Chapter Summaries

Jingxing and Fu Xuan confronted a Swarm led by a Starcrusher Swarm King and discovered that Jingxing’s attacks had gained an amber-like power. They met the Mournful Actors, agreed to protect the settlement they were sustaining with their tears, and Jingxing ended the chapter wishing he could paint their lament.

• Jingxing’s attacks froze and shattered the Swarm, while Fu Xuan determined that the planet’s time had nearly stopped under the Ancestor of the Locust Calamity.
• Jingxing and Fu Xuan identified a Starcrusher Swarm King directing the insects, and Jingxing used an image of Qlipoth to pin the Swarm in amber-colored energy.
• The Swarm King fled, and Fu Xuan stopped Jingxing from pursuing it when a scouting party approached.
• The scouting party led Jingxing and Fu Xuan to a settlement sustained by the Mournful Actors’ tears, where they learned the Actors had stayed to protect the natives.
• Jingxing offered to help the Actors defend the settlement until the Interastral Peace Corporation could send support, and the Actors accepted.
• After the settlement’s bell marked another day, Jingxing listened to the Actors lament and wished he had paper and a brush so he could paint them.

Jingxing requested support from the Interastral Peace Corporation while Fu Xuan prepared a formation to replace the Mournful Actors' water curtain on Zeus Tehetra. The formation was completed, but the support had not arrived and the king insect remained hidden as the Swarm continued to erupt.

• Jingxing contacted the Interastral Peace Corporation and reported that Zeus Tehetra needed protection from the Swarm and a Propagation Emanator.
• The Interastral Peace Corporation promised that its first fleet would depart shortly and asked Jingxing's team to hold out for seven standard days; Louis Fleming also urged Jingxing to shoot down the king insect with a brand-new power.
• Fu Xuan designed a formation to reinforce the planet's defensive line, while Jingxing agreed to keep the Swarm from disturbing her work and take control of the Mournful Actors' water curtain.
• Jingxing maintained the water curtain as Fu Xuan built the formation, and the Interastral Peace Corporation's support failed to arrive during the week.
• Fu Xuan completed a planet-wide defensive line that blocked most of the Swarm, and Jingxing withdrew his energy from the water curtain.
• Jingxing said the king insect had gone into hiding, while the Swarm continued to erupt at its previous rate.

Jingxing discovered that his Path Energy now carried a trace of the Amber Lord’s Preservation, and he resolved to use it to protect others and fight the Swarm. With Fu Xuan’s formation holding the settlement, he planned to leave the next day and search for the King Bug.

• Jingxing tested the dark, amber-like energy in his Path Energy on a Swarm bug, which returned to its companions before the bugs that ate it crumbled into powder.
• Fu Xuan sensed the Amber Lord’s power in Jingxing, and he considered how both the Paths of Beauty and Preservation could involve protecting what mattered.
• Fu Xuan explained that the Primal Force of Preservation was dedication, and Jingxing decided the new power could help him protect everyone.
• Jingxing asked whether his Preservation energy could reinforce Fu Xuan’s formation, but she told him to conserve his strength for the King Bug.
• Jingxing told Fu Xuan he planned to scout beyond the settlement, and she chose to accompany him as the Swarm continued advancing.

The Interastral Peace Corporation fleet arrived to help Zeus Tehetra with wartime defenses and reconstruction, while Jingxing and Fu Xuan investigated the Swarm’s movements. After Jingxing confirmed that the King Bug was hiding in a valley, he gathered the natives’ hope and devotion to forge a blade against it.

• Jenny arrived with the Corporation fleet and explained that the Swarm had forced it to take a long detour.
• Jenny, Fu Xuan, and the natives organized the supplies and began rebuilding the settlement and its defenses.
• Fu Xuan noticed that the Swarm repeatedly avoided a section of the front line and suspected the King Bug was hiding nearby.
• Jingxing removed the Light-Severing Sea and confirmed that the King Bug was concealed in a valley, then returned to the settlement to borrow something from the natives.
• Jingxing asked the natives about their confidence and hopes, gathering their hope and devotion to forge a blade against the Swarm and the Emanator of Propagation.

Jingxing used the wishes of the settlement’s people and the powers of Beauty and Preservation to kill the King Bug, then prepared to leave with Fu Xuan. HooH intervened during their departure, but Qlipoth restored Fu Xuan’s existence, and Louis Fleming chose to pay the price they owed.

• Jingxing forged the people’s hopes into a sword strike and killed the King Bug, causing the Swarm to lose its leader and flee.
• Jingxing and Fu Xuan left the cleanup to Jenny and boarded their spaceship for the next destination.
• HooH froze the ship and began erasing Fu Xuan from the present era, but Qlipoth’s new Amber Era restored her existence.
• The spaceship entered the Star Rail, and Louis Fleming decided to pay the price Jingxing and Fu Xuan owed.

Jingxing and Fu Xuan returned to the present and woke aboard their ship at the Herta Space Station. After learning they had been missing for a year, Jingxing planned to take Fu Xuan home and investigate how their return had changed the past.

• Jingxing woke beside Fu Xuan at the Herta Space Station and concluded their existence had been anchored to the present timeline.
• Jingxing and Fu Xuan followed a Herta Puppet to Herta's office, where Herta questioned them about their encounter with HooH and their escape.
• Jingxing explained that the Amber Lord had helped them before another existence brought them back to the present.
• Herta told Jingxing and Fu Xuan that they had been missing for a year and that their ship had appeared beside the station's rooftop terrace that morning.
• Herta said Ruan Mei had confirmed they were alive and taken something from their ship's hull.
• Jingxing left with Fu Xuan, intending to take her to the Luofu and later revisit places where they had left traces in the past.

Jingxing and Fu Xuan returned to the present on Yuque, where Fu Xuan reunited with Yaoguang and Jingtian and received her teacher’s blessing. After the Xianzhou Alliance confirmed Fu Xuan’s position and cautioned them about its laws, Jingxing planned to visit Pier Point to claim the salary he had earned during more than 700 Amber Eras away.

• Jingxing and Fu Xuan arrived at Yuque, where Yaoguang welcomed them and took back the Heavenly Wisdom Jade Knot to anchor herself in the present.
• Yaoguang brought Jingxing and Fu Xuan to Jingtian, who praised their success and blessed their relationship with a calligraphy message wishing them lasting unity.
• The Xianzhou Alliance’s generals and Marshal agreed to keep Fu Xuan’s position open, while warning Fu Xuan and Jingxing about abusing the power of Abundance and coveting immortality.
• Fu Xuan proposed returning to the Luofu to rest, but Jingxing announced he planned to visit Pier Point and collect more than 700 Amber Eras of P47 salary.

Jing Yuan explained that Xianzhou law prevented Fu Xuan and Jingxing from having children while Jingxing remained a short-life species. Jingxing accepted the restriction and said he would try to stay by Fu Xuan’s side and find a way to resolve the Mara-Struck condition.

• Jingxing and Fu Xuan arrived at Starskiff Haven, where Fu Xuan left to handle the Divination Commission’s accounts and asked Jingxing to pick her up later.
• Jingxing went to the Seat of Divine Foresight and met Jing Yuan, who welcomed him and spoke about their shared surname.
• Jing Yuan explained that Xianzhou law forbade a marriage pact between a native and a short-life species, making approval to have children impossible for Jingxing and Fu Xuan.
• Jingxing accepted that he and Fu Xuan might never have a child together and said he would do everything he could to stay with her and resolve the Mara-Struck condition.
• Jing Yuan reflected on Jingxing’s words about people surpassing their limits for the ones they loved.

Jingxing reunited with Fu Xuan at the Divination Commission and took her home after she finished reviewing her subordinates’ work. The couple shared their first night together at Fu Xuan’s Luofu home.

• Jingxing arrived at the Divination Commission and heard the diviners whispering about Fu Xuan and their work.
• Fu Xuan overheard the diviners, assigned them extra copying, and sent them scattering from the courtyard.
• Jingxing comforted Fu Xuan, then carried her away from her desk and walked with her to her home.
• Fu Xuan insisted that her subordinates’ work and their kindness toward her home were separate matters.
• Jingxing sketched Fu Xuan’s courtyard while she washed, and Fu Xuan checked the house for intruders before returning inside.
• Jingxing removed Fu Xuan’s hairpin and carried her to bed, where they spent the night together.

Jingxing and Fu Xuan spent a week together on the Luofu while she caught up on work and he explored and painted. On the sixth day, Jingxing told her he planned to go to Pier Point to pursue a debt owed for more than seven hundred Amber Eras, and Fu Xuan warned him not to push himself.

• Fu Xuan admitted she had divined that the day was unfavorable for getting up early and had arranged to reach the Divination Commission after noon.
• Jingxing helped Fu Xuan get dressed before she left to handle her backlog, then spent the day sketching and exploring the Luofu.
• Over the following week, Fu Xuan worked during the day while Jingxing painted, sampled a popular dish at Exalting Sanctum, and listened to local stories.
• On the sixth day, Jingxing told Fu Xuan he intended to go to Pier Point to collect a debt owed for more than seven hundred Amber Eras.
• Fu Xuan told Jingxing not to push himself and said she could no longer keep her part-time position there, while Jingxing reassured her he could return if things went badly.

Jingxing left the Luofu for Pier Point to investigate an old matter and found that the Interastral Peace Corporation still recognized him as a P47 after more than seven hundred amber eras. At the VIP reception, he began looking for someone to help him claim his old wages, but an older man interrupted him.

• Fu Xuan packed tea into Jingxing's luggage and saw him off as he left for the Yuque to retrieve Chasing the Moon.
• Jingxing greeted Yaoguang, who offered him her name if he encountered trouble with the Interastral Peace Corporation.
• Jingxing contacted Asta, who quickly sent him a Pier Point entry permit and warned him that members of her family might ask probing questions.
• At Pier Point's checkpoint, the Corporation's system identified Jingxing as a P47, and the attendant escorted him to the VIP reception area.
• Jingxing considered contacting Zaitian of the Traditional Projects Department about claiming his old wages, but an older, very tall man approached him.

Jingxing was escorted by Kenneth Zaitian to the Traditional Projects Department, where Louis Fleming contacted him through a screen. Louis told Jingxing that he no longer held a position on the Interastral Peace Corporation's roster and began to explain the current Market Development Department.

• Kenneth Zaitian introduced himself and led Jingxing to the department head's office on the forty-eighth floor.
• Jingxing saw that Zaitian's department relied on paper records, handwritten signatures, and traditional furnishings.
• Kenneth left Jingxing alone in the reception room while he waited for Zaitian.
• Louis Fleming appeared on the screen and greeted Jingxing, explaining that he could meet him only through Zaitian's channels.
• Louis told Jingxing that he had no position on the company's roster, then began discussing the current Market Development Department.

Jingxing learned that the company had erased his name from its records but preserved his rank and accumulated salary, then negotiated to remain an employee without reporting to work. He chose the Traditional Projects Department so he could look into Interastral Peace Entertainment and visit Robin.

• Louis Fleming told Jingxing that Oswaldo had replaced him as head of the Market Development Department and that the company had retained his rank, benefits, and over seven hundred Amber Eras of wages.
• Jingxing declined to return to regular work, and Louis Fleming explained that his past achievements had made him worthy of remaining a P47.
• Jingxing asked about the people he had helped, and Louis Fleming said the planet's natives were thriving and Mr. Dongfang had gone traveling.
• Louis Fleming let Jingxing remain attached to any department in name, and Jingxing chose the Traditional Projects Department.
• Kenneth brought Jingxing onboarding paperwork, and Jingxing left planning to visit Robin and surprise her.

Jingxing joined the Traditional Projects Department and declined to manage Interastral Peace Entertainment, though he requested the contact information of its business partner. After a restricted notice announced his return, Oswaldo Schneider and Diamond moved to investigate him, while Jingxing received a flood of meeting requests and considered contacting Topaz.

• Jingxing asked Kenneth Zaitian about Interastral Peace Entertainment and declined to take over its management, but requested Scar-Eyed Madam's contact information so he could advise on specific projects or stars.
• Louis Fleming issued a notice that a veteran P47 had returned to the corporation, but restricted access to the veteran's name to the seven-member board.
• Oswaldo Schneider ordered subordinates to obtain customs surveillance footage of Jingxing and wondered why he had survived for more than seven hundred Amber Eras.
• Diamond told the Ten Stonehearts to find Jingxing and befriend him, then assigned Aventurine to investigate while warning him not to antagonize the veteran.
• Kenneth Zaitian gave Jingxing business cards from forty-seven contact requests and eleven meeting requests, and Jingxing considered meeting Topaz to tease her.

Jingxing left Pier Point after joining the Traditional Projects Department and traveled to Thousand Stars City, where his Amber-tier status granted him extensive privileges. He arranged to meet Robin, and his recreation planner began looking for a suitable pretext.

• Jingxing rejected meetings with the company’s departments and asked Kenneth Zaitian to ensure Interastral Peace Entertainment respected his suggestions despite his lack of interest in competing for power.
• Jingxing departed Pier Point aboard the Chasing the Moon and discovered that Louis Fleming had deposited a fortune into his dormant salary account.
• Jingxing repaid his debt to Asta, who was surprised by the full repayment, and received Kenneth Zaitian’s message confirming the matter was handled.
• The Chasing the Moon arrived in Thousand Stars City, where Jingxing’s Amber-tier status granted him free access, priority service, and a personal recreation planner named Tao Zhu.
• Jingxing asked Tao Zhu to arrange a meeting with Robin, and she said she could make it happen by finding a pretext Interastral Peace Entertainment would accept.

Jingxing reunited with Robin at the Inverted Restaurant and told her about his year away, including his relationship with Fu Xuan. He refused to choose between Robin and Fu Xuan, and the chapter ended with him revealing that he had become a P47 at the Interastral Peace Corporation.

• Jingxing invited Robin to meet him at the Inverted Restaurant and resolved to explain his year away while withholding details that could endanger her.
• Jingxing met Robin at the restaurant, where she said she had to return to rehearsal within forty minutes.
• Jingxing recounted his adventures with Yaoguang, the Luofu's Diviner, the Amber Lord, and others during the past year.
• Jingxing apologized for ignoring Robin's messages, then told her that Fu Xuan had become important to him and that they were living together on the Luofu.
• Jingxing told Robin he would not let go of either her or Fu Xuan, and she warned that her brother would oppose their relationship.
• Jingxing revealed that he was now a P47 at the Interastral Peace Corporation, leaving Robin frozen.

Jingxing told Robin about his P47 position and promised to help her regain control over her work and activities, then confessed that he wanted to be with her. Robin accepted his feelings, and Jingxing planned to confront her manager about changing the company’s restrictions.

• Jingxing explained how Fleming had restored his P47 position and assigned him to the Traditional Projects Department.
• Robin described how the company’s restrictions had made her miserable, and Jingxing promised to let her decide whether to change them.
• Jingxing confessed that he wanted to share his life with Robin, and she took his hand and kissed him.
• Robin asked whether Fu Xuan knew about her, and Jingxing said she did; he also agreed not to approach Sunday behind Robin’s back.
• Jingxing told Robin he would meet her manager Ofila and demand that Robin approve her own contracts and schedule, that restrictions be loosened, and that the company support her.

Jingxing accompanied Robin to her rehearsal venue and used his P47 status to challenge the restrictions on her career. In Penacony, Sunday learned that Robin had met someone in Thousand Stars City and decided to investigate in person.

• Jingxing walked Robin into Interastral Peace Entertainment's lobby, where Ofila scolded her for leaving rehearsal without notice.
• Jingxing identified himself as a P47 manager in the Traditional Projects Department, prompting Ofila to apologize and treat him with deference.
• Jingxing told Ofila that Robin should control her own schedule, contracts, performances, and engagements, and asked her to seek a review of the restrictions on the company's artists.
• Jingxing promised Robin that he would ask a P48 to provide her with more protection.
• Sunday learned that Robin had met a man at the Inverted Restaurant, but Amber-tier security prevented him from discovering the man's identity.
• Sunday worried that Robin resented him and decided to go to Thousand Stars City to see for himself.

Jingxing met with Sunday in Thousand Stars City and offered concessions to show he was serious about being with Robin. Robin affirmed that she chose Jingxing freely, and Sunday reluctantly agreed to their relationship for now while demanding that Jingxing observe proper boundaries.

• Sunday questioned Jingxing about his year away and challenged his claim to be Robin's lover.
• Jingxing apologized for losing contact and offered Robin control over her contracts and schedule, fewer travel restrictions, and help resolving conflicts between the Corporation and The Family.
• Sunday objected to Robin sharing a partner with the Diviner of the Luofu and warned Jingxing that Robin could be hurt.
• Robin told Sunday that Jingxing had explained his absence and that she was with him of her own free will.
• Sunday reluctantly agreed to their relationship for now and asked Jingxing to observe proper boundaries until he proved himself worthy of Robin.

Jingxing and Robin spent a carefully planned day together in Thousand Stars City, visiting the night market, racetrack, and beach. After a long kiss by the sea, Robin asked Jingxing to wait, and he agreed to respect her decision.

• Jingxing drew a chibi portrait of Robin in the condensation on the window, and Robin posted a picture of it on social media.
• Tao Zhu gave Jingxing and Robin a detailed itinerary and separate security instructions for their date.
• At the night market, Robin indulged in sweet soup while security guards blocked someone from photographing them.
• Robin drove Jingxing around the racetrack, laughing as he gripped the handhold and endured her fast turns.
• At the beach, Jingxing and Robin played volleyball, kissed, and then stopped when Robin asked to wait longer so her brother could not use their closeness to criticize Jingxing.