Chapter Summaries

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.

After Black Iron City fell, Zhou Qing led its survivors toward Longwind Fortress, while Lincon returned with the gravely wounded Chen Siwei. Learning that she had exhausted her Life Essence, Lincon considered using his Life Fruit to restore her and discovered three possible advancement paths for it.

• Zhou Qing pledged that Black Iron City's survivors would become Longwind Fortress's people, and Lincon agreed to receive them if they reached the fortress alive.
• Zhou Qing led his group away as the Black Tide advanced, while Lincon carried Chen Siwei toward Longwind Fortress.
• Lincon reached Longwind Fortress and asked Jiang Wei to treat Chen Siwei; Jiang Wei determined that Chen Siwei had burned through her Life Essence and could not recover through ordinary healing.
• Lincon brought Chen Siwei to the Healing Glow Grass garden and considered using his Life Fruit to restore her vitality and strengthen Longwind Fortress's defenses.
• Lincon used his Seed Mark on the Life Fruit and saw advancement paths for the Life Ancient Tree Seed, the Core of the Spring of Life, and the Immortal Bean Vine.

Lincon advanced the Life Fruit into a Core of the Spring of Life and learned it could produce Life Essence to repair damage caused by depleted vitality. After collecting its first drop, he brought it to Qingrang Academy to treat Chen Siwei, whose condition had worsened.

• Lincon compared the Life Fruit’s three advancement paths and chose the Core of the Spring of Life, since he could not meet the requirements for the Ancient Tree of Life or Immortal Bean Vine.
• Lincon combined the Life Fruit with Blood of a B-Plus Rank Lifeform to create a B-Plus Rank+ Core of the Spring of Life.
• Lincon discovered that the core could create Life Springs, condense Life Essence, bless nearby lifeforms, and replenish its energy with blood.
• Jiang Wei told Lincon that Chen Siwei’s depleted Life Essence had left her near death, and the core spent a day condensing a drop of Life Essence.
• Lincon brought the drop to Qingrang Academy and gave it to Jiang Wei to feed Chen Siwei, startling her with his ability to cultivate a remedy so quickly.

Lincon saved Chen Siwei with Life Essence, then turned to preparations for the coming Ash Snow outbreak and the growing refugee crisis at Longwind Fortress. Zhang Rui asked Lincon for the authority to kill troublemakers among the incoming survivors, and Lincon had yet to answer.

• Jiang Wei gave Chen Siwei Life Essence, which revived her and restored much of her health.
• Lincon ordered Jiang Wei to find Chen Siwei a room and give her Life Essence daily until she recovered, then left Qingrang Academy.
• Lincon met Zhang Rui at the Governing Hall, where Zhang Rui reported that Outer City construction was behind schedule, the Frost Crystal Rice harvest had begun, and refugees were flooding into Longwind Fortress.
• Lincon told Zhang Rui that he planned to take in the people from Black Iron City, and Zhang Rui accepted his decision.
• Zhang Rui asked Lincon to grant him the right to kill troublemakers among the current and incoming residents, warning that some ability users and former camp leaders would refuse to follow the fortress's rules.

Zhang Rui received Lincon’s approval to use lethal force to keep Longwind Fortress orderly as refugees continued arriving. You Qing and her companions reached the fortress, registered as Temporary Subjects, and received copies of the Longwind Code.

• Zhang Rui told Lincon he was ready to wield the fortress’s blade, and Lincon authorized him to act.
• You Qing and her companions crossed into Longwind Fortress Territory, where they noticed lighter snow, fresher air, and unusual Mutant Creatures and Spirit Plants.
• You Qing’s group reached Longwind Fortress’s outer-city construction zone and joined the orderly registration queue.
• You Qing registered, chose to join Longwind Fortress, and received an identity plaque and a copy of the Longwind Code.
• You Qing read the Code’s first three rules, which required obedience to, support for, and respect for the Longwind Lord.

You Qing and Zhou Cang’s group entered Longwind Fortress, learning its rules and hearing how it had survived a battle against the Black Tide. They glimpsed the fortress and its enormous Crystal Orchid Giant Tree, while Zhou Cang’s remark about the city’s hierarchy offended their guide, Li Minglei.

• You Qing and the others read the Longwind Code and learned that newcomers had to obey the fortress’s rules.
• The group surrendered their firearms at the gate and entered the unfinished outer city, where Li Minglei introduced himself as their guide.
• Li Minglei explained that the area had been a battlefield against the Black Tide and that Purifying Fire and the Spirit Plant Fire God Tree had cleared away the Ash Snow.
• Li Minglei warned the group not to disturb the dead at the cemetery and said each Undead Soul Tree bore a Resting Soul Fruit containing a departed soul.
• The group saw Longwind Fortress and its towering Crystal Orchid Giant Tree, which Li Minglei identified as the Sacred Court and the Lord’s residence.
• Zhou Cang suggested that the fortress’s hierarchy was strict, upsetting Li Minglei, who ignored him for the rest of the journey.