Recaps

Xu Xiao negotiated with Milra of the Delta Merchant Guild for supplies and an unregistered map of the continent, using fake gold to secure the deal. After the guild prepared his goods, Milra insisted that armed guards accompany him to collect the remaining payment, and Xu Xiao agreed.

• Xu Xiao posed as a wealthy gold prospector and asked Milra to sell him clothes, preserved food, weapons, lightweight armor, and a detailed continental map.
• Milra said the guild could provide the supplies but that selling a map to an unfamiliar customer required registration with the kingdom.
• Xu Xiao pretended to leave, and Milra offered to sell the map secretly for an extra fee of one hundred ounces of pure gold.
• Xu Xiao handed Milra his pouch of magically altered stones as a deposit and waited while she prepared his order.
• Milra presented the supplies and map, then had armored caravan guards appear to accompany Xu Xiao to collect the remaining payment.
• Xu Xiao accepted Milra's offer of an escort.

Xu Xiao traveled from the Great City of Demacia with the Delta Merchant Guild, but discovered that the caravan guards planned to rob him. After killing them and taking the original map, he chose to head for the Immortal Bastion in Noxus to search for traces of the monkey's reincarnation.

• Xu Xiao left the Great City of Demacia in the Delta Merchant Guild's carriage and suspected its armed guards had more than escorting him in mind.
• Near Edessa, Pidun confronted Xu Xiao and demanded the original map, then attacked him with an enchanted sword.
• Xu Xiao killed Pidun and the caravan guards with elemental magic, and recovered the map and some coins.
• Xu Xiao studied the map and decided to travel to the Immortal Bastion in Noxus to use its power and spells to help find the monkey.
• Xu Xiao buried the corpses and traces with earth magic before setting out for Noxian territory.

Katarina traveled to the Demacian border to create a diversion, but when she spied on Xu Xiao in the mountains, he mistook her killing intent for a threat and attacked. The chapter ended with Xu Xiao unleashing a 360-degree barrage of Arcane Fusion Missiles as Katarina tried to escape.

• Kelrak received orders to accept willing Demacian mage defectors and send the others back with food.
• Katarina arrived at Kelrak’s camp, confirmed she would enter Demacia to stir up trouble at the border, and rested after days of travel.
• Xu Xiao traveled through the mountains toward Noxus, avoiding Demacian patrols and expecting to reach the border the next day.
• Katarina spied on Xu Xiao, and he sensed her killing intent and counterattacked with wind blades and fireballs.
• Katarina used Shunpo and a space-magic dagger to evade Xu Xiao’s attacks, while he prepared a ring of blazing earthen spheres.
• Xu Xiao unleashed a 360-degree barrage of Arcane Fusion Missiles as Katarina attempted to flee.

Xu Xiao survived Katarina’s attack and captured her with an arcane chain after recognizing her as the Noxian assassin. Katarina feared she had failed her mission as Xu Xiao landed in front of her.

• Xu Xiao sensed that the person who had spied on him was alive and charging toward him.
• Katarina returned through the burning forest, enraged by Xu Xiao’s attack and determined to kill him.
• Katarina used Death Lotus to throw more than a hundred magic-breaking daggers at Xu Xiao.
• Xu Xiao blocked the daggers with an arcane shield and restrained Katarina with a lightning-clad chain.
• Katarina’s rune equipment shattered, and she fell to the muddy ground, bound and unable to act.

Xu Xiao tortured Katarina for information after mistaking her for an assassin sent by Noxus, but learned that she had mistaken him for a Demacian mage and attacked out of habit and wounded pride. The misunderstanding left Katarina furious and Xu Xiao realizing he had acted too quickly.

• Xu Xiao stopped Katarina from swallowing a poison tooth, searched her for hidden suicide tools, and demanded to know why she had come after him.
• When Katarina refused to answer, Xu Xiao tortured her with lightning and threatened to hand her over to a Demacian outpost.
• Katarina asked whether Xu Xiao was really on Demacia's side, and he told her he had killed Demacians while escaping their Great City.
• Xu Xiao realized Katarina might have mistaken him for someone else, and she explained that she had spied on him because she thought he was a Demacian mage.
• Katarina admitted she had attacked out of habit and returned after fleeing because she could not accept being blasted by a mage, leaving Xu Xiao to recognize the misunderstanding.

Xu Xiao subdued Katarina after she attacked him, then continued toward Noxus while pursuing his study of the world's magic and power. Katarina vowed revenge, and Xu Xiao remained focused on finding the monkey's reincarnation and changing the world's course.

• Xu Xiao freed Katarina, but when she attacked him, he restrained and lashed her with an arcane chain until she stopped resisting.
• Xu Xiao warned Katarina not to look at him with killing intent again, then left her behind.
• Katarina sobbed after Xu Xiao departed and vowed to take revenge on him.
• Xu Xiao continued traveling toward Noxus and reflected on how perfecting his magic runes required understanding the world's different power systems.
• Xu Xiao resolved to begin with Noxus while prioritizing the search for the monkey's reincarnation and the development of his own power.

Xu Xiao rescued a Noxian patrol from Demacian soldiers and reached a Noxian bridgehead, where he met the commander Evander. He revealed his overwhelming magical power and asked what reward Noxus could offer him.

• Xu Xiao killed the Demacian soldiers with two magic missiles and rescued Sigma Eret and his patrol.
• Sigma Eret welcomed Xu Xiao as a mage who had fled Demacia and led him toward the Noxian border.
• Commander Evander received Xu Xiao at a Noxian bridgehead and was impressed by the strain Xu Xiao's power put on his rune equipment.
• Xu Xiao assessed Evander's enhanced body and warned that alchemical drug residue would shorten his lifespan.
• Xu Xiao displayed his magic and asked whether Noxus could offer a reward worthy of his power.

Xu Xiao negotiated with Kelrak for a Noxian position that offered freedom and authority, then used a newly brewed alchemical potion to demonstrate his power. Kelrak drank it and collapsed as its effects began to take hold.

• Xu Xiao met Kelrak, commander of the Blood Shadow Legion, who praised his escape from Demacia and described how Noxus had aided the fleeing mages.
• Xu Xiao told Kelrak he wanted to join Noxus with substantial authority and freedom, and asked what price he would have to pay.
• Xu Xiao enclosed the reception room in an arcane barrier, leaving Kelrak conscious while the guards fell unconscious.
• Kelrak rejected Xu Xiao’s demand, insisting that Noxian authority had to be earned through service and sacrifice.
• Xu Xiao gave Kelrak a newly brewed alchemical potion that he said could grant power beyond that of an ordinary person.
• Kelrak drank the potion, waited for it to take effect, and fell to his knees as power surged through him.

Xu Xiao tested his alchemical potion on Kelrak, giving the Noxian general immense strength through magical runes he called Virtual Magic Runes. After demonstrating that he could suppress Kelrak’s power, Xu Xiao ordered him to spread the potions through Noxus and build an army, leaving Kelrak eager to obey.

• Xu Xiao observed Kelrak’s mutation after the first potion caused natural magic runes to grow on his body.
• Kelrak recovered and demonstrated his new strength by smashing the ground with his fist.
• Xu Xiao suppressed Kelrak’s runes, and Kelrak knelt and admitted that Noxus would eagerly seek the potion’s power.
• Xu Xiao explained that he called his own runes True Magic Runes and the potion-derived runes Virtual Magic Runes, which he could suppress in those he touched.
• Xu Xiao told Kelrak to distribute new potions to influential allies, build an army, and spread the news of this power throughout Noxus.

Swain, Darius, and LeBlanc met in the Immortal Bastion to discuss Kelrak’s victory and rumors that a powerful alchemical potion had transformed soldiers in the Blood Shadow Legion. They decided to recall the legion from the front for rest and recuperation, while the mage behind its strength remained a threat they could not assess.

• Noxians celebrated Kelrak’s victory over the Demacians and rumors that a special alchemical potion had created powerful soldiers.
• Swain convened Darius and LeBlanc to investigate how Kelrak’s Blood Shadow Legion had defeated a Demacian force despite being outnumbered.
• Darius said Kelrak had neither submitted an operational plan nor replied to inquiries after the victory.
• LeBlanc reported that a powerful mage in the Blood Shadow Legion had rooted out her spies and might have caused unrest in Demacia.
• Swain, Darius, and LeBlanc discussed the potion rumors and decided to recall the Blood Shadow Legion from the front for rest and recuperation.

Kelrak led the empowered Blood Shadow Legion toward Drekan, while Xu Xiao anticipated that Noxian leaders would try to probe them. Swain’s ravens were shot down by a super-soldier, and Swain decided to personally lead a team to investigate the legion and prevent a threat to Noxus.

• Kelrak heard the crowd praise the Blood Shadow Legion and its alchemical potion, and he privately considered rising beyond his current rank.
• Kelrak told Xu Xiao that the legion had reached Drekan, and Xu Xiao predicted that Noxian leaders would approach that night to sound him out.
• Swain sent his ravens to spy on the legion’s camp, but an archer with enhanced senses shot them down.
• Swain discussed the setback and the legion’s unexplained strength with Darius, then chose to lead the night’s operation himself.

Swain infiltrated the Blood Shadow Legion’s camp to meet the mysterious mage, but discovered that the guards had anticipated his arrival and possessed formidable power. Xu Xiao offered Swain the prospect of a Noxus Empire capable of conquering the world and tossed him a potion.

• The Trifarian infiltration squad escorted Swain into the Blood Shadow Legion’s camp, where powerful guards revealed they had been expecting him.
• Swain identified himself and ordered the squad to leave, telling them to warn Darius not to act rashly and to put the original plan on hold.
• A guard led Swain into the tent, where he met Xu Xiao and sensed the mage’s great power.
• Xu Xiao asked Swain if he wanted a Noxus Empire capable of conquering the world, claimed he could make it possible, and tossed him a potion.

Xu Xiao offered Swain and LeBlanc alchemical potions and a chance to cooperate in taking Noxus, but they challenged him after he revealed he knew their secrets. He overwhelmed their attacks, and Swain invoked Raum as Xu Xiao prepared to fight him.

• Xu Xiao offered Swain alchemical potions and proposed that they cooperate, promising to help Noxus confront threats including Mordekaiser.
• Xu Xiao revealed that LeBlanc had been spying on him, unsettling her with his knowledge of her and the undead threat.
• When Swain and LeBlanc threatened to fight rather than accept his proposal, Xu Xiao repelled their attacks with an Arcane shield and blasted LeBlanc's clone.
• Xu Xiao asked Swain whether he still planned to resist, and Swain summoned Raum's power, spreading crimson wings.
• Xu Xiao fired an Arcane Missile at Swain after deciding he would have to take control of Noxus by force.

Xu Xiao frightened Raum into retreating and restrained Swain, then offered him cooperation. After Swain accepted, Xu Xiao gave him a potion that restored his severed arm and leg, leaving the two ready to negotiate.

• Raum emerged from Swain’s body, but Xu Xiao struck him with Arcane Energy and scared him back into Swain.
• Xu Xiao bound Swain with arcane chains and offered him the choice of cooperating or dying.
• Swain acknowledged Xu Xiao’s greater strength and asked to cooperate, so Xu Xiao released him.
• Xu Xiao gave Swain an alchemical potion, which drew in magic and began regenerating his lost limbs.
• Swain cut open his arm wound as Xu Xiao instructed, and a new arm grew back covered in magic patterns.

Swain accepted Xu Xiao’s power and Noxus formally made him its Archmage, establishing the Arcane Warriors. After Noxian spies found a Sun Wukong in Ionia, Xu Xiao teleported there with an agent to investigate.

• Swain told Darius that Noxus needed Xu Xiao, showed him the power he had gained, and gave him an Arcane Potion, which Darius drank.
• The Trifarix recognized Xu Xiao as Archmage of Noxus and established the Arcane Warriors, whose strength came from Xu Xiao’s potions.
• Xu Xiao sent Noxian spies across Valoran to search for Sun Wukong, offering an Arcane Potion for a useful lead.
• A Noxian agent reported that the Wuji Sect in Ionia had taken in a Vastaya disciple named Sun Wukong.
• Xu Xiao decided to investigate and used the agent’s memories to teleport them both to Ionia.

Noxian Grand Mage Xu Xiao traveled to the ruins of the Wuji Sect to find Sun Wukong, who had become Master Yi’s disciple. After Xu Xiao identified himself as a Noxian, Yi drew his sword, while Xu Xiao revealed that he had come for someone else.

• Darla told Xu Xiao that Master Yi had taken a Vastaya named Sun Wukong as his disciple.
• Xu Xiao and Darla found the ruined Wuji Village, where Noxian alchemical weapons had left the land contaminated with dangerous vines.
• Darla guided Xu Xiao to the Wuji Sect, where Master Yi confronted him.
• Xu Xiao introduced himself as a Grand Mage of Noxus, prompting Yi to draw his sword and demand that he leave.
• Xu Xiao told Yi that he had come for someone else and looked toward a figure behind the buildings.

Xu Xiao confronted Master Yi and Sun Wukong at the Wuji Sect, overpowering them after they mistook him for a hostile Noxian mage. As he prepared to leave, he sensed spell fluctuations from three monkey clones and realized another practitioner of his spell art might be nearby.

• Sun Wukong charged Xu Xiao, but Xu Xiao sent him flying, then blocked Master Yi’s Alpha Strike with an arcane shield.
• Master Yi told Sun Wukong to escape while he held Xu Xiao off, but Xu Xiao explained that he had come to explore Ionia’s magic and ruins, not to attack them.
• Master Yi launched a fierce assault with Highlander and Wuji Swordsmanship, but Xu Xiao’s arcane torrent hurled him into the Wuji Sect’s buildings and sent Sun Wukong tumbling after him.
• Xu Xiao sensed unfamiliar spell fluctuations among the figures rising from the ruins and saw three monkeys identical to Sun Wukong, leading him to suspect another user of his spell art was nearby.

Xu Xiao defeated Wukong and banished Master Yi to another realm, then forced Wukong to explain where he had learned his spells. Wukong said a being calling himself the Great Sage Equal to Heaven had taught him through dreams, and Xu Xiao demanded that he recall every detail.

• Xu Xiao destroyed Wukong's clones, seized his staff, and demanded to know where he had learned his unfamiliar spells.
• Xu Xiao crushed Doran's Staff, grabbed Wukong, and banished Master Yi to another realm when Yi attacked.
• Xu Xiao threatened Wukong and the Vastaya unless Wukong answered honestly, so Wukong agreed to explain.
• Wukong said that for years he had dreamed of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, who taught him magic that he later combined with his own.
• Xu Xiao suspected the being might be trapped somewhere and demanded that Wukong recount every shared memory, offering to help him remember.

Xu Xiao went to Presidium to investigate whether Wukong’s true spirit was trapped in Ionia’s spirit realm and to connect with the First Lands. He overcame Irelia and climbed toward the treehouse, where he sensed a core of Natural Energy.

• Xu Xiao traveled across Ionia toward Presidium, planning to search for Wukong’s true spirit and learn about the First Lands.
• Xu Xiao entered Presidium and used arcane power to put its cultivators to sleep.
• Irelia confronted Xu Xiao, but he took control of her blades and caught her when she attacked him.
• Xu Xiao bound Irelia with an arcane chain and put her to sleep.
• Xu Xiao climbed the treehouse after sensing its core of pure Natural Energy.

Xu Xiao entered the Spirit Realm and searched Ionia for the strange presence connected to Wukong, eventually discovering a dark space that seemed to imprison someone. After the space tried to pull him in, an unseen attacker struck him with natural magic, leaving him facing a hidden threat.

• Xu Xiao entered the Spirit Realm through the tree heart in Presidium and used his spiritual power to search for Wukong.
• He traveled from place to place where the Vastaya appeared, probing the Spirit Realm and its depths while a vast consciousness secretly watched him.
• At his final search site, Xu Xiao found a hidden space that absorbed his spiritual power and heard a familiar voice complain about being trapped and bored.
• Xu Xiao traced the space to an unusual fluctuation beneath the Spirit Realm, but its suction intensified as he tried to withdraw his spiritual power.
• Xu Xiao dodged a sudden surge of natural magic, then demanded to know who was there and pulverized the surrounding soil with his spiritual power.

Xu Xiao escaped the Spirit of Ionia's attack in the Spirit Realm and returned to Noxus, where he resolved to retaliate against Ionia. After destroying LeBlanc's clone when she sought a truce, he left her considering whether to unleash a desperate attack that could destroy Noxus.

• The Spirit of Ionia attacked Xu Xiao in the Spirit Realm, overwhelming the region with its control of the surrounding forces.
• Xu Xiao recognized the attacker as the Spirit of Ionia, judged that he could not win on its home ground, and fled through a spatial rift.
• Xu Xiao returned to the Immortal Bastion, ordered a guard to summon Swain, and planned to weaken the Spirit of Ionia by attacking Ionia itself.
• LeBlanc appeared before Xu Xiao through a clone and asked for a truce, but Xu Xiao rejected her and shattered the clone.
• LeBlanc realized Xu Xiao intended to kill her and weighed using a plan that could take him down along with Noxus.

Xu Xiao ordered Noxus to launch a full-scale invasion of Ionia and prepared potions and a weapon against the Spirit of Ionia. Twenty days later, Darius led an elite vanguard toward the harbor, ready to secure a foothold and protect the anchors.

• Xu Xiao persuaded Swain to mobilize Noxus for a full-scale invasion, promising Arcane Potions for the vanguard troops.
• Xu Xiao returned to his laboratory to prepare potions and a way to harm the Spirit of Ionia.
• Noxus mobilized its forces, and twenty days later its fleet prepared to depart from Basilich.
• Xu Xiao spoke with Darius about his hometown and Noxus as Darius prepared to lead fifty thousand troops into Ionia.
• Xu Xiao instructed Darius to move quickly and protect every anchor, and Darius flew toward the port using his Arcane Runes.

Darius led Noxus in an invasion of Ionia, using alchemical bombardment and Arcane warriors to smash through the defenders. As Irelia and Master Yi fought to hold him back, the Noxian advance overwhelmed the Ionian line.

• Darius ordered alchemical shells fired at Ionia before launching the landing operation.
• Noxian troops landed, and Darius used his reforged axe to unleash an Arcane blast that wiped out the Ionian archers' attack and cracked their magic barrier.
• Darius led the charge as the Arcane warriors tore through the Ionian defenses.
• Irelia confronted Darius, but his strength forced her back, and Master Yi joined her to hold him off.
• The Arcane warriors erased Ionia's former advantage in individual combat as the battle continued.

Noxus deployed Ley Line Anchors that drained Ionia’s magic, weakened the Spirit of Ionia, and helped Darius’s army seize ground. As Ionian leaders and orders prepared to unite against the invasion, Darius began constructing the Great Annihilation Array and set a seven-day deadline to complete the Archmage’s plan.

• Noxian combat engineers planted Ley Line Anchors that drained magic from the First Lands, disrupting Ionian defenses and allowing Darius’s army to advance.
• The Spirit of Ionia found that the anchors bound its power and ordered its practitioners to drive out the invaders.
• Karma gained the monks’ approval to go to the front and began preparing her followers to leave for battle.
• The Kinkou Order and other Ionian groups mobilized to defend the First Lands.
• Darius reported the successful deployment of the anchors and ordered his troops to keep advancing while they built the Great Annihilation Array, which he expected to finish in seven days.

Darius’s arcane-enhanced Noxian army routed Ionia’s forces and killed Master Yi, driving Irelia’s defense army into retreat. A Kuna scout revealed that Noxus was suppressing Native Magic with Ley Line Anchor Points, and Irelia called on Ionia’s monasteries and sects to unite against the threat.

• Darius led the Trifarian Legion against Master Yi and the Tayanas, then killed Yi and ordered his head displayed.
• Ionia suffered two days of defeats as Noxian arcane warriors overwhelmed its fighters and pushed the front line back.
• A Kuna scout told Irelia that Noxus had planted pillars in The First Lands that suppressed Native Magic.
• Irelia ordered her guard to conceal the news from the army and alert every monastery and sect to unite against the crisis.