Chapter Summaries

Yu Sheng'an demonstrated that lightning could produce light by passing through a simple metal wire, solving Stanford's Magic Tower lighting problem. He left the Research Council eager to learn the principle and offering him rewards for sharing it.

• Dendall asked Yu Sheng'an whether he had discovered how to convert Lightning Magic into Light Magic, and the mages doubted him when he denied it.
• Yu Sheng'an passed lightning through a metal wire, which heated up and shone brightly before he handed it to Stanford to test.
• Stanford channeled lightning into the wire and confirmed that it produced intense light, astonishing the Research Council.
• Yu Sheng'an told Stanford that adding several wires to the Magic Tower would solve the lighting problem and said the wire cost less than one hundred Copper.
• Stanford offered anything for the principle, and Dendall offered Yu Sheng'an entry to the Hall of Fame and a magical artifact from the Academy Treasury for sharing it.

Yu Sheng'an revealed how lightning could produce light and asked the Research Council how magic might be transmitted remotely, then left with an idea inspired by the discussion. Jennifer told the defeated Marchie that Asheff was transforming the Empire and announced she would leave Willis to seek a Magic Tower.

• Yu Sheng'an explained electrical resistance and light production to the Research Council, earning the mages’ respect.
• Yu Sheng'an asked how magical effects could be transmitted through a medium without Magic Runes, and a comparison to Summoning Magic gave him an idea.
• After the meeting, Jennifer hurried to Marchie's Mansion and told Marchie that Asheff had discovered how to convert the Thunder Element into the Light Element.
• Marchie reacted with disbelief and anger that Asheff had prospered after defeating him, while Jennifer condemned him for targeting Erin and clinging to his plantation.
• Jennifer described the Empire’s expanding opportunities for commoner mages and told Marchie she would leave Willis within a week to seek a Magic Tower.

Pous left the Slums in new clothes to interview for a research assistant position at Felix Magic Academy, hoping to change his fate and honor his mother's sacrifice. After passing the written test, he waited among wealthy young candidates for his interview.

• Pous's mother sold her treasured silver bracelet to buy him new clothes and urged him to seize his chance at the Magic Forest.
• Pous left the Slums and watched a delegation from Vias pass through Willis, reflecting on the changes that had followed the Internet's arrival.
• Pous arrived at Felix Magic Academy, where he saw noble candidates and fought his urge to flee.
• Pous recalled that Master Asheff's Magic Forest was recruiting literate assistants under sixteen and that he had passed the written test.
• Pous prayed to the God of the Internet as he waited nervously for his interview.

Pous passed Erin’s interview and discovered that the statue of Asheff resembled the mysterious young man he had met before. Meanwhile, Yu Sheng'an was summoned to discuss the Goddess of Music Aphnora’s request for seeds and proposed selling her grain below market price.

• Pous answered Erin’s interview questions honestly, passed, and was told to start work the next day.
• Pous saw Asheff’s statue in the Hall of Fame and recognized its face as that of the mysterious young man who had once exposed a scam.
• Yu Sheng'an left his work on the Internet’s Lighting Function after Dendall summoned him to the Ring Magic Tower to discuss Aphnora’s delegation seeking crop seeds.
• Yu Sheng'an proposed refusing to provide seeds but selling Aphnora grain instead.
• Yu Sheng'an surprised Dendall, Zimor, and Bethany by suggesting they sell the grain below market price.

Yu Sheng'an proposed selling Kevil Empire grain cheaply to foreign nations, then explained to the three Magic Gods that the strategy would make those nations dependent on imports and easier to weaken. He left them stunned by his plan to undermine rival powers and use the resulting resources and unrest to expand the Empire’s influence.

• Dendall, Zimor, and Bethany objected to Yu Sheng'an’s plan to sell grain cheaply, warning that it could threaten the Empire’s farmers and food security.
• Yu Sheng'an announced that the Empire would sell grain cheaply not only to Vias but to every other nation as well.
• Dendall and Bethany warned Yu Sheng'an that the gods would not tolerate the Empire expanding its influence, while Zimor’s projection flickered threateningly.
• Yu Sheng'an reassured the three Magic Gods and explained that cheap exports would make foreign nations abandon farming and become dependent on Kevil grain.
• Yu Sheng'an outlined how the Empire could cut off exports, promote soil-depleting magical crops, profit from processing them, and encourage mages to seize rival territories.
• The three Magic Gods were shaken by Yu Sheng'an’s strategy and reconsidered him as a ruthless force rather than a benevolent God of Agriculture.

Yu Sheng'an prepared Erin to continue the Magic Forest’s research after he left to escort supplies to Vias, then used Divine Perspective to discover Redmond had been burned as a heretic in the Kaman Confederation. Redmond revived through the Internet’s Vitality and allied with a Shadow Demon, leaving Yu Sheng'an to decide whether to stop him.

• Yu Sheng'an told Erin to expand the Magic Forest’s cultivation research, seek support through practical benefits, and contact Dendall or him if trouble arose.
• Yu Sheng'an said he was leaving to escort the Empire’s deal with Vias and reminded Erin to cultivate a school that could protect her.
• Yu Sheng'an checked the Internet backend for users near the Lanlun Mountains, found few, and used Divine Perspective to witness four men being burned in the Kaman Confederation.
• Redmond recalled being captured as a heretic after trying to spread Divine Art, then regained consciousness as the Internet’s Vitality restored his body.
• Redmond killed two villagers who were carving flesh from his leg and ordered a Shadow Demon to attack the village, threatening to send it back to the Abyss if it disobeyed.
• Yu Sheng'an recognized that Redmond had connected to Abyss Devils through the Contract and wondered whether to stop him.

Yu Sheng'an observed Redmond's aftermath and then escorted the Vias delegation toward the Goddess of Music's divine kingdom, using the journey to learn about Vias. He left the convoy after warning an old farmer that his winter mallow crop would not survive colder weather.

• Yu Sheng'an watched Redmond's Shadow Demon attack the village after another woman was burned at the stake, then decided to keep Redmond under close observation.
• Three days later, Yu Sheng'an escorted the Vias delegation out of Willis City, while Meg wondered why the eminent Asheff had joined the long journey.
• Yu Sheng'an asked Meg about Vias's music-based honors and considered how the Goddess of Music's authority might work.
• Yu Sheng'an stopped the convoy beside a field of Broad Leaf Winter Mallow and warned the old farmer that the crop could not withstand colder weather.

Old Farmer Hal told the villagers he had met Lord Asheff, and the Internet confirmed Asheff had passed through with the Vias delegation. When hunters became lost in the forest after dark, Hal proposed using the Internet's Virtual Scroll to help them.

• Old Farmer Hal returned to the village and described meeting Lord Asheff, but the villagers did not believe him.
• A villager posted on the local and Willis Forums, where replies confirmed that Asheff was escorting the Vias delegation and had passed through the area.
• The villagers recognized Hal had truly met Asheff and crowded around as he embellished their encounter.
• Farm women arrived with news that Bince and the others were lost in the forest after chasing a moose, and the villagers struggled to find a way to rescue them safely.
• Old Farmer Hal pointed to the Internet's Virtual Scroll and announced that he had an idea.

Bince and his companions got lost in the Forest after chasing an elk, but the villagers guided them home with the Internet’s Lighting Function. A week later, Yu Sheng'an arrived in Vias, where Meg invited him to sing.

• Bince and the village youths chased an elk deep into the Forest, got lost at night, and feared the beasts surrounding them.
• Grandpa Hal contacted Bince through the Internet and told him to climb a tree to find the village lights.
• Bince led the youths toward the village, where villagers used the Internet’s Lighting Function to illuminate their way home.
• Yu Sheng'an watched the villagers rescue Bince and considered developing map positioning for the Internet.
• Yu Sheng'an arrived in Vias, the Earthly Divine Kingdom of Aphnora, the Goddess of Music, and Meg asked him to sing.

Yu Sheng'an entered Vias and met Aphnora, the Goddess of Music, after declining the local custom of singing at the city gates. He proposed an alliance and offered to share his twenty million believers, leaving Aphnora surprised and asking how they could share them.

• Yu Sheng'an declined Meg's request to sing upon entering Vias, and the delegation proceeded into the city without performing the custom.
• Vias's citizens learned that the Kevil Empire's delegation had not sung and criticized them for disrespecting the Goddess of Music.
• Meg escorted Yu Sheng'an to the Divine Palace of Music, where he met Aphnora and asked why she wanted high-yield seeds despite Vias's apparent prosperity.
• Yu Sheng'an suggested Aphnora wanted food to support more people and expand her Spring of Source Essence, but she denied having believers on other planes.
• Yu Sheng'an proposed an alliance with Aphnora and offered to share his twenty million believers, then asked whether she had heard of NetEase Cloud.

Yu Sheng'an tried to recruit Aphnora into a partnership that would bring music to his Internet users and share the Source Essence they generated. She rejected him because he had not sung when he arrived, then expelled him from her hall, leaving him preparing to sing outside.

• Yu Sheng'an argued that gods could gain mass followers by solving commoners' problems and explained how his Internet had attracted millions of users.
• He proposed that Aphnora create an online music section and split the Source Essence from song requests with him.
• Aphnora refused, explaining that his failure to sing upon entering showed he had not come sincerely and was merely using her.
• Yu Sheng'an offered to sing for her, but Aphnora expelled him from the hall before he could make amends.
• With curious maids watching, Yu Sheng'an cleared his throat and chose a song to perform outside.

Yu Sheng'an sang a love song to Aphnora outside her palace, moving her maids but failing to persuade the Goddess of Music to accept his offer. He left intending to investigate her refusal, unaware that the palace maids were already spreading their romantic interpretation of the encounter throughout Vias.

• The palace maids recognized Yu Sheng'an as the Kevil Empire's Legate and grew angry when he made a scene outside Aphnora's hall.
• Yu Sheng'an began singing a folk tune, and Bailier and the other maids stopped to listen.
• Aphnora heard Yu Sheng'an's improvised love song and blushed, while the maids were swept up in its romance.
• After the song ended, Yu Sheng'an asked Aphnora to forgive him, but she told him to leave.
• Yu Sheng'an departed to reconsider Aphnora's refusal, while the maids pitied him and prepared to spread the story across Vias.

Aphnora recalled her lonely past and wondered whether Asheff’s love song was a ploy, though it had moved her. After Daina sang it in the streets, Vias citizens learned Asheff had sung it to the Goddess and surged toward the Mission Office in fury.

• Aphnora ordered Bailier to store the old grain and warned her not to act independently against Asheff.
• Aphnora reflected on her past, her isolation as a goddess, and her conflicted reaction to Asheff’s love song.
• After her shift, Daina sang the song for Grandma Lucia, drawing a crowd of Vias citizens.
• The crowd praised the song, then grew outraged when Daina revealed Asheff had sung it to Aphnora.
• Vias citizens shouted to drive Asheff out and surged toward the Mission Office.

After the people of Vias surrounded the Kevil Mission Office and demanded that Asheff leave, Yu Sheng'an went outside to confront them. He broke their united chant with his power and summoned a giant phantom, leaving the crowd stunned as Belloc begged him not to act rashly.

• Belloc told Yu Sheng'an that the people of Vias had surrounded the Mission Office and wanted him to leave.
• Yu Sheng'an learned that the Vias Office had asked the City Guard Office for help, but the guards did not arrive as the crowd grew and threatened to breach the gates.
• Yu Sheng'an left the Mission Office and mocked the crowd, disrupting their unified chant.
• Yu Sheng'an used his Godhead's power to silence the crowd and insulted them for relying on Aphnora's protection.
• Yu Sheng'an summoned a Nine-Zhang Giant Phantom behind him, and Belloc pleaded with him not to act rashly.

Yu Sheng'an rebuked Vias citizens who challenged him and entered the Mission Office, while Belloc praised Asheff’s magical achievements to strengthen his standing. Meanwhile, Aphnora confronted the Beast God as his Orc horde invaded her plane and attacked a city.

• Yu Sheng'an dismissed the Vias citizens’ accusations, warning them to train and recognize that Aphnora’s protection had kept them safe.
• Belloc praised Asheff’s agricultural success and his discovery linking Lightning Magic to Light Magic, prompting the Vias citizens to reconsider Asheff’s pursuit of the Goddess.
• Yu Sheng'an entered the Mission Office as Bailier waited outside the sealed Music Temple for Aphnora’s instructions.
• Aphnora ordered the Beast God to leave her plane, but he declared it his own and sent Orcs to slaughter the city.
• Aphnora hurled a meteorite at the Orc horde, while Earth Elemental Golems emerged to meet the attackers.

Yu Sheng'an explained the hidden potential of Aphnora’s Music Godhead and tried to persuade her to form an alliance. Aphnora offered to ally with him if he helped repel Beast God Bruman’s invasion of one of her minor planes, leaving Yu Sheng'an shocked that she had one.

• Yu Sheng'an finished mastering the first-tier Dark Night spell and reflected on his progress in the seven conventional magic systems.
• Yu Sheng'an explored Vias and observed its leisurely pace and underdeveloped commerce.
• Yu Sheng'an met Aphnora on a bridge, where she asked why he wanted to ally with her despite her supposedly useless Authority.
• Yu Sheng'an described how Aphnora could use sound and mechanical waves for battlefield support, detection, and large-scale attacks.
• Aphnora revealed that Beast God Bruman was invading one of her minor planes and offered an alliance if Yu Sheng'an helped repel him.
• Yu Sheng'an reacted with disbelief upon learning that Aphnora had a minor plane.

Yu Sheng'an arrived in Dorphy City and found that Aphnora had spent over a century building only one city, which was now threatened by the Orc Race’s mass settlement. After assessing Dorphy’s weak defenses and food needs, he proposed expanding across the plane and revealed that he would rely on the Fourth Calamity despite having no believers.

• Yu Sheng'an criticized Aphnora for failing to expand beyond Dorphy City, and she explained that she had prioritized protecting its million inhabitants.
• Yu Sheng'an recognized that the Orc Race was relocating families to the plane and reframed the conflict as an invasion by Dorphy’s side.
• Aphnora created a sand table in the Central Temple, and Yu Sheng'an assessed Dorphy City’s poor supplies, untrained forces, and dependence on her Magic Tower.
• Aphnora offered to build a plane Teleportation Array so Yu Sheng'an could bring followers, but he said he had no believers and was an atheist.
• Yu Sheng'an proposed building Magic Towers and seizing land before Bruman occupied the plane, then said he would use the Fourth Calamity as soldiers.

Justin struggled with poverty after leaving his family, then discovered Conquest of Sub-Plane on the Internet and accepted a contract to control an Elemental Puppet. The chapter ended as his senses plunged into darkness and silence.

• The vice captain shorted Justin’s pay, and Justin left the Mercenary Division without daring to argue.
• Justin rented a room in the Slums and reflected on how leaving his family had led him from freedom into poverty and disappointment.
• Justin activated his Internet Mithril Ring and found the new Conquest of Sub-Plane icon.
• Justin checked the Magic Forum, where users discussed the contract and described their experiences controlling Elemental Puppets.
• Justin reopened Conquest of Sub-Plane and accepted the contract, after which his vision went dark and the world fell silent.

Justin entered the Conquest of Sub-Plane, joined the adventurers emerging into Dorphy City, and chose a high-reward mission to fight the Orcs. In Dorphy City’s Central Temple, Aphnora questioned Yu Sheng'an’s plan, and he proposed a bet that would let the winner kiss the loser.

• Justin discovered that he had become a Mud Golem, endured Stress Training, and learned that he could return to reality by shouting “Plane Escape.”
• Justin entered the sub-plane again, boarded a rising Stone Platform with other Players, and emerged into Dorphy City as the Orc Army besieged it.
• After the Players debated the two missions, Justin accepted the higher-reward mission to infiltrate behind enemy lines and joined a group heading out.
• Aphnora angrily criticized Yu Sheng'an’s Fourth Calamity plan and the Players he had created.
• Yu Sheng'an bet that the Players would force the Orcs to withdraw within a month, with the loser agreeing to kiss the winner.

After Conquest of Sub-Plane left Justin with too little Soul Power to keep playing, he learned strategies from the Forum and saw a chance to improve by cultivating Soul Power and hunting Orcs. The game’s rapid spread alarmed the Kevil Empire’s Three Magic Gods, who concluded it benefited both sides and began considering how to support their ally, the God of the Internet.

• Justin woke in the Slums inn and discovered that his depleted Soul Power prevented him from reentering Conquest of Sub-Plane.
• Justin read the new game forum, where players shared experiences, tactics, and accounts of the Orc war.
• A forum post suggested focusing on Soul Power and earning stronger Puppets by killing Orcs, giving Justin a new plan for progress.
• An Old Mercenary offered Justin unusually high pay for an escort job, and Justin realized the game had drawn workers away from mercenary work.
• As the game caused a sensation throughout the Empire, Dendall, Zimor, and Bethany debated whether the God of the Internet was invading the Orc Plane and recruiting soldiers through the game.
• The Three Magic Gods agreed that Conquest of Sub-Plane benefited the Kevil Empire as well as their ally, and Bethany proposed that they help the God of the Internet.