Chapter Summaries

Angel, Black Earl, and Dox discussed how to search the Stairway of the Hanging Prison for the Wise Sovereign’s hidden Wood Spirit while concealing their identities and motives. Angel chose Black Earl to enter first, and Black Earl flew into the Stairway after strengthening the group’s defenses.

• The Wise Sovereign said only Angel or a small group including an apprentice could enter to search for the timid Wood Spirit, and Black Earl would have to go alone.
• Angel, Black Earl, and Dox used color code names over a Mind Tether and concluded that the Wise Sovereign was using the search to observe them, possibly in connection with Augustine's Legacy Site.
• Angel assigned Black Earl to enter first, himself second, and Dox last, while warning Dox not to search for treasure instead of the Wood Spirit.
• Black Earl reinforced the Earth Ringwall around the others, prompting the Wise Sovereign to question his identity and suspect he had powerful backing.
• Black Earl warned the Wise Sovereign with a trace of his aura, then flew into the Stairway of the Hanging Prison.

Angel confronted the Wise Sovereign after sensing him inspect Angel and learned that the Wise Sovereign had been eavesdropping on the Mind Tether. As Black Earl searched the Stairway of the Hanging Prison, the Wise Sovereign explained that the Wood Spirit might sense danger or changes in the magic energy array.

• The Wise Sovereign used his three-lensed glasses to inspect Angel, who protected himself with Nightmare Illusion and displayed linked magic-pattern scrolls and an external array disk as a warning.
• The Wise Sovereign identified Ermi as a demon from the Panic Realm and said Ermi could not enter the Stairway of the Hanging Prison with Angel, who accepted the restriction.
• Angel realized the Wise Sovereign was spying on the Mind Tether, and Dox understood why the Wise Sovereign could hear their conversations.
• Black Earl reported that he had searched the first level without finding the Wood Spirit and asked whether it could survive the damaged second level.
• The Wise Sovereign said the Wood Spirit detected his attempts to investigate the Stairway and might possess Danger Perception or unusual sensitivity to changes in the magic energy array.
• Angel learned that the Wise Sovereign had taught the Wood Spirit about the world, while it had only asked to learn how to protect itself and escape.

Wise Sovereign explained how a Void storm had damaged the Stairway of the Hanging Prison and why the Wood Spirit’s cautious nature could have helped him detect trouble. He revealed that the Wood Spirit’s personality might reflect the human connected to its original body, then ended Black Earl’s unsuccessful search and sent it back to report to Angel.

• Angel explained that unstable magic energy arrays could have caused a Void storm, which Wise Sovereign confirmed had shattered and damaged the Stairway of the Hanging Prison.
• Wise Sovereign took Angel more seriously after hearing his knowledge of spatial magic, and he described the storm’s lasting damage to the Stairway’s lower levels.
• Wise Sovereign teased Black Earl as it searched for the Wood Spirit, while Angel diverted the conversation before Black Earl could lose its temper.
• Wise Sovereign speculated that the Wood Spirit’s original body was a human-associated object, perhaps a cane or vine chain, and that its maker’s or user’s personality might have influenced the spirit.
• Wise Sovereign told Black Earl the Wood Spirit was not ahead and ordered it to return; Black Earl emerged and relayed its findings to Angel.

Angel agreed to livestream his exploration of the Stairway of the Hanging Prison and created a real-time immersive illusion so the others could watch and guide him. The illusion drew everyone, including the Wise Sovereign, inside, and Angel announced that the immersive livestream had begun.

• The Wise Sovereign explained that finding the Wood Spirit and persuading it to leave would test the group's observation and adaptability.
• Dox proposed that Angel demonstrate his persuasive skills at the entrance while Black Earl's search demonstrated observation, then teased Angel about his past Crown Parrot encounter.
• Black Earl and Dox encouraged Angel to livestream his exploration, and Angel agreed so they could watch and prepare.
• Angel entered a Supercomputing state and arranged illusion nodes to create a stable, real-time immersive livestream.
• Angel's illusion enclosed the group, and he extended it to the Wise Sovereign, who agreed to enter without resisting.
• With the illusion still matching reality, Angel announced that the immersive livestream had begun.

Angel created an immersive, synchronized illusion of the Stairway of the Hanging Prison so the group could experience what he saw while he and Kael explored it. The illusion impressed the Wise Sovereign and left Angel intent on continuing to conceal his identity as they proceeded inside.

• Angel and Kael entered the Stairway of the Hanging Prison, and Angel's illusion brought the others into a detailed simulation of its first room.
• Dox and Wai tried handling simulated Density Stone and dust, so Angel explained that their interactions consumed computing power in the synchronized livestream.
• Angel described how the illusion reproduced real-time sights and tactile sensations, while the Wise Sovereign questioned how someone of Angel's apparent background could wield such formidable techniques.
• Angel explained that Dream Wilderness let him simulate many physical qualities cheaply, and that the group's bodies remained outside the illusion, so they could not frighten the Wood Spirit.
• Angel drew Kael into the illusion so he could see the others, then resolved to keep pretending to be a Noah descendant unless the Wood Spirit exposed him.

Angel led Wai, Kael, and the others through the illusion toward the first floor, explaining how illusion logic and Dream Wilderness reduced the strain of maintaining it. After Wai fell into the void and reappeared at the doorway, Angel revealed that the illusion reset anyone who “died”; the group continued upstairs as Angel compared the ruined passage with his memories to search for Wood Spirit.

• Angel explained illusion logic, Dream Wilderness’s support, and warned the group not to touch objects carelessly or ignore traps and spatial fissures.
• Angel opened the door and found the zeroth floor destroyed, with loose planks floating over a void and only a damaged staircase remaining.
• Wai missed a plank and fell into the void, then reappeared at the doorway and described seeing a death symbol and skull.
• Angel explained that the fall and reset were illusion settings meant to clear redundant information and discourage careless deaths.
• Angel led the group up the staircase slowly, comparing the real passage with his memories of the Nightmare Realm to look for changes and traces of Wood Spirit.

Angel and the others entered the first-floor cell of the Stairway of the Hanging Prison, where Angel identified its unusual Deepsea Wood furnishings as evidence that the cramped room had once served as a magic-array node. Wise Sovereign’s probing left him increasingly doubtful that Angel was Noah’s descendant, while his suspicions about Black Earl’s identity as a Noah grew stronger.

• Wise Sovereign used a deliberately emotional speech to probe the group’s reactions, and Black Earl realized he had been testing both Angel and the others through the livestream illusion.
• Angel entered the wooden door, and Dox concluded that Wise Sovereign had used the shared emotional atmosphere to examine them.
• The group found that the first-floor cell was only a tiny room, and Angel guessed that it was an important node in the Stairway’s magic array.
• Angel observed that the room’s Deepsea Wood furnishings had endured ten thousand years and explained that prolonged exposure to stable, powerful energy could account for their condition.
• Wise Sovereign’s reaction confirmed that Angel’s guess about the room being a magic-array node was likely correct.

Angel used knowledge from a diary he had read in the Nightmare Realm to explain the first-floor room’s history and why the Wood Spirit would not be there. After conjuring a cane to lure the Wood Spirit, he led the group to a new platform, where Kael discovered a hidden path through the void.

• Angel deduced that Abyss City’s magical energy array had drained the nature-element prisoner held in the room to power it, and the Wise Sovereign questioned how Angel had reached the conclusion.
• Angel said the Wood Spirit would not remain in the former prison and left with Kael and Dox after the Wise Sovereign tacitly confirmed it was absent.
• Angel recalled that Xixia had translated a diary he had recorded from the Nightmare Realm, which revealed that a nature wizard had been imprisoned and drained to supply the array before Abyss City fell into ruin.
• After Dox suggested using the cane as bait, Angel conjured it, and the Wise Sovereign recognized its ornament as familiar.
• Angel led the group up the stairs to a platform without a door, where Kael stepped into the void and found a path.

Angel and the others searched the second floor of the Stairway of the Hanging Prison for the Wood Spirit, finding only drifting room fragments and no clues in the first ruined room. In the next room, Dox triggered a painting-frame trap and died, then quickly returned; Angel noticed the painting might not belong on the second floor.

• Angel and the others crossed drifting floor fragments, while Kael examined the boards for a place where the Wood Spirit might be hiding.
• Angel searched the first ruined room with Black Earl and found nothing, then continued along the void path with the group.
• The group reached a more intact room and focused on a painting hanging on its wall.
• Dox touched the painting's frame, triggered a poisonous-mist trap, and died before returning to the group.
• Angel inspected the painting and recalled that it might not belong on the second floor.

Angel discovered a Wood Spirit-related log hidden in the oil painting "Afternoon Countryside" and explained how the painting’s changes revealed it. The painting’s mirror-like surface raised the possibility of a connection to the Mirror Demon God, leaving the group questioning Wise Sovereign’s knowledge of the painting’s origins.

• Angel recognized "Afternoon Countryside" as a painting from Franklin’s collection and questioned Wise Sovereign about why it hung among the ruins.
• Angel reached into the painting and pulled out a dark brown log, causing the painted tree and farmwoman to change before the painting crumbled away.
• Wise Sovereign said the log was created by the Wood Spirit or derived from its main body, then asked Angel how he had found it.
• Angel claimed he had seen the painter Skarob Lait’s works in an alchemist’s collection and used illusions to show the group the painting’s original image.
• Angel explained that the log’s life energy had preserved the painting and that it had been concealed in a mirror-like reflective film on its surface.
• Black Earl and the others wondered whether the painting and Wise Sovereign were connected to the Mirror Demon God.

Adanis awakened after the Stairway of the Hanging Prison outpost was destroyed and debated what had caused it with Olao, who urged her to consider Noah’s descendants. Meanwhile, Angel tested the Wise Sovereign and decided to take the Wood Spirit’s log despite the risk that it would make the Wood Spirit hide.

• Adanis awakened in the darkness and realized the outpost on the Stairway of the Hanging Prison had been destroyed.
• Olao appeared and urged Adanis not to obstruct Noah’s descendants, warning that the Wise Sovereign was testing her too.
• Adanis suspected Noah’s descendants had destroyed the outpost and ordered the Nether Servants to investigate.
• Angel tested the Wise Sovereign by discussing the painting, while Dox defended Angel’s explanation of the coincidences.
• The Wise Sovereign warned that carrying the Wood Spirit’s derivative could make the Wood Spirit hide, but Angel chose to take the log anyway.

Angel fashioned the extraordinary log into a cane, prompting the Wise Sovereign to recognize an emblem shared with a pendant worn by Specimen 6163 and wonder about Angel’s identity. As Angel continued through the Path of Void, the cane warmed in response to something he suspected was the Wood Spirit.

• Angel shaped the log into a refined staff and fitted it into the silver head of the original ornament, making a cane.
• The Wise Sovereign questioned Angel about alchemy, and Angel asked to learn from him after they left the Relic Land.
• The Wise Sovereign recognized the cane’s emblem from a pendant owned by Specimen 6163, checked on the One-Eyed Wraith, and found it unharmed with its ornaments intact.
• The Wise Sovereign noticed the same emblem on Angel’s glove and grew more suspicious of the coincidences surrounding Angel.
• Dox asked whether Angel was suffering from the computational strain of touching objects, and Angel dismissed his concern.
• Angel sensed the cane grow warm as something deep in the void resonated with it, and he suspected the Wood Spirit was calling to it.

Angel led the group along the left path of the Stairway of the Hanging Prison, following the cane’s earlier resonance while investigating whether Wood Spirit had manipulated it. They found evidence that a Shadow Ghost had died in a preserved room, raising the possibility that Wood Spirit had attacked from afar, and Angel left with Kael’s help in mind.

• Angel tossed his cane at a fork, watched it point right, then chose the left path because the cane had resonated with that direction earlier.
• Angel and the others searched three ruined rooms and then reached a well-preserved room with a Shadow Ghost remnant in its attic.
• The group reasoned that Wood Spirit might have killed the Shadow Ghost and could possess long-range attack and perception abilities.
• The Wise Sovereign said Wood Spirit had once hidden in the room but that he did not know when it had left or who had killed the Shadow Ghost.
• Angel reassured Kael that Wood Spirit’s threat was still speculation, then said he needed Kael’s help as they prepared to leave.

Angel had Kael guide their illusion nodes through the void to investigate the source of the staff’s resonance, which might lead them to the Wood Spirit. When spatial instability turned the area into a spreading danger zone, Angel decided to withdraw to protect Kael’s mental power.

• Kael sensed a hidden spatial rift, and Angel’s illusion caused Dox to be dragged into it and torn apart.
• Angel explained that Kael’s discovery had made the rift part of the illusion, though Dox accused Angel of deliberately killing him.
• Angel asked Kael to guide their illusion nodes deeper into the void, using Kael’s precise spatial perception to avoid rifts.
• Angel and Kael advanced nearly two hundred meters toward the resonance site, where Kael sensed increasingly chaotic spatial energy.
• A newly formed rift appeared near the core node, revealing that they were in a spreading danger zone, so Angel chose to withdraw.

Angel returned from investigating a dangerous stretch of void with minor spiritual power loss, then led the group toward the right-hand path while concealing his real purpose. The chapter left him wondering whether Wood Spirit had first lured him toward the spatial rifts and then changed its guidance.

• Dox and the others questioned why Angel and Kael had explored the void, and Kael explained that Angel had sent him back before entering the dangerous area alone.
• Angel returned exhausted after losing part of his spiritual power, then claimed he had been investigating the magic array's rules.
• The group accepted Angel's explanation, while Wise Sovereign doubted it and chose to keep observing him.
• At the fork, Angel explained that he had chosen the left path because he did not believe in fate, then continued along the right path with the group.
• Angel's illusion stripped Dox of his Audio Illusion node, leaving Dox unable to speak to Angel through the illusion.
• Angel considered whether Wood Spirit had moved the cane's resonance from the dangerous left path to the right to lure him elsewhere.

Angel dismissed Wise Sovereign’s warning about Noah’s descendants as outdated ignorance and continued searching for Wood Spirit. At the last room on the second level, the group found an unusually intact house and discovered that carved vines had been added to its stair rails later.

• Wai warned Angel that Wise Sovereign had fallen behind, but Wise Sovereign returned and revealed he could still hear them.
• Wise Sovereign inferred that Wai was a descendant of Noah and warned that Noah’s descendants might be in danger; Angel mocked his outdated view and left him to think it over.
• Kael spotted a nearly intact house floating in the void, and Angel confirmed it was the last room on the second level before entering.
• The group searched the ruined first floor, where Dox coveted the salvageable materials, then gathered at the stairs.
• Angel identified the thorny vines on the handrails as wood carvings, and Black Earl observed that they seemed to have been embedded in the house later.

Angel and the others searched the room for Wood Spirit, ruling out the vine sculpture and finding no useful clues in the dressing room. Angel secretly inspected the mirror and saw an abyss-like black hole, then told Black Earl that a hand had reached out from it.

• Angel explained that dust marks left by Black Earl showed the vine sculpture had not moved, so the group judged it unlikely to be Wood Spirit and went upstairs.
• Angel suggested that Wood Spirit had carved the vine sculpture while learning from Wise Sovereign, prompting Wise Sovereign to question Angel’s true purpose.
• The group inspected the dressing mirror but chose to prioritize finding Wood Spirit over investigating its strange reflections.
• After the others left, Angel told Black Earl that the mirror had shown only an abyss-like black hole rather than his reflection.
• Angel revealed that a hand had reached out from the black hole as he left.

Angel sealed a mirror after a gemstone hand tried to drag him inside, then considered whether the creature and the Mirror Demon God were connected to Augustine. His interest in the Legacy Site grew as he suspected it might be tied to Augustine's Twin Mirrors.

• Angel sealed the dressing mirror before a red gemstone hand could pull him through, and the hand wrote a backward threat with its severed finger.
• Angel told Black Earl that the hand's message contained a typo, and the group left the room under the Wise Sovereign's watch.
• Angel decided they would not go to the third level, saying the Wood Spirit was probably on the second level and that searching below would waste time.
• Angel told Black Earl that the gemstone hand might be an earth-element creature, and Black Earl said the Noah ancestor belonged to the earth branch.
• Angel connected the mirror clues, the Mirror Demon God, and Augustine to Augustine's Twin Mirrors, which made him more interested in the Legacy Site.

Angel continued to insist he was searching for the Wood Spirit while standing his ground against the suspicious Wise Sovereign, who believed Angel had abandoned the mission. After sensing a change in the surrounding energy, Angel revealed that he was trying to draw someone hidden in the darkness out, and asked the concealed figure whether it would emerge.

• Kael questioned why Angel was passing the previously searched ruins, and Angel said there was no reason to search them again.
• Angel and the Wise Sovereign argued over trust and their opposing positions, but Angel decided that discovering the Sovereign's purpose could reveal common interests.
• The Wise Sovereign warned that abandoning the search would forfeit the bonus requirements, while Angel insisted he was still searching and Dox said he might find the Wood Spirit.
• Dox accidentally revealed that Angel was younger than himself, prompting the Wise Sovereign to infer that Angel might be under fifty.
• Angel stopped, sensed the surrounding energy, and told everyone he was trying to make someone hiding in the dark come out.
• Angel looked into the darkness and asked the hidden figure whether it would emerge, noting that only two people were present.

Angel led the group back to a fork in the Stairway of the Hanging Prison, where he believed the Wood Spirit was hiding. The Wise Sovereign wondered whether Angel was an unpredictable force who could change Abyss City's fate, while Angel began searching near the fork.

• Angel tried to lure the Wood Spirit out, then continued onward when no one answered, leaving the group unsure whether he had found it.
• Black Earl told the others to keep watching, while the Wise Sovereign reconsidered his plans and wondered whether Angel could bring change to Abyss City.
• Angel told Kael that they would leave after taking a look at the Wood Spirit, then led the group back to the fork.
• Angel closed his eyes to perceive the area, but Kael's searches with mental perception and spatial power revealed nothing.
• The Wise Sovereign recognized that Angel stood at the Divine Maiden's core and speculated about their connection, unaware that Angel had returned because he had narrowed the Wood Spirit's location to the area near the fork.