"It was just a playful jest, nothing more."
Wen Xishu beamed with joy, now he was satisfied.
Not just satisfied, he was pleasantly surprised.
It was difficult for him to balance between the Deceit Tower and the Slaughter Tower. Although climbing the Deceit Tower could grant power, it was all through uncanny means. The basic attributes like strength, speed, and stamina could not be obtained.
Now it was better, it was practically a set-and-forget game.
As long as Tang Rui killed enemies in the real world, he could gain some shared experience points.
In other words, the more ruthlessly Tang Rui slaughtered, the more he grew.
Even if he didn’t climb the Slaughter Tower, he could still gain experience points.
It was equivalent to having Tang Rui help him climb the Slaughter Tower.
This reward was downright shocking to Wen Xishu.
"This is what I call a reward!"
In his mind, the complex, lingering, slaughter-hungry look of Jiang Ling quickly appeared. It seemed Tang Rui’s journey of evolution would be bloodier than he had imagined?
The surprises were not over yet.
[Effect Two: Each time you successfully complete a Deceit Tower challenge, it will have a certain positive impact on Tang Rui based on your completion rate. The effect is unknown.]
[Effect Three: Tang Rui can comprehend powers outside the sequence.]
One has to say, the rewards for the Ascension Task were truly unbelievably above standard.
No wonder it was limited to four times, and according to the description of the Heart Inquiry, some conditions might have to be unlocked to trigger the fourth time.
With this, Tang Rui’s future potential was now immeasurable.
She would definitely be a powerful presence capable of influencing the outcome of wars on her own.
Wen Xishu began to recall other people in his mind.
The An Family Brothers, Jennifer and Jack, Morioka Hitomi and Akiyama Sachi, Master Lingqing, Liu Jianxin, Charlie...
Among these people, there truly wasn’t anyone who could be ’ascended’ by him. After all, only Tang Rui had received the letter of invitation.
It seems some things can only be mutually acknowledged through shared experience.
Of course, in the Slaughter Tower, one could presumably also obtain the letter, given that good feelings could also be raised there.
At this moment, Wen Xishu was like a master of cards holding multiple cards, he could choose to upgrade one of these cards, allowing it to ascend into a powerful card capable of influencing the outcome of the card game.
Of course, he could also choose not to upgrade, waiting to draw that divine-level card, then ascend it into a unique top-tier card.
This made Wen Xishu very excited. In the front Three Towers Company, he was tired from climbing the towers, as he had indeed gone through the thirty-day experience in reality.
But now, after climbing the Slaughter Tower once, Wen Xishu had a renewed craving for climbing the Deceit Tower.
He needed to encounter more stories, meet more people so that in the Three-Tower Battlefield he could become absolutely crucial.
...
...
The real world, Wind City.
In this city on the edges of the Longxia map, a large number of Longxia People had once come seeking refuge.
Though the city was full of monsters, these monsters obeyed the orders of a few powerful beings.
Wind City was a peculiar city. The sky above this city was dyed by a blood-colored mist, painting half the sky red. It could be anticipated that there was likely more than one Red House here.
Yet, it was able to accommodate many refugees.
However, since the Three-Tower Battlefield was a battlefield, whether a place could maintain peace depended on strength.
Wind City had experienced many invasions, but each time, they were blocked by various Red Houses.
Over time, like many other ’Harmonious Cities,’ it was taken for granted that this place had some rules, a powerful monster enslaving humans.
There were many such cities, considered special zones in the post-apocalyptic era.
Every city had its own "City Lord." These city lords were the rulers among rulers, some were powerful independents, and others were followers of certain constellations.
They were the most formidable monsters.
It was precisely because of their existence that these cities did not become as chaotic as Hujiang or Mo’en.
Relying on their own strength or the power bestowed by the constellations, they obliterated all chaos and began a perhaps twisted and grotesque, yet orderly governance.
No one would easily challenge these existences.
But there were exceptions.
Today, a somewhat unfamiliar face suddenly appeared in Wind City.
Tang Rui.
Unlike the Slaughter Tower, the timeline of the Three-Tower Battlefield was further back, and in the Three-Tower Battlefield, Tang Rui had already long reached Wind City.
She had even helped fend off several monster invasions. Everyone in Wind City held a reverent respect for the woman with multicolored feathers.
Tang Rui could be said to be the earliest guardian deity of this city. Wind City had many Red Houses, but the one with the highest authority granted by the City Lord seemed to also be Tang Rui.
People were not unfamiliar with Tang Rui.
But this time, Tang Rui had changed her appearance.
She wrapped herself in black mist, not allowing the bright-colored feathers to be exposed. It was as if...she had draped a black coat over herself.
She also carried another object in her hand—a briefcase.
Though it was an utterly unremarkable box, it was strange. When Tang Rui carried it on the streets of Wind City, everyone instinctively felt fear.
People felt unfamiliar with Tang Rui’s new appearance.
In fact, Tang Rui herself felt unfamiliar. She could feel her past had been altered, and the briefcase had been added. She also gained many new memories. This made her feel rather happy.
The Ascension Task in the Slaughter Tower turned out to affect reality as well.
However, others were confused, never having seen Tang Rui look like this.
Yes, the black coat, black briefcase, and long hair made Tang Rui look like a cold-blooded assassin.
She seemed as if she were about to carry out a secret assassination task.
Tang Rui prepared to leave Wind City.
Someone quickly noticed, Tang Rui carrying a suitcase as if she were going on a long journey.
"Are...are you leaving?" someone finally gathered the courage to ask.
Even though it was a terrifying Red House, and within Wind City, all kinds of strange creatures coexisted harmoniously... Humans still faced the risk of death.
And when it came to invasions, Tang Rui was indeed a fierce combatant.
The one asking was a representative of ordinary humans in Wind City.
Tang Rui nodded:
"I’ve recently had some realizations, and I need to go out to hone myself."
The human representative said with difficulty:
"But...but Lady Tang Rui, if you leave...we might face invasions...
Tang Rui calmly replied:
"Wind City now will not be easily invaded."
"Moreover, I suddenly realized something. Instead of waiting for others to invade Wind City, why don’t we invade them first? I need to create slaughter, a lot of slaughter."
"He helped me in the past for the future; then I will help him in the future for the past."
The human representative didn’t understand this sentence, but he understood the next one—
"Before they invade Wind City, I will invade them first."
After saying this, Tang Rui left.
The black mist-covered silhouette of Tang Rui and the briefcase that exuded immense pressure...
Sent shivers down that person’s spine.
He had a feeling that Tang Rui was a woman who could stir up a storm of blood. Her power seemed to have grown a bit stronger than before.
She was about to unleash massive slaughter.
Wind City, in fact, never had the idea of invading other cities. Human life here couldn’t be said to be great, but at least they could survive, and that was enough.
During such an apocalypse, being able to live unenslaved was already a blessing.
People never considered how long the apocalypse would last, never imagined that one day those cities occupied by monsters could be reclaimed one by one. Those bizarre rules could be eradicated from the root.
It was as if people never thought about leaving Wind City after entering, for outside was far too terrifying.
Being a refugee from Longxia, he understood well the terror of that "God" when it went on a rampage.
However, in the eyes of this human representative now, what was more terrifying was when the Red House domain fully opened, a gigantic blood-red cloud would appear overhead.
There was also one above Tang Rui.
It was precisely the aura of these Red Houses that had created the blood-red sky above Wind City.
And with Tang Rui’s departure, a gigantic red cloud also began to move slowly. Unlike the other red clouds, there were golden arcs of lightning rolling within that red cloud.