Chapter Summaries

Zong Shen carried Picol’s Soul-Soothing Grass through the Desert Zone aboard the overloaded Goblin Airship, then continued toward Bosbang by road. On the journey, he planned to make the city a supply base for his territory and began considering how nearby lords’ territories could form a regional urban cluster.

• Picol gave Zong Shen the Soul-Soothing Grass, and the Strategy Guide explained that Evans used it to make sleeping potions for his insomnia.
• Zong Shen piloted the overloaded Goblin Airship out of the Desert Zone, consuming more than 7,000 Magic Energy before landing safely.
• Zong Shen stored the airship, gathered his companions and mounts, and resumed the journey toward Bosbang, less than a hundred kilometers away.
• Zong Shen considered acquiring a flying mount and establishing a long-distance teleportation array to connect his territory with Bosbang.
• As Zong Shen passed villages near Bosbang, he studied how they supplied the city and envisioned coordinating nearby lords’ territories into a regional urban cluster.

Zong Shen and his companions entered Bosbang and traveled through the city to Evans’s manor, where he planned to deliver Soul-Soothing Grass and build connections for his next steps. The chapter ended as Evans’s guards came out to ask what brought them to the estate.

• Zong Shen reflected on how expanding territories could overlap with neighboring lords and threaten peaceful development.
• Zong Shen and his companions reached Bosbang, observed its farms and streets, and used the Immortal Lancers to deter farmers from leering at Vereesa and Luna.
• Zong Shen followed the Strategy Guide’s directions through the city toward Evans’s manor, while planning to visit Baron Besos afterward.
• Zong Shen arrived at the manor gate, where Vereesa handed him a small wooden box containing the Soul-Soothing Grass.
• Several of Evans’s guards opened the gate, recognized Zong Shen’s armed party, and asked what brought them to the estate.

Zong Shen delivered Soul-Soothing Grass to Evans, earned his favor, and accepted an invitation to lunch at the manor. After Evans secretly ordered a scout to follow the party, Zong Shen continued toward Baron Besos's castle in Bang City's Central District.

• Zong Shen delivered the Soul-Soothing Grass to Evans Manor and completed the transport quest, gaining reputation and Evans's favor.
• Evans offered Zong Shen money, but Zong Shen declined and accepted an invitation to lunch at the manor the next day.
• After Zong Shen departed, Evans told Isidore to send a scout after the party and ordered the apothecary to prepare the Soul-Soothing Grass.
• Luna's owl relayed Evans's private remarks to her, and she warned Zong Shen that Evans seemed suspicious.
• Zong Shen and his squad rode toward the Central District as City-State Army soldiers followed them, then spotted Baron Besos's castle ahead.

Zong Shen and his companions traveled toward Bosbang’s Central District, where he admired the city’s castle and learned from Vereesa about ancient civilizations’ great cities. The busy streets inspired Zong Shen to plan a food-focused tavern for his territory, and the group finally reached the administrative center where Baron Besos and his family lived.

• Zong Shen surveyed Bosbang’s castle and Central District, comparing the fortress to his own developing City Lord’s Mansion.
• Vereesa described ancient wonders such as Floating Cities, Zenith Tree City, and the Black Iron Fortress as they walked toward the center.
• Zong Shen and his companions passed lively taverns and shops, including the Wild Thorn Tavern, while Zong Shen considered how city sanitation reflected good governance.
• Zong Shen imagined introducing Chinese cuisines to the locals and decided to develop a tavern, naming the project the God of Cookery Plan.
• Zong Shen and his companions crossed the streets of Bosbang and arrived at the city’s administrative center, where Baron Besos and his family lived.

Zong Shen crossed the guarded boundary of Bosbang’s administrative district and returned Baron Besos’s lost pocket watch and pendant. Besos warmly received him, grateful for the keepsakes and moved to tears by the pendant’s image of his mother.

• Zong Shen led his troops across the red line into Bosbang’s administrative district, where City-State Army soldiers surrounded them and ordered them to leave.
• Zong Shen showed the Dragon-kin Swordsman a pocket watch and pendant, explaining that he had found them in ancient ruins and an abandoned Mine.
• The Dragon-kin Swordsman sent the items to his superiors, and Baron Besos arrived by carriage after more than twenty minutes.
• Zong Shen told Baron Besos where he had found the keepsakes and said he had recently established a settlement nearby.
• Baron Besos explained how he had lost his belongings while escaping Web Monsters in the Mine, then opened the pendant and wept at the projection of his mother.

After returning Baron Besos’s pendant and pocket watch, Zong Shen accepted an invitation to the castle and asked for official recognition of his settlement near the Azshara Ruins. Besos agreed to help and offered trade links, while Zong Shen left determined to build his territory into a new Bang City.

• Baron Besos thanked Zong Shen for returning the pendant and pocket watch, declared him a friend, and invited him and his party to a feast at the castle.
• Zong Shen and his party crossed the Central District in carriages and arrived at Baron Besos’s castle, where they were welcomed and shown into a reception room.
• Baron Besos mentioned a mysterious continent across the East Sea, prompting Zong Shen to recall clues connected to the Eastern Continent.
• Zong Shen asked Baron Besos for an official permit for his settlement near the Azshara Ruins, and Besos promised a certificate without charging Denar.
• Baron Besos offered to include Zong Shen’s settlement on Bang City’s trade routes, and Zong Shen said he intended to develop it into a new Bang City.

Zong Shen secured Baron Besos’s support for his settlement, including protection under Bosbang’s authority, a property, and more than four hundred refugees. Besos also invited him to explore the ruins of an ancient Lion Knights Order outpost, and Zong Shen agreed to join after handling his urgent duties.

• Baron Besos explained how commoners could earn noble titles and offered to support Zong Shen’s settlement with a special designation and Bosbang’s Magic Banner.
• Zong Shen chose a three-story shop with a courtyard in Bosbang’s Middle City District, and Besos offered to send him more than four hundred refugees.
• Besos gave Zong Shen Bosbang’s Magic Banner, which represented the city’s authority and increased territorial influence and the attraction of caravans, refugees, and mercenaries.
• Besos described an attack on Oduo Village by heretics and asked whether Zong Shen knew anything about the fighting; Zong Shen said he did not.
• Besos invited Zong Shen to explore ruins that had once served as an outpost of the ancient Lion Knights Order, and Zong Shen agreed to join once he had handled his other duties.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Baron Besos shows generosity and magnanimity towards Zong Shen, providing help without hesitation.
• Zong Shen recounts his adventures in the Mine and the Demon Hunter Temple to Baron Besos, omitting certain details.
• A banquet is held at Baron Besos's castle, with Zong Shen and his Immortal Lancers as guests.
• Baron Besos introduces his daughter, Stephen Chapman, to Zong Shen.

Character Developments

• Zong Shen feels a sense of being looked after by Baron Besos, an unfamiliar experience since descending into this world.
• Baron Besos is revealed to be a naive and innocent noble, unlike the calculating and ruthless Knight Captain Kunier.
• Stephen Chapman is introduced as Baron Besos's daughter, with hobbies in reading and painting.

Significant Themes

• Hospitality and generosity: Baron Besos's extravagant treatment of Zong Shen and his party.
• Trust and deception: Zong Shen selectively ignores details of his adventures to avoid revealing information about the Web Monster colony's departure.
• Nobility and personality: Baron Besos's naive and innocent nature contrasts with the typical ruthlessness of nobles.

Character Interactions

• Baron Besos and Zong Shen: Baron Besos treats Zong Shen as an elder would a younger sibling, providing help and showing genuine interest in his adventures.
• Zong Shen and Stephen Chapman: Baron Besos introduces Stephen to Zong Shen, and they exchange pleasantries. Stephen compliments Zong Shen's appearance.
• Baron Besos, Zong Shen, and Stephen Chapman: The three engage in conversation, with Zong Shen sharing anecdotes from his adventures.

Zong Shen learned from Baron Besos that Evans might be the Night Demon and accepted a quest to investigate Evans's manor. Meanwhile, Evans's divided nature and hidden prison were revealed, while Zong Shen and Luna ended the night together at the Castle.

• Milne secretly told Evans's scout that Zong Shen and his warriors were guests at Baron Besos's banquet.
• Baron Besos warned Zong Shen about Evans, described the Night Demon's abductions, and explained Evans's long-standing insomnia and use of Soul-Soothing Grass.
• The Strategy Module confirmed that Evans was the Night Demon and that he possessed a Demon Soul, and Zong Shen accepted Baron Besos's quest to find evidence in Evans's manor.
• Evans's scout reported on Zong Shen to Evans, whose body and voice alternated between himself and the Night Demon; Evans then entered a hidden Folded Space where abducted women were imprisoned.
• Zong Shen settled into his Castle room, heard Luna's report about Evans, and joined her for a bath.

After deciding how to handle Evans’s invitation, Zong Shen learned that the Legion’s membership had grown and new rules were coming. As signs pointed to an approaching winter, he set out to use Baron Besos’s influence to secure cold-weather supplies in Bosbang.

• Zong Shen told Luna to stay outside Evans Manor with the Immortal Lancer squad while he took Vereesa to the banquet, and Luna warned him to be careful around Evans.
• Jiang Yi reported that the Legion had 46 members and that a countdown to Legion Version 1.1 had appeared; Zong Shen instructed her to sell cold-weather supplies to Legion members at nearly cost.
• Zong Shen checked the Legion page and confirmed that new rules would unlock after the countdown ended following the second challenge.
• After noticing the worsening cold, Zong Shen told Luna to accompany him to Baron Besos and have Vereesa gather the soldiers.
• Zong Shen planned to use Baron Besos’s influence to buy Bosbang’s cold-weather goods, including padded coats, raw furs, and the city’s reserves.

Zong Shen negotiated with Baron Besos for winter supplies and military rations, then explored Bosbang and heard Howie propose opening a shop selling equipment and potions. The chapter ended when Zong Shen helped a poor boy and noticed a mysterious lightning-filled bead the boy offered him.

• Baron Besos agreed to gather refugees, arrange warm clothing and food, provide 12,000 portions of military rations, and give Zong Shen a magic whistle for emergencies.
• Zong Shen left the castle with his companions and explored Bosbang, finding no local specialties worth buying and considering trade through the [Market].
• Howie proposed using the shop in the Upper City District to sell weapons, equipment, combat supplies, and potions once a Spatial Teleportation Array connected Bosbang to the territory.
• A poor boy asked the snack shop owner to trade wild fruit for food, and Zong Shen gave him a 100-denar coin instead.
• The boy offered Zong Shen a crystal-clear bead with lightning flickering inside, and Zong Shen recognized its significance from the Strategy Guide prompt.

Zong Shen recruited Felix after receiving the boy’s rare Thunder Spirit Enchantment Orb, then prepared to visit Evans Manor for the luncheon. As Evans made elaborate preparations to welcome him, Zong Shen set out with Vereesa, keeping his other companions away to avoid raising suspicion.

• Felix gave Zong Shen a Thunder Spirit Enchantment Orb in gratitude, and Zong Shen invited Felix and his mother to join his territory.
• Felix agreed to follow Zong Shen, who sent Howie with him and a vial of Moon Goddess Spring to check on his sick mother.
• Zong Shen assigned Vereesa to accompany him to Evans Manor and told Luna to patrol nearby with Cecilia and the others.
• Zong Shen examined the orb, found it could enchant a weapon with lightning damage and skills, and put it away because he lacked a suitable weapon.
• After eating at the snack shop, Zong Shen led Vereesa and the others toward Evans Manor, planning to separate from most of them before arriving.
• Evans prepared an elaborate seafood luncheon and decorated the manor entrance to welcome Zong Shen.

Evans prepared a banquet for Zong Shen while struggling to suppress the Night Demon and arranging to drug the guests’ food. Zong Shen and Vereesa arrived with precautions of their own, and Evans welcomed them into the manor.

• Evans told Isidore to add Soul-Soothing Powder to the banquet dishes, then admitted he had no freedom from the Night Demon and asked Isidore to stay with him for five more years.
• Isidore warned Evans that Baron Besos had increased City-State Army patrols near the manor, while scouts reported Zong Shen’s group was approaching.
• Evans sent scouts and mercenaries to delay the patrols and gave Isidore Neutralizing Powder to use if needed.
• Zong Shen told Vereesa how to respond to his signals about the food and when to take her Anti-Poison Pill.
• Zong Shen and Vereesa reached the manor, where Evans greeted them and invited them inside for the luncheon.

Zong Shen and Vereesa attended a luncheon at Evans Haywood’s manor, where they uncovered Evans’s attempt to drug them and learned that he was half-corrupted by a Night Demon remnant soul. Zong Shen found that the Night Demon’s clues were hidden in a folded space, with the key to opening it carried by Isidore.

• Evans welcomed Zong Shen and Vereesa into his manor, and Zong Shen sensed the demon soul within Evans.
• Zong Shen inspected Evans’s attributes and learned that Evans could transform into a Night Demon by letting the remnant soul take over his body.
• At the luncheon, Zong Shen noticed Evans had different plates and used the Strategy Guide to discover that the food for him and Vereesa contained Soul-Soothing Powder.
• Zong Shen signaled Vereesa that he had noticed the trap, and Evans and Isidore realized their guests were prepared.
• Zong Shen asked where the Night Demon clues were and learned that a folded space was hidden in the manor and that Isidore carried the magical item needed to open it.
• Zong Shen discovered that Isidore had exceptional Rare Grade talent for spatial magic.

Zong Shen exposed Evans as the Night Demon and launched an attack before Evans and his disguised mercenaries could strike. As Evans transformed and Isidore fled with the crystal needed to open the folded space, Vereesa pursued the butler while Zong Shen fought the demon, ending the chapter trapped inside its suffocating black shadow.

• Zong Shen recognized Isidore’s spatial-magic talent and spotted the crystal for opening the folded space in the butler’s pocket.
• Zong Shen revealed that he knew Evans was the Night Demon, then he and Vereesa drew their weapons and confronted him.
• Evans transformed into a demon and Isidore slowed Zong Shen and Vereesa with his pocket watch before fleeing with the crystal.
• Zong Shen sent three disguised mercenaries flying with his greatsword while Vereesa pursued Isidore, wounded him with arrows, and seized the pocket watch and crystal.
• Evans engulfed Zong Shen in a mass of black shadow, and Zong Shen chose to use the Book of Ten Thousand Laws to escape it.

Zong Shen used the Time Stop Orb to wound Evans and stop his evasive tricks, forcing the disguised mercenaries to flee. As the Fallen Shadow Demon remnant soul inside Evans realized Zong Shen could destroy it completely, Zong Shen activated Time Stop again and prepared to finish the fight.

• Zong Shen broke free from Evans's shadow form with fire and lightning spells, then discovered that Evans's apparent death was a Poison Smoke Doppelganger.
• Evans struck Zong Shen with a hidden flexible sword, but Zong Shen used the Time Stop Orb to land a devastating blow on Evans's true body.
• The disguised mercenaries fled after Evans was wounded, while Zong Shen stayed focused on him.
• The Fallen Shadow Demon recalled how it had possessed Evans and explained its history as the overlord-class demon Shadow Wound.
• Shadow Wound sensed that Zong Shen could annihilate its remnant soul and decided to flee, but Zong Shen activated Time Stop again.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zong Shen uses a [Time Stop Orb (Gold)] to severely injure Corrupted Evans, a Shadowfallen Demon possessing Evans.
• Zong Shen collects the Demon Remnant Soul using a [Spirit Sealing Jar (Orange)].
• Evans is left near death, and Zong Shen stabilizes his condition using potions and bandages.
• Vereesa captures Isidore, Evans's steward, and Zong Shen decides to keep him alive for now.
• Zong Shen plans to explore Lord Mars's wine cellar and Evans's hidden wealth before the City-State Army arrives.

Character Developments

• Zong Shen demonstrates his power and strategic thinking, first by using the Time Stop Orb to gain an advantage in battle, and then by deciding to keep Isidore alive for potential future use.
• Evans is severely injured and left near death, showing the consequences of his actions.
• Vereesa proves her loyalty and skill by capturing Isidore and following Zong Shen's orders.

Significant Themes

• Power and its consequences: Zong Shen's use of the Time Stop Orb shows the power he possesses, but also the potential dangers and limitations of such power.
• Strategic thinking: Zong Shen's decision to keep Isidore alive and his plan to explore the wine cellar and Evans's wealth before the City-State Army arrives show his strategic thinking and ability to adapt to changing situations.
• Loyalty and following orders: Vereesa's actions show her loyalty to Zong Shen and her willingness to follow his orders, even when they involve difficult or unpleasant tasks.

Character Interactions

• Zong Shen and Vereesa work together to subdue Isidore and stabilize Evans's condition.
• Zong Shen gives orders to Vereesa, and she follows them without question, showing their dynamic as leader and follower.
• Zong Shen and Vereesa discuss their plans for the remaining time before the City-State Army arrives, showing their mutual respect and trust.

Zong Shen uncovered Lord Mars’s hidden wine cellar, collected its aged liquor, and retrieved a concealed Magic Storage Chest filled with wealth. After Vereesa finished searching the manor, they prepared to open the Folded Space in front of the Punitive Expeditionary Force, and her whistle activated matching whistles nearby.

• Zong Shen followed the Strategy Guide’s directions and dug up the buried entrance to the old wine cellar.
• Zong Shen collected six oak barrels and 117 bottles of aged liquor, enough to help stock the territory’s Tavern.
• Zong Shen used Lord Mars’s Magic Token to open the concealed Magic Storage Chest and gathered more than a million Denars along with jewelry, gemstones, and antiques.
• Zong Shen excavated the chest from the wall, stored it, and resealed the cellar entrance.
• Vereesa returned from searching the manor, then blew the Tube Magic Whistle at Zong Shen’s direction, causing matching whistles within several kilometers to glow.

Zong Shen subdued Evans and helped the City-State Army uncover the women he had imprisoned in a folded space. Baron Besos recognized the victims as proof of Evans’s crimes and ordered them cared for, while Zong Shen met Sheriff Zachary Osborn.

• Zong Shen summoned Luna’s squad and the City-State Army to the estate, where Baron Besos arrived and learned Evans had been subdued as the Night Demon.
• Baron Besos introduced Zong Shen to Sheriff Zachary Osborn, a young heroic talent specializing in infantry command.
• City-State Army soldiers carried out the badly wounded Evans and his injured mercenaries, and Zong Shen led Baron Besos and Zachary to the folded-space entrance.
• Zong Shen opened the portal, and Zachary led soldiers inside to search the folded space.
• The City-State Army brought out the imprisoned women, and Baron Besos ordered Zachary to find them clothes and notify their families.

Zong Shen helped Sheriff Zachary expose Evans’s crimes and rescue the women trapped in the folded space, then received Baron Besos’s offer of a Mage Tower connection and rewards. With the investigation settled, Zong Shen and his companions headed to the Central District to collect supplies and bounty money before returning to his territory.

• Zong Shen exhausted his Magic Value opening the portal, and Sheriff Zachary’s squads rescued all seventy-two victims from the folded space.
• Baron Besos learned that Zong Shen had Lightning Element talent and offered him a letter of introduction to a mage captain in Lentax Great City, but Zong Shen declined to join the Mage Tower.
• Zachary became more friendly toward Zong Shen after he helped capture the Night Demon and uncover the folded space, and Zong Shen gave him Carlisle’s Bounty Head Mark.
• Baron Besos promised Zong Shen 13,000 Denar in bounties and the supplies he had requested, then led him and his companions toward the Central District.
• Nearby Lords noticed Zong Shen’s profile number, while Zong Shen ignored their speculation and continued preparing to return to his territory.