Recaps

Cheng Shi escaped assimilation by the Leaky World Silent Puppet and concluded that the apparent corpse still held [Silence]'s lingering will, leaving him and Hong Lin without a lead on [War]'s authority. Elsewhere, Qin Xin encountered Cheng Shi and Hong Lin, but they mistook him for another impostor and he prepared to fight unless they explained themselves.

• Shadow Cheng Shi touched the Leaky World Silent Puppet and began to be assimilated, but used Time Has Its Own Path to rewind and escape.
• Cheng Shi told Hong Lin that the puppet had assimilated his shadow, and Hong Lin carried him away from it.
• Cheng Shi and Hong Lin debated whether to trade the puppet's secret to the two swindlers for information about [War]'s lost authority.
• Qin Xin spotted Cheng Shi and Hong Lin, but they accused him of being a trickster and challenged him.
• Qin Xin declared himself genuine, demanded that they explain their presence, and drew his bow in preparation to fight.

Qin Xin fought Hong Lin and Cheng Shi to test whether they were the friends he remembered, but their unexpected aggression made him doubt their identities. As Qin Xin transformed into a blazing believer of [War], a ray of heavenly light empowered him and his blood joined the flames in a vast vortex.

• Qin Xin trapped Hong Lin in a cage of fire and repeatedly targeted Cheng Shi, forcing Hong Lin to rescue him.
• Cheng Shi spread smoke across the battlefield and urged Hong Lin to attack Qin Xin while he distracted him.
• Hong Lin struck Qin Xin hard, but she continued attacking despite his attempts to stop the fight.
• Qin Xin questioned whether Hong Lin was truly herself when she seemed weaker than expected, and Hong Lin declared herself his mother.
• Qin Xin ignited into his fiery form, and a ray of heavenly light poured into him as his blood rose into a vortex of blood and fire.

Qin Xin reclaimed the Divine Authority of [War] and became its sole Emissary, while Cheng Shi and Hong Lin claimed they served [Destiny] and left him with revelations about the gods’ conflict. Qin Xin was left questioning the factions and resolved to return to his world.

• Qin Xin’s Divine Power of [War] resonated with its lost Divine Authority, which returned to him and engulfed him in visions of countless battles.
• Qin Xin inherited [War]’s Divine Authority and became its sole Emissary, elevated by a True God’s will after that god’s death.
• Cheng Shi congratulated Qin Xin on becoming a true Fire Keeper and explained that he and Hong Lin had sought the same Divine Authority for [Destiny].
• Cheng Shi said he had feigned devotion to [Deception], believed [Destiny] was trying to save the world, and suspected the God of Merriment was plotting its destruction.
• Cheng Shi and Hong Lin departed, urging Qin Xin to return home and promising to keep his new Divine Authority secret.
• Qin Xin wondered whether the rift among the gods made it the right time to Pass the Flame, then turned resolutely toward the way back.

Qin Xin encountered Cheng Shi and Hong Lin in the True Universe, but past deceptions made him mistake them for liars and attack. Cheng Shi persuaded him to lower his bow, though Qin Xin remained unsure which world's Cheng Shi he was facing.

• Unable to find a way home, Qin Xin drew other beings’ attention while trying to break through the spacetime barrier.
• Cheng Shi and Hong Lin approached, and Hong Lin mistook Qin Xin for a disguised liar before Cheng Shi stopped her from fleeing.
• Qin Xin recognized their repeated question and suspected they were the liars Cheng Shi had warned him about, so he shot an arrow at them.
• Hong Lin transformed into Giant Bear and caught the arrow, while Cheng Shi restrained her and explained that they were real and had sought [War]'s authority to find a way to survive [Destiny]'s foretold ending.
• Qin Xin lowered his bow after hearing Cheng Shi’s explanation, but wondered why the two Cheng Shis had described different futures and which world the man before him came from.

Cheng Shi and Hong Lin tried to convince Qin Xin that they were the real ones, and Cheng Shi proposed testing their identities through the use of authority. Qin Xin shared [War]'s authority with Cheng Shi, confirming his identity and recognizing him as the Fate Weaver.

• Qin Xin explained that he would not abandon the Fire Keepers or give up the authority, but agreed to hear Cheng Shi and Hong Lin out.
• Cheng Shi told Qin Xin that authority could only be wielded by someone from the world it belonged to, arguing that the other pair were con artists from the True Universe.
• Cheng Shi revealed that Hong Lin had inherited [Prosperity]'s authority and proposed having her share it with Qin Xin as a test, prompting Qin Xin to ask whom Cheng Shi wanted to place on [War]'s Divine Throne.
• Cheng Shi told Qin Xin that he was best suited for [War]'s Divine Throne, but Qin Xin instead shared [War]'s authority, 'Unyielding,' with Cheng Shi.
• Cheng Shi successfully wielded the authority, and Qin Xin confirmed that he was the real Cheng Shi and greeted him as the Fate Weaver.

Cheng Shi accepted Qin Xin’s [War] authority as a gift and revealed that humans were working to usurp the gods. After testing Hong Lin’s strength against Qin Xin, he realized the two con artists who had deceived them were probably a single Clown.

• Qin Xin gave Cheng Shi limited use of [War]’s authority, and Cheng Shi agreed to treat it as a gift.
• Cheng Shi told Qin Xin that the Fated were working to replace the gods with humans, then asked him to recount the con artists’ story.
• Cheng Shi suspected the impostors were shadows after learning that the fake Hong Lin had seemed much weaker than the real one.
• Cheng Shi asked Big Cat to attack Qin Xin, and their clash showed that the impostor had lacked Hong Lin’s combat strength.
• A second Hong Lin appeared beside Cheng Shi, who concluded that the two con artists had actually been one bored Clown.

Cheng Shi realized that the two liars were alternate versions of himself who had provoked Qin Xin to help him obtain the authority of [War]. Elsewhere, [Destiny] Cheng Shi and [Deception] Cheng Shi discussed their duty as Guides and their hope of finding a successor before they died.

• Cheng Shi deduced that the clown who impersonated Hong Lin was another version of himself and had deliberately kept fighting Qin Xin until Qin Xin inherited the authority of [War].
• Cheng Shi concluded that the other Cheng Shi had likely left after exposing himself because he was searching for the authority of [War] and enjoyed leaving Cheng Shi to sort out the deception.
• [Deception] Cheng Shi and [Destiny] Cheng Shi watched the corpse of a Leaky World Silent Puppet and wondered whether they could safely go up as another Cheng Shi apparently had.
• [Destiny] Cheng Shi said their predecessors’ deaths had let them survive in their distorted state, but their path could not provide the universe’s answer.
• [Deception] Cheng Shi and [Destiny] Cheng Shi agreed to keep serving as Guides until they found a successor, and [Deception] Cheng Shi looked forward to telling that successor a lie.

Cheng Shi, Qin Xin, and Hong Lin searched for a way back from the True Universe, but their investigation at Qin Xin’s starting point revealed nothing about its space-time rules. A Space-Time Storm then swallowed them, as [Deception] Cheng Shi and [Destiny] Cheng Shi watched from afar.

• Cheng Shi reasoned that unknown space-time rules had blocked their way home and led the group to investigate their starting points.
• Cheng Shi changed their destination to Qin Xin’s starting point because he feared [Deception] Cheng Shi had tampered with Hong Lin’s [Prosperity] seeds.
• Cheng Shi, Qin Xin, and Hong Lin reached the starting point and found no clues despite investigating with their Divine Authority.
• [Deception] Cheng Shi revealed that he had replaced Qin Xin’s and Big Cat’s markers, while he and [Destiny] Cheng Shi anticipated a Space-Time Storm.
• A Space-Time Storm appeared over Cheng Shi, Qin Xin, and Hong Lin and swallowed them.

Cheng Shi was trapped in the Space-Time Storm’s consuming darkness after becoming separated from Hong Lin and Qin Xin, and he found a patch of white light that might offer a way out. After Shadow Cheng Shi and several objects vanished into it without responding, Cheng Shi was left waiting in uncertainty, unsure whether he could survive until the storm ended.

• Cheng Shi regained awareness inside the Space-Time Storm and found that Hong Lin and Qin Xin were missing and that he could not escape through time or space.
• Cheng Shi used the [Filth and Decay] vessel to steady himself, then spotted a single glimmer of white light in the darkness.
• Cheng Shi sent Shadow Cheng Shi toward the light, but lost all contact with his shadow after it entered.
• Cheng Shi tested the white light with objects, his Mask, and Dice, but nothing responded, so he gouged out an eye and threw the Gaze of Mockery inside.
• Cheng Shi received no response from the Gaze of Mockery and resigned himself to waiting for the storm to end, wondering whether Big Cat and Qin Xin could escape.

Lost in a white expanse during the dark storm, Hong Lin recognized the Starting Point of Life Path and saw her past self about to choose a token. She created a [Prosperity] branch for her, unknowingly revealing that she may have received the same gift in her own past; the [Prosperity] will awakened, and a Druid was born by divine decree.

• Hong Lin entered the white light while searching for Cheng Shi and found herself drifting through a familiar, room-like space.
• Hong Lin recognized the space as the Starting Point of Life Path and saw her past self approaching it, with only [Decay]'s dagger and [Destiny]'s Dice present.
• Hong Lin realized her past self was missing the [Prosperity] token and used her authority to create a green branch for her.
• Hong Lin placed the branch beside the other tokens, and her past self chose it, restoring her health.
• The [Prosperity] will sensed the gift from beyond its world, awakened, and chose Hong Lin as a Druid.

Qin Xin entered a Trial and witnessed another world's frail Qin Xin fighting to find heavy armor that could house his soul. He used his authority of [War] to pass the armor to him, sacrificing his own vessel so the other Qin Xin could continue carrying the flame.

• Qin Xin leaped into the white light and found himself watching a battlefield from the end of the Civilization Era, where another Qin Xin fought alone atop a mountain of corpses.
• The frail Qin Xin searched the battlefield for heavy armor that could house his soul, hoping to build a great dream and pass on the fire in his heart.
• As the Trial neared its end, the frail Qin Xin collapsed without finding the armor, and Qin Xin feared that the flame would go out with him.
• Qin Xin used his authority of [War] to form divine hands, remove his own heavy armor, and place it beside the frail Qin Xin.
• The Trial transported the sleeping frail Qin Xin and the armor away, while Qin Xin's cloudlike form dispersed into the night.

While sleeping in the True Universe, Cheng Shi dreamed that his shadow self had been cast into another world’s Path of Fate’s Beginning. He chose not to decide the new Cheng Shi’s fate, but his presence still drew Mouth Brother into the room, where the new Cheng Shi chose both the Dice of Destiny and the Lips of Foolish Play.

• Shadow Cheng Shi realized he had lost his physical body and half his faith after entering the white light, leaving him a believer in Destiny alone.
• Shadow Cheng Shi discovered he was at the beginning of another world and wondered whether he should leave his Mask and Dice for the new Cheng Shi.
• Shadow Cheng Shi decided not to place the tokens or choose the new Cheng Shi’s path, reasoning that the new Cheng Shi should make his own decisions.
• Shadow Cheng Shi’s Gaze of Mockery drew Mouth Brother to the room just as the new Cheng Shi entered to choose a token.
• Mouth Brother advised the new Cheng Shi to choose the Dice of Destiny, but the new Cheng Shi reached for both the Dice and the Lips of Foolish Play.

Cheng Shi escaped the spreading white light through a twisted passage in space and time, where he reunited with Hong Lin and Qin Xin. Together, they faced the possibility that their lives followed a predetermined course, and Cheng Shi insisted they could still choose their own path.

• Cheng Shi recovered his shadow’s memories and wondered whether their repeated coincidences were part of the Creator’s experimental protocol.
• Cheng Shi saw Void-Snout Devouring Pigs spreading white light across the True Universe and stepped onto what appeared to be a bridge.
• Cheng Shi discovered the bridge was a passage through space and time, filled with passing versions of himself.
• Hong Lin and Qin Xin caught up with Cheng Shi, and the three confirmed their identities through shared divine authority.
• Hong Lin asked whether their experiences were fate or a course already laid out for them, and Cheng Shi said they could defy predetermination by holding to their choices.

Cheng Shi, Qin Xin, and Hong Lin crossed the Space-Time Dolphin Bridge and encountered two hooded travelers, one of whom Qin Xin identified as Jie Shu. Cheng Shi realized they likely came from another world and concluded he knew how to return home.

• Qin Xin theorized that Void-Snout Devouring Pigs repaired holes between worlds, and Cheng Shi connected them to Su Yida's return from the future.
• Cheng Shi proposed that the group might escape by jumping off the bridge, while Qin Xin and Hong Lin searched for clues and Hong Lin encountered two hooded figures.
• The hooded figures retreated and vanished from the bridge after one mentioned a compass and said they had taken the wrong path.
• Qin Xin identified the leading figure as Jie Shu, and Cheng Shi wondered whether Jie Shu and his companion were preparing to carry out their plan against him.
• Big Cat asked which world's Jie Shu they had seen, leading Cheng Shi to realize the pair likely belonged to another world and that he knew how to get home.

Cheng Shi deduced that the space-time bridge connected travelers with the same destination and that changing destinations could make them vanish from one another. Hong Lin tested his theory and confirmed it worked, and the group prepared to return home.

• Cheng Shi explained that his encounter with Jie Shu and Su Yida had led him to suspect that people from different worlds could see one another when they shared a destination.
• Qin Xin described Jie Shu's ambition to surpass Wei Mu, and Cheng Shi concluded that Jie Shu had hinted at how to leave the bridge so Cheng Shi would stop obstructing his search for a world without him.
• Cheng Shi theorized that travelers who shared a destination became anchored to the same world and could return by jumping from the bridge.
• Cheng Shi secretly tried changing his destination but did not disappear, then invited Hong Lin and Qin Xin to test the idea.
• Hong Lin changed destinations and vanished, then returned and confirmed that the bridge's distortions responded to the travelers' intentions.
• Hong Lin and Qin Xin agreed with Cheng Shi that it was time to go home.

Cheng Shi persuaded Qin Xin and Hong Lin to risk returning to the True Universe so he could investigate [Silence]'s corpse and learn more about [Origin]. They reappeared together, but arrived somewhere else in the Gods' Graveyard, where divine radiances silently fell around them.

• Cheng Shi stopped Hong Lin and Qin Xin from leaving and argued that he needed to learn more from [Silence]'s corpse.
• Qin Xin agreed to go with Cheng Shi, and Hong Lin joined them; Qin Xin prepared [Memory] items to anchor their return.
• Cheng Shi explained how they would use the bridge to reach the corpse and instructed them to return home if they became separated for three minutes.
• The three synchronized their watches, changed their destinations, and jumped from the long bridge together.
• Cheng Shi awoke with Qin Xin and Hong Lin in the Gods' Graveyard, where divine powers fell in silence instead of [Silence]'s corpse appearing.

Cheng Shi, Hong Lin, and Qin Xin found themselves in a starless graveyard filled with the remains of dead gods and searched it for clues. They found no trace of [Filth and Decay] or [Destiny], leaving Cheng Shi to wonder whether those gods had never entered the True Universe—and whether [Destiny] had remained committed to its predetermined course even as its world was destroyed.

• Hong Lin, Cheng Shi, and Qin Xin were overwhelmed by the sight of countless dead gods and their falling authorities.
• Cheng Shi used the [Filth and Decay] vessel to draw away their fear and concluded that the starless expanse was a mass grave for gods who had already died.
• The three searched the graveyard and found the remains of [Deception], but no trace of [Filth and Decay] or [Destiny].
• Cheng Shi identified the fading stars as [Deception] by sensing laughter in their falling authority, and Qin Xin accepted his explanation.
• Hong Lin suggested that [Filth and Decay] might have survived, prompting Cheng Shi to consider that only gods who died in the True Universe were buried there.
• Cheng Shi feared that [Destiny] had never entered the True Universe and had stayed in its world guarding the predetermined course, even as that world was destroyed.

Cheng Shi, Hong Lin, and Qin Xin descended into the Corpse Field’s abyss and heard a voice that sounded like [Origin], leaving Hong Lin and Qin Xin unconscious and rescued while Cheng Shi stayed behind. Suspecting the voice was an impostor rather than [Origin], Cheng Shi sent Shadow Cheng Shi to investigate.

• Qin Xin urged the group to leave the Corpse Field, but Cheng Shi persuaded Hong Lin to descend farther into the abyss for one more look.
• The three descended through the corpse pit until a voice declared that the gods’ extinction would bring the cosmos to ruin and named [Origin].
• Qin Xin dragged Hong Lin upward, then lost consciousness when the voice sounded again; he used his [Memory] item to return himself and Hong Lin to the Space-Time Dolphin Bridge.
• Cheng Shi remained in the abyss, resisted the terror with [Filth and Decay], and reasoned that the voice could not have come from [Origin] or a god.
• Cheng Shi sent Shadow Cheng Shi to investigate the source of the voice while preparing to escape if necessary.

Cheng Shi explored the hidden space in the Gods' Graveyard and discovered a mysterious throne assembled from gods' corpses, then dismantled it and returned to Pig Bridge. Hong Lin and Qin Xin confronted him for leaving them behind, and the chapter ended with Cheng Shi apologizing but insisting he would take the same risk again.

• Shadow Cheng Shi turned into mist and entered the passage behind the piled gods' corpses.
• Cheng Shi discovered a throne assembled from fragments of gods' corpses and heard mist flowing through it repeat a message about [Origin].
• Cheng Shi deduced that the unfinished throne had spaces for [Filth and Decay] and [Destiny], then dismantled it and stored the pieces.
• Cheng Shi returned to Pig Bridge, where Hong Lin punched him for risking his life and Qin Xin apologized for leaving him behind.
• Cheng Shi urged Hong Lin to beat Qin Xin too, then sincerely apologized before declaring he would take the same risk again.

Cheng Shi, Hong Lin, and Qin Xin escaped the True Universe and confirmed they had returned to their world, while Jie Shu and two wandering Chengs remained behind with questions about the God of Merriment’s plan. After reconnecting with their allies, Cheng Shi learned that 104 days had passed during his absence and Doctor asked where he had gone.

• Hong Lin apologized to Qin Xin, and Cheng Shi described what he had seen in the True Universe while keeping the Divine Throne secret.
• Cheng Shi, Hong Lin, and Qin Xin agreed to return home and leaped from the Space-Time Dolphin Bridge into the streams of light.
• After they left, Jie Shu and a hooded companion encountered Cheng Deception and Cheng Destiny, who had arrived to collect a promised payment and learned Cheng Shi was already home.
• Cheng Deception and Cheng Destiny worried over the God of Merriment’s insistence that they deliver the line about [Deception] destroying the world and Destiny saving it.
• Hong Lin confirmed that Big Cat’s villa was in their world, while Qin Xin returned to the Fire-Keeping Hall and pledged the Fire Keepers’ friendship.
• Cheng Shi contacted Doctor, who said the group had been missing for 104 days and asked where they had gone.

After returning from the True Universe, Cheng Shi was pulled into the God of Merriment’s [Deception] trial and disguised himself as Zhang Jizu to avoid attention. He reunited with An Mingyu and Hu Wei, then encountered another Chosen of [Death] as the team began gathering.

• Cheng Shi received the special trial notification and wondered whether the God of Merriment and [Time] had manipulated his return or were avoiding him.
• Cheng Shi entered the trial in a gold-filled room and disguised himself as Squinty Old Zhang, a Chosen of [Death].
• Cheng Shi met An Mingyu, who identified their location as Kanliwal in summer and reflected that beautiful things never lasted.
• Hu Wei emerged and greeted An Mingyu and Cheng Shi, then asked Cheng Shi to stay while he gathered the team.
• After several rooms went unanswered, another Chosen of [Death] named Zhang Jizu emerged.

Cheng Shi and Zhang Jizu improvised an identity swap after meeting during the [Deception] Trial, while Hu Wei recruited them to investigate Giggle and Mock’s disappearance. The group learned that Cheng Shi had been trapped beyond the Void, though Zhang Jizu concealed the truth behind a misleading explanation.

• Cheng Shi recognized Zhang Jizu and signaled that he was impersonating him, so Zhang Jizu agreed to play along and claim Cheng Shi’s identity.
• Hu Wei realized the disguised player was Cheng Shi and enthusiastically tried to recruit him as a Priest, despite the real Zhang Jizu standing nearby.
• Hu Wei announced that Giggle and Mock had reappeared deep in the Void after disappearing and asked Cheng Shi and Zhang Jizu to investigate with him.
• Cheng Shi realized the disappearance might have affected the Clowns’ search for the Nose of Discernment but stayed quiet because he was impersonating Zhang Jizu.
• When Hu Wei questioned how Cheng Shi could be unaware of Giggle and Mock’s disappearance, Zhang Jizu claimed Cheng Shi had been trapped beyond the Void and warned the others not to investigate.

Hu Wei told Cheng Shi and the others that [Destiny] had cut off Giggle and Mock during a fight within [Nothingness], though Cheng Shi suspected the God of Merriment was using the story to conceal responsibility. The group entered the void to investigate Giggle and Mock, while Cheng Shi tried to catch up with Zhang Jizu before their disguise failed.

• Hu Wei explained that Giggle and Mock had vanished and claimed [Destiny] severed it during a fierce fight within [Nothingness].
• Cheng Shi suspected the God of Merriment was using Hu Wei to shift blame for cutting off their route home, making him wary of the God of Merriment and the Fear Faction.
• Hu Wei argued that the gods were fighting over authority within the fusion of their faiths, then urged the group to leave for the void.
• Cheng Shi, Zhang Jizu, and An Mingyu agreed to investigate Giggle and Mock, and Hu Wei opened a passage with his sword.
• Hu Wei had "Cheng Shi" walk at the front, while Cheng Shi followed behind with An Mingyu and planned to catch up with Zhang Jizu before they reached Giggle and Mock.

Cheng Shi, Hu Wei, An Mingyu, and Zhang Jizu entered Giggle and Mock to investigate the upheaval and followed An Mingyu’s guidance toward the seven o’clock direction. As they explored, an unknown figure entered after them and slipped away separately.

• Hu Wei found Giggle and Mock, and the group descended into it after Hu Wei jumped in first.
• Cheng Shi discovered that An Mingyu had become formless inside Giggle and Mock, while Zhang Jizu appeared as a squinting little skull.
• Cheng Shi claimed his enlarged spiderweb and its mask represented his devotion, while Zhang Jizu recognized the Nose of Discernment in the mask.
• An Mingyu directed the group toward the seven o’clock direction, and Hu Wei explained that Zhen Xin could transform into anyone, even Cheng Shi.
• A dark green seed-shaped figure entered Giggle and Mock just before the opening closed, then quietly went in a different direction from the group.

Cheng Shi and his companions searched Giggle and Mock for traces of the gods’ conflict, but found no further clues and unknowingly headed the wrong way. Elsewhere, [Deception] revealed that [Destiny] was trapped and warned that the Trials would bring answers, while [Destiny] insisted Cheng Shi belonged to the Starry Sky.

• Cheng Shi and his companions followed traces of [Destiny] and [Chaos] through Giggle and Mock, and Cheng Shi suspected the God of Merriment had fought [Destiny].
• The group found no more evidence, and Hu Wei questioned Cheng Shi about how Fool's Game had chosen him.
• Cheng Shi told Hu Wei that devotion and completing the Trials might attract Fool's Game's attention, then the group returned to Kanliwal by Scrying Mirror.
• Unbeknownst to the group, they had searched in the wrong direction while [Deception] confronted the trapped [Destiny] elsewhere in Giggle and Mock.
• [Deception] told [Destiny] to remain imprisoned until the Trials ended, and [Destiny] declared that Cheng Shi belonged to the Starry Sky.