Kaelan watches as Isla's divine body is slowly absorbed by her expanding field.
This time, the field does not grow outward. Instead, its depth deepens. Light condenses, transforming from pure radiance into substance, and the outer field begins its final metamorphosis—toward a demi-plane. When that demi-plane fully forms, the feedback it generates will reshape Isla's soul itself, awakening her True Spirit.
She sinks into profound concentration, her mind withdrawing completely as the divine body dissolves into her field, refining it layer by layer. Kaelan does not disturb her. He does not speak. He simply turns away and leaves.
Passing back through the barrier and re-entering the world, he heads toward the divine territory, his gaze lifting to the main sky island. A vast wave of divine energy spreads from it, rolling across the heavens like a silent tide.
"So Issac and Nyra have been deceiving everyone," he murmurs inwardly.
"They appear weak, yet husband and wife stand on the verge of the fourth stage."
After Isla, their chances of advancing are the highest.
Kaelan descends through the clouds toward human territory, his thoughts shifting. Should he interfere with their advancement? Now, more than half of humans and demons cultivate the Wizard Way. If the Night Dynasty and the martial artists fall, the majority of the world will follow that path. The Twilight Race, meanwhile, either cultivates the Wizard Way or cultivates nothing at all.
Breaking through the cloud layer, he pauses.
Below him, the borders of human territory have expanded. Rail networks crisscross the land, linking cities and towns like veins of steel and rune. Night has fallen, and every settlement shines with magic light. During his absence, human society has crossed from an ancient age into something approaching modernity—powered by magic technology.
His soul sense spreads, absorbing the changes.
The nine kingdoms have become symbolic. Real authority now rests with the Wizard Association. Given enough time, the kingdoms themselves will fade into history.
Yet the war has not ended.
It has slowed, but it has spread—from the frozen north to the entire continent. The western regions are dominated by the Night Dynasty and the martial artists, while the east belongs to the Wizard Association. Without his direct intervention, demon beasts have discovered a way to mend their spiritual deficiencies without consuming humans—through alchemical potions.
His awareness shifts.
Li Xueyao. Yuelan.
Both have reached the peak of the Gold Wizard realm.
"They're waiting for me," he realises.
He had told them not to break through to the Spiritual Wizard realm before meeting him.
Kaelan turns and flies toward Li Xueyao first.
She has already relinquished the throne to a royal relative. Now, she wields far more power than she ever did as ruler of the Song Kingdom. He finds her in a secluded cottage high in the snowy mountains, soaking in a natural hot spring.
She rests in the steaming water, eyes half-closed.
Kaelan lands without a sound. His clothes vanish into his spirit space, and he steps into the spring without disturbing the surface. He slides in behind her, arms wrapping around her waist.
Her aura flares violently.
"Who—"
"It's me," Kaelan says softly, suppressing her mana with ease.
She exhales, relaxing into him.
"Wuya… it's you."
Outside the fence, a guard shouts, alarmed.
"Madam, are you all right?"
Li Xueyao answers calmly, "It's fine. Lord Kong has arrived."
Kaelan releases a trace of his aura, soothing the guards instantly.
Later, she sits within an array Kaelan personally arranges. Her mana has been purified and refined to perfection, yet it cannot advance further—her spirit is still at the first stage. Advancing her spirit before her cultivation would be impossible, but the array bridges that gap.
The array activates.
Twenty days later, Li Xueyao breaks through to the Spiritual Wizard realm.
Afterwards, Kaelan spends time with Yuelan, guiding her through the same process and helping her advance as well.
When that is done, he turns north once more.
Toward the frozen wasteland.
Toward Ariel.
Kaelan spends the first few days with Ariel in her bed, letting the war and the world recede into the background, before turning his attention to her cultivation. Her path is the Way of Desire, and her realm has already reached the threshold of the mid–Great Wizard stage. At present, she has fully comprehended only a single path—the Path of Desire. Still, she is simultaneously exploring several others: the Path of Wood, the Path of Poison, the Path of Beauty, the Path of Love, and the Path of Illusion.
Kaelan explains it to her plainly. If she fully comprehends these five paths, together with the already mastered Path of Desire, her law will be complete enough to fully manifest her inner field and allow her to advance to the Demigod stage, known in the Wizard Way as the Divine Wizard realm. She would not need to seek any additional paths beyond these.
He then asks her a simple question.
"What is the final form of your law?"
Ariel answers without hesitation. From desire, she wishes to extend toward emotion and spirit. Her law, she says, will be called the Tree of Emotion.
While Kaelan remains with Ariel, an unexpected visitor arrives.
Sienna.
They sit across from one another, the atmosphere restrained. Sienna opens her mouth, then stops, shaking her head.
"Not me," she corrects herself. "Us. All of us."
She lifts her gaze, eyes steady.
"All members of the Twilight Race plead with you to show us the way."
Kaelan frowns slightly. "Explain clearly," he says. "So I know exactly what you mean."
Sienna takes a breath. "We wish to join the Wizard Way."
Interest flickers in Kaelan's eyes. "Then the ones who should have come are not you."
"Master Issac and Madam Nyra cannot," Sienna replies. "So they sent me instead."
She takes out a crystal—black and gold intertwined, radiating divine power—and places it on the table between them.
"This will prove their agreement."
Kaelan takes the crystal and probes it with his soul sense. The divine power unravels into a clear message, after which the crystal dissolves into nothingness. The verification is unquestionable.
He studies Sienna carefully. "Before coming here, you must have attempted to cultivate the meditation guide and visualisation map."
"Yes," Sienna admits. "But the power within us destroys the visualisation map the moment it forms."
"Do not resist," Kaelan says calmly. "Let me see."
Sienna nods.
Kaelan releases his soul sense and examines her with care. Her body is not flesh, but condensed energy. Entering her spirit space, he sees the source immediately: the power of Dark and Light fused into Twilight, hanging above her spirit space like a sun. It radiates dominion and purification simultaneously, and that overwhelming presence is precisely why no visualisation map can stabilise.
Understanding dawns.
Kaelan withdraws his soul sense.
Sienna notices at once. "Is there a way?" she asks, unable to hide the tension in her voice.
Kaelan leans back, expression composed. "I've found the problem."
She leans forward, anticipation written plainly across her face.
"Then how do we cultivate?"
"You must draw the visualisation map using the power of Twilight itself," Kaelan answers evenly. "Only by using Twilight as the medium can the map endure. Only then can the Twilight Race truly cultivate the Wizard Way."
Disbelief and hope collide on Sienna's face.
"Really?"
"Yes," Kaelan replies. "But to perfectly control the power of Twilight, you must first understand it."
Sienna nods, her patience already fraying.
"I shall take my leave."
She turns and walks out without another word.
Moments later, Ariel enters the room.
"What did she want?"
Kaelan leans back and explains everything to her in brief.
Sienna returns swiftly to the sky islands, moving without pause. She enters a vast chamber where fifty-four members of the Twilight Race are already gathered. This is the entirety of their race. They are not born in the conventional sense—each Twilight is formed only when the soul of a Divine Mind–level human cultivator enters the divine pool. Among hundreds of thousands of human cultivators, only one might reach Divine Mind, and not all are willing to abandon their humanity even at death.
During the war, several Twilight had fallen—but none were truly lost. Their essence returned to the divine pool, awaiting rebirth.
At the front stands Alsen, the first Twilight ever born.
"Well?" she asks.
Every gaze turns to Sienna, filled with restrained urgency. Frustration weighs heavily on them. Younger cultivators are already advancing to the third stage, while they remain stalled at Divine Mind. Once the vanguard of the world, they now feel themselves slipping toward irrelevance. It was this fear that drove them to petition Master Issac and Madam Nyra days ago, pleading for permission to join the Wizard Way—and led to Sienna's visit to Lord Kong.
Sienna's face breaks into a bright smile.
"Yes," she says. "He agreed. And he has shown me how the Twilight Race can cultivate the Wizard Way."