Recaps

Lincon returned to Longwind Fortress after another failed search for his missing comrades, using shrines to navigate the darkness. At home, he absorbed a Head Ghost and unlocked a career panel that revealed his powers and stored sunlight.

• Lincon learned from Dave that darkness was arriving earlier and recorded his route after finding Great Cang Village had become a dead zone.
• Lincon caught and beat a Head Ghost, then let its laughter keep other dark creatures from targeting him as he traveled.
• Lincon replenished and lit one of his shrines, confirmed the path to Longwind Fortress, and returned to the fortress.
• Lincon drew the Head Ghost into the Seed Mark on his palm, unlocking a career panel that listed his Longwind Fortress Guardian and Plant Cultivator careers.

Lincon discovered his Lord primary career and explored its territory-manipulation ability, then used the Seed Mark to advance sunflower seeds and nearly exhausted himself accelerating their growth. He collapsed before seeing the plants, while notifications showed that the cultivation succeeded and his Plant Cultivator level increased.

• Lincon discovered that his primary career was Lord and used Higher-Dimensional Manipulation to move an abandoned house within Longwind Fortress.
• Lincon realized the territory did not remove Dark Creatures and narrowly avoided an approaching E-Rank Anomaly Calamity.
• Lincon examined seeds with his Seed Mark and chose to advance sunflower seeds into Sunshine Sunflower Seeds and a Sunshine Mawflower Seed.
• Lincon planted eleven advanced seeds and used Accelerated Growth, nearly depleting his mental energy before collapsing asleep.
• Lincon received notifications that he had cultivated the plants and reached Plant Cultivator Level 1, gaining attributes and mental energy.

Lincon awakened to find his Sunlight plants thriving and gained Plant Cultivator experience before making a Shrine that granted profession experience. After messenger Zhang Rui arrived at Longwind Fortress and revealed how the world had changed, Lincon refused to leave, while Zhang Rui departed intending to tell others that someone still lived there.

• Lincon discovered his Sunlight plants had grown overnight, reached Beginner Level 1 as a Plant Cultivator, and planted them in his yard, where the Sunlight Man-Eater grew nearly to a person's height.
• Lincon made a Crude Shrine and received Shrine-making and Longwind Fortress Guardian experience, but Seed Mark could not upgrade the non-plant item.
• Lincon saw a stranger enter his territory and caught Zhang Rui when the exhausted messenger collapsed, then gave him water.
• Zhang Rui explained that Longwind Fortress had supposedly fallen three years earlier and described how ability users and survivor cities such as Black Iron City now resisted the Black Tides.
• Lincon declined Zhang Rui's offer to take him to a city, and Zhang Rui left, planning to mark Longwind Fortress on his map and inform other messengers that Lincon was alive there.

Lincon searched the forest for useful fungi but was ambushed by a pack of mutated Carrion Rats led by a Carrion Rat King. With the rats about to overwhelm him, he awakened the hidden Ghostshadow Sword Orchid and drew its black blade from the ground.

• Lincon left his courtyard to hunt and used his Seed Mark to inspect Purple Mushrooms, but found both advancement paths dangerous.
• Lincon discovered a wrecked rat trap and was attacked by an unusually large Carrion Rat, which he killed with his pickaxe.
• A pack of nearly twenty mutated Carrion Rats surrounded Lincon, and their Carrion Rat King knocked him into bushes as he tried to escape.
• As the rats swarmed over him, Lincon selected the hidden Ghostshadow Sword Orchid advancement using his Sunlight, pickaxe, and Dark Matter Crystal.
• The awakened orchid released sword qi that split the attacking rats, then Lincon pulled a black blade from the ground.

Lincon defeated the mutated Carrion Rats with the newly cultivated Ghostshadow Sword Orchid, then discovered new mushroom advancement paths and a mission promising a Junior Rune Industry Blueprint. After spotting a terrifying Pale Wraith near Longwind Fortress, he returned home and cultivated Beautiful Abalone Mushrooms.

• Lincon used the Ghostshadow Sword Orchid to kill the Rot Rat King, and the surviving Carrion Rats fled into the forest.
• Lincon checked his status, saw that both professions had advanced, and unlocked a mission to accumulate 1,000 Reputation for a Junior Rune Industry Blueprint.
• Lincon advanced a White Banyan Fungus into a Beautiful Abalone Mushroom, gathered more fungi, and carried the Rot Rat King's corpse out of the forest.
• Lincon placed a Shrine in a hollow tree to monitor the Carrion Rat mutation, then spotted a powerful humanoid Pale Wraith at the forest's edge.
• Lincon hurried back to Longwind Fortress, smoked the rat meat, and used Accelerated Growth to cultivate clusters of Beautiful Abalone Mushrooms.

Lincon discovered that the Man-Eater Flower had devoured a human-mimicking dark creature during the night, earning him Dark Matter, sunlight, and experience. He planned to fortify Longwind Fortress with Sunlight Sunflowers as Zhang Rui recorded the fortress on his map.

• Lincon cooked and ate Beautiful Abalone Mushrooms with Carrion Rat meat, then planned to develop Longwind Fortress and earn more reputation and sunlight.
• A voice claiming to be Zhang Rui knocked on Lincon’s door after dark, but Lincon recognized the deception and refused to open it.
• The creature outside grew violent, then screamed as something attacked and devoured it.
• At daylight, Lincon found a large Dark Matter crystal beneath the Man-Eater Flower and realized it had eaten a powerful human-mimicking dark creature.
• Lincon gained 10 sunlight and 50 experience from the kill and planned to plant Sunlight Sunflowers around Longwind Fortress.
• Zhang Rui returned to his mapped route and marked Longwind Fortress on his map.

Lincon spent three days strengthening Longwind Fortress with Sunlight Sunflowers, improving his abilities, and carving a shrine with renewed purpose. He completed a Fine Shrine bearing a statue resembling himself, and the panel raised his guardian class to level three.

• Lincon discovered that he could hide the Shadow Sword in his shadow and draw it out with a thought.
• Lincon planted Sunlight Sunflowers around Longwind Fortress, raised his main class to level two, and saw his reputation increase.
• Lincon reflected on his loneliness and decided that people should believe in him rather than absent gods.
• Lincon carved a Fine Shrine with a statue resembling himself, earning experience that raised Longwind Fortress Guardian to level three.
• Lincon lit the shrine’s lamp bowl, and its pale golden flame burned brighter and steadier than before.

Zhang Rui entered Flint City and told other messengers that a man still guarded Longwind Fortress, prompting Ye Yuan to order the man’s removal if the report proved true. The chapter left the fortress defender’s fate uncertain as Ye Yuan’s agents went to investigate.

• Zhang Rui bribed Flint City’s guards and delivered his letters to the Letter Bureau.
• Zhang Rui met Li Sheng at an inn and listened as messengers discussed Shangmai City’s fall to the Black Tide.
• When the inn heard that someone remained in Longwind Fortress, Zhang Rui explained that the man had refused to leave and was still guarding it.
• The messengers fell silent and reflected on the man’s devotion to a country that no longer existed.
• Ye Yuan ordered his butler to verify Zhang Rui’s report and dispose of the fortress defender if it was true.

Lincon completed his reputation quest and received Junior Rune Industry Blueprints, which he tested by inscribing three Runes onto Shrines. When a D-Rank Weird Calamity attacked his courtyard and began overwhelming the Purification Shrine, Lincon went outside to confront it.

• Lincon reached 1,000 reputation points and received the Junior Rune Industry Blueprint.
• Lincon inscribed Purification, Reinforcement, and Infusion Runes onto Shrines, discovering their effects and that the Runes could not be combined directly.
• Lincon's Purification Shrine and Sunlight Sunflowers initially held back a D-Rank Weird Calamity that attacked his courtyard at night.
• The Weird Calamity broke through the courtyard's defenses and weakened the Sunlight Sunflowers as its black mist spread.
• Lincon took a lantern and summoned his Shadow Sword, then stepped outside to face the Wraith.

Lincon fought a D-Rank Weird Calamity whose reflected attacks and corrosive corpse spots threatened to kill him. He transformed the Shrine’s candle into a Purifying Fire weapon and killed the creature, but a quest then called on him to clear the remaining Dark Creatures invading his territory.

• Lincon discovered that the Weird Corpse regenerated when struck and reflected his attacks, while its power spread corrosive corpse spots across his body.
• Lincon realized the Dark Shrine had attracted the Weird Corpse and that his attacks were also weakening its black fog.
• As the Weird Corpse advanced on the Shrine, Lincon moved its candle flame to the Shadow Sword and drew a Purification Rune in the air.
• Lincon charged through the darkness with the burning sword and killed the Weird Corpse without suffering reflected damage.
• Lincon received rewards for killing a D-Rank Weird Calamity and defending his territory, along with a quest to clear the invading Dark Creatures.

Lincon destroyed the Weird Corpse, used the Purification Rune to reduce the corpse spots on his body, and found a way to purify lake water. After he returned to Longwind Fortress, Zhang Rui arrived with Xu Wan and their son and was stunned by the sea of Sunlight Sunflowers surrounding it.

• Lincon soothed his damaged Shadow Sword, removed many corpse spots with the Purification Rune, and destroyed the Dark Shrine to quiet the creatures outside.
• Lincon collected a large Dark Matter Crystal from the Weird Corpse and considered using Dark Crystals to make candles that could attract Dark Creatures.
• After realizing his water supply was low, Lincon used a rune-engraved Purification Stone to clean water from a contaminated lake near Longwind Fortress.
• Lincon built a simple shelter by the lake, placed a Shrine inside, and received a notification that a stranger had entered his territory.
• Zhang Rui arrived at Longwind Fortress with his wife Xu Wan and their son, and the family marveled at the Sunlight Sunflower Sea.

Zhang Rui brought Xu Wan and Zhang Han to Longwind Fortress after Flint City pursued his family, and Lincon agreed to shelter them. Lincon revealed his power by giving them a Purification Shrine, while Zhang Rui watched in disbelief as Lincon fought dark creatures outside after nightfall.

• Zhang Rui asked Lincon to take in his family after explaining that Flint City was hunting them for spreading news about Lincon.
• Lincon welcomed Zhang Rui, Xu Wan, and Zhang Han into Longwind Fortress and told them to find a place to live.
• Lincon carved a Purification Shrine for Zhang Rui and explained that it could ward off low-level dark creatures.
• Zhang Rui placed the shrine outside his family's home and lit its candle as darkness fell.
• Zhang Rui saw Lincon use a lantern to beat dark creatures to death outside, leaving him stunned.

After clearing the Dark Creatures on Zhang Rui's street, Lincon learned about the wider region and Zhang Rui pledged himself to protect his family. Lincon began preparing Longwind Fortress to receive refugees and advanced as its Guardian after crafting a Fine Shrine.

• Lincon apologized to Zhang Rui for the noise as he explained that he had cleared nearly all the Dark Creatures on their street.
• Zhang Rui pledged to serve Lincon if Lincon would keep his wife and child safe, reaching 80 loyalty and becoming eligible for qualification.
• Lincon learned from Zhang Rui about the major cities, vulnerable settlements, and survivors living among the ruins of the Jiangzhou region.
• Lincon asked Zhang Rui to help clear Longwind Fortress's ruins because he planned to redesign the fortress and prepare for possible refugees.
• Lincon crafted a Fine Shrine, advancing Longwind Fortress Guardian to level 5.

Lincon strengthened the Shadow Sword with a Reinforcement Rune, then used his Sunlight to awaken a century-old maple tree as an Ancient Maple Guardian. The new Tree Spirit recognized him as its master as Zhang Rui's family witnessed the transformation.

• Lincon successfully inscribed a Reinforcement Rune on the Shadow Sword, strengthening its purity and dark-element energy.
• Lincon went to the century-old maple tree, planning to awaken it as an Ancient Maple Guardian while concealing his dual classes from the fortress's future citizens.
• Lincon spent Sunlight through his Seed Mark, awakening the maple tree and transforming its trunk, roots, and branches into a giant treant.
• The Tree Spirit knelt before Lincon and called him its master as Zhang Rui's family came outside and saw the scene.

Lincon assigned Zhang Rui’s family work clearing Longwind Fortress’s ruins while protecting them from dark creatures. When Zhang Rui reported that his family was nearly out of food, Lincon gave him edible Beautiful Abalone Mushrooms and promised to find a lasting solution.

• Lincon ordered the Ancient Maple Guardian to guard the ruined city gate, and Zhang Rui’s family watched it obey him.
• Zhang Rui built a cart from salvaged wheels and worked with Zhang Han to clear the ruins, while Lincon patrolled for dark creatures at night.
• After a week in Longwind Fortress, Xu Wan told Zhang Rui their food was almost gone, and Zhang Rui decided to ask Lincon for help.
• Lincon stopped himself from sending Zhang Rui to hunt Carrion Rats in a dangerous forest and gave him a container of Beautiful Abalone Mushrooms instead.
• Lincon told Zhang Rui that his family could cultivate the mushrooms from their spores and promised to find a way to solve the food problem.

Lincon considered how to secure clean water and food for Longwind Fortress, then encountered a hostile stranger outside the gate. After the stranger attacked him, Lincon prepared to make him pay.

• Lincon realized that feeding a growing population required solving the corruption of the soil and water, and he chose a site near the lake for future farmland.
• Lincon named the lake Longwind Lake and concluded that purifying all its water with Purification Stones was beyond his current abilities.
• A well-dressed stranger asked Lincon whether the place was Longwind Fortress, but Lincon ignored him and walked away.
• The stranger attacked Lincon with a dagger, then retreated when he sensed an unseen danger nearby.
• The stranger threatened to kill Lincon, and Lincon replied that the man had chosen how to die.

Lincon defeated Viper, a D-rank Snake Guard sent from Flint City to kill him, and discovered that Flint City might retaliate. After learning Viper's rank, Lincon reassured Zhang Rui, leaving him puzzled by Lincon's calm response.

• The butler ordered Viper to eliminate the person from Longwind Fortress, and Viper tracked the fortress down.
• Viper attacked Lincon at high speed, but the Ancient Maple Guardian struck him and killed him.
• Lincon took Viper's belongings and had the Ancient Maple Guardian throw his corpse into the flower field as fertilizer.
• Lincon showed Viper's insignia and other belongings to Zhang Rui, who identified the insignia as belonging to Flint City's Snake Guard.
• Zhang Rui admitted that his spreading news had led Viper to Lincon and offered to leave with his family, but Lincon told him not to blame himself.
• Zhang Rui explained that Viper was likely a D-rank ability user and warned Flint City might send stronger fighters, while Lincon calmly reassured him.

After killing Viper and leveling up, Lincon considered his plans to purify Longwind Lake and prepare for Flint City. When he spotted a large group of refugees approaching the fortress at night, he overcame his hesitation and went out to help them.

• Zhang Rui returned to clearing the ruins while keeping his suspicions about Lincon to himself.
• Lincon collected Viper's belongings and received notifications that he had leveled up and gained Sunlight and experience.
• Lincon practiced Xingyi Fist and thought about diverting and purifying Longwind Lake and preparing for Flint City's next move.
• As darkness fell, Lincon saw many strangers approaching his territory and used his shrines to spot a torch-bearing group of men, women, and children.
• Lincon first shut the door, then took an oil lamp and went outside, deciding there was still time to help the refugees.

Li Zhouhai’s group faced a Black Insect swarm and the D-Rank Devouring Worm after darkness fell. Just as the Devouring Worm dragged Li Zhouhai into its fog wall, a gnarled tree hand crushed it and a blazing oil lamp lit the darkness.

• Li Zhouhai urged the group to keep moving through the darkness while fighting hallucinations caused by mental contamination.
• Black Insects swarmed the torchlight, killing several people and shrinking the group’s illuminated path.
• Li Zhouhai found a recently carved Shrine, but a fog wall appeared and the Devouring Worm attacked the group.
• Li Zhouhai fought the Devouring Worm as panic spread and the creatures in the darkness killed and dragged people away.
• A gnarled tree hand smashed the Devouring Worm, and a brilliant oil lamp shone above it, pulling Li Zhouhai back from despair.

Lincon led Li Zhouhai and the surviving refugees toward Longwind Fortress, using the Ancient Maple Guardian and a blazing Purifying Fire to hold back the Dark Creatures. As the group reached the fortress, a Pale Wraith approached and unleashed a wave of malice that plunged the world into darkness.

• Lincon arrived atop the Ancient Maple Guardian and lit a dead tree with Purifying Fire, driving back nearby Dark Creatures and rescuing Li Zhouhai's group.
• Lincon guided the survivors toward Longwind Fortress while maintaining the fire, and Li Zhouhai sent Guan Teng to help the group move faster.
• Lincon spotted a Pale Wraith emerging from the woods and shouted for everyone to run.
• The Pale Wraith entered the firelight, causing the flames to burn faster and their range to shrink as the survivors neared Longwind Fortress.
• A tentacle dragged away a person who left the firelight, but Lincon urged the others onward as they crossed the Sunshine Sunflower Sea and entered the fortress.
• The Pale Wraith raised its head, and its intense malice brought a violent gale and plunged the surroundings into darkness.

Lincon ignited the Sunlight Sunflowers with Purifying Fire to stop the Pale Wraith and the Black Tide from overrunning Longwind Fortress. The fire drove the dark creatures away, but the Sunlight Sunflowers burned to glowing dust, and the survivors saw Lincon as their savior.

• Lincon faced the approaching Pale Wraith and Black Tide while searching for a way to protect the people behind him.
• The Sunlight Sunflowers sent Lincon their thoughts, offering their lives as fuel for Purifying Fire.
• Lincon ignited the sea of Sunlight Sunflowers, and their flames illuminated Longwind Fortress and purified nearby dark creatures.
• The Pale Wraith and the scattered Black Tide retreated from the fire.
• After the sunlight returned, Li Zhouhai realized the Sunlight Sunflowers had willingly sacrificed themselves and looked toward Lincon.

After the Sunlight Sunflowers sacrificed themselves to save the refugees and Longwind Fortress, Lincon found one surviving Ashen Purifying Sunflower and vowed to restore it. Zhang Rui organized the refugees under Lincon’s authority, and the first 832 new subjects entered the fortress.

• Zhang Rui saw the exhausted survivors gathered outside Longwind Fortress after the darkness ended.
• Lincon found the charred Ashen Purifying Sunflower among the ashes and promised to bring it back to life.
• Lincon told Zhang Rui to manage the refugees and have Li Zhouhai help enforce order.
• Li Zhouhai identified himself as a D-Class Ability User and publicly acknowledged Lincon as Longwind Fortress’s sole lord.
• Zhang Rui addressed the refugees, established the fortress’s rules, and registered their identities as Lincon observed their loyalty rise.
• With Li Zhouhai and other helpers assisting, Lincon welcomed the first 832 subjects into Longwind Fortress.

Lincon faced a shortage of food and housing after bringing hundreds of refugees to Longwind Fortress, and learned that grain seeds might be found in the dangerous ruins of Shangmai City. Liu Ying offered a half-cooked potato her mother had saved, and Lincon used his plant-growing ability to cultivate it into a seedling, revealing possible advancement routes for the potato.

• Zhang Rui reported that the fortress lacked enough housing and food for the refugees, and Lincon asked Li Zhouhai whether he had any grain seeds.
• Li Zhouhai said Shangmai City's experimental base might have seeds, while explaining that most people survived on coarse grain flour made from rice and husks.
• Liu Ying quietly offered a half potato her mother had left her, and Lincon's panel showed that the tuber still contained faint nutrients despite contamination.
• Lincon planted the potato in the Sunlight Sunflower ashes and used Accelerated Growth to make a green sprout emerge as Li Zhouhai and the refugees watched.
• Lincon's panel identified the sprout as a Potato and displayed advancement routes for a Sunlight Potato and a Potato Mine.

Lincon harvested Sunlight Potatoes, recruited Liu Ying and assigned her and her father to cultivate them for the fortress. After tasting the new crop, Lincon recalled the White Umbrella Mushroom’s evolution paths and turned his attention toward the forest where the Pale Wraith was.

• Lincon evolved the small potatoes into Sunlight Potatoes and saw that Liu Ying had reached the loyalty needed to become his subject.
• Lincon recruited Liu Ying and entrusted her and her father with growing potatoes, recognizing Liu Ying’s Growth Acceleration talent.
• Lincon planted and accelerated Sunlight Potatoes, discovering that their sprouts absorbed sunlight and their mature tubers looked unusual.
• Lincon, Zhang Rui, Li Zhouhai, and Liu Ying roasted and tasted the potatoes, and Liu Ying and Li Zhouhai delighted in their flavor.
• Lincon remembered the White Umbrella Mushroom’s Beautiful Abalone Mushroom and Giant Mushroom evolution paths and looked toward the forest where the Pale Wraith was.

Lincon evolved White Mushroom into a Giant Mushroom and used it to create shelters for Longwind Fortress before preparing the fortress for another dangerous night. He cleared the remaining dark creatures, completed his task, and received the Seed of Life as his classes fused into a single mark.

• Lincon evolved a White Mushroom into a Giant Mushroom and grew one large enough to serve as a house.
• Lincon explained the shelter plan to Zhang Rui, then grew more Giant Mushrooms and left Zhang Rui to organize the housing.
• As night fell, Zhang Rui and Li Zhouhai kept the residents orderly while Lincon distributed candles and gave rune-strengthened Shrines to subjects with loyalty of at least 80.
• After resting and recovering some spiritual power, Lincon patrolled the fortress and killed the remaining dark creatures.
• Lincon completed the task to clear dark creatures from his territory and received the Seed of Life as his two class marks fused together.