Chapter Summaries

After hearing that the Patriarch would arrive, Huang Xiao reflected on the Demon Spirit Sect’s destruction and the dangers posed by powerful old monsters. He resolved to cultivate and grow strong enough to contend for the Demon Hall Master’s Seat, while worrying about the people he had left behind and the mysteries of the Seven Treasures.

• Shi Hen told Huang Xiao to return to secluded cultivation and said he would summon him when the Hall Master arrived.
• Huang Xiao reflected on how Xuanyuan Jade Butterfly had destroyed the Demon Spirit Sect, recognizing that ancient experts and their knowledge of formations were beyond his current power.
• Huang Xiao decided that he had to seize the Demon Hall Master’s Seat to increase his strength, despite the dangers that might follow.
• Huang Xiao thought about Zuo Qiu Shu, Fan Zhuolang, Jiang Liuli, and Chao Lingyi, and worried about the people and relationships he had neglected.
• Huang Xiao considered whether the Seven Treasures could help him increase his internal power, then dismissed his maidservant and decided to cultivate while awaiting the Patriarch and Senior Ou.

Huang Xiao, Huo Lian, and Ou Jin examined the Supreme Ghost Stele and discussed how Ou Jin might sense the Hellfire hidden inside it. Ou Jin revealed that his family had no precise records confirming whether the three different flames were needed to reforge the Supreme Demon Saber, leaving Huo Lian demanding an explanation.

• Huang Xiao brought the Supreme Ghost Stele to meet Huo Lian and Ou Jin in the secret chamber.
• Ou Jin recognized the stele, and Huang Xiao removed its stone casing, releasing a powerful surge of ghost qi that Huo Lian suppressed.
• Ou Jin explained that his family’s records and methods might help him sense the different flames within the stele, though he could not sense them directly.
• Huo Lian asked whether reforging the Supreme Demon Saber required the three different flames Ou Jin had mentioned.
• Ou Jin admitted that his family had no precise records, and Huo Lian’s expression darkened as he demanded to know why Ou Jin had claimed the flames could be used.

Ou Jin admitted that he had deceived Huo Lian about his certainty of reforging the Supreme Demon Saber because he wanted experience for his Ou Family’s divine weapon. Huo Lian forgave him, shared the names of the other flames, and told him to begin testing Hellfire with Different Flame Stones.

• Ou Jin confessed that he did not know whether the three recorded flames could reforge the Supreme Demon Saber and admitted he wanted the experience for his Ou Family’s divine weapon.
• Huo Lian forgave Ou Jin after deciding his deception had not harmed his interests, and Huang Xiao was relieved that Ou Jin would live.
• Huo Lian told Ou Jin the names of the flames in the other Supreme Treasures and shared what he knew about Fan Zhuolang and Zuo Qiu Shu.
• Ou Jin said any one of the flames should be enough to reforge the saber, and Huo Lian ordered him to begin by sensing Hellfire.
• Ou Jin opened his bundle and explained that his Different Flame Stones contained various flames he could use to draw out Hellfire.

Ou Jin used five Different Flames to probe the Supreme Ghost Stele and awaken Hellfire, while Huang Xiao tried to protect the Divine Sense traces imprisoned inside it. The Hellfire nearly overwhelmed Ou Jin and stirred Huang Xiao’s Heart Fire before Ou Jin withdrew, leaving Huang Xiao to wonder whether his Heart Fire could sense Hellfire.

• Ou Jin prepared the Different Flame Stones with powders and liquids, and explained that years of working with fire let him withstand their auras.
• Ou Jin placed the Supreme Ghost Stele on the rack and sent his Divine Sense into it, where he discovered Huang Xiao’s secret of the stele’s imprisoned Divine Sense traces.
• Ou Jin found Hellfire and stirred its terrifying aura, which affected the stored Divine Sense traces and nearly caused Huang Xiao’s Heart Fire to erupt.
• Huang Xiao used his Divine Sense to protect the others and struggled to suppress his Heart Fire as Hellfire’s aura intensified.
• Ou Jin’s Divine Sense screamed and withdrew, cutting off the Different Flame auras; Hellfire and Huang Xiao’s Heart Fire then subsided.
• Ou Jin collapsed trembling and said his soul had nearly scattered, while Huang Xiao wondered whether his Heart Fire could sense Hellfire.

Ou Jin determined that Hellfire could reforge the Supreme Demon Saber, but the Supreme Ghost Stele held far too little to give the attempt a reasonable chance. He proposed using fire-attribute Divine Beasts to nurture more Different Flames, and Huang Xiao worried that the process could endanger Demon Phoenix.

• Ou Jin explained that Hellfire was powerful enough to reforge the Supreme Demon Saber, but the amount in the Supreme Ghost Stele was insufficient.
• Ou Jin estimated they would need at least three times as much Hellfire for a roughly fifty percent chance of success, prompting Huo Lian to consider seeking other Supreme Treasures.
• Ou Jin proposed that fire-attribute Divine Beasts could nurture Different Flames, though the method would take decades or longer and could only supplement their supply.
• Ou Jin said Demon Phoenix was strong enough to help nurture the flames, and Huang Xiao asked whether doing so would be dangerous.

Huo Lian planned to steal the core of the Supreme Demon Wall and have Huang Xiao replace it with another treasure, believing the wall was more attainable than the other supreme treasures. He began considering a substitute containing Supreme Demonic Qi, while Huang Xiao remained unsure how to evade the Main Hall’s formations.

• Ou Jin said Demon Phoenix could nurture Hellfire without dying, and Huo Lian agreed to let him come.
• Ou Jin explained that he needed more materials and a forging furnace to draw out Hellfire, then left with Shi Hen.
• Huo Lian said three portions of different flames were not enough and that they still needed other supreme treasures.
• Huo Lian told Huang Xiao to steal and replace the Supreme Demon Wall, which he considered the most attainable treasure.
• Huo Lian proposed replacing the wall’s core with another treasure to avoid detection, and Huang Xiao asked whether it needed to contain Supreme Demonic Qi.

Huo Lian showed Huang Xiao a demonized divine beast core whose pure supreme demonic qi could help them deceive Demon Hall disciples and pursue the Supreme Demon Wall. The core could last for years, but Huo Lian had not yet answered whether Huang Xiao could break through the wall.

• Huo Lian explained that treasures carrying supreme demonic qi could fool weaker Demon Hall disciples, but the Replica Wall still bore his aura.
• Huo Lian revealed a black box containing a hardened divine beast core that gave off the same aura as the Supreme Demon Wall.
• Huo Lian told Huang Xiao that the Tomb Clan had slowly purified divine beast cores over thousands of years to create demonized cores with purer supreme demonic qi.
• Huang Xiao learned that pure supreme demonic qi was more useful than qi mixed with the Hall Masters’ auras, even though the mixed qi was somewhat stronger.
• Huo Lian said the core could last for years and asked Huang Xiao to consider whether he could break through the Supreme Demon Wall.

Huang Xiao followed Huo Lian’s plan to seek access to the Supreme Demon Wall so he could replace its core, while Shi Hen secured him three days in Demon Refining Valley. Huang Xiao arrived at the Main Hall aware that the risky mission could cost him his life, but he was determined to help his patriarch and obtain the Minghong Saber.

• Huo Lian told Huang Xiao to use cultivating with the Supreme Demonic Qi as an excuse to visit the Supreme Demon Wall and advised him to bring Shi Hen along.
• Huang Xiao tested Huo Lian’s Small Wooden Box with the Supreme Ghost Stele, found that ghost qi leaked out, and decided to use his own box for the Supreme Demon Wall’s core.
• Huo Lian said he would take Demon Phoenix to the Heavenly Demon Hall while Huang Xiao and Shi Hen headed for the Main Hall of the Demon Hall.
• Huang Xiao and Shi Hen reached the Main Hall, where Huang Xiao noticed that his recent strength and public performances had improved how people viewed him, though he remained wary of Pang Yi.
• Shi Hen secured Huang Xiao three days to cultivate in Demon Refining Valley, and Huang Xiao resolved to risk replacing the Supreme Demon Wall’s core for Huo Lian and the Minghong Saber.

Huang Xiao entered Demon Refining Valley to replace the core of the Supreme Demon Wall with the demonized divine beast inner core. He located the core and cracked the surrounding stone, but still had to remove and replace it carefully within three days without making the damage obvious.

• A Martial Realm disciple who had escorted Huang Xiao on his previous visit guided him to Demon Refining Valley again.
• Huang Xiao approached the Supreme Demon Wall and endured its demonic qi as he searched for the core.
• After half a day, Huang Xiao found the darkest spot in the wall and sensed the core inside it.
• Huang Xiao compared the core’s size with the demonized divine beast inner core and found that the latter was slightly larger.
• Huang Xiao used his finger to crack the stone wall, then prepared to extract the core carefully and fit the replacement into its place.

Huang Xiao spent three days secretly removing the Supreme Demon Core from the Supreme Demon Wall and replacing it with the Demonized Divine Beast Core. Just as he prepared to use his remaining time for Demonic Qi infusion, Wu Renping appeared and recognized him.

• Huang Xiao repeatedly dug into the Supreme Demon Wall, retreating to recover his True Qi while the Supreme Demonic Qi strengthened his internal power.
• On the morning of the third day, Huang Xiao freed the Supreme Demon Core from the wall and hid it in a box beneath his robes.
• Huang Xiao hammered the Demonized Divine Beast Core into the cavity, covered it with a piece of stone, and polished the seams to conceal his work.
• Huang Xiao decided to use his remaining time for Demonic Qi infusion, but Wu Renping suddenly appeared behind him.

Huang Xiao faced Wu Renping, a Shattering-Void Realm elder aligned with the Pang Family, while cultivating with the Supreme Demon Wall's supreme demonic qi. Wu Renping stayed nearby to distract him, leaving Huang Xiao wary as he tried to cultivate.

• Huang Xiao greeted Wu Renping without bowing, and Wu Renping expressed displeasure at the slight.
• Huang Xiao said he would defeat Pang Yi, while Wu Renping said he looked forward to their contest.
• Wu Renping chose to cultivate at the far end of the stone wall, and Huang Xiao felt relieved by the distance.
• Huang Xiao began cultivating while keeping part of his attention on Wu Renping.
• Wu Renping watched Huang Xiao and intended to pressure him and interfere with his cultivation during the final day.

Huang Xiao kept Wu Renping from discovering the hidden demonized Divine Beast core while Wu Renping assessed his strength and reported that he had Dao Realm power. After Wu Renping left, Shi Hen returned with news that the Supreme Elder wanted Huang Xiao to spar with Pang Yi again before the Hall Master Contest.

• Huang Xiao endured Wu Renping's observation in Demon Refining Valley without letting him discover anything unusual about the core.
• Wu Renping concluded that Huang Xiao had Dao Realm strength and left to report his findings to the Pang Family.
• Huang Xiao told Zhu Xing E that Wu Renping had entered the valley, and Zhu warned him that the Pang Family might still target him through secret means.
• Huang Xiao reflected that he could use the Supreme Demonic Core to cultivate once he returned to the Heavenly Demon Hall.
• Shi Hen returned from meeting the Supreme Elder and told Huang Xiao that he was expected to spar with Pang Yi again before the Hall Master Contest.

Shi Hen explained why Pang Ji had arranged another spar between Huang Xiao and Pang Yi, and warned Huang Xiao that his Blood Exhaustion Method could leave him exposed in a prolonged fight. The outcome remained uncertain, depending on whether Huang Xiao could outlast Pang Yi’s temporarily restored strength.

• Zhu Xing E questioned Shi Hen about allowing Huang Xiao and Pang Yi to spar again before the Hall Master's Seat contest, and Shi Hen said Pang Ji had insisted.
• Shi Hen explained that Pang Ji's Ten-Thousand Interception Method could temporarily restore Pang Yi's suppressed cultivation so he could prepare for his future strength.
• Shi Hen suspected Pang Ji wanted Pang Yi to defeat Huang Xiao and calm Demon Hall members who had begun to doubt Pang Yi after Huang Xiao's recent achievements.
• Shi Hen warned Huang Xiao that his depleted essence blood could make his strength collapse during a long fight and reveal the aftereffects of the Blood Exhaustion Method.
• Zhu Xing E pointed out that Pang Yi's restored strength might also be temporary, and Shi Hen said this would only become a weakness if Huang Xiao proved strong enough to exploit it.

Shi Hen explained why Huang Xiao needed to treat his upcoming spar with Pang Yi as a crucial test of strength and support ahead of the Hall Master Contest. Huang Xiao accepted that he had to fight hard, while Shi Hen set a narrow defeat as the minimum acceptable result and hoped Huang Xiao would surprise them with a win.

• Zhu Xing E and Shi Hen noted that Huang Xiao remained disadvantaged against Pang Yi, and Shi Hen said he would seek treasures to store essence blood while Huang Xiao cultivated in seclusion.
• Shi Hen proposed claiming that Huang Xiao used a forbidden art from the Hall Master to explain replenishing his essence blood.
• Shi Hen told Huang Xiao to treat the spar as the actual Hall Master Contest because the result could change which factions supported him.
• Huang Xiao realized that losing badly could cost him crucial allies and said he had to win.
• Shi Hen set Huang Xiao's minimum goal as forcing Pang Yi into a desperate fight before narrowly losing, while hoping Huang Xiao would instead shock the Pang Family with a victory.

Huang Xiao entered Shi Hen’s secret chamber to cultivate, while Wu Renping reported his assessment of Huang Xiao to the anxious Pang Family. At a family assembly, Pang Tiangang said Pang Yi was stronger for now but believed Huang Xiao would surpass him in the future.

• Shi Hen sent Huang Xiao to cultivate in his secret chamber and offered him access to its pills.
• Wu Renping told the Pang Family that Huang Xiao had Entering Dao Realm strength and might reach Dao Realm through special means.
• Pang Family members pressed Pang Tiangang to assess Pang Yi’s strength and the threat Huang Xiao posed.
• Pang Tiangang said Pang Yi remained stronger than Huang Xiao but predicted Huang Xiao would surpass him.
• Pang Tianjiu rejected Pang Tiangang’s prediction, and Pang Tiangang recalled that Pang Yi had once been considered invincible among his peers and the likely next Hall Master.

Pang Tiangang warned the Pang Family that Huang Xiao’s rapid growth could soon threaten Pang Yi, but urged them to obey the Supreme Elder’s ban on interfering. At the Three Immortal Mountains, Zuo Qiu Shu wanted to confront Xuanyuan Jade Butterfly, while Fan Zhuolang persuaded her to wait and invited her to meet the Heavenly Evil Sect’s successor.

• Pang Tiangang told Pang Juyi and the other Pang Family members that Huang Xiao might surpass Pang Yi within ten years, and warned them not to act against him.
• Pang Tiangang compared the current rivalry to the Supreme Elder’s past contest with Huo Lian, and Pang Juyi agreed that the family should wait for the sparring match’s result.
• Pang Tianjiu angrily left after Pang Juyi supported Pang Tiangang’s advice to do nothing.
• Zuo Qiu Shu insisted on confronting Xuanyuan Jade Butterfly for harming the Demon Spirit Sect, but Fan Zhuolang warned that she might be baiting Zuo Qiu Shu to draw out her big brother.
• Fan Zhuolang invited Zuo Qiu Shu to see the successor found for the Heavenly Evil Sect.

Zuo Qiu Shu and Fan Zhuolang reflected on how ten thousand years of slumber had given them a chance to begin anew, then went to visit month-old Little Xie. The elders doted on the baby, while Zhangsun Youyue watched Wang Mizong reveal a gentler side than she had known.

• Zuo Qiu Shu told Fan Zhuolang that the long-lived pair had grown distant from younger generations and felt their hearts had grown old.
• Fan Zhuolang persuaded Zuo Qiu Shu to visit Little Xie in the Penglai Mystic Domain, and they agreed that waking after ten thousand years felt like living anew.
• You Lian'er soothed Little Xie by slapping his bottom, then made him giggle by rubbing her cheek against his.
• Zhu Fanjiang, Fan Xiu, and Wang Mizong arrived and took turns holding Little Xie, who grabbed Zhu Fanjiang's beard.
• Wang Mizong carried Little Xie around and cooed to him, surprising Zhangsun Youyue, who remembered him as the most hot-tempered of the three men.

Fan Zhuolang and Zuo Qiu Shu visited the women and Little Xie, and both were quickly charmed by the baby. After Little Xie urinated on Fan Zhuolang, Zuo Qiu Shu took over diapering him and began teaching the women how to care for a child.

• Zhu Fanjiang introduced Fan Zhuolang and Zuo Qiu Shu as ancestors from ten thousand years ago, and the women bowed respectfully.
• Zuo Qiu Shu held Little Xie and delighted in him, then reluctantly let Fan Zhuolang hold him too.
• Little Xie peed on Fan Zhuolang's chest, leaving the mighty expert stunned while Zhao Yunhui offered to wipe him clean.
• Fan Zhuolang passed Little Xie to Xiao Yan and declined Zhao Yunhui's handkerchief.
• Zuo Qiu Shu corrected the women's diapering and began teaching them her childcare experience, leaving Fan Zhuolang astonished by her change in temperament.

Fan Zhuolang questioned Zhu Fanjiang, Fan Xiu, and Wang Mizong about the women’s Blade and Sword Combined Strike Technique and learned that Zhao Yunhui’s formation skills had made it possible for six women to fight together, with an eight-person formation still in development. He watched the six demonstrate against Fan Xiu and saw that their combined strength could challenge experts in the Entering Dao Realm.

• Fan Zhuolang asked Zhu Fanjiang, Fan Xiu, and Wang Mizong about the women’s Combined Strike Method, and Zhu Fanjiang explained how Zhao Yunhui’s formation expertise had shaped it.
• Fan Zhuolang compared the women’s developing formation with the powerful three-person Combined Strike Method he had once practiced and asked to see the women perform.
• Zhao Yunhui said that Jiang Liuli and Zhangsun Youyue had only recently joined, so the six original members demonstrated instead.
• Fan Xiu attacked the six women, who shifted formation and exchanged moves with him.
• Zhu Fanjiang and Wang Mizong judged that the six women could contend with experts in the Entering Dao Realm.

Fan Zhuolang assessed the six women's Combined Strike Method and offered to guide them in improving its moves. After seeing that adding Jiang Liuli and Zhangsun Youyue made their formation much weaker, he urged them to keep refining their approach and help them develop its potential.

• Fan Xiu escaped the six women's encirclement, and he and Fan Zhuolang praised their ability to restrain an entering Dao realm expert.
• Fan Zhuolang recognized Zhao Yunhui's formation insights and agreed to guide the women in areas beyond formations.
• Jiang Liuli and Zhangsun Youyue joined the six women to demonstrate an eight-person formation, but their lack of practice left them far weaker than the six-person team.
• Fan Zhuolang suggested splitting into smaller groups, while Zhao Yunhui explained her goal of layering the Eight Trigrams and Four Symbols.
• Fan Zhuolang told the women their formation ideas suited them but their combined moves needed improvement, and offered guidance on those moves.