Chapter Summaries

Shak, a powerful Sand Worm ostracized by his kind, befriended Fishgoo and chose to become a Sand Walker to help his heartbroken friend. At the Martial Arts Tournament, Shak defeated every other contestant, and Fishgoo surrendered so his friend could claim the victory.

• Shak befriended Fishgoo after rescuing him from the water, and the two traveled together before settling in the Valley of Gods and helping Lord Pinkman tend the Rose Garden.
• After Red Leaf married Shang Xun, Fishgoo entered the Martial Arts Tournament to become a Sand Walker but lost in the first round, then asked Shak to enter with him.
• Shak chose to develop his physical strength and transformed into the king beneath the sand, while Fishgoo resolved to keep competing despite his disappointments.
• At the third Martial Arts Tournament, Shak asked to fight all the contestants at once and charged into their formation as Fishgoo watched from a corner.
• Shak defeated the other contestants but was left badly wounded; when only Fishgoo remained, Fishgoo surrendered and congratulated Shak, sharing a pine nut with him.

After Shak refused the Martial Arts Tournament’s Sand Walker reward and Ascension, Lu Yao sent Fishgu to Bamboo Gourd Country as Sand City’s ambassador. Shak cultivated new sand- and cloud-adapted roses, while Fishgu taught the Reed People farming and fertilizer techniques.

• Lu Yao refused Shak’s request to transfer its tournament honor to Fishgu, and Shak chose to remain in Sand City growing roses.
• At Pinkman’s urging, Lu Yao appointed Fishgu an ambassador to Bamboo Gourd Country to exchange planting knowledge and gather information about local vegetation.
• Slaimod explained that all tournament contestants could earn Lu Yao’s attention by showing their abilities, though none of the 23 challengers defeated the first Calamity Beast.
• Shak cultivated Sand Rose and Cloud Rose, and planted a ring of Sand Rose around Sand City while Cloud Rose spread through the sky.
• Fishgu taught the Reed People in Bamboo Gourd Country how to prepare fertilizer and cultivate the land, earning their admiration and the nickname “Noble Aspirant.”

Lu Yao modified the Cloud Transformation Monks, replacing their undead trait with Fair Duel so they could challenge Transcenders and carry their opponents’ memories onward. As duels spread around Sand City, the Yao Tribe discovered fossils beneath the desert, including a dragon’s claw, and Lu Yao learned that more dragon remains might be buried there.

• Lu Yao experimented with the Cloud Transformation Monks’ rules and found that replacing [Undead] with [Fair Duel] restored their initiative while limiting their challenges to evenly matched opponents.
• Lu Yao revised the Cloud Transformation Monk entry throughout the Vortex World, and Slaimod warned Sand City’s Transcenders about the newly dangerous monks.
• A level 20 Cloud Transformation Monk killed a level 21 Yao Tribe Transcender in a duel, and similar battles began as both sides absorbed the memories and identities of the defeated.
• The duels inspired Sand City’s Martial Cultivators to train harder and challenge the Cloud Transformation Monks.
• The Yao Tribe discovered a Black Demon fossil and an unknown fossil, which Lu Yao identified as the Blue Dragon Tiris’s right foreclaw.
• The Guest-receiving Monk told Lu Yao that similar claws and tails were scattered beneath the desert, suggesting more dragon remains lay buried there.

Lu Yao uncovered Cloud-Feather Guest’s history as a Dragon Corpse Hunter and learned that a dying Blue Dragon’s curse had caused Cloud Temple’s collapse. With Sand City established and the desert’s resources being developed, he ordered preparations for exchanges with the Ghost Realm and Bamboo Gourd Country.

• The Guest-receiving Monk assembled three dragon specimens from desert fossils, and Lu Yao found corrupted descriptions under Cloud Temple’s [Desert] rule.
• Lu Yao fed the Clockwork Monkeys 100,000 faith to repair Cloud Temple and restored records revealing Cloud-Feather Guest’s dragon-hunting history and the curse of Blue Dragon Tiris.
• Lu Yao sent Red Dragon Puxi to Philes for the Yao Clan’s artificial dragon project and had the Guest-receiving Monk store the two other dragon corpses.
• Lu Yao gave the Black Demon a [Black Demon Fossil], which it absorbed to raise its level.
• Slaimod reported that Sand City’s foundations were complete, and Lu Yao ordered preparations for two-way exchanges with the Ghost Realm and Bamboo Gourd Country.

Lushan learned from Fishgu about the Yao Clan’s farming practices before traveling with Bamboo Tiger and two Funeral Tribe envoys to Sand City. After Bamboo Tiger searched for a worthy opponent, Lushan found him dejected and wanting to go home.

• Lushan watched Fishgu improve the Reed People’s planting methods and learned that the Yao Clan had specialized farmers and fierce competition.
• Fishgu told Lushan that he and Bamboo Tiger would visit Cloud Temple, then asked Lushan to deliver bamboo shoots and greetings to Shak.
• The Guest-receiving Monk guided Lushan, Bamboo Tiger, Bin Du, and Bin Ji to Sand City, where Slaimod split into two guides to show the rival groups different sights.
• In the Rose Garden, Lushan delivered Fishgu’s bamboo shoots to Shak, while Bamboo Tiger challenged Shak and was directed to seek out Shi Xiao or Ice Fist instead.
• That night, Lushan found Bamboo Tiger sitting by the city wall, staring blankly and saying he wanted to go home.

Bin Du and Bin Ji explored Sand City's Ghost High Tower and learned about the Yao Clan's overwhelming history and power. Shaken by what they discovered, Bin Du set aside the Ghost Realm's rivalry with Bamboo Gourd Country and agreed to cooperate with Lushan for the next three days.

• Bin Du and Bin Ji entered the Ghost High Tower and examined the Yao Clan's books and scrolls.
• Bin Du summoned Bochu, who told them about the Glass God Realm, its fall before Lord Yao, and the Yao Clan's powerful forces.
• Bochu translated the Epic about Haizhe and introduced books on Dragon Language and Yao Clan heroes.
• Bin Du and Bin Ji left the tower overwhelmed by the Yao Clan's strength and saw Bamboo Tiger looking dejected beside Lushan.
• Bin Du proposed that the Ghost Realm and Bamboo Gourd Country cooperate, and he and Lushan agreed to exchange what they had learned.

After seeing Sand City’s advanced civilization, Bin Du and Lushan compared the Ghost Realm’s and Bamboo Gourd Country’s responses and recognized how difficult catching up to the Yao Clan would be. They parted determined to keep improving and hopeful that their peoples would someday build a city like Sand City.

• Bin Du recalled the Yao Tribe’s relentless training and the differences between ghosts in Sand City and the Ghost Realm, concluding that the Ghost Realm lacked the foundations to imitate Sand City immediately.
• Lushan met Bin Du at Pillar Mountain, and Bin Du explained that Apostle Bulo had urged him to keep Sand City’s discoveries secret while the Ghost Realm quietly focused on building its foundation.
• Lushan described how Apostle Zhunan had mobilized Bamboo Gourd Country to develop bamboo, agriculture, and animal husbandry after learning about Sand City’s inventions and construction.
• Bin Du and Lushan agreed that catching up to the Yao Clan would be extremely difficult, but believed their peoples could narrow the gap through persistent effort.
• Watching Nong Lei rise after Yanjui knocked him down, Lushan vowed that they would someday build their own Sand City, and Bin Du assured him they would live to see it.

Lu Yao observed how the Ghost Realm and Bamboo Gourd Country responded to Sand City, then chose Slaimod to visit them as an envoy. He approved Slaimod’s proposal to bring their Apostles to the Yao Clan World for an exchange program.

• Bulo and Hobart identified wise members of the Funeral Tribe and Ghouls, while the Ghost Realm developed specialized roles and education.
• Bamboo Gourd Country mobilized its people, began raising Bamboo Rats, and tried building cities, mining, and making bamboo books, but struggled with most projects.
• Lu Yao reviewed Sand City’s role in influencing the two Divine Kingdoms and considered sending an Apostle to learn about their peoples firsthand.
• Isabelle offered to go as envoy, but Lu Yao rejected her because her former identity as the Forest God could attract attention.
• Slaimod volunteered to visit using a clone and proposed inviting the two countries’ Apostles to the Yao Clan World.
• Lu Yao approved the proposal and named it the Apostle Exchange Student Program.

The fourth Martial Arts Tournament drew Apostles Hobart and Zhunan, but Yellow Fierce defeated Zhunan in the final and won the championship. Afterward, Slaimod arranged visits for the two Apostles to Yao Tribe cities, opening the way for further exchanges between their Divine Kingdoms.

• Lu Yao invited the Ghost Realm and Bamboo Gourd Country to send contestants, and they dispatched Apostles Hobart and Zhunan to the tournament.
• Ice Fist defeated Hobart in the opening round, while Zhunan advanced through the tournament and beat a Rotten Guard to reach the final.
• Yellow Fierce used his Golden Praise Flower Language Spell to defeat Zhunan and win the championship, then defeated the first Calamity Beast before losing to the second.
• Lu Yao raised Yellow Fierce by one level, and the Rose Envoy returned to the Valley of Gods to tend roses with Pinkman.
• Slaimod offered Zhunan and Hobart visits to Yao Tribe cities, and they chose Wuda City and Crystal City respectively.
• Zhunan asked whether outsiders could enter the Yao Tribe's world, and Slaimod said God Yao welcomed friends and enemies while proposing reciprocal visits to their Divine Kingdoms.

Lu Yao showed the Ghost Realm envoy Hobart the Yao Tribe’s Purple Rose weapon and watched Zhunan tour Wuda City. Slaimod then proposed opening Sand City to deeper exchanges with the Ghost Realm and Bamboo Gourd Country.

• Prophet Yaopu welcomed Hobart to Crystal City and explained that Ghouls were rare in the Black Abyss.
• Yaopu showed Hobart the Underground Training Ground and took him aboard a Flower Boat to watch a Purple Rose destroy a suit of Twin Cities Armor.
• Pinkman explained to Lu Yao that Purple Rose was a powerful but slow-growing hybrid weapon that required special potion and assistance to operate.
• Apostle Zelkuku showed Zhunan Wuda City’s mining operations and explained how the Wuji People extracted metals and mined resources in other worlds.
• Slaimod visited Yanjui and Fish Gu with gifts, then told Bulo that Sand City wanted to expand exchanges and welcome residents and talent from the two Divine Kingdoms.

Lu Yao advanced his plan to integrate the Ghost Realm and Bamboo Gourd Country by arranging migration between their populations and Sand City. Later, a visitor named Halo arrived seeking Can Cong’s memories, but Pirate Dog rushed inside and challenged Tyrant to a duel.

• Slaimod proposed that residents could migrate between Sand City and the Ghost Realm, and Bulo agreed to discuss cooperation after consulting the Ghost God.
• Lu Yao read committee notices about Hong Mouxiong’s trafficking crimes and a withdrawn bounty for Can Cong.
• Lu Yao prepared to eat braised ribs when Halo arrived at his apartment, claiming Can Cong had entrusted him with retrieving its memories.
• Pirate Dog slipped inside before Isabelle could stop it, and Tyrant kicked it back toward the doorway.
• Pirate Dog accepted Tyrant’s challenge and transformed into a twisted black-and-white fur monster.

Lu Yao captured Halo, a Cerberus from the Underworld, then fed him and learned how the Underworld gathered the dead from many worlds. Halo explained that he had come to this world for a long-promised life-and-death duel, but could not find his opponent.

• Halo transformed from a stray dog into his full-power Cerberus form, but Lu Yao's three Apostles quickly defeated and restrained him.
• Lu Yao questioned Halo about his origins, and Halo introduced himself as a Cerberus who guarded the Underworld's gates.
• After Lu Yao offered Halo ribs, Halo described the Underworld as a vast High Realm Dimension that drew the dead from other worlds through one-way anchors.
• Lu Yao considered intercepting passing Ghosts to bring them to Sanilo, and Halo warned that doing so would be difficult despite the Underworld's indifference.
• Halo revealed that he had come for a life-and-death duel arranged long ago, but had been unable to find his opponent.

Halo recounted his centuries-long rivalry with Red Dragon Cataro and arrived in the human world for their final duel, only to discover that Cataro might have died and been scattered across the world. Lu Yao wondered whether another Voyager had already collected Cataro’s remains, leaving Halo stunned as he explained why Can Cong had sent him.

• Halo and Red Dragon Cataro fought three duels over six hundred years, with Halo winning the first and fourth and losing the second and third.
• Halo and Cataro agreed to hold their final duel in the human world one thousand years later, and Cataro promised to come unless he was dead.
• Halo arrived on time and searched the transformed human world for more than a century, waiting for Cataro.
• Can Cong told Halo that Cataro would not come because the Nine Harmony Pillar had been destroyed and Dragon Lodging had closed its channels.
• Halo found Cataro’s scent scattered across the world and concluded that the red dragon was probably dead, but he set out to gather and reassemble his remains.
• Lu Yao asked whether another Voyager might already have collected Cataro’s ghost and bones, and Halo’s eyes widened as Pirate Dog remained dazed.

Lu Yao learned why Halo had been stranded in the human world and heard its explanation of the Real Universe and Void Universe. Halo stayed with Lu Yao to wait for Can Cong, whose whereabouts remained uncertain.

• Halo explained that it had lost its place guarding the Underworld’s gate after its borrowed Hell Eye was damaged, but insisted it still belonged to Cerberus and refused Lu Yao’s offer of work.
• Halo described how Cerberus appeared as three-headed dogs in the human world and said it had been tracking Can Cong at Can Cong’s request to retrieve its memories.
• Lu Yao refused to hand over Can Cong’s memory fragments, since only Can Cong could take them, and Halo agreed to wait with him.
• Halo said Can Cong’s aura had vanished near Lu Yao’s city, though it had sensed it again far to the north, and Lu Yao suspected Can Cong had been captured.
• While eating Lu Yao’s food, Halo explained that Real Universes were anchored and relatively fixed, while Void Universes connected them through changing dimensions.

Halo explained the obstacles to recruiting Ghosts and recounted its encounters with two earlier Voyagers, including Henry Maure, who had taught Isaac Newton. After Halo settled in for a nap, Lu Yao received a notification that Black Demon could become a Prophet.

• Halo demanded equal treatment and a seat at the table, but Lu Yao said it had to prove its value first.
• Halo explained that Ghosts pass through worlds too quickly to capture easily and that Lu Yao would need to alter the rules passage and create places that might attract them.
• Lu Yao granted Halo a chair after hearing its advice, and Isabelle served it food prepared by Little Fire.
• Halo told Lu Yao that Liu Gonggan, the King of Huainan, and Henry Maure had been Voyagers, and that Henry had taught Isaac Newton.
• After Halo returned to its box for a nap, Lu Yao saw a Simulator notification offering to transform Black Demon into a Prophet.

Lu Yao confirmed Black Forge as the Yao Clan’s newest Prophet and arranged for it to learn forging from Hammer Endless after relocating the Dwarf Fortress beside Aegir’s Fire. The move prompted Sanilo to establish the Extraordinary Guild, while Lu Yao turned to planning how to settle foreign ghosts passing through the Yao Clan World.

• Lu Yao recognized Black Forge as a Prophet and assigned Philes to guide it.
• Philes recommended bringing Black Forge to Hammer Endless and moving the Dwarf Fortress beside Aegir’s Fire, and Lu Yao approved the relocation.
• Sanilo responded to the dwarves’ departure by founding the Extraordinary Guild, led by Yulian and Shang Li.
• Black Forge became Hammer Endless’s apprentice and began learning forging, receiving a harsh scolding for its clumsy work.
• Lu Yao began a settlement plan for foreign ghosts passing through the Yao Clan World.

Lu Yao tested ways to draw ghosts into Sand City and succeeded when Deng Cheng, a Lamp Tribe ghost, chose to settle in its Ghost Lighthouse. Deng Cheng made a powerful Suspended Lamp and revealed that the Lamp Tribe’s sun had been stolen after its god fell into the Black Mist, leaving Lu Yao intrigued by the tribe’s lost Sky Lamps.

• Lu Yao tested ghost-gathering rules in the Guest Bird World and Cloud Temple, finding more ghosts gathered near the Ghost Lighthouse in Sand City.
• Deng Cheng hesitated beneath the Ghost Lighthouse, then entered it of his own free will and accepted an Oil Lamp as a private room.
• Slaimod welcomed Deng Cheng, gave him Ghost Armor and materials, and Deng Cheng crafted a Suspended Lamp that brightly illuminated the area around the lighthouse.
• Deng Cheng explained that the Lamp Tribe had once relied on Sky Lamps because its world had no sun, and that he had died when a Mist Beast attacked after his lamp went out.
• Deng Cheng told Slaimod that the Firefly God had fallen into the Black Mist after fighting the World Pot and that an outside god had stolen the Lamp Tribe’s sun.

Lu Yao learned about the Lamp Tribe’s artificial origins and the sun of Mist Harbor, while Slaimod proposed that the Firefly God had sold the sun and the tribe as trade goods. The chapter left the nature of Mist Harbor and the Lamp Tribe’s fate uncertain.

• Deng Cheng described Mist Harbor’s fog, the Sky Lamp, and the boxes of supplies the Lamp Tribe relied on to survive.
• Deng Cheng explained that the Lamp Tribe were semi-mechanical beings who used their bodies as materials after death and were tasked with creating a replacement sun.
• Lu Yao realized Mist Harbor’s sun was an artificial object that could wear out, and Deng Cheng described the World Pot that produced the Black Mist and its dangers.
• Deng Cheng said the Lamp Tribe had dwindled after its last Master Craftsman disappeared, taking much of its knowledge and history with it.
• Slaimod linked the sun’s disappearance to divine trade, concluding that the Firefly God likely sold the sun and the Lamp Tribe through a transaction called “departure.”

Lu Yao learned how Deng Cheng’s lampmaking was bringing new knowledge to the Yao Clan, then received another piece of the Off-road Rabbit set. Can Cong recovered its memories in Lu Yao’s Divine Kingdom and immediately tried to force the sleepy Pasha to resume training.

• Slaimod explained that Mist Harbor and the World Pot may have served as a site for trading living departure goods, while Deng Cheng’s lamps spread through Salt City and Yao City and brought the Yao Clan new technology.
• Lu Yao received the Off-road Rabbit Scarf as a Sacrificial Offering from the elves of the south, completing the second piece of the set.
• Can Cong arrived during a storm, and Halo left to search for the Red Dragon’s corpse and return to its duties at the Gate of the Underworld.
• Can Cong retrieved its memories and agreed to become Lu Yao’s ninth Apostle so it could recover the rest of them in the Dragon Nest.
• Can Cong found Pasha asleep and scolded him for neglecting his second awakening, but Pasha said sleeping and raising bugs and birds made him stronger.
• Can Cong asked Lu Yao to have the Blood Knight beat Pasha awake.

Lu Yao accepted Can Cong as a long-term Apostle after hearing about its history and desire to return to Dragon Lodging. He reprimanded Pasha for seeming idle, but discovered that Pasha had been experimenting with breeding and had created an unusual Dragonkin Fighting Stag Beetle.

• Can Cong described the Cerberus clan and recounted how it met Haro while seeking a Dragon Bone fragment, then explained that it had died six times and was now its 72nd generation.
• Can Cong asked Lu Yao to take it on as a long-term Apostle so it could help Pasha and eventually reopen the passage to Dragon Lodging, and Lu Yao agreed.
• Lu Yao watched the Blood Knight beat Pasha in training and warned Snowman Jimmy to correct Pasha’s apparent idleness or risk having it transferred to Cloud Temple.
• Snowman Jimmy scolded Pasha, who begged Lu Yao for forgiveness and promised to focus on combat training.
• Lu Yao discovered Pasha’s breeding farm and learned that it had been trying to cultivate sub-dragons using Dark Sun irradiation and dragon blood.
• Lu Yao inspected Pasha’s level-three Dragonkin Fighting Stag Beetle, whose Dragon Painting ability let it evolve by imitating Dragon Race members, and reconsidered his judgment of Pasha.