Chapter Summaries

After her ranking fell, Ye Jiang bought a boxed meal from a mysterious ability user and gave him candy to console him over his low score. She then ventured deeper into the wilderness, where Sun Liang and his group appeared to attack a pollutant she had mistaken for a high-point target.

• Ye Jiang saw that her ranking had dropped to 1,065th and, discouraged, went back to sleep before heading to the wilderness late.
• Ye Jiang bought a boxed meal from a curly-haired boy pushing a handcart and told him the food tasted bad.
• The boy said he had earned only a dozen or so points, so Ye Jiang gave him a candy as consolation and set off to hunt.
• Ye Jiang found a huge green-furred pollutant and assumed it was worth many points.
• Sun Liang and his group rushed in, defeated the pollutant, and warned that it was a D-rank pollutant that shed potentially harmful dust.

Ye Jiang rescued a chestnut-haired boy from ability users who were chasing him over his awful boxed meals, then accepted his offer to bring her food. She left him with a warning not to sell boxed meals anymore.

• Ye Jiang ignored a corrupted while turning toward a commotion and easily dodged its attacks.
• A chestnut-haired boy fled from ability users and begged Ye Jiang for help, while she killed the corrupted with one punch.
• The ability users backed off after seeing Ye Jiang’s strength and threatened the boy over his terrible boxed meals.
• The boy thanked Ye Jiang and offered to bring her boxed meals every day, but she told him to stop selling them.

Ye Jiang recruited Dong Zhen, whose talent let him identify polluters’ ranks, and the pair hunted together in the wilderness. Seeking faster transport, Ye Jiang subdued a dangerous B+ eagle-man and asked the nearby contestants to let her borrow it.

• Ye Jiang offered Dong Zhen a job identifying polluters, and he agreed to work for free because he believed she had saved him.
• Dong Zhen identified polluters while Ye Jiang hunted them, but she decided their travel pace was too slow and left to find a faster means of transport.
• An eagle-man attacked a group of ability users in a rocky area, where they realized the apparent rocks were people turned to stone by its wind blades.
• Ye Jiang rushed in, subdued the eagle-man by riding on its back and beating it whenever it resisted, then asked the contestants if she could borrow it.
• The ability users agreed to let Ye Jiang use the eagle-man and return it afterward.

Ye Jiang and Dong Zhen hunted corrupted creatures together, watched the sunset over the Green Forest Exclusion Zone, and learned that she had risen to 1,020th place in the tournament. In the city, rumors spread that Sun Liang had been arrested after attacking a female contestant, while his fans insisted the story was fabricated.

• Ye Jiang used the eagle man as a flying mount and returned to Dong Zhen, who eagerly joined her in hunting corrupted creatures.
• Ye Jiang and Dong Zhen worked together to collect points, then paused to watch the sunset over the Green Forest Exclusion Zone.
• Ye Jiang released the eagle man and promised Dong Zhen dinner after they left the wilderness with a full backpack.
• Xingyi Technology reported that Ye Jiang ranked 1,020th with 693 points, only forty-five places higher than before.
• Citizens in the plaza discussed rumors that Sun Liang had tried to steal a female contestant's corrupted creature and attack her, but his devoted fan dismissed the claims as lies.

After Sun Liang was withdrawn from the Hunting Tournament, Ye Jiang entered the wilderness with Dong Zhen and spent the day wandering, gathering food, and fighting polluted at her own pace. The fourth rankings update revealed that Ye Jiang had climbed to tenth place, surprising citizens who had assumed she had stopped competing seriously.

• The updated rankings showed Sun Liang withdrawn and Xue Ping in first place, while spectators speculated about who had defeated Sun Liang.
• Ye Jiang entered the wilderness, where Dong Zhen followed her and used his illusions to try to cheer her up; she learned he was an illusionist and let him accompany her.
• Ye Jiang and Dong Zhen wandered through the wilderness, picking lotus seeds and fruit, racing birds, and knocking a fish out of a pool instead of prioritizing tournament efficiency.
• Other contestants spread stories about the unusual pair, and Ye Jiang became known among citizens as an oddball contestant.
• The fourth score update placed Ye Jiang, a D-rank contestant, tenth, prompting citizens to realize that the unconventional contestant was also a formidable competitor.

Ye Jiang placed tenth in the Xingyi Technology Hunting Tournament after earning 102,010 points, surprising contestants who doubted her score until Xue Ping confirmed her strength. As Ye Jiang hunted polluters with Dong Zhen, she rested in a hammock while Dong Zhen effortlessly maimed a polluter and urged her onward; meanwhile, an injured contestant called Brother Wu questioned her ranking and dismissed it as luck.

• Ye Jiang collected her wristband and learned she had placed tenth with 102,010 points, prompting other contestants to question the result.
• Xue Ping told the protesting contestants that Ye Jiang had saved his life and was far stronger than he was.
• Ye Jiang rested in a hammock while Dong Zhen confronted a snake-like polluter, crushed its tail, and returned with it badly injured.
• Ye Jiang finished off the polluter, and Dong Zhen persuaded her to leave the hammock and continue hunting in pursuit of first place.
• Ye Jiang and Dong Zhen passed a resting team whose members discussed her score, while an injured Brother Wu doubted her ranking and claimed luck had helped her.

Wu Jiangshui witnessed Ye Jiang calmly tame the B+ eagleman, and her extraordinary tournament scores soon silenced public doubts and put her in first place. While Ye Jiang rode the eagleman with Dong Zhen, it suddenly plunged toward the ground, leaving the reason for its dive unresolved.

• Wu Jiangshui tried to use the eagleman to test Ye Jiang, but the bird submitted to her and carried her and Dong Zhen away.
• News of Ye Jiang taming the eagleman spread, and citizens initially dismissed the story as a rumor.
• Ye Jiang's rankings rose from fourth to first as her points climbed above 600,000, prompting citizens to praise her and argue over her ability grade.
• Ye Jiang rode the eagleman with Dong Zhen, who wove with gathered grass, until the bird suddenly screamed and plunged downward.
• Ye Jiang grabbed Dong Zhen and landed safely on her feet as the eagleman hit the ground.

Ye Jiang and Dong Zhen visited a patch of purple wildflowers, where Dong Zhen gave her flowers and a flowered hat before saying he had to leave briefly. He departed without revealing what he planned to do, promising to return soon.

• Ye Jiang killed a corrupted creature near the wildflowers with a single punch.
• Dong Zhen gave Ye Jiang a bouquet and placed a flowered grass hat on her head.
• Dong Zhen told Ye Jiang he had to leave for a while to take care of something.
• Dong Zhen teased Ye Jiang for not asking what he was going to do, then said he would return soon.

Dong Zhen entered the Green Forest Exclusion Zone and attacked Yu Wei, whose investigation into the missing Part-Time Cat manager and the revived Green Peach tree led her to suspect him. Meanwhile, Ye Jiang waited for Dong Zhen to return, then used her healing ability to save the gravely injured Miao Qiao.

• Ye Jiang watched Dong Zhen vanish after he gave her a wildflower that became transparent butterflies, then left the illusion with her bouquet.
• Dong Zhen entered the Green Forest Exclusion Zone, evaded Yu Wei’s ice attacks with illusions, and caused a living vine to drag her toward the Green Peach tree.
• Yu Wei explained that Part-Time Cat’s senior manager had disappeared while tending the tree, and she contacted the Ability Control Bureau to investigate Dong Zhen as a possible clue.
• Ye Jiang waited outside the competition grounds for Dong Zhen, then Xiao Pei asked her to heal the bloodied Miao Qiao, and Ye Jiang brought Miao Qiao out of danger.
• Miao Qiao thanked Ye Jiang, and Xiao Pei asked how she had been injured so badly.

After Miao Qiao discovered that her ability rank had fallen to C-rank, the Ability Control Bureau began investigating the anomaly. The tournament was suspended when over a hundred contestants were reported missing, and Ye Jiang was questioned about her missing partner, Dong Zhen, who might be connected to Part-Time Cat's vanished chief steward.

• Miao Qiao told Xiao Pei that an ordinary B-rank polluter had wounded her, then discovered her ability rank had fallen to C-rank.
• Xiao Pei took Miao Qiao to the Ability Control Bureau for an investigation, while Ye Jiang left after waiting for the boy to emerge from the wilderness.
• The next morning, over a hundred contestants were reported missing, prompting the Ability Control Bureau to suspend Xingyi Technology's tournament.
• Ye Jiang reported that her partner, Dong Zhen, was missing and told Xiao Pei that he had left on his own during the competition.
• Qin Daichuan and Yu Wei questioned Ye Jiang about the boy, explaining that he might be connected to Part-Time Cat's missing chief steward.

Xiao Pei recognized the boy’s question about romance as the signature of Monster No. 2, the Wanderer. She recalled the monster’s archive entry as the chapter ended.

• The Wanderer had asked the crowd what romance meant, prompting Xiao Pei to recognize the danger.
• Xiao Pei remembered an archived account in which the Wanderer questioned a drunk and made him injure himself after he gave an unsatisfactory answer.
• The archive identified the monster as No. 2: Wanderer, and noted that its trail had once been lost.

Xiao Pei stopped the crowd from confronting the boy and warned Yun Hua against using his influence to interfere with the Ability Control Bureau. As Ye Jiang traveled away with the boy, he admitted he often visited the Green Forest Exclusion Zone and had gone there to see a friend, but denied involvement in the contestants’ disappearances.

• Xiao Pei recognized the boy as the long-missing monster Wanderer and realized his ability involved illusions rather than painting.
• Xiao Pei reprimanded the gathered citizens and Yun Hua, then declared the boy cleared of suspicion and said the Ability Control Bureau had another suspect.
• Xiao Pei led the crowd away for questioning and suspected someone had incited them and spread rumors past the Bureau’s information blockade.
• Xiao Pei messaged Ye Jiang to warn her away from the boy, but Ye Jiang refused because she did not consider him dangerous.
• The boy asked Ye Jiang whether she believed he was a murderer, and she told him she did not.
• The boy told Ye Jiang he had visited the Green Forest Exclusion Zone before the competition to see a friend and had nothing to do with the contestants’ disappearances.

Dong Zhen told Ye Jiang how he became a monster and how an old woman accepted him, then nervously revealed his true nature. Ye Jiang accepted him matter-of-factly, though she was surprised that he was over a thousand years old and called her big sis.

• Dong Zhen recounted how he inherited a dead wandering artist's body, befriended an old woman, and later visited her grave in the Forest Green Exclusion Zone.
• Dong Zhen admitted that he was a monster and feared Ye Jiang would reject him, but she asked how old he was and learned he had lived for over a thousand years.
• Ye Jiang questioned why Dong Zhen called her big sis, and he defended the youthful appearance he had inherited from the artist.
• Ye Jiang asked whether Dong Zhen's ability was immortality, and he said the artist had died before briefly showing her his true form.
• Dong Zhen worried that his true form had polluted Ye Jiang, but she calmly observed that he was not human and had lived for over a thousand years.

Xiao Pei confronted Yun Hua after leading civilians away from a canyon full of B-rank polluted, and he confessed to killing Part-Time Cat’s manager and more than a hundred contestants. Yun Hua refused to cooperate and embraced a violent ambition after reaching the top of the ability ranking.

• Xiao Pei led civilians through the wilderness, but a group of B-rank polluted attacked them at a canyon, so she ordered Yun Hua to cover their retreat.
• Yun Hua stayed behind and killed all the polluted, then realized Xiao Pei had arranged the encounter and moved the civilians away to isolate him.
• Xiao Pei questioned Yun Hua about entering the Green Forest Exclusion Zone and the rapid rise in his ability rank, but Yun Hua refused to return with her.
• Yun Hua declared that he had killed Part-Time Cat’s manager and more than a hundred missing contestants, and admitted he had wanted to frame the boy beside Jiang.
• Yun Hua saw that his Light and Shadow ability had reached A rank and first place, and vowed to kill anyone who defied or threatened him.

Xiao Pei defeated Yun Hua and revealed that his A-rank ability was far below her S-rank power, then arrested him for causing contestants to disappear. After Xiao Pei joined Ye Jiang and Dong Zhen, Ye Jiang wondered where her neighbor had gone and planned to introduce him to Dong Zhen.

• Yun Hua's light-sword formation failed against Xiao Pei's Corrosion Chains, and she sent him crashing into the canyon wall.
• Xiao Pei showed Yun Hua that her ability was S-rank and explained that Ye Jiang had awakened with A-rank combat and healing capabilities.
• Yun Hua broke down after Xiao Pei called him a mediocrity, and she prepared to take him back to the Ability Control Bureau.
• Ye Jiang and Dong Zhen saw Xiao Pei carrying Yun Hua away, and Xiao Pei confirmed that Yun Hua had confessed to causing the contestants' disappearances.
• Ye Jiang thought about introducing Dong Zhen to her missing neighbor, while Dong Zhen clung to her and Xiao Pei reconsidered whether to interfere.

Xiao Pei brought Yun Hua to the Ability Control Bureau, where his crimes were exposed but he stopped cooperating with investigators. As Miao Qiao’s ability fell to D-rank, Ye Jiang tried to treat her without success, while something escaped through the shadows outside the hospital window.

• Xiao Pei left Ye Jiang with the eagle-man in the wilderness and delivered the unconscious Yun Hua to the Ability Control Bureau, where he confessed to his crimes.
• News of Yun Hua’s arrest spread, and the public turned against the former celebrity ability user as the bureau investigated how he had obtained so many Green Peaches.
• Qin Daichuan questioned the unresponsive Yun Hua, while Xiao Pei dismissed his silence as possible feigning and left the interrogation.
• Zhao Yi told Xiao Pei that Miao Qiao’s ability had dropped again, to D-rank.
• At the hospital, Ye Jiang tried to treat Miao Qiao, but Miao Qiao felt no improvement and said her ability had suddenly weakened.
• As Miao Qiao sat by the window, her shadow moved and something quietly escaped into the trees; Xiao Pei then sent Zhao Yi to take Ye Jiang for a meal.

After noticing a shadow flee from the restaurant, Ye Jiang learned that Wu Jiangshui’s ability rank had suddenly fallen and felt an unexplained displeasure. Later, she insisted on accompanying Yu Qingyi on a mission, arguing that her first-place finish in the Pollution-Hunting Competition proved she could handle herself.

• At a restaurant, Ye Jiang overheard diners discuss the competition and caught a falling plate before noticing sand on the floor and a shadow detach from Wu Jiangshui as he left.
• Wu Jiangshui’s ability rank dropped from B-rank to D-rank after he kicked over a trash can and stumbled in the street.
• Xiao Pei told Ye Jiang that Wu Jiangshui was the latest ability user to suffer a sudden rank loss and warned Ye Jiang to stay home while the matter was investigated.
• A spiky-haired branch-office worker killed a polluted one with a fireball, and Xiao Pei hurried over to deal with the commotion.
• When Yu Qingyi prepared to leave for a mission, Ye Jiang insisted on walking her there and said her competition victory showed she was strong.

Ye Jiang accompanied Yu Qingyi to a cordoned-off incident site, where two Ability Control Bureau members suddenly lost their ability ranks. Xiao Pei investigated the growing pattern as a man in custody muttered that he was special, while online discussion spread rumors about the rank losses.

• Ye Jiang rode with Yu Qingyi to her assignment and killed a polluted one that lunged at their car.
• At the cordon, Yu Qingyi joined her colleagues, and two Ability Control Bureau members collapsed after Ye Jiang tried to smile at her.
• Ye Jiang stayed at the scene as Yu Qingyi struggled to decide whether to leave, and the two victims reported that their ability ranks had dropped.
• Xiao Pei arrived, questioned the victims, and noted that four people had now lost ability ranks; she wondered whether the moon was taking abilities back.
• In a glass compartment beneath the Ability Control Bureau, a detained man muttered that he was special.
• Ability System users discussed the rank losses in City A and speculated about their cause.

Dong Zhen visited Ye Jiang and tried to cheer her up with music before giving her a living shadow as a pet. The shadow turned out to be Yun Hua, who was being held in an Ability Control Bureau isolation room, and Dong Zhen’s treatment of him left Yun Hua furious.

• An ability user in City A spotted Dong Zhen on a neighboring balcony, but Dong Zhen vanished before the man could suggest a safer place to rest.
• Dong Zhen found a shadow slipping into his own and pulled it out, while Yun Hua panicked in his Ability Control Bureau isolation room and Qin Daichuan watched him pretend to be mindless.
• Ye Jiang felt irritable as she recalled Xiao Pei and the moon, and Dong Zhen appeared at her window to cheer her with animated musical notes.
• Dong Zhen told Ye Jiang that he had killed many corrupted in the wilderness, and Ye Jiang accepted his explanation without asking further questions.
• Dong Zhen gave Ye Jiang the shadow as a pet and tried shaping it into something cute, but she rejected it and Dong Zhen called it useless.
• Yun Hua spat out blood in the isolation room from anger at Dong Zhen’s treatment of him.

Yun Hua revealed that his shadow ability had let him drain ability users and kill the missing contestants, but his shadow was caught by Dong Zhen and then encountered a dangerous man who contaminated it. Yun Hua confessed at the Ability Control Bureau before becoming contaminated himself, as a contaminated being emerged from a café.

• Yun Hua recalled how he used his shadow ability to absorb ability users’ powers, killed more than a hundred contestants, and framed someone else by planting a Green Peach.
• Yun Hua sent his shadow after Dong Zhen, but Dong Zhen caught it and tossed it away after Ye Jiang refused it as a pet.
• Yun Hua’s shadow fled through the city, where a cold, distinguished man pinned it and drew it toward a black hole, overwhelming it with terror and negative emotions.
• Yun Hua suddenly confessed to Qin Daichuan that he was a dual-ability user and had killed the missing ability users, Miao Qiao, and the others.
• Yun Hua became contaminated in the isolation chamber, and Qin Daichuan sounded the alarm.
• A contaminated being in work clothes, with a drill on its head, emerged from a café and sent pedestrians fleeing.