Chapter Summaries

Zandar waited through countless cycles for Eric, grieving when he learned that Erudition had driven his student to his death and helping the Genius Society seek a way forward. At last he found Eric alive with Jingliu, whom he judged to meet his long list of requirements for Eric’s partner, and presented him with a gift.

• Zandar learned that Eric had become the ruler of the Empire and that Erudition had driven him to his death, while the Cosmos began to collapse.
• Zandar and Gray Wind traveled through repeated cycles, gathered the Genius Society, and began a project called cosmic genesis to find another way forward.
• Zandar visited his teacher, who gave him a signed check, and Zandar placed it in the journal alongside memories of Eric.
• Zandar arrived at Eric’s home and found him feeding cats with Jingliu and Akivili.
• Zandar considered Jingliu’s qualities, decided she met his requirements for Eric’s partner, and pushed a gift box toward Eric.

Xianyu gave Zandar information about the other world, where Zandar discovered that his counterpart had been posthumously named the Genius Society’s First Seat. Zandar refused Xianyu’s offer to destroy the Astral Computer, insisting that they wait for Eric’s research and telling Xianyu to focus on his homework.

• Zandar gave Xianyu a large yellow diamond, and Xianyu decided to have it made into a brooch.
• Xianyu introduced Akivili to Zandar before Matthias arrived and the group discussed the other world over dinner.
• Xianyu sent Zandar information about the other world’s Genius Society, and Zandar discovered that his counterpart was its First Seat despite being dead.
• Zandar realized his counterpart had died while trying to stop his creation and had been posthumously tied to it through public acclaim.
• Xianyu offered to go to the other world and destroy the Astral Computer, but Zandar refused and said the plan depended on Eric’s studies.
• Zandar told Xianyu to stop worrying about outsiders and finish his homework.

Akivili reunited with Xianyu and wrestled with guilt over the Nameless’ journey, but Xianyu reassured them that their work mattered and promised to help make their world real. After playfully punching Xianyu, Akivili checked the Interastral Peace Corporation’s records and discovered they had become one of its shareholders.

• Akivili discussed Xianyu’s relationship with Jingliu, then Jingliu left them alone with a case of wine to share.
• Akivili confessed that they blamed themselves for the Cosmos’s wars and wondered whether the Nameless’ deeds had any meaning.
• Xianyu reassured Akivili that their journey mattered, promised to help make it real, and reminded them that worlds still needed the Aeon of Trailblaze.
• Akivili remembered their promise to Pom-Pom and gave Xianyu a light punch before warmly welcoming him back.
• Xianyu told Akivili to look up the Corporation on StarNet, where Akivili found their name listed among the Interastral Peace Corporation’s shareholders.

Jingliu and Xianyu discussed Jing Yuan’s wedding gift and whether to intervene in Dan Heng’s situation, while Xianyu wrestled with a dangerous plan he no longer wanted to carry out. The chapter left Xianyu asking Akivili for help after the Aeon confronted him about the gifted shares.

• Jingliu saw Jing Yuan, Baiheng, Yingxing, and Dan Heng exchange messages about wine and Dan Heng’s return to the Luofu.
• Xianyu told Jingliu he had secretly given company shares to the Astral Express, and they opened Jing Yuan’s wedding gift and read his letter.
• Jingliu refused to help her other self, saying that she had already chosen her own path.
• Jing Yuan messaged Jingliu to ask whether Xianyu would proceed with the plan or execute the targets, and Xianyu said he did not want to go and would decide later.
• Akivili confronted Xianyu about the shares, and Xianyu asked Akivili for help.

Xianyu told Akivili about the enemy’s elaborate plan to enter the Luofu and seize the Ambrosial Arbor, built on the mistaken belief that Xianyu was a descendant of the Father of the Xianzhou. Akivili laughed at the enemy’s assumptions, then admitted their theory was convincing enough that it might have worked if Xianyu had not been the Father himself.

• Akivili set aside the company shares and asked Xianyu what help he needed.
• Xianyu explained that an outside enemy planned to enter the Luofu during the Thanksgiving Festival and seize the Ambrosial Arbor.
• Xianyu recounted how the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus had tried to manipulate public opinion and how the controversy later drew the enemy’s attention.
• Xianyu told Akivili that the enemy believed he was a descendant of Xian Zhiyu and that Hua was suppressing him to protect her power.
• Akivili laughed at the enemy’s beliefs, then reasoned through how their assumptions about Xianyu’s status, career, and relationship with Jingliu fit together.
• Akivili called the enemy’s plan nearly perfect, noting that it might have succeeded if Xianyu had not actually been the Father of the Xianzhou.

Xianyu persuaded Akivili to take his place in a Thanksgiving Festival plan, though Akivili rejected the idea of endangering the Luofu or accepting company shares. Jingliu later told Jing Yuan about the plan, and Akivili arrived at the Seat of Divine Foresight to borrow the Reignbow Arbiter.

• Xianyu asked Akivili to assume his identity and carry out the Thanksgiving Festival plan, but Akivili refused to stage a dangerous rescue of the Luofu or accept shares as a reward.
• Xianyu proposed giving the shares to Imbibitor Lunae, then revealed his code name was "Snowfield Red Star."
• Jingliu left Xianyu and Akivili and went to the Seat of Divine Foresight, where she told Jing Yuan that Akivili would carry out Xianyu’s plan.
• Jing Yuan asked Jingliu about a parallel world, but she gave him only a few details before defeating him at their board game.
• Akivili arrived to see Jing Yuan and asked to borrow the Reignbow Arbiter.

Akivili reunited with Lan on the Luofu and asked him to join Xianyu’s plan against an external enemy. After Jing Yuan explained the scheme, Lan learned that their target was a Heliobus and reacted with concern.

• Jing Yuan summoned Lan to meet Akivili, then served tea while the Aeons spoke privately.
• Akivili explained that he had returned to discuss the knife that brought them back and to help repair Lan’s relationship with his best friend.
• Jing Yuan described Xianyu’s plan to contact the external enemy using clones of the Lord of Eternal Joy and three classmates in key Luofu positions.
• Akivili asked Lan and Aha to replace the three classmates, and Lan questioned whether his best friend would dare come to the Luofu.
• Akivili briefed Lan on the Heliobus they would face, prompting Jing Yuan to wonder whether the enemy was unusually powerful.

Lan, Akivili, and Jing Yuan discussed how to handle the Heliobus and agreed to meet during the Thanksgiving Festival, while Akivili tried to mediate between Lan and Xianyu. Akivili then learned that Dan Heng • Imbibitor Lunae was one of the Nameless and erupted in frustration over Xianyu’s influence.

• Lan rejected Akivili’s guess that the Heliobus plan involved them, and Akivili volunteered to take Xianyu’s identity in his place.
• Lan and Akivili agreed to meet the Heliobus at a cavern abode during the Thanksgiving Festival and told Jing Yuan not to kill them.
• Akivili asked Jing Yuan to find female identities for the disguises to protect Xianyu’s reputation, while Lan requested a Jade Abacus that could record audio.
• Akivili invited Lan to dinner with Xianyu and gave him a bag containing a captain’s hat and gloves, which Lan said would be sent to the Xuling’s Forest of Utmost Loyalty.
• Jing Yuan told Akivili that Dan Heng • Imbibitor Lunae was traveling as one of the Nameless, prompting Akivili to grab Lan and complain that Xianyu was annoying to Aeons.

Jing Yuan discovered that Xianyu had apparently suffered a grave injury and died before returning through another miracle, while Lan examined the bloodied belongings Akivili brought back. Lan then shared tea and stories with Jing Yuan, who learned more about Xianyu’s past and his present life at the Research Institute.

• Akivili left angrily to confront Xianyu, and Lan examined the bloodied Captain's Hat and Gloves he had brought back from Xuling.
• Lan concluded that Xianyu had suffered a severe wound and died once, but had returned through another miracle without accepting Lan’s power.
• Lan set aside Xianyu’s belongings for the Forest of Utmost Loyalty on Xuling, then invited Jing Yuan to drink more tea.
• Lan explained tea-brewing techniques to Jing Yuan and asked how Xianyu had been lately.
• Jing Yuan said Xianyu worked and studied at the Research Institute and had taken his master and the Lord of Eternal Joy to the Otherworld; Lan explained that Xianyu did not exist in the parallel world.
• Lan began gathering the Tea Set, but Jing Yuan stopped him and offered to clean it himself.

Jing Yuan arranged a gift for Lan and tried to help Dan Heng avoid a public spectacle, then reflected on what might have happened to Dan Feng in a parallel world. Fu Xuan’s message brought him back to his own workload, including responsibility for over a hundred subsidiary planets.

• Jing Yuan invited Lan to stay for a meal, then arranged for his Chief Strategist to find recorded voices for Lan to choose from.
• Jing Yuan selected ten voice files, added files from Xianyu’s classmates, and sent them to Lan.
• Jing Yuan suggested the Astral Express use its exclusive route to avoid crowds, then discovered Xianyu had approved a gathering of over a hundred people at the VIP starport.
• Jing Yuan reviewed records about Dan Feng and suspected that Dan Feng and the Marshal had concealed Xianyu’s role in the Scalegorge Waterscape upheaval.
• Jing Yuan wondered what the parallel-world Jing Yuan had faced before Fu Xuan urged him to step down, reminding him of his work overseeing over a hundred subsidiary planets.

Akivili realized that Xianyu was covering his expenses and worried that he had helped Aha devise a way to damage Xianyu’s reputation. Xianyu’s records of the Astral Express’s charitable work reassured Akivili that he had not started a war, while Xianyu reviewed a parallel-world report and Hua wondered whether a capable heir might appear.

• Akivili returned to Xianyu’s home, learned Xianyu had gone out, and realized the household was offering to cover his expenses.
• Akivili received files from Jing Yuan, forwarded five files about women to Aha, and worried that he had given Aha an idea for spreading rumors about Xianyu.
• Xianyu shared records showing the Astral Express had funded schools, libraries, roads, and other improvements across impoverished star systems.
• Akivili understood Xianyu’s message as reassurance that he had not started a war and lamented that he had threatened to teach his friend a lesson.
• Xianyu reviewed the Xuling Marshal’s Residence report on a parallel world, while Hua wondered whether the Xianzhou might produce a capable successor to her.

Xianyu and Jing Yuan arranged for the Vidyadhara to welcome Dan Heng back to the Luofu and prepared for the Thanksgiving Festival. When the Astral Express arrived, Dan Heng discovered that over a hundred people had gathered to greet him as the returning High Elder, Imbibitor Lunae.

• Xianyu told Jing Yuan that Dan Heng had agreed to meet the Vidyadhara, who wanted him to inherit the High Elder’s property.
• Jing Yuan received the Cloud-Roaming Aeon’s choice of two women and arranged for the Aeons to assume their identities during the Thanksgiving Festival.
• Jing Yuan and his friends rehearsed the festival ceremony, then gathered at Xianyu’s home to eat and prepare a code phrase for Akivili.
• Jingliu helped Xianyu dress as Victor Frye for the festival, and the Astral Express arrived on the Luofu a thousand years after its last visit.
• March 7th and Stelle watched over a hundred Vidyadhara gather at the starport and heard them welcome Dan Heng as Imbibitor Lunae returning to his rightful place.

Dan Heng returned to the Luofu as Imbibitor Lunae and endured an elaborate welcome while Xianyu arranged a private sightseeing itinerary for him and the Nameless. Their museum visit drew attention to Xianyu’s mysterious activities elsewhere, and the chapter ended when a fortune-teller approached him.

• Over a hundred Vidyadhara servers hailed Dan Heng as the High Elder, and Daiyang escorted him and his companions aboard the starskiffs.
• Xianyu explained the lavish welcome, asked about Dan Heng’s living conditions and money, and gave him three Luofu itineraries to choose from.
• Dan Heng selected an itinerary with popular attractions and private properties, and Xianyu gave him a necklace bearing his friend’s family crest.
• At the Xianzhou Museum, Xianyu mentioned an Aeon’s arrival in another Cavern Abode, but assured Dan Heng it would not interrupt their trip.
• Welt and the others found Xianyu familiar, while Daiyang guided their conversation and learned details about the Astral Express’s rooms and facilities.
• A man stopped Xianyu and predicted financial loss from his face, then asked for his eight birth characters, which Xianyu recited.

Akivili, disguised as Xianyu, Lan, and Aha prepared to confront an approaching Heliobus while struggling to keep their antics from the real Xianyu and the Nameless. After the Heliobus possessed Aha’s clone, the group followed Xianyu to the successive Imbibitor Lunae’s residence, where he questioned a statue and angered the Dragon Preceptor.

• Akivili wore Xianyu’s face, and Lan and Aha argued over how close they should let each other get to him.
• Akivili listened to Xianyu receive a fortune reading, while Aha recognized that its predictions about their best friend and past conflicts were accurate.
• The Aeons debated who should be possessed by the approaching Heliobus, and Lan kicked one of Aha’s clones to keep it away from Akivili.
• The Heliobus possessed Aha’s clone and interpreted Lan and Akivili’s behavior as a performance before Akivili urged the Aeons to begin their plan.
• Xianyu paid the fortune-teller, then traveled with March 7th and the others to the successive Imbibitor Lunae’s residence.
• Xianyu questioned a statue in the courtyard, and the Dragon Preceptor furiously accused him of disrespecting the Father of the Xianzhou.

Dan Heng, Daiyang, and the others toured Imbibitor Lunae's mansion while Stelle introduced Victor to Empire Simulator, where his bizarre talents and unexpected game choices stunned her. Meanwhile, Xianyu checked on Akivili's covert plan, which ended after Aha provoked Lan with rumors about the Father of the Xianzhou.

• The Dragon Preceptor defended the statue and murals in Imbibitor Lunae's mansion, and Dan Heng privately encouraged him to make the site a tourist attraction.
• Daiyang teased Xianyu about possible unauthorized commissions, then bargained with Dan Heng over the Dragon Preceptor's fate.
• Stelle had Victor play Empire Simulator, where he drew a UR talent after several unlucky draws and refused the Emperor's offer to make him Crown Prince.
• Victor left Stelle to continue the game and contacted Akivili, who signaled that the plan was proceeding smoothly.
• Aha's rumors about the Father of the Xianzhou angered Lan, and Akivili ended the plan and helped the Cloud Knights capture the Heliobus.

Akivili and Lan’s plan failed, but Xianyu received Aha’s gift and reunited Akivili with Pom-Pom aboard the Astral Express. After Pom-Pom welcomed Akivili and Eric back, Xianyu left a check for Dan Heng and joined them for a meal.

• Akivili delayed the plan after Lan and Aha argued, while Aha told Lan about Xianyu’s past and discussed fate with Xianyu over the Earpiece.
• Xianyu learned that Aha had given him a gift of divine power, then asked Lan to ask Akivili whether they wanted to return to the Astral Express and see the Conductor.
• Stelle finished the game and told Xianyu its story, and Xianyu concluded that its creator had made it out of malice before saying the Crown Prince would remain loyal to the Empire.
• At the starport, Lan gave Xianyu Aha’s gift, and Xianyu teased Lan before Akivili led him toward the Astral Express.
• Pom-Pom rammed Xianyu and Akivili, then embraced Akivili and reunited with Eric, returning his Nameless Badge and asking him not to lose it again.
• Xianyu left a signed check in Dan Heng’s room and waited in the Archive until Akivili invited him to eat with Pom-Pom.

At Xianyu’s birthday gathering, Akivili revealed his identity as Eric and gave Xianyu and Jingliu a belated wedding gift, while Zandar wished his former student a happy birthday. As fireworks celebrated the Xianzhou, Xianyu promised Jing Yuan that they would rewrite fate with their own hands.

• Jingliu resigned from the Cloud Knights so the younger generation could have a chance to surpass her, then shared half a lucky double-yolk egg with Xianyu.
• Jing Yuan hosted a gathering for the Nameless and other guests, and Akivili introduced himself as Eric while concealing that he was the Cloud-Roaming Aeon.
• Akivili revealed that Xianyu’s birthday was also his best friend Victor’s birthday and gave Xianyu and Jingliu a pair of twin orbiting stars named after them as a belated wedding gift.
• Zandar gave Xianyu a birthday greeting and wiped cream on his cheek, prompting the guests to start a playful cake fight.
• Jing Yuan led everyone to watch the Thanksgiving Festival fireworks, and Xianyu explained that he had given the Nameless resources in exchange for their future help to the Xianzhou.
• When Jing Yuan wondered whether the Luofu and Xianzhou could escape their fates, Xianyu declared that they would rewrite fate with their own hands.

The author reflected on completing the story, thanked readers and contributors, and shared the inspirations and choices behind its plot and characters. The author left Xianyu remembered through a star dedication and donation, then asked readers to leave reviews and wait for side stories.

• The author thanked Wutong Wu for creating character art and directed readers to more illustrations on the community page.
• The author described a possible side story about Zandar adopting Xianyu and said they needed time to rest before writing more.
• The author explained how the story's loops, title, and romance between Jingliu and Xianyu developed.
• The author discussed the High-Cloud Quintet, Zandar, and Xianyu's background, relationships, and eventual happy ending.
• The author dedicated a star and made a donation in Xianyu's name, then thanked readers for supporting the story.