Recaps

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.

Xu Taiping and A Zhu searched Tianhai Town for Zhang Kaitai’s Life-bound Item as the city’s people prepared to defend Tianhai Pass. After witnessing a soldier return carrying his father’s severed arm, Xu Taiping smelled the sought-after fragrance coming from A Zhu’s tears.

• Xu Taiping saw Tianhai Town’s residents, including an old veteran and his son, heading to fight the Demonic Beasts despite the danger.
• Xu Taiping created a clone so he and A Zhu and A Hu could search the city more quickly for the Life-bound Item.
• Over two days, Xu Taiping and the siblings searched for the distinctive fragrance while the Red Armor Cavalry repelled two attacks, leaving Tianhai Pass able to hold for only about one more day.
• A soldier returned from battle carrying his father’s bloodstained armor and severed arm, then broke down in grief.
• Xu Taiping smelled the strange fragrance and realized it was coming from A Zhu’s tears.

A Zhu revealed that she was Great General Zhang Tianze’s Life-Bound Item, and that undoing her seal would draw Heavenly Punishment that would kill either her or the Great General. With the Shark Queen closing in on Tianhai Town, A Zhu used the Yin Tally to prepare a gamble that might bring outside cultivators to the town.

• A Zhu told Xu Taiping that she was Zhang Tianze’s Life-Bound Item and that her compassionate heart had undone the Dao Seal hiding her identity.
• The Shark Queen sensed A Zhu’s aura, and dark clouds gathered as A Zhu warned that undoing the seal would bring Heavenly Punishment.
• A Zhu explained that Xu Taiping or Zhang Kaitai could command only about three thousand ghost soldiers, which might not be enough to defend Tianhai Town.
• A Zhu took the Yin Tally and absorbed the blackness spreading across her skin into it.
• A Zhu revealed that she could use her remaining strength to create a Reception Array, but outside cultivators would need to guess its secret incantation.
• Xu Taiping guessed that A Zhu hoped to bring Great General Zhang Tianze to Tianhai Town.

Xu Taiping helped A Zhu establish a Reception Array in the dry well, and she spent her remaining power to activate it before fading away. As the Red Armor Cavalry faced an early assault by the Deep-Sea Demonic Beasts, the Old General urged them to hold until reinforcements arrived.

• Xu Taiping recognized the dry well from his Lotus Eye vision, and A Zhu identified it as the well at the Abandoned Taoist Temple, where spiritual energy was unusually dense.
• Xu Taiping placed Spirit Treasure-grade weapons and Gold Essence Coins in the well, and A Zhu used her remaining Spiritual Power to activate the Reception Array.
• A Zhu gave Xu Taiping the Yin Tally, said the array would last three days, and asked him to look after the people of Tianhai Town and her younger brother if they survived.
• A Zhu vanished, leaving a ring, and Xu Taiping sensed the Divine Souls of the Zhang Clan and the Red Armor Cavalry within it.
• The Deep-Sea Demonic Beasts attacked Tianhai Pass early, and the Old General led the Red Armor Cavalry into a Formation Charge while promising reinforcements would come.

Zhang Kaitai and his troops faced a new wave of unusually powerful Deep-Sea Demonic Beasts, and he warned that a Whale Demon Venerable might emerge from the sea. As Tianhai Pass prepared for a final battle, Shi Chong led the soldiers in a rallying cry.

• The Red Armor Cavalry and fisherfolk brought down a Whale Demon, while Zhang Kaitai sensed a Whale Demon Venerable offshore.
• Zhang Kaitai explained that the Shark Queens could use the flesh of 980 fallen soldiers’ enemies to nourish a Whale Demon Venerable.
• Hundreds of increasingly powerful Deep-Sea Demonic Beasts surged ashore, while winged demon kings filled the sky.
• Zhang Kaitai ordered all remaining Red Armor Cavalry and fisherfolk into the fight and doubled the crossbowmen on the gate tower.
• Shi Chong volunteered to lead the first charge, and Zhang Kaitai praised his long service before Shi Chong urged the people of Tianhai Town to fight.

Ten-Thousand-Household Commander Shi Chong led the Red Armor Cavalry and Fisherfolk against the Deep-Sea Demonic Beasts, but a Demon Venerable Realm Whale Demon overwhelmed their formation. With the Fisherfolk threatened and the Old General unable to arrive in time, Shi Chong chose to die a worthy death and struck his own chest.

• Shi Chong led the Red Armor Cavalry and Fisherfolk into battle, routing the Deep-Sea Demonic Beasts and killing two Demon Venerable Realm Shark Demons.
• A Demon Venerable Realm Whale Demon arrived, crushed Fisherfolk, and forced Shi Chong to withdraw and defend the troops with a shield formation.
• The Whale Demon repeatedly smashed its Bone Hammer against the Red Armor shield, injuring Shi Chong and threatening the Fisherfolk as other demons advanced around the flanks.
• Old General Zhang Kaitai offered to bring help, but Shi Chong refused and declared that he would die a worthy death.
• Shi Chong pressed his hand to his heart and struck his own chest.

Shi Chong used the Heart-Burning Palm to sacrifice his life and lead the Red Armor Cavalry in killing the Whale Demon and the beasts at Tianhai Pass. Old General Zhang Kaitai arrived with reinforcements as Shi Chong’s spirit steed passed him, carrying Shi Chong’s uncertain question about how he had done.

• Shi Chong used the Heart-Burning Palm, raising his blood qi at the cost of his life.
• Shi Chong shielded the Red Armor Cavalry from the Whale Demon’s hammer and asked his comrades to lend him their strength.
• Shi Chong led the cavalry in a charge that split the Whale Demon and tore him apart with righteous qi.
• The commanderless Red Armor Cavalry held formation and slaughtered the beasts at the city tower before more demons surged ashore.
• Old General Zhang Kaitai arrived with two thousand cavalry riders and five thousand fisherfolk to relieve the exhausted defenders.

Zhang Kaitai and the Red Armor Cavalry fought to hold back the demonic horde, but Devil Masters Ling and Ao Yan and a whale demon overwhelmed their formation. Just as Zhang Kaitai prepared to take a vermilion pill, Xu Taiping arrived from the city and announced that he had fulfilled his mission.

• Zhang Kaitai led the Red Armor Cavalry and fisherfolk into the demon horde, then killed two Demon Venerable Realm beasts with a charge.
• Devil Master Ling blocked Zhang Kaitai's charge with an ice wall and attacked him, but he shattered the wall and fought back.
• Ling, Devil Master Ao Yan, and a whale demon joined forces against Zhang Kaitai's formation, driving it backward as the other cavalry formations remained tied down by demons.
• Zhang Kaitai decided to take a vermilion pill as his formation suffered heavy blows.
• Xu Taiping arrived on a white-headed eagle and told Zhang Kaitai that he had fulfilled his mission.

Xu Taiping used a clone to draw the Devil Masters' attention while his true body slipped into Zhang Kaitai's military formation. Shark Ling summoned the Immortal-Slaying Demon Weapon, and Zhang Kaitai prepared to face its strike without yet using the Yin Tally.

• Xu Taiping and Bai Yu broke through the flying Shark Demons' encirclement with help from the city-wall archers and the Sea Incineration Formation.
• Devil Master Ao Yan struck Xu Taiping, but the body he shattered was a clone, and Xu Taiping's true body appeared inside Zhang Kaitai's military formation.
• Ao Yan attacked Zhang Kaitai's formation, while Shark Ling decided to kill Xu Taiping and Zhang Kaitai together.
• Shark Ling chanted and summoned the Immortal-Slaying Demon Weapon, a giant sword accompanied by three smaller swords.
• Zhang Kaitai ordered the Red Armor Cavalry to form up and raised his shield, while Xu Taiping reminded him to use the Yin Tally and Zhang Kaitai chose to wait.

At Tianhai Pass, Zhang Kaitai summoned the fallen Banner Ghost Soldiers to reinforce the Red Armor Cavalry as Devil Master Shark Ling unleashed her Immortal-Slaying Sword. He led the expanded force in a charge that transformed their giant shield into a Demon-Suppressing Spear and pierced Shark Ling through the chest.

• Xu Taiping joined the Red Armor Cavalry as they raised a giant shield against Devil Master Shark Ling's three descending swords.
• Zhang Kaitai drew on his reserve of blood qi to repel Devil Master Ao Yan and the Whale Demon's attacks.
• Shark Ling sent her giant Immortal-Slaying Sword plunging toward the formation as Zhang Kaitai called on his fallen comrades for strength.
• Banner Ghost Soldiers appeared and expanded the formation from three hundred fighters to three thousand, raising seven layers of shields.
• Zhang Kaitai led the Red Armor Cavalry and Ghost Soldiers in a charge, transforming their giant shield into a spear that pierced the Immortal-Slaying Sword and wounded Shark Ling.

The Old General and the Red Armor Cavalry drove back the demons, but Devil Master Jiao Ling warned that a far larger, stronger host would attack the next night. After learning about A Zhu’s sacrifice, Xu Taiping was asked to lead Tianhai Town’s women and children to shelter in a hidden underground palace.

• The Old General wounded Devil Master Ao Yan and killed the Whale Demon, then defeated Jiao Ling’s Immortal-Slaying Sword with the Demon-Suppressing Spear.
• Jiao Ling ordered the demons to retreat and warned that the next night’s attackers would be far more numerous and powerful; Ao Yan reluctantly obeyed.
• The Red Armor Cavalry and fisherfolk pursued the retreating demons, while Jiao Ling spent several Demon God Weapons to halt their advance.
• Xu Taiping told the Old General Zhang about A Zhu and the Reception Array, and Zhang thanked her.
• The Old General asked Xu Taiping to take the town’s women and children to a hidden underground palace and lead them to safety once the demons near its exit dispersed.

Xu Taiping and Old General Zhang Kaitai debated whether a cultivator should risk his life to protect Tianhai Pass, and Xu Taiping explained that seeking longevity did not mean abandoning the people he loved. After Zhang Kaitai sent him to the underground palace, Xu Taiping comforted the children with a lie and met Shi Miaomiao, whose father had died; he promised her they would return to Tianhai Town and insisted he was telling the truth.

• Zhang Kaitai told Xu Taiping that a cultivator should leave Tianhai Pass, while a martial artist could die there to protect the city.
• Xu Taiping said he would seek the great path without severing his ties to family and friends, and Zhang Kaitai sent him to the underground palace.
• Xu Taiping reassured A Hu that his sister A Zhu had escaped through another passage, concealing her fate.
• Children in the underground palace asked Xu Taiping about their missing family members, and he told them the fighting was going well.
• Shi Miaomiao called Xu Taiping a liar and revealed that she knew her father, Shi Chong, was dead.
• Xu Taiping promised Shi Miaomiao they could return to Tianhai Town, then walked toward the underground palace entrance.

Xu Taiping left the Underground Palace and chose to remain at Tianhai Pass until the final moment, while Monk Xuanzhi also refused to flee. Xu Taiping received the Fearless Seal, which restored his Demon-Subduing Seal beads and gave him a way to fight powerful Demonic Beasts at great cost to his body.

• Xu Taiping left the Underground Palace and told Monk Xuanzhi he would hold on at Tianhai Pass as long as he could, while Xuanzhi said he had stayed to experience suffering.
• Xu Taiping and Xuanzhi affirmed that they would face death without regrets and laughed together.
• Venerable Jiaye bestowed the Fearless Seal on Xu Taiping and restored the eight missing Demon-Subduing Seal Buddhist Prayer Beads.
• Xuanzhi explained that using both seals could briefly give Xu Taiping a Vajra Demon-Subduing Body with strength equivalent to a Martial God's, enough to fight powerful Demonic Beasts.
• Xuanzhi warned that the seals rapidly consumed Qi and Blood and could ruin Xu Taiping's body, but they continued toward the City Tower.

Old General Zhang Kaitai and the remaining defenders of Tianhai Pass prepared for what seemed to be their final battle against a vastly superior sea of demonic beasts. The chapter ended as a dozen Turtle-Shell Demons, nearly two hundred Demon Venerables, and more than a dozen Devil Masters gathered before them.

• Zhang Kaitai learned that Shi had fallen and heard A Liang vow to stay and protect him at Tianhai Pass.
• The commanders reported their formations ready as Zhang Kaitai weighed the defenders’ forces against thousands of powerful demonic beasts and the threat of more hatching.
• Turtle-Shell Demons descended before the army, survived the Sea Incineration Formation, and began gathering corrosive water cannons.
• The defenders raised their shields as nearly two hundred Demon Venerables and more than a dozen Devil Masters joined the Turtle-Shell Demons.
• Zhang Kaitai laughed at the sight of so many Devil Masters gathered against Tianhai Pass.

Zhang Kaitai and the Red Armor Soldiers rejected Jiao Ling’s offer to surrender and fought the Shark Demon army at Tianhai Pass. After suffering devastating losses, the Red Armor Cavalry turned the battle with Zhang Kaitai’s summoned Red Armor Ghost Soldiers, leaving most of the Turtle-Shell Demons dead and one Whale Demon killed.

• Zhang Kaitai rallied the Red Armor Soldiers, who declared they would rather die fighting than surrender to the Shark Emperor.
• Jiao Ling ordered the army to kill everyone who refused to surrender, and the Turtle-Shell Demons bombarded the Red Armor formations with venomous water cannonballs.
• Zhang Kaitai and the Thousand-Household Commanders led their cavalry in charges against the Demonic Beast contingents, but the enemy’s water bubbles and reinforcements caused heavy losses.
• The Red Armor Soldiers sacrificed themselves to kill Demon Venerables, Devil Masters, and one Whale Demon as the battle became a slaughter.
• Zhang Kaitai summoned three thousand Red Armor Ghost Soldiers, turning the tide; the Red Armor Cavalry killed all but three Turtle-Shell Demons and killed one of the two Whale Demons.

As the second wave of Demonic Beasts overwhelmed the Red Armor Cavalry at Tianhai Pass, Xu Taiping returned and turned the battle by defeating Devil Master Ao Yan and beheading a Whale Demon. The gate remained under threat, but Xu Taiping’s arrival gave the defenders a chance to fight back.

• The second wave of Demonic Beasts broke through several military formations, and Old General Zhang Kaitai took his last life-draining pill as the Whale Demon battered Tianhai Pass's gate.
• Xu Taiping arrived on a White-Headed Eagle with a monk, and Devil Master Ao Yan attacked him as he descended.
• Xu Taiping used the Fearless Seal and Demon-Subduing Seal to empower his Baxia Form, shattering Ao Yan's punch and blasting open his chest.
• Xu Taiping drew his blade and used the Dragon-Slaying Form to cut off the Whale Demon's head.