Chapter Summaries

Wen Xishu entered the Desire Tower before Anya's suicide and helped Charlie overcome his fear long enough to reach her. Their reunion resonated across both worlds, freed Anya and Charlie from the dust, and left Wen Xishu watching their embrace.

• Wen Xishu found Charlie trapped behind the dust in the Wall of Refusal, where Anya and Spark struggled to pull him free.
• Wen Xishu used Pisces's Time Annotation on the Invitation Letter, entered the Desire Tower early, and raced to find Charlie as time continued to pass in the Strange Tower.
• Wen Xishu rescued Charlie from his tormentors at Dreamweave Academy and urged him to run to Anya, giving him the Compass to guide him.
• Charlie ran to Anya, while Anya and Spark continued resisting the Dust Hands; Anya regained her resolve after hearing Spark's thoughts.
• Charlie reached Anya on the rooftop as she faced suicide, and they embraced as their worlds resonated and the dust arms vanished.
• Wen Xishu watched the children embrace beneath a beam of light and felt relieved that everything had changed.

Wen Xishu helped Charlie reunite with Anya and encouraged them to face the future and develop their abilities. After returning to the Strange Tower, he found that Charlie’s story had changed into one where he and Anya survived, leaving Wen Xishu to wonder why Charlie was so extraordinary.

• Charlie found Anya with the help of Wen Xishu’s Compass, and the two embraced as sunlight broke through the dust.
• Wen Xishu reclaimed his Compass, explained that Charlie’s fear had created the Land of Dust, and urged Charlie and Anya to protect each other and learn to use their abilities.
• Wen Xishu learned that Charlie was living four years before the apocalypse and realized Charlie had created the Land of Dust before it began.
• Wen Xishu vanished, and Charlie and Anya took heart from their reunion and the miracles they had experienced.
• Wen Xishu returned to the Strange Tower and saw that Charlie’s simulated story had ended with Anya waking him, the two embracing, and the Dust disappearing.

After completing his four-day tower climb, Wen Xishu returned to the Guide and underwent Heart-Questioning, earning powerful rewards that could enable cross-tower cooperation and let him swap roles with a Strange Tower boss. He prepared to return to the Bunker, where people believed him dead, and discuss the new possibilities with Wen Renjing.

• Wen Xishu returned to the Three Towers Guide, learned that the Bunker had thought him dead, and discovered his climb had taken four days.
• Wen Xishu answered Heart-Questioning’s questions about Charlie, Sagittarius, and his choices in the towers, then received the Heart of Miracles and other rewards.
• Wen Xishu learned that mystery-desire twin resonance could let climbers in the Strange Tower and Desire Tower communicate during corresponding missions.
• Wen Xishu examined peak of madness and found he could swap attributes with his next Strange Tower boss or exchange roles with it and defend the floor.
• Wen Xishu decided to return to the Bunker to resolve the confusion over his supposed death and discuss cross-tower cooperation with Wen Renjing.

While Wen Xishu was missing from the Ladder Ranking, Wen Xiange staked his life on the Church Leader’s return and helped steady the Bunker as factions prepared to restore the old order. Wen Xishu returned with a level-seven completion reward that linked the Desire and Strange Towers, and the Bunker celebrated as he learned how the Old Principal and Wen Xiange had acted in his absence.

• As Wen Xishu’s name vanished from the Ladder Ranking, the Elders waited while the Miyamoto Family and other groups reacted, and Wen Xiange insisted the Church Leader would return.
• After Wen Xishu remained missing for days, Wen Xiange climbed onto the hospital roof and risked his life to convince the Bunker’s residents to keep faith.
• As public confidence faltered, Miyamoto Yoshiki and the Miyamoto Family rallied aristocrats to undermine Wen Xishu’s legacy and restore the old order.
• Wen Xishu reached level-seven completion and returned, triggering a message that granted the Bunker Mystery-Desire Twin Resonance and enabled communication between the Desire and Strange Towers.
• Wen Xiange led the Bunker in celebration, and Wen Xishu spoke with the Academy Spirit about his return, the Old Principal’s absence, and Wen Xiange’s efforts.

Wen Xishu teamed up with Wen Renjing to explore the Desire and Strange Towers together and ordered Xun Hui to punish those who had schemed against him while he was gone. Miyamoto Yoshiki was killed in a staged supernatural death, and a string of similar killings left the Bunker’s elites terrified of Wen Xishu’s revenge.

• Wen Xishu met with Wen Renjing and Xun Hui, discussed his disappearance from the Ladder Ranking, and agreed to cooperate with Wen Renjing in the Desire and Strange Towers.
• Xun Hui gave Wen Xishu a list of people who had plotted against him, and Wen Xishu told him to spread fear through gradual, mysterious punishments, starting with Miyamoto Yoshiki.
• Miyamoto Yoshiki returned to his dormitory, where a strange gust struck and left him dead, though his roommates later saw him leave campus alive.
• Miyamoto Yoshiki’s roommates found his head and blood-covered body in their room, and investigators established that he had been dead for hours despite witnesses seeing him afterward.
• More prominent people died under similarly bizarre circumstances, while rumors linked the killings to the Xishu Divine Church and Wen Xishu’s retaliation.
• The Miyamoto Family and other Bunker elites suspected Wen Xishu was behind the deaths but were too frightened to protest.

While Wen Xishu waited in the Bunker for his friends to return, his level seven completion unlocked a reward that connected Strange Tower and Desire Tower climbers. The connection reached Zheng Zai just as he neared a mental collapse, and A Miao helped him find a way to investigate the Mystery Court cases together.

• William Hockner took money from the Miyamoto Family while telling Wen Xishu they wanted to meet, but Wen Xishu refused because he claimed he had started climbing the tower.
• Wen Xishu waited in the Bunker for Evelyn and the Old Principal, while Zheng Zai climbed the Strange Tower’s Twenty-Fourth Floor and repeatedly misjudged families in the Mystery Court mission.
• Zheng Zai’s wrongful verdicts gave him stacks of Madness, and the voices in his head pushed him toward sentencing the fourth family to death.
• Wen Xishu’s level seven completion granted the Bunker the Mystery-Desire Twin Resonance reward, which allowed Zheng Zai to hear A Miao in the Desire Tower.
• A Miao comforted Zheng Zai and offered to investigate the families with him, so he used Recess to begin piecing together the truth.

After Wen Xishu’s gift gave Sagittarius a new power, Albert returned to the Bunker rejuvenated but soon left to climb the tower while worrying about Evelyn, who had been missing in the Desire Tower for six days. Wen Xishu entered the Strange Tower using the Peak of Madness authority and discovered that he had become the Heart-Questioning One, able to question and select an enemy.

• Wen Xishu’s help granted Sagittarius an epiphany about dust, exciting him with the possibility of strengthening his arrows enough to challenge Leon.
• Wen Xishu met the rejuvenated Albert and told him that Evelyn had not returned from the Desire Tower in six days.
• Albert decided to climb the tower again, hoping to endure his worry about Evelyn and reach her if she needed help.
• Wen Xishu entered the Strange Tower, where the Peak of Madness authority canceled the usual stage, level, and dice roll and led him through the reversed Heart-Questioning door.
• Wen Xishu learned that he was the Heart-Questioning One and could ask a question to select an enemy for the encounter.

Wen Xishu chose to swap identities with a time-wielding ancient swordsman, then entered a new Rivers and Lakes challenge as its creator, the Martial Alliance Leader. He began the game surrounded by powerful martial artists and the Martial World's Number One Beauty, ready to learn the rules and discover whose story needed redemption.

• Wen Xishu questioned the tower guardians and identified an ancient swordsman with time powers, tower power, and a pessimistic view of the world.
• After weighing the swordsman against a pair of twins, Wen Xishu chose to swap identities with the swordsman and arrived on the Strange Tower's seventy-first floor.
• Wen Xishu read the Rivers and Lakes challenge descriptions and learned that, as its creator, he could set deadly obstacles for challengers and clear the level by killing one.
• Wen Xishu activated the Login Device and entered the challenge as the Martial Alliance Leader, seated in an opulent pavilion with the Martial World's Number One Beauty beside him and renowned masters below.
• Wen Xishu began considering the challenge's mechanics and wondering whose story he would need to redeem.

The author reflected on his simple wedding, his relationship with his wife, and his fears about marriage before deciding to embrace their happiness. He asked readers to excuse two days without updates while he got married and hosted friends.

• The author described the modest wedding planned for the next day, with five people attending and no bride price or dowry.
• He recalled how his wife accepted his habits, supported his writing and gaming, and cared deeply about what mattered to him.
• The author admitted that he depended on his wife emotionally and chose marriage rather than risk regretting a life without her.
• He thanked readers for supporting his work and said he wanted to set aside his anxiety to enjoy his wedding.
• The author announced that he would not update for two days because of the wedding and visiting friends.

Wen Xishu used the Scorpion Dagger’s predictive simulation to discover that Liu Jianxin was rising through the Rivers and Lakes by betrayal and ruthless scheming. He began to suspect the game had a harder, more righteous path tied to Ye Jianxin and Beginner’s Swordsmanship, and resolved to disrupt Liu Jianxin’s rise.

• Wen Xishu summoned the Scorpion Dagger and learned it could simulate Liu Jianxin’s predicted actions over the coming days.
• The simulation showed Liu Jianxin robbing the Birthday Tribute, learning Water Margin Swordsmanship, and planning to betray the Outlaws to the Six Doors.
• Liu Jianxin befriended Xiao Jianglong, drugged him, crippled him, and stole the Dragon-Subduing Divine Palm and the complete Dragon-Seizing Claw.
• Wen Xishu learned that Ye Jianxin had retired after avoiding a duel with him, leaving Wen Xishu in control of the Rivers and Lakes.
• Wen Xishu connected Liu Jianxin’s path, Ye Jianxin, and Beginner’s Swordsmanship to a more righteous route through the game and vowed to stop Liu Jianxin.

Wen Xishu used his voice and a staged encounter to steer Liu Jianxin away from robbing an escort shipment and toward a chivalrous reputation, then posed as Liu’s sword spirit. At Riverside City, Liu still planned to drug and rob Xiao Jianglong, while Wen Xishu watched for another chance to redirect him and obtain the Invitation Letter.

• Wen Xishu traveled to Ox Family Village and arranged for Jin Wuming to guide Liu Jianxin into using the Original Heart Swordsmanship against the bandits.
• Liu Jianxin killed the bandits, received Jin Wuming’s Impermanence Sword, and wondered why he had acted like a hero.
• Wen Xishu explained to Jin Wuming that he wanted Liu to build a chivalrous reputation and eventually reveal an Invitation Letter to another world.
• Wen Xishu spoke to Liu Jianxin as a supposed sword spirit and learned through simulations that Liu still intended to betray Xiao Jianglong.
• Liu Jianxin met Xiao Jianglong at a tavern and prepared to drug him, but fate seemed poised to force Liu into another act of chivalry.

Liu Jianxin fought alongside Xiao Jianglong at Apricot Grove, killing Murong Xing and helping the Beggar Gang defeat the Martial Alliance, while his growing respect for Xiao Jianglong stirred a faint hope that the martial world could change. After Liu Jianxin became famous, he reluctantly accompanied Xiao Jianglong to Shaolin for a martial assembly that he suspected was a trap.

• Liu Jianxin attended the Beggar Gang disciplinary assembly with Xiao Jianglong, who accepted the gang's punishment after suppressing the elders' rebellion.
• Murong Xing and Martial Alliance forces attacked the vulnerable Beggar Gang, and Wen Xishu prompted Liu Jianxin to fight beside his sworn brother.
• Liu Jianxin struck Murong Xing with the Original Heart Sword Art, and Xiao Jianglong killed him with Regretful Dragon Strike before they routed the Martial Alliance forces.
• Liu Jianxin spoke in Xiao Jianglong's defense, prompting the rebellious elders and other Beggar Gang members to apologize and accept their leader.
• Liu Jianxin began to hope that he and Xiao Jianglong could overthrow the corrupt martial world, though he still feared the Martial Alliance.
• After hearing that Shaolin planned a martial assembly to unite opposition to the Martial Alliance, Liu Jianxin accompanied Xiao Jianglong despite suspecting a trap.

At the Shaolin martial assembly, Abbot Xuanyong poisoned the gathered heroes and joined the Martial Alliance in trapping them. Though Liu Jianxin planned to escape, Xiao Jianglong’s courage moved him to summon the Sword Spirit and stand beside his sworn brother against the enemy.

• Liu Jianxin and Xiao Jianglong arrived at Shaolin with heroes from across the martial world, who hoped to overthrow the Martial Alliance.
• Abbot Xuanyong welcomed the heroes to a martial assembly, while Liu Jianxin refused to eat the food despite the others finding no poison in it.
• The heroes awoke weak and powerless after Shaolin’s incense and vegetarian food combined to poison them, and Xuanyong revealed the trap as Martial Alliance forces arrived.
• Liu Jianxin considered slipping away, but Xiao Jianglong and the sect leaders urged him to escape while they sacrificed themselves to protect him.
• When Xiao Jianglong faced Xuanyong on the fighting platform, Liu Jianxin summoned the Sword Spirit and stepped forward to shield his sworn brother.

Liu Jianxin defeated the Shaolin abbot and the Zither Demon as Beginner’s Swordsmanship advanced, drawing strength from memories of his father and his resolve to become a hero. After awakening his Chivalrous Heart and receiving an Invitation Letter, he faced the arrival of Wen Xishu, the Martial Alliance’s greatest demon.

• Xuanyong struck Liu Jianxin with Great Strength Diamond Palm, but Liu Jianxin clung to his sword as his Beginner’s Swordsmanship leveled up.
• Wen Xishu urged Liu Jianxin to play the false hero to the end, and Liu Jianxin defeated Xuanyong with a swift sword thrust.
• The Zither Demon’s music forced Liu Jianxin to relive painful memories, but his father’s encouragement helped him resist the temptation to abandon his sword.
• Liu Jianxin reached level ten in Beginner’s Swordsmanship, awakened his Chivalrous Heart, and killed the Zither Demon with one strike.
• Liu Jianxin received an Invitation Letter as Wen Xishu appeared in the arena, alarming the martial heroes and reassuring the Martial Alliance demons.

Wen Xishu revealed that he had guided Liu Jianxin through the Rivers and Lakes to restore his chivalrous ideals and prepare to challenge the real Liu Jianxin. Convinced that his death would help awaken his other self, Liu Jianxin gave Wen Xishu the Invitation Letter and killed himself.

• Wen Xishu revealed that he had arranged Liu Jianxin’s trials and explained that Liu Jianxin had once become the treacherous Martial Alliance Leader in both the Original World and the True World.
• Wen Xishu explained that he had reversed their roles to let Liu Jianxin experience the Rivers and Lakes as a challenger and recover his original chivalrous aspirations.
• Liu Jianxin acknowledged that he still hoped to become a hero, while Wen Xishu explained that he intended to enter the True World and awaken the real Liu Jianxin.
• Wen Xishu admitted that he had to kill Liu Jianxin to reach the True World, and Liu Jianxin chose to trust him.
• Liu Jianxin handed Wen Xishu the Invitation Letter and killed himself with the Impermanence Sword.

After completing the martial arts world, Wen Xishu learned that Evelyn had not returned and discussed the Deep City mission with Wen Renjing. In Deep City, simulations revealed that Aquarius would corrupt Wen Xishu if he tried to save Liu Jianxin, so he headed for Liu Jianxin’s office prepared to confront her.

• Wen Xishu left the martial arts world after achieving a perfect ending and entered the Desire Tower’s Rest Area.
• Wen Xishu met Wen Renjing, learned he had been away from the Bunker for only two and a half days, and heard that Evelyn had not returned.
• Wen Xishu and Wen Renjing connected their missions, identifying Liu Jianxin as the boy who had once defended Chen Juan and discussing the Ruinbringer’s possible influence on Deep City.
• Wen Xishu arrived in Deep City and used the Scorpion Dagger to simulate his mission, discovering that Aquarius could capture him and twist his sense of good and evil.
• Wen Xishu tried dozens of simulations to find a way to save Liu Jianxin without drawing Aquarius’s attention, but none worked, so he went to the golden office tower to confront her.

Wen Xishu entered Aquarius’s Good and Evil Corridor to rescue Liu Jianxin, who had nearly embraced the evil that promised power after years of betrayal. By joining forces, the two broke through their Heart Wall, and Liu Jianxin awakened a shining swordheart as a righteous swordlight began cutting open the Corridor.

• Liu Jianxin entered Aquarius’s Ritual, then resisted its Evil Tide after hearing someone call him back and invoke Ye Jianxin.
• Wen Xishu summoned Sagittarius to hold Aquarius at arrow-point, then entered the Good and Evil Corridor to reach Liu Jianxin.
• Liu Jianxin relived the betrayals and injustices that had exhausted his faith in heroism, while Wen Xishu reached him and shared memories of his own desperate journeys and salvations.
• Wen Xishu repeatedly hurled himself against his thorn-covered Heart Wall, and Liu Jianxin joined him until the wall cracked and Liu Jianxin’s swordheart awakened.
• Liu Jianxin’s sword intent helped shatter the Heart Wall, and a blazing righteous swordlight began slashing open the Good and Evil Corridor before Aquarius and Sagittarius.

Wen Xishu and Liu Jianxin escaped the Good and Evil Corridor, and Sagittarius forced Aquarius to retreat after marking her so he could track her. Sagittarius explained how the Seventieth Floor connected to the Three Towers War before departing, and Wen Xishu asked Liu Jianxin to help him kill the Ruinbringer.

• Wen Xishu and Liu Jianxin emerged from the Good and Evil Corridor without being corrupted, and Liu Jianxin awakened his sword power.
• Sagittarius shattered Aquarius’s escape circle, while Liu Jianxin’s wooden sword flew to him and became Ye Jianxin’s sword.
• Sagittarius struck Aquarius with a Sagittarius Mark and warned her to keep quiet, so she left in humiliation.
• Sagittarius explained that Constellations encountered above the Seventieth Floor could project their future consciousness, then vanished.
• Wen Xishu told Liu Jianxin that the Ruinbringer, also known as Rivers and Lakes Omniscient, had tormented him, and Liu Jianxin agreed to kill him.

After helping Liu Jianxin recover and uncovering his martial arts Sequence, Wen Xishu tracked down the Ruinbringer who had manipulated Liu’s fate and learned about Ruin’s higher-level powers. A call to request a regional exchange was denied by a woman Wen Xishu recognized as Evelyn, leaving him stunned.

• Wen Xishu learned that Liu Jianxin’s Three Towers Sequence, Theme Fervor, transformed his perception of the world into a martial arts setting and let his beliefs manifest as martial power.
• Wen Xishu and Liu Jianxin found Ruinbringer Wang Ming, whom Liu recognized as the person behind his suffering, and Wen Xishu told him that Liu’s fate had been anchored and the cycle broken.
• Wang Ming explained that Ruin divided its higher-level members into Shadows, who could exchange regions, and Ghosts, who gained supernatural powers to influence people and derail fate.
• Wen Xishu ordered Wang Ming to contact Ruin and request an exchange; the call connected to a woman who consulted the Leader and denied the request.
• Wen Xishu recognized the woman’s voice as Evelyn and wondered why she was speaking with Ruinbringers.

Wen Xishu finished the Strange Tower journey, reunited with the Guide, and answered Heart-Questioning about why he had guided Liu Jianxin toward redemption. He received the Ten-Thousand Sword Manor, a rare facility that could supply the Bunker with growing swords and generate Tower Power, and left satisfied with the reward.

• Wen Xishu spared Wang Ming but ordered Liu Jianxin to kill the Ruinbringer, ending the loops and freeing Liu Jianxin from the Constellation's influence.
• Wen Xishu said farewell to Liu Jianxin and returned to the Guide's room, where the Guide's three heads reacted to his powerful authority with new respect.
• Wen Xishu entered Heart-Questioning and explained that he had guided Liu Jianxin because he wanted to understand his past and believed saving him was right.
• Heart-Questioning explained that Wen Xishu had gained Leo's affinity by meeting its criteria and activating part of the Lionheart Brand, then awarded him a Beyond Level Seven Facility.
• Wen Xishu received the Ten-Thousand Sword Manor, which produced swords that grew with their owners and could be smelted for Tower Power, and welcomed the reward.