Chapter Summaries

The Demon Race broke the duel agreement and launched a full-scale assault on Abyss City, overwhelming its defenders. As Garrison Commander Zhou ordered civilians to retreat, Su Chen faced a powerful Fifth-Turn Marrow-Piercing Demonic Beast.

• Two Black-Robed Men from the Heavenly Devil Palace ambushed the Peak Master of Flying Cloud Peak while he fought the Flood Python, and the Demon Race began its full-scale counterattack.
• The Peak Master of Flying Cloud Peak, Elder Chen, and General Han fought five Sixth Turn enemies but were driven back as Abyss City's defensive formation faltered.
• Garrison Commander Zhou ordered civilians and the wounded to evacuate and told the Martial Masters to retreat once the civilians were safe.
• Su Chen killed several Fifth-Turn Bone-Generating Demonic Beasts, drawing the attention of a Fifth-Turn Marrow-Piercing Demonic Beast.
• Su Chen drew on the warmth from the Red Bird on his chest and charged at the Marrow-Piercing Demonic Beast.

Elder Chen sacrificed himself to buy time for Abyss City’s evacuation, while Su Chen and the surviving defenders retreated as the city fell. The Demon Race’s forces expanded with three ancient Seventh Turn demons joining the war, and the Yu Kingdom sought aid as more cities were lost.

• Elder Chen held off five Sixth Turn opponents and sent the Flying Cloud Peak Master and General Han away while Garrison Commander Zhou ordered Abyss City to prepare to retreat.
• Elder Chen self-detonated, injuring the five opponents and killing or wounding many demonic beasts, while the city’s defenders and civilians fled.
• Su Chen retreated with severe injuries after failing to kill the Marrow-Piercing Realm demonic beast, and Abyss City fell.
• The Yu Kingdom, Zhou Kingdom, and Three Origins Sect received news of Abyss City’s fall and the heavy losses among its defenders.
• Three more major Demon Race powers joined the war, bringing three ancient Seventh Turn demons, and three cities fell in a single day.
• The Yu Kingdom redoubled its efforts to seek aid from the major powers as the Demon Race’s offensive intensified.

Li Xiao traveled to Cangzhou to find assassins suitable for implanting Sub-insects and used an underground gambling den to draw them out. After overpowering three assassins who confronted him, he ordered them to take him to their leader to discuss a deal.

• Li Xiao arrived in Cangzhou, a lawless prefecture controlled in the shadows by an assassin organization, and sought a suitable assassin to parasitize with a Sub-insect.
• Li Xiao entered an underground gambling den in East City and used Wind Listening and Qi Observing to assess the gamblers.
• Li Xiao won a large amount of silver by hearing the dice, then intimidated three Third-Turn Martial Masters who tried to stop him from leaving.
• Three masked assassins confronted Li Xiao outside the gambling den and demanded that he surrender his winnings or his life.
• Li Xiao sent the assassins stumbling back with his True Qi and ordered them to take him to their leader; their leader agreed to receive him.

Li Xiao sought out Shadow to find a powerful assassin suitable for parasitism, but he could not afford the fee to hire them. He decided to join the organization and left with a Silver Rank trial mission to assassinate an elder of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

• Li Xiao learned that the small assassin group in Cangzhou was too weak and forced its leader to reveal Shadow’s location.
• Li Xiao found Shadow’s hidden valley and tried to hire an assassin to kill a target matching his own description, hoping to draw a suitable candidate to him.
• When the old man demanded ten thousand taels of gold, Li Xiao left and decided to join Shadow instead.
• Li Xiao showed the old man his Fifth-Turn Bone-Generating strength and learned that newcomers had to complete a ranking mission.
• Li Xiao chose a Silver Plate mission to assassinate a peak Fifth-Turn Bone-Generating Outer Sect elder of the Heavenly Sword Sect, received a temporary silver Token, and set out.

Li Xiao investigated Zhou Hong and the Heavenly Sword Sect, then attacked Zhou Hong at the Refined Iron Mine with a long-range shot. Zhou Hong escaped the initial blast, leaving the two men poised for a fight.

• Li Xiao learned that Zhou Hong was a powerful Outer Sect elder who protected his abusive grandson, Zhou Hao, and decided to carry out his assassination mission.
• Li Xiao traveled to Yue Prefecture, studied the mine guards’ routine, and chose to strike while Zhou Hong was on duty.
• Li Xiao infiltrated the Refined Iron Mine, captured a disciple, learned which stone house held Zhou Hong, and killed the disciple.
• Li Xiao fired a True Qi-charged arrow from seven hundred zhang away, demolishing much of Zhou Hong’s stone house.
• Zhou Hong sensed danger and leapt out through a window, but the explosion hurled him across the ground; he rose and inspected his left arm.

Li Xiao killed Zhou Hong and escaped Liu Cheng by claiming to be a Shadow assassin. After completing his mission, he received Silver Rank status and was introduced to a Shadow branch, where he surveyed its masked members.

• Li Xiao shot Zhou Hong with arrows, leaving him mortally wounded, then fought Liu Cheng and escaped after identifying himself as Shadow’s Life-Chasing.
• The Heavenly Sword Sect searched for Zhou Hong’s killer but found no leads, while Zhou Hao was killed after his grandfather’s death.
• Li Xiao returned to Shadow’s valley, surrendered his temporary Token, and received a Silver Plate Token from the old man.
• Three days later, a masked Fourth Turn Martial Master led Li Xiao through a hidden passage to Shadow’s underground branch.
• The guide explained the branch’s ranks and rules, and Li Xiao used Wind Listening and Qi Gazing to survey the masked members.

Li Xiao spent ten days searching Shadow Sect’s branch for assassins with both heavy killing intent and flourishing fortune, but found no suitable candidates. A Gold Plate assassin then assigned Li Xiao to a team mission against Green Bamboo Sect, which was set to begin in three days.

• Li Xiao observed the assassins and learned the branch’s rules, but found no one with the fortune and destiny he wanted for a Sub-insect host.
• The leading Gold Plate assassin announced a mission to steal a Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure from Green Bamboo Sect, guarded by two Fifth Turn Marrow-Piercing Realm elders.
• The leader offered one hundred thousand taels of gold and a Fifth Turn Barrier Breaking Pill, then selected Li Xiao and five other Silver Rank Assassins for the mission.
• The team was ordered to depart in three days, with four assassins assigned to lure away Elder Chen and three to infiltrate Green Bamboo Sect.
• Li Xiao returned to his stone room and cultivated with Origin-Returning Pills for two days while continuing to watch for suitable assassins.

Li Xiao and the assassins planned to steal Green Bamboo Sect’s treasure, but the Sect’s Qi Cultivators poisoned the mountain mist to weaken the intruders and set them against the Sect’s prepared fighters. As the battle began, Li Xiao stayed hidden, waiting for his chance.

• The assassin leader outlined Green Bamboo Sect’s defenses and assigned Li Xiao to keep Elder Han occupied with his archery while the others pursued the treasure.
• Other factions also approached the Sect, while its elders met with two Qi Cultivators who revealed they had spread news of the treasure to lure intruders into a trap.
• Poisonous mist spread across Vast Mountain, disrupting the intruders’ True Qi; Li Xiao took an Antidote Pill and remained mostly unaffected.
• The Qi Cultivators ordered Elder Han and Elder Song to wait until the intruders had weakened one another before cleaning up the survivors.
• Green Bamboo Sect’s disciples, protected by antidotes, attacked the weakened intruders, while Li Xiao watched from behind a rock without joining the fight.

Li Xiao watched as the battle outside the Green Bamboo Sect spiraled into a three-way melee after five Zombies appeared, while the Sect’s defenders and the assassins struggled to survive. Two hidden Fifth Turn Masters slipped into the Sect to seize its treasure, and Li Xiao remained concealed, watching the Qi Cultivators and the forest.

• The lead Gold Rank Assassin and two Silver Rank Assassins attacked Elder Song, the Deacons, and the Green Bamboo Sect Disciples as Li Xiao waited behind a rock and swallowed an Antidote Pill.
• Five Fifth Turn Zombies emerged from the mist and began killing fighters from both sides, prompting Elder Han to order everyone to attack the Zombies.
• Elder Han and Elder Song fought the Zombies while two Qi Cultivators restrained others, secretly watching the woods for the Zombies’ controller.
• Two concealed Fifth Turn Marrow Birth Realm Masters rushed through the Sect gates to reach its treasure as the fighting kept Elder Han and Elder Song from pursuing them.
• Li Xiao stayed hidden with Po Jun ready, watching the two Qi Cultivators and the woods at the battlefield’s edge.

Two Rogue Cultivators stole the Green Bamboo Sect’s treasure, but Li Xiao pursued the one carrying it and seized the wooden box for himself. As he vanished into the fog, the battle at the Sect’s mountain gate had become a living hell.

• The Rogue Cultivators searched the Green Bamboo Sect, found the wooden box in the Founder's Hall, and fled with it.
• Elder Han and Elder Song spotted the thieves but remained pinned down by their opponents, while the Gold Plate killer signaled Li Xiao to retreat.
• Li Xiao ignored the failed mission and pursued the eastbound Rogue Cultivator, drawn by the man’s stronger Fortune and Destiny.
• Li Xiao shot the Rogue Cultivator through the leg, recovered the wooden box, and disappeared into the fog.
• The two Qi Cultivators and two elders at the Green Bamboo Sect’s mountain gate found they could no longer retreat.

Li Xiao escaped the Demonic Path’s search for the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures by hiding underwater and drifting downriver. He reached safety after nightfall, while the Black-Robed Men continued searching Vast Mountain.

• Three men in White Bone Masks rang their bells, driving the zombies into a frenzy and forcing the survivors to flee.
• Li Xiao used Wind Listening to locate a river and jumped in to evade the Demonic Path men pursuing him.
• A Black-Robed Man searched the riverbank but found no sign of Li Xiao and left to search elsewhere.
• The three men in White Bone Masks identified the Rogue Cultivator’s fatal arrow wound and chased after Li Xiao, passing the riverbank without discovering him.
• Li Xiao emerged from the river after nightfall, dried his robes, and kept running until he could no longer hear his pursuers.

Li Xiao recovered in a hidden cave and discovered that the black box contained a powerful Sarira from a Fifth-Turn Round Marrow Realm monk. After learning that the Green Bamboo Sect had been wiped out and the assassin branch had vanished, he began testing whether the Sarira’s Buddha Qi could help him cultivate the Life-Slaying Amitabha Sword Scripture.

• Li Xiao hid in a vine-covered cave, used an Origin-Returning Pill to recover his True Qi, and slept until morning.
• Li Xiao opened the wooden box and recognized the golden sphere inside as a Sarira left by a Fifth-Turn Round Marrow Realm monk.
• The Sarira’s lingering Divine Intent showed Li Xiao visions of an ancient temple and a White-Browed Old Monk, so he put it away.
• Li Xiao traveled to a nearby city and heard that the Green Bamboo Sect had been completely wiped out, then found the assassin branch abandoned.
• Li Xiao considered how to use the Sarira and began circulating the Life-Slaying Amitabha Sword Scripture to absorb its Buddha Qi.

Li Xiao cultivated the Life-Slaying Amitabha Sword Scripture with the Sarira’s Buddha Qi, then returned to Willow City as a Fifth Turn Martial Master. He reunited with his aging father and learned that Li Yu had married Wang Hai before his family welcomed him home.

• Li Xiao used Buddha Qi from the Sarira to form a golden qi sword and began cultivating the Life-Slaying Amitabha Sword Scripture.
• Li Xiao trained with the Sarira for several days until the Scripture’s proficiency surpassed five hundred.
• Li Xiao returned to Willow City and found Li Youde resting in the family courtyard.
• Li Xiao reunited with Li Youde, who told him that Li Yu had married Wang Hai after he left.
• Li Yu arrived with Wang Hai and Wang Jinshan, then greeted Li Xiao and worried that he had grown thinner.

Li Xiao reunited with his family and friends in Willow City, revealing his Fifth Turn cultivation and skill as an Alchemist. He shared Pills and Cultivation Methods to help them grow stronger, leaving the family gathered happily at home.

• Li Xiao greeted Wang Hai and joined Li Yu, Li Youde, Wang Jinshan, and Hu Feng for a lively reunion dinner.
• Li Xiao revealed that he had reached Fifth Turn and was valued by the Three Origins Sect, astonishing everyone at the table.
• Li Xiao gave Pills to his family and friends, including beauty Pills for Li Yu, and said he had refined them himself.
• Li Xiao told the group he could refine Fifth-Turn Pills, leaving Wang Jinshan and Wang Hai stunned.
• After discussing the Demon Race's invasion and the danger facing Willow City, Li Xiao gave Wang Jinshan, Wang Hai, and Hu Feng powerful Cultivation Methods.
• Li Xiao watched his family and friends share a warm evening together and felt at peace being home.

Li Xiao visited the struggling Iron Wire Fist Martial Arts School and found Wu Tieshan facing harassment from Ma Hong’s One Yang Finger Martial Arts School. When Li Xiao arrived during another confrontation, he offered to fight in the school’s defense.

• Li Xiao left the Li Family Old Residence early to visit the Iron Wire Fist Martial Arts School and its Exotic Insect.
• Wu Tieshan struggled to keep the school afloat as disciples left, income fell, and Ma Hong’s school repeatedly provoked them.
• One Yang Finger disciples injured several Iron Wire Fist disciples and challenged Wu Tieshan to fight, knowing he was weaker than Ma Hong.
• Li Xiao entered the courtyard and told Wu Tieshan to leave the rest to him.

Li Xiao returned to the Iron Wire Fist martial arts school and drove off the One Yang Finger school’s challenge with a single punch. He told Wu Tieshan the truth about Qian Li and offered him a place in the Three Origins Sect, but Wu Tieshan chose to stay and preserve the school, leaving Li Xiao to promise he would protect it.

• Li Xiao defeated Liu Chuang with one punch, and Yang Zhi led the One Yang Finger disciples away in fear.
• Wu Tieshan welcomed Li Xiao inside, where Li Xiao recounted Qian Li’s past, his death, and Li Xiao’s rise to the Fifth Turn.
• Wu Tieshan acknowledged Qian Li’s betrayal but said he would always remember the kindness Qian Li had shown him.
• Li Xiao offered to help Wu Tieshan join the Three Origins Sect, but Wu Tieshan declined so he could guard the Iron Wire Fist martial arts school.
• Li Xiao agreed to handle the One Yang Finger school and protect the martial arts hall from further trouble.

Ma Hong led the One Yang Finger Martial Arts School to confront the Iron Wire Fist Martial Arts School and demand an apology for Liu Chuang’s injuries. Li Xiao refused to be intimidated, and the chapter ended as Ma Hong challenged him to fight.

• Yang Zhi reported that an unknown young man had defeated Liu Chuang in one strike, prompting Ma Hong to investigate.
• Ma Hong led Yang Zhi and more than a dozen disciples to the Iron Wire Fist Martial Arts School and demanded an apology.
• Wu Tieshan challenged Yang Zhi’s account, and Li Xiao stepped forward, offering to apologize to Ma Hong personally.
• Ma Hong tried to unsettle Li Xiao by invoking his connection to the Prince of Nanyang’s household, but Li Xiao remained unmoved.
• Ma Hong challenged Li Xiao to a fight and erupted with his Fourth Turn Mid-Stage aura, and Li Xiao asked whether he was sure.

Li Xiao defeated Ma Hong and drove the One Yang Finger Martial Arts School out of Willow City, then reassured Wu Tieshan that the Three Origins Sect would protect them. He gave Wu Tieshan pills and cultivation manuals before discovering Qian Li’s hidden basement, where he used his Essence Blood to nourish the withering Exotic Insect Zhi.

• Ma Hong attacked Li Xiao, who shattered his finger and defeated him with a single punch.
• Li Xiao ordered Ma Hong to leave Willow City, and the One Yang Finger Martial Arts School fled after Ma Hong recognized him.
• Wu Tieshan warned Li Xiao that Ma Hong had ties to the Prince of Nanyang’s household, but Li Xiao said the Three Origins Sect had his back.
• Li Xiao gave Wu Tieshan five Viscera Refining Pills and several cultivation manuals for him and the martial arts school.
• Li Xiao found a hidden basement beneath Qian Li’s study and discovered Zhi floating in a vat of dark red liquid.
• Li Xiao fed Zhi drops of his Essence Blood, and the plant’s withered leaves began to recover.

Li Xiao returned to Willow City, recorded and began bonding with the Exotic Insect Zhi, and spent his days with his family while guiding his companions’ cultivation. Meanwhile, Ma Hong left Willow City defeated, and Huangfu Yu visited Wang Chongshan after his breakthrough to the Fifth Turn, likely seeking to recruit him.

• Li Xiao recorded Zhi and learned that feeding it his flesh and blood would establish a bond that could influence those who consumed it.
• Li Xiao returned to the Li Family and turned away visitors while spending time with Li Youde and Li Yu and teaching Wang Hai, Wang Jinshan, Hu Feng, and Wu Tieshan.
• Wu Tieshan broke through to the Fourth Turn after taking three Viscera Refining Pills, though he had not grasped Iron Wire Fist’s Martial Way True Intent.
• Li Xiao fed Zhi his Essence Blood, restoring and enlarging it as their bond and its fusion progress increased.
• Ma Hong, wounded and resentful after Li Xiao defeated him, ordered his carriage to return to the Prefecture City.
• Huangfu Yu, the Third Prince, arrived at Wang Chongshan’s celebration after Wang’s breakthrough to the Fifth Turn, and Wang suspected he intended to recruit him.

Huangfu Yu tried to recruit Wang Chongshan after his breakthrough, but Wang Shichong helped his father avoid committing to the Third Prince. As Huangfu Yu’s efforts stalled, Ma Hong learned of his frustration and sought an audience, hoping to improve his standing by helping him.

• Wang Chongshan accepted Huangfu Yu’s valuable congratulatory gifts while carefully avoiding any promise of allegiance.
• Wang Shichong deflected Huangfu Yu’s probes at the banquet, leaving the Third Prince unable to recruit either father or son.
• After Huangfu Yu departed, Wang Shichong told his father that neutrality in the succession struggle would not protect their family forever.
• Ma Hong learned that Huangfu Yu’s approaches to the Wang Family had failed and decided to use the setback as an opportunity.
• Huangfu Yu agreed to receive Ma Hong after a servant announced his request for an audience.