Chapter Summaries

Zhang Bo met Yang Di and Zhang Song in secret and praised Dhirim’s fairness, hoping they would accept peace and surrender. Yang Di erupted in anger and accused Zhang Bo of betraying Green Leaf Group, leaving Zhang Bo struggling to explain himself.

• Zhang Bo arrived alone at the large tent and greeted Yang Di and Zhang Song, who asked about Dhirim’s terms and negotiating bottom line.
• Zhang Bo described Shen Mu as a good man and praised Dhirim’s treatment of Blue Star Human, its food provisions, opportunities, and self-governance.
• Zhang Bo urged Yang Di to visit Dhirim and offered to help make him the leader of Blue Star Human, dismissing Zhang Caidong as a weak puppet.
• Yang Di grew furious at Zhang Bo’s praise of Dhirim and accused him of demeaning Green Leaf Group and its struggle to survive.
• Yang Di reminded Zhang Bo that he had sent him to gather intelligence, not persuade Green Leaf Group to surrender, and questioned whether Zhang Bo served Shen Mu instead.

Zhang Bo told Yang Di and Zhang Song that Dhirim’s negotiations were only a formality and that Shen Mu intended to absorb Green Leaf Group without genuine concessions. After suspecting Zhang Bo had exposed their failed plan, Yang Di and Zhang Song decided to test his loyalty with a secret mission to contact the Wood Elf Plane.

• Yang Di and Zhang Song confronted Zhang Bo over his praise of Dhirim and demanded the truth about its negotiation terms.
• Zhang Bo revealed that Shen Mu had no intention of bargaining and wanted Green Leaf Group to surrender and become Dhirim’s vassal.
• Yang Di and Zhang Song feigned understanding and let Zhang Bo leave while asking him to report any concessions or new information.
• After Zhang Bo departed, Yang Di and Zhang Song suspected he had leaked their Grand Plan to Shen Mu and caused their defeat.
• Yang Di and Zhang Song decided to ask Zhang Bo to secretly contact the Wood Elf Plane as a final test of his loyalty.

Shen Mu used Zhang Bo to keep Green Leaf Group convinced that Dhirim sought peace while Fatis led the Sacred Tree Knight Order toward its walls under cover of darkness. At a lavish banquet, the Khergit escort abruptly departed, reviving Green Leaf Group’s suspicions and leaving Zhang Bo under scrutiny as the attack approached.

• Shen Mu received a report that negotiations were proceeding smoothly and ordered Fatis to wait until nightfall.
• After the Necromantic Rules emerged at 6:00 p.m., Fatis led the Sacred Tree Knight Order toward Green Leaf Group in silence.
• Fatis met Lezalit and Bestur near Green Leaf Group’s walls, where their cavalry forces gathered for the planned assault.
• At Green Leaf Group’s banquet, Yang Di and Zhang Song praised Zhang Bo’s role in the negotiations and offered the guests food, drink, and entertainment.
• A Khergit Captain announced that he and his nineteen horse archers had to return to Bunduk under Dhirim’s military orders, then led them out of the banquet.
• Yang Di and Zhang Song grew suspicious again, while Zhang Bo realized the Khergits’ departure had exposed their party’s wariness and left him facing a new test.

At Green Leaf Group’s banquet, Zhang Bo tried to smooth over the Khergit guards’ abrupt departure while Yang Di and Zhang Song grew suspicious of him. A horn announced an enemy assault on the Wood Elf Village, and Yang Di accused Zhang Bo of betraying Green Leaf Group as the attack began.

• After the Khergit guards left, Zhang Bo and Sun Zhiru urged Yang Di to continue the banquet and offered toasts on behalf of the Dhirim delegation.
• Yang Di and Zhang Song resumed the festivities but watched Zhang Bo closely, while Zhang Bo grew increasingly anxious about the guards’ departure and the looming danger.
• Yang Di and Zhang Song mistook Zhang Bo’s fear for guilt and prepared to alert their troops and raise the village’s defenses.
• A horn sounded, and cries of enemy attack, cavalry, and breached walls spread through the village as the banquet guests panicked.
• Yang Di overturned the table, drew his saber, and accused Zhang Bo of betraying Green Leaf Group and enabling the assault.

Shen Mu’s forces launched a devastating assault on the Wood Elf Village, overwhelming the Green Leaf Group with cavalry and fire. As the village burned and resistance collapsed, Yang Di blamed Zhang Bo for the group’s destruction.

• Lezalit’s Swadian Heavy Cavalry broke through the village walls on earthen ramps and charged into the settlement.
• Bestur’s Khergit Heavy Horse Archers attacked from another direction, shooting defenders, cutting down resistance, and setting buildings ablaze.
• Yang Di and Zhang Song watched their plans fail as the village’s defenses crumbled under the assault.
• Shen Mu, Fatis, and Bunduk observed the battle from outside the village while Sacred Tree Cavalry prevented anyone from escaping.
• Shen Mu declared that the Green Leaf Group would be erased from Balihe, and Fatis reported that organized resistance was being swiftly destroyed.
• Yang Di confronted Zhang Bo in the great tent, accusing him of betraying him and causing the Green Leaf Group’s destruction.

Yang Di and Zhang Song accused Zhang Bo of betraying Green Leaf Group after their Grand Plan repeatedly fell into Shen Mu’s traps, though Zhang Bo insisted he was innocent. As Dhirim’s cavalry ravaged the Wood Elf Village, Yang Di led his remaining forces and the Dhirim negotiators toward the Great Treehouse, claiming he still had one final trump card.

• Yang Di accused Zhang Bo of being a spy, and Zhang Song questioned him about how his warnings had repeatedly helped Shen Mu defeat their plan.
• Zhang Bo denied betraying them but could not explain why Shen Mu’s reinforcements had arrived at every crucial moment.
• A wounded Wood Elf Sword Dancer warned that Dhirim’s cavalry were about to break into the tent, so Yang Di ordered Zhang Bo and the negotiators seized and taken to the Great Treehouse.
• Yang Di and Zhang Song found the village ablaze as Lezalit’s Swadian Heavy Cavalry and Bestur’s Khergit Horse Archers slaughtered its defenders and residents.
• Yang Di led his remaining loyal Sword Dancers, Zhang Bo, Sun Zhiru, and the other negotiators toward the Great Treehouse, saying he still had a final trump card.

As Shen Mu’s forces closed in on the Great Treehouse, Yang Di tried to reach its Plane Power and awaken the Green Leaf Group’s final weapon. With the retreat collapsing under Khergit arrows, Yang Di stabbed Zhang Song and ordered him to hold off their pursuers, leaving the group’s fate hanging in the burning village.

• Shen Mu ordered Fatis to tighten the perimeter and sent Bunduk’s Heavy Infantry to encircle the Great Treehouse alongside Lezalit’s cavalry and Bestur’s Khergits.
• Yang Di led Zhang Song, Zhang Bo, and the surviving Wood Elf Sword Dancers toward the Great Treehouse, hoping to awaken its Plane Power and turn the ancient tree into a war Treant.
• Khergit Heavy Horse Archers pursued the group and killed many of its guards with a barrage of arrows.
• Yang Di ordered his party to forget the Negotiation Experts but keep Zhang Bo with them as they pressed toward the treehouse.
• As Zhang Song prepared to order the others to cover Yang Di’s escape, Yang Di stabbed him in the thigh and demanded that he hold off the Horse Archers.
• Wounded and betrayed, Zhang Song watched Yang Di flee toward the Great Treehouse while the surviving group remained exposed to the encirclement.

As the Wood Elf Village burned and Dhirim’s Khergit Horse Archers closed in, Yang Di betrayed Zhang Song and Zhang Bo to reach the Great Treehouse. After stabbing Zhang Bo and abandoning his dying allies, Yang Di rushed toward the ancient tree, hoping to awaken it and reverse his defeat.

• Yang Di stabbed Zhang Song in the thigh and ordered him and the remaining Wood Elf Sword Dancers to hold off the Horse Archers while he escaped.
• Zhang Bo condemned Yang Di for sacrificing Zhang Song, and Zhang Song chose to lead the guards in a desperate charge against the cavalry.
• As Yang Di dragged Zhang Bo toward the Great Treehouse, Zhang Bo challenged his accusations and blamed Yang Di’s choices for Green Leaf Group’s destruction.
• Yang Di stabbed Zhang Bo in the chest, then kicked him aside and ran toward the Great Treehouse with his bloodied dagger.
• Zhang Song and the Wood Elf Village were left behind as Yang Di sought to awaken the ancient tree and turn the battle around.

Shen Mu’s forces destroyed Green Leaf Group’s resistance in the burning Wood Elf Village, and Shen Mu silenced the rescued negotiators’ objections with threats and rewards. During the cleanup, his troops found the dying Zhang Song, who said Yang Di had abandoned him but that he had no regrets about serving him.

• Shen Mu ordered Lezalit’s Swadian Heavy Cavalry and the Khergit Heavy Horse Archers to crush the Wood Elf defenders and fleeing survivors.
• The captured negotiation experts accused Shen Mu of using them as bait, but the Sacred Tree Knights’ killing intent silenced them.
• Shen Mu praised Sun Zhiru and ordered him to form a team from the negotiation experts for the Blue Star Humans of Dhirim.
• Bunduk led infantry through the ruins to kill remaining resistance, while Shen Mu watched the cleanup and used it to train his troops.
• Khergit Horse Archers reported finding the wounded Zhang Song, and Shen Mu questioned him about Yang Di abandoning him.
• Zhang Song said Yang Di had sacrificed him to repay an old debt and that he had no regrets about serving him.

Zhang Song recounted how Yang Di had rescued and raised him, only to stab him as a scapegoat, while Shen Mu spared him to question him about Green Leaf Group. As Shen Mu ordered the Great Treehouse attacked, Yang Di’s plea for the Wood Elf Plane’s power went unanswered, leaving him broken and abandoned.

• Zhang Song told Shen Mu how Yang Di had taken him in as a child and made him a trusted Green Leaf Group lieutenant, then lamented that Yang Di had stabbed him when their bond no longer suited him.
• Shen Mu ordered Zhang Song treated as a prisoner, then revealed that Zhang Bo had always been a Green Leaf Group spy whom Shen Mu had recognized and manipulated.
• A Khergit Horse Archer reported that Yang Di had entered the Great Treehouse to awaken Plane Power, and Shen Mu ordered Bunduk’s ballistae and fire arrows used against it.
• Yang Di clutched a Rune Stone and begged the Wood Elf Plane to destroy Shen Mu, but the Plane gave no answer.
• As the Great Treehouse burned and its defenders fell, Yang Di collapsed in despair, realizing he had been abandoned.

As his defeat became inevitable, Yang Di sacrificed the Wood Elf Lord Core and his Spiritual Power to transform the great ancient tree into a monstrous War Tree. The creature shattered Bunduk’s shield line, but Shen Mu ordered the Dhirim Legion to withdraw from the village.

• Overcome by despair and madness, Yang Di decided to use his final method to summon the War Tree.
• Yang Di poured his Spiritual Power and the fragment of Will of Nature into the ancient tree, shattering the Wood Elf Lord Core and corrupting its energy.
• The ancient tree mutated into a towering humanoid monster with fleshy roots, claws, and a skull-like face.
• The War Tree roared and repelled arrows and crossbow bolts as its giant claw crushed the front ranks of Bunduk’s shield formation.
• Shen Mu watched the monster emerge, then ordered all troops to fall back and leave the Wood Elf Village.

Shen Mu withdrew Dhirim’s forces beyond the War Tree’s reach and ordered a ranged assault that began burning the trapped monster. As the attack continued, he sent Lezalit to gather surviving Blue Star Humans for Dhirim, leaving the War Tree’s destruction underway and the survivors being rounded up.

• Shen Mu ordered the Dhirim Legion to retreat beyond the War Tree’s reach, and its claws and vines injured some soldiers before the troops regrouped.
• Fatis, Bunduk, Lezalit, and Bestur assessed the War Tree as a vulnerable target, and Shen Mu ordered ballistae and archers to attack while Bestur’s horse archers suppressed its vines.
• The Dhirim Legion bombarded the War Tree with ballista bolts and arrows, setting its bark and vines ablaze as the monster remained trapped in the burning village core.
• Shen Mu ordered Lezalit to gather surviving Blue Star Humans in the village and at its edge, offering Dhirim’s protection to those who surrendered and forbidding needless killing.
• Lezalit led cavalry squadrons and infantry into the ruins to drive, surround, and capture the Blue Star Human survivors.

Shen Mu’s army forced the Blue Star Humans from the burning ruins while bombarding Yang Di’s immobile War Tree. The Wood Elf elder condemned Yang Di’s reckless use of the plane’s power, then ordered him to abandon the War Tree, absorb the power in his Lord Core, and activate his Mind Beacon to enable a rescue.

• Shen Mu watched his troops herd the Blue Star Humans toward Dhirim as the War Tree burned under the army’s attacks.
• Yang Di raged from the ruined treehouse while the siege weapons and arrows battered the stationary War Tree.
• The Wood Elf elder rebuked Yang Di for wasting the plane’s remaining power and blamed him for destroying Green Leaf’s last chance.
• As the ruins collapsed and Yang Di neared despair, the elder told him he still had one chance to survive.
• The elder ordered Yang Di to draw all Spiritual Power from his Lord Core into himself and activate his Mind Beacon as a coordinate.
• Yang Di closed his eyes and began pulling the power from his Lord Core.

Yang Di’s attempt to contact the Wood Elf Plane became a harvesting mark, and a mysterious pillar erased the War Tree before vanishing. As Yang Di and the near-dead Zhang Bo lay outside its reach, Shen Mu ordered the Dhirim Legion to secure them and investigate the strange power.

• Yang Di’s Mind Beacon unleashed Spiritual Power into him, and the elder revealed that it marked him for harvesting rather than opening a passage.
• A pillar tore through the dimensional barrier and erased the War Tree and the ground beneath it, while Yang Di remained outside its reach.
• Yang Di collapsed beside Zhang Bo, who had survived Yang Di’s stabbing but was gravely wounded by the upheaval.
• Shen Mu ordered Bunduk to search the pillar’s edge and keep Zhang Bo alive, while Lezalit prepared the troops and Spellcasters to investigate the energy residue.
• Shen Mu ordered Bestur to expand patrols and alert the legion to any further spatial or energy disturbances.

After an unknown force erased the Wood Elf Village core, Shen Mu learned that completing the battle had earned him an Elfwood Outpost blueprint that could recruit elite Wood Elves from Middle-earth. He ordered the remaining resistance killed and prepared to use the reward as Dhirim’s fourth village.

• Fatis warned Shen Mu that the force behind the Wood Elves had intervened with a precise, ruthless act of harvesting.
• Shen Mu found no trace of the Wood Elf Lord Core in the crater and realized the enemy had taken it.
• The system declared the ninth-stage mission complete with an Excellent rating and awarded Shen Mu the Elfwood Outpost template.
• Shen Mu welcomed the reward as more valuable than the stolen core and ordered Bunduk to interrogate Yang Di before disposing of him.
• A Khergit Horse Archer reported routed survivors, and Shen Mu ordered Bestur and Bunduk’s forces to kill all who resisted.
• Shen Mu looked forward to deploying the outpost as Dhirim’s fourth village and recruiting Middle-earth Wood Elves.

The Wood Elf Council debated Alegoros’s destruction of the War Tree and learned that he had spent the Bastion Root’s reserves to conceal their planar passage from Shen Mu. With Ariendor’s World Tree core cracked and its defenses weakened, Karis Root-Vine proposed a complete Slumber Echo.

• Solindir condemned Alegoros for harvesting the corrupted War Tree before it could mature into an Elf Ancient Tree.
• Ilmarien questioned whether Alegoros had used the Wood Elf Plane’s protected reserves to carry out the harvest.
• Alegoros revealed the World Tree core’s cracks and explained that Yang Di’s War Tree had become a dangerous drain that might expose the passage to Shen Mu’s forces.
• Alegoros admitted using the Bastion Root’s energy to erase the passage and protect the weakened plane from discovery.
• Galadriel, Solindir, and Ilmarien accepted that the War Tree had become a liability and voiced concern about Ariendor’s weakened defenses and Shen Mu.
• Karis Root-Vine warned that the Emerald Veil had a weak point and asked whether the council should enter a complete Slumber Echo.

After the defeat at Eight Mile River, Alegoros ordered Ariendor to conceal itself and enter a long retreat. Shen Mu prepared to build an Elfwood Outpost in Dhirim, secured a damaged Ancient Tree Seed Embryo, and ordered the army to return with prisoners and supplies.

• Alegoros rejected complete slumber for the moment and ordered the elders to repair Ariendor's barrier, sever outside connections, and focus resources on the World Tree core.
• Dhirim's forces crushed the remaining Green Leaf Group resistance and gathered surviving Blue Star Humans for transport to Dhirim.
• Shen Mu deployed the Elfwood Outpost blueprint near the Park Wetlands and ordered Zhang Bo kept alive for interrogation, while leaving Yang Di's fate to chance.
• A Swadian officer brought Shen Mu a damaged Ancient Tree Seed Embryo, which Shen Mu ordered sent to Dhirim for Lady Liu Na.
• Shen Mu ordered the army to finish cleanup, escort prisoners back for screening, sort captured supplies, and prepare to construct the Elfwood Outpost.

Shen Mu revealed that he had known Zhang Bo was a Green Leaf Group spy and had used him to mislead Yang Di, leaving Zhang Bo devastated by his betrayal and his own exploitation. Afterward, Manid and Jeremus explained that sparing Zhang Bo and Yang Di would help persuade Dhirim’s enemies and potential allies to submit.

• Shen Mu visited the wounded Zhang Bo and made clear that he had kept him alive to question and use him.
• Shen Mu exposed Zhang Bo’s role as a Green Leaf Group operative and explained how he had used Zhang Bo’s warnings to manipulate Yang Di.
• Zhang Bo realized that Yang Di had betrayed him and that Shen Mu had exploited his loyalty, and he cursed Yang Di as he broke down in despair.
• Shen Mu left Zhang Bo’s cell and met Manid and Jeremus, who questioned why Zhang Bo and Yang Di had been spared.
• Manid and Jeremus explained that sparing the two would signal mercy and encourage hostile factions and observers to join Dhirim.

Shen Mu ordered Zhang Bo and Yang Di kept under strict surveillance while Dhirim celebrated its victory over Green Leaf Group. Alayen arrived with three hundred troops and learned how Dhirim had repelled the attack and destroyed the Wood Elf Village, ending the chapter amid the victory banquet.

• Shen Mu ordered Manid to confine Zhang Bo and Yang Di, monitor their every move, and use them to extract information and reassure other Blue Star people.
• A messenger told Fatis that Alayen was approaching Dhirim with three hundred Khergit-style cavalry.
• Alayen arrived at Dhirim's victory banquet, greeted Shen Mu, and joined the gathering.
• Fatis, Bestur, and Lezalit explained how Dhirim had held off Green Leaf Group's two-pronged assault and secretly struck the Wood Elf Village with its true forces.
• Bestur said Yang Di had failed to escape and Zhang Bo was barely alive in the dungeon after Yang Di stabbed him.
• Alayen toasted Shen Mu and the victorious warriors, and the banquet grew more jubilant.

Alayen warned Shen Mu that organized Skeleton Cavalry and Skeleton Knights were gathering east of New Rivacheg, prompting Shen Mu to mobilize elite cavalry and issue defensive orders across Dhirim. Shen Mu led the force east to investigate as the scouts spread ahead and the landscape showed increasingly drastic changes from Spiritual Realm Descent.

• Alayen reported that Skeleton Cavalry and better-equipped Skeleton Knights were patrolling in organized groups near New Rivacheg.
• Shen Mu ordered New Rivacheg to withdraw exposed posts, expand reconnaissance, and keep Dhirim supplied with intelligence.
• Shen Mu dispatched five hundred Khergit Horse Archers under Bestur and five hundred Swadian Knights under Lezalit, while assigning Fatis, Manid, and Jeremus to defend and support Dhirim.
• Shen Mu led the cavalry force out of Dhirim toward the eastern wilderness as Alayen and the Steppe Bandits scouted ahead.
• Shen Mu observed that Spiritual Realm Descent had turned parts of the damaged road into sandy and Gobi terrain, showing that the Blue Star World’s transformation was growing more pronounced.