Chapter Summaries

Han Shuo returned with Helen to the Xilun Duchy and agreed to help her eliminate Marquis Kekalu, then forced a kiss on her before slipping away as her army approached Xijie City. Kekalu chose to open the gates and welcome Helen, unaware that Han Shuo was nearby and preparing to strike.

• Helen concealed Feluodia’s betrayal and told her followers that assassins had attacked them, then led her thirty thousand elite troops back toward the Xilun Duchy with Han Shuo following unseen.
• As Helen’s army neared Xijie City, Han Shuo proposed killing Kekalu and his heirs so Helen could seize control of the city, and Helen agreed that he should help carry out her plan.
• Han Shuo kissed Helen in the carriage, apologized with a cup of wine, then licked her neck and vanished in a wisp of gray mist before the army reached the city.
• Kekalu’s administrator and son Kexijia urged him to keep Helen’s forces outside Xijie City, but Kekalu argued that he lacked a reason to rebel and that open conflict would devastate the duchy.
• Kekalu ordered the gates opened and went out to welcome Helen, unaware that Han Shuo posed a deadly threat.

Helen welcomed Han Shuo to Xijie City and asked him to bring Kekalu to her so she could kill him herself. Han Shuo broke into Kekalu’s castle, stopped the plot against Helen, and began killing those responsible.

• Helen refused Kekalu’s banquet and told Han Shuo she wanted to kill Kekalu, who had murdered her birth mother.
• Han Shuo comforted Helen and promised to bring Kekalu to her, then left for the castle.
• Kekalu, Kexijia, and Administrator Moli plotted to lure Helen to Kexijia’s wedding and capture her for Benedict Sackville.
• Han Shuo cut through the castle’s reinforced floor, mangled Kexijia’s arm, and pinned Kekalu’s hand to a wall with the Demon-Slaying Edge.
• Han Shuo learned that Kekalu had no other eligible heirs and broke Administrator Moli’s neck.

Han Shuo killed Kexijia and secretly brought the unconscious Kekalu to Helen, who finally took revenge on her enemy. Afterward, Helen and Han Shuo washed off the blood together, and their growing intimacy left Helen wondering if he would become her man.

• Han Shuo killed Kexijia, told Kekalu that the rest of his family was dead, and knocked Kekalu unconscious with Soul Tremor.
• Han Shuo carried Kekalu through underground tunnels to Helen’s manor, where Helen asked whether Han Shuo was safe before confronting her captured enemy.
• Han Shuo left Helen alone with Kekalu and studied how to summon powerful undead creatures while she killed him.
• Helen emerged covered in blood, embraced Han Shuo as she wept, and explained that Fire Phoenix stayed away from crowds.
• Helen led Han Shuo to the bathing room to wash off the blood, and she gazed at him while wondering if he would become her man.

Han Shuo helped Helen plan to restore order in the Xilun Duchy and arrange trade with Brettel City after wiping out the Kekalu Family. He contacted Dark Curtain operatives in Xijie City, then returned to the Death Cemetery to collect the twelve Xuan Demons.

• Han Shuo and Helen agreed to arrange a secret exchange of Xilun warhorses for Lancelot Empire weapons and grain, while Helen prepared to seize control of Xijie City.
• Han Shuo warned Helen to protect herself and disguise the aftermath of the Kekalu Family massacre as an attack by assassins from the Nathan Duchy.
• Han Shuo crossed chaotic Xijie City and met Dark Curtain agents led by Delant, then sent a letter to Dick and warned the agents to keep their identities secret.
• Han Shuo traveled outside the city, used the Earth Armor Zombie to create a cavern, and teleported back to the Death Cemetery.
• Han Shuo expected the twelve Xuan Demons to have finished forming and planned to use them to observe events throughout Xijie City.

Han Shuo completed the creation of twelve Xuan Demons, brought the Water Armored Corpse out of Sun Radiance Valley, and met with Trunks to discuss the growing tensions there. He then collected weapons for the Lizardmen and traveled toward their territory, considering how his allies might form a powerful force in the Dark Forest.

• Han Shuo released his Yin Demon for the twelve newly formed Xuan Demons to devour, then learned how they could scout, possess people, and serve as powerful assistants.
• Han Shuo went to Sun Radiance Valley, retrieved the Water Armored Corpse from the Water-Extreme Land, marked him, and sent him with Little Skeleton to Death Paradise.
• Han Shuo met Trunks and learned that the other mercenary groups were wary of the Soul Annihilation Mercenary Group, while Trunks and Janet planned revenge against Florida, Butcher Gustav, and Bradley Pilon.
• Han Shuo offered to kill Butcher Gustav and Florida, but Trunks insisted on taking revenge himself; Han Shuo warned him that Gilbert remained away during his evolution.
• Han Shuo collected more than a thousand weapons from the dwarves and traveled toward the Lizardmen, reflecting on the forces he might unite in the Dark Forest.

Han Shuo arrived at the Lizardmen settlement and learned that the Dark Elf matriarch Adair was leading a force against them while fearing the Lizard Progenitor King Daxiaxi. After Han Shuo armed the Lizardmen and sent out his Xuan Demons, Adair ordered Xikang to find him, but Han Shuo broke free of Xikang’s trap and sent him fleeing.

• Han Shuo tunneled into the Lizardmen’s central cavern and learned from their leader that Adair had united the Dark Elves and was attacking them.
• Han Shuo gave the Lizardmen weapons and released twelve Xuan Demons to watch the caves and the Dark Elves.
• Adair discussed her fear of Daxiaxi with her ancient followers, then sent Xikang into the caves to find Han Shuo.
• Xikang used a blue crystal ball to map the cave passages and ensnared Han Shuo in a web of blue strands.
• Han Shuo cut through Xikang’s web with the Demon-Slaying Edge, and Xikang fled in fear.

Han Shuo drove Xikang from the Lizardmen’s caves, and Adair punished her failed elder before summoning Han Shuo to negotiate. Han Shuo admitted Daxiaxi had left and challenged Adair to decide how she wanted to test him.

• Han Shuo’s Bloodlight Myriad Blades Slash chased Xikang through the cave, killing young Dark Elves who tried to protect him before Lolth’s Divine Power let Xikang escape.
• Xikang reported his failure to Adair, who bound and nearly killed him before withdrawing her black light and sparing him.
• Adair ordered the Dark Elves out of the caves and called for Han Shuo to come talk.
• Han Shuo emerged from the cave as the Lizardman chief and his people gathered behind him.
• Han Shuo confirmed Daxiaxi had left, promised to help the Lizardmen resist enslavement, and invited Adair to test his strength.

Han Shuo used the Skeleton Magic Staff to make Dark Elf Matriarch Adair believe he was a high-ranking member of the Calamity Church, persuading her to leave the Lizardmen alone. Adair brought him to the Dark Elf territory and welcomed him with five attendants.

• Adair flirted with Han Shuo and challenged him to prove his strength before she noticed his Skeleton Magic Staff and assumed he belonged to the Calamity Church.
• Han Shuo claimed the Calamity Church protected the Lizardmen, and Adair agreed not to attack them and invited him to visit the Dark Elf territory.
• Han Shuo assured the Lizardman chief that the Dark Elves would leave his people alone, then departed with Adair.
• Adair questioned Han Shuo about his position as they traveled, while he avoided revealing that he knew nothing about the Calamity Church.
• Adair showed Han Shuo the Underground World's sights and led him into the Dark Elf forest, where she introduced him to her people and palace.
• Adair summoned five beautiful female Dark Elves and told them to take care of Han Shuo.

Han Shuo accepted Adair’s hospitality while his Xuan Demons gathered information, and Adair’s elders learned of his ties to the Calamity Church, the Lament of Darkness, and Gilbert. When Adair came upstairs, Han Shuo drained her power and killed her as the Dark Elf elders arrived to confront him.

• Adair arranged for five Dark Elf women to entertain Han Shuo while he secretly sent Xuan Demons to follow her and scout the territory.
• Adair questioned Xikang and a young Dark Elf about Han Shuo, learned that he had taken the Lament of Darkness and might be accompanied by Gilbert, and decided not to provoke him.
• After Han Shuo subdued the five women, Adair went upstairs and joined him.
• Han Shuo absorbed Adair’s power, causing her to age rapidly and die, while the Dark Elf elders rushed in after hearing her cries for help.
• Han Shuo dressed, told the elders Adair was dead, and threatened to kill them as well.

Han Shuo helped five Dark Elf women kill Adair and the elders who had seized power, then agreed to trade the Lament of Darkness for gold and arrange future commerce. The women prepared to take control of the Dark Elves, while Han Shuo left with a new trading alliance.

• Xikang tried to negotiate with Han Shuo, but five naked Dark Elf women rushed into the elders’ arms and stabbed them.
• Han Shuo killed an elder who survived the ambush, and Xialan asked why he had killed Adair after refusing to help them.
• Han Shuo explained that Adair had secretly put two poisonous spiders inside him, so he absorbed her strange power and killed her.
• Han Shuo agreed to give Xialan the Lament of Darkness in exchange for five hundred thousand gold coins and a promise to leave the Lizardmen alone.
• Xialan proposed long-term trade between the Underground World and the surface, and Han Shuo agreed.

Han Shuo discovered how to summon an Old Ghoul successfully by forging its contract while it was weakened in the spatial tunnel. Meanwhile, a blue bead transformed a praying Dark Elf girl, who vowed revenge on Brian.

• The Blue Bead gathered power from Adair and the dead elven elders, then entered a young Dark Elf girl praying in Lolth's temple and transformed her.
• The transformed girl recovered and swore to make Brian suffer and kill him.
• Han Shuo summoned an Old Ghoul, but it attacked him because the contract had not been properly established, so he sent it back to the Otherworld.
• Han Shuo studied his necromancy book and realized he needed to forge the contract while the Old Ghoul was weakened inside the spatial tunnel.
• Han Shuo summoned another Old Ghoul and formed the contract during its transit, successfully making it obey his commands.

Han Shuo arrived in Xijie City and found Helen had secured control of the Xilun Duchy after publicly proving her innocence and purging her political enemies. Helen rejected Benedict Sackville's renewed advances and admitted her growing feelings for Han Shuo, who visited her to discuss secret trade and asked her for a kiss.

• Han Shuo reached Xijie City and learned from Delant that Helen had taken control of the city and the Xilun Duchy.
• Brettel City's statement and an examination by respected women confirmed that Helen was still a virgin, winning back the citizens' trust.
• Helen used her restored standing to eliminate disloyal nobles, while Benedict Sackville sent her a love letter that she tore up.
• Helen told the Fire Phoenix that she no longer hated Han Shuo and believed he could give her what Benedict could not.
• Han Shuo arrived at Helen's residence to discuss secret transactions, and Helen sent the Fire Phoenix away so they could speak privately.
• Han Shuo agreed to give Helen more time before she shared his bed, but demanded a kiss; Helen kissed him after he teased that he would otherwise kiss her in front of the others.

Han Shuo arranged secret trade between the Xilun Duchy and Lancelot Empire merchants, then stayed two days with Helen before planning to leave and extend his influence over the Seven Grand Duchies. Helen warned him that National Preceptor Stassom, a long-lived Sword Saint secluded in Thorn Valley, would defend the duchies if they faced destruction.

• Helen introduced Fubin'en and the Lancelot Empire merchants to local merchants and ordered them to conduct their trade secretly under her protection.
• Han Shuo told Helen that the new trade route would let the Xilun Duchy bypass the Nathan Duchy, then decided to leave and seek chances to control other grand dukes.
• Helen asked Han Shuo to stay, and he agreed to spend two days with her while Fire Phoenix left them alone.
• Han Shuo and Helen secretly toured the Xilun Duchy, growing more intimate as they visited its scenic places.
• Helen warned Han Shuo that National Preceptor Stassom lived in seclusion in Thorn Valley and would aid the Seven Grand Duchies against a foreign invasion.

Han Shuo waited for a chance to possess Grand Duke Benedict Sackville, but an uncontrolled surge of lust led him to enter Benedict’s secret manor and sleep with Lady Dibit and Diya Li. The power within Han Shuo then erupted into a struggle in the Death Cemetery, while a young woman at a Spider Goddess Lolth altar suffered the backlash of her attempt to control him.

• Han Shuo reached Benedict Sackville’s residence and spent five days waiting for a safe opportunity to implant a Xuan Demon in the grand duke’s mind.
• Han Shuo followed Benedict to a secret manor and discovered that Marquis Dibit had sent Lady Dibit and Diya Li to serve him in exchange for a military post for their son and brother.
• Han Shuo’s lust surged as the power he had absorbed from Adair stirred, and he entered Benedict’s room under cover of Dark Mist.
• Han Shuo knocked Benedict unconscious and gave in to the lewd power with Lady Dibit and Diya Li before escaping to the Death Cemetery.
• Han Shuo fought the harmful power within him by unleashing the baleful energy of the Demon-Slaying Edge, eventually overcoming the forces inside his body.
• At a temple to Spider Goddess Lolth, a young woman spat blood and endured bloody welts after her attempt to imprison Han Shuo with divine power failed.

After recovering from his injuries in the Death Cemetery, Han Shuo read Emily’s letter about Lawrence’s worsening position and decided to return to Osen City to help him. He discussed Adair, the Spider Goddess Lolth, and the limits on divine power with Gilbert, then sent Gilbert to support Trunks in Sun Radiance Valley.

• Han Shuo recovered from his wounds and strengthened his body by meditating beneath a waterfall.
• Han Shuo found Emily’s hidden letter, learned Lawrence was threatened by the succession struggle in Osen City, and decided to help him.
• Han Shuo learned that Gilbert had reached the second rank of Super-tier Magical Beasts after absorbing the Green Dragon’s Magic Beast Core.
• Han Shuo told Gilbert that Adair’s power had caused a backlash and that he suspected Lolth had intervened; Gilbert said gods were constrained by the laws of their plane.
• Han Shuo sent Gilbert to Sun Radiance Valley to assist Trunks and asked him to contact his grandfather in Black Dragon City.
• Han Shuo entered the Teleportation Array to return to Osen City.

Han Shuo returned to Osen City after three months away and headed to the Babylon Academy to visit Fanny. There, he found a statue commemorating his achievements, and Dean Emma updated its inscription to recognize him as a grand necromancy archmage.

• Phoebe reassured Lawrence that Han Shuo was likely safe and would come to help him, while Lawrence worried about the succession and their teacher’s support.
• Han Shuo arrived in Osen City after leaving Brettel City, where he had planted the Golden Armored Corpse in Lingluo Mountain.
• Han Shuo went to the Babylon Academy of Magic and Martial Arts to visit Fanny and found a statue of himself in the Necromancy Department corridor.
• Emma appeared and explained that Han Shuo’s achievements had brought new students to the department.
• Emma added the word “grand” to the inscription beneath Han Shuo’s statue, acknowledging that he had become a grand necromancy archmage.

Han Shuo confirmed to Emma that he had reached the Archmage realm and then went to Fanny’s laboratory, where he stopped an Evil Knight’s attack and reunited with her. He explained how to control high-level undead and left Fanny surprised by his knowledge.

• Han Shuo admitted to Emma that he had reached the Archmage realm, and Emma asked him to guide the Necromancy students when he had time.
• Emma told Han Shuo that Fanny had also become an Archmage, and he went to visit her laboratory.
• Han Shuo found Fanny exhausting herself by mentally controlling an Evil Knight and recognized that she was using the wrong method.
• Fanny accidentally sent the Evil Knight’s bone spike toward Han Shuo, but it struck his head harmlessly as black light shielded him.
• Fanny embraced Han Shuo in relief, and they kissed before she stopped him and told him to behave until he met her father.
• Han Shuo explained that Evil Knights could fight at full strength without direct Mental Power control, leaving Fanny surprised.

Han Shuo reassured Fanny about how he had changed, then spent the night studying necromancy before going to the Magic Guild to have his rank verified. He left off preparing to prove that he had advanced to the higher Necromancy Archmage rank, with Carlos watching.

• Han Shuo explained his rapid growth to Fanny, who admitted she still struggled to reconcile him with the boy she had once taught.
• Fanny comforted Han Shuo as he recalled his difficult experiences, and she fell asleep in his arms while he continued studying necromancy.
• Han Shuo left the Laboratory before dawn and went to the Magic Guild to have his rank verified.
• The Magic Guild receptionist and nearby Mages were astonished when Han Shuo said he had come to qualify for the higher Necromancy Archmage rank.
• Yales arrived with Carlos, a newly verified wind element Archmage, and Han Shuo confirmed he wanted his rank checked.
• Carlos asked to watch Han Shuo's verification, and Han Shuo agreed.

Han Shuo verified that he had reached the necromancy archmage rank, then reaffirmed his determination to support Prince Lawrence despite the danger. At Dark Curtain Headquarters, he was admitted to a gathering of the organization’s top brass and saw two unfamiliar elders seated above the Three Giants.

• Han Shuo passed the mental-power and necromancy tests, and Yales confirmed his new rank as a necromancy archmage.
• Carlos warned Han Shuo that Prince Lawrence had little chance of inheriting the throne and urged him to protect himself and Brettel City, but Han Shuo refused to abandon Lawrence.
• Yales gave Han Shuo his new badge and credentials, and Han Shuo left for Dark Curtain Headquarters.
• A Dark Curtain member escorted Han Shuo into a sealed chamber where thirteen senior members had gathered, including Candida, Emias, Cecilia, and Emily.
• Han Shuo noticed that two unassuming old men occupied the seats of greatest honor above the Three Giants, and recognized one as the shopkeeper from the Dark Curtain Stronghold in Sun Radiance Valley.

Han Shuo attended a Dark Curtain council and declared that he would support Lawrence in the struggle over the Lancelot Empire’s succession. After the mysterious Astrologer Grace’s vision caused the elders to postpone a decision, Han Shuo reported on Brettel City and learned that the Sword Saint Stassom had prevented the empire from conquering the Seven Grand Duchies.

• Han Shuo discovered that the retired shopkeeper Sabocas was a Dark Curtain elder and the Spatial Saint Archmage, and Emily told him that Grace was a mysterious Astrologer.
• The Dark Curtain leaders debated whether to support a prince, while Han Shuo said he would back Lawrence because he valued repaying kindness.
• Grace’s crystal ball glowed and shattered after she coughed blood, and she briefly fixed her gaze on Han Shuo before Sabocas took her away and postponed any decision.
• Candida asked Han Shuo about Brettel City, and Han Shuo reported that Dark Curtain had established strongholds throughout the Seven Grand Duchies.
• Han Shuo asked about Stassom, and Candida confirmed that the Sword Saint’s presence had deterred the Lancelot Empire from invading the Seven Grand Duchies.