Chapter Summaries

Arrow cultivated Qi Blood Rampage, endured heart pain, and realized he lacked enough White Fluff Root to complete the ninety-day regimen. With only five days before Ian Boone’s proposed trip to Dark Plain, he began arranging preparations and learned that his estate had few blacksmiths.

• Arrow directed Life Force into his heart to cultivate Qi Blood Rampage, then stopped when his Energy Gradient was nearly equal and soaked in a hot bath to ease the pain.
• Arrow calculated that his remaining White Fluff Root would last only about twenty days, leaving him nearly seventy days short of what he needed.
• Arrow reconsidered Ian Boone’s invitation to visit a Demonic Beast gathering point in Dark Plain and decided to trust him, noting that only five days remained before the trip.
• Arrow summoned Deputy Butler Dylan and asked how many carpenters and blacksmiths they had recruited.
• Deputy Butler Dylan reported that they had recruited thirty-one carpenters and three blacksmiths, explaining that the lack of nearby Iron Ore limited blacksmithing work.

Arrow arranged to settle the 578 refugees and craftsmen in Lan'er Village, where they would help build equipment and cartridge cases. He then planned two types of firearms and considered methods for cutting rifling into their barrels.

• Arrow questioned Dylan about detaining refugees from the Earl's territory, and Dylan explained that he wanted to maintain order and establish authority.
• Dylan reported that 578 refugees had gathered, and Arrow ordered the villagers of Lan'er Village relocated so craftsmen and refugees could settle there.
• Arrow gave Dylan a booklet for the craftsmen to study and an empty cartridge case as a model for making molds.
• Arrow outlined plans for a disguised walking-stick gun and a second firearm designed for bursts of inaccurate fire.
• Arrow described rifling and compared the Scraping Method, Hook Knife Broaching Method, and Mandrel Swaging Method for manufacturing gun barrels.

Arrow devised a way to make a rifled gun barrel and arranged for servants to produce it, then prepared to travel to Lan'er Village to obtain gunpowder materials. As Dylan investigated the missing Viscountess and security in the territory remained stretched, Arrow considered training Bard or another guard with Qi Blood Rampage.

• Arrow designed a simple lathe and used a top cone made from Extraordinary Metal scraps to make the Civilization Cane's rifled barrel.
• Arrow planned to have craftsmen make bullet casings and to produce gunpowder from the raw materials stored in Lan'er Village.
• Dylan reported that the refugees had been gathered in Lan'er Village, the territory had returned to peace, and food was slightly scarce; he suspected the Viscountess had escaped again.
• Arrow told Dylan to keep watching Burlihan and arranged for Bard to accompany him to Lan'er Village because Dylan warned that few Guards remained in the city.
• Arrow considered teaching the modified Qi Blood Rampage to Bard or another reliable guard so he could build up the territory's immediate combat strength.

Arrow received the Countess’s appointment making him viscount and explained to Bard that her willingness to claim responsibility for granting Corey Viscounty mattered more than the title itself. After outlining the political risks and the Countess’s precarious position, Arrow told Bard to leave complicated schemes to professionals and focus on their own work and strength.

• Arrow received the Countess’s sealed appointment letter and gave it to Bard, explaining that it let them justify buying grain while making the Countess responsible for granting Corey Viscounty.
• Arrow explained that Corey Viscounty did not belong to the Countess, so her appointment of him made her the real advocate behind the move.
• Arrow told Bard that the Countess’s territory was already surrounded by monsters and that a Ranelli Kingdom attack could serve the Countess’s purposes rather than endanger her.
• After inspecting the materials in the Hunter’s Small Courtyard, Arrow found Bard puzzled about the Countess’s plans and urged him to focus on their own work and improve their strength.

Arro returned to the tree spirit and saw White Deer still asleep inside a crystal, her evolution unresolved. He asked to study the surviving Blood Bat-contaminated Little Sprite and accepted the tree spirit’s offer to prepare a hidden Bat Cave as his laboratory.

• Arro learned that the tree spirit had stabilized White Deer’s life force with stored Natural Magic Power, but she had not awakened and her evolution remained uncertain.
• Arro examined White Deer and realized his feelings for her had changed, then turned away in shame.
• The tree spirit told Arro that two Little Sprites had died and the surviving one had become a mindless madman; Arro asked to study it for clues to White Deer’s condition.
• The tree spirit offered to help find the Little Sprite and asked Arro to choose a site for his laboratory.
• Arro requested a concealed, spacious laboratory, and the tree spirit recommended a Bat Cave twenty li east and offered to clear it.

Arro learned that the Ranelli Family served the Fernando Wizard Family and agreed to ally with Oak Tree Granny against its tax collectors. He asked her for Life Force-rich Magic Materials to cultivate Qi Blood Rampage, but she had little to spare, leaving him to seek supplies elsewhere.

• Oak Tree Granny told Arro that the Ranelli Family was a vassal of the Fernando Wizard Family, which collected yearly taxes from Demonic Beasts in the kingdom.
• Oak Tree Granny explained that the Fernando Wizard Family had descended into a power struggle after its Formal Wizard died, and asked Arro to intimidate tax collectors she could not stop herself.
• Arro agreed to help Oak Tree Granny and asked where the Fernando wizards lived, but she could only guess that they were somewhere on the Dark Plain.
• Arro asked Oak Tree Granny for Life Force-rich Magic Materials to cultivate Qi Blood Rampage, but she said she had exhausted her reserves and that the remaining forest materials were low-grade.
• Oak Tree Granny promised to gather low-grade Magic Materials for Arro and clear out the Bat Cave within five days.

Arrow visited Shopkeeper Harvey to ask for his overdue portrait fee, but learned that the attention around Arrow Garner had faded after Little Wizards’ elders, families, and mentors intervened. With no word from Ian, Arrow considered joining a Hunting Team to search the Dark Plain and asked Harvey to pass Ian a message.

• Arrow returned to Shopkeeper Harvey’s Alchemy Shop and asked Harvey to pay him a portrait fee for using his image.
• Harvey explained that his armor stock had become difficult to sell after the Arrow Garner incident cooled down, which he blamed on Little Wizards’ elders, families, and mentors suppressing the uproar.
• Arrow worried that Ian might not arrive as promised, and Harvey told him Ian had left no message and had not visited recently.
• Arrow asked Harvey about finding a map of the Dark Plain, and Harvey suggested joining a Hunting Team at a tavern to hunt Magic Beasts.
• Arrow decided to visit a tavern and asked Harvey to tell Ian that he would be waiting there.

Arro visited a tavern in Mannheim Market hoping to join a Hunting Team for a Magic Beast hunt on the Dark Plain. After recognizing the team’s captain, Uncle Hank, he arranged to ask the captain’s companion about the Dark Plain while charging the drinks and roast lamb to Hank’s tab.

• Arro found that the tavern’s customers did not recognize him and asked the bartender about affordable food.
• Arro startled the bartender by striking the bar, but Uncle Hank intervened and redirected the argument by pretending to be drunk.
• Arro offered to buy Uncle Hank a drink and explained that he wanted to hunt Magic Beasts on the Dark Plain and join a Hunting Team.
• Uncle Hank pretended to pass out, and a Gentleman explained that his team only hunted lone Magic Beasts near the Dark Plain’s edge and was currently recuperating.
• Arro identified the Gentleman as a subordinate of the captain and asked him to answer questions about the Dark Plain over drinks and roast lamb charged to Hank’s tab.

Arro spoke with Farrell Trell, a Junior Apprentice who had studied at Ashen Academy, and learned how hardship had shaped Farrell’s time there. They bonded over their school memories and shared food and drink, while Arro began asking about Farrell’s life after graduation.

• Farrell apologized to Arro on behalf of his captain, introduced himself as a Junior Apprentice, and learned that Arro was using the name Moon.
• Farrell told Arro he had studied at Ashen Academy after his father sacrificed his hand to earn tuition, and that he had risked joining a Formal Wizard’s experiment to make up the shortfall.
• Farrell defended the academy for tolerating his late tuition and helping him find a task, saying he planned to send his child there.
• Arro and Farrell toasted the academy and its taverns, then shared roast lamb and fruit juice.
• Arro asked Farrell how long ago he had graduated, and Farrell estimated it had been about ten years.

Arrow learned about the Dark Plain’s terrain and wizard settlements from Farley, then mapped the nearby area and looked for a way to earn money for his journey into the interior. He decided to visit the Bu'en Family the next day and offer Ian Boone his modified Qi Blood Rampage, then meditated on the Hexagram Meditation Technique.

• Farley described the Dark Plain’s rivers, marshes, dangers, and surrounding wizard territories to Arrow.
• Arrow rented a room, sketched a rough map of nearby roads and settlements, and realized he lacked the money and knowledge to travel into the plain.
• Arrow ruled out selling spoils taken from Redd Ranelli and Fernando’s wizards, then considered selling Qi Blood Rampage to Ian Boone.
• Arrow found Ian Boone’s invitation and decided to visit the Bu'en Family the next day to offer the technique or ask about ways to earn Magic Stones.
• Arrow meditated on the Hexagram Meditation Technique, which required him to build new composite Magic Power cores and strengthen them with converted Mental Strength.

Arro constructed a Wind Magic Power Core, improving his affinity for multiple elements and accelerating his Magic Power recovery. The next morning, he bought an Adventurer Potion Set from the potion shop as Farley had suggested.

• Arro used Water and Fire Magic Power to form Wind Magic Power, then gradually purified and completed a preliminary Wind Magic Power Core.
• After meditating the next morning, Arro found that his Magic Power recovery had increased by at least thirty percent and that he could vaguely sense other types of Void Magic Power.
• Arro tested how Wind Magic Power affected a ball of water, then swallowed it before it fell.
• Arro went to the potion shop and used Magic Stone Shards to buy an Adventurer Potion Set.

Arro disguised himself as an adventurer and entered the Death Swamp, where he worked out how to find a hidden path through the mist. As he crossed between trees, savage creatures lunged at him, and he could not change where he was about to land.

• Arro studied the outfits of adventurers at Mannheim Market, then dressed himself in protective gear and set out alone toward the Bu'en Family.
• Arro descended into the Death Swamp and used a Swamp Antidote Potion to counter the hallucinogenic mist, but realized the mist was poisonous as well.
• Arro inferred that tree roots formed a hidden path through the swamp and began searching for aligned trees by hopping between them with spells.
• Arro approached a group of twisted trees, where savage shadows revealed themselves as creatures with bloody Giant Mouths and lunged at him.
• Arro tried to redirect himself with the Feather Fall Spell, but could not change his landing point.

Arro fought off giant crocodiles in the poisonous mist and discovered that improved control of Fire Element Void Magic Power let him cast the Small Fireball Spell in one second. After driving the crocodiles back and following a trail out of the mist, he was met by a piercing whistle and a cry of “Kill!”

• Arro escaped the crocodiles’ snapping jaws by kicking one aside and landing in a tangle of branches.
• Arro’s lasso broke, so he tested the Small Fireball Spell on the crocodiles and found he could cast it in one second.
• Arro realized his improved magic control had made the spell fast enough to use in combat, though its flames struggled to penetrate the crocodiles’ armor.
• Arro used more Small Fireball Spells to drive the crocodiles away, then climbed down and followed a trail through the mist.
• Arro traveled nearly twenty li, left the mist, and heard a whistle followed by someone shouting, “Kill!”

Arro woke in a battlefield vision with his judgment muddled, then led a desperate charge against the White-Clothed Barbarian Soldiers and slaughtered his way through them. As a hidden Barbarian General tried to shoot him, Arro vanished and appeared behind him, leaving the confrontation poised at the moment of attack.

• Arro reacted to a threat behind him and realized he was facing a vast force of White-Clothed Barbarian Soldiers while leading only a few dozen men.
• After hearing that the enemy sought revenge and that women and children remained in the city, Arro ordered his soldiers to fight and charge away from the city.
• Arro charged into the enemy ranks, killed wave after wave of soldiers, and gained Experience Points for defeating them.
• Arro noticed a disguised Barbarian General moving through the soldiers and dodged or deflected the man's arrows without appearing to notice him.
• When the Barbarian General moved closer to shoot again, Arro disappeared and spoke from behind him, making the general whirl around.

Arro rediscovered his martial arts and led the West Suppressing Army in defeating the White-Clothed Barbarian Soldiers and killing their general. He then realized that his surroundings and companions were strange, and Big Ox began to fade away.

• Arro blocked the Barbarian General’s attack, remembered his martial arts techniques, and chased after him as the West Suppressing Army cheered.
• Arro charged through the White-Clothed Barbarian Soldiers with his Arc Moon Sword Technique and pursued the fleeing Barbarian General.
• Arro killed the Barbarian General, raised his head, and rallied the soldiers under the Commander's Banner.
• Arro noticed the banner’s lettering changing and questioned Big Ox about their names and identity.
• Big Ox identified them as the West Suppressing Army, Yan Yun Thirty-Eight Riders, and faded away as he answered Arro’s question about their missing horses.

Arro realized that the Yan Yun Thirty-Eight Knights were chaotic thoughts influenced by Heterogeneous Power, while the blood on his face covering revealed the Barbarian General beneath the tree was real. After removing the blood-soaked covering, he began coughing and the Thirty-Seven Riders reappeared, warning him that his symptoms were connected to breathing.

• Arro concluded that Heterogeneous Power guided his thoughts but did not control him, and he suspected it was transmitting information directly into his subconscious.
• Arro discovered that his face covering was soaked with blood and recognized the spatter on his body as evidence that the Barbarian General beneath the tree was real.
• Arro questioned whether the White-Clothed Barbarian Soldiers surrounding him were real, but their blurred forms became clear again when he tried to scrutinize them.
• Arro removed the face covering, then began coughing and saw Big Ox and the Thirty-Seven Riders reappear.
• Big Ox connected Arro's coughing to removing the face covering, so Arro put on fresh cloth and took a Low-Grade Swamp Antidote, pouring the rest onto the covering.

Arro discovered that Ghost Orchid pollen had poisoned his eyes and caused the battlefield illusion, but after clearing his vision, the Ghost Orchids around him still appeared to respond as Big Ox and the Thirty-Seven Riders. The chapter left Arro stunned and unsure why the hallucinated companions remained.

• Arro and Big Ox reasoned that the illusion had begun after Arro left Crocodile Valley and heard an arrow whistle, and Big Ox concluded that a substance in the air was responsible.
• Arro realized his eyes had been itching in Crocodile Valley and guessed that poison had entered through them and affected his mind.
• Arro washed his eyes with a water ball and saw that the White-Clothed Barbarian Soldiers were Ghost Orchids, with vines that had looked like weapons.
• Arro recognized the Ghost Orchids and their hallucinogenic pollen, then questioned why Big Ox had not disappeared with the illusion.
• Big Ox said the Thirty-Seven Riders were still present, and the Ghost Orchids began shouting and moving their vines in response.

Arro debated whether to keep the awakened Ghost Orchids as loyal guards, then was confronted by Bu'en Family Garden Guards after killing one of their men. He demanded to see Ian Boone and an explanation, leaving the standoff unresolved as he sought a chance to claim the Ghost Orchids.

• The Ghost Orchids urged Arro to destroy them, warning that their existence could become dangerous, while Arro weighed their risks against their value as loyal guards.
• Garden Guards surrounded Arro and accused him of trespassing, and he showed Ian Boone’s Invitation Letter to explain why he had come.
• Arro asked whether Ian was in trouble, but an old man claimed Ian was fine and refused to discuss other matters.
• The old man demanded an explanation for the death of a Garden Guard, while Arro argued that the man had attacked him without warning.
• Arro ordered the guards to explain themselves and insisted they bring Ian out, hoping to force a meeting and gain leverage over the Ghost Orchids.

Arro confronted the Garden Guards while the Ghost Orchids possessed by the Yan Yun Thirty-Six Riders grew increasingly agitated and revealed memories of people being sacrificed to ripen the plants. When the guards raised their bows against him, Arro attacked the Ghost Orchids to break their influence.

• Arro refused to leave the garden and waited for the guards to summon the lord in charge.
• The Ghost Orchids stirred, and the Yan Yun Thirty-Six Riders begged Arro to kill them as their hatred and agony intensified.
• Arro noticed blood-red markings on the Ghost Orchids and demanded that the Garden Guards explain what had happened to them.
• Big Ox revealed that the guards had used human lives to ripen the Ghost Orchids, and that the Riders were receiving memories of the victims.
• Arro realized his thoughts were being affected, activated the Soaring Dragon Movement Technique, and slashed at the Ghost Orchids as the guards fired their arrows.

Arro held back from fighting the Garden Guards as he examined the divided voices in his consciousness and discovered a glowing sign bearing the Bu'en Family crest. The sign’s red wand transformed into an Illusion Serpent, and the world around him dissolved into a white void as the abyss’s power began to overwhelm him.

• The Garden Guards restrained Arro with their bows while the Ghost Orchids attacked them and then became trapped by their own roots.
• Arro felt a violent urge to kill the guards, but recognized that it did not come from his true self; Big Ox urged him to use fireballs while the Thirty-Six Riders raged within his consciousness.
• Arro realized he could observe and control his chaotic thoughts without being controlled by them, and he wondered why Big Ox could not sense those thoughts.
• Arro noticed a black wooden sign with the Bu'en Family crest and watched its glowing red wand transform into an Illusion Serpent.
• The garden’s colors peeled away into a white void as black smoke rose from Arro’s skin, and he began to succumb to the consequences of using the abyss’s power.