Chapter Summaries

Yang Xiao joined Pei Xuance for an audience with Governor-General Qin Lie, who revealed that Lotus Flower Temple had likely cultivated Yellow Wind Mountain and orchestrated Qingzhou’s demonic calamities. Pei Xuance remained determined to attack Yellow Wind Mountain and vowed to reach the Dao-Infant Realm if the temple’s master came to Qingzhou.

• Xu Qingshan and Xu Mingting learned Yang Xiao had become a Demon Suppression General and considered what his rise meant for the Xu Family.
• Li Hanguang brought Yang Xiao to meet Qin Lie, who had summoned the regional generals back after the old flood dragon’s death.
• Qin Lie said he had fought the Yellow Wind Demon King, whose Soul-Seizing Bell had worsened his injuries, and suspected Lotus Flower Temple had cultivated Yellow Wind Mountain.
• Qin Lie linked Lotus Flower Temple’s grudge over its Buddha’s Son’s death in Qingzhou to the region’s repeated demonic incursions.
• Qin Lie warned Pei Xuance that killing the Yellow Wind Demon King could bring the temple’s master to Qingzhou, and Pei Xuance vowed to reach the Dao-Infant Realm and kill him.

Qin Lie assigned Yang Xiao to investigate the Leopard Demon in Sanbao Commandery, which might be colluding with Yellow Wind Mountain. Yang Xiao met Lu Zhengyi, the commandery’s stubborn Demon Suppression General, who had questioned his appointment.

• Qin Lie explained that Qingzhou lacked the resources for a safe Dao-Infant breakthrough, but Pei Xuance remained resolved to act against Yellow Wind Mountain.
• Qin Lie accepted Yang Xiao as Qingzhou’s fourteenth Demon Suppression General and chose the Sanbao Commandery assignment for him.
• Qin Lie ordered Li Hanguang to accompany Yang Xiao and brief him on the Leopard Demon’s apparent connection to Yellow Wind Mountain.
• Li Hanguang warned Yang Xiao that Lu Zhengyi had doubted his appointment and urged him to let his strength speak.
• Yang Xiao entered Lu Zhengyi’s courtyard, where Lu finished sharpening his saber and greeted him as General Yang.

Yang Xiao and Lu Zhengyi traveled to Sanbao Commandery to investigate the Gloom-Patterned Mystic Leopard’s ties to Yellow Wind Mountain. When Lu Zhengyi confronted the demon at the border, Yang Xiao appeared behind it and pinned it in place, shocking both Lu Zhengyi and the leopard.

• Li Hanguang ordered Yang Xiao to accompany Lu Zhengyi to Sanbao Commandery and investigate the Gloom-Patterned Mystic Leopard’s dealings with Yellow Wind Mountain.
• Lu Zhengyi warned that the swift leopard would flee if they approached together, and he told Yang Xiao to stay hidden while he confronted it alone.
• Lu Zhengyi and Yang Xiao reached Sanbao Commandery and learned that the leopard had attacked a village that grew yams.
• Lu Zhengyi confronted the Gloom-Patterned Mystic Leopard at the border and warned it not to enter Qingzhou, while the demon mocked him for never leaving Sanbao Commandery.
• As the Gloom-Patterned Mystic Leopard turned to leave, Yang Xiao appeared behind it and pinned it in place despite its Demon Power.
• Lu Zhengyi stared in shock as he realized Yang Xiao had caught the leopard.

Yang Xiao quickly subdued and killed the Gloom-Patterned Mystic Leopard, forcing it to reveal where Yellow Wind Mountain's Demon King was hiding. With Sanbao Commandery no longer under the Leopard's immediate threat, Lu Zhengyi agreed to join Yang Xiao in pursuing the White-Forehead Hanging-Eyed Tiger.

• Yang Xiao pinned the Gloom-Patterned Mystic Leopard, broke its limbs, and forced it to reveal that the Demon King was at Rosy Dawn Ridge, northwest of Sanbao Commandery.
• Yang Xiao took the Leopard's Demon Core and killed it in a dozen or so breaths.
• Lu Zhengyi arrived after the fight and was stunned to see the Demon King dead in a crater.
• Yang Xiao proposed going after the White-Forehead Hanging-Eyed Tiger before news of the Leopard's death spread.
• Lu Zhengyi said he knew the location and agreed to go with Yang Xiao.

The White-Forehead Hanging-Eyed Tiger brothers waited on Rosy Dawn Ridge for the Gloom-Patterned Mystic Leopard, discussing the risks of killing Sanbao Commandery’s Demon Suppression General and the younger brother’s desire for Lady Musk. Yang Xiao and Lu Zhengyi confronted the two tigers, and Yang Xiao prepared to fight despite Lu Zhengyi’s concerns; the tigers noticed the leopard was absent.

• The younger Tiger Demon complained that the Gloom-Patterned Mystic Leopard had not returned, while his older brother insisted they wait before attacking Sanbao Commandery.
• The brothers discussed the death of the Canglan River flood dragon and worried that Pei Xuance might retaliate if they killed the Demon Suppression General.
• The younger Tiger Demon fantasized about Lady Musk, but his older brother warned that she was connected to a Demon Emperor in the Hundred-Thousand Demon Mountains.
• Yang Xiao sensed two powerful demonic auras on Rosy Dawn Ridge, and Lu Zhengyi recognized the approaching enemies as the White-Forehead Hanging-Eyed Tiger brothers.
• Lu Zhengyi considered withdrawing because the intelligence had not mentioned two Core Illumination Demon Kings, but Yang Xiao raised his Army-Breaking Spear and stood his ground.
• The Tiger brothers approached Yang Xiao and Lu Zhengyi, then the giant tiger noticed that the Gloom-Patterned Mystic Leopard was nowhere among them.

Yang Xiao and Lu Zhengyi fought the White-Foreheaded Giant Tiger and the Tiger Demon on the ridge. Yang Xiao killed the White-Foreheaded Giant Tiger with his Army-Breaking Spear, while Lu Zhengyi’s fight continued.

• The White-Foreheaded Giant Tiger realized the Leopard Demon was dead and moved to flank Yang Xiao and Lu Zhengyi.
• Yang Xiao struck the White-Foreheaded Giant Tiger with an exploding spear as Lu Zhengyi engaged the Tiger Demon.
• Yang Xiao pressed his attack, wounded the White-Foreheaded Giant Tiger, and forced him to retreat before he unleashed a roar that disrupted Yang Xiao’s core illumination.
• The White-Foreheaded Giant Tiger leaped at Yang Xiao with the Azure Dragon Saber, but Yang Xiao blocked the blow and drove his spear through the tiger’s chest.
• Yang Xiao sent Army-breaking power and Demon-Slaying Soul-Extinction through the spear, and the White-Foreheaded Giant Tiger died.

Yang Xiao and Lu Zhengyi killed the two Tiger Demons at Rosy Dawn Ridge and returned to Sanbao Commandery with their corpses, alongside the Leopard Demon’s. Lu Zhengyi began handling the aftermath and apologized to Yang Xiao for his earlier words.

• The young Tiger Demon broke Lu Zhengyi’s saber, but Lu Zhengyi wounded it when it paused after seeing Yang Xiao kill its elder brother.
• Yang Xiao used his Core Illumination and Mountain Suppression Earth Pattern to slow the young Tiger Demon, then pierced and killed it with his spear.
• Yang Xiao collected the two Tiger Demons’ Demon Cores, and he and Lu Zhengyi left Rosy Dawn Ridge carrying the corpses.
• At the government offices in Sanbao Commandery, crowds gathered to see the Leopard Demon and the two Tiger Demons, while Lu Zhengyi realized the greatest threats to the commandery had been eliminated.
• Lu Zhengyi agreed to write the battle report, then bowed to Yang Xiao and thanked him for preventing the demons from escaping.

Lady Musk offered the Yellow Wind Demon King a thousand-year-old Longevity-Extending Treasure Lotus in exchange for a quiet place to hide, and it arranged a distant cave residence for her. Days later, Yang Xiao returned to the Demon Suppression Division with a battle report and a bottle containing three Core Illumination Realm traces of Yao Qi, then found Qin Lie confused and lost in a stupor again.

• Lady Musk presented the Yellow Wind Demon King with a Longevity-Extending Treasure Lotus and asked to stay somewhere quiet.
• The Yellow Wind Demon King accepted the lotus and sent Black Rock to escort Lady Musk to an empty cave residence more than six hundred li away.
• Several days later, Yang Xiao entered the Qingzhou Demon Suppression Division carrying Lu Zhengyi's battle report and a sealed Qi-Gathering Bottle.
• Li Hanguang released three streams of Core Illumination Realm Yao Qi from the bottle, recognized their significance, and took Yang Xiao to see General Pei.
• Yang Xiao found Qin Lie sitting over a game board, unable to decide where to place a stone, and realized the old man had fallen into a muddled stupor again.

Pei Xuance assigned Yang Xiao to seek out Yao Qi across Qingzhou’s commanderies while he prepared to move against Yellow Wind Mountain. Yang Xiao then visited the Technique Pavilion to broaden his martial arts, but declined to name his Pill Pattern and asked to examine every technique category.

• Pei Xuance rationed the medicine that restored the Qingzhou governor’s lucidity and learned from Yang Xiao that two White Tigers had waited to ambush Lu Zhengyi.
• Pei Xuance showed Yang Xiao a map of Qingzhou’s Demon King lairs, said he would watch Yellow Wind Mountain, and gave Yang Xiao Yao Qi auras to find across the commanderies.
• Yang Xiao went to the Technique Pavilion, where the steward escorted him to the fifth floor and explained the Mysterious Core Realm techniques.
• Yang Xiao requested saber, spear, fist and palm, and movement techniques, then told the steward to show him everything when asked what Pill Pattern he had refined.

Yang Xiao selected four Mystic Core martial arts and returned to his courtyard, where he used the Gloom-Patterned Mystic Leopard Demon Core to complete the eighth transformation of his Ten-Thousand-Forged Demon Body and gain Shadow Affinity. He then equipped a White-Forehead Hanging-Eyed Tiger demon core, but its effects had not yet appeared.

• Yang Xiao chose Gold-Splitting Jade-Breaking Saber and Blazing Sun Evil-Splitting Spear, then added Bone-Transforming Cotton Palm and Void-Treading Wind-Chasing Steps.
• Yang Xiao took all four manuals back to his courtyard and decided to equip three demon cores in his first three equipment slots to advance his cultivation and extract traits.
• Yang Xiao equipped the Gloom-Patterned Mystic Leopard Demon Core and gained the Shadow Affinity trait as its source essence triggered his eighth body transformation.
• Yang Xiao finished the transformation, considered how Shadow Affinity could help him infiltrate a Demon King's cave, and equipped the first White-Forehead Hanging-Eyed Tiger demon core.

Yang Xiao absorbed two White-Foreheaded Tiger Demon cores, breaking through to Core Illumination mid-stage while his physique reached late-stage and his light spread three hundred zhang. He equipped three Mystic Core martial arts to gain perfect proficiency and purple affixes, then kept Void-Treading Wind-Chasing Steps for later because he had no slot available.

• Yang Xiao absorbed a White-Forehead Hanging-Eyed Tiger Demon Core, gained Eroding-Realm Mystic Light, and completed his ninth physique transformation.
• Yang Xiao absorbed another tiger demon core, gained external golden astral aura, and advanced his physique to Core Illumination late-stage.
• Yang Xiao broke through to Core Illumination mid-stage and tested his core illumination light, extending it three hundred zhang across the Demon Suppression Division.
• Yang Xiao equipped Gold-Splitting Jade-Breaking Saber, Blazing Sun Evil-Splitting Spear, and Bone-Transforming Cotton Palm, gaining perfect proficiency and a purple affix for each.
• Yang Xiao found no available slot for Void-Treading Wind-Chasing Steps and tucked the manual into his robes until he killed a Mystic Core Demon King.

Yang Xiao tested the techniques he had learned and realized they had changed the way he fought. On the road to Fuyu Commandery, he learned that the Black Tortoise had blocked the mountain pass for six days, disrupting travel and trade, and rode on to meet Iron General.

• Yang Xiao tested Splitting Gold and Severing Jade, the Blazing Sun Evil-Splitting Spear, and the Bone-Transforming Cotton Palm on stone locks and a wooden post.
• Yang Xiao concluded that his new techniques let him defeat enemies through their special effects rather than relying only on strength.
• On the third day of his journey, Yang Xiao entered the mountains of Fuyu Commandery, where his Qi-Gathering Bottle resonated with an aura nearby.
• A Captain told Yang Xiao that the Black Tortoise had blocked the mountain pass for six days and that Iron General was there trying to drive him away.
• Yang Xiao passed stranded travelers, merchants, and a medicine cart, recognizing that the Black Tortoise was disrupting the entire commandery without actively killing anyone.

Yang Xiao arrived at the mountain pass where the Black Tortoise Demon King had blocked the road for six days and agreed to work with Tie Yunyan to stop it. As Tie Yunyan attacked to draw its attention, the Black Tortoise extended its head and raised a claw to block her sabers.

• The Captain led Yang Xiao around the blocked pass to meet Tie Yunyan, who had been confronting the Black Tortoise Demon King.
• Tie Yunyan explained that the Black Tortoise had blocked the road for six days, resisted her attacks, and returned whenever she drove it back.
• Yang Xiao examined the saber marks on the Black Tortoise’s shell and told Tie Yunyan to attack and keep it from escaping while he handled the rest.
• Tie Yunyan charged from the left and swept her twin sabers toward the Black Tortoise’s foreclaw and neck.
• The Black Tortoise extended its head and neck, then raised a claw to block Tie Yunyan’s sabers.

Yang Xiao joined Tie Yunyan in attacking the Mystic Turtle Demon King and used Gold-Splitting Jade-Breaking Saber to break its shell and wound its neck. As the demon king fled toward a mountain hollow, Yang Xiao hurled his Army-Breaking Spear at its exposed shell.

• Yang Xiao approached under Breath Concealment and built up the force of Gold-Splitting Jade-Breaking before striking the Mystic Turtle Demon King’s shell.
• Yang Xiao’s strike shattered the shell at the demon king’s shoulder and neck, making it panic and ram into the mountainside.
• Tie Yunyan recognized Yang Xiao’s saber technique and helped block the demon king’s escape while Yang Xiao struck the same fissure again.
• Yang Xiao’s second strike tore through the demon king’s neck, leaving it badly wounded and howling in pain.
• The Mystic Turtle Demon King attacked Yang Xiao and Tie Yunyan before fleeing toward a mountain hollow, and Yang Xiao hurled his Army-Breaking Spear after it.

Yang Xiao and Tie Yunyan killed the Mystic Turtle Demon King and cleared the mountain pass, after which Yang Xiao set out for Black Mountain Ridge to hunt the Golden-Mane Boar. He equipped the Mystic Turtle Demon Core, triggering its defensive trait and his eleventh physique transformation.

• Yang Xiao killed the Mystic Turtle Demon King with the Army-Breaking Spear, permanently securing three martial arts and their traits.
• Tie Yunyan helped clear the road and arranged for the demon's corpse and shell to be hauled away as the caravans passed through.
• Tie Yunyan told Yang Xiao how to reach Black Mountain Ridge, where the Golden-Mane Boar lived, and he rode south alone.
• Yang Xiao stopped for the night and placed the Black Tortoise Demon Core into his first Equipment Slot.
• The Demon Core granted the Rock-Patterned Armor trait and triggered the eleventh physique transformation of his Ten-Thousand-Forged Demon Body.

Yang Xiao gained Rock-Patterned Armor and perfected Void-Treading Wind-Chasing Steps before tracking the Golden-Mane Boar Demon King’s gifts to a secluded valley. He found the Boar Demon King waiting awkwardly outside a cave dwelling and begging Lady Musk to let him inside.

• Yang Xiao absorbed the Mystic Turtle Demon King's essence, gaining Rock-Patterned Armor that dispersed attacks across his body.
• Yang Xiao absorbed the Void-Treading Wind-Chasing Steps manual and learned to walk through midair and shift position with a step.
• The next day, Yang Xiao followed lesser demons carrying gifts and learned that the Golden-Mane Boar Demon King had been visiting an unknown lady repeatedly.
• Yang Xiao traced the gifts to a secluded valley and found the Golden-Mane Boar Demon King offering Lady Musk mountain goods and clothes while asking to come inside.

Yang Xiao watched the Golden-Mane Boar court Lady Musk, then confronted him on the mountain path and asked who lived in her cave. The Golden-Mane Boar realized Yang Xiao had discovered her abode and decided he could not let him live.

• The Golden-Mane Boar brought Lady Musk gifts and offered to leave guards at her valley, but she told him not to mention her residence and ordered him to leave.
• Lady Musk complained about the Golden-Mane Boar and recalled the handsome White-Forehead Hanging-Eyed Tiger brothers.
• The Golden-Mane Boar vented his frustration by berating his lesser demons and kicking over their baskets as they left the valley.
• Yang Xiao stepped onto the path and showed the Golden-Mane Boar the crimson-gold Yao Qi he had drawn from his Qi-Gathering Bottle.
• Yang Xiao asked who lived in the cave, and the Golden-Mane Boar recognized that he had followed him and resolved to kill him.

Yang Xiao fought the Golden-Mane Boar after it tried to keep him from leaving with knowledge of Her Ladyship’s cave. He badly wounded the boar, which warned him about the Yellow Wind Demon King and Her Ladyship’s backing in the Hundred-Thousand Demon Mountains.

• The Golden-Mane Boar sent its lesser demons away, transformed into its giant battle form, and charged Yang Xiao.
• Yang Xiao dodged the boar’s charges and deflected its barrage of golden spines before striking its rump with a solar-flame spear thrust.
• Yang Xiao used his core illumination domain to pin the boar down, then carved open its back with the Army-Breaking Spear.
• The wounded boar threatened Yang Xiao with the Yellow Wind Demon King and claimed Her Ladyship came from the Hundred-Thousand Demon Mountains.
• Yang Xiao said he would remember the Hundred-Thousand Demon Mountains as the boar’s body began hardening with metallic light.

Yang Xiao killed the Golden-Mane Boar, then visited Lady Musk to question her about Qingzhou and Yellow Wind Mountain. Inside her cave, he resisted her musk and secretly weakened her, while she mistook his focused gaze for affection.

• Yang Xiao pierced the Golden-Mane Boar's skull, killed it, and collected its Demon Core and Yao Qi.
• Yang Xiao knocked on Lady Musk's cave door, and she opened it expecting the boar before finding a Demon Suppression Division officer.
• Yang Xiao asked Lady Musk why she had come to Qingzhou and what her relationship was with Yellow Wind Mountain, but she invited him inside instead of answering.
• Yang Xiao entered the fragrant cave and used his Soul Cleansing trait to remain clearheaded despite Lady Musk's musk.
• Lady Musk touched Yang Xiao and pretended to fall into his arms, while Yang Xiao secretly sent supple force into her and made her knees weaken.
• Lady Musk mistook Yang Xiao's steady gaze for special affection.

Yang Xiao subdued Lady Musk and questioned her about her ties to Yellow Wind Mountain and the Hundred-Thousand Demon Mountains. After killing her, he decided to report what he had learned to the Demon Suppression Division before continuing his hunt.

• Yang Xiao rendered Lady Musk powerless, slammed her to the ground, and demanded to know why she had come to Qingzhou.
• Lady Musk said she had offered the Yellow Wind Demon King a life-extending herb in exchange for a place to hide from an enemy.
• Lady Musk revealed that she was a close attendant of the Crimson Refinement Demon Emperor and described the Hundred-Thousand Demon Mountains and its roughly hundred Demon Emperors.
• Yang Xiao learned that only Yellow Wind Mountain knew Lady Musk was in Qingzhou and that she had chosen the remote province to avoid attention.
• Half an hour later, Yang Xiao left the cave with Lady Musk's Demon Core and decided to report his findings to the Demon Suppression Division.