Chapter Summaries

Ei reunited with Chiyo at the Grand Narukami Shrine and told her about Inazuma's losses and changes over the past five hundred years. Seeing that Ei had found hope and begun moving toward the future with Yucheng's help, Chiyo let go of her lingering attachment and prepared to pass on.

• Chiyo reunited with Ei and assumed Ei was unwilling to acknowledge her because she had once rebelled against Inazuma.
• Ei stopped Chiyo from disappearing and explained that Yucheng had helped her understand Makoto's vision of eternity and change Inazuma's direction.
• Yucheng introduced himself to Chiyo, who praised his influence on Ei and asked where Kitsune Saiguu was.
• Yae Miko told Chiyo that Kitsune Saiguu had been consumed by darkness while seeking a way to cleanse Chiyo's curse.
• Ei recounted the fall of Makoto, Chiyo, and Kitsune Saiguu, along with Inazuma's history and recent reforms under Yucheng.
• Chiyo saw hope in Ei's eyes, let go of her lingering attachment, and began to fade away.

As Chiyo prepared to pass on after reconciling with Ei, Yucheng interrupted their farewell and revealed that Ei might be able to save her. The chapter ended with Ei searching the Plane of Euthymia for Chiyo’s preserved arm and horn as Hu Tao challenged Yucheng’s plan.

• Chiyo comforted Ei and said she was ready to leave, while Hu Tao urged Ei to accept the laws of life and death.
• As Ei prepared to say goodbye, Yucheng stopped her and asked whether she still had Chiyo’s severed right arm and oni horn.
• Ei confirmed she had preserved both in the Plane of Euthymia, and Yucheng said they might give him a chance to save Chiyo.
• Ei opened the Plane of Euthymia to search for the remains as Chiyo’s fading soul filled with hope.
• Hu Tao accused Yucheng of trying to defy the laws of life and death, and Yucheng defended his plan by comparing Chiyo to Qiqi.

Yucheng prepared to use Impure World Reincarnation to revive Chiyo, using her preserved arm and Oni Horn as materials. He revealed that he had brought Sergei, the missing Snezhnayan ambassador, to Inazuma as a potential sacrifice.

• Hu Tao objected to reviving Chiyo, while Yucheng and the others considered how her case differed from Qiqi's.
• Yucheng explained that Impure World Reincarnation required the deceased person's soul and some of their flesh, and he had studied the technique in private.
• Ei returned from the Plane of Euthymia with Chiyo's severed arm and broken Oni Horn, and Yucheng confirmed they could be used.
• Yucheng pulled Sergei from distorted space and dropped him on the ground.
• Eula recognized Sergei as the missing former Snezhnayan Diplomatic Ambassador and realized Yucheng had abducted him.

Yucheng used Impure World Reincarnation to summon Chiyo’s spirit into Sergei’s body, restoring her to life as an immortal but weakened being under the caster’s control. Ei and others asked whether the technique could bring back their deceased loved ones, but Yucheng explained that it required both suitable remains and a soul still present in the world.

• Yucheng prepared a summoning formation with a piece of Chiyo’s flesh and told her not to resist the force that would come for her.
• Yucheng activated Impure World Reincarnation, turning Sergei into a paper vessel as Chiyo’s spirit entered it and took shape in a new body.
• Chiyo discovered that her new body was weaker than her original one, but it healed automatically after Yucheng cut her in half.
• Yucheng explained that the technique summoned the dead into immortal, pain-free bodies that lacked living sensations and remained under the caster’s control.
• Ei asked whether Yucheng could revive Makoto, Kitsune Saiguu, and Sasayuri, while others thought of their own lost loved ones.
• Yucheng said the technique required both physical remains and a soul still in the world, leaving Ei and Miko discouraged because they had no remains of Makoto or Kitsune Saiguu and Sasayuri had died a thousand years earlier.

Yucheng assured Zhongli that Impure World Reincarnation was not forbidden knowledge, but agreed to treat it as a forbidden jutsu and restrict its use and spread. After Zhongli and Hu Tao left the Grand Narukami Shrine, Inazuma celebrated Chiyo's resurrection, while Ei shared heartfelt words with her and watched Yucheng tenderly.

• Zhongli asked whether Yucheng's Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu was forbidden knowledge, and Yucheng said it was not.
• Zhongli warned Yucheng about King Deshret Al-Ahmar's ruin after he used forbidden knowledge to resurrect Nabu Malikata.
• Hu Tao cautioned Yucheng against abusing the jutsu, and Zhongli said the dead revived through it were unwelcome in Liyue.
• Yucheng promised not to teach the jutsu to outsiders and to restrict its use, after which Zhongli and Hu Tao left the shrine.
• Chiyo worried that her resurrection had upset Zhongli and Hu Tao, and Yucheng explained that her lingering soul and Ei's preservation of her arm had made it possible.
• The people of Inazuma held a welcome celebration for Chiyo, where Ei spoke with her and repeatedly glanced tenderly toward Yucheng.

Chiyo adjusted to her immortal reincarnated body, explored her clan’s descendants, and wondered whether several Inazuma residents might be reincarnations of people she once knew. Yucheng learned that Sara had assaulted him under the influence of Ei and Miko’s scheme, but his time with Sara and Shenhe ended when his approval to enter Sumeru arrived and he had to prepare for another diplomatic journey.

• Chiyo sparred with Ei and adapted to her reincarnated body, though its permanent cracks troubled her.
• Chiyo visited the Mikoshi Clan’s descendants and saw possible echoes of her sons in Mikoshi Genichiro and Mikoshi Genjiro.
• Chiyo saw Arataki Itto and left, thinking he resembled the Otogi King.
• Yucheng woke beside Shenhe and Sara and learned that Sara had assaulted him before his diplomatic mission to Liyue.
• Sara explained that Ei and Miko had drugged Yucheng and arranged for Sara to take him to his room so he would become more closely tied to Inazuma.
• Yucheng received word that the Sumeru Akademiya had approved his entry, requiring him to set out on another diplomatic journey.

Yucheng chose who would accompany him on the Sumeru mission as Kokomi, Ayaka, and Sara all sought to go. Kokomi won approval by offering to retrieve Watatsumi Island’s lost Mirage Jade Casket, while Ayaka was chosen over Sara, leaving her worried about her place among Yucheng’s women.

• Kuki Shinobu and Miko were not chosen for the Sumeru mission, as Kuki preferred her freedom with the Arataki Gang and Miko had no reason to keep watch over Yucheng.
• Kokomi sought a publicly funded vacation but applied to accompany Yucheng on the grounds that she could retrieve Watatsumi Island’s lost Mirage Jade Casket in Sumeru.
• Yucheng approved Kokomi’s request, confident that she would help manage the mission and its negotiations.
• Yucheng left Sara in Inazuma to help Shenhe and Ganyu oversee affairs, officially avoiding suspicion from Sumeru about Sara’s role as Minister of National Defense.
• Yucheng chose Ayaka to accompany him instead of Sara, and Ayaka wondered whether she was already competing for fourth place among the women close to him.

At Inazuma’s farewell banquet before the delegation’s trip to Sumeru, Yucheng reunited with Klee, Yoimiya, and Albedo and arranged safeguards for their dangerous experiments. Hu Tao then accepted Chiyo’s resurrection, though she believed Chiyo might one day ask Yucheng to undo it.

• The Shogunate held a large farewell banquet for the delegation, where Shenhe appeared publicly as the Regent’s wife alongside Sara, Eula, Ganyu, and Yelan.
• Yae Miko gave Yucheng a knowing smile before Klee rushed into his arms with Yoimiya and Albedo.
• Klee begged Yucheng not to leave for Sumeru, and he reassured her that he could still protect her from afar.
• Yucheng assigned Chiyo to guard Klee and Yoimiya’s workshop and left a Shadow Clone with enough chakra to use the Kamui Dimension as an emergency escape.
• Hu Tao told Yucheng she could accept Chiyo’s existence and trusted his character, while suggesting Chiyo might someday ask him to reverse the technique.

At the banquet, Ei and Chiyo thanked Yucheng for bringing Chiyo back through Impure World Reincarnation, and they discussed the technique’s risks and limitations. Chiyo remained hopeful that Yucheng might someday restore her senses, while Yucheng prepared to leave for Sumeru the next day.

• Hu Tao left the banquet suspicious of Yucheng, while Ei and the masked Chiyo approached him together.
• Ei toasted Yucheng for bringing Chiyo back, and Chiyo asked him to call her by name and described her new body’s shortcomings.
• Ei and Chiyo worried that Impure World Reincarnation might harm Yucheng, but he explained that its forbidden status came from its effects on the dead and its moral dangers.
• Yucheng suggested there might eventually be a way to restore Chiyo’s sense of taste and smell, giving her hope.
• Chiyo toasted Yucheng with her mask raised only enough to reveal her mouth, and the banquet ended before Yucheng’s final night in Inazuma.

On the voyage to Port Ormos, Kokomi gave Yucheng a lesson on Sumeru’s government and Akademiya while he struggled to stay focused. The chapter ended with Yucheng comparing the Akademiya’s scholar ranks to academic degrees from his previous life.

• Yucheng recalled the previous night’s battle until Kokomi called him back to her lesson about Sumeru.
• Kokomi explained Sumeru’s rainforest and desert regions, its Archons, and the Akademiya’s role in governing the nation.
• Kokomi described the Akademiya’s six major schools, their fields of study, and their Sages, including Great Sage Azar of Rtawahist.
• Kokomi told Yucheng about notable scholars and figures, including Cyno, Faruzan, and Kaveh, and outlined the stages for becoming Great Sage.
• Yucheng compared the Akademiya’s advancement stages to academic credentials from his previous life.

Setaria reported to Azar that Nafis and Tighnari had refused to assist with the Project, which Azar planned to advance without their interference. As preparations continued toward the Sabzeruz Festival, Setaria reflected on the discrimination that had driven her to abandon her desert identity and adapt to the Akademiya.

• Setaria told Azar that Nafis had refused to participate in the Project and that Tighnari had also declined, citing his work in Avidya Forest.
• Azar dismissed their refusals, said Nafis must not be allowed to interfere, and decided to let Tighnari's time as a Forest Watcher wear down his pride.
• Setaria recalled how discrimination at the Akademiya had cost her credit for her research and led her to hide her desert origins and change her religious allegiance.
• Setaria reported that the Project was proceeding according to plan and would begin on the day of the Sabzeruz Festival.
• Azar said they should properly celebrate the birth of a god.

Azar dismissed the Inazuma delegation’s status and ordered Kavus to receive them in Sumeru City while ensuring they were given Akasha Terminals. When Yucheng, Kokomi, and Ayaka arrived at Port Ormos, they were met with a ship inspection and no high-ranking welcome, leaving Yucheng intent on confronting Azar.

• Setaria told Azar that Inazuma’s Regent was leading a diplomatic delegation to Sumeru, but Azar refused to receive them and assigned Kavus instead.
• Azar ordered Setaria to make sure the delegation members received Sumeru’s Akasha Terminals, then privately resolved to create a new God for Sumeru.
• The Inazuma delegation arrived at Port Ormos, where port officials inspected their ship before Rasa greeted them.
• Rasa explained that Kavus was waiting in Sumeru City rather than at the port, and Kokomi and Ayaka frowned at the breach of diplomatic protocol.
• Rasa handed Akasha Terminals to Yucheng and the other delegates, and Yucheng responded with an imperceptible cold smile.

The Inazuma delegation received Akasha Terminals and completed the document review at Port Ormos before continuing toward Sumeru City for its diplomatic visit. After the delegation departed, Rasa discovered through the Akasha that Yucheng was far more dangerous than he had assumed.

• Kokomi and the Inazuma delegation tried Akasha Terminals for the first time and praised their usefulness.
• Rasa’s secretary confirmed that the delegation’s documents were in order, and Rasa cleared Yucheng and his party to continue to Sumeru City.
• Rasa explained the origins of the Sabzeruz Festival and told Yucheng that scholars had failed to recreate the purple-red Padisarahs associated with it.
• Yucheng led the delegation back to its vessel and sailed inland toward Sumeru City.
• After reporting through his Akasha Terminal, Rasa told Masrur that the terminal had revealed Yucheng’s alarming reputation, and Masrur searched for information about the Regent.

Yucheng called Kokomi and Ayaka to discuss the Akasha Terminal’s hidden risks, and Kokomi deduced that it could be used to surveil its users. Yucheng explained how the Akademiya’s control of the Akasha could expose Inazuma’s diplomatic secrets or feed its delegation false information.

• Yucheng removed his Akasha Terminal and asked Kokomi and Ayaka what they thought of the device.
• Kokomi reasoned that the Terminal’s free distribution and ability to record work could make it a means of surveillance.
• Yucheng praised Kokomi’s deduction, while Ayaka was surprised and compared her own insight unfavorably with Kokomi’s.
• Ayaka asked whether the Akademiya could truly monitor Terminal users, and Yucheng explained the Akasha’s connection to Irminsul and the Ley Lines.
• Yucheng warned that the Akademiya could use the Akasha to learn Inazuma’s negotiating position or give its delegation false information.

Yucheng, Kokomi, and Ayaka planned to use the Akasha Terminals to feed the Akademiya false information while concealing their scheme from their own staff. Yucheng delayed the delegation’s arrival in Sumeru City by stopping in Vimara Village, where the village chief Amaziah approached them.

• Ayaka moved to forbid the delegation from using Akasha Terminals, but Kokomi stopped her and proposed using the terminals to mislead the Akademiya.
• Yucheng gave Kokomi authority to plan a performance that would fool both the Akademiya and the delegation’s staff.
• Yucheng ordered the ship to slow down and the delegation to rest in Vimara Village rather than hurry to Sumeru City to meet Sage Kavus.
• Yucheng told Kokomi to investigate the Akasha Terminal’s hidden functions, then privately examined a terminal and considered obtaining it for himself.
• The delegation docked at Vimara Village, drawing the attention of the villagers, and chief Amaziah approached Yucheng and the two women to ask why they had come.

Yucheng brought the Inazuma delegation to Vimara Village after claiming their ship had struck a reef, then used Wood Release to build five villas for them. While the villagers prepared food in exchange for the houses, Kavus learned the delegation was not coming to Sumeru City and stormed away in fury.

• Yucheng told Amaziah that the delegation’s ship had hit a reef and asked to stay in Vimara Village while it was repaired.
• When Amaziah explained that the village lacked enough rooms, Yucheng used Wood Release to build five adjoining three-story villas on nearby land.
• Yucheng offered to pay the villagers for ingredients and meals, and promised to leave the villas to them when the delegation departed.
• Amaziah called on the villagers to help in exchange for rooms, and they eagerly volunteered ingredients and cooking.
• Kavus waited at Sumeru City’s harbor for the delegation, then asked the Akasha for its location and stormed off after learning the truth.

Lumine and Paimon returned to Vimara Village and found an Inazuman diplomatic delegation attending a local feast. They reunited with Yucheng, Ayaka, and Kokomi, and discussed the Akasha Terminals and the Aranara, whose existence most adults in Sumeru had forgotten.

• Lumine and Paimon arrived in bustling Vimara Village, where Paimon hoped to find food at the feast.
• Lumine noticed the Inazuman delegation and spotted five unusual villas on the village's higher ground.
• Lumine and Paimon reunited with Yucheng, Ayaka, and Kokomi, who explained that Sumeru officials had given them Akasha Terminals.
• Paimon admitted that she and Lumine had spent their time in Sumeru's rainforest rather than visiting Sumeru City or Port Ormos.
• Yucheng recognized that Lumine and Paimon had met the Aranara and said they were the Dendro Archon's familiars.
• Paimon explained that only children could see the Aranara, and that people seemed to forget them as they grew up.

Lumine asked Yucheng to find a way to meet Lesser Lord Kusanali, but the Akasha Terminal revealed no record of anyone meeting her. Kokomi proposed sneaking into the Sanctuary of Surasthana, then hinted at another way as Lumine asked what it was.

• Yucheng claimed his ship had struck a reef near Vimara Village, and Lumine chose not to challenge his explanation.
• Ayaka searched the Akasha Terminal for information about meeting Lesser Lord Kusanali but found no answer or record of anyone meeting her.
• Yucheng explained that the Akademiya’s influence and Kusanali’s absence had led Sumeru’s people to favor Greater Lord Rukkhadevata.
• Kokomi suggested Lumine and Paimon sneak into the Sanctuary of Surasthana to meet Kusanali, arguing that its guards would be few and they could leave afterward.
• Lumine worried about entering an Archon’s home without permission and asked Kokomi for her other way to meet Kusanali.

Yucheng agreed to raise Lumine and Paimon’s request to meet Lesser Lord Kusanali during Inazuma’s diplomatic negotiations, while the delegation gathered intelligence at a Vimara Village banquet. After recounting the Aranyaka, Lumine set out alone to investigate the Fatui mole she suspected was in the village.

• Kokomi suggested asking one of the Akademiya’s Six Sages to arrange a meeting with Lesser Lord Kusanali, and Lumine and Paimon asked Yucheng for help.
• Yucheng refused to spend Inazuma’s interests on a personal favor but agreed to raise the request during negotiations if Sumeru’s demands were reasonable.
• Yucheng told Lumine and Paimon that the ship repairs would take two or three days, and they discussed other possible ways to find help in Sumeru City.
• Yucheng, Lumine, Paimon, and the Inazuma delegation attended a communal banquet, where delegation members spoke with Vimara Village residents and retired scholars to gather intelligence.
• Lumine recounted the Aranyaka to Yucheng, then left the banquet alone to investigate the Fatui mole she suspected was in Vimara Village.

Lumine confronted Alfonso and learned that he was Trofim Snezhnevich, a House of the Hearth agent who had orchestrated the abductions to lure out Aranara. As Alfonso prepared to fight her, Yucheng intervened and subdued him, intending to keep him alive for questioning.

• Alfonso brooded over his divided loyalties during Vimara Village’s celebration before Lumine asked to speak with him about the hidden culprit.
• Alfonso led Lumine to a quiet overlook, admitted his mission had failed, and revealed his name was Trofim Snezhnevich.
• Alfonso explained that he had tried to protect Lana and the village children, but Lumine held him responsible for the harm his scheme caused.
• Alfonso challenged Lumine to a fight, but Yucheng arrived and said he needed Alfonso alive and did not want a villager’s disappearance to cause trouble.
• Alfonso charged Yucheng with a short blade, and Yucheng’s Sharingan left him standing blankly.