Chapter Summaries

The inspectors debated whether to attack a Calamity Beast anchor point, and Shen Heng proposed a different target based on how the beasts would respond. The chapter ended before he named that target.

• Wang Hu argued that the inspectors should take the risk of attacking, while Liang Yanhao urged them to abandon the operation because its costs outweighed its likely impact.
• Wang Hu called for a vote after neither man could persuade the other.
• Three squads voted to attack, four voted against, and Shen Heng's squad had not yet chosen.
• Shen Heng said his squad would attack, but not the current anchor point.
• Shen Heng reasoned that the Calamity Beasts would likely respond by transferring a nearby beast, and Wang Hu and Liang Yanhao realized what that implied.

Shen Heng led the group to the Eye of Earth Marrow, where they found a formidable force of Calamity Beasts still guarding the crystal source. As the group argued over whether to attack, Shen Heng proposed sneaking underground to plant explosives near its core and retreat.

• Shen Heng argued that the group should target the Calamity Beasts’ source, and showed a map indicating a nearby Eye of Earth Marrow.
• Two days later, the group scouted the Eye of Earth Marrow and Shen Heng counted roughly 2,200 Calamity Beasts, including one early fifth-tier beast.
• Liang Yanhao opposed attacking because the remaining beasts outnumbered the group, while Wang Hu argued they could advance underground and fight only a few at a time.
• Shen Heng proposed sneaking underground to the Eye of Earth Marrow’s core, planting explosives, and retreating.

Shen Heng argued that the inspectors should risk entering the underground to destroy the Eye of Earth Marrow, despite Liang Yanhao’s concerns about casualties and Calamity Beasts. He reminded them that they were the first line of defense and that delaying could leave Blue Star facing a full invasion in only a few years.

• Zhou Xuan warned that leaving underground could be dangerous if the fifth-tier Calamity Beast interfered, and said killing it would be best if possible.
• Liang Yanhao opposed the plan, arguing that fighting among the many ordinary Calamity Beasts could bog down the inspectors and cause heavy losses.
• Wang Hu challenged Liang Yanhao, and the group considered putting the decision to a vote.
• Shen Heng acknowledged that the risks Liang Yanhao raised were reasonable, then argued that common sense could not guide them against an accelerating invasion by the Ruins Realm.
• Shen Heng urged the inspectors to act while they still had the opportunity, warning that otherwise they might soon watch Calamity Beasts attack ordinary people and regret not acting.

A Rock Beast discovered Shen Heng and Zhou Xuan’s group moving through the underground tunnels and alerted the Scalearmor Lizard. The humans hurried toward the Crystal Melting Zone as the Scalearmor Lizard ordered the Calamity Beasts to gather there and notify Lord Feather Owl.

• The Rock Beast sent the Digging Weasel to investigate underground movement, then realized the humans were approaching and shouted an alarm.
• Shen Heng told Zhou Xuan and the others that they had been discovered, and the group ran toward the Crystal Melting Zone.
• The Rock Beast reported the underground attack to the Scalearmor Lizard, who learned that more than forty humans were heading for the Crystal Melting Zone.
• The Scalearmor Lizard ordered a messenger to summon the Calamity Beasts and send the Gray-Winged Sparrow to inform Lord Feather Owl.
• At the bottom of the Eye of Earth Marrow, the Earth Wolf scolded the Calamity Beasts working to produce crystals and wondered about the commotion above.

Human forces entered the Crystal Melting Zone, where Shen Heng used his voice to rout the Calamity Beasts and kill their overseers. He divided his squad to guard the passages and led Zheng Guomin toward the last one, ordering everyone to hold off the stronger, more numerous beasts.

• Earth Wolf ordered the Calamity Beasts to keep working, but humans emerged through the rock wall and killed it before it could raise the alarm.
• Fourth-tier Calamity Beast overseers rallied hundreds of beasts to charge the humans.
• Shen Heng shouted “Scram!”, frightening the charging beasts into fleeing through the passages.
• A fourth-tier overseer killed several fleeing beasts to stop them, but the humans killed the overseers in under a minute.
• Shen Heng assigned the Taowu Squad, Deep Blue Squad, Wang Hu, and Liang Yanhao to guard the passages, then led Zheng Guomin toward the remaining passage and told the group to hold the beasts off.

Wang Hu and Liang Yanhao confronted an early fifth-tier Scalearmor Lizard and decided to try killing it instead of merely holding it off. While Zhou Xuan and the demolition team worked to destroy the Eye of Earth Marrow, Shen Heng assessed his dwindling strength and considered going to support the other fighters.

• Wang Hu proposed killing the Scalearmor Lizard, and Liang Yanhao agreed to try as the beast charged toward them.
• Zhou Xuan recovered Origin Power after using much of it to transport more than forty people underground and maintain their passage.
• Qin Yu and the demolition team planted bursting bombs around the Crystal Melting Zone, while Zhou Xuan worried that their remaining supply might not be enough to destroy the Eye of Earth Marrow.
• Zhou Xuan heard terrified voices from another passage and worried about Shen Heng and Old Zheng as the team quickened its demolition work.
• Shen Heng faced several Calamity Beasts after using Fear Invasion and considered going to support the other fighters despite having only about thirty percent of his Origin Power left.

Shen Heng planned with Zheng Guomin to lure a Shadow Nightmare Leopard into position and exploit a chance to strike, while the Calamity Beasts debated how to respond. The beasts spotted Shen Heng charging toward them.

• Shen Heng took responsibility for the battle's problems and asked Zheng Guomin to help draw a Shadow Nightmare Leopard away.
• Shen Heng told Zheng Guomin to feign focus on his own fight, endure attacks if needed, and intervene when a leopard tried to ambush him.
• The injured Shadow Nightmare Leopard and its larger brother decided to keep Shen Heng and Zheng Guomin occupied, while the Bloodclaw Jackal questioned their plan.
• The larger Shadow Nightmare Leopard warned the others as Shen Heng charged toward them.

Shen Heng and Zheng Guomin fought the Bloodclaw Jackal and two Shadow Nightmare Leopards, then Shen Heng changed their approach as the battle shifted. Elsewhere, Wang Hu and Liang Yanhao struggled to break through the Scalearmor Lizard’s defenses.

• Shen Heng charged the three Calamity Beasts, while the Bloodclaw Jackal tried to flank him and the larger Shadow Nightmare Leopard hurled a huge clod of earth at them.
• Shen Heng and Zheng Guomin drew the two Shadow Nightmare Leopards toward the battlefield where Zheng Guomin was fighting the Bloodclaw Jackal.
• Zheng Guomin wounded the Bloodclaw Jackal, and Shen Heng joined their fight before telling Zheng Guomin they were changing their approach.
• The Scalearmor Lizard knocked Wang Hu into a wall and extinguished his flames with an Origin Power attack.
• Liang Yanhao urged Wang Hu to fight harder, and Wang Hu suggested concentrating their attacks on the Scalearmor Lizard.

Qi Yue and Cao Mingyu fought a horde of Calamity Beasts while Zheng Guomin drew the Shadow Nightmare Leopard and Bloodclaw Jackal into a trap. The chapter ended as Zheng Guomin unleashed a fourfold vibrating blade strike at the charging Bloodclaw Jackal.

• Qi Yue used metal threads to injure the charging Calamity Beasts, and Cao Mingyu struck a Scythe Mantis that broke through his net.
• Qi Yue worried about the other fighters as he and Cao Mingyu prepared to face the remaining beasts.
• The smaller Shadow Nightmare Leopard attacked Zheng Guomin alongside the Bloodclaw Jackal, but Zheng grabbed its leg and held on despite its blows.
• The Shadow Nightmare Leopard expected the Bloodclaw Jackal and its big brother to rescue it, but Zheng stopped to face the Jackal’s attack.
• Zheng Guomin used Fivefold Force · Vibrating Blade · Fourfold against the charging Bloodclaw Jackal.

Shen Heng and Zheng Guomin drove off two Shadow Nightmare Leopards but had to decide whether to reinforce the other passages or guard against the beasts’ return. Shen Heng left Zheng Guomin to hold their passage and ran to help, while Lin Yang and Chu Yu struggled to last until the explosives were ready.

• Zheng Guomin killed the jackal-headed beast, and he and Shen Heng fought off the Shadow Nightmare Leopards, which fled with the remaining Calamity Beasts.
• Shen Heng decided Zheng Guomin should guard their passage while he went to reinforce the others, warning him that the leopards might return.
• Shen Heng ran toward the Crystal Melting Zone and learned from Qin Yu that the team needed about fifteen more minutes to finish placing explosives.
• Lin Yang told Chu Yu that his Origin Power was running low and he could hold out for only seven or eight more minutes.
• A voice sounded beside Lin Yang, and the tide of low-tier Calamity Beasts began retreating; Lin Yang and Chu Yu resumed their attacks.

Wu Hao and Liu Yue struggled to hold back the Calamity Beasts after losing a teammate, but Liu Yue fell to Rotfang and Wu Hao nearly died trying to protect him. Shen Heng arrived and stabilized the battle, prompting Wu Hao to ask whether their sacrifice really meant so much.

• Wu Hao fought off the Calamity Beasts while Liu Yue, badly wounded, continued fighting beside him.
• Rotfang ambushed Liu Yue and crushed his shoulder, but Liu Yue stabbed the beast in the eye before collapsing.
• Wu Hao tried to protect Liu Yue, but Zhao Gang urged him to put Liu Yue down so they could keep fighting; the beasts then devoured Liu Yue's corpse.
• Wu Hao and Zhao Gang lost ground and suffered more wounds as the remaining Calamity Beasts pressed their attack.
• Shen Heng arrived, cut down several beasts, and halted the advance; Wu Hao asked whether it really meant that much.

Shen Heng regrouped the injured inspectors at the Eye of Earth Marrow’s Crystal Melting Zone after their plan drew the Calamity Beasts into a standoff. He investigated how the crystals formed, but learned that the living branches had suddenly died, leaving their harvesting method unclear.

• Shi Ruiyuan reinforced a rock wall to separate the fourth-tier Calamity Beasts, then led his teammates to regroup at the Crystal Melting Zone after receiving orders over the team channel.
• Shi Ruiyuan saw many injured inspectors and missing teammates as the pursuing Calamity Beasts stopped at the crowded zone.
• Shen Heng arrived with Zheng Guomin, Zhou Xuan, and Qin Yu, checked Zheng Guomin’s injuries, and inspected the soil and branches Zhou Xuan had collected for the Research Department.
• Shen Heng explained that Calamity Beasts compressed energy around the Eye of Earth Marrow and that branches condensed it into crude crystals before a central pit refined them.
• Zhou Xuan told Shen Heng that the branches died whenever he separated them from the main branch, and Zheng Guomin and Qin Yu reacted with concern.

Shen Heng led the inspectors out of the Crystal Melting Zone after they discovered the branch was dying and counted eleven casualties. He used a stone wall and deception to help the group escape the Fourth Tier beasts and the Scalearmor Lizard, then explained how he had prevented it from pursuing them.

• Zhou Xuan suspected that taking pieces from the branch had accelerated its death, and Shen Heng decided its destruction was unavoidable.
• Shen Heng counted thirty-one inspectors present and ordered everyone to withdraw, leaving eleven of the forty-four who had entered the Eye of Earth Marrow unaccounted for.
• Shen Heng told Shi Ruiyuan to use his remaining Origin Power to raise a wall that blocked the Calamity Beasts behind them.
• The group reached Wang Hu and Liang Yanhao, who were fighting the Scalearmor Lizard, and Shen Heng signaled Zhou Xuan to open a way through the rock wall.
• Shen Heng spoke with the Scalearmor Lizard, convincing it to stay behind while the inspectors withdrew.
• Wang Hu asked how Shen Heng had stopped the Scalearmor Lizard from pursuing them, and Shen Heng explained his deception.

Han Ling rejoined Shen Heng’s group after killing Calamity Beasts trying to carry news from the Eye of Earth Marrow, where eleven inspectors had died. Shen Heng refused to say whether the operation’s results justified the losses, while the Scalearmor Lizard realized the returning beast tide meant it had been tricked.

• Han Ling told Shen Heng she had killed every Calamity Beast attempting to relay news, though a group led by a fourth tier Calamity Beast had wounded her.
• Han Ling asked whether the missing inspectors had died, and Shen Heng confirmed they had, without their bodies being recovered.
• Lin Yang asked whether the operation had achieved its purpose, and Shen Heng said it had a considerable effect but could not say whether that justified the deaths.
• Cao Mingyu questioned Shen Heng’s grim response, while Qi Yue explained that facing the reality of their losses could help the survivors grow; Gu Lingxuan reflected that the world was cruel.
• The Scalearmor Lizard encountered hundreds of Calamity Beasts returning from ahead and realized it had been tricked into leaving them behind.

One-Horned Lizard followed Feather Owl and a barbed-tail Calamity Beast up to the Lion King’s palace, where he learned that a Nordrassil sapling and the Eye of Earth Marrow had been destroyed. The Lion King accepted responsibility for approving the plan and revealed that he had not expected the humans to reach Feather Owl’s territory.

• Scalearmor Lizard and the other beasts heard a rumble that shook their passage near the Crystal Melting Zone.
• One-Horned Lizard followed Feather Owl and a barbed-tail Calamity Beast up a mountain road to a vast white palace.
• Feather Owl and the two Calamity Beasts knelt before the Lion King, who asked whether the Eye of Earth Marrow had been destroyed.
• Feather Owl admitted that the Eye’s destruction had killed a Nordrassil sapling and left the Eye unable to be repaired for some time, then asked the Lion King to grant him death.
• The Lion King dismissed Feather Owl’s request, saying he had approved the plan and had not expected the humans to go to Feather Owl’s territory.

After the failed defense at the Eye of Earth Marrow, the Lion King reassigned Feather Owl and promoted the One-Horned Lizard and Yellow-Maned Spiketail to more important duties. Meanwhile, Zhou Xuan, Qin Yu, Han Ling, and Zheng Guomin waited anxiously at the base while Shen Heng was questioned about the expedition’s casualties.

• The Lion King absolved Feather Owl of primary blame but held the Calamity Beast responsible for that sector accountable, transferring Earth Rhinoceros and its Eye of Earth Marrow to Feather Owl.
• The Lion King assigned the Arcane Lizard as Feather Owl’s adjutant and the Yellow-Maned Spiketail to oversee a future Anchor Point, ordering source cores for the Arcane Lizard to help it reach the Fifth Tier.
• After Feather Owl and the two Calamity Beasts left, the Lion King gazed into the distorted palace and murmured, “Nordrassil...?”
• Zhou Xuan and Qin Yu worried that Shen Heng might be punished because more than ten members of the expedition had died, while Han Ling told Zhou Xuan to stop speculating.
• Zheng Guomin remained silent as the group waited anxiously for Shen Heng.

Shen Heng defended his decision to alter the operation and destroy the Eye of Earth Marrow despite the deaths of eleven inspectors, while the other leaders debated whether the sacrifice was justified. Zhang Weijun withheld judgment pending further results and ordered Shen Heng to step down temporarily as captain and stop exploring.

• Shen Heng recounted the operation and acknowledged that he had known many inspectors might die when he chose to destroy the Eye of Earth Marrow.
• Wang Yuanshan challenged Shen Heng over risking eleven elite inspectors for an outcome whose value remained unknown, while Zhou Zhenguo argued that destroying the Eye might delay the enemy for years.
• Zhang Weijun told Shen Heng that every Fourth Tier inspector’s death required sufficient justification and that he would report the relevant information to his superiors.
• Zhang Weijun said Shen Heng would receive neither commendation nor criticism until the results were known, and ordered him to step down temporarily as captain and refrain from further exploration.
• Zhang Weijun told Shen Heng that his squad could choose whether to explore independently or remain at the base, then asked whether he objected.

After the debriefing, Shen Heng discussed his punishment, the threat from the Ruins Realm, and his training with Li Daoyi. Back in the conference room, Zhang Weijun and the others prepared their reports and debated what recommendation to make about Shen Heng’s actions.

• Shen Heng told Li Daoyi he had anticipated punishment for his actions but believed seizing opportunities was necessary to resist the Ruins Realm.
• Shen Heng said he doubted humanity could hold out against the Ruins Realm for long, and Li Daoyi urged him to rest while grounded at the base.
• Shen Heng told Li Daoyi he had reached late fourth tier in Origin Power Manipulation, and Li Daoyi urged him to advance faster.
• Zhang Weijun, Zhou Zhenguo, and Wang Yuanshan agreed to report the operation, the fallen, and the risk that Calamity Beasts would send nearby forces to attack.
• Zhang Weijun asked what recommendation they should attach regarding Shen Heng, and Wang Yuanshan questioned how the cautious commander had acted with such disregard for the consequences.

Zhou Zhenguo and Wang Yuanshan debated whether Shen Heng’s decision to destroy the Eye of Earth Marrow was courageous or reckless, while Zhang Weijun delayed judgment pending further results. At dinner, Shen Heng accepted responsibility for the decision as other inspectors blamed him for their losses, and Zhou Xuan grew angry about the possibility of punishment.

• Zhou Zhenguo defended Shen Heng’s battlefield decision as a necessary gamble, while Wang Yuanshan argued that it had recklessly cost eleven lives.
• Zhang Weijun withheld judgment until more results came in, and Wang Yuanshan favored a light punishment as a warning.
• Wu Hao and Zhao Gang, along with other inspectors, gave Shen Heng’s squad troubled looks as they left and entered the dining hall.
• Zheng Guomin told Zhou Xuan that the inspectors likely blamed Shen Heng for the deaths of their teammates because he made the final decision.
• Shen Heng said he would bear the consequences as the operation’s commander, while Han Ling gripped her spoon and Zhou Xuan questioned the possibility of disciplinary action.
• Zhou Xuan grew increasingly aggrieved as he poked at his food, then noticed a round-faced figure entering through the doorway.

Zhou Xuan tried to keep Shen Heng from bearing sole responsibility for the decision to pursue the Eye of Earth Marrow, so he organized a statement showing it had been made collectively. He left with Cao Mingyu and Qi Yue’s signatures and continued seeking support without telling Shen Heng.

• Zhou Xuan told Lü Wenrui he wanted to challenge the base’s possible punishment of Shen Heng, and Lü suggested submitting a statement of circumstances.
• Lü Wenrui advised Zhou Xuan to gather signatures from people outside Shen Heng’s squad so the statement would seem more convincing.
• Zhou Xuan approached Cao Mingyu and Qi Yue after training and explained that the base might discipline Shen Heng for the operation.
• Cao Mingyu and Qi Yue agreed that Shen Heng should not shoulder responsibility for a decision made by group vote, and they signed Zhou Xuan’s statement.
• Zhou Xuan thanked them and set off to seek signatures from more people.