Chapter Summaries

Angel met Princess Tavel Shannon, who asked him to help the Golden Sparrow Empire fight Hailan, but he refused. Shannon explained that transcendents had tipped the war in Hailan’s favor and said General Meng En had been murdered; Angel ended by questioning how she knew a transcendent was responsible.

• Head Maid Mana kept the servants outside while Angel examined the shattered sword that had let Shannon enter Gelu Town’s illusion.
• Shannon asked Leon to arrange an audience with the wizard, and Angel revealed himself by changing back to the face she had seen in Black Crow Province.
• Shannon explained that she had traced Angel to Gelu Town through her father and the Mone family, then asked him to help against Hailan.
• Angel refused to intervene, but Shannon argued that Hailan’s victories came from transcendent interference and described General Meng En’s murder in Sandalwood Harbor.
• Shannon said she had come to ask Angel to kill Meng En’s murderer, and Angel asked why she was certain a transcendent had done it.

Angel identified the creature attacking the Shannon royal family and Golden Finch’s commanders as a summoned Heart-Eating Ghost, likely controlled by a wilderness apprentice aiding Hailan. He agreed to help Shannon on the condition that he would confront only the supernatural enemy, and he took her toward Sea Moon City.

• Shannon told Angel that a Heart-Eating Ghost had attacked the royal palace and killed nearly one-tenth of its people, and Angel recognized it as a summoned creature.
• Shannon explained that the royal family’s protective treasure could defeat the creature only at the cost of a family member; her third brother had died using it.
• Shannon revealed that a letter had demanded another treasure before the attack, and that the Heart-Eating Ghost had since killed commanders in Golden Finch’s provinces.
• Shannon offered the secret of the other treasure in exchange for Angel’s help, and Angel agreed after noticing its connection to a shattered knight’s sword.
• Angel set the condition that he would deal only with Hailan’s supernatural ally and gave himself two days; he then took Shannon aboard his flying boat toward Sea Moon City.

Angel agreed to help Shannon confront the Heart-Eating Ghost after learning that stalactite fluid from the royal family’s secret cavern could imbue weapons with elemental properties. As they waited in Sea Moon City’s military camp for the enemy to strike, Shannon revealed how a Hailan spy discovered the treasure and how her brother died fighting the Heart-Eating Ghost; Angel sensed the anticipated attack was beginning at midnight.

• Angel accepted Shannon’s request because he wanted to investigate the elemental properties of the royal family’s stalactite fluid.
• Shannon explained that the stalactite dripped once every thirty years, imbuing objects with varied elemental properties, and Angel resolved to inspect it in Sambia later.
• Angel and Shannon arrived at Sea Moon City’s military camp, where low morale and the soldiers’ pity showed they expected the Heart-Eating Ghost to kill Shannon.
• Shannon dismissed the guards, while General Aaron stayed behind to avenge past losses and face the Heart-Eating Ghost.
• Shannon told Angel that the Third Princess Consort had passed information about the royal treasure to Hailan, and that Shannon’s guilt-ridden brother had died using a treasure against the Heart-Eating Ghost.
• As the moon reached the middle of the sky, Angel opened his eyes beneath the tent’s candlelight.

Angel and Toby killed the Heart-Eating Ghost, restoring the army’s morale and prompting Shannon to call for a counterattack against Hailan. Angel returned to the camp with a mysterious child, while Shannon kept her deal with Angel secret from Aaron.

• Angel left Toby to protect Shannon and the camp, then flew toward the coast to investigate the Heart-Eating Ghost’s arrival.
• The Heart-Eating Ghost attacked Shannon and Aaron, shrugging off their swords and leaving Shannon near death.
• Toby rescued Shannon and instantly killed the Heart-Eating Ghost, whose death restored the soldiers’ morale.
• Shannon rallied the camp and called for Hailan to fall, while Aaron pledged his loyalty to Angel.
• Angel returned carrying a filthy child, knocked him unconscious with the Magic Hand, and let Shannon dismiss Aaron to prepare for battle.

Angel killed Ghostcaller, a member of the Rat-and-Ant Underground Society, and took the gifted child Ghostcaller had found. He brought Shannon to the Golden Finch capital, where King Rose led them to the underground treasury to inspect its supposed treasure liquid.

• Angel learned Ghostcaller recognized him and belonged to the Rat-and-Ant Underground Society, then killed him after questioning him.
• Shannon agreed to take Angel to the capital after the battle preparations, and Angel promised to bring her back to the camp afterward.
• Angel explained that he planned to bring Ghostcaller’s child along as a potential candidate for his Guide Mission.
• Angel and Shannon arrived at the Golden Finch capital aboard Gondola, and Shannon asked Commander Xie'er to take them to King Rose.
• Rose led Angel and Shannon to the underground treasury, where they found a flail beneath the stalactite said to drip treasure liquid.

Angel discovered that the stalactite’s elemental liquid was connected to a paper door hidden at the end of a narrow hole, but the door’s elemental guardians and a powerful restriction kept him from reaching it. As he questioned Rose about the stalactite’s history, he learned that another strange person, perhaps a transcendent, had once visited.

• Angel examined the stalactite and found a tiny hole at its tip that led beyond the treasure vault.
• Angel’s spirit-force reached a painted door, whose elemental creatures attacked him when he tried to probe inside.
• Angel tried approaching the door through the stone wall, but a restriction dissolved his spirit-force and left him in pain.
• Angel concluded that he needed a way to pass through the hole without relying on his vulnerable spirit-force, but he could not yet enter the door.
• Angel questioned Rose about the stalactite’s history while Princess Shannon repeatedly stomped on Rose’s foot to stop his gossip.
• Rose told Angel that another strange person, who might have been a transcendent, had once come there.

Angel examined the Shannon Royal Clan’s blood-bound treasure and discovered that it was a map of the Tidal Realm painted by the legendary Mirafiel Feng. The map could summon simulated creatures for the clan, while Angel suspected that a nearby mysterious door led to the same realm.

• Angel learned from Rose that a visitor from at least a thousand years ago had left the Shannon Royal Clan a hide-scroll treasure that required blood sacrifice to use.
• Rose had a death warrior retrieve the treasure, and Angel recognized its elemental-creature drawings as matching the style on the mysterious door.
• Angel identified the hide scroll’s map as resembling the strange Old Earth Continent terrain on a nautical chart at the White Shell Sea Market outpost.
• Rose explained that the clan had used the scroll to summon a lightning-wielding mouse, sacrificing the third prince to defeat the Heart-Eating Ghost.
• Angel appraised the scroll and learned that Mirafiel Feng had painted it as an abridged map of the Tidal Realm, which could summon simulated creatures when activated by the Shannon bloodline.
• Angel concluded that Mirafiel had allowed the appraisal information to be revealed and considered retrieving the possibly related nautical chart later.

Angel pieced together clues suggesting that Mirafael's map led to the Tidal Realm, then kept its true use secret from the Shannon Royal House. After helping Shannon reach Sea Moon City and curing soldiers poisoned by an escaped child, Angel returned to Pat Manor with plans to investigate the realm.

• Angel inferred that Mirafael's map might open into the Tidal Realm, and he concealed that Magic Crystals could activate it without a sacrifice.
• Angel warned Rose and the others to guard the map and keep the door hidden, then considered studying Soft-State Worm eggs as a possible route to learning Transformation Spell.
• Angel accompanied Shannon from Sambia to the military camp outside Sea Moon City, where General Aaron reported that the child Angel had brought had escaped.
• Angel learned that the child had poisoned ten soldiers, cast Dispel Poison to save them, and told Aaron he could decide what to do if the child was found again.
• Angel left Shannon at the camp and returned to Pat Manor near dusk.

Angel showed Leon and the household an illusion of the battle at Sea Moon City, then investigated a strange Soft-State Worm egg and considered using Nightmare Illusion power to enter dreams. When he activated the Dream Conch, a woman appeared to sense something valuable nearby.

• Angel showed Leon, Mana, and Aoli illusions of Toby's fight at Sea Moon City and his visit to Sambia, while concealing his encounter with the royal family.
• Several days later, news arrived that Shannon's army had won a great victory at Sea Moon City.
• Angel noticed that one Soft-State Worm egg absorbed Axo's blood essence unusually slowly among the other eggs, but very quickly when isolated.
• Angel continued searching for a way to save Jon and grew frustrated with the slow progress of his Dream Entry Technique practice.
• Angel activated the Dream Conch with Nightmare Illusion power, and a woman's voice behind him announced that she sensed something good had appeared.

Angel successfully constructed the Nightmare Illusion Dream Entry Technique and entered Toby’s dream. He found Toby dreaming of dried fish and a giant version of Angel, then withdrew in embarrassment.

• Yurika recognized the Dream Conch, dismissed it as useless, and left Angel alone with it.
• Angel used Nightmare Illusion power to construct the Dream Entry Technique after calculating its spell model with the Holographic Tablet.
• Angel successfully completed the Nightmare Illusion Dream Entry Technique and cast it on Toby.
• Angel crossed the Dream Bridge into Toby’s dream, where he experienced Toby’s perspective among dried fish.
• Angel saw Toby happily approach a giant version of himself and withdrew from the dream, embarrassed by what he saw.

Angel tested the Dream Entry Technique on people around Pat Manor, learned its limitations, and then successfully entered Jon’s dream. The chapter ended as Angel crossed into Jon’s dream, eager to discover what Jon was dreaming about.

• Angel entered Nano’s dream and saw him chasing Jin Cancan over a piece of silk.
• Angel tested the Dream Entry Technique on more people and learned that some people did not dream and many dreams were fragmented or unclear.
• Leon told Angel that the war had stabilized after the victory at Sea Moon City and that the refugees were settling in well.
• Angel confirmed that the people whose dreams he had entered were unharmed, then went to the underground ice chamber to visit Jon.
• Angel used the Dreamweaver Ants’ help to enter Jon’s dream and stepped through its entrance, wondering whether Jon was dreaming of Earth.

Angel entered Jon’s dream and watched him return to Earth, where he joyfully greeted old neighbors and reunited with the wife he had never forgotten. Jon’s dream ended on a note of sorrow when Angel saw him weep and wondered whether Jon knew the reunion was only a dream.

• Angel recognized Jon’s voice in an incomplete dream and realized Jon’s weakened spirit could not fully map the dream world.
• Jon happily greeted his neighbors, whose homes appeared from the surrounding darkness as he approached.
• Jon arrived at his home and silently watched his wife sleeping in the bamboo stilt house.
• A gust blew his wife’s sunhat away, and Jon caught it; she woke and greeted him warmly.
• Angel saw a tear fall from Jon’s face and wondered whether Jon knew he was dreaming.

Angel watched Jon’s dream shift from a tender reunion with Xia Haiwei and Qiao Mu to a laboratory scene involving the Outer Eye and Morning Dew After Rain. Jon’s trembling and strange actions convinced Angel that Jon was lucid dreaming and had changed the dream himself.

• Jon reunited with Xia Haiwei and their daughter, Qiao Mu, and told them he would be transferred to Long Island, New York, for research.
• Jon persuaded Xia Haiwei to move with him by saying he wanted her to meet his most beloved student, and the dream transformed into a series of memories.
• Angel saw Jon working in a high-tech laboratory with Morning Dew After Rain among the plants he was preparing to record.
• A colleague offered to take over Jon’s work, but Jon refused and left with the cultivation chambers.
• Angel concluded that Jon was lucid dreaming and had deliberately changed the dream’s course.

Angel watched Jon’s dream reveal how Jon had been pulled into the Wizarding World through a black hole, then saw Jon imagine reuniting with his family and Angel at Pat Manor. After leaving the dream, Angel resolved to save Jon and investigate space, while Yurika took him to her temporary residence for an unnamed task.

• Jon tested the Outer Eye with five plant samples, but a researcher’s deliberate activation of the high-energy generator caused a black hole to engulf him.
• Xia Yuwei and Qiao Mu appeared beside Jon in the black hole, and Jon described Angel as his dearest family before the dream shifted to Pat Manor.
• Jon greeted the young Angel in the dream, then whispered that he wished Angel could truly see him.
• Angel left Jon’s dream and found Yurika in the ice chamber; he admitted that seeing his family had moved him.
• Angel followed Yurika away from the ice chamber, resolving to save Jon and seek the mysteries of space.

Angel traveled toward Roydes at Yurika’s request, with Bulei guiding him and Toby helping him speed across the sea. Along the way, Angel resolved to find a way to bring Jon home and to learn Dream Reader, and the group reached the Sina Trench.

• Yurika ordered Angel to find someone and retrieve items from Roydes, promising future help with Jon in exchange for his service.
• Angel flew across Whisker Whale Sea with Bulei and reflected on Jon’s dreams, deciding to seek Earth and learn Dream Reader.
• Angel decided to visit Frod on Revelation Continent after completing his errand in Roydes.
• Angel used Toby’s griffin transformation and Gravity Veins to shorten the journey from two weeks to two days.
• Angel, Toby, and Bulei arrived at the Sina Trench, near Roydes.

Angel and Bulei descended into the Sina Trench to find Roydes, where Angel used a Nightmare Illusion spell to make a little mermaid lead them toward safety. Along the way, Angel gave Bulei a valuable Mermaid Shell, leaving her puzzled by his generosity.

• Angel expanded his Purification Field to carry Bulei underwater, then used Toby's phosphorescent stone to light their way into the trench.
• Angel and Bulei encountered a little mermaid, who mistook Angel for prey before he captured her with a Magic Hand.
• Unable to understand the mermaid's language, Angel cast a Fear Spell on her and followed as she fled toward the presumed safety of Roydes.
• Bulei spotted a Mermaid Shell that fell from the mermaid's backpack and tried to claim it as an ordinary shell.
• Angel identified the shell and tossed it to Bulei, then silenced her when she began boasting about how his gift might win Yurika's favor.

Angel followed a little mermaid through a hidden route to Roydes, where he reached the waterless zone but discovered that entry required credentials Yurika had not provided. The chapter left him outside the zone, needing another way to reach the Ashen Time Caravan's station.

• Angel examined the little mermaid's fear and saw that she had been chased by a giant shrimp with stone chrysanthemums growing on its body.
• Angel followed the little mermaid to a village, where the mermaids dismissed her warning before Angel used illusory eel-snakes to drive the villagers into their homes and send her fleeing.
• The little mermaid led Angel through remote passages to Roydes, and Angel gave her a magic crystal as payment for guiding him.
• Angel entered Roydes unseen and reached the central water membrane, but Bulei warned him that breaking it would provoke the city's powerful residents.
• Angel went to the main entrance of the waterless zone and learned that he needed credentials to enter, which Yurika had not prepared.

Angel entered the Waterless District using a pass he borrowed from a merman, then followed Bulei to the Abyss District in search of the Ashen Time Caravan. After witnessing the district’s brutality, he reached the caravan’s ruins with a burly thief following him.

• Angel used an illusion to distract a wealthy merman and took his pass, then disguised himself as the merman to enter the Waterless District.
• Angel changed into human form and asked Bulei where to find the Ashen Time Caravan; she directed him to the Abyss District beneath Peace Tower.
• Angel witnessed a burly man rob and kill a junior apprentice, then ignored the man when he tried to size him up.
• The burly man followed Angel toward the trading district, unaware that others could not see Angel and believing he might be a profitable target.
• Angel followed Bulei’s signal into a dark alley and arrived at the Ashen Time Caravan’s ruins, where cloaked figures stood beside iron cages.

Angel entered the Ashen Time Caravan’s ruins to collect goods belonging to Lady Xilai, and the caravan’s leaders treated him with unexpected respect after recognizing his identity. The man who had threatened Angel, known as Shark Disciple, was drawn into the leaders’ presence and realized he had provoked someone far beyond his strength.

• Rosam recognized Angel as the protagonist of a famous alchemical projection, and Captain Beers saw a chance to benefit from meeting him.
• Angel ignored Shark Disciple’s threat and approached Rosam, who greeted him deferentially.
• Bulei presented a gray card and said Angel had come to collect Lady Xilai’s goods, which the caravan captain personally guarded.
• Angel turned toward Shark Disciple, who found himself following Angel into the center of the ruins despite intending to leave.
• Shark Disciple saw Beers treat Angel with respect, while nearby buyers recognized that Shark Disciple had kicked an iron plate.

Angel inspected the Ashen Time Caravan’s shipment for Yurika and discovered it consisted mostly of magical materials, with very few potions. Bulei accepted the goods despite the shortage, while Angel was relieved that Yurika’s spiritual-force injuries would be difficult to heal.

• Beers offered Angel three spatial pouches of Yurika’s goods, and Angel followed him to a stone house to inspect them with Bulei.
• Angel noticed a living captive in a cage and recognized that the Ashen Time Caravan was likely involved in slave trading.
• Rosam told a caravan member that he and Beers knew Shark Disciple was not Angel’s servant, but were playing along to honor Angel; Rosam warned the crew not to offend him.
• Angel saw that Yurika’s shipment contained many healing and spiritual-force-restoring materials, and considered how her recovery might make it harder for him to escape.
• Bulei complained that the shipment contained only a few low-grade potions, but Beers explained that potions were scarce and materials had been agreed upon as substitutes.
• Bulei admitted that Yurika could not refine the materials herself and that her alchemist was away and unskilled, then accepted the shipment after Angel left the decision to it.