Chapter Summaries

Lu Xiu led the Nine Provinces players to light Oolacile’s first Core Bonfire, then faced Knight Artorias, a boss whose speed and damage pushed her to her limits. As Lu Xiu continued fighting and lit the second Core Bonfire, Prison Rock’s leaders decided to unite their forces against one of their own bosses.

• Lu Xiu lit Oolacile’s first Core Bonfire after the Nine Provinces defeated the Sanctuary Guardian.
• Lu Xiu led the Nine Provinces core players through the Royal Wood toward the second Core Bonfire and warned them that its guardian was near the limit of what she could handle.
• Knight Artorias ambushed the party, killed one Nine Provinces player, and forced Lu Xiu to evade his rapid attacks while the others supported her from a distance.
• Artorias entered his second phase below half health, but Lu Xiu avoided every attack as his speed, strength, and area attacks increased.
• Zane and Gallagher regrouped with their players after learning that both Prison Rock forces faced timed bosses, while Finn proposed attacking one boss together.
• The system announced that Lu Xiu had lit Oolacile’s second Core Bonfire, prompting Finn to order Prison Rock’s players to unite and fight.

Lu Xiu defeated Artorias in Oolacile, lit the area's second Core Bonfire, and revealed that two more bosses remained. With Prison Rock claiming a Core Bonfire in the Painted World, she and the Nine Provinces team planned their next move toward Firelink Shrine.

• Lu Xiu defeated Artorias after dodging his unpredictable attacks, and the Wolf Knight bowed his head to her before dissolving into light.
• Lu Xiu lit Oolacile's second Core Bonfire, then leaned on Jian Li while Shen Nian retied her hair and accidentally called her "Master."
• After recovering, Lu Xiu agreed with Cheng Xiu that the team should claim another Core Bonfire and chose Firelink Shrine as their next destination.
• Prison Rock player Zane lit the Painted World's first Core Bonfire, reducing Nine Provinces' lead to two Core Bonfires to one.
• Lu Xiu warned the team not to provoke the Lord of the Abyss or the Ancient Dragon and revealed that Oolacile still had two bosses left.

Prison Rock celebrated capturing its first Core Bonfire after Zane killed Priscilla, but Finn’s suspicions proved justified when the kill triggered Gwyndolin’s hunt and turned Zane into a valuable target. As Prison Rock fled Anor Londo under attack, its former NPC allies—including Solaire—turned against it.

• After Zane reported that Priscilla was easy to defeat, Finn questioned why the Painted World’s Core Bonfire had such a weak guardian and urged Prison Rock to prepare for a fight at Firelink Shrine.
• Zane left a third of his forces to defend the captured Core Bonfire and led the rest toward Firelink Shrine, where they returned to Anor Londo and found it in its darkened state.
• Gwyndolin appeared and the system announced that Priscilla’s death had made Zane a hunted criminal, turned neutral and friendly NPCs hostile to Prison Rock, and made Zane’s death worth the points of a Core Bonfire.
• Fan Lixin and the Nine Provinces players watched from the hall’s exit as Silver Knights surrounded Prison Rock, while Zane used Mist Sea Abyss to cover the faction’s escape.
• At the Dragon Bridge, Solaire turned on Gran after the announcement and declared that Prison Rock did not deserve to call itself sun knights.
• Prison Rock players watched Zane flee Anor Londo with Gwyndolin and the Silver Knights pursuing him, while Fan Lixin attacked from the sidelines.

After Prison Rock players killed Priscilla and claimed a Core Bonfire, the system marked Zane for a hunt by Gwyndolin, and Lu Xiu led the Nine Provinces force toward Firelink Shrine. Zane reunited with Gallagher and Finn there as both factions prepared for an imminent battle, with Prison Rock planning to lure their rivals into Midir’s arena.

• Lu Xiu explained that claiming the Painted World’s Core Bonfire brought a severe penalty, and speculated that Priscilla was Gwyn’s illegitimate daughter.
• Cheng Xiu reported that Zane escaped a Nine Provinces ambush in Anor Londo, so Lu Xiu led the main force toward Firelink Shrine while some players guarded Oolacile.
• Lu Xiu’s group searched for Zane along the route but found no trace of him and continued toward Firelink Shrine.
• Zane arrived at Firelink Shrine with the last Prison Rock player beside him and reunited with Gallagher and Finn.
• The livestream showed both factions closing in on each other, while Prison Rock players discussed using Midir’s arena to ambush the Nine Provinces force.

Zane, Gallagher, and Finn lured the Nine Provinces players into Darkeater Midir’s arena, hoping the dragon would kill them and protect Zane’s Core Bonfire points. Lu Xiu unleashed her Domain Skill, Lord of Cinder, and the chapter ended with the Nine Provinces players rising from Midir’s Abyss Laser, alive and wreathed in flame.

• Zane agreed to lure the Nine Provinces players into Midir’s arena and die alongside them so Prison Rock could avoid giving up his Core Bonfire points.
• Jian Ning watched Firelink Shrine with Zhang Chongshan as the Nine Provinces and Prison Rock factions prepared for battle.
• Lu Xiu led more than three hundred Nine Provinces players down into Midir’s lair after Prison Rock retreated into the arena.
• A Prison Rock player trapped the Nine Provinces players in a gravity field while Zane attacked and Midir charged his Abyss Laser.
• Lu Xiu used Domain Expansion: Lord of Cinder, dispelling the gravity field as Midir fired his laser across the arena.
• After the laser struck, Lu Xiu and the Nine Provinces players rose unharmed, their bodies and weapons burning with the First Flame.

Lu Xiu activated her Lord of Cinder Domain, reviving the Nine Provinces players and empowering their attacks as she fought Midir. After the Nine Provinces began overwhelming Prison Rock, Gallagher, Finn, and Gareth used cooldown crystals to reset their Domains and charged at Lu Xiu.

• Lu Xiu's Lord of Cinder Domain gave nearly a hundred Nine Provinces players defense-ignoring attacks, immunity to disruption, and full-health revivals beside her.
• Lu Xiu deflected Zane's attack, impaled him with the Loathing Halberd, and killed him while Midir charged at her.
• Cheng Xiu led the revived Nine Provinces players into battle, where their reckless attacks and repeated revivals overwhelmed Prison Rock.
• Finn recognized that Lu Xiu's health was sustaining the Domain and urged Prison Rock to target her while Gallagher ordered their players to hold back the Nine Provinces' strongest fighters.
• Gallagher gave cooldown crystals to Finn and Gareth, then the three used their Domains and charged at Lu Xiu as she dodged Midir.

Lu Xiu outmaneuvered Midir and the Prison Rock fighters, killing Finn and Gareth with overwhelming attacks. She severed Gallagher’s Domain Skill and pulled him into an isolated Duel Arena for a one-on-one fight.

• Finn charged Lu Xiu, but she redirected his punch and used Midir’s attacks to throw him off balance and injure him.
• Gareth and Gallagher joined the fight, but Lu Xiu dodged their attacks and turned Midir into cover until Gallagher forced her back with Abyss Burial Prison.
• Finn and Gallagher layered their domains to restrict Lu Xiu, but she hurled a Sunlight Spear through them and instantly killed Finn.
• Lu Xiu slowed time with a Copper Coin and used Dragon Flash to instantly kill Gareth.
• Gallagher charged Lu Xiu, but she severed his Domain Skill and transported him to an isolated Duel Arena, where she invited him to fight.

Lu Xiu overwhelmed Prison Rock’s fighters with her combat skills and revival Domain Skill, then defeated Gallagher in the Duel Arena. As Gallagher vanished, he accepted that Queenie’s legend of an Apostle was true.

• Nine Provinces viewers watched Lu Xiu fight alongside Midir, kill Finn and Gareth, and begin a Duel Arena battle with Gallagher.
• Yan Fushou ordered a highly classified report on Lu Xiu’s unknown skills and recognized her as a strategic-level asset.
• Prison Rock viewers despaired over Lu Xiu’s strength, while some began praising her despite Gallagher’s ongoing fight.
• Gallagher stopped attacking when he realized he could not win and asked Lu Xiu if she was an Apostle; she genuinely did not know what he meant.
• Gallagher charged once more, but Lu Xiu perfectly deflected him and dealt the finishing thrust as his Posture Bar broke.
• As he vanished, Gallagher remembered Queenie’s legend and believed he had met the Apostle.

Lu Xiu defeated Gallagher and his allies, then joined Jian Li and Shen Nian in killing Darkeater Midir and lighting Firelink Shrine’s Core Bonfire. With Nine Provinces’ victory assured, Queenie failed to rejoin Prison Rock, while Jian Ning told Zhang Chongshan to remain with Prison Rock and live well.

• After Lu Xiu emerged from Audience’s arena, the Prison Rock players gave up resisting and the Nine Provinces players pressed their advantage.
• Shen Nian bombarded Lu Xiu with questions, and Lu Xiu used her crimson-eyed power to make Shen Nian bark like a dog before Darkeater Midir attacked.
• Lu Xiu drew Midir’s attention while Jian Li and Shen Nian attacked, and the three defeated the dragon.
• Lu Xiu lit Firelink Shrine’s Core Bonfire, giving Nine Provinces four Core Bonfires and making its victory certain.
• Queenie tried to rejoin Prison Rock, but the faction had too few survivors to hold a vote, leaving her stranded among Nine Provinces players.
• Jian Ning told Zhang Chongshan to stay with Prison Rock, then said he could remain there and live well.

Lu Xiu helped secure the Nine Provinces’ victory in the team battle, learned that Jian Ning led the dangerous Play Society, and returned home to find that the livestream had made her famous across the realm. The chapter ended with Lu Xiu overwhelmed by a flood of messages and friend requests.

• After Midir died, Lu Xiu joked with Shen Nian and joined Cheng Xiu’s group as the team battle wound down.
• Lu Xiu told Cheng Xiu about Jian Ning, and he identified her organization as the Play Society, whose members treated survival like a game.
• Lu Xiu asked whether the Play Society had ties to Franca, then waited out the remaining battle time with Shen Nian and Jian Li.
• The system announced the Nine Provinces’ victory, credited Lu Xiu as star player, and awarded her 10,000 merit points.
• Back home, Lu Xiu was swamped by messages and friend requests, and Shen Nian showed her forum posts celebrating the livestream and Lu Xiu’s appearance.

Lu Xiu celebrated taking first place in the battle merit rankings, then received a visit from Yan Fushou and asked the Coordination Bureau for a site and cooldown-reducing items to test her Placement Function. Meanwhile, defeated Franca players feared their faction—and the Nine Provinces—were doomed.

• Lu Xiu saw that she had taken first place in the battle merit rankings by a wide margin after eliminating Zane and gaining his battle merit.
• Jian Li comforted Lu Xiu, then touched her forehead and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear, leaving Lu Xiu flustered.
• Shen Nian brought tea and opened the door for Yan Fushou, who struggled to speak after seeing Lu Xiu.
• Lu Xiu asked Yan Fushou to find her a nearby site where she could test the Placement Function and provide powerful items that could reset skill cooldowns.
• In Franca, defeated players grieved over their occupied capital, while a woman with Fox Ears hoped they might join forces with the Nine Provinces after the Border Barrier disappeared.
• A dog-eared girl insisted that the Nine Provinces had also lost and cried that both factions and their world were finished.

Yan Fushou arranged a safe site for Lu Xiu’s Placement Function test, asked about her Lord of Cinder Domain skill, and left after she declined a meeting with the bureau’s leaders. At home, Lu Xiu teased Shen Nian over the forum’s gossip before the two watched the second-tier group battle, and Shen Nian fled when Lu Xiu drew Jian Li into the teasing.

• Yan Fushou told Lu Xiu that the Coordination Bureau had chosen an evacuated residential complex for her test and would search for an item that could reset her skill’s cooldown.
• Lu Xiu explained Burn to Ashes to Yan Fushou, declined to meet the bureau’s higher-ups, and advised him to stay alive and light bonfires in his upcoming group battle.
• After Yan Fushou left, Shen Nian discovered forum posts mocking her public behavior, while Lu Xiu laughed and went to shower.
• Lu Xiu watched the second-tier battle and saw Nine Provinces players cautiously contesting ordinary bonfires while the Prison Rock players showed little fight.
• Shen Nian reflected on how Lu Xiu had helped her recover from grief, then teased Lu Xiu about her pale legs.
• When Jian Li emerged from the shower, Lu Xiu asked why Shen Nian had commented only on her legs, and Shen Nian ran away.

As Prison Rock avoided Lu Xiu during the group battles, she visited Crossbreed Priscilla in the Painted World and learned that Priscilla recognized her as the Creator but was bound to guard a bonfire. The arena ended with Nine Provinces dominant, and a system announcement revealed that the upcoming expansion would open multiplayer dungeons and weaken regional barriers.

• Prison Rock's players began fleeing from Lu Xiu, while Cheng Xiu and the others went to seize Core Bonfires elsewhere.
• Lu Xiu met Crossbreed Priscilla on the tower and chose to talk with her instead of fighting for the bonfire.
• Priscilla told Lu Xiu about her imprisonment, her memories, and how a voice and new rules had made her guard the bonfire.
• Priscilla asked whether she could leave the Painted World, and Lu Xiu said that perhaps she might see the outside someday.
• The final group battle ended with Nine Provinces having overwhelmed Prison Rock, and the system announced the upcoming multiplayer dungeon mode and weakened regional barriers.

Lu Xiu studied the ceasefire settlement options and saw that Nine Provinces players overwhelmingly trusted her to negotiate with Prison Rock, with her signature required for any contract. As Prison Rock prepared to ransom Obsidian City, its leaders planned to send their Chosen Players and Architects to visit Nine Provinces and meet Lu Xiu.

• Lu Xiu examined the vague multiplayer dungeon announcement, then learned that a three-day ceasefire would allow visits and negotiations over Prison Rock's occupied territory.
• The system offered Nine Provinces players a choice between collective settlement and representative negotiations, with Lu Xiu's signature required for any contract under the latter option.
• Lu Xiu saw that many players supported representative negotiations because they trusted her, despite the authority the system had given her.
• Li Zhong regretted not acting sooner and resolved to seize the opportunity in any future event, even if that meant opposing the Strategy Group.
• In Prison Rock, Gallagher hoped the next multiplayer dungeon would not pit them against Nine Provinces, while the Imperial Prime Minister prepared to ransom Obsidian City and ordered the Chosen Players and Architects to visit Nine Provinces and seek a meeting with Lu Xiu.

Lu Xiu declined to use her negotiation authority beyond requesting that Prison Rock players contribute Survival Points for Nine Provinces players, while the Coordination Bureau prepared to negotiate. After the representative model won the vote, Lu Xiu began testing the Placement Function at an abandoned residential complex, selecting her cleared version of [Witch].

• Yan Fushou contacted Lu Xiu on the Coordination Bureau's behalf, and she asked only that Prison Rock players pay thirty to fifty percent of their Survival Points for distribution among Nine Provinces players.
• Yan Fushou reported Lu Xiu's response to the Coordination Bureau, whose senior officials praised her restraint and instructed that her reasonable future requests be granted.
• The representative negotiation model won the vote with sixty-seven percent, granting the Nine Provinces governing body official representative status and opening exchange and visitation applications.
• Lu Xiu arrived at the Abandoned Residential Complex on Changfeng Road with Jian Li and Shen Nian to test the Placement Function, while the Coordination Bureau's team traveled to Obsidian City for negotiations.
• Lu Xiu activated the Placement Function and selected the [Witch] instance version she had personally cleared for verification.

Lu Xiu placed the Witch instance in the real world, where it transformed an abandoned complex into the Witch's House and a surrounding forest. After learning that Ellen remembered her past actions and that failing to clear the unrestricted instance could let it spiral out of control, Lu Xiu resigned herself to entering it.

• Lu Xiu fused and placed the Witch instance inside an unfinished high-rise on Changfeng Road, transforming it into the Witch's House and creating a forest that spread until a system barrier contained it.
• The system opened the offline instance, made its NPCs unique, changed its rating to SSS, and required Lu Xiu to clear it to obtain Creator authority.
• Jian Li and Shen Nian joined Lu Xiu as violent pounding came from inside the Mansion, where Ellen called Lu Xiu her best friend and said she had come to find her.
• Lu Xiu realized Ellen retained memories of the instance and considered abandoning the attempt to obtain Creator authority.
• The system warned that the unrestricted dungeon could spiral out of control and its scenarios might expand without limit if Lu Xiu failed to clear it, prompting her to agree to proceed.

Lu Xiu entered the deployed Witch dungeon expecting to clear it with her own body and weapon, but found that the story had evolved into one where Viola was a famed Witch Hunter. The Witch transported Lu Xiu into the Mansion, where Ellen embraced her as a long-awaited friend, while the forest began expanding outside.

• Lu Xiu entered the dungeon as herself, retaining Nameless Blade and her abilities instead of becoming a child in forced roleplay mode.
• An old hunter told Lu Xiu that Viola had sealed the forest and become the village’s greatest Witch Hunter after discovering a Witch there.
• Purple-black magic swallowed Lu Xiu before she could reach the hunter’s safe zone, transporting her into The Witch’s House.
• A black cat greeted Lu Xiu, and Ellen appeared and embraced her, saying she had found her best friend and would never let them be apart again.
• Outside the instance, Shen Nian noticed the forest expanding around the Mansion, and Jian Li saw it too.

Lu Xiu was trapped by Ellen, who confessed her attachment to Lu Xiu and tried to keep her in The Witch’s House forever. Viola arrived to free Lu Xiu and fought Ellen, while the system revealed that Lu Xiu had to host afternoon tea and keep them from fighting for half an hour to clear the instance.

• Ellen restrained Lu Xiu with purple-black magic and recalled their past encounters, insisting that Lu Xiu had cared for her and must stay with her forever.
• Lu Xiu rejected Ellen’s interpretation, but a golden glow from the hair tie on her wrist broke Ellen’s magical threads.
• Viola teleported into the entrance hall and attacked Ellen, beginning a fierce fight between holy runes and purple-black magic.
• After the fighters were blasted apart, Viola reunited with Lu Xiu and told her how worried she had been when Lu Xiu returned to The Witch’s House.
• Ellen’s jealousy reignited the battle, and the system announced that Lu Xiu had to hold afternoon tea with Ellen and Viola and keep them from fighting for half an hour.
• Lu Xiu raised the Nameless Blade and angrily asked the system if she could chop down the two NPCs—or the system itself.

Lu Xiu stopped Ellen and Viola’s battle with a powerful Sunlight Spear and tried to keep them from fighting again. In reality, the forest around the Mansion spread into the abandoned residential complex, where Jian Li fulfilled a chef phantom’s obsession and received a system reward.

• The Black Cat told Lu Xiu that Ellen had devoured its soul and reshaped her body, leaving it as an extension of Ellen’s magic.
• Lu Xiu hurled a Sunlight Spear between Ellen and Viola, disrupting their fight and forcing them to stop.
• Ellen and Viola reacted to Lu Xiu’s power, and Lu Xiu tried to keep them calm long enough to satisfy the clear condition.
• Shen Nian, Jian Li, and a sergeant saw the expanding forest and a chef phantom chopping at an invisible block in the abandoned residential complex.
• Jian Li recognized the phantom as the chef from the Witch instance, obtained a teddy bear from the soldiers, and offered the chef its severed arms.
• The chef accepted the plush arms, fulfilling his lingering obsession, and Jian Li received Blade Cleaving Mastery as a reward.

Lu Xiu tried to keep Ellen and Viola from fighting by talking with Viola about her estrangement from her father and urging her to tell him what she had endured. Viola recognized Lu Xiu as a player who had once defied the dungeon’s cycle to save her, but Ellen’s mocking interruption threatened to reignite the conflict.

• Jian Li warned Shen Nian and the soldiers that dungeon bosses might emerge in reality and ordered them to expand the blockade until Lu Xiu returned.
• Lu Xiu sat between Ellen and Viola and stopped Ellen from mocking Viola when she asked about Viola’s father.
• Viola explained that she still resented her father for aiming his rifle at her when she had been trapped in Ellen’s body, and that they had argued over her decision to learn magic and become a demon hunter.
• Viola revealed that she knew Lu Xiu was a player from another world and had rebelled against the Deity’s cycle of players posing as her childhood sweethearts.
• Lu Xiu urged Viola to tell her father the truth about her experiences, and Viola agreed to speak with him.
• Ellen mocked Viola’s father-daughter reconciliation, leaving Lu Xiu worried that the two would start fighting again.