Recaps

As Ash Snow and Harsh Winter devastated Jiangzhou, Flint City and Black Iron City struggled with shortages and factional conflict while Longwind Fortress weathered the disaster through Lincon’s preparations. Lincon discovered Harsh Winter Cordyceps with several possible advancement paths and considered seeking the crystals needed to unlock them.

• Flint City’s butler decided to lead a group of survivors to Longwind Fortress once the first heavy snowfall eased.
• Chen Siwei and Zhou Qing faced dwindling food supplies in Black Iron City, and Chen Siwei vowed to confront Hong Qi’s faction after the snowfall let up.
• Zou Feng prepared New River City for Harsh Winter and declared he would dominate Jiangzhou, allowing Longwind Fortress to remain only if it submitted.
• Lincon’s Rule Edict, the Seed of Life, and the fortress’s preparations reduced Ash Snow’s danger as its residents received heat, food, medical care, and snow-clearing support.
• After elderly Provisional Subjects died, their inherited Contribution Points helped their families become Formal Subjects, bringing Longwind Fortress’s total to nearly a thousand.
• Lincon found Harsh Winter Cordyceps in Nightglow Forest and studied its three advancement paths, including the hidden Undead Soul Tree path.

Lincon refined Ash Snow into crystals, advanced Harsh Winter Cordyceps into Silent Ice Worms, and bred them into butterflies that protected people from Ash Snow. As Longwind Fortress began distributing the worms, residents discussed new career paths and Cao Yan asked Li Yunfan if he was writing another novel.

• Lincon discovered that heating Ash Snow with pure power removed its impurities and produced Ash Snow Crystals, then used one to advance Harsh Winter Cordyceps into a Silent Ice Worm.
• Lincon tested the worm with an attendant and found that it absorbed Ash Snow's harmful energy, protecting the attendant from erosion and contamination for nearly half an hour.
• Lincon worked with Qin Hu and other craftsmen to build a Purifying Fire machine that mass-produced Ash Snow Crystals, then advanced and bred Silent Ice Worms until they became Silent Ice Butterflies.
• The Silent Ice Butterflies began reproducing, and Longwind Fortress distributed the first fifty newly hatched worms to Garrison Guard members, reservists, and other outdoor workers.
• In Shed 743, Cao Yan and Ding Hong discussed joining the Garrison Guard, the Rune Workshop, and a rumored plant-symbiosis career at Qingrang Academy before Cao Yan asked Li Yunfan if he was writing another novel.

Li Yunfan’s writing and Wang Dalong’s handmade printing press spread novels through Longwind Fortress’s subject camp, and Li began writing Thunder Fortress about a leader modeled on Lord Lincon. After the Lord summoned Li and Wang, they entered the Inner City and arrived at the awe-inspiring Sacred Court, where they were told the Lord was waiting.

• Li Yunfan told the residents of Shed 743 that Qingrang Academy’s possible new career path required advancement through its subject ranks and would not be easy to obtain.
• People in the subject camp used Wang Dalong’s handmade press to print and circulate novels, while Li Yunfan began writing Thunder Fortress about a fictional leader inspired by Lord Lincon.
• Secretary Han visited Shed 743 and told Li Yunfan that the Lord had summoned him because he enjoyed Thunder Fortress and wanted more chapters.
• Li Yunfan joined Wang Dalong and Han Qu’s group, and they entered the Inner City beneath Banana Leaf Umbrellas.
• Li Yunfan and Wang Dalong marveled at the Inner City’s Mushroom Houses, Spirit Plants, and Sacred Court before Han Qu led them inside to meet the Lord.

Lincon established the Cultural Affairs Bureau and tasked Li Yunfan and Wang Dalong with leading it, while a resurrected Luo Chiyou emerged from the Abyss Rift with an army of dark creatures. The army split to attack New River City and Longwind Fortress as the cleanup began.

• Lincon praised Li Yunfan's novel Thunder Lord and explained that boredom in the Provisional Subject Camp had led to numerous fights.
• Lincon appointed Li Yunfan and Wang Dalong to establish the Cultural Affairs Bureau, granting them access to the inner city and a chance to become Formal Subjects.
• After the meeting, Lincon reflected on the fortress's need for spiritual nourishment and watched Ash Snow continue to devastate the region.
• Luo Chiyou, revived as a dark creature, emerged from the Abyss Rift with two Ant Guards and a gathering horde of dark creatures.
• An Abyss voice ordered the cleanup to begin, and gray corpses rose from beneath the snow across the region.
• Luo Chiyou led one force toward New River City while the other Ant Guard led the remaining army toward Longwind Fortress.

As Longwind Fortress prospered through Harsh Winter, Lincon noticed new mutant creatures migrating into his territory and then received a blood-red Territory War quest marked “In progress.” He rallied the fortress leadership and began preparing for an imminent attack, though the enemy and its timing remained unknown.

• Li Yunfan completed the Silent Iceworm Care Manual, while Frost Crystal Rice ripened and the first Silent Ice Butterflies emerged at Longwind Fortress.
• Lincon observed Green Mice, white martens, and Firefeather Birds migrating into his territory, suggesting its ecosystem was attracting new life.
• The panel abruptly announced that Lincon’s Beginner Territory War quest was in progress, leading him to suspect Longwind Fortress had become a target or that a wider conflict was beginning.
• Lincon mobilized cold-resistant Spirit Plants to watch the territory’s borders and called a meeting of Longwind Fortress’s core leadership.
• Lincon and the leaders planned defenses for the Outer City, preparations for the Frostcrystal Rice harvest, and warnings, staffing, and medical arrangements for a possible war.

Longwind Fortress prepared for an approaching threat, and Luo Qian discovered a massive Black Tide led by a humanoid ant. Lincon realized the enemy had come for the Life Fruit he had taken from the Abyss, leaving him to wonder where the second Ant Guard was.

• Lincon ordered scouts to investigate the approaching enemy while Longwind Fortress built defenses and prepared for battle.
• Luo Qian found a Corpse Tide followed by powerful dark creatures and a humanoid ant leading the Black Tide toward Longwind Fortress.
• The humanoid ant spotted Luo Qian, but did not pursue him as he fled back to the fortress.
• Luo Qian reported the Black Tide, and Lincon recognized the humanoid ant as an Ant Guard and recalled the scouts.
• Lincon realized the Abyss might have sent the Black Tide to reclaim the Life Fruit he possessed, but wondered why only one of the two Ant Guards had appeared.

Zou Feng sensed danger approaching New River City, while Luo Chiyou led a Black Tide toward it after destroying a shelter city. Lincon prepared Longwind Fortress for the B-Rank threat and went to bond with the growing Fire God Tree.

• Zou Feng ordered New River City’s defenses raised to maximum alert and sent Liang Su to investigate the danger he sensed.
• Luo Chiyou led the Black Tide toward New River City after it destroyed a shelter city and killed thousands.
• Lincon assessed the Black Tide’s strength and considered advancing Spirit Plants to help defend Longwind Fortress.
• Li Yunfan told Cao Yan that a near-B-Rank Black Tide was approaching and repeated Lincon’s promise that Longwind Fortress would stand as long as he was there.
• Lincon visited the Fire God Tree, whose Pure Fire Domain had expanded across much of the Inner City’s western outskirts, intending to form a symbiotic bond with it.

Lincon formed a symbiotic contract with the Fire God Tree’s ancient consciousness and gained the ability to summon its Pure Fire Domain. At Longwind Fortress, defenders prepared for the approaching Black Tide, which began charging toward them.

• Lincon entered the Symbiosis Space and met the Fire God Tree’s original consciousness, which explained that Little Red’s consciousness had only temporarily fallen asleep.
• The original Fire God Tree agreed to form a symbiotic contract with Lincon on behalf of both its ancient and new consciousnesses.
• Lincon gained the Fire God Tree contract, and a burning tree totem granted him the ability to create golden-red Pure Fire at will.
• Luo Qian and Guan Teng reviewed Longwind Fortress’s preparations, including Rune weapons, trenches, fuel, and volunteers ready to defend against the B-Rank Ant Guard and Black Tide.
• Guan Teng spotted the Black Tide spreading across the horizon, and the Dark Creatures at its front began to run toward Longwind Fortress.

Lincon and Longwind Fortress faced the advancing Black Tide as the Purifying Fire and Spore Shooter Mushrooms halted the Walking Corpses. With the larger Dark Creatures still approaching, Lincon spent most of his Sunlight to awaken the trees, and two powerful Tree Spirits emerged.

• Lincon recognized the Walking Corpses as former civilians and hurried to the watchtower defense line while Zhang Rui ordered Han Qu to punish those spreading panic or planning to flee.
• Guan Teng ordered the Garrison Guards to ignite the Purifying Fire, which burned Walking Corpses until their bodies filled the trench.
• Spore Shooter Mushrooms emerged and corroded the Walking Corpses, stopping their advance as Lincon gained Sunlight from killing them.
• Lincon saw that the Black Tide contained many C-Rank Dark Creatures and used the Seed of Life to awaken the nearly dead trees around him.
• Two enormous Tree Spirits emerged among the Treant Guards and bowed to Lincon.

Lincon sent more than a hundred Frost Treant Guards to reinforce Longwind Fortress as the Black Tide overwhelmed its defenses. The Tree Spirits turned the battle around, while the Ant Guard sensed a familiar energy among them.

• Lincon used High-Level Control to send over a hundred Frost Treant Guards to the battlefield, including two C-Rank Frost Treants.
• Guan Teng ordered Flint City prisoners of war to use Weird Candles to draw dark creatures away from Longwind Fortress and Purifying Candles to protect themselves.
• Ma Fu and his squad were surrounded by dark creatures, and their Purifying Candles burned out as they prepared to fight to the death.
• Frost Treants appeared above Ma Fu's squad and killed the female corpse, then froze or crushed nearby dark creatures with their stomps and shockwaves.
• The Still Albizia Trees, Delirium Mist Dandelions, and Spore Shooter Mushrooms joined the assault as the Frost Treant Guards drove back the Black Tide.
• The Ant Guard noticed the Frost Treants' energy and sensed that it was familiar.

Lincon reached Level 30 in both his Longwind Lord and Ecological Architect classes as he faced the Ant Guard and its C-Rank Black Tide. He deployed the Fire God Tree to defend the fortress, then met the Ant Guard in battle using his composite armor.

• The Ant Guard sensed Life Fruit on Lincon, identified him as its target, and unleashed C-Rank Dark Creatures against the Frost Treant Guards.
• Lincon's main and secondary classes reached Level 30, strengthening his body, senses, and control over Spirit Plants.
• The Ant Guard's mental shriek injured Guan Teng, Luo Qian, Ma Fu, and the other defenders, while Ma Fu recognized it as the creature that had destroyed Qiguang City.
• Lincon summoned the Fire God Tree, whose Pure Fire Domain stopped the advancing C-Rank Dark Creatures, and transferred the fortress's combat-type Spirit Plants to the battlefield.
• Lincon leaped from the Twisted Treant and clashed with the Ant Guard while wearing a composite state of Solar Sunflower Armor, Dragonblood Floodvine, and Pure Fire Domain.

Lincon fought the Ant Guard and, when his Mystic Shift proved insufficient, forced his Composite State into its untested Divine Shift. The resulting pillar of golden-red light scorched the Ant Guard and halted the Black Tide, while the Fire God Tree and Seed of Life responded to the ancient power.

• Lincon dragged the Ant Guard from the sky and exchanged powerful blows with it, using his spiritual senses and Ancient Martial Arts to counter its speed and attacks.
• Lincon explained the Form Shift, Mystic Shift, and Divine Shift stages of his Composite State and chose to activate the untested third stage.
• Lincon’s Flame contracted into his armor and body before erupting as a pillar of golden-red light that pierced the clouds and scorched the Ant Guard.
• The Ant Guard recognized fragments of ancient inherited memories and felt its instincts recoil from Lincon’s power, while the dark creatures across the battlefield froze.
• The Fire God Tree’s shadowed figure welcomed the ancient ancestor’s light, and the Seed of Life grew taller as its roots spread through Longwind Fortress.

Lincon transformed into the Fire God and killed the Abyss Ant Guard, then unleashed the Pure Fire Domain across the battlefield to wipe out much of the Black Tide. Exhausted and barely able to stand, he told his Spirit Plants to keep clearing the surviving Dark Creatures.

• Lincon fused with the Fire God Tree and entered the Composite State's Divine Transformation stage, creating a towering Fire God projection.
• Lincon trapped the fleeing Ant Guard with flame-vines and struck it with the Fire God's fist, then burned it to death in the Pure Fire Domain.
• As it died, the Ant Guard shrieked, driving the Black Tide into a frenzied assault on Longwind Fortress's defensive line.
• Lincon ignited the entire Pure Fire Domain and burned large numbers of Dark Creatures and Weird Calamities to ash.
• Lincon collapsed from exhaustion, was caught by vines from his Spirit Plants, and ordered them to keep clearing the surviving enemies.

Longwind Fortress drove back the Black Tide, but the battle left many defenders dead. Lincon promised the prison camp survivors a place in the fortress and began awakening the Undead Soul Tree to give the fallen a home.

• Lincon's Spirit Plants and the defenders slaughtered the Black Tide's front ranks, forcing the dark creatures to retreat beneath the Dark Veil.
• After the half-day cleanup, Guan Teng gathered the survivors and mourned the heavy losses among the prison camp and Garrison Guard.
• Ma Fu told Guan Teng that the prison camp held no grudge and asked for its fallen brothers to be buried alongside Longwind Fortress's dead.
• Lincon arrived, agreed to honor the fallen, and promised to remove the survivors' prisoner status and make them Provisional Subjects.
• Lincon revealed a Basic Soul Crystal and used it with Harsh Winter Cordyceps to awaken the Undead Soul Tree, which could shelter souls.

After Longwind Fortress survived the Black Tide, Lincon arranged a cemetery for the dead, welcomed the returning soldiers, and punished those who had stirred unrest during the battle. He examined the battle’s spoils and saw how Sunlight from slain dark creatures could help him strengthen Longwind Fortress, but the fortress still needed time to develop.

• Lincon created the Undead Soul Tree and planned a public cemetery where the souls of Longwind Fortress’s dead could rest.
• Guan Teng and the exhausted troops returned, and families reunited with survivors while Lincon and Ma Fu mourned the more than three hundred dead.
• Lincon and Zhang Rui chose a hillside near the Misty Forest for the cemetery and arranged support for fallen soldiers’ families.
• Lincon ordered the worst agitators linked to Hong Qi of Black Iron City executed and the rest exiled from Longwind Fortress.
• Lincon stored and distributed materials from the Black Tide for research, then saw that the battle had left him with 54,700 points of Sunlight.

After Longwind Fortress buried the soldiers lost in the Black Tide, Lincon planned further defenses and began developing functional Spirit Plants. He cultivated the first Healing Glow Grass, proving that healing plants could be advanced, while the Territory War remained in progress.

• Lincon considered the Seed Mark’s limits and decided Longwind Fortress needed healing, training, and support Spirit Plants as well as combat plants.
• The fortress buried its fallen soldiers at Soul Resting Slope, where Lincon had planted Soul Tree saplings and arranged for the graves to be maintained.
• Lincon approved Zhang Rui’s compensation plan for the families of fallen soldiers, wounded survivors, and prisoners, then ordered preparations for another Black Tide.
• Lincon classified functional Spirit Plants into healing, training, and support types and examined an Azure Reed Grass mutated by Jiang Wei’s Healing Light.
• Lincon spent 300 Sunlight to advance the Azure Reed Grass into a D-rank Healing Glow Grass that emitted faint healing energy.

Lincon used his abundant Sunlight to advance support and training Spirit Plants, then attended Longwind Fortress's postwar meeting. In New River City, Zou Feng learned a Black Tide was approaching, saw the Ant Guard holding Liang Su's head, and watched the creatures storm the city.

• Lincon evolved Wisteria, Moss Grass, and Big Coffee Mushroom into Spirit Plants that could support training and restore mental power.
• Lincon began a postwar meeting with Longwind Fortress's leaders, including Li Yunfan, who attended as a member of the Cultural Affairs Bureau.
• Zou Feng learned Liang Su had been missing for seven days and received a report that a massive Black Tide was nearing New River City.
• Zou Feng ordered the city to prepare for combat, gather its ability users, reinforce defenses, and bring nearby settlements inside.
• Zou Feng saw the Ant Guard holding Liang Su's head and attacked, but the Ant Guard easily dodged his lightning strike.
• The Black Tide swept into New River City, bringing countless Weird Calamities with it.

Lincon led a postwar meeting in Longwind Fortress, setting plans for functional Spirit Plants, Outer City defenses, and Garrison Guard training. The meeting minutes were posted around the city, where subjects discussed the changes and opportunities ahead.

• Zhang Rui reported that compensation for fallen soldiers and prisoner-of-war camp survivors had been distributed, and that the wounded were receiving treatment.
• Lincon assigned Qingrang Academy to coordinate the use of healing, support, and training Spirit Plants with the Medical Office, Governing Hall, and Garrison Guard.
• Lincon proposed formalizing the Outer City and building defensive walls around it, with help from the Twisted Treant and Frost Treant and protection from Ash Snow provided by the Fire God Tree.
• Lincon directed the Garrison Guard to establish a training camp and improve coordination among weapons, Spirit Plants, ability users, and ordinary people.
• Li Yunfan recorded the meeting, and the Cultural Affairs Bureau published its minutes on city bulletin boards, prompting subjects to discuss the coming changes.

Longwind Fortress advanced its reforms, using red soil to build the Outer District walls and opening a Spirit Plant training camp. After Guan Teng rescued two warriors from an unexpectedly lethal gravity field, he explained the camp’s dangers and warned the Garrison Guard not to rely on luck to survive another Black Tide.

• Lincon named the fire-forged soil red soil, and Old Jiang used it with Treant Guards to build the Outer District’s walls.
• Spirit Plants formed new training zones, and Gao Zhiqiang and another warrior were pinned by an unadjusted gravity field beneath an archway.
• Guan Teng rescued the two warriors and ordered the Garrison Guard to double its training after their reckless entry.
• Guan Teng explained the training zones and their dangers, including the Gravity Vines, Phantom Grass, Mind Mushrooms, and other Spirit Plants.
• Guan Teng dismissed Guan Xu from the Garrison Guard after Guan Xu questioned the need for more training, then warned the warriors that the Lord’s Spirit Plants and the ability users’ sacrifices—not luck—had saved them from the Black Tide.

Guan Teng dismissed Guan Xu for questioning training and warned the recruits that Longwind Fortress still faced grave danger. As Luo Qian and the other Rune Warriors tried the new Spirit Plant training zones, Luo Qian realized they were meant to strengthen their bodies and reveal their weaknesses, not just improve their abilities; he left determined to train until he could fight without relying on them.

• Guan Teng dismissed Guan Xu and told the recruits that they could question the intensity of training but not its necessity.
• Guan Teng introduced the training Spirit Plants to Luo Qian, Guo Tao, and the other Rune Warriors, who entered the eightfold gravity zone.
• Luo Qian endured the gravity zone and took a punch from the D-Class Wrestling Mushroom, which sent him flying out of the area.
• Guan Teng explained that the Wrestling Mushroom excelled at strength but was slow, and reassured Luo Qian that his own abilities made him a strong D-Class fighter.
• Luo Qian concluded that the training zones were meant to expose weaknesses and build strength beyond abilities, and Guan Teng explained that the Lord wanted them to fight effectively even without their powers.

Lincon planned to strengthen Longwind Fortress after the Black Tide while its citizens trained and built defenses. Hundreds of miles away, Luo Chiyou killed Zou Feng and unleashed a storm that devastated New River City, leaving almost none of its residents alive.

• Lincon reviewed the fortress's forces and resources, then planned stronger combat, scouting, defensive, and healing Spirit Plants.
• Lincon watched the Rune Warriors and soldiers train as citizens, Tree Spirits, and Old Jiang continued building the Outer City defenses.
• At New River City, Zou Feng fought the Black Tide and a Peak B-Rank Ant Guard for five hours while the city suffered mounting casualties.
• Luo Chiyou appeared behind Zou Feng, killed his guards, and fatally struck him with Windfall Kill, collapsing part of the city wall.
• Luo Chiyou formed a vast black hurricane that tore through New River City, killing almost all of its hundreds of thousands of residents.

As the first Ash Snow lull began, Flint City's former butler led more than three hundred people south toward Longwind Fortress, believing it offered the best chance to preserve human civilization. Their group swelled to nearly a thousand as they learned New River City had fallen, but the butler remained certain the Longwind Lord could withstand the Black Tide.

• The butler told Flint City's remaining residents that their supplies would not last the Harsh Winter and announced he would take them to Longwind Fortress.
• Chen Weiming and the others accepted the butler's decision, bundled up against the Ash Snow, and followed him out of the shelter.
• Liu Dabiao left his companion behind with most of their food and joined the butler's group, while other people from Flint City followed.
• Over three days, the butler's group grew from more than three hundred people to nearly a thousand, including survivors who reported that New River City had been destroyed.
• As some travelers doubted Longwind Fortress could survive the Abyss Black Tide, the butler recalled the Longwind Lord and continued south, convinced the city would endure.

After defeating Hong Qi, Chen Siwei and Black Iron City faced a powerful Black Tide during the Ash Snow Lull Period. She stayed behind to hold back the creatures while Zhou Qing led the city's people to flee, and she unleashed her restored B-Rank power to confront the swarm.

• Chen Siwei defeated Hong Qi and ended Black Iron City's internal conflict, but his dying words hinted at another threat.
• A Black Tide at least C-Rank appeared near Black Iron City, and Chen Siwei ordered the residents to evacuate.
• Chen Siwei sent Zhou Qing to coordinate the escape and chose to confront the Black Tide alone.
• An Ant Guard appeared before Chen Siwei, while she fixed her attention on a graceful figure deeper in the Black Tide.
• Chen Siwei's life energy surged, restoring her to B-Rank and letting her use magnetic force to hold back the advancing darkness.

Chen Siwei spent her remaining life force fighting the Ant Guard and Luo Chiyou to protect the evacuees from Black Iron City. Just as the Ant Guard was about to kill her, Lincon arrived in Armored Composite Form and saved her, only for his greeting to make her collapse.

• Chen Siwei used Magnetic Heaven Attraction to crush much of the Black Tide, then threw the Ant Guard back with redirected magnetic force.
• Luo Chiyou unleashed a fierce storm that overwhelmed Chen Siwei’s magnetic defenses while the Ant Guard joined the assault.
• Chen Siwei endured the attacks and stood again, but the Ant Guard prepared a final blow as her life force ran out.
• Chen Siwei aged rapidly as her essence, vitality, and spirit collapsed, but Lincon descended in a pillar of fire and drove the Ant Guard back.
• Lincon introduced himself as a southern city lord who had traded food with Chen Siwei, then called her an old granny, and she collapsed.

Lincon rescued Chen Siwei from the Black Tide as the survivors fled Black Iron City. With the city destroyed and Ash Snow approaching, Zhou Qing asked Lin Si for one more favor.

• Lincon recognized the resurrected Luo Chiyou and faced her and the Ant Guard before escaping with Chen Siwei behind a wall of fire.
• Luo Chiyou stopped the Ant Guard from pursuing Lincon after hearing a voice from the Abyss direct her south to seize the Life Fruit.
• Lincon reached the fleeing survivors and told Zhou Qing that Chen Siwei's life was in danger but that Longwind Fortress might offer her a chance to survive.
• Lin Si advised the survivors to split into groups and flee before the Black Tide caught them, leaving Zhou Qing uncertain where they could find shelter.
• Zhou Qing asked Lin Si for one more favor.