Recaps

Yang Xiao led a Demon Suppression Division force to Golden Buddha Temple after hearing of its growing influence and miraculous reputation. Suspecting the temple was a cult, he went inside with a small group to meet the abbot, while a monk went to inform him.

• Yang Xiao and more than a hundred Captains departed for Cloud Fir Commandery.
• At a teahouse, Yang Xiao heard villagers praise Golden Buddha Temple, and Zhao Kui described its rise and the enormous Golden Buddha that had appeared on the mountain.
• Yang Xiao observed the temple’s influence over the people and grew suspicious of their fervent worship.
• Yang Xiao ordered most of the Captains to camp at the mountain’s foot, then climbed toward the temple with Zhao Kui, Old Saber, Lu Mingchuan, and several others.
• A gray-robed monk greeted Yang Xiao at the temple gates, and Yang Xiao identified the group as the Demon Suppression Division and demanded to see the abbot.

Yang Xiao visited Golden Buddha Temple and watched its Golden Buddha appear to heal sick worshippers. Though the temple presented the event as a miracle, Yang Xiao sensed something evil was consuming the patients’ vital essence.

• Abbot Huiming welcomed Yang Xiao, a Deputy General of the Qingzhou Demon Suppression Division, and guided him through Golden Buddha Temple.
• Huiming arranged a meal and rooms for Yang Xiao’s group, then agreed to let Yang Xiao observe the Golden Buddha healing worshippers.
• At the temple’s Back Mountain, Huiming ordered monks to chant as the Golden Buddha’s light spread over sick patients and their conditions visibly improved.
• Yang Xiao and the Captains noticed golden Buddha-light being drawn from the worshippers, while Yang Xiao sensed decay and saw that the patients had lost some of their vital essence.
• Yang Xiao praised the apparent miracle to Huiming while concealing his suspicions, and Huiming invited the group to rest and attend a welcome reception.

Yang Xiao accepted Golden Buddha Temple’s lavish gifts, then revealed to the Demon-Suppressing Captains that he intended to investigate the temple that night. He slipped through the temple’s guarded rear courtyard and found a half-open stone door, but footsteps behind him threatened to expose him.

• A monk delivered gold, silver, medicine, jade, and banknotes from the abbot, urging Yang Xiao and the captains to stay in the guest room that night.
• Yang Xiao told the captains he had accepted the gifts only because the temple’s wealth would eventually be confiscated, and announced he would investigate alone.
• Zhao Kui, Old Saber, and Lu Mingchuan approved of Yang Xiao’s plan, while Zhao Kui warned him that Abbot Huiming might have reached the Aperture-Opening Realm.
• Yang Xiao sneaked through the temple at night and noticed that its corridors were patrolled by silent cultivator monks.
• Yang Xiao followed a group of monks to a courtyard with a half-open stone door, but someone behind him called out, “Who’s there?!”

Yang Xiao disguised himself as Abbot Huiming and discovered that Golden Buddha Temple was harvesting blood essence from worshippers to cultivate. After taking evidence, he ordered the Demon Suppression Guards to surround the temple overnight and prepare to expose and destroy it the next day.

• Yang Xiao used Thousand Faces to impersonate Abbot Huiming and gained access to Back Mountain and the Golden Buddha.
• Yang Xiao entered a chamber inside the statue and saw monks extracting blood essence from corpses and channeling it toward Huiming's seat.
• Yang Xiao stole a ledger documenting the corpses' origins and ordered the monks not to alert the front courtyards.
• Yang Xiao showed the ledger to Zhao Kui, Old Saber, and Lu Mingchuan, then ordered the Demon-Suppressing Captains to seal off the temple overnight.
• Demon Suppression Guards quietly surrounded Golden Buddha Temple and blocked the routes around the mountain.

The Demon Suppression Division sealed Golden Buddha Temple after discovering its supposed Buddha was connected to people’s deaths. When Yang Xiao confronted Huiming, the abbot’s guardian monks attacked and were defeated, while Huiming fled toward the Golden Buddha.

• The guest-receiving monk reported that no worshippers had arrived, and a novice discovered the Demon Suppression Guards had sealed the mountain.
• Lu Mingchuan kept worshippers from entering and warned them they would learn what they had really been worshipping.
• Yang Xiao confronted Huiming at the temple, suggesting the Golden Buddha was false and deadly, while Huiming threatened the Division with public outrage.
• Huiming’s three guardian monks attacked Yang Xiao, who swiftly defeated them.
• Huiming fled toward the Golden Buddha as Yang Xiao ordered the Captains to arrest the temple’s monks and went after the abbot.

Yang Xiao and his allies discovered Huiming cultivating with the blood essence of his victims and confronted him in the chamber beneath the Golden Buddha. Huiming overwhelmed Zhao Kui and Old Saber, but Yang Xiao struck him down as he put on his kasaya.

• Yang Xiao, Zhao Kui, Old Saber, and several captains pursued Huiming through a hidden passage and defeated the guardian monks blocking their way.
• Yang Xiao sent the captains to secure the temple while he, Zhao Kui, and Old Saber followed the smell of blood to a chamber inside the golden Buddha.
• Yang Xiao's group found Huiming absorbing blood essence from a pool, and Huiming defended the deaths of his victims as compensation for helping them.
• Huiming revealed his Aperture-Opening Realm strength and golden, resilient body, then knocked Zhao Kui and Old Saber aside and declared that those below his realm were ants.
• Yang Xiao removed his cloak and suddenly struck Huiming into the ground while Huiming was putting on his kasaya.

Yang Xiao killed Huiming in the Golden Buddha and discovered the abbot’s Lotus Platform Rebirth Body manual. After the Demon Suppression Division secured Golden Buddha Temple, Yang Xiao ordered the monks taken for questioning and the Golden Buddha dismantled.

• Yang Xiao wounded Huiming with the poisoned Army-Breaking Spear, overcoming his Lotus Platform Rebirth Body and disrupting his Apertures.
• Huiming tried to plead with Yang Xiao, but Yang Xiao slammed him into a wall and killed him with a spear thrust to the heart.
• Yang Xiao searched Huiming’s body, found the Lotus Platform Rebirth Body manual, and learned that Huiming had twisted the technique by harvesting human vitality.
• Yang Xiao checked that Zhao Kui and Old Saber could still move, then led them out of the Golden Buddha.
• The Demon-Suppressing Captains secured Golden Buddha Temple, and Yang Xiao ordered them to take the monks away for questioning.
• Yang Xiao ordered a Captain to dismantle the Golden Buddha so the pilgrims could see what was hidden inside.

Yang Xiao exposed Golden Buddha Temple’s human sacrifices, dismantled its golden Buddha, and ordered the temple’s wealth confiscated before returning toward Qingzhou. In Qingzhou, Xu Qingshan waited for news when Xu Mingting arrived and questioned why Yang Xiao had left him behind.

• Yang Xiao let the pilgrims see the bodies and bloodworks hidden inside the golden Buddha, revealing that Abbot Huiming had cultivated with human lives.
• After some pilgrims rejected their faith and others mourned their loved ones, Yang Xiao ordered the temple’s wealth and land deeds recorded and confiscated.
• The Demon-Suppressing Captains dismantled the golden Buddha, inventoried the temple’s property, and took the monks away for questioning.
• Yang Xiao led his men and the confiscated wealth away from Golden Buddha Temple to report back in Qingzhou.
• Xu Qingshan waited at Riverwatch Tower for news when Xu Mingting arrived and asked why Yang Xiao had not taken him on the mission.

Xu Qingshan faced pressure from Xu Mingting to arrange a marriage alliance between Yang Xiao and a Xu Family woman, while Yang Xiao returned to Qingzhou after defeating Golden Buddha Temple. The chapter left Yang Xiao directing Zhao Kui to archive the seized manuals and compensate the men who took part in the mission.

• Xu Mingting mocked Xu Qingshan for no longer being useful to Yang Xiao, then asked him to arrange a marriage alliance in exchange for family rewards.
• Xu Qingshan tested Xu Mingting by asking whether the Xu Family would offer Xu Qinglan, and Xu Mingting insisted she was too important to marry off.
• Xu Mingting and the others watched Yang Xiao's procession enter Qingzhou with Huiming's corpse and the captured monks of Golden Buddha Temple.
• Yang Xiao acknowledged Xu Qingshan with a nod but continued on with the procession.
• Zhao Kui explained the Demon Suppression Division's rules for seized manuals, and Yang Xiao gave him the Lotus Platform Rebirth Body manual to archive.
• Yang Xiao told Zhao Kui to reserve part of Golden Buddha Temple's seized assets as compensation for the men who had served on the mission.

Yang Xiao received merit and a large share of the Golden Buddha Temple’s seized wealth, then evolved his cultivation method by combining the Nine-Aperture Mystic-Penetration Method with the Lotus Platform Rebirth Body. He gained 88 apertures and a lotus platform in his dantian, but his first three Equipment Slots remained fixed as he set out to continue growing stronger.

• Yang Xiao submitted proof of Huiming’s death and the mission dossier, earning 3,000 merit points and 6,000 silver taels from the Golden Buddha Temple’s seized property.
• Yang Xiao examined the Lotus Platform Rebirth Body and used the Equipment Slot to evolve it together with the Nine-Aperture Mystic-Penetration Method.
• The evolution increased Yang Xiao’s apertures from 128 to 216 and renamed the method the Lotus Platform Mystic Body Method.
• Yang Xiao discovered a lotus platform in his dantian and gained the Mystic Lotus Bodyguard effect, which strengthened his body and helped resist evil entities.
• Yang Xiao confirmed that his first three Equipment Slots were still fixed and left home before dawn, determined to keep advancing.

Yang Xiao asked Zhou Zheng for another mission and learned that aperture-penetration realm demon assignments were handled by the Demon-Slaying Battalion. After Lord Li assigned him a mission to aid the Mystic Bone Sect, Yang Xiao prepared to leave with Zhou Zheng at once.

• Yang Xiao visited Zhou Zheng and asked for a mission involving aperture-penetration realm demons, despite still being entitled to leave after the Golden Buddha Temple mission.
• Zhou Zheng explained that such missions belonged to the Demon-Slaying Battalion and took Yang Xiao to its grounds.
• Zhou Zheng warned Yang Xiao that he would have to earn respect through his own battles, regardless of General Pei's recommendation.
• Lord Li assigned Yang Xiao to accompany Zhou Zheng on a mission to help the Mystic Bone Sect, which was under attack by aperture-opening realm demons led by a Mountain Lord.
• Yang Xiao asked when they would leave, and Zhou Zheng said they could depart immediately.

Yang Xiao and Zhou Zheng arrived at the besieged Mystic Bone Sect, where the Demon Suppression Division planned to lure out the hidden Mountain Lord. The sect master revealed that the Mountain Lord was seeking revenge for its slain offspring and had already reached half a step into the Mystic Core Realm.

• Yang Xiao and Zhou Zheng entered the Mystic Bone Sect after identifying themselves to its wary defenders.
• Zhou Zheng introduced Yang Xiao to Yan Tieyi and Meng Jiu, who explained that Aperture-Opening Realm beasts had besieged the sect for over half a month while the Mountain Lord remained hidden.
• Meng Jiu proposed using the weakened sect as bait to draw out the Mountain Lord, and Yan Tieyi assigned Yang Xiao to guard the sect during the operation.
• The next morning, Gao Chengen told the gathered group that the sect had killed a young Bear Demon months earlier, possibly the Mountain Lord's offspring.
• Gao Chengen revealed that the Mountain Lord he had encountered was half a step into the Mystic Core Realm.

The Mountain Lord’s attack on the Mystic Bone Sect began on a rainy night, and Yang Xiao stayed behind to protect the disciples. He killed a Dog Demon sent to exploit the confusion, then analyzed its body and increased his Apertures from 216 to 238.

• Yan Tieyi and the sect master agreed to use the sect master as bait to lure out and kill the Mountain Lord.
• As rain fell, a Tiger Demon approached the mountain gate, drawing the sect master and three Deputy Generals away.
• Yang Xiao sensed a concealed Demon approaching the courtyard, and a Dog Demon leaped over the wall and attacked the disciples.
• Yang Xiao killed the Dog Demon with a palm strike and a kick, then removed its Demon Core.
• Yang Xiao analyzed the Dog Demon’s body, opened additional Apertures, and raised his total from 216 to 238.

Yang Xiao left the Mystic Bone Sect after killing an Aperture-Opening Realm dog demon and used his lotus platform rebirth body’s aura to lure hidden demons out. Two enormous shapes emerged from the woods, approaching his hill through the rain.

• Yang Xiao’s strike on the dog demon stunned the Mystic Bone Sect elders, who apologized and praised his strength.
• Yang Xiao equipped the dog demon’s inner core, gained the green thick bones trait, and decided ordinary Aperture-Opening Realm demon cores offered little improvement.
• Yang Xiao left the Mystic Bone Sect alone despite the elders’ warnings, leaving them to secure the compound.
• Yang Xiao stopped on a hill outside the sect and released his lotus resonance aura to attract hidden demons.
• Two enormous shapes emerged from the rainy woods as Yang Xiao waited with his Army-Breaking Spear.

Yang Xiao fought two tiger demons that had tried to eat him and overwhelmed them with his Army-Breaking Spear. He left the younger tiger demon pinned to a tree and told the badly injured elder tiger demon that he had a use for it.

• Two tiger demons emerged from the woods, and the larger one said Yang Xiao smelled good as they surrounded him.
• Yang Xiao attacked with the Army-Breaking Spear, wounding the larger tiger demon and smashing the younger one into an ancient tree.
• The larger tiger demon fought back with wind blades, but Yang Xiao blocked them and drove it back with his Mountain-Suppressing Form.
• The younger tiger demon fled to seek help from the Mountain Lord, but Yang Xiao hurled his spear after it and pinned it to an ancient tree.
• Yang Xiao approached the wounded larger tiger demon, which begged to be released, and told it that he had a use for it.

Yang Xiao killed two Tiger Demons and used their corpses and Demon Cores to increase his Apertures from 238 to 256 and gain two traits. After considering hunting more Demons, he decided to combine traits while his first three Equipment Slots were empty.

• Yang Xiao killed a peak Aperture-Opening Realm Tiger Demon and took its Demon Core.
• Yang Xiao caught and killed the wounded young Tiger Demon, then took its Demon Core and headed for the Mystic Bone Sect.
• Yang Xiao analyzed both Tiger Demon corpses and equipped their Demon Cores, opening new Apertures and reaching 256.
• Yang Xiao gained the Tiger Strength and Bloodbath traits, while Demon-Suppressing Prison refined the Tiger Demons’ vital blood.
• Yang Xiao considered hunting more Demons to reach three hundred Apertures, then decided to combine traits because he had no cultivation methods to equip.

Yang Xiao combined his prefixes to gain the Golden Traits Demon-Slaying Soul-Extinction and Ten-Thousand-Forged Demon Body, then headed back to the Mystic Bone Sect. There, the half-step mystic core Bear Mountain Lord confronted four figures and attacked.

• Yang Xiao combined Tiger Strength, Rock Body, and Thick Bones into the blue prefix Tiger-Bone Rock Body.
• Yang Xiao fused three demon-killing prefixes into the Golden Trait Demon-Slaying Soul-Extinction.
• Yang Xiao combined Demon-suppressing prison, the Flesh Cloak, and myriad rivers spirit sea into the Golden Trait Ten-Thousand-Forged Demon Body.
• Yang Xiao assessed his improved strength, recognized that he still lacked the Mysterious Core Realm's abilities, and set out for the Mystic Bone Sect.
• The Bear Mountain Lord confronted four figures on the mountain path and lunged at them.

Bear Mountain Lord overwhelmed the Mystic Bone Sect Master and the Demon Suppression Division’s deputies, then withdrew while they returned to protect the sect. They found the Mystic Bone Sect unharmed, but Deputy General Yang was missing.

• Bear Mountain Lord attacked the Mystic Bone Sect Master, Yan Tieyi, Meng Jiu, and Zhou Zheng, overpowering them with its Half-Step Mystic Core strength.
• Meng Jiu warned the others not to pursue Bear Mountain Lord, which retreated after wondering whether reinforcements had arrived at the Mystic Bone Sect.
• Bear Mountain Lord secretly returned to the sect’s vicinity, still intent on taking its high-level flesh and avenging its son.
• The Mystic Bone Sect Master and the deputies hurried back and found the sect without signs of battle, where Gao Chengen and the elders greeted them.
• An elder noticed Deputy General Yang was absent and asked whether he had returned with the group.

Yang Xiao faced the wounded Bear Mountain Lord on the mountain path and survived a direct blow from the half-step mystic core demon. He wounded the Bear Mountain Lord with the Army-Breaking Spear, leaving the fight unresolved.

• Zhou Zheng, Yan Tieyi, and Meng Jiu learned that Yang Xiao had gone missing after leaving the Mystic Bone Sect, then heard that he had killed an Aperture-Opening Dog Demon.
• Yang Xiao encountered the wounded Bear Mountain Lord, who blamed him for ruining his plans and attacked him with overwhelming demonic power.
• Yang Xiao braced against the Bear Mountain Lord’s strike with the Mountain-Suppressing Form and stood his ground, astonishing the demon.
• Yang Xiao used his spear and Demon-Slaying Soul-Extinction to create an opening, then drove the spear into the Bear Mountain Lord’s chest and abdomen.
• Yang Xiao pulled out his spear and retreated as the Bear Mountain Lord roared in pain and demanded to know what kind of monster he was.

Yang Xiao killed Bear Mountain Lord, gained his demon core’s strength, and underwent his first Ten-Thousand-Forged Demon Body transformation, bringing his physical strength to rival the early Mysterious Core Realm. Zhou Zheng, Yan Tieyi, and Meng Jiu arrived to find Bear Mountain Lord dead, and Zhou Zheng acknowledged that he might need Yang Xiao’s protection.

• Yang Xiao pierced the fleeing Bear Mountain Lord with the Army-Breaking Spear and extracted his demon core after the demon died.
• Yang Xiao evolved his lotus platform rebirth body, increasing his aperture count from 256 to 268.
• Yang Xiao equipped Bear Mountain Lord’s demon core and triggered the first physique transformation of the Ten-Thousand-Forged Demon Body.
• Yang Xiao gained dramatically increased physical strength, with a physique that rivaled the early Mysterious Core Realm, though he still lacked that realm’s spiritual abilities.
• Zhou Zheng, Yan Tieyi, and Meng Jiu arrived and found Yang Xiao beside Bear Mountain Lord’s corpse.
• Zhou Zheng told Yang Xiao that he might have to rely on him for protection from then on.

Yang Xiao killed Bear Mountain Lord and ended the Mystic Bone Sect’s crisis, then learned that the Demon-Slaying Battalion used demon aura to tally merits. He and the others returned toward Qingzhou, with his kill still provable through the corpse, Demon Core, and witnesses.

• Yang Xiao asked whether any demons remained after killing Bear Mountain Lord, and Meng Jiu said the others had likely fled.
• Gao Chengen and the Mystic Bone Sect’s disciples thanked Yang Xiao, Zhou Zheng, Yan Tieyi, and Meng Jiu for ending the sect’s crisis.
• The four accepted Body Tempering Pills from Gao Chengen and set out for Qingzhou.
• Yang Xiao ate the pills on the road while Meng Jiu asked how many traces of demon aura he had collected.
• Yang Xiao learned from Meng Jiu and Yan Tieyi that demon aura counted toward merits and could be exchanged for Core Condensation Methods.
• Zhou Zheng said witnesses, Bear Mountain Lord’s corpse, and his Demon Core could prove Yang Xiao’s kill despite his failure to collect its aura.

After returning to Qingzhou City, Yang Xiao and the others learned that the Seven Demons of She Mountain had gathered in Azure Mist City and that their leader, White Ape Lord, had reached the mysterious core realm. Yang Xiao agreed to join the expedition and received a Qi-Gathering Bottle from Zhou Zheng before setting out.

• Zhou Zheng, Yan Tieyi, Meng Jiu, and Yang Xiao returned to the Demon-Slaying Battalion and found its courtyard nearly empty.
• Li Hanguang told them the Seven Demons of She Mountain had descended on Azure Mist City, and White Ape Lord had apparently advanced to the mysterious core realm.
• Yan Tieyi, Meng Jiu, Zhou Zheng, and Yang Xiao each agreed to go to Azure Mist City and join the fight.
• Yan Tieyi challenged Yang Xiao to see who could kill more demons, and Yang Xiao accepted.
• Zhou Zheng gave Yang Xiao a Qi-Gathering Bottle that could collect demon aura for merit and send a danger signal to other deputy generals.

Yang Xiao prepared for the mission to Azure Mist City by seeking a movement technique to shore up his combat weakness. After Xu Qingshan warned him that the Seven Demons of She Mountain might have hidden backing, Yang Xiao redeemed Wind-Treading Wandering Dragon Steps and headed back to his courtyard.

• Zhou Zheng told Yang Xiao to prepare for the upcoming assembly before they parted ways.
• Xu Qingshan found Yang Xiao and warned him that the Seven Demons of She Mountain might have another objective or powerful support behind their attack on Azure Mist City.
• Yang Xiao went to the Technique Pavilion, deciding his basic Astonishing Swan Steps were inadequate for facing the Seven Demons and their demonic hordes.
• Yang Xiao selected Wind-Treading Wandering Dragon Steps for its long-distance speed and close-combat mobility.
• Yang Xiao spent two thousand merit points to redeem the technique and left the pavilion for his courtyard.

Yang Xiao joined Zhou Zheng, Yan Tieyi, and Meng Jiu on a forced march to Azure Mist City, where the Seven Demons of She Mountain had seized the city and confined its residents. After learning that Shen Jingxian had vanished and none of the six Aperture-Opening Realm demons had been killed, the group prepared to enter the city separately.

• Yang Xiao equipped Wind-Treading Wandering Dragon Steps, gaining perfect mastery and the Wind Riding affix.
• Yang Xiao, Zhou Zheng, Yan Tieyi, and Meng Jiu traveled southwest to Azure Mist City and found its gates open and unguarded.
• Lin Yuan told the group that the Seven Demons had gathered more than ten thousand residents near the City Lord's Residence and blocked access with greater demons.
• Lin Yuan revealed that Shen Jingxian had disappeared when the demons arrived and that no one had defeated any of the six Aperture-Opening Realm demons.
• Yan Tieyi, Meng Jiu, and Yang Xiao chose to enter the city alone, while Zhou Zheng agreed that each man would act according to his own ability.

Yang Xiao and the other Deputy Generals entered Azure Mist City to hunt Demons while Gu Chenshan's squad was ambushed and captured by four great Demons. The Blood Bat Demon dragged Gu Chenshan and his men away as the hunt continued.

• Yang Xiao learned that Deputy Generals had gathered in Azure Mist City to hunt the Demons and entered the city with Yan Tieyi, Meng Jiu, and Zhou Zheng.
• Yan Tieyi and Meng Jiu went ahead, while Zhou Zheng left Yang Xiao to charge deeper into the streets alone.
• Gu Chenshan's squad killed several Demons and advanced toward the city center, unaware that a Demon watched them from the clouds.
• The Red-Faced Fox, Green-Scaled Serpent, and Stone Bull Demon ambushed Gu Chenshan's squad, poisoning and injuring the Deputy Generals.
• The Blood Bat Demon joined the attack, incapacitated Gu Chenshan and his four subordinates, and dragged them away while the other Demons continued searching.