Recaps

Yang Ning explained the lost Ancient Abyss Era and the origins and kinds of grotesques to Luo Ming, Shi Qing, and the other camp leaders. He left them with the revelation that the Cold Resistance Level stood above the Earth Excavation Realm and allowed people to venture outdoors by day.

• Shi Qing asked how a settlement of more than a hundred thousand people could find a cavern large enough, and Yang Ning said only qualified people could enter North Shuo Town.
• Luo Ming reflected on why Rogue Camp could not merge with nearby camps without enough strength and resources to support a larger population.
• Yang Ning described the Ancient Abyss Era, when humans lived freely, Frost Beasts were mostly food, and large settlements and flourishing civilization were common.
• Yang Ning explained that grotesques originated in the Ancient Abyss Era and were divided into artisans, nightmares, dread, divine beings, and demons.
• Yang Ning described the Wood Puppet Grotesque and the Tailor Grotesque, then told Luo Ming and Shi Qing that the Cold Resistance Level was above the Earth Excavation Realm.

Yang Ning and Li Hu recruited the Redwood Ridge camps to follow their command while preparing to hunt the Wood Puppet Grotesque. Back at Great Xia Camp, Xu Ning broke through to the Lumbering Realm, and Xia Hong began addressing resentment over the camp’s resource distribution.

• Luo Ming and Shi Qing begged Yang Ning and Li Hu to help destroy the Wood Puppet Grotesque, and Yang Ning agreed on the condition that the surrounding camps obey their commands.
• Luo Ming agreed for Rog Camp, Shi Qing agreed for Big Stone Camp, and they realized that only four other camps remained after Great Xia Camp’s apparent destruction.
• Yang Ning ordered Luo Ming to gather the four camps at Rog Camp and organize patrol squads to search for the Grotesque in ten days.
• Xu Ning announced that he had broken through, and Xia Hong told him he could join the lumber team the next day.
• Xia Hong challenged his companions’ view that people who had not reached the Lumbering Realm were burdens, then asked Xia Chuan how he wanted to divide the meat.

Xia Hong defended the camp’s broader distribution of Frost Beast Meat and Crystal Fruits, arguing that the camp could survive only by raising everyone’s strength. He left the group united behind Great Xia Camp’s goal of growing strong enough to face Frost Beasts and strange monsters.

• Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng urged Xia Hong to restore the old ration system, giving most Frost Beast Meat to hunters and limiting Crystal Fruit to one per person each day.
• Xia Hong reminded the seven that they all wanted to survive and protect their loved ones, and explained that sharing meat would help more people reach the Lumbering Realm.
• Xia Hong argued that a larger, stronger camp would hunt more successfully and could divide work among dedicated teams.
• Xia Hong asked the group whether they would accept their loved ones receiving no Frost Beast Meat if they died, prompting Xia Chuan, Yuan Cheng, and the others to recognize their selfishness.
• Xia Hong urged the camp to raise its overall strength, and the gathered people grew resolute as he vowed to make Frost Beasts and strange monsters kneel before Great Xia Camp.

Xia Hong persuaded Great Xia Camp’s leaders to keep distributing Frost Beast Meat under the three-five-two ratio, arguing that strengthening the whole camp would help it grow and survive. With the new rules accepted, he prepared to lead the group out before dark.

• Xia Hong explained that distributing Frost Beast Meat would motivate more people to train and help Great Xia Camp expand.
• Yuan Cheng, Yue Feng, Lin Kai, and the others agreed to keep the meat-distribution rules unchanged.
• Xia Chuan was the last to support Xia Hong’s plan, accepting that cultivating more Lumbering Realm fighters should take priority.
• With the dispute settled, Xia Hong told everyone to prepare to head out, and Xu Ning eagerly touched the Stone Axe at his waist.

Xia Hong’s team discovered that their Crystal Fruit supply could not feed the camp and went to inspect Big Stone Camp’s trees. They found Wang Ming and three other Big Stone Camp members dead, and Xia Hong suspected a strange monster was responsible; as the team headed back, one corpse sat up and watched them.

• Xia Hong and Xia Chuan calculated that the three Ice Vast Trees could not reliably feed Great Xia Camp’s population, so Xia Hong led the team toward Big Stone Camp’s territory to inspect its trees.
• Qiu Peng cut his foot on a Great Saber buried in the snow, which Yuan Cheng recognized as Wang Ming’s weapon.
• Xia Hong uncovered Wang Ming’s corpse and ordered the team to search the area.
• Lin Kai found three more Big Stone Camp corpses, all bearing fatal wounds, including red marks between their eyebrows.
• Xia Hong suspected the deaths were caused by something other than people or Frost Beasts and ordered everyone back to camp.
• After the team left, one of the corpses sat upright and watched them retreat.

Xia Hong returned to camp with a Great Saber worth sixty units of iron and used the iron to upgrade the Small Bonfire. The bonfire became a Level 2 Iron Smelting Furnace, giving the camp new ways to repel ghostly monsters and produce useful items.

• Xia Hong realized Great Stone Camp's abandoned Great Saber and the strange deaths near it suggested a ghostly monster had driven off their Lumber Team, so he brought his group back to camp and halted hunting and woodcutting.
• Xia Hong discovered that the Great Saber could be converted into sixty units of iron, finally giving him enough iron to change the system's buildings.
• Xia Hong chose to upgrade the Small Bonfire rather than unlock the Wooden Stake, prioritizing protection from ghostly monsters and the camp's surplus wood.
• The Small Bonfire's flames surged higher and warmed the cave, startling the camp members.
• Xia Hong read the new Iron Smelting Furnace's attributes: it could burn coal to warm a wide area, deter and damage low-level ghostly monsters, smelt ironware, and produce Small Torches and Fire Condensing Oil from wood.

Xia Hong upgraded the camp’s bonfire into an Iron Smelting Furnace and discovered that its Fire Condensing Oil could ignite ghouls on contact. After keeping the camp safe and teaching the Ancestral Long Fist, he heard a huge commotion approaching the cave entrance, leaving everyone fearing a frost beast attack.

• Xia Hong watched the bonfire transform into an Iron Smelting Furnace and learned about its new Fire Condensing Oil, which ignited ghouls on contact.
• The camp residents witnessed the furnace’s transformation and grew more devoted to Xia Hong, seeing him as their best chance of survival.
• Xia Hong stayed in camp rather than search near Tower Mountain, choosing to train the residents and study ways to fight ghouls.
• Xia Hong taught the camp how the Ancestral Long Fist improved reaction speed and explosive force, then began explaining how it worked with weapons.
• A thundering commotion shook the ground near the cave entrance, and the camp residents feared a frost beast had found them.

Xia Hong and the others tried to protect their cave when a huge goat-shaped frost beast charged toward it in daylight. After the beast smashed through the entrance, Xia Hong redirected its charge while the others bound it with ropes, leaving them locked in a dangerous struggle.

• Xia Hong ordered the hearth extinguished and the people inside the cave to retreat as the frost beast approached.
• Xia Hong saw the six-horned goat-shaped frost beast charging toward their hillside cave and kept the group ready at the entrance.
• Xia Hong heard the beast approaching underground and ordered everyone to scatter just before it smashed through the entrance.
• Xia Hong grabbed the beast's horns and redirected its charge toward the cave wall, but its horns shattered his stone axe.
• Xia Chuan passed Xia Hong another axe as he and six others roped the frost beast and pulled until it nearly fell over.

Xia Hong and the others struggled to restrain the Frost Beast, whose horns, jaw, and body resisted their attacks. Xu Ning discovered a golden eye hidden beneath its mane and struck at it, but the chapter ended as his axe came down.

• Xia Hong struck the Frost Beast's lower jaw with a stone axe, but the beast's bone shattered the weapon and it broke free of the ropes.
• Xia Hong tried to stop the charging beast with his bare hands, was thrown into the cave wall, and warned the others about its sharp horns.
• The Frost Beast charged Xu Ning, who dodged onto its back but suffered a horn wound to his shoulder.
• Xu Ning hacked at the beast's mane, found a golden eye hidden beneath it, and shouted to the others that it was the creature's weakness.
• Xia Hong warned Xu Ning not to attack the eye, but Xu Ning pressed on as it flashed with blinding light and his axe descended.

Xia Hong and the others killed the Frost Beast after piercing the golden eye on its back, then hurried to seal the cavern against the deadly cold. As Xia Hong handed a log to a middle-aged man, the man suddenly attacked him.

• Xu Ning lost his right eye after looking at the Frost Beast's back and warned Xia Hong to avoid its eyes.
• Xia Hong climbed onto the Frost Beast while six others clung to its limbs, enduring its violent struggles until it weakened.
• Xia Hong stabbed the golden eye on the Frost Beast's back, and the beast eventually collapsed and died.
• Xia Hong learned the camp's adults and children were freezing, so he led people to seal the cavern and prepare a fire.
• A middle-aged man suddenly punched toward Xia Hong's head as he reached for a log.

Xia Hong exposed the specter from Redwood Ridge when it ambushed him disguised as Wang Ping, then burned it with Fire Condensing Oil. After the specter vanished, the camp discovered the real Wang Ping was missing, leaving Xia Hong worried that the specter could impersonate and strengthen people while controlling them remotely.

• The specter disguised as Wang Ping punched Xia Hong, but Xia Hong and the others recognized that it was the creature from Redwood Ridge.
• The specter mocked the camp and claimed it would kill everyone, while Xia Hong revealed that the Frost Beast had been driven toward them.
• Fire Condensing Oil on Xia Hong's body ignited the specter's palm, and the flames consumed it as it vowed to return.
• Xia Hong ordered the camp to relight the fire and count everyone, and the people discovered that Wang Ping was missing.
• Xia Hong concluded that the specter might kill people, impersonate and strengthen them, and control multiple victims, making it a growing threat.

After Xu Ning lost an eye fighting the Golden-Eyed Demonic Sheep and an eerie monster, Xia Hong encouraged him and discovered he had broken through to the Earth Excavation Realm. The chapter ended with a mysterious old man severing his burning hand and vowing revenge on Great Xia Camp.

• Xu Ning tried to reassure Xia Hong and the others after losing his right eye, and Xia Hong promised to find him a bow and arrows so he could become an archer.
• Xia Hong tested his strength and realized he had broken through to the Earth Excavation Realm, qualifying him to excavate and mine for ore.
• Yuan Cheng reported that the Golden-Eyed Demonic Sheep yielded seventeen hundred jin of meat and a complete hide, and Xia Hong ordered the camp to distribute the meat and train for their next outing.
• A white thread connecting the old man in black to Great Xia Camp caught fire after Wang Ping was burned to ash, so the old man cut off his burning hand.
• The old man watched the cave and vowed that Great Xia Camp's people would not escape him.

Luo Ming’s group ventured into Redwood Ridge’s depths to hunt the Wood Puppet Grotesque, but the creature ambushed their men and left several camps furious at being used as bait. After seeing Yang Ning and Li Hu engage the monster, Luo Ming faced growing pressure to abandon the hunt.

• Luo Ming reassured Shi Qing that their brothers were safe, but a Bone Whistle sounded and they found Shi Dong fleeing from Wang Rui and Sun Xinzhu, who had been replaced by the Wood Puppet Grotesque.
• Shi Qing stopped the attackers with two arrows, and Shi Dong reported that they had ambushed and wounded him after stepping away to relieve themselves.
• Yang Ning and Li Hu charged the Wood Puppet Grotesque, and Li Hu cut down a massive tree to force it out of hiding.
• Yang Ning and Li Hu fought the grotesque as Wang Rui and Sun Xinzhu collapsed dead after it lost control of them.
• Four camp leaders and Shi Qing told Luo Ming that their men could no longer serve as bait, and Luo Ming began to waver.

After four failed attempts to kill the Wood Puppet Grotesque, the leaders of the six camps questioned Yang Ning and Li Hu’s plan as their people suffered heavy losses. Yang Ning and Li Hu returned after cutting off one of the creature’s hands, but the crowd was ready to abandon the hunt.

• Luo Ming recalled that he had persuaded the other camps to send Lumbering Realm fighters as bait, suspecting Yang Ning and Li Hu expected a reward from hunting the creature.
• Luo Ming counted twenty-nine deaths across the four attempts, including three recent losses that left only Shi Qing and Shi Dong in Big Stone Camp.
• Hong Gang and Huang Yong said their camps could not keep sacrificing fighters, and Shi Qing declared that he and his brother had to leave.
• Yang Ning and Li Hu returned, saying the Wood Puppet Grotesque had escaped again but they had cut off one of its hands.
• The leaders and fighters showed their disappointment, and Li Hu stepped forward angrily after noticing the crowd’s mood.

Yang Ning and Li Hu clashed with the camp leaders over the losses suffered while fighting the Wood Puppet Grotesque, and Shi Qing decided to withdraw with Shi Dong. Yang Ning chose to attempt one final fight before seeking reinforcements, leaving the other camps to decide their own fate.

• Li Hu insulted the camp leaders, and Yang Ning warned that they could not defeat the Wood Puppet Grotesque without his and Li Hu's help.
• Luo Ming apologized for the leaders' frustration and explained that continued losses could leave their camps without food or shelter.
• Shi Qing told Luo Ming that he and Shi Dong would withdraw because Big Stone Camp was running short on food, and Luo Ming agreed to give them Crystal Fruits the next night.
• The other four leaders agreed to return to camp and discuss what to do next with Yang Ning and Li Hu.
• Li Hu proposed leaving to summon helpers, but Yang Ning decided to try fighting the weakened grotesque once more before asking for reinforcements.

The leaders of the five small camps arrived at Rogue Camp and saw how its coal-fueled heating kept the valley warm. Luo Ming learned that coal could also soften soil for farming, then led the visitors inside, where Shi Dong spotted the small house belonging to Luo Ming’s father, Luo Feng.

• Hong Gang praised Rogue Camp’s warmth, and its people said no one there had frozen to death in nearly twenty years.
• Li Hu mocked the visitors, and Luo Ming realized coal could be used to soften land for crops; Li Hu then warned that mining enough coal would take years.
• Yang Ning urged everyone to stop talking, and Luo Ming led the group through a concealed passage into the valley.
• The visitors saw Rogue Camp’s five heated wooden buildings, and Hong Gang praised the coal heating.
• Shi Dong noticed a small wooden house beside the innermost building, and Luo Ming said it was his father Luo Feng’s residence.

Shi Qing reflected on Luo Feng’s rise and downfall before joining the others at Rogue Camp, where Luo Ming warned that without help from the other camps, they could not defeat the Wood Puppet Grotesque. He left the four camp leaders to decide whether to stay, adding that Rogue Camp might have to flee if they withdrew.

• Shi Qing recalled how Luo Feng built Rogue Camp by absorbing five camps before encountering grotesques, losing his hunting team, killing his youngest son, and going mad.
• Shi Qing and Shi Dong followed Luo Ming into Rogue Camp’s warm wooden hall, where Yang Ning and Li Hu took the main seats and Luo Ming sat third.
• Luo Ming said he would not stop Shi Qing from leaving because Big Stone Camp could not endure further losses.
• Luo Ming told Hong Gang and the other three camp leaders that Rogue Camp could not defeat the Wood Puppet Grotesque alone and asked them to decide whether to stay or withdraw.
• Luo Ming warned that if the four camps withdrew, Rogue Camp would have to leave and seek another way to survive, shocking the other leaders.

Yang Ning explained that the Wood Puppet Grotesque threatened far more than the camps around Redwood Ridge, and he refused to abandon the plan to use people as bait. After everyone returned to rest, Shi Dong woke at noon and quietly left his room.

• Hong Gang objected to sending more people as bait, and Luo Ming asked Yang Ning and Li Hu to find another way to lure out the grotesque.
• Yang Ning warned the chiefs that the Wood Puppet Grotesque could grow powerful enough to threaten nearby camps and Beishuo Town, and said Li Hu's father had died volunteering as bait.
• Yang Ning announced that they would make one final attempt the next day, then seek reinforcements if they failed and leave the camps to fend for themselves.
• Luo Ming arranged rooms for everyone, and the exhausted chiefs and their companions went to sleep.
• Shi Dong woke at noon, quietly left his room, and walked outside.

Luo Feng recalled how a specter killed his hunting team, tortured him, and demanded a hundred people in exchange for his life. Years later, after the specter’s attack left him mentally broken, it appeared in his cabin to collect the debt.

• The specter disguised itself as Luo Sheng and tortured Luo Feng until he agreed to bring a hundred people as payment for his life.
• An old man restored Luo Feng’s severed arm and ordered him to return with a hundred people in ten days, keeping Luo Sheng under the specter’s control as a monitor.
• Luo Feng destroyed the false Luo Sheng and tore off his wooden arm rather than sacrifice people from the camp, then suffered a mental breakdown.
• Years later, Luo Feng woke from a nightmare about Luo Sheng and muttered that the specter could not find him and that he would send no one.
• Two voices answered Luo Feng, demanding that he repay the life-buying debt.

Shi Qing and Shi Dong returned to Big Stone Camp, where they encountered young Great Xia practitioners gathering crystal fruit. Xia Hong revealed himself as Great Xia’s leader, and Shi Qing tried to leave without explaining his earlier fear.

• Shi Qing told Luo Ming he would not join the final hunt in Redwood Ridge and left with Shi Dong for Big Stone Camp.
• Shi Qing decided to gather more crystal fruit from the ice vast trees before returning to camp.
• Shi Qing and Shi Dong found five young men from Great Xia picking crystal fruit and initially mistook them for people controlled by strange entities.
• Xia Hong and nine others surrounded Shi Qing and Shi Dong as they tried to retreat.
• Shi Dong recognized Xia Hong, who introduced himself as Great Xia’s current leader; Shi Qing was astonished that the youths were all in the lumbering realm.
• Shi Qing claimed he needed to return to camp and invited Xia Hong to meet another time.

Xia Hong let Shi Qing and Shi Dong leave after suspecting something had happened to Big Stone Camp, then considered Great Xia Camp’s growing strength and its need for ore. Xia Chuan noticed Shi Dong had recognized Xia Hong despite never having met him, prompting Xia Hong to realize the clues pointed to danger and urge everyone to pursue them.

• Xia Hong noticed Shi Qing’s unease, let him and Shi Dong leave, and concluded that something was wrong at Big Stone Camp.
• Yue Feng agreed that Shi Qing had lied, while Xia Hong decided not to question him about another camp’s affairs.
• Xia Hong assigned the night’s tree-cutting work and reflected on Great Xia Camp’s new Lumbering Realm fighters and its shortage of coal and Iron Ore.
• Xia Chuan pointed out that Shi Dong had recognized Xia Hong despite never having seen him before.
• Xia Hong connected Shi Dong’s recognition with the dead members of Wang Ming’s group, Shi Qing’s knife, and the Crystal Fruits, then told everyone to catch up because something was wrong with Shi Dong.

Xia Hong realized that the Shi Dong who returned with Shi Qing was the Wood Puppet Grotesque and raced toward Big Stone Camp, but the creature had already infiltrated the camp. It immobilized Shi Qing and began slaughtering the people there, leaving him helpless as his family and campmates died.

• Xia Hong concluded that the real Shi Dong was likely dead and that the man accompanying Shi Qing was a fake, then hurried after them toward Big Stone Camp.
• Shi Qing led the fake Shi Dong into Big Stone Camp through its hidden entrance, unaware that the camp showed no signs of trouble.
• The Wood Puppet Grotesque bound Shi Qing with white threads and revealed that it had infiltrated the camp while disguised as Shi Dong.
• Shi Qing recognized the creature and tried to warn everyone, but the threads sewed his mouth shut before he could make himself understood.
• The Wood Puppet Grotesque killed people in the camp, and Shi Qing watched helplessly as his wife died and despair overwhelmed him.

Xia Hong found the hidden entrance to Big Stone Camp at the top of Tower Mountain and discovered that Shi Dong, controlled by a weird entity, was slaughtering the camp’s people. He killed the entity’s host with a dagger coated in Fire Condensing Oil, while the true entity remained at large.

• Xia Hong and the others searched Tower Mountain’s four sides before spotting a rattan vine leading to the summit.
• Xia Hong found the cave entrance, coated the group’s axes and his dagger with Fire Condensing Oil, then entered with Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng.
• Inside the cave, Xia Hong saw Shi Qing bound by white threads and found nearly a hundred people dead or injured around the bonfire.
• Xia Hong confronted Shi Dong, recognized the white threads as vulnerable to his coated dagger, and slashed through them to reach the controlled man.
• Xia Hong cut off Shi Dong’s arms and head, and the Fire Condensing Oil ignited the body as he vowed to hunt down the true weird entity.

After the weirdness devastated Big Stone Camp, Xia Hong agreed to take its surviving residents back to Great Xia Camp. As the survivors began evacuating, Xia Hong asked Shi Qing what he knew about the weirdness.

• Xia Hong and the others found Big Stone Camp’s survivors mourning their dead, including Shi Qing’s wife and brother.
• Xia Hong urged Shi Qing to organize the survivors before the weirdness could return, and Shi Qing sent Shi Ping and Shi Lu to count survivors and prepare the evacuation.
• Shi Qing appealed to Xia Hong to take in Big Stone Camp’s remaining residents, and Xia Hong agreed to bring them back to Great Xia Camp.
• Shi Ping reported that 132 people had died and 187 remained, and Xia Chuan organized the survivors’ orderly evacuation.
• Xia Hong helped Shi Qing onto Shi Ping’s back and asked how the camp escaped the weirdness, how Shi Dong was replaced, and whether Shi Qing had seen it.

After learning that the Wood Puppet Grotesque had infiltrated Rogue Camp, Xia Hong decided to hurry there with six companions to stop it from slaughtering the camp’s people. He left the rest of the group to return to Great Xia Camp and accepted two bows from Shi Qing before setting out.

• Shi Qing told Xia Hong about the surrounding towns and described the Wood Puppet Grotesque as an old man with scarlet pupils, a knife, and transparent threads.
• Shi Qing revealed that the grotesque had replaced Shi Dong during a bait operation and entered Rogue Camp, where over a thousand people remained.
• Xia Hong concluded that Rogue Camp was in danger and decided to go there despite Shi Qing’s warning.
• Xia Hong ordered Xu An, Liu Yuan, and Li Yuan Kun to escort the group to Great Xia Camp and seal the cavern, while he took Xia Chuan and five others toward Rogue Camp.
• Shi Qing gave Xia Hong two curved bows and quivers, and Xia Hong’s group raced north through Redwood Ridge.