Chapter Summaries

Han Shuo faced the women’s decision about their relationships with him, and Phoebe collapsed when she thought he was abandoning her. After she reaffirmed that she would stay with him, the gathering turned back to the empire’s crisis as Han Shuo warned that Ashburn and First Prince Charles were leading troops north.

• Van Razer reluctantly agreed to let Fanny stay with Han Shuo, while Phoebe struggled to accept sharing him.
• Han Shuo told Phoebe to forget him, and she fainted before he caught and revived her.
• Phoebe woke, struck Han Shuo, and insisted she would never leave him; Han Shuo promised he could not bear to let her go.
• Carola accepted Phoebe’s choice, and Sabocas urged the gathered factions to focus on protecting the Lancelot Empire.
• Han Shuo announced that Ashburn and First Prince Charles were leading troops toward the North of the City to settle the empire’s troubles in one battle.

As Ashburn’s forces prepared to attack Osen City, Van Razer brought the Roaring Legion to support Lawrence while Han Shuo shared intelligence about the enemy. After the others left to organize the defense, Han Shuo escaped an awkward confrontation with Phoebe, Emily, and Fanny, visited the injured Earth Armor Zombie, and received a strange fruit from Little Skeleton that enveloped him in radiance.

• Han Shuo used the Xuan Demons to reveal Ashburn’s forces and deployment, including the Paladin, Temple Knights, and Dempus.
• Van Razer said he had brought the Roaring Legion to Osen City, and he and Boris went to open the north gate and bring the troops in.
• Lawrence thanked Van Razer, who said he was helping because of the late king rather than for Lawrence’s sake.
• Carola, Lawrence, Old Hahn, and the others went to the Council Hall to plan the defense while Emias arranged the Dark Curtain’s operatives.
• Phoebe accused Han Shuo of deceiving the three women and warned him not to spy on them, so he hurried away and went to the Death Cemetery.
• Little Skeleton urged Han Shuo to grow stronger, gave him a black fruit, and the fruit wrapped him in strands of radiance.

Han Shuo absorbed a Black Bone Crystal in the Death Cemetery, strengthening his bones before returning to Osen City, where the civil war had begun. He surveyed the fighting through the Xuan Demons, saw Van Razer’s forces gaining the upper hand, and flew down to join him.

• Little Skeleton ground ore into starlike fragments and sprinkled them over Han Shuo as the Black Bone Crystal’s radiance entered his body, strengthening his bones and increasing his weight more than tenfold.
• Little Skeleton explained that the Black Bone Crystal strengthened bones, and Han Shuo learned he could not tell how much time had passed in the Death Cemetery.
• Han Shuo returned to Osen City and used the Xuan Demons to survey battles around the castle and across the city.
• Van Razer’s Roaring Legion and the City Guard gradually gained the advantage over Ashburn and Charles’s forces, while Carola and Sabocas protested the casualties and Van Razer insisted the battle had to be settled quickly.
• Han Shuo flew toward the castle, blocked the Roaring Legion’s crossbow bolts with a White Bone Shield, and landed beside Van Razer.

Han Shuo returned to Osen City after spending two days in the Death Cemetery and used his Xuan Demons to help Van Razer coordinate the battle against Ashburn’s forces. He then began teaching Bolands the Godslaying Demonic Path so Bolands could absorb the battlefield’s lingering killing intent, while the Demon-Slaying Edge gathered the area’s negative energies.

• Han Shuo gave Van Razer detailed intelligence from across Osen City, helping him direct Lawrence’s allied forces against Ashburn and Charles.
• Han Shuo visited Phoebe, Emily, and Fanny, who had become less hostile toward one another, and heard Fanny speak about her resentment toward her father, Van Razer.
• Han Shuo sensed the battlefield’s baleful energy and left to find Bolands, explaining that Bolands could benefit from absorbing the killing intent.
• Han Shuo took Bolands to the castle’s bell tower and began guiding the killing intent through his meridians along the Godslaying Demonic Path.
• Han Shuo sent the Demon-Slaying Edge into the sky, where it formed a blood cloud and drew in the negative powers lingering over Osen City.

Han Shuo taught Bolands to cultivate by absorbing killing aura, then drew vast baleful forces into a vortex above the castle while the Demon-Slaying Edge gathered fear and hatred. The strange sky-born phenomena alarmed both armies and the city’s powerful figures, but the chapter left Han Shuo struggling to control the Demon-Slaying Edge as its absorbed forces spiraled into chaos.

• Han Shuo taught Bolands the Godslaying Demonic Path and formed a vortex in his chest that drew in killing aura.
• Han Shuo moved away from Bolands and created an enormous vortex that absorbed baleful aura above the northern district.
• Dempus and Blount watched the strange phenomena from outside the castle, while Van Razer urged Carola and Sabocas to destroy them.
• Emias suggested the Calamity Church might be responsible, but Emily recognized the phenomena as Han Shuo’s work and reassured everyone.
• Sabocas inspected the phenomena and confirmed that Han Shuo was cultivating, easing the castle’s fears.
• Han Shuo lost control of the Demon-Slaying Edge as it absorbed the city’s chaotic fear, hatred, and anger, spreading a savage aura over the battlefield.

Han Shuo lost control while absorbing the Demon-Slaying Edge’s negative energy and entered a demonic state, unleashing deadly power as he flew toward Ashburn’s position. His allies watched anxiously through Sabocas’s crystal ball as Han Shuo descended on Ashburn’s forces, and Dempus began evacuating Ashburn and First Prince Charles.

• The Demon-Slaying Edge’s negative energy drove Han Shuo toward a demonic state, and his outbreak collapsed buildings and killed nearly a hundred soldiers.
• Sabocas and Carola saw Han Shuo fly into the blood clouds, which then moved toward Ashburn’s position.
• Emily told the gathered allies that Han Shuo was in a dangerous demonic state, while Sabocas used a crystal ball to show them his approach.
• Paladin Blount recognized Han Shuo within the blood clouds, and Wind Element Magic Mages failed to disperse them with tornadoes.
• Han Shuo descended with the Demon-Slaying Edge, and Dempus grabbed Ashburn and First Prince Charles and retreated.

Han Shuo unleashed the Demon-Slaying Edge against Ashburn and Charles’s forces, killing hundreds and forcing Dempus and Blount to retreat. As Ashburn’s party prepared to flee, Blount stayed behind with Zhankesi to draw Han Shuo away and counter his undead army with the Book of Revelation.

• Dempus and Blount retreated from Han Shuo’s attack as the Demon-Slaying Edge obliterated the soldiers still in its path.
• Carola, Sabocas, Fanny, Phoebe, and the others watched the devastation through a crystal ball and marveled at Han Shuo’s strength.
• Han Shuo caught the Demon-Slaying Edge and charged toward Blount, killing hundreds of Ashburn’s elite soldiers as he swept through them.
• Dempus told Ashburn and Charles that retreat was their only option, and Ashburn apologized to Blount after Charles angrily questioned the Saints.
• Blount agreed to lure Han Shuo away and asked Zhankesi to stay with him, saying the Book of Revelation could weaken Han Shuo’s undead army.

Han Shuo pursued Blount and the Church of Light followers, overwhelming their defenses and badly injuring Blount. As the battle continued, Han Shuo killed Zhankesi and extinguished the power of the Book of Revelation.

• Blount and Zhankesi led the Church of Light followers away, and Han Shuo pursued Blount while Dempus and Ashburn returned to the battlefield.
• Han Shuo's first strike shattered the Church of Light's barriers, injured Zhankesi, and left Blount bleeding from his mouth and nose.
• Sabocas and the others watched Han Shuo's attack through the crystal ball, while Cecilia realized how far his strength surpassed hers.
• Blount ordered the surviving followers to raise more barriers as Han Shuo launched another attack, knocking Zhankesi unconscious and driving Blount into the ground.
• Han Shuo's blood-red sword aura killed more than twenty Temple Knights and White-Robed Priests, then stabbed the unconscious Zhankesi.
• Zhankesi died with the Book of Revelation in his hands, and the divine artifact went dull and lightless.

Han Shuo defeated the Church of Light’s forces in Osen City, though Blount escaped with the Book of Revelation. After the coup collapsed, Han Shuo rescued Bolands from losing control of the killing energy he had absorbed.

• Han Shuo’s blood-red sword aura killed or wounded most of the Church of Light’s followers, and Blount secured the Book of Revelation as he fled the battlefield.
• Han Shuo revealed that his overwhelming display had left him depleted, while Blount’s flight allowed him to avoid a potentially uncertain fight.
• The remaining Church of Light followers praised the God of Light and killed themselves, while Han Shuo’s Demon-Slaying Edge returned to normal and his awareness of the city revealed the coup’s defeat.
• Han Shuo saw that Bolands was overwhelmed by killing intent and hurried to draw out some of the chaotic energy before Bolands’s body could burst apart.
• Bolands apologized for absorbing too much energy, and Han Shuo warned him not to exceed what his body could withstand.

After Han Shuo’s display of power, Lawrence learned that the king had backed him because of Madam Grace’s prophecy and heard the king’s final condition: the three princes must be spared. Lawrence agreed to spare them, while Han Shuo began cultivating in the Bell Tower, hoping the power of the dead in Osen City would help him break through.

• Fanny, Van Razer, Carola, and the others gathered around Han Shuo, who explained that he had defeated Blount by using the power of the blood cloud rather than his own strength.
• Lawrence told Bolands about Han Shuo’s battle, leaving Bolands astonished and eager to learn more from Han Shuo’s martial technique.
• Han Shuo asked Lawrence, Sabocas, and Carola to speak privately, then revealed that Madam Grace’s prophecy had prompted the king to support Lawrence as the next ruler.
• Han Shuo told Lawrence that the king had asked him to spare all three princes, and Lawrence agreed to exile or imprison Charles while allowing the other two to remain princes if they did not oppose him.
• Han Shuo asked Lawrence and the others not to disturb him and began cultivating in the Bell Tower, sensing the power of the dead across Osen City as he prepared to attempt a breakthrough.

Han Shuo absorbed the fiendish energy accumulated over Osen City and prepared to enter prolonged cultivation after confirming Lawrence had secured the throne. Before departing, he reunited with Emily, Fanny, and Phoebe, then took Phoebe to her room for an intimate encounter that ended with him changing their position.

• Han Shuo spent several days absorbing and refining the Sha Qi above Osen City, then woke with power surging through his body and the Demon-Slaying Edge filled with energy to digest.
• Emily told Han Shuo that Duke Ashiburn had been killed, Prince Charles was imprisoned, and Lawrence controlled Osen City and was expected to take the throne.
• Han Shuo told Emily, Fanny, and Phoebe that he needed closed-door cultivation, which could last from eight months to several years.
• Phoebe asked Han Shuo to speak with her privately, and he followed her to her room while Emily teased Fanny about their private conversation.
• Han Shuo began caressing Phoebe, but she cried out when his increased weight nearly crushed her; he then sat up and pulled her onto his lap.

After becoming celebrated across the Lancelot Empire for his role in the coup, Han Shuo traveled to Buleiteer City and found that the Golden Armored Corpse had been successfully refined. The Golden Armored Corpse claimed the Metal Element Treasure, and Little Skeleton named himself Han Hao before returning to the Otherworld.

• Han Shuo left Fanny after she refused intimacy, then traveled from Osen City to Sea Mist City using the restored Teleportation Array as soldiers and merchants recognized him as Marquis Brian.
• Han Shuo sensed that the Golden Armored Corpse had been completed and flew to Buleiteer City, where he saw the expanded weapons workshop on Qiluo Mountain.
• Han Shuo entered the Metal-Extreme Land, freed the Golden Armored Corpse, and watched it absorb the golden pillar into a staff resembling a Ruyi Jingu Bang.
• Little Skeleton asked Han Shuo to find matching elemental weapons for Little Water, Little Earth, and Little Wood, prompting Han Shuo to consider that other extreme lands might exist.
• Before returning to the Otherworld with the Golden Armored Corpse, Little Skeleton told Han Shuo that he had chosen the name Han Hao.

Han Shuo secluded himself in the Death Cemetery to absorb his accumulated power and strengthen his body, but he stopped just short of reaching the Unrestrained Desire Realm. His bones gained the ability to extend and retract, the Earth Armor Zombie recovered, and Han Shuo turned his attention to finding a way to travel freely to the Undead World.

• Han Shuo returned to Brettel City, left its affairs in Jack and the others’ hands, and entered secluded cultivation in the Death Cemetery.
• Han Shuo entered a static Demonic State and spent an unknown length of time absorbing the baleful energy within him.
• Han Shuo’s Demonic Nascent Soul tempered his body, awakening his ability to extend and retract his limbs by controlling his bones.
• Han Shuo found his body and Demonic Essence ready for the Unrestrained Desire Realm, but he still lacked the insight to break through.
• The Earth Armor Zombie told Han Shuo that he had fully recovered, and Han Shuo sent him back to the Undead World.
• Han Shuo began studying how to use the Skeleton Magic Staff to let his soul travel freely to and from the Undead World.

Han Shuo mastered the spell for traveling to the Undead World in soul form and arrived beside Little Skeleton, who was preparing to conquer a region of the Eastern Dead Sea. When Tumojia refused to submit, Little Skeleton charged to attack him.

• Han Shuo learned to travel to and from the Undead World in soul form, then used his connection with Little Skeleton to arrive beside him.
• Han Shuo formed a temporary body from Skeleton Warriors’ bones and learned that Little Skeleton had brought an undead army to the Eastern Dead Sea.
• Tumojia, a powerful octopus-like undead creature, challenged Little Skeleton’s authority from the black ocean.
• Little Skeleton demanded that Tumojia submit, while Water Armored Corpse parted the Dead Sea and led the undead army toward Tumojia’s territory.
• Tumojia rejected Little Skeleton’s offer, so Little Skeleton gathered death energy into his Bone Spikes and charged at him.

Little Skeleton and Han Shuo battled Tumojia, the powerful outsider who ruled the Eastern Dead Sea, while their allies fought his undead army. Little Skeleton destroyed Tumojia and absorbed his power, emerging as the strongest undead in the region.

• The Water Armored Corpse and Fire Armored Corpse led Little Skeleton’s undead army against Tumojia’s forces, using water and fire to inflict heavy losses.
• Little Skeleton explained to Han Shuo that Tumojia had arrived from another world and formed a new body in the Dead Sea.
• Tumojia emerged from the sea and attacked Little Skeleton, who trapped him outside the water and struck him with his seven Bone Spikes.
• Han Shuo’s Soul Tremor disoriented Tumojia, allowing Little Skeleton to stab one of his eyes and enter his body.
• Little Skeleton absorbed Tumojia’s power until Tumojia’s body burst apart, then drained his remaining soul power and erased him from existence.
• Little Skeleton returned from the Dead Sea with jade-white bones and greater power, becoming the strongest undead in the Eastern Dead Sea.

Han Shuo and Little Skeleton descended into the Dead Sea to find the Soul Pearl Tree, whose fruits could increase the intelligence of powerful undead. After tasting one, Han Shuo received strange memories and insights, including a fragment about desire that left him stunned with sudden enlightenment.

• Little Skeleton led Han Shuo into the Dead Sea, explaining that he had sought a rare plant there as well as victory over Tumojia.
• A group of mutated undead creatures confronted them, but Little Skeleton announced Tumojia’s death and forced them to submit.
• Little Skeleton ordered the creatures to guide them to the Soul Pearl Tree and explained that its Soul Pearls could help certain undead develop intelligence.
• The creatures led them through soul energies that briefly dazed Little Skeleton and the Bone Demon; the Bone Demon attacked one creature before Little Skeleton ordered it to stop.
• The group reached the Soul Pearl Tree, and Han Shuo broke open a fruit with his divine sense and absorbed its memories and insights.
• A memory fragment about controlling and indulging desire struck Han Shuo, who had been struggling to break through the Unrestrained Desire Realm, and left him in a state of sudden enlightenment.

Han Shuo emerged from three years and four months of secluded cultivation after reaching the Unrestrained Desire Realm, discovering that his Divine Sense and abilities had greatly improved. Gilbert then briefed him on how Trunks and Lawrence had strengthened their forces while Han Shuo was away.

• Little Skeleton ordered the Bone Demon to watch over Han Shuo while Han Shuo remained motionless in the Dead Sea of the Undead World.
• Han Shuo's Divine Sense entered the Death Cemetery, where his Demonic Essence condensed until he awakened in the Unrestrained Desire Realm.
• Han Shuo tested his expanded Divine Sense and mastered several Demon Gate Secret Techniques before letting Gilbert into the Death Cemetery.
• Gilbert told Han Shuo that three years and four months had passed and reported that Trunks's Soul Annihilation Mercenary Group had taken control of Sun Radiance Valley.
• Gilbert explained that Lawrence had become emperor, stabilized the Lancelot Empire, and supported Brettel City while Dokes raided the Seven Grand Duchies.

After three years of cultivation, Han Shuo returned to Buleiteer City and found it transformed into a wealthy, heavily fortified center of trade and military power. He reunited with its leaders and friends at the City Lord's Mansion, where they gathered to welcome him and brief him on the city’s growth.

• Han Shuo and Gilberto entered Buleiteer City through its Magic Teleportation Array, and Han Shuo surveyed its prosperity and defenses with his Xuan Demons.
• Druk recognized Han Shuo at the City Lord's Mansion, and the returning Lord Marquis was welcomed by the guards and steward Callas.
• Callas explained that Jack, Dokes, and other allies had received noble titles and that the king had supported Buleiteer City's development.
• Callas described how Jack, Dokes, and Dick had strengthened the city's administration, army, intelligence network, and influence over the Seven Grand Duchies.
• Jack arrived with Jessica, followed by Dokes, Dick Valklan, and former Mountain People leaders, and they gathered with Han Shuo for a welcoming banquet.

Han Shuo learned that Buleiteer City faced threats from the Seven Grand Duchies and the Bart Trade Alliance, but he focused on dealing with the duchies first. After Delia openly hinted at her attraction to him, Han Shuo told Dokes and Jack he was leaving briefly to settle a personal matter, intending to kill Blount and avenge the Earth Armor Zombie.

• Dokes and Jack explained that the Seven Grand Duchies and the Bart Trade Alliance threatened Buleiteer City, with the alliance secretly backing five duchies against it.
• Han Shuo dismissed Jack's warning about the Bart Trade Alliance and said they only needed to focus on the Seven Grand Duchies for now.
• Delia flirted openly with Han Shuo, while Jack and Dokes recognized her interest and Dokes sent her away.
• Han Shuo told Dokes and Jack he would leave Buleiteer City briefly, and they assured him they would manage the city in his absence.
• Han Shuo decided to kill Blount, who had badly injured him and the Earth Armor Zombie, to avenge the zombie.

Han Shuo attacked the Church of Light’s cathedral in the Beasley Duchy, where Grand Duke Nahum Betch and Cardinal Katos had been discussing how to kill him. After breaking through the cathedral’s defenses, Han Shuo killed Nahum Betch and demanded to know where Paladin Blount was.

• Nahum Betch and Katos sensed an evil presence approaching the cathedral and dismissed the danger as a heretic they could defeat.
• The cathedral’s defenders screamed as the barrier erected by a Church of Light Saint Archmage shook and then shattered.
• Nahum Betch and Katos tried to flee through a side door, but Han Shuo appeared and blocked their escape.
• Katos recognized Han Shuo as the heretic Brian, and Han Shuo demanded Blount’s location in exchange for a more comfortable death.
• Nahum Betch attacked Han Shuo with his sword, but Han Shuo shattered the weapon and broke Nahum Betch’s bones with one punch.
• Han Shuo asked Nahum Betch where Paladin Blount was, then killed him with a stomp before he could answer.