Chapter Summaries

Old Sun transferred his power and life force to Huang Xiao so he could become strong enough to challenge Tuoba Ao. As Huang Xiao absorbed the power, Tuoba Ao broke through the formation and reached the island, where words appeared in the air.

• Old Sun urged Huang Xiao to keep absorbing his power, and Huang Xiao continued using the Northern Darkness Absorption Method despite his grief.
• Qingfeng told Ling Tianya and the others that Huang Xiao might reach the half-step martial realm, though he could not guarantee it.
• Tong Jiuyang kicked the restrained Wu Longfeng for mocking Old Sun, and Duan Siping stopped Wu Longfeng from exploiting the attack to loosen his sealed acupoints.
• Tuoba Ao broke through the formation, charged onto the island, and looked up as a line of words appeared in the air.

Tuoba Ao reached the island and found Li Bai’s instructions to perform three kneels and nine kowtows before opening the secret. He refused to kneel, destroyed the golden characters, and cautiously advanced toward the thatched hut without triggering any apparent response.

• Tuoba Ao broke through the outer formations and reached the small island while Ling Tianya and the others watched helplessly.
• Three columns of golden characters appeared above the hut, instructing a fated descendant to perform three kneels and nine kowtows to open the secret.
• Tuoba Ao recognized the handwriting as Li Bai’s and angrily vowed to settle their old debt with him or the Taixuan Sect.
• Tuoba Ao shattered the golden characters and decided to approach the hut without kneeling.
• Tuoba Ao took nine steps toward the hut without provoking any visible reaction and wondered whether Li Bai had set an empty-city stratagem.

Tuoba Ao ignored Li Bai’s warning and was killed by a Phoenix Feather trap in the Thatched Hut, but he revived using the Demon Ghost Nine Transformations Spirit Art. He revealed that he had three lives and challenged Li Bai, while Ling Tianya and the others remained caught between the hut and Old Sun’s urgent, weakening efforts.

• Tuoba Ao rushed to the Thatched Hut and triggered a formation that immobilized him as a Phoenix Feather pierced his heart.
• Ling Tianya, Mu Jingfei, Tong Jiuyang, and Duan Siping discussed the weapon and concluded Tuoba Ao had been killed.
• A voice from the Thatched Hut spoke as Li Taibai, addressed Old Sun, and condemned Tuoba Ao’s refusal to repent.
• Old Sun urged Huang Xiao to hurry while Huang Xiao continued drawing on his power.
• Tuoba Ao stood up with his wound healed and revealed that his Demon Ghost Nine Transformations Spirit Art had given him three lives.

With the formation near collapse, Old Sun transferred his cultivation to Huang Xiao so he could break through and stop Tuoba Ao, but Huang Xiao failed. Huang Xiao refused to flee, choosing to stay behind while the others warned their families to hide.

• As the formation began collapsing, Old Sun transferred his cultivation to Huang Xiao and urged him to break through to the half-step Martial Realm.
• Huang Xiao raised his power but could not sense or reach the breakthrough, and the others realized he had failed.
• Old Sun collapsed after urging them not to let Tuoba Ao leave, and Duan Siping said his life was in danger.
• Mu Jingfei urged everyone to retreat before Tuoba Ao emerged, but Huang Xiao warned that Tuoba Ao might target their families and friends.
• Huang Xiao insisted on staying to hold Tuoba Ao back and told Ling Tianya and the others to leave and warn people to hide.

With Tuoba Ao close to escaping the collapsing formation, Huang Xiao persuaded the others to stay and wait for a final battle rather than risk a rushed attack. As they prepared, Qingfeng began healing Old Sun while Huang Xiao focused on steadying his immense cultivation.

• Huang Xiao refused the others’ offers to transfer their cultivation, explaining that the process would be too dangerous and take too long.
• Qingfeng and Tong Jiuyang insisted that they would not leave Huang Xiao alone, and the group agreed to stake everything on a final battle.
• Huang Xiao ordered everyone to wait for Tuoba Ao to emerge or the formation to collapse, then recover as much cultivation as they could.
• Qingfeng took over healing Old Sun while Huang Xiao calmed his mind and prepared for battle.
• Qingfeng and Huang Xiao spoke about accepting death without regrets and the possibility that Huang Xiao could break through to the Half-Step Martial Realm.

Huang Xiao drew confidence from Qingfeng’s explanation of the Half-Step Martial Realm and began quietly considering a way to defeat Tuoba Ao. Meanwhile, Tuoba Ao entered the Thatched Hut seeking Li Taibai’s secrets, only to find a scroll bearing a taunting message.

• Qingfeng explained that a Half-Step Martial Realm expert could interfere with an opponent’s control of the momentum of heaven and earth, and promised to prevent Tuoba Ao from suppressing Huang Xiao.
• Qingfeng assured Huang Xiao that his injuries were healing quickly, though he remained concerned about Huang Xiao’s strength against Tuoba Ao.
• Huang Xiao said Qingfeng’s words had given him inspiration, then sat down to think while Qingfeng watched over Old Sun.
• Tuoba Ao entered the Thatched Hut after concluding that the destroyed Peacock Plume had been the formation’s eye.
• Tuoba Ao found a yellow silk scroll on a bluestone block and unrolled it, discovering the words “Go back now.”
• Tuoba Ao roared in fury, swearing to kill Li Taibai for making a fool of him again.

Tuoba Ao emerged from the destroyed Thatched Hut holding a scroll that revealed only the words “Go back now,” and demanded an explanation from Sun Simiao. Sun Simiao said Li Taibai’s message meant there was no secret at the site, while Tuoba Ao recognized that Old Sun had sacrificed his power to help Huang Xiao.

• Tuoba Ao roared inside the Thatched Hut, which then exploded and revealed him holding a scroll.
• Ling Tianya guessed Tuoba Ao had been disappointed by the treasure, and Sun Simiao awoke to say Tuoba Ao had obtained nothing he wanted.
• Sun Simiao explained that Li Taibai’s words had reminded him there was no secret at the site.
• The formation collapsed after its eye on the Small Island in the Lake was destroyed, allowing Tuoba Ao to reach the others.
• Tuoba Ao opened the scroll, saw the words “Go back now,” and demanded an explanation from Sun Simiao.
• Tuoba Ao realized Sun Simiao had sacrificed his power to aid Huang Xiao and mocked both the sacrifice and Qingfeng’s strength.

Tuoba Ao attacked Qingfeng, Huang Xiao, and the others after they refused to reveal the secret, while Qingfeng prevented him from controlling the forces of heaven and earth. Tuoba Ao overwhelmed the wounded elders, then turned toward Old Sun when Wu Longfeng made a move.

• Tuoba Ao demanded that Sun Simiao reveal the secret and threatened to kill everyone, but Ling Tianya and the others refused to yield.
• Huang Xiao charged Tuoba Ao as Qingfeng blocked his control of the forces of heaven and earth; Tuoba Ao easily repelled Huang Xiao's punch.
• Tuoba Ao rushed at Ling Tianya, Duan Siping, Tong Jiuyang, and Mu Jingfei, striking all four and sending them flying.
• Tuoba Ao prepared to attack the fallen elders again, then noticed Wu Longfeng moving toward Old Sun and charged at him.

Wu Longfeng tried to abduct Sun Simiao during the fight, but Tuoba Ao intercepted him and left him gravely injured. Huang Xiao continued battling Tuoba Ao alone, relying on the Ageless Crystal’s dwindling life essence to recover, until Tuoba Ao’s finger force pierced his meridians.

• Wu Longfeng unsealed several acupoints and tried to abduct Sun Simiao while Huang Xiao and the others fought Tuoba Ao.
• Qingfeng used heaven and earth momentum to slow Wu Longfeng, and Tuoba Ao abandoned his attack on Ling Tianya to intercept him.
• Tuoba Ao struck Wu Longfeng down and left him severely injured, while Qingfeng carried Sun Simiao away from the fight.
• Huang Xiao faced Tuoba Ao alone as his grandfather and the others remained unable to rejoin the battle.
• Huang Xiao used the remaining life essence in his body to recover through dozens of exchanges with Tuoba Ao, but Tuoba Ao’s finger force struck his fists and pierced his meridians.

Huang Xiao struggled against Tuoba Ao, who overwhelmed him despite Qingfeng's support. With no other chance to survive, Huang Xiao unleashed Heavenly Demon Disintegration and continued fighting, leaving the battle unresolved as he charged at Tuoba Ao again.

• Tuoba Ao's ghost and demon qi resisted Huang Xiao's attempt to neutralize it, while Qingfeng and Old Sun realized the wounded group could not help.
• Tuoba Ao attacked Huang Xiao relentlessly, and Huang Xiao recognized that he had to risk everything to survive.
• Huang Xiao used Heavenly Demon Disintegration, breaking his meridians to raise his cultivation as Qingfeng and Ling Tianya watched in anguish.
• Huang Xiao clashed with Tuoba Ao using the Subduing Tiger Fist, then halted his retreat and charged again without giving up his momentum.

Huang Xiao shattered nearly all his meridians with Heavenly Demon Disintegration and fought Tuoba Ao, but still could not match his strength. He used the Northern Darkness Absorption Method to drain Tuoba Ao’s power, while Tuoba Ao grew alarmed and began to see Qingfeng as his greatest potential threat.

• Huang Xiao continued shattering his meridians to raise his power, but Tuoba Ao struck him back and judged that he was nearing his limit.
• Huang Xiao let Tuoba Ao’s palm strike his chest, then lunged forward and pressed his right palm against Tuoba Ao’s to begin absorbing his internal power.
• Tuoba Ao recognized Huang Xiao’s absorption method but could neither stop the drain nor fully withdraw his palm.
• Tuoba Ao noticed Qingfeng and concluded that his power could eventually make him the greatest threat to Tuoba Ao.
• Huang Xiao focused on using the Northern Darkness Absorption Method to absorb as much of Tuoba Ao’s power as possible.

Huang Xiao used the Northern Darkness Absorption Method to draw Tuoba Ao’s true qi into his dantian, despite being unable to assimilate it quickly enough. Tuoba Ao overwhelmed him with power replenished from Heaven and Earth Momentum, and Huang Xiao chose to accept everything as his dantian began to buckle.

• Huang Xiao absorbed Tuoba Ao’s true qi but found it too violent to neutralize quickly, causing pressure to build in his dantian.
• Tuoba Ao drew on Heaven and Earth Momentum to replenish his internal power and dismissed Huang Xiao’s attempt to absorb it.
• Tuoba Ao poured his true qi into Huang Xiao’s hands, sending it through his meridians and into his dantian.
• Huang Xiao roared that he would turn nothing away and accepted Tuoba Ao’s power, though he could assimilate only a fraction of it.
• Huang Xiao imagined his dantian as an endless sea, but Tuoba Ao’s relentless true qi continued to batter it.

Huang Xiao pushed Heavenly Demon Disintegration beyond its limits, shattered his meridians and Dantian, and launched a final attack on Tuoba Ao while Qingfeng also charged in. Tuoba Ao repelled them both, but Huang Xiao remained standing with a brief surge of power from his shattered Dantian.

• Tuoba Ao realized Huang Xiao was still absorbing his True Qi, while the wounded onlookers believed Huang Xiao had already lost.
• Old Sun urged Qingfeng to escape and hinted that Tuoba Ao had not uncovered the true secret, but Tuoba Ao threatened their families to force Old Sun to talk.
• Qingfeng charged Tuoba Ao, and Huang Xiao shattered the meridians in his arms before striking Tuoba Ao with a final burst of Palm Force.
• Tuoba Ao hurled Huang Xiao away, then struck Qingfeng with a palm blast that sent him crashing beside Old Sun.
• Huang Xiao shattered his Dantian, unleashing the True Qi inside it and remaining on his feet despite Tuoba Ao's blow.

With his Dantian shattered and his life fading, Huang Xiao struggled to reach Tuoba Ao, who used Heaven and Earth Momentum to keep him at bay. After Huang Xiao understood the force suppressing him, his meridians began to rebuild as he started breaking through to the half-step martial realm.

• Huang Xiao charged Tuoba Ao, but Tuoba Ao used Heaven and Earth Momentum to slow him and threatened the captive elders unless Sun Simiao revealed the secret.
• Sun Simiao and the others refused to give in, while Huang Xiao realized he could not overcome Tuoba Ao's control of Heaven and Earth Momentum.
• Huang Xiao recalled Tuoba Ao's words about the half-step martial realm, and his berserk true qi suddenly calmed.
• Qingfeng disrupted Tuoba Ao's control of Heaven and Earth Momentum, allowing Huang Xiao to evade Tuoba Ao's palm strike.
• Huang Xiao discovered that his shattered meridians were rebuilding as he began to break through, and Tuoba Ao rushed to stop him.

Huang Xiao broke through to the Half-Step Martial Realm during his fight with Tuoba Ao, recovering his shattered Meridians and Dantian. He challenged Tuoba Ao to fight again while Wu Longfeng fell into despair over the collapse of his plans.

• Huang Xiao met Tuoba Ao's attack with a punch and, after being driven back, revealed that he had reached the Half-Step Martial Realm.
• Qingfeng and Old Sun recognized Huang Xiao's breakthrough as he used his new power to dispel the Heaven and Earth Momentum around them.
• Huang Xiao's Meridians and Dantian rapidly recovered, and he realized that Tuoba Ao's pressure and his own risky use of Heavenly Demon Disintegration had enabled his breakthrough.
• Huang Xiao challenged Tuoba Ao to a fight to the death, while Tuoba Ao rejected the idea that Huang Xiao could match him.
• Tuoba Ao spat blood as Huang Xiao's breakthrough unsettled him, and Zhuge Zheng warned that Wu Longfeng's state of mind was faltering.

After Huang Xiao broke through, he faced Tuoba Ao on more equal footing as they fought over Sun Simiao, whom Tuoba Ao wanted to capture and question. Their exchange ended with Tuoba Ao recognizing the power of Huang Xiao’s Yin-Yang Mysterious Union Palm.

• Tuoba Ao decided he had to defeat Huang Xiao before he could take Sun Simiao and force him to reveal what he knew.
• Huang Xiao met Tuoba Ao’s attack with the Heavenly Demon Subduing Tiger Fist, and their first clash showed that both could threaten the other.
• Tuoba Ao used demon qi and ghost qi in a series of attacks, but Huang Xiao blocked them and countered his White Bone Ghost Claw with a palm technique of utmost yang and unyielding strength.
• Tuoba Ao asked whether Tong Jiuyang had taught Huang Xiao his palm technique, and Huang Xiao identified it as the Yin-Yang Mysterious Union Palm, which had some connection to the Supreme Yang Skill.

Huang Xiao fought Tuoba Ao, using the Yin-Yang Mysterious Union Palm and absorbing the Palm Force Tuoba Ao reflected back at him. The chapter ended with Tuoba Ao realizing Huang Xiao had returned his own attacks with a technique that looked like Force-Shifting Position Exchange.

• Tuoba Ao dismissed Huang Xiao's Yin-Yang Mysterious Union Palm, but Huang Xiao's soft, yin Palm Force invaded his arm's meridians and forced him to retreat.
• Huang Xiao and Tuoba Ao exchanged blows on the ground and then fought in the air, while Tuoba Ao used Force-Shifting Position Exchange to redirect Huang Xiao's Palm Force.
• Huang Xiao absorbed a redirected blast of his own Palm Force, leaving Tuoba Ao unable to harm him with the technique.
• Tuoba Ao announced that he would attack with his own moves, but after another exchange he realized Huang Xiao had also reflected his Palm Force back at him.
• Huang Xiao denied knowing Force-Shifting Position Exchange, and Tuoba Ao protested that the counterattack he had just faced had been his own technique.

Tuoba Ao accused Huang Xiao of stealing his Force-Shifting Position Exchange, but Huang Xiao revealed that he was countering Tuoba Ao’s force with a technique from the Black Fire Sect. As their duel intensified, Huang Xiao unleashed the Heavenly Demon Subduing Tiger Fist and showed that its force was still building.

• Tuoba Ao suspected Huang Xiao had learned Force-Shifting Position Exchange, while Huang Xiao mocked him and asserted his authority as Heavenly Demon Sect Master.
• Tuoba Ao charged Huang Xiao, and their exchanges revealed that Huang Xiao could return Tuoba Ao’s force with greater power.
• Huang Xiao identified his countering technique as part of the Black Fire Sect’s Nine-Turn Heaven and Earth, which Tuoba Ao recognized as the sect’s lost divine skill.
• Huang Xiao attacked with the Heavenly Demon Subduing Tiger Fist, and Tuoba Ao was jolted backward as each successive punch grew more powerful.
• Huang Xiao said he had only reached the fist’s fifth layer and charged Tuoba Ao again.

Huang Xiao fought Tuoba Ao and nearly fell for his feint, but used Whirling Palm Force to turn a palm strike around and force Tuoba Ao to retreat. The two resumed their standoff, with Huang Xiao unharmed and Tuoba Ao accusing him of using a weak attack.

• Tuoba Ao strengthened his palms with demon qi and attacked Huang Xiao with two blasts of palm force.
• Huang Xiao shattered the blasts, but Tuoba Ao used them as cover to circle behind him and strike at his back.
• Huang Xiao guided his own palm force around behind Tuoba Ao, making him abandon his attack and dodge away.
• Tuoba Ao realized Huang Xiao had launched the palm force and accused him of tricking him with a weak strike.
• Huang Xiao explained that Whirling Palm Force could redirect palm force, though its power diminished when it changed direction.

Huang Xiao fought Tuoba Ao after Tuoba Ao unleashed the full power of the Demon Ghost Nine Transformations Spirit Art, but Tuoba Ao’s corrosive merged true qi began destroying Huang Xiao’s meridians and dantian. Huang Xiao escaped a brief assault with Nine-Turn Heaven and Earth, yet knew he had to risk everything to survive.

• Huang Xiao used his self-created Plum-Searching-in-the-Snow Palm to suppress Tuoba Ao’s shifting techniques, prompting Tuoba Ao to activate Demon Ghost Possession.
• Huang Xiao and Tuoba Ao exchanged powerful attacks, and Huang Xiao discovered that Tuoba Ao’s demon ghost body had become exceptionally tough.
• Huang Xiao absorbed Tuoba Ao’s true qi, but its corrosive force tore at his meridians and battered his dantian.
• Tuoba Ao pressed his attack while Huang Xiao struggled to stop absorbing the dangerous true qi and tried to blast him away.
• Huang Xiao redirected Tuoba Ao’s force with Nine-Turn Heaven and Earth and retreated, realizing he had to stake his life on the next move.