Chapter Summaries

Gu Xi reviewed the building blueprints he had acquired and considered how to reorganize Aryadovi City around specialized districts. He left undecided whether to attack Aryadovi Tower or the Mist Zone next.

• Gu Xi examined the Energy Lighthouse and Dryad Jungle blueprints, but could not determine their purposes or what their requirements implied.
• Gu Xi reviewed seven medium building blueprints, including a Rustbone Basement that brought him closer to fulfilling Dimi’s requirement.
• Gu Xi assessed six small blueprints focused on strengthening the city’s troops.
• Gu Xi planned to turn the Upper District into a Magic District and develop the area around the Evil Church and White Bone Evil Temple into a White Bone District.
• Gu Xi considered his next target, weighing Aryadovi Tower against the Mist Zone outside the city.

Gu Xi brought his supplies into Aryadovi City before Du Wushuang kept him in Loose Immortal Garden for a day and a half. He then met Song Yumo to trade Purple Equipment and learned that the Large Building Blueprints he wanted were nearly impossible to obtain, though Song Yumo had another idea.

• Gu Xi used the City Gate to transport his supplies into Aryadovi City and told Du Wushuang he still needed to meet a buyer and complete the Wisdom Tree mission.
• Du Wushuang carried Gu Xi away and kept him in Loose Immortal Garden until Liu Kai's raven arrived with a letter a day and a half later.
• Gu Xi followed the raven to the Crystal Forest, where Liu Kai introduced him to the Death Knight Song Yumo.
• Gu Xi showed Song Yumo the Ghost Face Skin and Ghoul Immortal Hand, and Song Yumo explained that the items suited different tank roles but that he could find buyers for both.
• Song Yumo said the Lich mausoleum and Bone Dragon's Dragon Tomb blueprints Gu Xi wanted were unavailable or controlled by the Blazing Sun groups, then offered another idea.

Gu Xi considered Song Yumo’s offer of a vampire training site and agreed to inspect it after learning it came with a city land deed and a complete set of buildings. Song Yumo’s companion delivered the Blood Cell Deed, revealing a Level 2 Vampire Residence and several supporting buildings with powerful benefits for vampires.

• Song Yumo offered Gu Xi a complete set of Spider Sect vampire buildings together with the city land deed, and Gu Xi agreed to inspect them.
• Liu Kai explained the Song family’s history with vampire Black Guards and said the deed would likely cover a region centered on a Vampire Residence.
• A Death Knight arrived on a golden warhorse and handed Song Yumo a lead box containing the Blood Cell Deed.
• Gu Xi inspected the deed and discovered a Level 2 Vampire Residence that could recruit vampires and Vampire Esquires, plus a Blood-colored Garden, Blood Pool, Vampire Statue, Blood Throne, and Bat Cave.

Gu Xi returned to Aryadovi City after accepting Song Yumo’s Blood Cell Deed, then grew worried when Luna failed to come back from Victoria City. After his owls flew toward Victoria City together, he rushed to use the Hearthstone and find out what had happened.

• Gu Xi agreed to Song Yumo’s deal and returned to Aryadovi City through a City Gate.
• Dimi told Gu Xi that Luna had not returned, prompting him to worry that something had happened in Victoria City.
• Gu Xi summoned his Undead Army and ordered his troops to store his supplies, blueprints, and equipment in the Dock Warehouse.
• Gu Xi sent an owl carrying a letter to Luna, but several owls flew off together toward Victoria City.
• Gu Xi rode the Evil Coffin to the connection cabin to travel to Victoria City using the Hearthstone.

Gu Xi failed to enter Victoria City and hurried to leave the garrison world, where his two Contract Undead remained stranded. After Liu Kai showed him a nearby exit node, Gu Xi set off on the Evil Coffin while Liu Kai and Song Yumo discussed whether to support him.

• Gu Xi tried to enter Victoria City through its Hearthstone, but an electric force rejected him.
• Gu Xi placed the Blood Cell Deed in the Council Hall and exited Aryadovi City, only to reappear beside Liu Kai and Song Yumo near the Crystal Tree Forest.
• Gu Xi asked Liu Kai for a nearby exit node, and Liu Kai explained where it was and how to leave the garrison world.
• Gu Xi rode the Evil Coffin toward the exit without returning to say goodbye to Du Wushuang.
• Song Yumo considered having his family secretly support Gu Xi, but Liu Kai warned that scheming could alienate him and push him toward the draft faction.

Gu Xi settled two missions at the Chaoyang Radiance Guild, earned enough Guild Score to become an official member, and went to exchange his reward for Blue Equipment. He opened a crate at the guild’s Blacksmith Shop and found a chained book and rusty short sword, though their properties were not yet revealed.

• Gu Xi submitted his mission slips and received two Grade A+ evaluations, recruitment orders, a Blue Equipment delivery note, and 700 Guild Score.
• The settlement player told Gu Xi that he had passed his Internship Period and become an official member of the Chaoyang Radiance Guild.
• Gu Xi followed Huang Jiu to the guild’s Blacksmith Shop and asked Seventh Master for a clothing piece or other armor.
• Gu Xi chose a red crate for Blue Equipment and opened it to find two Skeleton heads, glowing chains, a red leather-bound book, and a rusty short sword.

Gu Xi equipped the Reverse Lich shoulder armor and discovered that it turned his Bone Spike into a stylish, life-stealing Flying Sword. He then reached the Chaoyang Radiance Guild Barracks and chose the undead troops he wanted to recruit.

• Gu Xi equipped the Reverse Lich shoulder armor, whose chains and Skeleton heads glowed as he walked.
• Gu Xi used his Cold Wind Staff to create a Bone Spike that had become a Flying Sword, impressing the nearby players.
• The Ferocious Weasel explained the guild's ordinary and elite undead troops while guiding Gu Xi toward the Barracks.
• At the Barracks, Gu Xi used his Recruitment Order to request one hundred ordinary undead and fifty elite undead.
• Gu Xi chose Ghosts and Withering Ones, then selected the faster-moving type of Ghost.

Gu Xi recruited a hundred Ghosts and fifty Withering Ones, then returned to Aryadovi and tried to reach Victoria City. Just as he found the Hearthstone’s resistance weakening, Luna and Shaya emerged from the fireplace with their forces, leaving him ready to hear what had happened.

• The Ferocious Weasel assembled a hundred speed-type Ghosts and fifty Withering Ones for Gu Xi, who took them through a City Gate.
• Gu Xi bought large Magic Potions at the Guild Shop and returned to Aryadovi, where Dimi reported that four Owls had refreshed and one had not returned.
• Gu Xi assigned the Ghosts to their formations and sent the Withering Ones to the Demon Plant Zone before approaching the Hearthstone for Victoria City.
• The Hearthstone repelled Gu Xi’s hand with less force than before, and Shaya emerged from the fireplace with several people after confirming the coordinates.
• Luna and a large number of Ghosts rushed out of the flames, and Gu Xi asked Luna and Shaya what had happened in Victoria City.

Gu Xi learned that Victoria City's Seventh Time transformation had unleashed a Coal Cinder Riot, turning the city into a spreading carbonization-disease nightmare. With Victoria cut off from Aryadovi City and Shaya's building at risk, Gu Xi faced a difficult choice about whether to abandon the city.

• Luna explained that Westminster Abbey's incident had triggered Victoria City's early transformation and severed its connection with Aryadovi City, trapping her and Shaya.
• Gu Xi asked Shaya about the unfamiliar undead accompanying her, and Shaya identified them as caretakers, a constable, and a neighbor affected by the Coal Cinder Riot.
• Shaya explained that carbonization disease spread from Steam Factory workers who drained other people's living breath, while factory owners exploited infected workers as fuel.
• Shaya said nobles' land grabs and deliberate fires freed infected civilians near the Isis River, who spread the disease throughout Victoria City.
• Gu Xi learned that the Church and royal family were occupied, the army could not enter without orders, and the nobles' forces could not contain the outbreak.
• After hearing that his little building might not survive, Gu Xi considered abandoning Victoria City but realized Luna's connection to Aryadovi City made doing so risky.

With the route between Victoria and Aryadovi severed, Gu Xi decided to return to Victoria through the Westminster Abbey Incident dungeon and organized preparations for the expedition. He left the half-cinders guarding a house, offered one of them a chance to become an undead alchemist, and went to inspect the newly integrated Blood Cellar District.

• Luna and Shaya told Gu Xi that the Mirror Dungeon could not reliably carry a large force between Victoria and Aryadovi, so he chose to use his Westminster Abbey Incident Dungeon Crystal instead.
• Gu Xi ordered Luna to fuse a deed and oversee twenty Building Blueprints, while Shaya stayed in Aryadovi to handle intelligence matters.
• A neighbor's little sister asked Gu Xi to transform her into an undead; he offered to send her to Dimi's Alchemy Laboratory to work with her family's potion formulas.
• Gu Xi assigned the other half-cinders to guard the little house and left them there under a mysterious force's restraint.
• The Blood Cell Deed fused into the city, activating several buildings and granting experience, so Gu Xi rode the Evil Coffin toward the crimson light with Luna, Dimi, and Shaya following.

Gu Xi explored the Blood Cellar Zone and recruited Vampire Esquires after using silver medals to strengthen the waiting soldiers. He assigned them to Shaya and left Dimi eager to return to the Blood Throne while he continued inspecting the district.

• Gu Xi and his group descended into the Blood Cellar Zone and saw its cross-shaped manor, blood pools, laughing fruit, and Vampire displays.
• Gu Xi found Vampire Esquires waiting at the Vampire Residence and discovered that silver medals advanced them and improved their strength.
• Gu Xi ordered the Vampires to wear the medals, then recruited them all as Vampire Esquires.
• Dimi explained how the Vampire Esquires used their short-range teleportation and advised Shaya on deploying them.
• Gu Xi inspected the Blood-colored Garden and Bat Cave before returning to the Vampire Residence entrance.

Gu Xi toured Aryadovi City and inspected the newly built Barracks, where he met its sergeant, Fu Gu. After learning that eleven Undead Headmen were in the city, Gu Xi ordered each to lead a full complement of Undead and left Fu Gu to organize the rest.

• Gu Xi ordered Luna to connect the Blood Cellar Zone to the Hundred-Armed Giant Graveyard Zone and move up construction of the Alchemy Laboratory.
• Gu Xi traveled with Luna, Shaya, and Dimi to inspect changes in Aryadovi City.
• Gu Xi found the completed level-one Barracks and was greeted by its sergeant, Fu Gu.
• Fu Gu showed Gu Xi the Barracks' stored weapons and a sand table marking the troops in the city.
• Fu Gu reported that eleven Undead Headmen were available, and Gu Xi assigned each a full complement of Undead while leaving Fu Gu to organize the remainder.

Gu Xi dispatched troops on three expedition missions and entrusted Fu Gu with managing the Barracks. He then went with Luna to inspect the newly completed City Gate, which guarded a dangerous breach near the Demon Plant Zone.

• Gu Xi sent undead troops to clear the sewer, hunt Ghoul Shadows, and patrol the border, with success rates of 87%, 96%, and 88%.
• Gu Xi told Fu Gu to handle future white-tier missions and entrusted him with maintaining the Barracks and Aryadovi City's defenses.
• Luna told Gu Xi that the City Gate was complete and the moat and Arrow Towers were nearly finished, so he decided to inspect them before visiting the Magic Tower.
• Luna led Gu Xi toward the City Gate, explaining that it had been built near shattered patches of mist where Ghoul Shadows could enter Aryadovi City.

Gu Xi inspected the Demon Plant Zone’s City Gate and moat, then faced a sudden attack by flying Ghoul Shadows at the mist’s edge. Dimi and Shaya joined the battle as Gu Xi’s forces mobilized.

• Gu Xi learned that the Demon Plant Zone and Hundred-Armed Giant Graveyard Zone lacked enough land for their planned buildings.
• Gu Xi tested the Demon Plant Zone’s City Gate, confirmed it worked, and checked the Strong Acid moat outside it.
• Gu Xi told Luna to move Lonely Pedestrian Square near the City Gate and asked her to keep investigating how to activate Evilwood Lake.
• Flying Ghoul Evil Flying Heads emerged from the mist, and Gu Xi attacked one with Bone Spike before ordering troops to the City Gate.
• Dimi tore apart several Ghoul Evil Flying Heads with her claws and roses, while Shaya attacked another with her dagger and Elder Wand.

Gu Xi discovered that killing Strange Creatures and putting their remains into Evilwood Lake could activate it, then ordered defenses and construction in the Demon Plant Zone. He returned to the Upper District, where he inspected the newly built Magic Tower and met its Tower Spirit, Anthony.

• After Ghoul Evil Flying Heads left Strange Evil Liquid behind, Gu Xi learned that Evilwood Lake could be activated by killing 1,000 Strange Creatures and putting their remains in the lake.
• Gu Xi ordered Luna to send Skeleton Mages to move the black liquid to Evilwood Lake, beginning its activation progress at 11/1000.
• Gu Xi told Luna to build an Energy Lighthouse, strengthen the Demon Plant Zone’s defenses, and keep sending Abomination corpses to Evilwood Lake; Dimi stayed behind to hunt there.
• Gu Xi led his troops to the Upper District and found that a Level 1 Magic Tower had been built where they had discovered the Nature Staff.
• Anthony emerged from the Magic Tower, greeted Gu Xi, and was identified as the tower’s Tower Spirit, capable of researching spells and managing the building.

Gu Xi consulted Anthony about developing the Upper District into a Magic District and assigned locations for several compatible buildings. He built a Bone Magic Tower beside the Magic Tower, then ordered the two towers to attach and establish regional linkage.

• Gu Xi learned from Anthony how the Bone Magic Tower, Magic Tree, and Witchcraft Chamber would affect magic and spell research.
• Gu Xi and Anthony assigned buildings to the Upper District's four Medium Plots, while the Magic Tree was placed on a Small Plot.
• Gu Xi set a skull-fragment oil lamp on a Large Plot, and bones rose from the ground to form a Bone Magic Tower.
• Gu Xi reviewed the tower's Skeleton Mage units and ordered the Bone Magic Tower to attach to the nearby Magic Tower and establish regional linkage.

Gu Xi explored the Magic Tower and found a selection of spells and researchable upgrades for players, Heroes, and spellcaster troops. He decided to learn several powerful spells and considered which five spells to record in his Lich's magic book to raise their levels.

• Anthony led Gu Xi into the Magic Tower and explained how its rooms let different units learn magic and skills.
• Gu Xi inspected the Dark Knowledge room and found it offered three researchable derived skills.
• Gu Xi discovered Wave of Death, Magic Arrow, and Flame Trap, along with their potential upgrades, and decided he wanted to learn them.
• Gu Xi revealed that his Lich's magic book could raise recorded magic by one level, and Anthony advised him to choose its five slots carefully.

Gu Xi chose which soldier spells and derived skills to research, then entered the Dark Knowledge study to begin learning from its books. He discovered that reading could raise his skill, but the books’ dark influence forced him to take regular breaks.

• Gu Xi chose Mana Drain as the soldiers’ starting spell and ordered Anthony to research Mana Accumulation, Scattershot, Death Despair, and Multiple Illusions.
• Gu Xi decided to learn Dark Knowledge and left its derived skills for later while prioritizing city construction and undead control.
• Gu Xi entered the dark study and learned that reading ten books would raise Dark Knowledge to Level 1.
• A black book sent cursed energy into Gu Xi, which he expelled with mana before reading its contents.
• Gu Xi noticed that prolonged reading changed his skin and recalled a classmate who had become a Zombie, so he took breaks and occasionally explored other rooms.

Gu Xi recovered from the Dark Curse effects of overreading by repeatedly reading a Fairy Tale Book under Shaya’s supervision. After learning about the city’s construction and the Barracks teams’ surplus supplies, he set off to inspect them.

• Shaya made Gu Xi keep reading the Fairy Tale Book until the abnormalities on his hands faded.
• Luna brought Gu Xi roasted owl and a Roasted Blood Fruit, which he ate despite its intense sourness.
• Gu Xi promised not to overread recklessly again and asked Luna about the city’s progress.
• Luna reported that a Hawkeye Arrow Tower and Blood-Dripping Alchemy Laboratory were complete, the Energy Lighthouse was halfway built, and the Barracks teams had accumulated excess supplies.
• Gu Xi decided to visit the Barracks square and took the three Special Peas produced by the library.

Gu Xi collected three new peas, then opened the supplies and expedition rewards outside the Barracks. After discussing the shortage of plots and warehouse space with Luna, he decided the next Core Building should be a Blacksmith Shop, while the Dock Warehouse would have to suffice for now.

• Gu Xi put away the Dragon Breath Pea, Rotten Pea, and Blue-quality Assimilating Pea, then rode the Evil Coffin to the Barracks.
• Gu Xi opened 717 Supply Boxes, 221 Corpse Boxes, and three Expedition Treasure Chests, receiving resources, corpses, and several pieces of equipment.
• Gu Xi identified the smiling skeleton among the rewards as a Scare Trap while Luna arranged for the supplies to be moved to the warehouse.
• Luna told Gu Xi that another warehouse would require a Large Plot and staff, and that Aryadovi City lacked enough plots under its control.
• Gu Xi decided that the next Core Building would be a Blacksmith Shop for building War Machines and relied on the Dock Warehouse until then.