Recaps

Shen Heng learned that the cold chain center disaster could not be stopped with the available time, manpower, or equipment, and that diverting its ammonia cloud would only delay and weaken it. He reported the situation to Wang Hai as the team faced the prospect of mass casualties in Linhai.

• Nie Xingping explained that an explosion at the cold chain center would send a concentrated ammonia cloud east toward Linhai or south toward the sea, where sea breezes could blow it back.
• Nie Xingping said directing the explosion’s energy and leaked material required unavailable specialists, equipment, and time, leaving no way to stop the disaster.
• Shen Heng accepted Nie Xingping’s conclusion and contacted his captain, Wang Hai, to report that the explosion could no longer be prevented.
• Shen Heng summarized the cloud’s likely spread and the obstacles to redirecting it while Wang Hai fought the Sharp-Horned Rat Matriarch.
• Han Ling worried that many people in Linhai might die, while Wei Leyang watched people fleeing in traffic and wondered how events had gone so far off script.

As the Sharp-Horned Rat Matriarch fought Wang Hai, Shen Heng explained that an unavoidable explosion could spread a lethal low-temperature cloud and proposed sheltering civilians. Wang Hai and Wu Cheng chose to try guiding the energy despite the likely cost, leaving Han Ling and Le Gu Nan devastated as the danger loomed.

• Shen Heng warned Wang Hai that even the best-case explosion could spread the low-temperature cloud across nearly a quarter of the area, and proposed sealing people inside reinforced shelters with oxygen and heat supplies.
• Wang Hai asked how soon the explosion might occur and said he and Wu Cheng could guide the energy without the personnel or equipment Shen Heng thought necessary.
• Wang Hai called on Wu Cheng, who asked if they would die; Wang Hai answered that they probably would.
• Han Ling begged Wang Hai not to go through with the plan, but he cut off communications after telling her that some things had to be done.
• Shen Heng realized Wu Cheng’s fire seeds could guide the energy only if Wu Cheng stayed nearby, while Wang Hai would have to face the Sharp-Horned Rat Matriarch.
• Le Gu Nan wept beside Shen Heng, and a frightened little girl asked Han Ling whether everyone was going to die.

Shen Heng arranged for Nie Xingping and the experts to draw up an intervention plan to save people at the cold-chain center, while Fan Hong organized underground shelters. Le Gu Nan used her reconstruction ability to create a three-dimensional model that helped the experts refine their calculations, as the captain called to ask how much longer the plan would take.

• Han Ling comforted a little girl before receiving a message through her earpiece.
• Shen Heng told Nie Xingping that the team would solve the problems and asked him to draw up an intervention plan; Fan Hong contacted specialists and arranged underground shelters.
• Le Gu Nan asked Shen Heng if there was another way, then joined the experts despite his admission that he wished there were.
• Le Gu Nan reconstructed a detailed three-dimensional model of the cold-chain center, helping Nie Xingping and the experts adjust the intervention calculations.
• The captain contacted Shen Heng and asked how much longer the detailed plan would take.

Shen Heng struggled with the weight of loss until Wang Hai reminded him that their sacrifices protected the land and its people. Wang Hai appointed Shen Heng as the next director of the Linhai City Supervision Bureau and asked him to care for Little Bell, leaving Shen Heng to carry on in his place.

• Shen Heng told Wang Hai that he expected to be gone in about twenty minutes.
• Wang Hai recalled his first teammate's death and how his captain taught him that unknown sacrifices still protected the land and its crops.
• Shen Heng repeated Wang Hai's words and regained his resolve.
• Shen Heng brought up Han Ling, and Wang Hai said she should not be with someone like him.
• Wang Hai named Shen Heng the next director of the Linhai City Supervision Bureau and told him to lead everyone onward.
• Wang Hai asked Shen Heng to look after Little Bell, and Shen Heng agreed.

Shen Heng approved the intervention plan to redirect the blast from the cold-chain center and ordered the evacuation of the experts and residents. As the operation reached its final stage, Wu Cheng confirmed the preparations while Wang Hai fought the Rat Matriarch and said there would be no next time.

• Nie Xingping gave Shen Heng the detailed plan for redirecting the shock wave from the storage tanks, and Shen Heng sent it to Wu Cheng after Le Gu Nan confirmed it.
• Shen Heng ordered Fan Hong to arrange transport for the experts; Nie Xingping chose to stay, and Shen Heng agreed before ordering everyone else to evacuate.
• Police officers, community workers, volunteers, and bus drivers guided Linhai residents east along Jianshe Road and loaded them onto buses.
• A dark figure moved through the cold-chain center, touching storage tank supports, pipeline valves, and load-bearing structures before heading toward the center.
• Wu Cheng told Wang Hai that the preparations were complete, and Wang Hai drove the Rat Matriarch back before saying there would be no next time.
• An explosion began as Wang Hai and the Rat Matriarch fought amid the freezing currents.

As low-temperature clouds advanced on Linhai, Shen Heng met Lu Zhaoming, the S-Class director sent by headquarters to handle the incident. Lu used his notebook to make the clouds retreat, and sunlight returned to the city.

• Shen Heng learned from Nie Xingping that the clouds could damage Linhai but that the city could recover within days if they passed quickly.
• Shen Heng spotted Lu Zhaoming on the rooftop and confirmed that headquarters had sent him to handle the incident.
• Shen Heng told Lu Zhaoming that the rat tide and the Sharp-Horned Rat had been eliminated, then arranged for the clouds to be solidified and sealed in abandoned mine pit number seven.
• Lu Zhaoming opened his notebook, tore out a page, and caused the low-temperature clouds to retreat until they vanished.
• Sunlight returned to Linhai, and the city was left peaceful.

After Lu Zhaoming contained the Linhai disaster, Shen Heng learned that roughly 1,200 to 1,500 people had died and began organizing the response. He then brought Han Ling and the others to the flattened cold-chain center to search the ruins.

• Shen Heng watched Lu Zhaoming use his S-Class ability and inferred that the notebook let him affect reality, though using it across the city seemed to strain him.
• Shen Heng estimated Linhai's death toll at 1,200 to 1,500, and Lu Zhaoming told him to handle the recovery and submit a report by ten the next morning.
• Lu Zhaoming said the sealed low-temperature substances were at Mine Pit No. 7 and that medical and assessment teams would arrive in three hours; he then used his notebook and departed for a plane back to Shenzhen.
• Shen Heng explained that Lu Zhaoming had not traveled directly from Shenzhen, and he arranged for Fan Hong to coordinate aid, environmental management, and the sealed substances.
• Shen Heng asked Le Gu Nan to call Han Ling and the others, then took them to the cold-chain center ruins and divided them into search parties while he checked the rubble with sound waves.

Shen Heng and the others recovered Wu Cheng and the captain from the ruins and brought them back to the Supervision Bureau, where their deaths left the team in grief. Han Ling asked Shen Heng to let her accompany him when he notified their families.

• Shen Heng and Wei Leyang found Wu Cheng dead beneath the rubble, and Shen Heng asked the team to bring his body along.
• The group found Han Ling grieving beside the captain's body and brought both bodies back to the Supervision Bureau.
• Li Jianguo and Zheng Anlin saw the returning team and learned that Wu Cheng and the captain had died.
• Shen Heng arranged for the bodies to be taken to his training room and went to get Mind-Calming Incense.
• Zheng Anlin called the deaths the fate of their generation of supervisors, and Shen Heng remembered the captain's final words.
• In the training room, Le Gu Nan reshaped the dead team's faces, and Han Ling asked to accompany Shen Heng when he notified their families.

Shen Heng and Han Ling informed Wang Hai’s family that he had died saving Linhai, then comforted his daughter, Little Bell, as she faced the truth. They also told Wu Cheng’s father about his death and explained that the body would be ready for burial after its Origin Crystal was extracted.

• Shen Heng and Han Ling visited Wang Hai’s home and told his parents that he had died in the incident.
• Shen Heng assured Wang Hai’s parents that Wang Hai’s sacrifice had saved the city from the biochemical contaminants.
• Han Ling took Little Bell to the park, where the girl asked whether her father would ever return, and Han Ling confirmed that he would not.
• Shen Heng and Han Ling visited Wu Cheng’s father, who asked where his son’s body was.
• Shen Heng told Wu Cheng’s father that the body was at the Linhai Supervision Bureau and that burial would have to wait until the Origin Crystal was extracted.

After the rat tide killed the captain and Wu Cheng, Shen Heng mourned with the surviving inspectors and agreed to write Han Ling's Ability Evolution application. Days later, he arrived at a municipal conference with a headquarters commissioner, revealing that the exhausted young Shen Heng was the Linhai Supervision Bureau's new director.

• Shen Heng returned to the training room, where he helped Old Li leave with Dahuang and sat grieving beside the captain and Wu Cheng's stretchers.
• Le Gu Nan told Shen Heng that Wei Leyang had briefly activated Wu Cheng's damaged black metal cube and that repairing it should cost less than replacing the Fluid Battle Armor.
• Han Ling asked Shen Heng to write an Ability Evolution application for him, and Shen Heng agreed.
• Shen Heng returned home to find Xu Yuqin watching news about the rat tide's casualties, including two inspectors, and she connected the report to his grief.
• At a municipal conference several days later, a headquarters commissioner entered beside Shen Heng, whose presence and the commissioner's deference revealed him as the bureau's new director.

Shen Heng was appointed director of the Linhai City Supervision Bureau after the rat tide disaster, and Lü Mingzhe explained why headquarters judged his response to be the best possible outcome. Shen Heng accepted responsibility for Linhai and saw Lü Mingzhe off at the airport.

• A headquarters commissioner read the order appointing Shen Heng director of the Linhai City Supervision Bureau, and Shen Heng asked the bureau staff for their cooperation.
• Lü Mingzhe told Shen Heng that headquarters considered his handling of the Sharp-Horned Rat incident exceptional and had approved his appointment.
• Shen Heng asked about the S-Class inspectors stationed in Magic City and Chang'an, and Lü Mingzhe explained that their abilities were poorly suited to quickly stopping a citywide rat tide.
• Lü Mingzhe praised Shen Heng's performance and leadership, and Shen Heng promised to fulfill his duties.
• Lü Mingzhe shook Shen Heng's hand at the airport, entrusted Linhai to him, and said they would meet again.

Several days later, Wei Leyang handed over a heavy metal box for repairs, Han Ling began absorbing an Origin Crystal, and Nie Xingping offered Le Gu Nan a research opportunity at headquarters. Shen Heng ordered a new weapon made from the Sharp-Horned Rat Matriarch’s horn, then resumed applying for Fourth Tier materials as Volume One ended.

• Wei Leyang handed a metal box to headquarters logistics staff for repairs, and the staff member struggled to take its weight.
• Han Ling pressed a white Origin Crystal to her forehead and began drawing in its Origin Power.
• Nie Xingping offered Le Gu Nan a place in headquarters research, and she asked whether it could help her become stronger so she could support someone in the future.
• Nie Xingping told Le Gu Nan that Yan Yu was interested in her ability and could offer preferential resources and further training.
• Shen Heng spent 30,000 points to order a weapon made from two tons of Origin Power Alloy and the Sharp-Horned Rat Matriarch’s horn.
• Shen Heng listened to the city’s everyday sounds, then returned to his computer and resumed applying for Fourth Tier materials.

Shen Heng watched news of powerful Calamity Beasts before heading to the Supervision Bureau, where Li Daoyi explained the fourth-tier breakthrough and why Shen Heng no longer needed to travel to the Capital. The chapter ended with Shen Heng asking whether his new Origin Power configuration could take any shape.

• Shen Heng watched a report about Jiang Xingwei defeating a fifth-tier Cloud-Breaking Eagle, then left home for work.
• Li Daoyi called Shen Heng and confirmed that he was about to break through to the fourth tier.
• Li Daoyi explained that the breakthrough increased a person's Origin Power more than tenfold, which could damage the body if left uncontrolled.
• Li Daoyi described Configuration as using mental power to condense Origin Power into a new hub that could absorb and circulate it efficiently.
• Shen Heng asked whether he could choose any shape for his Origin Power configuration.

Li Daoyi explained how Shen Heng could shape and revise an Origin Power configuration, and why mental power mattered for breakthroughs and advanced ability use. Shen Heng considered several possible configurations as Li Daoyi headed to the monthly exam ranking matches.

• Li Daoyi told Shen Heng to design a flexible Origin Power configuration that allowed smooth absorption and output, and explained how to replace one gradually.
• Li Daoyi described common configuration types and their trade-offs, advising Shen Heng to choose one suited to his fighting style or start with a vortex.
• Li Daoyi explained that visualization methods improved mental power, which mattered for resisting mental attacks and using abilities over wide areas, while Zhang Chenguang could assist with breakthroughs.
• Li Daoyi said headquarters would send Shen Heng an Origin Crystal and a mental defense combat technique so he could break through in Linhai.
• After ending the call, Shen Heng weighed vortex, tree, and furnace configurations while Li Daoyi went to the monthly exam ranking matches.

Le Gu Nan told Shen Heng that Professor Nie had invited her to join the research department at headquarters, and she decided to go so she could contribute more. Several days later, Shen Heng saw her off at Linhai Airport, where they exchanged advice before her departure.

• Le Gu Nan told Shen Heng that Professor Nie had arranged an opportunity for her to work temporarily with the research department at headquarters.
• Le Gu Nan said she wanted to go because she wanted to help Shen Heng, and he supported her decision.
• At dinner, Le Gu Nan told Han Ling, Wei Leyang, Old Li, Dahuang, and Zheng Anlin about the transfer, and the group responded quietly.
• Several days later, Le Gu Nan reminded Shen Heng to look after Han Ling, Old Li, Dahuang, and the team during missions.
• Shen Heng told Le Gu Nan to contact him if she faced interpersonal problems at headquarters, while clarifying that he could not help with technical issues.

Shen Heng received a massive custom saber and fifteen Tier 3 Origin Crystals, then prepared to break through to the Fourth Tier. As he began absorbing the crystals’ origin power, he reconsidered his configuration and decided to try letting his ability influence its creation.

• Shen Heng returned to the Linhai Supervision Bureau, where Wei Leyang and two staff members waited with his newly made saber.
• Shen Heng opened the heavy silver case, inspected the saber, and tested its weight with a swing through the lobby.
• Shen Heng explained that the fifteen Origin Crystals would support a Fourth Tier breakthrough, and Wei Leyang realized Shen Heng was about to advance.
• That night, Shen Heng weighed the known configurations and decided a vortex type suited him, though he wondered whether his ability could shape a different one.
• Shen Heng placed the Origin Crystals before him, closed his eyes, and drew their origin power into his body.

Shen Heng tried to shape his Origin Power into a configuration by guiding it with sonic waves, but the effort exhausted him before he could stabilize any form. As he stopped, a clear ring-shaped energy pattern emerged on its own and drew the chaotic Origin Power toward a single configuration.

• Shen Heng compressed the Origin Power in his dantian into threads and used sonic waves to influence their movement.
• The threads fell into chaos as waves from different directions disrupted their coordination.
• Shen Heng forcibly gathered the threads, but they formed a rapidly changing composite that he could not stabilize.
• As his mind and body neared their limits, Shen Heng stopped sending sonic waves and prepared to form a vortex configuration instead.
• A ring-shaped energy pattern appeared at the center of the tangled threads, and the possible forms began collapsing toward it.

Shen Heng completed his breakthrough to the fourth tier by forming a constantly shifting closed-loop Configuration. He discovered that it improved his control over sound waves but permanently committed thirty percent of his Origin Power to sustaining the loop, and his attempt to shake it suggested he had gone too far.

• Shen Heng endured the torrent of Origin Power as it reshaped his body and mind and fed the closed loop.
• The Origin Power stopped surging into the loop, which became a golden ring and drew the remaining power into shifting patterns around itself.
• Shen Heng opened his eyes and confirmed he had reached the fourth tier, then studied the ring and its changing forms in his inner landscape.
• Shen Heng controlled sound waves with newfound precision, raising their frequency and output until they pulverized dust.
• Shen Heng found that the Configuration locked away thirty percent of his Origin Power, then tried to shake the closed loop and realized he had taken things too far.

Shen Heng discovered that his new sonic Configuration could not be altered and permanently absorbed thirty percent of his Origin Power, though it also steadily drew in power from the surroundings. At Northern Martial Arts Academy, teachers discussed the students’ tournament rankings and rewards as the friendly match against Southern Martial Arts approached.

• Shen Heng found that neither mental power nor Origin Power could change the closed loop inside him, which had formed from thirty percent of his Origin Power.
• Shen Heng realized the Configuration continuously attracted surrounding Origin Power, but some of that power was absorbed into the growing loop.
• Shen Heng considered the lasting reduction to his reserves and how it might affect his fighting, then opened his eyes after a long pause.
• At Northern Martial Arts Academy, teachers noted that Jiang Mo, Shen Shuning, and Lu Chengyu remained the likely top three, while Zhou Yanbai had climbed into the top six.
• Xiao Xiangtong told Li Daoyi that students had intensified their cultivation ahead of the friendly tournament with Southern Martial Arts, and that this explained Zhou Yanbai’s progress.
• Li Daoyi announced the tournament’s rewards, including A-Class combat skills and Tier 3 weapons for the top three, prompting the teachers to joke about entering themselves.

At the Northern and Southern Martial Arts Academies’ ranking battles, Li Daoyi rushed away after receiving a call, while Shen Heng told him about an unfamiliar Configuration formed during his breakthrough. Li Daoyi advised Shen Heng to leave it unchanged for now and contact him if he came to the Capital.

• Li Daoyi watched the ranking battles and explained the purpose of the friendly competition to the teachers nearby.
• Li Daoyi received a call, hurried away, and left the teachers to manage the event; Xiao Xiangtong watched him go.
• Shen Heng called Li Daoyi and asked whether a Configuration could tie up a third of his Origin Power.
• Shen Heng described his changing molten-gold ring Configuration, which he could not alter and which used thirty percent of his Origin Power.
• Li Daoyi learned Shen Heng had reached the Fourth Tier and told him to leave the Configuration alone for now and contact him when he visited the Capital.

After breaking through to the Fourth Tier, Shen Heng examined his unfamiliar configuration and the changes to his body, mental power, and Origin Power. He realized his body needed more energy to continue growing and went to replenish his food.

• Shen Heng considered how little headquarters understood about configurations and recognized that his own experience might help them explore the path to higher tiers.
• Shen Heng found that his configuration improved Origin Power use and passively absorbed Origin Power, potentially speeding up his cultivation.
• Shen Heng discovered that his Fourth Tier breakthrough had greatly increased his physical strength and weight, leaving him intensely hungry.
• Shen Heng found that his mental power had expanded his hearing range to 50 km and the distance at which he could form images from sound waves to around 15 km.
• Shen Heng formed a three-inch energy blade from Origin Power and considered how abundant Origin Power could strengthen destructive abilities.
• Shen Heng walked outside to replenish the food his growing body needed.

At Linhai City No. 7 Middle School, Yu Chunhe and Xu Anran went to watch a pack of Shadow Hounds whose projections were expected to be stopped before they could enter Blue Star. The beasts unexpectedly solidified almost immediately, and the crowd fled as the hounds began to attack.

• Yu Chunhe and Xu Anran heard a security guard call for people to occupy overlapping projections and hurried to the school gate.
• They saw more than ten Shadow Hounds shimmering as unstable projections, while Xu Anran identified them from the Calamity Beast Illustrated Guide.
• Yu Chunhe noticed the Shadow Hounds rapidly solidifying and warned the people approaching to run.
• The Shadow Hounds fully overlapped into the world, leaving the people nearest them frozen in place.
• As the crowd began to flee, the Shadow Hounds howled and the situation rapidly deteriorated.

Shen Heng received reports of multiple Calamity Beast incidents happening simultaneously and began coordinating the response. He assigned inspectors to several locations, while the crisis at Linhai No. 7 Middle School remained unresolved.

• Yu Chunhe alerted Shen Heng that fifteen Shadow Hounds had appeared at Linhai No. 7 Middle School and were attacking people.
• Shen Heng left home and told Yu Chunhe to keep safe while he arranged for the school to organize evacuations and defenses.
• An operator reported simultaneous Calamity Beast incidents at six locations across the city.
• Shen Heng ordered police to secure the underground parking garage and tunnel entrances while his team responded.
• Shen Heng sent Han Ling to the West District Fisherman's Wharf Seafood Market and Wei Leyang to Jinhai Shopping Center's underground parking garage.

Shen Heng coordinated responses to six simultaneous Calamity Beast incidents across Linhai and assigned personnel to protect the city. As he considered why the attacks had happened together, he suspected the Ruins Realm had taken action and wondered whether other places were facing similar incidents.

• Shen Heng’s team received assignments to respond to incidents, while Dahuang headed to the third tunnel on Binhai Avenue without a car.
• The Linhai Supervision Bureau’s four new recruits were introduced, including Xu Kai, who had returned to Linhai as its only newly assigned second-tier inspector.
• Shen Heng sent Lei Zhijian to arrange martial artists and a hunting patrol team to handle the tier 2 Calamity Beasts at the thermal power plant and radio and television tower.
• Shen Heng told Fan Hong to confirm Linhai No. 7 Middle School’s evacuation plan and prepare its teachers and students to defend against Calamity Beasts.
• Shen Heng reflected on the six simultaneous incidents and suspected the Ruins Realm had acted, then wondered whether other places were also under attack.

Shen Heng considered why Calamity Beasts had appeared in such large numbers and whether the overlap between worlds was deepening, then headed toward an unfolding crisis. At Linhai No. 1 High School, teachers gathered the students and prepared them to fight if the Calamity Beasts attacked.

• Shen Heng considered whether the surge in Calamity Beasts was a regional event, a sign of deeper overlap between worlds, or cover for hidden high-tier creatures.
• Shen Heng recalled how difficult it had been to kill the seventh-tier Darkwing Heavenly Spine Beast and wondered whether every three tiers brought a major threshold.
• Shen Heng spotted something ahead, paused, and raised two fingers while driving.
• Teacher Sun led the last students into the gymnasium at Linhai No. 1 High School, and the staff locked the doors after confirming the Calamity Beasts had not followed.
• Yu Chunhe reassured Xu Anran that the Supervision Bureau would arrive soon, while martial arts teachers called their students together.
• Sun Mingyuan told his students to collect weapons and prepare to help hold off the Calamity Beasts, saying he would try to stop a second-tier beast himself.