Chapter Summaries

Tianjing University defeated Guanxi University in the morning, then began its afternoon match against Ningdong Academy. After Tianjing took the first three afternoon battles, the match reached its crucial fourth bout.

• Tianjing’s Ouyang Yu, Wei Donghai, and Xu Dacheng won two of their first three matches against Guanxi, with Qin Jun Song defeating Ouyang Yu.
• Chen Fei and Xue Lan fought with fire and ice abilities until Xue Lan overwhelmed Chen Fei, who conceded after realizing the gap between their strengths.
• Song Yufei won Tianjing’s next match, securing the team victory over Guanxi.
• Puhua Mountain defeated East River after a fiercely contested seven-match team battle.
• Lao Miao Miao defeated Ningdong’s blond contestant, then Lu Fei beat Wei Donghai and Ling Xin defeated Xu Dacheng, giving Tianjing a 3–0 lead.

Luo Jun defeated Xue Lan by tricking her into believing he had written her childhood secrets in a letter, forcing her to surrender before revealing it was fake. After Ningdong celebrated its victories, Yu Qiudi praised Luo Jun’s tactics but called him a scumbag for nearly making Xue Lan cry.

• With Ningdong trailing Tianjing, Luo Jun faced Xue Lan and used embarrassing childhood rumors to make her fear the contents of a letter his teammates were reading.
• Luo Jun claimed the letter held Xue Lan’s secrets and offered to destroy it if she surrendered, so Xue Lan yielded and gave Ningdong its fourth victory.
• Luo Jun revealed the letter contained copied jokes, promised to keep Xue Lan’s real secrets, and left her furious as spectators speculated about their relationship.
• Puhua Mountain defeated Kansai in the final match of the day, and Ningdong discussed its upcoming opponents and the limits of Zhai Xixi’s predictions.
• Yu Qiudi defended gathering intelligence and praised Luo Jun’s efficient victory, then called him a scumbag for coercing Xue Lan.

Luo Jun kept his abilities hidden throughout the team competition, leaving the other schools guessing about his strength as the rankings shifted. On the eve of the Otherworld Practice mission in [Paranormal], a banquet brought the competitors together, where Luo Jun fielded questions and watched Ling Xin and Xue Lan glare at Sun Xiaowei for gossiping about their relationship.

• Ningdong finished the individual battle stage tied with Tianjing in wins but lost the championship on smaller scores, then placed second behind Tianjing in the team competition.
• Luo Jun stayed on the bench throughout the team competition, preserving his mysterious reputation as Ningdong finished second overall and the five teams prepared for the dangerous Otherworld Practice stage.
• At the banquet before the [Paranormal] Gate opened, a Yuan Cultivation Society representative announced that all five teams would need to cooperate on the final mission.
• Luo Jun dodged questions about his abilities with outrageous boasts, then enjoyed online arguments over whether he was hiding his strength or bluffing.
• Zhuge Zi and Sun Xiaowei asked Luo Jun about his plans and his relationships with Ling Xin and Xue Lan, prompting both women to glare at them from across the room.

Xue Lan’s awkward answers about Luo Jun sparked rumors and nearly got him threatened by Ling Xin before Zhai Xixi vouched for him. The contestants then entered the [Paranormal] world, where Zhuge Huang began briefing them on how to survive among its ghosts and monsters.

• Ling Xin questioned Xue Lan about Luo Jun’s secret, and Xue Lan’s flustered replies led the onlookers to assume she and Luo Jun had stayed together in a hotel.
• Ling Xin threatened Luo Jun with her Demon-Breaking Golden Edge until Zhai Xixi confirmed his sincerity, after which Ling Xin let him go.
• The next morning, the contestants passed through the Academy’s Back Mountain fortress, underwent scans and disinfection, and changed into their provided clothing.
• The contestants entered the [Paranormal] world and gathered at Puhua University’s Underground Research Institute for the third-stage Exchange Meeting.
• Zhuge Huang introduced himself and warned the contestants that avoiding ghosts’ hostility was more important than fighting every spirit they encountered.

Zhuge Huang taught the students about ghosts and monsters before explaining the Manic Laughter phenomenon and assigning them to find hidden witnesses in Huangquan City. The briefing ended with news that an escaped infected person had laughed to death in a crowded area, potentially infecting tens of thousands.

• Zhuge Huang explained the four types of paranormal monsters, warning that physical entities and cunning Vengeful Ghosts posed serious threats.
• Zhuge Huang described Manic Laughter, which caused witnesses to laugh uncontrollably and die, and assigned teams to find and capture infected people within seven days.
• Zhuge Huang explained how instruments could detect infected people's emotional fluctuations and warned students not to spread the phenomenon to gain points.
• Luo Jun asked about preventing transmission, and Zhuge Huang said witnessing the event in person caused infection, while recordings and audio alone did not.
• Zhuge Huang received a call reporting that an infected person had escaped and laughed to death before tens of thousands of people downtown.

After Zhuge Huang ordered the students to return to the Main World, Luo Jun persuaded them to stay and help contain Manic Laughter in Huangquan City. Learning that the local Cultivators were physically weak, Luo Jun realized he had a way to act, though he did not reveal his plan.

• Zhuge Huang explained that Manic Laughter threatened Huangquan City and could grow strong enough to materialize, while reinforcements were difficult to obtain.
• Zhuge Huang ordered the students to end the Exchange Meeting and return to the Main World, but Luo Jun announced that he would stay and fight the crisis.
• Luo Jun challenged the other contestants to remember why they had become Explorers, prompting many of them to volunteer to help.
• Zhuge Huang assigned the students to find infected witnesses and bring them to a stadium for quarantine during the first three days, before Manic Laughter events were likely to begin.
• Luo Jun asked about the strength of Huangquan City's Supernatural Response Division, and Zhuge Huang explained that its Cultivators had weak physical foundations and could not advance beyond the fifth level of Foundation Establishment.

After the students began investigating a Berserker incident in Huangquan City, Luo Jun led his group toward a suspected Supernatural Response Division headquarters while other teams gathered clues at the Commercial Street. Their work was interrupted when an extremely powerful spirit body appeared nearby.

• Zhuge Huang briefed the students on the Berserker incident and sent them into the city to find infected people and investigate the scene.
• Luo Jun diverted his group to the Ning'an Psychological Rehabilitation Center, reasoning that the mental hospital housed the Supernatural Response Division’s headquarters.
• At the Commercial Street, Song Yufei used Dust of Replication to recreate the performance crowd, helping investigators identify witnesses.
• Jin Qi prepared to read the memories of cats from a nearby cat café, while students from several academies joined the search for clues.
• Sun Xiaowei and Zhuge Zi defended Luo Jun when Ouyang Yu criticized him for not joining the investigation, and Li Xin’s device detected a spirit body with a Ghost Power level of 7.2.

Li Xin and the students defeated a level-seven Vengeful Ghost, but Liu Weiyou then appeared and attacked them. Xue Lan froze the powerful Polluter and shattered his ice prison, leaving his fate uncertain.

• Jin Qi revealed the Vengeful Ghost, and the students coordinated their attacks to destroy it.
• Liu Weiyou appeared, transformed into a fierce ghost, and badly injured a Martial Combat Faction student.
• Xue Lan stepped forward alone and used Frost Giants and freezing magic to trap Liu Weiyou in an ice sculpture.
• Zhuge Lan reached for her phone to contact Third Brother, but Xue Lan snapped her fingers and shattered the ice sculpture.

The Ningdong Team infiltrated the Huangquan City Supernatural Response Division and discovered that its captain was deliberately spreading the Manic Laughter Event to meet a demand for one million infected people. Luo Jun asked Ling Xin to capture the captain alive.

• Xue Lan killed Liu Weiyou, and Zhuge Lan reported his death to Puhua Academy, though the intern’s written note was later ruined by spilled water.
• Xiao Tian used his Exploration Rat to enter the underground Supernatural Response Division through the hospital’s sewer pipes.
• The Exploration Rat found the Captain’s Office and overheard staff discuss detaining witnesses and failing to locate the source of the Manic Laughter Event.
• Xiao Tian overheard the captain admit that he had let someone escape and was being pressured to infect one million people.
• Luo Jun explained that he had suspected internal sabotage and asked Ling Xin to capture the captain alive.

Ling Xin and Luo Jun’s group attacked Huangquan City Response Division captain Han Guoli and brought him unconscious to Puhua University as a clue to the Manic Laughter Event. Zhuge Huang arrived to question Luo Jun, who was about to explain why they had kidnapped Han Guoli.

• Han Guoli recalled how he joined the Supernatural Response Division and worried over a threat involving a million deaths before Ling Xin broke into his office and attacked him.
• Ling Xin fought Han Guoli, pursued what she thought was his escape, and discovered that Luo Jun’s group had ambushed and captured him near the hole in the ceiling.
• Luo Jun’s group concealed their departure from Ning'an Psychological Rehabilitation Center and transported the unconscious Han Guoli to Puhua University.
• Puhua University staff recognized Han Guoli, and Zhuge Huang left the quarantine experiment to meet the students who had brought him.
• Zhuge Huang concluded that Luo Jun had inferred the source of the Manic Laughter Event from his reactions, then demanded an explanation from him in the conference room.

Zhuge Huang and the others were pulled into an illusory realm when Han Guoli’s Manic Laughter activated, and Zhuge Huang found himself trapped in a prison ruled by a monstrous Butcher. He escaped his cell and rescued Zhai Xixi, then fled with her down a garbage chute as the Butcher closed in.

• Han Guoli began laughing uncontrollably, triggering Manic Laughter and trapping everyone in a powerful shared illusion.
• Zhuge Huang found himself in a dark prison cell and realized his abilities and Gang Qi were severely restricted.
• A Butcher killed a prisoner after the man rejected his meal, so Zhuge Huang angered the Butcher to make him break open his cell door.
• Zhuge Huang escaped the cell, dodged the Butcher’s thrown axe, and entered a bloody kitchen.
• Zhuge Huang cut Zhai Xixi down from the Butchery Table and shoved her into a garbage chute before diving in himself to escape the Butcher.

Zhuge Huang and Zhai Xixi searched Han Guoli’s illusion for the missing students and escaped the underground cave into a ruined hospital. After they found and rescued Xiao Tian, the three went looking for Lu Fei, but the Butcher appeared and forced them to flee upstairs.

• Zhuge Huang and Zhai Xixi opened the Garbage Chute’s roller shutter and followed a hidden passage to an elevator leading out of the underground cave.
• They emerged in a ruined lobby identified as Ning'an Psychological Rehabilitation Center and fought monsters in patient gowns.
• Zhuge Huang pinned a powerful monster, and Zhai Xixi’s Heart Stabilizing Candle restored Xiao Tian’s consciousness.
• Xiao Tian revealed that Lu Fei had gone to the Second Floor, where the group found bodies bearing signs of his joint techniques but no trace of him.
• The Butcher arrived by elevator and knocked Xiao Tian aside with a thrown Metal Bench, so Zhuge Huang, Zhai Xixi, and Xiao Tian fled toward the third floor.

Zhuge Huang, Xiao Tian, and Zhai Xixi joined forces with Lu Fei, Ling Xin, Lao Miao Miao, and Lei Tianyang to defeat the Butcher, but the monster revived stronger than before. The group fled toward the first floor and planned to search the Underground Prison for Luo Jun and Xiao He while Ling Xin held the Butcher off.

• Zhuge Huang, Xiao Tian, and Zhai Xixi were trapped by the Butcher until Lu Fei, Ling Xin, Lao Miao Miao, and Lei Tianyang arrived to help.
• The seven overwhelmed the Butcher, and Ling Xin used his axe to behead him.
• Zhuge Huang explained that Han Guoli's illusion suppressed their abilities through subconscious belief, and that Luo Jun's powerful Mental Power might help him resist it.
• Xiao Tian became violent after handling the Butcher's axe, but the group subdued him and calmed him with the Heart Stabilizing Candles.
• The Butcher revived with black smoke and attacked Lei Tianyang, forcing Ling Xin and the others to retreat.
• The group decided to search the Underground Prison for Luo Jun and Xiao He, while Ling Xin offered to distract the Butcher.

Zhuge Huang's group searched the underground prison for Assistant He and Luo Jun, then followed a clue to a secret laboratory where they encountered a powerful escaped experiment. Just as the monster was about to attack Zhai Xixi and Assistant He, Luo Jun appeared behind it, gripping its tail.

• Ling Xin and Lu Fei stayed behind to distract the Butcher while Zhuge Huang and the others searched the underground prison, but they found no sign of Assistant He or Luo Jun.
• Zhuge Huang deduced that the elevator had come from the Second Basement Floor, so the group went there and found Assistant He, who showed them research notes about an important experiment.
• Zhuge Huang's group followed the notes to a secret laboratory and discovered that Experiment No. 9, a dangerous biochemical specimen, had escaped its destroyed culture tank.
• The escaped monster attacked the group, badly injuring Lao Miao Miao, Xiao Tian, Zhuge Huang, and Lei Tianyang, and leaving Zhai Xixi and Assistant He exposed.
• Luo Jun appeared behind the monster, gripping its tail, and surprised the group.

Luo Jun rescued the group in the hospital illusion and helped them escape by jumping from the rooftop into the Abyss, guided by Zhuge Huang's plan. Zhuge Huang awoke in Puhua University's meeting room believing the illusion had ended, but Han Guoli's corpse revealed that they might still be trapped.

• Luo Jun killed Experiment No. 9, treated the injured group, and explained that the fifth-floor rooftop opened onto a dark Abyss beneath the hospital.
• Zhuge Huang concluded that jumping into the Abyss while preserving their sense of self could be the way out of the illusion.
• Luo Jun rescued Ling Xin and Lu Fei from the Butcher, then fought the monster while the others went up to the fifth floor.
• The group gathered within the light of two Heart Stabilizing Candles and jumped from the rooftop into the Abyss; Assistant He's candle went out as they fell.
• Zhuge Huang shouted for everyone to hold on and awoke in Puhua University's meeting room, where he found Han Guoli's corpse and the others dazed.
• Zhuge Huang extinguished his last candle, and Han Guoli's corpse turned toward him with a sinister smile, saying Zhuge Huang had finally fallen for it.

Luo Jun entered the powerful illusion swallowing Zhuge Huang and the others to rescue them before it destroyed their minds. He found Zhuge Huang in Butcher’s kitchen and crushed the monster, but the illusion’s source remained undiscovered.

• Zhuge Huang realized he had been trapped in a Layered Realm and found himself chained in Butcher’s kitchen while his companions lay unconscious.
• Luo Jun summoned Lilith, who identified Han Guoli’s corpse as the illusion’s origin but explained that breaking the illusion required entering it.
• Luo Jun borrowed Lilith’s Illusion Ability and entered the illusion after Zhuge Huang extinguished his candle and began to succumb.
• Luo Jun used the Dice of Heavenly Secrets to locate Zhuge Huang, then fell through the ceiling and crushed the Butcher beneath him.

Luo Jun rescued his companions from the illusion and learned that its Butcher grew stronger each time it revived. While the others searched the Second Basement Floor for a way out, Luo Jun stayed behind to fight the evolving monster and discovered something hidden in the black mist.

• Luo Jun used the Heart Stabilizing Candle to free Zhuge Huang and the others from the illusion, then explained that he had entered it to save them.
• The group learned that the Butcher revived stronger each time it was killed, and Zhuge Huang recalled seeing a version of Luo Jun use multiple elements to defeat it.
• Luo Jun sent the others up in the elevator and stayed behind, repeatedly killing the Butcher as it evolved into increasingly powerful armor and weapons.
• With the upper floors searched, Zhuge Huang and the others went to the Second Basement Floor and lured something from the pool with bones and scraps of flesh.
• Black mist engulfed the group at the pool, while Luo Jun grabbed at something within the thickening mist and declared that it had finally appeared.

Luo Jun exposed Assistant He as the illusion's controller, freed the students, and subdued her, but a Polluter then appeared through her body and tried to recruit him. The Polluter hinted that Luo Jun's other friends were in danger, and Sun Xiaowei's call left him facing a new threat.

• Luo Jun deduced that the Butcher's evolution revealed a living illusion creator and identified Assistant He as the likely mastermind.
• Assistant He tried to extinguish Luo Jun's Heart Stabilizing Candle while his allies freed the sleeping students from the illusion.
• Luo Jun knocked Assistant He unconscious, ended the illusion, and asked Yuan Cultivation Society staff to detain her.
• A Polluter took over Assistant He's body, revealed Xiao He had become one, and invited Luo Jun to join them; he refused.
• The Polluter threatened Luo Jun's other friends, and Sun Xiaowei called him.

Luo Jun discovered that Assistant He’s Manic Laughter had cursed the unconscious people in the conference room, then learned from Sun Xiaowei that her group was also acting strangely after fighting Liu Weiyou. He escaped Puhua University, reached Level 60 and gained Black and White Reversal, but was confronted by Professor Pi just as Sun Xiaowei called again, seemingly unaware of their earlier conversation.

• Assistant He died from Manic Laughter, and Luo Jun found that the unconscious people in the conference room had been afflicted by the curse.
• Sun Xiaowei told Luo Jun that her group felt unnaturally indifferent after defeating Liu Weiyou and that Xue Lan had behaved strangely.
• Luo Jun left Puhua University after using Mental Shock to knock down staff who tried to stop him.
• Luo Jun reached Level 60, drew Black and White Reversal, and gained seventy-nine Attribute Points.
• A mustached man identifying himself as Professor Pi confronted Luo Jun in a taxi and questioned him about leaving the investigation.
• Sun Xiaowei called again and said she was at the Manic Laughter scene, where the people around her seemed strange.

Luo Jun investigated Sun Xiaowei’s contradictory calls about the Polluter Liu Weiyou and discovered that the students and officials remembered the attack differently. After Sun Xiaowei’s call cut off as she tried to leave the sealed scene, Old Pi identified the strange space as the ability Reincarnation Space, belonging to Ran Lu.

• Sun Xiaowei gave Luo Jun several conflicting accounts of Liu Weiyou’s defeat and worried that Xue Lan was acting strangely.
• Luo Jun and Old Pi went to the Commercial Street, where Team Leader Li said the students had left and the Supernatural Response Division had handled the attacker, but no one remembered Liu Weiyou’s body.
• Sun Xiaowei called again and said the students were still trapped inside the sealed area, while Luo Jun and the officials could not see them.
• Luo Jun told Sun Xiaowei to stay on the line as she approached the boundary, but the call cut off before she could leave.
• Old Pi identified the space as Reincarnation Space and named its owner as Ran Lu.