Chapter Summaries

Saine continued researching bloodlines and body tempering, helping Xia Ya and Red Scales improve their strength while his own experiments kept him occupied. After receiving rare materials from the White Sand World, he sent most of them to Luluenman, who prepared to travel to the Amethyst Crystal Great World.

• Saine's Body Tempering Experiments rapidly improved Red Scales' strength, and Xia Ya joined after Nataya persuaded her.
• The Sand Worm Queen mated with the Level-6 Void Aphid King and became pregnant with over a hundred eggs; Saine reserved several for research or sale.
• Saine gave Luluenman five vials of Amethyst Crystal Insect Royal Jelly from the Void Aphid King, keeping only a small portion for his research into Void Dissociation.
• Luluenman told Saine that Mane had invited her to a Wizard Alliance mission and revealed that Saine's Senior Uncle had beaten Mane up.
• Luluenman planned to travel to the Amethyst Crystal Great World after Element Monarchs showed interest in her Earth Elemental Life Aggregation Potion, while Saine stayed behind for his experiments and the coming Ash Holy Tower Academy War.

Cohen, an apprentice at Ash Holy Tower, reunited with his senior sister Verite after she returned from a dangerous mission tracking a Black Magician hideout. Verite said she might have to leave again soon, but promised to help Cohen with his studies when she returned.

• Cohen reflected on how Ash Holy Tower had rescued him and other apprentices from Black Magicians, and how dangerous the tower's trial missions were.
• Cohen recalled failing his anatomy exam after Verite had shown him disturbing images from a Black Magician's laboratory.
• Cohen spotted Verite outside the academy's Teaching Building and hurried over to greet her.
• Verite scolded Cohen for failing anatomy and explained that she and her companions had tracked down a Black Magician hideout with Master Dodge.
• Verite told Cohen she might have to leave on another mission soon, but promised to help him with the Wind Element Basic Matrix when she returned.
• Cohen said goodbye to Verite and hurried into the Teaching Building for class.

Polak, a cruel and cowardly Rank Two Black Magician, prepared to flee his tower as an alarm signaled approaching intruders. He ordered his apprentices to confront them and activate the tower’s defenses, leaving the threat to the imprisoned specimens unresolved.

• Polak reflected on the Ash Holy Tower’s growing power and his own fear of challenging it, while preparing to move his residence again.
• Polak tortured his apprentices and dissolved the Skinny Tall Guy in corrosive acid to feed Green Corpse Algae.
• A young female apprentice fainted when Polak looked at her, and he nearly killed her before an alarm announced approaching intruders.
• Polak sent several Advanced Black Wizard Apprentices to face the intruders and ordered the others to activate every magic array on the bottom level.
• Polak’s favored apprentice questioned what would happen to the imprisoned specimens, but Polak’s glare silenced him and the apprentices obeyed.

Polak escaped the destruction of his black magic tower after sacrificing its apprentices and unleashing an explosion that killed several Holy Tower Magicians. Furious over Ash Holy Tower’s losses, Saine ordered Ping Ke Man to hunt Polak down, setting the stage for a wider black magician suppression campaign.

• Polak activated the tower’s defenses and self-destruction protocol, releasing two powerful Corpse Refinement Synthetic Beasts as he prepared to flee.
• Polak escaped the explosion with two apprentices, while a severely injured Second-Level Holy Tower Magician survived and cursed him from the ruins.
• Saine questioned Ping Ke Man about the deaths of seven apprentices and two Level-1 Magicians during the mission against Polak.
• Meili accepted part of the blame as Saine ordered Ping Ke Man to kill Polak and limit the damage to Ash Holy Tower’s reputation.
• Ping Ke Man left to lead a renewed campaign against black magicians across the Land of Ashes.

Saine and Meili discussed Ash Holy Tower’s preparations for its first Regional Holy Tower Academy War, while a rescued Black Wizard Apprentice and an apprentice named Cohen began their own paths at the academy. Twenty years later, Saine completed the White Sand Fan and prepared to send Ash Holy Tower’s apprentices into the war.

• Meili told Saine that Flack had returned with an eight-year-old Black Wizard Apprentice whose right arm had been crippled, and Saine asked whether she was confident about the academy war.
• The injured girl entered Holy Tower Academy and vowed not to be afraid again, while Cohen vowed to avenge a mutilated corpse in the academy morgue.
• Over twenty years, Saine completed the White Sand Fan, a Magic Conductor made with the White Wing Bird King's wings and the elemental lifeform Sha'er.
• Saine chose to hold Ash Holy Tower’s first Regional Academy War alongside five Bairen Empire Holy Towers, all led by Level-4 Magicians.
• The six Holy Towers prepared for the trial at Blackwood Plain, and a colossal teleportation gate was erected at the center of the Holy Tower Academy.

Saine learned about two promising Ash Holy Tower apprentices before joining the other Holy Tower Masters above the trial secret realm for the Regional Holy Tower Academy War. He left the gathering having revealed his Ash Power, drawing the other Level-4 Magicians’ attention and an invitation to discuss magic after the war.

• Meili told Saine that Cohen and a one-armed female apprentice were Ash Holy Tower’s most promising seeds for the Academy War.
• Meili explained that Cohen had survived dangerous missions against Black Magicians, while Flack had taken the female apprentice as his disciple.
• Saine arrived above the trial secret realm, where the five Bairen Empire Holy Tower Masters had already gathered.
• Saine spoke with the master of Bauhinia Flower Holy Tower about their academies’ first Academy War and explained that Ash Power had inspired his Holy Tower’s name.
• Saine displayed gray flames of Ash Power, and the master of Lava Volcano Holy Tower invited him to discuss the Fire Element after the war.

Saine met the other five Bairen Empire Holy Tower Masters, learned about Tidal Moon’s gravity-based combat methods, and established a preliminary trade partnership. As the Regional Holy Tower Academy War began, the masters watched their apprentices compete and gathered to talk, until uninvited guests arrived looking for Saine.

• The Holy Tower Masters discussed the origins of their towers’ names, and the Lava Volcano Holy Tower Master described Tidal Moon’s experience and gravity powers in Plane Wars.
• Saine spoke with the other masters and finalized a preliminary cooperation between the Purple Calyx Family and the Wojin Merchant Association in the Land of Ashes.
• The six masters sent their apprentices through Teleportation Light Gates into the varied trial secret realm, where the Regional Holy Tower Academy War began.
• Saine and the other masters soon grew bored of the apprentices’ battles and chatted about their Holy Towers and experiments.
• A group of uninvited guests arrived above the secret realm to find Saine.

Ebarute Empire inspector Chris questioned Saine about apprentice smuggling and sought a Second-Level Magician named Baus. Saine denied knowing Baus, and Meili said no magician by that name was registered at Ash Holy Tower, though she recalled a Level-1 magician named Boris.

• Chris arrived at Ash Holy Tower with roughly two hundred attendants to investigate apprentice smuggling and said evidence pointed toward the Land of Ashes.
• Saine agreed to cooperate, then spoke privately with Chris while the nearby Holy Tower Masters remained behind.
• Chris questioned Saine about Ash Holy Tower’s apprentices and asked whether he knew Baus, an Ebarute Empire magician.
• Saine claimed not to know Baus and summoned academy dean Meili to check the records.
• Meili said Ash Holy Tower had no registered Second-Level Magician named Baus, but she had interviewed a Level-1 magician named Boris.

Saine passed Ebarute inspector Chris’s investigation without being identified as a Black Magician, and the Regional Holy Tower Academy War ended with Ash Holy Tower’s apprentices achieving an unexpected success. Ash ranked second in total points and first in average points, while Emilia and Cohen took second and third place in individual points.

• Saine let Chris’s inspection force investigate the Land of Ashes and asked them to help suppress local Black Magicians.
• Chris left with his force to investigate the apprentice-smuggling network and pursue Baus, while other Holy Tower Masters criticized Ebarute’s interference.
• Saine reassured the Holy Tower Masters and returned to watching the Academy War with Meili.
• The three-year-and-four-month war ended without any Despairer Apprentices emerging, but Ash Holy Tower ranked second in total points and first in average points per apprentice.
• An apprentice from Flowing Light Waterfalls Holy Tower won first place in individual points, while Ash Holy Tower’s Cohen and Emilia took second and third; one-armed Emilia defeated dozens of Quasi-Magician-level apprentices.

After the Academy War, Saine rewarded Cohen and Emilia for their performances and heard their wishes. He then secretly negotiated a resource and trade arrangement with two Level-4 Magicians from the Bairen Empire, hoping to profit from smuggling.

• Saine told Ruikesi that the Ash Holy Tower’s apprentices had been tempered by harsh conditions and praised Xiao En’s Ice Storm.
• Saine granted Cohen and Emilia benefits, but could not fulfill Cohen’s wish to resurrect someone; Cohen then vowed to purge Black Magicians from the Land of Ashes.
• Emilia declined Saine’s offer of a replacement Mechanical Arm, explaining that Flak had promised to forge her an Elemental Arm.
• Saine met the Holy Tower Masters of the Scarlet Gold Dragon Holy Tower and the Lava Volcano Holy Tower in the underground Ash Holy Tower.
• Saine secretly discussed resource exchanges and commercial trade with the two Level-4 Magicians, focusing on the profits he could skim from smuggling.

Saine maintained Ash Holy Tower’s cooperation with the Bairen Empire and declined help against Chris’s inspection team. After eleven years of violence and heavy losses, Chris left the Land of Ashes and offered compensation, while Saine instead sought ties with the Ebarute Empire’s Public Magic Academies.

• Saine finalized a contract with the Bairen Empire’s Level-4 Magicians and declined the Scarlet Gold Dragon Holy Tower Master’s offer to drive Chris’s inspection team away.
• Saine summoned Wojin, the Dark Elf Queen, and Meili, then gave Meili instructions while Ash Holy Tower continued operating and apprentices discussed the Academy War.
• After eleven years and six months in the Land of Ashes, Chris’s inspection team departed with only 130 of its more than 200 members remaining after attacks by Black Magicians and Dark Beings.
• Saine’s Ash Holy Tower suffered major losses, including the destruction of a Floating Skyport, during the unrest.
• Chris apologized to Saine and offered to seek compensation, but Saine declined and asked Chris to introduce him to Public Magic Academies of the Ebarute Empire.

After settling matters with Wojin and returning to his research, Saine learned that Bone Dragon Sanchez had fallen into a deep slumber and might be close to advancing. Mane then arrived with a request for Saine to travel to the Ghost Crow World.

• Saine accepted the loss of a Floating Skyport after Wojin explained that its destruction had driven away an inspection team and protected Black Domain shipments.
• Saine resumed his experiments, expanded Ash Holy Tower Academy, visited Master Midiqi, and met Lina near the Black Domain.
• Lina told Saine that Sanchez had been unreachable for decades and had entered deep dormancy, possibly in preparation for advancing to Level Four.
• Saine offered Lina Dragon Crystals and dragon bones to give Sanchez if she could contact it again.
• Mane visited Saine and asked him to travel to the Ghost Crow World, saying he was more suitable than the other candidates.

Saine accepted a dangerous Wizard Alliance diplomatic mission to bring Ghost Crow World into the Alliance, while Mane warned him of the risks and hinted that another assignment might follow. Saine departed aboard a special Space Fortress with Sha'er and a delegation, leaving his family and companions behind.

• Mane explained that the Alliance hoped Saine would win over Ghost Crow World and warned that failure could have severe consequences for its star region.
• Saine teased Mane about losing to Pinas, and Mane recalled how Pinas had beaten him at the Off-Ground Light Flame Holy Tower.
• Mane confirmed that Lord Klopp may have arranged the mission and warned Saine not to bring Dragon Turtle Tourmaline.
• Saine prepared his family and the Grant Family for his absence, then left Tourmaline asleep and chose Sha'er as his only companion.
• Saine departed from the Wizard World aboard a black shuttle-shaped Space Fortress with about fifteen hundred knights and mages, while Mane saw him off before heading to his own mission.

Saine traveled to the Ghost Crow World as a Wizard Alliance envoy and studied the Ghost Crow Star Region’s defenses and military strength along the way. Outside the world, the Level 6 Ghost Crow King confronted him with a huge crow legion as Saine sarcastically called their reception warm.

• Saine’s Space Fortress crossed an intermittent Particle Storm near the Ghost Crow Star Region, which he identified as a natural barrier that limited the Ghost Crows’ expansion.
• Saine ordered a Third-Level Great Magician to continue gathering intelligence as the fortress explored the small, unified Ghost Crow Star Region.
• More than five hundred thousand Ghost Crows gathered outside the fortress, while two Level-4 Ghost Crows escorted it toward the Ghost Crow World.
• The Level 6 Ghost Crow King appeared in the Star Realm void, displaying its immense wingspan and darkflames as Saine judged the display to be bluster.
• Saine flew out of the Space Fortress, introduced himself as a Wizard Alliance envoy, and addressed the Ghost Crow King sarcastically about its warm welcome.

Saine and the Wizard Alliance delegation arrived at Ghost Crow World, where the hesitant Ghost Crow King agreed to receive them after learning how powerful Wizard Civilization was. In the Ghost Crow King's temple, Saine learned about the world's past and the extinct Soul Devouring Beasts.

• Saine began to leave when the Ghost Crow King stayed silent, prompting the King to insist that it bore no hostility toward the Wizard Alliance.
• The Ghost Crow King explained that it had learned about Wizard Civilization from the Nether Bone Evil Dragon after returning from Bewitching Stone World.
• Saine asked to enter Ghost Crow World as a sincere envoy, and the Ghost Crow King let the Space Fortress pass through the plane barrier.
• The Ghost Crow King received Saine and his companions in its open-air temple, where Saine inspected carvings depicting the King's rise.
• The Ghost Crow King told Saine that Soul Devouring Beasts once ruled the world and that their bones had been used to build the temple.

Saine offered the Ghost Crow King a Law Contract to join the Wizard Alliance after learning about Ghost Crow World's past. The Ghost Crow King asked for time to consider, and then convened trusted subordinates to discuss the decision.

• Saine learned that the Ghost Crow King had led the Crow Clan to overthrow the Soul Devouring Beast Clan seventy thousand years earlier.
• Saine presented a Law Contract promising Ghost Crow World twenty million cubic meters of high-quality Soul Crystals in exchange for joining the Wizard Alliance.
• The Ghost Crow King hesitated, wary that Wizard Civilization’s generous offer came with hidden dangers, and asked to consider it.
• Saine agreed to wait for the Ghost Crow King’s decision, and the king arranged lodging and gifts for Saine and the visiting mages.
• The Ghost Crow King summoned four trusted subordinates, including its mate, and asked whether they should join the Wizard Alliance.

The Ghost Crow King agreed to negotiate Ghost Crow World’s entry into the Wizard Alliance but demanded the return of two Level-5 Ghost Crows held by Wizard Civilization. Wizard World recovered one survivor and sent it back, while Saine arranged for the other’s remains to be returned.

• The Ghost Crow King consulted the other Ghost Crows, and an elderly Level-5 Ghost Crow advised it as Ghost Crow World considered joining the Wizard Alliance.
• When Saine’s group met the Ghost Crow King again, it proposed amendments to minor clauses in the Rule Contract and demanded the return of two Level-5 Ghost Crows.
• Saine contacted Wizard World, which agreed to return the remains of the dead Level-5 Ghost Crow and discovered that the Gray Feather Ghost Crow was still alive after feigning death.
• Wizard World sent the badly injured Gray Feather Ghost Crow back to Ghost Crow World, where it wept with relief and the Ghost Crow King welcomed it.

Saine completed negotiations that brought Ghost Crow World into the Wizard Alliance, then waited for the Alliance’s aid and garrison forces to arrive. As the Wizard Alliance established its presence in the Ghost Crow Star Region, Saine learned that Hidden Wave Azure World had also agreed to join.

• Saine negotiated with the Ghost Crow King for two years, and the Ghost Crow King signed the Law Contract to enter the Wizard Alliance.
• Saine remained in Ghost Crow World to witness the delivery of Alliance aid and exchanged gifts with the Ghost Crow King, including its life-bound wing feathers.
• After thirty years, three transport-type Space Fortresses delivered supplies worth more than seventy million Magic Coins, while two war-type Space Fortresses and Wizard World legions arrived to establish a garrison.
• Saine met Level-5 Magician Peno, who told him that Hidden Wave Azure World had agreed to join the Wizard Alliance three years earlier, influenced in part by Ghost Crow World's entry.

After completing his mission in the Ghost Crow Star Region, Saine returned toward Wizard Civilization aboard a Space Fortress, touring several Alliance Planes along the way. In New Moon Sea World, he learned that member worlds feared the looming war between Wizard Civilization and the Galente Federation, then continued his leisurely journey.

• Saine left the Ghost Crow Star Region and began his return to Wizard Civilization, while preparations for the Twenty-Fifth Wizard Alliance Assembly continued.
• Saine slowed the Space Fortress to explore Wizard Civilization’s territories and arrived at New Moon Sea World, where he spent over a month relaxing.
• Saine met the Cyan Jade White Snail and its two Level-4 friends, who discussed the approaching Alliance Assembly and rising tensions between Wizard Civilization and the Galente Federation.
• The three foreign gods watched Saine depart aboard the Space Fortress, reassured by Wizard Civilization’s calm response to the conflict.
• Saine continued visiting Ancient Tome Wood World, Meilan Gem World, Eir Bee-Insect World, Wind-Drift Cloud-Top World, and other Alliance Planes.

After returning to the Wizard World, Saine prepared for the upcoming Wizard Alliance Assembly and considered buying a Space Fortress. Luluenman reported her profitable trip to the Amethyst Crystal Great World, where she gained valuable trading rights that could help supply Saine’s forces in the coming war.

• Level-4 Knight Mane welcomed Saine back and reminded him to prepare a speech for the Wizard Alliance Assembly two hundred years before it began.
• Luluenman told Saine she had returned early from the Amethyst Crystal Great World after earning nearly ten million Magic Coins and befriending several Element Monarchs.
• Luluenman said the Element Monarchs had granted Azure Source Holy Tower Priority Trading Rights for Energy Crystals and specialty metal ores.
• Saine told Luluenman he planned to buy a new-generation Standard Space Fortress before the Assembly and sent her gifts from the Ghost Crow World and his travels.
• As the Alliance Assembly approached, Saine focused on his family and clan and considered leaving behind a bloodline after Xia Ya raised the matter.