Chapter Summaries

Angel, Bobota, and Grewu emerged from the Yuantan Continent into the Cold Antiquity Ruins, where Angel planned to travel to Ice Valley. Their departure was interrupted by a group of wizard apprentices pursuing a little girl, and a sudden wizard-level attack forced Angel to land among them.

• Angel and his companions left the Yuantan Continent and identified their location as the central region of the Cold Antiquity Ruins.
• Angel said he would take Bobota to Ice Valley, while Grewu planned to find a safe place to unseal Lord Orucia’s soul and promised to visit Angel later.
• A group of wizard apprentices arrived while pursuing a barefoot little girl accused of stealing their supplies.
• Angel tried to leave the confrontation, but a wizard-level pressure and a poisoned, barbed vine attacked him.
• Angel grabbed the immobilized Bobota and dodged the vine’s barbs, then landed in the middle of the crowd.

Angel fought Zefara, a wizard from Gravity Forest, and discovered that his strengthened body could withstand powerful attacks and overwhelm an official wizard in close combat. After Angel knocked Zefara into the death aura and prepared to finish him, the little girl suddenly transformed her hand and attacked Angel’s heart.

• Angel realized the vines’ needles had failed to pierce his strengthened skin as Zefara arrived and pressured the apprentices.
• Angel identified a Gravity Forest apprentice as the likely informant and charged Zefara before the wizard could finish preparing his attack.
• Angel battered Zefara’s Vine Shield, resisted his cantrips, and survived the explosion of the Explosive Vines in Zefara’s cane.
• Angel reappeared behind Zefara, kicked him into the death aura, and watched the apprentices flee.
• Angel moved to finish the injured Zefara, but the little girl laughed, transformed her hand into a spiked claw, and struck toward his heart.

Angel fought Yisu after she transformed into a monstrous creature, but she fled after swallowing Zefara. Angel questioned the apprentices who had pursued her and learned how they had found and rescued her at Thorn Ridge, then turned his attention to a nervous apprentice from Gravity Forest.

• Bobota used a crimson chain to interrupt Yisu’s attack, giving Angel time to evade and kick her away.
• Yisu transformed her face and neck into a monstrous, snake-like form and fought Angel with strength greater than Zefara’s.
• As Angel began channeling Nightmare Illusion into his right eye, Yisu transformed into a giant centipede, swallowed Zefara, and burrowed away.
• Angel stopped the fleeing apprentices and learned that they had rescued the amnesiac Yisu from black thorns at Thorn Ridge before she disappeared with their resources.
• Angel questioned a nervous apprentice from Gravity Forest about Zefara after the others said the apprentice had barely known Yisu.

Angel and Bobota returned to Ice Valley, where Angel discovered that casting Mind Illusion through his altered right eye greatly strengthened the technique. They met Odecras at the Ice Crystal Palace, and Angel introduced Bobota as his alchemy assistant.

• Angel left the Gravity Forest apprentice behind after extracting information about Zefara and the dispute within Gravity Forest.
• Angel realized that his right eye enhanced Mind Illusion techniques and discussed Yisu's strange behavior with Bobota.
• Angel and Bobota reached Ice Valley, entered its cursed snowstorm under the protection of the Flame Mark, and encountered Odecras.
• Odecras remarked that Angel had changed greatly, then flew to the Ice Crystal Palace with Angel and Bobota following.
• At the palace, Odecras studied the painting associated with Feng, and Angel introduced Bobota as his alchemy assistant.

Angel settled into a room above the Ice Crystal Palace and studied a method for making a Fire-Passing Stone before beginning his first attempt. Meanwhile, Sanders reached the uppermost layer of the Abyss, sensed Angel in Ice Valley, and flew to find him.

• Odecras sent Angel and Bobota to a furnished room above the Ice Crystal Palace and offered it as a place to stay and work.
• Angel chose a room for his alchemy workshop, reviewed the parchment he had obtained from Balalaika, and studied the Fire-Passing Stone method for three days.
• Angel prepared his tools and materials, then began making a Fire-Passing Stone with his Magic Hands.
• Sanders arrived on the uppermost layer of the Abyss, sensed his blood essence in Ice Valley, and set out to reach Angel.

Angel overcame his initial failure and refined the Fire-Passing Stone, but the alchemical anomaly proved unexpectedly mild. Odecras recognized Angel’s success and waited outside his door, while Angel wondered why the Anomaly Space had ended so easily.

• Angel cracked a Fire-Passing Stone fragment through poor strength control, paused the refinement, and spent two days training until he stabilized his grip.
• Angel resumed refining the Fire-Passing Stone, and Sanders contacted him through the blood essence but received only a brief message that Angel was busy with alchemy.
• As the refinement neared completion, fire-elemental signs appeared across Ice Valley, and Odecras realized Angel might have fulfilled their deal.
• Angel completed the Fire-Passing Stone, creating a scarlet flare that turned the wind and snow into flames, and Odecras waited silently outside Angel’s door.
• Angel passed through a surprisingly simple Anomaly Space and stared at the finished stone, puzzled that the anomaly had ended so quickly.

Angel successfully refined a Fire-Passing Stone and earned Odecras's friendship by using it to restore the dragon's fire energy. Odecras explained that he would remove Toby's Calamity Curse once his strength had recovered, leaving Angel to ask how long that would take.

• Angel used the Eye of Nalda to confirm that the Fire-Passing Stone he had refined was genuine.
• Odecras took Angel beneath Ice Valley to a fire crystal mine and tested the Fire-Passing Stone, absorbing its pure fire-element energy.
• After two hours, Odecras returned Angel to the Ice Crystal Palace and offered him his friendship for fulfilling his promise.
• Angel asked Odecras about removing Toby's Calamity Curse, and Odecras explained that he needed to recover more strength first.
• Angel asked how long he would have to wait for Odecras to recover.

Angel reunited with Sanders at Ice Valley, where his mentor tested his physical strength and illusion skills in a prolonged fight. Angel discovered the encounter was an illusionary realm and escaped, then told Sanders that the Fire-Passing Stone alchemy had succeeded and Toby's curse could be lifted in one or two weeks.

• Angel arrived at Ice Valley and met Sanders, who immediately attacked to test his strength and vitality.
• Angel fought back with improved physical power, but Sanders repeatedly fooled him with basic illusions and left him unable to land a hit.
• Angel's Projected Bloodline briefly exerted pressure on Sanders, but Angel's apparent punch and Sanders's figure both proved to be illusions.
• Angel recognized the illusionary realm and escaped by using linked illusions to reach a distant treetop; Sanders's true body then approached and praised him.
• Angel confirmed that his alchemy had succeeded and that he had refined the Fire-Passing Stone, though Toby's curse would take up to two weeks to lift.

Angel spent a week in Ice Valley meditating and constructing the Door Model, while warning Bobota that people had begun to suspect his identity. After searching Feng’s former rooms for clues, Angel heard Grewu calling for him and discovered that Lady Madeleine was chasing Grewu toward Ice Valley.

• Sanders left Ice Valley after learning that Angel had befriended Odecras and synthesized the Fire-Passing Stone.
• Angel told Bobota that people were linking him to the Source-Worshippers and reassured him that Blood Night’s Shelter would keep prophecy wizards from finding him nearby.
• Angel spent a week meditating, studying the Green Pattern, and constructing the Door Model, which he expected to complete in a little over twenty days.
• Angel searched Feng’s former rooms for clues but found nothing.
• Grewu rushed to Angel for shelter from a woman chasing and beating him, and Angel recognized the pursuer as Lady Madeleine.

Angel reunited with Madeleine in Ice Valley and learned that the girl Yisu, whom he had encountered in the Cold Antiquity Ruins, was Dongla in a different body. Madeleine set off for the ruins to search for Dongla, while Grewu was cleared of suspicion.

• Madeleine chased Grewu until Angel intervened, and she explained that she suspected him of taking her captive from Thorn Ridge.
• Angel recognized that Madeleine's missing captive was the girl he had encountered in Molière Land and showed Madeleine an illusion of their battle with Yisu.
• After seeing Yisu transform into a centipede, Madeleine identified her as Dongla, who she believed had changed bodies.
• Madeleine told Angel how she had pursued Dongla to the Gloomy Dead Sea and later captured Yisu, only for apprentices to rescue her.
• Madeleine apologized to Grewu, then flew toward the Cold Antiquity Ruins to search for Dongla.

Angel brought Grewu into Ice Valley and let it use Ocean Rhythm’s Experience Journey despite the danger to fire-element lifeforms. Grewu briefly transformed into a grown youth during the experience, then woke injured but having sensed the hidden power that might lead to its maturity.

• Madeleine told Angel she would study the Black Thorns of Thorn Ridge for several years, then left, and Angel escorted Grewu into Ice Valley.
• Grewu told Angel that Orucia had taken possession of a body from a Demon Monastery branch and was recovering while contacting former subordinates.
• Angel warned Grewu that Ocean Rhythm’s Experience Journey could harm it, but Grewu insisted on trying it.
• During the Experience Journey, Grewu’s flames formed the image of a sharply handsome youth before it returned to its child form and collapsed unconscious.
• The next day, Grewu recovered some strength by absorbing a Fire-Passing Stone fragment and told Angel it had sensed the hidden power connected to its hoped-for maturity.

Grewu gave Angel two Origin Fires and relayed Orucia’s message before leaving Ice Valley, while Angel considered Madeleine’s warning that Dongla had targeted him. Odecras lifted Toby’s curse and told Angel about Feng, leaving Angel to reflect on Feng’s years in Ice Valley and the knowledge he had shared about human wizards.

• Grewu gave Angel the Violet-White Origin Fire and said Orucia had sent them as thanks for Angel saving him.
• Angel told Grewu he would likely leave the Abyss soon and hoped they would meet again as friends.
• After Grewu left, Angel recalled Madeleine’s warning that Dongla was Yisu and might be interested in dissecting him.
• On the eleventh day after Angel gave Odecras the Fire-Passing Stone, Odecras summoned him and began removing Toby’s curse, saying it would be gone in two days.
• Angel asked Odecras about Feng, and Odecras recounted how Feng had taught him to paint and urged him not to attack humans.
• Angel reflected that Feng had told Odecras extensively about human wizards and their systems, but little about himself.

Angel learned that Feng’s scheme had connected him to Odecras and the Night Innkeeper, and he considered seeking clues in the Tidal Realm. After Odecras removed Toby’s curse, Toby remained unconscious, and Angel’s attempt to enter his dream ended with him collapsing before he awoke from a terrifying dream beside a glowing blood bead.

• Angel pieced together Feng’s scheme and considered visiting the Tidal Realm to find clues about Feng and the Turing Cube.
• After two days, Odecras confirmed that Toby’s curse had been completely removed, though Toby did not awaken.
• Angel entered Toby’s dream to investigate, but a flood of information forced him to retreat across the Dream Bridge and collapse.
• Angel dreamed of hostile whispers and a terrifying vertical eye before a warm presence guided him out of the darkness.
• Angel woke in fear, sensed warmth from his chest, and found the incandescent drop of blood glowing in his inner pocket.

Angel emerged from Ice Valley carrying dense negative energy from Toby’s dream, and Sanders purified him before identifying the source as Toby’s Grudge Tribulation. With Toby still unconscious and unable to receive help in his trial, Angel and Sanders decided to return to the Southern Region and seek Gloria’s advice.

• Angel heard Sanders through the essence blood and left Ice Valley to meet him, while Toby remained unconscious.
• Sanders rushed toward Angel and used purifying power to drive a snake-like gloom from his body.
• Angel explained how he had entered Toby’s dream and been flooded with information, and Sanders concluded the negative energy had escaped from Toby’s dream.
• Sanders and Angel identified Toby’s trial as the Grudge Tribulation, likely brought on early by his curse and the giant snake’s emotional Domain Field.
• Angel proposed drawing negative emotions out of Toby’s dream, but Sanders warned that the method was dangerous and advised asking Gloria for help.
• Sanders urged Angel to leave for the Southern Region, and Angel agreed.

Angel returned to Ice Valley to retrieve Bobota, received an Ojia Intricate-Pattern Key left by Feng, and set off with Sanders to collect Kant before returning to the Southern Region. On the journey, Sanders warned Angel that Dongla might seek revenge and asked about his plans for his first spell slot, while Angel kept the nature of his intended ability secret.

• Angel visited Odecras in the Ice Crystal Palace, told him he was leaving, and accepted the Ojia Intricate-Pattern Key that Feng had left behind.
• Angel took Bobota from Ice Valley and reunited with Sanders, then learned they were heading to Aisha Underground City to pick up Kant before returning to the Southern Region by Fragment Mayfly.
• Angel told Sanders about Madeleine and his encounter with Dongla, and Sanders warned that Dongla might return to the Southern Region to take revenge.
• Sanders asked Angel about his first spell slot, and Angel said he planned to use a special ability without revealing its origins or precise effects.
• Several demons fled when they saw Angel’s Flame Mark, and Sanders noticed that the pale yellow Origin Fire was still on Angel’s earlobe.

Angel and his companions changed course toward the Sinking Mountains, where a demon recognized the black feather Angel had received from Kurangduo. She demanded it, then withdrew after learning it had been given to him, leaving Sanders and Kant wondering about its origin.

• Kant joined Angel's Gondola, and Sanders told Angel to head for the Sinking Mountains instead of Aisha Underground City.
• Kant discussed the Soft-State Worm queen, but Sanders advised waiting until he could consult Nis before putting it under greater pressure.
• A giant wind-type Demonic Beast named Bangu Gaku and a female demon blocked the Gondola's path, then the demon noticed Angel.
• The female demon asked about the aura of death around Angel and reacted strongly when he showed her a black feather.
• Sanders blasted the female demon away when she rushed toward Angel, and she stopped Bangu Gaku from attacking.
• The female demon asked Angel to trade the feather, then left after he put it away, saying she would not hold the matter against him for the giver's sake.

Sanders, Kant, and Angel returned from the Abyss through an interplanar passage to the Alya Duchy, while Angel grew increasingly afraid that the Eye Beyond and his actions had caused the plane fusion to fail. They set off for the Pamiji Plateau under Sanders’s concealment, unaware that a female demon had arrived too late to track them.

• Sanders chose to open the passage in the Alya Duchy rather than the Pamiji Plateau because the plateau was crowded with wizards and its spatial energy remained turbulent.
• Angel learned from Kant that Lord Rhein suspected outside interference had caused the plane fusion to fail, and Kant repeated a rumor that Sanders was a jinx.
• Angel connected the failure to the strange lights that had passed from the Windwhisper Valley passage into the Eye Beyond and feared that he himself was responsible.
• A female demon arrived at the Sinking Mountains, found signs that the humans had left, and concluded that Angel had recently visited the Old Earth Continent after receiving Kurangduo’s feather.
• Angel and the others emerged above Fragrant Lake in the Alya Duchy, and Sanders cloaked the Gondola in illusions as they flew toward the Pamiji Plateau.

After returning to the Southern Region, Angel explained the black feather linked to Kurangduo and learned that the female demon bore the mark of the Red Plague Demon God. Sanders drove Kant from the Gondola to protect Angel’s secrets, and Sanders postponed hearing the full story until they reached a safer place.

• Angel showed Sanders and Kant the black feather and said an ancient native had told him Kurangduo left it for him in the Cold Antiquity Ruins on Yuantan Continent.
• Sanders identified the female demon’s forehead Pattern as the mark of the Red Plague Demon God, and Kant warned Angel to avoid Red Plague believers and their diseases.
• Angel recounted how he found the feather on a dead tree while searching for an exit from Yuantan Continent, but left out details after Sanders secretly told him not to discuss Demon Gods.
• Sanders reminded Kant that he had agreed not to ask about Angel’s disappearance, then forced Kant off the Gondola when he persisted.
• Kant dropped his sorrowful act after the Gondola departed and planned to bring Qili a future issue of Firefly Capital Night Talk featuring Angel.
• Sanders told Angel to wait until they reached a safe place before explaining more, since Crownstar Cathedral might be spying on them.

Angel and Sanders visited Sanders’ old friend Zislaid in Shepherd City to learn about the situation on Pamiji Plateau. Zislaid admitted he had remained a first-level wizard and was using addictive Mana Algae Powder, then asked what Sanders had come to discuss.

• Sanders sent Bobota to Gravity Garden and led Angel through Shepherd City to an antique shop.
• Sanders explained the story behind the shop’s inscription and revealed its owner was Zislaid, his former Savage Cave acquaintance.
• Zislaid recognized Angel as the wizard known privately as the Music Box Sorcerer, while Angel objected to the nickname and his Sky Tower record.
• Zislaid said he had left Savage Cave 196 years earlier and was still a first-level wizard, then offered Angel and Sanders Mana Algae Powder.
• Sanders warned Zislaid that relying on the addictive powder would hinder his progress, and Zislaid asked what had brought them to see him.

Angel and Sanders heard Zislaid’s detailed account of the Pamiji Plateau, including a suspected alliance between Dongse’s faction and Gravity Forest against Angel, before discussing Lord Rhein and the failed planar fusion. Later, Sanders asked Angel to explain Black Feather and their escape, but Angel’s silence suggested he had caused trouble again.

• Zislaid told Angel and Sanders that Deep Sea Song members had secretly contacted Gravity Forest, likely to cooperate against Angel, and described the factions and power struggles among the plateau’s organizations.
• Zislaid offered to exchange alchemy insights with Angel and reported that Florence had visited Lord Rhein before disappearing, while Deep Sea Song had since left the plateau.
• Zislaid said there was no clear explanation for the planar fusion’s failure, though rumors blamed outside intervention, and suggested Sanders ask Maya about it.
• Angel returned to Gravity Garden, promised Bobota he would take him to see Dodolo and Sparrow Sparrow, and joined Sanders in the open-air study.
• Sanders asked Angel to explain Black Feather and how he had escaped, then tried to learn whether Angel had caused trouble; Angel remained silent, so Sanders decided to hear Bobota’s account first.