Chapter Summaries

Lu Xiu helped the Jade Capital defense line survive a Monster Tide while gathering Variant Monster materials, then delivered them to the Astera Smithy for a new weapon. Seeing that no one had cleared Monster Hunter and soldiers could not use it yet, she decided to create a simpler shooting dungeon and chose Left 4 Dead.

• High Sequence players rushed into the Monster Tide to kill Crawlers and harvest their materials, while Zhou Zhenyue’s soldiers covered the gaps they left in the defense line.
• Lu Xiu killed a Variant Monster in front of a five-person squad, whose members grew overconfident and nearly died fighting another before Patrollers intervened.
• Lu Xiu killed twenty-one Variant Monsters during the battle, then used her placement-site ability to appear inside Astera’s Smithy and asked its leader to study her materials for a New World weapon.
• After confirming with Chu Huai that the front lines were under control and that no one had cleared Monster Hunter, Lu Xiu decided to make a simpler dungeon for soldiers.
• Lu Xiu named the new shooting-focused dungeon Left 4 Dead.

Lu Xiu designed a punishing Left 4 Dead-inspired dungeon with relentless zombie hordes, powerful Special Infected, and survival challenges that demanded teamwork. She began building the ruined city in the construction space and summoned zombie simulations, triggering a system warning not to let them bite her.

• Lu Xiu planned dynamic difficulty, scarce supplies, dangerous Special Infected, and tougher rules for her dungeon.
• She finished the design document and told the Astera chef she was preparing a playground where hunters could slaughter humanoid Vaal Hazaks.
• Lu Xiu entered the construction space and used spiritual energy to create an abandoned apartment building and devastated city street.
• She summoned zombies into the ruined streets, and the system unlocked Zombie simulation while warning her to avoid their bites.

Jade Capital's leaders dealt with the flood of High Sequence players and discussed how to use the lull in combat to strengthen frontline soldiers. Zhou Zhenyue went to Astera seeking Lu Xiu's help with the Monster Hunter dungeon, but learned she was in the Construction Space and accepted that she could not solve every problem.

• Jade Capital officers reported that High Sequence players had overwhelmed the front line, cleared the Monster Tides, and demanded the [Yama Type I] blueprint, so Zhou Zhenyue ordered reinforcements for Astera and proposed reporting a military-merit equipment exchange plan.
• Chu Huai told Zhou Zhenyue that Lu Xiu had personally killed every Variant Monster on the front line, leaving the Patrollers with only one kill and little useful material data.
• Zhou Zhenyue visited Astera's third floor with Chu Huai to ask Lu Xiu about Variant Monster materials and sending soldiers into the Monster Hunter dungeon, but she was nowhere to be found.
• Jian Li and Shen Nian arrived from the dungeon, and Shen Nian concluded that Lu Xiu was in the Construction Space after Jian Li found her Hunter's Cabin empty.
• Shen Nian told Zhou Zhenyue that her Strategy Group had not cleared the Monster Hunter dungeon and could not produce a guide soon, while Lu Xiu's [Goddess Blade] title meant she could not help with it either.
• Zhou Zhenyue left Astera, realizing he had expected too much of Lu Xiu and that the soldiers would have to wait for the Strategy Group's guide.

Lu Xiu tested her zombie-survival dungeon, capped its runaway dynamic difficulty, and left the Construction Space after a grueling run. Back in Astera, she invited Jian Li and Shen Nian to help verify the dungeon, prompting Jian Li to rush Shen Nian into clearing Monster Hunter first.

• Lu Xiu fought through a huge Zombie swarm to reach the Safe Room, then discovered her dynamic difficulty system had escalated because she performed too well.
• Lu Xiu capped the dungeon's difficulty, ended her test run, and returned to Astera after feeling overwhelmed by the grime and stench.
• Lu Xiu embraced Jian Li and Shen Nian to recover from the lingering disgust, then told them she had nearly finished a simple new dungeon and invited them to test it.
• Jian Li interrupted Lu Xiu's offer to find other testers and declared that she and Shen Nian would clear Monster Hunter immediately.
• Jian Li pulled Shen Nian away and made her enter the dungeon, leaving Lu Xiu puzzled by their sudden eagerness.

Ulysses, Xia, and other players defeated Xeno'jiiva in Lu Xiu’s Monster Hunter instance, only to learn that Hoarfrost Reach and Master Rank quests still lay ahead. As Zhou Zhenyue worried about preparing frontline soldiers for the coming monster mutation, Lu Xiu called to recruit one soldier to test a new survival dungeon she had made for them.

• After four grueling days, Ulysses, Xia, and their team defeated Xeno'jiiva and returned to Astera expecting to clear the instance.
• The Commander assigned them a new investigation, which led to the discovery of Hoarfrost Reach and the unlocking of Master Rank quests; Ulysses fainted, and other players complained on the Nine Provinces Forum.
• Zhou Zhenyue learned the Monster Hunter instance was far from cleared and discussed alternative training plans with Chu Huai as the frontline’s monster mutation countdown reached twenty days.
• Lu Xiu called Chu Huai to request one calm, resilient soldier with accurate marksmanship to join Jian Li and Shen Nian in testing a new dungeon.
• Lu Xiu explained that the dungeon was designed for frontline soldiers, focused on survival, coordination, and modern firearms, and asked for the soldier to come to Astera that afternoon.

Lu Xiu brought Chu Huai, Jian Li, and Shen Nian into her new apocalypse dungeon so Chu Huai could assess its suitability for frontline soldiers. After the group reached the eighth-floor corridor, Lu Xiu kicked open the door and revealed a massive horde of charging Zombies.

• Chu Huai explained that Lu Xiu’s dungeon could give Jade Capital’s front-line soldiers a way to train during their respite, and he agreed to test it despite the memory restrictions.
• Lu Xiu invited Chu Huai, Jian Li, and Shen Nian into the dungeon, where they began as survivors trying to reach an evacuation helicopter at a shopping center.
• The helicopter had already left, so the group chose pistols and melee weapons and set off through the hotel toward the new evacuation point.
• Shen Nian opened the eighth-floor fire door, saw the corridor full of Zombies, and quickly slammed it shut.
• Chu Huai tried the door next but recoiled at the horde; Lu Xiu kicked it open, drawing the Zombies’ attention and sending them charging toward the group.

Lu Xiu’s new multiplayer dungeon, Left 4 Dead, debuted in a trailer that startled players still struggling to clear Monster Hunter. During a live test inside the dungeon, Chu Huai saw how deadly its Zombie hordes were and how effortlessly Lu Xiu fought them, but judged the difficulty manageable for soldiers.

• Ulysses and players across several regions watched the Left 4 Dead trailer and reacted with disbelief that Lu Xiu had released another dungeon before players had cleared Monster Hunter.
• The trailer showed four survivors fighting Zombies and Special Infected, losing their evacuation helicopter, and battling through a city toward a new escape route.
• Ulysses sent the trailer to Xia, whose shocked reply reassured him that she had not seen it beforehand.
• Inside the dungeon, Chu Huai, Lu Xiu, Shen Nian, and Jian Li reached a Safe Room after fighting through a Zombie Horde and Special Infected.
• Chu Huai watched Lu Xiu fight with exceptional skill and told her the stage was hard but did not need to be changed because soldiers could handle it.

Lu Xiu and Jian Li defeated a Witch after Chu Huai startled it and it downed him and Shen Nian. Lu Xiu explained that the Witch could have been avoided, and the team continued deeper into the dungeon, where Chu Huai discovered that its difficulty still escalated through Lu Xiu’s design.

• Chu Huai led the group outside the Safe Room and shot a crying Witch, which instantly downed him and then Shen Nian when she fired at it.
• Lu Xiu and Jian Li alternated drawing the Witch’s attacks, dodged its strikes, and killed it with synchronized headshots before rescuing Chu Huai and Shen Nian.
• Lu Xiu explained that the Witch was generally passive and that the team should have treated the unknown threat cautiously instead of opening fire.
• Chu Huai asked whether Witches appeared normally, and Lu Xiu said her construction memories had been stripped away before explaining the Witch’s behavior.
• The team continued onward, and after half an hour and then two hours, Chu Huai realized Lu Xiu could make the dungeon increasingly oppressive without merely adding more Zombies.

Chu Huai and the others escaped Lu Xiu’s Left 4 Dead dungeon, and the system awarded the dungeon an SS rating and the players SSS clear rewards. Lu Xiu returned to Astera with new skills, while Chu Huai hurried off to find Zhou Zhenyue.

• Chu Huai reflected on surviving the campaigns and watched the bridge collapse as the helicopter carried him away.
• The system gave Chu Huai an SSS clear rating, and Lu Xiu told Shen Nian to wait for the rewards at Astera.
• Lu Xiu returned to the Construction Space, where Left 4 Dead received an SS rating and she gained the Corpse Mountain, Blood Sea skill and the Truth skill.
• Lu Xiu returned to Astera and learned that Chu Huai had gone to find Zhou Zhenyue after seeing his reward.
• Shen Nian revealed her Deadly Fireline skill, and Jian Li revealed her Bloodied Survival skill.

Jade Capital’s commanders worried that Lu Xiu’s new dungeon might be too difficult or offer weak rewards for frontline soldiers. Chu Huai returned from its verification clear and revealed that its ordinary rewards included powerful combat skills, prompting Zhou Zhenyue and the officers to head for Astera Base.

• Zhou Zhenyue ordered security tightened around Astera and discussed the lack of suitable dungeons for soldiers rotating off the front line.
• Zhou Zhenyue told the officers to continue pursuing other options while they waited for Chu Huai to return from verifying Lu Xiu’s new dungeon.
• Chu Huai reported that the dungeon was easy to understand and tailored to test tactical coordination, resilience, firearms, observation, and judgment.
• The officers assumed the dungeon’s rewards would be modest until Chu Huai displayed Deadly Fireline and Bloodied Survival as normal clearance rewards.
• Zhou Zhenyue and the officers recognized how much the skills could improve frontline firepower and survival, then followed him to Astera Base.

Lu Xiu agreed to place her new Left 4 Dead instance along the Frontier and restricted its initial access to frontline soldiers from Nine Provinces. The instance opened, and soldiers across the frontline were ordered to enter and clear it without a guide.

• At Astera, Shen Nian asked Lu Xiu about her powerful skill, and Jian Li promised to protect her from being hit.
• Zhou Zhenyue and other senior officials asked Lu Xiu when her new instance could go live, and Lu Xiu explained the risks of placing its entrance.
• Zhou Zhenyue proposed placing Left 4 Dead along the Frontier as a defensive barrier, and Lu Xiu agreed to the location he provided.
• Lu Xiu pre-placed Left 4 Dead and limited initial access to frontline soldiers, while Zhou Zhenyue promised to send her their roster.
• Frontline soldiers noticed that many regular troops had left the defensive line and speculated that the military was making a major move.
• An officer ordered tens of thousands of assembled soldiers to enter Left 4 Dead in teams of four and clear it without a guide.

Soldiers led by Old Zhang entered Lu Xiu’s Left 4 Dead instance expecting a straightforward fight, but waves of Zombies and dangerous Special Infected nearly overwhelmed them. After reaching the Safe Room, Old Zhang explained that the instance tested their teamwork, adaptability, and tactical skills, and the squad prepared to continue.

• The officer briefed the soldiers on Left 4 Dead, and Old Zhang formed a team with Chen Fei, Li Ka, and Chen Chen before they entered the instance.
• The squad equipped weapons and medkits, then fought through a corridor packed with ordinary Zombies, initially believing the enemies were easy to kill.
• A Boomer blinded Chen Fei and triggered a Zombie frenzy, and a Charger knocked him down and nearly killed him before Old Zhang and the others rescued him.
• A Jockey seized Chen Fei and dragged him toward a broken window, but Old Zhang shot it before Chen Fei fell.
• The squad picked up rifles and battled through a burning floor crowded with Zombies and Special Infected before reaching the Safe Room.
• Old Zhang explained that the instance tested the soldiers’ teamwork, adaptability, and tactical execution, and the squad considered how they would meet its challenge.

Chen Fei’s team endured the escalating dangers of Lu Xiu’s Left 4 Dead dungeon, which the frontline soldiers recognized as brutal training for survival in monster-infested cities. After soldiers cleared the dungeon and praised Lu Xiu’s terrifying imagination, the Smithy’s leader told Lu Xiu he had a preliminary concept for new equipment and could imitate it once she created a prototype.

• Old Zhang persuaded Chen Fei, Li Ka, and Chen Chen to treat the dungeon as frontline training, and the four resumed their escape with renewed discipline.
• Chen Fei’s team avoided a crying Witch, then fought through a mall horde to find gasoline, survived a stage battle against Zombies while summoning a helicopter, and faced three Tanks before reaching a boat.
• In a torrential storm, Chen Fei questioned whether the dungeon resembled the front lines, but Old Zhang insisted its mechanics matched even if Lu Xiu had pushed environmental pressure to extremes.
• Soldiers who cleared the dungeon told the officer they had earned the [Bloodied Survival] skill and that Lu Xiu’s imagination made even a frontline Monster Tide seem minor by comparison.
• The Smithy’s leader told Lu Xiu that he had developed a preliminary new-equipment concept and could imitate it after she made a prototype.

Lu Xiu created Yaksha Type I, a powerful Dual Blades weapon that could be mass-produced if the Monster Hunter dungeon supplied its materials. Its synergy with Left 4 Dead’s rewards prompted the frontline command to pressure the Strategy Group to clear Monster Hunter, but Jian Li and Shen Nian then reported that they had cleared it and earned an SSS-rated reward.

• Lu Xiu used Deconstruction to forge and name the S-rated Dual Blades Yaksha Type I, while the Smithy head agreed to study the process for mass production.
• Zhou Zhenyue and Chu Huai saw that Yaksha could complement the Left 4 Dead skills and recognized that mass production depended on materials from Monster Hunter.
• Zhou Zhenyue left to pressure the Strategy Group and report Yaksha’s importance, while Wei Yidong, Fan Lixin, and Cheng Xiu learned that they had to clear Monster Hunter and gather materials.
• Yan Fushou told the Strategy Group that Jian Li and Shen Nian had cleared Monster Hunter and received an SSS-rated reward.

After clearing Monster Hunter, Lu Xiu compared Shen Nian’s powerful Soul Hunt skill with her own Disaster Hunter rewards and received a rare Pioneer Hunter advancement certificate from Jian Li. The chapter also showed rival factions preparing to seek Nine Provinces’ equipment-making resources, while Lu Xiu returned the certificate to Jian Li and the group considered Shen Nian as its next user.

• Jian Li and Shen Nian celebrated clearing Monster Hunter, and Lu Xiu warned Shen Nian that she might need to return for more materials and dungeon rewards.
• Shen Nian revealed her SSS-rated Soul Hunt skill, and Lu Xiu showed her the Disaster Hunter abilities and Alatreon Set pieces she had received.
• Jian Li gave Lu Xiu a Mythic Pioneer Hunter advancement certificate, which offered a path to a class with only one possible fifth-advancement holder.
• Ulysses received a weaker version of Soul Hunt and concluded that he needed to visit Nine Provinces to process his dungeon materials, while Rosalind prepared a Francan delegation to travel there.
• Lu Xiu declined to use Jian Li’s advancement certificate and returned it to her, and Jian Li and Lu Xiu turned to Shen Nian as a possible candidate.

Lu Xiu learned that new profession certificates could drop from frontline monsters and urged the Nine Provinces to test the Hundred-Battle Soldier profession on a soldier. She then returned to Witch Forest, where the anomaly was spreading and the phantoms of Viola and Ellen were appearing, and arranged to move the forest to the Frontier before the foreign delegations arrived.

• Jian Li received Yan Fushou’s message about a Hundred-Battle Soldier Profession Certificate dropped by Lü Ge after his squad killed a Variant Monster at the Jade Capital front line.
• Lu Xiu argued that Hundred-Battle Soldier might be designed for warfare, and the group chose Chu Huai to test its class-change dungeon.
• Yan Fushou told Lu Xiu that Red Tide, Franca, and Canaan planned to send delegations to the Nine Provinces, and Lu Xiu advised welcoming them if they came peacefully.
• Yan Fushou reported that Witch Forest was expanding and that phantoms of Viola and Ellen had appeared, so Lu Xiu hurried to inspect it.
• Lu Xiu found that Witch Forest had spread toward the Chen Capital’s main roads and ordered it moved to a remote Frontier location.
• Yan Fushou chose a spot near the route for the foreign delegations, while Rosalind prepared to leave Franca for the Nine Provinces.

Lu Xiu placed the Witch's House at the western frontier and entered its offline dungeon to stop Ellen and Viola from fighting. After completing an afternoon-tea mission and bringing both women into reality, she had to mediate another confrontation between them and Jian Li and Shen Nian.

• Lu Xiu placed a Bonfire at the western frontier and used the Witch's House to transform the barren Gobi into a vast forest beside the Border Barrier.
• Lu Xiu entered the offline dungeon, read Ellen's diary, and stopped Ellen and Viola from attacking each other by declaring them both her friends.
• Lu Xiu completed the afternoon-tea mission and persuaded Ellen and Viola to stop expanding the forest in exchange for seeing her world, promising they would not fight or harm people there.
• Lu Xiu returned to reality and pulled Ellen and Viola out of the dungeon, causing the Witch Forest to expand and become more substantial.
• Ellen and Viola grew hostile toward Jian Li and Shen Nian, so Lu Xiu struck all four on the head and ordered them to stop arguing.

Lu Xiu explained her chaotic Witch's House clear to Jian Li and Shen Nian, then learned that Ellen and Viola were confined to the Witch Forest and could protect her there. As Nine Provinces prepared to receive the Red Tide and Franca delegations, Lu Xiu received Monster Hunter materials, while Franca’s princess was left baffled by reports that the Frontier had vanished beneath a forest.

• Lu Xiu warned Jian Li and Shen Nian not to provoke Ellen and Viola, then described how she had cleared the Witch's House dungeon and left both women emotionally attached to her.
• Shen Nian and Jian Li accepted Lu Xiu's explanation, and Ellen and Viola returned from scouting to report that they could not leave the forest but could move freely and use its rules within it.
• Li Shengkai, Yan Fushou, and the Strategy Group arrived at the Witch Forest, where Lu Xiu told them the core characters were unlikely to attack unless provoked.
• Yan Fushou explained that Nine Provinces was preparing a guarded reception for the Red Tide and Franca delegations amid tense relations and reports of instability.
• Yan Fushou delivered materials gathered by Wei Yidong and the other Monster Hunter players, and Lu Xiu spotted fragments for the Fatalis and Alatreon sets.
• In Franca, Princess Rosalind questioned an intelligence officer about reports that the Frontier had disappeared and a forest had appeared between the countries.

Rosalind and Ulysses led the Franca and Red Tide delegations across Nine Provinces' border, where Zhang Qian welcomed them with an astonishing display of Lu Xiu's power. The chapter left them stunned to learn that a Bonfire could teleport the entire group to Chen Capital and that it belonged to Lu Xiu.

• Rosalind concluded that the primeval forest replacing the Gobi Desert was likely created by Lu Xiu and ordered her delegation to proceed to Nine Provinces despite the uncertainty.
• Rosalind and Ulysses arrived at the border with their delegations, then struggled for hours to squeeze through the National Border Barriers into Nine Provinces.
• Zhang Qian welcomed the delegations with an honor guard wearing Odogaron Sets as the forest opened a red-carpet path before them.
• The delegations noticed an unusual log cabin along the route, but Zhang Qian and the Nine Provinces officials offered no explanation.
• Zhang Qian revealed that a Bonfire could teleport the delegations directly to Chen Capital and said the Bonfire, like the forest, was Lu Xiu's private property.

Red Tide and Franca’s delegations traveled from the Witch Forest to Chen Capital through Lu Xiu’s Bonfire, while Rosalind became fascinated by Lu Xiu’s remark about her beast ears. Back in the forest, Lu Xiu learned that Ellen and Viola could explain how to make her power participate in some skills, and they recognized how to do so with Extraordinary · Remnant.

• Zhang Qian told the delegations that the Witch Forest and Bonfire were Lu Xiu’s private property, then sent them to Chen Capital by teleportation.
• Rosalind spotted Lu Xiu just as the Bonfire carried her away and overheard Lu Xiu call her beast ears cute; afterward, Rosalind kept wondering whether Lu Xiu liked beast ears.
• At Chen Capital, Rosalind and Ulysses reunited with the Nine Provinces officials, and Rosalind discreetly touched her fox ears while thinking about Lu Xiu’s comment.
• Lu Xiu asked Ellen and Viola how skills could be made less rigid, and they explained that most skills relied on fixed rules that left little room for the user’s own power.
• Ellen and Viola recognized Extraordinary · Remnant as a skill they understood, and Viola demonstrated that she could reproduce its lightning effect.