Chapter Summaries

Lu PingAn ended the mercenaries’ attack by agreeing to a truce and healing his allies, then received intelligence pointing to a subordinate organization of an orthodox god. The mission strengthened the Special Task Force’s position in the Steam Factory, but the report revealed a more troublesome target.

• Su Zhizhu seized Cat Cat and threatened to kill her, forcing Lu PingAn to stop fighting Ba Manzhen.
• Lu PingAn healed Xia Qin and himself, then persuaded Su Zhizhu to release Cat Cat and end the fight.
• Cat Cat rejoined Lu PingAn and Xia Qin, while Ba Manzhen warned Lu PingAn before the mercenaries left.
• Lu PingAn, Xia Qin, and Cat Cat went for breakfast, where Andre delivered the intelligence report.
• Lu PingAn gave the report to Xia Qin, who saw that the investigation involved a subordinate organization of an orthodox god.

Lu PingAn and Xia Qin uncovered that Flying Pine Forestry Co., Ltd. was distributing experimental Golden Apples, prompting Xia Qin to destroy the evidence and the Special Task Force to strike the company. After Professor Wen identified the apples as parasitic Demonic Plant fruits, the case stalled, and Third Squad turned to another Demonic Plant weapon investigation.

• Lu PingAn concluded that Flying Pine Forestry Co., Ltd. was using its distribution channels to field-test experimental drugs, and Xia Qin confirmed the practice.
• Xia Qin tore up the documents, and a day later a fire destroyed part of Flying Pine Forestry Co., Ltd., including the Golden Apple warehouse, while Lu PingAn took the apples for himself.
• Lu PingAn sent Golden Apples to Professor Wen, who identified them as living, human-gene-containing Demonic Plant fruits that could parasitize users and cause extreme strength and berserk behavior.
• Lu PingAn passed Professor Wen's findings to Xia Qin, who recognized that the case would likely remain unresolved because the perpetrators could escape accountability.
• Xia Qin directed Third Squad to investigate direct-kill Demonic Plant weapons and hypnotic flowers that might have come from another pharmaceutical company.

Lu PingAn reflected on the compromises involved in fighting corruption and reviewed the threat posed by mercenaries Ba Manzhen and Su Zhizhu. He unexpectedly encountered the pair at the Trading Ground and approached them to discuss a trade.

• Lu PingAn considered how the Special Task Force could cut away corruption without harming the patients who depended on the pharmaceutical company’s hospital and medicines.
• The Special Task Force reviewed the bounties and backgrounds of Ba Manzhen and Su Zhizhu, who had been taking commissions against them.
• Lu PingAn studied Ba Manzhen’s combat abilities and Su Zhizhu’s inherited profession, and suspected they would meet again soon.
• Lu PingAn spotted Ba Manzhen and the lightning-masked Su Zhizhu browsing the Trading Ground’s listings and wares.
• Lu PingAn approached the two mercenaries and offered to discuss a trade.

Ba Manzhen and Su Zhizhu struggled to find buyers for their goods at the Trading Ground until Lu PingAn invited them to negotiate. He paid them ten Life Points to give up their hostility toward the Special Task Force.

• Ba Manzhen grew irritated by the Trading Ground’s rules but stayed because she wanted what was on display.
• Su Zhizhu tried to sell their Taboo Items and spoils of war, but no one bought them.
• Lu PingAn invited Ba Manzhen and Su Zhizhu to a suite, where Ba Manzhen enjoyed the Life Spring bed.
• Lu PingAn asked them to give up their hostility toward the Special Task Force, and Su Zhizhu demanded compensation for their humiliation.
• Lu PingAn negotiated the price down from 1,300 Life Points to ten, and Su Zhizhu accepted.

Lu PingAn brokered an agreement for Su Zhizhu and Ba Manzhen to abandon their hostility, then used access to the Life Bank's facilities to hint that deeper cooperation depended on their actions. Afterward, he considered how to expand the Life Bank and prepare for Tier 3 advancement.

• Lu PingAn arranged for Su Zhizhu and Ba Manzhen to give up targeting each other in exchange for ten points, testing their willingness to pursue future deals.
• Lu PingAn offered the women cheap access to a recovery room but said their real bodies and membership benefits were beyond their means.
• Lu PingAn left Su Zhizhu and Ba Manzhen to consider how to prove their stance and value through practical action.
• Lu PingAn and Big Cat discussed the women's interest in the Life Bank and what might motivate them to join.
• Lu PingAn considered whether Tier 3 advancement could provide a steady source of Life Points, and Big Cat suggested building a zoo with Exotic Animals or creatures made using Lu PingAn's book.

After the crackdown, pharmaceutical companies issued a vague apology and promised reforms, while Lu PingAn expected the industry to recover and the authorities to claim victory. Xia Qin remained committed to helping people despite the limited impact, and the chapter left her and Lu PingAn facing the next stage of their work.

• Lu PingAn read the joint notice from Gu City's pharmaceutical industry and dismissed it as an insincere surrender with no concrete promises.
• Xia Qin announced that the higher-ups had declared the crackdown a success and promised bonuses and medals.
• Lu PingAn reflected that the authorities had only pressured peripheral operations, while the forces behind the industry remained beyond their reach.
• Xia Qin said the task force would continue striking illegal operations whenever they encountered them and noted that more than a dozen people had turned themselves in with evidence.
• Xia Qin affirmed that the crackdown had saved trafficking victims and others, insisting that even small acts of resistance were better than doing nothing.

Lu PingAn learned from Su Zhizhu that major cities faced stronger threats, worsening political fragmentation, and an approaching catastrophe that drove people to seek escape. After realizing how bleak the wider situation was, he asked what he could do, and Big Cat urged him to grow stronger and ascend to godhood to help protect Ancient City.

• Su Zhizhu described how she trained in the Gymnasium and accepted a losing streak against Ba Manzhen to find a suitable sparring partner.
• Lu PingAn asked Su Zhizhu about other regions, and she explained that major cities had more opportunities but also more powerful criminals, foreign races, and outside-realm threats.
• Su Zhizhu revealed that the Eastern Kingdom had fragmented into largely autonomous provinces and counties, while military forces were stretched thin guarding openings to other worlds.
• Su Zhizhu said six major figures had ascended to godhood that year and advised Lu PingAn to secure a Ship Ticket as a means of escape.
• Lu PingAn understood why people pursued power and ship passage despite the risks, then asked what he could do.
• Big Cat advised Lu PingAn to become stronger and ascend to godhood so that, with their Courtyard, he could help preserve Ancient City.

Lu PingAn learned that the Eastern Kingdom’s apparent peace concealed growing regional independence and a possible collapse, prompting him to accelerate his plans. Su Zhizhu offered him a shortcut to becoming a Rider through her family’s bloodline inheritance, but he decided to use it somewhere she could not track him.

• Chris explained that the Great Summoning had weakened the central government and left many regions effectively under church control, while Big Cat raised the possibility of civil war.
• Lu PingAn resolved to speed things up because the worsening crisis could end the world’s peaceful days sooner than expected.
• Lu PingAn’s trade with Su Zhizhu and the other mercenary went smoothly, and both women accepted his long-term employment without confirming whether he controlled the Trading Ground.
• Su Zhizhu showed Lu PingAn a cursed sheet of paper stained with her blood and explained that her family’s Rider inheritance could let him complete the Job Change Ceremony by controlling it.
• Lu PingAn learned that using the paper would leave detectable contamination in him for three to seven days, so he planned to use it in the Gu City University secret realm and hide in his Demi-Plane.

Lu PingAn accepted Su Zhizhu’s offer to join the Zhebei River Su Clan’s Rider path and completed his Job Change Ceremony, gaining the Tier 0 profession Zhebei River Su Clan Driver. After learning how its Forbidden skills worked, he considered what type to choose and heard Big Cat’s proposal to experiment with living weapons.

• Su Zhizhu explained the costs and family requirements for higher Rider tiers, then offered Lu PingAn help advancing in exchange for resources and blood.
• Lu PingAn gave Su Zhizhu an Invest Life invitation, and she accepted before proposing a long-term partnership.
• Big Cat warned Lu PingAn that the Su Clan’s bloodline could bring pollution and curses, but said the profession might suit him.
• Lu PingAn touched the paper in his room and completed the Job Change Ceremony, obtaining the Tier 0 profession Zhebei River Su Clan Driver and two Forbidden profession skills.
• Big Cat explained that the Rider skills assimilated objects and enhanced control over them, then suggested Lu PingAn choose living weapons instead of Beast Taming.

Lu PingAn practiced the Su Family’s blood-based paper-control technique and, with Big Cat’s guidance, began considering a new Rider path for controlling magical beasts and plants. He left the chapter with plans to master life-force manipulation and wondered whether Living Armor could count as a living thing.

• Lu PingAn controlled seven red paper dolls with his blood, but they quickly lost control and turned into clumps of blood that he incinerated.
• Lu PingAn recognized that the Su Family’s stable paper control depended on bloodline secrets he could not acquire through ordinary training.
• Big Cat helped Lu PingAn connect Rider control methods with his own marks and explained how professionals adapted innate abilities into profession modules.
• Lu PingAn considered combining his Beast Taming, magical plant, Warlord, and Weapon Master abilities to control living weapons.
• Big Cat advised Lu PingAn to become a Tier 3 Gardener and master life-force manipulation before developing himself as a life controller.
• Lu PingAn asked whether Living Armor could count as a living thing.

Lu PingAn trained with the girls, helped them develop their abilities, and continued leeching experience while planning his own advancement. After about a week of training and rest, he accumulated enough experience to become a Tier 1 Rider.

• Lu PingAn sparred with Ba Manzhen and leeching experience from Su Zhizhu, while learning that the girls were advancing at different rates.
• Lu PingAn advised the Club Members and learned that most of the girls had poor physical foundations despite their rapid progress under Investment buffs.
• The girls began pursuing personal hobbies and career paths, including cooking, singing, painting, playing qin, and gunning, creating new opportunities for Lu PingAn to benefit from their Investments.
• Lu PingAn trained and leeched experience for about a week until he had enough to become a Tier 1 Rider.

Lu PingAn learned from Su Zhizhu’s Rider ability, completed his class change into a Zhebei River Su Clan Driver, and invited several Ghost Guild members to train in the Knight Secret Realm. Lin Feng brought him new Special Task Force equipment and benefits, leaving Lu PingAn impressed by the team’s growing wealth.

• Su Zhizhu worked as a mercenary in Ancient City, taking legitimate assignments while searching unsuccessfully for the Special Task Forces in each district.
• Lu PingAn studied Su Zhizhu’s Turn Stone to Iron ability and met the requirements to change jobs.
• Lu PingAn completed the Job Change Ceremony and became a Zhebei River Su Clan Driver.
• Lu PingAn invited Simir, Tian Xi, and Mei Yuge to join him for training in the Knight Secret Realm.
• Xia Qin arranged for Lin Feng to drive Lu PingAn and bring him new equipment and bonus money.
• Lin Feng refused to let Lu PingAn drive, and Lu PingAn opened the Special Task Force package and saw how much their supplies had improved.

Lu PingAn and Lin Feng tested their new rewards while responding to emergencies during a police-car ride with three rookie students. They handled cultists and superpowered criminals, then reached the mountain containing the Knight Secret Realm, leaving the freshmen terrified and exhausted.

• Lu PingAn received Quasi-Polluted handcuffs and a shield, weapon exchange tickets, and potions, then sold two tickets to Tian Xi and Simir for five thousand each.
• A radio call reported cultists performing a sacrifice, so Lu PingAn and Lin Feng left the three freshmen in the police car and went into a building.
• Lu PingAn and Lin Feng subdued the attackers, rescued two injured officers, and returned with a dismembered criminal, whom Lu PingAn restrained with his new handcuffs.
• Lu PingAn and Lin Feng answered another alert about superpowered criminals while the frightened freshmen endured the rough ride.
• Lu PingAn and Lin Feng reached the mountain where the Knight Secret Realm was located, and the freshmen in the back seat had become a pile of mush.

After the girls struggled to recover from a brutal day, Lu PingAn met his old mercenary acquaintance Su Zhizhu, who challenged him over their past humiliation. They agreed to duel in half a month inside the Maiden of the Forest’s Secret Realm, giving Lu PingAn time to prepare a new tactical system.

• Mei Yuge and the other girls reflected on their inexperience as Lu PingAn gave them time to rest near the Secret Realm.
• Su Zhizhu arrived with several newcomers she was guiding, and she confronted Lu PingAn over their old grudge.
• Lu PingAn warned that fighting in the crowded area could cause disastrous collateral damage and leave him facing serious consequences.
• A sudden rain exposed Su Zhizhu’s attempted transformation and forced her to abandon a surprise attack.
• Su Zhizhu and Lu PingAn agreed to duel in half a month in the Maiden of the Forest’s Secret Realm.

Lu PingAn revealed that Su Zhizhu’s paper control was vulnerable to rain, then equipped Simir and the other newcomers for their first dungeon attempt. The chapter left Lu PingAn watching Su Zhizhu fight through a monster swarm after she charged ahead in anger.

• Su Zhizhu left after confronting Lu PingAn, and he told Simir and the others that she was a Silver Tier mercenary who had once lost to him.
• Lu PingAn reasoned that rain disrupted Su Zhizhu’s blood-based control of paper, and recalled that Mei Yuge’s Rain Calling had triggered the weakness during their encounter.
• Lu PingAn gave Simir weapons, protective gear, Taboo Items, and potions before sending her into the dungeon.
• Lu PingAn returned to the central plaza and saw Su Zhizhu battling a swarm of monsters after charging through more than twenty floors.

Lu PingAn watched Su Zhizhu demonstrate her versatile paper-beast abilities in the Knight Secret Realm, studying her strengths while Simir and Tian Xi prepared to attempt the trial. Simir fled after panicking in battle, and Lu PingAn sent Tian Xi onward with blunt encouragement to catch up to the other candidates.

• Su Zhizhu dazzled the audience by using paper cranes and other paper creatures to overwhelm the Secret Realm’s monsters, while Lu PingAn analyzed her Rider abilities.
• Simir returned with her equipment intact and admitted she had panicked, failed to clear a floor, and escaped just before the monsters struck.
• Lu PingAn told Simir to practice fighting and use her remaining chances, then asked her to pass her equipment to Tian Xi.
• Tian Xi set out to try the Secret Realm, and Lu PingAn told her the other candidates had reached roughly the fifteenth or sixteenth floor on average.
• Lu PingAn reminded Mei Yuge and Simir that their progress was their own responsibility and urged them to keep getting stronger.

After training the three girls, Lu PingAn entered the secret realm and easily climbed through its lower floors, studying and dismantling Living Armors along the way. He stopped at the fifteenth floor when he recognized the Tier 3 Living Armor’s weapon as a Wave Battle Axe.

• Tian Xi reached the third floor during training, while Mei Yuge was eliminated on the first floor after exhausting herself with her ability.
• Lu PingAn warned the girls that their innate abilities needed to grow alongside their Professions, then began his own trial as they watched.
• Lu PingAn dismantled a Living Armor to examine its structure, found nothing inside, and swiftly cleared the lower floors.
• Lu PingAn’s battles drew the audience’s attention as he smashed through Tier 2 Living Armors with ease and felt how much he had improved.
• Lu PingAn stopped on the fifteenth floor when he faced a Tier 3 Living Armor wielding a familiar Wave Battle Axe.

Lu PingAn faced the Living Armor, a Golden Armored Knight whose Silver Runes recalled the transcendent martial arts that had shaped his early training. After the knight demonstrated its deadly techniques, Lu PingAn realized it had turned its own armor into a bomb and detonated the Silver Runes within it.

• Lu PingAn recognized the knight’s Wave Battle Axe as the martial art that had first taught him about transcendent combat.
• The knight’s Silver Runes overwhelmed Lu PingAn’s resonance, but he blocked their transmission with his battleaxe’s wooden shaft.
• After the Living Armor confirmed that Silver Runes could be transmitted through other means, Lu PingAn attacked with his Storm Lance and Dragon Rider Charge.
• The knight redirected Lu PingAn’s charge and nearly struck him down, forcing him to recognize the danger of taking unfinished techniques into battle.
• Lu PingAn continued with a steady assault, using the lance and tentacles to wear down the knight and counter its Silver Runes.
• The knight struck its own armor and detonated the Silver Runes accumulated inside its body.

Lu PingAn defeated the Living Armor, then pushed through higher floors while trying to improve his martial arts. After setting a new record and earning public recognition, he reached a bottleneck and struggled to break through.

• Lu PingAn survived the Living Armor's self-destruction, promised to fight a stronger version later, and watched it turn to ash.
• Lu PingAn climbed the Sixteenth through Twenty-First Floors, killing Living Armors faster as he combined his weapons, abilities, and consumables.
• Lu PingAn appeared on the viewing plaza's Main Stage, where Professionals recognized his power and Special Task Force Three gained authority.
• Lu PingAn advanced to the entrance of the Twenty-Seventh Floor and gathered fragments from high-rank Living Armors after rapidly defeating its monsters.
• Lu PingAn complained that he could not integrate his techniques or break through, and Big Cat scolded him for dismissing how difficult bottlenecks could be.

Lu PingAn faced more than thirty Living Armors on the twenty-seventh floor and reconsidered how to combine his many scattered abilities into a stronger fighting system. Big Cat confirmed that martial skills alone could not solve the problem: Lu PingAn needed a body with a higher limit, and he began accepting the need to move beyond human limits.

• Lu PingAn found more than thirty Living Armors on the twenty-seventh floor and judged that fighting them would risk costly damage to his equipment and Little Flame.
• Lu PingAn reflected that his many Tier 1 and Tier 2 abilities lacked the refinement to threaten powerful enemies, while his Silver weapons and Silver Poison depended on his martial skill.
• Lu PingAn rejected specializing in a single path because his Investment talent and multifaceted growth had brought him this far.
• Lu PingAn realized that martial skills could not let him integrate every ability, since his mind and reflexes had reached their limits.
• Lu PingAn asked Big Cat for advice, and Big Cat told him he needed a body with a higher limit rather than better techniques.
• Lu PingAn accepted that becoming a Professional meant he no longer had to cling to human limits.