Chapter Summaries

Fu Xuan visited Chu Mu to confront him about the spending loophole and discuss the Stellaron, but his comments made her suspect he was threatening the Luofu. After tasting familiar medicinal tea turned into sugar water, she accused him of kidnapping Bailu.

• Fu Xuan saw Green Pheobe's restaurant charge on the card and decided to confront Chu Mu about the spending loophole.
• Fu Xuan went to the Rain-Listening Pavilion, where Sushang welcomed her and Chu Mu invited her to breakfast.
• Fu Xuan questioned Chu Mu about the Stellaron, and he suggested General Jing Yuan lacked the means to suppress it and mentioned the former Vidyadhara High Elder.
• Fu Xuan took a sip of Chu Mu's tea, recognized Bailu's Eye-Improving Medicinal Tea formula beneath the excess sugar, and accused Chu Mu of kidnapping Bailu.

Chu Mu offered to return Bailu to Fu Xuan, but Fu Xuan refused and arranged for Bailu to stay with him until the Stellaron crisis ended. Fu Xuan left pleased, having secured a way for the Xianzhou authorities to maintain contact with the Emanator.

• Chu Mu explained to Fu Xuan that he had found Bailu and wanted to return her without asking for payment.
• Fu Xuan rejected Chu Mu's suggestion that Bailu's High Elder power be awakened, warning that the broken dragon transformation legacy could cause another disaster.
• Fu Xuan insisted that Chu Mu keep Bailu, arguing that her stay beside an Emanator would protect her and benefit her studies of medicine.
• Chu Mu accepted the arrangement after realizing Bailu's expenses and caretakers would be provided by the Xianzhou.
• Fu Xuan said she would collect Bailu after the Stellaron crisis and left, pleased to have created a reason to visit Chu Mu and maintain contact with him.

Fu Xuan weighed the threat of a hidden Evil Emanator against the need to keep a neutral Emanator on the Luofu’s side, then left to handle unrest among traveling merchants. At the Rain-Listening Pavilion, Bailu tried to care for Banxia, but the Doppelganger returned with Nether Envoys after Banxia reported herself.

• Fu Xuan decided that the neutral Emanator should remain uninvolved while General Jing Yuan waited for a chance to turn the balance against the Evil Emanator.
• After ten hours had passed without the hoped-for variable appearing, Fu Xuan left to address traveling merchants and considered giving the Emanator a Xianzhou warship once the crisis ended.
• The Doppelganger brought Bailu and Banxia to the Rain-Listening Pavilion and falsely told Bailu that relaxing might awaken her hidden power.
• Qingque and Sushang watched Banxia cautiously as her lucid moments dwindled and her mara-struck condition worsened.
• The Doppelganger returned with Nether Envoys from the Ten-Lords Commission, and Bailu learned that Banxia had reported herself.

Banxia chose to leave with the Ten-Lords Commission so she could see Liang Mu in the Prison of Deep Seclusion, while Chu Mu learned that the Commission could place preserved souls into Artifabian Automatons. The judge Xueyi arrived to take Banxia and question those involved in Bailu’s disappearance, but Bailu tried to protect Banxia until Banxia regained her clarity and spoke to her.

• Banxia chose to go to the Prison of Deep Seclusion, hoping to see Liang Mu before her life ended.
• Chu Mu learned that Xianzhou souls from the Hall of Karma could be transferred into Artifabian Automatons, and he secretly tested his Silken Thread on the Ten-Lords Commission judge.
• Xueyi arrived at the Rain-Listening Pavilion and said those implicated in Bailu’s disappearance would have to give statements to the Ten-Lords Commission.
• Qingque pulled Xueyi aside to explain the situation, and Xueyi agreed not to linger because Her Ladyship was waiting to eat.
• Xueyi ordered Banxia to come with her, but Bailu tearfully tried to stop her.
• Banxia regained her clarity and addressed Bailu.

After Banxia was taken away by Xueyi, Bailu struggled with her feelings while Chu Mu arranged for Sushang and Qingque to show her around. The Luofu’s residents largely dismissed the Stellaron outbreak, while visiting merchants secured permission to leave before noon the next day.

• Bailu tried to stop Banxia from approaching Xueyi, but loosened her grip and watched as Xueyi shackled Banxia and took her away.
• Chu Mu comforted Bailu and asked Sushang and Qingque to take her out around the streets during the day.
• Fu Xuan negotiated with angry merchants and agreed to keep some Cloudford docks open until noon the following day so they could leave.
• Luofu residents mostly treated the Stellaron outbreak as a minor disturbance or an exciting spectacle, while merchants warned local shopkeepers to close up.
• Qingque feared her sore wrist meant she had bone cancer, but Bailu prescribed handling tiles, which eased the soreness.

Sushang took Bailu out to shop while Qingque watched the Rain-Listening Pavilion, and Chu Mu discovered that the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus planned to use the Exalting Sanctum Branch as a diversion for a larger uprising. He chose to report the plot and summoned Fu Xuan, who agreed to arrive within half an hour.

• Guinaifen invited Sushang shopping, and Qingque encouraged Sushang to take Bailu along while she watched the Rain-Listening Pavilion.
• Qingque linked her card to Sushang’s account so Sushang and Bailu could enjoy the crowded streets without worrying about the cost.
• Chu Mu used the Heavenly Eye to inspect his Doppelganger and learned that the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus intended to incite chaos across the Xianzhou.
• Chu Mu concluded that the Exalting Sanctum Branch’s hundred-odd believers were disposable pawns meant to draw Cloud Knights away from another attack.
• Chu Mu decided to report the disciples and asked Qingque to summon Fu Xuan; she said she would arrive within half an hour.

Chu Mu gave Fu Xuan intelligence about the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, and they agreed to cooperate against the group’s operation. As Fu Xuan departed, Qingque discovered that the Idiot Robot had won their game with an extraordinary hand.

• Chu Mu told Fu Xuan that the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus were using the Exalting Sanctum as a diversion while pursuing operations elsewhere.
• Fu Xuan recognized the intelligence’s value and said the Xianzhou would repay Chu Mu, despite his refusal to ask for a gift.
• Chu Mu proposed that Green Pheobe ignore the assignment so the Disciples’ leader might reveal themself, and Fu Xuan agreed to cooperate.
• Fu Xuan left the Bamboo Grove looking more cheerful, and Qingque checked her Jade Abacus on the way back.
• Qingque watched the game replay and realized the Idiot Robot had won with the best opening hand of her tile-playing career.

Guinaifen took Sushang and Bailu on a tour of the Exalting Sanctum before returning them to the Xiaomiao Inn, where they found Qingque despondent over a missed mahjong hand. Bailu jolted Qingque back to life by threatening her game balance, and Qingque resolved to win back her losses from a single bean.

• Guinaifen treated Sushang and Bailu to an afternoon exploring the Exalting Sanctum and discussed the Luofu’s safety and future with them.
• Guinaifen saw Sushang and Bailu back to the Xiaomiao Inn before leaving to stream.
• Sushang found Qingque lying unresponsive on the sofa and worried that she had been possessed.
• Bailu checked Qingque and diagnosed her with not having played enough tiles, then started an ultra-high-stakes game on Qingque’s Jade Abacus.
• Qingque sprang up when Bailu warned that she would lose all her beans, but the bot’s opening move left her with only one bean.
• Qingque vowed to win back everything she had lost, starting with her final bean.

Sushang told her mother about her new friend Guinaifen and explained Guinaifen's family's troubled past. After learning the story was true, her parents approved of the friendship and reassured Sushang that honest work deserved respect.

• Sushang messaged her mother from the Bamboo Grove and kept her confidential work details vague while enthusiastically describing Guinaifen as her best friend.
• Sushang's mother urged her to stay grounded, train her heart as well as her swordsmanship, and be cautious about making a new friend.
• Sushang explained that Guinaifen's family had been displaced after her father's death, and that her brothers had become pirates to support their starving family before the Xianzhou Alliance captured them.
• Sushang told her mother that Guinaifen's eldest brother had offered his life to secure a safe home for his siblings, and that the Xianzhou Alliance had pardoned him and accepted the family.
• Sushang asked whether her mother looked down on Guinaifen's work, and her mother said that anyone working hard to support themselves deserved respect.
• Sushang learned that her father had been listening with her mother, and both parents approved of her friendship with Guinaifen.

Sushang confronted the painful difference between her and Guinaifen’s lifespans and wondered whether to deepen their friendship. Meanwhile, Bailu prepared emergency medicines in Aurum Alley with Qingque’s help.

• Sushang’s mother warned her to judge new friends carefully and asked whether she was prepared to befriend someone from a short-life species.
• Sushang realized Guinaifen would grow old while she remained young and wondered whether to end their friendship early or cherish their time together.
• Chu Mu told Bailu she still needed dinner and agreed to let Qingque take her to buy medicinal ingredients without requiring an IOU.
• Bailu explained that she wanted to stock battlefield wound remedies in case trouble came to the Luofu.
• Qingque ordered food and took Bailu to the apothecary, finishing both errands while the restaurant prepared their meal.

Chu Mu’s Doppelganger lured a Sanctus Medicus superior to the Exalting Sanctum, poisoned Ziyi, and handed them over to the Ten-Lords Commission. Meanwhile, Fu Xuan learned that Kafka’s Star Destroyer might be near the Jade Gate.

• Chu Mu’s Doppelganger ignored orders from his superiors until Ziyi arrived from the Alchemy Commission branch to challenge his authority.
• Ziyi demanded control of the Exalting Sanctum, but the Doppelganger readily agreed to leave, surprising Ziyi.
• The Doppelganger poisoned Ziyi during their handshake and called Judge Xueyi to take them for soul-searching.
• Believers watched the Nether Envoys carry Ziyi away and grew more wary of Lord Green Pheobe.
• Fu Xuan learned that the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus’ headquarters was the Alchemy Commission and praised the Doppelganger for narrowing the investigation.
• A subordinate told Fu Xuan that a Star Destroyer matching Kafka’s vessel had been found near the Jade Gate, making her expression tense.

Fu Xuan ordered the pursuit of Kafka after discussing the Stellaron Hunters with Jing Yuan. Meanwhile, Chu Mu spotted Blade still hiding in Exalting Sanctum and decided to help the authorities find him.

• Fu Xuan warned Jing Yuan that Kafka had infiltrated the Luofu and argued that the Stellaron Hunters' plans made the Stellaron disaster especially concerning.
• Jing Yuan told Fu Xuan to trust the Luofu's strength, and she chose to pursue Kafka so the Matrix of Prescience could reveal her plans.
• Fu Xuan ordered her subordinates to print wanted posters for the Stellaron Hunters using the Interastral Peace Corporation's portraits.
• Chu Mu returned home, prepared a toxic medicinal bath for his doppelganger, and watched him soak overnight.
• Chu Mu spotted the black-haired man with a broken sword—Blade—in Aurum Alley and decided to lead him somewhere with food and lodging, intending to help the authorities capture him.

Chu Mu kept a wounded fugitive in place long enough for Cloud Knight Lieutenant Yanqing to pursue him, then returned to the Rain-Listening Pavilion. Meanwhile, the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus prepared to attack the Xianzhou, unaware that chaos had already begun elsewhere.

• Chu Mu persuaded the injured fugitive to wait five minutes while he went to fetch Golden Wound Medicine.
• Chu Mu met Yanqing outside the Xiaomiao Inn and directed him to the fugitive's hiding place.
• The fugitive fled when Yanqing arrived, and Chu Mu judged that Yanqing would likely catch him before teleporting back to the Rain-Listening Pavilion.
• Chu Mu considered the connection between Stellarons, the Antimatter Legion, and Destruction, and concluded that the Legion might not be involved in the Xianzhou crisis.
• Green Pheobe slept in the Exalting Sanctum while the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus' planned midnight operation remained quiet there, even as chaos erupted in other districts.

The Disciples of Sanctus Medicus seized Cloudford and Return Starport, leaving Fu Xuan with a twenty-four-hour window to rescue stranded merchants. With few fighters available, she considered asking Jing Yuan to lend Yanqing, who returned after losing another duel and argued with her.

• The Disciples of Sanctus Medicus took control of Cloudford and Return Starport while Xianzhou forces protected the residential districts.
• Fu Xuan determined that she needed to send an elite unit to rescue merchants stranded in Cloudford before the golden window closed.
• Fu Xuan appeared in the Divine Strategy Office and asked Jing Yuan if she could borrow his apprentice.
• Yanqing arrived after losing another fight, and Fu Xuan mocked him for wasting chances to defeat his opponent.
• Jing Yuan told Yanqing that he, too, still needed to grow and had little time left to do so.

Fu Xuan’s forces struggled to clear Cloudford as Sanctus Medicus cultists ambushed the Cloud Knights, while rumors about the fighting spread across the Xianzhou. The authorities suppressed the rumors and posted wanted notices for two Stellaron Hunters, whose reputation the Interastral Peace Corporation’s search results portrayed as destructive.

• Xueyi led temporarily resurrected puppets from the Ten-Lords Commission into Cloudford to help the Cloud Knights clear a path and rescue trapped merchants.
• Sanctus Medicus cultists ambushed the advancing troops, healing from fatal wounds and inflicting casualties as communications with deeper squads failed.
• Wounded soldiers returning from Cloudford fueled online rumors that the Xianzhou was under attack by pirates or Denizens of Abundance.
• The Xianzhou authorities declared that the fighting and wounded soldiers were part of a drill, then warned citizens against spreading rumors.
• The authorities posted wanted notices for two Stellaron Hunters, and citizens found Corporation-compiled accounts emphasizing the damage they had caused while omitting the oppression that preceded their arrival.

Sushang decided that friendship with Guinaifen was worth pursuing despite their different lifespans, and she resolved to investigate Aurum Alley’s decline so she could help fulfill Guinaifen’s wish. The chapter left her distracted by those plans as Chu Mu came downstairs and heard news about Kafka.

• Xianzhou residents read the Interastral Peace Corporation’s information about the Stellaron Hunters and speculated that the wounded soldiers had fought them at Cloudford.
• Qingque played cards while Bailu prepared medicinal herbs, and Sushang practiced swinging the heavy Xuanyuan Sword.
• Sushang returned to listen to the news because reading books was difficult for her, then reflected on her friendship with Guinaifen.
• Sushang decided that she would not let their different lifespans keep them from becoming close friends.
• Sushang resolved to investigate why Aurum Alley had declined and find ways to help it recover for Guinaifen’s sake.
• Chu Mu came downstairs as the Jade Abacus reported on Kafka.

Chu Mu suspected the mysterious immortal man was Blade and worried that helping Kafka would undo his improving ties with the Xianzhou authorities. Fu Xuan visited him with news of the growing Stellaron crisis and tried to learn what he intended to do, while Chu Mu probed the authorities’ view of the Stellaron Hunters.

• Chu Mu connected Blade’s immortality and past warnings to the suspicious man he had encountered, and feared he had unknowingly betrayed Blade twice.
• Chu Mu planned to keep his relationship with the authorities while waiting for Kafka, but remained unsure how to face Blade or what role he had in Elio’s plans.
• Fu Xuan arrived at the Rain-Listening Pavilion after a difficult day, with Xueyi’s rescue team missing, Blade possibly in Cloudford, and the Stellaron’s influence spreading Fragmentum.
• Chu Mu asked whether the villain from the previous night had been caught, and Fu Xuan explained that Blade had defeated Yanqing and escaped.
• Chu Mu asked Fu Xuan about the Stellaron Hunters, prompting her to consider his claim that he had spent a long time in secluded cultivation.

Fu Xuan explained why the Xianzhou Luofu distrusted the Stellaron Hunters, then revealed that the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus had seized Cloudford. Chu Mu persuaded her to send Sushang there, but Fu Xuan then learned that Kafka had sent a decoded communication to the Astral Express.

• Fu Xuan described the Stellaron Hunters' crimes and vowed to stop them if they threatened the Luofu.
• Chu Mu pressed Fu Xuan about unrest in Cloudford, and she admitted the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus had taken control of the area.
• Fu Xuan said the Cloud Knights were short on troops because they had to defend the Residential District and had likely lost their first team sent to Cloudford.
• Chu Mu suggested sending Sushang to Cloudford, and Fu Xuan agreed to borrow her for the deployment.
• The Divination Commission decoded a communication Kafka had sent to the Astral Express.

Fu Xuan worried about Kafka’s connection to the Astral Express and their approaching arrival at the Xianzhou Luofu. She recruited Sushang, a Taixu Sword Art successor, to come with her and summon the phoenix.

• Fu Xuan considered the Astral Express’s history and feared that its meeting with the Stellaron Hunters would bring trouble to the Luofu.
• Chu Mu asked Fu Xuan what was wrong, but she said she could handle the unexpected development and left.
• Fu Xuan asked Sushang whether she could use a sword and learned she had trained in the Taixu Sword Art.
• Fu Xuan asked whether Sushang could summon the phoenix through Taixu Form Essence, then told her to bring her sword and come along.
• Sushang followed Fu Xuan while privately worrying that the phoenix she could summon looked more like a chicken.

While Sushang remained away fighting the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, Chu Mu arranged for Bailu and Qingque to leave the Rain-Listening Pavilion to treat wounded soldiers. With the pavilion empty, he prepared for Kafka to appear.

• Guinaifen asked Qingque about Sushang, and Qingque later relayed Fu Xuan's message that Sushang was safe but had pursued the disciples too far into Cloudford.
• Chu Mu heard that Sushang was still fighting and felt relieved she was not at the Rain-Listening Pavilion.
• Green Pheobe reported that wounded soldiers were turning mara-struck, and Bailu hurried to treat them with her medicine.
• Chu Mu sent Qingque to help Bailu carry her medicine chest, leaving the Rain-Listening Pavilion empty.
• Chu Mu waited for Kafka to appear.