Chapter Summaries

Tōga led a Dog Yokai patrol along the snowy border with the Leopard Cat clan, where the two sides exchanged taunts across a dangerous rift. After reaching an outpost to begin a half-month guard shift, he heard that a major battle would likely wait until spring.

• Tōga spotted Winter Orchid and her Leopard Cat patrol across the rift while Red Evil Ogre urged him to respond.
• The Dog Yokai and Leopard Cats traded insults and howls before both patrols continued on their routes.
• Tōga reflected on how Oyakata had united the Western Country’s yokai through force and how a new Dog Yokai king had divided the territory between cats and dogs.
• Tōga’s squad crossed three peaks and reached an outpost, where they relieved Qitian’s squad for a half-month guard duty.
• Qitian warned Tōga to watch for small raids and predicted that the major battle with the Leopard Cat clan would wait until spring.

Tōga fed the dog demons at the outpost and taught Red Evil Ogre how to cultivate toward human form. After reflecting on his stalled breakthrough, he realized his assumptions from his previous life had become a cognitive barrier and returned to basic cultivation to seek the true essence of his demonic energy.

• Tōga grilled a demonized wild boar and shared the meal with the hungry dog demons.
• After the first watch was assigned, Tōga led Red Evil Ogre into the inner cave and taught him cultivation techniques for taking human form.
• Red Evil Ogre began cultivating under Tōga’s guidance while Tōga monitored the flow of his demonic energy.
• Tōga reviewed his stalled progress: although he had mastered Wind Scar and Backlash Wave, his demonic energy had not changed enough for him to reach the mid-level.
• Tōga recognized that his prior-life assumptions had created a cognitive barrier, cleared his mind, and resumed the clan elders’ basic cultivation method.

Tōga discovered that Winter Gale planned to attack the dog clan’s outpost with her sisters within seven days, and decided to kill the leopard cat leaders first. He returned to find his guards neglecting their watch and threatened them with castration.

• Tōga sensed someone watching the outpost, left through a concealed exit, and secretly observed Winter Gale’s camp.
• Winter Gale called off an immediate attack, told Spring Gale to improve her illusions, and planned to strike with Summer Gale and Autumn Gale within seven days.
• Tōga overheard the leopard cats’ plan and resolved to bury the four future Leopard Cat Heavenly Kings beneath the dog clan’s high mountains.
• Tōga returned to his outpost and found the guards huddled together and failing to stay alert.
• Tōga scolded the guards and threatened to castrate them if they neglected their watch again.

At a Dog Tribe border outpost, Tōga taught the newly transformed Red Evil Ogre how to use Iron-Reaver Soul-Stealer and planned to pass combat techniques on to the tribe. He sent four dogs to the heartland with tasks intended to surprise Winter Gale.

• Tōga watched Red Evil Ogre adjust to her human form and decided to use the tribe members as subjects for developing a transformation training method.
• Red Evil Ogre chose to learn from Tōga, who demonstrated Iron-Reaver Soul-Stealer by cutting through a tree.
• Tōga explained the technique and guided Red Evil Ogre as she practiced, while planning to compile it into a manual.
• Tōga summoned the four dogs on watch and assigned them tasks; they ran toward the Dog Tribe's heartland.
• Tōga watched them leave and hoped his surprise would please Winter Gale.

Tōga chose to gather Dog Tribe reinforcements rather than risk fighting the leopard cats alone, while he secretly tracked Winter Gale and her group. He uncovered their plans and continued refining his demonic power, leaving his progress toward becoming an intermediate demon underway.

• Tōga sent four dogs to bring reinforcements and assigned the remaining patrol members to guard the outpost and learn Human Transformation.
• Over the next three days, Tōga refined Shadow-Breath Instant Movement and followed Winter Gale through the mountain forest.
• Tōga overheard Winter Gale and Autumn Gale plan an attack on the Dog Tribe and wait for Spring Gale and Summer Gale's squads.
• Tōga silently followed the leopard cats while counting their numbers and deepening his understanding of his demonic power.

Tōga sensed a high-ranking Leopard Cat demon approaching the border, then returned to the outpost and crossed swords with Ringetsu. As the Dog Tribe Grand Elder watched approvingly, Tōga reflected on his pursuit of Ringetsu and his plan to have the elders arrange their marriage.

• Tōga used Mind's Eye of the Netherworld to detect an aggressive high-ranking Leopard Cat demon heading toward the border.
• Tōga reasoned that the Leopard Cat elder had come to protect Winter Gale and the other young Four Heavenly Kings.
• Ringetsu burst from the snow and attacked Tōga with her Fang Sword, and he defended himself with his scabbard.
• The Dog Tribe Grand Elder watched the pair duel and privately praised them as a good match.
• Tōga recalled that Ringetsu had once called him a heartless bastard and nearly killed him, prompting him to pursue her indirectly through the Grand Elder.

After Ringetsu and Tōga ended their fierce duel, Tōga took her hand and led her into the outpost for a captains’ meeting. He shared Winter Gale’s intelligence about an approaching high-ranking Panther Cat, stirring the Great Elder’s hatred.

• Qitian muttered that marrying a wife with Ringetsu’s temperament would ruin a dog’s life, and Ringetsu ended the duel and glared at him.
• Tōga took Ringetsu’s hand and led her, the Great Elder, and the captains into the outpost for a meeting.
• Red Evil Ogre took two newly humanoid Dog Yokai to patrol around the outpost.
• Tōga recounted Winter Gale’s intelligence and said a high-ranking Panther Cat with fiery yokai energy would soon arrive.
• The Great Elder reacted to the news with renewed hatred.

Tōga reported that Chi Yan had appeared near the border, prompting the Great Elder to set out with the Second Elder to kill the Panther Cat Tribe’s Fifth Elder before war escalated. Left alone with Ringetsu, Tōga proposed marriage after the Panther Cats were defeated, and afterward added creating a new Netherworld to his future plans.

• The Great Elder identified the fiery demonic energy as Chi Yan’s and decided to recruit the Second Elder to ambush and kill him.
• The Great Elder ordered Tōga to stay at the outpost, then teased him and Ringetsu about their marriage before leaving for the Dog Tribe’s heartland.
• Tōga asked Ringetsu to marry him once they had wiped out the Panther Cat Tribe.
• Ringetsu rejected his teasing follow-up, left the cave, and wondered aloud whether the Netherworld’s scenery was beautiful.
• Tōga reflected on Ringetsu’s words and added creating a new Netherworld to his plans after defeating the Panther Cat Tribe.

Winter Gale led more than forty leopard cats toward the Dog Tribe's mountain outpost, confident that her force would win, while Chi Yan followed from above. Tōga had prepared an ambush with the Dog Tribe elders and patrols, and Ringetsu claimed Winter Gale as her opponent.

• Winter Gale judged the leopard cats' strengths, rallied them, and led them through the mountain forest under Spring Gale's concealment barrier.
• Chi Yan followed the raiding force through the dark clouds, remembering his old wound and vowing that the Dog Tribe's young demons would die.
• At the silent Dog Tribe outpost, Tōga told the grand elder and second elder to stay concealed near him and Ringetsu until an opening appeared.
• Tōga revealed that he had positioned two captains and three patrol teams in ambush around the mountain's foot, using his Mind's Eye of the Netherworld to see through Spring Gale's illusions.
• Ringetsu volunteered to face Winter Gale, the strongest leopard cat in the attacking force.

Winter Gale led the leopard cats in an attack on the Dog Tribe's outpost, but Tōga exposed them and Qitian's forces ambushed them. The battle began with the leopard cats rallying under their captains, while a silver-haired girl appeared beside Tōga.

• Winter Gale halted the leopard cats near the Dog Tribe's outpost while Spring Gale maintained the White Mist Barrier.
• Winter Gale ordered the leopard cats to charge, and Tōga shattered Spring Gale's barrier with a howl after their footprints revealed them.
• Qitian led thirty Dog Yokai in an ambush, surrounding the leopard cats as Tōga watched.
• Winter Gale used Ice Tornado to drive back the Dog Yokai, and Qitian rescued several of his fighters from the attack.
• Winter Gale assigned Spring Gale to support, Summer Gale and Autumn Gale to fight enemy captains, and herself to face Tōga; the leopard cats charged as a silver-haired girl appeared beside him.

Ringetsu confronted Winter Gale on the battlefield and defeated her with the Fang Sword. Winter Gale fell as a sea of fire spread across the sky.

• Ringetsu arrived and challenged Winter Gale, who raised an ice wall against her moonlit sword strikes.
• Ringetsu broke through Winter Gale’s ice prison, and the two clashed before Winter Gale leaped back.
• Winter Gale unleashed Ice Tide Fury and summoned an ice beast, but Ringetsu blocked the icicles and cut the beast apart with Eclipse: Amaterasu Prison.
• Ringetsu rushed Winter Gale and cut across her neck, killing her as her head fell into the snow.
• A sea of fire spread across the sky.

After Ringetsu killed Winter Gale, the Dog Yokai gained the upper hand and overwhelmed the Leopard Cats. Tōga and Ringetsu left the surviving fighters to their clansmen as Summer Gale and Autumn Gale faced imminent defeat.

• Winter Gale's death demoralized the Leopard Cats, and the Dog Yokai began killing them across the battlefield.
• Tōga easily dispelled Spring Gale's illusions and left her kneeling in despair as he supported the Dog Yokai with precise attacks.
• Tōga reflected that Ringetsu's pure bloodline, weapon, training, and combat experience had made her far stronger than Winter Gale.
• Ringetsu asked Tōga what to do with the remaining Leopard Cats, and he told her to leave them to the Dog Yokai.
• Summer Gale and Autumn Gale faced encirclement as Tōga praised Ringetsu for her strength.

Trapped by the Dog Tribe's Great Elder and Second Elder after his people were slaughtered, Chi Yan fought back with powerful fire techniques and tried to take them with him in a final explosion. The Great Elder's attack shattered the barrier and devastated the battlefield, where Chi Yan collapsed as Tōga and the others survived behind the Second Elder's defense.

• Ringetsu asked Tōga how the Great Elder and Second Elder were doing as they watched the battle from afar.
• Chi Yan saw his slain people and, rejecting any hope of escape, challenged the two Dog Tribe elders to fight.
• Chi Yan unleashed fire spears and a fiery array, but the Great Elder and Second Elder countered his attacks and wounded him.
• Chi Yan gathered his remaining yokai power into a fiery shield, intending to self-destruct, and the Great Elder struck it with his Spectral Light Obliteration Slash.
• The explosion shattered the barrier and sent shock waves and snow toward Tōga and the others, but the Second Elder protected them.
• Chi Yan collapsed on the ruined battlefield, his eyes filled with defiance and regret.

After the Dog Tribe defeated Chi Yan, the elders prepared for the Leopard Cat’s retaliation and ordered a withdrawal to their stronger defenses. Tōga revealed that his transformation technique was nearly ready to teach to the entire tribe.

• The Great Elder killed Chi Yan, the Panther Cat’s Fifth Elder, and the Dog Yokai celebrated their victory while bracing for retaliation.
• The Great Elder and Second Elder met with Tōga and Ringetsu at the outpost and ordered them to return to the tribe as the Second Elder withdrew the remaining troops to the second defense line.
• Ringetsu wanted to join the coming battle, but Tōga urged her to follow the elders’ orders.
• The Second Elder asked Tōga about the secret transformation technique, and Tōga said it was nearly complete and could soon be taught throughout the Dog Tribe.

The Great Elder carried Tōga and Ringetsu to the Dog Tribe Fortress after the battle, while Qitian stayed behind with Red Evil Ogre and the supplies Tōga needed. The Third Elder, Zi Yan, welcomed them, learned what had happened, and returned to training as she hoped Tōga would someday improve the elders’ cultivation manuals.

• The Great Elder transformed into a giant dog and flew toward the Dog Tribe heartland with Tōga and Ringetsu.
• Qitian offered Red Evil Ogre the bundles of supplies for Tōga, but kept them with him so he could continue talking to her.
• The Great Elder reached the Dog Tribe Fortress in under an hour and exchanged howls with the Third Elder, who was relieved to see him unharmed.
• The Great Elder gave the Third Elder a rough account of events, greeted Tōga and Ringetsu, and continued toward the Dog Tribe heartland.
• The Third Elder sent her deputy to receive the returning Second Elder, then went to her room to train and wondered when Tōga would improve the cultivation manuals.

On the flight home, Tōga admitted to Ringetsu that he found the Third Elder beautiful, while Ringetsu reassured herself that he liked her and resolved to punish anyone who got close to him. Back at the Dog Yokai headquarters, the Great Elder urged the Dog King to announce Tōga and Ringetsu’s engagement, but the King hesitated, unwilling to force his daughter into it.

• Tōga told Ringetsu that the Third Elder was pretty, and Ringetsu silently grew jealous before deciding that rivals deserved divine punishment.
• Tōga continued cultivating on the flight, preparing to attempt a breakthrough after returning to the tribe’s lands.
• The Great Elder brought Tōga and Ringetsu back to the Dog Yokai headquarters, where Ringetsu went to her residence and she and Tōga sparred.
• The Great Elder reported the battle and the pair’s achievements to the Dog King, then asked when he would announce their engagement.
• The Dog King said Ringetsu might run away if he arranged the engagement himself and admitted he was reluctant to give her to Tōga.

After Chi Yan’s death, Oyakata ordered the Panther Cat Tribe to retaliate against the Dog Yokai by gathering all five elders for a concentrated assault. As the Sixth Elder headed to recall the Fourth Elder, he plotted to steal the Karasu Tengu Tribe’s Azure Wings of Wind to improve his chances of survival.

• The Dog Tribe announced that its Great Elder and Second Elder had killed Chi Yan, prompting celebrations among the Dog Yokai and alarm among the Panther Cats.
• Oyakata declared that the Panther Cat Tribe had to retaliate and kill a Dog Yokai to preserve its standing in the Western Country.
• The Panther Cat Great Elder argued that the Dog Yokai would defend their fortress, so the Panther Cats should recall the elders from the other fronts and attack with all five elders together.
• Oyakata approved the plan, and two elders set out to gather the others while also striking the factions on their fronts.
• The Panther Cat Sixth Elder flew toward Wind-Thunder Gorge and resolved to seize the Karasu Tengu Tribe’s Azure Wings of Wind to strengthen his chances of surviving the coming battles.

Anhamaru weighed the Karasu Tengu Tribe’s choices as the Panther Cat prepared to attack the Dog Tribe Fortress, then decided to feign resistance while preserving the tribe’s strength. Nuregarasu completed another blood sacrifice to the Thunder Spear, while Tōga prepared to break through in his secret chamber.

• Anhamaru told the Karasu Tengu commanders they could either defend their alliance with the Dog Tribe and risk devastating losses or let the Panther Cat attack and lose the Dog Tribe’s trust.
• Anhamaru decided the Karasu Tengu would offer only enough resistance to make a show while waiting for events to unfold.
• Nuregarasu descended into the cliff and sacrificed her blood to the Thunder Spear, strengthening her connection to the weapon.
• Nuregarasu reflected that Anhamaru had chosen her for the sacrifices because she was weak and lacked supporters, then left the altar.
• Tōga sat cross-legged in his secret chamber, ready to make his breakthrough.

After breaking through and recording his insights, Tōga considered the Dog Tribe’s situation and suspected the Karasu Tengu had a reason for staying in Wind-Thunder Gorge. He left Ringetsu waiting at his house while he went to meet the Dog King, where he ended up in a staring contest with his future father-in-law.

• Tōga condensed his demonic power into a drop infused with its true nature and judged his normal strength slightly greater than Ringetsu’s.
• Tōga recorded his breakthrough and reflected on the Dog Tribe, the Karasu Tengu, and Moriin Yūko, forming an idea about the Karasu Tengu’s presence in Wind-Thunder Gorge.
• Ringetsu told Tōga that the Great Elder had taken their people to garrison the fortress and asked when they would leave.
• Tōga asked what the Dog King had said, then told Ringetsu to wait while he went to speak with him.
• Ringetsu ate Tōga’s snacks, reminisced about their childhood, and cooked his familiar home-style dishes while waiting.
• Tōga finished discussing business at the castle keep and faced the Dog King in a staring contest.

Tōga secured permission for himself and Ringetsu to lead two squads to Wind-Thunder Gorge, while the Dog King remained reluctant to accept their relationship. After discussing Ringetsu’s cultivation and his plans for the Dog Tribe, Tōga turned his attention to his own growth and Penglai Island.

• The Dog King joined Tōga and Ringetsu for dinner, then softened at his daughter’s kindness before growing jealous of her affection for Tōga.
• After the Dog King returned to Tenshu Pavilion, Tōga told Ringetsu they could not go to the fortress but could lead two squads to Wind-Thunder Gorge once the remaining Panther Cat elders had gathered there.
• Tōga reassured Ringetsu that she could become a high-level yokai, and she later returned to Tenshu Pavilion with new cultivation insights.
• Tōga planned to bring twenty Dog Yokai, including Red Evil Ogre and Qitian, under his command to train them and strengthen the Dog Tribe.
• Tōga considered his own cultivation and resolved to claim the Roaring Cauldron on Penglai Island and eventually confront the Four War Gods.