Chapter Summaries

Luo Jun discovered that the Essence Stabilizing Pearl greatly improved his cultivation by refining his Vital Energy, bringing him close to a breakthrough. While arranging for Ailongtan to visit the mid-month black market, he learned that Ailongtan had once owned the Legendary card deck and reunited him with its Queen of Spades.

• Elder Maple decided that the Hell Creek Family would attend Zheng Yuanqiang's black-market appointment on the night of the fifteenth.
• Luo Jun avoided returning to the academy, met Auntie Li at his rental house, and promised to pass her message to Ailongtan.
• Luo Jun used the Essence Stabilizing Pearl to refine his Vital Energy through the night and estimated he would reach the next layer in two or three days.
• Ailongtan arrived with groceries, cooked for Luo Jun using magic, and received Universal Equivalents and instructions to complete a Chaos Mission before the black market.
• Ailongtan recognized the Legendary card deck as one he had owned before and identified the King as Lucifer.
• Luo Jun summoned the Queen of Spades, who recognized Ailongtan as her former Master, and Luo Jun realized something about their past.

Luo Jun learned more about the Chaos Cards from Ailongtan, then pushed him into meeting Auntie Li’s daughter, Xiao Hui. At a café, Xiao Hui rejected the idea of dating Ordinary People and asked Luo Jun whether he believed in supernatural powers.

• Luo Jun realized Ailongtan’s Vital Energy had kept Lucifer summoned after Luo Jun tried to dismiss him, and he suspected Lilith might also cause trouble.
• Ailongtan explained the abilities of the Knights, Queens, Kings, Lucifer, and Lilith, including the War King’s battlefield auras and Lilith’s skill at illusions and infiltration.
• Luo Jun ordered Ailongtan to visit Auntie Li and meet her daughter, Xiao Hui, and went with him while Ailongtan disguised himself as Xiao Liu.
• Auntie Li introduced Xiao Hui to Luo Jun and Ailongtan, but the conversation stayed awkward, so Luo Jun suggested they go to a café together.
• Xiao Hui said she was not interested in Ordinary People and asked Luo Jun if he believed in supernatural powers.

Xiao Hui told Luo Jun and Ailongtan how a mysterious girl surnamed Bai had saved her twice, convincing her that Tianjing University concealed a supernatural organization. Luo Jun helped her reconsider her despair over the divide between Ordinary People and Ability Users, but their conversation ended when an earthquake suddenly struck.

• Xiao Hui recounted meeting a girl surnamed Bai who appeared to revive a mortally wounded cat and later heal Xiao Hui after a landslide.
• Xiao Hui described remembering Professor Lu from the landslide rescue and finding him among the university visitors, leading her to suspect Tianjing University had a secret supernatural organization.
• Luo Jun found Cultivator Forum posts identifying the landslide as fallout from a battle with the wanted criminal Mountain Shaking Ghost, and he agreed Xiao Hui's account was credible.
• Xiao Hui said the existence of Ability Users made her feel that equality was meaningless, but Luo Jun argued that Ordinary People still mattered and that fate could change.
• Xiao Hui thanked Luo Jun and said her opinion of him had changed, then the ground shook violently and spilled his hot milk.

After a worldwide earthquake rattled Ningdong, Luo Jun learned from Old Yuan that its epicenter was in the southern East Ocean and was warned not to investigate. He broke through to the Foundation Establishment Realm Seventh Layer, while Ailongtan joined a Tier B mission undercover as Luo Jun, where a wanted criminal attacked the team.

• A sudden earthquake frightened Xiao Hui, and Luo Jun calmed her with Spirit Pacification before sending her home.
• Luo Jun traced reports of the widespread tremors to the southeastern coast, but Old Yuan called to confirm the epicenter was in the southern East Ocean and warned him away from investigating.
• Luo Jun used the Essence Stabilizing Pearl and the Dice of Heavenly Secrets to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm Seventh Layer, then leveled up to fifty-six.
• Ailongtan entered a Tier B Cooperative Challenge mission disguised as Luo Jun and introduced himself to the twelve other contestants.
• Sun Wuyi revealed that he was the wanted criminal Blood Caltrop, then appeared behind Zhao Jie and beheaded him.

Ailongtan used Luo Jun’s energy and the mission rules to escape Blood Caltrop, who had slaughtered the other participants. Blood Caltrop returned to his hideout and identified Ailongtan as Luo Jun, prompting his sinister companion to plan a visit to Ningdong.

• Blood Caltrop killed the mission participants and absorbed their blood, leaving only Ailongtan alive.
• Ailongtan fought off Blood Caltrop with powerful fire magic, then used an earth decoy and the checkpoint countdown to trap him in the Annihilation Program.
• Ailongtan entered the next checkpoint alone and removed the Imposter Mask, while Blood Caltrop returned to a villa in Panxi City.
• Blood Caltrop told Mountain Shaking Ghost and a sinister man that a student named Luo Jun had outmaneuvered him.
• The sinister man recognized Luo Jun’s name and suggested visiting Zheng Yuanqiang’s black market in Ningdong.

After Ailongtan reported defeating the wanted criminal Blood Caltrop in a mission, Luo Jun urged him to tell the Yuan Cultivation Society and accepted that the truth might reveal his connection to the Elemental School. Luo Jun then visited Ningdong’s black market, where Ailongtan’s Heart Refining Realm breakthrough became a topic of conversation with Ling Xin.

• Ailongtan told Luo Jun that he had sent Blood Caltrop into the Annihilation Process, and Luo Jun urged him to report the wanted criminal to the Yuan Cultivation Society despite the risk of exposing their identities.
• Luo Jun considered his rapid cultivation and resolved to strengthen himself before the black market’s Treasure Appraisal Conference.
• On January 15, Luo Jun entered the busy black market while Ailongtan, disguised as him, browsed stalls with Ling Xin.
• Ling Xin asked Ailongtan when he had reached the Heart Refining Realm, and he explained that the Spirit Gathering Gu had helped him meet the requirements and that he had succeeded when he tried.
• Ling Xin congratulated Ailongtan, advised him to build a strong Foundation Establishment before advancing further, and said that two people now surpassed her in talent.

Ling Xin discussed the talents of Ling Yao and Night with Ailongtan, while Luo Jun reflected on how his fighting style had changed. At the black market, three wanted criminals poisoned Ailongtan while targeting Luo Jun, but Luo Jun used their mental link to make the unconscious Ailongtan claim to be him.

• Ling Xin said Ling Yao and Night were the only people she knew with greater talent than hers, and explained how Night’s combat habits suggested his Gang Qi had improved.
• Ling Xin told Ailongtan that the Treasure Appraisal Conference used barter, though neither of them had attended one before.
• Blood Caltrop, Mountain Shaking Ghost, and Yin Cold Man entered the Ningdong Black Market and plotted to kill Luo Jun and take his treasures.
• Luo Jun noticed the three criminals following Ailongtan and Ling Xin, but Yin Cold Man’s poisoned silver needle struck Ailongtan before anyone detected the threat.
• Ailongtan succumbed to the poison and was led to a secluded corner, where Yin Cold Man asked whether he was Luo Jun.
• Luo Jun used the Dominator’s Necklace and his enhanced Mental Power to control Ailongtan’s answer, making him say that he was Luo Jun.

Wu Youcai and two wanted criminals ambushed Ailongtan to seize the treasure they believed he had obtained from Gong Shiyue, but Luo Jun suddenly appeared and killed them. After looting their equipment, Luo Jun examined the etched Lockpick Wu Youcai had carried.

• Wu Youcai questioned Ailongtan about obtaining something from a woman and inferred that he had a valuable treasure in his Hundred Treasure Box.
• Wu Youcai revealed that he was Wu Youde’s brother and attacked Ailongtan, rejecting his offer to settle their grievance.
• Luo Jun appeared, crushed Wu Youcai’s wrist, and killed Blood Caltrop and Mountain Shaking Ghost before Wu Youcai lost consciousness.
• Luo Jun collected Blood Drink, the Steel Wall belt, and the other criminals’ equipment.
• Luo Jun examined the etched plate Wu Youcai had called the Lockpick and scanned its properties.

Luo Jun used the Lockpick to open the Hundred Treasure Boxes of the three dead attackers, obtaining a Soul-Seizing Bottle and a Fusion Evolution Component. After Ailongtan woke, he recognized the wanted criminals and offered Luo Jun a way to smuggle their corpses out of the black market.

• Luo Jun anchored the three dead attackers’ Hundred Treasure Boxes and used a Lockpick to open Blood Caltrop’s, finding a Legendary Soul-Seizing Bottle.
• Luo Jun extracted essence from the corpses, then used the Essence Stabilizing Pearl to purify the Blood Brew and absorb its Vital Energy.
• Luo Jun opened Mountain Shaking Ghost’s Hundred Treasure Box after using Regret to retry a failed roll, obtaining a Legendary Fusion Evolution Component.
• Ailongtan woke and recognized Blood Caltrop and Mountain Shaking Ghost, but Luo Jun explained he could not carry their corpses through the black market.
• Ailongtan offered Luo Jun a way to take the corpses out of the black market unnoticed.

Luo Jun had the Undead King raise three dead criminals as lifelike but weak undead so they could leave the black market unnoticed. Ailongtan suspected Ling Xin liked Luo Jun, but Luo Jun thought she might instead have grown fond of Ailongtan; after Ailongtan gave her a hairband and Ling Xin gave him an accessory, Luo Jun recognized the accessory as one he had sold and hurried toward its stall.

• Luo Jun summoned the Undead King, who revived the three headless corpses as weak undead creatures and led them out of the black market.
• Ailongtan told Luo Jun that Ling Xin seemed unusually attentive to him, and Luo Jun wondered whether she actually liked Ailongtan instead.
• Luo Jun warned Ailongtan not to pursue Ling Xin under his name, but Ailongtan gave her a Wishful Hairband when he returned.
• Ling Xin happily accepted the hairband and gave Ailongtan an accessory that increased Elemental Affinity.
• Luo Jun recognized Ling Xin's accessory as one he had sold before and ordered Ailongtan to identify its stall; a cloaked man headed there first.

Luo Jun traded Blood Shadow to the Kai Ren Qi’s proprietor for the Kai Ren Qi and an Epic Smart Equipment Pack, using the Fate Dice to secure the deal. He discovered the Kai Ren Qi and Hanging Hook formed a set, then headed toward the Treasure Appraisal Conference as it began.

• Luo Jun recognized the proprietor who had bought the Kai Ren Qi and offered him Blood Shadow, whose Blade Soul Possession effect suited a cultivator with limited combat skills.
• Luo Jun used the Fate Dice to make the proprietor accept Blood Shadow for two Epic items, and the frightened proprietor handed over the Kai Ren Qi and Smart Equipment Pack.
• The proprietor feared Luo Jun might target him again and decided to move his stall to another black market.
• Luo Jun found that the Kai Ren Qi and Hanging Hook shared a two-piece set effect that pulled targets in front of him after the Iron Hook skill hit.
• At midnight, a young woman announced that the Treasure Appraisal Conference had begun and invited guests to register.

Luo Jun and Ailongtan devised a plan to avoid Qi Xingzi recognizing Luo Jun and to conceal Luo Jun’s valuable Treasure Tools during the conference. After passing asset verification, they secretly exchanged Hundred Treasure Boxes and transferred Luo Jun’s valuables to Ailongtan, who would handle their sale.

• The girl from the Yuanqiang Group explained that only guests whose Hundred Treasure Boxes produced purple light could attend the Treasure Appraisal Conference.
• Luo Jun told Ailongtan that the girl was Qi Xingzi, whom he had met during a chessboard Chaos Mission, and worried she might recognize his Midnight Mask.
• Luo Jun and Ailongtan removed their masks, exchanged Hundred Treasure Boxes, and joined the verification queue; Qi Xingzi reacted to Ailongtan’s scan but let him enter.
• Luo Jun entered the conference with Ling Xin, then excused himself and met Ailongtan in a restroom protected by a barrier.
• Luo Jun exchanged watches with Ailongtan and handed him Universal Equivalents and several Epic and Legendary treasures to sell, then left before Ailongtan removed the barrier.

Luo Jun attended Yuanqiang Group’s Treasure Appraisal Conference and discovered that one of the Epic items was a piece of a Treasure Tool set he was collecting. The auction reached the fifth item, the Horrifying Hide, which Luo Jun was determined to obtain.

• Luo Jun joined Ling Xin at the conference, where host A Yun explained the sealed-bidding process and announced a mysterious final treasure from the Chairman’s collection.
• Luo Jun reviewed the catalog, found the Legendary Contract appealing, and learned that the fifth Epic item, the Horrifying Hide, belonged to the same set as the Kai Ren Qi and Hanging Hook.
• Ling Xin asked Luo Jun what color suited her, and he recalled her pale purple hair ribbon from when she first transferred to Second High School; she thanked him for the ribbon he had given her.
• The first four treasures were auctioned, but Luo Jun did not bid on them, and the staff announced the pistol’s winner before moving through the rounds.
• The fifth round began as the Horrifying Hide was brought onto the stage, and Luo Jun prepared to bid for it.

Luo Jun used the Fate Peering Glasses to win Horrifying Hide by bidding Duelist's Glory, then failed to secure the Legendary Contract against a powerful official bidder. The conference brought news of an Ascension-level apostle in [Paranormal], and an exquisite box arrived as the final mystery treasure.

• Luo Jun realized Horrifying Hide was likely being withheld from ordinary bids and instructed Ailongtan to offer Duelist's Glory, which won the treasure.
• Luo Jun observed the buyers of two Legendary items and noticed that several attendees had come specifically to bid on the Legendary Contract.
• Luo Jun bid Violence for the contract, but the Fate Peering Glasses predicted failure, and the Uncle who had been dozing won it.
• Ling Xin identified the Uncle as Zhuge Bai, the Vice President of the Southwest Branch of the Yuan Cultivation Society, and explained the branch's interest in [Paranormal].
• Ling Xin told Luo Jun that Ascension apostles were often occupied by hostile native Ascension-level experts, and an exquisite box was brought onstage as the final mystery treasure.

Luo Jun used Ailongtan and the Dice of Heavenly Secrets to win the Universal Charger, then left the black market while Ailongtan continued the transaction alone. At Yuanqiang Group, Ailongtan faced Zheng Yuanqiang and the Hell Creek Family over the Horrifying Hide and the deaths of their representatives.

• Luo Jun used Sharpness as Ailongtan’s bid and won the Universal Charger after the Dice of Heavenly Secrets turned the difficult event into a success.
• Ailongtan spoke with Zhuge Bai while the bidders waited, and Zhuge Bai sensed that Ailongtan was no ordinary man.
• A Yun took Ailongtan to the top floor, where he met the real Zheng Yuanqiang and Elder Maple of the Hell Creek Family.
• Ailongtan admitted he had taken Duelist's Glory from men he killed, then said they had been trying to molest a kidnapped girl.
• Elder Maple prepared to attack Ailongtan, but Zheng Yuanqiang stopped him and forbade fighting on Yuanqiang Market’s premises.

Luo Jun used Ailongtan’s disappearance and a shapeshifter’s disguise to ambush the Hell Creek Family and steal their Hundred Treasure Boxes, but he discovered Elder Maple’s Mythic Treasure Item was missing. He left with a Legendary piece of lingerie after failing to find the Mythic item in the boxes.

• Ailongtan vanished beneath the Nether King's Chalice, and Elder Maple and President Zheng confirmed that he had escaped without triggering the barrier or anti-invisibility equipment.
• Qi Xingzi told President Zheng that Ailongtan’s Hundred Treasure Box had reached the appraisal device’s maximum reading, and a staff member reported that the Hell Creek Family had been attacked after leaving the arena.
• President Zheng found Ailongtan standing atop a half-dragon monster and charged him, but Ailongtan’s straight punch shattered Zheng’s armor and sent him crashing through a factory before disappearing again.
• Luo Jun revealed that Ailongtan had died and been resummoned, explained how Aishiliya had impersonated him, and took three Hundred Treasure Boxes from the ambush.
• Luo Jun’s judgment found no Mythic Treasure Item in Elder Maple’s box, so he suspected the Hell Creek Family had reclaimed it and searched the other boxes instead.
• Luo Jun used Advanced Point Correction to extract a Legendary piece of lingerie from the woman’s Hundred Treasure Box.

Luo Jun opened Elder Maple’s Hundred Treasure Box and obtained several Legendary Treasure Tools, including Thunderclap and a second Fusion Evolution Component. After two boxes vanished, possibly because their owners had been revived, he fused the Essence Stabilizing Pearl and Soul-Seizing Bottle into the Essence Gathering Cauldron, which could aid cultivation and protect him during realm breakthroughs.

• Luo Jun used the Dice of Heavenly Secrets and a Lockpick to open Elder Maple’s pocket watch and found the Legendary Sniper Rifle Thunderclap.
• Luo Jun spent chips for another dice use, opened the box again, and obtained a Fusion Evolution Component; the successful judgment also made him level up.
• Luo Jun watched the pocket watch and the blonde woman’s Hundred Treasure Box vanish, and Ailongtan suggested their owners might have been revived.
• Luo Jun inspected his Legendary Treasure Tools and found four possible pairs for fusion.
• Luo Jun chose the Essence Stabilizing Pearl and Soul-Seizing Bottle and fused them into the Legendary Essence Gathering Cauldron, which produced Vital Energy Dew and reduced breakthrough-failure backlash.

Luo Jun discovered that the Essence Gathering Cauldron could turn Ailongtan and Aishiliya’s vital energy into sweet dew, letting them brew it while he went about his business. He arranged for them to handle production, dealt with the bodies of the wanted criminals, and the story ended as Elder Maple reported to Old Rex about the person who had killed him and escaped the Nether King’s Chalice.

• Luo Jun tested the Essence Gathering Cauldron and learned that converting and drinking his own vital energy produced little benefit, but Ailongtan’s weaker attacks converted more efficiently.
• Luo Jun realized Aishiliya could help Ailongtan produce sweet dew, summoned her, and left the cauldron in her care.
• Luo Jun remembered the three wanted criminals’ bodies and chose Wu Youcai to deliver them for a bounty.
• Wu Youcai presented Mountain Shaking Ghost and Blood Caltrop at the Victory Chocolate Factory to claim their bounties, then collapsed dead along with the two criminals.
• Elder Maple confronted Old Rex about his stolen Legendary Treasure Items, and Old Rex invited him to join a meeting about the person who had killed the three of them and escaped the Nether King’s Chalice.

Elder Maple and Old Rex suspected that Yuanqiang Group had stolen their Legendary items and sent Eileen with Leonardo to investigate in Zhendan. Meanwhile, Luo Jun collected the bounty money, broke through to the Foundation Establishment Realm Eighth Layer, and learned that Old Yuan had returned to Ningdong and wanted to meet him.

• Elder Maple described how Old Ai defeated him, and Leonardo and Eileen reasoned that Yuanqiang Group may have taken the three missing Legendary items from the Hundred Treasure Boxes.
• Leonardo offered to investigate in Zhendan, and Old Rex ordered Eileen to accompany him to Ningdong Academy for an academic exchange, giving her a Rebirth Cross.
• Luo Jun received fifty-two million Zhendan Coin in bounty money and used Sweet Dew to reach the Foundation Establishment Realm Eighth Layer.
• Luo Jun noticed that the breakthrough's Severity Coefficient was twelve times and wondered whether deities were fundamentally different from mortals and Feather Transformation experts.
• Old Yuan called Luo Jun, confirmed that he had returned to Ningdong, and asked for the address of Luo Jun's rental house so they could meet.

Old Yuan visited Luo Jun to discuss the Hell Creek Family incident and assess Luo Jun’s cultivation. After discovering how powerful Luo Jun’s Gathering Origin Protective Qi had become, Old Yuan gave him breakthrough treasures and invited him to spend the Lunar New Year at his home.

• Old Yuan questioned Luo Jun about the deaths of the Hell Creek Family delegation, then praised him for killing them and explained the family’s resurrection blood pool and the Yuan Cultivation Society’s predicament.
• Luo Jun told Old Yuan he had reached the eighth level of the Foundation Establishment Realm but still had no ability tendency, and attributed his rapid progress to Karruth’s aura and the Godly Aura.
• Old Yuan examined Luo Jun’s Gang Qi and was stunned by its purity and immense thickness, while Luo Jun revealed he had not even displayed its full strength.
• Luo Jun claimed he had used up his breakthrough treasures, so Old Yuan gave him an Escort Spirit Talisman and an Epic-level item to help with his next breakthrough.
• Old Yuan invited Luo Jun to spend the Lunar New Year with his family, and Luo Jun accepted.