Chapter Summaries

Zhou Qing arrived at Longwind Fortress with a Black Iron City delegation and was stunned by its rapid development and powerful Spirit Plants. Zhang Rui welcomed him but deferred a meeting with Lincon, leaving Zhou Qing to reconsider how Black Iron City should approach the trade.

• Zhang Rui and Zhou Qing exchanged polite greetings while probing each other, and Zhou Qing noticed Guan Teng’s strange aura.
• Zhou Qing’s convoy stopped outside Longwind Fortress, where Zhang Rui introduced the extraordinary Spirit Plants growing around its walls.
• Zhou Qing entered the fortress with more than a dozen elites and observed its busy residents and contribution system.
• Zhou Qing and his delegation saw the Life Sacred Court, whose immense crystalline tree and gathered energy left them shocked.
• Zhang Rui declined Zhou Qing’s request to meet Lincon and invited the delegation to rest at the Governing Hall before discussing their second trade.
• Zhou Qing reconsidered his plan to pressure Longwind Fortress after realizing its strength had surpassed his expectations.

Lincon prepared Longwind Fortress for the approaching Harsh Winter by issuing an edict that increased affiliated plants’ growth rate. Meanwhile, Zhang Rui refused Zhou Qing’s request for another food shipment, leaving the trade dispute unresolved as he invited Black Iron City’s delegation to the cafeteria.

• Lincon remembered the deadly Ash Snow of past winters and issued an edict increasing the natural growth rate of affiliated plants in Longwind Fortress by 20%.
• The residents felt the edict take effect, and perceptive people began considering which tasks to accept from the Contribution Stele.
• Zhang Rui told Zhou Qing that Longwind Fortress had used its own food reserves to fulfill the first order of three hundred tons of Sunlight Potatoes and could not provide another shipment.
• Zhou Qing doubted Zhang Rui’s explanation but decided against pressuring Longwind Fortress and resolved to stay until he obtained food.
• Xu Wan arrived outside the hall, and Zhang Rui invited Zhou Qing and the other envoys to dine at the fortress cafeteria.

Zhang Rui led Zhou Qing and the Black Iron City Ability Users through Longwind Fortress at night, where luminous plants safely lit the streets. At dinner, a scar-faced visitor insulted the fortress’s residents, and Zhou Qing said the man should be killed for his offense.

• Spore Shooter Mushrooms dissolved a monster approaching Longwind Fortress, then hid underground.
• Zhang Rui guided Zhou Qing and the visitors through the fortress’s glowing streets to the cafeteria.
• The Black Iron City Ability Users saw Longwind Fortress residents receiving generous meals in an orderly cafeteria.
• A scar-faced Ability User called the residents lowlifes and challenged Longwind Fortress’s refusal to trade grain with Black Iron City.
• Zhang Rui rebuked the man and defended the residents, while Zhou Qing ordered Hong Xiao to control his subordinate.
• Zhou Qing told Zhang Rui that the scar-faced man should be killed for his offense.

Zhou Qing backed Zhang Rui and ordered Liu Le killed after Liu Le provoked Longwind Fortress, deepening the conflict between factions in Black Iron City. Hong Xiao left in anger, while Zhou Qing asked to trade for more supplies and cultivable Spirit Plants before winter, and Lincon began wondering what Black Iron City's City Lord intended.

• Zhou Qing defended Longwind Fortress and told Hong Xiao that Liu Le deserved punishment for repeatedly provoking it.
• Zhang Rui ordered Guan Teng to kill Liu Le, and Guan Teng used the Shadow Fiend to briefly immobilize him before cutting his throat.
• Hong Xiao prepared to attack, but Zhou Qing blocked him and warned him not to interfere with Longwind Fortress; Black Iron City's representatives split into opposing factions.
• Zhang Rui invited the visitors to eat, but Hong Xiao refused to stay and left with his men, while Zhou Qing discussed Black Iron City's internal conflict and its need for supplies before winter.
• Zhou Qing asked Zhang Rui to relay Black Iron City's request to trade for supplies and cultivable Spirit Plants, and Zhang Rui said the City Lord would decide.
• Lincon observed the cafeteria through the Shrine's Eye and wondered what Black Iron City's City Lord planned to do with the Spirit Plants.

Zhou Qing met with Lincon at the Sacred Court to negotiate Black Iron City's request for food and spiritual plants. Lincon demanded fifty thousand useful people in exchange, leaving Zhou Qing to take the condition back to Black Iron City's city lord before winter.

• Zhou Qing woke refreshed in Longwind Fortress and noticed how freely the fortress used clean water.
• Zhang Rui led Zhou Qing and his Ability Users through the Sacred Court to meet Lincon.
• Lincon said he could discuss trading food and spiritual plants but did not need Black Iron City's stored materials.
• Lincon demanded fifty thousand useful people, and Zhou Qing agreed to report the condition to Black Iron City's city lord.
• Lincon gave Zhou Qing until before winter to respond, then had Zhang Rui arrange the count for the previous Sunlight Potatoes trade.

Lincon inspected the Seed of Life and worked to prepare Longwind Fortress for Harsh Winter by experimenting with cold-resistant rice. The chapter ended when the Fallen Sun Thorncrown alerted him that elves had been captured and asked whether they should be eliminated.

• Lincon checked the Seed of Life and saw that its growth remained blocked until the fortress gained more Reputation.
• Lincon examined rice seedlings he had been exposing to freezing temperatures and chose the Stronglife Rice evolution for one promising plant.
• Lincon recorded the Stronglife Rice’s stronger build and reduced yield, then finished checking the seedlings.
• The Fallen Sun Thorncrown contacted Lincon and asked whether the captured elves should be eliminated.

During the handover of Sunlight Potatoes, Hong Xiao discovered three Sunlight Elves in a flower field and ordered his men to capture them. Solar Sunflower sensed the abduction, and the plants of Longwind Fortress prepared to retaliate as Fallen Sun Thorncrown fired a beam at Hong Xiao's group.

• Zhou Qing oversaw the weighing and counting of the potatoes while Hong Xiao watched the handover.
• A subordinate told Hong Xiao that he had found three Sunlight Elves hiding in a flower field.
• Hong Xiao dismissed his men's concerns and ordered them to catch the Elves.
• Hong Xiao and his men seized all three Sunlight Elves and hurried away with them.
• Solar Sunflower grew angry, and Fallen Sun Thorncrown received the great master's order to kill.
• Fallen Sun Thorncrown fired a beam that melted the head of an Ability User running beside Hong Xiao.

Hong Xiao and his men were caught stealing the Sunlight Elves, and the Crown of Fallen Sun Thorns attacked them while Zhang Rui confronted Hong Xiao. Hong Xiao fought Zhou Qing and knocked him aside, but the Crown of Fallen Sun Thorns then aimed its next shot at Hong Xiao.

• The Crown of Fallen Sun Thorns killed Hong Xiao's men after catching them stealing the Sunlight Elves, and Hong Xiao returned one Elf in an attempt to negotiate.
• Zhang Rui accused Hong Xiao of stealing from Longwind Fortress and rejected his excuse, while the plant continued killing his subordinates.
• Hong Xiao lunged at Zhang Rui to take him hostage, but Zhou Qing intercepted him with an ice shield.
• Hong Xiao broke Zhou Qing's shield, endured his icy mist, and struck him aside with his steel-enhanced body.
• The Crown of Fallen Sun Thorns finished off the other Ability Users and fired a beam at Hong Xiao.

After Hong Xiao was killed by the Solar Sunflower and Fallen Sun Thorncrown, Zhou Qing accepted responsibility and completed the trade with Longwind Fortress. At the Rune Workshop, Shen Congzhi realized Guan Teng’s power came from a harnessing symbiosis between him and a Dark Creature, formed when both had entered a state of death.

• The Solar Sunflower and Fallen Sun Thorncrown killed Hong Xiao with a blazing beam, and Lincon allowed the trade to continue.
• Zhang Rui warned Zhou Qing not to involve Longwind Fortress in Black Iron City's internal conflicts, and Zhou Qing agreed to take responsibility for Hong Xiao's death.
• After the Sunlight Potatoes were loaded, Zhou Qing told his subordinate to report that he had killed Hong Xiao and urged the group to choose sides in Black Iron City's coming conflict.
• Lincon visited Shen Congzhi and Su Yunqing at the Rune Workshop and tried to advise them to rest before Shen Congzhi questioned him about how Runes could affect living beings.
• After Lincon left, Shen Congzhi concluded that Guan Teng and Shadow Fiend had achieved harnessing symbiosis through the Resonance Rune when both entered a state of death.

After learning that the Rune Workshop’s method for awakening Rune Warriors carried an eighty percent death rate, twenty-seven Defense Corps members insisted on trying it. Lincon agreed and made Rune Warrior an exclusive advancement path for qualified Longwind Fortress guards, then watched them head to the Rune Workshop.

• The Rune Workshop’s research revealed that becoming a Rune Warrior required surviving three deadly stages involving a Dark Creature, Infusion Runes, and the candidate’s life essence.
• Twenty-seven Defense Corps members asked Lincon to let them attempt the awakening, despite his offer of the safer Cooperative Symbiosis ritual.
• Zhang Rui decided against attempting the process because Longwind Fortress and his family depended on him.
• Lincon agreed to the twenty-seven members’ request and ordered Zhang Rui to restrict Rune Warrior advancement to Defense Corps members who passed assessments.
• Lincon told the candidates he would wait for their return, and they walked to the Rune Workshop as Shen Congzhi stepped aside.

Lincon prepared to capture Dark Creatures for the twenty-seven Defense Corps members beginning Rune Awakening, while Guan Teng worried about their chances and their place in Longwind Fortress's future. Lincon reassured him that Rune Warriors would always belong to the corps and renamed them the Longwind Town Guard.

• Shen Congzhi tried to stop sixteen-year-old Luo Qian from entering the workshop, but Zhang Rui defended Luo Qian's readiness, and Shen Congzhi let him proceed.
• Su Yunqing settled the twenty-seven Defense Corps members in the laboratory to rest before the first stage of Rune Awakening began at night.
• Lincon left the Sacred Court to capture Dark Creatures and found Guan Teng worrying that ordinary corps members might be left behind as Longwind Fortress prospered.
• Lincon promised that Rune Warriors would remain part of the Defense Corps and declared that the corps would henceforth be called the Longwind Town Guard.

Lincon began the Rune fusion procedure to help twenty-seven Defense Corps members control Dark Creatures, while Luo Qian fought the Wraith Hand in his consciousness. By the third day, thirteen had survived, and Luo Qian became Longwind Fortress’s second Rune Warrior, proving the method could create Ability Users.

• Lincon brought E-Rank Dark Creatures to the Rune Workshop and prepared to perform the fusion himself, with Shen Congzhi and Su Yunqing assisting.
• Lincon fused a Wraith Hand with Luo Qian, who resisted its will and began learning to control its power in the darkness of his consciousness.
• Lincon carried out the first-stage fusion on all twenty-seven candidates, and they entered the prolonged struggle against their Dark Creatures.
• Over three days, fourteen candidates died and transformed, and Guan Teng silently released their bodies as agreed.
• Luo Qian awakened first, controlled the Wraith Hand, and became Longwind Fortress’s second Rune Warrior.
• The remaining candidates awakened over the following days, and tests showed that earlier awakenings corresponded to stronger control of their abilities.

Lincon tested the first fourteen Rune Warriors at Longwind Fortress, using Guan Teng to expose the limits of their newly awakened abilities and remind them that power did not place them above ordinary people. He renamed their unit the Longwind Town Guard, entrusting them with the duty of protecting the fortress.

• Lincon gathered the fourteen awakened Rune Warriors on the training ground and asked them to demonstrate their abilities, beginning with Luo Qian.
• Luo Qian demonstrated Wraith Hand, but Guan Teng defeated him twice and Lincon explained the ability’s limitations and possible paths for improvement.
• Guo Tao, Qiu An, and the other Rune Warriors showed their abilities, while Guan Teng overcame them in the demonstrations.
• Lincon warned the Rune Warriors that Longwind Fortress would not become a city where ability users ruled over ordinary people.
• Lincon told the Rune Warriors they were leaving the Defense Corps to join a new unit, the Longwind Town Guard, and take responsibility for protecting the fortress.

Longwind Fortress’s leaders debated how to prioritize development and prepare for winter as former residents who had fled before the Black Tide returned. Lincon ruled that the returnees had relinquished their resident status and would be turned away under the fortress’s rules.

• Liu Ying took Raging Bull outside to help prepare land for planting, while Luo Qian and Qiu An spotted a group of former residents approaching Longwind Fortress.
• Qiu An blocked the group from entering, and Luo Qian hurried to report their arrival to Lincon.
• Lincon directed the leaders to prioritize winter supplies, resource collection, and production, while expanding the Garrison Guard in anticipation of possible population growth.
• Luo Qian told the leaders that the returning group included Wang Bo, Doctor Shen’s former assistant, and roughly twenty or thirty others.
• Lincon said the group had given up resident status when they left and ordered that they be turned away, with force permitted if they threatened the fortress or its residents.

Lincon discovered that Flint City had sent two groups to Longwind Fortress: former subjects seeking to return and a hidden force led by Wang Hu. After overhearing Flint City's plan to infiltrate and eventually seize the fortress, Lincon decided to prepare a deadly welcome for them.

• Lincon spotted two clusters of unidentified intruders on the territory map and sent Guan Teng and Zhang Rui to handle the returnees at the gate.
• Lincon projected his spiritual will into a Lord's Shrine near the hidden group and observed Wang Hu and his subordinates.
• Wang Hu revealed that Painted Skin had infiltrated the returning subjects and that Flint City planned to gather intelligence before capturing Longwind Fortress.
• Wang Hu explained that Flint City intended to eliminate Longwind Fortress before winter and take its food and Rune technology, expecting Black Iron City to stay out of the conflict.
• Lincon withdrew from the Shrine and began planning to deal with the intruders and prepare for Flint City's anticipated attack.

Zhang Rui and Guan Teng rejected Wang Bo and the refugees who had abandoned Longwind Fortress, but Lincon unexpectedly allowed them to camp outside the fortress and receive food and water in exchange for labor. Zhang Rui and the residents wondered whether Lincon intended to let them return, despite the anger that would cause.

• Zhang Rui questioned Wang Bo about why he and the refugees had come back, and Wang Bo begged forgiveness for fleeing the Black Tide.
• Guan Teng mocked Wang Bo’s apology and declared that the refugees could not return to Longwind Fortress, drawing cheers from the residents.
• Wang Bo blamed Lincon for allowing them to leave and secretly grew resentful toward the fortress residents.
• Sunlight Elves relayed Lincon’s instructions, and Zhang Rui announced that the refugees could camp outside the fortress and earn food and water through labor.
• Guan Teng and Zhang Rui questioned why Lincon had changed his mind and worried that allowing the refugees back might damage his standing with the residents.

Lincon sheltered Wang Bo and the other Flint City refugees while planning to use them in a trap against Flint City. As he strengthened Longwind Fortress for the coming conflict, Luo Qian’s Wraith Hand began overpowering him, and Lincon concluded that adding a symbiotic Spirit Plant could balance Rune Warriors’ growth.

• Zhang Rui and Guan Teng settled Wang Bo’s group outside Longwind Fortress, where Painted Skin warned Wang Bo that the refugees bore Mental Marks tying them to Flint City.
• Lincon told Longwind Fortress’s leaders that Flint City planned to attack and said he intended to weaken more than half of its Ability Users with a trap.
• Lincon began training the Garrison Guard and supplied Dark Crystals to help its Rune Warriors grow stronger.
• After absorbing Dark Crystals, Luo Qian’s Wraith Hand began evolving and invading his body, so Lincon temporarily suppressed it with his own power.
• Lincon reasoned that a symbiotic Spirit Plant could balance the human, Rune, and Dark Creature within a Rune Warrior and let all three grow together.

Lincon helped Luo Qian form a symbiosis with a Ghostshadow Sword Orchid, completing the Rune Warrior’s closed loop and restoring control over Wraith Hand. Luo Qian awakened with stronger abilities and manifested a dark sword shaped by the Spirit Plant and his Dark Creature.

• Lincon chose a Ghostshadow Sword Orchid for Luo Qian after learning Luo Qian had dreamed of sweeping away darkness with a sword.
• Lincon drew Luo Qian and the Shadow Sword’s consciousness into the Symbiosis Space while the Garrison Guard waited anxiously.
• Lincon reassured Shen Congzhi that the risks of pioneering the Rune Warrior path were not his fault.
• Guan Teng announced that Luo Qian had awakened, and Lincon found him recovering in the lounge beside an empty flowerpot.
• Luo Qian said his new power helped suppress Wraith Hand and that Wraith Hand had advanced to D-rank, gaining the ability to suppress a D-Class Ability User.
• Luo Qian formed a black longsword from the mist around his arm, revealing how Ghostshadow Sword Orchid and Wraith Hand had influenced each other through symbiosis.

Lincon watched Luo Qian and Guan Teng test their abilities, and their apparent one-sided fight proved to be a draw because both controlled each other. The Garrison Guard began seeking Spirit Plants suited to their abilities, while Lincon entered the forest to meet the Demon Ancient Tree.

• Lincon explained that Ghostshadow Sword Orchid had formed a symbiosis with Luo Qian and helped him control Wraith Hand, then arranged a match between Luo Qian and Guan Teng.
• Guan Teng used the Shadow Fiend to invade Luo Qian's mind, while Luo Qian used his shadow to reach Guan Teng with Wraith Hand and suppress him.
• Lincon declared the match a draw after Luo Qian and Guan Teng explained that they had controlled each other at the same time.
• The Garrison Guard began searching for Spirit Plants that could complement their abilities instead of cultivating with Dark Crystals.
• Painted Skin, disguised among the workers outside Longwind Fortress, grew frustrated with the exhausting labor and tight patrols.
• Lincon entered the forest on a Treant Guard's shoulder, carrying a lantern and heading toward the Demon Ancient Tree.

Lincon visited the Demon Ancient Tree and discovered a half-charred branch identified as part of the Fire God Tree. Its advancement paths included a hidden Fusang Divine Tree Sapling, leaving Lincon to consider the branch’s immense potential.

• Lincon entered the Nightglow Life Circle and saw how much the Demon Ancient Tree had grown since his last visit.
• The Demon Ancient Tree carried Lincon into its branches, first showing him strange, failed fruits and then a half-charred branch surrounded by silver-blue flowers.
• Lincon used the Seed Mark to identify the branch as a remnant of the Fire God Tree, burned by an Abyssal Flame Demon and dropped by a creature named Ruifu.
• Lincon examined the branch’s advancement paths and discovered that its hidden path could awaken it as a Fusang Divine Tree Sapling.