Recaps

After Paper Kite was found beside the bodies of three Player Mutual Aid Society members, he claimed Yu Linling had killed them and escaped, but refused to wait for Order to investigate. He shot at Lin Yu, and Yin Lan blocked the bullet before confronting him.

• Lin Yu heard a gunshot and led Good Night toward the studio, but Yin Lan transported them directly to the control room.
• They found Hongmu, Chou Yun, and You Doufu dead, Paper Kite holding a smoking pistol, and the control room screen destroyed.
• Paper Kite said Yu Linling had confessed to acting as a white glove for a hidden mastermind, then killed the three and vanished after breaking Paper Kite's seal.
• Yin Lan warned that the deaths made Paper Kite harder to defend, while Paper Kite argued that he could not trust procedure to punish every criminal or protect him.
• Paper Kite said he would not surrender and aimed his gun at Lin Yu, but Yin Lan deflected the shot and turned her killing intent on him.

Paper Kite escaped Yin Lan’s attack by using the blood from his wounds to activate a magic formation, leaving Lin Yu and the others to question whether he had been framed. Lin Yu’s group resolved to investigate the suspected plot and focus on Paper Kite’s accusation against Yu Linling.

• Yin Lan stopped attacking when Paper Kite’s life force began to fade, but Paper Kite revealed that he had been using his blood to conceal a magic formation.
• Paper Kite activated Blood Dissolution Pool and escaped into the formation as Yin Lan and Good Night tried to stop him.
• Lin Yu and Yin Lan agreed that Paper Kite might have been framed and that they should not treat evidence against him as conclusive.
• Lin Yu suggested that someone may have lured Paper Kite away and exploited his sudden arrival to drive a wedge between the Order and the Player Mutual Aid Society.
• Lin Yu identified Yu Linling as the next lead because Paper Kite had accused him of being the murderer.

Lin Yu and the other Order members watched the Player Mutual Aid Society’s candidates turn negotiations over Hongmu’s death into a bitter factional dispute. Lin Yu withheld details that could make the factions unite against Yu Linling, leaving the truth harder to uncover but preventing a premature accusation.

• Lin Yu recalled that Paper Kite had killed six people in the two months before his actions were exposed, and reasoned that Paper Kite’s explanation about Hongmu’s death was mostly true.
• More than thirty Player Mutual Aid Society members representing fourteen candidate factions gathered with Order to discuss the deaths of Hongmu, Chou Yun, and You Doufu.
• The candidates argued over Yu Linling’s innocence, Paper Kite’s credibility, Order’s involvement, and whether factions were exploiting the deaths to eliminate rivals.
• Yin Lan wondered when the shouting would stop, while Ren Gu explained that the election had made the candidates fear they could not win through the normal process.
• Good Night realized Lin Yu had deliberately withheld Paper Kite’s claim that he suspected Yu Linling, because the factions might otherwise unite to frame him as Hongmu’s murderer.

Lin Yu concluded Yu Linling was innocent and waited for Benevolent King to end the candidates’ stalled discussion by presenting his promised rewards. Benevolent King revealed two powerful Items, leaving the gathered members astonished as he began showcasing the set.

• Lin Yu decided Yu Linling had nothing to do with Hongmu’s death but kept that conclusion from Yin Lan, Ren Gu, and Good Night while he withheld what he knew about the culprit.
• Benevolent King interrupted the candidates’ debate and summoned everyone downstairs to announce the promised Items for the election’s future president.
• Benevolent King introduced [Unmovable as a Mountain], a pendant that reduced harmful and beneficial status effects by roughly seventy to ninety percent.
• Yin Lan, Good Night, Ren Gu, and Lin Yu discussed the Item’s strength and wondered whether Benevolent King had brought out his core Items despite planning to advance to Tier 5.
• Benevolent King displayed a rectangular metal shield as his second Item, [Indestructible Shield].

The Benevolent King introduced three powerful Items: the Indestructible Shield, the Primordial Fire, and an advanced adaptive combat suit. Lin Yu became interested in the Primordial Fire and learned of a battlefield he wanted to investigate, while the Benevolent King continued presenting his collection.

• The Benevolent King explained that the Indestructible Shield could not be damaged or moved against its holder’s will, astonishing the Players and impressing Lin Yu.
• The Benevolent King presented the Primordial Fire, which came from the Abyss and could provide fire-element magic power, high affinity, and a semi-elemental body.
• Ren Gu and Yin Lan discussed the Benevolent King’s survival and his journey into the Abyss, while Lin Yu resolved to seek out the Sword of Judgment’s battlefield and ask the Benevolent King about it.
• Lin Yu considered the Primordial Fire’s potential but regretted that he was not a candidate to obtain it.
• The Benevolent King introduced the Universal Adaptive Defense Combat Suit, explaining that it could absorb attacks, create shields, and use its extensive database to reduce the effectiveness of familiar attack methods.

Lin Yu recognized the [Universal Adaptive Defense Combat Suit] as a tool for copying energy signatures and planned ways to obtain it. When the Benevolent King presented the [Karma Substitute Death Calamity Body], Lin Yu realized it was a priority for both him and the Marauders, leaving him prepared to compete for it.

• Lin Yu identified the combat suit’s database as a way to reproduce the attack signatures of schools across the Ten Realms and considered several plans to acquire it.
• The Benevolent King revealed the [Karma Substitute Death Calamity Body], which could block surveillance and interference involving karma and transfer a calamity to its wooden puppet.
• Lin Yu concluded the figurine was likely the Marauders’ most important target because it countered the Diviner’s fate-related abilities.
• Lin Yu decided the figurine was an even higher priority than the combat suit because it could protect his own karma abilities and serve as a counter to the Diviner.
• Lin Yu recognized that obtaining the figurine might force him to compete directly with the Marauders.

Benevolent King publicly displayed five powerful Items as a reward for the Player Mutual Aid Society’s next president, prompting envy and renewed ambition among the candidates. Ren Gu, Yin Lan, Good Night, and Lin Yu discussed the risks and planned safeguards to protect the Items, ending with Yin Lan agreeing to ask Benevolent King what restrictions he had placed on them.

• Benevolent King displayed his five Items, said he had temporarily restricted them, and left the platform.
• Players and presidential candidates reacted with surprise, envy, and increased desire to win the election and claim the Items.
• Ren Gu asked Yin Lan whether Benevolent King had a deeper purpose, and Yin Lan guessed he might have acted carelessly without considering the consequences.
• Lin Yu corrected Good Night’s remarks and urged the Order to ensure the election proceeded normally despite the turmoil.
• Lin Yu proposed visible guards and safeguards to protect the Items while keeping Benevolent King’s restrictions mysterious, and Ren Gu and Good Night agreed.
• Lin Yu asked to learn what the restrictions did, and Yin Lan offered to find Benevolent King and ask him.

Lin Yu accompanied Yin Lan to speak with Benevolent King about the five Items he had released and the restrictions on them. Benevolent King explained that his attempt to advance to Tier 5 left him little choice, then revealed that he had placed no restrictions on the Items at all.

• Lin Yu arranged to accompany Yin Lan to speak with Benevolent King, and the two left Ren Gu and Good Night in charge.
• Yin Lan and Lin Yu reached the backstage lounge, where Benevolent King greeted them.
• Yin Lan challenged Benevolent King's decision to give away his core Items before attempting his Rank Advancement Trial.
• Benevolent King said accommodating Authority allowed no turning back and that releasing the Items might improve his chances of advancing.
• Lin Yu explained that Order wanted to add safeguards to the five Items and asked how Benevolent King's restrictions worked.
• Benevolent King revealed that he had placed no restrictions on the Items; they were simply sitting there.

Lin Yu questioned the Benevolent King about leaving his powerful [Items] exposed, and learned that he wanted them to pass to whoever became the next president of the Player Mutual Aid Society. After explaining why he could not entrust them to the Order, the Benevolent King faced a new question from Lin Yu about the [Primordial Fire].

• Yin Lan confronted the Benevolent King for making no preparations to protect his displayed [Items], and he admitted he had little time before ascending to the Divine Realm.
• The Benevolent King explained that he wanted his [Items] to go to the next president because he hoped the Player Mutual Aid Society would continue after his departure.
• Lin Yu suggested entrusting the [Items] to Yin Lan, but the Benevolent King said the Order might withhold them from a president it considered unfit.
• The Benevolent King explained that he wanted any elected president to receive the [Items], even if that meant risking their theft, and Yin Lan accepted his reasoning.
• Lin Yu asked the Benevolent King about how he had obtained the [Primordial Fire], mentioning his inheritance and quests related to the Sword of Judgment.

Lin Yu learned more about the Sword of Judgment’s supposed decisive battle with the Abyssal Lord and considered how its powers might have drawn on the Abyss. After the election’s first day, he realized the Benevolent King would soon leave to pursue Tier 5, and asked Yin Lan whether his Trial could be brought forward to strengthen himself.

• The Benevolent King described the ruined battlefield in the Abyss and said its traces seemed to come from two Demons rather than a human hero fighting an Abyssal Lord.
• Lin Yu suggested that the Sword of Judgment might have used Abyssal magic, while privately recognizing that the Sword of Judgment had also been a Pillar-level Demon.
• The Benevolent King told Lin Yu how to reach the battlefield near the Fourth Pillar’s territory, and Yin Lan criticized him for giving a new Tier 2 recruit directions into the Abyss.
• After the first day of election activities ended peacefully, Lin Yu learned that the Benevolent King would leave Shenzhen to attempt advancement to Tier 5.
• Worried about Order losing a Tier 4 combatant before the coming conflict, Lin Yu asked Yin Lan whether his Trial could be brought forward.

Lin Yu requested early access to the Trial Ground, hoping to strengthen himself and observe Benevolent King's advancement to Tier 5. While Good Night helped conceal his departure, Lin Yu arrived at God of Cookery’s home with freshly caught fish.

• Lin Yu asked Yin Lan to arrange an early Trial Ground entry, and she warned him that the trial could cause severe injuries even though participants could not die there.
• Lin Yu told Good Night that he also wanted a chance to witness Benevolent King’s advancement to Tier 5 and gain insight into Authority.
• Lin Yu asked Good Night to stall Yin Lan if she arrived early, then slipped away into the night.
• God of Cookery tried to cheer up the dispirited Comedian by gathering everyone for food and drinks.
• Lin Yu arrived at God of Cookery’s home with two live fish, surprising Qianhuan and prompting God of Cookery to recognize a spotted grouper.

At dinner with the Freedom Alliance, Lin Yu drew Comedian into sharing why he had seemed troubled. Comedian revealed that his middle-school-aged daughter had left school on a delinquent's motorcycle and scored just 95 points across all her subjects.

• Lin Yu arrived with two fish, and God of Cookery praised them during the Freedom Alliance's dinner.
• Lin Yu pretended to be upset with Director, prompting Comedian to advise him to communicate and talk things through.
• Lin Yu and the others turned the conversation toward Comedian's own troubles, and Comedian admitted he had visited his daughter that day.
• Comedian said he had seen his daughter get on a young delinquent's motorcycle outside school and had not known where she went afterward.
• Comedian revealed that his daughter had earned only 95 points combined across nine subjects, leaving him distraught.

Lin Yu sought the Freedom Alliance’s help with Director’s planned God Creation Project, but Fang Qing revealed that success could cost Director his humanity and place in the real world. The chapter ended with her asking whether Lin Yu could bear those consequences.

• Comedian shared his worries about his daughter’s grades, and the others comforted him before turning to Lin Yu’s dispute with Director.
• Lin Yu explained that Director planned to enter the Divine Realm’s Trial Ground that night and attempt the God Creation Project, despite being only Tier 2.
• Old Zhou and Xiao Yun suggested infiltrating Order’s territory to stop Director, but Lin Yu said he might instead want to support him and asked how he could join the Trial.
• Comedian contacted Fang Qing, who appeared at the restaurant and explained that the Secretary’s breakthrough had greatly increased the project’s chance of success.
• Fang Qing warned Lin Yu that if Director became a god, the world would reject him, restrict his power, and risk changing his humanity and sense of self.

Lin Yu asked Fang Qing how to stop the Director from becoming a god, and she gave him [Error], an [Item] that could interrupt attempts to contain an Authority. Before Lin Yu could learn more about Fang Qing’s connection to the Benevolent King, he asked whether the Benevolent King’s plans would affect the Director.

• Lin Yu asked Fang Qing about ways to master an Authority without becoming a god, and she described materializing an Authority as an [Item] or combining it with another life-form.
• Fang Qing warned Lin Yu not to become a Chosen of God for the Director, then gave him [Error], which could repel other Authorities and interrupt attempts to contain them.
• Fang Qing persuaded Lin Yu to accept [Error], explaining that the Director faced a more urgent danger, and told him to avoid the Divine Realm and the Trial Ground.
• Lin Yu asked whether the Benevolent King’s plan to contain an Authority that night would affect the Director, and Fang Qing said it likely would not.
• Lin Yu asked whether Fang Qing and the Benevolent King were close, wondering if the Benevolent King had spared Xiao Yun and the others because of her.

Fang Qing explained her past cooperation with the Benevolent King and why he had treated Xiao Yun kindly. She revealed that he was an extreme defensive specialist with almost no offensive, detection, or control abilities, so he might not have been able to stop Xiao Yun from leaving.

• Xiao Yun asked Fang Qing whether her dealings with the Benevolent King explained his unusually kind treatment of her.
• Fang Qing said she had shared Authority research with the Benevolent King to help him explore powers that resonated with him, and that he had given her no secret information in return.
• Fang Qing rejected the Freedom Alliance's teasing that she and the Benevolent King had romantic feelings for each other, saying their relationship was ordinary cooperation.
• Lin Yu listed the five Items the Benevolent King intended to give away, and Fang Qing noticed they all emphasized defense, recovery, and survival.
• Fang Qing explained that the Benevolent King had strong defense and recovery but no specialized means of attack, detection, or control, so he might not have been able to prevent Xiao Yun and the others from leaving.

Fang Qing explained that Benevolent King avoided violence because he had chosen to play the Death game without harming others, and the Freedom Alliance discussed his chances of ascending to godhood. Lin Yu used Fang Qing’s willingness to help Benevolent King to ask whether she would also go to the Divine Realm, and she agreed to help the Director as much as she could.

• Fang Qing told the Freedom Alliance that Benevolent King likely sold offensive Items and avoided conflict because he was committed to harming as few people as possible.
• Xiao Yun said she would try to take possession of Benevolent King’s remains if his ascension failed, despite Qianhuan warning that the risks might outweigh the benefits.
• Fang Qing admitted she doubted Benevolent King would succeed, but said his Authority could positively affect the Director when he encountered Authority in the Trial Ground.
• Lin Yu asked whether Fang Qing had planned to go to the Divine Realm to help Benevolent King, and Fang Qing confirmed she had.
• Fang Qing explained she could not enter the Trial Ground but promised to help the Director within her abilities, and Lin Yu bowed in gratitude.

Lin Yu returned from Shenzhen after secretly preparing for the Trial Ground and faced Yin Lan’s questions about his unauthorized arrangements. Yin Lan accepted his explanation for now, said she would report his actions, and told him the Trial was ready to begin.

• After leaving the Freedom Alliance feast, Lin Yu sensed the approaching typhoon and returned to his hotel under the Director identity.
• Lin Yu read Good Night’s messages and realized Yin Lan had been waiting for him while Good Night tried to stall her.
• Lin Yu overheard Good Night singing for Yin Lan before revealing himself on the balcony.
• Yin Lan confronted Lin Yu, and he admitted to contacting informants to obtain items for his Unique Profession and the God Creation Project.
• Yin Lan said she would report Lin Yu’s actions to the Professor, then gave him a black card and told him the Trial Ground was ready.

Lin Yu entered the Eternal Trial, a solo assessment prepared for him at the request of the God of Power. Earl of Flames arrived to explain the trial, and Lin Yu realized the supposed Trial Ground was actually inside the Eternal Prison.

• Lin Yu used the Team-up Card and saw General listed as his teammate before entering the instance.
• Lin Yu found himself alone in a dim, prisonlike room, where the clearance conditions required him to complete any two of three objectives.
• Lin Yu discovered that sacred power reinforced the iron railing and prevented him from breaking out by force.
• Earl of Flames entered the room and told Lin Yu that his Lord had prepared the assessment at the God of Power's request.
• Lin Yu recognized that the Trial Ground was actually inside the Eternal Prison.

Lin Yu learned that the Eternal Prison trial left him free to roam but without staff permissions, and that prisoners could attack him to earn temporary freedom. He accepted Earl of Flames’s risky assistance and received three powerful items before the trial began.

• Earl of Flames confirmed that the Eternal Prison held sinners from every realm and explained how Lin Yu’s trial status differed from being imprisoned there.
• Earl explained that Lin Yu’s Identity Level 0-07 gave him no permissions, leaving him vulnerable to prisoners who could steal his card for temporary freedom.
• Earl offered additional help with risks attached, and Lin Yu accepted.
• Earl gave Lin Yu the [Bidirectional Radar], [Quick Teleport], and [Full Power Strike] items, which Lin Yu stored in his [Inquisitor's Tactical Belt].
• Earl said the trial could officially begin, and Lin Yu asked whether he knew why this trial was special.

Lin Yu asked Earl whether the additional Authority had been placed in the Eternal Prison, and Earl confirmed it was there in physical form. Earl then sent Lin Yu down into the prison for his Trial, where Lin Yu discovered that the prison drastically weakened his abilities as he fell toward the ground.

• Lin Yu cautiously asked Earl about the extra Authority, and Earl confirmed it existed somewhere in the Eternal Prison in physical form.
• Earl assured Lin Yu that the God of Fairness and Judgment did not mind the Authority being placed there, then told him to prepare for the Trial.
• Earl snapped his fingers, causing the floor to vanish and Lin Yu to fall from the Ninth Interrogation Room.
• Lin Yu activated the Wind Riding Bracelet and Wind Vein Technique, but the prison weakened them and his other abilities to a fraction of their strength.
• Lin Yu surveyed the prison's vast, gloomy maze of walls and buildings and saw no signs of life.
• As Lin Yu neared the ground, he estimated that the impact could break his bones and wondered whether surviving the fall was his first Trial challenge.

Lin Yu landed safely in the Eternal Prison by using [Shady Corner] and explored a building holding captive elves. A suited man told him the elves had been imprisoned for more than a thousand years and had forgotten how to speak.

• Lin Yu used [Shady Corner] to escape the damage of his fall, discovering that its function still worked despite its weakened duration.
• Lin Yu surveyed the Eternal Prison and concluded he would need to infer the deity’s will rather than rely on patterns from other worlds.
• Lin Yu entered a prison-like building and found rows of cells, each holding a golden-haired elf.
• Lin Yu tried speaking to an elf, who could only make sounds after struggling to respond.
• A pale-faced man in a suit told Lin Yu the elves were not mute but had forgotten how to speak after more than a thousand years in captivity.

Lin Yu met Mans, a Guardian of the Eternal Prison, and traded a spirit-calming technique for information about the prison. Mans explained that the imprisoned elves were High Elves sentenced for attempting to enslave the other intelligent races of the Night Valley Realm.

• Lin Yu questioned Mans, who identified himself as a Guardian overseeing the elves' cell block and offered to explain the prison in exchange for something novel.
• Lin Yu used his Spirit Stabilization Technique on Mans, giving the undead Guardian an intense sensation of pleasure.
• Mans agreed to explain the Eternal Prison and said he would provide additional benefits if Lin Yu made an item that could reproduce the sensation.
• Mans told Lin Yu that the prison was divided into nine regions according to the prisoners' crimes.
• Mans explained that the pure-blooded High Elves had tried to purge other species' intelligence and turn them into eternal slaves, leading to their imprisonment.

Lin Yu learned from Mans how the Eternal Prison classified its prisoners by unforgivable sins and forbidden taboos, and wondered whether his own actions might have violated them. Mans revealed that the prison’s Inner Core held especially dangerous offenders, including an existence charged with attempting to destroy the Ten Realms.

• Mans explained that the elves were imprisoned in the Outer Ring for committing genocide, one of five world-damaging sins.
• Mans described the other Outer Ring sins and said entire races, nations, or organizations could be punished, though those who fiercely opposed the crimes were spared.
• Mans revealed that he had once belonged to the undead Finger Bone Society and had chosen to become a Guardian after serving his sentence.
• Mans explained the Inner Ring’s three taboos: creating artificial souls or violating life and death, disrupting a world’s balance with foreign power, and interfering with Authority or the World Origin.
• Lin Yu privately wondered whether his Information Lifeforms and actions on the Gray Domain violated the taboos, while Mans said Seekers of Truth were corrected by higher-dimensional power.
• Mans said the Inner Core held especially heinous or multiply offending prisoners, including one charged with attempting to destroy the Ten Realms.

Lin Yu learned how the Eternal Prison punished its inmates and how the Outer Ring differed from the harsher Middle Ring. Mans explained that prisoners could invoke a formal Duel in the Ground of No Return, leaving Lin Yu with a clearer picture of the challenge ahead.

• Mans explained that some prisoners were temporarily held for other gods and received lighter conditions, while the Outer Ring’s punishments were tailored to make each group uncomfortable.
• Mans told Lin Yu that the Outer Ring included safer areas for Seekers of Truth, but other zones allowed prisoners greater freedom and posed more danger.
• Mans described the Middle Ring, where scarce Life Sustaining Resources and unrestricted movement drove prisoners into constant conflict under minimal Guardian oversight.
• Lin Yu asked what a Duel meant for his Clearance Conditions, and Mans explained that prisoners could challenge other prisoners or Guardians to a wagered contest in the Ground of No Return.

Lin Yu learned the rules and risks of prisoner duels, then planned how to win the fifteen duels required by his Trial. After Mans refused to explain how to leave the elf-holding area, Lin Yu explored the grounds and approached a pacing elf, asking whether he wanted freedom.

• Mans explained that prisoner duels could not be lethal and that losing could cost prisoners the right to initiate duels until they won again.
• Lin Yu assessed the difficulty of his Clearance Conditions and devised a strategy for winning fifteen duels while remaining wary of hidden dangers in the Trial Ground.
• Lin Yu asked Mans how to leave the area, but Mans said Lin Yu had to discover the answer himself.
• Lin Yu climbed to the rooftop, surveyed the grounds, then used [Shady Corner] to descend and headed toward a nearby wall.
• Lin Yu approached a tall, thin elf pacing across the open ground and asked, "Do you want freedom?"