Recaps

Ian left Xiahui Territory to join the exploration and became entangled in conflicts involving dragons, the Empire, and the Blazing Flame Lands. After fighting Weges and gathering intelligence across Terra, he returned to Harrison Port with strange crystal flesh for Hilliard to examine.

• Ian left Xiahui Territory with Sheo for Nauman City after preparing its leaders for his absence and advancing the Steel Pioneer.
• Ian set up an experiment for Kemit and founded the Public Opinion Legion, while Hilliard fought Weges and Ian rescued Azure Tide from the Frost Moths.
• Ian warned the Dragon Kings about threats to Terra, questioned Light's Embrace about the Cradle, and learned that demons could arise from fallen civilizations and spread through war.
• Ian and his companions traveled through the South Sea and Canaanmore, where Anfa revealed an undeciphered wonder at Emberlamp House and Ian agreed to examine it.
• Ian attended the Psionic Development Conference, pursued new armor and ascension techniques, and helped Isengard confront his family's painful history.
• Ian discovered the fallen orbital colony at Atlan Megacity, helped Sheo rebuild her dragon nest, and fought Weges after swallowing a poisonous Soma Wine Tree seed.
• The Blazing Flame Lands agreed to supply rebel mountainfolk with armor and crystal-production equipment, while Ian and Brin found deadly Soma Tree kernels among slain hunters.
• Lubek killed a fleeing native chieftain, the storm subsided after Surging Tide and Drumwave retreated, and Ian returned to Harrison Port to ask Hilliard about crystal flesh.

Ian advanced his plans for a Practitioners' Civilization while confronting conspiracies, ancient threats, and battles across Terra. By the end, he had neared the Third Energy Level, invited Adalbert to see his research, and completed his accelerated training as fighting continued around Harrison Port.

• Ian explained his plan for a Practitioners' Civilization to Azure Tide and called the knowledge and hopes passed between companions the Spark.
• The Redwood Forest forces broke through Harrison Port's defenses with a Marsh Crocodile Dragon, and Viscount Grant later charged the Great Shaman in repaired Aether Armor.
• Ian investigated the Glow Algae, the connected mutated beasts, and other signs of impending disasters while pursuing research and political alliances.
• Ian was proclaimed Count Silverpeak, stole an Elemental Crystal Condenser from the Jiamu Tribe, and learned that the demon legion was approaching Southern Ridge.
• Ian explored the Xenobiology Research Institute with Anfa and the others, discovered the Rust-Steel Dragon God's corpse, and faced Campani's attack.
• Solin Grand Duke showed Ian and Adalbert a model of the Star-Prison and described his plan to preserve humanity, while Ian rejected using souls as components for an Undead Monarch.
• Ian developed his own Origin Matter and advanced his weapons and alchemical work, then explored the Fairy Vortex and learned that the Photonic Furnace drew energy across parallel spacetimes and time.
• Ian asked Adalbert to research artificial souls and invited him to see the work in the Void Realm, while Ian completed his month-long crash course as fighting continued near Harrison Port.

Ian faced attacks, investigated ancient powers, and pursued the resources and allies needed for his plans. The arc ended with him reaching the ruin’s core sector, sparing Andor, and obtaining a way to recover his messages with Patrick.

• Ian confronted the Redwood Native shaman, who offered him a place as the Bone Mountain Tribe’s partner and made Elan’s fate depend on his choice.
• Ian confirmed that Fal was a true stargazer and recruited him for his plans to build an observatory in Xiahui Territory.
• Ian survived the native hunters’ ambush with Brin, while Hilliard later saved his life by removing a glowing golden core and a Silver Chip.
• Ian organized Layan City’s wartime preparations and used the Silver Chip to pursue psychic artificial intelligence and advanced armor.
• Ian defeated Zheng Yinchuan, then sat on the Central Throne and dissolved into the aether after promising Isengard he would return.
• Ian fought Viscount Avak over the Undead Monarch Project and led Magnetic Storm Armor units against Snake Rock’s mountainfolk army.
• Weges discovered that Hilliard had taken Ian’s uncle’s identity, and Hilliard confronted him after he found the incomplete skeleton.
• Ian agreed to help Elder Manyan locate the Silver Radiance Book, then found adamantine, spared Andor, and took his communication crystal slate.

Ian uncovered more about ancient labyrinths, the Redwood Base, and the Light Calamity while navigating threats in Harrison Port and the caverns. The arc ended with Ian and Mikael preparing to discuss the Light Calamity as the Brain-Eating Insect Queen threatened the group below.

• Ian and his companions explored the Blood-Red Courtyard, drove out a Thousand-Stars Beast derivative disguised as Elge, and Ian later developed a technique for producing multiple Damage Resistance Potions from little material.
• Hua An guided Ian through fairy meditation, while Ian’s memories of his previous life resurfaced and he confronted his past as a child facing his abusive father.
• Ian investigated a worm-controlled humanoid in the underground ruins, learned more about the Redwood Base and its descendants, and concluded that labyrinths could be artificial psionic fields with souls.
• Ian received Inaga II’s power and joined Mikael in defeating Axel, ending the precursor of the Light Calamity, and Ian later concluded that the calamity had been deliberately induced and contacted Mikael.
• Ian helped Layan City resume production, studied the Ruststeel pendant that pointed to a young Rust-Steel Dragon in a giant labyrinth, and began training under Hilliard, who praised his altered Origin Seed.
• The Nineteenth Legion’s fleet encountered a powerful Magic Beast, while Harrison Port later endured an assault and began rebuilding with relief supplies and new defenses.
• Ian, Master Gose, and Isengard fled through the caverns into a snowy rift valley, where they heard a dragon roar and discovered parasitic beasts carrying stolen Crystal Dragon eggs toward the Brain-Eating Insect Queen.
• Ian fought Weges by exploiting his ability to sense vibrations, then recognized that the stolen eggs could provide an opening against the queen and ordered Magic Beasts to gather at protected nodes before Mikael arrived to meet him.