Chapter Summaries

Lu Ren fled through the jungle from a monster formed from his friends, then activated a proficiency system and used a sacrificial candle to set it ablaze. Lana'ye was temporarily incapacitated, and Lu Ren began examining the system notifications.

• Lu Ren ran from the fused monster made from Wang Gang, Zhang Qingya, and Luo Zixuan, who had been transformed after stepping onto an altar.
• As the monster chased him back toward the altar, Lu Ren activated a system that recorded increases to his Physique, Agility, and Spirit Proficiency.
• Lu Ren used a wooden stick to knock down and launch a candle from the altar into Lana'ye.
• The sacrificial fire engulfed Lana'ye, who howled and rolled in pain as Lu Ren retreated from the heat.
• After Lana'ye stopped posing an immediate threat, Lu Ren turned his attention to the system notifications.

Lu Ren escaped the burning Lana'ye by leading it over a cliff, where it fell into a spatial anomaly and died. After rejecting an evil god’s attempt to contact him, Lu Ren realized he had a system and returned to the abandoned car where he had first arrived.

• Lana'ye mimicked the voices of Wang Gang, Zhang Qingya, and Luo Zixuan to beg Lu Ren for help, but he refused to approach it.
• Lana'ye charged after Lu Ren through the forest, while running triggered Agility and Physique proficiency notifications that eased his fatigue.
• Lu Ren led Lana'ye over a cliff, and it fell into the abyss and died in a spatial intersection below.
• The system reported that Lana'ye’s death increased all of Lu Ren’s physical attributes, then warned that an evil god was trying to contact him.
• Lu Ren rejected the evil god’s attempt to speak with him, recognized that he had a system, and returned to the abandoned car where he had first arrived.

Lu Ren discovered that his crude status system could strengthen his Spirit when he was attacked by Staye, a shadowy entity that possessed him. After surviving the invasion, he left the car and headed for the forest’s edge in search of safety.

• Lu Ren checked his Status Panel and found that it showed only basic attributes, skills, and a few rule-based prompts.
• The silent forest rustled, and Lu Ren noticed that its trees had become twisted and withered.
• A system prompt warned that Staye was approaching to hug him, but a black shadow plunged into Lu Ren’s body and invaded his mind.
• Repeated passive increases to his Spirit proficiency helped Lu Ren endure the possession until Staye left and added him to the blacklist.
• Lu Ren checked his panel, saw that his Spirit proficiency had risen, and left the empty car to seek a safer place near the forest’s edge.

Lu Ren encountered Zhang Qingya, Luo Zixuan, and a third charred figure crawling up from a cliff, then fought them off with a stick. After killing them and gaining strength and stick-wielding proficiency, he realized the forest was isolated by cliffs and wondered how he had been transported there.

• Lu Ren hid behind a tree when he smelled burning and saw three charred figures crawling up from the cliffside.
• Lu Ren smashed Luo Zixuan's head with a stick, then kicked Zhang Qingya back when she lunged at him.
• Lu Ren repeatedly struck the monsters until all three were pulverized, gaining Strength Proficiency and greater skill with the stick.
• Lu Ren confirmed the forest was surrounded by deep cliffs and endless woods, then rested and wondered how passing through a tunnel had brought him there.

After returning from the Silent Forest World, Lu Ren woke in a hospital and learned that his three companions were missing. Facing police accusations that he killed them, he denied their deaths and claimed they had attacked him in Du Pass Tunnel.

• Lu Ren passed out as the System announced the completion of the Silent Forest World event and awarded him three attribute points.
• Three days later, Lu Ren met with Chen Wen and a female police officer in his hospital room.
• Chen Wen told Lu Ren that he and his companions had disappeared for six hours and thirty-seven minutes, then crashed their car; Wang Gang, Zhang Qingya, and Luo Zixuan were missing.
• Chen Wen presented evidence suggesting Lu Ren had fought and killed his companions, and identified him as a criminal suspect.
• Lu Ren avoided admitting the three were dead and said they had attacked him inside Du Pass Tunnel, after which he escaped in the car and crashed.

Lu Ren was interrogated by Chen Wen and Song Jingxian about the missing men, but he insisted he was their victim. After they left, he examined the system’s rewards, spent all three free attribute points on Mind, and considered the troubles awaiting him.

• Lu Ren told Chen Wen that the three men had fled out of guilt and argued that warrants should be issued for them instead of blaming him.
• Chen Wen accused Lu Ren of killing someone, but Lu Ren denied it and maintained that the three men had attacked him in the tunnel.
• Song Jingxian threatened to prosecute Lu Ren, but Chen Wen stopped her from letting her emotions affect her work.
• Chen Wen and Song Jingxian temporarily gave up questioning Lu Ren after finding only his blood in the car and no signs of a struggle.
• Lu Ren opened his character panel, saw that he had three free attribute points, and assigned all three to Mind.
• Lu Ren noticed that breathing had eased his chest and improved his spirits, then worried about the families of Luo Zixuan, Wang Gang, and the others causing trouble.

After studying law and insisting that Wang Gang and the other two had attacked him, Lu Ren was discharged because the police lacked evidence. He left the hospital under strict reporting conditions, stronger from a month of training but burdened with a 45,000 hospital bill.

• Lu Ren studied the legal code and prepared to defend himself, then consistently told police that Wang Gang, Luo Zixuan, and Zhang Qingya had attacked him and fled.
• With no bodies or decisive evidence, the police could not charge Lu Ren, and the missing trio remained unaccounted for.
• Lu Ren trained in his hospital room for a month, increasing his Strength and Physique attributes through the proficiency panel.
• Song Jingxian discharged Lu Ren but ordered him to remain in Shu Capital and report to the police station monthly for three months.
• Lu Ren argued that Song Jingxian should pursue Wang Gang and the others impartially, then discovered his hospital bill was 45,000 and agreed to pay it in installments.

After leaving the hospital and checking in at the police station, Lu Ren searched for a career that suited his improving physical abilities and applied to become a sparring partner at Li Ran Fighting Club. He began a test fight with Zhang Kui.

• Lu Ren repaid his hospital fees, insisted he was the victim, and signed in at the police station under Song Jingxian and Chen Wen's watch.
• Lu Ren returned home, applied for jobs, then decided ordinary work no longer suited his improving constitution and replied to a message of concern.
• Lu Ren visited Li Ran Fighting Club to apply as a sparring partner, and Zhang Kui tested his grip before inviting him into the ring.
• Lu Ren warmed up, learned the sparring rules, and dodged Zhang Kui's opening punch with a quick step back.

Lu Ren began working as a sparring partner to earn money and increase his Physique Proficiency. After refusing a client’s offer to spar without protective gear, he accepted ten thousand and prepared to continue after the man rested.

• Zhang Kui sparred with Lu Ren, whose Physique Proficiency increased after he took a hit.
• Lu Ren agreed to work as a sparring partner, and Xiao Li showed him how to protect his vital areas.
• Lu Ren sparred with a middle-aged client until the man was exhausted, while Lu Ren gained Physique Proficiency.
• The client offered Lu Ren two thousand to spar without protective gear, but Lu Ren refused.
• The client raised his offer to ten thousand, and Lu Ren accepted the money and removed his protective gear.
• Xiao Li urged Lu Ren to keep sparring with the wealthy client after he rested.

Lu Ren learned practical fighting techniques from Li Cunyi, then easily endured Chen Feng’s attacks and impressed Zhang Kui with his ability to take blows. Zhang Kui demonstrated traditional martial arts and invited Lu Ren to learn, though he admitted that dodging bullets was beyond reach.

• Li Cunyi taught Lu Ren practical fighting techniques and invited him to join Li Ran Fighting Club.
• Lu Ren endured Chen Feng’s attacks for half an hour while Chen Feng exhausted himself and left in pain.
• Lu Ren collected his wages, ate nearby, and returned to the club to use its fitness equipment.
• Zhang Kui praised Lu Ren’s toughness and invited him to train in traditional martial arts.
• Zhang Kui demonstrated a forceful breathing technique, and Lu Ren asked whether it could dodge bullets.
• Zhang Kui admitted that dodging bullets required a realm beyond what someone could reach simply by wishing for it.

Lu Ren rejected Zhang Kui’s offer to learn kung fu at Li Ran Club, then encountered a coordinated ambush on his way home. He fought back with a telescopic baton, knocking the pipe-wielding attacker down as the other two assailants remained.

• Lu Ren questioned Zhang Kui about kung fu and true qi, then turned down his tuition offer despite Zhang Kui offering him a stipend.
• Lu Ren left Li Ran Club and considered Zhang Kui’s motives while traveling home.
• Lu Ren entered an alley shortcut and was attacked by three masked people, triggering a system alert that his Physique Proficiency had increased.
• Lu Ren drew his telescopic baton and faced the attackers, including one armed with a steel pipe and another with a dagger.
• Lu Ren let the leader’s steel pipe hit his shoulder and struck the man’s head with his baton, dropping him as blood pooled on the ground.

Lu Ren defeated three men who attacked him and traced the assault to Meng Xian, Luo Zixuan’s mother. He reported the attackers to the police and demanded Meng’s detention, while Song Jingxian questioned how lightly he had been injured.

• Lu Ren used his baton and knowledge of weak points to defeat the three attackers, then photographed them and searched their phones.
• Lu Ren called Meng Xian using the apparent leader’s phone, and she threatened him after recognizing his voice.
• Lu Ren called the police and reported that the attackers had tried to kill him.
• Chen Wen and Song Jingxian told Lu Ren that the call recording did not prove Meng had ordered a murder, but he demanded that she be detained for twenty-four hours.
• Song Jingxian questioned Lu Ren about his minor injuries, and he suggested she might be an accomplice.

After being released from the police station, Lu Ren worried that Luo Zixuan's family might retaliate and decided to train harder. At Li Ran Fighting Club, he followed the convenience-store owner Yan Zhenghua to a hidden training room and heard his outlandish claims about secret martial arts.

• Lu Ren accused Song Jingxian of abusing her authority, and Chen Wen sent her out of the interrogation room.
• Meng Xian was brought into the holding cell in handcuffs, and Lu Ren left the station early the next morning wary of Luo Zixuan's family.
• Lu Ren decided he needed more training and went to Li Ran Fighting Club the next day.
• Yan Zhenghua tried to sell Lu Ren medicinal oil, then claimed he had a secret technique and led him to a martial arts training room.
• Yan Zhenghua introduced himself as the headmaster of the Hua Xia Ancient Martial Phoenix Zenith Fist School and demonstrated his supposed Iron Shirt and Flying Guillotine techniques.

Lu Ren began studying Yan Zhenghua’s impressive Heartless Swordplay while working as a sparring partner and building his physical skills. A month later, he was still weighing the value of traditional martial arts in a peaceful era as his training continued.

• Yan Zhenghua demonstrated several dubious techniques before impressing Lu Ren with the powerful Heartless Swordplay and selling him an introductory trial.
• Lu Ren spent the next month studying swordsmanship under Yan Zhenghua and working as a sparring partner at Li Ran Club.
• Lu Ren repaid his hospital bills, and Liu Chengxue continued hiring him to spar while losing weight.
• Lu Ren avoided committing to traditional kung fu training that could take years before yielding results, preferring training that developed usable skills faster.
• Lu Ren reflected that traditional martial arts had declined because they took years to master and had little practical use in modern society.

Lu Ren comprehended Basic Swordsmanship, but Yan Zhenghua stopped teaching him after sensing his killing intent. As Lu Ren left the shop, Hyperdimensional Perception transported him to an Otherworld Wasteland instance and ordered him to survive for a week.

• Lu Ren gained insight into Basic Swordsmanship during training, impressing Yan Zhenghua with his sudden improvement.
• Yan Zhenghua refused to teach Lu Ren further because he sensed killing intent in his swordplay, and Lu Ren asked for a refund before leaving.
• Lu Ren checked his Character Panel, which showed Basic Swordsmanship and Basic Combat among his skills.
• A system prompt activated Hyperdimensional Perception and transported Lu Ren to the Otherworld Wasteland, where he was told to survive for one week.
• Lu Ren observed a panicked crowd in the ruins, then fashioned a strip of iron into a makeshift weapon.

Lu Ren entered the Otherworld Wasteland, where a blindfolded, muscular monster slaughtered people, and fled to a ruined high-rise to shelter. As night fell, he barricaded himself inside and heard six people moving downstairs.

• Lu Ren spotted a scarred, blindfolded man charge into the crowd and kill a suited man by tearing out his windpipe.
• Lu Ren fled through the ruins and reached a half-collapsed high-rise after half an hour.
• Lu Ren found a 2046 publication congratulating Professor Chen Guohua on discovering a new particle and considered how the Otherworld Wasteland related to the real world.
• Lu Ren chose a room on the third floor with escape routes, barricaded its door, and rested with his supplies as screams sounded outside.
• Lu Ren heard footsteps downstairs and counted six people.

Lu Ren let six strangers enter the room but kept them at a distance after threatening the domineering middle-aged man who tried to challenge him. The group settled down, while Lu Ren remained wary of what people might do in a desperate situation.

• Lu Ren heard strangers trying to enter through the barricaded door and let them climb in through a window.
• A high-school-looking boy and two men moved furniture aside to admit the other three strangers, then barricaded the door again.
• The middle-aged man berated Lu Ren for ignoring them and tried to assert authority over the group.
• Lu Ren threatened the middle-aged man with an iron shard, warned him that strength mattered in this place, and forced him to back away.
• Li Shu offered Lu Ren food, but he gave no answer as the group settled about fifteen meters away.
• Lu Ren stayed vigilant and conserved his strength, remembering how desperation could make people dangerous.

Lu Ren and six stranded people barricaded themselves in a dark room, but a monstrous woman in a purple dress found them and smashed through the door. Lu Ren attacked her with an iron shard, driving it into her neck as the encounter began.

• Lu Ren reflected on how the system-improved breathing helped him recover stamina and how martial arts relied on the body and mind rather than mystical energy.
• After night fell, Lu Ren barricaded the room and went to sleep while Li Shu, Wang Chengliang, Ren Zhoucheng, Chen Jin, Zhao Hui, and Feng Zicheng worried about their predicament.
• Lu Ren woke to approaching footsteps and helped Li Shu, Wang Chengliang, and Ren Zhoucheng brace the door against repeated impacts.
• When the barricade gave way, Lu Ren saw a huge, fat woman in a tattered purple dress and used a chair to distract her.
• Lu Ren dodged the monster's swinging arm and stabbed an iron shard deep into her neck.

Lu Ren killed the Greasy Freak after a prolonged fight and gained skill proficiency from the battle. While searching the dark hallway, he found Feng Zicheng’s dismembered body and survived a surprise attack by Blade Bamboo, which remained poised above him.

• Lu Ren evaded the Greasy Freak’s attacks and repeatedly stabbed its neck until it stopped moving.
• The system awarded Lu Ren increased Basic Swordsmanship and Agility proficiency for the fight.
• Lu Ren found Feng Zicheng’s body cut in half and decapitated near a room in the hallway.
• Blade Bamboo attacked Lu Ren from the ceiling, and he blocked its blades with the iron shard.
• Lu Ren shone his flashlight on the slender, armored monster hanging above him.

Lu Ren evaded the Blade Bamboo creature and lured it into a cramped office, where the steel frame and walls restricted its attacks. He gained the advantage and seized one of its blade joints, preparing to overpower it.

• Lu Ren fled into a room with the Blade Bamboo creature pursuing him and encountered Chen Jin.
• Chen Jin pulled Ren Zhoucheng from a cabinet and shoved him toward the creature, which cut him in two.
• Lu Ren struck Chen Jin in the thigh with his metal shard, drawing the creature to attack him.
• Lu Ren ran into a narrow office, where he used the walls and overhead steel frame to trap and batter the Blade Bamboo creature.
• Lu Ren grabbed one of the creature’s blade joints and strained to overpower it.