Chapter Summaries

The Dragon Lich learned that Locke Augustine had killed the Withered Vine Ancestor, but Elder Riyuebei ordered him to focus on the Heaven River Coast’s powerful contestants and the Regional Supreme Fund instead. At March Palace, Locke’s reputation as an overwhelmingly strong rival spread among the contestants, and the wizards began revising the competition rules, leaving the format of the second round undecided.

• Elder Riyuebei took charge of the Dragon Lich’s project, ordered him not to target Locke, and told him to gather rare magical resources.
• Witch Catherine revealed to Locke that she was the Red Dragon Grand Duke and offered to help him delay the competition, while Rose Witch prepared to oppose Red Dragon’s student.
• Baibars and Natalia Rurik believed Locke was a super-genius with near-limit Magic Pressure, and Karl Maniakis challenged him to settle the competition that year.
• At March Palace, Master Jikongyue proposed restarting the first round, while Wizard Karl and other contestants opposed awarding Didius Julianus the Regional Supreme Fund without a fair contest.
• The March Council rejected President Fula’s attempt to grant Didius Julianus the fund and asked the contestants to suggest a better format for the second round.

The March Council extended the competition from one year to three and approved a demon-hunting trial to rank contestants for the next round. After leaving March Palace, Locke hurried toward an escape route, but he found the nearly dead Hassan in the primeval forest and faced a pursuing Dragon Lich.

• Karl demonstrated his black Fire Magic and argued that the competition should conclude that year, while Natalia and other contestants called for an extension.
• After Locke supported changing the format, Master Jikongyue extended the competition to three years, set out its rounds, and established a demon-hunting trial to rank contestants.
• Witch Catherine warned Locke to leave the Heaven River Coast immediately, and he flew away on the Great Bright Flame Dragon Sparrow.
• Locke reached a primeval forest and found Hassan barely alive, with strange characters moving across his skin.
• A Dragon Lich sent undead troops toward the forest and ordered the Dragon Luo Death Net to wound Locke and keep him on the Heaven River Coast.

Locke rescued Hassan from the Night Hunter Clan’s Enchantment magic, learned that Hassan intended to seize the Night Hunt Ritual to forge his own path, and exchanged a Secret Realm Portal for Vaccaria Segetalis. As the Night Hunters clashed with the Dragon Lich, the Dark Great Evil King arrived as Golden Crown Mountain’s ally and offered to take Locke out of the forest.

• Locke used potions to free Hassan from the Night Hunter Clan’s [Untouchable Person] enchantment, while the clan leader tracked the marked prey and an undead decided to hunt Locke.
• Hassan told Locke that the Progenitor Wizard had manipulated his life and that he planned to use the Night Hunt Ritual and its runes to pursue advancement beyond the Progenitor Wizard’s control.
• Hassan gave Locke the Blood of the Starry Sky and Miracle Stone in exchange for potions, then traded Vaccaria Segetalis for Locke’s Secret Realm Portal.
• Locke explained that he had drawn his pursuers into Hassan’s hunting ground, while the Night Hunter Clan’s leader confronted the Dragon Lich and attacked him with the Night Sacred Sword.
• The Dark Great Evil King entered the cave, revealed that he had allied with Golden Crown Mountain, and told Locke that the Red Dragon Witch had sent him to escort Locke out of the forest.

Locke escaped the Heaven River Coast aboard a wizard airship as rival factions fought over the tournament and the region’s ecological crisis. After the Wish Stone raised his magic pressure, a mysterious delivery from the Starfield Sea reached him, prompting Witch Catherine to wonder about his connections there.

• The Dark Great Evil King escorted Locke to the airship docking site, while Hassan left the cave to face his own fate.
• Locke boarded the airship as Rose Tacitus fought a Dark Elf Witch, who destroyed Rose’s clone but failed to stop Locke from leaving.
• On the airship, Locke met Albin Sia and learned that the Cold Sky River’s ecological collapse could trigger a catastrophic temperature drop; his Wish Stone then raised his magic pressure and caused a meteor shower over the forest.
• Hassan confronted the young chief of the Night Hunter Tribe, and their deadly battle continued for two days and two nights as the Dragon Lich withdrew to build his forces.
• A courier from Samsara Logistics delivered Locke a confidential package from the Starfield Sea, and Witch Catherine revealed that the service handled important deliveries for elite clients.

Locke learned that Catherine would take him to investigate Golden Crown Mountain’s S-rank Despair Valley Laboratory accident, while warning him to recall his Star-Ring doppelgängers. At an airship festival, Locke befriended Albin Sia, exchanged botanical discoveries with her, and found a new lead in his Water-Guiding Spiritual Breath research.

• Catherine appointed Locke as her assistant and investigator for the S-rank Despair Valley Laboratory accident, where they would seek the truth behind the laboratory’s collapse and Aurelian Probus’s death.
• Catherine told Locke that Star-Ring doppelgängers placed heavy strain on him and ordered him to recall them before entering Despair Valley, prompting him to consider his many commitments.
• Locke examined a mysterious chart signed by Witch Sophia, and Catherine suggested that its scattered dots encoded a mathematical formula.
• Locke went to the airship’s Magic Plant Release Festival, where Albin Sia explained the Magic Plant Transition Technique and gave him the Extraordinary Branch Divine Beast’s Wrath.
• Locke gave Albin Sia Water-Guiding Spiritual Breath and his Great Radiant Dragon Sparrow; Albin recognized a possible connection to her mentor’s Azure Bamboo research and offered to share his records if Locke agreed not to harm plants for experiments.

Locke and Albin Sia reconstructed the Sunlight Throne’s experiment and extracted Black Tortoise Spiritual Breath, then parted after agreeing Locke would help protect the Cold Sky River’s magic plants. As Locke traveled with Witch Catherine toward the Despair Valley Laboratory, a Third-Ring Wizard named Tumlas learned Golden Crown Mountain had reopened its investigation into his past actions there.

• Locke rejected Gufuding’s suggestion to lower the standard of the Tidal Grand Wizard Tower course and asked Terence to donate wetland magic plant specimens.
• Albin Sia brought Locke the Sunlight Throne’s records on Azure Bamboo, and they worked together to identify and graft Azure Square Bamboo, Azure Frost Bamboo, and Azure Sky Light Bamboo.
• Locke and Albin Sia extracted the Spiritual Breath, named it Black Tortoise Spiritual Breath, and produced Black Tortoise Square Bamboo; Albin gave Locke the discovery and requested his future help protecting the Cold Sky River’s ecosystem.
• After Albin left the airship, Locke told Witch Catherine that the Tri-Unity Hybridization Cultivation Method made him reconsider his approach to the Tree of Prosperity, and she invited him to the Despair Valley Laboratory.
• A researcher told Tumlas that Golden Crown Mountain had reopened its investigation into the Despair Valley Laboratory, and Tumlas decided to go there after learning Witch Catherine was involved.

Albin Sia discussed the Cold Sky River crisis with her mentor while Locke used the Sky Garden to develop a powerful new Black Tortoise Square Bamboo through his Strong-Light Cultivation Method. The Dark Great Evil King turned Locke’s test of the bamboo into a dangerous challenge, leaving the gathered wizards divided over whether the Sky Garden’s testing system had malfunctioned.

• Albin Sia told the Sunlight Throne that she and Locke Augustine had already prepared Black Tortoise Spiritual Breath, then prioritized addressing the Cold Sky River’s ecological collapse over searching for the twelve flowers.
• Locke returned to his Sky Garden, assigned Planknia to care for the Iron Tree and remove Iron Moth eggs, and prepared to improve Black Tortoise Square Bamboo using intense high-frequency sunlight.
• Locke activated Garden Spiritual Breath and used his Strong-Light Cultivation Method to graft the bamboo; it charred and split open, revealing a storm-wreathed plant that called down lightning.
• Witch Catherine, Black Dragon Throne, Killer Fist Wizard, and the Fischers watched Locke examine the new bamboo, which Fischer Wizard judged powerful enough to help win the Heaven River Coast conflict.
• Locke began a Dark Game to test the bamboo, but the Dark Great Evil King replaced the expected opponent with a succession of exceptionally powerful dark lords, prompting the wizards to argue over whether the testing system had a design flaw.

Locke used the Black Tortoise Square Bamboo and its spiritual breath to defeat five Dark Monarchs in the Dark Garden, demonstrating the Sky Garden’s power. After recovering from the strain, he received a Black Dragon Peach Pit and accepted Witch Roy’s invitation to a Dragonblood Society auction featuring World Wonders that could aid the Spiritual Breath Cultivation Method.

• Locke’s Black Tortoise Square Bamboo summoned storms and lightning in the Dark World, and he used it to withstand the Dark Monarchs’ attacks.
• Locke combined the bamboo’s Black Tortoise spiritual breath with the Hundred-Dragon Peach Pit’s dragon spiritual breath, then defeated all five Dark Monarchs with a lightning strike.
• The Dark Garden ranked Locke’s bamboo first among offensive Star-Ring Magic Plants, and the gathered wizards discussed its strength and potential.
• The Killer Fist Throne allowed Moromota Wizard to remain with Locke, while the Elder Council and Academic Committee continued to disagree over the Ancient Planet and their competing projects.
• The Black Dragon Throne gave Locke a Black Dragon Peach Pit to help him recover, despite Locke not having signed a Golden Crown Mountain teaching contract.
• Witch Roy invited Locke to a Dragonblood Society gathering and themed auction, and he accepted after learning it would feature World Wonders useful for the Spiritual Breath Cultivation Method.

Locke tested whether Spiritual Breath could help a Hadron Plant adapt to its environment, then investigated what the Iron Tree needed to bloom and supplied Gregor with a Sacrifice Potion for his advancement attempt. At a gathering of the Five-Colored Dragon Thrones’ younger generation, Locke met several powerful wizards and received a warning about Wizard Belial.

• Locke used the Agricultural-Pastoral Altar to expose a Hadron Plant’s environment, but the Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow died under the pressure and the Great Radiant Dragon Sparrow burned to ash despite his use of the Moon Cultivation Method.
• Locke concluded that his Spiritual Breath Studies needed to advance before he could continue developing Hadron Plants, and he considered his stalled research into special Spiritual Breaths and the Sea Golden Sand.
• Locke confirmed with Moromota Wizard and Planknia Witch that Spiritual Breath could make the Iron Tree bloom, warned them to protect it from bugs and root rot, and left for an auction.
• Locke gave Gregor a Sacrifice Potion and another Potion to reduce its side effects; Gregor left determined to attempt becoming a Formal Wizard, and Locke noticed his Spiritual Breath had risen.
• Locke attended the Dragonblood Society gathering, where Witch Roy introduced him to Wizard Gugo, Wizard Adorian, and Wizard Belial, and Wizard Adorian warned him not to trust Belial too easily.

Locke attended the Dragonblood Society banquet and learned about the rivalries among the Five-Colored Dragon Thrones' heirs while giving his candid view of an ancestral whipping ritual. As the Dragonblood Auction began, he spotted the Green Dragon Vine among the items being offered.

• Locke entered the banquet with Witch Roy, Gugo, Adorian, and Belial, and learned about their positions and rivalries.
• Belial asked Locke what he thought of the Dragon-Whipping Punishment, and Locke said its modern form had lost the purpose of honoring the ancestors' struggle.
• The auction host introduced the Dragonblood Auction, and Witch Roy bought a Dragon-Devouring Wonder Seed for fifteen million Magic Stones.
• A Thorn Dragon failed to attract bids, and an auction employee offered Locke a loan after seeing his Red Dragon Bank record.
• Locke watched the third item, a set of Wizard Swords, go on display and then saw the fourth item: the Green Dragon Vine.

At the Dragonblood Auction, Locke used a newcomer benefit to win a rare Green Dragon Vine, then left the bidding when he ran out of money. At the banquet, he learned that Gustin Probus feared him because Locke was investigating the S-Class Experimental Accident that had implicated Gustin’s elder brother.

• Locke signed a loan agreement and bid twenty million Magic Stones for the Green Dragon Vine, winning it through the society’s first-auction privilege.
• Witch Roy explained that Locke could not use his newcomer privilege to win another consecutive item, so he watched the auction and later left when he could no longer afford to bid.
• Gustin Probus approached Locke to promote his used experimental equipment trading group, but hurried away after learning Locke’s identity.
• Witch Roy told Locke that Gustin was the younger brother of the Wizard suspected of causing the S-Class Experimental Accident and of passing illegally obtained resources to him.
• Locke questioned Gustin’s guilt, and Witch Roy said he might know the truth about the accident and was feared because Locke was investigating Despair Valley.

Locke met Wizard Gustin Probus to learn about his brother and the Despair Valley Laboratory accident, gaining a hidden letter that revealed Wizard Probus had pursued the same theory about using a goal to complete Pseudo Forging. Locke realized his own theory was mistaken, leaving him still searching for the true key to advancing from Void Forging to Pseudo Forging.

• Locke stopped Wizard Gustin Probus from leaving and persuaded him that he wanted to investigate the Despair Valley Laboratory accident without prejudging his brother.
• Gustin described Wizard Probus as a gifted, generous wizard whose Cloud Rice research was troubled, then recalled that he had claimed to discover a way to achieve Pseudo Forging by giving Great Magic a goal.
• Gustin revealed that more than a hundred Formal Wizards underwent Abyssal Transformation during the laboratory accident and gave Locke his brother’s private letter.
• Locke returned to his quarters and found that focusing his Spiritual Breath on a goal intensified the Golden Paper Rose’s growth, leading him to suspect he had discovered the principle behind Pseudo Forging.
• Locke read Wizard Probus’s letter and learned that his brother had reached the same conclusion decades earlier, so he recognized that a goal was still part of Void Forging rather than the key to Pseudo Forging.

Locke helped the Sea Queen Throne revive Dreamvine Ancient Vine, then prepared to leave her Accelerated Advancement Class to pursue an important mission. After Wizard Anthony urged him to return and combine Potions with Breeding Science, Locke saw his research earn a prominent place in the Cloud Marsh Journal, while events in the Abyss and the Heaven River Coast revealed the growing reach of his work.

• Locke brewed a potion that woke Dreamvine Ancient Vine, though the Star Ring Wizard’s Magic Pressure fell, and the Sea Queen Throne praised Locke’s potion work and Void Forging.
• Locke told the Sea Queen Throne he needed to leave Cloud Marsh Wetland; she gave him the Mountain-River Wanderer’s Jade Slip so he could enter the Wanderer’s inner world while away from class.
• Wizard Anthony challenged Locke to return to the Accelerated Advancement Class, prompting Locke to reconsider how Potions and Breeding Science could strengthen each other.
• Locke found his Black Tortoise Square Bamboo research featured near the front of the Cloud Marsh Journal, prompting reactions from Lana, Georgina, Diana, Zeno, Brandy, Droma, Papalier, and Smith.
• Demon God Papalier learned that Quinn Joel’s forces had reached his Abyssal plane and prepared for battle, while Smith was shaken by Locke’s rise.
• Dean Elliott told Locke that the Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow and Strongman Soybean had helped the Tidal Grand Wizard Tower win four of seven battles against the White Ice Tower, then sent him combat records and Star-Ring Resources.

Locke negotiated a large Quinn Joel order for the Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow by defeating a Balor Flame Demon and securing a contract with Tristan Walden. After calculating the deal’s profits, Locke received a message from his teacher about buying a Happy Farm and choosing between a contracted half of a Supreme Meditation Method and clues to one outside Golden Crown Mountain.

• Queen Ayla told Locke that Madam Candice had approved his combat video and that Tristan Walden would handle Quinn Joel’s purchase negotiations.
• Tristan Walden offered an eighty-thousand-magic-stone price, demanded a custom counter to Papalier’s forces, and revealed Quinn Joel’s objective was to rescue a second-ring witch from Raging Element City.
• Locke refused Walden’s low price and accepted a challenge to kill a Balor Flame Demon within ten minutes in exchange for a two-hundred-set order at four hundred thousand magic stones per set.
• Locke used Green Dragon’s Grasp and the Green Dragon Vine to kill the Balor Flame Demon in under half a minute, then signed the contract with Walden.
• Walden congratulated Locke on securing Quinn Joel’s order and said he would lend him thirty demons for targeted breeding, while Locke calculated that the deal could earn more than thirty million magic stones.
• Locke received a message from his teacher telling him to buy a Happy Farm and consider either a contracted half of a Supreme Meditation Method or information about traces of one outside the academy.

Locke opened a Happy Farm and chose his green dragon vine for its magic field before Witch Catherine took him to Kalikala Town, where necromancy began. As Locke explored the town and pondered the limits of his Great Magic, Catherine sought a lead on a Supreme Meditation Method from a reclusive wizard whose unfinished Nether God Potion had consumed sixty years.

• Locke borrowed forty million Magic Stones through the Red Dragon Bank and opened a Happy Farm, where Witch Catherine explained its benefits and planting rules.
• Locke chose his green dragon vine for the farm’s magic field because its spiritual breath and [infinite growth] could aid his Great Magic and Moon Cultivation Method.
• Witch Catherine brought Locke to Kalikala Town, explained its ties to Wizard Kalikala and necromancy, and asked Mayor Jack to show him around while she sought a lead.
• Mayor Jack described Kalikala’s history, and Locke reflected on necromancy, the School of Truth and Goodness, and why he could not advance his Great Magic to Pseudo Forging.
• Witch Catherine confronted the Black Doctor, who refused to get involved in her search for a Supreme Meditation Method lead and asked for help completing his Nether God Potion instead.

Mayor Jack showed Locke Wizard Kalikala’s grave and explained how he bred powerful Green-Glazed Epiphyllums, then gave Locke two Botany Spell Models. A form claiming to be the Lich God tried to recruit Locke and bargain over the Death God Elective Society, while Locke later received a mysterious delivery from the Starfield Sea and was asked to help a skeptical Moon-Ring Wizard with a potion.

• Jack led Locke to Kalikala’s hidden grave, explained the grave markers’ power and the Green-Glazed Epiphyllum’s Occult Significance, and gave him the Dragon-Vine Tail Curse and Wolf-Fang Wall Curse Spell Models.
• Locke used the Dragon-Vine Tail Curse with his Green Dragon Vine, impressing Jack with its Infinite Growth and overwhelming power.
• A black-robed form claiming to be connected to the Lich God tried to recruit Locke, urged him to defeat Sera, and offered information about Probus and the Death God Elective Society in exchange for cutting down a Seal Tree; Locke refused.
• The black-robed entity also approached Sera at Tidal Crocodile Bay and promised to make him king if he eliminated his opponents.
• Catherine brought Locke to meet a skeptical Moon-Ring Wizard seeking help with a potion, but a Samsara Logistics delivery from the Starfield Sea arrived for Locke and changed the wizard’s attitude.
• The Moon-Ring Wizard apologized to Locke and asked him to help complete the potion work.

Sera accepted the Lich God's offer to win the Wizard Land contest, while Locke helped Wizard Kish identify the missing ingredient in his Nether God Potion and received part of a Supreme Meditation Method. After learning more about Second-Ring forging and his role in investigating a sixty-year-old laboratory accident, Locke chose to stay and make the potion so he could rescue the wizard trapped in the Nether God State.

• Sera agreed to the Lich God's plan to defeat Witch Georgina and win the first two contest rounds, and the Lich God told him to capture members of her team and submit a competing reservoir project.
• Locke reviewed Wizard Kish's failed Nether God Potion research, learned that a test subject was trapped invisibly in the Nether God State, and deduced that vaccaria segetalis was the missing ingredient.
• Wizard Kish gave Locke a portion of a Supreme Meditation Method, and Witch Catherine exposed that Kish had withheld additional pages before taking them to inspect the inheritance.
• Wizard Kish left to search for vaccaria segetalis, still convinced Locke was a reincarnated High-Ring Wizard, while Locke explained that breeding science had helped him solve the potion problem.
• Witch Catherine explained the Null, Void, Pseudo, and True forging stages and urged Locke to investigate the mishandled laboratory accident as the Academic Committee's representative.
• Locke decided to stay behind and test the Nether God Potion, answering the trapped wizard's plea for help through the Sunlight Magic Mirror monocle.

Locke killed a Fang of Terror wizard who tried to block his purchase of Lapis Lazuli Spirit Macros, then refined the Nether God Potion and restored Dante from her invisible state, though she shrank to a tiny size. After Dante revealed secrets about Kish and the Throne of Good and Evil, Witch Catherine ordered Locke to lead an investigation team into Rain-Marsh and disclosed that Thomas Lysen had been her and Anna’s teacher.

• Locke stopped the Star-Ring Black Wizard at Kalikala Town, defeated him with the Green Dragon Vine, and killed him after he refused multiple offers to trade for the Lapis Lazuli Spirit Macros.
• Locke recovered a Lapis Lazuli Spirit Macro marker, refined the Nether God Potion, and used it to restore Dante from the Nether God State, though she shrank to the size of a thumb.
• Dante told Locke that she knew the time and location of the Death God Elective Society’s next meeting and that the Throne of Good and Evil had placed a stone inside Kish.
• Witch Catherine explained the Throne of Good and Evil’s history, then ordered Locke to lead an investigative team into Rain-Marsh while she handled Sky Garden construction.
• Witch Catherine gave Locke material about the Tri-Unity Hybridization Cultivation Method and revealed that Thomas Lysen had been her and Anna’s teacher.

Locke led Witch Catherine’s investigators toward Rain-Marsh to investigate the Despair Valley Laboratory, refused the Throne of Good and Evil’s invitation to become his student, and accepted a wager to uncover the truth behind the S-Class Experimental Accident. Aboard the airship, he prepared for the investigation and considered using his Power Gem to strengthen his plants against the looming conflict at the Tidal Grand Wizard Tower.

• Truth Wizard Thomas Lysen warned Witch Catherine and the Rose Witch not to let their feud undermine their academic lineage, and he gave Locke a plot of Happy Farm farmland.
• Witch Catherine assigned Locke to lead an investigation team to Rain-Marsh, where they would enter the Despair Valley Laboratory despite the Fang of Terror’s presence.
• The Throne of Good and Evil asked Locke to abandon the investigation and study under him, but Locke refused and accepted a wager over whether he could uncover the truth behind the S-Class Experimental Accident.
• During the week-long airship journey, Locke bred Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrows for Quinn Joel and learned that the White Ice Tower might intervene against the Tidal Grand Wizard Tower.
• After Academy Head Elliott offered him ten years of Tidal Spiritual Breath for help, Locke considered using his Power Gem to strengthen his Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow and Golden Dragon Claw · Air Pineapple.

Locke abandoned dangerous Power Gem experiments and used Wizard Probus’s records to breed the Big Windmill Dragon Sparrow and Sword-Tiger Orchid Dragon Sparrow. After Grant Richard went berserk under the influence of a Wizard Sword and began demanding a duel with Locke, the chapter left Locke facing the disturbance aboard the airship.

• Locke’s Fire Element Authority Gem experiment destabilized, so he stopped the ritual and decided not to risk further Power Gem experiments aboard the airship.
• Locke studied Wizard Probus’s records, found grafting ideas involving Big Windmill Plantain and Sword-Tiger Orchid, and warned his investigation team to avoid conflict with the Maupassant Family.
• Mormodis introduced Locke to her multifunctional Sky-Drifting Red Maple Tree and collected her reserved Fireglow Ancient Beast Bone despite the Maupassant Family’s attempt to claim it.
• Locke bred the Big Windmill Dragon Sparrow and Sword-Tiger Orchid Dragon Sparrow, producing a faster flying plant and a powerful weapon-type Magic Plant.
• A member of Locke’s investigation team reported that Grant Richard had gone berserk and was heading for Locke, while the Maupassant Family claimed the experiment had gone out of control.
• Grant Richard attacked workers in the public library and demanded a duel with Locke, as the little princess of the Maupassant Family tried to stop him.