Recaps

Li Jia, still in her Little Yellow Chick form, was freed by Hera’s divine artifact, Judgment of the Dao, and learned that her ring held half its power. Hera revealed that she had entrusted Li Jia with half her divine power and swore no one would ever hurt her, while Li Jia remained focused on their mission.

• Judgment of the Dao cut Li Jia’s restraints and carried her back to Hera before returning to its ring form.
• Hera explained that Li Jia’s secondary ring contained half of Judgment of the Dao’s artifact spirit and would protect her when Hera was away.
• Hera said the secondary ring had taken half her divine power, and Li Jia promised to find her if they were separated.
• Hera swore that no one would ever be able to hurt Li Jia and privately revealed that Li Jia’s power could also threaten her.
• Hera told Li Jia she was lucky to have appeared in her world, but Li Jia urged her to get back to business.
• Hera lifted the barrier-screening spell that had sealed their conversation from the surrounding air.

Hera helped Luoleila abandon her royal identity and exchange blood with Mofeiliya so they could remain married, while Doreen resolved their bond petition. Li Jia later persuaded Hera to return the goldfish, but Hera brought their whole family to Hot Spring Ravine, where they eventually multiplied.

• Doreen offered Luoleila and Mofeiliya knives, but neither would kill the other, so they asked Doreen to kill them instead.
• Hera offered to remove Luoleila’s Pokape surname and asked Mofeiliya if she would still marry her; Mofeiliya agreed to share her blood and suffering.
• Hera exchanged Mofeiliya’s green blood for the blood in Luoleila’s body, erased Luoleila’s surname from the marriage records, and punished Mofeiliya by barring her from leaving the Eternal Rift for a hundred years.
• Pokape II struck Luoleila from the royal register, then learned she was not his biological daughter and sent the queen away as part of the wedding alliance after executing her lover.
• Li Jia asked Hera to return the goldfish, but Hera caught the whole family and brought them to Hot Spring Ravine, where they multiplied until Doreen expanded the reservoir.

Li Jia’s system revealed that helping people solve their problems could raise affection, then sent her to study at Artemis’s residence. There, she reunited with Linai, another person from another world, and the two began remedial lessons together.

• Li Jia learned that resolving a target’s problems could increase their affection and that Linai came from another world.
• Li Jia was sent to Artemis’s divine residence, and Hera accompanied her, giving her a gold bracelet called Listen so they could communicate at a distance.
• Artemis welcomed Li Jia and Winslow to the Great Plains of Ephesus and gave them crescent nameplates that let them move freely across the grounds.
• Li Jia met Linai, who changed from a little penguin into human form, and gave her the kindergarten uniform she had prepared.
• Linai agreed to remedial reading and writing lessons after learning that Li Jia would study alongside her.

Li Jia and Linai attended their first lessons at Artemis’s school, but spent much of class passing notes about their past lives and chatting. After class, Li Jia settled in with Winslow and Linai over lunch, and the two girls took a nap together.

• Dian taught Li Jia and Linai ancient Greek grammar while Claire handled physical training and Luota taught arithmetic.
• Li Jia and Linai passed notes revealing that they had both transmigrated, then exchanged their Ting numbers after class.
• Dian caught the girls chatting and refocused them on the lesson, where they used Chinese annotations to remember Greek grammar.
• Winslow welcomed Li Jia after class and gave her hawthorn lollipops, while Li Jia made sure lunch would be provided.
• Li Jia found Artemis’s vegetarian meal disappointing, sympathized with Linai’s daily diet, and invited her to Hot Spring Ravine for roast lamb.
• Li Jia and Linai ate lunch and then took a nap together.

After Li Jia scored 59 on a pop quiz, Hera agreed to help her study and grew more attached to her during their evening at Hot Spring Ravine. Hera became distressed at the thought that Li Jia would age and die, and Li Jia woke to find herself gazing into Hera’s red eyes.

• Dian gave Li Jia and Linai their pop quiz scores, and Hera offered to help Li Jia prepare for class.
• Li Jia tried to hide her paper, but Hera found it, criticized her answers, and promised to help her study earlier each evening.
• Hera shared dinner with Li Jia and reflected on how much her belongings and daily presence had come to fill the Deep Hall.
• Li Jia bathed in Yellow Springs and fell asleep, while Hera worried that Li Jia would eventually die and resolved to grant her eternal life.
• Hera carried Li Jia to bed, and Li Jia woke up looking into Hera’s red eyes.

Li Jia adjusted to Hera’s possessive care while learning to study and fight, and she heard Linai explain why she would never confess her love to Artemis. After nearly half a year at Artemis’s residence, Li Jia and Linai passed their final exams and began winter vacation with a new stack of homework.

• Hera asked Li Jia why she had not used Listen to contact her, then asked her to share every interesting thing with Hera alone.
• Hera woke Li Jia early to study, and Doreen taught her basic sword techniques; Hera gave her a miniature Judgment of the Dao to practice with.
• Li Jia trained with Little Judgment of the Dao each day until she could wield it with ease.
• Linai told Li Jia that she loved Artemis but would not confess because she believed Artemis could never marry or fall in love.
• Li Jia and Linai completed nearly half a year of classes at Artemis’s residence and passed their final exams with scores of 80 and 81.
• Dian assigned the two students winter homework and gave Hera new textbooks so she could supervise Li Jia’s studies.

Li Jia and Hera traveled to Eastern Lake for a winter-break outing, and Li Jia eagerly explored the seaside after Hera carried her over the difficult path. The two reached the beach, where Li Jia played in the shallows while Hera waited nearby.

• Hera pulled Li Jia away from her studies and took her to Eastern Lake, leaving Doreen and Winslow behind.
• Hera used Shadow Escape to reach the mountains by Nastya Strait, then refused to teleport them all the way to the beach so Li Jia could experience the journey.
• When Li Jia became too tired to walk, Hera carried her on her back and shrank her suitcase into Li Jia's coat pocket.
• Li Jia asked why Hera treated her so well and whether Hera would have other disciple-attendants, and Hera said Li Jia was her only one.
• At the beach, Li Jia took off her shoes and played in the seawater while Hera waited for her to finish.

Li Jia and Hera stayed on a small fishing boat at Nastya Strait, where Li Jia gave Hera a pair of matching pajamas and became distressed over her hidden motives for approaching her. Hera comforted Li Jia, who kept her secret and ended the night unable to bear the thought of losing Hera’s kindness.

• Hera chose the smallest fishing boat for herself and Li Jia, explaining that Winslow controlled the money at Hot Spring Ravine.
• Li Jia found boat No. 32 and settled into its simple cabin while Hera ordered hot water and dinner.
• Li Jia gave Hera black puppy-patterned pajamas that matched her own white pair, then went to bathe, anxious that Hera might dislike the gift.
• Hera joined Li Jia in the tub and asked what was troubling her; Li Jia admitted she had wondered whether Hera would hate her.
• Li Jia cried as she remembered that she had approached Hera with ulterior motives but could not confess because of the system’s warning.
• Hera comforted Li Jia until she stopped crying, then lifted her from the tub, dried her, and changed her into pajamas.

Hera took Li Jia on a beach vacation, where the two shared dinner and a moonlit walk. When Li Jia asked about the trip, Hera revealed she had chosen a fate record near the coast, but she had not brought it with her.

• Li Jia recovered from crying by eating both dinners while Hera watched her.
• Hera and Li Jia walked barefoot along the moonlit beach, and Li Jia promised to welcome Hera to her hometown someday.
• Hera said she would drag Li Jia back even if Li Jia tried to keep her away, and Li Jia hastily reassured her.
• Li Jia asked whether Hera had brought a difficult fate record, and Hera explained that she had selected one from Eastern Lake for the trip.
• Li Jia searched Hera's puppy pajamas for the record, then recalled how she enjoyed reading the completed records in the Temple of the Goddess of Marriage.

Li Jia read Elia’s petition to dissolve her sister Qili’s marriage to Dorian, learning that the prince had taken Qili’s voice for his own political purposes. Hera promised to find Qili the next day and assured Li Jia she would not die, while Li Jia fell asleep beside her.

• Li Jia accepted Elia’s bond petition and learned that Qili had given up her voice and become human to marry Dorian.
• Dorian refused to kiss Qili on their wedding day and demanded her voice for his voiceless mother, using Qili as a bargaining chip in his struggle for the throne.
• Elia, unable to find Qili and fearing she would turn to foam in three days, asked Hera to dissolve Qili and Dorian’s marriage.
• Hera said she could find anyone, and Li Jia asked when they would search for Qili.
• Hera told Li Jia they would handle the case the next day and assured her Qili would not die, then held Li Jia as she slept.

Li Jia and Hera entered Kalte Imperial City’s dungeon to find Qili before the deadline for saving her from turning into foam. They found Qili injured and voiceless but still determined to live, and a young girl urged her to wake.

• Li Jia dressed for Eastern Lake’s heat and sunlight, and Hera used divine power to make a small cloud shade her.
• Li Jia pleaded with Hera not to fall in love with a man, citing Dorian’s betrayal of Qili and telling Hera she loved her.
• Li Jia reminded Hera that they had until the following evening to save Qili, and Hera used Shadow Escape to take them to the dungeon beneath Kalte Imperial City.
• Qili recalled how Dorian had cut her vocal cords after she refused to sacrifice her singing voice, then imprisoned her until the second prince’s coronation.
• Qili ate a painful bite of steamed bun and wished to see Elia again before drifting off to sleep.
• A young girl shook Qili and urgently told her to wake up.

Li Jia and Hera dissolved Qili’s marriage petition to Dorian, and Qili regained her freedom but still faced turning into sea foam the next day. Qili hoped to see her sister Elia again before she died, while Hera said she could not interfere with the merfolk’s laws.

• Li Jia told Qili that Elia had petitioned the Temple of the Goddess of Marriage, and Hera asked Qili whether she had married Dorian willingly, wanted to dissolve the bond, and wanted her voice back.
• Qili answered yes to all three questions, and Hera stopped the bleeding at her throat.
• Hera erased Qili’s name from the marriage record, dissolving her bond with Dorian because he did not love her.
• Qili said she would turn into foam after noon the next day and wished to see Elia to apologize.
• Li Jia asked Hera if anything could save Qili, but Hera said she could not interfere with the merfolk’s laws or provide a true love’s kiss.

Hera returned the wounded Qili to Elia, who healed her throat, restored her voice, and revealed how deeply she had protected her sister. Qili and Elia reconciled and set out together toward the Kalte Imperial Capital, where Qili planned to take revenge.

• Hera healed Qili's wounds and brought her to the fishing village, then returned with Li Jia to fishing boat No. 32.
• Elia met Qili outside the cabin and used magic to heal her throat and restore her voice.
• Qili remembered Elia's years of care and learned that Elia had become a witch to help her.
• Qili asked Elia to take her along, and Elia agreed.
• At dawn, Qili and Elia faced the Kalte Imperial Capital as Qili returned to the sea and regained her orange tail.

Qili and Elia destroyed Dorian’s rule over Kalte after exposing his betrayal, and Elia saved Qili from turning to foam. As the sisters reunited, Qili promised to stand beside Elia as she embraced her witchcraft.

• Dorian awoke to find the marriage contract mark gone, while Qili raised a giant wave against Kalte and Elia exposed his lies to the people.
• The people turned against Dorian, and Qili reclaimed her stolen voice and condemned him for breaking his vows.
• Elia warned Dorian that he would turn to foam without true love’s kiss, and he dissolved into bubbles as Qili sang.
• Elia kissed Qili, restoring her body so she could live in the ocean, and admitted she had prepared for this outcome when she made the pills.
• Elia explained that she had awakened her witchcraft to find Qili, and Qili promised to stand by her sister from then on.

Li Jia and Hera visited the Deep-Sea Wave Capital with Qili, where Li Jia explored the merfolk city and learned about its Light Vortex. After Hera teased her, Li Jia playfully pretended to be upset, and the two made up by calling each other cute.

• Li Jia learned that Qili had invited her and Hera to visit the Deep-Sea Wave Capital, and she eagerly agreed to go.
• Qili gave Li Jia water-repelling pearls, and Hera led her into the underwater city while holding her hand.
• Qili explained that the Light Vortex illuminated the city and that merfolk ancestors sheltered the capital within it.
• Li Jia admired the city’s sea creatures and said people and animals should live in harmony, prompting Hera to compare her to a clownfish.
• Li Jia pretended to be offended and offered to let Hera find a cleverer attendant, but then laughed at the idea of Hera apologizing.
• Li Jia explained that “moe” meant cute, and Hera called Li Jia moe too while stroking her arm.

Li Jia and Hera stayed in Wave Capital as honored guests, where Li Jia enjoyed the merfolk’s hospitality, new clothes, and local food. As she thought about the people she had grown close to, Li Jia realized she no longer wanted to let go of the happiness she had found.

• Li Jia teased Hera, then pretended not to hear Hera apologize.
• Qili gave Li Jia and Hera a palace key and welcomed them as honored guests of the merfolk.
• Li Jia and Hera rested in a sea-view room before Hera woke Li Jia and took her out to eat.
• Li Jia put on a merfolk-style outfit Hera had prepared and explored Wave Capital with her.
• Li Jia sampled local seafood and remembered the friends and companions she had left behind.
• Li Jia reflected that she had grown attached to her new life and could no longer bear to lose its joys.

Li Jia returned from shopping with Hera and discovered that Hera had made them matching shell bracelets. When the system returned and warned that Li Jia might die before completing her mission to prevent Hera’s marriage, Li Jia activated its risky support function.

• Li Jia finished shopping and reassured Hera that she preferred Hot Spring Ravine over other places.
• Hera gave Li Jia a matching shell bracelet she had strung herself, and Li Jia noticed its unusual seawater-like scent.
• The system returned from training and warned Li Jia that her relationship with Hera had stalled at a critical point and that her mortal lifespan was running out.
• The system explained that Hera would fulfill her fate as divine queen and marry the man in the book if Li Jia died before completing her mission.
• Li Jia accepted the system’s fifty-percent-chance support function and whispered a prayer for Hera’s happiness.

Li Jia was lured into damaging Wave Capital’s Light Vortex by a false mermaid while the system’s “assistance” kept her from recognizing the trap. As the merfolk accused her, Hera arrived and defended her, ending the chapter by brutally silencing a shark guard who challenged her.

• Li Jia followed a familiar fragrance to the Light Vortex, where a little mermaid tricked her into placing a sinister cap rivet against it.
• The rivet attacked the Light Vortex, and Li Jia realized the girl had deceived her just as the system revealed its assistance had deliberately led her into a crisis.
• The false mermaid vanished as guards and the merfolk chief arrived, and Li Jia contacted Hera to tell her the Light Vortex was cracked and she was alone at the scene.
• Hera arrived, declared Li Jia her attendant disciple, and forbade anyone from interrogating her until the truth came out.
• When a shark guard accused Hera of shielding a criminal, Hera used her divine power to crush him and insisted Li Jia was innocent.

Li Jia was horrified when Hera punished a blasphemous merperson, but Hera repaired the merfolk’s Light Vortex and comforted her as she collapsed. The merfolk chief revealed that damage to the vortex had triggered Li Jia’s deadly heat, and Hera began easing her pain while promising not to force her.

• Li Jia recoiled in horror after Hera killed a merperson, while Hera concealed her from the frightened merfolk.
• The merfolk chief begged Hera to save Wave Capital, and Hera repaired the Light Vortex before taking the sick Li Jia into her arms.
• The chief explained that damage to the vortex had released siren extract, causing Li Jia’s heat and threatening to burn her to ashes if it went unsatisfied.
• Hera carried Li Jia away and, after hesitating over the consequences, undressed and held her to ease the pain.
• Hera asked Li Jia who she was, kissed her, and told her she would not force her until Li Jia gave permission.

Li Jia woke beside Hera after their night together and mistook Hera’s calmness for proof she had been with many women before. Hera reassured her that she had been nervous too, pointing to her pruney fingertips as evidence.

• Li Jia woke with aches and marks on her body and realized she had slept with her boss, Hera.
• Li Jia became jealous and upset at the thought that Hera had been intimate with many women before her.
• Hera noticed Li Jia crying, gave her warm water, and asked what was wrong.
• Li Jia confessed she felt it was unfair that their night had been her first time but not Hera’s.
• Hera explained she had been nervous all night and showed Li Jia her pruney fingertips from helping her.

After Hera saved Li Jia from the siren extract, Li Jia tried to dismiss their intimacy as an accident, but Hera confronted her about her feelings and confessed that she had fallen in love with her. The chapter ended with Hera asking Li Jia to form a bond with her.

• Li Jia promised Hera she would keep their night together secret and insisted they should pretend it never happened.
• Hera challenged Li Jia's attempt to call their intimacy an accident, recalling that Li Jia had called her name and begged her not to stop.
• Hera asked Li Jia whether she thought she had saved her only because she was her acolyte.
• Hera reminded Li Jia that she had been the first to say she loved her, then confessed that her god had fallen in love with her.
• Li Jia asked whether she could call Hera by her name, and Hera embraced her and asked her to form a bond.

Li Jia overcame her doubts and agreed to form a marriage bond with Hera after Hera reassured her of her love and devotion. They returned to Hot Spring Ravine, where Winslow welcomed their relationship and felt relieved that Hera had found someone she loved.

• Li Jia worried that marrying Hera and entering the marriage register was premature, but Hera embraced her and confessed that she liked her.
• Li Jia accepted Hera’s assurances and agreed to go home with her.
• Li Jia revealed that she had bought gifts on credit from the merfolk chief, leaving Winslow to receive the bill.
• Hera carried Li Jia and the gifts back to Hot Spring Ravine using Shadow Escape.
• Winslow supported the marriage and felt glad that Hera had found someone she loved.

Li Jia and Hera registered their marriage history and completed their covenant at the Temple of the Goddess of Marriage, with Li Jia reassuring Hera that she wanted to stay with her. After Doreen warned that their same-sex marriage would provoke opposition, Hera vowed to protect Li Jia and change the temple's marriage regulations.

• Winslow offered to organize a grand wedding, but Li Jia and Hera said they were not ready to hold one.
• Li Jia and Hera registered their marriage covenant, and Hera removed Vance from the record rather than giving Li Jia a surname.
• Hera and Li Jia placed their covenant in the Covenant Bucket together, completing the temple's recognition of their marriage.
• Hera admitted she feared Li Jia might leave, and Li Jia reassured her that she loved her and had chosen to stay in Hot Spring Ravine.
• Doreen warned Hera that the same-sex marriage broke with propriety and could make Li Jia a target, but Hera said she would protect Li Jia and add a rule stating that gender did not matter where the heart led.

After marrying Hera, Li Jia confronted the system over its dangerous scheme in the Wave Capital and rejected the idea that affection gained through others’ suffering was worthwhile. She threatened to end the mission at the cost of her own life if the system used innocent people as tools again.

• Hera agreed to keep her marriage to Li Jia private until Li Jia felt ready, and assured her that their union gave her divine protection and status.
• The system announced that its auxiliary function had succeeded and that Li Jia and Hera’s affection had increased, bringing the Affection Hourglass to four-fifths progress.
• Li Jia accused the system of manipulating her into helping destroy the Wave Capital’s Light Vortex and putting its children at risk to raise affection.
• The system defended its plan with calculated odds and claimed Hera could repair the Light Vortex, but Li Jia challenged its reliance on probabilities and dismissed its mission logic.
• Li Jia warned the system that if it used other people’s lives as tools again, she would terminate the mission even if it meant her own disappearance.

After Li Jia and Hera’s bond became known, Linai and the animals gave Li Jia wedding gifts, and Linai passed on Artemis’s promised wish as protection. Li Jia and Hera returned to Hot Spring Ravine, agreed they did not want children, and learned the system’s next plot task.

• Artemis congratulated Li Jia and Hera, while Linai warmly accepted their marriage and teased Li Jia about it.
• The animals gave Li Jia wedding presents, and Linai gave her the name tag carrying Artemis’s promise of a wish.
• Hera arrived in the peacock chariot and agreed to bring Li Jia’s gifts, including a log, back to Hot Spring Ravine.
• Winslow put the gifts in the kitchen cellar’s thousand-year ice to keep them from spoiling.
• Li Jia told Hera she was not interested in having children, and Hera agreed that raising Li Jia was enough for her.
• The system told Li Jia to advance the relationship between Demeter and Zeus so the Goddess of Spring could be born successfully.