Chapter Summaries

Saine continued through Azure Source Holy Tower’s territory, earning points and alien creature corpses while apprentices began calling him the Golden Mask. At the Water Secret Mine on the border with Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower, he learned that dangerous serpents and the neighboring territory had kept stronger apprentices away, and realized he might have traveled in the wrong direction.

• Jack recalled how a Thunder Radiance Holy Tower Despairer had hunted him during the previous Regional Holy Tower Academy War, and Saine’s cold menace reminded him of that apprentice.
• Jack told the other apprentices to make the Purple Fir Wood Forest their main defensive area after Saine left.
• Saine traveled through more resource points, collecting several hundred points and an alien creature corpse as apprentices nicknamed him the Golden Mask.
• Saine reached the Water Secret Mine and asked the Azure Source Holy Tower apprentices why no Advanced Apprentices or Quasi-Magicians had claimed it.
• The apprentices explained that Otherworld Water Serpents guarded the mine and that the river marked the border with Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower.
• Saine realized he had reached the territory border without finding a Large Resource Point and suspected he had chosen the wrong direction.

Saine decided to enter Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower territory to hunt points, but first planned to occupy the nearby Water Secret Mine. He told the Azure Source Holy Tower apprentices guarding it that he would deal with the water serpents if they helped restrain them.

• Saine considered how resource-point captures and defeating rival apprentices could help him reach the top twenty, then chose to continue east into Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower territory.
• Saine reasoned that major conflicts between Holy Tower apprentices would intensify later, while most academies were still focused on their own territories.
• Saine decided to clear and occupy the Water Secret Mine before leaving, hoping to gain its 500 points and valuable Water Secret Mine mineral.
• The freckled apprentice explained that the group could not overcome the Intermediate Magical Beast water serpents alone, though he and Vili could fight underwater.
• Saine offered to handle the water serpents and asked the apprentices to restrain them with magic, prompting the freckled apprentice to agree eagerly.

Saine defeated the Otherworld Water Serpents at a Water Secret Mine, earned a large score, and continued toward Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower’s territory. Outside the Trial Space, Azure Source Holy Tower’s magicians watched his score rise above Daniel’s and into the overall top ten.

• Saine and the Azure Source Holy Tower apprentices killed five Otherworld Water Serpents, and Vili received 100 points for killing one.
• Saine claimed the Water Secret Mine’s first marker and brought his total to more than 2,300 points, while Vili and the freckled male apprentice claimed the other markers.
• Saine warned the apprentices not to linger at the Medium Resource Point, collected valuable parts from the serpents, and flew toward Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower’s territory.
• Vili and the freckled male apprentice began gathering Water Secret Stones and serpent spoils after Saine left.
• Azure Source Holy Tower’s magicians recognized Saine’s name as his score passed Daniel’s and rose to 2,860, placing him temporarily ninth overall.

Saine hunted apprentices in Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower’s territory, using ambushes to rapidly gain points while focusing on stronger targets. His score climbed to fifth place, making him an unfamiliar contender among the Regional War’s celebrated talents.

• Saine ambushed three Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower apprentices, killed two Intermediate Apprentices, and watched the Advanced Apprentice escape by activating his badge.
• Saine looted over 500 points and resources from the fallen apprentices, destroyed their corpses with a Fireball Spell, and continued deeper into enemy territory.
• Saine focused his hunts on Advanced Apprentices and stronger targets, deciding that pursuing weaker apprentices was not worth the effort.
• Saine’s score surged during a week of hunting, moving him from ninth to fifth place in the overall rankings.
• Magician Johnny and other Formal Magicians recognized Saine as a potential dark horse, and Johnny privately promised to give Midiqi his Otherworld Rainbow Fairy if Saine remained in the top ten.

Two months into the Trial Space, Saine reached the Lanxi Grass Resource Point, where nearly two hundred Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower apprentices were preparing to claim it. As their assault began, Saine watched from hiding and saw an elderly Quasi-Magician summon a creature as powerful as a Quasi-Level Magical Beast.

• Saine entered the basin and discovered the Lanxi Grass Resource Point, its unusual plants, and several dozen dangerous Plant Element Alien Creatures.
• Saine observed nearly two hundred Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower apprentices, including four Quasi-Magicians and six Advanced Apprentices, preparing to seize the resource point.
• The Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower apprentices summoned Dark Element and Necromancy Element creatures to lead their assault.
• Two Black Knights charged ahead and killed two low-level Alien Plant Creatures.
• An elderly black-robed Quasi-Magician completed an incantation and summoned a stitched mound of flesh wielding a giant scythe, as powerful as a Quasi-Level Magical Beast.

Saine waited until the Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower apprentices were engaged in battle with the otherworldly plants, then secretly prepared Sun's Eye to attack their exhausted leader. His presence was discovered just as the spell reached its final stage, leaving the apprentices with little time or strength to stop him.

• The Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower apprentices used their Undead Creatures and netherflame magic to attack the otherworldly plants at the Large Resource Point.
• Saine waited through nearly half an hour of fighting before deciding to target the Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower apprentices rather than the plants.
• Saine used his Invisibility Cloak to approach the old black-robed apprentice, who had spent much of his strength summoning a Flesh Mountain and casting spells.
• Saine began preparing Sun's Eye, while a quasi-rank vine creature sensed the Light Element and warned the other plants.
• An Advanced Apprentice noticed Saine's magic and shouted, and the old black-robed apprentice ordered the others to stop him.
• Saine's six golden eyeballs appeared as Sun's Eye reached its final stage, while the exhausted apprentices struggled to respond.

Saine ambushed the Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower’s rear line, killing key apprentices and triggering the collapse of their summoned undead and defenses. After unleashing all six rounds of Sun’s Eye Magic and other spells, he left more than fifty apprentices dead or fleeing, while the otherworldly plants began a fierce counterattack.

• Saine’s Sun’s Eye Magic killed three Quasi-Magicians and two Advanced Apprentices, while its lingering force killed or injured more than ten nearby apprentices.
• The deaths of the summoners caused the flesh mountain, Black Knights, and other summoned undead to vanish.
• The quasi-ranked Vine Creature rallied the otherworldly plants, which counterattacked the disorganized Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower apprentices.
• Saine continued slaughtering the rear line with six rounds of Sun’s Eye Magic and other spells, killing or driving away more than fifty apprentices.
• After expending much of his magic power and Mental Strength, Saine panted heavily and had no time to check his rising points.

Saine’s ambush and the alien plants’ attack devastated the Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower apprentices, while his score triggered a conspicuous golden light from his badge. He escaped the basin with the survivors regrouping behind him, but the light remained impossible to conceal.

• Saine’s badge emitted golden light, revealing that he had ranked first in individual apprentice points and exceeded ten thousand points.
• The alien plants kept the Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower apprentices in disarray and distracted their remaining Quasi-Magician, preventing them from attacking Saine in force.
• Saine took recovery potions, collected spoils, and killed wounded apprentices who had not escaped, while one low-level apprentice fled after calling him a devil.
• Nearly a hundred Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower apprentices regrouped as Saine and the surviving alien plants weakened, leaving him unable to continue fighting them.
• Saine failed to hide the golden light from his badge, then used Levitation Spell to leave the basin while the hostile apprentices watched.

Gade claimed the Fire Dragon Fruit resource point for the Great Earth Academy, but his brief rise to first place ended when Saine overtook him after attacking the Shadow of Darkness region. The Holy Tower Masters watched Saine’s slaughter without intervening, and the Great Earth Academy Master linked Saine’s victory to Lu Lianman’s apprentice settling an old score.

• Gade and the Great Earth Academy apprentices killed the last fire-element giant lizard and marked the Fire Dragon Fruit resource point.
• Gade’s score passed ten thousand, briefly placing him first in the live rankings, but golden light vanished when another apprentice overtook him.
• Gade ordered apprentices to secure the resource point before moving on to another one.
• The Holy Tower Masters and Guardian of Summer witnessed Saine’s attack on the Shadow of Darkness region and did not condemn him because the war’s rules allowed it.
• The Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower Master asked whether Saine was the Azure Source Holy Tower’s secret weapon, while the Great Earth Academy Master joked that Lu Lianman’s apprentice had evened an old score.

Saine counted the 14,760 points he had earned in the Trial Space and considered altering his glowing badge to avoid being tracked. Before he could begin, a concealed Shadow of Darkness apprentice ambushed him, and Saine responded with a blast from his mask.

• Lu Xiu felt embarrassed when the Great Earth Academy Holy Tower Master reminded him that Thunder Radiance apprentices had helped kill nearly three thousand Azure Source apprentices in the previous Regional War.
• The Holy Tower Masters watched the current war while the Guardian of Summer expressed interest in an apprentice's performance.
• Saine reached a relatively open area and saw that his 14,760 points had put him first on the leaderboard.
• Saine realized his badge's golden light could expose his location and prepared an alchemy table to modify it.
• A concealed Shadow of Darkness apprentice attacked Saine with Shadow Arrows, expecting him to be exhausted after fleeing.
• Saine spotted a nearby tree and fired six beams of golden light from his mask, engulfing it and the surrounding area.

After killing a Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower apprentice who ambushed him, Saine salvaged the attacker’s concealment armor and set to work dismantling his badge to remove its conspicuous golden light. As he worked, he recalled how an abused apprentice at the Black Wizard Academy became a monster and took revenge, reinforcing Saine’s resolve to eliminate enemies rather than leave threats behind.

• Saine survived an Advanced Apprentice’s ambush, killed the attacker, and recovered his ragged soft armor and shattered Space Mirror.
• Saine moved to a hollow and used a spare alchemy table to dismantle his Azure Source Holy Tower Badge in hopes of removing its golden light.
• While working on the badge, Saine remembered an Entry-Level Apprentice who endured abuse at the Black Wizard Academy and became a monster through Ke Suo Long’s experiment.
• Saine reflected that the transformed apprentice had killed his former tormentors, and reaffirmed his own policy of leaving no enemy threats alive.

Saine modified his Azure Source Holy Tower Badge, repaired a Metal Disc for travel, and studied enemy badges while waiting in a secluded mountain hollow. After his points began rising again, he set out northeast, while the Azure Source Holy Tower’s leaders watched his ranking and Archimedes considered whether to mentor him.

• Saine concealed more than half of the golden light from his badge by covering its core with engraved Chromium Gold, then repaired his equipment.
• Saine spent nearly a week repairing one of Moxidu’s Metal Discs and used it as a low-cost means of transportation.
• Saine studied Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower Badges and confirmed he could track nearby apprentices through their coordinates.
• After nearly two weeks in the mountain hollow, Saine remained first on the leaderboard and flew northeast on his Metal Disc.
• Johnny and the three Azure Source Holy Tower deans watched Saine’s points rise again, and Archimedes asked whether Saine still lacked a mentor.

Saine built a fearsome reputation in the Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower Region by ambushing and killing its apprentices, including the Quasi-Magician Willis. As his targets began traveling in large groups and left him no openings, Saine headed north toward the Thunder Radiance Holy Tower Region.

• Saine killed Willis and two Advanced Apprentices after detecting their ambush and attacking Willis with a barrage of Sun's Eye Magic spells.
• Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower apprentices discovered Willis's corpse and feared Saine might wipe out their Advanced Apprentices and above.
• The apprentices rejected revenge as too dangerous and agreed to travel in large groups, guard their resource points, and watch for Saine's attacks.
• After going several days without another target, Saine left the Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower Region and headed north toward the Thunder Radiance Holy Tower Region.

Saine entered Thunder Radiance Holy Tower’s region and discovered that its apprentices had nearly cleared their resource points. He found top apprentice Hippocrate Tram preparing to lead an attack on Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower, then launched a surprise assault as golden beams appeared overhead.

• Saine collected Thunder Radiance Holy Tower badges after spending nearly two days in its region.
• On his tenth day there, Saine spotted Hippocrate Tram, a golden-glowing top apprentice, surrounded by dozens of apprentices.
• Hippocrate planned to lead about five thousand apprentices against Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower, then focus on Great Earth Academy Holy Tower.
• Hippocrate called Lalam and other advanced apprentices to gather at a rendezvous point.
• Six golden beams appeared overhead, and Hippocrate shouted that apprentices from another Holy Tower Academy had launched an attack.

Saine attacked Hippocrate and the Thunder Radiance Holy Tower apprentices with repeated volleys of Sun's Eye Magic, while Hippocrate countered with powerful combined elemental spells. As Saine unleashed another overwhelming wave, Hippocrate fled with a nearby female apprentice, leaving a Lightning Wall behind.

• Hippocrate used a Water Curtain and Lightning Chain to create a powerful net that intercepted Saine's first Sun's Eye spells and forced Saine to reveal himself.
• Saine fired four more waves of Sun's Eye beams, forcing Hippocrate to rely on a stored Lightning Shield, the female apprentice's Wind's Protection, and his Plasma Impact.
• Hippocrate mistook Saine's rapid casting for a sign that his Mental Strength was nearly depleted and prepared to capture him.
• Saine unleashed another thirty-six Sun's Eye spells, and Hippocrate activated the Holy Tower Badges for himself and the female apprentice before fleeing.
• Hippocrate smashed his mentor's defensive crystal, raising a Lightning Wall that more than twenty Sun's Eye spells immediately pierced.

Saine forced Hippocrate and many Thunder Radiance Holy Tower apprentices out of the Trial Space before retreating safely. The remaining apprentices turned to Lalam for direction, and she ordered them to defend their resource points while warning that the academy’s western front was under pressure from Gade.

• Saine’s Lightning Wall gave Hippocrate and a female apprentice time to escape, and Saine’s score rose as they left the Trial Space.
• Saine drove more Thunder Radiance Holy Tower apprentices out with Sun’s Eye, then used Flame Blade and Violent Fireball as he withdrew on his Metal Disc.
• The Thunder Radiance Holy Tower apprentices regrouped, contacted Lalam, and learned that Saine had already ambushed several of their apprentices across the district.
• Lalam ordered the apprentices to travel in groups of at least twenty, avoid leaving resource points casually, and establish magical restrictions around them.
• Lalam said their attack on Shadow of Darkness Holy Tower had to be shelved because Gade was pressuring Keane and the others on the western front.

Saine traveled west through the Thunder Radiance Holy Tower Apprentice District, raising his score as the Great Earth Academy Holy Tower pushed the Thunder Radiance Holy Tower’s forces back. He infiltrated the chaotic frontline battle and began ambushing apprentices from both sides.

• Saine left the southern region after finding that Thunder Radiance apprentices had coordinated against him, and headed west toward areas crowded with apprentices.
• Saine hunted across the western hills, bringing his score to 93,462 as he weighed the risks of continuing against the rewards of a higher ranking.
• Saine reached the frontline, where Great Earth Academy forces had inflicted heavy casualties on Thunder Radiance and captured numerous resource points.
• Saine watched the enormous battle, then used his Invisibility Cloak to move through the battlefield and silently harvest score with close-range attacks.
• Saine first targeted Thunder Radiance apprentices, then turned his Magic Staff toward Great Earth Academy apprentices as Thunder Radiance’s lines retreated.

Saine watched Gade devastate the battlefield with relentless Earth Element spells, then accidentally revealed his score of more than one hundred thousand points. As the apprentices turned against him, Saine fled and Gade pursued, only to be struck by Saine’s Sun’s Eye beams.

• Gade used repeated Meteor Fall spells to inflict heavy casualties on the Thunder Radiance Holy Tower apprentices.
• Saine ambushed a Great Earth Academy Holy Tower Advanced Apprentice, pushing his score past one hundred thousand and causing his suppressed Holy Tower Badge to emit a brilliant golden light.
• The battlefield fell silent as the apprentices noticed Saine, then united in hostility and called for his death.
• Saine flew toward a sparsely populated area while Gade chased him, determined to claim his points.
• Saine fired a series of Sun’s Eye beams at Gade before Gade could identify him.

Saine unleashed thirty-six Sun's Eye Magic spells through his mask, badly wounding Gade before Gade defended himself with Heart of the Earth. Gade suspected Saine had used a forbidden Magic Conductor, but Saine's crafted magic obeyed the war's rules, leaving Gade unable to understand how an apprentice had made it.

• Saine fired six waves of Sun's Eye Magic, using some beams to hold back the pursuers and the rest against Gade.
• Gade used Heart of the Earth to draw on Earth Elemental power and raise a massive stone wall, but Saine's beams pierced it and wounded him through his armor.
• Gade recognized that Saine's attack was comparable to Formal Magic and wondered whether Saine had used a prohibited Magic Conductor.
• Gade recalled that the war allowed Magic Conductors made by apprentices themselves, and he struggled to believe Saine could have created one.
• The chapter recounted the hardships and years of effort behind Saine's Magic Conductor, which the Guardian of Summer had partly understood.

Saine escaped the Hill Battlefield under a barrage of spells, drawing a dozen Great Earth Academy Holy Tower apprentices after him. He flew deeper into Great Earth Academy Holy Tower territory, where a low-level apprentice watched his approach in shock.

• Saine used Sun's Eye Magic and obstructive spells to hinder his pursuers, then dodged their attacks as his shields cracked and broke.
• Saine cast a Fire Elemental Shield and reached the edge of the Hill Battlefield, while the fighting between the two Holy Tower Academies resumed.
• Gade resumed the assault on Thunder Radiance Holy Tower, whose Advanced Apprentices returned to reinforce their side instead of pursuing Saine.
• More than a dozen Great Earth Academy Holy Tower Advanced Apprentices and Quasi-Magicians pursued Saine as he flew toward their territory.
• A low-level apprentice at Snakeberry Fruit Jungle watched Saine's Golden Light Pillar race across Great Earth Academy Holy Tower territory.