Chapter Summaries

Merlin attended the Dala City auction and bought a Thunderstone needed to cultivate Wrath of Thunder. He continued waiting for the Illusory Heart, which had not yet appeared.

• A female Seventh-level Spellcaster opened the auction by presenting the Kuron Scepter, which a Spellcaster bought for 180,000 Elemental Crystals.
• Merlin watched as potion ingredients, Rune Discs, and powerful Alchemical Golems were auctioned without placing a bid.
• The auctioneer presented Thunderstone, and Merlin recognized that it could help him cultivate Wrath of Thunder.
• Merlin bid through private room number twenty-eight and won the Thunderstone for 300,000 Elemental Crystals.
• Merlin examined the Thunderstone and looked forward to the rest of the auction while waiting for the Illusory Heart.

Merlin waited for the bidding on the Illusory Heart, determined to obtain the treasure that could greatly increase Mental Power. As the price climbed, the Whirlwind Lord targeted Tanbet for bidding against him, while Merlin still held back.

• Merlin had obtained Thunderstone and Frost Marrow earlier in the auction and waited for the Illusory Heart to appear.
• The auctioneer revealed the Illusory Heart and began bidding at five hundred thousand Elemental Crystals.
• A chubby Spellcaster in the ordinary section bid up to one million, but a private-room guest outbid him at one million and ten thousand.
• Private-room guests drove the price higher, and Merlin told Mingye that the Illusory Heart would likely cost around eight million Elemental Crystals.
• Tanbet in Private Room Number Twenty-Eight bid seven million, prompting the Whirlwind Lord in Private Room Number Thirteen to threaten to destroy Bisi City if Tanbet continued.
• The Whirlwind Lord bid seven million and ten thousand, and the auction hall turned its attention to Tanbet's room.

Merlin won the Illusory Heart for 7.02 million Elemental Crystals, provoking the Whirlwind Lord, who threatened to attack Bisi City. As the auction continued, Dala City revealed an alchemy formula for crafting Eighth-level puppets, and the bidding competition began.

• Merlin outbid the Whirlwind Lord for the Illusory Heart, and the Whirlwind Lord vowed to slaughter Bisi City in retaliation.
• An attendant delivered the Illusory Heart to Merlin and warned him that Dara the Mage could protect him during the auction.
• Merlin inspected the Illusory Heart, recognized its mental-power-enhancing fluctuations, and put it away to watch the remaining auction items.
• A female mage demonstrated that a puppet could withstand fire and break free from powerful ice, revealing it as an Eighth-level Alchemical Golem.
• The female mage announced that Dala City was auctioning the formula for crafting puppets that surpassed the usual level limit, starting at 2 million Elemental Crystals.

At the auction, Merlin could not afford the Eighth-level puppet formula, while the final item—a Memory Crystal containing the location of Evil God Cultists—drew fierce bidding because it could earn entry to Glory Pavilion. As the price climbed past ten million Elemental Crystals, a white-robed Spellcaster froze the auctioneer and lunged for the Memory Crystal.

• The Eighth-level puppet formula sold for nine million eight hundred thousand Elemental Crystals, beyond Merlin's remaining funds.
• The auctioneer revealed that Glory Palace would grant a day in Glory Pavilion to whoever eliminated the Evil God Cultists.
• Merlin learned from Mage Mingye that Glory Pavilion held Spells, Magic Energy, and marks left by Archmages, and he hoped it might contain information about Plane Coordinates.
• The auctioneer presented a Memory Crystal containing the hiding place of a group of Evil God Cultists and set its starting bid at five million Elemental Crystals.
• VIP guests drove the Memory Crystal's price past ten million Elemental Crystals.
• A white-robed Spellcaster burst into the hall, froze the Seventh-level female mage, and lunged toward the Memory Crystal.

Ores attacked Dala the Mage’s auction and stole the Memory Crystal, prompting Merlin to pursue him. Merlin caught up with Ores in a remote place and unleashed the fourth form of the Dark Eye, leaving Ores in danger.

• Ores froze much of the auction hall, stole the Memory Crystal, and fled as Spellcasters pursued him.
• Dala the Mage confronted Ores, but Ores escaped Dala City and Dala pursued him.
• Merlin left the auction and used Instant Wind to overtake the other pursuers and close in on Ores.
• Merlin confronted Ores, identified himself as being from Bisi City, and demanded the Memory Crystal.
• Merlin unleashed the fourth form of the Dark Eye, and Ores covered himself in ice as the blood-colored light enveloped him.

Merlin failed to stop Ores from escaping with the Memory Crystal, but killed the Whirlwind Lord when he tried to block his way. Dara the Mage then invited Merlin to Dara City to discuss the Evil God Cultists mentioned in the crystal.

• Ores weakened Merlin’s elemental control with the blood-red light but escaped after freezing his feet and evading Merlin’s pursuit.
• Merlin prepared to leave, but the Whirlwind Lord confronted him and was killed by Merlin’s Ice Dominion, Flame of Annihilation, and dark elements.
• Merlin took the Whirlwind Lord’s spatial ring and set off, but Dara the Mage stopped him to talk.
• Dara secretly told Merlin that the discussion concerned the Evil God Cultists in the Memory Crystal, and Merlin agreed to return to Dara City with him.
• The other Spellcasters abandoned their pursuit of Ores after Dara and Merlin left.

Dala the Mage revealed that he had arranged the Memory Crystal auction to lure Ores into confronting the Evil God Cultists, and asked Merlin to join the operation. Merlin agreed to cooperate and stayed in Dala City, waiting for Ores to make his move.

• Dala the Mage admitted that he owned the Memory Crystal and warned Merlin that Glory Palace might take interest if his true level became known.
• Dala the Mage explained that he had used the auction and a tip to Ores to make Ores lead the fight against the Evil God Cultists.
• Dala the Mage said that even with Ores and Merlin, defeating the Evil God Cultists would be difficult, and asked Merlin to cooperate.
• Merlin agreed to join the operation after realizing Dala the Mage might not let him leave if he refused.
• Dala the Mage revealed that he had altered the Memory Crystal to track Ores and told Merlin to stay in Dala City until Ores acted.

Merlin cultivated Wrath of Thunder to its second form and discovered that combining lightning and fire Spells greatly increased their power, though the unstable fusion exploded. He began cultivating Binding Ice with Frost Marrow, hoping it might reveal another path to Spell fusion.

• Merlin used Thunderstone to cultivate the first form of Wrath of Thunder and tested it by casting Thunder Domain, whose power shook Dala with thunder and lightning.
• Merlin cultivated Wrath of Thunder to its second form, strengthening his control over lightning and increasing the Magic Energy’s power.
• Merlin combined a lightning Spell with a fire Spell to create Thunderfire, but the unstable fusion exploded and damaged the ground.
• Merlin concluded that Spell fusion required finding a stable point of compatibility and considered its possible connection to becoming an Archmage.
• Merlin began cultivating Binding Ice by using Frost Marrow with the symbols he had prepared.

Merlin cultivated Binding Ice and discovered that his wind and ice Spells could fuse temporarily, then used the Illusory Heart to increase his Mental Power and break through to the seventh level. He condensed and compressed a Mental Core, establishing a powerful Special Mental Core with room to grow.

• Merlin cultivated Binding Ice and briefly fused his wind-element and ice-element Spells, strengthening the ice Spell's restraining power before the fusion collapsed.
• Merlin used the Illusory Heart to expand his Mental Power, but continued until the Heart was fully absorbed and his power began to liquefy.
• Merlin formed a Mental Core, reached Seventh-level Mental Power, and used it to stir the surrounding air into a faint breeze.
• Merlin compressed his Mental Core to the size of a ping-pong ball, creating a powerful Special Mental Core with considerable capacity for future growth.

Merlin condensed a powerful Special Mental Core just as Dala the Mage warned him that Ores had acted. The two found the hidden gathering place of the Evil God Cultists and followed Ores toward a coming battle.

• Merlin formed a Special Mental Core and prepared to derive two new Fifth-Level Spells, but Dala the Mage interrupted him to report that Ores had made a move.
• Merlin left Dala City with Dala the Mage, leaving Mingye and Madam Feli behind, and learned they could no longer track Ores through the Memory Crystal.
• Dala the Mage revealed the Evil God Cultists’ hidden gathering place beneath an illusion across the grassland.
• Dala the Mage explained that faith could restore the dead Evil God’s power, leading Merlin to suspect that the Evil God might have regained Divinity.
• Merlin and Dala the Mage detected Ores casting Spells and quietly followed him, planning to attack the Evil God Cultists after Ores engaged them.

Merlin and Dala followed Ores as he fought the Evil God Cultists, whose borrowed divine power let their Stone Golems resist his ice spells. Ores unleashed Frozen Storm and reached the cultists’ temple, where their leaders gathered to defend it and declared that their God would awaken.

• Merlin and Dala watched the Evil God Cultists empower Stone Golems, repeatedly freeing them from Ores’s Freeze.
• Ores cast Frozen Storm, destroying the Stone Golems and killing the cultists caught within its range.
• Merlin recognized that the cultists’ power contained Divinity and wanted to obtain it, while Dala urged him to follow Ores cautiously.
• Merlin and Dala trailed Ores through the area, passing frozen cultist corpses as Ores pressed deeper into their stronghold.
• Ores arrived outside the cultists’ grand temple, where hooded leaders confronted him and warned that their God would awaken.

The Evil God Cultists summoned an Evil God Phantom and Black Crows that killed Ores, a Peak Eighth Level Spellcaster. Merlin and Dara the Mage attacked the exhausted cultists, but the cultists invoked silvery divine protection, turning the ambush into a dangerous fight.

• The Evil God Cultists formed an Evil God Phantom that clashed with Ores's Frozen Storm, then transformed it into a swarm of Black Crows.
• Ores used Frozen Storm and fire Spells against the Black Crows, but they overwhelmed him and killed him.
• Merlin questioned how Dara the Mage had escaped the Black Crows before, and Dara said the cultists had grown stronger and were exhausted after their fight with Ores.
• Merlin and Dara the Mage attacked as the cultists prepared to return to their temple; Merlin trapped dozens with Dark Concealed Slaughter and Ice Dominion.
• The cultists chanted for the Evil God's protection, and silvery radiance blocked Dara the Mage's flames and began to break through Merlin's Ice Dominion.

Merlin and Dara the Mage entered the temple to destroy the Evil God Statue and found hundreds of devoted cultists protecting it. Their attacks awakened the newly formed Evil God Phantom, which overwhelmed Dara the Mage, leaving Merlin to confront it.

• Merlin and Dara the Mage discovered hundreds of Evil God Cultists gathered before the statue, and Dara worried that their faith would make the Evil God difficult to destroy.
• Merlin unleashed lightning and killed many cultists, while the survivors chanted Harildora until the Evil God Phantom emerged from the statue.
• Dara the Mage attacked the Evil God Phantom with Starfire, but the deity extinguished his flames and slammed him to the ground.
• Merlin summoned a massive ghostly face from the demonic eye in his palm to confront the Evil God Phantom.

Merlin and Dara the Mage killed the Evil God Cultists and weakened the Evil God Phantom by cutting off its Faith Power. After driving the Phantom back to its statue, they attacked it until the statue cracked, and Merlin stepped forward to deliver the final strike.

• Merlin restrained the Evil God Phantom with the Dark Eye while Dara the Mage burned the Evil God Cultists, cutting off the Phantom's supply of Faith Power.
• The Dark Eye broke, and Merlin used the Weakening Ring before retreating beyond the Phantom's range when it threatened to crush him.
• Merlin and Dara the Mage discovered the Phantom could not move far from its statue and attacked it with Thunder Domain and Starfire.
• The weakened Phantom retreated into the Evil God Statue, and Merlin and Dara the Mage damaged it until a crack appeared.
• Merlin asked Dara the Mage to hold back, then approached the statue and struck it with flames and sparks of electricity.

Merlin seized the Evil God’s Divinity after destroying the temple with Dara the Mage, then considered whether the mission’s Memory Crystals might expose his secrets. He agreed to submit them to the Glory Palace so they could qualify to enter the Glory Pavilion, and he and Dara set out together.

• Merlin burned the weakened Evil God Phantom and secretly seized its Divinity, then stored it in his ring.
• Dara the Mage burned down the Evil God’s temple and returned with Merlin to Dara City.
• Dara the Mage showed Merlin the Memory Crystals they had to submit to the Glory Palace as proof of the mission.
• Merlin asked whether the Glory Palace’s mission reviewer had left the Plane, and Dara the Mage explained that the reviewer had always stayed there.
• Merlin agreed to submit the unaltered Memory Crystals, and he and Dara the Mage left Dara City for the Glory Palace.

Merlin and Dala the Mage traveled to Glory Palace to submit their mission and seek access to Glory Pavilion. After Merlin accidentally triggered the palace’s hidden puppet guards, a Glory Mage escorted them inside to verify their claim.

• Dala the Mage explained that Ninth-level Spellcasters depended on Glory Palace for secrets about advancing to Archmage, and Merlin admitted he knew none.
• Dala led Merlin through a remote, misty mountain range to Glory Palace, whose buildings shone with five-colored light.
• Merlin sensed hidden puppets and cast Ice Dominion, freezing one and causing many more to emerge from the ground.
• A white-robed Glory Mage confronted Merlin and Dala, and Dala said they had destroyed Evil God Cultists and their temple to complete a mission.
• Dala showed the Glory Mage a Memory Crystal, and the mage used a Mental Power signal to make the puppets return underground before escorting them onward.

Merlin and Dala the Mage visited Glory Palace, where they saw its many Glory Mages and learned about the community fostered by Mage Mogan. After Mage Greet approved their mission and gave them temporary Glory Pavilion Nameplates, he recognized Merlin's Dark Eye and went to report it to Mage Mogan.

• The white-robed mage guided Merlin and Dala the Mage past the Glory Mages' residences and into the palace's gathering hall.
• Merlin examined the palace doors' profound Rune Formations with the Rune Heart Seal and sensed that they bore an aura of laws.
• The white-robed mage explained how Mage Mogan had fostered a culture of sharing knowledge among Glory Mages.
• Dala the Mage submitted a Memory Crystal to Mage Greet, who confirmed that they had destroyed the Evil God Cultists and temple and awarded them Glory Pavilion Nameplates.
• After Merlin and Dala the Mage left, Mage Greet identified Merlin's special Magic Energy as Dark Eye and vanished through a concealed Rune Formation to report it to Mage Mogan.

Merlin and Dala the Mage entered Glory Pavilion, where Merlin searched for knowledge about using Plane Coordinates. He found no answers in the Great Mages’ records and left with the possibility of searching for other Outworld Spellcasters instead.

• Merlin and Dala the Mage approached Glory Pavilion, signed contracts forbidding them from revealing its contents, and entered with their Nameplates.
• Dala the Mage headed for his chosen bookshelves while Merlin searched the vast collection for an explanation of Plane Coordinates.
• Merlin found potion formulas that could strengthen Mental Power below the Seventh Level, but they would not help him after he had condensed a Mental Core.
• Merlin read Keduo Ta’s records of traveling through the Void Realm and other Planes, but found no information about Plane Coordinates.
• After searching for more than half a day without success, Merlin considered seeking other Outworld Spellcasters and continued exploring Glory Pavilion.

Mage Greet alerted Mage Mogan that an Outworld Spellcaster in Glory Palace had cultivated the Dark Eye, prompting Mage Mogan to return. Meanwhile, Merlin found a book on Spell fusion in Glory Pavilion, successfully fused Lightning and Fire Spells, and reacted to someone behind him.

• Mage Greet showed Mage Mogan a Memory Crystal confirming that an Outworld Spellcaster in Glory Palace had cultivated the Dark Eye, and Mage Mogan set off to investigate.
• Merlin discovered a book describing techniques for fusing Spells and learned that mastering fusion could help a Spellcaster become an Archmage.
• Merlin entered a secret chamber and studied how to find the shared critical point between Lightning and Fire Spells.
• Merlin successfully fused a Lightning Spell with a Fire Spell, then sensed someone behind him and sent the fused Spells flying toward them.

Merlin met Mage Mogan, the Plane’s Great Legendary Mage, who revealed that Merlin’s secrets mattered less to him than his origins in the Land of Glory. Mogan brought Merlin to his secluded castle and began explaining the Land of Glory’s decline, ending with the revelation that the brutal war Spellcasters began in the myriad Planes was still ongoing.

• Merlin’s fused lightning and fire Spells shattered his Weakening Ring and nearly reached the power of an Eighth-Level Spell.
• Mage Mogan appeared in the secret chamber, recognized Merlin’s many abilities and secrets, and released him after confirming he had come from the Land of Glory.
• Mogan asked Merlin about the Land of Glory and revealed that the Dark Legendary had fallen.
• Mogan used Law Power to take Merlin through space to a secluded castle built in the style of the Molta Empire.
• Merlin asked why the Land of Glory had declined, and Mogan revealed that the war between Spellcasters and a strange Plane had never ended.