Chapter Summaries

Zhang Yang completed the Village Building Order’s third upgrade, expanding his village and adding residents, farmland, and a barracks. After organizing his troops, he discovered that the farmland lacked seeds and used a Fragment of Hope to obtain enough wheat seeds for half a mu.

• Zhang Yang upgraded his new recruits into elite and Captain-Level soldiers after the Village Building Order reached Level 5.
• The village expanded to five square kilometers and gained a Level 5 Residential House, ten mu of farmland, and a Deer Horn Barracks.
• Zhang Yang organized his forces into patrol, logging, air-defense, and construction squads, then distributed captured iron armor.
• Zhang Yang inspected the farmland and realized its two annual harvests would not meet his growing population’s food needs.
• Zhang Yang used a Fragment of Hope to obtain wheat seeds for half a mu after his request for enough seeds to plant one mu failed.

Zhang Yang expanded the village’s farmland, weapons, housing, and mining operation while preparing for its next stage of growth. A villager’s mysterious death revealed that the Mountain God Temple’s influence had begun, and Zhang Yang allowed the ghost to remain as long as it killed no one else.

• Zhang Yang used a White Fragment of Hope to obtain seeds for 210 mu of farmland and arranged for the crops to be planted and the fields guarded.
• Zhang Yang crafted 100 Imprisonment Spears, rewarded three skilled craftsmen with farmland, and assigned Zhao Tiezhu and other craftsmen to mine stone under Wu Yuan’s leadership.
• On the fourth day of mining preparations, villagers found Yu Dazhuang dead in bed, his body transformed into a scarecrow, despite the night patrol detecting nothing.
• Zhang Yang questioned the Ghost Priest, who explained that Yu Dazhuang had spat at the Mountain God Temple and that an evil ghost had caused his death.
• Zhang Yang ordered the Ghost Priest to watch the matter and not interfere unless the ghost killed again, prioritizing protection from outside enemies.

Zhang Yang orchestrated a haunting and Mountain God ceremony that established faith in the village and raised the Mountain God to a special profession. With the village stabilized, he planned to seek more people and prepare to begin the Hero's Trial.

• Zhang Yang let rumors of Yu Dazhuang's ghost spread while he finished crafting 220 Imprisonment Spears.
• An old man used powers gained through a dream from the Mountain God to defeat Yu Dazhuang's ghost, prompting Zhang Yang to order a village worship ceremony.
• Zhang Yang reassigned Duan Kuan and Zhou Datou to mining so they would not interfere with the Mountain God's manifestation.
• The Mountain God manifested at the ceremony, and the new faith gained 105 believers, increased village loyalty and prosperity, and advanced the Mountain God to a special profession.
• Zhang Yang decided to seek new inhabitants and give himself half a month to finish enchanting the Iron Wall Battle Rune before attempting a Hero's Trial.

Zhang Yang began rebuilding the castle and agreed to try nurturing Duan Kuan’s prized long blade with his Soul Force Field. He concentrated the field around the weapon, while its frightening effects drove Duan Kuan and the Ghost Priest away, leaving the blade’s fate unresolved.

• Zhang Yang reviewed the village’s forces and supplies, then ordered construction of a sturdier castle to begin.
• Zhang Yang assigned Zhang Chunlei, Wang Qiuyu, Chu Beifeng, Zhao Tiezhu, and ten soldiers to the construction work.
• Duan Kuan asked Zhang Yang to nurture his long blade like ironwood, and Zhang Yang agreed to try before noon.
• Zhang Yang examined the blade and compressed his Soul Force Field, frightening Duan Kuan and driving the Ghost Priest underground.
• Zhang Yang wrapped the long blade in a tightly compressed Soul Force Field, and the surroundings settled back to normal.

Zhang Yang analyzed Duan Kuan’s long saber with his compressed Soul Force Field, then examined Mountain Monster vital essence blood and was nearly overwhelmed by the Mountain Monster’s essence. He survived when his Azure Wolf Essence helped him regain control, and his Soul strength advanced from B- to B.

• Zhang Yang used his compressed Soul Force Field to analyze the long saber’s blood qi and Mountain Monster Spirit, glimpsing what he suspected were its metallic structure before exhausting his Soul Power.
• Zhang Yang set aside the saber and compressed a unit of Mountain Monster vital essence blood until he experienced the Black-Skinned Mountain Monster’s life and its relentless climb.
• The Mountain Monster’s essence fought to control Zhang Yang’s soul, leaving him nearly helpless until an Azure Wolf emerged from the darkness and helped him seize back control.
• Zhang Yang recovered in the Wood Demon Tower and realized the Mountain Monster Essence had nearly killed him, but its fusion with the Azure Wolf Essence raised his Soul strength from B- to B and granted him Wildness and Tenacity.

Zhang Yang discovered how to purify mana and use it with demonic energy to strengthen weapons, greatly improving the village soldiers’ arms. After five days of upgrades, a Ghost Priest reported spying imps near the village.

• Zhang Yang purified mountain monster essence blood into mana, absorbed it, and learned to refine more mana without help from the Village Building Order.
• Zhang Yang used mana to refine Duan Kuan’s saber, giving it Sharpness +5, then infused it with demonic energy to add the Evil Slaying trait and raise its quality to black.
• Zhang Yang summoned Duan Kuan, Wu Yuan, and the other soldiers to have their weapons strengthened, then spent five days upgrading the weapons of all sixty-six Captain-Level Soldiers.
• Zhang Yang used nearly all his demon blood, but the soldiers’ weapons gained greater sharpness and special traits, especially those of the Four Berserker Bears.
• A Ghost Priest reported that spying imps had appeared around the outskirts of the village.

After three cautious Abyssal Ghost Tribe imps were spotted near the village, Zhang Yang strengthened surveillance and led a heavily armed team to the quarry, hoping to draw out the hidden enemy. He left the village’s defenses prepared and accepted the risk because the castle needed stone and he wanted to grow through combat.

• The Ghost Priest reported that three Village Imps had watched the village from beyond five kilometers before escaping, but it could not identify their faction.
• Zhang Yang ordered heightened patrols and regular use of Level 3 Vision Talismans where Ghost Eye surveillance was absent.
• Zhang Yang reviewed the village’s layered defenses, including hidden archers and spearmen near the castle and patrol teams around the farmland and outer perimeter.
• Zhang Yang decided to continue quarrying stone despite the possibility of an ambush, since construction could not stop and no closer quarry existed.
• Zhang Yang personally led Wu Yuan, elite soldiers, and craftsmen toward the quarry, hoping to lure out the enemy and gain experience through battle.

After seeing smoke rise from the Jackalman village, Zhang Yang led his soldiers to investigate and found it under attack by a powerful orc force. When Orc Squads moved to surround his group, Zhang Yang ordered a charge and his archers killed the first Berserker Orc Captain.

• Zhang Yang decided to investigate the smoke and sent Tao Yong back with two men while leading the others toward it.
• Zhang Yang and his group found the Jackalman village under attack by green-scaled orcs and learned that three orc heroes were directing the assault.
• A lookout warned Zhang Yang that Orc Squads were flanking his group, so he ordered Wu Yuan to lead an assault against the left squad.
• Zhang Yang’s soldiers charged as three Orc Squads converged on them, while nearby imps appeared to be watching their movements.
• Six Archer Captains fired enhanced armor-piercing arrows and instantly killed three charging orcs, including a Level 15 Berserker Orc Captain.

Zhang Yang stopped an Orc Mage’s fireball by altering its mana structure, then led his troops in wiping out two Orc Squads with coordinated Imprisonment Spears and armor-piercing arrows. After a large Orc force reacted and began pursuing them, Zhang Yang’s soldiers killed the pursuing squad and retreated.

• Zhang Yang compressed his Soul Force Field around an incoming fireball, disrupted its mana structure, and caused it to explode harmlessly above the battlefield.
• Wu Yuan and the soldiers killed the Orc Mage and destroyed the first Orc Squad with volleys of Imprisonment Spears and arrows.
• Zhang Yang ordered his soldiers to charge the next Orc Squad, then called a retreat when a larger force led by an Orc Hero moved to intercept them.
• Zhang Yang ordered his soldiers to turn and fire on the pursuing Orc Squad, immobilizing and killing most of its members.
• Wu Yuan and the soldiers charged the survivors, killed them, gathered most of their spears, and fled before the other orcs could catch them.

Zhang Yang explained why his group had to preserve its strength and predicted that the Orcs would avoid pursuing them after destroying the Jackalmen. He warned that the Orcs would return within a month with counters to their weapons and prepared forces, and planned to begin Wu Yuan’s Hero’s Trial.

• Zhang Yang refused to lead another charge and explained that the Orcs were using a cautious strategy after his group killed sixty of their soldiers.
• Zhang Yang urged his captains to preserve their soldiers rather than risk everything in a single battle, then bet that the Orcs would not attack them.
• Wu Yuan reasoned that the Orcs would retreat because defeating Zhang Yang’s group would cost them too many soldiers, and Zhang Yang silently agreed that the Orc commander was formidable.
• The Orcs destroyed Jackalman Castle, looted its supplies, studied the battlefield, and left without pursuing Zhang Yang’s group.
• Zhang Yang predicted that the Orcs would attack within a month with a cracked version of the Imprisonment Spear, Orc Mages, and archers, then said he would begin Wu Yuan’s Hero’s Trial.

Zhang Yang activated Wu Yuan’s Hero’s Trial at Terror difficulty, then found himself transported without his equipment to a caveman tribe. He planned to blend in, find Wu Yuan, and make weapons before helping the prospective hero kill the required beasts within fifteen days.

• Zhang Yang selected Mu Shaojun as his village chief successor and chose Terror difficulty for the Hero’s Trial.
• A white light transported Zhang Yang and Wu Yuan away from the village, and Zhang Yang woke in a dark cave among sleeping cavemen without his weapons or armor.
• Zhang Yang checked the trial requirements: he had fifteen days to help the prospective hero kill ten elite ferocious beasts or two rare ones.
• Zhang Yang confirmed his Soul Force Field still worked and decided to stay inconspicuous until he could find Wu Yuan and craft wooden spears.

Zhang Yang survived a morning attack by ferocious beasts alongside the Guada Tribe and discovered that Wu Yuan had become its chief. Wu Yuan revealed that the tribe faced a sand serpent catastrophe in five days, and Zhang Yang recognized the names of nearby tribes from a movie he remembered.

• The Guada Tribe rushed from its cave and fought off a pack of big cats, while Zhang Yang restrained one with an Imprisonment Spell until the chief killed it.
• A white light plundered the bound big cat and gave Zhang Yang a Ferocious Beast Puppet instead of a demon soul.
• Wu Yuan approached Zhang Yang and explained that he had become the Guada Tribe's chief and received three trial missions.
• Wu Yuan said a rare-grade sand serpent would swallow the tribe in five days, and listed missions to obtain fire and communicate with the Gulu Tribe to exchange for women.
• Zhang Yang joked about the tribe names and guessed there was a Huaka Tribe nearby, which shocked Wu Yuan because he was right.

Zhang Yang learned that a rare-grade sand snake would threaten the Guada Tribe in five days and resolved to save the tribe and others to increase his village’s population limit. After making fire and failing to create a fireball from scratch, he devised a plan to compress flames from large bonfires and throw them at the beast.

• Zhang Yang asked Wu Yuan about weapons and plans for the coming catastrophe, then learned that saving tribespeople could increase the village’s population limit.
• Zhang Yang urged Wu Yuan to pursue the Gulu Tribe’s female protagonist, but Wu Yuan warned that Brother Gua had killed an adult sand snake with one punch.
• Zhang Yang abandoned his attempt to polish a stone knife and made fire by rubbing wood together.
• Zhang Yang used his Soul Force Field to study the flames and tried to reproduce an Orc Mage’s fireball, but the flame went out and consumed much of his Soul Power.
• Zhang Yang proposed using bonfires as a source of flames, compressing them into fireballs, and hurling them at the sand snake.

Zhang Yang decided to spend the night outside the cave to face the Sand Serpent King, and he broke Wu Yuan free from the Guada Tribe chief’s influence so they could continue Hero’s Trial. As Wu Yuan prepared to defend their group overnight, Zhang Yang studied the Fireball Spell and worked out a plan to create his own version.

• Zhang Yang told Wu Yuan he would spend the night outside the cave, but Wu Yuan warned him that nocturnal beasts made it dangerous.
• Zhang Yang challenged Wu Yuan to remember why they had come to this world, then used his Soul Force Field to break the Guada Tribe chief’s influence over him.
• Wu Yuan sealed the cave with a boulder and forced five Guada Tribe men to help gather stones and trees for their defense.
• Wu Yuan declared that spearmen never retreated, reassuring Zhang Yang that their group would face the night outside.
• Zhang Yang analyzed the Fireball Spell’s closed-loop structures and concluded he could use eight mana structures to create a fireball he called Zhang’s Fire Blast.

Wu Yuan defended the cave through the night while Zhang Yang experimented with compressed air and fire magic. Zhang Yang successfully created and detonated a fireball, killing a giant beast and providing a midnight snack.

• Wu Yuan prepared crude wooden spears as the five Guada Tribe warriors feared the dark, while Zhang Yang slept peacefully.
• Strange creatures approached the cave but stayed away from the bonfires and eventually retreated.
• Wu Yuan killed three ferocious beasts that attacked when one bonfire burned low, then returned to rest.
• Zhang Yang compressed air with his Soul Force Field and constructed the Second Closed-Loop Circle, forming a Curved Force Field.
• Zhang Yang created a fireball and detonated it against a gigantic ferocious beast, killing it and announcing that they had a midnight snack.

Zhang Yang reconsidered what the Hero’s Trial was meant to test and decided Wu Yuan needed to prove himself without his help. He announced he would go into seclusion for thirteen days, leaving Wu Yuan to handle the trial alone.

• After breakfast, Zhang Yang told Wu Yuan to arm the Guada Tribe’s adult men and prepare to annex the Ehu, Huaka, and Suoluo Tribes.
• Zhang Yang weighed the limitations of his Fire Blast and struggled to find a reliable way to strengthen it.
• Watching Wu Yuan train the Guada men led Zhang Yang to suspect that the Hero’s Trial tested leadership and independence as well as combat ability.
• Zhang Yang told Wu Yuan to abandon his plans and complete the basic trial on his own while Zhang Yang went into seclusion for at least thirteen days.
• Wu Yuan protested, but Zhang Yang left him and crawled into the cave.

Zhang Yang kept his promise not to interfere with Wu Yuan and prepared to test whether charcoal heat could power his magic. His first experiment ended in an explosion after his Curved Force Field sucked in the burning furnace and compressed it into an earthen ball.

• Zhang Yang cleaned the cave and decided to make charcoal after realizing it might burn hotter than wood and work with his Soul Force Field.
• Zhang Yang spent two days making about five hundred kilograms of charcoal while refusing to advise Wu Yuan.
• Wu Yuan left with fifteen Guada Tribe warriors without telling Zhang Yang where they were going, leaving Zhang Yang anxious about the Hero's Trial.
• Zhang Yang built an earthen furnace, fed it air with his Soul Force Field, and tried to absorb its heat using the Second Closed-Loop Circle.
• The Curved Force Field pulled the furnace, stones, and glowing charcoal into an earthen ball, which Zhang Yang threw away before it exploded.

Zhang Yang met ten men from the Tiger Tribe, who were searching for their Sun’s Son priest, Guy, and learned that the movie’s events were underway. When Guy’s horn call brought a herd of mammoths charging into the Guada Tribe, Zhang Yang and the Tiger Tribe men escaped up a cliff, leaving most of the Guada Tribe dead.

• Wu Yuan returned with ten men from the Tiger Tribe, who were searching for their Sun’s Son priest, Guy.
• Zhang Yang recognized Guy as the male protagonist and questioned the Tiger Tribe men about the world’s coming end and the Sun’s Son priest.
• A mournful horn sounded, and more than a dozen mammoths charged toward the Guada Tribe.
• Zhang Yang and Wu Yuan fled up a cliff and brought the Tiger Tribe men with them.
• The mammoths trampled most of the Guada Tribe to death.

Zhang Yang captured Tiger Tribe warriors and learned that a fire spirit in their territory controlled an active volcano. He accepted the upgraded Lord's Trial, which required him to seal the spirit within seventy-two hours.

• Zhang Yang used his Soul Force Field to incapacitate ten Tiger Tribe warriors, confiscated their weapons, and ordered Wu Yuan to bind and question them.
• Wu Yuan learned that Guy had fled the Tiger Tribe with its divine Conch Horn after the tribal leader sacrificed Guy’s parents to the Son of the Sun.
• Zhang Yang deduced that the Son of the Sun was a fire spirit associated with the active volcano, and that Guy had stolen a Conch Horn capable of commanding beasts.
• A hidden plot upgraded the Hero’s Trial to the optional Lord’s Trial, and Zhang Yang questioned the warriors further about Guy’s parents and the flames that killed them.
• Zhang Yang accepted the trial and received the mission to seal the Low-level Fire Spirit within seventy-two hours or the active volcano would erupt.

Zhang Yang learned how Wu Yuan’s actions triggered a hidden plot involving Guy and the Tiger Tribe. Wu Yuan chose to kill the remaining tribesmen and face the legendary Sabertooth Tiger King, leaving Zhang Yang to support him if the fight went badly.

• Wu Yuan told Zhang Yang that Guy had given him the optional Life or Death mission to kill ten Tiger Tribe people and survive until morning.
• Wu Yuan explained that he had captured and released Guy three days earlier, gaining his favor, then later drew the Tiger Tribe people into a confrontation that led Guy to summon a Mammoth Herd.
• Zhang Yang realized Wu Yuan’s actions had triggered the hidden plot and asked whether Guy’s mission might be a trap.
• Wu Yuan said Guy had warned that the Tiger Tribe Leader would send an Ancestral Spirit-controlled Sabertooth Tiger King after the killer, and promised a generous reward for defeating it.
• Wu Yuan chose to kill the remaining eight Tiger Tribe people and challenge the Sabertooth Tiger King, asking Zhang Yang to turn the tide if he lost.