Chapter Summaries

Lu PingAn learned that Sophist, a dangerous Tier 4 wanted criminal, might be bait meant to draw out Chris, so he decided to hide and build his strength. Cat Cat’s new Beast Tamer profession boosted Lu PingAn’s skills, and he discovered an unfamiliar Explosion Module essence fragment.

• Xia Qin took Lu PingAn to a hotel and gave him a file identifying Sophist as Yuan Dunxing, a suspected Tier 4 wanted criminal responsible for a mass-casualty crime.
• Lu PingAn suspected Sophist was bait for someone targeting Chris, and decided to keep out of sight while preparing for danger.
• Cat Cat became a Beast Tamer, and her shared experience improved Lu PingAn’s Runner techniques and abilities.
• Lu PingAn recognized Cat Cat’s Beast Tamer path had strong potential and considered offering her a long-term cooperation contract.
• The Gardeners’ contributions improved Lu PingAn’s Gardener skills, and he noticed an Essence Fragment of the Explosion Module.

Lu PingAn toured the newly renovated Life Bank Secret Realm as Chris explained its buildings, rules, and her role as its manager. Their partnership remained bitter and uneasy, but Chris agreed to help him plant his Demonized Seeds.

• Chris introduced Life Bank as a Small World built from her former Secret Realm and explained that she served as its manager under Lu PingAn’s authority.
• Chris showed Lu PingAn the bank lobby and explained that the Secret Realm allowed transactions but prohibited force outside gladiatorial events in the arena.
• Lu PingAn asked whether he could set rules for the Secret Realm, and Chris told him that he could not and that its rules had already been established.
• Lu PingAn admitted he had spent the Forest Goddess Church’s Credit Points and asked Chris to find land and care for the Demonized Seeds he had brought.
• Chris reluctantly agreed to help Lu PingAn plant the seeds, knowing that Life Bank’s growth would benefit them both.

Lu PingAn planted two Demonic Plants in the Life Bank Secret Realm and asked Chris about building a garden there. Chris explained that a Black Iron-level garden cost one thousand Life Points, leaving Lu PingAn looking for a cheaper option.

• Lu PingAn asked Chris what she meant by the Doomsday Ark, and Chris said her world had been gone for many years.
• Lu PingAn and Chris reviewed the Snake Whip Vine and Monkey Shield Tree seeds, which Lu PingAn had bought to improve his offense and defense.
• Chris assessed the water supply system and pollution fertilizer Lu PingAn had purchased for the Demonic Plants.
• Lu PingAn asked Chris whether the Secret Realm could build a functional garden, and Chris said it could be built through the world's primary rule.
• Chris priced a Black Iron-level garden at one thousand Life Points, and Lu PingAn asked whether she could dig it herself for a discount.

While confined to the hotel, Lu PingAn studied with Big Cat and developed a clearer understanding of how Profession Skills formed the foundation of a profession. His Light Chasing Running Method broke through to a branching stage, and after choosing explosive power, he prepared to visit his college entrance examination site.

• Lu PingAn stayed in the hotel for three days, secretly spending most of his time in the secret realm with Big Cat while Xia Qin was too busy to watch him.
• Big Cat taught Lu PingAn about magical-plant cultivation and explained that Profession Skills were the foundation of a profession's strength, while abilities provided a way to unleash that strength.
• Lu PingAn's Light Chasing Running Method reached LV4 and offered him a choice between endurance, explosive power, and agility specializations.
• Lu PingAn chose the explosive-power direction, changing the skill's name to Light Chasing Running Method (Thunderstorm Direction).
• Lu PingAn realized that raising his Runner Profession Skills could bring him close to unlocking Ground Shrinking, then asked Cat Cat to accompany him to check the examination site the next day.

Lu PingAn and Lei Shui Yun toured Gu City University and discussed its departments, entrance exams, and the risks faced by students in the Preparatory Department. After seeing the prizes for top exam candidates, Lu PingAn became determined to compete for the top spot.

• Lu PingAn walked through Gu City University with Lei Shui Yun and Xiao Bai, drawing stares as the girl and her cat meowed together.
• Lei Shui Yun explained her plans for the Regular Department and discussed the Keeper of Secrets groups and exam bonuses.
• Lu PingAn learned how the four departments differed and why the Preparatory Department was dangerous and heavily contested.
• Lu PingAn arrived at the admissions hall for pre-exam certification and saw that the top scorer would receive a large cash prize, a Silver Taboo Item, Credit Coins, and a detached villa dormitory.
• Lu PingAn resolved to go all out and compete for the rewards.

Lu PingAn registered for the Logistics Department and caused a foul-smelling panic in the lobby while escaping a crowd. Xia Qin and Professor Qian discussed his unexpectedly rapid advancement and arranged to give him special attention at the entrance exam, while Lei Shui Yun later arrived furious after being caught in the chaos.

• Lu PingAn secured a Logistics Department registration form, taunted the applicants in the lobby, and released corpse flowers to scatter the crowd.
• Xia Qin met with admissions director Qian ShuEn, who decided Lu PingAn likely did not need a special-admission letter and planned to give him special attention at the entrance exam.
• Xia Qin and Qian ShuEn realized Lu PingAn claimed a Tier 1 profession bonus despite awakening only a week earlier.
• Lu PingAn wandered around Gu City Academy and worried that Lei Shui Yun had been caught in the lobby’s chaos.
• Lei Shui Yun delivered Lu PingAn’s lunch with cotton stuffed in her nostrils and angrily described being trampled and overwhelmed by the stench.

Lu PingAn learned that Gu University offered large bonuses to top exam candidates, but discovered that his neglected school knowledge made the written exams harder than he expected. With little chance of succeeding on his own, he recruited Chris to help him study and planned to use her abilities during the exam.

• Lu PingAn decided that placing in Gu University's top ten might earn him a hundred-thousand bonus, despite Shui Yun mocking his ambition.
• Lu PingAn found that the exam's basic subjects reflected a world whose technology and education had diverged from his previous life, and he struggled with questions he had expected to be easy.
• Lu PingAn called Shui Yun and learned that Gu University's professors personally proctored the written exam to catch supernatural cheating, with caught candidates merely receiving a zero for that year's written test.
• Lu PingAn concluded that the exam rules allowed supernatural abilities and asked Chris to teach him and help him look up answers during the exam.
• Chris protested as Lu PingAn placed test papers and notebooks before her and begged her to help him prepare.

Lu PingAn persuaded Chris to help him prepare for the Guda Refuge entrance exam in exchange for books and shows. Chris identified his lack of mental strength as the obstacle to his Runner advancement, then offered a shortcut that could also address his combat preparation and need for demonized plants.

• Lu PingAn bargained with Chris for books and shows, and she agreed to help him study for the written test.
• Lu PingAn reviewed the entrance exam and identified his weak combat experience, limited equipment, and need to advance a profession as urgent problems.
• Lu PingAn read Chris his Runner advancement prompt, and she explained that his mortal-level mental strength prevented him from meeting the Space Perception requirement.
• Chris said a shortcut could increase Lu PingAn's mental strength and help him meet all three goals, then bargained for a yearly Diamond VIP subscription with advance on-demand privileges.

Lu PingAn prepared for several days of training in the Forest Secret Realm, seeking intelligence-boosting potions and hiring a Tier 1 melee mercenary. He accepted a newcomer for the job, then recognized him as the Nameless Bomber from a Dragon Snake Gang wanted poster.

• Lu PingAn met Senior Zhao Ying, learned that Tier 3 potions were too strong and expensive, and asked her about the price of lower-tier options with severe side effects.
• After deciding potions were not worthwhile, Lu PingAn visited a mercenary agency and requested a Tier 1 melee Professional for a three-day trip into the Secret Realm.
• The agency’s mercenaries declined the low-paying job, so Lu PingAn accepted the owner’s offer of a capable newcomer who charged the base rate.
• Lu PingAn spotted a Dragon Snake Gang bounty poster for the Nameless Bomber and concluded that the men he had confronted had kept his identity secret.
• The hired mercenary arrived, and Lu PingAn understood why the other mercenaries had looked at him sympathetically.

Lu PingAn hunted an evolved Aklis, using his Frenzy ability and demonic plants to defeat it despite its blinding Mist Eye and powerful charge. After absorbing some of the beast’s pollution and choosing the Tiger Fury evolution for his Breathing Method, he was criticized by the mercenary for his combat performance.

• Lu PingAn faced an Aklis that blinded him with its Mist Eye and charged, but he dodged using Frenzy.
• The Aklis broke through his Snake Whip Vine trap, so Lu PingAn used Monkey Shield Trees to trip it and Snake Whip Vines to paralyze it before finishing it off.
• Lu PingAn’s Swift Flash Breathing Method leveled up, and he chose the Tiger Fury evolution, which granted Frenzy.
• The defeated Aklis dissipated into mist, and Lu PingAn absorbed some of its pollution.
• The mercenary arrived, inspected Lu PingAn’s safety light, and rated his combat performance a failing grade.

Lu PingAn hired Xue En, a combat mercenary whose Wish Come True ability made negative thoughts manifest as calamities, and learned how to hunt demonic creatures more safely and efficiently. After putting Xue En’s advice into practice, Lu PingAn harvested monsters and materials with improved results.

• Lu PingAn met Xue En and learned that his inherited Wish Come True ability turned negative thoughts into real dangers, leaving him plagued by anxiety and misfortune.
• Lu PingAn endured Xue En’s cautious, hazard-filled preparations and learned that his mercenary noticed his bracelet had been altered to keep glowing white.
• Xue En assessed Lu PingAn’s fight with Aklis and explained that hunting required prepared defenses and stable, low-risk kills rather than the risky tactics used against people.
• Lu PingAn applied Xue En’s advice in combat and efficiently hunted demonic creatures for their materials.
• The next morning, Lu PingAn collected his share and decided he had hired the right mercenary.

Lu PingAn learned that Xue En had accumulated several Tier 1 professions along a Secret Path, then used the new skills and supplies he gained from Xue En’s guidance to hunt monsters in a safe dungeon. The chapter ended with Chris assuring Lu PingAn that dungeon contamination was too insignificant to affect him.

• Lu PingAn received a broad range of skills from his investment in Xue En, including enough combat experience to raise Combat Fighting to Lv. 3.
• Chris explained that Xue En had several Tier 1 professions and was gathering components for a powerful Secret Path, while Xue En credited Lu PingAn’s buff with helping him sleep safely.
• Lu PingAn offered Xue En free buffs in exchange for guidance, and Xue En taught him about combat roles, equipment, dungeons, and monsters.
• Lu PingAn used traps, poisonous ivy, grenades, and a handmade crossbow to hunt newly born Aklis and Wine Lake Birds in the safe dungeon.
• Lu PingAn wondered whether he should worry about contamination, and Chris told him that contamination-detecting bracelets were meaningless for him.

Lu PingAn inspected the Essence Fragments gained from defeated beasts but found no way to use them, then continued hunting and trading Gardener buffs with Xue En. After seeing the Dragon Snake Gang extort two Gardener students, Lu PingAn learned the gang protected Green New Pharmaceuticals’ interests, and by evening his trip’s objective was about to come to fruition.

• Lu PingAn examined his accumulated Essence Fragments and decided to leave them in his system warehouse until he discovered how to use them.
• Lu PingAn and Xue En continued their training and sold buffs to two Tier 1 Gardener students on the forest’s main road.
• Lu PingAn watched the Dragon Snake Gang stop the Gardener group, confiscate their spoils and magical plants, and demand more goods.
• Xue En explained that Green New Pharmaceuticals backed the Dragon Snake Gang to obtain low-level magical plant materials and warned Lu PingAn to choose mercenaries carefully.
• By evening, Lu PingAn’s trip objective was finally about to bear fruit.

Lu PingAn triggered a minor mutation by accumulating excessive pollution, awakening Spirit Sight and breaking through to Black Iron Low Rank mental strength. With the paths to both Runner and Gardener skills now open, he had to decide which profession to develop first.

• After killing the Tier 1 demon monster, Lu PingAn nearly lost control from excessive pollution, but Xue En's call brought him back to normal.
• The Life Bank system reported that Lu PingAn's body and mind had mutated slightly and that his mental strength had advanced to Black Iron Low Rank.
• Lu PingAn thanked Chris for teaching him to use pollution to trigger natural mutation, and Chris warned him against relying on the dangerous method.
• Chris explained that professionals normally balance innate abilities against their profession systems, but Lu PingAn's Golden Rule made him unusually resistant to mutation.
• Lu PingAn awakened Spirit Sight and acquired Space Perception for Runner and Mental Sense for Gardener, leaving him to choose which path to pursue first.

Lu PingAn advanced along the Gardener path, awakened the Listening to Life ability, and anchored its cost to a selected Sacrifice. A powerful temporary blessing from the Maiden of the Forest let him sense what his magical plants wanted, including the Life Essence stored in his warehouse.

• Lu PingAn discovered that he qualified to advance as either a Runner or a Gardener, and Chris advised him to choose Gardener as his main path.
• After waiting until the next day, Lu PingAn completed his Gardener advancement and heard plants’ instinctive desires through Listening to Life.
• The system warned Lu PingAn to anchor the ability’s cost, so he killed a Sacrifice and selected one of the available costs.
• Lu PingAn received a temporary, Silver-equivalent blessing from the Maiden of the Forest, while Chris dismissed it as a routine benefit of advancing in the Secret Realm.
• Lu PingAn used Listening to Life on his magical plants and realized they were craving the Life Essence in his warehouse.

Lu PingAn exposed and destroyed the Dragon Snake Gang after finding its members abusing newcomers, then revealed that his actions served his own happiness rather than a wish to reform the secret realm. He left the secret realm and bombed Green New Company's rear residence, setting off a wider confrontation.

• Hu Yihang and other Dragon Snake Gang members discussed the order to find the Bomb Demon and mocked the vulnerable students they had exploited.
• Lu PingAn and Xue En found the gang attacking two gardeners, and Lu PingAn trapped the gang with mutated Poison Ivy.
• Lu PingAn interrogated the gang members, recorded their confessions, and learned that Professor Deng Anqi had given the orders; Xue En killed one of the men in anger.
• Lu PingAn killed the remaining gang members and told Xue En that he had acted because they had made him unhappy, not to save anyone or change the secret realm.
• Lu PingAn recalled his promise to live happily after receiving another life, then delivered a package of Touch-Me-Not Mines to Professor Deng Anqi at Green New Company's rear residence.
• Lu PingAn's explosives destroyed the residence in a series of blasts as he laughed and recited lines about violent ends.

Lu PingAn gave a cheeky statement to Captain Xia after turning himself in, while the Bureau of Anomalous Affairs handled the fallout from his actions against the Dragon Snake Gang and Deng. He left the police station expecting trouble from Green New Company, then heard the same praise from a mysterious, exceptionally fast man.

• Lu PingAn told Captain Xia that his new ability and a Tier 2 magical plant had caused an explosion, while denying involvement in the leaked recordings and the Dragon Snake Gang members' injuries.
• Captain Xia warned Lu PingAn that Deng Anqi had survived the blast and could not be convicted, though the scandal had cost him his posts at Green New Company and the University of Science and Technology.
• Lu PingAn admitted the incident had been worth it, and Captain Xia cautioned him to stay out of Green New's secret realms and watch for repercussions before his college entrance exam.
• Captain Xia praised Lu PingAn as she left, and he reflected that he trusted certain people more than rigid laws and systems.
• After finishing his paperwork and leaving the police station, Lu PingAn heard an unseen, fast-moving figure tell him, “You did well.”

Xia Qin and Lei Huo Ren discussed the Sophist’s growing activity, the shortage of Keepers, and Lu PingAn’s alarming growth before learning he had gone to Green New Company’s Forest Secret Realm. Lu PingAn then postponed his settlement until his actions inside the Secret Realm were complete, raising his evaluation from D to DS.

• Xia Qin learned that the Sophist had appeared in the city again and decided the Keepers would avoid pursuing him until reinforcements arrived.
• Lei Huo Ren told Xia Qin that Lu PingAn had reached Tier 1 unusually quickly and agreed that his empathy made him different from the Sophist.
• Xia Qin and Lei Huo Ren realized Lu PingAn had two professions and had produced a Tier 2 magic plant, but they were too busy to report his abnormal progress.
• Lei Huo Ren learned that Lu PingAn had gone to Green New Company’s Forest Secret Realm, and Xia Qin panicked when she remembered his promise.
• Lu PingAn entered the Three Ring Forest Secret Realm and used the Life Bank system to postpone settlement until his performance was complete.
• The Secret Realm Master raised Lu PingAn’s evaluation from D to DS when the delayed settlement began.

Lu PingAn learned from Chris how fiercely the Maiden of the Forest’s churches competed, then sold two magical plants to the Secret Realm Master and discovered a way to earn Life Points. After completing the secret realm with an S+ evaluation, he received Shop Coins and gained an additional reward choice tied to the plant sale.

• Lu PingAn asked Chris whether the Maiden of the Forest would protect Green New Company, and Chris explained that her many churches fought intensely over authority and doctrine.
• Chris said gods competed under rules enforced by an unnamed force, though that force was expected to lose control in the future.
• The Secret Realm Master offered to buy Lu PingAn’s two new Tier 2 magical plants, and he accepted its bid of 1.04 Life Coins.
• Lu PingAn completed the Three Ring Forest secret realm with an S+ evaluation and received 100 Shop Coins from the Maiden of the Forest’s virtual personality.
• The settlement system offered Lu PingAn four reward options and allowed him to select one additional option because of the transaction.

Lu PingAn chose a cursed item and bought gloves that could accelerate his self-healing, preparing for the upcoming exam. As he left the Secret Realm, strangers applauded him, and Zhao Ying openly joined them despite her ties to Green New Company.

• Lu PingAn chose the Pollution Item reward and received the Hibernating Seed Bag, whose curse required daily sacrifices to sustain a dormant creature.
• Lu PingAn used the Secret Realm Shop to buy Overly Excited Crocodile Skin Gloves, which accelerated his self-healing at the cost of extra thirst.
• After completing the settlement, Lu PingAn found a crowd gathered near the dimensional gate and prepared to leave.
• Strangers applauded Lu PingAn, and Calamity Fist greeted him with a raised fist as he walked through the market.
• Zhao Ying applauded Lu PingAn and declared that she was a human being and a woman before she was a Green New Company employee.