Chapter Summaries

Locke interrogated Ghost Hand, a Mammon Demon, and learned about abyssal demons, their hierarchy, and their methods of evolution. After theorizing about Abyssal Energy and the limits shared by demons and wizards, he discovered that the Synthesis Cube had created a Beholder Elder Potion formula.

• Ghost Hand explained that it was a Mammon Demon from the Sea of Acid, where it had been hunted before escaping through a planar rift into the Wizarding World.
• Ghost Hand revealed that it had parasitized Yuli and recovered by feeding on her life force, while Locke considered capturing and studying it.
• Locke theorized that abyssal demons were energy life forms that evolved by devouring one another and compared their ranks with the wizard hierarchy.
• Locke realized Ghost Hand had mistaken him for a Beholder Lord because Abyssal Energy circulated around his eyes.
• The Synthesis Cube finished combining three Beholder Lord Potions and produced a new formula: the Beholder Elder Potion.

Locke studied the Beholder Elder Potion and chose to preserve it as a reference for developing First-Ring potions. He sealed the Mammon Demon inside Howard’s shadow, then ordered Howard to return Yuli to her home after she woke.

• Locke decided not to drink the Beholder Elder Potion so he could use it to study First-Ring potion-making.
• The Mammon Demon pleaded with Locke to spare it and offered to serve as his vanguard.
• Locke called Howard and ordered him to release his Magic Pressure structure so the demon could be placed in his soul.
• Locke used Gold Sand Torrent to cage the Mammon Demon and put it in Howard’s shadow, where Howard’s zombie body prevented it from feeding on his life energy.
• Locke promised Howard a daily Lesser Emerald Potion to build resistance to Abyssal Energy and ordered him to return Yuli after she woke.

Six months after focusing on Potions, Locke successfully brewed a Beholder Elder Potion and reached the First Ring level of a Formal Potion Master. With examinations canceled and resources growing scarce because of the war, he wanted to leave the Southeastern Corner Region but still needed the Druid's Ring.

• Locke spent six months and substantial resources studying Potions, then successfully brewed a Beholder Elder Potion and advanced to the First Ring level.
• Locke reflected that Madam Irina's business had nearly begun turning a profit after months of investment and selling Magic Plants to apprentices across the region.
• Locke demonstrated his control over eight types and intensities of Magic Flame and reviewed how First Ring potions required complex formulas and heightened perception.
• Locke realized he could now seek Formal Potion Master certification, but the war had halted examinations and made resources harder to obtain.
• A Gray Dwarf servant brought Locke another invitation letter from a wizard organization, while Locke remained unable to leave without the Druid's Ring.

Locke rejected recruitment offers from minor wizard organizations and contacted Peggy Philayde, a noble wizard from the Land of Six Towers, about the Druid's Ring. Peggy offered the ring and two hundred thousand Magic Stones if Locke could treat someone, leaving him asking what was wrong with the patient and who they were.

• Locke dismissed Archimedes Academy's offer and considered seeking a recommendation to Esosend Weaving Fire Institute instead.
• Wizard Anthony connected Locke with Peggy Philayde, who introduced herself as a member of a high-ranking noble family in the Land of Six Towers.
• Peggy explained that Wizard Anthony had married into her family and asked Locke about his Potion skills.
• Locke answered Peggy's question about the Night-Vision Potion and criticized how basic the question was.
• Peggy offered Locke the Druid's Ring in advance and another two hundred thousand Magic Stones if he treated someone.
• Locke asked Peggy what illness the person had and who the patient was.

Peggy Philayde invited Locke to treat Great Wizard Sura of the Plutarch Family and offered him a Druid's Ring and generous rewards. After checking with Wizard Anthony and Teacher Harlan Vela, Locke accepted and planned to travel to the Land of Six Towers to earn resources.

• Peggy explained that Great Wizard Sura, a powerful ruler of the Land of Six Towers, had been ill for five years and that the Philayde Family wanted Locke to treat him.
• Peggy offered Locke a Druid's Ring whether or not he succeeded, with further rewards if he eased, controlled, or cured Sura's illness.
• Locke consulted Wizard Anthony and Teacher Harlan Vela through the Gray Mist Slate, then agreed to represent the Philayde Family.
• Peggy said a First-Ring Wizard butler would deliver the Druid's Ring in about two months and offered to cover Locke's travel expenses.
• After the call, Locke decided the Land of Six Towers could help him earn money and resources while he pursued professional certifications.

Locke reflected on his rapid progress as a First-Ring Wizard and went to the Potion Auction to obtain a Dragon Fossil for his research. There he met Wizard Taren, who offered a Green Dragon Fossil to raise funds for easing the suffering of the Kulun People in Dragonbone World.

• Locke concluded that his bond with the Natural Force Plane and the Forest Sanctuary's Permanent Defense Field were accelerating his progress toward the Liquefaction Stage.
• A staff member from the Potion Auction invited Locke to collect the Dragon Fossil he had reserved.
• At the auction, the auctioneer introduced Locke to Wizard Taren, a First-Ring Wizard from Dragonbone World, who produced a large Green Dragon Fossil.
• Wizard Taren explained that dragon bones had cursed the Kulun People with deformities and that his people were gradually transforming their world with help from wizard civilization.
• Taren offered to sell the fossil to Locke for 50,000 Magic Stones so he could buy potions to purify an area polluted by dragon bones.

Locke bought a green dragon wing-bone fossil from Wizard Talen and recommended Bear Spirit Emerald Gallbladder Potion to help Dragonbone World’s people resist the effects of dragon-bone radiation. He later brought Albert to his Forbidden Forest research institute, where he revealed that he was developing his first first-ring magic plant.

• Locke paid Wizard Talen fifty thousand Magic Stones for the green dragon wing-bone fossil and gave him a free bottle of Bear Spirit Emerald Gallbladder Potion.
• Wizard Talen praised the potion and said he would buy more through Madam Irina, whose business card Locke gave him.
• Locke settled into seclusion, guiding his three students and devoting his remaining time to breeding a first-ring flying magic plant based on the Great Green Owl Plantain.
• Two months later, Locke brought Albert into the Forbidden Forest research institute and offered him several rare flying magic plants as payment for his help.
• Locke told Albert that he had spent a hundred and twenty thousand Magic Stones and eight months cultivating the plants, and Albert recognized the site as a magic plant mound using the Finite-Element Single-Component Analysis Method.

Locke showed Albert how the Finite-Element Single-Component Analysis Cultivation Method combined superior Plant Factors from many Apprentice-Level Magic Plants to design a First-Ring Magic Plant. With his cultivation work nearly complete, Locke asked Albert to help organize the data and prepare the final Plant Essence design.

• Albert examined Locke’s plantain forest as Locke explained how the Finite-Element method divided First-Ring Magic Plant cultivation into many smaller components.
• Locke used [Magic Sun] and [Magic Probe] to reveal the vitality and superior Plant Factors in the plantain subspecies.
• Albert wondered how Locke had completed years of breeding research in eight months, unaware that the Synthesis Cube had supplied the exceptional subspecies and identified their mutated Plant Factors.
• Locke explained that the four earlier Breeding Methods and the Finite-Element method together formed the complete process for creating a First-Ring Magic Plant.
• Locke asked Albert to help organize the Plant Factors for the final design, and Albert agreed to keep the work secret.
• Locke reflected that his first First-Ring Magic Plant would soon emerge from the five forest seas of sword graves.

With Albert’s help, Locke cultivated the First-Ring Flying Magic Plant Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow, tested its powerful flight and draconic abilities, and prepared to leave Lilith’s Cottage after Peggy reported that her family’s butler had arrived with the Druid’s Ring. He let Albert choose Magic Plants before relocating the research institute’s plants.

• Locke used a redesigned Plant Essence to cultivate a First-Ring Magic Plant from a Great Green Owl Plantain seed, draining the surrounding soil and withering nearby plants as it grew.
• Locke established a Mana Grafting relationship with the plant, nearly succumbed to its power, and named it the Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow.
• Locke rode the Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow with Plantain Wings and tested its exceptional speed, Dragon Might, and attacking false-root tail while Albert recorded the results.
• Locke thanked Albert for helping with the cultivation and offered him Magic Plants from the other Constant Temperature Plantations before moving the institute’s plants.
• Peggy told Locke that her family’s First-Ring Wizard butler had arrived at the port of Lilith’s Cottage with the Druid’s Ring.

Locke obtained the Druid's Ring from Wizard Kode, Peggy's butler, and prepared for a journey to the Land of Six Towers. After binding the ring in his laboratory, he discovered it contained a vast, life-filled space and considered its value for his botanical research and business.

• Locke ignored Peggy's message and met Wizard Kode at Lilith's Cottage's port to receive the Druid's Ring.
• Locke agreed to travel with Kode to the Land of Six Towers after making arrangements and finding out that the Philayde Family specialized in avian bloodline modification.
• Locke arranged lodging for Kode and returned to his laboratory in the Forbidden Forest.
• Locke imprinted the Druid's Ring with his spiritual mark and opened its enormous, life-filled inner space.
• Locke assessed the ring's value and reflected on the costs and benefits of developing his own First-Ring Magic Plant.

Locke moved his Forest Sanctuary and golems into the Druid's Ring, then discovered that war preparations had driven up prices and restricted access to Magic Plants. As he sought Cloud-Sea Mist Pines and Hive Mind Potion before leaving the region, Christine offered to trade him a batch of Hive Mind Potion in exchange for a favor.

• Locke entered the Druid's Ring's demiplane and ordered golems to move his Forest Sanctuary and four Banana Forest Seas inside.
• Locke calculated that maintaining the Druid's Ring would cost about five thousand Magic Stones per month and moved useful facilities and ten Dwarf-shaped golems into it.
• Manager Yuli told Locke that combat Magic Plants had become scarce and more expensive, while Ruby said Lilith's Cottage's Germplasm Bank was sealed against outside transactions.
• Locke decided to leave the region before being drawn into the war and asked fellow disciples to trade him three Cloud-Sea Mist Pines and as much Hive Mind Potion as possible.
• Christine offered Locke a batch of Hive Mind Potion, but said he would have to do her a favor in exchange.

Christine offered Locke Hive Mind Potion and Cloud-Sea Mist Pine at their original prices if he escorted a Hand of the Jungle expert to the Land of Six Towers. After learning the expert might face an attack from the Ptolemy Family, Locke asked what level of Wizards they had hired.

• Christine offered Locke five bottles of Hive Mind Potion and Cloud-Sea Mist Pine at their original prices in exchange for a favor.
• Christine and Wizard Anthony explained that the Hand of the Jungle was an influential organization devoted to restoring ecosystems, and that its members were causing Christine trouble.
• Anthony explained that Griffin reproduction had collapsed after pollution damaged the Griffin Woodland ecosystem and contaminated the Griffins’ food source in the Ormega River.
• Christine said the pollution came from the Ptolemy Family’s bloodline modulation factory and that the family might hire Black Wizards to stop the Hand of the Jungle’s expert.
• Christine asked Locke to protect the expert on the journey to the Hand of the Jungle’s base, offering him thirty thousand Magic Stones and discounted potions.
• Locke considered the offer and asked what level of Wizards the Ptolemy Family had hired.

Locke accepted a mission in the Land of Six Towers and prepared for the journey by strengthening his Forest Sanctuary and boarding the Sun-Chasing Silver Shuttle. He waited at the airship dock with Wizard Kode, expecting a contact to join them before departure.

• Locke accepted the mission after Anthony estimated the Ptolemy Family would not hire a Black Wizard stronger than the Vaporization Stage, and he agreed to meet the expert aboard the Wizard Airship.
• Locke paid Christine 115,000 Magic Stones and received three Cloud-Sea Mist Pines and five bottles of Hive Mind Potion.
• Locke transplanted the Cloud-Sea Mist Pines into his Forest Sanctuary, inscribed the defensive spell Steam Bark, and bought study materials for the voyage.
• Five days later, Locke and Wizard Kode reached the airship dock, where the Sun-Chasing Silver Shuttle landed and was announced to depart for the Land of Six Towers in an hour.
• Wizard Kode explained that the airship was a retired Void Battleship powered by a Sun Refinement Array, and Locke said they still had to wait for someone.

Locke met Salvador Dali, a Hand of the Jungle ecological restoration expert, and agreed to escort him despite Salvador’s hostility toward wizards from the Land of Six Towers. When Alicia Plutarch bought out their premium seats, Locke accepted a switch to first-class seats and learned she was the Plutarch Family’s gifted young witch.

• Salvador Dali enthusiastically praised Locke’s Emerald Iris Lichen and sought his company because Locke understood ecology.
• Salvador put on layers of masks and gloves to avoid contact with Wizard Kode, whom he regarded as an ecological destroyer.
• Locke, Salvador, and Wizard Kode reached the Sun-Chasing Silver Shuttle boarding area and learned that another wizard had bought their premium seats for three hundred thousand Magic Stones.
• Locke accepted first-class seats instead of waiting for the next shuttle, while Wizard Kode identified the seat buyer as Alicia Plutarch, the Plutarch Family’s little princess and a Child of the Element.

Locke explored the Sun-Chasing Silver Shuttle and its library while learning about the airship’s facilities and wizard organization. As the shuttle climbed toward 50 kilometers, Salvador explained that it was approaching the Second Sky, where it would collide with a World Membrane.

• Locke boarded the Sun-Chasing Silver Shuttle with old wizard Kode and Salvador, then received an explanation of its classes, living quarters, and privileges.
• Locke inspected his spacious first-class room, which included simple experimental equipment and several specialized work areas.
• Locke found the airship’s library, where Salvador described its free public materials and revealed that he secretly investigated airship ecosystems for the Environmental Protection Bureau.
• The Sun-Chasing Silver Shuttle climbed past the cloud layer and continued upward, prompting an announcement that it would reach the Second Sky at 50 kilometers.
• Salvador told Locke to find a seat and explained that crossing into the Second Sky would cause a collision with a World Membrane.

Locke learned that the clouds above the Wizarding World concealed the Second Sky, a dangerous remnant of another world, as the Sun-Chasing Silver Shuttle broke through the cloud wall. The airship came under attack from the remnant image of the Thunder God Palace, but its crew said the situation was under control.

• The Sun-Chasing Silver Shuttle struck the cloud wall with its Corona Blade formation, broke through on its second attempt, and entered the Second Sky.
• Locke felt Mana being suppressed and the world’s hostile force gathering against the airship.
• Wizard Salvador explained that the Second Sky consisted of fragments of a world devoured by the Wizarding World and offered a faster route between Wizard Lands than dangerous land routes.
• The airship encountered lightning-formed armor suits from the remnant image of the Thunder God Palace, and its crew announced that they remained in control.

As the Sun-Chasing Silver Shuttle dealt with Thunder God Palace remnants, Salvador openly condemned the prestigious families of the Land of Six Towers for exhausting its natural resources. Alicia, traveling with the Plutarch Family, defended the authority of family Wizards and their rules, while Locke distanced himself from Salvador and prepared to escort him after landing.

• The Sun-Chasing Silver Shuttle used adamantine golems and piloted golem armor to fight Thunder God Palace remnants that breached its corona defenses.
• Salvador denounced the prestigious families of the Land of Six Towers for depleting its resources, and his Hand of the Jungle status made the nearby Wizards hold back from confronting him.
• Locke moved away from Salvador, realizing why the old man needed a dedicated guard and deciding his escort mission would be difficult.
• Alicia asked her steward about the commotion, then argued that family Wizards had to manage commoner Wizards to preserve social order.
• Alicia praised the rules established by prestigious families and turned to Pike as the Pike Bird chirped and begged for food.

Locke discovered a potion formula that could strengthen his Mental Power while the Sun-Chasing Silver Shuttle continued to suffer disruptions from the Thunder God Palace Phantom. A group of Black Wizards targeting Wizard Salvador revealed themselves as the Magic Thief Circus during a sudden blackout aboard the battleship.

• Locke found the formula for Mammon's Powder Potion and considered brewing and synthesizing it with ingredients he already possessed.
• Wizard Salvador warned Locke that the potion was difficult to refine and could turn its users into golden statues.
• The battleship announced that it had found a webway that would let it escape the Thunder God Palace Phantom and reach the Land of Six Towers ahead of schedule.
• Five hooded First-Ring Wizards confronted Locke and Salvador in the library, and Salvador cursed at them.
• The five attackers threatened Locke and Salvador, then changed into circus costumes during a blackout and were identified as the Magic Thief Circus.

The Magic Thief Circus hijacked the Sun-Chasing Silver Shuttle by infiltrating its control room and using Forced Exile to remove the strongest wizards. As the circus began looting the ship and targeting Alicia and Salvador, Locke saw through an attacker's illusion and confronted the puppeteer.

• A Speed Painter from the Magic Thief Circus revealed her disguise in the Central Control Room and trapped the ship by disguising a magic painting as the network passage.
• The Speed Painter used Forced Exile to send the old wizard and the other powerful occupants of the control room into interdimensional space for an hour.
• The circus's members darkened the library and exiled Liquefaction Stage wizards across the ship, while Alicia refused her old butler's advice to flee.
• The clown troupe leader confronted Alicia after the old butler was exiled and ordered his members to capture her for ransom.
• A puppeteer tried to kill Salvador with an illusory attack, but Locke exposed the puppet and its handler, then declared that he was protecting Salvador.

Locke defeated the Halfling puppet master and learned that the circus planned to steal the Void Battleship’s core components and destroy its artificial sun. He left Salvador guarding the captive and raced to stop the captain before the ship exploded.

• Locke smashed the puppet master’s adamantine puppet and exposed the Halfling’s trick of hiding inside another puppet.
• Locke’s Mycelial Brand Spell struck the fleeing puppet master, allowing Locke to capture him after overwhelming his attacks with the Life Force Field.
• Under threat, the puppet master revealed that the captain intended to steal valuable components, destroy the artificial sun with a Sun-Eroding Exotic Seed, and escape aboard smaller vehicles.
• The puppet master disclosed that the captain had captured the Plutarch Family’s heir and was heading for the battleship’s energy core, which would explode in less than twenty minutes.
• Locke entrusted the captive to Salvador and went after the captain, promising to prevent the Void Battleship from being destroyed.