Recaps

Shen Heng defeated the Bone Porcelain Puppet, then investigated the nature of his Configuration as the Ruins Realm’s overlap with Blue Star intensified. The arc ended with officials confronting the danger of Light Gates and an enormous gate appearing above Lanikai Island.

• Sun Mingyuan and the students fought Shadow Hounds at the gymnasium while Yu Chunhe began trembling after the larger beast entered.
• Shen Heng investigated the Linhai incidents as Han Ling, Wei Leyang, Lei Zhijian, and others fought Calamity Beasts across the city.
• Shen Heng traveled with Han Ling to Suicheng, where Gu Lingxuan and her team struggled against the Bone Porcelain Puppet.
• Shen Heng and Han Ling arrived, and Shen Heng fought the Bone Porcelain Puppet before destroying it with crimson streaks.
• Shen Heng returned to Linhai, trained Han Ling and Dahuang, and sensed that eight nuclear explosions had occurred around the world.
• Shen Heng visited Shen Shuning and met Le Gu Nan and Li Daoyi in the Capital, where they examined his unusual Configuration.
• Yan Yu studied Shen Heng’s Configuration and measured his Origin Power efficiency, while Li Daoyi advised him to sense its circulation.
• Zhao Yonggang announced that regional overlaps and four Light Gates had appeared, then showed the meeting an enormous gate above Lanikai Island.

Shen Heng left Linhai to join the fight at the Plateau Erosion Zone, where he and his team repelled a major Calamity Beast assault at the cost of lives. As the authorities prepared to extract resources and brief the public, Mei Duo promised the Thorn Squad a salary so they could keep cultivating while hunting was suspended.

• Zhao Yonggang told the representatives that twenty-three Erosion Zones had been confirmed worldwide and announced that they would be sent to fight the organized Calamity Beasts emerging from them.
• Shen Heng chose Han Ling to accompany him to the Erosion Zone, left Wei Leyang in charge of Linhai, and explained his dangerous assignment to Xu Yuqin.
• Shen Heng and Han Ling arrived at the plateau, joined Li Daoyi at the first defensive line, and reunited with Lü Wenrui and Tang Yuanyang at Fire Point No. 7.
• A horde of more than fifteen hundred Calamity Beasts attacked the defenses, and Shen Heng, Han Ling, Tang Yuanyang, and Lü Wenrui fought while soldiers evacuated.
• Shen Heng and Han Ling killed powerful beasts as Tang Yuanyang and Lü Wenrui helped protect the retreat, but pursuing Calamity Beasts killed soldiers and trapped others in an overturned vehicle.
• After the battle, Shen Heng distributed the recovered Origin Crystals, and Lü Mingzhe reported that one inspector and twenty-three soldiers had died at the Plateau Erosion Zone.
• Zhao Yonggang ordered officials to share intelligence about the beasts’ changed tactics, prepared resource extraction at the stable Yuchuan Light Gate, and briefed the media on the Ruins Realm.
• The Thorn Squad worried that suspended hunting would leave them without income, and Mei Duo promised each member a monthly salary of 100,000 yuan.

Shen Heng helped establish a base inside the Erosion Zone as Calamity Beasts gathered for a massive assault. After nuclear strikes reduced their numbers, the surviving beasts reached the walls, where Han Ling and the inspectors fought to hold the defenses.

• Mei Duo offered the Thorn Squad money to stay together, while Ye Chengyun invited them to join his Light Gate exploration guild as Shen Shuning and Xiao Bai'er discussed the dangers of Erosion Zones.
• Shen Heng lent Lü Wenrui nineteen Origin Crystals and warned Han Ling that containing Calamity Beasts might not stop the Ruins Realm invasion, then learned from Li Daoyi that headquarters planned a base beyond the Light Gate.
• Jiang Lin drove off Calamity Beasts long enough for Zhang Weijun to lead inspectors, soldiers, and equipment through the Light Gate, where they began building a fortified base.
• Shen Heng sensed Calamity Beasts gathering near the base and reported their movements, while Li Daoyi explained that the Erosion Zone limited the actions of the strongest beasts.
• As the base expanded, Shen Heng detected nearly ten thousand Calamity Beasts approaching and urged Zhang Weijun to use nuclear missiles against them.
• Ten miniature nuclear warheads killed about two thousand beasts, but the survivors scattered and advanced from several directions, so Zhang Weijun ordered further missile strikes on predicted positions.
• The remaining Calamity Beasts charged the base, and Han Ling, Yu Yanhui, Lin Zhaoran, Lü Wenrui, Tang Yuanyang, and other defenders fought them at the walls.
• The distant lion's roar drove the beasts into a berserk attack as Gu Lingxuan and other inspectors struggled against the charging horde.

Shen Heng used his sound-based ability to turn the beasts against one another, then helped the base test the Erosion Zone’s limits with a nuclear strike. After the strike nearly destabilized the zone, he suspected the beasts were managing a fragile balance as the story moved toward a directors’ meeting.

• Shen Heng’s roar drove the Calamity Beasts into madness, letting the inspectors retreat while the distant lion withdrew without attacking.
• After the defenders honored the dead, Zhang Weijun awarded Shen Heng for his scouting and battle contributions, and Shen Heng began studying emotional control to improve his ability.
• Shen Heng sensed that the Erosion Zone was nearing its capacity and warned Zhang Weijun that the Calamity Beasts had stopped gathering, prompting the base to prepare an early strike.
• Outside the base, Shen Heng learned from Li Daoyi that a Sixth Tier beast had ordered other powerful beasts to gather their forces, then hypnotized a Cloud-Rending Eagle before a beast tide approached.
• The base launched a nuclear missile that killed or injured thousands of Calamity Beasts but made space inside the Erosion Zone unstable, and the survivors withdrew to report to their court council.
• Over a month later, Shen Heng reached the middle of the fourth tier and suspected the Calamity Beasts had deliberately maintained a population balance as he and Han Ling headed to a directors’ meeting.