Determination Is What Matters

The land of Wuqin Township had been eroded away, gnawed down from ten thousand fang to a little over three thousand fang, for reasons unknown. Lady Wuqin was most likely Qiao Shaofen, but all history recorded on the covenant deed had been erased. Who had done this? And what was their purpose in doing so? Although many doubts remained, none of it dampened Li Banfeng's good mood. Leaving the deserted village, Li Banfeng began planning their next steps. "We'll build a railway that takes a detour through the newland to connect Brother Qiu's territory with Wuqin Township, and transport goods through Wuqin Township's station. It's a bit of a hassle, but as long as it operates smoothly, transport costs won't rise by much." Shui Yongquan listened attentively. "If you want to manage both territories together, the social customs of Wuqin Township will have to change." "They definitely do. And Brother Qiu will have to help them change." Shui Yongquan glanced back at Qiu Luoye. Qiu Luoye was walking very slowly, seemingly preoccupied. "Are you thinking about where to bury the covenant deed?" Shui Yongquan was worried about this as well. "It'd be best to bury it near your territory so you can look after it normally." "All right," Qiu Luoye agreed absently. Li Banfeng said, "The territory's edge borders the Boundary directly. Even if you see something wrong with the covenant deed, you'd still have to detour through the newland. You might not be able to react in time." "True," Qiu Luoye answered again. Shui Yongquan said, "Leave a covenant-guarding spirit over here to watch it. If anything happens, it can report straight across the Boundary. It needs to be somewhere others won't notice, but Elephant Qiu can still see." "Okay." Qiu Luoye nodded. Li Banfeng walked faster and faster along the border line, scouting for a suitable spot. Heavy with worry, Qiu Luoye lagged further and further behind. Shui Yongquan called out, "Elephant Qiu, we're picking a spot for you. Can you pay a bit of attention?" Qiu Luoye lowered his voice. "About tonight... I still feel like Old Seven got the short end of the stick." Shui Yongquan was taken aback. So that was what had been bothering Qiu Luoye. "What else could we do? His cultivation is still in the ground-crust; he can't receive living-qi." "I got the territory, which is already a huge bargain for me. I want to save up Wuqin Township's fifty percent of living-qi and keep it for Old Seven." Shui Yongquan paused in surprise. "How long do you plan to save it? He's still a long way from above the clouds." "I don't think it's that far." Shui Yongquan gave a long sigh. "Don't forget, when going from nine to ten, one ultimately has to go suffer in the Inner States. Guess how many years of suffering he'll have to endure." "Maybe he won't have to go to the Inner States?" Qiu Luoye was pondering something that was very complicated for him, yet well worth considering. "Lady Wuqin had two pieces of covenant deed. Why did she have two? Could it be because she wasn't under the control of the Inner States? Can we take back that other deed as well? I don't want anything more to do with the Inner States, and I don't want Old Seven to suffer there either." Shui Yongquan sank into thought as well, only to be interrupted by a loud argument. "I don't want to live anymore! I'll die right here in front of you today!" Over on Qiu Luoye's territory, a pair of wasteland clearers had started arguing. They were husband and wife who had just collected their bounty for clearing the wasteland. They had planned to head back and celebrate a good New Year, only to learn that they couldn't go back now. The husband was clumsy with his words and failed to explain clearly. The wife suddenly lost control of her emotions and charged straight toward the border line. The husband was dumbfounded and rushed after his wife. The people around them reacted too late to stop them. Li Banfeng reacted in time, but being on the opposite side of the border line, there was nothing he could do. Just when it seemed the couple was about to be reduced to flying ash, the wife surprisingly dashed across the border line completely unscathed! The husband dashed across right after her. The wife kept crying and shouting up ahead, while the husband chased behind her, the two of them running all the way into the territory of Wuqin Township. Standing beside the border line, Li Banfeng wore a look of utter bewilderment. On the other side of the border line, the few hunters who had just been trying to break up the fight were stunned. A middle-aged hunter in his forties, who considered himself knowledgeable, stared at the border line and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Determination is what matters! As long as we make up our minds, we can break through the Boundary!" The people around naturally didn't believe the middle-aged man's nonsense, but how on earth had that couple crossed over just now? While everyone was still baffled, they suddenly heard the middle-aged hunter yell, "I want to go home! Charge—!" With a long howl, the middle-aged man also charged toward the border line. Never overestimate a person's rationality. He had stayed in the newland for nearly a year, working as a wasteland clearer and a hunter, licking blood from the edge of a blade every day just to save some money, go home, build a new house, and live a good life with his wife and children. Now that the money was in his hands, he couldn't return home. All reason had long abandoned him. The moment he charged across the border line, his expression was even more resolute than that couple's. He crossed! He succeeded as well! What on earth was going on? On Qiu Luoye's territory, the crowd grew restless. "I want to go home too!" "I want to take a wife!" "I want to have a son!" "Don't rush, aren't we making one right now?!" "I want two sons!" "Then put some muscle into it!" One person after another began charging toward the border line. The Boundary could not be crossed! They were defying common sense in Puluo Province—the most fundamental common sense of all! Qiu Luoye blinked. "Determination? This doesn't seem to have anything to do with determination, does it?" Without needing to think too hard, all three of them grasped the reason in an instant. It really had nothing to do with determination. It was because both territories now belonged to Qiu Luoye. They had merged into a single territory, and the Boundary between them had vanished. "A Boundary can actually disappear on its own? Is there a resonance between the Boundary and covenant deeds?" Having lived to this age, it was the first time Shui Yongquan began pondering the true nature of the Boundary. "One family! It's all one family now!" Qiu Luoye didn't think that deeply. Thrilled, he held the covenant deed and happily strode back into his own territory. "Determination! Steel your resolve and charge out!" The people in the territory grew wild with excitement. They could finally get out! Their shouts rose in wave after wave. Li Banfeng was shouting as well, fighting his way against the rushing crowd: "This has nothing to do with determination! It's only this specific border line that's gone! Don't charge outward blindly—if you run into other Boundaries, you'll still die!" …… Yuezhou, Garden Stadium. He Jiaqing retrieved the seal from the sewer and pressed it against his own head. This seal had been placed here for over a month and had absorbed a full measure of living-qi. He Jiaqing knew that absorbing a large amount of living-qi all at once would cause severe discomfort, and he had prepared thoroughly for it. As living-qi poured incessantly into his body through the crown of his head, he trembled violently. His consciousness suddenly blurred, and he nearly blacked out on the spot. What was going on? The living-qi at Garden Stadium was potent, but this wasn't He Jiaqing's first time absorbing it here; it shouldn't have caused such a violent reaction. His physical condition seemed off today—perhaps he had been exhausted recently. More than half the living-qi remained in the seal. He Jiaqing returned the seal to its spot and staggered out of the stadium. He hailed a taxi to a villa, stumbled up the stairs, and without even taking off his clothes, collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep stupor. …… "The Boundary is gone?" Liao Zihui looked at the report, staring in utter disbelief at Liu Guocai, the Garrison Commissioner of Wuqin Township. Liu Guocai nodded. "I've already sent people to verify it. The border line between the two territories has indeed vanished." "How could that be..." Liao Zihui supported his forehead, feeling a wave of dizziness. Earlier, he had been waiting for Li the Seventh to come beg him—beg him to build the railway, beg him to establish checkpoints, beg him to construct a Garrison Office. He had already planned every word of the lecture he would deliver to Li the Seventh. He was going to teach Li the Seventh how to be steady, how to follow rules, and make him understand who truly called the shots in Puluo Province. Yet who could have imagined something like this would happen? How could a Boundary just vanish? Did Li the Seventh do this? If he really did, then this matter was grave! Deputy Chief Commissioner Tang Huanjie said, "Chief Commissioner, I suspect Li the Seventh has mastered a method to manipulate Boundaries." "Impossible..." Liao Zihui said the word, but his voice lacked conviction. Tang Huanjie offered a suggestion: "Chief Commissioner, we should immediately report the situation in Wuqin Township to the higher-ups. This could alter the entire landscape of Puluo Province. The consequences are far beyond what we can bear." "Right, you're right. We can't bear this," Liao Zihui snapped to his senses, hurriedly calling in his secretary, Ling Sujun. "Draft a report immediately. Coordinate directly with Commissioner Liu on the details." Just as Liu Guocai and Ling Sujun were about to leave the office, Liao Zihui called them back: "Wait. Don't rush to draft the report. You two step outside first and await my orders." Having ordered a report drafted only to abruptly change his mind, Liu Guocai and Ling Sujun exchanged glances. But seeing Liao Zihui's state, neither dared question him, quickly exiting the office. Only Liao Zihui and Deputy Chief Commissioner Tang Huanjie remained. Tang Huanjie asked, "Chief Commissioner, what are you hesitating for? This is a major event; we cannot afford any delay." "I know it's major," Liao Zihui replied as he organized his thoughts. Over thirty years in officialdom helped him gradually calm down. "The Boundary between the two territories just vanished like that. Do you really believe Li the Seventh did it?" "Who else could it be besides him?" Liao Zihui shook his head slightly. "Directly erasing a Boundary—even we can't do something like that." Tang Huanjie said, "Which is precisely why it's a major event and must be reported above immediately." "If Li the Seventh possesses such great capability and we're only finding out now, won't reporting it like this put us at a severe disadvantage?" Tang Huanjie nodded. "What you say is true, but if we conceal the situation and fail to report it, we'll be in an even worse spot." "I didn't say we should conceal it. It's just that the information we currently possess is insufficient, so we can't report it rashly. We haven't even clarified Li the Seventh's identity yet." Tang Huanjie quickly deflected responsibility: "Chief Commissioner, that matter was already clarified. His name is Song Zhuowen, from Gluttony Ridge, a fifth-tier Wanderer. I reported this to you previously." Liao Zihui shook his head. "Something isn't right. There are suspicious points." Tang Huanjie was puzzled. "Chief Commissioner, you keep saying there are suspicious points, but after analyzing it for so long, we haven't found a single one." Liao Zihui fell silent for a moment before saying, "We still need to investigate further. We must thoroughly determine Li the Seventh's identity, and investigate the situation in Wuqin Township as well. We simply know too little." Tang Huanjie disagreed with Liao Zihui's reasoning, but since Liao Zihui had given the order, he didn't dare say more. Once Tang Huanjie left the office, Liao Zihui immediately had Deputy Chief Commissioner Bai Zhiming called in. "Zhiming, do we still have contact with Lady Wuqin, the local spirit of Wuqin Township?" Bai Zhiming nodded. "Our relations with her are fairly decent, but you know the custom of Wuqin Township—they always harp on about being 'neither kith nor kin.'" Liao Zihui nodded. "I know her temperament. Go draw a batch of dark matter conditioner; say that I approved it, and have someone submit the paperwork after the fact. "Take this batch of conditioner, go to Wuqin Township at once, and ask the local spirit what on earth happened to the Boundary around there. "You must go in person. As soon as you uncover anything, report back to me immediately. Don't tell anyone else about this. Leave right now!"