Chapter Summaries

Jiang Hao set a plan in motion to distract Xiao Lin and threaten the Han Palace Royal Court while sending Guo Dundun’s ten thousand men behind enemy lines toward Wumeng City. Guo and Yu Guangguang prepared to infiltrate the city through a prisoner convoy, and Wang Hao appeared among the chained captives as the column approached.

• Shen Zaitian reported that over ten thousand Shenzhou soldiers had escaped and Jiang Hao ordered them absorbed into the Self-Defense Army after screening for suspicious newcomers.
• Jiang Hao told Chubby to lead ten thousand men in feints around Wumeng City, explaining that the threat would test Xiao Lin’s response and buy time for the elite army.
• Chubby drank the diluted New-Style Potion too quickly, suffered a painful reaction, and ran from the hidden cave in embarrassment.
• Guo Dundun led ten thousand Beast Tamers toward Wumeng City, and he and Yu Guangguang planned to use prisoners to infiltrate the city and create a diversion.
• Yu Guangguang and ten Mountain Moving Realm Beast Tamers split from the force, while a Northern Barbarian-led convoy of chained prisoners approached Wumeng City with Wang Hao among them.

Yu Guangguang and ten Beast Tamers infiltrated Wumeng City among a line of captives, then broke into a civilian home to spy on the Northern Barbarians’ military camp and question a local hunter. The hunter revealed that the city had sixty thousand troops and a Divine Valor Realm commander, but Yu Guangguang suspected he was hiding something and stabbed him to force another answer.

• Yu Guangguang and ten companions disguised themselves as captives and entered Wumeng City with Wang Hao’s line.
• Near the military camp, Yu Guangguang and his companions slipped away and took over a nearby household, binding the middle-aged couple.
• Yu Guangguang positioned one Beast Tamer to watch the camp gate and ordered others to obtain civilian clothes.
• When the hunter refused to answer questions about Wumeng City’s forces, Yu Guangguang threatened his wife until he agreed to talk.
• The hunter said Wumeng City held sixty thousand troops and that its commander was a Divine Valor Realm expert, whom he believed to be the city’s only such expert.
• Yu Guangguang suspected the hunter was concealing information, stabbed him in the thigh, and demanded that he answer again.

Yu Guangguang’s group gathered intelligence and prepared to help General Guo’s forces enter Wumeng City and escape through its rear wall. After three days, they entered disguised as prisoners, while a fire and civilians’ pleas distracted the gate guards.

• Yu Guangguang learned from Brother Shi that three Divine Valor Realm experts guarded the city and ordered Wang Ping to deliver the intelligence to General Guo.
• Yu Guangguang’s group hid when Xiao Liu arrived, then stayed in Brother Shi’s home and paid him a Low-Grade Beast Crystal for his cooperation.
• Three days later, the escort captain brought General Guo’s forces through Wumeng City’s gates disguised as prisoners.
• The gate general realized the supposed prisoners looked too clean and vigorous, but smoke and civilians pleading for help distracted him as the procession disappeared into the city.

Guo Dundun and Yu Guangguang led the Self-Defense Army’s escape from Wumeng City after their infiltration was exposed. Yu Guangguang got the soldiers out, while Guo Dundun faced two Divine Valor Realm experts and was frozen and hurled from the wall.

• The gate commander realized the supposed slaves were enemy infiltrators and tried to rally the defenders, but Yu Guangguang’s group attacked and Guo Dundun killed their captain.
• A Divine Valor Realm Werewolf blocked the escape route, so Guo Dundun stayed behind to hold him off while Yu Guangguang led the Self-Defense Army toward the city gate.
• Guo Dundun fought the Werewolf, who was General Qin, until Huo Jiajun arrived and attacked him from behind.
• Yu Guangguang and the soldiers escaped through the opened gate as General Qin struggled to stop them, unable to keep the Skin Strengthened fighters down.
• Guo Dundun fled up the wall with General Qin and Huo Jiajun in pursuit, but Huo Jiajun froze him with Absolute Ice Seal and kicked him off the wall.

Guo Dundun survived Huo Jiajun’s ice attack and advanced to the middle stage of the divine valor realm, then turned back to hold off General Qin’s forces. He broke free after being frozen again as the Northern Barbarians pressed past him toward Yu Guangguang’s troops.

• Guo Dundun survived his fall from the city wall, and Pang Dudu absorbed the mist around them and advanced to the middle stage of the divine valor realm.
• Huo Jiajun ordered General Qin to pursue Guo Dundun, then sent a subordinate to investigate the enemy’s entry into Wumeng City and find a traitor.
• Yu Guangguang doubled back to meet Guo Dundun, but Guo Dundun ordered him and his men to leave while he held off General Qin.
• Guo Dundun’s punch sent General Qin flying, and Guo Dundun smashed the official road to block the Northern Barbarians before fighting the Werewolf.
• The Northern Barbarians charged past the battle, and the Werewolf froze Guo Dundun with Absolute Ice Seal after Guo Dundun struck their leader dead.
• Guo Dundun shattered the ice and stood unharmed, though the cold left his movements stiff.

Guo Dundun held off the Northern Barbarian army, killed General Qin, and fought his way back to Yu Guangguang's group after Pang Dudu advanced to the Divine Valor Realm. The group rested at the Wumeng Mountain exit, then prepared to move toward Baishan Town for shelter and food.

• Guo Dundun broke the Werewolf General Qin's spine and sent the surviving Northern Barbarians away with his name and army affiliation.
• Guo Dundun caught up with the thousand Northern Barbarians pursuing Yu Guangguang and slaughtered them until the survivors fled toward Wumeng City.
• Yu Guangguang and the others welcomed Guo Dundun at their makeshift defenses, fed him and Pang Dudu, and praised his feat.
• Guo Dundun told the group that Pang Dudu had advanced during a miraculous experience after he was frozen by Absolute Ice Seal and thrown from the city wall.
• Yu Guangguang asked about the Potion Jiang Hao had given Guo Dundun, and Guo Dundun said Jiang Hao would likely share it with them after their mission.
• Guo Dundun ordered everyone to prepare to leave for Baishan Town, where they hoped to find shelter and food.

Guo Dundun’s army destroyed the road behind them and advanced to Baishan Town, while Huo Jiajun abandoned pursuit to defend Wumeng City. The Self-Defense Army attacked the town, and Guo Dundun confronted Yu Guangguang after finding the soldiers abusing captured women.

• Yu Guangguang destroyed the cliffs along the main road, cutting off Wumeng City’s supply and communication routes as Guo Dundun led the army toward Baishan Town.
• The North Sea Emperor ordered the sixteen Grand Lords to eliminate the invading force and blamed Huo Jiajun for the losses at Wumeng City.
• Huo Jiajun turned back to strengthen Wumeng City’s defenses after learning Guo Dundun had reached Baishan Town.
• Bai Bingbing hid in a secret chamber when the Self-Defense Army attacked Baishan Town, but Yu Guangguang found her and her stores of beast crystals.
• Guo Dundun arrived at White Palace Hall and ordered Yu Guangguang to explain why the soldiers were abusing captured women; Yu Guangguang said the men had been bottled up for over a year.

Guo Dundun’s forces seized Baishan Town, killed its men, imprisoned its women, and freed tens of thousands of Shenzhou slaves while gathering the town’s wealth. News of the massacre enraged the North Sea court, where Grand Lords pledged troops to retake the town and rescue relatives who might be held there.

• Guo Dundun punished soldiers who had abused women, then ordered the town’s men killed and its women confined under guard.
• The slaughter continued through the night, while Guo Dundun put the rescued women under guard and sent 47,680 former slaves to help defend the town.
• Yu Guangguang hid the valuables taken from Baishan Town, including vast stores of Beast Crystals.
• The North Sea Emperor learned of the massacre, and Wang Chongqing offered ten thousand troops to retake Baishan Town.
• Violet and Sichen each pledged five thousand troops, asking that Bai Bingbing and Sichen’s mother be rescued.
• Sichen suggested other Grand Lords’ relatives might also be in White Palace Hall, prompting them to send people to investigate and more lords to pledge troops.

Ouyang Long and Violet secretly allied against Jiang Hao’s advancing Self-Defense Army, while the North Sea Emperor ignored the Prophet’s warning and ordered Xiao Lin to destroy Jiang Hao. As Wang Chongqing’s fifty-thousand troops approached Baishan Town, Guo Dundun questioned captured women about the North Sea Kingdom’s Transcendent Masters.

• Ouyang Long warned Violet that Jiang Hao might attack the Han Palace Royal Court, and she agreed to a secret alliance with him.
• Ouyang Long planned to bring Wang Chongqing into the alliance after his forces suffered a setback at Baishan Town, while he and Violet secretly prepared to recruit soldiers and horses.
• The North Sea Emperor visited Nalan Hongchuo, who urged him to withdraw his troops before the kingdom’s fortune ran out; he instead ordered Xiao Lin to destroy Jiang Hao and his Self-Defense Army.
• Wang Chongqing led fifty thousand troops toward Baishan Town to recover his investments, and Guo Dundun prepared to face their approach.
• Yu Guangguang brought eight captured women, including Bai Bingbing, to Guo Dundun, who asked how many Transcendent Masters served the North Sea Kingdom; Bai Bingbing said that many Grand Lords had one or two.

Guo Dundun used the captured women to negotiate ransoms with Wang Chongqing’s army while preparing Baishan Town’s defenses. Wang Chongqing granted the retainers three days to raise the money, and Bai Bingbing was left behind because Guo Dundun had promised her to Yu Guangguang.

• Guo Dundun questioned Bai Bingbing about Nalan Hongchuo and learned that Nalan Hongchuo and Xiao Lin were reportedly not from the North Sea Kingdom.
• Guo Dundun ordered Yu Guangguang to tell the approaching army that the women could be ransomed, while Yu Guangguang asked to keep Bai Bingbing and Guo Dundun agreed if she was willing.
• Wang Chongqing and Shan Hengfeng arrived with fifty thousand troops, and Guo Dundun made the captured women publicly name ransom prices, including ten thousand rare beast crystals for Xu Shi and fifty thousand for Yang Shi.
• The Grand Lords’ retainers agreed to pay to rescue their people, and Wang Chongqing gave them three days to raise the money before he ordered an assault.
• Bai Bingbing begged to be allowed to ransom herself, but Guo Dundun said Yu Guangguang had taken a liking to her and ordered the women taken away and kept well fed.

Guo Dundun exchanged the captives for ransom, then led Baishan Town’s defenders against Wang Chongqing’s invading army. After fierce fighting, the attackers breached the right section of the wall, forcing the defenders to retreat toward White Palace Hall.

• Guo Dundun explained that returning the women would divide the enemy and collected seven chests of ransom, including fifty thousand rare beast crystals from Sichen.
• Wang Chongqing ordered an assault on Baishan Town despite Wei Ping’s refusal to fight without Bai Bingbing, while Wei Ping decided to search for her after the town fell.
• Guo Dundun directed the defenders to use arrows, hot oil, and stone-throwing machines against the Northern Barbarians, and personally knocked a werewolf off the wall.
• Mr. Zuo told Wang Chongqing he could take Baishan Town in two hours if he intervened, but Wang Chongqing let his troops continue the attack.
• After suffering heavy casualties, the attackers seized part of the wall, broke the recruits’ morale, and overran the right section.
• Guo Dundun ordered the defenders to leave the walls and rally toward White Palace Hall.

The Self-Defense Army retreated from Baishan Town through the North Gate after heavy casualties, and Yu Guangguang took Bai Bingbing with him. Wei Ping and Wang Chongqing found the town devastated and its people slaughtered, then split their forces between pursuing the army and guarding the town.

• Guo Dundun ordered the Self-Defense Army to retreat through the North Gate with food, clothing, and tents.
• Yu Guangguang found Bai Bingbing hiding in an underground chamber and carried her away as the Self-Defense Army withdrew.
• Women fled White Palace Hall amid the fighting, and the enraged Self-Defense Army massacred them despite Guo Dundun's orders.
• Wei Ping found White Palace Hall deserted and learned from a dying captive that Yu Guangguang had taken Bai Bingbing toward the North Gate.
• Wei Ping caught up with Wang Chongqing at the North Gate and saw the bodies of Baishan Town's male residents piled there.
• Wang Chongqing left Wei Ping three thousand men to guard Baishan Town while he led the rest of his army in pursuit of the Self-Defense Army.

Guo Dundun split his forces and led nine thousand Self-Defense Army soldiers toward Chongtian Town while Wu Bai staged a diversion at Wubai Town. There, Guo Dundun met Qin Shu, a half-Shenzhou boy who offered to guide the army and revealed his hatred of the people who had bullied him.

• Yu Guangguang proposed splitting the army, and Guo Dundun led ten thousand Self-Defense Army soldiers toward the Han Palace Royal Court while Yu Guangguang took twenty thousand recruits to raid supply lines and await Jiang Hao.
• Wang Chongqing sent Mr. Zuo with twenty thousand troops after Guo Dundun's force, and Guo Dundun planned a feint at Wubai Town while he led nine thousand men toward Chongtian Town.
• Wu Bai took a thousand soldiers to stage the diversion, and Guo Dundun warned him not to attack Wubai Town and to withdraw when the pursuers came within thirty li.
• Qin Shu endured beatings from three boys in Chongtian Town and tried to leave through a sewer to gather wild vegetables for himself and his father.
• Guo Dundun offered Qin Shu ten Beast Crystals to guide the army into Chongtian Town, and Qin Shu identified himself as half Shenzhou and said he wanted to kill those who had bullied him.

Qin Shu guided Guo Dundun and the Self-Defense Army into Chongtian Town through its sewer, then killed three boys who had bullied him for years. After the army defeated the town’s garrison, Guo Dundun stopped Qin Shu from taking revenge on his father himself and led him to wait at the town gate.

• Qin Shu told Guo Dundun his name was also Tu Wuyou and led the army through a foul sewer into Chongtian Town.
• Three boys confronted Qin Shu at the sewer exit, and Guo Dundun brought the soldiers out and sent them to attack the town wall.
• Guo Dundun handed Qin Shu a dagger, and Qin Shu killed the three boys who had bullied him.
• Qin Shu asked Guo Dundun to accompany him home so he could kill his father, but Guo Dundun took the dagger and brought him to the town gate instead.
• Guo Dundun summoned Pang Dudu, fought the garrison in Bearman form, and returned after the Self-Defense Army had defeated the defenders.
• The soldiers gathered with bundles of food they had taken from the town.

Jiang Hao’s Self-Defense Army reached Wumeng City after cutting off Xiao Lin’s supply routes and forcing him to divert troops to protect his sister, Nalan Hongchuo. Jiang Hao chose to seize Wumeng City and trap Xiao Lin’s army, while Guo Dundun’s force faced a devastating ambush elsewhere.

• Zuo Xianning ambushed Guo Dundun’s force with an army of twenty to thirty thousand, killed hundreds of soldiers with his Frost Snow Wolf, and forced Guo to stay behind while his men withdrew with Qin Shu.
• Xiao Lin’s eight-hundred-thousand-strong army defeated Han Min’s Ace Army and advanced toward Ghost Gate City, but Zhang Jun’s hundred thousand recruits arrived to support the defenders.
• A scout reported that Jiang Hao’s ten thousand soldiers had entered the North Sea Kingdom, seized towns, and cut off Xiao Lin’s supply road; news that they were threatening Nalan Hongchuo made Xiao Lin withdraw fifty thousand vanguard troops toward Wumeng City.
• After Guo Dundun seized Chongtian Town, the Self-Defense Army used a second secret passage to assemble outside Wumeng City, where Huo Jiajun prepared to face them.
• Jiang Hao rejected Jiang Hailong’s suggestion to retake the City of Eternity and explained that capturing Wumeng City would cut off Xiao Lin’s retreat and supplies, forcing him into a desperate position.

Jiang Hao and the Self-Defense Army captured Wumeng City in under an hour, killing Huo Jiajun and breaking the Northern Barbarian defenders’ resistance. As the army occupied the city and awaited Xiao Lin, Jiang Hao encountered a dispute among his soldiers over a Northern Barbarian woman.

• Jiang Hao allocated Big Hen’s attribute points to strength and prepared to attack Wumeng City before Xiao Lin’s reinforcements arrived.
• The Self-Defense Army stormed Wumeng City, with Gongsun Qianxun and other potion-enhanced Beast Tamers clearing the walls.
• Jiang Hao flew above the gate on Big Hen and killed Huo Jiajun with an egg and Fire Whirlwind, prompting the defenders to flee.
• Self-Defense Army soldiers opened the gates, and Wu Fan led the infantry into Wumeng City as the occupation turned chaotic.
• Jiang Hao ordered troops to guard the city and watch for Xiao Lin, then headed toward the enemy camp with Minister Jiang.
• Two Self-Defense Army soldiers fought over a Northern Barbarian woman, and one defended enslaving her in retaliation for past abuses.

Jiang Hao approved soldiers marrying captured Northern Barbarian women if they agreed, viewing the marriages as part of a plan to assimilate the North Sea Kingdom, and clashed with Wen Ruxue over his approach. As the Self-Defense Army prepared for the expected arrival of enemy forces, he ordered the Star-Making Plan to strengthen its fighters.

• Jiang Hao approved a soldier’s request to marry a captured woman only if she went willingly, and explained that such marriages could help assimilate the North Sea Kingdom.
• Wen Ruxue challenged Jiang Hao for allowing the women to be taken as wives, and he angrily argued that Shenzhou had to eliminate the threat of Northern Barbarian invasions.
• Wen Ruxue ran off in tears after Jiang Hao told her to reflect, and he briefly considered transferring her out of the Combat Division before dropping the idea.
• Jiang Hao ordered the corpses handled to prevent an epidemic and told Jiang Hailong and Song Jie to focus on helping their beast pets advance.
• Song Jie reported that the Star-Making Plan was underway, using beast crystals in a modified ritual to help peak Mountain Moving Realm fighters’ pets break through to the Divine Valor Realm.
• Jiang Hao noted that the plan had already produced more than a hundred Divine Valor Realm experts, but he wanted the Self-Defense Army strengthened further before Xiao Lin’s forces arrived.

After taking Wumeng City, Jiang Hao organized the Self-Defense Army’s next preparations before a mysterious illusion trapped him in a battle between Dragon Venerable and Xiao Lin. He escaped after suffering severe self-inflicted injuries and discovered that the last strand of the Snow and Ice Banshee’s White Hair had vanished, leaving him fearful of Nalan Hongchuo’s next attack.

• Jiang Hao ordered the captured women released and summoned Yang Di to a meeting with the Self-Defense Army’s senior officers.
• Jiang Hao announced that the officers would join the Star-Making Plan while trusted subordinates handled city defenses and order.
• Jiang Hao entered the Simulation Game with Big Hen, then suddenly found himself alone in a dark, endless void.
• Jiang Hao witnessed Dragon Venerable and Xiao Lin’s battle and was drawn into an illusion where he experienced Xiao Lin’s inner world and struck out uncontrollably.
• Jiang Hao awoke in the Marshal’s Tent with blood on his clothes and realized the New-Style Potion had healed his self-inflicted injuries.
• Jiang Hao discovered the final strand of the Snow and Ice Banshee’s White Hair was gone and suspected Nalan Hongchuo had trapped him in the illusion.

Nalan Hongchuo was trapped in a struggle against the supernatural cold after Jiang Hao’s last strand of White Hair wounded her, while the North Sea Emperor and the Grand Lords debated how to supply their forces after Jiang Hao captured Wumeng City. The Emperor left the Prophet Tower and returned to the palace, uncertain whether Nalan Hongchuo would recover and fearful of Jiang Hao’s advance.

• Nalan Hongchuo’s cold spread through the Prophet Tower and froze its exterior, while she struggled against it behind an invisible barrier.
• The North Sea Emperor summoned the Grand Lords and Transcendent Masters, who shattered the ice around the tower, but he found Nalan Hongchuo still unreachable inside.
• Sichen and the Grand Lords discussed sending supplies to Minister Xiao’s eight hundred thousand troops by Windriding Birds and coordinating deliveries through Baishan Town.
• The North Sea Emperor ordered the Grand Lords to prepare supplies and troops, then worried about his lack of military authority and ordered a return to the palace.

Jiang Hao learned that the North Sea Kingdom had many Transcendent Masters and that Guo Dundun was being pursued, so he set out to rescue him. He found Guo’s exhausted survivors facing Zuo Xianning and arrived just as the enemy demanded their surrender.

• Jiang Hao told Song Jie that the North Sea Kingdom’s Prophet had attacked him with powerful mental will, then arranged for Song Jie and Minister Jiang to take command if anything happened to him.
• A scout reported that at least fifteen additional Transcendent Masters were in the North Sea Kingdom and that Zuo Xianning was pursuing Guo Dundun, so Jiang Hao ordered Song Jie to meet Yu Guangguang and went to rescue Guo himself.
• After searching for Guo, Jiang Hao found a valley filled with more than four thousand corpses and revived a surviving Thousand-Man Commander, who directed him across Wubai Mountain.
• Guo Dundun urged his fewer than one thousand remaining soldiers to scatter, but they vowed to stay and protect him as Zuo Xianning confronted them.
• Jiang Hao arrived on Big Hen and landed between Guo Dundun’s men and Zuo Xianning, challenging Zuo’s claim that they had no chance to win.