Recaps

Old White Ape, Ji Hong, and Yu Sheng devised a way to lure the Mirage Dragon out with a staged escape and a trace of Ice Lotus aura, while keeping themselves unconnected to the plan. Old White Ape then proposed using Vulture to spread a believable explanation for the Ice Lotus and Earth Core Fire before driving him toward the Mirage Dragon's hiding place.

• Old White Ape proposed having Yu Sheng provoke a fifth-level Demon Beast, flee while badly wounded, and let a trace of Ice Lotus aura escape from his torn backpack.
• Ji Hong judged the plan promising but warned that the Mirage Dragon would test Yu Sheng and inspect the area before acting.
• Old White Ape listed the Mirage Dragon's likely checks, including Yu Sheng's expressions, injuries, the surrounding area, and the Ice Lotus's origins.
• Old White Ape proposed capturing Vulture, spreading news that he had stolen the Ice Lotus and Earth Core Fire, then letting him escape southwest toward the Mirage Dragon.

Old White Ape and Ji Hong finalized a scheme that used Vulture’s punishment to lure the Mirage Dragon and strengthen Ji Hong’s standing, while Yu Sheng headed back to retrieve the Ice Lotus. When Yu Sheng returned to the mountains, Xin Yongfeng mistook his arrival for failure and declared that he would enter the Eighth Awakening.

• Old White Ape outlined a plan to punish Vulture publicly while secretly turning the incident to his and Ji Hong’s advantage.
• Ji Hong accepted Old White Ape’s scheme, and the two sent Yu Sheng to fetch the Ice Lotus.
• Old White Ape and Ji Hong discussed Yu Sheng’s abilities and whether he knew they had seen through him, then parted ways.
• Yu Sheng raced across the Thousand-Li Demon Plain and reached the remote mountains about half a day later.
• Xin Yongfeng sensed Yu Sheng, assumed his mission had failed, and announced that he would enter the Eighth Awakening with the Dragon Python’s Demon Core in hand.

Yu Sheng persuaded the Mountain-Guarding Old Man to delay using the Demon Core while a Demon Clan ally prepared a plan with a thirty percent chance of success. At Ink Academy, Xu Yuanqing entered the Seventh Awakening and challenged the Vice Principal, only to be swiftly defeated.

• Yu Sheng told the Mountain-Guarding Old Man that Eagle Ravine Mountain’s Seventh-level ally was cooperating with his operation, and the old man agreed to wait up to ten days.
• Yu Sheng lay down to sleep while the Mountain-Guarding Old Man watched the Demon Domain and kept the Demon Core ready.
• Xu Yuanqing’s Fire Phoenix appeared more solid as he broke through to the Seventh Awakening at Ink Academy.
• Xu Yuanqing challenged the Vice Principal to a match and demanded his money back.
• The Vice Principal revealed he had entered the Seventh Awakening decades earlier and was nearing the Eighth, then defeated Xu Yuanqing as students listened to his screams.

Xu Yuanqing recovered ten thousand from the vice principal after being beaten, while Lin Xiaoxiao prepared Ink Academy's freshmen for the entrance ceremony and competition. Yu Sheng left the mountains at dawn, leaving the Mountain-Guarding Old Man fussing over him.

• Xu Yuanqing returned bruised and battered with a bank card holding ten thousand, and vowed to avenge himself on the vice principal someday.
• Lin Xiaoxiao realized Xu Yuanqing had pocketed Ink Academy's travel allowance and told the freshmen to make a bold entrance by insulting people for credits.
• Lin Xiaoxiao demanded that Ink Academy take all six top places in the Freshman Competition's individual event, threatening expulsion for anyone who failed.
• Qi Tian and Yuan Zhong agreed to stop acting meek, and Qi Tian complained that he had been holding back for half a month.
• Yu Sheng left the mountains at dawn while the Mountain-Guarding Old Man lamented that he had not given him fruit for the road.

Yu Sheng set out with the Ice Lotus after Old White Ape reviewed their plan and gave him a Yellow Monkey coat for disguise. Old White Ape then attacked Vulture King over the deaths of the White Ape Clan’s younger generation and began torturing him repeatedly.

• Old White Ape told Yu Sheng that preparations were nearly complete, asked him to arrive the next morning, and explained that their side would begin in three days.
• Old White Ape gave Yu Sheng a Yellow Monkey coat and asked him to praise Old White Ape and Ji Hong to the Human Race, especially to Sun Yingxiong.
• Yu Sheng agreed to promote Old White Ape on television and left with the Ice Lotus, keeping to the shadows.
• After Yu Sheng departed, Old White Ape reflected on his plan and flew off to confront Vulture King.
• Old White Ape seized Vulture King and accused him of killing the White Ape Clan’s last younger generation.
• Old White Ape shattered Vulture King’s bones, fed him a healing demon plant, and repeatedly broke his bones again.

Old White Ape punished Vulture King for killing a member of his clan, while Ji Hong established his authority over the Thousand-Li Demon Plain and laid out rules for its future Mountain Lord. Ji Hong ordered Vulture King released and exiled, then exposed Porcupine King’s role in the earlier events involving Dragon Python’s scale.

• Old White Ape exhausted the Demon Plant’s energy, tortured Vulture King, and dragged him away, promising to keep him imprisoned for ten years.
• Ji Hong addressed the gathered Demon Beasts, promised that the first to reach the eighth level could become Mountain Lord, and warned them not to harm the Dragon Python Clan.
• Ji Hong confronted Old White Ape about Vulture King’s location, overruled his demand for revenge, and ordered Vulture King released and banished to the southwest for ten years.
• Ji Hong questioned Porcupine King about Dragon Python’s scale, identified the white ape’s use of Ice Lotus and Earthfire Lure to plunder the Demon Plain, and ordered Porcupine King to witness Vulture King’s release.

After taking control of the Thousand-Li Demon Plain, Ji Hong gained Vulture King’s loyalty and sent him to the southwestern district. Old White Ape returned to Fei with two captured human women, proposing to use them to test Ji Hong’s loyalty and as hostages against the Human Race.

• Ji Hong’s promises reduced hostility across the Thousand-Li Demon Plain, while Old White Ape’s reputation collapsed and he left the region after Vulture King was released.
• Vulture King pledged loyalty to Ji Hong, revealed secrets about the Demon Plain’s tribes, and then hurried to the southwestern district on Ji Hong’s orders.
• Old White Ape returned to Fei and accused Ji Hong of seeking independence, but Fei questioned him about Ji Hong’s letter alleging Old White Ape had pursued personal gain.
• Old White Ape presented An Xin and Zhao Qingyi as captured human hostages and argued that Ji Hong would expose his allegiance if he tried to save them.
• Fei learned that An Xin and Zhao Qingyi had reached the fifth awakening and considered Old White Ape’s plan to cultivate them into more valuable bargaining chips.

Fei kept An Xin and Zhao Qingyi at Eagle Ravine Mountain while sending Ji Hong a message affirming his trust in him and calling Old White Ape a pawn. Meanwhile, Yu Sheng traveled in disguise across the Demon Plain and followed an Azure Wolf’s trail to a concealed cave.

• Old White Ape left An Xin and Zhao Qingyi with Fei, and the girls entered a cave before quietly tidying it once they were alone.
• Fei sent Ji Hong a letter saying he still needed Old White Ape, who was only a pawn, and that Ji Hong remained his eternal adviser.
• Old White Ape suspected Fei had a human intelligence network and hoped the two girls would be useful, then left the mountain.
• Yu Sheng kept his White Ape disguise and hid in a tree near a scenic lake while waiting for nightfall.
• Yu Sheng moved away from the lake, evaded an Azure Wolf searching for prey, and followed its trail to a concealed cave.

Yu Sheng killed the Azure Wolf in its cave and made the place a concealed refuge. Watching demon beasts gather at the lake, he reasoned that the Mirage Dragon was likely using the nearby summit as an observation point and escape route.

• Yu Sheng masked the cave with Snake-Stench Grass, waited for the Azure Wolf to return, and killed it with a surprise sword strike.
• Yu Sheng hid several objects in the cave, checked his plan through a simulation, and returned to his tree to sleep.
• The next morning, Yu Sheng watched demon beasts drink from the lake and wondered how the Mirage Dragon hunted.
• Yu Sheng concluded that the Mirage Dragon likely watched the lake from the summit and could use hidden routes to escape.
• Yu Sheng reasoned that the Mirage Dragon might be able to fly, since its speed could rival that of a sixth-level demon beast.

Yu Sheng waited for the Vulture King to settle beside the lake, then secretly planted a trace of White Ape aura on a wild horse. When the Vulture King sensed that familiar aura the next morning, it erupted in rage, believing the White Ape responsible for its exile had returned.

• The Vulture King arrived and declared it had no intention of competing for territory, then chose to rest beside the lake.
• Yu Sheng hid in the trees, changed his aura, and observed the Vulture King following Old White Ape's plan.
• Yu Sheng attached a trace of White Ape aura to a sleeping wild horse, then moved to another tree and concealed himself as a grass snake.
• The next morning, the Vulture King suppressed its aura so local Low-Level Demon Beasts could approach the lake to drink.
• When the wild horse passed by, the Vulture King sensed the White Ape aura and erupted in anger, blaming the White Ape for its exile and suffering.

Yu Sheng used disguises and carefully timed movements to make the Vulture King believe a white ape was nearby. After waiting four days, Yu Sheng appeared as a starving white ape and began hunting, leaving the Vulture King watching for his chance to capture it.

• The Vulture King sensed the White Ape Clan's aura on a wild horse and watched the area, hoping to capture the white ape and claim the Ice Lotus and Earthfire Lure.
• The mirage dragon inferred that the Vulture King had found the Ice Lotus and Earthfire Lure, then approached the mountaintop in the guise of a gray snake.
• Yu Sheng followed Old White Ape's plan by changing his aura and hiding for three days, while the Vulture King grew impatient and wondered if the white ape had fled toward the Swamp Pool.
• On the fourth night, Yu Sheng entered a prepared cave in a yellow monkey disguise, changed into the white ape coat, and emerged looking starved.
• Yu Sheng wandered the plain, ate fruit, and fixed his gaze on a demon beast as he prepared to hunt.

Yu Sheng, disguised as a White Ape, fled from the Vulture King while using hidden treasures to resist its domain and heal his wounds. The Vulture King pursued him through the forest, while the Mountain-Guarding Old Man watched from the summit and recognized the treasures in Yu Sheng’s bundle.

• The Vulture King spotted Yu Sheng’s White Ape disguise and left the lake to hunt him, while the Mountain-Guarding Old Man suspected the encounter was timed too conveniently.
• Yu Sheng continued tearing at an elk until the Vulture King appeared overhead, forcing him to abandon his prey and flee through the trees.
• The Vulture King slowed Yu Sheng with its domain, but Yu Sheng ate a Blackgreen Flower and escaped the effect.
• The Vulture King struck Yu Sheng with demon-aura arrows, but Yu Sheng used a fruit to heal and kept running.
• The Mountain-Guarding Old Man identified the Ice Lotus, Earthfire Lure, Blackgreen Flower, Life-Force Fruit, Watermoon Root, and Jade-Green Lotus in Yu Sheng’s bundle, yet stayed on the summit.

The Vulture King pursued the White Ape through the forest, hoping to seize the Demon Plants in its bundle, until another sixth-level Demon Beast intervened after sensing them. The two agreed to split the spoils, but the White Ape vanished before they could catch it, leaving them searching the woods and suspecting each other.

• The White Ape ate Demon Plants from its bundle to endure the Vulture King's attacks while fleeing through dense forest.
• A sixth-level Demon Beast arrived, sensed the Demon Plants, and decided the White Ape was a valuable prize rather than an enemy to ignore.
• The Vulture King and the sixth-level Demon Beast argued over who would catch the White Ape, then agreed to split the spoils evenly.
• The two Demon Beasts sealed the forest with Demon Aura, but the White Ape disappeared before they could find it.
• The Vulture King urged the other Demon Beast to search the woods and denied having secretly taken the White Ape.

The Mirage Dragon considered taking Yu Sheng’s treasures but grew suspicious of the convenient opportunity and ultimately stayed away. Yu Sheng prepared an underground escape route, while the Vulture King sealed off the forest and began destroying obstacles to find White Ape.

• The Vulture King ordered the other sixth-level demon beast to guard the forest with him and vowed to destroy it if they could not find White Ape.
• The Mirage Dragon realized White Ape was hiding in a cave concealed by weeds and snake-stench grass, then debated whether to attack him and take his treasures.
• Yu Sheng dug an escape passage that came within three shovelfuls of reaching the surface two hundred meters away.
• The Mirage Dragon did not approach the cave during the day, leaving Yu Sheng uncertain whether it had noticed his trap.
• In the early hours, the Vulture King sealed off the forest and ordered his forces to destroy every obstacle near where White Ape had last been seen.

Vulture King and another sixth-level demon beast searched the ruined forest for White Ape but failed to find Yu Sheng, who stayed hidden underground. Mirage Dragon flew toward the heart of the Thousand-Li Demon Plain, Old White Ape continued hunting for the one impersonating his clan, and the Freshman Competition began in Ink City.

• Vulture King and another sixth-level demon beast destroyed the forest while searching for White Ape, but Yu Sheng stayed motionless in his underground hideout as they passed overhead.
• Mirage Dragon watched Vulture King’s fruitless search, then changed into an azure bird and flew toward the heart of the Thousand-Li Demon Plain.
• Vulture King and his companion decided to stay together and search again the following night after finding no trace of White Ape.
• Old White Ape ordered the tribes to keep investigating who was impersonating the White Ape Clan and swore revenge on Ji Hong.
• In Ink City, a middle-aged Education Department official announced the Freshman Competition’s Elimination Round, and the freshmen charged toward a remote mountain.

Yuan Qingshan and Qi Changshan tried to secure resources and recall their relatives from the Freshman Competition, but Lin Xiaoxiao ignored their demands and threatened to toughen Ink Academy’s freshmen. Meanwhile, Qiu Xiaoxiao arrived in Ink City, and the Vulture King concluded that Yu Sheng might be hiding underground and planned to act that night.

• Yuan Qingshan and Qi Changshan pressured the middle-aged man for more Spirit Mind resources and asked to take Yuan Zhong and Qi Tian away from the competition.
• Lin Xiaoxiao ignored their requests while stroking Big White and said Ink Academy’s freshmen needed to learn to kill their own grandfathers.
• Qiu Xiaoxiao wandered Ink City disguised as an old woman, muttering about the Freshman Competition and glaring toward the Education Department.
• Low-level demon beasts scavenged corpses in the Thousand-Li Demon Plain, and the stench masked Yu Sheng’s presence from them.
• The Vulture King reasoned that Yu Sheng could be hiding underground, but decided to wait until night to shatter the ground and expose him.
• The Vulture King changed its mind about keeping a low profile after noticing the last sixth-level demon beast glaring at it.

The Vulture King and another sixth-level demon beast staged a feud to hide their plan to pursue White Ape. Mirage Dragon suspected the situation was a trap but decided he might turn it to his advantage, while White Ape’s aura drew the two demons toward the Swamp Pool.

• The Vulture King proposed pretending to fight so the other demons would not suspect their cooperation, and the two great demons staged an argument and battle.
• Mirage Dragon watched from the clouds, judged that White Ape’s hiding place would soon be exposed, and considered using the apparent trap to become the hunter.
• The two demons ended their staged fight and waited on the mountainside, while the fifth-level demon beasts left.
• White Ape’s aura appeared about a mile away, and the Vulture King and the other sixth-level demon beast rushed after it together.
• Mirage Dragon questioned why the demons were so wary, and White Ape’s aura accelerated toward the Swamp Pool.

The Vulture King pursued White Ape to Swamp Pool but was turned away by the giant python guarding the territory. Mirage Dragon, having deceived the Demon Clan, searched the Southwestern Region and wondered what White Ape would do without the Vulture’s threat.

• The Vulture King and another sixth-level demon beast failed to catch White Ape before it vanished into Swamp Pool.
• The giant python refused the Vulture King’s request to hand over White Ape and ordered him to leave.
• The Vulture King left Swamp Pool and continued searching nearby with the sixth-level demon beast.
• Azure Bird ended its observation, and Mirage Dragon revealed that the Demon Clan had been fooled.
• Mirage Dragon flew over the Southwestern Region, searching the ruins and surrounding area.

Yu Sheng waited underground while the Mirage Dragon watched for him, then staged his injuries and exposed his Demon Plants to lure in an intruder. When a level-three mole appeared, Yu Sheng revealed his Human Race aura and stabbed it, leaving the Mirage Dragon’s next move uncertain.

• The Mirage Dragon searched the Southwestern Region of the Thousand-Li Demon Plain, then waited on the summit while Yu Sheng remained hidden underground.
• The Vulture King continued searching near the Swamp Pool and forced its uneasy ally to stay with it.
• As night passed, the Mirage Dragon grew suspicious that Yu Sheng had escaped, then vanished into the clouds and mist.
• Yu Sheng cut himself, used a fruit to heal only partially, dirtied his fur, and opened his bundle of Demon Plants to make himself look wounded and vulnerable.
• A level-three mole appeared in the tunnel and eyed Yu Sheng’s exposed Demon Plants greedily.
• Yu Sheng lunged at the mole, revealed his Human Race vitality and Fourth Awakening aura, and stabbed it with his longsword.

Yu Sheng, disguised as White Ape, confronted the Mirage Dragon after it blocked his escape and tried to manipulate him with taunts. He revealed that he had been seeking a fair one-on-one fight, then drew his sword and advanced, believing he could win.

• White Ape healed himself with a fruit, took the bundle, and left Mole to die in the passage.
• The Mirage Dragon deduced that Yu Sheng was a Fourth Awakening human and pursued White Ape underground.
• The Mirage Dragon blocked White Ape’s path, boasted about slaughtering a human military unit, and demanded the bundle.
• Yu Sheng removed his disguise and asked whether the Mirage Dragon could sing or perform, while its attempts to flee were disrupted by their competing Spatial abilities.
• Yu Sheng admitted he had not known Mole was the Mirage Dragon, explained that his actions had drawn it into a fair fight, and approached with his sword.

Yu Sheng trapped Azure Bird in a reinforced underground passage and fought the shape-shifting demon as it used the darkness and its experience to attack from hiding. He ended the chapter by flooding the passage with light, revealing Mirage Dragon as a tiny black snake on the wall.

• Yu Sheng explained that he had sealed the passage with soundproof material, while Azure Bird claimed its strength and physical power could still defeat him.
• Yu Sheng charged, and Azure Bird transformed into a cheetah and slashed his back before disappearing into the darkness.
• Yu Sheng healed his wound with a fruit and studied its shape and the demon’s attack speed to assess its abilities.
• Mirage Dragon used sound and darkness to mask its position, then tried to unsettle Yu Sheng while waiting for his vigilance to fade.
• Yu Sheng switched on three powerful flashlights, illuminating the passage and revealing Mirage Dragon as a black snake clinging to the wall.

Yu Sheng pursued the Mirage Dragon, but it exploited a momentary crack in his composure to trap him in an illusion of Sin City from nine years earlier. Though the illusion restored his younger body and surrounded him with attackers, Yu Sheng fought them off, leaving the Mirage Dragon's next move uncertain.

• Yu Sheng threw his long sword at the air above the Mirage Dragon, which dodged and taunted him while keeping its distance.
• The Mirage Dragon threatened Yu Sheng's family and friends, briefly unsettling him, then trapped him in an illusion despite his attempt to use Teleportation.
• Yu Sheng appeared as a ten-year-old in Sin City, where a crowd attacked him in the rain.
• Yu Sheng fought off the attackers and realized his physical abilities had returned to their level from nine years earlier.
• The Mirage Dragon concealed itself among the attackers, abandoned its attempt to fight Yu Sheng, and died at his feet.

Yu Sheng fought White Face’s men to reach Shi Guang, who had been captured after failing to fight in a cramped room. When White Face stabbed Shi Guang to provoke Yu Sheng, Yu Sheng realized the Illusion had changed what he remembered and wondered whether White Face was Mirage Dragon.

• Yu Sheng followed his remembered route through the rain and found Shi Guang bound and wounded at White Face’s house.
• Yu Sheng and Shi Guang calmly discussed using her shovel to bury her and carrying her on his back, while White Face demanded that Yu Sheng either kill himself or collect her body.
• Yu Sheng charged White Face’s men with a crossbow and dagger as a masked child watched from a safe distance, hoping to sell news of the battle.
• White Face stabbed Shi Guang in the calf, and Yu Sheng froze when he realized this had not happened in his memory.
• Yu Sheng suspected the Illusion had changed the ending and wondered whether White Face was Mirage Dragon as White Face stabbed Shi Guang again.

Yu Sheng broke the Mirage Dragon's Illusion by recognizing it as a scene built from his deepest fear, then exploited the opening to injure the creature with a carefully prepared series of explosions and a hammer strike. The Mirage Dragon lay unable to rise as Yu Sheng prepared to finish it.

• In the Illusion, the Mirage Dragon stabbed Shi Guang, and Yu Sheng killed the attacker before realizing the scene was false.
• Yu Sheng explained that the Illusion could only show him a limited version of his greatest fear, then slashed Shi Guang's throat to break the illusion.
• The Mirage Dragon was injured when Yu Sheng's prepared fruits exploded against it as the Illusion collapsed.
• Yu Sheng struck the falling Mirage Dragon with his hammer, and it crashed into the wall, too injured to get up.
• The Mirage Dragon realized Yu Sheng had used its own Illusion as the key to defeating it, while Yu Sheng prepared to finish the fight.

Yu Sheng angered the Mirage Dragon to death, collected its corpse, and left the passage after the fourth item in the Scroll became clear. The Vulture King returned to find the passage empty, blamed the Swamp Pool, and sent a High-Rank Demon Beast to seek an audience with Demon Lord Ji Hong.

• Yu Sheng told the dying Mirage Dragon that he would simulate its aura on its corpse, and it died in a rage.
• The Mirage Dragon's true body was revealed as a small pale lizard, and its gray gas made the fourth item in the Scroll clear.
• Yu Sheng put the corpse in his bundle, dismantled his unused traps, and left the passage disguised as the Yellow Monkey.
• The Vulture King returned with another sixth-level Demon Beast, found only the White Ape's scent, and concluded the Swamp Pool had taken the White Ape and its wealth.
• The Vulture King sent the High-Rank Demon Beast to report to Demon Lord Ji Hong, and the beast passed Yu Sheng without recognizing him.