Chapter Summaries

Bobota recounted his failed struggle against the Lord of Profundity and revealed that the Origin Fire was hidden in the Origin-Worshiping Ancestral Altar. Angel showed Sanders that he possessed Origin Fire and explained his plan to help Dodolo; he then shocked Sanders by claiming he had defeated the Lord of No Flame.

• Bobota told Sanders and Angel how his plans in Lasudelan failed because he had misjudged the Lord of Profundity and lost to Gloom.
• Bobota revealed that the Source-Worshippers had hidden the Origin Fire inside the Origin-Worshiping Ancestral Altar, then Sanders rendered him unconscious to assess his condition.
• Angel manifested the Origin Fire, admitted he intended to use it to help Dodolo, and agreed to keep it for now while Dodolo was still far from becoming an official wizard.
• Angel explained that the Lord of No Flame had intervened, defeated Bobota, and fought Orucia, who lost.
• Angel told Sanders that he had fought the Lord of No Flame and won, leaving Sanders stunned.

Angel showed Sanders the corpses of Orucia and the Lord of No Flame’s avatar, proving that he had survived their battle and won with another’s help. After hearing how that being destroyed both the avatar and the demon god’s true spirit, Sanders realized the Lord of No Flame had been gravely weakened and that the Southern Region’s danger had receded.

• Angel asked Sanders whether anyone could spy on them, then revealed Orucia’s corpse and the headless corpse of the Lord of No Flame’s avatar.
• Sanders recognized the corpses, briefly coveted their valuable remains, and agreed they should stay with Angel inside Blood Night’s Shelter to guard against prophecy spells.
• Angel recounted how Orucia fought the Lord of No Flame and how a consciousness attached to Angel defeated the demon god after its true spirit emerged.
• Angel told Sanders that the being had shattered the Lord of No Flame’s true spirit with a single strike, leaving Sanders stunned by its power.
• Sanders realized the Lord of No Flame had lost much of its strength and could no longer pose the same threat to the Southern Region.

After Angel revealed that the Demon God's true spirit had been killed, Sanders spent the night considering the consequences and asked him to explain what happened next. Angel showed Sanders the Projected Bloodline fused with his right eye and began demonstrating its forms, but the chapter ended as Sanders noticed a sly glint in Angel's eyes.

• Sanders shut down the Gravity Garden and ended their discussion so he could consider the consequences of the Demon God's true spirit falling.
• Angel returned to his room and slept, while Sanders stayed up recording notes and sorting through the revelations.
• The next morning, Angel saw a familiar-looking elderly woman in the corridor but dismissed his unease and returned to his room.
• Sanders summoned Angel to the Gravity Garden and asked where the true spirit's power went and what happened afterward with the mysterious man.
• Angel described the power becoming a vast tree of light and flame, then revealed that the man's Projected Bloodline had fused with his right eye to create a mask that affected spiritual power.
• Angel began activating the eye with Nightmare Illusion power, and Sanders noticed a sly glint in his expression.

Angel explained how he released the True Spirit’s power across Yuantan Continent to hide it from those seeking it, then described what happened before he escaped. Sanders’s relief faded when Angel revealed that someone on the far side of the continent had called to him.

• Angel attacked Sanders under the pressure of his right eye, but Sanders countered with an illusion and explained that Angel’s intentions had been too obvious.
• Sanders and Angel discussed the right eye’s heavy Nightmare Realm aura cost, the Projected Bloodline, and Angel’s fear that he was becoming less himself.
• Angel told Sanders that he dispersed the True Spirit’s power across Yuantan Continent as the continent neared collapse, drawing the Abyss’s attention so he could escape unseen.
• Angel explained that Grewu had saved Toby, and that he had let Orucia’s soul go and surrendered two flames of Origin Fire.
• Angel revealed that someone on the other side of the continent had called to him, making Sanders worry that another witness could expose what happened.

Angel told Sanders that Wodell had agreed to let humans settle on Yuantan Continent outside Cold Antiquity Guard City, giving Angel control over settlement. Sanders realized the opportunity could transform Savage Cave’s influence in the Abyss, then Angel revealed that Cold Antiquity Guard City also contained a Phase Gate.

• Sanders concluded that Wodell’s account made it unlikely Angel had been exposed, and Angel explained Wodell’s request to bring the indigenous people back to Yuantan Continent.
• Angel told Sanders he had agreed to help rebuild Yuantan Continent and negotiated for humans to settle there in stronghold cities outside Cold Antiquity Guard City.
• Sanders celebrated the settlement rights, explaining that Yuantan Continent could provide wizard organizations with a safe Abyss base and a secure cross-realm transmission point.
• Sanders urged Angel to keep the matter secret, plan carefully with Lord Rhein, and strengthen himself so others would not turn him into a puppet.
• When Sanders asked whether Angel had another major matter to reveal, Angel said there was a Phase Gate in Cold Antiquity Guard City.

Angel and Sanders learned that the Phase Gate in Cold Antiquity Guard City could let wizards travel to other Wizarding Worlds through a transaction with Wodell, and they agreed to keep it secret. Before leaving Shepherd City, they witnessed Zislaid make another deal with a noblewoman and discovered that he had turned her first child into a mechanical puppet.

• Sanders told Angel to keep the Phase Gate’s existence secret, then took him to leave Gravity Garden and return to Savage Cave.
• Angel suggested they say goodbye to Zislaid, and they waited outside the antique shop while Zislaid negotiated with a noblewoman.
• The noblewoman traded her second child to Zislaid in exchange for gaining control of the chamber of commerce, after having previously traded her first child.
• Sanders and Angel entered the shop, where Zislaid explained that the mechanical puppet contained the soul of the noblewoman’s first twin, who had a special soul but no cultivation talent.
• The mechanical puppet went to retrieve the noblewoman’s abandoned high-heeled shoe, and Angel felt melancholy over the children’s fate.

After leaving Zislaid’s shop, Angel and Sanders crossed Shepherd City in the fog and spotted the elderly customer Angel had seen earlier. The woman, Anada, struggled home and reaffirmed her resolve to take the potion she had obtained from Zislaid, no matter the cost.

• Sanders told Angel that Zislaid had once been impulsive, but time had worn away his hot blood while leaving his original principles intact.
• Angel and Sanders rode the concealed Gondola through Shepherd City’s heavy fog, where Angel recognized the white-haired woman who had fallen on a muddy road as someone from Zislaid’s shop.
• Sanders sensed that Anada’s soul and body were in harmony, and Angel wondered whether she had traded away her youth and lifespan to Zislaid.
• Anada endured a cruel prank from a boy, then rested near a theater and listened to a hymn about love lasting beyond old age.
• Thinking of her childhood sweetheart Huibidon and the path she had chosen, Anada resolved to reach home and take Zislaid’s potion despite its costly terms.

Angel and Sanders planned how to divert Frost Moon’s attention after returning to Savage Cave, then crossed the Pamiji Plateau. They saw rain open a staircase to newly awakened ruins, but Sanders advised Angel to leave them unexplored.

• Sanders told Angel to show himself openly, share limited verifiable truths about Odecras and the Lord of No Flame, and leave Savage Cave before Frost Moon could focus on him.
• Angel worried about implicating Odecras, but Sanders said Angel would only be speaking the truth and warned him not to reveal that he had personally witnessed the Lord of No Flame’s fate.
• On the Pamiji Plateau, Angel sensed chaotic spatial energy, and Sanders wondered whether his perception had changed because of the Projected Bloodline or the unfinished Door Model.
• Rain clouds suddenly covered the sky, and after Angel and Sanders flew beyond them, a real staircase appeared among the clouds.
• Sanders concluded that the rain had been triggered by the opening of hidden ruins and told Angel not to investigate; they continued toward the chasm.

Angel returned to Savage Cave with Sanders, where the Tree Spirit asked him to use Ocean Rhythm on two newcomers and several apprentices. He met Arthur and the blind Merlin, refugees from the Eternal Night Kingdom, and agreed to help them while leaving their future compulsory mission to his discretion.

• Angel and Sanders returned to the Mirror World, where the Tree Spirit met them and asked to borrow Angel.
• The Tree Spirit explained that two newcomers needed their water-element affinity raised with Ocean Rhythm, and proposed compulsory missions as payment.
• Angel met Arthur and Merlin, two close friends from the Eternal Night Kingdom; Merlin had been blinded after a wizard stole his unusual eyes.
• Night Sylvie arrived with three apprentices and asked Angel to help them as well.
• Angel agreed to help the three apprentices in exchange for magic crystals, while Arthur and Merlin accepted compulsory missions as payment.

Angel let Night Sylvie’s apprentices and two newcomers experience Ocean Rhythm, an alchemical creation that gave them profound benefits. After they awakened, Merlin revealed that the journey had restored his sight, while Night Sylvie’s apprentices thanked Angel and left with newfound admiration for him.

• Night Sylvie brought three apprentices to Angel, and each paid five magic crystals to experience Ocean Rhythm.
• Angel soothed the group with an Audio Illusion cantrip and began their Experience Journey; Night Sylvie thanked him and asked the Tree Spirit about Duru, Feng Man, and Gu Yina.
• One of Night Sylvie’s apprentices awakened first, followed by Arthur and another apprentice, while Merlin and the remaining apprentice endured the journey for more than four minutes.
• Merlin and the female apprentice awakened nearly together, and Night Sylvie’s three apprentices discovered that the journey had greatly benefited their water-element practice.
• Night Sylvie urged her apprentices to thank Angel, and they praised him; Merlin knelt before Angel, later revealing that he had regained his sight during the illusion.

Angel returned from Tree Spirit Hall to find Sanders back at the manor, where he learned that Rhein had gone to a ruin on the Pamiji Plateau after it was overrun by creatures from the Nightmare Realm. Sanders planned to continue their preparations to leave once their remaining business was settled, but Butler Gude interrupted them with news that a meal was ready.

• The Tree Spirit warned Angel to leave before people drawn by Ocean Rhythm's effects crowded Tree Spirit Hall, and Angel flew back to Demon Illusion Island.
• Sanders told Angel that Rhein had gone to a ruin on the Pamiji Plateau after wizards sent to investigate it disappeared.
• Sanders explained that Rainbow Dragonflies and parasites from the Eternal Night Kingdom had occupied the ruin and turned it into a dangerous stronghold.
• Sanders decided not to join Rhein yet and told Angel they would report their itinerary, speak with Nis about the Heart of the Swarm, and prepare to depart.
• Butler Gude announced that a meal was ready, and Sanders left the study to eat and give Gude instructions.

Angel realized that the old woman he had seen in Shepherd City was likely Anada, Huibidon's childhood sweetheart, and told Huibidon where she might be. He and Sanders then investigated Gloria's disappearance and learned she had received an encrypted message from a female apprentice at Black Castle.

• Huibidon asked Angel whether he had found Anada, and Angel recognized the old woman from Shepherd City as likely Anada after mentally reversing her age.
• Angel told Huibidon that he might know where Anada was, then discussed with Sanders whether Anada could become a transcendent after trading away her youth.
• Angel and Sanders learned that Gloria had left after receiving an encrypted message from a female apprentice at Black Castle.
• Sanders suggested they visit Black Castle if Gloria had not returned and said he also needed to pay a formal visit to Isabella.

Sanders and Angel reported their itinerary and recounted the Abyss events to the wizards of Savage Cave, with Sanders leaving Angel to explain his own mysterious role. Angel gave a carefully limited account, revealing the Lord of No Flame’s true spirit had fallen while denying knowledge of the Tower or Orucia’s fate.

• Sanders brought Angel to Tree Spirit Hall to report their departure and discuss the Abyss, where Wallace invited Angel to visit White Gull Era Academy.
• Sanders recounted the events in Lasudelan, including the aberration’s seizure of the Origin Fire and Orucia’s body and Angel’s disappearance and return.
• Sanders explained that Angel’s earlobe mark had attracted the Origin Fire, prompting the Tree Spirit and Wallace to look to Angel for answers.
• Angel described his encounters with Fafnir and Odecras while concealing sensitive details and minimizing his role in the Abyss events.
• Angel said the Lord of No Flame’s true spirit had fallen, but claimed he knew nothing about the Tower’s whereabouts or Orucia’s fate.

Angel reported on the upheaval in Lasudelan and revealed that he had gained Odecras’s friendship by refining a Fire-Passing Stone. As the wizards focused on Angel’s value and the Origin Fire, Sanders stated that the Origin Fire was with him and challenged Xilending’s reason for asking about it.

• Wallace silenced the wizards’ debate over the Lord of No Flame’s fall and asked Angel about his friendship with Odecras.
• Angel confirmed that he had refined a Fire-Passing Stone, but explained that its rare, irreplaceable materials made further refinements difficult.
• The Tree Spirit and the wizards recognized Angel’s value and considered how his friendship with Odecras might benefit them.
• Wallace invited Angel to join White Gull Era Academy, leaving Angel confused.
• Xilending asked about the Origin Fire, and Sanders said it was with him before questioning Xilending’s motives.

Sanders and Angel left the gathering after discussing Xilending’s hostility and the secrets Angel had withheld. They traveled to Nis’s Soul Valley to seek information about cultivating Shapeshifting Softworms.

• Xilending apologized to Angel, and Wallace received Sanders’s permission to publish the matter in Mirror.
• Tree Spirit questioned Angel about his physical condition and the truths he had withheld, while Sanders promised to explain them in the future.
• Tree Spirit warned Angel to avoid Xilending, and Sanders explained that Xilending’s obsession with reaching the Path of True Knowledge had likely made him resent Angel over the Alchemical Illusion Realm and the music box.
• Sanders and Angel traveled to Soul Valley to meet Nis, hoping to learn how to cultivate Shapeshifting Softworms.
• Angel and Sanders entered Soul Valley, where naked undead gathered around them but kept their distance from Sanders.

Sanders and Angel visited Nis to examine manuscripts from the Heart of the Swarm research institute, while Nis speculated about Angel’s unusual constitution. Sanders and Nis also discussed strange activity around the newly discovered ruins on Pamiji Plateau, where Rainbow Dragonflies seemed drawn to something inside.

• Sanders and Angel found Nis dissecting a feathered man in the Soul Tower’s underground laboratory, and Nis remarked on Angel’s powerful blood and qi.
• Nis led Sanders and Angel to a secret chamber and retrieved Insekot’s manuscripts, allowing them to inspect the encrypted contents for a price.
• Angel began reading the manuscripts while Sanders and Nis discussed his changed constitution and the Demon God’s true spirit; Sanders suggested it might relate to the Nightmare Soul Physique and the Nightmare Realm.
• Nis told Sanders that Rainbow Dragonflies near the Pamiji Plateau ruins did not seem intent on expanding and might instead be attracted by something inside.
• Sanders considered whether the ruins contained a passage to the Nightmare Realm, while Nis said Lord Rhein had contacted Lapuye and might investigate the ruins later.

Angel bought a page of Insekot’s manuscript and learned ways to increase the chance that a Soft-State Worm queen would hatch special breeds, then went to the underground market to acquire materials and insects. There, he discovered an apprentice selling skillfully imitated Tang sabers and noticed a parchment among the wares.

• Angel paid Nis one thousand magic crystals for a page of Insekot’s manuscript and learned that several variables could improve the chance of a queen hatching special Soft-State Worm breeds.
• Sanders explained that Angel could expect to pay at least ten thousand magic crystals for future transactions with Nis, then flew to Starry Sky Island to consult Maya.
• Angel disguised himself, entered the underground market, and bought magic insects and materials that might influence the Soft-State Worm queen.
• Angel spotted an apprentice selling improved Tang saber imitations at a flying stall and learned that David had recently stopped making Tang sabers.
• Angel noticed a roll of parchment beside the sabers and turned his attention to it.

Angel returned to the underground market, remembered a coded Starfrost parchment that might be a Meditation Method for Leon, and learned that David had entered a Sky Tower promotion match. Angel and Baruba went to watch as David prepared to face the Beast King for New Star qualification.

• Angel saw the Twin-Ring Moonwheel Guidance Method and remembered the coded Starfrost parchment he had received from Wodell, which he planned to ask Sanders about for Leon.
• Angel went to the Promi Alchemy Shop, where Baruba told him David was competing in a Sky Tower promotion match to earn New Star qualification.
• Angel and Baruba went to the fourth-floor arena, where the crowd gathered for David's match.
• Angel recognized David's opponent, the Beast King, and saw the fighters' titles displayed as Gazing into the Profundity versus Beast King.

Angel learned how the New Star Tournament qualification worked while watching David battle Beast King in Sky Tower. David defeated Beast King, and Angel realized how much both fighters had improved as he noticed Baruba’s longing for battle despite his reluctance to compete.

• Baruba told Angel that New Star qualification required reaching the thirtieth floor and earning 100 battle points, and a young spectator explained how Sky Tower connected to the Infinite Battle Tower.
• Angel watched David and Beast King begin their match with prepared spells; Beast King’s Flame Barrage overwhelmed David’s Ice Wall Spell.
• Beast King summoned a white cat that transformed into a winged white tiger, but David activated his Ironclad Demon Porcupine Bloodline and withstood its bite.
• Beast King turned the white tiger into a flaming white tiger but still could not penetrate David’s defenses, and David won the battle.
• Angel reflected on the fighters’ growth and saw that Baruba yearned to battle but feared his bloodline would drive him to disregard everything.

Angel reunited with David and Baruba after Baruba’s Sky Tower match, then encountered Baroque, who offered him a New Star Qualification Certificate. Angel revealed an item from the Research Institute instead and left, while Baroque regretted his past actions and told his bewildered disciple that he had come to Savage Cave to see Angel.

• Baruba and Angel entered the competitors’ area, where David recognized Angel after he dropped his disguise briefly.
• David described Liana’s training and complained that Angel had grown far stronger, then agreed to return to the alchemy shop with him.
• Angel spotted Baroque and his chuunibyou disciple near the exit, and reminded Baroque that he had once plotted with Supervisor Melantha to have the Parasite Maiden kill him.
• Baroque calmly apologized and offered Angel an unregistered New Star Qualification Certificate, but Angel showed him an item from the Research Institute instead and walked away.
• After Angel left, Baroque regretted his past decision and told his disciple that he had come to Savage Cave to see Angel.