Chapter Summaries

After Huang Xiao appeared to die, Feng Jing attacked the Demon Phoenix to capture it, eventually pinning it to a boulder with his sword. The Demon Phoenix feigned surrender to distract Feng Jing, helping an unseen attacker strike from behind and forcing Feng Jing to dodge.

• The Demon Phoenix mourned Huang Xiao, whose breath had ceased, while Feng Jing announced he would capture the bird.
• The Demon Phoenix fought Feng Jing, refusing to submit despite being repeatedly wounded.
• Feng Jing pierced the Demon Phoenix's wing with his Precious Sword and pinned it to a boulder.
• The Demon Phoenix stopped struggling and mocked Feng Jing, making him suspect a trap.
• A forceful sneak attack came from behind Feng Jing, and the Demon Phoenix blocked his attempt to draw his sword, forcing him to dodge.

Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix destroyed Feng Jing’s Precious Sword and cornered him after he tried to flee. Facing defeat, Feng Jing began preparing a Forbidden Art, and Demon Phoenix warned Huang Xiao as they rushed to stop him.

• Demon Phoenix melted Feng Jing’s Precious Sword into iron, then melted Zhang Jianqiao’s Precious Sword after Huang Xiao handed it over.
• Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix challenged Feng Jing, who realized his strength had fallen and turned to flee.
• Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix blocked Feng Jing’s escape and attacked him together, driving him back.
• Feng Jing threatened to use a Forbidden Art, and Demon Phoenix warned Huang Xiao before charging at him.

Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix killed Feng Jing as he began using a Forbidden Art, then fled before approaching experts could find them. Hidden nearby, they watched three Enlightenment Realm experts inspect the bodies and speculate about who had killed Feng Jing and what the strange lumps of iron were.

• Huang Xiao disrupted Feng Jing’s Forbidden Art, and he and Demon Phoenix attacked together, killing Feng Jing.
• Huang Xiao urged Demon Phoenix to flee when he sensed someone approaching, and they escaped without disposing of Feng Jing’s body.
• Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix hid in bushes and watched three Enlightenment Realm experts arrive at the scene.
• The three experts examined Feng Jing’s wounds and the lumps of iron, then debated whether Huang Xiao had had powerful guards or whether Feng Jing had died fighting over the strange minerals.

After Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix defeated Feng Jing and two other experts, they hid to recover and discussed how Huang Xiao survived by using Zhen Heng's Ghost Spirit Indestructible Art. The surviving enemies planned to join forces, leaving Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix expecting it to become harder to face them separately.

• Three men surveyed the burned site where Feng Jing and the other two had died, then decided to join forces and leave.
• Demon Phoenix suggested they could defeat the three men, but Huang Xiao warned that their injuries made a fight dangerous and that their enemies would likely team up.
• Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix hid at the foot of a cliff, where Demon Phoenix saw that Huang Xiao's wounds had nearly healed.
• Huang Xiao explained that he had used Zhen Heng's Ghost Spirit Indestructible Art to survive Feng Jing's sword qi, and that his Imperishable True Qi accelerated his recovery.
• Huang Xiao said the art halted damage throughout his body, while his injuries and the limited damage from later sword qi helped him awaken quickly.

After surviving Feng Jing’s attack, Huang Xiao discussed the limits of his resurrection technique and Divine Sense with Demon Phoenix. They used rare Spirit-Restoring Pills to heal their wounds in three shichen, then discovered their strength had improved.

• Huang Xiao explained that his wounds had healed quickly and that his Ghost Spirit Indestructible Art could likely bring him back to life once a day, but could not increase his internal power.
• Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix discussed the danger of facing Feng Jing’s allies and the risks and best timing for Huang Xiao’s Divine Sense attack.
• Demon Phoenix said his Phoenix body would recover quickly, and Huang Xiao gave him a Spirit-Restoring Pill to speed their healing.
• Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix swallowed Spirit-Restoring Pills and healed while keeping watch over their surroundings.
• After three shichen, both had recovered and found that their strength had improved considerably.

Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix continued surviving the deadly trials by cultivating and hunting their opponents. Huang Xiao turned two Enlightenment Realm experts against each other, then struck one down as his former ally attacked him from behind.

• Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix discussed the dangers of growing stronger through deadly combat and spent the night cultivating.
• The next morning, they set out to find isolated opponents, with Huang Xiao leading and Demon Phoenix following in bird form.
• Huang Xiao lured two Enlightenment Realm experts into attacking him, and their rivalry over who would kill him exposed the weakness of their alliance.
• Huang Xiao deliberately endured several attacks until one expert turned on his companion.
• Huang Xiao blocked the first expert’s palm force with the Heavenly Demon Subduing Tiger Fist, and the second expert’s strike hit him from behind.

Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix killed two Enlightenment Realm experts, then spent three days searching without finding another opponent. As pressure mounted, they decided to pursue a way to escape the formation alongside the old demon’s task.

• Huang Xiao killed one attacker, and Demon Phoenix killed the Enlightenment Realm expert who charged him.
• Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix destroyed the bodies and traces before leaving to hunt for more targets.
• After three days without finding anyone, Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix worried that their opponents had joined forces.
• Demon Phoenix proposed trying to escape the formation while continuing to prepare for the old demon’s task.

Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix searched for the grand formation’s eye while planning their escape. Huang Xiao killed an Enlightenment Realm expert on his own, but three enemies who had previously seen Feng Jing’s corpse witnessed the fight and approached him.

• Huang Xiao agreed to help Demon Phoenix escape and began studying the formation for its eye.
• Huang Xiao found an isolated Enlightenment Realm expert and chose to fight him without Demon Phoenix’s help.
• Huang Xiao overwhelmed the expert with his strength and divine sense, shattered his meridians, and killed him.
• Three enemies who had seen Feng Jing dead arrived and expressed surprise at Huang Xiao’s victory.

Huang Xiao fought three Enlightenment Realm experts and turned their rivalry against them. After he drove one back, Demon Phoenix emerged from behind and killed him, leaving the other two shocked.

• The three Enlightenment Realm experts surrounded Huang Xiao and attacked together, but he evaded their moves with his footwork.
• Huang Xiao taunted the three about only one of them surviving, then chose to attack the weakest while they continued competing to strike him first.
• Huang Xiao met the weakest expert palm to palm, drove him back, and fired finger force at the other two.
• As the wounded expert tried to recover, Demon Phoenix pierced his chest from behind and killed him.
• The remaining two experts saw their companion fall but could not identify his killer until the corpse revealed the little black bird.

Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix fought the two remaining Enlightenment Realm experts and killed them. After comparing their victories, they burned the bodies and planned to face a larger group next time.

• Demon Phoenix trapped one Enlightenment Realm expert inside his enormous phoenix flames and attacked him with repeated claw strikes and wing sweeps.
• Huang Xiao gained the upper hand against his opponent, then used Northern Darkness Absorption to assault the man’s divine sense and struck his throat while he was disoriented.
• Huang Xiao confirmed his opponent was dead and called out that he had won.
• Demon Phoenix’s flames dissipated, revealing that his opponent had been burned to ashes; he complained that he had finished just too late.
• Huang Xiao told Demon Phoenix to dispose of the bodies, and Demon Phoenix burned them before suggesting they try fighting four opponents next time.

Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix continued searching the formation and debated whether the Patriarch had exaggerated the number of Enlightenment Realm experts trapped inside. Huang Xiao discovered that the formation was making them travel in circles, but his attempt to prove it left the nature of the surroundings uncertain.

• Demon Phoenix questioned whether there were really a hundred Enlightenment Realm experts, and Huang Xiao said they still had to kill everyone they encountered.
• Huang Xiao told Demon Phoenix that his deductions placed the formation eye near the center, though he could only determine their general direction.
• Huang Xiao stopped and revealed that they had returned to a place they had visited days earlier because the formation altered the scenery around them.
• Demon Phoenix tested a nearby tree and questioned whether it was real, while Huang Xiao explained that the formation mixed truth with illusion.
• Huang Xiao shattered Demon Phoenix's rock with Palm Force as evidence, and Demon Phoenix wondered whether that proved it had been conjured.

Huang Xiao proved to the Demon Phoenix that their surroundings were shaped by the Patriarch’s formation, then spent days trying to understand it without finding the Formation Eye. On the fifteenth day, a powerful old man found them and attacked Huang Xiao, leaving the two facing a dangerous new opponent.

• Huang Xiao showed the Demon Phoenix Zhen Heng’s buried corpse, and they concluded that the surrounding landscape had changed under the formation’s illusions.
• Huang Xiao argued that the experts they had fought were real, then studied the formation while the Demon Phoenix kept watch.
• After four hours of meditation, Huang Xiao chose to rest and resume trying to escape the formation the next day.
• On the fourteenth day, Huang Xiao and the Demon Phoenix still failed to find the Formation Eye, though Huang Xiao gained some understanding of the formation’s layout.
• On the fifteenth day, an old man spotted Huang Xiao’s hiding place, smashed the boulder, and forced Huang Xiao to emerge.

Huang Xiao learned that Hu Wei, a Demon Leopard of the Demon Spirit Sect, had been trapped by a formation and was sent to kill him. Hu Wei attacked, but Huang Xiao showed unexpected strength and met his Palm Force head-on.

• Huang Xiao recognized Hu Wei as a practitioner of the Monster Dao, and Hu Wei introduced himself as the Demon Leopard of the Demon Spirit Sect.
• Hu Wei revealed that he had been trapped in a formation for over half a month and could leave only after it stopped working that day.
• Huang Xiao realized that other experts had also been held back by formations and might now be emerging.
• Huang Xiao told Hu Wei that several Enlightenment Realm experts wanted to kill him, while concealing that he and Demon Phoenix had defeated earlier pursuers.
• Hu Wei attacked Huang Xiao, who dodged his first three moves before dispersing Hu Wei's Palm Force with a punch and charging at him.

Huang Xiao fought Hu Wei, whose extraordinary speed and control of heaven and earth momentum initially put Huang Xiao at a disadvantage. Huang Xiao began using deceptive footwork to outmaneuver him, and Hu Wei realized he had attacked only an afterimage.

• Hu Wei used his speed to strike Huang Xiao repeatedly, sending him crashing into a rock and drawing blood.
• Huang Xiao recognized that Hu Wei relied on internal power rather than a movement technique and reassured Demon Phoenix that he had a plan.
• Hu Wei controlled the surrounding heaven and earth momentum, reducing Huang Xiao's speed, but Huang Xiao kept moving and challenged him to attack.
• Huang Xiao baited Hu Wei with a feint, then evaded his strike with footwork so quick that Hu Wei hit only an afterimage.

Huang Xiao used formations in his footwork to create lifelike phantoms and shift around Hu Wei, leaving the Enlightenment Realm expert unable to track him. Hu Wei recognized that the images involved formations and chose to counter them with brute force, while Huang Xiao began conjuring illusions of attacking beasts.

• Huang Xiao repeatedly appeared around Hu Wei and drove him back with attacks, baffling him with his apparent speed.
• The Demon Phoenix realized Huang Xiao was using insights from Huo Lian’s formations to make his phantoms seem real and shift his position.
• Hu Wei noticed formations were hidden in Huang Xiao’s Body Movement but decided to ignore them and break through with force.
• Huang Xiao wondered why his blows had not injured Hu Wei, who remained guarded and difficult to harm.
• A phantom tiger pounced at Hu Wei, then vanished when he struck it, and Huang Xiao followed with illusions of leopards, bears, eagles, and other beasts.

Huang Xiao used illusory birds and beasts to conceal Demon Phoenix’s ambush, severely injuring Hu Wei. As Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix pressed their attack, Hu Wei suddenly recovered much of his strength and sent them flying before charging at Huang Xiao.

• Huang Xiao refined his movement technique while distracting Hu Wei with afterimages and lifelike illusions.
• Huang Xiao told Demon Phoenix to wait for a chance to strike, and it hid among the illusory creatures.
• After Hu Wei destroyed Huang Xiao’s final afterimage, Demon Phoenix ambushed him from behind, allowing Huang Xiao to land a punch.
• Hu Wei knocked Demon Phoenix back and retreated, badly injured, but Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix charged at him to finish the fight.
• Hu Wei’s weakened aura recovered, and he kicked Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix away before rushing at Huang Xiao.

Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix fought Hu Wei, whose rapid healing and superior strength kept them on the defensive. As Huang Xiao restrained Hu Wei, Demon Phoenix used Deathflame Possession and transformed into a streak of flame that struck him.

• Hu Wei repeatedly wounded Huang Xiao, who healed quickly but remained weaker than him.
• Demon Phoenix joined Huang Xiao against Hu Wei, but Hu Wei overpowered them both.
• Huang Xiao launched a desperate assault as his Heavenly Demon Disintegration neared its limit.
• Demon Phoenix's aura surged, and he wounded Hu Wei's hands with his talons before Hu Wei knocked him away.
• Huang Xiao seized Hu Wei's hands, and Demon Phoenix used Deathflame Possession to slam into him as a streak of flame.

Huang Xiao and Demon Phoenix worked together to exploit Hu Wei’s inability to heal wounds scorched by Phoenix’s flames. Huang Xiao’s divine sense attack let him land a claw strike to Hu Wei’s chest, but Hu Wei survived and retreated with five bloody holes.

• Demon Phoenix clung to Hu Wei and used his flames to hinder Hu Wei’s recovery while Huang Xiao attacked recklessly.
• Hu Wei discovered that Phoenix’s flames had infiltrated his meridians and were preventing his minor injuries from healing.
• Demon Phoenix made the flames erupt inside Hu Wei, unsettling him as Huang Xiao launched another attack.
• Huang Xiao struck Hu Wei’s sea of consciousness with his divine sense and found that Hu Wei’s defenses were weak.
• Huang Xiao drove a clawed hand into Hu Wei’s chest, missing his heart; Hu Wei withdrew with five bleeding wounds that the flames began to scorch.

Huang Xiao and the Demon Phoenix captured Hu Wei after weakening his recovery, then maimed him to prevent him from resisting. Huang Xiao began questioning him about his cultivation method while recovering nearby, but Hu Wei refused to speak and the Demon Phoenix started torturing him.

• Huang Xiao struck Hu Wei down while the Demon Phoenix’s Deathflame Possession suppressed his recovery.
• The Demon Phoenix tore off Hu Wei’s hands and feet so he could not fight back or escape.
• Huang Xiao and the Demon Phoenix took Hu Wei to a secluded place for interrogation.
• Huang Xiao asked Hu Wei about his cultivation method and offered him a quick death if he answered, but Hu Wei remained silent.
• Huang Xiao formed a barrier and regulated his breathing while the Demon Phoenix tortured Hu Wei, who still revealed nothing.

Huang Xiao and the Demon Phoenix kept Hu Wei captive to extract his healing cultivation method, but Huang Xiao grew suspicious when Hu Wei unexpectedly spoke. He tore open Hu Wei’s sleeve and discovered that part of the supposedly severed arm remained, revealing that something was wrong.

• Huang Xiao told the Demon Phoenix to kill Hu Wei, but the Demon Phoenix asked for one more night to interrogate him.
• Huang Xiao agreed to let the Demon Phoenix question Hu Wei for one hour the next morning before killing him.
• During the night, Huang Xiao heard a sound and checked that Hu Wei was still in place with his acupoints sealed.
• Huang Xiao realized Hu Wei’s sudden talking seemed like a distraction and searched him.
• Huang Xiao tore off Hu Wei’s right sleeve, and the Demon Phoenix was shocked to see a section of arm still attached.