Recaps

Griseo outlined the Praise Society’s plan to bring Primus into the Lemnian Hollow and assigned teams to investigate the four locations needed for its descent. The group prepared to enter the Hollow while Yixuan stayed behind to defend Weifei Land from a breach.

• Griseo explained that the Praise Society had used three sites and a floating boulder device to gather Corruptive Breath, but still needed a fourth tide and boulder to bring Primus down.
• Fairy identified the floating boulder as a Sky City device crafted by Wanzhou, one of the first-generation Void Hunters.
• Griseo assigned Obol Squad to the Final Sacrifice site, Yuzuha’s team to Reverie Town, Hoshimi Miyabi’s Section 6 to Mine Ancient Town Ruins, and herself with Belle, Wise, and Ye Shunguang to the Hollow’s center.
• Griseo gave Ye Shunguang the Azure Nether Sword and assured Yixuan that Lucia had grown strong enough to help Yuzuha’s team.
• Griseo tasked Yixuan with holding the Cyrus Boundary and arranging a protective formation, and Yixuan vowed that Yunkui Mountain’s disciples would fight to the death.

Wise, Belle, Ye Shunguang, and Griseo pushed deeper into the Lemnian Hollow as its Ether Activity rose, and Wise and Belle explained how Ether Activity and Total Ether affected Hollows. Griseo revealed that she planned to confront the First Lord while also solving the Azure Nether Sword’s backlash, leaving the group to prepare for the coming danger.

• Wise measured the Lemnian Hollow’s Ether Activity and found that it had risen by thirteen percentage points as Abyss Flowers bloomed and Ethereals became tainted.
• Belle explained the Ceres Limit, and Wise clarified how Ether Activity triggered Companion Hollows while Total Ether drove a Hollow’s expansion.
• Ye Shunguang asked whether they needed to stop the First Lord before Ether Activity crossed the Ceres Limit, but Griseo invoked Nineveh’s defeat as an example of how destroying a powerful Ethereal could lower activity across a Hollow.
• Belle told Wise that she and Ye Shunguang had previously fought [Primus] and saved New Eridu.
• Griseo said she intended to resolve the Azure Nether Sword’s backlash this time and would draw on the [First Lord]’s power rather than expend too much of her own.

Griseo explained the [Primus]’s origins and revealed that Wanzhou was an Intelligent Construct from another world, formerly known as Kiana. The conversation ended when a Bangboo objected to Griseo’s account of Wanzhou’s past.

• Belle asked Griseo what the [Primus] was, and Griseo said Ancient Civilization records described a god named Nun.
• Griseo revealed to Wise, Belle, and Ye Shunguang that she came from another world and compared the [Primus] to a lesser version of the Honkai Consciousness.
• Griseo explained that the [Primus] was likely an early Hollow creation seeking a way past the [Black Wall], and said humanity needed to strip away its disguise of divinity.
• Wise asked about Wanzhou, and Griseo explained that she was an Intelligent Construct who split her data into three parts and governed Roskellifa.
• Griseo claimed that Wanzhou had once been Kiana, the Herrscher of the Void, and that her consciousness had merged with the Herrscher consciousness.
• A Bangboo appeared and loudly protested Griseo’s account of Wanzhou’s history.

Belle, Wise, Ye Shunguang, and Griseo encountered Jianshu, a damaged High-Firepower Combat Bangboo created by Lady Wanzhou, in the Hollow. Jianshu agreed to guide them to a tower where they could survey the white flowers connected to the abnormal Corruptive Breath and [Primus].

• Fairy's alert identified an unknown, damaged Bangboo, and Belle smacked its head until its data integration succeeded.
• The Bangboo introduced itself as Jianshu, the last High-Firepower Combat Bangboo, and defended Lady Wanzhou as someone who loved humanity.
• Jianshu explained that its model had been discontinued because its repair costs and malfunction rate were too high.
• Belle promised Jianshu could be repaired if it helped with the group's mission, while Griseo quietly sent the glow of her Signet into it.
• Ye Shunguang told Jianshu they were investigating abnormal Corruptive Breath and clues related to [Primus], and Jianshu offered to lead them to a tower overlooking the white flowers.

Ye Shunguang and her companions fought through Lemnian Hollow, where the Azure Nether Sword resonated with signs of [Primus]'s power. After Griseo uncovered a phantom of Carole discussing the First Lord's descent, Belle and Wise defended their trust in their teacher, but Griseo warned that the Hollow was expanding faster than before.

• Ye Shunguang used the Azure Nether Sword to cut through the Ethereals while Wise and Jianshu dealt with the Anomalous Corruptive Breath.
• Wise spotted a figure made of Corruptive Breath, and Griseo recovered a fading phantom of Carole speaking about arranging the First Lord's descent.
• Belle and Wise questioned what Carole's words meant, but Ye Shunguang and Belle affirmed their trust in their teacher.
• The Azure Nether Sword began humming, and Griseo revealed that the Anomalous Corruptive Breath had accelerated Lemnian Hollow's expansion.

Ye Shunguang and the others investigated a flower-covered area of Lemnian Hollow, where a black flower turned the white blossoms black and spawned a swarm of stronger Ethereals. Ye Shunguang defeated them with a powerful sword strike but collapsed from exhaustion, and Griseo healed him.

• Jianshu asked about Primus, and Ye Shunguang explained the Praise Society's beliefs and their connection to the Hollow's Anomalous Corruptive Breath.
• Griseo silently asked Vill-V about Belle, learning that Belle's modules were overtaxed and that another intelligence was inside her; Vill-V agreed to build something to contain it.
• Jianshu led the group deeper into the Hollow as Ye Shunguang wielded the Azure Nether Sword at full strength.
• The black flower released Anomalous Corruptive Breath, turned the surrounding white flowers black, and caused a swarm of stronger Ethereals to appear.
• Ye Shunguang used Heaven-Opening Sword to defeat the Ethereals, then ran out of strength and fell.
• Griseo caught and healed Ye Shunguang, telling him she would teach him Hua's Taixu Swordsmanship and Sakura's sword techniques when the time was right.

Remiel Dan infiltrated Roskellifa to confront Elda Wanzhou over her plan to confine people in an illusory paradise, and the former friends began fighting on the Government Administration Bureau’s observation deck. Their duel continued in the rain as Remiel pressed Elda to reveal the truth.

• Remiel Dan’s letter accused Wanzhou of deceiving their old companions and warned that she intended to break into Roskellifa and assassinate her.
• Remiel landed on the Government Administration Bureau’s observation deck, where Elda Wanzhou was waiting for her.
• Remiel called Elda her senior and attacked, but Elda dodged her opening strike.
• Remiel urged Elda to speak and then renewed their old sparring dance, attacking with her black wings and dagger.
• Elda blocked Remiel’s strikes with her scabbard before finally drawing her sword to catch a slash.

Remiel confronted Elda Wanzhou on Roskellifa, accusing her of concealing the truth and demanding that she surrender the station’s secrets to an approaching woman. Remiel escaped after demonstrating strange, powerful abilities, and Elda later reported the encounter, leading to a wanted notice accusing Remiel of attempted assassination.

• Remiel attacked Elda Wanzhou across the observation deck and accused her of lying about Hive Lord Hollow and Roskellifa’s past.
• Elda disarmed Remiel but stayed silent, while Remiel concluded that Elda might not know the truth herself.
• Remiel transformed with white wings and Ether Crystal markings, then fired a beam through Roskellifa’s protective barrier.
• Remiel demanded that Elda stop the Sun-Chasing Project and give the sealed secrets to an approaching woman, but left before Elda could learn her identity.
• Lindevine Wanzhou and Siegrid arrived, and Elda told them part of what had happened.
• A wanted notice accused Remiel of attempting to assassinate Wanzhou.

In Lemnian Hollow, Ye Shunguang’s white-haired alternate personality warned that using the Azure Nether Sword to purify the Black Flowers could overwhelm him, but Griseo convinced him to trust her. After the flowers were cleansed, Griseo reassured Ye Shunguang that he did not have to sacrifice himself to be a hero, leaving him free to decide whether he wanted to bear that burden.

• Ye Shunguang’s hair turned silver-white as his alternate personality emerged and questioned whether Griseo could handle the Azure Nether Sword’s backlash.
• The alternate Ye Shunguang purified the Black Flowers with the Azure Nether Sword, then collapsed into Wise’s arms and said that he wanted to live too.
• Ye Shunguang returned to his brown-haired self, and Belle pulled him away from Wise while asking about his other personality.
• Ye Shunguang explained that his white-haired self embodied the selfish feelings he had suppressed while trying to protect everyone.
• Griseo told Ye Shunguang that he did not need to become a hero or savior, and that he would respect Ye Shunguang’s wishes about wielding the Azure Nether Sword.

Ye Shunguang accepted her choice to keep fighting, and Griseo opened an Ether Rift to take the group to the Huiling Stone Production Base. There, Ye Shunguang and Belle saw an illusion of a shattered sphere and heard a voice identified as Sarah’s before Griseo shielded them.

• Ye Shunguang told Griseo she wanted to become a hero and continue along her chosen path.
• Fairy reported that Lemnian Hollow’s expansion was still accelerating and white flowers had appeared across Chenghui Plateau.
• Griseo opened an Ether Rift, and the group traveled to the Huiling Stone Production Base.
• Ye Shunguang and Belle were struck by an illusion of a shattered sphere that they recognized as resembling the device from Mining Town.
• The illusion spoke in Sarah’s voice, and Griseo shielded the group, causing the murmurs and visions to fade.

Griseo cleared the factory of corrupted Ethereals and a security robot, allowing Ye Shunguang to reach the sea of Black Flowers. With help from her other self, Ye Shunguang purified them and reaffirmed her desire to protect ordinary moments of happiness.

• Griseo expanded her barrier through the factory, destroying the corrupted Ethereals and disabling the security robot.
• Jianshu explained that the robot had been corrupted and had tried to protect the factory.
• Wise spotted a vast sea of unpurified Black Flowers, and Ye Shunguang found its central flower.
• Ye Shunguang asked her other self to help, and together they used the Azure Nether Sword to purify the Black Flowers.
• Belle supported the exhausted Ye Shunguang, who said she wanted to protect people's everyday happiness and become a worthy Azure Nether Swordmaster.

The group discovered a battered statue of Wanzhou at the factory, and Jianshu confirmed that it remembered stories from Roskellifa about her. Jianshu began describing a tale of salvation and betrayal, but Griseo interrupted to argue that Elysia loved humanity more than Wanzhou, leaving the group off topic.

• After Ye Shunguang cleared the Black Flowers, the group entered the factory and found a headless statue and a damaged wanted notice naming former guard captain Leonid Antonov, Yulia Gryacheva, and a former chief technical officer named Wan.
• Griseo examined the statue’s damage and the wing-shaped wall design, then suggested that Wanzhou’s former worshippers might have turned against her and cursed her.
• Griseo confirmed that the statue depicted Wanzhou, and Jianshu revealed that it came from Roskellifa and remembered stories about Wanzhou.
• Jianshu called the story one of salvation and betrayal, then said Wanzhou’s love for humanity had not earned her the love and respect she deserved.
• Griseo interrupted to insist that Elysia loved humanity more than Wanzhou, and Belle redirected the group when they began arguing over it.

Jianshu told Wise a story about Wanzhou's rise in the Ruins, her betrayal by the ruling class, and her encounter with the [Primus]. Wise wondered if the story explained Wanzhou's later achievements, but Jianshu said its truth could not be verified.

• Wanzhou used Huiling Stone medicine to treat Ether Corruption and developed Radiant Porcelain, earning the people's reverence and gathering companions including Leonid Antonov and Yulia Gryacheva.
• The lord grew jealous and feared Wanzhou's influence, then plotted to eliminate her after she opposed his plan to intensify mining.
• Wanzhou led the Fifth Squad to investigate a Huiling Stone vein while the ruling class purged workers at the production base, sparking resistance and a disaster that awakened the [Primus].
• After the mine collapsed, Wanzhou returned to find the lord accusing her of inciting revolt and causing the Hollow crisis, so she went alone back into the Hollow.
• Wise asked Jianshu if the presence Wanzhou encountered was the [Primus], but Jianshu said the story was unverified and might have no value.

Belle, Griseo, and their companions investigated Lady Wanzhou’s connection to the Black Flowers and hurried into the factory, while Yixuan and the Yunkui Mountain disciples formed a barrier against the spreading Lemnian Hollow. The barrier was weakening, and Yixuan prepared to rely on the Nine Extremes Formation as the Hollow’s boundary neared Chenghui Plateau.

• Belle suggested that Lady Wanzhou and the abnormal Corruptive Breath were connected, while Jianshu admitted he had stayed because he sensed his master’s presence.
• Griseo argued that Elysia had continued to love humanity despite any suffering, and Belle recalled a ballad about her Signet of [True Self].
• Jianshu led the group toward the factory, where they hoped to find the source of the Black Flowers before Ether activity reached its predicted peak.
• Yixuan, Ye Shiyuan, Pulchra, Pan Yinhu, and the Yunkui Mountain disciples activated the Four Symbols Sealing the Gods formation to protect Chenghui Plateau and purify its Black Flowers.
• As the formation weakened and the Lemnian Hollow’s boundary approached, Yixuan prepared to use the Nine Extremes Formation, Nine Palaces Flying Stars.

Wise and Belle repaired the factory generators and saw another illusion of Professor Carole, deepening the mystery around her. While Belle and Wise investigated, Griseo explained that she planned to use them to channel the Azure Nether Sword’s two clashing powers and ease Ye Shunguang’s backlash.

• Wise and Belle repaired the three generators, opening the factory gates, where the group saw an illusion of Professor Carole discussing the Azure Nether Sword and the Tail-less Demon Blade.
• Ye Shunguang briefly forgot who Carole was, then collapsed as Belle and Wise left to investigate; Griseo stayed to heal and steady her.
• Ye Shunguang asked why Griseo had brought Wise and Belle, and Griseo said both had immense power within them.
• Ye Shunguang recalled that the Azure Nether Sword sealed two opposing forces and that its Swordmaster served as a sacrifice to maintain their balance.
• Griseo explained that she planned to have Wise and Belle each receive one of the Sword’s powers, giving the energies somewhere to vent before she guided them into balance.

Wise and Belle uncovered more of Teacher Carole’s cryptic visions before an Insect Ethereal ambushed Belle. Pelois took control of Wise’s body to save her, then confronted Griseo and Ye Shunguang about their plan.

• Jianshu led Wise and Belle to clearer Corruptive Breath visions in which Teacher Carole spoke of the Azure Nether Sword, a costly choice, and her hope that her children would survive.
• Wise and Belle concluded that Teacher Carole had been at the factory and had sacrificed something to save them, though they could not understand what she meant by the smallest possible cost.
• Wise powered open a door, and Belle entered a room filled with black flowers despite his warning about Ethereals.
• An Insect Ethereal attacked Belle, and Pelois took control of Wise’s body to protect her and destroy the creature.
• Pelois identified himself to Belle and demanded that Griseo and Ye Shunguang come out, accusing them of following a plan.

Griseo revealed that Wise’s consciousness was occupied by Pelois and persuaded him to cooperate with the plan involving the Azure Nether Sword. Pelois demanded that Griseo prove herself, and she stepped forward while suppressing most of her power.

• Pelois addressed Belle as his little sister, while Ye Shunguang and Jianshu struggled to understand the sudden turn of events.
• Belle explained that Phaethon referred to her and Wise’s branch of Helios, while Icarus was the branch of their friends Selpico and Trevia, who died in an accident.
• Griseo guessed that Selpico and Trevia had crashed, surprising Belle with her knowledge of Helios’s past.
• Griseo told Pelois that he had already helped Wise save Belle, then said he would help guide the power of the Azure Nether Sword.
• Pelois agreed to cooperate but demanded that Griseo convince him by facing his power.
• Griseo stepped forward and dimmed all her Signets except The Stars Signets, preparing to match Pelois at his level.

Griseo and Pelois fought beneath Griseo’s starry domain, with Griseo using the spar to help tame the power within Wise’s body. After Pelois increased his strength and copied her layered Ether technique, Griseo took the initiative and trapped him with star threads.

• Griseo activated [The Stars] and created a domain that restored her grown-up appearance and contained the fighters’ attacks.
• Pelois fought Griseo using Corona, and Griseo gained a slight advantage with a layered palm strike.
• Pelois concentrated his strength and launched a fiercer offensive, gradually taming the power stored within Wise’s body as the two clashed.
• Pelois imitated Griseo’s layered technique, but Griseo blocked his attack and used star threads to erode his power and bind Corona.
• Griseo announced her turn to attack and sent star threads after Pelois from every direction, leaving him with nowhere to run.

Griseo fought Pelois, who used Wise's body, and forced him onto the defensive until he unleashed powerful Ether attacks and briefly gained the upper hand. Griseo then summoned Eden to play music as their duel entered a new stage.

• Griseo's starlight threads disrupted Pelois's [Corona], and her light sword forced him back while Belle, Jianshu, and Ye Shunguang watched.
• Pelois used Dawn Morning Star and Scorching Day Sinfire to strengthen Wise's body and drive away the starlight threads.
• Griseo and Pelois exchanged blows, and Pelois detonated golden Ether in his palm to send Griseo flying back for the first time.
• Griseo summoned Eden's [Gold] Signet and asked her to play music, and Eden formed a piano from starlight and began performing.

Griseo overwhelmed Pelois with her control of Ether Energy and a steadily escalating star-powered assault, while Pelois fought through Wise’s body. As Pelois’s borrowed power began to fade, Wise watched from within and mocked him, though Pelois remained defiant.

• Griseo completed her star-charging technique and traded blows with Pelois, repeatedly countering his attacks with her Ether Energy control.
• Ye Shunguang explained to Belle that Pelois was burning through power for a brief burst and would likely lose once he could no longer sustain it.
• Griseo gathered three kinds of starlight and drove Pelois back, wounding Wise’s hand and later slicing his left shoulder as The Stars domain healed him.
• Eden played through the battle’s climax while Griseo pressed her attack, and Jianshu noticed the golden Ether light around Wise beginning to recede.
• Wise mocked Pelois from within his consciousness, but Pelois retorted that it was Wise’s body taking the beating.

Griseo defeated Pelois in their duel and secured his cooperation, while Pelois vowed he could challenge her again once he grew stronger. The chapter ended with the author lamenting the novel’s poor earnings.

• Wise urged Pelois to admit defeat, but Pelois insisted he would defeat Griseo.
• Pelois’s surprise attack failed when Griseo’s armor stopped [Corona], and Griseo trapped him in a web of starlight that drained his Ether.
• Pelois abandoned defense and charged Griseo, who met his attack head-on and left him badly injured.
• Griseo demanded Pelois’s strongest attack, and Pelois revealed the Authority known as [Sun].
• Griseo struck Pelois down, and Pelois surrendered and agreed to cooperate, though he said he would challenge her again when stronger.
• The author complained that daily updates were earning less than ten yuan and had shattered their fighting spirit.

Griseo began the next phase of her plan as Ye Shunguang joined her two personalities to purify the Black Flowers with the Azure Nether Sword. Ye Shunguang collapsed at the brink of death, and Griseo sent two spheres of light toward her while promising they would meet again tomorrow.

• Eden and Qianjie headed toward the Lemnian Hollow to help the Obol Squad, while Griseo prepared to have Ye Shunguang purify the Black Flowers.
• Ye Shunguang entered the Black Flower field and used the Azure Nether Sword to resist the Corruptive Breath.
• Ye Shunguang reconciled with her other personality, and the two joined forces to unleash the sword's full power.
• The Azure Nether Sword's moonlike radiance dissolved the Black Flowers across the ruins, then fell from Ye Shunguang's hand as she collapsed.
• Belle caught Ye Shunguang, whose body began to fade as she experienced collapse.
• Griseo's domain covered the area and she sent golden and starlit spheres toward Ye Shunguang, telling her they would meet again tomorrow.

Jianshu detonated the mine to injure Griseo, then used the destruction to begin summoning the First Lord. Belle and Wise faced Corruptive Breath-induced hallucinations as the First Lord began to awaken.

• Belle found Ye Shunguang unresponsive, while Wise noticed Jianshu was missing.
• Griseo shielded Belle, Wise, and Ye Shunguang when Jianshu triggered the mine’s self-destruct sequence.
• The explosions forced the group into the underground mine, where Griseo was badly injured and shrank back into Little Griseo’s form.
• Jianshu emerged and began a ritual to awaken the First Lord, drawing Anomalous Corruptive Breath into the sphere on the altar.
• The Corruptive Breath affected Belle and Wise, who began seeing hallucinations about Phaethon and Carole.

Jianshu trapped the group and revealed its plan to awaken Primus and remake humanity, while Griseo collapsed after purifying the Corruptive Breath. A second intelligent entity inside Jianshu then spoke up, exposing that it had a partnership with the Bangboo.

• Jianshu flooded the pit with Anomalous Corruptive Breath, but Griseo purified it at the cost of her strength and fell into Belle's arms.
• Jianshu told Wise and Belle that it planned to awaken Primus and turn the world into a Hollow, claiming the new world would save humanity.
• Belle challenged Jianshu's account of Lady Wanzhou and rejected its promise of a uniform, peaceful world.
• A second voice interrupted Jianshu and argued that it should kill the group instead of talking, while Wise admitted he could not control his golden power.
• The second entity announced that it and Jianshu had an equal partnership, as a warning identified it as a highly intelligent data entity with similarities to a sample.

Vill-V and Griseo captured the Ether Intelligent Construct inside Jianshu and copied its data, while Wise and Belle learned what had caused Jianshu’s abnormal behavior. Jianshu then defended its cooperation with the Praise Society and accused Phaethon of accepting New Eridu’s injustices, calling them the Sinner’s Child.

• Vill-V arrived, seized Jianshu, and revealed that Griseo had only pretended to be badly wounded.
• Vill-V connected a device to Jianshu while Griseo used [Discipline] to help contain the Ether Intelligent Construct.
• Griseo explained that Jianshu’s behavior came from the construct inside it and that she and Vill-V had planned to capture it.
• Vill-V finished copying the construct’s data, disconnected her device, and left as Jianshu returned to normal.
• Jianshu admitted to cooperating with the Praise Society and condemned New Eridu’s inequality and exploitation.
• Jianshu challenged Wise and Belle to acknowledge the unfairness and called Phaethon the Sinner’s Child.