Recaps

Saine visited Yuli, worried that her silence meant she was close to dying, and found she was physically healthy. He began using the Soul Shackles Technique to control her, and the spell left a faint silver pattern on her brow as she gradually calmed.

• Saine saw that Yuli had barely eaten and urged her to consume more of the nutrient sludge he had provided for years.
• Yuli's numb silence made Saine fear she might be dying, so he checked her pupils, temperature, and heartbeat and found her healthy.
• Saine touched Yuli's sensitive horn, and her flushed, dazed reaction reassured him.
• Saine promised through Mental Strength to return some of Yuli's freedom if she accepted his magic, then arranged a Six-pointed Star Array and began casting the Soul Shackles Technique.
• Yuli resisted the spell as silver light entered her brow, but after about half an hour she calmed, leaving a faint silver pattern on her forehead.

Saine completed the Soul Shackles Technique, making Yuli his Soul Slave and gaining the ability to control her actions and sense her emotions. He questioned her about piloting magic puppets and learned that, despite her damaged Flame Mark puppet and years away from piloting, her combat ability had once approached Rank Two.

• Saine sensed Yuli's emotions through their newly formed soul bond and found that she could not resist his commands.
• Saine summoned Yuli and asked whether she could still pilot Constructed Magic Puppets.
• Yuli explained that her Flame Mark Constructed Magic Puppet had been badly damaged, but she could control three Type-T Battle Magic Puppets or more than ten civilian puppets.
• Saine assessed that Yuli's combat strength had reached the peak of Rank One, close to Rank Two, although her life level remained Rank One.
• Saine decided that Yuli's future Construct Master ranks would be tied to her life level rather than the Nesser Civilization's system.

Saine granted Yuli freedom and access to parts for repairing her Flame Mark Constructed Magic Puppet, then spent the next three months completing a powerful Magic Staff tailored to his needs. With winter arriving, Saine prepared to travel and visit the Western Islands.

• Saine discovered that Yuli had the skills to repair puppets and let her use his parts and laboratory to fix her Flame Mark Constructed Magic Puppet.
• Yuli left the laboratory where she had been confined for over four years and followed Saine into the unfamiliar Wizard Civilization, increasingly relying on him.
• Three months passed as the season changed to winter and Saine continued his alchemy work.
• Saine completed a black Magic Staff using an Azure Fire Essence gifted by Luluenman, along with high-quality materials and engraved magic arrays.
• Saine equipped the staff with functions to restore magic power and Mental Strength, enhance his physique and strength, and store spells for his upcoming travels.

Saine prepared to leave for the Western Islands without having told Serena or Irene, while Serena continued caring for him and studying in the Holy Tower. Irene invited him to Ballena’s masquerade ball, leaving his departure plans unaddressed.

• Saine prepared to travel to the Western Islands and decided not to bring Serena or Irene.
• Serena continued her research, prepared juice for Saine, and cared for the two Little Cabbages, which protested when she gave one an injection.
• Saine offered to ask Luluenman for Activated Fairies for Serena to raise and told her to come to his room the following night.
• Saine received a Crystal Ball message from Irene and went to her residence on the seventy-sixth floor.
• Irene greeted Saine in a white dress and invited him to attend Ballena’s masquerade ball with her.

Saine accompanied Irene to a ball hosted by Ballena after Luluenman urged him to socialize, and he found himself remembering Lina when Irene asked about his happiest memory. The chapter left Saine focused on the joy he had felt during his time with Lina.

• Luluenman encouraged Saine to leave his laboratory more often and enjoy social activities.
• Irene persuaded Saine to attend Ballena's ball and brought him a formal suit made from Veiled Spider silk.
• Saine and Irene arrived at Ballena's residence, where several dozen Azure Source Holy Tower magicians had gathered.
• Irene introduced Saine to the other magicians, and they exchanged Crystal Ball contact information.
• Irene asked Saine what his happiest memory was apart from magical research, and Saine remembered Lina's voice, smile, and their time together.

Saine left the Azure Source Holy Tower to travel across the Wizard World, possibly for decades, after entrusting Serena with his laboratory and asking her to advance to Level 1. As he set out with Little Qi, Luluenman watched him depart and hoped he would return with a surprise.

• Saine shared a lavish farewell meal with Serena, entrusted her with his laboratory, and told her he hoped she would advance to Level 1 before he returned.
• Saine left the Azure Source Holy Tower without a farewell banquet, while Irene scolded him for not telling her sooner and Luluenman watched him go.
• Luluenman reflected that she had equipped Saine with Green Source Seeds, including a rare milky-white seed, and returned to her experiments.
• Little Qi flew out of the Azure Source Holy Tower with Saine and happily took to the open sky.

Saine and Yuli traveled south from the Azure Source Holy Tower into the Fire Crystal Mountain Range, where Saine explored its fire-element resources and learned more about the region and its dragons. The chapter ended when a huge creature warned Saine that he had entered its clan’s territory and ordered him to leave.

• Saine told Yuli they would travel to the Tyrone Kingdom, then headed south toward the Fire Crystal Mountain Range.
• Saine reached the mountain range’s central region after about twenty days and explored its extreme heat and abundant fire-element resources.
• Saine collected unfamiliar ores and materials, including a Six-Tailed Magic Pattern Flower, as he flew through the range.
• A huge creature approached Saine and warned him that he had entered its clan’s territory, ordering him to leave.

Saine encountered Maybach, a Level-2 fire dragon guarding its tribe’s territory, and proposed trading rather than continuing deeper into the mountains. Their exchange went smoothly, and Maybach offered Saine Dragon Blood Grass after Saine asked about it.

• Saine calmly faced a Level-2 fire dragon while Yuli and Little Seven reacted nervously to its Dragon Might.
• The dragon smelled otherworldly dragon blood on Saine and changed from warning him away to explaining that it bore no ill will.
• Saine identified himself as a Level-1 Magician from the Azure Source Holy Tower and offered to trade instead of entering the dragon tribe’s habitat.
• Saine displayed crystal stones from the Poison Fire Green Flame World, and he and the dragon exchanged them for fire-element materials, including Dragon Saliva Grass.
• Saine asked whether Maybach had Dragon Blood Grass, and Maybach spat out a plant and offered to trade it for a sufficient price.

After trading with the Giant Dragon Maybach, Saine continued south instead of returning to the Grant Family. He crossed the Black River and reached the Gloomy Mountain Range, preparing to enter the Underdark with Little Seven.

• Saine exchanged goods with Maybach and received Dragon Blood Grass, then accepted a ride to the southern end of the Fire Crystal Mountain Range.
• Saine reflected on the Giant Dragons’ wariness and how their strength did not free them from the Wizard World’s rules.
• Saine chose to continue south rather than travel west to the Lisia Alliance or return to the Grant Family.
• Saine crossed the Black River, passed through the swamps and plains, and reached the Gloomy Mountain Range after about a week of flying.
• Saine told Little Seven they were nearing the Underdark and might meet old friends, then led the way south.

Saine revisited City of Peterte after twenty-eight years, learned that the people he had known there were mostly gone, and then searched the cave where the city of Mozhsuobula had been buried by magma. He left the cave with a keepsake and reached City of Jasmine on the Wizard World South Coast, still two months’ flight from the Endless South Sea.

• Saine visited the City Lord of Peterte and asked about Frank and the magic apprentices he had known, learning that Frank had died and Mary had gone south with three other Apprentices.
• Saine gave the City Lord of Peterte a one-use Flame Arrow before leaving the city.
• After flying south for half a month, Saine explored a cave from his past and found a passage sealed with Magma Rock, but could not reach the buried City of Mozhsuobula.
• Saine dug up some low-grade Blue Moss from the cave wall as a keepsake and continued south without stopping.
• Saine arrived in City of Jasmine and learned that the Endless South Sea was still roughly two months’ flight away.

Saine traveled through the prosperous Wizard World South Coast, learned about the region’s Holy Towers, and finally reached the sea. In the harbor city of Fernan Star, he saw how closely magical civilization was woven into ordinary life, including its Floating Skyport and passing Floating Airship.

• Saine explored City of Jasmine and learned that Dawn Holy Tower was an ancient, powerful presence on the South Coast.
• After several days in City of Jasmine, Saine continued south and spent about two months traveling before reaching the sea.
• Saine walked through the busy coastal city of Fernan Star and saw Formal Magicians, Magic Apprentices, and ordinary humans sharing its streets.
• Saine watched a Floating Airship pass above Fernan Star toward its Floating Skyport.
• Saine noticed several blue-skinned Humanoid Creatures surrounded by a strong watery aura.

Saine encountered a stall selling pearls run by blue-skinned sea folk and learned that the sellers were Half-Shark People, hybrids descended from Blue Shark People and humans. He bought their underwater-breathing pearls and left with a clearer understanding of the persecution sea folk and their hybrids faced in the Wizard World.

• Saine examined the blue-skinned sea folk and noticed they sold translucent azure pearls to Magic Apprentices and Knight Attendants.
• A female sea folk told Saine the pearls were cultivated by the Blue Shark People and let land creatures breathe underwater for two hours.
• Saine bought a hundred pearls for one Magic Coin and questioned the seller about her tribe.
• The female seller admitted that she and her companions were Half-Shark People, hybrids of Blue Shark People and humans.
• Saine reflected that sea folk were often poached and abused by knights and magicians, and that many hybrid births were marked by tragedy.

Saine learned about the sea folk, the history and legality of their trade, and the lucrative black markets dealing in Mermaids. He grew curious about the South Coast black market near Fernan Star City and the local Holy Towers’ and Knights’ Hall’s attitude toward it.

• The chapter explained that the Wizard World had forbidden hunting sea folk, though historical poaching and the trade in sea folk had persisted.
• It described how primitive sea folk tribes sometimes sold members and how human-sea folk relationships and mixed descendants had shaped the South Coast.
• The chapter established that Mermaids were prized black-market slaves because of their beauty, Water Element affinity, and supposed Blessing and Curse of the Sea.
• Saine recalled learning about sea folk and South Coast black markets from Moxidu’s Magic Notebook.
• Saine wondered whether Black Magicians still operated in the region and became curious about the small black market south of Fernan Star City.

Saine left Fernan Star City to investigate a black market listed in Moxidu’s Magic Notebook, but found it had been destroyed long ago. In Tizte, he bought several Sea Folk creatures and learned that the oceans held organized nations and civilizations governed by Sea King Halls.

• Saine bought 100 Water-Absorbing Pearls from a Half-Shark Person and learned that Sea Folk could sense creatures through water molecules, Blood Qi, and pulse.
• Saine flew to the black market site southwest of Fernan Star City but found only scorched stones, evidence that the market had been wiped out years earlier.
• Saine guessed that the Dawn Holy Tower might have destroyed the black market, then continued his journey westward.
• In Tizte, Saine spent Magic Coins on several Cyan Oyster Crabs and a Violet Tí Sea Serpent Person who had broken Sea Folk taboos.
• A Jellyfish Person told Saine that Sea King Halls upheld order in the oceans and that powerful Sea Folk had founded nations with grand Underwater Crystal Palaces.

Saine traveled across the South Coast, studying Sea Folk and searching in vain for the black markets mentioned in Moxidu's Magic Notebook. He reached Helte Giant Harbor and chose to use its Space Teleportation Array to visit Midiqi at the Dawn Holy Tower before continuing west.

• Saine dissected Sea Folk and learned that many possessed a core organ for sensing creatures through water vibrations, then asked Yuli how the Nesser Civilization detected enemies.
• Saine crossed the South Coast and found that the old black-market sites recorded in Moxidu's Magic Notebook had been destroyed or reduced to ruins.
• Saine rode a commercial floating ship across the Dodottri Islands to Helte Giant Harbor, saving time and arriving at a city supported by the Dawn Holy Tower.
• Saine spotted a mechanist in a metal aircraft and noticed the mechanist examining Yuli, but neither approached the other.
• Saine reached the Space Teleportation Array and decided to travel to the Dawn Holy Tower to meet Midiqi, who had saved him and helped him join the Azure Source Holy Tower.

Saine and Yuli traveled to Dawn Holy Tower to visit Master Midiqi, where Saine was welcomed after presenting Midiqi’s Holy Light Badge. The story left them at Dawn Holy Tower’s outer district, with a duty Magician ready to receive Saine.

• Saine told a Dawn Holy Tower apprentice that he was visiting Master Midiqi and paid ten Magic Coins to use the Teleportation Array.
• Saine and Yuli traveled through the array and arrived in Dawn Holy Tower’s prosperous outer district.
• A duty Magician approached Saine and asked whether he had come to see Master Midiqi.
• Saine introduced himself as a Magician from Azure Source Holy Tower and presented Midiqi’s Holy Light Badge, which the duty Magician recognized.

Saine reunited with Master Midiqi at Dawn Holy Tower and thanked him for helping him enter Azure Source Holy Tower. Midiqi welcomed Saine warmly and offered him fruit seeds before their visit continued.

• Level-1 Magician Case welcomed Saine after seeing Midiqi's Holy Light Badge and chatted with him while they waited for Midiqi.
• Case recognized Yuli as a creature from the Nesser Civilization, and Saine told him she was a Construct Master.
• Saine flew up to meet Midiqi, who invited him to his residence on the 1,243rd floor of Dawn Holy Tower.
• Midiqi praised Saine's achievements and joked that he regretted letting Saine leave for Azure Source Holy Tower.
• Saine thanked Midiqi for the token that had helped him enter Azure Source Holy Tower, and Midiqi offered him seeds from the Flame Ember Fruits.

Saine visited Midiqi and exchanged specimens from the Poison Fire Green Flame World for alien plant seeds while they discussed their experiences and Midiqi’s impending advancement. Saine asked about the Black Magicians responsible for his mentor’s death, and Midiqi said most had been eliminated and offered to check the mission records before revealing that some former Black Wizard Apprentices were now studying at Dawn Holy Tower.

• Saine gave Midiqi a Space Ring containing specimens and trinkets from the Poison Fire Green Flame World, and Midiqi accepted it in exchange for alien plant seeds.
• Saine and Midiqi discussed their wars and travels, and Midiqi said he expected to advance to a Third-Level Great Magician within the next few years.
• Saine asked about the Black Magicians from the Underground World, and Midiqi said the City of Mozhsuobula’s founder had been erased and more than half of the Black Magicians had likely been killed.
• Midiqi offered to search Dawn Holy Tower’s mission records for the Black Magician who killed Saine’s mentor.
• Midiqi told Saine that Dawn Holy Tower had taken in former Black Wizard Apprentices who retained their conscience, and that many were now studying there.

Saine asked Master Midiqi to find the Black Wizard Apprentices captured from the City of Mozhsuobula, hoping to learn what had happened to his old friends. He found Meili among the survivors and reunited with her at Dawn Holy Tower, where her startled movement dropped the little girl she was carrying.

• Saine learned that most captured Black Wizard Apprentices from the City of Mozhsuobula had been allowed to study at Dawn Holy Tower, though they faced restrictions on leaving the academy.
• Master Midiqi showed Saine the list of surviving apprentices, but Saine did not find Lina, Zorro, or Fei'er among the names.
• Saine recognized Meili's name on the list and asked Master Midiqi to take him to see her.
• Master Midiqi brought Saine to the quarters of his fifth disciple, Anji, who called Meili out of her laboratory.
• Meili recognized Saine and froze, dropping the little girl she had tucked beneath her arm.

Saine and Meili reunited at Dawn Holy Tower Academy and discussed how they had changed since their childhood in City of Mozhsuobula. Meili described how kindness, potion-making, and Master Midiqi’s recommendation helped her build a life at Dawn Holy Tower, where she had become a popular top apprentice.

• Saine and Meili met at a Coffee Shop in Dawn Holy Tower Academy and reminisced about their childhood in City of Mozhsuobula.
• Meili told Saine she had been captured after City of Mozhsuobula fell and earned recognition by using her potions to treat injured Surface World knights.
• Meili explained that Master Midiqi recommended her, helping her become Master Menglu’s disciple five years after joining Dawn Holy Tower Academy.
• Meili recalled working at the Coffee Shop for seven years and said she preferred life at Dawn Holy Tower to the uncertainty of the Black Wizard Academy.
• Meili told Saine she had become one of Dawn Holy Tower’s top apprentices, placing ninth in the academy’s Regional Academy War fifteen years earlier.
• Meili’s rescue of Klie during the war had led him to develop feelings for her and pester her in recent years.

Saine reunited with Meili at the Dawn Holy Tower, where they shared stories and worried about their missing friend Baus. Their conversation was interrupted by Klie, an apprentice who accused Meili of secretly meeting Saine, and he felt excluded as they sat together with Anji.

• Meili was shocked to learn that Saine had joined the Azure Source Holy Tower, won the Regional Academy War, and become the Azure Source Holy Tower Master's disciple.
• Anji, Meili's junior sister, eavesdropped on Saine and Meili, teased them, and asked Saine about his experiences in the Poison Fire Green Flame World.
• Saine asked whether Meili had seen Baus in the City of Mozhsuobula, and Meili said his magic shop district had been among the first swallowed by underground lava.
• Klie entered the Coffee Shop and accused Meili of rejecting him while secretly meeting Saine.
• Meili asked Saine to help her deal with Klie, who felt aggrieved when she leaned close to Saine and whispered to him.

Saine confronted Klie, a Quasi-Magician who persistently pursued Meili despite her repeated rejections. After Saine displayed his Formal Magician power, Klie challenged him, declaring that no one loved Meili more.

• The chapter described Klie's past with Meili, who had saved him during the Regional Academy War but repeatedly rejected his advances.
• Klie accused Saine and Meili in front of the apprentices, while Saine dismissed the spectacle and showed no interest in Klie's complaints.
• Saine stepped forward and surrounded himself with controlled Azure Fire Element, impressing the watching Formal Magicians and silencing Klie.
• Klie threw down his White Glove and challenged Saine, insisting that no one could compare to his love for Meili.

Saine accepted Klie’s challenge on behalf of Owl Little Qi, which defeated the apprentice before Saine and Meili left the Challenge Stage. As Saine prepared to journey to the Western Islands to find Lina and avenge his mentor, Meili offered to take him to the place where she had lived before becoming Master Menglu’s disciple.

• Saine accepted Klie’s challenge by sending Owl Little Qi to take the White Glove, and the apprentices recognized the bird as a powerful Level Magical Beast.
• Owl Little Qi defeated Klie on the Challenge Stage while showing restraint, and Saine, Meili, and their companions departed.
• Meili asked whether Saine was going to the Western Islands, and he said he intended to find Lina and avenge his mentor by confronting Di'ersi.
• Meili explained that Di'ersi had never treated her as a true disciple and warned Saine that the Black Magician would be dangerous to face.
• Saine said he had to go to avoid regrets, and Meili asked to take him to where she had lived before becoming Master Menglu’s disciple.

Saine accompanied Meili to her old dormitory room, where her feelings for him and the prospect of their parting drew them together. Meili told him she had wanted him since she was fourteen, and they spent the night together.

• Saine followed Meili to her former residence in the Dawn Holy Tower apprentice dormitory.
• Meili gathered the clothes she had left hanging by the window while Saine watched her.
• Saine embraced Meili and asked whether she regretted what they were about to do.
• Meili said she had wanted to give herself to Saine since she was fourteen.
• Saine carried Meili to the bed, and they spent the night together.

Saine and Meili spent the night together, then discussed her preparations to become a Formal Magician and exchanged insights on advancement and potion studies. As dawn approached, Meili asked Saine to visit her again, and he promised to return if she advanced to Level 1.

• Saine stopped when Meili was too exhausted to continue, and they later shared a Hot Spring formed from Water Element.
• Meili apologized for her weak constitution, and Saine reassured her that Body Strengthening Potions could harm an ordinary magic apprentice.
• Saine asked about Meili's plans to advance, and she said she was waiting for her Mental Strength and magic power to reach 98 points.
• Saine shared his Level-1 advancement experience with Meili, while Meili exchanged her decades of potion studies with him.
• As dawn neared, Meili asked Saine to visit her again, and he promised to come if she advanced to Level 1.
• Meili said she would go to Azure Source Holy Tower if Saine did not visit, then embraced him again.