Chapter Summaries

Jiang Jie used herbs to brew a crude but effective mana soup, then trained with Xiao Feng’s guidance until he mastered basic rogue skills. After defeating five young monks in the gaming pod’s training realm, he returned to consider how to earn money and learn Stealth.

• Jiang Jie bought mageroyal and stranglekelp from a small herb shop despite the little maid’s protests.
• Jiang Jie failed three times while brewing mana soup, then made a batch and drank it to replenish his energy.
• Xiao Feng showed Jiang Jie Roand’s edited instruction video and guided his body through a hundred repetitions of rogue skills.
• Jiang Jie fought five young monks in the Shaolin training realm and defeated them after two hours of repeated battles.
• Jiang Jie became a qualified rogue apprentice and decided he needed to earn money before he could pursue Stealth.

Jiang Jie learned from Princess Calia that heroic biographies were popular and profitable, then decided he could make money by writing better ones. After reading a biography of Turalyon and judging it inaccurate, he asked Xiao Feng to retrieve the World of Warcraft novels and webnovels he remembered.

• Jiang Jie considered making cosmetics but dismissed the idea as too costly and troublesome.
• Princess Calia told Jiang Jie that chivalric biographies were popular in Lordaeron and that leading titles had sold over ten thousand copies each.
• Jiang Jie borrowed several biographies from Princess Calia before she left to visit her worried father.
• Jiang Jie read a biography of Turalyon and disliked its exaggerated account of the hero’s deeds.
• Jiang Jie told Xiao Feng to pull up the official World of Warcraft novels and webnovels so he could start making money.

Jiang Jie copied the opening of Tides of Darkness and sent it to Princess Calia to test whether it might earn him money, then focused on training Pegasus Meteor Finger. He left the nine-monk challenge exhausted and still unable to defeat all nine.

• Jiang Jie used Xiao Feng’s translation function to write Tides of Darkness, and the little maid became engrossed in his version of the story.
• Jiang Jie asked the little maid to show his pages to Princess Calia so he could gauge her reaction before investing more time in writing.
• Jiang Jie drank mana soup and entered the gaming pod to train Pegasus Meteor Finger, judging it harder and more useful than his other techniques.
• Jiang Jie faced nine young monks with stronger internal cultivation and improved his combat ability, sometimes defeating one or two of them.
• Jiang Jie spent four hours in the challenge and managed to defeat three monks at most before Xiao Feng mocked him for failing to clear it.

Princess Calia read Nicholas's novel about the Orcs' War and was impressed by its quality and historical detail, so she invited him to visit. The next morning, Jiang Jie bought herbs for an herbal bath, and Daphne agreed to take him to Princess Calia's residence to borrow a tub.

• Daphne brought Princess Calia the pages of Nicholas's novel, and Calia was astonished by his writing and knowledge of past events.
• Princess Calia told Daphne to bring Nicholas to see her the following day, suspecting he had a reason for sending the novel.
• After guards kept watch over his room, Jiang Jie slept well and spent his remaining seven gold coins on common herbs.
• Jiang Jie asked Daphne to help him prepare an herbal bath, claiming his alchemist teacher had created a formula to strengthen the body.
• Daphne agreed to lend him Princess Calia's wooden bathing tub and took Jiang Jie to the princess's residence, where Calia wanted to see him.

Jiang Jie moved into Princess Calia’s residence as her personal guard and began copying a novel for her, while she offered to help publish his writing. He declined publication for now, despite agreeing that she could take a share of the profits.

• Jiang Jie explained that his medicinal bath formulas came from a Pandaren, and Princess Calia invited him to live at her residence as her personal guard.
• Princess Calia presented Jiang Jie with a large stack of paper and had him copy his novel while she read over his shoulder.
• Princess Calia invited Jiang Jie to lunch, a rare honor for someone of his standing.
• Jiang Jie said he needed money, and Princess Calia offered to arrange publication and sales in exchange for twenty percent of the net profit.
• Jiang Jie said he would accept even a larger share for Princess Calia but did not want the novel printed and published yet.

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.