Chapter Summaries

Olao agreed to follow Angel and cooperate with his research, but Adanis refused to go with him and instead arranged to follow Black Earl and the Noah Clan. With Olao and Adanis choosing separate paths, Augustine prepared to dissolve Olao’s contract and said farewell.

• After speaking with Augustine, Olao agreed to follow Angel and asked that Adanis be allowed to accompany him.
• Adanis refused Olao’s request, saying she would choose her own path and go to the Noah Clan.
• Adanis offered the Noah Clan limited assistance and agreed with Black Earl that he would take her to the Source World and help her recover the part she had lost.
• Olao accepted Adanis’s choice and told her she would always be welcome to return to his home.
• The Alchemy Puppet announced that it was nearly out of energy and would help dissolve Olao’s contract after a final farewell.

Augustine removed Olao’s contract, allowing him to evolve into a Self-Walking Mirror and retreat into dormancy inside the bronze mirror. Adanis refused help so Augustine could conserve his strength to speak with Black Earl, who asked how to reach the Source World and learned of several possible routes.

• Augustine dissolved Olao’s contract shackles with golden ink, while Adanis rejected his help and said she would remove her remaining contract herself.
• Adanis explained that she wanted Augustine to save his strength to answer Black Earl’s questions, and Augustine agreed to speak with him after finishing Olao’s contract.
• Olao transformed into a Self-Walking Mirror and entered the bronze mirror to adapt to his new body; Angel put the mirror away.
• Augustine assessed Black Earl’s potential and advised him to visit the Noah Clan in the Source World, while warning him not to treat every choice as exclusive.
• Black Earl asked how to reach the Source World, and Augustine began listing four methods, including flying through the void or using Phase Gates.
• Angel concealed his unease when Augustine mentioned a Phase Gate on the Barren Face, since he knew it was the Skeleton gate on Yuantan Continent under Wodell’s control.

Augustine answered Black Earl’s questions about reaching the Source World, Abyss City, and the Noah Clan before his consciousness left the Alchemy Puppet. With Adanis demanding Olao’s true body, Angel produced a bronze mirror, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Augustine explained several possible routes to the Source World, though Black Earl saw none he could use.
• Black Earl asked Augustine about Abyss City, Naraka, the Noah Clan, and his cultivation; Augustine gave guarded answers and advice.
• Augustine privately addressed Angel, then his remaining energy dissipated and the Alchemy Puppet fell still.
• Adanis demanded that Angel return Olao’s true body, while Black Earl challenged her commitment to joining the Noah Clan.
• Angel interrupted Black Earl and took a bronze mirror from his bracelet, asking Adanis if it was what she wanted.

Angel handed Adanis the bronze mirror and explained that he trusted Olao to choose whom to follow after he awakened, leaving Adanis questioning her own hostility. Black Earl redirected the conversation to the Twin Mirror, and Angel used an immersive illusion to explain its history and why Augustine had entrusted Olao to him.

• Adanis took the bronze mirror from Angel, then accused him of treating Olao carelessly despite having demanded the mirror herself.
• Angel told Adanis he had given Olao to her because he trusted her and would respect Olao's choice after he awakened.
• Black Earl asked Angel what he and Augustine meant by making the bronze mirror a true Twin Mirror, and Angel agreed to explain.
• Angel drew Adanis and the others into an illusion and recounted the Twin Mirror's history, easing Adanis's suspicion as her curiosity grew.
• Adanis learned that Augustine had entrusted Olao to Angel because Angel was an alchemist capable of giving Olao a chance to reach Adegou's level.

Adanis returned Olao to Angel and gave him the Gleaming Mirror Casket, asking him to help keep her in Olao’s thoughts while they were apart. Angel agreed, then hinted that he wanted something in exchange, leaving Adanis to ask what he wanted.

• Black Earl reflected on the Noah Clan of the Source World and decided that investing in Angel was more promising than relying on the distant clan.
• Adanis placed Olao, in his bronze mirror form, in a brocade-lined box and handed it to Angel without protest.
• Adanis explained that the Gleaming Mirror Casket could store memories from the Empty Mirror Sea and extract recent scenes reflected by surfaces connected to the Mirror Realm.
• Adanis privately asked Angel to mention her to Olao and help keep their feelings from fading during their separation, and Angel agreed.
• Angel proposed doing more for Adanis in exchange for additional payment, prompting her to ask what he wanted.

Wise Sovereign monitored Angel and the others as they passed an unexplained threat in the Slow-Walking Corridor and entered Clear Sky Poem Room unharmed. Adanis later visited Wise Sovereign, revealed that the group remained inside, and asked to borrow Sweet Dream.

• Wise Sovereign detected a powerful abnormal fluctuation ahead of Angel and the others and prepared to intervene if they were in danger.
• Angel and Black Earl approached the fluctuation with Dox and the apprentices behind them, but it drew in its energy and let them pass without a fight.
• Second Treasure told Wise Sovereign that Adanis had opened a passage to the Mirror Realm, confirming the fluctuation was likely a trap she had set.
• Adanis contacted Wise Sovereign, who deduced that Angel and the others were safe and still inside Clear Sky Poem Room.
• Wise Sovereign and Adanis discussed their reasons for staying in the Underground Waterway and the possibility of leaving, before Adanis asked to borrow Sweet Dream.

The Wise Sovereign questioned Adanis about borrowing Sweet Dream and inferred that Angel had brought about major changes in the Clear Sky Poem Room, possibly freeing Olao from his contract. Adanis revealed that Angel would soon meet the Wise Sovereign, and Angel's group appeared outside the hall as the Wise Sovereign went to greet them.

• The Wise Sovereign refused to lend Sweet Dream to Adanis because he had promised it to Angel.
• Adanis offered to return some of the magic energy array's authority, but the Wise Sovereign suspected she planned to leave with Olao and refused.
• The Wise Sovereign questioned whether Adanis would take the Nether Servant with her, and Adanis realized he had guessed part of her plan.
• Adanis admitted that Angel had sent her to borrow Sweet Dream and told the Wise Sovereign that Angel would meet him soon.
• Angel's group appeared outside the hall, and the Wise Sovereign rose and walked toward them.

Angel used Adanis’s request to borrow Sweet Dream to signal that upheavals in Clear Sky Poem Room prevented him from sharing everything, while giving the Wise Sovereign a chance to infer what he could. The Wise Sovereign agreed to lend Sweet Dream and accepted Angel’s offer to answer what he could, leaving their questioning about Clear Sky Poem Room ready to begin.

• Angel reasoned that Adanis’s appearance would alert the Wise Sovereign to major changes in Clear Sky Poem Room and help him accept a limited account rather than a detailed one.
• The Wise Sovereign asked about Olao and his undone contract, but Angel indicated that he could not answer freely without Adanis’s approval and the Wise Sovereign’s concession.
• Dox broke the tense silence, and the Black Earl reflected on how difficult true freedom was while Wai teased Dox about it.
• The Wise Sovereign agreed to lend Angel Sweet Dream and asked whether Angel would speak freely or answer questions.
• Angel offered to tell the Wise Sovereign everything he could and invited Adanis to warn him about anything she believed should not be said.
• The Wise Sovereign declined to use the Truth Book, saying he was willing to trust Angel, and invited him to begin answering questions.

Wise Sovereign questioned Angel about the Clear Sky Poem Room and inferred that a mysterious person had helped cause its changes, while Angel withheld details. Angel then borrowed Sweet Dream to test it with the Dream Conch, and Wise Sovereign warned him about the object’s dangerous effects.

• Angel told Wise Sovereign that the Flower-Holding Infant Spirit had not attacked them, and Adanis confirmed his account while concealing her own uncertainty.
• Angel explained how Olao had valued him, and Wise Sovereign gradually inferred that Angel and a mysterious person had caused the changes in the Clear Sky Poem Room.
• After Angel fell silent and Adanis blocked further questions, Wise Sovereign thanked him and asked whether he wanted to borrow Sweet Dream; Angel chose to take it immediately.
• As they went to Wise Sovereign’s lounge, Wise Sovereign explained that Sweet Dream could prevent users from waking on their own, might become impossible to escape after a day, and could cause addiction.
• Wise Sovereign revealed that he had used Sweet Dream more than thirty times and warned Angel that addiction could lead to eternal sleep, though he doubted Angel would become addicted after only a few uses.

Angel estimated Sweet Dream’s Hupa Coefficient at between 25 and 39 after weighing its negative effects against its powerful ability to restore any kind of energy. The Wise Sovereign then revealed that reaching Sweet Dream required a key shared between him and Gengar or Second Treasure, and handed Angel his part of the key.

• Angel compared Sweet Dream’s negative effects with other mysterious objects and estimated its Hupa Coefficient at about 25 before accounting for its positive effects.
• The Wise Sovereign explained that Sweet Dream could rapidly restore physical strength, mental energy, and any kind of energy, even when ordinary restoration was impossible.
• Angel concluded that Sweet Dream’s full Hupa Coefficient was likely between 25 and 39 and noted its broad usefulness and strategic value.
• The Wise Sovereign opened a dog-hole passage, where Gengar thanked him for keeping his promise not to harm Mother.
• The Wise Sovereign explained that Laplace had split the key to Sweet Dream’s mirror-space between him and Gengar or Second Treasure, then gave Angel the tangible key earring.

Angel worried that Sweet Dream’s location in the Mirror Realm would prevent him from testing whether the Dream Conch could draw it into the Dream Wilderness, so he asked Wise Sovereign to contact Laplace for help. He then questioned Wise Sovereign about the Panic Realm and learned that an old friend who survived the upheaval in Abyss City might know its history.

• Wise Sovereign gave Angel a key to the stable mirror space where Sweet Dream was sealed and assured him that research instruments could work there.
• Angel realized that Sweet Dream’s location outside the Southern Region might make it impossible to pull into the Dream Wilderness, and he sought another solution.
• Angel asked Wise Sovereign to contact Laplace, who had discovered, gathered, and sealed Sweet Dream, and Wise Sovereign sent Gengar to relay the request through Second Treasure.
• Angel asked Wise Sovereign about the Panic Realm, including its history, resources, and the wizard city said to have risen there during the Fallen Gold Era.
• Wise Sovereign said he knew little about the Panic Realm but described an old friend who had survived Abyss City’s upheaval and whose soul remained in a Soul-Soothing Stone.

The Wise Sovereign woke his old friend Caroline, the Flower of Naraka, so she could answer Angel’s questions about the Pan-Plane. Caroline became interested after learning Angel had met Book Elder and agreed to hear his questions.

• The Wise Sovereign brought out a statue carved from white Soul-Soothing Stone and explained that Caroline’s soul resided inside it.
• Caroline awakened, demanded to know whether Naraka had returned, and argued with the Wise Sovereign before asking if Angel was Naraka’s descendant.
• The Wise Sovereign introduced Angel and explained that he needed Caroline’s help with questions about the Pan-Plane.
• Caroline emerged from the statue after learning Angel had met Book Elder, whom she respected.
• Caroline agreed to hear Angel’s questions because of his connection to Book Elder.

Angel asked Caroline about awakened demons and the Panic Realm, learning that demons who awaken a second time become Transcenders, also called Liberators, and regain their conscience. Caroline described the Panic Realm as trapped in a tragic cycle, and the chapter ended with Angel asking whether the Frost Moon Alliance was right to call it barren.

• Angel told Caroline that he had raised Ermi, and Caroline wondered whether Angel had ties to the Liberators.
• Caroline explained that awakened demons could undergo a second awakening, called transcendence, and become Liberators who regained their intelligence and conscience.
• Caroline described the Panic Realm as a bleak tragedy in which demons could awaken, harm those they once protected, and later confront the consequences after regaining their conscience.
• Angel questioned who had designed the Panic Realm’s tragic cycle, and Caroline said she did not know whether it was the world’s will or a powerful being.
• Angel urged Caroline not to abandon the search for meaning and the end of existence, prompting her to reflect before joking with him.
• Angel asked Caroline whether the Frost Moon Alliance was right that the Panic Realm was barren.

Caroline explained why she ranked the Frost Moon Alliance’s founding and the severing of the passage to the Source World among history’s foolish acts. She also revealed the dangers behind the Panic Realm’s supposedly barren reputation, leaving Angel and the Wise Sovereign with a clearer sense of its threat.

• Caroline said the Frost Moon Alliance was formed from wizard organizations that had once served rival Source World factions, making the alliance vulnerable when those factions returned.
• Caroline named severing the passage between the Source World and the Southern Region as the greatest foolish act because it isolated the Southern Region and limited its opportunities.
• Angel asked whether the Frost Moon Alliance’s claims about the Panic Realm were accurate, and Caroline explained that its materials carried deep world imprints that quickly faded outside the realm.
• Caroline said Source World wizards had built cities in the Panic Realm to process its materials, but the cities crashed and more than ten Legends died.
• Caroline said three Liberated Ones had led countless awakened demonkin in the assault, and she suspected the Source World abandoned retaliation because the Panic Realm was too dangerous to invade.

Angel questioned Caroline about the Liberators’ stance and learned why they fought wizards and why they did not simply protect the natives from awakened demonfolk. He remained conflicted about whether to help Ermi undergo a second awakening, while Caroline shared that she would rather Ermi remain an awakened demonfolk than become a Liberator.

• Caroline explained that Liberators had varied, shifting stances, but their attacks on wizard cities aligned with the Panic Realm’s hostility toward outsiders.
• Angel agreed that the world will likely drove the Liberators’ resistance, then asked why Liberators did not control awakened demonfolk to protect ordinary natives.
• Caroline said Liberators’ past violence made natives distrust them, though their existence had also helped prevent fiends from devouring everyone.
• Angel admitted that Ermi seemed to be approaching a second awakening and that he was unsure whether to help, given the consequences for Ermi’s freedom and stance.
• Caroline advised Angel that Ermi’s awakening was a distant possibility, then said she would prefer Ermi to remain an awakened demonfolk rather than join the sorrowful Liberators.

Angel discussed the risks and consequences of Ermi’s possible second awakening with Caroline, then learned that Laplace had agreed to meet him in the Mirror Realm. Before Angel left, the Wise Sovereign asked about Naraka and learned that he was alive, though his return and identity remained uncertain.

• Caroline warned Angel that Ermi’s second awakening would bring little immediate strength but could make Ermi dangerous and expose Angel to people seeking Liberators.
• Big Treasure arrived to guide Angel to the Mirror Realm, while Caroline discovered Second Treasure was hiding from her and went to find him.
• The Wise Sovereign explained Caroline’s long history of teaching the One-Eye Family, then Caroline returned briefly after seeing Adanis outside with a group of people.
• Big Treasure reported that Laplace had agreed to Angel’s request and would follow his aura to find him in the Mirror Realm; Angel decided to notify the others before entering.
• Angel told the Wise Sovereign that Augustine had mentioned Naraka, and confirmed that Naraka was alive but might not return as the person the Wise Sovereign remembered.

Wise Sovereign questioned whether Naraka would return with his original intentions intact, while Angel prepared to enter the Mirror Realm to research Sweet Dream. The chapter left Angel and Gastly ready to travel to Sweet Dream’s location, with Dangros and Angel’s spatial tools permitted to accompany them.

• Wise Sovereign reflected on Naraka’s long absence and worried that the outside world might have changed him, but still hoped he would return without betraying his companions or Caroline’s love.
• At the Clear Sky Poem Room, Adanis barred Gengar from entering directly, so Angel concealed it with a mist illusion and guided it inside as a sealed mirror.
• Angel offered to leave Olao with Adanis, but she refused and chose to leave him with Angel for now.
• Angel brought Gastly into the Geometric Lock, then asked it to open a mirror passage to Sweet Dream using Wise Sovereign’s key.
• Gastly assured Angel that spatial tools and Dangros could enter its mirror space, where they would be safe so long as they did not use energy above the wizard level.

Angel entered the Mirror Realm with Dangros and examined its energies, discovering that he could only faintly sense the Dream Wilderness there. Gengar led them through its stable mirror space and explained how mirror-dwellers used Aggregation Energy to create and preserve spaces.

• Dangros chose to accompany Angel into the Mirror Realm, and Angel stepped through the mirror with Gengar.
• Angel found that his magic worked normally but that his connection to the Dream Wilderness had faded to a faint thread.
• Gengar transformed into Big Treasure at Angel's direction, then showed Angel the bright, gas-lit space it had created.
• Gengar explained that the space and its staircase came from a reflected city, with the staircase modified to lead toward Sweet Dream.
• Gengar explained that Aggregation Energy let mirror-dwellers solidify reflected spaces, which were still vulnerable to the Mirror Realm's frequent cycles of birth and destruction.

Angel followed Gengar through Silent Void, the vast space between the Mirror Realm’s reflected spaces, and learned about the Empty Mirror Sea beneath their aerial corridor. As they reached a newly revealed branch descending toward the sea, Gengar explained that it was the corridor’s main purpose.

• Gengar led Angel through the mist into Silent Void and explained that its aerial corridor connected mirror spaces across the Mirror Realm.
• Angel saw the luminous Empty Mirror Sea below, and Gengar described its reflected daylight scenes and the Tidal Surge Calamity it could unleash.
• Angel learned that the outer reaches were unusually stable because aggregation force was weak, which kept mirror creatures away.
• Gengar explained why the One-Eye Family could remain in the outer reaches and why Nether Servant and Second Treasure had no branches connected to the corridor.
• At a fork, Gengar showed Angel a new branch descending toward the Empty Mirror Sea and said it was the main reason the corridor had been built.

Angel followed Gengar through the Air Corridor to Paradise Lost, where he reunited with Laplace and entered the dreamlike garden. Laplace agreed to let him release Swift Spirit to investigate the garden’s strange colored winds, leaving their exchange of favors open for later.

• Gengar explained that the side path along the Empty Mirror Sea used the Wise Sovereign’s special eyes to track Hollow Men and search for other unusual things.
• Angel and Gengar reached Paradise Lost, where Laplace appeared and confirmed that she had chosen its name from a piece of mirror memory.
• Laplace took Angel through the archway while Gengar chose to remain outside, and her silver hair protected him from the pressure of space.
• Angel arrived in a garden filled with colorful winds that caused plants and petals to cycle through growth and renewal.
• Laplace explained that she would keep track of their questions and requests to determine a later equivalent exchange, then allowed Angel to release Swift Spirit without counting it as a request.