Chapter Summaries

On his first day at Gu Da, Lu PingAn subdued a pickpocket but frightened the victim, Mei Yuge, who was about to undergo her Awakening. After they gave statements at the police station, he offered her a BUFF to improve her chances in the trial and left to face explaining his absence from class.

• Lu PingAn arrived on campus for the new semester and found himself suspicious of ordinary students and passersby.
• Lu PingAn caught a pickpocket stealing a student's wallet and crushed the thief's hand when he reached for a knife.
• The frightened victim, Mei Yuge, refused to call the police at first, and Lu PingAn had to verify his identity before they completed their reports at the station.
• Lu PingAn learned that Mei Yuge was a seventeen-year-old Preparatory Class student awaiting her Awakening and that her teacher had saved her a dose of X-07 Potion.
• Lu PingAn gave Mei Yuge a BUFF that might improve her chances in the trial, then left worried about explaining his first-day absence from class.

Lu PingAn attended his first Logistics Department class at Gu University as Teacher Li explained the broad first-year curriculum and urged students to choose specializations carefully. Teacher Li discovered that Lu PingAn had added Tamer to his already extensive list of specializations, but stopped himself from objecting when he remembered Lu PingAn's First Class Lamplighter Gold Badge.

• Lu PingAn listened as Teacher Li outlined the Logistics Department's general courses and the option to apply for specialized classes.
• Teacher Li explained that students should take time to choose a specialization, warning that changing paths later could bring heavy student loans.
• Teacher Li reviewed applications and worried that a newly awakened student had signed up for both runes and potions.
• Teacher Li found Lu PingAn's application adding Tamer to his four existing specializations and prepared to confront him.
• Teacher Li reconsidered after recalling Lu PingAn's First Class Lamplighter Gold Badge.

Lu PingAn arranged an overloaded class schedule, settled into his new dorm, and met his roommates as they discussed their professional ambitions. He left midway through their lunch after receiving a call inviting him to a meal.

• Lu PingAn planned to attend most weekday classes while leaving some days free for Special Task Force duties and personal matters.
• Lu PingAn went to his assigned dorm and met Liu XiWang, Lu Yao, and Su WenDan, who described their intended professional paths.
• Lu PingAn introduced himself as a Tier 2 Gardener with a Special Task Force position, while his roommates discussed their studies, finances, and career goals.
• Lu PingAn felt awkward listening to his roommates' early-career concerns and received a call inviting him to a meal.
• Lu PingAn accepted the invitation, left his half-eaten lunch behind, and slipped out of the dorm.

Lu PingAn invited newly Awakened Mei Yuge to lunch, discussed the deadly X-07 Potion trial, and decided to recruit her and her classmates to his level-zero club. He left after telling her he would come find her, while Mei Yuge feared his intentions.

• Lu PingAn met Mei Yuge for lunch after she called to thank him, and reassured her that he was a Pactbearer.
• Mei Yuge told Lu PingAn that only twenty-one students remained from her class of sixty after the X-07 Potion trial, with others dying, mutating, or withdrawing.
• Lu PingAn judged that he and Mei Yuge came from very different worlds and decided to pursue a club upgrade so he could obtain a private campus base.
• Lu PingAn realized he needed two more members to raise the Rebirth Merchant Group to level one and asked Mei Yuge to join and bring classmates.
• Lu PingAn paid for lunch and left, telling Mei Yuge, “I'll come find you,” which left her trembling in fear.

After class, Lu PingAn returned to the Venus Mutual Aid Society and explained his plan to establish a campus club as a recruitment front for the Chamber of Commerce. He learned that obtaining a Club Residence required winning a Contention War and decided to enter one scheduled in three days.

• Lu PingAn declined his dormmates’ invitation because he had arranged to discuss club matters with a third-year Senior.
• Lu PingAn told Hua Xueyi and Lu Lu Lu that the Chamber of Commerce needed a public-facing campus club to recruit and train potential members.
• Hua Xueyi and Lu Lu Lu explained that Club Residences were limited and could be obtained through private transfers or Contention Wars.
• Lu PingAn asked whether he could bring an alumnus to help compete, then dropped the idea after seeing their reaction.
• Lu Lu Lu found a Contention War in three days for a larger residence, with more than a hundred clubs already signed up, and Lu PingAn decided to pursue it.

Lu PingAn organized the Rebirth Merchant Guild and learned about a nearby Runner Department secret realm, then prepared a newly customized lance for Advanced Combat. He tested the lance’s life-draining curse and found he could endure it, though its second function carried a deadly risk.

• Lu PingAn asked Mei Yuge to recruit at least five classmates for the Rebirth Society, unaware that she misunderstood his request.
• Lu PingAn entered the Secluded Courtyard with Cat Cat and heard that a Runner Department secret realm had appeared in a neighboring district.
• Big Cat persuaded Lu PingAn to accept a customized Storm Lance to complement his battleaxe and cover his weakness against large monsters and armored targets.
• Lu PingAn examined the lance’s history and learned that Soul Suppressor had been a stitched corpse assembled from champion knights.
• Lu PingAn tested the lance’s life-draining curse on a magical plant and goldfish, while he only felt mildly thirsty.
• Lu PingAn learned that the lance could convert drained life essence into a charged blast, but its resentful soul could claim the wielder’s life and soul.

Lu PingAn received the heavily modified Storm Lance, a powerful Forbidden Weapon equipped with wind defenses, a spinning armor-piercing tip, and a shield module. Its size and weight left him unsure how to use it, so he brought it to Advanced Combat instructor Lu Dechun for advice.

• Lu PingAn examined the Storm Lance and learned that its Silver Low Rank assessment understated its value and strict containment status.
• He considered whether Fang Wen had secretly tampered with the weapon, though the Red Dwarf master craftsman had praised her repair work.
• Lu PingAn tested the lance’s Storm Bulwark and reviewed its armor-piercing tip and Force Field Shield modifications.
• He struggled with the lance’s weight, then used his Heavenly Boots to carry it more easily to Advanced Combat class.
• Lu PingAn showed the weapon to Lu Dechun and asked for help figuring out how to use it.

At his first Advanced Combat class, Lu PingAn asked Weapon Master Lu Dechun for guidance on using his sinister Storm Lance while the mentors assessed the students’ individual needs. After Lu PingAn defeated a third-year student in a spar and revealed his Special Task Force record, the mentors turned to help him with his difficult request.

• Lu Dechun sensed death and resentment in Lu PingAn’s Storm Lance, checked his record, and agreed to consider his request after class began.
• The mentor group questioned students about their combat paths and needs while classmates practiced and sparred.
• A third-year Axeman challenged Lu PingAn, who chose his Upper Brass War Scythe instead of the Storm Lance.
• Lu PingAn defeated Senior Brother Jiang in forty-seven seconds, despite holding back and letting him take the initiative.
• Lu PingAn told the students he was an official Special Task Force member ranked ninth and wanted to train in close combat.
• The mentors saw the effect Lu PingAn had on the class and approached him to address his request.

Lu PingAn discussed ways to develop his combat profession with Lu Dechun, who proposed four paths for using his oversized lance. After weighing them, Lu PingAn decided he wanted to pursue every path.

• Lu PingAn shared details of his equipment and abilities with Lu Dechun and the other professors.
• Lu Dechun suggested using the weapon as a staff or pole, or pairing it with a giant-sized body through Shapeshifter abilities or armor.
• Lu Dechun proposed specializing in high-speed lance impacts by advancing Lu PingAn's Runner path.
• Lu Dechun suggested using a powerful monster as a mount to fight as a monster cavalryman.
• Lu PingAn ended his deliberation by declaring that he wanted to pursue all four paths.

Lu PingAn asked his instructors for help pursuing multiple professions, and Lu Teacher mapped out a combat path that suited his equipment and abilities. After Little Flame revealed its dangerous power, Lu Teacher recommended Rider training and contacts in the Beast Taming Department.

• Lu Teacher advised Lu PingAn to build a foundation in the Heavy Armor Warrior path instead of converting directly into a higher-tier Weapon Master.
• Lu Teacher recommended Stone Crushing Combat Method, Basic Axe Technique, and Basic Staff Technique, and referred Lu PingAn to a veteran Runner for a suitable Tier 2 profession.
• Lu PingAn summoned Little Flame, then quickly sent the hungry beast to the Courtyard after it frightened Lu Teacher with its lethal presence.
• Lu Teacher reassessed Little Flame as a Silver mutant with at least Tier 3 combat power and urged Lu PingAn to pursue Rider training through Beast Taming Department instructors.

Lu PingAn discussed how conflicting professions shared sources and ability modules, then learned more about the four sources he had sensed and how they shaped profession compatibility. Big Cat judged that he enjoyed combat and killing, and recommended the evil god June Shadow and his Strangler pathway as a fitting route into the Heavy Armor Warrior profession.

• Big Cat explained that professions with overlapping abilities could conflict because they used the same sources and supernatural ability modules, sometimes causing one pathway to devour the other or killing the Professional.
• Lu PingAn asked whether Runner, Awakened, and Rider came from Perpetual Motion, and Big Cat confirmed they did while noting that eleven sources had been confirmed.
• Big Cat guessed that Nine Marrows was tied to Scholars and that Wild Desire was tied to dangerous beings and arts, while explaining how Painters shifted from the Scholar pathway toward Wild Desire.
• Big Cat supported the Heavy Armor Warrior path but suggested Lu PingAn seek a deity aligned with Wild Desire.
• After Lu PingAn acknowledged that he felt joy and fulfillment in combat and killing, Big Cat recommended June Shadow and the Strangler pathway.

Lu PingAn completed a Tier 0 Strangler job change by strangling monsters in a Secret Realm, gaining the Calamity Wrist Mark seed and beginning its advancement ritual. He then learned that the upcoming base Contention War would take place in a newly appeared Runner Secret Realm, whose nature made him consider withdrawing.

• Lu PingAn strangled a bear monster as a sacrifice and completed the Tier 0 Strangler job change, converting many weapon skills and gaining Armor-Clad Bloodletter.
• Lu PingAn received the Calamity Wrist Mark seed and began a ritual requiring him to strangle one hundred qualifying creatures, collecting thirty-seven in the wasteland.
• Lu PingAn discussed the June Shadow path with Big Cat and considered how to meet the requirements for a Tier 1 profession.
• Lu PingAn learned that the base Contention War would take place in a newly appeared Runner Secret Realm and asked Sister Xia Qin to find the deputy captain of the team that handled it.
• After learning what the Runner Secret Realm entailed, Lu PingAn considered giving up on the competition.

Lu PingAn explored the new Secret Realm-087, considered entering its triathlon team event, and trained with his new combat skill while hunting magic beasts. He forgot his promised meeting with the first-year students, leaving Mei Yuge worried that he had discovered her scheme.

• Lu PingAn learned that Secret Realm-087 offered individual races and a high-reward team triathlon, and decided Cat Cat could handle the running event.
• Lu PingAn stayed in the Wasteland to kill magic beasts and practice his new weapon skills instead of leaving after signing up.
• Lu PingAn tested the Stone Crushing Combat Method and realized it relied on wrist flexibility and redirecting a heavy weapon’s momentum.
• Lu PingAn hunted until midnight, then returned home without remembering his planned meeting with the first-year students.
• Mei Yuge and the other students waited for Lu PingAn, while Mei Yuge feared he had seen through her plan to bring Senior Brother along.

Lu PingAn recruited Preparatory Class newcomers into his newly formed club, offering access to experienced Professionals and a chance to join the next day's base Contention War. After the newcomers signed up, Tian Liang revealed Lu PingAn's impressive rank and combat record, convincing them they had secured a valuable opportunity.

• Lu PingAn explained his club's official affiliations and limited benefits, and Simir, whose Chinese name was Wen Qianqian, agreed to join.
• Mei Yuge trembled and spilled her coffee twice while the newcomers discussed whether to join, and Tian Liang introduced himself and his sister Tian Xi as observers.
• Lu PingAn named Guan Xinxian, Xue En, and Lei Shui Yun as the club's other members, prompting Tian Liang to ask about watching the Contention War.
• Tian Liang looked up Lu PingAn and recognized him as a Logistics Department student, while the newcomers submitted their applications before Lu PingAn left.
• Tian Liang told Tian Xi that Lu PingAn had ranked ninth overall, scored in the top twenty in practical combat, and defeated third-rank opponents as a first-rank, prompting someone to weep with joy.

Lu PingAn forced Cat Cat to compete in the Runner Secret Realm’s obstacle race while planning to enter the vehicle race himself. Xia Qin confiscated his car keys but gave him Lin Feng’s modified motorcycle, and Lu PingAn looked forward to the next day’s competition.

• Cat Cat objected to running in the Runner Secret Realm, but Lu PingAn used her debts and expenses to make her agree.
• Lu PingAn assigned Cat Cat to the obstacle race and Senior Brother Guan to the underwater race, leaving himself to consider the vehicle race.
• Lu PingAn hid several sets of car keys, but Xia Qin confronted him and confiscated them.
• Xia Qin gave Lu PingAn the key to Lin Feng’s modified motorcycle, and Lu PingAn canceled his plan to borrow a car from Li Zigui.
• Lu PingAn eagerly anticipated the competition and the chance to ride the motorcycle.

Lu PingAn and his companions entered the Secret Realm for the team competition, where Cat Cat ran the opening leg. As the race began, the team fell far behind, but Lu PingAn’s call seemed to spur Cat Cat to pick up the pace.

• Cat Cat complained that Lu PingAn had made her arrive early to register, while Mei Yuge looked exhausted from a sleepless night.
• Lu PingAn met Guan Xinxian and received a yellow wristband that would teleport him into the race when his turn came.
• Lu PingAn and the others entered the Paradise of the Eternal Chasers, where Xiao Xing announced the rules and started the competition.
• Cat Cat ran the first leg, and Re-Merchant Commerce slipped to 156th place as Lu PingAn and Guan Xinxian chatted calmly.
• Lu PingAn threatened to ride Cat Cat if she kept slacking, and the team’s rank soon improved to 139th.

Lei Shui Yun used her Hurricane cloak and blood-red boots to unleash powerful wind and weight-reducing abilities during the race. The equipment sent her rocketing ahead of the other Runners, revealing her exceptional mobility.

• Lei Shui Yun ran steadily among the competitors while Cat Cat considered her natural advantages and the rewards at stake.
• Lei Shui Yun activated Hurricane and the boots’ Cloud Stepping ability, which lifted and lightened her body.
• The wind guided Lei Shui Yun’s bounding strides, letting her surge past the crowd despite her inability to slow down.
• Hurricane’s description revealed its Silver High-Rank abilities and the requirement that its holder write and recite poems.
• Lei Shui Yun combined the cloak, boots, and Spirit Fusion to race to the front as the Spacefaring Flying Cat.

Lei Shui Yun, appearing as Cat Cat, raced through the Obstacle Highway Race and used Spider Walk and her Cliffside Fang skills to climb the dangerous Coiling Dragon Highway. After reaching the first peak and gliding down, she charged into the top ten.

• Lei Shui Yun raced past competitors as spectators watched her climb into the top thirty.
• The course turned into the Coiling Dragon Highway, where Runners faced steep mountain roads and mandatory summit checkpoints.
• Cat Cat left the road and climbed a sheer cliff with Spider Walk while flying beasts attacked the shortcut-takers.
• Cat Cat fought the beasts with steel spears as she climbed, using her tail and agile movements to close the gap with the leaders.
• Cat Cat conquered the first peak and glided down past the obstacles, entering the top ten.

Lu PingAn watched Cat Cat race into the top ten, then entered the Obstacle Highway Race himself to take his turn. After promising to win, he immediately crashed his motorcycle into a truck and blamed the driver.

• Chaser's race rules unleashed random sprints, dangerous weather, monsters, and a fake minefield warning that caused an explosion.
• Lu PingAn and Guan Xinxian watched Cat Cat hold a top-ten position and praised her combat skill and rapid growth.
• Cat Cat challenged veteran Runners, prompting them to accelerate and widening the gap between the leading group and the rest.
• Lu PingAn entered the race on his motorcycle and promised Cat Cat he would win as she collapsed from exhaustion.
• Lu PingAn's motorcycle veered into a neighboring lane and hit a stationary truck, and he angrily blamed its driver.

Lu PingAn released Little Flame during the race’s second stage, using the beast to overwhelm rivals and make up for his lack of riding skill. As Little Flame tore through the field, Rebirth Society members learned that Lu PingAn’s past exploits had earned him bans from secret realms.

• Lu PingAn summoned Little Flame after his motorcycle was wrecked, and the beast forced Yu Jingxi to surrender.
• Lu PingAn realized he was the team’s weak link and decided to slow the other racers by unleashing Little Flame on them.
• Little Flame wiped out the Riders around tenth through twentieth place, then charged after a skateboard-riding Professional who surrendered.
• Lu PingAn promised Little Flame a feast as it happily bounded onward, while spectators watched the race turn into a rampage.
• Mei Yuge called Lu PingAn a demon, and Guan Xinxian confirmed that secret realms had blacklisted him and recalled being hunted alongside him.