Recaps

Jingxing spoke with Idrila, who warned him to be wary even of Robin, before her manifestation above Vesna IV sent factions across the galaxy scrambling for answers. Backstage, Jingxing saw Robin’s Imaginary Energy unraveling and used Big White Cloud to begin repairing it.

• Idrila told Jingxing that he had to find a way to control his eyes himself and warned him to remain cautious around Robin.
• As Jingxing’s consciousness faded, Idrila’s outline appeared above Vesna IV, drawing the attention of people across the planet and nearly a hundred lights racing toward it from across the galaxy.
• An Interastral Peace Entertainment executive, Kafka, and Sunday each reacted to Idrila’s manifestation, with Sunday requesting a detailed update on Robin.
• Jingxing woke backstage beside Robin and saw that the wound in her neck had broken the golden light surrounding her, causing strands of Imaginary Energy to dissipate.
• Jingxing opened the hot sachet, took out Big White Cloud, and began painting over the tear in the scene centered on Robin.

Jingxing used his newly awakened power to repair the Imaginary Energy in Robin’s wound, saving her but leaving his eyes painfully sensitive to Imaginary Energy. After learning the Aeon Idrila had drawn attention to him, he planned to seek help for his eyes, and Robin suggested the Herta Space Station.

• Jingxing used Big White Cloud to mend Robin’s wound, then focused his remaining strength on the injury in her neck and collapsed after succeeding.
• Jingxing woke in a medical room and realized that even faint traces of Imaginary Energy now caused his eyes to burn.
• Robin told Jingxing that an unfamiliar power had restored the Imaginary Energy inside her, and he learned that she had kept his identity as Idrila’s chosen one secret.
• Jingxing explained that Idrila had altered his eyes so he could see Imaginary Energy, and Robin asked how he had endured the pain to save her.
• Jingxing said he would ask his teacher in Klimt about his eyes, while Robin recommended that he visit the Herta Space Station.
• Robin said they would leave together on a corporation spaceship once Jingxing had recovered, and Jingxing asked what lay outside Rovini.

Robin told Jingxing that her performance had sparked peace protests and that the IPC had taken control of Vesna IV after she was shot. Sunday arrived, then arranged for Jingxing to leave for the Herta Space Station as danger gathered around the planet, and Jingxing and Robin exchanged contact information.

• Robin said her performance had inspired people across Vesna IV to call for peace, and the IPC had cleared out the opposition strongholds and taken the planet under its protection.
• Sunday arrived to check on Robin, met Jingxing, and reacted warily to the man who had saved his sister.
• Jingxing sensed Sunday's overwhelming power during their handshake and heard the siblings discuss sending him away as factions converged on Vesna IV.
• Robin told Jingxing that Sunday would provide a letter of introduction to the Herta Space Station so he could seek help for his worsening eyes.
• Jingxing agreed to leave and exchanged phone contact information with Robin after she asked him to write to her.

Jingxing left Rovini for Herta Space Station, carrying Robin’s sachet and hoping to cure his painful eyes. As he traveled, he learned that Beauty Pathstriders were gathering after Idrila’s manifestation and kept practicing his art despite the pain.

• Ofila reviewed Jingxing’s route and warned him to keep the events on Rovini secret, while Sunday cautioned him that Ms. Herta was difficult to deal with.
• Robin gave Jingxing the sachet to keep, and they promised to stay in touch as he departed for Herta Space Station.
• Jingxing watched a Corporation broadcast recast Robin’s peace performance as a success and report that Beauty Pathstriders were gathering in the Epsilon Galaxy after Idrila’s manifestation.
• Jingxing suspected Sunday had separated him and Robin to discourage their closeness, but thought time and distance could strengthen their bond instead.
• During the ship’s warp journey, Jingxing drew Robin’s performance and used Path energy despite the burning pain in his eyes.

Jingxing arrived at the Herta Space Station hoping Ms. Herta could help with his unusual vision and eye pain. After meeting the Herta Puppet, he learned she would examine his condition herself, suspecting it was connected to Idrila.

• Jingxing arrived at the Herta Space Station and was directed to speak with Lead Researcher Asta because Ms. Herta could not be reached.
• Jingxing admired Azure Star from the station’s rooftop and felt his Imaginary Energy grow stronger.
• The Herta Puppet found Jingxing on the rooftop and asked what made him worth visiting.
• Jingxing explained that he could see Path energy and ownerless Imaginary Energy, and confirmed he had come from Vesna IV.
• The Herta Puppet linked Jingxing’s eyes to Idrila and decided to investigate his condition herself instead of sending him to another researcher.

Jingxing underwent an examination in Herta's laboratory, where Herta found that his eyes could naturally perceive Imaginary Energy and offered a way to control them. While he waited outside, he sensed someone following him and came face-to-face with a mysterious woman.

• The Herta Puppet led Jingxing to Herta's laboratory and told him to lie on the examination table.
• Herta examined Jingxing's eyes and explained that they could perceive the essence of things because he had stepped onto the Path of Beauty, though his body had not yet adapted to them.
• Herta noticed an unexpected string of data, dismissed it as useless, and told Jingxing to wait outside while she considered a solution.
• Jingxing sensed an impassive gaze following him through the corridor and asked two guards for help, but they avoided looking behind him.
• A mysterious woman appeared behind Jingxing and told him there was no need to trouble the guards.

Jingxing encountered Ruan Mei, who wanted to use him for experiments, but Herta protected him and gave him lenses that stopped the pain in his eyes. The chapter ended with Herta demanding thirty billion Credits for the Curio.

• Jingxing tried to avoid Ruan Mei, but she introduced herself as Number 81 of the Genius Society and examined his eyes.
• Ruan Mei collected Jingxing's tear and told him to come with her, but he refused.
• Herta intervened, declared Jingxing her patient, and warned Ruan Mei not to touch him.
• Ruan Mei agreed to leave Jingxing alone for now and said they would meet again.
• Herta gave Jingxing contact lenses that stopped his eye pain and let him see normally.
• Herta demanded thirty billion Credits for the lenses, shocking Jingxing.

Jingxing accepted a thirty-billion-Credit debt to Herta, agreeing to repay her by collecting rare curios after refusing Ruan Mei’s research offer. Back in his room, he messaged Robin, who said her injury was improving and promised to perform for him once she recovered.

• Herta told Jingxing the lenses cost thirty billion Credits and let him keep them as a debt, which he could repay with curios.
• Ruan Mei offered to pay the debt if Jingxing cooperated with her research, but he refused and she left.
• Jingxing agreed to collect rare curios for Herta and signed a debt settlement contract with her and Asta.
• Jingxing messaged Robin, who said she had begun quiet vocal exercises and might be slow to reply during the Family meeting.
• Jingxing urged Robin to take care of herself and promised to attend her first performance after her recovery.

Jingxing helped the Herta Puppet examine a mysterious Curio, practiced using Imaginary Energy in his drawings, and received the completed lenses, named Light-Severing Sea. He left the Herta Space Station for Klimt to finish his degree before beginning his search for Curios to repay his debt to Herta.

• The Herta Puppet asked Jingxing to use his lenses to inspect a black polyhedron, and he saw countless Imaginary Energy threads converging toward its core.
• Jingxing discovered that channeling Imaginary Energy through his drawing tools made his sketches glow and appear to move.
• The Herta Puppet completed Jingxing’s lenses, named the Curio Light-Severing Sea, and let him use it as part of his debt arrangement.
• Jingxing listened to Robin’s short voice message, praised her new song, and bought a ticket back to Klimt.
• Jingxing boarded the ship after receiving a message confirming that Light-Severing Sea belonged to Herta and that his usage rights were linked to his debt.

Jingxing returned to his homeworld, told Kamar about his journey and new Path, and planned his graduation painting around Robin’s performance in Rovini. He turned down Kamar’s offer of a lecturer position because he owed Herta thirty billion Credits, then went home and greeted the photograph of his family.

• Jingxing arrived in the Klimt Constitutional Republic and went to the Central Academy of Fine Arts to report to Kamar.
• Jingxing recounted his journey, including meeting Robin, entering the Path of Beauty, and receiving contact lenses from Herta.
• Kamar advised Jingxing to keep painting and suggested a composition for his graduation work depicting Robin singing before the crowd.
• Jingxing told Kamar he planned to paint Robin performing in Rovini and declined a lecturer position because he owed Herta thirty billion Credits.
• Jingxing returned to his dusty apartment, opened the windows, and told the photograph of his family, “I'm home.”

Jingxing completed his graduation painting inspired by Robin and received top honors, then accepted Kamar’s spaceship and introduction to the Zhuming Xianzhou. He named the ship Chasing the Moon and prepared to leave, while Robin wished him well from Thousand Stars City.

• Jingxing spent a month painting Robin and the crowd at Vesna IV, including details omitted from the company footage.
• Jingxing presented the painting to five professors, and a week later it received the highest score in his class and was accepted into the academy gallery.
• Jingxing graduated, and Kamar gave him a spaceship keycard and a sealed introduction letter to the Zhuming Xianzhou.
• Jingxing inspected the ship in the school hangar, named it Chasing the Moon, and packed for his journey.
• Jingxing told Robin he was leaving for Zhuming, and they exchanged congratulations and checked on each other’s recovery.

Jingxing traveled to the Zhuming, watched Robin’s comeback press conference, and reunited with Yunli at Bright Heaven. Yunli took him to see her grandfather, but Jingxing’s request for an artisan to make a Curio gave her pause.

• Jingxing’s teacher Kamar reminded him to visit General Huaiyan before going to the Artisanship Commission.
• Jingxing watched Robin’s press conference and noticed Sunday helping keep questions about Vesna IV under control.
• The Chasing the Moon arrived at the Zhuming, where Cloud Knights inspected Jingxing’s belongings before clearing him to enter.
• Yunli met Jingxing at Bright Heaven and told him her grandfather had sent her to pick him up.
• Yunli explained that the Zhuming’s ten-Amber-Era exchange with Klimt was ending and the city was preparing to set sail.
• Jingxing told Yunli he wanted an artisan from the Artisanship Commission to make him a Curio, and she faltered.

Jingxing visited Huaiyan at the Furnace Palace to seek advice about his newly acquired Path and ask about having a curio made. Huaiyan sent Yunli to test Jingxing’s combat skills, and Jingxing followed her to the training ground, fearing he was about to be beaten up.

• Yunli questioned Jingxing about why he needed a curio, and he explained that a genius had demanded one or thirty billion Credits to repay a debt.
• Jingxing presented Kamar’s letter to Huaiyan, who welcomed him and asked what he wanted the Furnace Palace to make.
• Jingxing told Huaiyan he had stepped onto a Path and asked how Pathstriders grew stronger and how their strength was judged.
• Huaiyan explained that Pathstriders strengthened their foundations by following their Paths, while becoming an Emanator required an Aeon’s favor.
• Huaiyan judged that Jingxing needed to learn to fight and ordered Yunli to take him to the training ground.
• Yunli promised not to go easy on Jingxing, offering to forge his curio for free if he won, and Jingxing followed her nervously.

Jingxing sparred with Yunli at the training ground and used his unusual ability to read Imaginary Energy to withstand her swordplay. Yunli ended the match without a victor and invited him to eat, curious about his uncanny instincts.

• Jingxing chose a wooden spear to spar with Yunli, who picked an ordinary training sword instead of Old Iron.
• Yunli’s first strikes forced Jingxing backward, but he saw a bright flaw in her flow of Imaginary Energy and thrust at it, making her retreat.
• Yunli intensified her attacks, while Jingxing read the energy behind her movements and blocked her real strikes despite her feints.
• Jingxing tried to counterattack, but Yunli stopped him and ended the spar, complaining that he only defended.
• Yunli asked whether Jingxing knew how to fight or followed the Path of the Hunt; he said he had never held a spear before.
• Yunli invited Jingxing to eat and offered to treat him after failing to beat him.

After sparring with Yunli, Jingxing learned that she would help him train and received a Light Cone containing General Tianji’s martial skills from Huaiyan. He ended the day injured but encouraged by Robin’s messages, and planned to try the Light Cone the next day.

• Yunli treated Jingxing to Qiongshi Bird Skewers, agreed to train him in spear techniques and footwork, and told him about a man whose Demonic Sword had drained his vitality.
• Huaiyan teased Jingxing about joining the Interastral Peace Corporation, then gave him a Light Cone containing General Tianji’s martial skills and promised to arrange the curio he wanted.
• Jingxing rubbed medicinal wine on his injured arm and sketched Yunli’s sword strike from their spar.
• Jingxing told Robin he had arrived on Zhuming and described his spar with Yunli; Robin celebrated that he had not lost.
• Jingxing set his phone aside and decided to try General Tianji’s Light Cone the next day.

Jingxing used a Light Cone containing Feixiao’s martial arts fundamentals and challenged Yunli to a rematch. He defeated her in the Martial Arts Arena, earning her promised waiver of the material costs for his Curio.

• Huaiyan transferred the Light Cone’s martial arts fundamentals into Jingxing’s mind, then watched him demonstrate what he had learned with a training spear.
• Yunli invited Jingxing to the Martial Arts Arena to test his new skills and promised to waive the Curio material costs if he won.
• Jingxing used Feixiao’s footwork and his improved understanding of force to evade Yunli’s attacks and counter with his spear.
• Yunli unleashed a powerful Imaginary Energy strike, but Jingxing swept her ankle and made her lose control of Old Iron, ending the duel in his victory.

After defeating Yunli with the Light Cone’s martial arts fundamentals, Jingxing went with her to the Furnace Palace to have her forge a curio for Herta. Keliou explained that ordinary curios were unlikely to interest Herta, so Jingxing decided to create an ink wash painting and asked Yunli to forge a special brush.

• Jingxing defeated Yunli in the Martial Arts Arena, and Huaiyan explained that the Light Cone had helped Jingxing’s body catch up with his ability to read her movements.
• Yunli honored their deal and took Jingxing to the Furnace Palace to forge a curio for Herta.
• Keliou introduced himself as Herta’s editor and said that a curio would need to come from another world or inspire Herta to hold her interest.
• Jingxing decided to paint an ink wash painting and asked Yunli to forge a brush that could channel Imaginary Energy, produce ink, and erase brushstrokes.
• Yunli agreed to finish the brush in two days, while Jingxing said his artistic talent might have earned him Nous’s attention.

Jingxing received Yunli’s specially forged Cloud-Washing Ink-Tracer and prepared to travel to Azure Star for inspiration. He and Yunli left the Furnace Palace to eat together before his departure.

• Jingxing decided to paint Mount Herta on Azure Star, and Keliou explained its connection to Ms. Herta and the planet’s people.
• Yunli promised to make Jingxing a brush and later forged it from Darksteel Cold Iron, fused Imaginary crystals, and jade from her grandfather.
• Jingxing tested the Cloud-Washing Ink-Tracer and discovered that its jade end could lift fresh ink from paper without damaging it.
• Jingxing told Yunli he would leave for Azure Star the next day to study Mount Herta, and Yunli invited him to Bright Heaven for Qiongshi Bird Skewers.

Jingxing left Zhuming after receiving warnings from Huaiyan and saying goodbye to Yunli, then traveled toward Azure Star while messaging Robin. At the Herta Space Station, Herta demanded that he come to her office despite his still not having found the curio.

• Jingxing painted Robin by accident, packed his belongings, and said farewell to Huaiyan, who warned that he would hunt Jingxing down if he became an Abomination of Abundance.
• Jingxing shared Qiongshi Bird Skewers with Yunli, and she told him she planned to compete in the Luofu's future Wardance Ceremony and urged him to attend.
• Yunli gave Jingxing packed skewers at the docks, and he boarded the Chasing the Moon to leave Zhuming.
• During the voyage, Jingxing showed Robin his new brush and described Yunli and Robin, while Robin teased him for not saying what she wanted to hear.
• When Jingxing requested docking at the Herta Space Station, Herta asked whether he had already obtained the curio and ordered him to her office.

Jingxing returned to Herta Space Station, where Herta scanned him and Ruan Mei tested his ability to perceive Path energy. Herta reduced his debt and sent him to arrange his trip to Azure Star, while Ruan Mei again offered to help him in exchange for experiments.

• Jingxing met Herta and Ruan Mei in Herta's office and underwent a scan, telling Herta about his travels and the paintbrush Yunli had forged for him.
• Ruan Mei created a Cat Cake and asked Jingxing to describe it; he sensed its layered energy and a connection to the Herta Puppet.
• Herta reviewed the scan results, deducted a hundred million Credits from Jingxing's debt, and told him to see Asta about his Azure Star permits and arrangements.
• Ruan Mei offered to clear Jingxing's debt if he agreed to her experiments, but he refused and left the office shaken.

Ruan Mei and Herta discussed Jingxing’s unusual eyes, which contained a fragment from beyond the galaxy, and Herta refused to let Ruan Mei experiment on him. Jingxing traveled to Azure Star to paint Mount Herta, while Yunli prepared to set sail.

• Ruan Mei offered to pay Jingxing’s debt in exchange for his cooperation, but Herta refused and explained that his eyes contained unknown noise from beyond the galaxy.
• Herta said she feared the noise concealed madness and did not want to risk destroying Azure Star by examining it.
• Asta gave Jingxing his housing allowance, identification, and pass, and told him to board the supply ship the next morning.
• Jingxing traveled to Azure Star, saw the lines of Mount Herta shift through his eyes, and settled into the hotel room Asta had arranged.
• Jingxing messaged Robin and Yunli, then prepared to watch Robin’s livestream and paint Mount Herta with Cloud-Washing Ink-Tracer.
• Yunli put away her Jade Abacus and answered a call to prepare for departure.

Jingxing began painting Mount Herta without the Light-Severing Sea, but the scene awakened memories of a painting that had once attracted Yog-Sothoth’s attention. Though he feared drawing Its gaze again, he chose to continue, determined to perfect the painting.

• After three days studying Mount Herta, Jingxing told Robin he would enter seclusion to paint and silenced his phone.
• Jingxing removed the Light-Severing Sea, endured the burning pain in his eyes, and carried his supplies to a gravel flat beneath Mount Herta.
• Jingxing began painting the mountain and its clouds with the Cloud-Washing Ink-Tracer.
• As the mountain’s ridgeline stirred memories of his previous life, Jingxing feared that continuing might draw Yog-Sothoth’s attention again.
• A flash of inspiration struck Jingxing, and his blood awakened a bond between him and the Cloud-Washing Ink-Tracer.
• Jingxing ignored the pain and resolved to paint the overlapping shadow of both mountains to absolute perfection.

Jingxing completed the Image of Ten Thousand Jun, and the painting became a Curio with unusual weight and a defensive effect against Erudition analysis. Herta claimed it and arranged for Jingxing to return to the space station the next morning.

• Jingxing used the last of his Imaginary Energy to finish the painting, awakening a response from the Path of Beauty.
• The completed canvas became so heavy that it sank the easel into the gravel, and Jingxing found that he could lift it by releasing Imaginary Energy.
• A Herta Puppet examined the painting and found that her Imaginary Energy could not penetrate its edge.
• Jingxing explained that the painting grew heavier with energy and would counterattack Erudition Pathstriders who tried to analyze it.
• Herta claimed the Image of Ten Thousand Jun and told Jingxing that a spaceship would take him back to the space station the next morning.

Herta tested Jingxing’s painting and discovered that it absorbed the power of Erudition rather than reflecting it. Confident she could withstand the counterattack, she touched the canvas directly, and its force struck her consciousness.

• Herta found that the painting grew heavier when she channeled Imaginary Energy into it and considered adapting the mechanism for her puppets’ weapons.
• Herta explained that a space-station staff member had been injured when the painting counterattacked their attempt to analyze it.
• Ruan Mei tried analyzing the painting, withdrew after its countermeasure affected her, and concluded that it devoured analytical energy and erased her conclusions.
• Ruan Mei stayed to watch as Herta pressed her hand against the painting and began a full-power analysis.
• The painting absorbed Herta’s Imaginary Energy, then sent a burst of noise along it and struck deep into her consciousness.

Herta discovered that the Image of Ten Thousand Jun contained the same unknown noise found in Jingxing’s eyes and decided to protect and study him while he repaid his debt. The painting was valued at five hundred million Credits, leaving Jingxing to realize he would need fifty-nine more like it to repay Herta.

• Herta extracted an unknown noise from her memory of the painting and found that it matched the noise recorded in Jingxing’s eyes.
• Herta refused Ruan Mei’s request to study Jingxing and concluded that understanding the noise might help her approach the knowledge singularity safely.
• Herta told Asta to value the Image of Ten Thousand Jun above the station’s high-risk Curios and claimed her debt gave her the right to protect and study Jingxing.
• Herta planned to frame the painting and store it in her secret collection room.
• Jingxing returned to the Herta Space Station and learned from Asta that the painting was worth five hundred million Credits, prompting him to calculate that he needed fifty-nine more paintings to clear his debt.