Recaps

After returning from the operation, Lu Zhao challenged Lü Jinshan’s attempt to claim credit and learned that Lü Jinshan’s younger brother was involved in smuggling. Lu Zhao left to rest, considering the clue linking Lü Jinshan to the smuggling route near the station.

• Lu Zhao told Zhang Like that he had found Zhang Like’s signature on a patrol-route change plan from a year and a half earlier, and explained that the Federation’s computer system had preserved the document.
• Lü Jinshan welcomed Lu Zhao’s team, praised him publicly, and tried to dismiss the soldiers, but the officers and troops regrouped until Zhang Like formally dismissed them.
• Zhang Like explained to Lu Zhao that Federation politics depended on loyalty, attitude, and choosing sides as much as on ability and results.
• Lu Zhao spoke with Zhang Laoniu, who told him that Lü Jinshan’s younger brother specialized in smuggling.
• Lu Zhao connected the information to the smuggling route behind the station, thanked Zhang Laoniu, and returned to his dormitory.

Lu Zhao visited Primordial Unity and, through the old Daoist's tea, briefly experienced the Inner Form of a second-stage mental transcendent. He and the old Daoist then argued over whether the new dynasty's claim of equality differed from the Great Ming, leaving their clash over the two eras' governing philosophies unresolved.

• Lu Zhao reached the old Daoist's temple in Primordial Unity and asked how he had made it stable.
• The old Daoist explained that he had used Lu Zhao's Fate Bones to shape objects, then served him nine cups of tea.
• Lu Zhao experienced realistic bodily sensations in the mental world and recognized that the tea had let him glimpse the Inner Form.
• The old Daoist questioned the new dynasty's equality, and Lu Zhao explained its education system and voting restrictions.
• Lu Zhao challenged the old Daoist to compare the new dynasty's fairness with the Great Ming, but the old Daoist argued that both had failed to achieve their ideals.

Lu Zhao stood firm before the old Daoist, who accepted him as a student and began teaching him an ancient path of cultivation. The lesson led Lu Zhao to reconsider how much more he should pursue, and he learned that completing Foundation Establishment required far more than modern Life Development taught.

• Lu Zhao told the old Daoist he would one day rise to a high position and strike back at those who had harmed him.
• The old Daoist asked Lu Zhao to become his student, requiring one Fate Bone every three months and forbidding Lu Zhao to call him master until he could construct an Inner Landscape.
• Lu Zhao bowed to the old Daoist, who taught him to pursue more than what he believed was already owed to him.
• Lu Zhao described the modern Life Development stages, and the old Daoist called the system passable while correcting its gaps.
• The old Daoist explained that proper cultivation refined the senses and divine intent at the first stage, developed the five palaces at the second, and built an Inner Landscape at the third; Lu Zhao asked what realm his teacher had reached.

Lu Zhao began training under his new Daoist teacher, who gave him a path toward Foundation Establishment through the Visualization Method. Short on life supplements, Lu Zhao resolved to compete for his unit’s excellence award, and the chapter left him invited to a victory banquet by the company commanders.

• Lu Zhao woke exhausted after his teacher’s harsh lesson and reflected on how the teacher’s guidance could improve his chances of becoming a Martial Marquis.
• Lu Zhao studied the Visualization Method and learned that he needed to develop his consciousness form’s five senses before advancing toward Foundation Establishment.
• Lu Zhao found that he had only six life supplements left and decided to seek the unit’s excellence award for its increased quota.
• Lu Zhao practiced visualizing the taste of his life supplement, then checked his vitality, which measured 37.
• Liao Lang invited Lu Zhao to sit with the company commanders, offered him priority access to duty-company personnel and equipment, and reminded him about the victory banquet.

Lu Zhao received a promotion to captain and a transfer from command of the reinforced platoon to operations and training staff officer, which he recognized as Lü Jinshan’s attempt to sideline him. After refusing Lü Jinshan’s offer of future advancement in exchange for compliance, Lu Zhao confronted Liang Fei over premature changes to his office and the platoon’s duties, and the chapter ended with his soldiers protesting the transfer.

• A clerk delivered Lu Zhao’s orders promoting him to captain and transferring him to the operations and training section.
• Lu Zhao reported to Lü Jinshan, who offered to help advance his career if he and Zhang Like stopped their activities.
• Lu Zhao told Lü Jinshan that the promotion was the Federation’s decision, then left without accepting the offer.
• Lu Zhao found Liang Fei arguing with Liu Qiang and objected to Liang Fei trying to clear out his office before the handover was complete.
• Lu Zhao ordered Liang Fei to finish the handover procedures, and Liang Fei left.
• The reinforced platoon’s soldiers protested Lu Zhao’s transfer and criticized Liang Fei.

Lu Zhao handed flood-prevention duties to Liang Fei after being transferred to the training and operations post, while Lü Jinshan refused Chen Hongtao’s request to keep Lu Zhao involved through flood season. Zhang Like then warned Lu Zhao against using his new post to impose stricter training and assessments on the troops.

• Lu Zhao ordered the reinforced platoon to return to their posts and told them to report flood-prevention problems directly to him.
• Lu Zhao questioned Liang Fei’s lack of frontline experience, explained the flood-prevention duties, and gave him the relevant documents and plan.
• Chen Hongtao urged Lü Jinshan to let Lu Zhao guide flood-prevention work until the season ended, but Lü Jinshan rejected the suggestion.
• Lü Jinshan resolved to remove Lu Zhao from the front line and sever his connection with Zhang Like, even if doing so risked problems during flood season.
• Zhang Like visited Lu Zhao’s new office and mocked his promotion, then cautioned him against imposing stricter training and assessments on all the troops.

Lu Zhao used a proposed training allowance and a victory banquet to build support among the border station officers, while learning that Lü Jinshan may be protected by a powerful figure in the South Sea Circuit. He resolved to find evidence of the smuggling operation and continued his painful Spirit Refining practice.

• Lu Zhao proposed a five-hundred-yuan allowance for officers and soldiers who met their training targets, and Zhang Like agreed to ask the rank-and-file what they thought.
• At the victory banquet, Zhang Like introduced Lu Zhao to the officers, who toasted him and promised to support his bid for an excellence award.
• Lu Zhao recognized how power and shared interests shaped the officers’ relationships, and Zhang Like advised him to make requests more tactfully in the future.
• Lu Zhao told Zhang Like that Old Niu had asked him to investigate Lü Jinshan’s brother and his suspected smuggling route; Zhang Like warned that a powerful figure might be protecting Lü Jinshan.
• Lu Zhao insisted they find evidence before confronting Lü Jinshan, then returned to his room and continued Spirit Refining through the night.

Liang Fei disrupted Lu Zhao’s flood-control preparations with unauthorized changes, while Lu Zhao won the border station’s outstanding officer vote by a landslide. After soldiers ignored Liang Fei’s meddling orders, he threatened to report and replace them, prompting Zhang Like to visit Lu Zhao’s office.

• Liang Fei questioned Liu Qiang about flood-season preparations, then criticized Lu Zhao’s existing plan and demanded extra observation posts and patrols despite the lack of manpower.
• Liang Fei changed observation-post locations and disrupted flood-control work, but soldiers continued following Lu Zhao’s original plan after he left.
• The company-grade officers voted in the annual excellence awards, and Lu Zhao received twenty-eight votes to become the outstanding officer.
• Liang Fei inspected the posts he had changed and berated Liu Qiang and the soldiers for not carrying out his orders, threatening to report and replace them.
• Zhang Like arrived at Lu Zhao’s office after hearing about Liang Fei’s confrontation.

Lu Zhao defended his flood-control orders and warned Zhang Like that public safety could not be sacrificed to wait for Liang Fei to fail. Chen Hongtao then took temporary command and suspended Lü Jinshan pending an investigation, while Liang Fei’s behavior led Lu Zhao to suspect he was implicated too.

• Lu Zhao told Zhang Like that he had intervened in Liang Fei’s orders because flood-control mistakes could cost lives, and Zhang Like apologized for suggesting they wait for a failure.
• Lu Zhao explained that Lin Zhiyan and the Special Response team could use their authority to report Lü Jinshan and have him suspended pending investigation.
• Chen Hongtao arrived with authorization to take temporary command and ordered Zhang Like and Lu Zhao to accompany him to arrest Lü Jinshan.
• Liang Fei complained to Lü Jinshan that the reinforced platoon disobeyed him and accused Lu Zhao of exceeding his authority.
• Chen Hongtao placed Lü Jinshan under suspension pending an investigation into dereliction of duty, and Lu Zhao suspected Liang Fei’s hands were not clean.

Lü Jinshan was suspended, and Lu Zhao was appointed temporary instructor for flood prevention while Chen Hongtao temporarily took over the station. Lü Jinshan sought help from Mr. Zhao, and Lu Zhao remained wary of the Chen Family as he discussed the situation with Zhang Like.

• Lu Zhao stopped Liang Fei from leaving, then ordered Lü Jinshan out of the station after his suspension notice was read.
• Chen Hongtao appointed Lu Zhao temporary instructor for flood prevention and hinted that he might take the deputy station chief position.
• Lü Jinshan went to the Foreign District and asked Mr. Zhao about Lin Zhiyan, learning that she came from the Cangwu Lin Family.
• Zhang Like told Lu Zhao that Chen Hongtao might cooperate with them over flood prevention, but Lu Zhao warned that the Chen Family remained a threat.
• Zhang Like urged Lu Zhao to abandon his desire for revenge unless he could become a Martial Marquis, and Lu Zhao did not reply.

Lu Zhao rejected Mo Kun’s attempt to curry favor with an apparent box of intermediate life supplements, then learned Zhang Like had purchased the bottles at the internal price. He revealed that his vitality had reached 37.4, surprising Zhang Like as he considered his rapid progress.

• Lu Zhao discussed seeking Deputy Station Chief Chen’s post and learned Zhang Like thought his captain’s rank and two second-class merits made him eligible.
• Mo Kun invited Lu Zhao to discuss flood prevention, then tried to send him a box of supposed liquor for Zhang Like.
• Lu Zhao discovered the bottles were intermediate life supplements and refused to deliver them, returning to collect his own pay and supplements.
• Zhang Like brought home nine bottles of intermediate life supplement he had bought at the internal price, and Lu Zhao repaid him twenty thousand yuan.
• Lu Zhao told Zhang Like his vitality was 37.4, startling him with how much it had risen since March.

Lu Zhao and Zhang Like investigated Lü Jinshan’s brother Lü Bowen and traced a smuggling route carrying life supplements from Ant Ridge into Fang City. The chapter left them following the smugglers’ contacts into the city’s western district.

• Zhang Like learned that Lu Zhao had gained two vitality points in four months and lent him another twenty thousand yuan.
• Lu Zhao and Zhang Like discussed Lü Bowen’s bars and the difficulty of exposing his smuggling operation outside their jurisdiction.
• Lu Zhao staked out a hidden route on Ant Ridge, using his spiritual power to detect fresh tracks and later identify smugglers carrying life supplements.
• Lu Zhao followed the smugglers to a village, memorized the villagers who met them, and returned to the forest.
• Lu Zhao and Zhang Like tracked the villagers’ vehicle across Fang City, from its eastern side to the west.

Lin Zhiyan struggled against the obstruction facing her task force in Fang City and used her connections to arrange a transfer for Lu Zhao. Lu Zhao returned to his cultivation and entered Primordial Unity to seek his teacher’s advice, ending as he began asking about matters he did not understand.

• Lu Zhao and Zhang Like returned from the Foreign District, where they discussed how evidence against Lü Bowen might also affect Lü Jinshan.
• Lin Zhiyan described the local obstruction facing her task force and asked Liang Chengyun to transfer Lu Zhao, but he warned her about Marquis Chen’s influence.
• Lin Zhiyan called Marquis Liu, who agreed to arrange Lu Zhao’s transfer.
• Lu Zhao meditated in his dormitory, found himself blocked in spirit refining, and entered Primordial Unity to meet his teacher.
• Lu Zhao’s teacher remarked that he seemed happy, and Lu Zhao began asking him about several things he did not understand.

Lu Zhao discussed his cultivation and the border station conflict with the old Daoist, then chose to seek the Great Dao through his own understanding. After losing his temporary instructor title, he realized that authority granted by others could not be relied upon and continued on without concern.

• Lu Zhao told the old Daoist about killing the criminals and defended his decision to stand by what was right.
• The old Daoist explained that Lu Zhao’s talent had brought him to the Inner Landscape and taught him about Spirit Refining and comprehending the Dao.
• Lu Zhao demonstrated his improved spiritual sense, learned he was nearing Minor Accomplishment, and chose to seek the Great Dao himself.
• On June 12, Lu Zhao learned that Lü Jinshan’s suspension would last one month and that he would likely be reinstated.
• At a June 13 flood-control meeting, Chen Hongtao criticized Lu Zhao, assigned Liang Fei to lead flood-control work, and stripped Lu Zhao of his temporary instructor position.
• Lu Zhao realized that titles and authority should not be entrusted to or bestowed by others, dismissed the loss as an empty title, and walked on.

Lu Zhao received an appointment as a temporary staff officer on the Fang City special task force, while considering a recommendation for deputy station chief. He left Ant Ridge Border Station’s officers startled by his new influence and discovered that Honghualang accelerated his cultivation.

• Chen Hongtao apologized to Lu Zhao and revealed that Fang City's city executive had pressured him, then delivered Lu Zhao’s appointment to the special task force, signed by Liang Chengyun.
• Lu Zhao inferred that Lin Zhiyan had secured the appointment and asked Chen Hongtao to recommend him for deputy station chief before Chen transferred out.
• At lunch, Lu Zhao told Zhang Like and the other officers about his appointment, and the news spread through the station, prompting Liang Fei to fall back into line.
• The next morning, Lu Zhao checked his vitality after practicing and found it had risen to 38, an increase of 0.2, which he attributed to drinking Honghualang.

Lu Zhao welcomed Lin Zhiyan and the special task force to Ant Ridge Border Station, then learned of a mission to intercept tomb robbers who had escaped during the Fate Bones case. The task force prepared to search for fugitives in Fang City and the surrounding border regions, with Lin Zhiyan’s Divine Ability suited to finding them.

• Zhang Like summoned Lu Zhao to the compound gate, where Lu Zhao greeted Lin Zhiyan and welcomed the special task force on behalf of Ant Ridge Border Station.
• Lin Zhiyan and the border station leaders gathered in the conference room, where Lu Zhao was seated beside her.
• Lu Zhao read the task force report about the Mojin Xiaowei gang, who had stolen Fate Bones from the Tomb of the Prince of Jingjiang and scattered while fleeing authorities.
• Lin Zhiyan explained that one injured robber had entered Fang City and another had escaped abroad, while Greenwood’s earlier disruption had opened gaps in Linchen City’s border defenses.
• Lin Zhiyan assigned the task force and Lu Zhao to intercept fugitives, noting that her Divine Ability could help find them and that there would be no penalty for failing.

Lu Zhao used the task force’s authority to seek a way to investigate Lü Jinshan while helping Lin Zhiyan with the robber case. On the convoy ride to Ant Ridge, he described the outpost’s forces and the Greenwood Earth Hall, leaving Lin Zhiyan with a glimpse of his combat experience.

• Lin Zhiyan said the Fang City police were unlikely to find the robbers and authorized Lu Zhao to assist the task force despite his lack of rank to conduct searches himself.
• Lu Zhao told Zhang Like he planned to connect Lü Bowen to the robbers’ escape and use the investigation to pursue Lü Jinshan.
• Lin Zhiyan invited Lu Zhao to ride with her to Ant Ridge so she could ask about the assignment, and he reluctantly agreed.
• Lu Zhao explained the outpost’s deployment and described the Greenwood Earth Hall’s second-tier water-type transcendent, whom he had fought three times.

Lu Zhao showed Lin Zhiyan the frontline outpost and explained the dangers across the border, while their conversation revealed that she was testing his opposition to the surrender faction. He suspected the Lin Family was challenging the Chen Family’s control of the South Sea West Circuit, but returned to his routine without declaring allegiance.

• The convoy reached the frontline outpost, where Lu Zhao completed the entry procedures and introduced Lin Zhiyan to the squad leader on duty.
• Lu Zhao guided Lin Zhiyan around the outpost and described the varied powers across the border, including the relatively human Greenwood.
• Lin Zhiyan raised proposals to open household registration and absorb outsiders, and Lu Zhao called a prominent advocate evil rather than stupid.
• Lin Zhiyan remarked that Lu Zhao was a holdout, and he stayed silent because his family had died fighting in the War of National Defense.
• Back at the border station, Lu Zhao concluded that Lin Zhiyan had been testing his stance and that the Lin Family might be moving against the Chen Family.
• Lu Zhao put away the transfer order bearing Liang Chengyun’s name, returned to work, and later ate and drank with Zhang Like.

Lu Zhao weighed the dangers of getting involved in powerful political conflicts while preparing to leave for the Red Water Army, then received orders to join a mission in Fang City. At the Special Service Response Detachment base, he met Commander Wang Tong and Xu Zhenhua, and Wang began briefing him on the operation.

• Lu Zhao explained to Zhang Like why mental-type transcendents rarely marry and recounted the dangerous political conflict surrounding Lin Zhiyan.
• Zhang Like advised Lu Zhao to stay out of the conflict, while Lu Zhao reconsidered his plan to build a career in the Red Water Army and agreed to be careful.
• Lin Zhiyan called Lu Zhao's private number and ordered him to report to the Fang City Special Service Response Detachment base the next morning with Major Xu Zhenhua.
• On June 18, Lu Zhao requisitioned a military truck, formed a temporary squad of ten first-stage transcendents including Liao Lang, and traveled to Fang City.
• Lu Zhao reported to the detachment base and entered Commander Wang Tong's office, where Xu Zhenhua was waiting.
• Wang Tong introduced himself, returned Lu Zhao's salute, and began briefing him on the mission.

Lu Zhao and Lin Zhiyan joined a covert operation to find an injured fire-type fugitive on Kabuki Street in the Foreign District. As they searched the district, they entered a billiard hall and drew the attention of its staff and a group of bleached-blond punks.

• Wang Tong briefed Lu Zhao and Xu Zhenhua on the fugitive and the plan to search Kabuki Street.
• Lin Zhiyan led the operation meeting, and Lu Zhao urged the team to minimize civilian casualties during the raid.
• Lin Zhiyan recruited Lu Zhao to accompany her into the Foreign District, explaining that his ability could protect them from her indiscriminate mental shock.
• The team split into firepower, assault, and support groups after reaching Kabuki Street, while Lu Zhao and Lin Zhiyan searched on foot.
• Lin Zhiyan took Lu Zhao into a billiard hall, where the front-desk woman, a guard, and a group of bleached-blond punks watched them.

Lin Zhiyan and Lu Zhao toured Kabuki Street while watching for signs of trouble, then clashed over Lu Zhao’s refusal to break the law by eating beef. Lin Zhiyan treated him to a cheaper meal and later took him to an evening dinner gathering on the east side of the city.

• Lu Zhao secretly incapacitated a New Gang leader as Lin Zhiyan played pool, and the two continued through increasingly dangerous venues without being challenged.
• Lü Bowen worried about the unconscious Greenwood robber, while Lü Jinshan told him to keep the man and the item in his possession until help arrived.
• Lu Zhao left a restaurant after seeing illegal beef on the menu, and Lin Zhiyan followed him outside.
• Lu Zhao explained that he would not accept wrongdoing as normal, prompting Lin Zhiyan to recognize a quality she associated with her late father, Lin Youmin.
• Lin Zhiyan agreed to treat Lu Zhao at a small restaurant, then brought him to a dinner gathering on the east side of the city that evening.

Lin Zhiyan and Lu Zhao met Fang City Executive Zhao De and challenged his secretary over Lu Zhao’s overlooked merits before confronting Zhao De about easing restrictions on Federation subjects in the Chinese District. Afterward, Lin Zhiyan explained Zhao De’s political ties and investigated the missing robbers, while Lu Zhao remained in Fang City despite the danger.

• Lin Zhiyan introduced Lu Zhao to Zhao De and Liu Zhihui, then criticized Liu Zhihui’s rapid rise by contrasting it with Lu Zhao’s service.
• Lu Zhao joined Lin Zhiyan in mocking Liu Zhihui’s résumé, and Zhao De defused the tension before the group sat down to eat.
• Zhao De asked Lin Zhiyan about a policy easing restrictions on Federation subjects working in the Chinese District, and she condemned the idea of merging Hua and foreigners.
• Lin Zhiyan told Lu Zhao that Zhao De’s backer was a major obstacle in the South Sea West Circuit and suggested Lu Zhao should not stay in Fang City, but Lu Zhao only thanked her.
• Lin Zhiyan learned that the Public Security Office had mobilized informants to find the robbers and suspected that Lü Jinshan had let the fugitive pass through the border station.

Lin Zhiyan confronted Fang City's officials over their obstruction of the task force, while Lu Zhao refused a transfer offer from the Special Response Detachment. A call with his family sparked a new insight: his divine sense could touch and perceive the world beyond his body.

• Lin Zhiyan explained to Xu Fang that Fang City's resistance reflected political leverage, then demanded City Executive Zhao cooperate and recover the stolen goods.
• Wang Tong offered Lu Zhao a company commander's post in the Special Response Detachment, but Lu Zhao declined and reaffirmed that the border station suited him.
• Lu Zhao spoke with his mother, Luo Xiuhua, and niece Lu Xiaotong, whose lively conversation eased his tension.
• As he listened to Lu Xiaotong, Lu Zhao's thoughts spread outward and let him feel the ground, grass, wind, and clouds through his divine sense.

Lu Zhao discussed his progress with the Visualization Method, and the old Daoist helped him understand sight as recognizing the external world. Lu Zhao then sought advice about navigating the conflict between the Lin and Chen families, and his teacher began guiding him through a historical question about loyalty.

• Lu Zhao entered Primordial Unity to ask the old Daoist whether his understanding of the five senses was correct.
• Lu Zhao explained that taste, smell, and touch corresponded to food, time, and other people's existence, and said he had not understood sight.
• The old Daoist prompted Lu Zhao to connect sight with form, and Lu Zhao concluded that it involved understanding and transforming the world.
• The old Daoist struck Lu Zhao with a ruler when he sensed his student was rushing, then invited him to raise doubts beyond cultivation.
• Lu Zhao described his wish to benefit from the Lin and Chen families' conflict without joining either side, and the old Daoist asked whether Hai Rui or Yan Song had been a loyal minister of Great Ming.

Lu Zhao accepted his teacher’s advice to work with the Lin Family only through proper procedures and use political turmoil to expand his influence. The old Daoist granted him three chances to survive, while foreseeing a future shaped by both supreme fortune and terrible danger.

• The old Daoist argued that Lu Zhao should follow a ruler’s path rather than imitate Hai Rui or Yan Song, and Lu Zhao resolved to favor the Lin Family only when they followed procedure.
• The old Daoist advised Lu Zhao to use the Lin Family’s influence to stir up the Foreign District and create opportunities for the Chen Family’s opponents.
• Lu Zhao declared that he would command the realm’s Martial Marquises and safeguard peace in the Divine Land, surprising the old Daoist with his ambition.
• The old Daoist marked Lu Zhao’s palm with the character for three and gave him three chances to save his life.
• The old Daoist foresaw Lu Zhao’s fate as one of supreme nobility and terrible misfortune, with six of nine deadly trials remaining.