Chapter Summaries

Shen Heng listened as Zhou Zhenguo and Lu Xunzhou argued over whether to spread Bedrock City’s forces among threatened cities or concentrate them for a chance to ambush the Calamity Beasts. Zhou asked Shen Heng to define war, and Shen Heng searched the military theories he had read for an answer he could truly understand.

• Lu Xunzhou argued that sending a thousand soldiers to aid another city would make little difference and warned that Zhou Zhenguo’s aggressive plan risked leaving Bedrock City exposed.
• Zhou Zhenguo insisted that the opportunity to catch the Calamity Beasts might never come again, while Lu Xunzhou challenged the risks of his plan.
• Zhou Zhenguo asked the officers what war was, and they described it as defeating the enemy efficiently and as a contest of strength and people.
• Zhou Zhenguo asked Shen Heng whether he had read the recommended military books and then asked him to explain what war was.
• Shen Heng considered the books and the officers’ answers but still felt he had not grasped the essence of war.

In the command room, Shen Heng described war as violence used to compel an enemy to submit, drawing on the fear and helplessness he had seen in dying Calamity Beasts. Zhou Zhenguo recognized Shen Heng’s insight and asked him to summarize war in one sentence.

• Shen Heng recalled killing over a thousand Calamity Beasts and seeing their fear, despair, and helplessness as they died.
• Shen Heng reasoned that many Calamity Beasts followed their group because they could not resist and still had a chance to survive, without knowing what they were fighting for.
• Lu Xunzhou explained that powerful high-tier Calamity Beasts could force weaker ones to follow, while uncertain conditions made escape unlikely.
• Shen Heng argued that war pursued objectives and swept individuals into it, while survival mattered most to those who did not know what they fought for.
• Zhou Zhenguo assessed Shen Heng’s understanding of war and considered bringing him into his system rather than leaving him in the Supervision Bureau.
• Zhou Zhenguo asked Shen Heng to define war in one sentence, and Shen Heng answered that it was an act of violence to compel the enemy to submit to their will.

Shen Heng weighed the purpose and costs of the war against the Ruins Realm as Zhou Zhenguo and Lu Xunzhou argued over whether to concentrate or divide their troops. He proposed splitting the remaining forces among Bedrock City, Chongshan City, and Frontier-Pacifying City, then explained why the two cities would gain little from the added soldiers.

• Zhou Zhenguo argued that the war served the purpose of defending Blue Star and that the strategy required building cities, fighting Calamity Beasts, and harassing the Anchor Points.
• Shen Heng reflected that ordinary soldiers, rather than inspectors, had borne the front-line burden and made the strategy possible.
• Lu Xunzhou opposed splitting the forces, arguing that four separate groups would have little effect even if they encountered Calamity Beasts.
• Shen Heng proposed leaving one unit in Bedrock City and sending the other two to Chongshan City and Frontier-Pacifying City.
• Shen Heng told Zhou Zhenguo that the added soldiers would bring little combat strength to Chongshan City and Frontier-Pacifying City and would still struggle against a prepared beast tide.

After debating whether to divide their forces into two or three groups, Shen Heng and Lu Xunzhou left the command room and discussed Shen Heng joining the military system. Shen Heng rejected Lu Xunzhou’s recruitment attempt as detrimental to unity and walked away, leaving Lu Xunzhou ashamed and surprised.

• Lu Xunzhou argued that splitting their forces into two groups would be safer than dividing them into three, and Shen Heng favored his plan over Elder Zhou’s.
• As they walked through Bedrock City, Lu Xunzhou thanked Shen Heng for the discussion, then asked whether he had considered transferring into the military system.
• Lu Xunzhou said the military would likely gain strength and resources over time, and that Shen Heng could benefit from joining it.
• Shen Heng told Lu Xunzhou that recruiting him was detrimental to unity, then said he had somewhere else to be and left.
• Lu Xunzhou apologized and watched Shen Heng go, wondering whether people like him really existed.

After Shen Heng declined Lu Xunzhou’s recruitment because he feared transferring would harm unity, Zhou Zhenguo reflected on divisions between the military and the Supervision Bureau and began drafting a plan to integrate them. Shen Heng considered the identity barrier between the two systems and weighed whether its early signs could be addressed.

• Lu Xunzhou told Zhou Zhenguo that Shen Heng had refused to transfer to the military because he believed it would be detrimental to unity.
• Zhou Zhenguo reflected on how loyalty to one’s own system could cause factional divisions and concluded that unity mattered most amid the threat of the beast tide.
• Zhou Zhenguo drafted a report titled “Report on the Necessity of Integrating the Supervision Bureau and the Military, with Recommendations” and had Tianshu send Shen Heng the title.
• Shen Heng noticed that Supervision Bureau members greeted him more naturally than soldiers did and considered whether their differing reactions reflected an identity barrier.
• Shen Heng reasoned that such divisions arose from human instinct and could not be entirely eliminated, though the early divide between the two systems might still be addressed.

Shen Heng returned to find Zhou Xuan teaching the Stone-Armored Beast to stand and shake hands, then announced that the team would leave the city in three days. He prepared to question Wu Hao about the recent events.

• Ringing Sound read Shen Heng the title of Zhou Zhenguo's report recommending that the Supervision Bureau and military be reorganized, and Shen Heng considered how their systems might be integrated.
• Zhou Xuan demonstrated standing and shaking hands to the Stone-Armored Beast until it stood upright and touched his hand with its claw.
• Shen Heng returned, and the Stone-Armored Beast trotted over to hide behind him; Shen Heng said he would keep it away from fights and kill it if it acted suspiciously.
• Zhou Xuan asked whether the Stone-Armored Beast could become his mount if it proved trustworthy, but Shen Heng instead told everyone they would leave the city in three days.
• Zhou Xuan told Shen Heng he was close to breaking through to the fifth tier and thought he could do so before they left.
• Shen Heng told everyone to cultivate and said he would ask Wu Hao about what had happened.

Shen Heng learned that Wu Hao’s force had killed 2,227 Calamity Beasts, including a fifth-tier beast, using explosives to collapse rocks in a gorge, though the battle caused heavy casualties. After hearing Xu Yu had devised the plan, Shen Heng accepted Wu Hao’s offer to give Xu Yu command in future split-force battles, and Wu Hao left reassured.

• Wu Hao told Shen Heng that his force had suffered 52 regular soldiers killed or wounded and eight inspectors killed, while killing 2,227 Calamity Beasts, including an early fifth-tier beast.
• Wu Hao explained that Xu Yu had proposed moving explosives onto the mountain to collapse rocks in the gorge and trap the Calamity Beasts.
• Shen Heng comforted Wu Hao, saying the battle had gone well despite the casualties, and listened as Wu Hao recounted Xu Yu’s analysis of four possible developments.
• Wu Hao asked Shen Heng to let Xu Yu lead future split forces in his place, and Shen Heng agreed after confirming Wu Hao understood he would be giving up his position.
• Wu Hao left relieved, and Shen Heng turned to the Stone-Armored Beast and asked whether it had already eaten.

Shen Heng and Han Ling discussed their mission rewards while the Stone-Armored Beast practiced human speech and received the name Stone. Later, Zhou Xuan prepared to invoke Ultraman at the fifth tier, despite his companions urging him to choose the God of Wealth instead.

• Shen Heng watched the Stone-Armored Beast practice sounds with the personal terminal and wondered how the advanced device had been developed.
• Han Ling told Shen Heng that the resource allocations were out, and they compared their Origin Crystal rewards from the mission.
• Shen Heng said he would keep the Stone-Armored Beast below the fourth tier until they had more fourth-tier people, and Han Ling suggested naming it Stone.
• Zhou Xuan prepared an altar in the training room and explained that the Daoist priest had suggested invoking the God of Wealth at the fifth tier.
• Zhou Xuan insisted he would invoke Ultraman instead, arguing that his failed attempts at the third and fourth tiers showed Ultraman was powerful.
• Zhou Xuan lit the incense and began addressing Lord Tiga.

Zhou Xuan tried and failed three times to invoke Lord Tiga, then successfully invoked the God of Wealth. He discovered that the God of Wealth had granted him three unusual abilities.

• Zhou Xuan attempted twice to invoke Lord Tiga with different chants, but the smoke dispersed and both attempts failed.
• Zhou Xuan made a third, more urgent appeal to Lord Tiga and sensed that he had a chance of succeeding, though his strength was still insufficient.
• Zheng Guomin urged Zhou Xuan to invoke the God of Wealth before he wasted his chance, and Zhou Xuan prepared fresh offerings and incense.
• Zhou Xuan successfully invoked the God of Wealth as the incense smoke surrounded him and formed a faint halo.
• Zhou Xuan sensed his new abilities and named them Spend Wealth to Avert Disaster, Profitable Golden Spear, and Discern Treasures and Identify Rarities.

Zhou Xuan explained the restrictions and functions of his three new abilities, and Shen Heng took him to test Profitable Golden Spear. As Zhou Xuan charged and formed an attack, Shen Heng sensed that its technique might be learnable.

• Zhou Xuan explained that Spend Wealth to Avert Disaster could block any harmful attack but required energy stored in advance and consumed his own Origin Power when used.
• Zhou Xuan described Profitable Golden Spear as an offensive ability that concentrated Origin Power into one attack, and Discern Treasures and Identify Rarities as a low-cost ability for judging an item's value and quality.
• Shen Heng led Zhou Xuan and the others onto Bedrock City's walls to test his abilities before the group joined the battles ahead.
• Zhou Xuan used a third-tier Origin Crystal to form a glowing attack with Profitable Golden Spear and aimed it at a crooked-necked tree.
• Shen Heng sensed how the attack was constructed and realized that he might be able to learn the technique.

Shen Heng studied the complex Origin Power structure of Zhou Xuan’s newly invoked attack and realized he could not yet control enough threads to learn it. Zhou Xuan demonstrated the attack’s power, and the group discussed how efficiently it converted Origin Power.

• Shen Heng counted twenty-three Origin Power threads in the attack and found he could stably control only seventeen.
• Zhou Xuan fired a light attack into a crooked-necked tree, making a hole about half a meter wide and over a meter deep with one third-tier Origin Crystal.
• Han Ling tested her sniper rifle on the same tree and made a slightly larger hole, then said Zhou Xuan could concentrate all his Origin Power into one strike.
• Wu Hao said Zhou Xuan’s full-power attack could likely defeat same-tier Calamity Beasts unless they had S-Class defensive abilities, and Han Ling admitted it could surpass her own attack.
• Shen Heng learned that Zhou Xuan had used two portions of Origin Power, one stored and one of his own, to produce an effect Zhou Xuan estimated at about 1.6 times the power.

Zhou Xuan and the others examined his abilities, and he tested Spend Wealth to Avert Disaster by letting Zheng Guomin attack him. The ability blocked attacks that could harm him, leaving Shen Heng wondering whether it also negated the force of each blow.

• Qin Yu questioned the usefulness of Zhou Xuan’s Origin Crystal-powered attack, but Shen Heng explained how it could complement his other abilities and turn the tide against Calamity Beasts.
• Zhou Xuan described Discern Treasures and Identify Rarities, then asked Zheng Guomin to help test Spend Wealth to Avert Disaster.
• Zhou Xuan used a fourth-tier Origin Crystal to charge the defensive ability, and Zheng Guomin struck him while the group watched.
• Zheng Guomin’s first punch did not activate the ability because it could not hurt Zhou Xuan, but a harder punch triggered a halo that prevented all damage.
• Zheng Guomin continued punching Zhou Xuan without making him move, and Shen Heng wondered whether the ability also negated the force of the impacts.

Shen Heng and the others tested Zhou Xuan’s newly acquired defensive ability against several attacks and found that it blocked them without injuring him. Shen Heng investigated how the ability worked and learned about its Origin Power costs and storage limit.

• Zheng Guomin attacked Zhou Xuan from several angles, but the blows failed to harm him.
• Han Ling shot Zhou Xuan, and the resulting explosion left him and his clothes unharmed.
• Qin Yu and Wu Hao also tested their attacks on Zhou Xuan, but neither could get through his defense.
• Shen Heng gently pressed his triple Vibrating Blade saber against Zhou Xuan and inferred that the ability automatically assessed contact and canceled attacks that would cause harm.
• Zhou Xuan stepped back when the sustained saber contact nearly depleted his Origin Power, and Shen Heng learned that his reserve pool could hold about as much Origin Power as he naturally possessed.
• Zhou Xuan said Han Ling’s shot had consumed the most Origin Power, while Shen Heng’s contact consumed the least but continued draining it.

Shen Heng warned Zhou Xuan to balance his powerful, Origin Crystal-consuming ability with his cultivation. At Frontier-Pacifying City, Lin Zhaoran and Yu Yanhui realized the besieging Calamity Beasts might be awaiting reinforcements, while the city could no longer contact the outside world.

• Shen Heng explained that Zhou Xuan's defensive ability was exceptionally powerful but could consume Origin Crystals and hinder his cultivation if overused.
• Shen Heng told the group to rest for the day and prepare to move out the next morning.
• Yu Yanhui asked Lin Zhaoran why more than twenty thousand Calamity Beasts had surrounded the city for three days without attacking, and Lin Zhaoran suggested they might be waiting for reinforcements.
• Lin Zhaoran told Yu Yanhui that the Calamity Beasts had intercepted their signal flares, leaving them unable to contact the outside world.
• Lin Zhaoran recalled the commander's plan for the Supervision Bureau members to break out if reinforcements arrived, while he stayed behind with the soldiers.
• Lin Zhaoran wondered whether they could escape the encirclement and hoped the Calamity Beasts intended only to besiege the city.

Han Ling proposed switching places with Qin Yu so Qin Yu could work with Zhou Xuan, but Shen Heng rejected the change because the team would lack a capable battlefield commander and the pair’s abilities could help during a retreat. Before they parted, Shen Heng gave Han Ling an Azure Talisman Jade and let her take the Stone-Armored Beast.

• Han Ling suggested that Qin Yu join Zhou Xuan in Chongshan City, where Qin Yu could help him land a powerful opening strike against a fifth-tier Calamity Beast.
• Shen Heng questioned who would command Han Ling’s side during battle, and Han Ling could not name a suitable leader beyond Zheng Guomin or Military Department personnel.
• Shen Heng explained that he had separated Qin Yu and Zhou Xuan because their abilities could prove useful if the teams had to retreat.
• Shen Heng gave Han Ling an Azure Talisman Jade containing the Daoist priest’s sixth-tier attack and told her it must be returned if unused.
• Han Ling asked to take the Stone-Armored Beast with her so she could watch him, and Shen Heng agreed before they parted.

Zhou Xuan spent his fourth-tier Origin Crystals to recharge his wealth-using ability and realized how costly it could be. As the force marched toward the wasteland, he questioned the Stone-Armored Beast and learned it had never heard of cultivation.

• Zhou Xuan recharged his ability with fourth-tier Origin Crystals, lamenting that he might spend hundreds of millions in a future battle.
• Xu Yu took charge of Bedrock City and planned to scout for stray Calamity Beasts, considering an attack if the opportunity arose.
• Zhou Xuan eagerly walked beside the Stone-Armored Beast and learned that Shen Heng and Han Ling had named it Stone.
• Zhou Xuan asked Stone whether Calamity Beasts cultivated, but Stone did not know what cultivation was.

Han Ling and Zhou Xuan learned that the Stone-Armored Beast had reached the third tier by absorbing Origin Power naturally over a long time, and Han Ling estimated it had lived through more than ten cycles of grass withering and regrowing. Han Ling brought the reinforcements and the Stone-Armored Beast to Chongshan City, where she reunited with Chu Yu and introduced Stone as unusually mild-tempered.

• Zhou Xuan discovered that the Stone-Armored Beast had never deliberately cultivated and instead advanced by eating, sleeping, and recovering through deep breaths.
• Han Ling explained that ordinary use of Origin Power could temper the Stone-Armored Beast's body over time, and asked how many times it had seen grass wither and regrow.
• The Stone-Armored Beast recalled that the grass had withered and turned green more than ten times, leading Han Ling to estimate its age and consider its third-tier strength.
• Han Ling led the reinforcements into Chongshan City, where supplies were unloaded and the Stone-Armored Beast drew the residents' attention.
• Chu Yu greeted Han Ling and asked about Stone, and Han Ling said it was less violent than most Calamity Beasts.
• An unidentified figure approached and called out to Inspector Han.

Han Ling reunited with Lin Yang and Chu Yu in Chongshan City, learned that they were together, and then joined a meeting to report on Bedrock City's defenses. Her account of Bedrock City surviving a concealed assault by more than a dozen S-Class Sky-Sundering Kamaitachi left the Chongshan officers shocked.

• Lin Yang and Chu Yu told Han Ling they were together, and Chu Yu recounted how their relationship had developed.
• Wang Hu arrived and asked Han Ling to attend a meeting, while Chu Yu and Lin Yang offered to watch the Stone-Armored Beast.
• Wang Yuanshan welcomed Han Ling to the command room and asked her to describe events in Bedrock City.
• Han Ling reported that more than a dozen S-Class Sky-Sundering Kamaitachi had concealed themselves in the beast tide and that two Fifth Tier beasts had joined the battle.
• The Chongshan officers exchanged shocked glances as they considered whether their city could have survived the same attack.

Inspector Han briefed Chongshan City on Bedrock City’s ambush, which had killed nearly thirty thousand Calamity Beasts, and warned that a future attack could bring a similar force. Wang Yuanshan worried that Chongshan’s fewer than seven thousand defenders might struggle to hold off such an assault and questioned how long their strategy would take to push back the beasts’ defensive lines.

• Han Ling explained that Bedrock City had carried out a six-site ambush and would stay in Chongshan City to help if the Calamity Beasts attacked.
• Wang Yuanshan asked whether the Calamity Beasts might send a larger force to Chongshan City after learning of the ambush’s heavy losses.
• Han Ling estimated that a future attack could involve around thirty thousand Calamity Beasts, enough to threaten the city without leaving other fronts undefended.
• Wang Yuanshan noted that Chongshan City had fewer than seven thousand people to face such an army, while Wang Hu insisted they would fight regardless.
• Wang Yuanshan said he was more concerned about how long it would take to force the Calamity Beasts to withdraw their defensive lines and the monthly sacrifices that delay would bring.

Han Ling and the others considered the worsening threat from the Calamity Beasts, and Han Ling revealed that Shen Heng had gone to reinforce Frontier-Pacifying City. Shen Heng’s group found the city surrounded by beasts led by the Mirror Water Beast, leaving Shen Heng to suspect the timing was not a coincidence.

• Han Ling acknowledged that the Calamity Beasts’ continuing attacks were exhausting the cities and said Shen Heng had gone to Frontier-Pacifying City.
• Shen Heng, Chen Hua, and Qin Yu observed Frontier-Pacifying City surrounded by Calamity Beasts, including winged beasts guarding the perimeter.
• Shen Heng identified the Mirror Water Beast as the leader, and Qin Yu warned that its S-Class ranking made it dangerous despite its limited combat role.
• Chen Hua and Qin Yu asked how they could enter the city, while Shen Heng recalled that the beasts had remained still throughout their journey.
• Shen Heng wondered whether the beasts had arrived ahead of them deliberately, then closed his eyes and listened to their sounds.