Chapter Summaries

Chen Yi accepted the Sword Master’s offer to lead an expedition against demon troubles in exchange for a Sword Heart Immortal Peach. After absorbing it under the Sword Master’s guidance, he broke through to the Golden Body Realm, leaving him ready to take command.

• The Sword Master asked Chen Yi to lead an army against demon troubles across the Five Domains, and Chen Yi requested help breaking through his realm.
• Chen Yi persuaded the Sword Master to give him a Sword Heart Immortal Peach, which was normally reserved for disciples seeking to break through to the Martial King Realm.
• The Sword Master explained that he had marked Chen Yi after their meeting in the Eastern Wilderness so he could find him again if needed.
• Chen Yi accepted the invitation and consumed the immortal peach under the Sword Master’s protection.
• After half a month of absorption and guidance from the Sword Master, Chen Yi broke through to the Golden Body Realm.

Chen Yi broke through to the Golden Body Realm and was appointed marshal of the Demon-Extermination Army, tasked with suppressing the Demon Race in the Five Domains. As the army assembled in Divine Soldier City, he learned that the Nine Provinces Cauldron had been stolen by humans and prepared to lead his forces into the war.

• Chen Yi broke through to the Golden Body Realm in Divine Soldier City, drawing the attention of its martial artists and congratulations from Zhuge Zhujin.
• The Sword Master entrusted Chen Yi with command of the rear and gave him a Cloud-Top Flying Boat, a marshal's seal, armor, and banner before returning to the front lines with Zhuge Zhujin.
• Chen Yi asked the Sword Master to test whether Dachun could activate the Nine Provinces Cauldron, but the Sword Master revealed that humans had stolen the cauldron from the Wuji Sword Sect.
• Chen Yi recruited an old monk as his deputy marshal, while the Myriad Souls Banner reminded him that he still needed Earth Veins to improve his cultivation.
• In the sixty-fourth year, when Chen Yi was eighty-two, the Demon-Extermination Army assembled in Divine Soldier City with martial artists from across the Five Domains.

At eighty-three, the aged Marshal led the Demon-Extermination Army across the Five Domains, crushing demon forces and reclaiming occupied cities. After Zhenpin died defending civilians in Jizhou, the enraged Marshal charged barehanded into the demons attacking the city.

• The Martial Artists mocked the Marshal’s age until he killed a Spirit Sea Realm Rhinoceros Demon and routed the force attacking Divine Soldier City.
• The Marshal unleashed the Earth Grade Myriad Souls Banner, defeated the demons, and earned the Demon-Extermination Army’s respect.
• The Marshal led the growing army across the Five Domains, reclaiming cities with intelligence and support from the Dragon Protectorate and Monster Slaying Divisions.
• The Demon Race struck at key departments, and Zhenpin died fighting Spirit Condensation Realm demons while rescuing civilians in Jizhou.
• The Marshal flew into a rage and charged barehanded into the demons attacking Jizhou City, tearing through them.

At eighty-five, the Grand Marshal used a trap to lure the demons into an encirclement and discovered their strategist was Feng Yucheng, who had transformed into a monster. When Feng Yucheng overwhelmed the generals, the marshal entered the battle and drove the demon horde into retreat.

• After Zhenpin died, the marshal felt his approaching end while leading the Demon-Extermination Army through the Central Plains.
• The marshal used three crystal veins as bait to draw the demons into an encirclement at Changhen Slope.
• The marshal recognized Feng Yucheng, a former official who had colluded with demons and now served as their adviser.
• Wang Ping and the other generals attacked Feng Yucheng, but he transformed and drove them back with help from the demons.
• The marshal charged into battle with the Myriad Souls Banner, overwhelming the demons as Feng Yucheng ordered a retreat.

Chen Yi pursued and killed the fleeing Feng Yucheng, but Dragon Person Poison left him dying. After the battle, the Demon Refining Pot’s bizarre Artifact Spirit greeted him, while neither it nor the Myriad Souls Banner knew how to cure the poison or explain Feng Yucheng’s transformation.

• Chen Yi chased Feng Yucheng away from Changhen Slope and overwhelmed him with his Golden Body state and the Myriad Souls Banner.
• Feng Yucheng brought out the Demon Refining Pot, and the two fought using their Immortal Artifacts until Chen Yi cut off Feng Yucheng’s tail.
• The severed tail stabbed Chen Yi with Dragon Person Poison, but his Senior Tomato User trait let him resist it long enough to kill Feng Yucheng.
• Chen Yi realized the poison was still killing him, collected the Demon Refining Pot, and asked its Artifact Spirit and the Myriad Souls Banner for a cure.
• The Demon Refining Pot’s Artifact Spirit said it knew neither how to detoxify Chen Yi nor how Feng Yucheng had become a monster.

Chen Yi learned how Feng Yucheng obtained the Demon Refining Pot and died in the simulation, then discovered Shen Jia had found him in reality with news of Li Lingyue. Shen Jia revealed that Li Lingyue became Empress and had searched for Chen Yi for years, but she had sacrificed herself at the Cangqiong Ridge front line.

• The Demon Refining Pot explained how Feng Yucheng received it from the Four-Eyed Spirit Monkey, then asked Chen Yi to become its master while bickering with the Myriad Souls Banner.
• Chen Yi questioned the Myriad Souls Banner about its past and memorized its account before the Dragon Person Poison overtook him.
• Chen Yi awoke in a military tent, where Shen Jia told him Li Lingyue had sent her with a letter and medicine that restored her youthful appearance.
• Shen Jia explained that Li Lingyue had awakened her Sealed Saint Body, become Empress, and helped Chen Yi's family while searching for him.
• Shen Jia told Chen Yi that Li Lingyue had sacrificed herself at the Cangqiong Ridge front line.

Chen Yi’s simulated life ended after he read Li Lingyue’s last letter and learned how she had risen to become Empress while searching for him. The simulation awarded him its inheritances, while real Chen Yi remained an ordinary young man in the Golden Body Realm, facing an uncertain future.

• Chen Yi reflected on the devastating war at Cangqiong Ridge, which had killed the Empress, the Sword Master, Dagan’s emperor, and many other powerful figures.
• Chen Yi asked Shen Jia about her cultivation, and she said she had reached the Spirit Sea Realm but did not expect to attain Martial King.
• Shen Jia left the tent, and Chen Yi opened Li Lingyue’s letter, which recounted her escape from an arranged marriage, her rise to power, and her campaign to reclaim the Central Plains.
• Chen Yi read Li Lingyue’s farewell and died as the Demon-Extermination Army soldiers mourned him.
• The simulation ended and awarded Chen Yi memories, Golden Body Realm cultivation, terms, and martial arts; the narration clarified that his real future remained uncertain.

After the third simulation, Chen Yi returned to reality with Golden Body Realm cultivation and more entry slots. He decided to retrieve the Myriad Souls Banner before confronting Feng Yucheng, whose betrayal and threat the guidance mission required him to stop.

• Chen Yi absorbed the cultivation and memories from his third simulation, reaching Golden Body Realm Level One and gaining twelve entry slots.
• He reviewed the guidance mission, which tasked him with disrupting Feng Yucheng’s cooperation with the Demon Race or killing him.
• Chen Yi considered the consequences of killing White Cloud County’s Chief Officer and decided to use the Myriad Souls Banner to help handle Feng Yucheng.
• Using what he learned in the simulation, Chen Yi estimated the banner’s location and planned a five-to-six-month round trip.
• Chen Yi decided to leave the next day to find the Myriad Souls Banner before the Patrol Inspector arrived.

Chen Yi prepared to leave on a months-long journey to find the Myriad Souls Banner in Qianzhou, accepting protective artifacts from Shen Qingshan and arranging care for Dachun. He rode out of White Cloud County on a horse with a faint demonic aura, intending to take the evil banner into his own custody.

• Chen Yi persuaded Chen Yun to let him travel, and Shen Qingshan gave him a spear and a heart-protecting mirror.
• Chen Yi suggested Shen Jia as his niece's name, then left to visit Dachun at Yuelai Inn and paid for the inn staff to care for him.
• Chen Yi sensed demonic aura at the horse market and bought the black horse that emitted it.
• Chen Yi gathered travel supplies and rode out of the city toward Wu'an Prefecture in Qianzhou, where the Myriad Souls Banner was corrupting Martial Artists to repair itself.

Two months after leaving, Chen Yi reached Wu'an Prefecture and tracked the Myriad Souls Banner to Goose City, where it was trying to recruit the Zhao brothers. After its attempt to tempt Chen Yi failed, he declared himself the only suitable master for the banner.

• Chen Yi traveled to Wu'an Prefecture, relying on his demonic-blooded horse and continuing to cultivate along the way.
• Chen Yi learned that the Myriad Souls Banner had been looking for a new master near Goose City and headed there.
• Zhao Long and Zhao Hu met at their father's grave, where the Myriad Souls Banner emerged and offered to restore their family's fortunes.
• Zhao Long and Zhao Hu fought over the banner, and the Myriad Souls Banner watched with amusement.
• Chen Yi appeared beside the banner, resisted its black mist, and told it to come with him.

Chen Yi forced the Myriad Souls Banner to submit, bonded with it, and killed Zhao Long before refusing the banner’s plan to slaughter Goose City. The Black Horse then spoke, startling Chen Yi and the banner.

• Chen Yi beat the Myriad Souls Banner until it agreed to recognize him as its master, and he completed the attunement ritual.
• Zhao Long killed Zhao Hu, then demanded that Chen Yi hand over the banner; Chen Yi burned Zhao Long to ash and refined his soul into the banner.
• The Myriad Souls Banner urged Chen Yi to massacre Goose City for souls, but Chen Yi said they would kill only the Demon Race and people who deserved death.
• The Black Horse knelt before the banner and begged Chen Yi not to kill it, revealing that it could speak.

Chen Yi accepted the timid Black Wind as his mount and taught him an External Cultivation technique while traveling toward White Cloud County. When a familiar demon’s aura appeared ahead on the river, Chen Yi sped toward a luxurious pleasure boat to confront it.

• Chen Yi learned that Black Horse was an intelligent demon and renamed him Black Wind, allowing him to remain his mount on the condition that he hide his ability to speak.
• Chen Yi taught Black Wind Reckless Bull Strength during their journey, and they later boarded a small pleasure boat to travel downstream along the Qing River.
• Myriad Souls Banner urged Chen Yi to find an Earth Vein for a breakthrough, but Chen Yi warned it that he could replace it with the Demon Refining Pot.
• Chen Yi sensed a familiar demonic aura on a larger pleasure boat, steadied his own vessel, and accelerated toward it.
• Chen Yi recognized the demon as Fatty Fish and declared that he would be the first honored guest in his banner.

Chen Yi killed a Golden Body Realm Fish Demon that had attacked a pleasure boat, then captured its soul for the Myriad Souls Banner. He met the Qianzhou King’s son, who could not secure the official help Chen Yi wanted but offered to take him to White Horse City.

• The Fish Demon overturned a pleasure boat and began devouring its passengers.
• Chen Yi smashed the Fish Demon out of the water, beat it to death, and took its soul into the Myriad Souls Banner as a Soul Slave.
• Chen Yi roasted some of the Fish Demon's meat and returned to the riverbank, where Black Wind and the Qianzhou King's son had reached shore.
• The Qianzhou King's son offered Chen Yi a banquet, but admitted his father would not use his authority to help capture a Chief Officer of the Monster Slaying Division.
• The Qianzhou King's son invited Chen Yi to White Horse City to repay him for saving his life.

Chen Yi traveled with Li Chengqian, who repaid him with money, cultivation resources, and a Storage Ring before arranging for an Earth-tier spirit artifact to be forged. Chen Yi departed White Horse City with Black Wind, while Li Chengqian played a farewell song from the shore.

• Chen Yi learned that Li Chengqian had once been the heir apparent but had deliberately ruined his prospects to survive the struggle within the Prince's Mansion.
• Li Chengqian bought Chen Yi a boat, gave him silver notes and cultivation resources, and slipped his Storage Ring onto Chen Yi's finger.
• Chen Yi asked for a military-flag spirit artifact, and Li Chengqian introduced him to Zhou Wuliang of the Hundred Refining Sect.
• Chen Yi gave Zhou Wuliang the blueprint, and Zhou promised to forge the artifact within a month using the sect's materials.
• Li Chengqian saw Chen Yi off at the docks, then played a pipa and sang as Chen Yi prepared to sail.

Chen Yi broke into a concealed Demon Race cavern in White Cloud Ridge, killed its inhabitants, and persuaded Tiger Boss to surrender to the Monster Slaying Division. After returning to White Cloud County, Chen Yi offered Shen Qingshan a plan to expose officials colluding with demons.

• Tiger Boss ordered the demons of White Cloud Ridge to hide underground until Patrol Inspector Zhang Miao left the county.
• Chen Yi smashed through the cavern wall and killed the demons rushing out while the Myriad Souls Banner collected their souls.
• Tiger Boss surrendered when Chen Yi offered him a choice between the Monster Suppressing Pagoda and fighting to the death.
• Several days later, Zhang Miao arrived in White Cloud County and refused the gifts sent to his posthouse.
• Chen Yi gave Shen Qingshan a letter listing Demon Race hideouts and proposed a plan to expose the county officials’ collusion with demons.

Chen Yi killed Feng Yucheng after ambushing him at White Cloud Ridge, then discovered a mysterious Demon Seed in his remains. Feng Yucheng explained that it had controlled him since birth, and the chapter left its purpose unexplained.

• Chen Yi repeated his plan from the simulation as Shen Qingshan and the wrongfully accused victims' families exposed County Magistrate Cao and Feng Yucheng.
• Feng Yucheng fled to White Cloud Ridge, found Tiger Boss and the other demons dead, and tried to escape.
• Chen Yi ambushed Feng Yucheng with the Shattering Star Wave Finger, destroyed his body, and captured his soul in the Myriad Souls Banner.
• Chen Yi found an unbreakable black bead among Feng Yucheng's remains and learned it was a Demon Seed.
• Feng Yucheng said the Demon Seed had controlled him on full-moon nights since birth, forcing him to draw a pattern and say, "Anchor Point in Place!"

Chen Yi discovered that Black Wind could consume the Demon Seed, which gave the horse a burst of power and caused him to evolve. With Feng Yucheng’s crimes exposed through Tiger Boss’s testimony, Zhang Miao cleared the wrongful convictions in White Cloud County, while Chen Yi slipped away and prepared for his fourth simulation.

• Chen Yi imprisoned Feng Yucheng’s soul in the Myriad Souls Banner and let Black Wind try eating the Demon Seed.
• Black Wind swallowed the Demon Seed, gained power over black flames, and ran swiftly around the mountain.
• Chen Yi sent Tiger Boss to surrender at White Cloud County Town and testify about Feng Yucheng, County Magistrate Cao Xiu, and their dealings with demons.
• Zhang Miao questioned Tiger Boss, recognized that a powerful expert had helped uncover the conspiracy, and overturned the wrongful verdicts.
• Zhang Miao released the imprisoned victims and arranged compensation for the families of those already executed, while Chen Yi left the crowd and prepared for his fourth simulation.

Zhang Miao found the demons of White Cloud Ridge dead and ordered a search for the fugitive Feng Yucheng, while Chen Yi waited for the county case to settle before beginning another simulation. After claiming his rewards, Chen Yi equipped a trait that concealed his cultivation and began a new simulation, which pointed him toward the unsolved Luoding Village massacre.

• Zhang Miao found the demons at their reported locations dead, confirmed the officials had concealed the scale of the demon threat, and ordered a wanted poster for Feng Yucheng.
• Shen Qingshan praised Chen Yi for exposing the case and offered to report his merits for an official promotion, but Chen Yi showed little interest in joining the Monster Slaying Division.
• Chen Yi suggested Zhang Miao would not ask where the accusation letter came from after seeing the evidence, and decided to move out of Shen Qingshan's home.
• Chen Yi claimed the Cold Gleam Overlord Spear and gained the purple trait Disguise as a Pig to Eat the Tiger, which hid his cultivation from inspection.
• Chen Yi began a new simulation, which recapped the White Cloud County case and set his next journey toward uncovering the Luoding Village massacre.

Chen Yi left home with Dachun to search for the Nine Provinces Cauldron in the Eastern Wilderness. After gaining the Golden Legendary Entry Slingshot, he tested it by firing a White Term at a tree, triggering an unexplained change.

• Chen Yi said farewell to Chen Yun, who packed his luggage and asked him to return for New Year's Eve dinner.
• Chen Yi told Chen Yun to send Shen Jia to a Martial Dao sect when she was older, then set out with Black Wind toward the Eastern Wilderness to seek the Nine Provinces Cauldron.
• Chen Yi invited Dachun to travel with him, and Dachun agreed because he wanted to help Chen Yi.
• At age twenty, Chen Yi extracted the Golden Legendary Entry Slingshot, which let him fire acquired terms as ammunition.
• Chen Yi replaced Serious Punch with Entry Slingshot and fired the White Term Pointy Head at a tree, where the scattered light was followed by a sudden change.

Chen Yi traveled with Dachun and Black Wind to the buried Nine Provinces Cauldron, then discovered its seal repelled him. He left Dachun poised to touch the cauldron, hoping he might be its Artifact Spirit and able to break the seal.

• Chen Yi tested a White Term that blasted a tree away, then continued his journey and retrieved the Myriad Souls Banner's new vessel in White Horse City.
• Chen Yi crossed Cangqiong Ridge with Dachun and Black Wind, earned the title Demon Dread again in the Eastern Wilderness, and reached the Nine Provinces Cauldron.
• Chen Yi dug three thousand meters underground and exposed part of the cauldron, but its red halo blasted him away when he touched it.
• Chen Yi realized he could not break the seal alone, so he asked Dachun to touch the cauldron while the Myriad Souls Banner prepared to protect him.
• Dachun accepted the possibility that he was the cauldron's Artifact Spirit and said returning to that form might be the proper path.