Chapter Summaries

Liu Zhi met Kapuda at his family’s tavern in Fireblade City to collect the rewards from their earlier expedition. Kapuda handed over the guild’s payment and a pair of specialized gloves, which surprised Liu Zhi with their ability to hold and control magic effects.

• Liu Zhi and Videnina arrived at Kapuda’s family tavern, where Kapuda explained its history and discussed the two hidden bosses the group had investigated.
• Kapuda showed Liu Zhi an unidentified sapling and unusual thief-training methods, hoping to interest him in a trade, but Liu Zhi declined.
• Kapuda said the guild had awarded Liu Zhi ten thousand Universal Currency and about thirty thousand fresh corpses, and Liu Zhi asked him to send the corpses to the Kodo Beast Burial Grounds.
• Liu Zhi asked for the equipment Kapuda had promised, and Kapuda reluctantly gave him the Silver Energy Breath gloves.
• Liu Zhi examined the gloves and discovered that they could hold wand-charging items and briefly grasp magic effects while shielding him from magic damage.

Liu Zhi acquired invisible gloves and saw Fireblade City celebrate the death of Mechanized Shark Kuanglin. As conflicting accounts emerged about how Kuanglin had been killed, Liu Zhi suspected that an unknown force had thrown the shark into the guilds’ path.

• Liu Zhi wore the gloves, installed Lightning Coral on his left hand, and left Kapuda’s tavern to return to the Netherworld.
• Two airships crossed Fireblade City carrying Kuanglin’s enormous head and the body of his mechanized shark vehicle, while an announcer declared that several guilds had killed him.
• Fireblade City residents celebrated Kuanglin’s death, which had weakened the Fishman Empire’s forces around the city.
• Liu Zhi heard a rumor that Kuanglin had lost most of his forces after provoking a powerful figure, allowing the Black Bullman Guild and its allies to kill him.
• A Green Skin Prince Guild member claimed that huge waves had flung the Mechanized Shark from the sea and that a mythic figure wielding ocean divinity had acted before the guilds arrived.

Liu Zhi returned to the Nether Palace and found Amanet converting the Swan People he had bought into undead so they could live and fight in the Demiplane’s physical world. He approved her plan for settling them by the cliffs and helped her process the other races.

• Rust Bone told Liu Zhi that pirates had attacked the Dragon Duke's territory and that Nasha had taken all the Fishman Professionals to confront them.
• Liu Zhi entered the Nether Palace and found that Amanet had begun converting the purchased people with water from the Underworld Spring.
• Amanet converted the Black Swan People, whose group included 200 trained combatants, 300 ordinary residents, and extra eggs.
• Amanet planned to settle the Swan People by the Nether Palace’s western cliffs, send those who came of age to the physical world, and return their eggs for conversion.
• Liu Zhi approved Amanet’s arrangements and helped her handle the other races.

Liu Zhi converted seven newly acquired races to the Netherworld and assigned them roles in his plans to develop the Dragon Duke's territory and unite the Demiplane. As he brought the newcomers to the castle, a giant wave destroyed the distant dock and carried a large number of Fishmen toward shore.

• Liu Zhi reviewed the six new races he had bought alongside the Swan People and planned to use their Professionals to lead civilians into the real world while their young grew up in the Nether Palace.
• Liu Zhi and Amanet marked and converted the new races, then Liu Zhi instructed Amanet to use incoming corpses for laborers and train the young recruits.
• Liu Zhi brought the seven races through the Teleportation Array to the Dragon Duke's castle and assigned the Cave Dwellers to help the botanist farm.
• Liu Zhi planned to place the Flower Sprites in the woods, send the Kobolds to mine, settle the Boarmen and Centaurs as combat forces, and put the Lizardmen near the river or aboard ships.
• Liu Zhi heard a commotion, went to the castle's highest point, and saw a giant wave smash the dock while carrying many Fishmen.

Liu Zhi prepared the castle’s defenders as the Pirate King arrived with his supernatural Sea God’s Ship and used its Giant Waves ability to overcome Nasha’s floods. The Pirate King then ordered his fleet to charge toward the river mouth.

• Liu Zhi ordered civilians to retreat to the castle’s third level and had the Professionals prepare for battle.
• Liu Zhi saw nine pirate ships approaching and identified the Pirate King’s Sea God’s Ship as the only supernatural vessel.
• The Pirate King landed carrying a Fishman corpse and, after sensing Nasha’s flood upstream, ordered his fleet to follow behind his ship.
• The Sea God’s Ship rose above the water and cut through Nasha’s giant waves, while two of the other pirate ships capsized.
• The Pirate King ordered the Sea God’s Ship and the fleet to charge toward the river mouth.

The Pirate King rallied the pirates to attack the castle while Duan Xu and the Blackwater Goblins, having lost their supplies to the Giant Waves, set out to raid the pirates’ empty headquarters. Duan Xu joined the expedition as its hired commander, and the Sun Boat headed out with the goblins aboard.

• The Pirate King stopped at the dock, ordered his ministers to organize the pirates, and directed them to attack the castle.
• The Pirate King led his men ashore after ordering the crew to guard Sea God's Ship, unaware that fishmen had dived beneath it.
• Duan Xu and the goblins surveyed the flood damage, and Duan Xu proposed raiding the pirates’ headquarters for treasure.
• The goblins agreed to pay Duan Xu and compensate the Dead Lake Fishmen in exchange for keeping everything recovered in the raid.
• Duan Xu boarded the Sun Boat with the surviving Dead Lake Fishmen, and the goblins crowded aboard as the expedition departed.

The Pirate King led his pirates to attack Dragon Duke's castle, where Liu Zhi prepared his forces to repel them. As the pirates advanced on the gate, Liu Zhi charged out with his troops.

• The Pirate King marched his pirates from Dragon Duke's docks toward the castle, while Liu Zhi prepared to kill them and claim their souls.
• The pirates arrived without siege weapons, then dismantled four Bow Cannons from their ships and dragged them to the castle.
• Liu Zhi blamed Nasha for allowing the Fishmen to let the pirates reach the castle and planned to strip him of his authority.
• Liu Zhi assigned the Centaurs to break up the pirates' formation and prepared the Swan People and Lizardmen to join the attack.
• The pirates' cannon fire failed to break the gate, so the Pirate King ordered them to move forward, and Liu Zhi led his troops out as the gates opened.

Liu Zhi and Videnina confronted the Pirate King after charging through the opened gates. The Pirate King’s attacks were thwarted, and Videnina landed six strikes while his axe remained embedded in her waist.

• Liu Zhi led his troops out through the gates, and the Pirate King charged at him with a heavy axe.
• Liu Zhi struck the Pirate King with lightning, then attacked with the Giant Lizard's Bloodstained Fang and Wind Blades.
• Liu Zhi called on Videnina, who attacked the Pirate King with six swords.
• The Pirate King roared to scatter Liu Zhi’s Wind Blade and swung his axe at Videnina’s waist.
• Videnina’s armor and undead vitality let her keep fighting, and her six swords struck the Pirate King while his axe was caught in her body.

Liu Zhi killed the Pirate King, whose body exploded in a burst of blood energy, and suspected the Blood Duke's forces were involved. After ordering his followers to finish off the pirates, Liu Zhi headed toward the castle and assessed how different races fought.

• Liu Zhi pierced the Pirate King's brow with Eternal Night Sword Curtain, and the Pirate King exploded, leaving Liu Zhi covered in blood.
• Videnina guarded Liu Zhi as he suspected that the Pirate King's blood had been controlled by the Blood Duke's forces.
• The Pirate King's death caused the pirates to lose morale and scatter, while Liu Zhi's followers struggled to decide whether to fight or pursue them.
• Liu Zhi ordered his followers to kill every pirate and return, then headed toward the castle carrying the Giant Lizard's Bloodstained Fang.
• The centaurs pursued fleeing pirates, the Boarmen and Lizardmen fought those who stayed, and the Swan People flew back into the city.
• Liu Zhi concluded that centaurs suited cavalry charges, Boarmen worked best in medium-sized groups, and Lizardmen would make better sailors than Fishmen.

After defeating the pirates, Liu Zhi sent the Lizardmen to capture the ships left at the docks and offered their people a chance to settle there and guard the docks. The Lizardmen seized seven sailboats, and Liu Zhi decided they would need sailors to teach them how to operate them.

• The pirates who escaped the battle reached the docks, where they learned the Pirate King had died and several crews sailed away aboard the Sea God's Ship and other vessels.
• Liu Zhi arrived at the docks and ordered the Lizardmen to attack the pirates still aboard the ships and tow the vessels ashore.
• Liu Zhi offered the Lizardmen a settlement near the docks if their elders agreed to help guard the area, and the Lizardmen hurried to fetch them.
• The Lizardmen climbed aboard the seven remaining sailboats, killed the surviving pirates, and towed the ships to shore.
• Liu Zhi watched the Lizardmen handle the ships and decided to find sailors to teach them how to operate them.

Liu Zhi noticed that Nasha and Duan Xu had disappeared from his maps, while the two fishmen pursued separate goals at sea. After Nasha captured the Sea God's Ship, he found a book suggesting the first Dragon Duke had been a player and declared he had discovered how to become one.

• Liu Zhi saw that Nasha, Duan Xu, and their fishman forces had vanished beyond his mapped territory, but he left them to their own devices because neither hero's flag had broken.
• Duan Xu followed the goblins to pirate supply islands and resolved to prove himself to Liu Zhi so he could lead the Dead Lake Fishmen instead of Nasha.
• Nasha infiltrated the Sea God's Ship with his fishman Professionals, then attacked and killed the new Pirate King and his crew after the ship surfaced.
• Nasha took control of the pirate ships, sat on the Pirate King's throne, and found a book titled The Child of Destiny's Harem—The Secret History of the Dragon Duke.
• Nasha read that the first Dragon Duke had repeatedly vanished and returned stronger before being killed by the gods, and he concluded that he had found the way to become a player.

The elven leaders planned to enter the Dragon Duke's domain and demand the secret hidden by Adam, believing it could lead them to the Mother Goddess. After the meeting, the elven leader spoke to a mouth of blood in his palm, which urged him to act by warning that humans might rule the elves again.

• The elven leader gathered the faction leaders and proposed negotiating with the new ruler for Adam's things, with force if they refused.
• He assigned six legions to guard elven territory and planned to lead six others into the Dragon Duke's domain to find Adam's secret.
• The leader told the elves that the Mother Goddess had once identified Adam as her greatest enemy, and the elves raised their arms and cried, “War!”
• After the others left, the leader asked the mouth of blood in his palm whether its claims were true.
• The mouth of blood said Adam's secret lay in his Tomb Chamber and warned that humans might rule the elves again, and the leader said he did not want that.

Liu Zhi inspected new exoskeleton armor for his centaurs and Swan People and approved the Boarmen armor plan. An alarm then revealed a large enemy force near the Dragon Duke's territory, leaving Liu Zhi preparing for battle and sending out a Sky Eye to investigate.

• Liu Zhi examined the Dragon Tooth Soldiers he had converted into undead and considered how to strengthen his forces.
• Liu Zhi reviewed the centaur armor, which improved their protection and mobility while allowing them to carry more weapons and supplies.
• Liu Zhi approved the Swan People's claw-focused armor and ordered the factory to develop armor for the Swan Cavalry and Boarmen.
• Liu Zhi received an alarm and found skull-shaped markers indicating a large force near the Dragon Duke's territory.
• Liu Zhi ordered everyone to prepare for battle and sent a Sky Eye toward the alarm's source.

Liu Zhi prepared the Dragon Duke’s castle for defense as an army of elves approached and refused to negotiate. The elves formed up to attack, but their leader held the archers at the ready while apparently waiting for something.

• Liu Zhi spotted about twelve hundred armed elves advancing in six formations and sent Sandru, the centaurs, and the Swan People to circle behind them.
• Liu Zhi prepared the Dragon Duke’s castle, bringing its catapults and ballistae onto the walls and asking Mand which troops would help defend it.
• An elven envoy asked to speak with someone, but Liu Zhi told him he was not qualified; the elves then decided to attack.
• The elves shifted into a two-four formation, positioning armored troops, archers, and druids, while Liu Zhi reinforced his defenses with Skeleton Mages and other undead.
• The elven archers raised their Heavy Bows and nocked arrows, but their leader kept his hand raised as both sides waited.

Liu Zhi’s forces fought the elves at Dragon Duke Castle as the elves used beanstalks to reach the battlements. Sandru’s surprise attack from behind disrupted the elven druids, but the battle remained undecided as Liu Zhi’s catapult stones struck the elven ranks.

• Two enormous beanstalks grew beside the city gate, and Liu Zhi ordered his troops to cut them down while the elves rained heavy arrows onto the battlements.
• The elven Sword Dancers advanced toward the wall as Liu Zhi sent Skeleton Soldiers to attack the beanstalks.
• Sandru lifted the Dark Sky Curtain, gave his troops Vampiric Touch, and led the centaurs and Swan forces in an attack on the elves’ rear.
• The centaurs charged the wolf-form druids while Swan troops lifted the wolves and dropped them into the deer-cap druids’ ranks.
• Elven leaders and archers counterattacked, but Liu Zhi’s catapult stones struck the elven ranks.

Liu Zhi’s forces disrupted the Elf Archers with catapult fire, Swan Cavalry charges, and centaur attacks, while Skeleton Mages stopped the Elf Sword Dancers from advancing over the city wall. Liu Zhi directed the defense and watched how his new allies fought, as both sides remained locked in a chaotic battle.

• Liu Zhi’s catapults struck the Elf Archers after they turned to attack the Swan People, scattering their formation.
• The Swan Cavalry charged the Elf Archers, but two elven leaders shot down Swan Cavalry and Swan Assault Troops with their shortbows.
• The centaurs harried the elven leaders and trampled through the Elf Archers, throwing their ranks into confusion.
• The Elf Sword Dancers climbed the city wall, where Liu Zhi’s Skeleton Mages blasted them with fireballs and ice arrows.
• Liu Zhi sent his troops to hold off the Sword Dancers and watched how the new species’ forces performed.

Liu Zhi defended Dragon Duke Castle from the Sword Dancers by cutting down their only beanstalk route to the wall. The Snow Women and Boarmen helped clear the beanstalk, but they were stranded below the wall afterward.

• Liu Zhi sent Boarmen to hold the front line while archers and mages attacked the Sword Dancers, and Skeleton Soldiers began cutting down the beanstalks.
• The Sword Dancers crowded onto their remaining beanstalk and struggled to choose between advancing in waves and forcing a charge while their leader pursued the centaurs.
• Liu Zhi deployed his newly trained Snow Women, whose freezing abilities and resistance to physical attacks let them sweep into the Sword Dancers on the beanstalk.
• The Boarmen charged after the Snow Women, slipped on the ice, and bowled into the frozen Sword Dancers, knocking them off the beanstalk.
• Liu Zhi's Skeleton Soldiers cut down the beanstalk, ending the threat to the wall but leaving the Snow Women and Boarmen below to fight the Sword Dancers.

Liu Zhi sent Sandru and the Nether Palace undead to reinforce the battle against the elves, while Boarmen and Snow Women fought the Sword Dancers. An elven leader empowered his troops and led most of the elven army in retreat, leaving Sword Dancers trapped near the city gate.

• Liu Zhi ordered the Boarmen and Snow Women to hold off the Sword Dancers while archers and Skeleton Mages fired from the wall.
• Sandru led the Nether Palace undead onto the battlefield, alarming the elven leaders with the threat of being surrounded.
• An elven leader coated his twin blades with potion, drank the remainder, and used his glowing power to strengthen the Sword Dancers.
• Two elven leaders rallied the Elf Archers, whose combined starlight Liu Zhi disrupted with Starfall.
• The elven leader retreated with most of the elves while the blast obscured the battlefield, leaving Sword Dancers trapped near the city gate.

After the elves’ surprise attack, Liu Zhi considered how to recover his losses and take the Demiplane before its source awakened. He decided that conquering the Netherworld and turning its undead into troops could provide the forces he needed, then began planning a three-front campaign.

• Liu Zhi ordered Sandru to pursue the remaining Sword Dancers and sent the Swan People and centaurs to track the escaped elves.
• Amanet warned Liu Zhi that he was neglecting his level, and Liu Zhi explained why he needed to seize the Demiplane before its source awakened.
• Liu Zhi proposed conquering the Netherworld and converting its undead into troops, and Amanet agreed that the plan could work.
• Liu Zhi began arranging a three-front advance, assigning himself, Amanet, and Sandru to lead the forces while Mand defended the Nether Palace.
• Liu Zhi reviewed Sandru’s report, found that the elves had left nearly eight hundred corpses and that his own forces had suffered heavy losses, and ordered the foreign races to settle and rebuild while Jian Gu Duo Te defended the Dragon Duke’s castle.

Liu Zhi split his forces to investigate the Underworld, sending Sandru west to recruit undead and Amanet south to look into the Blood Duke while he traveled east toward the elves. After checking Sandru’s settlements for the displaced races, Liu Zhi departed to explore the Underworld’s elven territory.

• Liu Zhi found that Mass Grave and the Burial Desert had reached their conversion limits, leaving the gathered corpses unable to convert for months.
• Liu Zhi sent Sandru west to recruit undead and Amanet south to investigate the Blood Duke, while he planned to travel east to the elven territory.
• Liu Zhi divided the troops among the three groups, then checked that the Nether Palace’s buildings would keep operating in their absence.
• Liu Zhi visited the Dragon Duke's castle and saw that Sandru had settled the Swan People, Boarmen, Kobolds, and centaurs in different areas.
• Liu Zhi returned to the Nether Palace and set out on his journey through the Underworld.