Recaps

Lincon confronted Flint City's delegation after they arrived at Longwind Fortress, and Wang Hu tested him by having an ally attack Zhang Rui. Lincon pinned the shadow with his Shadow Sword and incapacitated its user, leaving Flint City’s envoys wary of his strength.

• Wang Hu assessed Lincon’s power while Zhou Qing introduced the Flint City delegation as three C-Class Ability Users and their D-Class companions.
• Lincon admitted that he had killed Viper, angering Wang Hu and the other Flint City Ability Users.
• Wang Hu backed away from an immediate fight and asked why people were leaving Longwind Fortress, while Zhang Rui challenged his right to pry into the city’s affairs.
• A Flint City Ability User sent his shadow to attack Zhang Rui, and Lincon drew Shadow Sword and nailed the shadow to the ground.
• The shadow’s owner collapsed in pain, and Zhou Qing grew more wary of Lincon’s abilities.

Lincon drove Wang Hu and his men away from Longwind Fortress, then inspected a chest of gifts from the Lord of Black Iron City. Among the strange items, he discovered a Sunstone, a material needed to advance specific plants, and realized that the Seed Mark’s advancement materials truly existed.

• Lincon used the Shadow Sword to pin down the shadow ability user, and Wang Hu blamed his subordinate before retreating with his men.
• Outside the fortress, Wang Hu learned that people had left because a C-Rank Black Tide was expected, then decided to report the fortress and the warning to Lord Ye.
• Lincon recognized that the Shadow Sword had countered the shadow ability and saw Zhang Rui’s loyalty rise to 100.
• Zhou Qing presented Lincon with a chest of gifts from the Lord of Black Iron City, including a strange egg said to have come from the Dark Abyss.
• Lincon identified a fist-sized stone as a Sunstone and confirmed that it could advance specific plants.

Lincon learned that a Sunstone could help advance his Purifying Fire Sunlight Sunflower into a Solar Sunflower, then left negotiations over the stone to Zhang Rui. Needing more Sunlight for the coming Black Tide, he entered the dense forest alone to begin a dangerous class advancement mission.

• Lincon identified the Sunstone as a useful advancement material and learned that the Solar Sunflower required 1,000 Sunlight.
• Zhou Qing asked Longwind Fortress for three thousand tons of Sunlight Potatoes in exchange for the box, and Lincon left Zhang Rui to negotiate.
• Lincon decided to hunt a C-Rank Weird Calamity to complete his main class advancement mission and gathered Rune Stones, Rune Arrays, weapons, and armor.
• Lincon refused Li Zhouhai's offer to accompany him and left Guan Teng and the others to guard Longwind Fortress.
• Lincon lit the candle at the Shrine, entered the dense forest, and activated the mission to hunt one C-Rank Weird Calamity alone.

Lincon entered the forest to confront the Pale Wraith, but it invaded his memories and trapped him in an illusion of familiar enemies. After escaping, he was seized by the Wraith and left near death until the broken Shadow Sword rose to protect him.

• Lincon entered the forest with a lantern inscribed with a Purification Rune and placed a Shrine as he advanced.
• Lincon fought waves of familiar Dark Creatures and realized he had gained no Sunlight, revealing that his memories had been invaded.
• Lincon set himself alight with Purifying Fire and escaped the illusion, finding the Pale Wraith restraining him in the darkness.
• The Pale Wraith squeezed Lincon as its chill spread through his body, while his backpack and lantern remained out of reach.
• Lincon spotted his broken Shadow Sword, and its remaining half rose from the darkness to attack the Pale Wraith.

Lincon fought the Pale Wraith alone, using a Purification Shrine Rune Array and his qi to withstand its illusions and attacks. He detonated Rune Stones in the Purifying Fire to destroy the wraith and completed his class advancement mission, becoming a Longwind Lord.

• Lincon used Purifying Fire and a rune-enhanced dagger to draw the parasite from beneath his skin and cut it from his palm.
• When the Pale Wraith trapped Lincon in an illusion, he lit three Purification Shrines and formed a Rune Array with a Resonance Rune Stone.
• Lincon dragged the Pale Wraith into the Rune Array’s light and battered it with qi-powered punches, but its regeneration resisted the Purifying Fire.
• Lincon threw his Rune Stones into the Purifying Fire, triggering a Purifying Firestorm that burned away the Black Insects and overwhelmed the Pale Wraith.
• Lincon survived the blast and received the mission completion reward, advancing from Longwind Fortress Guardian to Longwind Lord.

After changing his main class to Longwind Lord, Lincon escaped the burning forest with the Shadow Sword and Pale Wraith remains, then continued hunting Dark Creatures to gather Sunlight. At Longwind Fortress, Luo Qian welcomed the early sunrise and sounded the gong to announce dawn.

• Lincon's class change strengthened his body, condensed an Energy Pellet, and granted him the Rule Edict ability.
• Lincon retrieved the still-living Shadow Sword, a Dark Matter Crystal, and the Pale Wraith's eyes before escaping the forest fire.
• Carrion Rats fled the burning forest, and Lincon killed several before heading back into the darkness to hunt for Sunlight.
• Luo Qian waited by the Shrine at Longwind Fortress and reflected on why he trusted the City Lord and the fortress.
• The sun rose early, and Luo Qian bowed to the Shrine before striking the gong to announce dawn.

Lincon reviewed the expanded territory and discovered he could spend Prestige to upgrade Shrines. After he upgraded one near Longwind Fortress, Zhou Qing and his companions witnessed it transform into a towering structure.

• Luo Qian greeted Lincon at the fortress gate and received a Purification Dagger, then Guan Teng asked whether he wanted to join the Defense Corps.
• Zhang Rui told Lincon that Black Iron City had agreed to trade for two hundred tons of Sunlight Potatoes and reported that 385 people remained in Longwind Fortress.
• Lincon inspected his changed Career Panel, saw that his territory covered more Shrines, and learned that every thousand Prestige granted a Shrine Upgrade Point.
• Lincon spent an Upgrade Point on a Shrine near the fortress, causing its marker on the map to grow.
• Zhou Qing and his companions saw the upgraded Shrine fuse with a rapidly growing plant, forming a double-helix tower crowned with a glowing fruit.

Lincon discovered that his upgraded Shrine could carry his spiritual projection and tested the limits of his Rule Edict, ultimately weakening Dark Creatures within Longwind Fortress ahead of the approaching Black Tide. With six days remaining, he began a ritual to revive a nearly charred sapling as an Ashen Flower.

• The Shrine fused with the ancient tree, and Zhou Qing saw Lincon's spiritual projection within it.
• Lincon tested Rule Edict and issued an order reducing the abilities of all Dark Creatures entering Longwind Fortress by 20% for thirty days.
• Zhang Rui reported that everyone in the fortress had heard a strange hum, and Lincon reassured him that it had been caused by an experiment.
• Zhou Qing left Longwind Fortress after Lincon claimed he had played a joke on the visitors near the Shrine.
• With six days left before the Black Tide, Lincon placed a Sunstone beside a charred sapling and invoked light to bless the Ashen Flower.

Lincon advanced the Ashen Purifying Sunflower into a Solar Sunflower, then planted it in Longwind Fortress’s flower field as the Black Tide drew near. With darkness descending, the fortress’s people gathered ready to fight, but Lincon warned them they would not be the battlefield’s protagonists.

• Lincon spent 1,000 Sunlight advancing the Ashen Purifying Sunflower into a Solar Sunflower that produced 50 Sunlight each day.
• The Solar Sunflower thanked Lincon and asked to return to its flower field, where it created a special resonance among the Sunlight Sunflowers.
• As the Black Tide countdown fell to three days, Lincon stayed in his courtyard preparing while the fortress’s population dwindled to 334.
• With 12 hours remaining, darkness and a foul smell spread across the region, and Zhang Rui and the others gathered outside Lincon’s courtyard.
• More than 300 Longwind Fortress residents assembled with weapons, and Lincon told them they were not the protagonists on the battlefield that night.

Lincon showed the people of Longwind Fortress how he had linked a Rune Array with an army of spirit plants to fight the Black Tide. As the fortress residents prepared their defenses, the Darkness Descending Countdown reached zero and the darkness began to gather outside.

• Lincon led Li Zhouhai, Su Yunqing, Zhang Rui, Guan Teng, and the others to the fortress gate to reveal his awakened spirit plants and the Rune Array beneath them.
• Su Yunqing recognized how the Rune Array empowered the plants, while Li Zhouhai and Guan Teng were stunned by the defenses surrounding the fortress.
• Zhang Rui asked to help defend Longwind Fortress, and Lincon agreed, assigning Li Zhouhai to organize personnel throughout the fortress.
• Li Zhouhai assigned adults to key positions, while women guarded the children near Purification Shrines and Guan Teng led the combat readiness team.
• The Darkness Descending Countdown reached zero, and viscous darkness began gathering beyond Longwind Fortress.

Lincon used Higher-Dimensional Manipulation to deploy plants against the advancing Black Tide and reduce its numbers before it reached Longwind Fortress. His defenses earned him Sunlight, but a dangerous aberration emerged from the tide and drew the Reed Assassins’ golden needles toward itself.

• Lincon detected the C-Rank Black Tide approaching Longwind Fortress and planned defenses along its route.
• He used Higher-Dimensional Manipulation to place Hunting Pea Pods in the Black Tide’s path, where they killed low-rank Dark Creatures before being destroyed or corroded.
• As the Black Tide passed Shrines and reached the Longwind Lake area, Lincon sent Reed Assassins armed with Explosive Berries to attack it.
• The Reed Assassins’ explosions and golden needles killed many Dark Creatures, raising Lincon’s Sunlight to 500 and continuing to increase it.
• An aberration with a flower-like head emerged from the Black Tide and drew the Reed Assassins’ golden needles onto its petals.

Lincon identified a C-Rank Mimic Anomaly Calamity and prepared Longwind Fortress for the approaching C-Rank Black Tide. The Sunlight Sunflowers awakened and countered the Black Tide’s oppressive influence as the battle began.

• Lincon learned that the Mimic Anomaly Calamity copied traits and abilities by devouring its opponents, then recalled the Reed Assassins.
• Lincon told Zhang Rui and Li Zhouhai that the Black Tide had reached Longwind Lake, and Li Zhouhai warned everyone in the fortress.
• The Black Tide overwhelmed the Faint Light Domain, formed an abyssal shape, and afflicted people with demonic whispers and frightening illusions.
• The Solar Sunflower awakened the Sunlight Sunflowers through Life Resonance, and their Purifying Fire dispelled the whispers and illusions.
• Lincon fired an arrow to open the battle, while the Ancient Maple Guardian and the fortress’s combat plants attacked the Black Tide.
• The Sunlight Sunflowers’ light turned Black Insects entering their domain to gray smoke as light and darkness clashed.

Lincon faced the C-Rank Black Tide at Longwind Fortress, where the fortress’s defenses slowed the Dark Creatures but could not stop their advance. He evolved the Ancient Maple Guardian into a Twisted Treant to battle the Nest-Nursing Jellyfish, while the Black Tide pushed toward the fortress walls.

• Lincon’s plants and Rule Edict weakened the Black Tide’s assault, but D-rank and C-Rank Anomaly Calamities appeared outside the light zone.
• The Nest-Nursing Jellyfish entered the light zone, damaged the Ancient Maple Guardian, and began destroying the plants’ Rune Arrays.
• Li Zhouhai warned Lincon that the Nest-Nursing Jellyfish’s weakness was on top of its head.
• Lincon used a C-Rank Dark Matter Crystal and sunlight to advance the Ancient Maple Guardian into a Twisted Treant.
• The Twisted Treant grabbed the Nest-Nursing Jellyfish and smashed its head, even as the Black Tide advanced into Longwind Fortress and neared the second line of defense.

Lincon evolved a Wild Rose into the Fallen Sun Thorncrown, whose powerful light beams turned the battle against the Black Tide in Longwind Fortress’s favor. As the defenders fought off creatures that reached the walls, a peculiar shadow slipped into the fortress.

• Lincon assessed the remaining Dark Creatures and chose to evolve a Wild Rose into the Fallen Sun Thorncrown rather than grow a Stasis Albizia Tree.
• The Fallen Sun Thorncrown absorbed light from the Solar Sunflower and pierced a Mimic Anomaly Calamity with scorching beams.
• The Fallen Sun Thorncrown began destroying Dark Creatures, shifting the battle in Longwind Fortress’s favor while placing greater strain on the Solar Sunflower.
• Li Zhouhai rallied the wall defenders, and Su Yunqing used heated Rune Stones to unleash a Purifying Firestorm against nearby Dark Creatures.
• Li Zhouhai jumped from the wall and cut down several low-tier Dark Creatures as a peculiar shadow slipped into the fortress.

Guan Teng fought a Shadow Fiend that controlled his companions and threatened the people sheltering in the Mushroom House. As he lay dying, his Enhancement Rune Stone absorbed the creature’s power, and Lincon saw Guan Teng awaken an ability.

• Guan Teng’s companion attacked and killed another team member, while the Shadow Fiend controlled him and Liu Yu to attack Guan Teng.
• Guan Teng left the Purification Shrine’s protection and found the Shadow Fiend, then fought it while trying to keep it from reaching the people inside the Mushroom House.
• The Shadow Fiend switched its control from Liu Yu to Guan Teng, but Guan Teng resisted and struck it with a Purification Rune Stone.
• The Shadow Fiend controlled Wang Jie to stab Guan Teng through the chest, but Guan Teng held onto the creature and pierced it with a Purification Rune saber.
• Guan Teng’s Enhancement Rune Stone absorbed the Shadow Fiend’s power, and Lincon saw Guan Teng’s ability change to Awakening.

Lincon and Longwind Fortress survived the Black Tide’s final assault, destroying the remaining Anomaly Calamities as dawn broke. The chapter ended with the completed missions unlocking Lincon’s hidden class advancement for Ecological Architect.

• The Solar Sunflower spent its final energy while Longwind Fortress’s defenses and Spirit Plants weakened the Black Tide and eliminated most of its forces.
• Lincon fought Demon Armor, overcame its gravity ability with qi and Xingyi Fist, and helped Fallen Sun Thorncrown finish it.
• The last Dark Creature was destroyed, ending the night-long battle at Longwind Fortress.
• Li Zhouhai celebrated the victory and remembered how Shangmai City had fallen while Longwind Fortress endured.
• Lincon received notifications that Resist the Black Tide and Ecological Trial were completed and that he had fulfilled the hidden advancement mission for Ecological Architect.

After the Black Tide ended, Lincon rested before learning that Guan Teng was unconscious and nearing death. He discovered a Dark Creature’s energy was merging with Guan Teng, leaving open whether it would transform him or trigger his awakening.

• Lincon considered the three abilities offered by the hidden class Ecological Architect, then postponed choosing and ordered the fortress to gather Dark Matter Crystals, count casualties, investigate an unusual incident, and rest.
• Lincon slept until the third day after the Black Tide and woke to Luo Qian waiting anxiously outside his door.
• Zhang Rui reprimanded Luo Qian for breaking the rules, then explained that Guan Teng remained unconscious and was still awakening.
• Lincon went to the Mushroom House and found Guan Teng covered in black markings with a severe chest wound.
• Lincon sensed Guan Teng’s heart was still beating while Dark Creature energy merged with his body and began to overpower his life energy.

Lincon saved Guan Teng by strengthening his life energy until it suppressed the Dark Energy, triggering Guan Teng’s awakening as a Shadow Fiend. After Guan Teng recovered, Li Zhouhai asked to leave Longwind Fortress to recruit talented ability users and help the fortress grow.

• Lincon realized Guan Teng was losing control of his body to a Dark Creature and used his qi to strengthen Guan Teng’s life energy, sacrificing twenty years of Guan Teng’s lifespan.
• Guan Teng awakened, recovered consciousness, and discovered he had gained the D-rank Shadow Fiend ability.
• Lincon told Guan Teng to explore his new abilities while he recovered, then left him with Luo Qian and the others.
• Li Zhouhai told Lincon that Longwind Fortress lacked people and capable ability users, and asked permission to seek out talented survivors who had left Shangmai City.

After the Black Tide, Lincon considered Longwind Fortress’s staffing and security needs, then chose Symbiotic Evolution as his secondary profession ability. With the fortress’s resources replenished, he planned to test the ability on the sunflowers.

• Lincon agreed to Li Zhouhai’s request, and Zhang Rui explained that the fortress was understaffed and at risk of being blockaded by Flint City.
• Lincon surveyed the cleaned battlefield and learned that Longwind Fortress had gained eleven C-Rank Crystals, fifty-four D-Rank Crystals, and many E-Rank Crystals.
• Lincon redistributed his plants, moving the oversized Twisted Treant to guard Longwind Lake and finding new places for the wilted Spore Shooter Mushrooms and Explosive Berry Thicket.
• Lincon chose Symbiotic Evolution over Fusion Reconfiguration and Ecological Domain to develop cooperation between people and spirit plants.
• Lincon saw that his sunlight balance had risen to 5,800 and decided to test Symbiotic Evolution on the sunlight sunflowers.

Lincon used Symbiotic Evolution to synchronize with a Sunlight Sunflower, transforming it into a Sunlight Elf that could gather sunlight for him. After several days of testing, he had three Sunlight Elves and a Solar Sunflower that could become powerful protective armor.

• Lincon chose himself as the first target for cooperative resonance and synchronized his life frequency with a spiritually gifted Sunlight Sunflower.
• The Sunlight Sunflower evolved into a tiny elf, while Lincon received only a small return of life energy.
• The Sunlight Elf gathered sunlight from a flower and increased the sunlight stored in Lincon's Seed Mark.
• After several days of testing, Lincon formed cooperative symbiosis with three Sunlight Elves and the Solar Sunflower.
• The Solar Sunflower remained unchanged in form but could merge with Lincon as armor strong enough to withstand a C-Rank Anomaly Calamity and restrain mental attacks.

Lincon prepared Li Zhouhai to leave Longwind Fortress by giving him supplies and initiating Cooperative Symbiosis between him and the Reed Assassin. The chapter ended as the people watching sensed a strange fluctuation connecting the two.

• Lincon gave Li Zhouhai candles and Rune Stones, and Zhang Rui reminded him to recruit reliable people for Longwind Fortress.
• Lincon summoned three Sunlight Elves, stunning the crowd and revealing the creatures he had cultivated.
• Lincon explained that he would initiate symbiosis to help Li Zhouhai survive the dangers of his journey.
• The Reed Assassin touched Li Zhouhai with a golden needle as Lincon began Cooperative Symbiosis.
• Luo Qian and Guan Teng discussed the strange fluctuation between Li Zhouhai and the Reed Assassin, and Guan Teng recalled how he had gained his power from a Shadow Fiend.

Lincon revealed that people who contributed to Longwind Fortress could form symbiotic contracts with plants and gain extraordinary abilities, then sent Li Zhouhai out with his new Reed Assassin companion. As Li Zhouhai departed, he looked back at the fortress and hoped it would one day drive away the darkness.

• Li Zhouhai formed a symbiotic contract with the Reed Assassin, which attached itself to the back of his hand as a golden puffball.
• Lincon explained that the contract allowed Li Zhouhai and the Reed Assassin to grow together and share traits, and Li Zhouhai demonstrated its thorny, needle-firing form.
• Lincon announced that ordinary people and ability users alike could earn Ecological Contracts by contributing to Longwind Fortress.
• Zhang Rui felt gratified that Lincon was displaying his authority and generosity to the fortress residents.
• Li Zhouhai left Longwind Fortress with the dormant Reed Assassin, looking back at the flourishing fortress and speaking to it as Little Left.

Zhang Rui worked on a contribution-point system while Lincon approved field training for the Letter Bureau messengers to map shelters around Longwind Fortress. Lincon then used his upgraded Seed Mark Talent to implant Growth Protocols into plants, while unresolved tensions with Flint City remained.

• Zhang Rui personally oversaw a contribution-point system after residents asked how fortress work would earn contract rewards.
• Zhao Mu asked Lincon to let the messengers train in the field, and Lincon instructed them to locate nearby shelters while avoiding conflict.
• Lincon warned the messengers that people could be as dangerous as Dark Creatures and promised to select plant contracts for those who returned.
• Lincon set aside plans to evolve the Demon Ancient Tree because its rare unlock materials were more important than Sunlight.
• Lincon used his Level 2 Seed Mark Talent to implant Growth Protocols that could shape a plant's form and adjust its defenses.

After Carrion Rats destroyed the Sunlight Potato fields and injured Liu Qing, Lincon traced them to their nest and decided the mutated rats could become a food source for Longwind Fortress. He summoned the Twisted Treant near the nest as the group prepared to deal with the rats.

• Han Qu told Lincon that Carrion Rats had destroyed nearly half the potato fields, and Lincon found Liu Qing injured beside the ruined crops.
• Liu Qing explained that a swarm of giant rats had attacked before dawn, and Guan Teng reported that their burrows were too deep to enter safely.
• Lincon ordered two Carrion Rat corpses butchered and roasted, explaining that the meat was edible and could provide protein.
• Lincon led more than a hundred men to the Carrion Rats' nest, where he summoned the Twisted Treant while pretending to cast a spell.

Lincon led a group to capture Carrion Rats, and Guan Teng killed the D-rank Rot Rat King with his newly awakened Shadow Fiend ability. Back at the fortress, Lincon asked Zhang Rui to find people who could try raising the rats as livestock.

• Lincon used the Twisted Treant to drag Carrion Rats from their cave, provoking the Rot Rat King and its swarm to charge out.
• Lincon assigned Guan Teng to fight the D-rank Rot Rat King while the Twisted Treant restrained the other rats.
• Guan Teng wounded the Rot Rat King with his spear, seized control of its mind, and made it smash its skull against a boulder until it died.
• Lincon's group returned to the fortress with dozens of Carrion Rats after the swarm lost its leader.
• Lincon asked Zhang Rui to find people skilled in animal husbandry to experiment with taming Carrion Rats as livestock, and Zhang Rui was stunned by the idea.