Chapter Summaries

Wen Xishu tried to rescue Little Ant, Lingchuan Yuan, and the other Experimental Subjects from the Underground Laboratory, but 004 and 015 attacked them. Just as Wen Xishu prepared to unleash the Realm of Sole Self, Master Lingqing and Morita Tong arrived, and Wen Xishu reunited with the Mercy King.

• Wen Xishu decided to take the Experimental Subjects to District Eleven and seek help from the Demon-Cleansing Monk, but alarms announced that the laboratory was under attack.
• Laboratory staff released 004 and 015, who broke into the prison; 015 killed one Experimental Subject and 004 singled out Lingchuan Yuan.
• Wen Xishu and his shadow interrupted 015's attack, then Wen Xishu pinned 015 with gravity, but 004 absorbed him and began turning the prison walls into mouths that threatened to swallow everyone.
• Wen Xishu shielded the Experimental Subjects with his bone wings and began activating the Realm of Sole Self, but three talismans sealed 004's mouths and a Monk's Staff pierced him.
• Master Lingqing and Morita Tong entered the prison, and Morita Tong recognized Wen Xishu as the person who had once saved him.

Wen Xishu reunited with Morita Tong and Master Lingqing, learned that Yellow Springs was Hujiang’s greatest threat, and promised to undermine its fate. He then learned how Constellations competed through resonant affiliations and God-Tier Gifted, before asking whether anyone had heard of Wind City or his whereabouts.

• Master Lingqing sealed 004 and joined Wen Xishu, Morita Tong, and Little Hitomi in rescuing Lingchuan Yuan and the other test subjects.
• Master Lingqing kept Little Ant alive, and the group discovered that Lingchuan Yuan resisted radiation and might be valuable to their cause.
• Wen Xishu hit an invisible boundary that prevented him from leaving the mission area, so he asked Master Lingqing and Morita Tong about their greatest enemy.
• Master Lingqing identified Yellow Springs as Hujiang’s strongest monster, and Wen Xishu promised to sever its fortune so it could not grow more powerful.
• Morita Tong explained that Constellations competed through resonant affiliations, affiliated followers, and the recruitment of God-Tier Gifted.
• Wen Xishu asked whether anyone had heard of Wind City or knew where he had gone.

Wen Xishu completed his Field Assignment by resolving the target’s obsession instead of killing him, then returned to Three Towers Company and learned more about Kylin’s divided nature and the company’s point system. After spending fifteen points to keep Master Lingqing’s talisman, Wen Xishu returned to the interview challenge as it reached its final one-on-one sessions.

• Morita Tong explained to Wen Xishu why he and Master Lingqing stayed in Hujiang, and Master Lingqing warned him that apparent safe havens like Wind City could be dangerous.
• Morita Tong and Wen Xishu parted, and Master Lingqing gave Wen Xishu a powerful talisman before he returned to Three Towers Company.
• Kylin revealed that Wen Xishu had earned twenty-five points by resolving the target’s obsession, and explained that his power caused his black-and-white sides to reverse.
• Wen Xishu spent fifteen points to keep the talisman and saved his remaining ten points for later.
• Kylin told Wen Xishu that applicants who failed would be kept alive if possible, while those who refused the company would have their memories erased and return home; A11 had returned safely with her memories erased.
• Wen Xishu returned to the C District team, and on day thirty Mystery Thirteen announced the one-on-one sessions that would determine where applicants went next.

Wen Xishu completed the Three Towers Company challenge and learned that his unusual authority was welcomed, earning rewards that made several abilities usable across the towers. Back in the Bunker, he sent information about Yellow Springs to the Principal and Xun Hui, then prepared for his third journey into the Slaughter Tower.

• Wen Xishu rejected Li Weiwei’s request for help joining the Three Towers Company, while Shen Changfeng and Clark Kent both declined invitations so they could keep protecting people in the real world.
• Wen Xishu entered the Heart-Questioning Trial, explained his choices in the company’s assessment, and asked it to correct the Three Towers Company’s designation of him as a cheater.
• Heart-Questioning told Wen Xishu that Three Towers welcomed variables and offered him a choice of rewards; he chose to remedy past shortcomings and said he most wanted to meet Tang Rui.
• Wen Xishu received Master Lingqing’s cross-tower talisman, an Employee Badge with increased magic resistance, and a Three Phases version of Weird Sequence 37: Mental Barrage.
• Wen Xishu drew Yellow Springs and sent the Principal and Xun Hui information urging them to kill him, then prepared to enter the Slaughter Tower for a third time.

Wen Xishu carried Tang Rui’s Letter into the Slaughter Tower and received a solo recruitment mission tied to her fate, while Albert went to kill Yellow Springs in Hujiang. Albert destroyed Yellow Springs and its Pseudo-Netherworld, earning a tower-exit kill notification, as Wen Xishu set out to complete Tang Rui’s mission.

• Wen Xishu decided to carry Tang Rui’s Letter into the Slaughter Tower because he hoped to encounter her and unlock her advanced quest.
• Albert told Xun Hui he would confront Yellow Springs himself, while the Academy Spirit informed him of the monster’s location.
• Albert fought Yellow Springs in Hujiang, discovered that its Pseudo-Netherworld converted attacks into undead, and destroyed both the monster and its special world with an overwhelming punch.
• Albert received a unique achievement notification and realized Wen Xishu had advanced the Slaughter Tower storyline by changing Yellow Springs’s fate.
• Wen Xishu and Albert entered the Slaughter Tower together, but a mission notification sent Wen Xishu alone to a special area to help Tang Rui.
• Wen Xishu checked his weapons, tower powers, and runes, then entered the mission despite worrying that he might not be strong enough.

Wen Xishu reunited with Tang Rui in a strangely restored Jiangcheng City and learned that she experienced visions of a deadly taxi attack before it happened. After they killed the driver and destroyed the car, Tang Rui revealed that she had designed the horror and feared she was caught in a cycle, asking Wen Xishu to enter her dream for answers.

• Wen Xishu arrived in a rain-soaked Jiangcheng City that seemed untouched by the apocalypse and waited until Tang Rui found him.
• Tang Rui explained that Jiangcheng City shifted between a lively past and ruined present, and that she could return to her human form inside it.
• Tang Rui predicted that a taxi driver would attack them, then she and Wen Xishu entered the cab and discovered its doors locked and its windows stained with blood.
• Tang Rui said she had designed the driver, and Wen Xishu and Tang Rui killed him and wrecked the monstrous taxi.
• Tang Rui told Wen Xishu she feared she was trapped in a cycle and would use Mixed Feelings to make him the protagonist of her dream.

Wen Xishu entered Tang Rui’s dream and learned that a malicious game forced her to create increasingly dangerous monsters through tragic life choices. He took responsibility for choosing Jiang Zhaonan’s remaining experiences and rejected one suspicious option, beginning his effort to end Tang Rui’s nightmare.

• Tang Rui used Mixed Feelings to bring Wen Xishu into her dream, where an unseen girl called her big sister and prompted them to create a person through a minigame.
• Wen Xishu chose traits for Jiang Zhaonan’s father, unlocking compulsive gambling and promiscuity, then learned that Tang Rui’s earlier choices had created monsters that harmed Jiangcheng City.
• Wen Xishu and Tang Rui chose an experience involving Jiang Zhaonan’s older sisters, and the simulation revealed that she had witnessed their sex work and abuse.
• Wen Xishu stopped Tang Rui from choosing the final experience about a baby boy being born, suspecting it concealed something horrific, and promised to bear responsibility for the remaining choices.

Wen Xishu and Tang Rui created and defeated Jiang Zhaonan, an urban legend who preyed on drunk men, while learning how Tang Rui’s Mixed Feelings trapped her in a cycle of designing and killing villains. As a new cycle began, Wen Xishu proposed creating a male villain centered on a championship-level simp concept.

• Wen Xishu reasoned that the experience choices were meant to exploit Tang Rui’s Mixed Feelings, and he chose Jiang Zhaonan’s abusive-father experience after Tang Rui asked him to choose three.
• Jiang Zhaonan became an urban legend who used her Enchantment and Ghost Fetus abilities to lure drunk men and kill them, while Tang Rui explained that she had to kill the villains she designed or face increasingly powerful ones.
• Wen Xishu used the Compass to track Jiang Zhaonan and insisted on handling the hunt himself so Tang Rui would not experience her past.
• Jiang Zhaonan killed a man at a nightclub, but Wen Xishu arrived and captured her with help from his shadow while Tang Rui shielded him from her Enchantment.
• Tang Rui avoided experiencing Jiang Zhaonan’s memories because Wen Xishu killed her, and the two prepared for another cycle as Wen Xishu proposed creating a tragic male villain built around a championship-level simp concept.

Wen Xishu designed Jiang Yaozu in Tang Rui’s dream and confronted him after the supernatural killer appeared in Jiangcheng City. Unable to defeat Jiang Yaozu outright, Wen Xishu tried to reach him through the memory of the teacher who had once praised him, and Tang Rui brought that person to the scene.

• Wen Xishu failed to use the Compass to find the mastermind, then spent a peaceful day shopping and eating with Tang Rui, who said she wanted to protect Jiangcheng City.
• Wen Xishu entered Tang Rui’s dream and used the Scorpion Dagger to revise Jiang Yaozu’s life until he had an ordinary but oppressive upbringing and became an elite-hunting supernatural entity.
• Jiang Yaozu appeared in a law firm and attacked a lawyer, but Wen Xishu arrived quickly and had his shadow escort the lawyer to safety.
• Jiang Yaozu’s Poverty Strike and Spending Glory weakened Wen Xishu because he lacked money and foreign consumer goods, but Wen Xishu dodged his attacks.
• Wen Xishu reminded Jiang Yaozu of the English teacher who had once praised his progress, and Tang Rui brought that teacher to him as Wen Xishu attempted to redeem him.

Tang Rui and Wen Xishu tried to save Jiang Yaozu with help from his former teacher, Teacher Tan, but an unseen force caused him to explode just as he began to regret his actions. Wen Xishu suspected the force behind the anomalies was connected to revenge and proposed another test.

• Tang Rui used Mixed Feelings to control Jiang Yaozu and brought Teacher Tan to confront him.
• Teacher Tan reminded Jiang Yaozu that he had value, and he began to regret hurting people.
• A mysterious power made Jiang Yaozu grow black spikes and explode, while Tang Rui shielded Wen Xishu and Teacher Tan.
• Tang Rui concluded that someone inside Jiangcheng City was watching them and deciding whether their villains lived or died.
• Wen Xishu connected the hidden controller to a girl's voice and proposed testing his theory about revenge.

Wen Xishu deduced that the girl behind Jiangcheng City’s urban legends was the child Tang Rui and Wen Xishu had encountered on the night they killed Yan Zhihai. Tang Rui agreed to return to that night and let the girl seek revenge, leaving them to begin another urban-legend game.

• Wen Xishu asked Tang Rui to investigate why witnesses had forgotten the recent urban legends and concluded that their past experiences had been altered.
• While creating Jiang Keren, Wen Xishu found the same childhood-experience option that had appeared when they created Jiang Zhaonan and confirmed that it pointed to a teacher abusing a girl.
• Wen Xishu connected Jiang Yaozu’s dying word, “revenge,” to the little girl who had been beside Yan Zhihai when Tang Rui and Wen Xishu killed him.
• Tang Rui agreed to return to the rainy night and give the girl a chance to take revenge, despite the possibility of reliving painful experiences.
• Wen Xishu completed the choices and created another urban legend, then warned Tang Rui that a new game had begun and the girl might appear that night.

Wen Xishu and Tang Rui confronted Jiang Keren, helped her recover memories of the abuse she suffered, and took her to find Yan Zhihai. Tang Rui and the girl shared their pasts as Yan Zhihai was killed, but the girl did not appear to forgive Tang Rui.

• Jiang Keren invaded a family’s home and replaced their daughter in the family’s memories until Tang Rui restored the daughter’s memories and put the family into a coma.
• Jiang Keren tried to invade Wen Xishu and Tang Rui’s minds, but Tang Rui’s mental power made the attempt painful, and Wen Xishu urged Jiang Keren to seek revenge rather than hurt innocent people.
• With Tang Rui’s help, Jiang Keren remembered her abuse and named Yan Zhihai, though she could not remember where to find him.
• Wen Xishu and Tang Rui followed Ding Dong’s Compass to Yan Zhihai’s villa, where Jiang Keren disappeared and the girl from Tang Rui’s past appeared.
• Tang Rui used Mixed Feelings to exchange memories with the girl, who relived her abuse and explained how she had endured years of pain after Yan Zhihai’s death.
• The girl killed Yan Zhihai in the rain, and Tang Rui apologized, but the girl looked at her with a complicated expression and did not seem to forgive her.

Wen Xishu stopped Jiang Ling from killing Tang Rui and helped the two women reconcile, then witnessed Jiang Ling and Tang Rui discover a powerful connection between their abilities. Tang Rui gained a second resonant affiliation and said goodbye to Wen Xishu as his Slaughter Tower journey ended.

• After experiencing Tang Rui's past, Jiang Ling advanced on her with a knife, still intent on revenge for her own suffering.
• Wen Xishu gave Jiang Ling a choice between joining Tang Rui to pursue criminals or being killed by his apostle, while Tang Rui used Mixed Feelings to show Jiang Ling Wen Xishu's experiences.
• Jiang Ling chose to join Tang Rui, revealed her name, and clasped Tang Rui's hand.
• After the bounded realm disappeared, Wen Xishu learned that Jiang Ling was a suitcase-shaped Red House whose World in the Box could project outward through her connection to Tang Rui's mental power.
• Tang Rui's mission ended, granting her Gemini affiliation alongside Virgo and a second-stage ascension; she told Wen Xishu she would wait for him in Wind City before he vanished.

Wen Xishu completed the Heart-Questioning Trial and learned that only four Ascension missions existed, then discovered powerful rewards tied to Tang Rui. In Wind City, Tang Rui gained new memories and equipment and set out to invade other places and slaughter monsters.

• Wen Xishu agreed that he would choose Tang Rui for the Ascension mission again and said he hoped their fates would become more intertwined.
• The Heart-Questioning Trial told Wen Xishu that there were only four Ascension missions, and he found that Fate Intertwining: Tang Rui granted her extra growth, effects from his Strange Tower challenges, and the ability to comprehend powers outside the Sequences.
• Wen Xishu decided to climb the Strange Tower again and seek out more people whose potential he could develop.
• Tang Rui appeared in Wind City in a black trench coat with a briefcase, carrying new memories created by the Ascension mission.
• Tang Rui told Wind City's human representative that she would leave to hone her skills and invade others before they could attack Wind City.
• Tang Rui departed beneath a vast blood-red cloud filled with golden lightning.

The Demon-Cleansing Monks learned that Yellow Springs’ attempted evolution had failed, while Wen Xishu returned to the Bunker and told Albert about his unusual Slaughter Tower progress. Wen Xishu then entered the Strange Tower again, where his new mission was titled “Another Me?”

• A failed series of experiments left Yellow Springs weakened by burdensome mutations, and Morita Tong and Master Lingqing learned the news from a captured laboratory worker.
• Morita Tong and Master Lingqing connected Yellow Springs’ misfortune to Wen Xishu’s earlier prediction and realized he might possess extraordinary power.
• Wen Xishu returned to the Bunker, where Albert confirmed he had killed Yellow Springs and gained insight into nether energy.
• Wen Xishu told Albert that his Slaughter Tower level could rise through Tang Rui’s kills on the Three Towers Battlefield, and Albert celebrated the prospect.
• Wen Xishu entered the Strange Tower’s Rest Area and received a new mission titled “Another Me?”

Wen Xishu entered a Strange Tower mission where parallel versions of himself were gathered to compete, and met a cheerful counterpart from Blue Star. As their first challenge began, a warning estimated twenty-five deaths, leaving the Blue Star Wen Xishu terrified.

• Wen Xishu entered the fifty-eighth-floor mission, which summoned versions of him from parallel universes to decide who would return as the sole universe’s anchor.
• In the Guiding Grounds, the Black Deception Head worried that the unusual stage would make Wen Xishu lose his sense of self, while the White Desire Head believed they would see him again.
• Wen Xishu awoke in a laboratory-like room and met the talkative version numbered 045, who said he came from Blue Star.
• The Blue Star Wen Xishu told Wen Xishu that he envied his dangerous adventures and revealed that their brother was named Wen Chaohua in both worlds.
• A voice announced the first challenge and estimated twenty-five deaths, leaving the Blue Star Wen Xishu frightened.

Wen Xishu and Blue Star Wen Xishu entered the first game, Death Interview, where a hundred versions of Wen Xishu had to survive hidden personal restrictions while completing interviews. As Agent 007 began an interview that threatened to expose his forbidden behavior, Wen Xishu 045 realized Wen Xishu himself was at risk too.

• Wen Xishu persuaded the frightened Blue Star Wen Xishu to follow the Strange Tower's rules and enter the first game with him.
• Wen Xishu arrived in a plaza with many parallel versions of himself, including the dangerous Wen Xishu 001, female Wen Xishu 022, and talkative Wen Xishu 045.
• The game announced that contestants had to complete interviews while avoiding secret actions written above one another's heads, and that killing someone could allow an early advance.
• Wen Xishu noticed the words above other versions and learned that his Scorpion Dagger could report game loopholes, but he found no way to view his own restriction.
• Agent 007 guessed that the words marked actions that would cause death and began an interview requiring him to act like an exhausted worker.
• Wen Xishu 045 realized Wen Xishu's restriction was “explain” and grew anxious as Agent 007 began his performance.

Wen Xishu and his alternate selves tried to survive interviews that concealed fatal forbidden actions, while learning that killing another version could grant their traits. After several advanced and others died, Wen Xishu spotted a way to inspect his own forbidden action and began his interview, as 001 revealed that 046’s world resembled his most.

• Drunkard Wen Xishu from Universe 061 tried to surprise 001 by sharing a secret, but exploded when he said “I,” and 001 gained his Eye of Sorrowful Sequence trait.
• Wen Xishu 007 acted out sudden death, passed his interview, and learned that 001 could foresee tragedy and intended to kill every other Wen Xishu.
• Wen Xishu overheard 001 and 007 discuss 001’s power, glimpsed a ruined Wind City through 001’s eyes, and realized the rules might not seal innate abilities.
• Wen Xishu used his Bunker ability to inspect his attributes and discovered that his forbidden action was “Explain?”
• Wen Xishu from Universe 045 passed by copying a dancer abstractly, while Wen Xishu from Universe 093 died after choosing watermelon to taste.
• Wen Xishu began his own interview, while 001 told 007 that 046’s universe was the most similar to his.

Wen Xishu 046 passed the first interview by answering with feigned ignorance, then stayed paired with 045 for the next round. The second game sent each Wen Xishu into their roommate’s world to face that roommate’s hardest challenge, leaving 045 terrified about surviving 046’s dangerous world.

• Wen Xishu 007 described his exhaustion as a wartime agent, and Wen Xishu 001 told him he had already done well.
• Wen Xishu 046 passed the mathematics-teacher interview by treating the questions as though he did not know the answers, and 045 confirmed that the interview only required completing the prompts.
• Ninety Wen Xishus advanced, and they chose roommates; Wen Xishu 046 stayed with 045, while 001 paired with the cybernetic 005 and 007 paired with an assassin.
• The second-round announcement restored their abilities and sent each participant to their roommate’s world to face that person’s most difficult task.
• Wen Xishu 001 prepared to enter 005’s mechanical world, while 007 and the assassin discussed adapting to each other’s challenges.
• Wen Xishu 045 feared entering 046’s dangerous world and asked 046 to make him look impressive when facing the threat involving his brother, Wen Chaohua; 046 urged him not to let fear affect his performance.

Wen Xishu and 001 entered other universes to face versions of themselves’ hardest experiences. Wen Xishu easily rescued his counterpart’s brother but hesitated to tell Wen Chaohua that his Little Tree might not return, while 001 reached the Sage and learned it was a time-probing God Mech named Pisces.

• Wen Xishu from Blue Star 045 searched a talisman-sealed room in Universe 046 and found rules for surviving a monster-filled night.
• Wen Xishu 001 reached a futuristic city in Universe 005, destroyed the Mechanical Lifeforms that threatened him, and followed a Compass toward the Sage.
• Wen Xishu subdued the armed kidnappers holding him in Universe 045 before Wen Chaohua and his SWAT team arrived.
• Wen Chaohua suspected that the person before him was not his Little Tree, and Wen Xishu stayed silent when asked whether Little Tree would return.
• Wen Xishu 001 met the crystal-ball Sage, who identified itself as Pisces, one of the twelve God Mechs used to probe time.