Chapter Summaries

Gu Xi learned about the permissions and benefits of serving as Mysterious Academy’s Department Head, including access to its library and influence over academy resources. His authority also uncovered a hidden cache of valuable corpses, including at least five hundred knight bodies, that his allies were secretly setting aside for him.

• Gu Xi learned that Department Heads could manage their departments through oil paintings and received special avatars at certain levels.
• Gu Xi discovered that leveling up as a Department Head granted more skill choices and allowed him to spend experience to study books and raise skills in the academy.
• Gu Xi learned that his 63% authority let him influence academy matters, prioritize his subordinates’ facilities, and receive a share of allocated funds.
• Gu Xi discovered that many corpses of former Mysterious Academy students remained buried beneath the academy after its time-space disappearance.
• Gu Xi’s allies secretly moved the corpses out for him, including at least five hundred knight corpses, and concealed the cache from everyone else.

Gu Xi inspected the rebuilt Mysterious Academy and toured the Crow Department Building, where the three Old Men offered him a hidden class and explained the academy’s facilities. He rejected their suggested path and left with advice to raise Summoning to level 10 before studying its advanced paths.

• After Karimdo and the others left, Gu Xi summoned Amur and asked him to lead the way to his office.
• Amur showed Gu Xi the rebuilt academy and led him to the Crow Department Building, a vast castle topped by seven towers.
• The three Old Men appeared and offered Gu Xi the Undead Scholar class, but he said he would pursue the Death Sorcerer Lord path and later become Lord of the Underworld.
• The three Old Men showed Gu Xi the academy’s classrooms, library, dormitories, and advanced Summoning paths as students returned to class as undead.
• The three Old Men advised Gu Xi to raise Summoning to level 10 before studying its advanced paths.

Gu Xi established a secure route between his Mysterious Academy office, the Weird Mirror Space, and Aryadovi City, then reviewed Dimi's campaign and arranged for Shaya to retrieve academy corpses. With his Three Divine Skills at Level 4, he traveled alone to Aryadovi tower to ask Grand Princess Anna about the path to a hidden class.

• Gu Xi connected his office to the Weird Mirror Space with a Life-Size Mirror and took a Special Oil Painting from the portrait.
• Gu Xi returned to Aryadovi City through Luna's new passage and learned that Dimi had secured four districts but was still contesting two.
• Gu Xi told Luna to let Dimi continue without extra troops and sent Amirka to observe the battle.
• Gu Xi asked Shaya to arrange for the Mysterious Academy to transport his new batch of corpses to Aryadovi City.
• Gu Xi rode the Evil Coffin alone to Aryadovi tower to seek Grand Princess Anna's guidance on the hidden class path.

Gu Xi prepared to pursue the Death Sorcerer Lord advancement, accepting that the path would exclude becoming a lich and require a major battle. After gathering a large force and receiving Svetlana’s world coordinates from Grand Princess Anna, he entered the private game world and was randomly deployed in its Newbie Area.

• Grand Princess Anna explained the Death Sorcerer Lord requirements, warned Gu Xi that the path ruled out becoming a lich, and told him to choose the Dual Death talent if it appeared.
• Gu Xi decided to proceed and prepared for battle, intending to turn the knight corpses Shaya brought back into Crimson Knights.
• Grand Princess Anna mobilized more than two thousand troops for Gu Xi, including Bone Dragons, Nether Soul Dragons, Red Dragons, and several undead units.
• Grand Princess Anna gave Gu Xi a portrait necklace containing the coordinates to an advancement world experienced by her grand-aunt, Svetlana.
• Gu Xi entered the Teleportation Gate with the necklace and was randomly deployed in the Newbie Area of World 0RC2JDCT048860.

Gu Xi arrived in Stuttestrup World for an Advancement Task to stop Evil God Lida Juan’s sacrifice within seven days, then destroy the Evil God’s coordinates if the sacrifice could not be stopped. After demonstrating his undead army to Shadow Crown, he learned that everyone in the world had been corrupted by the Evil God’s power.

• Gu Xi received the task to stop the sacrifice or destroy Lida Juan’s coordinates, and saw the Evil God watching him from the void.
• Gu Xi was summoned among Shadow Crown’s black-robed mages, who doubted that a level 4 rookie could help.
• Gu Xi summoned his Main City Gate and undead army, impressing the mages with his forces.
• Lin Qi introduced himself as a joint speaker of Shadow Crown and explained that the Evil God Temple was descending and six other factions were summoning powerful experts.
• Gu Xi asked why the people of Stuttestrup World did not fight the Evil God themselves, and Lin Qi revealed that everyone had been corrupted by its power.

Gu Xi accepted Lin Qi’s quest to stop the Evil God Temple from descending into Stuttestrup World and learned that the crisis had sealed the route to his advancement target. He activated the Thorns Golden Crown task and planned to pursue it after dealing with the Evil God Temple.

• Lin Qi asked Gu Xi to stop the Evil God Temple, destroy it if it descended, or kill the Shadow Crown members if they became the evil god’s lackeys.
• Gu Xi activated his Shadow Crown reputation and accepted the seven-day Main Quest to prevent the Evil God Temple from descending.
• Lin Qi recognized the necklace Gu Xi carried and explained that Flower of the North had left it as a way for its bearer to attempt to claim the Thorns Golden Crown.
• Lin Qi told Gu Xi that the route to the crown was sealed because of the Evil God Temple crisis, but he could provide a map and Gu Xi could try again later.
• Gu Xi activated the Thorns Golden Crown advancement task, which required him to find and wear the crown to become a Death Sorcerer Lord.

Gu Xi entered Shadow Crown’s moving underground fortress with Lin Qi and learned about its conflict with the Stu Royal Family and its role in stopping the Evil God Temple. At the fortress’s core, Lin Qi introduced him to quartermaster Domala, who explained that better goods required higher reputation and Quest Stones.

• Gu Xi left his troops in the care of Arroyo and the others, put away his Main City Gate, and followed Lin Qi into Shadow Crown’s territory.
• Lin Qi explained that Shadow Crown opposed the Stu Royal Family, operated from a traveling underground fortress, and had joined the effort to stop the Evil God Temple.
• Gu Xi inspected Shadow Fortress’s enormous core square and recognized that the moving city was a composite controlled by undead, shadow, and dark magic.
• Lin Qi told Gu Xi that they would leave through Soul-Devouring Valley in three hours and brought him to quartermaster Domala.
• Gu Xi reviewed Domala’s goods and found their quality lacking, so Domala explained the reputation requirements for better equipment and offered a Quest Stone exchange list.

Gu Xi used two Level 8 Soldier Recruitment Tickets to obtain ten Black Dragons from the Shadow Crown quartermaster. Before leaving Soul-Devouring Valley, he learned the locations of three Evil God Believer strongholds and that White Castle would be their first destination.

• Gu Xi rejected the costly Shadow Pond blueprint, then seized the chance to recruit Level 8 troops when the quartermaster mentioned Black Dragons.
• Gu Xi handed the quartermaster two Soldier Recruitment Tickets and recruited ten Black Dragons, despite Lin Qi suggesting other Level 8 troops.
• Gu Xi examined the Black Dragons’ attributes and sent them through the Steel City Gate to Aryadovi Tower so they would not turn into Bone Dragons.
• Lin Qi warned Gu Xi that Shadow Fortress was about to stop and gave him a map showing the Evil God Believers’ locations at White Castle, High Mountain Castle, and the site of the descending Evil God Temple.
• Lin Qi told Gu Xi they would enter battle soon after leaving Soul-Devouring Valley because White Castle lay just beyond it.

Gu Xi left Shadow Fortress with his troops to confront the Evil God Temple, passing through Soul-Devouring Valley under Lin Qi’s guidance. As his army neared the far end of the long valley, Gu Xi heard fighting outside.

• Lin Qi stayed beside Gu Xi and ensured his troops were equipped and ready before their departure.
• Gu Xi appointed Arroyo to lead the charge, while Robbie considered finding better enhancements for the Bonecleaver Battalion.
• Gu Xi released the Evil Coffin and led his troops into Soul-Devouring Valley, where Lin Qi explained that man-eating trees guarded the cliffs and gave the valley its name.
• Lin Qi told Gu Xi where and when he could find Shadow Crown support, then wished him victory as he departed.
• Gu Xi’s army marched through the twenty-li-long valley for nearly forty minutes, and Gu Xi heard battle sounds near its exit.

Gu Xi left Soul-Devouring Valley and found a mechanical army besieging a White Castle held by soldiers transformed by an evil god. He met Hart, a Hero serving Fang Kang of Eternal Bright Star, and agreed to pass the battlefield at a safe distance.

• Gu Xi sent gargoyles to investigate the sounds of battle and led his troops out of Soul-Devouring Valley, keeping the Main City Gate ready as a retreat route.
• Gu Xi saw Stone Men and Tin Men attacking the White Castle while evil-god-transformed soldiers defended it.
• Gu Xi sent gargoyles to ask whether the besieging army needed help, and Hart flew over to speak with him.
• Hart told Gu Xi to use the small path east of the battlefield and stay at least fifteen kilometers away.
• Gu Xi introduced himself, and Hart gave him a Gargoyle Language Book and offered to arrange gargoyles to guide his troops.

Gu Xi left the battle and hurried toward the Thorns Golden Crown to complete his Advancement Task before clashing with other summoned experts. He reached the Princess's Forest and found that the Evil God had transformed it into a bizarre, toy-like place.

• Gu Xi gave Hart a Flying Balloon and an owl, then left the battle and took a detour through the toy-like world.
• Gu Xi decided to pursue his Advancement Task, put away his main army, and flew toward the Thorns Golden Crown with Gargoyles, Bone Dragons, and Nether Soul Dragons.
• Gu Xi reached the Princess's Forest, whose thorns could only be cut by death-based attacks and whose castle required the City Gate of Death City to enter.
• Gu Xi saw that the forest's colors and the castle tower had been altered, and realized the Evil God had tampered with the place.

Gu Xi blasted a passage through Thorns Forest with repeated uses of Death Avatar and reached the unoccupied castle. After exhausting his mana, he summoned his Undead Army to secure the area and slept while his troops guarded him.

• Gu Xi studied Lin Qi’s map, then decided to force his way through Thorns Forest with Death Avatar.
• Death Avatar’s Death Dragon Breath melted the trees and revealed dark-red liquid and fist-sized eyeballs beneath them.
• Gu Xi repeatedly summoned Death Avatar and drank Mini Magic Potions until he carved a path through the forest and reached the castle.
• Gu Xi found the castle unoccupied and sealed the path behind him with the returning thorns.
• Gu Xi summoned his Undead Army, ordered it to guard the area, and fell asleep from exhaustion.
• Arroyo and Robbie divided their troops between scouting around the castle and guarding Gu Xi, who slept undisturbed for six hours.

Gu Xi entered the castle before an outer evil god’s giant hand could reach his shovel and chose to fight its inhabitants rather than complete their tasks. After his forces defeated the King and the others, he continued into the trial, leaving the Thorns Golden Crown unrecovered.

• Gu Xi woke to a giant red-haired hand descending toward his shovel and hurried to enter the castle.
• Gu Xi placed Aryadovi's Main City Gate precisely in the castle wall, then ordered Robbie to occupy the castle and Arroyo to guard the gate.
• Gu Xi entered the grand hall and found the King, Queen, ministers, soldiers, and servants in a state between life and death.
• Gu Xi used Wave of Death to weaken the castle's inhabitants and ordered Robbie and his troops to attack.
• Robbie's forces killed the King and the other enemies, while Gu Xi chose to break the trial's deadlock instead of completing the King's tasks for the Thorns Golden Crown.

After Robbie executed the King, Gu Xi used the Orange Equipment’s Mind Kill to turn the castle’s half-living, half-dead inhabitants into neutral undead and claim the castle. He began searching and stripping the castle for supplies as he led his subordinates toward the Thorns Golden Crown, which he needed to complete his advancement.

• Robbie executed the King, and Gu Xi used Mind Kill to make the castle’s half-living, half-dead creatures take their own lives and become neutral undead.
• Gu Xi had Robbie bring him the King’s skull, then declared himself the castle’s new master and summoned the undead servants.
• The Head Male Servant told Gu Xi that the castle had a Minister of Internal Affairs rather than a steward, and Gu Xi ordered him to open every room with the White Impermanence Ghosts.
• The Ghosts carried the castle’s belongings, including coal ash, to a green-skinned logistics expert who sorted the goods for Gu Xi.
• Gu Xi led his subordinates deeper into the castle to find the Thorns Golden Crown, noting that the wall torches would be taken too.

Gu Xi searched the castle for the Thorns Golden Crown but found a hidden prison and freed more than a thousand Skeletons instead. At the tower entrance, he faced the legendary Life-Cutting Guide, and after his first attacks failed, he called on his allies to weaken and surround him.

• Gu Xi searched nearly the entire castle, freed over a thousand Skeletons from a hidden prison, and reached the unexplored tower.
• The Life-Cutting Guide ambushed Gu Xi with a Longsword, but Gu Xi narrowly dodged and recognized the attacker from his academy textbooks.
• Gu Xi used Undead Tendrils, the Maze Devourer, and White Bone Storm against the Life-Cutting Guide, but the veteran countered his spells and pressed the attack.
• Gu Xi ordered the Skeleton Mages to drain the Life-Cutting Guide's mana, then summoned Shaya and Luna to help fight him.
• Shaya attacked amid layers of mirror images while Gu Xi's group prepared to face the Life-Cutting Guide's remaining strength.

Luna used her mirror-image Abominations to prepare a delayed killing attack while Shaya held off the Life-Cutting Guide and Gu Xi supported her. The mirrors shattered and the accumulated wounds appeared across the Life-Cutting Guide's body, leaving the outcome uncertain.

• Luna arranged mirrors around the Life-Cutting Guide to store attacks from her mirror-image Abominations for a simultaneous burst.
• Shaya fought the Life-Cutting Guide while Gu Xi attacked with spells, but the Guide repeatedly countered them and killed many Maze Devourers.
• When the Special Mirror on Gu Xi's wrist flashed, Shaya retreated to his side and the remaining seven Maze Devourers blocked the Guide's path.
• The Life-Cutting Guide anticipated a powerful attack and surrounded himself with layers of bone, flesh, and force-field defenses.
• Every mirror in the corridor shattered, and wounds suddenly appeared across the Life-Cutting Guide's body.

Luna’s delayed mirror attack overwhelmed Life-Cutting Guide, forcing him to use his last revival tooth. Gu Xi interrupted the rebirth with a fear trap and frost peas, leaving Life-Cutting Guide frozen and exposed.

• Luna’s mirror abilities activated their delayed damage, rapidly shredding Life-Cutting Guide and leaving him unable to move.
• Life-Cutting Guide recalled his earlier revivals and used his third life-saving tooth to begin rebirth.
• Luna appeared beside Gu Xi and urged him to stop Life-Cutting Guide from completing the process.
• Gu Xi hit Life-Cutting Guide with a Scare Trap, making him flee into and break through his defenses.
• Gu Xi froze the area with a Frost Shattering Pea and threw two more peas into Life-Cutting Guide’s eye sockets.

Gu Xi killed Zong Heze by using rapidly growing peas and vines, then found a powerful purple longsword among the remains. After examining its dangerous effects, he picked up the broken staff and became intrigued by it.

• Gu Xi used a Wood Core Pea and a Rotten Pea to crush Zong Heze and prevent him from reviving.
• The peas and vines filled the corridor, leaving a longsword, half a staff, and a hand bone untouched in the swamp.
• Gu Xi received confirmation that Zong Heze had been killed and pulled Fear Tooth from the ground.
• Gu Xi inspected Fear Tooth's powerful abilities and considered which of his subordinates could safely wield it.
• Gu Xi picked up the half staff, and his eyes lit up.

Gu Xi chose to use the Death Reincarnation Staff fragment to strengthen his Death Avatar and discovered that the Life-Cutting Guide’s hand bone could summon a second Death Avatar. The new avatar emerged, but the Hand of the Death God then transformed into a silver pendant.

• Gu Xi rejected fusing the staff fragment with his Cold Wind Staff or storing it in a library, and decided to take it to Dragonbone Laboratory to strengthen his Death Avatar.
• Gu Xi picked up the Life-Cutting Guide’s hand bone and obtained the Purple-quality Hand of the Death God, a treasure linked to Death Avatar and Death Lord.
• Gu Xi activated the Hand of the Death God and summoned a second Death Avatar, a four-armed Bone Giant wielding a scythe, longsword, and staff.
• Gu Xi examined the new level 12 Death Avatar and considered the power of having both avatars fight together.
• The Hand of the Death God burned in Gu Xi’s hand and transformed into a silver-cast pendant ornament.

Gu Xi tested the Hand of Death’s new abilities and sent his Death Avatars to clear a tower. Inside, he learned that the trapped dead had been enslaved by Zong Heze, and they thanked him for killing their captor.

• Gu Xi equipped the Hand of Death, named his avatars Bone Dragon and Death God, and considered how Avatar Lord could let them command compatible undead.
• Death Avatar-Bone Dragon rejected Gu Xi’s attempt to assign him Bone Dragons, while Gu Xi concluded the avatars would need to find suitable subordinates themselves.
• Gu Xi sent Death Avatar-Bone Dragon toward the tower entrance, but the Bone Dragon struggled to fit through the narrow doorway, so Gu Xi ordered Death Avatar-Death God to go instead.
• Death Avatar-Death God opened the tower and revealed stairs strewn with rotting corpses, one of which asked whether Zong Heze was dead.
• After Gu Xi confirmed Zong Heze’s death, the trapped corpses celebrated their freedom, and one thanked him and offered him a corpse.