Chapter Summaries

Tang Miao and Mu Ningxue defeated a Black Vatican executioner in New York before traveling with their group to Portugal’s coastal city of Tinoaya. There, they discovered an enormous sea-beast skeleton drifting toward the harbor, leaving the group and gathered onlookers stunned.

• Tang Miao shattered the executioner’s ice attack, and Mu Ningxue pierced the executioner’s heart with her Ice Crystal Brake Bow.
• Tang Miao split the executioner in two with lightning, then absorbed the bow’s backlash to help Mu Ningxue recover.
• Tang Miao called Aoluna to handle the aftermath and bounty, and the group left New York.
• On the plane to Tinoaya, Tang Miao spotted a gigantic sea-beast skeleton approaching the harbor and estimated it was at least Vice Lord level.
• Tang Miao and the others hurried to the harbor, where Zhao Manyan and the gathered crowd saw the enormous skeleton up close.

Tang Miao and Ling Ling investigated the Drowning Curse that had killed Bobby’s brothers and discovered a tiny, nearly invisible parasite in Noco’s blood. The parasite’s identity remained to be determined as Ling Ling warned Bobby not to touch it.

• Jiang Yu identified the Sea Territory Mammoth’s remains, and the group split up to investigate them and the National Pavilion.
• Tang Miao recognized the remains as related to the Drowning Curse and contacted Ling Ling for help.
• Tang Miao found Bobby and asked him to agree to an investigation involving the dissection of his brother Noco’s body; Bobby agreed.
• Ling Ling examined Noco’s body and found that he had been severely malnourished despite appearing swollen before his death.
• Ling Ling strained the blood from a basin and revealed a tiny, transparent, maggot-like creature that had been hidden in it.

Ling Ling identified the Drowning Curse as the work of Jellyfish Maggots, parasitic Demon Beasts that control their human hosts and drain them before escaping into the sea. She released a maggot into the water to track it and explained how the creatures killed their victims, leaving Tang Miao, Mu Ningxue, and Bobby horrified.

• Ling Ling examined a Jellyfish Maggot and told Bobby she would study it before confirming whether it had killed his brothers.
• Tang Miao found Mu Ningxue and invited her to join the investigation, revealing that his Ice Element had reached the second level and his other elements were advanced.
• Tang Miao brought Mu Ningxue to Bobby's residence, where she stayed while Ling Ling continued studying the maggot.
• At midnight, Ling Ling took Tang Miao and Bobby to the seaside and released the transparent Jellyfish Maggot into the water.
• Ling Ling explained that Jellyfish Maggots entered human bodies, fed on their hosts, and mentally compelled them to reach the sea before escaping and draining them to death.

Ling Ling explained that the tracked Vile Maggot had to mature before they could obtain vaccine tissue to help stop the Drowning Curse. Tang Miao and Bobby agreed to protect it, motivated by the chance to save lives and a bounty nearing four hundred million.

• Ling Ling explained the Vile Maggot’s two forms and said its vaccine tissue would likely develop only after it became a complete adult.
• Ling Ling revealed she had marked one Vile Maggot and said they had to track and protect it as it grew.
• Ling Ling estimated the Vile Maggot would mature in less than half a month and asked Tang Miao and Mu Ningxue to seek leave from the National Team.
• Tang Miao learned the worldwide bounty had passed 390 million and agreed to the mission.
• Bobby joined the mission, saying he would keep watch over the Vile Maggot.

Tang Miao, Mu Ningxue, Ling Ling, and Bobby followed the Drowning Curse Vile Maggot out to sea to investigate its evolution and the global Drowning Curse crisis. They reached a vast underwater Reef Cave where Ling Ling detected a large group of sleeping Sea Monsters, and Mu Ningxue realized the maggot might be seeking a powerful host.

• Bobby agreed to accompany Tang Miao's group, seeking answers about his brother's death rather than a share of the bounty.
• Bobby prepared a speedboat, and the group pursued the Drowning Curse Vile Maggot while he tracked it underwater.
• Tang Miao reported the investigation to Ai Jiangtu, who supported his efforts, while the National Team members were surprised by Tang Miao's actions.
• The group followed the maggot into darker waters and found a vast Reef Cave that Bobby identified as a Sea Monster Fortress.
• Ling Ling detected many sleeping Sea Monsters about five hundred meters underwater, and Mu Ningxue warned that the maggot might parasitize a powerful one.

Ling Ling and the others identified the dangerous Sea Monsters in Reef Cave while trying to discover what the Vile Maggot wanted to become. The Black Sea Pseudo Dragon sensed an unseen intruder and unleashed a powerful breath, leaving the group facing danger.

• Ling Ling told the group they would have to enter Reef Cave if the Vile Maggot was discovered, and asked Bobby to identify the Sea Monsters there.
• Bobby reported that Sea Monkey Monsters lived between five hundred and one thousand meters down, Thunderstorm Squids between one thousand and two thousand meters, and a Black Sea Pseudo Dragon deeper below.
• Ling Ling and Tang Miao waited near the surface while the Vile Maggot rested or waited for an opportunity.
• A powerful tremor surged up from the depths, scattering the fish and shaking Reef Cave.
• Ling Ling checked the surveillance screen and concluded that the Black Sea Pseudo Dragon had roared at an unseen intruder around two thousand four hundred meters below.

Ling Ling persuaded Bobby to stay and help them capture the Vile Maggot, while Tang Miao promised to protect him from the Black Sea Pseudo Dragon. The Vile Maggot began moving, and Bobby asked whether they could fight the pseudo-dragon on the surface.

• Bobby started the boat's engine and tried to leave, but Ling Ling warned that abandoning the Vile Maggot could lead to hundreds of deaths from the Drowning Curse.
• Tang Miao backed Ling Ling and said he would fight the Black Sea Pseudo Dragon, while Mu Ningxue argued they needed to lure it to the surface.
• Bobby refused to help at first, but Mu Ningxue reminded him that the Drowning Curse had affected his brother and asked him to help lure the pseudo-dragon out.
• Ling Ling reported that the Vile Maggot had started moving, and Bobby asked Tang Miao if he could face the Black Sea Pseudo Dragon on the surface.
• Tang Miao said they could fight it even underwater, but the Thunderstorm Squid swarm made the surface a better choice.

Bobby’s plan to drive the Black Sea Pseudo Dragon out of its cave relied on provoking the Thunderstorm Squids into flooding the sea with lightning while Ling Ling protected a reef battlefield. Mu Ningxue lured the dragon away as Tang Miao attacked the squid nest, triggering a vast electrical storm underwater.

• Bobby proposed provoking the Thunderstorm Squids, and Ling Ling planned to insulate the reef from their lightning.
• Tang Miao agreed to startle the squids, Mu Ningxue went to lure the Black Sea Pseudo Dragon, and Ling Ling and Bobby prepared the insulating barrier.
• Mu Ningxue reached the dragon’s cave, struck it with Ice Locks, and fled as it emerged and pursued her.
• Tang Miao unleashed Silent Thunder Death Ray into the Thunderstorm Squids’ nest, waking them and provoking them to discharge lightning across the sea.
• The squids’ lightning engulfed the surrounding waters and killed swathes of sea monkeys trying to escape toward the surface.

Tang Miao and Mu Ningxue battled the Black Sea Pseudo Dragon, using their Ice Magic to wound and restrain it. After the creature broke free and injured Mu Ningxue, Tang Miao unleashed both of his Ice Domains and prepared to counterattack.

• Tang Miao surfaced near Bobby and Ling Ling as the Black Sea Pseudo Dragon emerged from the water.
• Tang Miao rescued Mu Ningxue from the dragon's attack, then used fire and Ice Magic while Mu Ningxue bombarded the creature with ice arrows.
• Tang Miao and Mu Ningxue's coordinated attacks wounded the Black Sea Pseudo Dragon, while Ling Ling continued observing it and Bobby watched in awe.
• The Black Sea Pseudo Dragon broke free of its restraints and struck Tang Miao and Mu Ningxue, leaving Mu Ningxue badly injured.
• Tang Miao grew furious and unleashed Absolute Zero and Extreme Cold Ice together before casting Ice Coffin.

Tang Miao and Mu Ningxue froze the Black Sea Pseudo Dragon while Ling Ling's Vile Maggot larvae devoured it down to its bones. The group waited aboard the speedboat for three days as Ling Ling monitored the strange larvae, and Tang Miao found her still keeping watch at dawn.

• Tang Miao froze the Black Sea Pseudo Dragon, and Ling Ling revealed that the Vile Maggot had begun to take effect.
• The Vile Maggot's ant larvae ate the dragon's flesh while Tang Miao and Mu Ningxue prepared their strongest attacks.
• The larvae consumed the Black Sea Pseudo Dragon completely, leaving only its bones, then mysteriously disappeared.
• Ling Ling told Tang Miao and Mu Ningxue to wait aboard the speedboat until she could explain where the larvae had gone.
• After three days of waiting, Tang Miao saw Ling Ling still watching the Vile Maggot on her computer at dawn.

As the Vile Maggot reached its complete form, Tang Miao and the others prepared to retrieve the mature vaccine, but it attacked their speedboat after transforming into a Black Sea Pseudo Dragon. The chapter left them facing a monster as powerful as the real creature.

• Ling Ling told Tang Miao, Mu Ningxue, and Bobby that the Vile Maggot had reached its complete form and that the vaccine was ready to retrieve.
• Ling Ling warned that the Vile Maggot was approaching, and her tracking device showed it racing toward the speedboat.
• Tang Miao raised Ice Walls as a giant creature struck the boat and snapped at it with sword-like fangs.
• Bobby recognized the attacker as another Black Sea Pseudo Dragon, but Ling Ling identified it as the transformed Vile Maggot.
• Mu Ningxue and Bobby realized the transformed Vile Maggot matched the real Black Sea Pseudo Dragon in power.

Tang Miao and Mu Ningxue fought the Vile Maggot after it devoured the Black Sea Pseudo Dragon and transformed into a powerful pseudo-dragon. They froze it and launched combined attacks, but it survived, leaving the battle unresolved.

• The Vile Maggot transformed into a pseudo-dragon, and Tang Miao unleashed his Ice domains while Ling Ling confirmed the vaccine was tied to its Demon Core.
• The Vile Maggot Pseudo Dragon struck at the speedboat, but Tang Miao stopped its attack with Space Magic and Mu Ningxue trapped it in five Ice Coffins.
• Tang Miao struck the frozen creature with Ice Whirlwind Water Dragon Drill, turning its massive body into an ice sculpture.
• Tang Miao fired Silent Thunder Death Ray and Lightning Bolt as Mu Ningxue attacked with the Ice Crystal Brake Bow, but the pseudo-dragon had survived the previous blow.

Tang Miao and Mu Ningxue defeated the Vile Maggot Pseudo Dragon and recovered a vaccine sample for the Drowning Curse. After Ling Ling delivered the vaccine to Qingtian Hunter Agency, Tang Miao received nearly 450 million in bounty money and moved closer to buying a Wind Element Soul Seed with an attached Domain.

• Tang Miao blasted the Vile Maggot Pseudo Dragon with lightning, and Mu Ningxue froze and shattered it with an arrow.
• Tang Miao retrieved the vaccine sample while Bobby steered the group back across the sea.
• Ling Ling warned Bobby that the vaccine might only provide temporary protection because Vile Maggots could adapt and infect other creatures.
• Tang Miao and Mu Ningxue returned to the National Team, and Tang Miao handed the vaccine to Ling Ling.
• Ling Ling credited Qingtian Hunter Agency with solving the Drowning Curse, and Tang Miao learned that his hunter rank had risen.
• Tang Miao received a bounty of nearly 450 million, bringing his total wealth to nearly 600 million.

Tang Miao rejoined the team after completing a bounty with Mu Ningxue, and Jiang Shaoxu confronted him before turning their argument into flirtation. He learned that Mo Fan had also left to complete a bounty, while Zhao Manyan guessed Tang Miao and Ling Ling had handled the worldwide Drowning Curse.

• Jiang Shaoxu questioned Tang Miao about his time with Mu Ningxue, and he denied doing anything wrong before they bickered and flirted.
• Tang Miao and Jiang Shaoxu returned to the team after half an hour, where some teammates greeted him and Guan Yu, Zu Jiming, and Mu Nujiao remained cold toward him.
• Zhao Manyan inferred that Tang Miao and Ling Ling had handled the worldwide Drowning Curse through the Qingtian Hunter Agency.
• Tang Miao learned from Zhao Manyan that Mo Fan had taken leave to pursue another bounty.

Tang Miao took Mu Ningxue to his room and treated the Ice Crystal Brake Bow backlash in a way that caught her completely off guard. The national team remained in Portugal while Mo Fan was still absent, and the others did not realize what had happened between them.

• Jiang Yu told Tang Miao and Zhao Manyan that a peak-stage mammoth sea beast, a Sub-Monarch, had been found reduced to bones at Tinoaya, and he said Super Level Mages had arrived to tighten security.
• Tang Miao left Zhao Manyan teasing Jiang Yu and took Mu Ningxue away to treat her, while Nan Rongni watched them with confused interest.
• Tang Miao removed Mu Ningxue's equipment and treated her backlash; Mu Ningxue was startled and resentful but endured the painful treatment.
• The national team stayed in Portugal because Mo Fan had not returned, and the others did not notice Tang Miao and Mu Ningxue's disappearance.
• Mu Tingying warned Jiang Shaoxu that Tang Miao had taken Mu Ningxue away, but Jiang Shaoxu dismissed her concern and went shopping with her.

Tang Miao and Mu Ningxue spent an intimate hour together before the national team received a rescue mission in the Sahara Desert. Tang Miao and the others refused the dangerous bounty, and Ai Jiangtu led the team onward while Nan Jue stayed behind to wait for Mo Fan.

• Tang Miao continued Mu Ningxue’s physical recovery, and she eventually took the lead despite her exhaustion.
• Guan Yu complained about waiting for Mo Fan after seeing Tang Miao and Mu Ningxue together, while Ai Jiangtu said the team should wait for news.
• Ai Jiangtu received the instructor’s offer of a rescue mission in the Sahara Desert, with national team resources at stake for those who refused.
• Tang Miao declined the mission because of the Sahara’s danger, and Mu Ningxue, Jiang Shaoxu, Zhao Manyan, and the others also turned it down.
• Ai Jiangtu led the main group onward to pursue other missions, while Nan Jue stayed behind to wait for Mo Fan.

The National Team refused a bounty and continued its training journey, collecting the required medals before reaching Egypt. In Puchini City, the members saw signs of trouble and suspected their mentors had sent them into a trap.

• Mu Ningxue, Jiang Shaoxu, Zhao Manyan, and the others declined the bounty, while Ai Jiangtu led the main group onward and Nan Jue stayed to wait for Mo Fan.
• The team traveled through Egypt and completed their National Pavilion challenges, securing the medals they needed except for the Peru medal.
• Ai Jiangtu announced that the team could head to Venice after finishing its training, and Tang Miao guessed that their Egyptian mission would involve the undead.
• Tang Miao tried to reassure Mu Nujiao, but she told him to protect Jiang Shaoxu instead, and Jiang Shaoxu arrived to complain that he had abandoned her.
• The mentors sent the team to Puchini City, where the members saw many injured Egyptians and grew suspicious of the vague training mission.

The National Team arrived at a dangerous undead training mission site and encountered Ye Xin Xia, who was interning with the Parthenon. They postponed the mission until Mo Fan and Nan Jue arrived, while Nan Rongni grew suspicious of Mu Ningxue’s changed attitude toward her.

• The National Team saw injured mages being carried to a medical camp and recognized the Parthenon emblem on a nearby tent.
• Tang Miao and Zhao Manyan recognized Ye Xin Xia, who greeted Mu Ningxue and learned that Mo Fan was traveling to Egypt with Nan Jue.
• Mu Ningxue and the others learned their mission was to eliminate Poison Gold Mummies near a mirage, and they decided to wait for Mo Fan and Nan Jue before setting out.
• Nan Rongni asked Mu Ningxue to help her contact the Parthenon, but Mu Ningxue refused and left with Tang Miao.
• Nan Rongni suspected Mu Ningxue had stopped treating her like a friend, but held back because of the Ice Crystal Brake Bow.

Tang Miao and Mu Ningxue discussed the training mission against the Poison Gold Mummy before returning to their lodgings, where they learned Nan Jue and Mo Fan had arrived. The chapter ended with Tang Miao reflecting on his seven Advanced Elements and his growing strength.

• Tang Miao told Mu Ningxue that he had fought in the Ancient Capital Cataclysm, though he did not explain how he had saved the city.
• Tang Miao and Mu Ningxue went into a dark alley together and returned to their lodgings at nine that evening.
• Tang Miao and Mu Ningxue learned that Nan Jue and Mo Fan had arrived, while Mo Fan had gone to find Ye Xin Xia.
• Nan Jue went to study the training mission, and the others prepared for the coming war.
• Tang Miao considered his seven Advanced Elements and his strength against mages with perfected Advanced Elements.

Tang Miao warned Jiang Shaoxu to stay close during the mission, but she pulled him into her room and exhausted him through the night. The next day, Jiang Shaoxu relayed the mission plans while Tang Miao stayed in bed, and she later returned to tease him again.

• Tang Miao entered Jiang Shaoxu's room and told her Nan Jue had returned and that he would protect her during the mission.
• Jiang Shaoxu teased Tang Miao, and they spent the night together until he was completely drained.
• Jiang Shaoxu relayed the mission information while Tang Miao missed the day's planning, and Mu Nujiao worried that she had injured him.
• Jiang Shaoxu visited Tang Miao's room and teased him until he stopped pretending to sleep and pinned her beneath him.
• Jiang Shaoxu told Tang Miao she intended to drain him dry again.