Chapter Summaries

Zong Shen battered the captured Black Handsome in an attempt to subdue it, but the black dragon unleashed a red-mist power that healed its wounds and broke through its restraints. The chapter ended with Zong Shen retreating to avoid the dragon’s newly revealed ability.

• Zong Shen inspected Black Handsome’s attributes and ordered Gugat to withdraw so he could fight the dragon himself.
• Zong Shen equipped his knuckles and punched Black Handsome while Lasma’s Curse of Frailty hindered the dragon.
• Black Handsome’s health fell below 10,000, and its heartbeat grew powerful enough to ripple the air.
• Black Handsome roared, snapped its restraints, and drove away the Curse of Frailty with a pulsing red mist.
• Black Handsome spat red-mist acid that healed its wounds and corroded the Bone Cage, so Zong Shen retreated rather than continue fighting head-on.

Zong Shen and his allies overwhelmed the escaped Black Dragon Belai Tobias Croedi, but Lasma tried to deliver the killing blow, forcing Zong Shen to stop time and seal her away. He stabilized the near-dead dragon and began a pet contract, hoping it would heal the creature enough to survive.

• Belai Tobias Croedi activated Ancestral Bloodline Reversion, broke out of the bone cage, and tried to flee while Zong Shen transformed into a Holy Spirit Warrior to pursue it.
• Favid restrained the Black Dragon with Flame Shackles, while Canigia and Zong Shen battered it with magic and sword strikes until it was nearly free of the restraints and had less than 8,000 Health.
• Lasma cast Great Darkness Spell to hinder Zong Shen, then used Soul-Draining Strike to leave the Black Dragon near death and pursued it to finish the kill.
• Zong Shen used the Time Stop Orb to seal Lasma inside the Spirit Sealing Jar and catch the falling Black Dragon before it struck the ground.
• Zong Shen poured Recovery Potions into the Black Dragon's wounds, halted its Health loss, and used a Pet Contract on it.

Zong Shen coaxed the wounded young black dragon into accepting a Pet Contract by offering the Flower of Tiamat and promising it strength, then successfully tamed it. The achievement earned him a regional silver banner and rewards, and he waited for Black Handsome to finish healing before exploring its dragon nest.

• Zong Shen awakened Black Handsome and used the Flower of Tiamat and promises of power to overcome its resistance to the Pet Contract.
• Black Handsome accepted the contract, and Zong Shen successfully tamed the young black dragon Berlay Tobias Croady.
• A silver banner announced that Zong Shen was the first lord to tame a top-thirty continental creature, stunning lords across the region.
• Zong Shen sent Favid and the troops to extract souls from nearby corpses while he inspected the banner rewards, including the Dragon Tamer title and Dragon Rider Saddle.
• The Dragon Tamer title raised Zong Shen's four basic attributes by five points, and he examined the saddle and Complete Orange Soul as Black Handsome's healing light began to fade.

Zong Shen completed a pet contract with the injured black dragon, whose low Loyalty made it resent his attempts to control and rename it. He fitted Little Blackie with a dragon-riding saddle and flew toward the Poison Mist Swamp, intending to claim its remaining spoils as nearby Lords began returning.

• Zong Shen used a Rare Grade Pet Contract to bind Black Handsome, healed its shoulder wound, and discovered its Loyalty was only 57.
• Black Handsome demanded the promised Five-Colored Flower, but Zong Shen intimidated it into calling him Master and renamed it Little Blackie, lowering its Loyalty to 52.
• Zong Shen showed Little Blackie the Flower of Tiamat, raising its Loyalty to 55, then fitted it with a Dragon Rider Saddle.
• Zong Shen ordered more than a hundred warriors to advance toward the Poison Mist Swamp and establish a blockade at its front.
• Zong Shen flew Little Blackie toward the swamp and saw opportunistic Lords returning, though he intended to claim the dragon nest's treasure and everything else there.

Zong Shen reflected on uniting the region’s lords rather than exploiting them, then entered the Poison Mist Swamp with Little Blackie to claim its resources and dragon hoard. After ordering Favid to process the battle’s dead and preparing to claim ownerless territories, he left the dragon nest with a vast fortune and valuable materials.

• Zong Shen concluded that lords could become a powerful unified force and resolved to integrate them before the second batch of lords arrived.
• Zong Shen took an Anti-Poison Pill and flew with Little Blackie into the weakened Poison Mist Swamp, where he surveyed its ruins, medicinal herbs, catfish, and scattered battle corpses.
• Zong Shen contacted Gugat and ordered him to have Favid gather manpower, extract souls, collect equipment, pile the corpses, and cremate them; he also planned to claim ownerless territories with Reese Ulysses.
• Little Blackie reluctantly let Zong Shen enter its dragon nest, where he collected 4,274,589 Denars and raised his balance to 5,853,135 Denars.
• Zong Shen also gathered thousands of gems, Mithril and Adamantine, magic-energy crystals, runes, Shadow Stones, and Poison Beads from the hoard.

Zong Shen emptied Little Blackie’s dragon nest, finding worn equipment, spoiled supplies, treasure chests, and clues to ancient ruins beneath the Poison Mist Swamp. After the Strategy Module revealed a hidden dragon treasure and an Azshara military camp with a Chimera Roost below the swamp, Zong Shen stored Little Blackie away and began digging for the buried treasure.

• Zong Shen collected the Denars, ores, Dragon Scales, weapons, armor, and remaining valuable supplies from Little Blackie’s nest, while Little Blackie reluctantly accepted the loss of its hoard.
• Zong Shen found eleven treasure chests, including two trap chests, and inferred that the Poison Mist Swamp concealed a larger ruin.
• The Strategy Module revealed a hidden treasure beneath the dragon nest and an Azshara sewer entrance leading to a former military camp with a Chimera Roost beneath the swamp.
• Zong Shen stored Little Blackie in Pascal Contract’s Big Pocket and began digging at the marked spot in the dragon nest.

Zong Shen dug up Little Blackie's hidden treasure chest and discovered clues about the dragon's powerful mother, the Black-Winged Tyrant. The chest also held a legendary sealing disk containing a living great demon, which Zong Shen could not safely open for now.

• Zong Shen dug up Belai Tobias Croedi's private treasure chest and used the Magic Interferer to suppress its Poison Seed enchantment.
• Zong Shen activated a recording crystal that showed the Black-Winged Tyrant driving her three young dragons from their nest, and he recalled her campaign against Hanlubu Forest.
• Zong Shen found the Black-Winged Tyrant's personal token, which could still help him command some of her followers and servants despite no longer opening Blackwing Castle's Runic Gate.
• Zong Shen discovered that Solomon's Sealing Disk was a lower-tier legendary item containing a still-living great demon, and learned that opening it required seven Sixth Order elemental gemstones.
• Zong Shen stored the unusable sealing disk and concluded that Little Blackie's hidden hoard was disappointing.

Zong Shen uncovered a Legendary Dragonblood Fruit in Little Blackie's treasure hoard, then faced its surviving kobold and lizardfolk followers in the Poison Marsh. Little Blackie persuaded them to obey Zong Shen's arrangements, and Zong Shen learned how to restore the poisonous fog as he prepared to exploit the marsh's resources.

• Zong Shen found a Dragonblood Fruit and decided it would be best used to enhance Flying Tiger.
• After leaving the dragon nest, Zong Shen blocked attacks from surviving vassal monsters and met Ulysses and Doug Gladstone with their battered followers.
• Zong Shen summoned Little Blackie, whose Dragon Might made the followers kneel, and instructed it to keep them guarding the Poison Marsh and collecting corpses.
• Little Blackie told Ulysses that it had reached an agreement with Zong Shen and ordered the followers to obey him, gather corpses, and breed.
• Zong Shen asked Little Blackie about recruiting followers and restoring the poisonous mist, learning that High-grade Poison Beads and its Tier V Draconic spell Marsh Diffusion could maintain it.

Zong Shen delegated the cleanup of the toxic swamp and the extermination of the Lesser Flame Demons while preparing to take over nearby ownerless territories. When Little Blackie resisted carrying him, Zong Shen used the Dragon Flute to bluff the dragon and raise its loyalty.

• Zong Shen placed Advanced Poison Coating Beads in the dragon nest to strengthen the swamp’s poisonous fog, then flew out to meet Blood Wolf Gugat.
• Zong Shen gave Gugat the Unknown Beast Egg and assigned him to exterminate the Lesser Flame Demons with Flying Tiger’s help.
• Zong Shen planned how to divide the remaining work, including extracting souls, processing monster corpses, clearing ruins, and taking over ownerless territories.
• Zong Shen met Flying Tiger and ordered it to carry Gugat, then returned to Little Blackie and urged it to take off.
• When Little Blackie resisted, Zong Shen showed it the Dragon Flute and claimed it came from a dragon he had slain, increasing Little Blackie’s loyalty from 53 to 61.

Zong Shen finished looting the Poison Mist Swamp, arranged for his people to process the corpses, and returned to his territory with the newly tamed black dragon. There, Salome Forestspeech reported that the first batch of Sweet Potato Vines had been cultivated.

• Zong Shen agreed to share some gains with Jiang Yi, then assigned Favid and Howie to extract human souls and salvage the beasts and monsters in the swamp.
• Zong Shen and Little Blackie found eleven scattered treasure chests before he postponed developing the Poison Mist Swamp Ruins and flew back to his territory.
• Little Blackie's Loyalty rose to 66 after it sensed the dangers around Zong Shen's territory.
• Salome Forestspeech showed Zong Shen four rows of young Sweet Potato Vines in the first experimental field.

Zong Shen celebrated Salome Forestspeech’s successful sweet potato cultivation, then rode Little Blackie with Reese Ulysses to claim the region’s unclaimed territories. By the time his other squads returned, he had claimed territories in the east and was continuing in the north, while the Lesser Flame Demon operation had cost several warriors their lives.

• Salome Forestspeech explained that she had cultivated sweet potato tubers and warned Zong Shen that repeated forced growth could damage future crops.
• Zong Shen reflected on how territory residents’ humanity and desires seemed limited, then took Reese Ulysses outside the fortress to ride Little Blackie.
• Zong Shen used the Strategy Module to locate hundreds of unclaimed territories and set out east with Reese to claim as many as possible before noon.
• Zong Shen’s temporary Combat Squads returned after fighting Lesser Flame Demons; Vereesa reported that four Wolf Cavalrymen, an Avalon Light Crossbowman, and a Lightning Element mage apprentice had died, while a Water Elementalist was wounded.
• The territory collected the fallen warriors’ souls and prepared to hold a memorial service, while Zong Shen continued claiming territories, having taken 118 in the east and fewer than fifty in the north.

Zong Shen spent the night taking over 382 ownerless territories, then returned to a territory overwhelmed by new residents, resources, and buildings. After he went to sleep, the Heatwave Challenge ended, and the Lord System announced that details of the final challenge would arrive in five minutes.

• Zong Shen and his team worked through the night to collect supplies, relocate buildings, and inherit residents from 382 ownerless territories.
• Zong Shen returned exhausted, sent Little Blackie to the poisonous swamp for food, and went to sleep while his subordinates organized the influx of people and resources.
• Maryl and Howie arranged for farmers and other workers to sort and store the mountains of supplies, while Luna, Vereesa, Colby, Doris, Favid, and Gugat classified the new residents.
• Maryl and Howie planned to inventory the resources, while the territory's leaders began sorting the residents and preparing to place thousands of relocated defensive buildings.
• Zong Shen woke when the Heatwave Challenge ended, and the Lord System announced an exchange mall, a two-minute Time Stop, and the release of the final challenge details in five minutes.

Zong Shen subdued Little Blackie after the dragon grew furious over its stolen treasure, then learned that the final Challenge Month trial would be a 24-hour territory defense battle with failure resulting in erasure. He began planning major defenses for the Lord’s Fortress before the challenge started in five days.

• Little Blackie accused Zong Shen of stealing its Small Treasure Chest, so Zong Shen struck it with the Thunder Domain Wonder and threatened it into standing down.
• Zong Shen promised to capture the Black-Winged Tyrant for Little Blackie, raising its Loyalty from 51 to 56.
• The Lord System announced a territory defense challenge beginning in 120 hours, requiring each lord to survive and protect a central stone pillar for 24 hours.
• Zong Shen realized the challenge difficulty would scale with territory strength, population, and development, and that failure would erase the territory and its residents.
• Zong Shen planned to dig trenches, build rings of Level 5 City Walls, and move high-level defenses toward the Lord’s Fortress before the challenge began.
• Zong Shen decided to settle matters with the Goblin Tribe to the north before reorganizing his territory’s defenses.

Zong Shen sorted and opened the treasure chests from the Poison Marsh and dragon nest, reviewing the supplies, blueprints, equipment, and recruitment scrolls they contained. He set aside useful rewards for his territory and heroes, leaving three Golden Treasure Chests unopened for later.

• Zong Shen contacted Luna, confirmed that she had collected all the Flame Demon Keys, and told her to return to the Lord's Fortress.
• Zong Shen opened the Advanced Material Chest and Advanced Resource Chest, obtaining Advanced Time Runes and Mithril Meltwater.
• Zong Shen sorted the Poison Marsh and dragon nest treasure chests, reserving some for Jiang Yi and planning to use unopened low-tier chests to build a defensive shield cart.
• Zong Shen opened five Silver Treasure Chests and stored their weapons, supplies, blueprints, and recruitment scrolls for the territory.
• Zong Shen inspected Rare Grade rewards, including an Advanced Workshop blueprint, a Moon Well blueprint, fire-mage equipment intended for Favid, three Power Strike Knight recruitment scrolls, and a second Molotov Flamethrower.

Boswell reflected on the political unrest and business opportunities across the continent while returning to Ratchet City. Ingram Hanover reached Lentax Great City and sought entry so he could compete in Marquis Lancaster’s tournament.

• Boswell learned that he was flying over Tewaren Great City and discussed the Nord Kingdom’s instability and Queen Sandina with the goblin merchants aboard the airship.
• Mentor Kaderui described unrest across several kingdoms and among other peoples and religious groups, while Boswell considered his upcoming vacation and trade route.
• Ingram Hanover completed his arduous journey to Lentax Great City on his exhausted Grassland Horse after receiving Zong Shen’s travel money.
• At the city checkpoint, Ingram introduced himself as a bard from Dajialisini Great City and said he had come to enter Marquis Lancaster’s tournament.

Ingram entered Lentax Great City and suspected its heavy security meant trouble beyond the tournament and Marquis Lancaster’s banquet. Beneath the Greenfield Morning Dew Tavern, the Eye of the Elf interrogated slave trader Bamogo, who died before revealing more, while Aila decided to investigate the wilderness settlement connected to his information; Marquis Henry Lancaster surveyed the city from his castle.

• Ingram passed the checkpoint into Lentax Great City, noticed armed cavalry throughout the streets, and headed for an outer-district tavern to learn what had happened.
• Aila and Saloyang questioned Bamogo beneath the Greenfield Morning Dew Tavern about Elf slaves and the secret Eye of the Elf gathering, while Heya left to seek news from the fourth ring.
• Aila recalled a man from a wilderness settlement who had helped expose the slave traders and ordered that Bamogo be allowed to recover before a squad followed him to find the man.
• Saloyang discovered that Bamogo had died before receiving Moon Spring, and Aila decided to investigate the settlement and the information the man had provided.
• Marquis Henry Lancaster surveyed Lentax Great City’s defensive rings from his castle balcony as a young woman draped a red cloak over him.

Marquis Henry warned Penny that the Second Prince’s visit could threaten the Lancaster family and urged her to disguise herself while seeking a suitable marriage. Elsewhere, Prince Ayub and Abdullah planned to use a Chosen One against the woman influencing Caliph Hakim, Queen Sandina ordered an attack on her departing king before embracing the Epoch Curse, and Zong Shen prepared to open his remaining Golden Treasure Chest.

• Marquis Henry told Penny that the Second Prince planned to explore Demon Ruins with Kunier and advised her to use a shapeshifting potion to avoid attracting the prince’s interest.
• Marquis Henry urged Penny to look for a future husband among the young nobles at the tournament as he tried to protect the Lancaster family from the coming conflict.
• Prince Ayub learned from Abdullah that only a Chosen One could kill the woman affecting Caliph Hakim, and they decided to wait three months while selecting a stronger candidate.
• Queen Sandina ordered wolfhounds to prevent the king from returning and told her maids to notify Prince Soro, then accepted the Epoch Curse and declared that she would become the supreme empress.
• Zong Shen rubbed his wrist, wondered whether much had happened in an instant, and prepared to open the remaining Golden Treasure Chest.

Zong Shen opened three Golden Treasure Chests and gained powerful weapons, summons, a Lifespan Fruit, and a Land Claimant's Flag. He considered whether to use the fruit to aid King Guther and decided to postpone claiming new territory until after the Defensive Challenge.

• Zong Shen opened a Golden Treasure Chest that yielded a Tier 5 Giant Cannon Tower blueprint, a Thunder Spirit Crystal, and a Traveling Merchant's Travel Bag he planned to give to Howie.
• Zong Shen opened a second Golden Treasure Chest and examined a Sacred Arrow Rain skill book, a Seed of the Ancient Guardian, and a Lifespan Fruit that could extend a person's maximum lifespan by 150 years.
• Zong Shen considered giving part of the Lifespan Fruit to King Guther to restore his influence, but he weighed the consequences for the Avalon Kingdom and kept his options open.
• Zong Shen opened the final Golden Treasure Chest and obtained a Land Claimant's Flag, a Necromancer Advancement Book, a rune musket, matching ammunition, and a book on magic gunpowder.
• Zong Shen learned that the flag could claim up to three plots of land and decided to wait until after the Defensive Challenge to use it.

Zong Shen questioned the Strategy Module about the defensive challenge, then examined a rune musket and its ammunition, testing the weapon against his fortress. He also reviewed a necromancer advancement book for Tasia and a magic-gunpowder text, leaving plans to prepare for the challenge and develop firearm technology.

• Zong Shen learned that subjects in his Command Value who were outside his territory would count as casualties, while contracted external creatures would not, and that the defensive challenge would use a randomly selected enemy template matched to his territory’s strength.
• Zong Shen stored the Land Claimant’s Flag and considered claiming the distant mine, the southern Poison Swamp, and either a gemstone mine or the murloc lake.
• Zong Shen examined a Type IV Rune Musket and its alloy bullets, then fired at the Castle Tower and found that the weapon damaged the fortress wall only slightly.
• Zong Shen retrieved the flattened bullet and decided to have Iron Hand Barenk research better ammunition, while also seeking Lords with chemical or military-industry expertise.
• Zong Shen set aside a Necromancer Advancement Book for Tasia and planned to place the History of Magic Gunpowder in the library for Dwarf Uncle and the Goblin Engineer to study.
• Zong Shen planned to awaken a master-level mentor skilled in Rune Forging Technique, engineering, and alchemy to train and guide his territory’s craftsmen.

Zong Shen exchanged his Flame Demon Keys for a Platinum Chest and obtained several valuable items, including a powerful magic tower blueprint and equipment for Maryl and himself. After inspecting and learning the chest’s blueprints, he prepared to study the Point Exchange for supplies suited to the coming defensive challenge.

• Luna delivered 2,272 Flame Demon Keys and the unknown beast egg, then reported that the newly arrived people lacked enough stone houses; Zong Shen ordered her to pause non-defensive construction.
• Zong Shen exchanged 1,250 keys for a Platinum Chest Key and the remaining keys for points, bringing his balance to 489,679.
• Zong Shen opened the Platinum Chest and obtained an Elemental Secrets Research Tower blueprint, three Tier 5 Two-headed Ogre warrior recruitment scrolls, Protector’s Heart, a Magic Trick Top Hat, technology and trap blueprints, and bread.
• Zong Shen examined the tower’s combat and research functions, decided to build it after Maryl finished, and planned to give her the Protector’s Heart.
• Zong Shen equipped the Magic Trick Top Hat, learned the Technology Research Institute upgrade and Quicksand Trap blueprints, and finished inspecting the chest’s rewards.
• Zong Shen planned to study the Point Exchange for defensive-challenge supplies, hoping to find blueprint, special-item, or villager-recruitment options.