Chapter Summaries

Li Qiuzhi watched Furina and Neuvillette at a trial and questioned Furina’s low level and the mystery surrounding her identity. When the trial was adjourned to investigate a suspicious witness, he used Furina’s break as a chance to approach her.

• Furina arrived at the court with Clorinde, and Li Qiuzhi assessed their levels before discovering Neuvillette was level 119.
• Fule accused Kiril of hiring a thief to destroy a contract, while Kiril denied the charge and his representative challenged the lack of evidence.
• A thin witness confessed, but Li Qiuzhi noticed he misnamed Kiril and seemed unlikely to have carried out the theft; Neuvillette ordered an investigation and adjourned the trial.
• Furina left for the lounge with Clorinde, and Li Qiuzhi, Lumine, and Paimon pretended to need the bathroom so they could follow her.

Li Qiuzhi and his companions met Furina and proposed extending the Akasha Internet to Fontaine, but Furina declined to commit until she could assess the plan. After they returned to the trial, Neuvillette exposed the supposed thief as a hired scapegoat in Fule’s scheme to undermine Kiril.

• Furina recognized Li Qiuzhi, Lumine, and Paimon, then challenged them over following her; Lumine argued their case, and Furina agreed to hear their request.
• Li Qiuzhi explained that Fontaine could join the Akasha Internet if the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale supplied energy, but Furina said she needed time to consider the proposal.
• Clorinde escorted Furina away, while Li Qiuzhi suspected Furina was not the true Hydro Archon Focalors and resolved to investigate.
• Neuvillette questioned the accused thief, who confessed that someone had paid off his gambling debts in exchange for pleading guilty.
• The confession revealed that Fule had hired the man to frame Kiril and hoped the trial would either damage Kiril’s business or reveal how he had improved Clockwork Guard production.

Li Qiuzhi, Lumine, and Paimon investigated the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale and discovered that Focalors, not Furina, was secretly operating it. Focalors confronted them and demanded they keep her existence and plan secret, while insisting that Furina was the real Hydro Archon.

• After the trial ended, Li Qiuzhi sent an invisible Lumine's Sword God to follow Furina while he, Lumine, and Paimon returned to investigate the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale.
• Li Qiuzhi used Guuji Yae's Divination and learned that the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale was only a historic set of scales, not the source of Indemnitium.
• Li Qiuzhi, Lumine, and Paimon deduced that the God of Justice was likely hidden behind the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale, where its verdict mechanism could be operated.
• The three entered the hidden control room and found Focalors, whose level confirmed she was a god, while Furina was elsewhere with Clorinde.
• Li Qiuzhi, Lumine, and Paimon revealed themselves to Focalors, who demanded they swear not to reveal her and told them to seek cooperation from Furina instead.

Li Qiuzhi, Lumine, and Paimon asked Focalors to support the Akasha Internet, but she refused and explained Fontaine’s prophecy and the Primordial Sea’s danger to Fontainians. Li Qiuzhi promised to investigate the crisis and find a solution in exchange for Focalors’s future cooperation.

• Li Qiuzhi explained the Akasha Internet project and asked Focalors to use the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale’s authority to power its expansion, but Focalors refused.
• After Li Qiuzhi and the others offered to help with her private business, Focalors described the prophecy that the sea would swallow Fontainians and leave the Hydro Archon weeping.
• Focalors explained that Egeria had turned Oceanid familiars into Fontainians using Primordial Sea power, leaving Primordial Sea Water in their veins that could dissolve them.
• Paimon suggested evacuating Fontainians or moving the Primordial Sea Water into space, but Focalors said neither idea would solve the problem and that Fontainians’ sin was the real issue.
• Li Qiuzhi said he would investigate the Primordial Sea and resolve Fontaine’s crisis, asking Focalors to cooperate with the Akasha Internet if he succeeded; Focalors agreed to any conditions if he could do it.

After meeting Focalors, Li Qiuzhi and his companions investigated Fontaine’s prophesied crisis and were invited to speak with Arlecchino. Arlecchino sought their help to obtain the Hydro Gnosis and save Fontaine, but Li Qiuzhi refused to oppose Furina, leaving their cooperation uncertain.

• Furina decided to stop worrying about helping with the crisis, while Li Qiuzhi considered asking her for permission to investigate the Fortress of Meropide.
• Li Qiuzhi, Lumine, and Paimon ate at the Debord Hotel, where Lyney and Lynette invited them to meet their Father, Arlecchino.
• At the House of the Hearth, Arlecchino explained that she believed Fontaine’s prophecy was real and wanted partners to prevent it.
• Arlecchino said the Tsaritsa had promised she could use the Hydro Gnosis to halt the rising sea, and she described her suspicions about Furina, the Oratrice, and the Fortress of Meropide.
• Li Qiuzhi said he and his companions would not cooperate if saving Fontaine meant opposing Furina.

Li Qiuzhi accepted Arlecchino’s commission to investigate the Fortress of Meropide, then searched Herta Space Station’s networks for a way to resolve the Primordial Sea crisis. He found no answer, but learned that an intriguing Curio might help him meet Madam Herta.

• Li Qiuzhi agreed to investigate the Fortress of Meropide for Arlecchino and discussed the House of the Hearth’s plans to investigate the Oratrice Mecanique d'Analyse Cardinale.
• Li Qiuzhi, Lumine, and Paimon left the Bouffant Abode after meeting Freminet, then returned to Wonderland Space so Li Qiuzhi could travel to Herta Space Station.
• Li Qiuzhi searched the Interastral Peace Network for a solution to the Primordial Sea crisis but found no relevant research and judged the paid scholar-matching service too expensive.
• Li Qiuzhi posted his question on Herta Space Station’s internal network, where users suggested asking Madam Herta but offered no direct way to contact her.
• Li Qiuzhi joined the Herta Fan Club and learned that Madam Herta might speak with someone who brought her an intriguing Curio, or another item of interest.

Li Qiuzhi sought Asta’s advice on what might interest Herta and offered a Teyvat Artifact in exchange for an answer about the Primordial Sea. Herta agreed to meet him, and the chapter ended with Li Qiuzhi handing her the Artifact to examine.

• Li Qiuzhi returned to Wonderland Space and found Keqing trying on a formal dress that Ningguang had commissioned for the next Lantern Rite.
• After spending the day cultivating with Yelan, Keqing, and several other women, Li Qiuzhi returned to Herta Space Station to seek Asta’s advice.
• Asta told Li Qiuzhi that Elemental Power was unlikely to interest Herta, but the history-imbued Artifact might, and she messaged Herta about it.
• Herta replied that the Artifact sounded interesting and told Asta to bring Li Qiuzhi to her office.
• Li Qiuzhi met Herta and handed her the teapot-shaped Artifact to inspect.

Li Qiuzhi asked Herta how to address Fontaine’s Primordial Sea Water crisis, and she outlined possible solutions while warning him about the Interastral Peace Corporation. After trading Herta more Artifacts, he left with Asta and offered her a pocket-watch Artifact as thanks.

• Herta tested Li Qiuzhi’s Artifact, found its power interesting, and agreed to answer his questions in exchange for it.
• Li Qiuzhi explained Fontaine’s prophecy crisis, and Herta warned him not to reveal Teyvat’s existence to the Interastral Peace Corporation before it was prepared.
• Herta suggested that complete Hydro Authority could turn the Primordial Sea Water in people into blood, while a targeted technique could temporarily prevent exposure.
• Herta offered to introduce Li Qiuzhi to Ruan Mei, but said her help would require either immense payment or something that interested her.
• Li Qiuzhi gave Herta a pile of four-star Artifacts, then left with Asta after receiving her advice.
• Li Qiuzhi offered Asta a pocket-watch Artifact to thank her for arranging his meeting with Herta.

After learning that Fontaine’s crisis could require the Hydro Dragon King’s complete Ancient Dragon Authority, Li Qiuzhi suspected Focalors planned to destroy her divine throne and sacrifice herself to restore it. He sent allies to prepare a barrier against Primordial Sea Water and went to Fontaine to investigate Neuvillette and the rising sea.

• Li Qiuzhi returned to his room on the Space Station, left Lumine's Sword God to handle his post, and rested before resuming his cultivation with the girls.
• Li Qiuzhi asked Greater Lord Rukkhadevata about Teyvat’s authorities, and she explained how the divine thrones contained portions of the Element Dragon Kings’ Ancient Dragon Authority.
• Greater Lord Rukkhadevata explained that destroying a divine throne could return its authority to an Element Dragon King, but would also kill the god fused with it.
• Li Qiuzhi suspected Focalors was secretly gathering Indemnitium to destroy her divine throne and that Neuvillette might be the Hydro Dragon King.
• Li Qiuzhi asked Greater Lord Rukkhadevata to have Nahida, Raiden Makoto, Raiden Ei, Guizhong, Havria, Kitsune Saiguu, Xianyun, and Miko prepare a formation against Primordial Sea Water.
• Li Qiuzhi teleported to Fontaine to investigate Neuvillette’s identity and the condition of the Primordial Sea.

Li Qiuzhi persuaded Furina to let him investigate the Primordial Sea beneath the Fortress of Meropide and strengthen its seal. He left with Clorinde, teleporting them to the Opera Epiclese so she could lead him to the fortress.

• Li Qiuzhi met Furina at Palais Mermonia and asked about Fontaine’s prophecy, but she initially dismissed it as an old rumor.
• Li Qiuzhi explained that Fontainians were made from Oceanids using Primordial Sea water and could dissolve if they came into contact with it again.
• Li Qiuzhi revealed that he wanted to investigate the Primordial Sea beneath the Fortress of Meropide and offered to reinforce its seal with an adeptal formation.
• Furina agreed to send Clorinde with Li Qiuzhi, and she confirmed that Neuvillette was probably the Hydro Dragon King.
• Li Qiuzhi teleported himself and Clorinde to the Opera Epiclese, then asked her to lead him into the Fortress of Meropide.

Li Qiuzhi, Clorinde, and Wriothesley entered the Primordial Sea beneath the Fortress of Meropide so Li Qiuzhi could investigate it. He reinforced its failing seal with a formation and discovered an enormous, star-skinned, single-horned whale living in the sea.

• Clorinde brought Li Qiuzhi to Wriothesley, who explained his concerns about the Primordial Sea seal and led them to inspect it.
• Li Qiuzhi used two interlocking Four-Sided Peace Formations to reinforce the gate, causing its pressure gauge to drop to zero.
• Li Qiuzhi shielded himself, Clorinde, and Wriothesley from the Primordial Sea and teleported them through the gate to investigate.
• Li Qiuzhi scanned the Primordial Sea and found that it extended beneath the land as well as the seabed.
• Li Qiuzhi teleported Clorinde and Wriothesley to a huge whale with a single horn and star-like skin as it devoured Primordial Sea Water.

Li Qiuzhi defeated and captured the All-Devouring Narwhal in the Primordial Sea, stopping it from accelerating Fontaine’s prophesied flood. He left with Clorinde and Wriothesley to report back, intending to see Focalors before informing Arlecchino.

• Li Qiuzhi identified the All-Devouring Narwhal as a powerful creature linked to the Primordial Sea and brought it into his Void Sea of Stars, severing its connection to the sea.
• The All-Devouring Narwhal attacked Li Qiuzhi, but he bound it with tentacles and struck it with four Musou no Hitotachi attacks, knocking it unconscious.
• Li Qiuzhi used a Command Spell to control the whale and estimated that without it feeding, Fontaine might have a year or two before the sea broke through its seal.
• Clorinde and Wriothesley thanked Li Qiuzhi, and Clorinde gained affection for him as he promised to keep seeking a solution to the crisis.
• Li Qiuzhi teleported back to the room with the gate alongside Clorinde and Wriothesley, then planned to see Focalors before reporting to Arlecchino.

Li Qiuzhi showed Focalors the subdued All-Devouring Narwhal and persuaded her to delay her plan while they explored using surplus Indemnitium to develop the Akasha Internet. He then gave Furina Focalors’s authority seed, leaving Furina quietly emotional as he healed the whale nearby.

• Li Qiuzhi brought Focalors into the Void Sea of Stars and showed her the All-Devouring Narwhal, explaining that subduing it could delay Fontaine’s prophesied flooding.
• Li Qiuzhi revealed that he had guessed Focalors’s plan and urged her to wait while he searched for another solution to Fontaine’s crisis.
• Focalors agreed to work with Li Qiuzhi on the Akasha Internet and gave him a small statue containing some of her authority for Furina to use with surplus Indemnitium.
• Li Qiuzhi and Clorinde returned to Furina, and Li Qiuzhi showed her the whale and explained that it could delay the prophecy.
• Li Qiuzhi gave Furina Focalors’s authority seed, and Furina grew tearful as she complained about Focalors’s long absence.
• Li Qiuzhi moved away to heal the All-Devouring Narwhal while Furina sobbed nearby.

Li Qiuzhi gave Furina, Clorinde, and Focalors Beacons so Furina could secretly stay in touch with Focalors and call for Clorinde’s protection. He shared his discoveries about the Primordial Sea and the All-Devouring Narwhal, then secured Arlecchino’s cooperation and Primogem payment; the group later updated Nahida on the Akasha Internet plans.

• Li Qiuzhi explained that Beacons would let Furina and Focalors communicate privately, then gave one to Furina and, with her approval, another to Clorinde.
• Furina asked Li Qiuzhi to give Focalors a Beacon, and Focalors accepted it and began speaking with Furina.
• Li Qiuzhi told Lyney and Lynette that he had found clues about the Fortress of Meropide, then reported his discoveries to Arlecchino at the Bouffant Abode.
• Arlecchino agreed to continue cooperating against Fontaine’s prophesied crisis and paid Li Qiuzhi three hundred Primogems.
• Li Qiuzhi asked La Signora to help gather Primogems, then told Nahida that Furina would cooperate on developing the Akasha Internet.

Li Qiuzhi arranged for the Akasha system to use Indemnitium and extend its coverage to Lumidouce Harbor, then visited Herta to ask her to contact Ruan Mei about the Fontainians’ constitution. Ruan Mei agreed to help when she returned to the Space Station, and Li Qiuzhi went to look for Asta to ask about places to gain Experience Points.

• Li Qiuzhi, Furina, and Nahida set up an automatic transfer of Indemnitium to power the Akasha system, which extended its coverage from Sumeru to Lumidouce Harbor.
• Li Qiuzhi watched a program about Duke Inferno and recalled seeing his projection in the Projection Space.
• Li Qiuzhi asked Herta to contact Ruan Mei about resolving the Fontainians’ constitution problem and offered the All-Devouring Narwhal as payment.
• Herta explained the narwhal’s value to the Corporation and warned that selling it would earn Li Qiuzhi ten billion Credits, but he chose to seek Ruan Mei’s help instead.
• Herta sent Ruan Mei details and pictures of the narwhal, and Ruan Mei agreed to help after she returned to the Space Station.
• Li Qiuzhi left Herta’s office and headed to find Asta, learning from a researcher that she was at afternoon tea.

Li Qiuzhi asked Asta how to find monsters to fight and learned about Stellaron-contaminated zones, the Astral Express, and Xianzhou Alliance commissions. After testing a warp jump with Imaginary Internal Energy and deciding it could not take him far enough yet, he searched for nearby combat work and found a commission twenty-two light-years away.

• Li Qiuzhi told Asta he wanted to find monsters to fight and demonstrated that he could teleport back to the Space Station using an avatar.
• Asta explained how Stellarons create Fragmentums filled with Antimatter Legion forces and offered to ask the Astral Express crew to take Li Qiuzhi to one when they returned in two months.
• Asta suggested that Li Qiuzhi take a commission against Abominations of Abundance from a Xianzhou Alliance delegation arriving the day after tomorrow.
• Li Qiuzhi tested using Imaginary Internal Energy to warp through space, but calculated that traveling even one light-year would take more than a hundred days of charging.
• Li Qiuzhi searched the Xianzhou Alliance's external commissions and found a request for help at an outpost twenty-two light-years away that had been attacked by the Denizens of Abundance.

Li Qiuzhi tried to qualify for a Xianzhou Alliance commission to defend Baihuang Star while he waited for his credentials to be verified. Meanwhile, Lumine and her allies cleared Lyney and Lynette in court, but the trial exposed a link to the Serial Disappearances of Young Women Case, and their investigation continued after an attack by Clockwork Guards.

• Li Qiuzhi found the Baihuang Star defense commission and submitted his Herta Space Station credentials and a recording of himself exterminating the Swarm for verification.
• Asta sent Li Qiuzhi the Swarm video, and he uploaded it while waiting for the Interastral Peace Network to assess his record.
• Lumine, Paimon, and Navia found Halsey and determined that Cowell had tried to dissolve her with Primordial Sea Water before she fought back and left him in the magic box.
• At trial, Lumine and her allies presented evidence that cleared Lyney and Lynette, while Cowell's accomplice Vaughn dissolved as he tried to reveal the mastermind.
• Lumine, Paimon, and Navia resumed investigating the disappearances, and Lumine and her companions traced an attack by Clockwork Guards toward merchants who might have sold them in bulk.

Li Qiuzhi arranged to travel with Tingyun’s Minghuo Merchant Group to support the Xianzhou Alliance’s outpost on Baihuang Star. The ship reached the star as a confrontation with the Denizens of Abundance was underway.

• Li Qiuzhi learned that the Interastral Peace Corporation had rated his strength A and considered how that ranked against powerful beings and members of the Genius Society.
• Asta introduced Li Qiuzhi to Tingyun, who agreed to take him to Baihuang Star as support for the Xianzhou Alliance.
• Li Qiuzhi helped Arlan and Peppy oversee cargo loading before boarding the Minghuo Merchant Group’s wooden starskiff, which he learned had been grown using cultivation technology.
• Tingyun escorted Li Qiuzhi to a guest room as the merchant ship warped toward Baihuang Star, with arrival expected in the early morning.
• At Baihuang Star, Xianzhou Alliance combat starskiffs faced seven or eight Living Warships, while a golden-furred Denizen of Abundance watched a pale-blue spirit fire inside a biological warship’s command room.

Jin Jiuyuan and the Hheliobi drew the Xianzhou Alliance into a standoff at Baihuang Star, where mara toxin had turned the Louyue beasts into Abominations of Abundance. When Tingyun's relief ship arrived, Li Qiuzhi went to the planet and began destroying the beasts attacking the garrison.

• Jin Jiuyuan warned the Hheliobi that the Xianzhou Luofu's reinforcements might arrive, but she said she was waiting for them and forced his depleted fleet to keep defending.
• Tingyun and Li Qiuzhi arrived aboard a commercial starskiff, learned that mara-struck beasts had thrown Baihuang Star's surface into chaos, and prepared to supply the spaceport.
• Li Qiuzhi left a Lumine's Sword God avatar with Tingyun and teleported to Baihuang Star, where he discovered mountain-sized mara-struck Louyue beasts surrounding a Xianzhou garrison.
• Li Qiuzhi summoned Sword God avatars across the planet and fought the beasts, whose wounds healed rapidly because of the power of Abundance.
• Li Qiuzhi used Musou no Hitotachi to cleave a Louyue Giant Beast in two.

Li Qiuzhi defeated the Mara-Struck Louyue Giant Beasts on Baihuang Star, gained enough Experience Points to rise five levels, and infiltrated a Denizens of Abundance command ship. The chapter leaves him facing the golden-furred leader in its command room as he investigates why the enemy fleet is withdrawing.

• Li Qiuzhi considered using Dustless Divine Maiden to cleanse the Mara-Struck Louyue Giant Beasts, but decided not to reveal that ability while others were watching.
• Li Qiuzhi and Lumine's Sword Gods killed all 705 Mara-Struck Louyue Giant Beasts on Baihuang Star, earning over 114 million Experience Points.
• Li Qiuzhi spent most of his Experience Points to advance from level 111 to level 116, greatly strengthening himself.
• Li Qiuzhi recalled Lumine's Sword Gods and secretly left one behind, planning to knock out the remaining Louyue Giant Beasts at night for their Experience Points.
• Li Qiuzhi noticed the Denizens of Abundance's Living Warships withdrawing without fighting, then teleported aboard their central command ship while invisible.
• Li Qiuzhi entered the command room and used the Golden Eye of Conviction to inspect a golden-furred ape-like creature whose eyes burned with jade-green spirit flame.