Chapter Summaries

Cheng Shi and Hong Lin fled from an enormous object sweeping through the True Universe, reluctantly joining forces to escape. Cheng Shi recognized it as the [Leaky World Silent Puppet], now vastly larger than the one he had encountered in the Void.

• A gigantic wooden arm appeared ahead, and Cheng Shi and Hong Lin separately retreated from its path.
• Hong Lin vanished, while Cheng Shi used the Dice to rewind repeatedly but could not escape the advancing shadow.
• The two Hong Lins and the two Cheng Shis encountered each other while fleeing, each mistaking the other for a fake.
• Cheng Shi asked Hong Lin to carry him so he could recover his mental energy, promising to reveal what she wanted to know.
• Hong Lin wrapped her tail around Cheng Shi and ran as he recovered and examined the approaching object.
• Cheng Shi recognized the enormous wooden arm as the [Leaky World Silent Puppet] and cried out, "[Silence]!"

Cheng Shi and Hong Lin faced the enormous Leaky World Silent Puppet and realized it was likely the corpse of [Silence]. After confirming each other’s identities, they reunited and concluded that impostors had deceived them in the True Universe.

• Cheng Shi noticed that the Leaky World Silent Puppet had not silenced him and suspected that [Silence] was dead.
• Cheng Shi told Hong Lin to stop running and proposed that the puppet was a god’s corpse, possibly killed by [Origin].
• Cheng Shi questioned Hong Lin’s identity, and they confirmed they were the real Cheng Shi and Hong Lin by discussing the authority called “Abundance.”
• Hong Lin told Cheng Shi she had spent ten days searching for him and had encountered someone pretending to be him.
• Cheng Shi said he had also met an impostor Hong Lin, and the two concluded that both impostors had fled and were likely watching them.

Cheng Shi decided to approach the Leaky World Silent Puppet, believing its connection to [Silence] would keep other beings away. He concealed his real plan from Hong Lin and used the two impostors’ curiosity to test whether the corpse was dangerous, drawing them toward it.

• Two impostors watched the Leaky World Silent Puppet and discussed their interest in the corpse’s secret and Cheng Shi’s connection to a deity.
• Cheng Shi proposed investigating the corpse, but Hong Lin objected because they had come to find the authority of [War].
• Cheng Shi argued that beings in the True Universe would avoid the corpse for fear of attracting [Origin], and asked Hong Lin to gamble with him.
• Hong Lin agreed to consider the gamble, while Cheng Shi secretly planned to use the impostors’ reaction to judge the corpse’s danger.
• Cheng Shi and Hong Lin hid in smoke beside the corpse’s elbow, and the impostors decided to approach and make them reveal what they knew.

Cheng Shi used smoke and Hong Lin’s feigned collapse to test how the two observers would react to the Leaky World Silent Puppet’s corpse. The observers mistook his smoke tunnel for a feint and raced the wrong way, while Cheng Shi’s actual escape route remained unrevealed.

• Cheng Shi filled the area with smoke, and Hong Lin questioned his plan to hide their approach to [Silence]'s corpse.
• Cheng Shi tried to knock Hong Lin unconscious, but her neck proved too tough, so she struck herself and passed out.
• Cheng Shi carried Hong Lin and waited in the smoke, watching the two observers to judge the danger of approaching the corpse.
• The cheerful figure and the aloof figure approached from different directions, hoping to intercept anything Cheng Shi found.
• When fresh smoke formed a tunnel, the two observers assumed it was a decoy and rushed off in the opposite direction.

Cheng Shi escaped the two Hunters and reached the Leaky World Silent Puppet’s head with Hong Lin, intending to investigate it using his shadow. When he sensed something was wrong, the Hunters changed plans and headed toward a lost armored man wielding [War].

• Cheng Shi escaped the Hunters by using his [Time] talent to return beneath the Leaky World Silent Puppet’s corpse, then woke Hong Lin and headed for its head.
• The Hunters failed to intercept Cheng Shi and argued over whether to pursue him or target someone else.
• Cheng Shi and Hong Lin reached the puppet’s head, where Cheng Shi planned to send his shadow ahead, but he sensed trouble.
• The Hunters agreed to fool either Cheng Shi or Hong Lin to gain a bargaining chip and set off in another direction.
• A lost man in heavy armor lamented the vanished road home and the absence of [War]’s authority, then vowed to keep its flame alive.

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.