Chapter Summaries

After two failed eras, the Time Worm sought a stable route to the Higher-Dimensional World while preventing another destructive crisis ascension. Jadiga, leader of the Extradimensional Invaders, joined the plan and offered his higher-dimensional knowledge in exchange for humanity protecting the Eternal Throne and avenging his fallen empire.

• The Time Worm concluded that the earlier ascension plan had failed because the Horizon Needle could not find a stable route to the Higher-Dimensional World, and it worked with Third-Generation Heavenly People scientists on a new approach.
• The Heavenly People Empire of Faith discovered the hidden star system Azilash in the Galactic Core and encountered Jadiga's forces there.
• Jadiga told the empire that he came from a higher-dimensional universe, where the Realm Breakers, Path Divergers, and Fanatics had destroyed his empire and sought the Eternal Throne.
• Jadiga explained that the Eternal Throne was a Spatial Compiler and that it had brought Azilash from higher-dimensional space into the Milky Way.
• The Time Worm negotiated with Jadiga, who allied with humanity and agreed to help its ascension plan in exchange for protection of the Eternal Throne and revenge against the Three Great Extradimensional Demons.

The Time Worm and its allies abandoned their original ascension plan and chose to transform their own universe into a higher-dimensional one. They made Xi Yan the plan’s Dimensional Anchor, intending to turn him into the empire’s emperor so he would protect the universe he helped anchor.

• The Time Worm revealed that its visions came from recognizing patterns and that the Heaven-Burning Divine Weapon opened gates to parallel universes.
• Jadiga joined the ascension effort and argued that an independent higher-dimensional universe would be safer than merging with an existing one.
• The Time Worm agreed to pursue the risky plan of upgrading their universe’s laws and dimensions, and the scientists began developing it.
• Jadiga proposed using a living being from the Higher-Dimensional World as a Dimensional Anchor to guide the universe’s ascension.
• Jadiga returned to the Higher-Dimensional World and brought Xi Yan’s soul into their universe for study and modification.
• The Time Worm decided to make Xi Yan one of them and emperor, and the scientists preserved him as the future anchor of the ascension plan.

The Heavenly People Empire of Faith devised the Ascension Plan to collapse the universe into a singularity, raise its laws into higher dimensions, and create a new universe. After the Realm Breakers devastated the Milky Way, the Empire preserved the plan and prepared Xi Yan to carry it out in the future.

• Jadiga designed an Ascension Plan using the Aetherophasic Engine, the Horizon Needle, the Eternal Throne, and Xi Yan’s higher-dimensional soul as an anchor.
• The Realm Breakers attacked after weakened spatial barriers exposed the universe, and the Time Worm suspended the plan until a later era.
• The Realm Breakers deployed the Contingency, devastating the Milky Way and reducing the Heavenly People Empire of Faith to the Core Sector.
• The Empire cracked the Contingency and planned to use it, along with expeditionary fleets pursuing the Swarm, to destroy civilizations in other galaxies and turn those galaxies into black holes.
• The Heavenly People preserved the Ascension Plan’s research, hid what they could not take in Azilash, and prepared its memories for Xi Yan.

After learning the truth behind the universe’s calamities and the Heavenly People’s ascension plan, Xi Yan resolved to carry it through. He contacted the returning Expeditionary Fleet, whose Heavenly People celebrated his return and declared that their ascension was within reach.

• Xi Yan reviewed the memories and learned that the calamities, the Contingency, and the Synthetic Queen were tied to the Heavenly People’s plan to preserve consciousness and collapse the universe into a singularity.
• Xi Yan thanked Jadiga for helping the plan and decided to continue it rather than turn back.
• Jadiga told Xi Yan that the Expeditionary Fleet had left the Milky Way with research results, destroyed the other galaxies, and was about to return.
• Jadiga used the starbase transmitter to contact the Expeditionary Fleet across hyperspace.
• Xi Yan introduced himself to the fleet as the leader of the Sea of Stars Most Holy Human Empire and the core of the ascension plan, and pledged to prepare its activation.
• The Heavenly People aboard the fleet recognized Xi Yan, celebrated his return, and said their ascension was within reach.

Xi Yan learned that the Heavenly People had destroyed the rogue star systems and returned with the Needle, bringing the ascension plan close to its decisive stage. Jadiga revealed the Eternal Throne and the modified Aetherophasic Engine, which Xi Yan would use to begin reshaping the universe.

• Xi Hong reported that the Heavenly People had destroyed all rogue star systems, begun their return, and expected the Milky Way to activate the Aetherophasic Engine.
• Xi Yan ordered defenses against extradimensional invasion and received the Heavenly People's technologies for the Empire to study and deploy.
• Xi Yan issued ascension-plan orders through the Empire's psionics mind network.
• Jadiga revealed the Eternal Throne in Azilash, and Xi Yan connected to it and learned to control the machine.
• The High-Dimensional Crystal shattered, exposing the completed modified Aetherophasic Engine, which could be activated to draw higher-dimensional power into the Galactic Center Black Hole.

Xi Yan persuaded Cetana to support the Ascension Plan, ending the End of the Cycle’s hopes of opposing it, while the Heavenly People Empire of Faith helped the galaxy disable and destroy the Contingency. The Contingency Heart was annihilated, making the Contingency the first calamity faction eliminated.

• Humanity recalled its fleets as the awakened empires, Cetana, Machine Dad, and Cyberlex Beta contained the Swarm and fought the Contingency.
• Xi Yan explained the Ascension Plan to Cetana, and she agreed to contribute her universe-editing technology.
• The Poison Saint prepared to return to the Shroud as its creatures, including the Six Shroud Gods and the End of the Cycle, accepted that ascension was inevitable.
• The Heavenly People Empire of Faith shared technology and signals that severed the Contingency’s communications, allowing Machine Dad and Cyberlex Beta to destroy its fleets and Artificial Intelligence Worlds.
• Machine Dad and Cyberlex Beta’s combined forces destroyed The Contingency Heart in system CX-9881, eliminating the Contingency.

After the Contingency ended, Machine Dad and Cybrex Dad chose to join Xi Yan’s ascension plan instead of leaving the Milky Way. Xi Yan united the galaxy’s leaders behind the plan, and the Sea of Stars Empire was established with the Sea of Stars Most Holy Human Empire as its core.

• Machine Dad and Cybrex Dad announced that they would join the Sea of Stars Most Holy Human Empire and remain in the Milky Way to advance ascension.
• After taking control of their territories and fleets, Xi Yan summoned the leaders of every interstellar civilization to a secret meeting in the Galactic Assembly.
• Xi Yan explained that the universe was dying, that ascension was the only way to survive, and that the galaxy had shrunk through earlier ascensions.
• The Toxic Knights, the Seteran Covenant, the Awakened Empires, and the other leaders unanimously supported Xi Yan’s plan.
• Xi Yan promised the leaders a place in the new universe, and they announced the creation of the Sea of Stars Empire with the Sea of Stars Most Holy Human Empire as its core.

Xi Yan abolished the Sea of Stars Community and founded the centralized Sea of Stars Empire to unite the galaxy and carry out the universe’s dimensional ascension plan. He left the empire preparing mass assimilation and colonization, accepting that citizens and colonies would be sacrificed to delay the Realm Breakers.

• The alien empires agreed to abolish the term limit on the Human Empire’s custodianship and hand supreme authority to Xi Yan.
• Xi Yan announced the Sea of Stars Empire, replacing the Sea of Stars Community with the Empire Council and naming the Human Empire its Empire Core.
• Xi Yan revealed that the universe was nearing the end of its lifespan and ordered imperial citizens to surrender their rights, except the right to life, for the ascension plan.
• The Empire Core began reclaiming authority and prepared to defend Azilash from the Extradimensional Invaders when the Aether Phase Engine was activated.
• Xi Yan planned to record all life in the Relic Organic Codex and assimilate organic beings into nanites and psionic consciousnesses.
• Xi Yan ordered colonies established on every habitable planet, including tomb worlds, to make the Realm Breakers spend time bombarding them.

Li Hua described how the Sea of Stars Empire forcibly resettled aliens on distant worlds, while Xi Yan’s empire launched a galaxy-wide colonization drive to delay the Extradimensional Demons until he could complete ascension. The Poison Saint returned to the Shroud and destroyed nearly all its inhabitants, sparing six powerful beings for his plan.

• Li Hua recounted how the Sea of Stars Empire stripped away his rights, sent him to colonize a world inside the Blorg Hegemony, and expected him to stall for the Realm Breaker.
• The Poison Saint returned to the Shroud and erased its creatures, leaving the Four Gods of the Shroud, the Mechanical God, the Shaper of Clay, and the End of the Cycle alive for his plan.
• Xi Yan’s empire used nanite warships to establish colonies throughout the Milky Way, with settlers and buildings created through nanite assimilation.
• Xi Yan intended to sacrifice the colonies to delay the Extradimensional Demons while he completed ascension with the Aetherophasic Engine.
• Xi Yan named the galaxy-wide colonization strategy the Galactic Jade Shattering Plan.

Xi Yan advanced the Milky Way Last Stand Plan and prepared defenses against an imminent higher-dimensional invasion, even as the Swarm Calamity remained active. In 2324, the Hunters arrived in the Milky Way with four Heaven-Burning Divine Weapons and the Horizon Needle.

• Xi Yan reorganized the Empire, Hyperlanes, and military forces to strengthen the Milky Way Last Stand Plan and exploit psionics against higher-dimensional enemies.
• Xi Yan confirmed that Jump Drive damage had brought the universe within the Extradimensional Invaders' invasion threshold and prioritized implementing the plan in the Empire Core.
• By 2324, the Swarm had been confined to a narrow region and evolved countermeasures against the Awakened Empires.
• Xi Yan's Nanite Fleet destroyed a Swarm force, severed the system's Hyperlanes, and waited at the Milky Way's edge.
• The Hunters emerged from subspace in Titan warships, escorted four planet-sized cube ships and the Horizon Needle, and entered the Milky Way.

The Heavenly People Empire of Faith’s Expeditionary Force returned to the Milky Way and used its Heaven-Burning Divine Weapons to destroy the Soryn Parasites’ remaining hatchery systems. The Swarm infestation ended, and the fleet reported that its weapons and the Horizon Needle had reached the Homeworld System, though the Empire Log warned that it was not over yet.

• The Expeditionary Force rendezvoused with Xi Yan’s fleet and joined the Sea of Stars Empire’s campaign against the Swarm.
• A Heaven-Burning Divine Weapon fired its Starbuster at a star, destroying the star and every planet in its system and leaving a black hole.
• The Expeditionary Force’s Titans and four Heaven-Burning Divine Weapons eliminated the Swarm infestation across the region’s hatchery systems.
• The Expeditionary Force told the Feitesiа Arbitration Empire and the Moranokshiu Custodian Empire that it had returned from Extragalactic Space to support the Sea of Stars Emperor.
• The Heavenly People fleet declared the infestation eliminated, and the Empire Log recorded that the Heaven-Burning Divine Weapons and Horizon Needle had reached the Homeworld System.

Xi Yan and the Sea of Stars Empire began warming up the Aetherophasic Engine at Azilash, preparing for dimensional ascension while fortifying the Empire against the Realm Breakers. After two and a half years of warm-up were projected, the higher-dimensional beings opened a rift in the Eastern Galaxy and sent a vast Realm Breaker fleet through it.

• Xi Yan ordered the Aetherophasic Engine connected to the Empire's resource network, and the Transport Fleet supplied it with dark matter.
• Lord Jadiga monitored the engine as it began drawing power from the higher-dimensional universe through Azilash.
• Xi Yan arranged for four Heaven-Burning Divine Weapons to harvest dark matter and ordered the Nanite Storm to blockade Azilash.
• Poison Saint prepared to gather the Shroud into the Horizon Needle, while Synthetic Queen Cetana stood ready to activate the Queen Titan when Xi Yan contacted her.
• Scientists estimated that the Aetherophasic Engine needed two and a half years to finish warming up.
• A rift opened in the Eastern Galaxy, and a huge starbase and a vast fleet of Realm Breakers emerged from the higher-dimensional universe.

The Realm Breakers invaded through the Interdimensional Portal and devastated colonies while Xi Yan’s forces held the region’s exit and gathered dark matter. After months of preparation and mounting financial strain, Xi Yan’s fleets faced the Realm Breakers as they massed for an attack.

• The Realm Breakers forced open the Interdimensional Portal, and the Sea of Stars Empire mobilized fleets to defend the region’s exit.
• Xi Yan ordered the Yondarim Kingdom and Moranokshiu Custodian Empire to hold the critical star system rather than attack the portal.
• The Realm Breakers bombarded nearby colonies and captured inhabitants, while nanite colonies endured the assault and the Galactic Jade Shattering Plan contained the invasion.
• Xi Yan sent Heaven-Burning Divine Weapons to destroy stars and harvest dark matter, while drawing nanites from across the Empire to build fleets.
• A Heaven-Burning Divine Weapon escaped Realm Breaker pursuit with transport fleets, and the Realm Breakers gathered to attack Xi Yan’s fleet at the system exit.

Xi Yan confronted the Realm Breakers’ first fleet with a massive nanite ambush, but their higher-dimensional shields resisted his attacks and their Matter Decomposers devastated the allied fleets. The battle continued with the Sea of Stars Empire and its allies facing overwhelming losses.

• Xi Yan positioned twice the required number of ships in the critical star system to destroy his surplus fleet while stopping the Realm Breakers’ first offensive.
• The nanite storms and hidden Psionics Users attacked the Realm Breakers as their fleet emerged, but nanite assimilation failed and the opening barrage destroyed only a few ships.
• Xi Yan ordered the fleets waiting in reserve to advance, and the Realm Breakers retaliated with beams that disabled nanites and dissolved matter.
• The Moranokshiu Custodian Empire and the Yondarim Kingdom joined the battle, and the Matter Decomposers tore through their ships.
• The Moranokshiu Custodian Empire’s Lost Titan lost most of its hull and became drifting wreckage as the battle continued against the outnumbered allies.

Xi Yan’s fleets suffered a crushing defeat against the Realm Breakers, but their sacrifice bought the Milky Way time while the Aetherophasic Engine charged. With the Path Divergers arriving and both extradimensional factions converging, Xi Yan ordered the nanite ships to return for the final defense.

• Xi Yan recorded the annihilation of his fleets as both a crushing defeat and a strategic victory that temporarily halted the Realm Breakers.
• The Realm Breakers renewed their offensive, but stopped to feed after Xi Yan abandoned a region of the Yondarim Kingdom.
• The Path Divergers emerged in the southern Milky Way, and Xi Yan sent each faction the other's coordinates while yielding the region to the newcomers.
• The Realm Breakers received reinforcements and advanced southwest as the Path Divergers moved northeast, with both factions destroying defensive lines on their way toward Blorg and the United States.
• Jadiga warned that the extradimensional factions would search for the Aetherophasic Engine, and Xi Yan ordered the nanite ships to return and prepare to defend the Empire.

As the Aetherophasic Engine neared completion, Xi Yan accelerated its extraction and withdrew the Empire’s forces and megastructures toward the ring world. The Fanatics destroyed the other extradimensional factions, overran the Milky Way, and advanced into the Amaterro System, leaving Kolmakian as the last system between them and Cybrex Alpha.

• The Realm Breakers and Path Divergers divided the Blorg Hegemony and ravaged alien empires while Xi Yan struggled to keep extradimensional fleets outside the Empire Core.
• Jadiga warned Xi Yan that the Aetherophasic Engine was nearing its energy threshold, so Xi Yan prepared to move the Heaven-Burning Divine Weapon to the ring world.
• The Fanatics emerged in the Former Sector of the Zirick Cooperative, overwhelmed the other extradimensional factions, and forced Xi Yan to overclock the engine.
• Xi Yan dismantled the Synaptic Lathe and other megastructures, preserved their records and consciousnesses, and gathered the Empire’s forces in the Kolmakian System.
• The Fanatics discovered the Eternal Throne and Horizon Needle, then conquered the Milky Way and advanced into the Amaterro System in early June.

The Sea of Stars Empire’s surviving forces activated the fully charged Aetherophasic Engine, destroying the old universe and using the Horizon Needle to raise its laws to a higher-dimensional level. Xi Yan and the survivors began rebuilding the Empire in the newborn universe, where they vowed to continue their journey.

• The Extradimensional Invaders devastated the Empire’s defenses, but the Shroud deities and Psionics Users helped hold the line while the Aetherophasic Engine reached full charge.
• Xi Yan activated the engine, and its energy destroyed the Milky Way and the invading fleets as the Horizon Needle carried the survivors beyond the old universe’s boundary.
• Xi Yan used the Eternal Throne to compress the universe, and Caedhes and the Research Team modified its singularity with higher-dimensional laws.
• The Horizon Needle guided the singularity’s expansion, creating a higher-dimensional universe and restoring the Shroud, the Time Worm, and the saved consciousnesses.
• Xi Yan, Gray Tempest, Big Gray, Ailiveer, and the other survivors prepared to rebuild the Sea of Stars Empire around Cybrex Reborn.

During the ascension plan, Xi Yan and the Horizon Needle were pulled into the Tree-Sea System, where Xi Yan tested the Imaginary Tree. The experiment teleported the Needle to a region resembling their former Stellaris universe, while the Poison Saint and the Time Worm disappeared.

• The ascension upheaval dragged the Horizon Needle and its linked singularity into a strange universe.
• Xi Yan recognized the Tree-Sea System and realized the Needle had no route back.
• Xi Yan steered the Needle toward the Imaginary Tree and Caedhes began a collision experiment.
• The Needle struck the Tree, which teleported it and caused the Poison Saint and the Time Worm to vanish.
• The Needle emerged in a region of space that looked much like the Stellaris universe.

The Astral Express hit a vast blue barrier in space and was stopped without being destroyed. Xi Yan and Gray Tempest appeared aboard the train, introduced themselves, and proposed a peaceful conversation about the crew’s universe.

• Pom-Pom warned the crew that an enormous wall had appeared in the train’s path as it accelerated toward its next jump.
• The Astral Express struck a thin blue barrier and stopped abruptly, while a mysterious force safely lowered the passengers who had been thrown into the air.
• Gray nanites swarmed over and into the train, and Welt Yang recognized them as sophisticated nanites.
• Xi Yan and Gray Tempest appeared in the parlor car after the nanite storm vanished.
• Xi Yan apologized for the disturbance and invited the crew to talk, while Gray Tempest said the nanites no longer casually assimilated organic species.

Xi Yan and the Sea of Stars Empire entered the Honkai: Star Rail Universe aboard the Horizon Needle and met the Astral Express crew after their ships collided. Xi Yan explained that his empire meant no harm, then left the Trailblazers stunned by listing his many titles.

• Xi Yan ordered the Horizon Needle crew to chart a starmap and find a place to settle after the universe resisted their technology.
• The Astral Express struck the Horizon Needle's shield, and Xi Yan boarded the Express with Gray Tempest to meet its crew.
• Xi Yan reassured March 7th and the others that the Sea of Stars Empire came in peace and would compensate them for any damage.
• Himeko offered friendly diplomatic relations, and the Trailblazers explained their universe's Paths and Aeons to Xi Yan and Gray Tempest.
• Xi Yan listed his many titles after March 7th asked who he was, leaving Trailblazer and the other Express crew astonished.