Chapter Summaries

Shen Heng weighed the Two-Horned Lizard’s offers and decided its knowledge was the only reason to keep it alive. The lizard described a place called the Mountain of Truth while secretly inserting false information, and Shen Heng ended by asking why the palace’s inner space had exploded.

• The Two-Horned Lizard offered to help Shen Heng carry things, hunt Calamity Beasts, and answer questions in exchange for its life.
• Shen Heng considered the lizard’s powerful mental attack and concluded that its information was more valuable than its help in battle.
• The Two-Horned Lizard recounted its gathering and encounters with Calamity Beasts, then guessed that the area was somewhere it had visited before.
• The Two-Horned Lizard secretly altered its account, claiming Lord Dragon Beast guarded the Mountain of Truth instead of Lord Lion King, and believed Shen Heng had not noticed.
• Shen Heng asked the Two-Horned Lizard why the space inside the palace had exploded.

Shen Heng questioned the Two-Horned Lizard about the palace and the Mountain of Truth, but it claimed not to know why the palace’s space had exploded or what it was used for. He brought the beast back to camp alive as a source of information, while it privately planned to deceive him and escape.

• The Two-Horned Lizard suspected Shen Heng was pretending not to know about humans going to the Mountain of Truth, but Shen Heng clarified that he wanted to know why the palace’s space could explode.
• The Two-Horned Lizard said it did not know why the space exploded or what the palace was used for, and Shen Heng noted that its mention of a World Tree seedling differed from what the Bronze Skull Beast had told him.
• As Shen Heng continued questioning it, the Two-Horned Lizard secretly believed its false answers had fooled him and planned to find a way to escape.
• Shen Heng returned to the camp with the Two-Horned Lizard, and Qin Yu asked why he had brought it along.
• Shen Heng told Qin Yu he would keep the Two-Horned Lizard alive so they could question it whenever they encountered something they wanted to know.

Shen Heng reunited with the wounded Stone-Armored Beast, learned how it had survived and helped others during the past two months, and reassured it that Han Ling could likely survive. He ordered the Two-Horned Lizard to carry Stone, leaving the lizard outwardly cheerful but inwardly resentful.

• Shen Heng comforted Stone and praised its loyalty after Qin Yu reported that its serious wounds would take days to heal.
• Stone worried about Han Ling, and Shen Heng said she would be safe unless she encountered a sixth-tier Calamity Beast.
• Stone told Shen Heng it had been separated from Han Ling on the way to the Eye of Earth Marrow and had helped people resist Calamity Beasts, including by tricking some of them into going elsewhere.
• Shen Heng praised Stone's plan, then learned that Stone could not keep up with the group's speed because of its injuries.
• Shen Heng ordered the Two-Horned Lizard to lift Stone with its mental power and switch to Origin Power when needed; the lizard agreed while privately suspecting Shen Heng meant to exhaust it.

The Two-Horned Lizard considered its failed attempts to escape and questioned Stone about why it had joined the humans. Stone explained that Shen Heng’s group had spared it after defeating the Molten-Fire Lizard’s forces, but said it trusted Han Ling most because she had repeatedly protected it.

• The Two-Horned Lizard recalled how Shen Heng had tested its willingness to flee by fighting a Distorted Calamity Beast, leaving it too wary to escape.
• The Two-Horned Lizard asked Stone why it had joined the humans and seemed willing to help them.
• Stone explained that Shen Heng’s group had found it after the attack on Bedrock City and that joining them had saved its life.
• Stone said Han Ling had protected it from a sixth tier human lord and later urged it to flee when they faced Lord Profound Crystal Griffin.
• Stone declared that Han Ling was wonderful and the person it trusted most.

The Two-Horned Lizard tried to persuade Stone to escape with him by warning that the humans might abandon him, while Shen Heng and Qin Yu searched distorted spaces for a route forward. When Shen Heng and Qin Yu returned, Stone immediately exposed the Two-Horned Lizard’s plan.

• Stone told the Two-Horned Lizard that Shen Heng and Han Ling treated him well and urged the lizard to join them.
• The Two-Horned Lizard argued that the humans were only using Stone and promised to help him escape when an opportunity arose.
• Shen Heng asked Qin Yu about the distorted spaces, and she estimated they needed to search two or three more.
• The Two-Horned Lizard planned to keep persuading Stone, hoping to use him as an ally in escaping.
• Stone told Shen Heng that the Two-Horned Lizard had asked him to help plan an escape, shocking the lizard.

After exposing the Two-Horned Lizard’s escape scheme, Shen Heng punished him lightly and considered how the lizard had learned human ideas from captured soldiers. As Stone ate, Shen Heng told him to begin cultivating daily, and overhearing Stone’s thoughts left Shen Heng wondering if he was becoming tired from keeping his ability active.

• The Two-Horned Lizard brooded over his renewed wounds and food rations, while blaming the Stone-Armored Beast for betraying him.
• Shen Heng reflected that the Two-Horned Lizard had picked up human ideas, likely from soldiers who had been captured but not killed.
• Stone asked Shen Heng for more roasted meat, and Shen Heng told him to cultivate for two hours after eating and every day thereafter.
• Stone accepted a smaller skewer, then worried to himself that he should not have reminded Shen Heng to make him train.
• Shen Heng overheard Stone’s thoughts and wondered whether keeping Listening to Inner Voices active for so long was making him tired.

Shen Heng overheard an unfamiliar voice laughing with Xiaoyu while he ate, then a group of humans transformed into Calamity Beasts planned their escape from a Bone-Ring Beast holding pen. Han Ling proposed using the next day's food delivery to draw the guards away, but the tusked beast insisted the humans escape first and draw the Bone-Ring Beasts away from the pen.

• Shen Heng heard an unfamiliar voice joke with Xiaoyu about the Two-Horned Lizard, then quietly looked at her as she ate.
• Han Ling met Wang Hu, Huang Jun, and Zhou Xuan in the woods and explained that the Bone-Ring Beasts planned to slaughter every holding-pen captive at a celebration in four days.
• Han Ling said the group would use the next day's food delivery to distract the guards and escape, while the other captives caused a commotion inside the pen.
• A newly arrived Calamity Beast argued that the humans should arrange for the captives to help them escape, and Han Ling agreed.
• The tusked beast rejected the suggestion and ordered Han Ling's group to escape first and draw the Bone-Ring Beasts away while its followers caused trouble inside the pen.

The Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni agreed to follow Han Ling’s escape plan while secretly planning how its group would act separately from the other Calamity Beasts. As an overseeing Silver-Winged Harrier approached, the beasts hid before it could spot them.

• Han Ling and the Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni agreed on the next day’s operation and reviewed its positions, signals, and steps.
• Han Ling warned that neither humans nor Calamity Beasts could escape alone, and Wang Hu assured the Golden Suanni that the humans would keep their promise.
• After Han Ling’s group left, the Golden Suanni’s scout reported that the humans had not stopped to discuss anything further.
• The Golden Suanni explained that its group would incite the other Calamity Beasts to escape together but would not flee alongside them.
• The Golden Suanni spotted an approaching Silver-Winged Harrier and ordered the Calamity Beasts to hide.

The Silver-Winged Harrier’s patrol revealed the Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni and several transformed Calamity Beasts hiding from the coming escape attempt. After Han Ling’s group left, they debated their own plan, while Han Ling warned her companions that the Fanged Beast might not follow the plan they had proposed.

• The Silver-Winged Harrier spotted a Fanged Beast pretending to sleep, then flew away when it showed fear.
• The Fanged Beast revealed itself as the Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni and called several Calamity Beasts out of hiding.
• The Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni urged the group to hide until the other beasts fled and the Bone-Ring Beasts had killed the rioters, then gamble on escaping with fewer guards around.
• Han Ling led Zhou Xuan, Wang Hu, and Huang Jun away after a Calamity Beast followed them to a clearing.
• The group discussed whether to follow their original escape plan, and Han Ling warned that the Fanged Beast might not make its followers carry it out.

Han Ling and Wang Hu, Zhou Xuan, and Huang Jun waited for newly captured Calamity Beasts to start a disturbance that might create a chance to escape. After a Silver-Winged Harrier reported the fighting, the Bone-Ring Beasts guarding the opening left to investigate, and Wang Hu asked if they could move.

• Han Ling studied the enclosure’s guarded opening and considered it the best chance for escape.
• Han Ling learned that Bone-Ring Beasts escorted newly captured Calamity Beasts inside to protect them from attacks by other prisoners.
• Han Ling waited with Wang Hu, Zhou Xuan, and Huang Jun for the newcomers to cooperate with their escape plan.
• A fight erupted in the mountain forest, and a Silver-Winged Harrier flew to the opening to report it.
• The largest Bone-Ring Beast led three others toward the fighting, and Wang Hu asked Han Ling if they could head over.

Han Ling realized the Silver-Winged Harrier was likely summoning others to guard the escape routes, so she led Zhou Xuan, Wang Hu, and Huang Jun toward the gate as their only chance to escape. Elsewhere, White Spine interrogated captured Calamity Beasts about the riot and ordered the others killed before demanding that one prisoner speak.

• Han Ling reasoned that the Silver-Winged Harrier had gone to summon more Harriers to prevent Calamity Beasts from escaping.
• Huang Jun realized the group could be spotted if they climbed the fence, and Han Ling agreed that forcing their way through the gate was their only chance.
• Han Ling, Zhou Xuan, Wang Hu, and Huang Jun charged toward the gate, where two Bone-Ring Beasts spotted them and grinned.
• White Spine questioned a captured Calamity Beast about the riot, then snapped its neck when it refused to give a satisfactory answer.
• White Spine ordered the other prisoners killed, and after one mentioned Lord Fanged Beast, White Spine demanded that the first willing prisoner speak.

The Shadow Wolf confessed a plan for the Calamity Beasts to escape, and White Spine realized an escape attempt was underway at the enclosure entrance. White Spine ordered the Shadow Wolf killed and flew to deal with the escapees, leaving the other Bone-Ring Beasts to guard the enclosure.

• The Shadow Wolf confessed that a Boulder Beast lord had told it about a plan to distract the Bone-Ring Beasts and help the Calamity Beasts escape.
• White Spine doubted the confession because the plan would put its masterminds in the greatest danger.
• An explosion sounded at the entrance, where four Third Tier Calamity Beasts fought two Fourth Tier Bone-Ring Beasts and escaped outside.
• White Spine ordered the other Fourth Tier Bone-Ring Beasts to guard against further escapes and prepared to pursue the escapees.
• White Spine ordered the Bone-Ring Beasts to kill the Shadow Wolf, and they silenced it as it protested.

The Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni explained that it planned to wait for the Bone-Ring Beasts to purge the enclosure before escaping, and decided to abandon the humans once they were free. An unexplained explosion halted a Bone-Ring Beast near the entrance, and the Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni realized the humans had deceived them.

• The Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni told the Boulder Beast and the long-forelimbed Calamity Beast that the Bone-Ring Beasts’ purge would create the best opportunity for their escape.
• The three Calamity Beasts watched the humans escape the enclosure, then saw a huge figure fly toward its entrance.
• The Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni refused to signal the riot, saying the Calamity Beasts should let the humans be caught and killed.
• An explosion erupted on a nearby mountain before the Calamity Beasts had given the signal, leaving them and the scattered beasts unsure how to respond.
• The Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni saw a Bone-Ring Beast stop in midair to watch the explosion and realized the humans had played them.

The Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni signaled the Calamity Beasts to begin their uprising, and rebels urged prisoners to flee the enclosure while Bone-Ring Beast overseers were distracted. As some Calamity Beasts hesitated, the Bone-Faced Beast decided to kill those who refused to escape.

• The Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni ordered the other Calamity Beasts to start the original plan, and the Boulder Beast struck a boulder to signal them.
• Calamity Beasts began roaring across the enclosure and fled toward the exit as Bone-Ring Beast overseers entered to suppress the uprising.
• The Split-Claw Beast urged the fleeing Calamity Beasts to escape while most guards were inside and others distracted those at the entrance.
• The Scalearmor Beast warned three hesitant Calamity Beasts that the Bone-Ring Beasts would punish those who stayed, and they followed it.
• The Bone-Faced Beast confronted Calamity Beasts who refused to flee and announced that it would kill them; one protested that they had not exposed the plan.

As Calamity Beasts rioted across the enclosure, the Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni chose to escape with its two companions rather than risk hiding or rescuing the others. White Spine suspected the unrest involved two separate groups and sent a Silver-Winged Harrier to act, while Han Ling's group fled through the gray mist and appeared to reach a vast corridor, with one of their companions missing an arm.

• Bone Face killed one Calamity Beast and drove the others away as Calamity Beasts across the mountains began fleeing.
• The Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni abandoned its plan to hide and led the long-forelimbed Calamity Beast and Boulder Beast toward the fence to seek a chance to escape.
• The Hook-Tailed Golden Suanni rejected the Boulder Beast's suggestion to warn the other Calamity Beasts, and the Boulder Beast apologized before following the others.
• White Spine inferred that two groups of Calamity Beasts were involved in the uprising and summoned a Silver-Winged Harrier to deliver a message.
• Han Ling, Wang Hu, Zhou Xuan, and Huang Jun continued through the gray mist, hoping to find an exit from the enclosure.
• Han Ling opened her eyes in an enormous corridor and saw only two companions beside her, one of them missing an arm.

Shen Heng and his companions reached the most distorted area they had found while searching for a way out, and Qin Yu’s mysterious guide believed they were close to Nordrassil’s seedling. Shen Heng began scouting for a portal while continuing to assess the voice in Qin Yu’s mind, and the Two-Horned Lizard worried that it had no chance of escaping him.

• Shen Heng weighed whether to contact Qin Yu’s mysterious guide directly, but decided to keep observing her and focus on escaping.
• Qin Yu told Shen Heng that the area had the highest distortion they had encountered and that they still needed to locate a portal.
• Shen Heng sent out an invisible sound wave to search for a portal while Qin Yu and Stone waited.
• The Two-Horned Lizard inferred that Shen Heng’s detection range exceeded its own and despaired of escaping him.

Shen Heng and Qin Yu waited for a portal whose timing they could not predict, while Stone and the Two-Horned Lizard argued over Stone’s cultivation schedule. Just as Shen Heng considered extending Stone’s daily training, the portal appeared.

• Shen Heng questioned Qin Yu about locating the portal, predicting when it would appear, and how long it would remain, but she could not answer most of his questions.
• Shen Heng and Qin Yu stayed in the same place for two days, waiting for the portal while they cultivated.
• Stone bothered the Two-Horned Lizard, which complained to Shen Heng and asked him to increase Stone’s daily cultivation time.
• Shen Heng considered whether Stone should cultivate longer, leaving Stone distressed and the Two-Horned Lizard smug.
• The voice in Qin Yu’s mind abruptly announced that the portal had appeared.

Qin Yu detected a portal, and Shen Heng’s group passed through it to find a magnificent white palace standing on a grassland. They debated why the palace had appeared there and what its distorted entrance connected to, but its destination remained unknown.

• Qin Yu sensed a portal, and Shen Heng located an unprobeable gap about five kilometers away.
• Shen Heng, Qin Yu, Stone, and the Two-Horned Lizard traveled through the portal and saw a huge white palace with a pillar of light rising from it.
• Shen Heng asked the Two-Horned Lizard why the palace was there, and the lizard guessed that destroyed spaces inside it had forced the palace to land in the Erosion Zone.
• Qin Yu proposed that the palace might serve as an entrance from outside and an exit from inside, though its current destination could be abnormal space.

Qin Yu realized the palace ahead likely held the World Tree’s stolen seedling, and Shen Heng decided to approach its gateway. Before they could choose whether to enter, two enormous figures emerged from a newly appeared doorway behind them.

• Liya told Qin Yu that the World Tree seedling was inside the palace, and Qin Yu explained her reasoning to Shen Heng.
• The Two-Horned Lizard realized Shen Heng had likely killed the Bronze Skull Beast and recognized him as the human it had encountered before.
• Shen Heng told Qin Yu they should approach the palace, and the Two-Horned Lizard carried them toward its gateway.
• Shen Heng weighed the danger of entering the palace against the cost of delay as a distorted doorway appeared across the grassland.
• A huge winged figure with a blue crystal in its forehead and an eagle-headed, winged humanoid emerged from the doorway.

Shen Heng and the others encountered a powerful, unknown eagle-headed Calamity Beast that Liya identified as a Wind-Chasing Beast. As it raced toward them, Shen Heng forced the weakened Two-Horned Lizard to carry Stone toward the nearby hall instead of letting it attempt to escape with the newcomer.

• Shen Heng spotted the eagle-headed figure walking ahead of an early sixth-tier Profound Crystal Griffin and suspected it was at least a middle-stage sixth-tier Calamity Beast.
• The eagle-headed figure spread its wings and flew toward Shen Heng's group at tremendous speed, while the Two-Horned Lizard recognized it as Lord Feather Owl and became excited at the prospect of rescue.
• Shen Heng warned the Two-Horned Lizard that he would kill it before escaping into the nearby hall, and ordered it to carry Stone to the entrance.
• Liya identified the approaching creature as a Wind-Chasing Beast, an exceptionally fast and powerful S-class race that was likely middle- or late-stage sixth tier.