Chapter Summaries

Zhao Xu entered a vision of Edmund’s imprisonment and experienced the old priest’s death and Edmund’s escape attempt. He emerged before the statue of the God of Slaughter with three Divine Marks on his hand.

• Zhao Xu was drawn into Edmund’s memories and took control of his body long enough to hide the priest’s escape tunnel from a jailer.
• The old priest mistook Zhao Xu for Edmund, urged him to go to Anta, and died before finishing the incantation.
• Zhao Xu realized the guards would discover the tunnel, so he carried the priest’s body into Edmund’s cell and disguised it as the sleeping prisoner.
• Zhao Xu hid inside the priest’s body bag, sewed it shut, and was carried out of the prison by corpse handlers.
• The handlers dumped Zhao Xu into the sea, and he cut open the bag and swam toward the surface.
• Zhao Xu returned before the statue of the God of Slaughter and saw three Divine Marks on his hand.

Zhao Xu emerged from the God of Slaughter’s memories after experiencing nearly half an hour in an instant, and Lux explained how a time-slowing Demiplane could produce the effect. He examined three Divine Marks bestowed by the God of Slaughter and began identifying their powers, unaware that nearby Undead Creatures had knelt at his words.

• Zhao Xu told Lux that he had experienced the God of Slaughter’s rise firsthand, including replacing a Nerull Cleric’s corpse.
• Lux revealed that Zhao Xu’s half-hour experience had lasted only an instant in the outside world.
• Zhao Xu and Lux discussed how Demiplanes could slow time and the cost of using them to prepare spells.
• Zhao Xu explained that his three Divine Marks each held a use of divine power and would make the statue advance and swing its sword.
• Zhao Xu read the first Divine Mark’s name, “Lord of the Undead,” and nearby Undead Creatures knelt toward him.

Zhao Xu examined the three Divine Marks he had received and learned their powers, then reasoned that Perceive Death could help him avoid fatal situations while pursuing the Death God's Godhead. He decided his strongest strategy was to conserve Lord of the Undead and questioned why the statue had granted him the marks.

• Zhao Xu and Lux discussed Lord of the Undead, which could control or destroy one Undead Creature, and considered using it against The Atrophied or the Demigod Mummy.
• Zhao Xu explained Undead Trait to Lux and reviewed how it would grant him many undead immunities for about five days.
• Lux identified Perceive Death as a power tied to the Death Divine Duty, and Zhao Xu concluded he could use it about five times to foresee his own death.
• Zhao Xu reasoned that his first two Divine Marks improved the safety of his plans and that he should conserve Lord of the Undead rather than rush into danger.
• Zhao Xu wondered why the statue had bestowed three Divine Marks upon him.

Zhao Xu received three Divine Marks from the God of Slaughter’s statue, then used their powers to become a living being with Undead Traits and perceive the paths of his own death. After seeing what awaited him, he leaped from the cliff toward the Land of the Sleeper as Legendary Undead watched.

• Lux suggested that Zhao Xu resonated with the statue because he shared the God of Slaughter’s extraordinary fortune and had reacted as Edmund had during the trial.
• Zhao Xu recalled his lost family and resolved to confront the Black Dragon that had killed them in his Previous Life.
• Zhao Xu activated Undead Traits, drawing in Negative Energy and becoming alive but indistinguishable from an Undead Creature to other undead.
• The statue swung its sword and devastated Anta City, driving the Undead Creatures into a panic.
• Zhao Xu used Perceive Death to see every path of his own death, then ran to the cliff and leaped with Feather Fall as Legendary Undead rose from the city.

Zhao Xu fled a group of legendary undead and hid in a building near Anta City while he tried to understand why they had attacked him. There he found Edmund’s old graffiti and added his own mark before cautiously preparing to move on.

• Zhao Xu used Perceive Death to see that legendary undead would kill him, so he cast Feather Fall and escaped from the cliff.
• As he neared the ghouls, Zhao Xu cast Fly and flew toward Anta City, observing the fleeing undead and testing his newfound ability.
• Zhao Xu decided to hide until the disturbance drew the undead away, then slipped into an empty building near the edge of town.
• Zhao Xu explained his vision to Lux and reasoned that the legendary undead guarded the statue and killed anyone who approached it.
• Lux showed Zhao Xu two messages Edmund had carved into the wall, and Zhao Xu added, "Spellcaster 'Midsummer' was here."

Zhao Xu descended into a dark hall and encountered more than twenty Wailing Spirits, whose sleep-inducing muttering could not affect him because of his undead traits. Lux explained that the house was a Calamity Site tied to a horrific murder, and Zhao Xu realized there was more to the story than she had told him.

• Zhao Xu descended the stairs and found more than twenty Wailing Spirits floating in the hall.
• Zhao Xu recognized that the Wailing Spirits' muttering could induce sleep, but his undead traits made him immune to the effect.
• Zhao Xu noticed that the house's doors and windows had been sealed with planks marked by ineffective wards, while bloody handprints appeared and faded.
• Lux explained that the Land of the Sleeper gathered sites of undead outbreaks and that the house, Low-0365, had been haunted after tourists were brutally murdered there.
• Lux said the perpetrators had been trapped in the house before it was brought to Anta City, and Zhao Xu suspected the Wailing Spirits included the killers.
• After listening to the Wailing Spirits, Zhao Xu told Lux that there was more to what had happened.

Zhao Xu uncovered evidence that the Wailing Spirits and the Land of the Sleeper’s haunted houses had been deliberately created through a necromantic ritual. He continued exploring the city and left the chapter preparing to use his Third-ring Mage abilities after casting Grave Crown.

• Zhao Xu concluded that the supposed murderers had also become Wailing Spirits and suspected that someone else had controlled them.
• Zhao Xu found claw marks on the inside of a boarded window and blood-red ritual incantations beneath a floorboard, confirming that the room had been prepared to turn people into Wailing Spirits.
• Zhao Xu reasoned that the city’s buildings and layout concealed a larger ritual established by Death God Naraka.
• Zhao Xu told Lux that his final use of the Lord of the Undead’s Extraordinary Divine Power might cause a tremor across half the city and expose the ritual’s purpose.
• Zhao Xu cast Grave Crown, forming a magical crown of human bones above his head.

Zhao Xu used Grave Crown and planned to locate Wang Ningwei and Acevishi while making his way through Anta City toward its clock tower. He encountered a lich, which stopped him and demanded to know what kind of Undead Creature he was.

• Zhao Xu cast Grave Crown, giving himself the ability to command Undead Creatures that failed their saves and Spell Resistance.
• Zhao Xu planned to search for items belonging to Wang Ningwei and Acevishi with Locate Object and Dance of the Traces from the clock tower.
• Zhao Xu crossed streets patrolled by skeletons and considered how his Necromancy Staff could help him build an undead army.
• A lich drifted past Zhao Xu, and he continued walking calmly despite recognizing the danger it posed.
• The lich called out to Zhao Xu and asked why it could not identify what kind of Undead Creature he was.

Zhao Xu used Perceive Death and his knowledge of liches to avoid a deadly encounter, then reached a tower and reunited with Wang Ningwei and Acevishi. After they exchanged information, he learned that a portal on the tower’s uppermost floor led outside and to the temple holding the Amber Coffin.

• Zhao Xu revealed that the lich’s damaged phylactery was in its Dimensional Pouch and advised it to become a demilich or use a Legendary Spell to split the phylactery.
• Zhao Xu escaped the lich after using Perceive Death to foresee a deadly confrontation, then cautiously made his way through the city to an eight-story tower.
• Zhao Xu entered the tower under Invisibility Spell and used Lesser Haste to dodge arrows fired by Acevishi and Wang Ningwei.
• Zhao Xu dispelled his invisibility and reunited with Wang Ningwei and Acevishi, who explained why they had not replied to his messages.
• Zhao Xu and the two women exchanged intelligence, and Zhao Xu learned that the tower’s top floor contained a portal leading outside and to the temple with the Amber Coffin.

Zhao Xu reunited with Wang Ningwei and Acevishi in a tower whose portal offered a way out of the city before the Mage Association’s final assault. He helped them bypass the tower’s undead guards with Undead Veil, then chose a different destination when they entered the portal.

• Wang Ningwei explained that the Mage Association would launch its assault in three hours and that reaching the tower’s portal offered their best chance to escape.
• Zhao Xu scribed two Undead Veil scrolls, and Wang Ningwei and Acevishi used them to disguise themselves as undead.
• Zhao Xu, Wang Ningwei, and Acevishi climbed past the skeletons, zombies, and Skeleton Dragons without being detected.
• Wang Ningwei and Acevishi entered the portal and called out, “Outside the city,” while Zhao Xu followed and called out, “Temple.”

Zhao Xu entered the God of Death’s Bone Cathedral during the battle between the Legendary Undead and the Mage Association, hoping to help Lux seize part of the remaining godhead. He died after Lux succeeded, and awoke in a temple to find a Godhead of Death Fragment in his inventory.

• Zhao Xu used Perceive Death and Lesser Haste as the Legendary Mages arrived and the Bone Cathedral opened.
• Zhao Xu commanded The Atrophied with the Lord of the Undead’s power, giving Lux a chance to devour part of the godhead from the Amber Coffin.
• A Winter Ghoul stabbed Zhao Xu, killing him and permanently reducing his Constitution by 4.
• Antinoa cast Annihilation Black Hole, destroying the cathedral and teleporting the godhead to an unknown plane.
• Zhao Xu revived in a temple of the Goddess of Magic and found a Godhead of Death Fragment in his inventory.

Zhao Xu learned that Arthur would soon receive the inhabitants of a dying world and that he needed to reach ninth level to survive the upheaval. Antinoa restored his Constitution, planned his next Feats, and sent him out to gain experience with a party, leaving him with her Time Rewind Amulet and an enigmatic call to reach legendary status.

• Zhao Xu examined the Godhead Fragment of Death he had gained, then went to the Floating City to meet Antinoa.
• Antinoa used a Wish Spell to restore Zhao Xu's lost Constitution and explained that a dying world would be transferred into Arthur within the next few years.
• Antinoa described her proposed method of transporting people with enchanted meteorites, helping Zhao Xu understand the meteor showers and transmigration from his previous life.
• Antinoa replaced Zhao Xu's Iron Will Feat with a Pending Feat and told him to take Quicken Spell and Spell Endurance as he advanced.
• Antinoa returned Zhao Xu's Magic Items, gave him the Time Rewind Amulet, and ordered him to form an adventuring party and gain experience until he reached seventh level.
• Antinoa urged Zhao Xu to reach legendary status before leaving, and he was left wondering why she had said it.

Zhao Xu strengthened his magic abilities, investigated relics connected to Andy's ancestor, and accepted a Mage Association mission from the Watchers guild. The chapter ended as Frost Sword revealed that the mission concerned the ruins of a high-level Wizard's Mage Tower.

• Zhao Xu mastered Metamagic: Quicken Spell and Spell Endurance and added both feats to his list.
• Zhao Xu visited Rose Cross, examined relics from Andy's ancestor, and obtained records about the seven people who explored the tomb.
• Zhao Xu accepted a mission from the Watchers guild to assist them as a Third-ring Mage.
• Zhao Xu met Frost Sword and the guild members, confirmed the mission's confidentiality terms, and asked for its details.
• Frost Sword told Zhao Xu that the guild had found a map to a high-level Wizard's Mage Tower Ruins on someone they rescued in the wilderness.

Zhao Xu accepted the Watchers guild’s request to explore a submerged Mage Tower in exchange for its location and ownership. After agreeing on the expedition’s terms, he prepared to depart by summoning a Phantom Steed, surprising the guild members with how quickly he cast it.

• Frost Sword explained that his guild had obtained a map to a sunken Mage Tower after the Wizard’s descendants were killed while trying to recover its treasures.
• Snow offered Zhao Xu the tower and its location in exchange for letting the guild keep the contents, with Zhao Xu choosing one item first.
• Zhao Xu warned the guild that his Water Breathing spell could not protect the whole group for long, and Frost Sword revealed they had four scrolls for the ten divers.
• Zhao Xu agreed to activate the scrolls and asked whether the team was prepared for deaths; Frost Sword said the rewards justified the risk.
• Zhao Xu declined the guild’s cargo carriage and summoned a Phantom Steed, astonishing Chen Nuo by casting the ten-minute spell in six seconds.

Zhao Xu joined the Watchers Guild on its journey and revealed the extraordinary capabilities of his Phantom Steed, while Frost Sword negotiated to conserve the group’s resources. As the guild approached a dangerous river, Zhao Xu cast Scouting Net, granting every member an enormous boost to their scouting and listening skills.

• Zhao Xu explained Phantom Steed’s growing speed and special abilities to Dao Zhi and the Watchers Guild players.
• Frost Sword asked Chen Nuo to negotiate with Zhao Xu to use Summon Mount instead and save a Water Breathing scroll, and Zhao Xu agreed.
• Zhao Xu deduced the guild’s likely destination from Chen Nuo’s remark about the journey and their direction.
• Near a dangerous river, Frost Sword ordered the guild to scout carefully, and Zhao Xu offered to improve their scouting bonuses.
• Zhao Xu cast Scouting Net, and every guild member received a notification that their scouting and listening bonuses had increased by 80 ranks.

Zhao Xu used Scouting Net to give the Watchers Guild an overwhelming boost to Spot and Listen, helping them cross a river and travel safely. After logging off, he found a VIP concert ticket and reflected on his previous life with his wife before focusing on activation codes he needed to give her.

• Zhao Xu cast Scouting Net, granting the forty Watchers Guild members a shared eighty-rank bonus to Spot and Listen.
• Frost Sword organized the guild's river crossing, sending swimmers across first to assemble a floating bridge while Zhao Xu refused to explain his spell.
• The guild traveled safely until morning, then logged off; Zhao Xu turned invisible before logging off on his own.
• Zhao Xu woke before seven in the evening, reflected on the prestige and divine power he had gained, and noticed his roommate Zhang Qi had brought his delivery upstairs.
• Zhao Xu opened a package containing a VIP concert ticket, remembered his previous life with his wife, and considered giving her a string of activation codes.
• Zhao Xu stared at the codes as they seemed to rearrange into the word “Cleric.”

Zhao Xu’s seemingly extravagant spell choices alarmed the Watchers Guild until Chen Nuo’s Detect Magic revealed that Zhao Xu carried eleven powerful magical auras, including one of legendary strength. Just as the guild reconsidered his value, a javelin attack struck the party and another flew toward Zhao Xu.

• Zhao Xu emerged from his Leomund's Tiny Hut as the Watchers Guild discussed his choice to prepare travel and shelter spells instead of combat spells.
• Frost Sword asked Zhao Xu to prepare useful combat spells for the mission, and Zhao Xu asked Chen Nuo to cast Detect Magic on him.
• Chen Nuo detected eleven magical auras on Zhao Xu and explained that they were moderate or stronger, identifying them as Magic Items rather than low-level spells.
• The guild members learned that one aura could indicate a legendary item or artifact, and they stopped doubting Zhao Xu’s strength.
• A javelin pierced a Fighter, and Frost Sword called for an all-round defensive formation as a second javelin flew toward Zhao Xu.

Zhao Xu protected himself from a javelin attack and helped the Watchers Guild prepare to fight three trolls by enchanting their arrows with fire. When more than a hundred Goblins attacked from behind, he unleashed two Fireballs at once, leaving the other Spellcasters stunned.

• Frost Sword tried to block a javelin aimed at Zhao Xu, but Zhao Xu cast Aegis of the Wing and stopped it with a force barrier.
• Zhao Xu identified the middle troll as a possible Troll Hunter, and Frost Sword ordered the guild to fire arrows after Snow warned that trolls required fire or strong acid to kill.
• Zhao Xu cast Flame Arrow on Snow's quiver, and the Watchers Guild used the flaming arrows to set the trolls' hiding place ablaze.
• The trolls charged the guild's formation as a scout reported that more than a hundred Goblins were attacking from behind.
• Zhao Xu used his Eternal Wand to cast Fireball at the Goblins, then activated his Greater Spell Haste Wand to cast a second Fireball in the same round.

Zhao Xu’s two Fireballs decimated a goblin battalion, but the Watchers Guild struggled against three regenerating trolls. As the battle turned against them, Zhao Xu revealed his Legendary Necromancy Staff and cast Finger of Death at the Troll Hunter.

• Zhao Xu’s overlapping Fireballs killed nearly all the charging goblins, including their leader, and left the survivors too frightened to move.
• Frost Sword sent Kaichi’s squad to check the goblins while the rest of the Watchers Guild formed up to fight the three trolls.
• The trolls’ armor and regeneration blunted the guild’s attacks, while their blows repeatedly felled players who needed Clerics’ healing to survive.
• Frost Sword asked whether Zhao Xu had another Second-ring Spell, and Zhao Xu answered that he did.
• Zhao Xu activated the seventh-ring spell stored in his Legendary Necromancy Staff and cast Finger of Death at the Troll Hunter.

Zhao Xu used his Legendary Necromancy Staff to kill five trolls with instant-death spells, then raised the Troll Hunter as a Soul Prisoner Demon. The Watchers Guild players watched in awe and fear as Zhao Xu prepared to use the undead creature to lead the way.

• Zhao Xu killed the Troll Hunter with Finger of Death, overcoming its powerful Fortitude save with the staff’s heightened spell difficulty.
• The two remaining trolls fled, but Zhao Xu’s Magic Array of Death killed them and three trolls hidden in the forest.
• The Watchers Guild players watched Zhao Xu’s displays of power and wondered about his staff and how dangerous he might be.
• Zhao Xu used Greater Raise Dead on the Troll Hunter’s corpse, summoning a grotesque undead creature.
• Zhao Xu introduced the creature as a Challenge Rating 11 Soul Prisoner Demon that would lead the group.