Chapter Summaries

Yang Yu learned about the Dragon God Tournament and the Library of All Things as possible paths to Species Essence and useful skills. Tella recruited him for a secret investigation of the Silver Orchid Merchant Guild, promising that the task could also lead to Species Essence.

• Andeno told Yang Yu about the Dragon God Tournament and recommended the Library of All Things as a source of knowledge about other races and skills.
• Yang Yu asked Andeno about Bai Jin's Disease, but Andeno admitted he knew little about it.
• Tella approached Yang Yu, offered him a high-paying task, and privately promised it could help him obtain Species Essence.
• Yang Yu followed Tella to the mage instructor's VIP room and agreed to keep their discussion confidential.
• Tella asked Yang Yu to infiltrate the Silver Orchid Merchant Guild and gather evidence of its alleged collusion or dark research.

Yang Yu accepted a dangerous mission from Tella and learned that the Giant Umbrella Merchant Guild sought help against the Silver Orchid Merchant Guild. Afterward, Tella reported to Carlo Joy that he had found an extraordinarily capable young man and urged him to arrange an escape route.

• Yang Yu questioned Tella about the Giant Umbrella Merchant Guild and inferred that it was behind the mission.
• Tella confirmed that Yang Yu could choose a Skill Scroll suited to his class, and Yang Yu accepted the mission.
• Yang Yu asked for Species Essence and learned that the Silver Orchid Merchant Guild possessed some, allegedly stolen from the Plantfolk and used to make Life-Restoring Potion.
• Yang Yu finalized the mission's rewards, schedule, and plans with Tella, then left to seek information about Bai Jin.
• Tella contacted Carlo Joy, praised Yang Yu's judgment, and agreed that Carlo should arrange an escape route in case the Silver Orchid Merchant Guild captured the adventurers.

Yang Yu investigated Bai Jin and realized the Giant Umbrella Merchant Guild had offered him a hidden reward for completing its mission early. He went to Ge Gen’s jewelry store to reclaim the Glass Bead, but negotiated a new sale instead, leaving with 39,999 gold coins and Ge Gen keeping the bead.

• Yang Yu gathered information about Bai Jin and inferred that the Giant Umbrella Merchant Guild had added a hidden reward for completing the mission ahead of schedule.
• Yang Yu visited Ge Gen’s jewelry store to use his agreement to buy back the Glass Bead and secure money for a possible escape.
• Ge Gen told Yang Yu that he had found a buyer willing to pay 200,000 gold coins for the Glass Bead.
• Yang Yu warned Ge Gen that the bead could eventually be replicated, but Ge Gen said he was willing to accept the risk and offered him 50,000 gold coins.
• Yang Yu declined the full offer and agreed to let Ge Gen keep the Glass Bead for 39,999 gold coins.

Yang Yu offered to obtain the Life-Restoring Potion for Bai Jin and asked her to join his party, explaining that he valued her abilities as a companion. The chapter ended with Yang Yu reaching out his hand and waiting for Bai Jin’s answer.

• Yang Yu returned to the inn and told Bai Jin he had learned why she wanted the Life-Restoring Potion, then explained that its auction price was beyond what she could afford.
• Yang Yu’s account of the potion’s scarcity and the sellers’ control of its supply dashed Bai Jin’s hope of saving enough money or waiting for its price to fall.
• Yang Yu said he could get Bai Jin the potion, and she misunderstood his offer as romantic interest and proposed becoming his lover.
• Yang Yu clarified that he wanted Bai Jin’s intelligence, magical talent, and [Healing Prohibition], and said he would not force her to love him.
• Yang Yu asked Bai Jin to join his party and share in his grand adventure, then reached out his hand to her.

Yang Yu brought Bai Jin into the mission and prepared to infiltrate a research institute in Chuanyang City to obtain medicine. The chapter ended with Yang Yu realizing that the old man waiting for them was the president of the Giant Umbrella Merchant Guild, whom he had just insulted.

• Yang Yu promised to protect Bai Jin, and she agreed to accompany him on the adventure and help with the mission.
• Yang Yu explained the plan to infiltrate the research institute and steal the medicine, and Bai Jin accepted after hearing the Silver Orchid Merchant Guild might be colluding with another country.
• Yang Yu chose two defensive skills from Tella’s scrolls, though Tella said he could only take one and promised another if he exceeded the mission requirements.
• Yang Yu and Bai Jin traveled to Chuanyang City and entered an alley to meet their contact.
• Yang Yu mocked the elderly-looking contact for being sent out by the merchant guild, then discovered that the man was the Giant Umbrella Merchant Guild’s president.

Yang Yu and Bai Jin began their plan to infiltrate the Silver Orchid Merchant Guild’s research institute by posing as down-and-out adventurers seeking work. At the underground agency, a robed recruiter selected their résumés but doubted they were reliable.

• Yang Yu apologized to Carlo Joy for his blunt remarks and urged him to protect the Giant Umbrella Merchant Guild’s credibility while pursuing the mission.
• Carlo Joy accepted Yang Yu’s proposal to begin the infiltration without further discussion, and led him and Bai Jin to a concealed employment agency.
• Yang Yu and Bai Jin changed into shabby adventurer clothes and waited at the agency with wine and fennel beans as bait.
• A robed man arrived seeking workers, bribed the agency’s old man, and requested candidates who met his strict requirements.
• The agency’s old man handed the robed man résumés for Yang Yu and Bai Jin, and the recruiter questioned whether the pair were reliable.

Slarat offered Yang Yu and Bai Jin a high-paying security job at a pharmaceutical company and challenged them to prove their strength. Yang Yu and Bai Jin accepted the test, setting up a fight against Slarat.

• Slarat reviewed Yang Yu and Bai Jin’s résumés and heard the agency owner describe them as dangerous former adventurers.
• Slarat approached Yang Yu and Bai Jin to offer them work protecting a pharmaceutical company from hostile competitors.
• Bai Jin proposed using their wages to buy herbs and sell potions, prompting Yang Yu to scold her over their past debts and failed business.
• Slarat explained that the job involved dealing with spies and assassins, then offered three hundred thousand per person each month, plus food, lodging, and bonuses.
• Yang Yu eagerly accepted the offer, but Slarat required them to endure his attacks for ten minutes or defeat him before he would hire them.

Yang Yu and Bai Jin posed as desperate adventurers to infiltrate the Silver Orchid Merchant Guild by passing Slarat’s test. Slarat hired them to protect the factory and left the agency with them after inspecting their luggage.

• Slarat led Yang Yu and Bai Jin to an underground arena and challenged them to prove their abilities.
• Yang Yu claimed he would fight alone, then pretended to struggle as he dodged and blocked Slarat’s attacks for ten minutes.
• Slarat judged Yang Yu qualified to protect the factory, and Yang Yu flattered him while asking about Bai Jin learning at the pharmaceutical factory.
• Yang Yu and Bai Jin presented their luggage for inspection, and Bai Jin distracted Slarat with her strange potion.
• Slarat paid the agency fee and left with Yang Yu and Bai Jin.

Yang Yu and Bai Jin infiltrated the Silver Orchid Merchant Guild's research institute under Slarat's escort and met their instructor, Asna. After Asna's Charm spell made them compete over her, she ordered them to follow the rules and report to their rooms.

• Bai Jin and Yang Yu arrived with Slarat at the research institute, which Yang Yu recognized as a prison-like facility inside the city walls.
• Slarat led them into the busy first-floor potion workshop and introduced them to their instructor, Asna.
• Asna used Charm on Yang Yu and Bai Jin, then demanded to know who had sent them.
• Yang Yu and Bai Jin each declared their devotion to Asna and began arguing over who could serve or possess her.
• Asna stopped their quarrel and ordered them to follow a soldier to their rooms, obey the rules, and avoid causing trouble.

Asna directed the Silver Orchid Merchant Guild’s research institute to Charm adventurers and turn them into weapons, while Slarat worried about dwindling manpower. Yang Yu and Bai Jin entered the institute as undercover workers, but Yang Yu was the only one who escaped Asna’s Charm.

• Asna told Slarat to recruit more adventurers, protect the Pharmaceutical Research Department, and investigate two employees who had resigned.
• Slarat escorted Yang Yu and Bai Jin to their cramped dormitory and instructed them to follow Lady Asna’s rules.
• Yang Yu realized Asna had Charmed him and used all his available attribute points on Charisma to break free.
• Bai Jin remained Charmed, so Yang Yu provoked her into arguing with him about Asna and prevented her from revealing their undercover identities.