Chapter Summaries

Fang Xuan met An Hongyun, who explained why he had let Fang Xuan injure An Residence’s descendants and revealed his failing health. An Hongyun verified Zhao Chuanxiong’s token and proposed that Fang Xuan return the Nine Seeds Buddha Lotus in exchange for his freedom to travel and the continued presence of Central Province’s three hundred thousand dragon guards in Tianshui County.

• Fang Xuan entered An Residence’s forbidden grounds and met An Hongyun in the tower.
• An Hongyun examined Zhao Chuanxiong’s token and confirmed Fang Xuan’s identity.
• An Hongyun said he had allowed Fang Xuan to teach his reckless descendants a lesson because his damaged body could not keep protecting them.
• An Hongyun explained that a backlash sixty years earlier had damaged his Spirit Platform, leaving his Ten Great Heavenly Acupoints unable to gather energy and forcing him to rely on the Nine Seeds Buddha Lotus to prolong his life.
• An Hongyun told Fang Xuan that Central Province’s three hundred thousand dragon guards would remain in Tianshui County while Shang Jing remained unsealed, then asked what Fang Xuan thought.

Fang Xuan received three seeds from the Nine Seeds Buddha Lotus and learned that the Nation Protecting Sword had belonged to An Hongyun, who revealed its ties to the Dragon Guard and the Imperial Jade Seal. An Hongyun tasked Fang Xuan with killing Prince Ji for a booklet, while An Zhe reacted with disbelief when Fang Xuan returned.

• An Hongyun removed three seeds from the Nine Seeds Buddha Lotus and told Fang Xuan to preserve them so the lotus might grow again.
• The Nation Protecting Sword stirred inside Fang Xuan's Spatial Item, and An Hongyun recognized it as his former personal weapon.
• An Hongyun recounted how the Late Emperor forged the sword using ninety-nine Dragon Veins and explained its connection to the Dragon Guard and Imperial Jade Seal.
• An Hongyun returned the sword to Fang Xuan and urged him to treat it well, then ordered him to kill Prince Ji and find out about the prince's booklet from An Hongyun's disappointing descendant.
• After Fang Xuan returned to the courtyard, An Zhe reacted in disbelief that Fang Xuan had won the Old Ancestor's favor and asked who Fang Xuan was.

Fang Xuan learned that Prince Ji had infiltrated the Dragon Guard and moved to attack Prince Ji Residence while An Zhe mobilized troops to arrest suspected collaborators. Fang Xuan stormed the residence and began killing its occupants, confronting Prince Ji and Immortal Master Liu with his power on full display.

• An Zhe told Fang Xuan that Prince Ji had recruited Dragon Guard officers and that turmoil in the camp made an open internal conflict dangerous.
• An Zhe sent E'feng to bring ten thousand Dragon Guard soldiers and arrest the officers they had confirmed, while keeping a backup in case Fang Xuan failed.
• Fang Xuan broke through Prince Ji Residence's gates and set its buildings ablaze with pale blue flames.
• Prince Ji discussed his alliance with Wan Province and received Yuan Yang Pills from Immortal Master Liu, who said An Hongyun would not obtain the Nine Seeds Buddha Lotus.
• After the steward reported the invasion, a golden beam reduced him to ash, and Prince Ji and Immortal Master Liu saw Fang Xuan hovering above the residence as he killed its people.

Fang Xuan destroyed Prince Ji Residence, killed Prince Ji and his allies, and secured the ledger for An Zhe. Days later, demons waiting outside Tianshui County spotted Fang Xuan and moved to follow him toward Sea Province.

• Fang Xuan severed Prince Ji’s arm, killed Immortal Master Liu, and demanded the ledger.
• Prince Ji handed Fang Xuan a Jade Slip containing the ledger, and Fang Xuan brought him outside to An Zhe.
• An Zhe read the Jade Slip, and Fang Xuan killed Prince Ji with blue flames.
• E'feng arrived with ten thousand Dragon Guards, and An Zhe pledged the Dragon Guard to Fang Xuan and took charge of the aftermath.
• Days later, Yun Xin Lion, Gold Devouring Ant, Thunder Butterfly, Crimson Wood Flood Dragon, and Shadow Fiend saw Fang Xuan leave Tianshui County and set off after him.

As Great Qian’s army faced the swollen Yi River in Leizhou’s relentless rain, Li Yixuan ordered Zhai Zhixin to carry out a dangerous crossing despite the defenders’ confidence. The chapter ended with Wei Qiang going out to execute the order.

• You Lie and his generals discussed the Yi River defenses, confident that burning the boats would prevent Zhai Zhixin’s troops from crossing.
• You Lie warned his officers to strengthen night patrols and guard against a surprise attack.
• Zhai Zhixin watched the rain from Great Qian’s camp as the army struggled with the worsening weather and its long southern advance.
• Wei Qiang repeatedly reported that the Yi River had risen, and Li Yixuan ordered the army to proceed with its planned crossing.
• Zhai Zhixin questioned whether the soldiers could cross the raging river, but Li Yixuan insisted that they obey the order.
• Wei Qiang accepted the command and vanished into the rain.

Fang Xuan traveled to Mang Mountain with the five Great Demons to meet Lingxi, intending to remove hidden dangers as he reorganized Central Province. After Lingxi recognized him as the thief who had taken the Millennial Saint Essence Branch, he abruptly offered to serve Fang Xuan and asked whether he objected.

• Fang Xuan told the five Great Demons they need not follow him, but they insisted on staying by his side.
• Fang Xuan learned Lingxi was in Mang Mountain and decided to go there with the five demons.
• Lingxi searched for Crimson Wood Flood Dragon and lamented losing the Millennial Saint Essence Branch.
• Lingxi asked about the newly born spiritual treasure, and Fang Xuan told him the Buddhist sect had taken the Nine Seeds Buddha Lotus.
• Lingxi recognized Fang Xuan, attacked him, then stopped when Crimson Wood Flood Dragon revealed Fang Xuan's identity.
• Lingxi offered to remain by Fang Xuan's side and asked whether he had any objections.

Fang Xuan learned that Demon King Lingxi had been sent to follow him by Ruan Hong, then set off with Lingxi and the demons for Pan Tai Pass in Central Province. In Tianshui County, An Hongyun revealed that the Nation Protecting Sword had chosen Fang Xuan, while An Zhe prepared the Dragon Guards to aid the Dragon Whale Army’s advance south.

• Lingxi explained that Ruan Hong had ordered him to follow Fang Xuan for ten years in exchange for a stroke of fortune, and Fang Xuan agreed to take him along.
• Fang Xuan led Lingxi and the five great demons toward Pan Tai Pass in Central Province.
• An Zhe reported to An Hongyun that Fang Xuan had found the register and that the Dragon Guards had been purged of potential troublemakers.
• An Hongyun told An Zhe that the Nation Protecting Sword had acknowledged Fang Xuan as its master and that Heaven's will had chosen him.
• An Zhe ordered E'feng to give Xing Xing a Golden Sword and have the Divine Harmony Camp watch the Dragon Whale Army and keep its route south unobstructed.
• An Zhe reflected that the three hundred thousand Dragon Guards could help Fang Xuan take Central Province, then wondered what Fang Xuan would do next.

The Yue Province barbarians invaded Great Yang, taking three counties in Ji Province while their attack on PingLiao City stalled against the Dragon Whale Army. With Ji Province City threatened, Gu Kaizhi ordered his officials to hold the city, while Tuoba Ren prepared another full assault on PingLiao City.

• Several hundred thousand Yue Province troops attacked south, and the force advancing through Ji Province captured Lanqing City and three counties.
• As officials urged retreat from Ji Province City, Wei Yu argued they could hold for reinforcements, and Gu Kaizhi forbade anyone from speaking of retreat.
• Tuoba Ren’s army suffered heavy losses at PingLiao City from artillery, traps, and a Dragon Whale Army counterattack.
• Tuoba Ren ordered his exhausted troops to rest before attacking PingLiao City with everything the next day.

Fang Li prepared PingLiao City to face the barbarian army and considered striking Tuoba Ren’s forces if they had no reinforcements. Meanwhile, Fang Xuan traveled through Central Province with the demons and learned from Spirit Rhinoceros that the Primordial Secret Realm contained a dangerous forbidden zone and mysterious artifacts.

• Water Monkey returned to PingLiao City with Bai Zuo, then joined Fang Li and discussed the expected barbarian assault and the importance of holding Ji Province.
• Fang Li ordered scouts to search for enemy reinforcements and grain stores, and said he might try to destroy Tuoba Ren’s army if no reinforcements were coming.
• After Water Monkey left, four martial artists secretly took up their posts protecting Fang Li, who fell asleep from exhaustion.
• Fang Xuan and the six great demons traveled through Central Province, where Spirit Rhinoceros criticized the lawlessness of human armies and explained why demons needed to eat flesh.
• Spirit Rhinoceros told Fang Xuan that the Primordial Secret Realm held no true immortality, but did contain mysterious treasures and a forbidden well that periodically unleashed a deadly force.

Fang Xuan trained with Lingxi and gained the Great Desolation Cloud-Shattering Sword after his Kunwu Sword Array reached perfection. He left the vision determined to test the new sword art on Old Ox.

• Fang Xuan sparred with Lingxi, who advised him to improve his flame and Buddhist powers and pointed out the limits of his sword and dragon-transformation techniques.
• Fang Xuan continued training until his Kunwu Sword Array progress reached three thousand and triggered the Great Desolation Cloud-Shattering Sword.
• White-Robed Fang Xuan showed him a sword strike that tore open the sky and promised him three sword strikes to use against enemies.
• Fang Xuan learned the Great Desolation Cloud-Shattering Sword as a tremendous sword intent frightened Lingxi and the five demons.
• Fang Xuan checked his cultivation panels, saw that the Kunwu Sword Array had reached perfection and the Heart-Burning Flame Palm had advanced to mastery, then resolved to find Old Ox and test his new sword art.

Fang Xuan and his companions reached Jinjiang City, where Lingxi sensed a powerful demonic presence and a blind Daoist recognized the danger. As the Daoist prepared to confront the demon, he summoned a storm of lightning over the city.

• Fang Xuan's group arrived at Jinjiang City and Lingxi sensed an unusually strong demonic and baleful aura there.
• A blind Daoist and his two disabled young disciples entered the city, and the Daoist identified the demon presence as a chance to earn money.
• The blind Daoist sold Fang Xuan seven Five Thunder Talismans and revealed through a poem that he had recognized Yun Xin Lion's true form.
• Lingxi explained that the Daoist Sect's talismans could destroy powerful demons and that the sect had once helped lead a sixty-year demon-suppression campaign.
• As rain fell over Jinjiang City, the blind Daoist and his disciples prepared talismans to fight the demon controlling the weather.
• The blind Daoist launched a Five Thunder Talisman, summoning dark clouds and gathering lightning above the city.

Fang Xuan and Lingxi watched a blind Daoist battle an Evil Creature in Jinjiang City, discovering that the creature had nearly taken control of the city’s soldiers. Unable to defeat it with his Five Thunder Arts, the Daoist summoned a heavenly deity through his disciple, and the chapter ended as golden power filled the boy’s body.

• A blind old Daoist used Five Thunder Arts to destroy a mass of yin entities and confront a seductive woman who was only a skin controlled by an Evil Creature.
• Fang Xuan recognized the building as the City Lord’s Mansion and saw that soldiers throughout Jinjiang City stood vacant-eyed under the Evil Creature’s control.
• Fang Xuan and Lingxi decided to wait and see whether the blind old Daoist could defeat the creature before intervening.
• The blind old Daoist found that his attacks could not kill the Evil Creature and told his disciple to prepare for a heavenly deity’s descent.
• The Daoist recited an invocation, and golden light descended as his disciple’s body and banner filled with divine power.

The Limping Youth and the blind old Daoist fought the female Evil Creature in Jinjiang City, but she survived their attacks and destroyed her clothes. The blind old Daoist began using a powerful technique and continued battling her.

• The Limping Youth transformed into a Heavenly Soldier and attacked the female Evil Creature, who shrugged off his strikes and crushed his golden swords.
• The blind old Daoist and the Round-Faced Little Girl prepared more than a hundred Five Thunder Talismans, and the blind old Daoist unleashed them against the female Evil Creature.
• The female Evil Creature used her clothes to withstand the lightning, then rose from the mud and restored her severed head.
• The female Evil Creature threatened the group after her clothes were ruined, and the blind old Daoist covered his arms in golden talismans and invoked a powerful technique.
• The female Evil Creature launched spears of black force at the blind old Daoist, who shattered them with his Peach Wood Sword and called on immortals to slay demons.

The female Evil Creature overwhelmed the blind old Daoist and killed the Limping Youth, but Lingxi and Fang Xuan arrived before she could finish off the others. Lingxi refused to fight and challenged Fang Xuan to test his Great Wilderness Cloud Shattering Sword against her.

• The female Evil Creature blocked the blind old Daoist's Source Life Talisman and drove him back with her strange black arm and powerful attacks.
• The female Evil Creature shattered the old Daoist's golden runes and hurled the Spine Bone Sword through the Limping Youth's heart.
• The blind old Daoist pleaded with someone in the darkness to take the merit, and Lingxi and Fang Xuan appeared in the sky.
• Lingxi joined the blind old Daoist and mourned the dead youth only briefly, while the female Evil Creature sensed danger from him.
• Lingxi told Fang Xuan to fight the female Evil Creature and prove the power of his Great Wilderness Cloud Shattering Sword.

Fang Xuan fought the female Evil Creature in Jinjiang City, overcoming her demonic transformation with the Great Wilderness Cloud Shattering Sword. The demonic energy was destroyed, leaving an unfamiliar middle-aged man in official robes on the ground.

• Fang Xuan confronted the female Evil Creature over her control of soldiers and attacked her with his Dragon Claws.
• The female Evil Creature demonized herself, raised her power to at least Sixth Grade Martial Venerable, and attacked Fang Xuan with her bone sword and black chains.
• Fang Xuan used Ink Abyss to sever the chains, while Lingxi protected the blind old Taoist, Round-Faced Little Girl, and the Limping Youth from the Evil Creature's life-draining technique.
• Fang Xuan unleashed the Great Wilderness Cloud Shattering Sword, piercing the female Evil Creature and annihilating her demonic energy.
• A middle-aged man in official robes fell from the dispersing black light, and Fang Xuan examined him.

After Fang Xuan and Lingxi helped defeat the evil controlling Jinjiang City, a Daoist gave Fang Xuan a valuable remnant talisman before departing. Sima Wei Yu revealed that the threat extended beyond the city, while Xiao Hong returned to the mysterious Madam Chu after failing to gather Nether Soldiers.

• Sima Wei Yu thanked Fang Xuan for saving his life, and the blind old Daoist departed with the Round-Faced Little Girl after giving Fang Xuan a remnant talisman.
• Lingxi explained that the talisman could be activated by anyone and could also help Fang Xuan establish ties with the Daoist Sect.
• Xiao Hong returned to Madam Chu's hidden manor and reported that she had failed to develop a million Nether Soldiers; Steward Wang told her to stay and cultivate.
• Fang Xuan learned that Sima Wei Yu had ordered the Nether Soldiers buried alive and rebuked him for not trying to save them.
• Sima Wei Yu revealed that an evil woman had controlled him and Jinjiang City while recruiting Nether Soldiers for Madam Chu.

Fang Xuan sent five demons away from Jinjiang City, asking Crimson Wood Flood Dragon and two others to head to Sea Province and guard it. After Lingxi revealed he had secretly placed Spirit Rhyme in the demons, he questioned whether Fang Xuan should keep waiting for the Evil Creature.

• Fang Xuan told the five demons to leave because stronger enemies might threaten him and Lingxi, and offered them a choice between Sea Province and Mang Mountain.
• Crimson Wood Flood Dragon, Yun Xin Lion, and Shadow Fiend chose to travel to Sea Province, where Fang Xuan asked them to find Fang Li and gave them a jade token.
• The five demons departed Jinjiang City, and Crimson Wood Flood Dragon paused to look back at the city.
• Lingxi admitted he had secretly placed five strands of Spirit Rhyme in the demons and explained that he felt a bond with them.
• Lingxi asked Fang Xuan whether he would really wait in Jinjiang City for the Evil Creature, suggesting Sima Weiyu might have deceived him.

Fang Xuan refused to abandon Jinjiang City, while Sima Weiyu concealed the Nether Soldiers and pursued his ambitions. In Ji Province City, Gu Kaizhi rejected surrender to the barbarians and weighed a dangerous plan to seek aid from Sea Province.

• Fang Xuan insisted that he would protect the people of the Nine Provinces, including those threatened by Evil Creatures.
• Sima Weiyu learned that Fang Xuan's companions had headed north, ordered Dou Wei to investigate them, and directed Master Pan to study the hidden Nether Soldiers.
• The barbarian army reinforced its siege of Ji Province City, while Gu Kaizhi's attempt to contact General Peng failed because Ming Mountain was guarded by three thousand Third Heavenly Gate martial artists.
• Elder Qian urged Gu Kaizhi to make peace with the barbarians, but Gu Kaizhi refused and ordered him to leave.
• A martial artist proposed crossing the Huaiyin Mountain Range to seek reinforcements from Sea Province, and the tent looked to Gu Kaizhi for his decision.

Gu Kaizhi sent Elder Wang to seek reinforcements from Sea Province as Ji Province faced invasion. In Jinjiang City, Fang Xuan killed a group of pursuers and met Spider Web agent Gu Nian, who revealed that all the city’s other Hidden Scouts had disappeared.

• Gu Kaizhi ordered Elder Wang to seek aid from Sea Province, trusting Commander Fang and citing Sea Province’s past help to Ji Province’s refugees.
• Fang Xuan noticed Jinjiang City’s residents hurried indoors at dusk and saw an injured woman fleeing from seven or eight men.
• The woman threw Fang Xuan a bundle and claimed she had brought him an item, then fled; the pursuers attacked Fang Xuan, and he killed them.
• Fang Xuan picked up the bundle and followed a man in black to a secluded residence, where Gu Nian identified himself as a Spider Web agent.
• Gu Nian told Fang Xuan that Zhou Guwu had sent eighteen Hidden Scouts to Jinjiang City, but they had all disappeared within three months, leaving Gu Nian as the only survivor.

Fang Xuan learned that Fang Li was safe defending PingLiao City and ordered Gu Nian to contact Sea Province while preparing to target Central Province. A foul-smelling parcel led Old Ox to identify its contents as Corpse Soul Powder, leaving Fang Xuan concerned about a hidden secret in Jinjiang City.

• Gu Nian told Fang Xuan that Spider Web members and hundreds of other people had disappeared in Jinjiang City, and explained that Bei Yue's army had failed to breach PingLiao City's first defense line.
• Fang Xuan learned that Fang Li and the others were protected by two Dark Division elders, then ordered Gu Nian to establish contact with Sea Province and warned that their next target was Central Province.
• Gu Nian reminded Fang Xuan about a parcel, which released a terrible stench when Fang Xuan opened it; Gu Nian's mention of corpses made Fang Xuan urgently send a message to Sea Province.
• Fang Xuan brought the parcel to Old Ox, who examined the liquid inside and identified it as Corpse Soul Powder.