Chapter Summaries

A Druid left the northern mountain after Benjamin gave away a transformation slot that could have been his nephew’s last chance. In the south, Black slaves abducted Howlett, believing the plantation owner’s experiments had made him the bearer of a sacred relic, and headed for New York Harbor.

• A thunderbird told the northern Druids that Benjamin had given away one of the year's Druid transformation slots, prompting a Druid to leave the mountain over his nephew's lost chance.
• A Black man tried to persuade Howlett to escape the plantation, but Howlett refused because he hoped to earn his freedom in ten years.
• The Black slaves decided to take Howlett with them, believing the sacred relic's power was gathering in his arm.
• After Howlett drank the plantation owner's green liquid and returned to his shack, the slaves incapacitated and captured him.
• The group set out for New York Harbor, where they hoped to join an army and reclaim the sacred relic.

Liu Zhi helped assemble a supernatural ship while his shipbuilding skill and influence over the work rapidly grew. After Benjamin returned from confronting attackers, he reassigned Liu Zhi to another section and concluded that Liu Zhi might become a legendary shipwright.

• Benjamin and a shipwright split the rare cherry wood into strips, and Liu Zhi bound it into the keel with ordinary wood.
• Liu Zhi and the other shipwrights assembled the ship from small prepared parts while Benjamin directed the work.
• An explosion sent Benjamin outside, and the old shipwright took charge as Liu Zhi's growing skill disrupted the team's pace.
• The old shipwright told Liu Zhi to slow down, but Liu Zhi's experience kept rising as he continued assembling the ship.
• Benjamin returned with soldiers who smelled of blood, moved Liu Zhi to another section, and watched him work faster.
• Benjamin said Liu Zhi might become a legendary shipwright.

Benjamin finished building the magically modified three-masted gaff-rigged ship and brought it outside for a final test. As he prepared to address it with a strange staff, Liu Zhi wondered whether the ship could become legendary.

• Benjamin reassigned Liu Zhi's shipbuilding work so his contributions would be less visible, while Liu Zhi accepted the arrangement and steadily gained experience.
• The ship took shape to resemble the Mayflower, with three different flags on its sails, though Liu Zhi sensed it still lacked something needed to be legendary.
• Benjamin brought several dozen strongmen with Titan blood to the shipyard, and the old shipwright revealed that he was Fulton, a 313-year-old former painter and inventor who had studied under Da Vinci.
• The strongmen dragged the finished ship outside as Benjamin raised a strange staff wrapped with metal kite string and bearing a bottle with a Gold Coin inside.
• Liu Zhi suspected the staff might be connected to Franklin's legendary lightning kite, and Benjamin spoke to the ship.

At the ship’s launching ceremony, the South sent vampires to attack the shipbuilders and officials, but Liu Zhi, Benjamin, and General Wayne fought back. The battle remained under control as mysterious men in black suits joined the fight.

• Benjamin awakened the ship’s spirit with a lightning strike, and Liu Zhi realized Shipbuilding Level 8 could awaken ships’ intelligence.
• The sky darkened as General Wayne appeared and identified the attackers as men with a chance granted by the Book of the Blood God.
• More than a dozen vampires attacked Benjamin, the officials, Liu Zhi, and the shipbuilders while General Wayne confronted them.
• Liu Zhi killed the vampires attacking the shipbuilders with Giant Lizard’s Bloodstained Fang and Wind Blades.
• Benjamin used lightning to kill his attackers, while General Wayne held off two vampires as others pressed toward the officials.
• Several men in old-fashioned black suits and sunglasses emerged among the officials and fought the vampires with silver-coated firearms.

Liu Zhi and Benjamin launched the blood-stained ship, cleansing it with the God of Wine’s blessing and securing the ocean’s protection. Benjamin named Wayne as its first captain, and the ship prepared to depart with a crew of sailor spirits.

• Liu Zhi used Wind Blades and Strong Wind to push the ship toward the water while the shipbuilders helped move it.
• Benjamin shattered a bottle of wine against the ship, dispelling the blood stench as the ocean cheered and protected the vessel.
• Benjamin called down lightning, boarded the ship, and carved his name into the mainmast before inviting Wayne to become its first captain.
• Wayne explained that the enemies were only borrowing the Blood God’s power, then took command and summoned a crew of sailor spirits.
• The spirit sailors adjusted the sails as the ship floated on its own and a blue light barrier appeared ahead of it.

After completing the shipbuilding mission, Liu Zhi collected his rewards and followed a piece of cherrywood into a mist-filled trap. He spotted a suspicious figure resembling a druid, who appeared to be producing the mist, but the confrontation had not yet begun.

• Liu Zhi watched Fulton explain the ship’s features, then declined his invitation to join a new shipbuilding project because he was seeking a path to become an Extraordinary Professional.
• Benjamin’s staff escorted the shipwrights to collect their rewards, and Liu Zhi was summoned after Fulton.
• Liu Zhi chose a lively piece of cherrywood, which trembled in his hand and then flew out through the partly open door.
• Liu Zhi sensed danger in the mist-filled corridor, cast a Dark Sky Curtain, and sent Sky Eyes to track the cherrywood and search the area.
• Liu Zhi’s Sky Eyes spotted a suspicious figure in Leather Armor and an Indigenous-style Feather Crown, whose beak-like mouthpiece released the mist.

Liu Zhi confronted the Druid who had ambushed him with a mist of hallucinogenic spores. After injuring the Druid and uncovering the trap, Liu Zhi turned the spores against him, leaving the Druid to inhale them.

• Liu Zhi used the Dark Sky Curtain to approach the Druid, who spotted him and attacked with lightning bolts.
• Liu Zhi exchanged lightning strikes with the Druid while closing the distance, then hit him with a Bone Spear that exploded and set him on fire.
• Liu Zhi threw a second Bone Spear, blowing off the Druid's right hand, and sent a Wind Blade that cut away the Druid's bird-beak mask.
• Liu Zhi recognized the scattered powder as hallucinogenic spores and used a Strong Wind to blow them into the Druid's nose.

Liu Zhi killed a druid who had ambushed him and discovered strange items on the man's body. After the fog cleared and Wayne arrived with the ship, Benjamin demanded to know what had happened.

• Liu Zhi failed to pierce the druid's tough skin, then noticed the druid lose strength when the cherrywood fell and triggered a lightning trap that killed a bystander.
• Liu Zhi struck the confused druid with an enhanced Bone Spear and blasted his body apart.
• Liu Zhi searched the druid and found a thunderbird statue, an electrified stone, and a rain-gathering piece of sheepskin.
• Benjamin ordered the sailors to use Strong Wind to disperse the fog, and Liu Zhi signaled below after concealing the items.
• Wayne brought the Cyclops Washington into view and questioned Liu Zhi, then stopped him from signaling Benjamin as Benjamin asked what had happened.

Benjamin uncovered that Biat had arranged to lure Sandru to the great tree and moved to address the plot. He found Sandru alive after he had killed the likely attacker, then approached him to apologize and talk.

• Benjamin examined the cherrywood and confronted a shipyard staff member, who admitted that Master Biat had arranged the scheme.
• Benjamin dismissed the staff member after learning Biat had used a supposed Thunderwing Druids interview to target Sandru.
• An assistant told Benjamin that Sandru had killed the Druid who ambushed him, likely Master Biat.
• Benjamin learned that Sandru was safe with Wayne and that he had been discussing sailing and estates near New York.
• Benjamin arrived carrying the cherrywood box and apologized to Sandru, asking to speak with him properly.

Benjamin compensated Liu Zhi for the trouble caused by Biat, gave him cherrywood and instructions for contacting the Thunderwing Druid, and explained the history of the manor Liu Zhi had chosen. Liu Zhi decided to pursue the Druid trial first and learned that one faction required candidates to survive a poisonous spider bite.

• Benjamin explained that Biat had arranged the job for his nephew and offered Liu Zhi three pieces of cherrywood as compensation.
• Liu Zhi selected three pieces of cherrywood suited to making a palm-sized, modified three-masted ship model, and Benjamin recognized his plan.
• Benjamin gave Liu Zhi a feather to summon the Thunderwing Druid outside the city and handed him the deed to the manor he had chosen.
• Benjamin told Liu Zhi that the manor had belonged to Daniel Parker Curtis and that rumors of hauntings stemmed from the family who died there during a plague.
• Liu Zhi accepted the manor despite its history and decided to seek the Druid trial before making other travel plans.
• Benjamin described a Druid faction whose candidates became Druids by surviving a poisonous spider bite, and Liu Zhi considered speaking with them.

After leaving the shipyard, Liu Zhi followed the feather Benjamin had given him to the Thunderwing Druids’ storm trial. He rejected the established path and agreed to face a harder challenge, risking his rain divinity and understanding of wind.

• Liu Zhi left the shipyard in a carriage Benjamin arranged, then used the feather to summon a storm in the wilderness.
• Liu Zhi offered the three items he had taken from a Druid to three tornadoes and released his excess Force of Nature, turning the wasteland into a garden.
• Liu Zhi ignored the offered skills and let the tornadoes carry him into the storm clouds, where he found a cage of lightning and the King of Thunderbirds.
• The King of Thunderbirds offered to make Liu Zhi a Thunderwing Druid through the path Wrath of Nature had taken, but Liu Zhi refused and chose a harder challenge.
• The King of Thunderbirds agreed to Liu Zhi’s choice and warned that failure would cost him his rain divinity and understanding of wind; Liu Zhi accepted.

Liu Zhi took the Thunder Bird King's trial and spent an hour learning to fight as a body of lightning. He appeared to gain an advantage over the Thunder Bird sent to challenge him, but the Thunder Bird King realized something was wrong as the fight began to turn.

• A lightning bolt struck Liu Zhi, and he accepted the Thunder Bird King's trial, risking his knowledge of the sky, rainstorms, lightning, and wind if he lost.
• Liu Zhi learned to move as lightning and devised a fighting style using small lightning wings, a staff, a Fine-Thorn Sword, and combined wind-and-lightning attacks.
• The Thunder Bird, the strongest of the King's descendants, attacked Liu Zhi after his hour of preparation.
• Liu Zhi dodged the Thunder Bird's charges and repeatedly fired lightning and Wind Blades before suddenly rushing at him.
• As the Thunder Bird swooped in to seize Liu Zhi, Liu Zhi swung his lightning weapons together, and the Thunder Bird King realized the Thunder Bird was going berserk.

Liu Zhi defeated and killed a Thunderbird by turning the storm around it into a weapon, then absorbed its power and gained the Thunderbird’s name and Druid rewards. The sky cleared, and he transformed the bird’s skull into a Flying Eagle Helmet.

• The King of Thunderbirds recognized Liu Zhi’s plan as he used an electric web to ricochet Wind Blades into the Thunderbird.
• Liu Zhi kept attacking the trapped Thunderbird with lightning Bone Spears and elemental effects until it weakened.
• Liu Zhi thrust his Fine-Thorn Sword into the Thunderbird, causing its body to explode and its power to flow into him.
• Liu Zhi realized that defeating a Thunderbird alone had given him a new Thunderwing Druid path and the Thunderbird’s power.
• The King of Thunderbirds asked Liu Zhi’s name, called him Shimmering Light after his fallen child, and vanished with the other Thunderbirds as the sky cleared.
• Liu Zhi received three Druid rewards and transformed the bird’s skull into a Flying Eagle Helmet.

Liu Zhi completed his Druid initiation, gained a lightning-infused equipment set and the ability to fly, and discovered that he had learned Lightning Spell. In the wilderness, he came across crawling humanoids that began tearing into one another.

• Liu Zhi equipped the Flying Eagle Helmet, Winged Feet, and bones, then received confirmation that he had become a level 1 Druid temporarily assigned to Thunderwing.
• Liu Zhi examined the set’s attributes and tested his new flight ability, finding that he could fly quickly and ascend several hundred meters.
• Liu Zhi changed his appearance to suit the era and set off through the wilderness toward the city.
• Liu Zhi noticed that Indigo Chasing Wind Swordplay had improved and that he had learned Lightning Spell, which he used to charge his sword with lightning.
• Liu Zhi spotted several wolf-like humanoids surrounding another figure, then watched them charge and bite and tear at one another.

Liu Zhi killed two berserk Black men and discovered that Howlett had bone claws and powerful healing abilities, apparently caused by an experiment involving a holy relic. Howlett headed north alone, while an eyepatched elder arrived to investigate Liu Zhi and the power of natural awakening.

• A berserk Black man lunged at Liu Zhi, who killed him with his Fine-Thorn Sword.
• Howlett escaped the fighting and told Liu Zhi that the Black men had accused him of carrying their holy relic.
• Liu Zhi tested Howlett’s talent and discovered that bone spikes emerged from Howlett’s hands, while Howlett showed a remarkable ability to heal.
• Howlett refused Liu Zhi’s offer to travel to Virginia and set off north alone.
• Some of the Black men returned with a one-eyed elder, who asked whether Howlett had been rescued by the man connected to the natural awakening they sensed.

Liu Zhi discovered that Howlett and the Black men belonged to another Druid faction, then fought the faction’s elderly leader after the man tried to ambush him. The old man’s wounds healed quickly and he counterattacked, but Liu Zhi cut through his Bone Spikes and struck him with a lightning-charged kick.

• Old One-Eye identified Liu Zhi as a newly awakened plant-aligned Druid and sent the other Black men away to find Howlett while he stalked Liu Zhi.
• Plants warned Liu Zhi about the approaching ambush, and Liu Zhi paralyzed the old man with lightning before striking him with an empowered Bone Spear.
• The old man survived the Bone Spear’s effects and began healing, revealing the faction’s unusual durability and Bone Spike weapons.
• Liu Zhi realized that Howlett and the Black men were Druid apprentices from another African faction, likely defensive Druids.
• Liu Zhi used the Giant Lizard's Bloodstained Fang to cut through the old man’s Bone Spikes, then kicked him in the abdomen with lightning.

Liu Zhi killed a druid of the Wolverine Spirit, captured the strange spirit inside his soul, and learned the Wild Mark: Attack skill from his eyepatch. The Wolf King learned of the death and ordered the Lone Wolves to hunt Liu Zhi down.

• Liu Zhi defeated the old black man, killed him, and extracted his soul, discovering a red jellyfish-like Wolverine Spirit within it.
• Liu Zhi stored the soul in a gemstone and found the Wild Mark: Attack skill hidden in the old man's eyepatch.
• Liu Zhi learned the Wild Mark, tested its boost to his attacks, and left the area.
• The black men returned and found the old black man dead and his eyepatch missing.
• The Wolf King ordered the Lone Wolves to track down Liu Zhi and bring back his head.

Liu Zhi traveled by carriage toward Virginia while adjusting to the conflict between his Druid and Necromancer powers and reconsidering how to build a cycle of life and death. When the carriage stopped unexpectedly, he used the Sky Eye to inspect what was happening and was surprised by what he found.

• Liu Zhi rented a carriage to travel toward Virginia and fulfill Sandru’s desire to acquire an estate.
• During the journey, Liu Zhi used the long ride to circulate his Druid and Necromancer powers and realized his Thunderwing Druid abilities leaned toward destruction and death.
• Liu Zhi reconsidered his plan for balancing Harvest and Death and decided he needed to find a Druid class or skill connected to Harvest.
• When a coachman asked what troubled him, Liu Zhi told him to travel as fast as possible and returned to meditating.
• The carriage suddenly stopped, and Liu Zhi jumped down, released the Sky Eye, and was surprised by what it revealed.

Liu Zhi entered a hidden gathering of witches, spirits, and monsters in the woods, where he traded a lightning orb for an old skull. He uncovered a soul remnant inside it and found a lead on the key Summoning Tower.

• Liu Zhi left his coachmen by the carriage and followed the forest to a gathering hidden in another space.
• Liu Zhi met a witch who recognized his lightning orb and offered him a choice of goods at the stalls.
• Liu Zhi traded the orb for a skull that carried a faint trace of killing intent and malice.
• An elderly witch warned Liu Zhi that carrying the skull through the woods at night could attract the Headless Horseman.
• Liu Zhi drew a soul remnant from the skull, crushed its defenses, and discovered a fragmented lead about the key Summoning Tower.

Liu Zhi uncovered the witches’ staged time trick and confronted the Witch King, who admitted she had been trying to inherit her predecessors’ power. As Liu Zhi prepared to leave, the Witch King offered him compensation, and he recognized what she was holding.

• Liu Zhi realized the supernatural gathering had used an illusion to make time seem to pass and attacked the witch Kabishan with lightning.
• The Witch King stepped forward, apologized, and explained that she had staged the deception to gain belief and awaken her generation’s lost power over time.
• Liu Zhi criticized the Witch King’s method and started to leave, promising not to tell anyone what had happened.
• The Witch King stopped Liu Zhi and offered him compensation, prompting him to ask where she had gotten the item.