Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yu, playing the Balrog Lord Raglios in Sky World, defeated another adventuring party and collected their drops. After logging out, he reflected on how he had built his expensive boss character into a profitable source of income, then received a notification that another party had entered his dungeon.

• Xiao Yu used Flame Storm to wipe out the adventurers challenging his dungeon and gathered their dropped equipment and items.
• Xiao Yu chatted with Mephistopheles, the Ancient Black Dragon, about their battles and the value of their loot.
• Xiao Yu logged out of Sky World and ate lunch while thinking about the game's character templates and payment model.
• Xiao Yu recalled raising Raglios from a low-level flame sprite and earning several hundred thousand RMB by defeating adventuring parties.
• Xiao Yu received an alert that another adventuring party had come to challenge his dungeon.

Xiao Yu, playing Raglios in the Blazing Flame Temple, discovered that an approaching raid included hero-template players who could permanently kill him. He sent his bosses to delay them, but the fight left him facing the risk of a plot kill.

• Xiao Yu saw a heavily equipped forty-player raid from the Light of Dawn Guild advancing through Blazing Flame Canyon toward the Flame Altar.
• Xiao Yu ordered Garix to defend the temple gates, Fieldegar to guard the Obsidian Bridge, and Alex to lead the fire elemental legion.
• The raid reached the temple gates, where Long Ao Jiutian tanked all three of Garix’s heads while Phoenix healed him.
• Xiao Yu recognized Long Ao Jiutian and Phoenix as hero-template players and realized that either side’s death could be recorded permanently in the Firmament Chronicle.

Xiao Yu tried to negotiate with Long Ao Jiutian, a hero player who had killed Garix and was advancing toward his dungeon, but Long Ao Jiutian refused to withdraw and insisted on fighting him. Xiao Yu ended the chat and prepared to face the party.

• Long Ao Jiutian’s party defeated Garix, earned reputation, and collected the hellhound’s drops.
• Long Ao Jiutian received a private message from Xiao Yu, who revealed he had raised his three-skull boss template himself.
• Xiao Yu offered to let Long Ao Jiutian complete the Flame Altar storyline if he withdrew, but Long Ao Jiutian rejected the deal and demanded to farm Xiao Yu.
• Xiao Yu offered two underlings as targets, but Long Ao Jiutian dismissed them and insisted on fighting the boss.
• Xiao Yu ended the chat and steeled himself for battle, while Long Ao Jiutian ordered his party to move forward.

Xiao Yu watched the Light of Dawn Adventure Group defeat two fire bosses and prepare to face him at the Flame Altar. When the group reached the altar, the elder summoned Raglios, the Balrog Lord, whose dramatic arrival began the final confrontation.

• The Light of Dawn Adventure Group defeated Lava Giant Fieldegar in twenty minutes, then gathered materials from his corpse.
• The group defeated Einstein the Flame Master in ten minutes, losing two adventurers to his attacks.
• Xiao Yu realized the party’s fire resistance and strength made the coming fight dangerous, but he could not flee as the dungeon’s final boss.
• Long Ao Jiutian used Group Inspiration, then led the party to the Flame Altar, where they defeated an elite fire elemental elder.
• The wounded elder summoned Raglios, the Balrog Lord, and Xiao Yu emerged from the lava in a towering body of fire and lava.

Xiao Yu fought Long Ao Jiutian’s adventurer party as the Balrog Lord, using area attacks to wear down the group while Phoenix kept Long Ao Jiutian alive. After the party’s fire resistance and healing prevented any deaths, Xiao Yu entered P2 and unleashed Flame Storm.

• Long Ao Jiutian formed his party into a battle formation and taunted the Balrog Lord, but Xiao Yu’s area attacks ignored the taunt and scattered the ranged attackers.
• Phoenix noticed that Xiao Yu was targeting the party with area attacks, and Long Ao Jiutian sent the healers to support the other adventurers.
• Xiao Yu struck Long Ao Jiutian with his hammer and a fireball, but Phoenix healed the tank back to full health.
• The adventurers’ fire resistance and protection let them survive Xiao Yu’s attacks as they continued fighting and lowered his health into P2.
• Xiao Yu shouted as Lagrios and unleashed Flame Storm, sending flames sweeping outward across the battlefield.

Xiao Yu struggled to defeat Long Ao Jiutian’s well-equipped adventuring party as resurrection magic and fire resistance blunted his attacks. Near death, he began channeling Body-Burning Blast, risking everything to take his enemies down with him.

• Phoenix used Mass Resurrection to revive six fallen players, while druids brought back three more.
• Xiao Yu opened the Elemental Gate, but the adventurers banished the summoned creatures with Greater Banishment scrolls.
• Xiao Yu entered the P3 phase and used Meteor Storm, but the party’s high fire resistance limited its damage.
• Xiao Yu asked Long Ao Jiutian to let him escape, but Long Ao Jiutian refused and blocked him.
• As the Balrog Lord’s health fell into the execute phase, Xiao Yu began casting Body-Burning Blast.

After the Flame Lord killed Long Ao Jiutian and Xiao Yu, Xiao Yu learned that resurrecting his character required an expensive story quest. He left without buying the service, while Long Ao Jiutian arrived to ask about resurrecting his own character.

• The Flame Lord self-destructed, killing Long Ao Jiutian and blasting Phoenix away before she could use Divine Intervention.
• Xiao Yu tried to resurrect, then bought access to the storyline resurrection service after learning story-dead characters could return through a quest.
• The service representative explained how game bosses could be resurrected in later stories and warned that the resurrection quest could fail.
• The representative quoted 1,183,417 coupons to resurrect Xiao Yu's three-skull Flame Lord, far beyond his means, so he declined.
• Long Ao Jiutian entered the office and asked how much it would cost to resurrect his character as soon as possible.

After losing his Balrog Lord character, Xiao Yu learned that Qingyang Studio had made him famous by posting an edited video of the raid. He let go of his anger and decided to return to the battlefield.

• Xiao Yu learned that Mephistopheles had fled the Black Dragon Abyss after hearing about the Light of Dawn Guild’s victory.
• Xiao Yu stayed offline for more than half a month, grieving the loss of his level 60 Balrog Lord character.
• Liu Fei told Xiao Yu that Qingyang Studio had posted the Raglios raid video and that it had become a hit.
• Xiao Yu watched the video and saw how its editing portrayed Phoenix as the raid’s star while minimizing Long Ao Jiutian’s death.
• Xiao Yu told Liu Fei he would return to the battlefield, having accepted his character’s defeat and decided to move on.

After his defeat, Xiao Yu reflected on his poor choice of fire-focused dungeon bosses and decided to start a new character with a different template. He chose a wild monster template and began considering which creature to create.

• Xiao Yu concluded that his fire-based subordinates had made his dungeon easy for prepared parties to counter.
• Liu Fei offered to help Xiao Yu level, but Xiao Yu declined and said he wanted to try something new.
• Xiao Yu rejected the adventurer template and decided to use a free template he knew better.
• Xiao Yu entered Sky World’s character creation screen and reviewed the available free templates.
• Xiao Yu chose the wild monster template and surveyed its many creature options.

Xiao Yu entered Sky World as Eric, a level 1 young goblin in the Mud Hole Tribe, and began recruit training by killing frogs. After leveling up to 2, he grew impatient with the slow process and wondered how to make it faster.

• Xiao Yu chose a goblin starting location near the night elf village of Nightwhisper Village and entered the game as Eric.
• Krigen Big Stick welcomed Eric to the Mud Hole Tribe and sent him to Shrek for recruit training before he could fight adventurers.
• Shrek assigned Eric to kill frogs in the tribe’s mud hole and collect their meat for half an hour.
• Eric discovered that each frog took several punches to kill and could fight back, but he gained experience and leveled up to 2 after killing more than a dozen.
• Eric noted how few attributes goblins gained compared with adventurers and heroes, then killed two more frogs while looking for a faster method.

Xiao Yu exploited the goblins’ campfire skill to kill large numbers of frogs, earning enough recognition to unlock the hidden Goblin Diviner advancement. He learned Lesser Fireball and received equipment, then discovered his monster talent reduced the aggro he generated when attacking.

• Xiao Yu learned Campfire from the Goblin Cook by giving him frog meat, then used stolen wood to build fires in the mud pit.
• Xiao Yu lined the narrow passage with campfires, repeatedly burning frogs to death and collecting their meat until he reached level 7.
• Shrek and the Goblin Chief praised Xiao Yu’s frog-killing feat, and the chief offered him a choice of classes, including the hidden Goblin Diviner.
• Xiao Yu chose Goblin Diviner, learned Lesser Fireball, and received a tattered robe and an old staff from Kerrigan Big Stick.
• Xiao Yu checked his stats and discovered that his Cower talent reduced the aggro generated against enemies when he attacked.

Xiao Yu led a goblin patrol through Night Whisper Forest, using the group to hunt monsters and reach level 8. After he spotted signs of adventurers nearby, he led the goblins toward them, while a night elf hunter and mage faced an elite boar and discovered the approaching goblin horde.

• Xiao Yu volunteered to lead a patrol and chose six goblin warriors and four goblin scouts to accompany him.
• Xiao Yu directed his goblins to kill a wild boar, then hunted more forest monsters and reached level 8.
• Xiao Yu found skinned wolf corpses and realized adventurers were nearby, so he led the patrol after them.
• Fish That Doesn't Eat Cats and Water Falls Without a Trace defeated the elite boar Broken Tooth while Moon Trace? Shadow Chaser disappeared to scout.
• Fish That Doesn't Eat Cats switched to Track Humanoids, spotted many red dots nearby, and heard Xiao Yu shout for the goblins to charge.

Xiao Yu’s goblin patrol was defeated by two night elf adventurers and their mercenary protector, though Xiao Yu escaped and reported the encounter to the goblin chief. Moonmark Shadowstalker then led the two elves toward the goblin camp, while Xiao Yu learned Lesser Heal as a reward for his false report.

• Water Falls Without a Trace and Fish That Doesn't Eat Cats killed two goblin warriors before Moonmark Shadowstalker arrived and defeated the remaining goblins.
• Little White died to the goblin scouts’ arrows, and Fish That Doesn't Eat Cats learned that a priest could resurrect him.
• Moonmark Shadowstalker used a Mark of Death to track Xiao Yu toward the goblin camp and offered to help the two elves wipe it out.
• Xiao Yu told Kerrigan Big Stick that adventurers had attacked his patrol and that he was the sole survivor.
• Kerrigan Big Stick praised Xiao Yu and taught him Lesser Heal, a weak spell that restored 15 health over five seconds.

Xiao Yu hid from the attacking adventurers in a mud hole, where he joined two goblin players for a game of Fight the Landlord. Moonmark ? Shadow Stalker wiped out the goblin camp, and Xiao Yu and the other goblins emerged to find their people dead and their camp facing deletion.

• Xiao Yu slipped into the mud hole to hide from the adventurers and found a goblin scout and a goblin warrior playing cards there.
• The three goblins decided to play Fight the Landlord while Moonmark ? Shadow Stalker and her companions slaughtered the camp’s goblins.
• Moonmark ? Shadow Stalker killed the goblin chieftain Kerrigan Big Stick, took his scepter, and tossed it to the mage, who discarded it.
• A system announcement declared the camp leader dead and gave the camp 24 hours to find a new leader before the goblin faction was erased.
• Xiao Yu and the two goblins left the mud hole, discussed joining a tribe in the Western Wilds, and found the camp littered with goblin corpses.

Xiao Yu claimed the Goblin Chieftain's Scepter, became leader of the Mud Hole Tribe, and advanced to a rare elite monster. He entered the camp hall and began explaining how he could develop the goblin camp, leaving the others excited by the possibility of building a powerful army.

• Xiao Yu equipped the Goblin Chieftain's Scepter, accepted the Goblin Chieftain title, and advanced to a rare elite template.
• Xiao Yu promised the goblin scout and goblin warrior minor chief positions if they followed him, while Invincible Hero claimed the Goblin Champion title and blade.
• Xiao Yu entered the camp hall and inspected the Mud Hole Tribe's buildings, resources, and population.
• Xiao Yu explained Lord Mode and the camp's upgrade path to Killer Codename 38 and Invincible Hero, who marveled at the prospect of raising an army.

Xiao Yu expanded the Mud Hole Tribe’s workforce and planned new buildings, while accepting that the camp could not grow beyond level 1 near the beginner village. He left the tribe’s laborers building a temple at a faster pace after recruiting goblin overseers to whip them into action.

• Xiao Yu explained that the Mud Hole Tribe was capped at a level 1 camp because it was near the beginner village, then produced 30 little goblins.
• Xiao Yu recruited goblin trainer Shiduke and ordered him to train every little goblin into a laborer.
• Xiao Yu chose to build a goblin temple, a campfire, and a tower, but prioritized improving his own strength and reaching the elite template.
• Shiduke trained all 30 little goblins into laborers, and Xiao Yu ordered them to begin building the temple.
• After the laborers made little progress, Xiao Yu recruited four goblin overseers, who used their whips to increase the workers’ efficiency.

Xiao Yu sacrificed a goblin laborer at the temple and discovered that the goblins’ supposed god was Kalax, a flame demon lord who had assigned the tribe an unfinished task. Kalax bestowed a Flame Mark on Xiao Yu, who accepted it despite suspecting it might bring trouble.

• Xiao Yu entered the goblin temple and sacrificed a goblin laborer to the red statue.
• The statue caught fire, and Kalax spoke to Xiao Yu, revealing himself as the flame demon lord the goblins worshipped.
• Xiao Yu hid that he recognized Kalax and asked him for spells to protect the tribe.
• Kalax accused the goblins of causing trouble but granted Xiao Yu power to help complete his unfinished task.
• Xiao Yu accepted Kalax’s Flame Mark rather than risk being killed.

Xiao Yu advanced Eric into an elite Goblin Flamecaster after completing the Rite of the Evil God, but Kalax bound his new power to a one-month mission to retrieve the Seed of Elements from Nightwhisper Temple. Eric left determined to pursue the mission and considered conquering a starter village to gain the reputation needed for a boss template.

• Xiao Yu received the Flame Mark, learned three fire skills, and advanced Eric from a rare elite to an elite template after completing the Rite of the Evil God.
• Kalax ordered Eric to retrieve the Seed of Elements from Nightwhisper Temple and warned that the Flame Mark would burn him to ashes if he failed to summon Kalax within a month.
• Xiao Yu accepted the mission, then checked Eric's improved stats and recognized the risk of a permanent plot death.
• Xiao Yu decided to pursue Kalax's task and considered leading a monster army to conquer a starter village for enough reputation to reach a boss template.

Xiao Yu planned to unite nearby monster factions against the newbie village and recruited three Blackrock Orcs to strengthen the Mud Hole Tribe. He then assigned goblins to gather resources and build huts while he prepared to patrol and protect them.

• Xiao Yu identified the gnolls, kobolds, and bandits as potential allies and sent their leaders invitations to meet at an abandoned tower in three days.
• Killer Codename 38 alerted Xiao Yu to three orcs at the camp, and they explained that they were Blackrock Clan orcs separated from their force in the Redridge Mountains.
• Xiao Yu recruited the three level 11 Blackrock Orcs as followers and bodyguards.
• Xiao Yu ordered Invincible Hero to gather wood, Killer Codename 38 to gather food, and the remaining laborers to build more goblin huts.
• Invincible Hero warned that beasts or adventurers could threaten the workers, and Xiao Yu promised to patrol the area with his bodyguards.

Xiao Yu reached level ten while patrolling and hunting beasts with the three Blackrock orc brothers. When a level-eight-or-nine adventurer party attacked the goblin camp, he led his forces to confront them and began fighting Supreme Greatsword.

• Xiao Yu hunted over a hundred beasts with the Blackrock orc brothers and reached level ten.
• Invincible Hero warned Xiao Yu that three adventurers were approaching, then reported that they had killed him and several goblin laborers.
• Xiao Yu led the orc brothers to the logging site and confronted Supreme Greatsword, Vivi Soy Milk, and Purple Toffee as they attacked goblins.
• Xiao Yu ordered the orcs to flank the adventurers and focus on Vivi Soy Milk while he handled the warrior and mage.
• Xiao Yu summoned a fire elemental and struck Supreme Greatsword with Flame Missiles, but the warrior blocked most of the damage and charged him with his sword.