Recaps

After Hu Xuan explained how she used Lucia’s aura to save Cheng Shi and his teammates from the Scholarly Council’s experiment, Cheng Shi wondered whether Truth still existed in the reset timeline. Elsewhere, the gods withdrew from the conflict, Destiny compensated the trial’s followers, and Fear returned a frightening power to the Starry Eyes before departing.

• Hu Xuan told Cheng Shi that she had realized the trial was false when Lucia was missing, then used a child carrying Lucia’s aura to create a shell that helped transfer the team out of the experiment.
• Cheng Shi confirmed that his five teammates remembered nothing of the reset and wondered whether Truth remained in the new timeline.
• The Starry Tome of Knowledge abandoned its experiment, prompting Destiny to withdraw its threat against the universe and Deception to leave.
• Destiny granted compensation to the followers inside the Truth trial after the gods’ conflict ended.
• The Starry Eyes questioned the black-hole eyes, which returned a wisp of multicolored power and departed, leaving the world without time.

Cheng Shi tested Wei Zhi and discovered that Galiusha had taken his place after their fusion. He proposed that she prepare for the unwinnable trial by robbing her original self, and she asked how much he wanted.

• Cheng Shi suspected that Wei Zhi was still Galiusha and tested him while Wei Zhi pledged loyalty and tore off his own arm to prove his sincerity.
• Cheng Shi demanded that Wei Zhi kill Galiusha and hand over her valuables, then sent Hu Xuan and the others ahead.
• Alone with Wei Zhi, Cheng Shi exposed Galiusha, who admitted her identity and attacked him with her whip.
• Cheng Shi realized Galiusha lacked memories of the real universe and explained that she could use her new player identity to rob her original self.
• Galiusha asked Cheng Shi how much he wanted, and he tried to call them friends before she rejected the idea of friendship.

Cheng Shi pressured Galiusha into promising compensation in exchange for having the Sage remove the failsafe in her body, while she chose to visit Pelaya rather than reunite with her original self. Elsewhere, Wolent disguised himself as a refugee to escape the Drifters, but Cheng Shi accidentally found him and killed him while seeking directions, causing a strange sphere to roll from his corpse.

• Galiusha rejected Cheng Shi’s suggestion that she reunite with her original self and said she would instead pursue a new path of faith.
• Cheng Shi demanded that Galiusha bring him compensation before the trial ended, threatening to reveal that she had turned him into a Drifter unless she complied.
• Galiusha lashed out at Cheng Shi, then headed to the Three-Day Tower to say goodbye to Pelaya.
• The six Grand Scholars scattered after their failed experiment, and Wolent disguised himself as a refugee and headed toward the city center.
• Cheng Shi mistook Wolent for an ordinary refugee, killed him to make him answer questions, and saw a dim sphere roll from the corpse.

Cheng Shi discovered that Volunt had dropped the frozen Truth Ritual and concealed the Grand Scholar’s remains. After Hu Xuan revealed that Destiny had sent her into the trial to help him, Cheng Shi reconsidered Truth’s plan, and the trial ended with him earning a C rating.

• Cheng Shi identified the charred corpse as Volunt, took the frozen Truth Ritual, and destroyed the corpse with lightning.
• The players regrouped after several Grand Scholars were killed, while Chen Yi continued hunting Truth’s followers and two Grand Scholars remained at large.
• Cheng Shi and Hu Xuan searched the city together, and Hu Xuan explained that Lucia spread Birth by quietly helping life continue in desperate places.
• Hu Xuan revealed that Destiny had appeared in her rest area and changed her trial from Destiny to Truth so she could help Cheng Shi.
• Cheng Shi concluded that Truth had targeted him as experimental material and wondered whether Truth was still alive.
• The Special Trial ended with Cheng Shi receiving a C rating, Universe Truth, 20 Path to Godhood points, and 3 Ladder of Audience points.

Square and Round, Chen Yi, and Hu Xuan were summoned by deities in the void. Hu Xuan refused Destiny’s offer and asked It to bless Cheng Shi instead, while Chen Yi learned that Annihilation had erased some of his memories.

• Order summoned Square and Round to Kato Court and asked him, "What is Order?"
• Chen Yi mistook his audience with Lord of Grace for a chance to confess his love, then learned that Annihilation had annihilated his memories.
• After returning to the rest area, Chen Yi carved “Annihilation” into the floor and cursed It.
• Destiny offered Hu Xuan a place on Its path, but she refused because she had devoted herself to Birth.
• Hu Xuan asked Destiny to transfer the blessing to Cheng Shi, and Destiny warned her that his path would not be easy before departing.

On the anniversary of Cheng Jia bringing Cheng Shi home, Cheng Jia realized it could serve as Cheng Shi’s birthday and planned a small celebration for him. As Cheng Jia left to buy cola, Sun Yuying found an identification card belonging to the fortune-teller, An Ning.

• Cheng Jia watched a fortune-teller jokingly read a young couple’s romantic prospects from the character “Real.”
• When Cheng Shi returned from a classmate’s birthday party, the fortune-teller offered to read his fortune, and Cheng Shi wrote the same character before leaving with Cheng Jia.
• Sun Yuying told Cheng Jia that Cheng Shi seemed envious of birthday celebrations and revealed that the next day marked one year since Cheng Jia brought him home.
• Cheng Jia borrowed money from Sun Yuying to buy Cheng Shi a case of cola, while Sun Yuying scolded him for not giving Cheng Shi a proper birthday celebration.
• After Cheng Jia left, Sun Yuying found an identification card on his chair and recognized its owner as the fortune-teller, An Ning.

Galiusha was summoned into the void and confronted a Starry Tome of Knowledge impersonating Truth. The tome revealed that it had chosen her as a substitute variable and told her to stay alive until someone needed her.

• Galiusha realized the Starry Tome of Knowledge appeared to be the Truth she had sworn to destroy.
• The tome called Galiusha by name, and she discovered it was not Truth but a god impersonating it.
• Galiusha suspected the god could help her oppose Truth, but the tome warned her not to assume she was important.
• Galiusha agreed to cooperate as long as she could still pursue Truth's destruction.
• The tome said it had no plans for Galiusha beyond keeping her alive until he needed her.

After receiving an inexplicable 20 points in the trial, Cheng Shi was summoned to Memory’s collection hall, where Memory questioned him about a time-marked blank exhibit. The encounter ended with Memory realizing Cheng Shi carried Eternal Prisoner of Time and treating the revelation as another memory worth collecting.

• Cheng Shi wondered why Path to Godhood had awarded him 20 points despite his actions disrupting the trial.
• Memory summoned Cheng Shi to the collection hall, where it examined a blank exhibit marked by time and connected to the Origin.
• Memory accused Cheng Shi of defiling the exhibit and asked whether he would confess, but he stayed silent.
• Memory asked Cheng Shi to return the Floating Dream of the Sea of Memory, prompting him to glance at Eternal Prisoner of Time.
• Memory recognized the ring and inferred that Time had stolen its authority, then dismissed the matter as a memory worth collecting.

Cheng Shi was pulled from Memory’s collection hall to face Birth, who demanded to know where Lucia was. He learned that Deception had traded Truth’s authority for the return of Birth’s child, but Birth believed the deal had failed because Lucia remained in Tusnat by choice.

• After Memory left him alone in her collection hall, Cheng Shi cautiously explored and was seized by a divine pillar hidden among the exhibits.
• Birth summoned Cheng Shi and demanded to know where her child Lucia was.
• Cheng Shi learned that Deception had promised to return Lucia in exchange for Truth’s authority, but Lucia had remained in Tusnat.
• Cheng Shi realized Birth believed Deception had broken the deal because Lucia had chosen not to return, and Birth confirmed his interpretation.

Cheng Shi tried to keep Birth from summoning Lucia, then confronted God of Merriment about the time rewind and its role in saving the world. God of Merriment claimed Truth’s authority was compensation for a greater, undisclosed loss, leaving Cheng Shi suspicious about the rewind’s hidden costs.

• Cheng Shi told Birth that Lucia should remain free to follow her own path, while hinting that a greater danger threatened the Universe.
• Birth rejected Cheng Shi’s attempt to draw it toward the Fear Faction, warned him to stay away from its children, and dismissed him.
• Cheng Shi realized Birth had retained its memories because Time’s rewind could preserve selected gods’ memories.
• God of Merriment appeared and denied predicting the crisis, saying Truth’s experiment and War’s betrayal had disrupted its plans.
• Cheng Shi challenged God of Merriment’s claim that it had saved the world, and it said Truth’s authority did not compensate for the price it had paid.
• Cheng Shi suspected the rewind concealed further secrets, including why some gods retained their memories and others did not.

Cheng Shi learned that Truth had been exiled during the world reset and that Deception had taken Truth’s divine seat and authority. Deception hinted that the world needed the gods’ authorities, but Destiny appeared and accused Deception of severing the world’s paths, leaving Cheng Shi to realize Destiny had lost His memories.

• God of Merriment explained that things connected to Origin could not be restored by Time’s reset, prompting Cheng Shi to suspect Truth had been deliberately exiled.
• Cheng Shi realized Deception had posed as Truth, taken Truth’s divine seat and authority, and likely added twenty points to the trial score.
• God of Merriment told Cheng Shi that War’s authority remained anchored to the starry sky, though its location was unknown, and said He might follow other versions of Himself to retrieve it.
• Cheng Shi urged Deception to avoid further risks, but Deception replied that the world needed the gods’ authorities to fulfill what had been ordained.
• Destiny appeared and accused Deception of playing a trick after seeing the world’s paths severed and continued; Deception blamed Destiny’s missing memories and challenged Him to fight.

Cheng Shi received Prosperity’s Abundance and a wisdom crystallization from Lord of Grace, who warned that the gods might uncover clues to the world’s reset. The crystallization merged with Cheng Shi’s Clown Substitute and awakened his shadow into another Cheng Shi.

• Cheng Shi arrived at Lord of Grace’s temple after falling through the void and asked what he had been summoned for.
• Lord of Grace gave Cheng Shi Prosperity’s Abundance to deliver to Little Cat and a wisdom crystallization as a warning to an accomplice of Truth.
• Lord of Grace warned Cheng Shi that the gods could discover clues about the world’s reset and that the increased attention made Clown’s position more dangerous.
• Lord of Grace fused the wisdom crystallization with Cheng Shi’s Clown Substitute, and the result merged with Cheng Shi’s shadow.
• Cheng Shi’s shadow separated from the ground and became a person identical to him, and the two recognized each other as Cheng Shi.

Qin Xin learned that Hope's Flame had been badly weakened after fighting a dangerous opponent, while the gods Folly and the Starry Tome of Knowledge confronted Fairness (Order) over a hidden authority transaction. The Starry Tome hinted at plans to reconstruct a supposedly foolish deed, leaving Folly defiant and the gods' secrets unresolved.

• Qin Xin found Hope's Flame collapsed and learned they had fought someone dangerous who had nearly discovered the star space.
• Hope's Flame told Qin Xin to keep the Fire Keepers low-profile and vigilant while they rested, warning that War might not protect its passionate believers.
• Folly accused Fairness (Order) of secretly arranging an authority transaction and questioned whether it remained fair.
• The Starry Tome of Knowledge appeared and mocked Folly, who speculated that Truth had been eliminated and War was missing.
• Folly challenged the Starry Tome to take its hidden authority and vowed that the gods might reconstruct a foolish deed that would not be meaningless.

After surviving a dangerous trial, Long Jing and Li Jingming questioned Mo Shu and Jie Shu about their plans and identities. The trial ended with Long Jing and Li Jingming secretly returning to speculate about Jie Shu’s target, while Li Jingming took a cluster of Mo Shu’s memory power.

• Mo Shu revealed that he would consider Jie Shu’s proposal, while Jie Shu warned that he would not trust Mo Shu unless Mo Shu removed his tricks from Jie Shu’s memories.
• Jie Shu refused to recruit Li Jingming, suspecting he might be an inside man, and hinted that he had once encountered nonhuman beings posing as players.
• Li Jingming inferred that Jie Shu might be targeting a follower of Deception and recommended Long Jing as an ally, but Long Jing rejected the offer and left the trial.
• After the others departed, Long Jing and Li Jingming secretly returned and speculated that Jie Shu might be targeting Cheng Shi.
• Long Jing asked Li Jingming who he really was, but neither man exposed the other, and they parted after an awkward exchange.
• Li Jingming seized a cluster of Mo Shu’s memory power and wondered whether taking it was fair since Mo Shu avoided drawing close to Memory.

After gaining an independently acting shadow with its own faith and talents, Cheng Shi reviewed Destiny’s plans and wondered who else remembered the reset. Hong Lin called him after recalling the destroyed cosmos, resolved to become stronger, and Cheng Shi offered her Prosperity’s authority.

• Cheng Shi tested his shadow in a Solo Trial and found that their combined Faith Talents greatly increased his combat strength.
• Cheng Shi reviewed how the gods’ powers and influences had gathered around him and speculated that Destiny was preparing him to resemble Origin.
• Big Cat called Cheng Shi and asked whether her terrifying dream had been real; Cheng Shi reassured her that the world-ending events had happened.
• Hong Lin declared that she wanted to become strong enough to protect her friends and resist the gods’ control, and Cheng Shi offered to bring her Prosperity’s authority.
• Hong Lin repeatedly asked to become stronger, hoping Cheng Shi could make authority appear, while Cheng Shi understood her urgency.

Cheng Shi decided to resist the Predetermined by using it to gain power and enter the gods’ circle. He told Hong Lin his plans, and she asked to bring Tao Yi and Nangong into The Fated.

• Cheng Shi resolved to embrace Destiny’s Predetermined and accelerate it so he could gain a true divine identity and influence.
• Cheng Shi handed his authority to Big Cat and told her to identify as Prosperity, intending to win recognition for her divine identity.
• Cheng Shi shared his knowledge of the gods and the Predetermined with Hong Lin under The Great One’s protection, and advised her to draw close to Deception without fully trusting him.
• Hong Lin asked to bring Tao Yi and Nangong into The Fated, explaining that Tao Yi had merged with Destiny through prayer.
• Hong Lin began planning a large meeting and asked Cheng Shi whether he had absolute authority within The Fated, leaving him worried about how small the gathering might actually be.

Cheng Shi warned An Mingyu about trouble among the gods while concealing that Destiny had suffered a loss in another starry sky. At the Fire Hall, Sun Miao joined the Fire Keepers and proposed targeting Decay’s divine seat for their God Creation Plan.

• Cheng Shi called An Mingyu, warned her to tell Fang Shiqing and Qin Xin to be careful, and reassured her that Destiny was fine despite her uneasy divinations.
• An Mingyu returned to the museum and discussed the gods’ struggle and civilization’s troubles with Zhen Xin.
• Ji Yue brought Sun Miao to the Fire Hall, where Qin Xin questioned whether Sun Miao was pretending to support the Fire Keepers.
• Sun Miao explained that Prosperity’s divine seat was already occupied and proposed that the Fire Keepers pursue Decay’s seat instead.
• Qin Xin welcomed Sun Miao into the Fire Keepers and called the plan theirs.

Cheng Shi met Sun Miao in the void to discuss the Fire Keeper, but she first revealed the History School’s investigation of the Fool’s Play. Sun Miao mistook Cheng Shi for the God of Nothingness and concluded that he had hidden the Fire Keepers to resist the gods, leaving him stunned by how close her mistaken deductions came to the truth.

• Cheng Shi received Sun Miao’s message marked with a symbol of passing the fire and arranged to meet her in the void.
• Sun Miao said the History School traced the Fool’s Play’s known sources back to Cheng Shi and questioned whether it was real.
• Sun Miao declared that Cheng Shi was the Deception Envoy and the God of Nothingness, believing his apparent lies concealed his identity.
• Cheng Shi transformed into the Fool’s Play and warned Sun Miao to forget what she had seen.
• Sun Miao inferred that Cheng Shi had concealed the Fire Keepers from the gods and was helping them resist either Deception or the gods.

Sun Miao explained her theory that the Faith Game and the Path to Godhood were meant to create a seventeenth god, while Cheng Shi feared that the gods themselves might be trapped in a larger experiment. He praised her God Creation Plan but recognized that her proposal could not work beyond the starry sky, where only the Creator's throne remained.

• Sun Miao inferred from Cheng Shi's reaction that Folly was resisting something and offered her intelligence and vice-president positions as potential help to his faction.
• Cheng Shi asked Sun Miao what she thought the game meant, and she argued that it was designed to create a new god through the Path to Godhood.
• Cheng Shi silently considered that the game might be an experimental system imposed on the gods, and Sun Miao mistook his fear for evidence that the gods were struggling against their captor.
• Cheng Shi praised Sun Miao's God Creation Plan, and she shared her suggestions for helping the Fire Keeper carry it out.
• Cheng Shi concluded that Sun Miao's plan could not succeed because the starry sky had sixteen divine thrones, while beyond it only the Creator's throne existed.

Cheng Shi gave Sun Miao the Decay Container and sent her to offer it to Qin Xin as a chance to create a god. Back on the rooftop, he realized he might be able to retrieve War’s lost authority from the real universe and considered taking Big Cat and a believer in War with him.

• Cheng Shi explained to Sun Miao that the Decay Container could let divinity drip down and create a god.
• He gave Sun Miao the Decay Container to take to Qin Xin, warning her that gathering faith for Decay would be difficult.
• Sun Miao accepted the task and pledged to direct the plans without revealing that the container came from Cheng Shi.
• Cheng Shi considered whether Civilization or War could offer another path to a vacant divine throne.
• He realized he might travel to the real universe to retrieve War’s lost authority and thought Big Cat and a believer in War could help him find it.

Cheng Shi sought a way to understand time and decided to question Afros, time’s prisoner, about it. While arranging to meet the Doctor and other companions, he called someone using the Dragon King’s phone and uncovered clues about the caller’s identity before securing a loan of My Nightmare, Your Dream.

• Cheng Shi concluded that understanding time was essential to his plans but could not reach time directly, so he considered asking The Great One for help.
• The Doctor called Cheng Shi about Zainjil, and Cheng Shi said the Sage had located him alive and proposed meeting with additional friends.
• Cheng Shi remembered Afros’s connection to time and arranged to bring the Doctor along to meet him.
• Cheng Shi called the Dragon King’s number for Wei Zhi’s contact information and realized the person answering was an unusually perceptive impersonator.
• Cheng Shi proposed borrowing My Nightmare, Your Dream to investigate whether the Doctor had changed, and the caller agreed to lend it to him.

Cheng Shi investigated the apparent replacement of the Dragon King and learned that My Nightmare, Your Dream might imprison him in exchange for its current captive. With the Doctor’s identity also in question, Cheng Shi prepared to travel to Dolgo to seek answers.

• Li Jingming offered Cheng Shi My Nightmare, Your Dream and told him to collect it from beneath Memory’s gravestone, while Cheng Shi suspected the offer might be a trap.
• Cheng Shi contacted Zhang Jizu and Long Jing, who confirmed that the Dragon King had stopped contacting them and might have been replaced.
• Cheng Shi called Zhen Xin, who explained a theory that the mirror could imprison someone new when its Nightmare Shade was outside.
• Cheng Shi asked Zhen Xin for Wei Zhi’s contact information and concluded that he needed to go to Dolgo to learn more about the mirror.
• Cheng Shi worried about the Doctor and the Dragon King’s fate as he lay on a rooftop and heard a voice calling him to Dolgo.

Cheng Shi brought Wei Zhi and Galiusha to Dolgo D to meet Zainjil, but Afros confronted him about concealing the truth behind Herobas’s vessel. Cheng Shi claimed Birth’s reasons for imprisoning Afros were more complicated than they had believed, and Afros let them enter to hear more.

• Cheng Shi met the Doctor in the void and introduced Wei Zhi as a fellow visitor seeking Zainjil.
• Cheng Shi, Wei Zhi, and Galiusha entered Dolgo D, where Afros greeted Cheng Shi as his brother.
• Galiusha recognized Afros’s influence on the Brotherhood of Extreme Desire and called him Xilolin’s founding master.
• Wei Weijin introduced himself to Afros as a pursuer of Truth, while Afros focused on Cheng Shi and demanded an explanation.
• Cheng Shi said he had discovered that Birth’s reason for imprisoning Afros involved time, and Afros let the group inside.

Cheng Shi revealed himself to Afros as Fool's Play and claimed that Time had discovered another starry sky beyond his reach, where counterparts of the gods existed. Afros found that Cheng Shi was telling the truth about the discovery, but Cheng Shi prepared to use that trust to deceive him further.

• Galiusha suggested that Cheng Shi and Afros talk alone, and Afros silenced the others' senses.
• Cheng Shi transformed into Fool's Play, showed Afros the Vessel of Deception, and said he had recovered some of his strength.
• Cheng Shi explained that Time had discovered a new starry sky containing counterparts of the gods, including another Lord of Grace.
• Afros examined Cheng Shi's desire after he put away the Vessel of Deception and concluded that Cheng Shi had not lied.
• Cheng Shi brought out the Vessel of Deception again, intending to use Afros's trust as cover for further lies.

Cheng Shi convinced Afros that Time planned to destroy a parallel world, using Yug’s Decay Container as evidence, while concealing where the container was. Their conversation ended in confusion when Afros revealed he had been asking about Tria’s Filth and Decay Container, not Lele’er’s container.

• Cheng Shi told Afros that Time resisted outside changes and sought to preserve Its uniqueness by destroying another world.
• Cheng Shi claimed Deception had revealed Time’s plan and that Yug had given him a Decay Container from another world.
• Afros believed Cheng Shi’s account, briefly became overcome by desire, then asked where Yug’s container was and how it differed from this world’s.
• Cheng Shi refused to reveal the container’s location, saying it was crucial evidence and that Time might learn of their plans through Afros.
• Afros said he trusted Cheng Shi but believed the coming era would eventually make all schemes irrelevant.
• Cheng Shi said he had taken Lele’er’s container after Her death, and Afros clarified that he had been asking about Tria’s Filth and Decay Container.