Chapter Summaries

Zong Shen repeatedly harvested the Dungeon Monster horde around Zhang Zihao’s territory, overcame the remaining Dungeon Heroes, and brought the crisis to an end. After earning substantial rewards, he left for his territory with his exhausted warriors and three captured Wailing Liches.

• Zong Shen used Goblin Bombs, Demon Intimidation, and repeated attacks to weaken the horde, interrupt Ghost Banshee possessions, and drive off Gargoyles.
• Zong Shen and Zhang Zihao’s forces cut down the Dungeon Monsters through repeated rounds, reducing the horde from more than ten thousand to a few hundred.
• Zong Shen lured the four remaining Dungeon Heroes away from their group, then helped his warriors defeat and kill them, reaching Lv. 22 and gaining Strength and Challenge Fragments.
• Zong Shen’s forces finished off the remaining ground monsters, and the Lord System awarded him 500 Reputation and a Silver Support Chest for completing the support mission.
• Zong Shen thanked Zhang Zihao, loaded his warriors and three captured Wailing Liches into the Load-Bearer Mecha, and returned to his territory after nightfall.

After the Dungeon Challenge, Zong Shen planned a major expansion of his territory and asked Maryl and Howie to help design it. Howie proposed dividing the circular territory into four functional districts, and Zong Shen tentatively approved the plan.

• Zong Shen found Quite lingering beside Maryl and had Dutra take him away to work in the mines starting the next day.
• Zong Shen told Howie to join him for the next day's battle and promised to remove his chains.
• Maryl proposed placing the administrative center at the heart of a square city surrounded by four districts.
• Howie suggested dividing the circular territory into four equal districts along its diameters, with room to expand.
• Maryl agreed that Howie's layout made better use of the land, and Zong Shen unlocked Howie's chains and adopted the plan provisionally.

Howie became intrigued by Zong Shen’s plans for developing the territory, while Zong Shen prepared to exploit Demon Intimidation to hunt Crypt Heroes during the Dungeon Challenge. After cleaning his equipment at a stream, Zong Shen returned to the territory and headed into the Hot Spring Cabin, where Luna was inside.

• Howie listened to Zong Shen and Maryl discuss the territory and began longing to help build it into a city.
• Maryl advanced territory research and searched the market for items that could support development.
• Zong Shen planned to gather everyone at four in the morning and use Demon Intimidation to lure Crypt Heroes for points and Extraction Value.
• Zong Shen rode to a stream, washed his equipment, and complained about the stench from Kodo Beast dung.
• Orc workers at a pasture near Orgrimmar tended Kodo Beast feces, and Lambros sneezed without knowing why.
• Zong Shen returned to the territory and entered the Hot Spring Cabin after learning Luna was inside.

Zong Shen rested after a night at the Hot Spring Cabin, then led a hunting party west to find Crypt Heroes and Dungeon Monsters before the challenge’s final stage. He attacked a large monster group besieging a well-defended territory, while the Crypt Heroes and their stronger forces had yet to join the fight.

• Zong Shen used the Bath Set at the Hot Spring Cabin, then left exhausted and fell asleep in his bedroom.
• Luna woke Zong Shen shortly after four in the morning, and he drank Moon Goddess Spring Water before assembling his forces.
• Zong Shen brought Howie, the first Wolf Cavalry squad, Luna’s group, and the Exploration Squad west to hunt monsters and Crypt Heroes.
• Zong Shen’s party found about three thousand Dungeon Monsters attacking a territory and prepared to strike them from behind.
• Zong Shen charged into the monster group and used Demon Intimidation as his warriors attacked under his orders.
• The besieged lord and his soldiers continued defending their territory, while the Crypt Hero and stronger monsters remained out of the fight.

Howie watched Zong Shen’s forces attack the Dungeon Monster horde and struggled to understand why the Alonwa Kingdom had not intervened. Pax’s Flame Storm exposed a hidden Skeleton War King, and Zong Shen began fighting it after the Lord of Flame dragged it into the open.

• Howie watched Zong Shen and his warriors cut through the Dungeon Monsters while reflecting on the Kingdom’s armies and the scale of the horde.
• Pax cast Flame Storm into the horde, burning monsters and forcing a hidden Dungeon Hero to emerge.
• Zong Shen identified the exposed enemy as a Level 4 Skeleton War King and rode toward it on Bajie.
• The Lord of Flame seized the fleeing Skeleton War King with a Flame Claw and tossed it into the open before Zong Shen.
• Zong Shen struck the Skeleton War King twice, then recoiled after its counterattack damaged his Violent Bear Armor.

Zong Shen killed the Skeleton Warlord and led his squad through the Dungeon Monster horde, while Trollope joined the attack and drew the monsters’ aerial and possession assaults. The chapter left Trollope protecting himself and his forces with a golden stone that created a curtain of Holy Light.

• Zong Shen overcame Curse of Frailty, trapped the Skeleton Warlord with Entangle, and killed it after Execute triggered, gaining a Beginner Challenge Fragment and raising his strength and health.
• Zong Shen used Demon Intimidation to scatter nearby Dungeon Monsters while Bajie and the rear-line fighters battled through the horde.
• Zong Shen led his squad in a steady advance, killing roughly a third of the horde in a little over ten minutes and keeping watch for Ghost Banshees and Gargoyles.
• Trollope, encouraged by Zong Shen’s team, led his soldiers out of their defensive line to join the attack.
• Gargoyles and Ghost Banshees focused their assaults on Trollope’s team, so Trollope threw a golden stone that formed a curtain of Holy Light around his territory and soldiers.

Zong Shen helped Trollope repel a Dungeon Monster horde, using Doris’s Fire Tornadoes and spells from the Book of Ten Thousand Laws while Trollope’s Holy Envoy’s Tear protected his territory. After the horde was wiped out, Trollope thanked Zong Shen, who admitted he had helped for the points.

• Trollope activated the Holy Envoy’s Tear, creating a Holy Radiance Curtain that repelled Dungeon Monsters and protected his territory.
• Zong Shen learned what the Holy Envoy’s Tear could do, and Trollope granted him access to his territory.
• Doris summoned three Fire Tornadoes, and Zong Shen used the Book of Ten Thousand Laws to fire volleys of flaming arrows into the horde.
• With the horde weakened and Demon Intimidation suppressing the Dungeon Monsters, Trollope deactivated the barrier and joined Zong Shen’s counterattack.
• Zong Shen captured the Crypt Hero, killed the remaining Dungeon Monsters, and watched as Madeline, Mappel, and the mages pursued the fleeing Gargoyles.
• Trollope thanked Zong Shen for saving his territory, and Zong Shen said he had helped for the points.

Zong Shen thanked Trollope for refusing to sell the Tear of the Holy Envoy, invited him to join the Guide, and continued west toward Oduo Village. Along the way, he found a horde of more than five thousand Dungeon Monsters and began using his troops and Load-Bearer Mecha to hunt them.

• Trollope refused to sell Zong Shen the Tear of the Holy Envoy, and Zong Shen invited him to join the Guide once it could recruit him.
• Zong Shen and Trollope exchanged Private Chat contacts before Zong Shen led his team west toward Oduo Village.
• Zong Shen reviewed the approaching conflict around Oduo Village and planned to exploit the clash between the Calamity Raven Church and the Punitive Expeditionary Force.
• Zong Shen's Strategy Module revealed a horde of 5,137 Dungeon Monsters commanded by one Dungeon Hero.
• Zong Shen assigned Luna, the Huntresses, and the Wolf Cavalry to attack the horde while the mages and archers prepared behind them.
• Zong Shen drove the Load-Bearer Mecha into the horde and activated Demon Intimidation to push back nearby monsters as he crushed them under its treads.

Zong Shen methodically hunted a Dungeon Monster horde while considering the challenge’s remaining hours and the Lords’ overall situation. A Lord named Wang Xuan approached to propose cooperation, but Zong Shen recognized him before he could introduce himself.

• Zong Shen used Demon Intimidation and his warriors’ prepared positions to divide the horde and plan a steady, wave-based attack.
• Zong Shen reflected on the Dungeon Challenge’s approaching final day, the surviving Lords, and how monster numbers and Lords’ strength varied across the region.
• Wang Xuan watched Zong Shen’s forces from the north with fourteen warriors and decided to approach and make friends.
• Luna stopped Wang Xuan’s group and declined his offer of help while Zong Shen continued fighting nearby.
• Wang Xuan approached Zong Shen’s Load-Bearer Mecha to introduce himself and discuss cooperation, but Zong Shen cut him off, saying he knew him.

Zong Shen let Wang Xuan leave after recognizing him as a treacherous lord, then returned to fighting the Dungeon Monsters. Wang Xuan searched for monsters, but twenty-four Heretic Giant-Strength Knights captured him and his warriors for the Calamity Raven Church, leaving him bound for Oduo Village.

• Zong Shen recognized Wang Xuan as the lord who had betrayed his teammates, but chose not to pursue him and resumed attacking the monsters with Luna.
• Wang Xuan rode north, reflecting on his plans to explore a ruin near a powerful goblin tribe and the danger the goblins posed to the region’s lords.
• Wang Xuan found two Dungeons, but two groups of Heretic Giant-Strength Knights intercepted him and surrounded his warriors.
• After assessing the knights’ strength, Wang Xuan surrendered, secretly hid his Rare Grade longbow, and let his men surrender their equipment.
• The knights tied the group’s horses together and escorted Wang Xuan and his warriors toward Oduo Village to provide labor for the Tower of the Raven.

Zong Shen used his Load-Bearer Mecha to whittle down a Dungeon Monster horde, then armed his mages with Storm Crossbows to ambush the Gargoyles circling overhead. The crossbows brought down seventy or eighty Gargoyles, while the remaining monsters on the ground were nearly defeated.

• Wang Xuan surrendered to two squads of Heretic Giant-Strength Knights and was taken toward Oduo Village for conscription.
• Zong Shen drove his Load-Bearer Mecha through the monster horde, separating stronger enemies and helping his warriors kill them with few injuries.
• Zong Shen killed an isolated Death Knight, gaining points and Extraction Value that raised his Strength to 81 and his health to 1,223.
• After killing most of the ground monsters, Zong Shen gave five Storm Crossbows to himself and the mages and stopped using Demon Intimidation to lure the Gargoyles down.
• Tasia and Ashia fired first at the diving Gargoyles, and Zong Shen ordered the others to shoot into the clustered flock.
• The Storm Crossbows brought down seventy or eighty Gargoyles, while the remaining ground monsters posed little threat.

After defeating most of a Gargoyle swarm, Zong Shen encountered Raven Saintess Safri and learned that the Calamity Raven Church was short of laborers in Oduo Village. Safri gave him a token to pass Church patrols, and Zong Shen continued west toward the village.

• Zong Shen's forces killed dozens of Gargoyles, drove off the survivors, and recovered their crossbow bolts.
• Two squads of Heretic Giant-Strength Knights approached, but Safri recognized Zong Shen and ordered the knights to stand down.
• Zong Shen learned through the Strategy Guide that the Church was capturing people because Oduo Village needed more laborers.
• Safri gave Zong Shen a Raven Feather token that would let him pass Church warriors and enter Oduo Village except for restricted areas.
• Safri recommended he visit Cold Raven Valley, then rode east as Zong Shen resumed his journey west with his warriors.

Zong Shen allocated his new attribute and skill points before using the Strategy Guide to locate a nearby Dungeon Monster group and setting off to hunt it. Meanwhile, the Avalon Punitive Expeditionary Force from Lentax Great City advanced toward Oduo Village, where its commander Kunier met a squad of Dragonhawk Knights.

• Zong Shen assigned three attribute points to Intelligence and six skill points to Power Strike, raising the skill to Level 15.
• After checking reports in the Regional Channel, Zong Shen asked the Strategy Guide for nearby monster groups and chose to hunt the group south of him before visiting Oduo Village.
• A 120-strong Heavy Cavalry squadron and a following force of 636 infantry marched toward Oduo Village as part of Avalon’s Punitive Expeditionary Force.
• Kunier halted the Heavy Cavalry, and twelve Dragonhawk Knights descended to meet the expedition’s commander.
• The leading Dragonhawk Knight asked Kunier why the force had stopped.

Kunier sent Denise and the Dragonhawk Squad ahead to scout Oduo Village while the main force continued its march. Captured by the Calamity Raven Church, Wang Xuan was assigned to bury landmines and began looking for a way to use his remaining resources.

• Kunier ordered Denise to scout Oduo Village, avoid engaging the enemy, and wait nearby for the main force.
• Denise led the Dragonhawk Squad east as Kunier resumed the march toward Tegda Bang City with the cavalry column.
• The Calamity Raven Church divided Wang Xuan and the other captured soldiers among labor groups after confiscating their weapons and equipment.
• Deacon David showed Wang Xuan’s group how to bury Goblin Landmines along the village’s defenses.
• Wang Xuan inferred that the Church was preparing for a defensive battle and realized he still had items in his Storage Grid.

Wang Xuan gained David’s trust by feigning devotion while secretly laying mines, and Zong Shen finished another Dungeon Monster wave before discovering a tunnel key. At noon, the Final Challenge rules were announced, revealing that the top-scoring lord in each region would face a Regional Challenge Boss in eighteen hours.

• Wang Xuan professed his devotion to the Calamity Raven Church, and David promised to recommend him to the Saintess if he converted to the Cold Crow Deity.
• David sent Wang Xuan and four warriors to lay Goblin Landmines while ordering a Heavy Armored Believer Archer to watch them until the Saintess returned.
• Zong Shen defeated the last Dungeon Monster in a wave of more than six thousand, bringing his challenge points to 97,492 and his level to 24.
• Zong Shen shared food with his warriors and mounts, then found an Oduo Village Tunnel Key among the ruined territory’s relics.
• At noon, the Final Challenge announcement revealed that regional leaders would face a Regional Challenge Boss in eighteen hours, with lords forced into an allied state for the six-hour event.

After learning that the Final Challenge would draw the regional Boss and Dungeon Monsters to the territory of the lord with the most Dungeon Points, Zong Shen organized defenses and rallied his Legion for support. In another region, Chen Rui recognized that the challenge differed from the future he remembered and prepared his territory while resolving to contact Zong Shen.

• Zong Shen learned that his territory would face the Regional Challenge Boss and the converging Dungeon Monsters, so he planned additional defenses and ordered his warriors to return.
• The Strategy Guide confirmed that Zong Shen led his region in Dungeon Points, with eight times as many as the runner-up.
• Zong Shen told Jiang Yi to mobilize the Legion to support his territory, but not to announce his location in the Regional Channel.
• Chen Rui saw that the Final Challenge differed from the one in his previous life, suspected Zong Shen had changed history, and ordered his warriors to strengthen the territory's defenses.
• Lords across the regions reacted to the announcement, and the strongest among them began preparing for the challenge.

Zong Ze returned to his mountain territory and strengthened its defenses ahead of the Final Challenge. He then tried to weaken a mysterious barrier in a hidden chamber by feeding it his blood, but it stopped absorbing it again.

• Zong Ze returned from hunting with an injured hand and prepared his territory for the Final Challenge.
• Zong Ze reinforced the two mountain roads and ordered his Farmers to build more defenses.
• Zong Ze visited the chamber his Farmers had uncovered inside the mountain, where a gray sphere floated above a rune-stone platform.
• Zong Ze reopened his palm and fed drops of blood to the barrier around the platform until it stopped absorbing them.
• Zong Ze wrapped his wound again and wondered when the barrier would finally break.

Zong Ze broke the barrier around a mysterious gray sphere and merged with it, entering a twelve-hour cocoon transformation. Meanwhile, Zong Shen returned to his territory, reviewed its defenses and supplies, and called most of his people together to prepare for the Final Challenge.

• Zong Ze used his blood to break the barrier and touched the gray sphere, which merged with him and encased him in a cocoon with a twelve-hour countdown.
• Zong Shen returned to his territory after the Final Challenge interrupted his hunting trip and dismissed his tired warriors to rest.
• Zong Shen surveyed the territory’s defenses and planned where to place defensive towers, trenches, and barricades.
• Zong Shen asked Maryl to summon everyone except the Exploration Squad, Wolf Cavalry Squad 1, and the warriors at the Dungeon front line.
• Zong Shen searched the Territory Storage Box, gathered forgotten combat items, and set out twenty Storm Crossbows and bolts for his warriors to reload.

Zong Shen gathered his forces and organized the territory’s defenses in preparation for the Final Challenge. After arranging defenses and tower placements, he rode to the Dungeon Frontline Position to recall Vereesa and the Combat Squad and recover their defenses.

• San Pang, Dutra, and other leaders assembled troops at the courtyard, where Dwarf Uncle reported that he had repaired the Heavy Combat Puppet.
• Zong Shen announced the Final Challenge, and his troops pledged to defend the territory.
• Zong Shen planned scattered roadblocks, spike traps, sheds, trenches, and earthen walls around the territory, then assigned troops to build and dig.
• Zong Shen and Maryl chose placements for the eleven Tier 4 Specialized Defense Towers, with Maryl overseeing their construction.
• Zong Shen rode toward the Dungeon Frontline Position to recall Vereesa and the Combat Squad and bring back their towers and City Walls.

Zong Shen announced the Final Challenge, disbanded the Dungeon Frontline, and ordered the soldiers to prepare the territory’s defenses. After moving the frontline’s valuable structures back, he sent the Combat Squad to help with construction and left Vereesa to rest.

• Zong Shen asked the Strategy Guide about the next challenge and learned it would not be combat-oriented.
• Favid asked to return to the Exploration Squad, and Zong Shen agreed before gathering the frontline troops.
• Zong Shen announced the Final Challenge, declared the Dungeon Frontline disbanded, and ordered the soldiers to return to the territory after one last watch.
• Zong Shen and Vereesa relocated the arrow towers and damaged Tier 3 City Wall sections to the territory.
• Zong Shen brought the Combat Squad back to help build defenses, while he sent Vereesa to rest at the hot springs.
• Zong Shen inspected the trenches, barricades, and thatched sheds as construction progressed around the territory.