Chapter Summaries

Luo Jun took over the final leg of the relay and raced through the volcanic interior on the Longitudinal and Horizontal Warhorse. He crossed the finish line just ahead of the tracker, clearing the third checkpoint.

• After Du Jincai returned from the mountain, Luo Jun volunteered to run the final leg instead of Zheng Ji.
• Luo Jun jumped into the volcanic crater and used the Longitudinal and Horizontal Warhorse to race across the lava while the tracker followed at a fixed speed.
• Luo Jun reached a lava waterfall and spotted the finish line, but a massive Lava Monster rose from the lava and blocked his path.
• Luo Jun charged through the Lava Monster's claw with the Azure Dragon Blade and crossed the finish line as the tracker closed in.
• Luo Jun passed through a Teleportation Gate back to the main room, where a clearance notification appeared.

Luo Jun and the others voted Du Jincai out as the Mimic Person and opened the treasure vault, where Lao Miao Miao used the Hidden Key. The mission’s controllers then trapped the group and revealed Du Jincai and Elisa as Chaos Creatures, leaving the victors facing a new threat.

• Luo Jun connected the potted plant and earlier clues to Du Jincai, and Lao Miao Miao backed his accusation by voting for him.
• Luo Jun and Du Jincai each urged the others to vote for the other, while Lao Miao Miao appealed to Cui Zheng Hai and Zhu Sanyang.
• Cui Zheng Hai and Zhu Sanyang cast the final ballots, and Du Jincai received three votes, Night received two, and Zheng Ji received one.
• The cage captured Du Jincai, and Luo Jun, Lao Miao Miao, Cui Zheng Hai, Zheng Ji, and Zhu Sanyang opened the treasure vault with three keys.
• Lao Miao Miao inserted the Hidden Key, but a purple-black space engulfed the group and two voices announced they would kill them.
• Du Jincai and Elisa emerged from cages as Chaos Creatures.

Lao Miao Miao and the others fought the escaped Mimic Persons in Chaos Space, where Elisa absorbed Zhu Sanyang’s transformed body and grew stronger. Lao Miao Miao planted her ability in Elisa and began weakening her, but the effort aged Lao Miao Miao dramatically as the battle continued.

• Elisa and Du Jincai broke out of their cages, and Du Jincai seized Luo Jun and dragged him into Chaos Space.
• Cui Zheng Hai, Zheng Ji, Lao Miao Miao, and Zhu Sanyang fought Elisa while Zhu Sanyang swallowed parts of her body to heal himself.
• Elisa’s flesh attacked Zhu Sanyang from within and fused with his transformed body, forcing Zhu Sanyang to separate his weakened main body before Elisa absorbed the remains.
• Lao Miao Miao called for the others’ help and used her ability to plant a Qi Mass inside the strengthened Elisa.
• Cui Zheng Hai wounded Elisa, allowing Lao Miao Miao to reach her and begin a technique that weakened her while turning Lao Miao Miao’s hair gray and her face withered.

Lao Miao Miao revealed her rare Mystic Faction ability to defeat one monster while Luo Jun trained his undead army against another. After the group killed the remaining monster and returned to the treasure vault, Luo Jun drew a Legendary Blind Box and received his mission rewards.

• Lao Miao Miao used her Aging ability to drain a monster's life force, and Zheng Ji and Cui Zheng Hai helped her bring it down.
• Zheng Ji, Cui Zheng Hai, Zhu Sanyang, and Lao Miao Miao found Luo Jun watching his undead army fight the wounded monster he had captured.
• Luo Jun healed the group with a Water Healing Construct, then killed the monster with the Azure Dragon Crescent Blade.
• The group returned to the treasure vault and let Luo Jun choose a chest first.
• Luo Jun used the Dice of Heavenly Secrets to draw a Legendary Blind Box and completed the main and hidden missions, receiving the Gate of Myriad Realms (Imitation), an Advanced Expansion Slot, a Qi Storage Spirit Stone, and an Imposter Mask.

After completing the Chaos-distorted mission, Luo Jun examined his rewards and realized the Replica Gate of Myriad Realms might become a genuine world-traveling artifact if empowered by the Breath of Myth. He returned home after refusing Lao Miao Miao’s valuable breakthrough potion, leaving her stunned by his dismissal of it.

• Luo Jun identified his four rewards: a Replica Gate of Myriad Realms, an Imposter Mask, an Advanced Expansion Slot, and a Large Qi Storage Spirit Stone.
• Luo Jun decided the Gate of Myriad Realms could be more valuable than his planned forged hammer and considered empowering it with the Breath of Myth.
• Zheng Ji complained about receiving a Rare reward and asked who had drawn the Legendary one, while Zhu Sanyang left without answering.
• Lao Miao Miao gave Luo Jun an Imposter Essence potion as thanks for helping her survive the mission.
• Luo Jun recognized the potion’s breakthrough benefits, returned it to Lao Miao Miao, and used his return teleportation to leave.
• Lao Miao Miao stared after Luo Jun, confused that he had called the potion useless and urged her to cultivate.

Luo Jun tested the Imposter Mask on the Tomb King after learning that the Gate of Myriad Realms could not be evolved safely, while Lao Miao Miao reported the mission’s error-correction cycle and used the Imposter Essence to break through to the sixth level of Body Refinement. The chapter ended with Lao Miao Miao deciding that the masked man had deliberately given her the precious medicine, despite suspecting he was already a Peak Expert.

• Luo Jun failed to evolve the Gate of Myriad Realms after learning that its advanced version was already held by someone else, so he tested the Imposter Mask on the Tomb King.
• The Imposter Mask transformed the Tomb King into a convincing copy of Luo Jun, and Luo Jun decided the Tomb King could attend classes for him while he went on missions.
• Lao Miao Miao told Song Yi that she alone had received a Hidden Mission with seven cycles, and Song Yi explained that it was the Chaos Mission’s error-correction mechanism.
• Song Yi warned Lao Miao Miao not to discuss the unusual mission publicly and wondered what the Chaos Creatures had spent so much to obtain.
• Lao Miao Miao used the Imposter Essence to make repeated breakthrough attempts and finally reached the sixth level of the Body Refinement Realm.
• Lao Miao Miao considered the masked man’s strength and concluded that he had deliberately given her the medicine, even though he might be a Peak Expert.

Luo Jun learned that twisted rules in Chaos Missions were rare, then dealt with school and community matters after his growing wealth ended his relief-fund eligibility. He left the community office after a confrontation with a fraudulent applicant and learned his former landlord had been looking for him, so he called to find out why.

• Luo Jun read forum discussions about the rare twisted rules in the Chaos Mission and wondered whether Chaos Creatures had sabotaged other missions.
• Teacher Hu explained that Luo Jun's physical assessment record needed verification, while Chen Ran said he had covered for Luo Jun's absence; Luo Jun also noticed his recorded height had increased.
• Sister Zhang told Luo Jun that his savings disqualified him from relief funds, and Luo Jun agreed to withdraw from the program.
• A Bald Man made a scene over his rejected relief application, shoved Luo Jun, and fled when Luo Jun pretended to be injured using sour plum juice.
• Luo Jun signed the withdrawal paperwork and heard that his former landlord had been looking for him; he called the landlord to ask why.

Luo Jun used the Imposter Mask to frighten the Bald Man into collapsing, then learned that two foreigners had wrecked his former apartment after renting it because he had lived there. The noise had occurred on December 28, leaving Luo Jun to suspect the foreigners were connected to something he knew about.

• Luo Jun confronted the Bald Man in his rental and used an undead disguise to frighten him into collapsing.
• Luo Jun returned upstairs and met Uncle Wang, who showed him the trashed apartment and demanded compensation.
• Uncle Wang explained that two foreigners had rented the apartment, claiming they knew Luo Jun, then disappeared after wrecking it.
• Luo Jun learned the foreigners had caused the noise on December 28, denied knowing them, and left after using Spirit Shock on Uncle Wang.
• Luo Jun looked back at the apartment and wondered whether the foreigners were connected to something he knew.

Luo Jun used Dust of Replication to replay the Hell Creek Family investigators’ search of his apartment and learned they were hunting for an otherworldly object called the Eternal Star. After they found nothing and left, Luo Jun considered what the object might be and avoided the returning landlord.

• Luo Jun activated Dust of Replication in his wrecked apartment and watched two Hell Creek Family investigators search it for the Eternal Star.
• The investigators said the Eternal Star was not a Treasure Tool and discussed their failed search for Gong Shiyue’s stolen item.
• Luo Jun overheard a phone call in which Charles reported that he could not find Luo Jun and that his records showed no university or Explorer Academy enrollment.
• The investigators concluded the apartment was the wrong lead and left without finding the Eternal Star.
• Luo Jun realized the dean’s removal of his enrollment record had helped keep the investigators from connecting him to the cultivation world, then speculated about the Eternal Star.
• When the landlord returned, Luo Jun slipped out and escaped downstairs without being seen.

Luo Jun discovered that the doll Gong Shiyue left behind contained the location and password for a treasure stored at Gathering Treasure Pavilion Headquarters. He planned to retrieve the mysterious Eternal Star during Ningdong Academy’s upcoming Otherworld Internship.

• Luo Jun suspected the doll Gong Shiyue had left at his rental house might contain the Eternal Star.
• After finding tiny writing inside the doll, Luo Jun researched Gathering Treasure Pavilion and learned it was a powerful bank that stored rare treasures in a secure vault.
• Luo Jun deciphered the doll’s number and Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches as the treasure’s vault location and password.
• Luo Jun concluded that Gong Shiyue had hidden the Eternal Star at Gathering Treasure Pavilion Headquarters before being captured.
• Luo Jun memorized the information, burned the doll, and planned to retrieve the treasure when he traveled to the [Martial World] for his academy internship.

After Meng Ziqian’s determination reminded Luo Jun of his own struggles, he recommitted himself to cultivation and broke through to the seventh layer of the Body Refinement Realm. His breakthrough succeeded without failure, but afterward he discovered that his Vital Energy no longer seemed to grow when he cultivated.

• During combat training, Meng Ziqian repeatedly threw Luo Jun, and classmates explained how hard she worked to support her struggling family.
• After reflecting on Meng Ziqian’s circumstances and his own past, Luo Jun decided to stop slacking off and attempt a breakthrough.
• Luo Jun used the Dice of Heavenly Secrets to break through to the seventh layer of the Body Refinement Realm and gained enough experience to reach level thirty-one.
• After distributing his Attribute Points, Luo Jun tried cultivating his Vital Energy but found that repeated cycles produced no increase.
• Luo Jun wondered whether the Body Tempering Art or the God Technique had caused the problem, then continued circulating his Vital Energy.

Luo Jun noticed Ling Fei arrive at Ningdong Academy to take Ling Xin back to the Ling Family, but Dean Su Manchen refused to let him remove her. Ling Fei left after warning that he would report the matter to the Island Lord, while Su Manchen worried about the threat to come.

• After cultivating all night, Luo Jun found that his Vital Energy had grown far more slowly than before.
• Luo Jun spotted Ling Fei arriving at the academy with two attendants and realized he had come for Ling Xin.
• Ling Fei demanded to take Ling Xin away, but Su Manchen invoked Ling Jue's dying entrustment and refused to hand her over.
• Su Manchen and Ling Fei released their Gang Qi, and Luo Jun sensed their clash from a classroom.
• Ling Fei admitted he could not take Ling Xin by force and left, promising to report the matter to the Island Lord.
• Song Yi asked about the Ling Family's intentions, and Su Manchen said she was worried about an immortal.

The academy moved up its three-month internship in [Martial World], and Song Yi offered Luo Jun the chance to opt out because of the danger and his low cultivation. Luo Jun chose to go, and Song Yi agreed to handle his internship procedures.

• Teacher Hu announced that the Otherworld Internship would begin in early October and last three months in [Martial World].
• Luo Jun’s classmates discussed the dangers and attractions of the trip, and Chen Ran asked him to bring back a martial arts manual.
• Song Yi told Luo Jun that most participants needed higher cultivation and that he could postpone his guaranteed admission spot until next year.
• Luo Jun declined to opt out, saying that exploring other worlds involved risk, and Song Yi agreed to handle his procedures.
• After Song Yi left, Teacher Hu asked whether Luo Jun was related to him or the dean, and Luo Jun admitted that a connection to the dean was possible.

Luo Jun and Chen Ran watched students challenge Advanced Mechanical Puppets at Ningdong Academy, where Lei Tianyang and Lu Fei showed their strength. A long-haired man then destroyed a puppet and recognized Luo Jun as the student with a guaranteed Otherworld Internship slot.

• Luo Jun and Chen Ran went to the Martial Arts Arena to watch students challenge the puppets.
• Lei Tianyang defeated a puppet with Gang Qi alone, concealing his Thunder Control Technique.
• Lu Fei disabled a puppet with eight rapid strikes, and he and Luo Jun recognized each other from their earlier encounter.
• A long-haired man ignored the uniform rules and destroyed a puppet with a powerful kick before confronting Lu Fei.
• The long-haired man recognized Luo Jun as the student who had received a guaranteed Otherworld Internship slot.

Luo Jun watched the academy select forty-three interns for [Martial World] and prepared for its Gate Opening Day. On the day before the opening, a chilling presence appeared near the Administration Building, drawing Teacher Tie Jingang away.

• Xiao Tian threatened Luo Jun and Lu Fei before Professor Yao intervened and repaired the damaged Mechanical Puppet.
• Senior Sister Miao quickly defeated a Mechanical Puppet after Chen Ran criticized her, narrowly avoiding hitting him with it.
• The Mechanical Puppet assessment and a three-day one-on-one final selected forty-two students, who joined Luo Jun as the forty-three interns.
• In October, Teacher Tie Jingang warned the class about the dangers of [Martial World] before a sudden chill prompted him to rush outside.
• Luo Jun recognized that another vicious presence had appeared near the Administration Building, though most students noticed nothing.

Ling Ao pressured Ningdong Academy to release Ling Xin, but Yuan Shouzhen persuaded him to leave her at the academy for three months while they attempted to purify her Wildlands Contamination. Ling Ao departed after agreeing to the terms, and Yuan Shouzhen then comforted Su Manchen, who rejected his familiar attention.

• Ling Ao arrived with Ling Fei and used his Feather Transformation pressure to demand that Ningdong Academy return Ling Xin.
• Yuan Shouzhen entered and argued that Ling Xin had come voluntarily for help and was an academy student seeking protection and purification.
• Yuan Shouzhen promised to purify Ling Xin's contamination and offered the Ling Family a chance to inspect her condition in three months.
• Ling Ao agreed that Ling Xin could remain at the academy, provided the family could take her if contamination remained after three months.
• After Ling Ao left, Song Yi and Tie Jingang bickered while Su Manchen complained about Ling Ao's arrogance.
• Yuan Shouzhen tried to comfort Su Manchen, who pulled away and told him to stop treating her like a child.

Ling Ao noticed Luo Jun's extraordinary physical ability but could not discern its full extent, while Luo Jun sensed the clash of a familiar aura with a chilling presence in the Administration Building and recognized Ling Ao as an Ascended Immortal. He hurried to the Reception Room to check on his master, only to find him touching Dean Su Manchen's face.

• Ling Fei questioned why Ling Ao respected Yuan Shouzhen, and Ling Ao explained that Yuan's strength and resources made his offer to cleanse Ling Xin's contamination worth testing.
• Ling Ao observed Luo Jun walking past and inferred that his physical potential was astonishing, though he could not determine its full limits.
• Luo Jun sensed that a sharp, familiar aura had pierced the chill coming from the principal's office and suspected his master was inside.
• Luo Jun recognized Ling Ao as the Ascended Immortal Ling Ao and went into the Administration Building to check on his master.
• Luo Jun found his master touching Dean Su Manchen's face, apologized, and backed out of the Reception Room.

Luo Jun reunited with Old Yuan and hid the true extent of his cultivation, claiming he had reached the sixth layer of the Body Refinement Realm with the help of a Treasure Tool. Old Yuan praised his progress and gave him a golden Talisman Paper as an enrollment gift.

• Luo Jun learned that Old Yuan was Su Manchen's father and heard that Ling Ao had visited the academy as an Immortal.
• Luo Jun asked Old Yuan about completing the Body Refinement Realm and learned that Foundation Establishment required reaching the seventh layer and building Vital Energy to its limit.
• Luo Jun concealed that he had reached the seventh layer and told Old Yuan he had reached the sixth.
• Luo Jun explained that an Epic-level item called Imposter Essence had let him repeatedly attempt breakthroughs during his Chaos Mission.
• Old Yuan congratulated Luo Jun and gave him a golden Talisman Paper he had brought back from a mission in Xiluo.

Luo Jun reunited with Old Yuan, who gave him an Escort Spirit Talisman and learned about Luo Jun’s extraordinary potential and recent gains. Old Yuan explained why he could not teach Luo Jun the later Body Tempering Art stages yet, leaving Luo Jun to continue cultivating until he reached Body Refinement Realm Great Perfection.

• Old Yuan gave Luo Jun a Legendary Escort Spirit Talisman to improve his odds of surviving a breakthrough without backlash.
• Luo Jun told Old Yuan about the Nine Revolutions Great Restoration Pill and its catalyst, revealing that his potential exceeded ten times that of an ordinary person.
• Luo Jun offered Old Yuan the Record Origin Book to treat his old injuries, but Old Yuan recognized it and said he would return it to its owner.
• Luo Jun asked Old Yuan to teach him the later portions of the Body Tempering Art before he entered the Martial World.
• Old Yuan explained that he could not determine Luo Jun’s next cultivation method until Luo Jun reached Body Refinement Realm Great Perfection and could receive his personal guidance.

Luo Jun learned from Old Yuan that ancient Treasure Tool descriptions and Wilderness murals suggested powerful beings existed above Ascension, while Old Yuan explained Chaos Mission levels and the Death Process. Old Yuan left urgently for the Yuan Cultivation Society, and Luo Jun returned to class ahead of entering the Martial World.

• Luo Jun told Old Yuan about the Wilderness trial and its murals, leading Old Yuan to connect ancient descriptors on Treasure Tools with beings above Ascension.
• Old Yuan advised Luo Jun to warn the Ling Family about the evidence of higher realms, then explained how Chaos Mission levels advanced or fell and how mechanism deaths triggered a ten-minute Death Process.
• Luo Jun learned that he was at Tier A and that Old Yuan was also Tier A, but teased his master after discovering Old Yuan had repeatedly failed missions.
• Old Yuan received an urgent call from the Yuan Cultivation Society and said he would return to Xiluo next month to finish his mission.
• Old Yuan urged Luo Jun to be cautious in the Martial World before leaving, and Luo Jun reported to the dean, who sent him back to class to continue training with Teacher Tie.