Chapter Summaries

Wang Zhifan healed and recruited Elena, Bella, and Gate as followers of the Celestial Venerable, then returned to his villa and resumed cultivating. The next morning, Captain Li Zhenguo visited to recruit him into the Administration, but Wang Zhifan declined a full-time role and agreed only to consider occasional help.

• Elena and Bella explained that the king was purging witches to eliminate potential threats, and Wang Zhifan urged them to follow the Celestial Venerable and prepare to resist.
• Gate asked to become a believer, and Wang Zhifan gave him, Elena, and Bella laser pistols before returning to his villa.
• Wang Zhifan posted a request for cultivation manuals, cultivated the Wind-Thunder Heaven-Treading Art, and made little progress toward Lv3.
• Captain Li Zhenguo visited Wang Zhifan and asked him to join the Administration, but Wang Zhifan said he preferred to remain independent.
• Li Zhenguo asked Wang Zhifan to help the Administration when circumstances required, then hurried away after receiving a phone call.

Before entering a wasteland survival instance, Wang Zhifan collected Paradise Fruits and trained Yilin and Yali to pilot the spaceship and conduct exploration. He chose the Lone Wolf identity upon arrival and began assessing the desert’s dangers.

• Wang Zhifan rejected the cultivation techniques offered on the Player Forum and decided to focus on equipping the tower climbers in other ways.
• Wang Zhifan visited Gaia Planet, collected a crate of Paradise Fruits, and tested Yilin and Yali’s spaceship-piloting skills before assigning them exploration duties.
• Wang Zhifan entered an instance with the objective of surviving for one month and found himself alone in a scorching desert.
• Wang Zhifan chose the Lone Wolf identity, gaining the ability to negate one fatal attack each day.
• Wang Zhifan relied on his stored food and water while assessing the desert’s threats, and his shadow began to rise from the sand behind him.

Wang Zhifan investigated a shadow attack in the desert, learned about the dangerous instance world from a hunting party, and chose to survive in the Pitch-Black Tower rather than settle among people. He piloted the tower into the wilderness and settled in, confident he could spend the month in comfort.

• Wang Zhifan traced a shadow attack to a desert lizard, confirmed it generated the shadow with a special ability, and added it as a low-tier mob in the Pitch-Black Tower.
• Wang Zhifan traveled across the desert, found a hunting party from the Great Gathering Place, and subdued them after they opened fire on him.
• Wang Zhifan killed a defiant hunter and used the Blank Belt to interrogate the rest, learning about the Great Gathering Place, Lifeline, and the world's ability-user rankings and factions.
• Wang Zhifan decided to avoid the crowded settlement and use the Pitch-Black Tower as shelter in the desert.
• Wang Zhifan killed the interrogated hunters, piloted the tower deeper into the wilderness, and relaxed inside with food from his storage.

Wang Zhifan trained safely inside his Pitch-Black Tower as Shadow Monsters gathered outside, while four foreign players fought natives in a desert settlement. A hidden native with unusual abilities disrupted their attack, and a man in a lab coat watched from above, intent on capturing the outsiders.

• Wang Zhifan stayed in his Pitch-Black Tower, finished his wine, and cultivated the Wind-Thunder Heaven-Treading Art despite the Shadow Monsters besieging the tower.
• A trench-coated Xia Kingdom gunslinger and his invisible companion approached a settlement where four foreign players were fighting its natives.
• The players battled using taunts, stealth, mosquitoes, and axes, but a native youth disrupted the white mage’s Taunt Technique and mental attacks troubled two teammates.
• The white mage’s Disintegration Technique rebounded toward him, destroying his Ethereal Robe, and he concluded that the natives possessed special abilities.
• A yellow-skinned man in a lab coat watched the battle from the sky and vowed to capture the outsiders alive.

Four foreign players gained the upper hand against the settlement’s natives, but two concealed Xia Kingdom players ambushed them and began testing their abilities. The ambush killed the black gunner, while the white mage escaped, leaving the foreign team facing a new threat.

• The white mage called Zakharova to hold off the muscular native youth, while he shifted to controlling the battlefield with spells.
• The native psychic user attacked Anomaly mosquitoes in his hiding place, but their toxic smoke exposed him, and the black gunner killed him with a curved shot.
• A hidden Xia Kingdom gunner shot the black gunner, and another Xia Kingdom player moved in to attack the foreign team.
• The white mage healed the black gunner and warned him to stay protected, but an invisible attacker killed him after using a puppet to draw out their abilities.
• The white mage escaped the attack by teleporting away, while the Xia Kingdom assassin revealed that the exchange had been a test and turned toward his next target.

The Xia Kingdom gunman and Assassin fought the foreign players, then agreed to a temporary truce when the battle proved costly. Their negotiations ended when a powerful native researcher appeared and unleashed an enhanced gravity field, forcing the players to react.

• The Xia Kingdom Assassin looted the dead Black gunman while the Xia Kingdom gunman suppressed the other players with machine-gun fire.
• The Xia Kingdom gunman attacked the white female Warrior with Rune Bullets and an explosive, but she survived with the white mage's help.
• The Xia Kingdom gunman and Assassin proposed a truce, and the foreign players agreed only if the Assassin returned their dead companion's equipment; he refused.
• A young native in a white lab coat descended from the sky, challenged the players, and crushed them under an enhanced gravity field.
• The Xia Kingdom gunman used Bullet Time and Random Teleport to flee the gravity field.

The bespectacled young man in the white lab coat launched a high-tech search for the players who had fled his gravity field. A Xia Kingdom gunner escaped a Mech Pilot’s capture attempt with a bizarre paper car, which passed through the mech and struck the pilot, leaving his fate unclear.

• The players used teleportation, invisibility, dimensional escape, and reverse-summoning abilities to flee the white-lab-coated superhuman, while an invisible attacker failed to cut his metallized throat.
• The white-lab-coated man ordered nearly two hundred Mech Pilots to search the area around Great Market Town, and they soon found the Xia Kingdom gunner north of town.
• The gunner fired a homing rocket at a helicopter, then summoned a strange paper car and climbed inside as two Mech Pilots intercepted him.
• The paper car ignored the mech’s attacks and began passing through its armor, prompting the Mech Pilot to activate a superpower shield.
• The paper car broke through the shield, passed through the mech, and struck the pilot inside, whose consciousness faded as he drifted away from the battlefield.

William and Zakharova discovered the lit Pitch-Black Tower while fleeing through the dangerous desert, and a Xia Kingdom gunner arrived there seeking shelter. Wang Zhifan opened the tower to the visitors, leaving the gunner and then the pair to face an arena challenge inside.

• William and Zakharova used a shield to survive the desert’s Shadow Monsters, then spotted a lit tower and headed toward it.
• A Xia Kingdom gunner arrived by Netherworld Hearse, judged the tower a safe place, and called for its owner to let him stay.
• Wang Zhifan noticed the visitors and opened the tower’s brass door, deciding to offer shelter in exchange for their help.
• The gunner entered the tower, followed by William and Zakharova, who recognized him as the player who had killed their companion.
• The brass door closed behind William and Zakharova, leaving them on an arena platform with green-skinned monsters.

William and Nova discovered that the Black Towers let players enter and leave freely, then chose to return inside as a refuge from the dangers outside. Wang Zhifan left them to explore while focusing on his cultivation, as a Xia Kingdom player rested on the third floor and his hunted Assassin companion fled into the Black Shadow Desert pursued by mechs.

• William and Nova killed the weak monsters, found the exit open, and decided the tower was a safe place to hide from the desert.
• Wang Zhifan chose to let players come and go freely, expecting their exploration to provide useful combat data without risking their safety.
• A Xia Kingdom player rested on the third floor, used the environment to sustain himself, and found that his walkie-talkie could not contact Strongie from inside the tower.
• The Xia Kingdom player decided to rest overnight and contact Strongie during the day, unaware that Strongie was fleeing into the Black Shadow Desert.
• Bighead, an A-rank esper and Mech Pilot, led combat mechs into the desert to track Strongie, while his superior promised to send support.

Lu Qiang escaped his pursuers in the Black Shadow Desert by unleashing a powerful phantom creature, while William and Zakharova discovered that their Black Tower could shelter other players. David contacted William with news of a group of twelve players under siege, and they prepared to flee toward the tower.

• Lu Qiang crushed a jade token, summoning a huge phantom creature that destroyed or drove off most of the mechs pursuing him.
• Lu Qiang decided to leave the Black Shadow Desert and return to the large market town to find a safer hiding place.
• William and Zakharova grilled fish beside a pond on the Black Tower’s second floor while discussing whether they could survive the instance there.
• David used a black beetle to communicate with William, confirmed the Black Tower’s location, and promised to bring other players to it.
• David gathered twelve players in an underground tunnel, but the natives discovered their hiding place and forced them to prepare for another breakout.
• A square-faced Xia Kingdom player began organizing the escape, and David offered to guide the group to the Black Tower if someone had a fast, stealthy large vehicle.

A square-faced Xia Kingdom player used his Spirit Manifestation Landscape Painting to transform the trapped players into intangible birds, letting them escape an encirclement by native ability users and mechs. Led by the white summoner, the group flew toward Wang Zhifan’s Black Towers while their pursuers prepared for a larger operation.

• The white summoner offered to lead the players to a hidden desert refuge, and the square-faced Xia Kingdom player confirmed he could help everyone escape together.
• The square-faced Xia Kingdom player activated his Spirit Manifestation Landscape Painting and shared its transformation ability with the group as native forces surrounded the underground passage.
• The middle-aged native leader ordered the mechs to blast open the ground and sent Mad Bee and the other ability users to capture the players alive.
• The players escaped as hundreds of gray-black birds, and Mad Bee, the ability users, and the mechs failed to stop them with their attacks.
• The middle-aged native leader reported the failed capture, and his superiors told him the leader would personally direct a future operation.
• The white summoner led the escaped players toward Wang Zhifan’s Black Towers as they flew away in bird form.

Players gathered at Wang Zhifan’s Pitch-Black Tower, debated how to enter safely, and began forming teams to explore it. After Wang Zhifan destroyed a summoned bird that tried to spy on him, the players avoided probing the tower from outside, while natives in an underground base monitored it.

• A group of players reached the Black Towers with help from a square-faced player’s landscape painting, and David’s companions advised them to enter in separate groups.
• A suspicious Assassin tried to enter the tower alongside David, but the female Warrior stopped him; David entered alone, and players outside began forming teams.
• Wang Zhifan noticed the crowd but stayed focused on cultivating, then spotted a bird scouting his window and ordered the tower to destroy it with purple lightning.
• The players argued over who had sent the bird, then began entering the tower in teams and avoided further attempts to spy on it from outside.
• Three natives in an underground base watched a screen showing the Pitch-Black Tower and red dots moving around it.

Lifeline leaders debated seizing Wang Zhifan’s Black Towers, while William and his companions plotted to hunt lone players inside them. Wang Zhifan secretly helped them enter another player’s tower space, where they prepared to ambush a Wizard fighting monsters.

• Zhong Wei, Silver Gray, and the silver-haired old man discussed the Black Towers and argued over who would send troops to investigate them.
• William told David and Zakharova that his Thousand-Faced Man card could disguise them and help them invade other players’ tower spaces.
• William chose a lone Wizard as their first target, while Wang Zhifan overheard their plan and secretly let them enter that player’s space.
• William buffed his companions, and the three climbed the tower invisibly until they found the Wizard fighting monsters in a palace.
• William, David, and Zakharova began sneaking toward the distracted Wizard to attack him together.

Wang Zhifan watched three players ambush and kill a Croak Kingdom Mage, then strengthened the remaining monsters to stop them from escaping without paying him. The trio fled between floors, but the tower looped them back to the third floor, where the enhanced monsters still awaited them.

• A Croak Kingdom Mage nearly defeated the floor's monsters, but William, David, and Nova ambushed and killed him, then divided his loot.
• Wang Zhifan strengthened the three surviving monsters, which grew wings and overwhelmed William and David's attempts to restrain them.
• Nova, William, and David retreated down the spiral staircase to the second floor and speculated that the tower had increased the difficulty.
• The trio headed for the first floor, but Wang Zhifan's tower sent them back to the third floor, shocking William.

William, David, and Nova used William’s Demon Skin scroll to defeat the three monsters guarding the third floor. Wang Zhifan watched the fight and, intrigued by the scroll’s powers, considered taking it from the foreign players.

• William led David and Nova into the spiral staircase when three monsters charged, but they discovered the tower’s stairs returned them to the third floor and trapped them there.
• William apologized for misjudging the tower and proposed killing the monsters, then rested with his companions before preparing his Demon Skin scroll.
• William’s scroll sent a dark-red sphere through the stairway entrance, where it became a swarm of mosquito-like projections that weakened the monsters before transforming into a giant axe and an explosive fireball.
• Nova and David charged out of the staircase and killed the two surviving monsters while William collapsed from the scroll’s heavy cost.
• Nova suggested she control the projections next time, but David warned that doing so would consume too much energy; Wang Zhifan considered borrowing the scroll to inspect it.

Wang Zhifan ambushed and killed three foreign players in the Black Towers, using his Dream Self clones to test their abilities before finishing them with the Annihilation Aura. He claimed several valuable items from their personal spaces, including a Many-Faced Man Card, Demon Skin, and Mage's Power Box.

• Wang Zhifan put on Victor's Ring and decided to attack the three foreign players despite his earlier hesitation.
• Wang Zhifan sent three Dream Self clones to ambush William, the insect swarm summoner, and the female Warrior in the dark palace.
• William used spells and scrolls to help the group flee, but Wang Zhifan sealed the floor and struck them with the Annihilation Aura.
• Wang Zhifan suppressed the players' explosions with Ice Source Power and killed all three, leaving their equipment behind.
• Wang Zhifan used Victor's Ring to choose items from the players' personal spaces, including the Many-Faced Man Card, Demon Skin, and Mage's Power Box.

Wang Zhifan stopped cultivating after a gunfight outside the Black Towers disturbed him, then used the tower to trap the fighters and let pursuing natives enter. As Zhong Wei’s forces began a capture operation, Wang Zhifan prepared to pit the players and natives against one another inside the tower.

• Wang Zhifan rejected the idea of killing every player for loot and spent the night cultivating on the top floor of the Black Towers.
• A square-faced middle-aged man and a young woman emerged from the tower, and the Xia Kingdom gunner ambushed them before fighting them outside.
• Wang Zhifan teleported the gunner out of the tower after a rocket blast interrupted his cultivation, and the three players fought until helicopters arrived.
• The players recognized the approaching helicopters as belonging to the natives and fled back into the Black Towers as Zhong Wei and his forces surrounded it.
• Zhong Wei ordered his ability-user squads to enter and capture the outsiders, while Wang Zhifan granted them access and connected the tower’s climbing spaces for a chaotic battle.

Wang Zhifan transferred five players into a plaza where Mad Bee’s gifted team was fighting statues, forcing the players and natives into battle. As both sides engaged, Wang Zhifan watched the confrontation and prepared to intervene if the players were overwhelmed.

• Mad Bee charged into a plaza and endured the statues’ purple-beam attacks, then used his regenerative immortality and enhanced strength to fight back.
• Earth Bro directed the gifted team as Little Fierce, Azure Eagle, and the others attacked the statues and Glasses assessed their weaknesses.
• Wang Zhifan decided to keep the players from being wiped out and teleported five of them into the plaza where Mad Bee’s team was fighting.
• Glasses alerted the gifted team to the five outsiders, and Mad Bee rushed the nearest player as Earth Bro ordered the team to attack without holding back.

A plaza-wide battle between players, gifted natives, and statue monsters escalated as Mad Bee repeatedly attacked a mechanical summoner despite suffering fatal injuries. From the Black Towers, Wang Zhifan used the Demon Skin scroll to project a Saber Intent strike at Mad Bee, testing whether the youth could survive it.

• The black female player summoned robotic soldiers that opened fire on Mad Bee, other natives, statue monsters, and nearby players.
• The short, fat middle-aged man attacked the black female player with earthen spears, but her barriers blocked them, and he retreated underground with the bespectacled psychic youth.
• The Xia Kingdom gunslinger fled from a bullet-reflecting gifted youth, then used Bullet Time and Mist Walker to escape attacks from several gifted individuals.
• Mad Bee repeatedly recovered from devastating injuries and wore down the black female player's robots, defenses, and ammunition while the other players remained occupied.
• Wang Zhifan projected a Saber Intent attack from the Demon Skin scroll, sending a saber strike toward Mad Bee's neck to test his undying ability.

Wang Zhifan killed Mad Bee with a single saber strike, while the Xia Kingdom gunslinger player killed the blond speed user. The ability users withdrew from the plaza, and Wang Zhifan began preparing player models after noticing a powerful flying native in a lab coat entering the Black Towers.

• Wang Zhifan's hidden saber strike severed Mad Bee's head, and Mad Bee failed to recover, leading the ability users to suspect he was dead.
• The Xia Kingdom gunslinger player used a Paralysis Ray to immobilize the blond speed user and shot him in the forehead.
• Wang Zhifan reflected on how easily Mad Bee had died and considered the limits of power between different levels of combat.
• The short, fat middle-aged captain ordered the surviving ability users to retreat through the main gate while he and the bespectacled young man held off the players.
• Wang Zhifan decided to create player models and noticed that a flying native in a white lab coat was entering the Black Towers.