Chapter Summaries

Chu Mu manipulated Green Pheobe into believing that a secret Nirvana technique could cure his mara-struck condition and strengthen him. Green Pheobe died by his own poisoned knife, and Chu Mu claimed him as his first puppet.

• Chu Mu questioned Green Pheobe about the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus and learned that Green Pheobe had reported his supposed success to his regional leader.
• Chu Mu warned that Green Pheobe's medicines were damaging his foundation and offered Nirvana as a cure.
• Green Pheobe feared the requirement to die, but Chu Mu's rebuke convinced him to accept the ritual.
• Green Pheobe poisoned himself with his knife and died while visions of the Vidyadhara he had murdered overwhelmed him.
• Chu Mu checked Green Pheobe's body, declared that he had attained Nirvana, and used his Heavenly Eye to make him his first puppet.

Chu Mu used his threads to animate Green Pheobe’s poisoned body and treated it in a bath of liquor, herbs, and venomous creatures to prevent decay, leaving the puppet fluorescent green. After practicing his control and learning that the Red Sun’s energy recharged slowly, Chu Mu stopped to conserve power for the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus’ morning visit.

• Chu Mu practiced controlling Green Pheobe’s body with threads, making it breathe, beat its heart, and mimic expressions.
• Chu Mu searched Green Pheobe’s home for medicinal ingredients and soaked the puppet with drugs, liquor, snakes, and scorpions to slow its decay.
• The treatment turned Green Pheobe’s skin fluorescent green, and Chu Mu practiced manipulating the puppet through the night.
• Chu Mu discovered that the Red Sun slowly accumulated energy but depleted quickly when he used many threads or complex movements, so he ended control to recharge before the morning test.
• Morning came on the Xianzhou, and the chapter described the starship’s artificial day and night and the history of its Medicine-Seeking Envoys.

Chu Mu used a disguised clone to mislead Purple Moonflower, the regional head of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, into believing an Abundance Emanator had blessed Green Pheobe with a powerful poison body. Purple Moonflower left to report the story to the Chief while Chu Mu’s plan to sever his ties with the order remained in motion.

• Chu Mu decided to cut ties with the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus so the Xianzhou authorities would have a harder time tracking him.
• Purple Moonflower entered Green Pheobe’s home through a window and found Chu Mu’s clone posing as the injured, green disciple.
• The clone told Purple Moonflower that the Emanator had left because the Chief failed to meet him, and claimed the Emanator had bestowed a myriad poison body upon him.
• The clone asked to make greater contributions to the order, making Purple Moonflower fear that he might take over his regional position.
• Purple Moonflower promised to report the matter to the Chief and told the clone to stay home and await word.

Chu Mu tried to draw the Xianzhou authorities’ attention while planning to separate his avatar from the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus and seek Tingyun’s help. He found himself nearly broke in Aurum Alley and decided to look for Tingyun in Central Starskiff Haven, despite lacking enough Strales for a return ticket.

• Chu Mu left Green Pheobe’s home and placed himself in public to see whether the authorities would follow him, while his avatar remained behind.
• Chu Mu wandered through the quiet Aurum Alley and learned that its merchants were divided over whether to accept the Interastral Peace Corporation’s funding.
• Chu Mu discovered that the coins he had found were only loose change and that Green Pheobe’s real money was on a card.
• Chu Mu concluded that the authorities might not have noticed him and considered claiming a reward for the man caught the previous day.
• Chu Mu decided to seek Tingyun in Central Starskiff Haven, but a ten-Strales ticket would leave him without enough money for the return trip.

Chu Mu refused to return to the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus and prepared to leave the Xianzhou, but Qingque arrived as the authorities’ representative. Mistaking her harmless demeanor for a deliberate warning, Chu Mu invited her to eat, while Qingque believed the meal was a diplomatic gesture.

• Chu Mu rejected the idea of rejoining the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, counted out his remaining coins, and headed for the docks to buy a ticket to Central Starskiff Haven.
• Qingque hurried up to Chu Mu, who assumed the authorities had sent her to monitor him and warn him to leave the Xianzhou.
• Chu Mu reasoned that the authorities knew he was an Emanator but wanted to avoid a fight that could endanger the Xianzhou Luofu.
• Qingque silently panicked over Chu Mu’s apparent ability to know she was coming and wondered whether his forehead mark could foresee the future.
• After Qingque admitted she had not eaten, Chu Mu led her to an expensive restaurant, and she decided he was treating the Xianzhou’s representative rather than her personally.

Chu Mu discovered Xianzhou cuisine and ate an enormous amount at an upscale restaurant, exhausting its ingredients and exhausting its chefs. The manager worried Chu Mu might dine and dash, but Qingque emerged from the private room asking for more food.

• Chu Mu tried Xianzhou stir-fried food and ordered more than ten plates of a dish he liked.
• Chu Mu asked the restaurant to serve the food in a basin, then finished an enormous basin without feeling full.
• The restaurant closed its entrance and brought in chefs and ingredients from its branches to keep feeding Chu Mu.
• By afternoon, the chefs were exhausted and the restaurant had nearly run out of ingredients, while Chu Mu still wanted more.
• The manager worried Chu Mu might leave without paying, but Qingque came out of the private room and asked for more food.

Qingque assured the restaurant owner that Chu Mu could afford their meal, only for Chu Mu to make her pay the enormous bill. Fu Xuan transferred Qingque operational funds and ordered her to submit an investigation report that night.

• Qingque dismissed the shopkeeper’s worries about Chu Mu’s ability to pay and returned to the private dining room.
• Chu Mu ate throughout the day while the cooks struggled to keep up, and Qingque grew so tired she kept nodding off.
• When the shopkeeper presented a bill for fifteen thousand Strale, Chu Mu told him that Qingque would pay.
• Qingque contacted Fu Xuan for money, and Fu Xuan transferred one hundred and fifty thousand Strale in approved operational funds.
• Fu Xuan warned Qingque not to treat the extra money as a windfall and demanded her investigation report before bedtime.

Qingque tried to spend the Xianzhou’s funds extravagantly so she could get reassigned, while Chu Mu reflected on the cost of life there and the Star Destroyer Asta had given him. When Qingque’s shift ended, she handed Chu Mu the expense card and left, while he suspected the authorities were testing him.

• Qingque paid for the meal and decided to spend the allocated funds freely in hopes of being removed from the assignment.
• Chu Mu revealed he had overheard Qingque’s conversation and said she could pay future bills from the account.
• Chu Mu asked how much a Star Destroyer cost, and Qingque said its deposit alone exceeded a hundred million Credits.
• Chu Mu said he had blown up a Star Destroyer, leaving Qingque startled, and thought about reclaiming the ship and two billion from a man he blamed for its loss.
• Qingque’s Jade Abacus signaled the end of her workday, so she gave Chu Mu the expense card and headed off.
• Chu Mu suspected the authorities had handed him the card as a test and decided to stay under their surveillance.

Chu Mu befriended Qingque, while Fu Xuan used the Matrix of Prescience to investigate his motives and concluded that he had come to the Xianzhou to pursue a fugitive, not to aid the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus. Fu Xuan was left with a likely explanation for his arrival, though she still knew little about Chu Mu.

• Chu Mu asked Qingque to become his friend, and she accepted, treating their relationship as a private friendship.
• Qingque spent time with Chu Mu after work, complained about her boss, and explained that she preferred slacking off and playing Imperial Jade to planning for the future.
• Chu Mu wondered why the Xianzhou authorities had placed Qingque near him and whether her apparent laziness concealed a purpose.
• Fu Xuan finished calculating with the Matrix of Prescience and determined that Chu Mu had befriended Qingque for a reason.
• Fu Xuan connected the fugitive's route to the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus and concluded that Chu Mu had appeared to pursue the fugitive, who bore an Emanator of Abundance's blessing.

Fu Xuan realized that Shuhu had returned to the Xianzhou and recalled the Fanghu battle, where the old master diviner sacrificed himself to call down the Reignbow Arbiter’s arrow. She remained determined to defy fate, wondering whether her choices could have saved her master.

• Fu Xuan recognized that the young-looking fugitive was a former High-Cloud Quintet member who had gained immortality from Shuhu’s blessing.
• Fu Xuan recalled that Shuhu repeatedly attacked the Xianzhou to seize the Ambrosial Arbor’s healing power.
• Fu Xuan remembered fighting the Denizens of Abundance on Fanghu, where Shuhu brought a Living Planet and the allied defenses began to collapse.
• Fu Xuan proposed using the Cloudwatcher Mirror to summon the Reignbow Arbiter, but her old master said only he could operate it.
• The old master diviner used the Cloudwatcher Mirror and died as the Reignbow Arbiter’s arrow destroyed the enemy forces, hundreds of thousands of pilots, and part of Fanghu.
• Fu Xuan continued to reject fate and wondered whether staying on the Jade Abacus could have allowed her master to live.

Fu Xuan concluded that Blade might be helping Shuhu reach the Ambrosial Arbor and decided to hunt him down, while Chu Mu tried to stay inconspicuous in the Exalting Sanctum. After tasting a local pastry called deep-fried Shuhu, Chu Mu discovered that his body had become hungry again.

• Fu Xuan connected Blade's blessing and return to the Xianzhou with a possible deal to help Shuhu obtain the Ambrosial Arbor.
• Jing Yuan worried that Blade was becoming mara-struck and that he might have to kill his old friend to protect the Xianzhou.
• Fu Xuan decided to devote every effort to hunting Blade and cutting off Shuhu's reach into the Xianzhou.
• Chu Mu listened to a storyteller recount wars against the Denizens of Abundance and felt uneasy as the audience cursed Shuhu.
• Chu Mu planned to secretly seek help from Tingyun to leave the Xianzhou, while Qingque ordered deep-fried Shuhu for him to try.
• Chu Mu enjoyed the pastry, then realized his body had inexplicably become hungry again.

Qingque took Chu Mu to the Rain-Listening Pavilion in Aurum Alley, where he reflected on his uncertain return to Deep Blue Star and the Aeons’ competing plans for him. The chapter left Qingque facing Fu Xuan’s demand for an investigation report she had little information to write.

• Qingque booked a quiet pavilion at an inn in Aurum Alley so Chu Mu could stay near his double and avoid the crowds in Central Starskiff Haven.
• Chu Mu listened to simulated rain in the Rain-Listening Pavilion and remembered Deep Blue Star, Asta, and his promise to Yaoshi.
• Chu Mu considered how the Aeons might be divided over whether his present self or his past self should survive, and doubted his theory would unfold smoothly.
• Qingque settled into her guest room and began to fall asleep while listening to the rain.
• Fu Xuan messaged Qingque demanding her investigation report before bed, leaving Qingque worried because she had spent the night playing cards and the day accompanying Chu Mu.

Qingque submitted a running-log investigation report about the Emanator, while Fu Xuan used its details to infer his movements and motives. Fu Xuan concluded that he had threatened the Xianzhou through Qingque and continued to focus on Blade as the key to the investigation.

• Qingque submitted her detailed running log to Fu Xuan and worried that writing it after work counted as overtime.
• Fu Xuan analyzed Qingque’s report and deduced that the suspect had planned to leave Aurum Alley by the docks but stayed after Qingque revealed the authorities had noticed him.
• Fu Xuan reasoned that the suspect had broken with the counterfeit Disciples of Sanctus Medicus after discovering their followers and scriptures were false.
• Fu Xuan saw Yanqing return injured but excited by his fight with Blade, then continued reading Qingque’s report.
• Fu Xuan interpreted the suspect’s claim that he had blown up a Star Destroyer as a possible reference to a Xianzhou ship and recognized it as a deliberate threat.

Fu Xuan praised Qingque for her investigation, leaving Qingque dreading the attention from her boss. Meanwhile, Chu Mu tested whether the authorities were still watching his double and encountered a woman who recognized him as Heavenly Deficient.

• Fu Xuan scolded Qingque in her thoughts for ending her investigation report at the end of her shift, then praised her by message, which made Qingque despair.
• Chu Mu sent his green-glowing double into Aurum Alley dressed as a blind man to test whether the authorities were tracking it.
• Cloud Knights offered to escort Chu Mu’s double through the Exalting Sanctum, and he concluded that the authorities had stopped monitoring it after it reached a guarded pavilion.
• A gentle-looking woman asked Chu Mu’s silent double whether he was one of the Heavenly Deficient.
• Chu Mu recalled the dangers of artificial eye surgery for long-life species and doubted the Xianzhou belief that Yaoshi inflicted congenital disabilities as punishment.

Chu Mu’s Sampo disguise was exposed by Dan Shu, a blind physician who had undergone Artificial Eye surgery herself. Dan Shu offered to help him cope with the surgery’s dangers and asked him to describe the scenery outside Ruomu Pavilion.

• Dan Shu recognized that Sampo was pretending to be Heavenly Deficient because his footsteps betrayed that he could see.
• Dan Shu warned Sampo that Artificial Eye surgery could lead to mara-struck and described the suffering she experienced after her own surgery.
• Sampo asked Dan Shu why she wanted to help, and she explained that she was a physician with the Alchemy Commission and would prepare a prescription for him.
• Dan Shu introduced herself and told Sampo to find her at Ruomu Pavilion when darkness returned.
• Dan Shu asked Sampo to describe the scenery, and Chu Mu looked out at the sea of clouds and the withered Ambrosial Arbor.

Chu Mu’s double encountered Bailu, the Vidyadhara High Elder, after leaving Ruomu Pavilion. Bailu suspected him of carrying poisons and decided to follow him, leaving Chu Mu’s plans to head to Central Starskiff Haven at risk of scrutiny.

• After saying goodbye to Dan Shu, Chu Mu sent his double away from Ruomu Pavilion and began planning its trip to Central Starskiff Haven.
• Bailu stopped the double and accused him of carrying many poisons, while an Alchemy Commission woman tried to quiet her.
• Chu Mu recognized Bailu as the Vidyadhara High Elder and recalled that she lacked the power traditionally held by the office.
• The double told Bailu to leave him alone and called her Lady Dragon.
• Bailu refused to report him but vowed to follow him and stop him if he released poison in public.

Chu Mu sent Bailu and her companion away from his home, then learned that Purple Moonflower and every other senior disciple in the Exalting Sanctum branch had died overnight, leaving his clone in charge. The messenger blamed their green faces on choking while asleep, and Chu Mu realized the deaths might be connected to poison.

• Bailu followed Chu Mu's clone home and discovered that he was a green Vidyadhara afflicted with poison.
• The clone carried Bailu outside and sent her and her companion away.
• A messenger told the clone that Purple Moonflower had been murdered and that the clone was now in charge of the Exalting Sanctum branch.
• The messenger revealed that all the other senior disciples had also died overnight with green faces, and Chu Mu suspected poison was involved.

Chu Mu’s clone was forced to become the Exalting Sanctum Branch’s regional leader after the messenger warned that refusing would make him a traitor. He left the Branch running on recruitment and scripture-copying quotas, while its members struggled to meet his demands.

• Chu Mu’s clone tried to refuse the leadership position, but the messenger insisted that the rules required him to take over after Purple Moonflower’s death and threatened to report him if he refused.
• The clone accepted the position and became the man in charge of the Exalting Sanctum Branch, whose members earned points to obtain Great Medicine.
• Chu Mu canceled tasks involving harvesting vidyadhara marrow and ordered the Branch to focus on recruiting believers.
• When recruitment proved difficult, Chu Mu imposed scripture-copying punishments on members who went more than three days without recruiting anyone.
• A veteran warned that recruiting openly might attract the authorities, so Chu Mu sent him out to recruit and told him to bring in one person each day.

Chu Mu decided to leave for Cloudford after his clone drew scrutiny as a branch leader of the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus. Qingque informed Fu Xuan of his plans, and Fu Xuan agreed to let the visit proceed while suspecting Chu Mu had another purpose.

• Chu Mu learned that the authorities had likely infiltrated the Exalting Sanctum branch, while an urgent letter asked Lord Green Pheobe to help capture Banxia, a suspected traitor.
• Chu Mu’s clone refused to answer the other branch leader’s request, and a follower secretly recorded his defiant words in the reply.
• Chu Mu resolved to travel to Cloudford and create another clone, then woke in the Rain-Listening Pavilion as Qingque enjoyed the storm.
• Chu Mu told Qingque to bring him food and said he would go to Cloudford that afternoon, calling it just a visit.
• Qingque messaged Fu Xuan about Chu Mu’s plans, and Fu Xuan told her to agree to the request for now.

Fu Xuan prepared Cloudford for the suspected arrival of Shuhu and sought reinforcements from Yaoqing, but received only an elite Cloud Knight. Jing Yuan declined to oversee the situation and sent Fu Xuan to take Divine Foresight, which could unleash an Emanator-level strike.

• Fu Xuan reasoned that Shuhu might target Cloudford to cripple Luofu's trade and requested aid from Yaoqing.
• Yaoqing replied that it would transfer an elite Cloud Knight to Luofu that afternoon, leaving Fu Xuan worried the support was inadequate.
• Fu Xuan ordered the Cloud Knights to inspect Cloudford and remove hazardous goods, prohibited cargo, and unauthorized personnel.
• Fu Xuan called Jing Yuan and asked him to oversee Cloudford, but he refused because he wanted to avoid trouble.
• Jing Yuan told Fu Xuan to collect Divine Foresight from the Divine Strategy Office, explaining that it could deliver an Emanator-level strike after gathering enough power.