Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Li Hanguang briefs Yang Xiao on a mysterious disaster in Tangkou Township: despite its location beside the Canglan River, the rivers, wells, and farmland have dried up.
• Three Core-Condensation Realm deputy generals and dozens of Demon Suppression Guards have vanished there. Li suspects one or more Mysterious Core Realm demons are responsible.
• Li offers Yang Xiao a chance to earn promotion to deputy general by resolving the case. Yang accepts, eager to investigate and hunt powerful demons.
• Arriving in Tangkou, Yang finds cracked fields, dried waterways, and dead fish. He senses the air has been stripped of moisture and detects a water-demon scent deep beneath a dried riverbed.
• Yang discovers a massive, unusually heavy black scale and recognizes it as belonging to a Mysterious Core Realm flood dragon. Following its lingering demonic qi, he reaches a River God Temple surrounded by dense water mist. The land beyond the temple is parched, suggesting the township’s water has been drawn into or confined within the temple.

Character developments

• Yang Xiao accepts a dangerous assignment with calm confidence. His recent experiences have matured him into a composed, capable-looking fighter, and he methodically follows evidence rather than rushing blindly.
• Li Hanguang reveals the severity of the situation and his concern for his missing officers. He is willing to send Yang only after seeing evidence of Yang’s ability, and offers formal advancement as an incentive.

Character interactions

• Li lays out the case and tests Yang’s courage and qualifications; Yang responds by asking whether there is anything more to know, then accepts.
• Yang’s investigation is solitary so far. The people he encounters near the temple move silently in the same direction, creating an atmosphere of fear and unease.

Significant themes

• Hidden danger beneath a familiar landscape: A once-fertile waterland has become a deadly mystery, and even seasoned officers disappear there.
• Power and responsibility: Yang’s opportunity for advancement comes with the burden of investigating a threat that has already defeated experienced fighters.
• Clues and disciplined observation: Yang relies on sensory evidence—the dried earth, water-demon scent, and dragon scale—to uncover what may be happening.
• Unequal distribution of resources: The stark boundary between drought and the temple’s saturated grounds hints that the water has been concentrated in one place at the expense of the township.

Key events

• Yang Xiao walks through mist and mud to Tangkou Township’s River God Temple, where villagers crowd around incense burners in silent, habitual desperation.
• He learns that Third Lord Jiao, an old flood dragon from the Canglan River, seized the temple months ago. He killed the former river god, Clam Spirit Lady, and slaughtered the Deputy General and later Demon Suppression Division parties sent to stop him.
• With the rice fields ruined and many townspeople eaten, the survivors are forced to pray daily. Jiao keeps some alive by occasionally letting saliva fall, which they eat to stave off hunger.
• Two Fish Demons take a grieving peasant woman into the temple. Inside, Jiao watches a demon child feast on human flesh and asks whether the Division has sent any “choice meat” recently.

Character developments

• Yang Xiao appears as an alert, composed outsider whose calm, forceful gaze contrasts with the villagers’ numb submission.
• The peasant woman has lost her husband and son and accepts being taken without resistance, having little reason left to live.
• Third Lord Jiao is revealed as a brutal ruler who treats the townspeople as food, yet shows tenderness toward the child he cares for.
• The Fish Demons enforce Jiao’s demands and fear his temper.

Interactions

• Villagers silently endure the daily incense ritual under Jiao’s control.
• The Fish Demons seize the last woman available and bring her before Jiao.
• Jiao tends to the child gently, then questions his subordinate about the dwindling supply of women and the absence of new captives from the Demon Suppression Division.

Significant themes

• Oppression and abandonment: The villagers are left helpless after the authorities’ failed intervention.
• Survival at the cost of dignity: Jiao’s “reward” keeps people alive through a degrading dependence.
• Cruelty and distorted tenderness: Jiao’s affection for the child stands in stark contrast to his violence toward humans.
• Despair versus resistance: The villagers have grown numb, while Yang Xiao’s presence suggests a possible challenge to their fate.

Key plot points and events

• Third Lord Jiao, a powerful flood-dragon demon, complains about the temple and the lack of suitable humans to eat. He orders the gathered townspeople brought into the hall, intending to use them to nourish the child beside him.
• More than a hundred frightened villagers are crowded inside. Yang Xiao, disguised in dark robes, stands among them and quietly assesses the five low-ranking Water Demons and Third Lord Jiao, whose cultivation is far greater.
• Jiao taunts Yang Xiao for arriving alone and offers to let one villager go if Yang Xiao survives a single move. Yang Xiao refuses the terms.
• Before Jiao can attack, Yang Xiao draws Shadowless and decapitates him in a nearly soundless strike. He then reaches into the corpse and extracts its Flood Dragon Core.
• The villagers and Water Demons are stunned. Yang Xiao turns his attention to the child, who watches him with a blood-smeared mouth and a guileless smile.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Xiao remains composed and fearless amid the villagers’ terror. Rather than accept Jiao’s cruel bargain, he acts decisively and kills him in an instant, revealing the gap between the demon’s confidence and Yang Xiao’s capability.
• Third Lord Jiao shifts from bored, contemptuous host to arrogant challenger, then is killed before he can make his promised move.
• The villagers are presented as helpless and cowed, though Jiao’s death momentarily draws their attention upward. One old woman tries to pull Yang Xiao back into the crowd, seemingly hoping to protect him.
• The child is disturbingly cheerful amid the violence: first entertained by the blood, then smiling directly at Yang Xiao. His reaction leaves his nature and intentions uncertain.

Significant themes

• Predation and power: Jiao treats the townspeople as food, while Yang Xiao reverses the power dynamic through swift violence.
• Fear versus defiance: The villagers bow their heads, but Yang Xiao stands upright and refuses to submit to Jiao’s rules.
• Cruelty and moral uncertainty: The child’s innocent expression amid the slaughter creates an unsettling contrast, leaving the threat unresolved.

Plot points and events

• Yang Xiao kills Third Lord Jiao, takes his Flood Dragon Core, and ignores the demon’s threats that the Canglan River Waterfolk will retaliate.
• Third Lord Jiao reveals that the child on the altar is the Little Dragon King, son of Jiang Qing and heir to the Old Dragon King’s blood. Yang Xiao pauses, recognizing a possible connection to Jiang Chen’s account of his sister, but does not back down.
• Five Fish Demons arrive and order Yang Xiao to surrender the core. He kills all five swiftly, then kicks Third Lord Jiao’s severed head through the temple wall and throws out the body, revealing its true form: a massive flood dragon.
• Yang Xiao binds the child with Spiritual Power and tells the villagers they can go home. They explain that returning is impossible because their land has dried up.
• An old man clarifies that Third Lord Jiao did not dry the fields. Another, absent water demon drew water from the paddies, wells, and river forks, gathering it at the temple. The villagers expect it to return because its offspring is there.

Character developments

• Yang Xiao remains calm and decisive in the face of threats, showing no fear of a wider conflict with the river demons. His brief hesitation over the child suggests he recognizes the political and personal stakes, but he still restrains the child rather than freeing him.
• The Little Dragon King appears more feral than frightened: he watches the killing with interest, grins, and tries to bite through Yang Xiao’s binding. Yang Xiao responds by tightening the restraint.
• The villagers shift from stunned fear to cautious hope after witnessing Yang Xiao’s victory, though their ruined homes leave them with no safe place to go.

Significant themes

• Defiance and consequences: Yang Xiao refuses to be intimidated by threats of retaliation, openly accepting the possibility of confronting the Canglan River’s demons.
• Power and vulnerability: Yang Xiao’s strength saves the villagers from Third Lord Jiao, but the greater threat behind the drought remains unresolved.
• Hope amid devastation: The villagers see a “long-lost glimmer” of hope in Yang Xiao, yet survival is still uncertain.
• Conflicted mercy and control: Yang Xiao does not harm the child, but binds him firmly, leaving his intentions toward the young dragon unclear.

Character interactions

• Third Lord Jiao tries to bargain and threaten Yang Xiao by invoking the river demons and the child’s royal lineage; Yang Xiao answers with blunt defiance.
• Yang Xiao studies the child, then subdues him when he struggles, establishing a tense relationship between them.
• The villagers initially remain frozen, then cautiously explain their desperate circumstances. Their exchange with Yang Xiao reveals that the drought is caused by a more powerful demon who has yet to return.

Key plot points

• Yang Xiao decides to stay at the River God Temple rather than leave the villagers to face the flood dragon alone. He kills Third Lord Jiao’s Demon Core and absorbs it, reaching Pill Pattern Perfection and filling his Heaven-Melting Treasure Furnace with Demon-Baleful Pill Fluid. The core grants him enhanced underwater speed, though he considers the ability limited.
• The villagers urge Yang Xiao to leave, explaining that a powerful demon once killed a Demon Suppression Division lord. Their elderly spokesman says he has little left to hope for beyond seeing water return to Tangkou Township. Yang Xiao says little, but makes room for the villagers and tells them to stay away from the door.
• Yang Xiao keeps the young flood dragon restrained near the entrance as bait, intending to lure its father to the temple. As night deepens, the air grows heavy with moisture—a sign that the adult flood dragon has returned.
• The blue-robed flood dragon appears and demands his son, threatening to make all of Qingzhou pay if the child is harmed. When the child calls to him and struggles toward the doorway, Yang Xiao drags him back and kills him with the Army-Breaking Spear.
• The rain and falling water suddenly freeze in midair. The father’s composure breaks, and he turns his murderous rage on Yang Xiao.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Xiao shows resolve and strategic patience: he strengthens himself with Third Lord Jiao’s core, protects the villagers, and uses the young flood dragon to draw out its father. He remains controlled even as the father threatens him.
• The villagers are terrified but begin to trust Yang Xiao’s presence. Their small gestures—bringing him water and warning him of the danger—show both gratitude and concern.
• The young flood dragon shifts from appearing innocent to revealing ravenous hunger. His excited reunion with his father makes his death more emotionally charged.
• The adult flood dragon arrives calm and authoritative, then loses control when Yang Xiao kills his son. His threat becomes an immediate confrontation.

Significant themes

• Protection and sacrifice: Yang Xiao stays despite the danger, placing himself between the villagers and the flood dragon.
• Hope amid despair: The villagers’ wish for water to return is a modest hope in a life otherwise resigned to loss.
• Power and cruelty: The adult flood dragon’s threat to punish an entire region contrasts with Yang Xiao’s deliberate choice to provoke him through the child.
• The cost of strategy: Yang Xiao’s plan succeeds in drawing the father out, but it does so through the young flood dragon’s death, setting up a brutal reckoning.

Key plot points and events

• The Little Dragon King attacks Yang Xiao with a rain of sharpened water droplets. Yang withstands the barrage unharmed, then uses his speed and spear to sever the demon’s left arm.
• The Little Dragon King reattaches the limb with water-pattern power, but a dark, corrosive aura left by Yang’s strike destroys the healing effect, forcing him to recognize the danger of his opponent.
• Avoiding close combat, the Little Dragon King gathers water from the rain and an underground river, forming a vast pool and eight enormous water wyrms. He threatens to destroy the River God Temple and bury its people alongside his dead son.
• Yang channels the baleful power stored in his Heaven-Melting Treasure Furnace into the Army-Breaking Spear, giving it a dark crimson glow.
• The wyrms attack one after another. Yang smashes or cuts through them, remains physically unharmed despite his torn robe, and fights his way through the final assault toward the Little Dragon King.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Xiao reveals extraordinary strength, speed, and durability despite lacking a pill pattern. He shifts from defending against the first attack to confronting the Little Dragon King’s full-scale assault directly.
• The Little Dragon King begins confident in his water-based abilities, but Yang’s speed, strength, and corrosive aura unsettle him. He responds by keeping his distance and escalating to a massive attack.
• The villagers move from watching in fear to accepting that they may die with their lord. The old man urges them to stay and witness the fight, while the villagers pray for Yang rather than the river god.

Significant themes

• Courage and loyalty: Yang stands between the villagers and their enemy, while the villagers choose to remain with him despite their fear.
• Power beyond appearances: Yang has no pill pattern or conventional insignia, yet displays strength far beyond what the Little Dragon King expects.
• Protection and sacrifice: The villagers believe Yang could have escaped but stayed to defend them.
• Escalation and resolve: As the Little Dragon King’s attacks grow more overwhelming, Yang answers with greater commitment, meeting each threat head-on.

Key plot points and events

• The Little Dragon King’s water attacks barely harm Yang Xiao. Yang Xiao’s extraordinary toughness lets him push through the Water Blades with only minor scratches.
• The Little Dragon King strengthens his defenses with Mystic Light and clashes with Yang Xiao’s spear, but the blow sends him crashing into the ground and badly injures his arm.
• Yang Xiao overwhelms him with a barrage of Spirit Crystals. The wounds they cause resist healing and drain both flesh and demonic power.
• Desperate, the Little Dragon King burrows underground to escape. Yang Xiao uses the Dragon-Pinning Form to spear him through the chest and pin him in place.
• The Little Dragon King transforms into a massive Azure Flood Dragon. Though badly wounded, he rises above Tangkou Township and prepares to attack.
• Yang Xiao cloaks himself in demonic power, leaps onto the dragon’s head, destroys one eye with a punch, and then kicks the enormous creature back to the ground.

Character developments

• Yang Xiao remains calm and relentless throughout the fight. His strength, durability, and refusal to waste time make him far more dangerous than his apparent cultivation level suggests.
• The Little Dragon King shifts from arrogant confidence to disbelief, rage, and finally panic. His pride in his lineage and power collapses as his attacks fail and his injuries prove impossible to heal.

Significant themes

• Appearances versus true strength: Yang Xiao’s aura understates his actual power, while the Little Dragon King’s noble bloodline and reputation cannot protect him.
• Pride and vulnerability: The Little Dragon King’s confidence turns into helplessness when faced with an opponent he cannot intimidate or overpower.
• Relentless force: Yang Xiao’s direct, efficient approach leaves his opponent no time to recover or escape.

Character interactions

• The Little Dragon King repeatedly attacks Yang Xiao and questions whether he is human, but Yang Xiao responds with silence and decisive violence.
• As he is driven underground, the Little Dragon King curses the Demon Suppression Division for having such a “freak.”
• Their confrontation escalates from a duel of water techniques and spear strikes into a brutal struggle against the Little Dragon King’s full dragon form.

Yang Xiao defeats the Little Dragon King in a brutal fight, breaking his horn, overpowering his attacks, and finally severing his neck with the Army-Breaking Spear. He takes the dragon’s Flood Dragon Core, which bears a Pill Pattern. The battle has cost him much of the Demon-Baleful Pill Fluid in his furnace.
The people of Tangkou Township emerge from the River God Temple and kneel in relief: the dragon’s rule had brought drought, deaths, and years of fear. Yang Xiao proves the Little Dragon King is dead, but gives no firm promise that water will return to the fields. A farmer voices the practical worry that his family may have to leave; the village elder rebukes him and then guides the townspeople back inside.
Yang Xiao equips the Flood Dragon Core. Its vision reveals how the Little Dragon King spent centuries mastering river waters and developing his Pill Pattern, which let him control weather across a region. Yang Xiao’s furnace refines the core and transfers its pattern to his Mystic Core. He acquires the Canglan Water Pattern, allowing him to sense and control nearby Water Essence, with greater power wherever rivers, rain, or wetlands are abundant.
Character developments and interactions: Yang Xiao is revealed as a physically formidable fighter who remains focused and cautious, pausing to steady his depleted furnace before claiming the core. The townspeople’s fear gives way to cautious relief and gratitude, while their exchange over whether to stay or flee shows that survival concerns remain even after the dragon’s death.
Themes: The chapter contrasts monstrous power with human vulnerability, highlights the hope and uncertainty that follow liberation, and presents acquired power as both a reward and a resource with costs.

Plot points and events

• After killing the Little Dragon King, Yang Xiao gains the Canglan Water Pattern, advancing to the pill-pattern realm in less than a night. He wonders whether he can acquire multiple patterns and how he might reach the next realm, but decides to ask Li Hanguang later.
• Using the new pattern, he senses that the Little Dragon King had diverted Tangkou Township’s underground water veins to the River God Temple. Yang Xiao destroys the demonic chains binding them and guides the released water into the township’s fields, channels, and wells.
• The villagers, who had watched Yang Xiao defeat the demons, now see him restore their water and regard him as a god. They celebrate, grieve, and give thanks. The village elder tells him they can rebuild as long as they have water.
• Yang Xiao accepts clean clothes from a woman he rescued, then leaves at dawn as the villagers kneel to honor him.
• Days later, the villagers rebuild the River God Temple with a statue of Yang Xiao. They replace demon worship and human sacrifice with offerings of water, rice, fish fry, and grain.

Character development and interactions

• Yang Xiao demonstrates that his new power can do more than defeat enemies: he uses it carefully to restore the township without flooding its roads or damaging homes. He remains modest about the work still required and leaves the villagers to rebuild their own lives.
• The villagers shift from fearful survivors to a community with hope and a future. The elder voices their determination, while the rescued woman helps preserve Yang Xiao’s image for the new temple statue.
• Yang Xiao’s interactions with the elder and the woman are respectful and practical: he acknowledges the villagers’ responsibility for recovery and accepts the woman’s clothing without ceremony.

Significant themes

• Restoration after oppression: Water, once withheld by demons, becomes the foundation for the township’s recovery.
• Power used in service: Yang Xiao’s strength is shown not only in combat but in precise, life-giving control.
• Hope and communal resilience: The villagers’ renewed access to water lets them imagine rebuilding through their own labor.
• Changing worship: The temple’s new statue and offerings mark a move away from fear, blood sacrifice, and demon worship toward gratitude and renewal.

Key plot points and events

• Yang Xiao returns to Qingzhou in mud-stained farmer’s clothes, surprising the Demon-Slaying Battalion staff with how quickly he has come back from Tangkou Township.
• He tells Zhou Zheng—and later Li Hanguang—that the mission is complete, then submits his Qi-Gathering Bottle.
• Yang Xiao recounts finding the dried-up township’s riverbed, discovering a Mystic Flood Dragon scale, and following its traces to the River God Temple.
• Li Hanguang examines the bottle and finds the perfected core-condensation aura of Third Lord Jiao of the Canglan River. A second aura proves to be an especially important dragon—an influential son of the Old Dragon King, whose death could trigger serious consequences.
• Yang Xiao confirms he killed both dragons alone. He also reports reopening the underground water vein sealed by the Little Dragon King, so Tangkou should have water again. The two enormous corpses remain by the temple, and Li must arrange to retrieve them.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Xiao remains composed and matter-of-fact despite accomplishing a dangerous mission alone. He reports practical outcomes and does not boast or reveal everything he has gained.
• Li Hanguang shifts from cautious curiosity to alarm as he recognizes the second aura. He understands the political danger and resolves that the dragon’s identity must remain secret.
• Zhou Zheng is astonished by Yang Xiao’s rapid return and success, reinforcing the growing respect—and sense that Yang Xiao’s rank may not match his abilities—among the battalion.
• The staff’s curiosity turns into hushed attention as Li inspects the bottle; he shuts the hall doors to prevent others from learning the sensitive discovery.

Significant themes

• Exceptional ability and underestimated status: Yang Xiao’s achievements far exceed what others expect from a Deputy General.
• Duty and restraint: He focuses on completing the mission, restoring Tangkou’s water, and reporting the risks rather than seeking recognition.
• Secrecy and political consequences: Killing a powerful dragon’s favored son threatens to provoke the Old Dragon King, making discretion essential.
• The practical aftermath of victory: The township’s water supply is restored, but the massive corpses still require official attention.

Plot points and events

• Yang Xiao reports his extraordinary success at Tangkou Township, where he entered a demon’s den alone, killed its threats, and brought the area under control. Li Hanguang concludes that Yang is capable of pacifying territory and should not be limited to routine work with the Demon-Slaying Battalion.
• Keeping his promise, Li appoints Yang as a deputy general. He explains that deputy generals serve directly under a Demon Suppression General, and that Pei Xuance has already expressed interest in taking Yang on. Pei will choose Yang’s commandery and assign his duties.
• Yang hesitates, uncertain whether Pei still wants him and whether they would work well together. Li explains that Pei has effectively been carrying responsibility for suppressing demons across Qingzhou while the Governor-General’s soul injury and declining cultivation have left the province vulnerable. Pei travels wherever serious threats arise, despite not having reached the Dao-infant realm.
• Yang accepts the appointment and decides to seek out Pei. He then asks about accumulating multiple pill patterns and advancing to the core illumination realm. Li says nearly everyone develops only one pattern, though exceptions exist, and advises Yang to ask Pei about the more unusual cases.

Character developments

• Yang Xiao is recognized as a territory-level demon-slayer rather than merely a capable fighter. He accepts greater responsibility, though he remains unsure about serving under Pei. His questions about multiple pill patterns reveal his ambition and confidence in reaching higher realms.
• Li Hanguang formally rewards Yang and offers candid context about Qingzhou’s precarious situation, while carefully avoiding a politically sensitive subject when discussing the capital.
• Pei Xuance, though absent, emerges as a tireless leader who has long shouldered much of Qingzhou’s defense in the Governor-General’s stead.

Relationships and interactions

• Li treats Yang with respect, honors his promise, and explains the authority and obligations attached to the deputy-general post.
• Yang’s connection with Pei is complicated by limited personal familiarity: Pei recommended him and gave him the Army-Breaking Spear, but Yang does not assume they are close.
• Li’s account helps Yang reconsider Pei—not simply as a patron, but as a leader carrying a province-wide burden—and prompts him to go meet him.

Significant themes

• Duty and leadership: Pei’s work and Yang’s promotion frame leadership as accepting responsibility beyond one’s immediate post.
• Recognition and advancement: Yang’s exceptional accomplishments earn him a role suited to his abilities.
• Ambition and uncertainty: Yang seeks extraordinary cultivation but does not yet know how multiple pill patterns or further advancement work.
• Fragile order: Qingzhou’s stability depends heavily on Pei while its Governor-General declines and its defenses remain under strain.

Key plot points

• Li Hanguang explains that reaching the Core Illumination Realm depends less on the number of Pill Patterns than on their quality and cultivation. One pattern is easier to develop fully; multiple patterns can compete for space and power on the same Mystic Core, risking imbalance or damage.
• He uses Shen Jingxian, whose single wind pattern makes him exceptionally effective, to illustrate the advantages of focused cultivation.
• Li outlines the breakthrough: first make a Pill Pattern complete, with no gaps; then use the Mystic Core’s power to ignite it. Ignition lets the pattern affect the body and surroundings, creating a Core Illumination field that strengthens the user and suppresses intruders.
• Li demonstrates his earth-pattern field, which weighs down Yang Xiao. He concludes that the Pill-Pattern Realm is judged by a pattern’s quality, while Core Illumination is judged by how strongly it influences the surrounding world.
• Yang Xiao decides to prioritize completing his existing pattern rather than rushing to add more. Privately, he considers how his unusual fifth Equipment Slot might let him combine multiple pattern powers later.
• After thanking Li, Yang Xiao immediately leaves for Guanlan Commandery. Zhou Zheng hoped to invite him for a drink, but can only watch him go.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Xiao listens carefully and hides his unusual advantages, revealing little of his thoughts. His ambition remains strong, but he accepts that advancement requires taking the proper steps.
• Li Hanguang acts as a teacher, explaining the realm’s principles through examples and a practical demonstration.
• Zhou Zheng is disappointed that Yang Xiao leaves before they can spend time together, but also admires his relentless drive. His failed invitation adds a brief, understated note of humor.

Significant themes

• Focus versus overreach: More abilities can bring versatility, but divided cultivation may weaken a martial artist’s foundation.
• Progress through discipline: Breakthrough requires completing one stage before moving to the next.
• Power and territory: Core Illumination represents a fighter’s influence over the surrounding world, not merely strength contained within the body.
• Relentless ambition and its cost: Yang Xiao’s constant missions fuel his rapid progress, but leave little room for rest or companionship.

Key plot points and events

• Yang Xiao returns to Guanlan Commandery carrying the transfer documents and the Army-Breaking Spear Pei Xuance gave him. The spear’s history immediately establishes his importance: Deputy General Cai Yuanzhen recognizes him and personally welcomes him into the residence.
• Cai explains that Pei is away pursuing a Demon King who tried to enter Qingzhou. Demons often withdraw when they hear Pei is patrolling, but their repeated probes keep pressure on him and force him to defend the region largely on his own.
• Pei returns at dusk with several wounded Deputy Generals and a demon’s head hanging from his saddle. Yang Xiao recognizes it as likely belonging to a Pill Pattern Demon King.
• Pei quickly perceives that Yang Xiao has reached the Mysterious Core Realm. The Deputy Generals are stunned, remembering that Yang Xiao was only in the Liquid Condensation Realm when they last saw him.
• Pei invites Yang Xiao inside. The officers realize Pei may be honoring his old promise to appoint Yang Xiao as a Deputy General, prompting unease because the post is limited and Yang Xiao has not earned local merit.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Xiao arrives quietly and lets the spear and his advancement speak for him. His rapid cultivation growth surprises the officers who once saw him as a much weaker fighter.
• Cai Yuanzhen shifts from cautious verification of Yang Xiao’s orders to openly respectful reception, affected by the spear’s significance and Yang Xiao’s presence.
• Pei Xuance is shown as a tireless defender of Qingzhou: he patrols alone with a small, battered group and has enough fearsome reputation to deter demons without fighting. His brief exchange with Yang Xiao suggests recognition and readiness to act on his earlier promise.
• The Deputy Generals move from curiosity to shock and then anxiety, impressed by Yang Xiao’s progress but worried about the possibility that he will receive one of their scarce positions.

Significant themes

• Duty and sacrifice: Pei’s years of constant patrols show the personal cost of carrying responsibility for an entire region.
• Reputation and authority: The Army-Breaking Spear and Pei’s name command respect before either man needs to explain himself.
• Merit versus promise: Yang Xiao’s likely appointment raises tension between Pei’s personal commitment and the officers’ expectations that rank should be earned through service.
• Unequal paths of advancement: Yang Xiao’s rapid rise contrasts sharply with the Deputy Generals’ decades of struggle and accumulated wounds.

Chapter 154: “The Document” — Summary

Key plot points

• Yang Xiao delivers the sealed transfer document to Pei Xuance, who accepts it without inspecting it, honoring an earlier promise.
• Pei assigns Yang Xiao to deal with an Earthsplitter Stone Kui at Blackstone Ridge, where its nearly impenetrable stone hide and ability to burrow underground have defeated repeated attempts to capture it.
• Pei frames the mission as a chance for Yang Xiao to establish his authority, but Yang Xiao recognizes it is also a test of his strength. He accepts immediately and chooses to go without additional men.
• Yang Xiao and Deputy General Old Zhao travel toward Wushi Commandery. During the journey, Old Zhao admires the Army-Breaking Spear, which Pei gave to Yang Xiao, and Yang Xiao lets him examine it.
• Old Zhao explains that Deputy General Lü Heng has struggled with the Stone Kui but has avoided admitting failure in his reports. Pei knows of the situation and has given Lü time rather than publicly pressuring him.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Xiao shows confidence, restraint, and independence by accepting the dangerous assignment without hesitation or backup. He reads Pei’s real motive beneath its official framing.
• Pei Xuance emerges as both a calculating commander, testing Yang Xiao’s capabilities, and a considerate leader who gives Lü Heng room to handle a difficult problem.
• Old Zhao begins formally but warms to Yang Xiao after seeing the Army-Breaking Spear, addressing him respectfully and sharing what he knows about Blackstone Ridge.
• Lü Heng, though absent, is portrayed as earnest and persistent, unwilling to concede defeat despite repeated failures.

Significant themes

• Strength and authority must be proven: Yang Xiao’s new position is not enough; his ability must earn the respect of the other Deputy Generals.
• Leadership balances scrutiny with compassion: Pei tests his subordinates while also taking their circumstances and dignity into account.
• Perseverance versus pride: Lü Heng’s continued efforts show commitment, though his reluctance to report failure may also be prolonging the problem.

Key plot points

• Lü Heng has spent a month trying to eliminate the Stone Ogre at Blackstone Ridge. His repeated hunts have cost many lives and achieved little, but he has avoided asking for reinforcements.
• Expecting General Pei to arrive, Lü Heng is relieved to learn that Pei has stayed away. Instead, Yang Xiao arrives alone, accompanied by Pei’s attendant, Old Zhao.
• Yang Xiao has advanced from Liquid Condensation to Mystic Core. The guards are astonished, and his arrival fuels speculation that Pei intends to make him a Deputy General.
• Yang Xiao declines to rest at camp and immediately asks to be taken to the mine. Lü Heng explains that about three hundred townspeople nearby are trapped in place, waiting for the Stone Ogre to be dealt with, and admits he feels he has failed them.

Character developments and interactions

• Lü Heng shifts from dread at the prospect of Pei’s scrutiny to admiration and humility before Yang Xiao. He recognizes Yang’s past courage and is unsettled by how much stronger he has become.
• Yang Xiao appears more mature and composed than when Lü Heng last saw him. His direct focus on the mission signals confidence and urgency.
• Old Zhao eases the camp’s tension with his familiar, teasing manner, then accompanies Yang and helps establish his connection to General Pei.
• Han Chuan, a strong candidate for the Deputy General post, resents Yang’s arrival as a threat to his hard-earned advancement. He agrees to let Yang take the lead, but privately doubts the newcomer can handle the Stone Ogre.

Significant themes

• Merit and ambition: Yang’s talent and Pei’s endorsement disrupt the guards’ expectations about who deserves advancement.
• Responsibility and failure: Lü Heng’s reluctance to ask for help contrasts with his remorse over the danger facing the mining town.
• Courage tested by action: Yang’s past willingness to face a vastly stronger enemy shapes Lü Heng’s respect for him—and sets expectations for the coming hunt.

Key plot points and events

• Lü Heng explains that the Earthsplitter Stone Kui has evaded the Demon Suppression Guards for over a month, slipping through Blackstone Ridge’s sprawling tunnels. Destroying the mine is too dangerous: the black-iron ore is vital to the military, and the shafts run beneath a town of roughly three hundred people.
• Lü suggests luring the demon out, but Yang Xiao declines. Saying he is “in a hurry,” he enters the mine alone and orders the others to wait outside.
• Han Chuan mocks Yang’s lack of preparation and hints that the other officers may not support General Pei’s new appointee. Old Zhao silences the doubters, watches with interest, and orders the men to be ready to rescue Yang if necessary.
• Deep underground, the Stone Kui assumes the approaching footsteps belong to another failed attempt to lure him out. Expecting to toy with the guards, he emerges—only for Yang to unleash a devastating barrage of blue crystal prisms.
• The attack destroys the tunnel section and badly damages the Stone Kui, blowing off both arms. The demon repairs himself by absorbing nearby ore, then turns his fury on Yang, whom he dismisses as a mere lackey.

Character developments

• Yang Xiao comes across as direct, confident, and impatient with discussion. His decision to enter alone suggests strong faith in his own abilities, though the chapter ends before the full extent of them is clear.
• Lü Heng is experienced and cautious, aware of the risks to both the mine and the town. He worries about Yang’s safety but follows his orders.
• Han Chuan is openly antagonistic and appears skeptical of Yang’s appointment.
• Old Zhao remains composed and expects Yang to prove himself, while still preparing to protect him.
• The Stone Kui is crafty and complacent, proud of having avoided Pei Xuance. His confidence turns to rage when Yang’s first strike inflicts serious damage.

Significant themes

• Courage versus recklessness: Yang’s solo advance may be bold or dangerously overconfident; the outcome remains unresolved.
• Duty and collateral risk: The guards cannot simply destroy the mine because doing so could ruin a military resource and endanger nearby civilians.
• Underestimation and pride: The Stone Kui assumes Yang is insignificant, even after suffering a powerful attack.
• Proving oneself: Yang’s arrival amid suspicion and mockery sets up a test of whether he deserves his appointment.

Character interactions

• Lü Heng briefs Yang and proposes a cautious plan; Yang rejects it and proceeds alone.
• Han Chuan challenges Yang’s judgment, while another officer quietly reminds him that General Pei personally appointed Yang.
• Old Zhao discourages the camp’s criticism and tells the men to stand by in case Yang needs help.
• The Stone Kui misreads Yang’s approach as a chance to torment the guards, then responds to the surprise attack with anger and contempt.

Key plot points

• Yang Xiao collapses the mine roof onto the Earthsplitter Stone Kui, but the demon bursts free and attacks with a torrent of rock.
• Using the Canglan Water Pattern, Yang Xiao gathers underground moisture into streams that deflect the rubble and bind the Stone Kui.
• Yang Xiao pierces the demon’s brow with the Army-Breaking Spear and strikes its soul with Demon-Slaying Soul-Extinction. He also severs its connection to the earth veins, preventing it from regenerating or escaping underground.
• The Stone Kui begs for mercy, but Yang Xiao remains silent and destroys it. He later emerges from the mine dragging the demon’s corpse.
• Outside, the assembled soldiers are stunned: Yang Xiao kills in minutes the creature they had failed to defeat after a month of effort.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Xiao demonstrates calm, tactical decisiveness. Rather than relying only on force, he exploits the Stone Kui’s dependence on earth veins and uses water to neutralize its attacks and escape routes.
• The Earthsplitter Stone Kui shifts from furious confidence to fear and pleading once it realizes Yang Xiao has blocked its regeneration.
• Han Chuan dismisses Yang Xiao’s decision to enter alone as arrogance, voicing the skepticism of some soldiers. Others are worried and prepare to rescue him, while some expect him to fail.
• Yang Xiao says nothing to his opponents or the waiting soldiers; his actions provide the answer.

Significant themes

• Preparation and knowledge overcome raw power: Yang Xiao wins by identifying and disabling the Stone Kui’s means of regeneration.
• Resolve and ruthlessness: He refuses mercy to a dangerous foe and completes the kill without hesitation.
• Reputation earned through action: Yang Xiao’s decisive victory overturns the soldiers’ doubts and contrasts sharply with their month-long failure.

Plot points and events

• Yang Xiao confirms that the Earthsplitter Stone Kui is dead, shocking the Demon Suppression Guards who had struggled to catch it. He extracts and keeps its demon core, leaving the corpse for the others to process.
• The guards realize Pei Xuance’s assignment was not a test of Yang Xiao’s eligibility as Deputy General, but a way to give him a victory that would earn the others’ respect.
• Lü Heng and the other Deputy Generals decide to return with Yang Xiao to report to Pei. Han Chuan, who had mocked Yang Xiao before the fight, follows in silence, recognizing that he could not have defeated the Stone Ogre himself.
• On the three-day ride to Guanlan Commandery, the officers treat Yang Xiao with deference. Lü Heng compares his decisive methods to Pei’s, but Yang Xiao says he still falls short of the general’s strength.
• Yang Xiao equips the Stone Ogre’s core. It grants him the blue prefix Sinking Stance, which helps him resist force and remain grounded. The core does not transform his physique; its remaining demonic power replenishes the Heaven-Melting Treasure Furnace.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Xiao establishes his authority through action rather than explanation. He remains modest about his strength, recognizing the gap between himself and Pei Xuance.
• Lü Heng shifts from astonishment to respect, openly addressing Yang Xiao as Deputy General and arranging to report back with him.
• Han Chuan is humbled by the fight. His earlier contempt turns to private shame, and he avoids challenging Yang Xiao afterward.
• The other Deputy Generals reconsider their doubts and show Yang Xiao formal respect, though they still regard Pei as far stronger.

Significant themes

• Respect earned through strength and deeds: Yang Xiao’s victory changes the group’s opinion more effectively than rank alone.
• Humility and perspective: Yang Xiao accepts recognition without claiming equality with Pei, whose power remains on another level.
• Reputation and authority: Pei’s command is reinforced by arranging a trial that lets Yang Xiao prove himself to his new colleagues.

Key plot points and events

• Yang Xiao returns to Guanlan Commandery after eliminating the Demon Plague at Blackstone Ridge, dragging the enormous corpse of the Earthsplitter Stone Kui behind his party.
• General Pei Xuance confirms Yang Xiao’s appointment as deputy general and formally issues him the rank’s clothing and waist token.
• Pei assigns Yang a new mission: investigate trouble in either Baisha Commandery, where abnormal sandstorms may signal a pill-pattern Demon King, or Xunjiang Commandery, where Waterfolk have repeatedly attacked riverside settlements.
• Yang chooses Baisha, reasoning that its windblown terrain offers more opportunity than the Canglan River, whose waters match a pattern he already possesses. Pei orders him to investigate cautiously and withdraw if outmatched.
• Before Yang can depart, a messenger reports that sandstorms have swallowed Baisha’s Demon Suppression Watchtowers one by one, with more than half the guards missing.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Xiao is recognized publicly as a capable, composed leader. He accepts his promotion without fanfare, earns the other officers’ respect, and chooses his next mission strategically.
• Pei Xuance shows quiet confidence in Yang. He appears to have prepared Yang’s uniform and token in advance, suggesting the Blackstone Ridge assignment was partly a test—but Yang’s success leaves no room for objection. He then entrusts him with another dangerous task.
• Han Chuan realizes Pei may have intended to appoint Yang regardless, though Yang’s exceptional performance makes the decision unassailable.
• Old Zhao is the first to congratulate Yang; the assembled officers, clerks, and soldiers follow with a formal salute.
• Pei and Yang interact with mutual restraint: Pei avoids questioning Yang about the battle, while Yang responds to his promotion and orders with concise acceptance.

Significant themes

• Achievement and earned authority: Yang’s promotion is formalized after a conspicuous victory, winning respect from his peers.
• Leadership under pressure: Yang’s measured choice of assignment and Pei’s cautionary orders emphasize judgment as well as strength.
• Escalating danger: The sudden report from Baisha transforms the planned investigation into an urgent crisis, foreshadowing a potentially overwhelming threat.

Plot points and events

• A messenger from Baisha Commandery reports that relentless sandstorms have buried several border watchtowers and caused Demon Suppression Guard squads to vanish.
• Pei Xuance studies the map and concludes the attacks are coordinated: demons appear to be clearing outposts along one stretch of the border, likely as the beginning of a larger incursion.
• He sends Yang Xiao to investigate, ordering him to locate Deputy General Feng Weibing, determine why the outposts were destroyed, and find out whether the Demon Plague is linked to Yellow Wind Mountain. Yang must retreat and report if an enemy Demon King proves too powerful.
• Han Chuan and Lü Heng are assigned to accompany Yang. They depart with more than a hundred guards.
• As the group rides into Baisha Commandery, they find a landscape scarred by sandstorms—stripped trees, buried wagons, and remnants of weapons and armor.
• The messenger explains that abnormal northwest winds began half a month earlier, that investigation teams never returned, and that the storms are spreading from the desert toward inhabited areas.

Character developments and interactions

• Pei Xuance displays sharp strategic insight, recognizing that the missing outposts indicate a deliberate enemy operation. He entrusts Yang with a dangerous mission but gives clear limits and instructions.
• Yang Xiao accepts without hesitation, reinforcing his confidence and sense of duty. On the journey, he takes charge by asking the messenger for a full account of the crisis.
• Han Chuan, who previously resented Yang’s sudden promotion, has largely set aside that resentment after witnessing Yang’s strength. He accepts the assignment both as an experienced officer and to judge Yang firsthand.
• Lü Heng volunteers to join after the Blackstone Ridge crisis is resolved, showing initiative and willingness to serve.
• The messenger’s exhaustion and fear underscore the urgency and uncertainty of the situation.

Significant themes

• Duty amid danger: Yang and the other officers accept a mission into an increasingly hostile region.
• Strategic threat and uncertainty: The vanished guards, failed investigations, and spreading storms suggest a planned assault whose scale and cause remain unknown.
• Respect earned through action: Han Chuan’s changing attitude toward Yang shows how demonstrated ability can overcome resentment.
• Nature as a weapon: The sandstorm is not merely a hazard; its unnatural pattern and expansion conceal enemy movements and threaten the entire commandery.