Chapter Summaries

After questioning the mysteries surrounding Baron Layan and the Ephemeral Skull, Ian decided the matter was too important to ignore, but chose to focus first on his own advancement. He completed and drank the Second Energy Level Fairy magic potion, becoming Second Energy Level.

• Ian questioned Baron Layan's missing hand, his psionic children, and the Ephemeral Skull's possible influence on the future he had foreseen.
• Ian concluded that the Ephemeral Skull made Baron Layan's affairs relevant to him, even though he lacked enough information to understand the conspiracies.
• Ian took the completed Psionic Nourishment Extract to the Platinum-Iridium Workshop's alchemy laboratory and prepared the Fairy magic potion.
• Ian drank the potion, and its Origin Matter patterns spread across his body as the Silver Chip loaded the necessary structures.
• Ian successfully advanced to Second Energy Level.

After learning that Baron Layan’s wife and child had died in a storm, Ian connected the baron’s activities to psychic powers and Echo, then chose to investigate despite promising the viscount he would leave. He met Sister Reflected Light outside Layan City, where they uncovered a corpse-burial site and agreed to exchange information.

• The viscount told Ian that Baron Layan’s wife and child had died in the Great Storm six years earlier and warned him not to get involved.
• Ian connected the missing children, psychic abilities, the Ephemeral Skull, and Echo, then resolved to investigate while hiding his identity and advanced strength.
• Ian arrived at a Rosy Radiance Grass field outside Layan City and found Sister Reflected Light preparing to dig.
• Ian and Sister Reflected Light excavated a pit and found a fleshless adult skeleton with cutting marks on its bones.
• Sister Reflected Light explained that the area concealed corpses buried by Baron Layan and offered Ian the choice to help investigate or report the matter.
• Ian declined to explain his discovery immediately and proposed that he and Sister Reflected Light exchange intelligence.

Ian fought The Final Echo in soul space and learned that the Echoes sought to create a Spark from the Xenobiology Research Institute’s bloodlines and information. The Echo revealed that the Star Gods had created life and True Aether, but the chapter ended as it named the Demon of Terminus, a twisted gravitational lifeform that emerged from a black hole.

• Ian summoned a three-headed Ultimate Crystal Dragon, a Rampaging Colossus, Swarm units, and Terminator Units to battle the Echos’ dragons, Titans, and war armor.
• Ian and The Final Echo fought to a stalemate, each side repeatedly restoring its fallen soul armies while their commanders’ computational power was consumed.
• The Final Echo explained that it wanted to gather Terra’s bloodlines and the Xenobiology Research Institute’s records to create a Spark.
• Ian proposed that the Star Gods had created the Sparks and that Terra’s Calamity of Falling Skies had followed the crash of a Star God Vessel, but The Final Echo angrily told him the Star Gods were dead.
• The Final Echo revealed that the Star Gods had created the universe’s life, spread Origin Matter and psionic power, and established the Great Aetheric Current and True Inscriptions.
• The Final Echo said that the Demon of Terminus had emerged through True Aether from the event horizon of the Terminus Star, a black hole.

Ian and Crown Prince Carlos tested each other with layered deceptions, revealing Ian’s perceptiveness and Carlos’s knowledge of his prophetic reputation. Carlos disclosed that the peach juice was poisoned, but Ian purified and consumed the venom unharmed, while Carlos recalled that a similar trick had once affected the First Knight.

• Ian deduced that Carlos had used a light-based illusion to make it seem as though he had fetched purple peach juice, though he had stayed on the sofa.
• Carlos revealed that the drink was ordinary peach juice and explained that he had noticed Ian’s Origin Matter touch his own, ending the test.
• Carlos told Ian that all four orthodox churches had quietly investigated the prophet claim and that their silence meant they considered him either an ordinary person or a true prophet.
• Ian thought of Linda, an Artificial Psionic who could control the prophet relic Ephemeral Skull, and inferred that the Spirit Cognition Institute might be creating users for prophet relics.
• Carlos revealed that Ian’s peach juice contained Moonlight Snake venom, but Ian crystallized the poison in his body and ate it without harm.
• Carlos praised Ian’s abilities and said a similar deception had once fooled the First Knight when he had let down his guard.

The chapter explained the Spirit Cognition Institute’s experiments into psionic abilities and its search for an all-purpose power born from enduring every kind of pain. As the laboratory director worried about the Phantom King and the fallout from a disaster that had erased experimental data, Ian arrived.

• The Spirit Cognition Institute’s experiments showed that psionic abilities often compensated for losses and reflected the experiment subjects’ strongest desires and emotions.
• The Institute defined its goal as awakening an ultimate ability, the “Savior of the Nameless,” in a soul capable of surviving every form of pain.
• The Grand Duke’s Core Project was revealed to be the Phantom King, also called the Undead Monarch of Yore, whose recovery could threaten the laboratory.
• The director lamented that the disaster had destroyed observation subjects and data, and worried he might be silenced or forced into hiding.
• Ian arrived at Avak Central Laboratory.

Nine days after the Southern Ridge victory, Ian consolidated control over the province and traveled with Marquis Barton to the Western Border as the Empire prepared its counteroffensive. There, Ian witnessed a vast, weapon-covered city lift into the sky, heralding a new age of war.

• Ian used food relief and wartime production controls to settle refugees and tighten Silverpeak Domain's control over Southern Ridge's industry.
• Ian and Marquis Barton agreed on a new order for Southern Ridge's nobles, rewarding those who had contributed to the war and reducing the influence of others.
• Ian and Marquis Barton boarded an airship for the Western Border, where fortresses saluted the Hero of Southern Ridge.
• Ian sensed that the Empire's growing wave of battlefield heroes was changing the Void Realm, while Marquis Barton suggested the Emperor was guiding that change.
• Ian arrived at the Western Border and watched a heavily armed black city rise into the sky.

Viscount Grant gathered the four keys as a massive swarm of Thunderhunter Jellyfish converged, while the Water Key revealed its connection to the changing ruins. Patrick ambushed Grant, but Grant and the Aether Armor—now piloted by Elder Pude—prepared to face him together.

• Viscount Grant worried that the Deepsea Crystal Dragon could reach the Second Energy Level and make the mission impossible.
• More than a thousand Thunderhunter Jellyfish appeared, and the Water Key began glowing in response to the approaching storm.
• Three keys flew from the Crocodile Dragon's corpse to Viscount Grant, who realized that the keys reacted to changes in the ruins.
• Patrick ambushed Viscount Grant with lightning, but the Aether Armor blocked the attack with a wall of water mist.
• Viscount Grant revealed Patrick in the clouds and declared that he was not alone as the Aether Armor rose beside him.
• Elder Pude revealed that he was piloting the Aether Armor and said his decades of repairs had taught him how to operate it.

Ian introduced Terra’s Heart’s newborn blessing, which monitored infants’ health and growth while connecting them to its network, then announced nine-year compulsory education across the Southern Ridge Grand Duchy. His reforms and invitation to immigrants alarmed Blazing Flame Lands, whose King of Embers considered how to respond.

• Adalbert’s universal vaccine was widely adopted in Southern Ridge, and Azure Tide and Roland considered whether to let Terra’s Heart bless their newborn children.
• Ian personally blessed both infants, revealing that the system monitored their health, guided their development, and connected them to Terra’s Heart’s network.
• Ian told Azure Tide and Roland that the blessing drew on Mechanized Spirit Order technology and that a future function would involve a choice of wisdom.
• Ian announced nine-year compulsory education, aptitude testing, and support for children, while inviting immigrants to join Silverpeak Domain.
• The King of Embers recognized Ian’s policies as a campaign aimed at drawing residents away from Blazing Flame Lands and asked his ministers whether to allow emigration or counterattack.

Ian killed an elite Redwood Native hunter who attacked him in Harrison Port and took the hunter’s wind-shielding rain cape. As Ian hurried home to protect Elan, an explosion at the Viscount’s manor revealed that the natives’ plan was larger than he had expected.

• Ian caught a poisoned thorn thrown by a Redwood Native hunter and wounded him with a hurled stone slab.
• Ian dodged the hunter’s elbow strike, used his rain cape to throw him to the ground, and killed him.
• Ian discovered that the hunter’s rain cape carried an inscription that shielded its wearer from the gale, and he took it.
• Ian headed home to protect Elan and considered arming himself as reports and screams of native attacks spread through Harrison Port.
• An explosion sent black smoke rising from the Viscount’s manor, shocking Ian.

Ian discovered a message accusing Redwood’s great elder, Madara Qunsen, of replacing the Inheritance Mainframe and altering the Blood Echo of the Ancestors, linking the ruins’ history to the Chehalorvo Family’s secret ties to Echo and immortality. Unsure whether the connection was real, he kept his findings to himself and headed back to the group, where Azure Tide found him.

• Ian examined the murals and concluded that the great elder who united the four tribes had caused the Redwood People to leave the base.
• Ian moved the skeleton beneath the unfinished mural and uncovered a message accusing Madara Qunsen of opening the Forbidden Gate, altering the Blood Echo of the Ancestors, and replacing the Inheritance Mainframe.
• Ian connected the message’s references to Echo and immortality with the secret behind the Chehalorvo Family’s exile and wondered whether his ancestors had found Echo in a similar ruin.
• Ian decided not to tell Master Gose or Ethan until he understood Echo and the taboo that had led to his family’s exile.
• Ian returned toward the group intending to ask Isengard about the team, but Azure Tide found him on the way.

Ian consumed a potion made from the Ellen Family’s gifted materials and completed his advancement to the Second Energy Level, gaining the bloodline of a Great Fairy. His new perception, transformed ascension organs, and added abilities left him with a seven-organ Fairy bloodline and room to add one more organ.

• Ian emerged from the alchemy laboratory after refining and consuming a powerful potion, while the Poyin Workshop employees assumed he had made a superior Frostflow Potion.
• Ian sensed the permanent changes to his body and discovered that his Fairy bloodline let him perceive everything within a sixty-meter radius, including behind him.
• Ian’s Microtide Pearl became Fairy’s Ice-Tide Pearl, and his degenerated Wave-Singer’s Throat formed the new Misty Jade organ, allowing him to control water and frost more precisely.
• Ian’s Fairy Wings gained the Cold Comet Skeleton, which stored Frostblood for high-speed movement and attacks powered by freezing jets.
• Ian’s other potion materials formed Fairy’s Lamplight and the Spirit-Matter Storage Core, strengthening his Origin Seed and enabling rapid recovery of spiritual power and mental injuries.
• Ian finished with seven ascension organs, one more than a typical Second Energy Level Fairy, and could still add another organ.

Ian and Hua An jointly shaped Frost Butterfly into a Fairy, giving her a form inspired by the Silver Knight and knowledge about human society. Frost Butterfly awakened and called Ian “Father,” while she still needed time to understand her new body and thoughts.

• Ian invited Hua An to help shape Frost Butterfly and establish part of her appearance as her senior.
• Hua An and Ian joined their psychic powers to shape Frost Butterfly and give her a small amount of knowledge.
• Frost Butterfly emerged with an armored form, X-shaped wings, and features resembling both Ian and Hua An.
• Hua An celebrated Frost Butterfly’s successful shaping and spirit awakening, while Ian asked whether her new body felt alright.
• Frost Butterfly softly told Ian she was well and called him “Father.”

Ian convinced Master Gose to help conceal his identity during the Xenobiology Research Institute expedition, then revealed a highly developed Soul Light Body. He learned the danger behind Anfa’s choice between remaining an Elf and becoming a True Dragon, promised to seek a solution, and ended by receiving evidence that Isengard suspected his true identity.

• Master Gose warned Ian that using Gloomvale’s identity would expose him to Crown Prince Carlos and other powerful figures, but agreed that Mahdi should draw attention away from Ian.
• Ian manifested his Soul Light Body, Guiding Star, stunning Isengard and Anfa with its strength and control.
• Master Gose said the exploration teams would depart for Half-Moon Lake in two days and arranged for Ian to meet Crown Prince Carlos the next day.
• Anfa explained that within five years she had to choose between becoming an Elf with dragon blood or a True Dragon, and Ian recognized that she feared losing her identity to the True Dragon Spark’s information.
• Ian promised to explore whether a Meditation Method could help Anfa preserve herself, and she thanked him for treating her problem seriously.
• Isengard gave Ian a list of Master Gose’s recent research projects and said he suspected Ian was Great-Grandfather’s heir.

Ian and Hilliard discovered that Redwood Forest natives had taken control of Ian’s home and were holding Elan. Ian planned a rescue that would keep his younger brother safe, asking Hilliard to handle the guards while he confronted their leader.

• Hilliard explained that psychics could control their bodies through willpower, though impersonating an existing person still risked detection.
• Ian sensed four natives inside his home and saw that Elan’s fate was in grave danger.
• Hilliard prepared to attack, but Ian stopped him because Elan was being held hostage.
• Ian identified the natives’ positions and proposed entering through the kitchen window.
• Ian asked Hilliard to deal with the three guards while he handled the native leader holding Elan.

After Isengard’s advancement revealed his Sun God Bird heritage and an unusual neural network, Ian suspected he was part of an experiment designed to reproduce dual inheritances. Isengard gained control of his new abilities and strengthened Ian with his blood, and the two prepared to depart for Half-Moon Lake.

• Ian and Isengard speculated that Afrina Ellen had been an earlier experimental subject and that Isengard’s bloodlines were engineered to imitate the Silver Chip’s ability to combine inheritances.
• A glowing Setar Royal Family mark appeared on Isengard’s forehead, granting him flight, and Ian helped him bring its power under control.
• Ian theorized that the Light-Eater Dragon was a form of biological colonization armor and discussed how Isengard should conceal his most unusual abilities from Master Gesai.
• Isengard shared his blood with Ian, granting him simultaneous enhancements and light-based communication through their fused bloodlines.
• Ian told Isengard that the international exploration teams had gathered near the ruins, and they prepared to leave for Half-Moon Lake.

Olei Ronggang secretly sabotaged the rebel Mountain Folk’s defenses and withdrew his tribe as Ian arrived with Sheo and Kede Jiamu’s severed head. Ian overwhelmed the remaining resistance and forced the rebel forces to surrender, ending the war.

• Olei delayed the battle with false promises, then secretly ordered the Ronggang Tribe to withdraw and sabotage the rebel forces’ communications and weapons.
• Ian arrived on Sheo and announced that Kede Jiamu was dead, displaying his head as he demanded the rebels surrender.
• Ian entered the battlefield and killed those who attacked him, freezing the ground as he advanced toward the rebel artillery.
• Sheo descended behind Ian, and he declared himself the Dragon God's heir and the fated lord of the Mountain Folk.
• The rebel Mountain Folk bowed before Ian, and the war ended.

Ian learned that the Blazing Flame Lands had unleashed a beast tide by using Abyss technology to corrupt Magic Beasts and turn lesser demons into beast demons, so he mobilized Silverpeak Domain and Southern Ridge’s forces. As the armies clashed, conventional artillery failed against the Demon Legion’s Cursed Earth, and Ian prepared to fulfill his prophecy by going to the front line himself.

• Marquis Barton warned Ian that the Magic Beasts in the Golden Plains had gone mad, and the Gale Dragon King confirmed that Abyssal mental contamination caused the frenzy.
• A terror robot recorded the Demon Legion creating towering beast demons from Magic Beast flesh and lesser demons, prompting Ian to order Heartbane to investigate the Cursed Earth and prepare the defenders.
• Ian ordered Scott, Azure Tide, and Marquis Barton to mobilize Silverpeak Domain’s forces and prepare to defend the edge of the Golden Plains.
• In July of Terra Year 775, Silverpeak Domain’s mechanical army and the Nineteenth Legion marched against the Demon Legion as Southern Ridge artillery opened fire.
• The Demon Legion evaded most of the bombardment by shifting into the Cursed Earth, while the larger beast demons endured and rapidly recovered from artillery strikes.
• Marquis Barton advised Ian to conceal himself and wait for a chance to strike Death Knell, but Ian declared that he would go to the front line and fulfill his prophecy.

Radiant Sword led Reflected Light and Redemptive Light beneath the Holy Mountain and revealed the corpses of several Outer Gods, including the Faceless God sealed below them. He explained that Light’s Embrace opposed the Outer Gods’ destructive descents but would accept humanity’s choice to embrace them, leaving the women with the truth behind the Church’s creed.

• Reflected Light noticed the passage walls and steps changing as Radiant Sword led her and Redemptive Light deeper beneath the Holy Mountain.
• Radiant Sword illuminated the passage and revealed it was formed from the corpse of the Alien Serpent Emperor, then described the ancient being and its surviving legacy among humanity.
• The three passed through the remains of the Illusory Giant Algae, and Radiant Sword explained that its living Central Nexus was suppressed beneath the Holy Mountain.
• Radiant Sword described other sites where colossal beings’ remains suppressed threats, and told Reflected Light and Redemptive Light that Outer Gods repeatedly descended on Terra because it was the chosen place.
• At the bottom of the End Doctrine, Radiant Sword revealed the Faceless God’s dormant body and explained that Light’s Embrace would not oppose humanity if it chose to accept the Outer Gods.

Yafda Silver Gate recalled how his brother’s death and inheritance shaped his rise to Speaker, then admitted to Anfa that he had tacitly permitted an attack on the Siren to expose Master Gravi’s capabilities. Aboard the repaired ship, Gravi told Ian that Canaanmore’s divided politics doomed its future and began explaining the origins of its two parties.

• Yafda remembered his brother’s advice that the weak could only secure the lives they wanted by becoming strong, then inherited his brother’s nearly complete Ring of Radiance after his death.
• Anfa confronted Yafda about the attack on the Siren, and he admitted that it had been tacitly permitted by members of the Continuity Party to test Master Gravi and learn what he could do.
• Yafda explained that Gravi’s research threatened the Elves and that Ian’s intervention had prevented Gravi from revealing his true methods.
• Master Gravi told Ian that Canaanmore’s conflict between the Continuity Party and the Pillar Party left the Elves without a future.
• Ian asked about Canaanmore’s political forces, and Gravi began tracing the parties’ origins to the Elven mercenaries who followed the Star-Chasing Khan in conquering the Azure Sky Royal Horde.

Ian assessed the Blazing Flame Lands’ invasion and the devastation across the Western Border, then coordinated Southern Ridge’s emergency preparations. Marquis Barton revealed that the Empire planned to endure two months before a counterstroke, and Ian secured the authority he needed to place Southern Ridge under wartime administration and connect it to Silverpeak Domain’s network.

• Ian told his companions that the Void Realm had turned black with resentment and that the Blazing Flame Lands had deployed demon technology.
• Ian assigned Scott, Azure Tide, Roland, Old Fal, and Sheo tasks to prepare refugee camps, guard trainees, accelerate construction, preserve research, and receive the Fairies.
• Ian assessed the Demon Legion’s destruction of the Western Border and learned from Marquis Barton that the Empire’s available forces could not hold the Golden Plains alone.
• Marquis Barton said the Empire had countermeasures involving the City of Knowledge and the sky, but Southern Ridge had to hold out for two months while the Empire endured humiliation.
• Ian asked Marquis Barton to declare Southern Ridge under full wartime military administration and authorize the Southern Ridge Province Mutual Aid Network under Silverpeak Domain’s leadership.