Recaps

Qiji took Suyo to scout the Myth evacuation point, but an Isolde Family pursuer forced them to flee. They then scavenged fragments from loot boxes left by dead Echoers, and Qiji ended the chapter with three purple Mind Fragments that Suyo could not use.

• Suyo offered to scout the Myth evacuation point with her [Person in the Mirror] clone, and Qiji agreed to the plan.
• Suyo's clone spotted an Isolde Family birdman waiting near Island 8820, so Qiji sped away on the yacht before he could be caught.
• Qiji abandoned the evacuation plan and took Suyo cruising, then collected nearby loot boxes containing mostly white and green fragments.
• Qiji gave the fragments to Suyo to use in building her Mental Image Palace, since he had no use for them.
• Qiji and Suyo looted many more boxes near the sea where Qiji had been surrounded by the Kamishiro Family and the Isolde Family, gaining twenty-three fragments, including three purple Mind Fragments that Suyo could not use.

After Suyo built the prototype of her Mental Image Palace, Qiji sent her back to reality so the Isolde Family would believe she had taken the Myth Fragment and lower its guard. Suyo was arrested by the Thousand Faces Family and defied Thousand Faces Zhengheng, until Vivian arrived and stopped him from striking her.

• Suyo completed the prototype of her Mental Image Palace, unlocking the Shared Mirror entry for Thousand Faces and improving the Person in the Mirror Armament.
• Qiji urged Suyo to evacuate first, explaining that her return would make the Isolde Family think its interception had failed and give him a chance to refine the Myth Fragment safely.
• After returning to reality, Suyo tried to draw the Isolde Family's attention away from Qiji but was arrested and brought before the Thousand Faces Family elders.
• Thousand Faces Zhengheng accused Suyo of causing trouble and offending the Isolde Family, and Suyo called him a fucking idiot.
• Thousand Faces Zhengheng tried to slap Suyo, but an unseen force redirected his hand to strike his own mask.
• Vivian entered the council hall and declared that she did not like people touching her things.

Vivian arrived at the Thousand Faces Family with Isolde betrothal gifts and declared that she wanted to marry Suyo. Suyo was left stunned by the proposal and thought of the romantic complications caused by her brother.

• Vivian's pressure silenced the Thousand Faces Family, and she sent Thousand Faces Zhengheng flying with Vector Manipulation.
• Thousand Faces Huixiong mistook Vivian for an Isolde enforcer, then saw the newcomers bring betrothal gifts.
• Vivian announced that the gifts were from the Isolde Family, and Huixiong assumed they wanted to marry into the family because of Suyo's talent.
• Suyo and her family misunderstood Vivian's proposal, with Zhengxing believing Vivian meant to marry Xiangyun.
• Vivian clarified that she wanted to marry Thousand Faces Suyo, leaving Suyo shocked as she remembered her existing engagement to Bai Lili and blamed her brother for the complications.

Vivian arranged for Suyo to transfer to Kalentia and marry her after graduation, while Qiji extracted a Myth Fragment from the Sea of Consciousness at the cost of an epic fragment. He woke in the hospital after nearly two days away, coughing blood and reassuring his worried friends and family.

• Suyo used her engagement to Bai Lili as an excuse to resist Vivian, but Vivian told her to settle that matter herself, transfer to Kalentia after the grand competition, and marry her after graduation.
• Vivian left the Thousand Faces Family and told Adeline they would visit an old acquaintance instead of returning to Kalentia.
• Qiji waited two hours after Suyo withdrew, then activated a mythic extraction point by sacrificing one of his epic Mind Lineage fragments and successfully extracted.
• Qiji returned to his body and woke in the hospital, coughing blood as Xiwang, Bai Lili, Liuli, Setsuna, and Huomu watched in alarm.
• Xiwang leaped from her wheelchair and hugged Qiji, while Huomu celebrated that he had trusted Qiji to wake up.

Qiji woke from his coma, reassured Liuli, and explained that he had entered the Sea of Consciousness. After refining his fragments, he formed a new Echo lineage and awaited its awakening; the chapter then shifted to Yeji finding Dorothy drunk and despondent in her bedroom.

• Qiji apologized to Liuli and reflected on how she had changed since escaping the Kamishiro Family’s control.
• Qiji told everyone about his visit to the Sea of Consciousness and said he needed time to refine an Echo Fragment.
• Qiji enhanced and socketed his Dream, Moonlight, and Vector Fragments, forming five inactive Origin Marks around his Echo Core.
• Yeji entered Dorothy’s bedroom and found her surrounded by empty liquor bottles, slumped on the floor with a bottle in her hand.

Dorothy broke down after losing a legendary fragment in the Sea of Consciousness and canceled her meet-and-greet, while Yuejian was devastated by the news. Qiji returned two epic Mind Lineage fragments to Liuli and told her that his lineage was Moonlight.

• Dorothy drank heavily and told Yeji that she had lost a legendary fragment in the Sea of Consciousness.
• Dorothy asked Yeji to cancel her meet-and-greet because her spirit body was badly injured, and Yeji agreed to let her keep drinking.
• Yuejian arrived early for Dorothy’s event, but organizers canceled it because Dorothy had suddenly fallen ill.
• The three fourth-tier Echoers from the Kamishiro Family discovered that the Sea of Consciousness had taken each of their highest-quality epic fragments and cursed their bad luck.
• Qiji gave Liuli two epic Mind Lineage fragments and said that his lineage counted as Moonlight.

Liuli left to refine the Echo Fragments Qiji gave her, while the Thousand Faces Family broke off Suyo and Bai Lili’s engagement. When Bai Lili confronted Suyo, Suyo admitted she liked her and had never hated her, but had not yet finished explaining herself.

• Qiji kept the Sword of No Thought and told Liuli she mattered more to him than the sword.
• Liuli left to refine her two Mind Lineage fragments and search the Sea of Consciousness for fragments suited to Qiji.
• Suyo visited the Bai Family to break off her engagement to Bai Lili, but Bai Lili’s father rejected the family’s compensation and ordered the gifts removed.
• Thousand Faces Suqing warned Suyo not to get involved with Bai Lili again, then left as Bai Lili ran after them.
• Bai Lili asked Suyo to tell her the truth, and Suyo confessed that she liked her and had never hated her.

Suyo confessed to Bai Lili that she was a girl, but Bai Lili misunderstood and ran away crying. Qiji then discovered Yuejian was back from vacation, giving Huomu brutal special training ahead of the grand competition.

• Suyo admitted she had never hated Bai Lili and explained that she had kept her distance because she did not know how to face her.
• Suyo told Bai Lili she was actually a girl, but Bai Lili mistook the confession for an excuse to reject her and ran off crying.
• Qiji noticed Huomu was streaming with Yuejian, who had returned from his vacation early.
• Yuejian offered to spar with Huomu so he could master Mirror Break, then beat him up while Qiji watched.

Yuejian trained Huomu in Mirror Break and realized Huomu had talent despite not having awakened his Echo. After a page from Yuejian’s moonlight scroll burned against Huomu’s abdomen, Yuejian was left startled by what it might mean.

• Yuejian sparred with Huomu, pushing him to practice Mirror Break while dodging his attacks with one hand behind his back.
• Huomu briefly synchronized his Echo of Existence with the environment, but failed to lock onto Yuejian’s Echo and delivered a powerless half Mirror Break.
• Yuejian praised Huomu’s progress and considered training him for the Tide Grand Competition, while reflecting on Qiji’s injuries and the White Harbor incident.
• Yuejian asked how far Huomu had honed his Echo, and Huomu admitted he had not awakened one yet.
• Yuejian pressed a page from his moonlight scroll against Huomu’s lower abdomen to construct a circuit, but the page spontaneously caught fire and turned to smoke.

Yuejian told Huomu that he would never awaken his Echo, while Charles compensated his Sea of Consciousness team with epic fragments and prepared for the Tide Grand Competition. Charles then revealed that Suyo, the fox-masked opponent, was his brother-in-law and Vivian’s intended husband, leaving Yate shocked.

• Yuejian told Huomu that he would never awaken his Echo, though he could not explain why.
• Charles gave Rina, Yate, and Wuma Ling epic Echo Fragments as compensation for the Sea of Consciousness accident, while Dorothy concealed her grief over losing a legendary fragment.
• Charles announced that his team would compete for all ten seats at the Tide Grand Competition in the City of Kindling.
• Vivian struck Charles for insulting Suyo and warned him that Suyo was his brother-in-law.
• Charles confirmed that Suyo was the fox-masked figure from the Sea of Consciousness and was going to marry Vivian, devastating Yate.

As the Tide Grand Competition approached, Yuejian trained Huomu and Setsuna and saw potential in the City of Kindling’s young Echoers. In the Sea of Consciousness, Qiji and Suyo continued sabotaging extraction points and collecting Fragments.

• Yate asked Charles to let him fight Suyo at the Tide Grand Competition, and Charles agreed while warning him not to go easy just because Suyo was his brother-in-law.
• Yuejian learned that Setsuna had mastered Armament and embedded three epic Fragments given to her by Qiji.
• Huomu told Yuejian that he could land [Mirror Break] two or three times out of every dozen punches, impressing Yuejian with how quickly he was improving.
• Echoers in Kalentia and Deep Blue City circulated warnings about temporary extraction points vanishing and a paper treasure map scam, while people in the City of Kindling praised the God of Paper Airplanes for guiding the lost.
• Qiji and Suyo counted their haul beside a vanished extraction point, and Suyo celebrated how much fun their repeated sabotage was.

Suyo gained six Epic Fragments after the Sea of Consciousness corrected its recognition, while she and Qiji made one last round of evacuation-point looting before the Tide Grand Competition. On competition day, Qiji prepared to compete despite his injuries and hinted to Xiwang that he had concealed something from her.

• The Sea of Consciousness recalibrated Suyo’s spirit body and granted her three more slots, giving her six Epic Fragments at the third rank.
• Qiji and Suyo looted more Kalentian Echoers before heading to an evacuation point, and Suyo told Qiji she felt supported despite the pressure from the Echo Association.
• Qiji and Suyo promised to win the next day’s competition, while Qiji privately resolved not to hold back against her.
• The Tide Grand Competition drew eligible contestants to Kindling Echo Academy, with the Sea of Consciousness set to broadcast the event across the city.
• Xiwang worried about Qiji’s injuries as he arrived at the academy in a wheelchair, but he insisted he would compete and asked her to forgive him for a secret he had kept.

Qiji entered the academy for the Tide Grand Competition despite his worsening condition, while Liuli, Huomu, Setsuna, Suyo, and Bai Lili each reacted to his arrival. The preliminaries were delayed because the ten exchange students from Kalentia had not yet arrived.

• Liuli used Mind Echo to provoke two contestants who insulted Qiji, and Teacher Tsukimi expelled them from the preliminary lineup.
• Qiji told Yuejian he intended to take first place, but Yuejian refused to bet with him and returned to his work when Kijika called him back.
• Qiji and Liuli passed the entrance inspection and met Huomu, Setsuna, Suyo, and Bai Lili inside the academy.
• The group reached Echo Plaza, where Qiji surveyed the lower-tier contestants and the viewers worried about his condition as he coughed blood.
• The second bell rang, but academy head Xia Ming and the faculty held off starting the preliminaries because Kalentia's ten exchange students had not arrived.

The Tide Grand Competition began as contestants entered the Sea of Consciousness and raced across a corrosive sea toward one of four islands. Qiji joined Liuli and their classmates in a team heading east, while Huomu discovered that flames let him repel the water; Charles spotted Qiji flying over the sea in a wheelchair.

• The Kalentian exchange students arrived late, and Xia Ming opened the competition by having the faculty activate the ritual array that connected the plaza to the Sea of Consciousness.
• The Sea of Consciousness announced that the first fifty contestants to reach each of four islands and enter its teleportation array would advance, while Qiji confirmed his Mask of Miracles and checked the live rankings.
• Liuli flew above the contestants, gathered Qiji and their Class Eight teammates, and helped them choose the eastern island as their target.
• Contestants who could not withstand the corrosive seawater withdrew, while Huomu found that flames made the water retreat from his fingertips and arm.
• Liuli carried Qiji and his wheelchair over the sea toward the eastern island, and Charles stared in shock at their approach.

Qiji and Liuli raced across the corrosive sea as Kalentia’s exchange students surged ahead and the City of Kindling’s spectators turned against Qiji. When Qiji realized the rivals planned to block the landing point, he urged Liuli to stop them and pointed out that their three other teammates were still nearby.

• Qiji used an expensive system-shop wheelchair as a Conceptual Creation in the trial.
• Dorian flirted with Liuli and called Qiji a burden, but Liuli ignored him and continued carrying Qiji.
• Liuli tired as contestants passed her, while Suyo used her improved Water Echo to speed ahead.
• The Thousand Faces Family spread claims that Qiji had faked his genius with a forbidden drug to promote Suyo’s reputation.
• Qiji warned Liuli that five Kalentia students were heading for their landing point to block them, and Liuli hesitated to leave him over the corrosive sea.
• Qiji assured Liuli that Huomu and their other teammates were nearby, prompting her to look down in surprise.

Qiji relied on Huomu and Setsuna to carry him through the preliminary race while Liuli continued alone, and the Kalentia exchange students began eliminating contestants at the islands. When Liuli tried to help Qiji’s group land, Yagami Rina intercepted her Mind Echo, starting a contest between the two relatives.

• Huomu enveloped himself and Bai Lili, Setsuna, and Qiji in flames to race beneath the sea, then Setsuna took Qiji while Liuli sped ahead alone.
• Charles, Suyo, and Liuli reached the island among the leading contestants, while Dorian abandoned two City of Kindling students and eliminated them with his petal blades.
• The Kalentia students revealed that they had tricked competitors into choosing other islands before doubling back to seize the eastern landing slots and eliminate contestants.
• Liuli waited until Qiji, Huomu, and the others approached before attacking the Kalentia group, but Yagami Rina intercepted her Mind Echo.
• Yagami Rina introduced herself as Liuli’s distant relative, and Liuli’s stronger third-tier Mind Echo put Rina at a disadvantage.

Rina's interception helped Qiji and his allies break through Kalentia's blockade, but Charles and two teammates claimed three of East Island's top five places. After reaching the next round, Liuli gave Qiji her third-place reward while spectators criticized him under the influence of the Thousand Faces Family's smear campaign.

• Rina's Mind Echo interception weakened Liuli's Echo enough for Setsuna to carry Qiji through the gap, where Qiji used [Sword of Mirrors] to force Yate back.
• Panyan shielded Setsuna and Qiji from Dorian's petal blades, while Suyo blocked Charles before Charles abandoned the fight and rushed for the teleportation array.
• Charles, Suyo, Liuli, Dorothy, and Dorian took East Island's top five places in that order, giving Kalentia three early rewards for the next round.
• Qiji and Class One entered the next round's ruined-city arena, where Liuli handed him the [Battle Support] card she had earned for third place.
• City of Kindling spectators criticized Qiji for accepting Liuli's reward and repeated the Thousand Faces Family's claims that he was a fake genius who relied on others.

Qiji’s group formed a five-person team for the second round, and Liuli firmly rejected Bai Shi and his brother when they tried to join. After the competition began, Qiji’s team waited in the plaza to let Liuli recover, while Bai Shi’s team and two others also held back.

• The Sea of Consciousness announced that teams of five had to win three matches to advance, and revealed that the final round would be a free-for-all.
• Sibel Oberon arrived as one of only five contestants to pass the preliminaries on North Island, and the teachers recognized her as Kalentia’s unwanted princess.
• Bai Shi and his brother tried to join Liuli’s team, but Liuli refused and held on to Bai Lili when she considered leaving to avoid being a burden.
• The three-minute team-forming period ended, and the Sea of Consciousness expelled contestants who had failed to complete their teams.
• Teleportation arrays appeared for the first matches, but Qiji’s group waited for Liuli’s Heart Essence to recover while Bai Shi’s team and two others also stayed behind.

Qiji’s team entered a battle against Bai Shi’s team, whose powerhouse Yongshu used a trial item to change the match into a best-of-five and choose the opposing lineup. Bai Shi was assigned to fight Qiji, whom he mistook for an easy target, but Qiji’s calmness made Yongshu uneasy as the fight began.

• After Liuli turned him down, Bai Shi joined Yongshu’s team, and both teams entered the teleportation array.
• Yongshu used his Five-Three card to change the battle to a best-of-five and select Qiji, Bai Lili, and Huomu as the opposing team’s first three fighters.
• Bai Shi volunteered to fight Qiji, eager to make Liuli regret rejecting him.
• Liuli pushed Qiji onto the arena and offered to win the remaining matches if he could not continue; Qiji calmly caught his blood in a tissue.
• When the battle started, Bai Shi began forming his Armament, and Qiji challenged him for taking too long before deploying his own.

Qiji defeated Bai Shi with a single devastating sword strike, leaving Yongshu's team a member short. Huomu then began the second match against his former friend Lanma, revealing a powerful new technique and pressing the attack.

• Qiji blinded Bai Shi with mirror shards, formed them into a longsword, and shattered Bai Shi's spirit body from within, eliminating him from the competition.
• Spectators and Yuejian were shocked by Qiji's victory, while Yongshu's team realized they would have to continue with only four fighters.
• Huomu and Setsuna celebrated Qiji's win by tossing him into the air, then apologized when he coughed up blood; Qiji encouraged Huomu to surprise him in the next match.
• Huomu faced Lanma, who expected him to be an unawakened Echo-less fighter, and entered Heart Flow with flames bursting from his fists.
• Huomu charged Lanma and struck him repeatedly with Instant Bloom, which Lanma recognized after initially being caught off guard.

Huomu defeated Lanma in the Tide Grand Competition, confronting the painful history of their childhood and proving he could stand his ground before the whole city. He ran to Qiji after his victory, overwhelmed with gratitude and still struggling to find the words to express it.

• Lanma recognized that Huomu had mastered Instant Bloom, a move Lanma himself had failed to learn, and recalled how their friendship changed after Yanyi became the Fire Thief.
• Huomu accused Lanma of betraying him at school, while Lanma insisted he had bullied Huomu to protect him and still considered him a best friend.
• Huomu rejected Lanma's idea of friendship and struck him with a Mirror Break punch, defeating him as their childhood memories revealed Lanma had once joined in beating him.
• Lanma realized Huomu had known he was among the boys who kicked him, then lost consciousness and awoke back in the academy square.
• Huomu celebrated his victory and ran toward Qiji, feeling he had finally left behind the childhood alley where he had been bullied.

Huomu decisively defeated Lanma, and Bai Lili’s match ended in a win when the opposing team surrendered after losing two contestants. Qiji’s team watched Suyo’s ongoing match, where she held back her strength, while Tian Hao explained the need to prepare for opponents’ item cards.

• Huomu smiled his thanks to Qiji, Teacher Tsukimi, and the others after defeating Lanma, and they congratulated him.
• Bai Lili’s opponents surrendered before she entered the ring, giving Qiji’s team its second victory.
• Yongshu and his two remaining teammates chose to target a Kalentia team rather than risk a low chance of qualifying.
• Qiji’s team checked the standings and watched Suyo’s match, where Panyan, Cao E, and Chi An fought while Suyo and Tian Hao stayed out of the battle.
• Liuli suggested Suyo was hiding her strength to avoid revealing her trump cards to Kalentia, while Qiji said his masked strength was already concealed.
• Tian Hao warned Suyo’s team that other teams might use item cards, including one that could challenge opponents immediately after a match.

Tian Hao persuaded Suyo’s team to conserve her strength while three teammates won their first two matches, and spectators began to believe Suyo had a strategic advantage over Kalentia. Charles’s team then used special cards to force a match against Suyo’s team, revealing Kalentia’s plan to eliminate the remaining City of Kindling teams before the finals.

• Tian Hao told Suyo’s team to save her strength and use [Dictatorship] as a fallback, and Suyo accepted his plan.
• Panyan, Cao E, and Chi An won the team’s first two matches while Suyo and Tian Hao watched from the sidelines.
• Charles and another Kalentia team advanced to the finals, while City of Kindling spectators praised Suyo’s concealed strength and intelligence.
• Charles used [Scatter Blossoms] and [Designation] to split his team and force a match against Suyo’s team, while Dorothy used [Match a Hundred] for the other squad.
• Spectators realized Kalentia intended to exploit the teams’ extra lives to eliminate City of Kindling’s contestants before the finals.
• Suyo’s teammates credited Tian Hao with predicting the forced match, and he panicked because his earlier analysis had been a bluff.

Qiji’s team was forcibly matched against Sibel’s top-ranked Kalentia team, and Qiji refused to surrender because he sensed the ritual drawing near. A gauntlet match began with Bai Lili facing Kaluo, and Bai Lili used an Echo Scroll stored in her Conceptual Creation to block Kaluo’s opening attack.

• Qiji explained that Kalentia had likely selected his team after defeating other leading teams, while Huomu proposed surrendering to conserve strength.
• Qiji rejected surrender, sensing that the Sea of Consciousness and the ritual were drawing him toward a battle where his Echo might awaken.
• The match was set as a gauntlet, and Bai Lili was randomly selected as Qiji’s team’s first fighter.
• Kaluo volunteered to fight for Sibel’s team, entered the arena, and attacked Bai Lili as soon as the bell rang.
• Bai Lili’s Thousand-Gold Treasure Box let her use an Echo Scroll, whose shield stopped Kaluo’s dagger; Kalentia’s instructor questioned whether this was allowed.

Bai Lili used a stream of Echo scrolls to keep Kaluo at bay, but Kaluo borrowed Sibel’s Time Acceleration and steadily overwhelmed her defenses. After Huomu warned Bai Lili about the time Echo, she continued fighting, and the chapter ended as Kaluo rushed toward victory while Bai Lili launched a barrage of water arrows.

• Kaluo battered Bai Lili’s barriers, while Bai Lili repeatedly replaced them with shield scrolls and attacked with offensive scrolls.
• Kaluo activated Sibel’s third-tier Echo, Time Acceleration, and used her heightened speed to evade Bai Lili’s attacks and break through barriers faster than Bai Lili could replace them.
• The faculty members recognized that Sibel’s Time Lineage was an anomaly because the reigning king also held that lineage.
• Huomu warned Bai Lili that Kaluo had accelerated her own time, and Setsuna scolded him for possibly encouraging Bai Lili to keep fighting.
• Bai Lili ran out of third-tier shield scrolls and, in a panic, fired more than a dozen second-tier water arrow scrolls at Kaluo, who did not bother to dodge.