Chapter Summaries

Stelle and Dan Heng accompanied Hanya through the cold lower level of the Records Office, where they discovered a dead guard and were ambushed by escaped Roaring Coffins. Stelle used a totem-style fighting method to buff the group, and the three defeated the mechs.

• Hanya led Stelle and Dan Heng toward the Records Office and reminisced about watching the Wardance with her sister.
• They found Company cargo crates containing Borisin-like mechs, and Hanya said the Company’s business had to wait.
• Hanya discovered a guard’s corpse inside a partly open crate, and Dan Heng shoved Stelle out of the way as Roaring Coffins attacked.
• Hanya called for reinforcements but found the nearby guards unconscious, leaving the three to fight alone.
• Stelle activated Harmony and Preservation totems, then joined Dan Heng and Hanya in defeating the Roaring Coffins.

Dan Heng, Hanya, and Stelle realized the rogue mechs were part of a plot to break a prisoner out of the Prison of Deep Seclusion. At the prison’s lowest level, Modu and the Borisin attacked the envoys and freed Hoolay, leaving Xueyi broken as the beast emerged.

• Dan Heng, Hanya, and Stelle connected the moving mechs to a planned prison break and learned that Yaoqing envoys had entered the prison’s depths to visit Hoolay.
• Xueyi led Jiaoqiu and Moze down a hidden spiral passage to Hoolay’s Grotto-Heaven, where they heard him roaring behind the sealed door.
• Modu arrived with Borisin disguised as Cloud Knights, revealed their ambush, and cut off Xueyi’s call for reinforcements.
• Xueyi, Jiaoqiu, and Moze fought the attackers, but several Borisin slipped through the doorway as Moze rushed to stop them.
• Hoolay emerged from the mist, knocked Xueyi down and broke her mechanical joints, then said he had waited far too long.

Hoolay escaped the Prison of Deep Seclusion with Modu’s help, taking Jiaoqiu hostage as the prison fell into chaos. Hanya, Stelle, and Dan Heng reached the depths and found Xueyi’s broken body, but Hanya’s response left them confused.

• Hoolay crushed Xueyi’s mechanical body, reunited with Modu, and learned that seven hundred years had passed since his last hunt.
• Modu explained the jailbreak plan, and Hoolay took a disguise potion before leaving with the Borisin and Jiaoqiu as a hostage.
• Hanya ordered the wardens to contain the prisoners while Dan Heng and Stelle agreed to help her pursue Hoolay.
• Hanya led Dan Heng and Stelle through a Realm-Switching Screen to the prison depths, where they found Borisin corpses and the gate disconnected from the Cage Grotto-Heaven.
• The group found Xueyi’s ruined body, and Hanya puzzled Dan Heng and Stelle by saying she had not meant to mourn.

Hanya, Dan Heng, and Stelle learned that Xueyi had returned as a Clockwork Bird and sent her to alert the outside world. As they continued through the prison, Moze appeared and joined them in fighting Abominations of Abundance.

• Hanya explained that Xueyi's soul routinely returned to the Hall of Karma after her mechanical body was destroyed, and suspected the Yaoqing envoys had been taken hostage.
• Xueyi's voice came from a damaged Clockwork Bird, and Hanya repaired it so her sister could report that one envoy had escaped while the other was taken hostage.
• Hanya asked Xueyi to carry word outside the prison, and Xueyi flew down a dark passage in the Clockwork Bird.
• Dan Heng sensed something approaching, and several Abominations of Abundance appeared and attacked the group.
• Stelle, Dan Heng, and Hanya fought the abominations as Moze emerged from the shadows and joined them.

Moze, Dan Heng, Stelle, and Hanya made their way through the Prison of Deep Seclusion, debating whether to sacrifice themselves to stop Hoolay. Meanwhile, Jiaoqiu tried to keep Hoolay from escaping by revealing how many powerful figures were waiting outside, leaving the War Chief alarmed.

• Moze explained that the fugitives planned to seal the prison’s entrances and urged the others to accept that they might die stopping Hoolay.
• Dan Heng, Hanya, and Stelle each declared they would not abandon the fight, and Hanya led them toward the upper levels to seal the gate.
• Hoolay’s Borisin overwhelmed the jailers, and Hoolay ordered Modu to kill Jiaoqiu now that the hostage was no longer useful.
• Jiaoqiu offered information in exchange for his life and told Hoolay that Jingliu had returned to the Luofu.
• Jiaoqiu revealed that Imbibitor Lunae was inside the prison and that Huaiyan, Feixiao, the Luofu’s Divine General, Miao Jian, and Knights of Beauty awaited outside, making Hoolay realize escape would be disastrous.

Hoolay’s first dreamscape showed him being torn apart by Dan Heng’s Cloudhymn Roar, then returned him to the moment Jiaoqiu provoked him with news of Jingliu. Hoolay escaped the prison with the Borisin, while Dan Heng’s spear was caught in the closing gate.

• Water dragons surged from the Prison of Deep Seclusion and tore Hoolay apart, suppressing his regeneration with the power of Permanence.
• Tir Anders showed Hoolay the scene as his first failure and presented a second frozen image.
• Jiaoqiu told Hoolay that Jingliu had returned to the Luofu, and Hoolay ordered Modu to silence himself and made Jiaoqiu stay by his side.
• Hoolay led the Borisin toward the prison gate, declaring that the Xianzhou natives would fear him once he was free.
• Dan Heng threw Cloud-Piercer at Hoolay, but the spear missed and was caught between the closing gates.

After Hoolay escaped the Prison of Deep Seclusion, the Luofu prepared to hunt him while Yanqing chose duty over competing in the Wardance. Hoolay and his followers were surrounded by Knights of Beauty led by Jiang Yu, leaving Jiaoqiu pleased that his plan had worked.

• A Cloud Knight reported that contact with the Prison of Deep Seclusion had been lost and Hoolay's whereabouts were unknown, prompting Feixiao and Jing Yuan to prepare their response.
• Jiang Yu watched images from hidden cameras showing that his friends inside the prison had not encountered serious danger.
• Yanqing told Stelle he would give up his place as Defending Champion Swordsman to help protect the Luofu and bring Hoolay to justice.
• Stelle reassured Yanqing that Jiang Yu had likely already caught Hoolay.
• Hoolay and his followers found themselves surrounded by Knights of Beauty, with Jiang Yu at their head, and Hoolay regretted escaping.
• Jiaoqiu watched the Borisin panic and thought that treating Heavenly Lord Miao Jian to a meal had been worth it.

Jiang Yu’s knights captured Hoolay and the Borisin, and Hoolay was sent to Aha’s Fragmentum Factory, where he endured relentless torment. Tir Anders showed Hoolay this second failed outcome and began presenting a third.

• Hoolay tried to use Jiaoqiu as a hostage, but Jiang Yu pulled Jiaoqiu out of his grasp and ordered the knights to attack.
• The knights overwhelmed the Borisin while Jiang Yu’s barrier trapped them in the courtyard.
• Hoolay was sent to Aha’s Fragmentum Factory instead of the Prison of Deep Seclusion and was repeatedly cut up to feed Fragmentum creatures.
• Tir Anders told Hoolay that this was his second failure and began showing him a third scenario.

Feixiao made Yanqing eat and wait patiently for an opening to hunt Hoolay, while Huaiyan coordinated the Luofu’s response and decided the Wardance had to proceed as planned. With Yanqing and another defending swordsman absent, Huaiyan asked March 7th to take Yanqing’s place in the arena.

• Yanqing argued that capturing Hoolay and protecting the Luofu mattered more than defending the arena, but Feixiao insisted he eat before acting.
• Jiang Yu joined Feixiao and Yanqing, agreeing that they should wait for Hoolay to reveal an opening before attacking.
• Huaiyan told Yukong that the Cloud Knights had reestablished contact with the Prison of Deep Seclusion, though Jiaoqiu remained missing and was likely abducted.
• Huaiyan rejected Yunli’s proposal to impose martial law and postpone the Wardance, explaining that doing so would advance the prison-break mastermind’s aims.
• Huaiyan told March 7th that she would replace Yanqing as the arena’s defending swordsman while the Wardance proceeded.

Huaiyan arranged for March 7th and Yunli to help defend the Wardance, while Jing Yuan investigated the Prison of Deep Seclusion with Dan Heng and Lingsha. Lingsha’s findings revealed that the disguised Borisin used a drug linked to the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, pointing to a Luofu source and a possible conspiracy.

• Huaiyan asked March 7th to compete as Yunli’s disciple and help protect the Wardance and the Contest of Blades Ship.
• Jing Yuan arrived at the Prison of Deep Seclusion with Dan Heng and Lingsha, where Hanya explained that Borisin had freed the prisoners and that Xueyi had fallen in battle.
• Jing Yuan said he would investigate the prison’s depths to uncover how the Borisin learned Hoolay’s location and identify the mastermind behind the escape.
• Lingsha presented the corpse of a Borisin who had disguised himself as a Foxian, and explained that a drug had enabled the transformation.
• Lingsha connected the drug to the Dust-Returning Form-Preserving Pill used by Disciples of Sanctus Medicus spies, suggesting the Borisin had a supplier on the Luofu.

Jing Yuan, Dan Heng, and Lingsha followed the Disguise Drug’s scent through the Prison of Deep Seclusion, where they found evidence of Hoolay’s escape and discussed the Borisin leader’s history and imprisonment. Jing Yuan began to explain why Hoolay had been held on the Luofu as they reached a disabled Roaring Coffin at the prison’s bottom.

• Dan Heng told Jing Yuan and Lingsha that multiple disguised Borisin had used the name Lu Jun, prompting Jing Yuan to consider investigating everyone with that name.
• Lingsha used the Incense Burner to trace the Disguise Drug, and the group found a Military Attendant killed by a single devastating blow that Jing Yuan attributed to Hoolay.
• Jing Yuan recounted Hoolay’s history of warfare and explained that the Borisin leader had been imprisoned rather than executed because the Foxians would not accept a swift death for him.
• The group found a Cloud Knight who was actually a disguised Borisin and a prisoner drained of blood, while Lingsha and Jing Yuan discussed Hoolay’s hunger and the reasons he remained imprisoned.
• Jing Yuan challenged Lingsha’s belief that Hoolay had been given to the Luofu as an honor, then led the group through a Realm-Switching Screen to the prison’s bottom, where they found a disabled Roaring Coffin.

Dan Heng, Lingsha, and Jing Yuan uncovered how research into Borisin biology and moon madness had shaped Hoolay’s imprisonment on the Luofu. Jing Yuan revealed that Lingsha’s teacher was exiled after trying to restore Dan Heng’s past-life memories, and Lingsha agreed to handle the Alchemy Commission’s affairs without taking sides.

• Lingsha explained that the Roaring Coffin was built with Borisin tissue and had been deliberately sent to the Prison of Deep Seclusion to enable a jailbreak.
• The Roaring Coffin reactivated and attacked, but Dan Heng knocked it down with Cloud-Piercer despite its ability to regenerate.
• Jing Yuan explained that the Marshal imprisoned Hoolay on the Luofu to discourage Yaoqing’s Foxians from researching him and to warn the Luofu against repeating the Sedition of Imbibitor Lunae.
• Lingsha inferred that Hoolay’s transfer was a warning and asked whether Jing Yuan had similarly weighed her teacher’s fate when exiling her to the Zhuming Xianzhou.
• Jing Yuan revealed that Lingsha’s teacher had used visitation privileges to attempt to restore Dan Heng’s past-life memories, hoping to resolve Vidyadhara disputes.
• Lingsha said she had come to handle official affairs rather than take sides, and Jing Yuan invited her to leave with him.

Jing Yuan, Dan Heng, and Lingsha investigated the prison break and suspected Vidyadhara Dragon Masters of aiding the Borisin, while Lingsha planned to confront them in Scalegorge Waterscape. Meanwhile, Jiaoqiu tried to keep the Borisin occupied with talk of food therapy, but Hoolay revealed that Jiaoqiu’s composure came from medicine that would soon wear off.

• Lingsha examined the bodies outside Hoolay’s prison and concluded the mara-struck soldiers were armed infiltrators rather than escaped prisoners.
• Dan Heng identified the mara-struck as users of the Cloudsong Art, and Lingsha connected their presence to possible Vidyadhara involvement in the prison break.
• Dan Heng said some Vidyadhara sought chaos to regain power, while Jing Yuan named Phantylia as the root of the Luofu’s betrayals and wondered who was redirecting the Hunt toward Destruction.
• Lingsha proposed sending the Dragon Masters evidence and inviting them to meet her in Scalegorge Waterscape, and Jing Yuan left the matter to her.
• Jiaoqiu discussed medicinal cooking with Modu, who accused him of stalling and threatened to kill him.
• Hoolay arrived in Foxian form and told Modu that Jiaoqiu’s composure was only a temporary effect of medicine.

Hoolay rejected Modu’s plan to flee and ordered Jiaoqiu to check whether the Luofu’s ports had been sealed. Jiaoqiu left the courtyard intending to return with two Starskiffs and deliver a gift to Hoolay.

• Jiaoqiu told Hoolay that a Foxian general of the Yaoqing had defeated the Borisin and left their Hunt Packs scattered.
• Modu revealed that the prophet Mangs had guided the Borisin to rescue Hoolay during the Wardance, but Jiaoqiu warned that they were trapped on the Luofu.
• Hoolay dismissed Modu’s plans and declared that the Borisin would follow his orders instead of serving as a banner for Mangs.
• Hoolay sent Jiaoqiu to check whether the Cloud Knights had sealed a port, believing Jiaoqiu would return to his masters.
• Jiaoqiu left the courtyard, planning to bring two Starskiffs back to Hoolay.

Jiaoqiu used the Luofu’s sentient Starskiffs to expose the Borisin watching him and bring a swarm of autonomous craft back to Hoolay’s courtyard. The Starskiffs and warships overwhelmed Hoolay, leaving the Borisin War Chief trapped in a painful aerial barrage.

• Jiaoqiu surveyed the Market District and learned from a disguised Borisin at the Ferry Terminal that the Borisin were waiting for help from someone inside.
• Jiaoqiu contacted a Starskiff, which recognized him and summoned other craft to capture the Borisin monitoring him.
• Jiaoqiu returned to the courtyard with a swarm of Starskiffs holding captured Borisin.
• A Starskiff struck Modu and knocked him down before Hoolay could confront Jiaoqiu.
• The Starskiffs battered Hoolay through the air, and arriving warships opened fire on him.

On his fourth attempt, Hoolay avoided the choice that had doomed him before and instead tried to intimidate Jiaoqiu into revealing information about the Yaoqing general. Jiaoqiu bargained for an answer about Hoolay’s survival, and Hoolay revealed that Foxians had once experimented on him to uncover the secret of his body.

• After waking in the courtyard again, Hoolay sensed that letting Jiaoqiu leave and making a show of force would lead to disaster, so he changed his plan.
• Hoolay told Jiaoqiu that his people had infiltrated the city and threatened to torture him and endanger innocent hostages unless he answered questions about the Yaoqing general.
• Hoolay jabbed Jiaoqiu in the shoulder blade, inflicting severe pain, but Jiaoqiu kept quiet and avoided drawing attention.
• Jiaoqiu offered to tell Hoolay about the general in exchange for an answer about how Hoolay had survived seven hundred years of torture.
• Hoolay said Foxians had extracted his blood and marrow in hopes of discovering the cause of moon madness and changing their own bloodline, but they had failed to uncover his secret.

Hoolay explained to Jiaoqiu how the Scarlet Moon sustained Borisin War Chiefs, then demanded to know about General Tianji as Moze located Jiaoqiu. Feixiao led Yanqing, Jiang Yu, and Stelle to prepare a trap for the Borisin at Whirling Stars Haven, where she hinted that their hidden enemies were already nearby.

• Hoolay told Jiaoqiu that Du Lan created the Quickening Moon and that Borisin War Chiefs inherited the Scarlet Moon by consuming their predecessors.
• Moze picked up Jiaoqiu's Jade Abacus signal and approached the courtyard where Hoolay was questioning him.
• Feixiao explained to Yanqing and Jiang Yu that Hoolay's escape made him dangerous despite the Luofu's numerical advantage, and she planned to draw the Borisin toward Whirling Stars Haven.
• Jiang Yu reasoned that the Borisin might abandon Whirling Stars Haven and seize the Contest of Blades Ship to escape with hostages, but he stayed silent while Feixiao trained Yanqing.
• Feixiao brought the group to the site where they had tracked the Borisin and revealed that unusually many people in the automated area could be hidden Borisin.

Yanqing, Feixiao, and Jiang Yu investigated suspicious activity at Whirling Stars Haven and uncovered a Borisin spy working with them. The traitor Lu Jun helped hunt down his fellow Borisin, while Jiang Yu interrogated the captive left behind about their plans to meet Hoolay.

• Feixiao pointed out a Cloud Knight, an Artisanship Commission artisan, and two Sky-Faring Commission employees for the group to question.
• Yanqing spoke with the Cloud Knight, who reported nothing unusual aboard the Contest of Blades Ship and admitted he wished he could watch Yanqing's matches.
• The artisan revealed that unscheduled Starskiffs had been produced at Whirling Stars Haven and praised the awakened Starskiffs for handling problems themselves.
• One Sky-Faring Commission employee attacked his disguised Borisin partner, and Jiang Yu identified the attacker as Lu Jun, whom they had captured earlier.
• Jiang Yu said Lu Jun had agreed to help in exchange for delaying his trip to the Factory, and Lu Jun ran off to track down the other Borisin.
• Jiang Yu demanded that the captive Borisin reveal his accomplices and planned meeting with Hoolay, warning that he would be beaten if his answers contradicted Lu Jun's confession.

Jiang Yu’s preparations helped the Xianzhou track the Borisin infiltrators, while Jiaoqiu kept Hoolay occupied. Hoolay uncovered Feixiao’s Borisin bloodline and moon madness, and realized Jiaoqiu was searching for a way to save her.

• Jiang Yu knocked the captured Borisin unconscious and had a Cloud Knight take him away for transfer to Aha’s Fragmentum Factory branch.
• Feixiao explained that her childhood world had been a Borisin pasture and that Foxians there had been treated as property and cannon fodder.
• Moze reported that he had found Hoolay’s location and was observing while Jiaoqiu kept Hoolay occupied.
• Jiaoqiu remembered treating the wounded during the battle on Fanghu and trying to save Feixiao after she returned from the battlefield.
• Hoolay connected Feixiao’s Borisin blood to her moon madness and told Jiaoqiu that he knew Jiaoqiu was trying to solve the condition that threatened her life.

Jiaoqiu explained why he had stayed close to Hoolay, hoping to witness his death and protect the wardance and Feixiao. As Hoolay prepared to attack a captive Foxian, a metal rod struck him and cages trapped the Borisin, while an enormous Virtual Screen confronted him.

• Jiaoqiu told Hoolay that the deaths of those he had healed had given him purpose, and that Hoolay's death would help protect the wardance and Feixiao.
• Hoolay dismissed Jiaoqiu as weak and declared that he would devour him and claim the future for the Borisin.
• Modu warned Hoolay that the Borisin rendezvous at Whirling Stars Haven had been discovered and that the Contest of Blades Ship was about to set sail.
• Hoolay rejected Modu's plan to flee, insisting that wherever he went, the Wolf Pack was with him.
• Hoolay approached a captive Foxian to devour them, but a metal rod struck him and sent him crashing to the ground.
• Cages rose from the ground and trapped the Borisin as an enormous Virtual Screen appeared before Hoolay and addressed him.