Chapter Summaries

Wang Tao arranged for the Awakening School students to mine ore while he and Lightning returned to explore the fissure’s second level. After killing another fifth-tier mutated red flower, he wondered whether Growth Fruits could affect zombies or Mutated Plants.

• Pan Jian rallied the students after Zheng Ming, Fu Yu, and Yan Hui succeeded in their Third Awakening opportunities.
• Wang Tao told Pan Jian to have students and teachers mine the Stone Forest ore and to protect the three students while they Awakened.
• Wang Tao explained the second level to Pan Jian, then planned to explore it with Lightning while Ding Yuqin and the others hunted nearby Mutated Plants.
• Wang Tao and Lightning traveled deeper into the fissure, cleared fifth-tier elite Mutated Plants, and found a stone wall blocking one route.
• Wang Tao used the Red Flower Ring’s Capture Net to trap another fifth-tier mutated red flower, then killed it with his High Temperature Ray and Iron Thorn Steel Whip.
• Wang Tao collected the mutated red flower’s loot and considered testing whether a Growth Fruit could be eaten by zombies or Mutated Plants.

Wang Tao gathered everyone to fight the last two fifth-order Mutated Plant lords on the Second Layer, where humans below fifth order were suppressed. His first Growth Fruit poisoned a tree, but the second triggered an unexpected Calamity Grade transformation.

• Wang Tao found two fifth-order Mutated Plant lords near the Second Layer’s final wall and called Ding Yuqin and the others to join him.
• Wang Tao discovered that the humans were suppressed to 50–70% strength on the Second Layer, while Lightning, Little Black, and Little Ice were unaffected.
• Wang Tao and the others attacked one immobile tree lord and dodged its powerful Seed Shot attacks behind rocks.
• Wang Tao fed the weakened tree lord a Growth Fruit, which poisoned it, so he finished it with High Temperature Rays.
• Wang Tao weakened the second tree lord and fed it his last Growth Fruit, but it did not become poisoned and instead reached Calamity Grade.

Wang Tao and his companions faced a Fifth Order Calamity Grade mutated tree whose Life Drain made approaching it deadly. Wang Tao killed it with prolonged attacks, an Explosion Heart, and Curse: Execute, then prepared to inspect its spoils.

• The Growth Fruit transformed the mutated tree into a Fifth Order Calamity Grade creature with a million health and a wide-ranging Life Drain that forced Wang Tao's group to retreat.
• Wang Tao tested the tree and discovered that its Life Drain restored its health by draining nearby creatures, while its defense made his attacks deal little damage.
• Wang Tao rejected using the Ironwood Guardian after He Jijun pointed out that the tree could drain the weapon's health, and instead attacked it alone with ranged abilities.
• After Wang Tao wore down about 300,000 health, the tree began moving, so he inflicted Curse: Execute and threw the Explosion Heart at it.
• The Explosion Heart dealt over 600,000 damage and Curse: Execute depleted the tree's remaining health, leaving Wang Tao and his companions to celebrate its defeat.

After defeating the Calamity Grade tree, Wang Tao planted two Awakening Seeds in the Fifth Order tree corpses and inspected their loot. He crafted an Iron Fiend Spear with a Blood Drain Attribute and tested it on Mutated Plants, discovering that it restored health when he attacked with the spear and even when he used Dark Shockwave.

• Wang Tao collected the loot and planted an Awakening Seed in each of the Fifth Order Lord and Calamity Grade tree corpses; both fruits were due to mature in five days.
• Wang Tao inspected the Lord tree's loot, crafted an Ironwood Spear, and found that it had high durability and attack but no special effect.
• Wang Tao found an Advanced Awakening Key, a Magical Seed, an Advanced Growth Fruit, and an Iron Fiend Spear Blueprint among the Calamity Grade tree's loot.
• Wang Tao crafted the Epic Iron Fiend Spear and learned that its Blood Drain Attribute converted 10% of damage dealt into his health.
• Wang Tao tested the spear on Mutated Plants, confirmed that Dark Air Bullet did not trigger blood drain, and discovered that Dark Shockwave did.

Wang Tao tested the Iron Fiend Spear’s lifesteal, discussed equipment and the second floor with the others, and waited for three students to awaken. As the new Awakeners met the group, Cheng Yiyi called to say that her team had found the second floor and asked Wang Tao to come over.

• Wang Tao confirmed that attacks made through the Iron Fiend Spear could lifesteal, with ranged attacks recovering half as much health as melee attacks.
• Xiang Hongbin took the Iron Thorn Steel Whip, Wei Zhenguo took the Ironwood Spear, and Lan Yulian returned the Dark Night Bracelet to Wang Tao after testing its effects on the Mutated Plants.
• Wang Tao told Pan Jian that the second floor suppressed combat strength, had no Mutated Plants left, and might connect to other areas, but said he would take students there in four or five days to see two trees he had planted.
• The three students awakened with System abilities, thanked Wang Tao, and went out to meet the others.
• Cheng Yiyi called Wang Tao and said that her group had found the second floor, asking whether he would come over.

Wang Tao traveled to the Sixth Army Corps after Cheng Yiyi contacted him through unusual communication vines and asked for help exploring a dangerous second level. There, he joined Cheng Yiyi’s group underground and discovered that, unlike in the second level he had explored before, their fourth-tier abilities were not suppressed.

• Cheng Yiyi told Wang Tao that her group had found a dangerous second level and a type of vine that let them communicate over long distances, so Wang Tao agreed to meet them.
• Wang Tao rewarded the teacher with the highest score among the teachers with a fourth-tier saber, prompting the other teachers to compete harder for rewards and points.
• The next morning, Wang Tao left Stone Forest with Lightning and followed Cheng Yiyi’s directions to the Sixth Army Corps, where Cheng Yiyi showed him the signal-transmitting Communication Vines.
• Cheng Yiyi explained that a fifth-tier lord guarded the second-level entrance, and Wang Tao entered the cave with her, Lin Kaiyang, Pei Hai, and three armored soldiers.
• On the second level, Wang Tao realized that Cheng Yiyi and the others were not experiencing the strength suppression he had faced in the other second level, making him suspect that he had missed something during his earlier exploration.

Wang Tao led Cheng Yiyi and her group into the underground area, where a fifth-order Red Mushroom trapped them in a powerful illusion. He discovered and killed its hidden body, leaving Cheng Yiyi and the others unconscious amid the ruined battlefield.

• Wang Tao told Cheng Yiyi about the strength suppression he had encountered, and the group continued exploring through the thickening black mist.
• Lightning detected a fifth-order lord ahead, and Wang Tao spotted a giant Red Mushroom with the Real Illusion Awakening.
• The Red Mushroom's illusion made Cheng Yiyi and the others attack a fake target and turn on Wang Tao, so he knocked them unconscious.
• Wang Tao launched wide-ranging Dark Flame Shockwaves until he struck the Red Mushroom's hidden body, then chased it down and killed it.
• The illusion vanished, revealing the small, two-legged Red Mushroom's body, while Cheng Yiyi and the others remained unconscious.

Wang Tao examined the Red Mushroom’s loot and crafted an Explosion Red Mushroom, then woke Cheng Yiyi and her companions and explained how its illusion had made them attack false targets. Because the group was too injured to keep exploring, they headed back while Wang Tao continued alone, revealing that he had already reached Fifth Order.

• Wang Tao collected the Red Mushroom’s loot, including a Real Illusion Orb, an Illusion Breaking Potion, and an Explosion Red Mushroom blueprint, then crafted the one-use illusion weapon.
• Wang Tao used his mental power to wake Cheng Yiyi and learned that she had seen him as a vine monster and attacked him while trapped in the Red Mushroom’s illusion.
• Wang Tao explained that Cheng Yiyi had been shooting rocks and showed her the Red Mushroom’s loot, which she declined to claim a share of.
• Wang Tao woke the other survivors, and they decided to return because their injuries and weakened condition made further exploration unsafe.
• Cheng Yiyi asked whether Wang Tao had reached Fifth Order, and Wang Tao confirmed that he had.

After Cheng Yiyi and the others left, Wang Tao explored the Underground Second Floor and found a Fifth Order Lord Mutated Plant: splitting moss. He killed it, obtained a Splitting Cloak Blueprint, crafted the cloak, and tested its powerful defensive ability.

• Cheng Yiyi and the others left Wang Tao after he reached Fifth Order, while Cheng Yiyi kept her wish to explore with him to herself.
• Wang Tao explored the Underground Second Floor, found it was mostly blocked by dead ends, and headed north to face the lone Fifth Order Lord Mutated Plant.
• The mutated moss split into countless slow patches, but Wang Tao charged through them and killed the moss giant after it recombined.
• Wang Tao collected the moss's drops, including a Dark Red Leaf and a Splitting Cloak Blueprint, then crafted the cloak.
• Wang Tao equipped the Splitting Cloak and tested Splitting Defense, which expanded to cover him and nearby rocks at a cost of ten Awakening Energy per second.

Wang Tao returned to investigate the missing Sixth Army Corps and found its survivors hiding in a tree cave after a Tier 5 Mutated Banyan Tree attacked them. Though told Cheng Yiyi had been eaten, he followed her scent to a small cave and found her severely injured and chained, while suspicion fell on someone among the survivors.

• Wang Tao discovered the Sixth Army Corps had left its camp and learned from Duan Xuchang that they had been out of contact for three hours.
• Wang Tao followed the Corps' trail into a Mutated Banyan Tree forest and found signs that the soldiers had fought a wounded Tier 5 Lord.
• Wang Tao found Lin Kaiyang and the surviving soldiers, who said Commander Pei had died and Cheng Yiyi had been eaten by the banyan tree while covering their escape.
• Wang Tao led the soldiers out of their hiding place, then sent them back when Lightning warned him that someone in the group had shown hostility toward him.
• Lightning tracked Cheng Yiyi's scent to a small tree cave, where Wang Tao found her severely injured and bound with thick iron chains.

Wang Tao rescued Cheng Yiyi from the Mutated Banyan Tree and learned that Lin Kaiyang had ambushed her and killed Pei Hai. After Wang Tao captured Lin Kaiyang’s accomplices and set off with Cheng Yiyi and Lightning to track Lin Kaiyang, someone attacked Lin Kaiyang in the darkness.

• Wang Tao cut Cheng Yiyi out of her chained Power Armor, treated her, and learned that Lin Kaiyang had killed Pei Hai and left her trapped after she refused to submit to him.
• Wang Tao returned to the soldiers’ hiding place, shielded them with his Splitting Cloak, and smashed the two accomplices Cheng Yiyi identified.
• Cheng Yiyi ordered the soldiers to capture the two accomplices, and Lightning told Wang Tao that one of them had shown hostility toward him.
• Wang Tao left with Cheng Yiyi and Lightning to track Lin Kaiyang, who fled into the wilderness after learning Cheng Yiyi had escaped her Power Armor.
• A tall, blurry figure appeared in front of Lin Kaiyang and struck him in the chest, knocking him unconscious.

Wang Tao captured Lin Kaiyang and exposed his schemes to kill Cheng Yiyi and seize command of the Sixth Army Corps. He then took Cheng Yiyi to the Mutated Banyan Tree and killed the Rank 5 Lord with a single spear, leaving its defeat confirmed.

• Wang Tao questioned Lin Kaiyang, who confessed that he had plotted to kill Cheng Yiyi and Pei Hai so he could become Corps Commander.
• Lin Kaiyang revealed that he had lured Cheng Yiyi and her troops into the banyan forest by concealing the Rank 5 Mutated Banyan Tree and sabotaging Cheng Yiyi and Pei Hai's Power Armor.
• Cheng Yiyi asked Wang Tao to take her to the Mutated Banyan Tree, and he agreed after leaving others to guard Lin Kaiyang and his two subordinates.
• Wang Tao carried Cheng Yiyi to the Mutated Banyan Tree on Lightning and held her in one arm as he fought.
• Wang Tao triggered Execute with his first spear attack, then killed the Mutated Banyan Tree with another strike.

Wang Tao killed the fifth-order Mutated Banyan Tree, rescued Cheng Yiyi, and obtained a blueprint for mass-producing fifth-order wooden armor. After Cheng Yiyi returned to safety, Wang Tao told his companions that the second level did not suppress strength below the fifth order and planned to investigate it with them the next day.

• Wang Tao killed the Mutated Banyan Tree, collected its loot, and discovered a blueprint for Standard Fortified Wooden Armor.
• Wang Tao crafted a set of the armor, Cheng Yiyi tried it on, and he gave it to her to replace her ruined Power Armor.
• Wang Tao and Cheng Yiyi returned to the tree hollow, where Lin Kaiyang and two others remained bound, then traveled to Stone Forest.
• Lan Yulian healed Cheng Yiyi and the soldiers, and Cheng Yiyi left with her people for the temporary base.
• Wang Tao told Lan Yulian and the others that the second level did not suppress strength below the fifth order and proposed they search it together the next day.

Wang Tao discovered a hidden room beneath the poisonous lake and recovered the sixth-order weapon, the Crystal Energy Poison Tree, which had suppressed everyone’s strength. After learning it could suppress, enhance, and shield life within a five-kilometer radius, he tried to activate it and found that even a fifth-order crystal core left a ten-day countdown.

• He Jijun suggested that the group search the ceiling, underground, and lake, so Wang Tao dove into the poisonous water to investigate.
• Wang Tao found and smashed a stone door at the lakebed, then took the Crystal Energy Poison Tree from the room behind it.
• After Wang Tao collected the tree, the Suppression effect vanished, and he told everyone it was a sixth-order weapon.
• Wang Tao examined the tree’s abilities and discovered that each could affect an area with a five-kilometer radius.
• Wang Tao fed the tree a fourth-order crystal core, which set its activation countdown to one hundred days, then used a fifth-order core to reduce it to ten days.

Wang Tao returned from the Second Layer and learned that Han Rui had gathered enough Awakening Keys for his Fourth Awakening, which he planned to attempt back at the base. He brought the teachers and students to see the nearly ripe Awakening Tree, where he and several others sensed something approaching.

• Wang Tao concluded that the Crystal Energy Poison Tree would be more useful at the base, then led everyone out of the Second Layer and back to Stone Forest.
• Wang Tao sent the group to explore while he searched for more Second Layer entrances and Sixth Order Lords, but he found only two ordinary fifth-order lords.
• Han Rui gave Wang Tao an Advanced Awakening Key she had synthesized from collected keys, giving him the four Advanced Awakening Keys needed for his Fourth Awakening.
• Wang Tao decided to postpone his awakening until they returned to the base and took the teachers and students to see the Awakening Tree.
• Wang Tao explained the Second Layer and the Awakening Fruit to the group, then he, Lightning, Little Black, and Jiang Shixue sensed something approaching.

Wang Tao and the students collected 99 Awakening Fruits before fighting off a horde led by a Fifth Order Frozen Zombie Lord. After returning to Stone Forest, Wang Tao decided to find a way to strengthen the students before leaving them to train.

• Wang Tao realized the ripening Awakening Fruit had attracted approaching monsters, and he collected 99 fruits with the group.
• A horde of injured zombies emerged, including a Fifth Order Frozen Zombie Lord, and He Jijun organized the students into a defensive formation.
• Wang Tao used Prairie Fire to kill the Frozen Zombie Lord and weaken the horde, while the students defeated the remaining zombies under He Jijun's command.
• The group returned to Stone Forest and found the horde had trampled through their camp, making Wang Tao realize the students needed more protection while he was away.
• Wang Tao produced the Fifth Order Weapon, Medium Frozen Lord Head, and considered letting the students try it to strengthen themselves.

Wang Tao gave the Awakening School two Frozen Lord Head weapons that could amplify Ice Attribute partners, then sorted through the Fifth Order Frozen Zombie Lord’s loot. He assigned the Ice Attribute necklace to Jiang Shixue, set aside the armor for the school, and planned to return the next day so he could undergo his Fourth Awakening.

• Wang Tao awakened the Fifth Order Medium Frozen Lord Head and explained its Ice Chain amplification to Pan Jian, then gave the school that weapon and the Fourth Order head.
• Wang Tao showed Pan Jian Ice Attribute Defense Crystal Cores and said no one would be forced to fuse one to benefit from Ice Chain.
• Wang Tao counted the Frozen Zombie Lord’s loot, including an Ice Spike Crystal Core, crafting materials, potions, and blueprints for a Frost Necklace and Frostproof Leather Armor Top.
• Wang Tao crafted the necklace and armor, gave the necklace to Jiang Shixue, and set the armor aside for the school’s treasury.
• Wang Tao decided that the group would rest overnight and return the next day so he could undergo his Fourth Awakening.

Wang Tao’s group left the fissure, but the Fifth Order Lord Giant Eagle ambushed them as they emerged. Wang Tao trapped it with his Red Flower Ring and fought it from its back until Curse: Execution brought it near death, when it stopped resisting and bowed its head.

• Pan Jian told Wang Tao that everyone had agreed to fuse with the Ice Attribute Defense Crystal Core, and Wang Tao left him in charge of the fissure base.
• Wang Tao returned to the temporary base with Little Black and joined Cheng Yiyi’s Sixth Army Corps convoy as they headed out of the fissure.
• The Giant Eagle swooped down on Little Black, and Wang Tao used the Red Flower Ring’s Capture Net to bring it crashing to the ground.
• Wang Tao climbed onto the Giant Eagle’s back, bound himself to it with Iron Tree Vine, and attacked with his spear while the Giant Eagle tried to shake him off.
• Curse: Blindness caused the Giant Eagle to crash repeatedly until the effect wore off, leaving it with little health.
• Wang Tao triggered Curse: Execution and prepared to finish the Giant Eagle, but it stopped struggling, landed on a hill, and bowed its head.

Wang Tao spared the defeated Giant Eagle after communicating with it and learning its past, then named it Little Gold and rode it back to Long River Base. He reunited with the worried group by descending from the sky on the eagle’s back, startling everyone who had prepared a rescue search.

• Wang Tao stopped himself from killing the Giant Eagle when it surrendered, then used Mental Communication to learn that it wanted him as its master.
• The Giant Eagle told Wang Tao that its former master had been a herdsman, that it had never eaten a human, and that it had been drawn to the Awakening Fruit and Little Black.
• Wang Tao trusted the Giant Eagle, gave it an Awakening Fruit, named it Little Gold, and rode it through the snowstorm toward Long River Base.
• Wang Tao contacted Ding Yuqin, who told him the group was safe and that the Six Army Corps had been preparing to search for him.
• Wang Tao told Ding Yuqin and the others to look up, and they saw him descending toward the base on the Giant Eagle.

Wang Tao returned to Long River Base with the fifth-tier lord Golden Eagle, which he named Little Gold, and introduced it to the base leaders. He arranged for Little Gold to stay at Autumn Water Pavilion and brought a Crystal Energy Poison Tree to the Municipal Government, where he planned to plant it to strengthen the base.

• Wang Tao landed at Long River Base on Little Gold, reassured Ding Yuqin and the others, and let them ride the Golden Eagle back toward the Municipal Government.
• Wang Tao introduced Little Gold to Gu Yun and the other leaders, who welcomed the powerful new ally and arranged for Autumn Water Pavilion Villa District to become Wang Tao's residence.
• Wang Tao asked Little Gold about the fissures, and it explained that it had avoided them because it had seen zombies fall in and feared it would die too.
• Wang Tao returned the next day with the Crystal Energy Poison Tree and told Gu Yun he wanted to plant it at the center of the base to strengthen everyone.