Recaps

Shen Heng and the Calamity Beasts used unrest among the Black Rats and a prayer to the Black Rat God to obtain a possible route out of Black Stone Valley. They found a nearby gateway, but the forest attacked as they rushed toward it.

• Shen Heng discovered that Liya was hidden in Qin Yu and learned that she was a Night Spirit from the Ruins Realm.
• Liya tried to contact the World Tree sapling through prayer, but it had severed its connection to their world.
• Shen Heng and the Two-Horned Lizard stirred unrest among the Calamity Beasts, while Feixu tried to identify and control the rebels.
• Shen Heng suspected the Black Rat God could grant wishes in exchange for offerings and planned to use it to create an escape route.
• The Two-Horned Lizard led an attack on the Black Rat temple, and Shen Heng, Qin Yu, and Stone entered the cave with a Black Rat corpse.
• The Two-Horned Lizard and Shen Heng prayed for escape, but their first attempts failed until Shen Heng’s prayer brought a gateway into the valley.
• Shen Heng led Qin Yu, Stone, and the Two-Horned Lizard toward a glimmer among the trees, which he recognized as a nearby gateway.
• Shen Heng and the Calamity Beasts ran toward the light as branches and vines attacked them, and a vast shadow descended with eerie voices calling them bad children.

Shen Heng and his companions survived Black Spine’s pursuit and helped spark a Calamity Beast revolt to reach the portal. Shen Heng stayed behind to seek a way to rescue the others, while the Black Rats reasserted control and the Coiling Mountain Beast began to recover fragments of its identity.

• Shen Heng led Qin Yu, Stone, and Two-Horned Lizard through the awakened forest, using their abilities and attacks to slow Black Spine until the group escaped its pursuit.
• Shen Heng and his companions discovered that the Black Rats had fixed the portal’s location through prayer, then concluded that the weakened Black Rat control could make another revolt possible.
• Shen Heng’s plan helped Hidden Leopard’s overheard escape discussions spread, and more than a hundred Calamity Beasts broke from the mines and fought their way toward the valley entrance.
• Two-Horned Lizard sent Black Jade Lion and Steel-Mane Bear toward the portal, then followed, and Shen Heng, Qin Yu, and Stone also reached it after the revolt overwhelmed the Black Rats.
• Shen Heng sent Qin Yu and Stone through the portal and went alone to investigate the temple, while Two-Horned Lizard emerged elsewhere with the Thunder-Scale Beast and regained his memories.
• The Black Rats ambushed the Calamity Beasts who remained in the valley, restored their mining control, and debated punishing or replacing the captive workers.
• Shen Heng sacrificed Fourth Tier Black Rats to question the Black Rat God, learned that the twisted rules might lead beings out of the real world, and considered using the Underground Demon.
• The Coiling Mountain Beast awoke with missing memories, began mining under Black Rat supervision, and found strange pictures carved into its arm before seeing a pitch-black fellow fly toward two arguing beasts.