Chapter Summaries

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.

Jingxing considered paying down his debt by selling paintings and received a Real-Time Star Chart from Asta to help him find inspiration. Screwllum advised him to visit the Galactic Library on Ismael to deepen his artistic knowledge, leaving Jingxing with a new destination in mind.

• Jingxing agreed to use three hundred million Credits from his painting to reduce his debt, and Asta lowered it to twenty-nine billion seven hundred million.
• Jingxing asked for information on places to gather inspiration, and Asta gave him a Real-Time Star Chart as a gift.
• Asta told Jingxing that Screwllum, Genius Society #76, had asked to see him.
• Screwllum examined the Image of Ten Thousand Jun and praised its artistry and its resistance to analysis through the Path of Erudition.
• Screwllum advised Jingxing to visit the Galactic Library on Ismael to learn from the knowledge and artistic ideas of past civilizations.

After leaving Herta Space Station to seek Ismael, Jingxing was stopped mid-jump by Kafka, who urged him to visit Dual-Phase Paradise instead of the Galactic Library. He was left weighing her warning and the place’s connection to Zhenzhu, his late parents’ former superior.

• Jingxing thanked Screwllum for his guidance, and Screwllum advised Herta to strengthen the painting’s security before leaving.
• Jingxing departed Herta Space Station aboard the Chasing the Moon, following the route toward Ismael that Asta had marked on his star chart.
• During the ship’s first jump, the Chasing the Moon abruptly stopped, and Kafka appeared at the hatch with a black cat.
• Kafka told Jingxing that the Stellaron Hunters had helped Robin’s singing reach all of Vesna IV and asked him not to go to the Galactic Library because of the lingering effects of the Genius Society’s school wars.
• Kafka recommended that Jingxing visit Dual-Phase Paradise, then vanished as the ship’s systems restarted.
• Jingxing considered Kafka’s warning and remembered that Zhenzhu managed Dual-Phase Paradise and had once offered to raise him.

After Kafka warned Jingxing away from Ismael and recommended Dual-Phase Paradise, he asked Robin to seek Sunday’s advice before changing course. Sunday learned of the warning and agreed to help, though he privately wanted Jingxing to meet Nanook.

• After Kafka left the Chasing the Moon, Jingxing suspected her black cat was Elio and weighed her advice against Screwllum’s recommendation to visit Ismael.
• Jingxing told Robin that Kafka had warned him not to go to Ismael and had suggested Dual-Phase Paradise instead.
• Robin asked Jingxing to wait while she consulted Sunday about the two destinations.
• Sunday told Gopher Wood about Robin’s request, and Gopher Wood said Elio had likely foreseen a risk at Ismael.
• Sunday agreed to reply to Robin, despite privately wishing Jingxing would go meet Nanook.

Sunday advised Robin that Dual-Phase Paradise was safer for Jingxing than Ismael, and Jingxing decided to travel there after contacting Zhenzhu. Zhenzhu welcomed him and offered him a studio and a chance to study at the World-Painting Academy, while Robin wondered whether humans and Intellitrons could marry.

• Sunday told Robin that Ismael could threaten Jingxing's freedom, while Dual-Phase Paradise was safe for now and offered opportunities for a painter.
• Jingxing read Robin's message, removed Ismael's route from his star chart, and set his destination to Dual-Phase Paradise.
• Jingxing contacted Zhenzhu, who welcomed him and offered to arrange a visit to the World-Painting Academy and a prepared studio.
• Jingxing thanked Zhenzhu and told Robin about her reply, asking her to thank Sunday.
• Robin wondered whether an Intellitron had ever married a human.

Jingxing arrived at the Dual-Phase Paradise and reunited with Zhenzhu, who welcomed him and urged him to settle there under her protection. As they spoke about his travels and painting, Zhenzhu wondered whether an Intellitron could truly have a heart, then sensed the energy of a Path coming from Jingxing.

• Jingxing admired Two-Dimensional City as the Chasing the Moon descended and learned that Chairwoman Zhenzhu was waiting for him at the Pearl Star Building.
• Jingxing met Zhenzhu after more than a decade apart, and she admitted she had worried he blamed her for making him an orphan.
• Zhenzhu invited Jingxing to settle on the Dual-Phase Paradise, but he declined because he still wanted to see more of the world.
• Jingxing told Zhenzhu about his travels and recent painting, including how his work had caught Ms. Herta's eye.
• Jingxing said Zhenzhu had a heart as kind as Wuliangta Huishi's, and Zhenzhu sensed Path energy coming from him.

Jingxing met with Zhenzhu on Dual-Phase Paradise, where she warned him that Yaboli’s research made Ismael dangerous for him. Zhenzhu assured him that he would be safe in her jurisdiction and arranged for Xuzhao to show him around the World-Painting Academy.

• Jingxing told Zhenzhu he had set foot on a Path after graduating from the academy, though it was neither Destruction nor Preservation.
• Jingxing asked Zhenzhu about Ismael, and she warned him that Yaboli was seeking experimental subjects for research into what lies at the end of life.
• Zhenzhu explained that Yaboli’s influence and the corporation’s divided interests meant few employees would challenge her, but promised to protect Jingxing on Dual-Phase Paradise.
• Jingxing asked to see the World-Painting Academy, and Zhenzhu chose the comic artist Xuzhao to guide him.

Jingxing arrived at the World-Painting Academy after Xuzhao drove him there, then entered with help from the blue-haired Sampo, who offered to guide him around. The chapter ended as Jingxing messaged Zhenzhu that Xuzhao had dropped him at the gate and fled.

• Xuzhao drove Jingxing to the World-Painting Academy and explained that Zhenzhu had promised her a day off for getting him there safely.
• Xuzhao left as soon as Jingxing reached the academy gate, leaving him unsure how to enter.
• Sampo approached Jingxing, pretended they were brothers to get him past the guard, and offered to guide him for ten thousand Credits.
• Jingxing exchanged contact details with Sampo and followed him inside while messaging Zhenzhu about Xuzhao leaving him at the gate.

Jingxing toured the World-Painting Academy with Sampo and learned about its Imagenae and dean, Murata Ryusuke. Ryusuke invited Jingxing to his office, then revealed he knew Jingxing was an Idrila’s follower who had been toyed with by Aha.

• Jingxing arranged for Zhenzhu to double Xuzhao's serialization word count, then hid his involvement from Xuzhao.
• Sampo showed Jingxing around the World-Painting Academy and explained how students created Imagenae using Wish Power.
• Jingxing and Sampo met Murata Ryusuke, who invited Jingxing to his office and left Sampo waiting outside.
• Murata Ryusuke asked Jingxing why he had come and identified him as Idrila's follower and someone toyed with by Aha.

Murata Ryusuke revealed that he was an Omen Vanguard whose prophecies showed people who would bring calamity, and warned Jingxing that Jingxing would destroy Dual-Phase Paradise. Jingxing doubted the prophecy but considered leaving and asked what Murata Ryusuke would offer in return.

• Murata Ryusuke told Jingxing that he had seen through his circumstances and identified him as a newly minted Pathstrider of Beauty.
• Jingxing recalled appearing on Vesna IV and wondered whether Aha had intervened; Murata Ryusuke confirmed that Aha had toyed with him but could not explain why.
• Murata Ryusuke explained that he had become an Omen Vanguard and could see people who would bring calamity to a world.
• Murata Ryusuke prophesied that Jingxing would destroy Dual-Phase Paradise and stand among the ruins of the Pearl Star Building with a brush in his hand.
• Jingxing challenged Murata Ryusuke to explain why he did not prevent the disaster, and Murata Ryusuke said intervening would only hasten the ending.
• Jingxing considered leaving Dual-Phase Paradise and asked Murata Ryusuke what he would give him in return.

Jingxing questioned Murata Ryusuke about the Paths and how to become a famous painter, then agreed to leave Dual-Phase Paradise soon. After Jingxing left, Murata Ryusuke revealed himself as Lord Ravager Guiji and resolved to get Jingxing out before he disrupted his plans.

• Jingxing agreed to leave Dual-Phase Paradise after spending a few days looking around, and Murata Ryusuke offered to answer his questions about Pathstriders.
• Murata Ryusuke explained how personal conviction shaped a Path, how Pathstriders could influence an Aeon's direction, and how Emanators held authority bestowed by an Aeon.
• Jingxing asked how to make his name as a painter known across the galaxy, and Murata Ryusuke suggested corporate promotion, involvement in a major event, or support from a prominent art figure.
• Jingxing thanked Murata Ryusuke and left the office, where Sampo offered to take him to a restaurant.
• Murata Ryusuke transformed into Lord Ravager Guiji and said he could not manipulate Jingxing's possibilities, so he needed to get him out before Jingxing spoiled his plans.