Recaps

Gao De obtained a powerful Spell Bottle on Ashen Isle and helped Sarah kill Davy Jones, setting her on the path to control Black Sail City. After they forged ties between their factions, Gao De returned to the Northern Territory’s affairs and recruited a Wild Capybara Herd.

• Gao De sold his equipment at the Soul’s Rest Auction and won the Siren Saltmarsh Essence after bidding against a young master.
• Gao De endured the Abaddon Blue Flame until he gained an Abaddon-Blessed Body, then found a hidden cave and claimed a Spell Bottle capable of storing and casting or interrupting a spell up to Fifth Circle.
• Sarah lured Davy Jones into a Blue Flame trap and fought him, but Gao De appeared and killed Davy with Elemental Catastrophe from the Spell Bottle.
• Gao De carried the injured Sarah to safety, and she told him how Davy had killed her parents and stolen the Jade Destroyer, and Gao De returned the weapon and Sarah pledged her allegiance to him.
• Sarah killed Keith and Mage Luke after they threatened Gao De, then forced the Raven Barrel Syndicate to serve her and took control of Blood Sail’s businesses, its remaining pirates, and Kallen’s Iron Crown.
• Sarah gave Gao De the Zhuo Er Spell Essence, magical materials, Magic Tree Seeds, a share of Blood Sail’s revenue, and a bounty claim, while they agreed to cooperate on trade, shipping, recruitment, and intelligence.
• Gao De left Black Sail City, met Tuanzi in Dorne’s Great Marsh, and helped him confront a capybara leader that had beaten him.
• Gao De charmed the capybara leader with Arcane Chorus, offered the herd food and protection, and won the group’s obedience.

Gao De strengthened Phoenix through new agricultural projects, alliances, and the Northern Aethernet while helping Sunaifa confront a Void Creature and welcoming Yggdrasil’s new Astral Oddity. The arc ended with Phoenix receiving workers and supplies from the Blue Flame Islands, as Gao De learned the history behind Lainey’s elixir research.

• Gao De named Yuanzi and began training her capybara clan, then led them to defeat a Swamp Crocodile and returned to the Northern Territory.
• Yggdrasil reached the Third Tier and connected Gao De with the Aether Spider, while Gao De arranged Phoenix’s trade office and agricultural projects with Sunaifa and Flora.
• Master Ram and Sunaifa helped Gao De identify and kill a Void Creature, after which Gao De revealed Yggdrasil to Master Ram and gained the Ram Clan’s support for its protection.
• Yggdrasil’s Oddity Egg hatched into Eevee, and Gao De formed a bond with the Astral Oddity as it learned to use its powers.
• Gao De and the Aether Spider established the Northern Aethernet, connecting Phoenix and Flora’s Forest and enabling messages, calls, and searchable information.
• Gao De advanced to First Circle, awakened his Truefrost Bloodline, and continued developing Phoenix as Dulin Fire and Yagang arrived to guard Yggdrasil.
• Nine ships from the Blue Flame Islands reached Valar Bay with supplies and recruits, including Lainey, whose elixir notebook Gao De recognized as valuable research.
• Lainey explained how Elwin’s unfinished ideas and Leo’s decades of experiments shaped her work, and she began recounting how Leo made her his apprentice.

Gao De unified the Northern Territory under Phoenix, established plans for Ironforge Citadel and a new currency, then returned to the Plantagenet Dynasty to prepare for the Nolan Magic Fighting Tournament. He ended the stretch cultivating in a Wood Elemental Demiplane, advancing to mid-stage Second Circle and reaching Third Circle-level control.

• Lainey refined Leo’s work into Quantitative Herbology, but after the elixir shops and the Elixirist Association targeted her, she fled to Black Sail City and accepted Sarah’s offer to travel north.
• Gao De praised Leini’s research and planned to use it to support mining, then agreed with Sunaifa that Phoenix should unify the Northern Territory.
• Gao De rallied Phoenix for war, and Sunaifa defeated Yarna, accepted Joran’s surrender, and secured Winter’s Hammer and its workshops.
• Sunaifa and Aisha planned a satellite city around the workshops, and Gao De named it Ironforge Citadel before announcing plans to found a nation and mint standardized coins.
• Sunaifa revealed that Anivia had become the Purple Jade Flower, and Gao De chose it as the symbol for the Northern Territory’s gold coins.
• Gao De recruited Yagang and Dulin Fire to help forge coin-minting equipment, then advanced his cultivation with an Ice Meridian Flower and returned to the Plantagenet Dynasty.
• Gao De sought a substitute place in the Nolan Magic Fighting Tournament, arranged support for acquiring Harland Shipyard, and received Mage Theodore’s recommendation for a month in a Wood Elemental Demiplane.
• Gao De entered the Demiplane, adapted to its Wood Elemental Energy, completed his 120th magic rune, advanced to mid-stage Second Circle, and reached 300 Mental Strength.

Gao De discovers and absorbs the Earth Elemental Seed beneath Blackrock Canyon, then returns to the Northern Territory to oversee its growth and development. He challenges Soren Academy, defeats three defenders including Leo, and leaves to pursue the remaining Academy Badges.

• Gao De searched Blackrock Canyon with Elina, found three Stone Ridge Giant Oaks, and helped her reach the Necrotic Elemental Seed guarded by the Cave Spider Queen.
• Gao De absorbed the Earth Elemental Seed, [Slumbering Spiderweb], while Elina fused with [Devouring Blight], then returned to the Northern Territory with seeds and Stonefruits.
• Gao De supported the Frostwolf Clan’s surrender and migration, inspected the new coin mint and G318 Highway, and appointed Lainey Jingteng to lead the Quantitative Herbology Research Institute.
• Gao De upgraded his ice magic with Fourth Order Ice Baleful Qi, traveled to Soren Academy, and defeated Roim and Cecily in the first two challenge duels.
• Gao De defeated Leo with a combination of [Blindness], [Earthbind], [Grease], and fire magic, earning Soren Academy’s first badge.
• Gao De left for Etheran County to challenge more academies, then cultivated aboard the airship and advanced his Truefrost Secrets to the Second Circle.