Chapter Summaries

On the Goddess of Flowers' Birthday, Dunyarzad arrived at the Inazuma delegation's compound to see the festival stage her friends had built for the Zubayr Theater's performance. As Lumine, Paimon, and Dehya discussed Yucheng's strength, Dehya became intrigued by him.

• Merchants and the Inazuma delegation helped the Zubayr Theater move its performance to the delegation's compound after the Akademiya tried to stop the show.
• The Zubayr Theater, Grand Bazaar residents, and Inazuma envoys finished preparing the stage and festival performance in less than two days.
• Dunyarzad arrived early with Dehya, grateful and excited to see the stage prepared for her.
• Lumine and Paimon arrived and reassured Dunyarzad that she should enjoy the day, while Dehya teased her about staying awake all night.
• Paimon told Dehya that Yucheng had grown the stage from the ground and had once defeated Osial with a giant made of trees, leaving Dehya impressed by his strength.

Yucheng, Kokomi, and Ayaka joined Dunyarzad, Dehya, Paimon, and Lumine to explore the Sabzeruz Festival, where Yucheng briefly eased Dunyarzad’s Eleazar symptoms but explained that he could not cure the illness. The group set aside their worries to enjoy the festival, while Yucheng ended the day resolving to restrict Onikabuto exports after tasting the candy made from them.

• Dunyarzad suggested inviting Yucheng to the Sabzeruz Festival, and Yucheng, Kokomi, and Ayaka arrived and accepted the invitation.
• When Yucheng shook Dunyarzad’s hand, he infused her with plant vitality, briefly making her feel energetic; Dehya challenged him before Dunyarzad explained what had happened.
• Yucheng explained that Eleazar could not be cured unless Irminsul’s contamination was eradicated, and that his treatment had only eased Dunyarzad’s symptoms temporarily.
• Dunyarzad and Paimon encouraged everyone to enjoy the festival, and the group sampled local delicacies, tried Alchemy Divination, and tasted several Yalda Candy flavors.
• Yucheng tasted the lizard tail- and Onikabuto-flavored candies and resolved to put Onikabuto on the restricted export list.

As the Sabzeruz Festival drew a large crowd, Zubayr worried that the Akademiya’s ban on public performances would destroy his theater. Inazuma offered to host the troupe, while Dori tried to secure Nilou for a touring show, leaving Zubayr with competing offers.

• Dunyarzad tired after the festival outing, and Dehya took her home to rest before Nilou’s evening performance.
• As residents and scholars filled the festival, Zubayr feared the Akademiya’s ban would force the Zubayr Theater to close or perform only for wealthy patrons.
• The Inazuma Regent offered to bring the whole theater to Inazuma, providing accommodations, venues, and a guaranteed monthly commercial performance.
• Zubayr suspected Inazuma’s generous offer was connected to Nilou, who had been acting distracted since visiting the Inazuma delegation.
• Dori sent Zubayr a letter proposing that Nilou tour Teyvat, expecting him to accept now that public performances were banned in Sumeru.

Nilou’s successful performance at the Sabzeruz Festival gave Sumeru’s people a glimpse of the art that the Akademiya planned to ban, while Dunyarzad’s worsening health cast a shadow over the celebration. Yucheng arranged for the Zubayr Theater’s troupe to continue its work in Inazuma, and Lumine revealed a possible clue to saving Dunyarzad through Irminsul.

• Nilou performed the Dance of the Goddess of Flowers before a packed crowd in Sumeru City, and Katheryne enjoyed the birthday celebration.
• At the Grand Bazaar banquet, Dunyarzad thanked everyone for fulfilling her wish, then grew weak and left with Dehya.
• Yucheng said Dunyarzad’s condition looked dire, prompting Lumine to ask whether solving the Irminsul problem could save her.
• Lumine recalled hearing the words “World... forget me...” after her consciousness briefly entered Irminsul.
• Zubayr announced that the Inazuma delegation had hired the theater troupe, and gave staff two days to decide whether to leave Sumeru.
• Yucheng and his companions departed, and Paimon said they would investigate Irminsul the next day while Yucheng wondered whether she would arrive on time.

Azar began the Akademiya’s plan by forcing every person in Sumeru City into the Akasha’s dream, where an unexpectedly powerful source of dream energy was detected. Yucheng recognized that he had entered the Sabzeruz Festival cycle and decided to use the Akasha’s illusion to practice senjutsu.

• Azar ordered Setaria to put the remaining awake people in Sumeru City to sleep through their Akasha Terminals, including the Inazuma delegation.
• Azar began the plan’s second step, connecting the terminals and extracting energy from the people’s dreams.
• A scholar reported that one dream was producing energy equal to that of tens of thousands of ordinary people, and said its owner might quickly realize the realm was a dream and escape.
• Kavus speculated that the unusually powerful dream belonged to Yucheng, but Azar argued that physical strength did not necessarily mean powerful mental energy.
• Yucheng resisted the Akasha’s pull only long enough to enter the dream, then recognized the Sabzeruz Festival cycle and chose to use the realistic illusion to master the balance of senjutsu’s three energies.

Lumine and Paimon noticed that the Sabzeruz Festival felt unnaturally familiar and that Dunyarzad, Ayaka, and Kokomi seemed strangely indifferent. After Lumine repeatedly searched for answers, Nahida revealed that they had experienced the festival many times, leaving them shocked by how many loops had passed.

• Lumine invited Yucheng to join them at the Sabzeruz Festival, but Ayaka said he had left early on important business, so Ayaka and Kokomi came instead.
• At the festival, Lumine correctly identified every flavor in Vigar's Yalda Candies mystery boxes, deepening her sense that the day had happened before.
• Lumine left the group to investigate, but she and Paimon found no clues before returning to the inn exhausted.
• After waking to another festival morning, Lumine abandoned Dunyarzad and searched Sumeru City, where she met Nahida near the Bimarstan.
• Nahida gave Lumine and Paimon a Knowledge Capsule, and they learned that they had experienced countless Sabzeruz Festivals already.

Yucheng perfected Sage Mode after more than a hundred attempts and decided not to break the Sabzeruz Festival loop by force because doing so could harm its host. Meanwhile, Lumine, Paimon, and Nahida uncovered how the Akademiya was harvesting the city's dreams, and a teasing voice interrupted them just as Nahida was about to explain how to stop the loop.

• Setaria concealed the daily loss of dream energy in her report, and Azar ordered her to investigate the fluctuations.
• Yucheng completed his Senjutsu training atop the Divine Tree and achieved stable Sage Mode without side effects.
• Yucheng decided not to forcibly break the dream loop and set out to find Lumine and Paimon.
• Nahida guided Lumine and Paimon to uncover that the Akademiya was using the Akasha to harvest people's dreams through the Sabzeruz Festival loop.
• Lumine asked Nahida how to stop the loop, but a teasing voice interrupted and greeted Nahida.

Yucheng revealed that he had learned about the Akademiya’s dream plan through Setaria and entered the dream to use the Akasha’s computing power for his own goals. After explaining that the real Kokomi and Ayaka had already left the dream, he offered to help end it using information Setaria had uncovered.

• Nahida questioned Yucheng’s sudden arrival, and he said he had spent the loops learning something and had benefited from the Akademiya’s plan.
• Yucheng explained that Setaria had secretly provided him with information about the Akademiya’s work, and he defended his decision to use the plan for his own purposes.
• Yucheng told Lumine that Kokomi, Ayaka, and the other Inazuma delegates in the dream were puppets because their real consciousnesses had already left.
• Paimon angrily replaced Yucheng’s nickname, calling him “Scheming Guy,” while he insisted that she take back “Treat-Giver.”
• Nahida explained that ending the dream required finding its host, and Yucheng said Setaria’s help had revealed how to do that.

Yucheng led Lumine, Paimon, and Nahida to the Inazuma Delegation Residence and revealed that Nilou was the dream’s host. After Nilou realized she was dreaming, she performed one final Dance of the Goddess of Flowers as the dream collapsed and the loop ended.

• Yucheng brought Lumine, Paimon, and Nahida to the Inazuma Delegation Residence, where they watched Nilou rehearse her dance.
• Yucheng identified Nilou as the dream’s host and told her that Lesser Lord Kusanali had come to watch her perform.
• Nahida confirmed her identity and explained that she could meet Nilou only in the dream, prompting the dream to begin dissolving.
• Nilou accepted that she was dreaming and chose to perform one final Dance of the Goddess of Flowers for Nahida.
• Nilou’s magnificent dance filled the stage with Padisarahs, then the dream collapsed and the loop ended.

After waking from the seven-day Sabzeruz dream, Yucheng discovered Ayaka had been washing him and the two became lovers. Ayaka asked him to stop holding back her brother Ayato, and Yucheng agreed to find him a role in Inazuma.

• Yucheng woke to find Ayaka bathing him, and their startled encounter ended in lovemaking.
• Ayaka explained that Sumeru City had slept for seven days while some people experienced 152 Sabzeruz Festival cycles in a dream.
• The Inazuma delegation had escaped the dream early, and Kokomi and Ayaka had taken turns caring for the unconscious Yucheng.
• Ayaka told Yucheng she did not regret becoming involved with him, for the sake of the Kamisato Clan, her brother, and herself.
• Ayaka asked Yucheng to stop being hostile toward Ayato, and Yucheng agreed to give his new brother-in-law work in Inazuma.

After learning that Ei and Yae Miko had arranged for Sara to become his attachment to Inazuma, Yucheng accepted the reasoning but remained angry at Miko. In Sumeru, Azar and the other Sages struggled to salvage the God Project after the Sabzeruz Festival samsara yielded too little dream energy, until Dottore appeared and demanded to be addressed as The Doctor.

• Ayaka told Yucheng that Yae Miko had approached several of his secretaries and Ei, and that Sara had accepted the plan to keep him in Inazuma.
• Yucheng understood Ei and Yae Miko's motive but stayed angry at Miko, then worried that Kokomi might also have done something while caring for him.
• Azar berated the scholars after the Sabzeruz Festival samsara ended early and produced too little dream energy for the God Project.
• Azar and the Sages discussed how they could continue the project, noting that they could not repeat the samsara soon and that opposition within the Akademiya posed a risk.
• Dottore appeared in Azar's office, intimidated Kavus, and demanded that the Sages call him The Doctor.

The Doctor judged the dream energy gathered by the Akasha insufficient to power the God Project and proposed a remedial plan to capture Lesser Lord Kusanali’s consciousness. He left the House of Daena to pursue her while the Sages prepared the project’s third step.

• Azar told The Doctor that the plan had gone wrong, the Sages were under scrutiny, and they could not repeat the Sabzeruz Festival samsara soon.
• The Doctor estimated that the available dream energy gave them less than a fifty percent chance of drawing out the Gnosis’s power.
• The Doctor named Lesser Lord Kusanali as a source of sufficient dream energy and explained that he intended to capture her consciousness through the Akasha.
• Azar agreed to have the Sages prepare the third step of the God Project while The Doctor went after Kusanali.

After the Sabzeruz Festival loop ended, Lumine and Paimon found Dunyarzad awake at the Bimarstan and learned that Nahida had used the Akasha to guide the city through the aftermath. Yucheng then explained Katheryne’s nature and the Adventurers’ Guild’s connection to Snezhnaya, leaving Paimon alarmed that she and Lumine may have been helping Snezhnaya gather intelligence.

• Sumeru residents and physicians woke with aches and dizziness after the loop, and Zakariya reported what he feared was an epidemic to the Akademiya, which told him to let everyone rest.
• Lumine and Paimon found Dunyarzad conscious at the Bimarstan, and Lumine told her that she had fainted after attending the Sabzeruz Festival.
• Dunyarzad recalled dreaming that Nilou performed the Dance of the Goddess of Flowers repeatedly, while Dehya arrived and took her home to recover.
• Yucheng brought Lumine, Paimon, and Nahida to a secluded place so they could ask questions about the loop.
• Nahida explained that she used the Akasha to control Katheryne’s consciousness, and Yucheng revealed that Katheryne was a Snezhnayan bionic puppet and that the Adventurers’ Guild gathered intelligence for Snezhnaya.
• Paimon realized that she and Lumine may have supplied Snezhnaya with intelligence through their many Guild commissions.

Yucheng challenged Nahida’s belief that her existence was meaningless by warning that Sumeru’s lack of her protection could invite invasion. He revealed the Akademiya Sages’ plan to create a new god with the Fatui and said he had decided to place his bet on Nahida.

• Nahida told Paimon that the Sages had confined her in the Sanctuary of Surasthana after Greater Lord Rukkhadevata disappeared, leaving her to doubt her own worth.
• Yucheng argued that Sumeru was vulnerable to invasion without its Archon’s protection, and Nahida used the Akasha to confirm that the nation lacked adequate military strength.
• Nahida vowed that she could not abandon the people of Sumeru City.
• Yucheng revealed that the Akademiya Sages planned to create a new god with the Fatui and had kept Nahida under house arrest for five hundred years.
• Yucheng explained that he had gathered evidence against the Sages and chosen to place his bet on Nahida.

Yucheng offered to help Nahida oppose the Akademiya, but made clear that his support would come at a steep price. Nahida accepted his alliance, and the group began identifying forces in Sumeru that could help them challenge the sages.

• Yucheng explained that he would exploit either the failure or success of the Akademiya’s God Project to achieve his goals and warned that Sumeru’s future depended on the outcome.
• Lumine asked why Yucheng would back Nahida despite her weak position, and he offered help in exchange for a price, suggesting that Inazuma take Port Ormos if he directly defeated the New God.
• Nahida agreed to stop the Akademiya’s plan and accepted Yucheng’s alliance.
• Yucheng advised them to unite scholars and groups opposed to the God Project, revealing that Nafis and Iskandar had been imprisoned for several months.
• Paimon identified Tighnari and the Grand Bazaar’s residents as potential allies, while Nahida pointed to Aaru Village and explained how the Akademiya mistreated the desert people.

Nahida asked Lumine and Paimon to seek support from the desert’s Eremites, while Yucheng negotiated with her and named two potential allies against the Akademiya’s Sages. The chapter ended with Paimon questioning whether Alhaitham, whom she remembered as a weirdo, was really as capable as Yucheng claimed.

• Yucheng explained that Nahida had calmed the minds of scholars exiled to Aaru Village, where they became known as Village Guardians after protecting the village during an earthquake.
• Nahida asked Lumine and Paimon to seek support from desert Eremite groups, and they agreed to travel to Aaru Village.
• Nahida negotiated with Yucheng over further help, agreeing to terms that he wrote on a slip of paper.
• Yucheng recommended Cyno, who had resigned as Great General Mahamatra and continued investigating the Sages’ plan in the desert.
• Yucheng revealed that Alhaitham was his hidden ally and said gaining Alhaitham’s support could greatly improve their chances.
• Paimon recognized Alhaitham as an Akademiya weirdo and questioned his abilities.

After the Sabzeruz Festival samsara, Nahida rested while Lumine and Paimon set out to recruit allies against the Akademiya's Sages. Back in the Sanctuary of Surasthana, Nahida was ambushed by The Doctor and fell unconscious, still clutching the strange scroll.

• Nahida explained that the Sabzeruz Festival samsara had exhausted her and let her consciousness return to her body through Katheryne.
• Lumine and Paimon left to recruit Tighnari and seek help in the desert, while Yucheng watched them go.
• Nahida found an unfamiliar scroll in her birdcage and discovered that its writing had no record in the Akasha.
• A strange energy locked Nahida's consciousness in place and weakened her as she studied the scroll.
• The Doctor revealed that he had waited for Nahida to return to the Sanctuary of Surasthana, then put her into a deep unconsciousness.
• Nahida clutched the scroll to her chest as she lost consciousness, a detail The Doctor did not notice.

As Ayaka guarded Yucheng from the Akademiya’s advances, Nilou came to the Inazuma Delegation Residence to honor her promise and discuss her future. She thanked Yucheng for helping the Sabzeruz Festival succeed, said she wanted to continue dancing in Inazuma, and offered herself to him, asking him to be gentle.

• Ayaka rebuked the Akademiya’s negotiators for their suggestive proposal, and Azar later scolded the official responsible while privately encouraging him to pursue Yucheng.
• Nilou arrived at the Inazuma Delegation Residence, anxious about the price she had promised to pay Yucheng and worried that backing out would cost Zubayr Theater its support.
• Yucheng noticed Nilou’s distress, had Ayaka bring her to a courtyard table, and helped her relax with tea and conversation.
• Nilou told Yucheng that mercenaries were watching the dancers at the Grand Bazaar and that she wanted to keep dancing, possibly by moving to Inazuma.
• Nilou thanked Yucheng for helping her and Zubayr Theater, then said she was ready to give herself to him and asked him to be gentle.

Nilou offered herself to Yucheng as repayment for his help, but he clarified that he had supported her and Zubayr Theater for the sake of art, not to claim her. He accepted her offer to repay him with a future dance, leaving Nilou ready to fulfill the request when the time came.

• Nilou declared that she was willing to repay Yucheng with herself, shocking Yucheng, Ayaka, and the Inazuma delegation staff.
• The delegation staff fled, while Ayaka glared at Yucheng and Nilou waited nervously for his response.
• Yucheng pretended not to understand Nilou's declaration, prompting her to explain that she believed he had helped her because he wanted her body.
• Yucheng told Nilou that his support for the Sabzeruz Festival and Zubayr Theater came from his admiration for her dancing and his wish to bring art to Inazuma.
• Nilou insisted that she wanted to repay him, and Yucheng asked her to perform a dance at a designated place in the future.

At Aaru Village, Lumine revealed what she knew about the Akademiya’s God Project and Lesser Lord Kusanali’s danger to the others, uniting them against the Sages. Alhaitham then began organizing a plan to stop the project and overthrow their rule.

• Lumine and Paimon arrived in Aaru Village and found that the missing Village Guardians and the Akademiya’s neglect had drawn several important figures there.
• Lumine recounted the group’s discoveries about the God Project, the Divine Knowledge Capsule, and the plot to resurrect King Deshret.
• Alhaitham realized that a man he had encountered at home might be manipulating events and felt uneasy about his influence.
• Alhaitham proposed drawing up an operation plan to stop the Sages, and Lumine was impressed by his careful planning.