Chapter Summaries

Sunan created a Clay Golem and used ten of them to accelerate construction of his base, while Kei saw their potential for military logistics. Sunan also began developing a mass-producible substitute for Lesser Dragon Blood Potion and planned to recruit Wizard Apprentice candidates from the territory.

• Sunan built and activated his first Clay Golem, which obeyed his order to carry a box outside.
• Sunan decided to make ten Clay Golems, and their arrival greatly sped up base construction after the Month of Revival began.
• Kei proposed forming a Clay Golem logistics unit, and Sunan agreed to provide some once the base had enough workers.
• Kei explained the shortage of Lesser Dragon Blood Potion, but Sunan refused to draw blood from Hidden Dragon because it could hinder its growth.
• Sunan decided to cultivate a magical plant as a mass-produced substitute for the potion and told Kei he was working on a solution.
• Sunan planned to train territory residents to maintain the base and identify promising Wizard Apprentice candidates, and Kei volunteered to recruit them.

Sunan improved his meditation and skills, then discovered that he could make Magic Stones cheaply by synthesizing Lesser Magic Stones. As he began stockpiling them for his future base, a peculiar recruitment campaign spread across the Shining Territory.

• Sunan formed his Fifth Star Ring, raised his Spirit Power above 18, and used a new Super Energy Potion to boost his meditation progress.
• Sunan continued Hidden Dragon’s blood replacement plan but abandoned the effort to copy Amy’s Space Travel ability after repeated experiments failed.
• Sunan made Lesser Magic Stones in his laboratory and synthesized them into a Low-Grade Magic Stone.
• Sunan calculated that his low-cost Magic Stones could bring enormous profits once the Wizarding Era arrived, and he began stockpiling them for the base’s future Magic Crystal Forging Furnaces.
• As Sunan worked on making Lesser Magic Stones, a peculiar recruitment campaign swept across the Shining Territory.

Xie Man, a poor twelve-year-old raised by Old Roger, learned that Lord had ordered literate youths to be tested for apprenticeships under the wizard Sunan. Excited by the chance to earn a Gold Coin each month, he went to the Testing Center and joined the queue.

• Xie Man woke and rode with Old Roger into the Inner City to collect rubbish from the castle.
• A guard told Xie Man that literate youths aged twelve to fifteen had to take a test, and that those who passed could become Sunan's apprentices with a monthly subsidy of one Gold Coin.
• Old Roger urged Xie Man to clean up and attend the Testing Center after they finished hauling rubbish.
• Xie Man washed, changed into his best clothes, and hurried to the Testing Center, where he joined a long queue of youths.

Xie Man took a test to become Lord Sunan’s apprentice and passed after seeing strange visions while reading a mysterious book. He joined the other successful candidates and learned that the scholarly girl had experienced similar visions.

• Xie Man learned from other boys that wizards could wield powerful magic and that Lord Sunan was a wizard.
• Xie Man reached the front of the line and passed a reading test before the old man presented him with a book of strange characters.
• When Xie Man looked at the book, he saw the world freeze and strange tentacles and mouths chanting “Truth,” then found he could understand the characters.
• The old man told Xie Man that he had passed and would meet Lord Sunan after testing ended, while the other candidates reacted with envy.
• The scholarly girl asked Xie Man if he had seen strange visions too, and he realized the other successful candidates had experienced them.

Xie Man, Atier Yuri, and Ke Lei Mai Kenning passed the wizard aptitude test and met Sunan, who gave them the Star Ring Meditation to study. He told them they could become his students after mastering its basics, beginning his effort to train assistants and build a wizard faction.

• Xie Man met Atier Yuri and Ke Lei Mai Kenning, and the three were the only candidates to pass the seven-day aptitude test.
• Geller led the three apprentices into the castle, where Amy the talking cat told them Sunan was meditating and invited them to wait.
• Sunan emerged and learned that the candidates came from Shining Territory's three social classes and were the only three among more than a thousand applicants with wizard aptitude.
• Sunan gave each apprentice a copy of the Star Ring Meditation and told them to focus on practicing until he could take them as students.
• Sunan sent the apprentices away, intending to train them as assistants and lay the groundwork for his own wizard faction.

Sunan completed the base’s crystal energy conduits and activated its central energy core, bringing the base’s construction to a functional stage. He planned the remaining facilities, magical plant cultivation, golem maintenance, and defenses.

• Sunan laid Crystal Trace throughout the base and activated the central energy core, spreading energy across the entire structure.
• Sunan reviewed the base’s planned areas and arranged to delegate ordinary facilities while personally setting up the Magical Plant Garden, workshop, and Puppet Factory.
• Sunan chose Silver Moon Flower and Red Vein Fruit as the first plants to cultivate, planning to improve Red Vein Fruit with Subdragon Blood.
• Sunan planned to use twenty Clay Golems for maintenance, Stone Golems and Magical Alarm for security, and eventually a Steel Golem as the base’s final defense.

After forming his sixth star ring, Sunan prepared for his next projects and practiced crafting enchanted weapons to raise his Magical Item Creation skill. He discovered that identical magical properties could be fused to strengthen an item, leaving him with a promising way to improve higher-grade Magical Items.

• Sunan formed his sixth star ring, raising his Spirit attribute above twenty, and estimated that he needed two or three more years to form the remaining rings for advancement.
• Sunan finished the base's golems, assigned Kei to organize a logistics unit, and planned to craft Steel Golems once more Blackstone Iron arrived.
• Sunan used weapons from Kei to practice making enchanted weapons, raising his Magical Item Creation skill to Level 2.
• Sunan found that enchanted weapons with different properties could not be fused, but three Sharpness longswords fused into one Armor Piercing longsword.
• Sunan realized he might be able to fuse Alchemy Grade Magical Items into Glimmer Grade items or wizard artifacts.

Xie Man reflected on his progress as a Wizard Apprentice and prepared for the monthly assessment with Atier and Ke Lei. Sunan praised their meditation, then announced that he and Hidden Dragon would move to the newly built base while Amy chose to remain at the castle with the three students.

• Xie Man recalled how Star Ring Meditation had strengthened him and how he struggled through Sunan's assigned books, with Amy tutoring him in exchange for daily massages.
• Atier reassured the nervous Xie Man before the monthly assessment, while Ke Lei arrived and showed his usual competitive reserve toward him.
• Sunan greeted his three students and used Spirit Power to confirm they had kept up with meditation.
• Amy appeared on Sunan's shoulder, and Hidden Dragon arrived as Sunan told them the base outside the city was ready for them to move into.
• Sunan said his students could move to the base after learning the required knowledge, but Amy chose to stay at the castle with Xie Man, Ke Lei, and Atier.

Sunan rewarded Xie Man, Ke Lei, and Atier for passing their knowledge assessment, then gave Kei, Brad, and Jordan enchanted weapons. The chapter ended with Kei learning that a plague had broken out in Dye Frost Province.

• Sunan gave Xie Man, Ke Lei, and Atier Lesser Activity Potions for passing their assessment.
• Sunan showed Kei an enchanted longsword with armor-piercing and weak fire damage, then gave Brad and Jordan enchanted weapons as well.
• Kei asked about producing enchanted weapons in batches, and Sunan said only weaker, single-trait weapons could be made that way for about twenty Gold Coins each.
• Kei decided to equip the territory’s knights with enchanted weapons, and Sunan handed him the weapons he had made, including failed products.
• Kei received a message that a plague had broken out in Dye Frost Province.

Sunan learned that a Beastification Syndrome outbreak had spread through Silver Ridge City, then spent months improving Silver Moon Flower and Red Vein Fruit seeds for his Magical Plant Garden. He planted the selected crops, securing future potion materials, while advancing his meditation and estimating when he would reach his ninth Star Ring.

• Kei gave Sunan a report about the rapidly growing Beastification Syndrome outbreak in Silver Ridge City, and Sunan explained its danger and connection to Primal Beastmen.
• The Fire Fox Merchant Guild delivered Silver Moon Flower and Red Vein Fruit seeds, and Sunan spent nearly two months selecting a strain suited to the Magical Plant Garden’s energy supply.
• Sunan fused Red Vein Fruit seeds with Subdragon Blood, harvested the improved Dragon Blood Fruit seeds after four months, and selected a suitable strain.
• Sunan planted Silver Moon Flower and Dragon Blood Fruit seedlings in the garden, expecting their harvests to ease shortages of potion ingredients.
• Sunan continued meditating and practicing spells, constructed his seventh Star Ring, reached 22.12 Spirit Power, and estimated that his ninth Star Ring would come around the end of next year’s Month of Xia Long or the start of the Month of Blazing Fire.

Sunan completed a powerful Steel Golem and considered ways to make more without Soul Crystals. With his base short on workers, he planned to summon otherworldly creatures as helpers and use Comprehend Languages to communicate with them.

• Sunan activated a Steel Golem made from Blackstone Iron and judged it strong enough to defeat Hodge and defend his base.
• Sunan considered using gemstone Soul Cores to craft weaker Steel Golems and added the experiment to his schedule.
• Sunan noted that he had mastered twelve First-Circle Spells but had run out of new spellbooks to study.
• Sunan planned to use Level One Summon Monster and Magic Coins to summon useful helpers, with Comprehend Languages and contracts to communicate with and secure their loyalty.

Muzar delivered goods to Sunan’s base while discussing the Beastification Syndrome spreading in Dye Frost Province with Ota. Meanwhile, Amy showed Sunan’s three apprentices around the base, leaving them awed by its golems and facilities.

• Muzar asked Ota about the lack of news from Dye Frost Province and ordered him to investigate after the delivery.
• Muzar spotted Xie Man, Ke Lei, and Atier riding Blackrock Panthers through Shining City and suspected they were Sunan’s apprentices.
• Amy greeted the three apprentices at the base and began showing them around while Sunan was busy.
• Amy led Xie Man, Ke Lei, and Atier past the Stone Golems and through the base’s meditation, spell cultivation, experiment, residential, and medicine production areas.
• At the Puppet Factory, Amy told the three apprentices that the Steel Golem had the combat power of a Legendary Knight, deepening their awe of Sunan.

Amy showed Xie Man, Ke Lei, and Atier the base warehouse, where its manager Ge Li explained how apprentices could earn Contribution Points by completing tasks and exchange them for resources. Inspired by the opportunities before them, the apprentices left with a broader view of the wizarding world, and Xie Man resolved to become a wizard.

• Amy led Xie Man, Ke Lei, and Atier to the warehouse, where they found Ge Li playing the violin.
• Ge Li introduced herself as the warehouse manager and showed them tasks that awarded Contribution Points.
• Ge Li explained that the apprentices could exchange Contribution Points for resources under the rule of equivalent exchange.
• Amy told the apprentices that Ge Li was a skilled archer who could use charm, detection, and invisibility spells.
• As they headed to the Residential Area, Xie Man reflected on how vast the wizarding world was and resolved to become a wizard.

Sunan synthesized a Glimmer Grade Space Ring and planned stronger offensive and defensive Magical Items. Dragon Blood Fruit and improved Silver Moon Flowers boosted Shining City’s supplies, while Sunan’s students progressed in their training; Sunan remained focused on reaching Level Three Wizard Apprentice and considered relying on Nightmare Potions.

• Sunan replaced the base’s lamps and synthesized seven Alchemy Grade Space Rings into a Glimmer Grade Space Ring that stored five cubic meters and preserved its contents.
• Sunan began crafting offensive and defensive Magical Items, choosing Protection Rings and Ice Burst Necklaces for later synthesis.
• Sunan tested the first ripe Dragon Blood Fruit on guards and found that its abundant harvest could produce the equivalent of more than a hundred Lesser Dragon Blood Potions each month.
• Sunan noted that improved Silver Moon Flowers reduced Super Energy Potion costs, and that Xie Man, Ke Lei, and Atier had each constructed their first Star Ring and begun learning Zero-Circle Spells.
• Sunan checked his progress: he had reached Level 9 Star Ring Meditation, built eight Star Rings, and had 23.88 Spirit Power; he concluded that Nightmare Potions might be necessary to advance quickly.

Sunan supplied Kei with Dragon Blood Fruit, allowing the Blackrock Cavalry Regiment to resume expanding, while Kei arranged aptitude tests for children in Shining Territory. The Beastman Disaster then spiraled out of control across Dye Frost Province, and the Starry Sky Grand Duke sent an army to suppress it.

• Sunan gave Kei baskets of Dragon Blood Fruit and a specially made fruit intended to help him advance to Intermediate Grand Knight.
• Kei ordered aptitude tests for every child aged twelve and asked Sunan to lower his standards for selecting Wizard Apprentices, but Sunan refused.
• Kei told Sunan that Beastification Syndrome had spread beyond Silver Ridge City and that infected knights had devastated the army sent to suppress it.
• Legendary Knight Yoen was besieged and killed in Magnolia City, and his elite cavalry regiment was wiped out.
• The Beastman Disaster spread through nearly all of Dye Frost Province, prompting neighboring provinces to seal their borders and the Dye Frost Marquis to request help.
• The Starry Sky Grand Duke sent an army into Dye Frost Province as the crisis threatened to engulf the principality.

Sunan completed his ninth star ring and synthesized two Glimmer Grade magical items: the Extreme Protection Ring and the Ice Seal Necklace. After testing their powerful defensive and freezing effects, he decided that his limited funds prevented him from crafting more until potion sales increased.

• Sunan reviewed his progress and calculated that he still needed to raise his Spirit to 28 before the Nightmare Potion could help him reach the Level Three Wizard Apprentice threshold.
• Sunan synthesized twenty-five Protection Rings into an Extreme Protection Ring and tested its defense against the Steel Golem's full-strength attacks.
• Sunan synthesized Ice Burst Necklaces into an Ice Seal Necklace and froze the Steel Golem and the ground within a hundred-meter radius.
• Sunan admired the two items' combined potential but gave up on crafting another magical item because he had fewer than a hundred Gold Coins left.
• Sunan concluded that he needed to expand potion sales and would wait for Xie Man and the other two to learn potion making.

As the Beastification Syndrome outbreak engulfed several provinces, Sunan and Kei learned that Golden Rock Marquis had declared independence and gathered allies in rebellion. They concluded that Shining Territory was likely to be attacked soon and began preparing for war.

• Sunan read a report describing the infected army’s devastation in Dye Frost Province and its spread into neighboring provinces.
• Kei gave Sunan a letter from Muzar revealing that Ota had found mysterious people manipulating the infected before escaping their attack.
• Sunan and Kei reasoned that the outbreak was likely orchestrated from within the principality, rather than by another country.
• Kei received news that Golden Rock Marquis had declared Golden Rock Province independent and formed a coalition with several lords.
• Sunan and Kei recognized that Golden Rock Marquis would likely attack Shining Territory before winter and ordered preparations for war.

As the Golden Rock Allied Forces prepared to invade Shining Territory with two earls leading an army of at least thirty thousand, Kei planned the defense of Qilin City and Firefly City. Sunan proposed crafting Stone Golems to help defeat the invading force, and the chapter ended with him preparing to build them at Firefly City.

• Brad reported that the Golden Rock Allied Forces had divided into four routes, with Storm Earl and Winter Frost Earl joining forces to attack Shining Territory.
• Brad estimated the two earls would bring at least thirty thousand troops and reach Shining Territory within ten days.
• Kei assigned Jordan and Si Ta Li three thousand troops to defend Qilin City against Winter Frost Earl for at least two months.
• Kei decided to lead the defense of Firefly City and asked Sunan for his advice.
• Sunan requested gemstones and granite so he could craft Stone Golems, and Kei agreed to send the materials to Firefly City.

Sunan and his three students crafted one hundred Stone Golems in Firefly City to reinforce its defense against Storm Earl's army. Sunan proposed using the Magic Cube to place the golems silently inside the enemy camp for a nighttime attack, and he and Kei began preparing the plan.

• Sunan set up a temporary Puppet Factory in Firefly City and worked with Xie Man, Ke Lei, and Atier to craft Stone Golems.
• After half a month, Sunan and his students finished one hundred Stone Golems, using the five thousand Gold Coins advanced by the Fire Fox Merchant Guild.
• Sunan went to the city wall and told Kei that the Golem Legion was ready for battle.
• Sunan proposed launching a nighttime attack, explaining that Stone Golems had darkvision and that he could transport them into the enemy camp using the Magic Cube.
• Kei agreed that the plan could turn the war in their favor, and he and Sunan began making preparations.

Sunan infiltrated the Storm army’s camp disguised as a scout and secretly reached the infirmary, where he unleashed stone monsters that threw the camp into chaos. The chapter ended as Storm Earl and his generals watched the creatures rampage through their supposedly secure camp.

• Sunan killed three scouts outside Firefly City, disguised himself as one of them, and used Charm Human to control the other two.
• Sunan feigned an injury and had the controlled scouts carry him past the guards into the Storm army’s camp.
• Storm Earl demanded an explanation for the army’s failure to capture Firefly City and rejected a general’s proposal to wait for Winter Frost Earl’s forces.
• A commotion drew Storm Earl and the generals from the command tent, and a messenger reported monsters in the infirmary area.
• A giant stone creature smashed through a tent, and numerous identical monsters began slaughtering soldiers throughout the camp.