Chapter Summaries

Sa Tong joined Kuang Cang’s plan to seize unpaid military wages from warehouses across the Southern Capital, while Azure Owl allowed the troops to raid them and ordered evidence recorded. Cheng Yu watched the two generals counter each other’s moves and wondered what Kuang Cang would do next.

• Sa Tong explained his ties to the Yonghe clan and showed Kuang Cang the locations of a supply warehouse and an Owl Race villa containing treasures.
• Kuang Cang marked the warehouses on a map, summoned the camp’s officers, and ordered them to take half of everything as their military pay.
• Kuang Cang kept Sa Tong with him and headed for the Owl Race’s villa while the other officers gathered troops to raid the warehouses.
• Azure Owl ordered his steward not to interfere with the troops and to record their actions with Recording Stones.
• Cheng Yu observed Kuang Cang and Azure Owl countering each other’s moves and wondered what Kuang Cang would do next.

Kuang Cang waited outside Azure Owl’s estate as their standoff over the Southern Continent continued, while Shen Tian and Shen Yue considered Azure Owl’s memorials with Cheng Yu. The chapter ended with Kuang Cang waiting for his target to act and Azure Owl calmly refusing to yield the initiative.

• Kuang Cang deployed his army outside the Owl Race’s estate, hoping to provoke Azure Owl and create grounds to unify the Southern Continent.
• Cheng Yu brought Azure Owl’s memorial to Shen Tian, who read it with Shen Yue and discussed Azure Owl’s analysis and possible loyalty to the Demon Dynasty.
• Shen Tian said he would give Azure Owl a chance if fortune had influenced him, but would execute him if he threatened the Demon Race’s stability; Shen Yue said any move against Azure Owl should benefit the Demon Race.
• Cheng Yu urged Shen Tian and Shen Yue to study Azure Owl’s proposals, then reflected on Azure Owl’s unexpected strategy.
• Du Bao reported that the military-pay seizures had succeeded without casualties, while Kuang Cang told Sa Tong he was waiting for the right moment and a major target to take the bait.
• Azure Owl ignored the old madam’s repeated messages and told his steward that he and Kuang Cang were testing each other’s patience.

Kuang Cang confronted Green Owl, his former adjutant and the Owl Race’s former chief, over his soldiers’ seizure of warehouses in the Southern Capital. He defended the seizures as recovery of stolen military pay, leaving Green Owl questioning how much he had changed.

• Green Owl decided to act while her son, the current Owl Race chief, was absent and went to meet Kuang Cang outside the manor.
• Kuang Cang greeted Green Owl as his former adjutant and demanded to hear her decision.
• Green Owl challenged Kuang Cang’s authority to search private property and asked why his troops had attacked Southern Capital warehouses.
• Kuang Cang denied conducting searches and argued that his appointed command allowed him to move troops and hold exercises throughout the Southern Continent.
• Kuang Cang accused the Owl Race and other clans of withholding soldiers’ pay and provisions, and claimed his troops had taken back what belonged to them.
• Sa Tong silenced the soldiers as they reacted to Kuang Cang’s accusations, while Green Owl wondered whether he was still the same General she had known.

Kuang Cang returned to camp after paying his soldiers, while Azure Owl accepted that the Southern Continent would change and sought greater leverage for the Owl Race. Kuang Cang’s allies revealed that they had gathered the Owl Race’s records and fueled public anger, setting the stage for an uprising as Kuang Cang pursued the prince’s goal of controlling the region’s providence.

• Kuang Cang left Green Owl after warning her that the Demon Dynasty’s powerful figures were essential, then returned to camp and paid his soldiers with resources taken from the Southern Capital’s warehouses.
• Azure Owl apologized to Green Owl, said he admired Kuang Cang, and declared that he wanted to build leverage for the Owl Race under the coming changes.
• A white-haired man gave Kuang Cang the Owl Race’s accounting records and reported that public outrage could spark a Southern Continent-wide uprising within three days.
• Kuang Cang recalled that the Regent King’s men had established the Heavenly Martial Directorate’s headquarters and helped spread news of withheld soldiers’ pay and secret account books.
• Kuang Cang accepted that his tactics had turned powerful families against him and remained confident as he worked toward bringing the Southern Continent’s providence under the prince’s control.

As rumors about the Owl Race spread and the Noble Houses tried to discredit Kuang Cang, Cheng Yu watched events from Mirror Lake and met with Zhen to discuss corruption in the New Laws. Cheng Yu pressed Zhen to consider how the Demon Dynasty should respond, but Zhen deferred to the emperor and prince.

• The Noble Houses circulated claims that Kuang Cang had fabricated the Owl Race's ledger to seize power, while respected Lone Wanderers defended his character.
• Cheng Yu observed the turmoil across the Southern Continent through Mirror Lake and said he would give someone a chance to seize an opportunity.
• Zhen asked Cheng Yu for authority to execute first and report afterward, explaining that he had found loopholes in the New Laws draft apparently designed to benefit great houses.
• Cheng Yu and Zhen discussed how to punish the officials involved without destabilizing the court or making the New Laws meaningless.
• Cheng Yu asked whether his past crackdown on the Northern Continent's great houses would suit the current crisis, and Zhen argued that it would not.
• Cheng Yu asked how to break the Demon Dynasty's impasse, but Zhen replied that the emperor and prince would decide.

Cheng Yu assured Zhen that he had a plan to address the consequences of dismantling the Demon Race’s great clans, then ordered Wu Xuan to destroy intercepted letters without reading them. Meanwhile, Shen Tian learned about Zhen’s correspondent Yan Yiyun and left the matter to Cheng Yu, whose campaign against the clans would clear the way for the Demon Dynasty’s final trial.

• Zhen challenged Cheng Yu’s plan to eliminate the great clans, and Cheng Yu assured him that he had a solution but would not reveal it yet.
• Wu Xuan told Cheng Yu that the Heavenly Martial Directorate had intercepted Zhen’s letters, and Cheng Yu ordered them burned unread.
• Shen Tian asked Jin Yang about Yan Yiyun, who described Yan as a famed wanderer with ties to many senior Demon Dynasty officials and to Zhen.
• Jin Yang advised watching Yan Yiyun and Zhen, but Shen Tian left the matter to Cheng Yu’s discretion.
• After Jin Yang left, Shen Tian realized Cheng Yu intended to remove the powerful clans that resisted imperial authority and clear the way for the Demon Race’s final trial.

Can Yue delivered the Monster Emperor’s decree appointing Azure Owl Minister of Justice, forcing him to leave the Southern Continent with his clan. Kuang Cang prepared to take control of the region’s military and dismantle the Owl Race’s remaining influence.

• Kuang Cang reorganized the Southern Continent’s armies and received orders from the Demon Dynasty.
• Can Yue arrived at Azure Owl’s residence with imperial guards and read the decree appointing Azure Owl Minister of Justice.
• Azure Owl accepted the decree after realizing Kuang Cang had brought his mother and servants to the residence.
• Kuang Cang warned Green Owl that Azure Owl and his son would survive if they obeyed, then escorted Green Owl to the prefect’s residence.
• Azure Owl led Green Owl and the Owl Race through a spatial passage to the Demon Capital.
• Can Yue agreed to attend Kuang Cang’s welcoming banquet as Kuang Cang prepared to seize the region’s military forces and erase the Owl Race’s influence.

Shen Tian explained the Demon Dynasty’s system of checks and balances and why Azure Owl was suited to replace Zhen as minister of justice. At Jade King’s Residence, Cheng Yu gave Azure Owl a task that left him stunned when he read the scroll’s first line.

• Kuang Cang understood that the Heavenly Martial Guard and the future Southern Capital prefect would keep him in check while also balancing the Southern Continent’s authorities.
• Shen Tian told Shen Yue that Zhen’s resignation could protect him from the danger of compiling the New Laws and that Azure Owl could manage the major clans’ resentment.
• At Jade King’s Residence, Green Owl denied the Owl Race’s disloyalty, while Azure Owl begged Cheng Yu’s forgiveness and offered to serve him and the Monster Emperor.
• Cheng Yu presented Azure Owl with a scroll and warned that opening it would leave him no way back.
• Azure Owl opened the scroll, froze at its first line, and looked at Cheng Yu in disbelief.

Cheng Yu made Azure Owl the new Minister of Justice and the public face of the Demon Dynasty’s New Laws, while removing Zhen from the drafting. He intended the laws to unify the Demon Race under Heaven and preserve its power after his death, but Azure Owl would bear the clans’ hatred for them.

• Azure Owl read Cheng Yu’s scroll and accepted the dangerous assignment, knowing he would have nowhere to turn except Cheng Yu and the Monster Emperor.
• Zhen received an order to hand his duties to Azure Owl and stop working on the New Laws, then left the Censorate’s main courtyard.
• Heavenly Martial Guards escorted Azure Owl to the Censorate, where he reviewed the drafted laws and realized he was being made their scapegoat.
• Cheng Yu watched Azure Owl take over the drafting and reflected that he had chosen Azure Owl to protect Zhen and leave the latter for his nephew.
• Cheng Yu planned to use the New Laws to unify the Demon Race under Heaven and position the Monster Emperor as Heaven’s Demon Son of Heaven, threatening to unleash the Abyss if Heaven would not cooperate.

Azure Owl completed the Demon Laws, while Cheng Yu assessed Qin Shuo, the formidable Human Emperor who had strengthened Humankind and expanded the Great Qin Celestial Dynasty. Qin Shuo deduced that Cheng Yu’s next move would concern the Southern Continent, where Cheng Yu prepared to test him.

• Azure Owl compiled the Demon Laws, and Cheng Yu praised him before dismissing him.
• Cheng Yu watched the Second Great Wall and recognized Qin Shuo’s presence as the Human Emperor surveying Humankind’s territory.
• Cheng Yu recalled how Qin Shuo had built the Great Qin Celestial Dynasty and claimed territory in the Southern Continent after the previous Monster Emperor died.
• Qin Shuo sensed someone spying on him, and Shen Xuan identified the watcher as Prince Shen of the Demon Race.
• Qin Shuo reasoned that Cheng Yu’s next move would be in the Southern Continent, and Cheng Yu decided to test the Human Emperor there.

Kuang Cang coordinated the campaign to suppress the Southern Continent’s rebellion, leaving Haiqi City as the last major rebel stronghold after Humankind’s Baiyue Prefecture strengthened it. He kept his forces focused on blockading and capturing other cities while using the war to harden the Southern Continent’s inexperienced armies.

• Du Bao reported that Dai City had been retaken, scattered rebel strongholds had been eliminated, and the Third Corps had failed to capture Haiqi City.
• Kuang Cang ordered the Seventh Corps to attack Wu City and northern ports, the Thirteenth Corps to blockade Xin City, and the wounded Third Corps to withdraw and monitor Haiqi City.
• Kuang Cang rapidly crushed most interior rebellions, while the border clans united around Haiqi City and received support from Baiyue Prefecture.
• The strengthened rebels slowed the campaign, but Kuang Cang chose to use the fighting to train the Southern Continent’s army.

Qin Shuo exploited the Demon Race’s Southern Continent civil war, while Cheng Yu discovered that Shen Yu’s true spirit could communicate with him through the Heavenly Dao’s merit. Cheng Yu then escalated the crisis by ordering elite forces south and Northern Continent clans to prepare for landings, raising fears of a new war with Humankind.

• Qin Shuo sent an imperial edict and Eastern Continent resources to Baiyue Prefecture to support the unrest in the Southern Continent.
• Cheng Yu saw Shen Yu’s true spirit and used Heavenly Dao merit to weaken the malice and break two black chains binding it.
• Shen Yu’s true spirit let Cheng Yu regain control, and Cheng Yu understood that merit could delay the Five Decays of Heaven and Man.
• News of civil war in the Southern Continent spread through the Demon Race’s territories, stirring remote groups and alarming smaller clans.
• Cheng Yu ordered elite troops from the Seven Demon-Sealing Passes to the Southern Continent under Kuang Cang and commanded Northern Continent clans to prepare landing operations.

Qin Shuo and Cheng Yu mobilized their forces as tensions between Humankind and the Demon Race threatened to reignite war. The Four Sages of the Human Race arrived at the Demon Capital to meet Cheng Yu, but his deteriorating condition made them suspect he was preparing a final gamble.

• Qin Shuo ordered human troops to withdraw from the Seven Demon-Sealing Passes and redeploy toward the Demon Race's territory, while also preparing forces in Baiyue Prefecture and mobilizing cultivators and Celestial Boats.
• Cheng Yu ordered Bai Man to defend the Seventh Great Wall, sent Demon Race troops south, summoned clan experts to the Jade King's Residence, and directed Wu Xuan to put the Kunpeng clan on alert.
• The Four Sages of the Human Race traveled to the Demon Capital, where Shen Yuan blocked their display of heavenly might and warned them not to provoke the Demon Race.
• Di Yi Yun and the other human Sages met Netherworld and saw Cheng Yu at Mirror Lake, where the black energy in his White Peacock phantom heightened their suspicion that he intended a desperate gamble.
• Cheng Yu welcomed the Four Sages to the Demon Capital.

Cheng Yu confronted the Four Sages of the Human Race over Humankind’s treatment of the Demon Race and demanded terms to prevent further interference. Di Yi Yun left to consult the Human Emperor and promised an answer within ten days, while Shen Yuan remained with Cheng Yu.

• Dong Hao accused Cheng Yu of endangering the Eternal True World by abandoning the agreement over the Seven Demon-Sealing Passes.
• Cheng Yu rebuked the Human Sages and listed Humankind’s past seizures and attacks against the weakened Demon Race.
• Cheng Yu cited the Demon Race’s dire condition and demanded Baiyue Prefecture before stating his actual terms.
• Cheng Yu demanded a thousand years without Humankind’s interference, the return or execution of Demon Race defectors, and an end to using the Nian Beast affair as a pretext.
• Di Yi Yun said he needed to consult the Human Emperor and would answer within ten days; the Human Sages and Netherworld departed, leaving Shen Yuan behind.

Cheng Yu allowed Shen Qian to leave Wangshu Mountain, believing her departure would help revive the Demon Race’s fortunes, and warned Shen Yuan that he would eventually leave the Demon Race in his care. In the Great Qin Celestial Dynasty, Qin Shuo and Di Yi Yun suspected Cheng Yu’s conditions concealed a trap and realized he had shifted the dilemma onto Humankind.

• Cheng Yu stopped Shen Yuan from interfering with Shen Qian’s planned escape and explained that he intended to use her as a piece to break the Demon Race’s deadlock.
• Shen Yuan accepted Cheng Yu’s decision, and Cheng Yu said he would resolve the Demon Race’s predicament before entrusting the Demon Dynasty and his family to Shen Yuan.
• Shen Qian left Wangshu Mountain in her Phoenix True Form, while Cheng Yu concluded that his plan had set the Demon Race’s game in motion.
• Qin Shuo and Di Yi Yun examined Cheng Yu’s three conditions and considered how each might harm Humankind or buy the Demon Race time.
• Qin Shuo suspected that Prince Shen’s lifespan was running out, then realized Cheng Yu had placed a difficult choice before him.

As conflicts spread across the Eternal True World, Humankind and the Demon Race prepared for war while smaller races suffered bloody clashes. In the Southern Continent, Kuang Cang learned that Baiyue Prefecture’s forces were stretched thin just as Nian’s next assault approached.

• Nian struggled against the bloodthirsty voice urging him to attack Baiyue Prefecture as the year's end neared.
• The Demon Race ordered an altar built on Heaven-Reaching Peak, while both great races reinforced their defenses against the Outer Demons.
• Humankind, the Demon Race, the Netherworld Ghost Race, and the Myriad Races tacitly allowed smaller races to fight bloody conflicts.
• Ji Hu prepared Baiyue Prefecture for Nian's arrival while Kuang Cang's forces continued suppressing the Southern Continent rebellion.
• Can Yue verified intelligence about Baiyue Prefecture's stretched forces and sent it to Kuang Cang, who considered what Ji Hu could do against Nian's coming assault.

Cheng Yu showed Cheng Ming a vision of Nian’s planned rampage as the year ended, revealing the Great Sage’s scheme to make Nian die at Humankind’s hands while limiting damage to the Demon Race. After Nian headed for Baiyue Prefecture, Kuang Cang began mobilizing troops and preparing to draw Humankind’s attention south.

• Cheng Ming took his leave from Cheng Yu and said the Demon Race would flourish as long as Cheng Yu remained.
• Cheng Yu invited Cheng Ming to watch Mirror Lake, which revealed Nian losing his reason and roaring toward Baiyue Prefecture.
• Kuang Cang restored Nian’s clarity with a portion of Nian’s sealed true spirit, and Nian leaped away toward Humankind.
• Kuang Cang recalled Nian’s explanation that the Great Sage had arranged for him to die at Humankind’s hands at year’s end and to rampage toward Baiyue Prefecture.
• Kuang Cang ordered Du Bao to hasten the campaign against the Rebel Army and assemble standby legions near Baiyue Prefecture.

As Ji Hu struggled to manage mounting crises in Baiyue Prefecture, the Nian Beast destroyed the demon rebels’ stronghold at Haiqi City. It then turned its attention toward the nearby human city, revealing that the Nian Beast had arrived in Baiyue Prefecture.

• Ji Hu received reports of unrest among minor races, attacks on human-aligned territories, worsening battles against the demon rebels, and a Demon Race army gathering at the border.
• Qingfeng returned to his village with bamboo shoots and promised to cook them for the children who greeted him.
• The Nian Beast appeared over Haiqi City and crushed the fortress despite the rebel experts’ resistance.
• The Nian Beast wiped out the leaders of the Southern Continent’s demon rebels and stared toward the neighboring human city.
• The human city sounded the alarm after recognizing the Nian Beast, which had wreaked havoc in Baiyue Prefecture a year earlier.

The Nian Beast rampaged through Baiyue Prefecture, destroying cities and devouring anyone in its path while the powers of the Eternal True World watched. As human cultivators died trying to stop it, Qin Shuo accepted the slaughter as the price of Humankind’s future, and Cheng Yu’s next actions began to fuel a dangerous idea in him.

• The Nian Beast destroyed human cities along the border, and Heaven Peering cultivators across the Eternal True World sensed its rampage and felt powerless before the Heavenly Dao.
• Leaders and powerful beings across the Eternal True World and the Supreme Dimension watched the Nian Beast’s attack, while Shen Tian stood ready to issue the Monster Emperor’s Edict.
• By the time Ji Hu learned of the attack, the Nian Beast had slaughtered and devoured countless people, including humans, members of minor races, and domesticated demons.
• Qin Shuo watched the devastation with concealed fury but decided that the losses would advance Humankind, while a mad idea took root in his heart as Cheng Yu acted.
• A human cultivator cried out for the Four Sages and Qin Shuo to save the Southern Continent, but the Nian Beast stripped away his flesh and crushed his bones.

Qin Shuo chose not to intervene as the Nian Beast ravaged Baiyue Prefecture, accepting the loss of the Southern Continent to strengthen Humankind and weaken the Demon Race. Outside Fuzhou City, villagers discovered that burning bamboo frightened Nian, giving Ji Hu a chance to attack it.

• Qin Shuo chose to let events follow their original course, despite the danger to Baiyue Prefecture and the risk of the Southern Continent growing estranged from the Heavenly Dynasty.
• Cheng Yu anticipated Qin Shuo's choice and considered how Shen Yu could exploit the future's course without changing it, while Cheng Ming began to suspect the truth behind their plans.
• The Nian Beast reached a village outside Fuzhou City, crushed Old Man Qingfeng's cottage, and prepared to devour the fleeing villagers.
• Old Man Qingfeng survived, and the villagers discovered that the sound of burning bamboo made Nian recoil and flee.
• Ji Hu ordered cities across Baiyue Prefecture to burn bamboo, then used the noise to distract Nian as people in Fuzhou City attacked it with spells and arrows.