Arc 148Chapters 3676–3700
No recap yet.
No recap yet.
Xu Taiping arrived at Heavenly Thunder City and revealed his overwhelming strength by destroying the ape demon vanguard. As nearly nine thousand Nine Abysses forces and a White Bone Demonic General advanced, Xu Taiping refused to retreat and warned the general to flee before he drew his blade.
Xu Taiping faced the White Bone Demonic Army at Heavenly Thunder City and stopped its Ten Thousand Armies Battle Formation with a single slash. He summoned the ancient Demon-Slaying Army Heroic Spirits, whose charge shattered White Bone’s formation and left the demonic general dead.
After killing White Bone’s army, Xu Taiping healed the Demon-Slaying Army veterans and sent them back to repair Heavenly Thunder City’s barrier. Crow Heavenly Venerable’s forces then trapped the area, while Xu Taiping discovered that the power he had refined from chaos qi was primordial chaos power.
Xu Taiping faced Crow Heavenly Venerable and three other Half-Immortals, who demanded that he prove his loyalty by killing the veteran generals in Heavenly Thunder City. When Jade Dipper attacked, Xu Taiping emerged unharmed and struck back, forcing him to retreat.
Xu Taiping fought Half-Immortal Zhechen and Jade Dipper, broke free of Zhechen’s ultimate Dao edict, and wounded him with the Emberless Stance. Crow Heavenly Venerable then brought his full power to bear, but chaos demonic beasts arrived from Heavenly Thunder City.
Xu Taiping endured Crow Heavenly Venerable’s sword attacks until a horde of chaos demonic beasts surrounded them and forced the half-immortals to retreat. Crow Heavenly Venerable warned that the beasts would soon dissipate, leaving Xu Taiping to face them again.
Xu Taiping sealed the Chaos Demonic Beasts in the Dragon-Trapping Tower and asked the veterans of Heavenly Thunder City for help with the restrictions that let Crow Heavenly Venerable track him. He learned that registering his name on a Demon-Suppressing Stele would prevent registered fighters from killing one another, and he needed to pass the stele’s trial to join the war.
Xu Taiping and the Eight Zhenwu Veteran Generals traveled to Langfeng City so he could attempt the Langfeng Demon-Suppressing Stele’s trial. After revealing that he had reached the top of the Mysterious Wasteland Tower and commanded the Four Directions Military Formation, he left Gu Huai wondering how much of it he had commanded.
Xu Taiping told the Zhenwu Demon-Slaying Army veterans about his victory in the Mysterious Wasteland Tower and his command of all four armies, bringing them long-awaited hope. At Langfeng City, the group encountered two young Iron Armors, and Xu Taiping began the process of registering with the army.
Xu Taiping went to register with the Zhenwu Demon-Slaying Army, where Lei Xiao learned of the veterans’ sacrifices and rushed Xu into the drill ground for the final trial. The chapter ended with Lei Xiao taking Xu inside to put his name on the roster.
Xu Taiping arrived at the drill ground in Langfeng City and, with the help of Lei Xiao and Elder Wu, registered for the trial despite the roster being full. After his name was entered, the Demon-Suppressing Stele erupted in five-colored light and released a terrifying battle intent, leaving Lei Xiao suspecting Xu Taiping had caused its stirring.
Xu Taiping learned how the Demon-Suppressing Stele trial tested candidates and assigned soldiers’ grades, including the benefits of a Divine General’s Recruitment Token. After his name was added to the roster, he asked Gu Huai whether the Zhenwu Demon-Slaying Army had a token of its own.
Xu Taiping joined the Demon-Suppressing Stele Trial while the Zhenwu veterans kept his Half-Immortal cultivation secret. He endured the first test with ease, then shattered the Stele’s divine-soul probe, prompting it to test him again.
Xu Taiping broke through the Demon-Suppressing Stele's test of character and chose to continue to the second round, where the trial became far harsher than usual. He began driving back the armored heroic spirits with overwhelming strength, leaving the spectators questioning what kind of trial—and what kind of cultivator—they were witnessing.
Xu Taiping endured the Demon-Suppressing Stele’s third trial, revealing a physique that Li Shi and Ling Feng judged to be at the Sky-Supporting Great Sage Realm. After the Geng Metal qi failed to injure him, Ling Feng conceded that Xu Taiping could earn a Grade A rating.
Xu Taiping passed the Grade A troops and armor test by defeating a thousand Grade B armored heroic spirits alone. He then asked the Demon-Suppressing Stele to send down a divine general-level trial, leaving the gathered cultivators stunned.
Xu Taiping began the divine general trial, which transported the spectators and trial participant into an illusion recreating the desperate Yanyuntai Blood Battle. As the Zhenwu Army faced an overwhelmingly larger Nine Abysses force, Li Shi explained the battle’s tragic history, leaving Xu Taiping’s prospects uncertain.
Li Shi and Ling Feng watched the Zhenwu Demon-Slaying Army repeatedly charge the Nine Abysses Demonic Army after Old General Di Qing fell, revealing that the soldiers’ battle intent—not their general—had sustained them. The scene reset, and Lei Xiao gave Xu Taiping the trial’s true task: command the army after Di Qing’s death and rout the Nine Abysses forces.
Xu Taiping accepted the Demon-Suppressing Stele’s divine-general trial and took command of the Zhenwu Demon-Slaying Army against the Nine Abysses Demonic Army. As the armies clashed, he rallied his troops and began leading them in a formation charge.
Xu Taiping turned the Demon-Slaying Army’s battle against the larger Nine Abysses force by sharing his power with its soldiers and combining their strength against Xuan Zhong. After Xu Taiping slew the demonic general, Li Shi declared that the divine general had returned.
After Xu Taiping led the Zhenwu Demon-Slaying Army’s lingering souls to victory over the Nine Abysses Demonic Army, he passed the trial and was named a Divine General. The veteran generals celebrated his achievement but worried their dwindled army could not offer him room to realize his potential, and Lei Xiao told Xu Taiping he could choose any army on the Heaven-Demon Battlefield.
Xu Taiping rejected invitations from the four great armies and chose to remain with the Zhenwu Demon-Slaying Army. He revealed that he planned to use his Recruitment Token to rebuild the depleted army, leaving its veteran generals stunned.
Xu Taiping revived the Zhenwu Demon-Slaying Army and accepted the burden of gathering a thousand soldiers, but an attack by Nine Abysses Demonic Beasts interrupted preparations. After half a month of secluded cultivation, he reached six-inch Void Insight and gained three powerful strands of Edict Power.
Xu Taiping emerged from seclusion with stronger edict powers and combat techniques, then learned that the Zhenwu Demon-Slaying Army had been assigned to rescue a trapped convoy at Yujing City. As he accepted the mission, the Lotus Eye revealed a familiar face: Buyu.
Xu Taiping led eight veteran generals to rescue Yujing City's trapped convoy, while leaving his Origin Beginning Clone and the remaining generals to defend Heavenly Thunder City from an expected Nine Abysses attack. As the rescue force neared the siege, Xu Taiping prepared to summon the Demon-Slaying Cavalry heroic spirits and break through the enemy formation quickly.