Chapter Summaries

Xia Hong and his companions killed a Snow Mane using a hunting method that relied on a Small Torch, then brought its meat back to Great Xia Camp. He expanded access to Frost Beast meat and the Lumber Team reserves, leaving the camp hopeful and proving Great Xia could hunt independently.

• Xia Hong lured Snow Mane into a tree’s branches and attacked its tongue while Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng wounded its hind leg, killing the Frost Beast.
• Xia Hong led the exhausted group back to camp with Snow Mane’s corpse, where the residents gathered to see their catch.
• After the meat was weighed at one thousand two hundred and seventy jin, Xia Hong announced a three-five-two distribution and opened the Lumber Team reserves to anyone over two thousand jin in strength, regardless of age or sex.
• Xia Hong set aside seventy jin of meat for everyone in camp, prompting the residents to cheer and celebrate their chance to share in the harvest.
• Xia Hong recognized that the hunt had proven Great Xia could use a Small Torch to hunt Frost Beasts, rather than relying on scavenging.

Xia Hong strengthened Great Xia Camp’s resolve by sharing Frost Beast Meat, while Shi Qing’s search led Big Stone Camp to confront Xia Ding’s Lumber Team. The meeting turned deadly when an unseen attack killed three of Shi Qing’s men.

• Xia Hong distributed Frost Beast Meat to the camp and urged the Lumber Team to keep gathering wood and hunting Frost Beasts.
• As the camp celebrated its meal, Xia Hong reflected on the hardship of life in the Endless Winter and hoped he had come to help its people.
• Shi Qing rejected Wang Ming’s suggestion to search the earthen slope, but then spotted Xia Ding and twelve members of Great Xia Camp’s Lumber Team approaching.
• Shi Qing, Shi Dong, and Wang Ming accused Xia Ding of taking the Snow Mane and demanded an explanation, but Xia Ding’s group only stared blankly and smiled stiffly.
• A sharp sound rang out, and three Big Stone Camp members froze before collapsing with bloody marks on their brows.

Shi Qing's Big Stone Lumber Team fought a seemingly unstoppable impostor wearing Xia Ding's face and suffered devastating losses. As the survivors fled away from their camp, a young voice announced that it had finally found them.

• Shi Qing ordered Wang Ming to hold off the pursuers while he and Shi Dong climbed trees to attack with arrows.
• Xia Ding dodged Wang Ming's saber, took four arrows without slowing, and killed Wang Ming with a single punch.
• Shi Qing recognized that Xia Ding was actually the fiend from Redwood Ridge and led the survivors away from camp as the pursuers kept charging through arrows.
• An unseen attack killed two more fleeing team members, leaving only five of the sixteen alive.
• A young voice called from the right, saying it had finally found them and asking where they could run.

A young swordsman and Rogue Camp leaders Li Hu and Luo Ming rescued Shi Qing’s group and cornered the Wood Puppet Grotesque that had controlled Xia Ding and the Lumber Team. The chapter ended as the three launched a coordinated attack, leaving the grotesque with no apparent escape.

• A young man arrived and swiftly killed the grotesque monsters pursuing Shi Qing and the others.
• The young man spotted an attacker hiding in a Golden Scale Tree, then split the tree with one sword strike as Li Hu and Luo Ming joined him.
• A black figure fled from the fallen tree, and the three surrounded it; Shi Qing recognized Luo Ming and realized the figure had been controlling Xia Ding and the Lumber Team.
• The Wood Puppet Grotesque unleashed nearly invisible threads, but the young man severed them with his silver sword while Li Hu and Luo Ming dodged and closed in.
• The three fighters coordinated a sword slash, spear thrust, and saber chop, trapping the Wood Puppet Grotesque with no route to escape.

Luo Ming, Li Hu, and Yang Ning fought off a Wood Puppet Grotesque, which escaped after using nearby trees to trap them. Yang Ning and Li Hu then explained the Ice Abyss and the Nine Towns to Luo Ming and Shi Qing, leaving them stunned by the scale of Beishuai Town.

• Luo Ming, Li Hu, and Yang Ning attacked the Wood Puppet Grotesque, but it animated eight trees and trapped them with branches.
• Yang Ning realized the trees were not puppets and that the Wood Puppet Grotesque had escaped; he warned Luo Ming that it might soon reach the Intermediate rank.
• Shi Qing and four others thanked Luo Ming, Yang Ning, and Li Hu for saving them, and Luo Ming introduced the two men as lords of Beishuai Camp.
• Luo Ming asked about the Wood Puppet Grotesque, and Yang Ning explained that the humans lived in a world called the Ice Abyss, a name given by Lord Yang Zun.
• Yang Ning described the southern foothills of Mount Ao and the Nine Towns as the region's nine largest camps.
• Li Hu revealed that each town-level camp had over one hundred thousand people and said that he and Yang Ning came from Beishuai Town.

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.