Chapter Summaries

Li Xiaoya's group reached the entrance to Ancient Demon Mountain as Li Yuer's group broke the Five-Elements Reversal Formation behind them. With their pursuers closing in, Li Xiaoya led his companions through the barrier and into the forest.

• Li Yuer guessed that Li Xiaoya's group planned to hide near the mountain's outskirts and ordered Sun Xing's group to attack the formation.
• Li Xiaoya reassured Huang Hua and joked with his companions as they hurried toward Ancient Demon Mountain.
• At the mountain entrance, Li Xiaoya and the others sensed an unsettling aura and hesitated until an explosion behind them revealed that the formation had broken.
• Li Xiaoya tested the barrier with a Fireball, then led the group through it into the forest.
• Li Yuer apologized to Sun Xing for misjudging the formation, and Sun Xing led his group toward the mountain to pursue the Righteous Path cultivators.

Jin Zhan tracked Li Xiaoya and his companions with the Blood Bone Sword and negotiated rewards from Sun Xing for the Demonic Path group. The group entered Ancient Demon Mountain, where Li Xiaoya and his companions cautiously advanced through the dark forest until he noticed something unexpected.

• Jin Zhan used a trace of blood from a cultivator Sun Xing had captured to guide the group toward Li Xiaoya and his companions.
• Jin Zhan persuaded Sun Xing to promise the rogue cultivators a million spirit stones, five fifth-grade elixirs, and Fire Dragon Palace protection for helping hunt the Heavenly Dao Sect cultivators.
• Sun Xing promised Jin Zhan an additional gift, and the Demonic Path group entered Ancient Demon Mountain after following the bloody light.
• Li Xiaoya led his companions through the dark, damp forest, using his divine sense to avoid powerful Demon Beasts and observing plants that released black vapor.
• Li Xiaoya suddenly exclaimed as the group continued through the forest.

Li Xiaoya discussed Feng Chenzi with Ma Weiqi and learned that the group could not safely continue through the thickening Black Miasma. He led them toward several powerful Demon Beasts, intending to use them to evade their pursuers, and promised he had a plan to slip past them.

• Li Xiaoya reflected that Ancient Demon Mountain's vapor was slowly advancing his Overlord Art, while deciding to leave Feng Chenzi waiting rather than explain what had happened.
• When Ma Weiqi asked about Feng Chenzi, Li Xiaoya exaggerated the senior's abilities and claimed he had sacrificed himself to save him at Spiritlight Lake.
• Ma Weiqi asked Li Xiaoya to introduce him to Feng Chenzi, and Li Xiaoya agreed to ask once they escaped.
• Huang Hua warned that the thickening mist and Black Miasma made it dangerous to go farther, so Li Xiaoya led the group left to find cover.
• Zhang Hong sensed several powerful Demon Beasts ahead, and Li Xiaoya revealed that he planned to use them to mislead their pursuers.
• Dong Gu Nü warned that the Demon Beasts were too close together for the group to pass unnoticed, but Li Xiaoya assured everyone that he had a plan.

Li Xiaoya used an Invisibility Talisman to lead his companions past a powerful Demon Beast while Sun Xing and Jin Zhan tracked them from behind. The groups approached another Demon Beast, and Sun Xing realized Li Xiaoya had deliberately chosen the dangerous route to trap his pursuers.

• Li Xiaoya produced an Invisibility Talisman and had his companions link hands so they could move together under its concealment.
• Zhang Hong took Li Xiaoya's hand and Dong Gu Nü's, allowing the group to activate the talisman and disappear.
• Li Xiaoya led the group past a peak fifth-tier Demon Beast, which briefly stirred but failed to detect them.
• The group continued toward another nearby Demon Beast while Sun Xing and Jin Zhan tracked them with the Blood Bone Sword.
• Sun Xing recognized that Li Xiaoya had intentionally led them toward the Demon Beasts to set a trap.

Sun Xing and Jin Zhan used rare concealment pills and Everlasting poison to prepare to pass through the demon beasts and capture the Heavenly Dao Sect cultivators. Li Xiaoya’s group lost their invisibility near a beast, but Li Xiangxiang shielded them with her Wooden Staff as they vanished again and held still.

• Sun Xing and Jin Zhan concealed their auras and advanced toward the demon beasts while Li Yuer stayed behind.
• Sun Xing gave Jin Zhan a Qi-Concealment Pill and revealed a bottle of Everlasting, planning to incapacitate the beasts without drawing others with bloodshed.
• Li Xiaoya and his companions sneaked past a demon beast, but their Invisibility Talismans failed while they were still nearby.
• A beast roared behind the group, and Li Xiangxiang raised her Wooden Staff to cloak them in green light that masked their auras as trees.
• Li Xiangxiang told the others to turn invisible and stay still, and they disappeared again.

Li Xiaoya and his companions hid from a mutated Six-Eyed Horned Beast until distant roars drew it away, allowing them to escape under another Invisibility Talisman. Sun Xing and Jin Zhan incapacitated the beast with the Five Poisons Church's Everlasting, but Jin Zhan then noticed something puzzling.

• Li Xiaoya recognized the approaching black, enormous creature as a mutated Six-Eyed Horned Beast and realized its Spirit-Sensing Eye could detect their camouflage.
• Distant roars distracted the Six-Eyed Horned Beast, and Li Xiaoya used another Invisibility Talisman to lead his companions away unseen.
• Sun Xing questioned Jin Zhan, who explained that the Blood Bone Sword had warned him about the Heavenly Dao Sect people and that he had knocked out another beast.
• Sun Xing distracted the remaining Six-Eyed Horned Beast while Jin Zhan threw the Everlasting into its nostril, causing it to collapse.
• Jin Zhan began suggesting that they call the people behind them, then suddenly noticed something puzzling.

Sun Xing and Jin Zhan tracked Li Xiaoya’s group to their hiding place and attacked, gravely wounding Liu Qingshan. Liu Qingshan gave Li Xiaoya his Storage Pouches and urged him to attain the Great Dao before dying encased in purple ice.

• Jin Zhan detected that the red light tracking the group had briefly vanished, and Sun Xing sent out a streak of red light.
• Li Xiaoya led the others into a cave, where he mistook the returning red light for a glowing bug and began meditating while Liu Qingshan kept watch outside.
• Sun Xing and Jin Zhan approached the cave with more than twenty cultivators, intending to conceal their auras and catch Li Xiaoya’s group off guard.
• Two attacks struck Liu Qingshan at the cave entrance, severing his hand and piercing his abdomen as Li Xiaoya and the others rushed outside.
• Liu Qingshan gave Li Xiaoya several Storage Pouches and urged him to attain the Great Dao, then died as purple ice covered his body.

After Sun Xing killed Liu Qingshan, Li Xiaoya erupted with terrifying power and attacked him. As Li Xiaoya charged to finish Sun Xing, Jin Zhan launched a strike at his back.

• Sun Xing's purple beam shattered Liu Qingshan's frozen body, and Li Xiaoya gathered Liu Qingshan's remains and Storage Pouch.
• Sun Xing taunted Li Xiaoya about Liu Qingshan's death, triggering a surge of black vapor and power that frightened the cultivators.
• Li Xiaoya struck Sun Xing's fiery-red shield with enough force to send Sun Xing crashing into a tree more than a hundred feet away.
• As the Fire Dragon Palace cultivators began forming the Fire Dragon Formation, Li Xiaoya charged at Sun Xing to finish him.
• Jin Zhan sent the Blood Bone Sword streaking toward the center of Li Xiaoya's back.

Li Xiaoya’s qi deviation made him difficult to control as Jin Zhan and the other Demonic Path cultivators attacked him. The Fire Dragon Palace cultivators blasted him away with their formation, and Zhang Hong flew to his side.

• Li Xiaoya missed Jin Zhan’s Blood Bone Sword and turned to attack Sun Xing, while Jin Zhan realized Li Xiaoya was suffering from qi deviation.
• Jin Zhan urged the Demonic Path cultivators to attack together, but Li Xiaoya sent their Dharma Artifacts flying and damaged several of them.
• The Fire Dragon Palace cultivators formed the Fire Dragon Formation and unleashed a massive fiery-red beam at Li Xiaoya.
• Li Xiaoya fought the beam with his fists, but the Fire Dragon Palace cultivators intensified their attack and blasted him into the woods.
• Zhang Hong cried out for Li Xiaoya and flew toward where he had fallen.

Dong Gu Nü broke the Fire Dragon Formation just as the Millennium Beast Calamity erupted across Ancient Demon Mountain. Li Xiaoya and his companions took shelter in the cave and sealed its entrance as the beasts drew near.

• Dong Gu Nü used her Bronze Cymbals to break the Fire Dragon Palace formation, and she, Li Xiangxiang, and Huang Hua battled its cultivators.
• A wave of demon-beast roars and a thunderous rumbling interrupted the fighting, and Li Yuer warned the Hehuan Cult of the Millennium Beast Calamity before fleeing.
• Jin Zhan, the Hehuan Cult cultivators, and most of the other fighters fled, while Sun Xing abandoned his attempt to seize Li Xiaoya's sword.
• Ma Weiqi urged the group to hide in the Mountain Cave, and Li Xiaoya agreed that they should seal the entrance instead of trying to escape.
• Huang Hua carried the injured Li Xiaoya into the cave, and Dong Gu Nü collapsed the passage behind them with a thick layer of rock.

Li Xiaoya grieved Liu Qingshan’s death while the group hid from powerful demon beasts inside Dong Gu Nü’s Soundproofing Formation. A Black Qilin appeared among the beasts and sent them charging after Sun Xing and his companions.

• Dong Gu Nü placed formation flags around the group, creating a Soundproofing Formation as they sensed powerful demon beasts nearby.
• Li Xiaoya lay wounded and wept over Liu Qingshan’s death, blaming himself for being too weak to protect him.
• When tremors revealed that the demon beasts were close, Dong Gu Nü warned everyone to suppress their auras, and Zhang Hong stopped Li Xiaoya from crying aloud.
• Li Xiaoya’s aura faded, and the group concealed themselves as countless black demon beasts gathered where they had been.
• A Black Qilin landed on a Claw Beast and roared, driving the demon beasts to race after Sun Xing and his companions.

The Black Qilin King drove a horde of Demon Beasts and a torrent of Black Beetles after Sun Xing’s fleeing group. After the beetles devoured Li and the Black Qilin claimed his loot, Sun Xing and Jin Zhan recognized the pursuer as the legendary ruler of Ancient Demon Mountain.

• The Black Qilin King sent the Black Beetles ahead of the stampeding Demon Beasts and pursued them on a Flying Sky Leopard.
• Cultivator Lang tried to stab Li, but Li killed him, searched his body, and found a hidden piece of leather.
• The Black Beetles devoured Li, and the Black Qilin swallowed the leather and Storage Pouches before continuing the chase.
• Sun Xing caught up with Jin Zhan, and they identified the roar as the Black Qilin King’s.
• Sun Xing abruptly reacted with surprise while answering Jin Zhan’s question about the Millennium Beast Calamity.

A swarm of Black Beetles pursued the fleeing Demonic Path cultivators under the Black Qilin’s direction. While Li Xiaoya and the others rested, they began discussing the history of Ancient Demon Mountain, starting with the Southwestern Ancient City.

• Sun Xing told Jin Zhan that two Fire Dragon Palace cultivators had died, and both men used speed talismans to flee faster.
• A group of Demonic Path cultivators scattered to escape the approaching Black Beetles, which split into streams and chased them after hearing the Black Qilin roar.
• Li Xiangxiang asked Huang Hua to explain Ancient Demon Mountain, but he initially told everyone to tend to their injuries.
• Li Xiaoya asked Huang Hua to begin the explanation, and Zhang Hong joined the request while secretly exchanging messages with Ma Weiqi.
• Huang Hua began explaining Ancient Demon Mountain by introducing the Southwestern Ancient City.

Huang Hua explained the Southwestern Ancient City's history, from its founding as a hunting ground and contest venue to its repeated wars with Demon Beasts and mysterious disappearances. After hearing how the city returned and was plundered again, Li Xiaoya questioned why Demon Beasts and treasures still remained.

• Huang Hua said ancient cultivators built the Southwestern Ancient City to contain Demon Beasts and host contests between sects.
• Huang Hua explained that intelligent Demon Beasts secretly gathered strength before destroying the city’s base and slaughtering most of its cultivators.
• Huang Hua recounted how a returning Qilin overwhelmed the cultivators before a mysterious Divine Ability swallowed the city and the Qilin, a disappearance he linked to Xiao Hanfeng.
• Huang Hua described the city’s later return and the Third and Fourth Southwestern Demon Beast Wars, in which the city vanished again and was eventually plundered.
• Li Xiaoya asked why Demon Beasts and treasures remained if cultivators had already taken everything from the Rear Mountain Pagoda.

Huang Hua explained the rumors about the Rear Mountain Pagoda and the founding masters, and Li Xiaoya declared he would go there. Elsewhere, a black shadow attacked the fleeing Demonic Path cultivators with a devastating roar and closed in on a fallen female cultivator.

• Huang Hua told Li Xiaoya that the founding masters had reportedly reached only the entrance of the Rear Mountain Pagoda, and that rumors of treasures there arose after their cultivation advanced.
• Ma Weiqi connected those rumors to the cultivators who later went to the Ancient Demon Mountain and triggered the second Millennium Beast Calamity.
• Li Xiaoya suddenly announced that he was going to the Rear Mountain Pagoda.
• A swarm of beetles devoured a Fire Dragon Palace cultivator as Sun Xing and Jin Zhan fled from a powerful presence pursuing them.
• The black shadow released a sound wave that knocked down several fleeing cultivators and left Sun Xing and Jin Zhan shaken.
• The black shadow reached a fallen female cultivator and raised its foot to stamp on her.

The Black Qilin and a black panther killed two Hehuan Cult cultivators despite Li Yuer's attempt to intervene. Sun Xing and Jin Zhan fled, while the Black Qilin broke free of Li Yuer's formation and sent a swarm of black beetles after them.

• A Hehuan Cult cultivator attacked the Black Qilin, but the creature avoided his illusions and killed his Dual Cultivation Partner, Ling'er, while the black panther pinned her down.
• The Black Qilin crushed the injured male cultivator, and the black panther began eating Ling'er's corpse.
• Li Yuer trapped the Black Qilin and the black panther in a formation, then fled as Sun Xing and Jin Zhan escaped together.
• Sun Xing and Jin Zhan wondered whether the smaller beast was the legendary Qilin King as they ran from the creatures.
• The Black Qilin shattered Li Yuer's formation with black sound waves, and a swarm of black beetles dropped Storage Pouches before pursuing Sun Xing, Jin Zhan, and the others.

Jin Zhan and Sun Xing fled the Black Qilin toward the Light Barrier while Li Yuer helped them escape its attacks. After the survivors reached safety, Huang Hua and the others reacted in disbelief when Li Xiaoya said he wanted to go to the Rear Mountain Pagoda.

• Jin Zhan spotted the exit, but a swarm of Black Beetles and the pursuing Black Qilin closed in on the fleeing group.
• Li Yuer used Formation Flags to trap the beetles and Black Qilin in Five-Colored Mist, but the Black Qilin swallowed the mist and resumed its pursuit.
• Jin Zhan threw Everlasting at the Black Qilin, briefly knocking it down, while he and Sun Xing raced toward the Light Barrier.
• The Black Qilin used suction to drag Sun Xing, Jin Zhan, and the surviving Hehuan Cult cultivators backward, so Li Yuer caught them with a strip of white silk.
• The male Hehuan Cult cultivator threw a Beast Hide toward the Black Qilin, allowing Li Yuer to pull everyone beyond the Light Barrier, where its lightning struck down the pursuing beetles.
• Huang Hua and the others stared in disbelief as Li Xiaoya said he wanted to go to the Rear Mountain Pagoda.

Li Xiaoya and the others argued over who would go to the Rear Mountain Pagoda, while Li Xiaoya handed Invisibility Talismans to those who might leave and began healing. Elsewhere, the Black Qilin broke through the Protective Barrier, sent Black Beetles after Li Yuer and her companions, and then headed toward Ancient Demon Mountain.

• Li Xiaoya insisted on going to the Rear Mountain Pagoda alone, but Zhang Hong, Li Xiangxiang, and Ma Weiqi also said they would go.
• Huang Hua and Dong Gu Nü initially planned to stay behind, but Li Xiaoya gave them Invisibility Talismans and asked them to report the events and Senior Brother Liu to his master.
• Dong Gu Nü rejected Li Xiaoya’s talisman and decided to go, while Li Xiaoya took elixirs and meditated to heal his injuries.
• The Black Qilin blasted a hole through the Protective Barrier as Li Yuer dragged Sun Xing and the others away.
• The Black Qilin sent Black Beetles through the breach to pursue Li Yuer and her companions, then flew toward Ancient Demon Mountain.

After escaping the Slaughter Passage, Sun Xing and Jin Zhan headed to the Fire Dragon Palace while the Black Qilin resumed searching Ancient Demon Mountain. Li Xiaoya’s group debated whether to pursue the Rear Mountain Pagoda, and the chapter ended with Li Xiaoya ordering them to set off at once.

• Li Yuer left after reminding Sun Xing that she would collect the promised item, and Sun Xing invited the injured Jin Zhan to recuperate at the Fire Dragon Palace.
• The Black Qilin sent Demon Beasts through Ancient Demon Mountain, found two or three more hidden cultivators, and then went deeper into the mountain with the Black Leopard.
• Huang Hua urged Li Xiaoya’s group to abandon the dangerous trip to the Rear Mountain Pagoda, but Li Xiangxiang refused to change her mind.
• Huang Hua left using Li Xiaoya’s Invisibility Talisman and warned the group that the Southwestern Ancient City would disappear in about ten days.
• Li Xiaoya stood despite his injuries and announced that the group would set off immediately.

Li Xiaoya and his companions left Ancient Demon Mountain and traveled toward the Tall Tower, encountering no wildlife until they found a group of demon beasts guarding a Cliffside Cave. After defeating the beasts, they entered the cave and discovered something that astonished them.

• Li Xiaoya insisted on setting out despite his injuries, and Zhang Hong, Li Xiangxiang, Ma Weiqi, and Dong Gu Nü agreed to accompany him.
• Li Xiaoya led the group through the devastated forest under concealment, and they traveled for days without finding animals, demon beasts, or resources.
• Li Xiaoya sensed about a dozen fifth-tier demon beasts ahead and proposed that Dong Gu Nü use a Soundproofing Formation to contain the fight.
• Li Xiaoya and his companions killed the demon beasts guarding the Cliffside Cave, with Li Xiaoya slaying nearly ten of them.
• Li Xiaoya led the group toward the cave, and Ma Weiqi cried out when they saw what was inside.