From Wizard Apprentice to Conqueror of Myriad Worlds

A core rule of *Tower Push War* is that you must destroy the enemy’s base to achieve final victory.

The piece representing the base just so happened to be called "Cabin in the Woods."

He’d thought it strange at the time. For such a crucial piece, he couldn’t find a single corresponding clue among the five landscape paintings.

After solving the puzzle, he had learned the name "Great White Birch Forest." And when he saw the postscript—"I sincerely hope that in your distant travels, you find a splendor all your own"—a theory immediately formed in his mind.

’The Cabin in the Woods is almost certainly hidden in one of the new maps.’

"Roaring River," "Silent Snowfield," "Heaven-Swaying Sword Waterfall," and "Nu Ti Grassland"—none of these four locations seemed to fit.

The Great White Birch Forest was the most likely candidate.

This was exactly why he had activated the brooch to enter the Great White Birch Forest the moment it reappeared.

The mottled stone stele before him proved his theory was spot on.

Mo Ning immediately understood. ’Next comes the puzzle-solving. The stele must be the clue to the Cabin in the Woods’ location. If I find it, I’ll complete the assessment.’

He even guessed the reward for solving the puzzle. ’The spatial item I received, Walking into the Painting, probably only has its basic functions unlocked.’

’If I want to gain full control, I have to complete this puzzle.’

He had thought at the time that the function of Walking into the Painting seemed a little too simple—it only allowed him to enter the corresponding location when its spatial projection appeared.

It was a very harsh restriction.

Looking at it now, the Wizard who created the test had clearly "locked" some of its functions on purpose.

Mo Ning quickly scanned his memory for information related to Divination Chess, and an idea began to take shape.

’The creator of *Tower Push War* also compiled a collection of stories called *Lynch and the Woods*. There’s a short story behind every piece.’

’If I’m right, the key to solving this puzzle must be related to that collection.’

’The story of the Cabin in the Woods is the main storyline of the Divination Chess game.’

’The Wizard Lynch built a cabin in a forest called Talaba. That’s the origin of the Cabin in the Woods.’

’To research Witchcraft, Lynch often conducted experiments in the Talaba Forest, destroying many trees and eventually incurring the wrath of the Forest Spirit.’

’The Forest Spirit wanted to destroy the Cabin in the Woods and drive Lynch from the forest.’

’To defend his Cabin in the Woods, Lynch built numerous Witchcraft Arrow Towers nearby to fend off the Forest Spirit’s attacks—and that’s where the name *Tower Push War* comes from.’

Mo Ning felt like he was onto something. ’Lynch built Eight Types of Arrow Towers. The key to this puzzle is probably related to them.’

He picked up his Lantern and circled the stele. The warm, yellow light swept over the trunks of the silent birch trees.

Then, the corners of his mouth lifted into a smile.

There were exactly eight birch trees surrounding the stele in a scattered but orderly arrangement.

No more, no less. Exactly eight.

They were farther from the other birch trees but noticeably closer to the stele.

’Aren’t these the "Eight Types of Arrow Towers"?’

Mo Ning’s eyes lit up.

He immediately picked up his Lantern and strode toward the nearest "Arrow Tower," intending to search for the next clue.

He took a single step, then froze.

A question suddenly struck Mo Ning. ’Considering this Wizard’s usual tricks, would he really leave a clue so obviously right in front of me?’

The last hidden puzzle was absurdly difficult.

’So why would the difficulty be so much lower this time?’

’It doesn’t make sense.’

Mo Ning instantly discarded that line of thought.

’These eight birch trees have to be a trap set by the Wizard. If I try to solve the puzzle based on them, I’ll probably never find the answer.’

Mo Ning glanced up at the pitch-black sky, a touch of anxiety creeping into his heart.

He knew there had to be a time limit. The clock had started ticking the moment he entered the Great White Birch Forest.

The longer he took, the smaller the final reward would be.

Mo Ning’s mind raced, working even faster than before as he tried to find a new angle.

「A few seconds passed.」

His gaze fell back to the mottled stone stele. ’I get it. The stele isn’t just a hint for the assessment—it’s the key to the entire puzzle.’

He took a step toward the stele, his thoughts growing clearer.

’In the story collection, every time the Talbara Forest Spirit appears, it roars in fury, "The wrath of the Talaba Forest will surely destroy you!"’

’And in *Tower Push War*, the stele’s dark red color symbolizes the flames of anger.’

He’d felt a faint sense of strangeness when he first saw the dark red stele.

A stele of that color looked completely out of place in a Birch Forest.

Only now did he realize that the dark red was clearly a hint.

’So, what do the Secret Spirit Text characters for "Cabin in the Woods" on the surface of the dark red stele symbolize?’

’Hmm... it might mean that the wrath of the Talbara Forest Spirit is surrounding the Cabin in the Woods that Lynch built.’

He immediately shook his head. ’No, that interpretation is seriously flawed.’

’In the symbolic system of *Tower Push War*, Secret Spirit Text carved on a stele has another meaning: coexistence.’

’To be more precise, the Cabin in the Woods is coexisting with the wrath of the Talaba Forest.’

Mo Ning still felt something was off. ’How could a furious Forest Spirit coexist with the Cabin in the Woods?’

’Wait, I think I missed something.’

Mo Ning’s gaze fell upon the thick moss. ’The stele’s surface is also covered in thick moss. That’s another important clue.’

’In the system of *Tower Push War*, green represents Life Energy.’

’Beyond that, it also has another meaning: calm and restraint.’

’That’s the exact opposite of the dark red, which represents anger.’

’This must mean that the wrath of the Talaba Forest is dissipating, and it’s slowly beginning to calm down.’

Mo Ning’s gaze followed the moss upward to where it half-covered the Secret Spirit Text.

’The moss is also covering the Secret Spirit Text. This can be interpreted to mean that the Wizard in the Cabin in the Woods is exercising restraint and is no longer recklessly destroying the forest.’

A calmed Talbara Forest Spirit and a restrained Wizard Lynch could, of course, coexist indefinitely.

At this thought, a smile rippled in Mo Ning’s eyes.

’The Wizard who set the test must have placed the stele here to express a concept: coexistence.’

’The name of the story collection, *Lynch and the Woods*, also implies coexistence.’

’A Wizard must not abuse their great power to do as they please. They must exercise restraint and coexist in harmony with nature.’

Joy surged in his heart. ’I think I know how to solve this puzzle now.’

The path to solving the puzzle naturally emerged in his mind: the Laxi Balance Formula.

On the *Tower Push War* board, coexistence is represented by a specific piece whose symbol is "Laxi."

In the sense of Secret Divination and Divination, coexistence is usually understood as "balance."

Combined, the two make up the Laxi Balance Formula.

At this point, the problem entered his area of expertise: Divination problem-solving.

Mo Ning instantly understood the final question of this stage. ’Am I supposed to use the Laxi Balance Formula to reorganize the symbols from the five landscape paintings and then find the result?’

His brow furrowed slightly. ’The amount of calculation seems pretty significant. It’s several times more difficult than the last one.’

The Laxi Balance Formula was an inherently difficult Divination Formula.

Although it was classified as a Low-Ring Divination, it also had very widespread applications in Central Circle Divination.

Even a Third Level Apprentice proficient in Divination might not be able to find the solution in anything less than several months.

By now, Mo Ning had a fairly deep understanding of the test-making Wizard’s psyche.

He shook his head slightly. ’The Wizard’s purpose is to test me, not to make it impossible. I must have overlooked another key clue.’

Mo Ning fell into deep thought. ’What could I have possibly missed?’

He scanned his surroundings again, his gaze sweeping over the silent birch trees, when a flash of Spiritual Light suddenly erupted in his mind.

He couldn’t help but chuckle. ’Such an obvious clue was right in front of me, and I almost missed it.’

The clue was the eight birch trees.

He had previously thought the eight trees were a trap set by the test maker, but now he completely overturned that judgment.

A smile spread across Mo Ning’s face. ’I remember one method for solving the Laxi Balance Formula involves "Fan Domain components." These eight trees are clearly a guide for those components.’

At this point.

The path forward was completely clear.