Chapter Summaries

Lynn appointed Ferrari as the Soul Department’s Second Deputy after Belloc declined to recommend anyone, then left the deputies to manage the branch together. Ferrari took the role as a chance to control procurement and resource allocation, while Belloc remained wary of his character.

• Belloc declined to recommend a candidate because he feared the deputies might collude and sideline Lynn.
• Lynn reviewed the gift register, summoned Ferrari, and appointed him Second Deputy of the Soul Department.
• Ferrari thanked Lynn and privately credited his generous gift for winning the promotion, while Belloc worried about Ferrari’s scheming nature.
• Belloc questioned Ferrari’s experience with teaching and student affairs, but Lynn told the deputies to learn from each other and follow existing procedures.
• Ferrari asked to take greater responsibility for procurement and resource allocation, and Lynn agreed that each deputy should handle areas of expertise.
• As Lynn left, he privately told Ferrari to work hard, be bold, and not disappoint him.

Lynn left the Soul Department after setting Ferrari and Belloc against each other to keep watch on the department’s affairs. At the Academy’s teleportation area, apprentices and wizards reacted with awe to his presence as he departed for his destination.

• Ferrari interpreted Lynn’s message as permission to act boldly and a promise that Lynn wanted a share, then pledged not to disappoint him.
• Lynn realized Ferrari and Belloc disliked each other and decided their rivalry would help him monitor the Soul Department through mutual suspicion.
• Lynn crossed the Academy’s busy teleportation area, where apprentices bowed, made way for him, and whispered about his rank, wealth, and reputation.
• Lynn used the innermost teleportation array to travel to his stated destination.
• After Lynn vanished, a Third-Ring Wizard remarked that the Soul Department might rise under Lynn because he relied on strength rather than schemes.

Lynn traveled to the newborn Stigma World and had Myriad Phenomena assimilate its weak world will. He then descended toward the goblins’ camp, where the explorers had adapted to life in the desert.

• Lynn crossed the void on the Chaos Dragon and reached the isolated Stigma World.
• Lynn shattered the world’s barrier and captured its frightened world will.
• Lynn called forth Myriad Phenomena, which merged with and assimilated the world will.
• Lynn rode the Chaos Dragon into the world and flew toward the goblins’ camp.
• The goblins maintained a fortified desert camp, studied the local environment, and hunted on tamed Rockback Giant Lizards.

Barton, Liz, and Took encountered an enormous underground worm while hunting, and it chased Barton across the desert. The captain and two goblins arrived in the Magic-Powered Vehicle and struck the worm with the Magic Crystal Cannon, saving Barton from being swallowed for the moment.

• Barton, Liz, and Took chased wasteland deer until Barton's detector warned them that a huge creature was approaching underground.
• An enormous worm emerged and attacked the three hunters, but their Magic Crystal Guns could only hurt its mouth.
• The worm pursued Barton across the desert, and Liz called the base for backup.
• The captain, Abu, and another goblin raced out in the Magic-Powered Vehicle with the Magic Crystal Cannon.
• The worm caught up with Barton after his exhausted giant lizard collapsed, but the arriving vehicle's cannon struck the worm in the neck.

Abu, the captain, Took, and Liz tried to stop Worm from killing Barton, but their attacks could not bring it down. Lynn arrived on the Chaos Dragon and destroyed Worm, leaving Barton and the others expecting to return home and see their families in a couple of days.

• Abu and the captain fired several shots from the Magic Crystal Cannon, badly wounding Worm but failing to stop it from pursuing Barton.
• Barton struggled to escape with his injured leg while Took and Liz attacked Worm, and his Giant Lizard could not get back on its feet.
• As Worm lowered its mouth over Barton, Lynn arrived on the Chaos Dragon and killed Worm with Chaos Dragon Breath.
• Barton and the other goblins shouted after the Supreme God as Lynn flew away.
• The captain checked Barton's injuries and told him to rest at camp, where he would soon see his family.

After the Supreme God arrived to devour the wilderness world, Barton and the other goblins waited for it to merge with their home. When their home appeared in the sky, they laid out their spaceship’s identification number in alloy plates so the Goblin Empire could find them.

• Barton and the goblins prepared to leave once the Supreme God began merging the worlds, though Liz said he might want to stay.
• Over two days, an image of the goblins’ home appeared and grew clearer in the sky, and the captain recognized the imperial capital.
• The captain decided to signal the Goblin Empire’s monitoring staff by laying out the spaceship’s identification number on the desert plain.
• Barton, the captain, and the others used alloy plates and help from the giant lizards to assemble the enormous characters.
• The goblins finished the identification number and hoped someone in their home world would spot it.

Halu learned that the Goblin Empire’s first exploration team had signaled from the Savage World, and Lynn merged that world with the Goblin Continent. The new land joined the Goblin territory, while Barton, Liz, Took, and the Savage World’s inhabitants witnessed the upheaval.

• A Goblin Empire monitoring operator recognized Ship Seven’s identification number arranged on the Savage World and reported it to Halu.
• Halu ordered the Empire First Fleet to prepare to meet the exploration team after the worlds merged.
• Lynn used the power of Myriad Phenomena to join the Goblin Continent and Savage Continent, connecting their terrain and skies.
• Barton, Liz, and Took witnessed the worlds merge and saw the Goblin World’s sky replace the Savage World’s sky.
• Rockback Giant Lizards and herds of giant horned oxen fled as the landscape changed, while primitive people danced before their sacred glass bottle.

The Goblin Empire secured its new border after a continent merged with the Goblin Continent, driving back or killing savage beasts that crossed over. Barton and his companions returned by airship to a heroes’ welcome, with their families waiting in the Imperial Capital.

• Goblin border patrols spotted the new continent and alerted headquarters as savage beasts began crossing the boundary.
• Goblin airships and fighters drove off or killed the invading beasts, while ground forces used Mana Armored Vehicles to stop giant beasts.
• Goblin residents looked toward the new continent, and an old goblin told his grandson they might live there once the empire was ready.
• Barton and his companions’ ship took off as the worlds merged, and Barton said goodbye to his Giant Lizard.
• The Goblin Empire’s First Fleet escorted the ship home as crowds cheered, and Barton learned his family was waiting in the Imperial Capital.

The Goblin Empire welcomed Ship Seven’s astronauts home, and Barton reunited with Greta and met their nearly one-year-old son. Greta had waited for Barton to choose the baby’s name.

• The captain and Ship Seven’s crew descended from their spaceship to a hero’s welcome in the Imperial Capital.
• Halu thanked the astronauts, and the captain described their dangers in the Savage World and the Supreme God’s rescue during a press interview.
• Barton spotted Greta and their baby in the crowd and rushed over to reunite with his wife.
• Barton nervously held his son, who cried until Greta took him back and soothed him.
• Greta told Barton she had left the baby unnamed so he could choose a name, and Barton froze at the responsibility.

Barton and the returning astronauts reunited with their families, and Halu appointed them Frontier Instructors to train future astronauts. Lynn entered the Netherworld’s core region and used a modified bloodline-tracking spell to search for his targets, but the Netherworld’s laws disrupted the spell.

• Barton named his newborn son Batu and imagined teaching him to become an astronaut.
• Halu hosted a palace banquet for the astronauts and appointed them Frontier Instructors, which the returning crew accepted.
• After conquering the Savage World, Lynn entered the Netherworld through a passage from the border teleportation point.
• Lynn used his blood to form a tracking bird and sent it west-southwest to find the target bloodline.
• The tracking bird’s signal repeatedly weakened and cut out because the Netherworld’s laws interfered with the spell.

Lynn paused his pursuit of Lin Chen to send an undead army sweeping through the Netherworld for resources. When the army invaded the Grayclaw Monarch’s territory, Lynn effortlessly blocked the monarch’s attack and ordered him to submit.

• Lynn used the Cluster Brain Beast to coordinate millions of undead and sent them across the Netherworld to gather resources and capture creatures.
• Lynn’s army reached the Grayclaw Monarch’s territory, and the Netherwolf King identified the monarch and led the attack.
• The Grayclaw Monarch emerged to fight Lynn’s forces, while Lynn judged him to be an ordinary Stigma Initial Stage monarch.
• Lynn restrained the Grayclaw Monarch with a soul thread and demanded his submission.
• The Grayclaw Monarch used Bone Armament to attack Lynn, but Lynn’s woven soul threads repelled all four bone blades.

Lynn subdued the Grayclaw Monarch, the Blightmarsh Lord, and the Shadowbranch Lord, adding three local monarchs to his forces. With new guides and allies in his ranks, he continued searching the Netherworld for more targets.

• Lynn defeated the Grayclaw Monarch with soul threads and branded its Soul Fire with the mark of the Heart of Astral Bone Dominion, making it submit.
• After a day of travel, Lynn used Purification Rays and Soulfire to weaken the Blightmarsh Lord, then subdued it with his Mental Power.
• The Shadowbranch Lord ambushed Lynn in its forest, but Lynn trapped it in a soul-thread net and assimilated its shadow core.
• The Shadowbranch Lord turned gray-white and followed Lynn as another monarch in his ranks.

Lynn defeated the Sage of Withered Bones in his cavern and subdued him, then absorbed the sage’s remaining undead into his army. He continued across the Netherworld with two Stigma-level undead at his side and a million undead following behind.

• The Sage of Withered Bones attacked Lynn with soul curses and bone spears, but Lynn’s soul power stopped them and turned the spears back on him.
• Lynn summoned Myriad Phenomena and shattered the sage’s bone shield, then blasted him into the cavern wall and broke his arms.
• Lynn identified himself as the Bone Spire’s Chief of the Soul Department and said he had come to subjugate the Netherworld monarchs.
• Lynn poured his soul power into the Sage of Withered Bones until the sage’s soul fire changed to gray-white and he obeyed Lynn.
• Lynn ordered the sage to use Soul Screech to pacify his remaining undead, then used the Heart of Astral Bone Dominion to bring them under his command.
• Lynn rode the Chaos Dragon onward with the Grayclaw Monarch and the Sage of Withered Bones beside him as a million undead swept across the wasteland.

Lynn pursued Lin Chen through the Netherworld, subduing monarchs who blocked his path before finally finding Lin Chen beside a tributary of the River Styx. He discovered that Lin Chen had gained Stigma-level physical strength and mental power through devouring, though his soul remained much weaker, and prepared to capture him.

• Lynn followed the Bloodline Tracking Technique north on his Chaos Dragon after putting away his undead army, but monarchs repeatedly blocked his route.
• Lynn subdued the Spider Emperor Monarch, the Bone Wing Monarch, and the Netherfire Monarch, then broke through the encirclement with three additional monarchs subdued along the way.
• Lynn spotted Lin Chen on the opposite bank of a River Styx tributary and approached while concealing his presence, but Lin Chen sensed him.
• Lynn analyzed Lin Chen and found that his body and mental power had reached the Stigma Initial Stage threshold while his soul remained at peak Third-Ring Wizard level.
• Lynn recognized that Lin Chen's devouring had made him dangerously powerful despite his weak soul, and considered capturing him to obtain his astral behemoth bloodline and possibly awaken the devouring talent.

Lynn tried twice to capture Lin Chen, but the Netherworld’s laws and Lin Chen’s spatial escape thwarted him. Realizing his pursuit only made Lin Chen wary, Lynn decided to use a recording of Alia to reach his son and followed Lin Chen while hiding his presence.

• Lynn called to Lin Chen, who mistook him for a threat and fled across a River Styx tributary; Lynn was dragged underwater and lost time crossing it.
• Lynn caught up with Lin Chen two days later, but Lin Chen devoured a Bone Leopard and escaped through a spatial rift before Lynn’s sealing artifacts could activate.
• Lynn concluded that fate and his own eagerness were driving Lin Chen away, and he recognized that he needed to change his approach.
• Lynn retrieved a Memory Stone containing Alia’s message for Lin Chen and decided that she could ease his son’s suspicion better than he could.
• Lynn mounted the Chaos Dragon and followed Lin Chen slowly, concealing his presence and suppressing his urge to capture him.

Lin Chen escaped the human wizard and returned to the Bone Territory, where he warned the Bone Monarch that the wizard had come to take him. After learning the wizard had subdued seven more lords, the Bone Monarch agreed to Lin Chen’s plan to gather the remaining lords and their forces, while Lin Chen secretly coveted something inside the man claiming to be his father.

• Lin Chen escaped through a spatial rift and traveled to the Bone Territory to seek the Bone Monarch’s protection.
• Lin Chen told the Bone Monarch that the human wizard had returned and nearly captured him, but the Bone Monarch dismissed the threat.
• A Bone Giant reported that the Sage of Withered Bones and six neighboring lords had vanished after a human wizard subdued them.
• Lin Chen warned that the wizard commanded at least ten lord-level fighters and urged the Bone Monarch to gather the remaining lords and their elite troops.
• Lin Chen proposed appealing to the Wizarding World if the wizard did not attack, with awakening the Immortal as a last resort, and the Bone Monarch approved the plan.
• Lin Chen agreed outwardly while privately yearning to obtain something inside the man claiming to be his father.

Lynn infiltrated the Bone Monarch's crowded territory by hiding a sealed Memory Stone inside a Zombie Leopard, then watched Lin Chen devour more than a thousand undead. When Lin Chen discovered the leopard and prepared to consume it, the Memory Stone revealed a familiar woman's voice calling him “Chen'er.”

• Lynn surveyed the Bone Monarch's territory and chose to infiltrate it rather than risk a war that could attract the being beneath the River Styx.
• Lynn hid a sealed Memory Stone and a wisp of his soul inside a Zombie Leopard, then sent it into the territory to scout the Bone Palace.
• The Zombie Leopard followed Lin Chen to a secluded valley, where Lin Chen devoured more than a thousand undead and grew stronger.
• Lin Chen sensed the Zombie Leopard watching him, seized it, and began to summon his devouring power.
• Lynn activated the Memory Stone, which projected a message accompanied by a familiar woman's voice calling Lin Chen “Chen'er.”

Lin Chen saw a Memory Stone image of his mother Alia grieving for him and realized his childhood memories were real. Lynn reached him through the Zombie Leopard and asked him to come home, leaving Lin Chen taking a step toward him.

• Lin Chen watched Alia describe how she missed him and preserved his bed, quilt, and cloth tiger.
• Alia broke down in tears as she pleaded for Lin Chen to return home.
• Lin Chen recognized the memories as real and cried, realizing his parents still loved and searched for him.
• Lynn strengthened the golden thread inside Lin Chen and spoke to him through the Zombie Leopard.
• Lynn admitted his regret and told Lin Chen he had come to take him home, and Lin Chen stepped forward.

Lynn lured Lin Chen out of the Netherworld territory by appealing to his memories of home, and the two finally faced each other in the wasteland. As Lin Chen hesitated before his father, the Demon Eye killed the Bone Knights who had followed them.

• Lynn used memories of Lin Chen's family and the golden thread to persuade him to follow the Zombie Leopard out of the valley.
• Lin Chen crossed the territory border, telling the undead commander he was going for a walk; the commander sent a Skeleton Warrior to report and followed with Bone Knights.
• Lynn waited in the wasteland as Lin Chen struggled against his Netherworld instincts and the golden thread cooled.
• Lin Chen reached Lynn, and the two stood facing each other without speaking while the Bone Knights watched from a distance.
• The Bone Knight suspected Lynn was Lin Chen's relative and tried to send a report, but the Demon Eye froze the Bone Knights and reduced them to powder.

Lin Chen pretended to welcome Lynn while planning to rip out the powerful heart in his chest. Lynn caught Lin Chen’s attack and revealed that his tenderness had concealed his own intentions.

• The Demon Eye wiped out the Bone Knight squad, and Lin Chen decided their deaths had saved him trouble.
• Lin Chen hesitated to return home with Lynn because he feared losing access to food that could strengthen him.
• Lin Chen sensed the powerful heart in Lynn’s chest and decided to take it for its bloodline power.
• Lynn embraced Lin Chen, and Lin Chen transformed his hand into a claw and tried to stab him.
• Lynn caught Lin Chen’s claw and mocked him for attempting to rip out his father’s heart.
• Lin Chen realized Lynn had been on guard and suspected his father had been pretending to show affection.