Chapter Summaries

After the Genesis Problem ended, Locke weighed the danger of Archaeology and learned that Witch Asanos had conspired with Black Wizards to fabricate research and pursue forbidden god-making magic. As Witch Catherine’s forces confronted the Black Wizards, Asanos prepared to open the Gate of Doom and attack everyone at the competition.

• Locke returned to Bitter Wood’s Memory World with the Genesis Blue Lotus World’s coordinates and decided to approach the Archaeology Grandmaster’s teachings cautiously while continuing his other research.
• Edgar, Witch Macedon, Rameses, Hassan, and Patrick discussed the cost of pursuing truth, and Locke reflected on how Probus’s intolerance had led to disaster.
• Bitter Wood revealed that Witch Asanos had recruited Probus to steal Black Wizard research, disguise its origins, and help develop the Asanos God-Making Technique; Probus had refused but feared opposing her.
• Witch Catherine warned Locke that Asanos was about to destroy evidence, gave him the Five-Dragon Rose and Candle Dragon Sword, and joined forces with Golden Crown Mountain’s allies against sixteen Black Wizards.
• Witch Catherine’s forces confronted the Black Wizards around the arena as the broadcast exposed Asanos’s scheme, and Asanos ordered Jinx to open the Gate of Doom.

Witch Catherine battled the Black Wizard Alliance while Locke and his companions fought two Black Wizard intruders inside Bitter Wood’s Memory World. The Black Wizards opened the Gate of Doom, leaving the Nameless Emperor panicked as a powerful fleet turned toward Starfield Sea.

• Witch Catherine wounded the Maupassant Family grand elder, but he summoned the Ancient Tyrannosaurus King and joined other Black Wizards in attacking Golden Crown Mountain.
• Jackming and Husu infiltrated Bitter Wood’s Memory World and attacked Locke, Witch Macedon, Edgar, Patrick, and Rameses; the companions fought back and drove the intruders into a desperate battle.
• Locke, Witch Macedon, and Edgar overwhelmed Jackming and Husu with their magic, while Rose Witch began to lose control of the force within her.
• Raptor’s Claw sacrificed another Star-Ring Wizard at the Gate of Doom, and Rose Witch’s planted trap caused the gate to appear and open toward the Abyss.
• Jackming laughed that the Gate of Doom’s opening would doom everyone, while the Nameless Emperor ordered Jinx to force Golden Crown Mountain into helping close it and conceal her role.
• The Nameless Emperor learned that Mysterious Heaven’s Fourth Void Battleship Fleet had turned toward Starfield Sea and was aiming its Star-Destroying Cannons at the Eastern Sector.

As the Gate of Doom opened in Bitter Wood, Locke and the wizards faced invading Abyss creatures while Rain-Marsh’s White Wizards battled the Black Wizard Alliance outside. A Third-Ring Witch tried to make Locke surrender, but Karl arrived with Heaven River Coast’s wizards and revealed that the Starfield Sea had changed the competition’s rules to judge their performance in the crisis.

• Rain-Suppressing Throne led Demon-Hunting Squad One toward the laboratory, but the Abyss Queen restored Locke’s barrier and summoning arrays appeared around the wizards as Mysterious Heaven’s Star-Destroying Cannons targeted the area.
• Witch Jinx offered Rain-Marsh and Golden Crown Mountain compensation on her teacher’s behalf, and Blood Dragon Throne agreed to negotiate if the casualties stopped and Golden Crown Mountain accepted the deal.
• The Ancient Tyrannosaurus King overwhelmed Witch Catherine with his Pseudo Forgings, but she survived his attack with Four Sacred Beasts’ Protection as the Maupassant Family’s Grand Elder declared his plan to seize the Wizard Land.
• The Gate of Doom opened inside Bitter Wood, the Dreammaker’s body exploded, Witch Macedon was forcibly teleported back to her research institute, and Locke used the Tree of Prosperity to form a treant fortress against the Abyss Legion.
• A Third-Ring Witch offered Locke a chance to join her and threatened him with Catherine’s apparent defeat, but Locke refused and used Lightning Tribulation to destroy Abyss creatures pouring through the Gate of Doom.
• Karl arrived with Heaven River Coast’s wizards and told Locke that the Starfield Sea had changed the second-round rankings to depend on performance during the Gate of Doom crisis, leaving the Third-Ring Witch suspecting that someone had maneuvered her into the conflict.

Locke and the other contestants fought the Abyss Legion, and Locke broke the Gate of Doom to rescue Rose Witch. The gate’s destruction ended the invasion and exposed the Maupassant Family’s grand elder as an obstacle to his own family, leaving Witch Catherine to deal with the conspirators.

• Witch Jinx offered Witch Catherine a way to blame the crisis on the Black Wizards, but Catherine hesitated to abandon Locke as the fighting raged around Golden Crown Mountain.
• Inside Bitter Wood, Locke deduced that Witch Asanos’s God-Making Art depended on Bitter Wood and the Gate of Doom; he and the other contestants refused to join her, and her avatar vanished as the Abyss Legion attacked.
• Locke seized Sera and threatened him after recognizing the Spirit-Calling Art, then used his barrier to keep Moon-Ring beings from crossing the Gate of Doom.
• Karl killed Benjamin’s body with his Samadhi Demonfire, while Locke, Edgar, Chaos, and the other contestants fought the Demonfolk and competed for points.
• Locke and Edgar combined their Great Magic, drove the Demonfolk back, and shattered the Gate of Doom, pulling Rose Witch toward safety and forcing the Arina Demon King’s army back into the Abyss.
• After the gate broke, three Maupassant Family summoners stabbed the grand elder, and Witch Catherine accused him of undermining his family before the three wizards asked her to honor their earlier agreement.

The Despair Valley conflict ended with the Lightning Archdemon obtaining the Primal Problem and Hassan choosing to become a Black Wizard again, but the Eagle-Man World God King revealed that he had engineered the God-Making Art scheme and attacked Locke and Edgar. Probus broke free of the Abyss, completed his Supreme Evil Path Pseudo Forging, and sacrificed himself to oppose the God King, leaving the God King fleeing with Bitter Wood.

• The Maupassant Family’s grand elder used ancient tyrannosaur contracts to shield himself, but the Ancient Tyrannosaurus King dragged him into the past through a spacetime rift.
• The Lightning Archdemon took the Primal Problem Magic Artifact, while the Nameless Emperor’s avatar confronted Hassan and Locke before the God-Making Art formation drew the wizards’ attention.
• Locke drove Sera away and watched Hassan leave the White Wizards to return to the Black Wizards; the Probus Truth Revelation Competition then ended with Locke, Patrick, Edgar, and Rose remaining.
• The Eagle-Man World God King revealed that he had inspired Asanos to create the God-Making Art, seized control of Bitter Wood, and trapped Locke and Edgar under his divine pressure.
• Probus arrived, completed his Supreme Evil Path Pseudo Forging, swore to eradicate injustice in each world where he reincarnated, and shattered himself to oppose the God King.
• The God King fled with Bitter Wood when Witch Catherine arrived, while the Abyss Queen declared that Probus had become the first person to leave the Abyss since she became its queen.

Witch Catherine avenged Probus by forcing the Myriad Worlds gods to cede a Greater World to Golden Crown Mountain, while Locke’s tournament victory earned him invitations and recognition in Rain-Marsh. After Probus’s death brought sorrow across the Infinite Void, Locke and Hassan killed Holy Wizard Jinx during her escort, and Rain-Suppressing Throne blamed her death on a black wizard as Yelena confronted him over Locke.

• Witch Catherine shot the Eagle-Man World God King with arrows that devastated his inner world, then negotiated a Greater World from the Myriad Worlds gods in exchange for leaving the Bitter Wood intact.
• Witch Catherine told Locke that Probus’s reputation had been cleared, Golden Crown Mountain had won, and Trajan’s title application had been approved; Rain-Marsh’s wizard leaders praised Locke and invited him to visit their research institutes.
• The Ancient Bloodline Factor Research Institute invited Locke, and Rain-Marsh’s White Wizard Association cleared the slander against him and funded the annual Probus Truth Revelation Competition.
• Scarlet rain spread sorrow through the worlds after Probus’s true death, while the Myriad Worlds gods feared that his possible reincarnation could expose their manufactured Heavenly Will.
• As Witch Jinx mocked Probus while being escorted, Locke shattered her protective shield and Hassan killed her, destroying her head to prevent resurrection.
• Rain-Suppressing Throne declared Hassan a black wizard and attributed Jinx’s death to a black-wizard attack, while Yelena met his gaze as he began to address Locke.

After the competition, Locke learned that his ritual had created a Root Realm and that he had entered the Path of Truth, then planned to pursue research and the Heaven River Coast Competition. Witch Catherine prepared him for the coming Dao Strife with the Rose Throne, while Rose Witch and Edgar each chose new paths; Locke left Despair Valley for the Ancient Bloodline Factor Research Institute.

• Witch Catherine and the Rain-Suppressing Throne defended Locke’s actions against Jinx, and the wizards present backed their account as the White Wizard Association’s fleet withdrew and the competition ended.
• Locke saw his Root Realm join the Path of Truth, and Witch Catherine explained its significance before planning his Moon-Ring incarnation, research work, and return to Golden Crown Mountain.
• Witch Catherine told Locke that her approaching Dao Strife with Anna would decide who could become a Fourth-Ring Wizard, and Locke chose to stay and help by publishing research papers.
• The Rose Throne revealed that Goddess Rose remained within Rose Witch and recruited her as an assistant, while Lady Six-Eyed Crow gave Edgar a void route and Edgar vowed to become number one.
• Locke said goodbye to Grandet, Belinda, and Wizard Akes, then traveled by carriage to the Ancient Bloodline Factor Research Institute, where its director arranged a welcome reception.

Locke toured Rain-Marsh’s Ancient Bloodline Factor Research Institute, learned about its cutting-edge research, and used the Tulisuyatus Window to create Bloodline Encapsulation Essence. After the deputy director recognized Locke as an old friend, he asked to speak with him privately.

• Locke entered the institute with the Triceratops Hag, who showed him its Path of Truth laboratories and explained research into Bloodline Essence, carrier substances, and Summoning School magic.
• The Triceratops Hag brought Locke to the Bloodline Encapsulation Laboratory, where the director had authorized him to use the Tulisuyatus Window and study its materials.
• Locke realized the window’s principles relied on Potions’ Spirit Macro Studies and assembled a set of Bloodline Encapsulation Essence himself.
• Witch Macedon arrived with two Bloodline Essence Master witches to help Locke, but he told her he had already completed the work.
• The deputy director appeared, explained that Locke’s skill came from the Sea Queen Throne’s teachings, and asked Witch Macedon to leave so he could speak with Locke alone.
• Witch Macedon told the waiting Star-Ring Wizards that Locke had succeeded, then returned to work on integrating Breeding Science with the Warlock System.

Locke met the director, another ferocious beast-type Natural Guardian, who warned him about the Builder God Clan and shared the history of Sea Queen Throne’s Yellow Springs Wine recipe. After leaving the institute, Locke took the cursed boy Nika as his student and reunited with Trajan.

• The director explained that the Builder God Clan had petrified his body and warned Locke to hide his Natural Guardian identity and beware of spies.
• The director gave Locke a set of Power Gems, discussed the ruined Yellow Springs Wine recipe and Sea Queen Throne’s past, and offered to modify Locke’s Abyssal Demon Dragon Bloodline for five hundred million magic stones; Locke refused.
• The director transported Locke to Snake Marsh Market, where Locke learned he was in Snake Marsh District and heard that a wizard airship station lay north in Triceratops District.
• Locke recognized that Nika’s unusual hunger and frailty came from a curse, then accepted him as a student despite the boy’s condition.
• Locke told Wizard Chuck that he was a Moon-Ring Wizard and took Nika toward Trajan, who asked why the child seemed cursed.

Locke encountered Witch Zoe again aboard the wizard airship and learned that the Rose School Lineage was preparing to attack his business and Trajan’s interests. As the two prepared for the coming conflict, Sera traveled toward Locke with plans to approach him, while Locke considered developing new wizard shoes.

• Locke boarded the Golden-Scaled Fish Pavilion with Trajan and Nika, then spent days organizing research and papers in the VIP library.
• Locke recognized Witch Zoe, helped her evade three Second-Ring Wizards from Wind-Sickle Dragon Garden, and learned that Solas Barefoot planned to absorb Meraki’s alliance and target Augustus.
• Locke realized Zoe’s strange fortune endangered those who pursued her, declined to become closely involved with her, and redirected the three Second-Ring Wizards away from her trail.
• Trajan told Locke that Rose School Lineage wizards had intercepted his magic plant and occupied its source, while Locke found evidence that the Rose Council was expanding its campaign against their interests.
• Sera traveled toward Cloud Marsh Wetland, studying Locke and preparing to approach him for a Spirit-Calling Art ritual.
• Locke found the Skyward Chili Pepper in Catherine’s project materials and considered making Star-Ring and Moon-Ring Wizard’s Shoes to protect his Augustus Shop Alliance.

Locke returned to Golden Crown Mountain, reported how he cleared Wizard Probus’s name, and received a reward of one hundred million Magic Stones. He discussed expanding into new markets with Wizard Trajan, while Sera began plotting to draw Locke into a ritual before their next competition.

• Golden Crown Mountain welcomed Locke with a ceremony, and he reported that the Builder God Clan, the Black Wizard Alliance, and a Third-Ring Holy Wizard had caused Wizard Probus’s accident.
• Locke demonstrated that he could still use Pseudo Forging: Supreme Evil Path, and the Academy awarded him one hundred million Magic Stones.
• Locke told Wizard Trajan he planned to develop Skyward Chili Pepper, mycelial garments, and Royal Potato magic shields, markets that overlapped with Wizard Solas’s businesses.
• Wizard Trajan offered to draw Wizard Solas’s attention toward their competing textile-material projects while Locke explored profitable opportunities.
• Sera followed Locke to Wizard Town and planned to mimic his movements, draw him into a ritual, and defeat him before the second round of their competition.

Witch Catherine revealed prophecies of her defeat and let her students choose whether to leave or stay for the coming Battle of Academic Lineages; about half departed, while Locke stayed. After the farewell auction, Locke began developing a mushroom-based Wizard Robe and ended up competing with a Resource Organization Committee wizard over unusual mushrooms at Dragonblood Market.

• Witch Catherine showed the Red Dragon School Lineage a prophecy of her death and gave her Wizards one chance to leave before the war, while the Rose Witch showed her own prophecy and vowed to win.
• Wizard Zeno, Wizard Celt, Locke, and Witch Fiona chose to stay, while Wizard Georta, Witch Zoila, Wizard Heidegger, and many others chose to leave; Witch Catherine then began the Academic Lineage’s final auction.
• Solas proposed bringing Resource Organization Committee advisers into his Shop Alliances, and the Rose Throne agreed to let them start with his businesses.
• Locke skipped the auction, planned a mushroom-based Wizard Robe, and went to Dragonblood Market after confirming that his hundred million Magic Stones had arrived.
• Locke examined mushrooms at the Magical Plant Recycling Yard and reached for unusual gray mushrooms just as a Sun-Ring Wizard from the Resource Organization Committee picked one up and asked whether they could divide their research interests.

Locke acquired a mutated Lanmaoa Mushroom and gathered mushroom and pepper magic plants for his research, while Aura pursued a deal with Solas Barefoot. At Solas Barefoot, Argos began directing the merger with Meraki, and Locke was introduced to the team he would lead at Golden Crown Mountain.

• Locke and Aura disputed who would get the unusual mushroom, but Aura eventually gave it to Locke after an urgent call about Solas Barefoot.
• Locke identified the mushroom as a likely mutated Lanmaoa Mushroom, bought more than two hundred mushroom and pepper magic plants, and considered the cost advantages of researching neglected plants.
• Aura met his subordinate and headed to the Witch's Kitchen to negotiate with Solas Barefoot on behalf of the Resource Integration Committee.
• Argos asserted authority over Solas Barefoot, announced seven flagship wizard shoes and a five-hundred-million-Magic-Stone budget, and assigned acquisition work after the Rose Witch refused his request.
• Wizard Trajan took Locke to the Saffron Peach Orchard and introduced the team of Academic Lineage wizards that Locke would lead and teach.

Thomas Lysen met the Rose Throne and recruited five wizards to Locke’s research group, where Locke set ambitious goals for two projects. After collecting a complete set of Power Gems, Locke returned to the Sea King World and transformed into the Heavenly Origin Lord to confront Gang Dingdi’s control of its Plane Principle.

• Thomas Lysen showed Jack Hawthorne that his unconventional rose arrangement could create a powerful flower-language bouquet, then discussed Floral Language Studies and his competition to define Breeding Science with the Rose Throne, Anna.
• Locke welcomed Celt, Gordon, Lix, West, and Wood into his research group and assigned them work on the Pure Magic Plant Wizard Robe and Skyward Chili Pepper projects.
• Locke required the five wizards to study his research materials and submit project proposals, while candidly criticizing how internal problems had weakened groups pressured by the Rose School Lineage.
• Locke found the Dark Lord Power Gem and assembled ten Power Gems, then considered how they could help advance the Three-Cave World.
• Locke returned to the Sea King World, where Gang Dingdi had trapped him with six powerful plane incarnations and was consuming the world’s Plane Principle.
• Locke used the Heavenly Origin Lord Transformation Potion, triggering a violent change in the Sea King World’s Plane Principle.

Locke seized the Sea King World's Ancestral God Talisman and used the world's Nine Heavens and Ten Earths to defeat Gang Dingdi and destroy his unstable Omnipotent Godhead. Afterward, Sea Queen Throne learned that Locke had solved the Dragon Challenge, filling the Twelve Zodiac Signs' Dragon position and prompting a new trading assembly.

• Catherine explained to Trajan why she assigned Gordon, Celt, the Mario Brothers, and Wood to Locke's research group, then tasked Trajan with finding places to grow twenty-one magical plants.
• Locke overwhelmed the six incarnations of the Sea King World and gained its recognition as its Ancestral God of Heaven and Earth, while Gang Dingdi's talisman shattered and he summoned the Omnipotent Godhead.
• Gang Dingdi used the Omnipotent Godhead to draw on Formless Void Energy and attack Locke, but Locke split himself and used the Ancestral God Talisman's power to protect the Sea King World and counter Gang Dingdi.
• Locke used the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths to drive Gang Dingdi out of the world, break the Omnipotent Godhead, and destroy him with Clear-Turbid Heaven.
• Locke found a card inside Gang Dingdi that turned into an iron ring, while Sea Queen Throne learned that Locke had solved the Dragon Challenge and called for a new Twelve Zodiac Trading Assembly.

Locke repaired Sea King World by purifying Gang Dingdi’s remaining divine power, then agreed to join the Twelve Zodiac Society and help Sea Queen Throne investigate its mysterious Ox. Sea Queen Throne secretly altered the society’s identity potion so Locke could enter without being easily tracked, leaving him to wake after drinking himself unconscious.

• Locke stabilized Sea King World, purified Gang Dingdi’s power with magic plants, and refused Mountain-River Wanderer’s demand to reclaim the Ancestral God position.
• Locke invited Mountain-River Wanderer to join his research group and help his student Nika, then began studying the link between the Ancestral God and the world.
• Sea Queen Throne told Locke that he had solved the Dragon Zodiac Challenge and asked him to trade for Yellow Springs Wine at a Zodiac gathering to draw out the Ox and Tiger.
• Locke accepted ten million Magic Stones from Sea Queen Throne and drank her potent God's Laughter wine, then passed out before the Zodiac Society’s Potion Lizard could verify him normally.
• Sea Queen Throne used Locke’s Name Spirit Macro to redirect the Zodiac Potion, letting him enter the society under his name while protecting his identity if he changed or concealed it.
• Locke woke after Sea Queen Throne had departed and decided that God's Laughter could be useful to serve other wizards.

Locke developed Starlit Golden Dragon Claw Wizard Shoes that could invoke Vaccaria Segetalis’s Star-Ring Occult Significance, while also strengthening Nika through Mountain-River Wanderer and a Reversed Curse. After learning that Solas Barefoot had moved up its press conference, Locke decided to hold a competing event.

• Locke used Dream Flower and Vaccaria Segetalis in a 2×3 Composite Grafting Method, creating Starlit Golden Dragon Claw shoes with greatly enhanced traits and a purification effect drawn from Vaccaria Segetalis’s Occult Significance.
• Locke took Mountain-River Wanderer from the Sea King World and merged him with Nika to stabilize Nika’s Reversed Curse, then gave Nika poison that increased his power and advanced him to Third-Class Wizard Apprentice.
• Locke reflected on how to teach Nika and provide the emotional security he lacked as he continued considering how to earn the Magic Stones needed to attend the Zodiac Society.
• Locke overheard Moon-Ring Wizard Hugo Russell and Star-Ring Wizard Wesley Payne discussing their financial troubles and Hugo’s struggling Fivefold Approach Grafting research.
• Locke learned that Solas Barefoot had moved up its press conference and resolved to hold his own event, asking Arthas for help with the plan.

Argos used Solas Barefoot’s launch to merge wizard-shoe alliances, break the Wizard Shoemakers Guild’s power, and unveil cheaper shoes with the Resource Integration Committee’s help. The launch was eclipsed when wizards learned that Locke Augustine’s Augustus Shop Alliance had released shoes using Excellent Level Occult Significance, leaving Argos furious.

• Locke contacted Queen Ayla and watched Solas Barefoot’s product launch through his Lingzhi Magic Plant.
• Argos announced Solas Barefoot’s merger with Meraki Magicstep, its acquisition of fifty-one alliances, and plans to lower costs and standardize wizard shoes.
• Argos had Wizard Milangen arrested by the Holy Wizard Court after guild members accused him of misconduct, preventing Boniface University’s Samuel from challenging Argos publicly.
• Solas Barefoot unveiled Radiance No. 2 for one hundred thousand Magic Stones, then presented specialized Second-Ring shoes while Aura promoted the Resource Integration Committee.
• Wizards turned their attention to Augustus’s live broadcast after hearing that Locke’s shoes could use Excellent Level Occult Significance, and Argos angrily complained that Locke was meddling in the Alchemy School’s business.

Argos recognized Augustus as a serious threat after Locke’s Starlit Golden Dragon Claw disrupted Solas Barefoot’s launch and drew a flood of orders. Locke learned that the shoes had sold 190 pairs because they countered venom from an invading clan, then faced the challenge of producing enough pairs on time.

• Argos examined Augustus’s products and concluded that the Shop Alliance could challenge Solas Barefoot’s control of the Wizard’s Shoe market.
• Locke’s disruption of Solas Barefoot’s launch encouraged midsize alliances to delay selling, while Argos decided to acquire Augustus and then identified its lack of production facilities as a weakness.
• Queen Ayla told Locke that all 190 pairs of Starlit Golden Dragon Claw shoes had sold for two million Magic Stones each because wizards needed protection from the Venomous Snake Clan’s poison.
• Locke learned that Arthas’s wartime production capacity had fallen and that the complex grafting process threatened his ability to fill the orders on time.
• Queen Ayla offered to seek a Moon-Ring Conjuration Wizard who could help produce the shoes, while Locke began considering backup production plans.

Locke was brought to Witch Catherine’s secret Past Land after she explained that his Universal Truth Level Pseudo Forging made her original plans for his advancement unsuitable. As the Past Land recognized him, Catherine’s hidden cooperation with the Dragon Race remained concealed, while Sera learned that Locke planned to catch snakes and quit his job to follow that lead.

• Locke asked Wizard Celt to gather the research group’s reports and spread word that he was seeking venomous snakes for potion research, then went to meet Witch Catherine.
• Witch Catherine returned from near-Earth void with Wizard Trajan after the Rose School Lineage and Black Wizard pirates disrupted their expedition, and she killed the attacking Venomous Snake Clan members.
• Golden Dragon Fafnir tested Locke in Catherine’s office, and Locke pierced a disguised Dragonspawn that had infiltrated Golden Crown Mountain before Fafnir took him through a Plane Gate.
• Witch Catherine brought Locke into her Past Land and explained how his Universal Truth Level Pseudo Forging complicated his future advancement; Locke agreed to seek guidance there, and the Past Land recognized him.
• Sera learned that Locke planned to catch snakes, quit his job at Dragonblood Market, and decided to follow the same activity to prepare for his Spirit Descent Ritual.
• Fafnir asked whether Catherine would kill Locke if he revealed their plan, and Catherine warned Fafnir against testing her while he confirmed that the Dragon Race’s cooperation remained concealed.