Arc 3Chapters 51–75
No recap yet.
No recap yet.
Fuli sent Xianyu into memories of The Hunt, where he managed Yaoqing as its general and tried to address his subjects’ problems. He learned that aid to other Xianzhou had stalled the Colossus Project for centuries, and proposed rebelling so he could become emperor.
Xianyu visited a Yaoqing family, mistook their gifted child for a future successor, and tried to win him over with awkward promises and gifts. Years later, the boy entered the General's Residence and found Xianyu standing over the collapsed Chief Strategist while a masked figure wondered why he was still alive.
Xianyu saved the Chief Strategist after Aha’s Abundance fruit nearly killed them both, then invited Aha to join him in killing an Aeon for fun. Aha eagerly asked what kind of fun he meant.
Xianyu discovered that a follower of Fuli was obstructing the Colossus Project and confronted the researcher, who warned that Neutron Annihilation could wipe out organic matter. Xianyu refused to abandon the project, then left his subordinates clamoring for him to ascend the throne while Lan wondered whether anyone on the Yaoqing was normal.
Lan struggled to reconcile the Yaoqing’s worship of General Xianyu with the ordinary, reckless person he met at the General’s Residence. After Xianyu offered Lan the future of the Yaoqing and threatened the Aeon Aha for him, Lan was left facing a seemingly endless stack of paperwork.
Xianyu received a petition urging him to become king of the Yaoqing, distributed pieces of Aha’s Abundance fruit to his subordinates, and tried to stop them from staging a campaign for his ascension. He left Lan handling duties across the Xianzhou ships and returned to a quiet life, which took an alarming turn when he mistakenly buried a torpid hamster.
Xianyu revived a hamster, contained a heliobus, and tested the completed Colossus on a planet overrun by bugs. After the test succeeded, Lan told him that the dead researcher had been right, and Xianyu realized Erudition had shown Lan something.
Xianyu tried to understand what Erudition had shown Lan and promised not to use Neutron Annihilation lightly, while secretly considering more weapons and technology. Lan accepted Amos' Bow and continued serving the Yaoqing, but the chapter ended with him asking whether Xianyu thought longevity was a good thing.
Xianyu sent Lan to defeat the remaining heliobi, then dispatched him to the Luofu as Yaoqing’s representative. When Lan’s status changed to “Dormant” on the Luofu, Xianyu panicked and prepared to go after him.
Xianyu learned that Lan had been put into Slumber after destroying the Ambrosial Arbor, then confronted Fuli, the Aeon of Remembrance, when the Aeon appeared in the General's Residence. Fuli claimed they knew each other and warned Xianyu that he could not change ordained fate.
Xianyu rejected Fuli’s demand to leave Lan’s fate unchanged and wagered with the Aeon, but Fuli’s deal coincided with Xianyu conquering the Xianzhou Alliance and becoming its Marshal. As his subordinates celebrated, the system gave Xianyu the mara-struck debuff, and he realized he now had to manage seven dissatisfied Xianzhou.
After being promoted to Marshal, Xianyu worked with his subordinates to overhaul the Xianzhou ships and improve residents’ lives, earning enormous prestige. During an online meeting, he learned his subordinates had executed nobles’ families to nine degrees of kinship and only objected because they had killed potential workers.
Xianyu paused a meeting so his exhausted subordinates could eat and rest, then discussed Lan’s situation and assigned priorities across the Xianzhou Alliance. He ordered the generals to prepare the Colossus and strike first against the Swarm Disaster and the Golems.
Xianyu’s subordinates used the Colossi to conquer planets and eliminate the Swarm and rogue Intellitrons, overwhelming him with new territory and resources to manage. After one subordinate was captured, Xianyu arranged negotiations through the Interastral Peace Corporation and prepared to meet the other side in IPC territory.
Xianyu used a peace meeting with the Swarm and the Corporation to unveil the Colossus as a supposed protective technology, then challenged an NPC who condemned the Xianzhou Alliance. The chapter ended with Xianyu asking the NPC why he would not kill himself to atone for humanity’s original sin.
Xianyu clashed with an influential NPC, then hinted that he would manipulate the man’s family and future in revenge. Back on the Yaoqing, he and the Chief Strategist visited Lan’s mother, delivered a forged letter, and took the food and supplies she had prepared for her son; Xianyu ended by planning to reunite them and considering the grinding needed to unlock a powerful weapon.
Xianyu used the Xianzhou Alliance’s Colossi and military power to intimidate the Swarm and other factions while prioritizing his forces’ safety and raising deterrence. After his subordinates received the Aeon of Abundance’s blessings, they invited him to a gathering, and he gave the Chief Strategist pieces of the Fruit of Abundance for Lan’s mother.
Xianyu attended a gathering with his subordinates on Yaoqing, where their disastrous cooking and drunken gossip gave way to repeated social gatherings. The chapter ended with his subordinates urging him to find a mistress for his harem.
Xianyu rebuked his unruly subordinates, reassured them that he would never abandon the Xianzhou, and watched them intensify their campaign against enemies. His progress toward reuniting his UR stalled when he discovered that the Chief Strategist had brought Lan’s elderly mother to the Alchemy Commission.
Xianyu tried to arrange longevity and other care for Lan’s frail mother despite her refusal, while the Chief Strategist urged him to respect her choices. After Xianyu’s arm sprouted leaves and he recognized the danger of his mara-struck emotions, he agreed to wait, and later found Lan’s mother at death’s door.
Xianyu honored Lan’s dying mother’s wishes and assured her that Lan’s work mattered, then spent centuries losing comrades to the Xianzhou’s crises and the curse of immortality. When one subordinate became mara-struck and impaled himself on a sword Xianyu held, the others mistook the death for proof that the Marshal could end immortality, while Xianyu was left staring at his bloodied hand and remembering the old woman’s question.
Xianyu discovered the Luofu was under attack and rushed there, where he found Lan dying and watched him ascend as the Aeon of the Hunt. After receiving an arrow from Lan, Xianyu used it and later woke up feverish with Jingliu beside him.
Xianyu woke at the Alchemy Commission after being poisoned, and Dan Feng explained that tampered Thousand-Year Ginseng had sickened five people. Teng Xiao learned who the victims were and offered Ten-Lords Commission personnel to help investigate and punish those responsible.
Teng Xiao misread Jingliu’s concern for Xianyu as evidence that she was being bullied, while Xianyu learned the truth about the poisoned ginseng and remained unconcerned. Jingliu insisted on taking Xianyu home, and he found a cryptic message from Hua waiting on his Jade Abacus.
After Xianyu recovered from being poisoned, Jingliu walked him home and urged him to take his medicine and eat with her at the Cloud Knights’ mess hall. Xianyu wondered whether Jingliu liked him and resolved to avoid giving her misleading signals, while Jingliu tried to find a way to help him without making him accept charity.