Recaps

Yang Xiao learned that Jiang Chen and the Black Flood Dragon had been exposed for trafficking corpses and raising Water Demons across Guanlan Commandery, prompting a major Demon Suppression Division operation. After mastering the Demon-Subduing Soul-Calming Saber, Yang Xiao was conscripted by Zhou Zheng to join the mission and prepared to depart immediately.

• Xu Qingshan told Yang Xiao that Jiang Chen had colluded with the Dragon Lord of Guanlan River to raise Water Demons and transport corpses, but had escaped with surviving demons.
• Xu Qingshan explained that Pei Xuance had sealed off hundreds of miles of the Guanlan River and that Qingzhou would send teams to reinforce the operation.
• Yang Xiao spent 500 Merit on the Demon-Subduing Soul-Calming Saber and used his Equipment Slot to master its three moves and gain its demon-suppressing trait.
• Yang Xiao tested the new blade art in his courtyard, splitting Bluestone and sensing its power to stun demons and weaken their Demonic Qi and healing.
• Zhou Zheng arrived with several Captains and conscripted Yang Xiao for the Guanlan Commandery mission, ordering him to pack before they left immediately.

Yang Xiao arrived at Stone Spring Township and joined a Demon Suppression Division squad assigned to guard a shallow channel during the Guanlan River campaign. After Squad Leader Ye explained the mission and its rewards, Yang Xiao introduced himself as being good at killing demons and met the other Captains.

• Yang Xiao and Zhou Zheng reached Guanlan Commandery, then continued to Stone Spring Township, where hundreds of Demon Suppression Guards had gathered.
• Zhou Zheng handed Yang Xiao and the others over to Squad Leader Ye before leaving to coordinate the defense.
• Squad Leader Ye explained that their post was expected to face only a few river demons, promised Merit and other rewards, and warned them to follow orders.
• Squad Leader Ye recorded the Captains' names, cultivation, and specialties, and Yang Xiao said he was at Mid Liquid Condensation and was good at killing demons.
• Yang Xiao surveyed the assembled groups, noticing Li Mao, the monk Yuantong, and a short, stout Late Liquid Condensation man who approached him.

Yang Xiao was assigned to guard the Green Creek River mouth and refused Li Mao’s proposal to search upstream without orders. Li Mao led several Captains out at night anyway, while Yang Xiao stayed behind and continued cultivating, waiting for an opportunity.

• Sun Ran introduced himself to Yang Xiao, and Li Mao learned that Yang Xiao came from no lineage.
• Ye Jinkai assigned the twenty Captains to guard the Green Creek River mouth and ordered them not to act without orders.
• After two quiet days, Li Mao urged Yang Xiao to search upstream for Water Demons, but Yang Xiao refused to disobey orders.
• Li Mao persuaded seven or eight Captains to leave at night and search along the river without permission.
• Yang Xiao watched them leave, returned to his hut, and continued cultivating while keeping ready for an opportunity.

Li Mao led several Captains along the Green Creek River to hunt a Water Demon, but they encountered a far stronger Water Wraith. After it killed the Captains and wounded Li Mao, it cornered him and left him facing death.

• Li Mao persuaded seven or eight Captains to leave the river mouth and search the riverbank for a Water Demon.
• The group found what appeared to be a sleeping Water Wraith, and Li Mao ordered the Captains to surround and attack it.
• The Water Wraith revealed its Liquid Condensation Mid Stage strength, killed the Captains, and pursued Li Mao as he fled.
• Li Mao turned to fight the Water Wraith, but it evaded his sword strike and knocked him down with a claw attack.
• The wounded Li Mao struggled to his feet as the Water Wraith taunted him and advanced.

Yang Xiao rescued Li Mao by killing a Liquid Condensation Mid Stage Water Wraith, then gained its Inner Core and the Water-Binding Entanglement trait. After absorbing the core’s spiritual energy, he reached the eighth aperture of Liquid Condensation.

• Yang Xiao sensed a powerful Demonic Qi surge and rushed toward the river, while Fatty Sun and Yuantong followed.
• The Water Wraith defeated Li Mao’s group and was about to kill Li Mao when Yang Xiao arrived.
• Yang Xiao killed the Water Wraith with one strike of the Demon-Subduing Soul-Calming Saber and took its Inner Core.
• Fatty Sun questioned Li Mao about the dead captains and said he would report the incident to Squad Leader Ye.
• Yang Xiao discovered that the Water Wraith’s death permanently fixed the effects of two pieces of equipment and equipped its Inner Core.
• Yang Xiao gained the Water-Binding Entanglement trait and advanced to the eighth aperture of Liquid Condensation.

After Yang Xiao reported Li Mao’s unauthorized mission and killed Water Wraith, Zhou Zheng reinforced the outpost. Jiang Chen appeared on the river with a host of water demons, including the powerful Blackwater Mystic Flood Dragon, and the Demon Suppression Guards prepared to fight.

• Fatty Sun and Yang Xiao told Ye Jinkai that Li Mao’s unauthorized search had led to the deaths of seven or eight captains, and Yang Xiao had killed the Water Wraith that attacked them.
• Ye Jinkai promised to report Yang Xiao’s achievement and Li Mao’s misconduct, while Fatty Sun warned that the Water Wraith’s presence suggested more demons were entering the tributaries.
• Zhou Zheng arrived at the outpost at dawn, ordered wider patrols, and saw a black boat rise from the misty river with Jiang Chen aboard.
• Zhou Zheng recognized Jiang Chen as the River Inspection Envoy who had colluded with demons, and Jiang Chen summoned more than a dozen water demons from the river.
• The Blackwater Mystic Flood Dragon, whose power had reached Perfected Liquid Condensation, joined the attack; Ye Jinkai led the guards against the demons while Zhou Zheng engaged the flood dragon.

Zhou Zheng and the Demon Suppression Division fought the water demons while Yang Xiao confronted Jiang Chen over the atrocities in Heishui County. Yang Xiao struck Jiang Chen hard enough to numb his arm and seal its acupoints, provoking Jiang Chen to unleash more power.

• Zhou Zheng battled the Blackwater Mystic Flood Dragon across the river, and the two appeared evenly matched.
• Ye Jinkai led the Captains in fighting the water demons along the riverbank, where Yang Xiao killed a soft-bodied demon.
• Yang Xiao confronted Jiang Chen and asked about the Straw-Cloak Ghost and Painted-Skin Demon; Jiang Chen admitted he had arranged their actions to raise ingredients for the Dragon Lord.
• Yang Xiao attacked Jiang Chen, who countered with a Flood Dragon clan claw technique, but Yang Xiao's Mountain-Crushing Strength sent him flying and sealed the acupoints in his arm.
• Jiang Chen's killing intent grew as his aura surged, and he challenged Yang Xiao to show his true ability.

Yang Xiao defeated Jiang Chen and learned that Jiang Chen had helped the Flood Dragon Water Clan because the Little Dragon King had taken his sister, Jiang Qing, and promised peace on the Guanlan River. The Blackwater Mystic Flood Dragon tried to seize Jiang Chen, and Yang Xiao fought it until Ye Jinkai and Yuantong arrived to help.

• Yang Xiao defeated Jiang Chen with Demon-Slaying Crystal Edge and found the Gilt Phoenix Hairpin that Jiang Chen cherished.
• Jiang Chen explained that the Little Dragon King had taken Jiang Qing and that he had joined the Flood Dragon Lord in wrongdoing to see his sister again.
• Yang Xiao decided to take Jiang Chen to the bank and keep him under guard until Deputy General Zhou Zheng could deal with him.
• The Blackwater Mystic Flood Dragon attacked Yang Xiao and tried to carry Jiang Chen away, but Yang Xiao wounded it and drove it back with his saber and crystal shards.
• Ye Jinkai and Yuantong arrived beside Yang Xiao as the Blackwater Mystic Flood Dragon lunged at all three of them.

Yang Xiao fought the Blackwater Mystic Flood Dragon and used his rapid healing and powerful attacks to drive it toward retreat. As the dragon tried to flee, a silver-white figure burst from the river and pinned its tail with a Great Halberd.

• Ye Jinkai and Yuantong attacked the Blackwater Mystic Flood Dragon, but it knocked them both into the riverbank with its tail.
• Yang Xiao refused to hand Jiang Chen over and wounded the dragon with his Demon-Subduing Soul-Calming Saber, though its tail also cut him deeply.
• Yang Xiao's wounds healed almost instantly, and his Demon-Slaying Crystal Edge pierced the dragon's scales and forced it back.
• Jiang Chen watched Yang Xiao fight and remembered how he had been unable to stop the Little Dragon King from taking his younger sister, Qing'er.
• The Blackwater Mystic Flood Dragon tried to flee, but a silver-white figure burst from the river and pinned its tail with a Great Halberd.

Yang Xiao and Zhou Zheng killed the Blackwater Mystic Flood Dragon, and Yang Xiao captured Jiang Chen alive. Zhou Zheng took them to see General Pei, promising to claim credit for Yang Xiao, and was shocked to learn Yang Xiao had been in the Demon Suppression Division for less than a month.

• Zhou Zheng pinned the Blackwater Mystic Flood Dragon down while Yang Xiao pierced it with crystal radiance and killed it with his saber.
• Yang Xiao took the dragon’s inner core, leaving the Demon-Suppressing Captains astonished by his strength and rapid recovery.
• Zhou Zheng found Jiang Chen alive and promised to bring him before General Pei and intercede for his younger sister, but Jiang Chen warned that the Little Dragon King was beyond Guanlan Commandery’s power to provoke.
• Zhou Zheng and Yang Xiao set out with Jiang Chen under escort, and Zhou Zheng promised to claim credit for Yang Xiao before General Pei.
• Yang Xiao told Zhou Zheng he had served in the Demon Suppression Division for less than a month, shocking him.

Yang Xiao watched General Pei Xuance confront the captured Flood Dragon Lord, who defended eating people by citing its service protecting Guanlan River. Pei Xuance resolved to kill it despite its threat of retaliation from the Little Dragon King, and the Flood Dragon Lord tried to drag its captors underwater.

• Zhou Zheng identified Pei Xuance as the Demon Suppression General and explained how the nine deputy generals’ Demon-Subduing Chains restrained the Flood Dragon Lord.
• The Flood Dragon Lord recognized Yang Xiao, then argued that its past service protecting Guanlan River should excuse its having eaten people.
• Pei Xuance dismissed the Flood Dragon Lord’s claims and declared that the Demon Suppression Division would replace it for breaking the rules.
• The Flood Dragon Lord threatened Pei Xuance with the Little Dragon King, but Pei Xuance insisted he would kill it for the common folk who had died.
• The Flood Dragon Lord erupted with demonic qi and struggled against the chains, then dragged the nine deputy generals down into the river.

Pei Xuance drove off and fatally wounded the Flood Dragon Demon, then ordered a search for its corpse and took Jiang Chen into custody. Back at camp, Yang Xiao equipped the Blackwater Mystic Flood Dragon’s Inner Core and began absorbing its power as his Apertures trembled.

• The Flood Dragon Lord broke free of the Deputy Generals’ formation and tried to escape, but Pei Xuance pierced it with his spear and pinned it to the Guanlan River’s bed.
• The Flood Dragon Demon detonated the rear half of its body and fled underwater, but Pei Xuance hurled his spear after it and ordered the troops to search the river for its corpse.
• Zhou Zheng reported that Yang Xiao had captured Jiang Chen and killed a perfected Liquid Condensation Realm Blackwater Mystic Flood Dragon, and Pei Xuance told Yang Xiao to return and await his reward.
• Pei Xuance ordered Jiang Chen taken into custody until the Flood Dragon Demon’s corpse was found, and Zhou Zheng led Yang Xiao back to the garrison.
• Yang Xiao placed the Blackwater Mystic Flood Dragon’s Inner Core into his Equipment Slot, gained the Black-Erosion Demon Poison trait, and began absorbing its Demon Power as his ninth and tenth Apertures trembled.

Yang Xiao reached perfected liquid condensation by refining the Blackwater Mystic Flood Dragon's Inner Core and gained the corrosive Black-Erosion Demon Poison trait. When he sensed the wounded Flood Dragon Lord beneath the river, he attacked from the bank, provoking the dragon to lunge at him.

• Yang Xiao filled his twelfth aperture, reached perfected liquid condensation, and acquired the Black-Erosion Demon Poison trait.
• Yang Xiao tested the poison on a pebble and rock, discovering that it rapidly corroded both.
• Yang Xiao sensed the Flood Dragon Lord hiding beneath the river and sent a captain to summon Deputy General Zhou.
• Yang Xiao coated Demon-Slaying Crystal Edges with poison and struck the Flood Dragon Lord's old wound.
• The Flood Dragon Lord roared in pain and lunged from the river at Yang Xiao.

Yang Xiao survived the Flood Dragon Lord’s final attack and killed it by tearing Pei Xuance’s spear from its wound and driving it back into the demon. After discovering Yang Xiao had slain the gravely wounded beast, Pei Xuance offered him a Deputy General position, which Yang Xiao accepted.

• The Flood Dragon Lord crushed Yang Xiao’s chest and shattered his saber, but the Flesh Cloak began healing his injuries.
• Yang Xiao seized Pei Xuance’s spear, ripped it from the Flood Dragon Lord’s wound, and empowered it with three forces before striking the demon down.
• Yang Xiao searched the Flood Dragon Lord’s body and took its glowing Flood Dragon Core as Pei Xuance, Zhou Zheng, and several Deputy Generals arrived.
• Pei Xuance examined the corpse and offered Yang Xiao the position of Deputy General, asking whether he dared accept it.
• Yang Xiao accepted, and Pei Xuance ordered Lü Heng to transport the corpse, let Yang Xiao keep the Army-Breaking Spear, and invited him to seek a Deputy General position in Guanlan Commandery if he established himself in Qingzhou.

Yang Xiao received Pei Xuance’s Army-Breaking Spear and learned that the weapon marked him as Pei’s successor, though he remained unfazed by the political consequences. After healing in his hut, Yang Xiao examined the spear’s traits and chose to equip it.

• Pei Xuance left the Army-Breaking Spear with Yang Xiao and said he would reserve a deputy general’s position for him.
• Lü Heng explained that the spear had served Pei Xuance for more than thirty years and carried a Sha that ravaged wounds and hindered healing.
• Zhou Zheng told Yang Xiao that inheriting the spear tied him to Pei Xuance’s faction and would make his path to becoming a deputy general difficult.
• Yang Xiao returned to his hut, recovered from his injuries, and checked the Army-Breaking Spear’s gold Army-Breaking and purple Blood-Devouring Spear Baleful Intent traits.
• Yang Xiao chose to equip the Army-Breaking Spear.

Yang Xiao returned from killing the Flood Dragon Lord and rode back toward Qingzhou with the Demon Suppression Guards, while his comrades questioned his background and formidable physical strength. Yuantong asked which body-tempering method Yang Xiao practiced and whether he could study it.

• Yang Xiao emerged from his hut carrying Pei Xuance's Army-Breaking Spear, and the guards debated whether his victory over the Flood Dragon Lord came from luck or skill.
• Fatty Sun and Yuantong praised Yang Xiao for surviving the demon's desperate counterattack, making the other guards reconsider him.
• Yang Xiao and the Qingzhou Demon Suppression Guards departed Stone Spring Township, leaving Guanlan Commandery's guards to handle the aftermath.
• Fatty Sun asked about Yang Xiao's origins, and Yang Xiao explained that he had been a Xiangyun County yamen runner who joined the Demon Suppression Division during its selection.
• Yuantong asked Yang Xiao which body-tempering method he practiced and whether the division kept it on file for him to study.

Yang Xiao and the Demon Suppression Division returned to Qingzhou after the battle at Guanlan River, while Hu Qingqing heard news of the casualties and wondered whether Yang Xiao had been among the returning guards. The chapter ended as she watched the contingent ride into the city.

• Yuantong praised Yang Xiao’s body-tempering and suggested they spar, but Fatty Sun warned that such training could slow their progress in realm cultivation.
• Yang Xiao decided he would choose a body-tempering method after returning to Qingzhou, since he could perfect it through his equipment slots.
• Stories about the battle at Guanlan River spread through Qingzhou, and the city’s clans sought news of who had earned merit.
• Hu Qingqing, working at Fortune House to support herself and Hu Kai, overheard that many Demon Suppression Captains had died and thought of Yang Xiao.
• When the Demon Suppression Division returned to Qingzhou, Hu Qingqing and the diners watched the bloodstained contingent ride into the city.

Yang Xiao returned to Qingzhou City with the Demon Suppression Division after earning the highest Merit at Guanlan River, while Hu Qingqing saw how far he had risen. At the Merit Hall, a clerk recognized Yang Xiao’s name and hurried into the inner hall before recording his Merit.

• Hu Qingqing recognized Yang Xiao riding through Qingzhou City and returned to serving customers without looking at him again.
• Fatty Sun and Zhou Zheng told Yang Xiao that General Pei had placed him at the procession’s center so everyone would recognize his Merit before rewards were assigned.
• Yang Xiao and the procession entered the Qingzhou Demon Suppression Division and went to the Merit Hall to register their records.
• A clerk read Yang Xiao’s name on his Merit Booklet, stopped, and hurried into the inner hall.

Yang Xiao was formally promoted to Deputy General for his service at Guanlan River and went to the Technique Pavilion to claim cultivation methods. There, he unexpectedly reunited with Xu Qingshan, whose smile concealed a hint of hesitation.

• The Demon Suppression Division appointed Yang Xiao as Deputy General and presented his robe, cloak, hair crown, and command tablet.
• Fatty Sun, Yuantong, and Zhou Zheng congratulated Yang Xiao as the Merit Hall Captains reacted to his promotion.
• A clerk told Yang Xiao he could choose a Liquid Condensation Realm cultivation method and claim an internal method for breaking through to the Aperture-Opening Realm.
• Yang Xiao used his new command tablet to enter the Technique Pavilion and browse the cultivation manuals.
• Xu Qingshan recognized Yang Xiao among the bookshelves and greeted him with a surprised smile and a trace of hesitation.

Yang Xiao selected the Vajra Hell-Prison Body and received the Nine-Aperture Mystic-Penetration Method after claiming his reward for top merit at the Guanlan River. Pei Xuance also sent him a personally inscribed spear art, and Yang Xiao headed to the Deputy General Courtyard with all three manuals.

• Xu Qingshan congratulated Yang Xiao on becoming a Deputy General, and Yang Xiao asked him to recommend a top-tier Liquid Condensation Realm Body-Tempering Art.
• Xu Qingshan introduced the Vajra Hell-Prison Body and warned Yang Xiao that its demon-based tempering could make him lose control of its Killing Intent.
• Yang Xiao chose the Vajra Hell-Prison Body and claimed the Nine-Aperture Mystic-Penetration Method as his reward for top merit at the Guanlan River.
• The steward gave Yang Xiao the Mountain-Suppressing Spear Art, which Pei Xuance had personally practiced and inscribed as a gift.
• Yang Xiao thanked Xu Qingshan and left for the Deputy General Courtyard with the three manuals.

Yang Xiao used his new Vajra Hell-Prison Body to transform his flesh and gain the demon-suppressing prison affix, then equipped the Nine-Aperture Mystic-Penetration Method to begin advancing into the Aperture-Opening Realm. The chapter ended as spiritual power from his twelve major apertures rushed toward hidden apertures in his body.

• Yang Xiao inspected his new deputy general courtyard and laid out the techniques and Flood Dragon Lord demon core he had acquired.
• Yang Xiao found that his current realm was too low to equip the Flood Dragon core or Mountain-Suppressing Spear Art.
• Yang Xiao equipped the Vajra Hell-Prison Body and gained the demon-suppressing prison affix, which let him strengthen his body by refining slain demons.
• Yang Xiao discovered that his transformed body could withstand his saber unless he channeled the Army-Breaking Affix into the strike.
• Yang Xiao equipped the Nine-Aperture Mystic-Penetration Method, and spiritual power surged from his twelve major apertures toward hidden locations in his body.

Yang Xiao reached the perfected Aperture-Penetration Realm and unlocked a fourth Equipment Slot that could analyze cultivation methods and incomplete martial arts. Its analysis revealed that the 108 apertures of the Nine-Aperture Mystic-Penetration Method were only that method’s limit, leaving Yang Xiao to consider opening more apertures for greater strength.

• Yang Xiao connected all 108 apertures and reached the perfected Aperture-Penetration Realm in the time it took to drink a cup of tea.
• The Equipment Slot unlocked a fourth slot with an Analysis function, and Yang Xiao used it on the Mountain-Suppressing Spear Art.
• Analysis perfected Yang Xiao’s proficiency in the spear art and granted him the blue trait Mountain Suppression, allowing him to wield the Army-Breaking Spear with effortless skill.
• Yang Xiao discovered that the Mountain-Suppressing Spear Art used eighteen apertures beyond the 108 opened by the Nine-Aperture Mystic-Penetration Method.
• Yang Xiao analyzed the Nine-Aperture Mystic-Penetration Method, which revealed that its 108-aperture limit could be exceeded using other methods or a complete Aperture-Penetration Realm Demon.

Yang Xiao strengthened his foundation with the Flood Dragon Lord’s demon core, then learned from Zhou Zheng that joining the Demon-Slaying Battalion was the path to earning a place beside General Pei. Yang Xiao chose to join, and Zhou Zheng led him to meet the hundred captains he would command.

• Yang Xiao equipped and consumed the Flood Dragon Lord’s demon core, reinforcing his Spiritual Power and gaining the flood dragon bone savage body trait.
• Zhou Zheng took Yang Xiao to the Demon-Slaying Battalion’s monuments and explained that its members hunted Aperture-Penetration Realm demons to earn battle achievements.
• Zhou Zheng told Yang Xiao that General Pei’s offer to make him a deputy general required him to establish himself among the deputy generals.
• Yang Xiao chose to join the Demon-Slaying Battalion and earn merit by slaying demons himself.
• Zhou Zheng said Yang Xiao would first meet the hundred captains in his unit before receiving assignments.

Yang Xiao arrived at the Martial Arts Arena to take charge as Deputy General, but veteran Captains challenged his authority. After defeating Old Saber with ease, he faced Zhao Kui and several other Captains as they attacked him together.

• Yang Xiao entered the arena, where the gathered Captains questioned who he was and why he had come.
• Zhao Kui challenged Yang Xiao's right to command, while Old Saber insulted him and demanded he leave.
• Yang Xiao revealed his Deputy General token and declared that none of the Captains could beat him.
• Old Saber attacked Yang Xiao, but Yang Xiao caught his saber between two fingers and knocked him into a weapon rack with a kick.
• Zhao Kui ordered several Captains to attack Yang Xiao, who met their assault with a surge of spiritual power from his palm.

Yang Xiao subdued the captains and established his authority as Deputy General, then received his first mission. He prepared to lead the team to Cloud Fir Commandery to investigate Golden Buddha Temple, suspected of spreading disease and exploiting the sick.

• Yang Xiao revealed his Aperture-Penetration Realm strength and ordered Zhao Kui, Old Saber, and the other captains to obey his rules.
• Yang Xiao told Zhou Zheng that the captains were already whipped into shape, and Zhou Zheng warned him to beware of demons and martial-world factions on missions.
• A clerk briefed Yang Xiao on reports that Golden Buddha Temple might be spreading disease and extorting offerings in Cloud Fir Commandery.
• The captains reacted uneasily to the mission, while Old Saber volunteered to join Yang Xiao.
• Yang Xiao ordered the captains to gather in half an hour after preparing their equipment.