Chapter Summaries

The Star Gate Council selected Thor and Luke as candidates for advancement to Tier 3, while Thor’s Wizard Tower received an unexpected visitor. Thor found the gravely injured Kismet, who said Sky City Lord Ophelia had wounded him while he tried to kill Clark and help Thor.

• Murich reported that Wind Demon Pearl had nominated Thor and Councilor Norton had nominated Keri as candidates for Tier 3; Alik accepted Thor’s candidacy.
• Murich nominated Luke as the Star Gate Council’s candidate, proposing that he compete fairly against Thor because both specialized in the Dark Attribute.
• Alik watched the stars after Murich left and remarked that the Star Gate had appeared.
• Jiajiagu visited Thor, who checked him for Corruption and cleaned the puppet that filtered it before letting him leave.
• Thor crossed Rhine Lake after the tower’s alarm sounded and found Kismet unconscious in the Mushroom Forest.
• Kismet told Thor that Sky City Lord Ophelia had badly injured him while he tried to kill Clark and clear obstacles to Thor’s advancement.

After rescuing Kismet, Thor studied the Fate Line ability he had gained upon reaching Tier 2 and discovered unusual threads linked to others in the Wizard Tower. Morton reassured him that he could study Witchcraft across different elements, while Thor remained focused on becoming stronger safely and quickly.

• Thor carried the badly injured Kismet from the Mushroom Forest and handed him to Butler Hope, who found that Kismet was severely anemic and dehydrated.
• Three days later, with Kismet still unconscious, Thor began deep meditation to investigate the Fate Line ability he had gained from his Locator.
• Thor saw that his own Fate Lines formed a tangled cluster and found that tracing them briefly improved the coordination between his Mental Power and Magic Power.
• Thor noticed two unusual Fate Lines circling him from the floor but stopped before touching them because he was exhausted.
• Morton told Thor that he did not need to commit to one elemental specialty, and Thor reflected that his main goal was to grow stronger safely and quickly.

Morton explained to Thor how Tier 3 Wizards filtered elemental impurities by breaking them into atoms, and Thor learned that the knowledge came from Wizard Murphy, creator and guardian of the Wall of Sighs. Morton ended by regretting that his past ambition had led over a thousand Wizards and apprentices to die in Chuishou Valley.

• Morton told Thor that Tier 3 Wizards modified the doors in their bodies to filter impurities from elemental particles drawn from the outside world.
• Thor connected the higher concepts of space and life to Gorsa’s research into resurrection and resolved to advance at his own pace.
• Morton revealed that elemental particles were made of smaller particles called atoms, which Tier 3 Wizards could break down with modified Magic Arrays.
• Thor learned that Wizard Lord Murphy had created the Wall of Sighs and bound himself to it to guard the Far North Territory against the Abyssal Black Tide.
• Morton regretted leading over a thousand Wizards and apprentices to Chuishou Valley, where they died while intercepting a dying Tier 3 Wizard from Baidong.

Thor questioned Kismet about Clark’s death and learned that an open Tier 3 Wizard position in the Land of No Owner would lead to a selection within the next year or two. Kismet urged Thor to prepare for advancement, then revealed he had been a Tier 2 Wizard for a very long time.

• Kismet explained that he had lured Ophelia to Wind Chime Tree House so she would destroy Clark’s remnant soul, and confirmed that Gorsa had helped kill Clark.
• Kismet told Thor that the Wind Eye had been fake and warned that real Wind Eyes could still appear.
• Kismet revealed that an open Tier 3 Wizard position would prompt the Star Gate Council and the Land of No Owner to select a candidate, and urged Thor to prepare to advance within a year.
• Kismet explained that veteran Tier 2 Wizards would compete for resources and support to attempt advancement, while Thor might become a candidate backed by the Radiance Family.
• Thor asked how long Kismet had been Tier 2, and Kismet answered that it had been a long, long time.

Sol kept Kismet confined to the tower, studied atoms with Camus while working on an experiment to inert Black Tide Pollution, and learned that he was one of three candidates for advancement to Tier 3. The final selection method was undecided, but each candidate would need to open the door inside their body a crack through their own strength.

• Sol took Kismet to the tower's Round Platform and left him guarded by Xiao Zao's clones after refusing to let him roam freely.
• Sol discussed atomic theory with Camus and considered how atoms and pollution related to the Inertia Experiment.
• Kismet disappeared from Sol's tower without saying goodbye during the following half-month.
• Pearl told Sol he was the third Tier 3 candidate, alongside Keri of the Radiance Family and Luke of the Star Gate Council.
• Pearl explained that the candidates would compete, and each would need to open the door inside their body at least a crack to qualify.

Pearl’s intuition warned her away from taking back the Baiseke Magic Mirror, and Thor suspected the danger might be connected to the Black Tide Pollution or the hidden Wind Eye. After Pearl encountered strange rustling near the Broken Cliff, Thor discussed his precognitive dream with Senior Byron, who said its future might still be changed.

• Thor reminded Pearl that she had left the Baiseke Magic Mirror with him, but Pearl pulled her hand away after feeling a sudden sense of unease and asked him to keep it.
• Thor wondered whether Pearl feared an unresolved threat, such as the Black Tide Pollution or the real Wind Eye, and considered whether his dream’s Giant Bird represented a Fake or True Wind Demon.
• Pearl flew strangely high above the clouds, felt trapped by the vast sky, and heard a persistent rustling sound near the Broken Cliff that vanished after she sealed and then released her hearing.
• Thor took the Baiseke Magic Mirror to Senior Byron and told him about his precognitive dream.
• Senior Byron said the dream showed one possible future that could still be changed, while Thor worried that trying to prevent it might bring it about.

Thor and Byron pursued ways to change Black Tide Pollution, but their research had stalled. After Thor received a letter from an old friend, he examined Jiajiagu and discovered a seven-colored eye inside his spirit body, like the one he had seen on Brando.

• Byron showed Thor his destructive experiments on Black Tide Pollution and wondered whether a catastrophe in the Land of No Owner could provide enough force to advance the Inertia Formula.
• Thor continued searching for a way to counter Black Tide Pollution, and three days later Jiajiagu delivered him a letter from outside the Land of No Owner.
• Thor examined Jiajiagu after suspecting his unusual excitement might signal Corruption, but found Jiajiagu's body clean and his Substitute Doll darkened from absorbing pollution.
• Thor examined Jiajiagu's spirit body and found a translucent, seven-colored eye like the one he had seen on Brando.
• Thor asked whether Jiajiagu had seen Brando recently, and Jiajiagu said Brando seemed like a good person because he was Thor's friend.

Thor discovered that Jiajiagu’s Black Tide Pollution had diminished after a Star Eye appeared in his mental entity, then read Keli’s letter about her research and request for Corrupted Demonic Creatures. He sent the Magic Wolf toward Kema with a reply, leaving its fate uncertain.

• Thor found that Jiajiagu had gained a Colored Pupil Eye and that the Black Tide Pollution in his body had decreased, but Thor could not reclaim the eye.
• Thor asked Jiajiagu to bring Brando to him next time so he could compare their conditions and assess his treatment.
• Thor read Keli’s letter, which reported his progress to Second Rank, described her research into a new kind of Radiation, and requested Demonic Creatures from the Land of No Owner.
• Thor arranged for Butler Hope to train the Magic Wolf and gave it a collar pointing toward Kema’s capital.
• Three days later, the Magic Wolf set out for Kema carrying Thor’s letter to Keli.

After a nightmare showed Thor drowning in the Black Tide, he went to the Chaos Domain to check on Noah. He found Noah with Scorpion in the darkness, where Scorpion watched Thor arrive surrounded by lightning.

• Thor failed to grasp his Fate Line, exhausted himself, and fell asleep.
• Thor dreamed of standing in a Witchcraft Array as a mountain-high wave of the Black Tide swallowed him and Diu Diu rescued him, only for them to become engulfed in black fire.
• Thor woke sweating and used the Chaos Domain Compass to travel to the Black Desert, hoping to investigate the world the Black Tide had devastated.
• Thor searched Noah's nearby house, found him missing, and sent a fireball into the sky to help locate him.
• Thor spotted Noah's Small Fireball, flew to its source under Lightning Protection, and landed beside Noah and Scorpion.
• Scorpion stared at Thor's lightning-wreathed arrival and thought, "Holy shit!"

Thor rescued Noah and Scorpion from a Withered Ghost Vine, then used witchcraft to understand Scorpion’s language. Scorpion mistook Thor for a god and begged him to save him, offering himself as a slave.

• Thor detected a monster underground and killed the Withered Ghost Vine attacking Noah and Scorpion.
• The rock beneath Noah and Scorpion broke, but Xiao Zao caught Noah while Scorpion used a hidden, deformed arm to keep himself from falling.
• Noah explained that he had met Scorpion while fleeing the monster and had not known the boy could defend himself.
• Thor cast Understand Languages on Scorpion and learned his name.
• Scorpion knelt before Thor, called him Lord God, and begged to become his slave.

Thor questioned Scorpion and learned that the people of the Black Death Plain underwent Demon Seeding, which gave survivors a Magic Limb and kept them from turning into monsters. After Thor left Noah with Scorpion, Noah decided to use the tribes as believers to help his mentor explore the world and become its god.

• Thor and Noah brought Scorpion to the cabin, where Thor questioned him about his tribe and the Black Death Plain.
• Scorpion explained that children underwent Demon Seeding and survivors developed varied Magic Limbs, while unseeded children could turn into monsters.
• Thor found active Black Dust in Scorpion's Magic Limb and learned that Scorpion was only eight years old, despite being forced to claim he had come of age.
• Thor implanted a Parasite in Scorpion, told Noah to stay near the cabin, and left him Magic Crystals and Scrolls before departing the Chaos Domain.
• Noah decided to make the tribes his mentor's believers and help Thor become the world's true god.

After learning how Chaos Domain civilizations used Black Dust to demon-seed babies, Thor tested the process on himself to investigate how inert Black Dust might regain its corrupting power. The next day, Byron’s experiment apparently went wrong, leaving him radiating an irresistible charm before he crashed onto Rhine Lake’s ice.

• Thor returned from the Chaos Domain and told Byron that Scorpion had explained how people used Black Dust to demon-seed babies.
• Thor rubbed Black Dust into a cut on his wrist and observed a weak Radiation response that quickly faded as his body destroyed the Pollution Source.
• Thor decided he needed test subjects for further experiments, while Byron continued his research on the Inertia Formula.
• The next day, Thor fished for souls beneath the ice on Rhine Lake when a crash tore a hole in the Wizard Tower.
• Byron emerged from the hole with a dazzling, terrifying allure, then leapt over Rhine Lake and crashed onto the ice.

Thor tried to restrain Byron after Byron's Mental Power disrupted his senses and made him dangerously confused. Byron escaped Thor and reached two Wizards outside Rhine Lake, where Thor stopped one from killing him, but the eye-only Wizard beheaded the dark-skinned Wizard after Byron's influence turned him against his companion.

• Thor chased Byron across the ice and discovered that Byron's Mental Power was distorting the senses of Thor and Xiao Zao.
• Byron broke free and ran out of Rhine Lake, while Thor followed and decided to treat him beyond the forbidden-magic zone.
• A dark-skinned Wizard and an eye-only Wizard descended in a flying machine and tried to stop Byron, but the dark-skinned Wizard attacked him with a lightning spear.
• Thor blocked the spear and struck at the dark-skinned Wizard, whose Mental Power had been affected by Byron and who turned on his companion.
• The eye-only Wizard killed the dark-skinned Wizard by making his head fall off.

Thor purged Byron’s corruption and met Luke of the Star Gate Council and Keri, another candidate in the Tier 3 Wizard selection. Luke and Keri left after discussing the coming selection, whose start remained uncertain.

• Thor absorbed the corruption from Byron, who regained his senses, and stored the blackened piece of his finger in a bottle.
• Luke introduced himself as a Star Gate Council candidate after swallowing his dark-skinned companion’s head into his stomach.
• Thor noticed Keri watching them and called her out; she introduced herself and said she would watch him during the selection.
• Thor defended his mentor Gorsa and his own talent, and Keri left in a Pumpkin Carriage.
• Luke departed on a Flying Shuttle and told Thor the contest might already have begun.

Miss Lucy summoned Thor, Keri, and Luke to Old Days Manor and announced that the Star Gate Council would support the candidate with the best survival skills in becoming a Tier 3 Wizard. After Luke suggested a fight to the death, Thor revealed enough power to unsettle the others, but Lucy insisted that Wizards should compete with their brains.

• Thor and Byron waited at Old Days Manor, where Byron discussed Tower Master Gorsa’s unusual mastery of space.
• Keri arrived by pumpkin carriage, and Luke arrived with Kafka, whom he claimed to have revived through an experiment.
• Miss Lucy announced that the candidate with the best survival skills would earn support to become a Tier 3 Wizard.
• Luke proposed a fight to the death, and Thor released a Mental Power ripple that made the others wary.
• Lucy rejected the idea of a fight and declared that real Wizards competed with their brains.

Lucy announced that the candidates must complete the Ice Lock Array and advance to compete for Tier 3, while Thor and Byron recognized the task could help their own research. After the candidates left, Kismet confronted Lucy about giving up her own chance and offered to kill one of them.

• Lucy explained the selection rules and gave Thor, Luke, and Keri each an Ice Lock Array Scroll.
• Lucy said candidates could seek outside help, and the Council would compare their Arrays if they finished at nearly the same time.
• Thor and Byron flew away on Diu Diu and realized the unfinished Array offered a new approach to their research on Black Tide Pollution.
• Lucy remained outside Old Days Manor after the candidates departed, and Kismet emerged to question her about the selection.
• Kismet offered to kill Luke, Keri, or Thor to free a candidate spot for Lucy.

Lucy rebuffed Kismet after he spoke of seizing a rare opportunity, while he murmured about gold. Elsewhere, Flim confronted Norton over Gorsa’s forbidden resurrection experiments, and Murphy wondered whether the Wizard world still had hope.

• Lucy struck Kismet in the chest, dismissed his threat, and went back into Old Days Manor while Kismet called after her that he would seize a rare opportunity.
• Norton and Flim met at the Wall of Sighs, where they waited for Wizard Murphy.
• Flim accused Gorsa of conducting a forbidden low-tier resurrection experiment in Stat and threatened to carry out a Purge Order if he returned to the Nephrite Continent.
• Norton and Flim briefly clashed with their power until Murphy intervened and warned them not to fight on the Wall of Sighs.
• Flim and Norton departed, and Murphy wondered whether Norton was nearing the end of his strength and whether the world still had hope.

Sol treated Ed for Black Tide Pollution and discovered that Ed developed a Seven-Colored eye after interacting with Jiajiagu, deepening Sol’s concerns about the Stars spreading beyond his Consciousness Space. He asked Byron to monitor his body while he tried to meet the mysterious Stars within himself.

• Sol welcomed Jiajiagu and Ed to the Wizard Tower, then examined Ed and purged the Pollution Source affecting his hands.
• Ed thanked Sol and left with Jiajiagu, who persuaded him to admit that he admired Sol before bargaining over the price of goods.
• Sol used the Eye of Banishment to see a Seven-Colored eye growing on the back of Ed’s head and considered how goodwill might influence the Stars’ spread.
• Sol told Byron to watch his body and wake him if his condition deteriorated, then prepared to meet the Stars in his Consciousness Space.

Solr entered his Consciousness Space to try to communicate with the Stars and investigate the danger they posed. After his words went unanswered, he sent a fragment of himself toward them, and a shooting star suddenly descended toward him.

• Solr lay on the Experiment Table and entered his Consciousness Space, while Byron prepared potions and Witchcraft Scrolls outside.
• Solr addressed the Stars and wondered whether opening the door to reach the Third Rank could let them escape or spread Corruption.
• After the Diary warned that approaching the Stars would extinguish his consciousness, Solr withdrew from the platform’s edge and asked them to come to him.
• Solr decided the Stars might be too far away to hear him, detached his left hand, inscribed it with Mental Power, and sent it off as a small gray bird.
• A shooting star suddenly plunged straight toward Solr.

Thor caught a strange Star that transformed into liquid and was absorbed by his Spirit Body, covering him in rainbow-colored eyes. After resisting the change and examining himself, he realized the eyes were doors opening from within every cell of his body.

• Thor caught the descending Star and discovered a rainbow-colored eye on its stone-like surface.
• The Star liquefied and was absorbed by Thor's Spirit Body, causing eyes to spread across his body and overwhelm him with pain.
• Thor resisted the transformation by affirming his sense of self and slowly regained control of his body.
• Thor examined the eyes and realized they were doors opening from within every cell of his body.