Chapter Summaries

Liu Zhi studied the Demiplane’s dangers and proposed linking the Nether Palace to the Underworld by building a counterpart beneath it. He planned a cluster of at least three cities, but left Amanet wondering how his ambitious plan would serve his pursuit of greater power.

• Liu Zhi and Amanet reviewed a map of the Demiplane and recognized that its powerful neighboring forces made conquering it difficult.
• Liu Zhi agreed with Amanet that his foundation was the Underworld and considered building his Nether Palace there.
• Liu Zhi showed Amanet the underground chamber where her birth had slightly merged the Nether Palace with the Underworld, and proposed stabilizing it as a passage between worlds.
• Liu Zhi explained that he would build a counterpart to the Nether Palace in the Underworld and develop a cluster of at least three cities in the Demiplane.
• Liu Zhi told Amanet that his greatest priority was his level.

Amanet and Liu Zhi divided their forces between the Nether Palace, the Demiplane’s real world, and the Underworld. Sandru set out to prepare the Ghoul Wolves and Ghoul Hounds for battle, leaving for the Underworld with their new armor.

• Amanet considered Liu Zhi’s two strategies, and Liu Zhi chose to fight in the real world and the Underworld while he focused on the Nether Palace.
• Liu Zhi gave Amanet authority to recruit heroes and soldiers, assigned her the real-world campaign, and sent Sandru to handle the Underworld.
• Sandru took the Death Long Staff and tested newborn Ghoul Wolves and Ghoul Hounds by making them cross a line of blue flame; he sent the survivors to soak in the Life Spring for three days.
• Sandru led the adult wolves and hounds to the Exoskeleton Armor factory, where workers equipped them with armor made from mummy material.
• Sandru ordered the factory to develop a second-generation armor with additional ways to attack, then led the wolves and hounds toward the Underworld passage.

Sandru explored the Netherworld and inspected the castle upstream from Liu Zhi’s city, while Liu Zhi prepared a magic array to strengthen the Ghoul Hounds. Sandru sent him an image that gave Liu Zhi a new idea, and Liu Zhi destroyed the nearly completed array before realizing he had meant to assess the castle.

• Sandru entered the desolate Netherworld with Ghoul Hounds and Ghoul Wolves, then sent them out in groups to search the area.
• Sandru traveled upstream toward the castle that threatened Liu Zhi’s city and examined its surroundings.
• Liu Zhi began reorganizing the Ghoul Hound Forest into a large magic array designed to strengthen the Ghoul Hounds.
• Sandru transmitted an image of what he had discovered, interrupting Liu Zhi’s work.
• Liu Zhi overturned the nearly completed magic array after seeing the image, then realized Sandru had sent it to report on the upstream castle.

Liu Zhi sent Sandru to investigate the dragon corpse and its effect on nearby undead, hoping its influence could strengthen the bloodlines of the Ghoul Wolves and Ghoul Hounds. Sandru found that the corpse had partially transformed nearby undead, and his canine units became locked in a losing melee with them.

• Liu Zhi studied the ruined magic circle and the dragon corpse’s influence, then told Sandru to gather more information before the wolves left the Life Spring.
• Sandru used the Dark Sky Curtain to reach the dragon corpse with the War Wolves and fighting dogs, where he observed undead with varying degrees of draconic transformation.
• Sandru sent the Ghoul Wolves and Ghoul Hounds to test the transformed undead, which formed into groups and charged when the canines came within a kilometer of the corpse.
• The Ghoul Wolves and Ghoul Hounds fought back, but their bites broke against the enemies’ dragon scales, while mummy-made exoskeleton armor protected them from claw strikes.
• The canine units struggled in the melee because they had no attacks beyond biting, and their chances of winning steadily worsened.

Sandru discovered that the half-dragon undead belonged to the Dragon Duke family, whose ancestors warned them against spending the power sustaining them. Liu Zhi received Sandru's report while reshaping Dragon Hill into a new ecosystem, then left to investigate the Dragon Duke as the botanist resolved to alter his plans.

• Sandru revived the Ghoul Wolves and Ghoul Hounds, then withdrew when Alex noticed him; Alex's grandfather told him to conserve the power protecting their family and its dragon ancestor.
• Sandru learned that Alex was a Dragon Duke and sent his observations to Liu Zhi.
• Liu Zhi ordered Snake Bone Wood and poison-snake grass planted across Dragon Hill, moved the small animals away, and tasked the Blackwater Goblins with finding live snakes.
• After receiving Sandru's report, Liu Zhi left the botanist in charge of the woodland and went to search the military building's records for information about the Dragon Duke.
• The botanist decided to intervene rather than let Liu Zhi's plans waste the woodland.

Liu Zhi investigated a guarded riverside village and learned that its people and soldiers were hiding something upstream. He and his companions swam upriver to avoid alerting the villagers, but Videnina sensed an enemy ahead.

• Liu Zhi approached a dock near the Dragon Duke's castle, but soldiers turned him away and directed him toward the Sea Shark King's territory.
• After the soldiers watched him head downstream, Liu Zhi returned underwater with Videnina and sent Letoz ashore to investigate the village.
• Letoz reported that the village had a small force of halberdiers, a village chief and steward, and a bell that could summon a militia.
• Liu Zhi decided not to force his way through the village and instead led his companions upstream underwater, planning to build another boat later.
• After swimming nearly three thousand meters upstream, Videnina moved ahead with her swords ready, sensing an enemy.

Liu Zhi and Videnina investigated the suspicious patrols near the river while Letoz infiltrated the area. Letoz discovered a base full of soldiers, none of whom were alive.

• Videnina waited for the mechanical fish to leave before leading Liu Zhi away from the pier and toward shore.
• Letoz reported that the nearby woods appeared clear, but Videnina heard footsteps and the group hid from two dragon-blooded soldiers on patrol.
• Liu Zhi told Letoz to investigate where the soldiers appeared and disappeared while he and Videnina drew them out with another circuit.
• After the soldiers completed their patrol and vanished, Letoz returned and revealed that he had found a base full of dead soldiers.

Liu Zhi and Letoz investigated a hidden armory beneath the Dragon Duke’s castle and discovered that a dragon statue transformed ivory figures into soldiers. Their search led them to the Dolet family tomb, where Liu Zhi found the missing part of his plan; Letoz then reported that the way outside was clear.

• Letoz led Liu Zhi and Videnina through a hidden door and trapped passage into a hall containing more than seven hundred motionless halberdiers.
• Three workers brought in ivory-white figures, and a descending dragon statue bathed them in fire, turning them into living soldiers.
• Letoz tracked the workers’ route and led Liu Zhi and Videnina through a passage into the Dolet family tomb.
• Liu Zhi found Adam Dolet’s coffin and recognized the floor’s Magic Rune formation as the missing piece of his plan for Dragon Hill.
• Letoz checked the tomb entrance and told Liu Zhi that no one was outside.

Liu Zhi discovered that the Dragon Duke’s Farmland grew humanoid troops inside cocoons and ordered Videnina to deal with the scaled soldiers guarding it. In the Tomb Chamber, he opened Adam Dolet’s coffin and tried to drag the corpse into a Quicksand Trap, but Adam sat up in the sand.

• Liu Zhi examined the Farmland and saw farmers tending person-sized white cocoons that held humanoids.
• A farmer accidentally broke a cocoon, revealing an underdeveloped humanoid, and Liu Zhi realized the Dragon Duke grew troops there.
• Scaled soldiers attacked Letoz, and Liu Zhi ordered Videnina to take them out.
• Liu Zhi cast Summoning on Adam Dolet’s coffin, heard a scream, and opened it to reveal a fresh, scaled corpse with dragon wings and horns.
• A burst of soul-light appeared, so Liu Zhi cast a Quicksand Trap to contain Adam and Summoning spells toward the passage upstairs.
• Adam roared and sat up in the Quicksand Trap.

Liu Zhi fought the resurrecting Adam while destroying the Farmland and the soldiers advancing through the Tomb Chamber. After clearing most of the soldiers with a combined storm of magic, he rushed back to Adam as Letoz warned that he was about to wake again.

• Liu Zhi pierced Adam’s forehead when Adam began declaring himself the nineteenth Dragon Duke, then attacked the animated soldiers climbing the stairs with an exploding Bone Spear.
• Adam revived and declared himself the twenty-first Dragon Duke, so Liu Zhi burned him with another Bone Spear and stabbed him again.
• Liu Zhi set the Farmland ablaze with a triple-fire Bone Spear while Videnina and Letoz cleared its guards, destroying the insect cocoons.
• Liu Zhi realized Adam repeatedly recovered after dying and ordered Letoz to watch him while Videnina helped attack the soldiers below.
• Liu Zhi and Videnina combined wind, lightning, fire, and poison to devastate the soldiers, then Liu Zhi rushed to Adam when Letoz warned he might awaken again.

Liu Zhi brought Adam’s body to the Nether Palace, where it transformed and was beheaded by an Executioner. The attack triggered the dragon’s rampage in the underworld, and Liu Zhi transported his troops there to help Sandru.

• Liu Zhi stationed five Executioners as guards at the Scarab Secret Hall and brought Adam’s body to the Nether Palace.
• Sandru told Liu Zhi that the underworld dragon was waking and attacking the partly dragonized undead.
• Adam’s body began transforming, so Liu Zhi ordered an Executioner to kill him, and the Executioner severed his head.
• Sandru reported that the dragon had gone berserk and asked Liu Zhi for reinforcements.
• Liu Zhi left two Executioners with Amanet to watch Adam’s corpse, then used the Death Long Staff and Starlight Beacon to transport his troops to the underworld.
• The dragon’s ghostly breath petrified and killed Sandru’s Ghoul Wolves and Ghoul Hounds, and it flew toward Sandru.

Liu Zhi and his troops attacked the giant dragon, with the Beheaders and Liu Zhi’s newly empowered Wind Blade cutting into its neck. After Sandru and Liu Zhi pierced the dragon’s chest, a Beheader struck the weakened neck, nearly severing its head.

• Liu Zhi passed the Death Long Staff to Sandru as the troops arrived, then charged the giant dragon with Videnina.
• Three Beheaders teleported onto the dragon’s back and lodged their blades in its neck, wounding it without decapitating it.
• Liu Zhi and Videnina combined their Wind Blades, and the blue, elemental blade began cutting through the dragon’s neck.
• Gerdong led the archers, spearmen, and zombie Teppo Soldiers in firing into the dragon’s mouth, disrupting its blast.
• Sandru’s penetrating Bone Spear pierced the dragon’s chest, and Liu Zhi’s explosive spear detonated inside it.
• A Beheader freed his blade and struck where Liu Zhi’s Wind Blade had cut, nearly severing the dragon’s head.

Liu Zhi used Underworld Shuttle to summon the Nether Palace into the middle of a battle against a vast horde of undead drawn by the dragon’s blood. With the city’s defenses restored, he prepared to clear out the enemies inside and outside it, while the forces at its former location were left staring at empty ground.

• The wounded dragon crashed into Liu Zhi’s forces, and its golden blood drew nearby undead into a surging horde.
• Liu Zhi ordered his forces to engage and move the dragon, but the chaos and overwhelming numbers began to drain his army.
• Liu Zhi summoned the Nether Palace with Underworld Shuttle, pushing aside many of the approaching undead.
• Liu Zhi saw that Mand and Jian Gu Duo Te had prepared the city’s defenses, and he deployed all available forces to fight the enemies inside.
• At the Nether Palace’s former location, blue-cloaked halberdiers and winged half-dragons stared at the empty ground.

Liu Zhi confronted Adam Dolet, who revealed himself as an ancient Dragon Duke and a level 9 player, then fought him in the Nether Palace. Liu Zhi found Adam’s strength less overwhelming than expected and began a bolder attack with Starfall.

• Liu Zhi discovered Adam sitting beside the giant dragon’s corpse with several half-dragon undead and asked what he was.
• Adam identified himself as Adam Dolet, the first Dragon Duke, and revealed his dragon-and-undead armor, spear, and bone dragon.
• Adam threatened Liu Zhi and offered him a chance to join his ranks, but Liu Zhi challenged him to fight.
• Sandru cast Dark Sky Curtain while Liu Zhi and Videnina charged Adam, leaving five Headsmen to handle the bone dragon.
• Adam thrust through the black mist at Liu Zhi, who parried and judged that Adam’s strength was not as high as he had expected.
• Liu Zhi grew bolder and prepared Starfall against Adam.

Liu Zhi and his allies pinned Adam down with a barrage of spells, but discovered that his Undying class let him survive lethal wounds. Liu Zhi left Videnina and Sandru to hold Adam while he went to investigate the bone dragon, which might be the source of Adam’s power.

• Liu Zhi used Starfall to interrupt Adam’s charges while Videnina moved behind him and prepared to find a way through his armor.
• Sandru trapped Adam in quicksand, layered him with enchanted Bone Spears, and dragged him underground as the spears exploded.
• Liu Zhi pinned Adam with three more Bone Spears, but Adam pulled the spear from his head and began removing the one in his chest.
• Liu Zhi realized Adam’s Undying class might explain his survival and suspected the bone dragon was connected to his Dragon Tamer powers.
• Sandru pinned Adam again, and Liu Zhi told Videnina to hold him while he went to investigate the bone dragon.
• Outside the Nether Palace, Amanet’s forces had defeated the half-dragonized undead, but the Beheader was still fighting the bone dragon and undead continued attacking the walls.

Liu Zhi discovered that Adam's seemingly endless vitality came from undead being drawn to the dragon and converted through its blood. He organized the Nether Palace's forces and activated the Soul Suppression Tower before leading them toward a passage back to reality.

• Liu Zhi examined the dragon's blood and realized Adam's life was linked to the dragon, allowing him to recover from attacks.
• After Mand called for reinforcements, Liu Zhi understood that the dragon replenished Adam's vitality by converting the vitality of undead drawn to it.
• Liu Zhi ordered Mand to defend the Nether Palace and gathered spiders, Fishmen, Corpse Soul Naga, Jiao Wei, Ghoul Hounds, and Ghoul Wolves.
• Liu Zhi activated the level-four Soul Suppression Tower, weakening hostile undead and preventing their souls from reviving after death.
• Liu Zhi led the gathered troops through an underground passage that connected the Netherworld to reality.

Liu Zhi found the Dragon Duke's castle nearly empty and began searching it for clues while preparing for the returning army. He learned the Dragon Duke's troops were marching toward the Nether Palace and left the walls under the four-armed Corpse Soul Naga's guard as he went to investigate something in the castle.

• Liu Zhi arrived in the Farmland outside the Dragon Duke's castle and ordered his forces to seize it.
• The spiders opened the castle gates, and Liu Zhi found weapons and supplies but few defenders.
• Liu Zhi spotted the Dragon Duke's army approaching from the direction of the former Nether Palace and realized the troops had left the castle to retaliate.
• Liu Zhi armed the Fishmen with Heavy Crossbows and ordered his forces to prepare the walls and search the underground passages.
• The spiders reported finding the Dragon Duke's palace and Secret Chamber, along with something puzzling in the third-level square.
• Liu Zhi left the four-armed Corpse Soul Naga to guard the walls and rode the Sun Chariot toward the third level.

Liu Zhi discovered that Adam's bronze statue converted life drawn from the dragons and destroyed the ruby at its heart, ending Adam's preparations. He returned to the first level, where the enemy assault had collapsed, then found little value in Adam's castle and regretted choosing such a difficult target.

• Liu Zhi realized the Nether Palace needed a three-dimensional defensive redesign and examined Adam's bronze statue on the third level.
• Liu Zhi deduced that the statue converted life drawn from the dragons, then toppled it and found a ruby containing Adam's bloodline.
• Liu Zhi destroyed the ruby with the Eye of Horus after hearing that the enemy had begun attacking the first level.
• The half-dragons crashed and the other nonhuman soldiers froze, allowing the Fishmen to kill most of the nearly one thousand attackers.
• Liu Zhi ordered the Fishmen to keep watch, inspected the second level's residential district, and concluded Adam's castle offered little practical benefit.

Liu Zhi discovered the Dragon Duke's hidden stores and seized Dragon Tooth Soldiers' Seeds and rice, then uncovered a blood formation feeding dragon's blood into a ruby. The formation's purpose remained unknown as the ruby appeared to be activating.

• Liu Zhi followed the spiders' webs into an underground storeroom and found Dragon Tooth Soldiers' Seeds and Dragon Tooth Rice.
• Liu Zhi learned the seeds could grow Dragon Tooth Soldiers over thirty years and decided to take them home and raise his army.
• Liu Zhi ordered the spiders to move the seeds and supplies, then searched the other storerooms for valuables.
• Liu Zhi noticed a resource storeroom held less than the system's estimate and suspected a hidden space behind its walls.
• Liu Zhi cut through a wall with Wind Blade and discovered a blood formation surrounding a ruby as dragon's blood flowed into it.

Liu Zhi uncovered Adam's plan to become an undead and return to the game, along with the history of how Adam's greed had doomed him and wounded the Demiplane. After studying Adam's memories, Liu Zhi left the ruby behind and received Sandru's report on Adam's final battle, which ended on an unresolved detail.

• Liu Zhi extracted the memories from Adam's ruby and learned that it concealed a Teleportation Array meant to awaken a hidden Dragon Egg and let Adam become a young dragon.
• Liu Zhi learned that Adam had once been a player who killed the Plane Child to seize the Demiplane's source, prompting the Demiplane to mark him as a villainous Boss and leading to his death.
• Liu Zhi discovered that Adam had arranged to become an undead over thousands of years and planned to reactivate his system once he recovered his former strength.
• Liu Zhi realized that his decision to head upstream had accidentally disrupted Adam's plans, and he reflected on how Adam's greed had cost him a chance to grow stronger.
• Liu Zhi put away the ruby and left the site, while Sandru reported that Adam had repeatedly risen after being pinned down by Bone Spears.