Chapter Summaries

Wise Sovereign explained the origins of his pen name and revealed that the group’s likely trial was Nether Servant, the enormous mother of Big One-Eye, Second One-Eye, and Little One-Eye. The group learned they must reach Wise Sovereign’s Hall without harming Nether Servant, but its ability to block an entire passage left them unsure how to proceed.

• Wise Sovereign described Little One-Eye as a mischievous creature with a body, explaining that it and its brothers watched people through their openings.
• Wise Sovereign said Little One-Eye chose his pen name when submitting his research, and Dox blurted out the name Blue Fatty, making Wise Sovereign silently mark him down.
• Wise Sovereign clarified that the One-Eye family came from the Legacy Site, then identified Nether Servant as a larger opening and the likely main trial.
• Wise Sovereign warned that Nether Servant could swallow anything within range regardless of defenses, could not be killed, and should not be harmed because its children would turn against the group.
• Wise Sovereign revealed Nether Servant would not enter his hall but could fill an entire passage, leaving the group to wonder how they could reach the hall.

The group reasoned that the Nether Servant would likely block the only intersection on their route, and Black Earl concluded that Angel’s magic energy array skills might be key to passing it. After learning the Nether Servant had limited movement within the arrays, Angel proposed bypassing it with a Planar Corridor, leaving Wise Sovereign and the others startled by his willingness to skip the test.

• Black Earl inferred that the Nether Servant would likely intercept the group at the route’s only intersection, where they could not detour or retreat.
• Black Earl concluded that Angel’s magic energy array skills might help them pass through the Nether Servant’s territory without harming it.
• Angel learned from Wise Sovereign that the Nether Servant and its children had limited authority to move within the magic energy arrays, while the Nether Servant itself remained restricted.
• Wise Sovereign told the group that the space around the Nether Servant was unstable, ruling out spatial teleportation through its territory.
• Angel asked Wise Sovereign for the spatial coordinates of Wise Sovereign's Hall and proposed using a Planar Corridor to bypass the Nether Servant, surprising the group and Wise Sovereign.

Angel rejected bypassing the trial with the Planar Corridor and proposed studying the Nether Servants’ permissions in the Wise Sovereign’s magic energy array through Little Treasure, Second Treasure, or Big Treasure. Meanwhile, Adanis learned that the Childlike Heart Nether Servant’s investigation had failed, and the servant began reconstructing an image of Angel.

• The Wise Sovereign warned Angel that using the Planar Corridor to skip the trial could expose their alliance and make the Divine Maiden more vigilant.
• Angel thought of Wang Wang’s higher-dimensional Void Traversal, then asked whether Little Treasure, Second Treasure, or Big Treasure could join the trial before the group met the Nether Servants.
• The Wise Sovereign implied that one of the three might appear, and Angel prepared to test how the magic energy array could restrict their movement.
• Adanis questioned the Childlike Heart Nether Servant, who admitted it had been discovered while investigating the destroyed sentry point.
• At Adanis’s request, the Childlike Heart Nether Servant used mirror reconstruction, revealing Angel’s disguised appearance in the mirror.

Adanis learned from the Childlike Heart Nether Servant’s Mirror Replay that a disguised wizard had sealed its mirror and likely destroyed her sentry post. She feared the wizard had come with Noah’s descendant to enter the Legacy Site, while Olao suggested that continually stopping them was not a solution.

• The Childlike Heart Nether Servant replayed its encounter with a red-haired wizard, who sealed the mirror and watched as it broke off its own finger to threaten him.
• Adanis reassured the Childlike Heart Nether Servant, warned it not to mutilate itself again, and sent it to summon Motherly Heart or Maiden Heart to prepare traps.
• Adanis deduced that the disguised wizard understood spatial magic and mirror space and had likely destroyed her sentry post on the Stairway of the Hanging Prison.
• Adanis worried that the wizard had come with Noah’s descendant, whose arrival threatened the present situation at the Legacy Site.
• Olao appeared and told Adanis that constantly stopping them was not really a solution.

Adanis suspected that the secretive wizard had caused Olao to change his stance and ordered the Motherly Heart Nether Servant to stop him and Noah’s descendants from reaching the Legacy Site. She left the Nether Servant with permission to kill them if they resisted, and insisted it personally guard the mission while Big Treasure and Second Treasure might take part.

• Adanis reviewed the Legacy Site’s mirrored scenes and concluded that Olao’s change began after he watched the Childlike Heart Nether Servant replay events involving a spatial apprentice and a disguised wizard.
• The Motherly Heart Nether Servant arrived, and Adanis ordered it to prioritize stopping the disguised wizard and Noah’s descendants from reaching the Legacy Site.
• Adanis commanded the Nether Servant to send anyone it intercepted into the Empty Mirror Sea until their memories were erased, and authorized it to kill them if they resisted fiercely.
• Adanis ordered the Motherly Heart Nether Servant to go personally or with the Maiden Heart Nether Servant, rather than sending the Childlike Heart Nether Servant.
• When the Motherly Heart Nether Servant asked to bring Big Treasure and Second Treasure, Adanis allowed them to attack but ordered the Nether Servant to guard their route or go alone.

Adanis recalled how she had grown hostile toward Noah’s descendants and worried that Olao’s abnormality and the Wise Sovereign’s movements would disrupt her plans. She visited the imprisoned Infant Spirit and offered it freedom in exchange for killing anyone who approached the Slow-Paced Corridor.

• Adanis remembered how she had turned the Clear Sky Poem Room into a Legacy Site and begun exiling Noah’s descendants to the Empty Mirror Sea.
• Adanis concluded that she needed more contingencies because Olao and the Wise Sovereign had introduced new uncertainties.
• Adanis entered the Infant Spirit’s reflected prison, where it shattered another mirror and brought its total to 994.
• Adanis explained that she wanted to use the intelligent Infant Spirit as a weapon, despite its repeated refusal to submit to her.
• Adanis offered the Infant Spirit freedom if it killed any living beings who approached the Slow-Paced Corridor, and the Infant Spirit eagerly accepted the task.

Wise Sovereign explained the contract’s vague restrictions and open-ended reward, and Angel agreed to sign in exchange for information about Abyss City’s experiments, the Serpent-Coiled Awl, and the Source-Worshippers. The contract was signed, leaving Angel poised to learn about secrets Wise Sovereign was forbidden to reveal in full.

• Wise Sovereign explained that the contract’s loose clauses relied largely on Angel’s own judgment, while its blank reward section was limited by what Wise Sovereign could fulfill and the price Angel was willing to pay.
• Angel considered possible rewards and decided to request information about the past rather than more knowledge or alchemy notes.
• Angel privately asked Wise Sovereign about Abyss City’s experiments ten thousand years ago and the Serpent-Coiled Awl, then expanded his request to include the Source-Worshippers.
• Wise Sovereign said he could discuss some Serpent-Coiled Awl-related experiments but was bound by an earlier contract not to reveal information about the core experiments.
• Wise Sovereign wrote “Information” in the reward section and signed the Truth Book contract, and Angel extended his right hand to sign as well.

Angel and the Wise Sovereign formed a contract through the Truth Book, which showed each of them a simulated, specialized version of the other's past. The Wise Sovereign glimpsed Angel's strange blue eyes with Green Patterns, then complained that Angel hid his true appearance.

• Angel used energy bearing the aura of the Nightmare Realm to activate the Truth Book and form a contract with the Wise Sovereign.
• The contract showed Angel a symbolic account of the Wise Sovereign's journey from a Three-Eyed Blue Demon to a sage, leaving Angel worried that the Wise Sovereign might glimpse dangerous secrets in his past.
• The Wise Sovereign watched dark, confusing scenes of Angel's supposed past, first on a castle balcony and then inside a cabinet.
• The Wise Sovereign saw a strange azure eye covered in Green Patterns through a hole, and the contract's images ended as the contract was completed.
• The Wise Sovereign noticed faint Green Patterns in Angel's right eye and asked why he concealed his true appearance, leaving Angel confused.

After the Wise Sovereign warned that the first trial was approaching, he secured confidentiality pledges from Angel’s companions in exchange for truth-bound information about the Legacy Site. Kael’s pledge revealed a mysterious second figure in his energy imprint, leaving the group unsure whether Kael had a divided personality or another soul’s residue.

• The Wise Sovereign told Angel that the contract was formed and that their first trial had arrived.
• A woman’s voice threatened Noah’s descendants and warned the Wise Sovereign to stop prying into the Clear Sky Poem Room; Angel traced her voice to ripples in the fountain outside.
• The Wise Sovereign asked Black Earl, Wai, Dox, and Kael to promise in the Truth Book not to spread word of what happened in Abyss City, offering truth-bound information about the Legacy Site in return.
• As Kael made his pledge, the Truth Book briefly revealed a shadowy figure dressed like him behind his image.
• The Wise Sovereign suggested that the figure could indicate either an independently differentiated personality or residue from a second soul in Kael’s body.

The Wise Sovereign explained that Gray Merchant’s group had entered the Stairway of the Hanging Prison and laid out the trial rules negotiated with the mysterious “her.” Angel was designated to fight, and the group had a little time to study the rules for loopholes before the trial began.

• Angel ruled out a split personality for Kael, while the Wise Sovereign and the others discussed whether Kael’s soul was original and concluded that it did not matter.
• The Wise Sovereign said he could not help with the trial because he had promised “her” to follow the rules she established.
• The Wise Sovereign revealed that Gray Merchant’s group had entered through a hidden passage linking the Stairway of the Hanging Prison to Xixia’s alternate-dimensional space.
• The Wise Sovereign explained that Gray Merchant’s group had six people remaining, including two formal wizards, and outlined rules for prolonged one-on-one fights and separate wizard and apprentice arenas.
• The Wise Sovereign revealed that the third rule required Angel to enter the arena, leaving the group to analyze the rules for exploitable loopholes.

Angel learned that the woman behind the trial was using Gray Merchant’s squad to test their abilities and would tailor later trials to their revealed trump cards. As Gray Merchant’s group pursued Angel’s party through the prison, they searched for pheromones and discussed the memories sealed inside a mirror; outside, Dox assessed which of their two formal wizards Angel should face.

• The Wise Sovereign explained to Angel’s group that the woman could benefit whether Gray Merchant won or lost, and warned them to conceal their strongest abilities.
• Angel asked whether Gray Merchant could be turned against the woman, then exchanged information with the Wise Sovereign, who described Gray Merchant and Wicked Woman.
• Gray Merchant’s squad found an apprentice’s pheromones and tested them against a broken mirror shard, which did not turn blood-red.
• Gray Merchant’s companions discussed how a woman trapped his memories in the mirror, while Gray Merchant insisted he felt relieved without them.
• Gray Merchant ordered Demon Elephant to keep detecting pheromones as the squad descended toward the prison’s lower level.
• After the Wise Sovereign identified Gray Merchant and Wicked Woman as bloodline-side wizards, Dox judged that Angel would fare better against Gray Merchant than Wicked Woman.

Angel and the others discussed the Wheatfield Manifesto and the rivalry between blood-source and pure-blood wizards before examining Gray Merchant’s activated bloodline. The chapter left Dox backing away from his proposed duel after learning how powerful Gray Merchant’s bloodline could become.

• Dox declared that fighting Gray Merchant was a battle of destiny, and Wai explained that Dox’s enthusiasm came from the Wheatfield Manifesto, a complaint by pure-blood wizard Nagil against blood-source wizards.
• Wai explained the three main bloodline-side branches and said blood-source wizards generally had more conflict with modification wizards than with pure-blood wizards.
• Angel asked what bloodline Gray Merchant had, and the Wise Sovereign used Angel’s illusion structure to show Gray Merchant’s crystal-covered initial form.
• Dox asked how many bloodlines Gray Merchant had activated and tried to pass the fight to Black Earl after learning that the displayed form was only Gray Merchant’s initial state.
• Black Earl identified Gray Merchant’s bloodline as the Crystal Ground Lizard and described its advanced stages, including the Gemstone Earth Dragon and possible later dragon bloodlines.
• The Wise Sovereign understood the bloodline’s strength, while Dox’s earlier challenge seemed to have collapsed in the face of Gray Merchant’s formidable advancement path.

Angel and the others prepared to face Gray Merchant’s group, while Kael hoped to enter the Legacy Site and Angel suggested giving an apprentice a wind-element companion. After both groups gathered, the black-robed judge appeared and announced a test: Gray Merchant’s party had to find their hidden opponents.

• Wai exposed Dox’s reliance on intuition, but Black Earl explained that Gray Merchant’s Gemstone Earth Dragon bloodline suppressed Dox’s Sword-backed Sandworm bloodline, and Dox proposed fighting the Wicked Woman instead.
• Kael admitted that he wanted to enter the Legacy Site, and Angel told him it was too early to surrender before asking the Wise Sovereign about a wind-element creature as an apprentice’s companion.
• Gray Merchant, the Wicked Woman, Fen Mo, Shepherd, and the others arrived, and the group identified Ghost Shadow by the man-shaped shadow beneath the pink-haired girl.
• The Wicked Woman attacked the area with bandages to force the hidden outsiders out, but the Wise Sovereign secretly sent energy into the underground magic array.
• A black-robed phantom appeared and identified himself as the trial’s judge, then challenged Gray Merchant’s group to find their hidden opponents for a reward.

The Wise Sovereign had the Gray Merchant, the wicked woman, and the Shepherd search the grounds, using the opportunity to investigate Angel’s spatially infused illusion and learn about their opponents. Angel’s group eventually revealed themselves in the center of the grounds, where Dox and the Gray Merchant began discussing Dox’s reputation.

• Fen Mo questioned the Wise Sovereign’s authority, and he dropped the test while directing her group to find their opponents.
• The Gray Merchant, the wicked woman, and the Shepherd searched the grounds with their distinct abilities but found no one.
• The Wise Sovereign realized Angel’s illusion likely had a spatial nature, while Angel let the search continue so his group could study their opponents.
• Angel decided it was time to meet the others and dispelled the Nightmare Domain hiding his group.
• The groups faced each other at close range, and the Gray Merchant recognized Dox as Red Sword before quoting the titles of two articles Dox had submitted.

Dox recalled his essays about Nagil as Gray Merchant questioned him, while Wise Sovereign revealed that Gray Merchant’s personality had changed because his important memories were sealed in a mirror. Wise Sovereign explained the contest rules and let Angel choose the first match, which Angel decided would be between the wizards.

• Dox remembered writing two essays about Nagil for Light of the Southern Region, and Wai mocked his youthful enthusiasm.
• Gray Merchant asked Dox to resolve his doubts, but Dox refused, and Black Earl ordered the fighting to begin.
• Wise Sovereign explained that the Divine Maiden had imprisoned the person who understood Gray Merchant best, likely sealing Gray Merchant’s memories in a mirror.
• Fen Mo asked Wise Sovereign a question about fairness, earning Gray Merchant the chance to ask where his group’s targets had been hiding.
• Wise Sovereign hinted that the targets had been concealed by an illusion, then explained the contest rules and warned both sides to avoid unnecessary deaths.
• Gray Merchant let Angel choose which matches would begin, and Angel chose the wizards.

The Wise Sovereign transported Angel’s group and the Gray Merchant’s side to the Evil Dragon Arena, a platform surrounded by hungry void Demonic Beasts. After explaining the arena’s rules, the Wise Sovereign had the ground turn white, giving the Gray Merchant’s side the first move.

• The Gray Merchant realized the black-robed referee, the Wise Sovereign, possessed the overwhelming power of a peak third-level wizard, while Fen Mo feared she had offended him.
• The Wise Sovereign used a magic energy array to move both sides into an alternate-space arena, and Angel recognized the platform and noticed it had no magic energy array.
• Angel and the others saw enormous void Demonic Beasts surrounding the arena, and the Wise Sovereign warned Angel to prioritize winning over hiding his trump cards.
• The Wise Sovereign explained the arena’s boundaries and rules, including that leaving the platform or its height limit meant defeat and damaging it required compensation.
• The arena floor settled into white, and the Wise Sovereign announced that the Gray Merchant’s side would choose the first combatant.

Gray Merchant and Wicked Woman discussed their opponents’ leaked information before Wicked Woman entered the arena to fight Dox. During their duel, Wicked Woman revealed that Yuna had once called Dox the most gentlemanly wizard, and Wai recognized Yuna as a former companion from his apprentice days.

• Wicked Woman warned Gray Merchant that the opposing side might know their abilities, so she volunteered to fight first because her modified body made her powers unpredictable.
• Wicked Woman entered the arena, and Dox took the field to face her despite Wai warning him not to let a witch outmaneuver him again.
• Dox attacked before Wise Sovereign declared the battle started, and Wise Sovereign stopped both fighters with a burst of pressure that also dispersed Wicked Woman’s pheromones.
• Once Wise Sovereign announced the battle, Wicked Woman taunted Dox with a story about a witch who had called him the most gentlemanly wizard in the Southern Region.
• Wicked Woman named the witch as Yuna, and Wai told Angel and Kael that Yuna had once traveled with him and Dox on adventures as an apprentice.

Wai recounted how Yuna betrayed Dox during an expedition decades earlier, and the story resurfaced as Dox fought the Wicked Woman. The Wicked Woman invoked Yuna’s name to disrupt Dox and struck him with a crimson spear of light.

• Wai told Kael that Yuna had deceived Dox, stolen an alchemist’s notes, and left him gravely wounded during their expedition.
• Black Earl warned Angel that witches at the upcoming Tea Party might make him a target of public opinion.
• Distracted by Yuna’s name, Dox was knocked from the High Sky, then unleashed his Sword-backed Sandworm bloodline and overwhelmed the Wicked Woman with sword spikes.
• The wounded Wicked Woman laughed, revealed her body covered in old wounds, and called out Yuna’s name as Dox’s sword spikes dwindled.
• The Wicked Woman formed a crimson spear from the blood vitality gathered in her wounds, and Dox lost focus as it struck toward his chest.

Dox was struck down after the Wicked Woman cursed and distracted him, leaving him near death as she prepared to finish him. He activated a mysterious skin scroll Angel had given him, which raised a holy barrier, healed him, and broke the Wicked Woman’s linked curse.

• The Wicked Woman distracted Dox with the call of “Yuna” and pierced his chest with a blood-red spear of light.
• The Wicked Woman formed ten more spears to kill Dox, while Black Earl refused to intervene because doing so would break the duel’s rules.
• Dox drove a sword spine into his chest and pulled free the skin scroll Angel had given him.
• The scroll raised a barrier of light around Dox, restored his body, spirit, mana, and Inspiration, and repelled the Wicked Woman’s spears.
• The Wicked Woman’s eye suffered backlash as her linked curse broke, while Dox and the others recognized the barrier’s energy as mysterious power.

Dox recovered after activating Angel’s Sunlight Sanctuary, but learned that using the rare magic-pattern hide scroll would leave him owing a steep price. As Wicked Woman transformed and attacked with her full power, Angel warned Dox that the sanctuary could weaken under heavy assaults, leaving him to decide how to fight back.

• Gray Merchant declared that Wicked Woman had lost the advantage after Dox recovered and her curse backfired against the mysterious hide scroll.
• Gray Merchant explained that Dox’s use of the scroll could attract dangerous attention, while Dox realized Angel had warned him that using it would carry a price.
• Dox asked whether the scroll could be used infinitely, and Angel told him that one use remained.
• Wicked Woman unleashed her bloodline and transformed into a monstrous mass of flesh before charging at Dox.
• Angel urged Dox to end the fight quickly and explained that Sunlight Sanctuary’s defense and restorative effects would weaken under heavy attacks.
• Wicked Woman’s assault failed to breach the sanctuary, and Angel advised Dox not to hide behind it but to take the initiative.