Chapter Summaries

Bronya and Zhao Bai settled into the Arctic snow, where Bronya found the familiar landscape transformed by her new state of mind. Zhao Bai lit a fire and revealed a hotpot base, leaving their polar outing ready for a spicy meal.

• Bronya arrived in the Arctic Circle without feeling unsettled by the snow and cold.
• Zhao Bai dug a snow pit while Bronya watched from Heavy Cannon Rabbit's arm and admired the stars.
• Bronya reflected on how the same wilderness felt different now that she was not waiting there on an assassination mission.
• Zhao Bai built a fire with fuel-soaked pinewood and took out a red package of hotpot base.

Zhao Bai and Bronya shared a hotpot meal in the snow, with Bronya discovering that the spicy broth was far hotter than Zhao Bai claimed. After eating, they set off south toward Siberia on a sled pulled by Heavy Cannon Rabbit.

• Zhao Bai prepared a yin-yang hotpot over a fire while Bronya watched uneasily.
• Bronya used Heavy Cannon Rabbit's repulsion field to help the water boil quickly.
• Zhao Bai tasted the spicy broth and claimed it was not spicy, but Bronya's face turned red after trying it.
• Zhao Bai and Bronya ate from separate sides of the hotpot and packed away the remaining ingredients when they were half full.
• Zhao Bai held Bronya on the sled as Heavy Cannon Rabbit pulled them south toward Siberia.

As Zhao Bai traveled across the Arctic with Bronya, an aurora prompted a breakthrough in his Taixu Heart Sutra. The chapter left Bronya watching as he ran into the polar night and tested his newfound state of mind.

• Zhao Bai traveled across the snowy Arctic with Bronya, pulled by Heavy Cannon Rabbit, and stopped to prepare roasted seal.
• Zhao Bai watched the aurora sweep across the sky and reached the Bright Mirror realm of the Taixu Heart Sutra.
• Bronya woke and watched Zhao Bai run toward where the aurora had vanished.
• Zhao Bai stopped in the polar night, extended his hand like a blade, and appeared to cast off his sorrow and anger.

Zhao Bai created a snowfall over the Arctic for Bronya before preparing seal meat, while Amber enjoyed a sauna and plunged into an icy lake. The chapter ended with a warning about the health risks of moving suddenly from sauna heat to freezing water.

• Zhao Bai shattered an iceberg with his sword energy, creating snow beneath the aurora for Bronya to watch.
• Bronya watched Zhao Bai prepare seal meat and struggled to focus on anything but him and the food.
• Amber relaxed in a sauna at a lakeside cabin while someone roasted potatoes outside.
• Amber jumped from the sauna into the icy lake and exclaimed that it was refreshing.

Amber tried to calm Theresa, who demanded to speak with Zhao Bai or Otto over Zhao Bai’s sudden rise to power in Schicksal. Theresa remained unconvinced and threatened Amber with Judah.

• Amber recovered after repeated sauna and ice-lake sessions, then woke refreshed and began her secretarial duties.
• Theresa called Amber and demanded that Zhao Bai come speak with her, questioning his title as Emperor of Schicksal and the headquarters announcement.
• Amber told Theresa that Otto was in seclusion and explained that he was carefully making plans around Zhao Bai.
• Theresa dismissed Amber’s explanation and insisted on seeing Zhao Bai or Otto, threatening to flatten Amber with Judah.

Amber headed to the harbor to contact a nuclear-powered icebreaker while convincing Theresa that Boss Zhao was safe on a honeymoon at the North Pole. She prepared to negotiate with Russian authorities, whose icebreakers Schicksal had to borrow because it lacked a presence and Honkai-powered vessels in the region.

• Amber told Theresa that Boss Zhao was hiking at the North Pole with his newlywed wife and offered to provide a report of his expenditures as Schicksal President.
• Amber recounted how Boss Zhao had beaten young members of the three great families after they proposed tying their interests to him and having him marry an Apocalypse bride.
• Amber said Boss Zhao had cried in Bronya's arms after the incident, then redirected Theresa's attention by chatting about women's topics.
• Amber put on a golden eye-covering mask as her convoy neared the harbor and prepared to negotiate with the Russian authorities.
• Amber noted that Schicksal had no major organization or Honkai-powered icebreakers in the Arctic Ocean and had to borrow old Soviet-era vessels.

Amber piloted a weathered nuclear-powered icebreaker through Arctic ice to open a shipping route while Zhao Bai was away, and Rita worked in Antarctica under punishing sunlight. Amber faced a month of difficult work, while Rita began suffering signs of snow blindness and blamed her new boss.

• Amber entered the old icebreaker and prepared to pilot it through the Arctic.
• Amber watched the aurora while operating the ship and counted the rent she needed to fund.
• Amber took on the job of carving a shipping route through drifting ice for the month Zhao Bai was away.
• Rita worked in Antarctica wearing the Moon Soul Armor and began showing signs of snow blindness.
• Rita blamed her new boss for making her work under the bright Antarctic sun.

Rita worked on Zhao Bai’s extravagant crescent-shaped spacecraft project in Antarctica, where Durandal arrived to deliver her tea and inspect the aircraft. Durandal questioned the project’s cost but was left to assess whether its value justified the expense.

• Rita resented being sent to Antarctica to work on Zhao Bai’s launch device, which was only 10% complete and had no cockpit.
• Durandal crashed onto the Antarctic ice and brought Rita tea and red velvet cake.
• Durandal explained that Zhao Bai had given her authority to deploy Moonlit Armor and that she had come to inspect his project.
• Rita showed Durandal the nearly completed crescent-shaped aircraft and explained that it stayed airborne through brute force at enormous cost.
• Durandal frowned at the aircraft’s design and considered whether its value could outweigh its expense.

Durandal inspected Zhao Bai’s enormous, luminescent artificial moon and realized its construction and future test flights would cost far more than she had expected. Rita later explained that the weapons designer Chopstick Changguang had complained about the request but was secretly happy to design a proposal prop.

• Durandal left the construction site with Rita and served her tea in the warm living room.
• After Rita resumed her Moon Soul Armor, Durandal returned to examine the artificial moon and considered how its altitude would need to be tested.
• Durandal anticipated Lord Bishop’s reaction to the project’s rising costs.
• Rita told Durandal that Chopstick Changguang had called Zhao Bai’s request outrageous and selfish, but was pleased to design a proposal prop.

Durandal and Rita admired Changguang’s expensive, beautiful satellite, while Zhao Bai and Bronya grew closer during their Arctic journey. The group reached their destination, where Bronya shaved Zhao Bai’s beard aboard the icebreaker.

• Durandal decided to appreciate Changguang’s satellite for its beauty rather than worry about its cost.
• Durandal remarked that the moon was beautiful, and Rita briefly mistook her words before they cleared up the misunderstanding.
• Zhao Bai and his companion traveled through the Arctic and grew comfortable together by the time they reached their destination.
• Amber waited aboard the icebreaker as Bronya used Heavy Cannon Rabbit to shave Zhao Bai’s month-old beard.

Zhao Bai and Bronya left the Arctic aboard Amber’s icebreaker and discussed their next destinations. Zhao Bai planned to take Bronya to Antarctica and then make one final trip to St. Freya, promising that Antarctica would be different from another ice field.

• Zhao Bai and Bronya arrived at the dock and boarded Amber’s icebreaker without verification.
• Amber started the icebreaker south along the route she had carved through the Arctic Ocean.
• Bronya bathed using hot water produced by the icebreaker’s nuclear power system.
• Zhao Bai and Bronya sat together in the lounge, and he tried to style her hair before she stopped him with a look.
• Bronya asked where they would go next, and Zhao Bai said they would visit Antarctica and then St. Freya.
• Zhao Bai assured Bronya that he had prepared a special experience for her in Antarctica, and she accepted his reassurance.

Zhao Bai brought Bronya to Antarctica and revealed a giant artificial crescent moon he had spent a month creating for her. As it rose from the continent, its light illuminated the land, leaving Bronya awed by the romantic gesture and stunned by its cost.

• Bronya worried that their journey’s final stop meant she and Zhao Bai would have to part ways, and privately hoped he would not propose.
• Zhao Bai and Bronya crossed the oceans and reached Antarctic waters after a week-long voyage.
• Zhao Bai had Bronya open her eyes, then called someone as tremors shook the ice and a huge crescent moon appeared.
• Bronya realized Zhao Bai had built the three-kilometer artificial moon with countless searchlights and felt both touched and concerned about the expense.
• Furnaces converted Honkai energy into lifting force, and the artificial moon rose from the Antarctic continent, lighting the land.

Zhao Bai made a gigantic celestial display to confess to Bronya, then asked her to get engaged. Bronya rejected the proposal but smiled and kissed his cheek, leaving their relationship affectionate and unresolved.

• Bronya admired the enormous glowing celestial body and asked Zhao Bai if it was the moon.
• Zhao Bai confessed that he had made a star for Bronya, and she noted that he had confessed before.
• Bronya realized this was the first time Zhao Bai had taken the initiative to make such a grand confession.
• Zhao Bai asked Bronya to get engaged, but she told him to get lost.
• Bronya cupped Zhao Bai's cheeks, smiled, kissed his cheek, and warned him not to raise strange flags.

After Zhao Bai’s confession failed, he spoke with Chopstick Changguang and the others, who questioned him and offered advice. He reassured them that his relationship was still good and said he might try again in a few days.

• Zhao Bai ended the moon display after his confession had failed.
• Chopstick Changguang called Zhao Bai and asked how the confession went, explaining that she had prepared proposal items for him.
• Zhao Bai told Chopstick Changguang that he had been rejected.
• Durandal and Rita took turns questioning Zhao Bai and speculating about why he had been rejected.
• Zhao Bai said his relationship was still good and that he might try confessing again in a few days.
• Rita advised Zhao Bai that a second confession was unlikely to succeed, and he teased her for knowing so much about confessions.

Zhao Bai and Bronya returned to St. Freya Academy after Bronya said she did not object to forming a family with him and asked him to bring it up again later. They arrived hand in hand, where Theresa waited but struggled to confront Zhao Bai while Bronya was present.

• Zhao Bai ended the call and brooded over his failed confession to Bronya.
• Zhao Bai and Bronya left the icebreaker, said goodbye to Amber, and flew to St. Freya Academy.
• During the flight, Bronya held Zhao Bai's hand and said she did not object to the idea of them forming a family.
• Bronya told Zhao Bai to ask her again after he returned so she could consider it seriously.
• Zhao Bai and Bronya arrived at the academy lakeside hand in hand, and Theresa hesitated to speak to him.

Zhao Bai reflected on why he fought and realized he wanted to remain in this world with the girls he loved. Watching the lake, he reached the Great Void Realm, though he left without saying farewell.

• Bronya pulled Theresa away while Zhao Bai sat down to meditate by the lake.
• Zhao Bai reviewed his cultivation and recognized that he fought to keep living in this world and confess again to the girls he liked.
• Zhao Bai stared at the lake as it froze around him, forming a dustless domain.
• Zhao Bai comprehended the Great Void Realm and achieved a complete state of mind.
• Zhao Bai left without saying farewell, leaving the lake frozen like a flawless mirror.

Zhao Bai asked the Xuanyuan Sword to forgive him as he prepared to use its true form in a final gamble, then secretly left St. Freya Academy. At Schicksal Headquarters, he swallowed hundreds of Harmonic String bottles and asked Amber where the Divine Key weapons were stored.

• Zhao Bai summoned the Xuanyuan Sword and asked her to forgive him before wielding her true form.
• Zhao Bai confided his worries about love and responsibility to the Xuanyuan Sword, then transformed her into a longsword and carried her away.
• Zhao Bai secretly took a warship from St. Freya Academy in the early hours of the night.
• Zhao Bai went to Schicksal Headquarters and swallowed several hundred bottles of Harmonic String.
• Amber found Zhao Bai among the empty bottles, and he asked her where Schicksal stored its Divine Key weapons.

Zhao Bai chose Feather of Dust and freed Otto from his sealed room. They traveled to the depths of the Sea of Quanta, where Otto began uploading his memories to the cloud to prevent losing them if he died.

• Amber led Zhao Bai through the Divine Key armory, where he chose Feather of Dust and it transformed into a pendant.
• Zhao Bai asked Amber to take him to Otto, then opened Otto’s sealed black room with the command “Open sesame.”
• Otto recognized signs that Zhao Bai had cultivated Taixu Sword Qi and assessed his Supreme Emotionlessness state.
• Zhao Bai and Otto traveled to the depths of the Sea of Quanta, a place disconnected from reality.
• Otto ordered his memories uploaded to the cloud so death would no longer erase them, and Zhao Bai questioned the need for such caution.

Zhao Bai suppressed his murderous intent and confronted Void Archive, which appeared in Otto’s form. The encounter ended with Zhao Bai and Otto exchanging accusations while ignoring Void Archive’s protest.

• Zhao Bai used Feather of Dust to suppress his memories and urge to kill Otto.
• Zhao Bai connected with Void Archive’s restless will, and Void Archive appeared in Otto’s image.
• Otto joked about Void Archive using his appearance and asked Zhao Bai why it had done so.
• Zhao Bai said Otto and Void Archive were alike because they both hid behind the scenes and plotted.
• Zhao Bai and Otto gave a synchronized denial, prompting Void Archive to complain that they were ignoring it.

Zhao Bai confronted Void Archive, an imprint born from his own heart, and demanded to know whether completing Otto’s task would force him to leave the people he cared about. After Zhao Bai easily destroyed the golden figure, a far greater battle began to gather in the Sea of Quanta.

• Void Archive revealed that it had given Zhao Bai his arsenal and complained that Otto’s restriction prevented him from using its weapons against people.
• Zhao Bai asked whether completing the task and erasing Otto’s traces would drive him away, but Void Archive could not reassure him.
• Zhao Bai used Taixu’s state of mind and Honkai energy to tear apart the golden-haired figure with a command to disperse.
• Otto retreated from the battlefield and warned that the real storm was coming.
• Dull booms sounded as strange clouds gathered and a golden gate appeared in the Sea of Quanta, while Void Archive disabled its dialogue function and faced Zhao Bai at full strength.