Chapter Summaries

Ang completed his preparations for the advancement assessment and traveled with Professor Todd and nearly five hundred senior students through a portal to Latvia, where they were to confront evil ghosts. Meanwhile, the Grand Duke left the mission to the academy, hoping the students would keep Latvia under his family's control.

• Ang absorbed the Glow Crystals until his qi force and body reached a bottleneck, then continued training while the academy organized his assessment mission.
• Instructor Donahue told Ang the mission was ready, but Ang chose to go without Charles or Donna.
• Professor Todd briefed Ang on the Latvia trial, introduced him to the senior students, and assigned him to protect and command the group.
• Ang gathered his weapons and rune boards, then followed Todd and the students through the portal to Latvia.
• The Grand Duke learned that the academy's team had departed and decided to let the students handle Latvia's evil ghost problem.

Ang led the students to a run-down garrison in Latvia and learned that the academy had concealed the danger and the terms of their assessment. With evil ghosts threatening the plane and the teleportation gate opening only every six months, he began preparing to protect the students, who remained unaware of the real situation.

• Ang divided the students into five brigades, arranged their supplies and rooms at the former military garrison, and ordered the brigade leaders to meet the next morning.
• Todd told Ang that evil ghosts had appeared in Latvia and that the Duke had sent the students there for their assessment, despite the students not knowing the truth.
• Todd explained that a restriction kept evil ghosts above Level 1 from entering, the Duke had prepared equipment, and the teleportation gate would not open again for six months.
• Ang left Todd worried and angry about the academy's secrecy, then spent the night concerned about the students and Latvia's dangers.
• Ang met with the brigade leaders the next morning, asked how the students had adapted, and recognized that they were still excited and unaware of the challenges ahead.

Ange organized the students into a disciplined force, equipped them with weapons and armor, and met with Baroness Ilsa Tan'anster to learn about the evil ghosts in Latvia. The chapter left Ange preparing to scout the threat with one hundred Green Mane Horses, the only horses available in Latvia.

• Ange established military rules for the Brigade Leaders and ordered them to equip their members before scouting for evil ghosts.
• Ange and the Brigade Leaders collected the warehouse supplies, and Mallory brought the First Brigade to help transport them to the garrison.
• Ange had the students choose armor and weapons, then taught them to use Qi force to ease the weight of their iron armor.
• Ange and Professor Todd visited Ilsa Tan'anster, who summoned a city guard officer to explain that evil ghosts had been discovered six months earlier and that the guard had been unable to scout them further.
• Ange asked Ilsa for horses, and she ordered Burke to provide one hundred Green Mane Horses for the mission.

Ang formed and trained a cavalry unit in Latvia, then led thirty soldiers on a reconnaissance mission to verify reports of demons in the Druviena region. The team reached the hills near the reported sighting and halted to proceed cautiously.

• Ang arranged for the five Brigade Leaders to select skilled riders, formed a temporary cavalry unit, and ordered it to train for reconnaissance and communication.
• Ang told the Brigade Leaders that reports of demons could be outdated and decided the cavalry would scout their location and numbers while avoiding detection.
• After several days of training, Ang chose thirty soldiers and asked Burke to provide a guide; Ilsa assigned Malcolm, who had previously confirmed the demons' presence.
• Ang set out with the cavalry and Malcolm, learned that Malcolm had served on the Uskikut Plane and lived in Latvia with his family, and asked him about life there.
• Malcolm identified the Druviena grazing region as the demons' reported location, about two hours away on horseback.
• As the team approached the Druviena hills, Ang ordered everyone to stop and stay alert.

Ang led a reconnaissance mission through Druviena, Elgeli, and Welki, where he finally discovered demons working over a pot in a ravine. He sent the cavalry unit away quietly and stayed behind to observe the demons alone.

• Ang searched Druviena with the students, then expanded the patrol to Elgeli and Welki when they found no clues.
• Ang camped with the cavalry unit overnight and led them into Welki the next day, leaving their Green Mane Horses under guard before continuing on foot.
• Ang detected a pungent odor and found demons boiling an unknown substance in a pot at the bottom of a ravine.
• Ang watched the demons carry the pot into a cave and saw sentries remaining outside, but found no safe way to investigate further.
• Ang ordered the cavalry unit to retreat quietly and remained concealed to observe the demons.

Ang discovered that at least five hundred Demons were gathered in a cave at Mount Verki, then returned to Latvia City to report the threat and learn that the cave had once been an iron mine. After resting, he put the camp on battle readiness and assigned Mallory and Arthur to guard the mountain perimeter while he considered their next move.

• Ang watched the Demons emerge from the cave over five days and estimated that at least five hundred were inside.
• Ang sent the cavalry squad to scout the surrounding mountains in pairs, and they found no other caves or unusual activity.
• Ang reported the Demons at Mount Verki to Baroness Ilsa, who learned from Burke that the cave had once been a small iron mine excavated ten years earlier by the Duke's people.
• Ang returned to camp, rested, and then assembled the cavalry leaders to report that the Demons outnumbered them and were currently confined to Mount Verki.
• Ang ordered Mallory and Arthur to guard the mountain perimeter, report three times daily, and keep their troops away from Mount Verki.

Ang struggled with how to protect his young comrades while confronting the Demons, and Baroness Ilsa helped him develop a plan to lure the enemy out of their cave. After two days of preparation, Ang and his forces advanced toward Mount Verki to begin the operation.

• Professor Todd urged Ang to trust his comrades and let them take responsibility for themselves.
• Ang told Baroness Ilsa about his fears for the others, and she suggested drawing the Demons out of their cave instead of launching a direct assault.
• Ang gathered Todd and the Brigade Leaders, and they chose to try disguising herders with livestock and using running horses to attract the Demons.
• Philip and the other Brigade Leaders admitted they feared the Demons but said they were ready to face them, while Todd reported that Arthur and the others had reached the mountains.
• Ilsa arranged cattle, sheep, and herders through Burke, and after two days of preparation Ang led his forces toward Mount Verki.

Ang lured two Demon forces from their cave into ambushes on Druviena's flatlands and destroyed both groups. He expected the Foul Spirit Commander to send stronger forces next and planned to keep drawing the Demons out of the mountains.

• Ang and Mallory planned to lure the Demons from Mount Verki toward an ambush on Druviena, using a flock of sheep as bait.
• The Foul Spirit Commander sent more than twenty Demons after the flock, and Ang's warriors trapped and wiped them out.
• Ang ordered the warriors to clear away the corpses and cover the Demon blood, then anticipated that another force would investigate.
• The Foul Spirit Commander sent more than thirty Demons to follow the first group's tracks, and Ang redirected the flock to lure them into a second ambush.
• Ang's archers and infantry annihilated the second Demon force, and Ang planned to continue luring the Demons out of the mountains.

Ang concealed his forces from the Foul Spirit Commander, then used wandering sheep to draw Demons out and distract them without risking a direct confrontation. After the Demons returned to Mount Verki, Ang reviewed the two ambushes with his Brigade Leaders and prepared his soldiers for harder battles ahead.

• Ang erased the traces of the battles, hid his troops, and let the Foul Spirit Commander search Druviena before he returned to Mount Verki.
• Ang sent sheep toward Mount Verki without soldiers, and Demons emerged from the caves to capture them.
• The Foul Spirit Commander ordered his troops to bring the captured sheep back to the caves and remain alert.
• Ang gathered his officers and asked the Brigade Leaders to discuss the two battles, while Mallory praised the experience of fighting Demons.
• Ang arranged treatment for injured soldiers and urged his troops to stay vigilant and prepare for more battles.

Ang used flocks of sheep to draw the Demons into hunting alone, then organized small teams to ambush and kill them across the mountains. As the guerrilla campaign quietly weakened the Demons, the Foul Spirit Commander remained unaware of the trap while Ang waited for a chance to strike harder.

• Ang kept his camp hidden in the mountains while Burke reported to Latvia that Ang's team had killed more than fifty Demons, drawing Baroness Ilsa's attention.
• Ang's forces released sheep near Mount Verki for five days, then stopped, prompting the hungry Demons to hunt alone across the region.
• After learning of the Demons' new tactics, Ang organized teams of seven to ten warriors to target isolated Demons, with reserve teams ready to assist.
• Ang's teams used the terrain to ambush and kill lone Demons, while Ang warned them to retreat if they encountered more than one.
• The Foul Spirit Commander grew uneasy over missing tribesmen but blamed their delayed returns on hunting, as Ang's guerrilla campaign continued reducing the Demons' numbers.

Ang withdrew his troops from Mount Verki after the foul spirits adapted to his guerrilla tactics, then waited in Maidi while planning a counterattack. Baroness Ilsa visited the camp, and Ang sent her away to keep her safe as the battle remained unresolved.

• Ang arranged for the fallen warriors' belongings to be collected and their bodies returned to Latvia City for cremation, while Burke organized supplies and transport.
• After scouts reported that the Foul Spirit Commander was sweeping Mount Verki with nearly two hundred foul spirits, Ang rejected a direct battle and ordered his troops to keep using cautious guerrilla tactics.
• When foul spirits began moving in coordinated squads of ten, Ang ordered the guerrilla teams to retreat from Mount Verki to Maidi.
• Ang watched the foul spirits' sweeps grow less frequent over the next ten days and began planning a counterattack while his troops recovered in Maidi.
• Baroness Ilsa arrived at the camp, and Ang urged her to leave the front line; he saw her off and briefly squeezed her hand before she departed.

Ang exploited the Foul Spirits’ hunger to ambush and nearly destroy a force sent out for food, then withdrew to Latvia City to prepare for retaliation. After reporting the losses and remaining threat to Ilsa, Ang agreed to keep weakening the Foul Spirits while preparing for a difficult confrontation in Mount Verki’s caves.

• Ang gathered his captains and sent his full force to ambush the one hundred Foul Spirits dispatched to find food.
• Ang’s warriors killed nearly a hundred Foul Spirits, then collected their spoils and cremated the bodies to conceal the battle.
• Ang mourned more than twenty dead warriors and withdrew most of his troops to Latvia City, leaving elite scouts near Mount Verki.
• Ang ordered Burke to treat the fifty wounded fighters and reported to Ilsa that about three hundred Foul Spirits remained hidden in the caves.
• Ilsa proposed using traps or bait to draw out the Foul Spirits, and she and Ang agreed to seek safe opportunities to weaken them while preparing for a direct fight.

Ang waited while the evil spirits swept Mount Verki and grew more dangerous, then adopted Ilsa’s idea of sealing them inside their caves. He made crude gunpowder from sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal, and began preparing a plan to destroy the spirits’ lair.

• Ang ordered his Brigade Leaders to restore morale, strengthen reconnaissance, and avoid a premature attack as the evil spirits purged the mountains.
• After four days, Ang withdrew his scouts and discussed possible plans with his troops, including digging a tunnel to reach the cave-dwelling spirits.
• Ang asked Ilsa for help digging a tunnel, but she dismissed the idea and suggested burying the evil spirits by collapsing their caves.
• Ang gathered sulfur near a foul-smelling hot spring, obtained charcoal and saltpeter, and tested mixtures until he produced crude gunpowder.
• Ang told Burke about the gunpowder and began planning how to make blasting devices for an attack on the evil spirits’ lair.

Ang’s first attempt to demolish the demons’ canyon hideout failed, but the sulfurous smell stirred the demons’ memories of the Abyssal Plane and prompted their leader to strengthen their defenses. Back in Latvia City, Ang arranged for residents to build nitrate pits and rallied the warriors with a promise to distribute the Black Magic Crystals after the demons were eliminated.

• Ang led thirty men to place gunpowder barrels in the canyon, but the blast barely shook it and alerted the demons.
• The demons’ leader recognized how the sulfurous scent affected his followers and ordered heightened vigilance while considering retaliation.
• Ang returned to Latvia City and sought nitrate to improve the explosives, but the academy students resisted collecting urine for nitrate pits.
• Burke agreed to organize local residents, who began building more than a dozen nitrate pits throughout the city.
• At an assembly, Ang praised the warriors for killing nearly a hundred demons, honored their fallen comrades, and urged them to finish the fight.
• Ang promised to share the Black Magic Crystals fairly among the warriors after the demons were eliminated, and the assembly cheered.

Ang rallied the warriors to gather saltpeter, then struggled to improve gunpowder with Flameheart Stone before Instructor Todd taught him about Qi force. Ang began cultivating and discovered many nodes in his arms were already open, leaving him determined to strengthen himself for future battles.

• Ang urged the warriors to unite against the Demons, and they became more cooperative in gathering saltpeter.
• After half a month, Ang collected and purified the first batch of saltpeter, then tried adding Flameheart Stone and other materials to the gunpowder without success.
• Ang sought advice from Burke and the warriors, then spoke with Instructor Todd, who explained Qi force, body nodes, chakras, and Magic Potions.
• Ang reconsidered his experiments after learning about Qi force and decided to focus on cultivation.
• Ang sensed twenty-one open nodes in his right arm and twenty-five in his left, opened ten more in his left arm, and met resistance at the eleventh.

Ang used Glowstone and Glow Crystal to improve gunpowder, then received more supplies from the Duke and began testing a stronger formula. As Ang prepared a large-scale experiment, new Demons arrived through the canyon teleportation array, and their commander planned to rebuild its forces and attack Latvia.

• Ang found that Glowstone and Glow Crystal greatly increased gunpowder’s power, but Burke and Ilsa told him Latvia had no reserves of either material.
• Ilsa promised to ask the Duke for the materials, and Ang spent the following three months training, helping protect Latvia’s wheat fields, and growing closer to Ilsa.
• The portal opened, and the Duke sent Ang Glowstone, Glow Crystal, and high-quality sulfur, prompting Ang to resume gunpowder experiments with support from Burke and Teacher Todd.
• A hidden teleportation array in the canyon activated, bringing new Demons to the Foul Spirit Commander, who planned to wait for his army to recover before attacking Latvia.
• Ang developed a gunpowder formula with Glowstone, Glow Crystal, sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal, then added maple sugar Ilsa had given him and prepared a larger experiment.

Ang successfully developed black powder, then led fifty elite warriors to attack the demons hiding in a canyon. The explosions collapsed the canyon and destroyed the demons’ hideout, leaving Ang with a preliminary victory as the battle for Latvia continued.

• Ang tested his gunpowder and reported its success to Baroness Ilsa, who supported further research and considered its military uses.
• Ang confirmed the original black powder formula worked best, told Ilsa its name, and kissed her before rushing from her residence.
• Ang gathered fifty elite warriors and led them through the night toward the mountains with jars of black powder.
• Ang’s warriors placed and detonated forty explosive jars in the canyon, then Ang hurled the remaining ten into its center.
• The explosions collapsed the canyon and destroyed the demons’ hiding place, while Baroness Ilsa awoke in Latvia City and worried about Ang.

After Ang’s Black Powder explosion devastated the canyon, he led the warriors in defeating fifty enraged fiends and fortified Mount Verki to await those still trapped underground. Two days later, Ang kept the force on alert, convinced the danger had not passed and the fiends might still emerge.

• Ang ordered the warriors to prepare defenses when the remaining fiends gathered at Mount Verki after the explosion.
• Ang led the warriors in killing all fifty attacking fiends, though nearly every warrior was wounded.
• Ang ordered the force to camp around the blast site and watch for fiends escaping from the caves.
• Ang had the slain fiends’ hides collected and stored, while the warriors gathered Black Magic Crystals and grew stronger through battle.
• Ang rejected rumors that the fiends had all been buried and maintained combat readiness for two days as the warriors monitored the canyon.

Ang and his warriors waited above the collapsed cave and killed foul spirits as they dug their way out, collecting their hides and crystals. After many days without another survivor emerging, Ang concluded that the remaining foul spirits had died underground and the battle was over.

• Two days after Ang's gunpowder attack destroyed the teleportation array and collapsed the cave, the Foul Spirit Commander rallied the surviving foul spirits to dig toward the surface before they suffocated.
• At dawn on the third day, the first foul spirit broke through the earth and was killed by Ang's warriors, who then covered the passage again.
• Ang and his warriors waited for more foul spirits to emerge, killing them one by one while Ang skinned them and preserved their hides for armor.
• Nearly seven days after the explosion, the warriors had killed nearly three hundred foul spirits, earning enough Black Magic Crystals for each warrior to receive one.
• After several days passed without any more foul spirits appearing, Ang concluded that the survivors underground had all died and praised the warriors' performance.

Ang arranged the excavation and destruction of the evil ghost corpses at Mount Verki, uncovering valuable ashes and carved stones that might explain the ghosts’ numbers. After securing Latvia’s safety and completing the mission, he led his warriors home, knowing he would soon return to the Tan'anster Family’s Main Plane.

• Ang returned to Ilsa and asked her to provide farmers to help excavate the evil ghost corpses; she promised to send manpower, and the two briefly embraced.
• Latvia's farmers joined Ang's warriors, who unearthed the corpses, checked them for Black Magic Crystals, and burned them; Ang ordered Burke to save the valuable ashes as fertilizer.
• The excavation reached bedrock and revealed nearly seven hundred corpses, far more than Ang had expected, along with carved stones whose assembled patterns seemed familiar to him.
• Ang postponed investigating the stones and ordered the warriors and farmers to withdraw after the evil ghosts of Mount Verki had been eliminated.
• As he led the group toward Latvia City, Ang reflected on the crater and his time in Latvia, then prepared to return to the Tan'anster Family's Main Plane.