Chapter Summaries

Lu Heng inspected Moonview Valley after its expansion, finding fertile land, new plants, a waterfall, and an ecosystem protected by his territory’s rules. As battles erupted throughout Frost Forest amid an ecological reshuffling, he took up the Insect Armor Sword and decided to investigate the forest’s future top tier.

• Lu Heng returned to Moonview Valley, checked the Blood-Devouring Vine, and found that it had killed a small animal on its own.
• Lu Heng searched the expanded valley, inspecting a rock fissure, dense shrubs, and a waterfall with indistinct tracks nearby.
• Lu Heng found native fruit trees and medicinal herbs growing on the newly fertile slopes.
• Lu Heng tested the lake and confirmed that its fish and shrimp were healthy and that his territory’s suppression kept high-tier aquatic beasts out.
• Lu Heng heard widespread battles among beasts and birds across Frost Forest and recognized that the forest’s ecosystem was being reshuffled.
• Lu Heng drew the Insect Armor Sword and prepared to investigate the forest’s future top tier.

Lu Heng watched a territorial battle between the forest beasts and a raven-led flock of eagles and hawks, deciding he could not intervene without provoking the outsiders against Moonview Valley. The birds began wearing down the ground beasts by targeting vulnerable wolves, and the battle remained unresolved.

• Lu Heng and Bone Demon crept to a hillside and watched Bronze Tier beasts face off against a raven and its flock in the newly expanded woodland.
• Lu Heng concluded that intervening on behalf of the ground beasts would make the raven view him as an expansionist and threaten Moonview Valley.
• The raven cried out, and an eagle attacked the wolves, killing a half-grown wolf and prompting the ground beasts to brace for battle.
• The eagles repeatedly targeted smaller, isolated wolves while evading Black-Eyed Bear and Ghost Tiger, leaving the pack in chaos and its allies wounded.
• The raven watched from a broken log as the birds killed three half-grown wolves and continued wearing down the ground beasts.

Lu Heng and the Bone Demon were targeted by the raven and its birds of prey after they scented the Insect Queen on the Bone Demon. Lu Heng prepared to fight back, having secretly surrounded the clearing with the Blood Taisui’s mycelium.

• Lu Heng arrived at the standoff, and the birds of prey noticed the Insect Queen’s scent on the Bone Demon.
• The raven called to its companions, and the eagles and hawks turned their attention toward Lu Heng and the Bone Demon.
• The raven approached while the birds circled and planned to seize the Bone Demon; the other beasts withdrew to give Lu Heng room.
• Lu Heng spread the Blood Taisui’s mycelium across the ground, trees, and canopy, enclosing the clearing without the birds noticing.
• The raven lunged at the Bone Demon, and Lu Heng drew his sword as the mycelium encirclement closed.

Lu Heng trapped a flock of birds in Blood Taisui’s mycelium net and used its heat, his mental power, and the Insect Armor Sword to defeat them. After collecting their Energy Cores, he returned to Moonview Valley with Bone Demon.

• Lu Heng stopped the birds’ attack with his mental power, then revealed that Blood Taisui’s mycelium had surrounded the clearing.
• Lu Heng heated the sealed clearing with his mental power, forcing the birds to charge him in desperation.
• Lu Heng fought off the flock and killed its Bronze Tier leader, the raven, with the Insect Armor Sword.
• Lu Heng ordered Blood Taisui to tighten the net, which bound the surviving birds and cleared the battlefield.
• Lu Heng collected the Energy Cores and returned to Moonview Valley with Bone Demon.

After the Forest Will warned Lu Heng that he had killed too many birds and explained the rules governing territorial wondrous items, it revealed another item hidden beneath the waterfall in Moonview Valley. Lu Heng retrieved the Frost Talisman, gained a Frost Seed alongside his High heat ability, and went to sleep considering how to earn the forest’s favor.

• Lu Heng meditated and received a warning from the Forest Will for wiping out birds needed for the Frost Forest’s ecological succession.
• The Forest Will recognized the Geothermal Talisman fused into Lu Heng’s Talent, set terms for his use of wondrous items, and revealed a hidden item beneath Moonview Valley’s waterfall.
• Lu Heng dived into the pool and retrieved an icy-blue special-environment treasure chest containing the Frost Talisman.
• The Frost Talisman merged a Frost Seed beside Lu Heng’s Talent core, adding frost to his Temperature abilities.
• Lu Heng tested the frost power, saw it crack stone from within, and returned to the Shelter to rest.

After finding the Lakeside Base’s Water-Covering Vine had advanced to Bronze tier, Lu Heng heard artillery fire and discovered a huge wild zombie horde besieging the military camp. Worried about Song Yunzhou and his sister, he crept toward the camp to check whether they were safe.

• Lu Heng left Moonview Valley and returned through the Portal to the Lakeside Base.
• The Bronze-tier Water-Covering Vine asked Lu Heng for energy, took an Energy Core, and plunged into the lake.
• Lu Heng heard artillery fire from the military camp, rode toward it, and found a vast zombie horde surrounding the camp.
• Lu Heng detected several Bronze-tier mutated zombies but could not find the Silver-tier zombie the Blood Taisui had mentioned.
• Thinking of Song Yunzhou and his sister, Lu Heng decided to enter the besieged camp and stealthily approached through the ruins and weeds.

Lu Heng entered the military district and found Song Yunjing alone and in distress in the Fortress safe zone. As she told him that Song Yunzhong had been taken for research and had vanished, two hostile men arrived to claim her for their boss, leaving Lu Heng standing between them and Song Yunjing.

• Lu Heng bypassed the heavily shelled front and slipped into the military district, where he located Song Yunjing in the Fortress safe zone.
• Lu Heng found Song Yunjing terrified and alone in a hut, and calmed her with his mental energy.
• Song Yunjing told Lu Heng that troops had taken Song Yunzhong away to study his ability to control zombies, then left her without support.
• Song Yunjing said the children had also been taken away and that she had not seen her brother since his first days in the laboratory.
• Two men entered the hut and threatened Lu Heng, saying their boss wanted Song Yunjing, while Lu Heng shielded her.

Lu Heng rescued Song Yunjing from men sent to seize her, then searched the camp for information about Song Yunzhong. He learned that the head of the Logistics Department had arranged trouble for Song Yunjing and possibly planned to make her disappear.

• Lu Heng killed the two men who had come to take Song Yunjing and drained the two guards with the Blood Taisui's mycelium.
• After Song Yunjing said everyone in the area had bullied her, Lu Heng ordered the Blood Taisui to close the gates and leave no one alive.
• Lu Heng took Song Yunjing to the Logistics Department and questioned a supply clerk who reacted with panic when he heard her name.
• The clerk told Lu Heng that the head of the Logistics Department had arranged for people to harass Song Yunjing and might have planned to make her disappear.

Lu Heng and Song Yunjing fought their way into the logistics office’s hidden laboratory after learning Song Yunzhong was being held there for experiments. They found Song Yunjing’s brother alive but chained to a bed, and he told her he had thought she was dead.

• Lu Heng forced the logistics director’s relative to reveal that Song Yunzhong was imprisoned in the laboratory, then killed him and the woman in the room.
• Lu Heng stopped himself from killing the onlookers when Song Yunjing asked him not to, then overpowered the guards at the laboratory door.
• Lu Heng broke into the laboratory, killed the armed staff, and searched the rooms for Song Yunzhong.
• Lu Heng found a hidden basement and smashed through its reinforced door with the Insect Armor Sword.
• Song Yunjing found Song Yunzhong chained to a bed and tearfully called him brother; he recognized her and said he had thought she was dead.

Lu Heng found Song Yunzhong imprisoned, mutilated, and drained by a military district official who had taken his Corpse-Control Ring and exploited his zombie-controlling ability. After using flesh-and-blood essence to stabilize Song Yunzhong, Lu Heng decided to take him and Song Yunjing out of the military district.

• Lu Heng examined Song Yunzhong and saw that his right index finger had been deliberately severed to take the Corpse-Control Ring.
• Song Yunzhong told Lu Heng that a local higher-up had deceived him, confined him, repeatedly experimented on him, and stolen his ring and ability.
• Song Yunjing wept silently beside her brother while Lu Heng chose not to offer empty comfort.
• Lu Heng gave Song Yunzhong flesh-and-blood essence, which restored some of his strength but could not repair his severed finger or deeper physical and mental damage.
• Lu Heng concluded they could not remain in the military district and told Song Yunzhong and Song Yunjing he would get them out.

After Song Yunzhong exposed the camp leadership’s abuse, a high-ranking officer tried to placate him and recruit Lu Heng. Lu Heng rejected the officer and prepared to attack, while deciding that he could not take Song Yunzhong and his sister back to Moonview Valley.

• Lu Heng prepared to clear the soldiers blocking the passage, but Song Yunzhong stepped forward and asked them not to shoot.
• Song Yunzhong revealed his mutilated hand and told the soldiers that the camp leadership had imprisoned, tortured, and deceived him to seize his Corpse-Control Ring.
• A high-ranking officer silenced the soldiers, called the abuse a misunderstanding, promised Song Yunzhong compensation, and invited Lu Heng to join the organization.
• Lu Heng unleashed his Mycelium and accused the officer of exploiting soldiers and persecuting those who had helped the camp.
• Song Yunzhong identified the officer as the man behind his imprisonment and mutilation, and Lu Heng decided not to shelter Song Yunzhong and his sister at Moonview Valley.
• Lu Heng rejected the officer’s appeal to humanity and readied his Mycelium to strike.

Song Zhi admitted that he had tacitly approved the persecution of Song Yunzhong, then tried to persuade Lu Heng to spare the camp’s innocent survivors. Lu Heng rejected his appeal, and after Song Zhi ordered his soldiers to fire, Lu Heng used Blood Taisui mycelium to immobilize the entire force.

• Song Zhi approached Song Yunzhong and confessed that he had tacitly approved the research that led to Song Yunzhong’s imprisonment, torture, and maimed hand.
• Song Zhi appealed to Lu Heng to spare the camp’s innocent survivors and offered him resources, weapons, and authority as compensation.
• Lu Heng demanded to know where the people who ordered and carried out the persecution were, and condemned Song Zhi for enjoying its benefits while blaming those beneath him.
• Song Zhi dropped his conciliatory manner and ordered his soldiers to open fire on Lu Heng.
• Lu Heng’s mycelium absorbed the bullets and spread through the passage, binding more than a hundred soldiers and leaving them unable to move.

Lu Heng killed Song Zhi and the officer after Song Yunzhong tried to spare the soldiers who had followed their orders. Lu Heng left the Fortress alone, leaving Song Yunzhong to face the camp and the approaching corpse tide.

• Lu Heng restrained the soldiers at the Fortress entrance with mycelium, but Song Yunzhong stepped between them and Lu Heng, asking him to spare the rank and file.
• Song Yunzhong argued that the soldiers were only following orders, while Lu Heng called his intervention a betrayal.
• Lu Heng redirected the mycelium around Song Yunzhong and killed Song Zhi and the officer.
• Lu Heng withdrew the mycelium and left the Fortress without looking back, while Song Yunjing stayed beside Song Yunzhong.
• Song Yunzhong watched Lu Heng go, and the soldiers remained at the gate amid the threat of the corpse tide and the camp's uncertain future.

Lu Heng left the military camp after Song Yunzhong stopped him from killing the soldiers, frustrated that the camp’s research leads had vanished and convinced that a Silver Tier mutant zombie would eventually destroy the place. Back at the Moonview Valley Shelter, he found that everyone he had contacted was offline, then meditated until dawn and prepared to work.

• Lu Heng rode away from the military camp, angry that Song Yunzhong had saved the soldiers and disrupted his plans to find the Corpse-Control Ring research.
• The Blood Taisui alerted Lu Heng to a Silver Tier mutant zombie hiding near the camp and waiting for its defenses to weaken.
• Lu Heng returned to the Lakeside Base and saw that all the avatars on his Public Chat Terminal were gray.
• Lu Heng used the Portal to reach the Moonview Valley Shelter and meditated through the night.
• At dawn, Lu Heng opened his eyes, stretched his stiff shoulders, and decided it was time to get to work.

Lu Heng learned that a silver Zombie had inherited a world fragment’s fortune and was trying to advance to gold tier, which could trigger the fragment to collide with and devour others. To stop the threat and fulfill his debt to the forest will, he set out with the Bone Demon to kill it before it advanced.

• The forest will contacted Lu Heng, cleared up its suspicion that he had fled with borrowed goods, and marked an agreement to let him settle his debt by severing a fragment’s fortune.
• Lu Heng realized the Blood Taisui was the fragment’s former apex monster, but the fortune had passed to the silver Zombie near the Military District camp.
• The forest will warned that the Zombie was devouring the fragment’s remaining life to advance and that its success could cause fragments to collide and merge.
• Lu Heng decided to stop the Zombie before it reached gold tier, opened a Portal, and traveled with the Bone Demon to the Lakeside Base.
• Lu Heng and the Bone Demon headed toward the Military District camp as the Zombie’s roars grew denser in the distance.

Lu Heng tracked a Silver Tier zombie to an abandoned building where it kept and fed on captive survivors, then prepared to attack before its unusual growth could continue. He sealed the floor’s exits and waited in the shadows for the right moment to strike.

• Lu Heng used the Blood Taisui’s mycelium to locate the Silver Tier zombie hiding among ordinary zombies near the Military District camp.
• Lu Heng avoided a confrontation by the camp and waited in the ruins until night, when the zombie left the horde and entered an abandoned high-rise alone.
• Lu Heng climbed into the building unnoticed and discovered that the Silver Tier zombie was keeping survivors captive and eating them while a Bronze Tier zombie dog guarded them.
• Lu Heng sensed that the zombie was secretly accumulating strength each time it fed and decided not to risk letting it transform further.
• Lu Heng had the Bone Demon stand ready and used mycelium to seal every exit on the floor before issuing a mental command to attack.

Lu Heng and the Bone Demon ambushed the Silver Zombie, but it escaped by summoning a horde to delay them. Lu Heng cleared the factory blockade and pursued it into tangled ruins, where he gambled on its overall direction and charged ahead along a predicted route.

• The Silver Zombie dodged the Bone Demon's ambush, summoned nearby Zombies to hold off Lu Heng, and fled from the factory.
• Lu Heng used the Blood Taisui's mycelium and the Bone Demon to defeat the Zombie horde and clear a path out of the factory.
• Lu Heng tracked the Silver Zombie's fading energy and followed it into the ruins with the Bone Demon.
• The Silver Zombie used the maze-like terrain and repeated changes of direction to slow its pursuers.
• Lu Heng abandoned the false trails, estimated the Zombie's overall direction, and charged straight ahead with the Bone Demon.

Lu Heng found the Silver Zombie feeding on captive survivors to heal its wounds and fought through its Bronze Tier Mutant guards. The Silver Zombie was still near the cage as two more Mutants rushed in, and Lu Heng stepped forward with the remaining captives still at risk.

• Lu Heng entered the building and found the Silver Zombie dragging captives from a cage and eating them to heal its wounds.
• Three Bronze Tier Mutants attacked Lu Heng, while the Zombie tiger guarded the cage and the Bone Demon fought the armored Zombie.
• Lu Heng used mycelium to kill the bone-bladed Zombie, and the Bone Demon pierced the armored Zombie's chest.
• Lu Heng killed the Zombie tiger with a mycelium spike through its eye socket and charged toward the cage with the Bone Demon.
• The Silver Zombie turned toward Lu Heng after eating more captives, as two new Bronze Tier Mutants rushed down the stairwell.

Lu Heng discovered that a Nightmare Eater had been feeding on the Silver Zombie’s killing intent and the survivors’ fear, disrupting the battle. After he exposed it, the Nightmare Eater and the Silver Zombie both turned on him, leaving him fighting two monsters while the captives lay incapacitated.

• Lu Heng’s charge ended with him accidentally killing a captive whom the Silver Zombie had used as a shield.
• The Bone Demon blocked the Silver Zombie’s attack while Lu Heng wounded it and noticed its movements were being disrupted.
• Lu Heng used mental perception to identify a Nightmare Eater above the cages, feeding on the Silver Zombie and the survivors.
• Lu Heng struck the Nightmare Eater with Mind Spike, breaking its hold and restoring the Silver Zombie’s awareness.
• The Nightmare Eater and the Silver Zombie both attacked Lu Heng, while hallucinations and the Silver Zombie’s renewed strength left him wounded and the survivors helpless.

Lu Heng and the Bone Demon fought the Silver Zombie while Lu Heng resisted the Nightmare Eater’s mental attacks. After killing the Silver Zombie, Lu Heng confirmed it was not the World Fragment’s chosen vessel and turned his attention to the Nightmare Eater.

• Lu Heng used Blood Taisui mycelia and his mental power to resist the Nightmare Eater’s illusions while fighting the Silver Zombie.
• The Bone Demon restrained the Silver Zombie, giving Lu Heng an opening to blast its chest with the Kiss of Nightmare and kill it.
• Lu Heng sensed that the Forest Will’s mark showed no resonance and realized the Silver Zombie was not the World Fragment’s vessel.
• The Nightmare Eater’s mental domain briefly shattered, then began to reform as it recognized Lu Heng as a threat.
• Lu Heng aimed the Kiss of Nightmare at the Nightmare Eater and used his mental power to block its escape.