Chapter Summaries

A Fourth Energy Level Ascendant revealed himself over the Avak Region, turning the crisis into a confrontation between the Skyflood King and Mikael Setar. As their battle engulfed the region, Ian recognized the chaos as an opportunity to act.

• The Skyflood King appeared in his Aether True Form, called out Mikael, Moze, and Split, and demanded that Split reveal his plan.
• The Skyflood King unleashed lightning on survivors and teams across the Avak Region, sparing the Church of Light's Embrace.
• Mikael stopped the lightning and manifested his True Sun Divine Bird Aether True Form to confront the Skyflood King.
• The two Fourth Energy Level powerhouses fought above the region, while a lightning bolt sent the Mountain-Bearing Giant Turtle fleeing.
• Teres ordered his team to scatter and hide as everyone scrambled for shelter, giving Ian an opportunity to act.

Master Gose joined the proctors and wagered with Masters Alexei and Vana on which examinee would rank highest. Ian considered how to make the most valuable potion from the test materials, then used Precognitive Vision to inspect other examinees, prompting Alexei to accuse him of cheating.

• Master Gose entered the conference room with Isengard, Waldo, and Kalansir and reviewed Ian's test question.
• Master Gose proposed a wager on the examinees' rankings, and Alexei and Vana chose their own candidates.
• Master Vana picked a candidate she favored, and the three masters resumed watching the test.
• Ian assessed the supplied ingredients and considered several potions, concluding that the Full Enhancement Potion was most valuable but lacked ingredients for healing.
• Ian used Precognitive Vision to observe other examinees as they crafted, and Master Alexei asked whether using psychic power was cheating.

Scott and Adalbert coordinated Layan City's defenses while Blue Lightning's mercenaries repelled a Mountain Folk flanking force, and Ian led a Magnetic Storm Armor counterattack that broke the main army. Ian killed Chieftain Iron Dust, the Mountain Folk fled, and Layan City celebrated victory.

• Scott used Adalbert's vision through the mist to identify a Mountain Folk flanking force heading toward Layan Lake and ordered Blue Lightning to reinforce the defenses.
• Blue Lightning and his mercenaries used the Magnetic Storm Coil and a minefield to defeat the Mountain Folk ambush force.
• Ian led more than thirty suits of Magnetic Storm Armor around behind the Mountain Folk main army and charged its rear.
• Ian fought Chieftain Iron Dust and cut him and his guards in half, killing Iron Dust and causing the Mountain Folk army to collapse.
• Scott ordered artillery support as Layan City's defenders fired on the fleeing Mountain Folk, and the city cheered Ian's return.

Ian learned that Adalbert carried much of Inyaga's Inheritance and accepted the Dead River Armament after Grand Duke Solin left. Touching the Armament stirred its lingering hatred and despair, triggering a new evolution of Ian's Precognitive Vision and revealing a golden path: a Prophet's Omen.

• Grand Duke Solin fired Adalbert and instructed him to follow Ian, who agreed to help the researcher while acknowledging the dangers of the Undead Monarch and Dead River technologies.
• Ian warned Grand Duke Solin that the Empire and the Blazing Flame Lands would betray him and that his duchy faced destruction, then realized the Spirit Cognition Institute's true goal was connected to Echo.
• Grand Duke Solin took the souls inside the Dead River Armament with him but left the Armament and its remaining dead souls to Ian and Adalbert.
• Ian touched the Armament and felt the hatred and despair of a million souls still clinging to it.
• Ian's Precognitive Vision evolved, and he saw a golden road amid the Armament's darkness, identifying it as a Prophet's Omen.

Ian discovered that the Terra Dragon Legacy was sealed inside an apparently impenetrable Star-Prison, but Elan’s Retrospective Vision revealed how Inaga II had opened it with a magnetic monopole. The Terra Dragon’s memories then carried Ian back sixteen hundred years to witness the Star-Prison’s creation and hear that he must choose whether to repair the Cradle or open it and face Terminus.

• Ian tested physical force, Origin Matter, and psychic power against the Star-Prison, but none could affect it.
• Ian asked Elan to use Retrospective Vision to search the area for Inaga II, and they witnessed Inaga II and Hilliard discussing the sealed Dragon Crystal.
• Ian saw Inaga II use a magnetic monopole, enabled by the Imperial Capital’s high-energy systems, to open the Star-Prison and take part of the Terra Dragon Legacy.
• The emotion within the remaining Dragon Crystal triggered Ian’s stronger Retrospective Vision, carrying him back to the Terra Dragon’s final moments.
• The Terra Dragon showed Ian how it created the Star-Prison and told him to decide whether to repair the wall or open it and walk toward Terminus.

The Light-Embracing Rescue Team reached the labyrinth’s exit with the rescued souls, while Ian chose to remain behind and pursue the danger and opportunity revealed by his Precognitive Vision. He headed alone with Frost Butterfly toward the labyrinth’s deepest reaches, determined to end the suffering and follow a new Path.

• The Light-Embracing Rescue Team recognized Ian’s formidable help and prepared to leave the Subspace Labyrinth.
• Reflected Light gave Ian a Light-Element Purification Potion and warned him to retreat if his task became impossible.
• The birdfolk archer bade Ian farewell and gave him a note listing taverns on the Eastern Plains of the Empire.
• Ian entrusted Sheo’s soul and the Fairy souls to Radiant Sword, who arranged for the team to rest in Azure City and potentially provide Ian an alibi.
• Ian watched the rescue team leave, then turned toward the crimson and golden radiance in his Precognitive Vision.
• Ian and Frost Butterfly entered the deepest reaches of the Subspace Labyrinth as Ian set out to end the suffering and follow his chosen Path.

Ian summoned every version of himself and sacrificed his accumulated power to turn the black hole seal into a beacon, drawing Terminus away from Terra and ascending as the first newborn Star God. He crossed the universe into the Icebound Void, where the Star Gods welcomed him, and the first part of his journey ended with him reaching the stars he had long dreamed of touching.

• Ian gathered countless versions of himself and poured their histories into the Sutton Black Hole Seal.
• Ian sacrificed his Aether True Form, Soul Light Body, Guiding Star, and Pioneer Space to expose the seal’s singularity and draw Cradle Terminus toward him.
• Ian left Terra, forged a miniature universe around the black hole, and guided Terminus through the universe toward its center.
• Ian used Jinyuan Dao to cross to the universe’s center and entered the Icebound Void, followed by countless Terminuses.
• Ian stepped toward the passage beyond the universe, becoming the first newborn Star God to ascend without another Star God’s guidance.
• The Star Gods turned to greet Ian, and he raised his teacher’s telescope as he finally saw and touched the stars.

Ian fought the King of Embers and learned that Flame Reincarnation was a plan to preserve civilization by turning humanity into artificial demons, then repeatedly rebuilding the world from stored human data. Ian left the battle horrified after realizing the King of Embers had sustained the cycle for two hundred million years.

• Ian read the King of Embers' past through Precognitive Vision and discovered that he had once become the King's godson and Crown Prince.
• Ian asked about Flame Reincarnation, and the King of Embers revealed that it would transform humanity into demons capable of surviving the world's destruction in the Void Realm.
• The King of Embers explained that the Mechanized Spirit Order's Apocalypse Server would preserve human soul-data and that he would ignite the chaotic Void Realm to restart civilization through endless reincarnation.
• Ian recognized that the preserved human memories would never change and asked whether the King of Embers alone had been burning to maintain the cycle.
• Back in reality, Ian exclaimed that the King of Embers had burned for two hundred million years and demanded to know how he had managed it.

Ian surveyed the battle at Atlan Megacity, discovered an enemy squad infiltrating toward the Terra Dragon’s remains, and secured Imperial authorization to intervene. He plunged into the attackers while the hidden guardian Moltenlight Coral wondered where the unexpected dragon had come from.

• Ian flew above the battlefield and recognized that the Empire’s defenders were fighting forces from Farshore Island, the Blazing Flame Lands, and the Seven Cities Alliance.
• Ian used Precognitive Vision to spot an enemy squad infiltrating Atlan Megacity toward the remains of the Terra Dragon.
• Ian contacted Count Tesov, identified himself as the Empire’s trump card, and received friendly access authorization.
• Ian plunged toward the infiltrators in a burst of cyan-red lightning and thunder.
• Viscount Kela Light Coral watched Ian strike the enemy squad and wondered whether the Empire had another hidden guardian.

The chapter recounts how the Twins’ mutual-aid society became Light’s Embrace as human cooperation faded and the Terra Federation collapsed. After witnessing Terran Humanity divide and wage war, the Swarm vowed to keep helping people through disasters while waiting for humanity to reclaim its identity as Terrans—or to become the new Terrans if humanity destroyed itself.

• The Twins led a mutual-aid society that rescued shelters and workers through centuries of disasters, but the fall of the High Tower and the Terra Federation caused the idea of Terrans to fade.
• When a shelter imprisoned and exploited one of the society’s members for their healing blood, the Twins realized that mutual aid alone no longer commanded trust and founded Light’s Embrace as a church.
• As Light’s Embrace, the Swarm intervened in a war to protect the invaded side, then opposed that side when it retaliated against its defeated enemies and demanded that both sides stop treating each other as alien peoples.
• The Swarm withdrew from human conflicts but vowed to keep resisting disasters and threats beyond humanity while waiting for Terran Humanity to unite again.
• Ian asked the Twin Popes whether they wanted to become human, and the Swarm replied that it would join the Terrans if humanity reclaimed that identity or become the new Terrans if humanity destroyed itself.

Ian’s reforms expanded education and brought information terminals and games to Xiahui Territory, while the Mountain Folk searched for the Ice-Mist Dragon’s remains. The chapter ended with Shadowmeld, a Demon Fusion Entity sent by the Nemasas Primal Stone Research Institute, infiltrating the territory to uncover its secrets.

• Ian ordered the Mountain Folk tribes near the central Bison Mountains to search for the Ice-Mist Dragon’s remains or the Land of Return to Heaven.
• City Hall’s efforts and incentives encouraged families across Xiahui Territory to send their children to school.
• With Canaanmore’s help, Xiahui Territory launched an information network, and Terra’s Heart took control of its local system.
• Ian introduced simple games on information terminals, which became popular across Xiahui Territory.
• On January 1st, Terra year 775, Shadowmeld entered Xiahui Territory disguised as a farmer seeking work as a brewer.
• Shadowmeld’s handlers ordered it to discover why spies had vanished and, if possible, fuse with an important official and return with his memories.

The Surging Wave Tribe’s chief and shaman accepted that their people needed to move beside Harrison Port and follow its instructions. Ian visited the South Sea Labyrinth with Sha Sha and discovered that the Aether Crystal Dragon’s corpse had become part of Crystal Island, where its egg remained healthy.

• The Surging Wave Tribe’s chief and shaman discussed relocating beside Harrison Port to receive livestock and acknowledged that their old way of life had passed.
• The chief and shaman sensed a powerful Ironclad Shark near Odell Reef but chose not to warn Harrison Port.
• Ian welcomed Sha Sha, whose wounds had fully healed and whose size had increased.
• Ian rode Sha Sha through the South Sea Labyrinth entrance to the Crystal Dragon’s former nest.
• Ian found that the Aether Crystal Dragon’s corpse had merged with Crystal Island and saw that the dragon egg remained healthy.

Ian theorized that the Star Gods and Terminus were waging a war between radically transformed universes, with the Cradles preserving civilizations while the Star Gods prepared a counterattack. He decided to seek the Terra Dragon’s Inheritance in the Imperial Capital and first make his journey politically justified by conquering the Blazing Flame Lands.

• Ian studied his friends’ Soul Light Bodies and concluded they were closely related to the origins of psionics and the Aether True Form.
• Reflecting on his Earth memories, Ian theorized that the Star Gods and Terminus had transformed separate universes in opposing ways, and that the Cradles sheltered civilizations from Terminus’s influence.
• Ian reasoned that the Star Gods might be hiding within the Cradles while studying Terminus, and considered creating a small Cradle to protect himself beyond the Terra Cradle.
• Isengard told Ian that the Terra Dragon’s Inheritance was likely sealed beneath the Imperial Capital’s Central Nexus, which neither ruling faction could currently enter.
• Ian announced that he would establish an unparalleled achievement before returning to the Imperial Capital, then declared that it was time to wipe out the Blazing Flame Lands.

Ian underwent surgery with Adalbert to replace his heart with an Origin Matter Furnace Core and install an Earthvein Source Crystal, Flashcurrent Silver Skeleton, and mithril circuitry, advancing his self-created Arcane Path. After the successful operation, the Silver Chip recorded his transformation, and the Seer sensed a greeting from the Primordial Aether Flow addressed to pioneers across parallel worlds.

• Adalbert examined Ian's unusual ascension organs and realized Ian planned to replace his heart with an Origin Matter Furnace Core, using an Earthvein Source Crystal and magnetic confinement to power his body.
• Ian admitted he had been too confident about performing the operation alone, and Adalbert agreed to help him.
• Adalbert removed Ian's heart, shifted the Origin Matter Furnace Core into its place, embedded the Earthvein Source Crystal, and installed the Flashcurrent Silver Skeleton and mithril lines.
• Ian briefly questioned the point of his ambitions after losing his heart, then reaffirmed that he pursued his dream and convictions for himself.
• Adalbert completed the surgery, and the Silver Chip recorded Ian's new modules, fused bloodline forms, and Arcane ascension as a pioneering path.
• The Seer sensed the Primordial Aether Flow greet pioneers who were forging new paths across parallel worlds.

Carlos explained the Apocalypse Core’s origins and revealed that generations of Ridgehold Grand Dukes were descendants of Apocalypse Armament: Dawn. Ian deduced how Ridgehold’s history connected to Inaga II and the Terra Dragon’s inheritance, agreed to visit Ridgehold later, and began preparing to reshape the Void Realm before the Fairies’ early arrival interrupted him.

• Carlos explained that the Apocalypse Core contained a True Aether Furnace and powerful weapons, and that the Elster Family built Ridgehold around it.
• Carlos revealed that the Ridgehold Grand Dukes had made Apocalypse Armament: Dawn their spouse, and that each generation descended from it.
• Ian inferred that Inaga II had given Ridgehold the remaining permissions from the Terra Dragon’s inheritance and had helped ease its conflict with the Empire.
• Ian told Carlos to inform the Ridgehold Grand Duke that he would visit after sorting through his new authority and power.
• Ian announced that he intended to bring order to the Void Realm, but the Fairies arrived early and interrupted his call with Carlos.

Ian identified the Nightmare Spawn as a projection of a galaxy-level Void Spawn and wondered what True Dragons were. The director recovered from its fear aura and ordered it to attack Ian.

• The Nightmare Spawn’s appearance filled the monitoring room with terror, while Ian’s Ancient Dragon Core reacted as if facing a powerful enemy.
• Ian used the Silver Chip to identify the creature as a Third Energy Level Void Spawn projection, a phantom whose true form could devastate galaxies.
• Ian realized the nightmare could come from alien instincts embedded in Terra’s life and questioned what True Dragons were.
• Ian recalled that Sheo, a True Dragon’s imprisoned dragon soul, was in the Central Laboratory and was the target he had come to rescue.
• The director broke free of the Nightmare Spawn’s fear aura and ordered it to eliminate Ian, so it lunged at him.

Axel faced his son Mikael in a clash of Fifth Energy Level powers, while Ian prepared to interfere by completing the fourth stage of the Arcane Path. Ian began forging his Aether True Form and an immortal nature of his own.

• Axel recalled promising his father, Inaga II, that he would help him, and praised Mikael for reaching the Apex Seat.
• Axel and Mikael’s lights collided above the Imperial Capital, then vanished as their battle moved into the Void Realm.
• Ian ordered Adalbert to prepare the Giant of Light and told Sheo to warn Dragon Island that no one else should interfere.
• Ian declared himself qualified to act and gathered Origin Matter, light, and starlight in the Steel Dragon Nest.
• Ian began forging his Aether True Form and inscribing an immortal nature that belonged to him alone.