Chapter Summaries

Lu Heng escaped the Swamp Slippery Fish by luring them toward bird carcasses and crossing the swamp boundary, then watched Digger Ants attack the exposed fish. As predators gathered to feed, he concluded that the outbreak and ensuing feast were part of a recurring ecological cycle rather than an accidental catastrophe.

• Lu Heng threw Black Iron-Level Exotic Beast flesh into the swamp to divert the pursuing Swamp Slippery Fish, then sprinted to the woodland beyond their territory.
• Lu Heng observed that the Slippery Fish stopped at the swamp boundary and realized that bird carcasses offered them easier prey than chasing him.
• Lu Heng scanned the swarm of Digger Ants emerging from the woodland and learned they were natural predators of the Swamp Slippery Fish.
• Digger Ants invaded the swamp and overwhelmed the Slippery Fish, while giant centipedes, ant-eating beasts, and other carnivorous insects arrived to feed.
• Lu Heng hid in a tree and concluded that the blizzard-driven outbreak, the ants' attack, and the predators' feast formed a recurring ecological cycle.

Lu Heng watched the Digger Ants abandon their hunt for ordinary slickfish and launch a suicidal attack on the Bronze Tier slickfish king. The ants also killed predators that entered the battlefield, and Lu Heng realized the slaughter was part of a recurring winter cycle he had narrowly escaped.

• The Digger Ants left the ordinary slickfish and surged toward the frozen ground as the Bronze Tier slickfish king emerged.
• The slickfish king crushed ordinary slickfish while the Digger Ants swarmed it in a fight to the death.
• Black Iron Giant Centipedes and anteaters crossed into the battlefield to scavenge, and the Digger Ants killed them.
• The remaining predators retreated into the forest as Lu Heng watched the slaughter from a tree.
• Lu Heng concluded that the winter battle was a recurring ecological cycle and realized he might have died if he had not escaped the swamp in time.

Lu Heng watched the Digger Ants sacrifice wave after wave of workers against the unharmed Slickfish King and suspected they were wearing down its mucus defenses while a stronger force waited underground. The stalemate ended when a huge tremor signaled that the hidden Ant Queen had finally moved.

• The Digger Ants swarmed the Slickfish King, but its mucus and tough skin kept it unharmed as it crushed the workers with each shudder.
• Lu Heng suspected the workers were expendable and that the colony was waiting for the Slickfish King's mucus shield to wear away before sending its true fighter.
• The Slickfish King remained in the marsh as the ant corpses piled up and the hidden mutant beasts watched from the forest.
• A heavy tremor shook the woodland soil, and the Ant Queen finally moved underground.

Lu Heng watched the ant queen emerge and face the slickfish king after the worker ants withdrew. Both rulers gathered strength at the woods-swamp boundary, leaving Lu Heng trapped in a death zone as their final battle approached.

• The queen ant emerged from the soil, and its workers and soldier ants formed a guarded line along the forest edge.
• The slickfish king rose from the mud and stared across the boundary at the queen ant.
• Lu Heng realized the earlier swarm attack had been preparation for a confrontation between the two rulers.
• The queen ant gathered insect corpses, acid, and sludge to strengthen itself, while the slickfish king restored its mucus and hardened its corroded skin.
• Lu Heng stayed motionless in the tree, recognizing that the woodland and swamp had become a death zone as both kings finished preparing to fight.

Lu Heng considered shooting the exhausted Ant Queen or Slippery Fish King, but a Black-Winged Kite arrived to prey on them. The two enemies joined forces to repel the bird, and Lu Heng stayed hidden as he realized the swamp’s dangers were more complicated than he had thought.

• Lu Heng aimed his Giant-Feather Crossbow at the wounded Slippery Fish King but decided to wait for a better chance.
• A Black-Winged Kite appeared overhead and dived toward the weakened Ant Queen and Slippery Fish King.
• The Ant Queen and Slippery Fish King coordinated their attacks to block the kite and drive it away.
• Lu Heng hid behind the tree trunk, realizing that the beasts might have learned to cooperate against aerial predators.

Lu Heng killed the injured Black-Winged Kite with a crossbow and Hunting Blade before finishing it off with his Phantom Claws. The Ant Queen and Swamp Slippery Fish King then turned their attention to him, beginning a new standoff.

• The Ant Queen and Swamp Slippery Fish King overwhelmed the Black-Winged Kite, forcing it to retreat from their attacks.
• Lu Heng judged the roaming Kite too dangerous to let escape, hid in a tree, and aimed his Giant-Feather Crossbow at it.
• When the Kite hovered beyond the overlords’ reach, Lu Heng shot it and leaped down to sever one of its wings with his Hunting Blade.
• Lu Heng cut off the Kite’s remaining wing and pinned its neck with his Phantom Claws until it died.
• The Ant Queen and Swamp Slippery Fish King recovered from their shock and fixed their attention on Lu Heng.

After killing the Black-Winged Kite, Lu Heng traded its corpse to the Digger Ant Queen and Swamp Slippery Fish King for treasure chests found across the swamp and forest edge. He secured their agreement to leave him and his forces in peace, then departed with the resources.

• Lu Heng stood between the Black-Winged Kite's corpse and the Digger Ant Queen and Swamp Slippery Fish King, preventing them from claiming it while he proposed a trade.
• The Ant Queen and Slippery Fish King agreed to search their territories for treasure chests in exchange for the kite's corpse.
• The two populations gathered two Bronze-Tier Treasure Chests, five Black Iron-Level Treasure Chests, and seven Wooden Treasure Chests for Lu Heng.
• Lu Heng gave one of the kite's wings to each population and left the remaining body between the two leaders.
• Lu Heng proposed peaceful coexistence, and the Ant Queen and Slippery Fish King accepted his terms.
• Lu Heng stored the treasure chests and left the swamp hollow.

After returning safely from the swamp, Lu Heng opened the wooden and Black Iron Chests he had acquired through his dealings with two native clans. The supplies and blueprints filled many gaps in his wilderness life, while two Bronze Treasure Chests remained unopened.

• Lu Heng reached his stone-cave Fortress, secured its defenses, and cleaned himself up after leaving the swamp.
• Lu Heng opened seven wooden chests and stored basic food, water, sewing supplies, and scissors.
• Lu Heng opened the first Black Iron Chests, gaining medical supplies, furniture and glass blueprints, tool blueprints, rare materials, prepared food, and vegetable seeds.
• Lu Heng found a rice cooker, kitchen knife, mushroom and herbal guides, and the Butcher Ding Dissects the Ox skill book in the final Black Iron Chest.
• Lu Heng organized his new supplies and left the two Bronze Treasure Chests unopened.

Lu Heng opened two Bronze Treasure Chests and gained valuable Shelter upgrades, equipment, supplies, and a forging blueprint. After installing a lookout tower and storage space, he sorted his supplies into the new compartments.

• Lu Heng opened the two Bronze Treasure Chests and found construction modules, weapons, nutrition tablets, a scent concealment potion, an energy device, and an ore forging blueprint.
• Lu Heng assembled the Lookout Tower, unlocking alerts for disturbances near the Shelter and a link to his Spy Bug equipment.
• Lu Heng activated the Independent Storage Module, creating empty compartments for organizing his supplies.
• Lu Heng judged that the Insect Carapace Shield and Poison Sting Short Spear did not suit his current fighting style, then took the nutritional calcium tablets.
• Lu Heng assessed the uses of the Scent Concealment Potion, Bronze Tier Circulating Energy Device, and Composite Ore Forging Blueprint.
• Lu Heng sorted his supplies into the new storage compartments, clearing the stone house floor.

After resting and improving his Mental Energy through the Starlight Visualization Method, Lu Heng woke to the Second Survival Catastrophe, which would intensify mutant beasts’ hostility toward humans over seven days. His prior recognition from groups in the Frost Forest and swamp might protect him, so he planned to patrol the area and test whether it still held.

• Lu Heng cooked and ate Swamp Giant Python meat, then practiced the Starlight Visualization Method until his Mental Energy reached 3.
• At dawn, every survivor’s Wristband announced that the Second Survival Catastrophe had begun and that mutant beasts’ hostility would rise for seven days.
• Lu Heng recalled that groups in the Frost Forest and swamp had tacitly accepted his presence, potentially granting him exemption from their attacks.
• Lu Heng worried the new catastrophe might override that recognition and decided to patrol around the Shelter after daylight to test the nearby beasts’ behavior.

Lu Heng tested whether the second calamity had broken the territorial understandings he had established with Frost Forest’s predators. He confirmed that the Dark-Spotted Leopard and Black-Eyed Bear still recognized their old boundaries, then returned to the Shelter reassured that his position gave him an advantage during the calamity.

• Lu Heng entered Frost Forest to check whether the calamity had changed the beasts’ behavior toward him.
• The Dark-Spotted Leopard warned Lu Heng to stay out of its territory, then calmed when he backed away.
• Lu Heng searched the forest and found the Black-Eyed Bear eating beside a stretch of water.
• Lu Heng restated the territorial boundaries to the Black-Eyed Bear and asked it to keep nearby beasts away from his home.
• Lu Heng gave the Black-Eyed Bear Swamp Giant Python meat, and it accepted the gift and resumed eating without attacking him.
• Lu Heng concluded that the old agreements in Frost Forest remained intact, leaving him safer than most survivors during the calamity.

Lu Heng reinforced his Shelter, tended his crops, and observed survivors struggling to cooperate during the second disaster. Reports of mass insect and bird attacks revealed a new threat that could bypass the territorial agreements he had made with ground-dwelling beasts.

• Lu Heng returned from Frost Forest and strengthened the Bloodthirsty Vine around his Shelter with an Energy Core.
• Lu Heng harvested ripe pumpkins and tomatoes, planted new seeds, and checked on the Purifying Water Lotus.
• Lu Heng read the Global Survival Channel and judged that families trying to form teams could not safely relocate through the hostile wilderness.
• Survivors reported that strange insect swarms and flocks of birds were attacking camps across the region.
• Lu Heng realized that birds could ignore ground-beast boundaries and might retaliate for his earlier killing of Black-Winged Kites.

Lu Heng watched the Black Iron birds circling his Shelter for several days, using their presence to detect nearby threats while the territorial agreements kept ground beasts away. After finding no hidden enemies, he decided to climb the watchtower and kill the birds with the Giant-Feather Crossbow.

• Lu Heng observed ordinary birds land on the Shelter’s stone fence and get devoured by the Bloodthirsty Vines, warning the Black Iron birds to keep their distance.
• The Black Iron birds continued circling overhead, drawn by the Shelter’s resources but wary of its defenses.
• Lu Heng used the circling birds as natural surveillance while he checked the surrounding area for hidden beasts and insect swarms.
• After confirming the ground was secure and no other threats had appeared, Lu Heng decided the birds were no longer useful and their lingering auras could attract danger.
• Lu Heng prepared to ascend the watchtower and clear the skies with the Giant-Feather Crossbow.

Lu Heng drove off the birds that had besieged the Shelter and discovered that they had silently eaten a swarm of mutated insects near the perimeter. He cleared the remaining birds, then looked toward the mountain forest, aware that the disaster’s threats had only been temporarily subdued.

• Lu Heng killed two diving birds with his Bronze Hunting Blade, and the Bloodthirsty Vine devoured their bodies.
• The Black Iron birds abandoned their attempt to claim the territory and flew toward the distant mountain forest.
• Lu Heng climbed the watchtower and shot the remaining circling birds with the Giant-Feather Crossbow.
• Lu Heng found dried insect remains by the western fence and realized the birds had eaten a swarm that had approached the Shelter.
• Lu Heng stood and stared toward the mountain forest as the wilderness remained quiet.

On the final day of the second disaster trial, Lu Heng’s sharpened senses alerted him to a Giant Plume Eagle diving directly toward his territory. Unable to let it destroy his defenses, he armed himself with the Giant-Feather Crossbow and Bronze Hunting Blade and went out to face it.

• Lu Heng practiced the Starlight Meditation Method until his mental power reached 10, greatly improving his focus and perception.
• Despite the forest’s eerie silence and his defenses remaining intact, Lu Heng stayed alert as the second disaster trial neared its end.
• A watchtower warning revealed a bronze-tier Giant Plume Eagle diving toward Lu Heng’s Shelter, apparently intent on killing him.
• Lu Heng realized he could not retreat into the Shelter without risking the destruction of his Bloodthirsty Vine defenses and watchtower.
• Lu Heng took up the Giant-Feather Crossbow and Bronze Hunting Blade, then faced the approaching Giant Plume Eagle.

Lu Heng realized the Giant Plume Eagle had targeted the Giant-Feather Crossbow and lured it into a trap instead of retreating. He left the Bronze Tier beast grievously burned and helpless, bringing their final battle to a clear conclusion.

• Lu Heng noticed the Giant Plume Eagle fixating on his Giant-Feather Crossbow, and lifting it made the eagle attack in a fury.
• Lu Heng rejected retreating to the stone-cave fortress and decided to feign exhaustion to lure the eagle close.
• The Giant Plume Eagle pinned Lu Heng to the ground, believing it had subdued him.
• Lu Heng grabbed the eagle’s talon and detonated the Geothermal Talisman, burning the eagle so badly that it crashed to the ground and could no longer fight.
• Lu Heng rose unharmed and watched the wounded Giant Plume Eagle twitch on the ground.

Lu Heng killed the Bronze Tier Giant Plume Eagle with a Geothermal Talisman and dismantled its corpse for resources, then rested and checked the public chat. He ended the chapter suspecting that survivors were exaggerating their hardship to trick others into giving them supplies.

• Lu Heng found that the wounded Giant Plume Eagle had survived the Geothermal Talisman's blast, then finished it with the Giant-Feather Crossbow.
• Lu Heng used his Wristband to dismantle the Giant Plume Eagle and collected its meat, bones, blood, and Energy Core, though its feathers had been destroyed.
• Lu Heng fed a large piece of Giant Plume Eagle meat to the Bloodthirsty Vine before returning to the Shelter.
• Lu Heng treated his bruises with the last of his Tiger Bone Wine and practiced the Starlight Meditation Method until he felt tired.
• Lu Heng read the public chat and suspected that survivors were exaggerating their struggles to solicit supplies.

After the survival trial ended, Lu Heng prepared for the dangers of territorial competition and teleported from his mountain Shelter into a ruined city. He learned that traveling between regions would cost 5% of his supplies and set out to face the new territory.

• The system announced that the trial phase had ended and survivors could establish territories alone or in teams.
• Lu Heng worried that his supplies and equipment would make him a target, then crafted fifty arrows and packed weapons, traps, potions, and other emergency supplies.
• Lu Heng checked his attributes, left his Shelter, and entered the teleportation screen.
• After recovering from the journey, Lu Heng found himself in a vast, abandoned city and realized its ruins might hold abundant supplies.
• The system announced that each trip between regions would collect 5% of Lu Heng's supplies, reassuring him that the teleportation rules were transparent.

Lu Heng killed four Zombies in the ruins and collected a few meager drops before encountering a Zombie Cat stalking him. After identifying the mutated cat, he prepared to face its renewed attack.

• Lu Heng appraised four shuffling figures as Zombies, killed them, and collected a Copper Coin and four Zombie Beast Bones from their vanishing bodies.
• Lu Heng searched a looted jewelry store, found a gold bangle, and left it behind as useless.
• Lu Heng sensed an unknown creature following him through the ruins and headed toward an open basketball court to confront it.
• A Zombie Cat ambushed Lu Heng near the court, but he dodged and struck it with his Bronze Hunting Blade.
• Lu Heng appraised the creature as a Black Iron-Level Zombie Cat and faced it as it prepared to attack again.

Lu Heng encountered Yun Jing and her mutated zombie cat, Abao, in the ruins, and questioned her about the apocalypse and her survival. Distrusting her explanation, he decided she was a threat and advanced on her to kill her.

• A zombie cat lunged at Lu Heng, who restrained it with his Ghost Claw and prepared to finish it with his blade.
• Yun Jing rushed over and pleaded with Lu Heng to spare the cat, explaining that Abao had once been her pet and had protected her since turning into a zombie.
• Lu Heng released Abao and questioned Yun Jing about the infection, the survivors nearby, and her identity.
• Yun Jing said the world had collapsed about half a year earlier and that she was the only living person in the area, surviving with Abao's help.
• Lu Heng doubted Yun Jing's story, wounded Abao with his Phantom Claw, and decided Yun Jing posed too great a threat to leave alive.