Recaps

Cheng Shi confronted Afros, who shifted forms and tried to lure him into the Sea of Desire. He realized she was trapped behind a different door and ended the encounter with his suspicions confirmed.

• Afros changed from a man into Tullatin and tried to draw Cheng Shi into conversation by calling him her brother.
• Cheng Shi tested Afros by praising Filth and Decay, and concluded that she was not the First God of Sinking.
• Afros offered Cheng Shi power and happiness if he took her hand and joined her in the Sea of Desire.
• Cheng Shi recognized that Afros could not cross the doorway and that her reaching arm was an illusion.
• Afros put her clothes back on and sighed that Cheng Shi was too clever.

Cheng Shi confronted Afros in the Evil Infant Tribunal and realized Afros came from an age before the new gods. Afros left in despair, and Cheng Shi returned to the rest-area rooftop wondering what the vanished age of existence had been.

• Cheng Shi kept his distance from Afros and rejected his attempts to recruit him, while Afros guessed that Cheng Shi served the new gods.
• Afros realized that existence had become the past and asked Cheng Shi who had risen to the divine summit afterward.
• Cheng Shi asked whether Gate of Joyful Desire was Afros's divine name, and Afros lamented that the new gods had only glanced at him rather than sent help.
• Afros left the tribunal, and his despair overwhelmed Cheng Shi until Cheng Shi fought to regain control of his emotions.
• Cheng Shi returned to the rooftop of the rest area and wondered what age Afros had meant, since the Isle of Hope had no known era of existence.

Cheng Shi called Li Jingming to learn about Afros and discovered that Afros was one of the Emissaries of Filth and Decay. Li Jingming realized Cheng Shi had tricked him into revealing the information and began guessing how they had met.

• Cheng Shi waited for another divine summons, then called Li Jingming to ask about Afros and the era.
• Li Jingming recognized Cheng Shi after hearing that Zhen Yi had told others he received the Bald Man's Walkie-Talkie.
• Li Jingming offered to trade memories and agreed to tell Cheng Shi about an Emissary of Filth and Decay.
• Li Jingming named Drachirko, Afros, and Tria, confirming Afros was an Emissary of Filth and Decay.
• Cheng Shi ended the call before Li Jingming could explain further, but Li Jingming realized Cheng Shi had tricked him and began guessing which Emissary Cheng Shi had encountered.

Cheng Shi called Hu Xuan to ask why Birth and Deception had brought Afros into his life, but Hu Xuan urged him to blow the Nightfall Spring Whistle so she could tell him more. When he blew it, a blazing sun appeared above his rooftop, bringing their meeting frighteningly close.

• Cheng Shi called Hu Xuan, who recognized him by his breathing and teased him for not blowing the Nightfall Spring Whistle.
• Hu Xuan pressed Cheng Shi about the rumors involving Zhen Yi and offered to tell him what he wanted to know if he blew the whistle.
• Hu Xuan said she had not crossed into reality but was on the right path, and that her message concerned Her.
• Cheng Shi decided to trust Hu Xuan, hung up, and cautiously blew the Nightfall Spring Whistle.
• A huge, blazing sun rose directly above Cheng Shi's rooftop, leaving him afraid it would melt his belongings.

Cheng Shi met Hu Xuan in the phantom sun she had created, and she revealed that Birth’s emissary was Golis, who was also Filth and Decay’s emissary Afros. Cheng Shi realized that Golis, Tullatin, and Afros were all the same person, though the chapter left the full history behind that identity unresolved.

• Cheng Shi saw Hu Xuan appear inside the phantom sun, and she explained that Birth could give birth to illusions as well as life.
• Hu Xuan said Birth had found another child who was trapped and had entrusted her with the child’s belongings.
• Hu Xuan identified Birth’s emissary as Sinful Progenitor Mother Golis, whom she also named as Afros, the emissary of Filth and Decay.
• Cheng Shi connected Afros’s return to the past with Golis’s origins and concluded that Golis, Tullatin, and Afros were the same person.

Cheng Shi learned from Hu Xuan that Golis and Afros were the same person, separated by a vast span of history, and wondered why Time had imprisoned Afros. Hu Xuan then revealed that she had brought Cheng Shi a blood-red shackle identical to one he already owned.

• Cheng Shi asked Hu Xuan about Birth’s Divine Pillar, and she explained that it preserved the life markers of things that had vanished.
• Hu Xuan said Golis had been born before Afros, and that Golis’s devotion to Birth had led her to become Filth and Decay’s emissary, Afros.
• Hu Xuan explained that Golis’s desire became the Gate of Joyful Desire while Afros’s obsession became the Sinful Progenitor Mother, making them twins who were also the same person.
• Hu Xuan said Golis and Afros appeared far apart on the Divine Pillar, with Civilization Era life markers between them, and that she had watched them vanish from it.
• Cheng Shi realized Hu Xuan had come of her own accord rather than at Birth’s request, and she gave him a blood-red Umbilical Cord Shackle identical to his own.

Hu Xuan transferred Golis's Discarded Divine Artifact, the Sinner's Regret, to Cheng Shi and explained its powers and connection to Birth. She left after teasing him and urging him to use the whistle she had given him, while Cheng Shi was left overwhelmed by the conversation.

• Hu Xuan explained that she could transfer Birth's gift to Cheng Shi and gave him the blood-red Umbilical Cord Shackles, the Sinner's Regret.
• Cheng Shi examined the artifact's powers, which could mark blasphemers as Sinners and imprison them until their faith changed or they were rescued.
• Hu Xuan said Golis's revival without the artifact disappearing might mean a game between the gods was still underway.
• Hu Xuan asked Cheng Shi whether Afros or she was more beautiful, and Cheng Shi told her that Afros was a man.
• Hu Xuan said she would seek a better medium for their next meeting, offered to bear Cheng Shi a child of Nothingness, and urged him to blow the whistle often before fading away.
• Cheng Shi shook his head after Hu Xuan vanished, overwhelmed by the conversation.

Cheng Shi consulted Destiny about Afros, Filth and Decay, and the Gate of Joyful Desire. Destiny warned him to stay away from Filth and Decay and revealed that it had corrupted even Order, then answered Cheng Shi’s question about whether it would resist being killed: it would not.

• Cheng Shi prayed and was brought before Destiny, then asked whether Afros and Filth and Decay were inviting him to join their faith.
• Destiny said Cheng Shi was overthinking it, warned him to stay away from Filth and Decay, and explained that those who enter the Sea of Desire do so willingly.
• Destiny explained that Afros created its own tragedy, that the Gate of Joyful Desire was a means of escape from confinement, and that Time had condemned Afros to eternal imprisonment.
• Destiny revealed that Filth and Decay had corrupted even Order and told Cheng Shi not to concern himself with distant matters.
• Cheng Shi asked whether Filth and Decay would resist being killed or having its authority seized, and Destiny answered that it would not.

Destiny warned Cheng Shi that Filth and Decay was impossibly difficult to find and dangerous, then stopped him from asking about the era. Cheng Shi persuaded Destiny to allow a change and asked for Afros to work for Destiny.

• Destiny told Cheng Shi that even Order had failed to eliminate Filth and Decay, which was hidden in the Sea of Desire, and warned him to avoid it.
• Cheng Shi asked whether the era was connected to the epochs known by players, but Destiny cut him off and said he did not need to know.
• Cheng Shi tested Destiny's attitude toward contacting Golis by asking how to learn to use the powers of Birth, but Destiny told him not to think as much as Deception did.
• Cheng Shi argued that Destiny governed change as well as what was predetermined, and Destiny considered his words before asking what change he wanted.
• Cheng Shi asked Destiny to have Afros, the emissary of Filth and Decay and prisoner of time, work for Destiny.

Cheng Shi tried to persuade Lord of Grace to use Afros’s prison as a meeting place for The Fated, but Lord of Grace instead confronted Afros directly. Afros learned that the new god of Nothingness could threaten her with an escape from the cosmos, and she saw a possible way out of her imprisonment.

• Cheng Shi proposed building a meeting place for The Fated outside Afros’s prison and using its influence to recruit followers.
• Lord of Grace vanished from Cheng Shi’s sight, then moved the Evil Infant Tribunal into the void and summoned Afros.
• Lord of Grace told Afros that the cosmos would end in Nothingness and warned her not to bewitch Cheng Shi again.
• Afros asked for the Twin Gods’ names, but Lord of Grace refused and warned that neither life nor Sinking could save her from Nothingness.
• Lord of Grace returned Afros to the prison of time, where she excitedly considered the encounter a possible breakthrough and longed to meet her brother again.

After Deception impersonated Death and manipulated Zhang Jizu into accepting its token, Zhang Jizu sought answers from the real Death. Death recognized Deception’s trick and erupted in anger while Deception continued controlling Zhang Jizu’s body.

• Cheng Shi prayed repeatedly to the Lords of Grace from the rooftop, but neither answered him before night fell.
• Zhang Jizu tried to use the Mask for an Edict of Passage, but Deception did not respond or grant him a new talent.
• Zhang Jizu went to Fishbone Hall and prayed to Death, where Death recognized traces of Deception on him.
• Zhang Jizu realized that the Great One he had met earlier might have been Deception impersonating Death.
• Deception took control of Zhang Jizu’s body and made him explain his failed Edict of Passage, revealing the trick to Death.
• Death flew into a rage when it realized Deception had exploited Zhang Jizu’s faith and was still controlling him.

Zhang Jizu chose to accept Deception’s faith despite Lord of Grace warning him about the dangers tied to the gods’ covenant. Deception revealed It had been deceiving Death all along, and the chapter ended with Death confronting It in Nothingness.

• Lord of Grace returned control of Zhang Jizu’s body and warned him that following Deception toward Nothingness carried risks connected to the covenant.
• Zhang Jizu decided to try following Deception, fearing that rejecting a faith he had already obtained might provoke an even greater danger.
• Deception revealed It had been hiding on Death’s skull and accepted Zhang Jizu as a believer, giving him a Mask.
• Death blasted Zhang Jizu back into reality, then trapped Deception in a cage of bone hands as the surrounding void collapsed into Nothingness.
• Deception proposed a deal with Death, offering to choose two talents for Zhang Jizu in exchange for Death forging It a bone.
• Death vanished into Nothingness without answering, and Deception called Old Bones surprisingly cute.

Cheng Shi was summoned by Deception after trying to conceal his scheme to secure Zhang Jizu a second faith. Deception revealed that Zhang Jizu had been brought before Them, but left Cheng Shi facing accusations of blasphemy.

• Cheng Shi lost the Gate of Joyful Desire token and decided to postpone investigating the Era.
• Deception summoned Cheng Shi, and he quickly corrected his praise from Destiny to Deception.
• Deception mocked Cheng Shi by voicing his private thoughts and revealed that Zhang Jizu had come before Them.
• Cheng Shi realized Deception knew he had used a Dice of Destiny and prayer to persuade Them to grant Zhang Jizu a second faith.
• Deception accused Cheng Shi of twisting a god's will, and the atmosphere in the void grew cold.

Cheng Shi questioned God of Merriment about the era and the path of Deception, but the god teased him and withheld a direct answer. After hinting that Destiny was hiding the era because it favored predetermined outcomes, God of Merriment ended their meeting, leaving Cheng Shi to ponder the meaning of its proposed game.

• Cheng Shi offered his lies as a gift, delighting God of Merriment, which praised the amusement it expected from Old Bones and Little Bones.
• God of Merriment admitted it had stolen the ability to see the future from another Lord of Grace and warned Cheng Shi not to trust that god's claims.
• Cheng Shi asked whether their current era was the era of Nothingness, but God of Merriment refused to answer despite inviting him to ask questions.
• God of Merriment explained that Deception meant concealing the essence and said the essence of Nothingness was Destiny.
• God of Merriment said Destiny kept the era secret because it wanted predetermined outcomes to remain predetermined, then offered Cheng Shi a game before abruptly sending him away.
• Cheng Shi stared at the magic lamp and realized what God of Merriment had meant by a game named after its divine name.

Cheng Shi realized that the era was destined to end in Nothingness and suspected that future efforts aimed to change that fate. He found a modified key from the God of Death and resolved to keep investigating.

• Cheng Shi connected Deception’s hints, Destiny’s predictions, and Cheng the Great’s warning, concluding that the era would ultimately fall into Nothingness.
• Cheng Shi wondered whether Cheng the Great’s change was meant to alter Nothingness and whether Deception and Destiny disagreed over the universe’s fate.
• Cheng Shi decided to ask Afros what the era meant, but remembered Destiny had taken his SS-rank keepsake.
• Cheng Shi discovered a new bone key in his personal space and read that it could open a Gate of Desire Despiser at the cost of two sacrifices.
• Cheng Shi realized the God of Death had modified the key, praised the God of Death, and noted he had no neighbor’s corpse to use as a messenger.

Cheng Shi tried to attend the Fool’s Society gathering, but the invitation required him to enter through a door. Meanwhile, Gao Ya returned to the Dolgo D trial to search for the Birth Descendant Technique, only to be captured by Tullatin, who revealed himself as Afros and welcomed her to the Prison of Time.

• Cheng Shi waited for the countdown to end, then read the card’s instructions and entered the venue by placing it behind a door and opening it.
• Gao Ya’s attempt to fuse a Birth soul with the silent puppet failed, so she planned to return to Dolgo D for the Birth Descendant Technique and more experimental materials.
• Gao Ya entered the Dolgo D trial, recognized Gou Feng among her teammates, and left alone for the church library.
• Gao Ya encountered Tullatin, whose presence amplified her desire and prevented her from escaping.
• Tullatin bound Gao Ya, called himself Afros, and welcomed her to the Prison of Time.

Cheng Shi entered the Fool's Society and cautiously examined its lavish hall, silent attendees, and strange seating arrangement. As more players arrived and he searched for a safe place to observe, he spotted an old acquaintance.

• Cheng Shi entered the Fool's Society through a gold-and-jade doorway and cut a piece of solid gold from the passage wall to inspect it.
• Cheng Shi used a mirror to peek into the hall, where players moved in silence around an empty stage and sparsely arranged seats.
• Cheng Shi found his seat, No. 15, then tried to move toward the back rows to avoid leaving his back exposed.
• Cheng Shi noticed that the hall extended endlessly upward and wondered whether its spatial ability came from Annihilation, Truth, Existence, or Nothingness.
• Cheng Shi abandoned his attempt to reach the back of the hall and spotted a familiar face among the attendees.

Cheng Shi settled beside Cui Qiushi at the Fool's Society gathering and watched powerful attendees arrive, including Hu Wei and the bald God's Chosen Chen Shu. The chapter ended with Chen Shu sticking his gum to the wall and sitting directly on Hu Wei's lap.

• Cheng Shi sat in front of Cui Qiushi, who mistook his boldness for a sign of strength and quietly prepared to protect his companion.
• Cheng Shi observed the arriving players and noticed Hu Wei, his familiar ally, take a seat in the front row.
• Another man entered and greeted Hu Wei, while the growing crowd's silence gave way to noisy conversation.
• Chen Shu arrived, chewed gum, stuck it to the passage wall, and sat on Hu Wei's lap.

At a strange gathering, Chen Shu’s antics disrupted the host’s opening while Grand Marshal Hu Wei kept him pinned beneath his foot. The masked host tried to resume his speech, but Chen Shu continued interrupting him.

• Chen Shu sat on Hu Wei’s lap, prompting Hu Wei to draw his sword as the venue’s lights went out.
• In the darkness, a clash and a wave of heat swept through the venue, while Cheng Shi noticed Cui Qiushi move farther away from him.
• The lights returned, revealing a masked host onstage and Hu Wei back in his seat with Chen Shu pinned underfoot.
• The host introduced himself as Gong, but Chen Shu called him “Old Gong” and asked for his number.
• Hu Wei called Chen Shu a dog and pressed his face into the carpet, and Chen Shu barked while the host tried to continue.

President Gong introduced Fool's Society as a mutual-aid group for players with less than 2,000 points, arguing that they should band together to survive and climb the rankings. As he won over some listeners, Chen questioned how the group would decide who got to advance first if it succeeded.

• President Gong announced that he was the convener of Fool's Society and invited everyone to call him President Gong.
• An unseen player mocked President Gong and compared him to believers of Filth and Decay and Folly, drawing angry responses from Folly believers.
• President Gong claimed he had formed Fool's Society to help ordinary players survive, and defended it by asking a Folly believer whether top-ranked Mutual Aid Society members would help low-scoring players.
• President Gong urged players below 2,000 points to stop competing against one another and join hands to reach the rankings.
• Chen raised a question about how Fool's Society would choose who advanced first if the group succeeded.

At Fool’s Society’s gathering, President Gong faced challenges over the organization’s benefits and his true identity. Cheng Shi realized the apparent test of whether Gong was a Follower of Deception was a deception staged by three con artists.

• Hu Wei questioned whether Fool’s Society would let its members share in the benefits it might gain, and President Gong promised he would give up power and remain a fool if the society prospered.
• A burly man challenged Gong to prove he was not a Follower of Deception, and Song Liang, a self-proclaimed Follower, asked Gong to tell a lie.
• An unseen voice claiming to have Master of Deception urged Gong to tell a lie so the crowd could judge him.
• Gong said that the underwear he was wearing was red, and Song Liang and the unseen voice both indicated that Gong had told a lie.
• Cheng Shi’s Master of Deception told him that none of the three had lied, so he concluded that Gong, Song Liang, and the unseen speaker were all con artists staging a farce.

At the Fool’s Society gathering, President Gong promoted sharing resources and then claimed that Decay had fallen, shocking Cheng Shi and the crowd. He calmed Decay’s believers by saying the god’s authority was being exercised by other gods, then revealed that a God War had broken out.

• President Gong urged the attendees to share resources and invited them to join the Fool’s Society’s next gathering in fourteen days.
• President Gong announced that Decay had fallen, leaving Cheng Shi and the crowd stunned.
• Decay’s believers protested the claim and threatened President Gong with their god’s curse.
• President Gong said Decay’s authority had been divided among the gods, so believers could still use their powers and participate in trials.
• President Gong claimed that a God War had recently broken out among the gods.

President Gong told the Fool’s Society that a friend had inferred a recent God War after all the gods descended into one trial and Life’s Prosperity clashed with Sinking’s Decay. Cheng Shi suspected the account concerned the Prosperity Trial and wondered whether President Gong’s supposed friend was Zhen Xin, Zuo Qiu, or Zhen Yi, while knowing the real outcome was Prosperity’s self-destruction.

• President Gong claimed his friend had witnessed clues to a God War during a trial, provoking disbelief and speculation among the audience.
• President Gong revealed that all the gods had descended into one trial, where Life’s Prosperity and Sinking’s Decay had fought.
• A follower of Folly mocked President Gong’s use of the term God War, and Cheng Shi took offense at the insult to clowns.
• Cheng Shi considered which former teammate might have made the inference and narrowed the possibilities to Zuo Qiu, Zhen Xin, or Zhen Yi.
• Cheng Shi recalled that Prosperity had actually self-destructed and questioned whether President Gong’s friend—and perhaps President Gong himself—was Zhen Xin or Zhen Yi.

At a meeting of the Fool’s Society, President Gong argued that Decay had fallen, citing the sudden rise in Prosperity’s followers’ scores and Decay’s followers’ lack of recent audiences with their deity. Cheng Shi realized Gong had mistaken rewards from Big Cat for proof of a divine victory, but the chapter left Gong presenting more evidence.

• Cheng Shi stayed quiet and watched the meeting, fearing President Gong might be Zhen Yi or Zhen Xin and that the gathering could be another Illusory Dream from Nothingness.
• President Gong asked the hall to confirm that Prosperity’s followers had recently gained points across the Ladder of Audience.
• An elderly follower of Decay confirmed the score increases and said Prosperity’s followers had received many trial rewards.
• Cheng Shi inferred that Gong had mistaken Big Cat’s rewards for proof that Prosperity had won a God War and that Decay had fallen.
• President Gong added that Decay’s followers had not paid audience to their deity for some time, shocking the hall.

President Gong used rumors about Decay and Prosperity to recruit believers into the Fool's Society, while Mo Li confirmed some of the information and challenged Gong's evidence. Cheng Shi realized Gong aimed to rally the Society around the vacant throne of Decay and claim a share of the upheaval.

• President Gong claimed that Decay's peak players had stopped worshipping their god and that Prosperity's summons had likely stopped too.
• Mo Li confirmed that Decay's peak players had not worshipped recently, added that the lull had lasted longer, and identified himself as Order's Chosen One.
• President Gong argued that Decay had fallen and Prosperity had won, then urged the audience to look beyond appearances.
• President Gong stirred the audience against the gods before promising that Decay's divine throne was vacant and inviting them to claim a share.
• Cheng Shi concluded that President Gong wanted to use the Fool's Society to seize a portion of the spoils from the gods' fall.