Chapter Summaries

Lu Yuan entered the Southern Kingdom with Yue Ti Xia and forced Poison Teacher to free and compensate the humans held as laborers. He then made Poison Teacher carry his banner, leaving the humiliated guardian to follow him.

• Lu Yuan rode into the Southern Kingdom with Yue Ti Xia and saw humans forced to work under demon overseers.
• Lu Yuan cut away part of the mountain, destroying Poison Teacher's unfinished Star Picking Tower and drawing the Five Poisons Guardian to confront him.
• Lu Yuan defeated Poison Teacher with a single attack and forced him to release the humans and pay them their wages.
• Lu Yuan ordered Poison Teacher to carry his banner, and the guardian reluctantly agreed when Lu Yuan's spear began to hum.
• Lu Yuan handed Poison Teacher a banner, prompting him to awkwardly praise Lu Yuan as mighty.

Lu Yuan spared Poison Teacher after defeating him, ordering him to guard the Southern Kingdom’s border for twenty years while Lu Yuan continued his campaign. He then subdued another demon king, and A Zhu recognized that Lu Yuan’s growing power resembled that of a Demon Emperor.

• Poison Teacher begged Lu Yuan to spare him rather than carry the Human Race Southern Conquest Banner.
• Lu Yuan took the banner and ordered Poison Teacher to guard the Southern Kingdom’s border for twenty years as redemption.
• Lu Yuan rode away without pursuing Poison Teacher further, having gained the result he wanted without making another enemy.
• Lu Yuan knocked down a white-haired, young-faced demon king with a streak of Spear Light and held his spear at the figure’s throat.
• A Zhu reflected that Lu Yuan’s strength showed signs of reaching the Demon Emperor realm and compared the Southern Kingdom’s stability under Huan Du Qingtian with Tushan’s troubles under Tushan Honghong.

Lu Yuan confronted Elder Gai and Huan Du Luolan after fighting his way into the Southern Kingdom, refusing Elder Gai’s demand that he leave. He raised the Human Race Southern Conquest Banner and attacked, while Elder Gai recognized Lu Yuan’s Pure Yang Flame and Dragon Shadow Bookstore uniform and realized he was likely the successor of Godly Fire Mountain Manor and the bookstore’s controller.

• Lu Yuan knocked the white-haired Demon King unconscious and asked Yue Ti Xia whether she had ever seen a panda.
• Elder Gai and Huan Du Luolan emerged from the bamboo forest, and Elder Gai demanded that Yue Ti Xia return to her clan while declaring the road closed to Lu Yuan.
• Lu Yuan sent A Zhu and Yue Ti Xia farther away, planted the Human Race Southern Conquest Banner, and challenged Elder Gai to survive one strike.
• Lu Yuan unleashed a sword strike wreathed in Pure Yang Flame, and Elder Gai recognized the flame and Lu Yuan’s Dragon Shadow Bookstore uniform.
• Elder Gai concluded that Lu Yuan was likely the successor of Godly Fire Mountain Manor and the controller of Dragon Shadow Bookstore, then swung his Bamboo Staff to meet the descending attack.

Lu Yuan defeated Elder Gai with a Golden Flame sword strike, then confronted Huan Du Luolan in the Southern Kingdom. The little princess threatened him and promised her imperial father would make him pay.

• Elder Gai realized his bamboo techniques could not overcome Lu Yuan's flames and charged to intercept the sword qi before it reached Huan Du Luolan.
• Lu Yuan's attack sent Elder Gai flying and left him unconscious beside a shattered stone wall.
• Lu Yuan descended and acknowledged that Elder Gai had been qualified to make his earlier claim.
• Huan Du Luolan called Lu Yuan despicable and shameless, then tried to scare him off by invoking her imperial father.
• Lu Yuan appeared beside Huan Du Luolan, teased her by holding a strand of her hair, and she vowed her father would make him pay.

Lu Yuan disciplined Huan Du Luolan after she threatened him, then explained that he wanted to negotiate with the Southern Kingdom rather than make an enemy of her. He told Huan Du Luolan that he was waiting for her father, Huan Du Qingtian, and regarded her arrival as an opportunity to communicate.

• Lu Yuan restrained Huan Du Luolan with a tree and struck her three times with a branch after she threatened revenge.
• Yue Ti Xia worried that Lu Yuan's treatment of the Southern Kingdom Princess would provoke Huan Du Qingtian, while A Zhu suspected Lu Yuan was a human-demon hybrid.
• Lu Yuan released Huan Du Luolan and told her he did not think they needed to become enemies, though she insisted they could never be friends.
• Huan Du Luolan accused Lu Yuan of failing to distinguish gratitude from grievance and demanded that he leave the Southern Kingdom.
• Lu Yuan explained that their discussion concerned their identities and responsibilities, and said he was waiting to meet Huan Du Qingtian but was willing to speak with Huan Du Luolan in the meantime.

Lu Yuan revealed that he controlled Dragon Shadow Bookstore, shocking Huan Du Luolan and Yue Ti Xia, then asked the Southern Kingdom princess to carry his “Conquer the South” banner as part of his effort to unite humans and demons. Huan Du Luolan suspected he had a larger plan and considered bargaining for Dragon Shadow shops in the Southern Kingdom.

• Huan Du Luolan and Yue Ti Xia were stunned to learn that Lu Yuan controlled Dragon Shadow Bookstore and possessed the Moon Crying Clan’s plant-controlling power.
• Huan Du Luolan challenged Lu Yuan’s claim, and he pointed out that she had neither paid him nor promised him anything, so he had no reason to lie.
• Huan Du Luolan confronted Lu Yuan about what he wanted, and he said he wanted to talk with her about the human and Demon Races.
• Lu Yuan patted a banner bearing the words “Conquer the South” and told Huan Du Luolan to carry it.
• Huan Du Luolan questioned Lu Yuan’s motives and considered finding another banner-bearer in exchange for Dragon Shadow Bookstore branches in the Southern Kingdom.

Lu Yuan tried to persuade Huan Du Luolan that world unification was possible despite her father’s warnings, and promised to earn her trust through his actions rather than words. A purple meteor then appeared in the distance as Lu Yuan asked A Zhu to protect her.

• Lu Yuan explained that the Three Kingdoms story ended in unification, and Huan Du Luolan warned that humans and demons lacked the strength and unity to achieve it.
• Huan Du Luolan urged Lu Yuan to abandon his plan, but he argued that her father’s judgment reflected only what he had seen and challenged her to look beyond it.
• Lu Yuan told Huan Du Luolan that neither of them was a chess piece and that he understood she needed a reason to follow him.
• Lu Yuan promised to earn Huan Du Luolan’s trust through his actions and instructed A Zhu to protect her.
• Lu Yuan spotted a purple meteor streaking across the sky.

Lu Yuan faced Huan Du Qingtian, the Southern Emperor, after humiliating the Southern Kingdom. Huan Du Qingtian learned that Lu Yuan was Dongfang Guyue’s disciple and attacked him, intending to cripple him rather than risk killing him.

• Yue Ti Xia and A Zhu hoped Lu Yuan would defeat Huan Du Qingtian, while A Zhu openly taunted Huan Du Luolan.
• Huan Du Qingtian arrived, confirmed Huan Du Luolan was unharmed, and sensed something familiar about Lu Yuan.
• Lu Yuan told Huan Du Qingtian that they had never met and mentioned the events ten years ago, prompting Huan Du Qingtian to ask how he was connected to the man from that time.
• Lu Yuan said that man was his Master, and Huan Du Qingtian decided to strike him down and cripple his cultivation rather than kill him and provoke Dongfang Guyue.
• Huan Du Qingtian pressed a huge purple palm down toward Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan defied the Purple Mist looming over him and called on humanity’s forebears to witness his bid to avenge their humiliation. He shaped the Pure Yang Flame into a Golden Phoenix, sent it skyward with his spinning Silver Spear, and sunlight returned.

• Huan Du Qingtian dismissed the possibility that he could lose to a human and explained why he viewed humanity as weak and unworthy of respect.
• Lu Yuan reflected that humanity needed to cultivate its own supreme and high-level powerhouses to escape its precarious position.
• Lu Yuan raised his Silver Spear toward the Purple Mist and called on humanity’s forebears to witness his revenge.
• Lu Yuan summoned golden flames into the shape of a Golden Phoenix and hurled it into the heavens with his spinning Silver Spear.
• Sunlight poured down again after the Golden Phoenix charged into the sky.

Lu Yuan dismissed Huan Du Qingtian’s pride and resisted the Demon Emperor’s control over heaven and earth, revealing that he could wield nearly all of its power himself. The confrontation ended with Lu Yuan questioning how Huan Du Qingtian had claimed a share of that power.

• Huan Du Qingtian restored the hole in the sky with purple mist and summoned four giant palms to attack Lu Yuan.
• Lu Yuan shattered the attacks and challenged Huan Du Qingtian’s claim that he was unqualified to escape.
• Lu Yuan declared that Demon Emperors had nothing to be proud of before him, provoking Huan Du Qingtian to threaten him with the power of heaven and earth.
• Huan Du Qingtian’s pressure and the world’s rejection descended on Lu Yuan, but Lu Yuan calmly seized the air and judged the power to be only thirty percent.
• Lu Yuan explained that the Heaven and Earth Scroll let him command nearly all of heaven and earth’s power, then wondered how Huan Du Qingtian had claimed his share.

Lu Yuan confronted Huan Du Qingtian and revealed power that matched or surpassed the Demon Emperor’s, while explaining that humans called their new realm Emperor Rank rather than Demon Emperor. He launched the Tai Xu Bone Spear at Huan Du Qingtian, intending to test his strength without killing him and to gauge Gao Daqiang’s attitude.

• Huan Du Qingtian attacked Lu Yuan with a massive purple palm, but Lu Yuan dispersed the pressure and summoned a violent clash of wind, clouds, lightning, and fire.
• Huan Du Qingtian saw Lu Yuan’s display and cried out in disbelief, asking how a human could be a Demon Emperor.
• Lu Yuan explained that Emperor Rank was the name humans had given their new realm, then challenged Huan Du Qingtian to withstand his full-strength attack.
• Lu Yuan threw the Tai Xu Bone Spear at Huan Du Qingtian and spread part of his attention around them to ensure Huan Du Qingtian survived and to test Gao Daqiang’s attitude.

Lu Yuan stopped Huan Du Qingtian from destroying the Tai Xu Bone Spear and revealed that he could wield more than seventy percent of Heaven and Earth Power even in the Southern Kingdom. He redirected the storm toward Yuan Mao, promising to demonstrate the difference between an Emperor Rank existence and a Demon Emperor.

• Lu Yuan launched the Tai Xu Bone Spear through space, but Huan Du Qingtian caught it against his shield and began damaging it with his bare hand and Demon Power.
• Huan Du Qingtian reasoned that Lu Yuan's strength depended on his Silver Spear and tried to refine the weapon into scrap, while Lu Yuan remained confident in its durability.
• The uncontrolled storm turned toward the spectators, and Black Blade left its sheath as it approached the threshold of becoming an Emperor Rank weapon.
• Lu Yuan pressed down his hand and poured more than forty percent of Heaven and Earth Power into the storm, directing it toward Yuan Mao.
• Lu Yuan told Yuan Mao that Demon Emperors could wield thirty percent of Heaven and Earth Power, while Emperor Rank beings could wield nearly one hundred percent, leaving forty percent of his power for Yuan Mao.

Lu Yuan’s Tai Xu Bone Spear withstood Huan Du Qingtian’s poison, while their contest over Heaven and Earth Power convinced the Demon Emperor that he could not win. Lu Yuan stopped the spear and declared Huan Du Qingtian defeated, leaving the Demon Emperor trapped and unable to concede without humiliation.

• Huan Du Qingtian found that his poison had failed to corrode Lu Yuan’s Tai Xu Bone Spear, though he doubted Lu Yuan could truly command one hundred percent of Heaven and Earth Power.
• Huan Du Qingtian judged that Lu Yuan’s greater share of Heaven and Earth Power meant he had no chance of victory, but he could not release the spear or admit defeat without risking his life and reputation.
• Huan Du Qingtian realized he could not prevent news of the confrontation from reaching Dragon Shadow Bookstore, and shifted his focus to surviving, even if seriously injured.
• Lu Yuan stopped the Tai Xu Bone Spear, placed a hand on its shaft, and told Huan Du Qingtian that he had lost.

After defeating Huan Du Qingtian, Lu Yuan presented him with an agreement that would bind the Southern Kingdom to cooperation and other demands. Huan Du Qingtian signed it, and Lu Yuan left his banner behind before accepting an invitation to tour the royal city with Yue Ti Xia.

• Huan Du Qingtian held back from admitting defeat until Lu Yuan declared him the loser, preserving his authority as Southern Kingdom's ruler.
• Lu Yuan arranged a meeting with Huan Du Qingtian and Huan Du Luolan, then handed over an agreement for them to review.
• Huan Du Qingtian questioned the agreement's terms, but Lu Yuan refused to relax them and offered to remove the cooperation clause instead.
• Huan Du Qingtian quickly signed and sealed the agreement, and Lu Yuan used Stone Essence to bind the documents to the stone table.
• Lu Yuan planted his banner beside the table, and Huan Du Qingtian welcomed him to tour the Southern Kingdom's royal city.
• Lu Yuan took Yue Ti Xia's hand and invited her along to see the city.

Huan Du Luolan invited Lu Yuan to the Southern Kingdom Banquet while the Black Fox Lady confronted the Third Young Master of Aolai Country beyond the border. A different Black Fox infiltrated the royal city and attacked Lu Yuan, who captured her and demanded she prove her sincerity.

• Huan Du Luolan invited Lu Yuan to the Southern Kingdom Banquet, and he attended with Yue Ti Xia while warning her that he was not good at socializing.
• Lu Yuan secretly threatened the Black Fox imprisoned in the Jade Teapot as he joined Huan Du Qingtian and the Southern Kingdom demon kings at the banquet.
• The Third Young Master of Aolai Country blocked the Black Fox Lady at the border and refused to let her pursue Lu Yuan, declaring he would kill her to protect himself and the world.
• A Black Fox Girl infiltrated the Southern Kingdom and attacked Lu Yuan in a bamboo grove, but he stopped her and injured her with lightning.
• Lu Yuan introduced himself to the Black Fox Girl, removed a Scarlet Rune from the teapot, and demanded that she show enough sincerity for him to spare her life.

Lu Yuan confronted a newly independent Black Fox avatar and recruited her after demonstrating that he could restrain Black Foxes with magic power. He invited her to look into his past, then reflected on his plans for the coming struggle and the pain he still carried.

• The fox-eared girl revealed that she had broken free from the Black Fox Lady’s control, and Lu Yuan demanded sincerity before she crushed the black fox she had been holding.
• Lu Yuan revealed that he had bound the black fox with a silver rune and explained how magic power could restrain Black Foxes.
• Lu Yuan asked the fox-eared girl to serve him, saying he admired her and saw his former self in her.
• The fox-eared girl asked to see Lu Yuan’s past, and he lowered his mental defenses so she could enter his body.
• Lu Yuan crushed the silver ball and reflected on the role of the Remnants of the Six Kingdoms and the pain he still bore.

After Lu Yuan defeated the King of Ten Thousand Poisons, Chen An mobilized the intelligence department to establish control in the Southern Kingdom while worrying about the strain of the work. Meanwhile, Lu Yuan dealt with the Black Fox who had attached herself to him, and Dongfang Huaizhu received the news of his victory.

• A communications girl translated a coded message announcing that Lu Yuan had defeated the King of Ten Thousand Poisons, startling the department and waking its staff.
• Chen An reprimanded the girls for losing their composure, then ordered his subordinates to establish forces in the Southern Kingdom and assess and promote informants and existing members.
• Chen An reflected on his age, limited cultivation, and heavy workload as he prepared the organization to absorb the Southern Kingdom.
• The Black Fox marveled at Lu Yuan's strange soul, flirted with him, and asked him to give her a name, but he refused and told her to call him Lord or Lu Yuan.
• Dongfang Huaizhu eagerly read a brief message about Lu Yuan's victory while Dongfang Qinlan struggled to stay awake beside her.

Dongfang Qinlan and Dongfang Huaizhu learned that Lu Yuan had fallen in love with a demoness in the Southern Kingdom, and Huaizhu accepted that his power gave him choices she could not control. Far away, Huan Du Qingtian asked Lu Yuan to help fulfill Huan Du Luolan’s wish, but Lu Yuan hesitated because his campaigns left him no time to take a disciple.

• Dongfang Qinlan read the message about Lu Yuan and angrily accused him of pursuing a demoness, while Dongfang Huaizhu defended him.
• Dongfang Huaizhu explained that Lu Yuan’s standing as a Demon Emperor meant the One Qi Dao Alliance could neither punish nor arrest him easily.
• Dongfang Huaizhu admitted that she was now deciding whether to pursue Lu Yuan, though she feared he might not accept her feelings.
• Huan Du Qingtian told Lu Yuan that Huan Du Luolan admired his earlier move and asked him to help fulfill her wish in exchange for a favor.
• Lu Yuan inferred that Huan Du Qingtian wanted him to take Huan Du Luolan as a disciple, but he hesitated because his plans for the human and demon realms left him no time.

Lu Yuan agreed to teach Huan Du Luolan techniques in exchange for her service, while Huan Du Qingtian insisted on offering him a favor as well. As Lu Yuan planned how to secure the Southern Kingdom, he and the Black Fox Girl confronted the limits of their relationship, ending with his promise not to force her into work she refused.

• Lu Yuan accepted Huan Du Qingtian's request to teach Huan Du Luolan, warning that his instruction could be difficult and unreliable, while Huan Du Qingtian settled on offering him a favor in return.
• Lu Yuan mapped strategic points across the Southern Kingdom and planned to tour with Huan Du Luolan, deliver Huan Du Qingtian's decree, and place banners that would let him return to key locations.
• The Black Fox Girl objected to Lu Yuan's plan to use her for covert work, but Lu Yuan did not force her and continued revising his plans.
• After the Black Fox Girl asked whether he was angry and teased him, Lu Yuan warned her not to play with fire and explained that his reaction had partly come from personal reasons.
• Lu Yuan told the Black Fox Girl she did not have to carry out the work she had glimpsed in his thoughts and said he would wait until she was willing to work for him.

Lu Yuan continued teaching Huan Du Luolan how to control poison while considering the possible connection between Black Foxes, Tushan, and traitors inside the Circle. After ordering his forces to avoid the Southern Kingdom’s border, he turned his attention to a new unmarked region and planned to use the reversed tide to pacify the west.

• Lu Yuan reflected on Huan Du Luolan’s slow progress with comprehending the law of poison and admitted to Yue Ti Xia that he had never taught a disciple before.
• Lu Yuan restrained himself from taking his teasing of Yue Ti Xia further, then asked Yuan Mao where the approaching forces had reached.
• Lu Yuan ordered Heavenly Balance and Kai Yang Star to avoid the Southern Kingdom’s border and rendezvous with his unit, fearing that a gap in its defenses could let traitors aid an invasion.
• Lu Yuan deduced that Black Foxes might have originated inside the Circle and decided to seek answers from Tushan.
• Lu Yuan demonstrated to Huan Du Luolan that poison’s proportion mattered more than its form or intensity, and told her to keep experimenting.
• Lu Yuan tapped an unmarked region on the map and declared that he would use the reversed tide to pacify the west.