Chapter 430: Important Is Determination

Wuxin Township's land has been encroached upon, shrinking from 10,000 units to just over 3,000 units, for unknown reasons.

Lady Wuxin is very likely Qiao Shaofen, but all historical records on the covenant have been erased. Who did this, and what was their purpose?

Although many questions remained, it didn't affect Li Banfeng's good mood.

After leaving the desolate village, Li Banfeng began planning his next move.

"We'll build a railway, bypassing Xindi, to connect Brother Qiu's territory with Wuxin Township," Li Banfeng said. "We can transport goods through Wuxin Township's station. While it's a bit troublesome, as long as it operates smoothly, transportation costs won't increase much."

Shui Yongquan listened carefully. "If we want to operate these two territories as one," he said, "the local customs of Wuxin Township will need to change."

"Yes, they must," Li Banfeng replied, "and Brother Qiu will need to help them change."

Shui Yongquan looked back at Qiu Luoye, who was walking slowly, seemingly preoccupied.

"Are you thinking about burying the covenant?" Shui Yongquan asked, also worried about the matter. "It would be best to bury it next to your territory, so it can be looked after regularly."

"Alright," Qiu Luoye agreed.

Li Banfeng said, "The territory is right next to the boundary line. Even if we see something amiss with the covenant, we'd still have to go around Xindi to get there, and we might not be able to attend to it in time."

"That's true," Qiu Luoye replied again.

Shui Yongquan suggested, "Let's leave a Covenant Guardian Spirit here to watch over it. If anything happens, it can directly send a message to the other side of the boundary line. Others won't notice, and it needs to be somewhere Brother Qiu can see."

"Okay," Qiu Luoye nodded.

Li Banfeng walked faster and faster along the boundary line, searching for a suitable spot.

Qiu Luoye, however, was deep in thought and walked slower and slower.

Shui Yongquan said, "Brother Qiu, we're choosing a spot for you here. Can you pay a little more attention?"

Qiu Luoye lowered his voice and said, "About what happened tonight, I still feel that Old Seven got the short end of the stick."

Shui Yongquan was surprised. So Qiu Luoye was troubled by this.

"What can be done about that?" Shui Yongquan asked. "His cultivation is still tied to the land; he can't absorb human essence."

"I gained the territory," Qiu Luoye said. "I've already benefited greatly. I want to save 50% of Wuxin Township's human essence and keep it for Old Seven."

Shui Yongquan was taken aback. "How long do you plan to save it?" he asked. "He's still a long way from reaching the Cloud Realm."

"I don't think it's far," Qiu Luoye replied.

Shui Yongquan sighed deeply. "Don't forget," he said, "that advancing from level nine to ten ultimately means suffering in Neizhou. How many years do you think he'll have to suffer there?"

"Perhaps he won't have to go to Neizhou?" Qiu Luoye was pondering something very complex yet worthwhile. "Lady Wuxin's covenant consists of two pieces. Why does she have two pieces? Is it because she isn't governed by Neizhou? Could we also retrieve that part of the covenant? I don't want to have any dealings with Neizhou anymore, and I don't want Old Seven to suffer in Neizhou."

Shui Yongquan also fell into deep thought, but his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an argument.

"I don't want to live anymore! I'll die right here today!"

In Qiu Luoye's territory, a pair of pioneers were arguing.

They were husband and wife. They had just received their reward for pioneering work and had planned to go home and have a good New Year, but they had just learned they couldn't go back now.

The husband was inarticulate and couldn't explain things clearly. His wife suddenly lost control of her emotions and ran straight towards the border line.

The husband was stunned and rushed after his wife.

Those nearby reacted too slowly and couldn't stop them.

Li Banfeng reacted, but being on the other side of the border line, he was powerless.

Just as it seemed the couple would turn to dust, the wife surprisingly crossed the border line completely unharmed.

The husband also rushed through after her.

The wife continued to cry out ahead, and the husband continued to chase her from behind. They kept running like that until they entered Wuxin Township's territory.

Li Banfeng stood beside the border line, looking bewildered.

On the other side of the border line, the hunters who had just been trying to break up the fight were all stunned.

A knowledgeable middle-aged hunter, over forty years old, stared at the border line and shouted loudly, "What's important is determination! As long as we are determined, we can break through the line!"

Those around naturally didn't believe the middle-aged man's nonsense, but how did that couple just pass through?

While everyone was still confused, they suddenly heard the middle-aged hunter shout, "I want to go home! Charge!"

After a long cry, the middle-aged man also rushed towards the border line.

Don't overestimate a person's rationality.

He had stayed in Xindi for nearly a year, working as a pioneer and a hunter. He lived dangerously every day, just to save up enough money to build a new house back home and live a good life with his wife and children.

Now that he had the money but couldn't go home, this middle-aged man had long since lost his reason.

The moment he charged through the border line, the middle-aged man's expression was even more resolute than the couple's.

He crossed it!

He succeeded too!

What was happening?

In Qiu Luoye's territory, the crowd became agitated.

"I want to go home too!"

"I want to get married!"

"I want to have a son!"

"Don't worry, aren't we doing that already?"

"I want two!"

"Then put some effort into it!"

One person after another rushed towards the border line.

The border line is impassable! They were challenging the common sense of Puluozhou, the most basic common sense!

Qiu Luoye blinked. "Determination?" he said. "That doesn't seem to have anything to do with it, does it?"

No need to think much; within moments, the three of them understood the reason.

It truly had nothing to do with determination.

This was because both territories now belonged to Qiu Luoye, becoming a single territory, and the boundary line between them had disappeared.

"The boundary line can just disappear on its own?" Shui Yongquan mused. "Is there a connection between boundary lines and covenants too?" Having lived to his age, Shui Yongquan began to ponder the nature of boundary lines for the first time.

"We're one family now, all one family!" Qiu Luoye didn't think much further; he was very excited. He hugged the covenant and happily returned to his territory.

"Determination! Be determined and charge out!" The people in the territory grew more and more excited; they could finally leave. Their shouts grew louder and louder.

Li Banfeng was also shouting, moving against the crowd, "This has nothing to do with determination! It's just that this boundary line is gone! Don't rush out! If you hit another boundary line, you'll still die!"

Yuezhou, Garden Stadium.

He Jiaqing retrieved a seal from the sewer and placed it on his head.

This seal had been here for over a month, absorbing ample human essence.

He Jiaqing knew that absorbing a large amount of human essence at once would cause severe discomfort, and he had prepared thoroughly for it.

As human essence continuously flowed into his body from his head, He Jiaqing trembled violently, his consciousness suddenly blurred, and he almost fainted on the spot.

What was happening?

The human essence at Garden Stadium was potent, but it wasn't He Jiaqing's first time absorbing it there. His reaction shouldn't have been this severe.

His physical condition seemed to be poor today, perhaps because he had been too exhausted recently.

More than half of the human essence remained in the seal. He Jiaqing put the seal back in its place and staggered out of the stadium.

He took a taxi to a villa, stumbled up the stairs, and without even taking off his clothes, directly got into bed and fell into a deep sleep.

"The border line is gone?" Liao Zihui looked at the report, then at Liu Guocai, the Commander of Wuxin Township's Border Defense, with a look of astonishment.

Liu Guocai nodded. "I've already sent people to verify it," he said. "The border line between the two areas has indeed disappeared."

"How is that possible..." Liao Zihui held his forehead, feeling a wave of dizziness.

He had previously been waiting for Li Qi to come beg him: to build a railway, to establish checkpoints, and to construct a border defense office.

He had even prepared his lecture for Li Qi. He wanted Li Qi to learn prudence, to learn rules, and to understand who truly held power in Puluozhou.

But who could have imagined such a thing happening?

How could the border line be gone?

Did Li Qi do this?

If he really did it, then this matter would be serious!

Deputy Commander Tang Huanjie said, "Commander, I suspect Li Qi has mastered how to control border lines."

"Impossible..." Liao Zihui said it was impossible, but his voice lacked conviction.

Tang Huanjie offered a suggestion: "Commander, we should immediately report the situation in Wuxin Township to our superiors. This incident could change the entire structure of Puluozhou, and its consequences are beyond what we can bear."

"Yes, you're right, we can't bear this," Liao Zihui said, suddenly awakening as if from a dream. He quickly called for his secretary, Ling Sujun. "Draft a report immediately. For specific details, coordinate directly with Commander Liu."

Liu Guocai and Ling Sujun were about to leave the office when Liao Zihui called them back. "Wait a moment. Don't rush to draft the report yet," he said. "You two go out first and wait for my orders."

He had just told them to draft a report, then suddenly changed his mind. Liu Guocai and Ling Sujun exchanged bewildered glances, but seeing Liao Zihui's state, they didn't dare ask more questions and quickly left the office.

Only Liao Zihui and Deputy Commander Tang Huanjie remained in the office.

Tang Huanjie asked, "Commander, what are you hesitating about? This is a serious matter; we can't delay."

"I know it's a serious matter," Liao Zihui said, collecting his thoughts. Over thirty years of experience in his official career gradually calmed him. "The border line between the two areas just disappeared like that. Do you think Li Qi did this?"

"Who else could it be but him?"

Liao Zihui slightly shook his head. "Directly erasing a border line — even we can't do something like that."

Tang Huanjie said, "That's precisely why it's a serious matter. We must report it to our superiors immediately."

"Li Qi has such immense ability, and we're only finding out now," Liao Zihui said. "If we report this directly, wouldn't we be in a passive position?"

Tang Huanjie nodded. "You're right," he said, "but if we conceal the information and don't report it, we'll be in an even more passive position."

"I didn't say we should conceal it and not report it," Liao Zihui clarified. "It's just that we don't have enough information right now. We can't report it hastily. We haven't clarified Li Qi's identity yet."

Tang Huanjie quickly distanced himself from the responsibility. "Commander," he said, "this matter has already been investigated. His name is Song Zhuowen; he's from Haichi Ridge, a fifth-level Wanderer. I reported this to you before."

Liao Zihui shook his head. "Something isn't right about this; there are doubts."

Tang Huanjie was puzzled. "Commander," he said, "you keep saying there are doubts about this, but we've been analyzing it for so long, and we still haven't found where the doubts lie."

Liao Zihui was silent for a moment, then said, "We must continue to investigate. We must clarify Li Qi's identity. The situation in Wuxin Township also needs to be investigated. We have too little information."

Tang Huanjie disagreed with Liao Zihui's idea, but since Liao Zihui had given an order, he didn't dare say more.

After Tang Huanjie left the office, Liao Zihui immediately had Deputy Commander Bai Zhiming called in.

"Zhiming," Liao Zihui began, "Lady Wuxin, the local deity of Wuxin Township, is still in contact with us, isn't she?"

Bai Zhiming nodded. "Her relationship with us is quite good," he said, "but you know the rules of Wuxin Township. They always emphasize being 'neither relative nor friend'."

Liao Zihui nodded. "I know her temperament," he said. "Go collect a batch of Dark Matter Regulators. Say that I approved it; just have someone submit a signed report later. Take these regulators and go to Wuxin Township immediately. Ask the local deity what exactly happened to the surrounding border lines. You must go yourself. Report back to me immediately with any information you find. Don't tell anyone else about this. Leave now!"

P.S. What exactly happened to He Jiaqing? Did he absorb too much human essence, or was he poisoned by a steel wool ball?