Chapter Summaries

After the Black Tide receded, Lincon honored the survivors and used the Core of the Spring of Life to heal the wounded, though the battle had cost Longwind Fortress more than a thousand lives. The next day, he discovered that the war had unlocked the Dark Overlord advancement path and granted him an Intermediate Rune Industry Blueprint.

• Lincon learned from Guan Teng that the Black Tide had retreated and that more than a thousand Longwind Fortress fighters had died.
• Lincon gathered the survivors, promised rewards and promotions, and activated the Core of the Spring of Life to heal their injuries and restore the battlefield's Spirit Plants.
• The healed survivors cheered as Lincon told them to take their comrades home, while Zhang Rui organized the overnight cleanup and recovery of materials.
• The next day, Lincon found that the Territory War had unlocked the Epic Dark Overlord advancement path, which offered powers over dark creatures and Abyss troops.
• Lincon received the Intermediate Rune Industry Blueprint, which contained five Rune Paths: Precision, Dominion, Witchcraft, Enlightenment, and Resolve.

After reaching level 40, Lincon gained the Precision Rune path and examined the advancement quests for his Lord and Ecological Architect classes. He discovered that a seed he already possessed could satisfy the first quest for the hidden Nature Saint path, leaving him to consider whether completing the Ecological Trial would be enough to advance.

• Lincon absorbed the Precision Rune path and drew several Runes with newly exact, instinctive technique.
• Lincon reached level 40 and unlocked the Longwind Overlord and hidden Dark Overlord advancement paths, whose quests required killing the Dream Demon and obtaining an Abyssal Core from the Abyssal Ant Queen.
• Lincon inspected his Ecological Architect advancement options: Ecological Weaver, Ecological Mage, and the hidden Nature Saint path.
• Lincon realized his seed could fulfill the Nature Saint path's quest to cultivate a plant with both light and dark attributes, but wondered whether clearing the Ecological Trial would truly be enough.

Lincon prepared Longwind Fortress for the future by delegating False Devil Fruits, overseeing recovery after the Black Tide, and teaching the Rune Workshop about the Precision path. He returned to the Sacred Court, planted a seed beside the Life Spring, and still had to choose advancement paths for his professions.

• Lincon gave Zhou Qing the False Devil Fruits to use as mercenary mission rewards while preparing the Mercenary Guild.
• Lincon attended the fallen soldiers’ burial, while Lu Pingyan and You Qing became Provisional Subjects and left their former shelter.
• Lincon visited the Rune Workshop and learned that Shen Congzhi was studying the Rune Blueprints he had supplied.
• Lincon spent three days teaching Shen Congzhi and the workshop staff the logic of the Precision rune path.
• Lincon coordinated repairs and compensation with Zhang Rui and Guan Teng, then planted a seed beside the Life Spring.

Lincon chose the Nature Saint path after the Light-Dark Other Shore Cherry Blossom sprouted and completed its first advancement task. He entered the Ecological Trial, where he discovered a flawless world that rejected death and began considering how to introduce it and preserve balance.

• Lincon selected the Dark Overlord path and received a task to enter the Abyss alone and obtain an Abyssal Core from the Abyssal Ant Queen.
• After seven days of effort, Lincon grew the Light-Dark Other Shore Cherry Blossom seed into a seedling, unlocking its ability to improve the growth potential of light- or dark-aligned plants.
• Lincon confirmed the plant completed the Nature Saint path’s first task and entered the Ecological Trial Space.
• The trial assigned Lincon the task of introducing death into a world where only life existed and maintaining ecological balance for 100 days.
• Lincon found the trial world’s plants were unnaturally uniform and discovered that a pulled peony crumbled away before an identical one immediately regrew.
• Lincon sensed the plants’ mechanical emotions and learned his Seed Mark’s advancement ability was forbidden, then began considering how to overcome the world’s resistance to death.

Lincon discovered that the plants in this world were endlessly restored to identical, perfect states, then used the Seed Mark’s Growth Protocol to alter a daisy’s growth. He confirmed the world’s restorative force could not erase the alteration, giving him a way to introduce lasting flaws.

• Lincon examined the plants and found that their cells resisted aging, disease, and death.
• Lincon burned the meadow and forest edge, but the plants regrew exactly as before, revealing that the world reset them.
• Lincon used the Seed Mark’s Growth Protocol to make a daisy’s leaves and flower grow west instead of east.
• Lincon uprooted the daisy and watched a new one grow with the same westward orientation despite the world’s attempt to correct it.
• Lincon realized that flaws written into plants through the Seed Mark could survive the world’s resets.

Lincon corrupted the perfect forest’s rules, introducing mutation, decay, and death until a living ecosystem took shape. After maintaining its balance for a hundred days, he completed the first stage of the trial and unlocked Stage 2: Evolution.

• Lincon deployed Growth Protocol across part of the forest, limiting plant cell divisions, increasing mutations, and making dead plants decay.
• The world’s corrective force tried to restore the forest, but defective plants spread and decaying matter gave rise to insects and new life.
• Lincon agreed to begin the ecological balance countdown after the trial registered 50% progress and confirmed that death had entered the world.
• Over the following hundred days, the forest developed animal life, new species, varied colors, and a cycle of growth and decay.
• Lincon completed Stage 1: Balance with an S evaluation, and Stage 2: Evolution unlocked.

Lincon entered the second trial, a scorching world where evolution had stopped, and sought a way to help plants survive by adapting them to collect water. After engineering moisture-gathering fibers and seeing them condense droplets at night, he began considering how evolutionary choices affected plants’ future potential.

• Lincon arrived in a blistering crimson wasteland and learned that Stage 2 required him to cultivate three evolved plants that survived and reproduced.
• Lincon found the previous stage’s perfect plants nearly withered and concluded they needed drastic changes to adapt to the harsh environment.
• Lincon sensed a deep underground water vein but realized the plants could not reach it, so he planned to collect moisture from the air instead.
• Lincon modified the plants’ surfaces into highly hygroscopic nanofibers and waited for nightfall.
• Lincon watched droplets condense on a sunflower’s fuzzy petals as the desert cooled, then reflected on how evolution could preserve or consume a plant’s growth potential.

Lincon guided plants through generations of competition and evolution in an accelerated ecological trial, culminating in the creation of an extraordinary symbiotic species. He completed the trial with an SS rating, earned two abilities, and returned to the Sacred Court.

• Lincon accelerated the plants’ evolution, producing the extraordinary Crimson Water-Drinkers and Desert Devourers, whose species fought a prolonged war.
• After both extraordinary leaders died in battle, other plants flourished, and Lincon’s evolution mission reached 68% progress.
• The Crimson Water-Drinkers and Desert Devourers eventually joined in symbiosis, creating the extraordinary Dark-Red Symbiote and completing the mission.
• Lincon received an S rating for the trial and an SS overall rating for the advancement mission, along with the abilities Everlasting Life and Ecological High Ground.
• Lincon reflected on the trial’s lessons and returned to the Sacred Court.

After completing the hidden Nature Saint advancement trial, Lincon gained the power to manipulate natural energy and chose Potential Unleashing as the foundation of his class path. He left the Sacred Court ready to push his plants beyond their growth limits, using the ability alongside Seed Mark.

• Lincon returned from the Trial Space and learned that he had completed hidden route 3 and advanced to the Nature Saint class at level 41.
• Lincon sensed and controlled natural energy, forming a domain around himself.
• Lincon reviewed the Nature Saint abilities Return of All Things to Source, Nature Edict, and Potential Unleashing.
• Lincon chose Potential Unleashing because it could raise his plants' growth ceilings and work with Seed Mark to advance them further.

Lincon gained Potential Unleashing, an ability that could force a mature Spirit Plant through an overclocked evolution, but it failed on the immature Light-Dark Far Shore Cherry. He chose the Solar Sunflower as his first target and began channeling his mental energy and Sunlight into it.

• Lincon tried to use Potential Unleashing on the Light-Dark Far Shore Cherry, but learned that Spirit Plants had to reach maturity first.
• Lincon considered evolving the Crystal Orchid Giant Tree but postponed it because the Sacred Court depended on the tree and could be destroyed during its evolution.
• Lincon summoned the Solar Sunflower and saw that it could evolve into a Kindling Sunflower for 5,000 Sunlight.
• Lincon chose the Solar Sunflower because it produced Sunlight and had helped protect Longwind Fortress through earlier crises.
• Lincon activated Potential Unleashing, opening the Solar Sunflower's Life Essence and pouring his mental energy and Sunlight into it.

Lincon evolved the Solar Sunflower into a B-Plus Rank Kindling Sunflower, whose powers could greatly increase Longwind Fortress’s supply of Sunlight. After the transformation, he discovered that his Level Three Seed Mark had also gained Photosynthesis, which used Sunlight to promote the growth of mid- and high-tier plants.

• Lincon ignited the Solar Sunflower’s Life Essence, sending a golden pillar of light through the Sacred Court’s dome and into the sky.
• Chen Siwei, Lu Pingyan, You Qing, and the Gray Feather Squad witnessed the light, while Luo Qian ordered the Garrison Guard to strengthen patrols.
• The pillar faded after a quarter of an hour, and Lincon saw that the Solar Sunflower had evolved into a B-Plus Rank Kindling Sunflower that produced 500 points of Sunlight per day.
• Lincon checked his Seed Mark and discovered that its Level Three enhancement, Photosynthesis, let him consume Sunlight to promote the growth of mid- and high-tier plants.

Lincon recovered from Potential Unleashing and discovered that Luo Chiyou had returned as the Tree Spirit of the Light-Dark Cherry of the Far Shore. He began using Potential Unleashing to evolve the Sacred Court’s Spirit Plants as he prepared for a possible assault on the Abyss Rift.

• Lincon invested ten thousand Sunlight in Advanced Photosynthesis, reducing the Light-Dark Cherry of the Far Shore’s growth time to ten days.
• After sleeping for two days and recovering with Life Essence, Lincon found Luo Chiyou had emerged from the Life Spring as a nonphysical Tree Spirit connected to the Light-Dark Cherry of the Far Shore.
• Luo Chiyou explained that her body had nourished the tree and her soul had become part of it, while Lincon confirmed she remained under his control.
• Lincon used Potential Unleashing to evolve the Dragonblood Flood Dragon Vine into the B-Rank Abyss Blood Dragon Vine.
• Over the following days, Lincon used Potential Unleashing on the Rift-Cleaving Dandelion and Sword-Rain Spirit Orchid while Luo Chiyou watched.

The third and final Ash Snow wave arrived earlier than expected, bringing a severe food shortage and temperatures below minus seventy degrees to Longwind Fortress. As the fortress was buried under the violent storm, Lincon watched over the evolved Spirit Plants while Luo Chiyou reflected on her new identity as the Other Shore Cherry Spirit.

• After the second Ash Snow ended, meteorological observers warned Zhang Rui that the final wave would arrive in two days, so he suspended work and ordered food distributed in advance.
• Lu Pingyan and You Qing worried that their shelter's food would not last a month and that shortages could trigger violence, though You Qing trusted the Lord to have made provisions.
• The third Ash Snow began the next evening, dropping enormous, nearly black clumps and driving temperatures below minus seventy degrees.
• The storm's chaotic energy overwhelmed the Silent Ice Butterflies, and Ash Snow piled up until shelters were buried beneath it.
• Lincon watched the storm from the Sacred Court and noted that surviving it would bring spring, while Luo Chiyou, now the Other Shore Cherry Spirit, caught snow in her hand.

As the third Ash Snow devastated the world, Longwind Fortress endured beneath the snow, protected by the evolved Crystal Ring Mother Tree. Lincon repaired the damage his Potential Unleashing had caused to the Sacred Court while Luo Chiyou watched.

• The third Ash Snow killed or endangered people across Jiangzhou and Flint City as shelters failed and freezing mist and cold overwhelmed them.
• On the tenth day of the Ash Snow, snow buried Longwind Fortress, leaving only its tallest structures and the Fallen Sun Thorncrown visible.
• The Crystal Orchid Giant Tree evolved into the towering Crystal Ring Mother Tree, whose canopy stored knowledge and whose rings could absorb and release defensive energy.
• Luo Chiyou sat on the Mother Tree’s aerial roots and told Lincon to take a break because he had wrecked their home.
• Lincon continued repairing the Sacred Court and Life Spring, which he had damaged while repeatedly using Potential Unleashing on Spirit Plants.

Lincon summoned the mature Fire God Tree to melt the Ash Snow burying Longwind Fortress. As the fortress reappeared, Luo Chiyou warned him that Star Pavilion could covet his abilities and revealed the brutality of power theft.

• Lincon collected the Life Spring and realized Ash Snow was burying Longwind Fortress, threatening to trap its people and damage the sheds.
• Luo Chiyou questioned how Lincon could clear snow more than ten meters deep, and Lincon summoned the Fire God Tree through a void magic array.
• The Fire God Tree released waves of heat and flame, melting the Ash Snow and revealing Longwind Fortress within an hour.
• Luo Chiyou warned that someone in Star Pavilion could devour ability users' powers, killing them and turning their abilities into power crystals.
• Luo Chiyou told Lincon that his old-era soldier's radiance made him different but unlikely to survive the apocalypse, while the Fire God Tree continued clearing the fortress.

The Fire God Tree melted the Ash Snow around Longwind Fortress, giving its residents warmth and clearing the city after ten days of darkness and extreme cold. At the Sacred Court, Zhang Rui and the others found its structures ruined, and Chen Siwei proposed rebuilding them.

• Lu Pingyan saw the enormous Fire God Tree above Longwind Fortress vaporizing the falling Ash Snow with waves of heat.
• You Qing watched the snow melt and felt reassured that choosing to settle in Longwind Fortress had been the right decision.
• He Su and Zhou Cang enjoyed the warmth outside as residents cleared rooftops and drainage ditches.
• Zhang Rui led people to the Sacred Court, where they found the structures so badly damaged that the former entrance was gone.
• Chen Siwei suggested rebuilding the Sacred Court with the help of ability users who could control quicksand and stone.

Zhang Rui and the fortress leaders climbed the Crystal Ring Mother Tree to meet Lincon and discuss the aftermath of the Ash Snow melting. Lincon promised to use the Fire God Tree to reduce future danger, then heard Zhang Rui lay out the fortress’s accumulated administrative problems.

• Luo Chiyou summoned Zhang Rui and the others up the vine ladder, and Chen Siwei recognized her as the woman Lincon had killed twice.
• Chen Siwei confronted Luo Chiyou, but Luo Chiyou let the group pass and assured them she was not dangerous.
• Zhang Rui and the others climbed through the Crystal Ring Mother Tree and saw the melted snow, ruined Sacred Court, and recovering city below.
• Zhang Rui greeted Lincon at the Life Spring and explained that the group had come to inspect the major changes caused by the melted Ash Snow.
• Lincon said he would place the Fire God Tree between the inner and outer cities to cut the Ash Snow’s impact on the fortress by half.
• Zhang Rui listed the fortress’s accumulated administrative problems, and Lincon’s brow tightened as he listened.

Lincon approved renaming Longwind Fortress to Longwind City and changed the planned Mercenary Guild into the Adventurer Guild, while the Governing Hall continued refining plans for the city. The Ash Snow eventually stopped, as the new guild’s rules and promised Adventurer Medal stirred excitement among the people, and Lincon still had no home.

• Zhang Rui persuaded Lincon to approve renaming Longwind Fortress to Longwind City and was tasked with delivering a final plan in three days.
• Zhou Qing reported that the Mercenary Guild was nearly ready, and Lincon renamed it the Adventurer Guild for independent adventurers.
• Lincon coordinated with the managers on food cultivation, Outer City construction, and dwindling materials, but forgot to settle his need for a home.
• News spread that the first ten B-Rank Adventurers would receive an Adventurer Medal, while the Gray Feather Squad was assessed at C-Rank.
• The third Ash Snow continued through its twentieth, twenty-fifth, and thirtieth days before it stopped.

The Ash Snow ended, sunlight returned, and Longwind Fortress was officially renamed Longwind City as it entered a new era. Three days later, the Adventurer Guild opened for registration, and the Gray Feather Squad became its first publicly registered adventurers after the Lord.

• Lincon and residents across Longwind welcomed the sunlight as the Ash Snow stopped and the clouds parted.
• Li Yunfan marked the first day of the sixth year of the Dark Era Calendar, while Zhang Rui announced that Longwind Fortress had been renamed Longwind City.
• Lu Pingyan and You Qing discussed their Contribution Rankings and hopes of becoming Formal Subjects as they prepared for camp patrol.
• The Adventurer Guild opened three days after the Ash Snow stopped, drawing a crowd of prospective adventurers and onlookers.
• Night Owl registered for the Gray Feather Squad and received badge AD-002, learning that the Lord held badge AD-001.
• Bai Ge, Hidden Bat, and the rest of the Gray Feather Squad registered, followed by other applicants as the line grew.

Longwind City opened its Adventurer Guild and launched a large-scale recovery effort after the Ash Snow stopped. As the city began reclaiming farmland and rebuilding its food reserves, Lincon decided to consider changing his main class.

• The Gray Feather Squad visited the newly opened Adventurer Guild, where Night Owl learned that Chen Siwei had been put in charge.
• The Gray Feather Squad accepted a C-Rank task to find special materials, and other adventurers began taking tasks as well.
• Three days after the Ash Snow stopped, the Governing Hall began clearing snow and preparing land for crops and renewed food production.
• Lincon deployed the Tree Spirit army and the Fire God Tree to help clear routes and reclaim planting areas.
• Lu Pingyan, You Qing, Zhou Cang, and many other Temporary Subjects became Formal Subjects.
• Lincon looked over Longwind City's recovery and decided it was time to consider changing his main class.