Chapter Summaries

Ye Jinghong’s forces harassed the Lizardmen through the night, prompting their commander to send Raptor Cavalry in pursuit. Li Ce planned to ambush the cavalry and, if the Grassland Elves had no remaining trump card, settle the score with the Lizardmen at daybreak.

• Following Ye Jinghong’s orders, Zhuo Ge’s centaurs harassed the Lizardmen camp at night and blew the enemy’s horns to keep them awake.
• The Lizardmen commander ordered Raptor Cavalry to search for the enemy cavalry, forcing Zhuo Ge and his group to flee without reporting back.
• Li Ce and his companions heard the approaching Raptor Cavalry and decided to use the terrain to set an ambush rather than reveal their position by fleeing.
• Li Ce asked Shilke whether the Grassland Elves’ main force had arrived and whether they had a trump card that could destroy the Lizardmen’s main force.
• Shilke confirmed that the Grassland Elves’ main force was present, and Li Ce said he planned to settle the score with the Lizardmen at daybreak if they had no trump card.

Li Ce and Shilke decided to strike the Lizardmen before their main force reached Elf Village, recognizing that the village's defenses could not withstand the enemy's assault. When the Raptor Cavalry drew near in the dark, they launched a surprise charge, but horns soon sounded from the darkness, revealing that their position had been exposed.

• Li Ce explained that waiting for the Lizardmen to reach Elf Village would leave the defenders in a passive position against their main force.
• Shilke overcame his hesitation and authorized an immediate fight without waiting to consult Slaven.
• As the Raptor Cavalry approached, Li Ce and Shilke's cavalry mounted and charged before the enemy could close in.
• Li Ce's cavalry spread out its formation to counter the Raptor Cavalry's evasive maneuvers and struck them in a group charge.
• The cavalry's superior numbers helped them hit the Raptor Cavalry, but horns soon rang out from the darkness, exposing their location.

Li Ce, Zhuo Ge, and Shilke launched their united cavalry operation at daybreak, harassing the exhausted Raptor Cavalry and fighting to avoid being surrounded. As the Lizardmen formed an encirclement, Shilke led the Elf Cavalry into a sudden, wind-wrapped charge to break through.

• Li Ce led the allied forces across the grasslands at daybreak to attack the Raptor Cavalry.
• Zhuo Ge's centaurs wiped out a five-rider squad while Li Ce and Shilke's cavalry units pursued other targets.
• The Raptor Cavalry scattered and called for reinforcements, forcing Li Ce's forces to regroup and break out before an encirclement formed.
• Li Ce's cavalry counterattacked the pursuing riders with mounted archery as Shilke's Tracking Arrows suppressed the enemy's wings.
• When the Lizardmen's forces blocked their route and threatened a pincer, Shilke surged ahead with the Elf Cavalry and charged through a visible current of air.

Li Ce and the others followed Shilke’s Elf Cavalry into a melee with the Raptor Cavalry, whose Lizardmen fought with surprising strength and fearlessness. As the Elf Cavalry’s Airflow Barrier faded, Ye Jinghong noticed that the fallen Lizardmen’s blood was turning to mist and being absorbed by the survivors.

• Shilke’s Elf Cavalry charged through the Raptor Cavalry with controlled sword strikes, and Li Ce, Zhuo Ge, and the others followed.
• The Raptor Cavalry shouted together and pressed the Elf Cavalry from both sides, using their battle cries to fight without fear.
• The Airflow Barrier dissipated under repeated attacks, slowing the Elf Cavalry and allowing the Raptor Cavalry to intensify the melee.
• Zhou Chongshan and Shilke noticed that the Lizardmen were harder to fight than before, while Shilke used a Wind Blade to cut one down.
• Li Ce questioned how the exhausted Lizardmen could fight so fiercely, and Ye Jinghong noticed their fallen comrades’ blood turning to mist and entering the living Lizardmen.

Li Ce and his allies fought the Lizardmen’s Raptor Cavalry as they suspected the surviving enemies grew stronger with each kill. After Li Ce and Ye Jinghong deployed their skeleton forces to create an opening, the group broke through the encirclement, but the Lizardmen blocked their path ahead.

• Li Ce asked whether the Lizardmen grew stronger as their numbers fell, but Zhuo Ge and Shilke could not explain the change.
• Zhou Chongshan urged the group to keep fighting and speared a Lizardman.
• Li Ce and Ye Jinghong used their True Words to command their Skeleton Soldiers and Skeleton Raptors, disrupting the Raptor Cavalry’s attack.
• Zhou Chongshan and Zhuo Ge led the cavalry through the encirclement while the skeletons harried the Lizardmen.
• The Lizardmen pursued and threw Crystal Spears as Li Ce’s group fired arrows while riding away.
• Li Ce told the others to keep moving, and the cavalry reached the Raptor Cavalry blocking their only route forward.

Li Ce’s cavalry fought through a brutal battle against the Raptor Cavalry, whose Lizardmen charged with an unnatural resolve despite their exhaustion. Zhou Chongshan’s strength surged as he fought, while Li Ce ended the battle exhausted and unable to understand why the Lizardmen had resisted so fiercely.

• Li Ce recognized that the Lizardmen’s fearless attacks and blood mist were pushing the battle beyond his control as Zhou Chongshan and Zhuo Ge led the charge through the Raptor Cavalry.
• The Raptor Cavalry closed in from both sides, forcing Li Ce’s troops into another bloody melee.
• Zhou Chongshan fought with a spear and saber, then hurled a Crystal Spear and felt a sudden surge of strength as he continued killing Lizardmen.
• A Lizardman stabbed Shilke, but Zhou Chongshan threw a spear that killed the attacker before it could finish him.
• Li Ce’s exhausted horse collapsed, leaving him sprawled among the corpses as he wondered why the supposedly weakened Lizardmen had fought to the death.

After the cavalry battle, Li Ce concluded that defeating the Lizardmen’s main force and its giant beast seemed impossible. As Zhuo Ge went to scout the enemy, Zhou Chongshan tended to the wounded, and Shilke healed himself before offering to help.

• Li Ce assessed the survivors and casualties, then found no viable way to defeat the Lizardmen’s main force and giant beast.
• Zhou Chongshan tried to stop the badly wounded Shilke from returning to the front because he could barely stand and his horse had collapsed.
• Zhuo Ge volunteered to scout the Lizardmen’s main force and bluntly ordered Shilke to stay behind and rest.
• Zhou Chongshan began tending to the wounded soldiers while Shilke used a green healing light to improve his own condition.
• Shilke called Zhou Chongshan back and awkwardly offered to help him.

After the battle, Zhuo Ge discovered that the Lizardmen's main force had already left, most likely heading for Elf Village, while Li Ce considered abandoning the villages and retreating to the mountains. When Zhuo Ge reported the news, Shilke broke down, blaming himself for agreeing to the plan.

• Shilke used his remaining strength to heal Li Ce and Ye Jinghong so they could help treat the wounded.
• Zhuo Ge reached the Lizardmen camp and found it abandoned, then concluded that the main force had likely set out for Elf Village around midnight.
• Li Ce considered retreating with everyone to the mountains, despite the likely loss of Grassland Village, Black Moon Village, and Salt Lake Village.
• Zhuo Ge returned after dark and told Shilke that the Lizardmen had left the camp the previous night.
• Shilke tried to leave for Elf Village, but Zhou Chongshan stopped him, and Shilke fell to his knees blaming himself.

Zhou Xu arrived too late to persuade the Grassland Elves to abandon Elf Village, which the Lizardmen’s main force had already breached. He observed the enemy’s forces and rode back toward Grassland Village as the first snowfall began.

• Zhou Chongshan and the others rested while Shilke blamed himself for the battle against the Raptor Cavalry.
• The Lizardmen’s giant beast smashed through Elf Village’s fence, and the Giant Lizards followed, setting the village ablaze.
• Zhou Xu reached a hill outside Elf Village and realized he had arrived too late to urge Chieftain Slaven to evacuate.
• Zhou Xu used Eye of Insight to assess the giant beast, then saw that the Lizardmen’s main force had surrounded the village without joining the assault.
• Zhou Xu rode back toward Grassland Village to make new arrangements as the first snow of winter began to fall.

Zhou Xu sent an ox-cart rescue party into the snow to retrieve Li Ce, Ye Jinghong, and their wounded after Zhou Chongshan rode back to Grassland Village with news of their battle against the Lizardmen's Raptor Cavalry. On the way, Zhou Xu discovered that Zhou Chongshan had three-star Spirit and Endurance, despite his exhaustion and injuries.

• Li Ce and Ye Jinghong decided they needed reinforcements to bring their wounded group back before the snow worsened, and Zhou Chongshan volunteered to ride to Grassland Village for help.
• Zhou Chongshan returned covered in blood and told Zhou Xu that the Raptor Cavalry had been wiped out, but his side had suffered heavy casualties and needed rescue.
• Zhou Xu ordered every ox cart prepared and set out with physicians, torches, Zhou Chongshan, and Qiansui to treat and retrieve the wounded.
• During the journey, Zhou Xu used the Eye of Insight and discovered that Zhou Chongshan's Spirit and Endurance had both reached three stars.

Zhou Xu rescued Li Ce, Ye Jinghong, Shilke, and the wounded from the snowy grasslands and brought them back to Grassland Village. Meanwhile, the Lizardmen commander withdrew his force through an energy passage to the World Edge, leaving the missing Raptor Cavalry behind.

• Zhou Xu and his rescue party reached the stranded group, and Zhou Xu told Shilke that the Lizardmen's main force had broken through Elf Village.
• Zhou Xu had the wounded and survivors loaded onto ox carts and led them back to Grassland Village, where villagers prepared hot water and food.
• The Lizardman commander judged the worsening cold too dangerous and ordered his force to withdraw to the World Edge.
• The Lizardman commander had his troops ride the Shield Dragons and Giant Lizards to travel faster, but the Raptor Cavalry did not appear.
• A Green Lizardman shaman opened an energy passage, and the Lizardmen hurried through it to leave the world.

After tallying Grassland Village’s devastating casualties, Zhou Xu confided his fears to Qiansui and worried about the village’s shrinking population and the unknown Lizardmen. Qiansui suggested going to check on the Lizardmen, leaving Zhou Xu considering the idea.

• Zhou Xu tallied the losses: the centaurs were nearly wiped out, the ordinary soldiers were almost entirely dead, all surviving Vine Armor Soldiers were injured, and many warhorses had been lost.
• A kitchen worker brought Zhou Xu hot soup, but he remained too troubled to sleep and confided in Qiansui, who stayed beside him and comforted him.
• Zhou Xu told Qiansui that further conscription would worsen the labor shortage and that annexing other tribes seemed like the only practical way to increase the population.
• Zhou Xu admitted that the Lizardmen were his greatest concern because he did not know their situation and feared approaching them recklessly.
• Qiansui nudged Zhou Xu and nodded when Zhou Xu asked whether he wanted to check on the Lizardmen.

Zhou Xu sent Qian Sui to scout the Lizardmen, then woke the next day to learn they had disappeared from the grasslands. With the injured and medical staff resting after a long night, he left the medical department without disturbing them.

• Zhou Xu told Qian Sui to observe the Lizardmen without engaging them, and Qian Sui left Grassland Village in the snowy night.
• After a day of rushing between villages, Zhou Xu fell asleep, while Qian Sui returned near daybreak and settled down beside him.
• Zhou Xu questioned Qian Sui after waking, and its answers suggested the Lizardmen were no longer at Elf Village and had left no traces behind.
• Zhou Xu concluded that the Lizardmen posed no immediate threat, then went outside and saw villagers clearing the snow.
• Zhou Xu went to the medical department to check on the injured, but left after learning the physicians and patients were sleeping.

Zhou Xu reviewed the costly battle against the Lizardmen and heard the commanders explain how events had unfolded. He punished Li Ce and Ye Jinghong for their command failures while rewarding Zhou Chongshan for his battlefield achievements.

• Zhou Xu considered the value and limitations of rattan armor, then ordered messengers to deliver a Conscription Order to every village.
• Li Ce, Ye Jinghong, and Zhou Chongshan came to confess their crimes over the battle’s heavy casualties.
• Li Ce described the battle, and Zhou Xu judged that his plan had been reasonable given the Raptor Cavalry’s unexpected strength.
• Zhou Xu docked half a year of Li Ce’s salary and three months of Ye Jinghong’s, and ordered both to reflect at home.
• Zhou Xu awarded Zhou Chongshan one thousand coins and promoted him to captain for his service in battle and in rescuing the wounded.

After the wounded stabilized and Qiansui found no sign of the Lizardmen, Zhou Xu prepared to leave Grassland Village before a blizzard trapped him there. He put Ye Jinghong, Li Ce, and Zhou Chongshan in charge of the village and asked Qiansui to help protect it.

• Zhou Chongshan divided his thousand-coin reward among himself, Ye Jinghong, and Li Ce, then left as the two injured men accepted the money.
• Zhou Xu heard that the village's wounded were stable and that Grassland Village had enough medicinal herbs.
• Zhou Xu watched the worsening snowstorm and concluded that the Lizardmen had withdrawn after Qiansui returned without finding them for several days.
• Zhou Xu summoned Zhou Chongshan, Ye Jinghong, and Li Ce and told them he would leave the next morning, entrusting the village to them and Qiansui.

Zhou Xu agreed to let the recovering Shilke leave to assess the Grassland Elves’ village, while the surviving Elf Knights stayed behind to recuperate. Shilke borrowed a horse and promised to repay Zhou Xu, leaving with a greater sense of obligation to him.

• The Head of Medical Department told Zhou Xu that Shilke was insisting on leaving, and Zhou Xu went to speak with him.
• Shilke asked to leave and see the Grassland Elves’ village, and Zhou Xu agreed without trying to detain him.
• Zhou Xu offered to let Shilke take the other rescued Grassland Elves, and Shilke learned that only nine of his nineteen Elf Knights had survived.
• Shilke saw that many of the survivors were seriously wounded and asked Zhou Xu to let them stay and recover while he went alone.
• Shilke asked Zhou Xu to lend him a horse and promised to repay him, and Zhou Xu agreed.

Zhou Xu arranged for Shilke to have a place if he returned, then hurried to Black Moon Village to send more supplies to Grassland Village before the snowfall worsened. There, he helped Zhuang Mengdie develop a powerful Three-bow Ballista, explaining how pulleys and ground supports would make it workable.

• Zhou Xu ordered the villagers to give Shilke a horse and told Ye Jinghong to give him a proper place if he returned.
• Zhou Xu rode to Black Moon Village and ordered Zhang Xiaoshan to send another batch of supplies to Grassland Village as soon as possible.
• Zhou Xu met Zhuang Mengdie at the Equipment Department to review designs for a ballista intended to fight the Shield Dragon.
• Zhuang Mengdie worried that the three-bow ballista would be too difficult to draw, so Zhou Xu suggested using a pulley system.
• Zhou Xu explained that soldiers could operate two winches to draw the ballista and lower its supports into the ground to counteract recoil.

Zhou Xu inspected the recruits and decided to send them to Iron Mountain Village to prepare for annexing the mountain tribes over winter. In Salt Lake Village, he approved Wang Dong’s Great Zhou flag and agreed to hold a founding ceremony before spring.

• After checking the recruits’ progress, Zhou Xu decided they could fight the primitive tribes near Dashan and ordered them equipped and transferred to Iron Mountain Village the next morning.
• The new-recruit instructor announced the deployment, and the recruits reacted with nervousness and excitement without breaking discipline.
• Zhou Xu traveled to Salt Lake Village, where Wang Dong showed him a black flag bearing the small-seal form of the character Zhou.
• Wang Dong urged Zhou Xu to hold a founding ceremony so the people would value Great Zhou and feel a sense of belonging.
• Zhou Xu approved the flag and agreed to hold the ceremony before spring.

Zhou Xu arranged for Wang Dong to teach his important subordinates how to read while keeping his attention on the threatened grasslands. Shilke reached the ruined Elf Village and discovered that its hill shelter had been destroyed, leaving him convinced the Shield Dragon was responsible.

• Wang Dong told Zhou Xu he accepted the possibility of dying again because his current life was already a gift, and agreed to take on further assignments.
• Zhou Xu explained that the weaving factory no longer needed Wang Dong’s help and asked him to teach important subordinates how to read.
• Zhou Xu returned to Black Moon Village and heard that the Lizardmen had not appeared, though heavier snowfall suggested a blizzard was approaching.
• Zhou Xu stayed near the grasslands as new recruits began training and Dashan prepared to expand operations into the mountains.
• Shilke rode through the wind and snow to the Elf Village, where he found the settlement and its hill shelter reduced to ruins.
• Shilke blamed the Shield Dragon for destroying the shelter, then collapsed in grief and anger.

After his village was destroyed, Shilke buried his clansmen and set out through the blizzard to find any survivors, but collapsed and was brought to Grassland Village by Lord Qian Sui. Ye Jinghong arranged treatment for Shilke’s severe frostbite, and by night his survival remained uncertain.

• Shilke found Slaven and the other dead clansmen in the ruins, then realized some bodies were missing and hoped survivors had escaped.
• Shilke buried the dead and rode into the blizzard to search for his surviving clansmen.
• Lord Qian Sui returned to Grassland Village carrying the collapsed Shilke, and Ye Jinghong sent him to the medical department.
• The Head of Medical Department reported that Shilke had severe frostbite and might not survive, though his wounds had frozen over and the village had experience treating frostbite.
• Ye Jinghong asked to be notified when Shilke woke, and the medical department later finished his initial treatment while his fate remained uncertain.