Chapter Summaries

Hu Xian'er shared inherited memories of the Abyss-Swallowing Mystic Whale, prompting Cao Xianming to begin deductions from its name. Yang Yong then discovered that the six enormous sweet potatoes grown in the Two-Colored Strange Mud boosted Supernatural Power, with the cooked sweet potato proving remarkably potent.

• Hu Xian'er recounted what she had learned about the Abyss-Swallowing Mystic Whale, and Cao Xianming used the name as a basis for deductions.
• Mang Dabiao told Yang Yong that the enormous sweet potatoes were being cut open, so Yang Yong went with him and Hu Xian'er to investigate.
• Yang Yong sniffed the golden flesh of a cut sweet potato and sensed his Supernatural Power circulating faster.
• The people prepared sweet potato dishes and mud-roasted portions from the harvested crop.
• Yang Yong ate cooked sweet potato and found that its effect on Supernatural Power was far greater than the Screaming Wax Apple's, reaching one percent of the medicinal potency of wild mountain ginseng from the Sky Base.

Yang Yong and the others ate Sweet Potato, which gently restored their Supernatural Power, while Cao Xianming explained the danger building inside the Whale Lord. The chapter ended with Yang Yong asking how long remained before the Whale Lord's hidden threat erupted.

• Yang Yong assured Li Haijian that Sweet Potato could help his sister and had gentle medicinal effects.
• Cao Xianming and the others ate Sweet Potato to replenish their Supernatural Power, with Mang Dabiao eating twelve pieces.
• Cao Xianming deduced that the Whale Lord had gained Abyss-Swallowing Mystic Whale traits from its Inner Core and devoured Sources of Eerie.
• Cao Xianming warned that the Whale Lord could no longer suppress the Sources of Eerie trapped inside it and was like a bomb ready to go off.
• Yang Yong asked how long it would take for the danger inside the Whale Lord to erupt.

Cao Xianming calculated that the hidden danger inside the Whale Lord would inevitably erupt in nine days without outside intervention. Chen Gen returned injured from a new mission and revealed that he had been sent to inspect enormous cocoons in a canyon for signs that any had opened.

• Cao Xianming estimated that the chance of an outbreak would rise by ten percent each day and reach one hundred percent in nine days.
• Yang Yong learned that Chen Gen had disappeared on another Whale Lord mission and worried that he might have been killed.
• Chen Gen returned wrapped in bloodied bandages and insisted his injuries were minor, but Yang Yong discovered that touching them caused him severe pain.
• Chen Gen ate sweet potatoes containing Supernatural Power and found that they soothed and began healing his Eerie-eroded wounds.
• Chen Gen told Cao Xianming and Cao Xuanling that his mission was to inspect the many cocoons covering a canyon and see whether any had split open.

Chen Gen revealed that the Whale Lord had sealed 108 sources of eerie in cocoons, two of which had already broken while a third nearly escaped before being resealed. As the Whale Lord’s humanity continued to erode, Cao Xianming analyzed Chen Gen’s account and raised his head after only three minutes.

• Chen Gen reported that two cocoons had been torn open, and Yang Yong and Cao Xianming realized that the finger and Corpse Mass Monster had escaped from them.
• Cao Xianming asked how many cocoons there were, and Chen Gen answered that there had been 108.
• Chen Gen described seeing a person-sized cocoon open around an eye, which nearly killed him before the Whale Lord sealed it again.
• Cao Xianming asked Chen Gen to recount every meeting with the Whale Lord, and Chen Gen explained that the Whale Lord summoned him increasingly often and seemed less human each time.
• Cao Xianming rapidly analyzed Chen Gen’s account using his data model, then raised his head after about three minutes.

Cao Xianming explained that the Whale Lord had deliberately cut off Chen Gen’s contact channel to protect him, then helped the group create a Curio Frequency-Tuning Walkie-Talkie. After Cao Xianming set its frequency, Chen Gen tried calling the Whale Lord, and static answered.

• Cao Xianming told Chen Gen that the Whale Lord had blocked their channel out of fear the Eerie would use him to send Chen Gen to his death.
• Cao Xianming used the iPad’s walkie-talkie blueprint to explain that they needed a device capable of tuning frequencies to contact the Whale Lord.
• Chen Gen supplied Eerie remains, and Mang Dabiao and Hu Xian'er designed a Curio walkie-talkie from the blueprint.
• Yang Yong forged the components and assembled them into a Curio Frequency-Tuning Walkie-Talkie that let users converse with Eerie but made them shiver for a day.
• Cao Xianming calculated and entered the frequency, then Chen Gen pressed the talk button and heard static.

Yang Yong and his companions reached the Whale Lord, who recognized a powerful force inside Yang Yong and said it might eventually help resolve her predicament. She revealed that the force was not yet mastered, while the 106 Sources of Eerie watched through her.

• Chen Gen contacted the Whale Lord by radio, and Cao Xianming told her they could help with her predicament.
• The Whale Lord summoned Yang Yong, Cao Xianming, Chen Gen, Mang Dabiao, and Hu Xian'er into her cabin and immobilized Chen Gen.
• The Whale Lord ordered Yang Yong to speak, then sensed the Thousand-Hammer, Hundred-Refinement Furnace inside him and drew him toward her.
• The Whale Lord told Yang Yong that mastering the furnace could resolve her predicament, but not yet, as the 106 Sources of Eerie watched through her.

Cao Xianming used his Data Analyst ability to propose a plan in which Yang Yong would help suppress the Whale Lord’s rampaging Source of Eerie. The Whale Lord accepted the plan’s 68% success estimate but demanded proof of their sincerity, sending Yang Yong and Cao Xianming somewhere unknown.

• Cao Xianming told the Whale Lord that Yang Yong could relieve some of her pressure.
• Cao Xianming calculated that the Whale Lord was 83% affected by the Eerie will and explained how Yang Yong could use the terrifying presence inside him to suppress the Source of Eerie.
• After thirty minutes of calculations, Cao Xianming estimated a 68% success rate for a plan in which Yang Yong suppressed the Source of Eerie while the Whale Lord developed the Heaven-Swallowing Mystic Whale Inner Core and evolved.
• The Whale Lord removed Chen Gen, Mang Dabiao, and Hu Xian'er, then subjected Yang Yong and Cao Xianming to crushing pressure before agreeing to the plan.
• The Whale Lord told Yang Yong and Cao Xianming to show their sincerity, and their vision went black as the world shifted around them.

Yang Yong discovered that his furnace needed powerful Eerie to grow and began devouring the Sources of Eerie sealed in the canyon. With the Whale Lord’s help, he captured a cocoon that was breaking open and left the other cocoons marked for collection.

• Cao Xianming told Yang Yong that his method consumed powerful Eerie as fuel and that Yang Yong carried a divine artifact.
• Yang Yong merged the Ten-Thousand-Forged Primordial Furnace with the Thousand-Hammer, Hundred-Refinement Furnace and began devouring Eerie cocoons.
• The Whale Lord told Yang Yong to collect the cocoons closest to breaking their seals and marked them with arrows.
• A cocoon burst open, releasing a horn-shaped Eerie that tried to flee.
• The Whale Lord struck the escaping Eerie, and Yang Yong’s furnace chains bound and sealed it.

Yang Yong harvested thirty-eight Sources of Eerie from the Whale Lord, awakening patterns on the Thousand-Hammer, Hundred-Refinement Furnace, then spent weeks waiting for her to respond. Cao Xianming gathered the convoy and announced that it was almost time to leave the Whale Lord’s body.

• Yang Yong sealed thirty-eight Sources of Eerie before the Whale Lord stopped him and returned him and Cao Xianming to the kitchen.
• Chen Gen explained that his injured subordinates had cut off mutated limbs and hoped the sweet potatoes could help them grow back.
• Yang Yong found that the Thousand-Hammer, Hundred-Refinement Furnace had absorbed the Sources of Eerie and lit some of its ancient patterns.
• Yang Yong tried to contact the Whale Lord for more Sources of Eerie, but she ignored him while refining the Abyss-Swallowing Mystic Whale's Inner Core.
• After two weeks, Cao Xianming assembled the convoy and announced that they would soon leave the Whale Lord's body.

Cao Xianming arranged for the Whale Lord to send the Survival Convoy toward Shanghai, and most members chose to leave while three women stayed behind. The convoy emerged onto a red avenue that Cao Xianming identified as the Whale Lord’s tongue, then raced toward land before her deterrence faded.

• Cao Xianming told the convoy they could leave for Shanghai, and most chose to continue migrating while three women decided to stay in the Wooden House Area.
• Yang Yong spent the night worrying about the journey and the Sources of Eerie he still needed for the Thousand-Hammer, Hundred-Refinement Furnace.
• The convoy departed the next morning, waving goodbye to Chen Gen, Xiaoju, Old Man Xia, and the others who remained with the Whale Lord.
• The Whale Lord opened a passage and transported the convoy to a scarlet avenue stretching through the water.
• Cao Xianming revealed that the avenue was the Whale Lord’s tongue and urged everyone to drive toward land while the giant sea monsters still feared her.

The Survival Convoy raced from the Whale Lord toward shore as enormous sea monsters pursued them. Wang Ying wounded a giant crab, but it emerged from the water and ran after them at the speed of Yang Yong’s truck.

• A coastal convoy spotted the Whale Lord and fled as the Survival Convoy emerged from its mouth.
• Cao Xianming warned the Survival Convoy that enormous monsters lurked nearby and urged everyone to reach shore without stopping.
• Yang Yong used the Two-Yang God-Sealing Banner and Heavenly Dragon Slash to make Mang Dabiao’s pickup truck race ahead of the convoy.
• After the Whale Lord vanished beneath the sea, a giant creature with enormous pincers pursued the vehicles and cut a truck-sized shark in half.
• Cao Xianming ordered Wang Ying to attack the pursuing pincers, and she slashed the monster, destroying one of its eyes.
• The wounded creature emerged as an aircraft-carrier-sized crab and ran across the water as fast as Yang Yong’s pickup truck.

Wang Ying, Yang Yong, and Cao Xianming worked together to expose and pierce the enormous crab’s vulnerable belly, giving the bus a chance to escape. As the crab screamed and shook the sea, Cao Xianming warned everyone to get ashore because two other colossal monsters were stirring and the Whale Lord’s deterrent was fading.

• Wang Ying severed one of the crab’s leg joints, but the monster climbed back out of the water and kept pursuing the bus.
• Cao Xianming used his Data Model to identify the crab’s belly as its weak point, but the crab kept its underside pressed against the water.
• Yang Yong sent the Heavenly Dragon Slash daggers beneath the crab and formed them into a drill while Wang Ying and Hu Xian'er tried to hold it back.
• The drill pierced the crab’s belly, making it scream and convulse as its claws narrowly missed the bus.
• Cao Xianming warned everyone over the walkie-talkie to get ashore because two more colossal monsters were moving and the Whale Lord’s deterrent was fading.
• Wang Ying seized the opening and unleashed a sudden flash of blade light.

Yang Yong and the convoy battled giant sea monsters while racing toward shore, and Hu Xian'er’s warning helped the Bus evade a massive water attack. The chapter ended as Zheng Xiaofeng braced behind his Tortoiseshell Shield to block the water ball.

• Yang Yong killed the giant sea crab with the Sky-Splitting Slash, then absorbed the Electric Eel Monster’s lightning through the Thousand-Hammer, Hundred-Refinement Furnace.
• The Electric Eel Monster attacked Yang Yong with a barrage of lightning while Mang Dabiao drove toward shore.
• Hu Xian'er possessed Huang Xiaojuan and used the Soul-Binding Fan to create a ramp of black hair, sending the Bus over a Giant Sea Snail blocking its path.
• Old Zhao sped away from the pursuing Giant Sea Snail as Yang Yong, Wang Ying, and Zheng Xiaofeng fought or drove through the chaotic battle.
• Hu Xian'er warned the Bus to dodge a giant water ball, and Zheng Xiaofeng activated his Iron Armor and raised the Tortoiseshell Shield to block it.

The Survival Convoy escaped the coastal monsters and followed the Peace Convoy inland after Cao Xianming lost the ability to calculate with his Data Model. At dusk, the exhausted Peace Convoy stopped, and its captain Qi Peiliang and Transcendent Liu Hong approached the Survival Convoy.

• Zheng Xiaofeng's Off-Road Vehicle broke ahead of the convoy as Yang Yong and Wang Ying destroyed the sea snail's water bombs, and the vehicles raced onto land.
• The sea crab chased the Survival Convoy inland for three kilometers before stopping, while the sea snail and electric eel could not reach them.
• After traveling more than twenty kilometers, the Survival Convoy stopped, and Cao Xianming warned that his Supernatural Power was spent and told everyone to follow the convoy ahead.
• Yang Yong ordered his convoy to stay behind the Peace Convoy, whose captain Qi Peiliang failed to shake them off.
• At dusk, Qi Peiliang halted the exhausted Peace Convoy and approached with Liu Hong as Cao Xianming recognized their likely sequences.

Cao Xianming’s Survival Convoy joined forces with Qi Peiliang’s Peace Convoy to navigate Shanghai’s dangerous uninhabited zone. As the Survival Convoy roasted sweet potatoes and fish, the starving Peace Convoy grew envious, and Qi Peiliang began to feel greed.

• Wang Ying, Zheng Xiaofeng, and Yang Yong prepared to defend the Survival Convoy when Qi Peiliang and Liu Hong approached, but Qi Peiliang introduced himself and offered a friendly greeting.
• Cao Xianming exchanged introductions with Qi Peiliang, then explained that the Survival Convoy needed a guide and believed in equivalent exchange.
• Qi Peiliang warned Cao Xianming about the dense Eerie presence in Shanghai and offered to lead the Survival Convoy through the area before nightfall.
• The Peace Convoy led the way while the Survival Convoy followed, cooking sweet potatoes and fish as they traveled.
• The Peace Convoy’s starving members watched the Survival Convoy feast, and Qi Peiliang felt envy and greed as a teammate worried that hunger would leave them too weak to fight Eerie.

Qi Peiliang's Peace Convoy received food from the Survival Convoy as payment for guiding them, then encountered an eerily spotless route 14 bus on the road. Both convoys kept moving rather than approach it, leaving the bus unexplained and waiting in their path.

• Qi Peiliang restrained his convoy from coveting the Survival Convoy's food, but Zheng Xiaofeng brought them grilled fish and roasted sweet potatoes as payment for their guidance.
• Qi Peiliang shared the food among his starving members, who praised it and suggested joining the Survival Convoy, but he told them to focus on driving.
• A member of the Peace Convoy spotted an intact, unnaturally clean bus, and Qi Peiliang sensed no Eerie presence inside it.
• Qi Peiliang ordered the Peace Convoy to keep moving, and its vehicles passed the bus without stopping.
• The Survival Convoy approached the route 14 bus, whose immaculate green body and intact windows reflected their vehicles in the gray morning light.

The combined convoys reached an abandoned service area after evading the Eerie pursuing them, and the Peace Convoy found gasoline. Yang Yong suspected danger and let the Peace Convoy test the gas station first, where Liu Hong’s group successfully pumped fuel as a faint Eerie presence stirred nearby.

• As Old Zhao’s bus passed the Route 14 Bus, a corpse-pale cleaner appeared in its rearview mirror and watched the convoy leave.
• Qi Peiliang led the combined convoy along detours until it stopped at an abandoned service area near dawn.
• Skinny Monkey reported that the service area still had gasoline, and Qi Peiliang arranged to share it with the Survival Convoy.
• Yang Yong stopped Old Zhao’s men from going to the gas station first and told the Peace Convoy to take its share before them.
• Mang Dabiao sensed a faint Eerie presence nearby, so Yang Yong warned the Survival Convoy to stay alert and let the others test the danger.
• Liu Hong led Peace Convoy members to the gas station, where Skinny Monkey pumped clear gasoline from an underground tank.

Liu Hong’s group discovered that the gasoline they were siphoning had turned to blood just as an Eerie attacked and dragged survivors underground. The Survival Convoy sent its ordinary passengers to fight the ghostly hands for practice, with Yang Yong supporting Xiao Liao as he charged in.

• Liu Hong and the survivors began siphoning fuel, but the liquid turned red and smelled of blood.
• Qi Peiliang sensed an approaching Eerie and ordered everyone to retreat as ghostly hands seized Liu Hong and the others, dragging some underground.
• Liu Hong smashed several hands, but more appeared, and Qi Peiliang begged Captain Cao to save the trapped survivors.
• A black python emerged from the pickup truck and spoke to Yang Yong, while a radio announcement declared that the ordinary people should practice fighting the Eerie.
• Old Zhao opened the bus, and its passengers rushed out carrying Bone Daggers.
• Yang Yong sent a Heavenly Dragon Slash Flying Dagger to support Xiao Liao, who charged at the ghostly hands with his Bone Dagger.

The convoy discovered that Bone Daggers could cut through the ghost hands, but Cao Xianming identified them as edible Ghost Hand Mushrooms that hunted once their numbers exceeded three hundred. Yang Yong dug up the patch’s source and uncovered a vast pit of corpses, with something at its center.

• Xiao Liao and the convoy fought back against the ghost hands with Bone Daggers, freeing the trapped survivors as the severed hands continued to regrow.
• Cao Xianming recognized the creatures from the Sky Base’s files as Ghost Hand Mushrooms and learned they could be eaten but hunted when their numbers grew too large.
• Cao Xianming called for everyone to withdraw, and the convoy gathered the severed mushrooms while moving away from the patch.
• Cao Xianming asked Yang Yong to find the mushrooms’ underground source, and Yang Yong used his flying daggers to excavate a huge pit.
• Yang Yong and the others saw countless corpses in the pit and noticed something at its center.

The Survival Convoy harvested a giant ghost-hand mushroom and prepared to cook, while Peace Convoy captain Qi Peiliang watched their food and supplies with envy. The chapter ended with a Peace Convoy member suggesting they join the Survival Convoy.

• Cao Xianming confirmed the ghost-hand mushroom was edible, and Yang Yong cut off its ghost hands and retrieved its core.
• Cao Xianming buried the core in a washbasin of soil, and Xiao Xuan used her Buddha Light to keep it from growing more than three hundred ghost hands.
• Qi Peiliang recognized that the Survival Convoy had saved his people and coveted their Bone Daggers, but felt too poor to ask about trading for them.
• The Survival Convoy cooked sweet potato porridge at the service area while the hungry Peace Convoy watched.
• A Peace Convoy member suggested to Qi Peiliang that they join the Survival Convoy.