Chapter Summaries

Linsey discovered a hidden chamber beneath the ruined Sky Stone Steps and found a Primordial Stubborn Stone, which he used to upgrade the Mountains Crest into the Eternal Imprint. After testing its powerful earth-based abilities and defenses, he left the chamber, unable to break apart its stone pillar.

• Linsey failed to damage the Sky Stone Steps with his Meteorite Pickaxe and Indestructible Blade, then used the Mountains Crest to burrow underground into a hidden chamber.
• Linsey found a Primordial Stubborn Stone and used it to craft the Eternal Imprint, an ultimate earth-element magic pattern.
• Linsey discovered that the Eternal Imprint could help craft a World Rune and equipped it, gaining 30 Constitution and greatly improved stamina recovery while standing on earth.
• Linsey tested Stone Skin against ordinary and Meteorite blades, which could not pierce his defense.
• Linsey failed to chip the chamber’s stone pillar, then used the Eternal Imprint to leave the hidden space.

Linsey returned to Yarrow Camp and found it destroyed, its people scattered and dying after an attack. He rescued Vivian, used his Curio and medicine to stabilize her, and accepted her plea to save the survivors, unlocking a territory quest.

• Linsey returned to Yarrow Camp and found its buildings burned or collapsed, its supplies stolen, and most of its residents gone.
• Linsey found Vivian buried alive beneath the rubble and rescued her using Earth Escape and his strength.
• Linsey treated Vivian and placed the Source Material Branch in her arms to counter the Devourer's art draining her Life Force.
• Vivian gave Linsey the Warm Stone Necklace and begged him to save everyone, including her father.
• Linsey accepted the necklace and promised to help, unlocking the First Territory quest and the Real-Time Strategy Module reward.

Linsey returned to the ruined Yarrow Camp, rescued survivors, and learned that Awakened from Green Swamp had abducted Yarrowen and others. He announced that he would rebuild the camp and invited anyone unwilling to trust him to leave.

• Linsey reunited with Tie Yu and learned that many people had died, Kate had been taken, and Hammer was in despair.
• Linsey searched the ruins and rescued six survivors before finding Hammer and urging him to explain the attack.
• Hammer said Awakened from Green Swamp had destroyed the camp’s resources and taken Awakened and able-bodied people, including Yarrowen, who had been defeated by a Sixth Stage legend.
• Linsey promised the survivors that he would rebuild Yarrow Camp, find resources, and stop the attackers if they returned.
• Linsey told the crowd that no one’s freedom would be restricted and asked those willing to trust him to stay.

Linsey persuaded the camp refugees to join him in rebuilding, then used his abilities and the Real-Time Strategy module to provide food, water, tools, and a Town Hall. The Primitive Camp was established with 91 subjects, though it had no resources or units yet.

• Three people Linsey had rescued pledged to follow him, and their support helped convince other refugees to stay.
• Hammer declared that he would follow Linsey, encouraging more refugees to join the effort to rebuild their home.
• Linsey shared his roasted meat with the refugees, whose amazement at its taste lifted their spirits.
• Linsey created an Infinite Water Pool and distributed Iron Pickaxes, then told the refugees to clear the camp ruins.
• Linsey activated the Real-Time Strategy module, built a stone house, and designated it as a Primitive Town Hall for the Primitive Camp.

Linsey reviewed the basic buildings available through his Strategy Module and planned how to develop the camp with its limited resources. After Vivian woke, she joined Linsey, Tie Yu, and Hammer in planning, but they discovered that obtaining enough timber would be a major obstacle.

• Linsey checked the basic buildings and found that stored materials had converted into only ninety units of wood on the Data Panel.
• Tie Yu told Linsey that the residents were clearing the ruins quickly and Hammer wanted to know what they would do afterward.
• Vivian woke and asked about rebuilding the camp; Linsey told her the captured residents were likely beyond reach, but she offered her knowledge of the area.
• Linsey, Tie Yu, Hammer, and Vivian discussed construction priorities and learned that Yarrow Camp had relied on hunting, farming, and hidden grain stores for food.
• Hammer said the wasteland had stones and shrubs but no mature trees for the lumber Linsey needed.

Linsey planted a Miraculous Banyan Forest Seed to transform the barren land around the camp, creating a thriving forest that improved the soil and air. With a new source of wood available, he prepared to have the refugees harvest branches and trees for construction.

• Linsey remembered the Banyan Forest Seed he had kept since defeating the Tree Mother and decided it could solve the camp’s shortage of wood.
• He ordered Tie Yu and Hammer to gather the refugees and warned everyone to stay calm during the environmental transformation.
• Linsey planted the seed, and a lush Banyan Forest rapidly grew around the camp and Town Hall.
• The forest awakened the soil and brought moisture to the air, leaving the refugees amazed and cheering for Linsey.
• Linsey broke off a banyan branch, crafted axes, and told a group of refugees to help him cut trees without damaging the roots.

Linsey expanded the Banyan Grove with a cutting and built a Village Square, discovering that multiple people could speed up construction. Concerned that the square might turn subjects into mindless farmers, he brought Hilude out of the Plant Hut to test its training function.

• Linsey planted a banyan branch and realized the soil-and-water improvement could gradually expand as the grove grew.
• Linsey began constructing a Village Square and found that each additional worker increased building efficiency by ten percent, up to eleven workers and twice the standard speed.
• Linsey and his subjects completed the Village Square, which stored materials and used a bell to summon everyone.
• Linsey considered testing the square's farmer-training function but worried it might strip subjects of their self-awareness.
• Linsey brought Hilude out of the Plant Hut and told her he needed her help.

Linsey tested Village Square’s ability to impart knowledge on Hilude, who confirmed it did not strip away a person’s will and briefly restored a trace of her source essence control. After Hilude revealed she was a Seventh Stage Awakened defeated by Linsey, the shocked villagers learned that hostile visitors might be approaching from the west.

• Linsey carried Hilude to Village Square and used its conversion function to impart knowledge and abilities to her.
• Hilude said the imparting was gentle and did not remove her identity or compel loyalty, though she professed her devotion to Linsey.
• Vivian and Hammer returned, and Hilude announced that she was Linsey’s slave and a Seventh Stage Awakened whom he had defeated.
• Hammer and the nearby citizens reacted with shock, while Linsey clarified that Hilude no longer possessed her former abilities.
• Hilude regained a small ability to manipulate source essence, sensed that someone hostile was approaching, and warned Linsey.

Linsey accepted Hilude’s help in rebuilding civilization, then went west to investigate the hostile figures she had sensed. He found five men heading for Yarrow Camp to plunder it and intercepted them as they tried to retreat.

• Linsey decided to keep Hilude free to contribute her talents to rebuilding the Wasteland, while clarifying that her work was not atonement for her past crimes.
• Linsey left Hilude under Tie Yu’s watch and went west to search for the hostile people.
• Linsey found five men discussing how they planned to loot Yarrow Camp, assuming Green Swamp had taken all the Awakened and left ordinary people behind.
• The five men spotted the Banyan Grove covering Yarrow Camp and decided to abandon their plan and leave.
• Linsey appeared beside the men and told them to visit his camp so he could question them.

Sand Dune and his four companions, captured while trying to prey on Yarrow Camp, watched the camp’s residents build and receive comfortable homes, then encountered the terrifying Hilude. As the prisoners received food and water, they began to question whether they still wanted to escape.

• Sand Dune and his squad found that the prison weakened their bodies and suppressed their source material, making escape dangerous.
• The prisoners watched Yarrow Camp residents construct furnished homes and saw everyone in the camp receive one.
• Hilude visited the cell, intimidated the prisoners, and identified Sand Dune as their leader.
• Hilude taught the residents writing in the Village Square while a camp resident brought the prisoners dinner.
• Sand Dune and his companions ate the food and wondered whether they still needed to escape.

Linsey planned to expand the Banyan Grove by sending exploration teams to find useful resources, including gold, while relying on Hilude to run the Production Line and make Bone Meal. He prepared to recruit the captured Wilderness Hunters into the settlement after their attitudes turned friendly.

• Linsey explained to Hilude that he had imprisoned would-be attackers because the settlement needed people to help it grow.
• Linsey drew a map and planned to send exploration teams to search for mineral deposits, useful plants and animals, and gold mines.
• Hilude used the Production Line to turn leftover bones into Bone Meal while villagers tended crops in the Farmland.
• Linsey observed that the villagers were thriving and revered him, but worried that expanding the settlement would exhaust his gold coins.
• Linsey saw that Sand Dune and the first group of Wilderness Hunters had turned friendly, then went to recruit them as villagers.

Linsey tried to recruit Sand Dune and his four Wilderness Hunters by offering them food and safety in exchange for following camp rules and helping with future exploration. After they agreed to surrender, he led them to the residential zone and invited them to build their own home.

• Linsey visited the prison and directly asked Sand Dune and his men if they were willing to serve him.
• Linsey promised the five hunters food and safety, asking them to move around the camp as examples of outsiders who had been accepted.
• Linsey explained that he hoped to form teams of Awakened to explore the Barren Land World, with their safety as the first priority.
• Sand Dune agreed to surrender after seeing his companions' eagerness to accept Linsey's offer.
• Linsey led Sand Dune and the others to the residential zone and invited them to build a home for themselves.

After three weeks of development, Linsey’s camp became self-sufficient and his Real-Time Strategy reached Level 2, allowing him to begin upgrading the Town Hall. As he planned new farmland and scouting missions, Vivian voiced concerns about the camp’s rapid growth, and Linsey asked her to summon the hunter leaders.

• Linsey’s camp merged into the Banyan Forest, reached a population of 150, harvested its first crops, and added roads and a sewer system.
• Linsey started upgrading the Town Hall to a Classical City-State, spending 500 Wood, 500 Stone, 200 Metal, and 150 Gold Coins on an upgrade scheduled to take eight hours.
• Linsey planned to search for gold and stone mines and other resources, then began copying a map to prepare for scouting the surrounding terrain.
• Hammer and Vivian reported that the farmland could feed the camp at its current size but would not support fifty more people; Linsey ordered additional farmland and fair food distribution.
• Vivian worried that accepting refugees too quickly could leave the camp vulnerable, and Linsey reassured her before asking her to summon Sand Dune and the other hunter leaders.

Linsey sent Sand Dune’s hunter teams to explore the surrounding wilderness, then joined the residents for a communal lunch to bring himself closer to them. As he shared stories from his past, the Town Hall upgrade transformed the camp around them.

• Linsey gave Sand Dune and the other hunters maps, taught them how to read them, and sent their teams to explore in four directions.
• Hilude told Linsey that fate favored the hunters and asked to share his lunch, prompting him to decide to eat with the residents.
• Linsey brought Hilude to the communal meal and shared stories of his adventures in the Cosmic Frontier, easing the residents’ discomfort around him.
• A bell rang as the Town Hall upgrade completed, making the camp’s paths, buildings, and homes sturdier and more spacious.

After the territory upgraded, Linsey chose new buildings to improve the camp and began construction while the residents celebrated the changes. Vivian joined him in building the Medical Station, and they worked together beneath the Banyan Forest at noon.

• Hilude rallied the residents, who cheered for Linsey and the camp’s future.
• Linsey reviewed the newly unlocked buildings and chose the City Center, Large Warehouse, and Medical Station for construction.
• Linsey announced the planned upgrades and the clinic, then upgraded the Village Square and warehouse and placed the Medical Station blueprint.
• Vivian came to help Linsey carry materials, insisting she wanted to contribute to rebuilding the camp.
• Linsey accepted Vivian’s help, and the two worked together beneath the Banyan Forest.

Linsey built the Medical Station and chose Tie Yu to learn the skills of a Life Scholar and become the camp’s doctor. Tie Yu eagerly accepted Linsey’s offer.

• Hilude joined Linsey and Vivian in constructing the camp, explaining that building work helped her recover some strength.
• After construction began, Linsey asked Vivian and Hilude who could serve as the camp’s doctor, and Hilude said anyone would need to learn from scratch.
• Linsey summoned Tie Yu and asked whether he had developed any Skills, then told him about Volcano City and Life Scholars.
• Linsey offered to teach Tie Yu the skills of a Life Scholar so he could staff the Medical Station and take on medical work.
• Tie Yu eagerly agreed to study and fulfill Linsey’s task.

Linsey received a quest about a hidden botanical garden and rushed south with Hilude after suspecting Sand Dune and the other Wilderness Hunters were in danger. They found the hunters being chased by a swarm of grotesque insects beneath the southern mountains.

• Linsey worried that the camp lacked proper medicine and planned to gather medicinal plants and minerals.
• A quest appeared, asking Linsey to investigate a mutated botanical garden hidden in a canyon and offering money and random plant seeds.
• Linsey suspected the quest had appeared because Sand Dune and the other Wilderness Hunters had discovered the garden and run into danger.
• Hilude sensed that the strongest fate fluctuations lay to the south, so Linsey carried her from camp and raced in that direction.
• Linsey and Hilude found Sand Dune and his companions fleeing a swarm of grotesque insects beneath the southern mountains.

Sand Dune and his companions were rescued by Linsey and Hilude after mutant insects attacked them in a misty gorge. Linsey identified the insects as an artificially created species serving an Insect Queen and ordered Sand Dune to lead them back to the gorge to investigate.

• Sand Dune and his companions fled north after a swarm of mutant insects attacked them while they explored beyond their planned route.
• Linsey arrived and killed the pursuing insects with arrows and fire, then sent the group to Hilude for safety.
• Sand Dune explained to Hilude that the insects had emerged from a mist-covered gorge where they had found rare plants.
• Linsey used Hunting Notes to identify the insects as Mutated Sheath Blade Insects controlled by an Insect Queen and collected their materials and bodies.
• Linsey ordered Sand Dune's companions to return to camp and tell everyone they were safe, then asked Sand Dune to guide him and Hilude to the gorge.

Linsey brought Sand Dune and Hilude to Water Mist Canyon, where he discovered the Mutated Sheath Blade Insects emerged from tunnels in plague-infected land. After calling for their controller, he met a human-insect hybrid who demanded that they leave.

• Linsey carried Sand Dune and Hilude across the Wasteland to the canyon where the Mutated Sheath Blade Insects had appeared.
• Linsey found that the canyon's plants and soil carried a suppressed plague, and traced the insects to tunnels and caves in the surrounding mountains.
• Linsey called out to the insects' controller and planted his sword in the ground as a gesture of goodwill; the insects stopped advancing.
• A human-insect hybrid emerged from the mist, appeared as a neutral presence on Linsey's map, and told Linsey and his companions to leave.

Linsey confronted the insect-like inhabitants of the canyon and pressed them for information about their altered insects and the plague. After the inhabitants returned with a leader, Linsey argued that the Barren Land World's depletion of Life Force was the most urgent crisis, and the leader handed him a notebook containing what they knew.

• Linsey revealed his power and Hilude used soul pressure to frighten the first insect-like man into returning underground to consult his companions.
• While waiting, Linsey asked Hilude about possible sources of the insects' hybridization, and she listed several kinds of Awakened who might create them.
• Linsey reassured Sand Dune that he would keep him safe as the group waited among the Mutated Sheath Blade Insects.
• After half an hour, an insect-like leader emerged with companions and warned Linsey that the diseased land was dangerous.
• Linsey argued that the Barren Land World's dwindling Life Force was its most urgent crisis, and the leader gave him a notebook containing their knowledge.