Recaps

After inspecting his fortress beside Pink Lake, Velin visited the Gray Fog Space and learned that sightings of gray creatures were rising, possibly foreshadowing another beast tide. His uncle O'dor appeared and ordered him to meet the next day before taking him away with spatial magic.

• Velin inspected the fortress at Pink Lake, greeted its guards, and toured it with Greg, Doxius, and Midiya.
• Velin entered the Gray Fog Space and watched soldiers kill and process three gray creatures.
• Greg reported that gray-creature sightings had increased over the previous six months and shared recent kill records with Velin.
• O'dor emerged from the gray fog, told Velin to meet him in the meeting room at noon the next day, and transported him away.

O'dor used Tea of True Word to confront Velin about reading My Teacher, then negotiated a price for keeping the book's contents from Velin's aunt. Velin secured a promise of eight large Floating Battleships, and O'dor took him to see his research results.

• O'dor gave Velin Tea of True Word and asked whether he had visited the Kaven Magic Kingdom, read My Teacher, and told Kyle and Lester about it.
• O'dor warned Velin not to tell his aunt, and Velin blurted out that he wanted ten thousand large Floating Battleships.
• After the tea's effect wore off, O'dor calculated that Velin's wealth could cover twenty-five ships and negotiated the request down to eight.
• Velin agreed not to reveal the book's contents to his aunt, and O'dor took him to see his research results.

O'dor showed Velin two experimental products made from gray-creature flesh. The first boosted Battle Qi but was dangerously unpredictable, while the second had just been produced for Velin to test.

• O'dor demonstrated how he used purified crystals to create a small illuminated space within the fortress mist and showed Velin his experiments.
• O'dor made a milky-white liquid from gray-creature flesh and other resources; Velin swallowed some and felt it produce Battle Qi that strengthened his Wood Attribute Battle Qi.
• O'dor warned Velin that the liquid could kill those with an unsuitable physique or soul, and that diluting it had caused every test subject to mutate or become a monster.
• Velin urged O'dor to keep the liquid from leaking, then consumed the remaining amount and judged its energy worth half a day of cultivation.
• O'dor began a second experiment using Low-Gold gray-creature flesh and thirteen resources, producing a purple gelatinous substance for Velin to test.

Velin tested O'dor's Purple Condensation Gel and confirmed it increased magic without damaging the soul, though its effects were unsuitable for large-scale use in Qixing Territory. O'dor then demonstrated a golden cultivation substance that worked for both Battle Professionals and Spellcasters, leaving Theo meditating under its effects.

• Velin swallowed a small piece of purple gel, gained a little magic, and felt none of the negative effects O'dor had described.
• O'dor tested the gel on a Gray Dwarf, whose body swelled as magic leaked out, while Velin repeatedly examined him and found his soul intact.
• Velin concluded that Purple Condensation Gel could be promoted but was of limited use in Qixing Territory, and O'dor burned the Gray Dwarf after the experiments.
• O'dor began demonstrating a third substance for Gold rank cultivation and explained that he had failed to develop one effective for Velin, even with Soul Intent grade Gray creature material.
• O'dor gave the golden substance to Theo, who meditated as it drew in and purified magic, while O'dor explained that it worked for both Battle Professionals and Spellcasters, even in magicless environments.

Velin named the new substance Gold Nether Crystal and discussed O'dor's research into the Seven-Colored Crystal before abandoning plans to reopen Gray Fog Space exploration. He then inspected the Gilos Rock mining outpost and examined its ore.

• Velin named the meditation crystal Gold Nether Crystal and agreed that his aunt would receive a share of profits from external trade.
• O'dor explained that Seven-Colored Crystal was absorbed poorly by Gold- and Silver-grade Professionals and that his experiments to improve its effectiveness had failed.
• Velin and O'dor discussed Gray Fog Space exploration, and Velin agreed to maintain the status quo for now.
• Velin flew to the Gilos Rock mining outpost, where Kahn greeted him and led him through the fortress and underground mine.
• Velin inspected the mine's cavern, defenses, barracks, and ore stores, then crushed a piece of light brown ore using thirty percent of his strength.

Velin inspected the Gilos Crystal mining outpost, praised its officer for managing the Goblin miners, and encouraged him with a gift. After checking several more outposts, Velin returned to the fortress and began a meeting with Greg, Doxius, and Midiya, saying he had two matters to discuss.

• An officer explained that Gilos Crystal was named after Gilos, who discovered it, and said the mine produced about two tons each month.
• Velin watched Goblin slaves mine Gilos Crystal and learned that they earned rest days and could qualify for promotion by meeting mining targets.
• Velin praised the officer’s management, encouraged him to become a general, and gave him two bottles of Glowing Wine.
• The officer ordered the slave miners to rest for two days and arranged a gathering to share the wine with the soldiers.
• Velin inspected several other outposts, then returned to the fortress and joined Greg, Doxius, and Midiya for a meeting.
• Velin told Greg, Doxius, and Midiya that he had two matters to discuss.

Velin praised the Fourth, Fifth, and Ninth Battalions for their work and announced that the Fourth and Fifth would receive exclusive camp titles in seven days. After a candid conversation with Midiya and an awkward night in the Demiplane with Xing, Velin prepared to grant the titles before assembled troops.

• Velin praised the defenses and resource management, recorded merit for more than ten thousand soldiers, and announced exclusive titles for the Fourth and Fifth Battalions.
• Velin spoke privately with Midiya over wine and learned about his rise from serfdom through hard work and perseverance.
• Velin entered the Demiplane and fell asleep on Xing, who licked wine-scented saliva onto him while dreaming of a sea of wine.
• Velin woke, threw Xing into the distance, and left the Demiplane.
• More than four thousand warriors from the Fourth and Fifth Battalions assembled by Pink Lake as Velin climbed onto a platform to grant their titles.

Velin renamed the Fourth and Fifth Battalions West Wind Camp and Star Moon Camp, then returned to Star Moon Fort after mentoring Gugode. As Velin began reviewing a backlog of documents, his aunt Flora requested an audience, and he suspected she wanted to question him about her husband’s secrets.

• Greg and Doxius reported the depleted numbers of the Fourth and Fifth Battalions to Velin.
• Velin renamed the Fourth Battalion West Wind Camp and presented its banner to Greg.
• Velin renamed the Fifth Battalion Star Moon Camp and presented its banner to Doxius.
• Velin encouraged Gugode and outlined plans to appoint him as a deputy general before making him acting commander of the Eleventh Battalion.
• Velin returned to Star Moon Fort, reviewed a document containing Belder’s tempting expansion proposal, and set it aside for later.
• Hilda told Velin that Flora had requested an audience, and Velin suspected she had come to probe him about her husband.

Velin concealed what he had learned about O'dor's past when Flora questioned him, while Flora remained suspicious and planned to confront her husband. Kyle returned to Qixing Territory with Lan, and Velin discussed their relationship before briefing him on the large Floating Battleships.

• Flora asked Velin whether he had found anything at O'dor's hometown, and Velin described Marguerite Manor while hiding what else he knew.
• Velin swore he was telling the truth, then planned to have Xuemiyya reassure Flora after she left.
• Flora suspected Velin was concealing information and decided to threaten O'dor into revealing the hidden past.
• O'dor worried that Flora would grow suspicious, then resumed experimenting with spells.
• Kyle returned to Qixing Territory with Lan, and Lan went to attend to her duties.
• Velin asked Kyle about his plans with Lan, then told him not to reveal the secret and briefed him on the large Floating Battleship construction arrangements.

Velin received a secret letter from Miyali Ex revealing that failed negotiations over newly discovered Magic Crystal Mines had brought three kingdoms to the brink of war. He told Kyle the details and weighed his reluctance to fight against his duty to obey the king’s coming conscription order.

• Velin and Kyle discussed secretly gathering materials to build large Floating Battleships before a messenger from Blood Moon Territory arrived.
• Messenger Badersk Daleil delivered Miyali Ex’s letter, which described failed talks over thirty-eight million High-Grade Magic Crystals and the Isle Half-elf Kingdom and Kingdom of Kuber preparing for war.
• Velin read the letter, destroyed it, and sent Badersk Daleil away to rest before returning to the study with Kyle.
• Velin told Kyle the letter’s contents, and Kyle reasoned that a war driven by profit would eventually return to negotiations.
• Velin said he did not want to join the conflict for little reward, but acknowledged that as a count he could not openly refuse the king’s conscription order.

Velin planned to send Cassius and ten thousand Qixing Legion soldiers to Blood Moon Territory for the coming war, while putting off his other duties to rest. Lester said goodbye to Velin and Kyle, then departed with Milna for the Holy Third Dawn Kingdom after a final chess match with Kyle ended in a draw.

• Velin told Kyle he would appoint Cassius commander of ten thousand Qixing Legion soldiers sent to Blood Moon Territory, and Kyle absorbed Velin's memories about Purple Condensation Gel and Gold Nether Crystal.
• Velin listed his many pending duties, then decided to spend a few days resting and read an adventure story instead of working.
• Kyle encountered Lester, agreed to meet him outside the castle, and Lester later said goodbye to Velin, who gave him a case of Glowing Wine.
• Lester met Kyle outside the castle, and they played a silent chess game that lasted more than three hours and ended in a draw.
• Lester embraced Kyle, then returned to the castle, collected Milna, and left for the Teleportation Array to return to the Holy Third Dawn Kingdom.

Velin traveled with a formal honor guard to visit Tadius and was welcomed into a newly built, magically fortified city by Rolop Ikterra. As they approached Tadius’s Mage Tower, Velin suspected the city was meant to help finance the construction of a Floating City.

• Velin rode Little Red toward the city with his guards and more than three hundred Star Moon Fort soldiers, while noticing that the border outposts had long been abandoned.
• Rolop Ikterra summoned Conrad to welcome an honored guest, and Conrad realized the guest was Qixing Count Velin.
• Rolop met Velin and explained that eleven thousand two hundred and thirty-seven Magic Puppets had built the city in eight months and thirteen days, after three years and eight months of preliminary preparations.
• Velin entered the city and noticed magical patterns in its streets and walls, suspecting that Tadius might be building a Floating City and raising funds through the city’s shops.
• Velin reached the Mage Tower, where two Soul Intent Low-Tier Elemental Construct Knights guarded the entrance.

Velin visited Tadius in the Mage Tower, where Tadius explained that he had built the city to repay a favor and promised to give it to Velin after thirty years, along with one request. After Tadius and Kyle played chess for ten hours, he invited Velin, Xuemiyya, and Kyle to stay overnight in the tower.

• Velin followed Rolop to the seventh floor of the Mage Tower and met the youthful-looking Tadius.
• Tadius served Velin, Xuemiyya, and Kyle tea and said he had built the city to repay a favor connected to Velin's grandfather.
• Tadius promised that Velin would receive the city after its thirty-year term and could ask him for one favor.
• Tadius and Kyle played chess while Xuemiyya watched and Velin read adventure stories.
• Tadius invited the visitors to stay overnight and sent them to guest rooms on the sixth floor, where Xuemiyya read and Velin resumed his storybook.

Velin and Xuemiyya entered a tavern that transported them to the Realm Above the Clouds, where Wind Fairy Tayana welcomed them and guided their group toward the King's palace. They reached the enormous Tokakolien Tree that housed the King's residence.

• Velin and Xuemiyya left the Mage Tower to explore the city and entered a tavern after Velin felt drawn to it.
• A flash of light transported Velin and Xuemiyya to the Realm Above the Clouds, while Tadius watched Kyle disappear from the Mage Tower.
• Wind Fairy Tayana introduced herself and said she would escort Velin, Xuemiyya, and Kyle to the Palace Above the Clouds.
• Tayana received the King's permission for Velin to bring Mina and Cecilia, and Velin summoned them from the Demiplane.
• Velin, Xuemiyya, Kyle, Mina, and Cecilia followed Tayana along a pink cloud road toward the enormous Tokakolien Tree where the King lived.

Velin and his companions traveled through a bustling Wind Fairy district, where he traded Lester’s tragic story for three Seeds and received gifts from hundreds of fairies. They reached the palace and were welcomed by the youthful-looking King of Wind Fairies.

• Velin, Xuemiyya, and their companions followed Tayana through the roots of the Tokakolien Tree and entered a district filled with Wind Fairies who traded according to personal preference.
• At Mina’s request, Velin asked a blue-haired Wind Fairy for three Seeds and offered to tell a story in exchange.
• Velin recounted Lester and Lucia’s tragic story, moving the blue-haired Wind Fairy and hundreds of listeners to tears.
• Velin confirmed that Lester had been real, and the blue-haired Wind Fairy gave him all three Seeds while the other Wind Fairies offered him gifts.
• Tayana guided Velin, Xuemiyya, Kyle, Mina, and Cecilia to the palace, where they greeted the King of Wind Fairies and saw that he looked like a young man.

Velin and the others questioned the Wind Fairy King about his sister, the void, and the meaning of becoming the Lord of the World. He showed them a Star Chart and began explaining the worlds surrounding the World Mother.

• The Wind Fairy King welcomed Velin, Xuemiyya, Kyle, Mina, and Cecilia, then told Velin that his elder sister had left about seven thousand years earlier after sensing a summons from the Astral Realm.
• The Wind Fairy King explained that his sister was three thousand Starlight Years away, defining the unit as the distance light traveled in one thousand years.
• The Wind Fairy King told Xuemiyya that he had last visited the real world more than three thousand years earlier, when the World Mother sent him to the Kingdom of Karikst in the Faya Gern Subcontinent.
• The Wind Fairy King told Kyle that he sought to protect the Realm Above the Clouds, while his sister sought to become the Lord of the World.
• The Wind Fairy King displayed a Star Chart and explained that it showed 11,728 worlds of the Third Energy Level or above, including five Eighth Energy Level worlds belonging to the Five Ancient Gods.

The King of Wind Fairies explained how World Clusters formed and revealed that Gakajirobu World had separated from the World Mother three hundred thousand years ago. He offered a Semi-Epic Mind Protection Ring for identifying Gakajirobu World's former place within Ilaria World, but Velin and Kyle guessed incorrectly, and the King began explaining Extension Space.

• The King of Wind Fairies showed the group thirteen World Clusters and explained that Gakajirobu World had split from the World Mother three hundred thousand years earlier.
• The King of Wind Fairies offered a Semi-Epic Mind Protection Ring to whoever could identify which part of Ilaria World Gakajirobu World had belonged to.
• Velin guessed that Gakajirobu World had been a spatial world on the same level as Ilaria World's six major spaces, but the King rejected his answer.
• Kyle guessed that Gakajirobu World had once been Ilaria World's Extension Space, but the King also said that was incorrect.
• Velin asked what an Extension Space was, and the King of Wind Fairies agreed to explain it.

The King of Wind Fairies explained how the Ilaria World’s six great spaces had formed, and Xuemiyya correctly identified the Gakajirobu World’s predecessor as an interlayer space. He rewarded her, warned the group against violating an Ancient God’s taboo, and then turned to the Flower of Uranus.

• The King of Wind Fairies recounted the history of Extension Space and the formation and names of the Ilaria World’s six great spaces.
• Xuemiyya guessed that the Gakajirobu World had originated as an interlayer space, and the King of Wind Fairies confirmed her answer and gave her a Semi-Epic Mind Protection Ring.
• The King of Wind Fairies advised Velin, Xuemiyya, and Kyle not to use an interlayer space to create a new space, warning that doing so would violate an Ancient God’s taboo.
• Velin took out the Flower of Uranus, and the King of Wind Fairies drew it toward himself as everyone watched.

The King of Wind Fairies rewarded Velin for retrieving the Flower of Uranus by letting him choose coordinates to a habitable Interlayer Space. After Velin selected the middle sphere and learned about the dangerous Caloragas Interlayer Space, the King offered Kyle a place in an upcoming trial.

• The King of Wind Fairies used the Flower of Uranus and Golden Blood to create a golden petal sphere, then stored it in his wooden box.
• The King of Wind Fairies offered Velin a choice among seven habitable Interlayer Space coordinates, and Velin chose the middle sphere after asking Kyle's advice.
• The sphere revealed that the Caloragas Interlayer Space had scattered floating islands, chaotic time, dense magical energy, dangerous beasts, and Garrota inhabitants with methods that could threaten Legendary beings.
• The King of Wind Fairies offered Velin's group a trial tied to his wager with Doyle Eliot, explaining that Kyle was his chosen candidate for the final place.
• Velin deferred to Kyle to decide whether he would take part in the trial.

Velin and his companions visited the Rulayoka Tree, where Tayana showed them the Seven-Colored River and explained that it could yield objects from other times and worlds. Velin, Xuemiyya, and Kyle began fishing as they waited for the spirit of Rulayoka to guide them through the Wind of Nature.

• The King of Wind Fairies gave Velin, Xuemiyya, and Kyle beacons for a trial in the Puta Luoyu Realm and gave Cecilia a fruit before sending Tayana to guide the group to the Rulayoka Tree.
• Velin and his companions traveled with Tayana to the Rulayoka Tree, where a gateway opened into a realm of Floating Islands and a seven-colored river.
• Tayana explained that the river was a tributary of the Yaliwalakakulis River and that fishing there with a Harpas Fishing Rod could bring up things from other times and worlds.
• Tayana gave fishing rods to Velin, Xuemiyya, and Kyle, and the three began fishing while Mina and Cecilia watched from Velin’s shoulders.

Velin caught a Black Spear from the Age of Behemoths, then joined Xuemiyya and Kyle in comprehending the Wind of Nature. After they returned from the Floating Islands, a passage to the real world appeared above a pink cloud.

• Velin fished up a Black Spear that Tayana identified as an artifact from the Age of Behemoths, and he stored it away.
• Tayana led Velin, Xuemiyya, and Kyle to the Rulayoka Tree as the Wind of Nature arrived and began their comprehension.
• Velin brought out Anansi's Sword, causing the Wind of Nature to gather into an Eye of the Wind, and Tayana reported the sight to the King of Wind Fairies.
• Velin, Xuemiyya, and Kyle awakened from their comprehension in turn, while the Life Knight returned to Velin's body with new combat methods.
• Tayana closed the passage as the Wind of Nature faded, and Velin returned to the roots before a passage to the real world appeared above a pink cloud.

Velin and his companions returned from the Realm Above the Clouds, where they had spent a month, and examined the rewards from their journey. Mina identified one of the Seeds as a rare benevolent Dream Tree, but she grew anxious when Velin and Xuemiyya pretended they would not plant it.

• Velin, Kyle, and Xuemiyya returned to the real world after bidding farewell to the Wind Fairy Tayana, and they learned that a month had passed.
• Tadius teleported Velin and the others to the Mage Tower, asked about the Rulajoka Tree and Seven-Colored Liquid, and resumed his chess game with Kyle.
• Velin and Xuemiyya went to Cecilia's Demiplane to review their gains, including habitable Interlayer Space coordinates, a Demigod Grade Mind Protection Ring, and a Black Spear.
• Velin summoned Mina, who identified one of the three Seeds as a Sathadlos Tree, a rare benevolent Dream Tree that purified minds by feeding on Mind Pollution and Mottled Consciousness.
• When Velin and Xuemiyya pretended they would abandon planting the Sathadlos Tree, Mina flew around anxiously, struggling to reveal its secret.

Mina revealed that Sathadlos Trees could create a second body and admitted she wanted one for Philo, whom she loved. Velin agreed to keep her secret in exchange for her help cultivating three Sathadlos Seeds, and Mina left with them.

• Velin prepared to count the light orbs, and Mina offered to reveal why she wanted help planting a Sathadlos Tree.
• Mina explained that a mature Sathadlos Tree could form an Innocent Body for the person who absorbed the most Mind Pollution, letting their consciousness survive if their original body was destroyed.
• Mina admitted she was secretly growing the body for Philo and asked Velin and Xuemiyya not to tell him.
• Velin teased Mina into agreeing to help him with one task, and Xuemiyya comforted Mina when she became upset.
• Velin asked Mina to cultivate three Sathadlos Seeds, and Mina blushed and flew away with them.

Velin and Xuemiyya brought three unidentifiable objects to the Mage Tower, where Tadius began opening a dodecahedral cube from a Planet World. By morning, Tadius was working on the spatial lock inside it while Kyle and Xuemiyya watched and Velin slept.

• Velin and Xuemiyya sorted the recovered items, and Xuemiyya chose to leave the three strange objects for Tadius or Velin's uncle to examine.
• Xuemiyya rested against Velin and fell asleep in the Demiplane before they left in the evening.
• Velin, Xuemiyya, Tadius, and Kyle gathered in the Mage Tower reception room after Tadius and Kyle finished their chess game.
• Tadius recognized the dodecahedral cube as similar to an octahedral one he had examined and dismantled its casing, neutralizing its self-destruction mechanism.
• Tadius studied his earlier experimental notes and worked through the night to solve the spatial lock while Kyle and Xuemiyya watched and Velin slept.

Tadius and the others opened the sealed ball of light and discovered a vast, abandoned Metal City inside. They found its electronic stream in the control core, where it formed a blue phantom and confirmed it had met people from other planar worlds.

• Tadius unraveled the ball of light, and Kyle opened the Messier Demiplane so they could release what was inside.
• A sixty-thousand-meter-wide Metal City emerged from the Flowing Light Passage, and its defenses attacked Velin's group when they landed.
• Tadius sensed a hidden presence and led the group to the third level, where Velin and Kyle broke through obstacles and burned open a heavy metal door.
• The group found the city's crystal control core, and Tadius threatened the hidden electronic stream until it appeared as a blue phantom.
• The blue phantom greeted the wizards and told Tadius that it had encountered people from other planar worlds before.