Chapter Summaries

Lister Merick was made a count and diplomat of the Kingdom of Lucian, which unexpectedly completed his main quest and rewarded him with experience, gold, attribute points, and a resurrection chance. He received a residence and valuable gifts, including a rare turquoise potion, as he began his new role.

• King Kerry granted Lister the title of count and appointed him diplomat responsible for relations with the Great Chu Imperial Dynasty, placing the Sixth Guard under his command.
• Lister received the main quest completion rewards, including 10 free attribute points, 5 million experience points, 100,000 gold coins, and one resurrection chance.
• A clerk named Lili assigned Lister a luxurious residence in the royal capital and explained that the eldest prince had paid for its furnishings.
• Lister signed for a small purple-gold mine, ten percent of the turquoise mine's annual proceeds, fourth-tier equipment, and more than a hundred bottles of turquoise solution.
• Lili presented Lister with Lucian's Special Turquoise Stock Solution, a B-grade potion that granted two points to all four attributes and could be consumed twice.

Lister returned to Will City with the Sixth Guard, using its royal connection to flaunt his protection before Duke Will. In the duke’s castle, Morey explained why the royal family’s approval prevented them from attacking Lister, while Will II grew more disappointed in Walen.

• Lister rode through Will City with ten Sixth Guard professionals and deliberately lingered outside Duke Will’s castle before returning to his own castle.
• Will II shattered his teacup as Walen urged him to lead another attack on Lister.
• Morey laughed at Walen’s proposal and explained that Lister’s command of the Sixth Guard showed he had the Lucian Royal Family’s approval.
• Walen dismissed the royal connection as coincidence and again offered to deal with Lister, prompting Will II to silence him and look to Morey for a solution.

Morey advised Will II to use Lister’s new title to strip the Merick Family of its standing in the Duchy of Will. After settling his affairs and reaching level forty, Lister set out with ten guards for the Great Chu Imperial Dynasty, where a surprise system announcement appeared in the Lost Land.

• Morey told Will II that Lister’s countship in the Kingdom of Lucian could remove the Merick Family’s noble status in the Duchy of Will, and urged his father to send Lister toward Great Chu sooner.
• A week later, Lister received generous congratulatory gifts and learned that his family’s titles and honors in the Duchy of Will would be revoked.
• Anke reported that Count Connor returned the protective equipment and potions but accepted a three-point share of the turquoise mine, while Quint accepted his share and gifts.
• Lister distributed his experience and attribute points, reached level forty, and improved his Merrick Breathing Technique and Saber Mastery.
• Lister departed with ten guards of the Sixth Guard and traveled through the Lost Land toward the Great Chu Imperial Dynasty.
• After they reached the place described in Milo’s travelogue, a system message announcing a closed beta appeared.

After the closed beta began, the system failed to delete Lister Merick and granted him limited player communication and trading functions under the name Chen Xinhe. He traveled to Jiangling Prefecture, where he and the Sixth Guard encountered a battle between blue-coated travelers and mountain bandits.

• The system detected Lister Merick as an alien life-form, failed to delete him, and recreated a limited player character for him.
• Lister named the player character Chen Xinhe, discovered Jiangling Prefecture on his minimap, and set out with the guards.
• Lister watched the closed beta players begin chatting as he traveled toward Jiangling Prefecture.
• After more than half a month, Lister and the Sixth Guard reached the border city of Jiangling Prefecture.
• Lister led the group toward a fierce fight between blue-coated travelers protecting two carriages and mountain bandits in gray hemp clothing.

Lister watched bandits attack a caravan, then beat the Marquis of Courage and Resolve’s arrogant daughter after she confronted him. He found a counterfeit Yellow Court Saber Art Visualization Method in a scroll and questioned the daughter about its origin.

• Lister held back while the bandits attacked the guards and overturned both carriages, scattering their passengers and valuables.
• The bandit leader found a painting scroll, but a guard stabbed him before he could finish ordering the bandits to retreat.
• Lister approached the scroll, but the marquis’s daughter insulted him and demanded to know why he had not intervened, so he kicked her and killed three guards who attacked him.
• Lister opened the scroll and obtained the counterfeit Yellow Court Saber Art Visualization Method, a passive skill that added 1% true damage to saber-art attacks.
• Lister threatened the injured daughter until she agreed to answer his questions, then asked where the scroll had come from.

Lister brought Xiong Ranran to the Mansion of the Marquis of Courage to learn whether her family owned the Yellow Court Saber Art Visualization Method. He found the mansion being searched by Brocade Guard Commander Li Fu, while his inspection of the Marquis revealed no sign of the method.

• Xiong Ranran insisted she had never seen the scroll, and Lister agreed to accompany her to her family’s mansion.
• After a day of travel, Lister and Xiong Ranran arrived in Jiangling Prefecture, where several factions secretly watched them enter the inner city.
• Lister and Rolf followed Xiong Ranran into the Mansion of the Marquis of Courage and found its rooms in disarray.
• Commander Li Fu announced that the Brocade Guard would end its search, while Marquis Xiong asked why they had searched his estate.
• Lister inspected Marquis Xiong and found that he used spear techniques and lacked the Yellow Court Saber Art Visualization Method, then assessed Li Fu as a level-40 swordsman.

Lister learned that the painting he had recovered was tied to an imperial secret treasure and saw Assistant Commander Li accuse the Marquis of Courage and Resolve’s household of possessing it. A player’s newly revealed quest linked the painting to bandits who attacked Xiong Ranran, leaving Lister to suspect that Assistant Commander Li had hidden the genuine treasure and framed the marquis.

• Lister identified himself as a Lucian envoy and said he had rescued Xiong Ranran from bandits who wanted her painting.
• Assistant Commander Li recognized the painting, ordered the Brocade Guards to withdraw, and accused the marquis’s household of having it.
• The marquis blamed Lister for producing the painting, while Assistant Commander Li said he would investigate and ordered the marquis to remain at home.
• Lister saw War God of Jiangling Prefecture post a quest from Assistant Commander Li to find the bandits who attacked Xiong Ranran.
• Lister realized the painting was connected to an imperial secret treasure and suspected Assistant Commander Li had kept the real visualization diagram and framed the marquis.

Chen Shanqiang entered Jiangling Prefecture’s inner city and met Count Merrick, whose hidden quest asked him to gather information about Assistant Commander Li. Chen Shanqiang accepted the quest and announced it in public chat, where Love of a Lifetime challenged his plan.

• Chen Shanqiang paid a silver coin to enter the inner city while complaining about Love of a Lifetime, who had camped his exit.
• Chen Shanqiang followed a tip from Chen Xinhe to the Evergreen Inn and asked to meet Count Merrick.
• Chen Shanqiang scanned Lister Merick and saw that the system rated him as extremely dangerous, then posted the result in public chat.
• Lister gave Chen Shanqiang a side quest to gather information about Assistant Commander Li in exchange for one gold coin.
• Chen Shanqiang accepted the quest and told public chat he planned to watch Assistant Commander Li’s residence, while Love of a Lifetime mocked him.

Lister discovered a powerful thief hiding in his room and tried to recruit her to help investigate Assistant Commander Li, but she escaped after he struck her. He returned to find his luggage emptied, while players continued discussing his investigation quest and Lister planned a new quest to track the thief.

• Lister scanned a player and detected an unseen Lv33 Rogue hiding in his room.
• Lister invited the player out, then searched for the thief and offered her anything she wanted in exchange for her help investigating Assistant Commander Li.
• Wu Yan ignored Lister's bluff and continued using Universe in the Sleeve to search his luggage for a specific item.
• Lister sensed Wu Yan escaping through the window, slashed her, and nearly killed her, but she vanished into the crowded street.
• Lister found that Wu Yan had emptied his luggage, though his important potions were safe in his system inventory.
• Players discussed waiting for someone else to uncover information about Assistant Commander Li, and Lister planned to issue a quest to investigate Wu Yan.

Lister paid Chen Shanqiang for his intelligence and learned that the thief who had entered his room might be connected to Shanyi Hall. He found the thief, Wu Yan, there and confronted her, but the chapter ended as he invited her inside to talk.

• Lister thanked Chen Shanqiang for his reports on Assistant Commander Li and paid him a gold coin.
• Chen Shanqiang told Lister he had seen a woman matching the thief’s description while running errands for Shanyi Hall.
• Lister visited Shanyi Hall and questioned its head, Shen Mei, about the woman.
• Lister called into the courtyard, and Wu Yan appeared, accusing him of being an unscrupulous scoundrel.
• Wu Yan defended her thefts as righteous, and Lister invited her inside to discuss the matter.

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.