Chapter Summaries

Xiao Qing prepared to sign a neutrality pact with the Confucian Academy, but Fang Shan and the other envoys suddenly died from a curse. Ding Chen blamed Beihai for their deaths and called for an invasion, leaving Beihai facing war despite its attempt to remain neutral.

• Xiao Qing explained that Beihai needed to stay neutral in the war, while warning the Dragon Kings not to trust the human race.
• Fang Shan and seven Confucian Academy Academicians arrived in Beihai to negotiate a pact, and Xiao Qing hosted them in the Dragon Palace.
• As Xiao Qing prepared to sign the pact, Fang Shan and the other envoys turned into pools of blood.
• Ding Chen revealed that he had cursed the envoys and used their deaths to claim Beihai had attacked them and pledged itself to the Yao Race World.
• Ding Chen and Chen Ran rallied five hundred sect masters and elders to wage war against Beihai.

Xiao Mo defeated Cliff Academy’s scholars in debate, and its headmaster recognized Heart Learning as a potential new Confucian Path. A message then accused Bai Ruxue’s younger sister and the North Sea of rebellion, prompting the headmaster to try to detain Bai Ruxue.

• Xiao Mo debated and defeated Cliff Academy scholars for five days and nights, while the headmaster judged Heart Learning a profound refinement of traditional Neo-Confucianism.
• The headmaster prepared to concede defeat, but an urgent message arrived reporting that Lord Fang Shan and seven Academy Directors had been killed in a North Sea ambush.
• The message said Ding Chen had led five hundred cultivators to fight the North Sea Demon Race and ordered Bai Ruxue, its lord, to be apprehended.
• Bai Ruxue denied the accusation and said her younger sister would never have caused the incident, but the headmaster insisted he had to obey the Academy’s order.
• When Bai Ruxue refused to stay, the headmaster sent chains of scholarly energy toward her to bind her.

Bai Ruxue and Xiao Mo fled Cliff Academy after Lu Chao ordered their arrest, then reached the blood-soaked North Sea, where Bai Ruxue rescued Xiao Qing from a deadly attack. After learning the Confucian Academy had framed the North Sea and seeing Ding Chen summon the Dragon Slaying Sword, Bai Ruxue ordered the other dragons to escape and charged him alone.

• Xiao Mo tried to stop Lu Chao from arresting him and Bai Ruxue, but Bai Ruxue revealed her true form and carried him away, destroying Lu Chao’s Righteous Qi sword as they fled.
• Lu Chao stopped the academy teachers from pursuing them and said Cliff Academy only needed to put on a show while he investigated the suspicious affair.
• Bai Ruxue and Xiao Mo reached the North Sea, found its waters red with blood and littered with dead sea demons, and Bai Ruxue trapped Xiao Mo in a water prison before rushing to help Xiao Qing.
• Bai Ruxue blocked a lightning strike aimed at the wounded Xiao Qing and blasted a hole through the attacking Formation with her dragon breath.
• Ding Chen accused the North Sea of killing his junior brother and Confucian Academy disciples, while Xiao Qing accused the Confucian Academy of poisoning its own disciples and framing the North Sea.
• Ding Chen summoned the Dragon Slaying Sword, and Bai Ruxue ordered Xiao Qing and the other flood dragons to flee before charging him.

Fuchen intervened when Ding Chen was about to kill Bai Ruxue, wiping out the lower-ranked cultivators and crippling the Immortal Realm sect masters. The Confucian Academy’s Palace Lord, Kong Sheng, arrived just as Fuchen attacked Ding Chen.

• Bai Ruxue activated the Dragon Palace Formation to help Xiao Qing and the other flood dragons escape while she fought Ding Chen and the sect masters.
• Ding Chen and eleven Immortal Realm cultivators trapped Bai Ruxue, and the Dragon Slaying Sword pierced her dragon body.
• Xiao Mo stood between the wounded Bai Ruxue and Ding Chen, refusing to step aside even when Ding Chen threatened him.
• Fuchen arrived in his Vermilion Bird form, killed every cultivator below the Immortal Realm, and forced Ding Chen and the other sect masters to their knees.
• Fuchen attacked Ding Chen with a sword of flames, but Kong Sheng appeared and dispelled the strike before greeting Fuchen.

Fuchen rescued Xiao Mo and Bai Ruxue from the North Sea, leaving Kong Sheng to punish Ding Chen and send the injured sect leaders to guard the Great Wall. Back in the Barren Land, Fuchen stabilized Bai Ruxue’s wounds but warned that the Dragon Slaying Sword’s killing intent would eventually threaten her life, and said removing it depended on Xiao Mo.

• Fuchen spared Ding Chen at Kong Sheng’s request, warned the sect leaders not to hunt the North Sea’s demon clans, and departed with Xiao Mo and Bai Ruxue.
• Kong Sheng condemned Ding Chen for murdering a fellow disciple, framing the dragon race, and ruining the pact, then ordered him to guard the Great Wall until the war ended.
• Kong Sheng gave the injured sect leaders healing pills and ordered them to join the Great Wall’s defense as well.
• Two days later, Fuchen brought Bai Ruxue to the Barren Land, where Li Sisi gathered medicines and supplies for her treatment.
• Fuchen stabilized Bai Ruxue’s injuries and told Xiao Mo that the Dragon Slaying Sword’s killing intent remained in her bones and could only be removed depending on him.

Daoist Priest Fuchen explained that Xiao Mo could weaken the Killing Intent inside Bai Ruxue by earning Human Race Merit, and urged him not to judge either race by its worst members. Xiao Mo gave Bai Ruxue Fuchen’s pain-relieving pill, promised to stay with her, and agreed to marry her as she fell asleep.

• Fuchen told Xiao Mo that Human Race Merit could neutralize the Dragon Slaying Sword’s Killing Intent and gave him amber that would melt as he earned enough merit.
• Fuchen urged Xiao Mo to judge people by their hearts rather than their race and warned him not to hate the Human Race over Ruxue’s suffering.
• Xiao Mo entered the wooden house and gave the waking Bai Ruxue the pill Fuchen had provided.
• As the pill made her sleepy, Bai Ruxue asked Xiao Mo to stay, live in seclusion with her and Xiao Qing, and marry her.
• Xiao Mo promised to marry Bai Ruxue after she fell asleep.

Xiao Mo left Ruxue in Fuchen and Li Sisi’s care and traveled to Demon Suppressing City to join the War between Humans and Demons. As he arrived and learned the city’s warning-bell signals, the bell rang three times, announcing that the war had begun.

• Xiao Mo entrusted Ruxue to Fuchen and Li Sisi, then set off for the Great Wall to earn merit.
• Fuchen and Li Sisi worried about Xiao Mo and Ruxue’s long separation as he departed.
• Xiao Mo reached Demon Suppressing City after two months and saw the Great Wall and the cultivators gathering for war.
• A rental attendant arranged a free courtyard for Xiao Mo and explained the city’s warning bells.
• The city bell rang three times, and the attendant told Xiao Mo that the War between Humans and Demons had begun.

He Yeye and Big Guy led Demon Suppressing City’s forces into battle against the Demon Race, while Xiao Mo fought through the enemy ranks and drew He Yeye’s attention. After surviving a clash with Yue Kan and several Nascent Soul Realm Demon Cultivators, Xiao Mo impressed He Yeye with his skill and resilience.

• He Yeye ordered the defenders to leave no Demon Race survivors, and Big Guy charged from the Great Wall into the enemy army.
• He Yeye fought Yue Kan in the air as tens of thousands of human cultivators poured through the city gates and joined the battle.
• Xiao Mo entered the battlefield and killed Demon Cultivators, earning battle merit as the fighting wore on.
• An Ink-colored Long Dragon protected Xiao Mo from a Mysterious Ice Arrow aimed at He Yeye.
• Xiao Mo beheaded a tiger demon, withstood another Demon Cultivator’s Sword Qi, and let the Ink Dragon crush that attacker.
• He Yeye watched Xiao Mo fight and called him interesting.

After the first battle against the Yao Race, Xiao Mo returned to his courtyard, where City Lord He Yeye warned him that the enemy would target him and asked what reward he wanted. Xiao Mo requested permission and a place to teach Heart Learning, and He Yeye agreed to let him begin the next morning.

• After three hours of fighting, the Yao Race army withdrew, and He Yeye ordered the Human Race forces to stop pursuing them when she spotted trap-and-kill Formations along the retreat route.
• Xiao Mo returned to his courtyard covered in blood and treated his wounds.
• He Yeye appeared in Xiao Mo’s courtyard, examined his physical strength, and asked why he fought so desperately against the Yao Race.
• He Yeye warned Xiao Mo that his performance had likely put him on the Yao Race’s Azure Cloud Ranking and made him a priority target.
• Xiao Mo asked He Yeye for a place in the city to teach Heart Learning, and she agreed to let him start the next morning.

Xiao Mo began writing down his Heart Learning and visited the site of the Grand Academy, where He Yeye had gathered children orphaned by the war to become his students. He learned that the city lord hoped the children would discover a life beyond fighting demons, while He Yeye threatened to throw him in the lake if his teaching failed to satisfy her.

• Xiao Mo struggled to write Zhi Xing He Quan and considered founding an academy to teach students and pass on his Heart Learning.
• Qin Feng took Xiao Mo to the academy site beside a lake, where he met the city lord, He Yeye, and saw the children she had gathered.
• He Yeye told Xiao Mo to begin teaching and warned that she would throw him in the lake if she was dissatisfied.
• A little girl told Xiao Mo that her father, a Confucian Scholar, had died fighting the Demon Race, leaving only her and her older sister.
• Qin Feng explained that the city lord had taken in children whose parents died beneath the Great Wall and wanted them to know life was about more than killing demons.

Xiao Mo taught the children of Demon Suppressing City while fighting the Yao Race, and his reputation grew over the years. Four thousand years later, Xu Yuerou prepared to help clear his name, but He Yeye insisted that the Great Wall’s stone stele would preserve it forever.

• Xiao Mo began teaching the children at He Yeye’s Grand Academy, introducing them to etiquette, reading, and a range of schools of thought.
• Xu Yuerou, Li Man, and Zeng Songshi stood out as diligent students, while He Yeye attended every class and protected Xiao Mo from stronger attackers.
• As the Yao Race attacked Demon Suppressing City, Xiao Mo fought on the city walls and returned to teaching when each battle ended.
• Four thousand years later, Xu Yuerou told He Yeye she planned to join Li Man, Zeng Songshi, and Shang Jiuli in clearing Xiao Mo’s name at the Confucian Academy.
• He Yeye said the Confucian Academy had no right to clear Xiao Mo’s name because it would remain carved on the Great Wall’s stone stele.

After twenty years in Demon Suppressing City, Xiao Mo had become a Jade-Pu Realm cultivator and was preparing to finish Zhi Xing He Quan in closed-door cultivation. He Yeye revealed to Xu Yuerou that a full-scale Demon Race assault was imminent, and Xiao Mo had to complete his book before the battle or risk sharing Demon Suppressing City's fate.

• Over twenty years, Xiao Mo rose to the Jade-Pu Realm, while Li Man and Zeng Songshi left to travel and Xu Yuerou stayed to assist him.
• Xiao Mo showed Xu Yuerou a painting of his wife and said he planned to enter closed-door cultivation to finish Zhi Xing He Quan.
• Xiao Mo sent Xu Yuerou to work as a clerk at the City Lord's manor before beginning his cultivation.
• He Yeye told Xu Yuerou that the Yao Race World had settled its troubles and the Demon Race would launch a full-scale assault within six months.
• He Yeye stopped Xu Yuerou from warning Xiao Mo, insisting he had to finish the book or be buried with Demon Suppressing City and her.

As Xiao Mo remained in closed-door cultivation, Demon Suppressing City prepared for a decisive battle as its cultivators and soldiers answered the city bell and gathered at the Great Wall. He Yeye faced the advancing demon horde and ordered the defenders to kill them all, while Xiao Mo’s cultivation continued unseen.

• He Yeye’s Formation shielded Xiao Mo as he devoted himself to writing and verifying his Great Dao, while the city evacuated children and ordinary folk.
• After four months, three peals of the bell summoned Demon Suppressing City’s cultivators to the Great Wall, and Qu Xuan, Shopkeeper Pang, the Boss Lady, and others set out to fight.
• Ding Chen, Butcher Wang, Shopkeeper Zhao, the Old Beggar, and the city’s soldiers joined the defenders at the Great Wall.
• The defenders filled the battlements as millions of demons and Demon Cultivators surged toward them.
• He Yeye raised her hand and ordered the defenders to kill every enemy.

The Yao Race World’s assault on the Great Wall intensified as exhausted human defenders struggled to hold the line. In a quiet courtyard, Xiao Mo continued writing and sensed that the Dao he followed was widening.

• Demon Suppressing City's Black Armored Army, White Snow Heavy Cavalry, and Myriad Laws Department fought the Yao Race forces as the demons gained strength with their beasts’ support.
• Butcher Wang, the Tea House Proprietress, Wu Daquan, and Big Guy fought through the demon ranks, while He Yeye battled Yue Kan in the sky.
• After days of slaughter, the human defenders grew exhausted, and Mozi fell onto the defensive against the Yao Race World’s number-one Sword Immortal.
• He Yeye rejected retreat and charged Yue Kan again, determined to hold the Great Wall even if she died.
• Xiao Mo wrote in a quiet courtyard, lost in the teachings of the Hundred Schools, and felt the road beneath his feet grow broader.

Xiao Mo entered the Ascension Realm as a Confucian Sage, turning the battle beneath the Great Wall and driving Yue Kan’s army back into the Demon Race World. As the survivors buried their dead, He Yeye received word that Sword Pavilion and Dragon Emperor Island had fallen, and the Demon Race army had entered Myriad Laws Under Heaven.

• He Yeye was knocked into a crater by Yue Kan, and Big Guy shielded her from his flaming swords before charging at him.
• Xiao Mo appeared as a Confucian Sage of the Ascension Realm, struck Yue Kan, and helped He Yeye force him to retreat.
• Xiao Mo empowered the human cultivators with golden armor, and they pursued the fleeing demons until Yue Kan and Lin An led the survivors back to the Demon Race World.
• Xiao Mo helped tend to the dead, while Widow Qian found Ding Chen and carried him away to bury him.
• He Yeye told Xiao Mo that Qin Feng had died, then received a message that Sword Pavilion and Dragon Emperor Island had fallen and the Demon Race army had entered Myriad Laws Under Heaven.

Xiao Mo left the Great Wall to defend Myriad Laws Under Heaven, accepting a prophecy of great calamity within seventy years and leaving gifts for Xu Yuerou. Over the decades of war, he fought on collapsing fronts while He Yeye led a counterstrike into the Yao Race World, and the human race began its own counterattack.

• Xiao Mo carved his name into the Great Wall's stele, then learned He Yeye's sister had foretold that he would face a great calamity within seventy years.
• Xiao Mo chose an Immortal Weapon and left He Yeye a book for Xu Yuerou, who watched his departure and called herself his most prized disciple.
• After returning to Myriad Laws Under Heaven, Xiao Mo was named an Attendant Sage and defended battlefronts, killing demons and suppressing three human sects that had betrayed the realm.
• Xiao Mo held Shanhai Pass alone against 500,000 Demon Race troops for three years, then killed the Ascension Realm demon Wan Xi after a seven-day battle.
• He Yeye led the Black Armored Army through Heavenly Demon City and deep into the Yao Race World, and the human race launched a counterattack in the sixtieth year of the war.

After receiving a letter about his senior brother Luo Yang’s imprisonment for helping a Rabbit Spirit escape, Xiao Mo left Shatian City and confronted him in Water Mirror City. Xiao Mo freed Luo Yang by beating up the city lord, then invited his senior brother out of the dungeon.

• Xiao Mo read Li Sisi’s letter about Ruxue’s worsening condition and decided to return to the Barren Land once he had enough Human Race Merit.
• Xiao Mo received a personal letter from Shang and left Shatian City, entrusting its affairs to a Blue Flower Sect cultivator.
• Xiao Mo visited Luo Yang in Water Mirror City’s dungeon and confirmed that Luo Yang had protected a Rabbit Spirit from execution.
• Luo Yang said he could not betray his Dao Heart by killing the Rabbit Spirit, even though he knew helping her was punishable by death.
• Xiao Mo beat up the city lord of Water Mirror City and gave Luo Yang the keys to his cell.

Xiao Mo went to welcome Jiang Rou, the Myriad Sword Sect’s new imperial preceptor, and learned that the Qin Kingdom had grown powerful enough to threaten Yan. At the Imperial Preceptor’s Residence, he turned and saw a graceful, veiled woman looking at him.

• Xiao Mo discussed his cultivation plans and upcoming marriage to Yan Ruxue before Wei Xun told him that Jiang Rou was arriving at the palace.
• Xiao Mo agreed to welcome Jiang Rou in person, despite recognizing that Yan Shan'ao had accepted the Myriad Sword Sect’s demands to curry favor with it.
• Wei Xun told Xiao Mo that the Qin Kingdom had conquered the Wei Kingdom and now threatened Yan, describing its young lord’s ruthless rise and battlefield victories.
• Xiao Mo arrived at the Imperial Preceptor’s Residence and turned toward a graceful, veiled woman standing nearby.

Xiao Mo welcomed Jiang Qingyi into the Zhou Kingdom's palace and shared steamed buns with her, while Yan Ruxue considered Jiang's conflicted feelings and investigated the Qin Kingdom's ruler. The Qin ruler's private collection of paintings revealed a repeated portrait of the same man.

• Xiao Mo invited Jiang Qingyi into her Imperial Preceptor's Residence, where she asked him to stay and eat ordinary meat buns with her.
• Yan Ruxue told Xiao Qing that Jiang Qingyi would not harm Xiao Mo because she felt conflicted about her past with him.
• Yan Ruxue asked Xiao Qing to investigate the Qin Kingdom's ruler, suspecting he might have an ancient saint body and be moving toward the Zhou Kingdom.
• The Qin Kingdom's Lord entered his painting pavilion and looked at ink paintings that all depicted the same man.

After turning down Jiang Qingyi’s sword challenge, Xiao Mo returned to the Book of a Hundred Lives, where his worsening injuries did not stop him from leading humanity toward victory in the war against the demons. Just as he prepared to return to the North Wasteland to heal Ruxue, a message revealed that Xiao Qing had led the demons in massacring two human sects.

• Jiang Qingyi offered to let Xiao Mo see her face if he defeated her in a sword fight, but he declined and left.
• Xiao Mo invited Luo Yang to join him after rescuing him from prison, then admitted his injuries were incurable and that he had only about three hundred years to live.
• A message summoned Xiao Mo and Luo Yang to the front lines, where Xiao Mo continued fighting despite his injuries.
• Xiao Mo became lord of Wind-Snow City, defeated the demons’ counterattacks, and rejected their peace offer as humanity gained the upper hand.
• After the profound ice in his amber melted, Xiao Mo prepared to return to the North Wasteland to heal Ruxue and help her ascend.
• Senior Sister Shang sent Xiao Mo a warning that Xiao Qing had led demons in slaughtering two human sects and that the human alliance planned to exterminate them.