Chapter Summaries

Angel deduced that the Wood Spirit had changed its plan after seeing the cane, and that it was hiding near the fork. He searched there without success, then set down the cane as he waited to see whether the Wood Spirit would reveal itself.

• Angel concluded that the Wood Spirit had used the cane’s resonance to lure him toward danger, then redirected him after seeing the cane at the fork.
• Angel explained that the Wood Spirit had contacted him while imitating the Wise Sovereign, and admitted his earlier departure had been a performance to keep the livestream audience engaged.
• Angel returned to the fork to find the Wood Spirit, but neither he nor Kael could detect it.
• Angel told Kael and the others that they had already found the Wood Spirit, though he could not say exactly where it was.
• The Wise Sovereign asked Angel how he had discovered the place, and Angel answered that it was through “Inspiration.”
• Angel set the cane upright beside him and said that whether the Wood Spirit would leave with them depended on its own willingness.

Angel waited on the Void Road for the Wood Spirit, then tried to disguise his lack of progress with a performance about respecting its choice. As he turned back for a second take, he found a wooden figure standing behind him.

• Angel waited for the Wood Spirit to appear while Dox, Wai, and Kael debated his intentions.
• The Wise Sovereign considered using Angel as a controllable variable, unaware of the Wood Spirit’s connection to Angel’s former master and student.
• Angel admitted inwardly that he could not locate the Wood Spirit and began planning an excuse for his audience.
• Angel staged a farewell, claiming he respected the Wood Spirit’s choice to remain hidden, then walked away.
• Angel turned back to add another dramatic moment and discovered a wooden figure standing behind him.

Angel discovered that the Wood Spirit had secretly followed him through the Stairway of the Hanging Prison, astonishing the Wise Sovereign. As the Wise Sovereign offered to exchange information about the Legacy Site, the Black Earl worried Angel might abandon the search, but Angel reaffirmed his interest and the Wise Sovereign again asked how he had found the Wood Spirit.

• Angel turned around and saw the Matchstick Man, which the Wise Sovereign confirmed was the Wood Spirit.
• The Wise Sovereign questioned how Angel had drawn out the Wood Spirit, and Angel said he had only tried to find it and bring it out.
• The Wise Sovereign offered to exchange information about the Legacy Site, but Angel pointed out that he had little reason to want it if he was not from the Noah Clan.
• The Black Earl worried Angel might abandon the expedition and hinted that he would exchange valuable knowledge and secret arts with him.
• Angel agreed that the Wise Sovereign needed to state his terms, and the Wise Sovereign offered knowledge, techniques, and access to his notes if Angel answered truthfully.
• The Wise Sovereign asked Angel once more how he had discovered the Wood Spirit.

Angel tried to persuade the Wood Spirit to leave the Stairway of the Hanging Prison, then ended his livestream with a curtain call that distanced his on-air actions from his real self. As he prepared to leave, his cane suddenly stopped at the gate.

• Angel avoided explaining how he found the fork in the road and focused on searching for the Wood Spirit, while Wise Sovereign mistakenly believed he knew the fork's secret.
• Angel told Kael he would respect the Wood Spirit's choice and staged a slow, emotional departure to encourage it to come out of hiding.
• The Wood Spirit did not reappear, so Angel led Kael down to the zero level and joked that Wise Sovereign might kill him after they escaped.
• Angel bowed to end the livestream and told the viewers to treat his on-air words and actions as performance rather than evidence about his real self.
• Angel ended the illusion and approached the gate, but his cane stopped just before he could leave.

Angel followed a mysterious vine deeper into the Stairway of the Hanging Prison and returned with the Wood Spirit, interrupting the Wise Sovereign’s furious reaction to being seen in heart-shaped glasses. The group learned that Angel had successfully brought the Wood Spirit out, and the Wise Sovereign’s attention shifted to it.

• Angel followed a budding vine into the Stairway of the Hanging Prison while the others waited outside and the Black Earl confirmed Angel had blocked the Mind Tether.
• The Wise Sovereign tried on a succession of unusual triple-lensed glasses, and Angel returned just as the Wise Sovereign’s aura erupted.
• Dox opened a Rainbowlight Gate while the Black Earl prepared to pull Angel to safety and promised that Angel would reimburse Dox’s costs.
• A stick figure screamed and tried to retreat into the Stairway of the Hanging Prison, but Angel grabbed it and dragged it outside.
• Angel told the Wise Sovereign not to frighten the Wood Spirit back into the Stairway, and the Wise Sovereign calmed down and removed his heart-shaped glasses.

Angel and Black Earl left the Earth Ringwall to speak with Wise Sovereign, while Wood Spirit’s fear of unfamiliar appearances and Wise Sovereign’s third eye became clear. Wise Sovereign revealed that the necessary condition for their journey was at the Legacy Site.

• Angel revealed that Wood Spirit’s vine was attached to the cane and explained its ability to reduce its sense of presence.
• Wise Sovereign asked Angel to come out and talk, and Black Earl promised to protect him if Wise Sovereign attacked.
• Angel and Black Earl left the Earth Ringwall, and Angel stopped Wood Spirit from fleeing when it saw Ermi and Black Earl.
• Wood Spirit called Wise Sovereign “Teacher” but recoiled from his third eye, so Wise Sovereign closed it and explained Wood Spirit’s fear of nonhuman appearances.
• Angel asked whether the necessary condition could be completed at the Stairway of the Hanging Prison, and Wise Sovereign said it was at the Legacy Site.

Angel led the group in deciding where to speak with Wise Sovereign and how to protect each member’s share of the Legacy Site’s gains. Dox and Kael chose different approaches to negotiating with Black Earl, and Black Earl then asked Angel whether he wanted to negotiate as well.

• Wise Sovereign exposed Wai’s unspoken curses, but Angel intervened and persuaded him to drop the matter.
• Angel proposed deciding whether to speak at Wise Sovereign’s Hall and renegotiating the group’s benefits to account for Dox and Kael’s contributions.
• Dox chose to negotiate after leaving, while Kael chose to negotiate immediately with Black Earl.
• Black Earl and Kael reached an agreement through an encrypted Mind Tether conversation.
• Black Earl asked Angel whether he wanted to negotiate with him now.

Angel agreed to exchange knowledge about Black Earl’s cloning technique in connection with a visit to Augustine’s Legacy Site, while explaining why he valued broadening his knowledge. The chapter ended with Angel noticing Ermi seemingly entertaining Wood Spirit and wondering whether Ermi was developing sentience.

• Angel explained to Black Earl that he wanted to study cloning knowledge to broaden his horizons, and Black Earl agreed to exchange knowledge with him.
• Angel recalled that his Mystical Manifestation had helped prompt Gloria to create her spell, then considered experimenting with the ability himself.
• Angel told Dox to ask Black Earl about a possible exchange after they left and advised him to consider what knowledge he needed.
• Angel noticed Wood Spirit popping bubbles from Ermi’s Blue Lantern Flower inside his shadow and questioned whether Ermi was developing sentience.

Angel questioned the Wise Sovereign about the purpose behind his tests and the coming arrival of the Wandering Merchants organization. By comparing the Wise Sovereign’s prediction with his own interference in Xixia’s pass processing, Angel deduced that the Person in the Mirror was likely arranging for the merchants to reach them.

• Angel learned that Ermi had independently decided to soothe the Wood Spirit, raising his concern that Ermi might be developing intelligence or disguising its intentions.
• Angel told the Wise Sovereign they should discuss their cooperation before proceeding, and the Wise Sovereign warned that intruders would cause a minor interlude nearby.
• The Wise Sovereign confirmed that the Wandering Merchants organization’s trackers were involved, while Dox argued unsuccessfully that the Wise Sovereign should deal with them.
• Angel asked whether the Person in the Mirror was afraid to enter the Wise Sovereign’s Hall, then explained that he had delayed Xixia’s processing of future passes.
• The Wise Sovereign realized Angel had inferred that the Person in the Mirror could bypass both him and Xixia, and Angel concluded the Wise Sovereign had revealed the clue through his own words.

Angel and the Wise Sovereign discussed the person hidden in the mirrors, its limited influence over the magic energy arrays, and why the Wise Sovereign could not oppose it or drive out the Wandering Merchants organization. Angel chose to remain and face the pursuers, then opened his Ultimate Luxury Nightmare Domain so they could talk in a safer, more refined setting, leaving the Wise Sovereign wary of its power.

• The Wise Sovereign explained that the person in the mirror could influence the magic energy arrays only to a limited extent and could not bring its true body into the core area.
• Angel reasoned that the person in the mirror had not taken control of the arrays because it could not enter the array’s core, and the Wise Sovereign confirmed his guess.
• The Wise Sovereign said he could not become hostile toward the person in the mirror before achieving his goal, would not attack the Wandering Merchants organization, and still needed its expertise to repair the arrays.
• Angel chose to stay and face the Wandering Merchants organization’s pursuers rather than have the Wise Sovereign drive them away and incur favors and consequences.
• Angel unfolded the Ultimate Luxury Nightmare Domain around the Earth Ringwall, and the Wise Sovereign sensed danger beneath its magnificent appearance.

The Black Earl examined Angel’s Ultimate Luxury Nightmare Domain and realized it was a carefully controlled space where guests could return to reality if threatened. Angel’s musical teacups tested the guests according to their traits, and after Wai, the Wise Sovereign, Kael, and Dox passed their tests, the gathering became livelier.

• The Black Earl compared Angel’s Nightmare Domain to Sanders’s and Su Mishi’s, then recognized it as a safe, thoughtfully designed space for the guests inside the Earth Ringwall.
• Wai sat at the conference table and drank the golden tea offered by a harp-shaped teacup, unknowingly passing its etiquette test.
• Dox complained that his pink teacup struck him with a conductor’s baton, while Angel warned that guests should dismiss their teacups before leaving.
• The Wise Sovereign answered the lyre teacup’s language test and drank its tea, prompting the Black Earl to explain that each teacup tested a guest’s traits.
• Kael ignored his focused hand-drum teacup and drank its tea, while Dox followed his conductor teacup’s tune and hummed to pass its test.

Angel eased the tension with a prank before Wise Sovereign shared memories of his first teacher, Man in the Vat, and asked about Angel’s childhood. Angel revealed that he was nearly twenty and not a Noah Clan descendant, then asked Wise Sovereign to explain the Legacy Site, leaving the group still uncertain about Angel’s purpose.

• Angel revealed that the teacups could only inflict fleeting, harmless punishments, easing the tension among the group.
• Wise Sovereign recalled how a captured human priest called Man in the Vat had guided him with questions before the Month of Spring Sacrifice arrived.
• Angel described his ordinary first teacher and said he had pursued the extraordinary to treat the teacher’s illness, then revealed that the teacher was still alive and about forty or fifty.
• Angel told Wise Sovereign that he was nearly twenty, surprising everyone and confirming that he was not a Noah Clan descendant.
• Angel asked Wise Sovereign to share information about the Legacy Site and described himself as a traveler, while the others remained curious about his real purpose.

Wise Sovereign activated the Truth Book to verify Angel’s claim, and Angel used Nightmare Realm power to conceal his identity as the book revealed Shava’s appearance. Angel wrote that he was only a passerby recording the abandoned waterways, leaving Wise Sovereign with his suspicions unresolved as Black Earl prepared to write as well.

• Wise Sovereign opened the Truth Book and set its only rule as abiding by the book’s original rules.
• Angel secretly channeled Nightmare Realm power into the book, which displayed a figure resembling Shava rather than Angel.
• Angel declined to add a rule, and Wise Sovereign invited Black Earl to join the Truth Book.
• Angel wrote that his arrival was merely a record and that he was a passerby, and the Truth Book confirmed his words were true.
• Black Earl began writing a sentence on the Truth Book.

The Wise Sovereign learned that Black Earl could represent Noah and negotiated safeguards before discussing the Legacy Site with Angel. Angel agreed to answer the Wise Sovereign’s questions in exchange for his notes, then prompted the Wood Spirit hiding in his cane to speak.

• Black Earl wrote that he was Noah, and the Wise Sovereign realized he could represent the Noah Clan.
• Dox joined the Truth Book and wrote a cryptic passage about his connection to Noah, complicating the Wise Sovereign’s deductions.
• The Wise Sovereign declared that he bore Angel and Black Earl no ill will, then promised to restrain himself for five seconds if they fought.
• Angel accepted the Wise Sovereign’s exchange: answers about finding and persuading the Wood Spirit in return for two questions, while asking to borrow his notes.
• Angel asked the Wood Spirit in his cane to explain why it had left with him, and it finally answered with a creak.

Angel explained to Wise Sovereign that the Wood Spirit agreed to leave because Angel promised to reunite it with the original owner of its body. He revealed that the staff was assembled from the Wood Spirit’s recovered original parts, including an ornament bearing Angel’s mentor’s emblem, and left Wise Sovereign understanding the staff’s connection to the Wood Spirit and Angel’s mentor.

• Angel explained that the Wood Spirit wanted to meet the original owner of its original body and had trusted Angel’s promise to take it there.
• Wise Sovereign followed Angel’s clues and realized the staff was the Wood Spirit’s original body.
• Angel explained that the staff’s shaft and vines came from the Wood Spirit, while its head had been reassembled from pieces lost to One-Eyed Wraiths and Xixia.
• Angel told Wise Sovereign he had recovered the ornament because its emblem belonged to his mentor, whose possession he was determined to reclaim.

Angel clarified how he found Wood Spirit and persuaded it to follow him, then revealed that his mentor was Sanders Igulo. Wise Sovereign accepted Angel’s explanations but still doubted whether Angel’s arrival had truly been a coincidence.

• Angel pressured Wood Spirit into describing how One-Eyed Wraiths stole three of its four cherished ornaments, leaving it with one silver ring before it met Xixia.
• Angel explained that Wood Spirit was the staff Sanders had lost as an apprentice, and that it followed him because he promised to reunite it with its former master.
• Angel explained that Wood Spirit had guided him toward the fork in the road and proved in the Truth Book that Wise Sovereign had first alerted him to its suspicious features.
• Wise Sovereign accepted Angel’s answers, then asked to assess Wood Spirit’s former master before deciding whether to let it meet him.
• Angel revealed his mentor was Sanders Igulo and introduced himself as Angel Pat of Savage Cave; Wise Sovereign recognized Sanders but remained uncertain whether Angel’s arrival was coincidental.

Angel and the Black Earl resolved the Wise Sovereign’s suspicions about Angel’s arrival by confirming through the Truth Book that no one had sent him and that he had not known of the woman before reaching Abyss City. The Wise Sovereign then postponed discussing their mission until his confrontation with an unseen opponent ended, and agreed to let Wood Spirit meet Sanders.

• The Black Earl challenged the Wise Sovereign’s claim that Angel’s arrival was no coincidence and asked him to explain the supposed convergence.
• The Wise Sovereign asked Angel to record in the Truth Book that he had not known the woman in the oil painting or been urged to visit the Legacy Site.
• Angel clarified that he and his companions had guessed the woman might be connected to the Mirror Demon God from clues they found, then recorded that he had known nothing of her before arriving in Abyss City.
• The Truth Book confirmed Angel’s statements, and the Wise Sovereign agreed to give him an original alchemy notebook from his collection.
• The Wise Sovereign said his confrontation with an unnamed opponent had begun and that he would discuss the group’s needs after she retreated.
• Angel asked to take Wood Spirit to meet Sanders, and the Wise Sovereign agreed to let Wood Spirit go with him.

Angel secured the Wise Sovereign’s permission for Wood Spirit to leave the underground waterways and meet Sanders, after Wood Spirit explained that it hoped to overcome its fear and promised to return. The Wise Sovereign then proposed a covenant in the Truth Book to ensure Angel protected Wood Spirit, but its reward section was blank.

• The Wise Sovereign agreed to let Wood Spirit visit Sanders rather than risk Sanders coming to Abyss City.
• Wood Spirit spoke aloud, affirmed that it wanted to leave, and explained that it hoped meeting Sanders would help it address its fear of non-human beings.
• Wood Spirit assured the Wise Sovereign that it respected him, understood his care, and would return; the Wise Sovereign accepted its decision.
• The Wise Sovereign told Angel that Wood Spirit could go with him but should return alone, as a sign of its growth.
• Angel asked what conditions the Wise Sovereign required, and the Wise Sovereign produced a Truth Book covenant with severe penalties and no listed rewards.

Angel examined Wise Sovereign’s contract to protect Wood Spirit and questioned its strictest clause, which forbade disclosing matters about Abyss City. Wise Sovereign clarified that Angel’s earlier report to Sanders would not violate the contract, leaving the reward section and any further negotiation unresolved.

• Angel read the contract’s three terms and considered how their broad wording would protect Wood Spirit while restricting disclosures about Abyss City.
• Black Earl judged that Wise Sovereign wanted Angel to form an emotional bond with Wood Spirit and suspected he intended to offer a reward despite leaving that section blank.
• Angel worried that the third clause might punish him for already sharing information about Abyss City in Dream Wilderness.
• Angel explained that he had reported his whereabouts to Sanders using a mini signal tower, and Black Earl described the tower and the Research Institute to Wise Sovereign.
• Wise Sovereign said Angel’s prior disclosure did not fall under the contract, since its terms would apply from the moment it was formed.

Angel questioned the Wise Sovereign about the contract and learned that an unnamed opponent had begun setting obstacles for their journey to the Relic Land. The Wise Sovereign warned that they would face her remaining pieces, and Angel asked whether the strange Dog Hole entrances were among them.

• Angel focused first on when the contract took effect, while the Wise Sovereign mistook his questions for a subtle protest and offered to address the contract's unclear clauses.
• Black Earl reported through the Mind Tether that every Dog Hole he had marked had disappeared, and the Wise Sovereign briefly fell into a strange daze before resuming the discussion.
• The Wise Sovereign warned that an unnamed woman had acted against the group and said he could not interfere with the pieces she had left outside, which they would have to overcome to reach the Relic Land.
• The Wise Sovereign said the woman's motives were tied to her own obsession, noted that the Noah Clan seemed to have forgotten the Relic Land, and promised to explain more after Angel signed the contract.
• Angel asked what the trial would involve and whether the vanished Dog Hole entrances were among the woman's pieces, prompting the Wise Sovereign to mention Little Treasure's earlier discovery of their trail.