Chapter Summaries

Merlin defeated the Hedgehog Puppet and cultivated the second form of Annihilation Flame, but the Flame Spirit deceived him into breaking the Flame Statue and escaping the Ancient Ruins. Merlin pursued it, and they flew toward a group of Spellcasters who moved to trap the Flame Spirit.

• Merlin burned the Hedgehog Puppet to ashes with Ashen Flame fused with Annihilation Flame, then entered the stone chamber to cultivate.
• After five days, Merlin emerged having mastered the second form of Annihilation Flame, and the Flame Spirit led him to the Flame Statue.
• Merlin activated the Flame Statue and received Wizard Dolan's message that the Flame Spirit was needed to cultivate the third form of Annihilation Flame.
• The Flame Spirit escaped through the opened passage, and Merlin realized it had deceived him and chased after it.
• The Flame Spirit fled at top speed with Merlin in pursuit until they encountered a group of strangely dressed Spellcasters, who formed a formation to trap it.

Merlin captured the Flame Spirit and defeated the spellcasters who had tried to claim it, then learned that he had pursued it into the isolated Icebound Snowfield. He questioned two survivors about the region, where spellcasters acted alone and fought fiercely over scarce resources.

• Merlin used Dark Phantom Slaughter to kill most of the spellcasters who had surrounded the Flame Spirit and absorb their negative power through the Dark Eye.
• Merlin sealed the Flame Spirit with Rune Heart Seal after it tried to flee.
• Merlin spared two spellcasters and learned they came from the Icebound Snowfield, which he recognized as the Kingdom of Ice.
• The survivors explained that the Icebound Snowfield had no Spellcaster Organizations and that its residents fought over scarce resources.

Merlin learned that Nelson had the second volume of the Book of Vastness and forced a surviving Spellcaster to guide him to Thousand-Li Snowpeak Cave. As Spellcasters gathered outside the cave, a bald Seventh-level Mage triggered an avalanche while trying to force Nelson out, and a mysterious Black-Robed Mage attacked him.

• Merlin killed one Spellcaster and made the survivor reveal that Nelson was hiding in Thousand-Li Snowpeak Cave.
• Merlin restrained the surviving Spellcaster and took him along as a guide, then sealed the Flame Spirit for later use.
• Merlin and the Spellcaster arrived at Thousand-Li Snowpeak Cave, where many Spellcasters were waiting for Nelson to emerge.
• A bald Spellcaster roared at the cave and triggered an avalanche, angering the assembled Spellcasters.
• The Black-Robed Mage attacked the bald Spellcaster after he ignored a warning and roared again.

Merlin killed a Seventh-level Spellcaster with the Dark Eye and entered Thousand-Li Snowpeak Cave to search for Nelson and the second volume of the Book of Vastness. A clash over the tome drew him to Mage Bass, whose escape he blocked with a spell.

• Merlin used the Dark Eye to kill the bald Seventh-level Spellcaster, while other hidden spellcasters watched in alarm.
• Merlin entered Thousand-Li Snowpeak Cave, and other spellcasters followed to search for Nelson and the Book of Vastness.
• Merlin tracked footprints through the cave until a powerful fire spell erupted, prompting him and others to rush toward it.
• Mage Bass confronted two Seventh-level Spellcasters while holding the second volume of the Book of Vastness, then persuaded them to let him flee the cave.
• Merlin appeared before Mage Bass and unleashed Annihilation Flame, blocking his path toward the entrance.

Merlin killed Mage Bass and recovered the Second Volume of the Book of Vastness. As more Seventh-level Spellcasters gathered around him in the cave, Merlin prepared to fight them all rather than surrender the book.

• Merlin ambushed Mage Bass with Annihilation Flame, but Bass dodged and tried to stall while keeping the Book of Vastness.
• Merlin trapped Bass in an illusion, then used Ashen Flame and Dark Eye to break his defenses and burn him to ashes.
• Merlin found the Second Volume of the Book of Vastness in Bass's ring, but the two other Seventh-level Spellcasters blocked his escape.
• Mad Mage Mobendo arrived and recognized Nelson, while additional Spellcasters gathered around Merlin.
• Eight Seventh-level Spellcasters faced Merlin, who resolved to defeat them rather than give up the Book of Vastness.

Merlin fought eight Seventh-level Spellcasters in a cave over the Book of Vastness, killing one before the others joined forces against him. After using the Dark Eye to weaken their combined assault, he protected himself with Ripple Armor and prepared to counterattack.

• A Seventh-level Spellcaster attacked Merlin with a combined wind-and-ice spell, but Ripple Armor absorbed the blow.
• Merlin used Dark Phantom Slaughter to distract the spellcasters, then killed the first attacker with Ashen Flame.
• The remaining seven spellcasters joined forces and broke through Merlin’s Dark Phantom Slaughter with their Mental Power.
• Merlin used the third form of the Dark Eye to weaken their barrage, while keeping its sealed fourth form as a last resort.
• The weakened spells struck Ripple Armor without harming Merlin, and the Rune Heart Seal appeared between his brows as he prepared to retaliate.

Merlin defeated the seven Spellcasters who attacked him in Thousand-Li Snowpeak Cave, then forced two captured Seventh-level Spellcasters to become his servants. He left the cave with Aining and Watson scouting ahead, where they charged into a suspected ambush.

• Merlin used Ashen Flame and Binding Formations to suppress several Spellcasters, forcing the rest to flee.
• Merlin demanded Slave Contracts from the two Spellcasters he had captured, and they agreed in exchange for freedom after one hundred years.
• Merlin bound Aining and Watson with contracts empowered by Flame Law, then released them from the Rune Formations.
• Merlin told Aining and Watson to lead him out of Thousand-Li Snowpeak Cave, and they warned that enemies were likely waiting at the exit.
• Merlin ordered Aining and Watson to go first, and the two rushed out of the cave.

Merlin escaped Thousand-Li Snowpeak Cave while Aining and Wizard Watson drew the attackers’ fire, then used Dark Phantom Slaughter to devastate the Spellcasters gathered outside. He absorbed the resulting negative emotions through the Dark Eye as the battle turned into a massacre.

• Aining and Wizard Watson suggested using defensive Rune Formations and puppets to draw the first attacks so they could rush out of the cave.
• Merlin set up Rune Formations on Aining and Wizard Watson, and Aining produced two golden puppets to lead the escape.
• The puppets were destroyed immediately, while Aining and Wizard Watson rushed out and were overwhelmed by the Spellcasters’ attacks.
• Merlin slipped out of the cave as the attackers focused on Aining and Wizard Watson, then cast Dark Phantom Slaughter across the gathered Spellcasters.
• Merlin’s spell trapped many Spellcasters in illusions and killed them with dark-element blades, while the Dark Eye absorbed their negative emotions.

Merlin suppressed the spellcasters attacking Thousand-Li Snowpeak Cave and earned the name Dark Fire Venerable before fleeing the area with Aining and Watson. While sheltering from a blizzard, he set up a Rune Formation in a cave and planned to prepare more escape routes across the Icebound Snowfield.

• Merlin used the Rune Heart Seal and Annihilation Flame to drive off the spellcasters, who began calling him Dark Fire Venerable.
• Aining told Merlin that Mad Mage Mobendo had escaped, but Merlin refused to pursue him and led his group away from Thousand-Li Snowpeak Cave.
• Merlin and his two servants took shelter from a blizzard in a cave, where he considered his spells, the Rune Heart Seal, and the dangers of the Dark Eye.
• Merlin decided to stay on the Icebound Snowfield and prepare concealed Rune Formations so he could escape danger in the future.
• Merlin set up a Rune Formation in the cave while Aining and Watson pretended not to notice.

Merlin broke the hidden runes on the second volume of the Book of Vastness and discovered that its clue about the third volume contradicted the first volume. When he joined the first two volumes, they revealed that the third volume was on Heaven-reaching Peak, but Merlin decided to delay going there while the south remained in turmoil and a powerful Spellcaster Family occupied the peak.

• Merlin finished placing Rune Formations across the Icebound Snowfield and scanned the second volume of the Book of Vastness into Matrix.
• Merlin used the Rune Heart Seal to break the hidden runes on the second volume and found its clue placing the third volume in the Black Desert, contrary to the first volume's clue about Shimo Grotto.
• Merlin joined the first and second volumes, which revealed that the Sea of Death, Shimo Grotto, and the Black Desert were deadly traps, while the third volume lay on Heaven-reaching Peak.
• Merlin learned that gathering the three volumes would form the Vastness Key and open a law left behind by Legendary Saitu on Heaven-reaching Peak.
• Merlin decided not to travel to Heaven-reaching Peak yet because the Southern Spellcaster World was in turmoil and a powerful Spellcaster Family occupied the peak.

After the blizzard ended, Merlin and his servants Aining and Wizard Watson encountered a mysterious frozen lake that froze spells and objects on contact. Merlin learned its cold could overwhelm spells below Seventh Level and unleashed pale-white flames, awakening a power within the lake.

• Merlin agreed to travel to Aining's residence with Aining and Wizard Watson, but violent, localized blizzards forced them to investigate.
• Merlin discovered an enormous ice lake covered with Spellcasters frozen in their final poses, and his lightning spell froze and shattered above it.
• Aining and Wizard Watson tested the lake with Alchemical Golems, which froze and shattered, then entered the lake under Merlin's orders.
• The lake's cold froze their defensive spells and rapidly drained their Magic Power, leading Merlin to conclude that Seventh-Level Spells could break its limit.
• Merlin unleashed pale-white flames over the ice lake, causing it to tremble as a hidden power began to awaken.

Merlin, Aining, and Watson entered the ruins beneath the melting ice lake, where Merlin used the Rune Heart Seal to open a jade door. Inside, they found a sleeping woman whom Aining identified as the legendary Ice Goddess, leaving Merlin face-to-face with a deity from the age before the Molta Empire.

• Merlin sent Aining and Watson down the jade staircase, then followed them into the ruins beneath the ice lake.
• Aining failed to break open the jade door with his spell, but Merlin used the Rune Heart Seal to unravel its hidden Rune Formation.
• The group entered a vast jade hall and found a beautiful, naked woman lying on a jade bed amid a supernatural cold.
• Aining identified the sleeping woman as the Ice Goddess, a deity from the Far North, and explained how Legendary Mages had risen to challenge the gods.

Merlin discovered that a powerful Ice Law suppressed the Ice Goddess, who had been imprisoned by the Ice Legendary. Determined to claim the Law for Matrix despite the danger, he grasped it and felt his body and thoughts freeze.

• Merlin recognized the pale light above the Ice Goddess as a Law that isolated and suppressed her.
• Merlin ordered Watson to approach the Ice Goddess, and a projection of a white-robed mage appeared to warn them that she was dangerous and should be left alone.
• Merlin concluded the Ice Goddess had likely died after losing her worshippers and decided to seize the Law for Matrix.
• Merlin sent Aining and Watson to guard the hall entrance, then went to the jade bed and grasped the Law.
• Merlin realized the Law belonged to the Ice Legendary, but its freezing power immediately overwhelmed his body and thoughts.

Merlin risked seizing the Ice Law, using Matrix to consume much of its power and derive new spells before studying the memories within it. The memories revealed the Ice Legendary’s Ice Dominion, which Merlin began examining as a new special Magic Energy.

• Merlin seized the Ice Law, which suppressed him and caused the long-dead Ice Goddess’s body to crumble into ashes.
• The Flame Law helped Merlin regain consciousness, and he ordered Matrix to derive spells using the Ice Law’s power.
• Matrix derived 286 Fourth-Level Lightning Spells, a Fourth-Level Ice Spell, and four Fifth-Level Spells as the Ice Law shrank.
• Merlin left a remnant of the Ice Law and entered its fragmented memories, witnessing the ancient war between casters and Innate Deities and the Ice Legendary’s suppression of the Ice Goddess.
• Merlin discovered that the Ice Legendary had used Ice Dominion, a special Magic Energy, and began studying its cultivation method.

Merlin learned that cultivating Ice Dominion required strengthening his body against extreme cold, and he found Goddess's Blessing to help improve his constitution and affinity with ice. After the underground hall collapsed and the frozen lake thawed, he learned of the Frost Lord's Frost Pool and set off to seek its help.

• Merlin studied Ice Dominion and learned that its cultivation required modifying his body with extreme cold, though his robust constitution gave him a chance of surviving the process.
• Merlin found the platinum pendant Goddess's Blessing on the Ice Goddess's jade bed and discovered that it gathered ice elements and gradually improved his constitution and ice affinity.
• Merlin left the hall with Watson and Wizard Aining as the underground passage collapsed and the icy lake thawed into a flowing river.
• Merlin asked Aining and Watson about ways to withstand extreme cold, and they told him that the Frost Lord's Frost Pool could strengthen a Spellcaster's constitution and ice affinity.
• Merlin set off with Aining and Watson for the Frost Lord's territory, hoping the Frost Pool would help him cultivate Ice Dominion.

Merlin, accompanied by his servants Aining and Mage Watson, asked the Frost Lord to let him use the Frost Pool to improve his body for cultivating Ice Dominion. The Frost Lord rejected him, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Merlin, Aining, and Mage Watson arrived at the Frost Lord’s palace, and Merlin ordered his servants to negotiate access to the Frost Pool.
• Aining and Mage Watson spoke with the Frost Lord, identifying Merlin as their master and explaining his request.
• An Ice Sprite objected to lending the Frost Pool, and Mage Aining attacked it with a spell.
• The Frost Lord effortlessly shattered Aining’s spell and told Merlin, Aining, and Mage Watson to leave because the Frost Pool belonged to the Ice Sprites.
• Merlin raised his eyes and fixed his gaze on the Frost Lord.

Merlin fought the Frost Lord to gain access to the Frost Pool, but her command of ice and the power of her territory proved formidable. After she became enraged and prepared a devastating attack, Merlin began undoing the Dark Eye’s fourth seal, bringing the battle to the brink of escalation.

• Merlin and the Frost Lord sent their allies back, then revealed their powers and battled with Annihilation Flame and ice.
• The Frost Lord transformed into a winged giant and matched Merlin’s flames, then attacked him with a massive pillar of ice.
• Merlin cast Dark Phantom Slaughter, killing Ice Sprites outside the palace and enraging the Frost Lord.
• The Frost Lord drew on the power of her territory, pushing her strength beyond the Seventh Level as the mountain and skies froze around Merlin and his companions.
• Merlin warned that he would undo the Dark Eye’s fourth seal, then began loosening it as a huge ghostly face emerged behind him.

Merlin forced the Frost Lord to let him enter the Frost Pool, agreeing to help her fight an ice sprite nearly as powerful as she was. He leaped into the pool to strengthen his body, and its freezing energy immediately encased him in ice.

• Merlin threatened to unleash the Dark Eye's fourth form, and the Frost Lord agreed to let him use the Frost Pool.
• The Frost Lord led Merlin, Aining, and Wizard Watson to the pool, where two ice sprites were swallowed as she refused to rescue them.
• The Frost Lord offered Merlin unrestricted use of the Frost Pool if he helped her deal with a powerful rival ice sprite alongside other formidable Spellcasters.
• Merlin reviewed and signed the contract, accepting the danger of entering the Frost Pool.
• Merlin removed his robe and jumped into the pool, which froze over and encased part of his head in ice.

Merlin transformed his body in the Frost Pool, raising his ice affinity enough to cultivate Ice Dominion. After three months of brewing and consuming Mokola Potions, his Mental Power reached the sixth level, and constructing his Fourth-Level ice and lightning spells made him a Fourth-level Spellcaster.

• Merlin endured the Frost Pool's cold through repeated bodily destruction and recovery, successfully transforming his body and greatly increasing his ice affinity.
• Merlin thanked the Frost Lord and asked for a quiet room, where Aining and Watson guarded him while he prepared to cultivate.
• Merlin brewed and consumed Mokola Potions for three months until his Mental Power broke through to the sixth level.
• Merlin constructed the Fourth-Level spells Extreme Ice Domain and Thunder Domain, officially advancing to Fourth-level Spellcaster.

After becoming a Fourth-level Spellcaster, Merlin cultivated Ice Dominion and used the Ice Law to raise it directly to its third form. He left his room after spending three months with the Frost Lord.

• Merlin stabilized his Spell Models after advancing to the fourth level and decided not to construct a Fifth-Level Spell yet.
• Merlin inscribed Ice Dominion’s symbol and successfully summoned its first form, finding that his transformed body could withstand its extreme cold.
• Merlin drove the Ice Law into Ice Dominion, rapidly advancing it to the second and then third form before withdrawing the Law to avoid exhausting his power.
• Merlin realized he could preserve the Ice Law and use it later to cultivate Ice Dominion’s fourth form.
• After spending three months with the Frost Lord, Merlin opened the door and walked out.