Chapter Summaries

Yu Sheng used the Blood Sacrifice Method to attack Mu Yang with the Void-Speed Glazed Beads, but Mu Yang caught and crushed all three. The match ended with Yu Sheng’s treasured weapon shattered, leaving the result undecided in the chapter.

• Liang Qing announced Yuan Yuan’s victory over Hao Ben, giving the Demon Slayer Bureau one of the top-three spots.
• Huo Xing told Yu Sheng to attack Mu Yang immediately and incapacitate him so the Six Fan Gate could secure Cold Pool Blessed Land.
• Yu Sheng retreated and used the Blood Sacrifice Method to unleash the Void-Speed Glazed Beads’ Triangular Suppression-Kill Technique.
• Mu Yang charged into the attack and caught all three beads in his hand without being pushed back.
• Mu Yang crushed the Void-Speed Glazed Beads, and Yu Sheng cried out in alarm.

Mu Yang shattered Yu Sheng’s Void-Speed Glazed Beads, leaving him incapacitated and winning the Demon Slayer Bureau the third-round match. The Six Fan Gate’s constables argued over the loss as the onlookers took notice of Mu Yang’s strength.

• Mu Yang shattered Yu Sheng’s three Void-Speed Glazed Beads, and the backlash left Yu Sheng severely hurt and disoriented.
• Huo Xing charged Mu Yang, but Yuan Yin struck him away with Heaven-Seizing Hand and reminded him of the match rules.
• Huo Xing confronted Nie Chi, who threatened to enforce the rules, and Huo Xing backed down.
• Mu Yang found Yu Sheng unconscious before he could attack, and Liang Qing declared victory for the Demon Slayer Bureau.
• The crowd marveled at Mu Yang’s feat, while Lei Xing considered asking him to help kill a demon.

Mu Yang defeated Yuan Yuan to win first place in the fifth-tier group, and the Blessed Land Grand Selection ended with the winners set to enter the Cold Pool Blessed Land in three days. Yuan Yin summoned Mu Yang to Yuan Mansion, while Yuan Yin and Lei Xing worried about the silence from Anshun Prefecture and Fu Yu.

• Hao Ben thanked Mu Yang after Yu Sheng's injuries left Hao Ben in third place, and Mu Yang faced Yuan Yuan in the final bout.
• Yuan Yuan asked Mu Yang to fight without restraint, but he struck her with a controlled blow that sent her flying into a cloud-and-mist hand.
• Liang Qing declared Mu Yang the fifth-rank champion and announced the rankings and the contestants' plans to enter the Cold Pool Blessed Land in three days.
• Liang Qing quietly told Mu Yang that Lord Yuan wanted to see him at Yuan Mansion that night, leaving Mu Yang to suspect Yuan Yin might be angry about Yuan Yuan's defeat.
• Yuan Yin told Lei Xing that Fu Yu was likely fine despite sending no news from Anshun Prefecture for nearly two months, while Lei Xing concealed her worry with threats to beat his daughter.

After recovering, Yu Sheng joined Huo Xing and the others in plotting revenge against the Demon Slayer Bureau, while Huo Xing promised them an opportunity would come soon. At the Yuan residence, Yuan Yin privately showed Mu Yang intelligence that led him to ask whether the Six Fan Gate members were all half-demons.

• Yu Sheng recovered from his injuries and revealed his changed, horizontal pupils, which Huo Xing and the others treated as familiar.
• Wei Duoduo and Yu Sheng asked Huo Xing for revenge against the Demon Slayer Bureau, and Huo Xing promised them a chance soon.
• Mu Yang dined with Yuan Yin and Yuan Yuan, then went with Yuan Yin to his study while Yuan Yuan was kept behind.
• Yuan Yin gave Mu Yang a confidential letter from his master, the Liang Province Pacification Commissioner.
• After reading the intelligence, Mu Yang asked Yuan Yin whether everyone in the Six Fan Gate was a half-demon.

Yuan Yin explained the Six Fan Gate’s Half-Demon leadership and discussed its rivalry with the Demon Slayer Bureau with Mu Yang. He offered Mu Yang a dangerous mission to hunt a Sixth-Rank monster in Anshun Prefecture, then remained behind until Nie Chi appeared at his study door.

• Yuan Yin explained that Half-Demons made up many of the Six Fan Gate’s elite, while Nie Chi was a pure-blooded human expelled from the New Moon Hidden Sect.
• Mu Yang asked whether they could kill Six Fan Gate members, and Yuan Yin hinted that the Bureau could help if one died unseen in the wilderness.
• Yuan Yin offered Mu Yang a mission to kill a Sixth-Rank monster in Anshun Prefecture, warning that it fought well underwater and had defeated three Sixth-Rank martial artists from the Water-Splitting Sect.
• Yuan Yin promised Mu Yang up to five Earth Grade Superior Merits for the mission and urged him to put his safety first; Mu Yang accepted.
• After Mu Yang left, Yuan Yin studied a map in his office, where Nie Chi appeared at the door.

Nie Chi warned Yuan Yin that Huo Xing might retaliate against the Demon Slayer Bureau, then surrendered his Six Fan Gate token and disappeared. Yuan Yin sent Liang Qing to lead the expedition to the Cold Pool Blessed Land while he stayed in Qinghe Prefecture City to guard against an attack.

• Nie Chi asked Yuan Yin whether he could guard the Cold Pool Blessed Land again and questioned whether humans and demons could coexist.
• Nie Chi warned that Huo Xing might seek revenge after the failed mission, then left his Bronze Token with Yuan Yin and departed.
• Yuan Yin realized Nie Chi had severed ties with the Six Fan Gate and sent for Liang Qing.
• Liang Qing told Yuan Yin that his Torso Aperture was stabilized after reaching the Sixth Rank Aperture-Opening Realm.
• Yuan Yin ordered Liang Qing to lead the expedition to the Cold Pool Blessed Land in three days while he remained in Qinghe Prefecture City.

Mu Yang and Yuan Yuan entered the Cold Pool Blessed Land, where Liang Qing had brought the selected martial artists to absorb its energy under strict rules. The chapter left them beside the pool as a guard explained that its center held the richest energy.

• Liang Qing explained the Cold Pool’s dangers, three-hour limit, and rules against attacking or revealing its location.
• Hao Ben asked whether he could use warming jade or Body-Warming Pills, and Liang Qing said he could but they would reduce energy absorption.
• Liang Qing led the group through a forest where Yuan Yuan explained the bewildering fragrances and dangerous spirits near Blessed Lands.
• Liang Qing sent entrants inside in ranked pairs, and Mu Yang and Yuan Yuan entered first.
• Mu Yang and Yuan Yuan reached the luminous Cold Pool, where a Demon Slayer Bureau captain pointed out that its center held the most energy.

Mu Yang entered the Cold Pool and used its abundant energy to open Auxiliary Meridians while enduring the freezing water far longer than anyone else. After three shichen, everyone else had left, and Liang Qing stayed behind as Mu Yang continued soaking.

• Mu Yang and Yuan Yuan entered the Cold Pool, where Mu Yang began absorbing its energy and opening Auxiliary Meridians.
• Mu Yang opened his tenth and eleventh Auxiliary Meridians, while Yuan Yuan and Hao Ben left the pool after shorter stays.
• Mu Yang opened more meridians as the others, including Yu Sheng, watched in disbelief at his endurance.
• After three shichen, Mu Yang had opened twenty-one Auxiliary Meridians and was more than halfway through the twenty-second.
• Liang Qing ordered the others out and stayed alone to wait for Mu Yang, praising him as a monster.

Mu Yang emerged from the Cold Pool Blessed Land after opening another Auxiliary Meridian, and Liang Qing explained the dangers and lasting effects of staying in the pool. As the group prepared to leave, Huo Xing confronted them, followed by a sixth-rank Tiger Demon.

• Mu Yang opened his twenty-second Auxiliary Meridian but stopped when he realized he had exceeded the time limit Liang Qing had set.
• Liang Qing led Mu Yang out and warned him that overstaying in a Blessed Land could bring severe punishment or death.
• Liang Qing explained that the Cold Pool's yin chill harmed most living creatures and required long recovery, while Mu Yang's Yin Qi Resistance had protected him.
• Mu Yang and Liang Qing left the cave as an icy storm began, and Hao Ben, Yuan Yuan, and the others welcomed them outside.
• Huo Xing appeared from the forest and blocked the group's departure.
• A mottled Tiger Demon over five zhang long burst from the forest, and Liang Qing recognized it as a sixth-rank demon.

Liang Qing’s group faced Huo Xing, his striped Tiger Demon, and the Windcloud Sect’s defection, leaving them badly outnumbered. As Huo Xing tried to recruit the gathered factions and then threatened them with a Demon-Control Token, Lei Xing arrived to defend the Water-Splitting Sect.

• Liang Qing assessed Huo Xing and the middle sixth-tier striped Tiger Demon as too much to face together, then sent a captain to alert Yuan Yin and ordered his people to flee when he attacked.
• Lu Chengxian appeared and revealed that the Windcloud Sect had pledged itself to the Six Fan Gate.
• Huo Xing offered the gathered factions a place in the Six Fan Gate, but Hao Ben and Xu Hong refused to join him and denounced his alliance with demons.
• Huo Xing drew the Demon-Control Token and threatened to kill the dissenters.
• Lei Xing appeared and challenged Huo Xing to protect the Water-Splitting Sect.

Lei Xing joined Liang Qing’s group, but Huo Xing and Lu Chengxian still had them outnumbered and threatened by a sixth-rank striped Tiger Demon. Mu Yang suddenly charged in and killed the demon with two punches, leaving Huo Xing and Lu Chengxian stunned.

• Lei Xing revealed herself as an ally and reassured Liang Qing and Hao Ben, then prepared to fight Huo Xing and the striped Tiger Demon.
• Huo Xing ordered the striped Tiger Demon to attack as Liang Qing and Lei Xing readied themselves to defend.
• Mu Yang activated his speed and killing traits, then struck the striped Tiger Demon’s armored claw with overwhelming force.
• Mu Yang’s punch sent the Tiger Demon crashing through more than a dozen trees and left it badly wounded.
• Mu Yang rushed to the fallen Tiger Demon and smashed its head, killing it as Huo Xing and Lu Chengxian watched in shock.

Mu Yang killed Huo Xing, a Sixth Rank Tiger-Blood Half-Demon, and Lu Chengxian after defeating the Variegated Tiger Demon. He solidified several pills through his equipment system and left Liang Qing and Lei Xing stunned by his strength.

• Huo Xing revealed his Half-Demon form and assumed Mu Yang had exhausted himself after killing the Variegated Tiger Demon.
• Liang Qing charged at Huo Xing, but Mu Yang struck first and smashed Huo Xing’s wrist and skull with his fist.
• Mu Yang explained that he had been equipping Fifth Rank pills so Huo Xing’s death would solidify them permanently.
• Lu Chengxian fled, but Mu Yang used Soul Howl to immobilize her and crushed her skull.

Mu Yang killed the remaining Six Fan Gate and Windcloud Sect members who had colluded with Monsters, then collected their equipment and spoils. The others watched in fear as he finished looting and considered how to improve his storage equipment.

• Mu Yang stored the corpses and asked Liang Qing whether Demon Slayer Bureau rules allowed him to keep the spoils.
• After Huo Xing and Lu Chengxian died, the Windcloud Sect members and constables dropped their weapons or hesitated to surrender, but Mu Yang killed them with Wind Blades.
• Mu Yang killed Wei Duoduo after she begged for her life, gaining more permanently solidified equipment and increasing his True Qi limit.
• Mu Yang asked whether Great Jing Law permitted killing those who colluded with Monsters and whether he could keep all the spoils, and everyone silently agreed.
• Mu Yang collected fifteen Small Sleeve Bags, including the large bags belonging to Huo Xing and Lu Chengxian, and planned to study how to solidify them later.

After Mu Yang helped end the crisis in Qinghe Prefecture City, Yuan Yin awarded him three Earth Grade Superior Merits and advised him to seek higher-rank rewards in Anling Prefecture. Mu Yang spent one Merit on Qi-Storing Crystals, leaving Fan Duan astonished to learn he had joined the Demon Slayer Bureau only a month earlier.

• Liang Qing led the group back to Qinghe Prefecture City, where Yuan Yin learned that Mu Yang had defeated three Sixth Rank opponents and was left speechless by the feat.
• At Yuan Mansion, Yuan Yin awarded Mu Yang three Earth Grade Superior Merits and explained that Anling Prefecture's Armory offered a wider selection of Sixth Rank items.
• Mu Yang and Lei Xing agreed to meet at the city gate the next morning, then went their separate ways.
• Mu Yang collected his Merits from Elder Liang and exchanged one for five hundred Qi-Storing Crystals at the Armory.
• Fan Duan realized Mu Yang had joined the Demon Slayer Bureau only one month earlier and wondered whether he was an immortal reincarnated.

Mu Yang examined the martial arts and resources he had looted from the Windcloud Sect and prepared to use the Equipment Slot to cultivate the Windcloud Aperture-Opening Method. After equipping its prerequisite methods and clearing two more Auxiliary Meridians, he began equipping the Aperture-Opening Method.

• Mu Yang considered the Windcloud Sect and Six Fan Gate’s involvement, hoping to join any action the Demon Slayer Bureau took so he could contribute.
• Mu Yang compared the Windcloud and Tiger Roar Aperture-Opening Methods and decided to use six Equipment Slots for the two methods and their prerequisites.
• Mu Yang rejected using Huo Xing’s corpse to acquire the Tiger Half-Demon Bloodline and kept it as enhancement material.
• Mu Yang equipped the Windcloud Dantian Construction Method and Windcloud Meridian Clearing Method, advancing Windcloud Great Meridians to Blue quality.
• Mu Yang cleared his twenty-third and twenty-fourth Auxiliary Meridians, increasing his strength and True Qi limit, then began equipping the Windcloud Aperture-Opening Method.

Mu Yang equipped the Windcloud Aperture-Opening Method and broke through to the sixth-tier Aperture-Opening Realm by opening and filling two body apertures. He then equipped three Tiger Roar methods to continue opening apertures.

• Mu Yang equipped the Windcloud Aperture-Opening Method and gained its perfected knowledge and experience.
• Mu Yang opened his Torso Aperture, broke through to the sixth tier, and increased his single-arm strength by 300,000 jin to 3,730,000 jin.
• Mu Yang filled the Torso Aperture with ten thousand strands of high-grade true qi and confirmed he had seven equipment slots.
• Mu Yang opened his Right Arm Aperture, gained another 300,000 jin of strength, and filled it with ten thousand strands of high-grade true qi.
• Mu Yang equipped the Tiger Roar Dantian Construction Method, Tiger Roar Meridian Clearing Method, and Tiger Roar Aperture-Opening Method.

Mu Yang opened more body apertures and equipped the Variegated Tiger Demon Corpse, dramatically increasing his physical strength and true qi reserves. He set his sights on suppressing a first-rate sect through sheer physical power.

• Mu Yang opened his third and fourth body apertures, raising his physical strength to 5.63 million jin and his true qi reserve to seventy-seven thousand strands.
• Mu Yang compared himself with Yuan Yin's senior brother, learned that the man was at least a seventh-rank Evil-Suppressing General, and resolved to knock him down before year's end.
• Mu Yang equipped the Variegated Tiger Demon Corpse and endured its surging qi-blood while converting it into true qi.
• Mu Yang opened his fifth body aperture, gained ten thousand strands of true qi, and increased his physical strength to 8.93 million jin.
• Mu Yang resolved to test his strength by suppressing a first-rate sect with his physical body alone.

Mu Yang discovered a Trait Enhancement function and used it to raise his Vast Dantian trait from blue to purple, greatly increasing his true qi capacity. He concluded that he needed to kill more demons to obtain traits and grow stronger.

• Mu Yang tested equipment enhancement and confirmed that purple quality remained the limit at Tier Six.
• Mu Yang opened a newly appeared panel function and learned it could combine three solidified traits to enhance one without losing the result to chance.
• Mu Yang enhanced three Muscle Growth traits into a blue Muscle Growth trait.
• Mu Yang used Thick Shell and Forest-Shaking Tiger Roar as materials to enhance Vast Dantian from blue to purple.
• Mu Yang's total true qi capacity rose to 102,000 strands, and he resolved to kill more demons for traits.

Mu Yang joined Lei Xing and the Water-Splitting Sect on their journey to Anshun Prefecture to deal with a sixth-rank Mirage Serpent that used illusion and water arts. After hearing how it had wounded the sect’s strongest fighters, Mu Yang asked to stop along the way so he could kill some weaker demons.

• Mu Yang met Lei Xing, Hao Ben, Di Ren, and the Water-Splitting Sect’s group at Qinghe Prefecture’s city gate, then set out with them toward Anshun Prefecture.
• Lei Xing explained that the Mirage Serpent had preyed on nearby villagers, defeated the sect’s attempts to kill it, and severely wounded Huang Jingchen.
• Lei Xing warned Mu Yang that the Mirage Serpent’s illusion arts could disorient even experienced martial artists, while its deep-pool lair strengthened its water arts.
• Mu Yang studied a map of demon locations and asked Lei Xing to stop so he could kill third-rank demons along the route.

Mu Yang returned to Qingxi County with Lei Xing and learned that a late fourth-rank Gecko Demon had seized control of the county. He killed the demon on arrival, leaving Zhou Heng stunned by how easily Mu Yang had defeated an enemy far stronger than himself.

• Mu Yang hunted demons for seven days while feeding Little Black, which broke through to the early third rank.
• Lei Xing told Mu Yang they had reached Qingxi County, and the group decided to spend the night there.
• Zhou Heng recalled how the Gecko Demon had defeated Xue She, claimed control of Qingxi County, and demanded sacrifices and death-row prisoners.
• Zhou Heng had sent a letter asking Mu Yang for help, but the messenger’s journey was expected to take at least ten days.
• Mu Yang arrived at the Zhou Family residence carrying the Gecko Demon’s headless corpse and said he had killed it after spotting it on the roof.