Recaps

Li Congxin defeated The Hand’s attackers and helped Tony stop Ivan Vanko’s assault, then discovered he could absorb natural energy to replenish and strengthen himself. The chapter ended with Li Congxin floating above the sea at dawn after an epiphany.

• Li Congxin crushed Sowanda’s mecha and killed him, while Captain America and Yi Long fought Alexandra.
• Yi Long killed Alexandra, and Li Congxin flew away as his Dark Energy increased.
• Li Congxin found Tony and Rhodey fighting Ivan Vanko’s forces, then stopped the unmanned mecha from reaching the stadium.
• Eris’s Queen Knight mecha joined the fight, Rhodey regained control of War Machine, and Tony’s side defeated Ivan Vanko.
• Tony teased Li Congxin about lacking a computer expert, so Li Congxin returned home and trained in the Gravity Chamber.
• At dawn, Li Congxin realized he could absorb natural energy to replenish his energy and strengthen himself.

Li Congxin used his newly awakened BGM to discover that Monica Rambeau’s blood had given him an affinity for absorbing light energy, letting him replenish his strength while fighting beneath the sun. After Qingfeng tracked the hacker who had breached his computer, Li Congxin abandoned his plan to test himself in space and went to confront her at St. John's Church School, where he found Skye.

• Li Congxin activated "Go with the Flow" and realized Monica Rambeau’s blood had made his energy more compatible with light.
• Li Congxin absorbed sunlight to restore his stamina, then tested his powers for two hours at high altitude and found that sunlight replenished his energy as quickly as he spent it.
• Li Congxin considered flying into outer space, but Qingfeng informed him that an intruder had hacked his computer and tracked the intruder’s location.
• Li Congxin used the Space Stone to appear above St. John's Church School in Hell’s Kitchen.
• Skye, who had hacked Li Congxin’s computer to copy advance chapters of Swallowed Star, saw that she had been tracked and heard Li Congxin speak behind her.

After settling things with Skye over her earlier computer intrusions, Li Congxin invited her to join his research team and offered her exceptional resources. Skye showed interest, and he asked her to improve his artificial intelligence without leaving backdoors.

• Li Congxin returned home, watched news coverage of his battle with Captain America and Yi Long, and asked Sharon to bring Skye to him.
• Sharon arrived with Skye and Phil Coulson, and Li Congxin teased Coulson before Skye threatened to report him for sexual harassment.
• After Sharon and Coulson left, Li Congxin called things even with Skye over her computer intrusions and revealed that he wanted to recruit her.
• Li Congxin introduced Pym Laboratories' researchers and offered Skye top-scientist treatment, a supercomputer, schooling, and help investigating her background.
• Skye asked what her job would be, and Li Congxin told her to improve his artificial intelligence and swear not to add backdoors.

Li Congxin visited Wakanda, where T'Chaka and his family welcomed him as T'Challa’s designated successor took charge of showing him the hidden nation. After learning about the Black Panther suit and Wakanda’s traditions, Li Congxin asked to see the Heart-shaped herb, leaving T'Challa troubled.

• Skye accepted Li Congxin’s offer to join his team and teased him about their encounter that morning before leaving.
• Tony struggled with his recent setbacks, then returned Captain America’s Round Shield through Eris as repayment for a favor.
• Superheroes began arriving in New York ahead of the representative election, while Iron Man premiered and faced a North American theater boycott but dominated the global box office.
• Li Congxin arrived in Wakanda with T'Challa and was welcomed by King T'Chaka, T'Challa’s mother, and Shuri.
• T'Challa explained that Wakanda’s tradition reserved the Black Panther suit for the king, and Li Congxin asked to see the Heart-shaped herb, making T'Challa hesitate.

Li Congxin visited Wakanda’s Heart-shaped herb facility, then fought T'Challa in a training room and studied Wakandan hunting footage afterward. He began developing a strange new claw technique inspired by Black Panther.

• T'Challa explained that only Wakanda’s king could inherit the Heart-shaped herb’s power, and Li Congxin toured the facility without trying to obtain any.
• After dinner, Shuri suggested that Li Congxin and T'Challa fight to compare their strength, and T'Challa put on his Black Panther suit.
• Li Congxin dominated their hour-long sparring match, while explaining that T'Challa’s suit and claws made him dangerous despite the gap in their martial skill.
• T'Challa thanked Li Congxin for helping him identify weaknesses in his combat techniques, and Li Congxin asked to stay in the training room to study.
• Li Congxin watched recordings of Black Panthers hunting and began practicing a new claw technique that gradually moved beyond T'Challa’s influence.

Li Congxin developed a claw technique inspired by a black panther and proposed trading it for Wakandan help with Pym Uncle’s experiment. T'Chaka agreed to the deal, and T'Challa named someone to send to America, leaving T'Chaka stunned.

• Li Congxin finished an overnight training session and explained that his claw technique was flawed but potentially suitable for women.
• Shuri asked to learn the technique, and Li Congxin offered it in exchange for Wakanda’s help with Pym Uncle’s experiment using vibranium.
• Shuri volunteered to travel to America and assist with the experiment while Li Congxin taught her the claw technique.
• T'Challa told T'Chaka that the technique could defeat him in fewer than ten moves, and T'Chaka decided Wakanda should accept the trade.
• T'Chaka asked who should go to America, and T'Challa named someone who stunned him.

Li Congxin agreed to take Shuri to America to study his claw technique and help Old Pi, then handed her physical training to Mindy when she struggled with practice. As New York prepared for a superhero election, Li Congxin proposed a qualification system, but Shuri interrupted his meeting with news that a woman claiming to be his wife had arrived.

• T'Challa confirmed that Wakanda had unanimously chosen Shuri to accompany Li Congxin, and Li agreed to teach her his claw technique.
• Li Congxin demonstrated a powerful claw strike for T'Challa, then used the Cosmic Cube and an Any Door to take Shuri to Pym Laboratories.
• Li Congxin discovered that Shuri could assist Old Pi with vibranium research but resisted strenuous physical training, so he assigned Mindy to supervise her.
• Secretary Ross gathered Tony, Li Congxin, and Captain America to discuss defining superhero qualifications, and Li proposed virtue and simulated combat assessments.
• Shuri contacted Li Congxin during the meeting and told him that a beautiful woman had come looking for him, claiming to be his wife.

Li Congxin met Sif, who had come from Asgard to ask about Thor and seek help reaching him. After arranging for Sharon to guide her, he warned Thor that Sif was his fiancée and might find him with Jane Foster.

• Li Congxin left a meeting with Secretary Ross early to deal with Shuri’s claim that a woman was waiting as his wife.
• Li Congxin met Sif, an Asgardian warrior, and learned that Odin had entered Odin’s Sleep while Loki had taken the throne and Thor was away on Earth.
• Sif asked Li Congxin to help Thor complete Odin’s trial or let her meet him, but Li Congxin said he could not alter the trial and offered to arrange a guide.
• Li Congxin asked Sharon to show Sif around and help her change out of her armor.
• Li Congxin called Thor and warned him that Sif was the fiancée Odin had chosen for him and might see him with Jane Foster.

Li Congxin discovered that Shuri had memorized the Dao De Jing and could understand a qi-cultivation manual, so he decided to tailor her training to her abilities. After refining his claw technique during ten days of secluded cultivation, he revealed its improved form, the Nine Yin Divine Claws, and asked Shuri if she wanted to learn it.

• Li Congxin abandoned his plan to have Shuri tutor Mindy and helped Secretary Ross, Tony, and the others finalize confidential standards for judging superheroes.
• Shuri admitted she had copied the Dao De Jing only once, but she had memorized it and answered Li Congxin’s questions about its passages.
• Shuri translated a basic qi-cultivation manual for Li Congxin, who excused her from the remaining copying and began devising a cultivation method for her.
• Li Congxin spent ten days cultivating martial arts in a Los Angeles seaside villa while Mindy kept Shuri practicing her horse stance.
• Li Congxin demonstrated his improved claw technique, explained how qi cultivation had balanced its power, named it the Nine Yin Divine Claws, and asked Shuri whether she wanted to learn it.

Li Congxin trained Su Rui and Mindy, helped establish superhero certification standards, and then took Skye to an isolated island to let her experience his vibrational power. He was called back to New York to confront Frost Giant king Laufey, whom he lured away from civilians by promising to reveal the whereabouts of his son if Laufey won.

• Li Congxin taught Su Rui the Nine Yin Divine Claws and showed her and Mindy his martial arts, while Su Rui found her qi sense and Mindy practiced the Heavenly General Spear Art.
• Li Congxin, Tony, Captain America, and the government established superhero standards, and Li Congxin explained to Kick-Ass why applicants without sufficient strength were rejected.
• Li Congxin took Skye to an isolated Pacific island and offered her the chance to experience his vibrational power, but Su Rui alerted him to the Frost Giants attacking New York.
• Li Congxin returned to New York and confronted Laufey and sixteen other Frost Giants, trading a powerful blow with Laufey.
• Li Congxin persuaded Laufey to follow him away from the city by offering to reveal where Laufey's son was if Laufey defeated him.

Li Congxin and the Earth heroes fought Laufey and his Frost Giants on the frozen Pacific, while a worldwide audience watched the battle. As Li Congxin gained an edge over Laufey, the Destroyer Armor appeared in New York City.

• Li Congxin led Laufey and sixteen Frost Giants to the Pacific, where Laufey froze the surrounding sea and the heroes assembled to face them.
• Li Congxin challenged Laufey and began fighting him, while Tony, Captain America, Yi Long, War Machine, and the other heroes battled the remaining Frost Giants.
• Li Congxin taunted Tony about not bringing heavier armor, and Tony explained that Li had destroyed his reserves and that Hulk had not given him a reason to build a Hulkbuster.
• Li Congxin unleashed his martial techniques and briefly overwhelmed Laufey, but Laufey's toughness and regeneration kept Li from securing a decisive victory.
• People around the world watched satellite footage of the battle, while the Impression Points from the fight rose before their growth slowed.
• The Destroyer Armor descended into New York City and appeared on the streets where the Frost Giants had rampaged.

The Destroyer attacked New York and overwhelmed the military and S.H.I.E.L.D. forces sent to stop it. Sif’s strike failed, but Mindy arrived in the Queen Knight Battle Armor, badly damaged the Destroyer, and vowed to protect the city while Clark was away.

• The Destroyer headed toward Pym Laboratories, where Thor recognized it as Loki’s weapon and Sif left to intercept it.
• Thor told Jane he would not run away and set out to face the Destroyer himself.
• Secretary Ross and Coulson’s forces confronted the Destroyer, but its attacks killed soldiers and agents and rendered their weapons ineffective.
• Sif pinned the Destroyer with her sword, but it threw her into a building and suffered no lasting harm.
• Mindy revealed herself inside the Queen Knight Battle Armor, pierced the Destroyer’s armor with a spear attack, and knocked it to the ground.
• Mindy told Coulson and Secretary Ross that she would protect New York City while Brother Clark was away.

Li Congxin used the Space Stone to kill Laufey and the sixteen Frost Giant warriors who charged him, while Mindy and Eris fought the Destroyer. After Li Congxin arranged for Tony and S.H.I.E.L.D. to collect the Frost Giants’ bodies, Egghead warned him that an equally dangerous enemy had appeared in New York.

• Sif warned Mindy as the Destroyer fired an energy beam, but Mindy dodged with help from Eris, who was operating her Queen Knight suit.
• Li Congxin infused Miraculous Hands, Spring Returns with the Space Stone’s power and killed Laufey with his Cube Void Slash.
• Li Congxin swept Laufey’s body and the remains of the battle away, then killed the sixteen Frost Giant warriors who attacked him.
• Li Congxin let Tony take several valuable Frost Giant corpses and called Egghead to arrange for S.H.I.E.L.D. to collect the remaining thirteen.
• Egghead agreed to publicly claim the corpses but warned Li Congxin to return to New York because another enemy had appeared.

Mindy and the Warriors Three fought the regenerating Destroyer while waiting for Li Congxin, until Thor drew its fire and Li Congxin arrived. After trying several attacks that the Destroyer survived, Li Congxin prepared to demonstrate a Railgun against it.

• Mindy and Sif fought alongside Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun, but the Destroyer regenerated from every attack as Mindy's suit ran low on energy.
• Thor stepped out to draw the Destroyer's attack, and Li Congxin reflected its energy beam through Any Doors before appearing above him.
• Li Congxin restored Mindy's strength, stopped Thor from sacrificing himself, and taunted Loki, who sent the Destroyer charging at him.
• Li Congxin tripped the Destroyer, launched it into the sky with vibration attacks, and sliced it into fragments with Cube Void Slash, but it reassembled.
• Li Congxin punched the Destroyer higher into the sky and asked Loki whether he knew what a Railgun was.

Li Congxin destroyed the Destroyer with a railgun attack using Mjolnir, helping Thor truly pass Odin’s test and awaken his thunder powers. After Thor departed for Asgard with Tony, Li Congxin focused on finding the missing Skye and asked S.H.I.E.L.D. for help.

• Li Congxin used Mjolnir as a super electromagnetic cannon, destroying the Destroyer and scattering its pieces.
• Thor accepted that Mjolnir was lost, passed his trial through genuine understanding, and awakened his divine power when the hammer returned.
• Li Congxin planned to accompany Thor to Asgard but discovered Skye had vanished from the uninhabited island where he had left her.
• Li Congxin sought help from The Ancient One at Kamar-Taj, but Mordo told him she was away fighting extradimensional demons.
• Thor, Tony, Sif, and the Warriors Three departed for Asgard through the Bifrost after Thor said goodbye to Jane and his friends on Earth.
• Li Congxin asked Coulson to have S.H.I.E.L.D. help locate Skye, and Coulson asked whom they were supposed to find.

After Skye was captured by Hydra while seeking the truth about her origins, Li Congxin learned where she was being held and stormed the church to rescue her. He reached Skye, but Strughol threatened to shoot her, and Li Congxin faced him without fear.

• Coulson attacked Li Congxin after learning he had lost Skye and lied about it, then agreed to use S.H.I.E.L.D. resources to find her.
• Li Congxin became the government representative for superheroes and drafted a voluntary Superhero Registration Agreement, though Congress rejected his proposed right to kill first and be judged later.
• Tony Stark confronted Li Congxin about Bucky Barnes, then got drunk as he recounted Loki's betrayal and Thor's return to Asgard.
• Coulson told Li Congxin that Skye was being held at the Ponce de León church in San Juan, where Hydra had captured her and her father before she could undergo an Inhuman transformation.
• Li Congxin killed his way through the Hydra guards and reached Strughol, who held Skye at gunpoint and threatened to shoot her.

Li Congxin killed Strughol and the Hydra soldiers, then let Skye choose whether to awaken her powers and allowed Lena to accompany her into the temple. After Calvin Zabo took revenge on Strughol, Skye and Lena emerged transformed, but a blind man appeared and vanished with them in a flash of blue light.

• Li Congxin sent Strughol through Any Door and decapitated the five Hydra soldiers, then comforted Skye and questioned Calvin Zabo and Lena.
• Li Congxin showed Skye the gruesome aftermath and warned her that awakening her powers was irreversible, but Skye chose to proceed.
• Skye asked Li Congxin to spare Lena, and the two women entered the temple together to undergo the transformation.
• Li Congxin broke Strughol's limbs and handed him to Calvin Zabo, who killed him after a minute of revenge.
• Skye and Lena emerged from the temple, with Lena transformed, but a blind man appeared beside them and vanished with both women in a flash of blue light.

Li Congxin stopped Gordon from teleporting Calvin Zabo but deliberately let them escape so Skye could stay with the Inhumans and learn to control her abilities. Later, after Dave Lizewski and Happy were injured in Ten Rings attacks, Li Congxin publicly challenged The Mandarin and accidentally exposed S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, prompting Egghead to order increased security.

• Li Congxin used his quantum energy to disrupt Gordon's teleportation, then deliberately released him and Calvin Zabo so Skye could remain with the Inhumans.
• Li Congxin returned to his Los Angeles villa and trained, while Nalan Bai told him that the Ten Rings had carried out attacks across America and Dave Lizewski had been injured.
• Li Congxin and Captain America visited Dave in the hospital, where Captain America praised Dave's heroic spirit.
• Li Congxin encountered Tony Stark at the hospital and learned that Happy had also been injured in a terrorist bombing.
• Tony tried to declare war on The Mandarin and reveal his home address, but Li Congxin stopped him and challenged The Mandarin himself on camera.
• Li Congxin gave the reporters S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters' address, and Egghead ordered the headquarters' security increased.

Li Congxin bought Maya Hansen’s Extremis Virus research, exposed her ties to Killian’s terrorist attacks, and captured her before Killian’s helicopters attacked his villa. After agreeing to recover a hijacked S.H.I.E.L.D. ship in exchange for Howard’s Super Soldier Serum research, Li Congxin set out to sea, while Killian rescued Maya from S.H.I.E.L.D. custody and then shot her dead.

• Maya Hansen offered Li Congxin her incomplete Extremis Virus research, and he bought the data for one hundred million dollars before ordering Captain America to arrest her.
• Li Congxin told Captain America that Maya was connected to the terrorist attacks, and Captain America subdued her as Killian’s three helicopters launched missiles at the villa.
• Li Congxin’s defenses intercepted two missiles, and he destroyed all three helicopters with shock waves before negotiating with Hill and Egghead to recover a hijacked S.H.I.E.L.D. ship for Howard’s Super Soldier Serum research data.
• Li Congxin received the research data and left for the open sea while Captain America stayed behind to hand Maya over to S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Killian attacked Maya’s transport, killed the escorting agents, and shot Maya through the heart after she told him about her meeting with Li Congxin.

Li Congxin eliminated the Extremis-infected pirates aboard a freighter and discovered that three of them were Dark Apostles marked by Dormammu. He left S.H.I.E.L.D. to take control of the ship and learned that keeping enough distance from the Dark Apostles prevented their Dark Energy from flowing into him when they died.

• Li Congxin learned from Hill that Maya Hansen and her S.H.I.E.L.D. escorts had been killed, then ordered Natasha and the agents aboard the hidden Quinjet to wait while he approached the freighter.
• Two pirates opened fire on Li Congxin, but he returned their bullets and flung their bodies away before their Extremis-infused bodies exploded.
• Li Congxin repelled the remaining pirates and recognized that three unusually powerful men bore Dormammu's mark and wielded Dark Energy.
• Li Congxin killed two Dark Apostles through an Any Door and realized that sufficient distance kept their Dark Energy from reaching him.
• Li Congxin sent the tattooed leader into the Sahara Desert, where shockwaves killed him, then told Natasha that S.H.I.E.L.D. could take the freighter.

After learning that Killian’s terrorists had destroyed Tony’s villa, Li Congxin asked Hill to investigate the Ten Rings Gang and brought genetic research to Pym Laboratories. There, Shuri gave him a vibranium suit stored in a necklace, while the Quantum Tunnel was nearing completion and Pym still planned to retrieve Janet himself.

• Li Congxin learned that terrorists had destroyed Tony’s villa and decided to investigate Killian because a Dark Apostle was involved.
• Li Congxin asked Hill for information on the Ten Rings Gang, and Hill brought him the terrorist files and Howard’s Super Soldier Serum research.
• Li Congxin gave Old Pi and Shuri the Super Soldier Serum and Extremis research materials and asked about their progress on the Quantum Tunnel.
• Old Pi said the Quantum Tunnel should be finished within two months and planned to enter the Quantum Realm to retrieve Janet, while Li Congxin offered to go in his place.
• Shuri showed Li Congxin a vibranium suit stored in a necklace and explained how her nanotechnology design worked.
• Li Congxin tried on the suit, released it from the necklace, and completed his outfit with his red boots and Miraculous Hands, Spring Returns.

Li Congxin and Tony rescued Little Pepper from Killian’s manor, where Tony discovered the Mandarin was an actor and faced Killian’s Extremis-enhanced forces. As Tony’s Iron Legion surrounded the manor, the real Mandarin arrived, leaving Li Congxin grimly focused on the new threat.

• Li Congxin found Tony at the damaged manor and helped him contact Eris so Tony could summon an Iron Man suit.
• Li Congxin and Tony discovered the Mandarin impersonator, then Li Congxin threw a Dormammu-marked attacker through a portal and led Tony to the hidden basement.
• Li Congxin killed two armed terrorists, and Tony freed Little Pepper, who revealed that Killian’s men had injected her with the Extremis Virus.
• Li Congxin warned Tony and Little Pepper that they were surrounded, then confronted Killian and his armed Extremis-enhanced guards upstairs.
• Tony summoned his Iron Legion to surround the manor, but Li Congxin grew solemn when the real Mandarin entered.

Li Congxin fought The Mandarin, who had gained Dormammu’s power, while Tony and Little Pepper escaped the battle. The Mandarin absorbed Li Congxin’s Solar Flare and turned its energy against him, but Li Congxin redirected the ensuing lightning by summoning white lightning of his own.

• The Mandarin revealed that Dormammu had healed his injuries and empowered him, then attacked Li Congxin to draw Monica Rambeau out.
• Li Congxin and The Mandarin’s first clash destroyed the villa, and Li Congxin sent Tony and Little Pepper away while the Iron Legion held off Killian and the terrorists.
• Li Congxin and The Mandarin exchanged attacks in the air, turning the area around them into a deadly battlefield.
• Li Congxin used Solar Flare as cover for a sword thrust, but The Mandarin absorbed the light with his ring and returned its energy through a lightning attack.
• The Mandarin redirected the lightning pillar after Li Congxin, who summoned white lightning that drew the pillar away from him.

Li Congxin faced The Mandarin’s empowered attacks and mastered the Cube Space Rend Slash under the pressure of a deadly pursuit. He killed The Mandarin but lost six rings and absorbed a dangerous amount of Dark Energy, then returned to find Tony’s battle with Killian nearing defeat.

• The Mandarin used his Black Light Ring to absorb power and launched a cutting beam that pursued Li Congxin.
• Eris sacrificed the Queen Knight 36 suit to shield Tony from Killian’s flames, then warned Tony not to lose focus.
• Unable to escape the beam, Li Congxin mastered the Cube Space Rend Slash and cut The Mandarin in half, swallowing the beam with the space-rending sword strike.
• The Mandarin detonated himself and destroyed six of his rings; Li Congxin saved three, suffered severe injuries, and absorbed The Mandarin’s Dark Energy, which healed him.
• Li Congxin returned to the estate ruins and found Tony’s fight with Killian nearing its end, with only five Iron Man suits left.

Li Congxin helped defeat Killian, negotiated with Tony for Moon Prism Reactors in exchange for the Extremis Virus formula, and then visited The Ancient One to ask about Dormammu. The Ancient One revealed that she was seriously injured but had already found a way to treat the root cause of Li Congxin’s Dark Energy problem.

• Little Pepper used her Extremis-enhanced strength to shatter Killian’s head, and Li Congxin sent the self-destructing Killian away through an Any Door.
• Tony thanked Li Congxin, who offered him the Extremis Virus formula in exchange for ten Moon Prism Reactors.
• Tony agreed to let Little Pepper train to protect herself, while Eris offered to make her a custom suit.
• Li Congxin gave three rings to Old Pi and Shuri to study, then returned to Kamar-Taj to ask The Ancient One about Dormammu.
• The Ancient One told Li Congxin that she was injured and that his sister could remove Dark Energy from his body, though only as a treatment for the symptoms.
• The Ancient One confirmed that she had found a way to treat the root cause of Li Congxin’s Dark Energy problem.