Demonic Beasts

Biodata

Classification and Realms

Demonic Beasts cultivate through a realm system parallel to martial artists. Their documented progression is Sentience, Meridian Opening, Aperture Opening, and Core Formation, with further realms implied. Each realm has early, mid, and late stages and is divided into nine layers. 7

Appearance

Demonic Beasts have no universal appearance. Many resemble enlarged, sapient animals, while others possess undead or grotesquely unnatural forms.

• Wolf Demons can be tall and burly, with dark greenish-black fur, faintly glowing eyes, claws, and blood-stained muzzles. 1
• Pig Demons are powerful humanoid beasts; one carries a great axe and withstands a saber blow with its thick collarbone. 6
• Big Black, a crow Commander, is roughly half a human’s height and can speak and fight with its claws. 11 12
• Mountain Ghosts are giant black creatures with paper-white faces, blood-red eyes, foul breath, and sharp teeth. 34
• Corpse Demons can resemble pale, decayed humans with black veins, rotted mouths, mutated teeth, and withered claws. 22
• The entity masquerading as the Groom and Bride of Jia Mansion has bark-like skin, a mouth without other facial features, and four independently attacking claws. 38

Traits and Capabilities

Intelligence and organization

Many Demonic Beasts speak, negotiate, form family groups, obey commanders, and coordinate raids.

• The Qu Mountain Demon King gathers Sentience-stage and stronger Demonic Beasts into an organized faction. 7
• Commanders issue orders during attacks; Black Commander directs a force of Wolf, Bear, Dog, Pig, and Tiger Demons against Kaoshan Town. 11
• Demonic Beasts can plan human harvests, collect captives, demand supplies, and negotiate with local officials. 10 11 12
• The Black Commander uses a racial telepathic talent despite being below the Aperture Opening realm; it claims most members of its race gain the ability upon adulthood. 12

Physical combat

Their combat ability varies drastically by realm and species.

• Sentience-stage Demonic Beasts can wield weapons, use claws and fangs, and overwhelm ordinary civilians. 6 8
• Meridian Opening Demonic Beasts include powerful leaders such as the Qu Mountain Demon King and the Late Sentience Fox Demon’s raiding force. 15 17
• Aperture Opening Demonic Beasts can take human form and retain powerful true forms. 49
• Corpse Demons possess exceptional vitality and can continue attacking after being cut apart. 22
• Some Demonic Beasts have claws capable of piercing granite, though Su Ye’s body withstands such attacks with only shallow marks. 38

Demon Cores

Most Demonic Beasts that reach Meridian Opening form a Demon Core somewhere within their bodies. 17

• Demon Cores contain concentrated demonic power and may be used as medicine or swallowed directly. 17
• A Body Tempering martial artist may reportedly use one to advance rapidly without refinement. 17
• Direct consumption is dangerous: it can fail to improve cultivation and may transform the user into a monster. 17
• Big Black receives the Qu Mountain Demon King’s Demon Core after swearing allegiance to Su Ye. 17

Factions

Human Exploitation

Several Demonic Beast groups treat humans as livestock, food, sacrificial offerings, or materials for cultivation.

• Pig and Dog Demons collect human heads and brains; a captured Pig Demon claims that eating brains can enhance Sentience. 7
• The Kaoshan Town raiders call humans “two-legged sheep” and describe keeping them alive as farming. 11
• Black Commander orders his forces to collect flesh and blood, seize young captives, and continue to other towns after Kaoshan Town. 11
• Big Black reveals that Demonic Beasts and Magistrate Chen harvest humans to refine flesh-and-blood medicinal pills. 12
• Commander Fox demands people from three towns, medicinal pills, and weapons from Magistrate Chen’s faction as compensation for Demonic Beast losses. 10
• In Xinghua Town, Demonic Beasts imprison citizens in cages before Su Ye intervenes. 15

Relationships

• Su Ye — Principal enemy and prolific slayer of Demonic Beasts; he destroys the Kaoshan Town raiding force, kills the Qu Mountain Demon King, and later massacres large numbers of Demonic Beasts at the Divine Blade Sect. 11 17 47 50
• Big Black — Former Black Commander under the Qu Mountain Demon King; submits to Su Ye after defeat and becomes his informant and companion. 12 17
• Qu Mountain Demon King — Tiger Demon leader of the Qu Mountain faction; commands Big Black, Hu Dang, and numerous Sentience-stage Demonic Beasts before Su Ye kills him. 12 17
• Magistrate Chen — Human collaborator who negotiates with Demonic Beast representatives and participates in schemes involving human flesh-and-blood elixirs. 10 12
• Demon Suppression Division — Primary institutional opponent; its missions range from Sentience-stage imps to Aperture Opening-realm Demonic Beasts. 31

Story Role / Major Arcs

• Qinghe Town incident — A Wolf Demon kills Wang Jin and mortally wounds Su Ye, triggering Su Ye’s system awakening; Su Ye then kills it with the Mountain Splitting Saber Technique. 1
• Kaoshan Town raids — Pig and Dog Demons raid the town for human remains and captives. Su Ye eliminates ten attackers, then destroys a larger force led by Black Commander. 6 7 9 11
• Qu Mountain campaign — Big Black exposes the Qu Mountain faction’s alliance with Magistrate Chen and the Corpse Demon Cult. Su Ye later kills the Qu Mountain Demon King and over thirty of his subordinates. 12 17
• Xinghua Town rescue — Su Ye frees imprisoned citizens and kills the Late Sentience Fox Demon and its raiding force. 15
• Yunzhou crisis — Reports spread of Demonic Beast rampages across Yunzhou, including the destruction of Pingyang City by a Mountain Lord and the Howling Moon Demon King’s renewed offensive. 25 30
• Chaiqiao Town sacrifices — Human sacrifices to the Nether Abyss Demon Court reveal the Golden Land’s influence; Su Ye kills Mountain Ghosts sent through the arrangement. 34 35
• Hedong County wedding banquet — Demonic Beasts gather at Jia Mansion under the disguise of a wedding banquet, then attack Su Ye for his Secret Technique. 37 38
• Divine Blade Sect battle — Demonic Beasts emerge from the sect’s hidden cave after its collaboration is exposed. Su Ye collapses the cave, gains over 10,000 Assistance Points from the slaughter, and faces multiple Aperture Opening-realm Demonic Beasts. 46 47 49 50