Recaps

Ye Yan and the Astral Express crew navigated the Luofu’s Stellaron crisis, uncovered Phantylia’s impersonation and the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus, and helped restore the Matrix of Prescience. Kafka’s interrogation revealed that the Stellaron Hunters had brought the Express to the Luofu to help Stelle build ties with the Xianzhou Alliance, while Silver Wolf remained missing.

• Ye Yan recognized Phantylia posing as Tingyun while Welt arrived on the Luofu with the Astral Express crew, and the real Tingyun reunited with Ye Yan at his shop.
• Jing Yuan enlisted the crew to draw out Kafka, who was already in their custody, while Phantylia fled after Blake confronted her.
• Yanqing challenged Ye Yan at his milk tea shop, then received tea from him after Ye Yan demonstrated that anything could be a sword.
• Stelle and March 7th uncovered that the Tingyun traveling with Welt was Phantylia, while Ye Yan explained the deception and stayed with the real Tingyun.
• Bailu used Ye Yan’s ointment to restore a mara-struck Cloud Knight, and Dahao asked Stelle to investigate the returning Disciples of Sanctus Medicus.
• Stelle and Screwllum infiltrated the Disciples, exposed Green Phoebe and Violet Rose, and defeated the cultists’ deadly initiation test.
• Qingque guided the Astral Express crew through the damaged Divination Commission, where Jing Yuan asked them to help Fu Xuan restore the Matrix of Prescience.
• Fu Xuan interrogated Kafka through the Matrix and learned of a plot involving Luofu traitors and outside enemies, while Kafka said the Stellaron Hunters had brought the Express to the Luofu to help Stelle form ties with the Xianzhou Alliance.

The Astral Express crew and their allies confronted the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus and Phantylia as the Stellaron revived the Ambrosial Arbor. Phantylia escaped after the battle at the Arbor’s roots, leaving the Xianzhou threatened by further attacks.

• Fulisina rescued Xueyi, joined the efforts to fight the revived Ambrosial Arbor, and repaired Xueyi’s body with [Eternity].
• Kafka and Silver Wolf escaped the Matrix of Prescience as Jing Yuan enlisted the Astral Express crew to help contain the crisis.
• Stelle and her companions fought the regenerating Abundance Ebon Deer, while Ye Yan broke the barrier trapping Fulisina and Blake at the Artisanship Commission.
• Stelle absorbed the sinister mist at the Aureate Elixir Furnace, and Dan Shu revealed that Phantylia had supplied the Disciples of Sanctus Medicus with a Stellaron before Phantylia killed her.
• Blake’s soap bomb capsized Stelle, March 7th, and Dan Heng’s boat, separating Dan Heng from his friends and leading to his confrontation with Blade and Yanqing.
• Jing Yuan brought Dan Heng back to the group and asked him to open the Vidyadhara seals so they could reach Phantylia at the Ambrosial Arbor.
• The group battled Phantylia among the Arbor’s roots, while Ye Yan confronted the Fool’s Mask and learned it had given Phantylia all ten special-effect milk teas.
• Stelle redirected Phantylia’s [Destruction] energy into Jing Yuan, and Blake and Tingyun joined the attack before Phantylia fled after threatening the Xianzhou.

After the Luofu crisis, the Astral Express crew split up, and Stelle and March 7th traveled to Belobog for the Paskonja Festival. They learned the IPC had come to collect Jarilo-VI’s debt, while the Church of Eternity also moved to oppose the Corporation, leaving the dispute on the verge of a confrontation.

• Jing Yuan rescinded Dan Heng’s exile and gave the Astral Express crew a Jade Abacus, while Ye Yan comforted Pom-Pom and learned the Express would next travel to Penacony.
• Stelle and Ye Yan helped the Release Gang resolve its food-chain dispute by persuading its members to release repaired Automaton Soldiers, while Fulisina aided Aurum Alley and Screwllum drifted through space awaiting Church aid.
• Topaz arrived on Jarilo-VI to collect the IPC’s debt, and Aventurine showed her a video identifying Ye Yan as the person who framed him.
• Stelle and March 7th traveled to Belobog for the Paskonja Festival, while Blake also headed there and encountered Fulisina outside Serval’s workshop.
• Topaz told Bronya that Belobog’s 280-year-old loan had to be repaid, and Bronya asked the Astral Express crew for help while declining to involve the Church.
• Stelle and March 7th tried to negotiate with Topaz, who insisted she would carry out the IPC’s Jarilo-VI project regardless of the Church of Eternity.
• Seele reported that IPC forces had taken over the Great Mine, and Ye Yan told Stelle and March 7th to handle the mine while the Church dealt with Topaz.
• Stelle, March 7th, and Seele approached the mine as Topaz met Svarog and Clara, declared Jarilo-VI would become Corporation property, and heard a voice declare that the planet already belonged to the Church of Eternity.

The Church of Eternity helped protect Jarilo-VI, while Stelle and her companions faced a Heliobi illusion on the Luofu and reunited with Botenis. The Astral Express then became trapped inside a Giant True Sting as Ye Yan and the Church pursued a possible threat to Eternity.

• Blake warned Topaz to stop contacting the Corporation’s leadership, then Stelle, March 7th, and Seele entered the Great Mine to confront the Corporation’s team.
• Topaz secured Blake and Fulisina’s help for Jarilo-VI, and the Corporation halted its debt collection after learning the planet was under the Church of Eternity’s jurisdiction.
• Afrit sent the Annihilation Gang toward Penacony and blamed Ye Yan for attacking Oswaldo Schneider, while Blake and Fulisina left to confront the gang and Ye Yan cast Aha’s Fool’s Mask into a black hole.
• Stelle won the Aetherium Wars tournament against Ye Yan, while Fulisina sealed Afrit’s final flame inside a Coffin of Eternity.
• Stelle and Ye Yan joined Guinaifen at Fyxestroll Garden, where Hanya and Huohuo explained that escaped Heliobi had trapped the visitors in an illusion created by Crestflame.
• Stelle, Huohuo, Xueyi, Tail, and Botenis fought Crestflame and Cirrus, and Ye Yan later captured Cirrus and sent the other escaped Heliobi to the Church of Eternity.
• Screwllum warned Blake about a powerful aura of Destruction, while Ye Yan speculated that a Lord Ravager might bring about Eternity’s end and returned toward the Astral Express for help.
• March 7th discovered a True Sting aboard the Astral Express, and Dan Heng warned that the crew had to stop more from reproducing.
• Stelle and the crew destroyed suspicious eggs, then learned from Argenti that an unseen overlord had swallowed the Express and prepared to escape the Giant True Sting together.