Recaps

Lister asked Wu Yan to steal the Yellow Court Saber Art Visualization Method, offering a large reward after learning that the painting at Assistant Commander Li’s mansion might be a forgery. Wu Yan agreed to investigate, but warned Lister not to threaten Shanyi Hall again.

• Lister offered Wu Yan 100 gold coins or help for Shanyi Hall, and she demanded 300 gold coins to steal for him.
• Lister named the painting at Assistant Commander Li’s mansion, and Wu Yan recognized it as a landscape with a saber suspended in the middle.
• Wu Yan revealed that she knew the painting was a clue to the missing visualization method and that the imperial court treasure had been widely sought since its loss.
• Wu Yan explained that the Ten Thousand Dragons Society had offered 1,000 gold coins for the visualization method, and Lister offered her the same amount if she found the authentic painting.
• Lister threatened Shanyi Hall to press Wu Yan to keep her promise, and she agreed to investigate for 300 gold coins while warning him not to use the orphanage as leverage again.

Lister learned that Governor Yang and Assistant Commander Li were coordinating against the Marquis of Courage and Resolve, and he traveled to Jiangxia Prefecture to investigate the missing genuine painting. He arrived as demonic beasts gathered around the city, leaving the threat of an imminent attack hanging over the city.

• Wu Yan told Lister that she found only a fake painting at Assistant Commander Li's residence, but she discovered letters showing Governor Yang had urged Li to find leverage against the marquis.
• Wu Yan promised to ask her martial-world contacts about the visualization method and to visit Governor Yang in Jiangxia Prefecture on her way back to the imperial capital.
• Assistant Commander Li left for the imperial capital with the marquis, and Lister followed later with Rolf and the Sixth Guard.
• The system announced that the closed beta would end at midnight and that the official open beta would launch in three months.
• Lister reached Jiangxia Prefecture after fighting demonic beasts along the road and found residents gathered near the inner city wall as more beasts assembled outside.

Lister met Governor Yang in Jiangxia City and agreed to remain there until the demon beast tide passed, then joined the defenders at the outer wall. The defenders held off the beasts until a colossal demon beast appeared, leaving General Zou and Assistant Commander Li facing a far greater threat.

• Lister entered the inner city as a Lucian envoy and met Governor Yang, Assistant Commander Li, and the Marquis of Courage and Resolve.
• Governor Yang told Lister to stay in Jiangxia City until the demon beast tide passed, and Assistant Commander Li agreed to escort him to the imperial capital afterward.
• A guard reported that the demon beasts had suddenly charged the city, and Assistant Commander Li and Lister volunteered to help defend it.
• Lister led his men to the outer wall, where General Zou and Assistant Commander Li fought alongside the city guards and Brocade Guards.
• The defenders held the demon beasts back until the ground shook and a colossal beast rose before them.

Lister and Governor Yang faced a level 40 Bloodmane Spirit Bear, a Southern Territory boss that had appeared in Jiang Province, as General Zou and the city guards fought it. After the bear’s health fell to half, its defensive skills made the guards’ arrows nearly useless, leaving the battle’s outcome uncertain.

• Governor Yang recognized the Bloodmane Spirit Bear as a powerful beast rarely seen outside the Southern Territory, while Lister realized it was far stronger than the boss he had fought before.
• General Zou wounded the bear with his spear, but Blood Contract activated and strengthened the bear as it charged toward the city wall.
• The bear used Berserk Rush to slaughter city guards, and Assistant Commander Li was badly injured after failing to pierce its eye.
• General Zou ordered some guards to retreat and others to fire volleys of arrows, reducing the bear’s health to half.
• The Bloodmane Spirit Bear activated Thick Skin and Flesh, causing the arrows to deal almost no damage.

Lister intervened in Jiangxia Prefecture’s demonic beast tide after General Zou was overwhelmed by the Bloodmane Spirit Bear. He badly wounded the bear with his saber and continued attacking it.

• General Zou’s spear could barely harm the Bloodmane Spirit Bear after it entered its second phase, and the bear struck him into the city wall.
• Governor Yang ordered preparations for an emergency evacuation while Lister decided to help General Zou.
• Lister leaped from the city wall and killed dozens of demonic beasts with a single saber strike.
• Lister cut deeply into the Bloodmane Spirit Bear’s paw, forcing it to retreat with the limb half-crippled.
• The Bloodmane Spirit Bear attacked Lister again, but he dodged behind it and slashed its back.

Lister killed the Bloodmane Spirit Bear and helped defend Jiangxia Prefecture, earning the gratitude and admiration of its officials. As he prepared to travel to the Imperial City with Assistant Commander Li, he continued searching for the visualization diagram and wondered whether the surviving Vajra Demon Bull would trigger a future beast tide.

• Lister waited out the Bloodmane Spirit Bear’s indiscriminate attacks, struck its eyes, and finished it off, earning 186,763 experience.
• Lister noticed a wounded Vajra Demon Bull escaping and suspected it might lead an attack on Jiangling Prefecture after players arrived.
• General Zou, Governor Yang, and Assistant Commander Li thanked Lister and praised his strength after Governor Yang introduced him as Count Merrick of the Kingdom of Lucian.
• News of Lister’s victory spread through Jiang Province as the Northern Territory’s unusually large demonic beast tide alarmed other provinces.
• Wu Yan told Lister that she had not found the visualization diagram in Governor Yang’s residence, then promised to give it to him without payment if she obtained it.
• Lister learned that he would travel to the Imperial City with Assistant Commander Li and continued to suspect that Li knew the diagram’s whereabouts.

Lister attended court before the Yongping Emperor as the Great Chu Imperial Dynasty accused three nobles of stealing its secret treasures. After discovering that all three recovered treasures were fake, Lister suspected the emperor had staged the affair, and the emperor turned on the crown prince for pleading for the accused men.

• Assistant Commander Li left Lister in the Imperial City and said an official from the Court of State Ceremonial would arrange an audience.
• Vice Minister Qi Yuan escorted Lister to his lodging and explained the court formalities before bringing him to meet the Yongping Emperor the next day.
• Commander Qiu and other Brocade Guard officers reported that the Marquis of Courage and Resolve, the Count of Awe and Reach, and the Count of Eternal Prosperity had stolen three secret treasures, which had supposedly been recovered.
• Lister scanned the recovered treasures and discovered that the Yellow Court Saber Art Visualization Method, the Nine Heavens Sword Art, and the Dark Iron Inner Armor were all fakes.
• The crown prince pleaded for leniency for the three nobles, and the Yongping Emperor accused him of colluding with border soldiers and declared it was too late to intervene.

The Yongping Emperor punished three nobles and confined the crown prince after using the fake secret treasures to expose his ties to frontier military power. He then questioned Lister about the Kingdom of Lucian, and reacted with unsettling excitement when he learned of a vast continent beyond Great Chu.

• The Yongping Emperor stripped the Marquis of Courage and Resolve, the Count of Awe and Reach, and the Count of Eternal Prosperity of their military command seals, detained them, and ordered Chief Steward Xia to confine the crown prince to the Eastern Palace.
• Lister realized the fake secret treasures had served as a pretext for the Yongping Emperor to warn the crown prince against forming ties with frontier nobles.
• The Yongping Emperor summoned Lister, asked about his service in Jiangxia Prefecture, and heard Assistant Commander Li credit him with saving Jiangxia City from the Bloodmane Spirit Bear.
• The Yongping Emperor questioned Lister about the Kingdom of Lucian after learning Great Chu’s records had no mention of it.
• Lister explained that Lucian lay on another continent north of Great Chu, beyond the Lost Land, and described its size and powerful experts.
• The Yongping Emperor laughed with barely restrained excitement after hearing about the continent, leaving Lister uneasy about his apparent desire to invade and plunder.

Lister attended court as Count Merrick, where the Yongping Emperor accepted his gifts and agreed to relations with the Kingdom of Lucian. In the imperial private treasury, Lister searched through scrolls and finally found the genuine Yellow Court Saber Art Visualization Method.

• Lister presented Lucian's Turquoise Solution to the Yongping Emperor, who agreed to establish relations with the Kingdom of Lucian despite Grand Secretary Wang's objections.
• The Yongping Emperor rewarded Lister with permission to choose three secret treasures from the private treasury.
• Lister bribed Chief Steward Xia, entered the treasury, and ignored the fake secret treasures near the entrance.
• Lister discovered genuine Concentration Method and Brute Bull visualization methods among the scrolls, but could not learn the Brute Bull method because it duplicated Merrick's Breathing Technique.
• Lister found the genuine Yellow Court Saber Art Visualization Method, which granted additional true damage to saber techniques and could replace the fake version.

Lister chose three Visualization Methods from the imperial inner vault, including the rare Killing Intent Wave, and returned home as Divine Revelation officially launched its Open Beta. After accepting the first-act quest to defend Jiangling Prefecture, he saw familiar players in public chat and recognized that Love of a Lifetime was linked to the Green Nourishment Group, which he remembered from his previous life.

• Lister found the Mystic Movement Art and Killing Intent Wave Visualization Methods among the inner vault scrolls, along with other treasures.
• Lister chose the Yellow Court Saber Art, Killing Intent Wave, and Mystic Movement Art Visualization Methods, and Chief Steward Xia registered them as Count Merrick’s rewards.
• Lister returned to his residence and received the Open Beta announcement, which introduced player registration and the first-act expansion about demonic beast attacks on Jiangling Prefecture.
• Lister accepted the Main Quest to defend Jiangling Prefecture and saw announcements that the Auction House, public chat, and purchasable megaphones were available.
• Lister spotted the familiar War God of Jiangling Prefecture in public chat and learned that Love of a Lifetime was connected to the Green Nourishment Group, recalling how the group had harmed people like him in his previous life.

After returning to Jiangling Prefecture, Lister found that he could not see the players whose locations appeared in public chat outside the city, though he found them inside Jiangling City. The players recognized him as Count Merrick, leaving the reason for the strange separation outside the city unresolved.

• The Yongping Emperor repeatedly questioned Lister about the Kingdom of Lucian before urging him to leave, so Lister departed the Imperial City and traveled back toward Jiangling Prefecture.
• Lister reflected on his visualization methods and the low prices of passive skills, then worried about how players could level up if slain monsters did not respawn.
• Lister saw player messages reporting nearby locations but found no players around him, raising the possibility that players and natives occupied separate worlds.
• Lister rode to Jiangling City and found natives at the gates but no players until he entered the outer city.
• Players recognized Lister as the Kingdom of Lucian's envoy, Count Merrick, and the War God of Jiangling Prefecture identified him as a neutral NPC known from the closed beta.

Lister investigated the rules of Jiangling Prefecture’s real-interaction area and tested what happened when an NPC attacked a player inside the city. The system could not punish him, so it imposed a severe penalty on Chen Xinhe instead, leaving him red-named and wanted.

• Lister became a player skill instructor who could teach the Merrick Saber Technique, then investigated the city and reread the old bug report about his anomalous NPC status.
• Lister concluded that Jiangling Prefecture’s inner city was a real-interaction area and considered how its rules might apply to him as an NPC.
• Lister chose Love of a Lifetime as his test subject and struck him down inside the city before escaping.
• Love of a Lifetime respawned, learned that Chen Xinhe had killed him, and threatened him and the Green Nourishment Group’s supposed enemies in a public broadcast.
• The system failed to penalize Lister and instead assigned the penalty to Chen Xinhe, who lost 10,000 experience and became red-named and wanted for seven days.

Lister discovered that his player-character Chen Xinhe took the blame and red-name penalty for his city kill, then learned another passive skill and spent two hours grinding monsters near Jiangling City. The chapter ended with players reporting that monsters had stopped respawning in the areas Lister had cleared.

• Lister confirmed that Chen Xinhe appeared as a red name in chat after killing Love of a Lifetime, while Lister himself faced no penalty, and he accepted Chen Shanqiang's friend request.
• Lister learned Killing Intent Wave after ten days of studying visualization diagrams, bringing his total to six passive skills.
• Lister left Jiangling City to grind monsters, and the guards saluted him for killing the Bloodmane Spirit Bear and saving the city.
• Lister cleared nineteen groups of demonic beasts in two hours and gained 22,000 experience points.
• Players reported that monsters had stopped respawning in the coordinates Lister had visited, while monsters continued appearing in areas he had not cleared.

Lister discovered that killing demonic beasts in his world permanently removed them from the players’ mirrored world, so he moved to Jiangxia Prefecture to farm higher-level beasts without depriving players of resources. After clearing the outskirts, he found the beasts had gathered there again, and he spotted two auction listings for the passive Skill Book he needed.

• Lister tested his theory by clearing three demonic beast areas and confirmed that the monsters stopped respawning in the players’ world.
• Lister traveled to Jiangxia Prefecture, where Governor Yang told him the Yongping Emperor had secretly urged him to return to the Kingdom of Lucian.
• Lister stayed in Jiangxia Prefecture and spent several days killing the plentiful demonic beasts around the city to gain experience.
• Lister found Soul-Breaking Oxen gathered in areas he had cleared and wondered whether the beasts had returned or migrated from deeper territory.
• Lister spotted two copies of the Concentration Method Visualization Method listed in a twenty-four-hour auction for seven gold coins each.

Lister studied the dynastic histories and suspected Great Chu had deliberately preserved demonic beasts to prevent internal strife, perhaps even raising giant beasts. After winning a Concentration Method Visualization Method Skill Book, he faced General Yu, who had come to force him to lead the delegation to the Kingdom of Lucian.

• Lister read the histories of Great Qian, Great Yu, and Great Chu, noticing that demonic beasts returned as earlier dynasties weakened while Great Chu never tried to eliminate them nationwide.
• Lister suspected Great Chu's emperors had kept demonic beasts as an external enemy and might have raised giant beasts, and he wondered if Yongping Emperor wanted to turn the western mission into a real war.
• Lister won the Concentration Method Visualization Method Skill Book at auction, learned it, and gained an Intelligence-boosting passive that completed his set of four attribute passives.
• General Yu arrived at the Qingcheng Inn and demanded that Lister lead the delegation to the Kingdom of Lucian, mocking him while Rolf tried to keep him out.
• General Yu kicked Rolf toward Lister, leaving Rolf badly injured; Lister caught him, gave him holy water, and confronted General Yu.
• General Yu taunted Lister over his saber skills and demanded an apology and that he set out for the Kingdom of Lucian.

Lister killed Yu Yang after Yu Yang provoked him and attacked his guard captain, leaving Governor Yang to deal with the political fallout. Governor Yang hesitated to arrest Lister, who insisted the Yongping Emperor could be told the truth and showed no fear of consequences.

• Yu Yang, jealous of Lister's growing fame, provoked him publicly to win a reputation by defeating him.
• Lister examined Yu Yang's strength, drew his saber, and severed Yu Yang's right arm in their first clash.
• Yu Yang begged for his life and claimed his status as a Great Chu envoy, but Lister cut off his left forearm and killed him.
• The other members of Yu Yang's delegation knelt as General Zou and Governor Yang arrived at the scene.
• Governor Yang asked why Lister had killed Yu Yang, and Lister said Yu Yang had provoked him and struck his guard captain first.
• Lister told Governor Yang to report the truth to the Yongping Emperor and remained unconcerned about the consequences.

After Governor Yang let Lister return to Jiangling Prefecture, Lister taught Chen Shanqiang the Merrick Saber Technique and discovered that players’ skill growth granted him experience. He began planning to attract more players to saber techniques, then hit on an idea for showing them how powerful saber users could be.

• Governor Yang declined to arrest Lister and told him to return to Jiangling Prefecture while he awaited any imperial decree.
• At the Evergreen Inn, Lister refused Chen Shanqiang’s request to take an assassination job but told him that level-10 Class Holders could learn the rare C-rank Merrick Saber Technique for five gold coins.
• Chen Shanqiang paid Lister five gold coins and learned the Merrick Saber Technique, reaching level 3 in the skill.
• Lister received experience when Chen Shanqiang leveled up the skill and realized that teaching players could bring him vast amounts of experience.
• Lister considered the small share of players who chose martial arts and saber techniques, then came up with an idea to make saber users seem more powerful.

Lister used Chen Xinhe’s city killings to build a reputation and advertise the Merrick Saber Technique. After a guide revealed that players could learn the rare skill from Count Merrick for five gold, player interest surged.

• Lister arranged with Chen Shanqiang to kill One Sword Opens the Heavens in the city, then killed him with a single Iai Slash and left before facing punishment.
• One Sword Opens the Heavens reported Chen Xinhe to the Green Nourishment Group, whose bounty messages brought more attention to the killing.
• Players praised Chen Xinhe’s saber technique, and he spent five days taking 11 assassination jobs for rival groups.
• Players concluded Chen Xinhe had an item that concealed his red name, and the name Outlaw—Chen Xinhe became famous.
• A guide team announced that players could learn the C-grade Merrick Saber Technique from Count Merrick at the Evergreen Inn for five gold coins, sparking widespread enthusiasm.

Lister taught the Merrick Saber Technique to more than 270,000 players and accumulated experience, then learned Sharp Blade and upgraded his passive skills. After raising the Yellow Court Saber Art Visualization Method to level 40, his rating rose to A-rank lord-class, just as he sensed a powerful, hostile presence approaching the Evergreen Inn.

• Lister moved his skill-teaching sessions to the outer city and taught the Merrick Saber Technique to 274,312 players over six days, earning nearly nine million experience points.
• Chen Shanqiang sent Lister several Skill Books, and Lister chose the Sharp Blade Visualization Method without asking for compensation.
• Lister spent eight million experience points to raise the Yellow Court Saber Art Visualization Method to level 40, then used the remainder to raise Killing Intent Wave to level 14.
• Lister's overall rating improved from B-rank to A-rank lord-class, and he tested his heightened perception in his room.
• Lister sensed a powerful repulsive presence approaching the Evergreen Inn, where the noise abruptly stopped.

Duke Wei confronted Count Merrick over the death of his adjutant, General Yu, and delivered the Yongping Emperor’s order for Lister to leave for the Kingdom of Lucian. Lister refused to let Great Chu dictate his return and agreed to fight Duke Wei in the outer city.

• Duke Wei arrived at the inn, intimidated the innkeeper, and demanded that Count Merrick come down.
• Lister confronted Duke Wei and learned that General Yu, whom he had killed, had been Duke Wei’s adjutant.
• Duke Wei ordered Lister to set out for the Kingdom of Lucian that day, while roughly a hundred soldiers approached the inn.
• Lister agreed to go but said that, as an envoy, he would decide when to return, and argued that Great Chu’s decree did not apply to him as a count of Lucian.
• Duke Wei prepared to attack, but Lister suggested they move the fight to the outer city to avoid the inner city.
• Duke Wei accepted the suggestion and agreed to fight in the outer city.

Lister fought Duke Wei and his hundred soldiers in the outer city, effortlessly overwhelming them with the Merrick Saber Technique. After killing Duke Wei, Lister left the watching players in awe and reignited their enthusiasm for learning the technique.

• Duke Wei challenged Lister, but their first exchange left Duke Wei badly injured while Lister remained unharmed.
• Duke Wei ordered his hundred soldiers to attack, and Lister rushed into their ranks and killed them all with one Iai Slash.
• Duke Wei recognized Lister’s overwhelming strength but tried to deter him by invoking his imperial status and the alliance between their nations.
• Duke Wei launched a sword-qi attack that struck nearby players, then used Sword Dance against Lister.
• Lister dodged the attack and killed Duke Wei with a single vertical slash, prompting the watching players to celebrate the Merrick Saber Technique.

Lister killed the Duke of Wei and General Yu, warning the Yongping Emperor not to try to control him. The emperor abandoned plans to capture Lister, instead ordering the Duke of Zhen to follow him toward the Kingdom of Lucian and concealing the deaths as a demonic beast attack.

• Lister killed General Yu and the Duke of Wei, believing his display of strength would warn the Yongping Emperor.
• Chief Steward Xia brought the emperor an urgent report about the killings, and the Yongping Emperor ordered Li Fu to bring Lister in alive.
• Li Fu warned that the Brocade Guards could not withstand Lister and advised the emperor to rely on the great generals or an army.
• The Yongping Emperor chose to let Lister return toward the Kingdom of Lucian and ordered the Duke of Zhen to follow him and seek a chance to kill him there.
• The Yongping Emperor ordered officials to claim the Duke of Wei and General Yu had died in a demonic beast tide.

After Duke Wei’s death, Lister exploited his growing fame by teaching the Merrick Saber Technique to hundreds of thousands of players and considered upgrading it for the next act. He found the Robust Physique passive in the Auction House and entered a fierce bidding war, raising his offer to 300 gold coins as the auction neared its end.

• Lister’s relationship with Lord Yang cooled after word arrived that Duke Wei had died defending against demonic beasts, leaving Lister free to act independently in Jiangling Prefecture.
• Players flocked to learn the Merrick Saber Technique, and Lister taught more than 870,000 of them while considering raising the skill’s grade for the next act.
• Lister found the Robust Physique passive, which increased HP by 10% per level, listed in the Auction House.
• Bidders drove the price of Robust Physique past 180 gold coins, and Lister entered the contest with a 200-gold bid.
• After another bidder raised the price to 201 gold, Lister bid 300 gold coins in the auction’s final minute.

Lister bought Robust Physique and used a Radiance of Extreme Transcendence to raise the Merrick Saber Technique to B-rank. A mysterious, hard-to-perceive visitor appeared at his door, and Lister discovered the Level 40 Faceless One had an arsenal of powerful skills.

• Love of a Lifetime bid against another player for a passive skill, then celebrated when he mistakenly thought his rival had paid 500 gold for it; Lister had actually won Robust Physique for 301 gold.
• Lister won the Radiance of Extreme Transcendence for 1,600 gold and used it to advance the Merrick Saber Technique from C-rank to B-rank, improving its damage and resistance to control effects.
• Lister confirmed he could still teach only the C-rank version of the Merrick Saber Technique and expected new teaching options after the second act began.
• A voice knocked at Lister’s door late at night, and he opened it to find no one there before sensing a presence behind him.
• Lister confronted a red-robed, androgynous visitor whose concealment had evaded his perception, then scanned them and identified them as the Level 40 Faceless One.

Lister met a faceless A-grade powerhouse who could steal traits and skills, and learned that the stranger was helping the King of Qin investigate him. The visitor revealed he was the King of Qin’s senior brother from the Mohist School, leaving Lister wary but less hostile.

• Lister recognized the stranger’s Devious Theft skill and suspected he was the future-famous Devious Thief.
• The stranger said he had been born without a face and explained that he often wore the face of his first friend, who had died during a beast tide.
• Lister asked whether the stranger was the King of Qin, and the stranger transformed into the King of Qin’s likeness and confirmed he had been sent to investigate Lister.
• The stranger said the King of Qin was his junior brother and that he had come at a junior sister’s request and out of personal interest in Lister.
• The stranger explained that he and the King of Qin had studied the Mohist School Mechanism Method together, establishing that he was the King of Qin’s senior brother.