Chapter Summaries

Li Xiao forced the city’s patriarchs and sect masters to join the fight against the Demon Race, then waited at the city gate for reinforcements. As dawn broke, Shi Xin and a wounded group of Martial Masters and monks watched the Prefecture City from a distant mountain.

• Zhou Heming challenged Li Xiao’s authority and refused to lead his people out against the Yakshas.
• Li Xiao defeated Zhou Heming with his fists, legs, and Sword Qi, then warned the assembled leaders that they had to fight the Demon Race.
• Li Xiao displayed a Talisman bearing the power of a Sixth Turn expert and ordered the leaders to gather at dawn; none dared refuse.
• At dawn, Li Xiao, Zhao Hong, Guardian Chen, and the city’s fighters assembled at the gate, where Li Xiao waited for the reinforcements.
• Shi Xin watched the Prefecture City from a distant mountain with several dozen wounded but resolute Martial Masters and monks.

Shi Xin led a group of survivors toward the besieged Prefecture City, where Li Xiao opened the formation and led the city’s remaining Fifth Turn cultivators out to meet them. The rescuers became trapped in a fierce battle, and as Li Xiao fought three Fifth Turn Demonic Beasts, a commotion behind the enemy horde signaled the arrival of reinforcements.

• Shi Xin told the retreating survivors that Mr. Li would open the formation, and urged them to charge into the Prefecture City alive.
• Li Xiao spotted the approaching group, opened a gap in the formation, and led Guardian Chen, Zhao Hong, and other Fifth Turn cultivators out to meet them.
• Li Xiao and the others fought through the Demonic Beasts, but the vast horde surrounded them and blocked their advance.
• More than a dozen Fifth Turn Demonic Beasts joined the battle, and Zhao Hong warned Li Xiao that the group could not hold out much longer.
• Li Xiao evaded attacks from three Fifth Turn Demonic Beasts and countered them with his martial techniques and Po Jun.
• A commotion rose behind the Demonic Beasts, and someone on the city wall shouted that reinforcements had arrived.

Li Xiao and the defenders struggled to reach two groups of reinforcements trapped in the demonic beast horde. Shi Xin displayed overwhelming strength against three Marrow Birth Realm beasts, then held his ground against a Round Marrow Realm Yaksha as the battle continued.

• An old monk and an Iron Wire Peak elder led more than twenty wounded fighters toward the Prefecture City, but more than a dozen Fifth Turn demonic beasts surrounded them.
• Zhao Hong urged Li Xiao to reinforce the trapped group, and Li Xiao, Guardian Chen, and the others fought through the horde but could not advance.
• Shi Xin protected his group of Disciples and used his phantom Buddha to grievously wound three Marrow Birth Realm demonic beasts in three attacks.
• A Round Marrow Realm Yaksha abandoned its fight with the old monk and attacked Shi Xin, recognizing him as a threat to the Human Race.
• Shi Xin blocked the Yaksha’s punch but was driven back and bloodied, then continued trading palm strikes with it to shield the group.

Shi Xin broke through to the Marrow-Piercing Realm while fighting a Round Marrow Yaksha, but remained badly injured as the Demonic Beasts overwhelmed the disciples. Demon Hunter Zuo Qianshan arrived while fleeing the Cangwu Old Ancestor's clone, cut down two Marrow-Piercing Demonic Beasts, and approached the Prefecture City as its defenders opened the formation.

• Shi Xin was badly wounded by the Round Marrow Yaksha, and Li Xiao prepared to use his life-saving Talismans.
• Shi Xin broke through from the Bone-Generating Peak into the Marrow-Piercing Realm and resumed fighting the Yaksha, while the Demonic Beast horde killed disciples behind him.
• Shi Xin prepared to burn his Essence Blood as a last resort, but Zuo Qianshan arrived while fleeing the Cangwu Old Ancestor's pursuing clone.
• Zuo Qianshan used his six Precious Swords to kill two Marrow-Piercing Demonic Beasts with one attack and continued toward the Prefecture City.
• Guardian Chen ordered the Qi Cultivators to open the formation and receive Zuo Qianshan.

Li Xiao recognized that Zuo Qianshan cultivated the Life-Slaying Amitabha Sword Scripture, but a pursuing Sixth Turn expert, Cangwu Old Ancestor, arrived and revealed himself as a golden centipede. After crushing Zuo Qianshan and joining the demon assault, Cangwu Old Ancestor left the Prefecture City facing a dire threat while Zuo Qianshan cared only about escaping.

• Li Xiao saw black Qi from slain Demonic Beasts flow into Zuo Qianshan and realized he cultivated the Life-Slaying Amitabha Sword Scripture.
• Cangwu Old Ancestor arrived and struck Zuo Qianshan through the city formation, leaving him badly injured.
• Cangwu Old Ancestor transformed into a hundred-zhang golden centipede and swallowed a Fifth Turn Martial Master along with nearby fighters and Demonic Beasts.
• Chi Gu asked Cangwu Old Ancestor to help break the city, and Cangwu Old Ancestor agreed to attack the Human Race.
• The three Round Marrow Yakshas led the Demonic Beast horde toward the Prefecture City while Zuo Qianshan lay injured and planned to escape.

Zuo Qianshan threatened to expose Cangwu Old Ancestor’s plan to transform into a dragon, but Cangwu demanded that he help destroy the city and slaughter its people. Li Xiao tried to stop Zuo Qianshan from yielding by revealing a powerful Talisman, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• A fleeing cultivator realized no Sixth Turn expert guarded the city and prepared to escape while Cangwu Old Ancestor attacked.
• Zuo Qianshan threatened to reveal Cangwu Old Ancestor’s use of Prince Jing'an’s corpse and stolen Dragon Qi unless Cangwu spared him.
• Cangwu Old Ancestor offered to spare Zuo Qianshan only if he helped breach the formation and slaughter every Human Race survivor.
• Li Xiao urged Zuo Qianshan to resist and raised a Talisman carrying the aura of a Sixth Turn expert, claiming it held ten attacks from his Sect Master.

Li Xiao used the talisman from the Three Origins Sect's Sect Master to deter Cangwu Old Ancestor while assessing Zuo Qianshan, whose Sword Qi he wanted and whose possible betrayal threatened the city. When Cangwu Old Ancestor attacked Zuo Qianshan, Li Xiao broke the talisman and released the Sect Master's Divine Intent, trapping the demon's avatar in a domain.

• Li Xiao warned Cangwu Old Ancestor that the talisman could unleash the Three Origins Sect's Sect Master's power, making the demon hesitate.
• Li Xiao used Wind Listening and Qi Observing to examine Zuo Qianshan's Fortune and Destiny and considered how to obtain his Sword Qi and prevent him from defecting to the Demon Race.
• Cangwu Old Ancestor suddenly attacked Zuo Qianshan, and Li Xiao shattered the talisman.
• The talisman released the Sect Master's Divine Intent, forming a domain that stopped Cangwu Old Ancestor's avatar and left it trapped.

Li Xiao and the others watched Cangwu Old Ancestor fall to the Sect Master's Divine Intent and Zuo Qianshan's sword. As Zuo Qianshan absorbed the corpse's three auras, an unseen attacker struck at Li Xiao, and Guardian Chen took the blow meant for him.

• The Sect Master's Divine Intent sphere exploded, gravely wounding Cangwu Old Ancestor and dispersing the domain.
• Zuo Qianshan's black sword pierced Cangwu Old Ancestor's head, killing his incarnation.
• Cangwu Old Ancestor shrank into a golden centipede, threatened Zuo Qianshan, and vanished as Demonic Qi, Buddha Qi, and Dragon Qi flowed into Zuo Qianshan.
• Li Xiao recognized the Life-Slaying Amitabha Sword Scripture's Sword Qi and coveted the power within Zuo Qianshan.
• An unseen attacker thrust a Bone Fork at Li Xiao, and Guardian Chen stepped in front of him and was pierced through the chest.

Li Xiao and the defenders fought to hold back the Demon Race as Guardian Chen died protecting him. With Zuo Qianshan abandoning the battlefield and the remaining fighters under mounting pressure, Li Xiao prepared to use the last power in his Talisman.

• Guardian Chen died after asking Li Xiao to look after his son, and Li Xiao solemnly agreed.
• A Round Marrow Realm Yaksha attacked Li Xiao while Zuo Qianshan watched without helping.
• Two Round Marrow Realm Yakshas joined forces against Shi Xin, whose golden barrier began to falter under their assault.
• Shi Xin's Junior Master burned his Essence Blood to drive the Yakshas back and buy Shi Xin time.
• Zuo Qianshan fled through the formation into the city, while Li Xiao held back a Yaksha and guarded the Talisman's remaining power.
• The old monk's borrowed strength, the Three Origins Sect disciples, and the city defenders all faced worsening danger as more Demonic Beasts arrived.

Shi Xin’s Junior Master sacrificed himself in a self-destruction that crippled two Yakshas and cleared a path, while Li Xiao led the surviving fighters back through the city formation. The retreat left the Zhao Family Patriarch outside, where Demonic Beasts overwhelmed and killed him.

• Zhou He led wounded Three Origins Sect and Lotus Chan Monastery disciples through the Demonic Beasts and into the city.
• Shi Xin’s Junior Master burned through his Essence Blood, then self-destructed to wound the two Yakshas and destroy the nearby Demonic Beasts.
• Before dying, Shi Xin’s Junior Master threw Shi Xin over the city wall and into safety.
• Li Xiao used a Talisman to pass through the formation, prompting the surviving patriarchs and Sect Masters to retreat into the city.
• A Yaksha sent Demonic Beasts to cut off the retreat, and the Zhao Family Patriarch was seized and devoured outside the formation.

The city’s defenders survived the Demonic Beasts’ assault by sealing the formation, but the Zhao Family Patriarch died outside the wall. The beasts surrounded the city and waited for its defenses and defenders to weaken.

• The Wang Family Patriarch mourned the Zhao Family Patriarch, whose body had been devoured by Demonic Beasts.
• The Qi Cultivators closed the formation, and several Fifth Turn Demonic Beasts failed to break through it.
• The Demonic Beasts withdrew several li from the city and surrounded it without attacking again.
• The two injured Round Marrow Yakshas struggled to recover from their wounds and the old monk’s demonic power erosion.
• The uninjured Round Marrow Yaksha waited for the formation to run out of spiritual power and his comrades to recover.

Li Xiao comforted Chen An and accepted him as a disciple after telling him that his father had died saving Li Xiao. He then listened as Shi Xin recounted the fall of a County Town and the deaths of hundreds of thousands, urging him to survive and grow stronger.

• Li Xiao told Chen An that Guardian Chen had died saving him and accepted Chen An as his disciple.
• Li Xiao urged Chen An to live well and cultivate so he could honor his father, then sent him to rest.
• Elder Zheng and Zuo Qianshan coordinated the defenders and cultivators while Li Xiao left the city wall with Shi Xin and Chen An.
• Shi Xin told Li Xiao that the Dragon Race's offensive broke the front lines and the County Town fell, leaving most of its hundreds of thousands of residents dead.
• Shi Xin described how the survivors were hunted during their retreat until only the people who reached the city with him remained.
• Li Xiao urged Shi Xin to live, grow stronger, and one day protect others, while Shi Xin admitted he still felt awful.

Li Xiao planned with Shi Xin to deal with the dangerous, injured Zuo Qianshan, hoping to tamper with his Pills and wait until Li Xiao broke through. He then examined his new disciple Chen An and began replacing the weak saber art Chen An had learned from his father with the Severing Gate Saber Technique.

• Li Xiao warned Shi Xin that Zuo Qianshan could turn against the Human Race, and they discussed using tampered Pills and Li Xiao's upcoming breakthrough to attack him.
• Li Xiao visited Chen An and examined his meridians, Internal Force, and cultivation foundation, finding his talent limited.
• Chen An demonstrated the Mountain-Suppressing Art and Thunderbolt Saber Technique he had learned from his family.
• Li Xiao told Chen An to stop practicing the Thunderbolt Saber Technique and demonstrated the Severing Gate Saber Technique for him.
• Chen An began practicing the new saber technique with a wooden stick while Li Xiao watched.

After training Chen An, Li Xiao reflected on Guardian Chen’s death and cultivated cautiously while Zuo Qianshan recovered from his injuries. As the besieged city waited for the Demon Race to act, a meeting turned to the Cangwu Old Ancestor’s pursuit of Zuo Qianshan and its possible connection to Prince Jing'an.

• Li Xiao trained Chen An until the day’s practice ended, then resolved to guard against complacency and took a Pill to cultivate toward the Round Marrow Realm.
• Zuo Qianshan carefully examined the healing Pill Li Xiao had given him, found no tampering, and swallowed it to treat his injuries.
• The Demon Race kept the city surrounded for several days without attacking while both sides recovered and the city’s supplies and formation resources dwindled.
• Elder Zheng called a meeting on the fifth day and asked Zuo Qianshan about the origin of the Cangwu Old Ancestor that had pursued him.
• Zuo Qianshan brought up Prince Jing'an, and Elder Zheng asked whether the Cangwu Old Ancestor was connected to the prince.

Zuo Qianshan revealed that Prince Jing'an was in grave danger and identified the Cangwu Old Ancestor as the missing Monk Cangyuan. He explained that Demonic Beasts had secretly taken over several commandery governors and that their infestation traced back to the Cangwu Old Ancestor.

• Zuo Qianshan said Prince Jing'an had entered seclusion under the pretense of seeking a breakthrough but was actually in grave danger.
• Zuo Qianshan asked about Monk Cangyuan, and Zhao Hong described the monk as Prince Jing'an's trusted Sixth Turn ally who had disappeared years ago.
• Zuo Qianshan revealed that the Cangwu Old Ancestor was Monk Cangyuan, prompting Zhao Hong and other patriarchs to reject the accusation.
• Zuo Qianshan recounted finding and killing a Demonic Beast that had replaced the commandery governor with a centipede-controlled corpse.
• Zuo Qianshan said the same infestation affected commandery governors in several surrounding commanderies and that all the centipedes traced back to the Cangwu Old Ancestor.
• Zuo Qianshan explained that Zhao Hong had failed to sense the demon because it was a Round Marrow Realm Demonic Beast concealing its aura.

Zuo Qianshan revealed that Cangwu Old Ancestor had possessed Prince Jing'an to consume his Dragon Qi and attempt to become a dragon, leaving the city surrounded and cut off. Elder Zheng organized the city to hold out, secure supplies, and send word to the Yu Kingdom court for reinforcements.

• Zuo Qianshan told the assembly that Cangwu Old Ancestor had occupied Prince Jing'an's body and was consuming his Dragon Qi to transform into a dragon.
• Zuo Qianshan explained that the Prince's Mansion had fallen while demons surrounded the city, prompting the assembly to fear they were trapped.
• Elder Zheng silenced the panicked crowd and ordered that news of Cangwu Old Ancestor's plan be sent to the Yu Kingdom Imperial Court.
• Elder Zheng ordered supplies and weapons prioritized for the city's defense and warned the great families against hoarding goods or raising prices.
• The Wang Family Patriarch and Zhao Hong pledged grain, and Elder Zheng assigned responsibilities for supply allocation, price control, treating the injured, and maintaining the formation.

Li Xiao cultivated with pills containing the flesh and blood of the Exotic Insect Zhi, approaching a breakthrough as news of Prince Jing'an's murder reached Zhennan City. Marquis Jingbian wanted to avenge his friend, but learned that Li Xiao and Shi Xin were trapped in an isolated city between enemy forces.

• Li Xiao swallowed two pills and circulated the Three Absolutes Returning Origin Qi, pushing his cultivation to the brink of a breakthrough.
• Elder Shi told the leaders gathered in Zhennan City that the Cangwu Old Ancestor had murdered Prince Jing'an, taken his body, and devoured his Dragon Qi.
• Marquis Jingbian vowed to go to Profound Province and reclaim Prince Jing'an's remains, but Monk Liao Chen warned that confronting the Cangwu Old Ancestor alone would be suicidal.
• Elder Shi revealed that Li Xiao and Shi Xin were trapped in a besieged Prefecture City in Origin Province, with the Cangwu Old Ancestor behind them in Profound Province.
• Marquis Jingbian recognized that the city had become isolated, with enemies before and behind and no retreat or reinforcements.

Marquis Jingbian and the Sixth Turn powerhouses chose Mu Xian to confront the Cangwu Old Ancestor and reopen the route between Profound Province and Origin Province. Meanwhile, Li Xiao broke through to Fifth Turn Marrow-Piercing in the isolated city.

• Elder Shi and the old Daoist explained that the Cangwu Old Ancestor was a rogue demon whose attempt to transform into a dragon could draw the Dragon Race's hostility.
• Marquis Jingbian asked Mu Xian to drive the Cangwu Old Ancestor from Profound Province and rescue the trapped soldiers and civilians, and Mu Xian agreed while warning that the demon could fight desperately.
• Mu Xian departed for Origin Province as the others hoped he would arrive in time.
• Li Xiao's True Qi shattered his bottleneck, and he advanced to Fifth Turn Marrow-Piercing as his meridians and body were strengthened.

Mu Xian arrived as reinforcements, drove the Demonic Beasts away, and questioned Zuo Qianshan about the Cangwu Old Ancestor. He took Zuo Qianshan to Prince Jing'an's Mansion to confront the Old Ancestor, leaving Elder Zheng in charge of the city and Li Xiao with more freedom to act.

• Mu Xian arrived at the besieged city, and his fire rain routed the Demonic Beasts while Wu Wei and Wu Qu ordered their forces to retreat.
• Mu Xian gathered the city's Fifth Turn cultivators and commanders, then asked Zuo Qianshan to recount how he uncovered the Cangwu Old Ancestor's secret.
• Mu Xian decided to confront the Cangwu Old Ancestor before it transformed into a dragon and ordered Zuo Qianshan to guide him there.
• Mu Xian left Elder Zheng in charge and flew with Zuo Qianshan toward Prince Jing'an's Mansion in Profound Province.
• Li Xiao watched them depart and realized that Zuo Qianshan's absence would let him act more freely.

Mu Xian and Zuo Qianshan reached the underground palace as Cangwu Old Ancestor neared the final step of transforming into a true dragon. Mu Xian trapped it in a formation and attacked with flames, but Cangwu Old Ancestor resisted while protecting Prince Jing'an’s remaining Dragon Qi.

• Cangwu Old Ancestor’s body developed golden scales, dragon horns, and forming vertical pupils as it approached dragon transformation.
• Mu Xian and Zuo Qianshan arrived at the underground palace, where Cangwu Old Ancestor recognized Zuo Qianshan and threatened him.
• Mu Xian accused Cangwu Old Ancestor of harming Prince Jing'an and stealing the Yu Kingdom’s Dragon Qi, but Cangwu Old Ancestor declared it would become a true dragon.
• Mu Xian deployed Three Flowers-grade array disks and sealed Cangwu Old Ancestor and the underground hall within a formation.
• Mu Xian ignited the formation’s white flames, while Cangwu Old Ancestor struggled to resist without damaging Prince Jing'an’s body and losing the remaining Dragon Qi.