Chapter Summaries

After leaving Aijin’s shop with two costly enchanted items, Lu Cang explored the City Within the Circle alone and went to see its Battle Arena. There he learned that Monsil ranked tenth among Level 2 competitors while Atrendo held the top spot, leaving Lu Cang curious about the city’s strongest fighters.

• Lu Cang chose the Shield of Absolute Defense and Ring of Instant Purity, then gave Aijin several slime specimens before leaving with Iz.
• Iz went to visit a friend and told Lu Cang he could explore safely while Iz remained in the city.
• Lu Cang accepted a flyer advertising Monsil’s combat matches and decided to visit the nearby Battle Arena.
• Lu Cang examined the arena’s rankings and saw that Atrendo was the strongest Level 2 competitor, while Monsil ranked tenth.

Lu Cang registered at the Battle Arena and discovered its win-streak rewards and the valuable Prophet Class Scroll prize in the War God Cup. He signed up for the tournament, but first needed to reach the top hundred of his level bracket.

• Lu Cang showed the receptionist his Adventurer's Badge, and its verification revealed that he was a Level 2 Mage, a Gold-tier Adventurer, and an early class-changer under Kumiloni's supervision.
• The receptionist gave Lu Cang his competitor badge and match schedule, and he read through the win-streak rewards.
• Lu Cang spotted the Prophet Class Scroll prize for the Level 4 War God Cup and learned that the War God selected an exceptionally valuable prize each year.
• Lu Cang asked to enter the War God Cup, but the receptionist explained that he had to rank in the top hundred of his level bracket first.
• Lu Cang gave the receptionist a slime specimen lamp and headed toward the Gate of Combat.

Lu Cang watched arena fights to study how assassins, mages, and other classes battled. After leaving the Gate of Observers, he headed for the Gate of Combat, where he encountered a warrior shouting as a series of combat abilities activated.

• Lu Cang entered a level 4 assassin’s arena and watched the assassin kill an archer and a warrior with two swift strikes.
• Lu Cang paid twenty silver to watch a level 4 mage defeat a warrior by chaining spells to control the battlefield and maintain distance.
• Lu Cang watched fights involving other classes, then left the Gate of Observers and headed toward the Gate of Combat.
• A warrior shouted as abilities appeared, including Unyielding Fighting Spirit, Steel Body, Magic Resistance Body, and several Strength Boost skills.

Lu Cang fought through a series of one-sided matches before meeting Monsil, a celebrated mage who resented Kumiloni for refusing to oversee his early class-change. After Monsil unleashed several instant-cast spells, Lu Cang remained unharmed and began surrounding him with a far more overwhelming counterattack.

• Lu Cang instantly defeated an archer and a warrior with Flash of Light, then won twenty-seven matches in a row.
• Lu Cang learned that Kumiloni had traveled to the capital to help an assassin complete his level-four class-change ceremony and to preside over the Festival of Life.
• Lu Cang matched against Monsil, who asked whether Kumiloni had class-changed him early and revealed that she had refused to do the same for him two years earlier.
• Monsil attacked Lu Cang with instant-cast lightning, ice, earth, and vine spells, but Lu Cang blocked or destroyed them without taking damage.
• Lu Cang called Monsil's display disappointing and conjured ice shards, lightning, jagged stone pillars, and poisonous vines around him.

Lu Cang won 100 consecutive battles in the Gate of Combat and reached third place overall before meeting Pali, the diviner from Rhein Town, in the library. Pali revealed Mece’s location to Izpalut, who prepared to pursue him and left Lu Cang in Chicheng and Kumiloni’s care.

• Lu Cang defeated Monsil, won 100 consecutive battles, and ranked first among Level 2 Mages and third overall in the City Within the Circle.
• Lu Cang collected the Ancient Root Mage’s Notes, registered for the tournament, and went to the library on the hotel’s 30th floor.
• Lu Cang found Pali at the library and summoned Izpalut, who recognized her as the friend he had been searching for.
• Izpalut asked Pali to locate Mece, and she charged him fifty million gold coins before identifying the Secret Sea on the western edge of the Ruin Continent as Mece’s destination.
• Izpalut decided to pursue Mece and told Lu Cang that Chicheng and Kumiloni would protect him.

Lu Cang paid the diviner Pali to learn why Meise had chosen him, and she revealed that Meise wanted to pass on his legacy because his life was nearing its end. The reading also suggested Meise might choose Iz, while Pali pointed Lu Cang toward dungeons and the Thousand Caves for money and monster souls.

• Lu Cang learned that Pali was a level 6 diviner and asked her about his future, paying 5,000 gold to learn he would advance to Decipherer.
• Pali quoted Lu Cang 1.5 billion gold to learn his homeland's Fate, so he instead paid 50,000 gold to ask why Meise had sought him out.
• Pali said Meise had little time left and wanted to pass on his legacy, which was why he had chosen Lu Cang.
• When Lu Cang asked why Meise had chosen him over Iz, Pali said Meise might be planning to choose Iz as well.
• Pali told Lu Cang he could make money by farming dungeons and find many monster souls among ant-type monsters in the Thousand Caves east of the City Within the Circle.

Lu Cang prepared to collect souls from ant nests and set out with Chicheng, who agreed to protect him. At the Adventurer’s Guild, Chicheng struck a man who had grabbed him and was fined for the assault and damage to the wall.

• Lu Cang decided to replenish his soul supply and look for a way to block divination after reading books about the City Within the Circle and its surroundings.
• At breakfast, Lu Cang agreed to explore ant nests with Chicheng, who offered to accompany him during Harvest Moon Syndrome season.
• Lu Cang and Chicheng visited the Adventurer’s Guild to check the quests.
• A bald, tattooed man grabbed Chicheng after they collided, and Chicheng sent him flying into a wall with a single blow.
• Guild staff fined Chicheng for hitting the Level 3 adventurer and damaging the wall while cleaners removed the injured man.

Lu Cang and Chicheng cleared the Golden Red Ant Nest in minutes, gathering thousands of souls from the monsters. After spotting an unlisted dungeon, Lu Cang decided to test a spell there and began sacrificing souls.

• Lu Cang accepted commissions for five ant nests and two other dungeons, then traveled with Chicheng to the Thousand Caves of the Remote Domain.
• Lu Cang burned through the Golden Red Ant Nest, killed its Blade Ants and Blood Red Black Ant King, and collected more than fifty thousand souls while Chicheng gathered materials and loot.
• Chicheng pointed out an unlisted third-tier dungeon, and Lu Cang agreed to enter it without taking a commission.
• Lu Cang asked whether anyone nearby could see them, and Chicheng sensed five people within a kilometer who could not.
• Lu Cang pointed at the dungeon and began a sacrifice costing 1,000 souls.

Lu Cang sacrificed a dungeon and entered it with Chicheng, who quickly killed its King-tier monsters and split the valuable spoils with him. At the next marked dungeon, Lu Cang sacrificed 10,000 souls to strengthen it, and Chicheng entered first and cleared its monsters before Lu Cang followed.

• Lu Cang used a soul to sacrifice the first dungeon, turning its entrance black, and entered with Chicheng.
• Chicheng killed two King-tier Black Blade Horned Beetles at the entrance, then returned from the tunnel with ten King-tier Demonic Beasts’ corpses.
• Chicheng split the beasts’ materials with Lu Cang, giving him half of the 20,000-gold haul.
• Lu Cang and Chicheng traveled to a marked dungeon, where Lu Cang sacrificed 10,000 souls to strengthen it.
• Chicheng entered the strengthened dungeon first and killed all the monsters; Lu Cang followed and found their corpses covering the ground.

Lu Cang and Chicheng celebrated the enormous profits from their dungeon run before Lu Cang mutated another Tier 3 dungeon with 5,000 souls. Inside, Lu Cang faced a vast horde of King-tier and Lord-tier monsters and began fighting them with elemental magic.

• Chicheng estimated that the three Nation-Destroying Tier monsters from the previous dungeon were worth 650,000, and he and Lu Cang set off to clear another dungeon.
• Chicheng told Lu Cang about a dungeon once altered by a Death Priest, then praised Lu Cang’s abilities and encouraged him to try becoming a warrior.
• Lu Cang mutated a Tier 3 dungeon by sacrificing 5,000 souls, producing thirty-three King-tier monsters and more than a hundred Lord-tier monsters.
• Lu Cang entered the dungeon and attacked the monsters with elemental spikes while surrounding himself with shields against their ranged attacks.

Lu Cang tested how soul sacrifices changed dungeon monsters, discovering that larger offerings yielded diminishing returns before he and Chicheng entered a Tier 4 dungeon. Lu Cang began confronting ten Nation-Destroying Tier monsters and seventeen Tier 4 King-tier monsters, but the dungeon’s ground erupted into a vast crimson zone beneath him.

• Lu Cang defeated thirty-three King-tier Demonic Beasts without moving, then split their gold with Chicheng and collected souls.
• Lu Cang and Chicheng visited Tier 3 dungeons, where Lu Cang tested different soul offerings and found that each additional soul produced fewer powerful monsters.
• Chicheng agreed to back Lu Cang up as he tested a Tier 4 dungeon, and Lu Cang sacrificed 50,000 souls.
• The sacrifice produced ten Tier 4 Nation-Destroying Tier monsters and seventeen Tier 4 King-tier monsters, and Lu Cang leapt into the air as the ground below him turned crimson and scorching.

Lu Cang fought the Nation-Destroying Tier monsters in the dungeon, using Death Substitute and enchanted corpses to survive their attacks and damage the swift Blood-Piercing Needle Bee. The battle continued as the Needle Bee pierced another corpse and triggered Lu Cang’s Spirit Explosion.

• Chicheng entered the dungeon as the crimson ground erupted, while Lu Cang dodged the lava and swept away lesser monsters with spells.
• A three-headed lion paralyzed Lu Cang with its roar, but Death Substitute let him evade a massive blade by switching places with a corpse.
• Lu Cang used Silent Spirit Water and his Tough Water Ring Shield to withstand sound attacks, then switched behind the Blood-Piercing Needle Bee and trapped it in a corpse enchanted with poison and elemental spells.
• Lu Cang gathered lesser-monster corpses and spread them across the battlefield, then lured the Needle Bee into a corpse containing curses that left it disoriented.
• Lu Cang bombarded the recovering Needle Bee with spells, but it quickly reached him again and pierced a corpse he had switched with, triggering Spirit Explosion.

Lu Cang used corpse-hidden Soul Explosions and repeated Death Substitute switches to defeat several Nation-Destroying Tier monsters, spending a large portion of his souls. After Chicheng finished off the remaining enemies, they collected a valuable haul and headed toward an ant-monster dungeon so Lu Cang could replenish his souls.

• Lu Cang hid Soul Explosion inside a corpse to kill a Blood-Piercing Needle Bee, then asked Chicheng to cut down a monster whose mental attack had stunned him.
• Lu Cang tested Soul Explosion and found that multiple blasts fueled by 5,000 souls each dealt more damage than one blast fueled by 50,000 souls.
• Lu Cang used repeated Death Substitute switches and Soul Explosions to break the King of Yin Extreme Ancient Corpse's spine, while weakening it with other spells.
• After spending nearly 200,000 souls, Lu Cang retreated and let Chicheng swiftly kill the remaining Nation-Destroying Tier monsters.
• Lu Cang and Chicheng gathered the monsters' remains, bringing their haul for the trip to 1.5 million gold coins.
• Lu Cang took out his compass after they left the dungeon and set his sights on a nearby dungeon inhabited by ant-type monsters.

Lu Cang discovered that Thousand Army Ant Mountain continuously produced black ants, making it an excellent source of souls, and considered keeping or moving it. He stayed behind to farm souls while Chicheng went to find a suitable place outside the dungeon.

• Lu Cang and Chicheng entered Thousand Army Ant Mountain, where Lu Cang used area attacks to kill the swarming black ants and collect their corpses.
• Chicheng explained that Thousand Army Ant Mountain absorbed monsters from a Demonic Tide and produced more ants while it remained alive.
• Lu Cang asked whether they could keep the dungeon, and Chicheng explained that sealing it would require a Tier 4 mage and that a monster could also be taken outside its dungeon.
• Lu Cang decided to farm souls while Chicheng searched for a suitable place outside and promised to return for him.
• Lu Cang continued killing ants until he had gathered 900,000 souls.

Lu Cang worried that farming the Thousand Army Ant Mountain was draining the Demonic Tide and weakening its black ants. Chicheng moved the ant mountain to a prepared, reinforced cavern and sealed it in place so they could raise and farm the monsters there.

• Lu Cang noticed the Demonic Tide had thinned and the Thousand Army Ant Mountain was producing fewer, weaker black ants.
• Chicheng returned, lifted the ant mountain, opened a rift, and carried it and Lu Cang to a cavern he had prepared.
• Lu Cang recovered from the dizzying trip after activating his shields and swallowing a pill.
• Chicheng marked the ant mountain and lined the cavern with Hard Black Iron slabs.
• Chicheng set the ant mountain in the cavern and enclosed it with a Spirit Banning Short Sword's magic circle.

Lu Cang and Chicheng cleared dozens of Tier 4 dungeons, earned a fortune, and harvested millions of souls from Thousand Army Ant Mountain. They resealed the ant mountain and planned to return the next day to collect more souls.

• Lu Cang surrounded Thousand Army Ant Mountain with flames and Dense Thorns, while Chicheng helped seal the cave entrance.
• Lu Cang and Chicheng cleared fifty-six Tier 4 dungeons, collected materials worth over 120 million gold coins, and split them evenly.
• Lu Cang tested soul sacrifice in Tier 3 dungeons and found that it could strengthen monsters without controlling them or improving his rewards.
• Lu Cang and Chicheng returned to Thousand Army Ant Mountain and collected more than 35 million souls from its black ants.
• Lu Cang noticed the nearby Demonic Tide had thinned, and he and Chicheng speculated that the ant mountain was consuming it.
• Lu Cang collected the souls, resealed the area, and returned to the City Within the Circle, intending to come back the next day.

Chicheng brought Lu Cang to the Myriad Goods Merchant Association to sell a massive stockpile of monster materials. After revealing hundreds of Nation-Destroying Tier monster remains, he negotiated a higher price, and the boss had to decide whether to accept it.

• Chicheng took Lu Cang to the Myriad Goods Merchant Association, where the boss welcomed him and led them to the VIP trading hall.
• Chicheng unloaded a mountain of materials and gave the boss storage bags holding remains from about 580 Nation-Destroying Tier monsters, along with Lord-tier and King-tier corpses.
• The boss explained that the goods needed inspection and would have to be sold in batches to avoid flooding the market, then offered a guaranteed minimum of one hundred million.
• Chicheng demanded one hundred and twenty million and promised more materials if the boss accepted, threatening to take the goods to another association.
• The boss weighed Chicheng's offer against the Myriad Goods Merchant Association's less competitive prices.

Lu Cang and Chicheng finalized a deal for the Nation-Destroying Tier monsters, then celebrated with a luxurious bath and massage. The next day, Lu Cang collected nearly a hundred million souls and went shopping for defensive magic tools, buying up the store’s stock.

• Chicheng negotiated a 120-million-gold-coin deal with the Myriad Goods Merchant Association, which paid Lu Cang twenty million gold coins immediately and promised the rest in monthly installments.
• Lu Cang opened a Money Contract account at the association and received his first payment.
• Chicheng took Lu Cang to the Sound of Flowing Springs, where they enjoyed medicinal baths and massages.
• Lu Cang returned to Thousand Army Ant Mountain and collected 97.25 million souls from the sealed ant nest.
• Chicheng told Lu Cang they would take a break from farming to help Kumiloni, and Lu Cang went to the Wonderful Magic Tool Shop.
• Lu Cang bought twenty-five defensive robes, along with rings, pendants, and ten pairs of boots.

Lu Cang bought an arsenal of enchanted gear, supplies, and a Puppet Master Class Scroll, then tested his new equipment in the Battle Arena. After reaching 200 consecutive wins, he ranked second in the level-two group in the City Within the Circle.

• Lu Cang bought expensive enchanted robes, rings, a magic wand, potions, scrolls, and a Puppet Master Class Scroll, spending about two and a half million gold coins.
• Lu Cang gave Aijin materials from Nation-Destroying Tier monsters and asked him to arrange for protective magic items to be made.
• Lu Cang returned to the Battle Arena and used his new equipment and scrolls to defeat opponents while testing their effects.
• Lu Cang reached 200 consecutive wins, raised his score to 4,000 points, and ranked second in the level-two group in the City Within the Circle.

Lu Cang approached 300 consecutive arena wins while experimenting with equipment and contemplating the Source, until a match with Atrendo interrupted his developing insight. Atrendo sought a worthy opponent, and their battle began with Lu Cang unleashing a chain of spells against his charge.

• Lu Cang reached 298 consecutive wins after testing close combat, weapons, and new items in the arena.
• While waiting for an opponent, Lu Cang reflected on how magic, artifacts, and all things might connect to the Source, and he began to gain a profound insight into Origin Magic.
• Lu Cang was matched with Atrendo, the top-ranked level-two professional, who waited quietly while Lu Cang contemplated for five minutes.
• Atrendo recognized Lu Cang as an Origin Mage, asked for a satisfying fight, and charged at him.
• Lu Cang cast Repelling Wind Blast, Protective Barrier, Resisting Water Ring, and Giant Wave as Atrendo answered with Immovable as a Mountain.