Recaps

Jason joined Falling Rain City's force as it approached White Stone Mountain Castle to destroy the Bogdan Clan. After the castle's defenses absorbed the highgods' attacks, Belding and the other highgods deployed golems and charged, with the midgods following.

• Jason reasoned that Lloyd and the lord of Northbone Prefecture would ensure the mission succeeded, and that the Bogdan Clan had been sent to trouble Falling Rain City by a larger power.
• The Fiends arrived at White Stone Mountain Castle and learned that the Bogdan Clan had spotted them.
• The mission leader ordered the One-Star Fiends to wait until the highgods began fighting, then attack the castle and prevent the clan from escaping.
• Belding and Kuxilai struck the castle with their weapons, but its formation absorbed their attacks and transferred them underground.
• A Four Star Fiend concluded that the castle's formation could only be broken from outside by a physical attack at Seven Star Fiend strength.
• Belding led the highgods and midgods forward with two top-grade and thirteen high-grade golems charging at the front.

The Fiends besieged White Stone Mountain Castle, where the Bogdan Clan’s Highgods and Midgods fought from fortified positions. After the castle’s large formations failed, Belding and Kuxilai agreed to lead a direct assault, leaving Jason with Delisha’s group.

• Olsen led the Highgod Fiends past the castle’s lightning attack, but two Fiends died as they fought the Bogdan Clan’s defenders inside.
• Delisha joined Belding’s forces, and the Midgod Fiends tore down the castle wall while the Highgods recovered and Belding warned that the enemy likely had Soul Seeds controlling them.
• The Fiends destroyed the outer wall and advanced cautiously, but the Bogdan Clan’s enhancement formations and ranged attacks slowed them.
• Kuxilai urged the Highgods to lead the assault, so Belding paired the Highgods and divided the Midgods into six groups.
• Jason joined Delisha’s group, and Delisha told him not to risk himself because they could abandon the mission.

Jason and the Fiends fought the Bogdan Clan inside White Stone Mountain Castle, gaining the upper hand after a fierce battle. When Kuxilai shouted for them to run, Delisha grabbed Jason as a deadly formation detonated across the castle.

• Belding and Kuxilai led their group into the castle through a breached wall, where they found Bogdan Clan fighters waiting in ambush.
• Delisha and the Darkness Element Highgod battled the enemy Highgods while Jason fought the Midgods and killed three, collecting two blood-red feathers.
• After more than an hour of fighting, the Fiends killed nearly seventy percent of the Bogdan Clan members, though eleven Fiends also died.
• The hidden Wind Element Highgod revealed himself and attacked, but the Fiends began to gain the upper hand as they cleared obstacles and formations.
• Kuxilai shouted for the Fiends to run, and Delisha abandoned her opponent, grabbed Jason, and flew toward the castle's remaining spire.
• A formation unleashed a massive explosion across White Stone Mountain, attacking both sides indiscriminately.

Jason and the surviving Fiends survived the Bogdan Clan’s formation, then learned that the clan had been controlled by Soul Seeds and had used the attack to kill its leader and free its members. Belding emerged from the ruins as a Six-Star Fiend, and the group prepared to return to the city.

• Jason and the other survivors fell from the sky after the formation destroyed the castle, while Belding’s Water Clone remained protected at the center of the flames.
• The Fiends discovered that Belding had survived and appeared to have secured his standing as a Six-Star Fiend.
• Kuxilai explained that a powerful figure had controlled the Bogdan Clan through Soul Seeds, and that the clan had used the formation to kill its leader and sever that control.
• Belding emerged from his Water Element shield beside the corpse of the Bogdan Clan leader, and Jason recorded the shield’s workings.
• The Fiends congratulated Belding on completing the mission and becoming a Six-Star Fiend, and he changed armor before leading them back to the city.

After returning from a dangerous mission, Delisha accepted Johanna’s offer to escort a new caravan from Falling Rain City to Skyfall City. The mission could earn Delisha a promotion and strengthen the Rhine Clan’s ties, but the route crossed a Bone Dragon Prefecture destabilized by political conflict and bandit raids.

• Belding rewarded Delisha with the promised Nether Stones and an extra thirty million, while Jason and Delisha returned to the Rhine Clan’s residence.
• Delisha entered seclusion to pursue new insights, while Jason studied formations and discussed their value with her Lightning Clone.
• Johanna asked Delisha to escort a caravan to Skyfall City, offering a promotion mission, regular trade stops at Rhine Clan territory, and a top-grade Deathgod Golem.
• Alpa shared intelligence about Skyfall City’s resistance to Bone Dragon Prefecture’s new prefect and the potential political benefits of Johanna’s caravan.
• Delisha gave Alpa the Deathgod Golem, and she and Jason agreed the caravan mission was worth attempting despite the danger and ongoing turmoil.

Jason joined Johanna’s caravan as it set out from Falling Rain City toward Skyfall City, carrying valuable supplies and Mariano, a late addition from Northbone Prefecture’s ruling clan. The caravan was soon surrounded by a large force of bandits, leaving Jason to doubt that their secret itinerary had remained secret.

• Jason and Delisha bought healing and attack potions before Johanna’s caravan departed seven months later.
• Johanna’s thirty-one-member caravan flew southeast aboard a top-grade Metallic Airship, carrying Deathgod Golems and supplies toward Skyfall City.
• Jason worried that Mariano’s unexplained cargo and last-minute addition might bring danger to the mission.
• Johanna warned the caravan that enemies were approaching, and two Highgod Fiends failed to drive them away.
• Johanna said the attackers were not a known bandit gang and suspected that someone important had assigned them to guard the area.
• Jason saw more than three hundred bandits surrounding the caravan, including at least five Highgods, and questioned whether their itinerary had leaked.

Jason traveled with Johanna’s caravan toward Skyfall City, where bandits were disrupting trade routes. After reaching the city in the seventh year, the group faced the prospect of a difficult return journey.

• Bandits demanded the caravan surrender its valuables, but Beirut’s water barrier turned aside their long-range attacks, and they withdrew after realizing the group was not their target.
• Johanna organized the twenty-six midgods into a formation with Beirut while she and the other highgods prepared to provide support.
• The caravan passed ordinary bands of robbers, then refused a request from bandits near Skyfall City to divert its goods to Kettle Mouth City.
• After the encounter, several bands of robbers avoided the caravan, and in the seventh year Jason’s group saw Skyfall City beneath a colossal waterfall.

Jason and Delisha learned that Johanna’s caravan had been drawn into a political conflict between City Lord Tiboni and the new lord of Bone Dragon Prefecture, leaving them stranded in besieged Skyfall City. They decided to stay safe and quietly profit from the city’s cheap goods while waiting for a chance to leave.

• Mariano revealed his identity as an envoy from Northbone Prefecture, and Johanna accompanied him to Bone Dragon Castle while the rest of the group rented a residence.
• Johanna told the caravan that City Lord Tiboni had invited them to stay in Skyfall City until the surrounding situation stabilized.
• The group learned that bandits led by Highgods and a Seven Star Fiend surrounded Skyfall City, making it dangerous to leave.
• Jason and Delisha visited the city’s markets and found artifact materials, divine artifacts, divine sparks, and houses selling cheaply after years of siege.
• Jason revealed that he had two billion Nether Stones, and he and Delisha decided to buy goods in small batches while changing their appearances.
• Jason and Delisha spent two hundred million Nether Stones on metal materials and planned to return later for more goods to resell.

Skyfall City's residents entered a new dueling arena, where Jason watched Highgod Fiends fight while Delisha sought to overcome a cultivation bottleneck. After Beirut's day-long battle ended, Jason continued observing a stalemated duel before deciding to wait for a suitable opponent.

• Jason heard that Skyfall City's lord had opened an arena outside the south gate, and he went there with Delisha and the other Fiends.
• Delisha signed up for a sparring match, explaining that she hoped fighting would help her Death Clone break through its bottleneck.
• Jason watched Beirut use water curtains and streams to fight a spear-wielding Highgod who specialized in Ice.
• Beirut's match lasted through the night and ended when frost covered half her body.
• Jason noticed two Darkness Element Highgods still fighting and told Delisha he would sign up after finding a suitable opponent.

Jason sparred with Brisenio, testing their lightning, death, and soul techniques in a close contest. Brisenio surrendered after his lightning divine power was nearly exhausted, and the two left the arena on respectful terms.

• Jason and Brisenio entered an empty arena and began their spar, with Brisenio attacking using two hooked chains and Jason wielding two sabers.
• Jason recognized Brisenio's superior control of the Electromagnetism Profound Mysteries and traded soul attacks with him to gauge their strength.
• Jason charged through Brisenio's defenses, but Brisenio struck him with a force that disrupted his lightning movement and gave them both serious soul wounds.
• Jason broke Brisenio's right arm during their exchange, then attacked again after Brisenio paused to recover.
• Jason steadily pressed Brisenio back until Brisenio surrendered, explaining that his lightning divine power was almost gone.
• Jason stopped immediately, and the two thanked each other before leaving the arena.

Jason continued developing his clones during a century of training in Skyfall City, where his Water and Fate Clones made notable progress and his Death Clone neared the Highgod threshold. After fighting Delisha’s Lightning Clone, he left the arena determined to defeat her within two hundred years, while she planned to strengthen her Death Clone for their next match.

• Jason spent a hundred years training and fighting in Skyfall City, advancing his Lightning techniques and making progress with his Death and Water Clones.
• Jason’s Fate Clone became a Midgod and grew stronger than his Destruction and Life Clones, while his Life Clone helped produce seven mature Blue Jade Fruit trees.
• Jason challenged Delisha’s Lightning Clone and used his newly perfected Arc Flash technique during their hour-long fight.
• Delisha defeated Jason with a slash and assessed him as having the average strength of a Four Star Fiend with few soul weaknesses.
• Jason vowed to defeat Delisha’s Lightning Clone within two hundred years, and Delisha said she would strengthen her Death Clone so both clones could fight him next time.

In 9991, Linley attended Monica’s music class and learned that her singing soothed the soul and concealed extraordinary Wind Element abilities. Monica began teaching him an improved Wind of Perception, leaving Linley stunned by her Peak Saint-level power.

• Linley attended Monica’s music class with Delia and Dixie, and he fell asleep while listening to Monica sing.
• After class, Delia invited Linley to come again, and Monica told him that Delia was interested in him.
• Monica met Linley on the back mountain and taught him that she had improved Wind of Perception and created the spell Requiem.
• Monica demonstrated Wind of Perception by making the nearby trees shake and causing Linley’s body to tremble with a sound-based attack.
• Doehring Cowart identified Monica as a Peak Saint, and Monica prepared to teach Linley the spell.

Monica visited the Baruch Clan estate, where Linley hoped she might guide Wharton as a powerful mentor. While exploring the grounds with Wharton, Monica persuaded him to demonstrate Dragon Transformation, and he revealed his azure-scaled form.

• Monica arrived at the Baruch Clan estate with Linley and met Hogg and Wharton.
• Linley told Hogg that he suspected Monica was Saint-level and suggested she might take Wharton as her disciple; Hogg agreed to let Wharton remain in Fenlai City if Monica accepted him.
• Monica explored the estate with Wharton while secretly investigating the forces behind the Baruch Clan's decline.
• Monica asked Wharton to show her his Dragon Transformation and promised to teach him magic and make it painless.
• Wharton activated his battle-qi and transformed, revealing azure dragon scales, horns, and a tail.

Monica explained that Wharton’s unusually pure soul could develop aptitude for two of the Four Edicts, and urged the family to begin training him before his Soul Plasticity faded. She then revealed that the Radiant Church and a suspected Deity-level enemy threatened the Baruch Clan, and announced that she would take Wharton to the Rhine Empire the next day.

• Monica told Linley and Hogg that Wharton should study magic early because his pure soul could gain aptitude for two Edicts, including Life and Necromancy.
• Monica explained that Wharton’s Soul Plasticity would decline as he grew older, and that she wanted to take him to the Rhine Empire to train in both forms of magic.
• Hogg objected that the Baruch Clan could not abandon its home in the Fenlai Kingdom, while Linley offered to become Monica’s disciple alongside Wharton.
• Monica warned that the Radiant Church had hunted the Four Ultimate Warrior Clans and that a powerful enemy, possibly a Deity-level expert, targeted the Baruch Clan.
• Monica said she would take Wharton to the Rhine Empire the next day and told the family to claim he had died in an accident before flying out to find a substitute body.

Monica took Wharton away on a Frostflame Gryphon, leaving his family to tell Wushan Town that he had drowned. Linley grieved and focused on cultivating, then carved a statue of Wharton and advanced his Flat Blade Style stone sculpting to the beginner level.

• Hogg, Hiri, Linley, and Doehring Cowart discussed Monica’s warning and agreed that Wharton might be safer leaving with her.
• Monica took Wharton from the back courtyard and flew away on a Frostflame Gryphon, while the family agreed to report that he had drowned.
• Hogg and Hiri held Wharton’s funeral, and Linley pretended to be ill while meditating in his bedroom.
• After speaking with Hogg, Linley carved a statue of Wharton in the back courtyard, with Bebe beside him.
• Linley finished the carving and reached the beginner level in Flat Blade Style stone sculpting.

Linley received a letter from Wharton through Teacher Monica and learned that his younger brother was safe in the Rhine Empire, where a Saint Warrior was teaching him. Doehring Cowart revealed that the Rhine Clan descended from demons of the Abyss, and Linley resolved to visit Wharton once he became a Level Seven Mage.

• Yale, Reynolds, and George wondered why Linley was working so hard during vacation, while George explained that Teacher Monica was a Peak Saint.
• Teacher Monica secretly delivered Wharton's letter to Linley and warned him that the Radiant Church might pursue them if they fled the Fenlai Empire.
• Linley read that Wharton was safe in Rhine Clan territory and was being taught by Aunt Veronica, a Saint Warrior.
• Doehring Cowart reassured Linley that Life Magic and Necromancy would complement the Dragonblood Warriors, then recognized the Rhine Clan's connection to a clan he had known.
• Doehring Cowart told Linley that the Rhine Clan descended from demons of the Abyss, and Linley burned Wharton's letter after deciding to visit him once he became a Level Seven Mage.

Six years passed as Linley advanced at the Ernst Institute, and Monica entered seclusion after gaining an insight. In Bloodshadow Valley, Wharton grew stronger under the Tree of Life before Veronica sent him to the Rhine imperial palace and considered returning to Fenlai City with Jason.

• Linley told Hogg and Hiri that Wharton's letter had eased their worries, then continued studying magic and carving under Monica's instruction.
• Linley informed the dean that Monica had entered seclusion, and Beta arrived to guard her while the others left the area.
• Linley decided to train in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts while Monica was unavailable.
• Wharton reached the fifth level as a warrior with help from the Tree of Life, though he made little progress in Necromancy.
• Veronica took Wharton to the Rhine imperial palace so he could live among other young members of the Rhine Clan.
• Veronica realized her resentment toward the Baruch Clan had faded and decided to wait for Jason before returning to Fenlai City.

Jason and Veronica visited the Ernst Institute and the Baruch Clan residence, where Jason healed Hogg after finding him gravely wounded. Veronica set aside her resentment toward the Baruch Clan and agreed to help Hogg awaken his bloodline, leaving Jason to provide dragon blood.

• Jason and Veronica inspected the Dream Awakening sculpture, then met Yale and Reynolds in the secret room and introduced themselves as Monica’s parents.
• Jason and Veronica found Hogg badly wounded at the Baruch Clan residence, and Jason healed him.
• Hogg explained his search for revenge against the people who had abducted his wife, and Jason warned that pursuing them could endanger his sons.
• Veronica returned from the ancestral hall and decided to help Hogg awaken his bloodline after learning her murdered relatives were not ancestors of his branch.
• Veronica told Jason to give Hogg some dragon blood so he could awaken his bloodline.

Jason arranged for Hogg to undergo Dragonblood Warrior bloodline activation, then met Linley in Mist Canyon after Linley found the Purple Blood Sword. When Jason sensed Linley had damaged a seal for the Gebados Plane, he flew off to intervene and began fighting a powerful beast as Linley fled.

• Jason gave Hogg Red Dragon blood and Blue Heart Grass, and Hogg awakened his Dragonblood Warrior bloodline.
• Jason told Hogg and Hiri that Linley had activated his bloodline after surviving a fight between powerful magical beasts in Mist Canyon.
• Jason found Linley testing the Purple Blood Sword, introduced himself, and refused Linley’s offer of the sword.
• Jason examined Bebe, but a soul attack from Beirut forced him to let the Shadow Mouse go.
• Jason detected that Linley had damaged part of a sealing formation for the Gebados Plane and flew toward Mist Valley.
• Linley and Bebe saw Jason fighting a powerful beast, and Doehring Cowart urged Linley to flee.

Jason fought Dylan after Dylan attacked him with Swallow Heaven, but ended the battle by leaving once the High Priest introduced them. After returning to the Baruch Clan, Jason learned Hogg had staged his own death and went with Veronica to the Proulx Gallery, while Linley reflected on the battle and decided to return to Fenlai City.

• Dylan attacked Jason with Swallow Heaven, but Jason's original body and Life Clone gained the advantage in their ensuing fight.
• The High Priest identified Dylan and Jason, and Jason chose to leave rather than continue fighting the three Lowgods.
• Jason returned to find Hogg bloodied and the Baruch Clan home wrecked, then learned from Veronica that Hogg had staged his death to avoid danger after awakening his bloodline.
• Jason agreed to leave with Veronica for the Proulx Gallery while Hogg's staged death continued at the clan home.
• Linley and Doehring Cowart concluded that the destroyed magic formation had drawn the Deity-level experts and that a beast tide might follow the battle.
• Linley decided to return to Fenlai City and vowed to become a powerful expert like Jason and Dylan.

Jason and Veronica revisited Fenlai City, met Jason’s brother Barek at Radiant Temple Square, and discussed the Rhine Empire’s attempt to recruit Linley and the Radiant Church. Jason warned Barek about a powerful divine beast in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts and learned that former Pope Allison had defected to the Arctic Wasteland.

• Jason and Veronica left the crowded Proulx Gallery and strolled around Radiant Temple Square, where they encountered Barek.
• Barek said the Rhine Empire had sent him to recruit Linley, a seventeen-year-old Level Seven Mage, and revealed he had become a fire-element Saint Magus.
• Jason told Barek that his niece Monica was teaching at the Ernst Institute under an assumed name because she believed the Radiant Church was hunting Veronica.
• Barek said he had seen Monica on Crescent Island and mentioned that he had waited in line to view Linley’s sculpture, “Dream Awakening.”
• Jason warned Barek that a powerful divine beast lived in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts and asked him to caution the Rhine Empire’s travelers.
• Barek explained that former Pope Allison had released prisoners on death row and defected to the Arctic Wasteland, and Jason condemned the Radiant Church.

At the auction, Monica reunited with Jason and Veronica and revealed that she had begun fusing two Profound Mysteries after awakening her Wind Element abilities. She proposed bringing the Four Ultimate Warrior Clans under the Rhine Empire’s protection, while the Radiant Church learned of the empire’s powerful delegation and prepared to meet Linley.

• Monica questioned Jason about his unchanged appearance, learned that he had concealed his identity to keep her from becoming conceited, and thanked him and Veronica for guiding her in Cangbai City.
• Monica explained that she had started fusing two Profound Mysteries and proposed pledging herself to the Rhine Empire’s Deity-level expert to protect the Four Ultimate Warrior Clans.
• Barek and Jason agreed to bring the Violet Flame Warrior Hyde Clan and Tiger-Striped Warrior Bolei Clan to the Rhine Empire, while Monica reported that the Armand clan’s direct descendants had vanished over a century earlier.
• Gilmer and Lampson learned that the Rhine Empire’s delegation included several Saint-level experts, including Jason, Barek, and Monica, and Gilmer identified Barek as Jason’s brother.
• Gilmer and Lampson decided to go out and meet Linley.

At an auction, Jason challenged Cesar after learning he had once pursued Monica, then confronted him outside the Proulx Gallery. Jason defeated Cesar’s attack with Fate Law and forced him to flee toward the O'Brien Empire.

• Jason, Cesar, and Delia continued bidding on the Dream Awakening sculpture until Jason withdrew and Delia won it for 10.4 million gold coins.
• Monica revealed that Cesar had pursued her centuries earlier, so Jason threatened Cesar and challenged him to meet at the south city gate.
• Cesar vanished into the shadows, and Jason left the gallery to confront him while Linley and the others watched from a distance.
• Cesar attacked Jason using Shadow Clones, but Jason redirected the assault and trapped the leaves as vines before Cesar could approach.
• Jason briefly revealed his domain, and Cesar fled toward the O'Brien Empire after realizing he was outmatched.
• Kuye identified Jason’s techniques as Fate Law and remarked on the Rhine Clan’s ability to nurture an expert in Life Magic and Fate Law.

Monica confronted Jason about hiding his Deity-level strength and his failure to protect the Baruch Clan, then agreed to oversee the clans if Jason protected them. At the Radiant Church, Heidens and his allies discussed how to keep Linley from leaving, while the other Saint-level experts remained indifferent.

• Monica demanded to know when Jason had become a Deity and broke down over the Baruch Clan's losses.
• Veronica explained why she had left the Baruch Clan, and Jason described its past abuses and the Radiant Church's betrayal.
• Jason offered to protect the Four Ultimate Warrior Clans if Monica kept them from preying on the weak, and she promised to do so.
• Heidens and the Radiant Church's Saint-level experts discussed Jason's identity and whether the Rhine Clan had left behind a Deity.
• Heidens's loyalists considered working with the Yulan Empire to keep Linley, while the other Saint-level experts watched without interest.

Linley returned to Wushan Town and learned that Jason’s status as a Deity-level expert had driven the major powers away. Jason offered to protect Linley and the Four Ultimate Warrior Clans in exchange for loyalty and help establishing a faith, then agreed to transfer Doehring Cowart into an earth-element divine artifact.

• Linley returned home under Fenlai’s cavalry escort and learned of his father’s death, then held a funeral attended by a few representatives, his roommates, and Delia.
• Jason visited Linley and offered protection and bloodline activation to the Four Ultimate Warrior Clans in return for their loyalty and help establishing a faith.
• Linley pledged the Baruch Clan’s loyalty through Wharton and gave Jason the warblade Slaughterer to deliver to his brother.
• Jason gave Linley scrolls containing Soul Search and Vine Bind to help him investigate and confront his parents’ killer.
• Doehring Cowart asked Jason to restore his body, and Jason explained that the Coiling Dragon Ring’s water-element divine power prevented him from sensing the Laws of the Earth.
• Doehring Cowart chose to be transferred into an earth-element divine artifact, so Linley severed his bond with the Coiling Dragon Ring and handed it to Jason.