Recaps

Richard learned that Old Malun had spared him to use him against White Stone Tower, then joined Macbeth’s mission to kill King Khufu. After Macbeth killed the king and defeated the pursuing cavalry, he set out with Richard and Nancy toward the Giant Ship and White Stone Tower.

• Richard confirmed that the Black-Robed Man was Old Malun, who explained that he wanted Richard to damage White Stone Tower and gave him several items tied to its secrets.
• Dempsey summoned Macbeth to help the giant ship, and Macbeth destroyed the three warships pursuing them before recruiting Richard, Nancy, and Raymond for a mission.
• Macbeth brought the group to Lisbon and revealed his plan to kill King Khufu during the Swordsmanship Tournament.
• Richard and Nancy advanced through the tournament, while Tuo Tie killed Raymond and Richard later defeated Tuo Tie by outlasting his Bloodline Power.
• Macbeth told Richard about his dead Wizard attendant, and King Khufu skipped the adult tournament but watched the youth final.
• Macbeth revealed his identity to King Khufu and killed him, then left the arena with Richard and Nancy as the spectators watched.
• Macbeth defeated the cavalry pursuing him beyond Cairo City, gave Nancy a silver spike and Richard a Spartan Heroic Potion, and rode with them toward the Giant Ship and White Stone Tower.

Richard navigated the academy’s harsh student system, rented a secluded courtyard, and developed a potion that Alex began selling. After fighting the Red Sker Gang and capturing Gu Tas, Richard discovered Gu Tas had used a false story to lure him away while Alex admitted he had sold the potion at inflated prices and may have revealed Richard’s address.

• Dempsey accepted the Aegean Kingdom’s crystal coin taxes from Earl Zorro, then Richard pointed out White Stone Tower on the horizon as the newcomers approached the mainland.
• Modesty tested the newcomers and assigned them different student ranks, while Richard concealed his mana fluctuations and received a Black Nameplate as an Auditing Student.
• Richard found his assigned dormitory filthy, refused a fellow student’s repeated offers to pay him to clean her room, and began attending Moke’s swordsmanship elective with Gelo.
• Moke demonstrated swordsmanship enhanced by Wind Spells, and Richard twice defeated Baji in a wooden-sword spar before learning that Baji was one of Ruth’s twelve debt-bound fiancés.
• Richard rented a secluded courtyard through Alex, prepared a Spartan Heroic Potion, tested its effects, and diluted it into a product he named the Spartan Warrior Potion.
• Alex agreed to sell Richard’s hundred bottles, but Richard later fought the Red Sker Gang over the potion box and Baji’s Steel Brotherhood reinforcements helped capture the gang members.
• Richard assembled an optical microscope and examined Drift Bottle fungi before Gu Tas broke into his courtyard, prompting Richard to subdue him and question him about the potion.
• Gu Tas claimed Alex had given him Richard’s address, but Richard found Alex alive and learned that Alex had overcharged customers and might have accidentally revealed the address.

Richard investigated the Black Spirit Empire symbol, developed experiments with magic-pattern objects, and attended an auction where he acquired spell tools but lost out on antiquarian books. After Somen and Mu Keni attacked a young bidder, Richard killed the injured man and took the books, leaving Somen suspicious.

• Richard experimented on Gu Tas, researched Bloodline Seeds, and developed a theory that the Spartan Heroic Potion triggered a hormone cascade.
• Richard traced the Antique Ring’s reaction to My Autobiography - Moratos, then learned from Scholar Su La Di that its symbol belonged to the Black Spirit Empire.
• Richard tested magic patterns on White Jade Shards, causing a fireball that wrecked Pandora’s bed, and decided to attend Hai Di’s auction invitation.
• Somen and Mu Keni infiltrated the Golden Boot Tavern, learned that Molotov Flower potions were headed to an auction, and destroyed the tavern after taking some potions.
• At the auction, Richard watched a princess be sold and a bound thief die after drinking Heaven, then saw Guest No. 111 win Paradise Potion and the Black Spirit Empire books.
• Richard bought several small magic-pattern spell tools while Guest No. 111 repeatedly won lots, including the antiquarian books.
• Somen and Mu Keni confronted Guest No. 111 over the Paradise Potion, but he attacked them with blood-red flames and escaped their control using a gemstone ring.
• Richard restrained and killed the injured young man, took the Black Spirit Empire books from his suitcase, and concealed his traces before Somen and Mu Keni found the body and grew suspicious.

Richard pursued the secrets of the Black Spirit Empire while Somen’s organization hunted people and drew attention to its symbol. The East Coast Joint Exchange Meeting ended in an outbreak among the students, and Richard later spotted an unexpected visitor outside his laboratory.

• Somen discovered that the Black Spirit Empire books were missing, then he and Mu Keni investigated the theft and killed an elderly man for his research scrolls.
• Richard tested the Paradise potion, investigated magical patterns, and began connecting the Black Spirit Empire books to a hidden numerical puzzle.
• Richard solved Su La Di’s thief puzzle and searched the Underground Grand Market, where he found a damaged copy of My Autobiography—Moratos and later gained access to the Forbidden Bookstore’s inner section.
• Richard bought eight books from Hagens, deciphered their numbering pattern, and concluded he still needed at least seven more books to complete the calculation.
• Two Black-Robed Men destroyed the Black Gold Society and left the Black Spirit Empire Symbol behind, while Su La Di ordered the Council to find whoever had exposed its location.
• At the Joint Exchange Meeting, Sai Meng defeated Ba Ba La, but Ba Ba La infected Meng Ke and the outbreak spread through the students and onto the crowd.
• Richard helped An Qi'er escape the infected, and White Stone Tower Wizards arrived to kill them before her teacher took her away.
• Richard asked Gelo to find Black Spirit Empire books, completed the Low Temperature Dizziness pattern, and noticed an unexpected person outside his laboratory as he returned from meditation.