Chapter Summaries

Richard neutralized the chlorine in Alex's ancestors' grave and began his third exploration in protective gear, while Somen and Mu Keni infiltrated the White Stone Tower Complex. Somen killed Macbeth with a powerful spell, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Richard collected Calcium Oxide from Alex and used Calcium Hydroxide mist over several nights to neutralize the chlorine in the grave.
• Richard entered the grave in an airtight leather suit with a Beak Mask and modified Oxygen Tank to begin his third exploration.
• Somen and Mu Keni appeared inside the White Stone Tower Complex, where Macbeth intercepted them with an ambush.
• Somen consumed a Purple Flame, transformed into a blazing attack, and pierced Macbeth's brow, killing him.

Somen and Mu Keni discovered they had been lured into a trap by Meifeilisi and a large force from White Stone Tower, then attacked their enemies. Richard crossed the chlorine-filled tomb without opposition and reached Hall No.15, where he found a black suitcase on a stone platform.

• Mu Keni blocked an attack from gold-stained ice spikes and realized the Macbeth they had confronted was a mental illusion.
• Meifeilisi appeared beside the unharmed Macbeth, while White Stone Tower Wizards surrounded Somen and Mu Keni.
• Somen and Mu Keni realized they were outnumbered and launched full-strength attacks against the surrounding Wizards.
• Richard passed through the tomb's halls, finding the withered Mushroom Forests and dead Zerg Army and monsters.
• Richard reached Hall No.15, removed his protective gear, and approached the black suitcase on the central platform.

Ji Bo Lun arrived to rescue Somen and Mu Keni, revealing himself as a Level 3 Wizard and joining them in battle against White Stone Tower. Meanwhile, Richard opened the suitcase at the heart of Captain's Tomb and saw a shining light inside.

• Surrounded and badly injured, Somen and Mu Keni prepared to face death while Meifeilisi readied a killing spell.
• Ji Bo Lun appeared, apologized for arriving late, and revealed that he had reached Level 3 Wizard.
• Ji Bo Lun called on Somen and Mu Keni to help him kill the Wizards of White Stone Tower, and the battle erupted.
• At Captain's Tomb, Richard reviewed the clues and dangers that had led him to the stone platform and its suitcase.
• Richard opened the suitcase and saw a ball of light inside.

Richard explored the Black Spirit King's Treasure Hall, collected several mysterious relics, and awakened its guardian, a Hall Spirit. He asked whether he needed to pass a test to take the treasures, and the Hall Spirit began to respond.

• Richard found himself in a vast, sealed space and entered a palace filled with chests of coins, gems, antiques, and High-grade Crystal Coins.
• Richard discovered a Short Staff, a metal sphere, and three spell scrolls—Shadow Cloak, Lord of the Winds, and Gaze of the Eye—and stored them in his Space Iron Ring.
• A Golden Mask on the wall spoke, identifying itself as the sleeping guardian of the Black Spirit King's Treasure Hall.
• Richard illuminated himself with a flame and recognized the Golden Mask as a Hall Spirit.
• Richard asked whether taking the relics required him to pass a test, and the Hall Spirit hesitated.

Richard left the Golden Mask behind, claimed a large-space suitcase, and collected preserved monster corpses from the tomb. After seeing White Stone Tower burning in the distance, he feared the mysterious organization had attacked it and hurried back to his laboratory.

• Richard rejected the Golden Mask's pleas for company and repeatedly tested the palace entrance before leaving for good.
• Ji Bo Lun, Somen, and Mu Keni withdrew from White Stone Tower's ruined core after marking the site with the Black Spirit Empire's symbol.
• Richard identified the suitcase as a Space Item and gathered spell scrolls, a Short Staff, a metal ball, and wealth from the palace.
• Richard froze and stored useful monster corpses in the suitcase, then destroyed the remaining bodies and sealed the tomb entrance.
• Richard saw White Stone Tower burning across White Stone City, suspected Somen and Mu Keni's organization was responsible, and hurried back to his laboratory.

Richard recorded the functions of several magical items from the suitcase, then took Pandora into the suitcase’s palace to consult the Golden Mask about a mysterious metal ball. The chapter ended with Richard and Pandora entering the palace together.

• Richard identified the black Short Staff as a tool that improved spellcasting precision and stored mana or Wandering Energy Elements.
• Richard recorded the functions of the Shadow Cloak, Lord of the Winds, and Gaze of the Eye spell scrolls.
• Richard examined a dull gray metal ball but could not discover what it did.
• Pandora broke test tubes while washing them and collected the fragments in a chest beneath her bed.
• Richard took Pandora by the hand to the underground Spell Laboratory, opened the suitcase, and led her into its light.

Richard brought Pandora into the palace inside the suitcase and tried to ask the Golden Mask about a metal ball, but the Hall Spirit knew nothing about it. After Pandora became fascinated with the palace’s gold, Richard left her there with the Golden Mask, which grew alarmed as she approached it without answering its questions.

• Richard told Pandora they were inside the suitcase and led her toward the palace.
• Richard asked the Golden Mask about the metal ball, but it said it did not know what the object was.
• Pandora found a chest of gold coins, bit them to check they were real, and agreed to stay in the palace while Richard left.
• The Golden Mask eagerly tried to talk with Pandora as she approached it clutching a gold coin.
• The Golden Mask became puzzled and then panicked when Pandora continued approaching without answering.

Richard searched White Stone Tower Academy’s library for information about the metal ball, but found nothing, and then learned that Great Scholar Su La Di had left on a long journey. The chapter ended with Richard still wondering what the metal ball was and whether its mystery could ever be solved.

• Pandora tore the Golden Mask from the wall and repeatedly bit it to test whether it was real gold, while the mask begged her to stop.
• Richard put away the suitcase and went to White Stone Tower Academy, where heightened security and extensive damage remained after the previous night's attack.
• Richard met Gelo in the library, heard his warning to be careful, and explained that he had come to search for information.
• Ruth saw Richard, reacted with fear and anger, and fled with the men surrounding her before he could speak to her.
• Richard searched the library without finding anything useful, then went to Great Scholar Su La Di's residence and learned that Su La Di had left on a long journey.
• On his way back, Richard examined the metal ball and wondered whether its mystery could ever be solved.

Haimen convened White Stone Tower’s Wizards and secured unanimous support for mobilizing against the unknown force attacking them. Macbeth doubted the coming fight would end well, but vowed to Shanala that he would not retreat.

• Haimen told White Stone Tower’s Wizards to set aside the East Coast Exchange Meeting and focus on defending against the invasion.
• Shande reported that other Wizard organizations had also been attacked, and Haimen suspected the attacks might come from the same force.
• Meifeilisi endorsed crushing the invaders, and the gathered Wizards roared their support.
• Armstrong informed Macbeth that White Stone Tower had voted to mobilize all its strength against the invaders.
• Macbeth coughed blood into his Orange Jam, then promised Shanala he would not retreat and left the tavern.

Su La Di gathered the Council to discuss the powerful enemy organization that had attacked the White Stone Tower while leaving the Council’s symbol behind. The meeting ended with Bo Tu La proposing they find his old friend Bi La Si before attempting to contact the enemy.

• Su La Di told the Council that the enemy had attacked the White Stone Tower and left the Council’s symbol painted in the blood of its victims.
• Su La Di asked the meeting participants to explain the enemy’s motives, but Chris could not offer an answer.
• Ya Duo De argued that the Council should focus on destroying the enemy if it was acting against them deliberately.
• Bo Tu La suggested the enemy might share the Council’s origins and urged them to seek contact while remaining vigilant.
• Bo Tu La revealed that his powerful old friend was named Bi La Si, and Su La Di ordered the Council to search for him.

Ji Bo Lun and four other Level 2 Wizards attacked Master Bi La Si, with Ji Bo Lun using a temporary Level 3 transformation to launch the fight. The battle’s blast wave flattened the Wooden Building, and Alex lost his money box.

• Ji Bo Lun and four Level 2 Wizards surrounded Master Bi La Si in his courtyard.
• Ji Bo Lun revealed that he could temporarily reach Level 3 and had exchanged for Three-Ring Spells.
• Ji Bo Lun swallowed a miniature sun, transformed with Eternal Crystal Body, and charged Bi La Si as the others attacked.
• The battle’s shock waves woke Alex, and Madam Amanda carried him out of the Wooden Building.
• The Wooden Building collapsed before Alex could retrieve his money box, so he told Madam Amanda he had said nothing.

Richard tested the tomb’s spell scrolls and considered how to turn the Box World into a permanent laboratory. After deciding the palace obstructed his renovation plans, he entered it to investigate.

• Richard tested Shadow Cloak, Lord of the Winds, and Gaze of the Eye, discovering their stealth, speed, enhanced vision, and limited x-ray abilities.
• Richard replenished his magic with the Energy Storage Staff and set aside the metal ball, whose function he still could not identify.
• Richard entered the Box World and illuminated it with Phosphorus Candle flames before planning a laboratory, biological laboratory, and spell testing ground.
• Richard decided the palace was an obstacle to his renovation plans and entered it while considering whether to obtain building materials from inside.

Richard destroyed the old palace in the Box World and replaced it with a permanent laboratory complex, then arranged for pear-shaped glass bulbs to be made for its lighting. After Richard warned Alex not to put one in his mouth, Alex tried it anyway and found himself unable to remove it.

• Richard moved the palace’s useful contents outside, then demolished the palace, leaving the Golden Mask to lament its loss.
• Richard oversaw construction of a laboratory complex and decided to add electric lighting to the Main Laboratory.
• Alex delivered the requested glass bulbs, and Richard confirmed their shape and number.
• Richard warned Alex that a bulb could be easy to put in his mouth but hard to take out.
• After leaving Richard’s courtyard, Alex put a bulb in his mouth and became unable to remove it.

Richard helped Alex remove a light bulb stuck in his mouth and learned that wizards' clashes had destroyed Alex's home and left him destitute. Alex described escalating fighting around White Stone City, leaving Richard to suspect the mysterious organization linked to Somen and Mu Keni was clashing with the White Stone Tower over an unknown plan.

• Alex arrived at Richard's gate with a light bulb stuck in his mouth, and Richard broke it so Alex could spit out the glass.
• Richard treated Alex's mouth, then caught him trying to steal the medical alcohol and cotton swabs.
• Alex explained that wizards' fighting had collapsed his wooden building, burying his money boxes and leaving him broke.
• Alex told Richard that wizards were fighting daily around the Slums and that he had resorted to sleeping in a tent.
• Richard concluded that the mysterious organization linked to Somen and Mu Keni was repeatedly clashing with the White Stone Tower and wondered what it intended to do.

Richard focused on developing a true spell barrage by coordinating multiple spells to strike at once. After several days of testing, he used a volley of explosions to melt a metal target and continued refining the technique, hoping it could let him contend with a Formal Wizard.

• Richard suspected Somen and Mu Keni's organization might seek to unite the East Coast, but hoped their paths would not cross again.
• Richard tested whether he could stagger Wandering Energy Elements so that multiple Flame Impact spells struck a target simultaneously.
• Richard successfully fired two Flame Impact spells at once, blasting the head off a wooden target.
• Richard spent several days practicing the coordination of larger numbers of spells and managing the calculations they required.
• Richard used a volley of One-Ring Explosion spells to melt a metal humanoid target, then continued testing to improve the barrage.

Pandora discovered that striking Richard’s mysterious metal ball made it transform, and Richard realized that his cautious testing had kept him from uncovering its true form. He began examining the altered ball in the Main Laboratory.

• Pandora sat on the Golden Mask outside the Spell Testing Ground, repeatedly crushing it until she carried it into the Main Laboratory.
• Pandora threw a metal ball at the Golden Mask, and the impact transformed the ball into a cracked, rotating, turtle-shell-like shape.
• Pandora and the Golden Mask examined the ball as it clicked and returned to its spherical form, then Pandora struck the Golden Mask with it again.
• Richard entered the Main Laboratory, took the transformed ball from Pandora, and realized that violent impact had revealed its true form.
• Richard began manipulating the metal ball as it clicked and shifted.

Richard examined the metal ball’s activated form and identified it as a seventeen-layer Rubik’s Cube that likely had to be solved to reveal crucial information. He began working on it, unsure whether Pandora’s earlier touch had already changed its state.

• Richard determined that the metal ball would unleash devastating power if sufficiently damaged, then recognized its second form as a Rubik’s Cube.
• Richard identified the cube as a seventeen-layer puzzle bearing the six symbols of the Black Spirit Empire’s emblem and considered using the reduction method to solve it.
• Richard asked Pandora whether she had touched the cube, and Pandora admitted that she had touched it a little.
• Richard warned Pandora not to touch similar objects carelessly and sent her to wash the test tubes.
• Richard began twisting the seventeen-layer Rubik’s Cube.

Richard opened the metal ball and found a parchment bearing the place name Stockholm, which the Golden Mask recognized but could not remember. After a week of trying to recall it, the Golden Mask began questioning its own identity and asked Richard who it had been before it was sealed.

• Richard solved the metal ball’s mechanism, removed a parchment from inside, and learned it read “Stockholm.”
• Richard wondered whether Stockholm was connected to the Black Spirit King’s treasure and asked the Golden Mask if it knew the place.
• The Golden Mask spent a day thinking, then continued trying to remember Stockholm for a week as Richard checked on it.
• The Golden Mask asked Richard who it was, rejected its identity as the guardian of the palace, and revealed that it remembered being a sealed soul but not who it had been or why it was sealed.

After the Golden Mask fell silent, Richard searched White Stone Tower Academy for information about “Stockholm” but found nothing. The Bronze Bell then rang thirteen times, and the students rushed out of the library as Richard wondered what had happened.

• Richard tried to comfort the Golden Mask, but it became agitated and went cold and unresponsive.
• Richard left the Box World and searched the White Stone Tower Academy library for books about “Stockholm,” finding none.
• Richard questioned Ruth, who truthfully said she knew nothing about “Stockholm.”
• Gelo offered to help Richard search the library, but they still found no relevant books.
• The Bronze Bell rang thirteen times, and the students hurried out of the library.

Richard watched White Stone Tower hold its first collective funeral for dozens of Wizards killed in the battle against the mysterious organization, including Macbeth. The funeral ended in silence, leaving Richard to consider whether he should leave White Stone City after consulting Great Scholar Su La Di about Stockholm.

• Richard and Gelo went outside the library and watched a silent procession of Wizards escorting dozens of coffins through the academy.
• The procession reached the Core Area, where the Wizards created a cemetery because White Stone Tower had too many dead to honor their individual burial wishes.
• Gelo told Richard that the white coffin belonged to Macbeth, who had requested a white coffin and white burial items.
• Richard remembered Macbeth's connection to his Blood of the Gods research and suspected he had died fighting the mysterious organization behind Somen and Mu Keni.
• The Wizards buried the dead, including Macbeth, and carved their names into stone tombstones before leaving in silence.
• Richard considered leaving White Stone City but decided he still needed to ask Great Scholar Su La Di whether he knew of Stockholm.