite performance conceals treachery.
• Perception and hidden danger: Qin Geng’s heightened awareness lets him detect the poison and traces of the plot before anyone else notices.
• Reputation tested by reality: Ma San’s celebrated expertise is humbled by Qin Geng’s seemingly superhuman achievement.

Character interactions

• Qin Geng and Ma San begin with a formal contest; Qin Geng’s victory leads Ma San to offer his service, which Qin Geng accepts while assigning him responsibility for the river.
• Feng Liu tries to ingratiate himself with Qin Geng through hospitality, but Qin Geng confronts him directly. Their exchange escalates from polite suspicion to a sudden fight and execution.
• The witnesses respond to Qin Geng’s actions as a group: first with awe at the river test, then with alarm during the poisoning attempt, and finally with collective submission after Feng Liu’s death.

Plot points and events

• After Qin Geng kills Feng Liu and becomes the new Dragon Head, Abacus Song proposes a grand river sacrifice on the Xun River to honor the Water Dragon King and publicly establish Qin’s authority. Qin approves, ordering Ma San and Song to organize it.
• Song warns that they need official permission and the local clans’ cooperation. Qin expects the clans to support him because of his past good deeds; he plans to seek help from Coroner Zhang and Senior Brother Lu to secure the yamen’s approval.
• Qin takes control of Hongsheng Cart Company and renames it Ping’an Cart Company. He keeps its Benevolence Fund, which provides illness and funeral support for workers, and insists that anyone who harms his men will answer to him.
• Alone that night, Qin reflects on how far he has risen from poverty. Wealth and power no longer satisfy his old ambitions; he begins wondering what his life should serve and thinking about martial cultivation and the upheavals of the age.
• The next morning, Qin endures Zheng Tonghe’s intensified Dragonhide Tonic bath, then trains with Ye Lanzen. Under Ye’s instruction, he channels his force into a palm strike that splits an elm post into eight clean sections. His Martial Artist level reaches 17, bringing him close to Hidden Force.
• Ye explains that a Fate Pattern is not simply inherited: it comes when a person accomplishes something significant and becomes capable of bearing the force of the times.
• Lu Xingmin arrives with news that the trial is over. Several members of the Dragon King Society and Ten Thousand Treasures Brokerage, along with arrested foreigners, are to be publicly beheaded at Tianjin’s Great Market Entrance. He also has news about Qin’s reward and aunt, and takes Qin to witness the event.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Geng consolidates his power as both a river boss and a land-based authority, while showing concern for the welfare of his workers. His inner focus shifts from material success toward purpose, achievement, and the possibility of a larger destiny.
• Abacus Song proves himself a shrewd organizer, turning a religious ceremony into a practical display of political authority. He advises Qin on official and clan approval and helps manage the company’s transition.
• Ma San and Tie Dashan enthusiastically support the sacrifice, recognizing that it can unify river workers and elevate Qin’s standing.
• Ye Lanzen trains Qin through repeated throws and explains the relationship between personal achievement, Heaven, and Fate Patterns. Their interaction is both physical instruction and philosophical mentorship.
• Zheng Tonghe supports Qin’s progress with a stronger medicinal bath, adapting his treatment using notes left by the dead foreigner Li Zhizhen.
• Lu Xingmin brings news of the trial and Qin’s personal reward, while inviting him to witness the unprecedented public execution of foreigners.

Significant themes

• Power and legitimacy: Qin’s authority is reinforced not only by force but also through public ritual, official sanction, and popular gratitude.
• Duty and leadership: His commitment to protect and support his workers shows a growing sense of responsibility alongside his ambition.
• Purpose beyond survival: Having escaped poverty and gained influence, Qin begins asking what his life is for.
• Destiny through action: Ye’s teaching presents fate as something earned through meaningful deeds, not simply bestowed at birth.
• A changing, troubled era: The planned execution of foreigners and references to national fate underline the political instability and larger forces surrounding Qin.

• Plot/events: The author, Xu Li Mao, reports that the book’s launch has finished successfully. It received a Three Rivers recommendation and enough first-day subscriptions to qualify as a premium title. It ranked second among new releases in monthly votes and ninetieth overall. Two extra chapters have been posted, with the remaining promised updates to arrive gradually.
• Character development: Xu Li Mao describes themself as a “level-one newbie” and acknowledges the support that helped the book succeed.
• Themes: Gratitude to readers, the value of community support, and the effort involved in meeting update promises.
• Interactions: Xu Li Mao thanks readers for subscribing and voting, gives special thanks to Let the Gale Sing for an Alliance Leader reward, and repeatedly urges readers to use their monthly votes.

Chapter summary

• A new office and a looming threat: On the way to Tianjin’s Execution Grounds, Lu Xingmin tells Qin Geng that the court is establishing the Dragon-Guard Office to stop foreigners from severing the Dragon Vein, which sustains the land’s cultivation traditions. Qin is likely to receive an influential post, thanks to his power and resources in Ping’an County Town and control of the Xun River. Though he initially asks about rank and salary, he is more interested once he learns the post offers access to rare medicines, manuals, and artifacts through earned merit.
• The Su Family’s hidden artifact: Lu explains that Qin’s aunt, Qin Xiu, possesses—or once possessed—an object believed to be one of the Nine Magical Artifacts used to restore the Dragon Vein. It was apparently replaced with a fake; the real artifact may be held by the Su Family’s senior madam, who has questionable connections to foreigners. Qin agrees to attend the Su patriarch’s birthday banquet with Lu, both to protect his aunt and investigate the artifact.
• A useful connection: At the Execution Grounds, Lu tells Qin that the influential Shanxi merchant Wang Laosan, known as Third Master Wang, wants to thank him for rescuing Huzi, the son of his close friend, the manager of Lu Village Restaurant. The favor has earned Qin a valuable ally who may help with business and grain supplies. Wang plans to attend the Su Family banquet and support Qin there.
• Public executions: Qin and Lu arrive as foreign prisoners are executed in a rare, politically momentous public beheading. Qin senses the executioners’ formidable killing aura; Lu explains that they are hereditary professionals whose Ghost-Head Sabers and deadly skill are steeped in generations of bloodshed. The crowd celebrates the executions as overdue justice against foreigners who have long acted with impunity.
• A disturbing aftermath: Qin sees poor townspeople soak steamed buns in the foreigners’ blood, believing it will cure illness or strengthen the body. Lu calls this superstition a sign that the dynasty’s deeper sickness lies in people’s minds. Qin is disturbed by the contrast between the cause’s righteous defenders and the crowd’s ignorance and desperation.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Geng shows practical ambition, weighing the Dragon-Guard post first by rank and pay, then recognizing that access to cultivation resources is more valuable. He also remains committed to protecting Qin Xiu and approaches the coming banquet with resolve.
• Lu Xingmin acts as Qin’s guide and adviser, explaining the political stakes, the Dragon-Guard Office, the Su Family mystery, and Tianjin’s social connections. His sorrow at the blood-bun scene reveals his concern for the common people.
• Qin and Lu share a trusting mentor-and-junior relationship: Lu gives Qin sensitive information and support, while Qin listens, asks direct questions, and accepts responsibility.
• Wang Laosan, though absent, becomes an important prospective ally through Qin’s earlier kindness to Huzi and his promise to back Qin at the banquet.

Significant themes

The chapter contrasts national survival and personal advancement, as the Dragon-Guard Office offers both a defense of the Dragon Vein and a route to rare resources. It also explores the tangled power of social connections, showing how an ordinary act of kindness can create influential alliances. Finally, the executions expose a divide between justice and ignorance: the state publicly resists foreign aggression, yet widespread poverty and superstition persist among the people.

Plot points and events

• Qin Geng returns to Ping’an County Town after witnessing executions, reflecting on his own good fortune and the people who helped him survive.
• He formally takes control of the town’s cart trade under the newly renamed Ping’an Cart Company. Addressing roughly a thousand drivers, he announces that all districts will now answer to him.
• Qin promotes his benefactor, Xu Chun, to Chief Boss of South City, honoring the man who once fed him and taught him to pull a cart.
• He fixes company dues at 30 percent: 10 percent goes into a Benevolence Fund for illness and hardship, while the remaining 20 percent is his payment for protecting the workers. He forbids extra collections and misconduct.
• Qin promises opportunities for workers’ talented children—through martial arts training, apprenticeships, or education. The crowd, moved by the promise, pledges its loyalty.
• Abacus Song reorganizes the company, removing corrupt former bosses and assigning trusted men to oversee the districts. Li Gou is placed in the disorderly North City to gain experience.
• As preparations continue for the Dragon Raises Its Head ceremony, Qin trains intensely and reaches the brink of Hidden Force, able to control his striking power with increasing precision.
• Qin’s senior brothers arrive with official approval for the ceremony and tools to assess his Fate Pattern. The chapter ends as they gather with Master Ye Lanzen, eager to discover what Qin’s unusual constitution and character portend.

Character developments

• Qin Geng emerges as a decisive, strategic leader who combines authority with generosity. His gratitude toward Xu Chun and concern for workers’ families reveal a strong sense of loyalty and responsibility.
• Abacus Song proves an efficient administrator and recognizes that Qin’s policies are building durable loyalty—not merely buying short-term obedience.
• Xu Chun moves from respected old driver to South City’s chief, rewarded for his kindness and integrity.
• Li Gou is identified as a promising, sharp-minded young man and given a challenging post where he can develop.
• Qin’s senior brothers display affection and curiosity, while Master Ye Lanzen’s anticipation underscores how exceptional he considers Qin.

Themes

• Loyalty and gratitude: Qin repays kindness and expects loyalty to rest on reciprocal care.
• Leadership through protection and opportunity: Fair dues, mutual aid, and investment in workers’ children distinguish Qin from exploitative bosses.
• Hope across generations: The promise of a future beyond cart-pulling gives workers a stake in the company.
• Power and responsibility: Qin uses his strength and growing influence to impose order, protect his people, and build a lasting organization.
• Destiny and potential: The upcoming Fate Pattern assessment raises the question of what great future may await Qin.

Character interactions

• Qin publicly honors Xu Chun, turning their personal history into a signal of the values he expects the company to uphold.
• The drivers move from suspicion to excitement and devotion as Qin addresses their fears with concrete policies and promises.
• Abacus Song supports Qin’s leadership by managing the reorganization, while privately recognizing the scale of the loyalty Qin is cultivating.
• Qin’s senior brothers greet him warmly, bring the ceremony’s approval and assessment instruments, and hurry him to Master Ye, eager to learn his Fate Pattern.

Key plot points and events

• Master Ye prepares a fate-reading for Qin Geng, first warning him not to let any omen rule his life. Qin says he’ll treat the reading as entertainment and rely on his own effort.
• The heated tortoise shell produces a vision of an ancient, stern official—identified as Wei Zheng—standing before a pillar that appears to support Heaven. Qin’s senior brothers interpret it as a sign he will become a powerful official and a pillar of the state, fitting his expected role in the Dragon-Guard Office.
• After the others leave to arrange a celebration, Master Ye notices blood-red baleful energy hidden in the shell’s crack. The vision turns ominous: Wei Zheng’s tablet becomes a dragon-slaying sword, the pillar seems to sever Heaven and Earth, and a spirit pearl stirs the sea.
• Ye realizes the reading signifies not loyal service to the dynasty, but a destiny to slay the dragon, defy Heaven, and overturn the corrupt order. Knowing such a prophecy would put Qin in mortal danger, he destroys the shell and conceals its meaning.
• Ye tells Qin only that his fate is “unyielding” and that, if the sky presses down on him, he may need to punch through it. Qin is puzzled and leaves to join the feast.

Character developments

• Qin Geng remains practical and self-reliant: he refuses to depend on fortune and assumes he must earn his future through his own abilities. He is unaware of the full, revolutionary meaning of his fate.
• Ye Lanzen shifts from reassuring mentor to deeply shaken interpreter of the omen. He chooses to protect Qin by hiding the prophecy, while privately accepting that the world may need to change.
• The senior brothers respond with excitement and pride, interpreting the vision as a promising political destiny and celebrating Qin’s prospects.

Significant themes

• Self-determination versus fate: Ye warns that belief in omens can weaken a person, while Qin insists on acting for himself—even as the reading suggests an immense destiny.
• Prophecy and hidden truth: The same symbols can appear auspicious or catastrophic; the fuller meaning is visible only to Ye.
• Rebellion against corrupt authority: The dragon-slaying and Heaven-piercing images foreshadow Qin’s potential challenge to the dynasty and the established order.
• Protection through silence: Ye withholds the dangerous truth to shield Qin from the court and allow him to follow his path without its burden.

Character interactions

• Ye offers Qin affectionate, protective advice before the reading; Qin answers with confidence and humor, reassuring his master.
• The senior brothers enthusiastically praise Qin and plan a celebratory feast, strengthening the warm, supportive family atmosphere.
• Alone with Qin, Ye gives him an enigmatic warning rather than revealing the prophecy. Qin questions him but ultimately respects his silence.
• Ye watches Qin leave, burdened by concern for the difficult fate ahead, then rejoins the celebration rather than letting the others see his fear.

Plot and key events

• The Ye School celebrates Qin Geng’s newly revealed Fate Pattern and his recent victories with a banquet at Gathered Worthies Tower. Ye Lanzen praises him, while his senior brothers toast and show their affection.
• A messenger arrives sooner than expected with appointments for the newly formed Dragon-Guard Office. Jiang Youzhi, a formidable courier from the Divine Stride Guard, delivers the official scrolls and explains the duties and political realities of the posts.
• Qin Geng is appointed River-Blocking Guard in the Wave-Quelling Bureau and Truth-Hearing Guard One-Eye in the Customs Bureau, both subordinate ninth-rank roles. His authority covers inspecting vessels, stopping river traffic, confronting waterborne monsters, and gathering intelligence around Ping’an County Town.
• The other appointments place the Ye School and its allies across the new office: Zheng Tonghe oversees medicine appraisal; Lu Xingmin leads local geomancy work; Chu Xing gathers street intelligence through beggars and vagrants; and Li Tingyun becomes a principal eighth-rank Patrol Chief Banner, with authority over Tianjin’s patrol forces—including Qin Geng.
• Jiang warns that senior officials sent from the Capital may try to reclaim local power. After he departs, the group resumes celebrating. Qin Geng looks ahead to the Su Family birthday celebration and the Grand Sacrifice.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Geng accepts his growing status with confidence and gratitude, crediting his senior brothers for their support. His keen instincts let him recognize Jiang Youzhi as a dangerous, highly trained Way and Water Cultivator before learning his identity. He also understands the political significance of his new jurisdiction.
• Ye Lanzen is openly proud and protective of Qin Geng, though he keeps his deeper knowledge of the “Dragon-Slaying” secret to himself.
• The senior brothers celebrate Qin Geng warmly. Li Tingyun’s boisterous toast and later joking claim of authority establish both their affection and the new chain of command; Qin Geng answers with a joke about accepting punishment in wine and meat.
• Jiang Youzhi treats Qin Geng respectfully despite his youth. Their courteous exchange and shared interest in foot-traveling skills suggest the beginning of mutual respect.
• The appointments formalize the group’s roles while keeping them connected: they now serve in different branches of the Dragon-Guard Office, but Li Tingyun supervises Qin Geng.

Significant themes

• Recognition and belonging: Qin Geng’s rise from dock laborer to respected official is affirmed by his teacher, fellow disciples, and the court.
• Power and political caution: Local heroes receive authority, but central officials retain control over leadership. Jiang’s warning highlights the tension between local influence and imperial oversight.
• Collective effort: Qin Geng’s success is framed as the result of the Ye School’s support, while the new appointments bring the group into a shared mission.
• A changing crisis: The threat to the Dragon Veins has made the court act unusually quickly, underscoring the urgency behind the new office and its work.

Key plot points and events

• Ye Lanzen explains the new court appointments and the power each disciple’s post grants. Zheng Tonghe’s medical role is respected but has no staff or real authority; Chu Xing and Lu Xingmin can recruit field agents; Li Tingyun’s military post carries genuine power but places him amid dangerous court politics.
• Ye Lanzen reveals that the old emperor and the new emperor effectively rule side by side. Their rival factions—backed by the old emperor’s veteran generals and the new emperor’s New Army—compete for influence. The Dragon-Guard Office is a compromise between their sides, while Ye’s family is generally associated with the old emperor’s faction.
• Ye advises his disciples to rely on skill and personal strength rather than court loyalties. He tells Qin Geng that his River-Blocking Guard post can become meaningful if he uses his existing followers and earns promotions, eventually securing official ranks for them.
• Qin asks why the court allowed Foreign concessions in Tianjin, where the Dragon Vein lies. Ye blames the old emperor’s obsession with immortality and willingness to make concessions to foreign powers. He adds that Tianjin is filling with martial-world visitors responding to the court’s call for talent.
• On his way home, Qin sees a performer exposed for using a retractable, flexible saber. A sharp-tongued youth from the Northeast reveals the trick, but his grandmother intervenes, compensates the performer, and warns the youth not to cause trouble.
• The old woman senses Qin’s unusual martial presence, and their brief exchange reveals that he has formidable Dragon Tendon and Tiger Bone. Qin recognizes her as likely a Horse Immortal Medium, and learns that her group is headed to the Su Residence.
• After they leave, the old woman tells her grandson that Qin is a dangerous fighter with a powerful Fate Pattern. She warns him that Tianjin is full of hidden experts, and he becomes more cautious.

Character developments

• Qin Geng gains a clearer understanding of how his low-ranking post can grow into real authority through merit and by organizing his own followers. His encounter with the old woman also reveals that his physique and destiny are conspicuous even to powerful outsiders.
• Ye Lanzen acts as both mentor and political guide, explaining the court’s factions while urging his disciples to prioritize competence and strength.
• The Northeast youth begins as reckless and eager to expose a fraud, but his grandmother’s reprimand and warning about Qin make him wary.
• The old woman proves both formidable and measured: she restrains her grandson, makes amends to the performer, recognizes Qin’s strength, and avoids creating needless enemies.

Significant themes

• Power versus title: Official rank matters most when it brings authority, resources, and people—not merely prestige.
• Political instability: The dual emperors and their competing factions make court service dangerous and uncertain.
• Self-reliance: Ye’s central lesson is that personal skill and strength are more dependable than political allegiance.
• A gathering storm: Tianjin’s importance and the Dragon Vein draw powerful, unconventional visitors, making the city a place of opportunity and danger.
• Restraint and respect: The old woman’s conduct contrasts with her grandson’s impulsiveness, emphasizing the value of honoring others’ livelihoods and avoiding unnecessary conflict.

Key plot points

• Qin Geng reviews his progress in the Book of a Hundred Trades: Martial Artist level 18, Way Cultivator level 44, and Fisherman level 23. He recognizes that each trade is useful but has limits, and decides to add medicine and a Netherworld Office craft to broaden his skills.
• He plans to study medicine under his second senior brother, Zheng Tonghe, to support his martial training and learn about poisons. He intends to learn geomancy-related skills from his seventh senior brother, Lu Xingmin, for future work involving dangerous terrain, tombs, and the Dragon Vein.
• Abacus Song visits Qin Geng with the Ping'an Cart Company and Dragon King Society accounts. He explains that the cart company currently earns about 400 silver dollars monthly, while officials and soldiers take substantial cuts from the water business.
• Qin Geng reveals his official Dragon-Guard Office badges, which give him authority that eclipses the local magistrate and naval commander. He orders the old payments to stop.
• Qin Geng sets new revenue rules: fishermen will receive 70% of market value for their catch; 10% will support the Benevolence Fund; and he will take 20%. Boat rentals, sales, and miscellaneous dock fees will fund company operations rather than go to him.
• He warns Abacus Song to report anyone who continues exploiting fishermen and asks him to identify talented swimmers and other capable people for training or service. Under the new arrangements, Abacus estimates Qin Geng’s monthly income at 1,500 silver dollars.
• Qin Geng refuses to use his official power for private side income, viewing it as dangerous and improper. With his new resources, he plans to buy medicinal herbs and add his two chosen trades to the Book.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Geng shows ambition and strategic foresight, treating new skills as additional means of survival. He also proves himself a comparatively benevolent leader: he protects workers, invests in their welfare, and aims to cultivate talent rather than merely extract profit. His refusal to exploit his official authority shows restraint.
• Abacus Song begins deferential and cautious, but Qin Geng’s respectful offer of tea moves him deeply. The revelation of Qin Geng’s badges transforms his view of his master, and he eagerly embraces the new rules and their financial implications.
• Their relationship is built on trust and mutual respect: Qin Geng gives Abacus responsibility for implementing the policies, while Abacus provides careful accounts and practical advice.

Significant themes

• Power and responsibility: Qin Geng uses official authority to end corrupt payments and protect ordinary people, rather than enrich himself.
• Loyalty through fairness: Sharing revenue and supporting workers is presented as a way to earn lasting loyalty in unstable times.
• Preparation and adaptability: Qin Geng pursues multiple trades because varied skills, knowledge, and resources increase his chances of survival.
• Corruption versus reform: The old system depends on extortion by officials, soldiers, and criminal leaders; Qin Geng’s rules offer a more equitable alternative while still navigating the realities of power.