Chapter Summaries

Lu PingAn prepared to face Hanna’s fully charged final attack, stacking defensive abilities and activating Zhi Xi’s dangerous external equipment. As the attack arrived, he realized he had still underestimated her.

• Lu PingAn nearly lost focus from the heat, but Zhi Xi’s life link alerted him to Hanna’s incoming attack.
• Hanna gathered power for more than thirty seconds, forcing Lu PingAn to prepare to withstand her strike in the confined arena.
• Lu PingAn summoned the Silver Armor knight and reinforced it with Turtle Spirit, Soul-Seizing Mark, and Turning Stone into Iron.
• Lu PingAn activated the Black Flame Generator and Calamity Fire Red Chain, surrounding himself with Black Flame and Decay Aura.
• Lu PingAn steadied his breathing behind the shield, then realized Hanna’s attack was stronger than he had expected.

Hanna unleashed Annihilate Space against Lu PingAn, shattering the Gladiatorial Arena and overwhelming his defenses. Lu PingAn combined Spirit Fusion with Little Flame’s power to survive the collapsing space and win the Heroic Spirit Challenge.

• Hanna returned to Lu PingAn and warned him not to die before striking with her Wave Battle Axe.
• Hanna demonstrated Annihilate Space, a supreme Wave Cut Art technique that destroyed Lu PingAn’s shields and began collapsing the arena.
• Lu PingAn activated his final form and fused spirits with Zhi Xi to strengthen their foundation against the attack.
• As the arena collapsed, Lu PingAn called on Little Flame and stacked their powers to charge through the shattered space.
• Lu PingAn and Little Flame emerged alive, and the system announced that he had won the Heroic Spirit Challenge (Gold Low Rank).

After defeating Hanna in the Rust Knight’s secret realm, Lu PingAn left exhausted and slept for two days. He woke to a flood of recruitment offers and began considering how to use his newfound prominence, while the Bureau of Anomalous Affairs offered him a captain’s promotion.

• Big Cat congratulated Lu PingAn on winning the duel, while explaining that Hanna’s restraint and eventual overreach had helped create his opportunity.
• Lu PingAn emerged from the secret realm exhausted, brushed past the talent scouts who had gathered around him, and left to rest.
• Lu PingAn slept for two days and woke to more than two hundred messages, many of them recruitment offers prompted by his performance against Hanna.
• Lu PingAn decided he no longer needed to hide and considered negotiating for more resources and better terms for his family.
• Big Cat told Lu PingAn that the Bureau of Anomalous Affairs wanted to know whether he would accept a promotion to captain.

Lu PingAn accepted the Bureau of Anomalous Affairs’ offer to form a team, while the completed Eternal Suppression Abyss realm awarded him Hanna’s Shroud and a choice of blessing. He chose to let the Rust Knight decide his blessing, hoping for a stronger reward.

• Lu PingAn rejected the suggestion that he take over Team Eleven and agreed instead to reserve a captain’s position in a future team, while asking Xia Qin to inquire about his family members.
• Xia Qin smiled after Lu PingAn chose to remain aligned with the authorities.
• Lu PingAn received an SSS evaluation for completing the third-rank secret realm Eternal Suppression Abyss and won the Heroic Spirit Duel Challenge.
• Lu PingAn read messages from the Rust Knight and the Girl, then received Hanna’s Shroud as his reward.
• After Chris explained that surrendering his choice could improve the reward, Lu PingAn chose option G and asked the Rust Knight to decide his blessing.

After receiving Master Rust Knight’s blessing, Lu PingAn experienced a vivid dream as a giant dragon beast and woke exhausted at work. He continued pursuing the dreams for insight into a self-created Breathing Method, despite the danger of losing his mind or confusing dreams with reality.

• In his dream, Lu PingAn inhabited a dragon beast that hunted a giant-toothed whale before a thunderbird appeared to challenge it.
• Xia Qin and Lu PingAn’s colleagues worried when he woke dazed, but he said his blessing’s side effects would take a week or more to adjust to.
• Lu PingAn refused Xia Qin’s offer to take time off, accepted a fish-shaped pillow from Cat Cat, and went back to sleep at the office.
• Lu PingAn reviewed the notifications from his third dream and saw that he had gained insight into a Rule-level Bubble Dragon and progress toward an unformed Self-Created Breathing Method.
• Lu PingAn realized that the giant-beast dreams let him experience their bodies and spiritual power, but the knowledge was difficult to digest and could cause mental decline.

Lu PingAn learned that his Ten Thousand Things Breathing Martial Art had left him unable to practice ordinary Breathing Methods, limiting his body and the endurance of his combat system. Master Rust Knight’s Gold Tier reward would help him experience colossal beasts and develop a unique Breathing Method, though the full potential of that blessing remained unknown.

• Lu PingAn recognized that his combat system’s greatest weakness was his body’s limited power and endurance.
• Master Rust Knight identified how Lu PingAn’s connection to All Spirits made his Ten Thousand Things Breathing Martial Art incompatible with other Breathing Methods.
• Master Rust Knight suggested that Lu PingAn perfect his own evolutionary path by experiencing the breathing and life forms of colossal beasts.
• Lu PingAn learned that his Gold Tier reward would expose him to powerful life forms and help shape a unique Breathing Method.
• Big Cat Chris envied the reward, while Lu PingAn suspected his Breathing Method and martial art were abnormal.

Lu PingAn discovered that his All is One martial path had begun merging with an unfinished Breathing Method, gaining different benefits and dangerous corrosion depending on what he linked with. After testing the ability on Little Flame and Zhi Xi, he learned that linking with Zhi Xi could increase his mental power.

• Lu PingAn found that his old Runner Breathing Method no longer activated and discovered that All is One had fused with his unfinished Breathing Method.
• He linked All is One with the Storm Lance and suffered death-energy corrosion, while the Life Bank's System Panel recorded gains in death and life energy, Withering Art knowledge, and affinity.
• Lu PingAn concluded that his new Breathing Method required a life link and warned himself not to link with beings or objects whose life rank exceeded his own.
• He tested the ability with Little Flame and Zhi Xi, gaining fire affinity and physical enhancement from Little Flame while experiencing fire-energy corrosion.
• Lu PingAn linked with Zhi Xi and discovered that the Breathing Method increased his mental power, though it also caused Netherworld Energy corrosion.

Lu PingAn explored the benefits and dangers of his new Breathing Method, realizing that it could reshape his growth and future plans. He continued the seven trials, leaving himself exhausted but believing he had gained a crucial component for becoming stronger.

• Big Cat and Fang Wen tested Lu PingAn's Breathing Method and found that its rapid gains came with dangerous risks and could not meaningfully drain Silver Tier Taboo Items.
• Lu PingAn recognized that his freedom from profession limits let him improve mental strength, but made his evolution harder to control and potentially difficult to reverse.
• Lu PingAn reconsidered his Dragon Creation plan and decided that future companions needed to offer more than immediate combat power.
• Lu PingAn committed to enduring all seven trials so he could link with Rule-level monsters while his soul was protected.
• On the fourth and fifth nights, Lu PingAn sleepwalked through trials involving a volcano-backed turtle and a violent humanoid creature, gaining combat experience as the trials continued into the sixth day.

Lu PingAn learned that Ancient City had accepted two large outsider groups in exchange for Rule-level guardians and valuable technology, and that their settlement could draw his future team into security work. The prince and the other group’s leader had requested to meet him, leaving Lu PingAn facing a meeting he could scarcely refuse.

• The Bureau of Anomalous Affairs dropped its complaints about Lu PingAn after watching his duel with Hanna and began treating him as a future asset.
• Lu PingAn reviewed the agreement that allowed the Clay Desert Kingdom’s prince and another splinter group to settle in and around Ancient City despite population limits.
• Xia Qin explained that the groups would bring Rule-level guardians and Desert Airship Technology, prompting Ancient City to create an independent Development Zone for industry.
• Xia Qin told Lu PingAn that his future team might be assigned to secure the Development Zone and that both group leaders had specifically asked to meet him.
• Lu PingAn asked whether he could refuse, and Xia Qin warned that he might have to bear the blame if the deal fell through.

Lu PingAn joined South Six Fingers, Wang Xi'er, and Ya Qian for a meal, where Ya Qian began rebuilding her place in Salin society by proposing a human resources company. The two Desert Kingdom royals then revealed they wanted access to Otherworld exploration, with Wang Xi'er asking to join Lu PingAn’s team.

• Lu PingAn arrived at South Six Fingers' invitation with Catherine and Ya Qian, and the former Prince introduced himself as South Six Fingers alongside his sister, Wang Xi'er.
• Ya Qian explained why she wanted to return to Salin social life, and she proposed starting a human resources company to connect Salin workers with local jobs.
• South Six Fingers and Wang Xi'er agreed to support Ya Qian's plan by providing reliable people for language teaching and pre-employment training.
• South Six Fingers and Wang Xi'er told Lu PingAn they wanted to participate in Otherworld exploration as mercenaries because local leaders had blocked their larger plans.
• Wang Xi'er told Lu PingAn she intended to become an Explorer and needed a suitable team.

Lu PingAn refused Princess Wang Xi'er’s request to join his team, but gifts and a flexible offer of paid support work changed his mind. He agreed to cooperate with her expedition to Green Planet and asked when they would leave.

• Lu PingAn bluntly rejected Wang Xi'er’s request to join his team, citing his limited strength and reluctance to take on trouble.
• South Six Fingers offered Lu PingAn Rule-level Dragonkin Blood Essence from General Jiang Hei, and Lu PingAn eagerly accepted it.
• After Lu PingAn refused to let Wang Xi'er join his team, South Six Fingers proposed that her group operate nearby with Lu PingAn’s team as paid support.
• South Six Fingers offered two million East Country Coin or equivalent payment, logistical aid, and two rare Law Decree-level magical plants for Lu PingAn to examine.
• Lu PingAn accepted the support arrangement and asked his partners when they would leave.

Lu PingAn learned he was slated to command security in the planned Development Zone New City and watched Wang Yaqian’s name choice unsettle the Wang siblings. Back with his team, he saw how hard everyone was training and opened the warehouse to distribute Taboo Items, except to the indignant Cat Cat.

• Lu PingAn learned that the Special Task Force would likely be stationed near University City and that he had been selected as one of its top Brigade Commanders because of his Phosphorus Holy Country Language skills and experience.
• Wang Yaqian introduced her local name, prompting Six-Fingered Prince to stare at Wang Xi'er and leaving her caught in an awkward silence about their inheritance rights.
• Lu PingAn learned that Xue En, Miss Rou, Guan Xinxian, Xia Qin, and Senior Hua were pursuing advancement, while Cat Cat had been too busy and had gained weight.
• Lu PingAn opened the warehouse to share its stored Taboo Items with everyone except Cat Cat, who protested his discrimination.

Lu PingAn sought a reliable Flame Driver profession before setting out, while Hua Xueyi explained the demands and limits of using art-path professions to control elements. Lu PingAn decided to consult a teacher about Tier 3 Fire Driver options.

• Lu PingAn relied on Zhi Xi to raise his Spirit Energy and identified a Flame Driver profession as his next priority.
• Hua Xueyi warned Lu PingAn that taking up Chess Player or Painter without specializing in the art path would likely yield a weak profession.
• Lu PingAn and Hua Xueyi rode a bus to Gu City University, where Lu PingAn planned to investigate Element Drivers and Hua Xueyi planned to handle her club.
• Hua Xueyi explained how art-path projection could turn dreams and illusions into elemental attacks, but said casual practitioners were generally capped at Tier 2.
• Lu PingAn decided to ask a teacher about reliable Tier 3 Fire Driver professions.

Lu PingAn and Hua Xueyi discussed her career, the growth of her fellow villagers, and the danger of falling behind their unusually gifted teammates. Hua Xueyi planned to keep exploring Otherworlds while considering help from Fang Wen, pending Lu PingAn’s opinion.

• Lu PingAn teased Hua Xueyi about her progress, and she explained that she needed time to develop her combat-focused professional system.
• Hua Xueyi worried about her fellow villagers, whose new opportunities and Professional careers meant they might need training and time away from Lu PingAn’s dangerous battlefield.
• Lu PingAn and Hua Xueyi compared her prospects with Cat Cat’s rapid growth and powerful equipment, and Hua Xueyi said she still intended to join the next Otherworld Exploration.
• Hua Xueyi told Lu PingAn that Fang Wen had offered to help her, but Big Cat had advised her to ask Lu PingAn first.

Lu PingAn discussed recruiting Hua Xueyi to work with Fang Wen and considered the Green Planet as a source of biological resources. He invited Professor Wen to explore Terredian and oversee a plant research team.

• Big Cat explained that Fang Wen was bored and that Hua Xueyi’s metallization talent could make her useful on the Tamer Pathways.
• Lu PingAn agreed to let Hua Xueyi work with Fang Wen, warning her to set limits and use an agreement for any body-modification experiments.
• Lu PingAn considered assembling Beast Tamer, Gardener, chef, and Hunter teams to explore the dangerous Green Planet, while waiting for Princess Wang’s intelligence.
• Lu PingAn visited Professor Wen at his Botanical Garden and asked him to assess two Law Decree-level alien magic plants.
• Lu PingAn invited Professor Wen to join an expedition to Terredian and oversee his plant laboratory.

Lu PingAn recognized that his chaotic Garden needed a professional Gardener to plan its production chains and stop its magical plants from going to waste. He offered Professor Wen access to his Rule-level Land of Life, and Professor Wen eagerly agreed to join him.

• Lu PingAn and Guan Xinxian admitted they lacked the knowledge to manage their Garden's production, where low-tier magical plants overgrew and rotted.
• Lu PingAn invited Professor Wen to help organize the Garden and offered him access to its Rule-level Land of Life.
• Professor Wen inspected the Garden and watched two Law Decree-level magical plants take root in its soil with ease.
• After Lu PingAn explained that he had only obtained the plants the day before and wanted Professor Wen to identify them, Professor Wen demanded a contract and agreed to any terms.
• Professor Wen once again tried to steer Lu PingAn toward meeting his granddaughter.

Lu PingAn watched Professor Wen and Professor Du Wei’s team investigate the magical coconut dates, exposing how his rule-system abilities let him bypass much of the research ordinary Gardeners had to do. After recruiting the researchers, he left the laboratory to give them space and considered the team building they would need.

• Gardeners and Potion Masters tested the coconut dates, finding that the beneficial and poisonous fruits had conflicting effects and that the beneficial fruit could induce sleep and other states.
• Lu PingAn joined the researchers’ experiments and tried to learn their procedures, though his basic questions and unreliable suggestions frustrated them.
• Professor Wen and the other researchers realized Lu PingAn’s abilities could reveal traits and create plant combinations far faster than conventional research.
• Professor Wen, Professor Du Wei, and a research assistant signed agreements to join Lu PingAn’s team.
• Lu PingAn left the laboratory after the researchers grew irritated with him, and he thought they might need to start with team building.

Lu PingAn recognized that the changing political climate made the Eastern Kingdom authorities his strongest protection, and he decided to use their support to strengthen his own position. After recruiting gardening experts to shore up his profession, he sought help with Flame Artificer studies but was repeatedly referred elsewhere.

• Lu PingAn and Big Cat discussed how his Rule-level Life Bank explained his extraordinary abilities and why powerful factions were less likely to target him in the current era.
• Lu PingAn decided to develop quickly, display his value to the Eastern Kingdom authorities, and build a logistics foundation by recruiting Professor Wen and the other gardening experts.
• Lu PingAn left the busy gardeners to visit the General Department and asked Professor Wen and another professor for help improving his Flame Artificer profession.
• The professors referred Lu PingAn to Associate Professor Feng Ying, a weak combatant known for theoretical work, who then offered a letter of introduction to another school.
• Feng Ying's classmate passed Lu PingAn along to a teaching assistant who could introduce him to a stronger Flame Artificer program.

Lu PingAn sought elemental training at Ninth Vocational High, but learned that his Runner path conflicted with most Element Driver professions and that the remaining fire-element mentors had left for an expedition. The expedition was exploring Green Planet, giving him a possible way to find the expertise he needed.

• Lu PingAn reflected on how his ties to Gu Da and Ancient City had made him feel responsible for their safety.
• Lu PingAn asked Professor Liu at Ninth Vocational High for help finding an Element Driver mentor.
• Professor Liu explained that most Element Driver paths conflicted with Lu PingAn’s Runner path because they relied on the Awakened path.
• Lu PingAn learned that most remaining Element Driver options followed the Rider path, but the fire-element branch’s Rider and Runner mentors had left to explore another world.
• Lu PingAn asked whether the expedition had gone to Green Planet, and Professor Liu confirmed that the Gu City Official had sent the specialists there to help with its gigantic plants.

After returning from Gu Da, Lu PingAn was overwhelmed with preparations for the newly established Gu City Second Development Zone and took out his frustration on Cat Cat. The zone began receiving immigrants as its security forces were organized, leaving Lu PingAn with only about twenty days until departure.

• Lu PingAn restricted Cat Cat’s spending and took control of her salary after she spent half a month eating and sleeping.
• Lu PingAn attended the founding ceremony of the Gu City Second Development Zone, where Jiang Hei, Wang Sixiang, and Su Weihong appeared together.
• Big Cat told Lu PingAn that the three Rule-level figures had already clashed subtly and that Su Weihong was likely stronger than either Phosphorus Person alone.
• Lu PingAn met future Development Zone leaders and administrators at the ceremony and banquet while Wang Yaqian promoted her human resources company.
• As immigrants arrived, Lu PingAn worked overtime to learn the local situation and coordinate public security with the Special Task Force teams.