Recaps

Shen Heng’s team sent Dahuang to fight a Calamity Beast, but the unexpected Tier 2 opponent made him flee until Shen Heng forced him to turn back and win. After breakfast, Shen Heng volunteered to work Lunar New Year’s Eve, but Wang Hai refused, saying the duty belonged to him as captain.

• Headquarters approved keeping Dahuang with the Linhai Supervision Bureau so he could be trained as a member.
• Dahuang fled from the Tier 2 wasteland wolf, and Shen Heng used his ability to make Dahuang turn around and fight.
• Dahuang defeated the wolf but suffered several minor wounds, which Le Gu Nan treated.
• Han Ling and Le Gu Nan talked over breakfast about the New Year shift schedule.
• Shen Heng asked to take the Lunar New Year’s Eve shift, but Wang Hai declined and said it was his responsibility as captain.

Shen Heng persuaded Wang Hai to spend Lunar New Year's Eve with Little Bell, then left him reflecting on his family. At the Linhai City Supervision Bureau, Old Li welcomed Northern Martial Arts Academy students Shen Shuning and Xiao Bai'er, who began describing their school.

• Shen Heng reminded Wang Hai that Little Bell wanted him home, and Wang Hai agreed to take Lunar New Year's Eve off.
• Wang Hai warned Shen Heng not to use his ability on him without a reason, and Shen Heng left.
• Le Gu Nan took Dahuang out for a walk while Old Li relaxed outside the Supervision Bureau and worried about Shen Heng and the others.
• Old Li greeted Shen Shuning and Xiao Bai'er, students from the Northern Martial Arts Academy, and escorted them into the bureau.
• Xiao Bai'er asked about the Linhai Supervision Bureau's members, and Old Li said the bureau handled most incidents despite the unpredictable Calamity Beasts.
• Old Li asked about the Northern Martial Arts Academy, and Xiao Bai'er began describing its size and buildings.

Shen Shuning and Xiao Bai'er registered at the Linhai Supervision Bureau and learned how differently Northern Martial Arts and Southern Martial Arts were built. Outside, they recognized Le Gu Nan, and Shen Shuning wondered about her rank and what she had forgotten.

• Shen Shuning and Xiao Bai'er described Northern Martial Arts to Old Li, who compared it with Southern Martial Arts based on what other visitors had told him.
• Xiao Bai'er complained about Northern Martial Arts after hearing Southern Martial Arts had mountain scenery, bamboo groves, sandy training grounds, and open-air halls.
• Old Li registered the two women, and they left the Linhai Supervision Bureau.
• A large yellow dog ran out to inspect Shen Shuning and Xiao Bai'er, then returned with Le Gu Nan, whom the women recognized and greeted.
• Xiao Bai'er wondered how Le Gu Nan and the dog could have such low apparent ranks, while Shen Shuning speculated that Le Gu Nan had joined the Bureau after their entrance exams.
• As they left, Shen Shuning considered Le Gu Nan's possible rank and felt she had forgotten something.

Shen Heng, Shen Shuning, and Xu Yuqin prepared New Year's provisions together while discussing Shen Heng's work shift and whether the family should move. As they continued making sesame balls, Shen Shuning asked Shen Heng what he thought of the Ruins Realm.

• Shen Heng woke in the evening and found Shen Shuning back home helping Xu Yuqin make sesame balls.
• Xu Yuqin taught Shen Shuning to wrap red bean filling while Shen Heng kneaded the glutinous rice dough.
• Shen Heng told Xu Yuqin that he had to go to work after New Year's Eve dinner, and she angrily complained about his boss.
• Shen Heng suggested the family find a larger home, but Xu Yuqin and Shen Shuning preferred to stay where they were.
• After Shen Heng and Shen Shuning continued shaping sesame balls in the living room, Shen Shuning asked what he thought of the Ruins Realm.

Shen Heng discussed the Ruins Realm’s possible invasion and humanity’s future with Shen Shuning, then urged her to become a martial artist. After discovering that she had reached the first tier, he accessed her restricted records and learned she attended the Northern Martial Arts Academy and possessed the A-Class ability Moonlight.

• Shen Heng told Shen Shuning that humanity’s prospects depended on how quickly the realms overlapped and whether the invading Ruins Realm had a unified organization.
• Shen Shuning urged Shen Heng to sense Origin Power, become a martial artist, and join the Martial Arts Association for protection.
• Shen Heng sensed that Shen Shuning had reached the first tier, though she claimed she had not yet sensed Origin Power herself.
• At the Supervision Bureau, Shen Heng used a special review to access Shen Shuning’s records and found that she studied at the Northern Martial Arts Academy and had the A-Class ability Moonlight.

Shen Heng worried that Shen Shuning’s enrollment at Northern Martial Arts would put her in danger and asked Li Daoyi about moving her to a safer role. Li Daoyi explained that Shen Heng might secure her a safer assignment if his ability reached S-Class.

• Shen Heng reviewed Shen Shuning’s file and realized she had enrolled at Northern Martial Arts after testing her A-Class ability.
• Shen Heng considered asking Shen Shuning to withdraw, but decided she would never agree and contacted Li Daoyi instead.
• Li Daoyi revealed that he was the principal of Northern Martial Arts and said Shen Shuning was a promising student being trained for combat because of her ability, instincts, and perseverance.
• Li Daoyi told Shen Heng that reaching S-Class could allow Shen Shuning to receive a safer post, such as teaching at Northern Martial Arts or working at headquarters.
• Shen Heng focused on the possibility of reaching S-Class.

Shen Heng learned from Li Daoyi that advancing his ability beyond B-Class would depend on personal comprehension, and that S-Class abilities were becoming rarer as people adapted to rising Origin Power. At Lunar New Year's Eve dinner, Xu Yuqin asked Shen Heng about a coworker, and he insisted she was only a coworker.

• Li Daoyi told Shen Heng that evolving past B-Class depended on individual comprehension, while Shen Heng said he needed to reach S-Class within three and a half years to seek Shen Shuning's reassignment.
• Shen Heng explained that his Flow · Overclock technique used his will to make Origin Power vibrate and enhance his body, and Li Daoyi asked him to share a solution that others could use.
• Li Daoyi told Shen Heng that headquarters was monitoring him and explained that increasing Origin Power in the air was making later awakeners less likely to gain high-grade abilities.
• Shen Heng ended the conversation with Li Daoyi and reflected on his three-and-a-half-year deadline to reach S-Class.
• At Lunar New Year's Eve dinner, Xu Yuqin asked Shen Heng about his coworker, and Shen Heng insisted that she was only his coworker.

On New Year’s Eve, Shen Heng watched a report about a Gray Rock Mountain Ape that killed four Supervision Bureau members, then went on duty alone and sent Dahuang home with Le Gu Nan. He ended his training early to listen to families celebrating across the city, and the chapter left him noticing Le Gu Nan’s Porsche returning to the bureau.

• Shen Heng, Xu Yuqin, and Shen Shuning watched news footage of a Gray Rock Mountain Ape rampaging in Yunshan City, where four Supervision Bureau members died fighting it.
• Shen Heng drove to the Supervision Bureau after dinner and found Le Gu Nan there with Dahuang; he told her he had switched shifts with the captain and would stay on duty alone.
• Shen Heng asked Le Gu Nan to take Dahuang home for New Year’s Eve, and she agreed before driving away with him.
• Shen Heng practiced Threefold Force, then ended his training early for the first time since joining the bureau and listened to families celebrating around the city.
• Shen Heng sat on the rooftop, reflected on how Hearing Enhancement made his solitude more noticeable, and saw Le Gu Nan’s black Porsche return to the bureau entrance.

On New Year's Eve, Shen Heng, Le Gu Nan, and Dahuang watched rare snow and fireworks from the Supervision Bureau roof while Shen Heng described the city’s sounds as joy, bustle, and warmth. After the New Year, Xiao Bai'er and Shen Shuning waited at Northern Martial Arts and wondered what kind of teacher would instruct them.

• Le Gu Nan brought Dahuang back to keep Shen Heng company at the Supervision Bureau, and Dahuang praised the food at her family’s home.
• Shen Heng told Le Gu Nan that he was listening to Linhai’s joy, bustle, and warmth, reflecting a change in his Ability Evolution.
• Dahuang noticed that snow had begun to fall, and Le Gu Nan hoped it would snow enough for them to build a snowman.
• Shen Heng brushed snow from Le Gu Nan’s head, and they turned away before distant fireworks began filling Linhai’s New Year’s Eve sky.
• After the New Year, Xiao Bai'er asked Shen Shuning what tier their incoming teacher might be, and Shen Shuning suggested the teacher might not even be a martial artist if they were only teaching techniques.

Li Daoyi introduced Zhou Yang and Xiao Xiangtong as the Tianshu Class’s martial arts and practical combat instructors, and warned that monthly ranking matches would send losing students from the bottom ten to the Yaoguang Class. More than half a year later, Li Duo and his companions struggled against a tier 3 Rock-Armored Rhino Nightmare until an umbrella-bearing figure arrived and offered them another chance to fight.

• Li Daoyi introduced Zhou Yang as the martial arts instructor and Xiao Xiangtong as the practical combat instructor, then announced monthly ranking matches between the Tianshu and Yaoguang Classes.
• Zhou Yang and Xiao Xiangtong introduced themselves to the students.
• More than half a year later, Li Duo and four companions fought a Rock-Armored Rhino Nightmare in the rain on the outskirts of Linhai.
• Li Duo ordered Old Zhang and Old Gao to provide ranged suppression, but the Calamity Beast resisted their attacks and struck the group with a powerful shock wave.
• An umbrella-bearing figure approached the battered group and asked whether they wanted to give everything and try again.

Li Duo’s injured team gave up fighting a Third Tier Calamity Beast, and Shen Heng killed it with a single strike. At the Linhai City Martial Arts Association, Li Duo learned that renewed hunting patrols and demand for Origin Crystals had driven Calamity Beast prices sharply upward.

• Li Duo decided his team could not handle the Rock-Armored Rhino Nightmare and yielded the fight to Shen Heng.
• The Rock-Armored Rhino Nightmare trembled in fear, and Shen Heng beheaded it with one flash of his blade.
• Shen Heng asked Li Duo’s team to transport the corpse, and Li Duo agreed before taking his injured teammates to the Martial Arts Association for medicine.
• At the Linhai City Martial Arts Association, Li Duo told a short-haired man that the team had encountered a Third Tier Calamity Beast but had not killed it.
• The chapter explained that hunting patrols had been permitted again and that demand for Origin Crystals had pushed Calamity Beast prices as high as ten million for a Third Tier beast.

Li Duo exchanged points for Green Jade Dew and Blood Ginseng Flesh-Growing Ointment to treat his squad’s injuries, while Shen Heng returned to the Supervision Bureau and learned about new medical supplies and a strategic reserve. The chapter left Shen Heng and Zheng Anlin entering the bureau with the newly delivered supplies.

• Li Duo discussed the difficulty of hunting an early Tier 3 Rock-Armored Rhino Nightmare and heard suggestions for improving his squad’s damage output.
• Li Duo exchanged points from his teammates’ accounts for Green Jade Dew and Blood Ginseng Flesh-Growing Ointment.
• Li Duo divided the Green Jade Dew among his five squad members.
• Shen Heng met Zheng Anlin at the Supervision Bureau as Zheng Anlin carried in a shipment of medical supplies.
• Zheng Anlin told Shen Heng that headquarters had increased the medical supplies, added hemostatic bandages and Mind-Calming Incense, and designated the stock as a strategic reserve.

Shen Heng gave Yu Chunhe a ride home and learned that she was worried about her brother Yu Jingming, whose mood had been low. Their conversation suggested Yu Jingming might be upset because Chunhe planned to teach saber techniques at a neighboring province’s Supervision Bureau for three months.

• Shen Heng met Yu Chunhe at the seafood market and offered to drive her to the Canglan Saber School despite her brother’s warning not to trouble him.
• Yu Chunhe shared tea cakes with Shen Heng and recalled how her brother had cared for her since their mother died young.
• During the drive, Yu Chunhe asked about the dangers of hunting patrols, and Shen Heng explained how contacting the Supervision Bureau could reduce but not eliminate the risk of casualties.
• Shen Heng reassured Yu Chunhe that the Dawn Squad had not suffered any recent fatalities, and she wondered why Yu Jingming had been in a bad mood.
• Yu Chunhe said she was going to teach saber techniques at a neighboring province’s Supervision Bureau, and Shen Heng questioned how she could do so while in her second year of high school.

Yu Chunhe discussed her combined academic and martial studies with Shen Heng, who encouraged her to keep learning. At the Supervision Bureau, Wu Cheng showed off his newly redeemed Tier 3 Fluid Battle Armor and explained its cost, capabilities, and return requirement.

• Yu Chunhe told Shen Heng she planned to take three months of leave and described her combined academic and martial track, while Shen Heng encouraged her to value knowledge.
• Shen Heng noticed a power outage at home but put away his groceries and went to his room.
• Shen Heng arrived at the Supervision Bureau and learned from Le Gu Nan that Wu Cheng had redeemed Fluid Battle Armor.
• Wu Cheng demonstrated how the armor contracted into a palm-sized block and rapidly unfolded to cover his body.
• Wu Cheng said the armor cost 35,800 points, incorporated an Iron Rock Tortoise shell, could withstand Fourth Tier attacks briefly, and could be upgraded.
• Wu Cheng explained that headquarters required the armor to be returned if he died in battle unless it was destroyed, and Wei Leyang said he wanted a set too.

Shen Heng weighed the cost of fluid battle armor against his plans to advance his techniques, while Dahuang tried the armor on and became a mechanical-looking war hound. After reviewing his training gains and rising Origin Power, Shen Heng estimated he was about a month from reaching Fourth Tier.

• Shen Heng declined Le Gu Nan’s offer of points for fluid battle armor and suggested Le Gu Nan consider getting a set of her own.
• Dahuang asked to wear the fluid battle armor and imagined becoming a mechanical war hound, so Wei Leyang and Wu Cheng helped fit it onto him.
• Wang Hai arrived at the Supervision Bureau and found the squad gathered around Dahuang, who was walking awkwardly in the armor.
• Shen Heng trained his body and assessed his progress in Sonic Wave Body Tempering, Vibrating Blade, and Sevenfold Force, while considering the points needed for future techniques.
• Shen Heng examined the Origin Power flowing through his body and estimated he would reach Fourth Tier in about a month.

Wang Hai fought a Fourth Tier Calamity Beast while Shen Heng and the others guarded the perimeter. When a new Tier 3 beast appeared in Jiangning District, Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan went to confront it, arriving at a plaza where an armored figure was already fighting a guinea-pig-like Calamity Beast.

• Wang Hai battled the flaming ape-like Fourth Tier Calamity Beast and damaged its left arm with Fivefold Force · Dragon Spear.
• Fan Hong reported that a new Tier 3 Calamity Beast had appeared on Tianyuan Middle Road in Jiangning District, and said it was absent from the bestiary.
• Shen Heng sent Le Gu Nan with him to investigate while the others stayed to hold off the Fourth Tier beast.
• Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan drove through fleeing crowds to a commercial plaza strewn with blood and corpses.
• Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan saw a dark-red bone-armored figure wielding a greatsword fighting a guinea-pig-like Calamity Beast.

Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan treated survivors while a mysterious sword-wielding figure fought a Calamity Beast outside. Yu Chunhe revealed that the figure was her brother, Yu Jingming, who had transformed after being badly injured, leaving Shen Heng to question what had happened to him.

• Shen Heng watched the sword-wielding figure battle the rotting guinea pig Calamity Beast and decided to observe rather than intervene.
• Shen Heng and Le Gu Nan entered a damaged restaurant and began helping the wounded survivors.
• Fan Hong told Shen Heng that the second Calamity Beast had appeared inside the restaurant before being knocked outside to fight the first beast.
• Shen Heng found Yu Chunhe beside her injured brother and recognized the sword-wielding figure’s moves as familiar.
• Yu Chunhe told Shen Heng that Yu Jingming had tried to stop the Calamity Beast, been sent flying, and then transformed despite lying bloodied on the ground.

Shen Heng confronted Yu Jingming, who had mutated after a failed awakening, and killed him when he could no longer be saved. After Yu Chunhe mourned her brother, she asked whether she could join the Supervision Bureau if she awakened an ability.

• Yu Chunhe begged Shen Heng to save Yu Jingming, but Shen Heng apologized and said nothing could be done.
• Shen Heng explained to Le Gu Nan that Yu Jingming had forced an awakening to protect his family and had lost control of his Origin Power.
• Shen Heng drew Yu Jingming away from the Rotting Guinea Pig and fought him, recognizing that Yu Jingming's body still remembered its sword techniques.
• Shen Heng disarmed Yu Jingming and drove his saber into his skull, ending the savage cries and revealing Yu Jingming's peaceful face.
• Yu Chunhe knelt beside her brother and asked Shen Heng whether she could join the Supervision Bureau if she awakened an ability.

After Yu Jingming’s death, Yu Chunhe resolved to join the Supervision Bureau and continue the path he had wanted to follow. Shen Heng and the others reflected on the world’s cruelty and their duty to protect people, while Wang Hai reminded Shen Heng that the world also held gentleness and goodwill.

• Yu Chunhe told Shen Heng that her brother had wanted to join the Supervision Bureau and decided to continue the road he had left unfinished.
• Shen Heng encouraged Yu Chunhe to do her best, then returned to the Supervision Bureau and confirmed the captain’s group had dealt with its Calamity Beast.
• Shen Heng described Yu Jingming’s mutation and death, and admitted that the loss had reminded him how cruel the world was.
• Wang Hai told the team to remember their grief because protecting others kept the world from becoming worse.
• Wang Hai told Shen Heng that the world was cruel but also gentle, sunny, and full of goodwill.

After her brother’s death, Yu Chunhe left for a three-month teaching assignment at a neighboring province’s Supervision Bureau, while her grieving father could only tell her to stay safe. In a separate incident, Old Wang found Old Li’s bloodied hard hat in the sewer and came face-to-face with three enormous, single-horned rats.

• Yu Chunhe practiced the saber-withdrawing form her brother had taught her and prepared to leave home.
• Yu Chunhe told Yu Zhenzhong she was leaving to teach at a neighboring province’s Supervision Bureau, and he quietly wished her safety.
• Old Wang and Old Li found another section of sewer cable torn apart and began repairing it.
• Old Li went to investigate a faint rustling sound while Old Wang finished the repairs.
• Old Wang found Old Li’s bloody hard hat and discovered his corpse beside three enormous, single-horned rats.

Fan Hong investigated a suspected Calamity Beast attack that killed two electricians, but the creature had left no trace. Lin Xiaoyu visited the Martial Arts Association and found a crowd gathered around a newly pinned mission.

• Police officers found dried blood in an underground passage and reported the suspected Calamity Beast attack.
• Tian Xiangwen gave Fan Hong the police report, which estimated that the two electricians died around three twenty the previous afternoon.
• Fan Hong learned that officers had searched the underground passage but found no information about the Calamity Beast.
• Lin Xiaoyu reflected on her cultivation progress and her abandoned hope of joining the Supervision Bureau.
• Lin Xiaoyu arrived at the Martial Arts Association and saw a crowd gathered around a newly pinned mission on the screen.

Lin Xiaoyu heard about a new mission to search Linhai City’s underground passages for a Calamity Beast and discussed joining Mei Duo’s Thorn Squad. Mei Duo planned to take the mission and revealed she had secretly prepared explosives in case the team encountered a dangerous beast.

• Martial artists discussed the underground inspection mission, its rewards, and why the search had been assigned to association members.
• Lin Xiaoyu considered the value of mission points but worried about her thin wallet.
• Mei Duo asked Lin Xiaoyu again to join the Thorn Squad, but Lin Xiaoyu declined because she did not know how to fight.
• Mei Duo confirmed that the Thorn Squad would take the mission and said the tunnels could make searches more efficient than wandering the streets.
• Mei Duo told Lin Xiaoyu she had secretly prepared explosives to help the squad escape if they encountered a Tier 3 Calamity Beast.

Lin Xiaoyu joined Mei Duo’s hunting squad after learning it would train her in combat and help her get started. At the Martial Arts Association, two sharp-horned rats were reported from nearby underground passages, leading Lin Xiaoyu to conclude the mission was complete.

• Mei Duo offered Lin Xiaoyu combat training, a weapon, and financial support, and Lin Xiaoyu agreed to join her squad.
• Several days later, Lin Xiaoyu and Mei Duo went to the Martial Arts Association to collect Lin Xiaoyu’s custom weapon.
• They saw the Dawn Squad present a sharp-horned rat, and Deng Ming said they had found it in an underground passage beneath Sanli Street.
• Lin Xiaoyu collected her longsword and worried that she was already in debt before earning any points.
• Outside the association, another squad unloaded a sharp-horned rat found near Jianning Street, and Lin Xiaoyu thought the mission was complete.

Mei Duo brought Lin Xiaoyu to join the Thorn Squad’s search for more Sharp-Horned Rats in the underground passages, after explaining that the beasts were appearing in numbers and could offer valuable rewards. The discovery drew growing attention at the Linhai Martial Arts Association, where the Dawn Squad later returned with a Tier 2 Sharp-Horned Rat.

• Mei Duo told Lin Xiaoyu that squads had found at least four Sharp-Horned Rats in the underground passages and invited her to hunt with the Thorn Squad.
• Lin Xiaoyu worried that her presence would reduce the others’ shares, but Mei Duo reassured her that the squad treated her as one of their own.
• Mei Duo redeemed healing and blood-clotting potions at the Martial Arts Association, where Lin Xiaoyu noticed people gathering to join or form hunting squads.
• The Grey Falcon Squad and the Steel Bastion Squad each brought back a first-tier Sharp-Horned Rat in the following days.
• The Dawn Squad returned with a Tier 2 Sharp-Horned Rat, stirring up the Linhai City Martial Arts Association.

After a Tier 2 Sharp-Horned Rat appeared, Linhai Martial Arts Association leaders warned martial artists to prioritize safety and decided to report the incident to Wang Hai. Meanwhile, Shen Heng and the others watched Dahuang spar until they were summoned to a meeting because Wang Hai had returned.

• Lei Zhijian and Ma Weizhi inspected the Tier 2 Sharp-Horned Rat and warned everyone to act within their abilities, especially those who had not entered a tier.
• Lei Zhijian and Ma Weizhi agreed to report the seven Sharp-Horned Rat sightings, and Lei Zhijian said he would inform Wang Hai.
• Shen Heng, Han Ling, Le Gu Nan, and Wu Cheng watched Dahuang spar against Wei Leyang and discussed how the dog might learn to fight.
• An announcement said Wang Hai had returned and called everyone to the conference room for a meeting.
• Dahuang stopped sparring, ran to Le Gu Nan, and ate the peach she gave it.