Recaps

Chao Hun assumed Huang Xiao had died in the Evil Water Region, while Yue Cheng and Yin Huju searched for him and Li Chaoxun and Sword God Yi withdrew from the battle. The remaining Jianghu fighters, including Zhangsun Youyue and Jiang Liuli, were pushed toward the Evil Water Region with nowhere left to retreat.

• Chao Hun believed Huang Xiao had died in the Evil Water Region and hoped his own plans would remain hidden.
• Yue Cheng and Yin Huju searched for Huang Xiao after finding his Imitation Saber and Purple Soul Flute, while Lu Yi mocked them.
• Li Chaoxun refused to help Zhangsun Youyue, but the remaining Bishui Palace fighters rushed to her aid.
• Sword God Yi led the Sword Pavilion contingent away, abandoning Jiang Liuli and leaving Feng Xiaofeng relieved that she might not expose him.
• Jiang Liuli worried as the Jianghu fighters were driven back, and Zhangsun Youyue urged them to keep fighting.

As the Heavenly Evil Sect overwhelmed the Jianghu fighters, Huang Xiao tried to make Jiang Liuli and Zhangsun Youyue escape without him. He bit Jiang Liuli and hurled himself into the chaos, but a desperate man threw him toward the Evil Water Region, and both women leaped after him.

• The Jianghu fighters lost heart as the Heavenly Evil Sect tightened its encirclement, and some began attacking one another while others fell from the cliff.
• Huang Xiao urged Jiang Liuli and Zhangsun Youyue to abandon him, but both women refused to leave without him.
• When Jiang Liuli restrained him, Huang Xiao bit her, kicked free, and tumbled into a nearby Jianghu man's grasp.
• The man threw Huang Xiao toward the Evil Water Region, and Jiang Liuli and Zhangsun Youyue immediately leaped after him.
• Li Chaoxun heard Zhangsun Youyue call for Senior Brother Huang and saw the women chase the flying boy; Pang Yi suggested the boy might be Huang Xiao's child.

Huang Xiao, Zhangsun Youyue, and Jiang Liuli plunged into the Evil Water Region, where the water suppressed their True Qi and dragged them under. As the three struggled to breathe, the surrounding Jianghu fighters drowned, and Huang Xiao recognized that the women were reaching their limits.

• Huang Xiao was thrown over the cliff, and Zhangsun Youyue and Jiang Liuli leaped after him to save him.
• Zhangsun Youyue and Jiang Liuli lost control of their True Qi, but caught Huang Xiao by the hands as they fell toward the Evil Water Region.
• The three struck the water and were pulled down by its immense suction while the fighters around them struggled helplessly.
• Zhangsun Youyue kissed Huang Xiao underwater, and Jiang Liuli watched as both women began to suffocate.
• Huang Xiao saw the other Jianghu fighters drown and realized the Evil Water Region had reduced them all to ordinary people.

Huang Xiao tried to save Zhangsun Youyue and Jiang Liuli as they sank toward a riverbed where powerful evil qi killed those who touched it. Tiger Wing’s aura drove the evil qi away and kept the three alive temporarily, but they were swallowed by the sand and Huang Xiao lost consciousness.

• Huang Xiao gave Zhangsun Youyue and Jiang Liuli breaths of air when they began to suffocate, then saw Void Martial Realm experts die upon touching the riverbed.
• Huang Xiao sensed powerful evil qi rising from the riverbed and held tightly to the two women as it struck their consciousness.
• Tiger Wing’s aura emerged within Huang Xiao, causing the evil qi to retreat and helping shield all three of them.
• Huang Xiao found that Zhangsun Youyue and Jiang Liuli were still alive, but the three began sinking into the fine sand.
• The sand swallowed all three, and Huang Xiao suffocated and lost consciousness.

Chao Hun watched the Heavenly Evil Sect sacrifice Jianghu people and its own disciples in an attempt to weaken the Evil Water Region’s formation, while Linghu Xiang left to report the failed effort and the Jade Slip’s whereabouts. Chao Hun abandoned the idea of targeting Pang Yi and decided Lou Feishang was a safer choice for acquiring a demonic art.

• Chao Hun observed the Heavenly Evil Sect force Jianghu people into the Evil Water Region and throw their bodies into it, while major powers such as the Sword Pavilion withdrew.
• Linghu Xiang saw that the bodies had not changed the formation and ordered Void Martial Realm experts to remain before leaving to report the failure and the Jade Slip’s presence in the region.
• Chao Hun spotted Pang Yi and considered targeting him for the God-Burying Demonic Art, but feared the powerful expert protecting him.
• Chao Hun noticed Lou Feishang of the Ten Thousand Demons Hall and decided to target him instead, believing his protector would be only in the Enlightenment Realm.

Lou Feishang waited for news about Sword God Yi and Li Chaoxun while preparing for a deadly match, but an unknown attacker killed the five disciples guarding him. Elder Zhu appeared to protect him, then confronted Chao Hun, who had revealed himself as the attacker.

• Lou Feishang learned that Huang Xiao was missing and that his Imitation Saber and Purple Soul Flute had been found, then dismissed the possibility that Huang Xiao mattered to him.
• Lou Feishang ordered Mao Chuyi and Teng Hu to find Sword God Yi and Li Chaoxun so he could challenge one of them, and they left him under Elder Zhu's secret protection.
• Lou Feishang meditated while the five remaining Ten Thousand Demons Hall disciples rested around him, but a quarter of an hour later he found them all dead.
• Elder Zhu appeared and warned Lou Feishang that their opponent was an expert, then Chao Hun arrived and declared that Lou Feishang had nowhere to retreat.
• Elder Zhu recognized Chao Hun and accused him of daring to kill people from the Ten Thousand Demons Hall despite the Mixed Demon Sect's subordination to the Heavenly Demon Hall.

Chao Hun confronted Zhu Jigeng after attacking Lou Feishang, revealing strength far beyond what the Ten Thousand Demons Hall elder expected. Chao Hun killed Zhu Jigeng, and Lou Feishang fled.

• Chao Hun recognized Zhu Jigeng and challenged him, while Zhu assumed Chao Hun was an inferior opponent.
• Chao Hun struck Zhu Jigeng hard enough to make him stagger, and he realized Zhu wore Top-Grade Demon Spirit Armor.
• Zhu Jigeng ordered Lou Feishang to escape, but Chao Hun surged with power and met Zhu's attack head-on.
• Chao Hun overwhelmed Zhu Jigeng and killed him with a strike to his unprotected Baihui Point.
• Lou Feishang saw Zhu Jigeng die and fled in alarm.

Chao Hun captured Lou Feishang and killed a Hidden Demon Guard before fleeing with his prisoners. Huang Xiao, Zhangsun Youyue, and Jiang Liuli survived falling into the Evil Water Region, but woke in a mass graveyard with no clear way out.

• Chao Hun crippled Lou Feishang, discovered his Top-Grade Demon Spirit Armor, and killed a Hidden Demon Guard who had witnessed Zhu Jigeng's death.
• Chao Hun decided to force the cultivation method from Lou Feishang and flee to Mist Mountain rather than return to the Mixed Demon Sect.
• Huang Xiao woke on a lakeshore among the corpses and skeletons of people and beasts that had fallen into the Evil Water Region over thousands of years.
• Huang Xiao confirmed that Zhangsun Youyue and Jiang Liuli were alive, and the three realized they had survived the fall.
• Huang Xiao and Jiang Liuli concluded that they might be trapped in the Evil Water Region, since no one who fell there had been known to escape.

Huang Xiao, Zhangsun Youyue, and Jiang Liuli explored the strange place where they had been trapped and suspected it was connected to the Evil Water Region through a formation. As they climbed a mountain in search of other survivors, Huang Xiao spotted what appeared to be a path beneath the brush.

• Jiang Liuli teased Huang Xiao for remaining in Zhangsun Youyue's arms, but Huang Xiao fell when Zhangsun Youyue tried to set him down because his legs were too weak to support him.
• Huang Xiao suggested they had been transported by a formation and that the distant mountains might be illusions, while the vast lake was real and possibly connected to the Evil Water Region.
• The three agreed to explore the area and look for other people, then left the lakeside and climbed toward the mountains.
• Jiang Liuli noted that the overgrown land showed no signs of human activity and that the birds and beasts were unafraid of them.
• Huang Xiao spotted what looked like a path beneath the thorny brush Jiang Liuli had cut away.

Huang Xiao, Jiang Liuli, and Zhangsun Youyue followed an ancient mountain road to a ruined village and its graveyard, where they recognized the surnames of the Three Great Families. The discovery suggested that the Evil Water Region held the families’ treasure, but Huang Xiao reminded them they still had to escape.

• Jiang Liuli and Zhangsun Youyue cleared an old stone road through the overgrowth, and Huang Xiao suggested following it to find traces of earlier inhabitants.
• The three reached a ruined village in a valley, found no living residents, and explored the area behind it.
• They discovered a graveyard divided among the Zhu, Wang, and Fan families, surnames linked to the Three Great Families of the Heavenly Evil Sect.
• Jiang Liuli and Zhangsun Youyue speculated that Dragon Fang and the Evil Daoist Canon might be hidden nearby.
• Huang Xiao cautioned them that finding the treasure would mean little unless they could also escape.

Huang Xiao, Jiang Liuli, and Zhangsun Youyue explored a hidden valley, speculating that it held treasures left by the Three Great Families. After finding a strange cliff face and no immediate way through, they returned to the village to make shelter and prepare to cook.

• Jiang Liuli, Zhangsun Youyue, and Huang Xiao discussed whether the valley was a secret refuge of the Three Great Families and whether treasures such as Dragon Fang or the Evil Daoist Canon might be hidden there.
• The three passed the graveyard and found a towering, unusually smooth cliff at the end of the valley.
• Jiang Liuli inspected part of the cliff, but Huang Xiao warned that hidden chambers might require formations or mechanisms to uncover.
• Jiang Liuli and Zhangsun Youyue returned to the village, repaired a ruined house, and made a shelter while Huang Xiao rested by the doorway.
• Zhangsun Youyue found a pot and spatula and said she would learn to cook, prompting Jiang Liuli to fall silent when she mentioned they might be stuck there for a lifetime.

Zhangsun Youyue and Jiang Liuli found supplies in the ruined village and went to wash in a nearby stream, bringing the weakened Huang Xiao along for safety. While they played in the water, Huang Xiao worried that he might never recover or escape, and the chapter left him silently grappling with those fears.

• Zhangsun Youyue and Jiang Liuli gathered usable pots and jars from the ruined village and finished repairing the roof.
• Jiang Liuli found a clear stream, and Zhangsun Youyue invited her to wash there.
• Zhangsun Youyue insisted Huang Xiao come with them, and he agreed to lie on a rock with his eyes closed while they bathed.
• Huang Xiao worried that he might remain weak and childlike forever and wondered how he could return to the Great Song or escape the village.
• Jiang Liuli and Zhangsun Youyue relaxed in the stream and joked with each other while Huang Xiao kept his eyes closed.

Huang Xiao accidentally swept his Divine Sense over Jiang Liuli and Zhangsun Youyue while they bathed, then admitted what he had sensed. After the women finished washing, they put the helpless Huang Xiao in the stream and undressed him to bathe him, leaving him mortified.

• Huang Xiao sensed something nearby, searched with his Divine Sense, and accidentally detected the two women bathing.
• Jiang Liuli and Zhangsun Youyue noticed his Divine Sense, but Zhangsun Youyue brushed it off as a passing gust of wind.
• Huang Xiao admitted that he had probed the area and seen a little, prompting Jiang Liuli to tell him to keep quiet.
• Zhangsun Youyue and Jiang Liuli washed and dried their dresses, then carried Huang Xiao into the stream when he asked to bathe.
• When Huang Xiao realized he could not bathe himself, the women undressed him and began washing him, and Jiang Liuli smacked his bare bottom.

Huang Xiao explained to Jiang Liuli and Zhangsun Youyue that his Jade Slip was genuine and that Liu Chongming had given it to him. After weeks of being unable to restore his strength or understand the cliff wall, the three investigated a sudden rumble and discovered a cave that had opened in it.

• Jiang Liuli found Huang Xiao's Jade Slip in his clothes, and he told the women that it was genuine while Liu Chongming's had been a fake.
• Huang Xiao spent nearly half a month trying to recover his strength while Jiang Liuli and Zhangsun Youyue explored their surroundings and examined the cliff wall.
• Zhangsun Youyue suggested returning to the lakeshore, and Jiang Liuli agreed that the cliff wall was their only unusual lead.
• A thunderous rumble came from behind the village, so Jiang Liuli and Zhangsun Youyue brought Huang Xiao to investigate the cliff wall.
• The three found a cave nearly ten feet high and five feet wide in the cliff, with broken rocks scattered below it.

Huang Xiao, Jiang Liuli, and Zhangsun Youyue explored a newly appeared cave and cautiously followed its passage to a lit stone chamber. They heard a voice and found three stone coffins, leaving them to address an unseen presence.

• Jiang Liuli and Zhangsun Youyue argued over who should investigate the cave, but Huang Xiao insisted on going with them.
• Huang Xiao guided the women through the twisting passage, checking for traps and formations as they went.
• The three noticed their journey had been suspiciously easy but continued until they reached a chamber lit by burning oil lamps.
• A hoarse voice urged them onward, and they entered the circular chamber, where they saw three black stone coffins.
• Huang Xiao greeted the unseen speaker and asked forgiveness for disturbing their secluded cultivation.

Huang Xiao, Zhangsun Youyue, and Jiang Liuli entered a strange chamber and watched an ancient man emerge from a stone coffin. The man identified himself as Zhu and suspected Huang Xiao was connected to the Wang Family because he carried the aura of the Ancient Evil Blade Tiger Wing.

• Huang Xiao and the two women entered the chamber, where the middle stone coffin opened and released a cloud of cold mist.
• An old man rose from the coffin and questioned Huang Xiao about his unusual change from big to small.
• The old man revealed that he had probed Huang Xiao with his divine sense by a stream and had heard the group speaking over the past half month.
• Huang Xiao explained that his Rejuvenation came from a cultivation method but was temporary, and the old man's interest in it faded.
• The old man gave his surname as Zhu and said Huang Xiao carried the aura of the Ancient Evil Blade Tiger Wing.
• Zhangsun Youyue defended Huang Xiao's surname, and Jiang Liuli asked whether he was a descendant of the Wang Family.

Huang Xiao explained that Tiger Wing was with Wang Jiu and Inugami was with Fan Zhongkun, while he knew nothing about the Wang and Fan families’ descendants. Senior Zhu learned that the blade-bearers were only at the Martial and Void Martial realms and erupted in anger, condemning them as unworthy descendants.

• Huang Xiao told Senior Zhu that he had only encountered Tiger Wing and that Wang Jiu currently held it.
• Huang Xiao said he knew nothing about Wang Jiu’s family, and Senior Zhu speculated that the Wang lineage had declined.
• Huang Xiao reported that Dragon Fang had been missing for ten thousand years and that Fan Zhongkun possessed Inugami.
• Huang Xiao explained that Wang Jiu and Fan Zhongkun had joined forces with him and described their cultivation levels and abilities.
• Senior Zhu angrily denounced the Wang and Fan descendants as useless and unworthy of the Three Great Families.

Huang Xiao and his companions met the sleeping elders of the Three Great Families, who learned that the Demon Hall had defeated their ancestors and still dominated Jianghu. The elders revealed that the sealed refuge had no way out unless all three Evil Blades were gathered.

• Two elders, Old Man Wang and Old Man Fan, awoke and heard Old Man Zhu explain Huang Xiao's rejuvenation.
• Huang Xiao told the three elders about the Demon Hall's Thousand-Year Period and the state of the world outside.
• The elders discussed their ancestors' defeat, the Demon Hall's strength, and the approaching Thousand-Year Period.
• Old Man Wang doubted that the group could change anything, despite the younger generation possessing Tiger Wing and Inugami.
• Old Man Zhu explained that possessing an Evil Blade allowed entry to the refuge, but escape required all three Evil Blades.

Huang Xiao and the two women learned that only three people had escaped the hidden sanctuary in ten thousand years, at great cost to the elders. After realizing Old Man Zhu had a reason for keeping them alive, Huang Xiao agreed to help him, and Old Man Zhu offered to restore Huang Xiao’s strength.

• Zhangsun Youyue and Huang Xiao asked whether there was a way to leave, and Old Man Zhu revealed that only three people had escaped in ten thousand years, with their survival uncertain.
• Old Man Fan explained that sending the three out had consumed most of the elders’ essence blood and nearly half their remaining lives.
• Old Man Wang warned Huang Xiao, Zhangsun Youyue, and Jiang Liuli to stop hoping to leave.
• Huang Xiao realized Old Man Zhu had brought them to the cave for a purpose and asked what he wanted them to do.
• Old Man Zhu asked whether Huang Xiao wanted to regain his strength, and Old Man Wang boasted that the sanctuary’s treasures could even bring the dead back to life.
• Huang Xiao pleaded with Old Man Zhu to restore his strength.

Old Man Zhu discovered traces of supreme demonic qi in Huang Xiao and exposed him as a Demon Hall disciple, alarming Zhangsun Youyue and Jiang Liuli. After Huang Xiao admitted the truth, Old Man Wang demanded his death, but Old Man Zhu and Old Man Fan stopped him, leaving Huang Xiao alive for now.

• Old Man Zhu examined Huang Xiao and detected supreme demonic qi, then seized him and accused him of being a villain of the Demon Hall.
• Zhangsun Youyue and Jiang Liuli tried to explain the qi as residue from the attacker who had injured Huang Xiao.
• Old Man Zhu rejected their explanation and threatened them, while Huang Xiao realized the old men might not intend to kill him immediately.
• Huang Xiao admitted that he was a disciple of the Demon Hall's Heavenly Demon Hall.
• Old Man Wang moved to kill Huang Xiao, but Old Man Zhu held him back and Old Man Fan argued against killing him; Old Man Wang withdrew to his stone coffin.

Huang Xiao revealed his role as the Heavenly Demon Hall’s candidate for the Hall Master’s Seat, and Old Man Zhu led him and the others to a hidden chamber containing a supreme treasure that might help him recover. There, Huang Xiao sensed evil qi like that of Inugami and Tiger Wing, while Old Man Zhu connected his Supreme Demonic Qi to the Demon Hall’s Supreme Demon Wall.

• Huang Xiao told Old Man Zhu and Old Man Fan that he was the Heavenly Demon Hall’s candidate for the Hall Master’s Seat and explained how he had replaced Chao Jue.
• Old Man Zhu said Huang Xiao would have little hope of defeating Pang Yi, but Huang Xiao vowed to give the contest everything he had.
• Old Man Zhu led Huang Xiao, Zhangsun Youyue, and Jiang Liuli through a concealed door to a smaller chamber to show them a supreme treasure that could help Huang Xiao recover.
• Huang Xiao found a black pillar surrounded by dense evil qi and recognized its aura as similar to the evil qi on Inugami and Tiger Wing.
• Old Man Zhu said Huang Xiao’s Supreme Demonic Qi likely came from contact with the Demon Hall’s Supreme Demon Wall.

Huang Xiao agreed to risk his life by using the Supreme Evil Pillar to heal his severely damaged body. After Old Man Zhu sent him toward the pillar, Huang Xiao began screaming in agony, and Zhangsun Youyue learned he had to endure its supreme evil qi for three shichen without dying.

• Old Man Fan and Old Man Zhu explained that the Supreme Evil Pillar could restore Huang Xiao’s strength, but the process could kill him and they would not spend their remaining energy protecting him.
• Huang Xiao accepted the danger because he feared he would never recover otherwise, and Zhangsun Youyue urged him to stay alive.
• Old Man Zhu flung Huang Xiao toward the Supreme Evil Pillar, where he collapsed and screamed in pain.
• Jiang Liuli stopped Zhangsun Youyue from rushing to Huang Xiao, while Old Man Zhu said that his screams showed he was still conscious.
• Jiang Liuli asked how Huang Xiao was supposed to heal, and Old Man Zhu revealed that he had to survive three full shichen in the supreme evil qi.

Huang Xiao endured the Supreme Evil Pillar’s overwhelming evil qi, unaware that it was meant to heal him, and tried several ways to survive its agony. After igniting his heart fire, he accidentally refined the evil qi and accelerated the disintegration of his flesh and blood, but a warm current from the Jade Slip reached him as he faced death.

• Old Man Fan explained that Huang Xiao had to endure the supreme evil qi for six hours, while Old Man Zhu said the agony might help him hold on; Zhangsun Youyue shouted the explanation to Huang Xiao.
• Huang Xiao could not hear Zhangsun Youyue and tried to resist the evil qi with his Heavenly Demon Skill, but it overwhelmed his true qi and tore through his flesh, blood, and bones.
• Huang Xiao recalled using heart fire against supreme demonic qi and attempted to gather the evil qi with his Northern Darkness Absorption Method, which made the onslaught more violent.
• Huang Xiao used his remaining essence blood to ignite heart fire, but it refined the evil qi and made his body disintegrate faster as his essence blood was nearly exhausted.
• Huang Xiao felt a warm current coming from the Jade Slip in his chest.

Huang Xiao endured the destruction of his flesh and blood as the Jade Slip’s warm current eased his pain and helped restore his body and essence blood. He began refining the evil qi to speed his recovery, while Old Man Fan sensed that his consciousness remained clear despite his silence.

• The Jade Slip released a warm current that eased Huang Xiao’s pain and kept his consciousness clear as the evil qi continued breaking down his body.
• Huang Xiao realized that his flesh and blood had begun to recover under the evil qi’s influence, marking the start of the restoration stage.
• The Jade Slip’s warm current accelerated Huang Xiao’s bodily recovery and replenished his essence blood.
• Huang Xiao continued refining the evil qi to hasten his recovery, hoping to restore his body before the Jade Slip’s warm current ran out.
• Old Man Zhu and Old Man Fan noticed Huang Xiao had fallen silent, and Old Man Fan reassured Zhangsun Youyue and Jiang Liuli that Huang Xiao’s consciousness was still clear.

While trapped beneath the Supreme Evil Pillar’s influence, Huang Xiao tried to heal his ruined body by combining his healing true qi with the Jade Slip’s warm current. He began using heart fire and the Ten Thousand Demons Formless Art to transform his true qi’s aura, and the change slowly started to work.

• Old Man Fan told Zhangsun Youyue and Jiang Liuli that he could not safely approach Huang Xiao, though he sensed Huang Xiao might recover faster than expected.
• Huang Xiao realized the Jade Slip’s healing aura would not last, then used the Everlasting Spring Youth-Restoring Divine Art to speed his recovery.
• Huang Xiao tried to use the Ten Thousand Demons Formless Art to make his healing true qi resemble the Jade Slip’s warm current, but the true qi resisted.
• Huang Xiao refined his everlasting spring ageless true qi with heart fire and tried again, weakening its resistance and gradually transforming its aura.