Chapter Summaries

At a Cloud Marsh Wetland seminar, Solas Barefoot’s leaders discussed Augustus Wizard Shoes’ rising sales and learned the Rose Council had sent an acting supervisor to oversee both major shoe alliances. At Witch Catherine’s celebration, Locke was welcomed into her private circle of disciples, where her five senior students recognized him as their junior brother.

• Solas Barefoot’s Holmu and its designers debated how to counter Augustus Wizard Shoes, while Michael admitted its new products surpassed their First-Ring shoes.
• A Sun-Ring Wizard director told Holmu that the board was sending the Tacitus Family’s eldest daughter, a granddaughter of the Rose Throne, to act as supervisor of both Solas Barefoot and Meraki Magicstep.
• The director explained that Augustus Wizard Shoes had already entered the hidden sales rankings and warned that more of its models could threaten the established brands.
• Locke attended Witch Catherine’s celebration banquet in a Golden Crown Mountain Wizard Town, where influential wizards from across the region had gathered.
• Witch Catherine brought Locke into the private gathering of her five true disciples, and one Third-Ring Wizard welcomed him as their little junior brother.

Locke met Teacher Catherine’s four senior disciples on Golden Crown Mountain and received gifts that revealed their magical expertise and standing. He left with a Clear-Singing Peach, a grafting knife, a rare Golden Peach Tree, and a new understanding of Cloud Rice.

• Georta introduced himself as Locke’s eldest senior brother, described his Clear-Singing Peach Great Magic, and offered him a peach from the Singing Peach Garden.
• Heidegger gave Locke Cloud Rice, which Locke learned to lift by connecting it to the Botanical Magic Root Realm; eating a grain replenished his bloodline power and strengthened his body.
• Georta gave Locke a Clear-Singing Peach that could protect against Mind School and Enchantment School magic, while Heidegger teased him for waiting to see how much rice Heidegger had gifted.
• Fiona introduced herself as Locke’s third senior sister and gave him the Second-Ring grafting knife Spirit-Vein Stitcher.
• Witch Zoe gave Locke a rare Second-Ring Golden Peach Tree, leaving Georta and Heidegger embarrassed by the value of the sisters’ gifts.

Locke met his junior brother Trajan, a plant hunter who explained his work conquering worlds and the Pirate Mothership’s history. Trajan offered help exploring Locke’s uncharted plane and gave him a powerful Wizard Sword, while the conversation revealed that Trajan’s eye wound came from chaotic energy tied to the True Chaos Sea.

• Trajan introduced himself to Locke as a plant hunter who searched other worlds for valuable crops and sometimes fought to acquire them.
• Trajan described his trips to the Dark Great World, where a dark god wounded his eye, and Georta identified the wound’s energy as chaotic force breaking down Trajan’s body and soul.
• Trajan explained that the Chaos Sea was a Pirate Mothership built from a Chaos Ark, whose crew raided ships and scattered some stolen resources as Sky Rain.
• Trajan told Locke that he viewed competitions as public lessons and plant hunters as conquerors, then offered connections for exploring Locke’s uncharted plane.
• Trajan gave Locke the Second-Ring Magic Artifact Star-Slasher, a Wizard Sword that amplified spells and could cast Starfall Slash three times a day.

Locke discussed the costs and funding challenges of developing Second-Ring Wizard Shoes, then found inspiration in the Styx for a possible way to share Imaginary Roots. As he resolved to investigate the idea, the Rose Witch arrived at Wizard Town with a pointed challenge for the Red Dragon Witch and Locke.

• Witch Fiona, Witch Zoila, Master Georta, and Wizard Trajan warned Locke about the cost of Imaginary Roots, the competition for Second-Ring funding, and the importance of gaining Key Laboratory access.
• Wizard Trajan explained that plane explorers were the main Wizard Shoe customers and described the Blue Ribbon shoes’ ability to adapt to different worlds.
• Locke reconsidered his assumptions about the Styx and imagined using it to let multiple Wizard Shoes share an Imaginary Root, then decided to seek the female pontiff of the Specter Holy Church for help.
• The Rose Witch’s Magic Pressure descended over Wizard Town, and she challenged the Red Dragon Witch by proposing that her granddaughter meet Locke.

Rose Witch arrived in Wizard Town and confronted Witch Catherine at Locke’s celebration, where the two traded veiled insults and clashed with their magic. Rose Witch’s disciple challenged Locke to shoot down a specially woven cloth, and Locke agreed only if they set a stake.

• Locke recognized Rose Witch’s plant-colored dress as an example of the Rose Council’s emerging woven artificial flowers and realized Rose Witch was studying him too.
• Rose Witch found her way into Wizard Town blocked by Witch Catherine’s Peach Grove Spell, and the two exchanged pointed remarks about their rivalry.
• Rose Witch used a powerful spell combining Textile Studies and Botany to push through the peach trees, but Witch Catherine dispelled the protective spell before the contest could escalate.
• Rose Witch joined Witch Catherine’s banquet, where Fischer criticized the Rose Council’s history of stealing tea-making technology and Rose Witch proposed a contest between Locke and Rose.
• Rose asked Locke to shoot down a cloth she had woven, and Locke accepted only after demanding that they agree on a stake.

At a banquet, the Rose Witch wagered Spirit Macro on Locke defeating her granddaughter Witch Rose in a Textile Studies challenge. As Locke prepared to attack Witch Rose’s Cloud-Whisker Cloth, he discovered it was a trap supported by the Botany Root Realm, leaving him to find a way around its advantage.

• The Rose Witch offered Spirit Macro as a prize in a wager, and the Demon-Hunting Bureau head explained its importance to Second-Ring potion making.
• Locke realized his success refining Blank Potion might depend on Wizard Otto’s Spirit Macro in the Bronze Cauldron.
• Witch Rose demonstrated her Water-Cannon Textile Machine and made Cloud-Whisker Thread from water, wind, light, and the Great King Jade Vine.
• Witch Rose challenged Locke to shoot down her Cloud-Whisker Cloth, presenting it as a material for her new Second-Ring wizard shoes.
• As Locke prepared his arrow, Super Intuition and Tiger Eye revealed that the cloth relied on the Botany Root Realm, placing his attack at a disadvantage.

Locke defeated Rose Witch's granddaughter by using the Moon of Evolution to make his Peach Arc Thorn Arrow overcome the Cloud-Whisker Cloth, winning the Crimson Vampiric Stone Spirit Macro. After Rose Witch departed, Locke learned that she had staged the duel to demonstrate Textile Studies' potential, and she told her granddaughter to treat Locke as a whetstone for her future growth.

• Locke rejected using his strongest chained spell and instead sent a Second-Ring-powered Peach Arc Thorn Arrow after the Cloud-Whisker Cloth by linking their spiritualities with the Moon of Evolution.
• The Peach Arc Thorn Arrow struck the Cloud-Whisker Cloth, and Rose Witch extinguished its flames before Witch Catherine praised both combatants.
• Rose Witch awarded Locke the Crimson Vampiric Stone Spirit Macro and departed with her students after warning Witch Catherine that their rivalry would continue.
• Locke's senior brothers and Witch Zoila cautioned him that Rose Witch's faction was a dangerous rival, but Locke said he could defeat her again.
• Locke asked Witch Catherine about the Crimson Vampiric Stone Spirit Macro, while Rose Witch explained to her granddaughter that the duel had showcased Textile Studies and that Locke would serve as her whetstone.

Locke studied Spirit Macro and sought resources to advance his Potion, Archaeology, and Wizard’s Shoe research while working with Ackerman at Golden Crown Mountain. As the airship carrying his Ancient Tree Fruit arrived in the Southeastern Corner Region, Locke continued coordinating magic-plant research and managing his two bodies.

• Locke learned that Spirit Macro was essential to making Second-Ring Potions, but Ackerman advised him to study free research literature before spending Contribution Points on rubbings.
• Locke learned that the rare Black-and-White Grimoire was the Second-Ring Archaeology inheritance and worried that he might not obtain a copy.
• Ackerman advised Locke to study Golden Crown Mountain’s extensive human-biomechanics research for his Wizard’s Shoe designs and explained why the Rose Council’s work alone would be insufficient.
• Locke assigned Mason Witch and her two companions to screen pineapple varieties, and Mason Witch sent him an image of an Iron Nail Pineapple for consideration.
• Locke sensed that the airship carrying his Ancient Tree Fruit had arrived in the Southeastern Corner Region and drank Bluefish Tea to ease the strain of controlling two bodies.

Locke returned to the Southeastern Corner Region, reflected on its weak magical environment and the Forbidden Forest’s influence, and set out for Lilith's Cottage before heading to Corfu Island. On the way, he spotted Patti and a Blood Curse Court convoy bearing an unfamiliar skeletal-palm flag, then secretly followed it.

• Locke arrived in the Southeastern Corner Region and noticed that its thin magical tides made the place uncomfortable for him.
• Locke hired a carriage toward Lilith's Cottage and observed how the Forbidden Forest absorbed and released the region’s magical tides.
• Locke abandoned the rough carriage and flew onward with the Demon Dragon Rose.
• Locke recognized Patti, an old companion from his academy days, near the White Wizard Land.
• Locke spotted a Blood Curse Court convoy with seven Vaporization Wizards and an unfamiliar skeletal-palm flag, then concealed himself and followed it.

After Zalan Bailey’s schemes devastated the Dune Plane, Locke learned that his Forest Alliance Spell had linked his Moon of Evolution to other Forest Sanctuaries. His clone followed a Black Wizard convoy into the Southeastern Corner Region, where he found Patti forced to serve as a blood servant and prepared to investigate the region’s upheaval.

• Zalan Bailey became a Debt Slave after his assets failed to cover the damages, while Sith arranged ecological restoration and told Locke that Group 2’s resources were his to use.
• Zalan Bailey admitted to Locke that the Rose Council had manipulated him, and Locke left to return to his office.
• The Silent Grail Committee awarded Locke an undeveloped medium-sized plane, and Wizard Tatar explained how its resources could help him advance.
• Locke discovered that his Moon of Evolution appeared above Forest Sanctuaries linked by his Forest Alliance Spell and considered consulting Witch Catherine about the unusual Great Magic.
• Locke’s clone followed a convoy carrying Black Wizard candidates toward a strategic meeting at Verdantia University, hoping to investigate the region and find the Specter Holy Church.
• Patti Isa served Graeme Stein, who threatened to taste her heart, and she pleaded that her potion-making knowledge made her a useful blood servant.

Locke destroyed Graeme Stein’s Sixfold Curse Barrier and killed him with Pinellia’s power, then revealed his identity to Patti after saving her. Patti reunited with her former classmate and asked about Lilith’s Cottage and the wider resistance.

• Graeme Stein threatened to turn Patti into a blood servant, while Patti despaired over her capture and remembered her life on Corfu Island.
• Graeme Stein’s carriage entered a misty forest and activated a Sixfold Curse Barrier, but Locke appeared inside and ignored its suppressing effects.
• Locke pulled the barrier from the carriage, crushed it, freed the souls trapped in the Specter Orb, and killed Graeme Stein with Pinellia’s flames.
• Locke asked Patti to drive the carriage and join the convoy, then told her that he was Locke Augustine.
• Patti recognized her former classmate and asked how he had survived the raid, how he had killed Graeme Stein, and whether Lilith’s Cottage had reinforcements.

Locke traveled with Patti to the ruins of Verdantia University and learned that the Pale Pilgrimage Hidden Spirit Land had driven the Black Wizard Alliance’s campaign across the Southeastern Corner Region. At a gathering of Black Wizards, he discovered they were preparing to attack Lilith’s Cottage, while his exchange with Celt revealed the Pale Pilgrimage’s wider backing and the Cloud Marsh Wetland’s political rivalries.

• Patti told Locke how the Black Wizard Raid had devastated Verdantia University and how the Blood Curse Court had captured and cursed her; Locke burned the curse away and offered her a recommendation to Lilith’s Cottage.
• Patti reported that two Second-Ring Wizards had helped defeat Verdantia’s department head, and Locke learned that the Pale Pilgrimage Hidden Spirit Land was supporting the Black Wizard Alliance.
• At Verdantia’s ruins, a Blood Curse Court Wizard destroyed a headless knight guarding the road, and the convoy entered the ruins without fighting it.
• Locke found Stefania, the Blood Lord, the Golden Skeleton King Wizard, and Hanmoke among the gathered Black Wizards, who announced plans to attack Lilith’s Cottage and force the White Wizard Association to negotiate over Dacai’s Imperial Court.
• Locke asked Celt about the Lanbai Pilgrimage’s sponsors and learned that Storm Tower and the Rose Council supported it; Celt explained that the Pilgrimage’s influence had grown after defeating Storm Tower and capturing ordinary people.

Locke learned about the fierce competition for Golden Crown Mountain’s special-grade grants and began planning to prepare an application. In the Southeastern Corner Region, Hassan asked Locke for help with a dangerous legacy, and Locke confronted Witch Stefania to obtain her Spell Model.

• Team leader Celt told Locke about the pressure of Second-Ring funding and the limited special-grade grant quota, making Locke decide to prepare for a future application.
• The Golden Skeleton King was elected to lead the black wizards’ workgroup, but Hassan attacked him during the meeting.
• Locke recognized Hassan and learned that a trap in the Progenitor Wizard’s legacy had left him in serious trouble.
• Hassan agreed to help Locke decipher a map and conduct planar exploration in exchange for Locke’s aid against the Blood Curse Court faction.
• Locke appeared behind Witch Stefania and asked her to share the Spell Model she had used to drag him into the Styx River.

Locke overwhelmed the Specter Holy Church and revealed that he had become a Second-Ring Wizard, while Hassan exposed his identity and unleashed a deadly Blood Curse on the fleeing Black Wizards. Locke let Stefania’s Ritual Magic pull his clone’s consciousness into the Styx River to study its effects, where he transformed into a full moon and left the gathered Black Wizards terrified by his true rank.

• Locke killed four of Stefania’s Vaporization witches with one strike and burned through the defenses of the surviving Crystallization witches.
• Hassan’s Eleven-Draw Blood Curse trapped the fleeing Black Wizards, and he revealed himself before killing a wizard from the White Bone Order.
• The Blood Lord recognized Locke and Hassan, while Stanley and Viltani feared the former enemies who had returned far stronger than before.
• Locke defeated Stefania’s Specter creatures, traced her Ritual Magic to the Specter Firefly, and let her restart the ritual on him to investigate its workings.
• Stefania sacrificed Specter Holy Church wizards to power the ritual, pulling Locke’s clone into the Styx River while his true body remained unaffected.
• Locke’s consciousness transformed into a full moon in the Styx River, and Stefania and the other Black Wizards realized he was a Second-Ring Wizard.

Locke used the Moon of Evolution to escape the Styx River’s suppression and discovered that its waters carried consciousness rather than souls. His attempt to investigate the Specter Holy Church’s foundation triggered a clash with the Crimson Court, and the chapter ended with the revelation that the supposed iron pillar was the highest branch of an Iron Tree beneath the river.

• Locke summoned the Crimson Court’s past battlefield to free his moon from the Styx River and confirmed that the river carried consciousness-water.
• Witch Stefania, Wizard Stanley, and Witch Viltani realized Locke was a Second-Ring Wizard and feared they could not escape or withstand him.
• Locke identified the gray-black pillar as the foundation of Specterology, but its ancient runes repelled his attempt to pull it free.
• The Brutality Angel crawled through the Crimson Court’s river and caused its tributary to surge into the Styx River, flooding parts of the Styx Plane.
• The Styx River’s shifting water exposed the supposed iron pillar as the highest branch of an Iron Tree beneath the river.

Locke discovered that the Iron Tree in the Styx River had an advanced Imaginary Root and a history of serving as the foundation for Specterology, but he could neither harvest nor damage it. As a giant began suppressing the river and threatened to erase his chance, Locke borrowed the Emerald Dream’s power and prepared to graft his Time-Shadow Fern onto the tree.

• Locke examined the Iron Tree’s Imaginary Roots, identified a realm resembling the Root Realm, and failed to collect it or affect the tree with his magic and tools.
• Locke used Archaeology and Historical Reenactment to learn that the tree’s runes had been inscribed about five hundred years earlier through a decree bearing the Pale Grand Lord’s seal.
• Locke decided to graft his Time-Shadow Fern onto the Iron Tree so he could use it as an interface to explore the Styx River’s Imaginary Root network.
• A giant addressed Addison and Kruger, then extended its palm to calm the river and suppress the exposed Iron Tree.
• Locke boosted his Great Magic with the Ferocious Beast Panel, borrowed the Emerald Dream’s available power, and prepared a giant Fern Spear to carve a grafting notch in the Iron Tree.

Locke escaped the Styx after grafting the Time-Shadow Fern onto the mysterious Underworld Iron Tree, then dismantled the Specter Holy Church and took Stefania captive. As two Second-Ring Wizards confronted him and Hassan, Locke realized Hassan had used the confrontation to draw them out.

• Locke found a tender branch tip on the Underworld Iron Tree, grafted the Time-Shadow Fern onto it, and escaped the Styx as the Underworld giant crushed the fallen angel and destroyed the Crimson Court.
• Locke confirmed that the Iron Tree had accepted the graft and decided to begin research on it instead of returning to Corfu Island.
• Locke offered Stefania surrender or death, while the Specter Holy Church’s wizards lost their magic and died as their Permanent Defense Fields collapsed.
• Locke burned the fallen wizards’ Echoes and killed a crippled Crystallized witch, then parasitized Stefania’s soul with a Tyrant Sea Golden Sand gametophyte to control her.
• Two Second-Ring Wizards arrived and demanded that Locke hand over Stefania, while Hassan revealed that he had baited them into appearing.

Locke and Hassan faced two Second-Ring Wizards of the Pale Pilgrimage, who revealed that Hassan's inheritance had made him a potential blood offering to the Progenitor Wizard. Locke intervened to defend Hassan, and the battle began as the enemies discovered Locke's strength exceeded their expectations.

• Locke recognized Wizard Berber Morgan and rejected his offer to abandon Hassan in exchange for sparing Lilith's Cottage.
• Wizard Isaac explained that the Blood Curse Court's Formal Wizards were blood supplies for powerful Vampires, then drained and killed about one-third of them to increase his Magic Pressure.
• Hassan revealed that the Pale Pilgrimage wanted to take him back as a blood refill pack for the Progenitor Wizard.
• Locke attacked Isaac with Pinellia, refusing to betray Hassan, and raised his Magic Pressure with the Ferocious Beast Panel.
• Locke recognized that Isaac's Vampire magic relied on conquering and transforming a world to seize its World Stone, while Berber grew wary of Locke's strength.

Locke’s Doppelgänger fought Wizard Berber while his main body learned a Pinellia spell that greatly strengthened his attacks. Berber unleashed his Great Magic and nearly overwhelmed Locke, but Locke countered with the Forest Sanctuary and used Berber’s death-energy passage to attempt to establish a branch base in Berber’s plane.

• Wizard Berber summoned a Frost Bone Dragon from his Great Magic Burial Ground, while Hassan fought Wizard Isaac and fell behind.
• On Golden Crown Mountain, Locke learned the Spell Model for Pinellia Grass Mars from Wizard Ackerman and adapted it to his own magic.
• Locke’s Doppelgänger used the new spell to burn the Frost Bone Dragon, then deduced that Wizard Berber’s Radiant One 40K shoes suggested the Rose Council was supporting the operation and had an interest in the Forbidden Forest.
• Wizard Berber attacked Locke with Corpse-Robe Finger and several modified Bone Dragons, while Wizard Isaac defeated Hassan and Locke’s main body came under attack from death energy.
• Locke’s main body redirected Berber’s death energy through the Forest Sanctuary, counterattacked with Life Energy, and sent seeds and moonlight through Berber’s passage to try to establish a branch base in his plane.

Locke began a World War with the Berber Wizard by sending his forests into the Louis Plane, where they spread across the frozen world and fought the undead. He discovered the Plane’s last Magic Plant, the Snow Plum, and used Moon Essence to help it grow, gaining the Louis Plane’s favor.

• Locke opened a World Passage from his Forest Sanctuary into the Louis Plane, causing a sapling to sprout through the ice and awaken hope among the Wood Elves.
• Locke and the Berber Wizard realized their Great Magics had entered a World War, with Locke believing his greater Magic Pressure gave him the advantage.
• Locke spread forests across a tenth of the Louis Plane, while Berber’s undead army attacked the trees and Locke’s Treants fought back.
• Locke summoned and empowered his Life Ancient Tree, which battled Berber’s four bone dragons in the sky.
• Locke found the Snow Plum, a Crystallization Stage Magic Plant nurtured by the Louis Plane’s remaining power, and injected Moon Essence into it.