Recaps

Cheng Shi deceived Meng Youfang into treating him as a teammate, then negotiated with Wei Zhi over the Grand Scholars’ brains and Zainjil’s whereabouts. After sending Wei Zhi toward the divine pillar of Birth with a fabricated lead, Cheng Shi headed away from the western warehouse where the Grand Scholars were being held.

• Cheng Shi retrieved his ring and persuaded Meng Youfang to regard them as newly acquainted teammates, then sent him east while they searched separately for the Grand Scholars.
• Wei Zhi emerged from the laboratory and gave Cheng Shi the brains of two Grand Scholars as thanks for his help.
• Wei Zhi asked Cheng Shi where Zainjil was, and Cheng Shi demanded to know where the Grand Scholars were in return.
• Wei Zhi revealed that the Grand Scholars were in a warehouse at the lumber market in the western part of the city, and said he could locate them through the Breath of Truth.
• Cheng Shi falsely told Wei Zhi that Zainjil was on the divine pillar of Birth, and Wei Zhi left without fighting him.
• Cheng Shi headed away from the western part of the city.

Cheng Shi used an orderly ritual to briefly halt the chaos in Tusnat, then searched the city for the Scholarly Council’s hiding place. He found a suspicious underground entrance near the lumber warehouse but withdrew, and the chapter left the battle for Tomorrow’s Truth raging as the group’s meeting time approached.

• Cheng Shi watched the Bellringer Knights ravage Tusnat, then secretly prompted the chaotic believers to perform an orderly prayer that briefly quieted the city.
• Cheng Shi searched the western slums and, after finding no suitable hiding place, investigated the ruins of the lumber market warehouse.
• Cheng Shi discovered a concealed underground entrance near the warehouse, suspected Wei Zhi had sent him there to test the area, and left without entering.
• A hidden figure beneath nearby ruins watched Cheng Shi depart and remarked that whoever came would come.
• Cheng Shi continued searching other underground spaces, then returned near Tomorrow’s Truth at the appointed meeting time.
• Galiusha led the Bellringer Knights into Tomorrow’s Truth, where the fighting intensified and she tortured the scholars by displaying and burning their heads.

Cheng Shi gathered Square and Round, Meng Youfang, and Hu Xuan, but none had found the Scholarly Council. After Cheng Shi mentioned a hidden space in the west, he baited Chen Yi into entering it, leaving the group stunned by how readily the plan worked.

• Square and Round reported that his search of Tusnat’s south had found no trace of the Grand Scholars, while Cheng Shi said he had discovered a trap in the west.
• Meng Youfang returned from searching and found no useful clues, and Hu Xuan reported that neither the north of the city nor the void held signs of the Scholarly Council.
• Cheng Shi told the group about a hidden space in the west and stopped Meng Youfang from rushing in, proposing that Chen Yi investigate instead.
• Cheng Shi suggested that Memory might be in the hidden space, then baited Chen Yi by saying a willing memory could become an exhibit in His museum.
• Chen Yi vanished from the shadows, apparently taking the bait and triggering the trap, while Cheng Shi pretended to be surprised.

Chen Yi forced Pelaya to break the Scholarly Council formation, believing it would help his relationship with Memory. Cheng Shi and the others arrived as the formation weakened, leaving them worried that Pelaya had walked into the Grand Scholars’ scheme.

• Chen Yi found the formation at the lumber warehouse and recognized the Scholarly Council’s signature in its patterns.
• Chen Yi threatened Pelaya with her lover’s life until she agreed to dismantle the formation.
• Cheng Shi led Meng Youfang, Hu Xuan, and another player to the warehouse, where they saw Pelaya breaking the formation.
• Cheng Shi spotted Chen Yi supervising from the shadows and grew concerned that Pelaya had entered the Scholarly Council’s trap.

Cheng Shi and Square and Round entered the underground space to help the Scholarly Council’s Grand Scholars, but they found Asgis apparently under control and were attacked. Burza and Nellyville then emerged behind them, trapping the group between multiple threats.

• Pelaya was dragged into the underground space by streams of light as Chen Yi pursued the Follower of Deception, and Cheng Shi sent his companions to handle threats before descending with Square and Round.
• Cheng Shi and Square and Round cautiously explored the underground passages, with Cheng Shi repeatedly trying to make Square and Round scout ahead.
• They encountered Asgis, who appeared to be controlled and ordered them to leave or die.
• Asgis attacked Cheng Shi and Square and Round with collapsing void energy, and Cheng Shi teleported behind Square and Round to avoid the assault.
• Burza and Nellyville emerged from teleportation patterns behind them, while Square and Round gathered fire elements to confront Asgis.

Cheng Shi and Square and Round fought three Grand Scholars who blocked their path underground, then agreed to split up when Cheng Shi offered to investigate while Square and Round held them off. Square and Round threatened the scholars with the Wrath of Abomination key and secured a five-minute pause, while the identity of whoever controlled the puppet-like scholars remained unknown.

• Burza plunged the underground space into darkness, and Nellyville attacked Cheng Shi with a potion-coated dagger, but Cheng Shi altered its path and avoided being stabbed.
• Square and Round summoned fire from the Blazing Sun staff and attacked the Grand Scholars, whose attacks against the two players were repeatedly deflected by uncanny accidents.
• Cheng Shi told Square and Round he needed five minutes to investigate, but Square and Round said he could hold off the Grand Scholars for only three minutes.
• Cheng Shi used four dice to demonstrate that he could pass through the area behind Asgis, then vanished into the passage as Square and Round prepared to face the scholars.
• Square and Round threatened to crush a special Wrath of Abomination prison key, and the three Grand Scholars stopped chanting and agreed to stand still for five minutes.

Cheng Shi infiltrated the Scholarly Council’s Truth Experiment Field and realized the seemingly flawless regression experiment could have been compromised by someone among its participants. He exposed Galiusha as a traitor in the first echelon, leaving the experiment’s fate uncertain.

• Cheng Shi disguised himself in an assistant scholar’s clothes and entered the Truth Experiment Field.
• He observed that the Grand Scholars overseeing the experiment were puppets and saw that the regression experiment was nearly ready to begin.
• Volant announced that invaders had found the passage, and the first echelon of forty-eight scholars assembled on the departure platform.
• Cheng Shi suspected a traitor had infiltrated the first echelon, rushed to the platform, and warned Volant about the danger.
• Cheng Shi pulled back one participant’s hood and recognized Galiusha.

Cheng Shi’s attempt to stop Galiusha from sabotaging the Grand Scholars’ regression experiment failed, and the experiment sent two badly burned survivors into the past. Cheng Shi used Time’s mercy to rewind to the beginning of the trial and set out to prevent the disaster on his next attempt.

• Cheng Shi realized the Galiusha he had exposed was bait, while other infiltrators activated the regression experiment at the control consoles.
• Galiusha taunted the Grand Scholars and stabbed her own eye, triggering an explosion that destroyed the departure platform.
• Cheng Shi returned to the Experiment Field and saw two charred survivors transported into the past as the experiment succeeded but the plan failed.
• Cheng Shi used Time’s mercy to rewind the universe and return to the start of the trial.
• Cheng Shi revealed that he was a Time Walker and ran toward the western part of the city to eliminate dangers before the gathering.

Cheng Shi returned to the underground Experiment Field and warned the Grand Scholars that Galiusha had infiltrated it. After he exposed and stopped Kolius, explosions struck the other experimental platforms, and Galiusha reappeared amid the chaos.

• Cheng Shi infiltrated the Experiment Field again and told the Grand Scholars that Galiusha and her agents had compromised the experiment.
• Wollente ordered an investigation but sent Cheng Shi away before he could ask for the Truth Ritual.
• Cheng Shi recognized Kolius as a suspected agent, returned to the platform, and stopped him from detonating himself.
• Explosions erupted at the other experimental platforms, and Galiusha appeared on the departure platform dragging several scholars' corpses.

Cheng Shi tried to stop Galiusha’s sabotage by recruiting Chen Yi and disguising himself as a Grand Scholar to warn Wollent. His plan collapsed when the security scholars triggered a mass self-detonation, forcing another reset.

• Cheng Shi reset the experiment and decided he needed to infiltrate the Scholarly Council as one of its own.
• Cheng Shi drew Chen Yi out of hiding by offering him a chance to obtain Memory’s eyes and directed him toward the timber warehouse.
• Chen Yi brought Grand Scholar Pelaya to break the warehouse’s formation, creating an opening for Cheng Shi to enter the Experiment Field.
• Cheng Shi disguised himself in a dead Grand Scholar’s robes and warned Wollent about Galiusha’s infiltrators, urging him to halt the experiment and screen the team.
• Wollent ordered the security scholars to isolate suspects, but they simultaneously gouged out their eyes and detonated, resetting time again.

Cheng Shi infiltrated the Experiment Field to discover what Galiusha intended to do, then watched her seize the experiment and send two scholars into the spacetime passage. He realized he had finally identified her plan, while Square and Round and Meng Youfang broke through the formation only to have it restore itself and make them disappear.

• Cheng Shi suspected Galiusha had infiltrated the Scholarly Council and guided its experiment, so he returned to the Experiment Field to observe her plan.
• Cheng Shi disguised himself as Aciel and found that many scholars near the launch platform appeared to be Galiusha's allies.
• When his teammates attacked the formation, Cheng Shi used the distraction to return Aciel to the Experiment Field and blend in again.
• Galiusha confronted the Grand Scholars, activated the experiment, and had her companions send two reserve scholars into the spacetime passage.
• Cheng Shi recognized what Galiusha had been trying to accomplish, while Square and Round and Meng Youfang broke the formation, which immediately restored itself and made them vanish.

Cheng Shi infiltrated the Experiment Field to uncover the reserve team’s secret, but discovered Grindel and Melina—and realized Melina carried Pelaya’s voice—before Galiusha’s forces killed him. He woke in the fifth loop, confused by the revelation and by the love he had seen in Pelaya’s eyes.

• Cheng Shi disguised himself as a scholar, tricked Cadil into opening the door, and entered the reserve team’s rooms.
• Cheng Shi seized Grindel and Melina as Cadil raised the alarm and Galiusha charged back into the standby room.
• Cheng Shi accused Galiusha and the Lords of Grace, Folly and Truth, of manipulating the experiment and the reserve team’s memories.
• Melina spoke in Pelaya’s voice and told Cheng Shi that it was not scheming, but Galiusha struck him with her whip and scholars swarmed him.
• Cheng Shi woke in the fifth loop and wondered who Pelaya’s apparent love was directed at.

Cheng Shi traded with Chen Yi to obtain the badly injured Pelaya and examined her memories of Galiusha, hoping to learn how their love began. The memories revealed that Pelaya had once read a diary belonging to her great-grandmother, Melina, leaving Cheng Shi wondering which of them came first.

• Cheng Shi summoned Chen Yi and persuaded him to exchange Pelaya for the chance to create a sculpture through the Truth Ritual.
• Chen Yi handed over the injured Pelaya, and Cheng Shi recognized that her facial bone structure matched Melina's.
• Pelaya tried to send a signal to Galiusha, but Chen Yi stopped her and destroyed the hidden flare.
• Chen Yi claimed Pelaya had already fallen in love with someone else, then extracted and gave Cheng Shi her memories.
• Cheng Shi explored Pelaya's memories and saw her reading a diary whose title page bore the name Melina.

Melina’s diary revealed how her guilt over Galiusha’s death became a family obsession, shaping Pelaya’s life and her imagined companion in the mirror. When the real Galiusha appeared and helped Pelaya with a failed experiment, Pelaya finally met the person she had long confided in.

• Melina recorded how she became Galiusha’s guard, mentored her in Truth, and grew deeply attached to her.
• Grindel’s scheme led to Therius’s capture, and Galiusha died before Melina could say goodbye.
• Melina burned Therius’s laboratory, returned to Tusnat, and later used forbidden experiments to preserve traces of Galiusha in her genes.
• Pelaya inherited Melina’s fixation, admired Galiusha, and confided in her reflection whenever she struggled.
• The real Galiusha climbed through Pelaya’s window, explained why her experiment had failed, and introduced herself.

Cheng Shi learned why Pelaya wanted to return to the past and concluded that the trial required the Grand Scholars to succeed. He then persuaded Chen Yi to travel back in time by offering him a chance to pay homage to Time.

• Cheng Shi discovered that Pelaya had proposed returning to the past because she could not bear to watch Galiusha become consumed by her desire to destroy Truth.
• Pelaya explained that she wanted to live in a time loop with the Galiusha she loved, even if it meant sacrificing Truth in the present and future.
• Cheng Shi reasoned that the trial could not be won by letting Galiusha destroy the Scholarly Council, and considered sending someone back to stop Therius or Galiusha.
• Cheng Shi returned to the city ruins for the sixth time and tried to recruit Chen Yi to travel into the past, but Chen Yi did not trust his usual promises.
• Cheng Shi offered Chen Yi the chance to pay homage to Time, and Chen Yi agreed to hear what he needed to do.

Cheng Shi forced the Experiment Field to send Chen Yi back in time to kill Therius, but Chen Yi returned battered and saw that Galiusha was still alive. His reaction revealed that the backtracking had failed.

• Cheng Shi marked the scholars, then killed Grindel and brought Chen Yi into the Experiment Field after Galiusha struck him.
• Chen Yi killed Galiusha and other obstacles, while Cheng Shi and the Grand Scholars suppressed the traitors long enough for the experiment to send Chen Yi into the past.
• Cheng Shi secured the collapsed Experiment Field and waited as Galiusha confronted him and Hu Xuan intervened.
• Chen Yi returned with a dagger embedded in his shoulder, excited to have seen Them, but froze when he saw Galiusha alive.

Chen Yi recounted how he had killed Galiusha and others in the past, yet Galiusha was alive when he returned, leaving Cheng Shi to investigate why the experiment failed. After Wei Zhi suggested the experiment’s parameters might have been altered, Cheng Shi prepared to try again with Square and Round’s help as time reset for the seventh attempt.

• Chen Yi told Cheng Shi that he had killed Kainlaur, Therius, Galiusha, and others in the Grand Inquisition, confirmed their burials, and then returned to the present, but Galiusha had still survived.
• Cheng Shi asked Wei Zhi to identify possible flaws in his experiment and offered information about Zainjil in exchange.
• Wei Zhi suggested that the experiment’s framework might be flawed or that Galiusha’s allies had altered its parameters, and advised clearing everyone but the Grand Scholars from the Experiment Field.
• Cheng Shi asked Square and Round for a code word that would secure his help in a later attempt, and Square and Round gave him “A Kuan.”
• Cheng Shi tested Wei Zhi’s claim about knowing the Grand Scholars’ location, recognized it as a lie, and then reset time for the seventh attempt.

Cheng Shi gathered Square and Round, Hu Xuan, and Chen Yi to seize control of the experiment and help the Grand Scholars kill Galiusha by changing the past. Chen Yi returned claiming success, but Galiusha remained alive, leaving Cheng Shi demanding an explanation from Vollent.

• Cheng Shi told Square and Round that Meng Youfang had reset time and persuaded him to help control everyone in the experimental field.
• Cheng Shi recruited Hu Xuan and Chen Yi, then led the group to take control of the experiment and expose Galiusha's hidden measures and a traitor to the Grand Scholars.
• The Grand Scholars agreed to Cheng Shi's plan and activated the experiment, sending Chen Yi into the past to kill Galiusha.
• Chen Yi returned and declared success, but Galiusha was still alive and mocked Cheng Shi's failed plan.
• Cheng Shi stopped Chen Yi from attacking Galiusha and demanded an explanation from Vollent, who said the experiment had run normally except that Chen Yi had returned on his own.

Cheng Shi suspected that repeated failures in the regression experiment were not random deviations and tried to expose whoever controlled the Grand Scholar puppets. He caught Wollent describing a specific regression failure before the experiment began, leaving the Scholarly Council under suspicion.

• After Galiusha survived the experiment, Wollent suggested a parallel-spacetime deviation and declared that the Scholarly Council had run out of time.
• Cheng Shi restarted the experiment repeatedly, but Galiusha survived each time, and he noticed that the Time Battlefield and the Grand Scholars' responses were becoming increasingly unreliable.
• Cheng Shi suspected an unseen controller was making the experiments fail and decided to use the experiment to draw that person out.
• Before the eighteenth regression, Cheng Shi urged Wollent to have the real Grand Scholars conduct the experiment, but Wollent refused and described the anchor-coordinate deviation.
• Cheng Shi pointed out that Wollent had specified how the deviation would occur before the experiment began, shocking everyone and putting the Grand Scholars under suspicion.

Cheng Shi realized the experiment was a Truth Ritual simulation in which the Grand Scholars planned to use the players as fuel and templates to steal their identities and escape history. In the real Tusnat, Warrent and the other Grand Scholars continued their plan under orders from the Lord of Grace.

• Cheng Shi inferred that the Grand Scholar puppets retained memories across time resets and were targeting the players rather than Galiusha.
• Galiusha revealed that the experiment and the reconstructed Tusnat were created by the Truth Ritual, and that the players were pieces chosen by the Grand Scholars.
• Cheng Shi connected the experiment to his past experience with the Department of Consciousness and Faith Studies and realized he had been inside a fabricated test.
• In the real Tusnat, the six Grand Scholars watched the Twilight Church's violence on an observation screen and asked Warrent what to do.
• Warrent told the Grand Scholars to wait until the Truth Ritual marked the players as fuel, then use their new identities to accompany the Lord of Grace.

Cheng Shi allied with Galiusha to fight the Grand Scholars and discovered that Wei Zhi had turned against them. After resetting time, Cheng Shi returned to Galiusha and offered to trust her as they prepared to destroy the false world.

• Cheng Shi freed Galiusha and persuaded her to help him kill the Grand Scholars, then the players joined the fight as the Experiment Field collapsed.
• The Bellringer Knights gathered around the exposed space, and Wei Zhi attacked Burza before killing Galiusha.
• Cheng Shi suspected Wei Zhi had cooperated with the Grand Scholars, attacked him, took Galiusha's corpse, and reset time.
• Cheng Shi reasoned that the Experiment Field was central to the experiment and hurried back to the Three-Day Truth Tower.
• Cheng Shi blasted the scholars attacking Galiusha and asked whether he could trust her as they prepared to destroy the world together.

Cheng Shi told Galiusha about the time resets and the Truth experiment, and she proposed finding the experiment’s Truth Limit to break its restraints. She sent him to mobilize the Twilight Church while asking him to bring Pelaya back to her past self, leaving their next move tied to Galiusha’s feelings for Pelaya.

• Cheng Shi told Galiusha about his experiences, including his ability to reset time, and she recognized him as an Outlier.
• Galiusha explained that they needed to locate the Truth Limit, the stable energy source that replaced the Truth Ritual within the experiment.
• Cheng Shi put on a Twilight Church robe and ordered the church leaders to search for the Truth Limit, while asking the Bellringer Knights to bring back his teammates and not to bring Wei Zhi back alive.
• Galiusha asked Cheng Shi to have his companion exile Pelaya into the past so she could see the best version of Galiusha and have no regrets.

Galiusha revealed that Kainlaur had orchestrated Melina’s transformation into a slice as part of a plan against the Tower of Reason. Cheng Shi and his allies headed to confront the Grand Scholars, while Hu Xuan departed to verify something about a friend.

• Galiusha told Cheng Shi that Kainlaur had arranged for her to find Pelaya and had used Melina as a piece in his plan.
• Galiusha confirmed that the real Melina had died and the Melina who returned to the Tower of Reason had been an obsessive slice created through the Slice Experiment.
• After an explosion destroyed the underground Experiment Field, Cheng Shi and Galiusha set out toward the city’s western district to confront the Grand Scholars.
• Cheng Shi gathered his teammates and told Meng Youfang that Truth was trying to prevent his return, prompting Meng Youfang to vow to fight back.
• Hu Xuan asked to leave and verify something about a friend, and Cheng Shi let her go as a new Pregnancy Law formed on his arm.

Cheng Shi confronted the Grand Scholars at the ruined Experiment Field, trying to pressure them into revealing the experiment’s falsehood and offering Wolent a way to escape history. Wei Zhi emerged to defend his secret alliance with the Scholarly Council, and Cheng Shi challenged his confidence in the scheme.

• Cheng Shi, Square and Round, and Meng Youfang reached the damaged Experiment Field, while Chen Yi watched from the shadows and Wei Zhi remained hidden.
• Cheng Shi taunted the six Grand Scholar puppets with claims about Tusnat’s future and the limits of Truth, prompting Galiusha to ask whether his claims were true.
• Cheng Shi offered Wolent a chance to join the Wanderers by helping expose the experiment, but Galiusha wondered whether another of Cheng Shi’s companions was a traitor.
• Wei Zhi emerged from the ruins and defended his cooperation with the Grand Scholars, arguing that their fusion could represent an evolution of life.
• Cheng Shi warned Wei Zhi that the Grand Scholars intended to consume him and questioned why he thought the Scholarly Council could be outmaneuvered.

As Wei Zhi revealed that he knew where Truth Limit was, the battle between the players and the Grand Scholars intensified, while Cheng Shi tried to find a way to break the experiment. Cheng Shi’s use of Destiny’s power triggered a clash among the gods that threatened the universe, and Destiny insisted on forcing a divergent path for its believer.

• Galiusha attacked Wei Zhi, who dodged her and offered Cheng Shi help in exchange for merging with a Grand Scholar.
• Wei Zhi mentioned Truth Limit, prompting the Grand Scholars and Galiusha to attack him and the players to rally to his aid.
• Square and Round tried to destroy the experiment with Wrath of Abomination’s Meteor Fire Rain, but nothing appeared; Cheng Shi also used Destiny Also Has Divergent Paths, with no visible effect.
• Beyond the trial, Destiny, Deception, Nothingness, and the gods of Civilization confronted one another, while Order blocked Wrath of Abomination and sent it into the void.
• Destiny activated its authority of misfortune, causing the void to collapse and forcing the gods to unite to hold up the universe.
• Destiny declared that it would make destiny veer onto a divergent path if its believer wanted it, leaving the gathered gods speechless.