Chapter Summaries

Lu Xingshi used vast quantities of Earth Element Essence to fuse his Life Seed and Soul Seed through his heart, resolving their conflict and creating the Heart of the Earth ability. He began a weeklong period of rapid growth, but still needed powerful Heavy Armor to fully benefit from the ability.

• The disappearance of soil and rock prompted Grand Duke Haipa to launch a sweeping operation, while Lu Xingshi took a mine and forest farm after a neighboring noble died and his heirs fought over succession.
• Lu Xingshi consumed two bottles of New White Rock Potion and large amounts of Earth Element Essence to form his Life Seed and Soul Seed.
• Lu Xingshi guided the two seeds together and fused them through his heart, transforming his Life Force and elementalization into elementalized Life Force.
• Lu Xingshi gained the Heart of the Earth ability, which granted powerful earth-based enhancements, defenses, and revival effects.
• Lu Xingshi noted that he needed Heavy Armor comparable to the Earth King's Shield to activate Earth Blessing.

After condensing the Heart of the Earth, Lu Xingshi activated the Earth King's Shield’s Overlord Body effect and assessed his new abilities and limitations. He planned to seek Earth Element Essence, resources, and stronger techniques in the royal capital, where he intended to negotiate from a position of strength.

• Lu Xingshi retrieved the Earth King's Shield, whose resonance with the Heart of the Earth activated the Overlord Body effect, though the shield remained sealed and difficult to wield.
• He reviewed his beginner techniques, Simplified Shield Guard and Mud Skin Technique, and recognized that he needed to absorb Earth Element particles to advance beyond the incomplete formal stage.
• Lu Xingshi realized that Small Earth Element Essence had become insufficient and that he needed perfect-quality Medium Earth Element Essence, but producing it would require enormous resources.
• He questioned why he could make perfect-quality Small Earth Element Essence when the world’s conditions seemed unable to support its creation, and decided to gather more information rather than risk exposing himself.
• Lu Xingshi considered selling the Artificial Small Earth Element Essence extraction technique to the Imperial Family in exchange for resources and heavy armor, while keeping the purification method secret.
• He planned to travel to the royal capital, pursue a higher title, and obtain additional Earth-element Breathing Techniques and Meditation Techniques from the Royal Family.

Lu Xingshi resumed cultivation, then received Royal Advisor Siris, who had come to investigate Viscount Moco’s death and the Haipa Duchy incident. Siris dismissed suspicion of Lu Xingshi after accepting a gift of Earth Element Essence and confirmed that shamans were blamed for both incidents before continuing his inquiries elsewhere.

• Lu Xingshi assessed his slow cultivation progress and decided to notify his territory officials before traveling to the royal capital.
• The Butler told Lu Xingshi that Royal Advisor Siris had arrived to investigate Viscount Moco’s death.
• Siris cited Lu Xingshi’s territorial gains and Grand Duke Haipa’s accusation as reasons for suspicion, but Lu Xingshi insisted that Siris provide evidence.
• Lu Xingshi gave Siris inferior-quality Earth Element Essence, and Siris concluded that the suspicion was a misunderstanding.
• Siris confirmed that Grand Duke Haipa had named Lu Xingshi and said wandering shamans had committed both incidents, then declined Lu Xingshi’s invitation to stay.

Lu Xingshi confirmed he had become a Grand Knight and decided to travel to the royal capital to negotiate with the Royal Family over producing Earth Element Essence. He tested Earth King's Shield’s powers and discovered how its bond with him granted defensive effects, leaving him focused on growing stronger and unsealing the shield.

• Lu Xingshi told the Butler he had condensed a Life Seed, then chose to cooperate with the Royal Family on Earth Element Essence alchemy instead of producing it in the Black Earth Territory.
• Lu Xingshi ordered the Butler to prepare for a trip to the royal capital the next day and said the Guard Captain should bring only a few servants.
• Lu Xingshi tested Earth King's Shield with Simplified Shield Guard and found that the Heart of the Earth generated Earth Shadows that reduced damage.
• Lu Xingshi considered the shield’s limits, including its weakened effects when he was far from the earth, and concluded that it could evolve as his Transcendent Seed grew.
• Lu Xingshi discovered that carrying Earth King's Shield on his back still activated its attributes and defensive effects, but letting go of it ended them immediately.

Lu Xingshi left Black Earth Territory on foot for the royal capital because the Earth King's Shield made the carriage too heavy, and he refused to leave the ancestral shield behind. As he traveled alone, he considered the shield’s growing power and the dangers and customs of the wilderness.

• Lu Xingshi’s carriage struggled under the weight of the Earth King's Shield, so he dismissed the Guard Captain and set out for the royal capital on foot.
• The Guard Captain accepted Lu Xingshi’s decision, sent the carriage back, and worried that he had lost a chance to advance his future prospects.
• Lu Xingshi carried the Earth King's Shield because his Transcendent Seed and training let him gradually restore its sealed attributes through resonance.
• As he walked, Lu Xingshi reflected on the kingdom’s wilderness, territorial laws, and the limited economic development within noble lands.
• Lu Xingshi reasoned that his Heart of the Earth aura would deter most wild beasts and suspected the Landon Family’s Earth Element techniques were connected to its source.

Lu Xingshi presented the king with an alchemical technique for refining Earth Element Essence from soil and rock, then negotiated rewards and permission to use the Royal Library. He stayed in the capital while the king took the technique to be verified.

• Lu Xingshi arrived in the capital and met the king, who summoned him after seeing the Landon Family crest on Earth King's Shield.
• Lu Xingshi privately offered the king an alchemical technique for refining Earth Element Essence and revealed that he had become a Grand Knight.
• Lu Xingshi negotiated a ten-percent lifetime share of the profits, a suit of Heavy Armor, Royal Library access, and additional funds, workers, craftsmen, and Development Rights.
• Lu Xingshi handed the king the improved Artificial Earth Element Essence refinement technique, and the king invited him to remain in the capital.
• Lu Xingshi asked to begin reading the kingdom’s collections, and the king assigned a Royal Advisor to escort him while he went to verify the technique.

Lu Xingshi finished studying the Royal Library’s techniques and met the king, who rewarded him with a new title and Development Rights. The king directed him to the Royal Treasure Vault to claim the heavy armor he wanted, while the Queen and king considered how he might serve the royal succession.

• Lu Xingshi read the Royal Library’s collection, found nearly a hundred Earth Element techniques, and concluded he could begin creating his own methods.
• The Royal Advisor led Lu Xingshi to the king, where he noticed the Queen’s active Mental Strength and suspected she was an apprentice wearing a transformed appearance.
• The king praised Lu Xingshi’s alchemy, elevated him to Earl Landon, granted him Development Rights, and bestowed rewards.
• The Queen recognized the significance of Lu Xingshi receiving Development Rights, while the king considered him a potential loyal supporter for his daughter.
• Lu Xingshi asked when he would receive his heavy armor, and the king told him it had been prepared in the Royal Treasure Vault.

Lu Xingshi chose the full suit of Earth Attribute Heavy Armor Mountain Monarch's Domination in the Royal Treasure Vault and discovered that its Mountain inheritance complemented his Earth inheritance. After equipping it with the Earth King's Shield, he examined other shields and planned to persuade the king to give him Gobi Elf's Kiss as well.

• The Imperial Guards commander showed Lu Xingshi three sets of Earth Attribute Heavy Armor, and Lu Xingshi chose the full suit called Mountain Monarch's Domination.
• The commander explained that the armor had belonged to a founding Lineage that died out, and Lu Xingshi recognized its corresponding Mountain Element Breathing Technique and Mountain Element Meditation Technique.
• Lu Xingshi reasoned that his Heart of the Earth could amplify the Mountain inheritance, then put on Mountain Monarch's Domination and secured the Earth King's Shield to its back.
• The commander showed Lu Xingshi the vault's Earth-element shields, and Lu Xingshi selected Gobi Elf's Kiss as a possible future reward.
• Lu Xingshi let the commander reserve Gobi Elf's Kiss while privately deciding to ask the king for the shields directly.

Lu Xingshi obtained Gobi Elf's Kiss and left the royal capital for Black Earth Territory, while suspecting his evolving Glory was improving his luck. The chapter revealed that the King knowingly kept the Queen as a Black Shaman because she brewed a life-extending potion, though he planned to kill her once she was no longer useful.

• Lu Xingshi secured Gobi Elf's Kiss from the King, then refused an escort and departed alone for Black Earth Territory.
• The King considered making Lu Xingshi his daughter's knight instructor, but Lu Xingshi had no interest in teaching the Princess.
• Lu Xingshi sensed that the Queen's Soul Seed was a negative-energy type and suspected the King knew she was a Black Shaman.
• On the road, Lu Xingshi noticed his luck had improved and theorized that his developing Glory was creating a new effect.
• The King demanded his potion from the Queen, who finished brewing Blood Honey Potion and gave it to him.
• The King learned the potion's effects had become ten times stronger and resolved to kill the Queen after she had exhausted her value.

Lu Xingshi killed the men who tried to seize his Heavy Armor, then realized the King might be trying to win him over and began considering how to use that relationship. The King decided to send Princess Catherine to Black Earth Territory to train under Lu Xingshi as her knight instructor.

• Lu Xingshi killed the servants who surrounded him and demanded his Heavy Armor, then planned to use the incident to test the King's intentions.
• Lu Xingshi concluded that the King might be courting his support through his title and Development Rights, and considered serving as a Great General while keeping the successor under his influence.
• Lu Xingshi continued toward Black Earth Territory and suspected the Landon Family had once guarded a hidden mission in the Eternal Frozen Mountain Range.
• The King asked Princess Catherine what she thought of Earl Landon, then decided to send her to Black Earth Territory to become his knight instructor.
• Princess Catherine agreed outwardly to her father's order but intended to keep the Meditation Technique and alchemy books her mother had left her.

After returning to Black Earth Territory, Lu Xingshi declined the king’s request to teach Princess Catherine and began exploring the Eternal Frozen Mountain Range. There, he fought a Transcendent Snow Wolf King and followed it to a gigantic silver-white wolf that spoke to him.

• Lu Xingshi reported the nobleman’s execution to the king, received royal resources for Black Earth Territory, and politely declined the request to become Princess Catherine’s teacher.
• The Royal Family’s support drew attention from neighboring nobles, while Lu Xingshi focused on developing his territory and surveying the Eternal Frozen Mountain Range.
• Lu Xingshi encountered an invisible Snow Wolf Pack and discovered that its leader, the Snow Wolf King, was a Transcendent creature.
• Lu Xingshi fought the Snow Wolf King, injured it with his shield, and followed the fleeing pack toward the mountainside.
• The Snow Wolf King reached a gigantic silver-white wolf, which ignored it, fixed its gaze on Lu Xingshi, and spoke.

Lu Xingshi entered the Eternal Frozen Mountain Range and learned that it was the God Kingdom and body of the dead God of Winter and Ice. After fighting the Giant Wolf and being weakened by Ice and Snow Grievance, he escaped the mountain, while the wounded Giant Wolf remained behind.

• The Giant Wolf told Lu Xingshi that the Eternal Frozen Mountain Range was the God Kingdom and body of the God of Winter and Ice, and warned him to leave.
• Lu Xingshi refused to retreat and attacked the Giant Wolf with Earth King's Shield, knocking it down and killing the Snow Wolf King as the pack rushed to help.
• The Giant Wolf breathed Cold Qi over Lu Xingshi, whose strength weakened as Ice and Snow Grievance drained his warmth and the mountain strengthened the wolf.
• Lu Xingshi put Earth King's Shield away and fled beyond the wind and snow, where the mountain's weakening effects eased and the Giant Wolf stopped pursuing him.
• After Lu Xingshi left, the Giant Wolf's aura weakened and it slowly returned up the mountain, revealing that it had also been badly injured.

Lu Xingshi studied the Ice and Snow Grievance left by the Snow Wolves, removed a living sample from his heart, and planned to expand into the foothills of the Eternal Frozen Mountain Range. In the royal capital, Princess Catherine sensed a call from the north and began plotting to use the new Queen’s scheme against the King to secure her own power.

• Lu Xingshi discovered that the Ice and Snow Markings suppressed his Transcendent Seed and resembled aspects of divinity, and he considered whether he could claim the inheritance of the dead gods.
• Lu Xingshi cut the markings from his heart while keeping the affected tissue alive, then regenerated his heart and preserved the sample for study.
• Lu Xingshi headed toward the Black Earth Territory and planned to acquire land and subjects among the Barbarians near the Eternal Frozen Mountain Range.
• Princess Catherine sensed an unseen call from the north and wondered whether her mother’s pendant or spirit had summoned her, but she had no way to travel north.
• Princess Catherine concluded that the new Queen planned to use the dwarves of Iron Furnace Forest to kill the King, and she considered exploiting the plot to gain the dwarves’ allegiance and build her own power.

Lu Xingshi investigated the Winter Wolf and the God of Winter and Ice, then learned that his workers had uncovered Frost Giant skeletons near the Eternal Frozen Mountain Range. He decided to turn the remains into luxury goods for nobles and send the finest one to the king, while keeping his research into the gods unresolved.

• Lu Xingshi researched the Ice and Snow Grievance and learned that the Winter Wolf was an incarnation of the God of Winter and Ice, likely surviving as residual Divinity after the god's death.
• The Butler told Lu Xingshi that workers had uncovered a huge humanoid skeleton near the Eternal Frozen Mountain Range, and Lu Xingshi identified it as a Frost Giant.
• Lu Xingshi found a depression in the Frost Giant's skull and concluded that the Earth King's Shield had smashed it to death.
• After workers uncovered more skeletons, Lu Xingshi ordered them to stop digging until an excavation plan was arranged, while the finance officer proposed selling the remains to nobles.
• Lu Xingshi agreed to have craftsmen repair and customize the skeletons as luxurious displays and to present the king with the finest one.

Lu Xingshi prepared a gold-and-jewel-covered Frost Giant Skeleton to send to the King and set terms for financiers and neighboring lords seeking a share in developing the Eternal Frozen Mountain Range. The chapter ended with Princess Catherine hearing winter’s soul wail and suspecting that something in the north was connected to Earl Landon.

• Lu Xingshi learned that the finance officer had gilded the Frost Giant Skeleton with a thin layer of gold over copper and promised to confer knighthood on the officer and his son if they earned one million Gold Coins.
• Lu Xingshi ordered the Guard Captain and Deputy Security Officer to escort the skeleton to the Royal Capital, then rejected Viscount Moco and the other nobles’ proposed development agreements, offering loans without collateral instead.
• The Butler told Lu Xingshi that workers had uncovered a new skeleton resembling an Elf, and Lu Xingshi ordered them to wait for the King’s rewards before excavating more and to send the first completed skeleton to the King.
• Princess Catherine heard low chants saying that the soul of winter was wailing, but hid what she had heard from the King.
• The King encouraged Catherine and mentioned that Earl Landon had refused to become her knight instructor, while Catherine watched the northern clouds and wondered what was happening in the Eternal Frozen Mountain Range.

After forcing the surrounding nobles to accept their losses, Lu Xingshi addressed Black Earth Territory’s winter food shortage and growing population by ordering more food purchases and continued refugee settlement. He also arranged for native subjects to become administrators and agreed to meet Scholars arriving from the Royal Capital.

• Lu Xingshi used force and the threat of an Honor Duel to silence nobles who accused him of killing their relatives and seizing their profits.
• The Butler warned Lu Xingshi that Black Earth Territory had enough food for the winter only if its population stopped growing, and Lu Xingshi ordered him to buy as much food as possible.
• Lu Xingshi instructed the Butler to keep accepting refugees and gradually promote native Landon Family subjects to manage newcomers, while preventing officials from abusing them.
• The Butler told Lu Xingshi that Scholars from the Royal Capital had arrived seeking work, and Lu Xingshi agreed to meet them.

Lu Xingshi’s Guard Captain presented the king with a Frost Giant skeleton and a letter that implied Black Earth Territory needed help, and the king promised to send food. Afterward, the king reflected on the Landon family’s northern legacy and considered how to extend his own life while concealing the Queen’s worsening madness.

• The king accepted Lu Xingshi’s Frost Giant skeleton and read his letter, recognizing the gift and praise as an appeal for support.
• The king promised to send food to Black Earth Territory before dismissing Lu Xingshi’s Guard Captain.
• The king summoned royal craftsmen to refurbish the skeleton and recalled the Frost Giants, the Eternal Frozen Mountain Range, and the Landon family’s former role guarding it.
• The king assessed Lu Xingshi’s slow growth and worried that his Blood Honey Potion would soon stop extending his life.
• The king considered finding another life-extending potion and decided the Queen’s Soul Seed-driven madness had to be handled before it became a Royal Family scandal.

Lu Xingshi developed resistance to the Ice and Snow Grievance and examined the Winter Canon, learning about the Four Seasons God System but finding little practical use in the damaged book. Meanwhile, Princess Catherine asked the king for the reforged Frost Giant statue and had it placed in her bedchamber.

• Lu Xingshi developed resistance to the Ice and Snow Grievance but remained unsure he could capture Winter Wolf alive.
• The Butler brought Lu Xingshi the Winter Canon, a damaged priestly book unearthed from the Ten Thousand Corpse Pit.
• Lu Xingshi read about the Four Seasons God System and the God of Winter and Ice, but found the rituals and information about Winter Wolf largely useless.
• Lu Xingshi concluded that gods were part of the world's natural order and wondered whether an Earth God System existed.
• Princess Catherine asked the king for the reforged Frost Giant statue, and he had it delivered to her bedchamber.

Lu Xingshi questioned Winter Wolf about the God of Winter and Ice, Twilight of the Gods, and the Earth God System. He learned that the Earth God and Life was the strongest chief god and that his remains might lie somewhere to the south, then gave Winter Wolf the Winter Canon.

• Lu Xingshi approached the edge of the Eternal Frozen Mountain Range with the Winter Canon, and Winter Wolf emerged to confront him.
• Lu Xingshi asked Winter Wolf about the God of Winter and Ice, and Winter Wolf revealed that several generations of kings had tried to seize its Divinity and power.
• Winter Wolf recounted what it knew about the God of Winter and Ice but said it did not know the truth behind Twilight of the Gods.
• Lu Xingshi asked about the Earth God System, and Winter Wolf identified its chief god as the God of Earth and Life, said the system was also called the Life God System, and pointed him south to search for the god's kingdom and corpse.
• Winter Wolf explained that a god's Divinity did not always survive its fall, and Lu Xingshi gave it the Winter Canon as thanks.

After studying Winter Wolf’s elemental nature, Lu Xingshi developed Element Particle Beam Technology and accelerated his cultivation. Meanwhile, Catherine discovered she could command the Frost Giant’s corpse, which greeted her as queen.

• Lu Xingshi learned from Winter Wolf that its body consisted of Divinity and Ice Element particles, and that it was tied to the wind and snow across the Eternal Frozen Mountain Range.
• Lu Xingshi used Winter Wolf’s fur as a research sample and developed Element Particle Beam Technology to gather elemental particles, increasing his strength dramatically.
• Lu Xingshi found that Earth Element particles replenished themselves and began investigating their source while considering how to gain Winter Wolf’s favor and obtain its Godhood.
• Catherine sensed an icy connection to the Frost Giant’s corpse and suspected it came from her mother’s White Shaman bloodline and a link to Winter Wolf.
• Catherine addressed the Frost Giant as a soldier, and its corpse shifted and greeted her as queen.