Recaps

Shen Heng considered the newly announced Martial Arts Association, while Shen Shuning and Xiao Bai'er watched the news reveal plans for martial arts academies and the risks of fighting Calamity Beasts. After recalling a concealed Calamity Beast incident at their school, Shen Shuning decided to enlist despite the high projected casualty rate.

• Shen Heng learned that the state would establish the Martial Arts Association to register and guide civilian martial artists.
• At Capital University, Xiao Bai'er and Shen Shuning watched the broadcast reveal the existence of the Ruins Realm and Calamity Beasts.
• Shen Shuning reminded Xiao Bai'er that a hazardous-substance accident at their school the previous year had involved Calamity Beasts and that many people had died.
• The broadcast announced two martial arts academies, free enrollment for eligible adults, and the possibility that combat casualties could exceed fifty percent.
• Shen Shuning told Xiao Bai'er she would sign up because the worsening situation left them no way to escape the coming fight.

After the announcement revealed Calamity Beasts to the public, Shen Heng and his team discussed how their work would change and were assigned to supervise Origin Power affinity testing. Shen Heng left to cultivate, with Wei Leyang following him downstairs as the team adjusted to the start of a new era.

• Shen Heng and the others watched the national announcement disclose the Calamity Beasts and the coming affinity tests.
• Wu Cheng pointed out that the announcement would end the bureau martial artist’s points income from producing memory-blurring spray.
• Wang Hai said the team’s regular work would continue and assigned Shen Heng with himself, Han Ling with Le Gu Nan, and Wei Leyang with Wu Cheng to oversee affinity testing.
• Shen Heng explained that he could block distracting sounds with his evolved ability but chose to endure them while cultivating.
• Shen Heng left the dining room to cultivate, and Wei Leyang followed him downstairs.

Lin Mo underwent Origin Power affinity testing and scored 68%, while Shen Heng observed the results and considered how affinity might affect sensing Origin Power. The chapter ended with Shen Heng asking Le Gu Nan what Han Ling had to do that day.

• Lin Mo tested at the site and received an Origin Power affinity score of 68%.
• A student scored 78%, drawing envious reactions from the people waiting to be tested.
• Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan discussed recent high scores and the ranges most people tested within.
• Shen Heng reflected on how the testing device measured affinity and wondered whether a high score helped people sense Origin Power.
• Shen Heng asked Le Gu Nan what Han Ling had to do that day.

Le Gu Nan explained how her ability could make solid wood flow by altering its timescale, though she doubted she could yet use it to attack. Afterward, businessman Jiang Yifan approached Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan, hoping to connect with someone from the Supervision Bureau, but Shen Heng clarified that they were only helping with errands.

• Le Gu Nan showed Shen Heng her book about how solids flow and explained that even wood could slowly change over a sufficiently long timescale.
• Le Gu Nan demonstrated her ability by making the tabletop ripple and soften, then restored it to its original state.
• Le Gu Nan said she still needed to analyze matter before using Reconstruction and was unsure whether she could reach the level Shen Heng had described.
• Jiang Yifan introduced himself as an executive deputy general manager of Changshun Group and asked whether Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan were inspectors from the Supervision Bureau.
• Shen Heng gave Jiang Yifan his name but stopped Le Gu Nan from sharing hers, and Jiang Yifan left after offering to help them in the future.
• Shen Heng told Le Gu Nan that Jiang Yifan had been trying to make a connection with someone from the bureau.

Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan discussed why a stranger had approached them, concluding that their youthful faces had made him suspicious. Days later, Shen Heng completed a painful bodily transformation at the Supervision Bureau and reached the Third Tier.

• Shen Heng told Le Gu Nan that, despite restrictions on sharing cultivation methods and equipment, they could offer guidance and build ties with the Supervision Bureau.
• Shen Heng explained that their youthful appearance was the likely reason the stranger had questioned them, and Le Gu Nan returned to reading.
• Shen Heng watched applicants queue while circulating Origin Power through his body using the Five Animal Fist.
• Several days later, Shen Heng poured Origin Power into his heart as his blood transformed, enduring intense pain as the molten-gold blood spread through his body.
• Shen Heng opened his eyes with a golden gleam and realized he had reached the Third Tier.

After breaking through to the third tier, Shen Heng spoke with Xu Yuqin about the dangers of becoming a martial artist and hid his work with the Supervision Bureau so she would not worry. He then checked online discussions showing that many people struggled to sense Origin Power.

• More than ten days after Shen Heng's breakthrough, he woke and ate dinner with Xu Yuqin.
• Xu Yuqin asked whether Shen Heng had taken an Origin Power test, and he assured her he had not.
• Xu Yuqin warned Shen Heng that martial artists and Supervision Bureau members faced serious danger, while Shen Heng decided not to tell her he worked with the bureau.
• Xu Yuqin called Shen Shuning as Shen Heng checked Martial World Easy Exchange for Firmament Breath Beast Lung Crystals and posted a new bounty.
• Shen Heng read a post about an inspector whose cousin with 83% Origin Power affinity still could not sense Origin Power after more than ten days.
• Shen Heng checked social media and saw that whether Origin Power could be sensed was the top twenty-four-hour trending topic.

Shen Shuning and Xiao Bai'er received early admission to the Great Xia Northern Martial Arts Academy, while Shen Shuning kept her plans from her worried mother. Six months later, Shen Heng saved Lin Xiaoyu from a Calamity Beast and reported the kill to the emergency operator.

• Shen Heng dismissed a forum user's boast about sensing Origin Power as nonsense.
• Shen Shuning told her mother she would not get her Origin Power affinity tested, and explained to Xiao Bai'er that a possible encounter with a Calamity Beast influenced her decision.
• Xiao Bai'er received an admission notice to the Great Xia Northern Martial Arts Academy and excitedly showed it to Shen Shuning.
• Half a year later, Lin Xiaoyu encountered a scaled hyena-like Calamity Beast, called emergency services, and fled until she injured her ankle.
• Shen Heng walked up to the Calamity Beast, killed it with a blade, and told the operator it had been dealt with.

Shen Heng rescued Lin Xiaoyu from a Scale-Armored Hyena and waited until the medical and logistics teams arrived. As he left, he reflected on how Calamity Beast incidents had surged across Blue Star over the past half year since the Ruins Realm discovered the Darkwing Heavenly Spine Beast’s death.

• Shen Heng checked Lin Xiaoyu’s sprained ankle and stayed with her until help arrived.
• Lin Xiaoyu learned Shen Heng was a nineteen-year-old inspector and asked whether she could still cultivate and join the Supervision Bureau.
• Logistics personnel removed the Scale-Armored Hyena, and medical personnel took Lin Xiaoyu away.
• Lin Xiaoyu asked Shen Heng if she had a chance to join the Supervision Bureau, and he told her she would have a chance.
• Shen Heng reflected that Linhai’s monthly Calamity Beast incidents had risen from six to twelve in half a year as the Ruins Realm deepened its connection with Blue Star.

The chapter described how Calamity Beast sightings and attacks pushed Great Xia to relocate people from remote villages, while foreign countries struggled with unrest after revealing the Ruins Realm’s threat. Shen Heng returned home and heard someone coughing, leaving his immediate concern unresolved.

• Online Calamity Beast hunters gained attention, including one blogger who was exposed for dressing his horse in fake scale armor.
• A video of a scale-armored mandrill attacking a village and an official confronting it accelerated Great Xia’s rural relocation efforts.
• Foreign governments revealed the Ruins Realm and Calamity Beasts, triggering looting, riots, and armed groups taking over towns before order gradually returned.
• Shen Heng arrived home, opened the door, and heard repeated coughing inside.

Shen Heng learned that his mother, Xu Yuqin, had only two or three months left to live, and listened as she shared her fears and regrets. The next day, he drove to the Linhai City Martial Arts Association, where martial artists continued registering to learn to absorb Origin Power.

• Shen Heng cooked egg noodles for Xu Yuqin, and they reminisced about his father as they ate.
• Xu Yuqin asked whether Shen Heng knew about her illness, and he admitted he had known for a long time.
• Shen Heng confirmed that Xu Yuqin had only two or three months left, and she tearfully spoke about leaving him and Xiao Ning behind.
• After Xu Yuqin returned to her room, Shen Heng sat alone and murmured about the two or three months and the news that had not yet come.
• The next day, Shen Heng drove to the Linhai City Martial Arts Association, where more than forty martial artists had registered to learn to absorb Origin Power.

Shen Heng visited the Linhai City Martial Arts Association, where he encountered Ye Chengyun publicizing his newly sensed Origin Power and learned of his plans to recruit martial artists. After checking the week’s registration list, Shen Heng found Yu Jingming’s name among the three new registrants.

• Shen Heng arrived at the Martial Arts Association and accepted ten thousand yuan to wait while Ye Chengyun’s interview was filmed.
• Ye Chengyun told reporters that martial artists would be needed to protect businesses from the growing Ruins Realm invasion, and Shen Heng recognized that he was promoting himself and his family company.
• Ye Chengyun introduced himself to Shen Heng and tried to start a conversation, but Shen Heng ended it and went inside.
• Shen Heng met association office director Ma Weizhi and asked to see the week’s new registrations.
• Shen Heng scanned the list of three new registrants and recognized Yu Jingming’s name.

Shen Heng reviewed the new Martial Arts Association members’ files and told Ma Weizhi to keep media crews outside the main gate. Meanwhile, Ye Chengyun, Fang Yunshu, and Yu Jingming discussed Linhai’s strongest fighters and the secretive Supervision Bureau as they waited for their lesson to begin.

• Shen Heng read the files of Ye Chengyun, Fang Yunshu, and Yu Jingming and noted their comfortable family backgrounds.
• Shen Heng told Ma Weizhi to stop interviews inside the Martial Arts Association and allow filming only outside the main gate.
• Ye Chengyun asked Fang Yunshu who was strongest in Linhai, and she named Wang Hai among the Supervision Bureau and Lei Zhijian outside it.
• Ye Chengyun, Fang Yunshu, and Yu Jingming discussed how little the public knew about the Supervision Bureau and how Ye Chengyun’s group had failed to meet Wang Hai.
• Fang Yunshu said the lesson would start in two minutes and that only the three of them appeared to have registered that week; Ye Chengyun wondered if someone he had seen earlier was already registered.

Shen Heng taught Ye Chengyun, Fang Yunshu, and Yu Jingming the basics of cultivation, including the Five Animal Fist and Heavenly Cycle Breathing Technique. After learning that Yu Jingming had failed to awaken an ability, Shen Heng asked whether he had ever thought about becoming one of the very best.

• Shen Heng arrived at the training room and revealed to Ye Chengyun, Fang Yunshu, and Yu Jingming that he would teach them cultivation.
• Shen Heng explained how Origin Power cultivation worked and taught the three the Five Animal Fist and Heavenly Cycle Breathing Technique.
• After several hours, Shen Heng confirmed that all three had learned the basics and told them to cultivate diligently to reach the first tier.
• Yu Jingming returned to speak with Shen Heng, who learned that Yu Jingming had failed to awaken an ability.
• Yu Jingming said he could still cultivate without an ability, and Shen Heng asked if he had ever thought about becoming one of the very best.

Shen Heng explained to Yu Jingming that martial artists without abilities could still become strong by improving their bodies, techniques, and Origin Power control, then demonstrated his self-developed Flow technique. Yu Jingming returned to Canglan Saber School encouraged, while Shen Heng left his own ambition uncertain.

• Yu Jingming told Shen Heng that he only wanted enough strength to cultivate and protect his family, and Shen Heng explained how effort could help someone without an ability become a capable martial artist.
• Shen Heng described abilities as specialized applications of Origin Power and showed Yu Jingming how Origin Power flowed through his body.
• Shen Heng revealed his Flow combat technique, which continuously circulated Origin Power to enhance his physique, and told Yu Jingming he could only learn it after reaching the fourth tier.
• Yu Jingming asked Shen Heng whether he wanted to become one of the very best, and Shen Heng replied, "If there was a chance..."
• Yu Jingming returned to Canglan Saber School, where he greeted the other students as enrollment in his family's business had grown following the government announcement of the Ruins Realm invasion.

Yu Jingming returned to the Canglan Saber School and told Yu Chunhe what Shen Heng had taught him about cultivation without an ability. Their father, Yu Zhenzhong, then revealed his plan to send Chunhe to teach saber techniques to the Supervision Bureau and have her join if she awakened, while Jingming objected because of the danger.

• Yu Jingming corrected a student's saber slash before visiting Yu Chunhe in the back courtyard.
• Yu Chunhe guessed that Shen Heng had taught Jingming to cultivate, and Jingming explained that diligent cultivation could let someone without an ability match people with low-level abilities.
• Yu Chunhe imagined Jingming becoming a novel-like main character, while Jingming said he had failed to awaken three times and could not safely try again.
• Yu Zhenzhong said he would arrange for Yu Chunhe to teach saber techniques to the Supervision Bureau next year and have her join if she awakened.
• Yu Jingming objected, arguing that the Supervision Bureau was too dangerous, but Yu Zhenzhong defended the plan and questioned whether Chunhe could even join.

Yu Jingming questioned his father's decision to send him into the Supervision Bureau, while Shen Heng's squad investigated a Gray-Clawed Xingxing killed by another Calamity Beast. Shen Heng suspected the same predator was responsible for two nearby incidents and wondered why it had not attacked any people.

• Yu Zhenzhong overruled Yu Jingming's objections and decided the family would send someone to join the Supervision Bureau.
• Yu Chunhe tried to reassure Yu Jingming, but he recalled the horrors of Calamity Beast attacks and questioned whether joining the Bureau was necessary.
• Shen Heng and the Linhai Supervision Bureau squad arrived to find a dead Gray-Clawed Xingxing with wounds that looked like bites from another Calamity Beast.
• Wang Hai learned that the beast had already been dead when officers arrived, and Shen Heng found no sign of the other Calamity Beast nearby.
• Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan noted that this incident resembled one from a month earlier at a location three minutes away, suggesting the same predator might be involved.
• Shen Heng questioned why the suspected predator had not killed any people, since he doubted a beast willing to attack other Calamity Beasts would fear humans.

Shen Heng continued searching Linhai City for the Calamity Beast that had attacked another beast and drove Li Jianguo and Dahuang to Lanshan District. During the ride, Li Jianguo described his years at the Supervision Bureau and explained his Fatigue Resistance ability.

• Shen Heng told Wang Hai he would thoroughly search Linhai City after failing to find Calamity Beasts in Kaiping and Jiangning District.
• Wang Hai asked Shen Heng to take Li Jianguo home and continue searching Lanshan District, and Shen Heng offered to check Li Jianguo's residential complex.
• Shen Heng teased Dahuang in the Supervision Bureau lobby, and Dahuang gave up trying to bite him and licked his arm instead.
• Shen Heng drove Li Jianguo and Dahuang toward Lanshan District and asked Li Jianguo about his eight years at the Supervision Bureau.
• Li Jianguo told Shen Heng that his Fatigue Resistance ability reduced mental fatigue but did not prevent physical tiredness.

Shen Heng learned about the Supervision Bureau’s losses and promised Li Jianguo he would do his best to protect the team. After searching Linhai for Calamity Beasts without success, Shen Heng saw a photograph of a batlike creature flying in the sky.

• Old Li told Shen Heng that Zheng Anlin could predict the weather one day ahead and recalled how Wang Hai’s rise to Third Tier had helped stabilize the Supervision Bureau’s team.
• Li Jianguo asked Shen Heng to hold the team together and do his best to prevent anyone from dying, and Shen Heng promised he would.
• Shen Heng used Echolocation to search indoor spaces across Linhai for several days but found no creatures that might be Calamity Beasts.
• Wang Hai said the Calamity Beast might have left Linhai, then showed Shen Heng a photograph of a cold-white, batlike creature flying through the sky.

Shen Heng received news of a Firmament Breath Beast in Longzhou and arranged to hunt it, with Han Ling assigned to accompany him. At dinner, Shen Heng also wondered whether Han Ling liked Wang Hai, while the team celebrated the possibility that the beast could cure Shen Heng’s mother.

• Wang Hai showed Shen Heng a photo of a Firmament Breath Beast taken by military comrades in the wilderness near Longzhou and asked him to repay the information with a favor.
• Shen Heng agreed to take a few days off to hunt the beast, and Wang Hai explained that another bureau member should accompany him so he could return quickly to help the team find Calamity Beasts.
• Han Ling brought Wang Hai a bamboo cicada she had promised to buy for Little Bell, and Shen Heng wondered whether she liked the captain.
• Wang Hai told Han Ling to pack for a trip with Shen Heng, then revealed that they had found a Firmament Breath Beast for Shen Heng to hunt.
• Han Ling and Wu Cheng celebrated the news that the beast might cure Shen Heng’s mother, while Wei Leyang remarked that fate offered guidance when needed.

Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan traveled to Longzhou to hunt a Firmament Breath Beast, which Shen Heng needed for his mother's treatment. They arrived at Longzhou Airport, where a butler was waiting for Le Gu Nan and Shen Heng.

• Han Ling persuaded Le Gu Nan to accompany Shen Heng to Longzhou, and Le Gu Nan's family approved the trip.
• Le Gu Nan told Shen Heng that her family would provide a private plane instead of having them book tickets.
• Shen Heng said goodbye to his mother, Xu Yuqin, and told her he was going to find a doctor who might treat her Weak Breath Disease.
• Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan flew to Longzhou without incident and were greeted at the airport by Le Gu Nan's family's butler.

Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan registered at the Longzhou Public Security Supervision Bureau before setting out to search for the Firmament Breath Beast. There, Shen Heng encountered Wu Hongxuan, who revealed that inspectors from nearby provinces were also looking for it, and Wu Hongxuan returned to the bureau with his mission still unfinished.

• Uncle Zhang gave Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan their room cards, and he gave Shen Heng the requested car and wilderness supplies.
• Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan drove to the Longzhou Public Security Supervision Bureau, where Chen Zhixuan checked their credentials and explained the rules for visiting inspectors.
• As Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan left the bureau, they ran into Wu Hongxuan, a fellow trainee from Shen Heng's training camp.
• Wu Hongxuan told Shen Heng that inspectors from nearby provinces had arrived to search for the Firmament Breath Beast, prompting Shen Heng to decide to hurry.
• After Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan left, Chen Zhixuan asked Wu Hongxuan whether he had finished his mission, and he began to explain why he had returned.

Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan traveled to the Qi Mountains to search for the Firmament Breath Beast, knowing another family was also seeking it. They began their search and camped in a cave, where Shen Heng took responsibility for keeping watch.

• Shen Heng told Le Gu Nan they would postpone the hotel and stay in the mountains while searching for the Firmament Breath Beast.
• Le Gu Nan worried that killing the beast would destroy another family’s hope of treating a relative’s Weak Breath Disease, but chose to continue with Shen Heng.
• Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan met Zhao Ruifeng at the Longzhou Military District, and he led them to the eastern section of the Qi Mountains.
• After Zhao Ruifeng left, Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan gathered their gear and entered the mountains to search.
• That night, Shen Heng cooked sharp-horned pig for Le Gu Nan and told her to rest while he kept watch.

Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan arranged to share night watch duties while sheltering in a cave, then spent three days searching the wilderness for Calamity Beasts. The chapter ended as Shen Heng noticed something in the distance while they ate lunch in the mountains.

• Le Gu Nan insisted that Shen Heng share the night watch because searching for Calamity Beasts during the day exhausted him, and they agreed that he would watch until five in the morning before she took over.
• Le Gu Nan made a wooden bed in the cave and settled down to sleep while Shen Heng kept watch beside the fire.
• Three days later, Shen Heng used sound waves from his saber to scan the surroundings and concluded that no Calamity Beast was on that mountain.
• Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan continued traveling through the wilderness and stopped for lunch on a large boulder.
• Shen Heng paused while eating and looked toward something that caught his attention, prompting Le Gu Nan to ask what was wrong.

Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan encountered a Fourth Tier Earth-Splitting Lizard, then spotted the Firmament Breath Beast they had been searching for and followed it while waiting for it to descend. When Shen Heng heard another pair of hunters nearby, he realized they needed to change their plan and turned to Le Gu Nan.

• Shen Heng used a Dragon Armor Beast's roar to lure the Earth-Splitting Lizard away from him and Le Gu Nan.
• Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan continued searching and spotted a Firmament Breath Beast flying high above the forest.
• They followed the beast for nearly an hour, waiting for it to descend within reach.
• Shen Heng heard the joyful voice of two other people searching for the Firmament Breath Beast and realized he had to change their approach.
• Le Gu Nan watched Shen Heng, waiting for him to explain what had happened.

Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan changed their plan and lured the Firmament Breath Beast low enough to attack its wings. Shen Heng’s sonic strike knocked the beast from the sky, but it recovered before Le Gu Nan’s conical bolt hit, leaving the attack’s outcome unresolved.

• Shen Heng told Le Gu Nan that they needed to try killing the Firmament Breath Beast before it met the other pursuers.
• Shen Heng proposed mimicking a Calamity Beast’s cry to draw the Firmament Breath Beast down, then striking its wing membranes.
• Shen Heng imitated the cry, and the Firmament Breath Beast descended toward the sound while Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan waited beneath the canopy.
• When the Firmament Breath Beast spotted them and tried to climb, Shen Heng struck it with a vibrating sonic attack that stunned it and sent it falling.
• Le Gu Nan fired a conical bolt at the falling beast, but the Firmament Breath Beast regained consciousness and tried to dodge.