Recaps

After Peiwen used the young necromancer Chen Mo’s fire-spraying weapon to kill Moglu, he led Liushuang’s party to safety at Boulder Fort. Meanwhile, Chen Mo met Vincent to hear the result of their class-transfer negotiations, though Vincent warned that the three great academies on the west bank were out of reach.

• Peiwen survived the blast with Locke’s healing, routed the fleeing orc cavalry, and ordered the party to abandon its supplies and flee toward Boulder Fort.
• Peiwen told Locke and Liushuang that Chen Mo had given him the weapon, and Liushuang celebrated her judgment in accepting it.
• Peiwen’s party reached Boulder Fort, where he warned the guards that orc wolf riders had crossed the border and attacked Emerald Duchy nobles.
• Peiwen sent Luke to find Chen Mo and learn where he was.
• Three days after their preliminary agreement, Chen Mo met Vincent, who confirmed he had good news but ruled out transferring into one of the three great academies on the west bank.

Chen Mo paid Deputy Director Vincent to arrange a covert substitution so he could enter Master Har’s preparatory mage tower as apprentice Roy. After passing the tower’s identity check, Chen Mo entered Glimmer Group Three and began learning the grounds with Kato.

• Vincent explained that Chen Mo would need to replace a struggling apprentice and that bribing everyone involved would make the arrangement possible.
• Vincent revealed that the apprentice identity he secured belonged to a Mercenary Guild informant planted in Master Har’s tower.
• Chen Mo paid for a Star Tear Crystal Mind-Clearing Set and met the apprentice Roy, who gave him his badge and instructions.
• Chen Mo arrived at the preparatory mage tower, where Kato recognized him as Roy and helped him pass the gate’s identity check.
• Kato showed Chen Mo the apprentice quarters, dining hall, classrooms, and restricted areas before leading him toward dinner.

Chen Mo began training at Hal Magic Tower, where Instructor Morton resented his wealthy background but taught him the Blue Leaf Meditation Method and the Glimmer Spell. After testing last in Glimmer Group Three, Chen Mo bought extra supplies and cultivation-room access and began a strict schedule with 128 days until the next assessment.

• Chen Mo joined Glimmer Group Three and faced Morton’s open hostility toward privileged newcomers.
• Morton laid down rules and warned the apprentices that strength, not background, mattered.
• Morton arranged a group assessment that showed Chen Mo had a mental strength index of 4.2 and mana of 4.0, the lowest scores in the group.
• Morton taught Chen Mo the Blue Leaf Meditation Method, its materials, and the Basic Illumination Spell.
• Chen Mo bought extra meditation materials and a ten-day cultivation-room package, then set a precise daily training schedule.
• Chen Mo began his early-morning training routine, which included exercise, spell practice, and meditation.

Chen Mo discovered that he lacked basic magical knowledge, so Instructor Morton offered him remedial lessons and refunded the money he had overcharged for materials. As Chen Mo studied spell fundamentals and continued cultivating intensely, Morton held him up as an example to the other apprentices.

• Chen Mo told Morton he had skipped the daily question-and-answer sessions because he could not understand the advanced questions and had learned only meditation and altar summoning at Black Raven Castle.
• Morton offered Chen Mo after-class lessons in basic spells, returned the money he had overcharged, and agreed to sell him cultivation materials at the apprentice price.
• Chen Mo accepted Morton's instruction and learned that warriors and mages both draw on external psionic energy, while talent and a strong foundation should guide the choice of profession.
• Morton explained how spellcasting used meditation, mental power, mana, spell models, and magical materials to trigger external psionic energy, while Chen Mo diligently recorded the lessons.
• Morton asked Chen Mo to demonstrate a Glimmer Spell model, then praised its flawless structure and warned the other apprentices that Chen Mo's diligence would eventually leave them behind.

Chen Mo studied intensely under Morton, who warned him about dangerous magic materials and gave him homemade potions. After learning the theory of Psionic Diversion, Chen Mo became obsessed with dividing spell models precisely, and Morton began a group lesson that ended with everyone looking to Chen Mo for questions.

• Morton privately tutored Chen Mo, emphasized the dangers of tampered magic materials, and gave him potions to ease mental fatigue.
• Chen Mo gave Kato two potions to test and told him not to use Chen Mo’s name to deceive people.
• Chen Mo reflected on the sacrifices of people from Blue Star and resolved to carry himself with dignity in the unfamiliar world.
• Chen Mo requested instruction in Psionic Diversion, intending to learn it before his next Bloodline Sacrifice.
• Chen Mo struggled to divide a model into five equal parts and stayed up all night working on the problem.
• Morton reviewed Psionic Diversion with Glimmer Group Three and asked for questions, prompting the class to turn toward Chen Mo.

Chen Mo demonstrated his exceptional skill with Psionic Diversion, then used the technique to send a packed transfer package to Blue Star. The Compassionate Voyage Project Office received it and turned his needs into a military design assignment that engineer Xu Yanfeng reluctantly accepted as a national-level research project.

• Chen Mo demonstrated precise three-, four-, and six-way diversions, leaving Morton and the apprentices stunned.
• Chen Mo used Morton’s potion to extend his cultivation time and practiced Psionic Diversion until his four-way technique was reliable.
• Chen Mo filled a diversion-style summoning altar with magical items, research records, materials, and dirt, then sent the package to Blue Star.
• Lin Xiangdong and the Compassionate Voyage Project Office detected the transfer and confirmed that the Wanderer was safe.
• Xu Yanfeng rejected the vague head-up display assignment, but an officer told him it would become a national-level project, and the Eastern Industrial Group vice president confirmed the order.

As Chen Mo continued training, the Cloudmist Territory party resolved to leave Creek Moon after suspecting the federation had concealed who supported the orc ambush. Meanwhile, the Zircon Family learned that Chen Mo remained at large and began pursuing him directly.

• Creek Moon reported that the orc attackers had landed secretly at Xiasha Port, but Master Locke and Captain Peiwen suspected powerful people had helped them and decided to wait for Cloudmist Territory’s guards before leaving.
• The party discussed finding Chen Mo, and the young commandery princess hoped to see his skeletons again if they could visit him.
• A fourth group of swordsmen affiliated with the Zircon Family crossed the Dark Forest toward White Stone Outpost.
• The Zircon Family traced a rumor about Chen Mo’s survival to a rival who had leaked the failed assassination mission to undermine the external affairs steward.
• Gaoshi Haisen struck a clerk with a metal gauntlet after the clerk explained how the information had spread.

Gaoshi Haisen sent successive groups to hunt Chen Mo, but the pursuers were humiliated, lost in the forest, or brought disaster upon themselves before reaching him. Meanwhile, Chen Mo reached the peak of the preparatory apprentice stage and began preparing for psionic enlightenment at the Har Preparatory Mage Tower, where Instructor Morton carefully guided him.

• Gaoshi Haisen ordered the Radiance City Patrol to hunt Chen Mo, and the first iron-emblem warrior was driven from Six-Leaf Camp after Kajia and Little Dreadlocks arranged to humiliate him.
• The vice captain sent four elite warriors after Chen Mo, but their airship was struck by lightning and crashed in the Dark Forest.
• After fleeing with city guard wages, the vice captain left the hunt unfinished, so Haisen sent Tikpot and six ranked knights through Ironback Valley toward the Creek Moon Federation.
• Chen Mo reached the peak of the preparatory apprentice stage at the Har Preparatory Mage Tower and prepared to undergo psionic enlightenment.
• Instructor Morton repeatedly tested Roy's mental power and gathered students to teach Chen Mo about the enlightenment process.

Chen Mo completed psionic enlightenment and used his devices to gather materials, then hurried to meet Commandery Princess Liushuang after Cloudmist Territory sent him a formal invitation. He secured three more healing pills for his teacher and left the camp to fetch goods for the exchange.

• Morton arranged a cultivation room and potions for Chen Mo, who passed psionic enlightenment and secretly collected materials and supplies to send home.
• Chen Mo’s automated sample collectors gathered specimens around the courtyard, and he stopped one from fighting a large lizard before sending the collected package through the altar.
• Kato told Chen Mo that visitors had brought him a calling card, and Chen Mo recognized that the delegation was from Cloudmist Territory.
• Chen Mo met Commandery Princess Liushuang’s party at their camp, where Captain Peiwen thanked him for the thermite grenade that had helped them escape danger.
• Chen Mo thanked Liushuang for the healing pill that had saved his teacher and asked for more; Liushuang offered him three of her four remaining pills.
• Chen Mo accepted the offer, said he would return with goods for the trade, and left after the meal.

Chen Mo left the mage tower after Instructor Morton urged him to escape the legal stain attached to the identity of Roy, and he revealed his real name before saying goodbye. He joined Liushuang’s Cloudmist Territory party, which examined his unusual equipment and began arranging his next place to study magic.

• Instructor Morton told Roy that his illegal admission could endanger his future and urged him to leave the Creek Moon Federation.
• Morton gave Chen Mo spell notes, copied necromancer notes, and cultivation materials, while Chen Mo left him gold to help fund Master Har’s mage tower.
• Chen Mo packed his equipment, told Morton his real name, and departed the mage tower as Chen Mo.
• Liushuang’s party accepted Chen Mo’s decision to travel with them, and he asked them to find him a mage tower, academy, or private magic teacher.
• Chen Mo showed Liushuang, Captain Peiwen, and the others his equipment, and Peiwen inspected a 95-1 automatic rifle while Chen Mo explained that gas propelled its projectiles.

Chen Mo helped Commandery Princess Liushuang overcome her etiquette memorization by using hidden recording technology, securing a fifty-year agreement for her supply of Life's Eternal Song medicine. As the journey continued, Liushuang's new ability to recite her lessons led to unexpected spot tests from Aunt Linda.

• Chen Mo gave Captain Peiwen grenades and explained their different types during the Cloudmist Territory group's visit.
• The Cloudmist Territory group began its long journey home, and Chen Mo's strict training schedule soon reshaped the group's daily routine.
• Chen Mo realized Liushuang was miserable about memorizing etiquette and used a hidden recording device and specialized earbuds to help her pass her lessons.
• Liushuang promised Chen Mo her future medicine supplies, and he persuaded her to sign a fifty-year transfer agreement for Life's Eternal Song.
• Liushuang later worried that Aunt Linda would test her on randomly selected passages instead of the full text she had memorized.

Chen Mo faced down Tikpot and the Zircon Family’s accusation with a prepared speech, while Cloudmist Territory protected him. After an airship crash forced the group to take a longer route home, Chen Mo kept close to Commandery Princess Liushuang and ended the chapter with a joke for her to guess.

• Chen Mo armed himself in case the Zircon Family’s knights attacked, then learned Liushuang had already ordered them to leave.
• Chen Mo and Peiwen confronted Tikpot, and Chen Mo accused the Zircon Family of failing to control its heir, arranging a bounty, and seeking private vengeance.
• Tikpot withdrew but followed Cloudmist Territory’s group at a distance while awaiting negotiations between their nobles.
• At White Stone Outpost, the group learned that a crashed airship had disrupted their crossing and chose a longer overland route home.
• Chen Mo tried to ingratiate himself with Liushuang and told her a joke, but she guessed its punchline incorrectly.

Chen Mo learned about the nobles’ customs from Commandery Princess Liushuang as Cloudmist Territory’s party neared the Bloodred Corridor. When war broke out between Green Pine, Creek Moon, and the Emerald Duchy, the party prepared to withdraw through enemy territory and launch a surprise attack on Gaoshi’s squad.

• Commandery Princess Liushuang proposed that Chen Mo become her lover after she married and offered to introduce him to her sixth sister, while Lady Linda guessed he might be a noble family’s first heir.
• Chen Mo resumed cultivating as the party traveled east toward the Bloodred Corridor, the passage through the elves’ Dark Forest carved by a human Void Severing Sword Saint.
• A scout arrived with news that Green Pine and Creek Moon had declared war on the Emerald Duchy, leaving Cloudmist Territory’s party surrounded in enemy territory.
• Commandery Princess Liushuang and Captain Peiwen urged Chen Mo to leave for his safety, but he said Gaoshi’s squad was still pursuing him.
• Peiwen and Cloudmist Territory’s elite cavalry prepared a lightning assault on Gaoshi’s squad, wrapping the horses’ hooves and readying their weapons.

Chen Mo helped Peiwen’s group defeat Tikpot and joined them as they fled through the Dark Forest toward Cloudmist Territory. As the party traveled light through the Bloodred Corridor, Peiwen arranged for Chen Mo’s abandoned instruments to be buried for later recovery and had a warrior carry Skeleton Xiaobai.

• Peiwen’s cavalry ambushed the Gaoshi Territory squad, and Captain Peiwen fought Tikpot as the surviving knight tried to escape toward the camp.
• Chen Mo fired his rifle at Tikpot and then used a thermobaric grenade to disorient him, giving Peiwen the opening to kill him.
• Peiwen ordered the battlefield cleared and the group to flee; Chen Mo chose to accompany them after Peiwen promised him an independent territory, a pioneering-knight certificate, and an introduction to a magic teacher.
• Peiwen ordered the party to abandon supplies and disperse wounded soldiers, maids, mercenaries, and auxiliary troops before leading the remaining group into the Dark Forest.
• As they crossed the Bloodred Corridor, Peiwen had Chen Mo’s instruments buried for later retrieval and assigned a warrior to carry Skeleton Xiaobai and its bundle.

As Peiwen’s group approached the guarded exit of the Bloodred Corridor, Chen Mo offered to use his next summoning to help them. He completed a new ritual, while his message prompted Eastern Xia’s military leadership to launch a secret war game.

• Peiwen used the Skylark to scout the Green Pine Kingdom’s camp at the pass and estimated that roughly 120 soldiers guarded the route.
• Peiwen judged that the enemy’s fortified position made a direct advance dangerous, and he planned to charge first while ordering the others to retreat toward Creek Moon if he failed.
• Chen Mo told the Cloudmist Territory leaders that his Summoning Altar would be ready in two days and offered to seek support from the distant world.
• Chen Mo performed a new summoning ritual, invoking the Cyber King and other technological titles, and told the group to wait for a response.
• Longxiang Zhenyue convened Eastern Xia’s senior military leadership and ordered them to conduct a top-secret war game without questioning their assignments.

Eastern Xia devised a heavily armed assault plan for Chen Mo’s team, and the Cloudmist Territory squad attacked a Wangshan City camp at night with loitering munitions and sniper fire. Peiwen charged into the devastated camp as the squad’s assault began, while Liushuang’s first rifle shot missed its target.

• Gu Liyang reframed the exercise as a frontal assault against infantry, armored fighters, and possible super soldiers, and the old marshal authorized all weapons so long as personnel behind the lines remained safe.
• Eastern Xia assembled three [Big-Headed Eagle] loitering munitions, reconnaissance drones, rifles, grenades, and gas masks for Chen Mo’s squad.
• Chen Mo’s squad rehearsed the plan and launched a nighttime attack, striking the camp with two loitering munitions while keeping the third overhead.
• Little White shot the lookout sentry before he could raise the alarm, while Liushuang missed her shot with the anti-materiel rifle.
• Peiwen smashed the other lookout tower, subdued its sentry, and charged into the camp after the explosions and chemical weapons devastated it.

After destroying the Green Pine force at Green Luo Mountain Pass, Chen Mo and the Cloudmist Territory squad traveled through enemy territory using drones, disguises, and Peiwen’s ambushes. They reached the Crystal River and discovered Emerald’s fortress had fallen, so Peiwen planned to cross the river away from the guarded bridge.

• Peiwen confirmed that the Green Pine soldiers had been ordered to seal the Emerald border and killed the captured sentry after questioning him.
• The Cloudmist Territory leaders marveled at Chen Mo’s mysterious support and returned to their journey without pressing him for answers.
• Peiwen carried Chen Mo on horseback as the squad used drones to evade enemy forces, ambush patrols, and acquire Green Pine uniforms and equipment.
• After twelve days, the squad reached the Rainbow Stone Bridge, where Peiwen saw Green Pine flags flying over Emerald’s fortress on the far bank.
• Chen Mo and Peiwen surveyed the bridge’s defenses, and Peiwen concluded that the squad should swim across the Crystal River instead of trying to cross the bridge.

Chen Mo and the Cloudmist Territory party crossed the River of Crystal into Emerald territory, then struggled to travel through the war-torn South Pass Territory. Peiwen rescued Knight Commander Kangna from pursuing Green Pine cavalry, but recognized his story was suspicious, and Kangna admitted he had come to seize the commandery princess for a new master.

• Peiwen ordered the party to kill their horses, then dragged everyone across the River of Crystal with six supply-laden logs, collapsing from exhaustion after reaching Emerald soil.
• Chen Mo and the party learned that South Pass Territory was under attack by six Green Pine legions and began moving slowly between hiding places to avoid the fighting.
• Chen Mo watched the Green Pine cavalry commit atrocities, and Peiwen stopped the party from intervening until he spotted Knight Commander Kangna fleeing from pursuers.
• Peiwen ambushed and defeated the Green Pine cavalry with grenades and his warriors, then rejected Kangna's claim that he was carrying a message and needed to reach safety.
• Kangna dropped his false smile, said he had followed the wrong person, and demanded that Peiwen hand over Commandery Princess Liushuang for his new master.

Marquis Valen punished Haisen, then explained why he believed Chen Mo was a Firmament Empire spy whose actions had contributed to the wider war. Haisen accepted the theory and connected Chen Mo’s sudden wealth to the witch doctor at Six-Leaf Camp.

• Marquis Valen had Haisen whipped for his failures, then let him eat and explained that the family tolerated him partly because of his son, Little Dimo.
• Marquis Valen reviewed Chen Mo’s suspicious rise and concluded that he was a “crow” sent by the Firmament Empire to interfere in the southern kingdoms’ war.
• Haisen followed his father’s reasoning and decided that Chen Mo had feigned amnesia and ignorance to deceive Black Raven Castle.
• Haisen reasoned that Chen Mo had killed Little Nineteen after the boy discovered a secret, then abducted and murdered a scout and a female apprentice while fleeing.
• Haisen recalled that Chen Mo had visited the witch doctor’s hut at Six-Leaf Camp, identifying it as a possible source of his money and supplies.

Marquis Valen identified Liushuang as a valuable political link and launched a hunt for her, but his forces struggled to track the hidden Cloudmist Territory team. Peiwen sprang a trap with thermobaric grenades and charged the enemy, but Gaoshi Territory’s fifth knight survived behind magical protection.

• Marquis Valen struck Haisen for failing to report the crisis sooner, then explained Liushuang’s ties to Emerald, the elves, and the beastmen before ordering a manhunt.
• Marquis Valen halted the search and planned to lure the Cloudmist Territory team into a trap by staging fighting near the river.
• The fifth knight tried to recruit Peiwen by offering him advancement and command, while Gaoshi forces prepared to surround the area.
• Peiwen threw two thermobaric grenades, ordered the Cloudmist Territory warriors to charge, and targeted Kangna as the others fought.
• The fifth knight survived the explosions with the help of a magical protection scroll, though he emerged badly charred.

Peiwen sacrificed himself to keep Green Pine's forces from discovering Commandery Princess Liushuang's hiding place and pursuing the survivors. After his final attack and the explosion killed him, Chen Mo stopped Liushuang from rushing into the battlefield, leaving the group to flee without him.

• The Fifth Knight Captain defeated Peiwen and demanded that he reveal where Commandery Princess Liushuang was hiding.
• Peiwen used hand signals to warn the distant hideout to flee, then injected himself with adrenaline and charged at Kangna.
• Peiwen detonated grenades to kill the captured Cloudmist Territory warriors, then fought Kangna and triggered an explosion that killed him and destroyed his weapons.
• Liushuang tried to rush out of the hideout after seeing Peiwen's death, but Chen Mo slapped her and told her that Peiwen was already dead.

After leaving the abandoned village, Chen Mo realized the Cloudmist Territory group no longer fully accepted his command and prepared to leave them. He discovered Green Pine Kingdom troops were surrounding the village, and Eliel returned exposed as a traitor before Old Locke struck him with a fireball.

• Chen Mo woke and learned Eliel had left the sentry post to search for food, despite Chen Mo’s orders.
• When Old Locke admitted he had allowed Eliel to go, Chen Mo declared that he would separate from the group and began packing to leave.
• Chen Mo used a drone to spot dozens of Green Pine Kingdom soldiers closing in on the village.
• Eliel returned with a bundle of game, but Chen Mo accused him of leading the enemy to them.
• Eliel denied betraying the commandery princess and tried to blame Chen Mo, but Old Locke attacked him with a fireball.
• Burned and pleading for his life, Eliel warned that they could not escape, saying even Captain Peiwen had been unable to stop the enemy.

Chen Mo launched the last Big-Headed Eagle against Gaoshi Territory’s search team, then fought alongside Liushuang and the others as the survivors charged into the village. The battle ended with the attackers routed but Cloudmist Territory’s defenders devastated, and Locke badly wounded.

• Chen Mo condemned the world’s cruelty, launched the Big-Headed Eagle, and had Little White shoot Eliel.
• The Big-Headed Eagle devastated the clustered Gaoshi soldiers, while the surviving forces and mages advanced on the village.
• Little White and Chen Mo used gunfire and grenades to stop the attackers, while Liushuang, the guard, Locke, and Linda fought the assault.
• Chen Mo killed the lead mage, and the defenders held off the remaining attackers until they fled.
• The Cloudmist defenders suffered heavy losses: the guard died, Linda was mortally wounded, and Locke was badly injured, while Chen Mo and Liushuang survived.

After Peiwen and the rest of Cloudmist Territory's party died, Chen Mo took Liushuang and the injured Little White into the Iron Thorn Forest, where Gaoshi Territory's Fifth Knight Order hunted them. Chen Mo lured the soldiers away from their hiding place and prepared to escape with Liushuang on the Flying Shuttle.

• Chen Mo left Peiwen's final gesture unanswered, gathered a few supplies, and set off with Liushuang and the badly injured Little White after destroying the rest of their belongings.
• Liushuang told Chen Mo that her father had instructed her to kill herself rather than be captured by the enemy.
• The Fifth Knight of Gaoshi Territory sealed off the Iron Thorn Forest and began a methodical search for Chen Mo and Liushuang.
• Chen Mo used Skylark to plant a patch bomb three hills from their hiding place, drawing the Fifth Knight's forces toward the blast.
• After confirming the sentry posts had turned their attention elsewhere, Chen Mo called Liushuang to leave, and she jumped down from the canopy with him.
• Chen Mo and Liushuang rode the Flying Shuttle through the forest as Liushuang held a light sniper rifle.

Chen Mo and Liushuang escaped Gaoshi Territory’s pursuit by crossing the Xinpo River aboard the amphibious Flying Shuttle and reached the border of Emerald Territory. On the journey, Liushuang mourned the people who had died to help her escape, and the two headed toward Violet City in Cloudmist Territory.

• Chen Mo drove the Flying Shuttle north while Liushuang practiced shooting at pursuing Gaoshi cavalry, and she killed the squad’s captain.
• A four-person elite ranger squad caught up with them, but Chen Mo used a Wasp drone to kill its leader and drive the others away.
• Chen Mo and Liushuang evaded further pursuers and reached the Xinpo River, where they rode the Flying Shuttle across at a point far from Gaoshi Territory’s guarded bridges.
• Liushuang shot down Gaoshi Territory’s flag before they continued north toward Violet City.
• Liushuang performed a noble high mourning salute and told Chen Mo that Locke, Peiwen, and Linda had died, leaving her alone.