Chapter Summaries

At the Huaxia Country exchange, Bai Xiaowen displayed valuable equipment and sought high-quality summoning items. After rejecting Luolock’s low offer for the Blade-Scale Bracers, Bai Xiaowen and his companions planned to explore the market and set up their booth.

• Ouyang Heng left after seeing Bai Xiaowen’s Dark Gold Equipment.
• Bai Xiaowen displayed Gold Equipment, skill books, and Hittite Rally Orders, then advertised that he wanted high-quality summoning items.
• Gu Shuxing and other guests exchanged item lists with Bai Xiaowen.
• Luolock offered ten Superior Psionic Crystals for Bai Xiaowen’s Blade-Scale Bracers, but Bai Xiaowen rejected the deal and warned him to stop following.
• Bai Xiaowen told Li Shuyi that they should take their time selling their equipment, while Qiao Rui went to set up their booth.

Bai Xiaowen searched the exchange for useful items and considered buying Fang Qinghua’s Might Zombie Talisman, but Ouyang Heng’s interference derailed the deal. Back at their booth, Bai Xiaowen learned Ouyang Heng was likely seeking a Permanent Team-Building Item, which Qiao Rui confirmed was available at the exchange.

• Bai Xiaowen inspected the Might Zombie Talisman at Fang Qinghua’s booth and offered thirty thousand Psionic Points for it.
• Ouyang Heng interrupted the negotiation and offered fifty thousand Psionic Points, prompting Fang Qinghua to ask Bai Xiaowen to match the price.
• Bai Xiaowen declined to compete with Ouyang Heng and left after exchanging merchandise information with Fang Qinghua.
• Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi returned to their booth, where Qiao Rui explained that Ouyang Heng had limited resources because he lacked a Permanent Team-Building Item.
• Qiao Rui confirmed that a Permanent Team-Building Item was available at the exchange.

Bai Xiaowen negotiated with Camille over the Blade-Scale Bracers at an exchange, but they failed to agree on a price. Camille left Luolock to watch the bracers while she reconsidered the deal.

• Luolock brought Camille and Monica to meet Bai Xiaowen, and Camille expressed interest in the Blade-Scale Bracers.
• Camille offered ten Superior Psionic Crystals and a Four-Star Enhancement Card, while asking Bai to cover the sealing cost.
• Bai valued the bracers at over a hundred thousand Psionic Points after accounting for the sealing cost, and rejected Camille's lower offer.
• Camille said she needed time to think and instructed Luolock to stay with Bai and alert her if anyone else tried to buy the bracers.

Bai Xiaowen negotiated with Roaring Heavenly Lord over two Gold-tier weapons and learned the Awakened veteran had a rare Arcane War Machine Assembly to offer. The chapter left Bai Xiaowen weighing the damaged assembly’s potential as a trade item.

• Bai Xiaowen sold a Hittite Rally Order for thirty-four thousand Psionic Points while the other Awakened ones browsed his booth.
• Roaring Heavenly Lord asked to inspect the Earthwalker Dragon Bone-Spike Hammer and the Dragonkin Arbiter, then offered an Iron Fist Sect Flare Rocket and fifty thousand Psionic Points for both.
• Bai Xiaowen rejected the offer and insisted on trading for high-quality summoning items.
• Roaring Heavenly Lord revealed a damaged Arcane War Machine Assembly, and Bai Xiaowen examined its ability to assemble a protective mech equipped with arcane weapons.

Bai Xiaowen negotiated with Roaring Heavenly Lord over equipment before joining the crowd at Booth 076, where a valuable Purple Thorn Military Banner was offered for sale. Ouyang Heng and Qi Ruifeng were among the potential buyers as the seller set a minimum price of 400,000 psionic points.

• Bai Xiaowen and Roaring Heavenly Lord discussed trading the incomplete Arcane War Machine Assembly and selling equipment, but Roaring Heavenly Lord left without making a deal.
• Li Shuyi called Bai Xiaowen to Booth 076, where a crowd had gathered around a permanent team-building item.
• Bai Xiaowen, Li Shuyi, and Qiao Rui saw Ouyang Heng arrive with Wu Chaojie and Qi Ruifeng.
• The booth displayed the Purple Thorn Military Banner, which could establish a permanent squad of up to three awakeners below Level 7.
• The seller announced that the banner would only be sold for psionic points and set a minimum price of 400,000, leaving Ouyang Heng and several other prospective buyers at the front.

At the exchange, Ouyang Heng won the highest bid so far for the Purple Thorn Military Banner, but the seller delayed the deal until the final day. Bai Xiaowen declined Fang Qinghua’s offer for the Might Zombie Talisman and bought Camille’s psionic items for seventy-five thousand Psionic Points, leaving the banner sale unresolved.

• Bai Xiaowen decided not to interfere with Ouyang Heng’s bid, reasoning that the contest could drain Ouyang Heng’s funds and that disrupting the sellers would risk offending other Awakened.
• The seller began taking bids for the Purple Thorn Military Banner, and Ouyang Heng’s five hundred and twenty thousand Psionic Point offer surpassed Camille’s and Fang Qinghua’s bids.
• The seller refused to finalize the sale until the exchange’s last day, telling Ouyang Heng to wait in case someone outbid him.
• Fang Qinghua called Bai Xiaowen to offer the Might Zombie Talisman for thirty thousand Psionic Points, but Bai Xiaowen declined.
• Camille asked Bai Xiaowen to buy her Superior Psionic Crystals and Four-Star Equipment Enhancement Card, and he negotiated the bundle price down to seventy-five thousand Psionic Points.

Bai Xiaowen sold Camille Superior Psionic Crystals and Enhancement Cards, then lent her 100,000 Psionic Points under a notarized contract with a restriction on buying the Purple Thorn Military Banner. After Camille teased him with a suggestive Chinese allusion, she and Luolock left to pursue the banner, while Qiao Rui explained the joke to Li Shuyi.

• Camille sold her Superior Psionic Crystals and Enhancement Cards to Bai Xiaowen for 75,000 Psionic Points, then asked him for a loan.
• Bai Xiaowen agreed to lend Camille 100,000 Psionic Points for six months at 110,000 repayment, with a notarized debt contract and a condition forbidding her from buying the Purple Thorn Military Banner until after four in the afternoon on the exchange’s final day.
• Camille joked that she could repay Bai Xiaowen with a thousand miles to Jiangling, prompting Qiao Rui to tell her to behave.
• Camille left with Luolock to focus on obtaining the Purple Thorn Military Banner and said she would return for Bai Xiaowen’s bracer if it remained unsold.
• After lunch, Qiao Rui explained Camille’s allusion to Li Shuyi and discussed why foreign Awakened studied Chinese language and culture.

Bai Xiaowen made several trades during the exchange, acquiring items to strengthen Li Shuyi’s prospects in the Hero Trial. On the final day, he traded two Gold Equipment weapons for Roaring Heavenly Lord’s summoning items and agreed to discuss future trades for his crocodile equipment set.

• Bai Xiaowen bought a Three-Star Enhancement Card and traded the Blade-Scale Bracers for an A-Tier Summon Water Element scroll and a Premium Psionic Crystal, then gave the scroll to Li Shuyi.
• Bai Xiaowen met Roaring Heavenly Lord and Qi Muyao, rejecting their initial demand for the Arcane War Machine Assembly and Iron Fist Sect Flare Rocket.
• Bai Xiaowen offered the Dragonkin Arbiter Greatsword and Earthwalker Dragon Bone-Spike Hammer, plus the sealing costs, for the two summoning items, and Roaring Heavenly Lord accepted.
• Bai Xiaowen declined Roaring Heavenly Lord’s offer of 70,000 Psionic Points for the Crocodile-Tooth Dagger and Nightmare Crocodile’s Heart, preferring usable Spirit-boosting equipment.
• Camille bought the Purple Thorn Military Banner for 660,000 Psionic Points after the other contenders failed to raise enough money.

Fang Qinghua failed to secure the Purple Thorn Military Banner and traded with Bai Xiaowen for a useful talisman, while Bai Xiaowen and the White Phoenix Squad returned to Jinghai with Qiao Rui. The chapter left Qiao Rui settling into Bai Xiaowen’s family home as Bai began planning the team’s next move.

• Fang Qinghua’s group fell short of the Psionic Points needed for the Purple Thorn Military Banner and blamed Ouyang Heng for disrupting a potential sale to Bai Xiaowen.
• Ouyang Heng raged over losing the contest, while Qi Ruifeng warned him against attacking Camille in China.
• Camille thanked Bai Xiaowen for his loan, and Qiao Rui and Li Shuyi teased him about her flirtatious behavior.
• Fang Qinghua called Bai Xiaowen to trade the Hittite Rally Order for his Might Zombie Talisman, and they completed the exchange on friendly terms.
• Bai Xiaowen visited Qiao Rui’s parents, who accepted her choice to contribute Psionic Points to the team but asked him to treat her well.
• Bai Xiaowen, Li Shuyi, and Qiao Rui returned to Jinghai, where Qiao Rui stayed at Bai Xiaowen’s family home and quickly bonded with Xiao Jun.

Bai Xiaowen returned to White Stone City with Li Shuyi, Qiao Rui, and Han Xu after discovering signs of trouble, and found the fief under attack by the Ironthorn Family. After defeating the enemy Awakeners, Bai Xiaowen began learning how the invasion had unfolded while his team pushed the attackers back.

• Bai Xiaowen found scrap iron in place of White Stone Fief's usual supplies and brought Li Shuyi, Qiao Rui, and Han Xu to the Kane Plane.
• Baron Stantin ordered the Ironthorn Family's forces and mercenaries to capture White Stone City and obtain the formula for Plague Bane.
• Talik, Eugene, and Judith overwhelmed Captain Tim's defenders until Bai Xiaowen and his companions appeared.
• Bai Xiaowen's team subdued the three enemy Awakeners and forced them to pay Psionic Points under the Defeated Party Clause.
• Bai Xiaowen treated Tim and asked what had happened while Li Shuyi, Han Xu, and Qiao Rui helped drive the Ironthorn soldiers from the city and block the breach.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi attacked Baron Stantin during the Ironthorn Family’s invasion of White Stone City, defeated his forces, and forced hundreds of soldiers to surrender. They captured Stantin and Steward Harold and brought them back to White Stone City for questioning.

• Bai Xiaowen learned that Baron Stantin was commanding the Ironthorn invasion and flew with Li Shuyi on White Eagles to attack him.
• Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi broke through Stantin’s guards, wounded him, and killed his elite guard captain Beasley.
• Bai Xiaowen’s summoned creatures and Li Shuyi overwhelmed the Ironthorn troops, while Skeleton Warriors rose from the fallen under Delifa’s guidance.
• Baron Stantin ordered his soldiers to surrender, and White Stone Fief’s troops took custody of more than eight hundred captives.
• Li Shuyi knocked Stantin unconscious, and Bai Xiaowen had him and Steward Harold bound and escorted back to White Stone City.

Bai Xiaowen interrogated Baron Stantin and learned that a succession crisis had weakened the Gorseflower Empire, prompting the Ironthorn Clan to attack White Stone Fief. He discovered Cecilia was holding out at Cold Spring Valley and prepared to rescue her, while assigning Zombie Doctor a new task.

• Bai Xiaowen used a Heart-Confounding Talisman on Harold and searched his memories after Harold refused to answer.
• Bai Xiaowen told his teammates that the emperor had died and that Prince Nicholas and his uncle were fighting for the throne.
• Bai Xiaowen learned that Cecilia had survived an ambush and was still holding out at Cold Spring Valley.
• Bai Xiaowen sent Baron Stantin to the dungeon under guard and decided to keep him alive for now.
• Zombie Doctor asked to return to Southern Island, but Bai Xiaowen gave him the Flesh-Devourer's Stomach to study for use on Butcher.

Bai Xiaowen organized forces to rescue Cecilia from Cold Spring Valley while taking advantage of Blackrock City's weakened defenses. He flew ahead with Li Shuyi, leaving separate groups to attack the city and protect White Stone City.

• Tim and Cecilia's white-armored knights asked to join the rescue, and Bai Xiaowen agreed after they swore to obey his orders.
• Bai Xiaowen ordered Tim to gather thirty-four mounted archers and a hundred shield-bearing infantry.
• Bai Xiaowen sent Captain Phil and the infantry northeast to capture Blackrock City.
• Bai Xiaowen assigned Han Xu and Qiao Rui to lead the mounted archers toward Cold Spring Valley while he and Li Shuyi flew ahead on White Eagles.
• Bai Xiaowen ordered the wounded Tim to remain in White Stone City and guard its defenders and prisoners of war.
• Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi departed by air to rescue Cecilia as Phil's force set out for Blackrock City.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi reached Cold Spring Valley and ambushed the Ironthorn Army camp to rescue Cecilia, while Li Shuyi fought its commander, Ricardo. Li Shuyi exploited Ricardo’s weaknesses and landed a powerful combination, but the battle was still underway.

• Cecilia learned that her force had dwindled to eighty-six knights with dwindling arrows, and she ordered them to prepare for a dawn charge rather than waste their lives trying to escape immediately.
• Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi arrived above Cold Spring Valley, found Cecilia surrounded, and decided to attack the Ironthorn Army before its planned assault at daybreak.
• Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi ambushed the camp, setting fires and killing officers as the Ironthorn soldiers scrambled to regroup.
• Ricardo emerged from his burning tent and engaged Li Shuyi, blocking her attacks with his shield and striking back with several powerful skills.
• Li Shuyi activated her Blood Grand Duke Emblem, outmaneuvered Ricardo, and landed Vital Strike and Triple Slash, reducing his armor with the Resistance Commander's Sword.

Li Shuyi defeated Ricardo in a prolonged solo fight while Bai Xiaowen and Cecilia’s forces routed the Ironthorn Army. After the battle, Bai Xiaowen ordered the surrendered soldiers released, then privately told Cecilia a bold plan.

• Li Shuyi used hit-and-run attacks, a Might Zombie Talisman, and carefully timed skills to wear down and kill Ricardo.
• Cecilia led the White Stone City Knights in a charge that broke the Ironthorn Army’s morale and drove its soldiers to flee or surrender.
• Cecilia joined Bai Xiaowen’s forces, but he stopped her from killing Ricardo so Li Shuyi could finish the fight herself.
• Li Shuyi collected Ricardo’s Golden Treasure Chest and helped defeat the remaining Ironthorn soldiers, more than a hundred of whom surrendered.
• Bai Xiaowen ordered the prisoners released, then whispered his plan to Cecilia, who agreed to support it.

Bai Xiaowen rescued Cecilia from the Ironthorn Army, reunited with her, and offered her a chance to travel with him as his Follower. As Phil and Anton waited near Blackrock City for news, a soldier reported that a signal had arrived.

• Bai Xiaowen released the prisoners, let Cecilia's exhausted knights rest, and reunited with Cecilia after the battle at Cold Spring Valley.
• Bai Xiaowen gave Cecilia Resurrection Divine Water and offered her an Enhanced Follower Contract, but she chose to remain with her family and duties in White Stone Fief.
• Cecilia fell asleep against Bai Xiaowen, and by sunrise he reorganized the knights and secretly set their destination as Blackrock City.
• Phil and Anton waited with a hundred shield-bearing infantrymen in a forest outside Blackrock City, worrying about Cecilia and trusting Bai Xiaowen to rescue her.
• An infantryman hurried to Phil and Anton and announced that the signal had come through.

Bai Xiaowen reunited with Cecilia’s forces and planned to seize Blackrock City with a night assault. The White Phoenix Squad’s infiltration triggered a magical alarm, and Cargill Stantin confronted Bai Xiaowen with an offer to buy White Stone Fief.

• Phil and Anton reunited with Cecilia and Bai Xiaowen’s forces at the foot of the mountain.
• Bai Xiaowen outlined a plan to infiltrate Blackrock City, eliminate Ironthorn Family leaders, and open the way for an assault; Cecilia agreed to command the forces outside.
• Bai Xiaowen, Qiao Rui, Li Shuyi, and Han Xu approached Blackrock City and found its apparently unprepared guards suspicious.
• Bai Xiaowen and his teammates entered the city, but a magical alarm and Light Spell exposed them to two groups of archers.
• Cargill Stantin identified himself as head of the Ironthorn Family and offered to buy the White Stone Fief Token and all property in the fief.

Bai Xiaowen’s confrontation with Cargill Stantin erupted into battle, and he identified the hidden Lich Fisher as a threat behind the Ironthorn Clan. As Li Shuyi engaged Cargill and his Two-Headed Ogre, Bai Xiaowen and Qiao Rui began weakening the monster.

• Bai Xiaowen revealed that he had Baron Stantin, but Cargill refused to spare him and ordered the archers to fire.
• Butcher shielded Bai Xiaowen, Qiao Rui, and Li Shuyi from the arrows as Li Shuyi charged the barricade and Bai Xiaowen shot the disguised Lich Fisher.
• Bai Xiaowen recognized Fisher as a Level 7 Lich and discovered that Cargill was still human.
• Cargill summoned a Two-Headed Ogre, which grabbed an Ironthorn Army archer before Cargill redirected it toward Bai Xiaowen and Qiao Rui.
• Qiao Rui used Soul Melody to reduce the enemies’ attributes, while Delifa cast Soul Drain on the Two-Headed Ogre.

Bai Xiaowen’s summons battled Viscount Cargill’s forces as the White Stone Army attacked the city gate. When Lich Fisher unleashed Withering Mist, Bai Xiaowen led his group through the Ironthorn Army’s defensive line and escaped its range.

• Butcher and Bai Xiaowen’s summons overwhelmed the weakened Two-Headed Ogre while Delifa attacked Lich Fisher.
• Bai Xiaowen used Targeted Airdrop to sacrifice a Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier and block Fisher’s Corrosion Art from hitting Delifa.
• Viscount Cargill summoned Rune Dwarf Golems to protect Fisher and block Li Shuyi, while Ironthorn Army soldiers joined the battle.
• Cecilia ordered the White Stone Army to attack the city gate, forcing Cargill to divert troops and easing pressure on Bai Xiaowen’s group.
• Fisher cast Withering Mist, and Bai Xiaowen ordered Butcher to lead a charge through the Ironthorn Army’s line.
• Bai Xiaowen’s group broke out of the mist and cleared their Withering stacks as Cargill lamented the absence of commander Ricardo.

Bai Xiaowen exposed the Ironthorn Family’s alliance with the Sinlands Remnants and defeated the forces defending Blackrock City. By dawn, he had taken control of the city, executed the Ironthorn nobles, and begun dealing with the plague and its infected residents.

• Bai Xiaowen revealed Lich Fisher’s Necrotic Plague and persuaded many Ironthorn soldiers to abandon Cargill Stantin, while Fisher unleashed the Plague Undead.
• Bai Xiaowen’s forces killed Lich Fisher, and the soldiers helped destroy the Plague Undead after Fisher lost control of them.
• Cecilia led the White Stone Army through Blackrock City’s gates, killed Cargill Stantin, and helped secure the city.
• Bai Xiaowen advanced on the Lord’s Manor, defeated the remaining Ironthorn resistance, and gained control of Blackrock City by dawn.
• Bai Xiaowen publicly accused the Ironthorn Family of conspiring with the Sinlands Remnants and ordered its noble members hanged.
• Blackrock City’s residents largely accepted Bai Xiaowen’s rule, and the infected depended on his Plague Bane for treatment.