Recaps

Lu Xing repeatedly challenged the Wonder Butterfly and lost, then spent two days leveling up his Eagle-Headed Demon Form before returning to Windwave Pool. He found that the butterfly had also grown stronger and faced it again, with the outcome still uncertain.

• Lu Xing challenged the Wonder Butterfly twice, first in Eagle-Headed Demon Form and then with a battle blade, but it defeated him both times.
• After respawning, Lu Xing decided to improve his strength before trying again and searched for a team to grind monsters with.
• Lu Xing spent forty-eight hours grinding and raised his Eagle-Headed Demon level to 11.
• Lu Xing resumed his livestream and returned to Windwave Pool, where he found the Wonder Butterfly waiting.
• Lu Xing analyzed the Wonder Butterfly and learned it had become a Fourth-Generation Primordial with Hunting Level 13, then watched it dive toward him.

Lu Xing bought a Spirit-Energy Firearm from the Arms Dealer Guild and returned to Windwave Pool to challenge Wonder Butterfly, convinced he could finally win. Wonder Butterfly blocked his bullets with Wind Blades and beat him again, leaving Lu Xing in tears and vowing not to trust his livestream viewers.

• Qi Sheng followed Lu Xing's ongoing challenge and learned that Wonder Butterfly had gained six Hunting Levels by bullying Lu Xing and receiving power from the world.
• Lu Xing returned to the game determined to defeat Wonder Butterfly, while his livestream viewers encouraged him and suggested buying weapons from the Arms Dealer Guild.
• Lu Xing contacted Big Killer, bought a Spirit-Energy Firearm for 150 Sacrificial Power, and renamed his livestream "Battle of Revenge."
• Lu Xing tested the gun on Blood Corpses as he traveled to Windwave Pool, then declared that his victory was certain.
• Wonder Butterfly blocked Lu Xing's bullets with Wind Blades and battered him, while the livestream viewers laughed at his failed challenge.
• Lu Xing broke down in tears and swore he would never trust his livestream viewers again.

After Lu Xing gave up on challenging Wonder Butterfly, the players continued their failing campaign against the Black-Armored Soldiers in the Dark Cavern. Qin Ye proposed using Psionic Bombs in suicide attacks, and the popular plan led Yang Tianxuan to recall the Apocalypse Technology Guild’s core members to produce them.

• Lu Xing decided to grow stronger before challenging Wonder Butterfly again after repeated defeats.
• The Corrosion Core controlled the Black-Armored Soldiers, whose strength overwhelmed the players’ army in repeated battles.
• Weapon Master proposed having players carry Psionic Bombs into the Black-Armored Soldiers and detonate them at close range.
• Players debated and endorsed the tactic, and Qin Ye’s proposal rose to the top of the Forum’s trending rankings.
• Yang Tianxuan recalled the Apocalypse Technology Guild’s core members to Emperor Tomb Village to produce Psionic Bombs.

After two days of preparation, the players launched coordinated suicide attacks and defeated the Black-Armored Soldiers in the Dark Cavern. They headed toward the underground palace to destroy the Corrosion Core and claim their quest rewards.

• Woshnidie ordered the players to charge the Black-Armored Soldiers with Psionic Bombs, and the first assault damaged many of them but failed to win.
• The Apocalypse Technology Guild increased Psionic Bomb production as players organized another attack and the guild gained orders, members, and income.
• Two days later, Woshnidie led a two-wave offensive, with the first wave scattering to avoid blasts from their teammates’ bombs.
• The first wave reduced the Black-Armored Soldiers to fewer than a hundred, and the second wave charged in and killed the survivors.
• The celebrating players advanced toward the underground palace to destroy the Corrosion Core and collect their quest rewards.

After the players purified the Dark Cavern, Qi Sheng’s Emperor Tomb Village expanded and gained a regenerating spirit-ore resource area. Meanwhile, Evil Eye told Di Nian about the dangers of the Monster World and the coming war of devouring, leaving Di Nian determined to grow stronger.

• The players completed the collective quest, and the Dark Cavern’s corrupted domain node was purified and absorbed into Emperor Tomb Village.
• Emperor Tomb Village expanded, gaining a southern entrance to the Dark Cavern, where spiritual proliferation continually produced spirit ore.
• Qi Sheng considered how easier access to resources could increase player activity and his income, and began planning a trading house with transaction commissions.
• Evil Eye told Di Nian that the node domain they had planned to occupy had vanished, possibly because the Monster World’s expansion had altered the world’s structure.
• Evil Eye explained that the Monster World could become the evil spirits’ future core world and recounted how a warrior named Black Insect had died to Ice Blade.
• Di Nian set aside his arrogance and prepared to grow stronger as the evil spirit army’s war of devouring approached.

Qi Sheng reviewed the players’ gains from the Dark Cavern battle and decided to recruit two thousand more players. Meanwhile, Ding Xiu failed to obtain download access, but Tong Xin finally began downloading the game after collapsing from exhaustion.

• Qi Sheng reviewed the four Primordial traits contained in the Dark Cavern and decided to spend two million Sacrificial Power recruiting two thousand players.
• Ding Xiu asked Xiao A to access the download link, but it revealed that his high-frequency attempts had been detected as cheating.
• Tong Xin quit his job and spent three days trying to download the game after Drunken Milk’s earnings made him fear being left behind.
• Tong Xin collapsed onto his computer desk, and the webpage began downloading the game at 0.01%.

Two thousand new players arrived in Emperor Tomb Village, where they struggled with the Waning Crescent scenario’s dangerous monsters as Qi Sheng anticipated the Sacrificial Power they would eventually generate. In the real world, Tong Xin finally downloaded Darklands, but his access was revoked because he failed to enter within 24 hours, leaving him sobbing while his friends assumed he had logged in.

• Two thousand new players entered Emperor Tomb Village, tested the game’s realistic feedback, and sought parties, mining work, or guilds to help them survive.
• Qi Sheng expected the new players to become a future source of Sacrificial Power and decided that early death costs would eventually be deducted from them.
• Tong Xin woke after sleeping for 28 hours, found his Darklands download complete, and transferred the game file to his Game Pod.
• Tong Xin entered the virtual desktop, but a notification told him his access had been revoked and the game files shredded because he had not entered within 24 hours.
• Tong Xin’s friends congratulated him in the kindergarten group and offered to help him level, while he cried himself unconscious in his Game Pod.
• Four hours earlier, Qi Sheng had ordered Guide to revoke unused access after 24 hours and give the vacant slot to another player.

Zhou Xiao used a timing technique to kill a Blood Corpse, then met Broken Star, who offered him level-seven Spirit Ore to locate a missing Shuttlecraft. Zhou Xiao refused after explaining that other players had sacrificed it to Emperor Zhao, and learned that Broken Star followed Against the Tide.

• Zhou Xiao used Petrification between the Blood Corpse’s attacks, broke its neck, and killed it for Evolution Points and Sacrificial Power.
• Broken Star confronted Zhou Xiao and demanded to know where the Shuttlecraft had gone.
• Zhou Xiao and Broken Star argued over whether he was responsible for the actions of other players, then Broken Star offered him a level-seven Purple Soul as a reward.
• Zhou Xiao refused the offer and said players had sacrificed the Shuttlecraft to Emperor Zhao.
• Broken Star explained that Emperor Zhao had disappeared and that he and his people now followed Against the Tide.

Qi Sheng learned more about the Against the Tide Legion and the gods who once served Emperor Zhao. Meanwhile, Broken Star offered Zhou Xiao a chance to join the Legion, then left him a Heavenly Talisman Race combat technique in an Information Stone.

• Qi Sheng heard Broken Star describe the Against the Tide Legion’s growth and learned from Guide how Emperor Zhao’s gods and their followers exchanged sacrificial energy.
• Guide explained that the Against the Tide God was likely one of the Eight Pole Gods, who had no direct subordination to the Four Gods.
• Zhou Xiao told Broken Star that his Shuttlecraft was likely gone for good, but taboo censorship erased parts of his explanation whenever he mentioned Emperor Tomb Village.
• Broken Star invited Zhou Xiao’s Player Race to join the Against the Tide Legion in exchange for protection and the chance to learn its powers.
• Zhou Xiao asked for tangible benefits, so Broken Star gave him an Information Stone containing a basic Heavenly Talisman Race combat technique and flew away.

Zhou Xiao obtained the Heavenly Talisman Combat Skill from an information stone and demonstrated how it granted body tempering experience by absorbing spiritual energy. After he revealed that God of Wealth had given him the skill, players began searching for the special NPC in hopes of receiving gifts.

• Zhou Xiao absorbed an information stone and obtained the Tier 2 Heavenly Talisman Combat Skill, which let him cultivate spiritual energy for body tempering experience.
• Players discussed the skill on the Forum, where Zhou Xiao posted a video showing its movements and progress gains.
• Players asked Zhou Xiao how to obtain a body tempering combat skill, while some compared it with exercise and other ways to gain experience.
• Zhou Xiao explained that God of Wealth had given him the skill, leading players to identify God of Wealth as a special NPC who distributed money and opportunities.
• Players searched for traces of God of Wealth, hoping to receive gifts of their own.

Li Zheng and the Hardcore Grinder Group found Broken Star and tried to raise his affinity by offering him canned food, hoping to receive valuable gifts. After Broken Star gave Li Zheng a violet soul crystal but refused to give them a Body Tempering combat technique, Li Zheng’s Forum guide sparked a player-wide craze for trading cheap goods with the God of Wealth.

• Li Zheng and the Hardcore Grinder Group spotted Broken Star in the Blood Plains and approached him, asking for Body Tempering combat techniques and other valuable goods.
• The group guessed that they needed to raise Broken Star’s affinity, so they offered him canned food and imagined his affinity increasing as he ate.
• Broken Star questioned Li Zheng about the Player Race, and Li Zheng explained their origins using the background provided by Guide while concealing that they were players.
• Li Zheng invoked the Player Race’s custom of returning gifts, prompting Broken Star to give him a level 7 violet soul crystal but refuse his request for a Body Tempering combat technique.
• Li Zheng posted a Forum guide claiming that NPC affinity was a hidden stat, and players began seeking Broken Star to trade cheap goods for valuable items.
• Unaware of the coming harassment, Broken Star considered investigating the Player Race’s settlement and recruiting them into the Against the Tide Legion.

Qi Sheng developed a Lucky Wheel prize draw to raise sacrificial power for Ultra-Dimensional’s Armored Vehicle Function, while also planning a universal cultivation organ for players. The event drew players into spending, and Qi Sheng profited as the Lucky Wheel began awarding prizes.

• Qi Sheng found that the Heavenly Talisman Combat Skill could not safely circulate in human bodies and considered creating a universal cultivation organ for players.
• Ultra-Dimensional told Qi Sheng that developing the Armored Vehicle Function was consuming sacrificial power and could hinder reward payouts.
• Qi Sheng decided to raise sacrificial power through a Lucky Wheel event and worked with Guide to launch it.
• Players debated the event’s fairness, and Don't Tell Mom Your Troubles won a gold-tier sacrificial power gift pack shortly after the event began.
• Qi Sheng used server-wide prize announcements to attract hesitant players, and the Lucky Wheel drew increasing participation while remaining profitable for him.

After a prize draw brought Qi Sheng 830,000 Sacrificial Power, players discovered Cloudfield, a resource Domain Node corrupted by a powerful Corrosion Core. Qi Sheng issued a purification quest offering farmland rights, but the Corrupted Plants proved too strong for the players, leaving the node unclaimed and the guilds focused on becoming stronger.

• Qi Sheng tallied 830,000 Sacrificial Power from the 24-hour prize draw and used it to cover Ultra-Dimensional's armed-vehicle development costs.
• Two players exploring Gray Mist Forest found and harvested a Seven-Colored Tree, then discovered the Cloudfield farmland and its Corrosion Core.
• The players attacked the Corrosion Core, which unleashed Corrupted Plants that overwhelmed and killed them.
• Qi Sheng announced a purification quest for Cloudfield, offering farmland usage rights to the top 1,000 contributors.
• Major Guilds sent players to Gray Forest, but the level 30–45 Corrupted Plants proved too powerful, forcing the guilds to withdraw for now.

Wu Quan pursued his favorite hobby in the Darklands and discovered that fishing could help him grow stronger as well as provide food. After catching and eating his first Red-Scaled Fish, he decided to share his findings on the player Forum and recruit others to develop fishing.

• Players competed for contribution rankings at Cloudfield because dealing damage to its powerful Corrosion Core still earned contribution.
• Wu Quan ignored his mother's messages urging him to marry and logged into the Darklands to fish at Turtleback Lake.
• Wu Quan used his level 12 Gargoyle strength to land his first Red-Scaled Fish and chose to dismantle it into fish meat.
• Wu Quan discovered that Red-Scaled Fish Meat granted Body Tempering experience and found its taste extraordinarily delicious.
• Wu Quan decided to post a fishing guide on the player Forum and encourage other players to improve fishing gear and techniques together.

Wu Quan posted a detailed guide to fishing in Monster World, inspiring players to explore angling and revealing new uses for monster materials and aquatic creatures. As Wu Quan’s guide and livestream attracted attention, Qi Sheng saw fishing as a way to develop players and contain underwater Primordial Monsters.

• Wu Quan shared instructions for crafting fishing gear, named two fishing spots, and described fishing’s rewards and the taste of fish meat.
• Players discussed the guide, and Wu Quan answered questions as more players decided to try fishing.
• Demand for Iron-Shelled Insect silk rose sharply after players began using it for fishing lines, while fish meat drew interest from buyers.
• Wu Quan caught a Turtle Ray, grilled its meat on his livestream, and praised its flavor as viewers asked to buy some.
• Qi Sheng recognized that angling could help players find underwater Primordial Monsters and support future development of spiritual food and utility professions.

Qi Sheng introduced the version 1.3 update, adding shared encyclopedias, map details, hunger displays, and inherited-stat information. In the Blood Plains, Lu Xing rejected his viewers’ suggestion to challenge Wonder Butterfly before level 25, but considered using Psionic Bombs instead.

• Qi Sheng decided to add player discoveries to shared encyclopedias and improve the map and stat panels.
• Qi Sheng and Guide implemented the version 1.3 update, which added four encyclopedias, map-area details, hunger, and inherited primary-form stats.
• Players praised the new map details on the Forum while continuing to criticize the Eclipse Race’s scarcity marketing.
• After killing Rageclaw, Lu Xing refused to fight Wonder Butterfly until level 25, even if it fled at that level.
• A viewer suggested Lu Xing use Psionic Bombs against Wonder Butterfly, and Lu Xing considered trying the plan.

Lu Xing bought Psionic Bombs and prepared to challenge Wonder Butterfly, hoping to defeat it and secure the Wind Control Life Soul for the players. Wonder Butterfly blew the bombs out of his hands, and Lu Xing ended the chapter being beaten again.

• Lu Xing bought five Generation Two Psionic Bombs from Weapon Master for 500 Sacrificial Power.
• Lu Xing practiced triggering the bombs in the Testing Tower’s Simulation Space before setting out for Windwave Pool.
• Lu Xing arrived at Windwave Pool and waited for Wonder Butterfly to charge within the bombs’ blast range.
• Lu Xing pulled out all five bombs, but Wonder Butterfly used its wind to sweep them overhead, where they exploded harmlessly.
• Wonder Butterfly beat Lu Xing for more than twenty minutes while the livestream spectators joked about his failed attempt.

Qi Sheng revisited his transformed hometown, then improved the players’ life-soul system after reviewing their forum posts. As Di Nian Evil Spirit and Evil Eye prepared a dark tide assault on the Di Family Mountains, Qi Sheng monitored their growth and trusted the player army to withstand the coming battle.

• Qi Sheng walked through Skywind City, found none of his old haunts, and formally said farewell to his former self.
• Qi Sheng read forum posts about Lu Xing’s repeated clashes with Wonder Butterfly and a player’s request for a life-soul dismantling system.
• Qi Sheng proposed a dismantling and refund function to Ultra-Dimensional, which agreed to develop it before resuming the armored vehicle feature.
• At Earth Vein Cliff, Evil Eye infused Di Nian Evil Spirit with energy derived from the domain node’s rules, while Guide explained that the energy imitated but could not reproduce true rule powers.
• Qi Sheng learned that Evil Eye was raising an army of evil beings for an impending attack on the Di Family Mountains and regarded the coming conflict as training for the players.

Broken Star considered recruiting the rapidly improving Player Race into the Against the Tide Legion but fled when they approached, while Qi Sheng saw players devise trap tactics using the Mud Demon Life Soul. After logging out, Li Zheng read a post attacking Darklands and rallied his fellow grinders to defend the game.

• Broken Star concluded the Player Race had come from another world, admired their growth and potential, and hoped to recruit them into the Against the Tide Legion, but he lacked a way to return and fled when they ran toward him.
• Qi Sheng read about players using Mud Demon’s Dissolve ability in Trap-Style Tactics to lure Blood Ghouls through a damaging passage and defeat them without direct combat.
• Li Zheng logged out, checked his earnings, ordered food, and reflected on how Darklands had improved his quality of life and senses.
• Li Zheng found a forum post criticizing Darklands’ realism, performance, and physics, and dismissed its claims as fabricated slander.
• Li Zheng shared screenshots of the post with the Hardcore Grinder Group, whose members vowed to confront the poster on the forum.

Hardcore Grinder Group players attacked Dong Wei on the Rise of Humanity Forum after he criticized Darklands, and he rallied other players to answer them. The argument escalated into a massive flame war that administrators shut down, while both sides remained convinced their opponents were paid trolls.

• Li Zheng and the Hardcore Grinder Group players flooded Dong Wei’s Rise of Humanity Forum thread with insults after he posted about Darklands’ alleged optimization problems.
• Dong Wei angrily defended his criticism and sought support from players on Darklands’ built-in Forum.
• Li Zheng posted a thread on Monster World’s built-in Forum, prompting Darklands players to join the argument on the Rise of Humanity Forum.
• Players on both sides accused one another of spreading rumors and being paid trolls, and the thread grew into a trending war of insults.
• Rise of Humanity Forum administrators locked and deleted the thread and muted everyone who had posted for twenty-four hours.
• Both groups returned to their own games’ forums, where fellow players agreed with them, and the dispute ended without either side conceding.

Qi Sheng mobilized the players to hunt the Dark Tide, and their growing strength turned the invading horde into a source of rewards. The Di Nian Evil Spirit captured the exhausted Zou Feng and began probing his memories with the Evil Eye.

• Qi Sheng triggered the Dark Tide Hunter quest, raising hunting rewards and sending players across the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range to block the tide’s expansion.
• Players met the Dark Tide on the Ancient Battlefield and discovered its lesser evil spirits were weak, then charged in and slaughtered them for rewards.
• Qi Sheng observed that the players could not nourish the Dark Tide when they died, while their kills strengthened them and increased his sacrificial power income.
• The Di Nian Evil Spirit noticed that the mysterious players and their victims behaved differently from other creatures, and ordered the Dark Tide to capture one for the Evil Eye to investigate.
• After Zou Feng’s teammates died and he collapsed from exhaustion, the Dark Tide carried him to the High Tower; the Di Nian Evil Spirit connected the Evil Eye’s tentacles to his head and began reading his memories.

The Purification System protected Zou Feng from Evil Eye’s attempt to read his memories, and the Di Nian Evil Spirit’s interrogation ended with Zou Feng’s death. Players repeatedly failed to discover how to trigger the hidden mission, leaving the Di Nian Evil Spirit increasingly furious after enduring their bizarre performances.

• The Purification System cleared Evil Eye’s dark tide energy from Zou Feng’s mind, so Evil Eye could not read his memories.
• The Di Nian Evil Spirit interrogated Zou Feng, who answered as an Emperor Zhao warrior and could not explain why players’ bodies vanished after death.
• The Challenger System reduced Zou Feng’s pain perception to zero during torture, but the Di Nian Evil Spirit eventually killed him without learning anything useful.
• Players discussed Zou Feng’s failed encounter on the Forum, then Frenzy Chick and several other players tried different approaches to the hidden storyline and were killed.
• After repeated interrogations produced no useful intelligence, the Di Nian Evil Spirit lost control and roared as dark tide energy swept through the High Tower.

Players enjoyed fighting the Dark Tide, but Qi Sheng noticed that a popular melee-and-elemental Life Soul build revealed a flaw in how Evolution Points were distributed. He created an allocation function to let players focus upgrades on selected Life Souls and prepared to release it.

• Players slaughtered the weak Dark Tide creatures for experience and Sacrificial Power, while the Di Nian Evil Spirit found that contact with them was weakening his forces.
• Qi Sheng gained 580,000 Sacrificial Power from the players' fighting and reflected on how their growth had turned his desperate situation around.
• Steel Giant Arm posted a build combining Shatterblade, Strength Savage Axe, Bonefire, and Qi Eater to handle Shadow Strike while maintaining health and mental power.
• Nightfall Is Coming pointed out that the build's physical and mental Life Souls would divide Evolution Points and leave its physical strength weaker than a pure melee setup.
• Qi Sheng recognized that shared Evolution Point distribution could hinder specialized builds and worked with Guide to create an allocation panel with adjustable percentages and a one-click balance option.
• Qi Sheng tested the new function and decided to update the game so players could distribute Evolution Points freely among their Life Souls.

Qi Sheng launched an update adding life soul decomposition, evolution point allocation, and a trading house, then recruited Li Tie’s veteran comrades to Darklands. The veterans regained their lost limbs in the game and charged into the Dark Tide, where their excitement was cut short by the one-hour death cooldown.

• Qi Sheng released update 1.4 and compensated players who had decomposed life souls before the new refund feature arrived.
• Li Tie reunited with his old comrades at the Veterans' Tavern, learned about Darklands, and shared his access link with them.
• Guide told Qi Sheng that Li Tie had shared the link, and Qi Sheng issued extra download access for the veterans.
• Li Tie and his comrades logged into Di Family Village, where the veterans were stunned to find their missing limbs restored.
• Li Tie demonstrated his combat power against Dark Tide evil spirits, and the veterans followed him into battle.
• The veterans were killed during their first fight and complained in their group chat about the one-hour Respawn Cooldown.

Qi Sheng observed veterans and new players fighting the Dark Tide, then watched a squad capture the randomly respawned primordial monster Flowing Shadow and gain a new Life Soul. He discovered a joking forum post about a future apocalypse that unknowingly described what would really happen, while the players still had time to grow stronger.

• Lao Gou and his veteran comrades fought Evil Spirits with coordinated attacks, while Qi Sheng noted their rapid growth and frustration with the resurrection cooldown.
• New players joined a charge against the Dark Tide, following veterans and learning about the game as they hunted isolated Evil Spirits.
• A squad encountered the level-one primordial monster Flowing Shadow, killed it, and contained it in the underground Containment Wall.
• Jungler Huang Feihong shared Flowing Shadow's analysis in regional chat, and players lamented that the squad had won the 20,000 sacrificial power reward by luck.
• Qi Sheng gained greater control over his primordial power and tested Flowing Shadow's clone trait.
• Qi Sheng read Divine King's forum post joking about spending a billion to prepare for an apocalypse, and recognized that its prediction of darkness and a real-world crisis would eventually come true.