Chapter Summaries

Han Shuo visited the dwarves and asked them to forge weapons and armor, then returned to Sun Radiance Valley to study a necromancy book. Trunks told him that Odyssey and his companions were in the valley and might join the mercenary group, just as Han Shuo sensed Edwin nearby.

• Han Shuo sent Little Skeleton and the Earth Armor Zombie away from the Death Cemetery.
• Han Shuo visited Chief Calvin and asked the dwarves to forge weapons and armor when he brought them raw materials.
• Han Shuo returned to Sun Radiance Valley and studied the necromancy book, including its lost spell, Undead Sky.
• Trunks told Han Shuo that Odyssey and his companions had arrived in the valley and might join the mercenary group.
• Han Shuo sensed Edwin near the shop and invited him into the courtyard to talk.

Han Shuo learned that his ability to create Dark Creatures resistant to light magic had made him a threat to the Church of Light, but he rejected Edwin’s offer to join the Calamity Church. After Edwin departed, Han Shuo prepared to protect his allies and keep the Soul Annihilation Mercenary Group’s connection to him secret.

• Han Shuo detected Edwin and Belinda approaching, but Edwin refused to enter the dangerous courtyard and spoke with him from the roof.
• Edwin warned Han Shuo that the Church of Light would target him because his Little Skeleton could withstand Light’s Radiance, then tried to recruit him into the Calamity Church.
• Han Shuo firmly rejected Edwin’s offer, and Emily arrived to attack Edwin in revenge for Yilian before Edwin and Belinda escaped.
• Han Shuo told Emily and Phoebe about the threat from the Church of Light, and he vowed to retaliate if its followers tried to kill him.
• Han Shuo instructed Trunks to conceal his connection to the Soul Annihilation Mercenary Group, then learned that Phoebe had earned seventy thousand gold coins and that Cecilia wanted to meet him.

Han Shuo spent the night with Emily, then Phoebe mistook the evidence for him satisfying himself and assumed he was waiting for her to be ready. The next morning, after Phoebe left with his shopping list, Han Shuo noticed Odyssey and his five companions cautiously approaching the shop.

• Han Shuo told Trunks he could ask a Dwarf village to forge weapons for the mercenaries and requested a list of their needs.
• After Phoebe went to bathe, Han Shuo ignored her invitation and went to Emily's room, where they spent the night together.
• Phoebe came to Han Shuo's room and found stains on his trousers, which she mistook as proof that he had taken care of his needs himself; she told him not to do it again and hurried away.
• The next morning, Phoebe and Emily acted awkwardly around Han Shuo, while Gilbert teased him about the previous night.
• Han Shuo gave Phoebe a list of supplies to buy, and she left the shop.
• Han Shuo spotted Odyssey and his five companions cautiously surveying the shop, then stood to open the door for them.

Han Shuo invited Odyssey and his companions to join the Soul Annihilation Mercenary Group, then went with Trunks and Gilbert to tell Loretta about Ferguson’s arrival. They found that Loretta had survived a bomb attack, and Han Shuo left planning a new approach amid the growing turmoil in Sun Radiance Valley.

• Han Shuo welcomed Odyssey and his five companions, whose party had grown stronger since their adventures in the Dark Forest.
• Han Shuo invited Odyssey’s party to join the Soul Annihilation Mercenary Group and explained its situation, including Trunks’s grudge and their conflict with Florida; Odyssey asked for time to discuss it with the others.
• After Odyssey and his companions left, Han Shuo took Trunks and Gilbert to the Jialuo Mercenary Group to inform Loretta that Ferguson had arrived.
• Han Shuo and his companions reached the Jialuo grounds after a magical explosion had destroyed a building and killed several mercenaries, while Loretta narrowly escaped the blast.
• Han Shuo told Loretta about his suspicions that the Rainbow Sickle Mercenary Group had planted people in the Jialuo group and asked for Florida’s location, but Loretta warned that an assassination would be difficult.
• As Han Shuo left with Trunks and Gilbert, he said Sun Radiance Valley was descending into chaos and that he had devised a better plan.

Han Shuo decided that his mercenary group should leave Sun Radiance Valley’s center and build its strength on the outskirts while he traveled to the Dark Forest for weapons and supplies. After countering an assassination attempt by Makexin and Asa, he discovered unusual plants at an Orc’s shop and became excited by what he found.

• Han Shuo told Trunks to avoid the factions’ fighting, recruit more mercenaries, and prepare to leave Sun Radiance Valley, while Han Shuo planned to visit the Dark Forest.
• Han Shuo sensed Makexin and Asa waiting to attack him on a crowded street and used his Yin Demons to locate them.
• Han Shuo lured Makexin and Asa around a corner, then struck with the Demon-Slaying Edge, severing Asa’s right arm and injuring his back as Makexin escaped.
• Han Shuo explained that the Jialuo Mercenary Group’s protection prevented them from killing Asa at its rest station, and warned Trunks about Makexin’s danger.
• Han Shuo noticed an unusual plant with three golden leaves at an Orc’s shop, examined the plants outside, and entered to look for more.

Han Shuo recognized several rare spiritual herbs in an Orc shop and bought them for five hundred gold coins, intending them as a gift. Lady Cecilia arrived and tried to obtain the Extreme Cold Grass, but Han Shuo refused and left after identifying himself.

• Han Shuo identified Golden Marrow Grass, Blazing Sun Fruits, and other rare herbs in the old Orc's shop.
• The old Orc warned Han Shuo that the plants were dangerous, and Han Shuo bought them for five hundred gold coins while asking him to bring more in the future.
• Cecilia entered and asked Han Shuo to give her the Extreme Cold Grass, but he refused her offer of a hundred gold coins.
• Cecilia criticized Han Shuo and mentioned Emily, prompting him to recognize her as Lady Cecilia.
• Han Shuo refused to give Cecilia the herb under any circumstances, bade her goodbye, and left the shop.

Han Shuo and his companions prepared to leave Sun Radiance Valley, with Emily staying behind briefly while the others departed. As Han Shuo traveled alone toward the Dark Forest to draw Ferguson after him, he discovered a caravan being brutalized and slaughtered by bandits and attacked them in a rage.

• Han Shuo told Phoebe and Emily he planned to leave Sun Radiance Valley, and they agreed to separate for a time while he handled his own affairs.
• Phoebe gave Han Shuo the rare materials he needed, and he asked Trunks to keep in contact with Odyssey and his group.
• Han Shuo, Phoebe, Trunks, and Gilbert left Sun Radiance Valley at night; Gilbert took Phoebe toward Zachius City, Trunks vanished into the forest, and Emily remained to speak with Loretta.
• Han Shuo walked alone toward the Dark Forest, deliberately revealing his whereabouts so Ferguson would pursue him and leave his companions alone.
• Han Shuo discovered Butcher Gustav's bandits attacking a caravan and killing its people, then slaughtered the bandits before continuing toward the Dark Forest as Ferguson and Makexin approached.

Han Shuo escaped Ferguson and Makexin by faking his death in the Great River, then traveled to the Death Cemetery. There, he waited for Gilbert and inspected alchemical materials to forge weapons and refine demonic treasures.

• Ferguson refused to let Han Shuo leave, so Han Shuo fled toward the Dark Forest and fought off attacks from Ferguson and Makexin before plunging into the Great River.
• Edwin and Belinda watched the fight and concluded that Han Shuo had survived, then left to investigate him and plan to capture him.
• Han Shuo escaped underwater along the riverbed, avoiding Ferguson, Makexin, Edwin, and Belinda rather than continuing the fight.
• Han Shuo traveled to the Death Cemetery, where he sent the three Yin Demons to wait for Gilbert and rested until the next day.
• Han Shuo examined the materials Phoebe had collected, intending to help the dwarves forge weapons and refine demonic treasures, including reforging the Demon-Slaying Edge.

Han Shuo spent two days refining the Demon-Slaying Edge and connecting it to his Demonic Essence, then welcomed Gilbert back from escorting Phoebe to Zachius City. After recalling cultivation techniques that could benefit partners, Han Shuo taught Gilbert how to practice Plucking Yin to Replenish Yang, and Gilbert managed to guide the Demonic Essence into his navel.

• Han Shuo added rare metals and Natal Blood Essence to the Demon-Slaying Edge, laying the foundation for it to become a deadly Demonic Treasure.
• Han Shuo spotted Gilbert returning through his Yin Demons, opened the Barrier, and learned that Gilbert had delivered Phoebe safely to Zachius City but was late after spending the night with two women.
• Gilbert told Han Shuo that excessive indulgence could harm a Black Dragon and interfere with evolution, prompting Han Shuo to offer him a cultivation technique.
• Han Shuo examined Gilbert's body and used Demonic Essence and a drop of Natal Blood Essence to help him practice Plucking Yin to Replenish Yang.
• Gilbert followed Han Shuo's instructions and guided the Demonic Essence into his navel, then reported that he had become hard.

Han Shuo visited the Forest Trolls’ sacred grounds to construct a formation in the Earth-Extreme Land, using the Earth Armor Zombie to carve its underground layout. Little Skeleton and the Earth Armor Zombie then chose a Zombie Warrior themselves, and Han Shuo summoned them back with their candidate.

• Han Shuo warned Gilbert to use Plucking Yin to Replenish Yang sparingly, then arranged for the Dwarves to forge weapons and flew with Gilbert to the Forest Trolls’ sacred grounds.
• Han Shuo studied the terrain and summoned Little Skeleton and the Earth Armor Zombie to help build a formation around the oldest tree.
• The Earth Armor Zombie created forty-nine holes and connecting trenches, and Han Shuo placed materials into them, leaving the formation’s central hole empty.
• Little Skeleton and the Earth Armor Zombie objected when Han Shuo tried to choose a Zombie Warrior, so he sent them away to select one themselves.
• Little Skeleton and the Earth Armor Zombie returned with a tall, thin Zombie Warrior, whom Little Skeleton indicated was one of their kind.

Han Shuo learned that Little Skeleton and the Earth Armor Zombie had gained forces in another world, then began refining a tall, thin Zombie Warrior into a Wooden Armored Corpse. After warning the Forest Trolls to guard the sacred land, Han Shuo and Gilbert ventured into the dangerous depths of the Dark Forest, where Han Shuo suddenly rushed toward something with excitement.

• Little Skeleton and the Earth Armor Zombie told Han Shuo they had gained subordinates and forces in another world, and Little Skeleton presented a tall, thin Zombie Warrior for Han Shuo to refine.
• Han Shuo used Natal Blood Essence and a Darkness Seal on the Zombie Warrior, while the Earth Armor Zombie covered him and the forty-nine holes with soil.
• Han Shuo drew the surrounding plants’ wood essence qi toward the Zombie Warrior and explained that the plants would wither as the Wooden Armored Corpse formed.
• Han Shuo instructed the Forest Trolls’ old Priest to guard the sacred land and leave its unusual changes alone, then left the village with Gilbert.
• Han Shuo and Gilbert traveled deeper into the Dark Forest, sensed a powerful presence, and encountered signs of dangerous beasts and predatory plants.
• After warning Gilbert to proceed carefully, Han Shuo suddenly charged forward toward something with wild joy.

Han Shuo absorbed the essence of a three-hundred-year-old Blood Spirit Grass and collected the blood spirit stone before continuing into the Dark Forest with Gilbert. After detecting the unseen creature that had been following them, Han Shuo discovered it was a Nine-Headed Serpent and prepared an ambush with Gilbert.

• Han Shuo absorbed the drops and mist from the Blood Spirit Grass, transforming his blood and learning that the plant was about three hundred years old.
• Han Shuo cut the Blood Spirit Grass from its crevice and stored the blood spirit stone in his Spatial Ring before heading deeper into the forest with Gilbert.
• Han Shuo sensed a powerful creature following them and warned Gilbert to stay alert while deciding to draw it out.
• During the night, the Three Yin Demons spotted a huge, invisible creature emerging from a pool, and Han Shuo identified it as a Nine-Headed Serpent.
• Han Shuo and Gilbert pretended to sleep as they waited for the serpent to approach so they could attack it.

Han Shuo, Gilbert, Little Skeleton, and the Earth Armor Zombie ambushed the Nine-Headed Serpent, wounding it and driving it into its mire. Gilbert followed it underwater to finish the fight, but the two beasts surfaced entwined and transformed into naked human figures.

• Han Shuo and Gilbert avoided the Nine-Headed Serpent’s toxic attack while Little Skeleton and the Earth Armor Zombie joined the ambush.
• Han Shuo and Little Skeleton wounded the concealed Nine-Headed Serpent, and the Earth Armor Zombie attacked it with rising fissures and earthen mounds.
• The Nine-Headed Serpent escaped the attacks and fled toward its pool, but Han Shuo struck one of its heads with lava flame.
• The wounded Nine-Headed Serpent plunged into the polluted mire, and Gilbert dove in after it to fight.
• Han Shuo watched as Gilbert and the Nine-Headed Serpent surfaced wrapped around each other and transformed into a naked man and woman.

Han Shuo watched Gilbert subdue the Nine-Headed Serpent with a special technique, then agreed to follow a fleeing Cyclops in hopes of finding rare ore. The story left Han Shuo and Gilbert pursuing the Cyclops to investigate what it had discovered.

• Han Shuo stopped the Earth Armor Zombie from entering the poisonous mire and sent him and Little Skeleton home.
• A blue-green Cyclops rushed past, flattening trees and rocks as it hurried through the forest.
• Gilbert emerged from the mire and told Han Shuo that he had subdued the Nine-Headed Serpent and stolen some of her vital essence.
• Gilbert said he could bring the Nine-Headed Serpent under their control, and Han Shuo trusted him to return for her after she recovered.
• Han Shuo and Gilbert followed the Cyclops, hoping it would lead them to rare ore for refining artifacts.

Han Shuo followed a Cyclops to a valley where it secretly mined strange stones, while four other powerful beings watched. When Flame Demon Warriors emerged from beneath the valley and Han Shuo sensed the Fire-Extreme Land below, the story left him poised to investigate its location.

• Han Shuo and Gilbert followed the Cyclops into a valley, where it dug strange stones from a deep lake as powerful beings gathered nearby.
• Han Shuo identified the watchers as a Fire Element Archmage, a transformed Golden Dragon, a silver giant ape, and a woman riding a Pegasus.
• A roar from underground heated the valley, and Han Shuo stopped Gilbert from emerging before ordering him to escape through the riverbed.
• Lava erupted, and more than a dozen Flame Demon Warriors rose from the lake and river and charged at the Cyclops.
• Han Shuo sensed the Fire-Extreme Land beneath the burning valley.

Han Shuo collected Flameglow Stone while powerful beings fought amid the valley’s spreading fires. The Flame Lord emerged from underground, sealed the sky in flames, and trapped everyone inside the valley.

• The Cyclops fought the Flame Demon Warriors as their battle sent flaming stones across the valley and started a widespread fire.
• Han Shuo used the Mystic Ice Demon Flame Art to extinguish a Flameglow Stone and stored it in his Spatial Ring.
• Han Shuo approached the beautiful girl on her pegasus and extinguished another Flameglow Stone while her pegasus circled near him.
• The Fire Element Archmage, the Golden Dragon, the Silver Giant Ape, and the other powerful beings watched as the valley shook and more lava erupted.
• The Flame Lord rose from a fissure, and its fiery clouds blocked the girl and her pegasus from escaping as its killing intent spread through the valley.

Han Shuo, Masor, and Sophie joined forces inside the sealed valley as the Flame Lord fought the other powerful creatures. Masor revealed her plan to enter the Flame Lord’s underground realm and seize its treasures, and the three set off toward a lava fissure.

• Masor proposed that she, Han Shuo, and Sophie cooperate to survive, and they introduced themselves inside her protective Barrier.
• The Flame Lord drove the Cyclops into retreat, while the Silver Giant Ape attacked and the Golden Dragon blasted open an exit in the valley wall.
• The Flame Lord resealed the exit with lava and fire, provoking the Golden Dragon to attack it directly.
• Masor revealed that the underground realm contained Fire Essence, a Fire Lotus, and unusual stones, and Han Shuo and Sophie agreed to accompany her.
• Masor gathered fire elements into the Barrier and carried the three toward a fissure spewing lava.

Han Shuo discovered a Fire Lotus in the Fire-Extreme Land and prepared to use it to transform a zombie into a Fire Armored Corpse. As Masor and Sophie approached the lotus, he summoned Little Skeleton and a big-headed Zombie Warrior, then rushed toward the Fire Lake.

• Masor lowered Han Shuo, Sophie, and herself through the magma to a cavern surrounding a vast Fire Lake.
• Han Shuo spotted valuable fire-element stones and used the Mystic Ice Demon Flame Art to leave Masor's barrier and endure the extreme heat.
• Masor and Sophie moved toward the Fire Lotus while Han Shuo secretly dug array nodes and linked them with his natal blood essence.
• Han Shuo summoned Little Skeleton and ordered him to bring a zombie, then prepared a cooler area so the zombie would survive the heat.
• Little Skeleton returned with a big-headed Zombie Warrior, and Han Shuo seized it and charged toward the Fire Lake.

Han Shuo secretly placed the big-headed Zombie Warrior inside the Fire Lotus, using a formation to help him become a Fire Armored Corpse before the Flame Lord could interfere. He then feigned severe burns to get inside Masor’s barrier, where Sophie helped him as the Flame Lord approached.

• Han Shuo used smoke and cries for help to distract Masor and Sophie while he pressed the big-headed Zombie Warrior into the Fire Lotus and imprinted him with spells and natal blood essence.
• Twenty-four rays and the surrounding primal fire energy converged on the Fire Lotus, whose petals closed around the zombie as it began sinking into the lake.
• Han Shuo sensed the Flame Lord abandoning its fight with the Golden Dragon, Cyclops, and giant silver ape to approach the lake, then deliberately exposed his legs to the heat and cried for help.
• Sophie urged Masor to rescue Han Shuo, and Masor reluctantly drew him into the cramped barrier; Sophie helped him sit upright while he feigned pain and contact.
• Masor focused on controlling the barrier as the Flame Lord’s roars drew nearer, while Han Shuo recovered his Demonic Essence and watched Sophie through a Yin Demon.

Han Shuo rescued Sophie from the lake of fire after Masor abandoned them, then escaped with her while the Flame Lord returned underground. The chapter ended with the Flame Lord cradling the Fire Lotus like a child, leaving Han Shuo to wonder whether it regarded the Fire Armored Corpse as its own.

• Masor severed Han Shuo and Sophie’s portion of the barrier, leaving them to fall into the magma so she could escape alone.
• Han Shuo used his Demonic Essence to protect himself and Sophie, and they flew upward through the magma while he teased her.
• Han Shuo and Sophie passed the exhausted Masor and escaped through a fissure as the Golden Dragon fought the Cyclops and the Silver Giant Ape left the valley.
• Han Shuo emerged above the valley and let Sophie down, though he briefly kept an arm around her waist.
• Han Shuo saw through a Yin Demon that the Flame Lord held the Fire Lotus and tenderly cradled it, prompting him to wonder if it treated the Fire Armored Corpse as its child.