Chapter Summaries

Aaron sacrificed his incarnations and contingencies to reach the Creator realm, where he and the Scarlet Sun fought a final gamble that ended with both apparently perishing. In the aftermath, William recovered his own will, received Aaron’s last instructions, and began rebuilding his power in the Mortal World while the Spirit Realm entered an age led by its surviving Age Controllers.

• Aaron killed his incarnations and the Count of Green Forest as he forced his way into the Creator realm.
• Aaron and the Scarlet Sun met beyond time and space, then unleashed a final battle that ended in mutual annihilation.
• The Spirit Realm began to disintegrate, and the eight Fate Controllers and many rational masks and Age Controllers were wiped out; Lin Olivia declared the start of an Age Controller-led era.
• William Charles vomited out the banyan growths, understood Aaron’s final message, and resolved to rebuild a kingdom devoted to his lord.
• William used his control of Life Bank accounts to kill Prince Doma and other members of the Thirteen Clans, then went to meet Evelyn Messiah.
• William told Evelyn to reclaim the Messiah Family’s position and prepare to become chairman of Life Bank.

Grise and a wounded paladin fled a gnoll Red-Robed Monk who attacked the Dawn Lady’s refugees, then found shelter in an abandoned Kimmo settlement. There, they discovered an ancient nature-worship amulet, and Grise urged the paladin not to destroy it because the gods had called for former enemies to unite against the Outer Gods.

• Grise used Constant Temperature to protect some refugees while she and the paladin struggled to lead the convoy through the Far Northern Wasteland.
• A gnoll Red-Robed Monk attacked the convoy, blocked the paladin’s Smite Evil with Spirit-Bone Prayer Beads, and summoned the ghost of the paladin’s teacher, Hand of Order.
• Grise and the wounded paladin escaped using their only random teleportation scroll, but the paladin vowed to avenge his teacher.
• They reached an abandoned Kimmo ice hut, where the paladin uncovered an ancient stone amulet bearing a faint evil aura.
• Grise identified the amulet as a primitive Kimmo nature-worship relic and stopped the paladin from purifying it, reminding him that the gods had called for unity against the Outer Gods.

Aaron revived as an incarnation in the Far Northern Wasteland, where he discovered that his old bard abilities and weak divinity were all he had brought back. After learning from Grise that the Outer Gods had invaded and the Weave had collapsed, he heard that a gnoll Red-Robed Monk was pursuing her, and the paladin sensed the enemy nearby.

• Aaron revived in the Far Northern Wasteland as an incarnation and examined his diminished powers and old bard status.
• Aaron used his charisma to cast Haste despite the collapsed Weave and traveled to a Kimo People ice hut.
• Aaron met Grise and a one-armed paladin, then asked Grise about the state of the world.
• Grise explained that the Outer Gods had invaded, the Weave had collapsed, and the Great Sun Tathagata led their pantheon.
• Grise said gnolls had joined the Outer Gods as Dharma Protectors and were pursuing her; the paladin sensed the Red-Robed Monk approaching.

Aaron joined Grise and a wounded paladin in battle against a gnoll Red-Robed Monk wielding the Spirit-Bone Prayer Beads, and unexpectedly learned the monk’s esoteric mantras. Aaron seized the beads and freed the paladin to defeat the gnoll, but the paladin died from his wounds; Grise then looked toward Aaron and the legendary item.

• Aaron hid as the gnoll Red-Robed Monk approached, while Grise and the paladin prepared to fight it.
• Grise distracted the gnoll with a Mimicry cantrip, and the paladin wounded it with Smite Evil before the gnoll bound him with a Secret Mantra True Word and grievously injured him.
• Aaron learned Secret Mantra True Word: Bind and the Fierce Wolf-Head Vajra Protector Life-Preserving Mantra as the gnoll overpowered Grise and began healing itself.
• Aaron used Bind to land a sneak attack on the gnoll’s prayer-bead arm, took the Spirit-Bone Prayer Beads, and summoned fallen paladins to hold the gnoll back.
• Aaron healed the paladin with the life-preserving mantra and urged him to attack; freed from the beads’ protection, the paladin killed the gnoll with Holy Cross Slash, then died from his wounds.
• Half a day later, Grise mourned the paladin at his grave and turned her attention to Aaron and the Spirit-Bone Prayer Beads.

Aaron headed toward the Icebound Kingdom after Grise directed him there, then hunted an icefield wolf and studied the Esoteric Buddhist system. He discovered the Twin Vessel Secret Mantra, which could let a proxy receive empowerment and pass mystical blessings to him, but worried that his growing mastery might turn him into a Red-Robed Monk.

• Aaron assured Grise he would grant the paladin souls in his trophy their rest, and Grise recommended he travel to the Icebound Kingdom.
• Aaron set out for the Icebound Kingdom with the Spirit-Bone Prayer Beads and decided to hunt powerful creatures for experience.
• Aaron killed an icefield wolf with a fallen paladin's Saintbreaker Slash, gained experience, and harvested the creature's remains.
• Aaron considered making ritual instruments from the wolf bones but reminded himself that he was meant to be a wandering bard.
• Aaron studied the Fierce Wolf-Head Vajra Protector Life-Preserving Mantra and reasoned that his Creator authority let him use its powers without submitting to the usual control.
• Aaron comprehended the Twin Vessel Secret Mantra, which let a living proxy receive empowerment and channel a tutelary deity's blessings to him.

Aaron joined a caravan bound for Kahn after helping its guards defeat a goblin warband and heal their wounded. He then used Husky, an Arctic wolf cub, as a Twin Vessel to draw the attention of the Fierce Wolf-Head Vajra Protector, whose divine presence appeared in the cub’s mind.

• Wendy and the caravan guards faced over a hundred goblins led by a sorcerous warlord, until Aaron’s flute strengthened the guards and disrupted the warlord’s spell.
• The guard captain killed the goblin warlord, and the surviving goblins fled; Aaron introduced himself as a bard and joined the caravan to Kahn City.
• Aaron treated the wounded guards, learned that Wendy had Kimo ancestry, and gained the caravan’s gratitude.
• Aaron revealed that he meant to refine Husky into a Twin Vessel and invoke the Fierce Wolf-Head Vajra Protector.
• The Protector answered the apparent offering and sent golden light into Husky, where his terrifying true-form image appeared.

Aaron purified the divine seed implanted in Erha, learned more about the dangers of Secret Teaching cultivation, and advanced his bard level while traveling toward Kahn City. A Druid warned that demons had breached the Frozen Great Rift’s eastern defenses, and the chapter ended with Aaron’s caravan learning that many demons had entered the kingdom’s Northland.

• Aaron used the Great Sun Tathagata’s power to erase the Fierce Wolf-Head Vajra Protector’s influence from Erha’s divine seed and conceal what had happened.
• Aaron gained the Bodhi Mind feat, considered the dangers of Secret Teaching cultivation, and raised his bard level to 9.
• Aaron and Wendy continued with Nutcracker’s caravan toward Kahn City, discussing the city’s shops and Wendy’s home village.
• A Shapeshifting Druid flew over the road and warned that demons had wandered from the Frozen Grand Canyon toward Kahn.
• At Kahn City, the caravan learned that the Frozen Great Rift’s eastern defensive line had been breached and many demons had entered the Northland.

Aaron entered Kahn City, learned that the eastern front had fallen after the revived Mother of Evil Dragons attacked, and decided to seek paid work rather than join the Harpers. At the Adventurers' Guild, he accepted a mission to retake Roland Castle and was joined by a half-elf rogue and a monk with an aura of death.

• Aaron arrived in Kahn City, sold his hunting loot, and played music at the Graybeard tavern while gathering information.
• A Harpers man told Aaron that the Mother of Evil Dragons had revived as the White-Robed Dragon Queen Earth Mother, unleashed Dharma-Protecting Heavenly Dragons, and helped collapse the eastern front.
• Aaron refused to join the Harpers' demon-slaying party and considered ways to gain power before spotting Lord Sith, the continent's strongest paladin, passing through the streets.
• Aaron registered at the Adventurers' Guild and chose the mission to retake Roland Castle, despite its low reward and the receptionist's warning that it required a team.
• A half-elf rogue invited Aaron to work with her, and he noticed that her quiet monk companion seemed to belong to the rare Everdeath School.

Aaron, Louisa, and Shadow joined a village militia’s attack on demons at Roland Castle, where an evil altar restored a wounded Hezrou. They defeated the demon and destroyed the altar, but the militiamen suffered devastating losses, and the chapter ended with Aaron asking Wendy if he needed further help.

• Louisa reported demon activity near their route, and Aaron’s party detoured toward Roland Castle after finding signs of Dretches and a Barlgura.
• Aaron and his companions moved to help Wendy and the village militia after demons discovered their night raid.
• A disguised mage used a Hold Monster scroll to wound the Hezrou, but it fled to an evil altar and healed itself with soul crystals.
• Aaron, Louisa, Shadow, and Erha joined the battle, and together with the militia they killed the Hezrou and destroyed the altar.
• The Hezrou’s corpse exploded, killing the barbarian leader and leaving Shadow badly wounded; Aaron healed Shadow, then offered Wendy’s survivors further help.

Aaron joined Wendy’s Kimo villagers as they migrated toward their ancestral homeland in the Far North Wasteland, where he discovered Louisa was bound by a secret mantra. He broke the curse binding her soul, but Louisa warned that her master, Jiumo Kong, could teleport to her location.

• Wendy chose to lead the villagers north toward their ancestral homeland after they abandoned their village near Kahn City.
• Louisa reported the failed altar arrangement to her master, an old monk who ordered her to investigate the Far North Wasteland.
• Aaron reached level 10 after killing a frost giant and warned Wendy’s migrating group that a giant tribe might be nearby.
• Wendy told Aaron their ancestral land was a hot spring canyon with an oasis, and that a silver dragon had witnessed their deed to it.
• Louisa found Aaron and tried to ensnare him with a secret mantra, but Aaron used the Fierce Wolf-Head Vajra Protector’s power to break the Curse Binding on her soul.
• Louisa regained awareness and told Aaron that Jiumo Kong had marked her location and would likely teleport to them.

Jiumo Kong recruited Winter's Wing to hunt Aaron and Louisa, but Aaron drew the dragon lord into a battle with Sith and the paladins. Winter's Wing was slain, and Aaron handed over the Spirit-Bone Prayer Beads in exchange for a legendary lute.

• Jiumo Kong met Winter's Wing and persuaded the white dragon lord to send forces after a party of Kimo People, offering wealth and proposing an alliance against Kahn City.
• Aaron and Louisa killed an adolescent white dragon, then spotted Winter's Wing's dragonwolf scout as Louisa's condition worsened.
• Winter's Wing attacked Aaron and Louisa with an army of kobolds and gnolls, but Aaron summoned Sith and the paladins with a magical firework.
• Sith slew Winter's Wing, while Aaron supported the paladins and took a few kills as the dragon's forces fled.
• Aaron gave Sith the Spirit-Bone Prayer Beads so the imprisoned paladin souls could rest, and Sith's group rewarded him with a legendary lute.

Aaron reached God-Given Promised Land and helped Wendy’s Kimo People and Grise’s followers agree to fight the frost giants as equals. The battle turned disastrous when a mutated two-headed frost giant killed Quinn and the silver dragon, but Lady of Dawn’s Saint form arrived as the survivors prepared to retreat.

• Aaron and Louisa reached God-Given Promised Land, where Grise’s followers and Wendy’s Kimo People disputed ownership of the ancestral land.
• Aaron brokered an equal alliance against the frost giants and crafted Gloves of Strength +1, which let him wield his Lute +3 more easily.
• Aaron, Louisa, Grise, Wendy, and their allies attacked the frost giant tribe, with the silver dragon joining the battle.
• A mutated two-headed frost giant used Time Stop to kill Quinn and smash the silver dragon out of the sky.
• Grise’s group began to retreat, but Lady of Dawn’s Saint form descended toward the mutated giant.

Aaron watched Lady of Dawn defeat a two-headed frost giant, but Jiumo Kong summoned the White-Robed Dragon Queen Earth Mother and Great Black Heaven to attack her and the battlefield. As Jiumo Kong turned on Aaron, Aaron gained the legendary Supreme Perfect Enlightenment ability and prepared to face him.

• Aaron assessed Lady of Dawn's divine strength as she fought the two-headed frost giant alongside her believers.
• Lady of Dawn killed the frost giant, but Jiumo Kong appeared and summoned the White-Robed Dragon Queen Earth Mother through a Gawu Box.
• Great Black Heaven descended, burned Lady of Dawn, and transformed many people into Demonic Beasts, while Aaron protected himself, Husky, Wendy, and Grise with a barrier.
• Jiumo Kong mistook the fallen Lady of Dawn for a prize and attacked Aaron's group; Aaron ordered Louisa and Grise to fight while Wendy protected him.
• Jiumo Kong defeated Louisa, confused Wendy and the Kimo people, and charged at Aaron, who released Husky and comprehended Supreme Perfect Enlightenment.

Husky killed Jiumo Kong while Lady of Dawn sacrificed herself rather than use Grise as a resurrection vessel, giving Aaron enough power to reach legendary Bard level 20 and gain divine spark. Aaron promised to protect Lady of Dawn’s followers in Dazen Gorge, where a month later a Druid arrived and magically brought the village’s crops to harvest.

• Husky received Fierce Wolf-Head Vajra Protector’s divine power, crushed Jiumo Kong with its Thousand-Hand Form, and killed him.
• Grise performed a divine descent ritual, but Lady of Dawn ended the descent and burned herself to ashes rather than resurrect through her believer.
• Lady of Dawn’s gift gave Aaron experience, the Domain of Light, divine power, and divine spark, raising his Bard level to 20 and making him a legendary figure.
• Aaron kept his agreement to let Lady of Dawn’s followers live in Dazen Gorge alongside the Kimo clans and appointed Grise the first village chief of Dawn Village.
• A month later, a Druid entered Dazen Gorge and caused the village’s crops to sprout, ripen, and bear fruit ahead of schedule.

Aaron met Oak Father, who revealed the rebellion’s plan to revive fallen gods and rescue the God of War’s chosen from the Underworld. When Silent Secret Master Buddha detected the secret message, Aaron’s true self’s hidden influence turned the intrusion into an Inverse Seed that gave Aaron influence over the Buddha and a path into the Esoteric Sect.

• Grise thanked Aaron for the abundant harvest, and Aaron sent her and the villagers away before greeting Oak Father.
• Oak Father explained that the Esoteric Sect had been checked by the Mind Flayer Empire and shared plans to revive fallen gods and rescue the God of War’s chosen from the Underworld.
• Silent Secret Master Buddha intruded on Aaron’s mind to uncover the message on Oak Father’s leaf.
• Aaron’s true self’s hidden influence manifested a peaceful-wrathful aspect of the Buddha, concealing the leaf’s secrets and placing a controllable Inverse Seed inside Aaron.
• Oak Father recognized that Aaron now resembled a Buddha Child and said he could compete to become the Esoteric Sect’s pontiff.

Aaron entered the Esoteric Sect-controlled Southern Nations under the guise of the wandering ascetic Maitreya and discovered how the temples kept serfs obedient by draining their wisdom. After Lord Bayi Davens arrived to offer him food, Aaron remained poised to continue his infiltration.

• Aaron used the Secrecy Seal to enter the Southern Nations undetected and began absorbing the Great Sun’s light, which taught him Esoteric Sect methods and how to refine Great Sun divinity.
• Aaron considered infiltrating a temple to reach the Underworld and help restore War Sovereign, then chose to explore the region first.
• Aaron saw that the temples and their landlords ruled the Southern Nations while serfs chanted scriptures that extracted their wisdom for Great Mani Pearl King Wisdom Buddha.
• Lord Bayi’s overseers confronted Aaron after he watched the serfs, and Aaron introduced himself as the ascetic Maitreya and asked for food and water.
• Bayi Davens arrived with knights, identified himself as a local estate owner, and presented white bread to Aaron as an offering.

Aaron stayed at Lord Bayi’s manor while waiting for a Snow Vulture Temple monk to preach, using Bayi’s questions about scripture to gain his trust. Bayi’s pursuit of the Four-Armed White Melodious Heavenly Maiden left him dangerously corrupted, while Aaron continued cultivating Great Sun divinity and was given Dunzhu as an attendant.

• Bayi tested Aaron with questions about the Scripture of the Thought-Free Heavenly Maiden, then invited him to stay at his manor after being impressed by his answers.
• Aaron gave Bayi a secret recipe that seemed to let him overcome the visions disrupting his cultivation, though it actually deepened the Heavenly Maiden’s influence over him.
• Bayi told Aaron that a Snow Vulture Temple monk would preach at Star-Moon Lake in a month, and Aaron agreed to stay until then.
• Bayi used the altered recipe while attempting to cultivate with Dunzhu, collapsed into a disturbing frenzy, and later believed he had encountered the Four-Armed White Melodious Heavenly Maiden.
• Aaron tried to draw Great Sun divinity from the morning sunlight, while Bayi arrived with Dunzhu and assigned her to attend to him.

Aaron went with Bayi to Tusi Noikangba’s castle, where a confrontation with Bayan Guru led Aaron to receive a divine seed from the Silent Secret Master Buddha. The chapter ended with Bayan Guru recognizing Aaron as a Buddha’s Son and Aaron demanding that he answer for his sins.

• Bayi told Aaron that Tusi Noikangba sought a monk to represent him in a debate against a rival castle lord, and Aaron agreed to go.
• At the castle, a yellow-robed monk attacked Aaron with the Lion-Throne Elephant-Nose Hell Curse, but Aaron’s Immovable Seal turned the curse back on him.
• Bayan Guru killed his disciple, ordered Aaron to kneel, and used mantras to control the crowd and strengthen them against Aaron.
• As Bayan Guru summoned the Lion-Throne Elephant-Nose Deity to attack, Aaron invoked the Silent Secret Master Buddha and received its divine seed.
• Bayan Guru recognized Aaron as a Buddha’s Son, and Aaron asked him whether he knew his sin.

Aaron used his status as a Buddha Child to punish Master Bayan and rebuff Chieftain Noikamba, then accepted the Great Might Dharma King’s invitation to Snow Vulture Temple. While traveling with the Dharma King, Aaron changed class to Esoteric Monk and gained a host of martial skills and a legendary feat.

• Abbot Emptiness sent Great Might Dharma King to welcome the newly elevated Buddha Child to Snow Vulture Temple.
• Aaron used tantric mantras to make Master Bayan and his disciples kill themselves, then warned Chieftain Noikamba not to misuse his name.
• Aaron sensed the nearby tantric monasteries and headed toward one, bringing Husky along.
• Great Might Dharma King found Aaron, identified him as a Buddha Child, and invited him to Snow Vulture Temple, which worshipped Bright Buddha Mother.
• Aaron accepted the invitation and questioned Great Might Dharma King about monk techniques as they traveled.
• Aaron met the requirements to change class and became a level-one Esoteric Monk, gaining new attributes, skills, and the legendary feat Transcendence into Sainthood.

Aaron advanced as an Esoteric Monk and entered Snow Vulture Temple, where Abbot Kongxing offered him a chance to become the next abbot if he survived the trial of life and death. While studying the temple’s scriptures, Aaron discovered a mantra linked to the Bright Buddha Mother and attracted Drolma’s predatory interest.

• Aaron added a Strength point, demonstrated his new monk abilities, and impressed Great Might Dharma King with his talent and humility.
• Great Might Dharma King led Aaron through Snow Vulture Temple, introduced him to Green Tara, and explained that Drolma belonged to the Consort Court.
• Abbot Kongxing offered Aaron either a separate courtyard or the chance to become a true Buddha’s son and possible successor by undertaking the cycle-of-life-and-death trial; Aaron chose the trial, scheduled for a month later.
• Great Might Dharma King advised Aaron to study the Contemplation of White Bones and the Contemplation of the Giant Corpse before entering the Underworld.
• At the Scripture Repository, Aaron comprehended the Peacock Swallows Heaven Mantra and decided the temple’s fundamental teachings might help refine his Great Sun divinity.
• Drolma approached Aaron in the Scripture Repository, drawn to his scent, and Aaron recognized that she had developed an appetite for him through a lower-level Peacock mantra.