Recaps

Wang Quan and the other Dao Seal Cultivators advanced their abilities in the Second-Layer World, developing external brains, magical implements, and ways to control Evils. After nine months, Wang Quan arranged to meet Ying Jiaren and agreed to help her fight powerful Orthodox Mystic Sect experts.

• Wang Quan’s Bump Spirit Monsters and the others’ Way of Idiocy Spirit Monsters learned to cleanse brains, allowing the Dao Seal Cultivators to attach external organs and brains.
• Mei Niang created a disc-shaped magical implement that projected her images, then used another implement to tame several Multi-Barreled Artillery Evils; Ma Qingqiu subdued over three thousand other Evils.
• Fierce Tiger Daoist learned to disguise himself as Evils and went undercover, while Ma Qingqiu returned from speaking with him holding his hands behind his back.
• Over half a year, the Dao Seal Cultivators made great progress, and Wang Quan used more than a hundred crystal brains and the [Inverted Wisdom] Magic Treasure to study the Daoist Scriptures.
• Wang Quan arranged to reunite with Ying Jiaren on the ninth day of the ninth month, and she asked him to bring Magic Treasures, knockout drugs, an altar, and expert helpers to fight Orthodox Mystic Sect opponents.

Wang Quan gathered Dao Seal Cultivators to support Ying Jiaren in her spell duels in the Far Northern Land. Facing pressure from the legions to surrender her cultivator allocation, Ying Jiaren refused their offer and vowed to keep dueling until a winner was decided.

• Wang Quan contacted Ruo Jinghong, Fierce Tiger Daoist, Niu Dali, Mei Niang, Ma Qingqiu, and other Dao Seal Cultivators, who agreed to travel to the Far Northern Land the next day.
• Ying Jiaren continued developing Bitter Cold City as cultivators and spirits expanded the grove and worshipped the great sun.
• A representative of the Seventh Legion offered peace talks and warned Ying Jiaren that the other legions would seize her cannon fodder allocation if she lost a duel.
• The Seventh Legion representative invited Ying Jiaren to join one of five legions as deputy legion commander, but she rejected the offer as an attempt to limit her rise.
• Ying Jiaren declared that the spell duels would continue until victory and defeat were decided.

The legion commanders investigated Ying Jiaren’s promised helpers and learned that Flower-Scatter Daoist Wang Quan, a powerful Stone City leader, might be among them. After hearing that Wang Quan had used Sky Patrol strikes against a city, they abandoned the idea of a duel on equal terms and proposed banning those attacks and imitated Magic Treasure might.

• The legion commanders discussed Ying Jiaren’s origins and ordered an investigation into her possible allies from the Drowning Dao Lower Court.
• The Third Legion commander revealed that Flower-Scatter Daoist Wang Quan led Stone City, commanded a vast force, and kept its cannon fodder ranks supplied.
• The First Legion commander dismissed Wang Quan’s advantages, while the other commanders praised their Orthodox Mystic Sect foundations and Magic Treasure methods.
• The Third Legion commander reported that Wang Quan had launched two Sky Patrol strikes against City No. 95, alarming the commanders who understood what the strikes were.
• The Third Legion commander said he had bought information from Mei Niang, who shared Wang Quan’s bed, and the commanders gave up on the magical duel as planned.
• A cultivator proposed banning imitated Magic Treasure might and Sky Patrol strikes, then claimed he could get Wang Quan to agree by following his signals.

Ying Jiaren prepared for the final magical contest as the legions and spectators gathered in Bitter Cold City. Her companions staged an elaborate flower-filled welcome, and Lord Flower-Scatter began his grand arrival along a bridge of white smoke.

• The legion commanders decided to hold the magical contest and celebrated with a feast while Ying Jiaren studied spells and planned for the next day.
• Ox Spirits sounded horns and Spirit Monsters beat drums as the legions and spectators gathered outside the grove for the contest.
• Ying Jiaren transformed the Five Elements Fruit Tree into a raised platform and prepared wine for her arriving companions.
• Ma Qingqiu, Fierce Tiger Daoist, and other cultivators arrived amid flowers, music, and cannon blasts.
• The Beauty Snake breathed out a bridge of white smoke, and a cultivator carrying two cases walked toward the platform as beauties scattered flowers and welcomed Lord Flower-Scatter.

Wang Quan made a spectacular entrance at Bitter Cold City, and both sides staged elaborate displays before agreeing to settle their rivalry through magical duels. The Orthodox Mystic Sects then announced rules they claimed were fair, while boasting that their fighters had replicated Magic Treasure power.

• Wang Quan descended on a throne formed by the Dream Nun’s Beauty Snake transformation as auspicious creatures, colored smoke, and cheering spectators surrounded him.
• The legion commanders attempted to match Wang Quan’s spectacle with spells, lights, music, and mist around their wooden building.
• Ying Jiaren called for the magical duels to begin and declared that they would continue until victory was decided; a smart aleck was pummeled and restrained after joking that the duels should last forever.
• The two sides agreed to settle the contest through individual or formation duels, with the first side to win ten bouts taking victory.
• A clever Orthodox cultivator announced that his side would forgo Magic Treasures and power beyond a Magic Treasure Blank, while boasting that their prodigies could otherwise win quickly with replicated Magic Treasure might.

Ruo Jinghong and the legion leaders argued over whether to use copied Magic Treasure powers before agreeing to fight without them. The first duel ended with Lian Qingfeng defeating Niu Dali, though Niu Dali wounded him before escaping back to the Five Elements High Tower.

• Ruo Jinghong accused the clever fellow and the legion leaders of pretending to offer fairness because they feared the Sky Patrol Magic Treasure, but both sides agreed not to use copied Magic Treasure powers in the duels.
• The Officiant Daoist Nun fired a cannon to begin the first duel, and Lian Qingfeng of the Thirteenth Legion challenged the opposing side with his spine spear.
• Niu Dali accepted Lian Qingfeng's challenge, and the two fought as Lian Qingfeng's spear destroyed Niu Dali's weapons and his living cloud battered Niu Dali's mount.
• Niu Dali used a Life Cultivation technique to turn into flower petals and strike Lian Qingfeng from behind, shattering his heart before retreating to the Five Elements High Tower.
• Lian Qingfeng returned to his camp wounded but victorious, and the cultivators celebrated the Thirteenth Legion commander's win.

The spell duels between Bitter Cold City and Wang Quan’s side ended evenly, with the Fierce Tiger Daoist’s transformation into Evil shocking the Far Northern Land cultivators. As the legion commanders sought to reclaim their standing, Mei Niang challenged them and Feng Jiliao accepted, proposing a duel on a cloud bed.

• The Fierce Tiger Daoist transformed into a towering Evil mantis and defeated the twelfth legion commander, who fled and said his psyche had suffered a grievous blow.
• The two sides fought eight spell duels, with the legion commanders and Wang Quan’s side each winning four.
• The first legion commander urged the second legion commander to fight, but he insisted on saving himself to duel Wang Quan.
• Mei Niang entered the battlefield and challenged the cultivators, prompting Feng Jiliao to volunteer.
• Feng Jiliao proposed that he and Mei Niang fight on a three-zhang cloud bed, with whoever fell off declared the loser, and Mei Niang agreed.

Mei Niang defeated Feng Jiliao with her Purple Palace Magic Implement and a horde of evil beings, alarming the cultivators of Bitter Cold City. Wang Quan faced the First Legion Commander, who initially conceded but then attacked after learning he supposedly had no Sky Patrol Strike; Wang Quan revealed he had more than one and stopped their advance.

• Mei Niang trapped Feng Jiliao in her Purple Palace Magic Implement and used evil beings to defeat him, leaving him badly injured.
• The cultivators worried that the Far Western Land cultivators used evil beings and warned that their Sky Patrol Magic Treasure could make a direct attack dangerous.
• Ruo Jinghong challenged the First Legion Commander to defeat Wang Quan's companions before she could duel him, and she conceded instead.
• The First Legion Commander asked whether Wang Quan had a Sky Patrol Strike left, then signaled the legion commanders to advance when he said he did not.
• Wang Quan revealed that he received one Sky Patrol Strike every month, freezing the attackers, and asked which duels had been won or lost.

Wang Quan persuaded Bitter Cold City's legion commanders to follow Ying Jiaren's gradual development plan, and the banquet ended with a white elephant pleading for its dead brother to be revived before being roasted. The First Legion Commander approved the request, leaving the red deer Spirit Monster's fate unresolved.

• Wang Quan made Bitter Cold City's legion commanders publicly acknowledge Ying Jiaren's victory, and they joined the celebratory banquet.
• Feng Jiliao and Ma Qingqiu invited Mei Niang to test their related magic artifacts, while Niu Dali cornered the melancholy Lian Qingfeng.
• Ying Jiaren urged the legion commanders to develop the Far Northern Land steadily, and Wang Quan claimed that such work had earned him a monthly Sky Patrol Magic Treasure strike.
• The First Legion Commander agreed to work alongside Ying Jiaren while keeping cultivators ready to fight abnormal weather.
• A white elephant Spirit Monster explained that it had accidentally sat on the red deer Spirit Monster until it died, and pleaded for its brother to be revived before being roasted.
• The First Legion Commander approved the white elephant's request.

The First Legion commander led the cultivators into the Far Northern Land’s Underworld to retrieve the dead stag’s soul, hoping to show off her abilities to Wang Quan. After they discovered the Underworld had transformed into a manor guarded by ghost gods, she devised a plan and went to seize the stag’s soul, while Ruo Jinghong followed with plans to cause trouble.

• The First Legion commander explained that the newly formed Underworld was barren enough for the dead stag’s soul to retain its memories, then invited Wang Quan to visit, but he declined.
• Ruo Jinghong and the other cultivators entered the Underworld and found a manor, ghost gods, and laboring spirits where the First Legion commander had seen only emptiness two days earlier.
• The First Legion commander decided against retreating, divined a plan to recover the stag’s soul, and dismissed concerns that the soul might have mutated.
• Ruo Jinghong failed to find a loophole in the plan and decided to sabotage the effort openly.
• A legion commander escaped a ghost god by trapping its ear with its own hairs, and the cultivators located the stag’s soul.
• The First Legion commander went to seize the stag’s soul, Ruo Jinghong followed her, and the remaining cultivators stayed to watch.

Wang Quan learned that Ruo Jinghong, the First Legion Commander, and the others had been captured in the Underworld while trying to retrieve the red deer's soul, and agreed to help them. Meanwhile, the ghost gods who had captured the cultivators founded Three Safeties City, until one recognized some of their prisoners from Emperor's Tomb City and alarmed the city lord.

• Wang Quan dismissed the legion commanders' confidence and agreed to hear how their companions had run into trouble in the Underworld.
• Ruo Jinghong, the First Legion Commander, Su Mali, and the other captured cultivators were forced to carry rocks under the ghost gods' whips.
• Ruo Jinghong and the First Legion Commander hoped Wang Quan would come rescue them, while the other prisoners regretted joining the expedition.
• The city lord and the ghost gods celebrated their remote refuge, named their planned settlement Three Safeties City, and discussed their captured Foundation Establishment laborers.
• A ghost god recognized some of the prisoners as people from Emperor's Tomb City, and the city lord dropped her wine cup in horror.

Wang Quan sent Ying Jiaren to the Underworld with his token, and the city lord released Ruo Jinghong, the First Legion commander, and the other cultivators without resistance. Ying Jiaren then arranged for the ghost gods to build a residence linking the Underworld and Present World, while the rescued cultivators learned how Wang Quan had bombarded City No. 95.

• The city lord feared that the cultivators might know Wang Quan, but the ghost gods dismissed the possibility until they heard that Ying Jiaren had arrived as Wang Quan’s Dao companion.
• In the Present World, Wang Quan recognized the city lord from the transmitted description and gave Ying Jiaren his token, saying their past connection would ensure the city lord cooperated.
• The city lord recognized Wang Quan’s token and agreed to release the human cultivators when Ying Jiaren asked.
• Ruo Jinghong, the First Legion commander, and the others reunited with Ying Jiaren, then feasted and ordered the ghost gods around.
• Ying Jiaren asked the city lord to have the ghost gods build a residence connected to its counterpart in the Present World, and he agreed.
• Ruo Jinghong told the First Legion commander how Wang Quan had used the Sky Patrol Magic Treasure to bombard City No. 95.

Ying Jiaren arranged for ghosts and gods from the Underworld to work in the Present World, and Wang Quan performed a ritual to summon them. The first ghost-god arrived and greeted Wang Quan, confirming that the city lord’s claims about him were true.

• Ying Jiaren persuaded the Underworld’s ghosts and gods to work for her in the Present World in exchange for resources and access to spirit monsters.
• The ghosts and gods built Ying Jiaren a residence, while the city lord stayed behind to oversee the Underworld and asked the others to tell Wang Quan that he wanted to follow him.
• Wang Quan gathered ritual materials from spirit monsters and used the Five-Colored Earth Altar to open a passage to the Underworld.
• The city lord urged the departing ghosts and gods to obey Wang Quan and sent messages asking him to let the city lord follow him.
• A ghost-god climbed the incense chain into the Present World, bowed to Wang Quan, and said that everything the city lord had told it was true.

Wang Quan and Ying Jiaren settled the ghost gods in the Far Northern Land, then cultivated together while Wang Quan deciphered a Daoist scripture that turned out to be a series of family search diaries. After reading several accounts without learning whether the family reunited, Ying Jiaren declared she was swearing off sex.

• Wang Quan told the ghost god he planned to return to City No. 95 in a few days, while the ghost god said the group would stay in the Far Northern Land.
• Three hundred and sixty-five ghost gods entered the Present World and built a residence there at Ying Jiaren's request.
• Ying Jiaren asked Ruo Jinghong to guard the entrance while she and Wang Quan cultivated in seclusion.
• Wang Quan deciphered a scripture recounting a Great Heavenly Ghost, a Great Heavenly God, and their children searching for one another across the Underworld.
• After Wang Quan continued studying the scripture and practicing with Ying Jiaren, she complained that wine and sex had hindered Bitter Cold City's development and swore off sex.

As Bitter Cold City grew stronger and more self-sufficient, Ruo Jinghong discovered that Mei Niang, Niu Dali, and many other powerful cultivators had vanished. The cultivators gathered in the council hall and decided to search for them.

• Bitter Cold City strengthened its land and began growing crops, giving its residents hope that it could become self-sufficient like Stone City.
• Ruo Jinghong realized that Mei Niang, Ma Qingqiu, Niu Dali, and other cultivators had not returned or answered their identity tokens.
• The First Legion commander reported that five or six legion commanders and several top-tier grand cultivators were also missing.
• Ruo Jinghong and the First Legion commander convened a council meeting, where the cultivators established that the missing had last been seen after the banquet.
• Ruo Jinghong urged everyone to cast spells to find the missing cultivators and recover them alive or dead.

Dao Seal Cultivators failed to locate the missing cultivators, so one practitioner after another tried unusual divination methods. Ruo Jinghong went to borrow Ying Jiaren’s Five-Colored Altar, but Ying Jiaren dragged her into her room before agreeing to deliver it.

• Ruo Jinghong and the other Dao Seal Cultivators could not find any trace of the missing cultivators through their calculations.
• A cultivator used hearts and mouths in a divination ritual, briefly glimpsed Ma Qingqiu and the others, then suffered an explosive backlash from an expert blocking his spell.
• A female cultivator announced that she practiced a fate spell and asked to use Ying Jiaren’s Five-Colored Altar.
• Ruo Jinghong went to borrow the altar, and Ying Jiaren pulled her into the room after opening the door.
• Ying Jiaren agreed to deliver the altar while Ruo Jinghong turned into blue smoke and followed her, protesting that Tongtong was waiting outside.

Wang Quan and the cultivators attacked Vertical Eye in the Underworld, then uncovered Ma Qingqiu, Mei Niang, and the legion commanders in a compromising state with evil beings. The chapter ended with the exposed group seeing their monstrous reflections in Wang Quan’s mirror.

• Ying Jiaren and the cultivators used the People-Crossing Scripture to locate and attack Vertical Eye in the Underworld beneath Bitter Cold City.
• Ruo Jinghong informed Wang Quan, who rushed to the Underworld as Vertical Eye repeatedly revived after being destroyed.
• The cultivators gathered and followed the injured female cultivator to an underground chamber where the legion commanders were trapped.
• Wang Quan and the cultivators opened the chamber, revealing Ma Qingqiu, Mei Niang, and others with the eyeball-covered commanders.
• Wang Quan showed the group their reflections in a mirror, and they reacted with horror at their altered appearances.

Wang Quan and his allies fought Vertical Eye and tried to cleanse the parasites from Mei Niang and the other cultivators. As the legion commanders resisted being cleansed, Wang Quan suspected a hidden plan, but Vertical Eye claimed he was only a tool and had been ordered to remain until tomorrow.

• Mei Niang and the other cultivators awoke from Vertical Eye’s illusion and found vertical eyes growing on their bodies.
• Mei Niang gouged out the eyes and used the People-Crossing Scripture, but Wang Quan saw that the parasites had already burrowed deep into her cultivation channels.
• Mei Niang replaced her body, tore out the Ninth Legion Commander’s spine, and was blasted away by Feng Jiliao, who said he was obeying his master.
• Wang Quan ordered Ying Jiaren and the others to bind and attack Vertical Eye with the People-Crossing Scripture, while the First Legion Commander’s Dao Seal Cultivators worked to cleanse the affected cultivators.
• The legion commanders refused to be cleansed because their Yang Spirits had become entirely covered in vertical eyes, so Wang Quan prepared to unleash thunderfire if anything went wrong.
• Wang Quan questioned Vertical Eye about his plan, and Vertical Eye said he was only a tool eye ordered to stay in the Underworld until tomorrow.

Wang Quan prepared temporary Thunderfire charges as unease spread among the cultivators, while Mei Niang and the others suffered under Vertical Eye’s corruption. Ma Qingqiu and the others learned to transfer their pain to Vertical Eye, then turned on the legion commanders; Wang Quan began a ritual to search for hidden enemies.

• Wang Quan stored temporary Thunderfire charges, intending to use their shock waves to hold back a threat.
• Ying Jiaren and the other cultivators gathered on Wang Quan’s cloud and formed defenses as Mei Niang and the others suffered and were tempted to join the legion commanders.
• The commanders of the Second and Ninth Legions taught Ma Qingqiu and the others a spell that transferred their pain to Vertical Eye.
• After the spell relieved their suffering, Ma Qingqiu kicked the Second Legion commander and led Niu Dali, Fierce Tiger Daoist, and the others into a fight with the commanders.
• Wang Quan set up an altar to search for hidden enemies while the heart-mouth cultivator and the spinning-wheel female cultivator offered to help, and he gave them Drowning Water to strengthen their spells.

Wang Quan sensed that summoning the [Sky Patrol Magic Treasure] would draw a greater danger, so he planned to use it as bait before striking with the [Drowning Dao Court]. In the Underworld, the Ninth Reincarnation King prepared to confront the treasure, while Vertical Eye's true body appeared before Wang Quan and the cultivators.

• Wang Quan abandoned summoning the [Sky Patrol Magic Treasure] at first, then decided to use it as bait and follow with a strike from the [Drowning Dao Court].
• The Ninth Reincarnation King revealed his plan to destroy the [Sky Patrol Magic Treasure] and open a weakness in the Drowning Dao's defenses, then prepared a teleportation ritual after learning the target was locked on.
• Ma Qingqiu and the others sensed danger and fled, while Wang Quan stayed silent because he did not know whether they were human or anomalies.
• Vertical Eye's true body emerged from the shattered mirror and destroyed the defenses protecting Heart Mouth and Spinning Wheel.
• The First Legion commander ordered the cultivators to seal the area, hinder Vertical Eye's escape, attack its body, cloud its eye, and recite the [People-Crossing Scripture].

Wang Quan and the First Legion attacked Vertical Eye, only to discover that the eye they had targeted was one of countless eyes and that Vertical Eye’s true body was forcing its way into their world. Trapped and unable to flee, they prepared to attack the avatar instead.

• Wang Quan amplified a toad-shaped cultivator’s thunderfire, and the First Legion’s attacks made Vertical Eye’s apparent true body retreat.
• Wang Quan and the cultivators discovered that endless vertical eyes surrounded the eye they had attacked, then hurriedly stopped their assault.
• Vertical Eye’s avatar opened a path for the jade-like true body, which resisted the People-Crossing Scripture and began squeezing through the vortex.
• The First Legion tried to return to the Present World but found itself trapped, while Vertical Eye’s power caused eyes to appear on some cultivators’ bodies.
• Wang Quan urged the cultivators to attack Vertical Eye’s avatar for revenge, and the First Legion commander agreed.

Wang Quan used the [Self-Crossing Scripture] to permanently destroy two of [Vertical Eye]'s inner eyes, stopping its true body from squeezing through the vortex and killing Avatar No. 11086. [Vertical Eye] resolved to corrupt Wang Quan and force him to reveal how he had damaged it as it continued squeezing through.

• The First Legion Commander and the other cultivators attacked Vertical Eye's avatar with the [People-Crossing Scripture] while trying to seal the vortex, but their magic artifacts shattered.
• Wang Quan told the cultivators to move aside and claimed he would suppress [Vertical Eye], then used the [Self-Crossing Scripture] instead of the [Sky Patrol Magic Treasure].
• Wang Quan's scripture destroyed one of [Vertical Eye]'s inner eyes, halting its true body's advance and causing Avatar No. 11086 to crumble into ashes without reviving.
• Wang Quan struck [Vertical Eye]'s true body again with the [Self-Crossing Scripture], permanently erasing a second inner eye and reducing its power ceiling.
• [Vertical Eye] considered fleeing but decided to corrupt Wang Quan, make him its vessel, and uncover how he had permanently erased its power, then continued squeezing through the vortex.

Wang Quan summoned the full power of the Drowning Dao Court to stop Vertical Eye and the Ninth Reincarnation King, who had arrived with the Reincarnation Ring. The chapter ended as the Ninth Reincarnation King confronted the returning Dawn Sun Golden Needles and declared that he could hold off a Sky Patrol Magic Treasure.

• Wang Quan, Ruo Jinghong, the First Legion Commander, and the others attacked Vertical Eye with the People-Crossing Scripture as it descended and spread corruption.
• The Dawn Sun Golden Needle struck from the sky, shattering the vertical eyes on the ground and on Ruo Jinghong, Mei Niang, and the others, then pierced Vertical Eye's main body.
• Wang Quan activated his authorization and ordered the Drowning Dao Court to unleash its full-power strike.
• The Ninth Reincarnation King descended on the Reincarnation Ring, blocked the returning golden needles, and caused several Dao Seal Cultivators who looked at his light pollution to transform into multicolored light.
• The Dawn Sun Golden Needles charged at the Ninth Reincarnation King, who gathered the light pollution around his hands and claimed he could hold off a Sky Patrol Magic Treasure.

The Ninth Reincarnation King battled the [Dawn Sun Golden Needle] until [Vertical Eye] betrayed him, and the Earth Treasury God King’s projection finally appeared to destroy the Sky Patrol Magic Treasure. Their victory ended when a river of three thousand [Sky Patrol Magic Treasures] filled the sky, leaving the God King to declare there was no going back.

• The Ninth Reincarnation King fought the [Dawn Sun Golden Needle], and both he and his Reincarnation Ring suffered heavy damage.
• The [Dawn Sun Golden Needle] used [Vertical Eye] to smash the ring, and [Vertical Eye] admitted that the Sky Patrol Magic Treasure was controlling him.
• The Ninth Reincarnation King called for the Earth Treasury God King, whose projection appeared and captured the [Dawn Sun Golden Needle].
• The Earth Treasury God King’s projection crushed the embroidery needle, and [Vertical Eye] and the Ninth Reincarnation King praised him.
• A river of three thousand [Sky Patrol Magic Treasures] appeared in the sky, and the Earth Treasury God King said there was no going back.

The Drowning Dao Court struck the Earth Treasury God King's projection, the Ninth Reincarnation King, and a portion of Vertical Eye, trapping them as they tried to prepare farewell letters or escape. Its attack reached across countless possibilities and hooked their distant true bodies, leaving the Earth Treasury God King lamenting that his dead grandmaster, master, and senior brothers and junior sisters had led him astray.

• Wang Quan and the others saw the Drowning Dao Court split into three streams aimed at the Earth Treasury God King's projection, the Ninth Reincarnation King, and Vertical Eye.
• The Earth Treasury God King's projection explained that he was writing a farewell letter because a Heterodox Paths Dao Court strike left its targets time to write before dying.
• Vertical Eye failed to escape, wrote a farewell letter, and passed the writing materials to the Ninth Reincarnation King, who revealed that he was his own true body.
• The Drowning Dao Court struck, freezing their powers and sending rivers from their eyes that hooked distant true bodies across countless possibilities.
• The Ninth Reincarnation King and Vertical Eye lost consciousness as the Earth Treasury God King's palace fought the rivers, while the projection realized the strike could reach true bodies and cried that his elders had led him astray.