Chapter Summaries

Huo Lian persuaded Mo Pozheng to help him exploit the leak in the formation and obtain divine beast remains in exchange for helping the Tomb Clan leave early. They agreed that Huo Lian would take two surviving phoenixes and fifteen corpses, while Mo Pozheng prepared to send them through the weakened formation.

• Huo Lian persuaded Mo Pozheng that the Pang Family threatened Demon Hall and won the Tomb Clan's support if the family proved disloyal.
• Huo Lian asked Mo Pozheng for divine beast corpses and living beasts, and Mo Pozheng agreed to provide two living beasts and negotiate over the remains.
• Mo Pozheng listed five surviving divine beasts, and Huo Lian chose the pair of phoenixes.
• Huo Lian and Mo Pozheng settled on the phoenixes and fifteen corpses, with at least half the corpses medium-sized.
• Huo Lian said he would damage the area where Supreme Demonic Qi was leaking so Mo Pozheng could send the beasts and remains out at a fixed location.

Huo Lian secured the Tomb Clan’s cooperation by warning Mo Pozheng that he could cut off their Dragon Vein Qi, though Mo Pozheng believed the clan had no choice but to ally with him against the Pang Family. Huo Lian then found Chao Hun and, claiming he would help him use Supreme Demonic Qi more effectively, hurled him into the pool.

• Huo Lian warned Mo Pozheng not to break their agreement or he would cut off the Tomb Clan’s Dragon Vein Qi.
• Mo Pozheng and the Great Elder agreed to cooperate with Huo Lian because they feared the Pang Family’s growing power, and Mo Pozheng went to make preparations himself.
• Huo Lian returned to Chao Hun, who was cultivating by the pool, and immobilized him with overwhelming force.
• Huo Lian revealed that he knew Chao Hun had attacked a Demon Hall candidate for the Demon Refining Formula, the Heavenly Demon Skill, and the Ten Thousand Demons Skill.
• Huo Lian told Chao Hun that using Supreme Demonic Qi by the pool was inefficient, then launched him into the pool.

Huo Lian rebuilt Chao Hun’s meridians and Dantian with Supreme Demonic Qi while damaging a weak point in the Grand Formation to increase the qi’s flow. He then poured a massive cloud of Supreme Demonic Qi into Chao Hun’s Baihui Point, subjecting him to a dangerous infusion.

• Chao Hun’s meridians and Dantian were destroyed as Huo Lian forced Supreme Demonic Qi through his body.
• Huo Lian controlled the qi to repair Chao Hun’s meridians and Dantian, making them wider and tougher.
• Huo Lian blasted open a fissure in the pool’s rock bottom, causing Supreme Demonic Qi to leak out more than three times faster.
• Huo Lian stopped damaging the Grand Formation to avoid alerting those who might awaken, while the pool expanded to more than a hundred zhang.
• Huo Lian poured a huge cloud of Supreme Demonic Qi into Chao Hun’s Baihui Point, risking a deadly infusion.

Huo Lian forced Chao Hun to absorb Supreme Demonic Qi, stabilizing him with his own True Qi until Chao Hun broke through to the Dao Realm. He placed a Soul-Scattering Curse on Chao Hun, then watched the pool, wondering whether its disturbance had drawn anyone’s attention.

• Huo Lian continued infusing Chao Hun with Supreme Demonic Qi and used his True Qi to stabilize Chao Hun’s meridians as his condition worsened.
• After two hours, Huo Lian lifted Chao Hun from the pool, and Chao Hun collapsed before standing when ordered.
• Chao Hun sensed that he had reached the Dao Realm, thanked Huo Lian, and knelt before him.
• Huo Lian placed a Soul-Scattering Curse on Chao Hun and warned that only he could dispel it.
• Chao Hun resolved to adjust to his new cultivation while Huo Lian watched the pool and wondered whether others had sensed the disturbance.

Huo Lian drew a chest containing fifteen divine beast corpses from the pool, then confronted two adult phoenixes that burst from the water. He forced the phoenixes back down as Chao Hun watched, astonished by the power and treasures around him.

• The pool filled with Supreme Demonic Qi and began to churn as Mo Pozheng and the others carried out their part of the bargain.
• Huo Lian pulled a massive chest from the pool and found the fifteen divine beast corpses he had requested.
• Chao Hun glimpsed the corpses and realized they belonged to powerful divine beasts.
• Two adult phoenixes burst from the pool and flew into the sky.
• One phoenix recognized Huo Lian as a surviving figure from the Demon Hall, and Huo Lian pressed both phoenixes back toward the ground despite their efforts to escape.

Huo Lian subdued two imprisoned Phoenixes and revealed that he could make them cooperate by threatening the Young Phoenix in his hands. The Phoenixes doubted the captive was their child, and Huo Lian had not yet convinced them.

• Huo Lian suppressed the two Phoenixes, who recognized him as the former Demon Hall Master.
• Huo Lian explained that Imperial Remnant Manor had captured the Phoenixes and offered them to the Demon Hall, though they still blamed him for their imprisonment.
• Huo Lian said he could force them to cooperate but preferred their willing help.
• Huo Lian claimed that their child from a thousand years earlier was in his hands, and the Phoenixes stopped struggling.
• Huo Lian asked Chao Hun to recount the Phoenix's appearance in the Jianghu, then revealed that it had survived its failed Nirvana and hatched anew.
• One Phoenix questioned whether the Young Phoenix was truly their child.

Huo Lian sent Chao Hun out with a year-long killing mission while he took two Phoenixes to see a young Phoenix. The Phoenixes doubted Huo Lian’s plan to gain power without the Demon Refining Formula, and the group departed with a chest of divine beast corpses.

• Huo Lian persuaded the two Phoenixes to accompany him and shrink their bodies before leaving.
• Huo Lian ordered Chao Hun to leave and kill at least ten in the Dao Realm, thirty in the Entering Dao Realm, a hundred in the Enlightenment Realm, and a thousand below the Martial Realm within a year, or die from the Soul-Scattering Curse.
• Huo Lian told Chao Hun that the Ten Thousand Demons Skill might help him conceal his aura and disguise himself, and Chao Hun departed to carry out the order.
• One Phoenix accused Huo Lian of imitating the Demon Hall’s thousand-year period, while Huo Lian explained that he planned to test a cultivation method on someone who had practiced the Demon Refining Formula.
• Huo Lian led the two Phoenixes to see their child, and the three departed with the chest containing divine beast corpses.

Huang Xiao survived another dangerous formation attempt, then met Li Bai, who offered to teach him a perfected sword style and revealed that Huang Xiao’s four wives were at the Divine Nun Convent. The chapter left Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix worried that the women might have become nuns.

• Demon Phoenix warned Huang Xiao to stop pushing himself recklessly after saving him several times, and Huang Xiao promised to act within his limits.
• Li Bai arrived at Huo Lian’s request, and Huang Xiao introduced him to Demon Phoenix as the Transcendent Immortal Sword Lord.
• Li Bai offered to teach Huang Xiao his perfected Taixuan Sword Swordsmanship, while Huang Xiao recalled his friend Dugu Sheng’s skill with the sword.
• Huang Xiao realized Li Bai knew about his wives, and Li Bai confirmed that Xiao Yan, Zhao Yunhui, You Lian'er, and Zhao Xin'er were at the Divine Nun Convent.
• Demon Phoenix wondered whether the four women had become nuns, leaving Huang Xiao alarmed and seeking Li Bai’s answer.

Huang Xiao learned that his four wives were safe at the Divine Nun Convent and asked Li Bai to keep their whereabouts secret from Huo Lian. When Li Bai offered to teach him swordsmanship, Huang Xiao instead requested the Demon Daoist Canon and the Ghost Daoist Canon, leaving Demon Phoenix stunned.

• Li Bai told Huang Xiao that his four wives had become disciples of the Divine Nun Convent and were safe, while Hong Yi and Dugu Sheng remained missing.
• Huang Xiao asked Li Bai to tell the four women he was well and to keep their whereabouts secret from Huo Lian; Li Bai agreed.
• Li Bai offered to teach Huang Xiao the Taixuan Sword Swordsmanship, but Huang Xiao said he wanted two other things.
• Huang Xiao requested the Demon Daoist Canon and the Ghost Daoist Canon, and Demon Phoenix recognized them as the Demon Spirit Sect and Ghost Spirit Sect's sect-suppressing cultivation methods.

Huang Xiao explained why he wanted the Monster Daoist Canon and Ghost Daoist Canon: he hoped to derive an imperishability cultivation method from them. Li Bai agreed to give him the two scriptures and promised to pass the Numinous Treasure Scripture to Zhao Yunhui, leaving Huang Xiao with the materials he sought for his research.

• Huang Xiao explained that he had declined to request the Numinous Treasure Scripture because he lacked expertise in formations, and he described Zhao Yunhui’s formation studies and discovery of the Scripture of Great Peace.
• Li Bai agreed to pass the Numinous Treasure Scripture to Zhao Yunhui when he returned to the Three Immortal Mountains.
• Li Bai agreed to give Huang Xiao the Monster Daoist Canon and Ghost Daoist Canon despite their demonic cultivation methods.
• Huang Xiao explained that he wanted to derive an imperishability cultivation method and believed the scriptures could help him.
• Huang Xiao told Li Bai that Tuoba Ao had used the Demon Daoist Canon and Ghost Daoist Canon to create the Demon Ghost Nine Transformations Spirit Art, which let him die and return to life multiple times.
• Li Bai recognized Tuoba Ao’s art as an imperishability cultivation method and understood why Huang Xiao wanted the scriptures.

Li Bai taught Huang Xiao the Three Scriptures and Taixuan Sword Swordsmanship, then warned him that leaving the Demon Hall could endanger his wives. When Huo Lian summoned Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix from the dry well, two phoenixes revealed that they were Demon Phoenix’s parents, prompting it to flee back into the well.

• Li Bai taught Huang Xiao the Evil Daoist Canon, the other demonic scriptures, and Taixuan Sword Swordsmanship, while reserving the Numinous Treasure Scripture for Zhao Yunhui.
• Huang Xiao asked Li Bai to look after his wives, and Li Bai warned that Huo Lian might pursue Huang Xiao if he left the Demon Hall.
• Huang Xiao chose to cultivate his divine sense with the formation before Huo Lian returned and summoned him and Demon Phoenix from the dry well.
• Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix sensed two powerful phoenixes behind Huo Lian.
• The female phoenix told Demon Phoenix that she and the male phoenix were its parents, and Demon Phoenix shrieked and fled into the dry well.

Huang Xiao persuaded Demon Phoenix to meet the two Phoenixes who claimed to be its parents, despite Demon Phoenix's anger at their thousand-year absence. While the parents began explaining why they had left, Demon Phoenix demanded a convincing reason before it would forgive them.

• Huang Xiao found Demon Phoenix hiding in the stone chamber and urged it to face the two Phoenixes.
• Demon Phoenix admitted it sensed a close blood tie to the Phoenixes but hated them for leaving it behind for a thousand years.
• Huang Xiao offered to send the Phoenixes away, prompting Demon Phoenix to agree to meet them.
• Male Phoenix and Female Phoenix took Demon Phoenix outside the Ancestral House and formed a private barrier around them.
• Huo Lian confirmed that the two Phoenixes were Demon Phoenix's birth parents and began telling Huang Xiao their past.
• Demon Phoenix rejected Female Phoenix's claim that they had no choice but to leave, while Female Phoenix silenced Male Phoenix when he angrily protested.

Female Phoenix told Demon Phoenix how Imperial Remnant Manor captured his parents and handed them to the Demon Hall, where divine beasts were sacrificed to prolong the lives of its ancient Hall Masters. She revealed that she and Male Phoenix had escaped with Huo Lian but had almost no lifespan remaining.

• Female Phoenix explained that Imperial Remnant Manor had hunted and captured her and Male Phoenix when Demon Phoenix was still an egg.
• Female Phoenix said they had been held in a hidden Demon Hall sleeping ground deep within Mist Mountain, alongside the Tomb Clan and the half-dead Hall Masters of past generations.
• Female Phoenix revealed that divine beasts were drained of their essence blood as sacrifices to sustain the sleeping elders, and that many died there.
• Female Phoenix told Demon Phoenix that Huo Lian had brought her and Male Phoenix out, but their lifespans were nearly exhausted.

Demon Phoenix reunited with his parents, who revealed they were also trapped under Huo Lian’s control and feared his plans for their son. They decided to stay with him, train him, and wait for an opportunity to escape during the Demon Hall’s Thousand-Year Period.

• Female Phoenix warned Demon Phoenix that Huo Lian had designs on him and said the Phoenixes’ stolen essence blood could never be replenished.
• Demon Phoenix acknowledged Female Phoenix as his mother and Male Phoenix as his father, then explained that he owed Huang Xiao his life and would not leave him behind.
• Female Phoenix said she and Male Phoenix would stay and guide Demon Phoenix, hoping to exploit the turmoil of the Thousand-Year Period to thwart Huo Lian.
• Demon Phoenix accepted that he had no choice but to improve his strength under his parents’ guidance, despite suspecting that this was also what Huo Lian wanted.
• Male Phoenix suggested Huang Xiao could become a variable in Huo Lian’s plans, since taking the Hall Master’s Seat might eventually make him impossible to control.

Demon Phoenix reunited with his parents, who discussed the Demon Hall’s control over its Hall Masters and a legendary Divine Beast Holy Land. As Huang Xiao continued tempering himself in the formation, he sensed a savage aura from Huo Lian’s Minghong Saber and abruptly retreated, fearing he had nearly fallen victim to it.

• Demon Phoenix’s parents explained that Huang Xiao might escape Huo Lian’s control but could still become a pawn of the Demon Hall, and they agreed to help him if they could.
• Female Phoenix mentioned a legendary Divine Beast Holy Land before she and Male Phoenix returned with Demon Phoenix to the small courtyard.
• Huo Lian began discussing matters with the Phoenixes while Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix went to cultivate in the dry well.
• Demon Phoenix told Huang Xiao that his parents would guide him, while Huang Xiao said he would keep tempering himself in the formation.
• Huang Xiao sensed the savage aura of Huo Lian’s Minghong Saber, fled the formation, and said he had nearly fallen victim to it.

Huang Xiao learned that the Minghong Saber’s formed Saber Soul had to be weakened before the true Saber Soul could reclaim the blade. Huo Lian revealed that Demon Phoenix’s parents had agreed to sacrifice their remaining strength to restore it, leaving Huang Xiao troubled by the cost.

• Huang Xiao told Demon Phoenix that the Saber Soul inside the Minghong Saber was attacking his divine sense, and Demon Phoenix advised him to cultivate farther from the formation’s center.
• Huo Lian arranged a secluded courtyard for Demon Phoenix and his parents, while Huang Xiao continued training and found that the Saber Soul’s attacks strengthened his divine sense.
• Huo Lian explained that the formation was only dispersing the demonic qi left by the Hall Masters, and that the true Saber Soul would need to grow stronger before it could reclaim the blade.
• Huo Lian said Demon Phoenix’s parents had agreed to restore the true Saber Soul because they had only a few years left to live.
• Huang Xiao asked whether the restoration could endanger them, and Huo Lian said their deaths would be unsurprising and no one could guarantee their survival.

Huang Xiao learned that the formation’s aura was fading and went to retrieve the Minghong Saber, but its saber soul trapped him and began destroying his meridians with Supreme Demonic Qi. He unleashed the second stage of Heavenly Demon Disintegration, yet the saber soul’s power still overwhelmed him, leaving him in grave danger.

• Huo Lian told Huang Xiao that finding Ou Jin was the third step and said he would seek more help from Wu Xuancang; Huang Xiao returned to training.
• Five days later, the formation’s aura dissipated, and Huang Xiao reached for the Minghong Saber.
• The saber soul seized Huang Xiao and attacked his meridians with a vast reserve of Supreme Demonic Qi.
• Huang Xiao used Heavenly Demon Disintegration and repaired his meridians with Imperishable True Qi, but the saber soul renewed its assault faster than he could recover.
• Huang Xiao unleashed the second stage of Heavenly Demon Disintegration, but the saber soul’s aura easily overpowered him.

Huang Xiao struggled against the Minghong Saber's Saber Soul, which attacked his meridians and Divine Sense. By reverse-refining the Saber Soul's Supreme Demonic Qi and using the Northern Darkness Absorption Method on its Divine Sense, Huang Xiao found a chance to resist, but he still needed to escape before Heavenly Demon Disintegration wore off.

• Huang Xiao activated his two wisps of Supreme Demonic Qi, briefly forcing the Saber Soul to retreat, but the Saber Soul detected his weakness and kept his hand trapped on the saber.
• As the Saber Soul destroyed Huang Xiao's meridians and attacked his Divine Sense, Huang Xiao used heart fire to refine the invading Supreme Demonic Qi and turn some of it into Qi he could control.
• Huang Xiao redirected his efforts toward restoring his essence blood and used his additional Supreme Demonic Qi to counter the Saber Soul's attacks.
• Huang Xiao applied the Northern Darkness Absorption Method to the Saber Soul's Divine Sense and found that he could slow its withdrawal.
• Huang Xiao continued refining the invading Qi and devouring the Saber Soul's Divine Sense, while racing to escape before Heavenly Demon Disintegration wore off.

Huang Xiao fought off the Saber Soul by absorbing and destroying a wisp of its Divine Sense, then escaped the Minghong Saber’s attack and survived the damage from Heavenly Demon Disintegration. After recovering, he realized Northern Darkness could absorb Divine Sense and considered combining it with Heart Fire.

• Huang Xiao used Fusion Dissolution to isolate, crush, and scorch a wisp of the Saber Soul’s Divine Sense, strengthening his own.
• The Saber Soul severed the entangled portion of its Divine Sense and withdrew, allowing Huang Xiao to expel the Supreme Demonic Qi from his meridians.
• Huang Xiao broke away from the Minghong Saber and repaired his critical meridians before Heavenly Demon Disintegration ended.
• Huang Xiao endured the backlash and spent an hour repairing his remaining damaged meridians with Imperishable True Qi.
• Huang Xiao examined himself, realized Northern Darkness could absorb Divine Sense, and considered combining it with Heart Fire to dissolve absorbed power.

Huang Xiao told Demon Phoenix how the Minghong Saber nearly killed him and learned to conceal the full extent of his abilities. They discussed the limited time before the Thousand-Year Period and the escalating rivalry between Huang Xiao and Pang Yi, leaving Huang Xiao resolved to keep refining his cultivation methods.

• Demon Phoenix found Huang Xiao injured and heard how the Minghong Saber had nearly killed him with a hidden attack.
• Demon Phoenix advised Huang Xiao to credit his survival to the second stage of Heavenly Demon Disintegration and keep Divine Sense Absorption secret.
• Huang Xiao agreed to continue refining the Northern Darkness Cultivation Method, which Demon Phoenix believed could let him attack enemies' divine senses.
• Demon Phoenix warned that Huang Xiao had only a few years before the Thousand-Year Period to improve several cultivation methods.
• Demon Phoenix predicted that Pang Yi would grow stronger under pressure, and Huang Xiao agreed that their next meeting would find them both transformed.