Chapter Summaries

Cheng Shi completed the Solo Trial “Birth of Leavings” by playing a grotesque clinic doctor who killed a pregnant patient and her newborn. The trial awarded him an S rating and food, then prepared to eject him.

• Cheng Shi’s doctor character calmed a bloodied pregnant woman and claimed a crude steel saw was a safe delivery tool.
• He cut open the woman’s belly, and a tentacled Newborn emerged from her body.
• The woman demanded to know why the child was a boy and agreed to the doctor’s offer to interrogate its father.
• Cheng Shi’s doctor accidentally decapitated the woman, then killed the Newborn and claimed payment for the service.
• The Solo Trial ended with Cheng Shi receiving an S rating, five Finger Breads, five Canned Slime Drinks, and one Fake Eyeball Cake.

Cheng Shi survived on a rooftop by relying on Prayer Trials and prepared for the next Special Deity Trial while speaking with his neighbor, the Young Man surnamed Xie. Cheng Shi revealed that he followed Chaos, leaving Xie unsettled after Cheng Shi sensed that Xie had lied about following Order.

• Cheng Shi reviewed the dwindling global population and the warning that a difficult Special Deity Trial would begin the next day.
• The Young Man surnamed Xie called across to Cheng Shi and questioned why he kept doing Solo Trials despite his steady condition.
• Xie claimed to follow Order and invited Cheng Shi to reveal his own god, while Cheng Shi sensed that Xie was lying.
• Cheng Shi asked Xie for his Ladder of Audience score and ID, then calmly said that he believed in Chaos.
• Xie grew wary and asked whether Cheng Shi had lied, and Cheng Shi answered, "I Never Lie."

Cheng Shi and five other players entered the Song of Blood and Fire War trial, where they had to endure for twenty-four hours. After the team grew wary of Nangong because she followed the opposing Sinking Path, Cheng Shi revealed that he was a Priest of Birth and defended her.

• Cheng Shi entered the trial after hoping to be matched with strong teammates.
• The six players gathered in a ruined town and introduced their Paths, classes, and Ladder scores.
• Song Yawen and Xia Wan grew suspicious of Nangong because she followed Sinking, an opposing Path to their Life.
• Cao Sansui revealed that he was a high-ranked Mage and follower of Time, earning the team's confidence.
• Cheng Shi urged the team not to isolate Nangong and claimed his intuition said she was not their enemy.
• Cheng Shi introduced himself again as a Priest of Birth, shocking the others.

Chen Chong organized the newly assembled team and assigned healing duties while its members prepared for the Trial. Cheng Shi secretly used his six-sided die to pass Birth’s Edict of Passage, gaining the blessing of a Progeny Priest despite not truly believing in Birth.

• Song Yawen recoiled from the prospect of being healed by Cheng Shi, while Nangong and Xia Wan revealed that they followed Birth.
• Chen Chong divided healing duties between Nangong and Cheng Shi, and Xia Wan agreed to accept Cheng Shi’s healing.
• The group dispersed to complete their Edicts of Passage, leaving Cheng Shi and Xia Wan to discuss whether to perform theirs together.
• Cheng Shi told Xia Wan he liked men and chose to complete his Edict separately; Song Yawen was caught spying and fled.
• Cheng Shi found a dead white mouse beneath the rubble and deduced that Song Yawen was a believer of Death.
• Cheng Shi summoned his die and invoked Lies Like Yesterday to pose as a believer of Birth, completing the Edict and receiving Birth’s blessing.

Cheng Shi and the five other players completed their Edicts of Passage and prepared to avoid the Bone Legion’s battlefield, but a vast swarm of Dread Demons found them before they could reach shelter. The chapter ended as the Life Traps were triggered and Chen Chong ordered the group to engage.

• Chen Chong shared fruit wine as the group’s Order Anchor, while Cao Sansui distributed Pocket Watches and warned that the Time Battlefield required exact timing.
• Xia Wan identified their location near Misty Forest County and suspected they would face the Bone Legion’s right wing, but Dread Demons appeared in the sky before she could finish.
• Chen Chong led the group east toward shelter as Song Yawen used Shadow Shuttle, Xia Wan scattered Genesis Grass Seeds, and Cao Sansui accelerated their movement with his Time Domain.
• The Dread Demon scouts swooped down on the ruins before the group reached shelter, and Chen Chong ordered everyone to engage after the seeds were triggered.

Xia Wan and the others were trapped behind Chen Chong’s Holy Light Great Wall as a huge Dread Demon army attacked, and they struggled to find a way out. Cheng Shi realized Song Yawen might be their only chance, but the assassin remained hidden outside the barrier, surrounded by demons.

• Xia Wan slowed the Dread Demon vanguard with spore arrows that bound the attackers and made others swell from Genesis Grass Seeds.
• Chen Chong shielded the group with his Holy Light Great Wall and warned that it could hold for only five minutes, or fifteen with support from two Priests.
• Nangong healed Cao Sansui and Xia Wan while the Dread Demons crowded around the barrier.
• The group grew desperate as the trial’s opening attack overwhelmed their defenses, and Cheng Shi asked whether Song Yawen was still alive.
• Cheng Shi considered using Song Yawen’s Death Funeral skill, but Song Yawen stayed concealed beneath a broken wall surrounded by Dread Demons.

With the Holy Light Great Wall close to collapsing, Cheng Shi devised a plan that required Nangong to restore Cao Sansui’s mental power, Xia Wan to delay the Dread Demons, and Song Yawen to use Death Funeral. He told Cao Sansui to accelerate nearly the entire ruins after Cheng Shi cast his spell, then left everyone stunned by saying he intended to give the Dread Demons a child.

• Chen Chong ordered the group to prepare for a breakout as the Holy Light Great Wall neared its end.
• Cheng Shi asked Nangong to use Overload Heal to restore Cao Sansui’s mental power, and she revealed herself as a Blood-Swapping Priest of Decay and cut herself to empower him.
• Cao Sansui agreed to use Overload Casting but warned that the effort might leave him crippled for twelve hours.
• Cheng Shi asked Xia Wan to hold off the Dread Demons for one second and summoned Song Yawen to prepare Death Funeral when the shield broke.
• Cheng Shi directed Cao Sansui to use Area Acceleration across nearly all the ruins, then said his plan was to give the Dread Demons a child.

Cheng Shi used his S-rank talent, Shared Divine Grace, to spread a Birth-infused Healing Chain across the ruin and make the Dread Demons reproduce uncontrollably. His plan left the demons devouring one another as tentacled newborns emerged, setting up Song Yawen's final strike to erase them and save the six survivors.

• Cao Sansui questioned Cheng Shi's plan to heal the Dread Demons, and Cheng Shi prepared his Healing Art as the Holy Light Great Wall neared its end.
• Xia Wan fired six Spore Arrows overhead while Cao Sansui cast Area Acceleration across the ruin, excluding their group.
• Cheng Shi cast Shared Divine Grace, and the Healing Chain grew stronger as it spread through the Dread Demons until it covered the entire ruin.
• Birth-infused healing made the Dread Demons swell with newborns, panic, and become obsessed with reproduction as Area Acceleration hastened the chaos.
• Tentacled newborns burst from the Dread Demons and devoured them, while Cheng Shi relied on Song Yawen's planned final strike to erase the creatures and save the six survivors.

Song Yawen used his Reaping State to summon a giant Scythe of Death and destroy the Dread Demon army, but Cheng Shi warned that the Bone Legion might send investigators. As the group fled east through the ruins, Xia Wan went into labor.

• Song Yawen activated Reaping State, broke his own neck, and summoned an enormous Scythe of Death.
• Song Yawen’s scythe killed the tentacle monsters across the ruins, and he re-formed afterward, ecstatic about the attack.
• Cheng Shi told the group the Bone Legion might investigate the lost right-wing army and ordered them to withdraw because several members were unable to fight.
• Chen Chong carried Cao Sansui while the group fled east through the blood-soaked ruins, vomiting as they went.
• Xia Wan said her mother had offered herself to Filth and Decay, then warned Cheng Shi that her daughter might be born soon.
• Cheng Shi called to Chen Chong to prepare because Xia Wan was going into labor.

Cheng Shi's group escaped the Bone Legion, treated the wounded, and found shelter in an abandoned Wood Elf settlement. After everyone drank Cheng Shi's cola and fell asleep, Cheng Shi revealed that he had remained awake and seemed to have anticipated what would happen.

• Xia Wan gave birth to several half-flesh, half-plant vines, which Song Yawen defeated, while Cheng Shi used a potion to keep the critically wounded Nangong alive.
• Cheng Shi healed Xia Wan, then led the group onward as Song Yawen peppered him with questions about his talent, points, and potion.
• The group reached an abandoned Wood Elf homeland, where Cao Sansui explained that the forest had once been safe and that the cause of the war remained uncertain.
• Cao Sansui said he needed ten hours to recover, and Cheng Shi worried about the fire hinted at by the trial's name, Song of Blood and Fire.
• Cheng Shi shared cola with the group, and Chen Chong went outside to keep watch while the others rested.
• Song Yawen and the wounded fell asleep after drinking, but Cheng Shi stayed awake and teased them for accepting any drink.

Cao Sansui and the others woke after Cheng Shi’s risky Somnolent Healing restored their strength, then prepared to set out. A sudden S-Rank Meteor Fire Rain forced them to flee, and Cheng Shi realized it was targeting the right-wing Dread Demon army rather than their group.

• Cao Sansui woke after two hours of sleep and discovered that he and Nangong had recovered most of their strength.
• Cheng Shi explained that he had used six bottles of Somnolent Healing to put everyone to sleep and restore them, prompting Cao Sansui to criticize his dangerous gamble.
• Cao Sansui offered to compensate Cheng Shi for the potions, and the group prepared to set out according to plan.
• The group felt heat surge from underground as an enormous blazing sun appeared and launched meteors across the plains.
• Cao Sansui accelerated the group while Chen Chong, Song Yawen, Xia Wan, and Nangong fled from the falling meteors.
• Cheng Shi concluded that the Meteor Fire Rain was intended to intercept the right-wing Dread Demon army, not attack them.

Cheng Shi and his companions endured a meteor storm behind Chen Chong’s Holy Light Great Wall while Cao Sansui prepared to use the Time Battlefield. After their first escape attempt failed, Cao Sansui rewound time, and the group tried again in a new direction.

• Cheng Shi realized the Dread Demon army had moved early, possibly after learning of the Isle of Hope’s interception plan, and Chen Chong shielded the six companions from the meteor rain.
• Song Yawen used the Gate of All Realms' Shadows to divert a meteor, then Nangong healed his burns.
• Cao Sansui activated the Time Battlefield as Chen Chong led the group toward a gap in the meteor storm, but another fireball blocked their path.
• Cao Sansui rewound time, retained his memories, and directed Chen Chong and Xia Wan to run toward the three o’clock direction instead.
• Cheng Shi noted that it was their second attempt and saw that two faces of the Dice were showing.

Cheng Shi guided the group through repeated failures in the Time Battlefield until they escaped Meteor Fire Rain by defying the Dice’s direction and choosing seven o’clock. The group wondered how Cheng Shi had found the only safe path, while he suspected that cursing Destiny had triggered a hidden talent.

• Cheng Shi and the others repeatedly rewound time as Meteor Fire Rain killed them along every attempted route.
• Cao Sansui’s memories became muddled after countless failures, but Nangong used the Eraser and Ray of Healing to clear his mind.
• Cheng Shi realized the group had tried all six directions, then used the Dice to identify seven o’clock as the remaining option.
• Cheng Shi rejected the Dice’s one o’clock result and ordered Xia Wan and Chen Chong to turn toward seven o’clock.
• The group escaped through a clear passage in the meteor storm and survived until the Time Battlefield ended.
• Cheng Shi wondered whether cursing Destiny as a bitch had activated a hidden talent.

Three divine beings argued over Cheng Shi’s fate, and the third intervened to save him from Wrath of Abomination. After escaping the meteor fire, Cheng Shi and the exhausted group discussed Birth and the gods before heading southeast to seek safety.

• Three pairs of divine eyes opened as Cheng Shi blasphemed, and the second and third beings challenged the war god over his trial and the pact.
• The third being claimed Cheng Shi as its follower and used a crystalline finger to drive back the flames of Wrath of Abomination.
• The group rested after escaping, and Cheng Shi explained that Birth’s newborns imagined what their god might like without knowing its appearance.
• Song Yawen suspected Cheng Shi was Birth’s chosen one, but Cheng Shi denied it while Xia Wan and Nangong privately doubted him.
• Cao Sansui led the group southeast toward the Blizzard Mountain Range, while Cheng Shi questioned him about the Isle of Hope’s history.

After the Song of Blood and Fire trial ended an hour early, Cheng Shi returned to the rooftop and discovered that ten billion people had died. He suspected his dice had spared his team and examined the mysterious masks replacing his trial rewards.

• Cao Sansui explained the Isle of Hope's history and led the group toward Blizzard Mountain to wait out the trial.
• Chen Chong and the others dug a Coffin Camp, where Cheng Shi ate Finger Bread and drank Tentacle Slime while the group rested.
• A Spatial Ripple ended the trial after twenty-three hours, and the players vanished before they could understand why it had ended early.
• Cheng Shi received an S performance rating, several masks, and increases to his Path to Godhood and Ladder of Audience scores.
• Cheng Shi returned to the rooftop, saw the wounded Young Man surnamed Xie, and learned that ten billion people had died.
• Cheng Shi wondered whether his Dice of Destiny had saved his team and inspected his collection of masks and player panel.

After the trial ended, Chen Chong, Cao Sansui, Nangong, and Song Yawen each reacted to what had happened, while Cheng Shi’s influence continued to reach beyond the trial. The chapter ended with Birth appearing before her believer and granting her a new blessing.

• Chen Chong replaced his C-rank talent with Steadfastness Below the City, then drank heavily in a bottle-filled dump and wished for the world to end.
• Cao Sansui discovered a damaged fingerprint on his Pocket Watch and realized Cheng Shi had made time appear to advance, rather than the trial ending early.
• Nangong refused Nothingness’s suggestion to harm people, cut a tally mark into her thigh as a sacrifice, and wrote Cheng Shi’s name in her notebook of people who had helped her.
• Song Yawen celebrated earning three points on the Ladder of Audience and claimed a big shot had paid the True God, then continued bragging in chat.
• Birth appeared in a shattered mirror, dispelled the frost from her believer’s face, and granted her a new blessing.

After the Special Trial, Cheng Shi searched the chat channels for useful information and traded an A-grade Past Prosperity to Xie Yang, who wanted to save Xu Lu. He then spotted a message linking Contempt of the Dead to someone surnamed Cheng, while a woman in another city began to suspect him.

• Cheng Shi noticed a request for medicine in Regional Chat and discovered it came from his rooftop neighbor, Xie Yang, on Wood Willow Road.
• Xie Yang explained that Xu Lu needed the potion and revealed she was the Prophet preparing for danger in her next trial, so Cheng Shi handed him an A-grade Past Prosperity.
• Xie Yang promised to bring Cheng Shi a weapon in return, then used a fishing rod to lower the potion to Xu Lu below.
• In Faith Channel, Cheng Shi read rumors about changing Masks and Dice of Destiny, then confirmed that his own bone-white die still had six sides.
• In Professional Channel, Cheng Shi recognized Nangong asking about Contempt of the Dead and nearly replied before another user connected the potion to a man surnamed Cheng.
• A woman in another city heard the chat discussion and wondered whether Cheng was a believer of His, resolving to remember him.

Cheng Shi entered the Memories of the Endless Night trial and woke in a tavern with five teammates, including players from opposing Paths and someone he recognized. After the introductions, Xu Lu wondered whether this Priest named Cheng Shi was the neighbor Xie Yang had described, while Cheng Shi privately realized he was the trial’s wolf.

• During the previous week, Xie Yang ran an A-grade Weapon dungeon for Cheng Shi, obtained him a Mage weapon, and went into debt for another bottle of Past Prosperity potion.
• Cheng Shi received notice of the Memories of the Endless Night trial and was matched with five teammates before entering it.
• Cheng Shi woke in a tavern with the other players, and the group began introducing themselves as they recovered from a night of drinking.
• Fang Shiqing introduced herself as a Civilization Singer, A'ming claimed to be a Civilization Assassin, and Huang Bo revealed he followed Chaos.
• Bailing identified herself as a Sinking Hunter, and Xu Lu introduced herself as a Nothingness Singer; Cheng Shi recognized her as the Prophet Xie Yang had pursued.
• Xu Lu compared Cheng Shi with Xie Yang's description of his neighbor and questioned whether they were the same person, since this Cheng Shi was a Priest rather than a Mage.

In a Memory maze, Cheng Shi’s group compared their abilities and clues while preparing to investigate the layered memories. Xu Lu revealed prophecies warning that someone was likely to die, and Cheng Shi used stolen Pocket Watches to establish the group’s timing while concealing that he had become a believer in time.

• Fang Shiqing revealed that she was a Singer of Truth and proposed that the group cooperate to explore the Memory maze.
• Bailing offered to help with her desires, while Cheng Shi stayed quiet as the others prepared to search for clues.
• Xu Lu revealed that she was the Prophet and shared two visions: someone would die that day, and a ring-wearing woman would raise a teacup.
• Fang Shiqing organized the group’s timing and told everyone to regroup in an hour after completing their Edicts of Passage.
• Cheng Shi handed out six calibrated Pocket Watches and privately reflected on how he had altered the watches in the previous trial; he was now a believer in time, the Doctor of Forgetfulness.

Cheng Shi investigated a tavern memory scene by disguising himself as a server and gathering gossip, but found no obvious memory errors. When Huang Bo said the scene seemed normal, Cheng Shi and Fang Shiqing realized he might have tampered with it as a believer of Chaos.

• Cheng Shi used Edict of Passage, then changed into a server's uniform to investigate the tavern without disturbing its memory.
• Cheng Shi shared bizarre hiccup advice with Fang Shiqing and Xu Lu as knowledge for Truth, unsettling both women.
• Cheng Shi offered patrons free wine in exchange for gossip and heard rumors about refugees, impostors, and the duke's stableman, Yorke.
• The six players regrouped and reported that they had found no NPCs with suspiciously stiff behavior or logic.
• Huang Bo said he had found nothing wrong, leading Cheng Shi and Fang Shiqing to suspect that he had altered the memory as a believer of Chaos.