Ash Zone Walker

Biodata

Power Progression

Documented Advancement

Xia Lin’s progression demonstrates entry, class acquisition, ordinary advancement, and potion-assisted advancement.

General Advancement Rules

Background and History

The Shattered Ash Zone opened four hundred days before the story begins, bringing both supernatural powers and worldwide destruction. Ash Zone entrances appeared across the planet; unless an associated zone was cleared within ten days, monsters, anomalies, or other disasters would emerge into reality. Humanity discovered that entering and conquering these zones could close their entrances, making Ash Zone Walkers essential to the surviving strongholds 1 11.

Walkers also recover resources that make permanent settlements possible. Heaven-Gifted Source Essence stabilizes surrounding space and directs nearby Ash Zone entrances toward designated locations, protecting other areas from random openings. Such treasures helped enable the replacement of the old political order with a system of bases 2 7.

Becoming an Ash Zone Walker

• First entry grants status. Entering an Ash Zone for the first time initiates datafication and grants level-one Ash Zone Walker status 2.
• An attribute panel becomes available. New Walkers can inspect their initial attributes and talent; Xia Lin’s first panel lists Strength, Constitution, Agility, and Spirit 2.
• A class is not automatic. Xia Lin begins as a classless Walker and acquires his class only after earning a separate reward 2 8.
• Recruitment can be compulsory. Iron Rain Base assigns monthly conscription quotas to workplaces. Xia Lin is selected after offending his foreman, despite official claims that he volunteered 1.
• Walker status does not prevent exploitation. Li Peipei’s squad forces new entrants into an expedition as controlled, expendable carriers for Flesh Bombs 2 4.

Abilities and Skills

Attributes

Walkers possess numerical attributes that govern their physical and mental capabilities.

• A normal adult male averages 6 per attribute, while the ordinary human limit is 10 2.
• Attribute growth is linear rather than exponential; doubling Strength proportionally doubles the force it provides 18.
• Higher caps do not automatically grant maximum attributes. Walkers must obtain increases through methods such as purchases, potions, or special skills 15 21.
• High attributes alone do not guarantee equivalent combat ability. Xia Lin temporarily reaches level-five attribute standards while classless, but lacks the skills needed to match most level-five Walkers 6.

Talents and Skills

Talents and learned skills give Walkers abilities beyond ordinary physical enhancement.

• Examples include An Yue’s bodily control, Rouyun’s Flesh Bomb, and Xie Xiaotian’s Burning Blade 2 4.
• Spirit can determine skill effectiveness: Rouyun’s Flesh Bomb scales with her Spirit attribute 4.
• Skills can be obtained through class rewards or instruction. A class change grants one to three randomly selected skills, normally related to the new class and ranked S or below 9 22 43.
• Skill slots limit how many skills a Walker can hold; each additional level expands that capacity 9.
• According to Aoluosi, skills involving concepts and rules are ranked SS or higher. He identifies Racial Foundation Grade as a rating above SSS 38.

Classes

A Walker can hold only one class at a time, but class selection is not necessarily permanent 22 44.

• Class choices can establish a leaning toward one of the Six Pillars. Examples include Cultivator toward the Heavenly Dao Creator, Limit Breaker toward the Old Ruler, and Martial God toward Superstar 8.
• These alignments can affect encounters with other factions. Zhou Yan warns Bai Guang that knowledgeable people will associate his class with Superstar and judge him accordingly 17.
• Xia Lin’s Indeterminate Shadow is an exception: it is customized to his talent and does not lean toward any of the Six Pillars 8.
• The Ash Zone Shop sells Class Forgetting Scrolls, allowing Walkers to reset their class choice 44.

Limit-Breaking Abilities

Limit-breaking effects separate a Walker’s actual attributes from the normal restrictions of their level.

• Permanent bonuses from limit-breaking skills remain even when they exceed the level cap 9.
• Xia Lin’s mutated Backstab increases all attributes when he betrays a faction to which he belongs 9.
• Limit-breaking potions also exist. Divine Might Potion grants 30 points to every attribute over three days, can exceed the cap, and is limited to one injection per lifetime 41.

Expedition Rules

Entry and Return

Quests

Zone Difficulty and Nature

• A C-rank zone corresponds to a level-four Walker, while an S-rank zone is intended for level-seven Walkers. Lower-level Walkers can enter, but face severe danger 4 32.
• False Ash Zones are system-created scenarios whose inhabitants function like game NPCs 16.
• Real Ash Zones are existing worlds populated by people with their own histories, allegiances, and powerful backers 16.
• Real-zone objectives can involve local politics and hidden traps rather than straightforward combat 18 32.

Ash Zone Points and Equipment

Ash Zone Points serve both as expedition currency and as valuable money within surviving bases 13 15.

• Before an expedition begins, Walkers can purchase supplies, local currency, or a more advantageous starting identity 15.
• Ash Zone-recognized items can be transported between a zone and reality; the Muscle Strength Growth Agent is explicitly identified as such an item 21.

Social Position and Sequence Privileges

• Base leadership: Powerful Walkers can control settlements. Li Peipei rules Iron Rain Base, and founders of armed organizations are described as invariably being at least level four 10 11.
• Exceptional privileges: Li Peipei can close the base’s main entrance to other users during her expeditions 10.
• Sequence authority: Ranked Sequences can influence Ash Zone operations. Gu Hua designates a specific destination, Bai Guang opens a follow-up entrance, and Li Peipei reserves her authority to extend her time inside 13 14.
• Special entrances: Zones selected through Sequence authority do not follow the ordinary ten-day disaster rule; their entrances disappear after opening once 14.
• Limited knowledge: Bai Guang states that lower-ranked Sequences lack clearance to know the origins of the Ash Zones or the Sequence system 14.
• Distrust between Walkers: Unless teammates know one another thoroughly, cooperation carries the risk of betrayal 16.
• Independent communities: Ancient Splendor Base attracts Walkers who want settlement conveniences without strict control 13.

Notable Holders

Native Professionals

• Similar powers, different obligations: Native class holders can possess attribute panels, levels, and skills, but do not repeatedly enter and leave Ash Zones as Walkers must 38 41.
• Different acquisition routes: Li Zhengzai becomes a Karate Master through mastering Gale Style Karate; Casimo becomes a Boxer after winning an intermediate arena match 43.
• Different advancement methods: Native professionals may advance through training, combat, or potions. Aoluosi describes their advancement as less convenient than Walkers’ mission-based breakthroughs 43 47.
• Walker status can be recognized: Zhou Yan identifies Bai Guang as a Walker, while Aoluosi knows that groups of Walkers visit Fierce Martial City every few years 16 38.
• The timeline remains unresolved: Aoluosi’s account predates the roughly four hundred days of Walker history known to Xia Lin. Xia Lin considers differing time flow or Walkers originating on other planets as possible explanations, but neither is confirmed 38.