Chapter Summaries

The Earth-Balance Commission assigned Stelle to investigate over ten thousand recent visitors for the Stellaron culprit, while March 7th tried to find useful clues in the files. At the Rain-Listening Pavilion, Fu Xuan questioned Chu Mu about Green Pheobe’s new connection to the Astral Express Crew, and they agreed to share intelligence.

• Dahao gave Stelle the task of checking over ten thousand recent visitors, and she accepted despite doubting she could finish in time.
• Stelle left the Earth-Balance Commission without reviewing the files, while March 7th began recording suspicious details by hand.
• Qingque returned to the Rain-Listening Pavilion and worried that her time away would leave gaps in her report to Fu Xuan.
• Fu Xuan called Chu Mu and questioned why Green Pheobe had joined the Astral Express Crew after the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus case.
• Chu Mu said Green Pheobe’s proximity to the crew could help identify the hidden observer, and he and Fu Xuan agreed to share intelligence.

Fu Xuan arranged for Chu Mu to observe Kafka’s interrogation and decided to cultivate Qingque after seeing Green Pheobe’s abilities. Qingque brought the Astral Express Crew together with Chu Mu, while his doppelganger warned them about the powerful Emanator they were about to meet.

• Fu Xuan decided to promote Qingque’s career prospects and agreed to free Green Pheobe from restrictions so he could leave with Chu Mu.
• Fu Xuan arranged for Qingque to guide Chu Mu to the Divination Commission, and Qingque suggested bringing the Astral Express Crew along to avoid making two trips.
• Chu Mu agreed to meet the Astral Express Crew, and Qingque went to find them while his doppelganger prepared for Kafka’s interrogation.
• Stelle, March 7th, Welt, and Tingyun waited in the plaza as Bailu treated patients nearby.
• Chu Mu’s doppelganger warned the Astral Express Crew that an important Emanator would meet them and advised them to keep quiet and stay out of his way.

Qingque met the Astral Express crew at the Plaza and was delighted to reunite with Tingyun, her former tile partner. As the group prepared to head to the Divination Commission, Qingque hoped to play tiles with Tingyun again, though Tingyun gave no firm answer and Qingque reflected on how unlikely it was that the busy merchant would ever retire.

• Welt warned Stelle and March 7th that the dangerous Emanator made the situation on the Xianzhou more complicated, while the Doppelganger trusted General Jing Yuan to keep him in check.
• Qingque met the group at the Plaza and said they would stop at the inn to pick up another companion, disappointing Stelle and March 7th.
• Qingque recognized Tingyun as her former tile partner and enthusiastically recalled their victory at a tile parlor in Starskiff Haven.
• Qingque invited Tingyun to play tiles at the Divination Commission, but Tingyun hesitated and Qingque accepted that she might be too busy.
• Qingque remembered asking Tingyun when she would retire from trade and reflected that Tingyun kept buying storefronts while continuing her dangerous work as a merchant.

Chu Mu joined the Astral Express Crew at the Divination Commission, where Fu Xuan assigned Qingque to lead Stelle, March 7th, and Welt in repairing the Matrix of Prescience's formation anchors. Fu Xuan brought Chu Mu to meet Kafka, who greeted him in shackles.

• Qingque recalled Tingyun's sorrowful hope of reuniting with someone as she waited for ships at the Jade Gate.
• Chu Mu joined Qingque and the others, and they reached the Divination Commission, where Fu Xuan was waiting.
• Fu Xuan explained that damaged formation anchors had to be repaired before the Matrix of Prescience could be activated, then sent Qingque with Stelle, March 7th, and Welt to handle the work.
• Fu Xuan told Chu Mu that she considered him another key variable in the Luofu's crisis and had chosen to bet on him.
• Fu Xuan led Chu Mu to Kafka, who stood in shackles and greeted him.

Chu Mu reunited with Kafka at the Divination Commission, where Fu Xuan planned to use the Matrix of Prescience to interrogate her. Afterward, Fu Xuan explained that the Astral Express Crew would decide Kafka’s fate, while Chu Mu and Fu Xuan reflected on whether fate could be escaped.

• Chu Mu saw Kafka in shackles at the Divination Commission and restrained his urge to take her away, recognizing that her interrogation was part of Elio’s script.
• Chu Mu greeted Kafka, and she teased him and Fu Xuan by calling them a perfect match before Fu Xuan hurried out with Chu Mu to speak elsewhere.
• Kafka was left alone without guards and privately laughed at seeing A-Mu again.
• Fu Xuan told Chu Mu that Jing Yuan had decided the Astral Express Crew would choose whether to release Kafka or claim the Interastral Peace Corporation’s bounty.
• Chu Mu and Fu Xuan discussed fate, with Chu Mu suggesting it might not exist and Fu Xuan preferring that possibility.

Chu Mu learned from Fu Xuan that Blade had once been a member of the High-Cloud Quintet and began piecing together his past identity. He suspected Blade was the artisan Yingxing and Dan Heng was the former Vidyadhara High Elder Dan Feng, but he had not confirmed either conclusion.

• Chu Mu asked Fu Xuan what the Xianzhou planned to do with Blade, and she said he would face judgment there once captured.
• Fu Xuan revealed that Blade had been one of the High-Cloud Quintet, a celebrated group that fought the Denizens of Abundance centuries earlier.
• Chu Mu reviewed what was known about the Quintet and reasoned that Blade might be Yingxing, who could have used the power of Abundance to survive for centuries.
• Chu Mu connected Dan Heng's hidden strength and absence from the Luofu mission to Dan Feng, the former Vidyadhara High Elder.
• Chu Mu noted that Blade had abandoned the name Yingxing, apparently distancing himself from his former life.

Chu Mu suspected Blade was Yingxing, a former member of the High-Cloud Quintet, and learned that only Jing Yuan might explain the group's hidden history. Meanwhile, Qingque tried to start a tile game with Tingyun and the doppelganger, but Jing Yuan arrived and the doppelganger wondered whether the general recognized him as a puppet of the Red Sun.

• Chu Mu connected Blade to Yingxing, and Fu Xuan confirmed his guess while saying Jing Yuan might know what happened to the High-Cloud Quintet.
• Chu Mu wondered why Blade was wanted and resolved to make amends for having exposed him before.
• Stelle reactivated the Matrix of Prescience's base terminals, and Fu Xuan prepared to question Kafka while adding Stelle's behavior to her calculations.
• Qingque sneaked away and tried to recruit Tingyun and the doppelganger for a game of Imperial Jade.
• Jing Yuan arrived and offered to join the game, while the doppelganger wondered whether the general saw him as a puppet of the Red Sun.

Chu Mu realized Jing Yuan had noticed Divine Foresight’s reaction to his doppelganger, but the general chose to keep the discovery quiet and gathered everyone for a game of Imperial Jade. As they played, Chu Mu considered the Luofu’s many dangers, including the Ambrosial Arbor’s failing seal, and wondered how Jing Yuan would handle the crisis.

• Chu Mu inferred that Jing Yuan had noticed Divine Foresight’s fear of his doppelganger, but Jing Yuan reassured the creature without exposing Chu Mu’s disguise.
• Jing Yuan ordered Qingque to set up a game of Imperial Jade, and she reluctantly produced and arranged a full set of tiles.
• While the group prepared to play, Chu Mu reflected on the Ambrosial Arbor’s history, the Ancient Sea’s seal, and Bailu’s inability to reinforce it.
• Chu Mu judged the Luofu to be threatened by multiple dangers and wondered how Jing Yuan would respond to the Stellaron crisis.
• Chu Mu asked Jing Yuan to teach him the rules of Imperial Jade.

Qingque taught the Doppelganger, Jing Yuan, and Tingyun how to play Imperial Jade, then struggled to manage her nerves while playing with the Luofu General. As the game progressed, she suspected Tingyun was disguising her skill and worried that the Doppelganger might be trying to beat Jing Yuan.

• Qingque explained Imperial Jade’s rules and reflected on how players could find joy in the game through luck, skill, or letting go of both.
• Qingque grew nervous about playing with her superior, Jing Yuan, and tried to calculate how to lose without making it obvious.
• The game began, and Qingque observed Jing Yuan’s confident style and the Doppelganger’s quick improvement.
• Qingque noticed Tingyun playing like a beginner and concluded that she was concealing her abilities to avoid beating Jing Yuan.
• Qingque became uneasy as the Doppelganger’s play seemed to pit him against Jing Yuan.

Chu Mu and Jing Yuan used their mahjong game to signal that neither would yield on their core interests, while Fu Xuan learned that the Stellaron Hunters had come to the Xianzhou for the Astral Express and especially Stelle. The chapter leaves Stelle talking privately with Kafka as Fu Xuan concludes that Stelle is central to Elio's script.

• Chu Mu interpreted Jing Yuan's aggressive play as a warning, held his ground, and reached a tacit understanding with the general to maintain a stalemate until the hidden Emanator appeared.
• Fu Xuan used the Matrix of Prescience on Kafka, learned the Stellaron Hunters were not responsible for the Xianzhou's Stellaron, and realized she had been misled.
• Stelle acted out distress at Fu Xuan's revelation, then went to speak privately with Kafka while March 7th played along.
• Fu Xuan told Chu Mu that the Stellaron Hunters had come for the Astral Express and, more specifically, for Stelle, who held an important place in Elio's script.

Fu Xuan warned Chu Mu that the Stellaron Hunters were using the Luofu crisis to secure the Xianzhou’s future help for Stelle, but the Ambrosial Arbor’s revival created a new catastrophe and Kafka escaped with Blade. Jing Yuan left his stalled tile game to respond as the Luofu faced the returning divine tree’s threat.

• Fu Xuan explained that the Stellaron Hunters planned for Stelle to become the Luofu’s savior and earn Jing Yuan’s debt, then considered whether Chu Mu could instead resolve the Stellaron crisis and hurried off to find Jing Yuan.
• Stelle announced that Kafka was escaping, but the Ambrosial Arbor’s sealed Mysterious Root broke free and the tree revived, threatening to draw the Medicine-Seeking Envoys and Denizens of Abundance to the Luofu.
• Stelle tried to stop Kafka, but Blade appeared and pointed his shattered sword at her; Kafka and Blade then jumped away, while Chu Mu watched Kafka disappear.
• Jing Yuan paused his tile game after witnessing the Ambrosial Arbor’s revival, and Fu Xuan rushed over to urge him to act.
• After Jing Yuan and the others left, Qingque noticed that Jing Yuan, Green Pheobe, and Tingyun had each been one tile away from winning.

Jing Yuan formally commissioned the Astral Express crew to help seal the Stellaron at the Ambrosial Arbor. He gave Fu Xuan the command tally and ordered her to lead the Cloud Knights in retaking the Alchemy Commission, leaving her with a chance to experience a general’s authority.

• Stelle received Dan Heng’s message that he had left the Express and was heading toward the docks.
• Jing Yuan formally commissioned Stelle, March 7th, and Welt to join the operation to seal the Stellaron.
• Jing Yuan explained that overlapping delves separated them from the Ambrosial Arbor and that they would need to reach it through the Alchemy Commission.
• Jing Yuan handed Fu Xuan the command tally and assigned her to lead the Cloud Knights in retaking the Alchemy Commission from remnants of the Secret Transmission.
• Fu Xuan accepted the tally as Jing Yuan invited her to experience what it was like to be a general.

Jing Yuan assigned Fu Xuan to lead the Cloud Knights against the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus and sent the Astral Express Crew through the Artisanship Commission to resolve a problem on their way to the Stellaron’s location. After questioning Fu Xuan about the Stellaron, Chu Mu suspected that Jingliu, the former Luofu Sword Champion, might have secretly placed it inside the Ambrosial Arbor’s delve.

• Fu Xuan accepted Jing Yuan’s Military Tally and agreed to lead the Cloud Knights to the Alchemy Commission.
• Jing Yuan sent the Astral Express Crew through the Artisanship Commission to deal with a problem before they rendezvoused with Fu Xuan.
• Chu Mu noticed Jing Yuan’s quiet greeting and learned from Fu Xuan that the Divination Commission had not precisely located the Stellaron.
• Fu Xuan suspected that the person who placed the Stellaron inside the Ambrosial Arbor held a high position in the Xianzhou.
• Chu Mu considered Jingliu a possible culprit because she had once held power on the Luofu and would have known the Arbor’s location.

Chu Mu pieced together how Jingliu, the Stellaron, and Jing Yuan’s plan might be connected, then told Fu Xuan he had a lead on the Emanator. He left to meet Stelle, March 7th, Welt, Qingque, Tingyun, and his doppelganger near the Divination Commission exit.

• Chu Mu reasoned that Jingliu might have planted the Stellaron and that Jing Yuan had allowed several crises to converge so the Astral Express Crew could resolve them together.
• Chu Mu kept his suspicions from Fu Xuan and said he had a lead on the Emanator but needed more time to confirm it.
• Fu Xuan asked whether Chu Mu needed backup and suggested Qingque accompany him, and Chu Mu agreed to take her along.
• Fu Xuan left to attend to her duties and told Chu Mu she would wait for him at the Alchemy Commission.
• Chu Mu headed toward the Divination Commission exit, where Qingque, Tingyun, and his doppelganger were waiting; Stelle, March 7th, and Welt had already gone there.

The Astral Express Crew set out for the Artisanship Commission while Stelle tried to admire Tingyun’s tail, and Tingyun promised she could touch it after the Stellaron Disaster was resolved. Chu Mu followed the group and questioned Qingque about how Tingyun had changed, leaving Qingque uncertain about her friend’s behavior.

• Stelle asked Tingyun about her tail and said she wanted to bury her face in it, while Qingque explained its importance to Foxians.
• Tingyun offered to let Stelle touch her tail after the group helped resolve the Stellaron Disaster, and Stelle hurried the group toward the Artisanship Commission.
• After the Astral Express Crew left, Chu Mu told Qingque to accompany him to the Artisanship Commission and asked her to keep track of the group.
• Qingque reported that Sushang was traveling with a merchant, a taciturn spear-wielder, and Xueyi, and Chu Mu told her to have Sushang stay with them.
• Chu Mu asked Qingque what she thought of Tingyun as she was now, and Qingque admitted that her friend seemed strange but she could not explain why.

Chu Mu sent Qingque to summon Yukong to determine whether Tingyun was an impostor, while Stelle and her companions entered the Artisanship Commission to protect the Creation Furnace from the Ambrosial Arbor’s roots. With Chu Mu immobilizing hostile constructs, the group followed Master Gongshu toward the furnace.

• Chu Mu asked Qingque who knew Tingyun best, learned it was Yukong, and told Qingque to have Fu Xuan invite her to the Alchemy Commission.
• Stelle learned that Ambrosial Arbor roots had seized the Creation Furnace and that an old artisan remained inside, so she led her companions into the Artisanship Commission.
• Stelle met Master Gongshu, who agreed to guide the group along a route using teleportation mechanisms to reach the furnace.
• Chu Mu used Silken Thread to immobilize the constructs guarding the roots, clearing the way for the group.
• Stelle smashed a motionless construct, prompting Master Gongshu to protest, and defended the act as eliminating future trouble.

Chu Mu and the group discovered that the Ambrosial Arbor had created an Ebon Deer to guard the Creation Furnace, which it was trying to open to replenish its energy. Stelle guessed that a heliobus was sealed inside, and Tingyun explained the Xianzhou’s history with the dangerous energy beings.

• The Ambrosial Arbor’s energy flowed into a giant bud, which bloomed and produced an enormous Ebon Deer to block the group from reaching the Creation Furnace.
• Chu Mu asked Master Gongshu what was sealed inside the furnace, and Stelle guessed that it contained a heliobus.
• Tingyun explained that heliobi had once allied with the Xianzhou before joining the Denizens of Abundance in an invasion, after which Xianzhou artisans learned to imprison them in furnaces.
• Chu Mu recalled that heliobi possessed people, fed on their emotions, and manipulated them into extreme behavior by offering the illusion of extraordinary powers.

Chu Mu and the others learned that the Ambrosial Arbor could grow stronger by consuming the Heliobi sealed in the Creation Furnace, so they fought to stop it from opening the furnace. They battled the Abundance Ebon Deer guarding the Arbor, with Welt’s attack driving it back.

• Chu Mu recalled the Xianzhou’s history with the Heliobi and wondered why Tingyun had omitted their ability to possess others.
• The group realized they had to keep the Ambrosial Arbor from opening the Creation Furnace and consuming the Heliobi inside.
• Stelle charged the Abundance Ebon Deer with her Flame Lance while March 7th supported her with her bow.
• The Ebon Deer focused its attacks on Tingyun, easing the pressure on Stelle.
• Welt struck the ground with his cane and repelled the Ebon Deer, prompting Stelle to praise him.

The Astral Express Crew learned that they had to sever the Ambrosial Arbor’s roots to stop the Ebon Deer from healing. Meanwhile, Chu Mu realized the Ebon Deer was an inanimate creation and used Silken Thread to wrest control of it from the Ambrosial Arbor, leaving Qingque stunned.

• The Ebon Deer repeatedly restored itself with energy from the Ambrosial Arbor, so Welt withdrew the group and concluded they needed to sever the connecting roots.
• Mr. Gongshu offered to guide the crew to roots he had marked across the Artisanship Commission so they could burn them away.
• Tingyun probed the Doppelganger about whether he would save her, but he sidestepped her question and warned her to keep her distance.
• Chu Mu and Qingque entered the Artisanship Commission, where Chu Mu considered how unique consciousness distinguished living beings from inanimate creations.
• Chu Mu bound the Ebon Deer with Silken Thread and overpowered the Ambrosial Arbor’s attempt to reclaim it, making the Deer kneel before him as Qingque watched in shock.

Chu Mu and Qingque rode the tamed Ebon Deer away from the Artisanship Commission while the Astral Express Crew stabilized the Creation Furnace and learned they had to wait before advancing to the Alchemy Commission. As Stelle headed to investigate a new lead for the Earth-Balance Commission, the deer crossed a delve boundary and drew the attention of Sky-Faring Commission officers.

• Chu Mu and Qingque rode the Ebon Deer above the Artisanship Commission while the Astral Express Crew searched for it below.
• Welt led Stelle, March 7th, and Doppelganger in severing the Ambrosial Arbor roots, stabilizing the Furnace of Creation and temporarily resolving the commission's crisis.
• Fu Xuan told the Astral Express Crew to wait until the Cloud Knights dealt with the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus at the Alchemy Commission.
• Dahao invited Stelle to help investigate a narrowed list of suspects in the Stellaron Disaster, and she left for the Exalting Sanctum with the others.
• Chu Mu and Qingque followed the Astral Express Crew on the Ebon Deer, which triggered an alarm after crossing a delve boundary.
• Sky-Faring Commission officers approached and ordered Chu Mu and Qingque to stop, mistaking the Ebon Deer for an unauthorized automaton.