Chapter Summaries

Han Qing persuaded King Han to continue the war against North Sea Kingdom while sending an envoy with severe terms for peace. At court, King Han announced the demands, provoking alarm among the ministers over whether North Sea Kingdom would accept them.

• King Han dismissed the court debate and summoned Han Qing to advise him on war or peace.
• Han Qing argued that Shenzhou Kingdom should press its military advantage and rescue its captured subjects, while making demands of North Sea Kingdom to forestall Cangling Kingdom’s intervention.
• King Han weighed Han Qing’s political abilities, warned her cousin Han Feng was no longer safe in Shenzhou City, and postponed his decision until the next day.
• Han Qing cautioned Han Feng that King Han had grown wary of him and advised him to keep a low profile.
• King Han ordered Shenzhou’s armies to keep advancing and announced demands for the return of captives, territory, reparations, Xiao Lin’s surrender, and Chen Song’s release.
• The ministers reacted with alarm, doubting North Sea Kingdom would accept the terms and worrying that the demand against Xiao Lin could provoke the Prophet Nalan Hongchuo.

King Han sent Han Feng and Wei Zihan to negotiate while ordering supplies to the front and keeping the war effort underway. Jiang Hao joined the Self-Defense Army and New Shenzhou Army in a swift assault that captured Baishan Town, where Yu Guangguang returned with Bai Bingbing and Qin Shu.

• King Han approved harsh negotiation demands, appointed Han Feng as envoy, and allowed him to take Wei Zihan along after Wei Chun recommended him.
• Jiang Hao reasoned that Nalan Hongchuo could use her mental power to send intelligence through dreams, and noticed his own mental power had doubled since the encounter.
• Jiang Hao changed the plan so both armies would attack Baishan Town, while Han Min distributed the Ace Army to protect the supply corridor.
• Jiang Hao opened Baishan Town's gates, and his forces captured the town in under half an hour as Wang Chongqing retreated with the main force.
• Guo Dundun remembered the supplies he had hidden, and Yu Guangguang returned with more than twenty oxcarts, Bai Bingbing, and Qin Shu.

Jiang Hao weighed the threat to his supply lines and Wumeng City before deciding to lead thirty thousand troops on a surprise march to the Han Palace Royal Court. He left his allies debating the risky gamble and whether they would follow him.

• Jiang Hao learned that Qin Shu wanted to fight the Northern Barbarians, so he sent him to train with the Infantry Regiment under Zhang Jun.
• Jiang Hao’s army found Wubai Town abandoned and empty, ruining his plan to supply the army through conquest.
• Jiang Hao warned Liao Yunxiao that the enemy could cut their land supply lines, and she agreed to protect their supplies with five thousand men.
• Jiang Hao received word that Xiao Lin’s army had appeared near the roads to Wumeng City and Baishan Town, threatening his supply route and Wumeng City.
• Jiang Hao proposed leading thirty thousand troops to strike the Han Palace Royal Court, but Jiang Hailong and Guo Dundun questioned the plan.

Jiang Hao secretly set out with a small group for the Han Palace Royal Court, relying on his enormous Army Ant force as his trump card. Meanwhile, Xiao Lin devastated the supply lines and attacked Wumeng City and the City of Eternity, leaving the forces at Hengyang City divided over whether to turn back and help.

• Jiang Hao left Guo Dundun in command of the assault on Hengyang City and secretly took thirty thousand troops toward the Han Palace Royal Court, then separated from Gongsun Qianxun, Liu Zhiwei, and Ru Xue to evade Nalan Hongchuo.
• Jiang Hao checked the Army Ant Queen’s information and found that she commanded hundreds of thousands of Worker Ants, Poison Ants, Explosive Ants, and Combat Ants.
• Xiao Lin ambushed all five supply routes, severely wounded Liao Yunxiao, and destroyed much of a shipment meant to supply an army of 670,000 for a month.
• Xiao Lin’s army attacked Wumeng City, where Han Min’s forces suffered heavy casualties, while 100,000 Northern Barbarians Army troops besieged the City of Eternity after reinforcements had been sent away.
• Han Min requested help, and Guo Dundun proposed returning to Wumeng City with the Beast Tamer Battalion while Cai Tianming continued the attack on Hengyang City.
• Jiang Hailong, Song Jie, and other officers warned Guo Dundun that the journey would take too long, Xiao Lin could not be checked without Jiang Hao, and the army lacked enough supplies to retake Wumeng City.

Guo Dundun and Cai Tianming advanced on Hengyang City while Jiang Hao arrived with thirty thousand troops at the Han Palace Royal Court and agreed to allow peace talks for two days. The chapter ended with Jiang Hao learning that Xiao Lin had cut off the supply route, wounded Liao Yunxiao, and attacked Wumeng City while the 670,000-strong army remained stalled at Hengyang.

• Guo Dundun and Cai Tianming independently decided to attack Hengyang City, and their armies began advancing there.
• Jiang Hao met Nalan Hongchuo in a dream, rejected her offer to persuade the North Sea Emperor to end the invasion, and vowed to capture her.
• Jiang Hao reached the Han Palace Royal Court with thirty thousand troops, alarming the North Sea Emperor and the defenders.
• Wen Ruxue told Jiang Hao that Nalan Hongchuo had urged her in a dream to negotiate peace, and she volunteered to speak with the North Sea Emperor and the hostages.
• Jiang Hao granted Wen Ruxue two days for negotiations and ordered his troops to camp and prepare siege weapons.
• Liu Zhiwei reported that Xiao Lin had cut off supplies, wounded Liao Yunxiao, and attacked Wumeng City while the army of 670,000 had failed to take Hengyang City.

Wen Ruxue entered the Han Palace Royal Court to negotiate with the North Sea Emperor on behalf of Jiang Hao, but he had her tortured to uncover the Self-Defense Army’s secret. Her wounds healed almost immediately, revealing the Immortal Body and leaving the emperor and his ministers eager to learn how to obtain it.

• Wen Ruxue entered the Han Palace Royal Court after the North Sea Emperor agreed to receive her, and she saw Shenzhou people being sold and treated as slaves.
• Wen Ruxue rejected a minister’s demand that she kneel, then argued that the North Sea Kingdom should release Shenzhou captives, cede territory, pay reparations, and punish Xiao Lin.
• The North Sea Emperor asked Wen Ruxue how the Self-Defense Army’s soldiers resisted death, and she refused to reveal the military secret.
• The North Sea Emperor ordered his guards to torture Wen Ruxue, while Han Feng and Chen Song protested.
• Wen Ruxue fainted from the blows, but her wounds healed, and the North Sea Emperor recognized her Immortal Body as the Self-Defense Army’s secret.

The North Sea Emperor had Wen Ruxue mentally interrogated, leaving her severely damaged, and used her as a hostage against Jiang Hao. After rescuing her and surviving an ambush by five Transcendent Masters, Jiang Hao unleashed his fury on the city as the Self-Defense Army prepared to fight its way inside.

• The North Sea Emperor ordered Nalan Hongchuo to interrogate Wen Ruxue, who was left vacant, though the interrogation revealed the Ice Cave Military Camp’s location.
• Jiang Hao saw Wen Ruxue held on the city wall, ignored the defending general’s demand to withdraw, and caught her after she was pushed off the gate tower.
• Five Transcendent Masters ambushed Jiang Hao and Big Hen, but the New-Style Potion kept Jiang Hao alive while Gongsun Qianxun carried Wen Ruxue to safety.
• Big Hen badly wounded one of the Transcendent Masters, and Jiang Hao killed the defending general before flying into the city and setting the Northern Barbarians in the Archway ablaze.
• The five Transcendent Masters blocked the city gate as the Self-Defense Army advanced, and Jiang Hao used his spells to immobilize the one holding back the army.

Jiang Hao led the Self-Defense Army’s assault on the Han Palace Royal Court and killed three of its five Transcendent Masters, but Nalan Hongchuo’s mental attack incapacitated him and forced Gongsun Qianxun to order a retreat. The army withdrew with Jiang Hao unconscious and Wen Ruxue still gravely afflicted, leaving the siege unresolved.

• Jiang Hao and the Self-Defense Army broke through the city gate, while Jiang Hao killed one Transcendent Master and Big Hen killed the werewolf blocking the passage.
• Jiang Hao lured the remaining three Transcendent Master Werewolves outside the city and killed another with Heaven-Burning Flames and Nine Heavens Phoenix Dance.
• Nalan Hongchuo’s mental attack caused Jiang Hao to lose focus and consciousness, allowing the two surviving Werewolves to charge at him.
• Gongsun Qianxun ordered the Self-Defense Army to retreat and protect Jiang Hao, and Liu Zhiwei led his men back from inside the city.
• Liu Zhiwei learned that Wen Ruxue remained unresponsive and that her soul might have suffered severe damage.

Jiang Hao relived a future battle in which the Desert Star ambushed and routed his Self-Defense Army, then realized Nalan Hongchuo had trapped him in a dream. He destroyed the dream and awoke beside Wen Ruxue with his mental power doubled again.

• Jiang Hao witnessed his future self leading three hundred thousand Self-Defense Army soldiers across the desert on an expedition against the Cangling Kingdom.
• The Desert Star ambushed the camp with Elf Leopard and Ghost Cat Beast Tamers, overwhelming the Self-Defense Army.
• Jiang Hao discovered that the vacant-eyed version of himself was a trap, then entered its body and found that Guo Dundun could see him.
• Jiang Hao recognized Nalan Hongchuo's dream and unleashed his Beast skills against everyone in it, destroying the dream and waking in a military tent beside Wen Ruxue.
• Jiang Hao found that breaking free had doubled his mental power, restoring it to the eight-hour standard for controlling Big Hen.

After recovering from Nalan Hongchuo’s dream attack, Jiang Hao resumed his assault on the Han Palace Royal Court and fought his way to its gates. Xiao Lin suddenly arrived with a Werewolf army and launched an attack, leaving Jiang Hao facing a dangerous rematch.

• Jiang Hao awoke after three days unconscious and told Gongsun Qianxun to summon Liu Zhiwei.
• Jiang Hao decided to continue attacking the Han Palace Royal Court and confronted its two remaining Transcendent Master Werewolves at the gates.
• Jiang Hao used the Lure Skill to draw the Werewolves away, then burned through the Northern Barbarian guards with Fire Whirlwind.
• Xiao Lin arrived with ranks of Werewolves, surprising Jiang Hao, who worried that Nalan Hongchuo could exploit his weakened state.
• Xiao Lin ordered the others aside and attacked Jiang Hao with Demon Wolf Transformation.

Jiang Hao endured Xiao Lin’s Demon Wolf Transformation until it expired, then countered with a series of attacks that overwhelmed the Saint. Xiao Lin was left trapped in Jiang Hao’s combined flames, admitting that he could not defeat him.

• Xiao Lin transformed into a towering werewolf and battered Jiang Hao and Big Hen as Jiang Hao fled until the transformation wore off.
• Jiang Hao struck Xiao Lin with Thunderbolt Spell, but Xiao Lin forced off the paralysis and resisted Electrocution Spell with his strength.
• Jiang Hao unleashed Heaven-Burning Flames, catching Xiao Lin in the blaze and burning Werewolves who had crowded nearby.
• Jiang Hao’s Nine Heavens Phoenix Dance broke through Xiao Lin’s shield and set him on fire.
• Jiang Hao combined Fire Whirlwind with Heaven-Burning Flames, dealing repeated critical damage as Xiao Lin cried that he could not accept his defeat.

Jiang Hao drove the Northern Barbarians from the Han Palace Royal Court while Nalan Hongchuo helped Xiao Lin escape. As the Self-Defense Army seized the city, Nalan Hongchuo urged the North Sea Emperor to flee and rescue Xiao Lin.

• Nalan Hongchuo trapped Jiang Hao with her mental power and told Xiao Lin to escape and seek reinforcements.
• Xiao Lin fled the battle, and the Werewolf warriors scattered as Jiang Hao regained control of himself.
• Jiang Hao cleared the city gate, and Gongsun Qianxun and Liu Zhiwei led the Self-Defense Army into the Han Palace Royal Court.
• Jiang Hao ordered the army to seize the gates, arrest the Grand Lords, and capture the North Sea Emperor alive while he headed for the Prophet Tower.
• The North Sea Emperor urged Nalan Hongchuo to escape through a secret passage, but she told him to leave and find the wounded Xiao Lin.

After learning that the North Sea Emperor and Xiao Lin had fled toward the Chaoyun Kingdom, Jiang Hao ordered a pursuit and went to confront Nalan Hongchuo in the Prophet Tower. He found her pretending to be asleep and called her out.

• The North Sea Emperor left the Prophet Tower to seek Minister Xiao’s support in rescuing Nalan Hongchuo.
• Eunuch Hai told Jiang Hao that the North Sea Emperor and Xiao Lin had escaped through a secret passage toward the Chaoyun Kingdom, whose people had helped the emperor seize the throne.
• Jiang Hao ordered his forces to pursue the fugitives and kept Eunuch Hai alive to identify the nobles and their Lineages.
• Wei Zihan watched Jiang Hao with envy and regretted avoiding the battlefield.
• Jiang Hao climbed to the Prophet Tower, found Nalan Hongchuo sitting with her eyes closed, and told her to stop pretending to sleep.

Jiang Hao captured Nalan Hongchuo, found the North Sea Imperial Palace’s hidden passage, and sent Gongsun Qianxun’s soldiers after the fleeing North Sea Emperor. He then confronted Nalan Hongchuo over Wen Ruxue’s ruined soul, but she insisted she could not save her.

• Jiang Hao tore off Nalan Hongchuo’s veil, carried her to the Imperial Palace, and ordered Gongsun Qianxun to guard her.
• Jiang Hao discovered that the mural in the Royal Court Hall concealed a hollow space, and Wang Zisu opened the secret passage using a mechanism in the dragon throne.
• Four scouts confirmed that the passage led to Hanshan Slope, and Gongsun Qianxun took soldiers through it in pursuit of the North Sea Emperor.
• Jiang Hao had Wang Zisu screen the palace servants, then carried the unconscious Wen Ruxue into the side hall where Nalan Hongchuo was held.
• Jiang Hao demanded that Nalan Hongchuo reveal her identity or cure Wen Ruxue, but she said she could not save her.

Jiang Hao learned that Wen Ruxue’s wounded soul could only be treated with Soul Beast crystals from the perilous Ferry Mountain, while the Self-Defense Army consolidated its hold on the Han Palace Royal Court. After Jiang Hao ordered the North Sea Kingdom’s men castrated instead of killed, resistance spread and armies numbering several million marched toward three cities.

• Jiang Hao forced Nalan Hongchuo to reveal that Wen Ruxue’s soul might be healed with Soul Beast crystals found at Ferry Mountain, though Nalan knew little more about them.
• Liu Zhiwei reported that most North Sea Kingdom nobles had escaped, and Jiang Hao ordered the army to hold the captured Grand Lords and prepare to seize the kingdom before Xiao Lin returned with reinforcements.
• Enslaved Shenzhou people rose against their captors as unrest spread through the Han Palace Royal Court, while some Northern Barbarians falsely claimed to be slaves to escape punishment.
• Zhang Jun, Yang Qingliu, and Yu Guangguang arrived with reinforcements and helped Liu Zhiwei secure the city and conduct a purge.
• Jiang Hao ordered Northern Barbarian men castrated rather than killed, provoking condemnation in Shenzhou and intensifying resistance across the North Sea Kingdom.
• Within little more than a month, North Sea Kingdom forces numbering several million marched toward the Han Palace Royal Court, Hengyang City, and Wumeng City.

King Han sent reinforcements north, and Han Su retook Wumeng City through a mass surrender, rejecting Jiang Hao’s plans for the prisoners. A month later, Song Jie learned that Wen Ruxue was gravely afflicted and attacked Nalan Hongchuo, but Jiang Hao’s officers restrained him.

• King Han ordered another recruitment drive after Jiang Hao captured the Han Palace Royal Court, and volunteers joined the army heading north.
• Han Su arrived at Wumeng City with five hundred thousand troops, and a faction inside the city opened the gates and surrendered.
• Han Su took Wumeng City without a battle, released the surrendered Northern Barbarians under his protection, and refused Guo Dundun’s request to follow Jiang Hao’s plans.
• After Guo Dundun arrived at the Han Palace Royal Court, Song Jie saw Wen Ruxue lying unconscious and demanded an explanation from Jiang Hao.
• Song Jie charged at Nalan Hongchuo, but Yang Qingliu blocked his strike and Guo Dundun, Shen Zaitian, and Jiang Hailong subdued him.

Jiang Hao helped Song Jie leave the Han Palace Royal Court with Wen Ruxue to seek a cure for her damaged soul, then prepared to defend the city against a vast Northern Barbarian alliance. The attackers breached the True North Gate’s wall, and Guo Dundun, Yang Qingliu, and Shen Zaitian fought to stop them.

• Jiang Hao stopped Song Jie from taking Wen Ruxue away by force, explained that soul crystals from Ferry Mountain might heal her, and gave him beast crystals for the journey.
• Song Jie left the North Sea Kingdom with Wen Ruxue and never contacted Jiang Hao again.
• Northern Barbarian forces surrounded the Han Palace Royal Court, and Jiang Hao mobilized rescued Shenzhou slaves to reinforce the city’s defenses.
• Wang Chongqing joined Ouyang Long and Violet’s Fleeing Alliance Army, which gathered more than two million troops to attack the city.
• Northern Barbarians overwhelmed the defenders at the True North Gate and opened a breach in the wall.
• Guo Dundun charged into the enemy ranks and cleared part of the wall, allowing Yang Qingliu and Shen Zaitian to join the fight.

As the Northern Barbarians breached the Han Palace Royal Court’s walls, Jiang Hao held the North Gate alone and unleashed his Army Ants when his mental power began to run low. The ants devastated the invaders and sent them fleeing, while Jiang Hao realized the rare-quality Army Ant Queen had made the Poison Ants’ bites far more lethal.

• Guo Dundun rescued Yang Qingliu and Shen Zaitian from the Werewolves’ Absolute Ice Seal, and the three helped the Self-Defense Army retake a breached section of wall.
• As the exhausted defenders struggled against the Northern Barbarians, the main North Gate fell and enemy troops charged into the Han Palace Royal Court.
• Jiang Hao descended on Big Hen, blocked the archway, and used Heaven-Burning Flames and Fire Whirlwind to destroy wave after wave of attackers.
• Wang Chongqing offered rare beast crystals to encourage the Northern Barbarians to keep charging, but Jiang Hao released his Army Ants as his mental power waned.
• The Army Ants attacked the invaders across the gate, walls, and moat, while Combat Ants, Explosive Ants, and Poison Ants killed or incapacitated them and drove the Northern Barbarians into a rout.
• Ouyang Long and Violet watched the Army Ants overwhelm the enemy, and Jiang Hao recognized that the rare-quality Army Ant Queen had given the Poison Ants a powerful corrosive effect.

Jiang Hao used his Army Ants’ new Mecha Mode to devastate the Northern Barbarian forces and helped the defenders survive the day-long siege. After the enemy withdrew, he visited Nalan Hongchuo, whose mental attack failed when she realized she might be pregnant, and he apologized as she cried.

• Jiang Hao activated Mecha Mode and fired Explosive Ants at the Northern Barbarians, causing heavy casualties while reinforcing the city’s defenders.
• After Jiang Hao’s mental power ran out, the Northern Barbarians retreated, and he told Guo Dundun to prepare the inexperienced recruits and shared a plan with his allies.
• Jiang Hao visited Nalan Hongchuo in the side hall while exhausted from battle, and she pulled him into a dream and tried to strangle him.
• Nalan Hongchuo began retching and realized her period had been absent for more than two months, then broke down sobbing as her mental attack faded.
• Jiang Hao recovered, pulled Nalan Hongchuo close, apologized, and let her pound him as she cried over her grievances.

Jiang Hao discovered that Nalan Hongchuo was carrying his child and demanded that she help break apart the Northern Barbarian alliance. As the enemy attacked the Han Palace Royal Court with gliders and siege equipment, Jiang Hao’s defenders fought back with arrows, explosives, and fire.

• Jiang Hao realized Nalan Hongchuo was pregnant, and she slapped him when he began to suggest what should happen to the child.
• Jiang Hao agreed to give Nalan Hongchuo five days to use her dream-walking ability to undermine Violet and divide the allied Grand Lords.
• Jiang Hao woke to the Northern Barbarians attacking and hurried to the North Gate, where he recognized their winged gliders and ordered the archers to fire.
• Northern Barbarians glided onto the walls, released beast pets, and attacked while others built bridges over the moat and advanced with ladders and battering rams.
• Jiang Hao ordered flaming arrows into the corpses beneath the wall, setting off hidden explosives that engulfed the ladders and attackers in fire.
• The defenders poured hot oil onto the burning siege force as the city wall shook from the blasts.