Chapter Summaries

Maria visited Gorsa at the Seventh Wizard Tower to inspect him for Corruption and discovered that he had injured himself experimenting with Black Tide. Gorsa refused to take leave and insisted he would recover by the next day, while Maria decided to drag the Tower Master out for a stroll.

• Maria and Solot left the Wall of Sighs to inspect the distant Wizard Towers, then separated because Solot avoided Wizards from the Iskape branch.
• Maria reached Gorsa's tower and found him skinless and badly injured after an experiment, though he denied being attacked.
• Gorsa refused Maria's request to examine his body but invited her into his laboratory to explain what had happened.
• Maria found a bucket of Black Tide, and Gorsa said he had touched it while studying it, causing the flesh on his hands and face to rot away.
• Maria urged Gorsa to take leave before the next Black Tide, but Gorsa refused and said he would be better tomorrow.

Gorsa showed Ula his collection of Soul Fragments and revealed that he hoped to bring her back to life, while Thor and his companions began crossing Chuishou Valley toward the Land of No Owner. The journey seemed peaceful until Thor spotted an Evil Spirit inhabiting a corpse suspended from a cliff.

• Gorsa showed Ula Soul Fragments he had collected, including a fragment of Thor's Spirit Body, and explained that it had corrupted a Mouth into growing eyes.
• Gorsa said he wanted to reach the Third Rank again so he could bring Ula back to life, triggering her panic before he calmed her and told her he was her lover.
• Thor and his companions arrived at Chuishou Valley, where Xiao Zao carried the carriage down the steep entrance slope.
• Thor had Marsh guide the carriage through the safer parts of the valley, but no Evil Spirits appeared along the way.
• Thor spotted a corpse suspended from a cliff by a rope driven through its skull and sensed an Evil Spirit inside it.

Thor and Morton traveled deeper into Chuishou Valley, where the Evil Spirits and Head-Foot Monsters they encountered danced instead of attacking. As giant faces rose from holes to make a path for the carriage, Thor and the Consciousness Entities wondered whether the valley’s creatures were welcoming him.

• Thor and Morton avoided a suspended corpse that turned to keep watching Thor, then saw it begin to dance as their carriage moved away.
• Head-Foot Monsters surrounded the carriage but danced rather than attacking, and Morton explained he could no longer control them through the Corruption.
• Thor told Marsh to keep driving carefully past the dancing monsters and the many holes in the road.
• The horses began dancing under the influence of an underground river, then bolted toward a hole despite Thor’s Calming Spell.
• A giant face emerged from the hole to support the carriage, and more faces rose from the darkness to pave its way.

Thor led Marsh out of Chuishou Valley and cautiously entered the Land of No Owner, where the seemingly peaceful grassland concealed an uncertain boundary. Using the Eye of Exile, Thor saw strange halos around himself and spotted a village ahead, leaving him to investigate the abnormal landscape carefully.

• Thor and Marsh passed a Rift filled with powerful Evil Spirits and continued through Chuishou Valley, avoiding dangerous places with Morton's warnings.
• Thor reached the valley's exit and found an apparently ordinary grassland, but he noticed that the distant boundary between land and sky looked blurred.
• Thor told Marsh to stay by the carriage and retreat into Chuishou Valley if anything abnormal happened.
• Thor embedded the Eye of Exile in his palm and used it to see multicolored halos surrounding him, remembering not to look them in the eye.
• Thor crossed the grassland and saw a village about five hundred meters away, where green grass abruptly met brown earth.

Sol approached a village that the Death Wizard Diary warned would kill him, but a farmer stabbed him after accusing him of killing Little Claude. Sol revived in golden light and discovered a new Golden Page depicting his apparent death.

• Sol saw a hidden village through the Eye of Banishment, received a death warning, and decided to go around it.
• A Farmer appeared beside Sol, asked about missing Little Claude, and accused Sol when he ignored him.
• The Farmer attacked with an iron pitchfork, killing Sol and hiding his body under straw beside Little Claude.
• Sol awoke near the village as the Diary's death entries were struck through, then found a new Golden Page showing his death.

Thor died twice in a strange village and discovered that the Death Wizard Diary rewound him to the village entrance, though the village’s rules still prevented him from attacking or defending himself reliably. After spotting the missing boy Little Claude in the cellar, Thor returned to the start with new clues about the village’s mysteries.

• Thor killed the cart-driving Farmer, but his Dark Spirit Blade failed to harm the two guards, and one guard’s dagger pierced him.
• The guards blamed Thor for Uncle John’s death and Little Claude’s disappearance, then slashed his throat and locked him in the cellar.
• Thor saw a red-haired boy hiding in a crate and suspected he was Little Claude before bleeding to death.
• Thor awakened outside the village and found that the diary’s first Golden Page now depicted his death in the cellar.
• Thor concluded that the diary, not the village, had rewound him and considered whether ambushing the Farmer was necessary to attack him.

Thor died a fourth time in the village and concluded that anyone who wanted to kill him could kill him regardless of his attempts to fight back. On his fifth reset, he avoided entering the Farmer’s house and met a little girl searching for the missing Claude.

• The Farmer brought Thor to his home, where the farmwife killed him with a fork and then used his body as stew ingredients.
• Thor restarted without losing Mental Power or Magic Power and reasoned that hostile intent toward him made death unavoidable.
• Thor accepted the Farmer’s ride into the village but declined his invitation to enter the house, saying he wanted to shop first.
• A little girl asked Thor for a silver coin so she could hire a carriage to search for her missing friend, Little Claude.

Thor investigated Little Claude’s disappearance and concluded that the village’s rule was that whoever struck first survived. He killed his way through the village, leaving it silent as he walked out.

• Thor learned from Little Claude’s mother that the Village Chief lived in the white house and went to question him.
• Big Claude said Little Claude had disappeared that morning, contradicting the villagers’ account that he had been missing for days, so Thor killed him.
• Thor followed a young man into an alley and killed him, then returned to the Farmer’s house and killed the Farmer’s wife.
• Thor used the Dark Spirit Blade to kill people throughout the village, growing more skilled as the blade split into dozens of blades.
• Thor killed the two guards at the village outskirts and left the silent village, deciding that its rule was to strike first to survive.

Thor discovered that the Golden Page let him simulate events and repeatedly test ways to survive without paying the cost himself. He returned to the village, gathered its residents, and threatened Mr. Claude while secretly preparing to kill them all.

• The village produced many gruesome copies of Little Claude, and their words triggered the Golden Page to form in Thor's hand.
• Thor understood that the Golden Page created a predictive miniature world, then let it enter his body as the golden surroundings vanished.
• Thor approached Farmer John as a Wizard and asked him to lead the way to the Village Chief so he could choose apprentices.
• Thor asked Big Claude to gather everyone in the village, then confirmed that the missing Little Claude was not among them.
• Thor flew onto the Village Chief's roof, demanded that Mr. Claude reveal himself, and placed a hidden black blade behind every villager's head.

Thor confronted Claude, the Wizard behind the village’s repeating deaths, and offered to help remove Corruption in exchange for the rules’ underlying principles. Claude explained that he did not know why the village’s curse had formed, but began recounting how a Wizard cursed his birthplace after killing Claude’s brother.

• Thor told Herman that the villagers were not alive and recognized that Claude’s repeated deaths threatened to cause Alienation.
• Thor removed Corruption from the little girl, showing Claude he could cleanse Spirit Bodies without seriously harming them.
• Claude agreed to explain the village’s history, while warning that Corruption in the Land of No Owner appeared without any known cause.
• Claude recalled that a Wizard had recruited him as an Apprentice when he was ten, then killed Claude’s older brother after Claude accepted.
• The Wizard showed Claude the villagers’ cruelty and killings, and Claude later realized that the Wizard had cast a Curse-Spell on the village.

Thor learned that Claude and the villagers had been trapped in a deadly rule-bound village in the Land of No Owner, and helped ease their Corruption. After Thor left, the village’s strange reality shifted, and Claude and the villagers began shaking their heads as the sound of water vanished.

• Claude told Thor that his mentor, Dreamweaver Clark, had given him the Dream Chime, and that the villagers had developed extreme personalities and repeatedly killed him under a village rule.
• Thor concluded that Claude and the villagers were Corrupted and that they killed passersby to replenish their soul energy; Claude revealed Kismet had sent him a letter telling him to wait for someone.
• Thor removed most of the villagers’ Corruption, and Claude gave him the Dream Chime, knowing the villagers would soon fade away.
• Claude identified his mentor as the Tier 3 Wizard Dreamweaver Clark, and Thor realized the village’s rules were powerful because the Land of No Owner had acknowledged them.
• Thor left the village and returned to Marsh, but collapsed into the carriage; Marsh shut the door and drove away without calling for help.
• The little girl noticed the sound of water had stopped, while Claude and the villagers began shaking their heads and Claude heard the water again.

Clark told Kismet he planned to pull Pearl and Herbert into his Dreamscape and claim the Land of No Owner. Thor was then trapped in a dark sea inside his Consciousness World, where he summoned his platform, Diary, and Stars as mysterious shadows rose from below.

• Clark told Kismet that he would soon drag Pearl into his Dreamscape and target Herbert next, while Kismet doubted he could take the Land of No Owner from them.
• Thor suddenly found himself submerged in a dark, rough sea that scattered his Magic Power and made his Mental Power feel like water sloshing inside his brain.
• Thor realized he was in his Consciousness World and summoned the Consciousness Platform beneath himself, escaping the sea’s pull but remaining under attack from its waves.
• Thor found the Diary floating above him and called the Stars into the previously dark sky.
• The rising shadows beneath the sea stopped and fled back into the depths when the Stars appeared.

Thor escaped the Black Tide in the Consciousness World with a drop of Black Tide, then woke in a cage held by the Old Witch. He learned that Marsh was alive but captive too, while the Old Witch refused to release him.

• Thor found that the sea had calmed and discovered a drop of Black Tide after the Diary warned that corruption came from the Black Tide within.
• Thor realized his absorption of corruption from the villagers and Claude had nearly drowned him, and wondered whether the Land of No Owner was filled with Black Tide.
• Thor noticed that three days had passed and returned to his body, waking inside a wooden cage.
• The Old Witch told Thor that Marsh was alive and had grown mushrooms after being watered for several days.
• Thor saw other captives in nearby cages, identified the Old Witch as likely a Tier 2 Wizard, and learned she planned to keep him until he was no longer useful.

Thor used his experience with Wizard Body Modification to persuade Old Witch that he might be useful, and she spared him temporarily so he could answer her questions about stopping bodily aging. After Old Witch left him in a cage, Oukili warned Thor that Wizards in the Land of No Owner were also treated as materials.

• Thor told Old Witch he had undergone Wizard Body Modification twice and explained how bodily tissues affected the process.
• Old Witch asked Thor how to stop aging and extend the lifespan of the body's tiniest tissues, and he offered two possible approaches while deliberately withholding part of his knowledge.
• Old Witch examined Thor's blood, announced that he would replace Oukili, and left to check on her other experiment.
• Thor inspected the cages and found several prisoners, including a giant, a Shorty, a Barbarian Priest, and Oukili.
• Oukili warned Thor that two earlier people who claimed expertise in Wizard Body Modification had become immobile Witchcraft materials, and said Wizards in the Land of No Owner were materials too.

Thor tried to learn how to survive in the Old Witch’s prison, then drank a soup that supposedly made people lose their sense of direction. He pretended to be dizzy when the Old Witch returned and took him to her Laboratory.

• Thor asked Oukili about the prison, and Oukili said he had been locked up for three years and had never seen anyone escape alive.
• Thor tested the cage and his abilities, but the bars held firm and the cage suppressed his Mental Power.
• The Old Witch served the prisoners mushroom soup, and Agu identified it as Fletcher’s Love Soup, which made drinkers lose their sense of direction.
• Thor drank the soup and saw the mushrooms on his tongue form a message that seemed to say, “I’m fine. Two.”
• The Old Witch found Thor pretending to be dizzy, pulled him from his cage, and took him to her Laboratory.

Old Witch gave Thor one day to improve her Wizard Body Modification experiment, hoping he could solve even a small part of the problem. Thor stunned her by advancing the theory almost to its final obstacle, and he asked for a month to finish.

• Old Witch brought Thor to a primitive laboratory, showed him a writhing mass of Dough and a basin of notes, and told him to improve a modification plan by the next day.
• Thor spent the day studying the scrolls and filling a page with his ideas while struggling to resolve the remaining problem.
• Old Witch woke with her ankle warping like Dough, healed it with Witchcraft, and went to check on Thor, expecting he might have failed.
• Old Witch read Thor’s dense writing and realized he had nearly completed the Wizard Body Modification theory she had been unable to advance for years.
• Thor asked for more time to overcome the final obstacle, and Old Witch agreed to give him a month.

Thor secured a month to work on the Old Witch’s Perfect Body modification and secretly held back the final step of his solution. As the experiments advanced, the Old Witch ran short of materials and left Thor and Oukili at the worktable instead of returning them to their cages.

• The Old Witch gave Thor a month to complete the modification task and returned him to his cage, where Oukili and the other prisoners reacted to his survival.
• Thor concealed his progress and reassured the Consciousness Entities that his modification plan was sound, while the Old Witch briefly inspected him without explanation.
• Oukili asked Thor how he had solved the problem of conflicting racial attributes, and Thor said he had seen his mentor conduct a similar experiment.
• The Old Witch began taking Thor and Oukili to work together, and they confirmed Thor’s theory before advancing the Perfect Body experiments.
• The Old Witch discovered that their materials were running low and decided to leave to obtain more.
• The Old Witch told Thor and Oukili to keep working outside their cages while she was gone, warning Thor not to attempt escape.

Thor investigated the rooms near the exit and discovered Marsh was trapped in a pot, then learned that Oukili was also considering escape. The chapter ended with Oukili hinting at a Wizard rank called “approximately Tier 2,” which Thor interpreted as the peak of Tier 1.

• After the Old Witch left, Thor walked toward the exit while pretending to be affected by her Love Soup, and Oukili followed him.
• Thor found a Witchcraft Array guarding a room near the exit and called for Marsh, who answered from a pot filled with mushrooms.
• Thor promised Marsh he would take him along when he left, then returned without opening the locked room beside the exit.
• Oukili told Thor they should not escape before they were properly prepared, and Thor asked when that would be.
• Oukili described the rank “approximately Tier 2,” and Thor guessed it meant reaching the peak of Tier 1.

Oukili told Thor that a Wizard could approach the Second Rank by enhancing a Locator, then proposed using the risky method to help them escape the Old Witch. Thor remained uncertain while weighing Oukili’s motives, and Oukili warned him not to reveal their conversation.

• Oukili explained that a Wizard could achieve a qualitative change by mutating or enhancing a Locator rather than Magic Power or Mental Power.
• Thor considered enhancing his own body and Locator but judged that changing his already powerful Locator would be too risky.
• Oukili proposed that he and Thor enhance their Locators enough to approach the Second Rank and escape the Old Witch’s laboratory.
• Oukili claimed they could flee to the territories of Firefly Lord Herbert or Wind Demon Pearl and reveal the Old Witch’s whereabouts to them.
• Oukili said he needed Thor’s help to disguise the enhancement as part of their experiment and warned him not to tell the Old Witch.
• Thor said he needed time to consider the plan while privately evaluating Oukili’s intentions.

Thor continued the Old Witch’s experiment while secretly researching Flesh-Spirit Fusion Witchcraft, and Oukili proposed a dangerous method to strengthen the Locator. When the Old Witch returned without a complete Spirit Body, she extracted one from the Dwarf and handed it to Thor.

• Thor kept his secret research hidden by making Consciousness Entities memorize his results.
• Oukili offered to reveal a method for strengthening the Locator if Thor agreed to begin the Approximation Project, and Thor asked for three days to decide.
• The Old Witch returned late, covered in dust, and said she had failed to find a complete Spirit Body.
• The Old Witch brought the weakened Dwarf to the laboratory, dismembered him, and used her Soul Extractor to remove his Spirit Body.
• The Old Witch handed Thor the extracted Spirit Body, assuring him that it was complete despite being deformed.