Recaps

Duens Violetta offered Velin a mysterious naturally formed teleportation channel in exchange for sparing the Violetta Family, and Velin accepted with the condition that the family execute any members whose alignment turned evil. Velin and Kyle then began purging the Famine Cult from Violetta territory, while Kyle anticipated that Velin would investigate the passage and perhaps establish an outer-sea territory.

• Velin stopped Kyle from capturing Duens, who landed on the Sandora floating battleship and addressed Velin as the Qixing Count.
• Duens revealed that he had only three days to live and offered a secret in exchange for Velin's forgiveness of the Violetta Family.
• Duens disclosed a naturally formed teleportation channel on an island off Isia's eastern coast, leading to an unknown world filled with unusually powerful but weak-minded beasts.
• Velin accepted Duens's offer and required him to assess his family members' alignments and execute anyone who became evil-aligned.
• Duens returned to gather his family, while Velin and Kyle set out to clear Famine Cult strongholds from Violetta territory.
• The Sandora floating battleship destroyed multiple Famine Cult strongholds, killing thousands of its members.

The Violetta Family gathered to judge its members after someone colluded with the Famine Cult, with Qixing Count invited to witness. The Alignment Check began with Count Violetta, leaving the family’s judgment underway.

• Count Violetta summoned the Violetta Family to the castle square, where the clan sang its ancestral hymn before the assembly.
• Velin, Kyle, and Ignis descended from the Floating Ship and watched the gathering from the battlements.
• The white-haired elder announced that the family would purge its members who had fallen into the Famine Cult through a self-administered judgment.
• The white-haired elder activated a Magic Array and called Rosmire to undergo the first Alignment Check.
• The Array showed that Rosmire was Lawful Neutral, and the white-haired elder sent him to stand at the back before calling his second son.

The Violetta Family’s white-haired patriarch judged his kin and executed those who had fallen into evil alignment, then presented Velin with the Violetta Orb in exchange for protection for the surviving family. When Velin accepted it, green light enveloped him.

• The white-haired old man killed Oleta and other Violetta Family members who were judged to be in evil alignment, while Velin watched from the battlements.
• At sunset, the final person passed the judgment, leaving 136 corpses, including three of the old man’s children and seven of his grandchildren.
• Velin told the surviving Violetta Family that the Famine Cult’s rampage was not their fault and refused to let the old man kneel to him.
• The white-haired old man offered Velin the Violetta Orb, explaining that it extended his lifespan and aided druids in cultivating the Way of Nature.
• Velin promised to protect the Violetta Family three times if they did not collude with cults or betray the Ilia Kingdom during wartime, then accepted the orb.
• Green light burst from the Violetta Orb and enveloped Velin.

Velin arrived at an illusory spacetime projection of the Kraismel World Tree and was summoned to meet Kraismel. She warned him not to reveal his name lest the Time Spirit notice him, then led him through a doorway.

• Velin recognized that the colossal tree before him was the Kraismel World Tree, but realized he was in an illusory projection rather than the real world.
• Velin recalled Mite's account of traveling through illusory gates and concluded that he, too, was only a projection in a spacetime dimension.
• Flowers bloomed and their petals formed a staircase, while a compassionate voice invited Velin to climb the World Tree.
• Velin ascended to the canopy, where he found Kraismel and learned her name.
• Kraismel stopped Velin from saying his name, warning that the Time Spirit might notice him, then took his hand and led him through a doorway.

Velin met Kraismel, the World Tree, who recognized a faint trace of her power in his bloodline and revealed that he descended from one of her children. After learning that her children were Silvanus and Netharian, Velin grew more reserved, but Kraismel reassured him and continued chatting with him, promising a gift when he left.

• Kraismel welcomed Velin beneath the trees and asked which era he came from, learning that he was from the Radiant Calendar.
• Kraismel explained that she had sensed her own aura in Velin and identified a faint trace of her power in his bloodline.
• Kraismel determined that the trace came from Velin's maternal grandmother, while the power of time within it came from his maternal grandfather.
• Kraismel told Velin that his father's side carried an exceptionally pure Black Iron Race Bloodline Power.
• Kraismel revealed that her only children were Silvanus and Netharian, making Velin realize she was the mother of a god.
• Kraismel reassured the now-reserved Velin that her children's achievements had nothing to do with her current self, promised him a gift, and resumed their conversation.

Velin said farewell to Kraismel, who blessed him and transformed his Battle Qi into Mana Energy, completing preparations for his eventual ascent to Legend. Back in the Violetta Family castle, Velin learned only three minutes had passed, while the old man who had summoned him gave his final words to his family and died.

• Velin asked Kraismel for an embrace, and she blessed him with the World Tree’s power and strengthened his connection to nature.
• Kraismel transformed Velin’s Battle Qi into Mana Energy and completed the preparations that would otherwise have taken thirty years.
• Velin left Kraismel and returned to the Violetta Family castle, where Kyle told him only three minutes had passed.
• Velin promised the dying old man that his promise remained valid, and the old man urged his family to unite before turning to ash beneath the Bronze Statue.
• Count Violetta watched his father die and believed he had passed away without regrets.

Velin helped Rosemir Violetta reshape the family’s legacy after Duens Violetta’s death, then continued traveling to purge the Famine Cult. As Valient Silvis arrived in Moon Shadow County to meet the Eagle Marquis and seek Velin, Velin’s airship approached Moon Shadow City.

• Velin told Rosemir Violetta that Duens Violetta had died gloriously while killing a Famine Cult chief priest, and urged him to lead the family uprightly.
• Rosemir swore that the Violetta Family would punish wicked clansmen and reward upright ones, then ordered the wicked dead excluded from the family cemetery.
• Velin left the Violetta territory after Kyle brought Rosemir’s eldest son aboard, and ordered the Sandora to continue to the next count’s territory.
• In Moon Shadow County, Ilisis prepared to welcome Valient Silvis, who had come to meet the God-Bestowed Count and first sought a good relationship with the Eagle Marquis.
• Velin’s floating airship crossed into northern Moon Shadow County as he rested on Xuemiyya’s lap.

Velin watched Prince Valient arrive in Moon Shadow City and decided to judge his character before offering him a chance to enter Velin's illusion world. After Valient met Ilisis, Velin settled Sandora west of the city and sent eleven young nobles ahead, arranging for them to meet his elder brother the next day.

• Velin and Kyle noticed Valient's royal convoy approaching Moon Shadow City, and Kyle discovered that Valient could sense his covert observation.
• Velin joked about subjecting Valient to a century of suffering in his illusion world, then said he would first assess the prince's character before deciding whether to offer him an experience.
• Valient greeted Ilisis at the East City Gate, and they entered the city together while discussing other matters.
• Velin landed Sandora on a hill west of Moon Shadow City, sent its eleven young noble passengers ashore, and returned the battleship to Cecilia's Demiplane.
• Velin told the eleven young men to explore the city and meet him at the City Lord's Mansion at noon the next day, then flew toward Moon Shadow City with his companions.

Velin delayed visiting his elder brother, Isis, while Valient and Isis discussed the prince’s role in West River Province. When Velin finally arrived, Valient stunned the gathering by greeting him as his uncle-in-law.

• Valient told Ilisis that he had come to eliminate famine cultists and would assist while the Ex Family led affairs in West River Province.
• Velin spent two hours sampling food with Xuemiyya and the others before heading to the City Lord's Mansion.
• Velin arrived at the mansion and reunited warmly with his elder brother, Isis.
• Valient bowed to Velin and called him “Uncle-in-Law,” leaving Velin, Isis, and the others stunned.
• Xuemiyya explained that Valient’s form of address was correct by seniority.

Velin put Valient to sleep and drew him into a King's Trial so he and the others could judge the prince's true nature. The trial began with Valient reborn as a prince amid a palace rebellion, as his mother sent him away with Sir Lancelot.

• Velin accepted Valient's way of addressing him and, after the guards and attendants left, questioned the prince about whether he felt sleepy.
• Velin used Reincarnation—Fabrication to create an Illusionary Realm World, bringing Valient into a King's Trial and making Xuemiyya, Isis, and Aisilia spectators.
• In the trial, the Queen gave her newborn son to Sir Lancelot and asked him to kill the prince rather than let the rebels capture him.
• Sir Lancelot wrapped the infant in his cloak, saluted the Queen, and left the palace with the Prince.
• The Queen told the Head Maid to escape and survive so their family bloodline would continue, and the Head Maid tearfully agreed.

Sixteen years after the Black Thorn Dynasty fell, Velin watched the grown Prince Valient’s hidden supporters prepare to restore him to the throne. The chapter ended with Valient learning his identity and taking up the Black Thorn Sword, while Velin predicted that few of the assembled villagers might survive.

• Velin accelerated time in the Illusionary Realm as the rebels seized the capital and installed a collateral royal as their puppet king.
• Lancelot secretly raised Valient in a mountain village while training the remaining loyal knights and their adopted children.
• Sixteen years later, Lancelot summoned the village’s people and revealed the Black Thorn Sword to Valient.
• Lancelot knelt before Valient and named him the rightful king, prompting Valient to realize his true identity.
• Ilisis asked Velin how many of the assembled people would survive, and Velin estimated that around twenty would live if events went well, but only a few otherwise.

Valient rebuilt the Black Thorn Knight Order, secured Shattered Fortress, and prepared to face Alcast Seferine’s army with help from the Golden Lion Duchy. He ordered Lancelot to unleash a devastating flood at the Menghe River, a plan that would torment his teacher and endanger a million civilians.

• Ilisis and Velin discussed how Valient’s suffering might make him a powerful king and bring opportunities for the Ex Family’s soldiers.
• Valient rebuilt the Black Thorn Knight Order, secured sixty thousand troops from the Golden Lion Duchy, and began his campaign to restore the Black Thorn Dynasty.
• Lancelot won Shattered Fortress for Valient, who used it to recruit troops and gain support while leaving most nobles’ lands untouched.
• Valient learned that Serandus Seferine was approaching with two hundred thousand troops and announced that he would meet them at the Menghe River.
• Serenia Golden Lion agreed to fight for Valient but reserved the right to withdraw if defeat seemed certain.
• Valient ordered Lancelot to breach the Menghe River and flood the battlefield, then kill the three hundred condemned prisoners assigned to the mission.

Valient lured the Black Thorn Dynasty Kingdom Army and allied forces into a battle on the Menghe River plains, then unleashed a flood that devastated both armies. Ilisis and Velin watched the aftermath and warned one another to beware of Valient.

• Serandus Seferine ordered the Black Thorn Dynasty Kingdom Army to attack Valient’s allied forces, and Valient ordered that any retreaters be executed.
• The allied conscripts’ front lines collapsed under the Black Thorn Dynasty Kingdom Army’s assault, while Valient released black pigeons toward the upper Menghe River.
• Valient led the Black Thorn Knight Order forward to regroup, while his guards fell protecting him and the armies continued fighting.
• A flood burst from the shattered mountain rocks and swept across the battlefield, killing hundreds of thousands of soldiers and forcing survivors to flee.
• Valient watched more than a thousand Black Thorn Knight Order knights disappear beneath the water, and Ilisis and Velin discussed his ruthlessness and warned each other about him.

After the flood and the defeat at Menghe Plain, Valient rebuilt his army and marched on the Royal Capital, where his forces toppled Regent Grand Duke Alcast Seferine. Valient entered the ruined city and began asserting his authority, leaving its people and the former king’s corpse at his mercy.

• Valient gathered the survivors after the flood, while Lancelot woke from nightmares of the battle and remained awake until dawn.
• News of the defeat spread through the Black Thorn Dynasty, prompting nobles to maneuver for power as Valient rebuilt his army with covert support.
• Valient marched north toward the Royal Capital, accepting noble forces as cannon fodder while secretly recruiting and training troops of his own.
• In January of New Calendar year 385, Valient’s million-strong army captured Black Thorn City after eight days of fighting, and Regent Grand Duke Alcast Seferine ordered his family’s deaths before killing himself.
• After three days of looting, Valient entered the ruined Royal Palace and ordered the False King’s corpse cut apart and fed to war dogs.

Valient became king of the Black Thorn Dynasty after forcing the nobles to build a new capital and promising them land, while Serenia Golden Lion prepared her duchy for a likely war against him. Just as Valient consolidated his hidden military strength, his mentor Lancelot died, and Velin and Isis began manipulating events by spreading a rumor.

• Valient forced the Royal Capital’s residents into slave labor to build a new capital, then used the nobles’ troops to speed construction before barring their armies from the city.
• Serenia Golden Lion received Valient’s Royal Edict and warned her generals that he would reclaim the lands he had promised the duchy, so she planned to urge the Grand Duke to prepare for war.
• After Valient’s coronation, he granted nobles the territories of his enemies and ordered all Noble Army forces out of the Central Province within half a month.
• Valient learned from De Roth and the other young knights that he secretly commanded an army of 150,000, then ordered their families to relocate to the new capital.
• Valient learned that Lancelot had died and read his farewell letter, while Velin and Isis discussed the grief behind the death.
• Velin stirred the Illusionary Realm World’s underlying logic and caused a rumor to spread through the Central Province and the Black Thorn Dynasty.

Valient expanded the Black Thorn Dynasty into an empire through conquest and ruthless purges, losing the companions who had followed him from his village. After years of using rebellions to destroy the families of conquered rulers, he named the First Prince’s eldest son as his successor and died in 440.

• Valient ceded border territory to the Golden Lion Duchy, waited as its costly occupation strained the duchy, then conquered Lokas and crushed a noble rebellion.
• Valient married a commoner woman whose identity remained secret, forced Saint Olf to surrender, and later conquered the Golden Lion Duchy and took Serenia as his consort.
• Valient waged the War of Great Unification, repeatedly conquering nations and elevating their rulers as marquises while his village companions died one by one.
• Valient suppressed a rebellion led by his three children, executed thousands of rebels, and later used staged princely rebellions to destroy the families of their mothers and wives.
• Valient named the eldest son of the First Prince as Crown Prince, and he died half a month later.

Valient woke after experiencing a simulated lifetime of seventy-six years, merged its memories with his consciousness, and concealed his secret by describing the experience as a dream. Velin and Ilisis discussed whether he was pretending, with Ilisis suspecting that Velin had already helped shape a king.

• Velin and Ilisis waited as Valient's real and virtual consciousness met inside his mind and agreed to merge.
• Valient absorbed the virtual consciousness's lifetime of memories, strengthening his soul as Velin and Ilisis watched.
• Valient woke and recounted his life as an emperor as a dream, while Ilisis found his account consistent with what he had witnessed.
• Velin praised Valient as a natural-born king, and Valient feigned ignorance to keep his secret hidden.
• In the study, Ilisis told Velin he was nearly certain Valient was putting on an act and suggested a king had already been born from Velin's hands.

Velin enjoyed a feast with Ilisis and the others, then asked whether Kavell had been brought down from the Wind Listening Tower. Ilisis hid that he had forgotten his son, while Kavell remained content atop the tower with his Mutated Griffon cub.

• Velin abandoned his plan to rest and joined Ilisis for a feast in the dining hall.
• After eating, Velin asked Ilisis whether Kavell had been brought down from the Wind Listening Tower, and Ilisis falsely claimed he had made arrangements.
• Aisilia recognized Ilisis's tell when he lied but assumed Grandpa Winston would ensure Kavell was safe.
• Velin and the other guests left the dining hall, and Ilisis secretly sent a Low-Gold Knight toward Windsor Castle.
• Kavell spent the night on the Wind Listening Tower with his sleeping Mutated Griffon cub and reflected on what he had learned during his half month there.

Velin overslept and left eleven noble heirs waiting outside the City Lord's Mansion, then convinced them their wait had been a test before introducing them to Ilisis. Three days later, the group departed for Windsor Castle after the kingdom ordered a complete purge of the Famine Cult.

• Eleven noble heirs waited outside the City Lord's Mansion for hours, and Count Violetta's eldest son insisted their patience was being tested.
• Ilisis learned the heirs were still waiting while Velin slept until noon, then agreed to leave them alone, believing the wait was a test.
• Velin told Xuemiyya he would present his lateness as a test, then greeted the heirs and praised their patience when he finally arrived.
• Velin brought the eleven heirs to meet Ilisis, who spoke with them for three hours while Velin left to attend to other matters.
• Velin reflected on returning home and learning to build a Ten-Thousand-Meter Floating Battleship, then enjoyed the sunset.
• Three days later, Velin and the others departed for Windsor Castle after the kingdom ordered the Famine Cult's complete purge.

Velin returned to Qixing Territory aboard the Sandora Floating Airship and saw how much Luensha County had changed during his absence. As the ship approached Star Moon Fort, O'dor sensed Velin's return and fled to hide, while Velin and Xuemiyya joked about a World Origin Crystal.

• After Velin departed, Ilisis promised Kavell a plot of land as a reward, and Kavell vowed to pass Velin's trial when he came of age.
• Velin and his companions arrived over Cadro Province and saw Luensha County's prosperity, including a huge statue of Velin and unusually high Magic Concentration.
• Velin wondered how Belder and the others had expanded Qixing Territory and what progress they had made on his projects during his absence.
• O'dor sensed Velin approaching Star Moon Fort, left a message for his wife, and fled to the Gray Fog Space to avoid him.
• Velin asked Xuemiyya whether O'dor was at the castle, and they joked about letting O'dor learn about the World Origin Crystal by accident.

Velin returned to Star Moon Fort with Xuemiyya, Kyle, and the expedition’s warriors, then welcomed Hilda and Sisina and assigned them to settle the newcomers. He also reunited with Eunice and left Xing, Xue, and Yue in her care for half a month.

• Velin landed the Sandora Floating Battleship west of Star Moon Fort and brought the expedition’s warriors and recruits out onto the plains.
• Hilda and Sisina welcomed Velin and Xuemiyya at the West City Gate after nearly ten years apart.
• Velin assigned Hilda to settle the more than three hundred warriors from the Holy Third Dawn Kingdom and Sisina to handle the hundred-odd returning warriors.
• Velin met Eunice, who invited him and Xuemiyya to visit her magical herb cultivation center in three months.
• Velin released Xing, Xue, and Yue from his Demiplane and agreed to let them keep Eunice company for half a month.

Velin welcomed General Ignis to Qixing Territory and discussed his duties as commander of the Griffin Knight Order. When Belder returned to the castle, Velin avoided meeting him and moved the conversation to the demiplane, leaving a newly appointed guard-force general fearing he would lose his command.

• Velin welcomed Ignis with Redwood Tea and explained that he counted as a distinguished guest until his official appointment.
• Nora reported that Belder had crossed the castle’s first two defense lines, so Velin told the guards to claim he was away and then took Kyle and Ignis to the demiplane.
• Belder reached the Outer City District and hurried toward the castle, while the General of the Star Moon Fort Guard Force assumed he was about to be relieved and went to pack.
• Beneath the Sapling of the Tree of Life, Velin discussed the Griffin Knight Order, Ignis’s benefits and rewards, and a residence for him in Star Moon Fort.
• Ignis swore to meet Velin’s expectations, and Velin formally welcomed him as a member of Qixing Territory.

Velin reunited with Belder after ten years and tried to avoid handing over his returning warriors and nobles to the Chief Steward. Belder used a Magic Memory Crystal Orb to secure permission to lead the nobles on a tour, and Velin learned that Lord O'dor might be connected to the surge in Luensha County’s magic concentration.

• Velin left the demiplane and spotted Belder waiting below, but Belder had already seen him and came to the study.
• Belder asked Velin to spare some of the talent he had brought back, while Velin claimed the newcomers were only visiting and denied they were his recruits.
• Belder proposed taking the nobles from the Holy Third Dawn Kingdom on a tour of Qixing Territory, and Velin agreed after Belder recorded their exchange with a Magic Memory Crystal Orb.
• Velin urged Belder to cultivate beyond Low-Gold, and Belder said he would enter closed-door cultivation after the current period.
• Belder told Velin that Luensha County’s magic concentration had surged five years earlier and that the change seemed connected to Lord O'dor.
• After Belder left, Velin decided to move up his visit to his uncle.

Velin reviewed Qixing Territory’s growth and drafted a thirty-year development plan centered on military expansion and exploration. When he later went to give his uncle a gift, he found that O'dor had already escaped the Gray Fog Space fortress again.

• Velin learned that Qixing Territory had grown to fifteen counties and resolved to use the expedition’s wealth to expand its regular and Auxiliary Armies.
• Velin worked through the night on future development plans, and Xuemiyya offered to review them with him the next day.
• Velin completed a first draft of a thirty-year plan covering Zephyrus Territory, Qixing Territory, the Interlayer Space, and an unknown world, then took Xuemiyya to visit his uncle.
• Kyle tallied the expedition’s wealth while Ignis toured Qixing Territory with more than three hundred people.
• O'dor sensed that experimental materials were scarce and left the fortress through a hidden passage as Velin entered the Gray Fog Space to find him.
• Velin searched the laboratory and discovered that O'dor had fled again, while Xuemiyya confirmed that he had left ahead of time.

Velin waited for Xuemiyya’s uncle and sent her to bring Aunt Flora with a fabricated story about a woman’s name in the uncle’s diary. Meanwhile, Greg was summoned from the underground transfer base to meet Velin at Gray Mist Fortress.

• Velin agreed with Xuemiyya to invite Aunt Flora and told her to claim they had found another woman’s name in her uncle’s diary.
• Xuemiyya left through the mist toward the pink spring to find Aunt Flora.
• Velin summoned Greg while Greg inspected the transfer base and its praying Kobold workers.
• A messenger ordered Greg to report to Velin at External Platform Number Eight of Gray Mist Fortress.
• Greg rode his Red Scale Horse to the fortress, while the messenger ran back on foot.