Chapter Summaries

Han Shuo, Emily, and Gilbert exploited the chaos at Bobby Aski’s manor to enter his secret chamber. There they discovered Archdruid Caspian imprisoned inside a magical barrier.

• Lawrence’s arrangements and Emily’s Dark Curtain resources cleared the way for Han Shuo and his companions to approach Bobby Aski’s bedroom.
• Han Shuo and Emily waited for the Calamity Church’s attack and the fires started by Phoebe and Candice to throw the manor into chaos.
• Han Shuo, Emily, and Gilbert killed the guards around Bobby Aski’s room, with Gilbert’s strength revealing that he was a black dragon.
• Han Shuo and Emily entered Bobby Aski’s bedroom and opened the hidden passage beneath his bed.
• Han Shuo heard someone breathing below and found Archdruid Caspian bound inside a magical-barrier cage.

Han Shuo and Emily freed Caspian from Bobby Aski’s hidden cage and found a booklet documenting Bobby’s crimes. As Griffin Legion soldiers closed in, they escaped the manor with Gilbert while Belinda and Johnny fled separately.

• Emily removed the cage’s magical barriers, and Han Shuo broke its bars to free Caspian, who asked whether Angelica was safe.
• Emily used a magical search tool to uncover a hidden compartment and retrieve a small booklet she said would implicate Bobby Aski.
• After Gilbert signaled that soldiers were approaching, Han Shuo carried the weakened Caspian out while Emily restored the bedboard concealing the secret chamber.
• Han Shuo, Emily, and Gilbert escaped through the manor while Griffin Legion soldiers pursued them and prepared their bows and crossbows.
• Belinda and the injured Johnny fled through a perimeter wall, but Han Shuo avoided joining them because more pursuers were after them.

Han Shuo and his companions fought their way through the burning manor while fleeing Great Swordmaster Gabriel. Gilbert transformed into a Black Dragon and carried them toward escape, but griffin knights arrived as Han Shuo urged him to hurry.

• Phoebe and Candice joined Han Shuo and Emily while fleeing Griffin Legion soldiers and the pursuing Great Swordmaster Gabriel.
• Han Shuo attacked Gabriel with the Demon-Slaying Edge, then used spells to distract him and pull the weapon free, injuring himself in the process.
• Gilbert transformed into a Black Dragon, and Han Shuo sent Caspian and the others onto his back.
• Han Shuo ordered Gilbert to smash through obstacles and escape, while Gilbert sprayed acidic dragon breath at the pursuing archers.
• Dozens of griffin knights arrived, led by Bobby Aski, and Han Shuo urged Gilbert to leave immediately.

Han Shuo and his companions escaped Warren City on Gilbert while resisting Bobby Aski’s attack, but learned that friends left behind were in danger. Han Shuo chose to turn back and help them.

• Han Shuo used summoned Dark Creatures, magic, and his companions’ attacks to protect Gilbert as he broke through the Griffin Legion’s assault and took flight.
• Bobby Aski hurled a silver spear at Gilbert, but Han Shuo, Emily, and Phoebe weakened and deflected it long enough for Gilbert to escape.
• Bobby Aski ordered Warren City sealed and its Teleportation Arrays shut down, while Han Shuo and Emily checked on each other’s injuries.
• Caspian revealed that Howard had captured him and threatened Little Angelica, and Han Shuo learned that others in the city might also be in danger.
• Phoebe and Candice refused to abandon their allies, and Han Shuo ordered Gilbert to turn back toward the inn.

Han Shuo used his remarkable memory to evade Griffin Legion patrols and return to Yilian's Inn, then reunited with Lawrence and the Calamity Church fighters. When Griffin Legion soldiers appeared to discover the group at the inn, Han Shuo rushed toward it.

• Han Shuo ordered Gilbert to land outside Warren City, and he and Emily split the group into two parties to avoid attracting suspicion.
• Han Shuo guided Phoebe and Gilbert through winding streets to Yilian's Inn, using his powerful memory to evade Griffin Legion patrols.
• Han Shuo sent Phoebe and Gilbert into the inn and went to find Lawrence, then encountered Lawrence, Lachi, two Swordsmen, Belinda, and Johnny heading toward the inn.
• Lawrence and Belinda said they had joined forces while retreating, and Han Shuo noticed that Johnny and Belinda had been injured.
• Han Shuo heard Griffin Legion soldiers questioning Yilian and saw another soldier signal griffin knights, so he concluded the inn was exposed and charged toward it.

Han Shuo and his allies escaped the exposed inn in Warren City as the Griffin Legion closed in. After regrouping and taking the pursuing knights’ horses, they followed Han Shuo toward the nearest city wall despite the cavalry waiting ahead.

• Han Shuo ambushed the Griffin Legion officer at Yilian’s inn and ordered everyone to flee as griffin knights approached.
• Yilian gathered the people hiding in the inn, and Han Shuo’s group fought their way out the back.
• Han Shuo spotted Emily, Candice, and Caspian retreating from twelve Griffin Legion cavalrymen, and the groups reunited.
• Emily slowed the cavalry with a Darkness Department spell while Caspian’s Nature Magic bound their horses, allowing the group to kill the knights and take their mounts.
• When Emily warned that more than a hundred knights were behind them, Han Shuo led everyone toward the nearest city wall, and the others followed.

While riding into a force of knights, Han Shuo discovered and mastered the Demon Transformation Art, which devoured a living enemy’s flesh, blood, life force, and soul to restore him. After he used it to kill the knights’ leader and heal his injuries, the surrounding knights recoiled in terror.

• As Han Shuo calmed himself before the approaching knights, the Demon Transformation Art appeared in his mind, and he found he could circulate it through his opened meridians.
• Han Shuo formed a vortex of demonic energy in his left palm and charged the knights while using Necromancy spells to counter their attacks.
• Han Shuo broke the leader’s spear, seized him, and struck him unconscious with the hilt of the Demon-Slaying Edge.
• Han Shuo used the Demon Transformation Art to drain the leader’s flesh, blood, life force, and soul, rapidly healing his own injuries as the man turned to ash.
• The knights cried that Han Shuo was a demon, and their terror left them frozen around him.

Han Shuo's party fought through Warren City and escaped over its walls as Aski's Griffin Legion pursued them. Han Shuo led the group toward the Korlan Grand Canyon, with Lawrence and Belinda racing to catch up.

• Emily and the others joined Han Shuo in attacking the Griffin Legion knights blocking their way, while Gilbert and Belinda's Ironclad Puppet Beast smashed through the ranks.
• Two archmages injured Gilbert, but Han Shuo stopped him from pursuing them and led the party to the city wall.
• When Gilbert and the Puppet Beast failed to break the wall, Han Shuo ordered everyone to fly over using their own abilities and devices.
• Han Shuo carried Phoebe over the wall with the Nine Heavens Demon Art, surprising the others with his speed.
• Han Shuo led the fleeing party toward the Korlan Grand Canyon as more than a thousand Griffin Legion cavalrymen and their griffins pursued them.
• Lawrence and Belinda accelerated to challenge Han Shuo, who promised Phoebe he would leave them behind.

Han Shuo’s group escaped the Griffin Legion by entering the Korlan Grand Canyon and found shelter in a cave. Once they were safe, old disputes resurfaced, and the chapter ended with Lawrence trying to prevent a fight over Candice’s unpaid commission.

• Han Shuo used his flight speed to pull ahead of Lawrence and Belinda, then led the group into the Korlan Grand Canyon before the Griffin Knights caught them.
• Phoebe and Emily took charge, and Phoebe guided the party to a hidden cave whose entrance they uncovered and concealed.
• Emily and Caspian went to set up a Barrier at the entrance, while Belinda and Johnny watched them uneasily.
• Candice demanded her unpaid commission from Belinda, and the confrontation escalated as Phoebe, Han Shuo, Gilbert, Caspian, and the Warfire Mercenary Group prepared to back her.
• Lawrence offered to pay Candice on the Calamity Church’s behalf and asked her to let the dispute rest.

Han Shuo defeated the Calamity Church members who confronted him in the cave, then hid with his companions from Griffin Legion search parties. After resting and absorbing Johnny's soul energy, he led the group out at night.

• Johnny attacked Han Shuo, but Han Shuo and his companions fought back after Johnny accused them of betraying the operation against Bobby Aski.
• Han Shuo used the Natal Blood Essence to knock Belinda unconscious, while Johnny tried to flee and was captured and killed.
• Han Shuo absorbed Johnny's soul energy as his companions secured Belinda and waited in the cave.
• Three search groups passed the concealed cave without finding Han Shuo and the others.
• After resting through the day, Han Shuo led the group out of the cave at night.

Han Shuo and Emily planned to deliver the stolen documents to the Dark Curtain, while the others parted ways and Han Shuo sent the injured Gilbert back to the Death Cemetery. He flew toward the Dark Curtain’s outpost with Emily and Phoebe, then stopped to rest with them in a cramped tree hollow.

• Emily said she and Han Shuo needed to reach a Dark Curtain outpost, while Phoebe decided to return to the Empire with him.
• Caspian, Angelica, Lawrence, Candice, and the others left, and Yilian departed with the unconscious Belinda.
• Han Shuo sent the injured Gilbert to the Death Cemetery using a Teleportation Array.
• Han Shuo carried Phoebe and Emily through the cold night, warming Emily with his Demonic Essence as they headed toward the Korlan mountains.
• Han Shuo found a hollow tree for them to rest in and, in the darkness, moved his hand onto Emily’s thigh to warm her.

Han Shuo sheltered with Emily and Phoebe in a hollow tree, where Emily stopped him from molesting them both. After meditating in the snow, he heard Little Skeleton's distant call for help and summoned him from the Otherworld, where he had been fighting.

• Han Shuo accidentally touched Phoebe, then shamelessly fondled her until Emily pinched him painfully to stop him.
• Emily told Phoebe that a squirrel had bitten Han Shuo, and Phoebe scolded him for wanting to kill it.
• Emily teased Phoebe about being warm and suggested Han Shuo hold her for warmth, embarrassing them both.
• Han Shuo left the hollow tree, relieved himself, and meditated in the snow until his body recovered.
• Han Shuo sensed Little Skeleton calling for help from the Otherworld and used a Skeleton Summoning Spell to bring him before him.
• Han Shuo saw that Little Skeleton had fractured bones and a worn Bone Blade, suggesting he had fought creatures in an unfamiliar world.

Han Shuo comforted Little Skeleton after sensing his distress in the Otherworld, then set out with Emily and Phoebe for Sun Radiance Valley. They entered the valley, where the Jialuo Mercenary Group maintained order, and Han Shuo proceeded inside with his companions.

• Han Shuo realized Little Skeleton trusted him and soothed him by stroking his skull and assuring him he was safe.
• Emily and Phoebe emerged from the tree hollow, and Emily suggested they continue their journey.
• Han Shuo carried Little Skeleton and flew with Emily and Phoebe toward Sun Radiance Valley, then landed and walked with them the rest of the way.
• Emily explained that the Jialuo Mercenary Group currently maintained order in Sun Radiance Valley under rules that barred it from favoring its own country.
• Phoebe showed her Buster Trading Company pass and paid the entry fees at the guarded checkpoint.
• Han Shuo entered Sun Radiance Valley with Phoebe holding his arm and Emily pushing him forward.

Han Shuo and Phoebe searched Sun Radiance Valley for materials to refine the Wooden Armored Corpse, then followed the Little Skeleton into a normally closed shop. In its courtyard, Han Shuo discovered a Water-Extreme Land containing two Water Demons, a place suited to refining a Water Armored Corpse.

• Phoebe and Han Shuo visited shops in Sun Radiance Valley, and Phoebe bought more than seven thousand gold coins' worth of materials for Han Shuo.
• After browsing a dozen shops, Phoebe suggested they go meet Emily as dusk fell.
• The Little Skeleton stopped at a closed shop, then opened its door and entered without Han Shuo's command.
• Han Shuo and Phoebe followed the Little Skeleton through the shop and found him beside a deep well in the rear courtyard.
• Han Shuo sensed dense water essence and two sinister auras in the well, identified the site as a Water-Extreme Land, and realized it held two Water Demons.

Han Shuo and Phoebe encountered two Bloodwater Demons in a Water-Extreme Land, where the demons nearly drained Han Shuo’s blood. Little Skeleton saved him by absorbing the demons’ power, transformed into a jade-white skeleton, and insisted on returning to the Otherworld to seek revenge.

• Han Shuo identified the Deep Well as a Water-Extreme Land and warned Phoebe that two Water Demons were emerging.
• The Water Demons attacked through a curtain of mist, and Han Shuo drove them back with Demon Flame before they revealed themselves as Bloodwater Demons.
• The Bloodwater Demons seized control of Han Shuo’s blood, so he threw Phoebe out of the courtyard and tried to resist them with his Demonic Essence and necromancy.
• As the demons closed in, Little Skeleton urged Han Shuo not to use the Mystic Ice Demon Flame Art, and Han Shuo trusted him despite facing imminent death.
• Little Skeleton pierced the Bloodwater Demons with seven Bone Spikes and absorbed their power, freeing Han Shuo and transforming his bones to jade white.
• Little Skeleton asked to return to the Otherworld, and Han Shuo sent him back after sensing his renewed fighting spirit and desire for revenge.

After destroying the Bloodwater Demons, Han Shuo decided to take over the cursed shop and reunited with Phoebe before meeting Emily. Emily told him that the mission had earned him promotion to One-Moon Envoy and explained his new Dark Curtain privileges.

• Phoebe arrived with Harris and twelve Jialuo Mercenary Group guards, and Han Shuo assured her that the Bloodwater Demons were destroyed.
• Han Shuo told Phoebe he would take over the shop, and the two shared a tender moment before leaving to meet Emily.
• At the Dark Curtain shop, Han Shuo showed his Iron Badge while Phoebe waited outside, and Emily emerged from a hidden passage in the floor.
• Emily said the mission was complete and explained that Han Shuo had advanced from Three-Star Envoy to One-Moon Envoy, while Chester had become a Four-Star Envoy.
• Emily said Belinda would be sent to Dark Curtain Headquarters for interrogation and described Han Shuo's increased pay, information access, teleportation, and military privileges.

Han Shuo and Phoebe checked into an inn and shared a suite with separate bedrooms, where their flirtation turned into a kiss before Phoebe went to bathe. Florida, commander of the Rainbow Sickle Mercenary Group and one of Phoebe’s admirers, arrived with flowers, but Han Shuo turned him away by claiming to be Phoebe’s boyfriend.

• Han Shuo left with Phoebe after reassuring Emily, and Phoebe brought him to an inn where the proprietor recognized her.
• Phoebe and Han Shuo entered a suite with two bedrooms, and she warned him to behave while he teased her about an embarrassing incident.
• Han Shuo and Phoebe kissed passionately on the carpet until Phoebe stopped him and went to bathe.
• Florida arrived with a large bouquet and demanded to see Phoebe, reacting angrily when Han Shuo said she was bathing.
• Han Shuo identified himself as Phoebe’s boyfriend and slammed the door in Florida’s face.

Han Shuo fought Florida after the Rainbow Sickle Mercenary Group leader broke into his room demanding to see Phoebe. Florida left when Harris intervened, but Phoebe warned that his powerful group and its Church of Light allies were challenging the Jialuo Mercenary Group’s control of Sun Radiance Valley.

• Florida smashed through Han Shuo’s door, and Han Shuo attacked him before Florida’s Magic Shield stopped the punch.
• Han Shuo and Florida prepared to fight until Harris arrived with guards and warned Florida not to cause trouble under Jialuo protection.
• Florida left after threatening that he would soon take charge of order in Sun Radiance Valley, and Harris warned Han Shuo to be careful.
• Phoebe emerged from her bath and explained that Florida was pursuing her, while Han Shuo admitted he was jealous and considered Florida an enemy.
• Phoebe warned Han Shuo that the Rainbow Sickle Mercenary Group was recruiting experts from the Church of Light to challenge the Jialuo Mercenary Group, but Han Shuo said he was not afraid of Florida.

Han Shuo visited the Death Cemetery, where he sensed the Earth Armor Zombie growing more powerful, then spent the day searching for materials with Phoebe in Sun Radiance Valley. When Florida confronted them, Phoebe declared Han Shuo was her boyfriend and told Florida to stop interfering in her life, leaving him to walk away.

• Han Shuo traveled to the Death Cemetery, checked on the yin demons and Earth Armor Zombie, and sensed that the zombie was developing feelings.
• Han Shuo returned to the inn and meditated, then joined Phoebe the next morning to search for materials for his corpses.
• Han Shuo and Phoebe ate at a dwarf-run restaurant, where Han Shuo was impressed by the food.
• Florida confronted Han Shuo and Phoebe, but Han Shuo refused to discuss anything with him and let Phoebe speak for herself.
• Phoebe told Florida that Han Shuo was her boyfriend and warned Florida to stop interfering in her life, and Florida left.

Han Shuo learned from Emily that Florida was a powerful Archmage with control over the Rainbow Sickle Mercenary Group, then left Sun Radiance Valley to search for Yilian and Belinda. On the road, he sensed nearby creatures’ life auras and found Yilian dead, only to detect an immediate danger and flee.

• Emily told Han Shuo that Florida was the grandson of Church of Light Archmage Ferguson, had taken control of the Rainbow Sickle Mercenary Group, and was suspected of involvement in Jason’s death.
• Han Shuo decided to search for Yilian and Belinda despite Emily’s warning that Florida might attack him outside Sun Radiance Valley.
• Han Shuo left the valley, evaded the watchers, and flew toward the road from Warren City while sensing for his natal blood essence.
• Han Shuo briefly sensed the life auras of hibernating insects and small beasts, gaining a strange insight into nearby creatures.
• Han Shuo followed the signal to Yilian’s location and found her bloodied corpse beneath a tree.
• Han Shuo sensed intense danger near Yilian’s body and immediately shot backward to escape.