Chapter Summaries

Huo Lian explained that Huang Xiao could use the Ghost Capital Token to enter the Ghost Capital, though only one person could go and finding the Supreme Ghost Stele was uncertain. He also revealed that Demon Phoenix’s parents had entered the sealed Divine Beast Holy Land and could not leave until its seal was broken, leaving Demon Phoenix worried about whether they would live long enough to return.

• Huang Xiao showed Huo Lian the Ghost Capital Token, and Huo Lian confirmed it was genuine and advised him to enter the Ghost Capital if the token changed.
• Demon Phoenix asked to accompany Huang Xiao, but Huo Lian said the token allowed only one person to enter.
• Demon Phoenix told Huo Lian what Yan Youwang had said about the Divine Beast Holy Land, and Huo Lian revealed that Demon Phoenix’s parents had found it and entered after its seal loosened.
• Huo Lian said Demon Phoenix’s parents were not in danger but could not leave until the seal was broken, and he had no way to free them himself.
• Huo Lian left, and Demon Phoenix worried that his parents might not live long enough to escape; Huang Xiao urged him to regain his resolve and cultivate.

Huo Lian brought Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix to meet Ou Jin, who had been examining the separated Supreme Demon Saber. Ou Jin said reforging the two sabers would require rare materials and revealed that Huang Xiao’s Minghong Saber held a second, hidden saber soul more powerful than the one already known.

• Demon Phoenix resolved to work harder so he could help his parents, who had entered the Divine Beast Holy Land, and asked Huang Xiao to share in his hopes.
• Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix joined Huo Lian beneath the well, where Ou Jin had been examining the two sabers for several days.
• Ou Jin said he had not found a way to reunite the saber blade and soul, but he would try if Huo Lian could gather the rare materials he needed.
• Ou Jin explained that the later-born saber soul was not the only power inside Huang Xiao’s Minghong Saber and that a stronger, hidden saber soul was also present.
• Huo Lian accepted Ou Jin’s judgment, while Huang Xiao questioned how he and Huo Lian could have failed to notice the second saber soul.

Ou Jin explained that the Supreme Demon Saber's hidden saber soul had exploited the overt one and might be tied to the First Hall Master. Huo Lian chose to try dissolving the hidden soul before considering a reforging method that would sacrifice Huang Xiao's true saber soul, and he set out to gather the rare flames Ou Jin needed.

• Ou Jin deduced that the hidden saber soul had used the overt saber soul to grow stronger and might interfere with reforging the Supreme Demon Saber.
• Huo Lian and Ou Jin discussed the danger of leaving the hidden saber soul in the reforged weapon, while Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix objected to sacrificing Huang Xiao's true saber soul.
• Huo Lian decided to try dissolving the hidden saber soul first and asked Ou Jin which unusual flames the process required.
• Ou Jin named the flames needed for tempering, and Huo Lian promised to seek the three he lacked: Zhurong's fire, void flame, and netherworld flame.

Ou Jin arranged for Demon Phoenix to fire Huo Lian’s Supreme Demon Saber with Nirvana Flame while he pursued his goal of forging the world’s greatest divine weapon. Huo Lian sent Huang Xiao back to Heavenly Demon Hall to cultivate, leaving Demon Phoenix to begin the demanding work.

• Ou Jin agreed to gather materials for reforging the Supreme Demon Saber and asked to leave to pursue his own forging ambitions.
• Ou Jin proposed that Demon Phoenix use Nirvana Flame to fire the saber in repeated day-long sessions, and Huo Lian ordered him to do it.
• Huo Lian praised Huang Xiao’s progress and sent him back to Heavenly Demon Hall to master the Heavenly Demon Skill and the Heavenly Demon Demon Saber Techniques.
• Huang Xiao visited Demon Phoenix to say goodbye and urged him to endure the work as arduous cultivation.
• Demon Phoenix stopped complaining and promised Huang Xiao he would do everything he could to improve his strength.

Huang Xiao left the Transcendent Immortal Escort Agency to return to Heavenly Demon Hall, carrying the Supreme Demon Pearl and Supreme Evil Crystal as secret trump cards. On the road, three Righteous Path elders ambushed him, and he prepared to fight when they refused to let him go.

• Demon Phoenix warned Huang Xiao to keep the two treasures secret, and the two friends parted after exchanging a final challenge.
• Huang Xiao packed his Heavy Saber and Imitation Saber, left the Transcendent Immortal Escort Agency, and hurried toward Heavenly Demon Hall.
• After entering Liangzhou, Huang Xiao sensed three men following him and stopped to confront them.
• The three elders identified Huang Xiao as a Heavenly Demon Hall Hall Master Candidate and declared their intent to kill him because he belonged to the Demonic Path.
• Huang Xiao offered to let the elders leave, but they refused and insisted that all three would attack together.
• Huang Xiao set down his Heavy Saber and drew his Dao Realm Imitation Saber, preparing to fight.

Huang Xiao fought three swordsmen who used a combined attack technique and then unleashed Forbidden Arts to raise their strength. He spent both strands of Supreme Demonic Qi to hold them off as their eldest brother insisted they kill him at any cost.

• The three swordsmen recognized Huang Xiao's Dao Realm-level Supreme Demon Saber Imitation Saber and revealed their greed for his other treasures.
• Huang Xiao struggled against the three men's coordinated attacks, though he managed to injure their eldest brother and damage their swords.
• The eldest ordered his brothers to use a Forbidden Art, raising all three to Enlightenment Realm upper-grade strength and making their combined power rival an early Entering Dao Realm expert.
• Huang Xiao activated Supreme Demonic Qi and fought back, severing the third brother's longsword with the Seventh Form of the Heavenly Demon Demon Saber Techniques.
• Huang Xiao used his final strand of Supreme Demonic Qi after the brothers pressed their assault, and their eldest insisted they continue despite the danger of lasting Forbidden Art aftereffects.

Huang Xiao used the Supreme Demon Pearl and Supreme Evil Crystal to defeat three attackers who had nearly killed him, then returned to Heavenly Demon Hall to recover. There, he overheard Chao Lingyi talking about her feelings for him and coughed to reveal his presence.

• Huang Xiao realized his Supreme Demonic Qi was nearly exhausted as the three attackers pressed their assault and taunted him.
• When the three men charged, Huang Xiao opened a box containing the Supreme Demon Pearl and Supreme Evil Crystal, stunning them with their auras before killing all three with his Imitation Saber.
• Huang Xiao repaired his injuries, found no clues to the attackers’ identities, and hurried back toward Heavenly Demon Hall while considering which sect might have sent them.
• Huang Xiao returned to Heavenly Demon Hall and rested in his room after recovering most of his internal power.
• Chao Lingyi entered to clean Huang Xiao’s room and told a maid she wished he would notice her; Huang Xiao heard her from the inner room and coughed awkwardly.

Huang Xiao returned to the Heavenly Demon Hall, reunited with Chao Lingyi, and gave in to her plea to stay by his side. He left her to rest as he went to see the Hall Master.

• Chao Lingyi embraced Huang Xiao in tears when he appeared in her room, then prepared a bath for him.
• While bathing, Huang Xiao considered the dangers of his struggle to become Hall Master and his plan to deal with Zhou Daohang.
• Chao Lingyi pleaded to remain with Huang Xiao despite the risk, and he finally accepted her and kissed her.
• Xiaolan overheard Huang Xiao and Chao Lingyi in the bath and hurried away, blushing.
• Huang Xiao dressed, told Xiaolan to look after Chao Lingyi, and left to see the Hall Master.

After returning from seclusion, Huang Xiao told Wei Yidao that he could contend with early entering Dao realm experts and described an ambush by three mid-grade enlightenment realm attackers. Wei Yidao suspected the attackers were hidden experts from the Pang Family, who were acting on behalf of the God-Burying Hall.

• Huang Xiao met Wu Cang, Yin Huju, and Zhou Daohang on his way to see the Hall Master, while Zhou Daohang privately wondered about Huang Xiao's strength.
• Huang Xiao told Wei Yidao that, despite remaining in the martial realm, he could fight an early entering Dao realm expert, then recounted his progress over the past few months.
• Huang Xiao and Wei Yidao discussed Pang Yi's concealed strength and the uncertainty surrounding the contest for the Hall Master's Seat.
• Huang Xiao described how three masked mid-grade enlightenment realm experts had attacked him on his way back from the Transcendent Immortal Escort Agency.
• Wei Yidao concluded the attackers had likely been hidden experts from the Pang Family, acting secretly for the God-Burying Hall.

Huang Xiao discussed the Pang Family’s failed assassination attempt with Wei Yidao and received the twelfth level of the Heavenly Demon Skill. Wei Yidao said Huang Xiao could become Heavenly Demon Hall’s next Hall Master after advancing to the Enlightenment Realm.

• Huang Xiao and Wei Yidao concluded that the three attackers belonged to the Pang Family and that his strength had likely been exposed.
• Wei Yidao warned Huang Xiao to watch for Zhou Daohang and further attempts by the Pang Family, while Huang Xiao planned to cultivate in the Heavenly Demon Hall.
• Huang Xiao told Wei Yidao that Huo Lian was studying the Three Great Families’ cultivation methods and reforging the Supreme Demon Saber.
• Wei Yidao gave Huang Xiao the twelfth level of the Heavenly Demon Skill and instructed him to memorize it and destroy the manual.
• Wei Yidao revealed that he intended to join the Inner Hall Elders’ Council and hoped Huang Xiao would succeed him as Hall Master after reaching the Enlightenment Realm.
• Wei Yidao told Huang Xiao there was no need to conceal his recent absence, and Huang Xiao left his residence.

Zhou Daohang received the Pang Family’s order to eliminate Huang Xiao or cripple him, knowing that the assignment was intended to sacrifice him. Huang Xiao returned to the Heavenly Demon Hall, revealed that Huo Lian had guided him, and warned Wu Cang and Yin Huju that the Pang Family might target him again.

• Zhou Daohang read the Pang Family’s order to attack Huang Xiao and accepted that he would have to pay for his past ties to them.
• Zhou Daohang decided he would wait until Huang Xiao left the Heavenly Demon Hall before trying to kill him.
• Huang Xiao memorized the annotations in the Heavenly Demon Skill’s twelfth-stage manual, destroyed it, and met with Wu Cang and Yin Huju.
• Huang Xiao told Wu Cang and Yin Huju that he had visited Huo Lian and asked them to watch Zhou Daohang for suspicious activity.
• Huang Xiao revealed that three attackers had nearly killed him on his way back, and he and Huo Lian suspected they were experts secretly trained by the Pang Family.
• Wu Cang reasoned that the Pang Family’s attack showed Huang Xiao had become a threat to Pang Yi, and Yin Huju agreed.

Huang Xiao sparred with Wu Cang and showed strength that surprised both Wu Cang and Yin Huju. Afterward, Zhou Daohang claimed someone had obtained the Supreme Evil Crystal and asked Huang Xiao to help investigate, leaving Huang Xiao unsure whether Zhou knew he had it.

• Huang Xiao invited Wu Cang to spar, and Wu Cang said that in a fight to the death he could kill Zhou Daohang but would be seriously injured.
• Huang Xiao fought Wu Cang for a quarter of an hour, and Wu Cang needed nearly eighty percent of his internal power to suppress him.
• Huang Xiao said he would focus on breaking through and asked Wu Cang to spar with him again at the Heavenly Demon Hall.
• Zhou Daohang told Huang Xiao, Wu Cang, and Yin Huju that someone had reportedly obtained the Supreme Evil Crystal and asked them to help verify the report.
• Huang Xiao questioned Zhou Daohang's vague information, and Zhou left promising to investigate further and keep the matter secret.

Huang Xiao and Zhou Daohang each suspected the other was setting a trap involving the Supreme Evil Crystal, while Huang Xiao secretly possessed the real crystal. Huang Xiao entered seclusion and found that the Supreme Evil Crystal and Supreme Demon Pearl could coexist, leaving him to investigate their connection.

• Huang Xiao told Wu Cang and Yin Huju not to report Zhou Daohang’s claim, while Wu Cang decided to watch Zhou Daohang’s movements.
• Huang Xiao suspected the Pang Family had sent Zhou Daohang to lure him out of the Heavenly Demon Hall, but agreed to let Wu Cang’s people investigate.
• Zhou Daohang planned to use a fake Supreme Evil Crystal to draw Huang Xiao out of the Heavenly Demon Hall and kill him.
• Huang Xiao told Chao Lingyi he was going into seclusion, then opened the box containing the Supreme Demon Pearl and Supreme Evil Crystal inside his isolated cultivation chamber.
• Huang Xiao observed the two treasures’ equally powerful auras coexisting in harmony and recalled Yan Youwang’s claim that bringing the supreme treasures together could reveal hidden secrets.

Huang Xiao tested whether the Supreme Evil Crystal could strengthen his divine sense and found that it did after the Upper Clarity Scripture repaired the damage. His attempts to combine supreme evil qi with heart fire failed, but he later fused a trace of evil qi into his imperishable true qi and began testing the result.

• Huang Xiao placed the Supreme Evil Crystal on the wooden platform and found its aura stronger than that of the Supreme Evil Pillar.
• Huang Xiao suspected that the Supreme Demon Wall, like the Supreme Evil Pillar, might have a core.
• Huang Xiao exposed his divine sense to supreme evil qi, then used the Upper Clarity Scripture to repair the damage and discovered his divine sense had grown stronger.
• Huang Xiao tried combining supreme evil qi and heart fire in his spiritual platform, but the auras clashed and he quickly dispersed them.
• Huang Xiao used the Northern Darkness Absorption Method and heart fire to merge evil qi into his imperishable true qi.
• Huang Xiao severed an unimportant meridian and used his altered imperishable true qi to repair it.

Huang Xiao discovered that the Supreme Evil Crystal let his imperishable true qi repair his divine sense, then began studying the Heavenly Demon Skill while enduring the Supreme Demon Wall’s auras. Meanwhile, Wu Xuancang brought Zhangsun Youyue back to Bishui Palace, where her master ordered her taken away.

• Huang Xiao found that imperishable true qi repaired his divine sense more directly than the Upper Clarity Scripture, but failed to imitate supreme evil qi with the Ten Thousand Demons Skill.
• Huang Xiao opened the box on the wooden platform, moved to a position where he could withstand its auras, and began studying the eleventh level of the Heavenly Demon Skill.
• Chao Lingyi visited outside Huang Xiao’s Practice Quiet Chamber each day and hoped he would grow strong enough to defeat Pang Yi.
• Wu Xuancang arrived at Bishui Palace with Zhangsun Youyue, and the Palace Master ordered her taken away after she knelt and asked to be punished.

Wu Xuancang returned from the Evil Water Region and warned Li Bai and Pei Lingsha that the Demon Hall’s coming Thousand-Year Period could destroy the Three Immortal Mountains. He also delayed Zhangsun Youyue’s punishment until they could consult the Patriarch, while revealing that the Demon Hall’s First Hall Master and other hidden forces remained active.

• The Palace Master refused Pei Yi’s plea for Zhangsun Youyue and agreed to postpone deciding her punishment until they consulted the Patriarch.
• Wu Xuancang told Li Bai and Pei Lingsha that Huo Lian had pursued the Three Great Families’ cultivation methods in the Evil Water Region and that he might be needed against the Demon Hall.
• Wu Xuancang revealed that the Demon Hall’s First Hall Master was still alive and had been delayed from emerging by Huo Lian’s defection.
• Wu Xuancang explained that the Demon Hall Masters of every generation were still alive and that the Tomb Clan guarded their Land of Slumber, making this Thousand-Year Period especially dangerous for the Three Immortal Mountains.

Wu Xuancang and the others discussed preparing for the Demon Hall’s Thousand-Year Period while Pei Lingsha confronted Zhangsun Youyue over her connection to Huang Xiao. Wu Xuancang sent Youyue to the Divine Nun Convent and warned against threatening Huang Xiao’s wives, fearing it could push him fully onto the Demonic Path.

• Wu Xuancang said the powers across the world needed to unite against the Demon Hall and that he would help Huo Lian grow stronger, while Li Bai warned Huo Lian might escape to the Central Plains using the two Minghong Sabers.
• Pei Lingsha recognized Huang Xiao as the young demon linked to Zhangsun Youyue and rebuked Youyue, while Pei Ning knelt and asked to bear punishment for her disciple.
• Wu Xuancang intervened and arranged for Zhangsun Youyue to stay at the Divine Nun Convent instead of being expelled from Bishui Palace.
• Wu Xuancang revealed that Zhangsun Youyue had given him the real Longevity Jade Slip, which Huang Xiao had passed to her.
• Wu Xuancang said Huang Xiao’s four wives were at the Divine Nun Convent and opposed taking them hostage, warning that provoking Huang Xiao could drive him to become a demon.

Wu Xuancang and his allies prepared to support Huang Xiao in taking the Demon Hall’s Hall Master seat and to join forces against the Demon Hall. Meanwhile, Jiang Liuli remained isolated at the Sword Pavilion as her pregnancy became a public scandal, and she focused only on protecting her unborn child.

• Wu Xuancang told Pei Lingsha that the Three Immortal Mountains would provide Huo Lian and Huang Xiao with whatever support they needed, hoping Huang Xiao would resist the Demon Hall’s schemes.
• Wu Xuancang instructed Li Bai to contact the others and coordinate with Imperial Remnant Manor over the Longevity Jade Slips and the coming confrontation with the Demon Hall.
• Wu Xuancang said Imperial Remnant Manor was preparing to oppose the Demon Hall and discussed the possible restoration of the Xuanyuan Sword, though it still needed a suitable wielder.
• Li Bai said they would protect Huang Xiao’s family if he died, and Pei Lingsha recognized the burden imposed on him by those supporting his rise.
• Jiang Liuli stayed inside her residence at the Sword Pavilion as word of her pregnancy spread and some disciples neglected her; she chose not to retaliate and hoped her child would be born safely.

Jiang Liuli was moved from her residence to a guarded mountain peak to live beside Fan Xiu and the other three old fellows. After welcoming her, the elders discussed their plans to meet Huo Lian and search for the Second Part of the Heavenly Evil Imperishable Art.

• Elder Tang punished the disciples who had mocked Jiang Liuli and escorted her away from her residence.
• Jiang Liuli packed her clothes and Precious Sword, then followed Elder Tang and several escorts to a guarded mountain peak.
• Fan Xiu welcomed Jiang Liuli as a new neighbor and showed her the hut beside his.
• Zhu Fancheng, Zhu Fanjiang, and Wang Mizong welcomed Jiang Liuli, while Wang Mizong returned to his hut.
• The four old fellows discussed setting out to meet Huo Lian and later visiting Inugami's former village to search for the Second Part of the Heavenly Evil Imperishable Art.

Huo Lian led Zhu Fancheng and the others to the Divine Beast Holy Land and asked him to assess its formation seal. Zhu Fancheng began studying it, but could not yet say whether or when he could break it.

• Zhu Fancheng agreed to meet Huo Lian in three days with Zhu Fanjiang, Fan Xiu, and Wang Mizong.
• Huo Lian met the group near Mist Mountain and led them toward the Divine Beast Holy Land.
• Zhu Fancheng sensed the hidden formation seal and praised its complexity.
• Zhu Fancheng said he needed time to study the seal and could not promise when he would break it.
• Zhu Fanjiang compared the seal to the Longevity Death Formation, and Huo Lian said the latter was more formidable.