Recaps

Blood Bat Demon and Golden Toad Demon held captured Demon Suppression Division officers while White Ape Lord gathered people to prepare a Blood Sacrifice Grand Array and advance to the Pill Pattern realm. Yan Tieyi entered Azure Mist City and was ambushed by four demons.

• Blood Bat Demon brought Gu Chenshan and other captives to Golden Toad Demon, then left after hearing that more Demon Suppression Division members had arrived.
• Gu Chenshan realized the demons were imprisoning their captives for an unknown plan connected to the Seven Demons gathering in Azure Mist City.
• Blood Bat Demon delivered four Qi-Gathering Bottles to White Ape Lord, who crushed them and ordered it to lure more deputy generals to the City Lord's Residence.
• White Ape Lord planned to use a Blood Sacrifice Grand Array to absorb the blood essence of nearly ten thousand people and reach the Pill Pattern realm.
• Yan Tieyi strode through the eastern streets and challenged the demons hiding around him.
• Red-Faced Fox, Green Snake Demon, Stone Bull Demon, and Blood Bat Demon attacked Yan Tieyi from four directions.

Yan Tieyi drove off the demons but failed to kill any of them, while Zhou Zheng was rescued from their ambush by an azure-robed man. The demons regrouped and decided to hunt one more deputy general before stopping.

• Yan Tieyi wounded Red-Faced Fox and Stone Bull Demon, but Green Snake Demon's poisonous mist let the fleeing demons escape.
• Yan Tieyi followed the Qi-Gathering Bottle's signal toward the city center after the demons vanished.
• Zhou Zheng encountered the four fleeing demons, tried to escape, and crushed his Qi-Gathering Bottle to summon help.
• An azure-robed man immobilized the demons and carried Zhou Zheng away without attacking them.
• After Black-Feather Demon spotted another deputy general, Stone Bull Demon called for one last hunt.

Yang Xiao killed three of the Seven Demons of She Mountain after the Red-Faced Fox tried to lure him into a trap. As the remaining demons began to flee, he collected the Demon Cores and pursued them.

• Yang Xiao recognized the wounded Deputy General as the Red-Faced Fox and killed it with a punch to the head.
• The Black-Feather Demon attacked to avenge its sixth sister, but Yang Xiao speared it through the torso and pinned it to a wall.
• The Stone Bull Demon charged Yang Xiao, who broke off one of its horns and beat it to death with a series of punches.
• Yang Xiao sensed the last two demons fleeing, collected the Demon Cores from the three corpses, and chased after them.

Yang Xiao killed the five demons, gained ninety apertures, and completed the second forging of his Ten-Thousand-Forged Demon Body. After answering another call for aid, he found Zhou Zheng facing Shen Jingxian, who invited him to hunt the White Ape Lord.

• Yang Xiao killed the Blood Bat Demon and the Green Snake Demon after catching up with them.
• Yang Xiao dismantled the five demon corpses into aperture-opening charts and raised his Lotus Platform Mystic Body Method to 358 apertures, nearly perfect.
• Yang Xiao equipped the five demon cores, gained five traits, and completed the Ten-Thousand-Forged Demon Body's second forging.
• Yang Xiao followed a call for aid to an abandoned courtyard, where he found Zhou Zheng injured and Shen Jingxian waiting.
• Shen Jingxian explained that he had tested Yang Xiao by leaving the demons alive, then invited him to hunt the White Ape Lord.

Yang Xiao discovered that Shen Jingxian had secretly killed many demons in Azure Mist City, and the three men confronted White Ape Lord at the City Lord's Residence. White Ape Lord, wounded by Shen Jingxian's arrows and unable to summon the Seven Demons, challenged them to follow him.

• Yang Xiao realized Shen Jingxian had been silently hunting demons with spiritual arrows while investigating White Ape Lord's hidden advantage.
• Shen Jingxian declared that he would kill White Ape Lord that day, and Yan Tieyi joined them after killing a Golden Toad Demon.
• Yang Xiao showed Yan Tieyi the auras of five Aperture-Opening Realm demons he had killed, ending their contest.
• Shen Jingxian blasted open the gates of the City Lord's Residence and wounded White Ape Lord with a second arrow.
• White Ape Lord failed to summon the Seven Demons and challenged Shen Jingxian, Yang Xiao, and Yan Tieyi to follow him.

Shen Jingxian pursued White Ape Lord into the She Mountain Range, where the Rock Rhino Demon King revealed himself as a Core-Pattern Stage demon from outside Qingzhou. Shen Jingxian asked Yang Xiao to stall White Ape Lord, and Yang Xiao badly wounded him, leaving White Ape Lord fearful as Yang Xiao advanced.

• White Ape Lord led Shen Jingxian and Yang Xiao from Azure Mist City into the She Mountain Range.
• The Rock Rhino Demon King appeared and confirmed that he had come from outside Qingzhou.
• Shen Jingxian told Yang Xiao to keep White Ape Lord occupied while he dealt with the Rock Rhino Demon King.
• Yang Xiao lured White Ape Lord away and wounded him with crystal shards.
• Yang Xiao used mist and a spear strike to hurl White Ape Lord through the trees and open a severe wound across his waist and abdomen.

Yang Xiao fought and killed the White Ape Lord after using his spear, poison, and fortified body to withstand the Demon’s attacks. With the Rock Rhino Demon King fleeing, Yang Xiao collected the White Ape Lord’s Demon Core and stored its corpse to help complete his Aperture Opening method.

• The White Ape Lord transformed into a giant ape and charged Yang Xiao, who blocked its blow before stabbing it with the Army-Breaking Spear and inflicting Demon-Slaying Soul-Extinction.
• Yang Xiao traded blows with the White Ape Lord, repeatedly piercing it and corroding its flesh with Spear Baleful Intent while enduring its attacks.
• A huge yellow rhinoceros fled from She Mountain, and an azure streak pursued and struck it down, leaving the White Ape Lord to realize the Rock Rhino Demon King had abandoned it.
• Yang Xiao overwhelmed the White Ape Lord with spear strikes, kicks, and punches, then drove his spear through its heart and killed it.
• Yang Xiao took the White Ape Lord’s Demon Core and placed its corpse in the Fourth Equipment Slot to evolve his nearly complete Aperture Opening method.

Yang Xiao perfected the Greater Celestial Circuit Lotus Platform Body-Forging Method and opened all 360 of his apertures, greatly strengthening his foundation. Shen Jingxian warned him that his unusually large number of apertures would make core condensation more difficult and require a high-tier method.

• Yang Xiao used White Ape Lord's corpse to complete the Greater Celestial Circuit Lotus Platform Body-Forging Method and gained its circuit spirit refining trait.
• Yang Xiao opened the apertures at the center of his spine and between his eyebrows, bringing the total number of open apertures to 360.
• Yang Xiao's connected apertures formed a flesh furnace that drew in and refined spiritual energy, but the resulting rumble made his power difficult to conceal.
• Shen Jingxian praised Yang Xiao for killing White Ape Lord and recognized that his aperture-opening method exceeded the standard 108 apertures.
• Shen Jingxian warned Yang Xiao that his many apertures would make core condensation harder and advised him to choose the Demon Suppression Division's strongest method.

After Azure Mist City was secured, Shen Jingxian warned Yang Xiao that the outsider Demon King’s arrival suggested trouble on Qingzhou’s border. He sent Yan Tieyi to investigate Longwind Commandery and offered Yang Xiao a chance to earn Merit by accompanying him, which Yang Xiao accepted.

• Shen Jingxian and Yang Xiao returned to Azure Mist City, where the Demon Suppression Division cleared the battlefield and rescued the imprisoned residents.
• Gu Chenshan thanked Yang Xiao for helping defeat the demons, while the city’s residents cheered when the White Ape Lord’s corpse was brought back.
• Shen Jingxian told Yang Xiao that the Rock Rhino Demon King was an outsider and suspected something had happened in a border commandery.
• Shen Jingxian learned that reports from Longwind Commandery had stopped and ordered Yan Tieyi to investigate the stationed Deputy General and contact the local Demon Suppression General if needed.
• Shen Jingxian told Yang Xiao that killing the White Ape Lord earned him one major merit, but he needed a hundred minor merits for the Core Condensation Method he wanted.
• Yang Xiao agreed to accompany Yan Tieyi to Longwind Commandery and seek opportunities to earn Merit.

Yang Xiao and Yan Tieyi reached the Longwind Commandery garrison to investigate the halted reports, but the Captains refused them entry on Deputy General Han Dingshan’s orders. Yan Tieyi prepared to force his way inside before Han appeared and confronted him.

• Yang Xiao and Yan Tieyi traveled west for five days to the Longwind Commandery garrison.
• A Captain told Yan Tieyi that Han Dingshan would receive no visitors and had been injured while investigating Demon Traces three months earlier.
• Yang Xiao sensed medicinal herbs and Demonic Qi around the garrison and suspected the Captains were hiding something.
• Yan Tieyi invoked Deputy General Shen’s orders and tried to enter, but the Captains blocked him and reached for their sabers.
• Han Dingshan’s Fine Steel Spear struck the ground in Yan Tieyi’s path, and Han emerged to rebuke him for trying to enter without permission.

Yang Xiao confronted Han Dingshan over Longwind Commandery’s missing reports and exposed his severe poison injuries. Han admitted he had ignored treatment and bargained with a Demon to pursue a breakthrough, while Yan Tieyi warned that an outside Demon King might have entered Qingzhou through Han’s territory.

• Yan Tieyi and Yang Xiao questioned Han Dingshan about Longwind Commandery’s silence, and Yang Xiao noticed the poison consuming him.
• Han Dingshan attacked Yang Xiao for speaking disrespectfully, but Yang Xiao disarmed him with Pei Xuance’s spear and kicked him down.
• Yang Xiao exposed the poison covering Han Dingshan’s chest and abdomen, and Han admitted he had refused treatment to seek a breakthrough in the Treasure Ground.
• Han Dingshan said he had made an agreement with the Nine-Poison Scorpion Lord of Black Miasma Ravine to keep the gateway safe.
• Yan Tieyi warned that the Rock Rhino Demon King had recently entered Azure Mist City and suspected it had slipped into Qingzhou through Han’s territory.

Yan Tieyi exposed Han Dingshan’s failure to control the Nine-Poison Scorpion Lord and ordered him bound. Yang Xiao learned that the Scorpion Lord was based in the deadly Black Miasma Ravine and set out with Yan Tieyi to confront it, while Han Dingshan expected them to die there.

• Yan Tieyi accused Han Dingshan of trusting a Pill-Pattern Realm Demon Lord and ordered the Captains to bind him for dereliction of duty.
• Yang Xiao asked about Black Miasma Ravine and learned that the peak Core-Condensing Nine-Poison Scorpion Lord had killed more than two hundred guards and civilians over three years.
• Yang Xiao confronted Han Dingshan with the casualty register and condemned his claim that he had guarded the commandery.
• A Deputy General told Yang Xiao that the Scorpion Lord was away but expected to return soon.
• Yang Xiao ordered the locals to lead him to Black Miasma Ravine, and Yan Tieyi chose to accompany him.
• Han Dingshan watched them prepare to leave and believed the poisonous ravine would kill them.

Yang Xiao entered Black Miasma Ravine and discovered that its poisonous mist nourished his body instead of harming him. After defeating three Aperture-Opening Realm Scorpion Generals, he collected their Demon Cores and equipped all three in his empty Equipment Slots.

• Yang Xiao tested Black Miasma Ravine's poisonous mist, found that his body and cultivation method could absorb it, and entered alone while Yan Tieyi and the captains waited outside.
• Yang Xiao fought through a swarm of Liquid Condensation Realm Scorpion Demons, breaking their armor with his bare hands until the survivors fled.
• Three Aperture-Opening Realm Scorpion Generals attacked Yang Xiao together with pincers, a venomous sting, and poisonous mist.
• Yang Xiao dodged their attacks, killed two Scorpion Generals with his Army-Breaking Spear, and tracked down and killed the third as it tried to escape underground.
• Yang Xiao dug out three poison-rooted Demon Cores and equipped them in his first three Equipment Slots.

Yang Xiao gained Poison Immunity while clearing Black Miasma Ravine and found the remains of Demon Suppression Division officers, but the Nine-Poison Scorpion Lord arrived as he emerged. Yang Xiao and Yan Tieyi fought the Scorpion Lord, who revealed his true form and fled toward the ravine.

• Yang Xiao fused three poison-related prefixes into Poison Immunity, then searched Black Miasma Ravine and killed the Scorpion Demons he encountered.
• Yang Xiao found the bones and belongings of Demon Suppression Division officers in the ravine’s deepest cave and took their waist tokens.
• The Nine-Poison Scorpion Lord arrived at the ravine entrance, where Yan Tieyi and the Captains were waiting.
• Yang Xiao ambushed the Scorpion Lord with his spear, and his attack left a wound that the Demon’s regeneration could not heal.
• Yan Tieyi joined Yang Xiao in fighting the Scorpion Lord, but the Demon revealed his armored scorpion form and unleashed poisonous fog.
• The Scorpion Lord used the fog to break away and fled toward the entrance of Black Miasma Ravine.

Yang Xiao pursued the wounded Nine-Poison Scorpion Lord into Black Miasma Ravine and used his poison immunity and powerful body to defeat it. He killed the Demon Lord, took its Demon Core, and collected the aura from its corpse.

• Yan Tieyi tried to stop Yang Xiao from returning alone to Black Miasma Ravine, but Yang Xiao entered the poisonous mist anyway.
• The Nine-Poison Scorpion Lord found its Scorpion Demons dead along the ravine and vowed to show Yang Xiao its full strength.
• Yang Xiao emerged unharmed by the poison and crushed a poisonous dragon, revealing that he could absorb and refine poison.
• The Nine-Poison Scorpion Lord tried to flee, but Yang Xiao pierced its leg and blocked its regeneration.
• The Nine-Poison Scorpion Lord transformed and attacked with its stinger, but Yang Xiao's body withstood the blow.
• Yang Xiao drove the Army-Breaking Spear through the Nine-Poison Scorpion Lord's heart, then took its Demon Core and gathered the aura from its corpse.

Yang Xiao returned from Black Miasma Ravine after killing the Nine-Poison Scorpion Lord, a perfected Core Condensation Demon Lord. He gave the recovered identification tags of slain Demon Suppression Guards to the garrison, whose soldiers honored him, while one veteran questioned whether Han Dingshan deserved to keep his post.

• Yang Xiao emerged from Black Miasma Ravine, and Yan Tieyi scolded him for pursuing the Scorpion Demon alone before Yang Xiao revealed its demonic qi in his Qi-Gathering Bottle.
• Yang Xiao confirmed that he had killed the Nine-Poison Scorpion Lord, leaving Yan Tieyi and the gathered officers stunned.
• Yang Xiao handed a square-faced Deputy General more than twenty identification tags belonging to guards killed by the Scorpion Lord and asked him to register their names and issue compensation.
• The Captains and Deputy Generals knelt and bowed to Yang Xiao, then surrounded him protectively.
• A veteran Captain recalled Han Dingshan's decades of yielding to the Scorpion Lord and privately wondered how Han could keep his Deputy General's seat.

Yang Xiao returned to Longwind Commandery after eliminating the Demons in Black Miasma Ravine and proved his victory to the garrison. Han Dingshan was left broken by the evidence, while Yang Xiao prepared to rest before leaving the next day.

• Yan Tieyi praised Yang Xiao for killing the Scorpion Lord, and they agreed Han Dingshan would have to answer for his actions.
• At the garrison, Yang Xiao sat in the seat of honor and reported the Scorpion Demons eliminated and the recovered badges of fallen guards.
• Han Dingshan doubted Yang Xiao had killed the Nine-Poison Scorpion Lord, so Yang Xiao released the Demonic Qi of the Scorpion Lord and three other demons from his Qi-Gathering Bottle.
• Han Dingshan crumpled after seeing the proof, and Yan Tieyi said General Lu would have to handle his crimes and the casualty report.
• Yang Xiao decided to rest for the night and leave the following day, then accepted a sparse room as the best available accommodation.

Yang Xiao and Yan Tieyi escorted Han Dingshan to Longwind City, where General Lu Changgeng executed him and punished the captains who had served under him. Lu then asked Yang Xiao and Yan Tieyi to explain how they defeated the Scorpion Lord and to introduce Yang Xiao, whose spear he recognized.

• Yang Xiao calculated that the two demon cores he had obtained could strengthen him, but he could not yet equip them because his realm was too low.
• Yang Xiao and Yan Tieyi escorted Han Dingshan and the other captains to the Demon Suppression General's Residence in Longwind City.
• Yan Tieyi reported the events in Longwind Commandery and Shen Jingxian's conjecture about Qinggang City of She Mountain to Lu Changgeng.
• Lu Changgeng executed Han Dingshan and demoted the captains to guard and patrol duties, warning them that further defiance would bring the same fate.
• Lu Changgeng praised Yan Tieyi and Yang Xiao, then asked how they had eliminated the Black Miasma Ravine Scorpion Lord and noted that he recognized Yang Xiao's spear.

Yang Xiao and Yan Tieyi met Lu Changgeng, who thanked Yang Xiao for killing the Nine-Poison Scorpion Lord and described Qingzhou’s troubles. Lu Changgeng asked them to escort his treasured sword to Sword-Hiding Mountain’s Hundred Swords Return to the Pool Assembly, where Yang Xiao learned the Sword Pool could help cleanse the mind and aid breakthroughs; Lu revealed that the Third Peak Master was his father.

• Yan Tieyi told Lu Changgeng that Yang Xiao had killed White Ape Lord and Nine-Poison Scorpion Lord, and Lu thanked Yang Xiao on behalf of Longwind Commandery.
• Lu Changgeng described the threats facing Qingzhou and said the Governor was sometimes lucid and sometimes muddled.
• Lu Changgeng recognized Yang Xiao’s Army-Breaking Spear as a gift from Pei Xuance and asked whether Pei had entrusted him with anything; Yang Xiao said he had not.
• Lu Changgeng asked Yang Xiao and Yan Tieyi to escort his treasured sword to Sword-Hiding Mountain’s Hundred Swords Return to the Pool Assembly in exchange for Merit.
• Lu Changgeng explained that the Sword Pool’s Mind-Cleansing Cushions could purge Killing Intent and help with breakthroughs, drawing Yang Xiao’s interest.
• Lu Changgeng said they could enter the Sword Pool’s hidden grounds with his letter because the Third Peak Master was his father.

Lu Changgeng asked Yang Xiao and Yan Tieyi to take his sword to Sword-Hiding Mountain’s Hundred Swords Return to the Pool, where Yang Xiao could also cleanse his accumulated demonic aura. After three days of travel, they arrived at the mountain gate and were greeted by a Sword-Hiding Mountain disciple.

• Lu Changgeng explained that the Sword Pool could temper weapons and the Mind-Cleansing Cushion could help Yang Xiao cleanse his demonic aura before Core Condensation.
• Yang Xiao and Yan Tieyi agreed to travel together, and Lu Changgeng gave them his sword, a family letter, an identification token, and an invitation for the Demon Suppression Division.
• Lu Changgeng departed to handle urgent military affairs while Yang Xiao and Yan Tieyi set out for Sword-Hiding Mountain.
• At a post station, Yan Tieyi described Sword-Hiding Mountain and explained how guests registered their weapons for the Hundred Swords Return to the Pool.
• Yang Xiao and Yan Tieyi reached Sword-Hiding Mountain, where a young disciple invited the Demon Suppression Division guests to follow him up the mountain.

Yang Xiao and Yan Tieyi arrived at Sword-Hiding Mountain, where they met Xu Mingting and Peak Master Lu Chenyue before seeing the Sword Pool. The chapter ended with Yan Tieyi introducing Xu Qinglan as the mountain’s foremost young talent and the Sword-Hiding Fairy.

• Yan Tieyi presented their invitation, and a disciple recorded Yang Xiao and Yan Tieyi in the mountain’s register.
• Xu Mingting recognized Yang Xiao on the steps, greeted him warmly, and mentioned bringing an heirloom sword for Hundred Swords Return to the Pool.
• Lu Chenyue met Yang Xiao and Yan Tieyi, asked after Lu Changgeng, and led them to the summit.
• Yang Xiao saw the pale-gold Sword Pool and the ancient swords planted around it.
• Yan Tieyi introduced Xu Qinglan and described her reputation as Qingzhou’s Greatest Sword Talent in Five Hundred Years.

Yang Xiao and Yan Tieyi learned that the Sword Embryo beneath Sword-Hiding Mountain’s Sword Pool was the sect’s foundation. During the night, a thief stole it, and the mountain raised the alarm.

• Lu Chenyue explained the Sword Pool and revealed that its Sword Embryo was a secret treasure sustaining Sword-Hiding Mountain.
• Gu Han welcomed Yang Xiao and Yan Tieyi, warned them to stay away from the Sword Pool during the gathering, and arranged rooms for them.
• Lu Chenyue received Lu Changgeng’s letter and promised Yang Xiao and Yan Tieyi places on the Mind-Cleansing Cushions.
• Yang Xiao woke to sword cries and explosions as several Mysterious Core Realm figures flew toward the summit.
• A thief seized the Sword Embryo and vanished, and an aged voice shouted for everyone to catch the thief.

Xu Qinglan was accused of stealing Sword-Hiding Mountain’s Sword Embryo and fleeing, leaving Gu Han wounded and the Sword Pool unstable. Yang Xiao and Yan Tieyi agreed to help retrieve it, but Gu Han’s Tracking Sword Talisman split into two trails, leaving the pursuit uncertain.

• Gu Han told Xue Chong that Xu Qinglan took the Sword Embryo and wounded him while escaping.
• Xue Chong accused Lu Chenyue of raising a traitor, but Lu Chenyue insisted Xu Qinglan could not have done it.
• Shao Tianheng said he had to stay behind to suppress the Sword Pool and asked Yang Xiao and Yan Tieyi to help recover the Sword Embryo.
• Yang Xiao and Yan Tieyi agreed to join the pursuit, and Yang Xiao noticed Gu Han briefly smile as they left the Sword Pool.
• Gu Han used a Tracking Sword Talisman, which split into two trails pointing in different directions, and said Xu Qinglan had confused their pursuit.

Lu Chenyue, Yang Xiao, and Yan Tieyi followed a tracking talisman into a cave, where a Jade-Ridge Silkweaver Spider trapped and attacked them. Yang Xiao rescued Yan Tieyi from its webbing, and the enraged spider struck at Yang Xiao.

• Gu Han split the search party, sending Lu Chenyue and the two Demon Suppression Division officers toward the dense forest while he and Xue Chong headed into the mountain.
• Lu Chenyue, Yang Xiao, and Yan Tieyi followed the tracking talisman into a silent cave, where the talisman’s glow vanished.
• Spider silk dropped from the cave roof and sealed the entrance, and a Jade-Ridge Silkweaver Spider emerged from the wall.
• The spider’s silk trapped Yan Tieyi’s saber and pulled him toward it while another strand caught Yang Xiao.
• Yang Xiao smashed through the webbing with his Army-Breaking Spear and pulled Yan Tieyi to safety.
• The Jade-Ridge Silkweaver Spider raised its legs and slammed them toward Yang Xiao.

Yang Xiao defeated the Jade-Ridge Silkweaver Spider by breaking free of its webs and attacking its unarmored underside, while Lu Chenyue and Yan Tieyi assisted. After the group recovered the demon core, Yang Xiao detected Gu Han's scent in the cave, raising doubts about what had happened to Xu Qinglan.

• The Jade-Ridge Silkweaver Spider trapped Yang Xiao in webbing and battered him while Lu Chenyue's sword strikes barely damaged its armored body.
• Yang Xiao shattered the webbing with spiritual power, struck the spider's soft underside, and drove the Army-Breaking Spear into its wound.
• Yang Xiao tore open the spider's abdomen and killed it with a final spear thrust to its head.
• Yan Tieyi freed Yang Xiao from the sticky silk, and Lu Chenyue thanked him for winning the battle.
• Yang Xiao took the spider's Demon Core and collected Demonic Qi, then detected Gu Han's scent throughout the cave.
• Yang Xiao, Yan Tieyi, and Lu Chenyue realized Xu Qinglan was absent and grew suspicious of the circumstances.