Chapter Summaries

Lu PingAn learned from Hua Xueyi how armed companies earned a living, especially by working in Super Large Secret Realms. After deciding his forces should keep moving before the next exploration, he chose to visit one that day.

• Lu PingAn asked Hua Xueyi how supernatural companies and agencies had started, and she described private commissions and other work for armed Professionals.
• Hua Xueyi explained that Super Large Secret Realms were the main source of employment for many Professionals, despite their dangers and the constant need to defend them.
• Lu PingAn learned that the government and military had begun opening some large secret realms to private forces under preferential policies.
• Lu PingAn decided his armed forces should not remain idle between explorations and chose to visit a Super Large Secret Realm that day.

Lu PingAn visited the heavily fortified Little Yin Mountain Secret Realm with Hua Xueyi and learned about its many dangerous rifts and military deployments. After reviewing the available areas, he chose to explore Pit Six alone, revealing that he was Tier 3.

• Lu PingAn and Hua Xueyi arrived at Little Yin Mountain and surveyed its fortress, rifts, and military defenses.
• Lu PingAn learned that the Super Large Secret Realm contained many disconnected battle zones and that the military had stationed student soldiers and professional forces there.
• Lu PingAn passed the security checks and obtained information about the realm from Gu Da’s temporary station.
• A Senior Brother advised Lu PingAn and Hua Xueyi to visit the safer Areas 1 and 2 before leaving.
• Lu PingAn asked Hua Xueyi to catch up with her friends while he explored alone, then chose Pit Six.
• When warned that Pit Six required a team or Tier 3 strength, Lu PingAn said he was Tier 3.

Lu PingAn explored Pit Six, where wary travelers and intelligent magical beasts made even a supposedly safe area dangerous. After defeating a pack of Serpent Lizard Beasts, he reached a rest town and discovered Professionals openly trading Credit Coins for East Country Coins, leaving him uncertain how to proceed.

• Lu PingAn found that returning squads kept their distance and remained on guard as he traveled through Pit Six.
• A pack of more than twenty Serpent Lizard Beasts, including two rare mutants, pursued Lu PingAn, and he defeated them with his magic plants and constructs.
• Lu PingAn learned from Big Cat that the magical beasts here were intelligent and tactically flexible, while the local plants and beast materials were too common to earn much.
• Lu PingAn reached a walled rest town and overheard Professionals complaining about the exchange rate for Credit Coins and East Country Coins.
• Lu PingAn chose not to intervene in the prohibited currency exchange and decided to stay in town to observe.

Lu PingAn learned that adventuring in Wu Fu was a calculated, dangerous operation shaped by command decisions, resource needs, and threats that could grow into intelligent enemies. He sought a Hunting Squad to gain practical experience, then surprised a recruiter by claiming he could provide three standard units of combat power.

• Lu PingAn saw how Wu Fu's command post assigned clearances, reinforcements, and hunts according to battlefield and market needs.
• He learned that newborn demonic monsters could develop into intelligent tribes and that the Professionals tried to eliminate them before they became greater threats.
• Lu PingAn decided to stop wandering alone and looked for an established Hunting Squad that could teach him survival and hunting practices.
• A recruiter questioned whether the third-rank Gardener could provide combat support and demanded an extra share of spoils if he could not.
• Lu PingAn asked whether providing three standard units of combat power would entitle him to all additional spoils, and the recruiter joked that he could then be captain.

Lu PingAn learned how ordinary Secret Keepers survived and worked in Pit Six, where squads harvested monsters and resources from the vast Underground Palace. He saw how Credit Coins were opening new opportunities for low-level Professionals, while his Sealing Knights were better suited to Pit Eight.

• Lu PingAn joined a veteran harvesting squad and learned that Pit Six served as a logistical base where Secret Keepers eliminated newly spawned monsters.
• Captain Cao's squad efficiently killed a pack of beasts, and Lu PingAn saw how their modest team roles suited the battlefield.
• Captain Cao explained the uses of Petrification Potions, which could protect low-level Professionals from bullets and support training.
• Lu PingAn learned that Credit Coins let ordinary Secret Keepers buy advancement resources that had previously been difficult to obtain.
• Captain Cao said exchange restrictions would ease within half a year and urged the squad to spend its Credit Coins on development before their value fell.
• Lu PingAn left his Security Company and Sealing Knights to operate independently, with Pit Eight considered a better fit for them than Pit Six.

Lu PingAn joined Captain Cao’s squad on an expedition through Pit Six, displaying overwhelming power against the monsters while learning from the veterans. After Captain Cao decided the squad should turn back rather than risk deeper floors, Lu PingAn set off alone to continue testing his strength.

• Lu PingAn burned away the monsters’ defenses with Purification Holy Fire, then destroyed them with Withering and Storm Lance.
• Captain Cao’s squad rested and shared spoils with Lu PingAn, while he listened to their expedition advice and helped clear the way.
• Over a day and a half, the squad advanced faster than usual, and its members revised their estimate of Lu PingAn’s combat strength.
• Captain Cao explained that deeper floors would put the squad at risk and limit Lu PingAn, so the group planned to turn back after gathering more spoils.
• Lu PingAn parted from the squad and headed deeper alone, while Captain Cao reflected on the young man’s extraordinary potential.

Lu PingAn deployed his War Platform on the eighteenth floor, combining Zhi Xi’s armor, Sun Vine, Little Flame, and three supernatural flames into a giant combat body. He began learning to control the armor while its flames devastated the nearby beasts and drew the attention of the Underground Palace.

• Lu PingAn entered the eighteenth floor alone, wearing Zhi Xi’s armor and riding Little Flame.
• Lu PingAn activated the Black Flame Generator and integrated the black tribulation fire with his Purification Holy Fire and Sun Vine.
• Lu PingAn used the combined flames to burn through the surrounding beast pack while testing the platform’s energy consumption.
• Lu PingAn recalled Little Flame and practiced walking by controlling the armor through the Sun Vine and Heavenly Boots.
• Lu PingAn’s blazing War Platform scorched the beasts and announced its presence across the Underground Palace.

Lu PingAn fought through the Underground Palace, where killing raised his skills and revealed that he instinctively favored fire and explosions. With Fire Control Technique reaching level 14, he faced another specialization choice and considered whether to embrace the path that best suited him.

• Lu PingAn burned his way through the battlefield and discovered through Spirit Sight that the spirits of those he killed were being absorbed into him.
• His Fire Control Technique rose to level 14, prompting him to choose a specialization path.
• Big Cat argued that Lu PingAn’s preferences for weapons, bombs, and flames showed that fire suited his nature better than a peaceful life.
• Lu PingAn recalled choosing Flame Coexistence, which transformed his Flame Affinity into Flame Control and enabled him to command different kinds of fire.
• Lu PingAn stopped among the scorched corpses and weighed his next specialization choice for his highest-level Profession Skill.

Lu PingAn learned how Profession Skills shaped a Professional’s strength and chose the Flame Burst School specialization for his Holy Fire Exorcism. He planned to keep developing his flame-and-magic-plant research, while Chris advised him to gain more combat experience before choosing a Fire Driver profession.

• Lu PingAn reviewed how innate abilities, Profession Skills, and Profession Skills affected a Professional’s growth and limits.
• His Holy Fire Exorcism reached lv14, and the System offered three specialization branches plus the option to keep accumulating knowledge.
• Lu PingAn chose the Flame Burst School because he wanted stronger, brighter flames and its current level cap was higher than the other options’.
• Lu PingAn reflected on his unusual habit of turning magic plants into weapons and on combining flames with Lamp Fire Grass and Sun Vine.
• Lu PingAn asked Chris to recommend a Fire Driver profession, and Chris told him to kill more before deciding which path suited him.

The Underground Palace entered a disturbance period as a Beast Tide led by intelligent monsters trapped a student adventurer squad on the twenty-first level. Just as the monsters moved in to kill them, Lu PingAn arrived carrying two severed heads.

• Adventurers exchanged warnings about the Gray Axe Tribe’s unrest and a Quasi-Rules creature, while Beast Tides spread through the Underground Palace.
• A group of students led by Yan Xingchen became trapped on the twenty-first level after failing to retreat with veteran teams.
• Shi Kai, Shi Long Qi, and other intelligent monsters launched an attack on the students, driving them into panic and breaking their formation.
• Yan Xingchen ordered the students to run, but a huge Wolf Beast blocked the exit as the monsters closed in.
• Lu PingAn stepped onto the level and told the monsters not to block his way, prompting Shi Long Qi to recognize the severed heads of Shi Longjiu and Shi LongshiYi.

Lu PingAn rescued Captain Yan’s group by slaughtering the monsters blocking their way through the twenty-first floor. After emerging from his armor, he revealed that he was a first-year who had gotten lost.

• Lu PingAn killed the Dire Wolf after it attacked him, drawing the monsters’ attention away from the students.
• Lu PingAn unleashed three rings of sacred, scorching, and black flames, wiping out most of the beast pack.
• Lu PingAn hurled a Storm Lance into Shi Long Qi, then used an accelerated kick and a Giant’s Battle Axe to defeat the charging Stone Giant.
• Lu PingAn searched the Stone Giant’s body for valuable materials while the rescued students watched nervously.
• Captain Yan addressed Lu PingAn as Senior, but Lu PingAn emerged from his armor and asked the first-year students for directions.

Lu PingAn and the students camped near the entrance to the 21st Floor during the Beast Tide, where Zhi Xi cooked Petrified Lizard meat that only Lu PingAn could safely eat. After realizing the Tide offered valuable prey, Lu PingAn prepared to hunt, while Captain Yan asked him to take the group along.

• Zhi Xi cooked heavily seasoned Petrified Lizard meat, and Lu PingAn warned the students below Tier 4 not to eat it.
• Two Tier 3 students tried the meat and immediately vomited, while Lu PingAn gained temporary benefits from eating it himself.
• Lu PingAn considered how his low Reflexes and Spirit were hindering his advancement and concluded he needed to improve his attributes.
• Lu PingAn regretted discarding the heads of two intelligent magical creatures and saw the Beast Tide as a chance to find more valuable prey.
• Captain Yan asked Lu PingAn to take his group with him, and Lu PingAn was surprised they wanted to leave instead of pursuing the opportunity.

Lu PingAn realized the student soldiers were too weak and injured to safely travel alone, so he escorted them toward the upper floors. When intelligent monsters had destroyed the route upward, he led the group toward the lower levels, expecting an ambush.

• Lu PingAn recognized that the upperclassmen were far weaker and more injured than he had assumed, and offered to escort them to safety.
• As the group traveled, Lu PingAn watched the student soldiers fight poorly and took over the fighting himself.
• Lu PingAn found the passage to the Nineteenth Floor destroyed, likely by intelligent monsters trying to isolate and trap the invaders.
• After learning the monsters might control other passages, Lu PingAn decided the group should go down and prepared for battle.

Lu PingAn and the Student Soldiers fought through the 21st Floor during a massive Underground Palace unrest, then pieced together possible causes and responses. The Gray Axe Tribe celebrated its rise to power as veterans and local forces clashed across multiple floors.

• Lu PingAn charged into the monsters on the 21st Floor and cleared the horde with Flame Triple Strike, but found no intelligent creatures to question.
• The Student Soldiers shared what they knew about Underground Palace unrest, and Lu PingAn concluded that the upheaval likely came from an outside force or a newly powerful local chief.
• Lu PingAn identified waiting for rescue or killing the source of the unrest as the survivors’ main options.
• The Gray Axe Tribe celebrated becoming king of the Underground Palace and prepared to break out toward the world beyond.
• Veterans and local forces fought for survival around severed passages on the seventh, eleventh, fifteenth, seventeenth, 20th, 24th, and 26th Floors.

After the passage was destroyed, veterans rallied and gained the advantage over the Gray Axe Tribe’s Beast Tide by using their experience and the Underground Palace’s terrain. With Big Cat directing him, Lu PingAn organized the rookies, found a route downward, and launched a surprise attack on the twenty-second floor.

• Veteran adventurers gathered to fight the Beast Tide rather than wait for uncertain reinforcements, using the Underground Palace’s terrain to counter the monsters’ numbers.
• The veterans singled out and killed intelligent magical creatures, putting the Gray Axe Tribe’s forces at a disadvantage.
• Big Cat took over guiding Lu PingAn, urging him to organize the rookies, record their abilities, and search for passages and Safe Houses.
• Lu PingAn split the rookies into groups and used them to find a route to the lower floor.
• After reaching the twenty-second floor, Lu PingAn found veterans holding out against the Beast Tide and launched a surprise attack.

Lu PingAn used Wave Superimposition and his heavy armor to break through the beast horde, turning the battle in the adventurers’ favor. He killed the enemy commander, Stone Dragon Three, and the surviving intelligent monsters fled.

• Lu PingAn launched himself into the beast horde with Wave Superimposition and ignited the area with Fire Rings.
• The adventurers followed Lu PingAn’s charge as he pushed through enemy lines, protected by his armor and Turtle Spirit.
• Lu PingAn replaced his burned-out shield and continued his assault, defeating the War Behemoths that tried to stop him.
• Lu PingAn reached Stone Dragon Three, decapitated the commander, and collected its head and blood.
• The intelligent monsters fled after their commander died, and the adventurers celebrated their victory.

After Lu PingAn introduced himself as a gardener, he questioned veterans about the intelligent Petrified Lizards and learned that their new King, the Mother of Stone Dragons, was considered a Quasi Rule-level threat. Big Cat urged him to pursue the powerful Beast King, which might also be a valuable prize.

• Lu PingAn introduced himself as a Tier 3 gardener and explained that he had come to undergo Tier 2 training, though the veterans did not believe his modest description.
• Lu PingAn explained that his heavy armor and fire abilities came from his Life-type creations and that he had chosen to combine them into a War Platform.
• Lu PingAn questioned the veterans and learned that the Mother of Stone Dragons was a Quasi Rule-level magical monster whose petrification had turned even a Law Decree-level fighter to stone.
• The veterans explained that powerful reinforcements would likely come quickly because the Beast King could yield exceptional materials and a valuable Taboo Item.
• Big Cat warned Lu PingAn that the Beast King's rule might extend beyond petrification and said it would be a pity to miss the potential treasure.

Lu PingAn and Big Cat observed the Mother of Stone Dragons on the Underground Palace’s twenty-fourth level, where she was overwhelming the human forces while rapidly evolving. Big Cat urged Lu PingAn to wait for an opening, but the Mother of Stone Dragons continued growing toward a Rule-level dragonkind.

• Zhi Xi admired the Mother of Stone Dragons as a valuable source of food, while Big Cat identified her as a dragonifying Petrified Lizard with enhanced abilities.
• Lu PingAn saw the Mother of Stone Dragons laying eggs and producing rapidly growing Stone Dragon Lizards amid a battlefield crowded with human adventurers and petrified fighters.
• Chris and Big Cat warned Lu PingAn not to attack yet because the Mother of Stone Dragons was too dangerous and her evolution remained incomplete.
• Big Cat estimated that the Mother of Stone Dragons would complete her evolution in six hours and become far stronger, while Lu PingAn feared the humans would die before then.
• Lu PingAn noticed the Mother of Stone Dragons eating newborns that lost the brood’s competition, growing larger as her horns lengthened and her scales darkened.

Lu PingAn and his companions considered ways to fight the overwhelming Stone Dragon Lizards, then Lu PingAn proposed using Bane’s Wishbone to curse the Petrified Dragon Mother. The curse could cripple her memory, but he still needed a way to touch her with the bone and recite its code phrase safely.

• Big Cat rejected Lu PingAn’s suggestions for dealing with the Stone Dragon Lizards, while Chris explained that specialized dragon-slaying weapons would be needed against such a powerful opponent.
• Lu PingAn judged that their ordinary abilities were unlikely to defeat the Quasi Rule-level Petrified Dragon Mother and decided they should try an attack and flee if it failed.
• Lu PingAn took out Bane’s Wishbone, a cursed item that could inflict severe forgetfulness on a target.
• Lu PingAn considered how the curse might destabilize the Beast King and the assembled horde, but realized he had no safe way to touch the giant lizard and recite the code phrase.

Lu PingAn recruited Ya Qian to help him approach the Mother of Stone Dragons and devised a plan to lift its curse. Shi TaoHua, trapped on the twenty-fourth floor with petrified companions running out of time, received Lu PingAn’s offer to help defeat the stone dragon.

• Lu PingAn decided Ya Qian could help him approach the monster and release the curse, even if the cursed item might remain in its hands.
• Ya Qian arrived in her powerful Moon God armor and agreed to help Lu PingAn.
• Shi TaoHua struggled to command his battered group, whose route upward was blocked by stone lizards and whose petrified companions were nearing death.
• A companion delivered Lu PingAn’s letter to Shi TaoHua, offering a plan to escape the predicament and possibly kill the stone dragon.