Chapter Summaries

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.

After parting from Meili, Saine learned more about the Black Magicians hunted after the Underdark mission and traveled to Stormwind City. He arrived at the South Sea port to seek a nearby black market, where the Holy Towers’ influence was weaker and illicit trade was widespread.

• Midiqi gave Saine a mission memorandum listing Black Magicians wanted by the Holy Towers and Knights’ Halls, including the dead Dadalong and Ke Suo Long and the escaped Di’ersi, Qiongni, and Martin.
• Meili watched Saine leave, then picked up Anji and said she would prepare to advance to Level-1 Magician.
• Saine traveled from Dawn Holy Tower to Stormwind City instead of going to Muser City.
• Saine discovered that the South Sea around Stormwind City held vast inhabited islands, human kingdoms, and many Knights’ Halls.
• Saine arrived in Stormwind City to find a nearby black market in the region’s extensive Gray Areas.

Saine traveled through Stormwind City to Feixia Island, following Meili’s information about a ship route to the City of Munich, where Black Magicians might be found. He boarded an old Alchemy Powered Ship and confronted a formidable knight who mistook his concealed identity for that of a Black Magician.

• Meili told Saine that traces of Black Magicians might be found in the dangerous City of Munich and that apprentices had once sought ships there from Feixia Island.
• Saine crossed Stormwind City and avoided flying directly across the perilous ocean toward Munich.
• Saine found an old Alchemy Powered Ship on Feixia Island and approached its deck.
• A burly sailor in a white jacket revealed himself as a powerful knight, while Saine released a chilling aura from his black robe.
• The knight recognized Saine’s appearance as that of the feared Black Magicians he had encountered in the Western Islands’ Black Domain.

Saine paid passage on an illicit alchemy-powered ship bound for Wave City, the former City of Munich, and set sail during storm season. As the ship navigated the storms, Saine recognized how small his power was compared with the forces of the Wizard World's sea.

• Saine told the sailor he was traveling to the City of Munich and paid five Magic Coins for passage to Wave City.
• Saine boarded the wreck and sensed other passengers and faint life signs in its lowest hold, where sea folk creatures might be smuggled.
• The burly sailor and the Goatee Old Man set sail after three more days, carrying Saine and twelve other human passengers.
• Saine noticed an Advanced Magic Apprentice in a Gray Magic Robe aboard and wondered why the shabby man had spent so much on passage.
• Cook piloted the ship through storm-season seas, and Saine reflected on the limits of his power against the vast natural forces around him.

Saine and the crew survived a colossal storm while crossing the Endless South Sea, and Saine examined Silver Flood Dragon Fish afterward. Their journey was interrupted when Sea Lizards rose from the water and encircled the ship.

• Saine collected Silver Flood Dragon Fish and told Cook they carried faint dragon-blood factors.
• Saine warned Cook that extracting dragon blood from the fish would take far too long and suggested seeking other creatures near the storm zone.
• A Brown-Robed Magician approached Saine to ask about his knowledge of dragon creatures, but Saine showed little interest in talking.
• Cook detected nearby sea folk and shouted as columns of water rose around the ship.
• Several Sea Lizards emerged from the sea, surrounding the ship with rusty halberds in their claws.

Cook and the Goatee Old Man fought off a huge Sea Lizardman force demanding fifty Magic Coins from their ship. Saine suspected the Sea Lizardman Elder had a hidden purpose, since he watched his own people die without joining the battle.

• Tens of thousands of Sea Lizardmen surrounded the Black Ship, and their Elder demanded fifty Magic Coins to let the passengers leave.
• Cook refused the demand and attacked the Sea Lizardmen, while the Sea Lizardman Chieftain charged him on a sea shark.
• The Goatee Old Man joined the fight with a Magic Staff and wounded or killed many Sea Lizardmen with falling ice shards.
• Saine observed that the Elder had not joined the battle and suggested he might be using the fight to reduce his own clan’s numbers.

Saine watched Cook's forces slaughter the Sea Lizardmen and considered how their poverty and overpopulation might make low-tier sea folk and Underdark subhumans a source of labor for the Azure Source Holy Tower. He began forming a plan to recruit them for future wars in exchange for a share of the spoils.

• Saine recognized that the Sea Lizardmen had attacked Cook's ship partly to seek supplies and partly to reduce their tribe's excessive population.
• Cook's forces overwhelmed the Sea Lizardmen, killing nearly a thousand while the survivors spread a thin seaweed net through the surrounding waters.
• Saine connected the sea folk's and subhumans' desperate circumstances with the Azure Source Holy Tower's shortage of Slave Creatures.
• Saine recalled that Luluenman had sacrificed nearly two hundred thousand Plant Creatures in the Poison Fire Green Flame World War because she lacked a slave army.
• Saine considered recruiting low-tier sea folk and subhumans for future campaigns and paying them with a share of the postwar gains.