Chapter Summaries

Ian learned that fairies called those who shaped and guided them “Father” or “senior” because fairy inheritance passed on identity, appearance, and ideas rather than bloodlines. After Hua An joined Ian and Frost Butterfly on their journey, the three set out north toward the Imperial Capital.

• Hua An explained that “senior” could refer to a fairy’s shaper, and Ian accepted Frost Butterfly’s use of “Father.”
• Hua An packed her belongings and chose to accompany Ian and Frost Butterfly, saying she would guide Frost Butterfly until she became a qualified fairy.
• Hua An taught Frost Butterfly a few tricks and praised her beauty as proof that her understanding of beauty had been passed on.
• Ian reflected that fairies inherited names, appearances, choices, and ideas—their “memes”—rather than genes.
• Ian returned to Yellow Wisteria Town, collected his luggage and camel beast, and followed Hua An north toward the Imperial Capital.

Ian completed the Sand Armor Apprentice inheritance and became a First Energy Level sublimator, gaining the ability to control sand and stone and a body strengthened beyond ordinary human limits. Hilliard congratulated him, gave him a telescope, and warned that his training would now become much harder.

• Ian's Reef-Eating Sea Otter, Marsh Crocodile Dragon, and Sand Armor Apprentice inheritances fused to transform his body and let him manipulate sand, stone, and mist.
• Hilliard congratulated Ian on becoming a First Energy Level sublimator and praised how well he had controlled the transformation.
• Ian realized his new sublimator status had broken the physical limits that had restricted his growth and training.
• Hilliard gave Ian a telescope he had made because he knew Ian liked looking at the stars.
• Ian thanked Hilliard and accepted his warning that sublimator training would be difficult from then on.

Hilliard explained that Transcendents used wisdom and alchemy to absorb the power of Alien beasts and advance beyond ordinary humans. Ian examined Hilliard’s transformed body and recognized the extraordinary abilities hidden beneath its human appearance.

• Hilliard asked Ian what he knew about Transcendents, Aliens, and Magic Beasts, and Ian described the alien beasts he had encountered.
• Hilliard explained the myths of the Wisdom Fruit and Life Fruit and defined Transcendence as uniting wisdom and life to gain extraordinary power.
• Hilliard said Transcendents refined Alien beast materials into potions and supplements, then revealed that a plague-toxin had destroyed his Transcendent organs.
• Ian touched Hilliard’s arm and discovered layers of flexible, crystalline armor and an unusual substance beneath the skin.
• Ian studied Hilliard’s eyes and concluded that his body’s seemingly ordinary parts possessed abilities beyond those of ordinary humans.

Ian, disguised as Mahdi in the Dark Gold Dragon, negotiated with Yafda after helping defeat Campani and learned more about the Dark Moon Turmoil. As Canaanmore’s leaders pursued their plans and Golan tried to recruit him as her husband, Mahdi reunited with Anfa, who was stunned to see him become a dragon before her.

• Yafda sealed Campani’s split soul in a silver crystal and explained how the rebels had used a similar split soul to strike Inaga II during the Dark Moon Turmoil.
• Yafda described the fears and political divisions that led others to turn against Inaga II, while Mahdi considered how Canaanmore’s rise could benefit his own plans and told Yafda to prepare the split soul for use against Campani’s main body.
• Golan, now a soul housed in a chip, asked Mahdi to marry her and join Canaanmore, but Mahdi declined the invitation without closing the door to future cooperation.
• Shialeta arrived and learned that Anfa had blocked Yafda’s attempt to teleport her to safety, while Yafda and Shialeta reflected on the young generation’s future.
• Anfa waited at Dragon Bone Plaza after speaking with her mother, then exclaimed in surprise when the Dark Gold Dragon carrying Mahdi’s aura descended: “How did you turn into a dragon before me?!”

Ian and Isengard explored the ruins toward the Sacrificial Grounds, discovering preserved passages lined with mithril rune arrays. They found a huge machine in a sealed hall, where Patrick was standing.

• Ian studied the map, decided to investigate the Sacrificial Grounds, and convinced Isengard to accompany him while the others stayed in camp.
• Ian and Isengard passed through the ruined corridors and examined rune arrays that appeared to prevent metal from corroding; Isengard recognized their patterned coating as mithril.
• Ian warned Isengard not to remove the mithril, since the arrays might be preserving the ruins, and they continued toward a massive metal partition gate.
• Ian noticed the gate had recently been opened by a creature, activated the Silence Ring, and cautiously passed through the gap with Isengard.
• Ian and Isengard entered a vast hall and found a towering spherical machine; they saw Patrick standing before it.

Ian eliminated the remaining Blazing Flame Lands forces and dealt with the Machina Church survivors before preparing to leave the Southern Sea Ruins. He left Sha Sha behind on Crystal Island as the prospective Maze Lord's proxy and set out with the others for the natives' holy land.

• Ian killed the last Blazing Flame Lands survivors and took the Machina Church priests' heads after confirming their memories could be erased and restored.
• Ian rejoined Isengard, Master Gose, and the others, then announced they would visit the natives' holy land and leave through the ruins' main entrance.
• Sha Sha chose to remain in the labyrinth, where Master Gose explained that its concentrated psychic field would benefit the Ironclad Shark.
• Ian decided Sha Sha could serve as the Maze Lord's proxy and stored sensitive items, including the Deep Abyss Iron Sword and the Marsh Crocodile Dragon's corpse, on Crystal Island.
• Ian left the Aether Crystal Dragon's corpse and one egg with Sha Sha, while Isengard and the others took the remaining two eggs for the Empire to hatch.
• Ian and the group headed toward the natives' holy land.

Ian analyzed the Gleamlight Crystal Clams and found evidence that the Deepsea Crystal Dragon had fed on them recently. He concluded that someone had brought the clams here and raised them, just as distant roars signaled that the natives and Magic Beasts were approaching.

• Isengard coordinated the survey team as four specialists dove to locate and collect Gleamlight Crystal Clams.
• The captain returned with more than a dozen clams, completing the survey team's mission.
• Ian used his instruments and appraisal abilities to examine the clams and discovered they belonged to varieties from different regions.
• Ian detected traces of the Deepsea Crystal Dragon on the clams and told Master Gose and Ethan that the dragon had fed there recently.
• Ian concluded that someone had collected and raised the clams, while distant sea-beast roars announced the approach of the natives and Magic Beasts.

After awakening from a precognitive dream, Ian reflected on a future in which his hive conquered much of Terra but still seemed unable to reach the stars. He considered what the dream revealed about Elan, the coming war, and Karin's Flower, and ended by suspecting that alien life had already revived across Terra in forms that could adapt to the world.

• Ian recalled how his future hive-self used Redwood Base's resources to expand, survived defeat in the South Sea, and reappeared underground fifteen years later, while the dream offered no glimpse of its ultimate fate.
• Ian examined Elan's future as a Hive Crystal Dragon and considered how training, nutrition, and Crystal Dragon materials might guide Elan's development and the Silverpeak Envoy's true form.
• Ian used the dream's history to anticipate the Blazing Flame Lands and the Empire switching fronts, along with Grand Duke Solin's rebellion and the Flashflame Fortress Cluster's defection.
• Ian concluded that Karin's Flower might be an extraterrestrial colonization organism meant to consume Terra and revive alien life within its ecosystem.
• Ian remembered the Giant Gold Fungus beneath Redwood Base and inferred that other alien organisms might already have revived on Terra by adapting themselves to the world.

Moze recounted how three emperors pursued the impossible goal of unifying Terra, then reported to Axel on the Empire’s propaganda and preparations for war. Axel rushed to Half-Moon Lake to save Carlos and Aina as Campani fell and the world’s Fifth Energy Level powers gathered; amid the resulting chaos, Ian split himself into two bodies and launched one toward the High Heavens while Isengard protected the other.

• Moze recalled how the Scorching Sun Emperor, Inaga II, and Axel each tried to unite Terra under a single purpose, and reported that the Empire had stirred regional hostility toward its enemies.
• Axel left the Imperial Capital after Carlos’s distress call and saved Carlos, Aina, and the expedition team from the subspace disturbance at the Xenobiology Research Institute.
• Yafda and Xialaita sent the poisoned Soul-Splitting Crystal to its target as Campani fell from the Apex Seat, and Everlasting Wind Aviliwen Greenleaf appeared at Half-Moon Lake.
• The gathered Fifth Energy Level beings’ wills triggered a natural disaster, while their confrontation opened a vast fissure in the sky and threw the survivors into turmoil.
• Ian split into a physical body and a Fairy-like soul-body, then asked Isengard to protect one identity while he escaped as the other.
• Ian launched the Dark Gold Dragon toward the High Heavens, beginning his escape beneath the watching Fifth Energy Level powers.

Animu Deep Mire led the Mountain Tide Spirit into Harrison Port, using the Crocodile Dragon’s power to seek the Redwood People’s stolen Sea Key. As the beast advanced toward the Viscount’s manor, Harrison Port’s defensive towers opened fire but only wounded it and revealed their positions.

• Animu Deep Mire suppressed the Mountain Tide Spirit’s fury and ordered it to enter the city with a small group of Redwood People.
• Animu recalled the Redwood People’s history and their mission to recover the sacred legacy and holy relics in the Stormlands.
• Animu sensed the Sea Key inside the Viscount’s manor and explained that the storm had caused it to resonate with the sacred land.
• Animu ordered the Mountain Tide Spirit to crush through Harrison Port, and its advance devastated the streets.
• Harrison Port’s defensive towers fired Alchemical Cannons at the Crocodile Dragon, but its mud armor absorbed most of the damage and exposed the towers’ positions.

After consolidating his influence among Southern Ridge’s nobles, Ian returned to Xiahui Territory and discovered that Loren’s faith had awakened a rare Retainer-type psionic power linked to him. Ian recognized that shaping Loren’s power could guide future research into divine arts and the Undead Monarch, then began to wonder whether his collected psionic abilities made him the Cycle of Finality.

• Ian used divinations to gauge the loyalties of Southern Ridge’s nobles and prepared to integrate the province under his authority.
• Ian returned to Xiahui Territory and found that Loren’s faith had awakened psionics that strengthened Ian’s Soul Light Body and Guiding Star.
• Ian realized he could shape Loren’s faith power into abilities and return it to him, identifying their bond as a possible model for divine arts and the Arcane Path.
• Adalbert compared Loren’s bond with Ian to the Undead Monarch’s relationship with soul spirits, and Ian proposed improving the system so the deceased could be freed and reborn.
• Ian’s powerful fairy psionic field overwhelmed Loren, prompting Ian to recognize that he had gathered four major types of psionics and to question whether he embodied the Cycle of Finality.

Ian used the Silver Chip to integrate Wave-Singer’s Origin Matter Structure without pain, confirming that the chip could safely imprint Magic Potion structures. He tested his new ability to control water, then stopped experimenting and went to cook with Elan.

• Ian realized the Silver Chip was designed to carry Origin Matter Structures and wondered whether it had once served as an auxiliary evolution system.
• The Silver Chip absorbed Wave-Singer’s Origin Matter Structure, forming hidden networks in Ian’s throat and beneath his jaw.
• Ian activated the Wave-Singer abilities and made the water in a kettle vibrate so violently that the kettle shattered and the water turned to steam.
• Ian calmed the water and concluded that Wave-Singer water control required focused, sustained influence, explaining the inheritance’s reliance on singing.
• Ian reassured Elan that the noise came from a fallen kettle, then went to the kitchen and teased him while preparing food.

Ian told the Dragon Kings about the demon legions and learned why they and the Four Orthodox Churches rarely intervened in human conflicts. He asked whether they would support him ruling Terra, and the Dragon Kings agreed on conditions; meanwhile, the demon legion encountered an unexpected obstacle in the Southern Ridge.

• Ian described the demons’ technology and slaughter to the Gale Dragon King and the Trueflame Dragon King, who said dragons could not intervene in humanity’s self-inflicted conflicts.
• The Dragon Kings explained that the Four Orthodox Churches followed their own ideals and did not need humanity, prompting Ian to ask why they did not rule the world.
• Ian asked whether the Dragon Kings and Four Orthodox Churches would support him if he unified Terra and imposed his ideals; the Gale Dragon King said they would if he succeeded, and the True Dragons would become his subjects if he became a Dragon King.
• The Gale Dragon King agreed to investigate a possible Abyssal Dragon in the Void Realm if Ian provided proof, and the Trueflame Dragon King volunteered to join him.
• Near the Golden Plains, the Blazing Flame Lands’ demon legion found that Void Realm corruption spread unusually slowly in the Southern Ridge because a silver sun dispelled curses and resentments.

Ian discussed the White Folk's succession tensions with Hilliard and described how Elder Pude settled them by giving Ian control of the Wave-Singer Legacy. Asked about his ambitions, Ian imagined using greater authority to advance research and improve life, then admitted that he ultimately wanted to reach the stars; afterward, he and Hilliard resumed training.

• Ian told Hilliard that Captain Red and Minning resented his position as Elder Pude's presumed heir for different reasons.
• Ian explained that Elder Pude showed the White Folk elders his Wave-Singer Legacy and let Ian decide who could cultivate it, prompting Captain Red to back down.
• Ian told Hilliard that becoming the White Folk elder could help protect himself and Elan and improve Harrison Port's ships, trade, and security.
• Hilliard asked Ian to imagine becoming an imperial general, provincial governor, or Emperor, and Ian considered the research and engineering projects he could pursue with greater authority.
• Ian said he wanted to use his own hands to touch the light of the stars, then he and Hilliard continued training until nightfall.

Patrick reflected on his rivalry with Aels and the help he had given him after the Grant family’s decline, then considered recruiting Ian for the Ellen family. Ian agreed to demonstrate his appraisal technique on Isengard’s bracelet and used the Silver Chip to record its powerful inscription arrays.

• Patrick remembered how he had supported Aels after Old Harrison’s death, while others ignored the Grant family’s pleas for aid.
• Patrick decided to try recruiting Ian and sent his nephew Isengard to speak with him.
• Isengard introduced himself, praised Ian’s appraisal, and asked him to demonstrate the technique.
• Ian agreed and chose Isengard’s gemstone bracelet as the item to appraise.
• Ian used the Silver Chip to record the bracelet’s peak Second Energy Level inscription arrays.

Ian discovered that Isengard’s Blue Flame bracelet concealed a second inscription that dangerously amplified its fire-aspected psionic field. As the Ellen Family left to investigate, Ian saw blood-red killing intent surrounding Patrick Ellen.

• Ian used the Silver Chip to identify a hidden inscription in Isengard’s bracelet that could disrupt cultivation and cause a failed breakthrough.
• Master Gose examined the bracelet, confirmed the second structure, and praised Ian’s observation abilities.
• Master Gose postponed cooperation talks with Viscount Grant and gave Ian a metal card before the Ellen Family departed.
• Ian saw blood-red killing intent around Patrick Ellen through Precognitive Vision as the group left.

Ian realized that Patrick had secretly tampered with Isengard’s Blue Flame Bracelet, though he suspected someone else was behind the scheme. Viscount Grant explained the imperial expedition to investigate Shimmering Element Crystal Clams and recruited Ian as its appraiser, urging him to uncover the operation’s real mission.

• Ian concluded that Patrick had arranged the second-layer inscription on the Blue Flame Bracelet and had reacted with hostility when Ian noticed it.
• Viscount Grant showed Ian and Elder Pude a map of the Nightglow Sea and explained that the Ellen Family and the Imperial Royal Alchemy Association were investigating Shimmering Element Crystal Clams on the Emperor’s orders.
• Ian recognized that Sainan’s fluorescent algae sample came from the clams’ habitat and that the expedition was connected to the labyrinth’s mutation.
• Viscount Grant said the mission could help the White Folk regain their standing and offered to consider granting Ian a Second Energy Level Sea Demon inheritance in the future.
• Viscount Grant arranged for Ian to join the exploration team as an appraiser and advised him to make a good impression so the team might reveal the operation’s real mission.

Ian took Elder Pude, Elan, and Azure Tide to the South Sea Grand Labyrinth to investigate the Crystal Dragon Egg and the crystallization affecting Elan and Sha Sha. When Ian answered the egg’s call and entered its perspective, he opened his eyes as a dragon.

• Ian told Elder Pude that the Nethertrace Order had sent people to Redwood Forest because they were interested in his prophetic abilities, and the group set out to find Sha Sha.
• Ian examined Elan and noticed traces of primal spiritual matter and a connection to crystal creatures in the boy’s soul.
• Ian met Sha Sha and learned that Oak Master had guided the shark’s diet and training, helping it grow remarkably healthy.
• Ian and the others rode Sha Sha through a hidden passage to Crystal Lake, where Ian examined the cracked Aether Crystal Dragon Egg and considered how the three eggs might be connected.
• The egg invited Ian to guide it, and Ian transferred his consciousness into another body, waking up as a dragon.

Ian reached Golden Leaf Town and killed a fungus-infected Razorclaw Tiger that had terrorized the area. After learning of other troubling incidents in Layan Territory, he prepared to continue his journey but was approached by an elf offering thanks and a gift.

• Ian arrived in Golden Leaf Town after learning that his Second Energy Level Magic Potion materials had reached Layan Territory.
• The mayor asked Ian to deal with a Razorclaw Tiger that had killed townspeople and livestock, and Ian returned that afternoon with its corpse.
• Ian explained that a fungus had driven the tiger mad and warned the mayor that other beasts might become savage, urging him to seek Ascendant protection.
• The mayor told Ian about missing children near a neighboring village and past bands of refugees and bandits in the region.
• Ian accepted the town's payment and local wound medicine, then encountered an emerald-haired elf who wished to thank him and offer a gift.

Ian led Isengard and Master Gose through the ruins while evading their pursuers, then escaped through an underground waterway into a vast cavern. There, Ian and Isengard encountered a strange creature that appeared to be a Marsh Crocodile Dragon carrying a giant mushroom.

• Ian explained that the Brain-Eating Worms might be a psionic lifeform, while Isengard grieved for the innocent people killed in the Ellen Family's conspiracy.
• Ian urged Isengard to focus on surviving and uncovering the truth later, then used Precognitive Vision to guide them through the tunnels.
• Isengard asked about Ian's Water Blade technique, and Ian said he had memorized and replicated Azure Tide's sword inscriptions with Origin Matter.
• Ian took Isengard and Master Gose through an underground river into a large, artificially constructed cavern.
• Ian noticed a creature moving in the darkness and prepared for battle with Isengard; they recognized it as a Marsh Crocodile Dragon beneath a giant mushroom.