Chapter Summaries

Jiebo and Florence planned to approach Angel about buying Ocean Rhythm while avoiding a direct conflict, and Angel continued testing the alchemical illusion’s effects. The tests revealed that Ocean Rhythm could deepen Duru’s understanding of water, though Angel ended his general trials and planned more focused experiments.

• Florence warned Jiebo that he could not reliably capture Angel and advised him to stay near the coast while seeking a chance to buy Angel’s alchemical creation.
• Florence proposed sending recorded images of Angel refining the creation to Southern Region magazines to stir up interest and give Jiebo an open reason to approach him; Jiebo agreed to keep following Angel.
• After repeated attempts in Ocean Rhythm’s illusion, Angel encountered the Sea Goddess and found that he could not recall her face, so he recorded his observations.
• Duru complained about repeatedly dying in the illusion and asked Angel not to include him in future tests, but the next day he showed Angel that he could manipulate water after gaining a deeper understanding of it.
• Angel concluded that Ocean Rhythm’s Water Affinity enhancement varied by talent, ended his basic testing, and told Duru he would not activate the illusion again soon.

Angel and Duru traveled across the sea toward Revelation Continent while Angel tested Ocean Rhythm and teased Duru. After landing, they set course for the Central Empire to find the Dream Conch, and Angel noticed Frod writing in the Church of the Dead.

• Angel completed learning Water Shield and found that Ocean Rhythm briefly increased his water affinity after its initial permanent enhancement.
• Angel teased Duru about missing out on Ocean Rhythm’s benefits, then gave him a green silk headscarf to hide his missing ear; Duru dyed it black with sea-fish ink.
• Duru spotted a guiding sea tower, and the pair landed at dawn on an uninhabited coast of Revelation Continent.
• Angel told Duru to fly inland toward the Central Empire, where Frod had stored the Dream Conch of Moonlit Coast.
• Angel entered the Church of the Dead to ask Frod for directions and saw him rapidly writing in his room.

Angel read Frod’s imaginative proposal for combining illusions with the Dream Conch, then hurried away after Duru spotted people outside. He reached Bolai Town in the Central Empire and followed a boy to Tisen Lane.

• Angel found Frod writing a paper about combining illusions with the Dream Conch and read his proposal for using dreamlike illusions to practice alchemy without consuming real materials.
• Angel said the idea was imaginative but difficult, gave Frod a booklet titled "Exploring Lucid Dreams," and left after Duru cried that he saw people.
• Angel traveled to Bolai Town, where he admired its prosperous merchants, distinctive buildings, and lively cultural atmosphere.
• A boy leading Angel told him that they had reached Tisen Lane.

Angel and Duru entered the abandoned Nightmare Orphanage in Tisen Lane to search for the Dream Conch Frod had hidden there. They discovered signs that someone had recently entered the basement and descended to investigate.

• Song told Angel that Tisen Lane had been evacuated after workers encountered ghost children and deaths at the orphanage, and mentioned that the Royal Knights had once visited Bolai Town.
• Angel and Duru reached the abandoned orphanage, whose plaque read “Dream Orphanage,” and Angel explained that its residents had called it Nightmare Orphanage.
• Angel sensed lingering chill but no malice, while warning Duru that souls could still harm people; Duru nervously used water mist to protect himself.
• Angel found too little dust in the storage room and noticed a red-dressed doll had been moved recently.
• Angel turned a wall lamp hidden behind the doll, revealing a staircase to the basement, and descended to search for the Dream Conch.

Angel and Duru encountered the soul of a little boy in the basement, where the boy warned them about Sunny, a dangerous girl trapped behind a locked door. Angel opened the door and found Sunny confined in a blood formation, then began investigating who had trapped her there.

• Duru followed Angel down a freezing, medicine-scented staircase and was frightened by the little boy's soul trailing behind him.
• Angel revealed his undead form to scare the boy into explaining why he followed them.
• The boy warned Angel and Duru that Sunny could massacre living people when she woke, and said Director Tisen had killed him.
• Angel unlocked the basement door and found Sunny trapped in a blood formation.
• Angel examined the formation and asked who had imprisoned Sunny.

Angel questioned Sunny about her imprisonment and discovered that her attachment to Frod had kept her from becoming an undead creature. He summoned Frod to speak with her, leaving Duru startled as Frod appeared behind him.

• Angel questioned Sunny and Yada about how long Sunny had been trapped in the blood array and why she had not become an undead creature.
• Duru found Yada's preserved corpse and learned that Headmaster Tisen had killed and frozen the orphanage children.
• Angel opened the worktable and found the Dream Conch missing, then concluded that the group who took it had also trapped Sunny.
• Angel reasoned that Frod was Sunny's remaining attachment and offered to let her speak with him.
• Angel released Frod from the Church of the Dead, and Frod told Duru to move aside because he was blocking the way.

Angel summoned Frod, who reunited with Yada and Sunny and learned that the Royal Knights had taken the Dream Conch. Since retrieving it would violate Angel and Frod’s original agreement, Angel proposed signing a new contract.

• Angel accidentally frightened Duru unconscious when Frod appeared, then Frod reunited with Yada and Sunny.
• Frod learned that Sunny had been trapped by knights in golden armor and that they had taken the Dream Conch.
• Sunny identified the knights’ emblem, and Frod recognized them as the Central Empire’s Royal Knights, linked to Hurricane Tower.
• Frod explained that the Dream Conch was likely still with the Central Empire’s royal family and that its true nature would be difficult to recognize without dream energy.
• Angel declined to retrieve the Dream Conch under their existing agreement and proposed signing a new contract.

Angel and Frod left the orphanage to search for the Dream Conch after Angel turned the grounds into a survival game for Duru and Sunny. As they flew toward Saint Saim City, Frod proposed using the Dream Conch for illusion trials and insisted it had not been sent away.

• Angel added a clause to Frod’s contract requiring Frod to owe him a promise if Angel had to act, then agreed to free Sunny from the blood formation.
• Angel arranged for Sunny to hunt Duru through an illusory nightmare orphanage, with Yada’s playground as a limited safe zone.
• Angel and Frod left the orphanage in the Gondola, while Duru faced the start of Sunny’s game.
• On the flight to Saint Saim City, Frod suggested combining the Dream Conch with illusions to create long-term trials for gifted ones.
• Frod declared that his intuition told him the Dream Conch had not been sent away.

Angel and Frod reached Saint Saim City, where Angel entered the Silver Heron Palace to draw out the owner of blood linked to the attack on the Dream Orphanage. Meanwhile, Jiebo investigated the orphanage’s illusion and discovered it had been turned into a theatrical scene.

• Frod told Angel that Neya, a former Hurricane Tower apprentice and Silver Heron princess, might still command the royal wizard corps, prompting Angel to connect her to the raid on Frod’s home and the theft of the Dream Conch.
• Angel flew into Silver Heron Palace and released the blood’s aura, waiting for its owner to come find him.
• Dozens of armored knights appeared in Angel’s courtyard after he used an Audio Illusion to expose them, and a golden-armored knight focused on the blood bottle.
• Jiebo followed Angel to the Dream Orphanage and entered its illusion, where eerie sounds and a green-faced attacker startled him before he realized the figure was an illusion.
• Jiebo rose into the sky to observe the illusion and saw a theatrical scene.

Jiebo watched Duru face the monsters in Angel’s illusion and realized the Dawn Game was a training trial with a protected safe zone. A blue flying fish then detected a mysterious fluctuation in the direction of Saint Saim City, where Angel had gone.

• Jiebo saw Duru flee Sunny and the spider girl through the orphanage ruins until Yada protected him in the playground safe zone.
• Sunny failed to break through the safe zone and returned to her dwelling, leading Jiebo to conclude that Angel had created the Dawn Game to test Duru.
• Jiebo decided to remain at the orphanage and investigate its secrets while waiting for Angel to return from Saint Saim City.
• Jiebo’s blue flying fish sensed a mysterious fluctuation, indicated Saint Saim City as its source, and vanished after pinpointing the direction.
• Jiebo wondered whether the mysterious object had appeared in Saint Saim City that day, when Angel had gone there.

Jiebo and Siliwu concluded that Angel had taken the mysterious item and rushed to intercept him, while Angel tested the Dream Conch in Saint Saim City. Angel successfully activated it with Nightmare Illusion and began investigating how its power drew nonliving things into dreams.

• Jiebo suspected Angel had intercepted the mysterious item and asked Siliwu to help confirm his theory.
• Siliwu told Jiebo to confront Angel immediately and set out through the Planar Corridor himself, hoping to claim the mysterious item first.
• Jiebo flew to Saint Saim City on the One-Horned Abyss Whale, alarming the city's residents.
• Angel received the Dream Conch from Neya and discovered that Nightmare Illusion could activate it.
• Angel pulled a table into a dream with Frod's guidance, then questioned why it remained unchanged and learned that dreams did not necessarily connect to the main dream realm.

Angel learned that the Dream Conch had trapped Neya’s table in a dream with no way to retrieve it unless it was destroyed. Their discussion was interrupted by Jiebo, who surrounded the Silver Heron Palace with a water prison and accused Angel of secretly entering a mysterious space; he demanded the mysterious object Angel had intercepted.

• Frod told Angel that the table would remain in the dream indefinitely unless it was destroyed in reality or in the dream, though he could not explain how Angel might find it there.
• The Bitterberry Knight reported that a giant whale had appeared above the palace, and Neya went outside to investigate with Angel following her.
• Neya recognized Jiebo riding a One-Horned Abyss Whale, and Jiebo revealed that Angel was the person he had come to confront.
• Jiebo accused Angel of secretly entering the mysterious space before its gate opened and surrounded the Silver Heron Palace with a water curtain that obstructed movement.
• Angel denied the accusations and began reciting the Soul-Severing Murmur as Jiebo offered to spare his life if he handed over the mysterious object.

Angel faced Jiebo’s accusation that he had stolen a mysterious object, then used a Truth Spell to convince Siliwu and Jiebo he had not taken it. Siliwu’s anger escalated, but Angel’s threat to crush Sanders’s blood essence forced him to hesitate.

• Angel denied taking the mysterious object and offered to submit to a Truth-Detecting cantrip in return for Jiebo’s past generosity.
• Siliwu arrived and used a Truth Spell to ask whether Angel had intercepted the object and whether it was on him; Angel answered no, and the spell confirmed his answer.
• Siliwu demanded to know whether Angel had visited the mysterious space, but Angel refused to answer another question.
• Siliwu oppressed Angel with his power, and Angel pretended to be badly hurt while hiding how well he could withstand it.
• Angel produced Sanders’s blood essence and accused Siliwu of targeting him to provoke his mentor, making Siliwu reconsider killing him.

Angel defused Siliwu and Jiebo’s accusations by revealing the Dream Conch, which explained the mysterious fluctuation they had sensed. After accepting Jiebo’s apology gift and leaving with Frod, Angel realized Jiebo had secretly followed him and resolved to be more cautious.

• Jiebo challenged Angel over the mysterious fluctuations, and Angel admitted he had just acquired a mysterious item.
• Angel offered the item for one hundred thousand magic crystals and revealed the Dream Conch he had received from Neya.
• Siliwu and Jiebo recognized the Dream Conch as the famously worthless item sold at Sky Auction, and Siliwu left after reprimanding Jiebo.
• Jiebo apologized and gave Angel materials as compensation, while Angel warned him not to follow again.
• Angel left with Frod aboard the Gondola and concluded that Jiebo had been tracking him since he left Feran Continent.

Angel returned to Bolai Town, freed Frod, and discussed the dead soul’s uncertain future and research into combining the Dream Conch with illusions. Frod then recalled that Angel had activated the Dream Conch before and asked what energy he had used.

• Frod told Angel that Siliwu was a Deep Sea Song warlock known as the Big Fish Warlock, and Angel memorized his name.
• Angel found that Jiebo had destroyed an illusion node at the orphanage and suspected that he had followed Angel to investigate Lucas's stolen skull.
• Angel brought Frod into the Ultimate Luxury Nightmare Domain and told him he was free, but Frod admitted he had no clear direction for his future.
• Frod asked to stay with Angel so he could continue researching the Dream Conch and its possible combination with illusions.
• Angel suggested that lucid dreams might help Frod's research, and Frod explained why he believed Angel's illusions could control where Dream Conch objects appeared.
• Frod asked Angel what energy he had used to activate the Dream Conch.

Angel learned more about the Dream Conch from Frod and secured Frod’s research in a contract after Frod refused the Luo Oath. Frod chose to remain at the orphanage, and as Angel prepared to leave, Frod offered to swear the oath if Angel’s own research succeeded.

• Angel realized that his Nightmare Illusion had activated the Dream Conch and heard Frod explain why this might make their research possible.
• Angel asked Frod to swear the Luo Oath before sharing a critical point, but Frod refused, so they signed an agreement forbidding him from disclosing his Dream Conch research.
• Frod explained what he knew about the Dream Conch and dreams, then chose to stay at the orphanage with Sunny and Yada.
• Angel asked Frod to teach him the Level 2 Entering Dreams spell, and Frod wrote it down in the Church of the Dead.
• Angel gave Frod second-level authority over the orphanage’s illusion realm, and Frod asked to use its Dead by Daylight game as a potential source of income.
• As Angel boarded the Gondola, Frod said he would swear the Luo Oath if Angel’s research succeeded.

Jiebo met with Florence, who planned to trade an illusion item for Angel’s alchemical tool rather than continue tracking him. After a quiet voyage, Angel reached the coast of the Old Earth Continent and headed inland, eager to return home.

• Florence reassured Jiebo that their relationship with Angel could still be repaired and planned to offer him an illusion-type item in exchange for the alchemical tool.
• Angel spent the voyage studying the Dream Entry Technique and thinking about Frod’s proposed involvement in his research.
• Angel grew excited as the Gondola approached the Old Earth Continent, where its sluggish elemental energy reminded him of the difficulty of the Mystery of the Disappearance of Elements on Edge Island mission.
• Angel and Duru landed on an uninhabited beach and flew inland to look for directions.
• Duru spotted smoke rising beyond a mountain and suggested that people might be nearby.

Duru and Angel found a village whose inhabitants had been brutally slaughtered, and Duru buried the dead before continuing across the continent. After meeting a wary pregnant girl in the forest, Angel left her a warm fur garment, and they headed southeast, where he suspected her pursuers might be.

• Duru and Angel discovered a burned village filled with murdered villagers, and Duru asked permission to bury them.
• Duru buried the villagers and placed white flowers by their grave, then asked Angel whether wizards also massacred villages.
• Duru and Angel flew through the night without finding another settlement until they spotted a bonfire in the forest.
• Duru questioned a frightened pregnant girl, who pointed them southeast and told them to leave.
• Angel gave the girl a warm fur garment, then told Duru they would follow the direction she had indicated.

Angel and Duru discovered Hailan soldiers abusing captured villagers in Black Crow Province, and Duru killed the soldiers to protect a child and his mother. The rescued villagers revealed that Hailan had occupied several provinces, and Angel asked Viscount Linya’s daughter for a route to Yamei Province.

• Angel and Duru realized the pregnant woman had directed them toward a camp of Hailan soldiers and imprisoned villagers.
• Duru jumped down from the flying vessel and killed a soldier who was about to kill a child, then fought and killed the other soldiers with Angel’s Tang saber.
• Duru tried to reassure the child and his mother, but the villagers distrusted him until Angel questioned them.
• Linya identified herself as Viscount Linya’s daughter and said Hailan had occupied Black Crow Province, Moon Dew Province, and several coastal provinces.
• Linya told Angel that Yamei Province was still guarded by the Mone Family, and Angel asked her for the route from Black Crow Province to Yamei Province.

Angel and Duru rescued Linya’s people and learned that Shannon, a pregnant princess of the Shannon Royal Clan, could guide them through the war-torn region. They took Shannon aboard Gondola and continued toward Yamei Province, where Shannon asked whether Angel belonged to the Mone Family.

• Linya told Angel and Duru that Hailan soldiers had killed the coachmen and that she could lead her people to a nearby underground refuge.
• Linya revealed that Princess Tavir Shannon had escaped with their help and could guide the travelers to Yamei Province, so Angel agreed to bring her along.
• Angel and Duru returned to Shannon’s campfire, and Angel asked her to guide them instead of punishing her for deceiving them.
• Shannon boarded Gondola, and her directions allowed Angel to travel at full speed toward Yamei Province.
• Angel explained to Duru that maps and knowledge were tightly controlled in the conservative Golden Sparrow Empire.
• Shannon asked whether Angel was from the Mone Family, and Angel replied that he was not but had met several of its peers.