Chapter Summaries

Mu Yan, Feng Qing'er, and Tong Xinyao offered to serve Su Ming in exchange for annulling Chi Qian's lifetime contract, arguing that they should share the responsibility for their team's losses. Su Ming was tempted by their strength and potential, but instead of answering them, he asked Chi Qian to help persuade them to join his team.

• Mu Yan, Feng Qing'er, and Tong Xinyao challenged Chi Qian's decision to bear the cost of their rescue alone and asked Su Ming to renegotiate her contract.
• Chi Qian's former companions argued that their team had accepted the dangerous mission together and that its losses were not her fault.
• Mu Yan offered ten years of unpaid service from the three survivors in exchange for Su Ming annulling Chi Qian's contract.
• Su Ming admitted that the offer appealed to him because the three women would strengthen his new team.
• Su Ming pulled Chi Qian aside and asked her to persuade Mu Yan, Feng Qing'er, and Tong Xinyao to join his team.

Su Ming persuaded Chi Qian that her former companions would still face danger as Professionals and that joining his team was their best option. He offered Mu Yan, Feng Qing'er, and Tong Xinyao a revised deal for Chi Qian, ending with a promise to help her reach Six-Star within three months and eventually become Seven-star.

• Su Ming challenged Chi Qian's reluctance to recruit her former companions, and she recognized that they would need a team even if they did not join his.
• Su Ming decided to negotiate with Mu Yan, Feng Qing'er, and Tong Xinyao himself, while Chi Qian followed to listen.
• Su Ming told the three women he would not release Chi Qian from her lifelong service but was willing to revise the contract's compensation.
• Su Ming offered Chi Qian a monthly salary of 50,000 Contribution Points, prompting Mu Yan to ask about mission commissions and bonuses.
• Su Ming said he would award bonuses as appropriate and promised to help Chi Qian advance to Six-Star within three months before nurturing her into a Seven-star Professional.

Su Ming offered to cultivate Chi Qian and the other three women in exchange for joining his team, promising rapid advancement in return for long-term contracts. Mu Yan asked for time to discuss the offer with Feng Qing'er and Tong Xinyao.

• Su Ming promised to help Chi Qian advance to six-star within three months and provide her with a salary, commissions, bonuses, and training resources.
• When Mu Yan asked what Su Ming wanted in return, he invited Mu Yan, Feng Qing'er, and Tong Xinyao to join his team with similar compensation and cultivation support.
• Su Ming promised to help Mu Yan reach five-star within three months and six-star within five years, and Feng Qing'er reach five-star that year and six-star within five years.
• Su Ming guaranteed that Tong Xinyao could become a High-level Professional before turning sixteen, astonishing the women.
• Su Ming required contracts of at least ten years from Mu Yan and Feng Qing'er and twenty years from Tong Xinyao.
• Mu Yan said the three women needed to discuss the offer, and Su Ming agreed to wait.

Mu Yan, Feng Qing'er, and Tong Xinyao joined Su Ming’s team on long-term contracts, bringing it to five members with four High-level Professionals. As the team cleaned the villa together, Su Ming’s unusual strength impressed the girls, and Chi Qian began explaining Longyao City’s importance.

• Mu Yan, Feng Qing'er, and Tong Xinyao accepted Su Ming’s offer and signed ten- or twenty-year Contract Scrolls.
• Su Ming counted the team’s new members and assessed its strength, including Xiao Hai'er’s potential and his own hidden power.
• Su Ming declared a spring cleaning and used Four Forms: Sickle Cut to mow the courtyard while Xiao Hai'er helped wash the villa.
• Mu Yan, Feng Qing'er, and Tong Xinyao discussed Su Ming’s strength and asked Chi Qian about his background.
• Chi Qian told the girls that Su Ming likely came from Longyao City and began explaining why the city had become a focus of worldwide attention.

Su Ming moved his team into Xu Xiayan’s villa and learned why Chi Qian’s former team, True Red, had recruited only women. As the team prepared to begin operations, Su Ming named it Azure Mercury after himself and Xiao Hai’er.

• Su Ming made Xu Xiayan’s villa the team’s headquarters and arranged for the members to move in together.
• Feng Qing’er, Tong Xinyao, Chi Qian, and Mu Yan agreed to live at the villa, and Mu Yan explained that True Red had become women-only because its early members admired Chi Qian and made it difficult for men to join.
• Su Ming told the team to move in the next day and begin accepting missions the day after.
• When Feng Qing’er asked for the team’s name, Su Ming looked to Xiao Hai’er and named it Azure Mercury, combining the blue associated with Xiao Hai’er and his Silver Arm.

Su Ming brought Chi Qian, Mu Yan, Feng Qing'er, and Tong Xinyao to the Professional Assistance Center to register as members of Azure Mercury. After He Zhaoyi discovered that the low-ranked team included several powerful Professionals and former members of True Red, Chi Qian recommended a Rank C mission in the Arid Red Wasteland for their first outing.

• Su Ming and four women arrived at He Zhaoyi's counter to register Azure Mercury before claiming a mission.
• He Zhaoyi registered Chi Qian, Mu Yan, Feng Qing'er, and Tong Xinyao and was shocked by their ranks and identities.
• Chi Qian confirmed that True Red no longer existed and asked He Zhaoyi to complete the registration.
• Su Ming asked He Zhaoyi what mission difficulty would suit his team, and she recommended a challenge around Rank C.
• Chi Qian described the Arid Red Wasteland as a relatively safe Rank C wonderland and agreed that a Rank C mission would let the new team avoid excessive danger while it developed coordination.

Su Ming chose a Rank A mission for Azure Mercury’s first operation, aiming to make the E-class Team famous despite Chi Qian and He Zhaoyi’s cautions. The news spread through Tianfeng City, prompting rival teams that had sought Chi Qian to investigate Azure Mercury and some to plan retaliation.

• Chi Qian and He Zhaoyi advised Azure Mercury to begin with safer Rank C missions, but Su Ming argued the team had the coordination and strength to attempt something more ambitious.
• Su Ming rejected a Rank S mission as too risky and announced that Azure Mercury would accept a Rank A mission as its first operation.
• Professionals and Professional Center staff reacted with astonishment as Azure Mercury accepted the mission and left, spreading news of the team and Chi Qian’s return with her former companions.
• Qiao Zhi of Jade Dragon Pavilion learned that Chi Qian had joined Azure Mercury and ordered his subordinates to investigate Su Ming.
• Liu Zai of Tianhong angrily vowed to make Chi Qian pay, while other teams also began reacting to her decision to join Azure Mercury.

Xu Xiayan trained the newcomers at her Wang Family team base while keeping tabs on Su Ming. She learned that Su Ming had recruited Chi Qian and three other High-level Professionals into his E-class team, and decided to meet him to find out why.

• Xu Xiayan sternly trained the team's newcomers, including Bai Ruxiang and Bai Xiaoyan, at the mansion's underground training ground.
• A refined young man reported that Su Ming had recruited four people into his team instead of failing to establish it.
• Xu Xiayan learned that three of the new recruits were High-level Professionals and that Chi Qian had joined with survivors of her former team.
• Xu Xiayan and the man speculated that Chi Qian might have joined because Su Ming had obtained the Dragon Demon Saliva she wanted.
• Xu Xiayan decided to go meet Su Ming.

Su Ming's team entered the Chaos Zone to hunt a Hazard Breed nearing evolution, despite the Rank A realm's extreme danger. The team reviewed the mission's defenses and learned they faced an army of at least ten thousand powerful Phantom Demons.

• Azure Mercury entered the Chaos Zone, where Su Ming reassured the team that he had ways to help them escape if necessary.
• Su Ming gathered Chi Qian, Feng Qing'er, Mu Yan, and Tong Xinyao to review the Rank A mission and its target's location.
• Su Ming explained that the Hazard Breed had gathered its forces and fortified its territory to protect itself while nearing evolution.
• Su Ming told the team that the Hazard Breed commanded at least ten thousand Lesser Phantasmal Demons comparable to Trolls and Swamp Demons, including several hundred mutants.

Su Ming reassured Chi Qian and the others that he would handle the Phantasmal Demon Legion so they could focus on the Hazard Breed. At the ruins, he revealed his advanced Spiritual Art, Style 81: Myriad Karma Brahma Vista, and unleashed it against the gathered demons.

• Chi Qian, Mu Yan, Feng Qing'er, and Tong Xinyao worried that the legion’s numbers, dangerous varieties, and the cost of Demonization would leave them too weak to face the Hazard Breed.
• Su Ming told the girls he would deal with the legion and promised to show them the power he had gained.
• Su Ming’s group traveled through the Chaos Zone and stopped about a kilometer from the ruins, where thousands of Phantasmal Demons had gathered.
• Chi Qian expected Su Ming or Xiao Hai'er to attack the legion, but Su Ming instead summoned nine circular arrays with his Spiritual Power.
• Su Ming cast Style 81: Myriad Karma Brahma Vista against the Phantasmal Demon Legion.

Su Ming used Myriad Karma Brahma Vista to unleash a series of natural disasters that wiped out the Phantom Demon horde in the ruins. A powerful ghoul survived and attacked him, leaving Chi Qian, Mu Yan, and Feng Qing'er to engage it in battle.

• Su Ming mastered Myriad Karma Brahma Vista after his Spiritual Power surged and he became a Five-Star Sorcerer.
• Su Ming summoned lightning, violent winds, snow, fire, and floods, slaughtering the Phantom Demons in the ruins.
• A powerful ghoul emerged from the devastated ruins and charged toward Su Ming.
• Mu Yan and Feng Qing'er transformed and intercepted the ghoul, revealing it as the mission's Five-Star Peak Level target.
• Chi Qian transformed and joined Mu Yan and Feng Qing'er in fighting the ghoul in midair.

Su Ming watched Chi Qian, Mu Yan, and Feng Qing'er defeat the ghoul with Tong Xinyao's help. After the others went to collect the mission token, Su Ming confronted Chi Qian about injuries that had weakened her fighting ability.

• Su Ming noticed that the ghoul's claw attacks carried mental effects as Mu Yan restrained it and Feng Qing'er and Chi Qian attacked.
• Tong Xinyao struck the ghoul with Wind Demon Chasing Roar, then bound it with sand ropes so Chi Qian, Mu Yan, and Feng Qing'er could pierce it with their weapons.
• Tong Xinyao used Blazing Lotus Crimson Flame to kill the ghoul, and the group celebrated their victory.
• Mu Yan explained that Alchemy Potions had restored the women's abilities after they were unfrozen, while Chi Qian quietly lowered her head.
• Su Ming sent Mu Yan, Feng Qing'er, and Tong Xinyao to collect the mission token, then asked Chi Qian how she planned to deal with her injuries.

After the team completed its Rank A mission, Su Ming urged Chi Qian to stop punishing herself for surviving and gave her a top-quality recovery potion. On the return to Tianfeng City, the others learned more about Su Ming’s hidden strength, while Chi Qian began considering a new choice; Azure Mercury’s success quickly drew attention.

• Su Ming confronted Chi Qian about leaving her injuries and severed hand untreated, warned that her weakened state could endanger her teammates, and gave her a top-quality Alchemy Potion.
• Su Ming and the team returned to Tianfeng City after completing the Rank A mission, while Feng Qing'er and Tong Xinyao praised his strength and he praised their abilities.
• Tong Xinyao explained formula transposition, prompting Su Ming to consider visiting the Sorcerer Guild to improve his Spiritual Arts techniques.
• Su Ming revealed that he was genuinely only eighteen and had graduated less than a month earlier, and Mu Yan explained why concealing his strength helped him avoid trouble.
• Chi Qian realized how powerful Su Ming was and began considering her own decision, while Azure Mercury’s successful first mission spread through Tianfeng City.

Su Ming broke through to five-star Hunter and celebrated Azure Mercury becoming famous after its first mission. The team’s new attention immediately drew a B-class team’s attempt to poach its members, and Su Ming hung up on the recruiter as more calls began arriving.

• Su Ming reached five-star Hunter, achieved minor mastery of the Ancient Blade Technique, and tested his improved speed and swordsmanship in the training ground.
• Feng Qing'er showed Su Ming reports that had made Azure Mercury famous, and explained how the attention could help the team recruit members and grow.
• Su Ming asked about Chi Qian, and Mu Yan, Feng Qing'er, and Tong Xinyao expressed concern that she seemed troubled; Su Ming said she would be fine once she came to terms with what had happened.
• A consultant for the B-class Team Alloy Blade called Su Ming and offered to recruit him, criticizing the other Azure Mercury members for staying in an E-class team.
• Su Ming recognized the call as an attempt to poach his members, hung up, and received a string of further calls.

Su Ming dealt with repeated attempts by larger teams to poach Azure Mercury and decided to create an online recruitment channel with strict requirements. After reflecting on Chi Qian’s decision and his promises to strengthen the team, he answered a familiar caller and went to meet Xu Xiayan at a bar.

• Su Ming and the girls discussed the poaching calls they had received, and Mu Yan suggested establishing a recruitment process for Azure Mercury.
• Su Ming rejected publicizing the team’s headquarters and chose to post an email address and recruitment requirements on the Professionals’ Center website.
• Su Ming decided to let Chi Qian consider her own future without pressuring her, then reflected on his promises to help the team grow and his need for more resources.
• Su Ming received a call from someone he knew and went to a quiet bar for Professionals in Dragon Heart District.
• Xu Xiayan greeted Su Ming from a corner of the bar.

Xu Xiayan invited Su Ming to a quiet Professionals’ bar, where she explained that she wanted to check whether he needed help after Azure Mercury attracted attention. She hinted that a gathering might be coming and agreed to explain it after meeting his team and assessing their strength.

• Xu Xiayan teased Su Ming about Azure Mercury’s sudden success as they met at a bar in Tianfeng City.
• Xu Xiayan introduced Su Ming to supernatural wine and joked that it could relieve menstrual pain, making him nearly choke.
• Xu Xiayan said she had invited Su Ming to see whether he needed help, not to recruit him, and Su Ming learned how much she admired Chi Qian.
• Xu Xiayan confirmed that Chi Qian had reached Five-star Peak Level and said Su Ming’s team might be strong enough for an upcoming gathering.
• Xu Xiayan asked to meet Su Ming’s teammates and assess their strength before explaining the gathering, and Su Ming agreed while planning to train them.

Su Ming learned about Xu Xiayan’s remarkable career and the strength of her A-class team, Summer Chasing Smoke. Xu Xiayan revealed that she had challenged her father, the Xu Family Head, but although she could not defeat him, she had managed to burn off his beard.

• Su Ming explained why Chi Qian, Mu Yan, Feng Qing'er, and Tong Xinyao had joined his team, while keeping the details of their recruitment private.
• Xu Xiayan envied Su Ming’s long-term contracts and revealed that Summer Chasing Smoke was an A-class team nearing the chance to advance to S-class.
• Su Ming searched the Professional Center’s website and learned that Xu Xiayan was a renowned Six-Star Professional who led a team of 133 members.
• Xu Xiayan explained that she had no interest in inheriting the Xu Family because its power was insignificant compared with the major families in Tianfeng City.
• Xu Xiayan admitted that she had challenged her father but could not gain the upper hand against the veteran Six-Star Professional.
• Xu Xiayan smugly revealed that she had punched her father and burned off his beard during their fight.

After drinking with Xu Xiayan, Su Ming returned home and summoned his team to the underground training ground. Chi Qian arrived with her hand and face restored, having taken Su Ming’s Alchemy Potion, and vowed to protect her teammates as a member of Azure Mercury.

• Su Ming and Xu Xiayan drank until dawn, then called cars home after Xu Xiayan said she would visit him another day.
• Su Ming summoned his team to the underground training ground and waited for Chi Qian to arrive.
• Chi Qian appeared with her severed hand regrown, her facial scar gone, and her hidden injuries healed after taking Su Ming’s Alchemy Potion.
• Feng Qing’er and Tong Xinyao embraced Chi Qian, while Mu Yan welcomed her recovery with relief.
• Su Ming congratulated Chi Qian, and she promised she would no longer worry or disappoint him as a member of Azure Mercury.

Su Ming gathered Chi Qian, Mu Yan, Feng Qing'er, and Tong Xinyao to fulfill his promises to help them improve their strength. He distributed Crimson Vein Stones to the first three and gave Tong Xinyao an advanced Spiritual Art to study, then left the team to train for a week before meeting someone after Chi Qian and Mu Yan advanced.

• Su Ming told the women he had called them together to begin fulfilling his training promises.
• Su Ming gave Chi Qian, Mu Yan, and Feng Qing'er Crimson Vein Stones and explained that the stones could strengthen their bloodlines and help them advance.
• Su Ming predicted Chi Qian and Mu Yan would advance within seven days and Feng Qing'er within a month if they used the stones as directed.
• Su Ming handed Tong Xinyao the advanced Spiritual Art technique Green Vine Breath and told her to study it while he prepared resources for her advancement.
• Su Ming ordered the team to skip missions for a week, train, and meet someone after Chi Qian and Mu Yan advanced.

Su Ming disguised himself as Wang Yue and went to the Myriad Treasures Auction House to sell unused items and buy resources. Qin Qing personally brought him to her private lounge to appraise his goods, where Su Ming dropped a large pile of items onto the floor.

• Su Ming left the quiet villa, concealed his identity as Wang Yue, and raised his blood energy to the level of a Four-star Hunter.
• Su Ming visited the Myriad Treasures Auction House, where Steward Yu greeted him and Qin Qing appeared after hearing him ask for her.
• Qin Qing invited Su Ming to her private lounge to appraise the goods he had brought, while Steward Yu warned staff not to spread word of her receiving him.
• Su Ming looked around Qin Qing's luxurious lounge, focused on the value of its furniture, and then summoned a large pile of items onto the floor.