Chapter Summaries

Xue Yunfeng devised a plan to send the Undead over the sea to Aoskar Island by using Silk Spider gauze as parachutes and the hurricanes circling the island. Hill watched tens of thousands jump into the storms, uncertain whether their risky approach would succeed.

• Xue Yunfeng explained that Young Master had traded for Silk Spider gauze after gathering valuable herbs from Hill's lawn, then proposed using it to make parachutes.
• Xue Yunfeng planned for the Undead to jump from Hill's mountaintop into the hurricanes and let the winds carry them toward Aoskar Island.
• Perfect Baldhead agreed to make the jump and went to gather burning tobacco, while Susu and Ball Ball reacted with disgust to the spiders and teased Xue Yunfeng.
• Ball Ball told Xue Yunfeng that new guilds could not join the full camp and arranged for Black-and-White Road to hire solo players with payment guaranteed by the alliance.
• At moonrise, Hill watched forty or fifty thousand Undead leap with makeshift silk parachutes and get swept into the twelve hurricanes.

Hill watched the Undead launch a surprise attack on Aoskar Island, where burning, poisonous parachutes and Silk Spiders plunged the Moon Clan into chaos. As the battle escalated, a Silver Moon Temple archbishop appeared beneath the moon, and Hill wondered whether Triton had begun interfering with Aoskar’s control of the Moon Clan.

• Hill hid his Cloud Ship five kilometers from Aoskar Island and watched the Undead approach beneath the bright moon.
• The Undead dropped flame-soaked, bomb-laden parachutes over the island, setting buildings ablaze and poisoning residents as they tried to fight the fires.
• The Moon Clan organized resistance, but the attackers killed scattered defenders and left tens of thousands dead or waiting to resurrect.
• Silk Spiders emerged from the parachutes and invaded houses, worsening the island’s disorder.
• A high-ranking Silver Moon Temple archbishop appeared in the moonlight, while Hill considered the conflict among Oaisis, Aoskar, Triton, and the approaching Sigil.

Hill watched the Undead exploit the Moon Clan’s disorganized defense, leaving the island’s city and mansion badly damaged. As the Moon Clan regrouped, Xue Yunfeng scouted them alone but drowned while evading a patrol, and Hill learned that the Undead could drown.

• The Undead killed the Moon Clan repeatedly at the respawn point, then escaped across the stormy sea as the Moon Clan’s disorganized attacks stretched their respawn timers.
• The Moon Clan discovered its merit tally had fallen sharply after the city and lord’s residence were destroyed, and an armored Knight got the survivors working together to clean up.
• Hill noticed Xue Yunfeng observing the Knight alone from a rock, then watched him evade patrols and slip into the water.
• Moon Clan squads searched for Xue Yunfeng, who sank to avoid them but ran out of health and dissolved into motes of light underwater.
• Hill realized that the Undead could drown and that Xue Yunfeng had died quickly at a depth of less than twenty meters.

After their successful attack on Aoskar Island, Xue Yunfeng and the Undead assessed their rewards and the dangers posed by the sea and Triton. Hill overheard that pirates had recently tested Aglaia City and were trying to establish a new Ocean Goddess, leaving the threat to Umberlee unresolved.

• Xue Yunfeng discussed the Undead’s achievements with Perfect Baldhead and Lu Huayu, and said they could later negotiate with Hill if they needed to move their resurrection altar.
• Xue Yunfeng explained that the sea drained their health and stamina underwater, while Lu Huayu identified Triton as Poseidon’s powerful son and the likely source of their disadvantage at sea.
• Xue Yunfeng warned the guild leaders to watch their stamina and avoid sea creatures that could reveal their positions, while a Swordsman offered fish-skin armor that reduced swimming stamina use.
• Perfect Baldhead said pirates from the Little Sakura Empire had attacked Aglaia City to test its defenses after Hill left, and that they wanted to establish their own Ocean Goddess because the country had stopped wanting to worship Umberlee.
• Lu Huayu reacted in shock when Perfect Baldhead said Umberlee had changed her ways but had not addressed the pirates’ plans.

Lu Huayu warned Umberlee that a new Goddess of Plunder threatened her authority and persuaded her to consider a temporary alliance with Valkur. The group left the discussion wary of an Eden clan leader’s attempt to exploit the danger to undermine Lu Huayu.

• Perfect Baldhead and Lu Huayu discussed the danger posed by a Goddess of Plunder and the renewed activity of powerful beings on Toril.
• Lu Huayu contacted Umberlee, who described her regained control of the Great Sea and her concern about losing her remaining domains.
• Lu Huayu urged Umberlee to cooperate temporarily with Valkur against their shared enemy, and she agreed to have someone negotiate an agreement.
• Lu Huayu arranged for his deputy to visit Umberlee and asked her to remain in the strait region, while the others reacted to his rapport with her.
• A female clan leader suggested involving Aglaia, but Lu Huayu rejected the idea, and Xue Yunfeng’s suggestion that she join the Moon Clan drove her away.
• Hill recognized that the clan leader had tried to exploit Umberlee’s situation to sow distrust, but the others did not support her.

Xue Yunfeng warned the Alliance that their former rivals would try to undermine them in the new world, even though only a fraction of those rivals had entered so far. He left the Alliance preparing for a possible scheme to establish an Eden before the next wave of players arrived.

• Xue Yunfeng explained that the Alliance had gained most of the rewards and recognition in Toril, leaving their rivals resentful and eager to catch up.
• Perfect Baldhead warned that the rivals’ numbers had grown relative to the Alliance’s and that some Alliance members might not remain loyal if their everyday lives were unaffected.
• Xue Yunfeng said Lu Huayu was approaching, and Lu soon arrived at the Alliance base after rivals had contacted him again.
• Lu Huayu said he had refused to swindle the rivals because they could use transaction records to pressure him, and Xue Yunfeng warned others about the danger of public opinion.
• Xue Yunfeng told the Alliance to watch their families, saying the rivals might delay the Moon Clan’s next entry and establish an Eden before reinforcements arrived.

Xue Yunfeng warned the Alliance leaders that the Moon Clan was trying to divide their forces and use a noblewoman to get close to Hill. Hill overheard their mistaken romantic rumors about him, while Lucimar and Finch discussed the Moon Clan, the Undead, and the Ismail Family’s losses.

• Xue Yunfeng explained that repeated defeats could weaken his authority and fracture the Alliance, allowing Eden to establish territory beyond their influence.
• Lu Huayu said Eden only needed to split the Alliance apart, and Perfect Baldhead and the Battle Domain leader pledged to fight back.
• Xue Yunfeng warned that the Moon Clan was cultivating elven nobles and might use Ellie Sterl to approach Hill.
• Hill listened from the railing and wondered how rumors had linked him romantically with Ellie Sterl.
• Lucimar, Finch, Joshua, and Ted discussed Earl Ster’s planned visit to the Undead leaders and compared the Undead with the Moon Clan.
• Ted reassured Lucimar that several young Ismail Family members had died during the Moon Clan riots, and Lucimar said he had not been worried.

Lucimar explained why his mother had left the royal capital to join him in Basia City, and the nobles agreed to keep the city welcoming to the Undead. Earl Ster and Dieter then set out to establish sentry posts, while Xue Yunfeng’s intelligence reports revealed Ellie was growing close to an Undead alchemist.

• Lucimar refused Ted’s offer to house his mother at Earl Ster’s castle and said she had chosen to stay with him in Basia City.
• Ted, Joshua, and the other attendees agreed that Basia City’s shops would open as usual after dawn to show the Undead they were welcome.
• Earl Ster, Dieter, and thirty knights left at six to set up sentry posts, and Xue Yunfeng approved their request and arranged for the Black Rose Priests to monitor them.
• Ellie visited the Hall of Abundance’s market and grew closer to an Undead alchemist as they discussed alchemy.
• Xue Yunfeng questioned whether the Undead were truly trying to build a relationship with Hill through Ellie.

Xue Yunfeng and the others debated why Eden’s people were encouraging men to admire Ellie, then realized Hill might not have feelings for her at all. Hill had been listening to them through bells and finally clarified that Ellie and the others were merely people he knew and traded with.

• Lu Huayu explained that Eden’s people might see male admiration for Ellie as harmless flattery and a way to get closer to Hill.
• Susu and Young Master questioned whether Hill even liked Ellie, noting that his actions showed no sign of affection for her.
• Perfect Baldhead pointed out that Hill had personally built homes for Lynn in Aglaia City, unlike anything in Stell Castle.
• The group decided that Xue Yunfeng should consult Hill before choosing what to do about Basia City, while Ball Ball suggested buying goods before prices rose.
• An Idler discovered two silver bells beside the window, and the others realized Hill had been listening to their conversation.
• Hill tossed down a bell and said Ellie and the others were merely people he knew and traded with.

Xue Yunfeng apologized to Hill for the Undead’s assumptions about Ellie, and Hill let the matter go by ordering them to plant grass across the mountain. The chapter ended with Xue Yunfeng rallying volunteers to finish the work before nightfall.

• Xue Yunfeng apologized to Hill for the alliance’s rumors and for considering action against Ellie without asking him first.
• Perfect Baldhead explained that Alchemical Mages had overheard Ellie and Alexei discussing Archmage Belfran, prompting the Undead’s speculation about Hill and Ellie.
• Hill asked the Undead to plant grass from the mountain’s foot to its summit as compensation, and Xue Yunfeng agreed.
• Young Master asked Hill what he would do about the group that had acted against Ellie, but Hill dismissed the matter and told them to plant grass.
• Xue Yunfeng gave the alliance three hours to gather and invited willing members of the PVE Family to help plant the seeds before nightfall.

Xue Yunfeng realized Hill had used the grass-planting task to test the Alliance and wondered why Eden had refused to participate. Meanwhile, Ellie’s parents confronted her about her interest in Hill and agreed to let her leave the castle under supervision, while Hill sensed a trace of Oaisis’s power and dismissed it as an unconscious surge.

• Xue Yunfeng explained to Perfect Baldhead that Eden had skipped the grass-planting work because its members saw it as benefiting the Alliance, and he worried they had gained confidence about Ellie.
• Countess Ster confronted Ellie about speaking with the Undead and learning that the Grand Sage’s name was Hill.
• Helena warned Ellie against pursuing Hill for his attention and ordered her to stay in the castle, but Earl Ster insisted she could go out with a maid to monitor the Undead.
• Helena grieved over Ellie’s reckless reliance on luck, and Earl Ster said he wanted her to learn that luck could not protect her from the truly powerful.
• Hill sensed a trace of Oaisis’s power near his Mage Tower, but assumed his natural energy had blown it away.

Hill transformed the mountain into a misty meadow of blue and white bellflowers, with paths leading to glass halls that restored stamina and mana. When Lu Huayu tested whether the halls were accessible to everyone, he learned that newcomers saw only the cliff where people jumped into the wind.

• Hill ignored the Fate Power and used rain and the Crystal Flower Ring to cover the mountain with grass and bellflowers.
• At sunrise, Perfect Baldhead and Xue Yunfeng led the curious group up a path through the new meadow, guided by a bell-bearing puppet.
• The group discovered streams, animals, and a red pony among the flowers, then found glass halls near Hill's Mage Tower.
• Jijiyaya discovered that sitting in the halls restored stamina, while Young Master found that the sofas restored mana and Susu learned the flowers could be used for Blood-Blue Potions.
• Xue Yunfeng suggested sending someone who had not worked the previous day, and Lu Huayu found that the newcomer saw only the cliff and the wind-jumping spot.

Xue Yunfeng and the Undead discovered that Hill’s new illusion formation hid the Mage Tower and restricted the useful vine flowers to those who had completed his grass-planting quest. Ellie tried to reach Hill after realizing he had not left Bacia, but Hill refused to reveal himself or spare her embarrassment.

• Xue Yunfeng had the Undead test whether outsiders could see the hidden path and bell, and Jijiyaya identified Hill’s intricate formation as an illusion formation powered by small plants.
• Xue Yunfeng ordered the Undead to study and gather the flowers; tests showed that people who had not planted grass became nauseous and lost health after consuming them.
• Xue Yunfeng and Perfect Baldhead concluded that Hill had made the flowers valuable to quest participants while frustrating others without provoking open conflict.
• Ellie’s messengers could not find the Mage Tower or deliver her gifts, so she switched to treating her dealings with them strictly as business.
• Ellie flew through the clouds at night to confirm that Grand Sage Belfran remained in Bacia, but Hill watched her search until dawn and refused to speak to her.

Linde told Dieter how resentment over Ellie’s good fortune had warped his feelings, but their conversation was interrupted when an impostor wearing Aunt Parris’s face attacked Dieter and vanished in pale light. The Ster family rushed to help Dieter and began searching for the intruder, while Linde revealed the attacker had not expected him to drink.

• Linde told Dieter that he resented Ellie’s effortless good fortune and hoped she would fail once so he would not feel like the family’s only failure.
• Dieter poured Linde’s icy drink down his throat to make him sleep, and the housekeeper warned that Ellie might become more determined after her first major setback.
• Dieter realized the housekeeper was not Aunt Parris and attacked her, but the impostor knocked him down with a whip and vanished in pale light.
• Linde called for help, and Earl Ster, Ted, and Parris rushed into the sitting room as the castle’s guards hurried upstairs.
• Ted assessed Dieter’s broken ribs and likely broken leg, while Earl Ster gave Parris permission to use any means necessary to pursue the attacker.
• Linde told Earl Ster that the woman had disappeared as light and had not known he would drink alcohol.

The Ster Family realized that an impostor posing as Parris had infiltrated their castle, injured Dieter, and may have been a Silk Spider. After hearing the family’s account, Hill concluded that Rose had come to Oaisis, but he could not understand why she had visited the Ster Family.

• Parris, Ted, and the others investigated the impostor’s likely disguise and discovered that the castle’s identity array had accepted her as the real Parris.
• Dieter recovered enough to recount how the impostor struck him and spoke about Grand Sage Belfran and something being wrong with the world.
• The family learned that a kitchen skinner was missing and suspected the impostor might have been a Silk Spider; Parris sent Kushiling Hounds to search the castle grounds.
• Earl Ster and Anos went to inspect the grounds, while Dieter headed to report the incident to the Undead and Ellie refused to seek out Belfran.
• Hill received the Undead’s report and identified the visitor as Rose, then wondered why she had come to Oaisis to visit the Ster Family.

After the Ster Family discovered that hounds had turned on their human keepers, Earl Ster executed the servants who hid the danger and ordered another search for the intruder. He fortified Stell Castle and hired the Undead to guard the auction, while Hill remained on the mountain and learned that Rose had arrived.

• Earl Ster learned that the hounds had fought because the new generation had eaten human flesh and ordered the negligent servants executed, expelling their relatives from the castle.
• The priests and Mages searched Stell Castle but found no entry route until the Silver Moon High Priest revealed traces of a tiny creature on a carriage wheel; the Rune High Priest later received word that it was gone.
• The Ster Family coated its vehicles, roads, and buildings with Moonlight Stone metal, turning Stell Castle into a glowing fortress and pushing the family toward bankruptcy.
• Hill ignored the auction invitation and stayed on the mountain after Rose arrived, trusting that the World Tree would deter her from attacking him directly.
• Earl Ster hired the Undead to guard the auction hall, and Hill reflected on the earl's preference for spending money rather than risking the Basia City army.

The Ster Family’s auction hall was attacked by the Moon Clan, while Scarlet’s navy launched an assault on Basia City’s port. As Hill helped limit the damage, he and Oaisis considered what had emboldened Triton, and Oaisis raised the possibility of scorpions.

• A Damboro noble activated a one-time teleportation array in the Hall of Abundance, allowing the Moon Clan to begin arriving despite the Ster Family’s defenses.
• Ellie evacuated auction guests in flying carriages and metal pods, while Earl Ster ordered the undead to handle the attackers.
• Dieter and the city guards urged people to leave the commercial street, and Hill raised stone walls to reduce the danger from fighters falling out of the damaged hall.
• The Moon Clan and undead clashed around the Hall of Abundance as fires spread, while Basia City’s army headed for the port in response to the Scarlet Navy’s arrival.
• Hill wondered whether Rose and Triton had a larger scheme, then asked Oaisis what weakness they might be exploiting; Oaisis suggested scorpions when Hill considered bugs.

Hill explained how Oaisis’s drought had helped Rose’s Mutant Silk Spiders spread, while Oaisis recounted the devastation they caused among the Terrasil Elves. The Elven Forest split and weakened, and the chapter ended by describing the monstrous Wormwalker, Kyuss.

• Hill warned Oaisis that drought could bring insect plagues, and he realized that Rose’s Mutant Silk Spiders threatened the desert despite his scorpions.
• Hill connected the spiders’ early mutation to the Elves’ consumption of Crystal Fruits, while Oaisis cursed Rose for exploiting the Elves’ departure.
• Oaisis told Hill how the new Elven Queen transformed into Silk Spiders and how Corellon intervened to contain the outbreak in the Elven Forest.
• The Mutant Silk Spiders weakened Elves used in marriage alliances, shortened their lives, and damaged their ability to advance.
• Many refugees joined the Half-Elf Kingdom, splitting the Elven Forest and reducing the Elven God-King’s hold over his people.
• The chapter described Kyuss’s Wormwalker form as a towering mass of writhing worms concealed beneath a cloak of human skin.

Hill discussed Oaisis’s motives and the danger posed by Triton, while Oaisis reflected on the costs of godhood and his experiment with the sea god. As Oaisis went to confront Triton, Scarlet’s forces attacked Basia City, unaware that Xue Yunfeng had already sent elite Undead legions to its defense.

• Oaisis explained that he had accepted Triton’s arrival to test a Water Law, but had not wanted Triton to control or erase his mind.
• Hill considered how Oaisis’s rationality and many outward personas differed from the path to godhood he once thought he might take.
• Oaisis left to face Triton as a storm gathered over the sea outside Basia City.
• Scarlet’s strategists underestimated the Undead after believing the Moon Clan’s exaggerated account of the battle on Aoskar Island.
• Xue Yunfeng had already sent elite Undead legions with Dieter to reinforce Basia City, while the Moon Clan kept fighting in the Hall of Abundance.

Raymond and the Scarlet High Priest watched Scarlet warriors battle the Undead, discussing their sacrifices, Triton’s plans, and the danger of provoking Oaisis. Hill noticed that the Scarlet soldiers’ vitality was draining abnormally during the battle and suspected Scarlet had allied with an Evil God.

• Raymond grieved that Scarlet’s aging warriors were being treated as pieces in a game, while the High Priest explained that they had chosen to fight for glory and their descendants.
• The High Priest said Triton had only helped the Gate Deity find an opening, warning that Oaisis might reboot the world if he detected a true alliance.
• Raymond complained that the Moon Clan had been wiped out and mourned the loss of Scarlet’s newest warships, while the High Priest defended the sacrifices as necessary to secure a temple on Aoskar Island.
• Raymond wished that the eldest miss of the Sterl family had fallen in love with him, and the High Priest rebuked him before going into the cabin.
• Hill noticed that the Scarlet soldiers’ vitality lights had turned gray-white and focused on the battlefield, suspecting Scarlet had colluded with an Evil God.