Recaps

Jiang Jie rejected printing his book and worked with Princess Calia to plan a storytelling business that could earn money quickly. He then began a medicinal bath, which ended with Daphne accidentally seeing him naked.

• Jiang Jie explained that publishing would bring limited profits too slowly and asked Princess Calia to find a talented bard for his storytelling plan.
• Jiang Jie and Princess Calia discussed a plan that could generate daily income once the performances began.
• Jiang Jie added medicinal herbs to scalding water and, following Xiao Feng's advice, circulated the Black Tortoise Longevity Art before getting into the tub.
• Daphne heard Jiang Jie's screams, rushed into the room, and saw him standing naked in the tub.
• Daphne told Princess Calia that Jiang Jie had safely begun his medicinal bath, then blushed as she recalled seeing him unclothed.

Jiang Jie strengthened himself with a medicinal bath and worked through the night on Tides of Darkness, which impressed Princess Calia. He was summoned to meet the renowned bard Don Quixote, who doubted the young writer’s talent and insisted that storytelling was not true art.

• Jiang Jie completed a medicinal bath that increased his internal energy and planned to take more baths to reach the Houtian Second Layer quickly.
• Jiang Jie spent the night writing Tides of Darkness to earn money for cultivation and training.
• The young maid delivered his finished manuscript to Princess Calia, who praised him as a born writer.
• The young maid told Jiang Jie that the famous bard Don Quixote wanted to meet him and brought him to the reception room.
• Jiang Jie overheard Don Quixote argue with Princess Calia that adapting the novel into an opera was real art and that its young author did not understand art.

Jiang Jie challenged Don Quixote’s dismissal of storytelling and declared that Lordaeron had produced no true classics. He began transcribing Hamlet, and the young maid’s excited praise left Princess Calia wondering whether Nicholas was a monster of a genius.

• Jiang Jie confronted Don Quixote for dismissing storytelling and boasting that he could turn any novel into a classic.
• Jiang Jie argued that true classics endured across generations and criticized the works of Don Quixote and Trouvere.
• Jiang Jie began writing Hamlet, crediting Shakespeare as its author.
• The young maid read what Jiang Jie had written and exclaimed that it surpassed Tides of Darkness.
• Princess Calia doubted the maid’s claim but wondered whether Nicholas’s talent exceeded that of an ordinary genius.

Princess Calia and Don Quixote recognized Hamlet as a masterpiece, but Jiang Jie argued that art should return to everyday life and introduced storytelling as a performance accessible to everyone. The chapter left Don Quixote captivated by the new form as Jiang Jie began demonstrating it.

• Princess Calia read Jiang Jie's pages of Hamlet and praised the play as a classic that could rival works from the High Elves.
• Don Quixote read the pages, became convinced Hamlet was a masterpiece, and vowed to stage it and spread it throughout the world.
• Jiang Jie stopped writing after completing a third of the first act, saying he was tired and it was lunchtime.
• Jiang Jie challenged Don Quixote's idea of art and argued that life itself was noble and that art should return to ordinary people.
• Jiang Jie used Xiao Feng to perform a passage from The Romance of the Sui and Tang Dynasties, leaving Don Quixote fascinated by storytelling.

Jiang Jie and Don Quixote turned their reconciliation into a plan to profit from Tides of Darkness, while Baron Soroson ordered an ambush to deliver Mage Nolan, his apprentices, and his son Dudley to Scholomance. Jiang Jie advanced to the Houtian Second Layer and then entered the game to challenge the Child Hall of the Shaolin Auxiliary Temple.

• Jiang Jie and Don Quixote planned free storytelling performances, paid shows, memberships, bets, and printed books to draw an audience and make money.
• Princess Calia hosted Jiang Jie and Don Quixote for lunch, and they agreed to jointly manage Jiang Jie’s future works, with the profit split to be discussed later.
• Corno told Baron Soroson that Arthas had purged Stratholme and that Baron Rivendare would be dealt with by someone else, then pressed Soroson to send Dudley to Scholomance.
• Baron Soroson ordered Corno to ambush Mage Nolan and his apprentices outside Brill the next day and bring them all to Scholomance.
• Jiang Jie completed a medicinal bath, advanced to the Houtian Second Layer, and entered the gaming pod to challenge the nine-person difficulty at the Child Hall of the Shaolin Auxiliary Temple.

Jiang Jie learned the Taiji Divine Art, the Five Animal Frolics, and Ten Brocades, then hurried to Instructor Roand’s lesson at the Assassins’ Order. He defeated Ivan Coleman in their first spar before Ivan could react.

• Jiang Jie failed to overcome the Eighteen Children Formation and was killed, so Xiao Feng advised him to learn the Taiji Divine Art instead of relying on a defensive technique like Iron Shirt.
• Xiao Feng taught Jiang Jie the Taiji Divine Art, the Five Animal Frolics, and Ten Brocades, explaining how they could strengthen his body, cultivation, and defense.
• Jiang Jie practiced seated meditation, the health-preserving arts, and Taijiquan before going to sleep.
• Jiang Jie arrived late to Instructor Roand’s lesson after breakfast and discussing his novel with Princess Calia and Don Quixote.
• Instructor Roand paired Jiang Jie with Ivan Coleman for a dagger spar, and Jiang Jie quickly held a wooden dagger to Ivan’s neck, declaring him the loser.

Jiang Jie defeated Ivan in their rogue trial, then nearly killed him when Ivan launched a lethal counterattack before Roand intervened. Roand taught them Stealth and related skills, but neither apprentice mastered them in two hours, leaving Master Onias's reward unclaimed.

• Jiang Jie caught Ivan off guard and declared him defeated before Ivan could make a move.
• Ivan attacked Jiang Jie with his forged daggers, but Jiang Jie used Taijiquan to disarm and counter him.
• Roand used Disarm to stop Jiang Jie from killing Ivan, then warned them that the Royal Assassins forbade deaths.
• Roand taught Jiang Jie and Ivan Stealth, Ambush, Sap, and other shadow-based rogue skills over two hours.
• Ivan failed to enter Stealth, and Roand concluded that no one would claim Master Onias's reward.

Jiang Jie used the gaming pod to analyze and simulate Stealth, hoping to win the weapons Master Onias had promised to the fastest learner. After repeated failures, he finally vanished from sight in front of Roand and Ivan.

• Roand told Jiang Jie that Master Onias had promised Assassin's Blade, Widowmaker, and Gut Ripper to anyone who surpassed her record for learning Stealth.
• Jiang Jie asked Xiao Feng to analyze Stealth, and the gaming pod simulated the shadow-energy technique as an internal energy circulation pattern.
• Jiang Jie practiced the pattern inside the gaming pod until he could reproduce it, then returned to Roand and Ivan and claimed he would learn Stealth immediately.
• Jiang Jie repeatedly failed to simulate Stealth outside the gaming pod while Roand tried to persuade him to keep practicing.
• Jiang Jie finally disappeared from view, stunning Roand and Ivan.

Jiang Jie entered Stealth after only a little over two hours, earning Roand’s praise and Ivan’s admiration. Onias then led him through a deadly trapped passage into a secret vault, where she warned him about the coveted Nightslayer armor and the many rogues who had died trying to take it.

• Roand declared Jiang Jie qualified to take the formal rogue trial after he successfully entered Stealth, while Ivan abandoned his rivalry and began to admire him.
• Jiang Jie asked when he could claim his promised weapons, and Roand explained that only Onias could open the secret chamber where they were kept.
• Onias appeared, summoned Jiang Jie, and guided him through a hidden passage filled with lethal mechanical and magical traps.
• Onias opened a treasure vault containing rare equipment and identified the epic Nightslayer armor as the chamber’s finest item.
• Onias warned Jiang Jie that many rogues had died trying to steal the Nightslayer armor.

Jiang Jie received the Thief's Blade from Onias, who kept Widowmaker and Gut Ripper in Miles's care until Jiang Jie was ready to have them. Meanwhile, Don Quixote performed Tides of Darkness for a huge crowd in Lordaeron's central square, ending with the appearance of Lothar and the refugee fleet.

• Onias gave Jiang Jie the Thief's Blade and entrusted Widowmaker and Gut Ripper to Miles for safekeeping.
• Jiang Jie worried that Miles might be tempted to keep the valuable daggers, then headed to the central square to see how Don Quixote's performance was going.
• Don Quixote attracted a large crowd with a display advertising Tides of Darkness as a free performance recommended by Princess Calia.
• Don Quixote began telling the story of the refugees arriving at Southshore, drawing the crowd into his account of the fog-shrouded fleet.
• Don Quixote described the ships, refugees, and battered Stormwind soldiers, then revealed the aged Lothar standing at the lead ship's bow.

Don Quixote’s account of the war with the Orcs drew a huge crowd, while Uther and Fenna hurried to warn King Terenas about Arthas’s actions. Jiang Jie recognized Fenna and considered whether he could prevent Arthas’s coming fall, but decided he lacked the strength and status to act.

• Don Quixote’s performance attracted more than a thousand people, including an old fisherman who remembered seeing Lothar and Varian during the war.
• Uther arrived with Fenna and insisted they go immediately to King Terenas to report that Arthas had forsaken the Holy Light and purged a city.
• Fenna listened to the performance and memorized the name Nicholas Jiang before leaving with Uther.
• Jiang Jie recognized Uther and identified Fenna as Fina Goldensword, Jaina’s older sister and Daelin Proudmoore’s illegitimate daughter.
• Jiang Jie decided that Arthas’s fall could not be prevented and turned to leave for a medicinal bath, but a rogue approached him.

Jiang Jie learned that he had to undertake an assignment before becoming a full member of the Assassins' Order, despite having only recently learned Stealth. Miles sent him to escort Mage Nolan to Tirisfal Monastery, where Jiang Jie realized the mission involved Baron Soroson and the Cult of the Damned.

• Roand brought Jiang Jie to meet Miles, who said Widowmaker and Gut Ripper would remain with him for now and promised Jiang Jie the daggers after he completed a mission.
• Miles told Jiang Jie that completing a mission was required for full membership in the Assassins' Order, and Jiang Jie objected that he was still an inexperienced apprentice.
• Miles explained that Mage Nolan and three students were traveling to Tirisfal Monastery with an escort, and the Assassins' Order had to send someone along.
• Jiang Jie pointed out that Baron Soroson's son, Dudley Dursley, was one of Nolan's apprentices and questioned why he had been chosen.
• Miles revealed that Roand had linked Melva, who tried to assassinate Jiang Jie, to both Baron Soroson and the Cult of the Damned, making Soroson a likely member of the cult.

Miles sent Jiang Jie to investigate Dudley while accompanying reinforcements to the monastery, and gave him a Vanish Amulet for protection. Before preparing for the mission, Jiang Jie sold Roand an Assassin’s Blade and received an enchanted Elemental Necklace from Princess Calia.

• Miles told Jiang Jie to watch Dudley during the mission and gave him a Vanish Amulet, authorizing him to act if necessary.
• Roand offered to buy Jiang Jie’s Assassin’s Blade, and Jiang Jie sold it to him for fifteen gold coins.
• Jiang Jie visited Princess Calia to report that he was leaving on a mission.
• Princess Calia gave Jiang Jie an Elemental Necklace that would automatically create elemental armor against a lethal threat.
• Daphne accompanied Jiang Jie to help him buy supplies before his departure.

Princess Calia and Fenna discussed Arthas’s growing power and Fenna’s resolve to protect Lordaeron. Jiang Jie prepared for his journey to Tirisfal Monastery, trained his rogue skills, and met the royal guards escorting him, including Harold Coleman, who was headed to the monastery’s recruit training camp.

• Fenna warned Calia that Arthas had become Lordaeron’s true ruler and that even King Terenas might not be able to stop him.
• Fenna refused to acknowledge Jaina as her sister and vowed to follow her teacher in purging the Undead from Lordaeron.
• Jiang Jie packed lightly for his trip, took a medicinal bath, and practiced the rogue skills simulated by his gaming pod.
• Jiang Jie arrived at the city gate, where Harold Coleman apologized for his son Ivan’s earlier behavior and introduced himself as a knight of the kingdom.
• Harold told Jiang Jie that he was traveling to Tirisfal Monastery to join The Lightbringer’s recruit training camp and hoped to receive the Holy Light’s calling.

Jiang Jie waited with Harold and the others for Mage Nolan, then confronted Dudley after the young noble demanded he be expelled. When Dudley's enchanted necklace blocked Sap and repeated Sinister Strikes, Jiang Jie built five combo points and prepared a Five-Star Eviscerate.

• Harold introduced Basil Luther as an intermediate-rank Paladin and a student of Uther the Lightbringer, and Jiang Jie paid his respects.
• Mage Nolan arrived with three young mages, including Dudley, who demanded that Jiang Jie be thrown out of the party.
• Jiang Jie used Stealth to approach Dudley and tried to Sap him, but Dudley's enchanted necklace formed Mage Armor that stopped the attack.
• Dudley mocked Jiang Jie and boasted that his necklace could protect him from the rogue's attacks.
• Jiang Jie struck Dudley with five rapid Sinister Strikes, built five combo points, and prepared Eviscerate.

Jiang Jie defeated Dudley in a duel but spared his life, then joined Mage Nolan’s party as his escort. Harold praised Jiang Jie and asked him to discipline his son Ivan in the future.

• Jiang Jie broke through Dudley’s Mage Armor and held his daggers to Dudley’s neck, making the onlookers rush to intervene.
• Jiang Jie stopped short of killing Dudley, warned him about the poisoned daggers used in the attempt on his own life, and called him a coward.
• Mage Nolan ordered Dudley to change his soiled clothes, then accepted Jiang Jie’s respectful offer to escort him.
• Harold praised Jiang Jie, while the royal guards grew more accepting of him and Basil kept his disapproval to himself.
• Harold asked Jiang Jie to keep his son Ivan in line, and Jiang Jie resolved to discipline the boy if needed.

Jiang Jie’s escort reached Bunolol after repelling an attack by forest wolves, while the Cult of the Damned secretly planned a stronger ambush. Jiang Jie suspected the cult was behind the attack and went to sleep wary of the danger ahead.

• Mage Nolan sent Dudley to sit outside, and Harold led the escort out of Lordaeron toward the nearest town.
• Dozens of forest wolves attacked the party, but the guards and mages fought them off before they reached Bunolol.
• The Cult of the Damned learned the escort’s strength and planned to ambush it between Lordamere Lake and Venomweb Vale in two days.
• Jiang Jie told Harold that the wolves had seemed to be testing the party, and Harold agreed that someone might be controlling them.
• Jiang Jie suspected the Cult of the Damned was targeting the escort or Dudley and went to sleep cautiously.

Jiang Jie traveled with the royal guards toward Tirisfal Monastery, practiced his martial arts during the journey, and explained the Pandaren to the curious Mage Nolan. The party rested near Venomweb Vale before planning to cross it the next day.

• The party reached the entrance to the mountains near Venomweb Vale, and Paladin Basil took command and planned their dangerous crossing.
• Harold brought back a deer, and Jiang Jie praised the venison before practicing Taijiquan.
• Harold asked about Jiang Jie's slow movements, and Jiang Jie claimed his ancestor had learned training methods from a Pandaren heroine named Jiang.
• Mage Nolan recognized the Pandaren from ancient elven writings, and Jiang Jie said they lived on a mist-shrouded continent.
• Jiang Jie recalled that a Pandaren named Storm Stormstout had visited the Barov Family ten years earlier and defeated a hundred elite guards.

Jiang Jie detected a powerful ambush by a mage, three rogues, two Warriors, a hunter, and fifty-four wolves, and warned the others. Mage Nolan was silenced by the enemy mage’s Counterspell, leaving the defenders overwhelmed as someone volunteered to take the mage on.

• Basil warned the group that the wolves had followed them and an attack was likely that night.
• Jiang Jie detected the approaching enemies and sounded the alarm.
• Harold ordered the guards to form a defensive formation around Mage Nolan as the attackers closed in.
• Mage Nolan began casting Blizzard, but the enemy mage countered his spell and prevented him from casting.
• Harold and the guards feared they would be overwhelmed, until a low voice offered to deal with the enemy mage.

Jiang Jie used his scanning and rogue skills to ambush a hunter, a mid-level rogue, and a mid-level mage, then shattered the mage’s Mana Shield with a rapid five-star attack. He survived the mage’s Arcane Explosion with a four-element legendary enchantment, leaving the mage stunned by the necklace and wondering about Prince Kael'thas.

• Jiang Jie used Xiao Feng’s scan to map nearby enemies, traps, alarms, and perception ranges as he approached the enemy’s rear.
• Jiang Jie incapacitated the mid-level rogue with Sap and immobilized the hunter with Pegasus Meteor Finger.
• Jiang Jie vanished, attacked the mid-level mage, and broke his Mana Shield with rapid Sinister Strikes followed by Five-Star Eviscerate.
• The mid-level mage cast Arcane Explosion, but Jiang Jie’s necklace formed four-element armor that protected him.
• The mage recognized the necklace’s legendary enchantment and, thinking of Prince Kael'thas, wondered who had enchanted it.

Jiang Jie killed a mid-tier mage, a hunter, and a mid-tier rogue, breaking the attackers’ assault and giving the besieged royal guards and mages a chance to fight back. The survivors recognized him as Nicholas and saw him as their hope.

• Jiang Jie used the Elemental Necklace to survive the mid-tier mage’s Arcane Explosion, then slit the mage’s throat.
• A high-tier assassin killed a royal guard while Harold Coleman struggled to defend the group from the assassin and the woodland wolves.
• Mage Nolan sensed the mid-tier mage’s death and began weaving a magical barrier with Connie and Archie’s help.
• Jiang Jie killed the hunter and the mid-tier rogue, using his simulated rogue skills and calling one technique Pegasus Meteor Finger.
• The hunter’s wolves retreated, and the survivors saw Jiang Jie standing among three corpses and recognized him as Nicholas.

Jiang Jie helped the royal escort defeat the attackers, capturing a novice Rogue while the high-ranking assassin escaped. The others praised Nicholas and promised to report his deeds, then prepared for the night and gave him the attackers’ loot.

• Jiang Jie blocked the high-ranking Rogue’s attack on Harold, forcing the assassin to flee with Sprint and Vanish.
• Jiang Jie immobilized the novice Rogue with Pegasus Meteor Finger, frightening the remaining high-ranking assassin into retreating.
• The royal escort recognized that Nicholas’s actions had saved their lives, and Mage Nolan thanked him.
• Basil promised to report Nicholas’s achievements to Highlord Mograine and the king, while privately considering introducing him to Uther as a potential Paladin.
• The escort set up alarms, guarded their captive, and planned to take him to Tirisfal Monastery for interrogation the next day.
• Harold gave Jiang Jie the loot from the attackers he had killed.

Jiang Jie sorted through the gear left by the attackers and discussed selling the mage’s belongings to Mage Nolan. After discovering the mage had secretly studied necromancy, the group suspected a Cult of the Damned connection and prepared to leave for Tirisfal Monastery the next morning.

• Jiang Jie assessed the staff, magic ring, spellbook, potions, weapons, and other items left behind by the attackers.
• Mage Nolan offered to buy the staff, ring, and spellbook, then identified a spell in the book as necromancy.
• Jiang Jie suggested that the dead mage had belonged to the Cult of the Damned and connected the cult to Kel'Thuzad.
• Mage Nolan was horrified to learn of Kel'Thuzad’s alleged betrayal, while Jiang Jie reassured him that Prince Arthas, Lady Jaina, and Master Onias had acted against Kel'Thuzad.
• Paladin Basil ordered the novice rogue taken to Tirisfal Monastery for interrogation and set the group’s departure for the next morning.
• Mage Nolan offered Jiang Jie two hundred gold coins for the mage’s belongings.

Jiang Jie discovered that Dudley was hiding a vial of Scourge Plague and publicly accused him, forcing Mage Nolan and the others to confront the possibility that Dudley possessed the deadly substance. The chapter ended with Jiang Jie swearing in his family’s name that Dudley had the plague and challenging the group to search him.

• Mage Nolan gave his staff and magic ring to Connie and told Jiang Jie that she would pay him for the items.
• Jiang Jie noticed Dudley acting suspiciously and had Xiao Feng scan him, revealing a vial of Scourge Plague in his hand.
• Jiang Jie recognized the vial as Scourge Plague, the substance Baron Soroson had used in Andorhal, and suspected Dudley had obtained it during their journey.
• Jiang Jie demanded that Dudley hand over the vial, but Dudley hid it and threatened him.
• Jiang Jie accused Dudley of carrying Scourge Plague, and Mage Nolan, Basil, and Harold gathered around to investigate.
• Jiang Jie swore in his family’s name that Dudley had the plague and offered to kneel and apologize if a search proved him wrong.

Jiang Jie stopped Dudley from releasing the Scourge Plague and handed the vial to Basil, while Harold interrogated the captive. Dudley revealed that a shadow called Corno had ordered the attack and offered to expose his father as a member of the Cult of the Damned.

• Dudley threatened to break the Scourge Plague vial unless everyone backed away, but Jiang Jie struck him from Stealth and caught the falling vial.
• Jiang Jie gave the vial to Basil and asked Harold to interrogate Dudley.
• A necromancer paid the escaped assassin the rest of his fee, then dismissed the idea of pursuing Jiang Jie and revealed that Arthas had taken Lordaeron's fleets to hunt Mal'Ganis.
• During Harold's interrogation, Dudley confessed that his father had warned him about the ambush and planned to send him to Tirisfal Monastery instead of Scholomance.
• Dudley said a shadow called Corno had told him to poison Jiang Jie's group, then offered to report his father as a member of the Cult of the Damned.