Chapter Summaries

Zong Shen reviewed the rewards from the second Golden Treasure Chest and chose subordinates suited to its two Legendary-grade items. After setting aside the armor for Colby and the wand for Canigia, he turned his attention to the next item in his storage.

• Zong Shen used the Magic Talent Enhancement Scroll on Reese Ulysses and added three Third Order Night Huntress Recruitment Scrolls to his stored scrolls.
• Zong Shen opened the second Golden Treasure Chest and received two Legendary-grade equipment pieces, along with a Fourth Order Ice Roar Crossbow Cannon, Rhodok Sergeant Recruitment Scrolls, and other rewards.
• Zong Shen examined the Wolfheart Ranger Thousand-Captain Half-Armor and decided to give it to Colby.
• Zong Shen inspected the Wind Spirit Elemental Perception Wand and chose Canigia as its recipient.
• Zong Shen stored the wand for later distribution and raised an eyebrow at the next item in his storage.

Zong Shen inspected the third Golden Treasure Chest’s rewards and found a powerful command tower blueprint and a beacon that could eventually send him to another dimension. He planned to have Maryl help place the tower, while the beacon’s one-way portal could not be activated for more than five years.

• Zong Shen inspected the Fourth-Order Ice Roar Ballista and planned to give it to Maryl for deployment during the Defense Challenge.
• He set aside the Rhodok recruitment scrolls, the Claw Mole Mark, and the Grilled Meat Feast for later use.
• Zong Shen opened the third Golden Treasure Chest and mastered the Commander's Bastion Tower blueprint, which could coordinate defenses, survey its coverage area, and repair territory buildings.
• He examined the Unknown Dimensional Beacon and learned that it could open a one-way passage only during an activation window more than five years away.
• Zong Shen remembered another item he had recently obtained while considering travel to a Different Dimension.

Zong Shen opened a Golden Treasure Chest and obtained several high-value rewards, including a permanent Agility boost, a powerful lifesteal effect, and an Equipment Fusion Stone. He stored the rewards and considered his next preparations, while the fusion stone left him with the prospect of creating a stronger piece of equipment.

• Zong Shen examined the Frost Projector and its gas canisters, noting their freezing power and potential uses in combat and against metal gates.
• Zong Shen opened the Golden Treasure Chest and received three legendary items, two purple items, and two blue items.
• Zong Shen inspected the Special Agility Fruit and planned to eat it before the challenge to gain 50 Agility despite its temporary negative effect.
• Zong Shen carried the Vampire Fang in his personal Storage Grid and gained Power of the Vampire, which converted 15% of physical damage into health and injury recovery.
• Zong Shen examined the Equipment Fusion Stone and learned that it could irreversibly combine up to three pieces of equipment for a chance at an upgraded result.

Zong Shen examined the remaining treasure chest rewards, assigned a protective scroll and ring for future use, and opened one Platinum Treasure Chest. He received three Epic-grade items, including a thousand-kilometer teleportation array blueprint, and began assessing the materials needed to build it.

• Zong Shen examined an Orange Equipment Fusion Stone and decided to store it until he had more spare Legendary equipment.
• Zong Shen inspected a group-guard scroll and a Holy Light protection ring, planning to give them to a combat hero and Ashia, respectively.
• Zong Shen saved one Platinum Treasure Chest for the Defense Challenge and opened the other, receiving three Epic-grade items along with several lower-grade rewards.
• Zong Shen examined the Thousand-Kilometer Teleportation Array Construction Blueprint and learned its extensive material requirements, range, and risks if the array was destroyed.

Zong Shen learned the blueprint for a long-range teleportation array and tested the spatial abilities of the Falling Feather, which let him blink to the Fourth Order Blacksmith Shop. There, he checked on the shop’s production and learned that Dwarf Uncle had forged the needles Maryl requested.

• Zong Shen learned the 1000km-Level Teleportation Array Construction Blueprint (Gold) and considered how he would choose a location for the array.
• Zong Shen examined the Falling Feather (Gold), discovered its spatial skills, and used Falling Walk to teleport outside the Fourth Order Blacksmith Shop.
• Zong Shen entered the busy Blacksmith Shop and found Dwarf Uncle and Solton Modi working alongside the apprentices.
• Zong Shen asked how much metal the shop had delivered to Maryl, but neither Dwarf Uncle nor Tock knew the quantities.
• Dwarf Uncle presented Zong Shen with the pale golden needles Maryl had asked him to forge.

Zong Shen got his ears pierced to equip the Noble Circlet, ate a Premium Agility Fruit, and examined the powerful Kade Medical Gem. He then decided to save a Dark Night Advancement Book for Luna.

• Zong Shen had Dwarf Uncle pierce his earlobe with a sterilized alloy needle and equipped the Noble Circlet, gaining three points to each primary attribute.
• Zong Shen ate the Premium Agility Fruit and used Falling Walk to return to the Lord's Fortress, while Dwarf Uncle and Solton Modi went back to forging.
• Zong Shen inspected the Kade Medical Gem, which increased his maximum health by 5,000 and granted powerful healing abilities and the power to summon six Kade Medics.
• Zong Shen put the Kade Medical Gem in his Storage Grid and celebrated the three epic items he had obtained from the Platinum Chest.
• Zong Shen examined the Dark Night Advancement Book and chose to save it for Luna.

Zong Shen learned Whirlwind Sword Dance and distributed several treasures to his companions at the Residential District Square. He left the meeting with more equipment to hand out and planned to absorb Isidore’s talent before surveying the territory.

• Zong Shen learned Whirlwind Sword Dance from a Rare Grade skill book and used an experience book to raise it to LV3.
• Zong Shen summoned Luna, Vereesa, Ashia, Colby, and Kaginia to the Residential District Square to distribute equipment.
• Zong Shen gave Luna a Dark Night Advancement Book and Ashia a Holy Light Protection Ring.
• Zong Shen awarded Colby a Wolfheart Ranger Thousand-Captain Half-Armor, and Colby declared his loyalty to Zong Shen.
• Zong Shen gave Kaginia a Wind Spirit Elemental Perception Wand, making the boy smile with excitement.

Zong Shen distributed equipment rewards to his heroes and organized the territory’s spellcasters for the next day’s battle. He then visited the disabled Isidore, who accepted the extraction of his spatial talent and continued to refuse to abandon his loyalty to Evans.

• Kaginia praised Zong Shen and asked to paint his portrait, and Zong Shen agreed to sit for him after the Defense Challenge.
• Zong Shen rewarded Vereesa with a warbow and light armor, then gave Favid a pair of wings that granted flight.
• Zong Shen heard Favid’s report on the spellcasters and assigned Doris to oversee the fire mage group in the next day’s battle.
• Zong Shen and Favid found Isidore in a stone house, where the injured former butler remained devoted to Evans and agreed to let Zong Shen take his talent.
• Zong Shen told Isidore he would extract his talent without killing him, then offered him a roasted meat feast and wine.

Zong Shen siphoned Isidore’s spatial talent and granted his wish to die, then accepted Isidore’s quest to purge the ruins of Piroya Village and uncover a Shadowfall Demon ruin. After arranging Isidore’s cremation and distributing equipment, Zong Shen rode Little Blackie around the territory to inspect its defenses.

• Zong Shen siphoned Isidore’s spatial talent and killed him at Isidore’s request.
• After Isidore died, a memory replay revealed that Evans had saved him from the Night Demons that destroyed Piroya Village, though Evans had been possessed by a Shadowfall Demon’s remnant soul.
• Isidore’s soul asked Zong Shen to investigate the demon well at Piroya Village, and Zong Shen accepted the quest to purge the ruins and excavate the Shadowfall Demon site.
• Isidore asked to have his body cremated and his ashes scattered, so Zong Shen ordered Favid to carry out his wishes and contacted San Pang to arrange cleanup.
• Zong Shen visited the Gardening Workshop, gave Salome Forestspeech the Verdant Vitality Staff, and found Vereesa, Luna, and Sophie discussing how to cultivate two Ancient Tree seeds.
• Zong Shen mounted Little Blackie and flew around the territory, surveying the newly erected Mana Charging Towers.

Zong Shen finalized the territory’s defenses and preparations for the coming Defense Challenge, then began the twelve-hour Lion Baptism with Blood Wolf Gugat and Saint Joan. The baptism had just begun, leaving Zong Shen and Gugat soaking in the potion while Saint Joan bathed separately.

• Zong Shen inspected the territory’s fortifications with Little Blackie and adjusted the defensive tower placements with Maryl, Howie, and Betty.
• Zong Shen planned the troops’ assignments, supplies, command structure, and possible counterattacks for the Defense Challenge.
• Zong Shen ordered Maryl to prepare extra supplies and arranged for the heroes to take their assigned roles when the troops assembled the next morning.
• Zong Shen contacted Blood Wolf Gugat and Saint Joan, prepared 180 liters of warm water, and mixed in the Lion Baptism Potion.
• Zong Shen divided the glowing potion liquid into three portions, and Saint Joan took hers to a separate room while Zong Shen and Gugat began soaking in the hall.

Zong Shen completed his Fifth Order Lion Baptism before the Defense Challenge, then watched Luna advance into a Fifth Order Night Elf Silvermoon Huntress Queen. The chapter ended with Luna equipped for battle and Zong Shen reflecting on her unexpectedly Legendary aptitude and the territory’s other powerful figures.

• Zong Shen completed the Fifth Order Lion Baptism and gained increases to his attributes and Command Value.
• Zong Shen and Luna spoke about Earth before Luna used the Dark Night Advancement Book on herself and Mori.
• Luna advanced into a Fifth Order Night Elf Silvermoon Huntress Queen, gaining stronger attributes, updated skills, and standard-issue equipment.
• Zong Shen discovered that Luna had Legendary aptitude with a Nurturing New Life suffix and had reached level 21.
• Luna replaced parts of her new standard-issue gear with her Guardian Light Armor and Shadowveil Moon Glaive.

Zong Shen rewarded Reese Ulysses with a Magic Talent Enhancement Scroll, raising her loyalty and strengthening several of her spatial abilities. After reviewing the upgrades, he learned that her enhanced Life Gravity could turn her into a dangerous living singularity, though powerful foes might resist it.

• Zong Shen gave Reese Ulysses a Magic Talent Enhancement Scroll and her loyalty rose from 89 to 94.
• Reese Ulysses used the scroll, improving her magic talent and raising her loyalty to 97.
• Zong Shen examined her upgraded Enhanced Intermediate Blink, Enhanced Three-Dimensional Collapse, and Enhanced Shadow Wormhole skills.
• Zong Shen reviewed Reese Ulysses's enhanced Life Gravity, which drew in and compressed nearby matter by burning her life.

Zong Shen prepared his territory for the Defense Challenge and began using his enormous stockpile of recruitment scrolls to summon hundreds of new warriors. After summoning troops from the Second through Fifth Orders, he was left preparing to continue activating the remaining higher-tier scrolls.

• Zong Shen considered using Reese Ulysses and Blood Wolf Gugat's self-destruction abilities during the Defense Challenge, then dismissed the skill information.
• Luna stayed in the Lord's Fortress to monitor the battle while Zong Shen went to the assembly grounds to use his recruitment scrolls.
• Zong Shen activated his Second-Order scrolls, summoning Wolf Cavalry, farmers, and Light Crossbowmen as Colby, Maryl, and other Heroes organized the newcomers.
• Zong Shen used 255 Third-Order recruitment scrolls, adding troops across many types, especially Elf units, while the territory's Warriors gathered.
• Zong Shen summoned 98 Fourth-Order troops and then activated 35 Fifth-Order scrolls, most of which recruited elven units.

Zong Shen recruited his remaining Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Order troops and began reviewing unfamiliar units as the army gathered. After adding seventeen Tier 3 Dire Wolf Cavalry to Colby’s formation, he inspected the attributes of the newly recruited Saland Camel Skirmishers and learned how their desert-trained mounts performed in different terrain.

• Zong Shen activated the Fifth Order recruitment scrolls, then summoned the Sixth and Seventh Order troops, most of them elven Warriors.
• Zong Shen considered the Wild Wolf Clan Ruins as a possible source of recruits and supplies for expanding his Wolf Cavalry forces.
• Zong Shen had Colby lead the seventeen newly recruited Tier 3 Dire Wolf Cavalry into formation.
• Zong Shen examined the four Saland Camel Skirmishers and their crossbows, curved blades, desert clothing, and marching supplies.
• Zong Shen inspected a Camel Skirmisher’s attributes and learned that camel riders could endure hunger and thirst but were disadvantaged in mountains and frozen tundra.

Zong Shen organized newly recruited Huntresses, camel rangers, and Orc Bloodfury Warriors into the territory’s forces while higher-order recruits continued to arrive. He then examined a Third-Order Raptor Druid, whose birdlike appearance and spellcasting form distinguished him from the Druid of the Claw.

• Zong Shen assigned four Saland Third-Order Camel Rangers and 95 Night Huntresses to Vereesa’s formation.
• Zong Shen inspected three Orc Bloodfury Warriors and decided to add them to the Berserker Axe Warriors under Rudnev.
• Zong Shen drew his two gold weapons when the Orc Bloodfury Warriors showed reluctance, and they accepted Rudnev’s command.
• Mappel and Madeline arrived with archers and crossbowmen, and Zong Shen assigned the Third-Order archers and related troops to their units.
• Zong Shen kept a Third-Order Raptor Druid behind to inspect him and noted his feathered appearance and spellcaster form.

Zong Shen inspected his troops and welcomed Tie Zhu and the scouts back from Dinan Village with supplies and 89 Farmers. He rewarded Tie Zhu, blessed his relationship with Katarina, and promised reforms that would let his people form families.

• Zong Shen examined Sowa Windcrow’s abilities, assigned him to Vereesa’s unit, and organized the arriving Third Order troops.
• Tie Zhu and the scout team returned from Dinan Village with supplies, food, and 89 Farmers, bringing the territory’s total to 7,760 Farmers.
• Zong Shen welcomed Tie Zhu and rewarded him with the Rare-grade Tendon Cutter’s Dagger.
• Tie Zhu and Katarina confessed that they wanted to be together, and Zong Shen gave them his blessing.
• Zong Shen promised Free Citizen reforms, including land and seeds for Farmers, military pay for Warriors, and permission for his subjects to form families.

Zong Shen organized the gathered troops and assigned newly recruited Fourth Order warriors to their formations. He inspected the Nord Dual-Axe Warriors and Avalon Power Strike Cavalry as the army assembly continued.

• Tie Zhu reported that he had brought eight supply carriages, sixteen Grassland Horses, and 89 volunteers from Dinan Village, and Maryl took charge of them.
• Zong Shen returned to the northern open ground, where most troops had assembled into formations under Favid, Doris, Vereesa, and other leaders.
• Zong Shen assigned the Rhodok Sergeants, a Wind Element mage, and fifty Night Huntress Queens to their respective groups.
• Zong Shen inspected Heriberto, a Fourth Order Nord Dual-Axe Warrior, and sent the three Dual-Axe Warriors to join Rudnev's squad.
• Three Avalon Power Strike Cavalry introduced themselves to Zong Shen, who inspected Connis Moka's attributes and combat skills.

Zong Shen inspected the Fourth Order Avalon Power Strike Cavalry and welcomed four Dragon Blood Spear and Shield Warriors into his territory. He examined Sam’s attributes and learned that dragon blood baptism made the warriors formidable defenders, leaving him impressed by their strength and abilities.

• Zong Shen reviewed the Avalon Power Strike Cavalry and assigned them to join his territory’s mixed cavalry formation.
• The four Dragon Blood Spear and Shield Warriors Sam, Yarlin, Bauman, and Chad knelt before Zong Shen, reported for duty, and received his welcome.
• Zong Shen inspected Sam’s attributes and noticed his low-grade dragon blood baptism enhancement.
• Zong Shen examined Sam’s skills, including his defensive formation, taunt, bulwark, and temporary dragon incarnation abilities.
• Zong Shen compared the Dragon Blood Spear and Shield Warriors with Rhodok Sergeants and concluded their strength and armor were at least as impressive.

Zong Shen inspected the newly recruited elf and dragon-kin troops, comparing their strengths and assigning the new shield warriors to Curtis. He examined the Deep Forest Druids of the Claw and ordered Vereesa and Luna to organize and introduce the new elf warriors to the territory.

• Zong Shen demonstrated the Elven Sword Dance to the eight Elf Swordsmen and compared their light fighting style with the territory’s heavy shield warriors.
• Zong Shen decided to seek more Dragon-kin Spear and Shield Warriors from the Dragon-kin Church and assigned four new Dragon Blood Spear and Shield Warriors to Curtis’s command.
• Zong Shen summoned the remaining elf units and inspected Taka Sharpclaw’s attributes as a Deep Forest Druid of the Claw.
• Zong Shen told Vereesa to organize the seven Deep Forest Druids of the Claw and stand by.
• Luna arrived, and Zong Shen asked her to help Vereesa introduce the territory to the new elf warriors.

Zong Shen inspected the Fourth Order Storm Raptor Druids and Elf Swordsmen recruited for his territory, noting their abilities and combat roles. Vereesa led the new warriors into formation, and Zong Shen began inspecting the Night Elf Forestpiercers before the chapter ended on their attributes.

• Zong Shen examined Dia Windcrow's attributes and skills, learning how Storm Raptor Druids could transform into Storm Crows and hurricanes.
• Zong Shen assigned Vereesa to lead the five Storm Raptor Druids into the ranks, then inspected the attributes of Fourth Order Elf Swordsman Yul Julian.
• Zong Shen considered how the new recruits improved the territory's balance of warrior orders and how Vereesa's Silver Covenant might lead him to a valuable legacy.
• Vereesa led the Elf Swordsmen into formation, where they recognized and saluted her as General Vereesa.
• Zong Shen inspected Night Elf Forestpiercer Hurst Owleye, while the author announced a 1/2/1/2 update cycle to make up missed chapters.