Recaps

Cheng Shi had Da Yi capture a Doom Herald after a group of players appeared in Rosna, while Qu Yan secretly followed the fleeing players. The captured Herald revealed that they had reached this era by deconstructing a teleportation array’s spacetime connection.

• Cheng Shi told Da Yi that Destiny had turned in their favor and ordered him to capture the clever stranger in the crowd, then sent Qu Yan to follow the group.
• Rosnan citizens formed a wall around the remaining World Destroyers, while the players fled, fearing the Divine Envoy and a hidden Assassin.
• Cui Hong, Bao, and Nangong argued about whether to retreat and whether the Gift of Scars was worth pursuing, then headed toward the outskirts as Qu Yan followed them.
• Da Yi knocked out a Doom Herald and brought him to Cheng Shi, who questioned him at knifepoint.
• The Doom Herald said his group had returned to Rosna in this era by deconstructing the teleportation array’s spacetime connection.

Doom Herald explained how his group entered a trial at the Tower of Reason during Pelaya’s rebellion and followed Grand Marshal Hu Wei into Pelaya’s laboratory. He began describing the experiment involving a Desolate Walker’s corpse, but the chapter ended before revealing what happened next.

• Cheng Shi questioned Doom Herald about his trial and why he had returned through the teleportation array.
• Doom Herald said his group’s trial took place during Pelaya’s rebellion at the Tower of Reason.
• Doom Herald described Bellicose Knights trapping his group in a research institute before Hu Wei and his companions arrived and fought their way through the knights.
• Doom Herald said Hu Wei’s group led his companions to Pelaya’s laboratory, where they found the corpse of a Desolate Walker.
• Doom Herald explained that Pelaya’s scholars had sought to locate the Desolate Walker’s soul and create an artificial envoy, but the experiment had been shelved.
• Doom Herald said Hu Wei’s companions tried to restart the experiment as Scholarly Council Grand Scholars arrived to confiscate its materials.

Doom Herald explained how his group stole Pelaya's experimental results and reached the underground prison while the Grand Marshal and other factions fought. Cheng Shi realized the five newcomers might lead him to the Gift of Scars and decided they needed to be allowed to act.

• Doom Herald recounted how Cui Hong proposed recreating Pelaya's experiment and He Zu killed the Desire Master after they argued about pursuing the Gift of Scars.
• Doom Herald said his group copied the experiment, stole Pelaya's results, and reached the underground prison while the Grand Marshal and others were occupied fighting.
• Da Yi questioned Doom Herald about why Old Hu and the others had not returned, then wondered whether one of the newcomers was a Destiny believer.
• Cheng Shi concluded that the five players were likely connected to the Gift of Scars and signaled Da Yi to release Doom Herald.

Cheng Shi revived the Disciple of Silence, then investigated Kannaal City and received a report from the silent Hunter. The report named the Decay Priest as Nangong, leaving Cheng Shi thinking of an old acquaintance.

• Doom Herald chose to follow Cheng Shi, but Cheng Shi had Da Yi throw him out; Doom Herald then vowed to make a name for himself, while Da Yi secretly tracked him.
• Cheng Shi revived the Disciple of Silence, who fled after realizing the Gift of Scars was beyond his reach.
• Cheng Shi searched Kannaal City for clues and returned to the imperial court to investigate the First Prince's secret chamber.
• The silent Hunter sent Cheng Shi a report saying the Decay Priest, Nangong, was heading toward the imperial court.
• Cheng Shi recognized Nangong's name and thought of an old acquaintance.

Cheng Shi reunited with Nangong in the First Prince’s residence and tricked her unconscious with an exploding cola bottle. He suspected she was hiding the Gift of Scars, then confronted an unseen observer in the smoke.

• Cheng Shi startled Nangong by appearing behind her with cola, and she fled awkwardly before recognizing him.
• Nangong claimed she had come to search for the Gift of Scars, but Cheng Shi’s Master of Deception revealed she was lying.
• Cheng Shi noticed Nangong was hiding a dagger and suspected she had found the Gift of Scars and brought it back to the residence.
• Cheng Shi offered Nangong cola as a friendly gesture, then knocked her unconscious when the bottle exploded into smoke.
• Cheng Shi drew two scalpels and challenged the person watching from the smoke to reveal themselves.

Cheng Shi provoked the hidden presence beneath Nangong and discovered it was Dizer, who offered him a contract and a path to godhood. Cheng Shi frightened Dizer by claiming he had witnessed Prosperity's fall and destroyed Lele'er, and the final slot in his ring filled as Dizer believed him.

• Cheng Shi reached for Nangong's ring to test whether the hidden presence would react, and Dizer spoke from beneath her.
• Dizer recognized Lele'er's aura and asked why Cheng Shi carried it, then offered him a contract promising a path to the divine throne.
• Cheng Shi saw through Dizer's pitch and inferred that Prosperity's fall had disrupted Dizer's plans.
• Cheng Shi claimed to be a Prosperity Hunter who had witnessed Prosperity's fall and torn out Lele'er's roots to forge her divinity into a ring.
• Dizer believed Cheng Shi, and the final slot in Cheng Shi's ring filled.

Cheng Shi confronted Dizer, the soul inhabiting the Gift of Scars, and used his knowledge of Prosperity to make her believe he was a hunter who knew her secrets. Dizer attacked him with Decay, but Prosperity’s Authority of Vitality kept him alive, leaving Dizer enraged and disbelieving.

• Dizer told Cheng Shi she knew Lele'er was still alive, but his bluff had already made her panic.
• Dizer used the Gift of Scars to unleash its stored Decay and attack Cheng Shi.
• The Gift of Scars became a vine covered in eye-like fruit and bound Cheng Shi with rays and vines of Decay.
• Cheng Shi’s body and spirit withered under the attack, but Prosperity’s Authority of Vitality prevented him from dying.
• Dizer saw Prosperity’s authority protecting Cheng Shi and raged that Prosperity could never have shared it with anyone.

Cheng Shi confronted Dizer, revealed himself as Fool's Play and a Hunter of Prosperity, and used Tongue of Lies to break Dizer's contract with Nangong. Nangong woke and tried to protect Cheng Shi, only to discover that he was the Progeny Priest she feared.

• Dizer raged at Cheng Shi for opposing him, and Cheng Shi said Dizer had made him an enemy by lying first.
• Cheng Shi introduced himself as Fool's Play, an envoy and Hunter of Prosperity, then stopped when Dizer warned that Nangong would die if he did.
• Cheng Shi realized Tongue of Lies could consume Dizer's false contract, woke Nangong, and watched her shield him from Gift of Scars.
• Tongue of Lies slapped Nangong and broke the contract, freeing her while Cheng Shi threatened to pull Dizer's divine branches and fruit out himself.
• Gift of Scars turned back into a dagger, and Nangong recognized Cheng Shi as the Progeny Priest.

Cheng Shi subdued the Gift of Scars and listened as Nangong explained how she had obtained the dagger during her first Special Trial in Kannaal City. Her account revealed that the city’s recorded history had been altered, and she began describing the deaths that led to the dagger coming into her possession.

• Cheng Shi wrapped the Gift of Scars in the Tongue of Lies and stored it after Dizer surrendered.
• Nangong apologized and confirmed that her contract with the dagger had been broken.
• Nangong told Cheng Shi that her first Special Trial took place in Kannaal City, where a clever Foolish player found the Gift of Scars before she did.
• Nangong explained that the Foolish player used the dagger to restore Decay in Rosna, and a Singer of Memory rewrote the event into history.
• Nangong said the Foolish player led the city’s faithful in an attack against the World Destroyers, and Cheng Shi deduced that the group died on the walls and Dizer found her there.

Cheng Shi learned why Nangong had returned and offered to help her change her faith so she could escape Decay’s curse. He believed his deductions about Decay’s motives might help him clear the trial, though he was still uncertain what Decay sought from the Primordial Origin.

• Nangong told Cheng Shi that Dizer had guided her to the Trial of Changing Masters because Decay’s offerings had made her suffer and the artifact spirit needed a more ambitious master.
• Nangong thanked Cheng Shi and admitted she had tried to keep the Gift of Scars from targeting him.
• Cheng Shi warned Nangong that she would still have to make offerings to Decay if she kept believing in Him, then asked whether she had considered changing her faith.
• Nangong reacted with astonishment, and Cheng Shi explained that he wanted to test whether he could help her abandon her faith.
• Cheng Shi recalled using the oath-abandonment feast to probe Decay’s intentions and reasoned that Decay might be using universal decay to beg the Primordial Origin for attention.

Cheng Shi speculated that Decay was trying to make the cosmos’s decay recede and offered Nangong a chance to change her faith to Prosperity. Nangong accepted the risky experiment, and Cheng Shi told her to pray to Decay and beg to be released from her faith.

• Cheng Shi reasoned that Decay’s changing strategies might be an attempt to win the Origin’s attention and that Decay was now trying to disappear.
• Cheng Shi offered Nangong the chance to change her faith to Prosperity, warning her that Decay might curse her and that he could not guarantee her safety.
• Nangong hesitated over the danger and her debt to Cheng Shi, then agreed to try after he assured her she would not die.
• Cheng Shi instructed Nangong to pray to Decay and beg to be freed from the shackles of her faith.
• Nangong asked whether Cheng Shi was deceiving her, and he replied, “I Never Lie.”

Cheng Shi’s improvised prayer freed Nangong from Decay’s faith and restored the imperial court, but Decay also bestowed its partial authority on him. As the snow stopped, Cheng Shi realized the World Destroyers had arrived.

• Cheng Shi taught Nangong a prayer asking Decay to release her faith, and she repeated it in the ravaged imperial court.
• Decay sent down divine light that removed the decay, restored the court, healed Nangong, and released her from her faith.
• Cheng Shi discovered that Decay’s light had also struck him, giving him the partial Authority of Decay called “Faded.”
• Cheng Shi told Nangong to pray to Prosperity after the trial and include his name.
• Nangong noticed the snow had stopped, and Cheng Shi realized the World Destroyers had arrived.

Cheng Shi learned that the trial had ended, sent Nangong away, and gathered Da Yi and Qu Yan as the World Destroyers approached Kannaal City. Qu Yan had unexpectedly gained Decay as a second faith, leaving Cheng Shi puzzled but newly confident he could punish the chameleon if he betrayed him.

• Cheng Shi told Nangong her trial was over, and she left Kannaal City after thanking him.
• Da Yi and Qu Yan reported that the trial had ended and their targets had disappeared; Cheng Shi said he had found the key to clearing it and declared the mission for Dizer's soul void.
• Cheng Shi promised Da Yi he might still walk the Chaos Divine Steps, then led him and Qu Yan toward the city wall as the World Destroyers arrived.
• Qu Yan revealed through his thoughts that Decay had made him a Dusk Hunter and granted him a second faith after he had disguised himself as one.
• Cheng Shi sensed Qu Yan's new power and realized he could use the Faded One's authority against the chameleon if he rebelled.

Cheng Shi, Da Yi, and Qu Yan faced the World Destroyers gathered outside Kannaal City, where Da Yi discovered that their leader was the Envoy of Annihilation, Hand of Purity Herobas. The three left the Trial before Herobas’s forces destroyed Rosna’s capital, and Cheng Shi received no rewards for clearing it.

• Cheng Shi realized Doom Herald’s singing may have summoned the World Destroyers ahead of time.
• Da Yi charged the World Destroyers with his iron thorns but retreated after nearly being killed by an expert among them.
• Cheng Shi, Da Yi, and Qu Yan saw Herobas order the World Destroyers to unleash annihilation on the city.
• Cheng Shi left the Trial, and Da Yi and Qu Yan followed after recognizing Herobas as the Envoy of Annihilation.
• The World Destroyers dragged Rosna’s capital into annihilation and reduced it to dust.
• Cheng Shi cleared the Trial with an S rating but gained no score or rewards.

Qu Yan gained Decay as a second faith after serving Lord Foolish Play, while Hu Wei learned that Da Yi had mistaken Cheng Shi for Lord Ultraman and reported that Lin Xi had merged with Annihilation. In a trial basement, Mo Shu attacked Zhang Jizu over a grudge, but an assassin joined the fight after hearing Cheng Shi's name, and their clash destroyed the room.

• Qu Yan tested his new Decay blessing by turning an arrow into a Withered Vine Thorn Arrow and rotting a tree with Sudden Twilight.
• Da Yi told Hu Wei that Lord Ultraman had recruited him and Qu Yan, and Hu Wei grew suspicious because Cheng Shi seemed to have many identities.
• Hu Wei told Da Yi that Lin Xi had merged with Annihilation and posed a threat.
• Mo Shu freed the players bound in the basement and challenged Zhang Jizu, whom he called Skeleton Xiaoqiang.
• An assassin intervened, confirmed Zhang Jizu knew Cheng Shi, and asked Mo Shu about his grudge against the priest.
• Mo Shu, Zhang Jizu, and the assassin fought until their powers collapsed the basement.

Jiang Chi realized Cheng Shi had retained his memories in the Time Battlefield and feared that his identity and carefully built combat system would be exposed. Nangong confirmed she had escaped Decay and recorded Cheng Shi’s name again in gratitude, while Cheng Shi returned to the rooftop and found his boss waiting to collect a debt.

• Jiang Chi woke in a temple with fragmented memories, concluded Cheng Shi had retained his memories in the Time Battlefield, and feared his secret would ruin his combat system.
• A remnant soul trapped in an unknown space accumulated enough fear to revive but remained unable to escape the space’s rules.
• Nangong confirmed that Decay and the Gift of Scars were gone, then wrote Cheng Shi’s name in her gratitude ledger for a third time.
• Cheng Shi returned to the rooftop and found his boss waiting for him, making him fear She had come to collect the debt.

Memory confronted Cheng Shi over the damage to its collection and cast him into a lost stretch of history. As the sea of Memory pulled him away from reality, Cheng Shi failed to reach any of the gods he called for and feared he was doomed.

• Memory accused Cheng Shi of being brave enough to help his two Lords of Grace smear its collection.
• Cheng Shi blamed Memory's believer, Singer, for rewriting history and argued that he himself had done nothing wrong.
• Memory told Cheng Shi that the present, not the past, determined whether he was an instigator.
• Memory dismissed Cheng Shi's argument and cast him into a lost stretch of history.
• Cheng Shi called on the gods and tried to use his rings to send a distress signal, but no one responded.

Cheng Shi used the Eternal Prisoner of Time to persuade Memory to pull him out of the sea of memories, but Memory told him the ring was not Time’s answer and warned him about Nothingness’s interest in him. After Memory vanished, Cheng Shi wondered whether he was a prisoner of Nothingness, then fell asleep on the rooftop.

• Cheng Shi realized Memory had not intended to kill him and guessed the Eternal Prisoner of Time was the answer Memory had hinted at.
• Cheng Shi touched the ring and shouted that he had found the answer, causing Memory to pull him out of the sea of memories.
• Memory told Cheng Shi that the ring was not the answer and warned him that Time’s answer might not suit him, while cautioning him not to judge *Him by appearances.
• Cheng Shi asked Memory why he had been chosen, and Memory explained that Nothingness’s interests drew the attention of other powers, including Memory, Time, Death, and Them.
• After Memory vanished, Cheng Shi realized Memory might be sowing discord and wondered whether he was a prisoner of Deception, Destiny, or Nothingness before falling asleep.

Cheng Shi awoke in the Chaos Divine Steps and learned that the Lord of Grace had brought him there after his encounter with Memory. Chaos then sent him to the Steps’ entrance dressed like Katarro, where Hu Wei was approaching, leaving Cheng Shi to impersonate Ultraman and deceive him.

• Cheng Shi woke in the Chaos Divine Steps and learned from Katarro that the Lord of Grace had summoned him there after he encountered Memory.
• Cheng Shi questioned what Chaos intended and whether It had heard his encounter with Memory, while Katarro confirmed that the Lord of Grace was present.
• Chaos transformed the divine palace, lifted Cheng Shi into the yellow mist, and dropped him at the entrance to the Chaos Divine Steps.
• Cheng Shi discovered he was wearing a turbid yellow religious robe as Hu Wei approached through a passage from Giggle and Mock.
• Cheng Shi realized Chaos wanted him to impersonate Ultraman and decided to use the chance to find out whether Hu Wei was human or ghost.

Cheng Shi welcomed Hu Wei and Da Yi as Lord Ultraman, dismissed Hu Wei’s suspicions, and explained that he was experimenting with Cheng Shi’s identity on behalf of his lord. He then sent them toward the Chaos Divine Steps to pursue their wish to meet the gods.

• Hu Wei and Da Yi arrived on the platform, and Cheng Shi guessed that Hu Wei had brought Da Yi to investigate his identity.
• Cheng Shi resolved to accept the situation and pursue his goal of winning Old Jia the top spot, despite his doubts about Chaos.
• Cheng Shi confronted Hu Wei about his suspicions, and Hu Wei accepted that he was Lord Ultraman and apologized.
• Cheng Shi explained that he had borrowed Cheng Shi’s identity for experiments concerning Nothingness and said others were eager to try it too.
• Cheng Shi pointed Hu Wei and Da Yi toward the Chaos Divine Steps, and Hu Wei asked how many steps he had to climb to meet his lord.

Da Yi tried to scout the Chaos Divine Steps but was shattered into symbols after flashing to the tenth step, then reconstituted. Hu Wei entered the steps after abandoning his war greatsword, and Cheng Shi concluded that the Grand Marshal secretly belonged to chaos before watching him break into a dance.

• Da Yi went first and carefully climbed the first step, resisting its influence to curse.
• Da Yi flashed toward the tenth step and disintegrated into symbols, leaving Cheng Shi and Hu Wei stunned.
• The Chaos Yellow Mist gathered Da Yi's symbols and restored him, and he wondered aloud whether he had defected.
• Hu Wei discarded his greatsword and walked onto the Chaos Divine Steps, leading Cheng Shi to believe Hu Wei was a chaos believer.
• Hu Wei began tap-dancing on the steps while Da Yi secretly recorded him on his phone, and Cheng Shi wondered how to copy the video.

Cheng Shi told Hu Wei and Da Yi that forgotten gods were reviving and revealed a coming mission involving a lesser god of Nothingness. He identified the god as Fool's Play, whose shattered Mask had to be recovered, leaving Hu Wei and Da Yi to anticipate a search for its fragments.

• Chaos Yellow Mist brought Hu Wei down from the divine steps after he reached only the fifth step, and Cheng Shi praised his talent.
• Cheng Shi told Hu Wei and Da Yi that several forgotten gods were reviving and that he was seeking ways to draw closer to Nothingness.
• Cheng Shi explained that Deception's lost envoy would soon return and that the envoy's shattered Mask had been scattered into fragments.
• Hu Wei concluded that their mission would involve finding the Mask fragments and might require help from the History School.
• Da Yi asked for the lesser god's name, and Cheng Shi identified him as Fool's Play.

Cheng Shi was dismissed from the Chaos temple, where Chaos explained why He had pushed Ultraman away from Nothingness and revealed the truth about Nothingness’s subordinate god. After Chaos departed, Destiny confronted Katarro, who survived by claiming to serve Lord Cheng Shi.

• Hu Wei asked Cheng Shi whether more people might be sent to help, and Cheng Shi told him he would find out in time.
• Cheng Shi asked whether Chaos would summon him again, but Chaos struck him from the void and sent him away.
• Katarro learned that Deception had no envoy named Foolish Play, while Destiny’s favored envoy was named Hope’s Flame.
• Chaos told Katarro that He had deliberately influenced Ultraman to leave Nothingness and that He needed to test the same answer about faith as Truth.
• Destiny arrived at the Temple of Chaos and questioned Katarro, who claimed to be Lord Cheng Shi’s servant until Destiny left.

Cheng Shi returned to the rest area and decided to seek Death for information about Chaos, but Death summoned him to Fishbone Hall first. There, Death began explaining why Truth had chosen Dizer’s body rather than his soul, starting with the Mother of Prosperity and the authority of Birth.

• Cheng Shi considered asking other gods about Chaos and decided to visit Death, though Xie Yang’s disappearance made arranging the meeting difficult.
• A bone door opened on the rooftop and summoned Cheng Shi to Death’s hall.
• Cheng Shi greeted Death with lavish praise, and Death remarked that his devotion sounded too much like Deception.
• Death asked Cheng Shi why Truth had chosen Dizer’s body instead of his soul, and Cheng Shi admitted he did not know.
• Death explained that the Mother of Prosperity had given birth to four offspring before stealing the authority of Birth, then asked Cheng Shi why she could do so.

Cheng Shi learned that Dizer and Lele'er were offspring of the Mother of Prosperity and that her fall was weakening their souls. The Great One took the Gift of Scars from Cheng Shi and declared that Dizer must die, but Cheng Shi saw a chance to make Dizer work alongside Lele'er.

• The enormous skull explained that the Mother of Prosperity had created offspring from parts of herself and later devoured them to grow stronger.
• Cheng Shi realized that Prosperity’s fall was weakening Dizer’s soul and could also harm Truth, which had devoured Dizer.
• The Great One took the Gift of Scars from Cheng Shi’s personal space and confronted Dizer, who reverted from dagger form to a dead branch.
• The Great One called Dizer an Oathbreaker and blasphemer and sentenced him to death for Prosperity’s part in Garuda’s fate.
• Cheng Shi picked up the Ring of Bone Servant Lele'er and urged the Great One to make Dizer work alongside Lele'er.