Chapter Summaries

Richard and Great Wizard Annihilation Storm survived the destruction of the Mayfly Quasi-Emperor, who escaped with only a fragment of his soul. As Wizard legions pushed through the Star River Mayflies’ defenses, Richard arranged to gather souls for his Miracle Fire and learned that two Quasi-Emperors had been taken out in the battle.

• Great Wizard Annihilation Storm told Richard that the Mayfly Quasi-Emperor had escaped the blast but would need a thousand years to recover, and credited Richard’s flames with turning the fight in their favor.
• Richard asked Great Wizard Annihilation Storm to omit his Miracle Fire from the battle report and accepted a first-class strategic command evaluation instead of battle merit.
• Wizard legions broke through the Star River Mayflies’ defenses by destroying Earth Vein Nodes and advancing through the breach.
• Richard asked Master Bronze Lever to have messengers carry statues that drew in nearby souls, offering alchemical materials and discounted work in return.
• Richard looked east and noted that two Quasi-Emperors had been taken out in one battle, leaving the Star River Mayflies likely to lie low.

After the Wizards secured World 2456, Richard studied how Ellie’s Spirituality reduced the cost of Miracles and considered new research into Faith Power and Rule Prosthetic Bodies. As the front quieted, he sent Old Abel off to attempt advancement and moved on to reforming the command system.

• The Wizards drove the surviving Mayfly Kings from World 2456, leaving the Star River Mayflies’ mid-level forces badly depleted.
• Richard had Ellie test Miracles and discovered that her Spirituality appeared to reduce their Faith Power consumption.
• Richard added research into Faith Power to his priorities and considered combining Four Elements Rule Prosthetic Bodies with powers resembling the Heart of Annihilation and Creation Apprentice.
• Richard learned that Eldridge was evolving after eating several Mayfly Hearts and instructed the World Mushroom to monitor him.
• Richard told Wuxiang to study Four Elements constraints as the first step toward an evolution path suited to him.
• After three months of cleanup in World 2456, Old Abel entered a Teleportation Gate to undergo a Great Wizard Promotion Ceremony, while Richard continued toward his command-system reform work.

After returning from a major victory, Richard met with the Physique Crown and arranged for Ellie to become his student. He then revealed that he wanted to discuss the wizard military system, while the Star River Mayflies’ Quasi-Emperor prepared to report intelligence about the Furnace People prophecy.

• Richard noticed the Tower of Truth celebrating the victory and contacted Jimmy to arrange a meeting with the Dean.
• Richard sent Ellie to the Mystic Realm so she could visit the Crown’s research institute with him.
• The Mayfly Quasi-Emperor emerged from amber and learned that the Star Emperor wanted an explanation for the catastrophic defeat in World 2456.
• The Mayfly Quasi-Emperor said he had intelligence about the Furnace People prophecy to report to the Star Emperor.
• The Physique Crown recognized the value of Ellie’s Dragon and Abyssal Demon bloodline and accepted her as his student.
• After Ellie left with Jimmy, Richard told the Physique Crown that he wanted to discuss the wizard military system.

Richard proposed two ways to reduce wizard losses in war, but Physique Crown warned that his more mature tactic threatened the council’s political balance and urged him to join the Shaping faction to promote it. Richard accepted that he had to choose a side, then visited Ellie at the Evolution Path Research Institute before setting out to pursue his proposal.

• Richard proposed Mixed-Blood Legions and gave Physique Crown reports on a second, more mature tactic for reducing losses.
• Physique Crown explained that the council’s balance between the Alchemy and Shaping factions could be disrupted by Richard’s proposal, making it unlikely to pass among the Old Wizards.
• Physique Crown urged Richard to leave the Alchemy faction and join Shaping so the tactic could be promoted among new wizards, and Richard agreed to proceed despite the political choice.
• Richard visited Ellie at the Evolution Path Research Institute, where she studied induced evolution with a spiritual-power focusing microscope.
• Ellie promised to become a Great Wizard and help Richard on the front lines, while Richard told her to stay safe and turned toward the research institute.

Richard met with the Shaping Crown to discuss promoting his new military tactics and changing allegiance to the Shaping School, where he received a Transformation Rule spellbook and authorization to seek the Rule. Meanwhile, the Mayflies learned that Richard possessed the Supreme Furnace and ordered a hunt for him, leaving Richard with a sudden sense of danger as he headed toward the Eternal City of Truth.

• Richard asked the Shaping Crown to support his new tactics, and the Crown agreed to test them with the new wizards before considering wider use when the war resumed.
• The Shaping Crown welcomed Richard's change of allegiance, recommended the Transformation Rule because it resonated with Richard's Radiation Rule, and gave him techniques and authorization to obtain it in World 3456.
• Richard asked about the Furnace People, and the Shaping Crown explained that they were remnants of a previous civilization and directed him to the council's database.
• The Mayfly Quasi-Emperor told the golden Mayfly that a Five-Ring wizard controlled the Supreme Furnace, and the golden Mayfly ordered the Mayfly Kings to find and kill its owner so the Mayflies could reclaim it.
• Richard flew toward the Eternal City of Truth and felt as though a beast capable of tearing him apart was pursuing him.

Richard researched the Furnace People and learned that their vanished Supreme Furnace might be the Miracle Furnace he possessed, raising questions about its origins and the price of his inheritance. In the archives, the Miracle Furnace identified an exhibit as a Seed Information Storage Device containing coordinates to a Doomsday Seed Base, and Richard extracted its information before an alarm forced him to leave.

• Richard read about previous-era civilizations and learned that the Furnace People worshipped a Supreme Furnace whose disappearance might have caused their decline.
• Richard connected the Furnace People's Supreme Furnace to his Miracle Furnace and worried about the hidden price of receiving it.
• The Miracle Furnace identified a metal cube on display as a Seed Information Storage Device and revealed coordinates to Dimension No. 2456 and a Doomsday Seed Base.
• Richard extracted the device's information, triggering an alarm in the archive room.
• A working Wizard ordered Richard to leave until he paid a fine, and Richard agreed to pay.

Richard spent twenty years in the Transformation World studying its special Rule and Shaping Crown’s techniques. He finally obtained the Transformation Rule and prepared to leave the underground world.

• After paying his fine, Richard left Eternal City of Truth and traveled through the Nexus World to World 3456 to study the Transformation Rule.
• Richard explored the Transformation World’s underground, where its energy field disrupted his circulation but left his powerful body unharmed.
• As Rule imprints covered his soul, Richard converted them into incomplete Rules, aided by the compatibility between the Transformation Rule and Radiation Rule.
• Richard reached a sealed region deep underground, chose not to break Shaping Crown’s seal, and studied the spellbook Shaping Crown had given him.
• Over twenty years, Richard continued absorbing the Rule and studying Shaping School knowledge while the Star River Mayflies launched no large-scale offensive.
• Richard closed the spellbook, stood up, and announced that he had finally obtained the Transformation Rule.

Richard returned from the underground world with the Energy Transmutation Rule and learned that Shaping Crown could accelerate Rule Smelting. He collected Rapid-Growth Potions and visited Ulysses, who reported that Richard’s Demi-human Wizards had matured and were ready for him to see.

• Richard used the Teleportation Gate to tell Shaping Crown he had acquired the Rule, and Shaping Crown urged him to strengthen himself and pursue a fourth Rule.
• Richard returned to the Wizard World, contacted Jimmy, and learned that Ellie was progressing toward becoming a Great Wizard while Dean and the council’s balance remained secure.
• Richard collected three hundred thousand Rapid-Growth Potions from Jimmy at the Evolution Path Research Institute and received a warning to keep his research discreet.
• Richard visited Ulysses and showed him the intertwined life-and-death energy, saying that gathering enough Soul Origin would let him become a Six-Ring Wizard.
• Ulysses reported that the Demi-human Wizards had matured and absorbed knowledge efficiently, so Richard asked to see them.

Richard visited the Demi-human Wizards at the Supreme Sect and discovered a mysterious connection linking them to him. He concluded that the Demi-human Wizards constituted a new race and that he was their Ancestor of the Tribe.

• Ulysses brought Richard to the Supreme Sect, where the Demi-human Wizards’ research institute had been established.
• Old Yunhead welcomed Richard and explained that he was glad the Demi-human Wizards could eventually inherit the Supreme Sect’s traditions.
• After learning Richard had arrived, nearly fifty thousand Demi-human Wizards gathered to meet their father.
• Richard sensed a growing mystical connection between himself and the Demi-human Wizards as they gathered.
• Richard spent three days meeting every Demi-human Wizard, speaking with them and hearing them respond with joy.
• Richard told Ulysses that the Demi-human Wizards were a new race and declared himself their Ancestor of the Tribe.

Richard theorized that the world’s recognition could define a new race, potentially granting creatures a world mark and support from World Guardians, though the technique might be dangerous if the Star River Mayflies learned of it. Eldridge completed his evolution into a miniature Star River Mayfly-like form, and Richard’s tests revealed new abilities that led him to consider having Eldridge imitate his own body.

• Richard explained to Ulysses that the world might recognize a new race when creatures with an unlisted primary bloodline gained the world’s certification.
• Richard and Ulysses worried that the Star River Mayflies could exploit the same mechanism, and Richard proposed experiments with goblin-based Demi-human Wizards.
• The World Mushroom told Richard that Eldridge had completed his evolution, and Richard found Eldridge’s new form resembled miniature Star River Mayflies.
• Eldridge described how an intermediate form had appeared between his foundational units and himself, allowing him to control more units.
• Richard tested Eldridge for a month and discovered that his units had stronger devouring and defensive abilities, while his swarm could imitate creatures he had previously devoured.
• Richard wondered whether Eldridge could imitate him if Miracle created a body for Eldridge to consume.

Richard prepared to explore a Doomsday Seed Base left by a previous civilization, gathering consumables and divine artifacts before opening a Dimensional Gate to Dimension 2456. He left for the expedition with Ulysses after using a Miracle to create a body for Eldridge to consume.

• Richard explained to Ulysses that he created a Miracle-made body for Eldridge because his Abyss-corrupted flesh could not safely be used as food.
• Richard told Ulysses about the coordinates to a previous civilization's Doomsday Seed Base, and they agreed to explore it after gathering supplies.
• Richard exchanged Gold Merit at the Tower of Truth for recovery potions, witchcraft scrolls, and combat equipment.
• Richard reunited with Elisa at the Tower of Truth and gave her a Sprite Lollipop.
• Ulysses borrowed divine artifacts and gave Richard a Projection of God King Weapon, while Richard supplied him with consumables.
• Richard opened the Dimensional Gate to Dimension 2456.

Richard entered the Myriad Machines Dimension to locate the Seed Base, but a mechanical guardian attacked him. After he and Ulysses disabled it, Richard discovered that its design resembled Precursors technology combined with technologies from several races.

• Richard entered the Myriad Machines Dimension with Ulysses and began determining his position relative to the Central Furnace.
• A nearby fireball identified Richard as an intruder and transformed into a colossal metal fortress that attacked him.
• Richard resisted the fortress's energy and death-ray attacks, then struck it repeatedly, but it repaired its damaged body with tiny mechanical entities.
• Ulysses used a divine artifact to infiltrate and disable the fortress, causing its energy to drop and its movements to stop.
• Richard examined the fortress and realized its structure combined Precursors technology with characteristics from many other technologies.

Richard and Ulysses discovered a mechanical fortress built from technologies of a Civilization Alliance, then spent years crossing the dangerous world toward the Doomsday Seed Base. At its entrance, a metal mountain transformed into a Creation Titan.

• Richard and Ulysses concluded that the mechanical fortress had been created by a Civilization Alliance, and Richard extracted its blueprint and autonomous control algorithm with the Miracle Furnace.
• After recovering his Mental Power, Richard stored the fortress in the Mystic Realm and resumed the journey with Ulysses.
• Richard and Ulysses spent nearly half a year locating themselves, then crossed the world for years while evading the roaming Automatic Fortresses and other mechanical creatures.
• They reached a point less than ten Fleeting Light-days from the Doomsday Seed Base and continued toward its entrance.
• A metal mountain blocking the entrance split apart and rose as a gigantic Creation Titan, leaving Ulysses shocked.

Richard and Ulysses encountered a Creation Titan in the Myriad Machines Dimension, and Richard fought it while Ulysses escaped with the divine artifact. After the Titan stopped attacking and revealed it had been asleep for about a million years, it warned Richard that the memetic monster he described was far too dangerous for a few Astral Dominators to defeat.

• Ulysses urged Richard to retreat, but the Titan sealed the surrounding space and attacked them with a rune-covered meteor.
• Richard sent Ulysses away with the divine artifact and shattered the Titan’s Lightning Spear before confronting it.
• The Titan activated its Heart of Annihilation and charged Richard, whose Miracle Furnace burned away its armor as its punch destroyed his upper body.
• The Titan recognized Richard as a successor, stopped fighting, and shrank after the Miracle Fire weakened its life support.
• Richard asked what had destroyed the previous civilization, and the Titan said it had faced a terrifying monster that could contaminate anyone who knew of it.
• Richard said the monster had been sealed and was being hunted by Astral Dominators, but the Titan warned that it was deceiving them and could not be defeated by a few Dominators.

Richard learned that the ancient Titans had fought a monster that fed on war, and the dying Titan entrusted him with a World Seed and Titan's Blood. After the Titan died, the base system granted Richard and Ulysses access to Number Thirty-Two Doomsday Seed Base.

• The Titan told Richard the Civilization Alliance's immense strength had failed to defeat the monster, and advised him to end the wars across the cluster because the monster fed on their losers.
• The Titan gave Richard a World Seed and Titan's Blood, explained that he had helped develop the Abyss, and urged him to remember the Star-Herding Titans, the Supreme Beings, and the Sons of the Furnace.
• The Titan's soul vanished, and Richard put his body into a Spatial Rift, promising that the monster would die.
• Richard called Ulysses back and approached the black obelisk, whose system confirmed the base commander's death and activated the Apocalypse Protocol.
• The base system granted Richard and Ulysses entry to Number Thirty-Two Doomsday Seed Base, and they prepared to explore what their predecessors had left behind.

Richard explored a Titan base and discovered a miniature world built around a vast tower that served as a burial site and prison. He destroyed the sealed Devil Master's flesh with Miracle Fire, and the dying Titan gave him its hammer as a successor.

• Richard and Ulysses split up to explore the base through its three Teleportation Gates.
• Richard entered a miniature Titan world and found giant buildings, abundant magical plants, and Earth Vein Nodes arranged as a world-sized Magic Array.
• Richard reached the central tower, discovered its many floors held the remains of Titans, and followed a powerful energy source to its lowest level.
• A sealed mass of flesh tried to tempt Richard with promises while the dead Titan warned him to leave.
• Richard burned the Devil Master's flesh to ash with Miracle Fire, and the Titan gave Richard its warhammer before crumbling away.

Richard extracted the Titan's Hammer blueprint and techniques, then used the hammer to rescue Ulysses from a powerful Furnace Fire Spirit. After learning the spirit revived from a furnace trapped by the Furnace People, Richard decided to seek out and purify the furnace.

• Richard extracted the Titan's Hammer blueprint and techniques, gaining a vision of its former owner's life as a War Blacksmith.
• Richard searched the Seed Base for the Titans' technology but found nothing, then heard Ulysses call for help.
• Richard teleported to a burning plain and retrieved the Titan's Hammer from a Spatial Rift.
• Richard struck down the pursuing Furnace Fire Spirit with one hammer blow, astonishing Ulysses.
• Ulysses warned that the spirit would revive stronger because it came from a more powerful furnace, and Richard decided to find and purify that furnace.

Richard and Ulysses confronted the Level Six Furnace and its Black Phoenix Fire Spirit, whose ancient memories awakened after Richard attacked the Furnace. The Spirit helped Richard destroy the monster flesh, named him a Fireborn Chosen, and sent him to seek the Path of the Furnace Fire.

• Richard persuaded Ulysses to lead him to the Furnace, and the two flew toward the mountain where it stood.
• The Level Six Black Phoenix emerged from the Furnace and spread black fire, but Richard dodged its attack and charged the Furnace with Miracle Fire.
• As Richard’s flames struck the Furnace, the Black Phoenix remembered its ancient mission after a priest called on it to help a descendant fight evil fiends.
• The Furnace’s flesh erupted into a peak Level Six monster, and Richard struck it back with Titan’s Hammer while the Fire Spirit asked him for Supreme Furnace Fire.
• The Fire Spirit took a one-eyed Furnace Person form, received Richard’s Miracle Fire, declared him a Fireborn Chosen, and marked his forehead.
• The Spirit sacrificed itself to burn away the Furnace’s flesh and told Richard to seek the Path of the Furnace Fire, leaving him wondering whether it meant the Furnace People’s dimension.

Richard discovered that the Gold Pattern Furnace could perform Rule Smelting, offering the Wizard Civilization a way to develop the technique despite its limits. He and Ulysses reached the Supreme Beings’ hidden legacy, while an Unspeakable Being manipulated fate and appeared to target Richard.

• Richard showed Ulysses the Gold Pattern Furnace and explained that it could smelt one wizard at a time using rules as fuel.
• Ulysses argued that the Furnace could help the Wizard Civilization rise, though Richard worried about whether they had enough time.
• An Unspeakable Being wove together disturbances in fate to shift a newly born Star River Mayfly Dominator’s fate toward Richard.
• Richard felt a sudden sense of danger as he and Ulysses entered the Supreme Beings’ primitive world and spotted a vast formation of hidden Crystal spheres overhead.
• A Crystal Floating Cannon recognized Richard as an inheritor and opened a concealed entrance to the Supreme Beings’ legacy, warning that contaminated parts must be destroyed.

Richard explored the legacy repository, resisted its contaminated knowledge, and absorbed its technologies before Ulysses’s premonition signaled danger. Eidolon, a newly ascended Sovereign, began devouring the Myriad Machines Dimension, but Curse Crown’s avatar rescued Richard and revealed that others were tracking the Devil Master too.

• Richard discovered that the repository’s knowledge could carry contamination, then let the Abyss destroy an informational worm before Miracle Fire erased a curse connected to another piece of knowledge.
• Richard began rapidly absorbing the warehouse’s technologies, while Ulysses sensed imminent danger and urged him to leave.
• Eidolon found the hidden Myriad Machines Dimension and fused his Illusory Dimension with it, causing the dimension’s fortresses to attack him unsuccessfully as he devoured its land.
• Richard watched the Myriad Machines Dimension being consumed and learned that Curse Crown’s avatar had come to save him while tracking the Devil Master.
• Curse Crown told Richard that other figures from different civilizations were also watching the Devil Master.