Chapter Summaries

Huang Xiao and Pang Yi ended their confrontation over a God-Burying Hall disciple’s death, but Pang Yi and his allies secretly planned to abandon the other halls during the Jade Slip struggle. Two days later, the Ten Thousand Demons Hall arrived, and Huang Xiao heard roars and screams outside the Heaven-Slaughter Gang’s residence.

• Pang Yi withdrew his God-Burying Hall disciples after Huang Xiao defended his actions, and Huang Xiao arranged for the dead woman to be buried.
• Huang Xiao reflected on the demonic nature that his Heavenly Demon Skill had left within him and how the Upper Clarity Scripture helped restrain it.
• Pang Yi, Ye He, and Lu Yi discussed using the Jade Slip struggle to leave the Heavenly Demon Hall and Ten Thousand Demons Hall without aid, while Pang Yi also vowed revenge against Sword God Yi and Li Chaoxun.
• Pang Yi ordered the halls and their subordinate sects to strengthen their watches and avoid giving Huang Xiao another reason to make trouble.
• Two days later, Huang Xiao heard roars and screams near the Heaven-Slaughter Gang’s residence and saw a crowd gathered there.

Lou Feishang killed a Heaven-Slaughter Gang expert and ordered the rest executed, but Pang Yi arrived in time to stop the attack and made the gang surrender its residence. Pang Yi then revealed that Lou Feishang had taken both a Void Transformation Pill and a Void Condensation Pill, leaving his fate uncertain.

• Huang Xiao arrived at the Heaven-Slaughter Gang residence and learned that Lou Feishang had personally killed one of its Void Martial Realm experts.
• Lou Feishang ordered Teng Hu and Mao Chuyi to kill the Heaven-Slaughter Gang members after they refused to leave.
• Pang Yi, Lu Yi, and Ye He arrived and prevented the Ten Thousand Demons Hall from attacking the Heaven-Slaughter Gang.
• Pang Yi told the Heaven-Slaughter Gang to leave the residence for Lou Feishang's people, and they reluctantly obeyed.
• Pang Yi warned Lou Feishang about his recklessness and revealed that he had taken a Void Condensation Pill as well as a Void Transformation Pill.

Huang Xiao reflected on the desperate risks of competing with Pang Yi for the Hall Master's Seat, then played the Purple Soul Flute and unintentionally began performing the Heavenly Demon Soul-Destroying Sound. As his longing and despair surged, the music turned violent and afflicted everyone gathered around his courtyard.

• Lou Feishang entered the residence after taking a Void Condensation Pill, and Pang Yi called off further discussion until the next day.
• Huang Xiao, Yue Cheng, and Yin Huju discussed Lou Feishang's dangerous gamble and the possibility that Huang Xiao might eventually face the same desperation in the contest against Pang Yi.
• Huang Xiao picked up the Purple Soul Flute and played while remembering his wives, family, and friends in Great Song.
• Yue Cheng and Yin Huju realized Huang Xiao had begun using the Heavenly Demon Soul-Destroying Sound, and disciples gathered to listen as its calm music soothed their demonic qi.
• Huang Xiao's despair about possibly never returning to Great Song intensified the music, and Yue Cheng and Yin Huju warned everyone to flee as the flute's sound caused the gathered disciples and experts severe pain.

Huang Xiao unleashed the Heavenly Demon Soul-Destroying Sound on the town, forcing the gathered martial artists to retreat and alarming the rival halls. After the flute music stopped, Yue Cheng and Yin Huju prepared to check on him, but Huang Xiao called everyone inside.

• Yue Cheng and Yin Huju moved the Heavenly Demon Hall’s people far from Huang Xiao’s residence as the flute music overwhelmed them.
• Pang Yi, Ye He, and Lu Yi identified the music as the Heavenly Demon Soul-Destroying Sound and realized Huang Xiao was playing it.
• Pang Yi and Lu Yi dismissed Huang Xiao’s sound-art practice as a distraction, then reconsidered when its power suddenly intensified.
• Lou Feishang and the Ten Thousand Demons Hall’s experts also recognized the sound art, while Yue Cheng and Yin Huju worried that interrupting Huang Xiao could harm him.
• The flute music stopped, and Yue Cheng and Yin Huju prepared to enter Huang Xiao’s residence before he called everyone inside.

Huang Xiao learned that his accidental performance of the Heavenly Demon Soul-Destroying Sound had affected even Yue Cheng and Yin Huju, and he considered its potential while preparing for the struggle over the Jade Slips. The next day, he and Lou Feishang met Pang Yi, whose contempt for Lou Feishang remained hidden behind polite words.

• Yue Cheng and Yin Huju reassured themselves that Huang Xiao was unharmed, and Huang Xiao told the God-Burying Hall that he would stop playing the flute.
• Yin Huju and Yue Cheng explained that Huang Xiao's Heavenly Demon Soul-Destroying Sound had threatened weaker fighters and briefly affected them, prompting them to agree he could practice it after the current matter was over.
• Yue Cheng suggested Huang Xiao use Sound Arts during the Jade Slips struggle, but Yin Huju pointed out that Huang Xiao was a main contender, not a supporting fighter.
• Huang Xiao returned to his room, reflected on how the Heavenly Demon Dragon Roar might have resonated with the Heavenly Demon Soul-Destroying Sound, and focused on staying alert for the coming contest.
• Huang Xiao and Lou Feishang met Pang Yi at his residence with Yue Cheng, Yin Huju, Teng Hu, and Mao Chuyi; Pang Yi greeted Huang Xiao politely while inwardly resenting Lou Feishang's indifference.

Pang Yi persuaded Huang Xiao and Lou Feishang to keep the Three Great Halls together by offering shared intelligence and citing the Main Hall’s authority. The alliance learned that Liu Chongming had changed direction and was urging Jianghu fighters to kill Heavenly Evil Sect disciples for a chance to claim his Jade Slip.

• Pang Yi proposed that the Three Great Halls travel together, but Lou Feishang and Huang Xiao initially said their halls planned to act separately.
• Pang Yi revealed Hidden Demon Guard intelligence that Liu Chongming had changed direction and was heading deeper into Yizhou, then argued that the halls should share information and guard against other Jianghu forces.
• Huang Xiao agreed to cooperate, and Lou Feishang accepted after Pang Yi invoked the Main Hall’s authority and promised the halls could compete separately for the Jade Slip once they found Liu Chongming.
• Huang Xiao and Lou Feishang questioned why Liu Chongming had changed direction, and Pang Yi suggested he might be too badly injured to mislead his pursuers deliberately.
• A Ten Thousand Demons Hall disciple brought Lou Feishang fresh intelligence, which revealed that Liu Chongming was offering his Jade Slip to those who killed Heavenly Evil Sect disciples or sufficiently important experts.
• Pang Yi concluded that Liu Chongming was seeking revenge because the Heavenly Evil Sect had led the destruction of his Heavenly Lake Gang.

Pang Yi, Huang Xiao, and Lou Feishang prepared to pursue Liu Chongming through Yizhou as his accusations stirred suspicion among the Jianghu factions. Wounded and hunted, Liu Chongming reflected on his sect’s destruction and used the Jade Slip to draw the Heavenly Evil Sect’s enemies into conflict before three armed brothers confronted him.

• Lou Feishang warned Pang Yi and Huang Xiao that Liu Chongming’s claims might be a scheme to divide the Jianghu factions, but they agreed to continue the pursuit and share information.
• Pang Yi ordered his men to gather, and the group set out immediately for Liu Chongming.
• Liu Chongming rested by a stream, tended his wounds, and recalled that the hunt for his Jade Slip had led to the destruction of the Heavenly Lake Gang.
• Liu Chongming resolved to use the Jade Slip to bring harm to the Heavenly Evil Sect, though he knew the other factions would not destroy it for him.
• A bowman and two saber-wielding brothers ambushed Liu Chongming and demanded the Jade Slip, but he refused to hand it over and challenged them to fight.

Liu Chongming fought three brothers who sought the Jade Slip of the Longevity Pill Manual, killing the eldest and second despite suffering grave wounds. The third brother shot him through the heart and searched his body, but Liu Chongming’s heart was still beating; he rose and drove an arrow into the third brother’s heart.

• The eldest and second brothers attacked Liu Chongming while the third brother kept his bow trained on him.
• Liu Chongming charged the eldest brother, took a saber wound across his chest, and killed him even after the third brother’s arrow pierced his left eye.
• The second brother slashed Liu Chongming’s shoulder, but Liu Chongming pulled the arrow from his eye and stabbed the second brother through the throat.
• The third brother shot Liu Chongming through the heart, waited for him to stop moving, and began searching his body for the Jade Slip.
• The third brother felt Liu Chongming’s heartbeat, but Liu Chongming suddenly sat up and thrust an arrow into his heart.

Liu Chongming survived a near-fatal arrow wound when the Jade Slip healed him, though its power was nearly spent and his left eye remained blind. He continued toward Supreme Evil Peak to draw his pursuers into Heavenly Evil Sect territory, while Huang Xiao's party approached the sect and discussed the danger ahead.

• Liu Chongming pulled the arrow from his chest and used the Jade Slip's glow to heal the wound and bring him back to consciousness.
• Liu Chongming realized the Jade Slip had enough medicinal potency to save his life at most once more, then left the dead brothers behind and followed the stream toward the Supreme Evil River.
• Liu Chongming planned to lead his Jianghu pursuers toward Supreme Evil Peak and provoke conflict with the Heavenly Evil Sect.
• Huang Xiao, Pang Yi, and Lou Feishang saw Heavenly Evil Sect watchers while their party traveled within a few hundred li of Supreme Evil Peak.
• Huang Xiao warned Lu Yi, Yue Cheng, and the others that the Heavenly Evil Sect's territory could put them at risk, while Lou Feishang reported that Liu Chongming was heading upstream toward the sect.

Lou Feishang, Huang Xiao, and Pang Yi discussed the Heavenly Evil Sect’s Four Great Families and the secrets behind its struggle for the sect master’s position. Pang Yi revealed that the ruling family possessed a token containing a formation that might lead to lost supreme arts, treasures, and the missing Demon Daoist Canon, but the conditions for deciphering it remained unclear.

• Lou Feishang, Huang Xiao, and Pang Yi discussed how far the Heavenly Evil Sect might let Jianghu fighters approach Ultimate Evil Peak while they pursued Liu Chongming.
• Huang Xiao recalled that the Sima Family ruled the Heavenly Evil Sect, while the Jiang Family remained neutral and the Kong and Chen Families had joined forces against the Sima Family.
• Pang Yi explained that the sect master possessed a token tied to secrets left by the Zhu, Wang, and Fan Families, including lost supreme arts and treasures.
• Pang Yi said the token’s formation might require the Three Great Families or the three Ancient Evil Blades to decipher, though the Heavenly Evil Sect likely lacked the means to do so.

Huang Xiao and the other leaders accepted the Heavenly Evil Sect’s restriction on approaching Supreme Evil Peak, planning to follow its rules publicly while protecting their people in secret. After splitting up to pursue Liu Chongming’s Jade Slip, their forces slaughtered a gathering of Jianghu martial artists, and the chapter ended with Huang Xiao, Lou Feishang, and Pang Yi setting off separately to compete for the treasure.

• A Heavenly Evil Sect messenger delivered an order barring experts above the Void Martial Realm from accompanying their factions near Supreme Evil Peak and forbidding outsiders from approaching within a hundred li.
• After receiving the Ten Thousand Demons Hall’s report that the major factions had agreed to comply, Huang Xiao and the others decided their protectors would follow them secretly and keep their distance.
• Lou Feishang and Pang Yi spotted nearly a hundred Jianghu martial artists, and the Three Great Halls attacked them to establish their power.
• Lou Feishang killed a Void Martial Realm expert, while Huang Xiao’s forces joined in the slaughter; more than ninety percent of the gathered martial artists died within a quarter of an hour.
• Huang Xiao recognized how much Lou Feishang’s strength had increased and resolved to watch him carefully.
• Lou Feishang departed after taunting Pang Yi, and Huang Xiao left with his subordinates as the three leaders set out separately to pursue Liu Chongming’s Jade Slip.

Huang Xiao reached the Supreme Evil River and learned that Liu Chongming had gone upstream by boat. To catch up, Huang Xiao ordered his men to seize the Heavenly Sword Sect's tower ship, whose members challenged the approaching group.

• Huang Xiao learned from Song Gang that nearby fishing families had been killed and that Liu Chongming had taken a boat upstream.
• Huang Xiao spotted boats heading upriver and sent men to identify their factions.
• After learning the largest tower ship belonged to the Heavenly Sword Sect, Huang Xiao ordered his men to seize it.
• Huang Xiao's group raced across the water toward the larger ships while nearby small boats fled or watched from a distance.
• A middle-aged Heavenly Sword Sect member appeared at the tower ship's bow and ordered Huang Xiao's group to withdraw.

Huang Xiao and the Heavenly Demon Hall attacked the ships surrounding the Heavenly Sword Sect’s tower ship, overwhelming the Jianghu fighters and pressing toward the sect’s defenders. Huang Xiao led the assault against the Heavenly Sword Sect’s Void Martial Realm experts as their commander prepared to escape.

• The Mixed Demon Sect and Heavenly Demon Hall members attacked the ships, and the Jianghu fighters lost their nerve when they recognized the Demon Hall.
• Huang Xiao killed a Void Martial Realm opponent in a few moves, startling distant onlookers with how much his strength had grown.
• Huang Xiao charged toward the Heavenly Sword Sect’s tower ship, while Song Gang and the other Heavenly Demon Hall experts followed to protect and support him.
• Song Gang ordered Chao Huo and Chao Tu to stop stalling and join the attack, and the two followed after abandoning their attempt to avoid the fight.
• The Heavenly Sword Sect’s middle-aged commander recognized Huang Xiao and recalled that he had killed Jia Kong and taken the Jade Slip from the sect.

Huang Xiao fought Han Cu of the Heavenly Sword Sect over the Jade Slip while their followers battled nearby. Han Cu believed Huang Xiao’s sword techniques were insufficient, and the duel remained unresolved.

• Han Cu blamed Huang Xiao for ruining the Heavenly Sword Sect’s earlier attempt to obtain the Jade Slip and charged at him while his men engaged the others.
• Song Gang tried to protect Huang Xiao, but Huang Xiao drew his Imitation Saber and chose to face Han Cu himself.
• Huang Xiao and Han Cu exchanged blows on the river, and Han Cu was surprised by Huang Xiao’s powerful internal energy.
• Huang Xiao said the Heavenly Sword Sect owed him a debt because Jia Kong had attacked him first, then resumed the fight with Han Cu.
• Han Cu mocked Huang Xiao for using only the fourth form and prepared to strike with his sword.

Huang Xiao defeated Han Cu in their duel and forced the Heavenly Sword Sect to abandon the Tower Ship, then killed one of its injured experts as they withdrew. After taking control of the ship, Huang Xiao left Chao Huo and Chao Tu discussing how to report his strength to Pang Yi and the God-Burying Hall.

• Huang Xiao’s saber strikes overwhelmed Han Cu, injured him, and forced him to agree to abandon the Tower Ship.
• After Han Cu tried to leave with a taunt, Huang Xiao ordered his men to kill everyone, making Han Cu quickly withdraw his forces.
• Huang Xiao killed a badly injured Heavenly Sword Sect void martial realm expert, and Han Cu led the remaining disciples off the Tower Ship.
• Huang Xiao took possession of the ship, arranged for captured martial artists to row, and planned to put the ordinary women ashore when possible.
• Chao Huo and Chao Tu discussed Huang Xiao’s strength and planned to pass their observations to Pang Yi and the God-Burying Hall.

Huang Xiao and the other major factions reached a broad, unnaturally calm stretch of the Supreme Evil River, where a false jade slip had provoked a deadly melee. Liu Chongming was spotted escaping underwater, but powerful undercurrents thwarted the search, leaving his whereabouts unknown.

• Huang Xiao learned that Liu Chongming had appeared among the gathered boats and supposedly thrown away a jade slip, while Song Gang questioned whether the slip was genuine.
• Huang Xiao spotted Pang Yi and Lou Feishang aboard the God-Burying Hall and Ten Thousand Demons Hall ships, as well as Sword God Yi, Jiang Liuli, Feng Xiaofeng, Li Chaoxun, and Zhangsun Youyue among the other factions.
• A fighter crushed the jade slip and exposed it as a fake, prompting the angry factions to search their boats for Liu Chongming and attack strangers.
• A burly man recognized Liu Chongming clinging to his boat, and Liu Chongming sank into the river as the surrounding fighters and Chao Huo and Chao Tu dove after him.
• Chao Huo and Chao Tu returned without finding Liu Chongming and reported that powerful undercurrents below the surface made it nearly impossible to move through the muddy water.

Huang Xiao concluded Liu Chongming may have escaped through a tributary in an Evil Water Region, then led the Heavenly Demon Hall away from the God-Burying Hall to search elsewhere. As the Heavenly Demon Hall followed Bishui Palace’s ship, Liu Chongming surfaced on a distant tributary.

• Song Gang identified the turbulent stretch of the Supreme Evil River as an Evil Water Region, and Huang Xiao reasoned Liu Chongming might know how to navigate its currents and escape through a tributary.
• Huang Xiao refused Pang Yi’s invitation to coordinate with the God-Burying Hall and chose a river route for the Heavenly Demon Hall to search.
• Huang Xiao and Li Chaoxun exchanged threats when their ships met; Zhangsun Youyue saw that Huang Xiao had reached the Void Martial Realm.
• Huang Xiao let Bishui Palace’s ship lead the pursuit, then ordered the Heavenly Demon Hall ship to follow behind.
• Liu Chongming leaped from the water on a tributary several dozen li from the Supreme Evil River, spitting out river water.

Liu Chongming escaped the Evil Water Region and continued toward Supreme Evil Peak, hoping to draw his pursuers into the Heavenly Evil Sect’s core territory. Huang Xiao received secret intelligence, managed tensions within his group, and learned from Bishui Palace that Liu was nearing the hundred-li boundary before questioning how he had advanced so quickly.

• Liu Chongming reached the riverbank, conserved the Jade Slip’s remaining power, and headed west toward Supreme Evil Peak.
• Huang Xiao read a top-secret message that required the Ninth Stage of the Heavenly Demon Skill to reveal, then destroyed it after learning of a mystery surrounding the Evil Water Region.
• Huang Xiao rejected Song Gang’s call to confront Bishui Palace over Chao Jue’s death and ordered him to focus on tracking Liu Chongming.
• Huang Xiao agreed to exchange intelligence with Li Chaoxun and Zhangsun Youyue, who revealed that Liu Chongming was approaching Supreme Evil Peak’s hundred-li boundary.
• Huang Xiao shared his suspicion that Liu Chongming’s rapid progress was strange, and Li Chaoxun challenged whether Huang Xiao was implying Bishui Palace’s intelligence was false.

Huang Xiao revealed that Heavenly Evil Sect factions and outside forces were helping Liu Chongming and seeking the Zhu, Wang, and Fan Families’ hidden treasures in the Evil Water Region. When the group returned to their boats, they found them destroyed and their guards killed, forcing them to continue toward Supreme Evil Peak overland.

• Huang Xiao told Li Chaoxun, Zhangsun Youyue, and Song Gang that people within the Heavenly Evil Sect were secretly weakening the pursuit of Liu Chongming.
• Huang Xiao explained that other forces were targeting possible treasures in the Evil Water Region, including the Ancient Evil Blade Dragon Fang and the Zhu, Wang, and Fan Families’ hidden wealth.
• Huang Xiao and Li Chaoxun led their groups back toward Supreme Evil River, and Song Gang questioned Huang Xiao about sharing secret information with Bishui Palace.
• Bishui Palace received the same information from its own sources, and Zhangsun Youyue sent word to Huang Xiao’s group.
• The groups found their boats burned or smashed and their guards dead, so Huang Xiao concluded that the attackers meant to delay their pursuit of Liu Chongming.
• Li Chaoxun led Bishui Palace toward the Heavenly Evil Sect, while Song Gang realized Huang Xiao had spared him despite his earlier threat against Zhangsun Youyue.

Huang Xiao’s party pursued Liu Chongming through the Heavenly Evil Sect’s territory, but Huang Xiao concluded that Liu Chongming’s real destination was the Evil Water Region. He ordered his forces to capture Heavenly Evil Sect members alive to learn its location, while Song Gang warned that the quest would put them in grave danger.

• Huang Xiao separated his party from Bishui Palace and led them toward the Heavenly Evil Sect, where they found dead Jianghu fighters and faced increasing danger inside the sect’s hundred-li boundary.
• Song Gang’s scout found traces of Liu Chongming, and a man from a minor faction told Huang Xiao that Liu Chongming had passed through a day earlier, heading west toward Supreme Evil Peak.
• Huang Xiao reasoned that Liu Chongming could not reach Supreme Evil Peak and that the Evil Water Region was likely his true destination, so he sought its location instead of pursuing Liu Chongming directly.
• Huang Xiao ordered Chao Huo and Chao Tu to have the Mixed Demon Sect members locate Heavenly Evil Sect forces and capture them; he also told Song Gang to seize prisoners alive for questioning.
• Song Gang warned Huang Xiao that the Evil Water Region was dangerous, but Huang Xiao said he could not withdraw while rival factions such as Pang Yi’s pursued their own aims.
• Song Gang agreed to capture Heavenly Evil Sect members and promised to watch Chao Huo and Chao Tu, whose survival he considered short-lived.