Chapter Summaries

At a banquet celebrating Ian’s promotion to Advanced Alchemist, Darwin introduced him to influential allies, and Ian secured a promising business partnership with Patrick of the Black Gold Chamber of Commerce. Ian then advanced his Elemental Transmutation knowledge through dreams and received further instruction from Metatron, leaving him able to explore a deeper level of the dream and with a special code in his consciousness.

• Darwin introduced Ian to Soyaen, Patrick, Siter, and Laude as a potential successor to lead the Alchemy Department.
• Patrick gave Ian a Black Gold Card and agreed to discuss distributing Ian’s upcoming products, which could earn one or two million Magic Stones per month.
• Ian gave Horton new product blueprints and asked him to expand the business, production base, and workforce.
• Ian repeatedly entered battle dreams until his Elemental Transmutation knowledge reached Master Level and earned him five hundred talent points.
• Ian demonstrated his progress to Metatron, who explained how to improve his method of drawing out core power between water and fire elements.
• After the dream ended, Ian found that he could reach the second underground floor of the dream and that a special code had appeared in his consciousness.

After the Silver Society's conservative factions rejected Ian's Resonance Meditation Method project, Simon told him he could seek recognition through Truth Tower and use that standing to enter the Academic Committee. Ian asked Edith for help contacting Truth Tower, then left the Academy for the Emerald Shadow Secret Realm.

• Ian learned the password to the second level of Metatron's warehouse in his dream and found it filled with advanced materials and information.
• Julian and other conservative Wizards agreed to reject Ian's project because they feared Kieran's faction would grow stronger.
• Simon explained the rejection and advised Ian to submit his paper to Truth Tower, whose recognition could help him join the Society's Academic Committee.
• Ian learned that Edith was Bruno's daughter and asked her to help him contact Truth Tower; Edith agreed to make inquiries through her uncle.
• Ian left the Academy and headed to Veridian Forest and the Emerald Shadow Secret Realm.

Ian tempered his will in the Emerald Shadow Secret Realm, returned to the Alchemy Base, and opened the second underground level of Metatron’s laboratory. After using the recovered materials to support his training, he completed the third stage of Body Tempering and became a qualified Late Second Ring Body-Tempering Wizard.

• Ian climbed the will mountain until his will took shape, then tested its resistance to mental attacks and its power to incapacitate nearby creatures.
• Ian returned to the Alchemy Base, where Stefan, Clyde, and Augusto congratulated him on becoming an advanced alchemist.
• Ian secretly entered the laboratory’s second underground level and found a supply storeroom of rare materials and a collection of records containing Metatron’s notes on Elemental Transmutation.
• Edith told Ian that her uncle praised his paper and that Truth Tower scholars would visit to verify his work, while Ian arranged to sell rare materials to Patrick and buy Body Tempering supplies.
• Ian completed the third stage of his Emerald Shadow Extraordinary Physique and advanced to Late Second Ring Body Tempering.

Ian discovered that his Emerald Shadow Extraordinary Physique had not fused smoothly with his Four Symbols Sacred Body and sought knowledge to resolve the disharmony. While Truth Tower began assessing him for membership, its visitors announced a possible conscription of the territory’s Three Rings within ten years and negotiated a lucrative license for Ian’s Resonance Meditation Room.

• Ian found that his physique had strengthened, but his Emerald Shadow Extraordinary Physique had fused poorly with his Four Symbols Sacred Body, so he returned to the Academy to seek a solution.
• Metatron advised Ian to study the Natural School’s knowledge, but Ian found no relevant material in the Academy Library and then learned that Wizards from Truth Tower would arrive.
• Vincent and Stephen arrived to assess Ian, and Vincent announced that Gray Tower might conscript the territory’s Three Rings within ten years for a world conflict.
• Vincent negotiated a license allowing Gray Tower to use Ian’s Resonance Meditation Room for an annual fee of ten million, with Ian receiving thirty percent, and urged him to join Truth Tower to protect his patent.
• Ian agreed to join Truth Tower, and Vincent began his assessment with Stephen recording the proceedings.

Ian passed the Truth Tower’s assessment and became a certified Two-Ring One-Star Scholar, earning a badge and one hundred Academic Credits. At the Silver Society’s celebration, he used the badge to find knowledge he wanted to exchange for: “Life Ring!”

• Stephen questioned Ian about the origins and development of the Resonance Meditation Room, and Ian answered more than a hundred questions about his research.
• Vincent tested Ian’s knowledge of Wizardry and asked why he pursued research that might not benefit him personally; Ian said he wanted to explore truth and bring new knowledge to the Wizard World.
• Vincent certified Ian as a Two-Ring One-Star Scholar, gave him a Truth Tower badge, and credited him with one hundred Academic Credits.
• Vincent told Ian he was still too weak to be with Edith, then left with Stephen as the waiting Wizards learned that Ian had passed.
• Simon and the Silver Society celebrated Ian’s success, while Julian reacted with dismay.
• At the banquet, Ian searched the Truth Tower exchange for knowledge about nature, spirit, elements, and the fusion of spirit and flesh, then found “Life Ring!” for eighty Academic Credits.

Ian became a Three-Star Grand Scholar and helped Simon reshape the Silver Society into a more open academy organization, while his research and reputation spread through the Gray Tower Domain. As his projects and power advanced, Bruno heard about Ian and wondered whether he could change the wizard world.

• Ian bought the Life Ring knowledge and received his Three-Star Grand Scholar badge, gaining full access to the society’s knowledge and a seat on its Review Committee.
• Simon proposed opening the Silver Society to every academy wizard, and the committee passed the plan despite Julian’s faction opposing it.
• Simon used his authority to secure approval and increased funding for Ian’s project, while Julian’s faction accepted the changed balance of power.
• Ian researched the Resonance Meditation Method, established a laboratory for it, and saw his fame grow after the project was published in the Gray Tower.
• Ian’s meditation research sold widely, the Bayers Chamber of Commerce expanded, and his physical cultivation and alchemy skills continued to improve.
• Vincent told Bruno and Edith about Ian, and Edith predicted that Ian would eventually change the entire world.

After a year and a half of steady progress, Ian volunteered to help open an underground ruin discovered in the mist, which he recognized as the site of his laboratory. At the ruin, he joined alchemists from the four Academies and planned to stall their efforts to keep them from seeking outside help too soon.

• Ian’s scholarship and cultivation advanced, and his talent value rose to 56,000 while he continued work on the Resonance Meditation Method.
• Wizards discovered an underground ruin after a Giant Devouring Worm opened its sealed entrance, and the four Academies agreed to cooperate in opening it.
• Ian volunteered to lead Elemental Mysteries’ team, and Stefan approved his participation alongside several other Wizards.
• Ian reached the ruin and saw that excavation had exposed the laboratory door; Riss, Jason, and Flora confronted him before joining him to discuss it.
• Ian learned that the alchemists had made no progress and said he had ideas after examining the passage, intending to delay their efforts.

Ian stalled the Wizards investigating the laboratory door while improving his Wizardries and advancing Elemental Transmutation. After joining Stephen’s team to analyze the door, Ian reached 60,100 talent and upgraded from Blazing to Extreme Radiance.

• Ian slowed the investigation by offering plausible but ultimately flawed ideas while secretly raising his Wizardry levels and replenishing Elemental Transmutation.
• After the investigation stalled, Ian reached his tenth Replenishment Wizard level and advanced Elemental Transmutation to Peak Second Ring, then learned from Metatron about the key to the third floor and a passage out of the laboratory.
• Stephen arrived from Gray Tower and made Ian his primary assistant, while Riss, Jason, and Yifula became assistants after Ian repeatedly proved his ability.
• Stephen estimated that analyzing the door would take about a year, and Ian continued helping while working toward his talent upgrade.
• Ian raised his talent to 60,100, returned to his Wizard Tower, and upgraded it from Blazing to Extreme Radiance.

After evolving into Extreme Radiance, Ian gained sharper insight into Source Particles, stronger cultivation and learning abilities, and a dangerous connection to the Astral Realm’s information. He returned to the White Stone Mountains, advanced his alchemy while helping Stephen study the gate, and completed Elemental Transmutation.

• Ian's talent evolved into Extreme Radiance, letting him perceive Source Particles and giving his separated mental power a degree of self-awareness.
• Ian discovered that his cultivation and learning had accelerated, while using Star Diamonds with Principle Insight nearly exhausted his mind and body.
• Ian returned to the White Stone Mountains and resumed studying the gate with Stephen, who watched Ian's alchemy skills improve over the following months.
• Ian completed the thirteenth Replenishment Wizardry and freely transformed a ball of elemental energy among fire, earth, water, and wind, completing Elemental Transmutation.

Ian completed his dream training, became Metatron’s student, and learned that he needed the Source Vein Seed to unlock a Three-Ring Inheritance. After taking the laboratory’s Rule Fragments and helping decipher the ruins, Ian opened the great door with the four academies gathered before it.

• Ian resolved the final contradiction in the Resonance Meditation Method with Metatron’s guidance, and Metatron awakened his spirituality and accepted Ian as his student.
• Metatron gave Ian a strand of spiritual power and revealed that the shattered dream would leave a Three-Ring Inheritance, which Ian could unlock after reaching Peak Second Ring and obtaining the Source Vein Seed.
• Ian absorbed the inheritance sphere, learned the small world’s location and entry requirements, and planned to strengthen his rank and physique before seeking it.
• Ian returned to the laboratory, absorbed its four Rule Fragments, and took its equipment after clearing away traces of himself.
• Ian joined Stephen, Ruisu, and the other Wizards in finishing the ruins’ decipherment, then placed the crafted key on the great door as it slowly opened.

After the empty ruins yielded nothing, Ian declined Stephen’s invitation to Gray Tower and focused on cultivation as Gray Tower’s conscription order unsettled White Stone Territory. Two years later, with the Academy preparing for Aaron and Simon’s departure, Ian reached late-stage Peak Second Ring and learned Kieran had found his advancement materials; the assembly appointed Kieran Acting Dean.

• The Wizards found the ancient laboratory empty, and Stephen invited Ian to Gray Tower, but Ian declined and accepted Stephen’s address for a possible future visit.
• More than two years passed as Ian cultivated, mastered Water Rhythm, and perfected the Four Symbols Mirror Eye while the Regional Conscription Order intensified conflicts and Academy power struggles.
• Ian aimed to reach Peak Second Ring before the mineral-vein small world opened, and Kieran found the materials Ian needed to advance.
• Before Aaron and Simon departed, Kieran assured Ian he would help him after the assembly and said Ian could collect the materials if the meeting went well.
• At the Academy assembly, Aaron announced that Kieran would become Acting Dean.

After Aaron and Simon departed, Kieran took control as acting dean and secretly led an operation against the Winston Family. As Kieran’s forces attacked the family’s territory, Elder Winston’s dealings with an outside Wizard were exposed, and the family’s defenses collapsed.

• Kieran became acting dean, and Ian received gifts and visits from powerful Lineages seeking his favor.
• Three months later, Aaron and Simon departed, and Kieran announced new wartime rules before privately ordering Ian and his other students to prepare for a major operation.
• Kieran secretly assembled Tribunal Department and battle corps Wizards, then led them by Airship to the Winston Family’s territory.
• Kieran told his forces that the Winston Family had embezzled Academy assets and colluded with outside Academies, then assigned Ian and the others positions for the raid.
• Elder Winston offered a detailed map of Academy resources and patrols to a black-robed Wizard in exchange for help evacuating family members and securing a resource site.
• Kieran’s fiery meteors struck the Winston Family’s defensive array, which suddenly shut down and left the family exposed.

Kieran led the Academy’s assault on the Winston Family, destroying much of its territory and battling Elder Winston as the Academy forces overwhelmed the family. Ian killed three Late Second Ring Wizards and held off a black-robed Peak Second Ring Wizard until Kieran arrived, leaving the enemy facing the furious acting dean.

• A Wizard Array failed to stop the meteors Kieran sent against the Winston Family, devastating its territory as Kieran announced the family had been found colluding with enemy Wizard Academies.
• Elder Winston confronted Kieran, and the two fought in the sky while the Academy’s Tribunal Department and battle corps attacked the family Wizards below.
• Ian shattered three Wizards’ attacks and killed all three with a Storm, then continued fighting to keep other Winston Family Wizards from escaping.
• A black-robed Peak Second Ring Wizard tried to break through Ian’s position with gray flames, but Ian repeatedly blocked his path and endured the attacks.
• When Ian appeared unable to hold on, Kieran arrived in front of him, and the black-robed Wizard saw the acting dean’s fury.

Kieran’s forces destroyed the Winston Family’s position in Four Symbols Academy, captured Allen Barnes of Gray Furnace Wizard Academy, and seized the family’s treasury. Ian received a top-tier Second Ring resource as a reward and began preparing to advance, while Edith wrote that Gray Tower would soon send Wizards to the war.

• Kieran and two other Peak Second Ring Wizards captured Allen Barnes after Ian held him off for more than ten minutes.
• The Academy seized the Winston Family’s treasury, including an Earth Vein Heart that Ian recognized as a suitable advancement resource.
• Kieran rewarded Ian with one top-tier Second Ring resource, and the Lineages accepted new regulations after the operation.
• Gabriel and Quentin entered closed-door cultivation to advance, while Ian also began preparing to reach Peak Second Ring.
• Edith told Ian that Gray Tower planned to send Wizards to White Stone Territory within several months to a year, and Ian continued improving his condition until it reached its peak three months later.

Ian advanced to Peak Second Ring in the Academy’s highest-level Elemental Pool, gaining a powerful unified Transcendent Physique and rapidly increasing his mental power and Elementalization. After replenishing his magic power, he fought Kieran in the White Stone Mountains, where his body grew more compact under pressure and he gradually began to fight back.

• Ian met Kieran, who answered his questions about Peak Second Ring and gave him access to the Academy’s highest-level Elemental Pool and top-grade advancement potions.
• Ian formed the Four Symbols Core and connected his Transcendent Organs, successfully advancing to Peak Second Ring with 136 Mental Power Anchors and nearly seventy percent Elementalization.
• Ian spent several days replenishing his magic power and mastering his new abilities before Kieran met him outside the Elemental Pool.
• Kieran took Ian to the White Stone Mountains and attacked him with powerful four-element Wizardry to test his strength and help his physique fuse under pressure.
• Ian endured Kieran’s assault, grew more skilled as the battle continued, and gradually began exchanging attacks with him.

After advancing to Peak Second Ring, Ian tested his abilities against Kieran and demonstrated power strong enough to impress his teacher. His advancement shook the Academy and its allies and rivals, and after a celebratory banquet, Ian sensed that Gabriel had advanced too; the next morning, he went to meet Darwin about the good news he had promised.

• Ian fought Kieran, using his Balance Domain, Storm, and defensive abilities to withstand the teacher’s attacks as his physique finished consolidating.
• Kieran ended the fight when patrol Wizards arrived, then arranged a banquet to celebrate Ian’s advancement to Peak Second Ring.
• News of Ian’s advancement spread through the Academy and beyond, surprising former associates, students, and rival Lineages.
• Half a month later, high-ranking Wizards attended Ian’s advancement banquet, where Darwin asked him to visit the Alchemy Department afterward.
• After the banquet, Ian sensed Gabriel’s familiar aura and realized that Gabriel had advanced as well.
• The next morning, Ian went to the Alchemy Department to find out what Darwin wanted to discuss.

Ian considered the resource shortages caused by his advancement, then agreed to run for the Alchemy Department deputy minister position after Darwin explained its benefits. At the election conference, Ian and Henry Dalton gave their campaign speeches, and Ian began revealing an unpublished invention as his trump card.

• Ian calculated that his patents and merchant association could provide substantial income, but he still struggled to obtain scarce resources such as Elemental Crystals.
• Darwin offered Ian the newly created deputy minister position, and Ian agreed after learning it would greatly increase his resource quotas.
• Ian met Clyde at the Alchemy Department and learned that the Warbands were backing Henry Dalton as the other candidate.
• Darwin opened the election conference and announced that Ian and Henry would deliver campaign speeches before the vote.
• Henry presented his decades of alchemical achievements and promised reliable equipment and support for front-line wizards.
• Ian listed his inventions and research projects, then announced that he had prepared a new, previously undisclosed creation for the audience.

Ian demonstrated a miniature Mist-Dispelling Device, won the Alchemy Department deputy minister position after Henry withdrew, and became vice president of the Silver Society. Six months later, he had entered the Academy’s ruling class while leading artifact development and continuing his cultivation.

• Ian unveiled and tested a miniature Mist-Dispelling Device, then promised to improve the Academy’s war artifacts if appointed deputy minister.
• Henry withdrew from the deputy minister election, saying Ian could do more for the Academy, and Darwin named Ian the new deputy minister.
• At a banquet, Soyaen, Patrick, Siter, and Laude offered Ian access to resource channels, while Ian later asked Kieran for Elemental Crystals.
• Kieran offered Ian a choice between becoming vice president of the Silver Society and improving the Academy’s Elemental Crystal synthesis apparatus; Ian chose the position in exchange for twenty quotas.
• Half a month later, Ian took office as Silver Society vice president and began overseeing artifact development and Society reforms while Xia helped manage Academy affairs.
• Over the following six months, Ian focused on cultivation as his skills and Transcendent Organs gradually improved.

Ian reached Master Level in Life Ring, but his Four Symbols Sacred Body remained incomplete, so he hoped Gray Tower might provide the knowledge he needed. Gray Tower’s delegation arrived aboard a powerful airship, and Edith reunited with Ian and told him she had found the water-attribute knowledge.

• Ian reached Master Level in Life Ring, gained 2,000 talent, and fused his body and spirit, but he still could not complete his Four Symbols Sacred Body.
• Ian suspected the imbalance in his Four Symbols Codex was preventing further progress and hoped Gray Tower could offer the needed knowledge.
• A Third-Ring Airship carrying Gray Tower’s delegation arrived at the Academy, and Ian recognized Edith among the Wizards.
• At the welcome banquet, Edith greeted Ian warmly, then went with him into a private room, shocking the Wizards who had heard rumors about their relationship.
• After embracing and kissing Ian, Edith said she had found knowledge about the water attribute.

Ian found the water-element wizardry Touch of the Source in Edith’s recording crystal, but Gray Tower restricted access to it. Edith proposed that Ian join a study program at Gray Tower, while Ian accepted Soren’s difficult alchemy task and later advanced his Earth Rhythm to Master Level.

• Ian found Touch of the Source in Edith’s crystal, but learned that only Star Tower-level Wizards or Three Rings Wizards could exchange for it.
• Edith suggested that Ian study at Gray Tower during its next program, and Ian agreed to go with her in one or two years.
• At the banquet, Soren challenged Ian to demonstrate his wizardry, but Ian refused and revealed his status as a Second-Ring Scholar of Truth Tower.
• Soren asked Ian to upgrade his Witchcraft Artifact using a crystalline droplet, and Ian accepted the task.
• Ian upgraded Soren’s Witchcraft Artifact, then saw Edith off to the front lines while Soren waited for it to be returned.
• Half a month later, Ian’s Earth Rhythm reached Master Level.