Chapter Summaries

Wang Wu endured a ten-year Petrification Divine Curse alongside Wolf Bu'er and their companions, using the time to make deductions until the Companion Demonic Vine freed him. After recovering, he raised five bloodline secret techniques into level 6 divine abilities, gaining powerful defensive effects as he prepared to face what lay ahead.

• The Snow Wolf General petrified Wang Wu, Wolf Bu'er, Bear Sixteen, Ape Bupuo, Niu Huanxi, Zhu Wuhua, and Niu Xiaocao, leaving Wang Wu grieving but determined to save the Snow Wolf General.
• While trapped, Wang Wu spent years deducing qi-and-blood techniques, the Ice-Fire Escape Technique, and the Five Aggregates Spirit Array, then abandoned his attempt to develop the Seven Demon Core system.
• With six months left in the curse, Wang Wu discovered that the awakened Companion Demonic Vine could devour the Petrified Marrow, and he let it gradually free him.
• The Companion Demonic Vine consumed all the petrifying power and began advancing, while Wang Wu emerged in a hidden cavern containing the stone statues of his companions.
• Wang Wu used spiritual liquid to recover, then raised Endless Vitality, Qi Condensation Transformation, Swift and Decisive, Turning the Tide, and Bronze Head Iron Bones to level 6 divine abilities.

Wang Wu endured a month of brutal tempering to raise his Destined Demonic Weapon to Heavenly Sixth-grade, then realized Grandpa Tree was searching for him and met his projection. Grandpa Tree offered him a role in the Southern Wilderness Demon Race’s imminent attack on a human black iron mine, while explaining that he had once tried to help Snow Wolf General migrate.

• Wang Wu used sword artifacts, Snow Wolf General’s claw, and Petrified Marrow to temper his right foreclaw to Heavenly Sixth-grade over the course of a month.
• Wang Wu realized the Myriad Transformation Wishful Demon Leaf could let Grandpa Tree sense him and inferred that Grandpa Tree was looking for him.
• Wang Wu left the petrified cave and put on the Myriad Transformation Wishful Demon Leaf, whereupon Grandpa Tree’s projection appeared before him.
• Grandpa Tree told Wang Wu that the Southern Desolation Left Demon Emperor planned to attack a human black iron mine within three days and offered him the post of Bear Vanguard and a five-hundred-li forested mountain range as a fief.
• Wang Wu asked why Grandpa Tree had not helped Snow Wolf General sooner, and Grandpa Tree revealed that he had found it twenty years earlier and tried to arrange its migration to the Southern Wilderness.

Wang Wu learned from Grandpa Tree about the Stone Demon's petrification, the human-Demon conflict, and the failing chances of unity. He accepted the Southern Desolation Left Demon Emperor's recruitment and received a jade seal to travel south, while Grandpa Tree warned him that divisions among demons could undermine their cause.

• Grandpa Tree told Wang Wu that only a Heavenly First Rank Destined Demonic Weapon or Destined Flying Sword could break the Stone Demon's petrification, and explained why the Stone Demon had become so powerful.
• Grandpa Tree recounted the succession of conflicts among Monster Clans, Essence Clans, demons, and humans, and described the human forces defending the Black Iron Great Mine.
• Wang Wu asked about the Great Witch Priest, and Grandpa Tree called the priests remnants of the fallen Dragon Clan era and urged the demons to unite against humanity.
• Wang Wu accepted the Southern Desolation Left Demon Emperor's recruitment, and Grandpa Tree gave him a jade seal to take south five thousand li to meet the West Sea Demon Race.
• Grandpa Tree warned Wang Wu that demon factions often turned against one another and said his efforts to persuade them were meant only to buy time for his clan.

Wang Wu joined the Southern Wilderness Demon Race to seek help reclaiming Snow Wolf General’s Petrified Body and received a fief and the title of Bear Vanguard from the Southern Desolation Left Demon Emperor. He surveyed the Southern Wilderness forces and discovered that many Third-grade Great Demons had been named vanguards as well.

• Wang Wu decided to seek refuge with the Southern Desolation Left Demon Emperor so he could try to reclaim Snow Wolf General’s Petrified Body.
• A squad of sea-patrolling demons escorted Wang Wu to the Southern Wilderness legion’s hidden underwater base.
• The Southern Desolation Left Demon Emperor welcomed Wang Wu, gave him a Mountain Patrolling Seal and a five-hundred-li fief, and appointed him Bear Vanguard.
• Wang Wu accepted the position, aware that he would have to prove himself in battle and survive to justify the benefits he received.
• Wang Wu inspected the Southern Wilderness’s Third-grade Great Demons and found that 132 had two Demon Cores, 18 had three, and 19 others bore Vanguard Banners like his.

Wang Wu learned that the Human Race might use a Divination Formation to predict battlefield actions and target him, so he decided to focus on defense for the coming battle. The Left Demon Emperor’s quartermaster offered him a choice of defensive magical treasure, and Old Turtle began explaining the available options.

• Wang Wu incorporated Grandpa Tree’s information into his attribute panel and learned that the Human Race might use a Divination Formation to analyze fighters and coordinate decapitation attacks.
• Wang Wu concluded that he needed more defense and asked a Third-grade Great Demon whether he could buy a defensive artifact.
• The Great Demon told Wang Wu that personnel had to remain dormant but that, as the vanguard, he could claim one defensive magical treasure from Old Turtle.
• Old Turtle explained the grades and limitations of the treasures, then recommended the semi-synthetic Ape Duke’s Skull for its powerful cold aura and defensive effect.

Wang Wu inspected the Ape Duke's Skull and learned about different kinds of treasures from the Old Turtle. After discovering the Old Turtle needed pure spirit energy to treat its damaged shell, Wang Wu tried to bargain for a second treasure and left to find a way to raise the money, prompting the Old Turtle to drag him back.

• The Old Turtle explained the differences between Innate, Acquired, bloodline, and sentient treasures to Wang Wu.
• Wang Wu chose the Ape Duke's Skull for its ability to conduct Ice Spirit Energy and selected a Fire Poison Great General's remains as a second treasure.
• The Old Turtle demanded one million dou of refined spirit energy or five million dou of unrefined spirit energy for the Fire Poison remains, while Wang Wu offered five hundred thousand.
• Wang Wu learned from an appraisal that the Old Turtle needed pure spirit energy to ease its damaged shell, then pretended to leave when the Old Turtle refused to bargain.
• Wang Wu asked another Great Demon about black-market dealings and claimed he needed to sell things, but the Old Turtle grabbed him and hauled him back into the Turtle Shell.

Wang Wu used his supposed kinship with Old Turtle to trade Water Essence Spirit Pills for Blood Qi Secret Spirit Beads and Fire Essence Spirit Pills. He began tempering the Ape Duke's Skull with Blood Qi inside the Turtle Shell, and its quality rose as it shrank.

• Old Turtle claimed to be Wang Wu's Third Great-Grandpa and tried to learn how he had obtained Water Essence Spirit Pills.
• Wang Wu sold Old Turtle ten Water Essence Spirit Pills for five million Spirit Energy Dou, then traded more pills for thirty-six Blood Qi Secret Spirit Beads and four Fire Essence Spirit Pills.
• Old Turtle warned Wang Wu that he needed a tremendous amount of Blood Qi to reforge the Ape Duke's Skull and Fire Toxin Remnant Body within three days.
• Wang Wu began tempering the Ape Duke's Skull inside the Turtle Shell, consuming Blood Qi Secret Spirit Beads as the skull became a blood-red sphere.
• As Wang Wu's Blood Qi exceeded five hundred thousand points, the Ape Lord illusion and Great Snow Mountain vanished, while the Ape Duke's Skull rapidly improved in quality and shrank.

Wang Wu refined Ape Duke's Skull and the Fire Toxin Remnant Body into Innate Treasures and integrated them with his Ice Fire Spirit Pills, greatly strengthening his shields. Three days later, the allied demon armies assembled to attack a human city, and the Left Demon Emperor ordered Wang Wu's forces to break its formations.

• Wang Wu spent 1.5 million points of Qi and blood to refine Ape Duke's Skull into a Third-grade Innate Treasure that stored Ice Spirit Energy and rapidly formed Ice Shields.
• Wang Wu refined the Fire Toxin Remnant Body with 1.6 million points of Qi and blood, then absorbed both treasures into his Ice Fire Spirit Pills and demonstrated twenty shields forming at once.
• Wang Wu traded his remaining Blood Qi Secret Spirit Beads to nearby Great Demons for ordinary spiritual energy, then spent three days preparing his Ice and Crimson Flame Spirit Energy reserves.
• The Left Demon Emperor's Giant Teleportation Array brought three million demon soldiers from the Southern Wilderness, and Wang Wu received standardized half armor and a Vanguard Battle Banner.
• Wang Wu hurried to the Left Demon Emperor's banner as the allied forces assembled, where the Left Demon Emperor assigned their armies to attack the human city's formations and appointed Turtle Second Son as marching chief superintendent.

Wang Wu and the Southern Wilderness Legion advanced into battle against Human forces, where the First-rank combatants' clash caused devastating casualties. As the demons began breaking through the Human formations, Wang Wu learned his vanguard unit's role was to clear the way for the forces behind them.

• Old Turtle led the Southern Wilderness Legion east while three Demon Emperors and Grandpa Tree's branch fought two Human Heavenly Realm First Rank Great Cultivators, causing destruction and heavy casualties.
• Left Demon Emperor deflected a sword aura aimed at the legion, and Wang Wu worried about the Human reinforcements expected twelve hours later.
• Old Turtle ordered the vanguard generals to break the formations, and Wang Wu followed the other demons toward the Human defenses.
• Wang Wu and the other vanguards cleared mines and Divine Talisman Restrictions while enduring attacks from the ground formation.
• Old Turtle sent fifteen Third-grade Great Demons to engage the Human Second-grade cultivators after Wang Wu's group opened a path.
• Wang Wu realized the vanguard cleared obstacles so the rapid-response forces and legion behind them could advance freely.

Wang Wu and the Vanguard Generals fought through the humans’ increasingly powerful formations as the battle for the Black Iron Great Mine escalated. After the northern line collapsed and the Heavenly Realm fighters clashed, Old Turtle sent Wang Wu’s enlarged force back into a desperate assault.

• As the Vanguard Generals reached the enemy’s optimal range, Rapid Reaction Sword Formations and artifact-grade Spirit Light Heavy Crossbows overwhelmed Wang Wu until he activated the Mountain Patrolling Seal and joined the Crimson Battle Banner Formation.
• Old Turtle rotated in reinforcements and supplied the returning Vanguard Generals with Blood Qi Secret Spirit Beads, while the intensifying attacks forced larger groups to cycle into battle.
• Wang Wu saw a violet barrage destroy the northern attack line and realized the humans had concealed a third Heavenly Realm First Rank Great Cultivator.
• A hidden Demon Emperor joined the high-level battle, drawing the human Great Cultivators into a four-against-three stalemate.
• Old Turtle sent Wang Wu and thirty-six Great Demons back to the front, where Wang Wu stacked Ice-Fire Shields and covered his comrades until Old Turtle ordered him to stop wasting resources and lead the charge.

Wang Wu led the Demon vanguard through the Human cultivators’ formation fire, shielding the Great Demons with his massive Ice-Fire Shield. A second-grade Human cultivator pierced his defenses and heart with a lightning-fast flying-sword attack, then escaped by teleportation, leaving Wang Wu badly wounded but alive.

• Wang Wu enlarged his Ice-Fire Shield into a two-thousand-meter iceberg and led the vanguard to within one hundred li of the Human formation.
• The Human cultivators concentrated their attacks on Wang Wu’s exposed force, and Old Turtle sent reinforcements to strengthen the Blood-colored Great Flag Formation.
• Fifteen second-grade Human cultivators targeted Wang Wu, while the Great Demons clustered around him and shared the assault’s damage.
• A second-grade Human cultivator broke through the defenders and used a hidden thread of sword qi to kill three Great Demons instantly before piercing Wang Wu’s Level 6 Golden Body and heart.
• Wang Wu ignited the weakened flying sword with Yin Fire, but the attacker split it into ice- and fire-attributed swords and escaped by teleportation.

Wang Wu’s demon vanguard broke through the human formations with help from Old Turtle’s forces, but a human cultivator’s enormous fireball nearly killed him. After the Demon Race advanced and the battlefield was reduced to ruins, Wang Wu left the fight to recover Snow Wolf General’s Petrified Body.

• Wang Wu’s vanguard endured concentrated human attacks, broke a ground formation, and advanced under Old Turtle’s protection.
• Old Turtle granted the demons three seconds of invincibility, then the Great Demons charged a combined attack that destroyed the sky formations.
• A Second-grade Great Demon absorbed the blood qi of more than two million soldiers and overturned the human formation as the Demon Race surged forward.
• A human cultivator struck Wang Wu with a fireball formed from a hundred Sixth-grade Fire Spirit Pills, destroying his shields and forcing him underground.
• Wang Wu escaped two Earth Evasion cultivators by smashing the surrounding ground, then entered Passive Concealment to seek Snow Wolf General’s Petrified Body.

Wang Wu recovered the Snow Wolf General’s petrified body and stole black iron from beneath a human city while the Demon Races plundered the mine and withdrew. He escaped with his companions through a teleportation formation and arrived at a vast port city jointly built by the South Sea Demon Race and Southern Wilderness Demon Race.

• Wang Wu found the Snow Wolf General’s petrified body trapped beneath a colossal human city and realized the site was prepared as a trap for him.
• Wang Wu ground through the black iron block, filled his Storage Pouches with iron, freed the Snow Wolf General, and left the trapped box undisturbed.
• Wang Wu answered Old Turtle’s repeated orders to retreat and carried Bear Sixteen, Ape Bupuo, Wolf Bu’er, Old Ox, Little Mountain Pig, and Big Sister Niu away with him.
• Wang Wu and the fleeing demon army escaped through an underground teleportation formation as the Great Demons dismantled it to prevent pursuit.
• Wang Wu arrived at a huge, wall-less port city jointly built by the South Sea Demon Race and Southern Wilderness Demon Race.

After the Southern Wilderness campaign, Wang Wu returned to the royal city and faced the accounting of the black iron spoils, explaining that he had left the group to retrieve Snow Wolf General’s petrified body. The Left Demon Emperor then summoned him and praised his exceptional performance, recognizing the unusual way he had fused his Spirit Pills.

• Old Turtle ordered the demons to register their battle merits and surrender the required portions of their black iron spoils.
• Wang Wu was excused from the inspection pot because he had joined midway, and he presented Snow Wolf General’s petrified body as the reason he had left the group.
• Wang Wu admitted he had obtained some black iron but claimed he had taken little, and Old Turtle let him go without pressing the matter.
• The Demon Emperors returned, and the Divine Martial Demon Emperor praised Wang Wu for his role in the battle.
• The Left Demon Emperor called Wang Wu forward and identified his Ice Fire Spirit Pills and fusion of innate and acquired power as the source of his remarkable strength.

Wang Wu earned the Left Demon Emperor’s favor and received a peacock feather for protection, while the two Demon Emperors discussed his unexpected importance and the danger the Immortal Alliance posed. The Left Demon Emperor left to heal its injuries, asking the Divine Martial Demon Emperor to watch over Wang Wu.

• The Left Demon Emperor offered Wang Wu an additional reward, and Wang Wu declined it, pledging loyalty and asking to stay under its protection.
• The Left Demon Emperor gave Wang Wu a peacock feather and sent him to his new fief near Xuanwu King City.
• After Wang Wu left, the Left Demon Emperor spat blood, and it and the Divine Martial Demon Emperor discussed how his battlefield success had saved their plans.
• The Divine Martial Demon Emperor confirmed that Yu Jinyan existed and recounted her connection to Xiong Wu and the events near Moonfall Lake.
• The Left Demon Emperor revealed that the old tree spirit had predicted Xiong Wu could become the Right Demon Emperor and had urged them to shelter him for three hundred years.
• The Left Demon Emperor feared the Immortal Alliance might attack the Southern Wilderness to eliminate Wang Wu, then asked the Divine Martial Demon Emperor to protect him while it healed.

Lu Wuchen dealt with the deadly poison trap that killed thousands in the looted port city while blaming Xiong Wu, and Wang Wu realized the Immortal Alliance was unlikely to target him for now. Wang Wu reached his fief in the Southern Wilderness, intending to secure its resources and cultivate before the Alliance could turn south.

• Lu Wuchen scolded Yue Shan for losing to Xiong Wu, then announced that the Immortal Alliance would focus on capturing the Snake Emperor before attacking the Southern Wilderness.
• A poison cloud erupted in the city, killing thousands, and Yue Shan and Five Poisons were caught in the trap intended for Xiong Wu.
• Yue Shan blamed Xiong Wu for the poison, and Lu Wuchen vowed to kill Xiong Wu while reprimanding Five Poisons.
• Wang Wu reasoned that the Immortal Alliance was occupied with the Snake Emperor and the Dark Alliance, giving him time to cultivate, but he remained wary of its supreme treasure and future southern campaign.
• Wang Wu used the Mountain Patrolling Seal to locate his fief and traveled north until the seal shone, marking his arrival.

Wang Wu took possession of a vast Southern Wilderness fief and discovered that taxes and military expenses left him with little income, while demon territories suffered from dwindling Spiritual Essence. Princess Lark revealed that she wanted him to marry her and eventually become Right Demon Emperor, but after he refused, she offered him a generous cultivation allowance and left her maidservant as his chief steward.

• Wang Wu inspected his fief and was welcomed by its demon soldiers and three former Heavenly Demon Guards, who introduced themselves as Leopard Big Foot, Wolf Second Egg, and Eagle Three Hairs.
• Wang Wu learned from the gorilla-like maidservant that taxes, upkeep, and the Guards’ allowances reduced his daily net income to just thirty-five thousand dou of Spirit Energy.
• Leopard Big Foot, Wolf Second Egg, and Eagle Three Hairs explained that Spiritual Essence was dwindling in demon lands, and Eagle Three Hairs urged Wang Wu to raid human territory for its greater wealth.
• The gorilla-like maidservant proposed that Wang Wu marry Princess Lark, have five children, and accept her support in becoming Right Demon Emperor; Wang Wu realized the maidservant was Princess Lark in disguise.
• A proper maidservant arrived and said Princess Lark would provide up to five hundred thousand dou of Spirit Energy per day, but Wang Wu refused to marry her because he already had a wife.
• Princess Lark laughed, said her father had not issued a marriage decree, and left her maidservant with Wang Wu as his chief steward.

After securing the petrified Snow Wolf General and his companions, Wang Wu hid away to plan his cultivation during the coming century of peace. He chose to pursue the Seven Demon Core System and realized he might advance his foundational techniques by adapting the Five Aggregates Spirit Array to his Qi-Blood circulation.

• Wang Wu stored Princess Lark's daily spiritual energy contributions and moved Snow Wolf General and the six others to a scenic valley to recover from petrification.
• Wang Wu hid in a distant rock crevice and reviewed his status, weighing the Five Essences Golden Body against establishing the Seven Demon Core System.
• Wang Wu decided that increasing his lifespan through the Seven Demon Core System mattered more than cultivating the Five Essences Golden Body or additional Spirit Pills.
• Wang Wu considered how to advance his Internal Breathing Technique and Qi-Blood Circulation Tempering Technique despite having little Bloodline Evolution remaining.
• Wang Wu realized he could try using Qi-Blood circulation to simulate the Five Aggregates Spirit Array and began considering the experiment.

Wang Wu began reconstructing the Five Aggregates Spirit Array through his Five Demon Cores, while Bear Sixteen awakened and reunited with him in the Southern Wilderness. The Companion Demonic Vine also advanced and freed the others, setting off Wolf Bu’er’s fury at Bear Sixteen over the Snow Wolf General’s death.

• Wang Wu raised his Spiritual Resonance Talent to level 15 and decided to build a Five Aggregates Demon Core System rather than pursue the Seven Demon Core route.
• Wang Wu spent a month testing qi-blood filament matrix units anchored to his five demon cores, completing one unit that could reproduce nearly one-tenth of the Five Aggregates Spirit Array.
• Wang Wu went to Snow Wolf Valley to collect his spiritual energy and found Bear Sixteen awake beside the Snow Wolf General’s Petrified Body.
• Wang Wu identified himself as Xiong Wu, gave Bear Sixteen a Southern Wilderness identity mark, and offered it a place to settle in his mountain forest.
• The Companion Demonic Vine awakened as a third-rank demonic vine, gained petrification abilities, and unsealed Ape Bupuo, Wolf Bu’er, Old Ox, Little Pig, and Niu Xiaocao.
• Wolf Bu’er mourned the Snow Wolf General and accused Bear Sixteen of causing its mother’s death and harming the Snow Wolf Clan.

Wang Wu learned the truth behind Wolf Bu'er and his friends’ suffering, then left them to recover in the valley and turned his attention to life in his fief. While visiting a neighboring demon lord’s celebration, he discovered that the humans captured in raids were being auctioned and used to produce Half-Demons.

• Ape Bupuo explained how Lu Wuchen’s disciple Five Poisons controlled Bear Sixteen, exposed the Snow Wolf Clan’s migration, and left Wolf Bu'er grieving for the clan and Auntie.
• Wang Wu told Ape Bupuo, Old Ox, and Little Mountain Pig to stay in the valley and promised to take up the revenge they had abandoned.
• The maid reported Wang Wu’s invitations and explained the fief’s Spirit Infusion Cauldron; Wang Wu drained its five million dou of spirit energy with his small cauldron.
• Wang Wu spotted his lords heading to General Iron Waist’s banquet and had the maid guide him to the neighboring fief, though he insisted he would only look around.
• The maid revealed that General Iron Waist had captured thirty thousand humans and planned to auction them, explaining that human men were often used to produce Half-Demons.