Chapter Summaries

Wang Tao examined the Dark Night Bracelet and the Hammer Zombie Lord’s loot, discovering a powerful shield Crystal Core he could not yet use. He kept the core for the future and resolved to grow stronger so he could eventually fuse with it.

• Wang Tao found that the Dark Night Bracelet increased Dark Attribute Attack, but no one in his team could use it, so he stored it away.
• Wang Tao inspected the Hammer Zombie Lord’s giant hammer and Large Explosion-Proof Set, deciding they were too large or cumbersome for the team’s regular use.
• Wang Tao identified the Strange Heart as an item that could grant a Hidden Ability, and decided the team could sell it at the base.
• Wang Tao discovered that the All-rounder Shield Crystal Core could block attacks until its shield limit was reached, and realized it had stopped his earlier attacks on the Hammer Zombie Lord.
• Wang Tao concluded that he could not use the core until he awakened a Body-type ability and reached Fifth Order, and he resolved to become stronger.

Wang Tao examined the Giant Hammer Zombie’s loot and crafted a powerful Fortified Riot Set and Impact Giant Hammer from its blueprints. He left the set equipped with an Ice Attribute Defense crystal core and was stunned by the hammer’s exceptional attack value.

• Wang Tao obtained a Brute Force Impact crystal core, an Awakening Key, an Awakening Energy Orb, and five Element Amplification Potions from the loot packages.
• Wang Tao decided he would avoid fusing with Brute Force Impact unless its stamina-consumption side effect could be removed, and noted that he needed Advanced Awakening Keys from Calamity Grade creatures.
• Wang Tao used the blueprints to craft a Fortified Riot Set and an Impact Giant Hammer from the Giant Hammer Zombie’s equipment.
• Wang Tao embedded an Ice Attribute Defense crystal core in the Fortified Riot Set, raising its Ice Attribute Defense to one hundred, and planned to test it against Frozen Zombies.
• Wang Tao inspected the Impact Giant Hammer’s attack bonus of one hundred and fifty and was astonished by how far it surpassed his other weapons.

Wang Tao examined the Impact Giant Hammer and the Giant Hammer Zombie’s other loot, then let the group test their new equipment and discussed who might use the hidden-attribute items. He decided the team would rest for a couple of days, while Qu Shilin asked to buy one of the items.

• Wang Tao considered pairing the Impact Giant Hammer with the Life Drain Bracelet and Life Ring, and evaluated the hammer’s Stun effect and its severe attack-speed penalty.
• Wang Tao let the group try the Impact Giant Hammer and Riot Set; only Wang Tao, He Jijun, Xiang Hongbin, Lu Gang, Xu Xiaojun, and Jiang Shixue could wield the hammer effectively.
• Wang Tao told the injured group to stay and recover for a day or two before heading out again.
• Wang Tao showed everyone the Magical Shadow and Strange Heart, but the group chose to save them rather than use them for a Second Awakening.
• Chen Zhuang said he hoped to awaken a healing ability, and Wang Tao promised to look for a suitable item.
• Qu Shilin asked Wang Tao if she could buy one of the items.

Qu Shilin considered whether to use two Hidden Attribute items to become Awakened, but Wang Tao advised her to wait for a psychic-type opportunity better suited to her research. The group opened fourth-order meteorites while recovering from their injuries, and Qu Shilin’s first meteorite revealed a psychic-type Lord monster with Mental Encouragement.

• Wang Tao offered Qu Shilin two Hidden Attribute items, but recommended waiting for a psychic-type awakening and promised to save any suitable items he found for her.
• Qu Shilin accepted Wang Tao’s advice, then joined him for the first night-watch shift and thanked him for saving her from the Giant Hammer Zombie.
• After a quiet night, Wang Tao recovered with help from Ding Yuqin’s Blood Pack Hidden Attribute, while the others remained too injured to go out.
• Wang Tao proposed opening fourth-order meteorites, and Qu Shilin chose to open a small one after everyone declined.
• A pill-bug-like Insectoid Lord emerged from Qu Shilin’s meteorite with the psychic Awakening Mental Encouragement, which boosted nearby companions’ combat power.

Wang Tao defeated a defensive Support Type Insectoid and discovered that its Magical Consciousness could grant a Hidden Attribute when consumed. Qu Shilin accepted the item, and Wang Tao crafted a powerful Iron Wall Armor from the Insectoid’s loot as the group prepared for future encounters.

• Wang Tao fought and killed an Insectoid whose Mental Encouragement boosted its own attributes but whose attacks were purely physical.
• Qu Shilin found a Magical Consciousness among the drops, and Wang Tao gave it to her to consume for a chance at a Mental-type Hidden Attribute.
• The group speculated that Insectoids might have different roles, including Attack, Defense, and Support types.
• Wang Tao examined the Insectoid’s loot, including a Mental Defense Crystal Core and its Iron Wall Carapace.
• Wang Tao crafted an Epic Iron Wall Armor that granted high defense along with mental and poison resistance.

Wang Tao and his group opened Level 4 meteorites, and Qu Shilin gained the Mental Element Hidden Attribute after using Magical Consciousness. Once Lan Yulian healed the group, they traveled to the third zombie horde's location, found it abandoned, and reached a fourth horde packed with zombies.

• Wang Tao and Qu Shilin opened all thirty Level 4 meteorites, finding two Iron Beetles and other loot but no second Insectoid monster, and Wang Tao decided to save the Level 5 meteorites until everyone had healed.
• Qu Shilin used Magical Consciousness and gained the Mental Element Hidden Attribute, which improved her memory.
• After resting, Wang Tao's group recovered fully with Lan Yulian's healing and left the school in the Crystal Energy Car.
• Wang Tao's group searched the third horde's ruined town and found signs that all its zombies had departed together.
• Wang Tao suggested that an intelligent Lord might have led the zombies away, and the group headed for the fourth horde's location.
• At night, Wang Tao's group arrived at the fourth location and saw a huge crowd of zombies.

Wang Tao’s group investigated the fourth horde and found that zombies from the fifth horde had gathered there under the control of powerful Lord Zombies. From a rooftop, Wang Tao spotted dozens of Fourth Order Lords, nine Fifth Order Lords, and likely a Sixth Order Lord at the center, leaving the group with no choice but to retreat.

• Wang Tao’s group found the fifth horde’s location empty and suspected an intelligent Lord Zombie had gathered its zombies at the fourth horde.
• Wang Tao led part of the group toward the horde the next day, using Stealth Potions to pass through its outer ranks.
• Han Rui sensed a Night Demon Nest with a Fifth Order Lord inside a tall building, and Wang Tao led the group up its exterior without entering.
• Wang Tao surveyed the vast horde from the rooftop and found dozens of Fourth Order Ice Cone Zombie Lords and nine Fifth Order Lord Zombies.
• Wang Tao concluded that a Sixth Order Lord likely controlled the horde’s center and told everyone they needed to retreat.

Wang Tao watched a vast zombie horde and confirmed that Sixth Order Elite Zombies were emerging from the mall, while Night Demons hunted Frozen Zombies. He used an Ultraviolet Flare to provoke a clash that alerted the horde, then fled as heavy footsteps sounded from the mall.

• Wang Tao and his group stayed on a rooftop to record the zombie horde, where he spotted three Sixth Order Elite Zombies coming out of the mall.
• Wang Tao and his companions waited through the day and night, while Night Demons began hunting Frozen Zombies without alerting the horde.
• Qu Shilin told Wang Tao that the Night Demons might be feeding or gaining something from eating Frozen Zombies.
• Wang Tao sent his companions away under Stealth Potions and approached the horde with Lightning and Little Ice.
• Wang Tao threw an Ultraviolet Flare near a Night Demon, drawing a Fourth Order Ice Cone Zombie Lord into attacking it and alerting the zombie horde.
• Wang Tao rode Lightning toward the building with the Night Demon Nest as heavy footsteps came from the mall.

Wang Tao watched two Sixth Order Lord Zombies slaughter the Night Demons and discovered that the intelligent Long-Haired Zombie could detect him from afar. After she attacked his rooftop with a thrown axe, Wang Tao escaped with Lightning.

• Wang Tao reached the rooftop and spotted a Sixth Order Lord Giant Axe Zombie with 500,000 health in the plaza.
• The Long-Haired Zombie appeared on the Giant Axe Zombie’s shoulder, and Wang Tao identified her as another Sixth Order Lord with 500,000 health and the Thorns Grow Wild Awakening.
• The Giant Axe Zombie killed the Fifth Order Night Demon Lord with one axe strike while Wang Tao recorded the battle.
• The Long-Haired Zombie found Wang Tao’s burned flare, sensed his position, and stared directly at him.
• Wang Tao jumped from the rooftop and descended the wall with Lightning, then fled as the Long-Haired Zombie hurled the Giant Axe at the building.

Wang Tao reunited with Ding Yuqin and the others after escaping a horde led by two Sixth Order Lord Zombies, then found the horde had vanished and the nearby Night Demon Nest remained intact. While gathering zombies to hatch Night Demons, the group discovered nine people hiding in a basement and suspected they were from the Twilight Church.

• Wang Tao escaped the pursuing zombies with Lightning, waited until Ding Yuqin and the others were safe, and returned to the abandoned Night Demon Nest.
• Wang Tao found that the zombie horde had left the area and discovered that much of the Nest's Incubation Flesh had survived.
• Ding Yuqin and the others reunited with Wang Tao, and Jiang Shixue reported seeing part of the horde head south before it changed direction.
• Wang Tao led the group to capture Frozen Zombies for the Night Demon Parasite Insect Eggs, then found nine people hiding in a basement.
• Wang Tao smelled Holy Medicine inside the basement and suspected the people belonged to the Twilight Church.

Wang Tao discovered that a group of survivors outside Long River Base had been taught to hate the base by the Twilight Church. Their supposed purge was likely fabricated by church leaders to stir up hostility, revealing a broader scheme that reached beyond the city.

• Wang Tao questioned Zhan Xing and the survivors in their basement, but they attacked his group when he pressed them about their hostility.
• Wang Tao incapacitated Zhan Xing, while Han Rui and the others subdued survivors whose strength far exceeded that of ordinary people.
• Wang Tao showed the group his Twilight Church badge, and they accepted him as a High Sacerdotal and explained their hatred of Long River Base.
• The survivors said the church had been purged from late January until the snowfall, though none of them had witnessed it themselves.
• Wang Tao concluded that Twilight Church leaders had likely invented the purge to incite survivors against Long River Base while expanding the church's influence.

Wang Tao questioned Twilight Church survivors and discovered that the church had manipulated them with false rumors and supplied medicines that improved their strength. He left them alive and healed, planning to use his assumed Sacerdotal Sir identity against the church, then headed with his group to cultivate the Night Demons.

• Wang Tao learned that the Twilight Church had spread false reports of survivor killings to recruit people and turn them against Long River Base.
• The survivors told Wang Tao that a Deacon had supplied their daily holy medicines, which improved their physical abilities and helped them survive the snow; Wang Tao had Han Rui and the others take samples for Qu Shilin to study.
• Wang Tao gave the survivors food, had Lan Yulian heal them and Zhan Xing, and left without killing them.
• Wang Tao explained to Qu Shilin that he would keep posing as a Sacerdotal Sir and could claim the church’s bishop was an impostor, killing him if he appeared.
• Wang Tao and his group drove toward the Night Demon Nest to cultivate the Night Demons.

Wang Tao's group used Incubation Flesh and ultraviolet light to hatch and kill dozens of Fourth and Fifth Order Lord Night Demons, gaining a huge haul of resources. With enough keys to attempt Third Awakening, Wang Tao planned to keep hunting Fourth Order Lords before advancing, while several teammates prepared to try awakening again.

• Wang Tao's group placed parasite eggs in zombie heads, used the Incubation Flesh to hatch Night Demons, and killed them under ultraviolet suppression.
• Wang Tao's group fought through the Incubation Flesh for two days, killing sixty Fourth Order and twenty-seven Fifth Order Lord Night Demons while avoiding hatching Sixth Order ones.
• Wang Tao counted his loot and decided to hunt more Fourth Order Lords before advancing to Fifth Order and attempting Third Awakening.
• Wang Tao asked his Third Order teammates whether they wanted to attempt awakening, and Yang Changhong, Ding Yuqin, Han Rui, Wei Zhenguo, and Qu Shilin agreed.

Wang Tao crafted Night Demon Sets and equipped his team before they prepared to return home. A strange tremor drove them from camp, and a camera revealed a huge zombie horde falling into a crevice as the Giant Eagle flew toward them.

• Wang Tao crafted eighteen Fourth Order and seven Fifth Order Night Demon Sets, then distributed them among the team and gave Qu Shilin a set in exchange for help handling Night Demon Hearts.
• Wang Tao planned to open a Fifth Order meteorite and visit the Snake Fruit site before returning home, and He Jijun found a place for the team to camp overnight.
• Han Rui sensed a tremor before dawn, so Wang Tao ordered the team to retreat and left a camera behind to record what was approaching.
• Wang Tao and the others saw the Giant Eagle seize the camera, then watched its feed reveal a massive zombie horde plunging into a newly opened crevice.
• Qu Shilin warned the team that the Giant Eagle appeared to be flying toward them.

Wang Tao and the others raced across the snowfield in the Crystal Energy Car while the Giant Eagle pursued them and mysterious rifts repeatedly blocked their route. They escaped by jumping one rift, but the Giant Eagle refused to cross it, leaving Wang Tao wondering what the rifts concealed and whether their power could be used against it.

• Wang Tao had He Jijun speed up the Crystal Energy Car to stay ahead of the approaching Giant Eagle.
• Wang Tao stopped the car when he spotted a wide rift, and the group detoured around it past a village split in half by the chasm.
• The Giant Eagle spotted them, but it slowed and detoured around the rift, allowing the group to gain some distance.
• Jiang Shixue spotted another long rift, and Wang Tao decided the Crystal Energy Car should jump its narrowest point rather than make a long detour.
• Wang Tao used Little Ice to scout the crossing, then He Jijun drove the Crystal Energy Car over the rift while the Giant Eagle stopped short of following them.
• Wang Tao wondered whether the Giant Eagle's fear of the rifts could be used to kill it.

Wang Tao returned to Long River Base with news of powerful Frozen Zombies and sudden underground rifts, then briefed the base’s leaders. Shi Chuanfu suggested the rifts resembled underground caves, leaving Wang Tao wondering whether they could now enter one.

• Wang Tao and his group found the Strange Snake Fruit still growing, dug up most of the plants, and carried them back toward the base.
• After arriving at Long River Base, Wang Tao told Gu Yun and the assembled leaders about the Frozen Zombies, powerful Zombie Lords, and the rifts outside.
• Wang Tao showed the leaders a video of the Giant Crevice swallowing zombies and described how the rifts had appeared without warning.
• Gu Yun contacted departments across the base and confirmed that no rifts had appeared there so far.
• Shi Chuanfu said the rifts sounded like underground caves, and Wang Tao considered whether they could enter one now.

Wang Tao and the others learned that the fissures outside might connect to the valuable underground cave, prompting the base committee to consider an expedition despite the cold and other dangers. After returning home, Wang Tao discovered that Little Black was about to awaken and gave four companions Physical Awakening Keys to try their Second Awakening.

• Shi Chuanfu shared information about the underground cave, and Wang Tao matched its entrance to a nearby fissure.
• Wang Tao explained the dangers outside the city to the committee, which began discussing ways to protect an expedition from the cold.
• Wang Tao met Director Jiang Hui, who said the Twilight Church had been rooted out inside the base.
• Wang Tao returned home and found that Little Ice's Ice Attribute aura made the Black Snakes uneasy.
• Little Black ate snake fruit and began awakening, giving Wang Tao's group hope of gaining another Fourth Order Lord-level fighter.
• Wang Tao distributed Physical Awakening Keys so Ding Yuqin, Han Rui, Yang Changhong, and Wei Zhenguo could attempt their Second Awakening.

Wang Tao oversaw successful awakenings for his team and helped Li Qiu Yu gain a Hidden Attribute and awaken. He replaced his Plant Affinity with Dark Element in preparation for exploring the rift.

• Wei Zhenguo and Han Rui succeeded in awakening, followed by Ding Yuqin and Yang Changhong after another attempt.
• Qu Shilin came to Wang Tao's place and succeeded in awakening with an Awakening Key.
• Wang Tao decided to delay his own awakening and advancement until the others woke, then urged Li Qiu Yu to awaken.
• Li Qiu Yu gained the Plant Affinity Hidden Attribute from the Strange Heart, failed her first awakening attempt, then succeeded with more Awakening Keys.
• Wang Tao used the Magical Shadow to replace his Plant Affinity with Dark Element, which could help him in the rift's black fog.

Wang Tao inspected the newly prepared Awakening School, arranged for its enrollment and teaching staff, and agreed to explore the rift alongside Cheng Yiyi’s group. Registration opened that afternoon, and when Wang Tao returned home, Little Black had successfully awakened.

• Gu Yun told Wang Tao that troops would explore the rift in three days, and Wang Tao confirmed the Prairie Fire Society would join them.
• Gu Yun invited Wang Tao to inspect the nearly finished Awakening School, which had been converted from a Sixth Army Corps camp.
• Wang Tao toured the school, met its temporary staff, and proposed recruiting teachers from the Prairie Fire Society and other factions.
• Wang Tao agreed to explore the rift with Cheng Yiyi and said enrollment would begin that afternoon.
• The Awakening School opened registration with initial age, conduct, and strength requirements, and applicants were told how to apply.
• Wang Tao returned home at night and found that Little Black had successfully awakened.

Wang Tao welcomed the newly awakened Little Black, whose growth and cold resistance led him to plan a warm home for it at the school as a guardian beast. Ding Yuqin and Wei Zhenguo also awakened, gaining healing and willpower-based abilities, and Wang Tao explained their potential.

• Little Black returned as a huge Fourth Order Lord with the Death Entanglement awakening, enhanced physical abilities, and improved resistance to cold.
• Wang Tao decided to build Little Black a warm nest at the school and make it the School Guardian Beast; the other four black snakes ate Snake Fruit to pursue awakening.
• Ding Yuqin awakened with Healing Spring, which restored health through her bodily fluids, and Wang Tao learned it worked through her kiss.
• Wei Zhenguo awakened with Potential Activation, which enhanced his basic attributes and grew stronger with his willpower.
• Wang Tao explained Wei Zhenguo's awakening's potential, while Xiang Hongbin eagerly considered helping him train his willpower through sparring.