Chapter Summaries

Yucheng planned to turn Alfonso into an intelligence asset, while the Akademiya Sages prepared to use the Inazuma delegation’s Akasha Terminals for their [project]. The chapter ended with Azar arranging a public arrival time for the delegation so Sumeru could avoid blame if they changed their plans.

• Lumine decided to expose Alfonso but leave him alive for Yucheng, who saw the former operative as a valuable source of intelligence.
• Yucheng recalled how he had used Genjutsu to expose House of the Hearth spies and feed Snezhnaya false intelligence.
• Kavus complained to Azar that the Inazuma delegation had not arrived at Port Ormos, after their ship supposedly struck a reef near Vimara Village.
• Azar suspected the delegation had delayed its arrival to slight Sumeru and said their Akasha Terminals would help fuel the [project].
• Azar proposed sending his assistant to Vimara Village to confirm the delegation’s arrival time and publicly announce it through the Akasha, and Kavus agreed.

Setaria arrived in Vimara Village to ask why Yucheng’s delegation had not reached Sumeru City, and Yucheng secured two more days of rest while accepting Akademiya help with the ship. Their conversation turned to Setaria’s desert origins and beliefs, and she was left considering his question about the Eremites’ claims that King Deshret would return.

• Setaria reached Vimara Village and found Yucheng, explaining that the Great Sage had sent her to learn why the Inazuma delegation had missed its arrival in Sumeru City.
• Yucheng said the delegation’s ship had struck a reef and claimed repairs and recovery would take several days.
• Setaria offered Kshahrewar’s help repairing the ship, and Yucheng agreed to arrive in Sumeru City two days later.
• Yucheng invited Setaria to breakfast and praised her for rising to the position of Great Sage’s assistant despite coming from Aaru Village.
• Setaria admitted she did not believe in gods, and Yucheng asked what she thought of Eremites promoting King Deshret’s resurrection and treating Lesser Lord Kusanali as an enemy.

Yucheng warned Setaria that the Akademiya’s treatment of the desert people could provoke a rebellion, then demonstrated his overwhelming power and revealed that it could be inherited. Kokomi took his words as a suggestive reference to their earlier encounter and fled, leaving Ayaka to look back at the room with mixed feelings.

• Setaria reacted with fear to rumors that King Deshret had returned, while Yucheng questioned why the desert people still revered him and criticized discrimination under the Akademiya.
• Yucheng compared Sumeru’s religious divisions to Inazuma’s past conflict and warned that the desert people might revolt if they learned Sumeru City’s defenses were weak.
• When Setaria challenged him over insulting Sumeru, Yucheng claimed he could destroy the city and demonstrated his crimson, tomoe-filled eyes, causing her consciousness to sink.
• Kokomi emerged from behind the screen and praised Yucheng’s eyes, and he told her that their power could be inherited.
• Kokomi blushed, covered her face, and ran out past Ayaka, who returned with breakfast and looked back at the room with a complicated expression.

After Kokomi questioned Setaria and sent her back to Sumeru City as a hidden pawn, Yucheng helped Lumine conceal Alfonso’s identity from Paimon. Lumine and Paimon then set off for Sumeru City, where Yucheng’s warning about adults not dreaming left Lumine suspecting a deeper mystery.

• Kokomi gathered information from Setaria, and Yucheng released the Genjutsu so Setaria could return to Sumeru City unaware of what had happened.
• Paimon complained to Yucheng that Lumine had solved Vimara Village’s child-disappearance case without telling her who the culprit was.
• Yucheng persuaded Paimon that Lumine was keeping the culprit’s identity secret to protect the village and spare Paimon the burden of keeping it quiet.
• Lumine told Paimon she could discover the culprit by finding which villager was missing, but Paimon chose not to investigate.
• Lumine and Paimon decided to go to Sumeru City, and Yucheng warned them that adults there did not dream.
• Lumine wondered what Yucheng’s warning meant, but could not connect it to what she had heard from the Aranara.

The Inazuma delegation arrived in Sumeru City for diplomatic negotiations after its ships were repaired and its members rested in Vimara Village. Azar arranged luxurious lodging beside Regusvine Hall, leaving Yucheng wary that the placement was meant to keep the delegation under surveillance.

• Akademiya instructors and students repaired the Inazuma delegation's ships in half a day, and Yucheng considered recruiting Sumeru's practical talents for Inazuma.
• After two days in Vimara Village, Yucheng led the delegation toward Sumeru City as the Akademiya's Akasha notification drew crowds and moved the prices of Inazuman and Sumeru specialties.
• Azar and Kavus welcomed the delegation at Sumeru City's harbor, where Azar and Yucheng exchanged public pleasantries and concealed their suspicions of each other.
• Setaria led Yucheng and the delegation to a luxurious residence beside Regusvine Hall, which Yucheng suspected would make it easier for the Corps of Thirty to watch them.

Yucheng arrived in Sumeru City with the Inazuma delegation and evaded the Akademiya’s surveillance while secretly exploring the Divine Tree. Meanwhile, Lumine struggled to find a way to meet Nahida, who sensed a sudden malice in the city and wondered who had arrived.

• The Akademiya assigned guards to watch the Inazuma delegation and scheduled diplomatic discussions for the next morning, leaving Yucheng and his companions free to explore.
• Setaria reported that the delegation’s Akasha Terminals were active, and Azar ordered her to record their movements, contacts, and questions.
• Setaria left Azar’s office with a subtle smile as three tomoe briefly appeared in her pupils.
• Yucheng used a clone to wear his Akasha Terminal, disguised himself as a Liyue merchant, and secretly explored Sumeru City.
• Yucheng sensed the Divine Tree’s vitality and realized his Wood Release could drain it, but he withdrew before endangering the city.
• Nahida woke after sensing malice, while Lumine and Paimon concluded that meeting her might require investigating the Sanctuary of Surasthana or obtaining a recommendation from the sages.

Yucheng, Kokomi, and Ayaka faced hostile negotiations with Azar and the Akademiya, whose demands and condescending attitude showed little interest in fair cooperation. After Yucheng deliberately ignored the talks, he mocked Sumeru’s negotiating style and hinted at past disasters, while Azar offered to close the nearby theater performances that had supposedly disturbed his sleep.

• Azar and the other Sages demanded steep tariffs, Inazuman sword-forging techniques, historical records for the Akasha, and compensation for scholars affected by Inazuma’s isolation.
• Kokomi and Ayaka worried that Yucheng would react angrily, but found him asleep with earplugs in as the Akademiya’s representatives addressed him.
• After Ayaka tapped his ankle, Yucheng pretended to think the meeting was over and revealed his earplugs, enraging the three Sages.
• Azar asked whether the delegation’s residence had caused Yucheng’s poor sleep, and Yucheng said the meeting’s opening demands were predictable and not worth listening to.
• Yucheng sarcastically recalled the attacks that had coincided with his visits to Liyue and Mondstadt, then wondered whether anything unusual would happen in Sumeru.
• Azar avoided answering Yucheng’s taunt and offered to close the Grand Bazaar’s theater performances because they had supposedly disturbed his rest.

Yucheng turned the negotiations with Azar into a farcical exchange of impossible demands, then asked the Sages to deliver a birthday gift from the Raiden Shogun to Lesser Lord Kusanali. He revealed a mysterious, electrified box fitted with mechanisms, leaving Azar to consider the task of opening it.

• Azar ordered Alhaitham to draft a decree banning public artistic performances before the next Sabzeruz Festival, despite Yucheng's objections.
• Yucheng, Kokomi, and Ayaka retaliated with absurd demands, angering the Sages and bringing the negotiations to a chaotic end.
• Alhaitham stopped taking notes and read a paper book as the meeting devolved into unrealistic demands.
• As the delegations prepared to leave, Yucheng asked Azar to deliver a birthday gift from the Raiden Shogun to Lesser Lord Kusanali.
• Yucheng showed Azar an ornate gift box with dancing arcs of electricity and explained that the Shogun had installed mechanisms to protect it.

After Yucheng left the Akademiya, Ayaka praised his handling of the diplomatic meeting while Kokomi apologized for misjudging the sages. He explained how experience had helped him navigate the negotiations and revealed that he had deliberately avoided listening so he would not attack the sages, while hinting that Sumeru’s own people could deal with them.

• Azar dismissed the others after Yucheng left, and the remaining sages studied the gift from the Electro Archon to Lesser Lord Kusanali.
• Yucheng returned to the residence with Ayaka and Kokomi, and the three removed their Akasha Terminals to talk privately.
• Ayaka praised Yucheng’s performance, while Kokomi apologized for failing to prepare for the Akademiya’s hostile attitude.
• Yucheng explained what he had learned from negotiations with Ningguang and Jean and encouraged Ayaka to learn from them.
• Yucheng revealed that he had actually fallen asleep with earplugs in to keep from attacking the sages, then suggested Sumeru’s own people could deal with them.

Yucheng revealed that Ei had not prepared a gift for Lesser Lord Kusanali; he had hidden his own gift inside a box bearing Ei’s emblem to test the Akademiya’s sages. He explained that the Akademiya had confined Lesser Lord Kusanali for five hundred years, and that her limited combat strength and lack of worshippers had left her unable to resist.

• Yucheng told Ayaka and Kokomi that Ei’s gift box contained a present he had prepared for Lesser Lord Kusanali.
• Yucheng predicted that Azar and the other sages would try to open the box, then revealed that the Akademiya had kept Lesser Lord Kusanali under house arrest for five hundred years.
• Yucheng explained that the sages had confined Lesser Lord Kusanali after judging her wisdom inferior to Greater Lord Rukkhadevata’s, while the Akademiya took control of Sumeru.
• Kokomi questioned why a five-hundred-year-old god had not escaped, and Yucheng said Lesser Lord Kusanali lacked combat prowess and the strength of popular faith.

Yucheng explained the Archon War and outlined why the Inazuma delegation could not rely on rumors to undermine the Akademiya. He proposed finding allies to replace the Great Sage’s faction and planned to investigate Sumeru’s factions before the Sabzeruz Festival, with Lumine and Paimon as possible allies.

• Yucheng told Ayaka and Kokomi about several gods of the Archon War and discussed whether personal strength or faith mattered more.
• Yucheng explained that Lesser Lord Kusanali was weak in combat but powerful in the mental realm through her wisdom, dreams, and connection to Irminsul.
• Yucheng proposed replacing the Akademiya’s hostile leadership, but dismissed spreading rumors because the Akademiya controlled the Akasha and held public credibility.
• Kokomi suggested Lumine and Paimon as potential allies, since Lumine wanted to meet Lesser Lord Kusanali.
• Yucheng tasked the delegation with investigating Akademiya factions before the Sabzeruz Festival and said they could encourage Lumine to oppose the Great Sage.

Alhaitham was summoned after work to help Akademiya scholars open a gift box sent by the Raiden Shogun to Lesser Lord Kusanali. He agreed to drain its Electro power with his Dendro energy in exchange for paid overtime and three days off.

• Alhaitham received messages from Kavus and Great Sage Azar just as he was preparing to leave work.
• Kavus brought Alhaitham to Azar's office, where scholars had been studying Yucheng's gift box for days.
• Alhaitham recognized the box as a birthday gift from the Raiden Shogun to Lesser Lord Kusanali, and Kavus claimed they were inspecting it for her safety.
• Kavus explained that the scholars had solved the box's mechanism but needed Dendro energy to drain its Electro power without damaging the contents.
• Alhaitham accepted the task after Kavus promised paid overtime and three days off.

Alhaitham drained the Electro power from the gift box and left after receiving three days of paid leave, while Azar and the Sages opened it and found a scroll covered in an unknown script. Azar decided Kavus should first photograph the scroll and ask Haravatat scholars to identify it before sending it to Lesser Lord Kusanali.

• Alhaitham used Dendro Elemental Energy for over half an hour to drain the gift box, then left without seeing what was inside.
• Kavus and Azar granted Alhaitham three days of paid leave, and the Sages chose a junior Kshahrewar scholar to open the box.
• The scholar opened the gift box safely, revealing a scroll whose writing none of the gathered scholars recognized.
• Azar sent the non-Sage scholars away and examined the scroll with Kavus and the other Sages.
• Azar concluded the unknown script itself was likely the gift for Lesser Lord Kusanali, and directed Kavus to photograph it and consult Haravatat scholars before delivering the scroll.

Alhaitham returned home and found Yucheng, the Regent of Inazuma, waiting inside with information about the Divine Knowledge Capsule and the Akademiya’s plans. Yucheng warned that Alhaitham’s quiet life could end and asked whether he had considered becoming a Sage or even the Great Sage.

• Alhaitham entered his home prepared to face Kaveh, but found Yucheng inside and drew the Light of Foliar Incision.
• Yucheng explained that he had entered to meet people without attracting the Akademiya’s attention, criticizing its scrutiny of the Inazuma delegation.
• Yucheng revealed that he knew Alhaitham had the Divine Knowledge Capsule and told him not to let the Akademiya obtain it too soon.
• Alhaitham showed Yucheng the red-glowing capsule, and Yucheng rejected it after noting that such capsules were extracted from human brains.
• Yucheng warned Alhaitham that running away could cost him his peaceful life, then asked whether he had considered becoming a Sage or the Great Sage.

Yucheng questioned Alhaitham about the Akademiya’s secret research and the Six Cardinal Sins, suggesting its leaders might be breaking the very prohibitions they enforce. Alhaitham recognized that the Divine Knowledge Capsule could be evidence of such violations, but the story left him without proof against the Great Sage.

• Yucheng offered Alhaitham the chance to become a Sage, but Alhaitham rejected it because he had no ambition and wanted to avoid the Akademiya’s leadership.
• Yucheng pointed out that the Akademiya’s leaders appeared to be conducting a secret project, and Alhaitham acknowledged that he had noticed it.
• Yucheng asked who could punish Sages who violated the Six Cardinal Sins, making Alhaitham consider whether the leadership’s research crossed those prohibitions.
• Alhaitham connected the Divine Knowledge Capsule to forbidden research involving gods and realized Cyno might arrest the Great Sage if he learned of it.
• Alhaitham reflected that the Great Sage could evade punishment without solid evidence and considered whether a cardinal sin had caused the fall of King Deshret’s civilization.

Yucheng told Alhaitham that the Akademiya planned to create a god with the Fatui’s help, prompting Alhaitham to investigate the scheme himself. Yucheng then prepared to use the Sabzeruz Festival’s dream cycles to attempt a dangerous experiment with senjutsu.

• Yucheng explained that the Sages intended to use Dottore’s puppet, Raiden Shogun’s Gnosis, and Alhaitham’s Divine Knowledge Capsule to create a new god.
• Alhaitham questioned Yucheng’s claims but agreed the Akademiya’s actions had gone too far, and decided to investigate Aaru Village during his three days of leave.
• Yucheng revealed that he already knew about Alhaitham’s leave, then vanished, leaving Alhaitham wary of being manipulated.
• Yucheng disguised himself as a merchant and prepared to use the Sabzeruz Festival’s repeating dreams to experiment with absorbing natural energy and forming senjutsu chakra.

Yucheng learned that the Akademiya had falsely blamed him for ordering a ban on artistic performances in Sumeru City, threatening Nilou and Dunyarzad’s Sabzeruz Festival. As Dunyarzad and Nilou resigned themselves to postponing the festival, Dunyarzad wondered whether she would live to see it next year.

• Lumine and Paimon brought Nilou, Dunyarzad, and Dehya to meet Yucheng and ask him to reverse the supposed performance ban.
• Paimon explained that the Akademiya had halted the Zubayr Theater’s performances and claimed the order was meant to accommodate Yucheng.
• Yucheng denied requesting the ban and condemned the Akademiya for blaming him and imposing its tastes on Sumeru’s people.
• Dehya apologized for misjudging Yucheng, while Dunyarzad decided to confront the Akademiya before Dehya and Lumine stopped her.
• Nilou said they would try again next year, and Dunyarzad privately wondered whether she would survive until then.

After Dunyarzad collapsed, Nilou pleaded with Yucheng to help save the Sabzeruz Festival so Dunyarzad would not be left with regrets. Yucheng agreed after Lumine and Paimon also offered to pay any price, leaving the group ready to challenge the Akademiya’s ban.

• Dunyarzad collapsed after promising Nilou they would celebrate the next Sabzeruz Festival, and Dehya carried her away to rest.
• Nilou realized Dunyarzad’s condition was serious and searched for a way to hold the festival despite the Akademiya’s ban.
• Paimon asked Yucheng about contacting Lesser Lord Kusanali, and he explained that the Akademiya had blocked his attempts to establish ties with her.
• Nilou knelt before Yucheng and begged him to use his position as Inazuma Regent to help complete the Sabzeruz Festival.
• Nilou offered to pay any price, and Lumine and Paimon joined her plea; Yucheng then agreed to help.

Nilou asked Yucheng to help her hold the Sabzeruz Festival performance for Dunyarzad, and he found a way to host it at the Inazuma delegation’s residence. When Nilou worried they lacked time to rebuild the venue, Yucheng used his power to raise a huge stage in the courtyard.

• Nilou agreed to pay any price for Yucheng’s help, and he promised to assist her.
• Yucheng explained that the Inazuma delegation’s residence fell under Inazuma’s jurisdiction, so the Akademiya’s ban would not apply there.
• Nilou worried that fewer than two days remained and that ordinary Sumeru residents might not be able to enter the diplomatic residence.
• Yucheng stamped the courtyard ground, causing wooden beams to assemble into a massive stage above the walls.
• Nilou stared at Yucheng in shock, with a new glimmer in her gaze.

After the Inazuma delegation allowed Zubayr Theater to perform at its residence, Azar learned that Sumeru could not legally intervene. Setaria reported that the stage had appeared in under ten minutes and that Nilou had seemingly persuaded Yucheng, leaving Azar convinced he had found the Regent’s weakness.

• Akademiya officials investigated the stage and left after Yucheng explained that diplomatic regulations barred them from interfering at the Inazuma residence.
• Setaria told Azar that the theater had approached Yucheng after Sumeru banned artistic performances, and Azar decided not to intervene.
• Setaria reported that the stage had appeared in less than ten minutes and linked its construction to Albedo, whom Yucheng had invited to Inazuma.
• Setaria relayed an account that Nilou had negotiated with Yucheng and left with tearful eyes, smudged makeup, and a flushed face.
• Azar laughed at the report and concluded that he had discovered Yucheng’s weakness.