Chapter Summaries

Wang Tao reviewed Gu Yun’s meteorite-opening records, moved into his villa, and brought Xiang Hongbin to Hope Research Institute for prosthetics. He then helped Qu Shilin activate and control a Night Demon, and she asked him for another favor.

• Gu Yun sent Wang Tao a work log of meteorite openings, and Wang Tao used it to conclude that better meteorites and higher-grade Crystal Cores improved the odds of good finds.
• Wang Tao settled into Villa Number 6 at Autumn Water Pavilion, while Lan Yulian and the other women chose to live in their own villas.
• Wang Tao and Xiang Hongbin went to Hope Research Institute, where Qu Shilin arranged tests to develop combat-capable prosthetics for Xiang Hongbin and said his Power Armor was not finished.
• Qu Shilin revealed that she had bought thirty Night Demon I Type hearts and asked Wang Tao to activate one for her to study.
• Wang Tao activated a Night Demon I Type and taught Qu Shilin how to control it, after which she asked him for another favor.

Wang Tao agreed to gather Strength Mushrooms for Qu Shilin and received an experimental Crystal Energy Gun to test in the field. After trying its two firing modes, he returned to the villa and planned an outing with his companions for the next day.

• Qu Shilin asked Wang Tao to collect Strength Mushrooms from a secluded mountain, and he agreed to go the next day.
• Qu Shilin gave Wang Tao her experimental Crystal Energy Gun and asked him to record combat data and provide feedback.
• Wang Tao tested the gun's Penetration Mode and Explosion Mode at the research institute's shooting range.
• Qu Shilin explained that the gun was too costly to equip the military, though her team was testing Crystal Energy Guns for Power Armor.
• Wang Tao showed the gun to Wei Zhenguo and the others, and they agreed to head out the next day to gather mushrooms, investigate meteors, and test their strength.

Wang Tao formed the Prairie Fire Society to secure permission for his group to leave Long River Base, then led them out to gather Strength Mushrooms. After harvesting a large cache in a concealed cave, he sensed someone approaching.

• Wang Tao had Lan Yulian register the Prairie Fire Society, and Cui Sheng completed the faction and departure procedures overnight.
• Wang Tao rewarded Cui Sheng with a Tier 1 Sports Star Crystal Core, then led his group out of Long River Base in an armored minibus.
• Wang Tao’s group killed zombies along the route, helping Lan Yulian and Xiang Hongbin raise their health above the safety threshold.
• Wang Tao found the concealed cave Qu Shilin had described and led several companions inside, suspecting her team had never explored its deeper passages.
• Wang Tao’s group harvested more than 1,200 Strength Mushrooms, then Wang Tao sensed someone approaching.

Wang Tao joined Cheng Yiyi and the Sixth Army Corps on a hunt after their Energy Detector located a powerful monster underground. The monster emerged as a giant snake, and Wang Tao recognized it as a Fourth Order Calamity with the Life Drain ability.

• Wang Tao withdrew from the cave when he sensed people approaching, then stayed after Nie Siyan reported that Sixth Army Corps soldiers were among them.
• Wang Tao met Qi De, Zhou Long, and Huang Wu, then learned that Sixth Army Corps commander Cheng Yiyi was preparing to hunt a monster underground.
• Wang Tao agreed to join the hunt as Team Five and follow Cheng Yiyi's orders.
• Cheng Yiyi's team smoked the monster out of its cave, and the group pursued it after it escaped through a northern entrance.
• A giant snake burst from the ground and charged the group, while Wang Tao identified it as a Fourth Order Calamity with Life Drain.

Wang Tao and the military forces faced a Fourth Order Calamity Grade Black Serpent whose Life Drain weakened anyone within fifty meters. Lan Yulian’s powerful healing let them hold the monster back, and her flame-like garment empowered their bullets as the counterattack began.

• The Black Serpent’s Life Drain caused nearby soldiers to collapse, while gunfire barely affected its defenses.
• Zhou Long trapped the Black Serpent with Black Quicksand, but the Life Drain forced him to release it and retreat for healing.
• Wang Tao damaged the Black Serpent with his Crystal Energy Gun and Air Bullets, then tested Lan Yulian’s healing and discovered she could restore over ten thousand health at once and heal allies across an area.
• Cheng Yiyi ordered Zhou Long, Huang Wu, and Qi De to hold the Black Serpent back while the others attacked from range under Lan Yulian’s healing.
• Lan Yulian put on a flame-like garment that gave the troops’ bullets a red glow, and the empowered shots hurt the Black Serpent.

Wang Tao and the others wore down the Black Serpent by combining Lan Yulian’s fire-enhancing healing, Zhou Long’s Black Quicksand, and concentrated attacks. When Zhou Long nearly collapsed from exhaustion, Wang Tao restored his stamina and mental strength with a potion, and the Black Serpent was finally killed.

• Lan Yulian gave the group fire-element attacks, allowing their bullets to damage and burn the Black Serpent as Zhou Long restrained it with Black Quicksand.
• Qi De and Huang Wu struck the Black Serpent at close range, then retreated to Lan Yulian for healing while Wang Tao warned everyone that its Life Drain grew stronger nearby.
• Wang Tao contacted Jiang Shixue and asked her to search beneath the cave for mushrooms while the group continued attacking the serpent.
• As the Black Serpent’s health fell, Zhou Long told Cheng Yiyi that his stamina and mental strength were nearly exhausted from maintaining Black Quicksand.
• Wang Tao rushed into the Life Drain range and gave Zhou Long a Renewed Vitality Potion, restoring his stamina and mental strength.
• The Black Serpent fell, and Zhou Long collapsed and fell asleep before learning who had delivered the killing blow.

Wang Tao’s group helped Cheng Yiyi’s forces kill the Black Serpent and uncovered rare loot, including a guaranteed Hidden Attribute pearl and an Advanced Awakening Key. Wang Tao agreed to let Cheng Yiyi take those two items in exchange for the rest of the loot and proposed trading two ordinary physical Awakening Keys for the Advanced Key.

• Wang Tao landed the killing shot on the Black Serpent, and Cheng Yiyi ordered the exhausted survivors to regroup before approaching its corpse.
• Wang Tao, Qi De, and Huang Wu entered the weakened Life Drain zone, collected the serpent’s loot, and returned with two Crystal Cores, an Advanced Awakening Energy Orb, a green pearl, and a key.
• Wang Tao identified the pearl as a guaranteed source of a Hidden Attribute and the key as an Advanced Awakening Key with a 70% success rate, revealing that Cheng Yiyi could still become awakened.
• Cheng Yiyi asked Wang Tao for the pearl and Advanced Awakening Key, offering compensation, and Wang Tao agreed to give them up in exchange for the remaining loot and another trade.
• Wang Tao offered Cheng Yiyi two ordinary physical Awakening Keys in exchange for the Advanced Awakening Key, and she hesitated over the choice.

Wang Tao divided the Black Serpent’s spoils with Cheng Yiyi’s group, then examined the loot and crafted two pieces of equipment with powerful life-related effects. He planted an Awakening Seed in the serpent’s corpse, where it began a seven-day countdown, and Jiang Shixue arrived with news from the cave.

• Wang Tao and Cheng Yiyi agreed that Cheng Yiyi would take the serpent pearl and Advanced Awakening Key, while Wang Tao kept the corpse and other spoils; Cheng Yiyi’s group then headed back after receiving Renewed Vitality Potions from Wang Tao.
• Wang Tao checked the Black Serpent’s loot, including rare crystal cores, an Awakening Seed, and blueprints for a Life Drain Bracelet and Life Ring.
• Wang Tao crafted the bracelet from the serpent’s fangs and the ring from its scales; the bracelet increased attack power as it drained health, while the ring stored health from kills.
• Wang Tao planted the Awakening Seed in the serpent’s corpse, starting a countdown of nearly seven days until an Awakening Fruit matured.
• Jiang Shixue arrived in the minibus and told Wang Tao that there were quite a few things in the cave.

After the Black Serpent’s cave collapsed, Jiang Shixue brought Wang Tao mushrooms, living snake eggs, and Dry Life Grass, which strengthened the group. Wang Tao prepared for his Second Awakening and chose to stay near the growing Awakening Seed, postponing a zombie-hunting trip so he could experiment with Night Demons and hatch a snake egg.

• Jiang Shixue showed Wang Tao the cave’s cache of five mushroom varieties, ten living Fourth Order Snake Eggs, and 550 Dry Life Grass.
• Wang Tao and the others ate Dry Life Grass, raising their maximum HP by 10,000 each, including Jiang Shixue and Lightning.
• Wang Tao replenished Lan Yulian’s mana, then fused an Advanced Awakening Key and decided to wait until they returned to safety before attempting his Second Awakening.
• Wang Tao checked the Awakening Seed and found that it had grown into a sapling whose roots had spread throughout the Black Serpent’s corpse.
• Wang Tao postponed his zombie-hunting plan to guard the sapling and planned to capture zombies for Night Demon cultivation and hatch a snake egg.

Wang Tao hatched a fourth-order Snake Egg and tested Night Demon Parasite eggs on captured zombies while the team waited for several threats to develop. He reopened four Crystalline Star Meteorites, gaining an Advancement Crystal Core and an Advanced Physical Awakening Key before a Fire Pattern Ant emerged from the fourth meteorite, leaving the team poised to fight.

• Wang Tao spent 100,000 health to activate the Snake Egg, which turned red and began a 24-hour hatching countdown; Lan Yulian healed him with her powerful awakened ability.
• Xu Xiaojun and the others brought back ten crippled third-order zombies, and Wang Tao put fourth-order Night Demon Parasite eggs into them inside a cave.
• Wang Tao decided to use fourth-order Epic Crystal Cores to open his meteorites after Cheng Yiyi agreed to provide thirty of them as part of their Strange Poison Sac deal.
• Wang Tao opened two meteorites and received a fourth-order Advancement Crystal Core and a fourth-order Self-Destruct Crystal Core.
• Wang Tao opened a third meteorite and found an Advanced Physical Awakening Key.
• Wang Tao opened an Outstanding meteorite, and a fourth-order Lord Fire Pattern Ant emerged; he called the team to prepare for battle.

Wang Tao and his group killed a Tier 4 Fire Pattern Ant, and Wang Tao tested how his scythe and armor-piercing long blade performed against its shell. After collecting the loot, he found rare crystal cores, Awakening items, and two blueprints.

• The Fire Pattern Ant charged at the group, and Xu Xiaojun blocked its mandibles while He Jijun struck it with his Tusks Long Blade.
• Wang Tao attacked the ant with his Doomed Great Scythe, then used his Sharp Long Blade to pierce its shell and greatly increase his damage.
• The Fire Pattern Ant fixated on Wang Tao, who finished it with a charged fireball and a Shockwave after discovering its shell resisted fire.
• Wang Tao collected the kill rewards, including a Fire Resistance crystal core, a Perception crystal core, potions, and an Awakening Key.
• Wang Tao opened the final loot package and found a Great Mandible Dual Blades Blueprint and a Ring of Resonance Blueprint.

Wang Tao crafted dual blades and Rings of Resonance, gave one ring to Ding Yuqin, and discovered it enabled long-distance sensing and mind-to-mind communication. Opening the final meteorite revealed a Weapon Iron Beetle, which gained fire resistance after eating the Fire Pattern Ant, suggesting it could inherit traits from the corpses it consumed.

• Wang Tao crafted two Great Mandible Dual Blades and gave them to Wei Zhenguo and Lu Gang after the others declined to wield them.
• Yang Changhong accepted the Doomed Great Scythe, and Wang Tao reasoned that its fixed poison damage suited fighters with lower attack power.
• Wang Tao and Ding Yuqin tested the Rings of Resonance and found they could sense each other's location and communicate telepathically across several kilometers, so Wang Tao gave Ding Yuqin one ring.
• Wang Tao checked his Life Ring and found that killing the Fire Pattern Ant had stored fifteen thousand health.
• Wang Tao opened the tenth meteorite and caught a Weapon Iron Beetle, then fed it the Fire Pattern Ant corpse to activate its armament ability.
• Wang Tao noticed that the Iron Beetle had gained fire resistance after eating the Fire Pattern Ant's carapace and suspected it could inherit properties from what it consumed.

Wang Tao let everyone test the Iron Beetle armament, then gave it to Lan Yulian to fight two newly hatched Night Demons in the cave. After the group defeated them, Wang Tao checked the remaining chained zombies and hoped more Night Demons would hatch.

• Wang Tao explained how the Iron Beetle could be put into dormancy and rebound, then let everyone test its powerful armament.
• Wang Tao concluded that the Iron Beetle boosted weaker users more, while warning the group about its crystal-core costs and the need to protect it from damage.
• Wang Tao sensed movement in the cave and gave the Iron Beetle to Lan Yulian, who entered and struck a Fourth Order Elite Night Demon.
• Lan Yulian chased the fleeing Night Demon deeper into the cave, where Wang Tao's group found it alongside a Fourth Order Lord Night Demon with the Robustness awakening.
• Wang Tao's group used Ultraviolet Flares to contain the Night Demons and defeated both, with Lan Yulian doing most of the fighting while armed by the Iron Beetle.
• Wang Tao found that two chained zombies had disappeared and the other eight remained, then hoped they would hatch more Night Demons.

Wang Tao’s Snake Egg hatched into Little Black, a powerful Fourth Order Elite snake that obeyed him, and four teammates hatched snakes of their own. On the fifth day after planting the Awakening Seeds, a fruity fragrance from the Awakening Tree drew everyone’s attention.

• Wang Tao examined the Night Demon loot, crafted Night Demon armor for He Jijun, and noticed that his Life Ring had stored health from killing an elite.
• Jiang Shixue alerted Wang Tao that the Snake Egg had hatched, and he found that the Black Snake recognized and obeyed him, naming it Little Black.
• Wang Tao let Wei Zhenguo, Xu Xiaojun, Chen Zhuang, and Gao Hua each hatch a Snake Egg, and their four Fourth Order Elite snakes emerged the next day.
• Wang Tao stopped the team from hatching more eggs after the four men felt their mental strength had been affected, then increased his Awakening Energy limit while they waited for the cave zombies to change.
• On the fifth day after planting the Awakening Seeds, Wang Tao and the others smelled a fruity fragrance coming from the Awakening Tree and went to investigate.

Wang Tao and his group guarded the rapidly grown Awakening Tree as its fragrant fruits attracted waves of zombies and Night Demons. After they defeated the attackers, they stayed by the tree, where the fruits were due to mature the following night.

• Wang Tao found that the Awakening Tree had grown to over ten stories overnight, and he and the others discovered more than twenty fruits developing among its branches.
• Jiang Shixue, Lightning, and the Black Snakes showed a strong urge to eat the fruits, so Wang Tao moved the group beneath the tree to protect it while they waited for the fruit to mature.
• Wang Tao killed a group of ordinary zombies and confirmed that doing so filled his Life Ring’s stored health; the Black Snakes then helped the group wipe out another horde of more than a hundred zombies.
• A huge group of Night Demons, including fourth-order lords, gathered outside the tree’s ultraviolet lights, but Wang Tao fought in the Iron Beetle while the others attacked and defeated them.
• The group kept watch through the night and into the next day as the fruits’ fragrance intensified and their countdown fell to a little over one day; then the ground began to tremble as something approached.

Wang Tao used the Iron Beetle Armament and the Doomed Great Scythe’s poison to keep a 120,000-health Giant Zombie focused on him, then killed it while He Jijun and the others defeated its horde. The group guarded the Awakening Fruit until the next day, when it had turned golden and was one day from ripening.

• Wang Tao charged the 120,000-health Giant Zombie in the Iron Beetle Armament while He Jijun led the others against its zombie horde.
• Wang Tao endured the Giant Zombie’s attacks and used his Bloody Chainsaw to wear it down, but it broke away and headed toward the Awakening Tree.
• Lan Yulian drew the Giant Zombie’s attention with the Crystal Energy Gun, and Wang Tao caught Yang Changhong when the monster kicked her into the air.
• Wang Tao discovered that the Doomed Great Scythe’s poison damage worked on the Giant Zombie and drew its aggro, allowing him to kill it without using his Awakening.
• He Jijun and the others finished off the zombie horde, and the group collected the battlefield’s crystal cores.
• Wang Tao and the others guarded the Awakening Fruit through the night; the next day, it had turned brilliant golden yellow.

Wang Tao reviewed the loot from the previous battles, gained health from a Blood Pearl, and tested Night Demon I Types against an Elite Night Demon. As the Awakening Fruits ripened and the Awakening Tree died, a huge flying creature appeared, forcing Wang Tao and his group to seize the fruits and flee toward the cave.

• Wang Tao sorted the loot from the Night Demons and Giant Zombie, crafted He Jijun a complete Night Demon Set, and used a Blood Pearl to raise his maximum health to 180,000.
• Wang Tao summoned three Night Demon I Types to kill a newly emerged Elite Night Demon and discovered they could produce loot bundles when they killed enemies.
• Wang Tao noticed the Awakening Tree's leaves and branches withering, then counted thirty-three golden Awakening Fruits as the tree neared collapse.
• A huge winged creature flew toward the group just as the Awakening Fruits ripened and the tree crashed down.
• Wang Tao and the others caught the thirty-three fruits and ran toward the cave as the minibus sped ahead.

Wang Tao and his group escaped a fifth-order Giant Eagle by hiding in a cave, where they waited seven days for it to leave. After finally reaching Long River Base, Wang Tao found a flood of messages and worried the base had written them off as dead.

• Wang Tao led his group into a deep cave to escape the Giant Eagle, a fifth-order lord monster with Giant Awakening, and identified the Awakening Fruit's effects for everyone.
• Wang Tao decided they could not safely use the Awakening Fruit or attempt awakening while the Giant Eagle guarded the cave, and the group spent the night on watch.
• The Giant Eagle remained nearby for seven days; Wang Tao strengthened the Iron Beetle, confirmed the Night Demon Parasite experiment had failed, and killed the seven chained zombies.
• When Wang Tao could no longer sense the Giant Eagle, he checked outside, confirmed it had left, and signaled Ding Yuqin to bring everyone out.
• Wang Tao and the group drove safely to the outskirts of Long River Base, where he received messages from people who had worried about his disappearance and wondered whether the base had struck them off the rolls.

After returning to Long River Base, Wang Tao reassured his contacts, settled an outstanding payment in meteorites, and brought five fourth-order Black Serpents through the city inspection. At home, he explained that the snakes had hatched from eggs, and Qu Shilin suggested she might have similar eggs of her own.

• Wang Tao replied to Duan Xuchang, Gu Yun, Qu Shilin, and Cheng Yiyi, learning that people had searched for him and agreeing to accept meteorites in place of the rest of his payment.
• During the city entry inspection, Wang Tao's five Black Serpents frightened the inspectors, so he registered them with the City Defense Army before heading home.
• Wang Tao returned to Autumn Water Pavilion Villa District, where Duan Xuchang visited, met Little Black, and learned the snakes had hatched from Snake Eggs.
• Qu Shilin visited Wang Tao, eagerly hugged Little Black, and asked where he had found the snakes and whether he could get her one.
• After Wang Tao described the stone-like egg, Qu Shilin said she might have eggs like it at her house and invited him to take a look.

Wang Tao gave Qu Shilin mushrooms and medicines, learned about the base’s new Crystal Core economy, and received a Crystal Core Synthesizer. After converting his Gray Crystal Cores and realizing his fortune exceeded a million crystal coins, he prepared to test the Awakening Fruit with Jiang Shixue, Lightning, and the Black Snakes.

• Wang Tao told Qu Shilin that the Black Snakes had hatched from eggs inside the Calamity Grade giant snake and described the snake’s death, claiming a Giant Eagle had eaten its corpse.
• Wang Tao gave Qu Shilin mushrooms and medicines, and she said she would study them and report that the Giant Eagle was a Tier 5 lord with Giant Awakening.
• Qu Shilin told Wang Tao that Xiang Hongbin’s prosthetics would take about half a month, then gave him a Crystal Core Synthesizer as payment for the mushrooms.
• Qu Shilin demonstrated that ten Gray Crystal Cores could be synthesized into one White Crystal Core and explained the base’s updated Crystal Core prices and the invitation-only Black Market.
• Wang Tao discovered he could synthesize Gray Crystal Cores himself without electricity, converted his stock into White Crystal Cores, and realized his assets totaled over a million crystal coins.
• Wang Tao called Jiang Shixue, Lightning, and the Black Snakes over to test the Awakening Fruit.