Chapter Summaries

Candidates began the dangerous third exam on Bewildering Peak, where they had to seize prisoners’ Score Plates or survive until the exam ended. Luo Jun joined Chen Ran, Su KeKe, and Cheng Yan in a team, and they set off to hunt their targets together.

• The exam staff explained the rules and dangers of the twelve-hour hunt, and nearly all candidates signed the Life and Death Contract.
• Yu Qiudi led the candidates to Bewildering Peak, where they entered the four areas according to their ranks when the exam began.
• A Gray Wristband candidate proposed that Gray Wristbands band together and wait out the exam, while White Wristbands began exploring the forest.
• Chen Ran invited Luo Jun to team up with him, Su KeKe, and Cheng Yan, explaining their talents and the dangers of facing criminals alone.
• Luo Jun agreed to join Chen Ran’s group, and the four formed a team to hunt prisoners.

Ling Xin rescued a Purple Wristband examinee from an ambush, then let the prisoners defeat him after judging that he had failed the exam. The prisoners recognized Ling Xin as the Golden Edge Witch and continued hunting examinees, wary of causing deaths.

• A cold-tempered prisoner prepared a branch as a weapon and coordinated with a burly prisoner to expose a Purple Wristband examinee to a sneak attack.
• Ling Xin deflected the branch, but five more prisoners appeared and surrounded her and the examinee.
• The prisoners demanded the examinee surrender his wristband, while Ling Xin revealed her Gold Wristband and the prisoners recognized her strength.
• Ling Xin told the examinee he should give up, then quietly told the prisoner leader that the boy was tough-minded and from Shun City.
• The six prisoners beat the examinee unconscious and took his wristband after Ling Xin left.
• The prisoners identified Ling Xin as the Golden Edge Witch and agreed to avoid killing examinees as they hunted near the summit.

After helping Wu Youde escape his collar with a legendary Barrier Breaking Talisman, Han Yuri asked him to eliminate a rival candidate. Wu Youde agreed after Han Yuri offered him an apartment near good schools for his younger brother.

• Han Yuri recalled how he had failed the Yuan Cultivation Society’s assessment and arranged to become a Vital Energy Cultivator under an expert who required his help during Ningdong University’s entrance examination.
• Han Yuri met Wu Youde in a forest and received a three-point Score Plate taken from a dead prisoner.
• Han Yuri gave Wu Youde a legendary Barrier Breaking Talisman, which opened his collar and let him temporarily evade the escape-detection system.
• Han Yuri showed Wu Youde a photograph of his rival and asked him to kill the White Wristband candidate.
• Wu Youde accepted Han Yuri’s offer of an apartment near prestigious schools in exchange for taking care of the rival.

Luo Jun’s team discovered that prisoners near the Lower and Middle District boundary were using a giant-rock trap to ambush examinees, so they staged an attack to steal a Score Plate. Luo Jun left the prisoners chasing after his team, while Stubble Face arrived and asked them about a boy in a photograph.

• Cheng Yan sensed three prisoners near the district boundary, and Luo Jun spotted them circling as bait for a trap.
• Luo Jun used Ogre's Tongue to scout the canopy and discovered a heavy suspended rock positioned above a pit, with additional prisoners hidden nearby.
• Luo Jun told his teammates about the ambush and proposed a plan, then used Ogre's Tongue to attack the prisoners and lure them out while his teammates moved toward their mechanism.
• Luo Jun revealed a Purple Wristband to frighten the prisoners, then pretended to leave after claiming he had noticed other prey; the prisoners found their lookout unconscious and his Score Plate missing.
• Scarface led the prisoners after Luo Jun's team, but Stubble Face approached them with a photograph and asked whether they had seen the boy pictured.

Luo Jun’s team was ambushed by Wu Youde, a Foundation Establishment Realm prisoner who targeted Luo Jun and pursued him after the others fled to seek help. With his Vital Energy restored and the surveillance cameras destroyed, Luo Jun removed his Sealing Necklace and faced Wu Youde in a head-on fight.

• Luo Jun reunited with Chen Ran, Su KeKe, and Cheng Yan after they secured a third Score Plate, and the group discussed finding one more to complete their mission.
• Cheng Yan sensed an approaching attacker, and Wu Youde emerged from the woods and focused his Killing Intent on Luo Jun.
• Luo Jun ordered the others to escape; Cheng Yan knocked Chen Ran unconscious and carried him away with Su KeKe while Luo Jun used Ogre's Tongue to hold Wu Youde off.
• Luo Jun ran back to the clearing, where he found five corpses, and Wu Youde vowed to kill him and then pursue his companions.
• Wu Youde revealed that he had destroyed the nearby surveillance cameras, so Luo Jun removed his Sealing Necklace and met Wu Youde's charge head-on.
• Luo Jun's punch sent Wu Youde flying, but Wu Youde's Gang Qi damaged Luo Jun's hand and forced him to expend Vital Energy to withstand the attack.

Luo Jun defeated and killed Wu Youde by exhausting his Vital Energy, then using the prisoners’ trap to crush him. After gaining enough experience to reach level 13, Luo Jun recovered and received ten attribute points.

• Luo Jun used dust and dirt clods to exploit Wu Youde’s attacks and drain his Vital Energy.
• Wu Youde swallowed a pill and escaped on a skateboard, but Luo Jun caught up and knocked him off it.
• Luo Jun broke Wu Youde’s arm, kicked him into the prisoners’ pit, and dropped a boulder on him.
• Luo Jun checked his experience, hit a distant branch to gain one point, and leveled up to level 13.
• Luo Jun recovered his injuries and Vital Energy, then received ten attribute points from the White Dice.

After killing the escaped prisoner Wu Youde, Luo Jun hid his own role behind a story about a Chaos Mission consumable and the stone trap. The academy counted the four examinees as having passed, while guards began investigating Wu Youde’s carefully planned escape and his suspicious pursuit of Luo Jun.

• Luo Jun claimed the Power Skateboard from Wu Youde’s corpse and waited for Yu Qiudi and Su KeKe to return.
• Luo Jun showed Yu Qiudi and Su KeKe Wu Youde beneath the boulder and explained his survival with a consumable from a Chaos Mission.
• Yu Qiudi used her Vital Beast to remove the boulder, and she identified the corpse as Wu Youde.
• The prison director learned that Wu Youde had escaped using a modified talisman that deceived the control room with a rabbit wearing his collar.
• The academy director ordered the exam to continue under increased surveillance and counted the four examinees as having passed.
• Yu Qiudi told the director that Wu Youde’s pursuit of Luo Jun was suspicious, and the director arranged for guards to investigate.

After Wu Youde’s death, prison guards traced a photograph of Luo Jun to one of his classmates and arrested Han Yuri. Warden Shi Li confronted Han Yuri about helping Wu Youde escape his restraints and attack Luo Jun, while Ling Xin was also taken in for questioning as a suspect.

• Prison guards examined Wu Youde’s corpse and found a photograph of Luo Jun, which Luo Jun recognized as a recent school photo; he suspected one of his classmates had given it to Wu Youde.
• Han Yuri was ambushed and knocked unconscious by a man in black while sneaking through the Lower District.
• Atop Bewildering Peak, Ling Xin watched Young Master Lei Three defeat a stone-wielding prisoner, then agreed to accompany a prison guard for questioning.
• Shi Li, Warden of the Northern Prison, questioned the shackled Han Yuri about Wu Youde and Luo Jun.
• Han Yuri denied knowing Wu Youde and described his feud with Luo Jun, but Shi Li accused him of helping Wu Youde escape his collar and attack Luo Jun.

Shi Li confronted Han Yuri with evidence linking him to Wu Youde, while Luo Jun’s unscripted attack exposed Han Yuri’s guilt. Han Yuri was taken to the Tribunal, and Shi Li warned Luo Jun to remember the choice he had made as his power grew.

• Han Yuri denied hiring Wu Youde to kill Luo Jun, but Shi Li showed him Luo Jun’s photograph, which had been found on Wu Youde.
• Luo Jun entered the classroom and attacked Han Yuri, then claimed he had killed Wu Youde.
• Han Yuri revealed that he knew Wu Youde had been at the fourth layer of the Foundation Establishment Realm, exposing his connection to him.
• Shi Li threatened to have Xiang Muzi extract Han Yuri’s memories, and Han Yuri broke down and charged at Luo Jun.
• Luo Jun knocked Han Yuri into the wall, and Cui Zhen and Xiang Muzi took him away to be handed over to the Tribunal.
• Shi Li told Luo Jun that his punch had spared both Han Yuri and himself, then left the classroom.

After sparing Han Yuri, Luo Jun reflected on his desire to become strong enough to protect a stable world. As the exam ended and he read forum posts, he learned that a mysterious woman had saved two participants in a Tier B Chaos Mission.

• Luo Jun accepted Shi Li's warning, resolved to grow powerful while preserving order, and spoke with Yu Qiudi after she woke.
• The exam ended at ten o'clock, and statistics showed that 328 candidates had passed Subject Three after nearly half were eliminated.
• Luo Jun read forum posts about the exam and found no public discussion of the Wu Youde incident.
• Luo Jun read a post by Wen Jiu Yi Mi Ba about a mysterious woman who saved him during a Tier B Chaos Mission.
• Hui Fei De Da Xiang confirmed she had survived the mission with the poster and said his description of the woman's beauty was exaggerated.
• Luo Jun compared the story with his own Chaos Mission experience and complained that he had only met a bald old geezer.

Luo Jun waited through the final entrance-exam interviews and faced questions from academy teachers Song Yi and Huang Hua. The interview ended with Huang Hua asking how long Luo Jun had cultivated vital energy and who his master was.

• Ling Xin heard news from Ling Yao and called Dean Li to ask for leave because something had happened at home.
• Luo Jun and his friends gathered in the conference hall, where Chen Ran explained the backgrounds of Lei Tianyang and the Golden Edge Witch.
• Song Yi announced that the fourth and final exam subject was an interview assessing candidates’ character and state of mind.
• After waiting until dusk, Luo Jun was called in for his interview with Song Yi and Huang Hua, who warned that Song Yi could detect emotional changes and lies.
• Huang Hua asked Luo Jun how long he had been in contact with vital energy and who his master was.

Luo Jun worried that Song Yi had uncovered the secret of his cultivation and that he would be rejected from the Explorer Academy. Yuan Shouzhen reassured him that Song Yi would not interfere over harmless concealment, then ordered him to prepare for intensive training on Lingyun Island.

• Huang Hua questioned whether Luo Jun was truly a second-level Body Refinement cultivator, and Luo Jun carefully explained that he had recently begun cultivating and knew little about his master.
• Song Yi saw through Luo Jun's concealment, but Huang Hua ended the conversation and told Luo Jun to wait up to three days for the admission decision.
• Luo Jun left the academy fearing that his hidden connection to Yuan Shouzhen would cost him admission, then received a call from his master.
• Yuan Shouzhen explained that Song Yi would ignore secrets that were harmless and unrelated to matters of principle, renewing Luo Jun's hope of being accepted.
• Yuan Shouzhen told Luo Jun to pack for a flight to Lingyun Island, where he would train him during the three months before school started.

Luo Jun traveled to Lingyun Island to enter the Wildlands Gate, where he learned how the privately controlled Gate operated and considered the dangers awaiting him. The chapter left him aboard the ferry, asking an experienced-looking passenger for advice on his first trip.

• Luo Jun flew to Donghai City, took the subway to Dongwan Wharf, and found the hidden Lingyun Island boarding gate visible to Vital Energy Cultivators.
• Luo Jun boarded a ferry protected by a device that sustained dense Vital Energy Waves around its hull.
• Luo Jun recalled Yuan Shouzhen explaining the three known Gates and how Lingyun Island had retained control of the Wildlands Gate.
• Yuan Shouzhen told Luo Jun that Lingyun Island's looser entry rules made it convenient for him to explore the Wildlands, a primitive world full of monsters.
• Luo Jun watched the other cultivators aboard the ferry and worried about the dangers posed by both monsters and independent explorers.
• An old man sitting beside Luo Jun asked whether he was going to hunt in the Wildlands and mentioned the Wildlands Hunter Guild.

Luo Jun arrived on Lingyun Island and learned about the Wildlands Hunter Guild, spiritual energy, and the dangers of pollution in other worlds. After checking into the shabby Five Star Hotel and speaking with Old Yuan about the passage fee, he received an unexpected Chaos Mission notification.

• Old Liu explained the Wildlands Hunter Guild's fees and described how spiritual energy benefited Cultivators in other worlds.
• Luo Jun recalled the risks of pollution and the schedule Old Yuan had set for entering and leaving the Wilderness.
• Luo Jun arrived on Lingyun Island, declined Old Liu's offer of a place to stay, and checked into the Five Star Hotel booked by Old Yuan.
• Ya Ya showed Luo Jun to his room, where he called Old Yuan to complain about the hotel and the fifty-thousand passage fee.
• Old Yuan reminded Luo Jun that he was capable of earning money in the Wilderness, and Luo Jun suddenly received a Chaos Mission notification.

Luo Jun received an unavoidable Chaos Mission before reaching Foundation Establishment Realm, and Old Yuan hurriedly advised him before he entered. He arrived in a spotless room with seven other participants, including Lei Tianyang, just as the mission information appeared on the wall.

• Luo Jun told Old Yuan that the Chaos World had summoned him, and they suspected the entity beneath the Midnight Hotel might have caused the early recruitment.
• Old Yuan explained Chaos Mission dangers and urged Luo Jun to prepare, conceal his identity, and return safely.
• Luo Jun entered the mission wearing the Midnight Mask and found himself in a white room with seven other participants.
• Zhao Dacheng, Su Yun, Gao Sen, Sun Xiaowei, Jiang Shengli, Lu Na, and Lei Tianyang introduced themselves and described their cultivation levels and abilities.
• Luo Jun introduced himself as Night, concealing his real identity, while the others focused on Lei Tianyang’s family background and Heart Refining Realm cultivation.
• Jiang Shengli noticed that nobody had received mission details, and words appeared on the white wall.

After the group read the Tower of Choice’s rules, they debated whether to travel together or split up among the four doors. Luo Jun joined Su Yun’s side, arguing that they needed to clear Challenge Rooms to collect Treasure Tools for the guardian fight.

• Four identical doors appeared in the first-floor room, and the group learned that the mission had a thirty-minute room limit.
• Su Yun explained the mission’s amusement-park rules as the group discussed whether to enter rooms together or separately.
• Zhao Dacheng, Lu Na, Jiang Shengli, and Gao Sen favored staying together, while Su Yun, Sun Xiaowei, and Lei Tianyang supported splitting up.
• Luo Jun sided with Su Yun and said the group needed Treasure Tools from Challenge Rooms to defeat the final guardian.

Luo Jun and Sun Xiaowei split from the others and entered a Random Room in the Tower of Choice, where Luo Jun used the Dice of Heavenly Secrets to steer them toward safer routes. They reached the sixth floor, but Luo Jun remained concerned that the tower’s Monster Rooms could be far deadlier than expected.

• Luo Jun proposed splitting up, then used the Dice of Heavenly Secrets to avoid a Monster Room as he and Sun Xiaowei chose a door.
• Luo Jun and Sun Xiaowei entered a Random Room, and Luo Jun learned that the avoided Monster Room carried a tenfold Severity Coefficient.
• Luo Jun used the Dice of Heavenly Secrets again to aim for a Challenge Room or Random Room, then led Sun Xiaowei through a door despite her doubts.
• The pair arrived at the sixth floor, where Luo Jun identified the room as a Random Room rather than a Safe Room.
• Luo Jun considered the Severity Coefficient and worried that the tower’s Monster Rooms might contain threats capable of killing them.

Luo Jun entered a Challenge Room where he had to stay awake for ten days, using the accelerated time to cultivate Vital Energy. By the ninth day, he realized his fatigue would leave him dangerously weakened unless he broke through, and he left the challenge area determined to find another way.

• Sun Xiaowei entered the Seventh Layer, leaving Luo Jun to explore on his own.
• Luo Jun achieved a Great Success by choosing to enter a room other than a Monster Room, then found a Challenge Room called “Stay Awake.”
• Luo Jun entered the challenge area and cultivated Vital Energy while eating and fighting off drowsiness.
• Luo Jun discovered that the Dice of Heavenly Secrets had not refreshed, while his fatigue steadily reduced the effectiveness of his cultivation.
• On the ninth day, Luo Jun realized he would not reach the next breakthrough in time and that the challenge was designed to leave players vulnerable afterward.
• Luo Jun left the challenge area, resolved to break through despite his exhaustion.

Luo Jun failed his first attempt at the endurance challenge, then managed his rest and cultivation well enough to reach a breakthrough and upgrade to Level 15. After completing the challenge and claiming a Treasure Tool, he entered a new Challenge Room where he had to protect a Goddess Statue using Guardian Mechanisms.

• After his first attempt failed, Luo Jun reentered the challenge, balanced exercise and rest with cultivation, and reached a breakthrough bottleneck.
• Luo Jun used the Dice of Heavenly Secrets to risk a breakthrough despite his exhaustion, succeeded, and advanced to Level 15.
• Luo Jun kept his attribute points undrawn, consolidated his new realm, and completed the challenge after the timer ran out.
• Luo Jun received an Energy Silver Needle Treasure Tool, tested its ability to drain and restore energy, and chose another Challenge Room.
• Luo Jun entered the Guardian Goddess challenge, where he had to build Guardian Mechanisms to protect a statue from waves of monsters.

Luo Jun arranged a layered defense around the Goddess Statue using Guardian Mechanisms, then faced successive monster waves from three Teleportation Gates. His defenses held through the seventh wave, but the eighth wave began as he wondered whether he had overbuilt.

• Luo Jun studied the Guardian Mechanisms and mapped out a defense that used Entangling Turrets, Flame Turrets, and two manually operated Storm Turrets.
• Luo Jun spent two hundred breaths of Vital Energy on his initial deployment and reserved the rest for later stages and the coming BOSS.
• The three Teleportation Gates opened, releasing Goblins and stronger Goblin Captains that Luo Jun's Flame Turrets quickly destroyed.
• The second wave's Leaping Bugs rushed the defenses, but the Flame and Entangling Turrets killed them.
• Velociraptors and Elder Velociraptors broke through the first bombardment, but paralysis slowed the survivors long enough for the turrets to destroy them.
• Luo Jun's defenses stopped successive waves, including Snake People, Mutated Zombie Type II, Centaurs, and Longhorn Demons; as the eighth wave appeared, he wondered if he had built too many turrets.