Chapter Summaries

The Chinese Special Forces Battalion overwhelmed the Southeast Asian experts, leaving Zhalun as the last survivor. Cornered by Li Shuyi, Zhalun began a likely self-destruction, threatening everyone on the battlefield.

• The Special Forces Battalion killed three of the five Southeast Asian experts, while Bai Xiaowen considered turning his Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldiers into archers later.
• Zuo Hongliang and the other soldiers blocked Chachai, and Qiao Rui trapped him with Mind Cage so the marksmen could kill him.
• Li Shuyi kept Zhalun pinned down until he used Psychic Pierce to stun her briefly and flee.
• Li Shuyi caught Zhalun with Invincible Slash, and he gave up on escaping.
• Zhalun vowed to take everyone down with him as his Life Value plunged and Psionic Particles surged around him, signaling a dangerous self-destruction.

Bai Xiaowen used his summoned knights to carry Zhalun’s corpse away from the Special Forces Battalion before his awakened self-destruction detonated, saving the soldiers from the blast. The group resumed exploring the jungle, while Li Shuyi wondered whether hidden experts had helped the Southeast Asian team defeat Xinpu and Longze.

• Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi disengaged from Zhalun, and the Death Knight and Terror Knights relayed his corpse away from the Special Forces Battalion.
• Zhalun’s Chain Explosive Gu detonated, killing the Terror Knights and badly damaging the Death Knight, but the blast caused only minor injuries among the soldiers.
• Bai Xiaowen revealed Zhalun’s awakened skill and explained that he had prepared for its self-destruction by using his summoned knights.
• Teng Qing thanked Bai Xiaowen for saving the Special Forces Battalion, and Bai Xiaowen ordered everyone to continue according to their plan.
• As the group advanced into the jungle, Li Shuyi questioned whether hidden experts had helped the Southeast Asian Awakeners defeat Xinpu and Longze.

Bai Xiaowen and the White Phoenix Team reached an ancient palace after the failed first operation against the fiend army and Southeast Asian experts. They identified an inscription as a Steps of Emptiness Lyric by Emperor Yang of Sui, but the palace’s origin remained uncertain.

• Bai Xiaowen explained that overconfidence and a weak official response had caused the first operation to fail, so the authorities sent the White Phoenix Team and more than three hundred Awakened marksmen for the second operation.
• Bai Xiaowen told the team he had collected Zhalun’s Bloodstained Treasure Chest and decided to wait before opening it.
• The White Phoenix Team found a palace with spatial energy fluctuations, and Qiao Rui noted that the Fiend Species nearby had disappeared.
• Bai Xiaowen read a damaged ancient lyric and examined a bronze disk beside the palace entrance, then called in historical experts with Teng Qing’s help.
• Cai Anmin identified the inscription as a Steps of Emptiness Lyric written by Emperor Yang of Sui and said the palace could only be dated to the Sui Dynasty or later.

Bai Xiaowen solved the bronze gate’s rotating-disc puzzle using numbers missing from the Steps of Emptiness Lyric, opening a portal into a palace linked to Emperor Yang Guang. After studying information about Yang Guang and the late Sui period, Bai Xiaowen led the White Phoenix Team through the portal while Teng Qing’s Special Forces Battalion guarded the entrance.

• Professor Ji Yujin identified the palace as likely dating to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and Cai Anmin suggested Yang Guang had built it as a travel residence.
• Cai Anmin identified the missing numbers in the Steps of Emptiness Lyric, and Bai Xiaowen realized they corresponded to turns of the bronze disc’s three rings.
• Bai Xiaowen rotated the rings according to the missing numbers, aligning the inscriptions and opening the bronze gate to a glowing portal.
• Cai Anmin connected the aligned date inscriptions to Yang Guang’s death and warned Bai Xiaowen to be careful inside the palace.
• Teng Qing kept the Special Forces Battalion outside to guard the site, while Qiao Rui received historical information about Yang Guang from Cai Anmin.
• Bai Xiaowen reviewed the materials, then led the White Phoenix Team through the portal.

Bai Xiaowen, Li Shuyi, and Cecilia entered the Sui-era city of Jiangdu, where Bai Xiaowen posed as a Daoist to gain the gatekeeper’s trust. After learning the city had been cut off from the world, he used Insight on Tang Fengyi and discovered something alarming before claiming demons had sealed the city.

• Bai Xiaowen regrouped with Li Shuyi and Cecilia outside Jiangdu and led them toward the city gates.
• Bai Xiaowen posed as Daoist Bai Wenzi and persuaded the guards to summon their officer by warning that Jiangdu was in danger.
• Tang Fengyi, Jiangdu’s gatekeeper, privately confirmed that the city had been cut off from the world and asked Bai Xiaowen for help.
• Bai Xiaowen used Insight on Tang Fengyi, saw his real information, and felt a chill run down his back.
• Bai Xiaowen told Tang Fengyi that demons outside the city were responsible for sealing it off.

Bai Xiaowen discovered that Tang Fengyi and the two gate guards were demons, and suspected that demons had taken over Jiangdu City. He chose to follow Tang Fengyi to the Mass Burial Ground, where the group encountered eerie signs as night fell.

• Tang Fengyi told Bai Xiaowen that strange incidents and disappearances had occurred at the Mass Burial Ground, then volunteered to guide the group there.
• Bai Xiaowen used Insight and revealed to Li Shuyi and Cecilia that Tang Fengyi and the gate guards were demons in disguise.
• Bai Xiaowen reasoned that Jiangdu City was likely overrun by demons and told the group to conceal what they knew and follow Tang Fengyi.
• Bai Xiaowen suspected that killing Tang Fengyi might trigger the true special side quest tied to the Treasure Ground's Dragon-Patterned Gold Casket.
• Bai Xiaowen, Li Shuyi, and Cecilia followed Tang Fengyi west as dusk fell, hearing fox cries and a woman's weeping and seeing ghostly flames near the Mass Burial Ground.

Bai Xiaowen sent the Shadow Assassin to investigate the Mass Burial Ground, where ghostly palace maids captured it and brought it before their Empress. The Empress recognized Bai Xiaowen as an outsider and offered to explain why she had become a ghost, warning him against Jiangdu City's demons.

• Tang Fengyi led Bai Xiaowen, Li Shuyi, and Cecilia to the Mass Burial Ground but refused to go closer.
• Bai Xiaowen sent the Shadow Assassin into the Mass Burial Ground and watched through its vision.
• Two ghostly palace maids discovered the Shadow Assassin, bound it, and dragged it to the Empress.
• The Empress identified the Shadow Assassin as the eyes of a powerful outsider and stopped Li'er from killing it.
• The Empress greeted Bai Xiaowen, warned him about Jiangdu City's demons, and offered to explain what had happened to her.

Bai Xiaowen learned that the Dragon-Patterned Gold Casket was mutating Jiangdu’s rebels and discovered he had only forty hours before it transformed him into a Fiend Species creature. He left Empress Xiao’s Mass Burial Ground and exposed Tang Fengyi as a demon, beginning a fight.

• Empress Xiao told Bai Xiaowen how Yuwen Huaji’s rebellion killed Emperor Yang Guang and how the Dragon-Patterned Gold Casket transformed the rebels into demons.
• Bai Xiaowen discovered that the casket’s aura increased his yin energy each hour and would strip him of his Awakened status after forty hours.
• Empress Xiao asked Bai Xiaowen to kill the Ten Traitors and restore Emperor Yang Guang’s True Spirit, while two ghost palace maids followed him away.
• Bai Xiaowen returned to Tang Fengyi and claimed he would exterminate the demons in Jiangdu City.
• Li Shuyi stabbed Tang Fengyi, who transformed into a demon and lunged at Bai Xiaowen.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi defeated Tang Fengyi and recovered his Grudge Soulstone. After Empress Xiao and Yang Guang’s True Spirit requested it, Bai Xiaowen triggered the Dragon-Patterned Gold Casket quest and gave the soulstone to Yang Guang, who absorbed it; the group learned Tang Fengyi was one of the Ten Traitors.

• Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi overwhelmed Tang Fengyi with fire and sword attacks, while Cecilia stayed out of the fight.
• Tang Fengyi died without dropping a treasure chest, leaving behind a quest item called a Grudge Soulstone.
• Empress Xiao asked Bai Xiaowen for the soulstone and offered him the Dragon-Patterned Gold Casket in return for helping restore Yang Guang’s True Spirit.
• Yang Guang’s True Spirit agreed to the exchange, activating the Dragon-Patterned Gold Casket side quest.
• Bai Xiaowen handed over the Grudge Soulstone, and Yang Guang absorbed its mist to grow slightly more solid.
• Empress Xiao explained that the Ten Traitors were ten trusted subordinates who betrayed Yang Guang and plotted rebellion.

Bai Xiaowen escorted Empress Xiao and Emperor Yang of Sui’s coffin into Jiangdu City, fighting demonized guards and Captain Xue Shiliang along the way. After defeating Xue Shiliang, he learned which rebel leaders Emperor Yang hated most and vowed to bring the traitors and demons to justice.

• Bai Xiaowen promised Empress Xiao he would go to Jiangdu City and slay the demons, then led the party there with Emperor Yang of Sui’s coffin.
• Two city guards attacked when they saw Empress Xiao and the coffin, but Rageclaw withstood their strikes and Li Shuyi killed them after they transformed into demons.
• Xue Shiliang, the palace guard captain, led soldiers against Bai Xiaowen and transformed into a Leaping Zombie when the fight went badly.
• Bai Xiaowen and Rageclaw overwhelmed Xue Shiliang, and Bai Xiaowen killed him with Qinyue Yang.
• Empress Xiao told Bai Xiaowen that Xu Hongren was among the Ten Traitors and named Yuwen Huaji and Sima Deken as the two Emperor Yang hated most.

Bai Xiaowen's group fought their way through Jiangdu City and defeated Yuan Li, one of the Ten Traitors. After Empress Xiao gave Yuan Li's Grudge Soulstone to Yang Guang, his True Spirit became more solid.

• Bai Xiaowen's group entered desolate Jiangdu City and fought Demon soldiers who transformed only after losing much of their health.
• Yuan Li charged at the group on his warhorse and transformed into a Demon.
• Li Shuyi fought Yuan Li while Bai Xiaowen and Cecilia helped bring down his warhorse.
• Li Shuyi used her speed and sword skills to overwhelm Yuan Li, while the group avoided his Ghost General's Howl and kept up their attacks.
• The group killed Yuan Li, and Bai Xiaowen gave his Grudge Soulstone to Empress Xiao for Yang Guang to absorb.
• Yang Guang absorbed the Grudge Soulstone, making his True Spirit more solid.

Bai Xiaowen’s team reached the Grand Drill Ground and reunited with Qiao Rui and Han Xu, who had realized they had joined the wrong side of Jiangdu’s rebels. As the teams faced Sima Deken’s army, Bai Xiaowen learned that the demons had deceived the outsiders and that Jiangdu City was no longer isolated from the outside world.

• Empress Xiao asked why Bai Xiaowen had told her and the palace maids not to help fight, and he explained that demon-slaying was a trial for cultivators.
• Bai Xiaowen’s team crossed the deserted streets and reached the Grand Drill Ground, where Sima Deken demanded their surrender and called on Qiao Rui and Han Xu to attack them.
• Qiao Rui and Han Xu charged forward and reunited with Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi, explaining that they had discovered they had joined the rebel army’s faction by mistake.
• Sima Deken revealed that outsiders could enter and leave Jiangdu City, prompting Bai Xiaowen to reconsider what had caused the city’s isolation.
• Bai Xiaowen concluded that the Jiangdu demons had disguised themselves as people and manipulated the outsiders into targeting Empress Xiao and Yang Guang’s spirits.

Qiao Rui warned Bai Xiaowen that Sima Deken’s forces were an ambush and revealed their deployment, after which the rebels transformed into a demon army. Bai Xiaowen led the White Phoenix Team through the poorly coordinated ranks, with the Butcher charging toward Zhang Kai, the Venomous Vengeful Spirit.

• Qiao Rui told Bai Xiaowen she had scouted Jiangdu City and identified the defenders’ military deployment.
• Sima Deken dropped his pretense and transformed himself and several hundred soldiers into demons, alongside Yuan Min, Meng Jing, and Zhang Kai.
• Bai Xiaowen used Insight to assess the demon commanders and fed Knight Greaves to the Butcher, boosting his attributes and movement speed.
• Bai Xiaowen ordered the Butcher to lead a charge toward Zhang Kai while the team used toxin and ranged attacks to clear the demon soldiers in their path.
• The Butcher reached Zhang Kai and covered the Venomous Vengeful Spirit with Rotting Toxin.

The White Phoenix Team fought Sima Deken and Zhang Kai, exploiting the commanders’ weaknesses while struggling against their powerful attacks. Bai Xiaowen ended the chapter immobilizing nearly all the Demon soldiers with Intimidation and a Mental Force Field as Sima Deken’s Whirling Hammer bore down on him.

• Bai Xiaowen used fiery Kusanagi-Style combos to exploit Zhang Kai’s vulnerability to magic damage while Butcher’s poison proved ineffective against the ghost.
• Han Xu blocked Sima Deken’s hammer, and Butcher swept the zombie commander off his feet so Li Shuyi could build her passive stacks.
• Bai Xiaowen identified Sima Deken’s spine as his weak point, and Li Shuyi repeatedly struck it for full damage.
• Sima Deken unleashed Whirling Hammer; Li Shuyi escaped with Invincible Slash, but Butcher took heavy damage from a glancing blow.
• Zhang Kai trapped Bai Xiaowen with Underworld Claw and retreated as Sima Deken charged toward him.
• Bai Xiaowen activated Intimidation and a Mental Force Field, paralyzing or stunning the Demon soldiers outside the four commanders.

Bai Xiaowen used the Vengeful Spirit to drain Sima Deken’s energy, then unleashed Super Orochi Nagi and helped kill Sorcery Vengeful Spirit Yuan Min as the ambush forces arrived. When Zhao Xingshu led troops toward Yang Guang’s coffin, Bai Xiaowen stayed back to revive corpses, while Li Shuyi charged toward Meng Jing.

• Bai Xiaowen stunned the demons with Conqueror’s Haki and used the Vengeful Spirit to drain Sima Deken until he had only enough energy for one more skill.
• Sima Deken used Copper Hammer Throw to destroy the Vengeful Spirit, then signaled for reinforcements; Zhao Xingshu and the Li brothers arrived with ambush forces.
• Qiao Rui played Soul Melody to weaken Sima Deken and the arriving demon leaders, and Bai Xiaowen used Super Orochi Nagi to devastate the troops and leave Yuan Min near death.
• The Bone Warlock killed Yuan Min with Lightning Strike, prompting Zhao Xingshu and the other leaders to consider retreating.
• Sima Deken urged Zhao Xingshu to attack Empress Xiao by Yang Guang’s coffin, but Bai Xiaowen stayed with the White Phoenix Team while Delifa began Corpse Revival.
• Li Shuyi used Invincible Slash to charge alone toward Swift Cavalry Ghost General Meng Jing instead of attacking Sima Deken.

Li Shuyi fought Ghost Cavalry General Meng Jing while Bai Xiaowen and the White Phoenix Team used their summons and support skills to turn the surrounding legion battle in their favor. Their advancing battle line left Meng Jing’s forces under mounting pressure.

• Li Shuyi bypassed Meng Jing’s hook bearers, wounded his warhorse, and forced him to fight her on foot.
• Meng Jing’s personal guards surrounded Li Shuyi, but the Death Knight charged through the demon soldiers and used Desecration to protect her and damage nearby enemies.
• Delifa raised fallen demon soldiers as skeletons, while Bai Xiaowen released Rageclaw and boosted his forces with Commanding Roar.
• Qiao Rui weakened the demon soldiers with Soul Melody as Delifa revived the dead to replenish the skeleton ranks.
• The White Phoenix Team’s summoned army pushed the battle line outward, steadily reducing the demon soldiers’ numbers.

Zhao Xingshu and the Li brothers tried to reach Emperor Yang’s coffin, but Empress Xiao’s Frost-Snow Domain stripped demonic energy from anything that entered it. Bai Xiaowen’s forces routed the demon army at the Grand Drill Ground, and he ordered a pursuit before the surviving commanders could regroup with Yuwen Huaji.

• Empress Xiao warned Zhao Xingshu that her Frost-Snow Domain would drain the demonic energy of anyone who approached Yang Guang’s coffin.
• Zhao Xingshu threw a demon soldier into the frost, where the soldier’s Demon Form vanished as his demonic energy was purified.
• Bai Xiaowen deduced that Empress Xiao’s domain countered demons but had limits, then ordered his Skeleton Soldier corps forward after finishing Zhang Kai.
• Bai Xiaowen’s forces defeated Sima Deken, while Li Shuyi and the Death Knight trapped Meng Jing; Zhao Xingshu and the Li brothers fled with their troops.
• Bai Xiaowen ordered his army to pursue the fleeing commanders before they could join Yuwen Huaji at Myriad Manifestations Hall.

Bai Xiaowen and the White Phoenix Team pursued and killed Zhao Xingshu’s fleeing demon leaders and several scouting parties, helping Emperor Yang Guang absorb more Grudge Soulstones. After killing seven of the Ten Traitors, they rested in hiding before confronting the remaining demons in the Myriad Manifestations Hall.

• Bai Xiaowen gave the newly acquired Grudge Soulstones to Yang Guang and led the White Phoenix Team after the fleeing demons.
• Bai Xiaowen used Qiao Rui’s map to intercept Zhao Xingshu and the Li brothers, and the team killed the fugitives one by one.
• The White Phoenix Team killed mounted scouts Linghu Xingda and Xu Hongren, whom Empress Xiao identified as men involved in Yang Guang’s death.
• Li Shuyi killed Li Xiaoben, bringing the number of dead Ten Traitors to seven, and Yang Guang absorbed the resulting Grudge Soulstone.
• Empress Xiao warned Bai Xiaowen about other powerful demons, including the seal custodians Li Fu and Niu Fangyu, and Bai Xiaowen chose to rest before entering the Myriad Manifestations Hall.
• The White Phoenix Team hid with Empress Xiao’s party in a rundown tavern, using Psychic Shielding to evade the demons.

Bai Xiaowen and the White Phoenix Team found that Yuwen Huaji and the other demon leaders had fled Myriad Manifestations Hall, but Yang Guang led them to the Dragon-Patterned Gold Casket and sealed Jiangdu City's escape routes. With the casket turning the city into a demon realm that could corrupt them within three days, the team began to consider seizing it from Yang Guang.

• Qiao Rui's Falcon Spirit found Myriad Manifestations Hall abandoned and its valuables gone, while Bai Xiaowen concluded that the Yuwen brothers had escaped through routes connecting Jiangdu City to the outside.
• Qiao Rui spotted Pei Qiantong and the seal officer among the fleeing forces, and Yang Guang asked the group to take him to the Dragon-Patterned Gold Casket.
• At Myriad Manifestations Hall, Yang Guang touched the casket and sealed Jiangdu City's escape routes, trapping the remaining demon leaders inside.
• Yang Guang warned that the casket had turned Jiangdu City into a demon realm and could strip the group's humanity within three days.
• Qiao Rui suggested over the Team Channel that the group seize the casket, and Li Shuyi and Cecilia subtly positioned themselves against Yang Guang's party while Han Xu stayed still.

Bai Xiaowen honored his promise to Yang Guang and led the White Phoenix Team to hunt down the Demon rebels in Jiangdu City. The team defeated Pei Qiantong and the Yuwen brothers, while the chapter ended with Yuwen Huaji still fighting after Li Shuyi and Rageclaw overwhelmed him.

• Bai Xiaowen reassured Yang Guang that he would bring him the heads and Grudge Soulstones of Yuwen Huaji, Pei Qiantong, and the other traitors, then left the Myriad Manifestations Hall with his team.
• The White Phoenix Team tracked down Pei Qiantong and two seal officers, defeated them, and let the scattered palace guards flee.
• Bai Xiaowen's team caught Yuwen Huaji and Yuwen Zhiji near the eastern escape point after their troops abandoned them.
• Yuwen Zhiji's hallucination made Li Shuyi mistake Bai Xiaowen for a threat, but Bai Xiaowen restrained Zhiji with a Heart-Confounding Talisman.
• Li Shuyi battered Yuwen Huaji while Bai Xiaowen and the team brought down Yuwen Zhiji, then Rageclaw took over the fight against Huaji.