Chapter Summaries

Angel weighed whether to leave Sky Mechanical City or remain for the Purification Garden, whose unusual opening might conceal both danger and opportunity. He chose to stay, worked on his Fear Spell, and was summoned by Steward Kaza to meet Lord Midora.

• Angel reflected on his weakness and decided the Purification Garden could help him address his physical deficiencies, despite Shadow's warning that its opening was peculiar.
• Shadow explained that Sky Mechanical City was sending ten gifted apprentices into the Purification Garden, suggesting the garden held a way to survive and perhaps a great opportunity.
• Angel told Shadow he would remain in Sky Mechanical City, and Shadow advised him to stay in the fortress while he investigated the garden.
• Angel spent the following week completing his paper calculations for the Fear Spell and prepared to build its cantrip model.
• Steward Kaza arrived after midnight and told Angel that Lord Midora was waiting to see him.

Angel met the master alchemist Midora, who examined Prelude of Reincarnation and learned about its mysterious power. Midora promised to discuss alchemy with Angel at the Potion Hut, and Shadow believed his support could help lift Angel’s confinement order and protect him from Mentor.

• Shadow explained that Midora was a respected master alchemist who could influence Mentor, then led Angel to meet him.
• Midora asked to inspect Prelude of Reincarnation, and Angel agreed after Midora offered to grant him a request.
• Midora examined Angel’s spatial bracelet, learned Angel had refined it himself, and praised its complex magic energy array.
• Midora identified a mysterious effect in the gun’s bullets, returned the weapon, and respected Angel’s privacy by avoiding questions about its specific effects.
• Midora departed with the burly man and invited Angel to visit the Potion Hut, while Shadow said Midora’s support could help lift Angel’s confinement order.
• Angel returned to his bedroom wondering who the familiar-looking burly man was.

Midora learned that Angel might be Sanders’s disciple and moved to protect him from Bogula, while Sabo went to warn Bogula. Elsewhere, Pride prepared a milestone issue of Sky of Truth, hoping it would secure his future as editor-in-chief.

• Midora told Sabo he valued Angel’s talent and would invite him to the potion cottage rather than seize his alchemical legacy.
• Sabo remembered seeing Angel aboard the Bauhinia and concluded that Angel had likely become Sanders’s disciple.
• Midora learned Sanders had arrived in Sky Mechanical City, ordered Sabo to explain the situation to Bogula, and left to bring Angel to safety.
• Pride arrived at the Sky of Truth offices, where Jolin gave him the sample issue he had helped prepare as editor-in-chief.

Pride and Jolin reviewed a sample issue featuring two sensational submissions by Your Stone Grandpa and approved adding a portrait of the youth linked to Bogula. Meanwhile, Sanders met his old friend Kant Like Night in Sky Mechanical City, where they discussed the Purification Garden and Sanders wondered whether Angel would arrive.

• Pride praised Your Stone Grandpa's exclusive article about Isabella and decided to keep the questionable gossip about Bogula's mysterious alchemist rather than cut it.
• Jolin brought Pride a portrait of the handsome youth, and Pride approved adding it to the article.
• Apprentices outside Sky Mechanical City's sealed tower speculated about why Southern Region wizards had gathered there until the doors opened.
• Sanders met Kant Like Night, who invited him to bring Angel to visit, but Sanders said he did not know whether his disciple had arrived.
• Sanders and Kant discussed the Purification Garden's reserved places and the danger awaiting apprentices before Sanders noticed a golden head in the crowd.

Sanders discovered that Angel had been made into one of Bogula’s magic puppets and set out to find the red-haired wizard. Meanwhile, Sabo was diverted to stop two powerful apprentices, then returned to find Sanders and Bogula fighting near the Mechanical Tower.

• Sanders read an article about Angel in Sky of Truth, lost control of his shadow and nearly killed the apprentices nearby, then withdrew the shadow after Kant called to him.
• Sanders dismissed the dark divine will and flew back into the Mechanical Tower to find a red-haired brat.
• Sabo left to deal with a man and a winged woman who were fighting in the main city district and had defeated numerous apprentices.
• Sabo overpowered the pair, but the organization ordered him to bring them back unharmed after identifying them as the Child of the Ocean and a Luminous Body.
• Sabo returned to the Mechanical Tower and learned that Lord Phantom Demon had begun fighting Bogula.

Sanders defeated Bogula and demanded to know what had happened to Angel, while Bogula claimed he had turned the apprentice into a magical puppet. Sanders learned that Angel was safe and agreed to leave Bogula alive as he went to meet him.

• Sanders overwhelmed Bogula with his nightmare steed and demanded that he return Angel.
• Bogula claimed Angel had been refined into a magical puppet, and Sanders nearly killed him despite warnings from Kant and Rosen.
• Sanders realized Bogula was lying about Angel's soul, trapped him in an illusion realm, and agreed to let Rosen take him to Bogula's residence.
• Sabo broke through the defensive line and told Sanders that Angel was unharmed and discussing alchemy with Midora at the Potion Hut.
• Sanders left Bogula confined in the illusion realm and asked Sabo to take him to Angel.

Midora taught Angel about potion studies and showed him the mysterious potion Gaze of the Sages, explaining how mysterious potions worked. Their conversation ended when a handsome man appeared in the doorway, leaving Angel facing an unexpected visitor.

• Midora brought Angel to the Potion Hut and spent the night discussing alchemy and potion studies with him.
• Midora invited Angel to use his library and explained that he was trying to make amends before Angel learned about Bogula's treatment of him.
• Midora showed Angel the mysterious potion Gaze of the Sages and explained its unusual way of being activated by sight.
• Midora answered Angel's questions about mystery and warned that mysterious objects might not be useful or usable by humans.
• Yeliya brought Tuya and milk-cream-filled bread into the hut, and a handsome man suddenly appeared in the doorway.

Sanders reunited with Angel in Sky Mechanical City, publicly declared his protection of his disciple, and took him to his estate after Bogula’s attack was stopped. Sanders then brought Angel to Gravity Garden, where their reunion continued.

• Sanders arrived at Potion Hut and reunited with Angel, while Midora praised Angel’s alchemy talent before the watching wizards.
• Sanders led Angel away from Potion Hut, but Bogula attacked them with a massive fist and left a crater in the ground.
• Rosen restrained Bogula and apologized to Sanders on his behalf, after which Bogula declared that he would go to Myriad Sounds Demon Abyss.
• Sanders brought Angel to his estate, introduced him to the mechanical butler Number One, and granted him second-level authority.
• Sanders transported Angel from the study to an open-air library and identified it as Gravity Garden.

Angel reunited with Sanders in Gravity Garden and recounted how he had traveled through the Fairy Tale World and become entangled with Isabella. Sanders learned that Isabella had returned as a remnant soul and began considering the mysteries surrounding her and the Rainbow Dragonfly passage.

• Sanders examined Angel and praised his rapid cultivation to peak Level Two Apprentice without potions, then gave him a copy of Sky of Truth.
• Angel read the magazine’s speculative report about Bogula turning him into a magic puppet and blamed its author, Your Stone Grandpa, whom he suspected was Talos.
• Sanders asked about Angel’s recent injuries, and Angel explained that Isabella had hurt him after he fell into the Fairy Tale World.
• Angel described his journey from the Planar Corridor through Underground Wasteland Village and Watergrass, concealing Dodolo’s origins while recounting how he met him.
• Sanders inferred that the Rainbow Dragonfly nest connected the passage to the Nightmare Realm and suspected Isabella’s remnant soul had become independent because her main body had weakened.

Sanders investigated why Angel had cultivated so quickly in the Planar Corridor and concluded that the Nightmare Realm’s aura had accelerated his progress. He warned Angel to keep Desolate Village secret, identified Twilight as the one who had pushed him into the corridor, and then received Kant of Night, the head of House of Lilith.

• Sanders tested Angel’s cultivation in a Planar Corridor and found that its thin primal magic did not increase Angel’s speed.
• Sanders concluded that the passage to Desolate Village had accelerated Angel’s cultivation through its connection to the Nightmare Realm, and ordered him to keep its location secret.
• Sanders said he would investigate Desolate Village with Angel later and told him he could decide whether to return home to see his enlightenment mentor.
• Sanders confirmed that Twilight had pushed Angel into the Planar Corridor, and Angel vowed to grow stronger and remember his grievance.
• Sanders began to discuss the unusual Purification Garden, but a visitor arrived and he warned Angel not to mention the Nightmare Realm or Nightmare Domain outside the Gravity Garden.
• Sanders introduced the visitor to Angel as Kant of Night, the current head of House of Lilith.

Angel met Kant of the House of Lilith, who gave him Soft-State Worm eggs and a worm nest in exchange for a future favor. Kant’s apprentice, Qili, arrived, and Angel was introduced to her.

• Angel recognized Kant as a powerful wizard and learned that Kant admired his alchemy and character.
• Kant offered Angel Soft-State Worm eggs, but Sanders showed Kant that Angel’s bracelet could make him nearly invisible and argued the gift was not enough for a favor.
• Kant added a rare worm nest to his gift, and Sanders told Angel to accept both items.
• Kant noticed Qili approaching on a broom with a lantern and a black cat.
• Qili entered through the window and tried to leave, but Kant reprimanded her and she returned to greet Sanders before sitting beside him.

Kant introduced Qili to Angel and explained her withdrawn nature and the tragedy behind her family’s death. Before leaving, Qili agreed to protect Angel in the Purification Garden; later that night, a streak of fire arrived at Flowering Garden as Angel examined the boxes Kant had given him.

• Kant introduced sixteen-year-old Qili, a level-two fire apprentice, and privately explained that she had witnessed her parents’ murder and had been diagnosed with a cerebral lesion.
• Sanders and Kant discussed how 'Sea God' Florence of Deep Sea Song had killed Qili’s parents, Heidi Roland and Shelley, ten years earlier.
• Kant said Qili and Angel would both enter the Purification Garden, and Qili agreed to cover Angel after seeing the Soft-State Worm eggs in the boxes.
• Kant and Qili left for Lilith Cabin, while Sanders teased Angel about relying on Qili for protection.
• A streak of fire arrived at Flowering Garden, and Angel took out Kant’s two wooden boxes before resting.

Angel placed the Soft-State Worm egg in the Insect Nest before Qili unexpectedly entered his room and warned him not to interfere with her or her mentor. The next morning, Sanders tested Angel’s Nightmare Domain, then brought him to a laboratory and prepared an experiment requiring Angel to leave his body.

• Angel learned that the Soft-State Worm egg might hatch into a valuable Shapeshifting Softworm and placed it in the Insect Nest to preserve its vitality.
• Qili climbed through Angel’s balcony window with her Black Cat, Luna, and warned him not to seek her out or disturb her mentor before the Purification Garden opened.
• Qili ordered Angel not to fail the alchemy task her mentor had assigned him, then flew away into the rain.
• Sanders summoned Angel to the Gravity Garden and had him use his Nightmare Domain in a fight; Sanders praised his steady progress but urged him to develop his own approach.
• Sanders brought Angel to his laboratory, placed him in a glass chamber filled with nourishing liquid, and told him to leave his body.

Sanders tested Angel’s Soul-Severing Murmur and Gravity Veins, then explained that the Purification Garden was about to advance into the middle rank. In an illusion of a meeting at the Mechanical Tower, Angel learned that Sky Mechanical City planned to offer wizard organizations future entry slots in exchange for signing contracts.

• Sanders concluded that the Mist Seeds’ Soul-Severing Murmur used a mysterious mechanism outside the wizard system and considered entering the Source World.
• Sanders assessed Angel’s strengthened soul and explained that Angel could now use the Gravity Veins’ power, though he still needed to practice developing it.
• After Angel asked about Qili and the Purification Garden, Sanders showed him an illusion of a meeting led by Rosen at the Mechanical Tower.
• Rosen announced that the Purification Garden had reached the late stage of Level 3 and could advance into the middle rank with assistance.
• Rosen offered each wizard organization two fixed slots whenever the advanced Purification Garden opened and presented contracts for the organizations to sign.

Angel witnessed Rosen persuade the wizards to accept a contract requiring the Purification Garden to sacrifice ninety percent of its apprentices in exchange for advancement and the promise of power. Sanders agreed after negotiating more places for large organizations, and Angel returned from the vision to consider the reality of the sacrifice.

• Angel read the contract and realized that advancing the Purification Garden required sacrificing ninety percent of the participating apprentices.
• Kant objected that the deaths would devastate small organizations, but Rosen argued that survivors would gain access to the Garden’s purification power and a chance to comprehend its laws.
• Kant stopped opposing the proposal, and Sanders accepted it while demanding more places for large wizard organizations.
• After a day and night of negotiations, Rosen set minimum allocations of ten places for large organizations and four for medium-sized ones, with smaller groups to be considered individually.
• Angel returned to the dining table and asked Sanders whether another species could be sacrificed instead; Sanders asked whether that would make any difference.

Angel trained in illusion arts with Sanders while preparing to enter the Purification Garden, developing a powerful Nightmare Fear Spell. Shadow visited to warn him that the Garden’s competitors included peak apprentices capable of challenging wizards, and urged him to survive by avoiding fights he could not win.

• Angel told Sanders he would enter the Purification Garden and survive until the end, and Sanders began training him.
• Angel recreated Sanders’s Mechanical Conference illusion and briefly used Nightmare Illusion to hijack Sanders’s emotions, earning his praise.
• Angel mastered the Fear Spell, which Sanders said became a powerful Nightmare Fear Spell when combined with Angel’s talent.
• Angel began studying Flame Formation Illusory Slaughter as an offensive art before the Purification Garden opened.
• Shadow visited Angel, explained that Bogula had left the Mechanical City, and warned that the Purification Garden’s competitors included powerful peak apprentices and some wizard-level tools.

Angel went to Champagne Road to investigate someone for Shadow and encountered a battle between a little girl’s giant and a black-haired youth. The youth revealed that he belonged to the Extreme Sect and intended to kill the giant, leaving Angel wary of the dangerous conflict.

• Shadow told Angel that Gloria had likely left with Felicia, then sent him the address of Kihara Bar on Champagne Road.
• Angel traveled through Mechanical City’s tense, heavily monitored streets and found a giant and a black-haired youth fighting at the entrance to Champagne Road.
• The youth’s sword slowly wounded the giant, while the little girl directed the giant to strike the ground and injure people in nearby buildings.
• Angel overheard guard apprentices say they would not interfere because of one combatant’s extraordinary identity.
• The little girl identified Ganke as a registered traveler and protested the youth’s attempt to kill him, but the youth threatened them both and identified his cause with the Extreme Sect.

Saladin attacked Shan and her hulking companion Ganke, but Nausicaa and Xiliu rescued them with a mist that kept Saladin trapped until his madness passed. Afterward, Saladin sensed the Outer Eye hidden on Angel and warned him against contact with creatures from another world.

• Angel realized that the Extreme Sect might threaten his plans to resolve Jon’s origins, even if Jon was registered.
• Saladin overwhelmed Shan and Ganke, severing one of Ganke’s arms and leaving Shan unable to fight.
• Nausicaa pulled Shan from Saladin’s sword, while Xiliu’s mist and Water Prison let the women escape with Ganke.
• Xiliu fell asleep, but Saladin remained inside the mist until it dispersed and his reason returned.
• Saladin noticed Angel’s Outer Eye, warned him not to approach creatures from another world, and left.

Angel realized the Outer Eye's otherworldly aura could expose it to the Extreme Sect and went to Kihara Bar to find Nausicaa. After using Nightmare Illusion to stop two apprentices who confronted him, he reunited with Nausicaa and left with her to talk privately.

• Angel recalled the Outer Eye's unusual properties and decided he needed to conceal its otherworldly aura from the Extreme Sect.
• Angel went to Kihara Bar and asked the bartender to take him to Youthful Grace Hall, but the bartender refused without an invitation card.
• Angel spotted Nausicaa at the bar and approached her, while Xue Na tried to block his way and accused him of belonging to the Extreme Sect.
• Angel struck Xue Na with Nightmare Illusion aura, then knocked unconscious a man who attacked him from behind.
• Nausicaa recognized Angel, calmed the other apprentices, and led him to the backyard to talk.

Angel reunited with Nausicaa and learned that some apprentices had received direct invitation cards to the Purification Garden, while he had been made to climb Sky Tower despite Sanders having that option. He warned Nausicaa that the coming Purification Garden blood sacrifice could kill ninety percent of its participants, leaving her to weigh whether to enter.

• Nausicaa welcomed Angel into Youthful Grace Hall, where Shan treated Ganke's severed arm and Li Zhixi Liu slept nearby.
• Angel admitted that he had trapped Saladin in the mist, and Nausicaa thanked him for saving them.
• Xiliu recognized Angel as the former Sky Tower opponent called Milk Baron, while Shan joked that she would make him her husband standard.
• Shan explained that mentors could provide invitation cards directly, and Angel realized Sanders could have spared him the fifteen-floor climb.
• Angel told Nausicaa and Shan that the Purification Garden would involve a large-scale blood sacrifice with a death rate as high as ninety percent.
• Nausicaa said she would carefully consider whether to enter the Purification Garden.