Recaps

Xiao Yu won two tournament matches as Azathoth while discovering that intense emotions let him control elemental power beyond his learned skills. After receiving a worsening medical prognosis and warnings about the Council of Sages, he entered a third match against Lucifer that remained unresolved.

• Xiao Yu devastated the centaur camp, killed Maradona and Maximus, and won the Immortals' first match.
• Xiao Yu sought medical advice after the battle, and the doctor told him his worsening tumor left him at most a month without treatment.
• Xiao Yu watched Naiser slaughter his opponents and trained himself to use intense emotions to control elements and create new abilities.
• Xiao Yu persuaded Loken to release him in the Prison of the Gods, defeated Algalon, and gained command over the watchers.
• Xiao Yu questioned Alodi about the prison, then defeated Cybertron with the warders after Leah Bloodmoon died fighting the enemy army.
• Ma Xiaoyun warned Xiao Yu against contacting the Sage of Wisdom and told him the company had countermeasures against Shen Yuan.
• Xiao Yu entered Adventurer’s Paradise against Lucifer and summoned Big Water Cunt as both sides killed adventurers and strengthened the opposing armies.
• Xiao Yu destroyed adventurers' equipment and strengthened the Horde adventurers, while Lucifer summoned a thousand demons to stabilize his battle after Aphrodite died.

Xiao Yu won the match against Dragon Covenant, then faced Naiser in the tournament final after surviving an attempt to kill him and agreeing to help Shen Yuan. The final began in the Land of Origins, where Xiao Yu tried to delay Naiser while keeping his army out of danger.

• Xiao Yu lured thousands of Alliance adventurers and four heroes into a black hole, then crushed them with his Old God Form before Grom Hellscream helped him defeat Lucifer.
• After his victory made him famous, Xiao Yu met the tournament teams and learned that Liu Wei wanted to control the matchups and outcomes, and Xiao Yu accepted payment for a planned loss but intended to win.
• Xiao Yu defeated Sirod and Dragon Covenant by exploiting the Ancient Creation, killing the team and destroying its core with Eternal Jungle beasts.
• Naiser defeated the Dynamic Angels and advanced to the final, but Liu Wei and Zhang Haian abducted Xiao Yu and tried to force him to throw the match.
• Merlin rescued Xiao Yu and revealed that he was Shen Yuan, Sky World's developer, and Shen Yuan asked Xiao Yu to help restore the game's blocked features, and Xiao Yu agreed.
• Xiao Yu and Naiser began the final in the Land of Origins, where Naiser built Nephalem Valor by killing monsters and Xiao Yu bet his savings on him.
• Xiao Yu faced Naiser alone, using Ice Prison, Stone Wall, and Gravity Trap to slow him, while Naiser broke through the barriers and unleashed Infinite Chain Slash.

Xiao Yu defeated Naiser, rose to prominence through the tournament and signed on to the game company’s plans for him. As Azathoth, he launched the Elemental Tide against Stormwind, where Alliance heroes and adventurers repelled the invasion and banished him to the Elemental Plane.

• Xiao Yu wore down Naiser through their battle and defeated him with Ragnaros’s sacrifice inside the exploding miniature sun.
• After the tournament, Xiao Yu met the other winners, signed the company’s agency contract, and won the vote to make Azathoth the expansion’s final boss.
• Xiao Yu underwent surgery to remove his condition, then worked with Zhang Xinghun and the heroes to shape the expansion’s story and casualties.
• Xiao Yu created cards for Azathoth, Eric the Goblin Pyromancer, and Raglios, and accepted Li Mingfei’s offer to endorse Thunderbolt Flying Cars.
• A black-robed prophet warned Varian that Azathoth would attack Stormwind and Orgrimmar, prompting Varian to prepare the city’s defenses.
• Leah Bloodmoon summoned Azathoth outside Stormwind, and Xiao Yu opened the Elemental Tide by unleashing an elemental army and catastrophic elemental attacks.
• Azathoth killed Marshal Maxwell and threatened Long Ao Jiutian, while Esmehalda resisted him and held him off until Khadgar sent her to recover.
• The Alliance and adventurers defeated the other Elemental Lords, but Azathoth killed Maikeluoen before they depleted his health and banished him to the Elemental Plane.

Xiao Yu broke from the game company’s script and used the Lost Island campaign to draw the Alliance and Horde into a devastating counterattack. The arc ended with Stormwind City and Orgrimmar destroyed, the surviving leaders facing an uncertain prophecy, and Xiao Yu securing his release from the company contract.

• Xiao Yu learned from Li Mingfei that he was expected to play the World Destroyer, then warned him that Abbas and other defeated bosses had formed the Destroyers' Alliance.
• Xiao Yu joined Shen Yuan, Medivh, Merlin, Naiser, Kairoz, and Ner'zhul to steal a piece of Yogg-Saron, and Kairoz used the Eye of Time to restore the original timeline.
• After the Alliance and Horde launched the Lost Island campaign, Xiao Yu sent the elemental defenders into staged battles while adventurers captured the island and defeated its bosses.
• Haunted by the deaths of his followers, Xiao Yu spoke with Kara, then summoned the elemental lords and declared that he would rise and punish the mortals on his own terms.
• Xiao Yu sent elemental armies to attack Stormwind City and Orgrimmar while Al'Akir and Neptulon trapped the Alliance and Horde forces on Lost Island.
• When Varian and Thrall considered surrendering to protect their people, the gods descended through Benedictus, Kaya Shadowhunter, and Ox and urged them to fight Azathoth.
• Benedictus wounded Xiao Yu with the Light of Heavenly Punishment, but Xiao Yu escaped and ordered Therazane and Galax to destroy Stormwind City and Orgrimmar after their residents fled.
• Xiao Yu welcomed the escaped elemental leaders, then negotiated his freedom from the game company, while Varian and Thrall heard a prophecy directing them toward the Elemental Throne.