Recaps

Yu Sheng tested whether his raft could cross the lake but concluded it needed stronger python skins. Elsewhere, Yu Mo and Old White Ape advanced plans shaped by the coming war, while Old White Ape and Ji Hong reaffirmed their alliance despite their incompatible goals.

• Yu Sheng watched his raft break apart near the central island and decided he needed stronger python skins to cross the lake.
• Yu Mo worried that Yu Sheng might reach the core area too soon, then took Confucian Scholar away from Demon-Suppressing Pass toward a place closer to the Immortal Realm.
• On the Demon Plain, Old White Ape explained to Ji Hong his plan for a narrow Human Race victory that would weaken Eight-Tailed Fox and give them leverage at Skyvault Ravine.
• Old White Ape proposed that he and Ji Hong eventually turn against each other after eliminating Eight-Tailed Fox, but both agreed their alliance had to last until Eight-Tailed Fox fell.
• Old White Ape offered to rule the Demon Domain with Ji Hong if he abandoned the Human Race, while Ji Hong offered him protection if he abandoned the Demon Clan.
• Old White Ape and Ji Hong laughed together but acknowledged that their opposing paths meant they could not work together.

As the Second Siege approached, Old White Ape and Ji Hong prepared for the coming war, while Shi Guang painted a memory for Chu Yu and then went to assemble with the soldiers. Yuan Qingshan assigned Chu Yu to defend Demon-Suppressing Pass and sent Senior Lu to guard the center of Human Race territory against trouble at the other passes.

• Old White Ape agreed that the Human Race would cooperate with him, then reflected that he needed the flames of war to earn his way into Skyvault Ravine.
• Shi Guang painted a red sheet with two small black figures, and Chu Yu wondered whether it showed Shi Guang’s inner world before carefully saving it.
• As the beast horde stirred, Yuan Qingshan ordered the soldiers to prepare, and Shi Guang secured her handcart before going to Ink Academy.
• Chu Yu told Shi Guang to stay alive, and Shi Guang silently nodded before disappearing into the assembled crowd.
• Chu Yu insisted on defending Demon-Suppressing Pass, while Yuan Qingshan assigned her to hold the pass and tasked Senior Lu with preparing to reinforce the other passes from the center of Human Race territory.
• Senior Lu and many others departed, while more than half the remaining fighters headed into the mountains to face the enemy’s main attack.

As Demon-Suppressing Pass prepared for the second battle, Chu Yu agreed to hold the front line while Yuan Qingshan faced the Black Flood Dragon King. At Swamp Pool, Yu Sheng fashioned a raft from a Poisonous Python’s remains and set out onto the lake, where the water began to swallow his bamboo pole.

• Yuan Qingshan thanked Chu Yu for defending Demon-Suppressing Pass while he fought the Black Flood Dragon King.
• Yuan Qingshan and the Black Flood Dragon King faced each other as both sides prepared for battle at dawn.
• Yu Sheng hid from searching Demon Beasts in an underground hole and waited for Swamp Pool to grow quiet.
• Yu Sheng patched the Poisonous Python’s skin and flesh onto his raft, then hung its Demon Crystal at the bow.
• Yu Sheng pushed the raft onto the lake and found that the water’s suction pulled his bamboo pole beneath the surface.

Yu Sheng reached Lakeheart Island, collected samples of its strange lake water and moss, and discovered an opening beneath a stone tablet. He left the passage’s depth and contents unknown after tossing two bombs into the darkness.

• Yu Sheng reached Lakeheart Island, stored buckets of its black lake water, and repeatedly recovered his energy before heading toward the island’s center.
• Yu Sheng found a tablet covered in unreadable writing and realized Xiao Nan’s information ended there, making the island a likely place to search for the Ten Thousand Poisons Fruit.
• Yu Sheng struck the tablet with an axe, breaking the axe; when he attacked it with his hammer, the tablet sank and revealed an opening in the rock.
• Yu Sheng inspected the shattered rock, collected some moss in the Mountains and Rivers Bottle, and approached the pitch-black opening.
• Yu Sheng’s flashlight disappeared into the darkness, so he tossed two spherical bombs into the opening.

Yu Sheng explored the Mountain Cave after bombing its entrance and found dead rats whose remains showed signs of Demon Plants and an unusual life-like aura. He drove off a blind Fifth Level Demon Beast and followed it deeper into the cave, where his bright equipment left the cave’s other creatures frightened and exposed.

• Yu Sheng bombed the cave entrance, jumped inside, and found two dead rats that he identified as weak Demon Beasts.
• He examined the rats and found Demon Plants that seemed untouched by poisonous gas and carried a peculiar aura.
• Yu Sheng marked the exit with a miniature flashlight, equipped a powerful flashlight, and headed deeper into the Mountain Cave.
• He spotted a lizard-tailed creature waiting in ambush, stunned it with a bomb, and fired a Crossbow Bolt that failed to pierce its skin.
• The blind creature fled, and Yu Sheng judged it might be a Fifth Level Demon Beast that knew the cave well.
• Yu Sheng followed it quietly as his bright flashlight drove the cave’s rats into hiding.

At Demon-Suppressing Pass, Ji Hong breached the city wall while Yuan Qingshan trapped him and the Black Flood Dragon King in his Great Desolation realm. As the beast tide rushed toward the breach, an old man summoned the Dark Pavilion to return to battle.

• Old White Ape rallied Eagle Ravine Mountain’s forces, and the demon beasts charged toward Demon-Suppressing Pass.
• Yuan Qingshan used his drum to kill many low-level demon beasts, then Ji Hong opened a spatial rift and destroyed ten meters of the city wall, killing hundreds of soldiers.
• Yuan Qingshan drew Ji Hong and the Black Flood Dragon King into his Great Desolation realm and declared that he would kill them.
• Eight-Tailed Fox praised Ji Hong as the beast tide surged through the breach toward the pass.
• Chu Yu prepared to act, but the old man in black robes called for the Dark Pavilion to come home.

Dark Pavilion death soldiers revealed themselves from the shadows of Demon Beasts and sacrificed their lives to disrupt the Beast Tide, buying Demon-Suppressing Pass five minutes to repair its defenses. As the defenders fired on the stalled horde, Eight-Tailed Fox and Old White Ape remained confident that the Demon Clan would prevail.

• Old White Ape realized that some demons outside Demon-Suppressing Pass were abnormal as Dark Pavilion agents emerged from Beast shadows and declared they were going home.
• Huang Yongshou and other Dark Pavilion agents named themselves and their years of service before binding themselves to Young Flood Dragons and other Demon Beasts, killing their hosts at the cost of their own lives.
• The agents' sacrifices threw the Beast Tide into chaos and delayed its advance for five minutes, giving the soldiers time to repair the defenses.
• A commander ordered the ranged units to fire, and the soldiers struck the Beast Tide as Chu Yu recorded the agents' names and final moments.
• Eight-Tailed Fox grew angry at the Human Race's tactics, but Old White Ape reassured him that the Demon Clan still had the advantage in resolve and strength.

The Eight-Tailed Fox regained its composure after Old White Ape took the blame for overlooking the Human Race’s scheme, while Old White Ape used the incident to deepen divisions among the demons. At Demon-Suppressing Pass, the Dark Pavilion’s Old Man departed after mourning his fallen companions, the beasts renewed their assault, and Zhong Yushu confronted the Red Dragon King at Eagle Ravine Mountain.

• Old White Ape accepted responsibility for missing the Human Race’s scheme, and the Eight-Tailed Fox forgave him.
• The Old Man mourned the dead Dark Pavilion members, said farewell to Chu Yu, and left.
• Chu Yu prepared as the demon beasts regrouped and charged Demon-Suppressing Pass through the defenders’ sea of fire.
• Zhong Yushu prepared to defend the mountain as Red Dragon arrived with over a hundred red dragons and demanded passage.
• Zhong Yushu charged the Red Dragon King with his spear after the king threatened to burn the mountain and kill its humans.

Zhong Yushu used the Reserve Corps’ battle formation and their shared killing intent to overpower the Red Dragon King, who called Taotie to help. Taotie swallowed Zhong Yushu’s sword and coveted his blood dragon, while Zhong Yushu challenged it to try swallowing the phantom too.

• Zhong Yushu drew on the Reserve Corps soldiers’ cries of “Kill” to strengthen his killing intent, wound the Red Dragon King, and explain that the soldiers were his world.
• Zhong Yushu ordered the Reserve Corps to form battle formations, using Void-Breaking Sword Form and Jade-Containing Form to strike at the Red Dragons and shield the soldiers from flames.
• The Red Dragon King ordered its Demon Beasts to destroy the formation, but the strengthened Reserve Corps held the Demon Clan elites to a stalemate.
• The Red Dragon King called out to Taotie, which appeared, swallowed Zhong Yushu’s killing-intent sword, and fixated on the blood dragon phantom.
• Zhong Yushu confronted Taotie and asked whether it dared to swallow the blood dragon.

Zhong Yushu fought Taotie and Red Dragon while the Taotie Tribe’s reinforcements pushed the Human Race back in the deep mountains. After unleashing a powerful sword attack, Zhong Yushu weakened, and Taotie and Red Dragon continued battling him as their plans for the invasion diverged.

• Taotie persuaded Red Dragon to join him against Zhong Yushu, who strengthened the soldiers with the Autumn Slaughter and Golden Armor formations.
• Taotie’s reinforcements charged into the deep mountains while Zhong Yushu held off both enemies, then he unleashed Xuanyuan’s sword strike and badly wounded Taotie.
• Red Dragon attacked Zhong Yushu while Taotie stayed back to recover, and the Human Race began retreating as the Taotie Tribe overwhelmed the battlefield.
• Red Dragon urged Taotie to kill the weakened Zhong Yushu and avoid alerting Demon-Suppressing Pass, arguing that invading Human Race territory would strengthen their clans.
• Taotie rejoined the fight but told Red Dragon he did not trust him.

Red Dragon and Taotie attacked Zhong Yushu with Karmic Fire, while Yu Mo and the Confucian Scholar waited to ambush them. The Confucian Scholar killed Taotie in one strike, but Red Dragon escaped, and Yu Mo warned the watching Demon God that the Confucian Scholar had not reached the Ninth Awakening.

• Red Dragon persuaded the hesitant Taotie to join him in attacking Zhong Yushu, and the two sealed off the mountain with demon aura.
• Taotie wounded Zhong Yushu with his armpit eye while Red Dragon covered the area in Karmic Fire.
• Zhong Yushu sat in midair to resist the Karmic Fire as Red Dragon and Taotie attacked the Blood Dragon protecting him.
• Yu Mo watched from his wheelchair as the Confucian Scholar appeared and killed the wounded Taotie with a single palm strike.
• Red Dragon fled, and Yu Mo told the Demon God watching from the void that the Confucian Scholar had not broken through to the Ninth Awakening.

Yu Mo and Red Dragon negotiated over Taotie’s spoils after Confucian Scholar killed Taotie, while Confucian Scholar struggled with a strange sense that he recognized something in the sky. Red Dragon then offered Zhong Yushu a rigged battle against the Taotie Clan, leaving Zhong to decide whether to accept the scheme.

• Yu Mo tactfully offered Taotie’s Demon Core, Demon Crystal, and blood to appease the unseen presence, which allowed Red Dragon to collect them.
• Confucian Scholar returned to Yu Mo but spoke of a familiar presence and wondered why something he thought he had killed had revived.
• Yu Mo reflected that four of the Twelve God Clans’ leaders had died, while Zhong Yushu recovered and challenged Red Dragon to fight again.
• Red Dragon secretly proposed that his tribe fake the battle, help Zhong Yushu eliminate the Taotie Clan’s strongest members, and split the gains while Red Dragon claimed victory.
• Red Dragon specified that the Taotie above the sixth level should die and asked Zhong Yushu whether he would join the scheme.

Zhong Yushu and Red Dragon secretly arranged a staged battle in which the Taotie Clan would suffer enough losses to make their cooperation convincing. After Yu Mo recognized Red Dragon’s potential and ordered Zhong Yushu to support him, Zhong Yushu knocked Red Dragon back and advised him to absorb the Taotie’s Demon Core and blood essence to make his apparent comeback believable.

• Zhong Yushu and Red Dragon negotiated a secret alliance, with Red Dragon demanding that Zhong Yushu let some of the Taotie Clan die first.
• Red Dragon ordered his warriors to attack, and the fighters on both sides staged a battle while the Taotie Clan continued fighting in earnest.
• Zhong Yushu asked whether Skyvault Ravine had made any recent moves, but Red Dragon refused to answer.
• Yu Mo noticed the staged fighting and told the Confucian Scholar to instruct Zhong Yushu to cooperate fully with Red Dragon.
• After about twenty percent of the Taotie Clan had died, Zhong Yushu struck Red Dragon and released the Taotie’s Demon Core, Demon Crystal, and blood essence.
• Zhong Yushu advised Red Dragon to absorb the resources and defeat him in a convincing staged reversal.

Red Dragon and Zhong Yushu staged a battle while secretly arranging for Red Dragon to absorb Taotie’s power and gain a path toward becoming a Demon God. Their plan left Red Dragon’s clan suffering heavy losses, and the chapter ended as the mountain’s mist cleared to reveal the blood-soaked battlefield.

• Red Dragon swallowed Taotie’s Demon Core and blood essence, then attacked Zhong Yushu while claiming he was taking revenge alongside Taotie.
• Zhong Yushu persuaded Red Dragon to continue their alliance by promising human support for his rise and warning that he would lose military merit if he abandoned the plan.
• Red Dragon and Zhong Yushu continued their staged fight as human and demon armies fought below, with Red Dragon directing his forces to make their attacks more lethal.
• Red Dragon agreed that at least thirty percent of his tribe would need to die to make the deception convincing, then signaled for the troops to kill a young red dragon that human fighters swiftly slaughtered.
• Zhong Yushu announced that the final performance could begin, and the mist dispersed as Red Dragon, covered in wounds, denounced the humans before the revealed battlefield.

Red Dragon fought Zhong Yushu, then withdrew with the Demon Beasts when Zhong Yushu revealed arrays prepared in the mountains. Zhong Yushu collapsed after the retreat, while Old White Ape declared the battle a great victory for the Demon Clan.

• Red Dragon merged Taotie's fading phantom into himself and attacked Zhong Yushu with all his strength.
• Zhong Yushu weakened his own shield, allowing Red Dragon to wound him and drive him into the mountains as the Demon Beasts surged forward.
• Zhong Yushu revealed the mountain arrays, and Red Dragon ordered the Demon Beasts to retreat before they activated.
• Red Dragon led his clan away with Taotie's corpse, while Zhong Yushu halted the arrays and collapsed after the Demon Clan had withdrawn.
• An Eighth Awakening old man arrived to guard the mountain, and Old White Ape proclaimed the battle a great victory for the Demon Clan.

Red Dragon mourned Taotie and pledged his tribe’s support, while Old White Ape and the Eight-Tailed Fox discussed how to use him and identified Dawn Pass as the battle’s key. At Demon-Suppressing Pass, Chu Yu summoned the heroic souls again, and Old White Ape estimated that her limit was eight steps, with a ninth step certain to kill her.

• Red Dragon blamed himself for Taotie’s death, vowed to ally with the Taotie Clan, and promised to help raise a new Level Eight Demon Lord.
• The Eight-Tailed Fox questioned Red Dragon’s honesty, but Old White Ape argued that his survival and strength made him valuable.
• Old White Ape said Dawn Pass was the decisive point in the war and that the humans could not muster more troops for now.
• Chu Yu summoned the heroic souls at Demon-Suppressing Pass and visibly aged as she took her sixth step.
• Old White Ape told the Eight-Tailed Fox that Chu Yu could likely take eight steps, but a ninth would kill her.

The Eight-Tailed Fox ordered nearby forces to attack Demon-Suppressing Pass, while Kong Hongfang activated the Star Chart to defend Dome Pass. He trapped two God Race Clan Leaders in his Rules World, leaving the battle’s outcome unknown.

• The Old White Ape argued that waves of low-level Demon Beasts could wear down the defender at Demon-Suppressing Pass, and the Eight-Tailed Fox agreed that their losses would be acceptable.
• The Eight-Tailed Fox ordered the Seven-Tailed Fox to mobilize nearby forces and send them to attack the pass in three hours.
• Kong Hongfang arrived at Dome Pass, lit its beacons, and activated the Star Chart with the soldiers’ arrays.
• Kong Hongfang used the Big Dipper, Greedy Wolf, Army-Breaker, and Seven Killings to shroud the fortress in starlight and kill the approaching Demon Beasts.
• Kong Hongfang challenged the two God Race Clan Leaders, then appeared before them and drew them into his Rules World.

Chu Yu and the human defenders fought to hold the battlements as the Demon Domain's horde pressed on. Mu Yu unleashed her Fifth Skill to clear a hundred-meter area, then collapsed, giving the heroic souls a chance to push back the encroaching beasts.

• Chu Yu took her seventh step, easing the pressure on the battlements as Seventh Awakening heroic souls slaughtered demon beasts, while high-rank beasts watched from afar.
• A burly Demon-Slaughtering Pavilion man used a secret method to drive some demon beasts mad, causing them to attack each other and briefly relieving the human soldiers.
• A Tai tore apart an azure bird and took Zhao Zicheng's place at the front, while Zhao Zicheng checked on the wounded Lin Xiaoxiao and ordered A Tai to watch Mu Yu.
• Mu Yu used Soul Severing to kill the demon beasts within a hundred-meter radius, then collapsed as the heroic souls spread out to defend and expand the cleared area.

Zhao Zicheng rescued the injured Mu Yu and treated him and Lin Xiaoxiao while A Tai held the line. After Mu Yu woke, the group regrouped and fought together, but the demon beasts’ numbers kept the battlefield dangerous even without high-rank beasts joining in.

• Zhao Zicheng dragged the unconscious Mu Yu behind the sandbags and gave A Tai the Gravestone to smash an approaching demon beast.
• Zhao Zicheng fed pills and applied medicine to Lin Xiaoxiao and Mu Yu, then forced foul-tasting medicine down Mu Yu to wake him.
• Once recovered, Zhao Zicheng took over the front line as A Tai retreated, and Lin Xiaoxiao gave A Tai pills before charging back into battle.
• Mu Yu woke up retching, recovered enough to wield the Gravestone and use his early skills, and joined Zhao Zicheng and Xiao Xiao in the fight.
• The group carved out a small space amid the demon beasts, but their overwhelming numbers continued to threaten the fighters.

Chu Yu struggled to take the eighth step as the Eight-Tailed Fox ordered the Demon Beasts to attack Demon-Suppressing Pass, believing she could be worn down. Old White Ape suspected the Eight-Tailed Fox was using the battle to weaken rival forces and secure a later victory, then decided to join the fighting himself.

• Chu Yu repeatedly raised and lowered her foot while the Eight-Tailed Fox and Old White Ape watched and debated whether she could take the eighth step.
• The Eight-Tailed Fox judged Chu Yu to be an ordinary person whose lifespan was running out and ordered the Demon Beasts to attack Demon-Suppressing Pass.
• Old White Ape reconsidered the Eight-Tailed Fox’s apparent recklessness and concluded that he might be sacrificing the Twelve God Clans’ forces to strengthen his own position and prepare a later attack.
• Old White Ape decided to add his own move, declared that he could not withdraw while the sons of Eagle Ravine Mountain fought, and flew into the battle with a spiked club.
• Old White Ape called the sons of Eagle Ravine Mountain to advance and retreat with him, and their fighting spirit grew as they charged toward Demon-Suppressing Pass.

Chu Yu took the eighth step and summoned the shadows of dozens of dead Eighth Awakening experts, who slaughtered the Demon Beasts surrounding her. The shadows dispersed after exhausting her remaining lifespan, leaving Chu Yu fallen on Demon-Suppressing Pass as more Demon Beasts charged toward her.

• Old White Ape directed the High-Rank Demon Beasts to target Chu Yu and led their attack on her.
• Yu Mo nodded to Chu Yu, and she took the eighth step, trapping the advancing Demon Beasts in an invisible domain.
• Ma Sansi and dozens of other dead Eighth Awakening experts appeared as shadows and attacked the Demon Beasts surrounding Chu Yu.
• Old White Ape escaped through a spatial rift, while most of the trapped Demon Beasts were killed within seconds.
• The shadows dispersed as Chu Yu's lifespan neared its limit, and one dying shadow gently lowered her to the ground.
• More Demon Beasts charged toward Chu Yu, intent on killing her for the promised merit.

A battered Chu Yu was rescued from the Demon Beasts as the battle at Demon-Suppressing Pass intensified and reinforcements arrived. Yu Mo revealed that the Human Race had held high-rank awakened fighters in reserve, turning the tide at the pass, but the outcome now depended on whether Dawn Pass could hold.

• A figure whisked Chu Yu away in a cart while soldiers blocked the pursuing Demon Beasts.
• Zhao Zicheng, Lin Xiaoxiao, A Tai, Mu Yu, and Big White struggled to hold the line as the fighting worsened.
• Reinforcements arrived from several provinces and organizations, including Ink Academy's Special Training Class, whose young fighters joined the battle.
• Shi Guang tied the unconscious Chu Yu to herself and stayed inside the array, remembering Chu Yu's warning that she would die if she left it.
• Yu Mo told the Old White Ape that the Human Race had kept high-rank awakened fighters in reserve, and sixth- and seventh-awakening fighters swept through the Demon Beasts atop the pass.
• Yu Mo said the battle now depended on Dawn Pass, then asked the Confucian Scholar to take him away to rest.

After the Demon Clan lost the second battle at Demon-Suppressing Pass, Eight-Tailed Fox ordered a retreat and prepared for the decisive Third Battle. At Eagle Ravine Mountain, Old White Ape reflected on the Demon Domain’s internal scheming before meeting Zhao Qingyi and An Xin and challenging them to try killing him.

• Old White Ape apologized to Eight-Tailed Fox for the defeat, but Eight-Tailed Fox accepted responsibility and ordered the Demon Beasts to retreat from Demon-Suppressing Pass.
• Eight-Tailed Fox and Old White Ape discussed the Demon Domain’s losses and resolved to prepare for the Third Battle, which Eight-Tailed Fox believed they had to win.
• Old White Ape privately condemned the Demon Domain’s leaders for pursuing power over unity, then questioned whether his own motives were selfish too.
• At Eagle Ravine Mountain, Old White Ape concluded that the leaders’ schemes prolonged the war and created opportunities for him to pursue his own affairs.
• Old White Ape met Zhao Qingyi and An Xin, learned An Xin had reached Fifth Awakening, and told them they needed at least Sixth Awakening.
• Seriously wounded, Old White Ape asked Zhao Qingyi and An Xin why they did not try to kill him while he was vulnerable.

After An Xin and Zhao Qingyi left Old White Ape, he collapsed from his reopened wound. In the Swamp Pool, Yu Sheng forced a wounded demon beast to guide him to a hidden chamber, where they found an unusual pale-red liquid with no record in the Demon Domain Illustrated Compendium.

• Old White Ape told An Xin and Zhao Qingyi to find two fruits on the Back Mountain, then passed out as his chest wound bled.
• Yu Sheng prodded a demon beast he had injured, and it sprang up and tried to flee.
• Yu Sheng kicked the demon beast back into a corner and made it agree to lead him to food.
• The demon beast guided Yu Sheng through the Mountain Cave, warning him to stay quiet near a dark cave where something large slept.
• The demon beast opened a hidden passage, and Yu Sheng followed it into a chamber containing pale-red liquid dripping from a pointed rock.

Yu Sheng forced a Demon Beast to lead him through the underground space, where he collected a full garden of Demon Plants. After emptying the garden, he urged the Beast to show him more food.

• Yu Sheng made the Demon Beast swallow water from a strange pool, collected the liquid, and asked what it ate.
• The Demon Beast led Yu Sheng through a narrow opening, where Yu Sheng caught it preparing an ambush.
• Yu Sheng ordered the Beast to lead him onward, and it brought him to a garden of Demon Plants growing on damp rock.
• Yu Sheng made the Beast help pick the plants, then spent two hours collecting every last one.
• The Demon Beast pointed to the Fishing Line around its neck, but Yu Sheng asked whether it had side dishes as well.