Recaps

Death fused divinity into Cheng Shi’s Ring of Bone Servant Lele'er, using Dizer’s death and the bones of Fishbone Hall to upgrade it. The transformed ring received the name Ring of the Atoning Son of Bone Servant, though Cheng Shi privately decided to call it the Death Amusement Ring.

• The Screaming Count lost hope and waited for death after witnessing Cheng Shi’s conversations with gods and others.
• Death considered Cheng Shi’s request to upgrade the ring, then merged it with the imprisoned Dizer.
• Dizer screamed as the dagger exploded, killing the former child of Prosperity in Fishbone Hall.
• Death summoned the skulls of Fishbone Hall, which poured streams of light into the ring until it transformed.
• Cheng Shi admired the changed ring and asked Death to name it, and Death called it the Ring of the Atoning Son of Bone Servant.
• Cheng Shi praised Death’s naming choice but privately settled on calling the ring the Death Amusement Ring.

Cheng Shi gained a demigod puppet ring and realized he had nearly met the requirements to become an apostle. After Death burned him to ash, the God of Merriment rescued him, and Cheng Shi learned that it had tried and failed to steal a new authority of Filth and Decay.

• Cheng Shi received the Ring of the Atoning Son of Bone Servant's Heir, a 4S demigod puppet containing fused divinity and powers fueled by fear.
• Cheng Shi recognized that his divided authorities and complete portion of divinity made him a false apostle, though he cared more about gaining strength to claim the top scholar position for Old Jia.
• Cheng Shi questioned why the ring lacked Decay effects, and Death's green flames burned him to ash before he could finish speaking.
• The God of Merriment pulled Cheng Shi's ashes out of Fishbone Hall and restored him to a tiny skull, then asked whose apostle he was.
• Death accused Deception of scheming to steal the new authority of Filth and Decay, and the God of Merriment admitted it had narrowly failed and blamed Cheng Shi for angering Death.

Cheng Shi broke the tense silence with God of Merriment by asking whether his Lord of Grace was harming him. God of Merriment identified Cheng Shi’s fear as a fear that kindness had an ulterior motive, leaving Cheng Shi waiting for an explanation.

• After Cheng Shi explained that he had only meant to dispose of the strand of Filth and Decay’s authority, Old Bones fled with Fishbone Hall.
• God of Merriment returned Cheng Shi to his original form, but the two remained silent as suspicion deepened between them.
• Cheng Shi decided he had to break the stalemate and asked God of Merriment whether it was harming him.
• God of Merriment asked why Cheng Shi was afraid, and Cheng Shi admitted he feared the unknown.
• God of Merriment said Cheng Shi was really afraid because there was no such thing as kindness without a reason, prompting Cheng Shi to await an explanation.

God of Merriment told Cheng Shi that even the gods feared the Primordial Origin, who had created everything and granted them their authorities. After Cheng Shi asked why he had been chosen, God of Merriment revealed that His choice had been Himself.

• God of Merriment warned Cheng Shi that people should fear unexplained kindness and asked whether He feared the Primordial Origin.
• God of Merriment explained that the Primordial Origin had created everything and bestowed divine names and authorities upon the gods.
• Cheng Shi’s thoughts blurred as he pondered the Primordial Origin, and God of Merriment called it punishment for blaspheming the gods.
• God of Merriment urged Cheng Shi to ask directly why he had been chosen, and Cheng Shi asked, “Why me?”
• God of Merriment laughed and answered that His choice had not been Cheng Shi, but Himself.

Cheng Shi reconsidered Deception’s fear of the Primordial Origin and realized the god had deliberately guided their conversation to answer his suspicions. After regaining his resolve to approach Deception, Cheng Shi asked what he should do, and Deception told him he could do nothing beyond fulfilling his duty as a player and liar.

• Cheng Shi deduced that the Covenant might protect the gods and their authorities from the Primordial Origin, and that Deception feared something about the end of the Void Era.
• Cheng Shi recognized that Deception had deliberately broken their conversational deadlock and explained what Cheng Shi had wanted to know.
• Cheng Shi credited Memory’s interference and Death’s gift of a complete divinity with helping him reach this understanding.
• After freeing himself from the Primordial Origin’s influence, Cheng Shi asked Deception what he should do.
• Deception mocked Cheng Shi’s lack of confidence and said that his duty was to be a player and a liar.

Cheng Shi questioned God of Merriment about the authority he had gained from Decay and learned that the gods were using him as a stake in their efforts to approach a mysterious existence. He realized their experiments with merging divinities served that larger goal, while God of Merriment admitted he did not know what he was doing.

• Cheng Shi showed God of Merriment the nail of his left little finger and began asking about the power he had received from Decay.
• God of Merriment said Decay was not truly merciful and explained that life before civilization had worshiped a mysterious existence fanatically.
• God of Merriment told Cheng Shi that Decay had granted him authority because he was a Walker of Nothingness, and that the gods were watching him as a stake in their plans.
• God of Merriment explained that Old Bones was studying the authority of Filth and Decay and using fear to bind otherwise incompatible divinities.
• Cheng Shi deduced that the gods were trying to approach the mysterious existence by experimenting with merged divinities, grafted faith, and artificial gods.
• Cheng Shi concluded that God of Merriment was the lone member of the Fear Faction and avoided saying so aloud.

Cheng Shi questioned the God of Merriment about Memory, Destiny, and the gods before being blown out of Nothingness. Afterward, Destiny confronted Deception, who admitted to misleading Cheng Shi and challenged Destiny’s plan for him.

• Cheng Shi asked the God of Merriment why Memory let its believers change history, and learned that Memory wanted existence’s will to take part in inevitable change.
• Cheng Shi asked where the gods who no longer occupied divine thrones had gone, but the God of Merriment mocked him and ended the audience.
• Before the gale swept Cheng Shi away, the God of Merriment revealed that Cheng Shi was its emissary, Lord Foolish Play.
• Destiny appeared and accused Deception of impersonating Memory and deceiving Cheng Shi.
• Deception defended its lies, saying Cheng Shi hated Destiny’s predestined future and accusing Destiny of planning to abandon him when the age collapsed.
• Destiny insisted that its plan was simply Destiny, while Deception said that it was the one who was no good.

After returning from a trial, Cheng Shi questioned Lips of Foolish Play about its relationship with God of Merriment, then received a call from Hong Lin about people probing his identity and a mummy who had protected Nangong. Cheng Shi learned the mummy was Cui Ding Tian and was relieved that he had survived.

• Cheng Shi returned to the rooftop and asked Lips of Foolish Play whether it had a problem with God of Merriment.
• Lips of Foolish Play said it did have a problem, then mocked Cheng Shi for repeatedly being deceived.
• Hong Lin called Cheng Shi and told him that many people had been probing into his identity.
• Hong Lin described Nangong's encounter in the Prayer Trial with a faithful protector who had become an Oathbreaker and embraced Decay.
• Cheng Shi recognized the mummy as Cui Ding Tian and rejoiced that he was still alive.

Cheng Shi and Hong Lin exchanged news about new faiths and the accelerating Faith Fusion before Cheng Shi proposed taking action against Yu Mu, the number two believer of Decay. He offered to capture her for Hong Lin, who asked whether he was serious.

• Hong Lin told Cheng Shi that Nangong had accepted the path of Destiny and was becoming a Fate Weaver.
• Hong Lin warned Cheng Shi that Lin Xi had embraced Annihilation and that he should be careful around him.
• Hong Lin said Faith Fusion was accelerating, shared rumors about Mo Li approaching War, and relayed Li Jingming’s information about 0221 and the experiments tied to Truth.
• Cheng Shi learned that Hong Lin had told Li Jingming that Prosperity had fallen and blamed Zhen Yi for the source of the information.
• Cheng Shi suggested targeting Yu Mu, and Hong Lin asked whether he was serious when he offered to capture her.

Cheng Shi learned more about Lin Renyu from Big Cat and planned to introduce her to Afros as a source of guidance on divine secrets. A skull servant arrived on the rooftop, and Cheng Shi recognized it as Old Zhang.

• Cheng Shi discussed using Yu Mu as a test subject and remembered that he still needed to make his Prosperity wish.
• Hong Lin told Cheng Shi that Lin Renyu was a Chaos-aligned Maestro of Lost Rhythms known for impersonating Chen Shu and causing trouble.
• Cheng Shi implied that Lin Renyu had been killed by someone powerful, and Hong Lin guessed that the killer shared Cheng Shi’s surname.
• Big Cat arranged to make her wish at three and agreed to meet Cheng Shi’s interesting new friend, Afros.
• A skull servant emerged onto the rooftop, questioned why Cheng Shi lived in an unstable place, and was recognized by Cheng Shi as Old Zhang.

Zhang Jizu used a gift from The Great One to find Cheng Shi and tell him that Poison had chosen Time as her second faith. Cheng Shi realized that Poison had become powerful and aligned herself with his opponent, leaving him stunned by Destiny’s strange turn of events.

• Zhang Jizu arrived at Cheng Shi’s rest area with a key bestowed by The Great One, and Cheng Shi teased him about receiving a reward.
• Cheng Shi sat on a chair to imitate The Great One looking down from the Bone Throne, then lifted Zhang Jizu onto it when he wanted to talk business.
• Zhang Jizu told Cheng Shi that Poison had helped him after the trial because of Cheng Shi.
• Zhang Jizu revealed that Poison had chosen Time as her second faith and that Evil Sin had become an Another Day Assassin.
• Cheng Shi realized Poison had joined his opponent’s side and was astonished by how events had unfolded.

Cheng Shi compared his second faith with Zhang Jizu, learning that Zhang’s Faith Fusion had granted him three talents while Cheng could only switch between two personalities and faiths. Zhang gave Cheng a bone communication key and left before Cheng could establish a clown alliance with him.

• Cheng Shi questioned Zhang Jizu about the previous trial, and Zhang said someone had used a memory-related ability on him.
• Zhang named Cheng as the sinner he wanted dealt with, revealing that Cheng was a Fate Weaver; Cheng realized the Master of Deception’s words were true and suspected Zhang had been affected by that power.
• Cheng explained that his faiths had not fused and that switching personalities changed his faith, while Zhang said he had gained three Deception talents and possessed nine talents in his Gravekeeper state.
• Zhang gave Cheng a bone key for communication and said allies needed to share information and resources.
• Cheng proposed calling their alliance the Clowns, but Zhang disappeared before he could finish.

Cheng Shi and Hong Lin entered a prosperity trial set in a courthouse, but Cheng Shi immediately used Sinner's Redemption to escape with her to Dolgo D. There, Afros learned that Hong Lin was Flazhol, Mother of Prosperity's eldest daughter, resurrected from death.

• Cheng Shi and Hong Lin matched into a trial where Order was being celebrated and appeared in a grand courthouse.
• Hong Lin questioned Cheng Shi's identity, but he confirmed who he was and used Sinner's Redemption to take them both to Dolgo D.
• The Iron Law Knights surrounded the four remaining players and began screening the courthouse spectators for anyone disrupting Order.
• Afros welcomed Cheng Shi and Hong Lin at the church assembly hall, while Hong Lin questioned why a follower of Filth and Decay was in Birth's territory.
• Afros recognized Hong Lin's unusual aura, and she identified herself as Flazhol, Mother of Prosperity's eldest daughter, resurrected from death.

Hong Lin revealed herself as the heir of Prosperity, and Afros accepted her claim after sensing the authority she carried. Cheng Shi recognized that her display protected him and strengthened his standing with Afros, though it also made Afros more cautious; Afros then moved the group to a terrace to continue their conversation.

• Hong Lin released the aura of Prosperity and identified herself as its heir, startling Afros and Cheng Shi.
• Afros respectfully greeted Hong Lin as Prosperity's heir, while Cheng Shi realized she had revealed herself to protect him.
• Cheng Shi reflected that he had brought Hong Lin to establish his credibility with Afros, but her bold display had increased Afros's caution.
• Cheng Shi urged Afros to continue their discussion elsewhere, and Afros transformed the assembly hall into a terrace at sunset.

At a long-table meeting, Cheng Shi tried to draw Afros closer to Nothingness, but accidentally revealed a secret and then used deception to manage the fallout. Afros remained torn over whether to approach Nothingness, while Big Cat questioned Cheng Shi’s new claim to be an emissary of Deception.

• Afros sat opposite Cheng Shi and left the principal seat for Hong Lin, who questioned whether his surroundings were truly a cage.
• Cheng Shi explained Dolgo D’s situation and framed Afros as an ally against Nothingness’s enemies.
• Afros asked why Cheng Shi shared the title of Nothingness with Flazhol, exposing a secret Cheng Shi and Hong Lin had meant to conceal.
• Cheng Shi blamed his revelation on Filth and Decay’s influence and urged Afros to forget it unless he chose to side with Nothingness.
• Afros weighed the risks of drawing close to Nothingness and questioned whether Cheng Shi was deceiving him again.
• Big Cat stared at Cheng Shi in disbelief, while Cheng Shi awkwardly tried to answer both her and Afros.

Cheng Shi used the Fool's Game to make Afros step back from pursuing Nothingness while preserving their information exchange. He told Afros that Prosperity had fallen and described her final moment, after which Afros asked about the Covenant.

• Cheng Shi explained that his lies about Nothingness were a test, and Afros chose to retreat from seeking it.
• Afros greeted Hong Lin as Lady Flazhol and agreed to continue cooperating with Cheng Shi through an exchange of information.
• Cheng Shi revealed that Prosperity had fallen and said the Covenant could keep players from learning about it.
• Cheng Shi described Prosperity's final moment, and Afros concluded that she had found her own will.
• Afros questioned how Hong Lin had come to occupy Prosperity's divine throne, then asked Cheng Shi what the Covenant was.

Cheng Shi and Hong Lin questioned Afros about the Covenant and Yugg, learning how Yugg became Decay’s Emissary. Hong Lin revealed that Decay had destroyed Himself as a faith, leaving Afros unsettled.

• Cheng Shi explained that the Covenant protected divine authorities, and Afros realized the gods feared Him and asked whether Birth and Decay were covered.
• Hong Lin cut short the discussion and asked Afros about Yugg, the Corpse Vulture King.
• Afros recounted how Yugg’s ancestors served Decay, how Yugg’s nation was repeatedly destroyed, and how Decay eventually made the last surviving believer an Emissary.
• Cheng Shi recognized Yugg’s nation as Rosna, which he had encountered during a trial, and Hong Lin asked where Yugg was.
• Afros asked what had happened to Decay, and Hong Lin said He had destroyed Himself as a faith.

Cheng Shi and Hong Lin questioned Afros about Decay and the mysterious *Him, then learned that Afros recognized Ming Lei as the Punisher of Order. The revelation that Ming Lei was connected to Order left Cheng Shi seeking answers about the gods who never ascended to the sixteen divine thrones.

• Hong Lin recounted Decay’s recent actions and will, and Afros respected her understanding of the gods.
• Cheng Shi asked whether Decay fulfilling Prosperity’s wish would cause a major event, and Afros warned him not to approach or investigate *Him.
• Cheng Shi argued that he needed to prepare for the end of the Void Era, while Afros urged him to behave if he wanted to survive into the next era.
• Cheng Shi asked how many beings like Ming Lei had existed, and Afros identified Ming Lei as the Punisher of Order and asked whether He had died.
• Cheng Shi said Ming Lei had died at Order’s hands during the First God War, surprising Afros, then asked him about gods who had not ascended to the sixteen divine thrones.

Afros recounted how gods descended through mortal faith, competed for divine authority, and were recognized or subordinated by the rulers of successive eras. He asked Cheng Shi why the current era’s God War began, but Cheng Shi could only explain that the Covenant preserved the sixteen divine thrones and that the other gods might be waiting for another era.

• Afros explained that the gods came from distant stars and descended when faith in them grew strong enough.
• Afros said the gods had competed for authority across the eras, and that some gods formed Sinking when the Second Era ended.
• Afros recounted how Order arrived in the Third Era, recognized Wild Gods who upheld order, and opposed those who disrupted it.
• Afros described how Blazing Sun turned to chaos as Wrath of Abomination after losing faith in Order’s promise.
• Afros asked Cheng Shi why the God War had begun and how it ended, and Cheng Shi said he did not remember its cause.
• Cheng Shi said the Covenant had protected the sixteen divine thrones after the God War, while other gods might be waiting for revenge in a future era.

Cheng Shi and Hong Lin secured Afros’s support and turned the captured Decay follower Yu Mu into a Tree Servant for Hong Lin’s use. Afros believed Cheng Shi’s memories had been altered by Memory, while Cheng Shi kept his true thoughts hidden and declined to drink the wine.

• Afros questioned Cheng Shi about whether he had truly lost his memories, then concluded that Memory had tampered with them to resist Nothingness’s influence.
• Afros offered Hong Lin the Decay follower Yu Mu, and she accepted, explaining that she wanted to eradicate Decay from the world.
• Hong Lin used a Loyal Tree Contract to parasitize Yu Mu’s soul and transform him into an obedient Tree Servant.
• Hong Lin accepted Afros’s friendship as a Voidwalker, and the three raised a toast.
• Cheng Shi pretended to join the toast but secretly wiped his hand on his trousers after raising his glass.

Cheng Shi returned to Kato Court with Hong Lin to investigate the Iron Rule of Order and explained how he had impersonated the Emissary of Deception. He left Hong Lin unaware of the identity of them, and ended by affirming his faith in Destiny.

• Cheng Shi left Afros's Dolgo D with Big Cat and asked Afros to send him and Hong Lin back to the deserted Inquisition in Kato Court.
• Cheng Shi told Hong Lin that an Emissary of Deception had impersonated him during the trial, and that he had begun impersonating them in turn.
• Cheng Shi admitted that Afros suspected him and that he had brought Hong Lin to borrow her authority and buy time while seeking information.
• Hong Lin asked who Afros refused to mention, but Cheng Shi stayed silent, and she chose not to press him.
• Hong Lin and Cheng Shi recited their shared prayer over their dice, and Cheng Shi showed that he trusted Destiny to bring him to the final stage of the universe.

Cheng Shi and Hong Lin infiltrated Kato Court to investigate whether something had gone wrong in the Grand Inquisition, heading for the Wailing Iron Prison to question condemned prisoners about the law. They reached the prison’s sealed entrance, where Big Cat chose to break in by force.

• Hong Lin teased Cheng Shi about her lucky 24-sided die, then discussed Yug’s cowardice and revealed she wanted to test her strength against the Emissary of Decay.
• Cheng Shi said he planned to learn about recent legal trends from prisoners in the Wailing Iron Prison, whom he considered the people who knew the law best.
• Hong Lin and Cheng Shi used Tree Servant Yu Mu to scout and slipped through patrol gaps into Kato Court’s heavily guarded prison complex.
• Cheng Shi followed Big Cat, who had transformed into a Jungle Leopard, toward the dungeon entrance after they found no way to sneak past its defenses.
• With the trial nearing its end and no time to learn the guards’ shift schedule, Big Cat decided to force their way into the prison.

Big Cat smashed through the Wailing Iron Prison’s gate while Cheng Shi entered the dungeon to pursue his own objective. Disguised as a guard knight, Cheng Shi was exposed by the shift-change password and began a fight with the knights below.

• Big Cat transformed into a giant bear and crushed the prison’s iron gate, killing the guards at the entrance.
• Big Cat urged Cheng Shi to go inside while she held off the approaching knights, and she grew excited at the prospect of fighting the six Grand Inquisitors.
• Cheng Shi entered the prison disguised in scavenged armor and headed toward its lowest levels as guards went upstairs to respond to the alarm.
• A squad captain challenged Cheng Shi for the shift-change password, and the knights identified him as an intruder when he answered incorrectly.
• Cheng Shi summoned a Dice Rain as the knights surrounded him.

Cheng Shi and Yu Mu fought their way through Wailing Iron Prison and found the four trial participants imprisoned on a lower level. Cheng Shi disguised himself as a wounded knight and began questioning them, leaving their fate—and the possibility of exploiting them—unresolved.

• Cheng Shi killed the knights surrounding him with his scalpel, but reinforcements arrived from the lower levels.
• Yu Mu appeared and used Sudden Twilight to wither the charging knights, then followed Cheng Shi deeper into the prison.
• Cheng Shi descended to the seventh level and found his four trial teammates chained to an iron frame among the prisoners.
• Cheng Shi put on a dead knight's armor, smeared blood on his face, and pretended to interrogate the four teammates.
• The prisoners denied involvement in the Tribunal intruders and said they had been falsely accused, including one who mentioned being sentenced for a Lin Renyu crime.
• One teammate offered Cheng Shi valuables in exchange for passing their appeal to the Tribunal.

Cheng Shi revealed himself to the four imprisoned teammates after stopping their ambush with Decay’s Fading authority. He left them alive and demanded compensation, claiming they owed him two lives.

• Cheng Shi provoked the prisoners, and two of them broke their own limbs to launch a coordinated attack against him.
• Yu Mu fired Sudden Twilight arrows at the attackers, but Cheng Shi caught one with his Decay-powered arm and remained unharmed when they struck him.
• Cheng Shi revealed that he had used Faded Majesty to test Decay’s power and that he had become a Today's Warrior rather than a priest.
• The four teammates recognized Cheng Shi, fell silent after he saved them, and listened as he demanded compensation for the two lives he said they owed him.