Chapter Summaries

A young woman fought a powerful Demonic Beast and realized it might be a Deep-Sea Demonic Beast, suggesting the Sea-Calming Tower had failed. She fled toward a ruined temple to warn others, but her Swift Travel Talisman broke and the beast caught up with her.

• The young woman ordered A Hu to flee with their gravely wounded companion while she stayed behind to face the Demonic Beast.
• She dodged its attacks and pierced its chest with her fishing spear, but discovered that the beast did not die.
• The young woman suspected the creature was a Deep-Sea Demonic Beast and feared that the Sea-Calming Tower had failed.
• She used her last Swift Travel Talisman to run toward a ruined temple and warn the monk there.
• The talisman burst apart, and the Demonic Beast blasted a tree down in front of her before striking from behind.

Xu Taiping arrived in the forest just in time to save a wounded fisherman's young woman from a Deep-Sea Demonic Beast. After Ping'an brought her medicine, Xu Taiping dodged the beast's attack and launched a punch at its abdomen.

• The Deep-Sea Demonic Beast broke through the wind wall protecting the young woman and prepared to strike again.
• Xu Taiping appeared, repelled the beast's blade with blade qi, and asked whether the young woman was all right.
• Xu Taiping sent Ping'an to give her a Bone-Regenerating Pill.
• The Deep-Sea Demonic Beast attacked Xu Taiping, who calmly dodged its slash.
• Xu Taiping punched toward the beast's abdomen after its Fish-Bone Blade struck the ground.

Xu Taiping transformed his physique and defeated a Deep-Sea Demonic Beast, destroying its body and divine soul. The Fisherman's Young Woman explained that Tianhai Town’s fisherfolk hunted Demonic Beasts from the sea.

• The Deep-Sea Demonic Beast revealed its true demon body, and the Fisherman's Young Woman warned Xu Taiping about its strength.
• Xu Taiping transformed his physique into the Awakened Flood Dragon Realm and matched the beast’s power.
• Xu Taiping struck the beast from the air and drove it into the ground with a Baxia strike.
• The Deep-Sea Demonic Beast spat out a desperate bubble attack, but Xu Taiping shattered it and crushed the beast with a powerful punch.
• Xu Taiping burned away the beast’s divine soul, then asked the Fisherman's Young Woman about her knowledge of Demonic Beasts.
• The Fisherman's Young Woman explained that Tianhai Town’s fisherfolk caught Demonic Beasts in the sea rather than ordinary fish.

Xu Taiping learned that a Deep-Sea Demonic Beast had pursued A Zhu and her brother after they found a wounded Sea-Calming Tower Spy, suggesting the tower’s seal might have failed. When the spy woke, she warned Xu Taiping that Tianhai Pass must be held, confirming his Earth-Killing Tribulation was tied to the pass.

• A Zhu told Xu Taiping that she and her brother had found a gravely wounded Sea-Calming Tower Spy, then been chased ashore by a Deep-Sea Demonic Beast.
• A Zhu explained that Deep-Sea Demonic Beasts had rarely appeared at Tianhai Pass since the Sea-Calming Tower was built, and her grandfather had warned that their return could mean its seal had failed.
• Xu Taiping connected A Zhu’s warning to Demon Monk Zhenwu’s prediction that the area would become a hunting ground for the Demon Abyss.
• Bai Yu arrived carrying A Zhu’s brother and the wounded spy, and Ping'an gave the spy a Bone-Regenerating Pill.
• The spy woke and urged Xu Taiping to hold Tianhai Pass, warning that otherwise the people of Western Liang would die.
• Xu Taiping recognized the spy’s voice from his seventh killing tribulation and realized the crisis was his Earth-Killing Tribulation.

Xu Taiping and A Zhu learned that a traitor had wounded the Great General and revealed the location of his Life-bound Item, leaving Tianhai Town surrounded by Demonic Beasts and unable to evacuate. As the dying messenger produced the Zhang Clan's Yin Tally, she explained that Tianhai Town could hold out for only three to five days.

• The woman told Xu Taiping and A Zhu that a traitor had helped the Shark Emperor besiege the Sea-Calming Tower and revealed the Great General's Life-bound Item, a vital node of the Sea Incineration Grand Formation.
• A Zhu asked how long Tianhai Pass would need to hold, and the woman said the Great General might take a day or ten days to break free and come to their aid.
• The woman explained that Demonic Beasts had gathered around Tianhai Town's exits and would spare no one while searching for the Great General's Life-bound Item.
• Xu Taiping decided not to flee the earth-killing tribulation, but the woman said her poisoned body would not last long enough to reach the town's defending general.
• The woman said Tianhai Town could withstand the siege for only three to five days and produced a Yin Tally from the Great General; A Zhu recognized it as the Zhang Clan's Yin Tally.

Xu Taiping received the Yin Tally, which could command the ghosts of Zhang Clan members who died fighting at Tianhai Pass, and learned that the Great General’s Life-Bound Item could be found by its distinctive fragrance. Zhang Xiaoman died after urging them to defend Tianhai Pass, just as a vast host of Demonic Beasts surged from the West Li Sea.

• A Zhu explained that the Yin Tally was bound to the Zhang Clan’s Blood Pact, and Zhang Xiaoman gave it to Xu Taiping so he could command the fallen Zhang Clan ghosts.
• Xu Taiping saw Wan Qianhu and the Red Armor Cavalry ghosts who had died in the Water Prison, and they said they had no regrets.
• A Zhu revealed that her grandfather was Zhang Bailian, and Zhang Xiaoman disclosed that the Great General’s Life-Bound Item had a distinctive fragrance.
• Zhang Xiaoman urged Xu Taiping and A Zhu to hold Tianhai Pass, then died in A Zhu’s arms and was recognized as the Great General’s daughter.
• A huge force of Demonic Beasts appeared across the West Li Sea, and Xu Taiping prepared to leave with A Zhu.
• Master Xuanzhi ran toward Xu Taiping, calling out to him.

Xu Taiping and Monk Xuanzhi reached Tianhai Town as deep-sea demonic beasts attacked, and Xu Taiping presented Zhang Xiaoman’s token to seek Old General Zhang Kaitai. On the walls, they saw the Sea Incineration Formation failing to stop the advancing beasts, leaving the Red Armor Cavalry to fight them.

• Xu Taiping learned that Xuanzhi had lived in Tianhai Town for six years after his master sent him there in anticipation of a calamity.
• Xuanzhi revealed that his master had also foretold the town’s coming disaster, and the companions agreed that Zhenwu had sent Xu Taiping there deliberately.
• Xu Taiping showed Zhang Xiaoman’s Red Armor Cavalry token, and A Zhu and A Hu were taken to meet Zhang Kaitai while Xu Taiping and Xuanzhi waited on the walls.
• Xu Taiping watched the Sea Incineration Formation burn the deep-sea beasts, but a Red Armor Cavalry soldier explained that true demon bodies could withstand its flames.
• Hundreds of demonic beasts advanced toward the walls, and the soldier raised his bow to attack after explaining that the formation would burn each beast only three times.

Xu Taiping tested the Sea Incineration Formation’s enhancement of physical attacks and destroyed a deep-sea demonic beast with one arrow. When stranded commoners gathered outside the city gate and beasts charged toward them, he offered to go down and rescue them.

• A Liang explained that the Sea Incineration Formation strengthened physical attacks, and Xu Taiping borrowed his bow and waist token to test it.
• Xu Taiping drew A Liang’s thousand-stone bow and killed a flying-fish-shaped demonic beast with a single arrow.
• Xu Taiping asked for a heavier bow to test his strength further, but cries for help came from commoners stranded outside the city.
• As demonic beasts charged toward the gate, Xu Taiping asked A Liang for another waist token so he could go down and bring the people inside, but A Liang warned him that it was too dangerous.

Xu Taiping got permission from Zhang Liang to descend from Tianhai Pass and rescue the civilians, while the five Liu brothers fought to protect them from the Deep-Sea Demonic Beasts. As the brothers faced another volley of deadly water bubbles, Xu Taiping and Bai Yu were on their way down, but the Liu brothers' fate remained uncertain.

• The five Liu brothers used their Gang Qi to shield the civilians from the Deep-Sea Demonic Beasts' water bubbles and asked the Red Armor Camp to open the gate.
• Zhang Liang initially refused to open the gate because doing so would weaken the Sea Incineration Formation, while Lu Kun warned Xu Taiping that going down would make him a target.
• After the Liu brothers were driven back by another attack, Xu Taiping convinced Zhang Liang to let him try rescuing the civilians.
• Xu Taiping summoned Bai Yu, took Lu Kun's waist token, and flew down from the wall as A Liang shot down a Demonic Beast to cover him.
• The five Liu brothers' Gang Qi shields shattered, and they charged the Demonic Beasts together to protect the civilians.
• Badly wounded by another volley of water bubbles, the eldest Liu brother stood with his saber and told his brothers they would die together as another attack came.

Xu Taiping rescued villagers at the city gates and fought off the Deep-Sea Demonic Beasts, but a barrage of bone spears and a terrifying awakening presence in the sea signaled a greater threat. He ordered Bai Yu to leave as he slashed at the incoming spears.

• Xu Taiping blocked a water bubble with a wind wall and brought the villagers aboard Bai Yu.
• Xu Taiping killed a sand-burrowing demonic beast with gang wind and true fire, then split another with the Water-Cutting Blade.
• Xu Taiping realized the Sea Incineration Formation seemed to increase the power of his blade techniques and grew wary that stronger beasts were coming.
• Xu Taiping intercepted a bone spear aimed at Bai Yu, then saw more spears launch from the sea as a terrifying aura began to awaken.
• Xu Taiping shouted for Bai Yu to go and sent over a hundred blade shadows toward the incoming bone spears.

Xu Taiping killed a King-Rank Shark Demon with his hidden blade strike and Great Sage Fist, but more King-Rank and lower-ranking Shark Demons launched an all-out assault on Tianhai Pass. Zhang Liang sent Lu Kun to alert the commanders and ordered the crossbowmen to attack as Xu Taiping faced the incoming demons.

• Xu Taiping used the Chaotic Cicada Stance to conceal a decisive blade strike among his blade shadows and cut through a King-Rank Shark Demon's fist attack.
• Xu Taiping smashed the Shark Demon's skull with Great Sage Fist, Baxia Form, and stored part of its true demon body in the Gourd.
• More King-Rank Shark Demons charged from the sea as low-ranking Shark Demons swarmed ashore and exhausted the Sea Incineration Formation.
• Zhang Liang ordered Lu Kun to report the all-out assault to the general and ten-thousand-household commander.
• Zhang Liang ordered the crossbowmen to shoot at the King-Rank Shark Demons while anxiously watching Xu Taiping.

Xu Taiping fought off the King-Rank Shark Demons before a concealed Devil Master named Ling ambushed him. After escaping her attacks and luring her into the open, he joined Zhang Liang in launching a counterattack.

• Xu Taiping used the Raging Thunder Form to destroy the Shark Demons surrounding him and rescued Bai Yu from two attackers.
• A hidden Shark Demon struck Xu Taiping with an ice sword and fist, breaking his Golden Body Talisman, but he escaped to the city tower with Endless Horizon.
• Xu Taiping identified the silver-haired Shark Demon as a Devil Master and learned that her name was Ling.
• Xu Taiping told Zhang Liang to loose the Red Armor Cavalry Crossbowmen's arrows, and Ling froze them in midair.
• Xu Taiping launched a Gang Qi vortex infused with Great Sun Golden Flame at Ling.

Xu Taiping drove off a silver-haired Shark Demon and learned from the Old General how the deep-sea demonic beasts were produced. The arrival of two Whale Demons signaled that an attack on Tianhai Pass was imminent.

• Xu Taiping burned the silver-haired Shark Demon woman with the Great Sun Golden Flame, then Zhang Liang ordered the archers to fire flame-wreathed arrows as she withdrew.
• Zhang Liang thanked Xu Taiping for protecting the soldiers, and the Old General arrived and praised him for his skills and for saving A Zhu and A Hu.
• Two Whale Demons appeared offshore, and Zhang Liang explained their strength and role in sieges.
• Xu Taiping judged that Whale Demons would be difficult to defeat and worried that more of them could threaten Tianhai Pass.
• The Old General explained that Shark Queens absorbed the power of the sea and used demonic qi from the Abyss to give birth to most deep-sea demonic beasts.

Xu Taiping learned that two Shark Queens threatened Tianhai Pass and that the defenders’ only hope might be the Yin Tally and Zhang Clan Ghost Soldiers. As the Red Armor Cavalry rode out and Zhang Liang prepared the ranged troops, the first battle against the deep-sea demonic beasts began.

• The Old General explained that the Shark Queen’s later batches would produce stronger beasts, and Xu Taiping concluded they had to destroy the first batch before the second was laid.
• Zhang Chun reported that three thousand Red Armor Cavalry were ready to ride out, while Zhang Liang kept his distance from his father despite secretly wishing him to take care.
• Ping'an told Xu Taiping that he had heard Zhang Liang’s unspoken farewell to Zhang Chun through Mind-Heart Communication.
• The Old General privately told Xu Taiping that Tianhai Pass faced two Shark Queens and that finding Zhang Tianze’s Life-bound Item with the Yin Tally could summon the Zhang Clan Ghost Soldiers.
• The Red Armor Cavalry charged out of Tianhai Pass as Zhang Liang ordered the archers and crossbowmen to ready themselves.

Xu Taiping revealed to Old General Zhang Kaitai that he came from True Martial Heaven, and the old general took it as a sign he might help find Zhang Tianze’s Life-bound Item. As Whale Demons attacked Tianhai Pass, Zhang Chun led the Red Armor Cavalry in a counterattack and ordered them to charge.

• Xu Taiping told Zhang Kaitai he came from True Martial Heaven, and Zhang Kaitai believed his fortune could help locate Zhang Tianze’s Life-bound Item.
• Two Whale Demons emerged from the sea and launched huge water spheres at the Red Armor Cavalry.
• Zhang Chun ordered the three thousand cavalry to rein in their horses and rally together.
• The cavalry unleashed their Red Armor Battle Intent, breaking the water spheres and driving back the Whale Demons while killing many Demonic Beasts.
• The cavalry recited the Confucian Sect Sixteen-Character Maxim, adding Vast Righteous Qi to their battle intent.
• Zhang Chun raised his spear and ordered the men of Tianhai Pass to follow him and slaughter the demons.

Zhang Chun led the Red Armor Cavalry to slay a Whale Demon, but two more Whale Demons appeared, revealing that two Shark Queens were attacking Tianhai Pass. Facing another wave of demons with only two thousand cavalry left, Zhang Chun led every willing soldier into a final charge to protect the people in the city.

• Zhang Chun led three thousand Red Armor soldiers in a charge that slaughtered the first wave of demonic beasts and killed a Whale Demon.
• Xu Taiping saw Old General Zhang Kaitai's worry as two more Whale Demons emerged from the sea.
• Zhang Kaitai revealed that two Shark Queens were besieging Tianhai Pass, leaving Zhang Liang shocked that his father had known.
• Zhang Chun told the surviving cavalry that they had to kill another thousand demonic beasts, and every one of the two thousand remaining soldiers formed up behind him.
• Zhang Chun raised his spear and led the cavalry toward the next demon horde to protect the people of Tianhai Pass.

Zhang Chun and the Red Armor Cavalry fought desperately to defeat the Deep-Sea Demonic Beasts and stop the Whale Demons from breaching Tianhai Pass. After Zhang Chun was struck down shielding a young soldier, Zhang Liang leaped from the city wall to reach his father as a terrifying aura rose from the sea.

• Zhang Chun split the Red Armor Cavalry into smaller units, and they killed hundreds of Demonic Beasts while suffering heavy losses.
• Zhang Chun’s forces killed one Whale Demon, but the remaining Whale Demon shattered two Thousand-Household Commanders and struck the city gate with a bone hammer.
• Zhang Chun led repeated charges that knocked down the second Whale Demon, which began breaking through after having eaten human flesh and blood.
• Zhang Chun pierced the Whale Demon’s head, but it struck him in the back; he shielded a young Red Armor Soldier, and its blow killed or scattered hundreds of cavalrymen.
• Zhang Liang leaped from the battlements and ran down the city wall toward Zhang Chun, while Old General Zhang Kaitai called for him to return and a terrifying aura surged from the sea.

Xu Taiping intervened to keep the battle at Tianhai Pass from escalating into a decisive clash, then faced a Demon Venerable Shark Demon in the air. After catching the demon’s bone spear, Xu Taiping powered up and hurled it back at him.

• Xu Taiping stopped Zhang Kaitai from descending into battle and used an arrow to draw a red-haired Shark Demon into a challenge.
• The Shark Demon accepted the challenge while the Red Armor Cavalry rescued the wounded Zhang Chun and regrouped below.
• The Shark Demon threw his bone spear at Xu Taiping, who caught it and fought against its immense force.
• Xu Taiping raised his Python Flood Dragon Physique to the furious flood dragon realm and hurled the bone spear back at the Shark Demon.

Xu Taiping gained the upper hand against Red Hair with the Demon-Slaying Blade as Zhang Chun led one last charge to kill the Whale Demon. The next morning, Old General Zhang Kaitai gave Xu Taiping permission to search Tianhai Town for the Great General’s Life-Bound Item.

• Xu Taiping broke Red Hair’s arm with the Bone Spear’s force and attacked him with the Demon-Slaying Blade, wounding him with a rapid series of slashes.
• Zhang Chun, gravely injured, asked Zhang Liang for his spear and led the Red Armor Cavalry in a final charge against the Whale Demon.
• Zhang Chun killed the Whale Demon with his charge, and Zhang Liang wept as he rode behind his father.
• The next morning, Zhang Kaitai gave Xu Taiping a Token allowing him to investigate anywhere in Tianhai Town for the Great General’s Life-Bound Item.

With Tianhai Pass expected to hold out for only two days, Xu Taiping learned how its dwindling spirit steeds and the Imperial Court’s suppression had weakened its defenses. He arranged for Monk Xuanzhi to help the Red Armor Cavalry and then set out with A Zhu and A Hu to search Tianhai Town for a strange fragrance.

• Zhang Kaitai told Xu Taiping that Tianhai Pass could hold out for at most two days and had only three thousand spirit steeds left.
• Zhang Kaitai explained that the Imperial Court had reduced Tianhai Pass from a major military force to a weakened town and withheld its resources.
• Xu Taiping offered Monk Xuanzhi’s Six Livestock Prosperity Spell as a possible way to help the cavalry use ordinary horses, and Zhang Kaitai went to meet him.
• Xu Taiping met A Zhu and A Hu outside the Red Armor Camp and asked them to take him to the town’s spice shops to look for the strange fragrance.