Recaps

Lu Xiao reached the Minotaur Settlement and discovered that the building he mistook for its center of power was a brick kiln beside a crowded cowshed. Niu Ben brought Elder Niu to meet him, but the elder began by scolding Niu Ben for praising Lu Xiao’s battlefield valor instead of his wisdom.

• Niu Ben carried Lu Xiao to the brick kiln, then left him at the cowshed while he went to find Elder Niu and discuss making him chief.
• Lu Xiao saw the cowshed’s many female Minotaurs and invited the exhausted warriors guarding it inside to drink water.
• Niu Ben returned with Elder Niu, and Lu Xiao considered how to win over the elder, who might recognize that his identity as Er Niu was fabricated.
• Niu Ben told Elder Niu that Lu Xiao had led the warriors out of their encirclement and predicted that rivals would target him as a chief candidate.
• Elder Niu said he would judge whether Lu Xiao had the wisdom to be chief, then struck Niu Ben with his cane for praising valor over wisdom.

Lu Xiao reconsidered becoming chief of the Minotaur Tribe and decided he could instead guide Niu Ben as a strategist while building a Minotaur Legion. The elder announced that Lu Xiao and any other candidates would have to pass the Elder Council’s test of wisdom to become chief.

• The Minotaur elder admired Lu Xiao’s oversized horns, then said their size made him less suited to be chief; Lu Xiao shrank them and convinced the elder he had seen them wrong.
• The elder praised Lu Xiao’s strength but insisted that chief required wisdom, while Niu Ben tried and failed to correct his account of what had happened.
• Lu Xiao considered the Minotaurs’ unexplained potential and decided to stay beside Niu Ben as a strategist rather than seek the chief’s role himself.
• The elder declared that candidates for chief would face a test of wisdom set by the Elder Council.

Lu Xiao explored the Minotaur Tribe’s brick kiln and examined how its distinctive brickmaking industry worked. He decided to find a way to earn the tribe more resources through the industry, while remaining unconcerned about passing the upcoming trial.

• Elder Niu said the Elder Council would fairly choose the tribe’s next chief, and Lu Xiao agreed to take part in the trial.
• After Elder Niu left, Niu Ben promised to join the trial and protect Lu Xiao from anyone who targeted him.
• Lu Xiao visited the brick kiln and watched Minotaurs soak Hell Worm-dug clods, press them into molds, and heat the resulting bricks.
• Lu Xiao concluded that the Minotaurs’ brickmaking craft could help the tribe develop, but their homes and poor living conditions suggested the bricks brought in too few resources.
• Lu Xiao planned to improve the tribe’s income from the brick industry and assumed he would pass the trial if the other contestants died.

Lu Xiao headed for the thicket to retrieve Raven feathers for the Prison Doctor while reflecting on Hell’s mysteries and the possible survival of past Great Lords. Meanwhile, Yi Hao investigated Antie’s murder at Gentleman's Paradise and concluded that the killer was likely a deity.

• Lu Xiao decided to restore Calamity first so he could retrieve the buried Raven feathers, and postponed investigating the plague’s source.
• Lu Xiao considered asking Amilia about the possible survival of past Great Lords and left the Minotaur settlement unchallenged.
• Yi Hao arrived at the Succubus Settlement with Ruiqi and went to Antie’s office in Gentleman's Paradise to investigate his death.
• Amilia told Yi Hao that Antie and his King-level bodyguard had each been killed with a single strike and that Antie was not a deity.
• Yi Hao concluded that the scene resembled a locked-room murder and that the killer must have been at least a deity.

Yi Hao arranged a public tribute for Antie, using it as a press conference while keeping Ruiqi unaware that Antie may have faked his death. After receiving Ding Dan’s permission to investigate, Yi Hao searched the Succubus Settlement but found no trace of Antie, while Lu Xiao reached the mysterious Thicket.

• Yi Hao and Amilia agreed to portray Antie’s assassination as an attack on both the Succubus Clan and the Holy City, and Ruiqi accepted Yi Hao’s invitation to pay her respects without knowing their suspicions.
• After Ruiqi left, Yi Hao asked Amilia to publicize the tribute and invite other information brokers, calling the event a press conference.
• Yi Hao contacted Ding Dan through Mitchell and reported that Antie had probably staged his death; Ding Dan told him to investigate why.
• Yi Hao searched the quiet Succubus Settlement for most of the day but failed to find Antie.
• Lu Xiao arrived at the mysterious Thicket.

Lu Xiao freed Calamity from his raven form and learned that Calamity and Morati had become devotees of Death. Calamity recounted how a devotee of Time had anchored him and an Observer had confronted Death’s followers, leaving Lu Xiao with a cryptic warning to find whoever had disrupted time.

• Lu Xiao found rain falling over the battlefield, where shoots rapidly grew into a thicket, and followed Calamity and Morati to the giant crow’s figure.
• Lu Xiao chose to free Calamity first, and Death’s figure restored Calamity from his raven form while Morati returned to the sky.
• In the Wilderness, Calamity told Lu Xiao that a devotee of Time had planted an anchor point on him, so he had asked the giant crow to turn him into a raven to divert the danger.
• Calamity explained that he and Morati had become devotees of Death, whose projection was the giant crow and who was close to supremacy.
• Calamity said an Observer had descended and been confronted by one of Death’s god-level devotees, who told the Observer to find whoever had disrupted time.

Lu Xiao and Calamity discussed Calamity’s freedom, his devotion to Death, and the mysteries surrounding the Anchor Point and Hell. They retrieved the hidden Raven feathers, and Lu Xiao decided to send them to Doctor through the Divine Hall so Doctor could pass them to Prison Doctor.

• Calamity reenacted his exchange with the Observer and told Lu Xiao that becoming Death’s devotee had ended his growing madness.
• Lu Xiao suspected Death was showing goodwill toward Calamity and Morati, but kept the theory to himself.
• Lu Xiao considered whether the Observer had planted Calamity’s Anchor Point during the Time Shadow, then reflected on the growing dangers in Hell and Fate’s role.
• Calamity opened the ground where the Raven feathers were hidden, and Lu Xiao brought out a sack taller than himself.
• Lu Xiao decided to send the feathers to Doctor through the Divine Hall for delivery to Prison Doctor.

Lu Xiao arranged help for the Blood Plague in Kyoto and promised Warden an army from Hell for a future counteroffensive. He sent Prison Doctor a sack of raven feathers, which could extend the medical workers’ lives by over a thousand years.

• Lu Xiao asked Warden to deliver a sack to Prison Doctor and learned that the Blood Plague had infected over ninety percent of Kyoto’s population.
• Lu Xiao sent Gambler to help investigate the plague and promised Warden Hell’s army for a counteroffensive to reclaim farmland and resources.
• Lu Xiao returned to Hell and told Calamity to become a bull-headed strategist.
• Warden carried the sack of raven feathers to Prison Doctor, who realized the feathers could grant the medical workers over a thousand extra years of life.

Lu Xiao returned to the Minotaur settlement with Calamity, introduced him as Niu San, and learned that the Elders' Council had leaked the examination questions to favored candidates. As the test began the next day, Lu Xiao saw the candidates preparing to cheat with answers written on their bodies and noticed Niu Ben was being shunned.

• The Warden contacted Gambler, who agreed to Lu Xiao's arrangements and said he would reach Kyoto in a day.
• Lu Xiao and Calamity returned to the Minotaur settlement, where Calamity abandoned his idea of becoming chief after seeing the female Minotaurs.
• Lu Xiao introduced Calamity to Niu Ben as his biological brother from a different father and mother, calling him Niu San.
• Niu Ben told Lu Xiao that all the elders except Niu Gong had been bought off and had leaked the examination questions.
• The next day, Lu Xiao saw the Minotaur candidates arrive for the test with answers written on their bodies and noticed the other King-level commanders treated Niu Ben with disdain.

Lu Xiao and Calamity helped Niu Ben take the Minotaurs’ chief-selection exam, but the test’s simple questions and candidates’ bizarre cheating methods made Lu Xiao doubt the race’s prospects. Lu Xiao finished most of the test quickly and tried to keep his score low so Niu Ben could rank highest, while Calamity suggested comparing answers.

• Lu Xiao, Calamity, and Niu Ben endured strict searches before entering the Elders' Council examination hall.
• An elder announced a five-question test, with the ten highest-scoring candidates advancing to another round.
• Lu Xiao and Calamity realized the cheating Minotaurs had written down the questions rather than the answers.
• Lu Xiao quickly answered the first four questions but left the cow-care question unanswered to keep his score down for Niu Ben.
• Calamity asked Lu Xiao to compare answers with him.

Lu Xiao and Calamity helped Niu Ben cheat on the first trial by changing the names on the other Minotaurs’ answer tablets. The results named Niu Ben first through eighth, while Lu Xiao and Calamity placed ninth and tenth, and an elder fixed his attention on Niu Ben.

• Lu Xiao refused to guess what the Minotaur elders would ask in the next trial and planned to wait for the results before Calamity used his ability to help Niu Ben.
• As the exam ended, Calamity subtly resonated with the earth and changed the name field on every tablet except their own to Niu Ben.
• Niu Ben worried he had failed, but Calamity assured him he would rank in the top ten.
• The next morning, Lu Xiao found Niu Ben listed in the first eight places, with Er Niu ninth and Niu San tenth.
• A Minotaur elder searched the crowd, spotted Niu Ben, and stared at him with a dark expression.

Lu Xiao learned that Calamity had secretly restrained the other candidates, allowing Niu Ben to become chief without a second trial. The elders then revealed that Lu Xiao had answered only one question correctly, leaving him stunned.

• A Minotaur elder brought Niu Ben, Lu Xiao, and Calamity before the elders, where Elder Niu Gong praised Niu Ben for supposedly bribing the other candidates.
• Calamity told Lu Xiao that he had used earth to restrain the other candidates so they could not interfere with Niu Ben becoming chief.
• The elders announced that Niu Ben had become the new chief and would not need to take part in a second round of the trial.
• Elder Niu Gong told Lu Xiao that he had answered only one of the five questions correctly and had left the last blank.
• Calamity gloated that Lu Xiao should have compared answers with him.

Lu Xiao and Calamity discovered that they had badly misjudged the Minotaurs’ elementary math questions, while Niu Ben became the tribe’s new chieftain. Back at their quarters, Lu Xiao admitted he needed to retake elementary school math, leaving Calamity baffled.

• Niu Gong called out Niu San for getting every question wrong, and Lu Xiao challenged the results.
• Lu Xiao examined the answer tablets and realized he had made mistakes on the second and third questions.
• Niu Gong assigned Lu Xiao and Calamity as guards to the newly appointed chieftain, Niu Ben.
• The elders announced Niu Ben as the Minotaur Tribe’s new chieftain, and the tribespeople celebrated him.
• Back at their quarters, Lu Xiao told Calamity he needed to retake elementary school math, and Calamity wondered if he had been possessed.

Antie endured the painful fusion of two incompatible authorities while Futiya guarded him at their Wilderness settlement. Ge'en suspected Antie was weakened and tried to conceal his interest in Futiya, but she rejected the murky water he offered.

• Antie told Futiya to call him Icarus and to report anything important rather than offer comfort while he fused authorities.
• Futiya guarded the entrance to Antie's underground hideout, which had been left by a Hell Worm and taken over by Wanderers.
• Ge'en approached and tried to look inside, but Futiya blocked him and warned him not to disturb the resting leader.
• Ge'en saw Antie's pained expression and suspected he was weakened, then offered Futiya a waterskin while pretending he had brought it for Antie.
• Futiya sniffed the foul, murky water and refused to take it inside to Antie.

Yi Hao and Ruiqi prepared to announce the Succubus Clan’s relationship with the Holy City at a press conference, while Yi Hao warned her that otherworld visitors would exploit Hell’s powers for their own survival. He left Ruiqi with a reminder that Lu Xiao’s goodness was not meant for her and that only those who stood beside them counted as their own.

• Futiya tossed aside a waterskin while continuing to serve as Antie’s guard, and Antie remained hidden after faking her death.
• Yi Hao and Ruiqi appeared before more than a hundred King-level information brokers, drawing attention for their fine clothing.
• Yi Hao warned Ruiqi that publicizing the alliance with the Holy City could prompt covert attacks on the Succubus Clan.
• Ruiqi reminded Yi Hao that the Allied Army had already targeted her clan, and Yi Hao said Lu Xiao’s arrangements had kept the previous crisis from causing losses.
• Yi Hao told Ruiqi that Otherworld Visitors would abandon the Holy City or Succubus Clan once they had no further use for them.
• When Ruiqi asked whether Lu Xiao was a good person, Yi Hao said he could be, but not for her, and that only those who stood beside them were truly their own.

Yi Hao warned Ruiqi that the factions defeated by the Holy City would turn their revenge on the Succubus Clan, leaving it dependent on the Holy City for protection. After explaining that Antie had already prepared the Settlement for evacuation and survival, Yi Hao turned his attention to the information brokers below.

• Yi Hao reminded Ruiqi that the factions had originally targeted the Outsiders and would now seek revenge on the Succubus Clan after their defeat.
• Ruiqi realized Yi Hao had left her clan no choice but to join the Holy City’s camp and accused him of being ruthless.
• Yi Hao promised the Holy City would supply resources and reinforcements if the Succubus Clan stood with them.
• Ruiqi recalled that Antie had concentrated resources on elite fighters and dispersed ordinary clan members, leaving the Settlement nearly empty.
• Yi Hao privately credited Antie’s preparations, then turned toward the information brokers and declared he would show them the wisdom of the Human Race.

Yi Hao used a press conference in Hell to honor the assassinated Antie and accuse unnamed enemies of obstructing the Holy City's reforms. He announced that His Majesty had approved a deadly response, leaving the intelligence brokers expecting another war.

• Yi Hao addressed the gathered intelligence brokers and observed three minutes of silence with Ruiqi for Antie.
• Yi Hao described Antie as His Majesty’s envoy to reform the Succubus Clan and claimed his assassination was meant to stop shared prosperity.
• Yi Hao announced that he had investigated the assassination and reported his findings to His Majesty.
• Yi Hao declared that those obstructing salvation must die, prompting an uproar as the brokers anticipated a war of extermination.

Yi Hao held a limited free question session for the information brokers, while Amilia secretly guided them toward probing his limits. Yi Hao explained the Holy City’s alliance with the Succubus Clan and its pilot program, but refused to discuss the clan’s role in the recent chaotic battle, leaving the brokers to confer again.

• Yi Hao offered to answer a limited number of questions for free, and the information brokers discussed how to test his limits.
• Amilia followed Yi Hao’s instructions and advised the brokers to begin with an inconsequential question before gradually probing further.
• The brokers chose Amilia to represent them, and he asked about the Holy City’s relationship with the Succubus Clan, why it had been selected for the pilot program, and its role in the recent chaotic battle.
• Yi Hao said the Succubus Clan was an ally chosen because it had room to grow, but refused to reveal its role in the battle and said the answer was irrelevant.
• The information brokers began another round of discussion about Yi Hao’s limits.

Two deity-level information brokers suspected Amilia had joined the Holy City and asked him to arrange their own entry, fearing Ding Dan would punish brokers who profited from both sides after unifying Hell. Amilia denied joining and refused to help, while the two claimed to have evidence that they had deliberately kept secret.

• Two deity-level information brokers confronted Amilia about whether he had joined the Holy City, citing the material of his clothes as evidence of a connection to the High Priest.
• Amilia admitted the High Priest had given him the clothes as payment for information but denied that it proved he had taken sides.
• The two brokers revealed they wanted Amilia to help them join the Holy City, fearing Ding Dan would target them once Hell was unified.
• Amilia said he had no reason to help them, pointing to their past rivalry and mistreatment of him.
• The brokers offered to pay Amilia resources and warned that their hidden evidence of his connection had not spread because they had kept it from becoming public.

Amilia met with two powerful information-broker deities who offered him half their accumulated wealth to help them seize control of the Holy City's intelligence network. He rejected their plan and warned them that the Holy City would not let them undermine it from within.

• Amilia pretended that life in the Holy City was miserable and waited for the two deities to make an offer.
• The Nightmare Demon and Wind Elf deities offered Amilia fifty percent of their information-trading wealth.
• Amilia asked whether they could pay him in water, but the deities said they could not provide enough quickly.
• The Nightmare Demon revealed that they wanted a monopoly over the Holy City's intelligence channels.
• The Wind Elf argued that they could take over the channels through the independent brokers, but Amilia rejected the idea and warned them about the Holy City's leaders.

Amilia and the King-level information brokers asked Yi Hao who assassinated Antie. Yi Hao argued that a nightmare demon’s dream ability was the only way to kill Antie and his guard Futiya without a struggle, and his accusation left the nightmare demon deity isolated and furious.

• Amilia declined to join the two deities in pursuing resources, then agreed to ask the group’s second question.
• Amilia asked Yi Hao who had assassinated Antie.
• Yi Hao explained that Antie and Futiya, a powerful succubus guard, had both been killed in a single blow without signs of battle.
• Yi Hao argued that the killer must have used an ability to incapacitate victims unknowingly and pointed toward the nightmare demon deity.
• Yi Hao denied directly accusing the nightmare demon deity, but claimed a nightmare demon could have drawn Antie into a dreamscape; the wind elf deity stepped away, and the nightmare demon deity grew furious.

Yi Hao accused the Nightmare Demon Clan and the Wind Elf Group of carrying out Antie and Futiya’s assassination, stirring suspicion between Slian and Sestie. Meanwhile, Lu Xiao learned that the Elders’ Council had dismissed the examinees whose papers Calamity altered, and decided to investigate.

• Yi Hao proposed that the Nightmare Demon leader controlled the victims’ dreams while a speed-skilled deity carried out the murders, then pointed suspicion at Sestie.
• Slian and Sestie recognized that Yi Hao was blaming their peoples and exchanged a solemn glance.
• Amilia privately enjoyed seeing his rival businessmen Slian and Sestie caught up in the accusations.
• Calamity told Lu Xiao that the Elders’ Council had thrown out the examinees whose papers he had altered without hearing their explanations.
• Lu Xiao suspected the elders had another reason for dismissing the examinees and decided to visit the Elders’ Council.

Lu Xiao and Calamity met Elder Niu Bo, who explained that the Minotaur Tribe deliberately appeared ignorant to survive and that Niu Ben's rise to chief had been arranged. Niu Bo revealed that Hell was nearing a final battle in which the victor would inherit the power and authority of the being whose corpse formed the land.

• Lu Xiao and Calamity visited Elder Niu Bo, who identified them as Otherworld Visitors responsible for destroying the Flame Demon Clan and said he meant them no harm.
• Niu Bo admitted that Niu Ben's test was a formality and that the elders' interviews would have secured his position as chief regardless.
• Niu Bo explained that the Minotaur Tribe cultivated a reputation for ignorance so other races would underestimate them and leave them in peace.
• Lu Xiao questioned why Niu Bo trusted an outsider with the truth, and Niu Bo said Lu Xiao's arrival had given him a chance to step into the spotlight.
• Niu Bo revealed that Hell was one vast battlefield and that its final victor would inherit the power and authority of the fallen being whose body formed the land.

Niu Bo told Lu Xiao that the Great Lord held the corrupted Tyrant Authority and that the final battle’s prize was a different, dangerous Authority. Lu Xiao agreed to ally with Niu Bo’s tribe, then left with Calamity for the Holy City to check on Ding Dan.

• Niu Bo revealed that the Great Lord’s Authority was the corrupted Tyrant Authority, which was driving him toward madness, and warned that the final prize was something else.
• Niu Bo asked Lu Xiao and Calamity to join forces with his tribe so it could earn a ticket to the final battle, offering his tribe’s resources and fighters in return for the victor’s power.
• Calamity rejected the Authority, warning that it could carry a dead god’s madness or consciousness, and Lu Xiao agreed to work with Niu Bo without promising victory.
• Niu Bo proposed moving his tribe to Lu Xiao’s world if they lost, and Lu Xiao accepted the plan while privately considering how difficult it might be for them to leave.
• Lu Xiao and Calamity left the Minotaur Tribe and headed to the Holy City to see what was happening with Ding Dan.

Lu Xiao and Calamity discussed their involvement in Hell’s dangerous conflict, while Yi Hao offered the Nightmare Demon and Wind Elf deities positions leading the Holy City’s intelligence organization. The two deities heard his proposal and were invited to meet His Majesty to discuss their compensation.

• Calamity questioned why Lu Xiao was entering Hell’s conflict, and Lu Xiao explained that they were already caught in the chess player’s game and could not simply withdraw.
• Calamity offered to ask his new Lord for help after their work in Hell was finished, and Lu Xiao privately felt guilty about the Present World’s connection to Calamity’s home planet being destroyed.
• At Gentleman's Paradise, Yi Hao met with Nightmare Demon deity Slian and Wind Elf deity Sestie after his press conference had helped establish Antie’s death.
• Yi Hao told Slian and Sestie that he wanted them to join the Holy City and command its new intelligence organization.
• Yi Hao invited both deities to return with him and discuss their compensation with His Majesty.