Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Luo Qian returns to the lower realm burdened by guilt over Pei Sefei, knowing their relationship has no lasting future. At his home, he discovers a security camera.
• Pei Sefei admits she arranged the camera so she would know when he returned. She tearfully confesses how difficult it is to wait for him, but insists she does not care that their relationship may lead nowhere. Luo Qian comforts her, though he cannot promise a future.
• After spending the night with her, Luo Qian returns to the Immortal Realm with a high-tech juicer. He extracts juice from immortal fruits and uses the machine to devise sixteen unusually flavorful blends.
• He settles on a fiery fruit mixture and names it Blazing Red Lips. At the Black Jade Bank, Yin Quanyin and Qi Ren taste it. Yin initially thinks Luo Qian has tricked him, but the drink’s successive sensations win him over.
• Convinced the drink will impress Yun Xi, Yin kneels to thank Luo Qian and pays him fifty thousand High-Grade Immortal Jade. Luo suggests that Yin add a memorable gesture to his birthday gift, promising to find something suitable.
• Luo offers to repay Qi Ren in cash, but Qi Ren insists on their original arrangement. Luo leaves him sixty aphrodisiac pills instead.

Character developments and interactions

• Luo Qian shows compassion toward Pei Sefei but remains troubled by the impossibility of a shared future. In business, he is inventive and shrewd, turning modern technology into a way to profit in the Immortal Realm.
• Pei Sefei reveals the depth of her attachment and her willingness to accept an uncertain, unequal relationship. Her playful confidence returns after her emotional confession.
• Yin Quanyin shifts from anger and suspicion to gratitude and optimism after tasting the drink. His deference to Luo Qian reflects how much he values the chance to win Yun Xi’s favor.
• Qi Ren fears that Yin will attack Luo Qian, then becomes absorbed by the drink himself. He remains loyal to their agreement and refuses repayment in jade.
• The chapter’s central relationships are marked by unspoken limits and bargains: Pei Sefei wants closeness despite Luo Qian’s reservations, while Yin and Luo build a transactional alliance around Yun Xi.

Significant themes

• Love and impermanence: Luo Qian’s guilt comes from knowing Pei Sefei’s devotion cannot become a lasting life together.
• Ingenuity and commerce: Luo Qian adapts lower-realm technology to immortal ingredients, converting novelty into wealth and influence.
• Persuasion and performance: The drink’s dramatic sequence of flavors—and Luo’s suggestion of a more memorable gift—shows how carefully crafted experiences can shape people’s impressions.
• Loyalty and reciprocity: Qi Ren’s refusal of cash underscores the value he places on a personal agreement over immediate financial gain.

Chapter summary

• Luo Qian’s proposed scheme: Yin Quanyin keeps visiting the Black Jade Casino, eager to learn how Luo Qian will help him stand out to Yun Xi. When Luo Qian finally arrives, he presents a shocking lower-realm novelty: leopard-print men’s underwear. His advice is to wear it where Yun Xi can see him, using its startling effect to make himself unforgettable. Yin is embarrassed and initially doubts the idea; Qi Ren is equally baffled.
• Yin tests the underwear: At home, Yin cannot stop thinking about the garment. He realizes its power lies in the shock it creates: a woman might be repelled—or become fascinated. Rather than risk trying it on Yun Xi first, he models it for his trusted maid, Luan’er. The sight of his handsome, muscular body in the skimpy underwear overwhelms her, confirming that Luo’s plan might work. Yin wakes her from her infatuation without taking advantage of her, remaining loyal to Yun Xi.
• Yin’s courtship succeeds: Yin carefully arranges for Yun Xi to visit, using a bottle of Luo’s Blazing Red Lips as bait and inviting her to the family’s hot spring. He intends to show her the outfit privately. Six months later, he wins her hand, and their marriage becomes a major event. Asked why she chose him, Yun Xi calls him “the sexiest man in the Immortal Realm.” At this point in the story, however, Yin has only just caught her interest; the marriage lies in the future.
• Luo’s frustration: Luo is displeased that his unconventional advice has not yet secured Yin the title of the Immortal Realm’s sexiest man. He complains that men should be able to seduce women as women seduce men. When Li Feier innocently asks whether he is reflecting on himself, he tries to flirt with her, prompting her to attack him with a powerful immortal art. Luo escapes to the Underground Palace.

Character developments and interactions

• Yin Quanyin shifts from skepticism and embarrassment to understanding and cautiously testing Luo’s idea. He is strategic, protective of his reputation, and faithful to Yun Xi.
• Luo Qian is portrayed as an inventive but socially tone-deaf matchmaker. His good intentions are misunderstood by Yin, and his later flirtation with Li Feier ends badly.
• Qi Ren remains a bemused observer, unsure whether Yin should trust Luo’s strange proposal.
• Luan’er is stunned by Yin’s appearance and briefly overwhelmed by desire, while Yin treats her respectfully.
• Yun Xi is not yet shown responding directly to the outfit, but Yin’s plan begins to attract her interest.

Significant themes

The chapter plays comic culture-clash between lower-realm fashions and immortal society, while treating shock, novelty, and image as tools of attraction. It also contrasts bold romantic schemes with restraint: Yin is willing to risk embarrassment for love but refuses to exploit Luan’er, while Luo’s confidence in seduction repeatedly outpaces his judgment.

Key events

• Luo Qian receives his first assignment as a first-rank Secret Stinger: secretly monitor Ge Yi Zhang, a clothing shop run by Ge Laocheng, and report his movements. The Bureau supplies him with a disguise mask, poison pills, and a contact talisman.
• Finding no obvious way to spy with Immortal Arts, Luo Qian watches Ge Laocheng from the medicine shop’s roof using his specially refined sniper-rifle scope. For half a day, he sees nothing unusual.
• Yin Quanyin visits to thank Luo Qian for his romantic advice. Wearing leopard-print underwear as part of Luo’s plan apparently helped him win Yun Xi’s affection. Yin gives Luo a Jade Immortal Bottle to fill with Blazing Red Lips and pays him five pieces of Water Exquisite.
• Qi Ren then visits for medicine. Curious about the underwear scheme, he confirms it worked and asks whether Luo has more of the garments, hoping to use them with his concubines.

Character developments and interactions

• Luo Qian takes his Bureau assignment seriously, though he approaches surveillance with improvised tools and an appetite for snacks. He also continues to prosper through his medicine business, skillfully accepting gifts while outwardly pretending to refuse them.
• Yin Quanyin is delighted with his success with Yun Xi and is grateful to Luo, treating him warmly and generously.
• Qi Ren is amused by Yin’s story and reveals a more openly lecherous interest in the underwear’s supposed romantic effect.
• Luo and both wealthy young Immortals share easy, joking rapport, contrasting with his more guarded role as a secret agent.

Significant themes

• Duty versus commerce: Luo shifts between covert Bureau work and cultivating wealthy customers.
• Improvisation and opportunism: He compensates for limited spying abilities with a rifle scope and turns his unconventional romantic advice into business.
• Appearances and hidden motives: Ge Laocheng seems entirely ordinary, leaving Luo’s assignment mysterious; meanwhile, the underwear’s effect becomes the subject of playful speculation.

Key plot points and events

• Luo Qian keeps watch on Zhang Laocheng’s shop, grumbling that his new Secret Investigation Bureau rank has brought him little but dangerous errands.
• At dusk, Zhang receives a warning, burns evidence, and tries to flee. Zheng Daoguang orders Luo to stop him until the Immortal Apprehension Office arrives.
• Zhang demonstrates far greater strength than expected, burying his shop in the street and escaping on a cloud of fire. Luo fires at him; the shot brings Zhang crashing down.
• The Immortal Apprehension Office takes over the scene. Its commandant, Lu Xiaofeng, thanks Luo for helping capture the fugitive, while a coroner finds that Zhang—apparently a peak fifth-rank Immortal—died from poison through a single small wound.
• Luo realizes the officers are the very people he fears, but manages to hide his affiliation with the Secret Investigation Bureau. Lu privately suspects a powerful Immortal may be concealed in Luo’s medicine shop.
• Zheng arrives, confirms Luo’s identity remains secret, and visits him. After Luo expresses resentment over being put in danger, Zheng explains that the operation was meant to win the Office’s favor and establish Luo’s standing within the Bureau.

Character developments

• Luo Qian is resourceful under pressure but remains fearful and resentful of being treated as expendable. His successful shot earns him recognition, though the circumstances leave him shaken.
• Zheng Daoguang reveals both political calculation and personal confidence in Luo. He says he expects Luo to succeed him in his position, giving Luo a possible path to authority.
• Lu Xiaofeng appears courteous and reasonable, but his suspicion of Luo’s shop hints that he may investigate further.
• Zhang Laocheng is revealed as a dangerous fugitive whose formidable strength contrasts with the Bureau’s mistaken intelligence.

Significant themes

• Risk, loyalty, and exploitation: Luo is asked to endanger himself for organizational advantage, prompting doubt about whether the Bureau truly values him.
• Power and advancement: Zheng treats the dangerous mission as a way to build alliances and prove Luo’s suitability to lead.
• Secrecy and suspicion: Luo must conceal his true affiliation while Lu begins to suspect hidden forces nearby.
• Appearance versus reality: Zhang’s apparent status, the intelligence about his strength, and the mystery of his poisoned wound all prove misleading.

Character interactions

• Luo and Zheng clash over the mission, but their exchange shifts from resentment to a candid discussion of Luo’s future.
• Lu welcomes Luo as a valued helper, while Luo nervously tries to keep the Apprehension Office at a distance.
• Lu’s coroner raises questions about the unusual killing, prompting Lu to look suspiciously toward Luo’s shop.
• Zheng and Lu coordinate discreetly to protect Luo’s identity before Zheng speaks with him privately.

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• Zheng Daoguang visits Luo Qian and warns him to act carefully: Luo’s public fame makes him an unusually valuable undercover agent. Zheng has learned that Luo killed Zhang Laocheng, who had been a powerful fifth-rank immortal.
• Luo explains that he used Zheng’s supposedly suicidal poison in a bullet fired from his now-immortalized sniper rifle. Investigators then search Zhang’s belongings, hoping to find evidence of the larger smuggling operation.
• The search instead turns up sexy underwear. Luo recognizes it as a locally made imitation, not his Mortal Realm imports. He realizes Zhang was a counterfeiter whose knockoffs had been hurting his business. The investigation yields no lead, and Luo is left more determined to protect his smuggling operation.
• Back in the Mortal Realm, Luo orders several novelty underwear styles online, then sells them to Qi Ren. In exchange for the goods, Qi Ren offers to introduce him to more wealthy customers.
• Qi Ren takes Luo to a secluded, luxurious establishment built into a mountain peak. He introduces Luo as his “little brother” and brings him to meet its owner, the imposing Brother Tiger.
• A string of crude jokes and misunderstandings between Qi Ren and Brother Tiger leads to a scuffle. Brother Tiger’s blow misses Luo but cuts off his headscarf. Qi Ren’s remarks, overheard by Little Mei, make Brother Tiger fear that his staff will spread embarrassing rumors about him.
• Brother Tiger assigns Qi Ren a private room and angrily sets a three-million-High-Grade-Immortal-Jade minimum spend. Qi Ren leaves with a swollen face, complaining about the beating and the cost.

Character developments

• Luo Qian remains opportunistic and business-minded. He uses his merchandise to cultivate powerful contacts, while becoming more alert to the risks posed by exposure and local imitators.
• Zheng Daoguang shows that he values Luo as a rare and strategically important undercover agent, though his dry comments leave Luo unsure how much confidence to place in him.
• Qi Ren acts as a well-connected patron to Luo, bringing him into a richer circle of potential customers. His crude humor and touchy pride also get him into trouble.
• Brother Tiger is revealed as a powerful, volatile businessman who resents Qi Ren’s bargaining but is still willing to host him. He is particularly sensitive to gossip about his masculinity and reputation.
• Luo Qian’s view of his superiors shifts: his admiration for Zheng fades when the investigation proves fruitless, while his relationship with Qi Ren develops into a more direct business alliance.

Significant themes

• Commerce and opportunism: Luo turns novelty goods into a means of building influence and expanding his customer base.
• Imitation and competition: Zhang’s counterfeit products show that Luo’s business is vulnerable to local copying, not just the dangers of smuggling.
• Secrecy and surveillance: Luo’s fame and the camera at the Mortal Realm entrance underline the need to conceal his movements.
• Reputation and embarrassment: The chapter’s comic conflict hinges on how easily careless words can damage a powerful man’s standing.
• Power and social access: Luo relies on intermediaries like Qi Ren to enter elite spaces and reach wealthier customers.

Character interactions

• Zheng questions Luo about Zhang’s death, and Luo explains his unconventional use of the Bureau’s poison.
• Luo and the investigators examine Zhang’s goods; the discovery of counterfeit underwear turns the case into a business grievance rather than a breakthrough in the smuggling investigation.
• Luo bargains with Qi Ren by offering free merchandise in return for introductions, and Qi Ren responds by taking him to meet Brother Tiger.
• Qi Ren and Brother Tiger trade insults and jokes, while Little Mei’s presence turns their banter into a source of potential gossip. The misunderstanding escalates into a brief fight, with Qi Ren defending Luo and Brother Tiger retaliating.

Plot points

• Qi Ren brings Luo Qian to the Immortal Realm’s largest underground auction house, where Old Tiger sells goods and takes a 30% cut.
• Luo Qian recognizes the auction house as a powerful sales channel for his smuggled mortal-world products. He imagines using auctions for rare items and private-room sales for medicines.
• The auction’s finale sells an Xbox Game Console for three million High-Grade Immortal Jade. Luo Qian realizes he had received far less when he traded away his own consoles, and sees how much distribution affects a product’s value.
• Old Tiger confirms he acquired the console fairly and explains that wealthy Immortals became so absorbed in playing it that retrieving it after their trials was difficult.
• Once he learns Luo Qian can supply more mortal-world goods, Old Tiger agrees to join the business. The three settle on a profit split: Luo Qian gets 50%, Qi Ren 20%, and Old Tiger 30%. Old Tiger asks Luo Qian to bring another console for a future auction.

Character developments and interactions

• Luo Qian shifts from imagining a solo smuggling operation to building a partnership. Though giving Qi Ren a larger share reduces his own profits, he sees the connection as valuable protection and a route to wider influence.
• Qi Ren uses his friendship with Old Tiger to introduce Luo Qian to the auction house and help open the deal. His playful exchange with Old Tiger reveals their rough, familiar relationship.
• Old Tiger (Lei Laohu) initially guards the source of his goods, then accepts Luo Qian as a partner once he understands the scale of the opportunity. He admires Luo Qian’s generosity and business sense.
• Luo Qian’s concern that no customer was harmed shows he cares about the ethics of his trade; Old Tiger insists the console was obtained and sold fairly.

Significant themes

• Distribution and market access: The console’s leap from a modest trade value to a three-million-jade auction price demonstrates the power of reaching wealthy buyers through the right channel.
• Partnership and shared profit: Luo Qian treats profit-sharing as a way to build a durable enterprise rather than as a simple loss.
• Risk, trust, and protection: The partners weigh the danger of dealing in mortal-world goods and commit to relying on one another.
• Commercial appetite and novelty: Even Immortals are captivated by unfamiliar mortal-world entertainment, revealing how innovation can create demand in unexpected markets.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• After receiving three million High-Grade Immortal Jades, Luo Qian celebrates his sudden wealth and decides to invest in Mortal Realm gaming products.
• He returns to an electronics shop whose business he had previously harmed with a formation. To make amends—and seeing a business opportunity—he orders 30 Xboxes, 30 high-end gaming laptops, and genuine game discs. The shopkeeper is overwhelmed by the unusually large sale.
• Luo Qian’s anti-piracy resolve grows after his recent trouble with counterfeit goods. He has the equipment delivered to his base.
• On the way, he learns that a police officer recently held a grocery-store owner hostage and was killed after a lengthy standoff. Luo Qian avoids the scene and takes another route.
• He tells Pei Sefei that he will arrange protection for her grandfather, who is threatened by one of his political rivals. She accepts the idea and gives Luo Qian half of a mirror bearing her lipstick mark as a token for the future bodyguard.
• Later, as Luo Qian prepares to return to the Immortal Realm, he senses a wandering soul entering his base. The frightened spirit asks him for help.
• The chapter also explains the realms surrounding the Mortal and Immortal Realms, noting that boundaries between the lower realms are relatively easy to cross.

Character developments

• Luo Qian is buoyant and newly confident after his windfall. His entrepreneurial instincts turn his interest in games into a potential business plan, while his insistence on genuine software reflects his growing anger at piracy. He also shows concern for Pei Sefei’s family, despite his emotional distance from her.
• Pei Sefei reveals more of her vulnerability and trust in Luo Qian. She initially rejects a bodyguard for herself, but accepts protection for her grandfather and reads Luo Qian’s offer as proof that he cares.
• The shopkeeper goes from worrying about rent to treating Luo Qian as a benefactor after landing a major sale.
• The wandering soul is introduced as a fearful new presence seeking Luo Qian’s aid.

Significant themes

• Wealth and opportunity: Luo Qian treats his unexpected fortune as a chance to build a lasting business, not merely to spend lavishly.
• Repairing harm and doing business: He tries to compensate a shop whose trade he had previously disrupted, turning an earlier wrong into a commercial partnership.
• Piracy and authenticity: Luo Qian’s demand for genuine games reflects his broader campaign against counterfeit goods.
• Care beneath emotional distance: Although Luo Qian cannot offer Pei Sefei the relationship she wants, he demonstrates concern through practical protection for her family.
• Crossing boundaries: The wandering soul’s arrival underscores how porous the lower realms can be compared with the more strictly separated higher worlds.

Character interactions

• Luo Qian’s exuberant mood confuses Li Feier, whose appetite becomes the target of his extravagant promise.
• He deals generously with the electronics shopkeeper, whose gratitude contrasts with Luo Qian’s matter-of-fact attitude toward the purchase.
• In a tender exchange, Pei Sefei and Luo Qian discuss her grandfather’s safety; she accepts his help and gives him a personal token for the future protector.
• The chapter ends with Luo Qian confronting the wandering soul, which senses his power and pleads for assistance.

Plot points and events

• Luo Qian questions a newly arrived Yin Soul, who reveals that he was a police investigator framed by a corrupt colleague involved in drug smuggling. After the investigator’s family died and he was hunted as a murderer, he was killed in a standoff. He wants revenge and to prevent the corrupt officer from harming others.
• Seeing a possible protector for Pei Sefei’s grandfather, Luo Qian verifies the Yin Soul’s story and agrees to help in exchange for a favor. He gives him Immortal Jade and a cultivation method, enabling him to form a human body.
• The transformation makes the former Yin Soul unusually conspicuous to Demonic Cultivators. Luo Qian seals away his spiritual energy, warns him to conceal his abilities, and gives him more jade for protection. In return, the man agrees to deliver a mirror to Pei Sefei and follow her requests before pursuing revenge.
• Luo Qian returns to the Immortal Realm and learns from Li Feier that Lu Mei has disappeared from their gaming circle and may have been confined by her family because of the Game Console. Li Feier fears she is no longer welcome at the Lu Household.
• Luo Qian travels with Qian Fu to Lei Laohu’s Cloudview Auction House. There he presents not only the expected Game Console but also a laptop. After the two merchants fail to identify it, he demonstrates it by launching The Three Kingdoms: Heroes.

Character developments and interactions

• Luo Qian acts pragmatically and compassionately, helping the Yin Soul while imposing a condition. He also recognizes that his aid may have exposed the man to new dangers and tries to protect him. His surprise at Li Feier’s confidence in her own strength hints that he has underestimated her.
• The former Yin Soul is driven by grief and a fierce desire for justice. Even after gaining a body and powerful resources, he remains focused on revenge and dismissive of the risks.
• Li Feier reveals her attachment to Lu Mei and her insecurity about her standing with the Lu Household. She also casually claims superiority to Mei despite Mei’s reputation as a gifted practitioner of demonic arts.
• Qi Ren and Lei Laohu remain eager, shrewd business partners. Their puzzled inspection of the laptop sets up Luo Qian’s demonstration.

Significant themes

• Justice and revenge: The investigator’s pursuit of vengeance is also framed as a desire to protect future victims.
• Power and unintended consequences: Luo Qian’s help transforms a helpless spirit into a powerful but vulnerable target.
• Commerce and cultural exchange: Mortal technology becomes a novel commodity in the Immortal Realm, where even experienced cultivators cannot immediately understand it.
• Loyalty and belonging: Li Feier’s concern over Lu Mei’s absence reflects the importance—and fragility—of her place among the Immortal Realm’s families.

Key plot points and events

• Qi Ren and Lei Laohu quarrel over their turn with Luo Qian’s laptop. Lei smashes it with his hammer, ending Qi Ren’s game just before he can capture Cao Cao. They quickly stop fighting when Luo Qian points out that computer games could be sold for profit.
• Lei Laohu takes charge of the next Game Console auction. Interest is strong, and new buyers compete with the original customers. Luo Qian leaves the sales operation to Lei, who has greater experience.
• Lei visits Luo’s medicine shop to ask for the pills Luo supplied to Qi Ren. He offers a higher price, but Luo insists on treating both men equally. Lei accepts the arrangement and buys the pills.
• Luo visits Xiao Xiangzi at Beautiful Water Cliff, asking him to reproduce plastic bottles for expanding production of Immortal Water and to make more Water Exquisite. He offers 10,000 High-Grade Immortal Jade for successful plastic research, stunning Xiao Xiangzi.
• After checking that his medicine shop is running smoothly, Luo returns to Toad Mountain and finds a powerful Immortal waiting. The stranger identifies himself by the surname Lu and attacks, apparently piercing Luo with a fire-dragon spear strike. Luo escapes using the Golden Cicada Art, though the attacker assumes he is dead. As the Immortal prepares to destroy Luo’s cave, Luo suddenly falls back out of the sky.

Character developments and interactions

• Luo Qian continues to combine commercial ambition with strategic restraint: he delegates the Game Console business to Lei, keeps his dealings fair between Lei and Qi, and invests in bottling and weapon research. He remains cautious about spending, even while planning to buy a carriage.
• Lei Laohu and Qi Ren shift from a violent dispute to business partners when they recognize the laptop’s potential. Lei also tests Luo’s fairness by offering more for the pills; Luo’s refusal to favor him earns Lei’s approval.
• Xiao Xiangzi is eager to cooperate with Luo, having profited from their earlier dealings, but is overwhelmed by the scale of Luo’s promised reward.
• The Immortal surnamed Lu appears as a formidable new threat. He attacks Luo and then moves to destroy his home, setting up a confrontation whose outcome is unresolved.

Significant themes

• Turning novelty into profit: Luo and his associates look for ways to commercialize games, medicine, and improved packaging.
• Trust and fairness in business: Luo preserves equal terms for Lei and Qi, while Lei’s visit reveals that commercial relationships involve tests of character as well as negotiation.
• Innovation across worlds: Luo adapts mundane-world technology to the Immortal Realm, though production and research remain challenges.
• Vulnerability beneath ambition: Luo’s schemes and commercial progress are interrupted by sudden, overwhelming danger, ending the chapter on a cliffhanger.

Plot

After Luo Qian returns to life yet again, Lu Zhen realizes he cannot kill him. He binds Luo Qian in red silk, takes him to the Secret Shop, and buys a scroll for eight thousand pieces of High-Grade Immortal Jade. The scroll sends Luo Qian out of the Immortal Realm and into an unknown world.
Luo Qian awakens in a grand hall overlooking both a sea and an immense grassland where winged beings fly. He learns that he has arrived in the Divine Realm, ruled by the immensely powerful God King. After Luo Qian explains that a scroll brought him there, the God King welcomes him as the first visitor from the Immortal Realm in ten thousand years and hosts a lavish banquet in his honor. The chapter ends when a young Angel asks Luo Qian to dance.

Character developments and interactions

• Luo Qian survives seven more deaths, but each return leaves him in severe pain. He is powerless to stop Lu Zhen from transporting him away, then adapts to his unfamiliar surroundings and cautiously engages with the God King.
• Lu Zhen shifts from trying to kill Luo Qian to finding another way to get rid of him. Unable to overcome Luo Qian’s repeated resurrection, he spends a great deal of money to exile him from the Immortal Realm.
• The God King treats Luo Qian as an honored guest, curious about how he crossed into the Divine Realm. His generous welcome leaves Luo Qian uncertain about the ruler’s motives.
• Xie Tang, proprietor of the Secret Shop, sells Lu Zhen the costly scroll. The chapter also introduces the Divine Realm’s Angels, including the young woman who invites Luo Qian to dance.

Significant themes

• The limits of violence: Lu Zhen’s powerful attacks fail against Luo Qian’s ability to return from death, forcing him to resort to exile.
• Displacement and discovery: Luo Qian is abruptly cast into a strange realm, where familiar ideas and powers give way to a new world and its own hierarchy.
• Power and hospitality: The God King’s overwhelming authority contrasts with his formal warmth toward Luo Qian, leaving open whether his welcome is simply gracious or strategically motivated.

Key plot points and events

• The God King takes Luo Qian aside and explains that the Sea God is flooding the sea by opening three vents, threatening the God King’s mountain. He asks Luo Qian to obtain Breath Soil from the Immortal Realm so he can seal them.
• Travel between the realms is forbidden, but Luo Qian agrees to procure the soil only as a paid transaction. He rejects Crystal Coins and bargains instead for the location of the Land of Slumber, where ancient Immortal artifacts may remain.
• Luo Qian insists on a deposit. The God King offers him a damaged golden-armored Puppet Automaton, whose five-element formation is missing four Immortal Jades, and then adds a mysterious immortal-beast egg.
• To arrange future contact, the two establish an Equal Contract—described by the God King as a bond between brothers that obligates them to help one another. Because their powers are unequal, summoning the God King would pull Luo Qian to him rather than bring the God King to Luo Qian.

Character developments and interactions

• Luo Qian shifts from an apparently meek guest to a shrewd negotiator. He questions the God King’s motives, demands payment and a deposit, and recognizes the potential value of both the automaton and the egg.
• The God King reveals both his vulnerability to the Sea God’s underwater power and his willingness to bargain for help. He is repeatedly surprised—and mildly exasperated—by Luo Qian’s refusal to act out of gratitude or accept his word alone.
• Their relationship moves from host and guest to contractual “sworn brothers,” though Luo Qian privately sees the bond as a chance to gain powerful backing.

Significant themes

• Self-interest and negotiation: Luo Qian treats even a divine request as a business deal, challenging the God King’s expectation that loyalty or prestige will be enough.
• Power and vulnerability: The God King is immensely powerful, yet constrained by the Sea God’s advantage beneath the sea and dependent on outside help.
• Cross-cultural misunderstanding: The God King’s customs and assumptions clash with Luo Qian’s practical, mercantile outlook.
• Opportunity amid danger: The forbidden mission carries serious risk, but also offers access to lost Immortal treasures and potentially valuable allies and artifacts.

Plot points and events

• After returning from the Divine Realm, Luo Qian tracks down Xie Tang’s Secret Shop, intending to investigate her—partly out of curiosity and partly because he suspects she may be a rival.
• He sneaks into the shop under an Invisibility Art, but its Star River Net Array leaves him hopelessly lost. Xie Tang has known he was there all along and recognizes him from his earlier encounter with Lu Zhen.
• Xie Tang is surprised that Luo Qian returned from the Divine Realm. He conceals how he managed it, and she admits she knows only that the scroll can transport people there.
• Luo Qian asks whether she can find Breath Soil. Xie Tang warns that it would be extraordinarily expensive, then offers to trade Breath Soil-hunting services for his Mechanism Puppet. He refuses because he needs it as protection against Lu Zhen.
• Instead, Luo Qian buys a piece of fire-attribute Flame Mountain Fire Jade for ten thousand High-Grade Immortal Jade, hoping to equip the puppet with jade of all five attributes. Xie Tang also reveals that the black jade he brought is valuable Heavenly River Water Jade.
• Luo Qian retrieves the money from the Black Jade Bank. Qi Ren lends him a Sun-Moon Satchel to carry it, while reminding him that the Game Console auction is in three days.
• On his return, Luo Qian avoids entering the array alone. Xie Tang has disabled it, completes the sale, and gives him the black and red jade. He asks to see her, but she remains hidden. After he leaves, she sighs with apparent loneliness.

Character developments

• Luo Qian remains resourceful and opportunistic, but his failed attempt to sneak around the shop exposes the limits of his low-level Immortal Arts. He is cautious enough to refuse a tempting bargain and committed to strengthening his puppet for future protection.
• Xie Tang is revealed as highly perceptive, powerful, and commercially shrewd: she detects Luo Qian through his concealment, controls the shop’s array, and recognizes valuable jade. Her teasing confidence contrasts with a private, lingering loneliness.
• Qi Ren continues to act as a helpful, friendly contact, supplying Luo Qian with a carrying pouch and information about the upcoming auction.
• Luo Qian’s resentment toward Lu Zhen remains strong; the attack has made the puppet’s defensive role especially important to him.

Significant themes

• Appearances and hidden power: Luo Qian assumes Xie Tang is a minor figure, only to discover that she is far more capable than he is.
• Commerce and value: The encounter revolves around negotiation, rare materials, and the price of security.
• Caution and trust: Luo Qian trusts Xie Tang enough to make a major purchase, but still guards his most important asset.
• Isolation beneath confidence: Xie Tang’s wit and authority give way to a lonely sigh after Luo Qian leaves.

Character interactions

• Luo Qian and Xie Tang trade teasing remarks and bargain over the Mechanism Puppet, Breath Soil, and Immortal Jade. Their conversation mixes suspicion, curiosity, and a growing measure of trust, though Xie Tang keeps her identity and appearance concealed.
• Qi Ren and Luo Qian interact as friendly associates: Qi Ren facilitates the withdrawal, lends Luo Qian a satchel, and tries to draw him to the upcoming auction.

Key plot points and events

• After obtaining the Flame Mountain Fire Jade, Luo Qian feels confident he can find the remaining Immortal Jade pieces and eventually take revenge on Lu Zhen. He also takes pride in his growing success as a merchant, which counters the Qian Household’s old judgment that he was “trash.”
• At Cloudwatch Peak, Luo learns that Breath Soil is extraordinarily rare and costly: a date-sized piece sold for 700,000 High-Grade Immortal Jade 120 years earlier. Lei Laohu offers to help him find some.
• Lei’s auction draws a large crowd. A cleverly marketed batch of aphrodisiac pills sells for 20,000 High-Grade Immortal Jade, demonstrating the value of strong distribution and promotion.
• The Game Console sells for a remarkable eight million High-Grade Immortal Jade. A planted bidder helps provoke competition, and Luo’s share is four million—his first true fortune.
• The buyer, Zhang Xiunian of the Mandate of Heaven Hall, has only five million on hand and offers the Riversea Horse Ranch as collateral for the remaining three million. Lei Laohu and Qi Ren plan to exploit the buyer’s financial timing to seize the ranch, supposedly worth at least 100 million.
• Luo refuses to participate. Though offered ten million for joining the scheme, he leaves, uncomfortable with using deception to take another person’s property.

Character developments and interactions

• Luo Qian is increasingly proud of his business abilities and feels vindicated after being dismissed by the Qian Household. Yet he draws a moral boundary: he accepts shrewd business practices but rejects predatory exploitation.
• Lei Laohu proves both an effective auctioneer and a ruthless opportunist. He helps Luo with his search for Breath Soil, but eagerly plots to take Zhang’s ranch.
• Qi Ren joins Lei’s plan and tries to recruit Luo by offering him a large payment.
• Luo and Lei maintain a friendly partnership, but Luo’s refusal reveals a difference in their ethics. The three initially celebrate the auction’s success together before this disagreement separates Luo from their scheme.

Significant themes

• Business skill and distribution: Effective marketing, access to buyers, and deliberate bidding can greatly increase profits.
• Ambition versus integrity: Luo wants wealth and success, but refuses to let profit justify bullying or fraud.
• Self-worth and recognition: His commercial achievements help him reject the “failure” label imposed by the Qian Household.
• Rarity and value: The Breath Soil’s price highlights the immense value of scarce resources in the Immortal Realm.

Plot points and events

• Luo Qian visits Zhao Xihe, who identifies Luo’s mysterious egg as a Bixi, a powerful divine beast known for its strength and vast carrying capacity. Zhao offers to mentor Luo in beast cultivation, but Luo declines, determined to survive through his own strength and defy fate as a Tribulation Immortal. Zhao gives him a special, self-warming hatching basket and instructions.
• Luo begins hatching the egg with High-Grade Immortal Jade, daily Immortal Spirit Energy, and a drop of his blood. A Secret Investigation Bureau order soon summons him.
• Chen Chong deliberately roughs Luo up on the way to Zheng Daoguang. Zheng rewards him with 100 upgraded bullets, stronger and more durable than Luo’s originals, with concealed poison.
• Zheng assigns Luo to investigate the Lu Household by getting close to Lu Mei, whose interest in Luo’s Immortal Water might provide an opening. Though Luo is reluctant—and fearful because Lu Zhen has pursued him—Zheng insists the mission is vital and provides broad Bureau support plus an account containing one million pieces of High-Grade Immortal Jade.
• Luo is more excited by the account’s potential for laundering his smuggling profits than by the mission, and misses part of Zheng’s instructions. Back at the shop, Du Lengning asks him to help meet the Li Household’s demand for Spirit-Accumulating Pills. Luo agrees eagerly as a possible distraction, then heads home, prepares his belongings, and leaves the Immortal Realm through his secret method.

Character developments and interactions

• Luo Qian shows affection and playfulness with Bi’er, while remaining ambitious and self-reliant. He values Zhao’s care but refuses the security of an apprenticeship. His delight in the Bureau’s funds reveals how readily he treats official resources as an opportunity to support his smuggling.
• Zhao Xihe acts as a protective, almost fatherly mentor. He admires Luo’s resolve, helps him prepare to raise Bixi, and hopes the young man will eventually inherit his knowledge.
• Zheng Daoguang rewards Luo’s ingenuity and entrusts him with a high-stakes investigation, offering substantial resources while insisting there can be no failure.
• Chen Chong continues to bully Luo, but Luo avoids a confrontation, recognizing that he lacks the power to challenge him safely.
• Du Lengning relies on Luo’s business connections to meet rising demand for the shop’s pills.

Significant themes

• Self-determination and defiance of fate: Luo rejects protection and chooses to make his own way despite his status as a Tribulation Immortal.
• Trust and found family: Zhao’s generosity and concern offer Luo a fatherly bond he lacked in his former household.
• Power, survival, and compromise: Luo navigates intimidation and dangerous assignments by choosing when to resist and when to bide his time.
• Greed and comic irony: A serious covert mission becomes secondary to Luo’s excitement over a bank account he sees as useful for laundering money.

Plot points and events

• Luo Qian secretly visits Pei Sefei and sees her sharing a peaceful dinner with her grandfather, guarded by the Yin Soul he left behind. Convinced that teaching her cultivation could expose her to danger, he decides to leave her to an ordinary life—though the decision clearly hurts him.
• A soccer ball thrown toward him is flattened when he reflexively stops it. Luo Qian replaces it, then joins the teenagers in a game. Playing helps him forget his sadness for a while.
• Back in the Immortal Realm, Luo Qian struggles to expand the cramped Toad Mountain Underground Palace. Li Feier completes the excavation of two new levels in under six hours.
• Luo Qian introduces Li Feier to soccer. She is initially unfamiliar with the rules, but quickly learns and soon surpasses him physically. He sees her popularity and athleticism as useful for promoting a future sporting-goods business.
• The Luo Family Medicine Shop, run largely by Du Lengning, has earned 7,000 pieces of High-Grade Immortal Jade across its main shop and branch. The partners divide 6,000 among themselves and reserve 1,000 for expansion.
• Inspired by Li Feier’s shopping spree, Luo Qian proposes another venture with Du Lengning: bringing lower-realm jewelry designs to the Immortal Realm, beginning with jewelry rather than clothes.

Character developments and interactions

• Luo Qian reveals how deeply attached he has become to Pei Sefei, but chooses distance out of concern for her safety. He copes with the resulting grief through sport, then turns his experiences into new business ideas.
• Li Feier proves exceptionally strong and quick to learn. Her competitive curiosity draws her into soccer, while her enthusiasm for clothes and jewelry highlights her more playful side.
• Du Lengning continues to demonstrate sound business judgment. He has made the medicine shop profitable and is receptive to Luo Qian’s plans, though he sensibly questions whether lower-realm styles will appeal to Immortals.
• Luo Qian and Li Feier bond through teasing and competition: she challenges him to explain his footwork, while he jokes after catching her when she loses her balance. Luo Qian and Du Lengning maintain a practical, collaborative partnership.

Significant themes

• Love and sacrifice: Luo Qian gives up the possibility of drawing Pei Sefei into his dangerous immortal world, even though leaving her is painful.
• Coping with grief: Ordinary physical activity briefly eases emotional suffering, suggesting that even an immortal still needs familiar human comforts.
• Resourcefulness and enterprise: Luo Qian repeatedly turns experience into opportunity, envisioning businesses in sports and fashion.
• Delegation and partnership: He relies on Li Feier’s abilities and Du Lengning’s business skills, showing that success comes from combining different strengths.

Key plot points and events

• Luo Qian is pressured by Zheng Daoguang’s agent, Meng Xiao, to resume his covert investigation of the Lu Household. Meng explains that his position there is too low to uncover secrets, and Luo agrees to visit under the pretext of delivering Immortal Water.
• Luo brings a thousand bottles to Wuyao Mountain. The Lu Household’s courteous but guarded steward, Zhou, keeps him from meeting the young lady, Lu Mei. Luo leaves her a flask of Blazing Red Lips, expecting its strong appeal to draw her out.
• As Luo leaves, Lu Zhen confronts him and attacks with his fire-dragon spear. Luo’s upgraded Golden-Armored Automaton blocks the blow, surprising Lu Zhen, who remembers Luo as much weaker.
• Lu Zhen stops Luo from leaving, apparently suspecting that Luo has come for revenge. The chapter ends with Luo trapped in a confrontation inside the Lu Household.

Character developments

• Luo Qian reluctantly accepts the investigation, masking his anxiety with dramatic jokes and boasts. Though still cautious and outmatched in mobility, he now has a powerful automaton capable of protecting him.
• Meng Xiao is revealed as Zheng Daoguang’s undercover operative within the Lu Household. He flatters Luo and presses him to act, but stays behind Lu Zhen during the confrontation, prompting Luo’s comic resentment.
• Lu Zhen is startled by Luo’s sudden increase in strength and assumes he may be seeking payback.
• Steward Zhou appears polite but sharply observant and protective, reinforcing the impression that the Lu Household is unusually difficult to penetrate.
• Li Feier remains behind on Toad Mountain, joking at Luo’s theatrical farewell.

Significant themes

• Covert duty versus self-preservation: Luo knows the mission is dangerous but is pushed into it by his obligations to Zheng Daoguang.
• Secrecy and suspicion: The Lu Household’s guarded behavior and unusual residents suggest hidden matters beneath its respectable exterior.
• Power and changing reputation: Luo’s automaton transforms how others perceive his strength, even as he remains personally cautious.
• Comedy amid danger: Luo’s grand, self-mocking narration contrasts with the genuine threat of Lu Zhen’s attack.

Character interactions

• Meng persuades Luo by emphasizing that he is Zheng’s “last trump card”; Luo agrees to infiltrate the household through a commercial delivery.
• Zhou politely dismisses Luo, but Luo tries to secure a meeting by offering Lu Mei a special drink.
• Lu Zhen attacks Luo at the gate; the automaton intervenes, turning the encounter into a standoff.
• Luo looks to Meng for help, but Meng backs Lu Zhen, leaving Luo to face the confrontation alone.

Key plot points and events

• Lu Zhen confronts Luo Qian over his visit to the Lu residence and unleashes his full Demonic Art, attacking with Black Flame and lightning orbs.
• Luo Qian’s Golden-Armored Automaton blocks the attack with its Dark Lightning Barrier and Seize Formula, then counterattacks. It knocks Lu Zhen into a crater and prepares a potentially lethal arrow.
• Luo Qian orders it to stop just before it fires. Five Lu elders arrive, followed by Lu Mei, who rushes to her injured brother and glares at Luo Qian.
• The elders escort Luo Qian inside to discuss the incident. Lu Kuangtao, head of the local Lu branch, hears Luo Qian’s account and says the family will not retaliate—provided Luo Qian keeps his dealings with Lu Mei secret.
• Luo Qian agrees and is allowed to leave. He departs with a shameless advertisement for his medicine shop, baffling the Lu family.

Character developments

• Luo Qian is unnerved by Lu Zhen’s strength but gains confidence when the automaton proves exceptionally capable. He remains defiant before the elders, while privately calculating his chances and worrying about losing the automaton.
• Lu Zhen reveals the terrifying extent of his demonic power, but is swiftly overwhelmed by the automaton’s tactical skill.
• Lu Kuangtao presents himself as a principled leader, offering a truce rather than escalating the conflict. His insistence on secrecy suggests Lu Mei’s connection to Luo Qian is sensitive.
• Lu Mei appears briefly, showing deep concern for her brother and hostility toward Luo Qian.

Significant themes

• Power and restraint: The automaton’s strength could have killed Lu Zhen, but Luo Qian’s last-second order prevents a fatal outcome.
• Pragmatism and self-preservation: Luo Qian’s bravado masks careful risk assessment; the Lu elders likewise avoid a public feud that could damage their household.
• Honor versus hypocrisy: Lu Kuangtao promises fairness, prompting Luo Qian to remember that Lu Zhen previously tried to kill him.
• Commerce and comedy: Luo Qian turns even a tense farewell into a sales pitch, undercutting the scene’s seriousness with humor.

Character interactions

• Luo Qian deliberately provokes Lu Zhen, triggering the duel; the automaton then acts as Luo Qian’s defender and nearly kills Lu Zhen before being stopped.
• Lu Mei’s distressed response to her brother contrasts with Luo Qian’s joking, self-serving manner.
• The elders and Lu Kuangtao negotiate with Luo Qian, balancing the need to protect their family’s reputation against the risks of attacking a well-connected merchant.
• Luo Qian’s parting advertisement leaves the Lu household bewildered.

Plot points and events

• After leaving the Lu Household, Luo Qian worries that the Secret Investigation Bureau will blame him for failing his assignment after Lu Zhen attacked him. He returns to Phoenix Paulownia Mountain determined to live more quietly.
• Du Lengning reports that his father has agreed to partner with Luo Qian on a jewelry business, with profits split equally. Luo accepts the terms and plans to use lower-realm designs, made by Xiao Xiangzi, to launch the venture.
• Yin Quanyin visits to invite Luo to his wedding. Luo offers jewelry for the bride, partly as a gift and partly as publicity for the new business. The visit also lets Luo avoid discussing the Jade Immortal Flask.
• Luo travels to the lower realm for jewelry designs and finds that Long Hair House has prospered internationally. Back in the Immortal Realm, Lu Mei confronts him, seeking revenge for the injury he inflicted on Lu Zhen.
• To avoid fighting Lu Mei, Luo invents a dramatic confession: he claims he defeated her brother because he loves her and wanted the right to pursue her. Lu Mei is disarmed and leaves—but Li Feier overhears the confession and goes away hurt.
• Zheng Daoguang later visits and reveals that the Bureau has tracked Lu Mei’s movements. Mistaking her sudden change of mood for evidence that Luo has successfully approached her, he gives Luo another million High-Grade Immortal Jades and orders him to continue the mission. He warns that the mission must succeed, but Luo must not sacrifice his life.
• Feeling guilty about misleading Lu Mei and hurting Li Feier, Luo decides to explain himself to Lu Mei. He then realizes he should bring a gift and goes to Xiao Xiangzi for a ring. The excerpt ends as he selects one decorated with tiny diamond orchids.

Character developments and interactions

• Luo Qian is resourceful and commercially minded, but his quick lie to escape danger has consequences he did not expect. His regret shows that he cares about Li Feier and recognizes his responsibility to set things right, even while feeling trapped by the Bureau’s orders.
• Du Lengning acts as Luo’s business partner and confidant. He notices Luo’s distraction but does not force him to explain.
• Lu Mei begins as a determined, angry avenger. Luo’s unexpected love confession unsettles her and makes her leave without fighting, though whether she believes him is unclear.
• Li Feier is wounded by overhearing Luo declare love for Lu Mei. Her quiet departure exposes the emotional cost of Luo’s improvisation.
• Zheng Daoguang treats Luo’s apparent success as proof of his skill with women and pressures him to continue the assignment, revealing both the Bureau’s surveillance and its coercive power.
• Yin Quanyin gratefully invites Luo to his wedding and accepts the jewelry offer, giving Luo a major promotional opportunity.

Significant themes

• Guilt and unintended consequences: A lie that prevents immediate conflict creates deeper emotional harm.
• Duty versus personal conscience: Luo feels obliged to carry out the Bureau’s mission, but also wants to be honest with Lu Mei and protect Li Feier from the burden of his deception.
• Commerce and ingenuity: Luo continually turns relationships, designs, and events into opportunities for trade and promotion.
• Appearance versus reality: Luo’s fabricated love story is mistaken by others—including Zheng—for a genuine romantic success, while his private feelings are far more complicated.

Plot points and events

• Lei Laohu and Qi Ren summon Luo Qian to discuss the sale of a Game Console. The buyer paid with a nine-part black jade set containing the Ghost Refining Secret Art, a complete first- through ninth-rank artifact-crafting system usable by Soul Immortals.
• Though Lei Laohu offers to make up the shortfall, Luo Qian accepts the jade instead of demanding the three million High-Grade Immortal Jade. Lei Laohu gives him the whole set as an apology.
• Lei Laohu proposes selling computer games through staged, exclusive auctions that gradually expand to larger audiences. He also plans regular Game Console sales, initially priced at 500,000 High-Grade Immortal Jade each. Luo Qian approves and promises he can meet demand.
• Luo Qian brings the secret arts to Xiao Xiangzi, who recognizes their value. Luo Qian offers the complete set in exchange for Xiao joining his business.
• Xiao agrees to become chief craftsman of Luo Family Jewelry, with a ten-percent share of its profits. Luo asks him to study the arts and make jewelry for Yin Quanyin’s wife as a wedding gift.
• Luo and Du Lengning discuss the new venture. They decide to open the jewelry business in the more prosperous Six Sources; Du has already bought a small workshop on Ningyao Mountain as its starting point.

Character developments and interactions

• Luo Qian shows tact by accepting the unusual payment rather than damaging his partnership with Lei Laohu. He also uses the secret arts strategically, turning a valuable but otherwise unusable item into a way to secure Xiao’s loyalty and expertise.
• Lei Laohu demonstrates commercial ingenuity with his plan to build demand through exclusivity and gradual expansion. He feels guilty about the buyer’s payment, but Luo’s generosity preserves their relationship.
• Xiao Xiangzi moves from an independent, somewhat irritated collaborator to a committed member of Luo’s enterprise. Though he cannot afford the secret arts, his desire to master them leads him to accept a substantial role in the new jewelry business.
• Du Lengning continues to support Luo’s expansion, taking practical steps by acquiring the jewelry workshop.

Significant themes

• Business relationships and reciprocity: Luo protects trust with Lei Laohu and rewards Xiao’s skills with an ownership stake.
• Strategic use of resources: Luo converts an unconventional payment into a skilled craftsman and a new business opportunity.
• Ambition and temptation: The secret arts promise Xiao status and mastery, compelling him to commit to Luo’s venture.
• Marketing and expansion: Lei’s staged auctions and Luo’s decision to target the Six Sources show how exclusivity and access to wealthier markets can drive growth.

Key plot points and events

• Luo Qian receives an urgent message from Xie Tang summoning him to the Secret Shop. On the way, he crashes into the boundary of a Right Military Formation surrounding a stone mountain and is confronted by a Golden Turtle Immortal Soldier.
• The soldier mistakes Luo Qian for an ordinary Tribulation Immortal and orders him to leave. Luo Qian assumes Xie Tang is trapped inside the formation, but decides he is too weak to help and turns away, thinking instead of finding Breath Soil through Lei Laohu.
• Xie Tang suddenly catches up with him and carries him away at high speed. Two Golden Turtle Immortal Soldiers pursue them under orders from the Right Military Hall.
• Xie Tang reveals that she had finally found the Breath Soil Luo Qian wanted, but the Right Military Hall began hunting her. She suspects Luo Qian may be involved, since the trouble began around their deal.
• When escape seems impossible, Xie Tang lands on a mountain, seals Luo Qian’s immortal meridians, hides him beneath a magical veil, and leaves to confront the pursuers alone. A pursuing shuttle passes overhead, but Xie Tang does not return before the chapter ends.

Character developments

• Luo Qian gives up his romantic hopes regarding Xie Tang and treats their relationship as a business matter. Though he regrets being unable to help her, he is resigned rather than heartbroken. His unusual confidence about surviving even if captured or killed lets him face the danger with surprising calm.
• Xie Tang proves resourceful and fiercely loyal to her clients, refusing to abandon Luo Qian even when he urges her to save herself. At the same time, she is suspicious of him and irritated by his teasing. She ultimately risks facing the soldiers alone to protect him.

Character interactions

• Luo Qian and Xie Tang trade accusations and jokes during their flight. He tries to end their business arrangement by offering to pay for the Breath Soil, while she blames him for the trouble and insists he is still her client.
• Xie Tang’s concern for Luo Qian contrasts with his reluctance to be drawn into danger. She conceals him and goes to confront the pursuers; he is left helpless, waiting anxiously for her return.

Significant themes

• Duty and loyalty: Xie Tang honors her responsibility to her client despite the danger.
• Courage and differing perspectives: Luo Qian’s calm comes from his belief that death is not final for him, while Xie Tang sees it as heroic bravery.
• Trust and suspicion: Their partnership is shaped by mutual dependence, teasing, and uncertainty about what each knows.
• Powerlessness and risk: The overwhelming strength of the Right Military Hall forces Luo Qian to retreat and leaves Xie Tang facing a dangerous confrontation alone.