Chapter Summaries

Zhou Xu’s orders sent Zhou Chongshan and the surviving Assault Camp back to replenish their ranks, while reinforcements and rewards reached the southern frontier fortress. After resting, Li Ce prepared a 2,000-man expedition to attack the Ratmen, and Zhou Xu began an inspection tour in the morning.

• Zhou Chongshan read Zhou Xu’s calligraphy, then departed with the eighty-one surviving Assault Camp riders to recruit and train replacements.
• A thousand Lizardmen troops arrived at the southern frontier fortress with supplies, meat, and fruit wine, and the soldiers held a victory feast.
• After two days of rest, Li Ce assembled 2,000 troops and prepared to set out against the Ratmen.
• Li Ce sent Zhou Xu a report by Wyvern Rider informing him that the expeditionary force would depart.
• Zhou Xu received the report in Grassland City and began his inspection tour the following morning.

Zhou Xu inspected Grassland City’s thriving animal husbandry industry and visited its horse farm to review the progress of Great Zhou’s warhorse breeding. He left excited by the prospect of breeding two Blood-Sweating Horses together next spring.

• Zhou Xu approved of Grassland City’s development after touring its animal husbandry facilities.
• Ma Guotao showed Zhou Xu the ill-tempered Five Blessings Blood-Sweating Horse, which was nearly ready to breed.
• Ma Guotao showed Zhou Xu a black foal with some Blood-Sweating Horse characteristics.
• Ma Guotao revealed that Wild Horse City had captured a second Blood-Sweating Horse six months earlier and that it had been raised into a fine-looking horse.
• Zhou Xu discussed breeding the two Blood-Sweating Horses with Ma Guotao before leaving the horse farm.

Zhou Xu investigated the changing winter temperatures at the Plains Farm while Li Ce began a campaign to destroy the Ratmen’s southern nests. After the Lizardmen crushed a small Rat Tide and collapsed a nest, Li Ce sent Tash ahead to scout as the main force advanced.

• Zhou Xu asked Zhao Geng about the Plains Farm’s cooler nights and learned that the temperature change had not yet noticeably affected crops.
• Li Ce sent Raptor Cavalry to test the Ratmen stronghold, and they quickly destroyed the small Rat Tide that emerged.
• Claw realized the Lizardmen still had enough strength to attack and decided to flee rather than defend the stronghold.
• Li Ce ordered Shield Dragons to trample the ground, collapsing the Ratmen’s underground nest, and Soros’s forces destroyed the Ratmen inside.
• Li Ce sent Tash and three hundred Raptor Cavalry ahead to scout and harry enemy units while the main force rested before following.

Li Ce pushed the Lizardmen army deeper into Ratmen territory after finding their second nest abandoned, while Zhou Xu received news of the advance and planned a local military forging plant. The chapter ended with Zhou Xu learning that troops from beyond the Mountain Region border had invaded through an energy channel.

• Li Ce learned that the Ratmen had abandoned their second underground nest and ordered the Lizardmen army to keep advancing, hoping to decide the war with one final push.
• Li Ce reported the front-line situation to Zhou Xu, who was visiting the Rainforest factory district.
• Zhou Xu planned to transfer a construction team to build a Military Equipment Forging Department branch in the Rainforest, citing the Lizardmen's loyalty and the territory's growing size.
• Zhou Xu received a report from Shi Lei about an invasion through an energy channel at the Mountain Region border and grew concerned.

Zhou Xu traveled to the Mountain Range border after receiving delayed news, crossing Barren Mountain to reach Barren Mountain Village. He continued toward Iron Mountain Village, where the journey showed the importance of mountain roads and the changing role of the settlements.

• Zhou Xu set out with guards for the Mountain Range border after instructing Bolevin to manage affairs in his absence.
• Zhou Xu’s party changed horses at Grassland City and rode to the way station at the foot of Barren Mountain.
• Zhou Xu crossed Barren Mountain on an improved mountain road and reached Barren Mountain Village before nightfall.
• Wang Chuan told Zhou Xu that a domestic wolf had stopped beasts from stealing chickens from the village pens.
• Zhou Xu stayed overnight in Barren Mountain Village, then set out toward Iron Mountain Village along the road used to transport ore from Iron Mountain Mine.
• The chapter noted that Iron Mountain Village had become a mining village, while Great Zhou’s military camp had moved deeper into Dashan with Shi Lei’s expansion.

Zhou Xu reached Great Zhou’s mountain frontier and learned that the neighboring force came from a country called Huaxia, ruled by someone titled First Emperor Yan Sheng. The prisoners’ conflicting estimates of enemy troop strength left Zhou Xu uncertain as he examined their equipment.

• Zhou Xu traveled through the bitterly cold mountain range and arrived at the frontier garrison, where Shi Lei reported that the energy passage had opened without further activity on the other side.
• Shi Lei told Zhou Xu that the captured scouts came from Huaxia and named their ruler First Emperor Yan Sheng, shocking Zhou Xu.
• Zhou Xu questioned Shi Lei about Huaxia’s strength and learned it had seven cities, while the prisoners gave conflicting estimates of three thousand, five thousand, or ten thousand troops.
• A soldier brought over the opposing force’s armor and weapons for Zhou Xu to inspect.

Zhou Xu examined the captured enemy equipment and questioned the emaciated officer, Shang Xijun, about his army’s numbers. When Shang’s answers exposed a contradiction, Zhou Xu began a new interrogation method, leaving the questioning underway.

• Zhou Xu inspected the enemy’s wooden and iron armor and ordered Shi Lei to melt down the captured iron for crystal-iron weapons.
• Zhou Xu visited the three prisoners and used Eye of Insight to identify Shang Xijun as the captured officer who had claimed the enemy had ten thousand troops.
• Zhou Xu offered Shang citizenship, money, and a comfortable life in exchange for the truth, but Shang insisted the enemy had ten thousand troops.
• Zhou Xu pointed out that Shang had earlier called ten thousand a guess, and Shang faltered when confronted with the contradiction.
• Zhou Xu had Shang bound to a chair, blindfolded, and deafened, then began the water-drop interrogation.

Zhou Xu used a water clock to subject Shang Xijun to drip torture, and the prisoner broke down and agreed to confess. When Zhou Xu questioned him in the cell, Shang Xijun began to hesitate, but the threat of another session terrified him into promising to reveal everything.

• Zhou Xu arranged for Shang Xijun to be restrained, blindfolded, and subjected to drops of water while he left the torture chamber with Shi Lei.
• After enduring the steady drops, Shang Xijun suffered a breakdown, screamed, and begged to be released in exchange for a confession.
• The guard freed Shang Xijun, took him back to the Prison Cell, and sent for Zhou Xu.
• Zhou Xu arrived and asked Shang Xijun to talk, but threatened to send him back to the torture chamber when he hesitated.
• Shang Xijun panicked and promised to tell Zhou Xu everything he knew.

Zhou Xu questioned the captured official Shang Xijun about the five thousand troops and the country on the other side of the energy passage. He learned that fifteen hundred soldiers guarded the passage under General Long Zhantian, one of the Four Dragon Generals.

• Zhou Xu used the threat of renewed torture to make Shang Xijun reveal what he knew about the opposing country.
• Shang Xijun explained that the country had annexed another nation half a year earlier after a difficult war and had not yet discovered any other countries.
• Zhou Xu concluded that the opposing force likely did not understand the energy passage or know it connected to another world, giving him time to deal with the Ratmen first.
• Shang Xijun said the country had about five thousand troops in total and stationed fifteen hundred near the passage.
• Shang Xijun named Long Aotian, Long Zhantian, Long Xiaotian, and Dragon Shattering Heaven as the Four Dragon Generals, and identified Long Zhantian as the border commander.

Zhou Xu promoted Liu Dahe to direct a new Interrogation Office, then had the soldiers experience Drip Torture before leaving with Shi Lei. Later, Zhou Xu devised the Ghost Catching Game as a way for border soldiers to exercise and relax.

• Zhou Xu questioned Shi Lei about the name Long Aotian, praised Liu Dahe, and appointed him director of the Interrogation Office after discovering his Psychological Pressure talent.
• Zhou Xu questioned the soldier who had guessed there were five thousand troops, then had him and Liu Dahe experience Drip Torture to confirm its effects.
• Zhou Xu invited Shi Lei to try Drip Torture too, but the two joked about having military affairs to attend to and left together.
• Rumors about Drip Torture spread among the border soldiers, and Zhou Xu and Shi Lei let them chatter about it.
• Zhou Xu suggested creating a game to help the soldiers exercise and relax, then explained the Ghost Catching Game to Shi Lei.

Shi Lei used a Ghost Catching Game to give the soldiers a break, while Zhou Xu learned that Shang Xijun’s country had violently suppressed unrest after annexing another nation. Realizing that the rival kingdom was vulnerable but could become a serious threat if given time, Zhou Xu decided Great Zhou should consider acting soon.

• Shi Lei introduced the Ghost Catching Game, punished soldiers who fought during it, and later established games as a regular break from training.
• Zhou Xu asked Shang Xijun whether the people absorbed through his country’s annexation were obedient, and Shang Xijun said the unrest had eased after several batches of rioters were killed.
• Zhou Xu concluded that Shang Xijun’s country had launched an unjust war and that its brutal suppression had deepened the annexed people’s resentment.
• Zhou Xu weighed whether to send troops against the rival kingdom and realized that delaying would give it time to resolve its troubles and threaten Great Zhou.

Zhou Xu and Shi Lei planned an expedition against the enemy, reasoning that the Three-bow Ballista could break through the city defenses despite Great Zhou’s shortage of soldiers. They set the campaign for after spring and ordered troops and supplies mobilized, leaving Wang Dachui and the Military Equipment Forging Department with another large workload.

• Zhou Xu considered how Great Zhou could face an enemy force of several thousand despite its growing population being mostly children.
• Shi Lei warned Zhou Xu that attacking the enemy’s city would require overwhelming numbers, even though Great Zhou’s soldiers were better equipped and individually stronger.
• Zhou Xu proposed using the Three-bow Ballista to destroy the city gate, and Shi Lei agreed that it could make the assault possible.
• Zhou Xu and Shi Lei decided to send troops into the enemy world after spring, allowing the enemy’s internal unrest to worsen in the meantime.
• Zhou Xu ordered troop mobilization and supplies, along with more work for the Military Equipment Forging Department, where Wang Dachui was finishing reserve scale armor.

Zhou Xu prepared a force of five hundred soldiers to cross the energy passage and scout the other continent, welcoming Shilke back from leave after the birth of his son. On the other side, Yan Sheng’s border patrol spotted Zhou Xu’s army emerging from the passage, and the veterans scrambled to sound the alarm.

• Zhou Xu discussed plans with Shi Lei while preparing for the expedition, then welcomed Shilke back and asked about his newborn son.
• Zhou Xu planned to take the Elf Knights, fifty Centaur riders, Shi Lei’s troops, and recruited soldiers across the passage to scout the other continent.
• Yan Sheng ordered border troops to guard the energy passage and patrol continuously, but the soldiers grew lax after nothing happened for a long time.
• A new recruit spotted the passage opening and urged his patrol to investigate, but the squad leader slowed them down and scolded him.
• The patrol saw an enemy army charging out of the passage, and the squad leader ordered the soldiers to sound the alarm.

Zhou Xu’s expeditionary force crossed the border, defeated the patrols and overran an enemy camp before advancing on a border city. After the Three-bow Ballistas destroyed the city’s watchtower and gate, Zhuo Ge led the cavalry in a charge.

• Shilke and the Elf Knights shot down a five-rider patrol while Zhuo Ge’s centaurs routed roughly three hundred soldiers; Shi Lei ordered the infantry to form a defensive square.
• Shilke’s knights overran the nearly empty border camp, and Zhou Xu ordered the main force to advance while the logistics troops stayed behind.
• The expeditionary force reached the enemy city around three in the afternoon, where Long Zhantian’s defenders chose to hold the walls.
• Zhou Xu’s four Three-bow Ballistas destroyed the watchtower and blasted apart the iron-plated city gate with enchanted bolts.
• Zhuo Ge raised his crystal-iron spear and led the cavalry in a charge through the breached gate.

Zhuo Ge’s cavalry and the Three-bow Ballista broke through the border city’s gate and routed Long Zhantian’s defenders. The enemy abandoned the city, leaving Zhuo Ge and Shilke in control but unable to inflict the decisive losses they had hoped for.

• Zhuo Ge led his centaur soldiers toward the city gate as the Three-bow Ballista shattered the gate and blasted apart the barricades and spearmen behind it.
• Long Zhantian forced his terrified soldiers to defend the opening, but Zhuo Ge’s cavalry charged through and broke the garrison’s morale.
• Long Zhantian fled into the city, while Zhuo Ge’s troops took prisoners and called on the remaining defenders to surrender.
• Zhuo Ge and Shilke rode to the other three walls and found that Long Zhantian had ordered the entire garrison to retreat.
• Zhou Xu and Shi Lei’s forces secured the border city as a defensible foothold, though the enemy had escaped a decisive defeat.

After capturing the border city, Zhou Xu organized its defenses, managed prisoners and supplies, and tried to keep the citizens calm. As night fell, an unseen person sent a pigeon out of the city, leaving the enemy’s movements and intentions uncertain.

• Zhou Xu ordered the city gate repaired, defenses secured, and patrols to warn citizens against harboring defeated soldiers while promising leniency to those who surrendered.
• Zhou Xu had the ninety-seven prisoners confined for questioning and later labor, then inspected the captured Armaments Depot and its stockpile of weapons and wooden armor.
• Zhou Xu arranged night patrols and sentries as the citizens remained indoors and the opposing army made no immediate move.
• An unidentified person released a pigeon from a house into the night without being noticed.

Long Zhantian fled the border city with about five hundred soldiers while Zhou Xu learned of a nearby lead-zinc mine and went to inspect it. At the mine, the defenders refused to believe the city had fallen, and Zhou Xu gave them ten minutes to surrender.

• Long Zhantian escaped with his remaining troops and ordered them to travel through the night to the next city.
• Liu Dahe reported that a lead-zinc mine lay twenty kilometers south of the city, and Zhou Xu sent him to clarify the report.
• With too few troops available to spare, Zhou Xu left Shi Lei in charge and rode to the mine with Shilke and the Elf Knights.
• Shilke used Eagle Eye to spot the mine's defenders preparing to fight, and Zhou Xu ordered his group to keep a safe distance.
• A mounted soldier demanded that the cavalry leave, but Shilke announced that the border city had fallen and called for the mine to surrender.
• The soldier rejected Shilke's claim, and Shilke gave the defenders ten minutes to open the gate.

Shilke led the Elf Knights in an assault on the mine, while the imprisoned forced laborers rebelled against their foremen. After the mine's guards were defeated, White Butcher knelt before Zhou Xu and asked to join him.

• Shilke gave the order to attack after the mine's officer failed to respond within ten minutes.
• The Elf Knights used Tracking Arrows to kill the archers in the arrow towers and charged the mine.
• White Butcher caught a foreman's whip, rallied the forced laborers, and led them against the foremen.
• Shilke and the Elf Knights broke through the mine's defenses and killed the guards.
• White Butcher told Zhou Xu the officer was dead and asked to follow him.

Zhou Xu discovered that White Butcher, a former Wei centurion, led the prisoners working in the border mine and possessed exceptional talents. He accepted White Butcher and the Wei laborers into Great Zhou’s service, then left Shilke to help settle them.

• White Butcher and the other Wei laborers knelt before Zhou Xu, and White Butcher explained how he had become a prisoner after Wei’s defeat.
• Zhou Xu used the Eye of Insight to discover White Butcher’s outstanding attributes, five-star Command, and Plunder Like Fire talent.
• White Butcher asked Zhou Xu to give the Wei laborers a chance to live and admitted that he also wanted revenge against Huaxia.
• Zhou Xu accepted White Butcher’s allegiance, ordered him to count the laborers willing to join the army, and assigned Shilke to help settle them.
• White Butcher learned that Zhou Xu was Great Zhou’s king, saw him off, and then followed Shilke’s instructions to count the laborers.

White Butcher led the former Wei soldiers at the mine in cooperating with Great Zhou, while Zhou Xu decided to hold Yellow Sand City and wait for Yan Sheng’s troubles to worsen. As Shilke escorted the laborers toward the city, he revealed that Great Zhou had captured it in less than an hour, leaving White Butcher stunned.

• White Butcher reassured his former subordinates that pledging themselves to Great Zhou was better than remaining forced laborers.
• Zhou Xu returned to Yellow Sand City, ordered the gate workers to get enough sleep, and told Shi Lei to defend the city rather than advance.
• Shilke’s men counted the laborers, found the mine’s food stores, and fed them before leading them toward Yellow Sand City with a cart of provisions.
• After the exhausted laborers stopped to rest, White Butcher asked Shilke about the city’s defender, Long Zhantian.
• Shilke told White Butcher that Great Zhou had captured Yellow Sand City in less than an hour, and White Butcher froze in disbelief.