Recaps

Hao Ren and his allies traced the Chaos Shadow outbreak to the Sun Disc, purified the artifact, and uncovered its connection to the Creation Goddess’s death and the races’ innate hostility. After leaving Ankatro, Hao Ren consulted Raven 15431516836 about Vivian and the disc, then resumed testing the discs for signs of others.

• Shadows erupted in the Ankatro Family Hall after the gathered groups lost their innate hostility, and Hao Ren, Vivian, Izax, and the Demon Hunters fought them until Hassu’s ritual banished them.
• Hassu and the others found Elder Andal under a Mind Binding spell, and Izax freed her so she could explain that the Sun Disc had triggered the Chaos Shadow outbreak.
• Andal led Hao Ren’s group to the hibernation shelter, where they rescued Vogus and other surviving Tanans from failing cryogenic systems.
• Vogus explained that the Ankatro Family had guarded the Sun Disc, and Hao Ren, Vivian, Izax, and Hassu entered the Corridor of Disaster to reach it.
• Hao Ren used the God Contract to purify the Sun Disc, and touching its stains showed him the God Slayer’s attack on the Creation Goddess and the beginning of the Great Extinction.
• Hao Ren explained that the Creation Goddess’s blood had contaminated the Sun Disc and spread innate hostility among the races, then told Hassu about the Dream Plane and the God-slaying War.
• Hassu agreed to share what he had learned with the Demon Hunter Elder Council, while Hao Ren returned the purified disc and warned that the surviving Ankatro Family’s troubles were not over.
• Hao Ren told Vogus that Tanagrus had recovered and was settled by the Zhuom people, then advised him to delay any return until the interworld blockade ended.
• Hao Ren brought Vivian and the disc to Raven 15431516836, who purified the artifact and found no clear evidence that Vivian carried Original Sin contamination.
• Hao Ren resumed testing the golden discs for resonance that might locate others, but Vivian remained absorbed in them until he called her to join the group for food.

Hao Ren followed traces of ancient spacecraft to a refugee fleet whose surviving Ark held a primitive civilization trapped in a failing world. After learning that the Ancestor’s Great Furnace was breaking down and sensing a call from it, he entered the reactor with his companions under the guise of legendary witches.

• Hao Ren investigated the Drone Empire’s report of old faster-than-light trails and found a fleet of twelve damaged Arks.
• Hao Ren restarted one Ark’s power and discovered that its inhabitants had died by suicide after their life-support equipment was stripped to sustain other ships.
• Nolan detected survivors aboard another Ark, where Hao Ren’s group met Willy during a battle between the High Tower Kingdom and the Iron City-State.
• Willy guided Hao Ren to Hearth City, where Scholar Auro explained the Four Kingdoms, the worsening winter, and the failing Ancestor’s Great Furnace.
• A power surge blacked out Hearth City, and the governor sent Willy, Auro, Hao Ren, and his companions to the royal city for a council about the Furnace.
• Scholar Auro drove the group to Furnace Fortress, where Vivian sensed a summons from the Ancestor’s Great Furnace.
• Hao Ren led his companions past the Blood Attendants and into the Furnace after discovering severe radiation and deciding not to risk teleporting near the unstable reactor.
• Willy and the royal city soldiers arrived as Hao Ren’s group entered the Central Control Station, and Vivian, Lily, and Nangong May posed as legendary witches to keep the crowd from interfering.

Hao Ren uncovered the fate of the Ark’s people, brought their last guardian back to their descendants, and arranged for the refugees to shelter on Io with the Sirens’ consent. He then visited Nathatone, where the Sirens’ collection of artifacts began to reveal more of the planet’s past.

• Hao Ren and his companions found Lawrence, the sole surviving guardian of the Ark’s children, and learned how plague and system failures had destroyed his people’s old society.
• Hao Ren revived the Ancestor’s Great Furnace, reunited Lawrence with the descendants who had forgotten their origins, and promised to help the Ark survivors find a safe home.
• Hao Ren returned the third golden disc to the Guardian Giants and learned more about the elusive Starry Sky People and the dark voices at the edges of the stars.
• Hao Ren’s attempt to question Nakuru was interrupted by an illusory escape, and he later decided to investigate the Root Cause of the Universe while leaving the mystery unresolved for the moment.
• Hao Ren asked Katerina to let the Ark refugees stay on Io, and she agreed in exchange for one Ark ship while also asking to use another ship to study and repair Nathatone.
• Hao Ren and his companions joined the Sirens’ festival, where Roll caused a commotion by biting Shaqila’s tail.
• Katerina led Hao Ren, Vivian, and Lily through the Sirens’ sea-collected artifacts, showing them relics from human history and the Mythical Era before Hao Ren noticed a familiar-looking object.

Hao Ren helped the Ark survivors settle on Io and reunited with Eva before learning that the Demon Hunters had split into a civil war. He brought a coalition army to the North Pole and joined Bai Huo’s defenders inside Corpus as the fighting continued.

• Hao Ren brought the thirteen Arks to Io, where the survivors established floating cities and Eva returned with seagrass to feed them.
• Hao Ren learned that Demon Hunters were disappearing, then found the wounded Bai Huo after she fell into a garbage bin and brought her home.
• Bai Huo told Hao Ren that the Thirteen Saints and the Elder Council were at war, and Vivian recognized the blood crystal she carried as a message she had left for herself.
• Vivian agreed to investigate the Demon Hunters’ headquarters, Korperth, and Hao Ren gathered a coalition army to help the defenders.
• Hao Ren and Bai Huo reached the hidden Ice Fortress, where Master Kuzov told them the reinforcements would arrive and led them toward the Tower of Stars.
• Bai Huo guided Hao Ren’s group through the tower’s shifting spatial laws into Corpus, where they saw floating ruins and learned that the Elder Council had lost more energy nodes.
• Hao Ren and Lily stared at the distant ruined palaces, both seeming to recognize them.