Recaps

Cheng Shi learned the truth behind the trial, including Hu Xuan’s danger, Glachor’s tragic past, and Zainjil’s fate. As he prepared for Destiny’s coming choice, Great Cheng Shi explained how the Scholarly Council had abandoned Zainjil and taken control of his experiment.

• Great Cheng Shi told Cheng Shi that the trial had been rigged, that Hu Xuan was struggling against Zainjil’s divinity, and that she might die soon.
• Great Cheng Shi explained that the Divine Envoy was Glachor, a scholar’s son who had grown up protecting Yuanmu Town and turned himself into an undying puppet after losing his last friend, Xilinjie.
• Cheng Shi learned that Zainjil was neither dead nor alive after Eternal Day awakened and drained his life force.
• Great Cheng Shi revealed that the Scholarly Council had abandoned Zainjil after his apparent failure so it could take over the experiment, and Cheng Shi recognized the Council’s ruthless calculation.

Cheng Shi sought advice from Great Cheng Shi about which fate choice to submit, and Great Cheng Shi urged him to choose Zainjil. Cheng Shi then recognized that Great Cheng Shi was an impostor and confronted him, naming Xin.

• Great Cheng Shi explained the possible fate choices and suggested that Cheng Shi redeem Zainjil, which could let him regain control of the experiment.
• Cheng Shi briefly faltered from weakness, healed himself, and asked Great Cheng Shi for advice, while testing whether he was genuine.
• Great Cheng Shi advised choosing Zainjil and said that fate might change the outcome to amuse the Lord of Grace.
• Cheng Shi questioned how Great Cheng Shi knew about his missing teammate and learned that he claimed to manipulate memories.
• Cheng Shi identified flaws in Great Cheng Shi's performance and confronted him, asking whether he was Xin.

Cheng Shi realized that the apparent future version of himself was an elaborate illusion created by Zhen Xin, who had impersonated people throughout the trial. When Shaman revealed herself, Cheng Shi admitted that Lips of Foolish Play had supplied her name and that his own discovery had come from an unexpected memory-related trump card.

• Cheng Shi suspected Great Cheng Shi was a counterfeit after noticing his unusual interest in the trial and reasoning that a hidden teammate might be a Deception believer.
• Cheng Shi reconstructed how the woman had left a corpse, impersonated Shaman and Qin Chaoge, and manipulated the group while disguised as a teammate.
• Cheng Shi concluded that the woman had used memory-reading and powerful Deception Talents to fabricate the future Cheng Shi and the apparent God-Stealing Experiment.
• Shaman revealed herself as Zhen Xin and asked Cheng Shi how he had identified her.
• Cheng Shi admitted that Lips of Foolish Play had told him Zhen Xin's name and that a hidden memory-related trump card had exposed the counterfeit.

Cheng Shi revealed how he had used layered hypnosis and the Lips of Foolish Play to hide altered memories from Memory. After Zhen Xin exposed his grief and flirted with him, he exploited her illusion to kill her with a blast of plasma.

• Cheng Shi explained that he had rewritten a painful memory, set a trigger to break his hypnosis, and used the Lips of Foolish Play to conceal the operation from anyone reading his memories.
• Cheng Shi refused to tell Zhen Xin what she wanted to know, and she deduced that he had deceived himself about his dead guardian.
• Zhen Xin revealed that she was using her own appearance, had impersonated Shaman, and had killed her; she then teased Cheng Shi and guided his hand toward her chest.
• Cheng Shi grabbed Zhen Xin and said that seeing through her illusion did not leave him powerless.
• Cheng Shi pressed Zhen Xin's spine, triggering a plasma blast that killed her and threw him across the platform.

After Zhen Xin’s death, Ji Ran recovered his second die and used it to overpower Cheng Shi and Li Boli. With no safe Destiny option left, Cheng Shi named Hu Xuan as the person to be redeemed, activating the final Choice and freezing everything as the vote began.

• Zhen Xin’s Void Memory Pocket collapsed, freeing Li Boli and the ranger, while Ji Ran claimed a die from her corpse and revealed that he had another die.
• Ji Ran rolled a critical success and relentlessly pursued Cheng Shi and Li Boli across the platform, leaving them with no way to fight back.
• Cheng Shi urged Li Boli to activate Destiny’s Choice, but rejected the available options because he feared their consequences.
• As Ji Ran’s greatsword struck, Cheng Shi chose Hu Xuan to be redeemed, and Destiny accepted her as the final Choice’s sole option.
• Li Boli trusted Cheng Shi and voted for Hu Xuan, bringing her vote count to two while Cheng Shi gambled that the choice would save them.

Cheng Shi won Destiny’s final choice when the awakened Qin Chaoge voted for Hu Xuan, then killed Ji Ran in the storm unleashed by the Dagger of Stars. Li Boli carried Cheng Shi away, while the fate of the remaining players was left unclear.

• Ji Ran and Cheng Shi faced a tied final vote between Zhen Xin and Hu Xuan, and Ji Ran expected Destiny to decide randomly.
• Qin Chaoge awakened beneath the bed and used her Portrait in Melody talent to infer Cheng Shi’s choice, casting the deciding vote for Hu Xuan.
• Destiny’s choice ended in Cheng Shi’s favor, and the Dagger of Stars unleashed a storm that scattered the players.
• Ji Ran lost Destiny’s favor and was killed by Cheng Shi’s Thunderclap Judgment as the Ranger fled into the storm.
• Li Boli carried Cheng Shi away, and he admitted that he had used all five charges of Thunderclap Judgment.

Hu Xuan fell into Zainjil’s trap, but her plea to Eternal Day led to a divine child forming in her body and forced Zainjil to retreat. The Birth pillar arrived to demand the child, and the Book of Stars joined the negotiation over what would happen next.

• Hu Xuan discovered that Zainjil had lured her to Eternal Day so he could exchange consciousnesses and escape in her body.
• As Zainjil began to take over Hu Xuan, she asked Eternal Day for a child, and a small arc bulged from her corpse’s belly.
• Zainjil realized that taking Hu Xuan’s body would make him the child’s doomed mother, so he withdrew his methods and fell dormant.
• A second pair of eyes appeared, and the Birth pillar entered the void, demanding its child.
• The indifferent eyes offered to get the child out in exchange for satisfying the Birth pillar, which lashed through the void and flung something away.
• The Book of Stars appeared and joined the negotiation, objecting that the others had used its assets without permission.

After the trial ended, Hu Xuan revealed that she had received a promise that acknowledged her identity and freed her shackles, while the group returned to the dark church with the ending still unknown. Cheng Shi exposed Zhen Xin as the Chosen of Deception, and Li Boli left the others stunned by admitting she liked women.

• Hu Xuan thanked Cheng Shi for saving her, and Zhen Xin probed whether Hu Xuan was still the Sage.
• Hu Xuan said she had received a promise that acknowledged her identity, corrected her trajectory, and unlocked her shackles, but she had not succeeded outright.
• Hu Xuan ended the trial and returned the group to the dark church, where she said they could leave before the countdown ended but offered no answer about the ending.
• Zhen Xin teased Cheng Shi about her deception, and Cheng Shi identified her as the Chosen of Deception to Li Boli and Hu Xuan.
• Li Boli considered the strange behavior of her powerful teammates, then admitted she liked women when Zhen Xin asked.

After the other contestants left the void, Cheng Shi escaped Zhen Xin’s teasing and searched for the real Qin Chaoge, while Zhen Xin withdrew from the trial. A hidden figure watched from the shadows before disappearing into Nothingness.

• Li Boli admitted she had wanted to work with Hu Xuan because she found her beautiful, while Zhen Xin claimed she was already Cheng Shi’s woman.
• Qin Chaoge appeared and attacked Zhen Xin, but Zhen Xin revealed the scene was an illusion and withdrew from the trial.
• Hu Xuan gave Cheng Shi a whistle as a token of thanks and left, followed by Li Boli.
• Qin Chaoge pinned Cheng Shi down, but she transformed into Zhen Xin, who had used Illusory Dream from Nothingness to deceive him.
• Cheng Shi left through the door in the void, and Zhen Xin added his surgical knives to her collection before departing.
• A shadowy figure emerged after Zhen Xin left, wondered whether to get a centipede tattoo, and dissolved into Nothingness.

After the Destiny trial ended, Cheng Shi and Qin Chaoge discussed their choices, beliefs, and the fate of the experimental town. Cheng Shi left the trial wondering what changes would follow in the world and received his rewards.

• Qin Chaoge woke beside Shaman, and Cheng Shi rescued her from beneath the bed while teasing her about her vote.
• Qin Chaoge explained that her Ceasefire Protocol prevented her from attacking unless someone else attacked first, and that Cheng Shi’s knife wound to Zhen Xin had voided it.
• Qin Chaoge deduced that Cheng Shi was not a believer of Decay, and he claimed to be a believer of Destiny who had grafted a Blood-Swapping Priest’s Destiny onto himself.
• Qin Chaoge asked Cheng Shi to work with her to keep people from becoming bad, but he teased her about her hot-blooded beliefs until she angrily left.
• Cheng Shi realized the town had no true ending and wondered what would happen to its faith, Divine Envoy, and giant sun before exiting the trial.
• The trial awarded Cheng Shi four S-rank masks, 15 Path to Godhood points, and two Ladder of Audience points.

Qin Chaoge, Li Boli, and Zhen Yi each reacted to recent events in reality, while Hu Xuan and her teammates gathered for a trial seeking divinities. Zhen Yi wondered whether she herself matched Blind Man’s prophecy and called someone to investigate.

• Qin Chaoge resisted watching her cultivation lesson for five minutes before giving in and searching for liquor.
• Li Boli tried to speak while holding a wristwatch, panicked, and gave up before merging with the draft.
• In a cave, Mo Wu, Zhou Songming, and Hu Xuan introduced themselves and stated which divinities they sought; Hu Xuan then called for something to come.
• Zhen Yi displayed a figure she had assembled from scalpels and teased her silent twin sister about a trial and a swindler.
• Zhen Yi reconsidered Blind Man’s prophecy, wondered whether it described her, and called a woman who immediately hung up.

Cheng Shi returned to the warehouse expecting danger, only to be confronted by Memory, who recreated Cheng Shi’s former office and questioned him about causing trouble. Memory revealed that Cheng Shi had become a budding believer of Chaos, leaving him stunned.

• Cheng Shi returned to the rooftop, prayed to Lord of Grace for protection, and relaxed when nothing seemed to happen.
• Cheng Shi opened the warehouse door and found himself in a vivid recreation of his former office, where Memory appeared as his boss.
• Memory told Cheng Shi not to panic and explained that it had selected him as a collection, while Cheng Shi protested that it was already making things difficult for him.
• Memory changed the scene to an ocean of bubbles, where Cheng Shi saw Lord of Grace and a bubble reflecting his own figure.
• Memory told Cheng Shi that he had become a budding believer of Chaos, leaving Cheng Shi shocked.

Memory confronted Cheng Shi, revealed that his Lord of Grace had steered him toward a deadly trap, and invited him to become a follower. Cheng Shi refused, received a transformed blue ring from Memory, and returned to the warehouse, where Xie Yang greeted him.

• Memory rewound events to show Cheng Shi choosing Destiny, then explained that Destiny resented how far Cheng Shi had traveled along Deception’s path.
• Memory offered to help Cheng Shi return to Destiny and then invited him to become a follower, claiming he possessed Deception’s authority by recording lies as part of history.
• Cheng Shi refused Memory, saying that Memory could lie but he never did.
• Memory transformed Cheng Shi’s blue ring into a witness to the powers of Memory and Existence, then sent him back to his body.
• Cheng Shi awoke at the warehouse door, and Xie Yang joked that Cheng Shi had failed to die and activate spatial merging.

Cheng Shi received Memory’s artifact and learned that Memory’s Chosen One had joined Deception, then reported his encounter with Memory to the Great God of Deception. He returned with a broken hand but concluded that he was free to use the ring.

• Cheng Shi settled his debt with Xie Yang, received the Floating Dream of the Sea of Memory from Memory, and tried to contact Deception.
• Cheng Shi saw the Ladder of Audience rankings and discovered that True Heart had joined Deception, while the channel had spent a week welcoming her back as the Dragon King.
• Deception explained that Cheng Shi’s prayers through the Dice reached Destiny and revealed that his Edicts of Passage had blasphemed against Him.
• Cheng Shi told Deception about Memory’s offer, and Deception said he could accept it without an Oathbreak Curse.
• Cheng Shi learned that Zhen Xin had a younger sister whom he had encountered during the trial of Destiny, then Deception struck him and broke the hand wearing the ring.
• Cheng Shi healed himself and decided to use the ring to deceive people.

After realizing Destiny might be willing to reconcile with him, Cheng Shi entered a Prayer Trial to observe how a person abandoned by Destiny could reach a compromise with it. The trial began as an Order game called Crime Without Evidence—Order.

• Cheng Shi mistook the bare-chested, potbellied player in Room 107 for Xie Yang’s beloved Xiaoyuan and falsely told Xie Yang she was beautiful.
• Xie Yang believed Cheng Shi and set off to pray for a camera so he could see Xiaoyuan before nightfall.
• Cheng Shi decided he needed to act against the threats from Destiny and Memory, and wondered whether he could reconcile with Destiny.
• Cheng Shi prayed to observe a poor person abandoned by Destiny compromising with Destiny, and began the Crime Without Evidence—Order trial.

Cheng Shi woke in an Order trial and reunited with Hu Wei, who introduced him to Bai Fei, an Annihilation Hunter. He concealed his true identity as a Cremator while assessing their surroundings in a southern city under the Grand Inquisition.

• Cheng Shi heard Hu Wei and Bai Fei greet each other as he regained consciousness.
• Cheng Shi recognized Hu Wei, and they recalled their earlier trial together, when Hu Wei had led the group in a counterattack and shared more than a hundred bottles of Past Prosperity.
• Hu Wei introduced Bai Fei as an Annihilation believer, and Bai Fei identified herself as an Endwalker.
• Cheng Shi claimed to be a Cremator, and Hu Wei questioned him about his score and warned Bai Fei not to underestimate his cunning.
• Cheng Shi noticed the Grand Inquisition symbol on the blue bricks and inferred that the trial was set in a southern city under its jurisdiction.

Cheng Shi was matched with teammates whose scores were far higher than he expected, while his own score was reported as 2,401. The group introduced themselves and prepared to use Edict of Passage, but Li Ziran feared the overwhelming score gap as Hu Wei tried to reassure him.

• Hu Wei interrupted his reunion with Bai Fei to urge the group to introduce themselves and use Edict of Passage.
• Yan Chun, Li Ziran, and Zhang Ruyu revealed scores of 1,977, 1,469, and 1,721, leading Cheng Shi to expect an easy fishpond match.
• Cheng Shi announced a score of 2,401, and the lower-scoring teammates reacted with shock and reverence.
• Hu Wei revealed a score of 2,632, and Bai Fei revealed a score of 2,615, leaving Cheng Shi stunned by the two high-scoring teammates.
• Li Ziran worried that the group’s score gap made the trial impossible and edged backward, but Hu Wei told everyone not to panic because he did not eat people.

Hu Wei offered compensation to teammates whose prayers he could fulfill and invited Yan Chun, a Wall Knight seeking to witness a Tower of Reason experiment, to join his group. Yan Chun learned that staying in Winnoral would not bring him near the Tower of Reason and had to decide whether to accompany Hu Wei.

• Hu Wei announced that he might withdraw from the trial and offered to compensate teammates after asking what they had prayed for.
• Hu Wei gave Li Ziran a bag of Past Prosperity potions after learning what he sought.
• Hu Wei identified Yan Chun as a Wall Knight, and Yan Chun admitted that he wanted to witness a historical moment involving an experiment at the Tower of Reason.
• Hu Wei asked Yan Chun about his Wall of True Knowledge, and Yan Chun revealed that it lasted twelve hours and could create sixteen units.
• Hu Wei explained that Yan Chun could not reach the Tower of Reason from Winnoral within three days and invited him to join the group on a journey toward something of interest.

Yan Chun and Cheng Shi accepted Hu Wei’s invitations to join him, only for Hu Wei and Bai Fei to tear open the sky above a Grand Inquisition city. Hu Wei called everyone to follow him through the resulting Void Rifts as the city’s alarms sounded.

• Yan Chun accepted Hu Wei’s invitation and turned to sneer at Li Ziran, who remained absorbed in his free Past Prosperity.
• Hu Wei dismissed Zhang Ruyu’s compensation and invited Cheng Shi to join him, and Cheng Shi agreed despite sensing Hu Wei left him no real choice.
• Hu Wei pointed to a spot in the sky and ordered Bai Fei to destroy it with her Silent Arrow, collapsing a vast section of reality into the void.
• Hu Wei struck the resulting black holes with his sword, scattering them into Void Rifts and opening breaches in the sky over the city.
• The Grand Inquisition’s warning horns sounded as the city panicked, and Hu Wei hung above the ground with his sword in a Void Rift and ordered everyone to follow him.

Cheng Shi, Yan Chun, and Bai Fei escaped through the Void Rift with Hu Wei, who left Zhang Ruyu behind after stopping him from chasing Li Ziran. In the void, Cheng Shi’s deception was exposed when Hu Wei found the Dice of Destiny, and Cheng Shi revealed his true identity as the 2401-point Fate Weaver.

• Bai Fei and Cheng Shi entered the Void Rift with Hu Wei, while Hu Wei warned the others to pass as civilians and survive until the trial ended.
• Zhang Ruyu chased after Li Ziran, but Hu Wei’s dagger warned him off; Zhang Ruyu then enjoyed the pain and fear of the near miss.
• Hu Wei left the city through the void as guard knights closed in, and Cheng Shi questioned Bai Fei about their destination.
• Bai Fei accused Cheng Shi of hiding his identity and said the void favored him, while Cheng Shi claimed he had worked as an incinerator before the Faith Game.
• Cheng Shi admitted he was a clown and a believer in Deception, but Yan Chun’s glance led Hu Wei to discover the Dice of Destiny in Cheng Shi’s pocket.
• Cheng Shi confessed that he had grafted an incinerator’s fate onto himself and introduced himself as Cheng Shi, Fate Weaver, 2401.

Cheng Shi learned that the Chosen Ones had descended through the tiers to investigate a prophecy from the Blind Man, a follower of Destiny. Hu Wei hoped Cheng Shi and Yan Chun would provide clues, leaving Cheng Shi wary that the prophecy might be connected to Zhen Xin.

• Bai Fei went to scout the area while Yan Chun cautiously kept his distance from Cheng Shi.
• Hu Wei told Cheng Shi and Yan Chun that the Chosen Ones were searching for something indicated by a prophecy from the Blind Man.
• Hu Wei explained that the Chosen Ones had interpreted the prophecy's phrase “not far” as referring to points and descended to lower tiers.
• Cheng Shi suspected that Zhen Xin had spread the prophecy and realized Hu Wei might expect him to have a clue because of his claimed score.
• Hu Wei watched Cheng Shi and Yan Chun for information while Cheng Shi stayed guarded and kept an eye on Bai Fei's direction.

Hu Wei opened a passage through the void, and Yan Chun used the Wall of True Knowledge to hold it open so the group could enter an unstable, shifting space. After traveling through its disorienting distortions, they were suddenly sucked into something Hu Wei had been attacking.

• Bai Fei led Hu Wei, Cheng Shi, and Yan Chun to their destination, where Hu Wei tore open a rift in the void with his giant sword.
• Hu Wei ordered the others to retreat, then told Yan Chun to use the Wall of True Knowledge to block the rift while Cheng Shi kept Yan Chun healed.
• Yan Chun built a reinforced passage through the rift, and Bai Fei, Hu Wei, Yan Chun, and Cheng Shi jumped into it.
• Cheng Shi found himself in a space that distorted their bodies, senses, and surroundings, and followed Hu Wei through the shifting chaos.
• Hu Wei struck at a mirror-like object with his giant sword, triggering a powerful suction that pulled everyone inside.

Cheng Shi and the others escaped Giggle and Mock through a Scrying Mirror and arrived at the Tower of Reason’s Void Experiment Ground, where Hu Wei explained the river’s connection to Deception and how it let them bypass the trial. The group stood before the original Wall of True Knowledge as Cheng Shi realized they had reached their destination by exploiting a shortcut.

• Cheng Shi, Hu Wei, Yan Chun, and Bai Fei were expelled from a void rift and found themselves before the colossal Wall of True Knowledge.
• Yan Chun recognized the place as the Tower of Reason’s Void Experiment Ground near Gasmella, and Hu Wei confirmed it was the original wall.
• Bai Fei identified the space they had crossed as Giggle and Mock, and Hu Wei explained that Deception had created the shifting river of reality deep within the void.
• Hu Wei revealed that Deception made Scrying Mirrors throughout Giggle and Mock, and the group had used one to travel to the experiment ground.
• Hu Wei explained that the Wall of True Knowledge was meant to keep out Deception, while Cheng Shi realized they had bypassed the trial through an unintended shortcut.

Cheng Shi, Yan Chun, and Hu Wei approached the Wall of True Knowledge and fought their way through its War Machine Soldiers. Cheng Shi fell behind and secretly tried to exchange fates with Yan Chun, who spotted the attempt, while the group continued toward the wall.

• Hu Wei explained that the Wall of True Knowledge was meant to destroy the God of Merriment’s stolen knowledge, not stop Him, and described the War Machine Soldiers guarding it.
• Hu Wei charged through the War Machine Soldiers, and Yan Chun and Cheng Shi followed along the path he cleared.
• Cheng Shi fell behind the others as the soldiers pursued him and reached for Yan Chun instead of using his ring.
• Yan Chun threw his lance to pin a soldier and raised a Wall of True Knowledge to protect Cheng Shi.
• Yan Chun accused Cheng Shi of trying to exchange their fates, and Cheng Shi pretended he had only wanted help keeping up.

Cheng Shi reached the giant wall after Yan Chun’s attempts to draw out his hidden abilities turned into a string of dangerous exchanges. Hu Wei opened a passage through the Wall of True Knowledge with Chaos, and Bai Fei confronted him about a rumor that they were recruiting divine elect who did not believe in them.

• Yan Chun deliberately sped ahead to test Cheng Shi, who responded by exchanging destinies and using Yan Chun to charge his ring with Screaming Maw cards.
• Yan Chun escorted Cheng Shi to the giant wall, where his spear and Cheng Shi’s scalpel failed to damage it.
• Hu Wei led the group to a dim corner of the wall and used Chaos to make it recognize him as a Void Energy Department scholar, opening a small door.
• Bai Fei said the rumor was true: they were interested in recruiting divine elect who did not believe in them, then waited for Hu Wei to respond.