Recaps

Yang Xiao killed demons threatening Azure Mist City and Longwind Commandery, then traveled with Yan Tieyi to Sword-Hiding Mountain for the Hundred Swords Return to the Pool Assembly. When the Sword Embryo vanished and Xu Qinglan was blamed, their search led them into a cave where they fought a Jade-Ridge Silkweaver Spider and began to suspect Gu Han.

• Yang Xiao killed White Ape Lord, completed his 360-aperture body-forging method, and joined Yan Tieyi on an investigation in Longwind Commandery.
• Yang Xiao killed the Nine-Poison Scorpion Lord, recovered the badges of its victims, and helped expose Han Dingshan’s dereliction, which Lu Changgeng punished by executing him.
• Lu Changgeng sent Yang Xiao and Yan Tieyi to Sword-Hiding Mountain with his treasured sword and a letter that secured them access to the Mind-Cleansing Cushions.
• At the Hundred Swords Return to the Pool Assembly, the Sword Embryo was stolen, and Gu Han said Xu Qinglan had taken it and escaped after wounding him.
• Yang Xiao and Yan Tieyi joined Lu Chenyue in pursuing the Sword Embryo, following a tracking talisman into a cave where a Jade-Ridge Silkweaver Spider trapped them.
• Yang Xiao broke free, killed the spider, and collected its Demon Core and Demonic Qi.
• Yang Xiao, Yan Tieyi, and Lu Chenyue noticed Gu Han’s scent throughout the cave and grew suspicious when they realized Xu Qinglan was missing.

Yang Xiao exposed Gu Han’s treachery, grew stronger through the Sword-Hiding Mountain and his breakthrough, then took on a drought crisis in Tangkou Township. He killed Third Lord Jiao and the Little Dragon King, restored the township’s water, and returned to report his success.

• Gu Han revealed to Xue Chong that he had framed Xu Qinglan and arranged her death, but the Sword Mantis turned on him, Xue Chong was gravely wounded, and Yang Xiao killed the demon and saved Xu Qinglan.
• Shao Tianheng restored the Sword Embryo to the Sword Pool, rewarded Yang Xiao with Shadowless and access to the Mind-Cleansing Cushion, and Yang Xiao later impressed the Demon Suppression Division with the demons he had killed.
• Yang Xiao exchanged his merits for Myriad Apertures Melt Heaven, refused Xu Qingshan’s marriage proposal, and broke through to the Mysterious Core Realm before strengthening his body with demon cores.
• Li Hanguang sent Yang Xiao to investigate the drought and disappearances in Tangkou Township, where Yang Xiao traced a flood dragon’s scale to a River God Temple seized by Third Lord Jiao.
• Yang Xiao killed Third Lord Jiao and his son, the Little Dragon King, despite the younger dragon’s attacks and threats against the villagers.
• Yang Xiao gained the Canglan Water Pattern from the Little Dragon King’s core and used it to break the chains blocking Tangkou Township’s underground water, restoring the river and fields.
• Yang Xiao returned to the Demon Suppression Division, reported that he had killed both flood dragons and reopened the water vein, and warned Li Hanguang to collect their corpses.

Yang Xiao earned his place as Pei Xuance’s deputy general by defeating the Stone Kui and thwarting the Wind Falcon Demon King’s plan to bury Baisha Commandery. Sent to Zhenshan Commandery, he began fighting the Mountain Ridge Demon King as miners remained trapped underground.

• Yang Xiao accepted Pei Xuance’s deputy general appointment and killed the Stone Kui at Blackstone Ridge, earning the respect of the Demon Suppression Guards.
• Pei Xuance appointed Yang Xiao deputy general and sent him to investigate the sandstorms swallowing Baisha Commandery’s watchtowers.
• Yang Xiao and Feng Weibing reclaimed several wind passes and confronted the Wind Falcon Demon King at Heavenwind Pass.
• Yang Xiao killed the Wind Falcon Demon King, acquired its core, and gained the sky-rending wind pattern.
• Pei Xuance ordered Yang Xiao to Zhenshan Commandery, where Chu Qingtian warned him about the Mountain Ridge Demon King.
• After a mine collapse trapped miners, Yang Xiao located survivors underground before the Mountain Ridge Demon King appeared and vowed to bury the commandery.
• Yang Xiao fought the Mountain Ridge Demon King, who healed his wounds by eating black stone, and opened the Heaven-Melting Treasure Furnace as his aura surged.

Yang Xiao hunted powerful Demon Kings, gathered five pill patterns, and broke through to the Core Illumination Realm. After Pei Xuance appointed him Qingzhou’s fourteenth Demon Suppression General, the Division formally welcomed him into the role.

• Yang Xiao killed the Mountain Ridge Demon King, rescued survivors from the collapsed mine, and refused Chu Qingtian’s offer to serve as his deputy.
• Yang Xiao learned Chu Qingtian’s Qi-Reading Art, hunted down the Red Lizard Demon King, and refined its core into the Heaven-Burning Fire Pattern.
• Yang Xiao joined Lu Changgeng in killing the Core Illumination Realm Hundred-Footed Golden Centipede King and gained the Slaying-Edge Gold Pattern.
• Yang Xiao killed the Flood Dragon Lord, then Pei Xuance defeated the Old Flood Dragon and gave its core to Yang Xiao.
• Yang Xiao refined the two flood dragon cores, perfected his five pill patterns, and entered the Core Illumination Realm with five-colored light reaching a hundred zhang.
• Pei Xuance named Yang Xiao as Qingzhou’s fourteenth Demon Suppression General, and the generals approved the appointment despite Lu Zhengyi’s suspicions.
• Li Hanguang presented Yang Xiao with his armor and cloak, then announced his appointment to the gathered guards.