Chapter Summaries

Mahdi was revealed to be Ian Silverpeak as he and Mikael fought Axel, who began a planetary-scale plan to remake humanity. With Ian and Mikael battling to stop him, the Crystal Emperor Dragon unleashed a vast surge of azure power from the New Continent.

• Mikael struck Axel with the Absolute Zero Spear, but Axel shattered it and used light mines and Mikael’s attacks to trap Mahdi in a thermonuclear blast.
• Mahdi survived by revealing the Edge of the Falling Sun, and he and Mikael drove Axel into space, where Axel recognized Mahdi as Ian Silverpeak.
• Ian explained that Axel’s plan to control Terra’s people threatened his attempt to obtain the Perpetual Motion Machine, but Axel said humanity’s existing society had to be destroyed and rebuilt.
• Axel drew power from the Imperial Capital and began spreading a vast formation across Terra, while Ian tapped into the Planetary Shield Generator array to fight him alongside Mikael.
• As Ian and Mikael attacked Axel, the Crystal Emperor Dragon at the Heavenly Ladder Tree unleashed a colossal surge of azure light from the New Continent.

Axel used the Lightforged World and the Planetary Shield Generator to begin overwriting humanity’s minds while fighting Ian and Mikael on New Moon. Ian realized Axel intended to remake everyone using Inaga II’s personality model, and Axel declared that all intelligent life would become suns.

• The Glazed Imperial Dragon struck Axel and carried him, Ian, and Mikael to a fragment of New Moon, where Axel revealed his Lightforged World and tried to assimilate them.
• Ian and Mikael combined their powers and split the lunar fragment with a moonlight greatsword, but they could not defeat Axel before his strength began to recover.
• Axel announced that his overwrite had already begun, and Ian realized the Planetary Shield Generator was spreading Axel’s power across Terra.
• Ian deduced that Axel was using Inaga II’s living body and personality model to rewrite humanity, while Axel returned altered souls to their inscribed bodies.
• People across Terra awakened with new patterns of thought as Axel declared that all humanity and intelligent life would become suns.

Ian investigated the New Continent as its ancient energy signal stirred and Farshore Island and the beast kingdoms marched toward the Crystal Holy Land. He helped Nethersea defeat Xike Nemasas, a Fourth Energy Level expert from Blazing Flame Lands, and read his memories.

• Ian sensed a tremor in the Subspace Network and saw Farshore Island and the three beast kingdoms advance toward the New Continent's center.
• Ian realized the beast kingdoms held fragments of Sky-Fall Starship authority and that one had brought in a Blazing Flame Lands expert as reinforcements.
• Nethersea fought Xike Nemasas, whose Boundless Primordial Worm bloodline helped him resist its psionic attacks.
• Ian connected to Terra's Heart and taught Nethersea to attack Xike through illusions involving his family and loved ones.
• Nethersea overwhelmed Xike, and Ian read the Blazing Flame Lands expert's memories.

After the Sun War, Terra’s nations abandoned destructive warfare and divided into competing factions seeking the people’s support for the Perpetual Motion Machine. Ian strengthened his rule in the Southern Ridge and planned to use mechanical bodies to restore Grand Duke Solin’s undead subjects, while Isengard reconciled with his past and completed his Soul Light Body.

• Terra’s wars ended as rulers competed for public support, and the Sertal Empire split in practice among Carlos, Alegria, and Ian.
• Marquis Barton retired and handed the Nineteenth Legion’s authority to Ian, who became the legitimate Grand Duke of the Southern Ridge.
• Grand Duke Solin offered his strength to anyone who could revive his undead subjects, but the task appeared to require the Perpetual Motion Machine.
• Ian directed the Silverpeak Mechanical Alchemy Department to develop mechanical prosthetic bodies for Solin’s undead, with Adalbert tasked with resolving technical problems through Pioneer Space.
• Ian’s friends reunited with him after his return, and Isengard resolved his doubts about his origins and completed his Soul Light Body, Light of Sunset, which could calm people.

Isengard reached the Imperial Capital’s core and persuaded Moze Harna to let him pass, then shut down its Psychic Beacon resonance, ending Axel’s widespread brainwashing. As Inaga II’s personalities faded, some people chose to surrender themselves to his Echo to settle their final troubles, leaving the world profoundly changed.

• Isengard climbed toward the Imperial Capital’s generator core while its Awakened residents made anti-psionic canvas and its nobles watched him pass.
• Isengard told Moze Harna that he opposed Axel’s scheme because people’s fleeting thoughts and feelings mattered, and Moze stepped aside.
• Isengard reached the deepest part of the Imperial Capital and shut down its resonance module, while Anfa also disabled the module in Canaanmore.
• The Psychic Beacon’s brainwashing and transmission effects began to fade, causing Inaga II’s personalities to gradually disappear from people across Terra.
• Some people chose to let Inaga II’s Echo replace them temporarily so it could resolve their affairs, and Axel’s actions left many tragedies changed or frozen in place.

The Public Opinion Legion spread Silverpeak Domain’s message that Terra’s peoples shared one origin, using the Blazing Flame Lands to test whether people valued strength and the future more than national identity. In Rosy Glow City, Roland Silgen and Azure Tide welcomed healthy newborns, then learned their families were being asked to approve the Spirit-Veneration Church’s new Terra’s Heart blessing ritual.

• Silverpeak Domain circulated articles explaining the shared origins and traditions of Terra’s peoples, provoking furious resistance from the Blazing Flame Lands’ media.
• Ian planned to use propaganda aimed at the Blazing Flame Lands to test whether Terrans wanted strength and a future beyond national identity.
• Roland Silgen and Azure Tide waited at the First Affiliated Hospital of Rosy Glow City Medical College as Silverpeak Domain’s first baby boom brought their children into the world.
• Azure Tide reassured Roland that Silverpeak Domain’s advanced medical care and Holy Light made childbirth safer for their families.
• A Dwarf doctor confirmed that both mothers and newborns were healthy, then explained that the General Administration Bureau required their consent for newborn vaccines and the Spirit-Veneration Church’s Terra’s Heart blessing.

After the Illusory Sun Void Mother died, Ian gained the Heavenly Ladder System’s highest authority and used the Gaia Spark to begin reshaping the New Continent’s ecology. As the transformation started, Cangxing Gelide and the Pure Grand Lord moved toward the New Continent.

• Mahdi demanded Yulan acknowledge submission, and the Lord of the Great Abyss retreated while Yulan yielded on the condition that he could withstand a Fifth Energy Level strike.
• The Void Mother’s death triggered the Heavenly Ladder Tree to rise and awaken its ecological reshaping system, drawing the attention of powerful Spark Magic Beasts and Nethersea.
• Yulan demanded that Mahdi protect humanity’s role in shaping the New Continent, but the Glazed Dragon and Fairy Ian rejected his claim that they were pure humans of the old Terra.
• Fairy Ian used Star God’s Gift to obtain the Heavenly Ladder System’s highest authority, then fed the Gaia Spark into its sun and began the New Continent’s ecological transformation.
• Cangxing Gelide and the Pure Grand Lord of the Blazing Flame Lands headed toward the New Continent as Fifth Energy Level powers watched from the Terra Continent.

Ian and Mikael uncovered evidence that Landkeeper Axel planned to use the Light Calamity, Floating Cities, and shield networks to impose a shared identity across much of Terra. Mikael vowed to stop his father from deciding people’s futures without their consent, and declared that he would defeat him.

• Ian told Mikael what he knew about Star-Prison, the Cradle System, the Thousand-Stars Beast, and the Star God, leading Mikael to realize that his daughter and Isengard were spare keys for the Light Calamity.
• Mikael suspected Axel meant to unite the Empire, and perhaps all Terra, by using the disaster and psychic technology to reshape people’s beliefs; Ian and the Glazed Imperial Dragon connected this plan to Artificial Souls, Undead Monarch technology, Floating Cities, and their shields.
• Ian entered the Void Realm and Mikael departed to check where the Empire had shared its shield technology, while the Glazed Dragon prepared settlements for the coming calamity.
• Ian and Mikael returned with evidence that Imperial shield technology had spread across much of Terra, including Canaanmore, the Seven Cities Alliance, and regions near the Blazing Flame Lands, Ridgehold, and the Azure Heaven Royal Court.
• Ian concluded that Axel could use the planetary shield network to broadcast a psychic consensus to more than seventy percent of Terra’s population, though key information remained unknown and other Fifth Energy Level powerhouses could resist.
• Mikael said Axel had no right to alter people’s thoughts without their consent and vowed to defeat his father.

Mikael began his Fifth Energy Level transformation in the Steel Dragon Nest, drawing on the Light Calamity and the inheritance of the Heavenly Law Dragon. As the flare transformation started, Ian watched over the destruction around the nest while Mikael’s survival depended on whether he could establish immortality within his spirit.

• Mikael used the activated Steel Dragon Nest to gather the Light Calamity’s energy and prepare to advance, knowing a Sun God Bird had to undergo death and rebirth to reach the Fifth Energy Level.
• Mikael summoned the inheritance of the Heavenly Law Dragon, whose doubt about humanity had endured since the Progenitor True Dragons’ ancient conflict.
• Mikael accepted that his father’s plan to brainwash humanity would only create temporary peace, and resolved to save him from despair.
• Mikael placed the black-and-white vortex on his forehead, transforming the Steel Dragon Nest into a sun as heat and shockwaves melted the surrounding peaks.
• Ian contained the blast across the Bison Mountains and said Mikael’s flare transformation would determine whether he became Fifth Energy Level or erupted and scattered.
• Mikael’s transformation entered its crucial stage, which required him to inscribe his memories, dreams, and obsessions into his spirit and condense immortality.

After sealing Axel and Mikael within the Cradle fragment, Ian returned to Terra and prepared to reveal the truth behind the world’s history and the dangers of Psychic Beacons. He arrived as the Black Sun before the world’s powers and ordered them to stop brainwashing research, warning that it was tied to activating the Nethercrystal Perpetual Motion Machine.

• Axel and Mikael sealed themselves within the Cradle fragment and sent their Blood of the Apex Seat toward Terra.
• Ian discussed the dangers and potential uses of brainwashing technology with the Gale Dragon King, then decided to warn Terra’s rulers against it.
• After the brainwashing ended, conflicts over the knowledge people had gained from Inaga II’s memories spread across Terra, while factions began pursuing Psychic Beacon technology.
• On Terra Year 777, January 1st, Axel and Mikael’s Blood of the Apex Seat appeared in the sky and descended to Carlos Setar and Alegria Setar.
• Ian emerged from a shattered spacetime bubble as the Black Sun, and the world recognized him as the victor over the Sun God Bird.
• Ian ordered everyone to stop researching Psychic Beacons and brainwashing because the technology was connected to activating the Nethercrystal Perpetual Motion Machine.

Ian discussed Silverpeak Domain’s plans and his ambitions with Master Vannar, who agreed that the Mechanized Spirit Order would support him as king if he named an heir. Ian revealed that he wanted to go beyond the Cradle, but Vannar insisted that he first ensure his rule could endure after his departure.

• Master Vannar explained that he would stop any Ascended who threatened civilians and said the Mechanized Spirit Order had chosen to support Ian after discovering the Virtual Underworld.
• Ian described the All-Spirits Hall’s Simulated Path and discussed how the Arcane Path could develop into many future paths.
• Master Vannar concluded that neither the Virtual Underworld nor the Arcane Path was Ian’s ultimate goal, and Ian revealed that he wanted to go beyond the Cradle.
• Ian said he would build a new world and prepare humanity before leaving, even if he no longer needed the Perpetual Motion Machine by then.
• Master Vannar demanded that Ian name an heir, promising the Mechanized Spirit Order’s support for Ian as king once he did.

Ian considered who could inherit Silverpeak Domain and decided that Terra’s Heart could serve as a successor capable of carrying out his designs. Two years after the Perpetual Motion Machine Declaration, Ace Nemasus publicly spread the Fifth Energy Level royal bloodline, shaking the world.

• Ian discussed appointing an heir with Master Vannar and considered candidates including Elan, but proposed Terra’s Heart as a successor that could act without selfish interests.
• Ian told Vannar he would prepare for duels rather than war.
• By October 778, Silverpeak Domain and Whale Song Cliff had popularized the Arcane Path, while other nations developed new cultivation methods and struggled to provide enough resources.
• Terra’s hope for the future grew, and newly discovered Pre-Epoch Civilization ruins spurred excavation and technological advances.
• Ace Nemasus returned to the Blazing Flame Lands and publicly taught Arcane Path cultivators how to create a Fifth Energy Level bloodline structure.
• The world was shaken when news spread that the Fifth Energy Level royal bloodline’s blueprint had been made public.

Ian explained that Pioneer Space could turn games into tools for learning, training, and experiencing history and possible futures, winning Adalbert’s support for the vision. He planned to use Ace Nemasas as a political pretext for the Blazing Flame Lands, naming him their future king.

• Adalbert objected that entertainment could waste ordinary people’s time and potential, but Ian explained that games could teach and help people grow.
• Ian and his companions watched Ga'er Ximor challenge a high-difficulty simulated combat body, which defeated him after unleashing battle aura.
• Ian revealed that Pioneer Space collected combat data and spiritual essence, and that future combat bodies could reproduce users’ abilities and allow player-versus-player battles.
• Ian described plans for trial spaces based on the past and future, and Adalbert agreed to help make Ian’s vision real.
• Ian identified Ace Nemasas, the Radiant King's son, as a pretext for gaining support to take the Blazing Flame Lands and called him their future king.

The Glazed Imperial Dragon offered to analyze the Magic Beasts’ Sparks and develop specialized cultivation methods in exchange for their cooperation, promising to preserve their civilizations. Nearly every tribe agreed to submit its inherited artifact and swear loyalty, and Ian prepared to explain the Arcane Path.

• The Glazed Imperial Dragon asked the Magic Beast tribes to provide their Sparks so he could study them and create ways to produce food without devouring intelligent creatures.
• He demonstrated new cultivation methods on stone tablets and offered specialized methods to the first thirty tribes that agreed to cooperate; Yulan accepted on humanity’s behalf, and many Magic Beast representatives followed.
• The Glazed Imperial Dragon revealed that eating other Magic Beasts disrupted Origin Matter Structure and made the Arcane Path difficult to cultivate, prompting the remaining hesitant tribes to agree as well.
• He explained that his true goal was to back up every Spark and preserve the civilizations of the New Continent, then summoned a Silver Sun and invited the representatives to swear loyalty to the Glazed Imperial Court.
• The Magic Beasts pledged their loyalty and agreed to hand over their Sparks, and the Glazed Imperial Dragon began to explain the Arcane Path to them.

The Silverpeak Domain’s public opinion campaign and cheap goods eroded support for the Blazing Flame Lands, leaving the King of Embers convinced they had already lost the coming Perpetual Motion Machine vote. He concluded that Ian Silverpeak had deliberately driven him toward one final chance: defeating Ian by force and presenting a viable future.

• The Silverpeak Domain undermined the Blazing Flame Lands with media coverage of its shortcomings, affordable exports, local factories, and a video-sharing network showing life elsewhere.
• Blazing Flame Lands officials faced growing emigration and demands for tax-free food imports, while attempts to stir up historical grievances failed to discredit the Silverpeak Domain.
• The King of Embers crushed his terminal after the Silverpeak Domain answered the hostile propaganda by defending its record and challenging the Blazing Flame Lands’ claims.
• The King of Embers told his ministers that the Blazing Flame Lands had lost the Perpetual Motion Machine struggle because there was too little time to restore public confidence.
• The King of Embers put on crimson-gold crystal armor and declared that defeating Ian Silverpeak by force was his final opportunity to turn defeat into victory.

Ian explained how Andor’s Castaway Chronicle and other media would promote Silverpeak Domain and shape public opinion against the Blazing Flame Lands. After his friends departed, he welcomed Marquis Grant and began teaching the young Kemit, warning that his disciple would become a test subject in age-specific experiments.

• Ian explained that Andor’s book would publicize his adventures, Silverpeak Domain, and the Blazing Flame Lands’ conspiracies, helping prepare the public for a future conflict.
• Anfa, Sheo, Isengard, and Ethan discussed Ian’s reputation and the risks of his ambitions, while Ian insisted that he would win or die.
• Anfa returned to Canaanmore, Sheo went back to Dragon Island, and Isengard remained an intermediary between Ian and the empires.
• Marquis Grant visited Ian with his three-year-old son Kemit, whom Ian accepted as his disciple after praising the boy’s aptitude.
• Ian warned Marquis Grant that Kemit would be a test subject for experiments suited to children his age, and Marquis Grant readily agreed to entrust him to Ian.

Ian said goodbye to Master Gose and Isengard, then returned to his workshop to plan Sha Sha’s advancement to the Second Energy Level. Studying the materials Master Gose had left him, Ian realized electricity might help Sha Sha develop its own thoughts and control its energy.

• Isengard asked Ian if they were friends, and Ian affirmed that they were before Isengard and Master Gose departed secretly from Harrison Port.
• Ian returned to his shop and decided to strengthen Sha Sha before leaving Harrison Port, recognizing its vital role in their battles in and around the South Sea Labyrinth.
• Ian opened Master Gose’s box and found Magic Beast-grade Element Crystals, mutated algae, and valuable alchemy textbooks.
• Ian considered how Sha Sha’s advancement should focus on developing a soul and unique Psionics rather than simply growing larger or becoming a weapons platform.
• Ian recalled that Thunderhunter Jellyfish communicated through electric currents and realized electricity, along with the Aurora Titan, could provide a path for Sha Sha’s advancement.

Ian registered with the Inspecting Knights Order and considered how to use his merits without revealing what materials he truly needed. After mapping the headquarters, he planned to explore the Imperial Capital and meet Isengard, while two Fairy young ladies waited nearby.

• A clerical worker reflected on Teres’s difficult rise and Ian’s remarkable merits and talent as a young apprentice.
• Ian received his official Inspecting Knights Order badge and decided not to spend his merits while others were watching.
• Ian surveyed and mapped the order’s headquarters, noting its personnel, layout, and the powerful knights present.
• Ian planned to demonstrate his alchemy talent before buying Second Energy Level materials, including one earth-element material for the Immovable Fortress.
• Ian decided to visit Isengard and explore the Imperial Capital’s living conditions, while two Fairy young ladies waited on a nearby street.

Hilliard surprised Ian by repairing his clothes with material from his old cloak, and Ian thanked him with a home-cooked meal. Elder Pude then took Ian to meet Viscount Grant, where Ian was to be registered as an Ascender; the chapter ends as Ian entered the Viscount’s study.

• Ian found that Hilliard had repaired his damaged clothes into a tough, lightweight black shirt using material from his old cloak, and he thanked his teacher.
• Ian cooked beef porridge for himself and Hilliard, and Hilliard warned that nobles or the White Folk would soon seek him out.
• Two of Elder Pude’s guards escorted Ian to the Viscount’s manor so he could meet Viscount Grant and be registered to cultivate his bloodline’s true form.
• Ian and Elder Pude arrived as Viscount Grant reprimanded Lubek for failing to notice the signal from the attacked eastern shore outpost.
• Elder Pude identified Lubek as a Mountain Folk mercenary leader, and Ian noticed signs that Lubek had fought during the attack despite claiming otherwise.
• Viscount Grant summoned Ian and Elder Pude, and Ian entered the study.

Grand Duke Bokaang tried to draw Ian to Ridgehold by revealing that Inaga II had given Ridgehold a crucial core, hoping Ian would guide them toward a new path. Carlos explained Ridgehold’s history with the Empire, ending with the discovery that its split began after the first Grand Duke excavated the Apocalypse Core.

• Bokaang told Carlos that Inaga II’s legacy was the core Ridgehold needed and that he wanted Ian’s guidance because their old path had reached its end.
• Bokaang said he had provoked Ian after his diplomatic request went unanswered, and Carlos warned that Ian would likely come to confront him.
• Carlos contacted Ian after the Tranquil Sea anomalies were resolved and told him about Bokaang’s offer and the core.
• Ian asked Carlos how Ridgehold and the Empire had become enemies, and Carlos described the Grand Dukes’ resentment and the failed attempt to combine the Elster and Sertal bloodlines.
• Carlos said the fragile relationship between Ridgehold and the Empire finally broke after the first Grand Duke of Ridgehold excavated the Apocalypse Core.