Recaps

At the Yaoqing annual party, Xianyu watched Hua win several prizes while he drew only participation awards, then spent the evening trying to help her feel more at ease with him. After the guests left, Hua found Xianyu awake in the presidential suite, where he teased her by asking for a moment of her time.

• Hua drew two third prizes and a first prize, while Xianyu drew all three participation prizes and Guan Liang won fishing grounds, real estate, and a Stellar Destroyer.
• Xianyu asked Guan Liang to trade him the fishing grounds so he could try fishing to calm his mind, but decided to focus on brewing tea instead.
• Xianyu and Guan Liang fed Hua cakes before joining the dinner, where Xianyu gave a polished toast and Hua left most of her food uneaten.
• Guan Liang encouraged Hua to bring fruit and yogurt to Xianyu after the other guests had left, and Xianyu agreed that Hua could sleep in the presidential suite.
• Unable to sleep, Hua went downstairs and found Xianyu drinking the yogurt she had brought him; he asked whether she had a moment to talk.

Xianyu tried to keep Hua at arm’s length while making her his heir, but he cared for her when she fell ill after practicing his talismans. He introduced Hua to Lan as his chosen successor, and Lan questioned whether Hua had agreed willingly.

• Xianyu showed Hua the house and luxury cruise ship he had given her, promised to cover their expenses, and sent her to school without accompanying her.
• Xianyu later invited Hua to learn talisman drawing at midnight, and Guan Liang arranged a room for her at Xianyu’s mansion.
• Hua developed a fever, and Xianyu suspected her practice talismans were responsible, so he burned the paper before she recovered.
• Xianyu braided Hua’s hair into a Longevity Braid, told her to rest, and promised to teach her something more interesting.
• Xianyu lifted Hua up and introduced her to Lan as his chosen heir, and Lan asked whether she had agreed willingly.

Xianyu arranged for Lan to stay nearby and teach Hua, while he tried to understand a mysterious fable linked to Zandar One Sangyuan and Eric Fish. As Akivili suddenly appeared and warned Xianyu to get out of the way, the chapter ended on an imminent threat.

• Lan gave Hua the divine arrow that could make her an Emanator, but Hua set it aside to do her homework.
• Xianyu asked Lan to stay on the Yaoqing and teach Hua, and Lan offered to teach her archery, language arts, and fighting.
• Xianyu searched his System Inventory for teaching materials and found a fable about a fish, an elder, and the cats and dogs.
• Xianyu recognized Zandar One Sangyuan and Eric Fish in the fable, then tried to piece together its hidden meaning.
• Akivili appeared before Xianyu and shouted for him to get out of the way.

After Lan’s arrow and Hua’s shot wrecked several walls, Xianyu confronted them and assigned Lan repair costs as teaching fees. Akivili met Hua and Lan, but his attempt to explain Xianyu’s sheltered upbringing left both of them speechless.

• Guan Liang heard walls collapse, alerted the neighborhood authorities and the Alchemy Commission, and arrived to find Xianyu unharmed with an arrow in hand.
• Guan Liang identified the culprits as Hua and her teacher, Mountain Breeze, and Akivili recognized the teacher as Lan, the Aeon of the Hunt.
• Xianyu led Akivili and Guan Liang to the damaged courtyard, where Lan and Hua admitted they had caused the destruction; Xianyu accused Lan of framing Hua and ordered him to pay teaching fees at the Xianzhou minimum wage.
• Hua realized that her archery teacher was the Reignbow Arbiter, while Akivili introduced himself and offered her a Gray Rabbit Plush.
• Akivili described Xianyu as a sheltered young lady from a great noble family, prompting Lan to explain the terms and leaving both Lan and Hua alarmed.

Xianyu spoke with Akivili about raising Hua and agreed to stop indulging her, while promising to join the Astral Express when she turned eighteen. After Akivili left, Xianyu reconsidered a line from the fable and concluded that Zandar wanted to turn his student from a human into a god.

• Akivili and Lan speculated about how Xianyu would behave in a romantic relationship, and Xianyu later confirmed he would support a partner even if she left him.
• Xianyu shared a story about a subordinate’s mistaken compliment, while Hua wondered whether her guardian and his close associates were normal.
• Akivili exchanged contact information with Lan, who discovered a group chat message that Xianyu had written about Nous.
• Akivili visited Xianyu’s tea room, declined a transfer of Credits, and asked when Xianyu would join the Astral Express; Xianyu said he would go when Hua turned eighteen.
• Akivili advised Xianyu to treat Hua as he treated the Xianzhou natives and encourage her independence, and Xianyu agreed that he should stop spoiling them.
• After Akivili left, Xianyu reflected on the fable and concluded that Zandar wanted to transform his student from a human into a god.

Xianyu pieced together his history with Zandar and arranged for the Genius Society scholar to visit the Yaoqing so he could determine whether Zandar was still an ally. Zandar arrived and finally met the Marshal, greeting him with a handshake.

• Xianyu reasoned that he and Zandar had worked together on the Aether-Phase Engine, the system, and a plan to gather experimental data across repeated attempts at dimensional ascension.
• Xianyu decided to stop equipping the “mara-struck” debuff and resolved to keep his connection with Zandar hidden from the Aeons until he knew where they stood.
• Xianyu arranged for the Galaxy Rangers to invite the Genius Society to the Xianzhou, and Zandar applied to visit the Yaoqing Museum.
• Marty volunteered to receive Zandar, and the Marshal told him he also wanted to meet the scholar.
• Zandar arrived at the Yaoqing and, after a long silence, stepped forward to shake the Marshal’s hand and greet him.

Xianyu used Zandar’s request to borrow the Purge Core to keep him on the Yaoqing and persuade him to teach Hua. A few days later, Hua encountered a formation of bodyguards waiting for her at the Academy.

• Xianyu met Zandar at dinner, where Zandar asked to borrow the Purge Core and refused Xianyu’s implied invitation to take another student.
• Xianyu suggested Zandar stay on the Yaoqing for a tour, and Zandar agreed to remain for at least half a year while asking what help Xianyu wanted.
• Xianyu asked Zandar to teach Hua, his adopted child, and Zandar agreed to give her lessons without making her his formal student.
• Zandar told a fable about animals overcoming a crisis through persistence, and Xianyu reflected that fables and reality differed.
• A few days later, Hua left the Academy with her classmates and was greeted by a dozen bodyguards who called her “young miss.”

Hua returned home to find that Xianyu had arranged excessive protection for her, then tricked her into agreeing to become his heir. After discussing her troubles with Zandar, Hua considered his suggestion to get back at Xianyu by praising him and telling him she loved him.

• Hua was escorted home by bodyguards, where she learned Xianyu had sent them because of a danger he would not explain.
• Xianyu tried to make Hua accept bodyguards and become his heir by threatening to embarrass her at the Academy, and she reluctantly agreed before smashing a stone stool to prove she needed no protection.
• Guan Liang accused Xianyu of doing something to Hua, and the two adults fought over a damaged guqin while Hua left to do her homework.
• Hua recalled that Zandar had become her teacher and that he described creating the Aeon of Erudition as a dull, tedious process.
• Zandar advised Hua to praise Xianyu and tell him she loved him, explaining that the gesture would make him squirm, and Hua considered taking his advice.

Xianyu rejected Guan Liang’s attempts to ease his stress, while Hua tried to praise him as Zandar had advised. Xianyu turned her words back on her, and Hua returned the next day defeated after another attempt to win their exchange.

• Guan Liang offered Xianyu cigarettes and suggested exercise, a pet, or a vacation, but Xianyu agreed only to try smoking and reflected that he no longer wanted to wait for the Xianzhou’s future.
• Hua recited sentimental lines from her Father’s Day essay, and Xianyu teased her by asking to see it before checking her forehead and declaring that she was talking nonsense.
• After Hua insisted she meant her praise, Xianyu repeated her lines even more tenderly, making her flee to do homework, then declared that he had won the exchange.
• Xianyu and Guan Liang bet on when Hua would give up, while Xianyu guessed Zandar was behind her efforts and agreed to sleep daily if Guan Liang won.
• Hua told Zandar his advice had failed, so he suggested she learn from an AI; she practiced lines and memorized more, then returned the next day discouraged after Xianyu overwhelmed her with sentimental assurances and dismissed her guilt about being protected.

Xianyu tried out prepared farewell letters and exaggerated compliments on Hua, Guan Liang, Lan, and Zandar, while Guan Liang realized Xianyu might be reacting to caffeine. Zandar declined Xianyu’s offer to join the Xianzhou, received the Purge Core for his research, and left him with an unexpected blessing.

• Xianyu showed Guan Liang two possible farewell letters for Hua, and Guan Liang objected to his reading them to her in advance.
• Guan Liang suspected Xianyu was allergic to caffeine after learning coffee made his heart race, but Xianyu dismissed the idea.
• After Hua stopped challenging him, Xianyu used phrases he had collected online to praise Guan Liang and Lan, then traded compliments with Zandar.
• Zandar secretly recorded Xianyu’s praise, and Lan decided he had learned how social niceties worked.
• Zandar asked Xianyu for the Purge Core for his research and declined Xianyu’s offer to join the Xianzhou.
• Xianyu lent Zandar the Purge Core, and Zandar blessed him with a wish for a carefree and happy life.

Xianyu weighed whether to trust Zandar and how to prepare Hua to inherit the Xianzhou Alliance, while Guan Liang tried to give her more time and protect her future. Xianyu attended Hua’s motorboating event and received an ominous Tarot reading about his upcoming travels.

• After Hua stopped approaching Xianyu, he lost his bet with Guan Liang and asked about Hua’s school life and expenses.
• Xianyu proposed taking Hua out of school at twelve and arranging tutors and activities, but he accepted Guan Liang’s suggestion to wait until she was fourteen and have the generals teach her.
• Hua agreed to learn to pilot a Starskiff and dive, refused private tutoring instead of school, and invited Xianyu to her Academy sports meet.
• Xianyu attended Hua’s motorboating race with Guan Liang, and Hua offered them a ride before heading off to compete.
• A little girl offered Xianyu a Tarot reading; The Chariot answered yes to whether he should trust Zandar, while three cards for his travels prompted her to draw Death Reversed.

Xianyu turned a tarot-card assassination attempt into an excuse to damage the Mechanical Lifeforms’ standing and advance his political plans. After Guan Liang checked the cards’ ominous meanings, he urged Xianyu to stay on the Yaoqing.

• Xianyu and Guan Liang suspected the tarot-reading girl was an assassin, and the girl warned Xianyu that he would suffer betrayal, punishment, and death.
• A concealed guard attacked the girl, revealing her as a Mechanical Lifeform, and Xianyu ordered his subordinates to cause a larger explosion before escaping into the water.
• The explosion halted Hua’s competition, while Xianyu used the incident to persuade a Company Shareholder to condemn the Mechanical Lifeforms and propose their extermination.
• Xianyu explained his plans for a Starsea Council disaster-response proposal and reassured Hua that he did not care how frightened or hostile others were.
• Guan Liang interpreted Xianyu’s tarot cards and advised him not to leave the Yaoqing because he had drawn three of the most ominous cards.

Xianyu survived an assassination attempt and let Hua decide how to respond to the Intellitrons, while teasing her through a sports meet. A report about the mara-struck left Guan Liang shaken, and he wondered whether the machine’s words had been a warning rather than a curse.

• Xianyu dismissed Guan Liang’s concern about the machine’s curse, teased Hua about being his child, and watched her leave to prepare for the competition.
• Guan Liang briefed Xianyu on a decades-long conspiracy in which Intellitrons had smuggled components into Yaoqing and recruited Xianzhou natives to assemble an assassin.
• Xianyu and the guards cheered Hua through a megaphone, and Hua won the jet ski race before Xianyu joked about putting her trophy in the Xianzhou Museum.
• After news of the attack spread, Xianyu told Guan Liang to leave the Intellitrons’ fate to Hua.
• The Alchemy Commission Cauldron Master gave Guan Liang a report about the mara-struck, and Guan Liang asked whose report it was before asking whether he could smoke.

Guan Liang and the Cauldron Master discovered that Hua and the Fenghuang Down could address mara-struck symptoms, but agreed to hide the solution from the Marshal so she would not blame herself for past losses. After arranging a way to conceal the report, Guan Liang revisited a Tarot Reader's message and realized its prediction of grief had come true.

• Guan Liang read the Cauldron Master's report and realized it revealed a way to break the immortality curse and address being mara-struck.
• The Cauldron Master confessed that he had discovered the Marshal's lingering injury while treating her, then secretly researched a cure and found the solution.
• Guan Liang tested whether the Cauldron Master would reveal the discovery, and the Cauldron Master insisted he would protect the Marshal from learning it.
• The Cauldron Master explained that he had destroyed the evidence and presented a retirement application, while he and Guan Liang agreed to keep the report secret.
• Guan Liang promised that no third person would learn of the secret, then returned home and reread the Tarot Reader's prediction, concluding that it had been a prophecy.

Guan Liang interpreted the tarot reading as a warning that Xianyu would learn the truth about his condition and suffer, so he resolved to keep the truth from him and prevent further injuries or encounters with Abominations of Abundance. Meanwhile, Xianyu mistook Guan Liang’s questions about romance for a matchmaking scheme, then worried that Hua might fall for a blond punk and warned her against it.

• Guan Liang read the tarot interpretations and concluded that Xianyu was vulnerable to a mental breakdown if he learned the truth about his condition.
• Guan Liang discovered that the Cauldron Master had kept bloodstained medical supplies and burned them, then set out to retrieve similar items from other people.
• Guan Liang decided to protect Xianyu by preventing his injuries and removing potential enemies, and he asked what kind of woman Xianyu liked.
• Xianyu described an ideal partner from his storybooks, while Guan Liang dismissed the answer and walked away.
• Xianyu read romance storybooks to understand Hua’s thoughts, devised a plan to keep her too busy for romance, and warned her not to be fooled by a blond punk.

Xianyu tried to make Hua read books far beyond her age, then switched to picture books when she objected, leaving her to seek comfort from Guan Liang. Guan Liang considered how to keep Xianyu alive and out of a risky operation, and ended by asking whether he planned to keep the Reignbow Arbiter on the Yaoqing forever.

• Xianyu gave Hua books restricted to readers aged two hundred and above and assigned her a three-thousand-word reflection for each one.
• When Hua protested, Xianyu offered her picture books recommended for ages three to six, including one about expressing love, and Hua left in shock.
• Hua brought the books to Guan Liang, who told her she could skip the reflections and reassured her.
• Guan Liang considered ways to extend Xianyu's life and keep him from leading the plan involving the Marshal's flesh and blood.
• Guan Liang brought Xianyu files about the Abundance Emanator Disaster, and Xianyu said he would draw more talismans himself.
• Guan Liang asked Xianyu whether he intended to let the Reignbow Arbiter stay on the Yaoqing forever.

Xianyu ordered Lan to protect Hua and deal with threats to her safety, while Guan Liang secretly persuaded Lan to keep the Marshal from overworking himself. Guan Liang then gathered the Marshal’s clothes for the Cauldron Master, but the other commission heads and the Yaoqing General mistook him for a fellow admirer of the Marshal.

• Guan Liang convinced Xianyu to send Lan to address threats to Hua, and Lan accepted the assignment.
• Guan Liang privately asked Lan to make the Marshal rest, even if that meant knocking him unconscious, and Lan agreed.
• Guan Liang contacted the Cauldron Master and collected the Marshal’s clothes and other belongings for destruction.
• At the meeting place, Guan Liang found the other five commission heads and the Yaoqing General, who assumed he admired the Marshal.

Guan Liang traded the Marshal’s medical supplies for his clothes while enduring the Xianzhou fanatics’ adoration and questions about their boss. He returned to work, where Xianyu soon noticed that some of his clothing was missing.

• Guan Liang realized the people seeking the Marshal’s belongings might recognize him, so he hid his true purpose and answered their questions about the Marshal’s preferences.
• The Helmsman and the others asked whether the Marshal had ever laid hands on or interrogated anyone, then praised him and confessed they thought of him as a father figure rather than a romantic partner.
• Guan Liang exchanged the Marshal’s clothes for the medical supplies and packed the supplies into his suitcase.
• The Yaoqing General and the Helmsman offered to pay for more of the Marshal’s clothes, and Guan Liang said he would contact them if he had any.
• Guan Liang returned to work, and a few days later Xianyu wondered whether several pieces of his clothing had gone missing.

Guan Liang covered up the Marshal’s missing clothes and arranged for Xianyu to be put to sleep while assassins were dealt with. Xianyu woke to learn they were all dead and described the sleep as so wonderful that he wanted never to wake again.

• Guan Liang lied that Xianyu’s missing clothes were disposable products that could not be washed, then accepted Xianyu’s plan to buy his own clothes and prepare a new identity named Eric Fish.
• The Helmsman of the Sky-Faring Commission offered Guan Liang money to keep the clothes and asked for Xianyu’s measurements, so Guan Liang returned half the money and arranged custom clothes instead.
• Guan Liang gave the exhausted Xianyu Calming Tea and contacted the Reignbow Arbiter, who knocked Xianyu unconscious.
• Lan guarded the sleeping Xianyu and killed several waves of assassins while Guan Liang returned to the Yaoqing.
• When Xianyu finally woke, Guan Liang told him the assassins were dead, and Xianyu said the sleep made him want never to wake again.

Xianyu pushed the Starsea Community to classify rogue Intellitrons and the Swarm Disaster as natural disasters, while learning to braid Hua’s hair. After the community approved his resolution, Zandar reported an illegal researcher and revealed a suspicious connection to Xianyu.

• Xianyu read his subordinate’s report that the Starsea Community members had failed to reach consensus, then told them to pursue the resolution as they saw fit.
• Xianyu repeatedly styled Hua’s hair, first pulling out strands, then progressing from ponytails to small braids as she endured his practice.
• Xianyu learned that every Starsea Community member had approved the Xianzhou’s resolution to work together against natural disasters.
• Zandar told Xianyu that a Genius Society member was secretly researching the anti-organic equation and provided an address.
• Xianyu asked the Yaoqing General to retrieve Zandar’s entry application and saw that its handwriting matched his own.

Xianyu sent Zandar’s information about an Emanator of Erudition to the Galaxy Rangers, then tried to teach Hua responsibility by getting her a pet. Hua chose a hamster, but Xianyu also brought home a Labrador, and he and Lan ended up caring for Hua’s hamster and wilting pothos; Hua later asked why Xianyu was absent from the textbooks.

• Xianyu trusted Zandar’s account of an Emanator of Erudition and ordered his subordinates to send the Galaxy Rangers to deal with the target.
• Xianyu decided Hua should keep a pet to develop her sense of responsibility, and Guan Liang advised him to ask her what she wanted.
• Hua chose a hamster, but Xianyu brought home a Labrador for himself as well and handed Hua the hamster.
• Xianyu passed responsibility for the hamster to Lan, who later also took over caring for Hua’s wilting pothos.
• Hua asked why Xianyu’s name was not in the textbooks, and Xianyu described how people would praise him everywhere if it were.

Xianyu encouraged Hua to explore work at the Sky-Faring Commission rather than inherit his expectations, while Guan Liang maneuvered Marty into covering up the generals’ actions against the assassins. Xianyu agreed to meet Marty and learned more about Zandar’s troubled school years.

• Xianyu told Hua she could choose how to lead and suggested she try working at the Sky-Faring Commission during the break.
• Hua asked Guan Liang to attend her parent-teacher conference, and he agreed before privately reflecting on her feelings for Xianyu.
• Guan Liang instructed the generals to handle the captured assassins as usual and ensure no one died during interrogation.
• Guan Liang admitted to Marty that he and the generals had caused the recent upheaval, then persuaded Marty to keep it quiet by emphasizing Xianyu’s kindness and concern for him.
• Marty agreed to help Guan Liang and messaged Xianyu to request a meeting, which Xianyu accepted.
• While discussing education with Zandar, Xianyu learned that Zandar’s young acquaintance had endured repeated robberies, struggled at a school, and eventually dropped out.

Xianyu learned from Zandar that his first life in this world had been far more dangerous and miserable than he remembered, then comforted Marty and guessed the Chief Strategist had told him the truth about the Marshal’s funding. As Xianyu mentioned that Marty had not yet met Hua, Marty realized the Marshal meant the child he had asked Zandar to teach.

• Xianyu pieced together that he had arrived in the Starsea as a high school student and had endured repeated robberies, gunfights, dangerous neighbors, and terrible cafeteria food.
• Xianyu and Zandar argued over raw mushrooms, pomegranate fried rice, and blueberry dumplings before agreeing to stop.
• Marty arrived in tears, and Xianyu gave him the Labrador while waiting for him to explain what had happened.
• Xianyu inferred that the Chief Strategist had told Marty the Marshal was using his own Strales for the experiments, and Marty eventually admitted it.
• Xianyu advised Marty to smile more to conceal his feelings, and Marty took this as proof that he was the Marshal’s favorite subordinate.
• Xianyu mentioned that Marty had not yet met Hua, and Marty recognized her as the child the Marshal had asked Zandar to teach.

Marty avoided meeting Hua and confessed that the Xianzhou had received more Strales than it needed, while Guan Liang accepted a ten-year bonus penalty for revealing the secret. After the Marshal spoke with the Cauldron Master about his resignation, the former official sent Guan Liang a photo of a generous check and a letter declaring his devotion to the Marshal.

• Marty declined Xianyu's invitation to share a meal because he wanted to avoid Hua, then asked Xianyu to stop providing Strales for research.
• Guan Liang admitted that Marty had revealed the funding secret, and Xianyu docked ten years of his bonuses.
• Xianyu introduced Hua to Marty and explained Marty's work developing the Jade Abacus, while Guan Liang complained that Xianyu spoiled him.
• Marty later returned half the Xianzhou's funding to Xianyu several times, but Xianyu donated much of his savings to charity.
• Guan Liang told Xianyu that the Cauldron Master was retiring, and Xianyu questioned him about his resignation during a routine medical examination.
• The former Cauldron Master sent Guan Liang a photo of a substantial check and a letter praising Xianyu after leaving his post.

Guan Liang arranged for Hua to study at the Sky-Faring Commission, where the Helmsman introduced her to one of the Marshal’s suitors. Hua returned home to find a golden silk nanmu planted in her courtyard, which Xianyu said would be useful when she married.

• Guan Liang took Hua to meet the Helmsman and arranged for her to learn at the Sky-Faring Commission.
• The Helmsman taught Hua about the commission’s work and rejected an entry application from the leader of the Mechanical Planet.
• The Helmsman received word that one of the Marshal’s suitors had arrived on the Yaoqing, and Hua insisted on accompanying her to meet the Shareholder’s Daughter.
• The young lady showed Hua an old photograph of the Marshal and admitted she liked him, while the Helmsman gently encouraged her to give up pursuing him.
• Hua returned home and found Xianyu, Guan Liang, and an Aeon gathered around a golden silk nanmu planted in her courtyard.
• Xianyu told Hua the tree would be useful when she got married.