Chapter Summaries

Zhang Yang watched the Red-Skinned Monster reveal itself and slaughter the two demon armies while waiting to discover what it had been guarding. When a wounded Gold-Skinned Monster crossed through a breach in the sky, Zhang Yang killed it and fled with the plunder.

• Zhang Yang inferred that the Red-Skinned Monster was an otherworldly creature waiting for an unknown target near Fish-Mouth Fortress.
• The Red-Skinned Monster intervened in the battle, revealed itself, and joined the demon armies in a deadly struggle against their attackers.
• The Red-Skinned Monster killed both commanders and slaughtered the remaining demon soldiers, then devoured their corpses.
• A crack opened in the sky, and a Gold-Skinned Monster emerged badly wounded after crossing the world barrier; the Red-Skinned Monster caught it as it fell.
• Zhang Yang ambushed the Gold-Skinned Monster with twelve Jade-Transformed Wood Spears, killed it, seized its plunder, and escaped while the Red-Skinned Monster raged.

After escaping the Red-Skinned Monster, Zhang Yang hid near a Mirage Tribe Demons settlement and investigated the Golden Scales. He triggered a forced Foundation Establishment quest and learned that four major races each had a different path beyond the Transcendent level.

• Zhang Yang hid in human city ruins near the Mirage Tribe Demons settlement to evade the Red-Skinned Monster and study the demons' language.
• Zhang Yang discovered that the Golden Scales would exchange a level-15 Immortal Soul for ten thousand First-Grade Foundation Establishment Pills, and he swallowed them to pursue a breakthrough.
• After eating 999 pills, Zhang Yang triggered a forced class-change quest that warned Foundation Establishment failure would burn away his meridians and kill him.
• Zhang Yang switched among the quest descriptions and learned that the Abyssal Ghost Tribe, Abyssal Demon Tribe, Sky Dome Monster Tribe, and Sky Dome Human Race each had a distinct advancement path.

Zhang Yang learned the rules of the Second Sequence Civilization Contest and realized Earth Civilization would need teamwork to survive. He saw that the Abyssal Demon Tribe had locked down the battlefield, leaving the Human Race in a desperate position.

• Zhang Yang read about the four factions, War Medals, and the Village Building Orders available to him, then decided to cooperate with the National Team.
• Zhang Yang saw reports of Hidden Dragons being eliminated or surrendering in Zhongdu Commandery and suspected the Great Wei Emperor and Princess belonged to the Sky Dome Monster Tribe.
• Zhang Yang connected the Gold-Skinned and Red-Skinned Monsters to the Sky Dome Monster Tribe and wondered whether his actions had alerted the Abyssal Demon Tribe.
• Abyssal Demon Tribe Hidden Dragon 720 used two Purple Fragments of Hope to lock down the battlefield and threaten illegal entrants with execution.
• Zhang Yang concluded that the Abyssal Demon Tribe held the advantage and that the Sky Dome Human Race was in dire straits.

Zhang Yang uncovered how Devil-language syllables created and empowered Mirage Tribe Demons, then used them to build a three-thousand-strong Zhang's Demon Legion. The legion was spotted by a ten-thousand-strong Mirage Demon army, and Zhang Yang prepared to fight.

• Zhang Yang studied the Demons’ speech and concluded that Devil-language syllables acted as an innate power that created or transformed living creatures.
• Zhang Yang experimented with Devil-language syllables and developed eight sets, including three attack abilities and five types of combat Demons.
• Zhang Yang captured Mirage Tribe Demon warriors, modified them into Zhang's Demons, and created fifty intelligent captain-level troops.
• Zhang Yang led his growing legion southeast, adding new Demon types until it numbered three thousand.
• A ten-thousand-strong Mirage Demon army spotted Zhang Yang’s legion and formed up to attack, encircle, and destroy it.
• Zhang Yang disguised himself among his troops and chose to fight, confident he could afford to use his unopened level-15 Storage Orb.

Zhang Yang sacrificed his three thousand Zhang's Demons to observe an elite Abyssal Demon army and learn its advanced demonic language. After experimenting with captured demons, he mastered the Abyssal Demon Tribe's Level 1 Heavy Armor secret art, though it could only reach eighty percent of its full effect.

• Zhang Yang deployed his three thousand Zhang's Demons against a thousand Heavy Armored Demons, whose superior defenses quickly overwhelmed and annihilated his army.
• Zhang Yang feigned death among the corpses while an Old Devil inspected the battlefield and spoke orthodox demonic language.
• After the enemy army departed, Zhang Yang realized it contained at least five thousand Transcendent Abyssal Demons and slipped away to study their language.
• Zhang Yang experimented on captured demons, refining his pronunciation and magical technique until one survived the Heavy Armor transformation.
• The Village Building Order recognized Zhang Yang's mastery of the Abyssal Demon Tribe's Level 1 Heavy Armor secret art and noted its limited effectiveness for someone outside the demon race.

Zhang Yang analyzed the shifting military situation and decided to establish himself in the Devil Race’s southeastern territory. After opening a Storage Orb and unleashing an enormous stockpile of supplies, he began building a Level 3 Commandery City and selected its special buildings.

• Zhang Yang studied the Village Building Order’s records and the map, concluding that the Devil Race would concentrate its forces on the northern, central, and Linnan battlefronts, leaving the southeastern commanderies vulnerable.
• Zhang Yang decided to seize the opportunity and open treasure chests before choosing a place to establish his city.
• Zhang Yang used five Golden Fragments of Hope to decipher a Level 15 Storage Orb, which burst and dumped a valley-filling mountain of supplies that crushed his twenty Heavy Armored Demon Soldiers.
• Zhang Yang began the Return of the King Village-Building Quest at the site, spending ten units of mana to build a Level 3 Commandery City.
• Zhang Yang chose the Level 15 City God Temple and the Level 22 Azure Cloud Sword Sect as the city’s special buildings.

Zhang Yang summoned the legendary craftsman Zhao Zhou, who identified the mountain valley as an unformed dragon vein and persuaded him to build a Level 6 royal capital there. Zhang Yang also summoned Wu Lei to recruit civilians and soldiers, leaving the capital’s construction and defenses underway.

• Zhang Yang summoned Zhao Zhou and ordered him to build a Level 3 Commandery City and a granary in the mountain valley.
• Zhao Zhou recognized an unformed dragon vein and persuaded Zhang Yang to accept a quest to build a dragon-vein-protected royal capital.
• Zhao Zhou convinced Zhang Yang to build a Level 6 royal capital and received 1,000 high-level craftsmen and 2,000 Captain-Level Soldiers for the project.
• Zhang Yang summoned Wu Lei and assigned him to patrol the mountains with 500 soldiers.
• Wu Lei requested permission to recruit civilians and troops, so Zhang Yang tasked him with bringing back 10,000 displaced civilians and 3,000 new recruits.
• Wu Lei departed after 100,000 tons of food and 100,000 points of energy were deducted from Zhang Yang’s Village Building Order.

Zhang Yang committed most of his resources to constructing a Level 6 Royal City, deciding that concealment and its strategic advantage outweighed the cost. He summoned Wu Ya ahead of schedule to guard the site and organize its defenses, but the lack of King's Aura left him unable to train Wu Ya's special troops.

• Zhang Yang weighed the risks of building a Level 6 Royal City and concluded that his hidden location, the world’s shifting balance, and the War State made it worthwhile.
• Zhang Yang approved Zhao Zhou’s enormous construction budget, leaving himself with limited supplies and no immediate plan beyond keeping the Royal City secret.
• Zhang Yang decided to leave the area and summoned Wu Ya using his remaining three points of King's Aura.
• Wu Ya arrived with five Palace Guards and reported that the army’s side-mission was complete and that training required a Barracks or Training Ground.
• Wu Ya explained that King's Aura could provide training slots for Palace Guards or Iron Lions, but Zhang Yang had none left and assigned him one thousand Captain-Level Soldiers to deploy.

Zhang Yang spent ten months cultivating Natal Spiritual Qi and reconsidered cultivation as a rise in life level rather than combat strength. On his way back to his lair, he detected an enemy army in War State and concluded that a Red-Skinned Monster was searching for him, but both sides eventually withdrew without fighting.

• Zhang Yang secluded himself in a mountain forest and cultivated for ten months, gaining ten mouthfuls of Natal Spiritual Qi.
• Zhang Yang concluded that Qi Condensation and Foundation Establishment advanced a person's life level, and he calculated that he needed ninety-nine mouthfuls of Natal Spiritual Qi to establish his foundation.
• Zhang Yang ended his cultivation and headed back toward his lair, but his Village Building Order warned him that an enemy army in War State was nearby.
• Zhang Yang tracked the enemy's red map marker and reasoned that the enemy was likely a Red-Skinned Monster searching alone rather than a member of the Devil Race.
• Zhang Yang and the enemy held position during a brief confrontation, after which the marker vanished and the enemy did not appear by dawn.

Zhang Yang returned to the nearly completed Level 6 Royal City, approved new troops and a suanni-buying mission, and surveyed the city’s vast defenses and design. Two months later, he sensed a Level 4 Royal City rising in the north and dismissed its threat.

• Zhang Yang met Wu Lei and Wu Ya at the city gate, approved training 300 Bedrock Heavy Infantry, and sent Wu Ya to buy as many suanni mounts as he could.
• Zhang Yang explored the Level 6 Royal City and saw how its walls and districts followed the surrounding mountains and valleys.
• Zhang Yang spent the next two months patrolling with the soldiers while construction on the royal city continued.
• Zhang Yang sensed dragon aura rising three thousand li to the north and identified it as belonging to a Level 4 Royal City.

Zhang Yang’s level 6 King City took shape, granting him spiritual energy and powerful city traits while the Village Building Order recognized the city’s progress. The city still lacked its imperial buildings, surrounding settlements, and the requirements to become a capital or establish a kingdom.

• Zhang Yang reflected that building a level 6 King City was the best defense against the Demon Race and its Demoness.
• Fifteen days later, the King City’s basic structure was completed, and its emerging energy field resonated with the land, giving Zhang Yang three additional streams of Natal Spiritual Qi.
• Zhao Zhou confronted Zhang Yang over the city’s unexpectedly quiet formation, and Zhang Yang swore not to absorb the King City’s Spiritual Qi again.
• Zhang Yang inspected the Village Building Order’s report, which confirmed the level 6 King City, advanced his Return of the King quest to 105/1000, and granted him 10 King's Aura.
• The report listed the King City’s traits and incomplete facilities, and stated that it could not yet serve as a capital or support the founding of a kingdom.

Zhang Yang summoned Zhang Liang and Lei Ming to strengthen his new royal city, then accepted an ambitious plan to build roads and settlements and bring in refugees. The chapter left the royal city’s expansion paused while Zhao Zhou and 1,000 senior craftsmen were assigned to the new projects.

• Zhang Yang decided not to summon Duan Jiusi after learning the founding emperor would cost 23 points of King's Aura, and instead summoned Zhang Liang and Lei Ming for nine points.
• A warning informed Zhang Yang that further historical summons required higher reserves of King's Aura, and he examined the talents and troops of the two newcomers.
• Zhang Yang ordered Lei Ming to spend a year training 500 Soaring Cloud Arrow Guards, and Lei Ming departed to begin.
• Zhang Liang advised Zhang Yang to build roads, reclaim farmland, and establish cities before attracting refugees, triggering two people's livelihood side quests.
• Zhang Yang accepted the quests to build roads, cities, villages, towns, and passes and attract 50,000 refugees, temporarily halting royal city construction and dispatching Zhao Zhou with 1,000 senior craftsmen.

Zhang Yang explored the Azure Cloud Sword Sect and discovered that its class-change professions were weak because they lacked soul strength. After studying the Azure Cloud Sword Control Art, he planned to use demonic language to enchant its sword realms into the Sword Hall and mass-produce stronger sword experts; he left to forge a sword and begin practicing.

• Zhang Yang assigned elite guards to protect Zhang Liang and Zhao Zhou while they built the long official road, then worried about the powerful Red-Skinned Monster to the north.
• Zhang Yang entered the Azure Cloud Sword Sect and changed his class to Azure Cloud Swordsman, gaining sword talents and techniques.
• Zhang Yang used a Soul Tremor to strip away the Azure Cloud Swordsman's abilities and concluded that the profession was unreliable because its soul was too weak.
• Zhang Yang spent nine days studying the Azure Cloud Sword Control Art and identified its first three sword realms as the basis for strengthening the sect's class changes.
• Zhang Yang decided to encode the three sword realms in demonic language and carve them into the Sword Hall, then left to forge a sword and practice.

Zhang Yang investigated the threat from the Red-Skinned Monster and encountered a prepared Demon army near the road-building camp. The Heavy Armored Mo Dao Captains halted and devastated the enemy’s charge, while the battle continued.

• Zhang Yang arrived at Zhang Liang’s fortified camp with Azure Cloud Swordsmen, Heavy Armored Mo Dao Captains, and artisans to prepare for the threat from the north.
• Zhang Liang proposed ambushing the enemy, but a horn sounded as a Demon army advanced on the camp.
• Zhang Yang learned the army included more than ten thousand Demons, over two thousand Transcendence Demonkin, and a Demon Race Hidden Dragon, so he ordered Zhao Zhou and the artisans to retreat toward the Royal City.
• Zhang Liang’s concealed giant Siege Crossbows killed ten Two-Headed Demons and many others, but the remaining Demons charged through the archers’ ineffective arrows.
• The ten Heavy Armored Mo Dao Captains unleashed their Killing Aura Field and cut down the Heavy Armored Demons, stopping the charge and convincing Zhang Yang of their strength.

Zhang Yang and his Azure Cloud Swordsmen routed a demon army, then tricked and killed a Demon Race Hidden Dragon to seize its Village Building Order. He discovered the Red-Skinned Monster was approaching and told Zhang Liang to prepare the ambush plan.

• Zhang Yang clashed Soul Force Fields with the Demon Race Hidden Dragon, stunning nearby demons and creating an opening for the Azure Cloud Swordsmen to annihilate nearly five hundred Heavy Armored Demons with their Sword Qi Field.
• The ten Heavy Armored Mo Dao Captains charged into the demon army while Zhang Yang pursued the fleeing Demon Race Hidden Dragon.
• Zhang Yang used demon language and a Heavy Armor spell on a bird to convince the Demon Race Hidden Dragon that he was a demon in disguise.
• The Demon Race Hidden Dragon handed Zhang Yang its Village Building Order, and Zhang Yang killed it with Jade-Transformed Wood Spears.
• Zhang Yang checked the kill notifications, noticed the Red-Skinned Monster rushing toward him, and told Zhang Liang to put the ambush plan into action.

Zhang Yang turned the Red-Skinned Monster’s advance into a prolonged siege by raising a huge decoy army of Heavy Armored Demons and drawing the Abyssal Demon Tribe into the fight. The Red-Skinned Monster was trapped in its Level Four Royal City as Zhang Yang escaped, while his trained cavalry and infantry were nearing completion.

• Zhang Yang gathered his Transcendence troops for an ambush, but the Red-Skinned Monster probed his defenses and withdrew without entering the trap.
• Zhang Yang captured Mirage Tribe Demons and used Heavy Armor to build an army of 60,000 Heavy Armored Demons, then marched north toward the Red-Skinned Monster’s territory.
• The Red-Skinned Monster abandoned its southward advance and retreated to its Level Four Royal City, where Zhang Yang’s enormous decoy army kept it pinned down.
• As regular Transcendence Demonkin armies arrived, Zhang Yang slipped away and escaped beyond the sensing range, leaving the Red-Skinned Monster surrounded.
• The Abyssal Demon Tribe assembled nearly 100,000 demonkin around the Red-Skinned Monster’s Royal City, while Zhang Yang’s plans advanced toward the completion of 500 Iron Lions, 500 Bedrock Heavy Infantry, and 500 Soaring Cloud Arrow Guards.

Zhang Yang prepared his royal city for an eventual Devil Race attack and assigned Wu Ya to form an elite Great Horned Deer cavalry force. Zhang Liang then secured a Village Building Order from Zhang Yang in exchange for promising refugees and recruits, leaving Zhang Yang wary of the consequences.

• Zhang Liang revealed that he could summon one more former minister, Ma Jin, and Zhang Yang agreed to bring him in to train the Great Horned Deer cavalry.
• Ma Jin arrived three days later, but Wu Ya assessed the mounts and persuaded Zhang Yang to put the cavalry under his command for three months of training.
• Zhang Liang told Zhang Yang that Ma Jin could not recruit refugees without a trial qualification, then suggested obtaining one by offering treasures.
• Zhang Liang asked Zhang Yang to proclaim himself emperor and requested the Devil Race Village Building Order, promising one hundred thousand refugees and twenty thousand recruits within a year in return for five hundred thousand tons of grain and fodder.
• Zhang Yang gave Zhang Liang the Village Building Order and burned the ghost-embroidered handkerchief Zhang Liang had also selected.

Zhang Yang prepared his defenses against the Devil Race, then used a crude centrifugal method to extract spiritual qi from Golden Core Stage Demon Cultivator essence blood and accelerate his cultivation. After gathering seventy-three mouthfuls of Natal Spiritual Qi, he sensed the Red-Skinned Monster charging toward his royal city for revenge.

• Zhang Liang sacrificed his black saber to enter another world for a trial, leaving the Village Building Order as his potential reward.
• Zhang Yang arranged defenses across the royal city and two Guard Cities, assigning troops and commanders for the coming Devil Race siege.
• Zhang Yang used five Earth-Walking Wood Demons to guard him while he separated spiritual effects from Golden Core Stage Demon Cultivator essence blood with a spinning Fireball Spell.
• Zhang Yang combined the extracted spiritual effects with a Foundation Establishment Pill and used the Heaven-Stealing Primordial Creation Mystic Art to cultivate Natal Spiritual Qi.
• Zhang Yang spent two months cultivating until he had seventy-three mouthfuls of Natal Spiritual Qi, then sensed the Red-Skinned Monster racing toward his royal city after abandoning its own city and soldiers.

Zhang Yang used a newly built road and a cavalry ambush to kill the Red-Skinned Monster before the approaching Demon Race Hidden Dragon could reach him. The kill became the first in Civilization War Battlefield PVP mode and earned him several rewards, while the Demon Race Hidden Dragon remained nearby.

• Zhang Yang ordered Wu Ya to lead the Iron Lions and 3,000 Great Horned Deer cavalry north, then stopped in a valley to await the Red-Skinned Monster.
• The Red-Skinned Monster and the Demon Race Hidden Dragon both raced toward Zhang Yang, unaware that he had brought an army along the official road.
• Zhang Yang revealed himself and used his Soul Force Field to provoke the Red-Skinned Monster into recognizing him as the human who had ambushed its father.
• Wu Ya gathered the charge’s momentum as the Iron Lions swept through the valley, and their heavy cavalry trampled the exhausted Red-Skinned Monster to death.
• Zhang Yang received 5 points of King's Aura, an Immortal Soul, village-building orders, a Monster Race Civilization Code Blueprint fragment, and other rewards for the first PVP kill.

Zhang Yang chose a cavalry-friendly battlefield and let Wu Ya command the fight against the Demon Race army. The Demonkin were annihilated, buying Zhang Yang’s territory at least another half year, and he planned to return to the city as he approached a breakthrough beyond Transcendence.

• Zhang Yang led 3,000 Antler Cavalry north and selected a broad hill and open slope as the decisive battlefield.
• The Demon Race Hidden Dragon retreated while roughly 10,000 elite Demonkin arrived and waited for reinforcements.
• Wu Ya sent 1,000 Antler Lancer Cavalry into the arriving 8,000 Demonkin reinforcements, then followed with the other Antler Cavalry units and devastated them.
• The 10,000 Demonkin soldiers charged the Antler Cavalry, exposing their formation, and Wu Ya led 500 Iron Lions in a downhill charge that broke their main force.
• The Antler Cavalry cut down the fleeing Demonkin, including their commander and a Hidden Dragon, while the surviving Demon Race forces withdrew.
• Zhang Yang declined to pursue, judged the victory had bought him at least half a year, and ordered his army to return to the city.