Recaps

Chaos intervened in Destiny and Deception’s battle, turning it into a two-on-one fight. After his trial, Cheng Shi was summoned before Folly, where Mouth Brother’s ill-timed words left him terrified that he had blasphemed a god.

• Chaos arrived amid the battle and blocked Destiny’s attempt to drag Deception back with Nothingness.
• Deception teamed up with Chaos against Destiny and conjured an illusion of the gods’ destruction, but Destiny blasted Deception out of it.
• After his trial ended, Cheng Shi awakened atop a tower before Folly, surrounded by enormous white eyes.
• Cheng Shi tried to appear obedient while Folly examined him, but Mouth Brother asked Folly whether their foolish deed would have an answer.
• Cheng Shi panicked, realizing he had insulted Folly to their face and fearing he was about to die.

Cheng Shi survived Folly’s confrontation, only to learn that Folly had lost Their authority. As he fell through the void, he was swept into a strange, colorful sea that seemed to belong to Filth and Decay.

• Folly mocked Lips of Foolish Play, but Cheng Shi’s borrowed mouth challenged Them over how They had squandered Their authority.
• Folly admitted that pursuing knowledge had cost Them Their authority, then vanished with Their tower after calling Cheng Shi an entertaining clown.
• Lips of Foolish Play explained that Folly had cursed Cheng Shi because They could not win the argument, so Cheng Shi punished the mouth by making it drink cans of Tentacle Slime.
• Cheng Shi realized he was still falling through the void as it turned colorful and viscous, and Lips of Foolish Play fell silent when he called for help.
• Cheng Shi tried to use Destiny and the Never-Lost Gambling Tools, but a torrent swept him into a starry sea he feared was Filth and Decay’s territory.

Cheng Shi escaped the sea of desire only to find himself trapped in a vast battlefield submerged beneath blood, where he waited for War to appear. Nothingness arrived, drained the sea of blood, and took Cheng Shi away, leaving War to lament that his will to survive was a boring desire.

• Cheng Shi failed to use his gambling tools or Clown transformation to escape the sea of desire, but swam until he reached a sea of blood.
• Cheng Shi surfaced in a battlefield filled with corpses and climbed ashore, suspecting War had imprisoned him there.
• Cheng Shi waited on the battlefield, unsure whether leaving would anger the unseen War watching him.
• Nothingness opened a star-filled gaze, drained the battlefield’s blood, and demanded that War explain why he had imprisoned his believer.
• Nothingness tossed Cheng Shi into its pupils and departed, while War called Cheng Shi’s will to survive a boring desire before the battlefield collapsed.

Destiny asked Cheng Shi what faith he wanted to fuse, then suggested that he fuse with Time despite dismissing many other gods. Cheng Shi was left convinced that the being before him might not really be Destiny.

• Destiny told Cheng Shi that all believers would follow the predetermined path, and Cheng Shi praised the path shaped by their devotion.
• After Cheng Shi silently called Destiny sick, the raging wind subsided, and Destiny asked what faith Cheng Shi wanted to fuse.
• Cheng Shi asked which faiths were closest to the predetermined, and Destiny disparaged several gods before mentioning Existence.
• Destiny explained that Time could provide fragments of the road ahead and asked Cheng Shi to fuse with Time.
• Cheng Shi was stunned and suspected that Destiny was actually Deception or Time.

Cheng Shi was compelled to accept the supposed Destiny’s arrangement to approach and fuse with Time, but Deception revealed that He had been manipulating Cheng Shi and had other plans for his powers. Meanwhile, Chaos and Destiny continued their battle in Nothingness until Deception finally appeared, triggering a clash that shook the cosmos.

• Cheng Shi suspected that the figure claiming to be Destiny was actually God of Merriment and tried to stay silent rather than agree to fuse with Time.
• Lips of Foolish Play forced Cheng Shi to declare that he would follow Destiny’s arrangements, and Cheng Shi concluded that God of Merriment was behind the demand.
• Deception sent Cheng Shi away before he could ask for an explanation, then revealed that He would not let Cheng Shi fuse with Origin because He had another use for those powers.
• Destiny realized Chaos had gained some of Order’s authority and became wary of Deception, who had remained hidden during their fight.
• As Destiny began using His full strength, Deception appeared and challenged Him, setting off a battle that shook the cosmos.

Cheng Shi fell into Time’s territory and found himself on a vast cosmic clock made from countless streams of time. Time did not appear, and Cheng Shi began exploring the clock face, suspecting that its surface was time folded infinitely many times.

• Cheng Shi sensed that Nothingness’s two gods were fighting and wondered whether they had clashed over Faith Fusion.
• Cheng Shi continued falling through the void, speculating about which god would meet him next.
• Cheng Shi arrived in a strange starry sky and landed on a gigantic, distorted clock face covered in rings and black points.
• Cheng Shi realized he was in Time’s territory and waited nervously for Time to appear, but no god came to summon him.
• Cheng Shi explored the clock face and concluded that the surface beneath him was time folded an infinite number of times.

Cheng Shi tried to scout the folded temporal space and chip off a piece of it, but his pickaxe shattered and the resulting time fused with his faith in Destiny. He awakened on the twisted clock face with his faith listed as Destiny (Fusion) Time, while Destiny and the strange eyes vanished.

• Cheng Shi questioned whether the God of Merriment had arranged for him to fuse with time and improvised a plan to prepare an escape route.
• Cheng Shi used Tongue of Lies to scout the platform, then struck the folded temporal ground with a pickaxe to take a piece as evidence and a keepsake.
• Time corroded and shattered Cheng Shi's pickaxe, and the resulting streaks of light wrapped around him and engraved time into his eyes.
• Starry Eyes appeared above Cheng Shi, and Destiny's power forced him to switch his faith from Deception to Destiny.
• Destiny's power resonated with the newly engraved time, and black-hole-like eyes returned Cheng Shi to the twisted clock face before disappearing.
• Cheng Shi saw that his current faith was listed as Destiny (Fusion) Time.

After Destiny fused with Time, Cheng Shi received powerful time talents that enhanced his Destiny abilities and tested them with a die. When a young human emerged from a time passage, Cheng Shi disguised himself as a Cosmic Clock pointer to conceal his presence.

• Cheng Shi examined his new Time talents and wondered why they seemed tailored to strengthen Destiny and his own abilities.
• He used Elusive Chip to travel along a die's future and past, then returned to his original position holding it.
• Cheng Shi decided he could still blaspheme Time, since Destiny and Time had fused and Time had not appeared again.
• A distorted time passage opened above the starry sky, and a young human emerged from it.
• Cheng Shi touched his shadow and transformed into a pointer on the Cosmic Clock to disguise himself from the newcomer.

During the Void Civil War, Destiny and Deception’s battle threatened to collapse the universe, and Deception revealed he could steal another god’s authority. The gods summoned Order to stop the fighting, but Destiny rejected the intervention and vowed that only one Nothingness would remain.

• The gods descended to hold back the collapsing void, while Death guarded the battlefield’s perimeter against further interference.
• Destiny attacked Folly, and Folly countered before Deception joined the confrontation and warned Chaos that it would be outnumbered if Nothingness stopped fighting itself.
• Destiny charged Folly with Deception following, but Deception deceived the gods and his twin, heavily injuring Destiny and stealing three portions of his authority.
• The gods retreated and summoned Order through the Covenant to restore balance and stop the civil war.
• Destiny declared that only one Nothingness would remain, while Deception laughed and said he was tired and would fight another day.

After escaping the Fire Keepers, Deng Sui used a half Divine Audience Contract to reach the temple of Time, where he encountered Cheng Shi disguised as a hand on a vast clock. Cheng Shi suspected Deng Sui was the supposedly doomed Old Man and pressed him about his identity, then challenged his doubts about the Lord of Grace.

• Deng Sui, badly injured and trapped by the hostile void, poured his remaining time power into the half Divine Audience Contract and entered the passage it opened.
• Deng Sui emerged beneath a strange starry sky and descended toward the giant clock platform in the temple of Time.
• Deng Sui mistook Cheng Shi's disguised hand for an attendant of Time and respectfully addressed the great existences without knowing the proper title.
• Cheng Shi recognized that Deng Sui might be the Old Man Blind Man had said would die and wondered whether he had been summoned or saved by the Lord of Grace.
• Cheng Shi warned Deng Sui that devotion split between Memory and time was not true devotion, prompting Deng Sui to apologize and call himself a summoned believer.
• Cheng Shi asked whether Deng Sui thought he did not look like the Lord of Grace, and the horrified Deng Sui dropped to his knees.

Cheng Shi posed as Hour Hand, a creation of Time, and manipulated Deng Sui into believing he had reached the temple through divine summons rather than the Divine Audience Contract. Deng Sui linked the audience to his clash with the Fire Keepers and began suspecting that Qin Xin followed War.

• Deng Sui mistook Cheng Shi’s jokes for a revelation about Time and praised him for his humor.
• Cheng Shi warned Deng Sui against exaggerated piety, then claimed the two were fellow followers of Time.
• Cheng Shi invented the identity of Hour Hand, Time’s first creation after descending into the mortal world, and Deng Sui believed him.
• Cheng Shi said the Divine Audience Contract was only a means of arrival and asked why Deng Sui thought he had come that day.
• Deng Sui connected the audience to the Fire Keeper ambush and reasoned that Qin Xin might be a Hunter who followed War.

Deng Sui told Cheng Shi his theories about the Fire Keeper and vowed to become Time’s blade against its enemies. Cheng Shi recognized him as Old Man and began considering how to kill him without angering Time, then hinted that he should target Deception.

• Deng Sui accused the Fire Keeper and believers of Destiny of threatening the followers of Time, and declared himself willing to fight them.
• Cheng Shi realized Deng Sui was the Old Man who had survived an encounter with the Fire Keeper.
• Cheng Shi considered killing Deng Sui but worried about how Time would react to the death of its Chosen.
• Cheng Shi hinted that Nothingness extended beyond Destiny and urged Deng Sui to see through appearances.
• Deng Sui interpreted the hint as a call to strike at Deception and vowed to shatter his enemies’ illusions.

Deng Sui pledged to hunt Deception’s followers and even attack Nothingness, believing Hour Hand promised him eternal life. The apparent divine audience was revealed as an illusion, and the Fate Weaver killed Deng Sui before a pair of eyes opened in the Cosmic Clock and spoke Cheng Shi’s name.

• Deng Sui proposed recruiting players of Memory to hunt Deception’s followers, and Cheng Shi warned him that Memory was not the same as Time.
• Deng Sui asked for guidance and practical aid, and Cheng Shi tempted him with the promise of eternal life for carrying out Time’s will.
• Deng Sui agreed to drive his blade into Nothingness’s heart if given the chance, then followed Cheng Shi’s instructions to pray.
• Cheng Shi’s illusion vanished, revealing the Fate Weaver, who had killed Deng Sui and arranged his corpse beneath the Cosmic Clock.
• The Fate Weaver thanked the Cosmic Clock for its support, but black-hole-like eyes opened in its dial and spoke Cheng Shi’s name.

Cheng Shi tried to justify killing Deng Sui by claiming he had acted to protect Deception, then tested whether the apparent Time was genuine. Deception revealed that the temple and Cosmic Clock had been an elaborate illusion, leaving Cheng Shi to realize he had been the punchline of the god’s deception.

• Cheng Shi reasoned that accusing Old Man of blaspheming Deception might win him protection despite killing him in Time’s temple.
• When Time opened its eyes, Cheng Shi began to confess, then suspected the events surrounding the Faith Fusion had been too convenient to be real.
• Cheng Shi praised the unity of Nothingness and Existence and asked the apparent Time to guide him, provoking a strange reaction from the black-hole eyes.
• Deception revealed Himself and mocked Cheng Shi as the first “Hour Hand” sculpted by Time.
• Deception stopped time, dissolved the Cosmic Clock and its platform, and exposed the void beneath the illusion.
• Cheng Shi realized the entire scene had been Deception’s stage and called himself a real clown.

Cheng Shi questioned Deception about Destiny’s fusion with time and learned that Deception framed the fusion as time betraying Existence. Deception claimed Destiny, not Deception, had converted time, leaving Cheng Shi confused and curious about Destiny.

• Deception accused Cheng Shi of blasphemy and threatened to punish him after he declined a reward.
• Cheng Shi asked why Deception had made Destiny fuse with time, and Deception explained that opposing faiths were amusing to fuse.
• Cheng Shi challenged Deception’s claim that fusing with Memory would mean betraying Nothingness, pointing out that Destiny and time had also fused.
• Deception suggested that time had betrayed Existence rather than Destiny betraying Nothingness.
• Cheng Shi asked whether Deception had converted time, and Deception said Destiny had done it instead.

Cheng Shi learned why Deception sought help from Time and Destiny, then questioned whether Time was occupied with other versions of itself. Deception revealed that the world where Decay supposedly fell was an illusion produced by Time’s deductions, leaving Cheng Shi to wonder whether the people and events he remembered were also phantoms.

• Cheng Shi appealed to Deception’s fear and asked to understand the purpose behind its illusions.
• Deception explained that it wanted an oracle from both Destiny and Time to learn its own future, and that it had used Cheng Shi to create traces of convergence between them.
• Cheng Shi asked whether Time belonged to the Fear Faction, and Deception replied that Time had no time to fear.
• Cheng Shi suspected Time was interacting with other versions of itself, but Deception said the world where Decay fell was only a deduction and did not exist.
• Cheng Shi wondered whether Qin Xin, An Mingyu, Wang Weijin, and Li Wufang were all illusions, and thought about how that possibility related to Jiang Chi’s Overwrite.

Cheng Shi questioned the Lord of Grace about his pact with Destiny and Time and his plans for the Twin God. He realized the Lord of Grace had concealed his tracks while fleeing Destiny, then was punished for accusing him of manipulating events.

• Cheng Shi asked the Lord of Grace how he had persuaded Destiny and Time to agree to the pact, and the Lord of Grace claimed he had beaten them into submission.
• Cheng Shi reasoned that Time had accepted the current events and that Destiny had not come after him because she could not find the disguised Lord of Grace.
• Cheng Shi accused the Lord of Grace of bringing Little Deng to him and arranging for the Fire Keeper to fail to kill Deng Sui, either to influence Faith Fusion or deepen Cheng Shi’s ties to them.
• The Lord of Grace called Cheng Shi’s accusations blasphemy and tossed him through the winds of Nothingness until he was dizzy and sick.
• Cheng Shi weakly confessed, and the Lord of Grace laughed.

Cheng Shi questioned Deception about Folly and the Fire Keepers, learning that the mortals who heard Little Deng’s rumors had died during Deception’s trial. Deception then sent Cheng Shi hurtling toward an unseen spectacle as Volume Two ended and the next arc was announced.

• Cheng Shi asked Deception about Folly’s authority, and Deception explained that Folly reconstructed visions from what people knew and imagined.
• Cheng Shi warned Deception that Little Deng had spread rumors about the Fire Keepers, and Deception revealed that the other mortals had died during its previous trial.
• Cheng Shi realized Deception had arranged the trial to shelter the Fire Keepers and planned to inform Qin Xin and the others.
• Deception spotted an approaching spectacle and sent Cheng Shi flying into the void, while Cheng Shi resigned himself to playing the clown.
• The author announced the end of Volume Two and introduced Volume Three, “The Mask Is Not the Face.”

An Mingyu became a Bell Ringer of Death after accepting Death’s offer and receiving Destiny’s guidance. Death fled when a pair of starry eyes appeared over Fishbone Hall, leaving her alone before the furious Destiny, who said she was not part of what was fated and should not be there.

• Death summoned Blind Man to Fishbone Hall and offered her a place among His believers.
• Blind Man accepted, and Destiny’s light joined with Death’s power to make her a Bell Ringer.
• Death dismissed Blind Man, but a pair of starry eyes appeared above Fishbone Hall and drove Death to flee.
• The bone gate shattered, leaving Blind Man face-to-face with Destiny during her first audience.
• Destiny told Blind Man that she was not part of what was fated and should not be there.

An Mingyu despaired after Destiny told her she was not part of the predetermined arrangement, but Cheng Shi arrived and restored her faith in her own path. Destiny discovered that a Twin God had stolen half His authority over change, then turned to judge Cheng Shi for blasphemy.

• An Mingyu collapsed into despair when Destiny's words made her believe He had abandoned her, and Nothingness began to tear her apart.
• Cheng Shi fell into the void, and his healing arts revived An Mingyu while stopping the freezing winds.
• Cheng Shi rebuked An Mingyu and urged her to trust the path she had chosen, helping her regain her composure.
• Destiny realized that a Twin God had exchanged and stolen half His authority over change, disguising Deception's authority in its place.
• Destiny asked Cheng Shi to answer for blaspheming a god, and the winds of Nothingness knocked An Mingyu unconscious.

Cheng Shi tried to appease Destiny after the Blind Man was struck down, arguing that his actions fit Nothingness’s purpose. Destiny accepted the matter of Faith Fusion but punished Cheng Shi, and the chapter ended with the Blind Man asking whether he could trust him.

• Cheng Shi defended himself to Destiny by claiming existence and time were moving toward Nothingness.
• Destiny warned Cheng Shi that change might lead him astray from the predetermined path and explained her reverence for the Origin.
• Destiny said Time’s power could help Cheng Shi resist deduction, accepted the matter of Faith Fusion, and struck him with gales of Nothingness as punishment for blasphemy.
• Destiny vanished, and Cheng Shi healed himself before reviving the Blind Man.
• The Blind Man grabbed Cheng Shi’s hand and asked whether he could trust him.

Cheng Shi tried to shut down the Blind Man, but she drew him back by mentioning the Abyssal Rainbow Orchid and revealed that she was not the An Mingyu from his world. Her account exposed that the Doctor had also been replaced in the trial’s first hour, leaving Cheng Shi to realize the players’ method for identifying The First World may have been compromised.

• Cheng Shi refused to hear the Blind Man out because he wanted distance from the Fire Keepers and did not want to become one.
• The Blind Man said “Abyssal Rainbow Orchid,” prompting Cheng Shi to ask what she meant.
• The Blind Man revealed that she was not the An Mingyu from this world, and Cheng Shi asked whether he could trust her.
• The Blind Man explained that her field of vision differed from Cheng Shi’s and that she and the Doctor had both been replaced before they met in the trial’s first hour.
• Cheng Shi recognized that the Doctor’s account had misled him and realized the trial’s Rainbow Orchid Color clue might not have reliably identified The First World.

Cheng Shi deduced that the Rainbow Orchid’s color and the trial’s timeline followed the Cencha versions represented by the majority of people present. He learned that The First An Mingyu had chosen to go to the future for Zhen Xin, leaving the Blind Man to grapple with Qin Xin’s role in her departure.

• Cheng Shi realized that the Cencha versions changed in the order The First, current, future, and past, and that The First An Mingyu had been the Blind Man who killed Qin Xin.
• Cheng Shi deduced that the world shifted toward the timeline represented by the most players, explaining the Rainbow Orchid’s changing colors and Li Wufang’s resurrection.
• The Blind Man asked Cheng Shi whether he had figured out the changes, and he explained how the players’ versions determined the world’s timeline.
• Cheng Shi told the Blind Man that An Mingyu had left for another world of her own accord and had asked him to tell Zhen Xin she was doing well.
• The Blind Man concluded that An Mingyu had left for Xin Xin, while Qin Xin had helped her because he supported the other version of the Blind Man protecting her happiness.

Cheng Shi theorized that the previous trial had connected different Slice Universes and that the gods might be concealing this truth. He urged An Mingyu to hold on to her new home and goals, and she accepted her path as Fated.

• Cheng Shi realized that An Mingyu's trust and isolation made her an ideal ally in his effort to recruit the Blind Man and gain access to Zhen Xin's History School.
• Cheng Shi reasoned that the worlds beneath divine slices were parallel timelines, while the previous trial had brought together players from different Slice Universes.
• Cheng Shi speculated that the God of Merriment had hidden the truth from the gods and that Time had become its ally, then stopped himself from thinking about a higher being.
• Cheng Shi told An Mingyu not to use the tube of Remembrance and Mourning, urging her to remember her past and build a new home or goal.
• An Mingyu took out Cheng Shi's Dice and declared that where she came from and where she went were all Fated.

Cheng Shi told An Mingyu to stay in contact and ensure Qin Xin used the Remembrance tube to mourn the Old Man. In the Fire Keepers’ hall, Qin Xin switched places with his frail double and entered a trial to seek a giant war bow for him.

• Cheng Shi told An Mingyu that the Old Man was dead and asked her to watch Qin Xin use the Remembrance tube to mourn him.
• An Mingyu left the void to speak with Qin Xin while Cheng Shi departed separately.
• Qin Xin entered his room, added two photographs to the wall, and found his frail double waiting inside the wardrobe.
• The frail Qin Xin insisted on taking Qin Xin’s place, and the armored Qin Xin vanished into the wardrobe as the weakened one used the Dreamless Mirror to regain some strength.
• Qin Xin told the Candlelight Person he planned to find a giant war bow on the ancient battlefield of Bologu to help his armored double protect their companions.
• Qin Xin entered the trial, while the Candlelight Person called the war beast Still Like in a Dream his most beautiful dream.