Chapter Summaries

Lu Yuan and Oden discussed why common medicinal herbs seemed scarce and how the Empire organized its skill certifications and production. Back at his cottage, Lu Yuan sorted his materials and asked whether they could be made into potions, but Oden said key ingredients were missing.

• Lu Yuan and Oden considered whether families had monopolized common herbs or whether few missions created little demand for them.
• Oden explained that the Empire had Alchemy and Pharmaceutical Associations that certified practitioners.
• Lu Yuan returned to his cottage in the snow, warmed the room, and sorted his materials by type and attribute.
• Lu Yuan tasted Frostberries and enjoyed their cool sweetness while Oden lamented that he could no longer eat them.
• Oden judged Lu Yuan's materials insufficient for useful crafting because they lacked key ingredients.

Lu Yuan learned that he needed a rare Frost Aggregate to make better use of his medicinal ingredients, then joined Leon and the others at Blanca’s gathering. Blanca began by telling the group that her family had received troubling news.

• Oden told Lu Yuan that a Frost Aggregate could serve as the missing core for combining his materials into an Eerie item or potion.
• Leon arrived and told Lu Yuan that Blanca had called everyone together to discuss troubling news from her family.
• Lu Yuan left with Leon and traveled through the snow to a tavern at the edge of the residential district.
• Blanca, Lia, Harvey, Dean, and Eli gathered with Lu Yuan and Leon in a private room.
• Blanca wiped her hands and told the group that her family had received troubling news.

Blanca warned Lu Yuan and the others that the Northern Territory was approaching unrest and that the Knight Academy would be drawn into dangerous missions. She revealed that an unknown group was smuggling Forbidden Materials from the Northern Territory toward the Withered Land and beyond, while Empire personnel were being sent to respond.

• Blanca said an unidentified group had secretly entered the Northern Territory and warned that growing turmoil could pull the Knight Academy into a crisis.
• Blanca told the group to prepare for dangerous missions, since even one mistake could cost them their lives.
• Blanca revealed that smugglers were moving controlled, strategic, and Taboo-connected materials through the Northern Territory.
• Leon realized the materials were being smuggled out of the Northern Territory, not into it, suggesting someone inside was helping.
• Blanca confirmed that Watch City and Snow Owl City were mobilizing and that the Empire was sending personnel to the Northern Territory.

Blanca warned the group that the Withered Land was collapsing, its evacuees were overwhelming the Northern Territory, and smugglers were hiding among them. Eli revealed that they could form their own mission teams, and Lia offered to prepare enchanted emblems because she likely would not go to the front line.

• Blanca explained that Withered City was evacuating residents and guards after a terrifying event cut off information from the Withered Land.
• Blanca described the struggle to resettle the evacuees, warning that neither the cities nor the tribes could take in so many people.
• Blanca told the group that their missions would involve settling evacuees or investigating smugglers concealed among them.
• Eli said the smuggling had been confirmed and that the students might freely choose their teammates and form squads.
• Blanca said her family could offer her limited help, and she urged everyone to prepare and form teams early.
• Lia said she would probably receive specialized missions and offered to make or enchant emblems for anyone sent to the front line.

Blanca formed a four-person team with Lu Yuan, Harvey, and Leon for a Northern Territory mission expected within a month, while Lia, Eli, and Dean made other arrangements. Oden warned Lu Yuan that the Forbidden Material smuggling could involve a Taboo or a dangerous attempt to reach the Sixth Order, leaving Lu Yuan deeply worried.

• Eli said the Astrologer Grand Knight Commander had assigned him to an astrological ritual, while Dean explained that his family would send him to the Northern Territory on a separate mission.
• Blanca, Lu Yuan, Harvey, and Leon formed a team, and Blanca asked Dean to keep in touch, Eli to gather information, and Lia to prepare heraldic emblems.
• Blanca warned the group to prepare early because the mission would likely begin within the next month.
• On the way back to his dormitory, Lu Yuan heard Oden question whether the Empire's response to the long-running Forbidden Material smuggling made sense.
• Oden said the smuggling might involve a Taboo or an attempt to help someone break through to the Sixth Order, and Lu Yuan grew more anxious about the possibilities.

Oden warned Lu Yuan that Leon’s Pathway showed signs of irregularity and urged him to prepare an enhanced dragon-blood potion before going to the front lines. Over the next few days, Lu Yuan advanced in several Knight breaths while planning around his upcoming certification and courses.

• Oden warned Lu Yuan to watch Leon because his Pathway might be undergoing Alienation, and Lu Yuan suspected Leon had taken a course to restrain it.
• Oden explained that identifying the Immortality behind Blanca’s Horn aura might help him exploit Horn’s back door, then advised Lu Yuan to earn Knight Tokens and gather materials for an enhanced dragon-blood potion.
• Oden said the potion could immediately address Lu Yuan’s physical weakness and might eventually strengthen his body to roughly Fourth Order.
• Lu Yuan practiced Four Breaths over the next two or three days, advancing Peace, the Breath of Abundance, and the Breath of Life while Health remained blocked.
• Lu Yuan checked on upcoming classes and learned Inscription Fundamentals would begin in a week, likely after his certification exam.

Lu Yuan sampled several courses but stopped attending those he found unhelpful, while Eerie Ecology proved useful and practical. The chapter left him studying a preserved Ice Skull in Frostcrow Knight’s class, still waiting for Rock Grand Knight Commander’s lecture about the Time Bestower.

• Lu Yuan attended one Pathway Stabilization and Convergence lesson, saw Leon taking notes, and decided the course offered less than Mo Shui’s Guardian book.
• Lu Yuan tried one knightly oaths and history lesson but found Graypine Knight’s fragmented account unhelpful and did not plan to return.
• Lu Yuan checked the bulletin board for Rock Grand Knight Commander’s public lecture, but it had not been scheduled.
• Lu Yuan attended Frostcrow Knight’s new Eerie Ecology course and received a handbook categorizing Northern Territory Eeries by danger level.
• Frostcrow Knight presented a preserved Ice Skull, and the students gathered around its glass container to inspect it.

Frostcrow Knight taught Lu Yuan and the students about dangerous Eerie beings found in the Northern Territory’s snowfields. The class ended after he demonstrated a Ghost Snow Owl chick and a Hoarfrost Spider, leaving Lu Yuan to return the scarce handbook.

• Lu Yuan examined a dead Ice Skull while Frostcrow Knight explained its traits, toxins, and dangers to the class.
• Frostcrow Knight revealed that an Ice Skull could sometimes launch its head to attack and transform a victim into another Ice Skull.
• Frostcrow Knight introduced Frostbound Dead and Snow-faced Wolves, then showed the students a Ghost Snow Owl chick and described how people raised the birds as hunting companions.
• Frostcrow Knight presented a Hoarfrost Spider and explained its habits and vulnerability to fire.
• After class, Lu Yuan put the handbook away because it had to be returned to its original place.

Lu Yuan attended an Ancient Languages class in an imitation burial chamber, where Knight Longsong explained how ancient writing could contain power or information and warned that reading dangerous scripts could cause Contamination or death. The lesson ended with a classification of known languages and a caution to avoid unfamiliar ancient writing.

• Lu Yuan entered the academy’s underground Ancient Languages classroom and recognized it as an imitation burial chamber filled with inscriptions and artifacts.
• Knight Longsong explained that ancient writing could store power and information, and that understanding it could reveal what was sealed inside.
• Knight Longsong warned that some ancient writing carried Contamination and recalled a young disciple who died after touching a dangerous inscription.
• Knight Longsong described how learning different languages could slightly increase Stillness and encouraged students to learn Northern Territory Ancient Language.
• Knight Longsong named Gulai, Ancient Ao Language, and Azure Spirit Language as the three discovered ancient languages considered harmless, and urged caution around other scripts.

Knight Longsong explained the dangers and benefits of studying ancient languages, warning that deciphering contaminated texts could kill scholars. Lu Yuan realized that becoming an Ancient Linguist might give him abundant material to gain experience, though Oden cautioned him about dangerous names hidden in the texts.

• Oden told Lu Yuan that Ancient Ao Language was the modern name for the Oke Language and offered to teach him.
• Knight Longsong warned that Ancient Linguists faced deadly risks and that most ancient texts remained undeciphered.
• Knight Longsong explained that ancient-language study could let scholars read forgotten cultivation methods and provide Ancient Linguists with plentiful material for gaining experience.
• Lu Yuan became excited because studying ancient texts could help him gain experience after his Imperial Language progress had stalled at 300 points.
• Oden warned Lu Yuan that deciphering and speaking a Taboo's name could make him its follower and get him killed.

Lu Yuan read the history recorded on a ruined wall and discovered that the chamber was Aldrich’s tomb, while a supposed cultivation method turned out to be a recipe using Eerie ingredients. After struggling to learn Ancient Ao Language from Oden, Lu Yuan headed to the medicinal garden area for his certification, carrying his tickets and badge.

• Lu Yuan used the Gray-White Text to read the wall and learned that the chamber was the tomb of the knight Aldrich, who had died protecting an envoy from Eerie creatures and pursuers.
• Lu Yuan told Oden the story on the wall and explained that Knight Longsong’s rubbing contained a recipe for cooking a Corrupted Corpse Chimera’s brain.
• Oden tried to teach Lu Yuan Ancient Ao Language, and their lessons went poorly, though Lu Yuan gained two Imperial Language experience points.
• After three days of snowfall, Lu Yuan checked his two tickets and badge and left early for his certification.
• Lu Yuan followed the ticket’s address to the medicinal garden area on the Academy’s eastern side.

Lu Yuan began the intermediate Pharmacology certification, where he had to produce two qualifying potions from three randomly assigned formulas. After reviewing his formulas, he believed the task would be easy and wondered whether making all three could earn him a higher rating.

• Colin explained the certification schedule and assigned Lu Yuan to the intermediate Pharmacology section.
• Booker told Lu Yuan that examinees had to draw three potion formulas and pass by completing two, then shared his past failures and lucky badge.
• An elderly examiner announced the rules and began the certification as assistants distributed formula booklets.
• Lu Yuan received formulas for a Bloodthirst Potion, a Calming Potion, and a Greater Flame Potion, and decided he could make all three.
• The examination hall fell quiet as examinees worked through the two-hour session.

Lu Yuan reviewed the three potion formulas for his intermediate certification and learned that Oden could help him make them all within the two-hour time limit. The certification had begun, and Lu Yuan agreed to let Oden control his left hand while he worked with his right.

• Lu Yuan studied the formulas and found the Bloodthirst Potion’s many ingredients and the Redgold Grass processing requirements especially time-consuming.
• Oden recognized the Greater Flame Potion as a modified version of the Scorchfire Potion from his era and offered to guide Lu Yuan through making it.
• Lu Yuan doubted that he could make all three potions in time, even with Oden’s guidance, because of the processing and boiling required.
• Oden proposed using his control over Lu Yuan’s body to prepare the Calming Potion and Greater Flame Potion at the same time, and Lu Yuan agreed to leave his left hand to him.

Lu Yuan began his Pharmacology certification by making a Calming Potion while Oden controlled his left hand to prepare ingredients for a Greater Flame Potion. His unusual two-handed work stunned Booker and drew the String Knight’s attention, while the certification continued.

• Oden took control of Lu Yuan’s left hand to process ingredients and test how long his consciousness could remain outside.
• Lu Yuan chose to make the Calming Potion first and prepared its ingredients with his right hand while Oden worked on the Greater Flame Potion with his left.
• Gray-White Text awarded Lu Yuan Pharmacology experience as he prepared the medicinal ingredients correctly.
• Booker watched Lu Yuan work with both hands, lost focus, and slightly charred his own ingredients.
• The String Knight noticed Lu Yuan making two potions at once and recognized that he was preparing the difficult Greater Flame Potion.

Lu Yuan used Oden’s help to process ingredients and began making the Greater Flame Potion, Calming Potion, and Bloodthirst Potion for his intermediate certification. With time running short, he finished a near-perfect Calming Potion and continued preparing the other two as Booker realized what he had drawn.

• Oden processed the Greater Flame Potion ingredients with remarkable skill and explained the limits of how long he could control Lu Yuan’s body.
• Lu Yuan began heating the Calming Potion and Greater Flame Potion while Oden guided him through the difficult steps.
• Lu Yuan extracted more than forty golden threads from the Redgold Grass as the exam passed its halfway mark.
• Lu Yuan finished and bottled a near-perfect Calming Potion, gaining Pharmacology experience.
• Booker saw Lu Yuan’s bottled Calming Potion, simmering Greater Flame Potion, and prepared Bloodthirst Potion ingredients, and realized Lu Yuan had drawn all three.

Lu Yuan completed the Pharmacology certification by making Calming, Greater Flame, and Bloodthirst Potions, with Oden guiding him through the unfamiliar Greater Flame process. The String Knight was left puzzled by Lu Yuan’s sharply uneven skills and planned to ask him about them.

• Lu Yuan realized that relying on Oden to control his body earned little Pharmacology experience, while learning Oden’s methods himself could earn more.
• Following Oden’s instructions, Lu Yuan added Flamegrass powder and Scorchfire Stone fragments to finish the Greater Flame Potion, earning a full point of experience.
• Oden praised the potion’s above-average quality, then went silent to rest while Lu Yuan continued working.
• Lu Yuan completed the Bloodthirst Potion shortly before the certification ended; his three potions ranged from nearly perfect to average, and he expected to pass.
• The String Knight observed Lu Yuan’s expert ingredient processing and uneven potion-making, wondered how skilled he really was, and decided to ask him later.

Lu Yuan and the other candidates completed the Intermediate Potionmaker Certification, and the String Knight inspected their potions to determine who passed. The String Knight praised Lu Yuan’s Calming Potion as perfect and his Greater Flame Potion as exceptionally good, but had not yet announced Lu Yuan’s result.

• The String Knight ended the examination, and most candidates in the Intermediate Tier left after failing to make two potions.
• The String Knight inspected the candidates’ potions; several failed, while a young man passed and received an emblem on his badge.
• Booker passed the certification, and the String Knight left Lu Yuan for last.
• The String Knight praised Lu Yuan’s Greater Flame Potion and rated his Calming Potion perfect, then examined his average Bloodthirst Potion.

Lu Yuan earned his Intermediate Potion Master certification and learned that he also qualified to attempt the Senior Certification. He asked the String Knight about Ancient Music Theory, but the String Knight warned that its surviving melodies were incomplete, unreliable, and extraordinarily difficult to restore.

• The String Knight approved Lu Yuan's Intermediate Potion Master certification and granted him the qualifications to take the Senior Certification examination.
• Lu Yuan asked the String Knight to teach him Ancient Music Theory, explaining that he knew Plant Companion Music and Song of the Sandworm.
• The String Knight explained that Plant Companion Music had only a few surviving melodies and could harm plants it did not suit.
• The String Knight said the incomplete Song of the Sandworm could provoke Sandworms but lacked the fuller communication its original melody should allow.
• The String Knight warned Lu Yuan that completing Ancient Music Theory's melodies would demand immense effort and asked whether he could bear the cost.

Lu Yuan accepted the String Knight’s offer to teach him Ancient Music Theory and went on to take the Intermediate Inscription Studies Certification exam. The exam began with candidates tasked with completing and activating an inscription, leaving Lu Yuan to choose what to create.

• Lu Yuan resolved to study Ancient Music Theory, and the String Knight invited him to the Herb Garden every Saturday afternoon for lessons.
• Lu Yuan rested after lunch, then returned to the Herb Garden to take the Intermediate Inscription Studies Certification exam.
• Colin checked Lu Yuan’s ticket and noticed his Potion Studies mark and Night Watcher badge before directing him to his booth.
• The String Knight announced that candidates had two hours to create and activate an inscription of their choice.
• Lu Yuan read that intermediate candidates had to make two stable items or one exceptionally refined inscription to qualify.

Lu Yuan entered the Intermediate Inscription Certification and called on Oden to help him choose materials for a creation. Oden identified four ingredients for him, leaving Lu Yuan poised to begin the test.

• The String Knight recognized Lu Yuan at the certification and reflected on his talent and Night Watcher background.
• Lu Yuan surveyed the materials and decided to use the plentiful Eerie and Contamination materials to make something impressive.
• Lu Yuan summoned Oden and showed him the certification criteria.
• Oden inspected the materials through Lu Yuan's eyes and selected Copper Crystal Ore, a creature's core, a pair of eyes, and Glow Moss Spore Powder.
• Lu Yuan gathered the four materials and asked Oden whether those were all he needed.