Recaps

Wang Fumin weighed enlisting to support his family while reassuring his daughter that he would not be going to war. In the Red Mangrove Forest, Zhang Ming waited inside the Faraday Cage as the enraged, wounded Golden Eel unleashed a lightning storm.

• Wang Fumin and Lu Tuyu discussed enlistment as a source of stable work amid economic collapse.
• Wang Fumin promised his daughter treats and an amusement park visit, then said he planned to rescue her idol in the Mysterious Zone rather than fight in a war.
• Lu Tuyu noted that only three mirages remained and wondered whether the lone island survivor, Zhang Ming, was hunting with his turtles and iron cage.
• Zhang Ming recalled that the Golden Eel had escaped after swallowing the chili-soaked crab and gone on a rampage through the Red Mangrove Forest.
• Zhang Ming waited for the wounded Golden Eel to tire while lightning tore through the forest around his Faraday Cage.

Zhang Ming lured the exhausted Golden Eel into attacking his Faraday Cage, then struck it with a spear when it tried to flee. He pursued the wounded eel through the storm, with his mental value reaching its maximum as the hunt continued.

• Zhang Ming threw chili sauce at the wounded Golden Eel to provoke it into attacking his Faraday Cage.
• The Golden Eel unleashed a powerful electrical assault on the cage, but the metal enclosure grounded the current.
• As the eel's strength dwindled, Zhang Ming prepared his Crab-Leg Spear and waited for it to flee.
• When the Golden Eel turned to escape, Zhang Ming burst from the cage and struck it with his spear.
• Zhang Ming raced after the wounded eel through the storm, and his mental value reached 110/110.

After defeating and killing the Golden Electric Eel, Zhang Ming discovered that eating its meat granted him attributes and unlocked the Lightning Control superpower. The sea turtles carried him toward their home, and he delayed activating the new ability until he knew more about their intentions.

• Zhang Ming killed the Golden Electric Eel with a spear through its eye after a prolonged battle in the Red Mangrove Forest.
• Zhang Ming tied a rope around the eel and asked the arriving sea turtles to help transport it, offering to share some of the meat.
• The Little White Turtle directed the group to carry Zhang Ming and the eel toward the sea turtles' home.
• Zhang Ming ate a piece of eel meat and gained one point each in Physique, Perception, and Spirit, while realizing the meat's energy had filled him up.
• Zhang Ming's attribute panel revealed Lightning Control, which required 60 attribute points to activate, but he held off because he was wary of the turtles and the possible deep sleep.

Zhang Ming explored an underwater ruin and discovered a turtle settlement alongside murals depicting the ancient Flame-Horned People and their civilization. The murals ended with the death of a colossal turtle and the apparent destruction of the Flame-Horned People’s world.

• Sea turtles carried Zhang Ming through a glowing cave filled with ruins, submerged houses, and unfamiliar murals.
• The Little White Turtle brought Zhang Ming to its home, where he met its father, Old White, and saw the turtle clan guarding its eggs.
• Zhang Ming examined the ruined temple and named the horned people depicted in its murals the Flame-Horned People.
• The murals showed the Flame-Horned People building a civilization in symbiosis with sea turtles, including a kingdom on the back of a colossal turtle.
• Zhang Ming saw that the murals ended with the colossal turtle dying as fungal colonies spread through its body, followed by the Flame-Horned People’s apparent apocalypse.

Zhang Ming discovered that the Black Stone in the Flame-Horned ruins repeated broadcasts and tested whether it was alive. After negotiating with Old White, he traded the Golden Electric Eel’s head for an ancient supernatural spear.

• Zhang Ming explored the ruins and found the skeleton of a Flame-Horned man beside a mural depicting the people’s downfall.
• Zhang Ming found a Black Stone that repeated a news broadcast by Li Xianfeng and concluded it might be a supernatural strange object.
• Zhang Ming tested the Black Stone with tongue twisters, and it garbled the difficult one.
• Old White asked Zhang Ming to offer the Golden Electric Eel to the Black Stone, but Zhang Ming refused to give up the whole eel.
• Old White offered a sharp, icy spear in exchange for the eel’s head, and Zhang Ming agreed to the trade.

Zhang Ming helped the sea turtles make an offering to a strange red mushroom and witnessed a terrifying vision of two super lifeforms hidden on the island. After the turtles sacrificed eggs and the mushroom vanished, he suspected the Black Stone might be more than a repeater.

• Zhang Ming used the ancient spear to cut off the electric eel's head, which the sea turtles offered to the Stone Altar.
• A red mushroom grew from the altar, and Zhang Ming saw a vision of two immense, tangled beings connected to it by a thread.
• The altar absorbed the eel head as blood essence, and Zhang Ming realized the mushroom demanded more offerings.
• The sea turtles offered unfertilized eggs until the red mushroom faded and crumbled into ash.
• The Black Stone leaped onto the altar, prompting Zhang Ming to wonder whether it had hidden power, but it only repeated his words.

Zhang Ming celebrated with the sea turtles, discovered their varied superpowers, and tried to bargain with Old White Turtle for seafood, turtle eggs, and help exploring the ruins. Meanwhile, enhanced images of Zhang Ming's battle spread across Earth's fragmented internet and sparked intense global discussion.

• The sea turtles showed Zhang Ming their abilities, including Little White Turtle's petrification, Old White Turtle's telekinesis, and Giant Turtle's freezing breath.
• Zhang Ming shared a song with the turtles, then wondered about the ancient civilization and what powers eating turtle eggs might grant him.
• Zhang Ming offered Old White Turtle eel remains in exchange for seafood and one or two unfertilized turtle eggs, and promised help claiming the Red Mangrove Forest.
• Zhang Ming also asked Old White Turtle for turtles to help excavate the underwater ruins and for the talking Black Stone, which repeated his words.
• Enhanced images of Zhang Ming's battle spread rapidly across Earth's internet and provoked worldwide discussion about humanity's potential.

Wang Fumin learned that the fighter in Mysterious Zone 16 had battled a lightning-wielding creature and was being hailed worldwide as humanity’s strongest superpower user. The revelation lifted his spirits as he prepared to join the army, while he and Lu Tuyu watched the online arguments grow.

• Wang Fumin took his daughter to a noodle shop and told her he would soon join the army while she returned to their hometown with her mother.
• Wang Fumin overheard young men discussing images of a battle in Mysterious Zone 16 and learned that a human had fought a lightning-shooting undersea creature.
• Wang Fumin felt less troubled after realizing that the drifting bottle he had sent had reached humanity’s strongest superpower user.
• Wang Fumin visited Lu Tuyu, who was connecting to the foreign internet and following the worldwide reactions to the fighter’s feat.
• Wang Fumin laughed as Lu Tuyu traded sarcastic replies with people arguing online about the rankings of superpower users.

Lu Tuyu and Wang Fumin discussed a foreign professor’s claim that Zhang Ming was humanity’s strongest superpower user, while officials debated why the claim had been publicized. A researcher proposed that the delay between the mirage and the public reaction could support the Gaia Consciousness hypothesis, leaving Li Xianfeng concerned about possible effects on Earth.

• Lu Tuyu advised Wang Fumin to answer online criticism with sarcasm, and they laughed at the message he posted.
• Professor Peter Greer announced that Zhang Ming was humanity’s strongest superpower user, prompting widespread discussion online.
• At a meeting, Li Xianfeng and officials debated Professor Peter’s motives for releasing images of Zhang Ming’s combat prowess.
• A young researcher suggested that the ten-hour delay before public opinion surged supported the Gaia Consciousness hypothesis rather than an omnipotent God directing events.
• Academician Ge argued that influencing Gaia through public opinion would be difficult, and Li Xianfeng asked whether the news could cause changes on Earth.

Academician Ge outlined how public belief in Great Xia could affect earthquakes, weather, and the formation of Pangaea, while Li Xianfeng worried about the dangers of a united landmass. Meanwhile, Zhang Ming ate eel, gained attribute points, and talked with the Black Stone about the universe, still stranded with the extraterrestrial treasure awaiting rescue.

• Academician Ge said public belief might bring Great Xia fewer earthquakes, better weather, and a greater chance of being at the center of Pangaea.
• Li Xianfeng worried that rising seas, declining food production, and connected land borders could transform the global political order.
• Zhang Ming cooked and ate eel hot pot, gaining four attribute points from the meal.
• Zhang Ming recalled that he needed a rescue team to transport the extraterrestrial treasures home and wrote a plea for help in the sand.
• Zhang Ming chatted with the Black Stone about the vast universe and questioned what human life was for.

Zhang Ming processed a giant electric eel, reminisced about his family while talking to the Black Stone, and built an underground ice-storage setup. Three months later, he had reached the first-stage bottleneck in his attributes and was left searching for a way to break through.

• Zhang Ming butchered the giant eel with the Ice Spear, shared stories about his parents with the Black Stone, and traded the eel's scraps to Sea Turtle.
• Zhang Ming froze water with the Ice Spear and buried his insulated coconut vat to preserve food.
• Three months passed, and Zhang Ming's attribute gains from the eel meat began to fade as his physique and perception reached 200.
• Zhang Ming found that physique, perception, and mind fell back to 200 whenever they rose to 201, so he directed new points into lifespan.
• Zhang Ming considered the bottleneck and worried that his extraordinary strength would not protect him from danger without a further breakthrough.

Zhang Ming examined his stalled growth and concluded that he needed to understand his superpowers and spirit more deeply. Studying ancient Flamehorn Civilization stone slabs stirred his spirit and hinted at a cultivation method, while the Black Stone repeated his belief that no one would rescue him.

• Zhang Ming rejected several unactivated abilities as unlikely to help him overcome his bottleneck and reconsidered the slow-growing Black Tortoise Breathing Technique.
• Zhang Ming compared his limited use of Lightning Control and Strength Burst with the powerful abilities of the creatures he had encountered.
• Zhang Ming reasoned that differences between human and monster bodies could affect how efficiently superpowers worked, and that he needed to understand spirit better.
• Zhang Ming cleaned ancient stone slabs from the sea turtle's cave, whose symbols stirred strange thoughts and caused his spirit to circulate as a warm current.
• Zhang Ming suspected the slabs recorded a cultivation method, and the Black Stone repeated his claim that no one would come to rescue him.

Zhang Ming tried to adapt the Flame-Horned People’s cultivation method for humans and asked the Black Stone to translate the ancient writing. After he named it Stone Mama and promised to share gossip, it produced a vision that revealed details about the Flame-Horn Breathing Technique.

• Zhang Ming found that the Flame-Horned People’s cultivation method barely strengthened him because its spirit circulation obstructed his human body.
• Zhang Ming resolved to combine what he knew of the Black Tortoise Breathing Technique and the Flame-Horned People’s legacy to devise a method suited to humans.
• Zhang Ming worried that Earth’s civilization was facing upheaval and felt an inexplicable conviction that he had to find humanity a way forward.
• Zhang Ming asked the Black Stone to translate the Flame-Horned People’s writing and offered to tell it stories about his first girlfriend.
• Zhang Ming named the Black Stone Stone Mama, and it spoke strange syllables that triggered a vision of an elder explaining how the Flame-Horn Breathing Technique gathered and stored spirit.

Zhang Ming studied the Flame-Horn Breathing Technique but found that its methods did not suit humans, then spent the evening eating with the turtles in the Red Mangrove Forest. A radio broadcast reported a surrender, the coming formation of Pangaea, and a disastrous expedition into the Mysterious Zone, leaving Zhang Ming worried that humanity might be searching for him.

• Zhang Ming tried the Flame-Horn Breathing Technique and realized its cultivation steps relied on features humans lacked, so he asked Stone Mama to repeat the instructions while he studied them.
• Zhang Ming brought Stone Mama to the Red Mangrove Forest, where Little White Turtle invited him to share a large fish.
• Zhang Ming cooked fish head with chopped chilies for the turtles, and they ate together beside the campfire.
• Li Xianfeng reported that a country had surrendered after three months of war and that the seven continents were expected to merge into Pangaea in nine years.
• Li Xianfeng announced that a global expedition into the Mysterious Zone had failed, with two ships and all two thousand special forces personnel aboard lost to supernatural forces.
• Zhang Ming feared the expedition might have been searching for him and wondered whether he should warn people not to come.

Zhang Ming struggled with his stalled abilities until Stone Mama repeated fragments of an ancient Flamehorn conversation about Black Tortoise nearing the end of its life and the race preparing to flee. After Zhang Ming repaid his debt by telling Stone Mama a story about his first girlfriend, Stone Mama revealed more of the Flamehorns’ plans to leave for the Demon God’s Sea.

• Zhang Ming realized that his abilities had reached a bottleneck and that he had no way to help Earth’s researchers understand superpowers.
• Stone Mama repeated memories of Flame-Horned leaders discussing Black Tortoise’s approaching lifespan limit and the danger facing their civilization.
• Zhang Ming urged Stone Mama to continue, but Stone Mama demanded payment for a story about Zhang Ming’s first girlfriend.
• Zhang Ming told Stone Mama how he and his first girlfriend had been caught by the dean of students, and Stone Mama resumed repeating.
• Zhang Ming learned that the Flame-Horned People planned to send their children away through the Demon God’s Sea with precious strange objects so their civilization could survive.
• Stone Mama stopped repeating when the carriage’s occupants fell silent, then repeated Zhang Ming’s instruction to stop repeating others.

Zhang Ming wondered whether the Homeless might seek Earth as a new world and questioned how powerful supernatural beings could be. Meanwhile, Li Xianfeng told Great Xia’s leaders that the Gaia Consciousness may have protected the rescued teams, while the remaining mirage grew unstable and signaled its weakening.

• Zhang Ming failed to get Stone Mama to explain who the Homeless were, then considered whether the Flame-Horned People might view Earth as a new world.
• Zhang Ming wondered whether Earth could be invaded and whether beings in the realm of the gods could withstand a hydrogen bomb.
• The last remaining mirage began flickering and disappearing, suggesting that the Gaia Consciousness was weakening.
• Li Xianfeng reported to Great Xia’s leaders that one warship had been capsized by a huge invisible creature and another crew had gone mad after hearing an unknown song.
• Li Xianfeng proposed that the Gaia Consciousness had protected the two rescued teams because humanity shared a consensus about their safety, but had not intervened for the warships.

Li Xianfeng warned officials that Gaia was declining and that Earth faced a future confrontation with the Mysterious Zone, while they discussed how to strengthen humanity. The meeting ended with officials considering the social consequences of superpowers becoming increasingly common when most people could never awaken one.

• Li Xianfeng said the Mysterious Zone was expanding and Gaia might lose its struggle within a hundred years, leaving Earth exposed to greater horrors.
• Li Xianfeng proposed that greater species diversity or stronger biological abilities might help Gaia, and identified Zhang Ming's discovery of the alien ruins as a possible source of answers.
• Li Xianfeng said people with mental strength like Zhang Ming could explore the Mysterious Zone, though they would still need reconnaissance and powerful weapons against enormous life-forms.
• Officials compared Zhang Ming's exceptional abilities with other superpower users and urged humanity to find a cultivation method.
• Li Xianfeng reported that only 10.112 percent of people awakened superpowers on their first exposure to the Mysterious Zone or monster meat, and the old man warned that a society divided between gifted and ordinary people could face serious conflict.

Li Xianfeng feared that unequal access to superpowers would fracture civilization and wondered whether everyone could learn cultivation. Meanwhile, Zhang Ming explored an ancient training ground and discovered how the Flame-Horned People taught their breathing technique.

• Li Xianfeng worried that a superpowered class would destroy the belief in equality and cause civilization to collapse from within.
• Li Xianfeng concluded that cultivation was crucial and wondered whether everyone could be given superpowers.
• Zhang Ming ate Toad Eggs, gained 2 attribute points, and explored the island for ancient structures.
• Zhang Ming pressured Stone Mama to reveal information about the Flame-Horned People and bargained over its request for stories about his first girlfriend.
• Stone Mama showed Zhang Ming a vision of a Flame-Horned training ground where an instructor pushed trainees to exhaustion, used medicine and silver needles, and taught one the Flame-Horn Breathing Technique.

Zhang Ming analyzed the Flame-Horned People's method for teaching ordinary people superpowers and began adapting the Black Tortoise Breathing Technique for humans. After throwing Stone Mama into the sea to stop its nonstop recitation, he found a glowing Drifting Bottle containing a letter, pills, and pornographic posters.

• Zhang Ming pieced together how the Flame-Horned People used physical training, a special potion, acupuncture, and a breathing technique to awaken ordinary people.
• Zhang Ming began modifying the Black Tortoise Breathing Technique to suit human anatomy, focusing on replacing the turtle's shell with the human spine.
• Stone Mama repeatedly recited Zhang Ming's story about a girl in a yellow sweater, so Zhang Ming hurled the Black Stone into the ocean, but it quickly returned.
• Zhang Ming sensed a glowing Drifting Bottle calling to him, retrieved it, and found a letter, a packet of pills, and pornographic posters inside.

Zhang Ming received a Drifting Bottle from Wang Fumin, who explained that people in China watched him through a mirage and sent him encouragement, antibiotics, and a poster. Reeling from the reminder that he was not forgotten, Zhang Ming wrote back with news of his life and sent dried crab meat, then tossed the bottle into the sea for its return journey.

• Zhang Ming read Wang Fumin’s letter and learned that the Drifting Bottle could carry messages across any distance, though its first delivery had taken more than half a year.
• Zhang Ming realized how much he missed his old life and was moved to learn that people cared about him and watched over him through the mirage.
• Zhang Ming wrote Wang Fumin a reply describing his island life, his plans to explore the Ancient Civilization’s legacy, and his hope to return home.
• Zhang Ming asked Wang Fumin to check on his parents and tell them he was doing well, then added dried crab meat that could awaken a superpower.
• Zhang Ming capped the Drifting Bottle and tossed it into the sea, sending his reply on its long journey back to Wang Fumin.

Zhang Ming recovered a Flame-Horned People stone tablet and learned how their Great Sage improved the Black Tortoise Breathing Technique, giving him a foundation for creating a Human Breathing Technique. Meanwhile, researchers worldwide struggled to decipher the mirage’s ancient inscriptions, while Great Xia’s experts faced growing pressure to find a cultivation method.

• Zhang Ming explored the seabed with the sea turtles and had Scarface Turtle haul an ancient stone tablet to shore.
• Zhang Ming persuaded Stone Mama to recount the tablet’s history, learning the Flame-Horned People’s breathing principles and how their Great Sage improved the Black Tortoise Breathing Technique.
• Zhang Ming studied the recovered knowledge and other Flame-Horned records, making rapid progress toward a Human Breathing Technique.
• Researchers around the world tried to decipher the tablet displayed by the mirage but made almost no progress with the unfamiliar language and concepts.
• Li Xianfeng heard experts explain that the inscriptions might describe concepts unknown to humanity, then urged them to keep trying because people urgently needed a cultivation method.

Wang Fumin and Lu Tuyu discussed the growing divide between ordinary people and those with superpowers as the Mysterious Zone spread. At a scientific conference, researchers reported rising rates of superpower awakenings and new abilities, while admitting they still could not detect spiritual energy.

• Lu Tuyu complained to Wang Fumin that ordinary people were being disadvantaged as superpowered people received better jobs and promotions.
• Wang Fumin sensed that the Drifting Bottle had returned and received the message, "Your letter."
• Li Xianfeng and Professor Peter Greer discussed the difficulty of deciphering the alien civilization's writing and the danger keeping Zhang from exploring the island.
• Peter Greer said the rate of people naturally developing superpowers had risen to one in ten thousand and could eventually reach one in ten.
• Researchers described newly emerging abilities such as Hypnosis and Life Sharing, while experts reported that no instrument could detect spiritual energy.

Li Xianfeng worried that the growing divide between people with and without superpowers would lead to violence, and searched for a way to help everyone awaken. Meanwhile, Wang Fumin and Lu Tuyu received Zhang Ming’s Drifting Bottle, read his letter, and began planning to send him seeds.

• Li Xianfeng discussed superpower crime and social upheaval with Professor Peter Greer, who said he accepted the rise of a new order.
• Li Xianfeng ended the call and wondered how he could help billions of ordinary people cross the Dragon Gate before the coming storm.
• Wang Fumin retrieved a Drifting Bottle from a toilet, cleaned it, and opened it with Lu Tuyu.
• Wang Fumin read Zhang Ming’s letter, learned he was stranded on the Island, and agreed to check on his parents.
• Wang Fumin shared dried mutated crab meat with Lu Tuyu, and they decided to send Zhang Ming rice, corn, wheat, Sichuan pepper, and other seeds.

Lu Tuyu believed he had failed to awaken a superpower, while Wang Fumin concealed his strange new ability, [Lone Star of Calamity]. Meanwhile, Zhang Ming translated a Flame-Horned lesson that revealed how innate talents could help break through the human limit, leaving him with a possible path for future breakthroughs.

• Lu Tuyu concluded that he had failed to awaken and asked Wang Fumin whether he had succeeded; Wang Fumin hid his awakening and said no.
• Lu Tuyu went looking for reusable crop seeds while soldiers in the mess hall discussed superpowers and the Mysterious Zone.
• Wang Fumin learned that his ability was [Lone Star of Calamity: Extreme sorrow can make you stronger.] and worried that it might be tied to misfortune.
• Zhang Ming asked Stone Mama to translate a Flamehorn Civilization tablet, which showed an elder teaching young Flame-Horned people about their fate attributes and the Flame-Horn Breathing Technique.
• The elder explained that fusing an innate talent with the breathing technique could help break through the human limit, and Zhang Ming realized the lesson described a possible path for his own breakthroughs.

Zhang Ming tested a way to overcome the Flame-Horned People’s cultivation bottleneck and worried about humanity’s approaching crises as Gaia weakened and superpowered conflicts grew. He decided to teach the Human Breathing Technique through the sky mirages, declaring that everyone could cultivate and gain superpowers.

• Zhang Ming raised his Physique to 201 while using Strength Burst, but the pain forced the attribute back to 200 and suggested he needed better control to break through the bottleneck.
• Zhang Ming practiced his inefficient Human Breathing Technique and worried that he had too little time to improve it before humanity faced extinction.
• Li Xianfeng’s Radio broadcast reported that Gaia’s mirages were appearing less often, spiritual energy was rising, and mutations and superpowered crime were increasing.
• Li Xianfeng reported that extremist groups were using Zhang Ming’s identity to swindle billions, and Zhang Ming joked that even his relatives should face the law.
• Zhang Ming decided to give everyone superpowers and used Stone Mama’s Spirit Language illusion to prepare a message teaching the Human Breathing Technique through the mirages.