Chapter Summaries

Benjamin and the other wizards discovered that the Lava Giant outpost had developed into an agricultural settlement, but his hidden experiment found that the Lava Giants produced no Mortal Aura. As Benjamin abandoned the Lava Giant research and planned to study Snow Monsters instead, the infiltrating wizards were exposed and the outpost launched a fierce counterattack.

• Benjamin and the other wizards found a newly established Lava Giant plantation, and Benjamin sampled a red plant while analyzing its properties.
• The wizards reassessed the changed outpost; one left to alert headquarters, while Benjamin, a Level 2 Wizard, and a cautious Level 1 Wizard stayed to investigate.
• Benjamin concealed himself in an alchemically dug burrow and waited, but his Talisman Seal detected no Mortal Aura from the Lava Giants.
• Benjamin decided not to risk entering a more dangerous Lava Giant stronghold and planned to research Snow Monsters in the Frost Dark Realm.
• An explosion and the Lava Giants' roars signaled that the infiltrating wizards had been discovered, and Benjamin sensed attacks erupting from multiple directions.

Benjamin joined the battle and tried to lead the two Wizards out of the underground cavern, but a second Level 3 Lava Giant emerged from the exit and struck him into a rock wall. Protected by his Level 4 Shield, Benjamin remained unharmed and prepared to use another escape method.

• Benjamin emerged from hiding and ordered the two Wizards to retreat toward the lava pool entrance, using his cannons and sound-wave artifact to cover them.
• A second Level 3 Lava Giant rose from the lava pool, holding the charred head of the Level 1 Wizard who had tried to send intelligence to camp.
• The newly arrived Lava Giant blocked the exit and smashed Benjamin into a distant rock wall with a powerful blow.
• The Level 2 Wizard realized the two Level 3 Lava Giants and their supporting forces had trapped them in the cavern.
• Benjamin found himself unharmed by the attack and decided to escape through an unexpected route, pulling a metal plate from his robes.

Benjamin’s attempt to escape the underground cavern with a spatial leap failed because spatial interference disrupted the artifact. He rallied the two trapped wizards, fought back against the Lava Giants, and sent a distress signal while hoping reinforcements would arrive.

• Benjamin activated his disposable Level 5 Spatial Leap artifact, but spatial interference in the cavern stopped it from working.
• Benjamin revealed himself, assembled his Great Light Manifestation, and used an acceleration wristband to launch a barrage at a Level 3 Lava Giant.
• The barrage drove the Lava Giant into the lava pool, giving the Level 2 Wizard and the other Level 1 Wizard a chance to recover.
• Benjamin told the other wizards to hold off the second Level 3 Lava Giant while he provided fire support.
• Benjamin crushed his Magic Network Terminal to summon reinforcements, while the wounded Lava Giant recovered and prepared to attack again.

Benjamin joined the underground cavern battle and used the Great Light Manifestation, the Five-Skandha Rainbow Mirror, and a Level 4 Shield to hold off a Level 3 Lava Giant while clearing lower-level enemies. The giant adapted to his barrage and was blasted into the lava lake, but its fate remained unclear.

• A Level 3 Lava Giant charged Benjamin, and he attacked it while clearing Level 2 Lava Giants to make room for the two Wizards.
• Benjamin held his ground against the giant’s repeated attacks, relying on his barrage and Level 4 Shield while the giant healed itself with energy from the earth veins.
• The giant leaped back, smashed the rock wall to send boulders at Benjamin, and raised magma pillars beneath him, but Benjamin divided his barrage to counter the assault.
• The giant charged along the cavern wall, and Benjamin used the Five-Skandha Rainbow Mirror and Acceleration to fire concentrated beams along its path.
• The giant dodged Benjamin’s attack by splitting open its torso, but the final beam exploded behind it and knocked it into the lava lake.

Benjamin fought to hold off a Level 3 Lava Giant while clearing lesser Lava Giants to protect two fellow wizards and waiting for reinforcements. He mounted a Level 2 Lava Annihilation staff on a Floating Cannon and assigned the Five-Skandha Rainbow Mirror to fire it, hoping for a chance to strike the giant’s core.

• Benjamin used High-Frequency Sonic Suppression and a downgraded Lava Annihilation to clear lesser Lava Giants and keep them from overwhelming the other two wizards.
• The Level 3 Lava Giant repeatedly emerged unharmed from the lava lake, and Benjamin continued stalling it while replenishing his mental strength.
• Benjamin considered using his Level 4 offensive Wizard Artifacts but rejected them because their activation delay would leave him vulnerable.
• Benjamin chose Viola’s Wizard Artifact inscribed with Level 2 Lava Annihilation, which could kill the giant if it struck a vital area.
• Benjamin mounted the short staff on a Floating Cannon and entrusted its activation to the Five-Skandha Rainbow Mirror while he waited for an opening or reinforcements.

Benjamin’s defensive battle against a Level 3 Lava Giant prophet turned when the prophet’s mental curse backfired, allowing Benjamin to destroy it with Lava Annihilation. Benjamin and the Level 2 Wizard then joined forces to kill the other Level 3 Lava Giant.

• The Lava Giant prophet realized more powerful enemies were approaching and tried to break through Benjamin’s defenses before reinforcements arrived.
• The prophet sent a mental curse at Benjamin, but the Mystic Gang Mortal Dust Barrier retaliated and left the Lava Giant dazed.
• Benjamin’s Five-Skandha Rainbow Mirror fired Level 2 Lava Annihilation into the prophet’s energy gathering point, disintegrating it.
• Benjamin redirected his Rune Artifacts to attack the other Level 3 Lava Giant while the endangered Level 2 Wizard prepared a counterattack.
• Benjamin’s attacks slowed the Lava Giant, letting the Level 2 Wizard strike its energy gathering point with Lava Annihilation and destroy it.

Benjamin and the two wizards fought through a seemingly endless horde of Lava Giants, then searched the cavern for anything to offset their losses. They discovered a hidden chamber containing an Incubation Pool, a resource used by Lava Giants to reproduce.

• After the two Level 3 Lava Giants died, Benjamin and the other wizards fought off the enraged horde for nearly half an hour.
• Benjamin and the Level 2 Wizard found that the dead Level 3 Lava Giants' souls had dispersed, leaving no information to recover.
• The three wizards rested briefly and continued exploring, while the other two became more wary of Benjamin after witnessing his strength.
• Benjamin followed unusual spatial fluctuations through a concealed tunnel to a chamber with a vivid crimson lava pool.
• Benjamin recognized the pool as an Incubation Pool where Lava Giants could grow new members from fragments of their cores.

Benjamin discovered that the Lava Giants' nest contained a Level 2 Incubation Pool, but the discovery led the Level 2 Wizard to betray his companions and try to claim it. Benjamin survived the anti-magic ambush and defeated the Wizard in close combat, leaving the pool's fate unresolved.

• Benjamin identified the blood-red pool as a Level 2 Incubation Pool capable of producing high-potential Lava Giants.
• The Level 2 Wizard killed the weakened Level 1 Wizard and attacked Benjamin, but Benjamin's defenses blocked the spell arrow.
• The Level 2 Wizard activated an anti-magic device that disabled Benjamin's Rune Artifacts and Floating Cannons.
• The Level 2 Wizard charged Benjamin, expecting to win through physical combat, but Benjamin proved stronger and more skilled.
• Benjamin broke the Level 2 Wizard's ribs, struck him in the chest, and left him unable to resist.

Benjamin destroyed the evidence of his fight with two wizards by dissolving their corpses and taking the Incubation Pool, but Viola arrived and revealed she had witnessed everything. After Viola reassured him that the camp would not investigate, they joined the reinforcements and returned to camp.

• Benjamin threw the two dead wizards into the Incubation Pool, which dissolved their bodies without a trace.
• Benjamin cut the Incubation Pool and its surrounding rock free and stored it in his Space Expansion Bag.
• Viola lifted the cavern's immense roof of rock and earth, exposing the underground space to the Blazing Sun Realm.
• Viola told Benjamin she had witnessed his fight and praised him for surviving and erasing the evidence.
• Viola explained that the dead wizards were not from Noren Workshop and that the camp would not investigate their deaths.
• Benjamin and Viola searched the cavern with the arriving support wizards, then returned to camp with them.

After returning to the camp, Benjamin replenished his defenses, discovered that he was ready to advance, and successfully reached Foundation Establishment Middle Stage. He then began researching the Frost Dark Realm and its Snow Monsters in preparation for his next mission.

• Benjamin exchanged the materials from his campaign for Military Merit, obtained a new Magic Network Terminal, and replenished the Gang Sha in his Mystic Gang Mortal Dust Barrier.
• Benjamin realized his True Essence had reached the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage breakthrough threshold and found that his Ring of Truth was nearly half-filled with spiritual power.
• Benjamin secured a sealed laboratory, set up protective formations, and advanced to Foundation Establishment Middle Stage without complications.
• After consolidating his new cultivation, Benjamin went to the intelligence archive and began gathering information about the Frost Dark Realm and Snow Monsters.

After a year of stalemate on the Frostfire Plane, Benjamin learned that the Wizard Legion was preparing a full-scale offensive and finished his research on Snow Monsters. He prepared to enter the Frost Dark Realm to investigate whether it could provide the Mortal Aura he needed.

• Viola told Benjamin that surveys had confirmed the plane’s borders shifted as the Lava Giants and Snow Monsters fought, and that the losing side had once been reduced to less than one-tenth of the plane’s habitable territory.
• Viola revealed that Master Augustine had requested reinforcements, as the Wizard Legion prepared to launch an all-out war against the native races.
• Benjamin returned to his laboratory and completed his year-long examination of three live Snow Monsters, then disposed of his final specimen and sterilized the lab.
• Benjamin gathered his supplies and Wizard Artifacts, preparing to enter the Frost Dark Realm because he could not obtain Mortal Aura from the Lava Giants’ side.

Benjamin entered the Frost Dark Realm, where its extreme cold strengthened his body through the Body Tempering Method. After finding that a large Snow Monster gathering place had far fewer powerful creatures than expected and yielded no Mortal Aura, he set out to investigate a larger one.

• Benjamin left the forward outpost and discovered that the Frost Dark Realm’s cold triggered adaptive changes in his body.
• Benjamin explored the ice field and spotted unusual native creatures, including Frostworms and enormous beasts beneath the ice.
• Benjamin ambushed and defeated a patrol of about twenty Snow Monsters, then searched their souls for directions to their gathering place.
• Benjamin infiltrated a large Snow Monster gathering place and found that it had only one Level 2 leader, far fewer strong creatures than the Wizard Legion’s intelligence predicted.
• Benjamin tried to capture Mortal Aura and confirmed that, as with the Lava Giants, the Snow Monsters yielded none; he decided to investigate a larger gathering place.

Benjamin discovered that nearly all high-level Snow Monsters had been summoned to the depths of the Frost Dark Realm, then learned the same had happened to high-level Lava Giants in the Blazing Sun Realm. He concluded that a major event was unfolding across both realms and recognized that the weakened border settlements created a rare opportunity.

• Benjamin attacked and destroyed a Snow Monster settlement, then used Soul Search to learn that its high-level Snow Monsters had answered a mysterious summons to the Frost Dark Realm’s core.
• Benjamin withdrew to the outpost and reported his findings to Edgar, who said similar reports had spread across the explored border regions and an investigation was underway.
• Benjamin sent Viola an encrypted message asking whether high-level Lava Giants had also disappeared from the Blazing Sun Realm.
• Viola confirmed that high-level Lava Giants had likewise gathered in the depths, leaving mostly low-level units active in the borderlands.
• Benjamin concluded that the simultaneous withdrawals were no coincidence and saw the resulting power vacuum as an opportunity.

Benjamin infiltrated Snow Monster City No. 4 to test whether its inhabitants produced Mortal Aura, then used a Level 6 Small Elemental Pool to melt most of the city’s Snow Monsters. He began searching the disabled city for rare resources and valuable items.

• Benjamin told Edgar he would scout larger Snow Monster settlements, bought a map of nearby cities, and traveled to Snow Monster City No. 4.
• Benjamin secretly entered the crater city and spent a day confirming that its Snow Monsters produced no Mortal Aura, while finding many Level 1 Snow Monsters and very few recently advanced Level 2 ones.
• Benjamin decided to search the city for rare resources and used a Level 6 Small Elemental Pool and rune array to flood it with heat.
• Benjamin eliminated the slowed Level 2 Snow Monsters while most Level 1 Snow Monsters melted into helpless slush.
• Benjamin began searching the city for its resource vault and other valuable items.

Benjamin looted Abyss Snow City while the Snow Monsters were incapacitated, then destroyed them before they could recover. As he prepared to leave, he discovered pure Yin Evil Aura seeping from an ancient corpse pit buried beneath the city and resolved to dig it open.

• Benjamin collected rare materials from Abyss Snow City and found the preserved corpse of a Level 4 Lava Giant, which he stored in a Space Expansion Bag.
• As the city began to cool and the Snow Monsters started to stir, Benjamin used the Great Light Manifestation to bombard the city and kill them all.
• Benjamin sensed a faint, frigid aura beneath the ruined city and used True Essence vision to see wisps of Yin Evil Aura rising from underground.
• Benjamin concluded that an ancient battlefield and a vast, long-buried corpse pit lay beneath the city, and decided to dig it open.

Benjamin excavated a deep pit to harvest Yin Evil Aura, but its endless, rapidly intensifying eruption overwhelmed his collection treasures and revealed a far greater source underground. After sealing the opening and recovering his strength, he jumped into the pit to investigate the secret beneath the ice plains.

• Benjamin focused the Great Light Manifestation's attacks on the ground, blasting a huge shaft through the frozen earth.
• Benjamin used an Evil-Attracting hand seal to trigger the formation of Yin Evil Aura, then collected it with the Qi-Gathering Gourd.
• The Yin Evil Aura poured out without slowing, grew to blackish-purple in quality, and nearly filled both Benjamin's gourds.
• Benjamin sealed the source to stop the aura from spreading and recovered his True Essence and Spiritual Power.
• Benjamin jumped into the pit, trusting his Mystic Gang Mortal Dust Barrier to protect him from the Yin Evil Aura.

Benjamin descended through the depths while following the Yin Evil Aura until he uncovered an immense Sea of Baleful Qi. Realizing its power threatened him and its origin exceeded his understanding, he fled toward the surface.

• Benjamin repeatedly blasted through rock strata and descended deeper as the Yin Evil Aura grew denser and colder.
• Benjamin broke through a final stone wall and was struck by a shockwave from the vast Sea of Baleful Qi beyond it.
• Benjamin saw that the sea consisted of dense, liquid Yin Evil Aura filled with flickering black phantoms and swirling vortices.
• Benjamin felt the sea's Killing Intent threaten his barrier and damage his soul, and concluded that his cultivation was too low to withstand it.
• Benjamin abandoned his investigation and sped back toward the surface.

Viola enjoyed watching wizards struggle with the choice to buy her unusually effective but painfully difficult-to-consume potions. She spoke with her mentor Clark, who worried about Benjamin’s treatment under her supervision, while Viola admitted she found his recent troubles pleasurable.

• Viola watched a Level 2 Wizard agonize over whether to buy her blood-red Magic Potion before he finally purchased it and fled.
• Viola reflected on how her fascination with suffering led her to develop the Pain Potion Series, whose potent effects required users to endure pain they could not suppress.
• Viola received a call from her mentor Clark, who asked how she was doing and warned her not to push Benjamin too far.
• Viola assured Clark that Benjamin was growing well, then admitted that his recent troubles produced the kind of pain she found especially satisfying.
• Clark silently worried that Viola’s treatment might leave Benjamin with psychological trauma.

Benjamin returned from the Frost Dark Realm after sealing the site of a vast Sea of Baleful Qi, then met with Viola and learned that Augustine would take the ship Plane away to retrieve thirty thousand reinforcements. The wizards left on the Frostfire Plane would lose their strongest commander, communications relay, and route home, while Viola chose to stay and watch the coming battles.

• Clark told Viola that Augustine's request for thirty thousand reinforcements had been approved and warned that the ship Plane's departure would isolate the wizards for years.
• Benjamin exhausted his spiritual power restoring the crater over the Sea of Baleful Qi, then used a spell to stabilize the area before returning to camp.
• Benjamin found Clark's failed communication request and went to Viola's laboratory, where she explained the planned transfer of the ship Plane.
• Benjamin and Viola discussed the danger of losing Augustine and the wizards' route of retreat, while Viola noted that three deputy commanders would remain.
• Benjamin saw through Viola's desire to witness the suffering of the coming battles, and left after calling her personality vile.

Benjamin appraised the spoils from his Frost Dark Realm expedition and gained more than 670,000 Military Merit, but concluded that lasting wealth came from research and monopolized knowledge. With Augustine preparing to leave to mobilize reinforcements and the camp unsettled by rumors, Benjamin accepted a mission to reinforce its Protective Arrays and planned to gather Mortal Aura while waiting for events to unfold.

• Benjamin appraised his Frost Dark Realm spoils, finding materials worth 534,700 Military Merit and earning another 138,900 from his combat record.
• Benjamin reflected that his immense haul was a one-time windfall and that sustainable profits came from knowledge, then sorted the spoils for storage and sale.
• The camp learned that Master Augustine would pilot the Ship Plane back to the border point to mobilize troops, prompting wizards to reinforce the camp during his absence.
• Benjamin accepted a mission to build Protective Array nodes instead of venturing into enemy territory, since his funds could cover years of experiments.
• Benjamin noticed that the camp’s anxiety over the war’s uncertain course had increased Mortal Aura production and calculated that he might gather enough during his service in the Frostfire Plane.