Recaps

Broken Tooth learned that the Underground Demon would emerge soon and ordered the Black Rats to pause their work when it did. The Coiling Mountain Beast watched the black tide sweep over the plain, and the images on his arm flashed before him as he wondered whether this was the Underground Demon.

• Broken Tooth ordered two Calamity Beasts killed for arguing, then had their bodies taken away as an extra meal for the others.
• A Black Rat told Broken Tooth that the Underground Demon would emerge in two or three days, and Broken Tooth ordered the Black Rats to stop for a day once its arrival was certain.
• The Coiling Mountain Beast heard that the Underground Demon was coming and rested while the other Calamity Beasts reacted with fear and relief.
• A huge black tide surged from the mine and swept across the plain, stopping at a curtain of light as the Calamity Beasts lay motionless.
• The Coiling Mountain Beast watched the tide and saw the images on his arm flash before him as he thought, “Underground... Demon?”

The Coiling Mountain Beast recognized that carvings on its body seemed to depict the valley and wondered if the final image urged it to fight the Underground Demon. Despite its terror, it pressed onward as Broken Tooth the Black Rat pursued it, leaving their confrontation unresolved.

• The Coiling Mountain Beast studied the carvings on its forelimb and suspected the last image showed black waves and circular lines, perhaps directing it to fight the Underground Demon.
• Trembling with fear, the Coiling Mountain Beast stood and trudged forward past the other Calamity Beasts.
• Broken Tooth the Black Rat spotted the Coiling Mountain Beast and decided it was responsible for the recent incidents, then chased after it.
• Broken Tooth caught up and tried to strike the Coiling Mountain Beast, which struggled to dodge while continuing onward.
• Broken Tooth flew ahead and let itself fall freely toward the Coiling Mountain Beast.

The wounded Coiling Mountain Beast fled toward the Underground Demon, using Broken Tooth’s fear and anger to delay its pursuit. When it entered the black wind, Shen Heng’s memories and a fallback drawing returned to him, but a shadow engulfed him before a voice announced he had obtained an opportunity to use the Authority of Distortion.

• Broken Tooth wounded the Coiling Mountain Beast repeatedly as it chased it toward the black tide.
• The Coiling Mountain Beast provoked Broken Tooth into striking it and used the blows to gain distance.
• The Coiling Mountain Beast stepped into the black wind, where maddened voices and fear overwhelmed it.
• Shen Heng recovered memories of Linhai, school, and the Supervision Bureau, and checked the drawing on his left hand.
• A shadow engulfed Shen Heng after he weakly struck at it, and a voice announced that he had obtained one opportunity to use the Authority of Distortion.

Shen Heng emerged from Black Stone Valley with mental pain and a molten-gold hook-shaped mark on his forehead, which he believed granted him one chance to use the authority of distortion. After learning Qin Yu and Stone had waited seven days and found strange, fused Calamity Beasts in the surrounding palace, he went with them to a nearby room to rest.

• Shen Heng regained consciousness in a vast corridor and reunited with Qin Yu and Stone.
• Qin Yu told Shen Heng that she and Stone had waited seven days for him to emerge.
• Shen Heng discovered a molten-gold hook-shaped mark on his forehead and connected it to the authority of distortion.
• Qin Yu reported that the palace had connected rooms and corridors, with bizarre Calamity Beasts that appeared to be fused together.
• Shen Heng sensed no nearby Calamity Beasts, but his mental pain worsened, so he asked Qin Yu and Stone to take him to a room where he could rest.
• Stone carried Shen Heng and Qin Yu toward the second room they had explored while Shen Heng asked what they had found there.

Shen Heng reunited with Qin Yu and Stone inside the vast palace, explained that he had gained one opportunity to use the Authority of Distortion, and recounted his encounter with the Underground Demon. Night Spirit Liya Norlandir and Qin Yu struggled to understand how he had survived, and Liya began to explain the significance of the authority.

• Qin Yu described the palace’s enormous rooms and warned that amalgamated Calamity Beasts could wield much of their strength despite the Origin Prohibition.
• Shen Heng learned that Qin Yu and Stone had gone without food because Qin Yu feared eating the distorted beasts, then gave Stone something to eat.
• After Stone fell asleep, Shen Heng told Qin Yu and Night Spirit Liya Norlandir that a voice had said he gained one opportunity to use the Authority of Distortion.
• Shen Heng recounted losing most of his memories and confronting the Underground Demon, shocking Qin Yu and Night Spirit Liya.
• Night Spirit Liya said the Authority of Distortion might have shaped the palace and the world Shen Heng had visited, then asked whether he understood what it meant.

Shen Heng learned that the Authority of Distortion could help him rescue the others trapped in the temple, but Night Spirit Liya urged him to consider its greater value as a chance to comprehend a path to the Seventh Tier. She revealed that Distortion was the Ruins Realm’s second strongest known authority, leaving Shen Heng asking what power its path would grant him.

• Shen Heng asked how to use the Authority of Distortion, and Night Spirit Liya explained that he could touch his forehead mark with Origin Power and sketch his intention with mental power.
• Night Spirit Liya advised Shen Heng not to use the authority immediately to bring the others out of the temple.
• Night Spirit Liya explained that comprehending a path was the greatest obstacle to reaching the Seventh Tier, and that the Authority of Distortion offered Shen Heng a rare chance to understand the path of distortion.
• Night Spirit Liya declared that Distortion was universally acknowledged as the Ruins Realm’s second strongest authority.
• Shen Heng asked what effects following the path of Distortion would have, and Night Spirit Liya said it meant distorting things and principles according to his wishes.

Night Spirit Liya explained the powers and costs of the authorities of distortion and order to Shen Heng and Qin Yu. Shen Heng learned that distortion could make him nearly unbeatable at his tier, but only one being could reach the ninth tier on any path, leaving him troubled.

• Night Spirit Liya told Qin Yu and Shen Heng that distortion could alter objects and principles according to its wielder's will, though using it consumed substantial Origin Power and mental power.
• Night Spirit Liya explained that distortion struggled against authorities of the same tier but was difficult for ordinary paths to counter.
• Shen Heng asked what authority ranked above distortion, and Night Spirit Liya said Nordrassil commanded order, which could wield other authorities and was stronger in combat.
• Night Spirit Liya said distortion could contend with every authority except order, making its wielder nearly invincible among those of the same tier.
• Night Spirit Liya revealed that only one being could reach the ninth tier on any path, and she worried that Shen Heng might refuse to follow distortion.

Shen Heng weighed whether to pursue the Authority of Distortion after Liya Norlandir explained its immense power and the rarity of Ninth Tier beings. He left the choice open for later and asked how to bring the others out of the hall.

• Liya Norlandir urged Shen Heng to pursue the Authority of Distortion, describing it as the Ruins Realm’s second-strongest authority and a rare path to great power.
• Qin Yu realized more clearly how valuable the Authority of Distortion was and considered that Shen Heng held its key.
• Shen Heng asked whether he could follow a different path later, and Liya Norlandir said it was possible but would take much longer.
• Liya Norlandir pressed Shen Heng to choose the path of distortion, but he said he would decide when the time came.
• Shen Heng asked whether he could bring the others out by sketching with his mental power.

Shen Heng continued learning from Night Spirit Liya about paths beyond the Seventh Tier, including how their scope and type affected their strength and difficulty. He wondered whether Distortion and Order were truly laws, while the group continued onward with Stone.

• Night Spirit Liya explained that using the Authority of Distortion consumed mental power, and Shen Heng rested before continuing his questions.
• Shen Heng asked whether unknown paths could be judged by their names and effects, and Liya said their scope and type offered only rough clues.
• Liya explained that broader paths such as Earth and Ocean were generally stronger than narrower paths, but harder to comprehend and enter.
• Liya described the Night Spirit Clan's three path types as physical phenomena, conceptual phenomena, and laws, noting that their boundaries were blurry and their strengths could vary.
• Shen Heng considered whether Distortion and Order were truly laws as he listened and walked with Qin Yu and Stone.

Liya Norlandir explained how Nordrassil’s three authorities made him the strongest being in the Ruins Realm, then recounted the chaos and mass slaughter that preceded the first Ninth Tier being. She left the story at the rise of the Night Spirit Clan’s Sun King, who helped bring that era to an end.

• Liya Norlandir explained that Nordrassil held the authorities of Order, Sun, and Life, making him the strongest in the Ruins Realm and protecting the Night Spirit Clan during the War of Antiquity.
• Liya Norlandir described how expanding clans fought over territory and resources, enslaving smaller clans and killing vast numbers of Calamity Beasts.
• Liya Norlandir said that Nordrassil became the first Ninth Tier being and gained the Authority of Order, but lacked the ability to resolve the chaos by himself.
• Shen Heng suggested that Nordrassil could not stop other races from developing without killing them, and Liya Norlandir said Nordrassil could not think freely like an ordinary being.
• Liya Norlandir began explaining how the Night Spirit Clan survived under the leadership of its king, the Sun King.