Chapter Summaries

Luo Jun exchanged merit points for Hainlein's Left Arm and went with Tie Jingang to appraise unwanted Treasure Tools. There, Chen Ran described a brutal Chaos Mission and revealed his rapid progress, while Luo Jun entered the appraisal room and challenged him to meet at the Exchange Tournament.

• Luo Jun exchanged one Tier A Merit Point and two Tier B Merit Points for Hainlein's Left Arm, then asked Tie Jingang to take him to the Treasure Tool turn-in area.
• At the busy Exchange Center, Chen Ran told Luo Jun and Tie Jingang about defending an isolated city against over a hundred thousand attackers during a Tier C Mission.
• Chen Ran said an unknown girl fighting alongside Shi Lao Si discovered and killed the enemy commander, saving the city's defenders.
• Tie Jingang explained Shi Si's Shun City Shi Family background and said Shi Si might join Tianjing University's Exchange Tournament delegation.
• Chen Ran revealed that his Gang Qi already showed a strong flame inclination and said he expected to reach Mind Condensation before the tournament.
• Luo Jun teased Chen Ran about his delayed effort, dodged his kick, and entered the appraisal room after challenging him to meet at the Exchange Tournament.

Luo Jun sold several Treasure Tools for Merit Points but kept the Calamity Blocking Red Thread, then sought a black-market connection and was refused by Tie Jingang. After meeting Ling Xin, he suspected she might know the black market and pulled her aside to talk.

• Luo Jun sold Old Qi a pile of Treasure Tools and the damaged Qi Breaking Cone, earning four Tier B, nine Tier C, and sixteen Tier D Merit Points.
• Luo Jun kept the Calamity Blocking Red Thread after Old Qi offered two Tier A Merit Points for it.
• Luo Jun discussed the Exchange Meeting and Merit Point rules with Tie Jingang and Chen Ran, who left for class.
• Luo Jun asked Tie Jingang to connect him to the black market, but Tie Jingang warned him against going and stormed off.
• Luo Jun met Ling Xin outside the partitioned room, took her hand, and asked to speak somewhere private.

Luo Jun persuaded Ling Xin to take him to Ningdong’s black market so he could find equipment for the Exchange Meeting. As they entered the market at Yuanqiang Pharmaceutical, an invisible figure followed them, while the Hell Creek Family’s investigation into its dead delegation remained unresolved.

• Luo Jun convinced Ling Xin to guide him to the black market on the fifteenth, and she required him to stay beside her.
• Luo Jun received and tested the Heinlein's Left Arm while the Hell Creek Family delegation arrived in Ningdong to investigate the deaths of Charles and the others.
• Luo Jun watched the Yuan Cultivation Society stall the delegation’s investigation and wondered why it had not acted on the Eternal Virus Progenitor Fluid he had provided.
• Ling Xin met Luo Jun at the academy gate, and the two traveled to the West Suburbs while an invisible figure followed them.
• Ling Xin explained that Zheng Yuanqiang was a powerful, mysterious Rogue Cultivator who controlled the black market, then led Luo Jun through the gate of Yuanqiang Pharmaceutical.

Luo Jun and Ling Xin entered the Yuanqiang Black Market, where Ling Xin explained how the market operated and how the authorities tolerated regulated trading. While Ailongtan disguised himself as Luo Jun to accompany Ling Xin, Luo Jun’s real body entered separately and searched the stalls for valuable Treasure Tools.

• Ling Xin used the password to guide Luo Jun through a Space Gate into the black market hidden in Yuanqiang Pharmaceutical Company’s courtyard.
• Ling Xin told Luo Jun that the market drew Cultivators from across Zhendan and operated with the Yuan Cultivation Society’s tacit oversight.
• Luo Jun and Ling Xin discussed possible Business Licenses for private markets before browsing the stalls together.
• Luo Jun revealed that Ailongtan had taken his place beside Ling Xin so his true body could enter the market and sell his treasures.
• Luo Jun used his exceptional Perception to quickly assess Treasure Tools and stopped at a stall after scanning half the market.

Luo Jun discovered the Epic Treasure Tool Chaos Key, which could alter his future Chaos Mission summons, and negotiated with its stall owner to trade for it. The stall owner accepted Luo Jun's Kai Ren Qi and two fine-grade Treasure Tools, leaving the exchange ready to be completed.

• Luo Jun examined the Chaos Key and learned that its lottery could activate a Chaos Mission or block summons for thirty days.
• Luo Jun reasoned that the stall owner likely wanted a melee weapon and used the Kai Ren Qi to test whether he could trade for the Chaos Key.
• The stall owner rejected the Kai Ren Qi alone but called Luo Jun back and offered to accept it with an additional item.
• Luo Jun bargained the extra item down from a Rare-level Treasure Tool to two fine-grade Treasure Tools, and the stall owner agreed.
• Luo Jun took out two fine-grade Treasure Tools to complete the exchange for the Chaos Key.

Luo Jun used Ailongtan to scout the black market and traded away old Treasure Tools for more useful ones. When Ling Xin offered two Epic weapons for a Legendary Combination Module, Huang Mao arrived and challenged her bid.

• Luo Jun had Ailongtan scout stalls while he secretly bought useful Treasure Tools and traded away old stock.
• Ailongtan discovered a Legendary Combination Module that could combine two Epic items into a Legendary Treasure Item.
• The stall owner offered the module for two Epic weapons, and Ling Xin immediately accepted with an Epic dagger and short staff.
• The stall owner recognized Ling Xin as the Golden Peak Witch, but she insisted he complete the deal.
• Huang Mao arrived and declared that he also wanted the Combination Module, provoking a bidding contest.

Ling Xin and Lü Xin fought over a Legendary Combination Module, with Lü Xin driving up the price before backing out of the trade. Ling Xin returned with Ailongtan, negotiated a lower price, and obtained the module, leaving Ailongtan to ask what she planned to synthesize.

• Lü Xin challenged Ling Xin’s offer for the Legendary Combination Module, and the two competed by raising their bids.
• Ling Xin offered three Epic-level items, but Ailongtan stopped her from bidding further and led her away.
• After Ling Xin left, Lü Xin refused to honor his offer and tried to buy the module for only one item.
• Ling Xin and Ailongtan returned, negotiated the price down to one Epic-level item and two Rare Treasure Items, and completed the trade.
• Ling Xin praised Ailongtan’s bargaining, and he asked what she intended to synthesize with the module.

Ling Xin explained that she wanted an Escort Spirit Talisman to help her pursue Feather Transformation alongside her brother, Ling Yao. After browsing the Yuanqiang Black Market, Luo Jun returned to school with an Epic Chaos Key and gave it to Ailongtan, who successfully received a Chaos Mission summons.

• Ling Xin told Ailongtan that she sought an Escort Spirit Talisman to help her reach Feather Transformation, a goal she shared with her brother, Ling Yao.
• Ling Xin refused to add Ailongtan to the full black-market notification group and escorted him back to the Main World.
• Luo Jun continued browsing the black market and decided he was unwilling to sell most of his Legendary treasures, leaving with Blue Sky White Clouds and an Epic Chaos Key.
• Luo Jun returned to school and gave the Chaos Key to Ailongtan.
• Ailongtan activated the key, drew a B-tier mission, and received a Chaos Mission summons notification.

Luo Jun arranged for Ailongtan to complete a Chaos mission, then rented a concealed home outside the academy using a false identity so they could switch roles more freely. Meanwhile, Ling Xin used a newly fused Escort Spirit Talisman to break through to the Seventh Layer of the Body Refinement Realm.

• Luo Jun sent Ailongtan to complete a Tier B Chaos mission, where Ailongtan survived a monster-filled maze and earned two Treasure Tools.
• Ling Xin fused two Epic Treasure Items into an Escort Spirit Talisman and used it to break through to the Seventh Layer of the Body Refinement Realm.
• Luo Jun searched for a rental home in Ningdong City and chose a two-bedroom apartment.
• Luo Jun used Ailongtan's illusion to rent the apartment under false identity details, then revealed his real face and explained that the hideout would let them switch identities more easily.

Ailongtan lived as Xiao Liu while Luo Jun focused on cultivation, but Auntie Li unexpectedly arranged a blind date for him, which Luo Jun urged him to accept. As end-of-term exams approached, Luo Jun prepared to break through his realm.

• Ailongtan, disguised as Xiao Liu, cooked and chatted with Luo Jun, who said he was nearing a cultivation bottleneck.
• Auntie Li asked Xiao Liu about his background and income, then proposed introducing him to her daughter; Ailongtan reluctantly agreed after Luo Jun urged him to accept.
• Luo Jun told Ailongtan that he had ordered Fine-level Treasure Tools to give him and Aishiliya legal identities.
• Luo Jun spent the end of term cultivating in his dormitory rather than worrying about his grades.
• On the night before the exams, Luo Jun regulated his Inner Breath and activated the Dice of Heavenly Secrets to attempt a breakthrough.

Luo Jun broke through to the Foundation Establishment Realm Sixth Layer and learned that the Yuan Cultivation Society was investigating Night’s identity. Dean Su Manchen confronted him with a report linking Night to a scar like his, but accepted his explanation after confirming their timelines did not match; the Society was still considering reading Fang Ming’s memories.

• Luo Jun used Intermediate Point Correction to succeed in breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Realm Sixth Layer and reached Level 49.
• Song Yi told Luo Jun that the Exchange Meeting selection would begin soon and that the meeting would take place in the [Paranormal] world.
• Su Manchen showed Luo Jun the Hundred Rivers Sect’s application to use Memory Reading on Fang Ming, the only person who had seen Night’s face in [Martial World].
• Luo Jun recognized that the report’s description of a scar across the nose pointed suspicion toward him, but Su Manchen said his timeline did not match the incident.
• Luo Jun proposed reading the donkey’s memories instead, and Su Manchen explained that the donkey had died in a fire; the Dice of Heavenly Secrets then rewarded him for the infeasible suggestion.

Luo Jun concealed his identity as Night during Dean Su’s investigation and learned that the Society had rejected memory reading for Fang Ming. A Tier A Confrontation Type Large Recruitment Mission then appeared, and Luo Jun considered whether to accept it.

• Luo Jun denied any connection to the mysterious person and convinced Su Manchen and Song Yi that he was unlikely to be Night.
• Luo Jun used the Dice of Heavenly Secrets to stay calm when Su Manchen falsely claimed that Fang Ming’s memory reading had been approved.
• Song Yi and Su Manchen concluded that Luo Jun was probably not Night, and Luo Jun realized he had passed their scrutiny for the moment.
• Luo Jun received an offer to join a Tier A Confrontation Type Large Recruitment Mission recruiting 30 to 50 people over 72 hours.
• Luo Jun read forum reactions to the mission and saw a user ask whether Night would join.

Luo Jun discovered the Wildlands Hunter Guild’s signal that his River-Sinking Stone Hammer was ready, so he traveled secretly to Lingyun Island to collect it. He evaded the island’s patrols and detection net and reached its town.

• Luo Jun recognized the acrostic in the Wildlands Hunter Guild’s post as the signal that his River-Sinking Stone Hammer was ready.
• Luo Jun told Ailongtan to maintain his role at school and left Ningdong under the cover of the Assassin's Cloak.
• Luo Jun rode the Longitudinal and Horizontal Warhorse across the sea toward Lingyun Island.
• Luo Jun avoided the island’s patrols and underwater detection devices, using his Perception Over Hundred and Instant Step Boots to pass the blockade.
• Luo Jun landed on a secluded beach, changed clothes, put on the Midnight Mask, and headed toward town.

Luo Jun returned to the Wilderness as the famed hunter Night, only to find that his growing celebrity had drawn a crowd to his home. After dispersing the onlookers, he met Ling Yi to collect the commissioned one-handed hammer, but learned that it could not be brought to him.

• Luo Jun applied to enter the Wilderness, registered for the Conscription Mission, and passed through the Wildlands Gate.
• Wildlands Hunters recognized Luo Jun as Night after he returned to his rented house, and the next morning a crowd gathered outside to see him.
• Luo Jun used his killing intent and a sharp command to drive off the crowd, then went with Ling Kai to meet Ling Yi.
• Luo Jun asked Ling Yi about the commissioned one-handed hammer, and Ling Yi said its final form was difficult to use and that they could not bring it over.

Luo Jun retrieved the newly forged hammer from the Divine Smithing Furnace and offered to trade information about it. Ling Kai later brought him intelligence about likely mechanics for the upcoming Conscription Mission, leaving both men examining the other's prize.

• Ling Yi and Ling Kai showed Luo Jun the hammer embedded in the Divine Smithing Furnace and explained that its immense weight had deformed the furnace and chamber.
• Luo Jun pulled the hammer free, demonstrated that he could control its mass, and stored it after refusing to reveal its functions without useful intelligence in exchange.
• Luo Jun bought a large batch of ordinary and fine-grade Treasure Tools before returning home for the night.
• Ling Kai visited Luo Jun the next morning and shared information about confirmed mission participants and three likely Conscription Mission mechanics.
• Luo Jun showed Ling Kai the black hammer as Ling Kai handed him the written intelligence, and both men reacted with astonishment.

Luo Jun reviewed the possible rules and rewards for the upcoming Tier A Large Recruitment Mission while Ling Kai examined the legendary Myriad Jun Hammer. Ling Kai struggled to explain how Luo Jun could wield its enormous weight, leaving him to suspect Night was extraordinarily powerful but not an Ascension Realm cultivator.

• Luo Jun read about three possible Chaos Mission rules: a mass brawl, a gauntlet battle, or a labyrinth that sealed participants’ abilities.
• Luo Jun considered the generous potential rewards and worried that the labyrinth rule could prevent him from using his Midnight Mask.
• Ling Kai examined the Myriad Jun Hammer and recognized its immense weight, indestructibility, and destructive power.
• Ling Kai realized the hammer required at least 108,000 breaths of Vital Energy to wield at full weight and wondered how Luo Jun held it so easily.
• Ling Kai ruled out Luo Jun being in the Ascension Realm and searched for another explanation for his ability to wield the hammer.

Luo Jun returned to the Main World after learning about the upcoming Conscription Mission and met Ling Ao, the lord of Lingyun Island, who warned that powerful unaffiliated people would draw the attention of factions. Ling Ao tried to recruit Luo Jun into the Ling Family by offering to arrange his marriage to Ling Xin.

• Luo Jun thanked Ling Kai for the mission information, then left Lingyun City to return to the Main World.
• Luo Jun entered the Wildlands Hunter Guild hall and found Ling Ao waiting for him alone.
• Ling Ao told Luo Jun that the Guild was only a platform and that Luo Jun's independent power would attract the wariness of other factions.
• Ling Ao urged Luo Jun to join a faction to avoid being targeted by successive organizations.
• Ling Ao offered to arrange Luo Jun's marriage to Ling Xin if he joined the Ling Family.

Luo Jun rejected Ling Ao’s offer to join the Ling Family, tested the Myriad Jun Hammer as a way to fly, and prepared for the Tier A confrontation mission. The mission began in a metropolis where participants had lost their Vital Energy and Treasure Tools, and Luo Jun learned that he had started with one thousand points.

• Ling Ao offered to marry Ling Xin to Luo Jun and recruit him into the Ling Family, but Luo Jun said he would consider it.
• Luo Jun used the Myriad Jun Hammer and Assassin’s Cloak to fly from Lingyun Island to Zhendan’s mainland in under half an hour.
• Luo Jun prepared a disguise and strengthened his Vital Energy while waiting for the Tier A mission to begin.
• Luo Jun used the Fate Peering Glasses, received a difficulty assessment of 101, and concluded that the mission would seal Treasure Tools.
• The mission transported Luo Jun into an office building in a metropolis, where its rules revealed that participants had lost their powers and tools and would compete for points while facing Sources of Calamity.

Luo Jun weighed how to find enemy contestants, then deliberately let himself be taken to a police station, hoping opponents would come to him. After identifying and killing two Polluters who had raided the armory, he spotted another enemy nearby and set off to pursue them.

• Luo Jun considered the mission’s scoring rules and chose to spend fifty points on Enemy Detection when two armed men confronted him outside the police station.
• Luo Jun punched Manager Liu after the supervisor harassed Jia Jia, then allowed the police to take him in for questioning.
• A gunshot and alarms revealed that two Polluters had broken into the station armory and stolen weapons.
• Luo Jun identified the two armed men as enemies, caught their bullets and shotgun pellets, and killed them by hurling the ammunition back.
• Luo Jun used the remaining time on his map to locate another red dot eight hundred meters northwest and rushed toward it.

Luo Jun investigated a Polluter hiding at Sanjiang Middle School and mistook teammate Zhuge Lan for an enemy before confirming her identity. After learning that the Polluter had killed Professor Zhao, Luo Jun planned to evacuate the school and scan for the enemy, leaving himself and Zhuge Lan to infiltrate separate Teaching Buildings.

• Luo Jun waited near Sanjiang Middle School and reasoned that the Polluter detected nearby was likely hiding among its teachers or students.
• A person fell from the Teaching Building as Luo Jun's team count dropped; Luo Jun leaped to the rooftop and encountered Zhuge Lan, whom he confirmed was a teammate rather than a Polluter.
• Zhuge Lan told Luo Jun that Professor Zhao had been killed while searching for the Polluter, which had evaded their scans and was likely strong enough to have unlocked Vital Energy.
• Luo Jun deduced that the Polluter may have reached the Foundation Establishment Realm and proposed using fire alarms and smoke to evacuate the school before scanning for it.
• Luo Jun and Zhuge Lan evaded approaching school staff, jumped down from the rooftop, and split up to infiltrate the two Teaching Buildings.