Chapter Summaries

Ian refused Master Gose’s offer to study at the Royal Alchemy Academy, asking instead for access to alchemical books, papers, and potion formulas to help Harrison Port. Master Gose agreed to support Viscount Grant’s plans, and Ian noticed a curious boy approaching him.

• Ian declined the chance to attend the Royal Alchemy Academy, explaining that he lacked money and wanted to advance alchemy in Harrison Port.
• Ian asked Master Gose for channels to obtain current alchemical texts, research papers, and common potion formulas.
• Master Gose apologized to Viscount Grant and praised his support of Ian, while Patrick regarded Ian with renewed caution.
• Viscount Grant brought Mr. Silverfang’s life-extending magic plant to Master Gose to secure his help and connections.
• Master Gose accepted the plant and promised to help Viscount Grant publicize Harrison Port’s magic plants and access Imperial Capital association channels.
• Ian noticed a boy his own age with lake-green eyes approaching him.

Ian met Marquis Barton for a private dinner in Nauman City, where the general tested his observation skills and discussed the city’s apparent disorder. Barton told Ian he had already met the requirements to become an apprentice Inspecting Knight, leaving Ian to consider what the role demanded.

• Ian mapped Nauman City’s defenses and counted the hidden watchers escorting him to Governor Barton’s residence.
• Barton revealed himself on the darkened second floor, and Ian accurately counted the watchers inside and outside the manor.
• Barton exposed Oak Master’s Wood Spirit Seed on Ian’s shoulder and burned away the spirit body that had been listening.
• Ian and Barton ate a meal of Magic Beast meat while Barton tested Ian’s knowledge of its ingredients.
• Barton asked whether Nauman City was chaotic, and Ian called it orderly because he could not see its problems.
• Barton told Ian he had met the standard to join the Inspecting Knights Order as an apprentice.

Ian discussed Isengard’s struggle to gain authority at Platinum-Iridium Workshop and agreed to support him. After settling in for the night, Ian asked Hua An to explain the Fairy Meditation Method.

• Ian explained that Isengard’s youth and dependence on his teacher and mother left him without enough authority, and Isengard asked Ian to help him gain influence at Platinum-Iridium Workshop.
• Ian agreed to help Isengard and learned that Isengard’s younger sister had stayed behind in the care of their mother’s people.
• Ian found Hua An teaching Frost Butterfly to play fairy cards, but Frost Butterfly refused to play and soon fell asleep on Ian’s shoulder.
• Ian told Hua An that he and Isengard had discussed gaining power in human society, then asked her what the Fairy Meditation Method was like.

Ian recognized that the Silver Chip’s original holder, the Xenobiology Research Institute’s Director, had also been acknowledged as a pioneer and may have founded Terra’s Magic Potion system. After returning to Xiahui Territory, Ian worked to advance his Steel Pioneer path as the territory quietly prepared for future upheaval.

• Ian concluded that the Director had received the Silver Chip’s greeting and may have used the chip to develop the Ascension Path’s Magic Potion system.
• Ian theorized that the Silver Chip drew information from a trans-spacetime Aether-Flow repository that functioned like prophecy.
• Ian planned to refine a Stone Lord Magic Potion and improve his Steel Pioneer progress before the coming exploration of the Xenobiology Research Institute.
• In mid-April of Terra Year 774, Ian returned to Xiahui Territory and went straight to his laboratory, ushering in a period of calm development.
• In late April, Xiahui Territory announced toxin vaccines, and in early May, White Folk immigrants and Silverpeak Family youths arrived and joined the Experimental Training Camp.
• In mid-May, the Experimental Training Camp began teaching the Arcane Meditation Method alongside mathematics, inscriptions, and foundational alchemy.

Ian prepared to exterminate the Brain-Eating Worm Brood while arranging for Azure Tide to lead the others to safety. As the battle began elsewhere in the ruins, Ian's group advanced toward the Brood, relying on the Blazing Flame Lands team to draw the parasitized beasts away.

• Ian finished modifying the alchemical mount and prepared to carry it into battle, while Frost Butterfly remained perched on his head.
• Ian refused Azure Tide's request to join the assault and gave him a map and instructions to lead the rest of the team out through a safer route.
• Azure Tide led the team toward the labyrinth exit, while Ian, Isengard, Master Gose, Andor, and Sha Sha stayed behind to attack the Brain-Eating Worm Brood.
• Ian led his group upstream through an ancient walkway toward the Brood's location at the cooling exchange port.
• Ian explained that the Blazing Flame Lands team would draw the parasitized beasts away from the Brood, and an explosion signaled that the battle had begun.

Ian experienced the Virtual Origin Seed under Hilliard’s guidance and quickly sensed the rhythm of life, while realizing it functioned like a second heart. As Hilliard went to find food, Ian remained confident he could master the Origin Seed; meanwhile, a group watched Harrison Port from the Baisen Redwood Forest.

• Hilliard warned Ian that cultivating an Origin Seed was dangerous, and Ian insisted he needed to try.
• Hilliard touched Ian’s chest with the Virtual Origin Seed, and Ian sensed his heartbeat and the flow of life through his body.
• Hilliard was astonished by how quickly Ian grasped the rhythm of vitality and explained that Ian had about a month to condense an Origin Seed.
• Hilliard encouraged Ian, then transformed into Orison and left to investigate the area and bring back food.
• Ian recognized the Virtual Origin Seed as an illusory second heart and concluded that he was a genius at enhancement cultivation.
• More than a dozen watchers stared toward Harrison Port from the Baisen Redwood Forest along the South Sea coast.

Ian and his companions reached the South Sea Grand Ruins’ labyrinth center, where they found the Aether Crystal Dragon dying beside its luminous nest. After Ian returned its three eggs, the group left the dragon to nurture them with its remaining strength, and Ian began considering their next targets.

• Ian sensed Redwood Base’s cooling system working again, with the furnace temperatures falling toward safe levels.
• Master Gose realized the underground lake and the Aether Crystal Dragon’s nest formed the labyrinth’s center.
• Ian identified the lake as a remnant of a prehistoric volcano and recognized Redwood Great Shaman and the Marsh Crocodile Dragon among the dragon’s collected remains.
• Bishop White Mist said he would not attack the Aether Crystal Dragon unless it attacked him first and reminded Ian to respect life.
• Ian returned the three Brood-contaminated eggs to the dying Aether Crystal Dragon, which gathered them into its mouth to nurture them.
• Ian concluded that the Southern Sea Ruins’ enemies had been eliminated and turned his attention to Bishop White Mist.

Ian welcomed Light's Embrace's delegation to Xiahui Territory, where its clergy studied the city and concluded that Ian was investing in his people to build power. As envoys arrived from across Terra and Xiahui Territory drew attention, an enemy began to act, while Ian resolved not to use a manufactured disaster to unite his domain.

• Ian greeted Reflected Light, Radiant Sword, and Redemptive Light, then warned the Light's Embrace delegation about possible calamities and asked its clergy to protect civilians and medical teams during a future attack.
• Ian housed the delegation in the Spirit-Veneration Tower and reflected on the dangers of high-rise buildings in war, deciding to focus on underground homes and shelters instead.
• Light's Embrace's clergy examined Rosy Glow City and concluded that Ian was investing in his subjects and his territory rather than exploiting them for experiments.
• Archbishop Oathsworn praised Ian's commitment to humanity, while the clergy agreed not to interfere with his efforts to change the world.
• Ian considered using an enemy attack to forge a shared identity among his people, but chose to trust his own charisma and seek victory without sacrificing them.
• Envoys from various factions began arriving to inspect Xiahui Territory, and an enemy began to act.

Ian fought Patrick while trying to reach the Broodmother’s nest, using potions and his hardened body to withstand Patrick’s lightning attacks. The Aether Crystal Dragon wounded both itself and the Broodmother with its breath, and a cannon blast sounded as Bishop White Mist prepared to help Ian.

• Patrick broke free of Bishop White Mist’s restraint, covered himself in lightning armor, and attacked Ian with Origin Matter lightning.
• Ian endured Patrick’s lightning sword-light and exchanged blows with him, relying on potions and his enhanced defenses.
• The Broodmother tried to interfere with Ian, so the Aether Crystal Dragon fired a powerful beam that pierced and heavily wounded both colossal beasts.
• Bishop White Mist heard a cannon shell fire as he prepared to break away from his opponents and help Ian.

Ian chose to make several Damage-Resistance Potions instead of the Full Enhancement Potion expected in the examination, puzzling the alchemy masters. Kalansir judged the strategy safe but mediocre, arguing that Ian lacked confidence in making a perfect potion.

• Masters Gose, Vana, and Alexei discussed Ian’s ability to observe other examinees and wondered why he was looking at their work despite having prepared materials for a Full Enhancement Potion.
• Ethan recognized that Ian was processing Demon-Hunting Insect shells to make a Damage-Resistance Potion, and Master Vana noted his unusually skillful handling of ingredients.
• Ian began making the potion before the materials had fully precipitated, prompting the masters to ask Kalansir to explain his approach.
• Kalansir said Ian was using the waiting time to prepare several Damage-Resistance Potions, aiming to beat a single Full Enhancement Potion through quantity.
• Kalansir criticized Ian’s strategy as overly cautious and claimed Ian would need at least five bottles to match the potion Kalansir had made.

Ian fought Viscount Avak and uncovered how the Dead River Armament consumed dead souls to resurrect and empower its pilot. When Avak summoned scarlet phantoms and fortress defenses to overwhelm him, Ian called on the resentful souls of the Awak Domain and the Western Frontier Plains.

• Ian killed Viscount Avak twice in close combat, but Avak resurrected and grew stronger each time.
• Ian deduced that the Dead River Armament used dead souls as fuel to repair its pilot and grant repeated resurrections.
• Viscount Avak retreated and summoned a vast scarlet phantom army as fortress researchers and guards attacked Ian with Alchemical Cannons.
• Ian evaded the bombardment, but the phantoms and fortress forces prevented him from reaching Avak.
• Ian summoned the souls of people killed in experiments, and their shared hatred turned them against Avak's scarlet phantoms.

Ian tested the Fairy Wings by bounding across the jungle and diving into the South Sea, where he followed a lightning-capable magical fish to its nest. He discovered a deep-sea stone forest whose uniform formations resembled signal or power-transmission towers.

• Ian used the Fairy Wings to leap across the jungle and reach the summit of Sighing Cliff.
• Ian plunged from the cliff into the sea, caught a large primal Magic Beast fish, examined it, and released it unharmed.
• Ian followed the fish underwater using his Fairy Wings and Wave-Singer power while considering the South Sea’s changing labyrinth ecosystem.
• Ian tracked the fish to a deep-sea nest among rows of uniform black stone formations.
• Ian recognized the stone formations as resembling signal towers or high-voltage wireless power-transmission towers and wondered why so many stood there.

Ian uncovered Baron Layan’s plan to use psionic alchemy to create a body for his dead child and learned where the Baron had gone. Ian left alone for Loneflame Peak, where the Baron was already conducting an experiment with three children and a spirit.

• Ian found alchemical records showing that Baron Layan had studied artificial humans, Vengeful Spirit Possession, and Psionic Memory Transfer.
• Morda identified the canyon beside Loneflame Peak’s third landslide-dammed lake as the place where the Baron’s wife and young master had died.
• Ian gave Sister Reflected Light evidence for the Executors and left in the rain to scout Loneflame Peak despite her advice to wait for them.
• At Loneflame Peak, Baron Layan monitored four cultivation tanks containing three children and a spirit inhabiting his severed arm.
• Ila told Baron Layan that the spirit had stabilized and that he could give his big brother memories.

As the pirate fleet bombarded Nearlight, Ian sent an Ironclad Shark to ram the flagship twice, slowing the enemy fleet. He claimed the shark was his longtime animal companion, leaving Master Gose and the others stunned as the battle continued.

• The pirate fleet resumed shelling Nearlight, forcing Master Gose to block the attacks while the captain maneuvered through the storm.
• Isengard proposed striking back with Ian, but Ian refused and said he had prepared a countermeasure.
• Ian guided an Ironclad Shark to ram the pirate flagship twice, flooding its lower hold and slowing the fleet.
• The pirates deployed more than thirty vine mines, but the shark did not return to their reach.
• Ian told Master Gose and the others that the shark, Sha Sha, was his animal companion and had taught him to navigate underwater.

Ian prepared for the survey voyage as factions across Southern Ridge Province braced for danger, then set sail on April 16 as a storm approached. Before departing, he shared breakfast with Elan and reflected on the risks surrounding his younger brother’s developing Steel Bone.

• Viscount Grant agreed to inspect Tidebreaker with Elder Pude and prepare to deploy after Ian warned of possible assassins and hidden forces.
• Ian hurried to his workshop to prepare and calibrate alchemical potions for the expedition.
• Isengard, Master Gose, Viscount Grant, Elder Pude, and the fleet’s crew prepared for threats as unrest spread among the natives and pirates moved beyond the Silver Chip’s detection range.
• On April 16, a storm approached the South Sea as the Platinum-Iridium Workshop’s survey ship prepared to depart.
• Ian served breakfast to Elan and explained that Elan’s developing Steel Bone required nutrients and could cause deadly aberration if it failed to mature.
• Ian considered using components from the Silverpeak Envoy as additions to Elan’s Fairy Bloodline rather than trying to make him a Silverpeak Envoy.

Ian cut through the phantoms in the Subspace Labyrinth as he advanced toward Grand Duke Solin’s research center, where the final battle awaited. The first Undead Monarch ordered the phantoms to let Ian pass, and Ian experienced the life of one of Solin’s researchers, who recounted his rise from an illegitimate commoner son to a devoted member of the Grand Duke’s laboratory.

• Ian used the powers of the Rockforged Knight, the Fairy, and the Undead Monarch to destroy phantoms and Magic Beasts as he followed the Prophet’s blessing toward the research center.
• The first Undead Monarch told the phantoms to let Ian pass, and they opened a path through the labyrinth.
• Ian’s Retrospective Vision revealed a researcher’s childhood as an illegitimate son whose mother hoped he would become an alchemist and earn recognition from his father’s family.
• The researcher excelled at Saint Locke Alchemy Academy with help from a mysterious fund and graduated among its top ten students as its only commoner.
• Solin met the researcher after graduation, praised his talent, and invited him to join his laboratory, prompting the researcher to vow lifelong service to the Grand Duke.

Ian used a prophecy of future war to rally the Southern Ridge and establish an alliance under his command, while Marquis Barton explained why he had entrusted Ian with authority. A photograph of the imperial family in their youth revealed a startling difference in Axel’s former demeanor, leaving Ian with a new mystery.

• Brin considered how disaster might offer him a chance to rise, but the fear of a widow and her daughter made him confront the suffering war would bring ordinary people.
• Ian warned the crowd of future attacks and hardships, then promised to change their outcome if they trusted and obeyed him.
• Ian announced that Marquis Barton had granted him authority to summon the Southern Ridge’s nobles and territories, and proposed an alliance to coordinate defenses, resources, and information.
• The crowd accepted Ian’s call to unite, and he planned to expand the alliance and spread terminals, vaccines, Artificial Souls, and the Void Realm network.
• Marquis Barton said he had given Ian authority because he could not protect the Southern Ridge in the coming war and wanted Ian to lead its nobles.
• Marquis Barton showed Ian a photograph of the imperial princes and princesses with a young Axel, whose gentle expression sharply contrasted with his present reputation.

The Iron Sister identified a lethal brain-devouring parasite and revealed that the Machina Church believed the ruins contained a sacred relic tied to ascension. She told the captain and Ian that the complex might hold the Spark, a nearly complete True Aether Furnace that could transform Aether Armor across the Terra Continent.

• The Iron Sister examined the scout’s corpse, identified the parasites as a fire-vulnerable Magic Beast species that spread through water and bodily fluids, and reported a Level Two biohazard.
• The captain ordered the team to wear gas masks and protective coating, then proposed retreating to warn nearby powers after confirming no one else was infected.
• The Iron Sister insisted the parasite confirmed they had found the Machina Church’s mission target: an alien ecosystem and the ancient Godward Ladder, also called the Ascension Lightway.
• When the captain demanded the truth, the Iron Sister explained that Aether Furnace Cores were incomplete and that the Church sought a nearly complete True Aether Furnace in the ruins.
• The Iron Sister identified the possible furnace as the Spark, a new model that could change Aether Furnace technology across the Terra Continent, including in Apocalypse Armaments.

Ian arrived at Harrison Apothecary for a public appraisal of Mr. Silverfang’s rare Longbeard Grass, whose healing aura astonished the gathered crowd. As the plant’s complex effects challenged even an expert alchemist, Ethan wondered whether Ian could truly identify its properties.

• Ian entered Harrison Apothecary, where the apprentices welcomed him as the appraiser known as Guide.
• The apothecary staff prepared a public appraisal, drawing a crowd that included Elder Pude, Mr. Silverfang, and three mysterious observers.
• Mr. Silverfang displayed the Longbeard Grass, whose gentle aura spread across the shop and healed minor injuries nearby.
• Ethan questioned why the obvious healing plant needed appraisal, and the hunched old alchemist explained that similar effects could arise from different, dangerous mechanisms.
• Ethan wondered whether Ian could distinguish the plant’s details when even Imperial Capital appraisers would need specialized tools.

Ian and Hilliard prepared for Ian to take the Sand Armor Apprentice Magic Potion, while Hilliard revealed his age and urged Ian to help improve the path of sublimation for future generations. The chapter ended with Ian beginning the potion under Hilliard’s guidance.

• Hilliard told Ian that he was seventy-four and explained how sublimation, battles, and bodily flaws could shorten a sublimator’s life.
• Hilliard said he could now extract the pure water needed for the Sand Armor Apprentice Magic Potion, and Ian confirmed that he had obtained the leader sea otter’s crystal bone.
• Hilliard explained the potion’s ingredients and said he had taken leave so he could watch over Ian during the process.
• Ian fed Elan, and Hilliard reassured him that Elan’s development and health had not been harmed.
• Hilliard presented Ian with a gift, and the two finished their meal.
• That night, Ian began taking the Sand Armor Apprentice Magic Potion under Hilliard’s guidance.