Chapter Summaries

Wen Qingfei reaffirmed that she still loved Fang Qianyuan, while explaining to Wen Shilong that she had accepted the possibility he would never return her feelings. Meanwhile, Wen Shixian and several Wen clan elders secretly committed to aiding the Demonic Path in hopes of transforming the clan into a mighty house.

• Wen Qingfei told Wen Shilong that she still admired Fang Qianyuan but would not force him to reciprocate, and the two reconciled without discussing the letter.
• Wen Shixian met with Wen clan elders at a guarded medicinal manor outside Yi City and ordered that everything there be kept top secret.
• Wen Shixian and the elders recognized that they had become the Wen lineage’s secret wager, separate from Wen Shilong and Wen Qingfei.
• Wen Shixian and the elders planned to divert clan resources, join the Demonic Path, and develop techniques for transforming Demonized Warriors.
• Wen Shixian and the elders accepted the risk of ruin and death in pursuit of elevating the Wen clan’s status.

Fang Qianyuan advanced to Seven Turns, reflected on his growing affinity with the Demon God Nine Transformations, and flew to the Warrior Administration. There, Wang Ran informed him that a visitor from the Heavenly Dao Alliance had arrived with a confidential report.

• Fang Qianyuan's Spirit Sea expanded, and he reached the late stage of Earth Rank at Seven Turns and beyond.
• Fang Qianyuan considered how his Heavenly Gang Golden Mystic Pill might explain his unusual ability to grasp the Demon God Nine Transformations.
• Fang Qianyuan reflected that, despite his progress, the Age of Dharma Decline still forced him to rely on spirit control rather than true Dharma Power.
• Fang Qianyuan rode a Wind Weasel manifestation to the Warrior Administration.
• Wang Ran told Fang Qianyuan that someone from the Heavenly Dao Alliance had arrived to present a confidential report.

Zhao Qing reported that the Wen clan of Yi City had been secretly dealing with the Demonic Path figure Guo Li, prompting Fang Qianyuan to assess the clan’s motives. Fang suspected the clan’s elders were pursuing demon refinement as a calculated gamble and left the next move undecided.

• Fang Qianyuan received Zhao Qing, a former Personal Guard, and let him speak in front of Wang Ran.
• Zhao Qing reported that scouts had discovered Wen clan members contacting “Blackheart” Guo Li during a joint hunt.
• Zhao Qing explained that he and the others had kept the discovery confidential and said the Wen clan intended to trade with Guo Li, who had acquired an inheritance involving demon refinement techniques.
• Fang Qianyuan said Wen Qingfei was unlikely to be involved and suspected the Wen clan’s elders had secretly backed a demonic offshoot to pursue gains while keeping the clan protected if it failed.

Fang Qianyuan ordered Zhao Qing to eliminate Guo Li and sent for the Spirit Wandering Mirror. Guo Li extorted the Wen clan for another million before Zhao Qing and two Disciplinary Officers intercepted him in flight.

• Fang Qianyuan realized that his warning to Qingfei had let the Wen prepare their scheme, and decided to kill Guo Li as a warning to them.
• Fang Qianyuan ordered the Spirit Wandering Mirror brought from his residence while Miao Huan delivered the written order.
• Guo Li demanded another million from Wen Shixian, who agreed to raise the money and complete their deal.
• Guo Li left the Wen's Medicinal Garden on his Demon Tiger, but Zhao Qing and two Heavenly Dao Alliance Disciplinary Officers blocked his route with a talisman formation.

Zhao Qing confronted Guo Li with a light net and an illusory White Wolf whose phantom possessed real combat power. Guo Li recognized Little White’s Wind Blade Frost Sword too late and, trapped in the freezing attack, prepared to fight for his life.

• Guo Li arrived and demanded that Zhao Qing reveal the people waiting in ambush, but Zhao Qing insisted the three of them were enough.
• Zhao Qing activated a Light Net formation and used a talisman to summon a gigantic illusory White Wolf modeled on Little White.
• Zhao Qing’s phantom gained a powerful aura, and Guo Li tried to dismiss it as a bluff while asking why he had been targeted.
• Zhao Qing told Guo Li that he had provoked the Wen family and that someone important wanted him dead.
• The White Wolf attacked with Frost Breath, and Guo Li recognized the Wind Blade Frost Sword and realized the phantom could truly fight.
• As frost swallowed him, Guo Li spat blood and resolved to fight for his life.

Guo Li summoned his Sharp Fang spirit garment and fought White Wolf, believing her illusory form could not match his strength. Fang Qianyuan controlled White Wolf through the Spirit Wandering Mirror and used Golden Glow to kill Guo Li, while Zhao Qing emerged with the mirror.

• Guo Li used Essence-Blood Spirit Offering to summon Sharp Fang and shield himself from White Wolf’s frost attack.
• Guo Li recognized White Wolf as an illusory body and tried to use his speed to counterattack.
• White Wolf’s repeated Frost Breath attacks chilled Guo Li and slowed his movements.
• White Wolf used Golden Glow to slash Guo Li in half with a spatial attack.
• Zhao Qing emerged holding the Spirit Wandering Mirror, and Fang Qianyuan’s control of White Wolf was revealed.

Fang Qianyuan dealt with Guo Li and warned the Wen family off from aiding the Demonic Path, then discussed the consequences with Wang Ran and Jiang Yunfeng. The chapter ended with news that Wu Lianyi had reached Heaven Tier and attained emperor rank.

• White Wolf killed Guo Li, and Zhao Qing collected the golden bead of blood and Guo Li's belongings.
• Wen family guards found a box containing a mangled human head in the Medicinal Garden.
• Fang Qianyuan told Wang Ran he would not intervene further against the Wen family, and Wang Ran agreed that Guo Li's death would hinder their plans.
• Jiang Yunfeng advised Fang Qianyuan to stop intervening and discussed how Wu Lianyi's threat could justify warriors breaking the rules against advancing to Heaven Tier.
• Jiang Yunfeng's attendant reported that Wu Lianyi had appeared in the Northern Desert and attained Heaven Tier and emperor rank.

Wu Lianyi’s emergence as an Emperor-Rank Warrior alarmed the Five Regions and forced the sects to reconsider the Warrior Path’s growing influence. As Jiang Yunfeng entered seclusion, Sect Master Yu Shixian sent Fang Qianyuan to the Northern Frontier with permission to act without restraint.

• News of Wu Lianyi’s Emperor-Rank ascension spread across the Five Regions, and the sect dispatched forces to the Northern Wilds while reprimanding Jiang Yunfeng for failing to kill him.
• Jiang Yunfeng entered closed-door seclusion to pursue a breakthrough, leaving the Warrior Hall to be managed jointly by Yu Shixian, the Elders’ Council, and Fang Qianyuan.
• Fang Qianyuan learned that Wu Lianyi had spread his teachings through Miyuyin, Black Hound Daoist, Guo Li, and others before leaving the Southern Wilds.
• Yu Shixian and Fang Qianyuan discussed how Emperor-Rank Warriors could let many factions establish Heaven-Tier inheritances like the Five Great Aristocratic Clans.
• Yu Shixian assigned Fang Qianyuan to reinforce the Northern Frontier against restless Demonic Path experts and authorized him to act without restraint.

Fang Qianyuan traveled to Tower City and issued an Azure Cloud Sect Demon-Slaying Order summoning the Northern Frontier's major factions and experts. After gathering a large assembly, he emerged from secluded cultivation and prepared to host them at the Yin Family estate.

• Fang Qianyuan mustered Fang Ming, Sun Jixing, and members of his Personal Guard before departing for Tower City on March 10.
• Fang Qianyuan declined the city's reception and stayed at an estate provided by the Yin Family, then issued a Righteous Path Demon-Slaying Order summoning major households, alliances, rogue cultivators, and Heavenly Dao Alliance envoys.
• The summoned factions and experts arrived in Tower City, including six of the Azure Cloud Eight Elites and ten Azure Cloud Sect elders.
• Fang Qianyuan entered secluded cultivation and received no visitors while the assembly waited.
• At the end of March, Fang Qianyuan announced that he would host the gathered figures at the estate the following day.

Prominent Northern Frontier factions gathered at Fang Qianyuan’s lodgings to await his meeting about cases involving the demonic path. Long Xiyun and the other envoys planned to stand together against any attempt to single out their families, while the courtyard filled with arriving guests.

• Wang Ran welcomed the early arrivals into the courtyard but told them Fang Qianyuan would receive everyone at ten.
• Long Xiyun traveled toward Tower City with two Guards and Chief Steward Wang, worrying that Fang Qianyuan might punish the families involved with the demonic path.
• Chief Steward Wang urged Long Xiyun to coordinate with other factions and advance or retreat together if their family was targeted.
• The Tie, Shi, and Lin families’ heads and envoys set out, and they too resolved to resist together rather than concede.
• More factions arrived at Fang Qianyuan’s lodgings, where the courtyard grew increasingly lively.

Fang Qianyuan’s summons drew powerful figures from across the Northern Frontier, but his absence unsettled the gathering and gave Long Xiyun an opening to stir resentment. The crowd waited for Fang Qianyuan while Gushe Qingyao worried about his plans and the trouble they might cause.

• Meng Du, Zhao Bai, and Su Liangyu surveyed the gathered clans, sects, Alliance officers, and cultivators, marveling at Fang Qianyuan’s influence.
• Fang Lian defended the Elders’ Council’s Demon-Slaying Order, while Wang Xuanying teased her about her feelings for Fang Qianyuan and questioned the unknown plan.
• Gushe Qingyao ignored the young cultivators courting her and privately worried that Fang Qianyuan’s campaign against demonic involvement could throw the Southern Wilds into chaos.
• When Fang Qianyuan failed to appear by ten, Wang Ran told the crowd that his lordship was unexpectedly occupied and asked them to wait longer.
• The crowd grumbled over the delay, and Long Xiyun inwardly welcomed the chance to portray Fang Qianyuan as arrogant.

Fang Qianyuan received the Northern Frontier’s assembled sects and clans after keeping them waiting for hours, then accused them of violating the Prohibition Edict by collaborating with demons. He declared that he would use force across the Northern Frontier, leaving the gathered powers to face his threat.

• Fang Qianyuan waited in his courtyard with his cats while the guests grew impatient, then arrived to receive them.
• Fang Qianyuan silenced the gathering with his presence and asked whether the guests had grown impatient.
• An elder from the Yin Family asked why Fang Qianyuan had summoned them, and Fang said the gathering concerned the demon case.
• Fang Qianyuan accused Northern Frontier sects and clans of secretly violating the Prohibition Edict and collaborating with Wu Lianyi to produce Demonized Warriors.
• Long Xiyun and Chief Steward Wang privately welcomed Fang Qianyuan’s broad accusation, but he declared he would slaughter his way through the Northern Frontier and let the offenders see the consequences of their chosen path.

Fang Qianyuan announced that he would expose Northern Frontier factions involved with the Demonic Path and force those named to challenge him for absolution. He named the Long Family of Proud City first and attacked its demonized guards, leaving the family facing his proof of its ties to demonization.

• Fang Qianyuan revealed a list of factions and individuals accused of collaborating with the Demonic Path, the Demon Alliance, and rebel Wu, and said those named would be expelled from the Righteous Path.
• Fang Qianyuan offered each accused party a chance to clear itself by gaining an advantage over him in an exchange, warning that failure would mean expulsion and a hunt by all under heaven.
• Gushe Qingyao urged Fang Qianyuan to reconsider, while Meng Du and others suspected that he was trying to divide the accused factions.
• Fang Qianyuan called out the Long Family of Proud City as the first name on his list, stunning Long Xiyun and prompting Chief Steward Wang to demand evidence.
• Fang Qianyuan unleashed an invisible Wind Claw at Long Xiyun, and one of his demonized warrior guards was cut in half despite transforming into a demonfolk.

At the Demon-Slaying Assembly, Fang Qianyuan began arresting Lineages involved with demons, proving he intended to enforce his threat. After the Long Family envoys were seized, the Tie Family head confessed and accepted Fang Qianyuan’s conditions for a reduced punishment.

• Fang Qianyuan ordered the Long Family envoys seized, and Miao Huan wounded Long Xiyun while Fang Qianyuan incapacitated Long Five.
• Lin Xiong and Lin Bao captured Long Xiyun, Long Five, and Chief Steward Wang as the gathered factions watched.
• Fang Qianyuan turned to the Tie Family of Tower City, and its head admitted the Lineage had become involved with demons.
• Fang Qianyuan offered to pardon the Tie Family with a minor punishment if it surrendered all its Demonized Warriors to the Heavenly Dao Alliance for trial, with those guilty of human sacrifices to be killed.

Fang Qianyuan demanded that the Tie Family surrender its demonized warriors and punish everyone involved in human sacrifices, but the patriarch refused and tried to rally the other lineages. When Fang attacked, the patriarch transformed with the Primordial Demon Tyrant Body and blocked the Wind Claw, revealing his hidden strength and apparent use of human sacrifice.

• Fang Qianyuan demanded that the Tie Family submit its demonized warriors for judgment and that those who used human sacrifices be killed.
• The Tie Family patriarch refused to comply, then called on the other lineages to resist Fang together.
• The gathered patriarchs and envoys stayed silent, so Fang seized the chance to attack the Tie Family patriarch with Wind Claw.
• The Tie Family patriarch transformed into the Primordial Demon Tyrant Body and formed the Bone Armor Demon Suit to block the Wind Claw.
• The patriarch was sent flying but emerged from the dust, prompting the onlookers to realize he had hidden his strength and likely used human sacrifices.

Fang Qianyuan exposed the Tie Family patriarch’s Primordial Demon Tyrant Body and dismissed the demonized cultivators as weak impostors. He killed the patriarch with his Wind Path Divine Ability, leaving the assembled factions shaken and silent.

• Fang Qianyuan identified the Tie Family patriarch’s transformed body as a Primordial Demon Tyrant Body and cited its aura as evidence of demonization.
• The Tie Family patriarch denied betraying the Righteous Path and argued that his cultivation should make him a valuable pillar, while others supported his pursuit of power.
• Fang Qianyuan declared that all the half-baked Demonization cultivators were trash and directed his Wind Weasel to attack the patriarch.
• Fang Qianyuan’s Black Wind Calamity shredded the Tie Family patriarch, leaving only his bones, sword, and Dharma Robe.
• The gathered factions were terrified by the patriarch’s swift death and fell silent.

Fang Qianyuan executed the Tie Family patriarch and ordered the rest of the family seized, demonstrating the Righteous Path’s power to undermine confidence in the Demonized Warrior Path. As he called for the Shi Family, the Lin Family stepped forward too and urged other implicated clans to unite with them.

• Fang Qianyuan’s actions shook the gathered clans, while Meng Du and Gushe Qingyao realized he meant to crush their faith in demonic practices.
• Fang Qianyuan ordered his subordinates to seize the Tie Family after executing its patriarch, and they subdued and removed the family members.
• Fang Qianyuan called for the Head of the Shi Family, who stepped forward with clan elders, a young gentleman, and four Guards.
• The Maple City Lin Family also stepped forward, and its Head admitted that his clan had practiced demonic arts.
• The Head of the Lin Family urged other clans to stand together with the Shi and Lin Families against Fang Qianyuan.

As Fang Qianyuan moved to suppress the demonized warrior path, more clans and sects revealed their involvement and united against him. He refused to pardon them and invited anyone else who wished to join their side to step forward, leaving the confrontation on the brink of open conflict.

• Lin Jueyun, the old matriarch of the Qian Household of Vast Sea City, stepped forward to support the Lin Family of Maple City, and her household followed.
• Ma Su declared that the Ma Household of Qianlin City was involved in the demonized warrior path and asked Fang Qianyuan for pardon, but Fang refused.
• Ma Su and other supporters challenged Fang Qianyuan's authority to label the path demonic, and several sects, rogue cultivators, and wandering forces joined them.
• Meng Du and his companions grew tense as the number of demonized warriors among the united factions became clear, while Gushe Qingyao feared the conflict had left no room for compromise.
• Fang Qianyuan refused to back down and invited anyone else who wished to join the opposing faction to make their choice.

Fang Qianyuan’s accusations against the Tie and Shi Families split the gathered factions, as many backed the Heavenly Dao Alliance while others feared being targeted next. Lin Jueyun then accused the Azure Cloud Sect of secretly using demonized warriors, forcing its elders to defend the sect’s reputation.

• Minor factions and rogue cultivators joined the Tie and Shi Families in demanding an explanation, and Gushe Qingyao urged them to follow the alliance’s rules.
• The Jin Household, the Yin Family, and other clans supported the Azure Cloud Sect, while some factions distanced themselves from demonic practices and offered up implicated members for punishment.
• Lin Jueyun rejected the crowd’s appeals to righteousness and accused the Azure Cloud Sect of secretly creating demonized warriors despite expelling Wu Lianyi.
• Gushe Qingyao faltered as she considered whether the Azure Cloud Sect had secretly continued researching demonized warriors.
• Azure Cloud Sect elders angrily denied Lin Jueyun’s accusations and said they had expelled Wu Lianyi to uphold the Righteous Path.

Fang Qianyuan defended the Azure Cloud Sect against accusations that it secretly pursued Wu Lianyi’s demon-related path, then reframed the dispute as a threat to the order upheld by the righteous path. His argument left the assembled factions to confront the consequences of violating the Prohibition Edict and the competing interests behind it.

• Fang Qianyuan silenced the crowd and rejected his elders’ suggestion to subdue Lin Jueyun and the others by force.
• Fang Qianyuan argued that expelling Wu Lianyi showed the Azure Cloud Sect intended to sever its ties with him, and that the sect had no need to rely on evil practices.
• Fang Qianyuan defined righteousness as protecting the order that allowed humanity and other living beings to survive and develop.
• Fang Qianyuan warned that treating violations of the Prohibition Edict as trivial would fatally weaken that order, prompting the factions to take the matter seriously.
• Lin Jueyun recognized that Fang Qianyuan had redirected the debate, while the gathered factions considered how the Prohibition Edict served the interests of both righteous and unorthodox powers.