Recaps

Sylutia dreamed of Amos’s childhood wish while holding the Steel-Breaking Sword, then helped the camp recover and heard Dorothy explain the sword’s history. Dorothy began telling her about the Woodland’s major organizations, revealing that the Four Seasons Alliance was among the largest.

• Sylutia sensed the memories within the Steel-Breaking Sword and dreamed of Amos praying that her brother would have a happy life of his own.
• Sylutia and the students inspected and reinforced the camp while Dorothy slept through the day.
• Sylutia prepared dinner for Dorothy, who emerged hungry at dusk and ate beside the bonfire.
• Dorothy explained how Emerson’s Steel Furnace Knight Order and Iron Knight Class inspired the Iron Wall Crown Furnace.
• Dorothy told Sylutia that the Four Seasons Alliance was one of the Woodland’s largest organizations and that the Rainbow Glazed Bottle was somewhat smaller.

Iron Wall High Cliff continued its containment efforts against the Grey Mud as Sylutia briefed incoming physicians and the Holy Lamp Association helped seal the fortress with Candle Gates. The outpost began a thorough cleansing under the new safeguards.

• Sylutia and the outpost staff separated the sick, used Reveal Powder to find Grey Mud, and cleaned and sealed areas for inspection.
• Sylutia returned from camp and coordinated logistics before food supplies and reinforcements arrived from Woodland headquarters.
• The commander learned that the Ash Rose stood ready to destroy the outpost if the Grey Mud could not be contained.
• Zelarin Cuifeng of the White Scroll Herb Pot questioned Sylutia’s team about the outbreak and promised to develop a treatment with support from the Holy Lamp Association.
• With Dorothy’s guidance, the Holy Lamp Association installed Candle Gates that barred Grey Mud from crossing doorways unless it recited the words on the doorframes.
• The fortress was divided into protected sections as golden flames from candles began cleansing its rooms and corridors.

The White Scroll Herb Pot worked to develop a remedy for the Grey Mud plague, while Sylutia studied pharmacology and grew closer to Zelarin Cuifeng’s school. The chapter leaves Sylutia planning to repay the Four Seasons Alliance before considering the White Scroll Herb Pot and its advancement arts.

• Zelarin Cuifeng reported that the suppressive medicine had stabilized the infected, but more than 90 percent of cured patients risked relapse as Grey Mud lay dormant in their bodies.
• Zelarin explained that Grey Mud was Mycelial Thread that could integrate harmlessly into its hosts, and proposed using another Mycelial Thread life-form to transform it so it could be expelled.
• The White Scroll Herb Pot began researching Purple Jellyfish Mushrooms as a basis for a targeted remedy, while Sylutia grew them in a temporary greenhouse at the Iron Wall High Cliff.
• Sylutia studied pharmacopoeias and connected the Grey Mud plague to the Riot of the Mad Crows, whose history she had been learning through Melancholy Praying in the Lake.
• Zelarin invited Sylutia to join the White Scroll Herb Pot and recommended that she fuse Radiant Moon with Emerald Nectar at the Fifth Order, but she said she would first repay the Four Seasons Alliance.
• Zelarin began teaching Sylutia the White Scroll Herb Pot’s skills and knowledge, and she continued studying and practicing for the next two months.

Sylutia helped Iron Wall High Cliff contain the Grey Mud Plague, and the Association completed treatment and cleansing across the outpost and canyon. Commander Taos rewarded her with Black Steel and Knight Chess Pieces, then explained that her dream of Amos showed a kinship with the Iron Wall Crown Furnace’s compassionate knights.

• Zelalin presented a potion that neutralized the Grey Mud Plague, and the representatives confirmed it worked before agreeing to treat and cleanse the infected.
• A month later, the outpost had been treated and fourth-tier wizards burned the canyon beneath Iron Wall High Cliff to destroy the plague’s remaining traces.
• Taos summoned Sylutia and gave her two hundred refined Black Steel ingots and twenty third-tier Knight Chess Pieces in gratitude for her help.
• Taos asked Sylutia about the memories she saw while carrying the Steel-Breaking Sword, and she recounted her dream of running through a golden hillside and meeting a humming girl.
• Taos said the sword had recognized Sylutia’s kinship with Amos and welcomed her to learn the Iron Wall Crown Furnace’s secret arts and texts.

After returning to Lantern Town and catching up on local affairs, Sylutia completed her Autumn Garden and advanced to the Third Tier. She explored her new Courtyard powers and planned to return to the Golden Radiance Plain to learn the Gardener Class.

• Sylutia and her group returned to Lantern Town with specialty ores from Iron Wall High Cliff, and she spent four days resolving minor accumulated matters.
• Sylutia completed the final harmonizing cycle for the Autumn Garden and entered the wild hills behind town as her Fate Disk resonated with her cards.
• The Autumn Garden merged into Sylutia's Fate Disk, advancing her Fate Card from Maiden Surrounded by Alfalfa to Maiden in the Courtyard and raising her to the Third Tier.
• Sylutia explored the Courtyard's plants, including Golden Weight Pear Trees, Blood Currants, White Camellias, and hidden Cornflowers, and discovered that she could command nearby plants.
• Sylutia dispersed the Autumn Scenery Forest and decided she would later return to the Golden Radiance Plain to learn the new Gardener Class's secret art and abilities.

Sylutia reached Third Order after only two years, astonishing the students and travelers in town. Two experienced professionals described the different paths they had taken to reach Third Order, and wondered what Sylutia had understood to advance so quickly.

• Sylutia returned to the town mansion and the students discovered she had advanced to Third Order.
• The news of Sylutia’s rapid progress spread through town and impressed students and travelers.
• A Physician told Zalia how he spent nearly ten years studying herbs, medicines, and patient care before reaching Third Order.
• Zalia described how years of training and fighting monsters on the Mountain Path of Strange Calamity led him to embody the Knight’s virtue of courage and advance.
• The Physician and Zalia wondered what concepts and truths Sylutia had understood when she advanced.

After reaching the third tier, Sylutia tested her horticultural abilities and explored the Autumn Garden created by her Core Card. She discovered its abundant crops and the strength her cornflowers lent her, then planned to develop her new Class and abilities further.

• Sylutia tested the Blossom Method on cornflowers and Fireglow Orchids, finding that the orchids produced powerful but limited flames.
• Sylutia shaped a seed into a lightning-charged Spiral Spear and tested her strengthened vine and vegetation abilities.
• Sylutia explored the Autumn Garden and found forty-two Second-Tier Golden Weight Pears, abundant Blood Currants, and tea bushes bearing White Camellias.
• Sylutia called blue cornflowers to bloom throughout the courtyard and discovered their Third-Tier Emerald Nectar Aspect Power greatly boosted her abilities.
• Sylutia decided to consolidate her horticulturist Class, learn cornflower-based abilities and Emerald Nectar techniques, and develop products from her harvests.

Descendants of Regas’s first-generation knights gathered in Valley City to support Prince Jabs as he sought to restore the royal house amid Anti’s war with the Winter Kingdom. When Anti sent an elite force to suppress the growing rebellion, Jabs prepared to meet it, leaving a second war to establish the kingdom on the verge of beginning.

• A group of Regas knight descendants rode toward Valley City, resolved to join Prince Jabs and test whether he deserved their trust.
• Jabs told Princess Musa that Valley City’s lord had pledged support and provided gold, while he dismissed her concerns about the Knight’s Path and leading troops himself.
• Warriors gathered in Valley City as Anti’s garrison dwindled, with some soldiers deserting rather than interfere.
• Anti learned of the growing movement and dispatched an elite force to Valley City, prompting the city lord to warn Jabs.
• Jabs welcomed the approaching army as an opportunity to demonstrate his strength, and the Regas banners rose over the city walls as his forces prepared to march north.

Sylutia reviewed Lantern Town’s harvest, supply quotas, and new developments in the Dark Mist Mountains, then decided to request more staff from the Association. With her duties finished, she planned to study on the Golden Radiance Plain, visit the Four Seasons Alliance, and return to Scorched Stone City after three years away.

• Sylutia reviewed Lantern Town’s abundant crop stores and calculated how its six-month quotas would supply four canyon outposts and two watchtower outposts.
• A student reported a new gemstone deposit at Firestone Fortress, possible Dusk Beasts near Thunder Flash Tower, and Black Sleeping Lotuses from Dream-Falling Mist River.
• Sylutia agreed that Lantern Town could provision the survey team at Firestone Fortress for now, but anticipated needing more greenhouses as the mining operation grew.
• Sylutia wrote a request asking the Association to send more staff, especially masonry scholars and alchemists, to help Lantern Town.
• After finishing her work, Sylutia planned to study on the Golden Radiance Plain, visit the Four Seasons Alliance, and return to Scorched Stone City.

Before leaving Lantern Town for several months to return to Regas Kingdom, Sylutia entrusted the town’s affairs to its core staff. Her friends gave her protective and practical farewell gifts, and the chapter ended with them admiring her new cloak.

• Sylutia handed Rachel, Elton, Gran, and Dorothy a plan assigning responsibility for the town’s security, production, supplies, and alchemy while she was away.
• Sylutia told Dorothy that she had reached the third tier and planned to travel to Regas Kingdom, where she had once awakened with lost memories.
• Dorothy gave Sylutia a Starstring Brooch that warned her of nearby creatures and could counter low-tier abilities.
• Gran gave Sylutia a Bird Clock, and Elton gave her a cane that grew into a shade tree when planted.
• Rachel presented Sylutia with a Black Lion Cloak from the patrol team and draped it over her shoulders.
• Sylutia’s friends praised her imposing appearance, while Gran observed that she looked less easy to bully in the cloak.

Sylutia returned to the Golden Radiance Plain, declined to join the Four Seasons Alliance for now, and learned the Fertile Soil Technique needed to complete her Gardener Class. After advancing to Gardener Lv.5, she reflected on how far she had come and decided she was ready to explore the world and reunite with people in Scorched Stone City.

• Sylutia traveled from Lantern Town to White Stone Citadel and told Kurand Hill she would not join the Four Seasons Alliance yet.
• Sylutia recounted the Grey Mud plague and the Dark Mist Mountains blockade, and Kurand Hill warned her to avoid discussing the incident's details with others.
• Sylutia studied gardening paths and learned the Fertile Soil Technique, completing the knowledge required to form her Gardener Class.
• Sylutia gifted Kurand Hill Clear Spring Flower Tea, and he recognized its potential to help people recover from Distortion contamination.
• Sylutia advanced from Gardening Apprentice Lv.5 to Gardener Lv.5 and realized she had reached the level Lady Falan once held.
• Sylutia reflected on her four years in the Woodland and resolved to explore the world and visit the people in Scorched Stone City.

Sylutia prepared gifts and supplies for her return to the Surface Continent, then visited Tristan and Cassius at the White Stone Citadel. Cassius strengthened her Knight badge and warned her that Scorched Stone City had changed, leaving her set to travel there without seeing Viscount Xuefeng or Scholar Heide.

• Sylutia ordered at least ten nail-free maple boxes and bought weapons, armor, and gifts for her friends, teachers, and acquaintances.
• Sylutia learned that Viscount Xuefeng and Scholar Heide had left Regas for a country in the east, but she still planned to visit Scorched Stone City.
• Tristan gave Sylutia two Hot Iron Magnets, and Cassius promised the Holy White Knight Hall would support her if she encountered trouble.
• Cassius invested power in Sylutia's Knight Squire Badge, upgrading it to a Third Order Knight Badge that could grant her a White Knight's abilities for ten minutes.
• After Sylutia left, Tristan and Cassius discussed her rare talent and potential, while Cassius reflected on the history of Scorched Stone City.

Sylutia returned to the Surface Continent, received a letter and Key from Lady Falan, and set off west through the Grani Mountains. Meanwhile, an elite Anti Kingdom army threatened Valley City, where Prince Jabs weighed a desperate defense as Haines explained the kingdom’s strategy.

• Sylutia arrived on the Surface Continent, discovered her Third Tier power made her keenly aware of and able to influence the natural world, and learned she was in the Grani Mountains.
• An outpost staff member gave Sylutia a letter and Key from Lady Falan, who had left Scorched Stone City and entrusted her house, books, and seeds to Sylutia.
• Sylutia said goodbye to the outpost staff, mounted her white Hyacinth Horse, and headed west through the mountain forest.
• An eight-thousand-strong Anti Kingdom elite army camped north of Valley City and demanded that Fabre come receive a decree, while Prince Jabs and Knight Everett counted their seven thousand defenders.
• Haines explained that the Anti royal family intended to preserve Regas as a refuge if Anti fell, relying on the Eagle-Scorpion Khanate to slow the Winter Kingdom’s advance.
• Haines wondered whether Prince Jabs would fight the superior army or abandon Valley City and flee.

In Valley City, Prince Jabs organized a paid hunter patrol to counter Anti's scouts as the city remained besieged. Karen refused to join, choosing to stay out of the war while remembering her former companions.

• Prince Jabs and Valley City's officers discussed Anti's scouts and agreed to recruit hunters for a patrol after learning they could not easily catch the Transcendents.
• Prince Jabs doubled the patrol's pay to one gold coin a month and offered leather armor, prompting more hunters to sign up.
• A girl told Karen about the patrol's pay and urged her to join, but Karen refused because she did not want to become involved in the war.
• Karen listened to the street through her [Wind Listening and Position Sensing] and looked through her old notebook, recalling the six months she had studied with Scholar Heide and the others.

Prince Jabs’s patrols captured Anti scouts and raised the spirits of Valley City’s garrison, while Anti commanders Kachis and Nokton prepared to attack the city the next day. Meanwhile, Sylutia entered Anti-ruled Dulin City and heard residents discuss Jabs and the conflict as she continued her journey through Regas.

• Jabs organized a patrol force that captured Anti scouts, and their victories won public admiration and improved the garrison’s confidence in him.
• Kachis and Nokton discussed the wavering Regas garrisons and decided to attack Valley City the next day.
• Sylutia arrived at Dulin City, presented her Third-Tier Horticulturist identification to the Anti soldiers, and entered without incident.
• Sylutia observed Dulin City’s busy markets and heard residents discuss Prince Jabs, the Anti forces, and the coming struggle for Regas.

The Anti Kingdom's elite forces breached Valley City's walls and overwhelmed its defenders, while Princess Musa led Prince Jabs out along a mountain road. Nokton pursued them into the woods, where hooded figures and enormous tentacled creatures appeared on the hillsides.

• Prince Jabs ordered the defenders to watch for aerial attackers and hold Valley City's walls as the Anti army approached.
• Nokton smashed a breach in the wall with his giant hammer, and the Anti soldiers poured into the city.
• The defenders' lines collapsed, and Princess Musa led Jabs and a small escort out by the southern mountain road.
• Nokton led Knights and cavalry in pursuit after the defenders shouted that Prince Jabs was fleeing.
• Hooded figures with glowing purple-red eyes appeared on the hillsides, followed by enormous spherical creatures with tentacles.

Nokton and his knights were ambushed on the mountain road by the Hundred-Eye Cult, whose Beholders fired precise beams that killed and wounded several knights. Despite suffering a devastating attack from the Cultist leader, Nokton led the survivors in a desperate break toward Valley City, and the battle continued through the night.

• Beholders attacked Nokton’s party with purple beams, killing five knights and wounding others before Nokton raised a barrier.
• Nokton’s signal arrow was destroyed by a beam, and the surviving knights regrouped behind his defenses.
• Nokton ordered the knights to mount up and charged toward Valley City as the Hundred-Eye Cult rushed down from the slopes.
• The Cultist leader fired six beams at Nokton, destroying his horse and badly injuring him, but Nokton remained standing.
• Nokton roared for the knights to break through and crushed the Cultists in their path with his warhammer.
• The knights continued fighting through the night as the Cultists reinforced the blockade and the survivors advanced toward Valley City.

Sylutia traveled west, gathering local plant seeds and learning about Prince Jabs's rebellion and Somelin's mining plans near Scorched Stone City. She camped on the mountain road, unaware that soldiers pursuing escaped miners were closing in on her tent.

• Sylutia bought local plant seeds and rare dragon claw grass seeds at the Dulin City Gardeners' Association.
• After visiting Cedar City's Gardeners' Association, Sylutia learned of fighting near Valley City, Somelin's rule in Scorched Stone City, and plans to mine nearby hills.
• Worried about Karen, who was in Valley City, Sylutia continued southwest toward Scorched Stone City because the city was closed off by the fighting.
• Sylutia camped for the night, fed her white hyacinth horse, and fell asleep in her tent.
• Soldiers and hunting dogs pursued a group of escaped miners eastward, bringing them closer to Sylutia's campsite.

Sylutia heard a commotion near Scorched Stone City and intervened when Anti Kingdom soldiers chased refugees through the woods. After defeating their captain and driving off the soldiers, she learned that the refugees came from the city and asked them what had happened there.

• Sylutia left her tent and went toward the distant commotion, telling her Hyacinth Horse to stay behind.
• Anti Kingdom soldiers shot at fleeing people and tried to capture them for work in a mine.
• Sylutia killed a hunting dog, cut through the soldiers’ attacks, and warned them to leave the refugees alone.
• The pursuing captain charged Sylutia, but she cut his sword and struck his neck, causing the remaining soldiers to flee.
• Sylutia called the refugees out of hiding, introduced herself as Tia, and asked them about the changes in Scorched Stone City.

Sylutia learned how Somelin’s rule had driven Scorched Stone City’s people into forced labor and helped thirty-one escaped refugees establish a hidden mountain settlement. She then entered the city in disguise and reached the Adventurers Guild, where she recognized Mailin.

• Sylutia heard that Somelin had imposed harsh taxes and forced minor offenders to work in a dangerous mine, and she shared food with thirty-one refugees who had escaped.
• Sylutia found the refugees a secluded mountain valley, helped them build a settlement, and left her white Hyacinth Horse to protect them.
• Sylutia disguised herself as an herbalist, used Stealth Art to suppress her presence, and entered Scorched Stone City after passing the Anti guards.
• Sylutia overheard residents complain about the Anti forces and found fewer adventurers and more wanted notices at the Adventurers Guild.
• Sylutia saw a wanted notice for a hooded figure who had freed mine workers, decided it did not identify her, and spotted Mailin at the guild.

Sylutia returned to Scorched Stone City and learned from Mailin that a powerful Corpse Dragon had once been defeated in the mine, leaving dangerous effects behind. After hearing that miners were dying there, Sylutia sneaked out of the city at night and headed toward the mine.

• Sylutia reunited with Mailin, who warned her about Anti's oppressive soldiers and told her that Ray and Comia's parents had left the city.
• Mailin explained that the mine had once produced valuable minerals but was abandoned after miners unearthed a Fifth Order Corpse Dragon that devastated the city.
• Mailin said the Corpse Dragon's remains and shattered soul still made the mine dangerous, and that the lingering Aspect Power was killing miners.
• Sylutia left Mailin, identified the mountain path leading to the mine, and used stealth to slip past the guards and climb over the city wall.
• Sylutia set off through the night toward the mine.

Sylutia watched the brutal conditions at the mine and learned that Valley City had been retaken at great cost. After recognizing the imprisoned merchant Vandhi among the laborers, she decided to act despite having no answer for what would follow.

• Sylutia heard Anti Soldiers discuss General Nokton's injuries, the heavy losses among his Knights, and Cultists active in Regas.
• Sylutia considered ways to save the miners but realized that escape would not end Lord Somelin's forced mining or the wider threat from the Anti Kingdom.
• Anti Soldiers mocked the starving miners by throwing bread for them to fight over, then taunted the black-haired old man Vandhi about his former life as a merchant.
• Sylutia remembered how Vandhi had helped her when she first arrived in the world, scattered grass seeds into the wind, drew her blade, and walked toward the camp.

Sylutia rescued Vandhi and more than four hundred miners and refugees from the Anti camp, then brought them to her hidden settlement. She promised to seek a safer refuge for them while they recovered and prepared to stay hidden for several months.

• Sylutia disarmed and hypnotized the Anti soldiers, freed the miners, fed them, and healed Vandhi.
• Sylutia gathered the mine workers, stopped them from killing the sleeping soldiers, and led everyone away before daybreak, blocking the mountain path with vines.
• After a day of travel, Sylutia brought the rescued people to her settlement, where they reunited with earlier escapees and learned who had saved them.
• Sylutia explained that the Anti lord would likely believe the refugees had died and offered to find them shelter in The Woodland, though they would need to hide for months first.
• Over the next two days, Sylutia and the refugees built more huts and dug cellars as the newcomers began recovering.

Sylutia helped Vandhi recover and arranged a safe place for him, then returned to the mine to investigate its depths and stop the Anti from exploiting it. There she met Lucas, a fellow Scorched Stone City native and third-order Dead Ember Aspect user, and agreed to explore the mine with him.

• Vandhi told Sylutia how the Anti’s corruption and false charges had ruined his business and led to his imprisonment in the mine, and she offered to find him a home in the Woodland.
• Sylutia sent a letter to the Golden Radiance Plain seeking a place for Vandhi, then decided to destroy the mine and investigate whether the Corpse Dragon had left anything below.
• Sylutia returned to the mine and found Lucas killing the Anti soldiers guarding it with Dead Ember Mist and Bone Monsters.
• Sylutia introduced herself and showed Lucas her Woodland and Bellflower badges, prompting him to recognize her accomplishments and reveal his own Bellflower Badge.
• Lucas invited Sylutia to explore the mine with him, and she agreed.

Lucas and Sylutia searched the mine for a dragon’s remains while Lucas explained how rare dragon materials could strengthen abilities. They found a cavern containing Dragon Eye-tainted bones, and Sylutia recognized the Aspect Power from her childhood friend Elysia.

• Lucas explained that advancing from the Third Order required elevating abilities and described using dragon bones and Dragon Eye Aspect Power to improve them.
• Lucas told Sylutia that a Gardener could transform the Dew Prayer Technique into Dragon Blood Irrigation, encouraging her interest in dragon remains.
• As they descended through the mine, Lucas sent Ghosts to scout while he explained how high-order Aspect Powers could erode their surroundings.
• Lucas led Sylutia to a cavern where yellowed bones carried violent Dragon Eye Aspect Power.
• Sylutia recognized the Dragon Eye pressure from her childhood friend Elysia, princess of the Solar Dynasty.