Chapter Summaries

Lin Bai revealed himself as Qing Luo at the East City gate and addressed the panicked martial artists of Arid Dragon City, stopping General Zhong from leading them into a desperate escape. As the Demon Race watched the city near collapse, the three commerce presidents recognized Qing Luo as their best hope for holding it together.

• Lin Bai disarmed General Zhong, learned he was a direct descendant of Azure Dragon Commerce, and stopped him from leading martial artists out of Arid Dragon City.
• Lin Bai announced that he was Qing Luo, an inner disciple of the Eternal Devil Sect and the new master of Sword Hiding Hermitage, then called on the martial artists to listen.
• Di Lin and an old Demon Race man saw the crowd gather at the East City gate and feared Qing Luo could disrupt their expectation that the city would fall without a fight.
• The presidents of Qing Luo Commerce, Treasure Seeking Commerce, and Sky Beam Commerce received urgent pleas from the city’s families and gates as the crisis worsened.
• After hearing Qing Luo speak, the president of Azure Dragon Commerce urged the other presidents to recognize that Qing Luo was the only person capable of guiding Arid Dragon City.

The three commerce presidents praised Qing Luo for guiding Arid Dragon City’s resistance and agreed to broadcast his words across the city. Lin Bai warned the panicked residents that fleeing would expose them to the demons outside, leaving their fate uncertain as his warning reached the four districts.

• The presidents of Qing Luo Commerce, Treasure Seeking Commerce, and Sky Beam Commerce credited Qing Luo with persuading the city to resist, anticipating the demons’ target, and protecting the City Protection Formation.
• The three presidents decided to activate the City Protection Formation and broadcast Qing Luo’s voice throughout Arid Dragon City.
• Lin Bai addressed the city as Qing Luo and reminded the martial artists that Arid Dragon City, Alarming Sun City, and Azure Thunder Sect were humanity’s last strongholds in Mountain Province.
• Lin Bai warned that Alarming Sun City and Azure Thunder Sect were likely overcrowded and that demons outside Arid Dragon City would ambush anyone who fled.
• Lin Bai cautioned that breaking the city gates and formation would let the outside demons invade, and urged the martial artists to remain inside rather than take the Road to the Yellow Springs.

Lin Bai rallied the terrified martial artists of Arid Dragon City by warning them that escape meant death and promising that the Eternal Devil Sect would send reinforcements within a month. The city’s people united to fight the Twenty-Seven Demons, and Lin Bai’s attack on Di Lin began their charge.

• Lin Bai announced that Eternal Devil Sect experts would reach Mountain Province within a month, lifting the martial artists’ despair.
• Di Lin ordered Lin Bai killed and rushed toward the East City gate with the old man.
• Lin Bai urged the martial artists to stay in Arid Dragon City, resist the demons, and fight until reinforcements arrived.
• Lin Bai rallied millions of martial artists, and fighters across the city recovered their resolve and charged the Demon Race.
• Di Lin and the old man reached the wall, where Lin Bai wounded Di Lin with the Azure Sea Torrent strike and the united martial artists surged toward them.

Lin Bai rallied Arid Dragon City’s martial artists to resist the Twenty-Seven Demons, forcing the demons to retreat and restoring order. He and his companions settled at Fuyun Estate, where Zhong Yuan confirmed the city had survived the crisis.

• Millions of martial artists attacked Di Lin and the old man, forcing them to retreat, while warriors across the city drove the Twenty-Seven Demons back.
• The three commercial organizations dispatched Dao God realm experts to hunt demons and guard the city gates, and Lin Bai explained to his companions how he had helped the city’s people regain their resolve.
• Lin Bai and his companions went to Azure Dragon Commerce, where its president arranged a new residence for them.
• The Twenty-Seven Demons withdrew from Arid Dragon City, and residents formed patrols to watch for their return.
• At Fuyun Estate, Zhong Yuan told Lin Bai that the demons had vanished again, and Lin Bai explained why they could not withstand the united city.

After the Twenty-Seven Demons withdrew from Arid Dragon City, Lin Bai advised Zhong Yuan on how to prepare the city for another attack and let his companions rest at Fuyun Estate. The chapter left Di Lin and the other demons hiding in an alley as they considered whether their plan had failed.

• Lin Bai told Zhong Yuan to thank his father for Fuyun Estate and urged the Three Great Commerce Halls to strengthen the city’s defenses, recruit martial artists, and search for demons until Eternal Devil Sect experts arrived.
• Zhong Yuan left to report Lin Bai’s advice, and Lin Bai sent his companions to rest at the estate.
• Sun Yao explained why she had followed Su Kong, and Lin Bai told her he did not blame her for questioning his decision.
• Lin Bai reflected on how Sun Yao and Liu Jiangxue had developed different judgment through their experiences.
• After Arid Dragon City’s martial artists began patrolling for demons, Di Lin and the other Twenty-Seven Demons appeared in a dark alley and questioned whether their plan had failed.

After their failed attempt to take Arid Dragon City, Di Lin concluded that Qing Luo was the key to the city's resistance and decided to have him killed. The Twenty-Seven Demons agreed to follow Di Lin, despite the risk of provoking the Eternal Devil Sect and exposing the Eternal Demon Alliance.

• Di Lin reassured the Twenty-Seven Demons after their failed operation and they discussed whether the Eternal Devil Sect would send support to Shan Province.
• Di Lin urged the demons to capture Arid Dragon City within a month, before the Eternal Devil Sect's experts could arrive.
• Di Lin argued that Qing Luo had united the city's forces and that killing him would leave them divided and vulnerable.
• The demons warned that killing Qing Luo could bring the Eternal Devil Sect's wrath and expose the Eternal Demon Alliance.
• Di Lin accepted responsibility for the plan to kill Qing Luo, and the Twenty-Seven Demons agreed to carry it out.

Lin Bai feared Arid Dragon City would fall before the Eternal Devil Sect’s experts arrived and realized a night crow had exposed a breach in Fuyun Estate. Di Lin and twenty-six other Demons appeared to pressure Lin Bai into stopping his interference, leaving him to confront the Demon Race’s envoy.

• Lin Bai told Liu Jiangxue he feared Arid Dragon City’s hastily united defenders would fail against the Demon Race and worried about the enemy’s next move.
• After hearing a night crow inside the supposedly sealed Fuyun Estate, Lin Bai ordered Liu Jiangxue to take Liu An'an and alert Zhou Xi, Sun Yao, and Zhong Yuan.
• Twenty-seven shadowy figures appeared around the lakeside pavilion, and Di Lin introduced himself as a representative of the Demon Race.
• Di Lin asked Lin Bai to stop using unexpected tactics in Mountain Province, claiming the Eternal Devil Sect would not interfere.
• Lin Bai challenged Di Lin’s claim that he was merely a minor demon and alluded to the Mirage Demon, while concealing that he knew of the Eternal Demon Alliance.

Di Lin confronted Lin Bai at Fuyun Estate and demanded that he stay there for the next half month while the Demon Race carried out its plan to seize Arid Dragon City. Lin Bai agreed, and Di Lin left two experts to watch over him as the Demon Race prepared for the arrival of the Eternal Devil Sect.

• Zhou Xi, Sun Yao, Liu Jiangxue, and Liu An'an returned to the pavilion after the Mirage Demon's mist made them circle back to Fuyun Estate.
• Di Lin explained that the Twenty-Seven Demons had trapped the estate and told Lin Bai that the Demon Race intended to seize Arid Dragon City within half a month.
• Di Lin asked Lin Bai to remain in Fuyun Estate and not interfere, promising that the Demon Race would not harm him or those around him.
• Lin Bai agreed to stay, explaining that he had only helped defend Arid Dragon City because the Demon Race's advance threatened his ability to leave.
• Di Lin said he would leave two experts in the western pavilion to monitor Lin Bai, and Lin Bai welcomed them to stay.

Lin Bai accepted that he could no longer do more to protect Arid Dragon City and planned to wait in Fuyun Estate while the city faced the Demon Race. He left the city's fate to its defenders and hoped they could hold the City Protection Formation until the Eternal Devil Sect arrived.

• Di Lin ordered Kang Tu and Evil Soul to watch Lin Bai and prevent him and the martial artists of Arid Dragon City from interfering with the Demon Race's plans for half a month.
• Lin Bai told Zhou Xi and the others that they should remain peacefully in Fuyun Estate until they could leave in half a month.
• Lin Bai explained that Arid Dragon City lacked powerful experts and could rely only on its City Protection Formation and its Dao God realm martial artists against the Twenty-Seven Demons.
• Lin Bai concluded that Arid Dragon City had to defend the City Protection Formation to the death and endure until the Eternal Devil Sect's experts arrived.

While Lin Bai remained under watch in Fuyun Estate, the Twenty-Seven Demons devastated Treasure Seeking Commerce, prompting Azure Dragon Commerce to pull back its forces and accept further civilian deaths. Zhong Yuan discovered that demons had taken control of Fuyun Estate, but two of them appeared and trapped him and Zhou Xi.

• Lin Bai secretly watched for the two demons in Fuyun Estate while remaining cut off from news outside.
• Zhong Yuan told his father that the Twenty-Five Demons had attacked Treasure Seeking Commerce, killing experts and looting its treasury.
• The president of Azure Dragon Commerce ordered experts recalled to defend the associations and city gates, abandoning the hunt and leaving the city's martial artists exposed.
• Zhong Yuan went to Fuyun Estate, where Zhou Xi claimed Lin Bai was still in secluded cultivation and said the city would have to rely on its own fate.
• Zhou Xi's reaction led Zhong Yuan to realize demons had seized Fuyun Estate, but two demons appeared and surrounded him and Zhou Xi.

Lin Bai called on Li Mojun to intervene after Kang Tu and Evil Soul threatened Zhong Yuan and Zhou Xi, and Li Mojun killed the two Demon Kings with divine thunder. Li Mojun then revealed that the Eternal Devil Sect had sent a massive force to reinforce Shanzhou, leaving Arid Dragon City with powerful reinforcements on the way.

• Kang Tu and Evil Soul threatened to kill Zhong Yuan and Zhou Xi, but Lin Bai confronted them and counted to three.
• Li Mojun descended from the sky and killed Kang Tu and Evil Soul with divine thunder.
• Lin Bai and the others greeted Li Mojun, who explained that he had come to Shanzhou after receiving Lin Bai's letter.
• Li Mojun said the Eternal Devil Sect had sent thousands of Dao Venerable- and Dao Immortal-level experts and more than five hundred Dao God Realm experts to reinforce Shanzhou.
• Li Mojun revealed that he had brought seven experts who had cultivated the Great Purity Dao Fruit Realm to Arid Dragon City, and Zhong Yuan joyfully thanked the sect.

After the Twenty-Seven Demons were ordered to retreat from Arid Dragon City, two Great Purity Dao Fruit elders of the Eternal Devil Sect ambushed them and began hunting them down. Lin Bai and Li Mojun went to witness the pursuit, while Li Mojun questioned Lin Bai about the Eternal Demon Alliance.

• Di Lin learned that Li Mojun and the Eternal Devil Sect's reinforcements were approaching, so he ordered the demons to scatter and retreat.
• Ke Yu and the Seventeenth Elder of the Eternal Devil Sect trapped Di Lin's group in an alley and killed several demons as they fled.
• Di Lin escaped while one demon sacrificed himself to hold off the Seventeenth Elder, who pursued Di Lin.
• Li Mojun sensed the battle and went with Lin Bai to investigate, while Lin Bai sent Zhong Yuan to spread news of the reinforcements and left Zhou Xi to protect Sun Yao, Liu Jiangxue, and the others.
• Li Mojun asked Lin Bai whether the Eternal Demon Alliance truly existed as a hidden force within the Eternal Thirteen Provinces.

Lin Bai warned Li Mojun that the hidden Eternal Demon Alliance could be plotting to seize the Eternal Thirteen Provinces, possibly with the Evil Moon Sect's backing. After the crisis in Arid Dragon City was suppressed, Li Mojun headed to the main battlefield while Lin Bai returned to the Azure Dragon Commerce, where a woman teased him about his capture by the demons.

• Lin Bai told Li Mojun that the Eternal Demon Alliance could command demons across the Eternal Thirteen Provinces and might be preparing to overthrow the Eternal Devil Sect.
• Li Mojun ordered Third Elder Ke Yu to take the captured Di Lin back to the sect for strict interrogation.
• Li Mojun left with seven elders for Alarming Sun City and the Azure Thunder Sect, while Lin Bai went to the Azure Dragon Commerce.
• The leaders of Arid Dragon City welcomed Lin Bai and learned that Li Mojun had already departed.
• A woman in the meeting hall teased Lin Bai about being placed under house arrest in Fuyun Estate, and Lin Bai searched the crowd for her.

Lin Bai told the leaders of Arid Dragon City that the Eternal Devil Sect had exterminated the Twenty-Seven Demons, ending the city’s immediate crisis. As he prepared to return to the sect, the three great commercial organizations thanked him with treasures while Qin Yuyan stayed behind to do business in the recovering cities.

• Lin Bai reunited with Qin Yuyan in Arid Dragon City and told the commercial leaders that the Eternal Devil Sect elders had killed the Twenty-Seven Demons, including Di Lin.
• Warriors found the demons’ remains and hung their heads above the city gates, restoring peace to Arid Dragon City.
• Qin Yuyan remained in Arid Dragon City to trade with the commercial organizations and later planned to visit Alarming Sun City and the Azure Thunder Sect, while Lin Bai refused to accompany her.
• Lin Bai told Zhou Xi, Sun Yao, and the others that they would return to the Eternal Devil Sect the next day.
• The presidents of the three great commercial organizations thanked Lin Bai and presented him with the Violet Sword, the Twelve Celestial Star Orbs, and the Tranquil Radiance Inner Armor.

Lin Bai returned to the Eternal Devil Sect with Zhou Xi, Sun Yao, Liu Jiangxue, and Liu An'an after receiving three treasures from the presidents of Arid Dragon City's commercial guilds. After resting, he reassured Liu Jiangxue that she and her sister could stay and cultivate at the Sword Hiding Hermitage, then sensed an unexpected visitor at its protection formation.

• The presidents of the three commercial guilds gave Lin Bai the Violet Sword, the Twelve Celestial Star Orbs, and the Tranquil Radiance Inner Armor, which he accepted.
• Lin Bai and the others left Arid Dragon City, traveled through several provinces, and returned to the Eternal Devil Sect after seven or eight days.
• Lin Bai entrusted Liu Jiangxue and Liu An'an to Zhou Xi, then slept for three days at the Sword Hiding Hermitage.
• Lin Bai found Liu Jiangxue troubled by feeling like an outsider and promised she and Liu An'an could remain safely at the hermitage and later petition to join the sect.
• Lin Bai sensed someone striking the Sword Hiding Hermitage's protection formation and wondered why she had come.

Jiang Xuansu told Lin Bai that Li Yumen had gone missing after trying to find her and visiting the Sword Hiding Hermitage. Lin Bai suspected Young Master Lu and the Bone Race were involved, but concluded that Li Yumen was probably still alive because of the ten million Devil Orbs he had taken.

• Jiang Xuansu struck the Sword Hiding Hermitage’s Mountain Protection Formation with one palm before entering to speak with Lin Bai.
• Jiang Xuansu explained that Li Yumen had gone missing after being turned away from Immortal Buddha Grotto and leaving the Lian Province Alliance.
• Jiang Xuansu said Li Yumen had seemed troubled before vanishing and had visited the Sword Hiding Hermitage several times while Lin Bai was away.
• Lin Bai and Jiang Xuansu suspected that Young Master Lu and the Bone Race might have targeted Li Yumen because Lin Bai had ruined their transaction.
• Lin Bai concluded that Li Yumen was likely alive if he had fallen into Young Master Lu’s hands, leaving Jiang Xuansu astonished.

Lin Bai and Jiang Xuansu searched for Li Yumen and visited Senior Sister Yi Mei, hoping she could explain his disappearance. Yi Mei warned them away from the people who had taken him, then collapsed from a grievous Sword Qi injury that Lin Bai began to treat.

• Lin Bai explained that the Bone Clan and Young Master Lu were likely keeping Li Yumen alive to learn where their stolen treasure had gone, and Jiang Xuansu agreed to help confront them.
• Lin Bai and Jiang Xuansu went to the Lian Province Alliance and found Senior Sister Yi Mei's residence.
• Yi Mei recognized that they had come to ask about Li Yumen and warned Lin Bai that he had provoked dangerous people and was unlikely to survive.
• Yi Mei suddenly vomited blood and collapsed, and Jiang Xuansu identified that she was injured.
• Lin Bai found destructive Sword Qi tearing through Yi Mei's meridians and used his own Sword Qi to cut it apart and separate its remaining force from her body.

Lin Bai learned that Wang Qi of the Heng Province Alliance had likely led the black-clad men who abducted Li Yumen, after Senior Sister Yi Mei identified the Infant Frost Sword Qi that had injured her. Lin Bai headed to the Heng Province Alliance with Jiang Xuansu, openly challenging its Dao cultivators below the Dao Venerable realm to force it to release Li Yumen.

• Lin Bai shattered the Sword Qi inside Senior Sister Yi Mei and treated her injuries while he and Jiang Xuansu waited for her to wake.
• Senior Sister Yi Mei told Lin Bai that black-clad men had defeated her friends and abducted Li Yumen, and that their leader used the Infant Frost Sword Qi associated with Wang Qi.
• Senior Sister Yi Mei warned Lin Bai not to provoke Wang Qi or the Heng Province Alliance, but Lin Bai left with Jiang Xuansu to demand Li Yumen's release.
• On the way, Lin Bai made a banner challenging every Dao cultivator below the Dao Venerable realm in the Heng Province Alliance, alarming the martial artists who saw it.

Lin Bai carried a banner into Heng Province Alliance territory and publicly challenged its Dao Realm warriors, wagering Sword Hiding Hermitage against the Alliance's willingness to leave it alone. Vice-Alliance Leader Wu confronted him, and Lin Bai accused the Alliance of sending assassins after Sun Yao and Zhou Xi.

• Lin Bai told Jiang Xuansu that he suspected the Heng Province Alliance or Young Master Lu had abducted Li Yumen, and said he intended to settle matters with the Alliance.
• Lin Bai carried a banner declaring his challenge through sect territory, drawing thousands of onlookers, while Jiang Xuansu secretly followed.
• At the Heng Province Alliance's entrance, Lin Bai challenged every warrior below the Dao Sovereign Realm and wagered Sword Hiding Hermitage against the Alliance's future conduct.
• Vice-Alliance Leader Wu arrived with several hundred protectors, and Lin Bai accused the Heng Province Alliance of sending warriors to assassinate Sun Yao and Zhou Xi.

Lin Bai challenged the Heng Province Alliance, wagering the Sword Hiding Hermitage to secure safety for his friends and family from further harassment. Vice-Alliance Leader Wu accepted the challenge, and Li Zhaoxing arrived as the first opponent, boasting that he would defeat Lin Bai in three moves.

• Lin Bai revealed that the Heng Province Alliance had tried to assassinate his friends and family in Shan Province, prompting martial artists to discuss the alliance’s conduct.
• Lin Bai rejected Vice-Alliance Leader Wu’s offer to let the matter go and wagered the Sword Hiding Hermitage against the alliance’s promise to leave his friends and family alone.
• The alliance’s guardians urged Vice-Alliance Leader Wu to accept, confident that their Dao Realm fighters would defeat Lin Bai before sunset.
• Vice-Alliance Leader Wu accepted Lin Bai’s challenge and set sunset as the deadline, with Lin Bai choosing the space beneath the battle flag as the arena.
• Vice-Alliance Leader Wu summoned Li Zhaoxing, who arrived and declared that he would defeat Lin Bai in three moves.