Chapter Summaries

Zhou Xu reassured Li Shitou that the Grassland Elves would be managed strictly by the rules, then traveled with Ma Guotao to Grassland Village. There, he assigned Ma Guotao to oversee the horse ranch, where Ma Guotao’s expertise would guide the selection and training of warhorses.

• Zhou Xu confirmed that human workers would learn sericulture from the Grassland Elves and eventually surpass them, while the elves’ work would continue to be handled by the rules.
• Zhou Xu explained to Li Shitou that he had divided the Grassland Elves among Grassland Village, Black Moon Village, and Salt Lake Village to prevent potential trouble.
• Zhou Xu and Ma Guotao traveled through Black Moon Village and reached Grassland Village the following morning.
• Ye Jinghong welcomed Zhou Xu, who introduced Ma Guotao as a newly summoned God Chosen and entrusted him with the horse ranch’s work.
• Zhou Xu took Ma Guotao to the horse ranch, where Ma Guotao explained the specialized knowledge needed to identify and train promising warhorses.

Zhou Xu appointed Ma Guotao to lead the horse farm and prepare warhorses for a possible Lizardman invasion. After learning that the World Edge passage had opened twice without Lizardmen emerging, Zhou Xu suspected the Lizardmen might be able to open energy passages themselves.

• Zhou Xu learned the horse farm held seventy-three horses, including warhorses and untamed horses, and introduced Ma Guotao as its new head.
• Zhou Xu instructed Ma Guotao to select and train warhorses for a likely Lizardman invasion after spring, and Ma Guotao began work immediately.
• Ye Jinghong reported that soldiers were watching several crude outposts near the World Edge and that its passage had opened twice without any Lizardmen appearing.
• Zhou Xu considered why the Lizardmen had not emerged and suspected they might have a way to open energy passages manually.

Zhou Xu returned to Black Moon Village, tested an enchanted spearhead, and ordered the Forging Department to begin producing weapons. He then inspected Zhuang Mengdie’s completed Three-bow Ballista with Wang Dong, who was astonished by her craftsmanship.

• Zhou Xu confirmed that the Ancient Elven-script mold worked by enchanting a spearhead with Primary Weapon Enchantment.
• Zhou Xu rewarded the mold maker and ordered the Forging Department to make two hundred spearheads and one hundred saber blades, offering workers bonuses for the heavy workload.
• Wang Dong arrived in Black Moon Village, and Zhou Xu took him to inspect the Equipment Department’s results.
• Zhuang Mengdie showed Zhou Xu and Wang Dong a Three-bow Ballista designed to help fight the giant Lizardman.
• Wang Dong examined the ballista’s mechanisms and praised Zhuang Mengdie’s craftsmanship.

Zhou Xu oversaw the Three-bow Ballista’s first tests and watched it strike a stone mountain from three hundred meters away. After moving it farther, the team found its effective range was between four hundred and fifty and five hundred meters.

• Zhuang Mengdie explained the ballista’s wheels, fixed stakes, aiming grips, and synchronized winding mechanism as the guards operated it.
• The guards loaded a bronze Giant Crossbow Bolt and fired it into the stone mountain from three hundred meters away.
• Zhou Xu ordered the ballista moved another hundred meters back, and the Equipment Department used an ox to tow it.
• The guards tested the ballista at greater distances and found that its bolt could barely penetrate the mountain from four hundred and fifty meters away.
• Zhou Xu and the others concluded that the ballista’s effective range was roughly four hundred and fifty to five hundred meters.

Zhou Xu sent the first Three-bow Ballista to Grassland Village and planned training for its operators, while Zhuang Mengdie estimated she could build three more before spring. He then bestowed the True Word Eye of Insight on Wang Dong and tasked him with examining prisoners for talent, teaching him how to use it.

• Four guards tested the Three-bow Ballista, confirming that operating its winch required specialized training.
• Zhuang Mengdie said she could build around three more Three-bow Ballistas before spring, and Zhou Xu sent the first one to Grassland Village with an operator to teach its use.
• Zhou Xu asked Wang Dong to use Eye of Insight on the prisoners and identify anyone with unusual talent.
• Zhou Xu bestowed Eye of Insight on Wang Dong, expending much of his strength in the process.
• Zhou Xu taught Wang Dong the True Word, and Wang Dong's four-star Mental attribute helped him practice and recover quickly.

Wang Dong mastered the Eye of Insight with Zhou Xu’s guidance, and news from Dashan pushed Zhou Xu’s forces past one thousand people. Zhou Xu and Wang Dong began inspecting captives’ attribute panels at Black Moon Village, then set out for Salt Lake Village, where the much larger captive population awaited.

• Wang Dong practiced the Eye of Insight and learned to use it, though Zhou Xu could still cast it much faster.
• Zhou Xu concluded that Wang Dong’s copy of the Eye of Insight could not affect him because Zhou Xu possessed the true speech’s original body.
• Shi Lei reported that the primitive tribes on Dashan’s two mountains had been cleared, bringing Zhou Xu’s population to 1,008; Zhou Xu ordered more conscription and sent Dashan’s recruits to Grassland Village for cavalry training.
• Zhou Xu and Wang Dong inspected the captives at Black Moon Village, finding only two-star panels but identifying three people with useful talents.
• Zhou Xu and Wang Dong agreed to inspect Salt Lake Village’s captives factory by factory and rode there together.

The first Three-bow Ballista arrived at Grassland Village, where Li Ce and Ye Jinghong prepared to form a dedicated unit to operate and guard it. The chapter leaves the fifty recruits beginning their selection for the unit while the Vine Armor Soldiers and Elf Knights watched from training.

• Ye Jinghong and Li Ce received the Three-bow Ballista and moved it to the training grounds outside Grassland Village.
• A researcher told Li Ce that each ballista required six operators and two substitutes, and Zhou Xu had ordered four ballistae by spring.
• Li Ce called the fifty recruits to join him and continue selecting candidates, while the Vine Armor Soldiers were left out of the new unit.
• Shilke, Zhuo Ge, and the other Elf Knights kept training and reflected that stronger conditioning would not have changed the outcome against the Shield Dragons.

Li Ce organized soldiers to train on the Three-bow Ballista as Zhou Xu investigated why an enchanted iron spear had lost its power. He suspected enchantments lasted about a week and prepared to return to Black Moon Village to verify the problem before deciding whether to produce enchanted weapons.

• Li Ce explained that four Three-bow Ballistas would require a unit of thirty-two soldiers and selected six volunteers to learn how to operate the weapon.
• Zhou Xu and Wang Dong resumed work in Salt Lake Village after a break following the arrival of many two-star citizens.
• A messenger from Black Moon Village brought Zhou Xu an iron spear whose True Words enchantment had faded after sitting on a weapon rack.
• Zhou Xu re-enchanted the spear and sent the messenger to Grassland Village to ask Shilke whether the enchantment on his Silver Steel Sword remained active and whether mithril was the key.
• Zhou Xu realized the enchantment might last only about a week and considered re-enchanting weapons as they faded.
• Zhou Xu told Wang Dong he would return to Black Moon Village to confirm the details before deciding what to do.

Zhou Xu tested enchanted iron spears in Black Moon Village and discovered that their enchantments drained faster than they could absorb Natural Energy, especially when used in attacks. He ordered the Forging Department to reduce enchanted weapon production and reserve the weapons for centaurs and a small number of human elites.

• Wang Dong accompanied Zhou Xu to Black Moon Village, where Zhou Xu collected two finished iron spears from Wang Dachui.
• Zhou Xu sensed that each spear's enchantment absorbed Natural Energy too slowly to offset the energy consumed maintaining its sharpness and durability.
• Zhou Xu tested the spears on a straw target and a wooden stake, confirming that attacks depleted the enchantment, with harder impacts consuming more power.
• Zhou Xu concluded that the enchantments might not last a week in wartime and could be exhausted in a single battle.
• Zhou Xu ordered the Forging Department to halve enchanted weapon production and make ordinary iron weapons after finishing the current batch, reserving enchanted weapons for centaurs and select human elites.

Zhou Xu organized troop deployments, investigated mithril’s ability to preserve energy, and traveled with Wang Dong to inspect Dashan’s territory. In Iron Mountain Village, he recognized Wang Pengfei after the villager had transformed through hard work and a changed lifestyle.

• New recruits led by Li Tie arrived in Grassland Village after helping assimilate two mountain tribes, and training began to prepare for a possible Lizardmen army.
• Shilke confirmed that mithril preserved energy better than iron, leading Zhou Xu to consider whether it could act like a storage battery.
• After finding no talents among Salt Lake Village’s prisoners, Zhou Xu and Wang Dong traveled to Dashan’s territory and inspected Barren Mountain Village and its prisoners.
• At Iron Mountain Village, Zhou Xu recognized Wang Pengfei only after noticing how much weight he had lost.
• Wang Pengfei explained that his demanding work and limited diet had gradually changed his appearance and improved him.

Zhou Xu inspected Iron Mountain Village and Iron Mountain Mine, adjusted food supplies for the growing workforce, and searched prisoners for talent. He also approved recruiting ten Grassland Elves as Elf Knights, whose selection marked the start of demanding military training.

• Zhou Xu and Wang Dong settled into Iron Mountain Village, then Zhou Xu inspected the mine and saw that ore was still being carried out by hand.
• Zhou Xu arranged grain deliveries from Black Moon Village and increased the supply of meat and fish to address food shortages caused by the prisoners.
• Zhou Xu and Wang Dong screened prisoners for talent, discovered a three-star Mining Expert, and noted two other promising prisoners.
• A messenger told Zhou Xu that Grassland Elves from Black Moon Village and Salt Lake Village had signed up for conscription to secure food and lodging.
• Zhou Xu ordered the recruitment of ten Grassland Elves, and the conscription office selected the ten best applicants after a test.

Shilke took charge of training ten newly recruited Grassland Elves, who struggled with the army’s physical demands and tried to quit. Ye Jinghong redirected their request to Shilke, leaving the recruits stuck in a deadlock with their commander and facing increasingly brutal training.

• Zhou Xu sent the ten recruits to Grassland Village to train under Shilke, who organized their independent training and prepared them for monthly joint exercises.
• The recruits began struggling during their first run, and Shilke ordered them to continue despite their protests.
• The recruits threatened to leave the army, but Ye Jinghong told them they needed Shilke’s approval and called Shilke to handle the matter.
• Shilke refused to let the recruits quit and drove them through several days of punishing training, growing even harsher as he understood Li Ce’s past frustration.

Zhou Xu established the nation of Zhou at a ceremony in Black Moon Village, then ordered his officials to prepare for a possible Lizardmen attack. The ceremony ended in celebration, but the return to Grassland Village brought a tense mood as war drew near.

• Wang Dong prepared the Founding Ceremony, but Zhou Xu rejected the formalities and refused to memorize a speech.
• Shi Lei and Wang Chuan traveled from Dashan to attend the ceremony in Black Moon Village.
• Zhou Xu improvised a speech, declared the nation of Zhou, and was hailed as Great King as the flag unfurled.
• At a banquet after the ceremony, Zhou Xu ordered Shi Lei to guard the border and told Ye Jinghong to strengthen patrols in the World Edge region.
• Ye Jinghong returned to Grassland Village with the Great Zhou flag and issued Zhou Xu's orders, putting the village on alert for the Lizardmen.

After reviewing Grassland Village’s military exercise, Zhou Xu praised the improved Elf Cavalry and warhorses and rewarded Ma Guotao’s horse ranch. New intelligence led Zhou Xu to the World Edge, where he spotted the approaching World Shard believed to be the Lizardmen’s home and began narrowing down where energy channels might appear.

• Zhou Xu watched the military exercise and was satisfied with the Elf Cavalry’s discipline and the cavalry horses’ improvement.
• Zhou Xu praised Ma Guotao’s work and awarded two thousand coins to the horse ranch, which Ma Guotao distributed among the workers.
• A soldier brought Zhou Xu new intelligence, and Zhou Xu rode with his team toward the World Edge.
• Zhou Xu spotted a distant continent in the void and judged it was likely the World Shard where the Lizardmen lived.
• Zhou Xu asked the outpost captain which direction previous energy channels had appeared from, and the captain recalled they seemed to come from that direction.

Zhou Xu prepared for a possible full-scale Lizardman invasion as the opposing World Shard drew closer and the two continents seemed likely to merge. When an energy channel opened and Lizardmen appeared inside it, his troops launched a prepared ballista attack and rushed to the frontline.

• Zhou Xu returned to Grassland Village, assigned Wang Dong to prepare the Enchanted Weapons, and convened his officers to discuss the growing possibility that the Lizardmen would wait for the World Shards to connect before invading.
• After half a month, the approaching continent had grown much larger in view, and patrols detected an energy channel opening at the World Edge.
• The border patrol signaled for help, and nearby soldiers positioned a Three-bow Ballista to fire into the narrow channel.
• Li Ce and Zhou Chongshan ordered an emergency deployment as Zhou Xu's cavalry force moved toward the threatened area.
• After a soldier spotted Lizardmen inside the channel, the ballista crew fired a Giant Crossbow Bolt into it.

A Giant Crossbow Bolt devastated the Lizardmen vanguard in the energy passage, forcing Gruul to seek instructions from the High Priest. The High Priest ordered Gruul to withdraw and wait for the two World Shards to join together, and Gruul halted the attack and set up camp.

• A Giant Crossbow Bolt pierced through the charging Raptor Cavalry, killing thirteen riders and driving the surviving vanguard back through the energy passage.
• A messenger reported the losses to Gruul, who sent a Wyvern Rider to ask the High Priest what to do.
• The High Priest ordered Gruul to withdraw his troops and wait for the two World Shards to join together.
• Gruul obeyed the order, stopped the attack, and set up camp.

Zhou Xu reconsidered why the Lizardmen had stopped attacking after the spatial channels began appearing more often. He suspected they faced another conflict in their territory and decided he would rather take the initiative than wait for events to unfold.

• After the Lizardmen retreated without probing the defenses, Zhou Xu ordered Li Ce and the others to keep watch while Black Moon Village focused on spring planting and its food shortage.
• Over the next half month, spatial channels appeared three times, and the Lizardmen still did not attack, leading Zhou Xu to conclude they had temporarily abandoned their offensive.
• While helping Wang Dong in the enchantment workshop, Zhou Xu proposed that the Lizardmen might be facing trouble at home and had shifted their attention toward his territory to find a way to strengthen themselves.
• Zhou Xu rejected waiting for the Lizardmen and their other enemy to weaken each other, saying he preferred to take the initiative, while Wang Dong returned to enchanting weapons.

Zhou Xu decided to send a guerrilla force through the energy passage to harass the Lizardmen if they were fighting other enemies. He assigned Shilke and Zhuo Ge to lead the mission, and they left to prepare for the passage to open.

• Zhou Xu recalled the officers from the World Edge garrison and explained his deductions about the Lizardmen’s withdrawal.
• Zhou Xu proposed sending a force across the energy passage to confirm the Lizardmen were engaged elsewhere and attack them from behind.
• Zhou Chongshan, Zhuo Ge, and Shilke volunteered, while Ye Jinghong and Li Ce stayed to manage logistics and command.
• Shilke argued that the Elf Knights’ Airflow Barrier would help them escape if surrounded, and Zhou Xu agreed they were suited to the mission.
• Zhou Xu assigned Zhuo Ge and his centaurs to accompany Shilke, and both leaders returned to prepare for the passage to open.

Zhuo Ge and Shilke led their cavalry through an energy channel into the Lizardmen continent, where they fought their way past a patrol and escaped into a woodland hiding place. Zhuo Ge planned to gather nearby resources and spend the night there, conserving their limited supplies for a longer campaign.

• Zhuo Ge and Shilke led the centaurs and Elf Knights through the energy channel and emerged near a Lizardmen camp.
• The Lizardmen sounded the alarm, sending Raptor Cavalry after them as Wyvern Riders took to the air.
• Zhuo Ge warned Shilke not to use the Airflow Barrier, then led a charge that crushed the ten Raptor Cavalry blocking their route.
• Shilke fired Tracking Arrows to hinder the pursuing Wyvern Riders, and the cavalry escaped to a woodland hiding place.
• Zhuo Ge told Shilke they would gather resources and get through the night while limiting operations to conserve their arrows and weapons.

Zhuo Ge and Shilke settled in after their incursion, and Shilke marveled at the king’s ability to create Enchanted Weapons. At the Lizardman camp, the High Priest reassigned Gruul to the front line and summoned Soros.

• Zhuo Ge examined his Enchanted Weapon and praised how easily it had pierced a Raptor Cavalryman.
• Shilke was astonished that the king could decipher Ancient Elvish and craft Enchanted Weapons.
• The High Priest summoned Gruul and criticized his recent performance.
• Gruul asked to serve on the front line, and the High Priest agreed.
• The High Priest ordered Soros to appear, and Soros entered the temple to greet him.