Chapter Summaries

Lu Xiu chose to defend in the cross-world arena but received a bye because no suitable opponent matched her rating. Meanwhile, Zhao Heng and four teammates entered the scenario selection phase, where Zhao Heng chose to leave Lu Xiu’s dungeons available for the Prison Rock attackers.

• Lu Xiu read the arena rules, learned that civilian dungeons could have their restrictions lifted, and chose the defending side.
• Lu Xiu messaged Yan Fushou, rushed to change out of her pajamas, and then received a bye because her combat rating had no suitable opponent.
• Zhao Heng arrived in a white space with four teammates, who recognized him as a Longsword Guild star player.
• The system began the BP phase and displayed seven scenario cards, including three of Lu Xiu’s dungeons.
• Zhao Heng told his teammates to ban weaker folk dungeons and leave Lu Xiu’s instances and Simple Sifu available.

Prison Rock’s team entered the SS-rated Sekiro arena after Gran ignored Zane’s warnings and chose the highest-rated dungeon. They found themselves facing an icy woman with a drawn blade, while Zhao Heng arrived at Ashina Castle and learned his team would have to fight the Prison Rock players.

• Gran mocked Zane’s past failure, dismissed his warnings about Lu Xiu’s dungeons, and persuaded the Prison Rock team to choose the highest-rated scenarios.
• The system selected Sekiro (SS) as the combat scenario and set victory conditions involving either eliminating the opposing team or killing the Divine Heir protected by the Wolf Played by the Architect.
• Zane recognized the danger in the victory conditions and urged the team to pursue the first condition, but Gran dismissed him.
• A woman in a light-colored kimono entered the snowy courtyard and drew her sword in front of the five Prison Rock players.
• Zhao Heng awakened at Ashina Castle, recognized the threat of fighting the Wolf Played by the Architect again, and told his companions to fight the Prison Rock players to the death.

Zhao Heng and his teammates turned back to find Prison Rock’s players, but discovered that the instance’s enemies had become far more capable and that Emma was chasing the battered Prison Rock group. The two factions ended up fleeing and pursuing one another through Ashina Outskirts, with Emma driving them all forward.

• Zhao Heng’s group chose to head back toward the Dilapidated Temple to find Prison Rock’s players, and they found that even ordinary Ashina soldiers had become unusually agile and tactical.
• Zhao Heng’s group reached the fog-shrouded Dilapidated Temple and saw five injured Prison Rock players emerge, arguing about their fight with a powerful scene monster.
• Wild Wind spotted that Prison Rock had two Sequence 17 players, while Zhao Heng recognized the fog as a Chosen player’s talent skill.
• Emma emerged from the fog, and Zhao Heng ordered his teammates to flee as Gran leaped across the cliff and pursued them.
• Gran led the Prison Rock players after Zhao Heng’s group while Emma chased all of them through Ashina Outskirts.

Zhao Heng’s group used Ashina’s enemies to slow the Prison Rock players, but Wolf Played by the Constructor arrived and attacked them instead. Across other arenas, Nine Provinces players also exploited their familiarity with Lu Xiu’s dungeons, while Lu Xiu checked the rankings after three hours without any area of Chen Capital being captured.

• Zhao Heng led his teammates through Ashina Castle Town, drawing troops toward the Prison Rock players and escaping past Samurai General Naomori Kawarada with precise deflects.
• Gran attacked Naomori Kawarada, who deflected his hammer and forced him to use a last-second escape skill; Zane then berated Gran for choosing Lu Xiu’s high-difficulty dungeon against his warnings.
• Wolf Played by the Constructor arrived on the battlefield, and Gran ordered the Prison Rock players to attack him, only for Wolf to overwhelm them with deflects, counters, and prosthetic tools.
• Zhao Heng’s group hid behind a broken wall and decided to wait for the fight to finish before luring more enemies toward any surviving Prison Rock players.
• In another arena, Jian Li faced Gallagher while Shen Nian and Wei Yidong used their familiarity with Sword Saint Isshin’s attacks to evade him and pressure the Prison Rock players.
• Lu Xiu saw that three hours had passed without any area of Chen Capital being captured, concluded that the dungeons were working well, and opened the rankings.

Lu Xiu learned how the arena’s matchmaking, cooldown, and recapture rules worked, but the system gave her a bye when she tried to enter as an attacker. She decided to wait for more information before attempting a recapture battle, while Yan Fushou saw that Nine Provinces players were profiting greatly from Lu Xiu’s dungeon advantage.

• Lu Xiu saw Nine Provinces players dominating the battle merit rankings, then watched the first Chen Capital region fall to Prison Rock.
• Lu Xiu read the matchmaking rules and learned that attackers were matched with defenders, players rested between scenarios, and recapture battles could bypass those restrictions.
• When the second round began, Lu Xiu chose to attack but received a bye because the system found no suitable opponent for her sequence and combat rating.
• Lu Xiu considered entering a recapture battle but decided to wait until the ceasefire period and learn more about the arena first.
• After the third round began, Yan Fushou checked the rankings and occupation map, then confirmed the front line remained secure despite three Chen Capital areas falling.
• Yan Fushou read jubilant forum posts showing Nine Provinces players had won powerful equipment and skills by exploiting Lu Xiu’s dungeon, just as Li Shengkai and Wang Huai entered his office.

After the first arena day, Nine Provinces celebrated huge gains from fighting in Lu Xiu’s familiar dungeons, while Prison Rock reeled from its losses and discovered Zhang Chongshan had escaped. When matchmaking reopened the next morning, Prison Rock’s players entered with a changed strategy.

• Yan Fushou learned that the arena had strengthened frontline soldiers because they knew Lu Xiu’s dungeons, but he warned against rushing out new stages they could not yet clear reliably.
• Wang Huai and Li Shengkai discussed how Prison Rock might adapt after the truce, while Yan Fushou said they could still exploit Prison Rock’s tendency to choose high-rated dungeons.
• Nine Provinces players celebrated their rewards, and Jiang Qiu reflected that Lu Xiu’s difficult instances had prepared them for the arena.
• Prison Rock players lamented their losses, while the prime minister learned that Zhang Chongshan had escaped before he could be questioned about the failed dungeon imitations.
• Matchmaking reopened at seven the next morning, and Prison Rock players entered the arena with a changed strategy.

Lu Xiu failed to match again and prepared to recapture an occupied area, while Prison Rock players changed tactics and chose the A-rank Simple Sifu dungeon. In the slums, Du Shu organized the Nine Provinces team, and Wen Tai used Breath of Life: Light and Resentment to ambush and instantly kill a Sequence 14 Prison Rock warrior.

• Lu Xiu chose [Attacker] again, received a bye, and decided she would need to prepare for a recapture battle to experience her instance as an arena stage.
• Gran led Prison Rock players in rejecting the SS-rank dungeons and selecting [Resident Evil] and [Simple Sifu], while Nine Provinces players hoped to retain an advantage in the weaker substitute dungeon.
• The system selected [Simple Sifu], and Du Shu instructed the Nine Provinces players to show their skills and take out Breath of Life: Light.
• Gran's group relaxed as they crossed the slums, believing their detection skills had found no enemies, while Wen Tai hid nearby using Breath of Life: Light.
• Wen Tai activated Resentment and punched a Sequence 14 Prison Rock warrior, breaking through his defenses and killing him instantly.

Du Shu and the Nine Provinces players turned the fight against Gran’s Prison Rock team around by using skills and combat techniques forged in Lu Xiu’s dungeons. Gran was left stunned and demanded to know what the Nine Provinces Architect had done to them.

• Wen Tai’s opening punch vaporized a Prison Rock player, and Gran trapped Du Shu and the others in his [Heavy Pressure] field.
• Wen Tai activated [Survival Instinct] when his health fell below 30%, dodged a heavy blow, and battered the Prison Rock player who had been overpowering him.
• Du Shu used [Hard Skill] to deflect Gran’s punch and rebound its force, then cut Gran’s chin with a counterattack.
• A Nine Provinces player stood up under [Heavy Pressure] after losing his wrist, powered up with [Ordinary Person’s Courage], and punched a Prison Rock warrior through a wall.
• Wen Tai defeated his opponent, and Du Shu explained that the Nine Provinces players’ skills came from their brutal trials in Lu Xiu’s dungeons.
• Gran demanded to know what the Nine Provinces Architect had done to them.

Lu Xiu studied Prison Rock's top players and launched Nine Provinces' first recapture battle, despite being only Sequence 2. The announcement revealed that she would face Blood Dusk, a Sequence 20 Prison Rock guardian, leaving players on both sides stunned as the duel began.

• Lu Xiu asked Yan Fushou for intelligence on Prison Rock's top players, then reviewed the Strategy Group's list and decided to recapture Area No. 05.
• Lu Xiu initiated the 1v1 recapture battle, staking 50,000 survival points and triggering a system-wide announcement that named Blood Dusk as the Sequence 20 guardian.
• Blood Dusk accepted the challenge and was pulled from his arena match while Lu Xiu was teleported to the battlefield.
• Yan Fushou, Du Shu, and players across both factions reacted with shock or mockery at the enormous sequence gap; Gran and Gallagher ridiculed Lu Xiu's chances.
• Jian Li and Shen Nian faced Gallagher's taunts, while Nine Provinces players debated Lu Xiu's low sequence and the danger of her challenge.

Lu Xiu entered the recapture battle in the Sifu instance and defeated Prison Rock’s Sequence 20 guardian, Blood Dusk, before spectators could see the fight. Nine Provinces recaptured Area 05, and Gran was left stunned by the battle’s immediate end.

• Lu Xiu explored the Sifu arena and watched a frightened thug flee after recognizing her as the White-Clad Shura.
• Blood Dusk burst through a wall, questioned whether Lu Xiu could have defeated Zane and Thunder, and dismissed her as an unworthy opponent.
• Lu Xiu activated Copper Coin · True, slowed time around Blood Dusk, removed his buffs, and prepared a Dragon Flash.
• The system opened the battle for spectating, but viewers saw only a black screen before the system announced Blood Dusk’s defeat and Nine Provinces’ recapture of Area 05.
• Gran stared in disbelief as the system announced the battle’s end almost immediately after inviting players to watch.

Lu Xiu instantly defeated Blood Dusk in a recapture battle, then initiated another challenge to test whether she could repeat her victory. The chapter ended as both factions saw her next target: a Sequence 21 guardian named Aaron.

• Lu Xiu's victory over Blood Dusk stunned players, while Shen Nian stalled Gallagher as Jian Li subdued their opponent in another arena.
• Blood Dusk blamed his defeat on a powerful one-use item when the Prison Rock imperial prime minister questioned him.
• Lu Xiu reviewed her victory, decided to launch another recapture battle, and paid the increased survival-point cost to challenge Region 14.
• Players on both sides accepted the explanation that Lu Xiu had relied on a one-use item to win.
• The system announced Lu Xiu's second challenge, matching her against Prison Rock guardian Aaron, a Sequence 21 player.

Lu Xiu repeatedly won recapture battles, instantly defeating Prison Rock’s defenders and shifting the arena war in Nine Provinces’ favor. After nine victories, Prison Rock’s players began abandoning fights, while Lu Xiu remained frustrated that she could not explore the arena instances.

• Lu Xiu entered a Titanfall arena instance, defeated Aaron with a perfect deflect and copper coin, and recaptured Area 14 for Nine Provinces.
• Lu Xiu immediately launched another recapture battle and defeated Og, then continued winning battles in rapid succession.
• As Prison Rock lost attributes and Nine Provinces gained them, Lawrence and other Prison Rock players panicked and tried to return to defend their regions.
• The Privy Prime Minister ordered Blood Dusk and the other defeated defenders to explain themselves and called for new defenders to stop Lu Xiu.
• Wang Huai told Yan Fushou that Lu Xiu’s gains had greatly strengthened the frontline soldiers, while Jian Li reported that Prison Rock’s players were giving up in the arenas.
• After her ninth victory, Lu Xiu checked her settlement and saw that she had recaptured Area 01, earned survival points and battle merit, and reached first place in the battle merit rankings.

Lu Xiu learned that her nine consecutive recapture-battle victories had put her far ahead in the battle merit rankings, but the livestreams had ended before spectators could see her. After deciding to pause her battles and focus on constructing dungeons, she spoke with Jian Li about the arena and asked whether Jian Li had encountered the [Witch] instance.

• Lu Xiu checked the rankings and saw that she had taken first place with 10,052 battle merit after instantly defeating nine defenders.
• Lu Xiu read players' posts and realized they had been unable to watch her fights because each one ended before the livestream showed anything; she decided to stop fighting for now.
• Yan Fushou warned Lu Xiu that Prison Rock's strongest players had returned to take over defender positions, and Lu Xiu agreed not to initiate more recapture battles.
• Lu Xiu planned to use her remaining chances to construct a dungeon and raise her sequence, while wondering whether dungeon characters retained memories of being harmed.
• Jian Li visited Lu Xiu, who told her she would not fight again; Jian Li then described several difficult Chosen players she had encountered in the arena.
• Lu Xiu asked Jian Li whether she had encountered the [Witch] instance, which Lu Xiu had not seen during her nine recapture battles.

Lu Xiu and Jian Li discussed the missing Witch instance and teased each other about outfits, while Lu Xiu’s recapture battles kept Prison Rock’s top players on edge. In her construction space, Lu Xiu began testing a new dungeon featuring Artorias, ending as their fight started.

• Lu Xiu suspected the Witch instance was missing from the arena library because it had two versions or an unusual rating, and said she might confirm the cause after her next instance was released.
• Lu Xiu mentioned wanting Shen Nian to cosplay as the Fire Keeper, then Jian Li offered to wear stockings; Lu Xiu teased her before pinching her cheek and calling her rude.
• The second arena day ended with the Nine Provinces’ sweeping victory, while Lu Xiu did not launch a tenth recapture battle and left Prison Rock’s defenders waiting.
• Lu Xiu’s threat of another recapture battle distracted Prison Rock’s Chosen players on the third day, contributing to their repeated losses in the top arenas.
• Lu Xiu inspected her new dungeon, chose to include Artorias as an optional side route, and switched into performance mode to fight him.
• Artorias charged and swept his greatsword at Lu Xiu, who dodged the attack and wondered whether five practice attempts would be enough.

Lu Xiu struggled against her heavily buffed Artorias, recognized that her Sekiro-honed parrying instincts conflicted with Dark Souls rolling, and continued training with a heavy greatsword. Meanwhile, Nine Provinces gained the upper hand in the cross-realm arenas, and its players discovered that Prison Rock’s dungeons seemed easy after surviving Lu Xiu’s.

• Lu Xiu paused her fight with Artorias to reconsider her combat instincts, then resumed training her rolls while wielding a heavy two-handed greatsword.
• After Prison Rock realized Lu Xiu had changed the guardian, its players avoided her SS-rank dungeons when possible, while Nine Provinces continued gaining an advantage with Lu Xiu’s dungeon rewards and a growing attribute bonus.
• Prison Rock’s top players began exploring Lu Xiu’s dungeons to learn their layouts and help their constructors imitate them, while ordinary players continued to struggle.
• Nine Provinces players launched attacks on Prison Rock and found its SS-rated dungeons far easier than Lu Xiu’s, using their practiced combat skills to defeat enemies with ease.
• Players on the Nine Provinces forum realized that their expectations had been shaped by Lu Xiu’s unusually difficult dungeons.

Lu Xiu finished and sealed Dark Souls, then entered its live verification run as the Cross-Realm Arena continued. The system announced the new instance’s preliminary SSS rating and launched an invasion event, sending its enemies into ongoing battles across both regions.

• Prison Rock’s leaders shifted their strongest Chosen Players from regular matches to recapture battles, while the Nine Provinces focused on expanding and defending its captured areas.
• Helag told the royal prime minister that Lu Xiu was unlikely to fight again, and he demanded to know whether Zhang Chongshan had been found.
• Lu Xiu defeated Artorias, completed her changes to Dark Souls, sealed the instance, and entered Architect Verification Mode.
• The system announced that Dark Souls, built by Lu Xiu in the Nine Provinces, had a preliminary SSS rating and would make the region the twenty-second to construct an SSS-ranked instance if she cleared it.
• The system opened the limited-time Invasion event, allowing hostile units from Dark Souls to invade ongoing arena matches and reclamation battles on either side.

Lu Xiu created the SSS-rated instance Dark Souls, triggering an omen and an invasion event that shook Prison Rock’s morale. Prison Rock’s prime minister learned that Helag could not imitate the instance, while the Nine Provinces’ officials debated how to respond as Lu Xiu worked to verify its clear.

• Prison Rock’s prime minister questioned Helag about Dark Souls, but she admitted she could not understand Lu Xiu’s methods or imitate an SSS-rated instance.
• The prime minister ordered Helag to study Lu Xiu’s instances and decided Prison Rock would avoid Dark Souls while waiting to see whether Lu Xiu verified a clear.
• Yan Fushou saw the omen at the Coordination Bureau and worried that Dark Souls would be exceptionally difficult for the Nine Provinces’ Strategy Group to clear.
• Li Shengkai urged the Nine Provinces to press their advantage, but Yan Fushou warned that the invasion enemies could attack their own players too.
• Yan Fushou and Li Shengkai agreed to keep Jian Li and the Strategy Group matchmaking to gather intelligence, while postponing a proposed meeting with Lu Xiu.

A special event sent monsters from Lu Xiu’s dungeon into arenas across the Inter-Realm Arena, turning fights into desperate escapes for Nine Provinces and Prison Rock players alike. Three hours later, Yan Fushou heard that the Retake Battle had become a race to survive and wondered whether he had asked about Lu Xiu’s new dungeon.

• Jiang Qiu and Tessa paused their duel when the Asylum Demon invaded, and Tessa was killed after underestimating its speed and power.
• Jiang Qiu fled from the Asylum Demon and recognized that Lu Xiu’s dungeon monsters had none of the usual weaknesses expected of their size.
• Dragon Slayer Ornstein and Executioner Smough chased Fan Lixin and Lawrence, forcing the opposing players to flee together.
• Black Dragon Kalameet pursued Shen Nian and Gallagher, while Shen Nian defended Lu Xiu against Gallagher’s complaints.
• Monsters invaded arenas across regions, and players from both Nine Provinces and Prison Rock ran for their lives.
• Three hours later, Yan Fushou asked whether the arena had really turned into a race to escape and clarified that he had meant Lu Xiu’s new dungeon.

Yan Fushou’s group discussed how Lu Xiu’s invading dungeon monsters had turned arenas into chaotic running battles until the system patched the event with major rewards, combat demonstrations, and weapons. Fan Lixin entered a recapture battle against Enoch, where the invader Havel appeared alongside an Architect’s Afterimage.

• Fan Lixin and the Strategy Group described the diverse monsters disrupting arenas, and Yan Fushou concluded that players should prioritize surviving and escaping.
• The system announced a patch that rewarded players for killing invading monsters, made an Architect’s Afterimage demonstrate how to fight them, and dropped a temporary weapon for players to use.
• Shen Nian questioned whether players could actually defeat the monsters, but Fan Lixin urged the group to enter arenas and learn what they could.
• Fan Lixin entered a recapture battle in Prison Rock’s Fire Dung Pit and faced Enoch, a familiar Prison Rock Chosen player.
• Havel descended into the arena, and an Architect’s Afterimage appeared before him with a straight sword.

Fan Lixin and Enoch tried to use the Architect's afterimage's rolling technique against Havel, but both were killed, while players across Nine Provinces and Prison Rock struggled with the dungeon's demanding combat. As the invasion continued through the night, Lu Xiu reached the Kiln of the First Flame after fighting for an entire day, exhausted but near the end of the dungeon.

• The Architect's afterimage dodged Havel's attacks with precise rolls, then vanished and left behind a straight sword.
• Enoch grabbed the sword, misjudged the timing of Havel's delayed strike, and was killed; Fan Lixin also failed to dodge and died after taking the weapon.
• Players across Nine Provinces and Prison Rock repeatedly died to the dungeon's difficult attacks and flooded both regions' forums with complaints.
• The invasion continued into the night, and Yan Fushou panicked when he learned Lu Xiu had not yet cleared the dungeon.
• Lu Xiu reached the Kiln of the First Flame after fighting for an entire day, exhausted and relying on her familiarity with the route.