Chapter Summaries

Thor questioned Luokai about the Soul Tide at Blue Water Bay and learned how the malice there had been used in the plan against Mentor Gorsa, but Luokai did not know who had cultivated it. The chapter then introduced Sky City Lord Ophelia, who confronted Kismet about seeking his former master.

• Thor read Sand's letter asking him to investigate the secret behind the Soul Tide at Blue Water Bay.
• Thor questioned Luokai, who explained that a battle had corrupted the sea and that his group had used the malice beneath it to accelerate Gorsa's Corruption.
• Luokai told Thor that someone had been cultivating malice and revealed where the Soul Tide was triggered, but he did not know how the Grudge Spirits had formed.
• Thor asked Luokai whom else he had infected with Parasites, and Luokai could not resist confessing.
• Ophelia met Kismet in her White Glaze Palace and warned him not to return to his former master if that master appeared.

Kismet stayed in Iskape after reassuring Ophelia, while Gorsa returned to the Radiance Family and claimed a Wizard Tower in the northern mountains. Thor later boarded Captain Harry’s Airship for Blue Water Bay, where he spotted something that made him ask whether the ship could take a beating.

• Kismet told Ophelia he would serve his current master, and she allowed him to roam Iskape outside Sky City while warning him about Gorsa and the Radiance Family.
• Gorsa returned to the Radiance Family’s World Side, forced a family member who had mocked him to kneel, and met with the family’s hidden authority.
• Gorsa learned that Camus had died in the Abyssal Black Tide and chose to inherit Camus’s Wizard Tower near the Wall of Sighs.
• Thor traveled toward Blue Water Bay with Agu and boarded Captain Harry’s Airship, where he asked about the fallout from Gorsa’s return and recent battle.
• Thor abruptly stared at a spot on the Airship and asked Harry whether the ship could take a beating.

Thor discovered Gudo aboard the airship and prepared a concealed ambush, but a white-haired Second Rank Wizard attacked first and triggered a destructive battle. Gudo escaped amid the chaos, the damaged airship began to fail, and the white-haired Wizard turned his killing intent on Thor and the other survivors.

• Thor used Penny to identify the disguised man as Gudo and quietly surrounded him with Soul Fishing tentacles enhanced by Shadow Bind.
• A white-haired Second Rank Wizard struck Gudo’s companion, prompting Gudo to release Soul Toxin and scatter into several apparent copies.
• Thor moved Captain Harry out of the way of the Wizard’s ice spears, but the spears struck illusions and blasted four holes in the airship’s hull.
• Captain Harry asked Thor to take him to the Engine Room to prevent the airship from crashing, and Thor sent him down through the passage.
• The white-haired Wizard accused Thor of being allied with Gudo and froze the nearby survivors as Thor’s dark red Diary began flipping rapidly.

Thor survived Jassim’s attack on the Airship, then worked with Agu and Penny to search for the escaped Gudo. After Thor left for Blue Water City, Gudo secretly departed toward the sea, and Thor followed him in disguise.

• Thor prepared to use the Consciousness Battlefield against Jassim, but Agu recognized Jassim as someone connected to Gorsa, and Jassim abruptly departed.
• Thor and Agu discovered that Gudo had escaped through a hole in the Airship’s floor, while Penny tracked his general location with phosphor powder.
• Thor told Agu and Penny to pressure Gudo into leaving the ship, then searched for him with Captain Harry’s knowledge.
• The Airship reached Blue Water Bay, and Thor left for Blue Water City with Agu and Marsh without finding Gudo.
• After Thor’s carriage departed, Gudo transformed his appearance and headed toward the sea, while Thor revealed he had stayed behind in a crewman’s disguise and followed him.

Thor tracked Gudo toward Blue Water Bay, where Gudo dove beneath the sea, and questioned Luokai about Gudo’s role in the rebellion and his knowledge of Blue Water Soul. Thor followed him down the cliff to investigate why he had come to the bay.

• Gudo used poison to cover his trail as he hurried toward Blue Water Bay, hoping to reach the source of the Soul Tide and make more Soul Toxin.
• Thor followed Gudo using Penny’s phosphor powder and flew ahead to cut him off, recognizing the shore near Shell-Picker’s home.
• Thor spotted Gudo disguised by a Witchcraft spell and watched him dive underwater beneath the cloud-covered sea.
• Thor asked Luokai what Gudo knew about Blue Water Soul and learned that Gudo had once agreed to cooperate with the rebels in exchange for access to Gorsa and Apprentices for experiments.
• Thor suspected Gudo had found the source of Blue Water Soul and stepped off the cliff, using Feather Fall Spell to descend safely.

Thor traced the source of the Soul Tide to a hidden cave beneath the seabed and waited for Gudo to arrive. Gudo found the cave and discovered its immense mass of Grudge Spirit Fragments, then located something at the cavern floor.

• Thor used Shadow Net to conceal his presence as he flew over the sea and asked Luokai to reveal the Soul Tide's source.
• Luokai guided Thor to the seabed near where Thor and Byron had found the Gray Matter, and Thor found a narrow cave entrance.
• Penny warned Thor that Gudo was approaching, so Thor waited near the entrance.
• Gudo reached the cave, squeezed through its narrow passage, and entered a cavern packed with Grudge Spirit Fragments.
• Gudo descended to the cavern floor, brushed aside seaweed, felt something uneven, and announced that he had found it.

Gudo uncovered a Black Goblet in the Sea Cave, but Thor’s Spirit Body consumed him before he could take it. Thor survived Gudo’s Soul Toxin, retrieved the goblet after reopening its seal, and reflected on the Diary’s corrupting appeal.

• Gudo opened a Witchcraft Array and revealed a Black Goblet, drawing the Grudge Spirit Fragments toward it.
• Gudo reached for the goblet, but Thor appeared as an octopus-like Spirit Body and attacked him.
• Gudo released Soul Toxin and tried to sever his arms, but Thor’s tentacles swallowed him and killed him.
• Thor absorbed the Sea Cave’s malicious Soul Fragments, resisted their influence, and found that the Diary neutralized the Soul Toxin.
• Thor returned to his body, used Gudo’s Black Page to reopen the seal, and found the Black Goblet again.

After taking a goblet from an underwater cavern, Thor escaped as Human-Faced Fish surged to the surface and discovered Miduo among them. A corrosive rain killed the fish, and their pure soul fragments flowed into Thor, leaving him with powerful energy he could use directly.

• Thor took the goblet and fled as tremors collapsed the cavern and drove Human-Faced Fish toward the surface.
• Thor saw that one fish bore Miduo’s face and Golden Hairpin, then contained her in a water bubble after she recognized her name.
• Thor told the other Human-Faced Fish to return to the seabed, but they refused and struggled to remain at the surface.
• Corrosive rain ate through Thor’s Spirit Armor and killed the Human-Faced Fish, covering the sea with white bones.
• Thor dispelled his Spirit Armor, allowing the pure soul fragments to enter his body and grant him usable soul energy.

After restoring the sea at Blue Water Bay, Thor left for Blue Water City with Agu and Marsh and learned that the Black Goblet was the Broken Wine Glass, a device used by Nephrite Continent factions to destroy Spirit Bodies. He suspected Gudo had acted for a more powerful owner of the goblet and ordered his companions to keep the events at Blue Water Bay secret.

• Thor returned to shore after the rain clouds cleared and saw Shell-Pickers lamenting that the strange sea snails would disappear, while Banbu ran off toward the opportunities a restored Blue Water City might bring.
• Thor ordered Agu and Marsh to drive to Blue Water City and showed Agu the Black Goblet, which Agu identified as the Broken Wine Glass.
• Agu explained that Nephrite Continent factions used Broken Wine Glasses to destroy Spirit Bodies under their Law of Life Limits, which forbade resurrecting Wizards below Third Rank.
• Thor suspected Gudo had been trying to prevent Gorsa from resurrecting the Second Rank Lady Ula and concluded that someone else was the true owner of the Broken Wine Glass.
• Thor told Agu and Marsh not to reveal what had happened at Blue Water Bay, stored the goblet, and wondered whether Gorsa knew about the Nephrite Continent's customs as the Diary opened to Gudo's Black Page.

Sand learned that Midol could not return to her original body, but the golden hair clip stabilized her spirit in the fish and gave her a chance to survive if he could afford energy materials. Thor agreed to provide the material information in exchange for Sand's secret about Blue Water Bay, and Sand revealed that a wizard's departures from the City Lord's Mansion repeatedly preceded Soul Tides.

• Thor explained that Midol's soul could not return to her body, and Agu said she would not be the same person even if brought back to life.
• The golden hair clip entered the human-faced fish, and Midol's preserved body crumbled into bones; she then jumped from the bubble and smacked Sand's nose to show she was still with him.
• Thor explained that the clip stabilized Midol's spirit, but she would vanish in about half a year without expensive energy materials, and he offered Sand their approximate price in exchange for information.
• Sand told Thor he had found a record showing that a wizard stayed at the City Lord's Mansion after Blue Water City relocated about twenty years earlier.
• Sand revealed that the wizard left Blue Water City shortly before each Soul Tide and returned only after the tide ended.

Thor examined Sand’s Rusty Silver Pocket Watch, which had no apparent magic but displayed the time erratically, and continued toward Archaeost to prepare for the Land of No Owner. In Blue Water City, a servant stopped his carriage with an invitation from City Lord Maiken and Wizard Kalon, leaving Thor wondering whether it was a trap.

• Thor burned Sand’s notes after memorizing them and examined the Rusty Silver Pocket Watch, but found no trace of Magic Power or a pattern in its changing hands.
• Agu recognized the watch’s unusual design and suspected it came from before the New Moon Era.
• Thor decided to continue to Archaeost to prepare for his journey to the Land of No Owner and learn about the city’s Witchcraft Items.
• A servant stopped Thor’s carriage and conveyed an invitation from City Lord Maiken and Wizard Kalon to a banquet and comfortable lodgings.
• Thor questioned whether Kalon’s invitation was a trap and checked the Diary, which remained quiet.

Thor attended a feast at City Lord Maiken’s mansion to investigate Wizard Kalon, whom Penny identified as a First-Order Official Wizard and a likely danger. As Thor prepared to leave after the clouds over Blue Water Bay began clearing, a familiar black longblade fell from the sky and split Kalon in two.

• Thor asked Penny to search a servant’s memories and learned that Kalon had stayed in his laboratory until Maiken invited him out.
• Thor met Maiken and Kalon at a feast, declined Maiken’s offer to settle in Blue Water City, and learned from Penny that Kalon was probably a First-Order Official Wizard.
• Thor used Xiao Zao to test the food for tampering while a knight announced that the dark clouds over Blue Water Bay were beginning to clear.
• Kalon hurried out to run tests at the seaside, while Maiken invited Thor to stay for a possible celebratory banquet.
• Thor stepped out of the banquet hall intending to flee, but a familiar black longblade fell from the sky and split Kalon in two.

Thor witnessed Jassim hunt down Kalon, who revealed that he possessed the Broken Wine Glass and tried to escape through a swarm of Spirit Bodies. After Jassim killed Kalon, he sent Thor a strange black snake containing his knowledge, then died himself, leaving Thor beside both corpses.

• Thor recognized Jassim’s black Witchcraft blade as Jassim attacked Kalon, while Maiken fled deeper into the hall after realizing Kalon was an Official Wizard.
• Kalon offered Jassim the Broken Wine Glass in exchange for more time, then split into many Spirit Bodies and tried to escape as Jassim’s blade pursued them.
• Xiao Zao helped Thor locate Kalon’s true Spirit Body beneath the courtyard, and Thor blew away the smoke so Jassim could strike it down.
• Kalon laughed that Jassim’s time was up, but Jassim’s Giant Black Blade finished him, turning his Spirit Body into black slime.
• Jassim gave Thor a black snake containing his knowledge, which cowered before the Diary inside Thor’s Spirit Body, then Jassim drove the Giant Black Blade into his own forehead and fell dead.

Thor investigated Jassim’s death after the Wizard’s sudden suicide, but found his soul had been destroyed and learned little about the time limit or the Judgment Court. He left Blue Water City unsettled by the possibility that the Judgment Court could reach the Stat Continent—or that Jassim had acted entirely on his own.

• Thor examined Jassim’s body and found no trace of the force that had caused his death.
• Thor warned City Lord Maiken to keep people away from the courtyard for ten years, then tried to extract Jassim’s soul and discovered it had been shattered.
• Thor burned Jassim’s remains and Kalon’s Spirit Body, checked the courtyard and banquet hall for Grudge Spirits, and left with the few valuables Maiken had gathered.
• Agu told Thor that he knew little about the Judgment Court and had never heard of the time limit, though both might come from the distant Nephrite Continent.
• Thor considered whether the Judgment Court had controlled Jassim and feared the implications if Jassim had acted of his own accord.

Sand was revealed to be Prince Alexandra, and two Official Wizards took him away to attend the Eternal Night Empire’s Coronation Ceremony. As Thor traveled in the opposite direction, his Diary hinted that the Chaos Domain and the Key he possessed would reveal what kind of person he was.

• City Lord Maiken offered to move Sand to a villa, but Sand refused and prepared to leave Blue Water City with Miduo.
• After a strange knock brought back fearful memories, Sand opened the door to three visitors who revealed that Emperor Axis had died and summoned him, as Alexandra, to the Coronation Ceremony.
• Sand boarded a black carriage with two First-Rank Official Wizards, while Maiken decided to conceal what he knew about Sand and Thor.
• The wizards examined Miduo and promised to care for her, then asked Sand about a silver pocket watch he had sold after arriving in Stat.
• As Thor traveled away from Blue Water City, his Diary opened and connected his good deed, the Chaos Domain, and the Key in his possession.

Thor traveled toward Archaeost City while investigating the Broken Wine Glass and Rusty Silver Pocket Watch, and he found a possible connection between the watch and the Crying-Smiling Gold Coin. After stopping at a nearly deserted town, Thor questioned the tavern staff about residents moving away to Archaeost City.

• Thor learned that Gorsa had left the Stat Continent after reaching Third Rank, so he had Marsh turn the carriage away from the airship platform and continue toward Archaeost City.
• Thor examined his artifacts and suspected the Crying-Smiling Gold Coin might activate the pocket watch as a Key to a World Side, though his tests produced no clear result.
• Thor meditated during the journey and planned to find a more suitable Meditation Method once he reached Archaeost City.
• Three days later, Thor and his companions arrived at a sparsely populated town and stopped at the Traveler's Home tavern.
• Thor noticed the tavern owner and waiter reading the same fantasy novel, then asked whether the town's residents had moved to Archaeost City.

Thor learned that Archaeost City had drawn people from the surrounding towns with factories and Magic Tools, then traveled there and reached its guarded gates. At the entrance, Baidong Academy’s Dumar offered him a choice between registering his identity and using an anonymous pass.

• Thor questioned the innkeeper and a boy about the deserted town, learning that serfs and Magic Tools handled the farmland and that factories in Archaeost City employed ordinary people.
• The boy recommended a novel about city life, and the innkeeper gave Thor a free copy distributed by the city; Thor heard that factory Magic Tools had killed workers.
• Thor read the novel overnight, then traveled with his companions to Archaeost City, where the city walls, guards, and defenses reminded him of his old world.
• Soldiers used a Compass to recognize Thor as a Wizard and escorted his carriage to a separate entrance protected by Magic Arrays.
• Dumar, a Level 2 Apprentice of Baidong Academy, offered Agu a blue identity pass or a red anonymous pass.

Thor entered Kaositer using a silver pass issued because he was a student of Tower Master Gorsa, then noticed strange surveillance devices and an inexplicable transformation in Dumar. The chapter ended with Thor watching the city from the carriage and finding it intriguing.

• Thor chose two blue cards, but Dumar recognized him as Lord Thor and gave him a silver pass that required no identity registration.
• Dumar led Thor and his companions through the gate, where wooden bird-like devices with many eyes surveilled the passage.
• Thor noticed that two academy workers showed no Magic Power and seemed unfamiliar with him, despite Dumar saying the academy kept watch on Gorsa's students.
• Dumar gave Thor a Kaositer Living Guide and left, but Thor saw that Dumar's head briefly looked like a flat disc before it returned to normal.
• Thor spotted a faint, pale line rising from Dumar's head, then rode into the city and said it was interesting.

Thor reached Kaositer City and rented a top-floor apartment after observing the city’s strange magical infrastructure and crowds. As he prepared to leave for his new home, Xiao Zao alerted him to a Great Tree that Thor suspected was underground.

• Thor and his companions saw Kaositer City’s oppressive high-rises, magical streetlights, and crowds pouring into the streets at the end of the workday.
• Agu told Thor that Baidong Academy, led by the Tier 2 Wizard Pang De, held the real power in the city, and Thor speculated that its leaders were pursuing a massive project.
• Thor and Agu visited the Agency Center, where John offered Thor upgraded rental listings after seeing his Silver Pass, but Thor chose an affordable top-floor apartment.
• Thor declined John’s offer of a Flight Cabin ride and returned to the carriage with Agu, then had Xiao Zao recall its underground clone.
• Xiao Zao struck Thor’s face and wrote “Great Tree,” leading Thor to suspect that the tree was underground because he had seen none in the city.

Sol settled into his new Kaositer residence and planned how to strengthen himself and his Consciousness Entities. Just as he was about to go out, he received a letter from Kismet.

• Sol moved into a top-floor apartment, installed a Warning Witchcraft Array, and planted Xiao Zao clones inside and on the rooftop.
• Sol planned to seek an advanced Meditation Method, Tier 3 Wizardry, knowledge for arming Spirit Bodies, and ways to improve his defenses.
• Morton suggested that Consciousness Entities could fight like Evil Spirits without relying on Vessels, prompting Sol to consider developing them into armed spirits.
• Sol prepared to leave and had An guard the apartment, but a mail carrier arrived with a wax-sealed letter addressed to Sol as a younger brother.
• Sol recognized the sender as Kismet and opened the letter.