Recaps

Mei Duo considered paying Lin Xiaoyu, Wang Kai, and Fang Ji to keep the Thorn Squad together, while Ye Chengyun invited the squad to join a guild exploring Light Gates. Shen Shuning warned Xiao Bai'er that Erosion Zones might be too dangerous for ordinary martial artists, and Wei Leyang tested Dahuang on the press conference.

• Mei Duo offered Lin Xiaoyu, Wang Kai, and Fang Ji a hundred thousand each to keep the Thorn Squad together, and Ye Chengyun proposed that the squad join his Light Gate exploration guild.
• Ye Chengyun explained that the Supervision Bureau might not be able to handle Light Gates everywhere, and he wanted to gather squads to explore them beyond the city.
• Shen Shuning told Xiao Bai'er that Erosion Zones could be so dangerous that ordinary martial artists would be of little use, unlike Light Gates that might be approached cautiously.
• Shen Shuning and Xiao Bai'er headed to the student council after discussing the dangers of the new zones.
• Wei Leyang asked Dahuang to summarize the press conference, and Dahuang concluded that the future might be dangerous.

At the Erosion Zone camp, Shen Heng discussed Lü Wenrui’s unusual luck ability and its possible connection to Calamity Beast attacks. After dinner, Shen Heng took Lü Wenrui aside to discuss something, leaving the reason undisclosed.

• Lü Wenrui explained that abilities grew stronger as their ratings rose, and described several types of abilities to Xu Ruiyu and the soldiers.
• Shen Heng reasoned that Lü Wenrui’s ability might balance bad luck with later good fortune, making it seem ineffective when both affected the same kind of event.
• Han Ling noted that Lü Wenrui could not control his ability, while Lü Wenrui questioned whether his earlier bad luck had caused the Calamity Beast attack.
• Shen Heng decided they should watch for future streaks of good luck that might signal coming misfortune.
• After dinner, Shen Heng asked Lü Wenrui to return with him to their sleeping tent, but did not explain what he wanted to discuss.

Shen Heng lent Lü Wenrui nineteen Origin Crystals to help him reach the fourth tier, judging that the extra strength would benefit their group more than his own small increase. Later, by the campfire, Shen Heng told Han Ling he was questioning whether their work in the Erosion Zone could truly—and effectively—counter the invasion from the Ruins Realm.

• Shen Heng asked Lü Wenrui about absorbing his Origin Crystals, and Lü Wenrui wondered if Shen Heng wanted him to lure Calamity Beasts.
• Shen Heng gave Lü Wenrui nineteen Origin Crystals as a loan, expecting him to repay them after reaching the fourth tier.
• Lü Wenrui thanked Shen Heng and promised to help whenever he was needed.
• Shen Heng joined Han Ling at the campfire, where she asked what he had been thinking about.
• Shen Heng told Han Ling he was unsure whether intercepting Calamity Beasts in the Erosion Zone was the best way to deal with the Ruins Realm invasion.

Shen Heng and Han Ling considered whether Calamity Beasts could accelerate the Erosion Zone’s expansion from within and whether entering it might be necessary. Shen Heng reported their concerns to Li Daoyi, who said Headquarters already had a plan.

• Shen Heng explained that the current defenses could contain Calamity Beasts but would not stop the Ruins Realm’s invasion indefinitely.
• Han Ling asked why only beasts up to the fifth tier had appeared recently, and Shen Heng reasoned that higher-tier beasts might be scarce in the Erosion Zone.
• Shen Heng suggested that seventh-tier beasts were possible but unlikely, and that Calamity Beasts might accelerate the Erosion Zone’s expansion without leaving it.
• Han Ling urged Shen Heng to report the possibility to higher-ups, and he agreed.
• Shen Heng contacted Li Daoyi and shared their concerns, and Li Daoyi replied that Headquarters already had a plan.

Shen Heng learned that headquarters was preparing to send a main force through the Light Gate and build a permanent base in the Erosion Zone. After a powerful Sixth Tier Calamity Beast briefly emerged and retreated, he concluded that the plan might need to be accelerated.

• Li Daoyi told Shen Heng that headquarters and the Military Department planned to establish a stable base beyond the Light Gate and were gathering troops, weapons, and construction supplies.
• Li Daoyi explained that Jiang Lin would return to help drive away any Sixth Tier Calamity Beasts before the base was built, while Seventh Tier beasts would force a retreat.
• Shen Heng spotted a Calamity Beast emerging from the Light Gate, and a fierce battle broke out in the distance.
• Shen Heng used his power to quiet the sounds reaching the camp as the Calamity Beast returned through the Light Gate.
• Shen Heng identified the beast as a strong Sixth Tier Calamity Beast and suggested that headquarters speed up its plan.

Cao Yiyi accompanied Jiang Xingwei to the multinational camp, where Jiang Lin was preparing to leave for the plan’s next stage. After a beast tide erupted at the Light Gate, Jiang Xingwei stayed behind to fight while Cao Yiyi followed Jiang Lin; elsewhere, Shen Heng’s group was ordered to converge and begin the plan.

• Cao Yiyi told Jiang Lin that preparations for the uncleared Erosion Zones were nearly complete and that the overseas zone took priority.
• Jiang Xingwei took over Jiang Lin’s defense duties and assigned Cao Yiyi to accompany Jiang Lin.
• A beast tide burst through the camp’s Light Gate as Jiang Lin left, and Jiang Xingwei summoned a pillar of lightning against the gigantic beast.
• Lü Wenrui reached the Fourth Tier after absorbing Origin Crystals from recent beast tides.
• Shen Heng’s group received a communicator order to converge on the Erosion Zone and prepare to begin the plan.

Shen Heng and the other inspectors gathered beneath the Plateau Erosion Zone’s Light Gate to prepare to transport weapons and equipment and guard the new base. He recognized several fellow inspectors, including Zhou Xuan, and watched Jiang Lin descend from the gate.

• Shen Heng, Han Ling, Tang Yuanyang, and Lü Wenrui headed toward the Light Gate to join the gathering inspectors.
• Shen Heng saw that 123 inspectors had assembled, including Gu Lingxuan, Qi Yue, and Cao Mingyu.
• Zhou Xuan greeted Shen Heng, and Lü Wenrui joined them; their exchange reminded Shen Heng that his foresight might help counter Lü Wenrui’s bad luck.
• Special-purpose vehicles carrying tanks, artillery, equipment, and soldiers arrived as everyone waited beneath the Light Gate.
• Jiang Lin descended from the Light Gate in tattered clothes, and Shen Heng studied him for visible injuries.

Jiang Lin emerged from the Plateau Erosion Zone after killing one of four Sixth Tier Calamity Beasts and driving the others away for an estimated four to six hours. Zhang Weijun began organizing the force to establish a base, while Li Daoyi noticed Jiang Lin seemed dazed and asked if he was all right.

• Jiang Lin told Zhang Weijun that he had killed one Calamity Beast and that his ability had driven three others away temporarily.
• Jiang Lin estimated that the beasts would be unable to approach the Light Gate for four to six hours, and Zhang Weijun decided the time would have to suffice for the base operation.
• Zhang Weijun briefed over a thousand inspectors and soldiers on their tasks for deploying equipment, building the camp, and setting up defenses inside the Erosion Zone.
• Shen Heng wondered whether Jiang Lin might be Great Xia's strongest combatant after hearing he had fought four Sixth Tier beasts alone.
• Li Daoyi questioned Jiang Lin's dazed appearance, and Jiang Lin said he was fine but might have overused his ability in recent days.

Li Daoyi told Jiang Lin to rest while Zhang Weijun assigned the Supervision Bureau teams and gave Shen Heng a support role based on his perception. Shen Heng crossed the Light Gate with a sealed pod into the Erosion Zone, where soldiers began building a temporary base.

• Li Daoyi told Jiang Lin to rest for the next few days and have Jiang Xingwei remain overseas, and Jiang Lin agreed.
• Zhang Weijun divided the Supervision Bureau members into transport and guard groups, then assigned Shen Heng to monitor approaching Calamity Beasts and report threats.
• Shen Heng and the others carried a sealed pod through the Light Gate into the black-snow-covered Erosion Zone.
• Shen Heng moved the pod away from the entrance, and soldiers emerged and began assembling the temporary base.

Shen Heng monitored the area while the military rushed to build defenses, and he warned Han Ling that the Calamity Beasts were likely to attack once the Sixth Tier beasts recovered. As supplies and personnel continued arriving, others wondered what Shen Heng’s scouting ability could detect, while Shi Ruiyuan asked Brother Hu what might happen when the beasts came.

• Lü Wenrui and Tang Yuanyang asked Shen Heng about the unfamiliar construction machines, then returned to moving supplies through the Light Gate.
• Shen Heng told Han Ling that the Calamity Beasts would probably attack later, after the Sixth Tier beasts recovered and gathered the others.
• Shen Heng surveyed the battlefield, noting the powerful beasts killed by Jiang Lin and the black snow stretching toward distant mountains.
• Shen Heng closed his eyes and listened for distant sounds while supplies and personnel continued arriving.
• Shi Ruiyuan and Huang Jun speculated that Shen Heng could scout far away with his ability, before Shi Ruiyuan asked Brother Hu what would happen when the Calamity Beasts arrived.

Shen Heng detected a large group of Calamity Beasts gathering near the unfinished base, but they departed before attacking. As the base defenses neared completion, he joined a meeting with Commander Zhang Weijun and prepared to report what he had observed.

• A silver-gray Calamity Beast watched the human base from a mountain summit while other Calamity Beasts gathered around it.
• Shen Heng sensed dozens of Calamity Beasts gathering in one direction, led by a beast he estimated was sixth tier, before they moved away from the base.
• Shen Heng told Han Ling the beasts might return to attack, and they continued monitoring the area while construction progressed.
• Seven hours after entering the Erosion Zone, a soldier summoned Shen Heng to meet Commander Zhang Weijun and Li Daoyi.
• Zhang Weijun said the radar system could now monitor the area around the base to a range of over thirty kilometers, and Shen Heng said he had news to report.

Shen Heng reported that a suspected Sixth Tier Calamity Beast had climbed a mountaintop and watched the base, prompting Zhang Weijun and the officers to prepare for a delayed but potentially larger attack. Shen Heng accepted rewards and a daily scouting assignment, while Li Daoyi began reassuring the command staff about the threat; Shen Heng then returned to Han Ling and resumed watching the distance.

• Shen Heng told Zhang Weijun and the officers about the suspected Sixth Tier Calamity Beast observing them, and estimated the beasts might attack soon or wait while gathering strength.
• Zhang Weijun awarded Shen Heng 2,000 points for his intelligence and assigned him to scout daily for 500 points, or 1,000 if he found signs of Calamity Beasts.
• Zhang Weijun and the officers discussed the possibility of up to 1,200 or 1,300 new Calamity Beasts appearing each day and worried about the scale of a future attack.
• Zhang Weijun asked Li Daoyi for his view, and Li Daoyi said they did not need to worry too much about the concerns raised yet as cloud vapor swirled around his hand.
• Shen Heng returned to Han Ling, explained that the command staff expected the beasts might be preparing, and resumed surveying the distance.

Shen Heng and Han Ling ate with Li Daoyi, who explained how spatial stability limited which Calamity Beasts could enter the Erosion Zone. The chapter left Shen Heng learning that seventh-tier beasts might enter but would have to restrain themselves, while even stronger beasts could collapse the zone.

• Shen Heng and Han Ling joined Li Daoyi at the dining hall, where Li Daoyi offered them meat from a sixth-tier Silver-Patterned Frost Leopard.
• Shen Heng asked whether Li Daoyi had confirmed there were no seventh-tier Calamity Beasts in the Erosion Zone.
• Li Daoyi explained that Yan Yu’s spatial-stability theory accounted for why high-tier Calamity Beasts could not freely enter or leave the zone.
• Shen Heng wondered about the relationship between Origin Power, the body, and the world, then set the thought aside.
• Li Daoyi said seventh-tier Calamity Beasts could enter but would need to limit their actions, while even higher-tier beasts might cause the Erosion Zone to collapse.

Shen Heng learned why Seventh Tier Calamity Beasts were absent from the Erosion Zone and how powerful the Demigod Tier was. As the base prepared for an expected attack, its population and defenses continued to grow.

• Shen Heng and Li Daoyi discussed the Erosion Zone’s limited capacity and why the Ruins Realm had filled it with lower-tier Calamity Beasts instead of Seventh Tier ones.
• Li Daoyi explained that the Darkwing Heavenly Spine Beast had been badly weakened before it was killed and that a healthy Seventh Tier Calamity Beast might require half the world’s nuclear arsenal to defeat.
• Li Daoyi said the Seventh Tier was also called the Demigod Tier and explained that a Seventh Tier creature’s traits became engraved in its body and could pass to weapons made from its remains.
• Several days passed without a Calamity Beast attack, while Shen Heng watched the base’s preparations continue amid growing tension.
• The base’s population grew to several thousand as soldiers arrived, and workers expanded its walls to a three-kilometer radius, several meters thick, and over twenty meters high.

Shen Heng detected a massive Calamity Beast tide approaching the base from the northwest and warned the command center. The base confirmed the highest-level alert and ordered personnel to shelter or take up defensive positions.

• Shen Heng cultivated alongside Han Ling while Lin Zhaoran and Yu Yanhui discussed the impending Calamity Beasts and the inspectors stationed in their Erosion Zone.
• Shen Heng heard a distant growl, stopped cultivating, and told the command center that nearly ten thousand Calamity Beasts were approaching from the northwest.
• Shen Heng warned the inspectors in the training room to prepare, then left with Han Ling as the others reacted and headed back to get ready.
• A highest-level beast tide alert sounded across the base, ordering noncombat personnel into underground fortifications and combat personnel and Supervision Bureau members to their assigned positions.

Shen Heng was summoned to the command center as a beast tide approached the base, where officers assessed whether their defenses could withstand it. He could report the tide’s location but had no way to determine how many mid- and high-tier Calamity Beasts it contained.

• Shen Heng and Han Ling headed toward their defensive sector, but the command center summoned Shen Heng and he sent Han Ling ahead.
• Shen Heng told Han Ling that he intended to fight rather than stay back and provide information, and she left after he reminded her to stay safe.
• Shen Heng reported to Zhang Weijun that the beast tide was about forty-one kilometers away.
• An officer warned that the base could be overwhelmed if too many mid- and high-tier Calamity Beasts could not be kept occupied by inspectors.
• The old general asked Shen Heng whether he could determine how many mid- and high-tier beasts were in the tide, and Shen Heng said he could not.

Shen Heng proposed using a low-yield nuclear bomb to thin the approaching Calamity Beast tide, despite the risks to the Erosion Zone. Zhang Weijun approved the approach, declaring that the base’s survival outweighed the possible damage from the explosion.

• Zhang Weijun and the staff officer discussed how many mid- and high-tier Calamity Beasts might be among the approaching tide.
• Shen Heng considered the threat posed by potentially hundreds of Fourth Tier beasts and questioned whether the base could withstand them.
• Shen Heng suggested attacking the concentrated beasts with a low-yield nuclear bomb.
• The old general and the slightly stout officer objected that the blast could destabilize the Erosion Zone and make later exploration and detection difficult.
• Shen Heng argued that reducing the beasts’ numbers was more important than preserving the area, and Zhang Weijun agreed that the base’s survival came first.

Zhang Weijun ordered a first salvo of miniature nuclear warheads to strike the advancing beast tide after Shen Heng reported its position. On the wall, Yu Yanhui and Lin Zhaoran approached the girl who had been with Shen Heng, preparing to support her in the coming battle.

• Zhang Weijun argued that nuclear strikes could weaken the beast tide before it reached the defensive line, while the officers worried that detonations could destabilize space in the Erosion Zone.
• Zhang Weijun asked Shen Heng to locate the beast tide, and Shen Heng marked its position roughly forty to fifty kilometers northwest of the base.
• Zhang Weijun ordered ten Hummingbird Class miniature nuclear warheads to strike separate points and sections between thirty-eight and forty-eight kilometers northwest.
• Zhang Weijun asked Shen Heng to keep monitoring the beast tide as the troops prepared the missiles.
• Yu Yanhui recognized the girl who had been with Shen Heng, and she and Lin Zhaoran went to join her so they could support her during the battle.

As the teams prepared for the Calamity Beasts, Lin Zhaoran and Yu Yanhui asked Han Ling to coordinate attacks with them, while several other teams offered her support. Han Ling accepted the partnership and explained that she had met the others on previous missions.

• Lin Zhaoran introduced herself and Yu Yanhui, then proposed that they control Calamity Beasts while Han Ling killed them with her ranged attacks.
• Han Ling accepted their offer and thanked them, and the three discussed how to coordinate their abilities.
• A red-haired woman carrying a broadsword offered Han Ling support, recalling that Han Ling had saved her group recently.
• Several more people came to ask where Shen Heng was and offered to support Han Ling if needed.
• Yu Yanhui asked how Han Ling knew so many people, and Han Ling said she had met them on previous missions.

Han Ling, Lin Zhaoran, and Yu Yanhui learned that nearly ten thousand Calamity Beasts were approaching the base as nuclear missiles struck the beast tide. The strikes killed about two thousand beasts before a giant ape-like Calamity Beast intercepted many missiles, leaving roughly eight thousand still advancing.

• Yu Yanhui and Lin Zhaoran discussed the level-three beast tide, and Han Ling estimated it contained close to ten thousand Calamity Beasts.
• White streaks rose from behind the defenders on the wall as nuclear missiles headed toward the beast tide.
• The missiles detonated across the beast tide, killing many Calamity Beasts, while a giant ape-like beast intercepted others by hurling chunks of a Tier 2 beast at them.
• Shen Heng reported that the strikes had killed about two thousand Calamity Beasts and that high-tier beasts had intercepted many of the missiles.
• The command staff concluded that roughly eight thousand Calamity Beasts remained and learned that the missiles had been traveling too short a distance to reach top speed.

Shen Heng detected spatial-distortion ripples after a nuclear blast and realized the Calamity Beasts had dispersed into multiple advancing groups. As the base considered how to stop them, he proposed using missiles to strike their predicted positions, and Zhang Weijun agreed that the cost was worth the risk.

• Shen Heng connected the unusual ripples to spatial distortion and noticed that his Configuration fluctuated with them.
• Zhang Weijun relayed the Daoist priest’s warning not to exceed the nuclear blast’s recent impact on the Erosion Zone.
• Shen Heng reported that the Calamity Beasts had scattered and were advancing from different directions, making further nuclear strikes less effective.
• Zhang Weijun explained that limited radar range and missile travel time would make conventional strikes difficult to aim.
• Shen Heng proposed predicting the beasts’ positions and carpet-bombing those areas with missiles.
• Zhang Weijun said missiles were expensive but not as costly as human lives.

The Calamity Beasts reached the wasteland beyond the base after enduring a missile bombardment, and a massive lion-type beast’s roar sent them charging toward the walls. As the base prepared for battle, Han Ling opened fire when the leading beasts came within range.

• Missiles struck the mountain forest as Yu Yanhui, Lin Zhaoran, and Han Ling watched from the walls.
• An apparently endless horde of Calamity Beasts gathered beneath the mountains, and a massive lion-type beast roared to unleash their charge.
• The base sounded its alarms and ordered everyone to prepare for battle while Li Daoyi watched the beast tide and Shen Heng examined the roar’s powers.
• Yu Yanhui and Lin Zhaoran readied themselves to defend the walls, while Han Ling loaded a marrow-burst round and waited for the beasts to approach.
• When the first Calamity Beasts came within five kilometers, Han Ling shot a fourth-tier leopard-type beast, hitting its foreleg and then killing it with two shots to the head.

Han Ling and the city’s defenders struck the advancing Calamity Beasts as the vanguard reached the walls, but the beasts began destroying the automated turrets. When the defenders ordered fourth-tier melee fighters to descend and stop the enemy, Wang Hu and Shi Ruiyuan joined the fight below the wall.

• Han Ling killed a seventh-tier Calamity Beast, then fired at an agile insectoid beast that used nearby Calamity Beasts as shields.
• The beast tide advanced within three kilometers of the city wall, and automated turrets and concealed soldiers opened fire.
• A fourth-tier long-armed Calamity Beast knocked a turret out of action, prompting other ranged beasts to attack the wall’s defenses.
• An aged voice ordered defenders to prioritize ranged Calamity Beasts, and Han Ling and other inspectors attacked them.
• The aged voice ordered third-tier melee fighters to hold the wall and fourth-tier fighters to engage below; Wang Hu transformed and leaped down, followed by Shi Ruiyuan.

Lin Zhaoran, Yu Yanhui, Han Ling, and the other inspectors fought to hold back the Calamity Beast tide while conserving their Origin Power for stronger enemies. As soldiers’ gunfire cut down the beasts, a third-tier ape-like Calamity Beast used a corpse as a shield and advanced toward the wall.

• Lin Zhaoran and Yu Yanhui jumped down from the wall to fight, while Han Ling stayed behind to provide sniper support.
• Yu Yanhui formed streams of water that Lin Zhaoran froze into a barrage of ice, killing many low-tier Calamity Beasts.
• Lü Wenrui and Tang Yuanyang fought through the beasts as soldiers fired heavy machine guns from inside the wall.
• Lin Zhaoran and Yu Yanhui let a fourth-tier Shadow Cat pass because it was not heading toward the wall, then reduced their attacks to conserve Origin Power.
• A third-tier ape-like Calamity Beast used a dead second-tier beast as a shield and ran toward the wall through the gunfire.

As the Calamity Beasts attacked the base, Li Daoyi held back to preserve the fragile balance between humanity and the beasts’ strongest fighters. The lion on the distant mountain roared, driving the beasts into a frenzy, and the battle grew more dangerous for the inspectors.

• An ape Calamity Beast climbed the wall using a corpse as a shield, but Han Ling shot it before it could attack from inside the wall.
• Li Daoyi watched the battle without intervening, wary that his actions might draw the high-tier Calamity Beasts into the fight.
• The lion on the distant mountain stood and roared, causing the Calamity Beasts across the battlefield to become berserk and attack without restraint.
• Gu Lingxuan slowed a charging gray-horned rhinoceros with her blade and moved in to strike it.
• A tiger-like fighter crushed an iron-backed boar, while an inspector narrowly survived a scorpion beast’s attack after an explosion hit the beast’s head.