Recaps

Xia Nan left Barracuda Bay, met Fugan’s trail at Salt Rock Port, and fought his way toward Blood-Cast Fortress amid growing monster attacks. Reunited with Fugan, he demonstrated his evolved [Tooth Hunt] and destroyed a goblin camp, leaving Fugan to question why Xia Nan believed he had reached a bottleneck.

• Xia Nan prepared to leave Barracuda Bay, received a custom Winter Wolf figurehead from Lorraine and the others, and learned from Fugan’s letter that he was waiting at Salt Rock Port.
• Xia Nan set sail aboard the Wave-Chasing Sea Fang, defeated Yorkshaw and his pirates, then returned a captured Baby Octopus to its parent after the Shell Octopus attacked his ship.
• After the damaged ship headed for repairs, Xia Nan reached Salt Rock Port alone and learned that Fugan had already left for Blood-Cast Fortress.
• Xia Nan killed the thugs attacking Wenser, then traveled inland and saved a conscription squad from three Manticores before continuing toward the fortress.
• Xia Nan fought off Goblins threatening a village and followed clues to Fugan, whom he found with Fanny after discovering a Goblin nest they had attacked.
• Fugan took Xia Nan to a Goblin camp so he could test Xia Nan’s growth and Battle Momentum, and Xia Nan’s black wolf shadow swept through the camp and killed Gaka Bloodspear.
• Xia Nan told Fugan that [Tooth Hunt] had evolved through combat proficiency gained in dreams, and Fugan asked how Xia Nan could have reached a bottleneck given his strength and developed fighting style.

Xia Nan traveled to Blood-Cast Fortress, pursued a bounty against a Banshee, and uncovered the secret behind her attacks on Ice Tree Village. Ailiruila’s story ended with her taking her own life, while Xia Nan and the villagers were left to face the aftermath.

• Fugan encouraged Xia Nan to create his own combat skill, and Xia Nan tested his ideas while fighting a Layered-Armor Elephant that had attacked an adventuring party.
• Xia Nan arrived at Blood-Cast Fortress, earned military merit for the elephant, and chose a Banshee bounty while continuing to pursue the Chain of Conquest and its Terminal Reverse Scale.
• Xia Nan joined Tal and Sulfur Dragon Breath to investigate the Banshee near Ice Tree Village, where Sarah gave him a bracelet woven with Ice Crystal Flowers and Old Sang described the attack that had killed adventurers.
• The group found the Banshee in a Goblin cave, where her Withering Wail killed Ganke, but Xia Nan’s Gaze into the Abyss and Sarah’s bracelet caused her to stop attacking and flee.
• Xia Nan discovered that the Banshee was Ailiruila, the Elf buried in the village cemetery, and saw her meeting secretly with Old Sang before Shuxi confronted them.
• Xia Nan and Shuxi pursued Ailiruila toward Ice Tree Village, and Xia Nan used Gravity Control to bring her down before she reached the villagers.
• Ailiruila’s past revealed that she had become a Banshee to save Ice Tree Village from the Mycelium plague that infected Sarah, and after regaining awareness she took Shuxi’s Radiant-coated dagger and stabbed herself.