Chapter Summaries

Qin Yun asked Xu Taiping to rescue twenty thousand Yan volunteers trapped by eight thousand demonic soldiers at Old Dragon's Mouth. Xu Taiping learned the forces’ numbers and set out with Dongfang Yuejian to lead the volunteers.

• Qin Yun persuaded Sun Cheng to delay the Yan army’s deployment for one day while they waited for reinforcements.
• Du Yuan told Qin Yun that eight thousand demonic soldiers had trapped his twenty thousand volunteers at Old Dragon's Mouth.
• Xu Taiping reported that he was nearing the Yan army, and Qin Yun asked him to guide the trapped volunteers to safety.
• Sun Cheng doubted Xu Taiping could break the demonic formation, but Qin Yun insisted that Xu Taiping was a capable battle general.
• Xu Taiping learned that he would face eight thousand demonic soldiers with twenty thousand volunteers and set out for Old Dragon's Mouth with Dongfang Yuejian.

At Old Dragon's Mouth, Du Yuan and the Yan Kingdom commanders struggled to decide how to face the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom's Demonic Army, which taunted them from across the valley. Qin Yun said he could not send troops but promised an Upper Immortal would arrive to help; when a messenger announced the immortal was already outside their formation, Du Yuan ordered him invited in.

• A demonic general taunted Du Yuan and the twenty thousand Yan Kingdom soldiers for refusing to attack the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom's eight thousand troops.
• Ma Tieshan demanded permission to fight with his Iron Gallbladder Gang, but Du Yuan and the white-robed Lü urged him to wait for word from Elder Qin.
• Du Yuan received Qin Yun's message that no troops could be spared, but an Upper Immortal would arrive and should be obeyed.
• Ma Tieshan, Lü, and Du Yuan doubted that an Upper Immortal could help against the Demonic Army's formation, and Du Yuan decided to hold Old Dragon's Mouth.
• A messenger reported that an immortal claiming to be Qin Yun's friend was already outside the formation, and Du Yuan ordered him invited into the tent.

Xu Taiping and his companions met Du Yuan and the other leaders trapped with twenty thousand Yan Kingdom volunteers in Old Dragon's Mouth, but the leaders distrusted the immortals and refused to hand over the troop command tiger tally. After Jia E threatened the prisoners, including Du Yuan's daughter, Xu Taiping asked for three thousand soldiers so he could rescue them and prove his ability to lead an escape.

• Xu Taiping and his companions introduced themselves as Qin Yun's invited helpers, but Ma Tieshan challenged them to defeat Jia E.
• Xu Taiping asked Du Yuan for the tiger tally so he could lead the volunteers through the blockade, but Du Yuan refused to entrust it to him.
• Ma Tieshan said the leaders did not trust the immortals to overcome the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom's Demonic Army, and Lü Zhu and Du Yuan did not contradict him.
• Xu Taiping asked Du Yuan to lend him three thousand volunteer soldiers to prove his abilities.
• Jia E threatened to behead prisoners and civilians, then revealed that Du Pingshuang was among them.
• Xu Taiping offered to use the three thousand soldiers to rescue Du Pingshuang and the other prisoners, leaving Du Yuan to consider his request.

Xu Taiping forced Du Yuan to consider committing three thousand troops to battle and challenged Ma Tieshan to withstand one palm strike using only qi and blood power. Xu Taiping's palm shattered Ma Tieshan's protective gang qi, leaving the result of the blow unresolved.

• Jia E tormented Du Pingshuang and revealed her among wounded captives in a mirage, provoking Du Yuan into a rage.
• Gu Yu suppressed Du Yuan's uncontrolled qi and blood, while Xu Taiping pressed him to decide whether to provide troops.
• Ma Tieshan challenged Xu Taiping to fight without immortal arts and promised to lead the Iron Egg Gang's eight hundred members into battle if Xu Taiping defeated him.
• Xu Taiping offered Ma Tieshan a single palm strike, and Du Yuan agreed that he would provide three thousand troops if Ma Tieshan could not withstand it.
• Xu Taiping swung at Ma Tieshan with overwhelming qi and blood power, shattering his protective gang qi.

Xu Taiping impressed Ma Tieshan and secured three thousand troops for his force. Meanwhile, a battle-watching feed from Old Dragon's Mouth revealed the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom's Demonic Army was using torture and civilian deaths to force Du Yuan's volunteers into battle.

• Xu Taiping slapped Ma Tieshan into the ground without seriously injuring him, and Ma Tieshan begged to become his disciple.
• Du Yuan agreed to provide Xu Taiping with three thousand troops, including Ma Tieshan's eight hundred Iron Gallbladder Gang fighters and troops from the Flying Snow Pavilion and Green Mountain Sect.
• At the Profound Elixir Palace, spectators learned that the Zhu Family's battle-watching feed came from Old Dragon's Mouth, near Dragon Gate Pass.
• Li Sisi questioned Sun Bing about doing nothing while Yan Kingdom civilians suffered, but Sun Bing argued that everyone had their own fate.
• Zhu Huan sent the Battle-Watching Projection into the sky, revealing civilians being boiled alive and a naked woman being whipped by the Demonic Army.
• A Heavenly Wolf Kingdom battle general threatened to flay Du Yuan's daughter unless Du Yuan sent his volunteer troops out to fight.

Zhang Moyan and the others watched the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom's Demonic Army use Red-Eyed Demon Wolves to threaten captives and lure the volunteer army into battle. Gu Yu intervened and killed all ten wolves, leading Chu Xiaoxiao to realize Eldest Brother Taiping must be nearby.

• Zhang Moyan, Xiahou Qingyuan, Xiahou You, Zhu Huai, and Jiang Cuicui discussed the volunteer army's weakness against the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom's Demonic Army and its battle formations.
• The Heavenly Wolf Kingdom's Demonic Army battle general released ten captives and threatened to kill their families, then sent ten Red-Eyed Demon Wolves after them.
• Zhang Moyan recognized the wolves, while Jiang Cuicui and Zhu Huai warned that the captives could not outrun them and that the trap was meant to draw out the volunteers.
• A flaming blade from Old Dragon's Mouth knocked the wolves back, and an old man rushed in and killed all ten with one slash.
• Chu Xiaoxiao recognized the old man as Gu Yu, the Dragon-Slaying Person from Eldest Brother Taiping's team, and concluded Eldest Brother Taiping must be there too.

Gu Yu fought Jia E’s demonic army, struggling against the red-eyed wolves and the army’s trapping battle intent. As Jia E’s formation was about to overwhelm him, a phantom city wall appeared and stopped its charge, prompting Du Yuan to wonder whether it was their side’s battle intent.

• Jia E threw a spear that empowered the red-eyed wolves, and Gu Yu’s attack failed to kill them all before they revived as stronger mad wolves.
• Jia E led a thousand demonic soldiers in a charge, using their battle intent to pin Gu Yu and restrict his movement.
• Gu Yu unleashed his Thousand Kills Blade and a phantom fiery lion, briefly slowing the formation before the lion shattered.
• A phantom city wall suddenly blocked Jia E’s charging formation, and Du Yuan suspected it was their side’s battle intent.

Xu Taiping led three thousand righteous soldiers in a battle formation that shattered Jia E’s demonic army and routed its vanguard. He captured Jia E, then agreed to exchange him for several hundred captives as the remaining demonic forces prepared to retreat or fight on.

• Xu Taiping led three thousand righteous soldiers out of Old Dragon's Mouth, changed their formation into a Great Slaughter Formation, and routed the thousand-odd demonic soldiers led by Jia E.
• Du Yuan and Lü Zhu realized Xu Taiping might save the twenty thousand righteous soldiers and Great Yan, while the spectators praised his skill as a battle general.
• Jia E fled toward the remaining seven thousand demonic soldiers, but Xu Taiping, Dongfang Yuejian, Xuanzhi, and Gu Yu caught him, and Xu Taiping seized him with a battle-intent palm.
• The demonic deputy general threatened to behead several hundred captives unless Xu Taiping released Jia E, causing the righteous soldiers’ battle intent to waver.
• Xu Taiping agreed to release Jia E only if the demonic army freed the captives too, and both sides began returning to their formations after the exchange was arranged.

At Old Dragon’s Mouth, Xu Taiping prepared the Yan Kingdom righteous army to face the seven thousand Heavenly Wolf Kingdom soldiers by rallying their battle intent and arranging the Great River Formation. As Jia E led the demonic army into battle, Xu Taiping challenged the eighteen thousand soldiers in the valley to stop cowering and fight.

• Xu Taiping told Dongfang Yuejian that the Yan Kingdom soldiers’ battle intent could overwhelm the demonic army and chose the Great River Formation.
• Xu Taiping gave Thunder Sound Banners to Dongfang Yuejian, Xuanzhi, and Gu Yu, and Dongfang Yuejian began preparing the formation with Du Mengzhu and the others.
• Xu Taiping urged the three thousand soldiers to remember their families among the fleeing prisoners, and they roared their desire to fight.
• Jia E returned to his formation, gathered the battle intent of seven thousand demonic soldiers into a flood dragon, and ordered an attack on the three thousand righteous soldiers.
• As the demonic army charged, Xu Taiping challenged the eighteen thousand soldiers in Old Dragon’s Mouth to stop watching their families suffer and join the fight.

Xu Taiping rallied the rebels at Old Dragon’s Mouth by awakening their battle intent and challenging them to fight the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom’s demonic army. The eighteen thousand rebels joined the battle and formed a great river battle formation under the banners, while Xu Taiping continued to hold back the enemy’s seven thousand soldiers.

• Xu Taiping used the three thousand rebels’ battle intent to halt the charge of the seven thousand demonic soldiers and their enormous flood dragon.
• Seeing the three thousand hold their ground, the rebels at Old Dragon’s Mouth began joining the fight.
• Xu Taiping addressed the remaining eighteen thousand rebels, calling on their anger and grief to rouse their battle intent.
• The rebels roared that they would fight and surged toward Xu Taiping’s formation.
• Dongfang Yuejian, Xuanzhi, Gu Yu, Lü Zhu, and Du Yuan used their battle banners to organize the rebels into a great river battle formation.

Xu Taiping used the Three Demon-Sealing Swords against Jia E’s seven-thousand-strong demonic formation, then caught Jia E’s spear and unleashed his Hundred-Zhang Ultimate Realm Dragon Whale Physique. After punching Jia E away, Xu Taiping joined his battle intent with the rebel troops behind him, strengthening the faltering Great River Battle Intent.

• In the Profound Elixir Palace, Zhu Huai and Jiang Cuicui marveled at Xu Taiping’s ability to fight while commanding a formation.
• Jia E gathered the battle intent of seven thousand demonic troops and repeatedly drove Xu Taiping and his formation backward.
• Xu Taiping summoned the Three Demon-Sealing Swords, but Jia E’s Giant Flood Dragon Battle Intent knocked them aside and broke through the Great River Battle Intent.
• Xu Taiping caught Jia E’s spear tip, expanded into his hundred-zhang Dragon Whale Physique, and punched Jia E flying, shattering dozens of his bones.
• Xu Taiping connected his battle intent with the three thousand rebel troops behind him and the approaching reinforcements, stabilizing the Great River Battle Intent and making it surge.

Xu Taiping and Dongfang Yuejian led the righteous army to shatter Jia E’s formation and wipe out the seven thousand Heavenly Wolf soldiers at Old Dragon's Mouth. As the Spring Rain Pavilion celebrated, a new projection revealed that hundreds of thousands of demonic troops were attacking Dragon Gate Pass, where the defenders were already fighting on the gate tower.

• Xu Taiping used Heaven-Touching punches to weaken Jia E’s battle formation and strengthen the righteous army’s battle intent, but exhausted his qi and blood.
• Jia E changed his formation into a pack of demon wolves and attacked Xu Taiping, whose saber could not stop the wolf pack battle intent.
• Dongfang Yuejian joined Xu Taiping with six thousand righteous troops, and Xu Taiping ordered the combined force to charge.
• The righteous army’s surging wave battle intent shattered Jia E’s formation, and the more than twenty thousand Yan Kingdom troops slaughtered the seven thousand Heavenly Wolf soldiers.
• A new battle-watching projection showed hundreds of thousands of demonic troops attacking Dragon Gate Pass, and Chu Xiaoxiao cried that the pass was about to fall.

Xu Taiping learned that Dragon Gate Pass was under attack and ordered the twenty thousand rebels to march there at once. As he prepared to strengthen their Great River Battle Formation using ancient Qi and Blood tactics, Sun Bing arrived with a proposed trade.

• Qin Yun told Du Yuan that Dragon Gate Pass was besieged by three hundred thousand Demonic Army troops and could fall within days, so Xu Taiping ordered the rebels to march after a meal.
• Xu Taiping explained that he planned to use Qi and Blood Power to strengthen the rebels’ Great River Battle Formation, and Dongfang Yuejian gave him a Divine Soul Mark containing her family’s ancient military treatise.
• Xu Taiping passed the treatise to his Origin Beginning Clone to study while Lü Zhu reported that visitors from the Upper Realm wanted to see him.
• Sun Bing arrived, greeted Dongfang Yuejian, and offered Xu Taiping a flask of Rising Yang Wine and a bag of sixty thousand Military Rations as part of a proposed trade.

Xu Taiping agreed to help Sun Bing, Zhu Huan, Zhu Hong, and Li Sisi enter the Dragon Domain in exchange for wine and military rations. Their army marched through the night toward Dragon Gate Pass, while Sun Cheng ordered Qin Yun's force to abandon its baggage and march to reinforce the pass.

• Sun Bing offered Xu Taiping Rising Yang wine and military rations in exchange for a chance to pass through Dragon Gate Pass into the Dragon Domain.
• Xu Taiping accepted the trade, and Lü Zhu distributed the rations among the troops while Dongfang Yuejian took charge of the wine.
• Li Sisi offered to use the Everlasting Spring Art to restore the troops' True Essence and Qi and Blood Power.
• Xu Taiping ordered Du Yuan's army to form up and march through the night toward Dragon Gate Pass.
• The next morning, Sun Cheng urged Qin Yun to march immediately, and Qin Yun ordered the troops to abandon their baggage and move out.

Xiao Weinan, Chu Yu, Qiyun Mountain, and Fu De rushed to defend Dragon Gate Pass, but the Qing He Demon Emperor ensnared them with the Nine Abysses' Eight-Octopus Battle Intent. The four reached the City Tower, where the battle intent began draining their magic power, leaving the pass's defenders trapped in a dangerous fight.

• Xiao Weinan and Chu Yu cleared Heavenly Wolf Kingdom soldiers and demonic creatures from the City Tower, while Fu De and Qiyun Mountain killed the Bull Demon battering the gates.
• The Qing He Demon Emperor appeared above the demon army and bound all four cultivators with his Eight-Octopus Battle Intent.
• Fu De and Qiyun Mountain failed to escape the tentacles, and the Qing He Demon Emperor's axe shattered their Battle Armor and sent them flying.
• Chu Yu and Xiao Weinan cut the tentacles and helped the four reach the City Tower, but the severed tentacles reconnected around Fu De and Qiyun Mountain.
• Xiahou Qingyuan and Zhu Huai explained that the battle intent could restrain cultivators and devour their magic power as the defenders' auras were drawn toward the demon formation.

The Qing He Demon Emperor used the Nine Abysses’ Rakshasa Drums to strengthen the eight-octopus battle intent and threaten the Dragon Gate. As the defenders chose whether to fight or flee, Qiyun Mountain and the others bet that a mysterious boy would arrive.

• Old Martial God Zhu Huai explained that the Rakshasa Drums stoked fear and drove the soldiers’ battle intent toward its peak.
• The Qing He Demon Emperor used the eight-octopus battle intent to haul Chu Yu and the others while the revived Bull Demon struck the damaged gate again.
• Chu Yu jumped from the battlements to defend the gate, and Fu De followed him rather than flee.
• Qiyun Mountain stayed behind, believing a mysterious boy would come and bring a chance at a great fortune.
• Xiao Weinan joined Chu Yu and Fu De at the gate, while Qiyun Mountain guarded the tower.
• Chu Xiaoxiao wondered who the men meant when they spoke of ‘he.’

As Chu Yu and Fu De were driven back by the Qing He Demon Emperor, Xiao Weinan used a gourd containing innate true flame to shield them and the city wall. The Qing He Demon Emperor’s battle-intent octopus began devouring the flames, leaving Xiao Weinan struggling to hold the defense while Qiyun Mountain blocked another strike.

• Chu Tiancheng, Chu Xiaoxiao, Zhang Moyan, and Xiahou You wondered why Eldest Brother Taiping had not arrived at Dragon Gate Pass, while Zhu Huai reassured them that he and his companions were likely delayed.
• The Qing He Demon Emperor’s axe sent Chu Yu and Fu De crashing into the city wall, but Xiao Weinan knocked back the axe shadow with a punch fueled by innate true flame.
• Xiao Weinan raised a wall of true flame around himself, Chu Yu, Fu De, and the city wall, and the Qing He Demon Emperor recognized the flame in his gourd.
• The Qing He Demon Emperor ordered the Rakshasa Drum beaten, enlarged his battle-intent octopus, and sent its tentacles to suck the true flame from Xiao Weinan’s wall.
• Xiao Weinan repeatedly fed more flame from his gourd into the thinning barrier as Xiahou Qingyuan warned that it might last less than the time needed to brew a cup of tea.
• Qiyun Mountain knocked a demonic beast from the city tower, blocked a battle-intent tentacle with his arms, and the soldiers on the wall attacked the tentacle with their weapons.

Qiyun Mountain, Xiao Weinan, Fu De, and Chu Yu used desperate methods to fight the Qing He Demon Emperor, but a new army appearing behind the demonic forces drew the enemy’s attention. The army was led by someone other than Xu Taiping, leaving the cultivators wondering where he was.

• Qiyun Mountain broke free of a battle-intent tentacle, but a young Yan Kingdom soldier who had helped him was killed by a spider demon.
• Qiyun Mountain damaged his foundation to unleash more qi and blood power and severed the siege ladders, while Fu De and Chu Yu used mutual-injury methods to attack the Qing He Demon Emperor.
• Xiao Weinan’s wall of true flame shattered, and he prepared to detonate his cracked life-bound divine weapon as Chu Yu and Fu De fell back against the city wall.
• A rumbling came from behind the demonic army, and the Qing He Demon Emperor withdrew from the fight to investigate.
• The Battle-Watching Projection revealed an army of roughly eighty to ninety thousand behind the demonic formation, but its leader was not Xu Taiping, prompting Zhu Huai to ask where Taiping was.

The Yan Kingdom’s troops repeatedly charged the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom’s demonic army, while spectators wondered why Xu Taiping had not appeared at Dragon Gate Pass. The Yan soldiers scattered the army’s battle-intent phantom, but it reformed into an even more lifelike Demonic Squid.

• Spectators accused Xu Taiping of breaking his promise to Qin Yun, but Zhu Huai and Xiahou You urged everyone to wait and watch.
• The eighty or ninety thousand Yan troops charged the three hundred thousand demonic soldiers, but failed to break their formation and lost hundreds of soldiers.
• Qing He Demon Emperor ordered his troops to defend and fire crossbows, waiting for the Yan army’s momentum to fade.
• Zhu Huai explained that the Yan troops’ fighting spirit let them damage the demonic army’s battle intent, though Xiahou Qingyuan warned their momentum would soon run out.
• The Yan troops’ third charge scattered the eight phantom images above the demonic army, prompting cheers from the spectators.
• The Demonic Squid phantom reformed to the Rakshasa Drum’s beats, appearing more lifelike than before.

The defenders of Dragon Gate Pass joined the faltering Yan reinforcements in a desperate attack on the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom’s army, briefly weakening its battle formation. The Rakshasa Drum then sounded again, restoring the Demonic Squid’s battle intent and leaving both Yan forces struggling as the old general called to his defenders.

• After the Qing He Demon Emperor shattered the Yan soldiers’ momentum, their next formation charge barely shook the Demonic Squid.
• The defenders of Dragon Gate Pass poured out of the gates, and their white-haired general led them in a charge against the demonic army.
• The defenders’ attack rallied the Yan reinforcements, whose fifth formation charge further broke the Demonic Squid’s tentacles.
• The Rakshasa Drum sounded for the third time, and the Demonic Squid’s battle intent rapidly re-formed and overwhelmed the Yan forces’ attacks.
• As both Yan formations lost momentum, the old general shouted, “Defenders of Dragon Gate Pass, where are you!”