Chapter Summaries

Xu An and Belle learned that Yunkui Summit was being renovated and received a commission from Yin Tea House to recover Huiling Stone from Lemnian Hollow. After arranging to set out the next morning, Xu An asked Master Yixuan for his fellow disciples’ Knock Knock contacts and finally got Ye Shunguang’s as well.

• Xu An offered to help Pan Yinhu cook while Belle joined Ju Fufu in planning renovations to Yunkui Summit.
• The group ate dinner together, and Ju Fufu asked Xu An to visit Yin Tea House about a special commission.
• Xu An and Belle met Hongdou, who asked Yunkui Summit to recover Huiling Stone from Aerospace City’s Central Manufacturing District in Lemnian Hollow.
• Xu An agreed to leave the next morning and returned to the temple with Belle.
• Xu An asked Master Yixuan for his fellow disciples’ Knock Knock contacts, then requested Ye Shunguang’s specifically; Yixuan sent it after asking whether he had already met her.

Xu An and Belle went to Yin Tea House for breakfast before taking on Hongdou’s commission in the Lemnian Hollow, where Trigger joined them. As the group prepared to leave, Xu An’s strange question about Trigger’s leather pants earned him a kick from Belle.

• Xu An woke Belle early so she could guide him through the Lemnian Hollow for Hongdou’s commission, then met her at Yin Tea House for breakfast.
• Trigger visited Belle on her day off, explained that her Ether Field of Vision let her sense nearby Ether fluctuations, and agreed to accompany them into the Hollow.
• Trigger’s ability caused her nose to bleed while she sensed Xu An and Belle, but Belle stopped it with tissues.
• Xu An asked Belle whether leather clothes would balloon if someone farted in them, and Belle kicked him while Trigger wondered the same thing.

Xu An and the others entered the Hollow, where he effortlessly defeated Ethereals and Hollow Raiders while Ju Fufu taught Belle how to control an Observation Singularity. Belle uploaded the singularity data to Eous, and the group prepared to survey the Hollow using its cleared visibility.

• Xu An, Belle, Ju Fufu, and Trigger entered the Hollow and followed the route to search for supplies.
• Xu An joked about tracking Ether turbulence and quickly destroyed the Ethereals they encountered, including a spear-wielding Thracian that attacked the group.
• Ju Fufu scolded Xu An for breakfasting at Yin Tea House without inviting her, then led the group onward with a red mark across his face.
• Xu An knocked out the Hollow Raiders gathered around the Observation Singularity while Ju Fufu explained how it could clear the Hollow's obscuring haze.
• Belle controlled the Observation Singularity and uploaded its data to Eous, then asked Fairy to analyze the route.

Xu An and Trigger bonded during a Hollow commission before the group returned to Yunkui Summit with supplies, leaving Xu An to discover that Ju Fufu planned to make him handle future supply runs. At Yin Tea House, Hongdou recruited Xu An to help with its growing commissions, and he arranged to coordinate with her through Knock Knock.

• Trigger told Xu An about the friends who had helped her move forward, and he encouraged her as Belle and Ju Fufu finished locating the observation singularities.
• The group cleared nearby Ethereals, collected thirteen crates of supplies for Xu An to carry, and returned to Yunkui Summit, where Ju Fufu joked that future supply jobs would be his responsibility.
• Xu An tried to convince Luckyboo that he was delicate and frail, but Belle translated the Bangboo's response as calling him a creepy old man, prompting Trigger and Belle to stop him from chasing it.
• At Yin Tea House, Hongdou told Ju Fufu and Xu An that more people were posting commissions, and Xu An agreed to help handle them for Yunkui Summit.
• Xu An added Hongdou on Knock Knock to simplify commission updates, and Belle asked to add Hongdou as well.

Xu An returned from the Hollow with Belle, brought food to Ye Shunguang, and learned that her memory problems from the Qingming Sword still troubled him. He left her eating and considered how strengthening her mental power might help, while wondering how to do that.

• Ye Shiyuan told Xu An and Belle that their master wanted to help regulate their breathing and meridians, but Xu An declined and asked Belle to explain for him.
• Xu An and Belle rushed to eat the meal Yinhu had prepared, and Xu An packed food to take to Ye Shunguang.
• Xu An visited Ye Shunguang, who had just woken from a long nap, and watched her eat the food he brought.
• Xu An noticed Ye Shunguang's newest diary and asked whether she kept one; she explained that she wrote down important things because her memory was poor.
• Xu An went outside and worried that the Qingming Sword was causing Ye Shunguang's memory loss, wondering whether stronger mental power could help her.
• A puzzled voice called out to Xu An from behind.

Xu An confessed his feelings to Ye Shunguang, then learned that workers were organizing a protest against Hui Crystal Meike over its covered-up production accident. As the group headed to join them, Xu An and Belle also discussed secretly bringing Ye Shunguang down from the mountain for a change of scenery.

• Xu An told Ye Shunguang that he liked her, and she hurried back to her room, later recording the confession in her diary.
• Xu An returned to Yunkui Summit, where Ju Fufu reported that Dr. Lor had publicized the investigation and workers were planning a protest.
• Xu An, Belle, and the others visited the gathered workers, where Eric and Paro thanked Xu An for finding evidence of contaminated medicine and prepared to seek compensation from Damian.
• Belle agreed to inform Dr. Lor about the protest, while Eric and Paro arranged a safer way to contact one another.
• Xu An asked Belle what Ye Shunguang might enjoy, and they considered secretly bringing her down from the mountain despite their master's orders.

Xu An and Belle visited Dr. Lor, who had prepared evidence against Hui Crystal Meike, then returned to the shop and met Wise and Damian. Damian disputed Lor’s account and accused him of questionable medical treatment, leaving the group unsure whom to trust.

• Dr. Lor told Xu An and Belle that faulty corruption-suppressing medication had caused Ether Corruption among workers and that Hui Crystal Meike had refused compensation; he had printed evidence to support protests.
• Xu An and Belle left the clinic, discussed making Ye Shunguang a handmade hairpin, and returned to the shop, where Belle happily greeted Wise.
• Xu An messaged Ye Shunguang, who had finally fallen asleep after staying awake worrying about him, then spotted Damian and let him into the courtyard.
• Damian apologized for failing to support Mount Yunkui’s investigation and said he was handling compensation, but Belle challenged his claims about the workers’ treatment.
• Xu An asked Damian about threatening Dr. Lor, and Damian admitted it while claiming Lor lacked a medical license and that his Worry-Free Water might be suspect.
• Damian accused Dr. Lor of persuading workers to abandon TOPS medication for Worry-Free Water and said he had been investigating the doctor’s motives, shocking Belle and Fufu.

Belle, Xu An, and their companions investigated Damian’s accusations against Doctor Lor and the effects of Worry-Free Water. Their findings supported Damian’s account and raised suspicions that the medicine caused hallucinations or contained Corruption.

• Damian left Belle and the others documents about corruption incidents and compensation claims, and they agreed to investigate Doctor Lor and the people who received treatment.
• Xu An encountered Billy and heard gossip before meeting Belle and Komano Masato, who said Paro had gone into the Hollow with his wife for Doctor Lor’s anti-corruption treatment.
• Komano Masato told Belle that a friend traced the photo of their teacher to a recent Corruption surge in Lemnian Hollow, though its production area remained unknown.
• Wise verified that Damian had filed for compensation and that the claim was still being assessed through the mayor’s special channel.
• Fufu reported that workers who drank Worry-Free Water felt drowsy and dreamed of warm memories, leading Yixuan to ask whether the medicine contained Corruption.

Yixuan’s group uncovered Doctor Lor’s Worry-Free Water as a Corruption-tainted fraud and went into the Hollow to find Paro and the workers he had treated. They found Paro turning into an Ethereal after his Corruption flared, and Xu An vanished in anger as Paro charged deeper into the Hollow.

• Yixuan explained that Worry-Free Water contained Corruption, and the group concluded Doctor Lor had used it to deceive patients and discredit Hui Crystal Meike’s medicine.
• After learning Paro and several workers had gone to see Doctor Lor, the group followed Wise’s signals into the Hollow and cleared Corruption and Ethereals from their path.
• The group found Paro in severe pain; he said he and his wife had come for treatment and pleaded with them to save her, pointing toward where she was being held.
• Yixuan tried to regulate Paro’s Ether while Xu An eased his pain, but Paro lost consciousness as a core began forming on his body.
• Paro rose and charged deeper into the Hollow, transforming into an Ethereal; Xu An vanished in anger while Fufu mourned what had happened.

Xu An and Yixuan’s group discovered that Worry-Free Water had not cured the workers’ corruption sickness and that Lor and the Order were behind a planned ritual. They rescued the workers with corruption-suppressant medication and returned to Yunkui Summit, where Wise recognized the Order’s role.

• Xu An found the workers delirious and suffering from severe corruption sickness, then used spells to stabilize them while asking about Lor’s ritual.
• Yixuan and the others arrived, and Wise and Belle set out to locate corruption-suppressant medication as Xu An went after Lor.
• Lor turned nearby workers into Ethereals and tried to flee, but Xu An defeated the Ethereals and captured him.
• Xu An fought off the Order members surrounding Lor, and Lor died after invoking the First Lord.
• Wise and Belle’s group obtained and administered corruption-suppressant medication, and the party brought the workers back to Yunkui Summit.
• Wise concluded that the Order had been pulling the strings behind the events.

After learning that Lor had used Worry-Free Water as part of a sacrificial ritual for the Order, Xu An and the others tried to warn workers and find evidence. Their investigation left them with a USB drive, plans to involve Damian, and questions about Yixuan’s troubled state.

• Ye Shiyuan sent Pan Yinhu to warn the workers while Wise, Ju Fufu, and Belle searched Lor’s consulting room for clues.
• Xu An told Komano Masato that Paro and other workers had become Ethereals, and Masato agreed to care for Lila and notify others.
• Lila overheard that her parents were gone and broke down in Komano Masato’s arms, while Xu An left them to grieve.
• Ju Fufu and Belle found a USB drive in Lor’s consulting room, and Wise offered to investigate its contents.
• Ye Shiyuan and Pan Yinhu reported that many workers distrusted their warning, so the group discussed contacting Damian to spread the truth about the Order.
• Ju Fufu realized Yixuan was missing, and Ye Shiyuan told Belle that Yixuan had asked to see her alone.

Yixuan told Belle and Xu An how Corruption had shown her memories of the failed mission at Hollow Zero, where Yijiang and Mount Yunkui’s other twelfth-generation disciples died. Their discussion was interrupted by a neighborhood-wide outbreak of corruption symptoms, and Yixuan organized a plan to contain the leaking Ether.

• Yixuan asked Belle about her experience with Corruption, and Belle described warm memories of their teacher alongside a strange presence in the Hollow.
• Belle recalled seeing Yixuan speak with a badly injured person, and Yixuan confirmed the images were fragments of her memories.
• Yixuan explained that Mount Yunkui’s twelfth-generation disciples had nearly all died during a failed mission at Hollow Zero, after which TOPS took control of Waifei Peninsula; the injured person in Belle’s vision had been Yijiang.
• A sudden outbreak caused people nearby to suffer worsening corruption symptoms, and Yixuan treated several while Xu An, Belle, and Ju Fufu warned that the Ether was spreading.
• Yixuan gave everyone talisman marks and sent them to establish Ether Resonance Marks so she could contain the Ether and relieve the patients’ symptoms.

Yixuan led a dangerous formation that drew corruption from the patients, leaving her weakened and troubled by memories of Mount Yunkui’s past losses. Xu An and Belle helped her rest, while Belle was asked to lead the others as they continued investigating the Order.

• Yixuan directed everyone to activate the formation, which lifted the corruption-sickness patients and drew their corruption into a massive energy ball.
• Xu An tried to share the burden, but Yixuan kicked him away and then scattered the corruption with golden light, saving everyone on the street.
• Yixuan nearly collapsed from the technique’s side effects, and Xu An supported her and took her back to her room.
• Yixuan told Xu An that the technique had brought back memories of the Hollow’s expansion, the deaths of her senior brothers and sisters, and her older sister Yijiang.
• Xu An asked everyone to follow Belle’s lead while Yixuan rested, and Ye Shiyuan connected Yixuan’s memories to the nightmares she had been experiencing near the Lemnian Hollow.
• Belle tried to cheer Yixuan by joking about electronic fortune-telling and fake visitor reviews, and Yixuan thanked her before sending her back to rest.

Xu An and the others learned that The Order had engineered the Ether Corruption outbreak and was using the Mutual Aid Association to lure people into a protest and sacrifice. They arranged free medicine distribution at Yunkui Summit while Wise uncovered evidence linking Doctor Lor to the outbreak and abnormal Hollow observation points.

• Xu An helped Yixuan regulate the Ether in her body, then Belle teased him the next morning as he left Yixuan's room.
• Ju Fufu brought Eric to the group, and Eric revealed that the Mutual Aid Association was organizing a protest in the Hollow despite his inability to control its members.
• Xu An suspected Eric's subordinates had betrayed him, while Ye Shiyuan agreed that Eric had likely been a puppet for Lor's people.
• Damian called to report that medicine supply points in the Hollow had been vandalized and asked the group to oversee free corruption-suppressant distribution near Yunkui Summit.
• Wise compared USB records with the outbreak data and found that early Worry-Free Water users developed symptoms, while Doctor Lor had deliberately contaminated medicine and marked faulty observation points where Corruption showed anomalies.

Xu An and his companions set out to raid the Order’s suspected base while Belle struggled with her feelings for him. Belle admitted she liked Xu An, but he said his heart belonged to their senior sister Xiaoguang and wondered why Belle had tried to introduce him to Astra Yao instead of herself.

• Xu An and Wise identified a likely Order hideout, and Belle assigned Ye Shiyuan to guard Yunkui Summit while the others went to investigate.
• Xu An blackmailed Belle into asking Ye Shiyuan about Xiaoguang’s preferences and personal details.
• Xu An, Belle, Ju Fufu, and Pan Yinhu entered the Hollow and advanced toward the suspected base under Wise’s remote guidance, fighting the Ethereals along the way.
• Belle suggested introducing Xu An to Astra Yao, but Xu An said he already liked someone and agreed only that making friends was fine.
• Belle asked if Xu An liked their little senior sister, admitted she liked him, and heard him say his heart belonged to someone else.
• Xu An asked Belle why she had tried to introduce him to Astra Yao instead of introducing herself.

Xu An and the others destroyed an Order gathering site, but learned that the ritual preparations were continuing elsewhere. They returned to the temple and found that Yixuan had awakened, leaving Xu An to report on the situation and check her recovery.

• Xu An captured and questioned an Order member at a supply site, but learned he was only a minor follower who knew nothing about the mastermind.
• A devoted follower threw himself into the Corruption while Ju Fufu tried to stop him, and the Order’s leader, Lord Overseer Meral, ordered the ritual preparations to begin elsewhere.
• Xu An, Ju Fufu, and Belle concluded that the Order had other bases and discussed evacuating the Hollow’s crowds before the ritual could endanger them.
• The group returned to the temple, where Wise told them Yixuan had awakened and her condition had stabilized.
• Xu An went to update Yixuan and check her recovery after Ju Fufu asked him to be gentle.

Yixuan told Belle how her sister Yijiang died after overusing the Qingming Sword to save people, and resolved to stop the Order while honoring her sister’s sacrifice. She led a group into Lemnian Hollow, where Wise was trying to evacuate workers from the protest rally amid signs of an Order plot.

• Yixuan explained that the Qingming Sword’s side effects killed her master and consumed Yijiang’s memories before her sister died during the fall of the Old Capital.
• After recalling the people Yijiang had saved, Yixuan told Belle to gather everyone at Yunkui Summit’s entrance so they could end the Order’s plans.
• Eric reported that workers had entered Lemnian Hollow for a protest rally and that rumors had undermined his credibility.
• Yixuan said Mount Yunkui would confront the Order but ordered the disciples to withdraw if the battle turned against them, while Ye Shiyuan stayed behind to protect Wise and the city.
• Yixuan and the others entered Lemnian Hollow, where Wise told Belle that some workers still refused to leave and that nearby Corruption condensates suggested the Order was hiding something.

Xu An and the others cleared corruption and fought the Order’s forces while searching for captives and evidence of a ritual. They followed a lead to an anomalous area, where Xu An accidentally triggered a corruption puddle and Yixuan struck him for his carelessness.

• Xu An rescued a worker who said the Order had imprisoned his friends in a nearby basement and was preparing a ritual.
• Xu An, Ju Fufu, and Pan Yinhu fought a Praise Chanter whose staff kept summoning Ethereals, and Xu An killed him to make them disappear.
• Belle cleared corruption, lowered a control lever, and detected anomalous energy nearby while the group searched for clues and the remaining captives.
• The group followed the lead toward the basement and found an area filled with corruption condensates but no Order members.
• Xu An scraped a corruption puddle with his shoe, causing it to explode over him, and Yixuan thumped him on the head.

Yixuan and the others uncovered evidence that the Order was experimenting with Corruption and found a hidden mass of it at the gathering site. After Wise began evacuating the attendees, they used an access card to descend into the Order's underground laboratory, where an eerie red haze and strange noises greeted them.

• Yixuan and the others fought their way past high-ranking Ethereals and killed an Order member who attacked them from an elevator.
• Belle found experiment records showing that the Order was turning living animals into Corruption, while Xu An wondered whether refugees were being used as test subjects.
• The group discovered a large purple-black sphere of Corruption, and Belle sent Wise a photo so he could reveal the Order's plans to the gathering attendees.
• Wise reported that the attendees had agreed to evacuate, and Belle found an access card among the records.
• Belle used the card to open the elevator, and the group descended into a red-hazed underground laboratory where Ju Fufu and Pan Yinhu heard something nearby.

Yixuan and the others reached the clock tower plaza and confronted Meral, the Order’s bishop, as she began transforming through the Corruption ritual. Their first attacks failed to break through her defenses, but Xu An’s flying sword nearly exhausted her Corruption shield.

• Ju Fufu mistook Xu An’s touch for an attack and clawed at him before the group continued through the basement.
• Belle found a strange vial containing a substance like Corruption, and Yixuan suspected it was connected to the abnormal Corruption in the area.
• Xu An led the group up the spiral staircase and cleared wandering Ethereals as they followed the rising Corruption toward the clock tower plaza.
• Yixuan told Belle to stay safe while the group approached the plaza, where Meral stood among floating spheres of Corruption.
• Meral began her ritual and transformed, then declared that the group dared defy the will of the First Lord.
• Yixuan, Ju Fufu, Pan Yinhu, and Xu An attacked Meral, and Xu An’s flying sword struck her Corruption shield until its red glow grew faint.