Recaps

Tiandao registered at the Steam Capital branch of the Star Envoy Association under the identity Shui Mo and entered a Star Energy scanning room. Chen Xing briefly suspected she recognized something about him, but Tiandao’s disguise held and he proceeded with the scan.

• Tiandao registered as Shui Mo, a Rank 2 Mid-Tier Star Envoy with Ink Wash Control, and presented a genuine Association Emblem.
• A staff member escorted Tiandao to a Star Energy scanning room while Little Danika waited outside.
• Tiandao noticed an elderly silver-haired Old Man nearby and sensed a familiar aura of calamity.
• Chen Xing glimpsed Tiandao entering the opposite scanning room and felt an inexplicable familiarity, though Fox described him as an ordinary young man.
• Chen Xing left still troubled by her intuition, while Tiandao observed her through the Dimensional Screen and wondered if she had detected his disguise.
• Tiandao used Vector Control to produce the specific Star Energy Fluctuation required for the scan.

Tiandao and Danika passed the first stage of the Steam Branch Fifth Squad captain assessment with ease, but Chen Xing unexpectedly asked to become chief examiner and test the candidates herself. Tiandao suspected she had noticed something about him and feared the assessment would no longer follow the original plot.

• Tiandao completed a Star Energy scan confirming Star Source · Ink Wash Control, then arrived with Danika at the Fifth Squad captain assessment venue.
• The examiner introduced the Star Energy Water Curtain, which required precise control and more than eight thousand Star Energy points to cross.
• The crimson-cloaked Rank 2 Upper-Tier candidate struggled through the curtain, while Yu Chen passed by observing its fluctuations.
• Tiandao and Danika crossed the curtain effortlessly, surprising the assessors and the Steam Branch captains.
• Chen Xing asked President Liam to appoint her chief examiner so she could personally test the candidates, alarming Tiandao.

The Fifth Squad assessment narrowed to four candidates, but Chen Xing arrived to test them herself and revealed a crushing difference in strength. Tiandao realized Chen Xing had come for him and resolved to hide his identity as the assessment began.

• Yu Chen probed Tiandao about the next assessment while secretly watching Little Danika, whose ability to cross the Star Energy Water Curtain had impressed him.
• The candidates who failed the first assessment left, and the assessor announced that a powerhouse at or above Branch Captain Rank would test the four remaining candidates.
• Chen Xing entered the arena and set a three-minute test, increasing her strength from twenty to forty to sixty percent, with surviving three minutes as one way to pass.
• Chen Xing's gaze lingered on Tiandao and Little Danika, confirming Tiandao's suspicion that she had come for him, so he decided to conceal his identity.
• Lord Kong challenged Chen Xing's terms, but her pressure forced him to his knees, and Tiandao recognized the scene as resembling one from his own script.

Chen Xing dominated the Fifth Squad assessment, effortlessly defeating most challengers and leaving Tiandao as the final examinee. Her intense interest in him unsettled Tiandao, who entered the arena pretending to be an ordinary calligraphy enthusiast.

• Kong Cheng unleashed his Raging Flame and charged Chen Xing, but she knocked him out of the arena with a single palm strike.
• Yu Chen lasted a full minute against Chen Xing with the Unmissable Silver Spear, while another examinee was quickly sent flying.
• Several squad captains criticized Chen Xing for preventing examinees from showing their abilities, though she had volunteered to test someone she suspected was familiar.
• Chen Xing focused on Tiandao and told him she expected a surprise, drawing the attention of the other observers and making him fear his identity would be exposed.
• Tiandao hid his unease behind a gentle smile and entered the arena, claiming he was only an ordinary calligraphy enthusiast.

Tiandao realized Chen Xing’s Demonic Star Intuition had exposed his disguise, so he used Myriad Manifestations to distort her perceptions. Chen Xing overcame the distortion, and after Tiandao deliberately lost the duel, she told him he had passed her test.

• Tiandao concluded that Chen Xing had recognized him through his ingrained habits and Demonic Star Intuition.
• Tiandao used Myriad Manifestations to distort the information around him, weakening Chen Xing’s intuition.
• Chen Xing drew Bloodflame, whose killing intent broke through the informational fog and restored her intuition.
• Chen Xing attacked Tiandao, who used Shattered Star to stage a convincing defeat and fall outside the arena.
• Chen Xing told Tiandao that he had passed the test, leaving him stunned.

Chen Xing recognized Tiandao beneath his disguise after her Demonic Blade absorbed his star energy, then confronted him at his villa. Tiandao agreed to take her along on his mission, while their reunion left him uncertain about his feelings and the changes to his plans.

• Chen Xing declared that Tiandao had passed the assessment, and she secretly realized his star energy revealed his true identity.
• Tiandao inferred that Chen Xing had seen through his disguise and worried she would seek him out in private.
• At his villa, Tiandao sent Danika to bed and restored his original appearance before catching Chen Xing's ambush.
• Chen Xing explained that she had sensed Danika was Star Source itself and asked whether Tiandao's disguise was connected to her.
• Chen Xing insisted that Tiandao take her with him, and Tiandao agreed, telling her he had never considered her a nuisance.

Tiandao and Chen Xing discussed the Iron Dome Family’s pursuit of him and his plan to gain Enit’s protection by proving his worth. Chen Xing offered to help him, leaving Tiandao unsettled by the debt and feelings her choice might create.

• Tiandao asked Chen Xing whether anyone had followed her, and she revealed she had known for years that her brother Chen Kong was in the Federation.
• Chen Xing connected Doctor Dragon’s Miracle Stone to the destruction of Ember Base and the Iron Dome Family’s refusal to withdraw Tiandao’s Wanted Order.
• Chen Xing inferred that Tiandao was staying disguised to avoid drawing attention while aiming to become General President Enit’s successor.
• Chen Xing explained that her Demonic Star Intuition meant choosing what she would never regret, and Tiandao understood the principle behind it.
• Tiandao asked Chen Xing to help with obstacles surrounding Chen Kong and the coming struggle over the Key of Miracles; she agreed to earn Tiandao’s recognition.
• After Chen Xing left, Tiandao felt troubled by what he might owe her and by pressure he could not overcome through strength.

Tiandao caught Danika trying to accept a bribe while using her Information Vivification ability to process documents at Bolt Hub Station. After spotting a suspicious cargo request tied to District 4, he took Danika to Rust Iron Hell to pursue a plan he called “catching butterflies,” as a storm began to gather.

• Danika used Information Vivification to make documents handle their own approval tasks, and one violation document offered her money to overlook its case.
• Tiandao took the bribe money, scolded Danika, and examined a cargo slip for three barrels of Gold-Corroding Flower Concentrate requested by Kelva of District 4.
• Tiandao connected the cargo request to the Blood Skulls and powerful Upper City interests but decided that the time for change had not yet arrived.
• Tiandao took down Vivian Howard’s wanted poster and told Danika they were going to District 4 to catch butterflies.
• Tiandao and Danika descended to Level -1, where Danika rushed eagerly into Rust Iron Hell as Tiandao sensed the coming storm.

Tiandao and Little Danika entered Blood Skull-controlled District Four, where their presence as Upper City Star Envoys drew suspicion and prompted locals to report them. While eating the district’s notorious Spring Ramen, Tiandao reviewed the Church’s persecution of Vivian and Chen Kong and learned that they remained cornered in Rust Iron Hell.

• Tiandao and Little Danika walked through District Four, where residents watched them warily because Upper City Star Envoys were forbidden from casually entering the Lower City.
• District Four residents tipped off Blood Skull about the pair’s presence.
• At Two Tears Ramen Shop, Tiandao read Dimensional Screen comments and considered the events surrounding Euphemia, Vivian, and Chen Kong.
• Tiandao concluded that Vivian and Chen Kong had escaped the destruction of Rust Nail Bar but were still trapped by false accusations and tightened routes to the Upper City.
• Tiandao ate the bitter Spring Ramen without showing his discomfort, and Little Danika tried it before recoiling from its taste.

Tiandao tracked Blood Skull through Cicero and found Chen Kong, Liu Ma, and Vivian hiding in Rust Iron Hell. As Tiandao moved to take Vivian to the Branch, Danika’s mishap disrupted the confrontation, while the Dimensional Audience debated whether Shui Mo was secretly Tiandao.

• Tiandao paid the noodle shop owner extra before Cicero and the Blood Skull gang arrived, then threw Cicero out and forced him to lead the way to Blood Skull’s new boss.
• Chen Kong and Liu Ma tried to persuade Vivian to flee while the Church framed her for stealing its Holy Relic, but Vivian refused to abandon her father William’s knightly legacy.
• Tiandao cut through the potion factory ceiling and asked Vivian to come with him to the Branch under the Association’s rules.
• Danika got stuck in a ceiling crack and cried for help, abruptly breaking the tension between Tiandao and Chen Kong’s group.
• The Dimensional Audience argued over whether Shui Mo was the Mysterious Masked Man and whether either identity belonged to Tiandao.

Tiandao confronted Chen Kong and Liu Ma over the wanted fugitive Vivian, overwhelmed them with his captain-rank aura, and explained the limits of Star Envoy ranks and awakenings. He began escorting Vivian away, while Chen Kong watched with growing resolve.

• Chen Kong questioned whether Vivian had really stolen the Church's Holy Relic, but Tiandao said the Association wanted an outcome and offered to protect her by taking her back.
• Liu Ma challenged Tiandao and prepared to attack, so Tiandao defended the Association's rules and advanced under an oppressive aura that forced Liu Ma to activate his Star Mark.
• Tiandao explained that Star Envoy strength depended on six attributes as well as Star Source Awakening, then identified Liu Ma's undeveloped Strength and vitality potential and credited his trainer for guiding him.
• Tiandao pinned Liu Ma to the floor and told Chen Kong that his early Perfect Awakening had traded future potential for premature strength, while revealing that a captain needed at least one A-grade attribute and could possess more.
• Tiandao asked Vivian to come with him; she agreed after he promised not to trouble Chen Kong and Liu Ma, but Chen Kong's gaze grew resolute as they left.

Captain Shui Mo’s explanation revealed that Tiandao’s overwhelming strength came from his own attributes, not merely his Star Source. Chen Kong used Sweet Dream Candy - Blue to break free of Tiandao’s pressure, but their fight left Chen Kong struggling against Tiandao’s swordsmanship.

• The Dimensional Audience realized Tiandao had been a monster among Starborn even without Vector Control and wished he were there to confront Shui Mo.
• Chen Kong declared that surviving to see tomorrow mattered more than preserving his potential, then swallowed Sweet Dream Candy - Blue and broke free of Tiandao’s pressure.
• Tiandao said his task was to return Miss Knight to the Association, and Chen Kong refused to let him take her.
• Chen Kong fired a Mark of the Void bullet, but Tiandao blocked it with Shattered Star and countered with ink sword energy.
• Chen Kong dodged Tiandao’s attack and fired three more bullets, which Tiandao cut down as Chen Kong knelt, exhausted, with his gun trembling.

Chen Kong stood against Tiandao to protect Vivian, inspiring Liu Ma and Vivian to join the fight. Their combined attack failed to challenge Tiandao, who effortlessly defended himself and remained confident as Little Danika watched.

• Chen Kong explained that he could not ignore Vivian after once being protected himself, awakened his Star Mark, and challenged Tiandao to take her only over his corpse.
• Liu Ma broke free of Tiandao’s pressure, praised Chen Kong, and urged Vivian to fight for herself.
• Vivian stepped away from Tiandao and drew her Seconds Hand Rapier, choosing to resist rather than surrender.
• Liu Ma and Vivian attacked Tiandao together, but he blocked them with an ink barrier and countered with black arrows.
• Little Danika watched Tiandao fend off the three attackers and remarked that he was enjoying himself.

Tiandao defeated Chen Kong, Liu Ma, and Vivian, then took Vivian into custody while sparing the two Starborn and promising to try to clear their companion’s name. The battered Chen Kong and Liu Ma were left to confront the limits of their strength as Tiandao departed with Danika.

• Tiandao overwhelmed Chen Kong, Liu Ma, and Vivian with a final ink-wash sword strike, leaving all three unable to fight.
• Tiandao acknowledged the group’s strength, tied up Vivian, and explained that other Branch captains might have been defeated by them.
• Tiandao spared Chen Kong and Liu Ma, asked Danika to alter the mission record to say only that he had taken away wanted criminal Vivian, and promised to try to clear their companion’s name.
• Tiandao left with Vivian and Danika while Chen Kong and Liu Ma could not rise, and their defeat humbled them about their Starborn abilities.

Yu Qianxia arrived after Liu Ma and Chen Kong were defeated by Shui Mo, then took them under her wing and brought them toward Steam Capital’s Upper City. Liu Ma and Chen Kong began to find resolve in the wake of their defeat.

• Yu Qianxia revealed she had watched Liu Ma’s fight and said Shui Mo had injured him without causing lasting damage.
• Yu Qianxia mocked Liu Ma for giving in after one defeat, then told him to stand and begin the training she had arranged.
• Liu Ma asked Yu Qianxia to take Chen Kong along, and she agreed while warning that training alone would not make them strong enough to defeat Shui Mo.
• Yu Qianxia’s suited entourage greeted her outside the factory, and she ordered Chen Kong and Liu Ma into her hovercar.
• Yu Qianxia explained she had come because Liu Ma broke the Qianxia Group’s rules and a client complained, but she was especially angry about rumors damaging the group’s reputation.
• As the hovercar entered the Upper City, Liu Ma and Chen Kong began to feel resolve rekindle after their defeat.

Tiandao brought Vivian to the Steam Branch despite Yu Chen's warning about tensions with the Gear Church, then questioned her about the stolen Holy Relic. He showed her evidence that Saintess Euphemia and Bishop Cleve had been involved in a child-trafficking scheme and that the Church had chosen Vivian as a scapegoat.

• Yu Chen warned Tiandao that bringing Vivian to the Association could strain its relationship with the Gear Church, but Tiandao rebuked him and took Vivian to Fifth Squad headquarters.
• Tiandao restrained Vivian with Star Locks and asked why the Church accused her of stealing its Holy Relic and why Chen Kong's group believed she was innocent.
• Tiandao told Vivian that the Grey Rat Gang could not have stolen the relic from the Church's core district and that someone had framed her.
• Danika brought Tiandao File No. 23, which listed fifty-seven children adopted by Saintess Euphemia, all of whom were marked missing.
• Tiandao accused Euphemia and Bishop Cleve of running an underground trade and said they planned to use Vivian as a scapegoat while they concealed evidence from investigators.

Tiandao shattered Vivian’s faith by revealing that Saintess Euphemia, Bishop Cleve, and Old Jack were tied to schemes controlling the Lower City, while Yu Chen warned her not to trust Tiandao. The chapter ended with the Dimensional Audience suspecting Yu Chen was a missing orphan as Tiandao put away a file containing a photograph from Gear Church Orphanage No. 3.

• Tiandao told Vivian that Euphemia was likely helping Bishop Cleve keep his position and destroy evidence about the missing Holy Relic.
• Tiandao revealed that Old Jack was the Church’s informant and used to control the gangs in Rust Iron Hell, leaving Vivian devastated.
• Tiandao assigned Yu Chen to watch Vivian, then took Little Danika away for lunch.
• Yu Chen turned off the surveillance cameras and warned Vivian not to trust Tiandao or most people in the Steam Branch and Gear Church, while promising to clear her name.
• Tiandao put away a file containing a photograph of a child at Gear Church Orphanage No. 3, prompting the Dimensional Audience to speculate that Yu Chen was one of the missing orphans.

After the Gear Church demanded that the Fifth Squad hand over Vivian, Tiandao arrived as Per and Yu Chen prepared to fight. Tiandao confronted Per with an ink-based Star Energy Technique, leaving the standoff on the verge of escalation.

• A Fifth Squad member told Tiandao that the Gear Church had come to claim Vivian and that Yu Chen was refusing to release her.
• Per demanded that Yu Chen surrender Vivian, while Yu Chen insisted that the Church follow Association rules and obtain approval from the Branch President or Tiandao.
• Per and Yu Chen prepared to fight as their forces raised their weapons, threatening to draw the Steam Branch into the conflict.
• Tiandao entered the grounds and warned Per that the Church had overreached.
• Tiandao gathered ink at his fingertip and unleashed the Star Energy Technique—Ink Coffin.

Tiandao contained Per and negotiated over the Church’s evidence that Vivian stole the Mechanical Bible: Gear. He gave Yu Chen one month to prove Vivian’s innocence before the Twelve Brass Council decided her fate.

• Tiandao trapped Per in an Ink Coffin, then released him after the Brass Knights lowered their weapons.
• Per showed Tiandao surveillance footage of a helmeted figure in Vivian’s mech stealing Danika and the Mechanical Bible: Gear with the Grey Rat Gang.
• Yu Chen pointed out that the footage did not show the thief’s face, but Per argued that the mech and Seconds Hand Rapier identified Vivian.
• Tiandao and Per agreed that the Twelve Brass Council would determine Vivian’s fate in one month, while the Fifth Squad kept custody of her.
• Tiandao told Yu Chen to find evidence of Vivian’s innocence within a month and warned that the Gear Church seemed prepared.

Tiandao developed the framework for Perfect Technique: Purgatory Rashomon and identified the Mechanical Quantum Hub Gear as the blank Book he needed to complete it. He planned to use the Twelve Brass Conference and turmoil in the Steam Capital to seize Quantum Hub authority, then left his training room disguised as Shui Mo.

• Tiandao used Hyper-computation, Vector Control, and the Stellar Eclipse Heavenly Eye to create a more complete Ink Coffin, but decided it still needed Danika's Precept ability and a suitable Book.
• Tiandao concluded that the Wordless Bible held by the Gear Church was not the Book he needed and identified the Mechanical Quantum Hub Gear hidden in the Steam Capital as the true Bible.
• Tiandao took out a Quantum Cube that could store Quantum Data and determined that obtaining complete Quantum Hub authority depended on the Twelve Brass Conference a month later.
• Tiandao left the training room disguised as Shui Mo and planned to exploit conflict between the upper and lower city to seize the Steam Capital's Quantum Hub authority.

Yu Qianxia confronted a Steam Capital entrepreneur over rumors that damaged Qianxia Group, then headed with Chen Kong and Liu Ma toward Rust Iron Hell. After her convoy left, the entrepreneur revealed he had been acting and reported that Yu Qianxia had guessed something about a larger scheme.

• Yu Qianxia beat a Steam Capital entrepreneur and demanded compensation for the damage to Qianxia Group’s reputation, threatening him with a precise Star Energy punch that demolished half the villa.
• Chen Kong watched Yu Qianxia’s display of strength and questioned whether being a Starborn or having an extra Star Core truly made someone exceptional.
• Yu Qianxia told Chen Kong and Liu Ma to leave with her, and the Qianxia Group convoy headed toward Steam Capital’s Lower City, Rust Iron Hell.
• After the convoy departed, the entrepreneur calmly called a mysterious person and said Yu Qianxia seemed to have guessed something and did not want to get involved.
• The mysterious person called Yu Qianxia Martial Arts Heavenly Capital’s ‘White Tiger’ and said she would leave in less than half a month.

Yu Qianxia brought Liu Ma and Chen Kong to Qianxia Group’s construction site in Steam Capital, then began a half-month training challenge in an underground facility. She left them to practice breaking Black Obsidian Rock without damaging an egg, setting them up to compete over who would finish first.

• Yu Qianxia explained that she had come to Steam Capital to expand Qianxia Group’s construction business, not just to visit Liu Ma.
• Chen Kong and Liu Ma saw Qianxia Group’s unmodified workers displaying strength far beyond ordinary people as they toured the construction site.
• Yu Qianxia shattered Black Obsidian Rock with a punch while keeping an egg in her hand unharmed, demonstrating her control over her body and star energy.
• Yu Qianxia challenged Liu Ma and Chen Kong to spend half a month training without Star Sources or Star Cores, then break Black Obsidian Rock without cracking an egg.
• Yu Qianxia assigned Liu Ma a larger boulder than Chen Kong and left to discuss real estate projects, while the two began competing to finish the task first.

Half a month into training, Yu Qianxia praised Liu Ma and Chen Kong’s rapid progress while comparing them unfavorably to the long-missing Tiandao Siming. She then set the two young men a final test with enormous slabs of Black Obsidian Rock, leaving them alarmed when she said they could use Star Source after weeks of practicing without it.

• Qianhe reported that Liu Ma had reached B+ Class Precision and Chen Kong was nearing B Class.
• Yu Qianxia and Qianhe discussed Tiandao Siming’s extraordinary martial arts talent and his unknown fate.
• Yu Qianxia asked Chen Kong and Liu Ma whether they were ready for her test, and they agreed with confidence.
• Yu Qianxia had Qianhe bring out two five-meter slabs of Black Obsidian Rock for the test.
• Yu Qianxia told Chen Kong and Liu Ma they could use Star Source, but they worried they could not keep their eggs intact while using it.

Liu Ma and Chen Kong passed Yu Qianxia’s test by breaking Black Obsidian Rock without damaging the egg they held. Yu Qianxia promised to teach them Yu Clan martial skills and began demonstrating Gun-Fu for Chen Kong.

• Liu Ma carefully combined his Golden Demon Bull and Netherworld Warhorse powers, shattered the Black Obsidian Rock, and kept the egg intact.
• Liu Ma thanked Yu Qianxia for his training and learned that he was nearing a breakthrough.
• Chen Kong copied Liu Ma’s Star Core, Star Source, and punching technique with The Visionary, then also shattered the rock while protecting his egg.
• Yu Qianxia praised both boys and promised to teach each a suitable Yu Clan Martial Skill.
• Yu Qianxia explained Gun-Fu to Chen Kong and vanished as she began her demonstration.

Yu Qianxia demonstrated Yu Clan Gun-Fu to Chen Kong and explained how martial artists should rely on trained instincts in combat. She praised Tiandao Siming’s extraordinary talent, and Chen Kong agreed as the two bonded over their admiration for him.

• Yu Qianxia showed Chen Kong the offensive and defensive basics of Yu Clan Gun-Fu, then demonstrated its more imaginative techniques using bandage-wrapped pistols.
• Chen Kong admitted he could not follow many of the movements, so Qianhe gave him a recording of Yu Qianxia’s demonstration.
• Yu Qianxia explained that martial artists should practice fixed moves before learning to rely on instinct rather than conscious thought.
• Yu Qianxia cited Tiandao Siming as an example of incredible martial talent and praised his daring use of a Star Energy Technique.
• Chen Kong agreed with Yu Qianxia’s praise of Tiandao, while viewers on Station 13 joked about the pair’s shared fandom.