Recaps

Jiang Jie advised Princess Calia as Lordaeron organized its defenses against the Scourge and urged her to seek more allies and support for the Silver Hand. The chapter ended with Calia burdened by the kingdom’s crisis and Jiang Jie preparing to leave for a medicinal bath.

• Jiang Jie secured Princess Calia’s agreement to restore Tirion Fordring to the Silver Hand, and the council assigned paladins to defend Lordaeron and clear the surrounding regions.
• Calia told Jiang Jie that Alexandros Mograine had found Baron Rivendare gone and that Rivendare had become the death knight lord of Stratholme.
• Jiang Jie encouraged Calia to consider becoming a priest, while she questioned how he knew so much and asked where Lilian had gone.
• Calia described King Terenas’s declining health and the strain of governing without Arthas, and Jiang Jie reminded her of his proposal to expand Silver Hand recruitment.
• Jiang Jie advised Calia to seek military aid from Dalaran, Stormwind, Ironforge, and Aerie Peak before finishing his manuscript and preparing for a medicinal bath.

After earning money and recognition for his role in Lordaeron, Jiang Jie broke through to the Houtian Fourth Layer and opened the first meridian in his left hand. He then entered the gaming pod to ask Xiao Feng to teach him the Thirty-Six Dragon-Subduing Palms.

• Jiang Jie collected his knighthood reward and publishing income, bringing his wealth to nearly three hundred gold coins and earning Miles's recognition as an intermediate rogue.
• Jiang Jie cultivated through medicinal baths until he reached the limit of the Houtian Third Layer and decided to open the meridians in his hands first.
• Jiang Jie used the Black Tortoise Longevity Art to open the hand taiyin lung meridian in his left hand, which increased his rate of internal energy generation.
• Jiang Jie finished his medicinal bath, entered the gaming pod, and asked Xiao Feng to teach him the Thirty-Six Dragon-Subduing Palms.
• The chapter recounted how the Thirty-Six Dragon-Subduing Palms evolved from the Twenty-Eight Dragon-Subduing Palms through later restorations and centuries of development.

Jiang Jie learned several techniques from the Black Tortoise Longevity Art and went to Shaolin Temple to test his strength in combat. At the temple gate, a young monk named Luping stepped forward to fight him.

• Xiao Feng taught Jiang Jie the first nine palms of the Thirty-Six Dragon-Subduing Palms and the Pegasus Meteor Finger, but Jiang Jie could barely use either technique with his current Internal Energy.
• Xiao Feng taught Jiang Jie to manifest the Black Tortoise Shield and Black Tortoise Armor and explained that cultivating in water would help him develop the Black Tortoise Water Manipulation Art.
• Jiang Jie decided to test his strength at Shaolin Temple after clearing the Eighteen Children Formation and Child Hall.
• At Shaolin's gate, Luchi and Luzhang introduced their martial arts and offered to fight Jiang Jie.
• Luping arrived and asked to take the fight because he and Jiang Jie were both at the Houtian Fourth Layer.

Jiang Jie trained in Lake Lordamere, using the Black Tortoise Longevity Art to improve his swimming, breathing, and martial arts. After opening another meridian, he followed a snapjaw turtle to an island and found murlocs slaughtering the turtles.

• Jiang Jie submerged himself in Lake Lordamere and found that the Black Tortoise Longevity Art circulated faster in the water.
• Xiao Feng told Jiang Jie to study turtles and snakes, and Jiang Jie began learning the Black Tortoise Breathing Method.
• Jiang Jie spent several days training underwater, improving his Taijiquan and opening his second meridian, the hand jueyin pericardium meridian.
• A snapjaw turtle tugged Jiang Jie toward a deeper part of the lake, and he followed it to an island.
• Jiang Jie found vast numbers of murlocs slaughtering the snapjaw turtles on the island.

Jiang Jie intervened as a horde of Murlocs slaughtered Pincerjaw Turtles on an island. He defeated the attackers with Taiji and his internal energy, then stunned the Murlocs by hurling one into their seer.

• Jiang Jie saw hundreds of Pincerjaw Turtles being slaughtered by more than a thousand Murlocs and decided to help.
• Several Murlocs charged Jiang Jie, but he used Taiji techniques to throw them back or knock them out.
• More Murlocs attacked, including a seer who struck Jiang Jie with Chain Lightning.
• Jiang Jie blocked the spell with a Black Tortoise Shield and threw a Murloc into the seer, knocking the seer into the mud and stunning the horde.

Jiang Jie drove the Vile Fin Murlocs into retreat with the Proud Dragon Repents, then pursued them underwater and received their allegiance. He accepted the title “King of Lordamere” and ordered the murlocs to stop harming snappers.

• Jiang Jie used the Proud Dragon Repents to blast the charging murloc commander and dozens of murlocs aside.
• The murloc commander fled into the water, and the rest of the murlocs followed, abandoning the fight.
• Jiang Jie chased the murlocs underwater and challenged their commander, who threw down his weapon and surrendered.
• Xiao Feng translated Bruno Vile Fin’s pledge of allegiance and explained that the murlocs mistook Jiang Jie for a Naga master.
• Jiang Jie accepted the title “King of Lordamere” and ordered the murlocs to gather on the island and leave the snappers alone.

Jiang Jie gathered over a thousand Vile Fin Murlocs and learned that the tribe’s strongest group on Fenris Isle was led by the spellcasting Vile Fin Inquisitor, Langston. He reached the island and charged toward Langston, who and whose followers attacked him with spells and warriors.

• Jiang Jie declared himself the Black Tortoise and ordered Bruno to explain the Vile Fin Murlocs’ numbers and leadership.
• Bruno told Jiang Jie that the tribe numbered about fifty thousand and that Langston, the Vile Fin Inquisitor, might not submit to him.
• Jiang Jie set out for Fenris Isle on the back of an old snapjaw turtle with over a thousand murlocs following him.
• At night, Jiang Jie arrived at Fenris Isle and rushed past its guards, knocking down murlocs along the way.
• Jiang Jie found Langston and several Vile Fin Oracles, Vile Fin Sages, and Vile Fin Warriors attacking him with spells and weapons.

Jiang Jie defeated the Vilefin Murlocs’ strongest spellcasters and declared himself king of Lordamere, winning the surrender of the gathered Murlocs. After ordering them to stop attacking humans and Pincerjaw Turtles, he rested on his new mount, Lao Qian.

• Jiang Jie used Black Tortoise Armor and martial arts to defeat the Vilefin Warriors, Oracles, and Sages, then killed the Vilefin Inquisitor with Pegasus Meteor Finger.
• Jiang Jie declared himself king of Lordamere, and the frightened Vilefin Murlocs hesitated between surrendering and fleeing.
• Bruno arrived with a thousand Murlocs, pledged loyalty to Jiang Jie, and the other gathered Murlocs surrendered soon afterward.
• Jiang Jie appointed Bruno the foremost Vilefin commander and ordered the Murlocs not to attack Pincerjaw Turtles or humans.
• Jiang Jie named the old turtle Lao Qian, ate and drank, then fell asleep on its back as it swam across the lake.

Jiang Jie took control of Lake Lordamere and advanced his cultivation while anticipating Arthas’s return from Northrend. In Northrend, Arthas claimed Frostmourne, lost Muradin and the Holy Light, and embraced the sword’s power.

• Jiang Jie subdued the remaining Murloc leaders and took control of Lake Lordamere, leaving Fenris Isle untouched for later.
• Jiang Jie opened two meridians in his left hand and neared the Houtian Fifth Layer as he wondered whether Arthas had found Frostmourne.
• Muradin Bronzebeard read Frostmourne’s warning and urged Arthas not to take the demon sword.
• Arthas rejected Muradin’s warning, offered everything to save his people, and reached for Frostmourne.
• Frostmourne’s ice shattered, a shard struck Muradin, and the sword drove out Arthas’s Holy Light as it consumed his soul.
• Arthas drew Frostmourne, accepted its power, and declared that they were one.

Jiang Jie continued to earn Lordaeron’s trust while surviving repeated Cult of the Damned assassination attempts. At the palace, reinforcements arrived from Stormwind, the Wildhammer dwarves, and Ironforge, along with news that Arthas had fallen to Frostmourne and killed Muradin Bronzebeard.

• Lordaeron citizens discussed the Cult of the Damned’s arrests, Jiang Jie’s deeds, and the plan to send cultists to an island for reform through labor.
• A rogue emerged from Stealth and attacked Jiang Jie from behind, but Jiang Jie struck him down with Acupoint Sealing at a Distance, and guards took him to prison.
• Princess Calia introduced General Marcus Jonathan, Duke Korth'azz Wildhammer, and General Hemet Nesingwary, who had brought troops and fighters to reinforce Lordaeron.
• Hemet Nesingwary reported that King Magni had begun forging the Ashbringer and that Arthas had taken Frostmourne and killed Muradin Bronzebeard.

Jiang Jie, Princess Calia, Jaina, and Uther discussed Arthas’s fall and the coming undead invasion, while Jaina and Uther warned that the Eastern Kingdoms faced a catastrophe. The chapter ended with Jiang Jie questioning Antonidas’s confidence in Dalaran’s defenses against Archimonde.

• Princess Calia considered telling King Terenas that Arthas had fallen, but Jiang Jie urged her not to reveal it.
• Jiang Jie predicted that Arthas would return to destroy Lordaeron and bring disaster.
• Jaina teleported into the hall and said the prophet had urged her to take Kul Tiras’s fleet and lead people to Kalimdor.
• Uther said the Holy Light had warned him of an unprecedented catastrophe, but Terenas had refused to listen.
• Jaina said Antonidas still believed Dalaran was impregnable, and Jiang Jie recounted the city’s destruction before questioning its chances against Archimonde.

Jiang Jie urged Calia to prepare for mass emigration as the plague devastated Lordaeron, while Uther and Jaina went to investigate Arthas's fleet. The chapter left Calia considering routes to shelter refugees, including Stormwind, Alterac, Fenris Isle, and Kalimdor.

• Jiang Jie asked Calia to send Lord Korth'azz's gryphon riders to scout for Arthas's fleet, and Uther and Jaina volunteered to accompany them.
• Calia told Jiang Jie that Gavinrad had burned the plague corpses in Andorhal, but Jiang Jie feared Kel'Thuzad's body had survived and could be used to resurrect him.
• Calia assigned General Marcus to defend Lordaeron and sent General Hemet and his dwarven riflemen to help cleanse Hearthglen and Chillwind Camp.
• Jiang Jie advised Calia to evacuate refugees because Lordaeron could not shelter the hundreds of thousands displaced by the plague.
• Calia questioned where refugees could go and how they could travel, and Jiang Jie proposed Westfall, Alterac, Hillsbrad Foothills, Fenris Isle, and Kalimdor as possible destinations.

Jiang Jie warned Princess Calia to prepare an escape plan for Lordaeron’s royal family if the kingdom fell, then sought to prove he had mastered intermediate rogue skills. He defeated Roand with Sap, convincing Miles to teach him high-ranking rogue skills.

• Jiang Jie urged Princess Calia to keep an Archmage ready to evacuate her if Lordaeron fell, and she agreed to follow his advice.
• Jiang Jie confirmed that Rhonin was protecting King Terenas and left the palace for the Assassins' Order headquarters.
• Jiang Jie asked Miles to teach him high-ranking rogue skills, but Miles demanded that he defeat Roand first.
• Jiang Jie vanished as the duel began, and he quickly struck Roand with Sap.
• Miles saw Roand stagger and Jiang Jie display Widowmaker, ending the battle.

Miles was astonished by Jiang Jie's perception and dagger skill and began teaching him advanced rogue techniques. After using those skills to win a spar against Luping, Jiang Jie entered a deadly training trial on Earthly Fiend Mountain, where he killed six bandits before another cut off his head.

• Miles watched Jiang Jie detect Roand and use Sap to pull him out of Stealth, then praised his dagger skill and took him to the training grounds.
• Miles demonstrated his advanced rogue skills, and Jiang Jie entered the gaming pod so Xiao Feng could scan and analyze them.
• Jiang Jie challenged Luping and won by relying on rogue skills, but he admitted that his Chinese martial arts were far weaker than Luping's.
• Xiao Feng brought Jiang Jie to Earthly Fiend Mountain and ordered him to fight without using rogue skills, warning him that the bandits would not fight fairly.
• Jiang Jie climbed Earthly Dog Peak by the main road, killed six bandits with his martial arts, and was beheaded by the strongest bandit still standing.

Jiang Jie endured repeated deaths while training on the mountain, then spent a day learning rogue skills in the gaming pod and practicing them in reality. He successfully used Slash and mastered Cloak of Shadows, astonishing Miles with his talent.

• Jiang Jie died and revived more than thirty times while fighting bandits on the mountain before Xiao Feng ended the session.
• Xiao Feng let Jiang Jie rest, then used a hologram of Miles to teach him advanced rogue skills over twenty-four hours.
• Jiang Jie returned to reality and repeatedly practiced controlling his Internal Energy while Miles and Roand watched without interrupting.
• Jiang Jie performed Slash on a training dummy, splitting its wooden head in two.
• Jiang Jie enveloped himself, his clothes, and his weapons in shadow and mastered Cloak of Shadows, stunning Miles.

After rapidly mastering many high-ranking rogue skills, Jiang Jie exhausted himself and returned to the palace to rest. He then opened the meridians in his right hand and reached the Houtian Fifth Layer Peak.

• Jiang Jie successfully performed half of the high-ranking rogue skills Miles had demonstrated before his internal energy ran out.
• Miles praised Jiang Jie and said Master Onias could teach him advanced skills when she returned.
• Miles, Roand, and Ivan escorted Jiang Jie to the palace, where he slept for five hours before eating and beginning a medicinal bath.
• After recovering his internal energy, Jiang Jie used the Black Tortoise Longevity Art to open all six primary meridians in his right hand.
• Jiang Jie reached the Houtian Fifth Layer Peak, and his next meridians to clear were the six in his feet.

Jiang Jie decided to seek real combat against the Undead in Andorhal to train his martial reflexes and advance as a rogue. Before he left, Miles gave him the Assassins' Order’s prized Nightslayer Armor, and Jiang Jie flew east.

• Xiao Feng advised Jiang Jie to stop learning new martial arts and gain real combat experience, explaining that martial artists often grew through deadly battles.
• Jiang Jie chose Andorhal as his target, finished writing the rest of "Dark Portal," and told Princess Calia he was leaving to fight the Undead.
• Jiang Jie informed Miles that he intended to make the expedition his advancement quest, and Miles accepted his decision.
• Miles led Jiang Jie into the Assassins' Order's underground chamber and gave him the Nightslayer Armor, which was suited to stealth and assassination.
• The next morning, Jiang Jie rode a Wildhammer-trained gryphon east toward Andorhal.

Taelan Fordring and his companions were overwhelmed by undead while defending Felstone Field’s grain, and Lilian spotted Nicholas arriving on a gryphon. The battle remained desperate as Nicholas approached the besieged group.

• Taelan Fordring led a small force to Felstone Field to recover uncontaminated grain for Hearthglen, but thousands of undead besieged them.
• Renault, Darion, Sally Whitemane, Brigitte Abbendis, and Lilian fought to hold the farm while treating the wounded and facing an elite ghoul, an abomination, and a hidden necromancer.
• Brigitte Abbendis and Taelan Fordring fought the abomination, while Lilian kept the elite ghoul occupied and Sally healed Renault’s wound.
• Lilian saw a gryphon carrying Nicholas and recognized him, crying out that he had arrived.

Jiang Jie arrived at Felstone Field on a gryphon and fought through the undead to rescue Lilian and the other defenders. After driving back a horde with Flying Dragon in the Sky, he reached the fortifications and prepared to unleash another attack.

• Jiang Jie spotted more than a thousand undead at Felstone Field and dove from his gryphon to reach Lilian and the defenders.
• Jiang Jie used Taijiquan and his Black Tortoise Longevity Art to fight the undead without being harmed by their plague.
• Lilian identified Jiang Jie as Nicholas, lifting the defenders’ spirits, and Taelan urged everyone to keep fighting.
• Jiang Jie leaped into the air and used Flying Dragon in the Sky, scattering hundreds of undead and killing more than a hundred.
• Jiang Jie sprang over the fallen undead to reach the fortifications, ordered the defenders aside, and launched The Proud Dragon Repents.

Jiang Jie helped the soldiers repel the Undead, then left to hunt the high-ranking necromancer summoning them near the fortifications. He reached the necromancer’s position and found him guarded by zombies, risen guards, and an elite abomination.

• Jiang Jie cleared Undead from the fortifications, then meditated while Taelan and the soldiers held their positions.
• Lilian told Jiang Jie she had killed twenty-one Undead, and he praised her before she returned to the fight.
• Jiang Jie warned that a high-ranking necromancer was summoning more Undead and refused Taelan’s request to seek reinforcements, sending Darion instead.
• Jiang Jie entered Stealth and made his way across Felstone Field toward the necromancer.
• Xiao Feng scanned the necromancer and judged him a high-ranking threat; Jiang Jie saw that he was guarded by zombies, risen guards, and an elite abomination.

Jiang Jie killed the high-ranking necromancer and his elite abomination at Felstone Field. With more undead still threatening Lilian and the others, he went back to help them hold out until reinforcements arrived.

• Jiang Jie broke free of Frost Nova, entered Stealth, and launched a rapid assault on the high-ranking necromancer.
• The necromancer’s Fire Blast failed to stop Jiang Jie, who killed him with Pegasus Meteor Finger and took his ring.
• Jiang Jie defeated the elite abomination by attacking its joints and cutting off its head.
• Jiang Jie killed the remaining undead nearby, entered Stealth, and headed back to help Lilian and the others face the undead horde.

Jiang Jie survived the battle at Felstone Field and reached Chillwind Camp, where the Order of the Silver Hand was preparing to push back the undead. Gavinrad the Dire welcomed him after hearing how he had saved Taelan and the others.

• Jiang Jie used Taijiquan and the Black Tortoise Longevity Art to outlast the undead, while Renault, Taelan, Brigitte, and the other defenders rotated around him.
• Darion returned with holy water and Baron Maxwell, and reinforcements helped destroy the undead before escorting the wounded and survivors toward Hearthglen.
• Jiang Jie left for Chillwind Camp instead of joining the procession, arriving two hours later as the camp prepared to attack Sorrow Hill and seize Andorhal's eastern bridge.
• Jiang Jie meditated outside his quarters and reviewed his mistakes from the battle at Felstone Field.
• Gavinrad the Dire returned from Andorhal's western bridge, praised Jiang Jie for saving Taelan and the others, and said Tirion and Alexandros owed him a favor.

Arthas returned to Lordaeron as a death knight, while Uther, Jaina, and Korth'azz intercepted his ships. Uther confronted him over his betrayal, leaving Uther to regret dismissing Gavinrad's earlier doubts about Arthas.

• The chapter described Gavinrad as a capable Silver Hand leader who had long judged Arthas unfit to become a Paladin.
• Arthas sailed toward Lordaeron with death knights Falric and Marwyn, while struggling with the good soul Frostmourne had imprisoned within him.
• Gryphon Riders carrying Uther, Jaina, and Korth'azz approached Arthas's ships and confronted him.
• Jaina recoiled at Arthas's transformation, and Uther condemned him for becoming a death knight and betraying his kingdom, people, and family.
• Uther remembered Gavinrad's warning about Arthas and regretted having dismissed it.

Arthas confronted Uther and Jaina over his plan to seize Lordaeron, but the Dreadlord Tichondrius attacked the gryphon riders and overwhelmed them. Jaina teleported Uther and several others away, but Tichondrius pulled Lord Korth'azz from the escape at the last moment.

• Arthas rejected Uther's authority, drew Frostmourne, and declared that he would take Lordaeron and kill his father to make the kingdom eternal.
• Arthas wounded Uther and threatened Jaina after she realized his plan, forcing the gryphons to flee.
• Tichondrius appeared, killed gryphon riders, and scattered the remaining riders with his psychic powers.
• Uther attacked Tichondrius while Jaina prepared a teleport, but Tichondrius gravely wounded Uther.
• Jaina teleported Uther, Lord Korth'azz, and several nearby gryphon riders away, but Tichondrius dragged Lord Korth'azz back at the last moment.

In Ironforge, King Magni Bronzebeard finished forging Ashbringer with Fenna, and the sword chose her as its wielder. When Fenna took it, she became a Grand Knight and prepared to return to Lordaeron.

• Magni spent a week forging Ashbringer from the Holy Light crystal and treasured materials, with Fenna assisting and contributing her Holy Light.
• Magni told Fenna that Ashbringer had acknowledged her and could be wielded fully only by her.
• Fenna took Ashbringer, and its radiance filled Ironforge with Holy Light as the sword and Fenna's spirit merged.
• Ashbringer's power transformed Fenna into a Grand Knight at age twenty-five.
• Magni told Fenna to go to the mage district, where mages had prepared a portal to Lordaeron.