Recaps

Dark Rod saw the fire and chaos Xiao Yu caused in Stormwind City as his chance to launch an attack from the Defiant. At the cathedral, the weakened Shadow of Galax disrupted the ritual, killed Long Ao Jiutian’s character, and left Xiao Yu watching the unfolding battle from a tower.

• Dark Rod saw flames rise above Stormwind City and ordered the Defiant to sail toward its harbor.
• The Light of Dawn discovered that the Shadow of Galax was much weaker than the true Galax, while the priests and archbishop struggled to withstand its fire.
• The high-ranking priests abandoned the ritual to heal themselves, and the fading pillar of light caused Long Ao Jiutian’s body to disappear.
• Long Ao Jiutian’s character died, and he exited the game in a rage, cursing the flame demon and goblin.
• Xiao Yu logged into his dwarf civilian character and watched the chaos from a tower while eating snacks.

The Shadow of Galax self-destructed after Phoenix struck him, killing hundreds and plunging the square into chaos. Phoenix then learned that the Defias Brotherhood had breached Stormwind City's walls, leaving her to lead her guild toward the harbor district as the city came under attack.

• The Shadow of Galax activated Body-Burning Blast, and Phoenix used Greater Divine Shield and Wings of Holy Light to attack him before he exploded.
• Phoenix survived the blast and received 275 reputation points, while two or three hundred soldiers and adventurers died.
• Players rushed to loot the fallen soldiers' equipment, sparking fights with surviving guards.
• A messenger told Phoenix that King's Harbor was under attack, and she led her guild toward the docks.
• Phoenix heard conflicting reports about the attackers before a system announcement confirmed that the Defias Brotherhood had breached Stormwind City's walls.

Dark Rod’s attack devastated Stormwind City and earned him the reputation and power to begin the epic Rise of the Brotherhood event, while Phoenix gained recognition for defending the city. After the battle, Xiao Yu logged out, ready to start a new journey.

• Phoenix and the Light of Dawn defeated a group of gnolls but continued toward the harbor as other players fought the monsters in the city.
• Dark Rod ordered The Defiant to keep bombarding King's Harbor until dawn, when it escaped after destroying harbor defenses and sinking several warships.
• The system awarded Dark Rod the title Destroyer of King's Harbor, made the Alliance his mortal enemy, triggered the Rise of the Brotherhood event, and advanced him to a skull-tier boss.
• Dark Rod learned that Eric had summoned an avatar of the Flame Demon Lord to draw away the harbor guards, and confirmed that Black Rod had paid Xiao Yu and recorded the attack.
• Phoenix received the title Guardian of Stormwind City and advanced to a three-star hero template after defending Stormwind City and killing the Flame Demon Lord's avatar.
• Xiao Yu looked over Stormwind City, decided it was time for a new journey, and logged out.

Xiao Yu bought a deluxe game pod and began choosing a new monster character for his ambition to become one of Sky World's top bosses. After narrowing his options, he asked Profiteer about the Seed of Elements and learned that a major game event had just been announced.

• Xiao Yu bought an Immortal 2000 Deluxe Game Pod and had it installed in his apartment.
• Xiao Yu reviewed monster templates and narrowed his choices to draconic creatures, void demons, celestial beings, undead creatures, and elemental creatures.
• Xiao Yu hesitated over choosing an elemental creature because he did not know what side effects the Seed of Elements might cause.
• Xiao Yu contacted Profiteer, who told him about the Seed of Death and said a major game event had been announced.

After reviewing the newly announced strongest boss and strongest hero contests, Xiao Yu decided to pursue the boss title as an elemental creature. He entered the game after turning down Mephisto’s offer to join a guild, leaving his competition for the top three ahead.

• Xiao Yu read about the strongest boss contest and the hero contest, which would judge applicants through recorded gameplay and audience votes.
• Xiao Yu browsed the forums, where players argued about the contests, shared monster guides, and posted recruitment notices for guilds and factions.
• Xiao Yu concluded that competition for the strongest boss title would intensify as studios, guilds, and solo players joined the race.
• Xiao Yu decided to choose an elemental creature, reasoning that fewer players used that type and that his experience and Seed of Elements suited it.
• Mephisto invited Xiao Yu to join a guild with Madman and Old E, but Xiao Yu declined and said he intended to place in the top three.
• Xiao Yu and Mephisto agreed that Mephisto would become Xiao Yu’s follower if Xiao Yu reached the top three, and Xiao Yu entered the game.

Xiao Yu created a water elemental character using a mid-level boss template, selecting a revenge-driven prince background and two racial talents. After several famous names were rejected, he entered the game as Azathoth.

• Xiao Yu chose a water elemental, reasoning that its control skills and broad summoning potential made it a strong choice.
• Xiao Yu spent 240,000 points on a mid-level boss template for a water elemental and customized its appearance.
• Xiao Yu selected a background in which he was a water elemental prince sworn to avenge his father against Ragnaros and the fire elementals.
• Xiao Yu chose Extreme Deep Cold and Big Build as his racial talents.
• Xiao Yu found that Gonggong, Poseidon, and Yu the Great were taken, then settled on the available name Azathoth and entered the game.

Xiao Yu entered the Water Elemental Plane as Azathoth, a privileged Water Elemental Prince, and met Ashali, who guided him to the Land of Origin. He absorbed water essence until he reached level five and could advance.

• Xiao Yu surveyed the Water Elemental Plane and learned about its regions before being born as a water spirit in the Land of Origin.
• He checked Azathoth’s level-one attributes and discovered his powerful boss template and elemental abilities.
• Ashali introduced herself as his guide and showed him the crowded pools where newborn water spirits emerged.
• Ashali directed Xiao Yu to absorb water essence, and he learned to roll across the mica rock to reach it.
• Xiao Yu absorbed water essence without competition and reached level five in less than an hour.

Xiao Yu completed his advancement into a water elemental, traveled to the Realm of Ten Thousand Streams, and absorbed the Seed of Elements. He chose to mutate into a boiling water elemental, leaving him with mutated skills to configure.

• Ashali taught Xiao Yu how to form a body, and he chose pure water to become a water elemental.
• Xiao Yu shaped the surrounding water into a humanoid body and learned Frostbolt.
• Ashali led Xiao Yu to the Path of Whirlpools, and he traveled to the Realm of Ten Thousand Streams.
• Xiao Yu found a secluded spot and absorbed the Seed of Elements.
• Xiao Yu rejected the other mutations and chose to become a boiling water elemental.
• The Seed of Elements transformed Xiao Yu’s body and powers, and the system prompted him to configure his mutated skills.

Xiao Yu chose Frostfire Bolt and used it to hunt monsters in the Water Elemental Plane, leveling far faster than he could by gathering ores. He reached level 10 and gained the ability to answer summons, while a new skill awaited his selection.

• Xiao Yu chose Frostfire Bolt as his standard attack skill but declined to advance it into a boss skill.
• Xiao Yu attacked and killed a level 16 Nine-Headed Sea Serpent, earning 845 experience points.
• Xiao Yu continued killing monsters and collecting some elemental ores, then reached level 10 after an hour.
• The system granted Xiao Yu the ability to answer summons and announced that he had comprehended a new skill to choose.

After reaching level ten, Xiao Yu chose Super Frost Nova and entered the summoning system in projection mode, hoping to answer worthwhile summons. He accepted Esmehalda’s darkwater pearl summons, was immediately banished, then answered her next summon and arrived on the battlefield under a Dimensional Anchor.

• Xiao Yu chose Frost Nova and advanced it into Super Frost Nova, which froze nearby enemies completely for five seconds.
• Xiao Yu activated the summoning system and chose projection mode so ordinary spellcasters could summon him.
• Xiao Yu ignored several summons, then answered Esmehalda’s offer of a darkwater pearl and was banished back to the Elemental Plane before he could finish his introduction.
• Xiao Yu answered Esmehalda’s next darkwater pearl summons and arrived in the Prime Material Plane, where someone placed a Dimensional Anchor on him.

Xiao Yu was summoned by Esmehalda, an Alliance hero, and helped her fight adventurers who were protecting the dungeon boss to keep farming it. After they defeated the adventurers, Esmehalda entered the boss room, where Molak and Balak recognized her as a threat to their dungeon.

• Xiao Yu found himself beside Esmehalda, surrounded by Alliance adventurers who were trying to stop her from reaching the dungeon.
• Esmehalda challenged the adventurers for protecting Molak Balak, and the group attacked her and Xiao Yu.
• Xiao Yu froze the charging adventurers with Super Frost Nova, and Esmehalda killed five of them with Frost Detonation.
• Esmehalda defeated the warlock who attacked her and entered the dungeon with Xiao Yu.
• Esmehalda and Xiao Yu reached the boss room, where Molak and Balak realized that a hero had entered and asked which guild she belonged to.

Esmehalda and Xiao Yu fought Molak Balak, whose Frost Protection Barrier resisted Esmehalda’s frost spells, while Xiao Yu’s Frostfire Bolts and Esmehalda’s support magic turned the battle against the two-headed ogre. The fight continued with Molak Balak losing health and growing panicked.

• Esmehalda ordered Xiao Yu to freeze the charging ogre warriors, and Xiao Yu froze four of them for her Frost Detonation to destroy.
• Balak cast Frost Protection Barrier, reducing Esmehalda’s frost spells to negligible damage, while Molak and Balak attacked her with fire and frost magic.
• Xiao Yu blocked both incoming spells and struck Molak Balak with a powerful Frostfire Bolt.
• Esmehalda interrupted Molak’s Pyroblast with Counterspell, damaging him and renewing her resolve.
• Esmehalda shielded Xiao Yu as he traded Frostfire Bolts with Molak Balak, whose health fell until he panicked.

Esmehalda captured the two-headed ogre Molak Balak after they surrendered, then looted his secret room. When she led him out of the cave, she found dozens of adventurers blocking the exit.

• Molak and Balak begged Esmehalda to spare them, and she agreed to take them alive to Stormwind City Prison.
• Esmehalda bound Molak Balak with a magic rope, took his staff, and went deeper into the cave to search for evidence and treasure.
• Xiao Yu suspected Molak Balak was plotting to get help and reduced him to a sliver of health to keep him under control.
• Esmehalda returned from the secret room with treasure and led Molak Balak toward the cave entrance.
• Esmehalda froze when she emerged and found dozens of adventurers blocking the way.

Xiao Yu helped Esmehalda capture Molak Balak, allowing her to advance to an intermediate hero. At the Pig and Whistle Tavern, Esmehalda proposed that she and Xiao Yu sign a contract.

• Xiao Yu threatened the adventurers into letting him and Esmehalda take Molak Balak away alive.
• Esmehalda handed Molak Balak over to the Stormwind City Magistrate and completed the story event, advancing to an intermediate hero.
• Xiao Yu received 37 reputation, while Esmehalda thanked him for helping weaken the ogre mage.
• Esmehalda invited Xiao Yu to the Pig and Whistle Tavern and watched him absorb a beer into his body.
• Esmehalda asked Xiao Yu what he thought about signing a contract.

Azathoth and Esmehalda signed a temporary summoning contract before she released him back to the Water Elemental Plane. Xiao Yu leveled up, then answered a new summons that brought him to a shabby guild hall, where a level 16 elementalist had summoned him before a small audience.

• Azathoth agreed to a three-month contract with Esmehalda, who could summon him and would share half the experience and reputation they earned together.
• Esmehalda lifted the Dimensional Anchor, and Azathoth returned to the Water Elemental Plane.
• Xiao Yu spent the day hunting monsters, reached level 13, and kept watch for new summons.
• Xiao Yu answered Elementalist Xiaozi Shoujiao's summons and appeared in a newly established guild hall.
• Xiaozi Shoujiao showed off Xiao Yu to a girl, who wondered why the summoned water elemental looked red and radiated heat.

Xiao Yu answered summons from adventurers, first helping Xiaozi Shoujiao win a guild leadership duel and then being used as cannon fodder in Archmage Adal’s battle against a red dragon. After dying and losing experience, he returned to leveling in the Water Elemental Plane and reached level fifteen, gaining a new skill.

• Xiaozi Shoujiao summoned Xiao Yu and used his powerful frost skills to defeat Professor B in a duel, winning the guild leadership.
• Xiao Yu refused Xiaozi Shoujiao’s request for a contract and returned to the Water Elemental Plane, where he decided to answer a hero’s summon.
• Xiao Yu answered Archmage Adal’s summon and found himself fighting Kuldra, a level 60 Ancient Red Dragon, alongside other water elementals and adventurers.
• Kuldra’s fire breath killed Xiao Yu after the other water elementals were defeated, costing him experience despite earning an arcane crystal.
• Xiao Yu resumed leveling, reached level fifteen at midnight, and received a new skill.

Xiao Yu learned and tested Biting Wind Protection, then heard from Liu Xiaoyu, who had started playing the game to fulfill their bet. After helping her create a character, he went to sleep in a nearby lake.

• Xiao Yu chose Biting Wind Protection, which combined ice and fire currents to knock back enemies and deflect ranged attacks.
• Xiao Yu tested the skill on luminous crabs, sending them flying, and found he could maintain it for about thirty seconds before tiring.
• Xiao Yu decided to save his second boss skill upgrade for a powerful AOE skill he hoped to learn at level twenty.
• Liu Xiaoyu contacted Xiao Yu and said she had started playing, beginning their bet to advance to a boss template within a month.
• Xiao Yu helped Liu Xiaoyu create a character, then slipped into a shallow lake and fell asleep.

Xiao Yu answered Esmehalda’s urgent summoning and manifested on the battlefield at Blazing Flame Canyon, where the Alliance and Horde were fighting. He joined the Alliance’s attack and froze the Horde’s charging fighters and Rega with Super Frost Nova.

• After growing to more than five meters tall in the lake, Xiao Yu received Esmehalda’s summons and chose manifestation mode.
• Xiao Yu appeared in the middle of the battle at Blazing Flame Canyon as Alliance and Horde forces exchanged attacks.
• Esmehalda called for Xiao Yu’s help and struck the Horde with Blizzard, while Xiao Yu charged their front line under heavy fire.
• Xiao Yu’s Biting Wind Protection lifted or drove back nearby Horde fighters, allowing the Alliance warriors to charge forward.
• Rega hit Xiao Yu with Lava Burst, but Xiao Yu rushed toward the orc priest and froze him and dozens of nearby fighters with Super Frost Nova.

After helping the Alliance rout the Horde at the Burning Path, Xiao Yu learned that both factions were fighting to control the passage between Blazing Flame Canyon and the Dark Plains. He brought Esmehalda and a crowd of adventurers to the lava lake, where he demanded to meet the fire elementals’ leader, Baron Geddon.

• Xiao Yu and Esmehalda combined their attacks to break the Horde’s line, and the Alliance drove the retreating Horde back into its fortress.
• Esmehalda explained that the Alliance and Horde were contesting the Burning Path after each faction took control of neighboring territories.
• Xiao Yu offered to recruit the fire elementals at the lava lake to give the Alliance an advantage, and Esmehalda took him there with more than a hundred adventurers.
• Two lava golems confronted the group, but Xiao Yu asserted his authority as a Water Elemental Prince and demanded that they summon Baron Geddon.

Xiao Yu persuaded Baron Geddon to join the Alliance against the Horde by offering him a way out of the valley. After promising to let the fire elementals leave, Esmehalda learned the portal home had been destroyed and was told by Xiao Yu to betray them when the time came.

• Xiao Yu summoned Baron Geddon and offered to help him and his troops escape if they joined the fight against the Horde.
• Baron Geddon accepted the deal after Xiao Yu pointed out that the Alliance and Horde would eventually threaten the fire elementals.
• Esmehalda swore that the Alliance would not attack the fire elementals and would let them leave freely.
• Esmehalda rallied the adventurers to prepare for an attack on the Horde stronghold in one hour.
• After they left the lava lake, Esmehalda told Xiao Yu that the portal to the Fire Elemental Plane had been destroyed.
• Xiao Yu told Esmehalda to turn on Baron Geddon and let the adventurers eliminate the fire elementals, leaving her stunned.

The Alliance, aided by fire elementals, overwhelmed the Horde camp at the Burning Path after Horde soldiers and Rega fled instead of holding the fortress. Mosak died fighting, the Horde lost the battle, and Xiao Yu gained 679 reputation points and reached neutral standing with the Alliance.

• Rega rejected the tauren commander’s suggestion to recruit a fire elemental, then learned that fire elementals were burning the Horde camp gates.
• The Alliance army attacked behind the fire elementals, which breached the burning wooden gates and helped push the Horde defenders back toward the fortress.
• As the Horde’s defeat became inevitable, player-controlled soldiers fled, and Rega abandoned Mosak and escaped in ghost wolf form.
• Mosak fought on, resurrected once through Ancestral Protection, and was killed again by focused fire.
• The battle ended in a Horde defeat, and Xiao Yu received 679 reputation points, improving his Alliance relationship from indifferent to neutral.

After the Alliance defeated the Horde at the Burning Path, Esmehalda recruited adventurers into the Storm Guard Army and turned them against Baron Geddon. With Azathoth holding Geddon’s attention, the adventurers killed him, advancing Azathoth’s revenge against Ragnaros.

• Esmehalda received the Tauren Chieftain’s Battle Axe after the Alliance won control of the Burning Path.
• Esmehalda founded the Storm Guard Army and recruited more than a hundred adventurers.
• Esmehalda declared the fire elementals enemies and offered loot and contribution points for killing them.
• Baron Geddon attacked Esmehalda, but Azathoth blocked him and fought him while the adventurers dealt damage.
• The adventurers killed Baron Geddon, and Azathoth unlocked the quest to avenge his father by killing Ragnaros and his subordinates.

Xiao Yu pursued leveling and answered several summons before reaching level twenty and unlocking the boss Domination System. He founded The Immortals as his monster faction and began choosing a new area-of-effect skill.

• Xiao Yu unlocked the Road of Vengeance story quest, exchanged friend requests with Esmehalda, and returned to the Water Elemental Plane to keep leveling.
• Xiao Yu answered several summons, earning little from an arena and a high-level battlefield, then helping adventurers defeat an adult blue dragon for reputation and experience.
• Xiao Yu reached level twenty and unlocked the boss Domination System.
• Xiao Yu created The Immortals, chose to keep the faction’s membership selective, and opened his skill bar to find an area-of-effect skill.

Xiao Yu chose a leader skill that let him summon fire elemental minions and used them to level up in the Realm of Ten Thousand Streams. After reaching level 24, he answered Leah Bloodmoon's second summons and vanished from the plains.

• Xiao Yu chose Summon Minion--Fire Elemental and created two temporary fire elementals.
• Xiao Yu and his minions fought through the Realm of Ten Thousand Streams, leveling him to 24 by midnight.
• Xiao Yu spotted Leah Bloodmoon's summons, but Aristide responded first and the ritual disappeared.
• Leah Bloodmoon sent out another summons shortly afterward, and Xiao Yu accepted it despite being short of his next level.
• Xiao Yu vanished from the Realm of Ten Thousand Streams after answering Leah Bloodmoon's summons.

Xiao Yu was summoned by Leah Bloodmoon and trapped in the Elemental Prison, where alchemists held elemental creatures for experiments. After learning from Fester that prisoners had been there for a week, Xiao Yu saw the hall doors open again.

• Xiao Yu arrived in a blue-lit hall and was caught in an anti-magic cage before Leah Bloodmoon placed Dimensional Shackles on him.
• Leah Bloodmoon explained that the anti-magic walls absorbed elemental attacks, then summoned a storm spirit, a clay golem, and a water nymph into neighboring cages.
• Xiao Yu tried to overload his cage with fire and frostfire spells, but the barriers only grew brighter.
• Fester told Xiao Yu that alchemists were imprisoning summoned elemental creatures as experiment subjects and that he had been trapped for a week.
• Xiao Yu checked the map and saw that the area was called Elemental Prison in the Tower of Amalarui, then the hall doors opened.