Recaps

Zijin and the Final Bone Mad Machines fought off Saxon’s clerics and the Naga assault on the Pansy. After the Naga queen ordered a retreat, Su Ming sent Bowers to capture her, and Bowers struck her with Finger of Death as she tried to escape.

• Zijin confronted the attacking clerics while the Pansy’s disguised spellcasters unleashed volleys that devastated their formation; Saxon had already fled, leaving the archbishops behind.
• Zijin broke an archbishop’s defenses and killed him, then scattered more clerics with Dark Hornless Dragon: Wild Dance.
• Naga warriors and mages attacked the Pansy, where the trainees held their positions despite casualties and the rescue team pulled the wounded from the line.
• The Naga queen recognized the aerial assault was collapsing, ordered a retreat, and shattered the trainees’ shared shield with a shockwave from her trident.
• Su Ming ordered Bowers to capture the queen, and Bowers hit her with Finger of Death as she fled toward the sea.

Su Ming pursued the fleeing Naga Queen but failed to capture her, while Zijin defeated the remaining Naga forces. The queen escaped into the deep sea with survivors, leaving Su Ming and Zijin to take prisoners and vow to settle the score later.

• Su Ming overtook the Naga Queen with Gossamer Wings of Darkness and tried to trap her with Claw of Confinement, but she escaped into the sea using Abyssal Current Serpentine Movement.
• Su Ming tracked the queen with Dark Beacon and used his amphibious rifle to kill Naga mages who attacked him from underwater.
• Zijin returned to the Pansy after the battle, where Bowers and the trainees secured surrendered Naga prisoners and struggled to capture fleeing Sea Eagle Beasts.
• Zijin warned Su Ming not to pursue the queen underwater, then cast Chaos Annihilation into the sea and killed Naga warriors who had not escaped to deeper water.
• Su Ming found no sign of the Naga Queen and vowed to hunt her down and settle the score later.

Su Ming pursued the fleeing Dawn Pioneer Class cruisers with the Pansy, prioritizing the magic warship Thorns of Atonement. When Beianqi’s gunfire repeatedly overshot an enemy cruiser, Zijin detected enemy mages manipulating the shells’ gravity, and Su Ming identified their Levitation Spell as the cause.

• Su Ming returned to the Pansy as its crew finished capturing Sea Eagle Beasts and clergy, then ordered the ship to pursue the fleeing cruisers.
• Beianqi inspected and tested the Mark 71 naval gun before joining Su Ming in the bridge command center.
• Su Ming chose to pursue the eastern battle group, which included the magic warship Thorns of Atonement.
• The Pansy caught up with an eastern cruiser, and Beianqi fired two three-shell salvos that both overshot the target.
• Zijin sensed enemy mages casting a Levitation Spell along the shells’ flight path, and Su Ming realized they were interfering with the shells’ gravity.

Beianqi used the Mark 71’s simultaneous-impact firing technique to disable an enemy cruiser, and the Pansy pursued the Temple of Light’s magic warships. As necromancers boarded the damaged ships, Captain Ma Moreno prepared to destroy the Thorns of Atonement rather than let it be captured.

• Beianqi accelerated the Pansy and fired a three-shell salvo that struck the Dawn Pioneer Class cruiser simultaneously, overwhelming its mages and destroying its bridge and foredeck.
• Beianqi fired another salvo that crippled the cruiser, and Bowers led a boarding party that forced its remaining crew to surrender.
• Zijin proposed capturing the Thorns of Atonement and claimed she could stop its self-destruct core, while Su Ming warned that its captain, Ma Moreno, would destroy the ship rather than surrender it.
• Su Ming sent fifty necromancers to repair and secure the damaged Scourge of Absolution as the Pansy pursued the Thorns of Atonement.
• The Pansy caught the Thorns of Atonement and destroyed its exposed magic-array nodes, collapsing its shield, while necromancers launched to board it.
• Ma Moreno reached the ship’s core magic array and prepared to activate its destruction sequence, fearing the Temple would punish his family if he let the enemy capture the vessel.

Su Ming and Zijin stopped Ma Moreno from destroying the Thorns of Atonement, then chose not to exploit his death for propaganda. After setting the captured warship to be repaired and sailing toward another enemy vessel, Su Ming found Younier caring for animals Stacy had collected.

• Ma Moreno failed to activate the warship’s destruction sequence, and he killed himself rather than face the Temple’s punishment.
• Bowers proposed using Ma Moreno’s corpse to deceive the Divine Covenant Faction, but Su Ming and Zijin rejected the plan to protect their credibility.
• Su Ming left a hundred necromancers aboard the Thorns of Atonement to guard it while repairs began, then returned with Zijin to the Pansy.
• The Pansy sailed at full speed toward another fleeing enemy warship.
• Su Ming found Younier caring for a snake, a hedgehog, and two lizards that Stacy had collected, and Zijin worried that Stacy might ignore her warning about the silver dragons.

Su Ming ended the fleet’s pursuit after capturing a second Dawn Pioneer Class warship, then returned to stabilize the damaged Scourge of Absolution. Meanwhile, Rupert and his team infiltrated Grodno Harbor and prepared to attack its ships and paladin garrison.

• Su Ming’s fleet captured a second Dawn Pioneer Class warship, then halted the chase and returned with its prizes to repair the Scourge of Absolution.
• The crew sealed the Scourge of Absolution’s leaks as the blizzard weakened, but Stacy reported she was bringing guests and Beianqi warned that twelve huge airborne targets were approaching.
• Rupert led the damage control team to Grodno Harbor and ordered an attack after half an hour, planning to use the harbor’s dinner hour to their advantage.
• Rupert, Hansite, Jielusi, and Ruixiuli infiltrated the harbor town by posing as travelers seeking shelter and a healer.
• Ruixiuli and Jielusi went to deal with the paladin garrison, while Rupert and Hansite prepared to attack the two offshore transport ships.

Rupert distracted the sailors while Ruixiuli, Jielusi, and the Final Bone Mad Machines attacked the Holy Knight Order’s harbor encampment. After the attack succeeded, Stacy and the Silver Dragons arrived at the Pansy, where Su Ming began transforming the ship’s stern.

• Rupert tricked the sailors into bringing him aboard a cargo ship and kept them occupied with free rum as the assault began.
• Ruixiuli and Jielusi attacked the Holy Knight Order’s encampment, and the Final Bone Mad Machines’ damage control team joined the battle, forcing the holy knights to flee.
• Rupert knocked out sailors who came onto the deck while a bard’s music put the crew of a nearby ship into a deep sleep.
• Stacy arrived near the Pansy on Yin’er with the Silver Dragons and Qiluo, while the Sea Eagle Beasts were moved to the forward deck.
• Su Ming directed more than a hundred necromancers to expand and reshape the Pansy’s aft deck.

Su Ming and Zijin received the Silver Dragons aboard the Pansy, where Zijin challenged Yin'er over the dragons’ role in the Temple of Light’s campaign. The Silver Dragons began treatment for their skin infection and received food, while Yinfei’s whereabouts remained unknown.

• The Silver Dragons landed on the Pansy, increasing its displacement by 900 tons, and Su Ming ordered the ballast tanks adjusted.
• Stacy warned Su Ming and Zijin that something was wrong with Yinfei and that the Silver Dragons should be kept under watch.
• Zijin challenged Yin'er over the Silver Dragons’ role in restricting their tactics, but Yin'er blamed Yinfei’s misleading intelligence and said he did not know where she was.
• Zijin arranged treatment for the infected dragons, and Stacy’s trainees built a pool and used hot water and medication on their scales.
• Su Ming’s crew prepared a huge seafood risotto for the Silver Dragons, and Yin'er relaxed as he saw the treatment and supplies being organized.

Zijin challenged Yin'er to a fight over her bid for the Dragon King's throne, but he instead pledged to support her after seeing how humans fed and cared for the dragons aboard the Pansy. Yin'er explained that the Dragon Race's hardships had convinced him they needed a capable leader, and he hinted that dragons' great strength came with serious vulnerabilities as the group prepared to reach Dragon Valley.

• Zijin challenged Yin'er to fight after he admitted that most Silver Dragons opposed an undead bone dragon becoming their king.
• Zijin collapsed into Su Ming's arms, then emerged as a bone dragon and called Yin'er to battle.
• Yin'er bowed and declared that he would support Zijin as the new king, surprising her.
• Yin'er said that the hot bath and carefully prepared meal aboard the Pansy showed him how poorly dragons lived in Dragon Valley, and Zijin agreed that the valley's resources were strained.
• Su Ming exposed Qiluo's unicorn disguise, and the trainees pulled her from a Silver Dragon's bowl and gave her food in her own bucket.
• Yin'er described how human civilization had advanced while dragons stagnated, then pointed out that dragons' strength came with costly recovery needs and asked whether Zijin had explained their weaknesses to Su Ming.

Yin'er and Zijin’s bone dragon fought above the Pansy while Su Ming recorded their battle and discovered an unfamiliar technique coating Yin’er’s wings. The fight continued as Yin’er accelerated using the strange fluid-like film, leaving Su Ming intent on studying it.

• Zijin challenged Yin'er to fight after recognizing Silver Dragons who had beaten her in the past, and Yin'er recalled that her old pranks had provoked them.
• Yin'er and Zijin’s bone dragon took to the sky, while Su Ming activated the Pansy’s cameras and watched from the bridge with Zijin’s human body in his arms.
• Yin'er and the bone dragon exchanged breath attacks, then clashed at close range and inflicted wounds that each dragon quickly resisted or repaired.
• Su Ming noticed a shifting pale-blue film on the leading edges of Yin’er's wings as he accelerated, and adjusted the cameras to capture the unfamiliar flight technique.
• Stacy joined Su Ming on the platform, and Zijin complained to her that Su Ming was not interested in her.

Zijin defeated Elder Yin'er in a long-range aerial beam duel, then returned to the Pansy as Su Ming considered how to prepare for the much stronger Yinfei. He asked Miao Xin to commission an extraordinarily fast, accurate, concealed weapon with simple ammunition, leaving her exasperated by the demands.

• Zijin and Elder Yin'er exchanged precisely aimed energy beams while maneuvering at high speed, and their first two attacks collided in midair.
• In the third exchange, Zijin's beam struck Yin'er's head while his beam hit near her shoulder, but both dragons' magical shields blocked the attacks.
• Elder Yin'er conceded, praising Zijin's aerial combat skills, and she returned to the Pansy.
• Zijin told Su Ming that Yinfei had several times Yin'er's magical power, durability, shield strength, acceleration, and breath power.
• Su Ming contacted Miao Xin and requested a powerful, concealed weapon with extreme speed and accuracy and easy-to-make ammunition, prompting her to joke that the engineers might as well hang themselves.

The Vanguard Warrior encountered raiders plundering a Temple of Light supply ship and drove them off, then rescued the ship’s survivors. General Tai'ao'duo pursued the fleeing raiders’ mothership while his mages fought the fire and searched the hold.

• Su Ming and Miao Xin argued about whether fighter jets should engage dragons in close-range combat.
• General Tai'ao'duo spotted raiders plundering a Temple of Light supply ship and ordered the Vanguard Warrior to attack.
• The raiders fled their boats using magic, and Tai'ao'duo spotted their mothership and decided to pursue it.
• Tai'ao'duo sent his mages to fight the growing fire and search the supply ship’s hold.
• The mages found two injured survivors, including a beautiful female healer, whose discovery disappointed Tai'ao'duo.

Jielusi and Ruixiuli revealed themselves aboard the Vanguard Warrior and slaughtered its guards, using the dead soldiers’ bones and souls to power their attacks. They captured General Tai'ao'duo as their necromancer allies returned to overwhelm the Temple of Light’s mages, and the remaining defenders surrendered.

• General Tai'ao'duo realized the wounded healer and burned crewman were disguises, but Jielusi and Ruixiuli attacked and killed his guards.
• Jielusi unleashed a soul attack while Ruixiuli struck down the advancing fighters with a bone blade, then the pair reached Tai'ao'duo.
• The necromancers returned to attack the mages from the supply ship as Ruixiuli held Tai'ao'duo at blade point and Jielusi wounded him.
• Ruixiuli killed an officer who reached for a firearm and demanded the other defenders surrender.
• The Temple of Light soldiers and officers dropped their weapons, leaving the Vanguard Warrior in the pair’s hands.

Su Ming’s forces captured Temple of Light ships, supplies, and General Tai'ao'duo after their victory near Giant Horn Island. The captured general was brought before Stacy, who eagerly thanked Su Ming as Tai'ao'duo struggled in fear.

• Su Ming’s Pansy captured two Temple of Light supply ships, while Beianqi’s Five Fangs ambushed and captured a cruiser and a supply ship.
• Rupert’s damage control team captured the Vanguard Warrior and took General Tai'ao'duo alive, completing Su Ming’s naval objectives.
• Su Ming ordered the captured ships and supplies organized and began planning the flotilla’s course to Dragon Valley.
• Su Ming and Younier worked on distributing supplies as captured ships returned to the anchorage around Shining Island.
• Jielusi and Ruixiuli brought the bound Tai'ao'duo to Su Ming, who learned that interrogation had yielded little useful information.
• Stacy arrived, saw Tai'ao'duo, and thanked Su Ming while the terrified general struggled against his restraints.

Su Ming arranged for Stacy to test sildenafil on Tai'ao'duo as part of a plan to make the Divine Covenant Faction lift its warrants on necromancers. Ruixiuli then revealed a picture book depicting Su Ming and Zijin together, leaving Zijin embarrassed and furious as Ruixiuli handed Su Ming a second copy.

• Stacy thanked Su Ming, Jielusi, and Ruixiuli, then took Tai'ao'duo away to serve as a volunteer for her drug tests.
• Su Ming asked Miao Xin to obtain sildenafil, then gave the drug to Stacy to test on Tai'ao'duo.
• Su Ming told Zijin that he planned to use the drug to pressure the Divine Covenant Faction's leaders into lifting their warrants on all necromancers.
• Ruixiuli revealed that his interrogation records were incomplete and presented Su Ming with a picture book that had caused Grand Elder Yinfei to leave the Light Fleet.
• Zijin recognized herself and Su Ming in the book's illustrations, blushed, and tried to keep Su Ming from seeing it, but Ruixiuli handed him an identical copy.

Zijin, Su Ming, Ruixiuli, and Jielusi subdued Qiluo after a chaotic fight and interrogated her over an album she denied drawing. Younier’s examination suggested the album had two creators, leaving the group wondering who made it.

• Su Ming and Ruixiuli attacked Zijin together, but Su Ming’s bone spikes helped Zijin land a punch that gave Ruixiuli a panda eye.
• Jielusi lost control of her Shadow Form and attacked Zijin, then calmed when Ruixiuli grabbed her wrist.
• Qiluo urged the fighters to keep going, so Su Ming, Zijin, Ruixiuli, and Jielusi pulled her into a forced split and later suspended her upside down for questioning.
• Qiluo used Honesty Aura to convince the group she truly could not draw people in clothes as well as the album’s artist.
• Younier compared Qiluo’s poor painting with the album and concluded its cover and interior were likely made by different creators.
• Younier identified the cover as an imitation of Master Crystal Orchid’s style, and the group wondered who had created the album.

Yinfei traveled to Northern Ice Island to meet Lanmo, enduring the extreme cold until he brought her to his warm cave. There, Lanmo revealed that the cave was a ruin left behind by Old Humanity.

• Younier memorized the publishing house and serial number printed on the picture book.
• Yinfei arrived on Northern Ice Island and struggled against the freezing cold as she searched for Lanmo.
• Lanmo came out to meet Yinfei, and they recalled that they had not seen each other for more than fifty years.
• Lanmo led Yinfei through the ice cliffs to his warm lair and explained that he used tricks to keep himself warm.
• Yinfei discovered murals and ancient remains in the cave, and Lanmo identified it as a ruin left behind by Old Humanity.

Yinfei confronted Lanmo over evidence that he had helped Zijin, but learned he had not knowingly supported her. She then attacked Lanmo to frame Zijin and revealed that she served Jörmungandr and had been ordered to kill Zijin and the Bone King.

• Lanmo showed Yinfei the ancient cave murals and explained that Old Humanity had perished there.
• Yinfei accused Lanmo of helping Zijin and revealed a picture of him fighting humans and using fire magic.
• Lanmo denied supporting Zijin and expressed joy that she might become a strong contender for Dragon King.
• Yinfei suddenly stabbed Lanmo in the chest, and he flung her into a rock wall before shielding his wound with fire.
• Yinfei said she planned to kill Lanmo and frame Zijin, then revealed her devotion to Jörmungandr and her mission to eliminate Zijin and the Bone King.

Su Ming and the others discovered that Princess Dafulin had commissioned the picture album, clearing Qiluo of the accusation. Dafulin apologized and ordered a recall, but her secretary warned that the recall could make the album more popular.

• Yinfei trapped Lanmo inside her Arcane Prism and threatened to kill him.
• Qiluo named Princess Dafulin as another possible culprit, and Su Ming sent her a message asking about the album.
• Dafulin admitted commissioning the album, apologized for its inappropriate content, and promised compensation and a recall.
• Su Ming released Qiluo and promised her hawthorn cakes to comfort her.
• Dafulin's secretary warned that recalling the album could spur collectors to buy and hoard more copies.

Dafulin realized that the album about the Bone King and Scholar Bay Owl could become a global sensation, while the secretary bought up first-edition copies. A messenger carrying urgent news for Zijin collapsed on the Pansy as Yinfei attacked Lanmo, destroyed the communications hub, and was suddenly struck by ice on her wings.

• Dafulin recognized that banning the album would encourage uncontrollable pirated copies, then paid the secretary to leave nine first editions for her.
• Stanton, Yuya, and a Feather Race messenger arrived at the Pansy, where the exhausted messenger presented Zijin with a token from the Lord of Feather Command and began reporting on Lanmo.
• The messenger suddenly clutched his abdomen and collapsed before he could finish his report.
• Yinfei battered the gravely injured Lanmo in his cave and smashed the Feather Race communications hub, cutting off Northern Ice Island from the outside world.
• Yinfei gloated that she would frame Zijin for Lanmo’s murder, then discovered that thick blue ice had formed over her wings.

Lanmo used the forbidden power of Heat Flow: Negentropy to drive Yinfei from his cave, though the technique badly injured him as well. After finding the communication array destroyed, he discovered a vast hidden space behind a collapsed section of the cave wall.

• Lanmo revealed that he had learned to use magic power without magical affinity by studying murals left by Old Humanity.
• Lanmo used Heat Flow: Negentropy to make heat flow from cold to hot, burning Yinfei despite her scales and Arcane Prism.
• Yinfei fled down the cave passage, tearing more of her frozen skin and muscle, while Lanmo urged her to return to Dragon Valley and submit to punishment.
• Lanmo stopped pursuing Yinfei and admitted that the backlash from negentropy had left him worse injured than she was.
• Lanmo inspected the damaged communication array, treated his wounds, and discovered a vast space beyond a collapsed cave wall.

Lanmo discovered an enormous, unfamiliar dragon skeleton and an ancient magic array beneath his collapsed lair. After learning of the discovery, Su Ming organized a short expedition to Northern Ice Island while assigning the fleet and Shining Island’s defenses to those staying behind.

• Lanmo illuminated the collapsed space and found primitive runes, the remains of unknown creatures, and a huge dragon skeleton unlike any known in the Taya Plane.
• A messenger recovered in Pansy’s infirmary told Su Ming and Zijin that Scholar Ashy Drongo, revealed to be Chloe, had asked them to examine the ancient array.
• Su Ming convened a planning meeting, agreed to dismantle a supply ship for repair materials, and chose to take the Pansy to Northern Ice Island with Zijin and Stacy.
• Su Ming left Beianqi in charge of repairs and fleet defense, appointed Ruixiuli to oversee Shining Island’s security, and assigned Younier its administration with Hansite’s help.
• The crew loaded supplies and gifts onto the Pansy, and Younier became emotional when she received clothes and pastries from her family.
• Su Ming took charge of screening the 1,500 prisoners, most of whom were sailors and conscripted civilians rather than combat troops.

Su Ming arranged for the captured sailors and soldiers to be released or transferred, then led the Pansy toward Northern Ice Island. When the ship met a vast ice field, he transformed it into its Deep Blue Sword Form and began breaking through the ice.

• Su Ming offered high wages to recruit a hundred experienced sailors and planned to erase the battle memories of the remaining sailors before releasing them in a Northern Lands coastal town.
• Zijin suggested taking the captured Temple of Light soldiers to Northern Ice Island, and she revealed that she held the deed to Eternal Night Port.
• The Pansy departed Shining Island and sailed north, while Stanton, Yuya, and another Feather Race messenger prepared to travel the remaining distance on foot across the ice.
• Su Ming ordered the Pansy to transform into its Deep Blue Sword Form, and the ship began breaking through the ice sheet toward Northern Ice Island.
• Su Ming left the bridge crew to operate the icebreaker and went onto the deck to look over the frozen landscape.

Su Ming asked Stacy how to free Zijin from their entangled state, and she explained that a Dragon Soul Contract could help but would deepen their bond. Zijin rejected the contract to protect Su Ming’s spatial powers and proposed seeking a correction for herself in Dragon Valley’s Land of Ancestral Spirits.

• Su Ming asked Stacy whether he and Zijin could be separated, and Stacy said a Dragon Soul Contract might help while making their souls even more entangled.
• Zijin interrupted Stacy and asked to discuss the matter with Su Ming alone.
• Zijin explained that the Dragon Soul Contract could give Su Ming her spell power but might damage his rare spatial power, so she refused to enter it with him.
• Zijin said her incomplete form could be corrected in Dragon Valley’s Land of Ancestral Spirits, and she believed Dragon King Gelie might let them enter.
• Zijin told Su Ming the correction was also something she had promised him, reminding him of her earlier riddle about her origins.

Su Ming and Zijin tried to interrogate the Radiant Chanter, whose prayers alerted the Temple of Light and triggered its soul-return ritual. They tricked the ritual into returning another prisoner's soul instead, then Zijin began punishing the Radiant Chanter.

• Su Ming and Zijin released the Radiant Chanter's soul and tried to question him, but he ignored them and prayed.
• At the North Star Cathedral, the archbishop and other clergy detected the Radiant Chanter's prayers and began a ritual to return his soul.
• The Temple of Light's ritual struggled to retrieve the weakened Radiant Chanter, so the archbishop ordered the clergy to triple their materials and effort.
• Su Ming killed a prisoner and sent that prisoner's soul toward the ritual, causing it to return in place of the Radiant Chanter.
• Zijin explained that the Temple would destroy the wrongly returned soul, then struck the Radiant Chanter with Soul Punishment.