Chapter Summaries

After surviving Axel’s staged attack, Ian concluded that the Emperor wanted the Immovable Fortress forgotten and suspected the Imperial Capital no longer needed its operator. The Gale Dragon King brought Ian to Dragon Island, offered to make him a dragon, and left him stunned when he saw that the island’s core was a black hole.

• Axel withdrew after attacking Ian, while the Fifth Energy Level powers and Carlos debated why the Emperor had driven the Immovable Fortress away and what Inaga II’s legacy might have been.
• Ian recovered underground and explained that Axel had deliberately held back, seemingly to prevent Ian from becoming another faction’s asset while keeping the Immovable Fortress out of the Empire.
• Ian reasoned that the Imperial Capital might no longer need the Immovable Fortress to operate it, then led his companions toward the Ice Dragon’s Nest and planned for Anfa’s mark to reveal them.
• Ian discovered that his Source Soul let him control bodies across great distances, while the Gale Dragon King recognized his unusual power and called him the Creator’s inheritor.
• The Gale Dragon King escorted Ian toward Dragon Island, asked whether he would become a dragon, and Ian realized Dragon Island’s core was a black hole.

Ian learned that Sha Sha had become smarter and that Origin Matter was increasing around the South Sea, prompting him to consider how the Calamity of Falling Skies had changed Terra’s environment. As he taught Sha Sha an Electromagnetic Storm Generator structure, Ian realized that such structures could turn computing power into martial force as Ascended organs.

• Ian reunited with Sha Sha, learned it could communicate more clearly, and heard that Crystal Lake and Crystal Island were growing richer in Origin Matter.
• Sha Sha described the expanding psychic field and the emergence of Magic Beasts around the South Sea, leading Ian to question why Labyrinths produced so much Origin Matter.
• Ian speculated that the Calamity of Falling Skies had altered Terra’s physical environment and considered whether Origin Matter could be tied to the star’s energy.
• Ian decided to measure Terra’s speed of light and planned to ask Fal about existing astronomical calculations.
• Ian taught Sha Sha the Electromagnetic Storm Generator structure so it could inscribe it into its metal body.
• Ian realized that structures powered by computing ability could function as Ascended organs, turning computing power into martial force.

Ian learned that Farshore Island had gained authority connected to the Terra Ecological Control Device and might use it to transform the New Continent. After a precognitive vision showed Andor dying while protecting Crystal Dragons in another timeline, Ian pursued the Perpetual Motion Machine’s four required authorities, then approved research into a new force called Battle Aura.

• Ian explained to Andor that Farshore Island’s authority might let it use the first Heavenly Ladder to make the New Continent fertile and stable.
• Ian experienced a vision of a future in which Andor sacrificed himself to protect two Crystal Dragons during an attack on Atlan Megacity, then returned to the present and confirmed Andor was safe.
• Ian identified the four authorities needed to activate the Perpetual Motion Machine and asked Ethan to warn the Seven Cities Alliance and his mother about Farshore Island and the Terra Dragon.
• Isengard agreed to contact the Seven Cities Alliance, while Ian returned his attention to Silverpeak Domain.
• Adalbert showed Ian research indicating that compressed Life Psionics could fuse with Origin Matter to form Battle Aura, and Ian approved funding and asked to meet Azure Tide.

Ian and the Mountain Folk used Holy Rust-Steel Mountain’s Supergiant Magnetic Storm Coil and Sheo’s Voidfire to battle three Construct Knights sent by the Blazing Flame Lands. The final lightning strike engulfed the steel fortress in a blast as the Thunder-Striking Prophet’s prophecy came true.

• Ian watched three forty-meter Construct Knights advance toward Holy Rust-Steel Mountain and learned that their pilots were souls housed in mechanical bodies.
• Ian waited until the Construct Knights entered the Magnetic Storm Coil’s range, then unleashed a lightning storm that pinned them down.
• The lead Construct Knight overclocked its core, shattered part of the storm, and charged toward the Holy Mountain.
• Ian called Sheo into battle, and her Voidfire broke the Construct Knights’ psionic shields.
• The three Construct Knights joined into a moving steel fortress and pushed forward under the lightning barrage while Sheo dodged their heat rays.
• Ian’s white lightning struck the fortress, creating a huge blast and mushroom cloud as the Thunder-Striking Prophet fulfilled his prophecy.

Ian crossed Earthstorm Bridge and learned from Hua An about the types of Psionics as he and the Fairies traveled toward Bart Grand Station. Hua An revealed that the theorized fifth kind was called Genesis of Origin, or Cycle of Finality.

• Ian sensed that gravity was reduced over Earthstorm Bridge and concluded that the Bat Great Rift concealed more than a geothermal power station.
• Ian crossed the bridge with Hua An and Frost Butterfly and resolved to return someday for the festival and the rift's depths.
• Hua An taught Frost Butterfly about Fairy life, including how Fairies used Psionics to reduce their presence.
• Hua An explained the four known kinds of Psionics: Chosen, Awakening, Life, and Nature Psionics.
• Hua An told Ian that scholars theorized a fifth kind, a source manifestation combining the other four, called Genesis of Origin or Cycle of Finality.

Ian experienced the Redwood Great Elder’s memories and the Hive Mind’s longing to escape its underground prison, then rejected its offer to unite with it. He told the Hive Mind that no stars existed beyond their world’s Heavenly Prison, but vowed to find the truth and go Above the High Heavens.

• Ian felt the Great Elder’s yearning to leave Redwood Base and learned how Madara Qunsen secretly created the Hive Mind in pursuit of immortality.
• The Redwood People discovered that missing residents had been taken to a hidden laboratory, where their Brain Attachments were mutating and consuming their brains.
• The Hive Mind reached toward Ian through shared emotions and urged him to unite with it and break free from the Cage.
• Ian cut off the Hive Mind’s tendrils and explained that, despite their shared longing, he believed in reaching the stars rather than merely yearning for them.
• Ian revealed that the world was enclosed within the Heavenly Prison and declared that he would find the truth and go Above the High Heavens.

Ian and Hilliard recognized that Inspector Weges Gral’s attention could threaten Ian’s freedom and separate him from Elan. As Weges gained free rein in Harrison Port, Viscount Grant feared the inspector had come to earn merit and that his presence signaled a serious political threat.

• Hilliard warned Ian that his psionic talent could draw powerful people who might take him to the Royal True Knowledge Academy and leave Elan behind.
• Ian agreed that Weges was a huge problem for Harrison Port and called him a sky-sized problem.
• Weges Gral arrived in Harrison Port, and Viscount Grant gave him authority to inspect freely, with Knight Yam assigned to accompany him in name only.
• The chapter explained the Empire’s Energy Levels and noted that Weges stood at the peak of the Second Energy Level, close to the Third.
• Viscount Grant told Knight Yam and Lamar that Patrol Knights were usually Third Energy Level great knights and suspected Weges had come to earn merit.

Before returning to Xiahui Territory, Ian arranged South Sea Grand Labyrinth exploration schemes and reflected on the secrets and dangers he planned to pursue. He then saw Dragon Island in orbit and discovered that thousands of Void Realm Mech-Gods were converging on it, apparently responding to a threat from Void Realm demons.

• Ian instructed Azure Tide to recruit adventurers and mercenaries as shills for the South Sea Grand Labyrinth, including promoting a potion coating supposedly able to protect ships from Sha Sha.
• Ian said farewell to his acquaintances and relatives in Harrison Port and returned to his old workspace at White Room General Store.
• While gazing at the night sky, Ian considered Terra's hidden history, the dangers his plans posed to Xiahui Territory, and his resolve to revolutionize ascenders' supernatural profession.
• Ian spotted Dragon Island passing overhead and sensed a shift in psionic field energy across Terra.
• Ian entered the Void Realm and saw Urakan, the Purger, and countless other Void Realm Mech-Gods racing toward Dragon Island.
• Ian connected the Mech-Gods' gathering to their original mission of exterminating Void Realm demons and wondered what threat had drawn them to Dragon Island.

Ian saw a future in which the Spirit-Venerating Divine Church became Terra’s fifth orthodox church, established Spirit Gods across the world, and helped bring an age of relative peace. The vision ended with a planet-wide Spirit Calamity as the Void Realm collapsed and an embryo of the Void Spawn stirred at Terra’s core.

• Aviliwen failed to catch the dark-gold dragon after it erupted from Half-Moon Lake and fled the Terra Solar System at immense speed, while the Spirit-Venerating Divine Church gained renown for predicting the disaster.
• Ian recognized that the dragon intended to escape the Star-Prison and reflected on how Inaga II could have left Terra but chose to remain there.
• Ian saw that, by Terra Year 787, the Spirit-Venerating Divine Church had grown into a powerful regional institution through its doctrines, clergy, and Leyline Engine technology.
• Ian’s church revealed Spirit God technology to the world and used its authority to establish shared rules protecting souls, prompting major powers to create their own Spirit Gods and ushering in the Age of Gods.
• The Void Realm began collapsing across Terra, and Spirit Gods joined forces to shield the planet while investigating the catastrophe.
• Ian and the other gods traced the collapse to Terra’s core, where Ian recognized an embryo of the Void Spawn about to hatch.

After Harrison Port defeated the Redwood Natives, Viscount Grant gave Elder Pude the Azure Ripple Inscription and told him to teach Ian, while Yam reported that the natives’ ancestral holy land was the Pre-Epoch ruin cluster. The chapter left Grant regretting that he had killed a guard squad survivor who might have helped them locate it first.

• Ian saw that Hilliard had returned from his efforts against the sea beasts exhausted and visibly aged, but Hilliard avoided explaining what he had done.
• Elder Pude returned to Harrison Port with Yam and the guards after the city’s overwhelming victory over the Redwood Natives.
• Pude inspected the damaged Aether Armor and reported that the core inscription plate was intact, then Viscount Grant gave him the Azure Ripple Inscription and asked him to teach Ian.
• Grant privately recognized Ian’s potential and suspected he would master the material in less than ten years.
• Yam told Grant that the Redwood Natives’ ancient holy land was the Pre-Epoch ruin cluster, and Grant regretted killing a guard squad survivor who might have revealed its location.

Elder Pude recalled how his family’s discovery of a secret of immortality led Emperor Inyaga to condemn them and nearly destroy the family. As dawn broke, Ian returned safely, and Pude wondered whether he could uncover the truth of the past.

• As a storm kept Harrison Port awake, Pude held the sleeping Elan and remembered his lonely childhood and life as an explorer.
• Pude recalled returning from an expedition to hear his mother celebrate the Chehalorvo Family’s discovery of a secret she called immortality.
• Pude remembered Emperor Inyaga denouncing the discovery as evil and the family confessing their guilt before being purged and exiled.
• Pude questioned what mistake his family had made and asked whether Ian, if he was a true prophet, could find the answer.
• At dawn, Pude heard Ian’s familiar footsteps, recognized that he had returned safely, and invited him inside.

Ian considered the Silver Chip’s role as the key to the Eternal Labyrinth, then approached the dying Aether Crystal Dragon, which entrusted him with three eggs before swallowing him. Bishop White Mist suspected the dragon was transferring the Maze Lord’s authority to Ian.

• Ian reflected on the Eternal Labyrinth’s key and the danger of becoming its master, then returned to the group.
• Master Gose described the Aether Crystal Dragon as a powerful juvenile Titan, while Ian reasoned that it had adapted to an imitation Spark.
• The Aether Crystal Dragon called Ian to Crystal Island, sensed the Ancient Dragon Core within him, and placed three strengthened eggs before him.
• Ian understood that the dragon wanted the group to care for its offspring and agreed that they would be raised by the Empire.
• The Aether Crystal Dragon swallowed Ian, and Bishop White Mist stopped Isengard from attacking, suspecting a transfer of the Maze Lord’s authority.

Ian joined Teres and his squad to escort Fairy scholars into the Avak Region and investigate its dangerous psionic anomaly. As they prepared to fly out, Ian learned the Empire was gathering evidence to strip Grand Duke Solin of his title.

• Ian met Teres and arranged for his squad to escort the Fairy scholars, explaining that their mission was to study the psionic field and capture a phantom if possible.
• Teres described the Avak Region's symptoms, fungus-enhanced beasts, and increasingly powerful phantoms, including one that nearly wiped out a squad.
• Ian learned that Teres sought military merit to retire as a noble, but chose not to ask why he was in such a hurry.
• Ian confirmed that the Empire's Nobles' Court was preparing proceedings against Grand Duke Solin and could strip his title if evidence of responsibility for the Avak tragedy emerged.
• Ian and Teres reached the aircraft platform, where a disc-shaped UFO awaited them.

Ian deduced that a hidden Great Labyrinth in Canaanmore had raised the young Rust-Steel Dragon, and the Dragon-Worshiping Cult planned to find it while uncovering a mole working with Marquis Barton. Anfa and Elder Manyan agreed that Ian could be useful despite his ulterior motives, while news of his disappearance reached Harrison Port and Viscount Grant learned he was safe with the Avude Tribe.

• Ian concluded that the Rust-Steel Dragon had grown in a hidden Great Labyrinth beneath Canaanmore, and Anfa confirmed the cult had discovered the underground region and its Ruststeel vein.
• Elder Manyan returned the Ruststeel necklace to Anfa and said the cult would use the altar to locate the Dragon God's heir while working with Marquis Barton to find a mole.
• Anfa suspected Ian had deliberately used the mysterious black shadow to earn the cult's trust and observe them, but Elder Manyan said cooperation was enough as long as Ian meant them no harm.
• Anfa and Elder Manyan discussed their own motives for joining the Dragon-Worshiping Cult and agreed Southern Ridge would soon face turmoil.
• Reports of Ian's disappearance in the Bison Mountains reached Harrison Port, and Viscount Grant learned through private channels that Ian was safe and recuperating with the Avude Tribe.

Ian shared dinner with Mr. Silverfang in Twin Tree Town and learned how the Dragon-Worshiping Heretical Cult had escaped a crackdown in Nauman City after a dragon appeared. He began asking Mr. Silverfang to explain the cult and the Candlebearers.

• Ian ate Double-Tree Bread and dinner with Mr. Silverfang in Twin Tree Town.
• Ian wondered why Anfa had returned toward Twin Tree Town and concluded she was investigating the dragon connected to the Dragon-Worshiping Heretical Cult.
• Mr. Silverfang explained that the cult had fled Canaanmore with a precious treasure, then scattered after their ship sank at Blackstone Bay.
• Mr. Silverfang described how the Candlebearers, Defender Knights, and other factions pursued the cult in Nauman City, until a dragon's appearance let the cult members escape and left the city at a stalemate.
• Ian asked Mr. Silverfang what the Dragon-Worshiping Heretical Cult and the Candlebearers represented and why worshipping dragons was considered heretical.

A fire broke out at Osena’s house, and Ian escaped with Elan and the severely wounded man after claiming Redwood Natives had tried to abduct them. The neighbors rescued the brothers and questioned Ian about a native-made bundle he had been clutching.

• A fire engulfed Osena’s house, and Sainan realized Ian and Elan might be trapped inside.
• Sainan found Ian carrying Elan and dragging the unconscious, wounded “Osena,” then brought all three to safety.
• Ian told the neighbors that a Redwood Native had used sleeping smoke to abduct him and Elan, and that Osena had fought the intruders before a fire basin was knocked over.
• Ian said he had noticed the smoke because his head hurt and he could not sleep, then carried his brother and uncle out of the burning house.
• A herbalist spotted the native-made bundle in Ian’s hand and demanded to see it, but Ian said his uncle had told him to keep it safe.

Patrick weighed the dangers to his plans and considered recruiting the South Sea natives, while Ian studied a Giant Clam’s water-blade attack to overcome the Immovable Fortress’s lack of offensive options. The chapter ended with Ian building his first Ascended weapon, a handheld high-pressure water launcher.

• Patrick learned that the Duskleaf had been rammed open and reflected on the setbacks threatening his plan.
• Patrick reasoned that Isengard was safer in Harrison Port and considered how Aels’s protection of Ethan and Ian’s appraisal skills complicated his schemes.
• Ian dissected the Giant Clam at his workshop and analyzed the pressurized water sac behind its water-blade attack.
• Ian used the Silver Chip’s blueprints to build a handheld high-pressure water launcher in an hour and a half.

Ian questioned Bishop White Mist about the Church of Light's Embrace recognizing Hilliard and refusing to help the Empire arrest him. White Mist explained the Church’s neutrality during Inaga II’s fall and revealed that Inaga’s choice to become a Maze Lord marked the beginning of a possible calamity, leaving Ian uncertain whether to trust the Church.

• Bishop White Mist told Ian that Light's Embrace had recognized Hilliard but had kept silent and would not help the Empire arrest him.
• White Mist explained that Hilliard had asked the Church to take Ian away if a crisis overwhelmed Harrison Port and the South Sea, but Ian had resolved the crises himself.
• Ian asked why the Church had not helped Inaga II during the Dark Moon Turmoil, and White Mist said the Church had stayed neutral rather than risk becoming part of a calamity.
• White Mist revealed that Inaga II had chosen to become a Maze Lord, though the Church knew nothing more about why that choice could lead to the world's destruction.
• White Mist asked Ian to share information about future calamities, but Ian remained unsure whether he could trust the Church completely.

Ian arrived at World Tree Capital and learned how the Ten King Bloods controlled Canaanmore’s industries and cooperated despite their rivalries. When Anfa encountered her hereditary enemies, Ian interrupted their familiar exchange of insults and urged them to move aside so he could inspect the city.

• Ian landed in World Tree Capital with Isengard and observed its spacecraft-like passages and advanced infrastructure.
• Isengard offered Ian a crystal tablet terminal pilot qualification, and Anfa led the group toward the exit.
• Anfa explained that the Ten King Bloods controlled nearly every industry in Canaanmore and coordinated to protect the nation despite their conflicts.
• Anfa said the Ten King Bloods were united by their need to face the Azure Heaven Royal Court and Terra’s natural disasters, though they still undermined one another.
• Anfa encountered Jegona and his companions, who traded insults with her over her family, bloodline, and prosthetic body.
• Ian interrupted the argument and told the Elves to move aside because he was in a hurry to inspect World Tree Capital.

Ian killed the Blazing Flame Lands captain and his two soldiers, then confronted the Machina Church survivors in the Southern Sea Ruins. He let the nun inspect the case of combat data before she destroyed it, and both Church members died after asking him to preserve their databases and erase the evidence of their visit.

• The Blazing Flame Lands captain ordered his two soldiers to attack Ian, but Ian killed the soldiers with his bare hands and beheaded the captain with a stream of water.
• Ian took the captain’s Wind-Shifting Longsword and told the Machina Church nun and priest to die and erase their memories of the Southern Sea Ruins.
• The priest opened his mechanized brain for Ian to inspect, then ceased his vital signs, leaving his database behind.
• The nun explained that the case in her chest contained combat data that would transmit outside the ruins, and Ian inspected it before returning it to her.
• The nun destroyed the case and opened her brain, asking Ian to preserve the Church members’ databases and destroy their bodies; Ian agreed, and she died.