Chapter Summaries

The Molten-Fire Lizard pushed through missile fire toward Shen Heng’s position, melting and detonating missiles with its superheated breath before clashing blades and claws with an unseen opponent. Elsewhere, the Shadow Wolf tried to control panicked Calamity Beasts on the mountain road, but a flying object struck a large rat as it began to restore order.

• The Molten-Fire Lizard ordered the Sky-Skimming Harrier to relay its command, then flew toward the mountaintop where Shen Heng and the others were positioned.
• The Molten-Fire Lizard evaded and melted incoming missiles with its breath as it advanced up the mountain.
• The Molten-Fire Lizard spotted something overhead, shot upward, and collided with an opponent’s blade.
• The Shadow Wolf failed to calm the panicked Calamity Beasts as missiles began bombarding its section of the mountain road.
• The Shadow Wolf killed several Calamity Beasts that crowded against it, then ordered the others to quiet down before a flying object struck the large rat in the face.

Shadow Wolf tried to reassure the Calamity Beasts around him while searching for a way to survive the human assault. After receiving Lord Molten-Fire Lizard’s orders to attack, he reluctantly flew toward the human position as Wu Dayong prepared to meet the incoming Calamity Beasts.

• A missile killed a giant rat beside Shadow Wolf, leaving him shaken and abandoning his plan to lead a counterattack.
• Shadow Wolf told the surrounding Calamity Beasts to calm down and promised to lead them out, though he had no plan for how to do it.
• A messenger announced Lord Molten-Fire Lizard’s orders for fourth-tier and flying Calamity Beasts to attack the nearest human position.
• Shadow Wolf told the others he had to obey the orders and flew toward the human position, deciding to move slowly and let the others go first.
• Wu Dayong shifted the artillery fire and recognized that the bird messenger had summoned Calamity Beasts to attack.
• As Calamity Beasts flew toward his troops, Wu Dayong ordered the inspectors and soldiers to prepare to act while diverting some firepower.

The Stone-Armored Beast endured a human bombardment while Calamity Beasts searched for ways to escape, but fear left it unwilling to move. After witnessing a missile blast apart several beasts, it hid in its shell, convinced humans were too terrifying.

• The Stone-Armored Beast stayed curled on the ground as bullets struck its armor during the attack on the human city.
• A Tier 2 Yaksha Ant invited the Stone-Armored Beast to escape by climbing down the rock face, but it refused.
• The Yaksha Ant recruited two Calamity Beasts and set off, while other beasts began climbing up or down the rock face.
• A human missile struck several Calamity Beasts, scattering their blood and limbs and driving the Stone-Armored Beast back inside its shell.

The Calamity Beasts abandoned their retreat plan and tried to escape by climbing the cliffs, turning the horde's attack into a rout. After Chen Hua defeated the Ice Ape at his position, he and the others spotted a fifth-tier battle approaching and realized they were in its path.

• Calamity Beasts began climbing the cliffs to escape, while artillery and falling rocks sent many tumbling to their deaths.
• Chen Hua pinned the wounded Ice Ape and beat it until it stopped moving.
• Chen Hua asked about the battle, and an inspector reported that the front and rear ambush positions were under pressure while the others were holding up.
• Zhao Ming and the others saw white flames and two figures fighting in the distance, realizing the battle was nearing their position.
• Chen Hua ordered everyone to grab the equipment and get out of the way as the fighters came straight toward them.

Chen Hua and the soldiers evacuated the ambush position as Shen Heng’s battle with the Molten-Fire Lizard reached the mountaintop. Shen Heng tried to draw the beast away from the position, then faced its fiery ranged attack with his own Blast technique.

• The commander ordered the soldiers to dismantle their weapons and retreat into the cavern as Shen Heng and the Molten-Fire Lizard’s fight approached.
• Chen Hua helped move ammunition into the cavern and stayed at its entrance, judging that he could not defeat the middle fifth-tier Molten-Fire Lizard.
• Shen Heng struck the Molten-Fire Lizard onto the mountaintop, then decided he needed to lure it away before more Calamity Beasts escaped.
• The Molten-Fire Lizard accused Shen Heng of learning its route from the two Sky-Sundering Kamaitachi and attacked him with blazing fireballs.
• Shen Heng formed Origin Power projectiles with Blast and fired them toward the Molten-Fire Lizard’s incoming attack.

The human forces launched their ambush against the Calamity Beasts, using a mountain collapse, artillery, and coordinated attacks to hold them back. As Qin Yu watched an A+ Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni begin to move, the voice in her mind urged her to attack the weak point where its body joined its tail.

• Xu Yu ordered the soldiers to trigger the explosives, causing the mountainside to collapse onto the Calamity Beasts.
• The commander redirected firing positions three and five to bombard the river as the battle continued.
• Zheng Guomin held back a tiger-like Calamity Beast while the inspectors attacked it.
• Zhou Xuan summoned lightning to strike the wounded beast after telling everyone to clear away.
• Qin Yu spotted the Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni moving from the rear and asked whether she could handle it.
• The voice in Qin Yu's mind told her the Suanni's tail joint was its weak point and urged her to break off its hook.

Qin Yu prepared to use her Concealment ability to make the Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni believe its weak point was under attack. After deflecting her first hidden arrow and several follow-up shots, the beast stopped and searched the area uncertainly.

• Qin Yu learned that Concealment could hide an attack until it neared the Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni’s tail hook, making the beast suspect its weak point was targeted.
• Qin Yu nocked an arrow and waited until the Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni approached within range.
• The Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni broke away from the beast tide and dashed toward the humans, puzzled that they did not come to confront it.
• Qin Yu fired a concealed arrow, but the Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni deflected it with its tail hook.
• Qin Yu sent more arrows at the beast, slowing its advance until it stopped and searched uncertainly in her direction.

Shen Heng battled the injured Molten-Fire Lizard and decided to kill it rather than risk letting it return and endanger the Sky-Sundering Kamaitachi. The Molten-Fire Lizard lured him into a narrow rift between two peaks, and Shen Heng pursued it deeper inside.

• The Molten-Fire Lizard struggled to find a way to defeat Shen Heng as he pursued it through the mountains.
• Shen Heng weighed killing the Molten-Fire Lizard against letting it escape, then chose to kill it for its Origin Crystal and materials.
• Shen Heng used his mental power to guide three streaks of light into the Molten-Fire Lizard’s fireballs and continued pursuing it.
• Their battle passed through mountain paths and prepared ambush sites, forcing Calamity Beasts to flee while the humans handled the disruption.
• The Molten-Fire Lizard flew into a narrow rift between two peaks, and Shen Heng followed it deeper inside.

The Molten-Fire Lizard tried to trap its pursuer by blasting the canyon cliff, but the black-armored human appeared above it and struck. Elsewhere, Han Ling used her sniper rifle to kill the One-Horned Tiger as the beast tide advanced.

• The Molten-Fire Lizard fired a Flame Explosion Bullet into the cliff, triggering a rockslide to block the black-armored human’s path.
• Believing the human was forcing through the rubble, the Molten-Fire Lizard prepared to ambush him.
• The black-armored human appeared above the Molten-Fire Lizard and slashed down at it.
• Han Ling reloaded and aimed her sniper rifle at the moving One-Horned Tiger.
• Han Ling fired a series of shots that brought the One-Horned Tiger down and exploded its head.

After killing the Molten-Fire Lizard, Shen Heng learned that the ambush had killed about 60% of the beast tide but lacked ammunition to finish the rest. He planned to use his emotion-influencing ability to drive the remaining Calamity Beasts out, then paused to act on another opportunity.

• Shen Heng returned to the central ambush point carrying the Molten-Fire Lizard's corpse and told Xu Ruiyu that he had killed it.
• Xu Ruiyu reported that the ambush points were holding, about 60% of the Calamity Beasts had been killed, and the remaining ammunition could kill or wound only about 20% more.
• Xu Ruiyu suggested clearing the remaining beasts gradually from both ends, but Shen Heng proposed trying to provoke them into charging out after replenishing his Origin Power.
• Shen Heng considered the problem of recovering materials from the ravine and decided Elder Zhou could handle it while the soldiers collected Origin Crystals and valuable materials.
• After replenishing his Origin Power, Shen Heng prepared to act, then paused and turned toward another direction.

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.