Chapter Summaries

Old Neil walked home after a long night of paperwork and remembered his lost fiancée, Celeste Deray, and the life they had planned together. He found someone inside his house and froze when the intruder used Life Alchemy.

• Old Neil left the Blackthorn Security Company and walked home through the cold, deserted streets after helping with the Nighthawks' reports.
• The scent of golden mint brought Old Neil back to meeting Celeste Deray, falling in love with her, and losing her to illness before they could build their life together.
• Old Neil noticed a fire burning in his living room and sensed no spiritual traces inside the quiet house.
• An unseen intruder called Old Neil by name and invited him inside, while he prepared to alert the Church and feared for his hidden blood.
• The intruder spoke the words "Life Alchemy," and Old Neil froze in place.

Old Neil returned to the house and met Lin Chuan, a mysterious spirit who wanted him to create a body through Life Alchemy. Lin Chuan explained that he had come specifically for Old Neil and Shaliste, leaving Old Neil to reckon with the stranger’s unexplained interest in them.

• After hearing a voice from the house, Old Neil left but turned back when he realized the stranger had not attacked him.
• Old Neil entered the living room and found Lin Chuan, who appeared as a translucent spirit body.
• Lin Chuan asked Old Neil to use a Life Alchemy ritual to create him a body, saying he did not want to possess a living person or attract attention.
• When Old Neil tried to use Spirit Vision, Lin Chuan warned him, and Old Neil’s spiritual intuition froze him with fear.
• Old Neil asked why Lin Chuan had come to him, and Lin Chuan said he had come for Old Neil and Shaliste.

Lin Chuan confronted Old Neil about his failed attempt to cure Shaliste and told him that he would never be able to resurrect her. As Old Neil begged for help understanding his ritual, the Hidden Sage's illusory eyes behind him grew more animated, and Lin Chuan revealed that every step he had taken was wrong.

• Lin Chuan told Old Neil that his ritual magic had failed to cure Shaliste more than twenty years earlier.
• Lin Chuan explained that Old Neil had missed other ways to help Shaliste, including potions and the Mystery Pryer's acting method.
• Lin Chuan declared that Old Neil still could not resurrect Shaliste, and Old Neil pleaded that Life Alchemy and ritual magic could bring her back.
• Old Neil begged Lin Chuan to identify the mistakes in his ritual, but Lin Chuan said every step he had taken was wrong.

Lin Chuan helped Old Neil break free of the Hidden Sage’s corruption and asked him to perform the Life Alchemy ritual. Old Neil agreed, though he still regarded Lin Chuan as a god, and Lin Chuan sent him to rest before beginning.

• Lin Chuan prompted Old Neil to remember the voice that taught him the rituals, revealing the Hidden Sage’s presence behind him.
• Lin Chuan met the Hidden Sage’s gaze, and the Hidden Sage fled through the Spirit World, cutting off his connections to the Mystery Pryer Pathway.
• With the Hidden Sage gone, Old Neil’s corruption cleared and his Spirituality stabilized, confirming Lin Chuan had saved him from becoming a monster.
• Old Neil thanked Lin Chuan and agreed to perform the Life Alchemy ritual, but worried that the Hidden Sage’s instructions might contain a trap and that he lacked enough human blood.
• Lin Chuan assured Old Neil the ritual knowledge was genuine and said he only needed a body, then told the exhausted Old Neil to get some sleep.

Old Neil took Lin Chuan in for the night after learning that the Life Alchemy ritual was real, rekindling his hope. Meanwhile, Ince Zangwill watched 0-08 struggle to explain the missing revolver, leaving him convinced an Archangel might be involved and that he had only one chance.

• Old Neil showed Lin Chuan to a guest room, then went to bed thinking about the real Life Alchemy ritual and his renewed hope.
• In Klein's dream, Dunn Smith questioned Klein about Welch's missing revolver, and Klein denied knowing where it was.
• Ince Zangwill watched 0-08 forcefully write that the revolver had mysteriously disappeared and Klein truly knew nothing about it.
• Ince Zangwill concluded that a legendary Sequence One Archangel might be connected to the gun and told himself this was his only chance.

Lin Chuan explained that Old Neil's Life Alchemy ritual was sound but could not resurrect Shaliste because her spirit body had already dissipated. Old Neil asked what price Lin Chuan required, and Lin Chuan unexpectedly apologized.

• Old Neil woke refreshed after a dreamless night and found Lin Chuan still seated in the living room.
• Old Neil asked whether there was any hope of resurrecting Shaliste, and Lin Chuan said the ritual was valid but following the Hidden Sage would likely turn Old Neil into a monster.
• Old Neil realized he could not ask the Hidden Sage or the orthodox gods to bless the ritual, and Lin Chuan explained that Shaliste's spirit body had dissipated in the Spirit World.
• Old Neil offered his life and everything he possessed, trusting Lin Chuan had come for a reason.
• Lin Chuan told Old Neil that even a true god could not restore Shaliste, then answered Old Neil's appeal with, "I'm sorry."

Lin Chuan apologized to Old Neil and promised he could save Shaliste, explaining that the completely erased belonged to his divine kingdom. Old Neil began preparing a human transmutation ritual, while Lin Chuan vanished and instructed him to direct it toward him.

• Lin Chuan apologized for testing Old Neil's suffering and promised to save Shaliste without demanding a price.
• Lin Chuan explained that death marks eventually dissolved into the Underworld, while those erased from existence belonged to his divine kingdom.
• Lin Chuan concluded that Shaliste's absence was likely connected to his sefirah leaking from the Western Continent.
• Old Neil prepared the human transmutation ritual with the materials he had gathered, despite being short on the required blood.
• Lin Chuan told Old Neil to use Evernight's usual herbs and essential oils, then vanished after a starry eye symbol entered the candle flame.
• Lin Chuan instructed Old Neil to write his honorific name and recite its opening lines to direct the ritual toward him.

Lin Chuan used the Hidden Sage’s power to disguise a Life Alchemy ritual and created a new human body for himself. Old Neil learned that Shaliste’s resurrection could take years, then chose to remain in Tingen and help Lin Chuan.

• Lin Chuan concealed the Life Alchemy ritual with the Hidden Sage’s corruption while Old Neil performed it.
• Lin Chuan warned Old Neil to leave the room and seal his senses as a stream of information entered the unfinished vessel.
• Lin Chuan emerged in a newly created body, fashioned as a shell because the ritual lacked enough material.
• Old Neil asked how long it would take to resurrect Shaliste, and Lin Chuan estimated a few years if circumstances went well or a little over a decade at the latest.
• Old Neil declined Lin Chuan’s offer to place him in a deep sleep and asked to serve him, and Lin Chuan agreed while saying he wanted Old Neil’s help, not service.