Recaps

The Shadow Wolf heard Lord Molten-Fire Lizard’s dying warning about the Sky-Sundering Kamaitachi and decided it had to carry the message back. The Stone-Armored Beast stayed curled up amid the fighting until an unknown voice urgently told it to run.

• The Shadow Wolf struggled against the humans’ artillery and searched for a way to escape without losing face.
• After hearing Lord Molten-Fire Lizard accuse the Sky-Sundering Kamaitachi of betrayal, the Shadow Wolf concluded the lizard had been killed and that it must carry the warning back.
• The Shadow Wolf flew away from the ravine, leaving the other Calamity Beasts behind.
• The Stone-Armored Beast recalled how it had survived the fighting by remaining still and relying on its armor.
• As the bombardment intensified, an unknown voice beside the Stone-Armored Beast repeatedly warned it to run.

Shen Heng’s forces used artillery and his guidance ability to rout the Calamity Beasts in Eagle-Sorrow Ravine after killing Lord Molten-Fire Lizard. The survivors celebrated their victory and began collecting materials the next day, when a report came in that a Calamity Beast was still alive.

• The Stone-Armored Beast saw the renewed bombardment killing Calamity Beasts and curled up in terror.
• Calamity Beasts fled, wailed, and began climbing the cliffs as Shen Heng guided more than half of them toward the edge.
• After the artillery stopped, Shen Heng and Xu Ruiyu celebrated the victory and let the soldiers rest while a small group checked for survivors.
• The next day, Shen Heng’s people collected Origin Crystals and materials from the battlefield.
• Shen Heng received a wristband message reporting that they had found a living Calamity Beast.

Shen Heng questioned a surviving Stone-Armored Beast and learned it had been forced to fight after the Molten-Fire Lizard conscripted it. Recognizing the beast’s exhaustion as like his own, he asked whether it wanted to live.

• The Stone-Armored Beast hid from the soldiers after surviving the shellfire, but was discovered when it tried to escape.
• Shen Heng arrived with Xu Ruiyu and questioned the motionless beast, which said it had survived by lying still.
• Shen Heng recognized the beast’s exhaustion and spoke about his own weariness with a life of battles and missions.
• The Stone-Armored Beast explained how it came from the Ruins Realm and was conscripted by the Molten-Fire Lizard.
• Shen Heng asked the Stone-Armored Beast if it wanted to live.

Shen Heng offered the Stone-Armored Beast a place with his group, promising not to casually send it on likely fatal missions. The beast agreed to stay, and Shen Heng told Xu Ruiyu he planned to keep it as a research subject to study whether Calamity Beasts could be tamed.

• Shen Heng invited the Stone-Armored Beast to come with them and promised not to treat it as expendable, though he could not guarantee its survival.
• The Stone-Armored Beast asked what would happen if it refused, then chose to cooperate and stood up when Shen Heng indicated it should.
• Xu Ruiyu realized Shen Heng intended to take in the Calamity Beast and objected that it was dangerous.
• Shen Heng explained that he wanted to study whether Calamity Beasts in the Ruins Realm could be tamed, and said he would usually keep the Stone-Armored Beast by his side.
• Xu Ruiyu reluctantly accepted the plan as the Stone-Armored Beast lay quietly nearby.

The Lion King questioned the Shadow Wolf about the failed march and dismissed it after hearing its report. It suspected the humans had anticipated the Calamity Beasts’ movements and began considering how to defend the Anchor Points, while ordering the Sky-Skimming Harrier to warn Mirror Water.

• The Shadow Wolf recounted hearing Lord Molten-Fire Lizard’s voice before humans attacked the Calamity Beasts, and said it had returned immediately to report the news.
• The Lion King pressed the Shadow Wolf on whether it had seen the Molten-Fire Lizard, then let it leave after a tense interrogation.
• The Lion King dismissed the claim that the two Sky-Sundering Kamaitachi had defected and considered whether the humans’ tactics were connected to the earlier berserk beast tide.
• The Lion King weighed ways to defend the Anchor Points against the humans, including replacing low-tier Calamity Beasts with stronger ones.
• The Sky-Skimming Harrier arrived, and the Lion King ordered it to warn Mirror Water that humans might appear along its route.

Two-Horned Lizard questioned Shadow Wolf about his report to Lord Lion King and realized a human with a saber may have been involved in the attack on Molten-Fire Lizard. He praised Shadow Wolf for standing his ground during the crisis.

• Shadow Wolf returned to the Eye of Earth Marrow and told Two-Horned Lizard that Lord Lion King had not explained how he would handle the incident.
• Two-Horned Lizard asked Shadow Wolf to recount the attack and his report, then focused on Lord Lion King's question about Molten-Fire Lizard.
• Shadow Wolf said he had glimpsed a black-armored human wielding a saber fighting Molten-Fire Lizard, who appeared to be losing.
• Two-Horned Lizard concluded the human was likely the same one who had ambushed him before, but decided to avoid confronting him for now.
• Two-Horned Lizard praised Shadow Wolf for stepping forward instead of fleeing and described him as brave, responsible, and fearless.

Two-Horned Lizard praised Shadow Wolf for its actions during the human attack and proposed that it join future battles, but Shadow Wolf admitted it had not truly wanted to save the other Calamity Beasts. Two-Horned Lizard accepted its motives, told it there was no need to apologize, and agreed to support its refusal to join the beast tide.

• Two-Horned Lizard praised Shadow Wolf and said it and Lord Feather Owl had planned for Shadow Wolf to join future attacks on human cities.
• Shadow Wolf worried about being sent into battle, then admitted it might not have been thinking of saving the other Calamity Beasts.
• Two-Horned Lizard guessed Shadow Wolf had been trying to improve its own odds of survival, and Shadow Wolf confirmed that was the best plan it could think of.
• Two-Horned Lizard told Shadow Wolf it had done well and did not need to apologize, since protecting itself came first.
• Shadow Wolf said it did not want to join the beast tide despite the resources it could gain, and Two-Horned Lizard agreed to speak with Lord Feather Owl and take responsibility.

Zhou Xuan and Zheng Guomin returned to Bedrock City with their group and were startled to find a Calamity Beast inside the city. After Han Ling explained that Shen Heng had brought it back, Shen Heng reported the successful ambushes to Zhou Zhenguo, who turned the discussion toward how Bedrock City could build on its victory.

• Zhou Xuan and Zheng Guomin reached Bedrock City with the second-to-last group to return and handed over the materials they had collected.
• Zhou Xuan saw the Stone-Armored Beast in the city and mistook the scene for an illusion until Zheng Guomin led him closer.
• Han Ling explained why Shen Heng had brought the Stone-Armored Beast back, and told Zhou Xuan that the commander had called Shen Heng away.
• Shen Heng told Zhou Zhenguo and the officers that every ambush had succeeded and that the operation had likely killed close to thirty thousand Calamity Beasts.
• Zhou Zhenguo said Bedrock City needed to consider how to build on its victory.

Zhou Zhenguo and his officers considered how to build on their victory and accelerate the Calamity Beasts’ strategic shift while reducing military losses. Shen Heng suggested supporting other cities, though the plan’s dangers and feasibility remained uncertain.

• Zhou Zhenguo argued that their current strategy was progressing too slowly and urged the officers to find ways to expand the impact of their recent battle.
• The officers proposed searching for missed beast tides, drawing in more forces from outside, and damaging Anchor Points near destroyed cities.
• Lu Xunzhou suggested completely destroying two nearby Anchor Point locations to test whether changing the terrain could disable them.
• Zhou Zhenguo asked Shen Heng for his ideas, and Shen Heng proposed sending support to other cities.
• Lu Xunzhou and the other officers questioned the proposal, noting that no cities had requested aid.

Shen Heng proposed sending troops from Bedrock City to help other cities before the Calamity Beasts attacked, and Zhou Zhenguo suggested dividing the force into three groups. After reviewing the map of surviving and fallen cities, they weighed how many soldiers Bedrock City needed to keep behind, and the chapter left Shen Heng considering Zhou Zhenguo’s plan.

• Shen Heng argued that Bedrock City should move ahead of the Calamity Beasts to defend other cities, though Lu Xunzhou warned that finding them would be difficult.
• Zhou Zhenguo suggested sending forces to several cities, but Lu Xunzhou cautioned that splitting the troops could leave each group too weak to help.
• Zhou Zhenguo ordered Tianshu to display the map and attack records, showing six cities still standing and a string of fallen cities.
• Shen Heng estimated that Bedrock City needed at least two thousand soldiers left behind, leaving roughly three thousand available, and advised against splitting them.
• Zhou Zhenguo proposed three groups: two ordinary-soldier units for Chongshan City and Frontier-Pacifying City, and Shen Heng with the Supervision Bureau members for another city.

Shen Heng listened as Zhou Zhenguo and Lu Xunzhou argued over whether to spread Bedrock City’s forces among threatened cities or concentrate them for a chance to ambush the Calamity Beasts. Zhou asked Shen Heng to define war, and Shen Heng searched the military theories he had read for an answer he could truly understand.

• Lu Xunzhou argued that sending a thousand soldiers to aid another city would make little difference and warned that Zhou Zhenguo’s aggressive plan risked leaving Bedrock City exposed.
• Zhou Zhenguo insisted that the opportunity to catch the Calamity Beasts might never come again, while Lu Xunzhou challenged the risks of his plan.
• Zhou Zhenguo asked the officers what war was, and they described it as defeating the enemy efficiently and as a contest of strength and people.
• Zhou Zhenguo asked Shen Heng whether he had read the recommended military books and then asked him to explain what war was.
• Shen Heng considered the books and the officers’ answers but still felt he had not grasped the essence of war.

In the command room, Shen Heng described war as violence used to compel an enemy to submit, drawing on the fear and helplessness he had seen in dying Calamity Beasts. Zhou Zhenguo recognized Shen Heng’s insight and asked him to summarize war in one sentence.

• Shen Heng recalled killing over a thousand Calamity Beasts and seeing their fear, despair, and helplessness as they died.
• Shen Heng reasoned that many Calamity Beasts followed their group because they could not resist and still had a chance to survive, without knowing what they were fighting for.
• Lu Xunzhou explained that powerful high-tier Calamity Beasts could force weaker ones to follow, while uncertain conditions made escape unlikely.
• Shen Heng argued that war pursued objectives and swept individuals into it, while survival mattered most to those who did not know what they fought for.
• Zhou Zhenguo assessed Shen Heng’s understanding of war and considered bringing him into his system rather than leaving him in the Supervision Bureau.
• Zhou Zhenguo asked Shen Heng to define war in one sentence, and Shen Heng answered that it was an act of violence to compel the enemy to submit to their will.

Shen Heng weighed the purpose and costs of the war against the Ruins Realm as Zhou Zhenguo and Lu Xunzhou argued over whether to concentrate or divide their troops. He proposed splitting the remaining forces among Bedrock City, Chongshan City, and Frontier-Pacifying City, then explained why the two cities would gain little from the added soldiers.

• Zhou Zhenguo argued that the war served the purpose of defending Blue Star and that the strategy required building cities, fighting Calamity Beasts, and harassing the Anchor Points.
• Shen Heng reflected that ordinary soldiers, rather than inspectors, had borne the front-line burden and made the strategy possible.
• Lu Xunzhou opposed splitting the forces, arguing that four separate groups would have little effect even if they encountered Calamity Beasts.
• Shen Heng proposed leaving one unit in Bedrock City and sending the other two to Chongshan City and Frontier-Pacifying City.
• Shen Heng told Zhou Zhenguo that the added soldiers would bring little combat strength to Chongshan City and Frontier-Pacifying City and would still struggle against a prepared beast tide.

After debating whether to divide their forces into two or three groups, Shen Heng and Lu Xunzhou left the command room and discussed Shen Heng joining the military system. Shen Heng rejected Lu Xunzhou’s recruitment attempt as detrimental to unity and walked away, leaving Lu Xunzhou ashamed and surprised.

• Lu Xunzhou argued that splitting their forces into two groups would be safer than dividing them into three, and Shen Heng favored his plan over Elder Zhou’s.
• As they walked through Bedrock City, Lu Xunzhou thanked Shen Heng for the discussion, then asked whether he had considered transferring into the military system.
• Lu Xunzhou said the military would likely gain strength and resources over time, and that Shen Heng could benefit from joining it.
• Shen Heng told Lu Xunzhou that recruiting him was detrimental to unity, then said he had somewhere else to be and left.
• Lu Xunzhou apologized and watched Shen Heng go, wondering whether people like him really existed.

After Shen Heng declined Lu Xunzhou’s recruitment because he feared transferring would harm unity, Zhou Zhenguo reflected on divisions between the military and the Supervision Bureau and began drafting a plan to integrate them. Shen Heng considered the identity barrier between the two systems and weighed whether its early signs could be addressed.

• Lu Xunzhou told Zhou Zhenguo that Shen Heng had refused to transfer to the military because he believed it would be detrimental to unity.
• Zhou Zhenguo reflected on how loyalty to one’s own system could cause factional divisions and concluded that unity mattered most amid the threat of the beast tide.
• Zhou Zhenguo drafted a report titled “Report on the Necessity of Integrating the Supervision Bureau and the Military, with Recommendations” and had Tianshu send Shen Heng the title.
• Shen Heng noticed that Supervision Bureau members greeted him more naturally than soldiers did and considered whether their differing reactions reflected an identity barrier.
• Shen Heng reasoned that such divisions arose from human instinct and could not be entirely eliminated, though the early divide between the two systems might still be addressed.

Shen Heng returned to find Zhou Xuan teaching the Stone-Armored Beast to stand and shake hands, then announced that the team would leave the city in three days. He prepared to question Wu Hao about the recent events.

• Ringing Sound read Shen Heng the title of Zhou Zhenguo's report recommending that the Supervision Bureau and military be reorganized, and Shen Heng considered how their systems might be integrated.
• Zhou Xuan demonstrated standing and shaking hands to the Stone-Armored Beast until it stood upright and touched his hand with its claw.
• Shen Heng returned, and the Stone-Armored Beast trotted over to hide behind him; Shen Heng said he would keep it away from fights and kill it if it acted suspiciously.
• Zhou Xuan asked whether the Stone-Armored Beast could become his mount if it proved trustworthy, but Shen Heng instead told everyone they would leave the city in three days.
• Zhou Xuan told Shen Heng he was close to breaking through to the fifth tier and thought he could do so before they left.
• Shen Heng told everyone to cultivate and said he would ask Wu Hao about what had happened.

Shen Heng learned that Wu Hao’s force had killed 2,227 Calamity Beasts, including a fifth-tier beast, using explosives to collapse rocks in a gorge, though the battle caused heavy casualties. After hearing Xu Yu had devised the plan, Shen Heng accepted Wu Hao’s offer to give Xu Yu command in future split-force battles, and Wu Hao left reassured.

• Wu Hao told Shen Heng that his force had suffered 52 regular soldiers killed or wounded and eight inspectors killed, while killing 2,227 Calamity Beasts, including an early fifth-tier beast.
• Wu Hao explained that Xu Yu had proposed moving explosives onto the mountain to collapse rocks in the gorge and trap the Calamity Beasts.
• Shen Heng comforted Wu Hao, saying the battle had gone well despite the casualties, and listened as Wu Hao recounted Xu Yu’s analysis of four possible developments.
• Wu Hao asked Shen Heng to let Xu Yu lead future split forces in his place, and Shen Heng agreed after confirming Wu Hao understood he would be giving up his position.
• Wu Hao left relieved, and Shen Heng turned to the Stone-Armored Beast and asked whether it had already eaten.

Shen Heng and Han Ling discussed their mission rewards while the Stone-Armored Beast practiced human speech and received the name Stone. Later, Zhou Xuan prepared to invoke Ultraman at the fifth tier, despite his companions urging him to choose the God of Wealth instead.

• Shen Heng watched the Stone-Armored Beast practice sounds with the personal terminal and wondered how the advanced device had been developed.
• Han Ling told Shen Heng that the resource allocations were out, and they compared their Origin Crystal rewards from the mission.
• Shen Heng said he would keep the Stone-Armored Beast below the fourth tier until they had more fourth-tier people, and Han Ling suggested naming it Stone.
• Zhou Xuan prepared an altar in the training room and explained that the Daoist priest had suggested invoking the God of Wealth at the fifth tier.
• Zhou Xuan insisted he would invoke Ultraman instead, arguing that his failed attempts at the third and fourth tiers showed Ultraman was powerful.
• Zhou Xuan lit the incense and began addressing Lord Tiga.

Zhou Xuan tried and failed three times to invoke Lord Tiga, then successfully invoked the God of Wealth. He discovered that the God of Wealth had granted him three unusual abilities.

• Zhou Xuan attempted twice to invoke Lord Tiga with different chants, but the smoke dispersed and both attempts failed.
• Zhou Xuan made a third, more urgent appeal to Lord Tiga and sensed that he had a chance of succeeding, though his strength was still insufficient.
• Zheng Guomin urged Zhou Xuan to invoke the God of Wealth before he wasted his chance, and Zhou Xuan prepared fresh offerings and incense.
• Zhou Xuan successfully invoked the God of Wealth as the incense smoke surrounded him and formed a faint halo.
• Zhou Xuan sensed his new abilities and named them Spend Wealth to Avert Disaster, Profitable Golden Spear, and Discern Treasures and Identify Rarities.

Zhou Xuan explained the restrictions and functions of his three new abilities, and Shen Heng took him to test Profitable Golden Spear. As Zhou Xuan charged and formed an attack, Shen Heng sensed that its technique might be learnable.

• Zhou Xuan explained that Spend Wealth to Avert Disaster could block any harmful attack but required energy stored in advance and consumed his own Origin Power when used.
• Zhou Xuan described Profitable Golden Spear as an offensive ability that concentrated Origin Power into one attack, and Discern Treasures and Identify Rarities as a low-cost ability for judging an item's value and quality.
• Shen Heng led Zhou Xuan and the others onto Bedrock City's walls to test his abilities before the group joined the battles ahead.
• Zhou Xuan used a third-tier Origin Crystal to form a glowing attack with Profitable Golden Spear and aimed it at a crooked-necked tree.
• Shen Heng sensed how the attack was constructed and realized that he might be able to learn the technique.

Shen Heng studied the complex Origin Power structure of Zhou Xuan’s newly invoked attack and realized he could not yet control enough threads to learn it. Zhou Xuan demonstrated the attack’s power, and the group discussed how efficiently it converted Origin Power.

• Shen Heng counted twenty-three Origin Power threads in the attack and found he could stably control only seventeen.
• Zhou Xuan fired a light attack into a crooked-necked tree, making a hole about half a meter wide and over a meter deep with one third-tier Origin Crystal.
• Han Ling tested her sniper rifle on the same tree and made a slightly larger hole, then said Zhou Xuan could concentrate all his Origin Power into one strike.
• Wu Hao said Zhou Xuan’s full-power attack could likely defeat same-tier Calamity Beasts unless they had S-Class defensive abilities, and Han Ling admitted it could surpass her own attack.
• Shen Heng learned that Zhou Xuan had used two portions of Origin Power, one stored and one of his own, to produce an effect Zhou Xuan estimated at about 1.6 times the power.

Zhou Xuan and the others examined his abilities, and he tested Spend Wealth to Avert Disaster by letting Zheng Guomin attack him. The ability blocked attacks that could harm him, leaving Shen Heng wondering whether it also negated the force of each blow.

• Qin Yu questioned the usefulness of Zhou Xuan’s Origin Crystal-powered attack, but Shen Heng explained how it could complement his other abilities and turn the tide against Calamity Beasts.
• Zhou Xuan described Discern Treasures and Identify Rarities, then asked Zheng Guomin to help test Spend Wealth to Avert Disaster.
• Zhou Xuan used a fourth-tier Origin Crystal to charge the defensive ability, and Zheng Guomin struck him while the group watched.
• Zheng Guomin’s first punch did not activate the ability because it could not hurt Zhou Xuan, but a harder punch triggered a halo that prevented all damage.
• Zheng Guomin continued punching Zhou Xuan without making him move, and Shen Heng wondered whether the ability also negated the force of the impacts.

Shen Heng and the others tested Zhou Xuan’s newly acquired defensive ability against several attacks and found that it blocked them without injuring him. Shen Heng investigated how the ability worked and learned about its Origin Power costs and storage limit.

• Zheng Guomin attacked Zhou Xuan from several angles, but the blows failed to harm him.
• Han Ling shot Zhou Xuan, and the resulting explosion left him and his clothes unharmed.
• Qin Yu and Wu Hao also tested their attacks on Zhou Xuan, but neither could get through his defense.
• Shen Heng gently pressed his triple Vibrating Blade saber against Zhou Xuan and inferred that the ability automatically assessed contact and canceled attacks that would cause harm.
• Zhou Xuan stepped back when the sustained saber contact nearly depleted his Origin Power, and Shen Heng learned that his reserve pool could hold about as much Origin Power as he naturally possessed.
• Zhou Xuan said Han Ling’s shot had consumed the most Origin Power, while Shen Heng’s contact consumed the least but continued draining it.

Shen Heng warned Zhou Xuan to balance his powerful, Origin Crystal-consuming ability with his cultivation. At Frontier-Pacifying City, Lin Zhaoran and Yu Yanhui realized the besieging Calamity Beasts might be awaiting reinforcements, while the city could no longer contact the outside world.

• Shen Heng explained that Zhou Xuan's defensive ability was exceptionally powerful but could consume Origin Crystals and hinder his cultivation if overused.
• Shen Heng told the group to rest for the day and prepare to move out the next morning.
• Yu Yanhui asked Lin Zhaoran why more than twenty thousand Calamity Beasts had surrounded the city for three days without attacking, and Lin Zhaoran suggested they might be waiting for reinforcements.
• Lin Zhaoran told Yu Yanhui that the Calamity Beasts had intercepted their signal flares, leaving them unable to contact the outside world.
• Lin Zhaoran recalled the commander's plan for the Supervision Bureau members to break out if reinforcements arrived, while he stayed behind with the soldiers.
• Lin Zhaoran wondered whether they could escape the encirclement and hoped the Calamity Beasts intended only to besiege the city.

Han Ling proposed switching places with Qin Yu so Qin Yu could work with Zhou Xuan, but Shen Heng rejected the change because the team would lack a capable battlefield commander and the pair’s abilities could help during a retreat. Before they parted, Shen Heng gave Han Ling an Azure Talisman Jade and let her take the Stone-Armored Beast.

• Han Ling suggested that Qin Yu join Zhou Xuan in Chongshan City, where Qin Yu could help him land a powerful opening strike against a fifth-tier Calamity Beast.
• Shen Heng questioned who would command Han Ling’s side during battle, and Han Ling could not name a suitable leader beyond Zheng Guomin or Military Department personnel.
• Shen Heng explained that he had separated Qin Yu and Zhou Xuan because their abilities could prove useful if the teams had to retreat.
• Shen Heng gave Han Ling an Azure Talisman Jade containing the Daoist priest’s sixth-tier attack and told her it must be returned if unused.
• Han Ling asked to take the Stone-Armored Beast with her so she could watch him, and Shen Heng agreed before they parted.