Chapter Summaries

Su Yun led the hunters to the rendezvous point near the Firemane Ant nest, where the group saw how thoroughly the ants had devastated the jungle. With the ants mostly dormant by day, Luo Jun and Dong Huicheng’s team headed toward the nest, and the team noticed Luo Jun following them.

• Su Yun warned the hunters that the Firemane Ants had stripped the surrounding jungle bare and would swarm out at night.
• The hunters reached Sweetwater Lake, saw the enormous ant nest, and were told to return to the lakeshore before five o’clock.
• Luo Jun moved alone toward the ant nest while staying near larger groups, but the hunters found few ants on the outskirts.
• Dong Huicheng’s team discussed the risks of approaching the nest because the Firemane Ants stayed inside during the day.
• Bai Renxin and Xu Hao noticed Luo Jun following their team, and Dong Huicheng decided to let him stay nearby and help if needed.

Dong Huicheng’s team entered the Firemane Ant maze, killed a Soldier Ant, and studied its weaknesses while Luo Jun watched and listened from a distance. When more than twenty Soldier Ants appeared, the team formed up to face them.

• Dong Huicheng arranged his team’s formation, had them use Odor Removal Powder, and led them into the maze.
• Deng Yuanlong, Xu Hao, and Han Xiaoying worked together to kill a Soldier Ant while Dong Huicheng removed its Acid Sac.
• Dong Huicheng asked Bai Renxin to dissect the ant, and she identified its weak points and combat vulnerabilities.
• Luo Jun observed the team’s tactics and memorized Bai Renxin’s analysis of the Soldier Ant.
• Xu Hao detected approaching enemies, and Dong Huicheng’s team prepared to fight more than twenty Soldier Ants emerging from the maze.

The hunters were trapped in a Firemane Ant ambush, where a giant insect and a swarm of Soldier Ants overwhelmed them. Just as Dong Huicheng fell and the team seemed doomed, a masked young man arrived and struck the giant insect.

• Deng Yuanlong, Xu Hao, Bai Renxin, Dong Huicheng, and Han Xiaoying killed the Soldier Ants, destroyed a pulsing tumor, and discovered it had caused a mental attack that drained their Vital Energy.
• The hunters tried to escape the Dead Alley but found dozens of Soldier Ants blocking the exit, and a giant purple insect burst out of the ground and injured Deng Yuanlong.
• Dong Huicheng charged the giant insect as his Gang Qi surged and he began breaking through to the Heart Refining Realm, but the strain left him severely burned and his sword broken.
• Bai Renxin took charge as the trapped team prepared to fight, but Xu Hao heard something approaching from the entrance.
• A masked young man burst through the Soldier Ants and knocked the giant insect aside, cracking its shell.

Luo Jun rescued Bai Renxin’s hunter squad from a maze full of Soldier Ants, killed the giant insect, and led the survivors to safety. The rescue mission earned him enough experience to reach Level 15, leaving him to consider his new upgrade choice and review his gains.

• Luo Jun used an Elemental Construct Box to shield and heal the hunters while Flame Turrets attacked the Soldier Ants.
• Luo Jun killed the giant insect by striking its reproductive gland and then driving his spear into its Subpharyngeal Nerve Ganglion.
• Luo Jun led Bai Renxin’s squad out of the maze, and the completed rescue mission awarded him 360 chips and enough experience to level up twice.
• Luo Jun reached Level 15 and received the choice to upgrade Beginner Point Correction or draw a random skill.
• Luo Jun sent the hunters to rest by the lakeside and turned his attention to the improvements from leveling up.

Luo Jun upgraded Point Correction, strengthened his attributes and Vital Energy, and returned to the ant nest to collect Acid Sacs. At the meeting point, he reunited with Han Xiaoying’s team and watched Ling Fei suppress the hunters’ protest and offer rewards for useful information.

• Luo Jun upgraded Point Correction, used three saved level-up draws, and gained sixty-five attribute points, raising his Vital Energy to about eleven hundred breaths.
• Luo Jun collected Acid Sacs from the ant corpses, including the giant insect’s unusually large sac, and made his way to Sweetwater Lake.
• Luo Jun found hunters condemning the guild over the deadly mission and reunited with Han Xiaoying and her injured teammates.
• Dong Huicheng defended the guild’s mission briefing, while Deng Yuanlong warned that provoking the guild could have consequences.
• Ling Fei used Gang Qi to throw a protesting hunter into the lake, silencing the crowd, then offered up to fifty thousand points for the first useful information about the ant nest.

After returning from a disastrous hunt, Luo Jun joined Dong Huicheng’s team for dinner and helped stabilize the Captain’s worsening condition. Bai Renxin revealed that Dong Huicheng had damaged his meridians by forcing a breakthrough, then recognized another possible treatment in a booklet from her Hundred Treasure Box.

• The hunters returned to Lingyun City with heavy casualties, and teams crowded the Guild Hall to report intelligence and claim rewards.
• Dong Huicheng’s team invited Luo Jun to their house, where they thanked him over a feast and he maintained his expert persona while eating and drinking.
• Dong Huicheng began coughing blood during the meal, so Bai Renxin treated him and Luo Jun used a Water Healing Construct to stabilize him.
• Bai Renxin explained that Dong Huicheng had damaged his meridians by forcing a breakthrough to the Heart Refining Realm while rescuing the team.
• After Dong Huicheng mentioned the Book of Life and Death, Bai Renxin opened her Hundred Treasure Box and produced a thin booklet, realizing there was another possible treatment.

Bai Renxin revealed that the Record Origin Book contained three uses of Great Luo Return to Spring, an intensely demanding healing skill. Luo Jun borrowed it to treat Dong Huicheng, sustained the skill for its full minute, and Dong Huicheng awoke with Gang Qi rising from his body.

• Bai Renxin explained that Great Luo Return to Spring consumed fifteen Breaths of Vital Energy per second when used through the Record Origin Book and that its full effect required a minute.
• Deng Yuanlong and Xu Hao offered to take turns using the skill, but Bai Renxin warned that changing users would interrupt it.
• Luo Jun offered to heal Dong Huicheng in exchange for borrowing the Record Origin Book to treat a friend, and Bai Renxin agreed.
• Luo Jun activated Great Luo Return to Spring and steadily repaired Dong Huicheng's damaged meridians as the others timed the skill.
• Luo Jun maintained the healing for exactly one minute, returned the Record Origin Book to Bai Renxin, and Dong Huicheng opened his eyes as Gang Qi rose from his body.

Dong Huicheng recovered from his injuries and broke through to the Martial Combat Faction's Heart Refining Realm after Luo Jun healed him. Bai Renxin returned the Record Origin Book to Luo Jun and explained she would leave the Wilderness, while the Wildlands Hunter Guild suspended the ant nest mission pending a review.

• Dong Huicheng awakened in the Heart Refining Realm after Luo Jun healed his damaged meridians, then thanked Luo Jun for saving him.
• Bai Renxin told Luo Jun she planned to leave the Wilderness and gave him the Record Origin Book, explaining how to return it later.
• Bai Renxin guessed Luo Jun might be an Explorer Academy student, and Luo Jun answered vaguely without revealing who he was.
• Luo Jun went to the Wildlands Hunter Guild to exchange his spoils and learned the ant nest mission was suspended for the day while the guild reassessed its difficulty and rewards.

Luo Jun exchanged the ant spoils and gave the Wildlands Hunter Guild information about the newly named Violetgold War Ant. Ling Yi invited him to join a Special Extermination Team targeting the Ant Queen, but Luo Jun doubted he could survive the mission; Ling Yi revealed that the Frost Moon Troupe had agreed to join.

• Luo Jun exchanged fifty-six Acid Sacs for vouchers and left thirty more with Dong Huicheng and his team.
• Luo Jun showed the guild receptionist an enormous Acid Sac from a Violetgold War Ant, and Ling Yi summoned him upstairs to discuss it.
• Ling Yi learned that Luo Jun was the first hunter to kill a Violetgold War Ant and asked him to verify reports about the monster.
• The mustached guild official praised Luo Jun's information, and Ling Yi awarded him fifty thousand Wildlands Coin.
• Ling Yi invited Luo Jun to join the Special Extermination Team's planned Beheading Operation against the Ant Queen, but Luo Jun warned that the guild overestimated his strength.
• Ling Yi urged Luo Jun to accept and revealed that the Frost Moon Troupe had agreed to participate.

Luo Jun declined Ling Yi’s invitation to join the Special Subjugation Squad, collected his reward, and settled into a secluded rented house. After reviewing the ant-nest mission, he chose instead to take several easier assignments and prepare to learn the Wilderness firsthand.

• Luo Jun refused Ling Yi’s offer to join the Frost Moon Troupe’s Special Subjugation Squad and collected fifty thousand Wildlands Coin from Huai An.
• Luo Jun tested the River-Sinking Stone Hammer, discovered he could alter both its weight and inertia with Vital Energy, and stored it again.
• Luo Jun retrieved his spear and shield, rented a secluded house near the city wall, and received a blue Wildlands Hunter badge and a voucher for the Acid Sac.
• Luo Jun read the revised ant-nest mission details but told Huai An he would only observe the hunt.
• Luo Jun registered for several minor missions, bought a Monster Manual and medicine, and left Lingyun City to explore the Wilderness.

Luo Jun hunted a level-five Four-Jaw Water Serpent, returned to Lingyun City with its hide, and sold it for a substantial reward. After encountering Su Yun leading hunters back from the ant nest, he hurried home to attend to his own training as the Special Subjugation Squad’s move approached.

• Luo Jun used a baited trap to hook the Four-Jaw Water Serpent, then killed it with his hammer when it lunged at him.
• Luo Jun skinned the serpent and carried its hide back to Lingyun City, reflecting on his month of hunting and reaching level eighteen.
• The guild inspected the hide and paid Luo Jun forty-two thousand Wildlands Coins.
• Luo Jun encountered Su Yun leading hunters returning from the ant nest and thought the Special Subjugation Squad would act soon.
• Luo Jun declined to get involved in the guild’s affairs and hurried home, eager to use the Vital Energy swelling within him.

Luo Jun broke through to the Body Refinement Realm Fourth Layer, but a massive ant swarm attacked Lingyun City as he prepared to celebrate. With the city under siege and a barrier sealing out more attackers, he ran toward the center to find Ling Yi and demand answers.

• Luo Jun succeeded in breaking through to the Body Refinement Realm Fourth Layer and discovered his increased attributes had reduced the danger of failed breakthroughs.
• As Luo Jun prepared to go out for a feast, a fireball struck his house and set nearby buildings ablaze.
• Hundreds of Flying Ants swept into Lingyun City, killing people and battling the hunters who fought back.
• Soldier Ants and Violetgold War Ants climbed over the city walls while fireballs continued to strike the city.
• A blue barrier spread over Lingyun City, blocking the ants still outside, and Luo Jun ran toward the city center to find Ling Yi.

Luo Jun arrived as Firemane Ants attacked Lingyun City and learned that the city’s best hunters were away on a mission. With the protective barrier expected to fail within an hour, he volunteered to destroy one of the giant artillery ants and demanded a doubled reward.

• Luo Jun forced his way into the Hunter Guild and met Ling Yi, who explained that the ants had launched a surprise attack while the Special Subjugation Squad was away.
• Ling Yi and Ling Hui reported that more than twenty thousand Soldier Ants, Violetgold War Ants, Flying Ants, and five giant artillery ants threatened the city.
• Ling Hui said the barrier could last at most an hour and that the artillery ants could set much of the city ablaze once it fell.
• Luo Jun volunteered to destroy an artillery ant and chose the one north of the city, which had destroyed his house.
• Luo Jun said he would go alone and demanded one million Wildlands Coin and an Epic-grade Treasure Item as his reward.

Luo Jun agreed to handle one gun emplacement alone while Ling Yi gathered the city’s Elite-level Hunters to carry out a Decapitation Plan against the ant threat. The teams were finalized after Lu Kui persuaded Xuanyuan Wuji to let Luo Jun go alone, and Ling Yi warned that the protective barrier would not last much longer.

• Luo Jun accepted a million Wildlands Coin and two Rare-level Treasure Items in exchange for handling one emplacement alone.
• Huai An arrived with Lu Kui, Qin and his daughter, and Xuanyuan Wuji Yue Mingxuan to fill the remaining emplacement.
• Xuanyuan Wuji told Luo Jun to change the Ye character in his name, then renamed himself after learning Luo Jun had only one Ye.
• Xuanyuan Wuji questioned why Luo Jun could go alone, but Lu Kui’s explanation about their names convinced him to take the others as teammates.
• Ling Yi finalized the groups and began explaining the Decapitation Plan, warning that the protective barrier would soon fail.

Luo Jun joined the beheading operation against the ants attacking Lingyun City and fought his way to the gigantic Cannon Ant. After using the Earth Construct to disable the flying Bloodscarab, he gambled on a direct strike against the Cannon Ant and was swallowed by its pillar of fire.

• Luo Jun signaled that his squad was ready, and Ling Yi briefly lowered Lingyun City's barrier so the beheading squads could move outside.
• Luo Jun used an Invisibility Talisman to pass through the ant swarm, but tactile-sense threads marked him with pheromones and alerted the Violetgold War Ants guarding the Cannon Ant.
• Luo Jun fought off the Violetgold War Ants and the Red Stag Beetle, then used his Elemental Construct Box to restrain the swarm and trap the Bloodscarab inside an Earth Barrier.
• Luo Jun hurled his hammer at the Earth Barrier, sending the trapped Bloodscarab crashing away, then redirected himself toward the Cannon Ant for a final attack.
• The Cannon Ant fired a pillar of flame that swallowed Luo Jun, but its head suddenly dropped and its fire swept across the Violetgold War Ants rushing to its aid.

Luo Jun defeated the Cannon Ant and Bloodscarab, restored his burned body with the Heaven Returning Mirror, and ate the cooked ant meat before heading to check on the other groups. East of Lingyun City, Xuanyuan Wuji, Lu Kui, Father Qin, and Xiao Qi finished their battles, but a chilling laugh interrupted them as they prepared to return.

• Luo Jun smashed the Cannon Ant to death despite its flames, then used the Heaven Returning Mirror to restore himself.
• Luo Jun trapped the Bloodscarab in an Earth Barrier and killed it with his hammer.
• Luo Jun ate meat from the ants cooked by the Cannon Ant's flames and then set out to check on the other groups.
• East of Lingyun City, Xuanyuan Wuji killed a Cannon Ant while Lu Kui defeated a Bloodscarab.
• Father Qin transformed back from a white-furred beast after killing a Violetgold War Ant, with Xiao Qi still on his shoulder.
• As Xuanyuan Wuji, Lu Kui, Father Qin, and Xiao Qi prepared to return to Lingyun City, an unseen figure laughed and said they had underestimated the city's combat strength.

Xuanyuan Wuji, Lu Kui, and Mister Qin confronted a Polluter who had orchestrated the ant threat near Lingyun City and proved to be a powerful Manipulation School expert. As the three closed in, he unleashed a force field that crushed the surrounding ground and left them struggling under what appeared to be manipulated gravity.

• The Cloaked Man revealed himself as a Polluter and claimed that the ant nest near Lingyun City was no coincidence.
• Xuanyuan Wuji, Lu Kui, and Mister Qin attacked together, but the Polluter redirected Xuanyuan Wuji's bullet into Lu Kui and struck Mister Qin with a giant stone.
• The three identified the Polluter as a former first-rate expert of the Manipulation School and regrouped to counter his attacks.
• Xuanyuan Wuji, Lu Kui, and Mister Qin dodged or destroyed the objects the Polluter controlled and advanced to within ten meters.
• The Polluter spread an immense force field that pinned the three down and made the earth, ant corpses, and ant nest sink and crack.

A Polluter used a powerful Gravity Field to torment Father Qin, Xiao Qi, Lu Kui, and Xuanyuan Wuji, but Night suddenly appeared and killed him with a hammer strike. The others thanked Night, unaware that he was struggling to stand after the attack.

• The Polluter’s Gravity Field crushed Father Qin and the others, while Xiao Qi grew too weak to endure it.
• Father Qin threw Xiao Qi beyond the field’s edge, but the expanding Gravity Field began chasing her as the Polluter mocked them.
• An explosion swallowed the Polluter, ending the Gravity Field and allowing Xiao Qi to land safely.
• Father Qin gave Xiao Qi medicine, then cleared the smoke to reveal Night kneeling beside the Polluter’s remains with his hammer and a Water Healing Construct.
• Xuanyuan Wuji questioned Night, Lu Kui praised him, and Father Qin thanked him for saving Xiao Qi.
• Night slowly stood with help from the Water Healing Construct, hiding the tremble in his leg.

Luo Jun killed a Polluter with a gravity-accelerated hammer strike, accepted Xuanyuan Wuji’s unusual favor token, and recovered in the woods as Lingyun City’s barrier failed. Ling Yi saw that no fireballs followed the barrier’s collapse and concluded that all the artillery towers had been destroyed.

• Luo Jun rode a Flying Ant toward a distant battle, fell into the Polluter’s Gravity Field, and killed the Polluter with a hammer blow.
• Luo Jun treated his injuries while Mister Qin and Lu Kui thanked him and Xuanyuan Wuji offered him a three-part favor and a Tooth Pendant.
• Luo Jun accepted the pendant, whose effect drew everyone’s attention, then left for the woods to recover under the protection of his constructs.
• Luo Jun noticed that Lingyun City’s barrier had vanished and hoped the city’s defenders were ready while he rested.
• Ling Yi watched the battle from the guild tower, saw that no fireballs came after the barrier failed, and concluded that all the artillery towers had been taken out.

Lingyun City survived the ant siege, and Ling Yi rewarded the hunters and Guard Pawns who helped destroy the Cannon Ants and kill the Polluter. Luo Jun accepted his payment and asked the Ling Family for additional help.

• Humanity killed every ant attacking Lingyun City, though more than eight hundred people died and many others were injured.
• Ling Yi thanked the operation's participants and promised compensation for the Guard Pawn who had died.
• Luo Jun chose the Body Protecting Belt and Crime Hunter from the Treasure Tools offered as rewards.
• Ling Yi gave Xuanyuan Wuji, Mister Qin, and Lu Kui their rewards and awarded Luo Jun two million Wildlands Coin for killing the Polluter.
• Luo Jun accepted the money and told Ling Yi he wanted the Ling Family's help with something.