Chapter Summaries

The Taya Allied Forces seized the Cloud Fang Royal Palace grounds while Lang Yefu addressed the city and Su Ming’s group battled Abidaqi’s Apocalypse Domain. Underground, Yise and Lu Lailuo killed the Dark Moon priest, but his final spell destroyed the Kindling Magic Array’s control platform.

• Katharine ordered the airborne forces to seize key points, disrupt the orc army, and hunt down its officers.
• Lang Yefu broadcast a message promising to take over Water Chestnut Island’s administration and warning Plundering Clock soldiers to surrender.
• Zijin countered Abidaqi’s Time Stop, and Su Ming’s group fought him while the allied forces pushed the Plundering Clock back from the tunnels.
• Yise and Lu Lailuo fought a Dark Moon priest in the underground palace as the Kindling Magic Array unleashed surging fire elements.
• Abidaqi activated Apocalypse Domain and engulfed the palace grounds in Burning Sea, forcing Su Ming’s group to endure the area-wide flames.
• Yise and Lu Lailuo killed the Dark Moon priest, but his final Flame Hell Blast struck the Kindling Magic Array’s control platform and extinguished its light.

Yise and Lu Lailuo awakened the Raven Magic Array and used its records to shut down the Kindling Magic Array’s energy release. Above ground, the assault on Abidaqi exposed his decoy clone, while Su Ming and the others located the weakened archmage at the Plane Gate and continued their attack.

• Yise saw ultraviolet patterns and writing that Lu Lailuo could not see, and they repaired and activated the Raven Magic Array with the Raven Key.
• Galuo revealed records about the Kindling Magic Array, and Yise used the Woven Feathers to find emergency controls and override its energy-release setting.
• Three necromancers raised skeletons from the mass grave, and Bowers and Stacy discovered that the elven corpses were each missing different bones, leading them to suspect Abidaqi had used Soul Reflection Clone.
• After the Kindling Magic Array stopped supplying fire elements, Zijin, Gelie, and the dragon elders sealed Abidaqi while Linlusi fought Shadu and Piping attacked Abidaqi from behind.
• Su Ming warned the others that Abidaqi was only a clone, but Piping’s strike triggered its explosion, injuring Piping and knocking down the dragon elders.
• Gelie found Abidaqi at the Plane Gate with a weak aura, and Su Ming, Zijin, Linlusi, and Gelie pressed on with the battle.

Death Knell fought Zhapulai, Ruixiuli, and Beianqi’s Yinglong mech until Hansite ambushed her with his Moon-Boiling Spirit Domain and the poison prepared by her old enemies. The group killed Death Knell, but Hansite died from his wounds after asking them to watch over Queen Ghostly Flower and give his harp to Ximina.

• Death Knell dodged Beianqi’s high-speed shots and used her Arcane Blade techniques to injure Zhapulai and Ruixiuli, revealing that she had reached Pseudo-Destiny Level.
• Zhapulai and Ruixiuli lured Death Knell toward Hansite, who emerged from hiding, transformed his bow into a harp, and trapped her in his Moon-Boiling Spirit Domain.
• Hansite’s domain activated the poison made from seven medicinal ingredients, while Death Knell’s attacks and Beianqi’s fire failed to stop the Moon Chanter from playing.
• Hansite endured Death Knell’s stabs and strengthened the domain, allowing Zhapulai, Ruixiuli, and Beianqi to overwhelm her and leave her motionless.
• Hansite asked the others to watch over Queen Ghostly Flower and give his harp to Ximina, then died with his cheap magic ring in hand.

Linlusi learned that Abidaqi would keep his forces underground while Hairspring tried to escape the coastal battlefield and was confronted by Ghostly Flower. Meanwhile, Yise and Lu Lailuo uncovered the Raven Magic Array’s true purpose and heard Great Sage Zhiyi reveal that the Plundering Clock had invaded Taya a thousand years earlier and stolen a frame of the world.

• Linlusi secretly broadcast Abidaqi’s decision to avoid a direct fight and use the underground tunnels, while Su Ming’s group listened in.
• Hairspring ordered his forces to abandon the collapsing coastal front and flee toward the sea, but Ghostly Flower blocked his path as Wanshi and Giant Hammer attacked his subordinates.
• Yise revoked the Lionheart Key’s access to the Kindling Magic Array, and Galuo revealed that the Raven Magic Array had become the Raven Sky Survey, which recorded the stars.
• Great Sage Zhiyi’s recorded message appeared and asked Yise to take up the duties of the Kindling Watcher, then described the Plundering Clock’s ancient invasion of Taya.
• Zhiyi revealed that the heavenly demons had stolen a frame of the world, leaving a break in its recorded traces.

Su Ming’s forces reinforced the siege at the Cloud Fang Royal Palace and restored contact with Yise, while Abidaqi learned that Death Knell had died and used Jörmungandr’s power to locate another Child of Calamity. Abidaqi charged through the underground passages toward that target, and Lu Lailuo turned back to delay him while sending Yise to escape.

• The third airborne group arrived with supplies, and Su Ming deployed a through-earth communications device that reconnected him with Yise.
• Abidaqi used a serpent-scale scroll to discover Death Knell had died, then searched for the Children of Calamity and found one underground.
• Su Ming ordered his allies to stop Abidaqi, but Abidaqi fought through the tunnels and caused successive cave-ins to block Zijin’s pursuit.
• Lu Lailuo and Yise turned back toward the underground palace as Abidaqi approached, and Lu Lailuo sent Yise away to survive before going to confront him.

Linlusi and Yise became trapped underground as Abidaqi fought Lu Lailuo, while Su Ming’s group dug through a collapsed passage to reach them. With Abidaqi approaching and escape impossible, Linlusi chose to use her undercover identity to backstab him, even if that meant making Yise appear to be her victim.

• Abidaqi sent Linlusi through a spatial rift, and Lu Lailuo struck him with lightning before collapsing the tunnel to block his route.
• Linlusi realized that she and Yise were trapped between two cave-ins, while Su Ming led Zijin, Shadu, Gelie, and the warband to dig through passage two.
• Linlusi found Yise in the underground palace, but they could not escape through its flooded route or withstand the deep water long enough to reach safety.
• Su Ming’s team dug toward them as Lu Lailuo’s life signs disappeared, and Linlusi and Yise realized Abidaqi would arrive before the passage was cleared.
• Linlusi revealed her plan to pose as Lai'aoniya and backstab Abidaqi with the modified Baptism of Wind and Flame after making him believe she had come to kill Yise.
• Yise accepted Linlusi’s plan as Abidaqi neared the Kindling Underground Palace.

Su Ming opened a portal through the collapsed tunnel so he and his allies could join the battle against Abidaqi. Yise revealed herself after infiltrating Abidaqi’s side as Lai'aoniya, and the chapter ended with Zijin, Su Ming, the Executioner, and Ruixiuli striking Abidaqi together and smashing him into the cavern wall.

• Su Ming decided to take Zijin and the Executioner through the rubble, then brought Ruixiuli along as he opened a spatial portal to the other side.
• Abidaqi found what he believed was Lai'aoniya collecting keys beside Jielusi’s corpse, crushed Jielusi’s soul, and gave Lai'aoniya two more keys.
• The disguised Yise attacked Abidaqi with Baptism of Wind and Flame and six Saint Rank keys, then revealed that she had killed Lai'aoniya and was using her captured soul against him.
• Zijin used Void Realm Banishment to trap Abidaqi between reality and the Void Realm while she prepared a powerful spell.
• After Zijin returned Abidaqi to the cavern, Su Ming weakened his defenses, the Executioner broke through his shield, and Zijin’s Six-Pointed Star · Divine Edict blasted him into the cave wall.

Ruixiuli killed Abidaqi after Jielusi’s apparent death, but Jinxiu gathered Jielusi’s scattered soul fragments and gave her a few months of life. Meanwhile, Zijin secured the battlefield and began organizing Cloud Fang’s occupation and reconstruction.

• Ruixiuli drained Abidaqi’s life force and magic, while Zijin’s scepter devoured his soul after his death.
• Su Ming teleported the survivors out before the cave collapsed, then passed out from the strain; Zijin ordered the search for Weiaoyasi and the recovery of the fallen.
• Yise gave Jinxiu the cracked scale holding Jielusi’s remnant soul, and Jinxiu used it to gather Jielusi’s scattered fragments; she warned Ruixiuli that Jielusi could remain active for only a few months.
• Zijin took command of the surface operation, prioritized recovering rock core and Plundering Clock members, and ordered the punishment of high-ranking collaborators fleeing Cloud Fang City.
• Lang Yefu agreed to serve as queen of the restored Azure Howl Dynasty while allied forces established military governance and prepared civilian administrators.
• Zijin arranged food for the dragons and ordered them to rebuild Blackstone Airport as the allied forces secured Cloud Fang.

Gelie and Shadu rescued Weiaoyasi, who learned of Lu Lailuo’s sacrifice before reuniting with Zijin at the field headquarters. As the allied forces planned their next moves and Cloud Fang City began recovering, Lang Yefu declared she would become Water Chestnut Island’s queen.

• Gelie and Shadu freed Weiaoyasi from the tunnel rubble, and he learned that Lu Lailuo had sacrificed herself to stop Abidaqi.
• Gelie honored Lu Lailuo with a golden scale, and Shadu offered a farewell prayer before they left the tunnel.
• At the field headquarters, Zijin, Katharine, and Xialike planned to defeat troublesome half-orc legions, while Ainuobia reported that 8,000 tons of supplies could arrive in four to five days.
• Zijin embraced Weiaoyasi, told him to recover and report to the Bone Machine Battalion, and agreed to return with him to Dragon Valley; she then cracked his ribs when he asked about the bone dragon on her badge.
• Lang Yefu oversaw Cloud Fang City’s recovery, promised to resume performing in Hebana’s theater, and announced that she would serve as Water Chestnut Island’s queen before eventually retiring.

Stacy and Meikelaofu examined Abidaqi’s remains and repaired the Lionheart Key, which Katharine used as bait in a mission to eliminate orc officers. Beianqi and Weiaoyasi attacked a routed army, killed the Steelbreaker Legion commander, and left the key for other orcs to find; they then prepared to strike another gathering of routed troops.

• Stacy collected samples from Abidaqi’s corpse while Meikelaofu repaired the damaged Azure Howl Sacred Keys and gave Katharine the Lionheart Key.
• Katharine gave Weiaoyasi a box containing the Lionheart Key and sent Beianqi and Weiaoyasi to attack nearly two thousand routed orcs fifty kilometers away.
• Beianqi’s Yinglong mech scattered the orc force and killed its officers as Weiaoyasi tracked down and killed the Steelbreaker Legion commander.
• Weiaoyasi planted the box inside the Steelbreaker Legion commander’s corpse, and an orc scout team found it and carried it away.
• Beianqi told Weiaoyasi that their main combat forces would withdraw in ten days, and they agreed to attack another group of routed troops before returning.

After the Allied Forces routed the orcs, the Pansy recovered two groups of Dandelion airships at sea. Su Ming awoke, learned that Hairspring had escaped, and went to investigate the Plane Gate, where Abidaqi’s corpse was being brought out.

• Molten Heart ordered the Allied Forces to press their advantage, seize enemy supply points, and prepare to redeploy.
• Magelaili led the Pansy through a coordinated operation to capture the Dandelion No. 1 and No. 2 airship groups.
• Su Ming woke after a day of recovery, learned that Jielusi’s soul was being protected, and went to headquarters with Ruixiuli.
• Katharine reported that Hairspring had escaped despite the interception, so Su Ming ordered an investigation into the escape and Hairspring’s abilities.
• Su Ming learned that Chloe and Newman were analyzing the Plane Gate and saw Abidaqi’s corpse being carried out of the tunnel.

After the battle, Su Ming and Zijin absorbed the souls of three dead Clock Hands to rebuild the Dawn and Dusk Bracelet and learned Eden would send reinforcements in twenty-three days. Abidaqi refused to answer why he had gone underground to kill Yise and Lu Lailuo, so Su Ming consumed him and vowed to use the completed bracelet against the remaining Clock Hands.

• Stacy gave Su Ming Prism Shadow's corpse and transferred Jielusi's remnant soul into Abidaqi's phylactery to slow its deterioration.
• Zijin told Su Ming that she had collected Death Knell's and Prism Shadow's souls, and the two prepared to absorb the Clock Hands one at a time.
• The Dawn and Dusk Bracelet absorbed Prism Shadow, whose escape ritual had already been triggered after Zijin questioned her about Abidaqi's domain skill.
• Death Knell revealed that Eden's next reinforcement teleportation would arrive in twenty-three days before her soul disintegrated, and the bracelet absorbed her.
• Abidaqi refused to explain why he had gone underground to kill Yise and Lu Lailuo, then tried to gather power until Zijin stopped him with her whip.
• Su Ming let the Dawn and Dusk Bracelet consume Abidaqi, forming its seventh segment, and vowed to use it against the remaining Clock Hands.

Su Ming and the allied scholars traced the Plundering Clock’s second base to a hidden facility beneath the South Pole and suspected Ice Descendants were spying on Northern Ice Island. With Eden’s reinforcements due in twenty-three days, Su Ming ordered the scholars to devise a way to recreate the destroyed Plane Gate long enough to intercept the enemy’s teleportation.

• Su Ming examined the destroyed Plane Gate with Newman and Chloe, who realized its serpent-shaped runes were decorative and used the damage patterns to trace the second gate’s direction.
• The measurements placed the Plundering Clock’s second base beneath the South Pole, while the team lost contact with an allied investigation party sent there.
• Chloe connected sabotage around Northern Ice Island’s Spinel Industrial Zone to Ice Descendants, and Wu Ling and Lanmo agreed they might have been helping the Plundering Clock.
• Su Ming asked Dafulin to capture Ice Descendants alive, and she identified human traffickers with routes to the South Pole as a source of information about how they were found and transported.
• Newman explained that rebuilding the Plane Gate would take at least three months, so Chloe proposed using Belladonna’s spell to make the formation briefly reappear.
• Su Ming ordered Newman and Chloe to gather scholars and equipment to prepare an interception before Eden’s reinforcements arrived in twenty-three days.

Su Ming pushed himself while studying the Plane Gate’s spatial magic, and Zijin warned him to temper his haste as he struggled with grief over wartime losses. The leaders planned their Antarctic campaign and resolved personal and political tensions, but a surge of power from the White Bone Mark forced Su Ming and Zijin to return to Thousand Illusions Lake to recover, leaving Katharine and other officials in charge.

• Su Ming traced lingering spatial power from the Plane Gate until Zijin stopped him, warning that his rapid growth and impatience could put him at risk.
• Su Ming explained that he wanted to destroy the Antarctic Plane Gate before the Plundering Clock could bring its army to Eden, and admitted that he hoped to prevent more deaths.
• Katharine’s forces bombarded and routed the Furious Wolf Legion, while Su Ming and Chloe discussed using Boxing Island as a staging point for the Antarctic campaign.
• Katharine explained her plan to leave her position as Empress of the Stars and arrange a new status for Yise, suggesting that Su Ming marry her; Chloe and Xialike later agreed to consider their relationship’s future.
• Su Ming and the other leaders planned the Antarctic operation, while Magelaili witnessed lights from the White Bone Fortress’s undead rising around the Pansy.
• The White Bone Mark sent energy back to Su Ming and Zijin, prompting them to return to Thousand Illusions Lake for three to five days; Su Ming appointed Katharine, Jin Rongjia, and Chihuo to oversee First Sunrise’s military affairs in his absence.

After waking from the battle with Jielusi, Yise hid the burden behind her unbroken Divine Heart and asked Su Ming for support to build the Raven Sky Survey, a system that could trace Eden. Su Ming agreed to help, then left for Ruby Base with the Yinglong mecha as its next upgrade and the wider effort against their enemies continued.

• Yise woke in a field hospital, learned from Lilishan that Jielusi had died, and broke down in grief.
• Katharine questioned why Yise's Divine Heart had not shattered, but Yise said her bloodline inheritance gave her an urgent duty to fulfill.
• At the Raccoon Dog Dream Theater, Ximina apologized for the Pearl Duchy's Wasp-class ships attacking Su Ming's group at Clear Spring Reef, and Su Ming agreed to settle the matter through compensation while requiring the remaining ships to be destroyed.
• Yise asked Su Ming for alchemical materials, transport, alchemists, and First Sunrise troops to retrieve the Tassel Clan's hidden supplies and build the Raven Sky Survey; Su Ming approved her requests and ordered Weiaoyasi and Lilishan to protect her.
• Aboard the C929, Su Ming and his companions discussed Yise's concealed role as the Wallfacer, Plane Gate No. 2, and preparations for a spaceborne subsurface radar.
• The crew mounted the Yinglong mecha onto the C929 for transport to Ruby Base, where Beianqi said it would receive a heavy-armor form and further upgrades.

Su Ming and Zijin traveled to Dragon Valley, where Zijin discussed her dangerous advancement choices and Su Ming resumed supplying the Ruby Production Base with advanced equipment. The base rapidly installed the new machinery, while Beianqi tried to persuade Su Ming to produce even more.

• Zijin told Su Ming that she planned to pursue Natural Rhythm rather than the dangerous power of life, though both advancement paths were difficult.
• Su Ming and Zijin landed near the Ruby Production Base, split up to handle their duties, and agreed to meet at Thousand Illusions Lake that night.
• Su Ming and Beianqi arrived at the expanded industrial base, where workers were preparing to receive a large shipment of equipment.
• With researchers measuring the process, Su Ming used Summoning of All Things to teleport advanced industrial machines into the base more quickly than before.
• Beianqi asked Su Ming to add more machines to his workload, but he refused and joked that she was an Eden spy trying to work him to death.

Su Ming entered the Emerald Dream and met Si Ran, a woman he had once loved, at Sword Washing Base. As they revisited their past and prepared to part again amid the war, Si Ran gave him an Illusory Glow companion robot bearing the name Dawn and Dusk, a codename for a weapon under development.

• Su Ming discovered that the Emerald Dream showed him an alternate wartime life in which he was visiting Si Ran at Sword Washing Base, and Zhimeng said she had projected a dream fragment from the world's past.
• Su Ming met Si Ran and reminisced with her about their old gaming days, his past confession and rejection, and how their friendship had grown distant.
• Su Ming and Si Ran shopped for durian and an Illusory Glow doll for Chen Xinrong's daughter as soldiers arrived at the base ahead of a military relocation.
• Si Ran gave Su Ming her own Illusory Glow robot, which introduced itself as Dawn and Dusk before Si Ran reset it and warned him that the name was a weapon-development codename.

Si Ran parted from Su Ming to attend a confidential meeting, where commanders confirmed Eden had developed mobile Magicules Towers and approved a joint landing operation in South America. Si Ran’s research team was assigned to the first landing wave, and the chapter ended with preparations underway despite a projected forty percent chance of defeat.

• Si Ran received a summons to a meeting, embraced Su Ming goodbye, and left him to go to the military hospital for his physical examination.
• At the meeting, Si Ran learned that Auxiliary Unit 1001 would be the first research unit to land in South America during the joint operation.
• Jin Rongjia showed footage of Eden forces using Magicules Towers to sustain their troops, strengthening the case for striking the enemy’s South American base before it could expand its advantage.
• Si Ran coordinated her team’s deployment tasks and told Jin Rongjia that her mutation syndrome remained unexplained but had not caused symptoms.
• Jin Rongjia recalled how Si Ran’s research had helped justify the South American operation, and Si Ran insisted that victory would be needed before they could judge whether their choices were right.
• Jin Rongjia said simulations gave the operation a sixty percent chance of success and vowed that courage and sacrifice would raise it to one hundred percent.

Su Ming passed his medical review, visited his parents and Si Ran’s mother, and learned the strange story behind Si Ran’s birth. After returning to the base and discovering that Chen Xinrong and a new squad member had been killed in an enemy attack, Su Ming helped conceal the deaths of the captured infiltrators and decided to seek a place on the South America mission.

• Su Ming inferred from the vaccines being moved that the military was preparing a large amphibious operation in South America, then received medical clearance to serve at the front.
• Su Ming visited his parents, repaired and adjusted things around their home, and promised his father he would try to serve on the more stable Middle East front.
• Su Ming visited Cheng Qiushui, arranged additional care for her injured arm, and learned that Si Ran had been born after a mysterious encounter with Wang Qingming and a box containing something connected to donors named Lu Si and Lu Qi.
• Su Ming returned to his base and learned that Chen Xinrong and a new female squad member had been killed by an enemy infiltration unit; after the captured infiltrators were killed, he ordered his subordinates to alter the detention-area scene before investigators arrived.
• Su Ming gave Chen Xinrong’s daughter the Huanying doll and asked the battalion commander to secure him a place on the South America mission.

Su Ming received the breakthrough in gospel material and ordered it prioritized for retrofitting the Yinglong and Pansy, while Fengshou’s team completed a revised Yinglong design. Meanwhile, Princess Dafulin and Nuocijie began a high-altitude drop over Northern Ice Island with three prisoners.

• Rupert told Su Ming that a repentant former Holy See sleeper agent had revealed the Ashen Repentance Friar’s treasure vault and its gospel-material residue, which helped Quail’s team synthesize the material.
• Quail and Zijin confirmed they had made gospel material, and Su Ming learned that Earth’s production would be limited by scarce rock cores and Taya’s rare alchemical ingredients.
• Su Ming prioritized applying the material to the Yinglong and Pansy, and ordered Rupert to review the informant’s case and offer him a job after his sentence.
• Fengshou presented a revised Yinglong design with two more efficient engines, improved defenses, and optional heavy pulse concussion weapons for armored targets.
• Dafulin, Nuocijie, and their guards jumped from a C929 above Northern Ice Island with three prisoners, then formed shields and slowed their descent in the icy wind.