Chapter Summaries

Xia Fan and Taxisis searched the Dragon-Climbing Tower for an exit as Taxisis’s poison worsened and the lamps went out. Silver lights revealed a corridor and a doorway into a starry desert, leaving them outside the tower’s familiar stone hall.

• Xia Fan noticed that Taxisis’s poison had spread, but she insisted on helping search the tower and examine the assassins.
• Xia Fan searched the plain stone walls and found no way out, while the lamps and campfire continued to fade.
• Taxisis found strange glowing tattoos on the assassins, and Xia Fan identified them as Chaos Art linked to soul-based sorcery.
• When the hall went dark, silver lights appeared on the floor and revealed a corridor and an open door.
• Xia Fan carried Taxisis through the doorway into a desert beneath a star-filled night sky, then saw a small stone hut behind them.

Xia Fan and Taxisis headed toward the Dragon-Climbing Tower after Xia Fan deduced how its trial worked, while Hila City descended into chaos as Hera attacked a tower in the western outskirts. The chapter left Xia Fan and Taxisis racing toward the tower amid a widening catastrophe.

• Xia Fan told Taxisis that entering the stone hall had started her trial and that reaching the tower’s summit might reveal the road’s end.
• Taxisis agreed to go with Xia Fan toward the tower, but a violent quake and a crack in the sky interrupted them.
• Wu Yue met Olina and led the envoy delegation, including Oren, toward the Baisha Ship while Olina watched over them from the air.
• Hera’s shadow spread across Hila City as Evil Spirits hunted civilians and believers fled toward uncovered areas.
• Hera formed a black sphere and fired a dark violet beam at the stone tower in the western outskirts, blasting the surrounding woods and slopes into ash.

Maine watched The Deity’s attack expose the High Tower and learned that the Mage Tower had engineered the conflict to destroy the Dragon-Climbing Tower. As The Deity’s Chaos spread, Olina fought a demonized Dragonborn and escaped with the envoy delegation after Saidaro intervened.

• Maine and the Man in the Mirror discussed The Deity’s power and revealed the Mage Tower’s long-planned scheme to destroy the Dragon-Climbing Tower and undermine the Dragonborn Dynasty.
• Olina worried about Xia Fan and Taxisis in the tower as The Deity attacked it, then was ambushed by a demonized Dragonborn from the Inquisition.
• Olina burned the attacker’s head with Dragon Breath Art, but its tentacles kept her trapped and its body opened into a huge mouth.
• Saidaro tore the Lesser Evil Spirit apart, burned its remains, and told Olina to evacuate the envoy delegation and help the capital’s residents flee.
• Olina led the envoy delegation toward the Inland River Wharf while Saidaro returned to fight the other Lesser Evil Spirits.

Feleton, Li, and Qian Yan opened the seal to Princess Twilight’s prison, but she refused to leave. She revealed that she had willingly accepted imprisonment to prevent a war over Natating’s throne.

• Feleton, Li, and Qian Yan reached Princess Twilight’s neglected bedchamber, and Qian Yan reversed its seal.
• Princess Twilight spoke through the food slot and warned them that leaving would violate her agreement.
• Qian Yan lifted the restriction, and Feleton entered the hall and recognized Princess Twilight.
• Feleton urged Princess Twilight to leave, but she said she had willingly been imprisoned.
• Princess Twilight explained that she had chosen to disappear from public view so Talius could become king without plunging Natating into a succession war.

After Princess Twilight revealed the terms of her imprisonment, Li and the others learned that fourteen years had passed and that she could leave Hila. But with the Divine Advent Ceremony plunging Hila City into unnatural darkness and Evil Spirits overrunning the palace, Li carried the group toward the city wall.

• Princess Twilight said she had agreed to remain in Hila for ten years, and Feleton told her that fourteen years had passed since she disappeared.
• Feleton said Talius had replaced Princess Twilight’s trusted aides and kept her in Hila as a political safeguard, while Princess Twilight accepted that she could leave.
• Princess Twilight warned Li about a lingering soul in the old royal palace, and the group hurried out of the bedchamber.
• An explosion sounded as the sky turned dark crimson; Feleton found no response from the Statue Ghosts, and Qian Yan concluded that Evil Spirits had killed everyone in the palace grounds.
• Li rejected Princess Twilight’s plan to wait until morning, transformed into a Giant Fox, and carried the group along an ice path Qian Yan created toward the city wall.
• When Lesser Evil Spirits attacked, Li struck them with a net of lightning and leaped over the palace wall with the others.

Xia Fan and Taxisis climbed the tower as a massive attack shattered the barrier protecting it and caused the structure to collapse. At the silver-lit obelisk, Xia Fan connected with the tower’s information and began to understand how qi and genetic changes related to Yao.

• Xia Fan carried the weakening Taxisis up the tower and reassured her that she had completed the Dragon-Climbing trial.
• A purple pillar of light struck the world’s barrier, revealing that someone was attacking the Dragon-Climbing Tower.
• The barrier shattered, and Xia Fan and Taxisis slid across the collapsing tower toward its exposed summit.
• Taxisis anchored them with her transformed claws, and Xia Fan leaped to the obelisk and seized it.
• Silver light flooded Xia Fan’s mind, where he understood the tower’s vast information about his body, genetics, and the origins of Yao.

Olina flew toward Dragon-Climbing Tower to help Xia Fan, but Chaos destroyed the tower before she could reach it. As Xia Fan and the injured Taxisis fell, Xia Fan opened a pair of enormous skeletal dragon wings and began flying toward Olina.

• Wu Yue urged Olina to leave the diplomatic corps and support Lord Xia while Oren stayed with the group.
• Olina flew toward Dragon-Climbing Tower, resolved to protect her new home despite the danger of The Deity's attack.
• Chaos's fifth strike destroyed the tower and its barrier as Olina raced toward the falling rubble.
• Olina spotted Xia Fan falling with the badly injured Taxisis and realized she could not reach them in time.
• Xia Fan unfolded enormous skeletal wings, halted his fall, and flew toward Olina.

Xia Fan and Olina escaped the Dragon-Climbing Tower’s catastrophic explosion, and Xia Fan brought the unconscious Taxisis to safety aboard the Baisha Ship. Alek revealed that the Divine Advent Ceremony had been sabotaged, while Taxisis’s magic-sealing collar was removed, leaving the Church’s upheaval unresolved.

• Xia Fan warned Olina that the Dragon-Climbing Tower was about to explode, and they fled as the blast hurled them through the air.
• Xia Fan and Olina landed safely on the Baisha Ship with the unconscious Taxisis, and an Elf physician treated her.
• Xia Fan learned that Li and Qian Yan had returned safely with the Bloodkin princess.
• Alek arrived injured and told Xia Fan that someone had tampered with the Maze Lock spell for the Divine Advent Ceremony.
• Xia Fan identified Maine as the culprit based on Taxisis’s discovery, and Alek said Maine and Archbishop Bolton were missing.
• Alek broke Taxisis’s magic-sealing collar, allowing her magic power to flow again.

Xia Fan reassured Alek that Taxisis would recover and revealed his ability to grow dragon wings, leaving Alek to wonder whether he had inherited the Progenitor Dragon God's legacy. Alek then described how Pella IV became a Lesser Evil Spirit at the Grand Cathedral, where the Inquisition fought it while evacuating the Ecclesiastical District.

• Alek examined Taxisis and said she would recover, allowing her to remain aboard Xia Fan's ship.
• Xia Fan showed Alek his wings and explained that he could perform unusual transformations, though he did not know why the Dragon-Climbing Tower had given him its vast genetic knowledge.
• Alek told Xia Fan that Dragonborn could understand dragon language and wondered whether Xia Fan had inherited the Progenitor Dragon God's legacy, but Xia Fan denied knowing anything about the Dragon God.
• After confirming Taxisis had survived, Alek grew so exhausted that Xia Fan caught him and urged him to rest.
• Alek called the events at the Grand Cathedral a nightmare and said Pella IV had become a Lesser Evil Spirit while the Inquisition evacuated believers from the Ecclesiastical District.
• The Inquisition charged the Lesser Evil Spirit, but it killed more than a dozen Dragonborn with a single sweep of its hand.

Xia Fan proposed that the Sun God Hera may have been created by believers’ collective consciousness as the Church planned its retreat and prepared for a likely war with the Mage Tower. As refugees fled Hila beneath Hera’s spreading death cloak, Qian Yan warned Xia Fan that the corrupted region would not disappear without intervention.

• Xia Fan suggested to Alek that shared belief may have summoned Hera, much as consciousness could create Lesser Evil Spirits.
• Alek said the Church would evacuate Hila’s refugees, monitor the city, and brace for the Mage Tower’s attacks rather than risk its remaining forces in battle.
• Alek flew away from the Baisha Ship as evening fell over the river and the black-and-red death cloak covered Hila.
• Xia Fan watched the refugees flee and saw that Dragonborn who had once guarded Hera now fought against the living.
• Qian Yan told Xia Fan that similar Evil Spirit regions had appeared after the Yong Dynasty fell and would persist unless someone intervened.

Xia Fan asked Princess Twilight, Hualin Stitch, to travel east and treat Ning Wanjun’s Evil Spirit corruption, and she agreed. Hualin also revealed that a travelogue she found might connect the Eastern Continent to an Elf who had once visited the West, though she could barely remember the author’s name.

• Xia Fan reflected on the danger that another great war among Qi Sense Users could unleash powerful Evil Spirits and devastate humanity.
• Xia Fan met Hualin, who thanked him for freeing her from prison and explained that she could remove Lesser Evil Spirit corruption if the soul rejected it.
• Xia Fan asked Hualin to travel east to treat Ning Wanjun, and Hualin agreed despite Feleton’s concerns about the journey.
• Hualin said she also wanted to go east because a travelogue from Matriarch Stitch’s tomb described a journey to the continent across the Endless Sea.
• Xia Fan connected the travelogue to Aili’s account of an Elf who had visited the West, and Hualin recalled the author’s name as something like Sunlight Polo.

Hualin decided to travel east with Feleton to investigate the missing Matriarch, while Xia Fan recounted his experience in Dragon-Climbing Tower to Qian Yan and Li. As the Baisha Ship evacuated refugees, Xia Fan became the subject of growing rumors, and unrest spread through the northern territories.

• Hualin linked Qian Yan’s bloodline to the missing Matriarch and persuaded Feleton to prepare to accompany her east.
• Xia Fan welcomed Hualin and Feleton’s planned journey on Princess Guangping’s behalf, then discussed Qian Yan’s bloodline with her.
• Qian Yan and Li pressed Xia Fan to explain what had happened in Dragon-Climbing Tower, and Li tried to make him grow ears and a tail.
• The Baisha Ship continued evacuating people, while refugees began saluting Xia Fan and whispering that he was the Progenitor Dragon Deity.
• The Church worked to calm the population as the Holy Wing Islands’ fleet gathered near Azure Fort, and Count Cleveland took in refugees.
• Alek reported unrest in two northern territories, where merchants and Star Tower Society organizations demanded The Church’s removal and investigations of Dragonborn.

Xia Fan prepared to return to Qi State while Taxisis recovered and confessed her feelings for him. She revealed that The Church had chosen her to lead it after The Deity's fall, leaving her to shoulder the struggle to preserve the faith.

• Xia Fan reasoned that the Mage Tower would divide the nobles and isolate The Church rather than incite uprisings everywhere.
• After five days, Taxisis recovered enough to walk, but she refused to leave the islands because The Church needed her.
• Xia Fan told Taxisis that the Baisha Ship would sail for Qi State, and she apologized for failing to fulfill her promise to him.
• Taxisis kissed Xia Fan and told him she hoped he would remember her if The Church lost its coming struggles.
• Taxisis revealed that the other red-robed Priests had nominated her as The Church's new leader, though not as Pope.

Xia Fan advised Taxisis to transform the Hera Church into a political party that could win public support and survive without The Deity. After Taxisis and Momola began discussing an alliance, Xia Fan and the delegation departed Azure Fort, leaving the kingdom to shape its own future.

• Xia Fan explained to Taxisis how the Church could adopt a political platform focused on improving ordinary people's lives and compete with the Mage Tower for support.
• Taxisis worried that the Mage Tower might use the same approach, and Xia Fan argued that its ties to wealthy interests would make it harder to change.
• Xia Fan offered to introduce Taxisis to Momola, founder of the Relief Association, as a natural ally.
• Xia Fan brought Momola aboard the Baisha Ship and left her to speak privately with Taxisis.
• At the banquet, Muli thanked Xia Fan, having cut her hair and joined Momola to carry on Jijiao's final wish.
• The next morning, the Baisha Ship left Azure Fort as residents and workers bade farewell to the delegation.

The Seven-Star Envoys learned that the Gate of Heavenly Dao would reappear within half a year, but its location lay in the deadly Desolate Deadland beyond the Black Barrier Zone. They considered using Yamato’s Moonshadow Temple to reach it, though its trials required sacrifices and could kill most who entered.

• The liaison reported that divinations placed the Gate of Heavenly Dao’s return within six months, and Gao Sheng stressed that the Seven Stars had to seize control of it.
• The Seven-Star Envoys examined an ink-blackened painting and learned that it depicted the Desolate Deadland, a hidden, freezing realm reached through the end of the sea.
• The Tianxuan Envoy and the Kaiyang Envoy identified the end of the sea with the Western Pole’s Black Barrier Zone, which Gao Sheng judged too dangerous to cross.
• The Tianquan Envoy proposed using Yamato’s Moonshadow Temple to reach the Desolate Deadland and obtain control of both the Gate and the immortal artifact Heavenly Court.
• Feng Lingzi warned that fewer than one in ten people survived the temple’s trials intact and that each opening required a sacrifice the Seven Stars could not justify.

The Seven Stars Bureau of Military Affairs debated the risks of pursuing the Gate of Heavenly Dao and agreed to target Moonshadow Temple and secure coastal routes into Qi State. They also investigated the Black Gate Cult’s suspected infiltration and ordered covert surveillance as they prepared for the Gate’s emergence.

• The Tianquan Envoy argued that sorcerers would not be sacrificed to activate the immortal artifact, while the Seven-Star Envoys weighed the dangers of pursuing the Gate of Heavenly Dao.
• Gao Sheng proposed seizing Moonshadow Temple and securing ports and coastal cities, and the other envoys agreed.
• The liaison reported that Fei Nian had been controlled by an Evil Spirit and that refugees linked to the Black Gate Cult had appeared near the Gao-Qi border.
• The envoys feared the Black Gate Cult had developed a way to conceal Evil Spirit corruption and might have infiltrated their own organization.
• Gao Sheng ordered the envoys to keep the matter secret, monitor other sorcerers, and pursue the Gate of Heavenly Dao while his agents gathered intelligence inside Jinxia City.

Qiao Zhenggang led Xu State soldiers disguised as defeated Yazhou troops in a massacre and looting of Pear Blossom Town, then rode to Yazhou Port after hearing of a suspected enemy approach. From the watchtower, he spotted a grayish-green shape on the southern horizon.

• Qiao Zhenggang and his disguised soldiers charged into Pear Blossom Town and slaughtered its militia and residents.
• Qiao Zhenggang admitted that he raided towns to reward his men and indulge his desire to kill, while blaming the devastation on the defeated Yazhou army.
• A messenger reported that enemy forces might be approaching Yazhou Port, and Qiao Zhenggang ordered his adjutant to return the troops to camp before riding to the port himself.
• Qiao Zhenggang used an Observation Mirror from the watchtower and spotted a grayish-green shape on the sea.

Qiao Zhenggang prepared Seven Stars’ coastal defenses to meet the approaching Noah Tree Boat, while the Jinxia force identified the enemy’s ambush preparations. The chapter ended as Sainiya ordered the rain covers removed from the cannons, preparing to test the new weapons.

• Qiao Zhenggang learned that the approaching Tree Boat likely carried troops and weapons, then ordered his generals to prepare for battle at the coastal camp.
• Sainiya, Yan Qing, Kong Xuanzi, and Qian observed the shore through Observation Mirrors and saw Seven Stars troops withdrawing from the docks as ships sailed north.
• Kong Xuanzi and Yan Qing spotted enormous Mechanical Beasts hidden among the trees, while Qian judged that their iron heads might withstand Xuanwu’s cannon fire.
• Sainiya spotted assault boats loaded with jars and bottles, and Yan Qing realized Seven Stars planned to attack the Tree Boat with fire during its crossing.
• Yan Qing yielded the next move to Sainiya, who ordered Aili and the others to uncover the cannons.

The High Priestess tested Noah Tree Boat’s oversized electromagnetic cannon against Seven Stars’ landing force, revealing its ability to strike targets more than twenty li away. The bombardment devastated the beachhead and killed Qiao Zhenggang, while the landing force’s fate remained uncertain.

• The High Priestess and the Tree Boat crew prepared the electromagnetic cannon and corrected its firing parameters.
• Qiao Zhenggang and Commander Xu mistook the Tree Boat’s halt for a sign that Jinxia was waiting to land by smaller boats.
• The first cannon shot exploded near the northern beachhead, and the second destroyed a Mechanical Beast and ignited the supplies around it.
• Qiao Zhenggang recognized the attack and ordered Commander Xu to send assault squads to protect the Cloud Dragon Mechanical Beasts.
• Multiple cannons fired again, and a projectile struck the observation tower, shattering Qiao Zhenggang’s lower body.

Sainiya watched the Noah Tree Boat repel a Seven Stars fleet attempting to attack it, reflecting on how Jinxia’s openness and technology had changed the Elves. Noah then sailed north to blockade Seven Stars’ maritime routes and buy Jinxia time to defend Qi State.

• Sainiya watched the Noah Tree Boat’s electromagnetic cannons devastate Seven Stars troops and considered how Jinxia’s influence had changed the Elves.
• A Seven Stars fleet of shuttle ships and assault boats approached Noah, but a slender figure created a windless barrier that halted the ships.
• The stalled vessels collided, and fires and explosions destroyed the fleet, while survivors were scattered across the sea.
• The Seven Stars troops on shore lost morale and fled, abandoning the camp near the port.
• Noah destroyed the Mechanical Beasts, then sailed north to patrol Yazhou’s eastern waters and intercept Xu State vessels.