Recaps

Jingliu and Blade fought over the promised strike, and Blade briefly found the peaceful death he longed for before reviving. Chu Mu learned from Kafka that Blade’s despair began with Yingxing’s long devotion to Baiheng and deepened after her death.

• Jing Yuan refused to trust Luocha and prepared to take Jingliu and Luocha away from the Main Hall.
• Blade demanded the strike Jingliu had promised him, and Jingliu accepted his challenge.
• Blade knocked away Jingliu’s Black Veil, but Jingliu released her restraints and struck him down.
• Chu Mu chose not to use Silken Thread on Blade, who soon revived and returned to suffering.
• Kafka told Chu Mu that Blade wanted death, and the chapter recounted how Yingxing built his life around Baiheng before learning of her death.

Chu Mu and Kafka discussed how the deaths and grudges of the High-Cloud Quintet had kept Jingliu, Blade, and Dan Heng trapped in the past for seven hundred years. Chu Mu questioned whether Kafka had given Blade a role among the Stellaron Hunters to help him find a reason to live beyond revenge.

• Chu Mu reflected that Yingxing became Blade after Jingliu awakened his hatred and he turned himself into a weapon.
• Kafka explained how Baiheng’s death, Dan Feng and Yingxing’s attempt to resurrect her, and Jingliu’s later actions prolonged the High-Cloud Quintet’s feud for seven hundred years.
• Kafka warned Stelle and March 7th that the Stellaron Hunters and Astral Express should not repeat the Quintet’s mistakes.
• Chu Mu considered how Jingliu’s revenge had driven Blade into madness and left him distant from his family.
• Chu Mu asked Kafka whether she had assigned Blade a role in the Stellaron Hunters to help him move beyond his hatred and find a new reason to live.

Chu Mu told Kafka, Stelle, and March 7th that his fate led him back to Deep Blue Star, where he would take the Black Sun into himself and risk becoming an Aeon. After leaving Scalegorge Waterscape, Dan Heng agreed to stay on the Luofu briefly to help Bailu, while Kafka defended Blade when Jingliu dismissed Bailu’s medicine.

• Kafka admitted she wanted to help someone change, and Chu Mu said he had little time before he had to return to Deep Blue Star and take in the Black Sun.
• Stelle urged Chu Mu to stay, but he said his fate led him back to Deep Blue Star and that he could not escape it.
• After Dan Heng and Blade returned, the group left Scalegorge Waterscape and encountered Bailu treating wounded soldiers at the Alchemy Commission.
• Bailu asked Dan Heng to take the High Elder position, and he agreed to remain on the Luofu for a few days to teach her to use the power and speak with the Dragon Preceptors.
• Blade gave Dan Heng a six-month reprieve, and Bailu recognized him and offered him medicine for his sword wounds.
• Jingliu said Bailu’s medicine could not heal Blade’s deeper wounds, but Kafka handed him the medicine and defended him.

Jingliu left Blade to the Stellaron Hunters, and the Xianzhou residents adjusted to life without the Ambrosial Arbor by accepting a virtual replacement. While the crew waited for the Star Rail to be recalibrated, Stelle and Sushang stopped the IPC from taking over Aurum Alley and began trying to revive it.

• Jingliu left Blade with Kafka after recalling how Yingxing had earned her respect and later become bound to endless suffering.
• After Chu Mu uprooted the Ambrosial Arbor, the Xianzhou authorities projected a virtual one, reassuring residents who feared losing their long-lived constitutions.
• Pom-Pom estimated that recalibrating the Star Rail after the Luofu Stellaron's removal would take about three days.
• Stelle told the others that the IPC might ruin Aurum Alley before buying it cheaply, and Sushang feared for Guinaifen's beloved neighborhood.
• Stelle and Sushang blocked the IPC's contract with the Aurum Alley Merchants' Guild and launched a revival effort, but Chu Mu doubted their flyers and delivery-route improvements would be enough.

Chu Mu helped Fu Xuan revive Aurum Alley while Dan Heng taught Bailu to control her High Elder power and protected her from a Dragon Preceptors assassination attempt. To free Bailu from their control, Dan Heng and Blade killed the Vidyadhara Dragon Preceptors, leaving the Luofu’s Vidyadhara without any.

• Fu Xuan announced policies to attract businesses to Aurum Alley and promote its cultural heritage, bringing merchants back to the district.
• Dan Heng taught Bailu the Dragon Transformation Wonderful Art, allowing her to wield her High Elder power without losing control.
• The Dragon Preceptors arranged to assassinate Bailu in Scalegorge Waterscape, but Dan Heng intercepted the attacks and killed the assassins.
• Dan Heng brought Bailu to the Rain-Listening Pavilion, then told Chu Mu he intended to kill the Dragon Preceptors; Blade insisted on joining him.
• Dan Heng and Blade attacked the Vidyadhara settlement together and killed the Dragon Preceptors, leaving none of their souls for the Ten-Lords Commission to recover.

Stelle, Sushang, and Guinaifen’s ghost-hunting livestream at Fyxestroll Garden found no ghosts because the escaped heliobi willingly returned to containment after witnessing Phantylia’s destruction. The Ten-Lords Commission then invited them to educate the Luofu about heliobi through a collaboration featuring Huohuo and the heliobus Tail sealed to her.

• Stelle joined Guinaifen and Sushang for a ghost-hunting livestream at Fyxestroll Garden, but they found nothing during the night.
• Hanya explained that escaped heliobi had caused the ghost sightings after the Creation Furnace cracked, then willingly entered Containment Devices after Phantylia was destroyed.
• The Ten-Lords Commission invited Guinaifen, Stelle, and Sushang to help educate the public about heliobi through entertainment.
• The Commission introduced Huohuo, an apprentice judge with a heliobus sealed at the base of her tail, as the focus of the collaboration.
• Tail recalled how he had possessed Huohuo out of hunger and how their uneasy companionship had grown into a rare symbiosis.

As Chu Mu prepared to leave the Xianzhou, he encountered Yukong, Stelle, and March 7th holding a memorial rite for Tingyun, whose fate remained unknown. The rite left Chu Mu grieving and questioning whether Tingyun could still be alive, while Kafka revealed that Elio had lost sight of her after she became Phantylia.

• Guinaifen uploaded the first of her heliobi videos, which quickly drew heated discussion and praise from fans.
• Chu Mu prepared to leave the Xianzhou after the spatial data was adjusted, while Stelle and March 7th helped Yukong hold a memorial rite for Tingyun.
• Yukong and the others placed Tingyun's keepsakes in a starskiff, and Qingque added her Imperial Jade tiles before it departed.
• Chu Mu arrived at the rite and understood why Stelle and March 7th had kept it from him, though he remained weighed down by grief.
• Kafka told Chu Mu that Elio had last seen Tingyun after she had already become Phantylia, and that she had wanted to return to the Xianzhou to regain her former self.

After the Xianzhou Luofu memorial, the Astral Express Crew received the Alliance’s thanks as they prepared to leave. Fu Xuan gave Chu Mu a powerful Warship, while Jing Yuan stopped Dan Heng and Blade to demand a farewell.

• Yukong thanked the memorial attendees and silently recognized Chu Mu’s grief as Kafka left with Stelle.
• Jing Yuan gave Stelle an Alliance Jade Abacus, securing the Astral Express Crew the Luofu’s support in return for Chu Mu’s role in the Stellaron crisis.
• Kafka worried that Chu Mu’s unexpected appearance had disrupted Elio’s script and reflected on his plan to return to Belobog and then Deep Blue Star.
• Fu Xuan asked whether Chu Mu would return to the Luofu and gave him a compact, fully equipped Warship as a personal thank-you from the authorities.
• Stelle joked about releasing the Warship aboard the Express, and Welt warned her not to risk damaging the train.
• Jing Yuan stopped Dan Heng and Blade as they boarded the Express; Dan Heng apologized, while Blade remained silent.

Bailu stayed on the Luofu to lead the Vidyadhara, while Jing Yuan prepared to take the prisoners to the Jade Abacus before continuing to Xuling. The Astral Express then departed for Belobog with Kafka and Blade aboard, and Chu Mu learned that Silver Wolf was eager to see him but wanted to recover her banned accounts herself.

• Bailu chose to remain on the Luofu and used the Dragon Transformation Wonderful Art to earn the Vidyadhara's respect.
• Jing Yuan said he would bring the prisoners to the Jade Abacus Xianzhou so General Rongtao could investigate them before they went to Xuling.
• Qingque mourned her return to Divination Commission overtime as Fu Xuan took back the card she had lent her.
• Kafka and Blade boarded the Astral Express, and Dan Heng retreated into the Data Bank while Pom-Pom reviewed the train's rules.
• Chu Mu gave Kafka the Warship, and Kafka explained that Sam was collecting Silver Wolf, who wanted to see Chu Mu in Belobog.
• Kafka told Chu Mu that Herta had banned Silver Wolf's accounts and warned him not to help, since Silver Wolf wanted to recover them on her own.

The Astral Express returned to Jarilo-VI, and Chu Mu wrestled with his fears about revisiting the people he considered family. As the crew prepared to visit Belobog during the Paskonja Festival, he recalled how the holiday had been celebrated in the Underworld.

• Stelle searched every train carriage for Sampo before the Astral Express warped away from the Xianzhou without finding him.
• The train arrived at snow-covered Jarilo-VI, where Kafka still held Chu Mu's hand after the warp.
• Chu Mu reflected on Belobog as his home and decided not to waste the time he had left before his journey to Deep Blue Star.
• Stelle and March 7th were assigned to accompany Chu Mu on his visit, while Dan Heng withdrew because Blade was in the party.
• Chu Mu explained the Paskonja Festival's history and remembered sharing his meager festival meal with Younger Sister in the Underworld, leaving Stelle silent.

Chu Mu and the others dressed in new clothes for Belobog’s Paskonja Festival and set out for the city. Their walk was interrupted when someone burst from a snowdrift and shouted for his big bro.

• Chu Mu encouraged Stelle and March 7th to dress up for the festival, and Kafka revealed she had arranged new clothes for them.
• Kafka outfitted the group in tailored clothes, while March 7th emerged in a princess-like gown.
• The group teleported to the Outskirts of Belobog and headed toward the city after the Stellaron’s influence had receded.
• Chu Mu gave March 7th his coat to wear over her gown as they walked through the cold.
• A snowdrift split open, and a snow-covered person crawled out shouting, “Big bro!!!!!”; Stelle’s eyes lit up.

Stelle confronted Sampo about a message and crimes on the Xianzhou, but he insisted he had never been there, suggesting another Sampo was responsible. Chu Mu ended the argument and realized that Sampo had not saved Tingyun, leaving his hopes of finding her dashed.

• March 7th and Stelle mistook the approaching Sampo for a monster and a fortune, until Blade blocked him and Kafka confirmed there was no threat.
• Stelle accused Sampo of causing trouble on the Xianzhou and demanded he turn himself in, but Sampo denied ever visiting it.
• Stelle showed Sampo a signed note from the Xianzhou, and he recognized its handwriting and style as his own, raising the possibility of another Sampo.
• Kafka suggested taking Sampo to the Xianzhou for questioning, while Sampo feared he would be framed and Stelle tried to force him to go.
• Chu Mu stopped the argument and realized Sampo had not gone to the Xianzhou or saved Tingyun, ending his hope that she would return to Belobog.

Chu Mu stopped Stelle from confronting Sampo over Tingyun, then learned Sampo was hunting animals for his new fur business with stolen Blizzard Immunity serum. The group entered Belobog and saw the city rebuilding after the crisis, while Chu Mu spotted someone familiar.

• Chu Mu decided not to blame Sampo for failing to save Tingyun and asked why he was hiding in the snow.
• Sampo explained that he had started a fur business and was hunting animals in Belobog's snowy wilderness.
• Stelle recognized the Blizzard Immunity serum Sampo had stolen from Natasha and warned him about its side effects.
• Sampo followed Chu Mu's group toward the city but stopped when the serum's side effects made him overheat.
• Chu Mu's group entered Belobog through its open checkpoint gates and saw residents rebuilding damaged districts.
• Chu Mu spotted a familiar figure among the city's busy construction sites.

Oleg trained new Silvermane Guards by having them help residents, hoping to reconcile the Guards and the Underworld and eventually bring Wildfire into their ranks. When Chu Mu returned to Belobog with Kafka and the others, Oleg welcomed him and learned that the woman he had once known as Fuka was really Kafka.

• Oleg encouraged the Silvermane Guards recruits as they helped build a neighborhood, explaining that soldiers needed to understand the people they protected.
• Oleg continued his efforts to bridge the divide between the Upper District and the Underworld and to prepare for Wildfire’s eventual place within the Silvermane Guards.
• Chu Mu returned to Belobog, and Oleg embraced him, relieved to see him alive and able to speak.
• Oleg recognized Kafka from the orphanage and asked whether she was Ms. Fuka.
• Kafka revealed that Fuka had been an alias, and Chu Mu told Oleg that Kafka had saved his life.

Chu Mu returned to Belobog, learned that Bronya had recovered her memories, and visited the Underworld with Oleg, Kafka, Stelle, and March 7th. As Oleg described Belobog’s plans for rebuilding and trade, he revealed that Sampo had gone to find buyers for old weapons and had not returned.

• Oleg told Chu Mu that Bronya had recovered her memories and that she, Natasha, and Seele were in the Underworld for the Paskonja Festival and the opening of the Rivet Town History Museum.
• Chu Mu asked Stelle and March 7th to choose whether to join him or explore the surface, and they accompanied him and Oleg to the Underworld.
• Chu Mu saw that Boulder Town had become quiet after its residents moved to the surface, and he welcomed the improvement in their lives.
• Oleg explained that Belobog planned to turn the Underworld into an industrial zone and that Bronya had arranged a future trade partnership with the Astral Express.
• Oleg told Chu Mu that Sampo had taken a stockpile of old weapons outside Belobog to find buyers and had not returned.

Chu Mu and his companions traveled with Oleg toward the Orphanage, where they met Oleg’s apprentice Luka, the Underworld boxer known as Iron Arm Luka. Chu Mu reflected on how Oleg was passing on his legacy and found comfort in knowing that Svarog would keep waiting for him on Jarilo-VI.

• Oleg told Stelle and March 7th that Sampo had left Jarilo-VI, raising questions about the Sampo currently seen near Belobog and reviving Chu Mu’s hope of finding Tingyun.
• Oleg led Chu Mu and his companions toward the Orphanage, where Luka greeted his master and met Chu Mu, whom he admired.
• Oleg sent Luka back to patrol the Underworld, where Wildfire was guarding against theft and other crimes.
• Chu Mu thought about Oleg preparing Luka to carry on his work and remembered the people who had passed their lessons and ideals on to him.
• Chu Mu took comfort in Svarog’s lasting friendship as he faced the possibility that his human friends might grow old and die.

Chu Mu reunited with Svarog in the Underworld after a wait of over two million seconds, and Svarog thanked Kafka for standing by him. The group traveled to Rivet Town, where Bronya prepared to open the Underworld History Museum in the former orphanage.

• Clara accompanied Svarog as he hurried from the Mechanical Settlement to meet Chu Mu.
• Chu Mu asked Svarog how long he had waited, and Svarog answered that it had been 2,514,521 seconds.
• Svarog recognized Kafka and thanked her for trusting him and staying with Chu Mu over the years.
• March 7th photographed the reunion as Svarog joined the group on their journey to Rivet Town.
• The group saw visitors heading to the former Rivet Town Orphanage, where Bronya held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Underworld History Museum.

At the Underworld History Museum’s opening ceremony, Seele guarded Bronya against threats from disgruntled former nobles while Bronya honored Natasha and the Orphanage’s charitable work. As the ceremony passed without incident, Seele detected an unexpected breath directly behind her.

• Bronya addressed the crowd at the museum’s opening ceremony and awarded Amber Medals to Natasha, the current director, and the Old Director.
• Seele watched the crowd in disguise, worried that former nobles might try to assassinate Bronya.
• Seele considered Bronya too lenient toward the nobles who had lost their privileges and continued plotting against her.
• As the ceremony continued without trouble, Seele relaxed slightly and let her attention wander.
• Seele heard someone breathing very close behind her.

Chu Mu returned to Rivet Town during Bronya's ceremony and took over security from Seele, who broke down with relief at seeing him. As Natasha and Bronya spotted him in the crowd, Chu Mu remembered his childhood and the Old Director, who would never welcome him home again.

• Seele prepared for an unseen attacker, but Chu Mu appeared and reassured her that he would handle security.
• Chu Mu teleported to the crowded ceremony and found Seele hiding among the listeners to guard against trouble.
• While keeping watch, Chu Mu remembered protecting his little sister, his childhood at the Orphanage, and the Old Director's kindness.
• Natasha noticed Chu Mu in the crowd and fought back tears of joy.
• Bronya spotted Chu Mu during her speech and seemed to long for the safety of her brother's shadow.

Bronya faltered during her speech when she spotted Chu Mu in the audience, but Natasha encouraged her to continue while Chu Mu silently urged her on. Bronya resumed by sharing the story of her childhood in the Underworld and her beloved brother, leaving the audience with a glimpse of the hopes he had given up for her.

• Bronya froze during her speech after noticing Chu Mu, and Natasha reminded her to finish as Belobog's Supreme Guardian.
• Chu Mu stayed in the audience, gave Bronya an encouraging thumbs-up, and prepared to let her complete the ceremony before they reunited.
• Bronya recovered and told the audience she would speak personally about the little girl she had been before becoming Supreme Guardian.
• Bronya described how Chu Mu filled her childhood with stories, gifts, and encouragement despite their poverty.
• Bronya reflected that Chu Mu had given her his hopes of growing up.

Bronya spoke from the heart about missing Chu Mu, winning Belobog's trust as she pledged to lead the city toward the Sea of Stars. After the ceremony, Chu Mu told her not to shoulder too much, but accepted her choice to stay and protect Belobog, and Bronya hugged him tightly.

• Bronya recalled her childhood with Chu Mu during her speech, and the crowd responded with applause and calls for the Supreme Guardian.
• Chu Mu applauded Bronya and encouraged her to follow her path, while Bronya decided to remain in Belobog and protect their hometown until they met again.
• Bronya ended her speech by thanking the people and promising to lead Belobog beyond its walls toward the Sea of Stars.
• After the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Chu Mu told Bronya he had only wanted her to live safely and urged her not to take on too much pressure.
• Chu Mu accepted that Bronya would pursue her chosen responsibilities, and Bronya rushed to hug him without letting go.

Chu Mu reunited with Bronya, then stopped old nobles from assassinating her and explained how he would have handled their resentment toward equality. Bronya asked him how he would deal with the situation now.

• Bronya cried in Chu Mu's arms as Natasha and Seele joined their reunion.
• Old nobles fired miniature pistols at Bronya, but Chu Mu restrained the bullets and pinned the attackers beneath an iron fence.
• Seele recognized the attackers as old nobles from the Upper District who had opposed them before.
• Chu Mu told Bronya she had been too lenient by granting the old nobles equality without making them earn it.
• Bronya asked Chu Mu how he would handle the current situation.

Chu Mu urged Bronya to see the former nobles who tried to assassinate her as enemies rather than subjects under her protection. Bronya chose to punish the ringleaders in a public trial and rally the people against the old nobility, while the Silvermane Guards took the wounded assassins away.

• Chu Mu contrasted his ruthless rule with Bronya’s selfless approach and told her that the former nobles had become her enemies when they tried to assassinate her.
• Bronya reconsidered her mercy toward the former nobles and resolved to hold the ringleaders publicly accountable before the Tribunal.
• Bronya said the public trial would show that the people opposed restoring the old system and that the former nobles had no chance of reversing its abolition.
• Chu Mu recognized that Bronya was using public support to defeat her enemies and forging a new path as Supreme Guardian.
• The Silvermane Guards carried the wounded assassins away for treatment before their trial, and their military doctors prepared to operate without anesthetics.

Chu Mu revisited the Orphanage on the Underworld History Museum’s opening day but left rather than disturb the visitors, and Kafka explained to Bronya why she had adopted Chu Mu alone. The siblings confronted the choice that had separated them, leaving Bronya with her brother’s guilt and unanswered questions.

• Natasha declined to treat the injured Old Nobles, trusting the Silvermane Guards’ military doctors to care for them.
• Chu Mu saw the crowded Underworld History Museum in the former Orphanage and chose to return on a quieter day instead of interrupting its opening.
• Bronya and Chu Mu met Kafka, whom Chu Mu introduced as his family, and Kafka recalled adopting him while he refused to leave without his sister.
• Kafka explained that Chu Mu had stayed until Bronya was adopted because he wanted her to have a safe future, and said events since then might help Bronya understand why Kafka had not adopted her.
• Chu Mu told Bronya he had both held on to her and pushed her away, then blamed himself for being powerless against fate.

Chu Mu reunited with Bronya in Belobog and told her he might be gone for good, though she vowed to keep waiting. At the Paskonja Festival, they joined the Children's Commune event, where Chu Mu chose a new name for the former Orphanage.

• Chu Mu told Bronya that he could not promise to return and asked her to stop waiting if he had not come back within a year, but she insisted she would wait for the rest of her life.
• Chu Mu and Bronya reached the Upper District for the Paskonja Festival and went with Natasha to the Orphanage's event.
• Kafka told Bronya that she was family and said Silver Wolf, who resembled her, was on her way with Sam.
• Chu Mu reassured Bronya that she and Silver Wolf were different, while Stelle joked that the Sea of Stars created legends.
• Natasha asked Chu Mu to help choose a new name for the Children's Commune, and he proposed calling it the Home of Hope.