Chapter Summaries

Su Changsheng met Wu Nü again while selling pills in the Yao Market, then discovered that a kill order had mistakenly identified him as a yao human. After realizing that his fear of the Black Tiger Yao was blocking his advancement to the eighth level, he signed up to return to the Black Mountain Demon Stockade with the Wolf Pack and confront his inner demon.

• Su Changsheng sold pills to Wu Nü, now called Qing, and learned that she had been rescued from the Yin Palace's yao humans by the owner of the pill shop.
• Su Changsheng saw a kill order naming Bai Ling and Yellow Immortal as wanted yao humans, and found his own portrait among the targets despite having done nothing wrong.
• Su Changsheng struggled with fear after seeing the notice and concluded that his insufficient mental fortitude and fear of the Black Tiger Yao were preventing him from reaching the eighth level.
• Su Changsheng decided that he had to return to the Black Mountain Demon Stockade and settle matters with the Black Tiger Yao.
• The Wolf King announced that a third of the Wolf Pack's high-level demons would return to the Black Mountain Demon Stockade, and Su Changsheng signed up.

Su Changsheng prepared to leave Right Stronghold for the dangerous Black Mountain Demon Stockade, reflecting on the outer stronghold’s decline and failing to find Big Toad and Stone Man. There, Big Toad and Stone Man discovered a hidden scroll as Fox Woman Little Four learned that White Snake King Xi would lead the Wolf Pack’s advance into the Outer Layer.

• Su Changsheng told Bai Cang he was returning to Black Mountain Demon Stockade, packed his belongings, and surveyed the starving, violent shantytown before leaving.
• Su Changsheng searched unsuccessfully for Big Toad and Stone Man, while the two demons found a buried wooden box containing a Beast-Hide Scroll marked Stone Birth Art and Black Mountain Yao King.
• Fox Woman Little Four ordered her subordinates to keep watch on the corrupted Black Tiger Yao and heard that Bai Ling and Yellow Immortal remained missing as the Wolf Pack and Snake Cave approached.
• Black Widow reported that the Wolf King had brought four Seventh-Level Kings and an Eighth-Level Overlord, with White Snake King Xi assigned to the Outer Layer.
• Fox Woman Little Four recognized Xi as the Half-Demon White Snake who had once worked with her selling Concealment Runes and worried that his arrival would bring trouble.

The Nine Fox King drove off the White Tiger King and revealed that its power was nearing that of the three Yao Kings, while the Wolf King returned to the Black Mountain Demon Stockade with a formidable force. Su Changsheng realized that a vast Bond Coupling Phenomenon might have guided him back there and left him fearing what lay at the center of the web.

• The Nine Fox King confronted the White Tiger King, devoured the Wailing Ghosts that accompanied it, and forced it to flee without learning what happened to Bai Ling and Yellow Immortal.
• The White Tiger King concluded that the Nine Fox King could become the fourth Yao King if it reclaimed its final tail.
• The Wolf King arrived at the Black Mountain Demon Stockade with four Seventh-Level Kings, an Eighth-Level Overlord, and hundreds of other Yao.
• Werewolf Shui Huan told Su Changsheng that the Wolf King had assigned him to the Outer Layer because it had noticed his impending breakthrough, and warned him to watch the Black Tiger Yao without acting.
• Shui Huan hinted that Su Changsheng should think carefully about his connection to Wolf Maiden Shui Yu and the Wolf King's intentions.
• Su Changsheng traced a year of coincidences and stalled cultivation progress to a possible Bond Coupling Phenomenon drawing him toward the Black Mountain Demon Stockade.

Su Changsheng reached Green Grass Clump with the Wolf Pack and fought the Stone Yao King after it mocked him, revealing the devastating power of his advanced innate flame. As the Wolf King asserted control over the feuding kings, it attacked Green Grass Clump and challenged whoever dared obstruct the Wolf Pack's march to Black Mountain Demon Stockade.

• Su Changsheng considered the risks and benefits of the Bond Coupling Phenomenon and resolved to stay cautious while continuing toward Black Mountain Demon Stockade.
• At Green Grass Clump, Su Changsheng noticed the ground was crawling with mutated insects, but the Stone Yao King mocked his concern and provoked him.
• Su Changsheng struck and burned the Stone Yao King with his innate flame until Werewolf Shui Huan intervened and the Wolf King forced the Stone Yao King to apologize.
• The Wolf King recognized Su Changsheng's flame as a talent at greater mastery and warned him to use it well without letting alchemy distract him from his cultivation.
• The Wolf King unleashed a powerful attack on Green Grass Clump and demanded to know who dared obstruct the Wolf Pack's advance to Black Mountain Demon Stockade.

Su Changsheng was caught between the Wolf King's battle with Yin Palace and a secret warning about the Immortal inside the Black Tiger Yao. After Tushan Ya and Wolf Maiden Shui Yu fled, he injured himself to hide his dealings and found the badly wounded Black Eagle King.

• The Wolf King attacked Green Grass Clump, but a green figure emerged and revealed that Yin Palace Yao Humans meant to keep the Wolf King from interfering with the Immortal's rebirth.
• The Wolf King and the other Yao Kings fought seventh-level Yao Humans; Shui Yu and another attacker secretly urged Su Changsheng to pretend to be injured and leave the battlefield.
• Su Changsheng fled toward the Black Eagle King, who was ambushed and fell from the sky; his pursuers revealed themselves as Shui Yu and a companion, who warned him that Yin Palace sought the Immortal within the Black Tiger Yao.
• The female Yao Human warned Su Changsheng about the coming upheaval, the ninth-level demons, the Three Great Yao Kings, and the Insect Swarm, then identified her people as the Tushan Demon Race before fleeing with Shui Yu.
• After hearing the Wolf King's return, Su Changsheng wounded himself and staged a fierce battle before reaching the Black Eagle King and treating his injuries.

After the Wolf King exposed and killed the Crocodile King, Su Changsheng learned that the Wolf Pack’s enemies were fighting over an immortal spirit hidden inside the Black Tiger Yao. He connected the Black Tiger Yao’s age and the approaching seventeenth year to his own origins, the Turtle Breath Art, and the Seventeen-Year Cicada, leaving him to wonder whether the Black Mountain Yao King had foreseen the coming disaster.

• The Wolf King inspected the wounded yao, killed the Crocodile King for faking its injuries, and used its blood essence to heal Su Changsheng, the Black Eagle King, and the Werewolf Shui Huan.
• The Black Eagle King warned Su Changsheng that the Yin Palace’s attack was likely only the first assault and explained that the Left Stronghold and Tu Mountain Yao Stronghold might also oppose the Wolf King’s return.
• The Black Eagle King revealed that an immortal spirit lay inside the Black Tiger Yao and that consuming it could let a ninth-level yao become a Great Yao.
• Su Changsheng learned that the Black Tiger Yao had been born sixteen years earlier, the same year as his yao body, and connected their shared age and struggles with Forked Path Demon Arts.
• Su Changsheng realized that the Turtle Breath Art and Seventeen-Year Cicada might link him, the Black Tiger Yao, Wolf Maiden Shui Yu, and Tushan Ya as the seventeenth year approached.

After the Wolf Pack reached the Black Mountain Demon Stockade, Su Changsheng investigated the young yao born during the Heaven’s Collapse sixteen years earlier and settled into cultivation, edging closer to the eighth level. His peaceful routine ended when the Black Tiger Yao climbed a stairway of black blood as the powerful yao opened a rift through which the Immortal of This World descended.

• The Wolf King smashed the stockade gates and cursed the Nine Fox King for failing to welcome him, but she appeared and led him away by the ear.
• Su Changsheng learned that the Black Tiger Yao and Fox Woman Little Four were among the young yao born during the Heaven’s Collapse sixteen years earlier.
• Su Changsheng settled into life in the stockade, investigated the young yao’s origins, and began cultivating with the Wolf King’s supplies.
• After finding greater balance between his human and yao natures, Su Changsheng sensed the barrier to the eighth level loosen.
• The Black Tiger Yao rose on a stairway of black blood as the Nine Fox King, the Wolf King, the Solitary Dragon King, the Explosive Tiger King, and other powerful yao joined forces to open a rift.
• The Immortal of This World appeared inside the rift.

The Black Tiger Yao’s transformation unleashed an immortal-like being called the Black Tortoise True Lord, but the ninth-level yaos and the light-winged figure destroyed its thought and scattered five Black Crystals across the Wilds. As the other yaos searched for the crystals, the maimed Black Tiger Yao returned toward its home and found a mysterious figure waiting at its door.

• The Black Tiger Yao unleashed a vast wave of Human Qi that began transforming nearby yaos and formed a heavenly stairway.
• The ninth-level yaos combined their Demon Power to strike the stairway, revealing a light-winged figure that attacked the Black Tiger Yao and exposed the Black Tortoise True Lord within it.
• The light-winged figure crushed the Black Tortoise True Lord’s body and shattered its fleeing thought into five Black Crystals, which scattered across the Black Mountain Range and Wilderness.
• The light-winged figure told the ninth-level yaos they could use the crystals to seek advancement at the Yao Grotto, then ordered them to find the missing Black Mountain Yao King.
• The ninth-level yaos and their forces left to search for the crystals, while the badly wounded Black Tiger Yao slowly made its way home.
• The Black Tiger Yao reached its door and found a tall figure waiting, who told it to stop and greeted it with, “Lord Black Tiger Yao, it's been a long time!”

Su Changsheng confronted and killed the Black Tiger Yao, learning that the yao had been shaped into a pawn by the Changsheng Immortal Spirit’s power. During their battle, Su Changsheng broke through to the Eighth Level, but after the Black Tiger Yao died, a crystalline substance entered his Sea of Consciousness and began revealing new information.

• Su Changsheng faced the dying Black Tiger Yao, who explained that sixteen years earlier the Black Mountain Yao King’s search for treasure had scattered the Changsheng Immortal Spirit’s will among newborn yao, and that it had received the most light in the Demon Stockade.
• The Black Tiger Yao feigned weakness and attacked, but Su Changsheng fought back, revealing that the yao’s strength was recovering after the immortal left its body.
• As Su Changsheng shattered the Black Tiger Yao’s spine, he broke through to the Eighth Level and unleashed his newly heightened power.
• Su Changsheng drained the Black Tiger Yao’s blood, pursued it to his former stone house, and killed it with a Flame Spear after it lamented its fate as a pawn.
• After the Black Tiger Yao died, a crystalline substance detached from its body, entered Su Changsheng’s Sea of Consciousness, and delivered the information “Changsheng Immortal Spirit” and “Black Tortoise Breathing Method · Snake Realm.”

Su Changsheng gained the Changsheng Immortal Spirit and fused the Mirage Art and Authority over Life and Death into a key imprint and the Black Tortoise Breathing Method · Snake Realm. As he wondered whether he was the Longevity Dao Lord, the Black Tiger Yao's death exposed that several powerful figures had been manipulating events, while the human atop the black turtle revealed that the attempt to use the Black Tiger Yao had failed.

• The Changsheng Immortal Spirit entered Su Changsheng's Sea of Consciousness, joining the imprints of the Mirage Art and Authority over Life and Death into an Ancient Illusion Formation Key.
• Su Changsheng reasoned that the Three Great Yao had raised young yao and spread the Forked Path Demon Arts to create the key, then considered whether he was the Longevity Dao Lord before deciding to focus on his present identity.
• The imprints merged into the Black Tortoise Breathing Method · Snake Realm, freeing Su Changsheng from the two Forked Path Demon Arts as the Black Tiger Yao's death and Su Changsheng's breakthrough to the eighth level shook the Black Mountain Demon Stockade.
• White Madam and the Zhou Hu King discussed the failed attempt to draw out the hidden hand behind events and agreed to wait for the great tomb in three years.
• A Turtle Yao in the Right Stronghold lamented the Black Tiger Yao's death and watched Big Toad and Stone Man approach, while suspecting that another pawn could be made.
• The human atop the enormous black turtle raged that the Black Tiger Yao had wasted a strand of Changsheng Spiritual Light, then admitted he had used twice the amount of it.

Su Changsheng advanced to the pinnacle of the Eighth Level after killing the Black Tiger Yao, prompting the Fox Book Yao Alliance to disband and hide. As the Wolf King protected him from the Poison Dragon King’s demand to inspect his spirit and Yao Nature, Su Changsheng left the confrontation cleared of suspicion and earned the Wolf King’s praise.

• The White Fox King recognized that Xi had overwhelmed the Black Tiger Yao, then fled with Fox Woman Little Four after Xi broke through to the Eighth Level and ordered the Fox Book Yao Alliance to disperse.
• Bai Ling learned that the Immortal Advent had failed, the Black Tiger Yao had died, and Xi had advanced, then ordered Yellow Immortal to gather more Human Yao before Heaven’s Rift arrived.
• Su Changsheng concealed the Key Mark in his Yao Nature and waited beside the Black Tiger Yao’s untouched corpse for the Wolf King to return.
• The Poison Dragon King arrived first and attacked Su Changsheng, but the Wolf King intervened and refused to let him inspect Su Changsheng’s spirit and Yao Nature.
• Su Changsheng voluntarily revealed his clean spirit and Yao Nature, satisfying the Poison Dragon King, and the Wolf King praised his advancement and hinted that he would take on more responsibility.

After killing the Black Tiger Yao and reaching the Eighth Level, Su Changsheng investigated a hidden insect nest and discovered evidence that the Black Tiger Yao’s Wailing Ghosts were missing. He later began cultivating in secret and realized his Yao Body was growing toward an extraordinary forty meters, forcing him to conceal its true size.

• Su Changsheng and the Wolf King searched the Black Tiger Yao’s house, where the Nine Fox King uncovered a vast underground insect nest that alarmed both leaders.
• Su Changsheng found stone images of male fox Wailing Ghosts and wondered why none had appeared during his fight with the Black Tiger Yao.
• Su Changsheng spent three days at the Demoness Market, then resumed patrolling while leaders investigated the sealed area and rumors about his next move spread.
• As winter arrived, Su Changsheng requested leave to recuperate beneath the Wolf King’s watch and quietly reviewed his attributes and cultivation progress.
• Su Changsheng calculated that reaching the Ninth Level through the Green Snake Breathing Method would take decades and examined his increasingly massive Yao Body.
• Su Changsheng realized his body could reach nearly forty meters, exceeding the usual Eighth-Level limit, and decided he would need to hide its size.

After reaching the eighth level, Su Changsheng assessed his greatly increased strength and received the Wolf King’s White Snake Advanced Breathing Method, which he suspected was meant to control him. He upgraded Candleflame to Divine Ability level, and its flames destroyed parts of his cultivation-method imprints as his Half-Demon Green Snake bloodline stirred.

• Su Changsheng found that his eighth-level advancement had greatly increased his strength, resilience, and ability to sense danger.
• After his improvements stabilized, Su Changsheng returned home and examined the White Snake Advanced Breathing Method bestowed by the Wolf King.
• Su Changsheng concluded that refusing the method could force him to leave the Wolf Pack, so he decided to upgrade Candleflame before cultivating it.
• Su Changsheng spent all 16,200 Survival Points to advance Candleflame from greater mastery to Divine Ability level.
• Candleflame’s flames filled Su Changsheng’s body, formed flame-patterned scales along his Spinal Snake Bone, and burned away the Green Snake Breathing Method imprint and the Snake Stage portion of the Black Tortoise Breathing Method imprint.
• As the cultivation-method imprints collapsed, Su Changsheng’s Half-Demon Green Snake bloodline stirred and pure azure bloodline energy surged into his Sea of Consciousness.

Su Changsheng’s Candleflame reached the Divine Ability realm and suppressed a violent bloodline reaction when he destroyed the Green Snake Breathing Method’s imprint. The Green Snake and Black Tortoise methods fused into a new cultivation method, and after awakening from a day and a half of cultivation, Su Changsheng turned his attention to the White Snake Advanced Breathing Method and the Wolf King’s plan.

• Candleflame reached the Divine Ability realm, and its flames shattered the Green Snake and Black Tortoise Breathing Method imprints, triggering a dangerous reaction in Su Changsheng’s bloodline.
• Su Changsheng glimpsed an immense green snake in his Sea of Consciousness as the bloodline power clashed with the Green Snake method’s remnants, but Candleflame suppressed the threat.
• The Green Snake method’s remnants merged with the Black Tortoise Breathing Method, forming a new cultivation method that guided Su Changsheng through a mysterious breathing rhythm and gathered five qi in his organs.
• Su Changsheng awoke after nearly a day and a half with improved cultivation, a fused bloodline method, and a faster path toward the ninth level.
• Su Changsheng picked up the White Snake Advanced Breathing Method to investigate what the Wolf King was planning.

Su Changsheng reflected on his cultivation and the White Snake Advanced Breathing Method before answering the Wolf King’s summons. The Wolf King confronted him about his rapid advancement, then attributed the anomaly to Su Changsheng’s Purification Talisman and Immortal Advent.

• Su Changsheng reviewed his recent progress and considered how the White Snake Advanced Breathing Method and its Visualization Method could be used to control high-level demons.
• Wolf Maiden Shui Yu summoned Su Changsheng to Wolf Hall, and he avoided engaging with her as they traveled.
• Su Changsheng noticed the Wolf King still bore injuries from his battle with the Yin Palace Yao Humans.
• The Wolf King confronted Su Changsheng for avoiding him and admitted that the White Snake Breathing Method had problems imposed by the Three Great Yao.
• The Wolf King questioned Su Changsheng’s rapid rise to the eighth level and his success at refining the Three Pills, but said he did not suspect Su Changsheng himself.
• After learning Su Changsheng had reached lesser mastery in the Purification Talisman, the Wolf King blamed the Purification Talisman Rune and Immortal Advent for the problem.

Su Changsheng learned that his purification power had drawn the Wolf King's attention and that Fallen Dragon Valley might offer a dangerous shortcut to the ninth level, but he remained wary of the Wolf King's motives. After a month of consolidating his eighth-level strength and finding little useful knowledge, he was summoned to the Right Stronghold to support the Bei King.

• The Wolf King explained that Su Changsheng's purification power had helped him kill the Black Tiger Yao and advance to the eighth level, then urged him to pledge allegiance to the Three Great Yao.
• The Wolf King said Su Changsheng could quickly advance to the ninth level by entering a Yao Grotto in Fallen Dragon Valley, but Su Changsheng professed loyalty to the Black Mountain Demon Stockade and declined.
• After returning home, Su Changsheng questioned why the Wolf King seemed to want him in Fallen Dragon Valley and suspected that someone might be watching the Wolf King.
• Over the next month, Su Changsheng consolidated his eighth-level cultivation, searched unsuccessfully for advanced knowledge, and failed to make progress studying his two intermediate runes.
• A messenger told Su Changsheng that an incident had occurred in the Right Stronghold and that the Wolf King had ordered him to support the Bei King, where Lord Shui Huan had already gone.

Su Changsheng learned that enormous creatures and Yao Humans were threatening the Right Stronghold, and the Wolf King ordered him to lead reinforcements there. The chapter ended with a wounded Werewolf Shui Huan warning that the Safe Passage had changed before an unknown voice declared itself the Longevity Dao Lord.

• Su Changsheng received an urgent order to join the Wolf King's meeting and reinforce the Right Stronghold.
• At the Wolf Hall, the Black Eagle King revealed its new partial humanization and tried to grow closer to Su Changsheng.
• Su Changsheng read reports of enormous creatures appearing around the Black Mountain River, while the White Fox King described a vast creature flying toward the Right Stronghold.
• The Wolf King showed a message reporting a hundred-meter Yao Human, ended exploration, and ordered Su Changsheng to lead reinforcements toward the Right Stronghold.
• Werewolf Shui Huan appeared in a rune projection, wounded and unable to reach the Right Stronghold, then reacted to someone she called Black Tiger Yao before a voice declared, “This is the Longevity Dao Lord.”

After the Wolf King ordered Su Changsheng to reinforce the Right Stronghold and find the injured Werewolf Shui Huan, Su Changsheng grew suspicious that the Wolf King had a way to control him and considered whether Candleflame itself might be compromised. The mission was suspended after a fallen dragon’s corpse created a contaminated Blood Pit that blocked the Safe Passage, leaving the Black Mountain Demon Stockade increasingly surrounded by danger.

• The Wolf King crushed the rune fragment, said Shui Huan was alive, and ordered Su Changsheng to find her near the Safe Passage before leading the group to the Right Stronghold.
• Back home, Su Changsheng suspected the Wolf King had secretly gained control over him and considered whether his Purification Power and Candleflame might contain a hidden trap.
• Su Changsheng prepared runes and escape plans while the demon groups assembled to reinforce the Right Stronghold, and the Wolf King gave him more than a dozen Wolf Whiskers.
• The Snake Cave and Tiger Chāng groups reported a dragon corpse near the Safe Passage, but blood rain and Ghost Laughter followed, and the corpse vanished into an enormous Blood Pit.
• Wolf Maiden Shui Yu told Su Changsheng that the Blood Pit had contaminated the earth veins, blocked the passage to Green Grass Clump, and could become a new Forbidden Zone.
• Su Changsheng realized the eastern passage was blocked and the northern Insect Swarm threatened the stockade, while Wolf Maiden Shui Yu said something seemed to be encircling and hunting them.

Su Changsheng watched the Black Mountain Demon Stockade's leaders clash over reinforcing the isolated Right Stronghold while the Insect Swarm prevented the Great Yao from leaving. During an investigation along an alternate route, he found a gigantic shed snakeskin resembling a dragon and suspected a connection to Bai Ling.

• Wolf Maiden Shui Yu warned Su Changsheng that the Black Mountain Demon Stockade might be hunted and advised him to seek shelter.
• The Safe Passage to the Right Stronghold was declared severed, and the Insect Swarm prevented Zhou Hu King and White Madam from leaving to intervene.
• Zhou Hu King demanded reinforcements for the Right Stronghold, but the ninth-level members of the Demon Race refused to cross the dangerous wilderness.
• Zhou Hu King struck the Nine Fox King and the Wolf King, after which the four great yao groups began exploring a detour through the Left Stronghold.
• Su Changsheng joined a route investigation and learned that behemoths and mutating red rain threatened the Right Stronghold.
• The Black Eagle King led Su Changsheng and the others to an enormous dragonlike snakeskin, whose white scales made Su Changsheng suspect that Bai Ling was transforming into a Great Yao.

Su Changsheng benefited from the Great Yao’s rewards, rapidly refining the five qi and strengthening his Yao Body while the conflict between the Three Great Yao and the ninth-level yao worsened. After the Safe Passage to the Left Stronghold was cleared, a Lesser Yao arrived with a warning, then melted into black blood as attacks converged on Su Changsheng, leaving a battle about to begin.

• White Madam’s attendant devoured the giant white snakeskin and rewarded Su Changsheng, the Three-Eyed Green Fox King, and the Amethyst Snake King with Giant Serpent Heavenly Spirit Snake Bone.
• The Three Great Yao began rewarding advanced-level yao below the ninth level, intensifying tensions with the ninth-level yao as Su Changsheng recognized the danger and cultivated with the essence he received.
• Su Changsheng’s five qi surpassed a thousand each, strengthening and transforming his Yao Body, bloodline, and Candleflame as he guarded the Safe Passage to the Left Stronghold.
• Su Changsheng recorded a month of supposedly auspicious hexagrams that coincided with repeated mishaps, then burned his Beast-Hide Scrolls in embarrassment.
• A Lesser Yao announced that the Safe Passage had been cleared and urged Su Changsheng to inspect the Left Stronghold, but the messenger suddenly melted into black blood.
• Attacks came from all directions and targeted Su Changsheng as a battle began.