Recaps

During his six-month leave, Saine trained, prepared his friends for the academy’s coming expedition to an Alien Plane, and helped his small group stockpile supplies and equipment. As the academy grew tense, he finished the period by giving Lina, Baus, and Meili magic items suited to their strengths and needs.

• Saine spent his leave raising his Mental Strength and magic power after learning that the academy’s courses had been suspended and an Alien Plane expedition was planned for half a year later.
• Saine told Lina, Meili, and Baus about the coming expedition and the hidden dangers, giving Baus an early chance to prepare.
• As rumors spread through the academy, Baus stockpiled useful materials and potions, while Meili took potion orders and learned to brew Intermediate Antidotes and Vitality Potions.
• Saine relied on Meili’s Vitality Potions for intensive meditation, then crafted a Blackstone Necklace for Lina and Light Body Technique anklets for Baus.
• Saine made a Corrosion Scepter for Meili, completing the equipment he prepared for his group before the coming crisis.

Saine gave Meili the Corrosion Scepter and reassured Lina that Moxidu would provide them with stronger protections. As the academy prepared its apprentices for the Shadow Valley mission, Formal Black Wizards met to discuss the time-space rift and the threat watching them, and Jieda revealed a silver emblem.

• Saine explained the Corrosion Scepter’s limits and gave it to Meili, who accepted it without refusing.
• Lina asked Saine why he had given Meili the scepter, and Saine said he expected Moxidu to provide them with life-saving protections.
• The academy announced that its apprentices would leave for Shadow Valley in three days, while rumors spread about a time-space rift and an alien plane.
• Moxidu arrived at a meeting of seventeen Formal Black Wizards, where Jieda questioned whether they could open the rift seven years ahead of schedule and challenged the claim that a Holy Tower faction was watching them.
• At Headmaster Dadalong’s request, Jieda raised a silver emblem, and most of the Black Wizards reacted with alarm.

The Black Magicians panicked when Jieda revealed a silver emblem linked to Dawn Holy Tower, but Vice Dean Dadalong explained that Jieda had taken it from a slain Academy Magician and that their hideout remained undiscovered. Dadalong urged them to start exploring the Alien Plane through the Time-Space Rift in Shadow Valley ahead of schedule, and the meeting ended with no one choosing to leave.

• Jieda showed the Black Magicians a silver emblem associated with a Holy Tower faction, throwing the meeting into panic.
• A frightened Formal Black Wizard asked whether the Holy Tower had discovered their location, while Kaisersen looked ready to flee.
• Vice Dean Dadalong calmed the meeting and explained that Jieda had killed a pursuing Dawn Holy Tower Magician and taken the emblem as spoils of war.
• Dadalong said the City of Mozhsuobula remained undiscovered and urged the Black Magicians to accelerate their exploration of the Alien Plane beyond the Time-Space Rift in Shadow Valley.
• Dadalong warned that Dawn Holy Tower had increased patrols and said they should begin exploring the rift early; none of the Black Magicians chose to leave.

Before Saine and his companions departed for Shadow Valley, Mentor Moxidu gave his three disciples powerful magic equipment to protect them. Saine received five items, including a simplified Magic Conductor Cannon and a Space Ring, and the group prepared to leave without Moxidu accompanying them.

• The night before their departure, Moxidu told Saine, Fei'er, and Zorro that he had made life-saving items for them despite his heavy workload.
• Moxidu distributed more than a dozen magic items, giving Zorro two Formal Magic Conductors because he would enter the Time-Space Rift among the first group.
• Saine selected five items, including a simplified Magic Conductor Cannon with three shells, an Earth Element shield ring, a Storm Arrow staff, an invisibility cloak, and a Space Ring.
• Moxidu sent his disciples to rest before their journey to Shadow Valley and planned to recover his own strength, while apparently staying behind.

Saine and hundreds of Black Wizard Apprentices boarded a floating ship bound for Shadow Valley, where they would explore a Time-Space Rift. Vice-Dean Dadalong clashed with a Black Demon Spider over the clan’s limited participation, then left the spider injured while wondering why Martin had invited them.

• Vice-Dean Dadalong led the apprentices and other passengers out of the sealed City of Mozhsuobula and onto a floating ship bound for Shadow Valley.
• Saine and Lina secured a large cabin, while Zorro told Saine the journey would take at least a week and declined to explain more before their arrival.
• Vice-Dean Dadalong demanded to know why only a third of the Black Demon Spider Clan had come, and the spider blamed the academy for acting seven years early without warning.
• The Black Demon Spider defended its clan’s right to choose whether to join the expedition and invoked its Goddess, its vassals, and its influence across the Wizard World.
• Vice-Dean Dadalong crushed the spider with his elemental pressure, burst three of its eyes, and walked away while questioning why Martin had invited the clan.

Saine and the other apprentices arrived at Shadow Valley, where the Black Wizard Academy prepared to send them through a dangerous Time-Space Rift. The eleven Quasi-Magicians entered the Magic Altar first, while the Formal Black Wizards warned that many apprentices might not survive the crossing.

• Saine arrived at brightly lit Shadow Valley with Lina and saw its Magic Towers, Earth Elementals, and Formal Black Wizards.
• Saine and Lina joined Senior Brother Zorro and Senior Sister Fei'er, then claimed two tents near a Magic Tower and the Magic Altar.
• Saine learned that the Magic Altar held the Time-Space Rift and that the academy had brought eleven Quasi-Magicians and twenty-six Advanced Apprentices.
• On the second day, the Formal Black Wizards ordered the eleven Quasi-Magicians, including Zorro, to enter the Magic Altar first.
• A Black Magician warned that the unstable Time-Space Rift could kill many apprentices, and that the world beyond it remained unknown.

Saine witnessed the Black Magicians sacrifice hundreds of young apprentices to the Magic Altar while attempting to chart a safe route through the Time-Space Rift. After the exploration stopped, Zorro told Saine and Fei'er that the rift’s cracks had shifted, though the prepared Elemental Fission Device remained intact.

• Vice Dean Dadalong ordered the Quasi-Magicians to retreat and forced Entry-Level Apprentices into the Magic Altar as sacrifices.
• Nearly two hundred apprentices disappeared into the altar before its light turned red and Vice Dean Dadalong halted the sacrifices.
• Saine saw the surviving Entry-Level and Low-Level Apprentices fear that they would be sent into the altar next.
• Zorro returned to Saine and Fei'er and said the first three Quasi-Magicians should not have died if the original calculations were correct.
• Zorro explained that the Time-Space Cracks along the planned route had shifted, so the Black Magicians had used apprentices to find a safer path.

Saine witnessed the gruesome casualties from the Magic Altar exploration and learned that even the Quasi-Magician Anda'er had returned with both legs severed. Exploration resumed the next day with more apprentices sent into the altar, while the Black Magicians brutally punished those who tried to flee.

• Senior Brother Zorro told Saine that devices from their Alchemy Laboratory surrounded the Time-Space Rift and that a safe route might soon be restored.
• Minotaurs carried wounded apprentices, severed limbs, and corpses out of the Magic Altar, prompting some Entry-Level Apprentices to flee Shadow Valley and be captured or killed.
• Anda'er emerged from the Magic Altar alive but with both legs severed, and the Black Magicians sent him to the nearby Magic Tower.
• The Black Magicians resumed exploration the next afternoon by sending several dozen Entry-Level Apprentices into the Magic Altar, where many were injured or killed.
• Dark Beings and Academy Supervisors executed apprentices who tried to escape that night, and their corpses were displayed around Shadow Valley as a warning.

As the Magic Altar’s danger diminished, the apprentices’ testing advanced from Entry-Level Apprentices to Quasi-Magicians and then Advanced Apprentices. Before Lina entered, Saine shared a quiet farewell with her and gave her a wand that could cast Storm Arrow, hoping they would meet again.

• After Tian Di sought Saine’s protection, Fei’er warned her off with a Fire Chain Blade, and Tian Di stopped approaching him.
• Vice Dean Dadalong announced that the Quasi-Magicians would enter the Magic Altar after the Entry-Level Apprentices’ testing ended.
• Zorro gave Saine and Fei’er disposable magical arrows he had made, then entered the Magic Altar and did not return.
• After Zorro entered, Vice Dean Dadalong announced that the Advanced Apprentices would be next to enter the Magic Altar.
• Fei’er visited Saine’s tent, and the two spent the night together before Lina arrived.
• Saine held Lina in silence, then gave her a wand that could cast Storm Arrow and asked her to live so they could meet again.

Saine worried about Lina and Fei'er after they entered the Magic Altar, then volunteered for the next group of apprentices sent through the Time-Space Rift. He followed the others through the altar’s energy gate and heard his mentor’s voice as he entered.

• Vice Dean Dadalong learned that most apprentices had passed through the Time-Space Rift and suspected Dean Martin and the Dean had hidden motives for the expedition.
• The academy suspended apprentice transfers into the Magic Altar, leaving Saine anxious about Lina and Fei'er for more than half a month.
• Vice Dean Dadalong announced that up to fifty Intermediate Apprentices would enter the Magic Altar, and Saine volunteered first.
• Dadalong recognized Saine as Moxidu’s fifth disciple and assigned him to the first batch entering the Time-Space Rift.
• Saine walked through the Magic Altar, saw its inscriptions, energy crystals, and scarlet liquid, then followed the other apprentices through the energy gate and heard Moxidu’s voice.

Saine crossed the Time-Space Rift despite Mentor Moxidu’s warning that the other side was a dangerous Broken Plane, and Moxidu secretly left him a black handle that might help him escape. Saine survived the hazardous passage with the other apprentices and reached the rift’s main entrance, while Moxidu learned that Lady Qiongni and the Dean had a specific reason for wanting to explore the plane.

• Moxidu warned Saine through Mental Strength that the rift led to a harsh Broken Plane and that the academy’s leaders planned to send more apprentices there.
• Saine told Moxidu he had no regrets about crossing because he was worried about his Senior Brother and Senior Sister, then followed directions to retrieve a black handle Moxidu had hidden for him.
• Lady Qiongni told Moxidu that she and the Dean needed something from the plane and promised that his reward would be paid in full.
• Moxidu wondered why Lady Qiongni had referred to the Dean rather than Vice Dean Martin.
• Saine and the Intermediate Apprentices advanced slowly through the rift, where its cracks killed one apprentice and severely injured two others.
• Saine’s group reached the main entrance of the Time-Space Rift without further losses.

Saine entered the Time-Space Rift with the other apprentices and was sent to the scorching Yellow Sand World, where he woke injured and alone. After using a potion and escaping the sand, he set off across the unfamiliar landscape in search of the others.

• Vice Dean Martin explained the mission, gave the apprentices Element Pearls, and sent them into the Time-Space Rift.
• Saine received a message from Moxidu telling him to gather as many Element Pearls as possible before Vice Dean Martin forced him into the rift.
• Saine endured the painful journey through the rift and briefly saw a narrow passage and a bright yellow halo.
• Saine woke partially buried in the sand, treated his weakness with a Low-Level Recovery Potion, and crawled free.
• Saine walked through the Yellow Sand World but found no other apprentices.

Saine struggled to survive alone in the Yellow Sand World, where three suns kept the desert in endless daylight and water was scarce. On the ninth day, he found a fellow apprentice’s desiccated corpse and suspected the apprentice had arrived earlier than he had.

• Saine realized he was in an unfamiliar world with three suns and reasoned that the apprentices had been scattered upon entering it.
• He used his Element Pearl to seek other apprentices and rationed his Nutrient Potion while worrying that those without supplies or water spells would die.
• After nine days in the desert, Saine found a black robe half-buried in the sand and dug up the desiccated corpse of an Intermediate Apprentice from the City of Mozhsuobula.
• Saine judged that the apprentice must have arrived in the world several days before him, then searched the corpse for useful items.

Saine traveled through the Yellow Sand World, scavenged an Element Pearl, and learned how its harsh conditions affected magic and survival. On the sixteenth day, he found the starving apprentices Stanson and Mali, recognized them, and decided to approach them for information despite the cost of sharing his supplies.

• Saine found a dead Intermediate Apprentice and took Magic Beast Cores, a book about magical plants, and an Element Pearl.
• Saine stored the Element Pearl and continued across the Yellow Sand World, noticing that its heat and elemental conditions affected his magic.
• On the twelfth day, Saine experienced the world's unusually long night and reflected on how Lina might be faring.
• On the sixteenth day, Saine found Stanson trying to keep Mali alive by feeding him blood from his own wrist.
• Saine decided to reveal himself and ask Stanson and Mali what they knew, though he would have to share his scarce food and potions.

Saine fought the starving, enraged Stanson after Stanson tracked him down, then defeated him when repeated Bloodline Magic drained his remaining strength. Saine questioned the fallen man about how he and Mali had met in the Time-Space Rift and where the other Advanced Apprentices and Quasi-Magicians were.

• Stanson smelled Saine and charged at him, driven by hunger and his desire to find food for himself and the weakened Mali.
• Saine raised a Fire Wall, but Stanson transformed with Bloodline Magic and forced his way through it.
• Saine vanished beneath his Invisibility Cloak and struck Stanson with Flame Hand, burning him as he transformed again to shield his head.
• After activating Bloodline Magic twice while already exhausted and weakened by blood loss, Stanson collapsed.
• Saine emerged with his Strong Acid Scepter and asked Stanson how he and Mali had met and where the other Advanced Apprentices and Quasi-Magicians were.

Saine subdued Mali and Stanson, then spared them after Mali surrendered and revealed their devotion to each other. Mali told Saine where the other Advanced Apprentices and Quasi-Magicians were and confirmed that Saine was heading in the right direction.

• Mali offered to tell Saine what he knew in exchange for food, water, and freedom, but Saine threatened both him and Stanson.
• Mali threw aside his Magic Short Staff and went to Stanson, prompting Saine to extinguish his Fireball Spell while keeping the Strong Acid Scepter ready.
• Mali told Saine that he and Stanson had survived together for twenty-two years in the City of Mozhsuobula and had grown deeply devoted to each other.
• Mali explained that he had entered the Yellow Sand World seven days before Saine and that its daylight lasted fifteen days by Wizard World standards.
• Mali pointed Saine toward the other Advanced Apprentices and Quasi-Magicians, about ten days away, in the same direction indicated by Saine’s Element Pearls.
• Mali said Stanson had sensed his presence and defied the others in their camp to search for him, entering the desert without enough preparation.

After defeating Stanson and forcing Mali to reveal information, Saine continued through the Yellow Sand World while rationing his potions. When Mali later asked to trade for food, Saine refused, but Mali left Stanson’s belongings behind, giving Saine a cache of valuable items.

• Saine ignored Mali and Stanson after learning what he needed, stored the short staff, and continued toward camp as Mali dragged Stanson after him.
• After traveling for about a day, Saine rested in the shade of a sand dune and rationed his Nutrient Potion before meditating.
• Mali approached Saine, badly injured and desperate, and asked to trade for food using items taken from Stanson.
• Saine refused to help, telling Mali that he would claim their belongings once they died.
• Mali left the tattered robe behind, and Saine found sixteen Element Pearls, several Magic Beast Cores, two Magic Books, and some Black Gold inside.

Saine reached the Black Wizard Apprentices’ camp and reunited with Fei'er, learning that four months had passed for her group despite only about twenty days passing for him. Lina was stationed at a nearby camp and was expected to arrive within half a day, while Zorro offered to modify Saine’s Crystal Ball so they could communicate.

• Saine left Mali and Stanson with the Nutrient Potion and continued through the desert with Mali following him.
• After four days, Saine found the apprentices’ camp and learned that its location had shifted with the moving sand dunes.
• Kantona demanded Saine’s Element Pearl, but Fei'er drove him away and warmly welcomed Saine to the camp.
• Fei'er told Saine that she and the others had been in the Yellow Sand World for four months, and Zorro explained that time was consumed during passage through the Time-Space Rift.
• Fei'er told Saine that Lina was at a nearby camp and would arrive in about half a day, while Zorro offered to modify Saine’s Crystal Ball for short-range communication.

Saine reunited with Lina after reaching the Black Wizard Apprentices’ camp in the Yellow Sand World and settled into a tent with Fei'er and Malina. Exhausted, he fell asleep and woke only vaguely as someone slipped into his arms, while Fei'er angrily fended off Malina’s teasing.

• Saine learned that the apprentices survived in the harsh Yellow Sand World by using magic to make water and grow food.
• Saine reunited with Lina, who had gone months without seeing him, and Fei'er offered to introduce him to one of her sisters.
• Fei'er brought Saine to the camp tent where he met Malina, Meili’s Senior Sister and Fei'er's tentmate.
• Saine fell asleep in the tent, and someone with a familiar scent slipped into his arms.
• Malina teased Fei'er about joining them, but Fei'er told her to scram.

Saine learned that Element Pearls powered the Coordinate Generators and might also help the apprentices return to the Wizard World if the generators failed. Zorro revealed that the generators had only a sixty percent chance of success, while Saine kept Mentor’s personal contingency plan secret.

• Saine asked Fei'er why apprentices received Element Pearls, and she explained their role in powering the Coordinate Generators and guiding a possible rescue.
• Fei'er warned Saine to hide his surplus Element Pearls because they could improve the chances of the Formal Black Wizards locating them.
• Saine went with Fei'er and Lina to find Zorro, who had prepared a Crystal Ball with a reduced communication range.
• Saine asked Zorro whether the Coordinate Generators could fail, and Zorro said their success rate was roughly sixty percent because the shifting sand made the camps’ coordinates unstable.
• Saine kept to himself that Mentor had left him a contingency in case the generators failed and the rescuers overlooked him.

Saine and Lina investigated a safe assignment in the Yellow Sand World, then Saine traded magic items and Black Gold to Advanced Apprentice Modi to learn how to cultivate Element Mushrooms. He left with the craft and invited Lina to learn it with him.

• Saine and Lina recorded information about a sand dune and returned to camp after Saine captured the surroundings in his Crystal Ball.
• Saine submitted the assignment to Senior Brother Zorro and visited Advanced Apprentice Modi to ask for the Element Mushroom cultivation process.
• Saine offered Modi two Low-Level Magic Items, then added a Magic Short Staff and roughly three hundred pieces of Black Gold until Modi accepted the trade.
• Modi agreed to teach Saine how to make Element Mushrooms and offered further cultivation insights for an additional payment.
• Saine asked Lina to learn the cultivation technique with him, and Lina agreed.

Saine learned that the Formal Black Wizards had imposed a final three-month deadline to establish a passage out of the Yellow Sand World, and the camps merged as the apprentices worked under mounting pressure. The Coordinate Generator was finally set to activate in two weeks, but a huge sandstorm on the horizon left Saine and the others uneasy.

• Saine shared mushroom soup with Fei'er, Lina, and Malina, and explained that Mali had repaid him with Magic Beast Jerky.
• Fei'er told Saine that the Twin Coordinate Generator plan had failed and that the Formal Black Wizards had given the apprentices three months to make contact.
• The two camps merged, and Saine grew worried when Baus and Meili still did not appear.
• Under Zorro's protection, Saine and Fei'er maintained the camp's magical equipment while the two Quasi-Magicians locked onto the world's coordinates and contacted the Wizard World.
• Zorro said the Coordinate Generator would activate in two weeks, while a vast sandstorm gathered in the distance.

As the Black Wizards prepared to connect the Underdark with the Yellow Sand World, Martin told Qiongni about their master’s plan to claim a fallen Level-4 creature’s Earth Elemental power. The channel opened amid a violent attack from the Underdark, leaving Saine and the apprentices facing a deadly firestorm and the destruction of the camp.

• Martin reassured Qiongni that their master had left the City of Mozhsuobula to retrieve the fallen Level-4 Biological Heart Core and advance to Level 4.
• Martin told Qiongni that the foreign Level-4 lifeform had been killed by the Guardian of Summer after entering the Wizard World through a Time-Space Rift.
• Saine and the Black Wizard Apprentices watched as their devices and Element Pearls formed a Space Channel between the Yellow Sand World and the Underdark.
• A blast from the Underdark shook the camp, and Quasi-Magician Luke entered the channel before a pillar of fire surged out and killed him.
• The pillar of fire became a rain of flames that caused heavy casualties and cracked the channel.
• A violent hurricane burst through the channel and shattered it along with the surrounding camp.

Saine and Lina survived a devastating wind-and-fire assault as Holy Tower Magicians battled the Black Wizard Academy's headmaster at the Space Channel. After a second Holy Tower Magician persuaded Romwozi to spare the apprentices, the attack weakened, and Saine's Senior Brother urged him to activate the Element Pearl to escape the Yellow Sand World.

• Saine reached the badly wounded Lina and protected them both with the Earth Elemental Shield from his Magic Ring.
• Romwozi of Dawn Holy Tower confronted the Black Wizard Academy's headmaster, and their wind-and-fire battle killed and wounded many Black Wizard Apprentices.
• The headmaster accused Romwozi of sacrificing innocent apprentices, while Romwozi defended the attack as necessary to hunt Black Magicians.
• Another Holy Tower Magician persuaded Romwozi that some apprentices, especially the young Entry-Level Apprentices, were innocent victims, and the wind and fire around the Space Channel weakened.
• Saine's Senior Brother spoke through the crystal ball and told him to activate the Element Pearl to escape the Yellow Sand World.

Saine rushed toward the shattered Space Channel while carrying the badly injured Lina, as surviving apprentices fought and scrambled to escape. After Vice Dean Qiongni pulled Senior Brother Zorro and two Quasi-Magicians through, Huo Bi and two other Intermediate Apprentices blocked Saine and demanded his Element Pearls.

• Saine hurried toward the Space Channel with Lina in his arms as other apprentices rushed ahead or stayed back in fear.
• Senior Brother Zorro signaled Vice Dean Qiongni, who drew him and two Quasi-Magicians through the shattered passage.
• A badly injured Quasi-Magician named Ke Luo Bo attacked nearby apprentices, killing an Intermediate Apprentice who tried to steal his Element Pearls.
• Lina warned Saine that Ke Luo Bo was one of the academy’s strongest Quasi-Magicians, so Saine changed his route to avoid him.
• Huo Bi and two other Intermediate Apprentices confronted Saine and demanded his Element Pearls.