Chapter Summaries

Lu Heng used the Blood Taisui’s energy to injure the Nightmare Eater, but despair from the imprisoned people restored it. The Blood Taisui immobilized the creature, and Lu Heng realized he had to cut off its supply of despair to kill it.

• Lu Heng chose the Insect Armor Sword over the Kiss of Nightmare and gathered spiritual power behind the Bone Demon.
• Lu Heng combined his spiritual power with the Blood Taisui’s energy, striking the Nightmare Eater and severely weakening it.
• Negative emotions from the imprisoned people replenished the Nightmare Eater, undoing Lu Heng’s damage.
• The Blood Taisui overdrew its energy to bind the Nightmare Eater with spiritual chains while the Bone Demon guarded against nearby Zombies.
• Lu Heng recognized that he had to stop the people in the cages from feeding the Nightmare Eater if he was to kill it.

Lu Heng killed the people imprisoned in the iron cage, cutting off the emotions that sustained the Nightmare Eater. With the monster weakened and trapped, he infused the Insect Armor Sword with Greedy Wolf Star Power and prepared to destroy its origin core.

• Lu Heng realized the caged people’s despair was replenishing the Nightmare Eater and that Blood Taisui could not hold it indefinitely.
• Lu Heng opened the cage and killed every prisoner, ending the emotional supply sustaining the Nightmare Eater.
• The Nightmare Eater lost its ability to heal and endure, but Blood Taisui’s psychic chains kept it from escaping.
• Lu Heng awakened Greedy Wolf Star Power and transformed his psychic power into a force that could devour and annihilate the Nightmare Eater’s origin.
• Lu Heng channeled Greedy Wolf psychic power into the Insect Armor Sword and aimed at the Nightmare Eater’s hidden origin core.

Lu Heng killed the Nightmare Eater by pinning it down and piercing its origin core with a strike combining his Mind Spike and Greedy Wolf Power. After the kill, he collected its drops and gave the Dream Seed to Blood Taisui to restore the origin it had spent in battle.

• Lu Heng restrained the Nightmare Eater as it tried to scatter and escape, then repeatedly slashed its depleted black mist body.
• Lu Heng poured his Mind Spike and Greedy Wolf Power into the Insect Armor Sword and struck the Nightmare Eater's origin core.
• Greedy Wolf Power devoured the Nightmare Eater's origin, and the Wristband confirmed the Silver Tier Aberrant's death.
• Lu Heng collected the treasure chest and monster drops, including the Dream Seed, and decided its negative-emotion-based power did not suit him.
• Lu Heng gave the Dream Seed to Blood Taisui to absorb and replenish its depleted origin, leaving the abandoned building safe.

Lu Heng returned from the hidden World Fragment to Moonview Valley after the Forest Will explained how its inhabitants would be reborn and called him favored by starlight. Back at his Shelter, he opened a Silver Tier chest and added three machines to its defenses.

• The Forest Will found the hidden World Fragment and offered Lu Heng a card that would let him return to retrieve what he had left behind.
• The Forest Will told Lu Heng that the fragment's remaining humans would die physically, but their souls would be reborn as natives of its territory; Lu Heng declined to preserve any personal bonds.
• The Forest Will sent Lu Heng and the Bone Demon through a portal back to Moonview Valley, and Lu Heng wondered what it meant to be favored by starlight.
• Lu Heng opened the Nightmare Eater's Silver Tier treasure chest and found a Heavy Anvil Assault Mech, a Mechanism Hub Butler, and a Rotary Hub Automatic Crossbow Turret.
• Lu Heng powered and bound the two machines to his command roster, then deployed the turret outside his Shelter.

Lu Heng explored the Frost Forest and watched an Armored Crocodile Turtle ambush two wounded rivals by the river. After the turtle killed them, it approached Lu Heng, apparently seeking energy to advance, and charged at him.

• The Forest Will told Lu Heng that the Geothermal Talisman and Frostmoon Talisman would require no payment because the World Fragment held abundant essence.
• Lu Heng rested in Moonview Valley, then entered the Frost Forest to inspect the newly settled territories.
• Lu Heng identified a bee swarm and found a Frost-Ridged Scaled Serpent and Marsh-Shaking Croaking Toad contesting a river.
• The Frost-Ridged Scaled Serpent and Marsh-Shaking Croaking Toad fought until both were badly injured, and the Armored Crocodile Turtle burst from the silt and killed them.
• The Armored Crocodile Turtle approached Lu Heng, seemingly seeking energy to advance, then charged at him.

Lu Heng traded two cores with an Armored Crocodile Turtle for access to its ore deposit and gathered Water Nurture Stones and Azure Tide Stones. He left the inlet planning to return and continued toward Moonview Valley as dusk fell.

• The Armored Crocodile Turtle gave Lu Heng several Water Nurture Stones and offered to lead him to an ore deposit in exchange for energy to advance.
• Lu Heng gave the Armored Crocodile Turtle an Energy Core and a Flesh Core, which it swallowed before leading him downstream.
• The Armored Crocodile Turtle brought Lu Heng to a shallow inlet containing Water Nurture Stones and Azure Tide Stones.
• Lu Heng collected the accessible ore for an hour while the Armored Crocodile Turtle rested nearby.
• Lu Heng told the Armored Crocodile Turtle he would return, then headed back toward Moonview Valley as dusk fell.

After the regional system announced that survivors from collapsing World Fragments would be relocated into stable planes, Lu Heng realized that the Frost Forest was the region’s resource-rich central arena. As outsiders arrived, the forest’s fragile balance was poised to break into conflict.

• Lu Heng inspected Moonview Valley Shelter, confirmed its defenses and equipment were secure, and rested after returning from the Frost Forest.
• The system announced that survivors from dying World Fragments would be randomly relocated across the Global Region while local terrain and ecosystems remained unchanged.
• Lu Heng connected the Frost Forest’s growing power and recent territorial upheaval to its likely merger with a failing fragment, and anticipated that incoming survivors would disrupt the region’s balance.
• Lu Heng checked the public chat and learned that the region comprised the Frost Forest, Mist Forest, Withered Reed Plain, Cracked Rock Hills, and Blackwater Swamp.
• Survivors in the chat worried about where they would land as Lu Heng concluded that the influx would bring brutal conflict to the fertile central forest.

After planar replacement brought hundreds of thousands of outsiders into the Main Plane, Lu Heng learned that the region had always held scattered native survivors and saw how the newcomers were cautiously settling across its five regions. The outer regions remained briefly calm, but outsiders were gathering at the Frost Forest’s borders, where its lords prepared to respond.

• The planar replacement brought outsiders into the stable Main Plane while leaving its native survivors in place, and Lu Heng realized that people had long lived throughout the vast region.
• Newcomers and previously silent native survivors flooded the public channel, where terse warnings outlined the resources and dangers of the Withered Reed Plain, Mist Forest, Cracked Rock Hills, Blackwater Swamp, and Frost Forest.
• The outsiders settled cautiously in the four outer regions, gathering supplies alone and avoiding the Frost Forest’s powerful lords.
• Lu Heng watched the public channel from the Fortress in Moonview Valley and recognized that the arrival of so many people had disrupted the region’s former resource balance.
• Lu Heng sensed unfamiliar people probing the edges of the Frost Forest as its old and new lords lurked in the shadows, ending the forest’s fragile peace.

Survivors from the four outer areas searched their borders for supplies, then began probing the resource-rich Frost Forest despite the beasts guarding it. Their expanding exploration reached the outskirts of Moonview Valley, where Lu Heng sensed the newcomers and the valley’s long isolation ended.

• Survivors gathered limited supplies along the borders of the Withered Reed Plain, the Misty Forest, the Cracked Rock Hills, and the Blackwater Swamp, but found the areas’ resources dwindling and their forbidden depths too dangerous to enter.
• Survivors from all four outer areas began cautiously exploring the Frost Forest, where beasts growled warnings from the woods.
• A beast killed a survivor who wandered too deep, and the death drove some explorers back to the outer borders while others continued probing the forest’s edge.
• The growing wave of exploration spread around the Frost Forest and reached the outskirts of Moonview Valley.
• Lu Heng sensed unfamiliar human traces outside the valley as growls echoed through the forest and newcomers continued advancing.

Survivors gathered at Moonview Valley’s entrance and learned that the valley was protected by a system-level access restriction. After Heavy Anvil killed two intruders, the survivors fled into a wolf pack’s territory, where the Wolf King restrained its pack because they carried Lu Heng’s scent, leaving the valley’s dangers and influence poised to spread.

• Survivors reaching Moonview Valley received a notification denying them permission to enter, and their attempts to find an explanation failed.
• Two stubborn survivors crossed the invisible barrier, and Heavy Anvil charged from a concealed shelter and killed them.
• Lu Heng watched the other survivors retreat and anticipated that outsiders would bring further trouble once they learned about his Shelter.
• The survivors encountered the wild wolf pack blocking their route, but the Wolf King recognized Lu Heng’s scent on them and stopped the wolves from attacking.
• The survivors carefully skirted the pack, carrying news of Moonview Valley’s restriction, its deadly defender, and the wolves’ deference beyond the forest.

Unaffiliated survivors fought beasts and competed over supplies across the wilderness while a group of twenty or thirty people headed toward the forbidden valley belonging to Lu Heng. Their leader promised them a safe place to settle, and the group continued toward it without knowing the full danger.

• Unaffiliated survivors formed temporary groups to fight beasts, seize supplies, and clear territory on the wilderness outskirts.
• After earlier fleeing the cliff-bound valley in the Frost Forest, a group of survivors avoided the fighting and gathered stragglers as they traveled toward it.
• When the stragglers grew uneasy about entering the silent wilderness, their leader promised that taking the protected valley would give them a safe place to settle.
• The leader concealed the valley's dangers and the deaths caused by its access restriction, and his group resumed its approach toward Lu Heng's forbidden ground.

Chen Yan led twenty-three desperate survivors to force their way into Moonview Valley, where Lu Heng’s machines attacked them. Chen Yan used the Illusory Moon Talisman to cover their retreat, while Lu Heng weighed whether to let them escape or eliminate the threat.

• Chen Yan and the survivors failed to break through the barrier at Moonview Valley’s entrance, and two machines emerged from the cliffs.
• The Heavy Anvil Assault Mech killed one survivor and injured others as the Inkstone Guard’s field hampered the crowd’s escape.
• Chen Yan used the Illusory Moon Talisman to confuse the survivors and machines, then shouted for everyone to run toward the woods.
• The survivors fled through the woods while the machines continued advancing, unaffected by the illusion.
• Lu Heng watched from inside the valley and considered ordering the machines to kill the survivors to prevent future trouble.

Lu Heng released Heavy Anvil and the Inkstone Guard to hunt down the intruders who had fled into the forest, killing all twenty-three. He then detected distant witnesses and returned to the valley as its barrier closed behind him.

• Lu Heng lifted the machines’ defensive restrictions and sent Heavy Anvil and the Inkstone Guard after the fleeing intruders.
• Chen Yan saw the machines pursuing and shouted for everyone to split up and run.
• The machines hunted down the fleeing group throughout the forest, while the two wounded intruders at the valley entrance were also killed.
• Heavy Anvil and the Inkstone Guard returned to Lu Heng after all twenty-three intruders had been eliminated.
• Lu Heng sensed several concealed survivors, then walked down the slope as the valley barrier closed.

After the battle at Moonview Valley, Lu Heng recharged Heavy Anvil and Inkstone Guard and learned from the Forest Will that wondrous items return to the Mist Forest when their holders die. The Forest Will warned that deepening regional fusion would bring energy tides and an unknown disaster, so Lu Heng began preparing for the coming upheaval.

• Lu Heng checked Heavy Anvil and Inkstone Guard’s depleted energy and replaced both of their Energy Cores.
• Lu Heng recalled that the Illusory Moon Talisman had vanished when Chen Yan died and wondered whether wondrous items disappeared with their owners.
• The Forest Will explained that wondrous items return to their origin when their holders die, except for items Lu Heng can retain through his special ability.
• The Forest Will warned that regional fusion would deepen, energy tides would erupt, and the plane would continue unsealing before a disaster arrived.
• Lu Heng entered the Shelter, spread out a beast-hide map, and began planning to reinforce defenses, stockpile resources, and prepare equipment.

A region-wide proclamation announced that the Green Demon Plane had connected with the native plane and begun its invasion, placing all living things in a planar calamity. Lu Heng resolved to defend Moonview Valley, while the new competition for powerful rewards threatened to make other survivors as dangerous as the invaders.

• Lu Heng inspected Moonview Valley and its combat machines after the previous night's battle.
• A vast will announced the planar connection with the Green Demon Plane, the invasion, and a defense contribution ranking offering origin wonders and permanent private territory.
• The proclamation stirred Aberrants and survivors across the region, while powerful presences from the Mist Forest assessed Moonview Valley before withdrawing.
• Lu Heng recognized that he had to defend his foothold against the invaders and the dangers posed by human greed.

Lu Heng investigated a nearby site of extraplanar activity and found a squad of Green Demons feeding in a clearing. After Blood Taisui restrained them, he entered the clearing to test their combat abilities firsthand.

• Lu Heng spotted a new extraplanar activity site less than two kilometers from Moonview Valley and left to investigate, while Heavy Anvil stayed behind to reinforce the defenses.
• Lu Heng found more than twenty Green Demons gathered around animal carcasses and live prey in a forest clearing.
• Lu Heng used Blood Taisui to spread mycelium through the soil and bind the Green Demons, but they struggled fiercely against their restraints.
• Lu Heng assessed their strength and resilience, then chose not to have Blood Taisui kill them so he could study their close-combat abilities.
• Lu Heng drew the Insect Armor Sword and stepped into the clearing to test the restrained Green Demons himself.

Lu Heng tested the Green Demons’ close-combat abilities, then used the Blood Taisui’s mycelium to devour all twenty-four vanguards. With the wilderness clear, he returned to Moonview Valley as a larger invasion threatened beyond the still-open rift.

• Lu Heng freed four Green Demons from most of their mycelial restraints and fought them to assess their strength and tactics.
• Lu Heng found the Green Demons were fast, powerful, reckless attackers who ignored pain, making close combat dangerous despite their lack of technique or defense.
• After completing his assessment, Lu Heng bound all the Green Demons in the clearing and devoured them with the Blood Taisui.
• Lu Heng’s Wristband recorded twenty-four Green Demon kills, and its detection interface showed no Green Demons remaining in the area.
• Lu Heng concluded that a larger invasion could follow through the still-open Plane Membrane Rift and headed back toward Moonview Valley.

Lu Heng returned to Moonview Valley, rested, and read reports of Green Demon attacks across the regions before realizing the invaders were probing the world’s defenses. When a squad breached Moonview Valley’s boundary, he rushed out to face them as the valley’s defenses activated.

• Lu Heng returned safely to Moonview Valley, prepared a meal with the Furniture Puppet, and began to rest.
• Lu Heng read public channel reports describing the Green Demons’ attacks and the different defenses used in the Withered Plains, Blackwater Swamp, Mist Forest, and Cracked Rock Hills.
• Lu Heng concluded that the Green Demons were advance forces testing the terrain and searching for weaknesses ahead of a larger invasion.
• The Wristband warned that otherworldly invaders had breached Moonview Valley’s boundary and entered the sheltered area.
• Lu Heng grabbed the Insect Armor Sword and rushed to confront the invaders as the combat machines and Bloodthirsty Vine attacked.

Lu Heng defended Moonview Valley from an organized Green Demon squad, using the crossbow tower and Bloodthirsty Vine to thin its ranks. When the Silver Tier Big Goblin damaged the tower and targeted him with blood-energy slashes, Lu Heng dodged and charged in to fight.

• Lu Heng halted the Heavy Anvil Assault Mech and Mech-Driven Butler, letting the crossbow tower and Bloodthirsty Vine attack the invading Green Demons.
• Lu Heng observed that the Green Demons were organized and unusually resilient, while Bronze Tier shield-bearers used energy defenses that the tower's repeated bolts eventually broke through.
• Lu Heng scanned the squad's leader and identified it as a Silver Tier Big Goblin capable of using blood energy in combat.
• The Big Goblin launched a blood-energy slash that cracked the crossbow tower, so Lu Heng sent the Heavy Anvil Assault Mech to shield it and the Mech-Driven Butler to flank the enemy.
• The Big Goblin aimed its next slash at Lu Heng, who dodged it with his Blood Armor active and rushed forward with the Insect Armor Sword.

Lu Heng fought the Silver Big Goblin in an isolated inner arena while his defenses contained the enemy forces outside. After testing the goblin’s strength, attack rhythm, and mental defenses, he prepared to continue probing for an opening while keeping the Kiss of Nightmare ready to end the fight at close range.

• Lu Heng clashed with the Big Goblin and discovered that its bone necklace blocked most of his Mind Spike.
• Lu Heng assessed the divided battlefield and settled on a plan to probe the goblin’s attacks before using the Kiss of Nightmare if the fight became too dangerous.
• Lu Heng infused the Insect Armor Sword with Mental Energy and dodged the Big Goblin’s heavy axe attacks while testing its openings.
• The crossbow towers, Bone Demon, robots, and Bloodthirsty Vine held the outer enemy forces in check.
• Lu Heng concluded that the probing phase was over as the Big Goblin prepared another assault.