Recaps

Old White Ape met An Xin and Zhao Qingyi on Eagle Ravine Mountain and offered them a chance to change their minds. After they explained why they had chosen to remain, he prepared to help them enter the sixth awakening, despite the cost to their remaining lifespans.

• Ji Hong and the Eight-Tailed Fox silently reaffirmed that only one of them would survive the coming battle at Skyvault Ravine.
• Old White Ape crossed the Thousand-Li Demon Plain and flew to the summit of Eagle Ravine Mountain.
• Old White Ape offered An Xin and Zhao Qingyi the chance to refuse, but they remained resolute.
• An Xin said she was grateful for her past greed and felt guilty for dragging Zhao Qingyi into their choices; Zhao Qingyi said joining her had been her own choice.
• Old White Ape said he admired them and that their beliefs transcended their opposing sides, then had the branches of an old tree envelop them.

Old White Ape helped An Xin and Zhao Qingyi advance their Awakening, then told them their lives had about a month left and let them leave. He gave An Xin a bloodstained package of lollipops as a parting gift.

• Old White Ape used a liquid to make the old tree release energy while An Xin and Zhao Qingyi underwent the process inside its branches and vines.
• An Xin awakened to an incomplete Sixth Awakening, and Old White Ape said she could never advance further; he also handed her and Zhao Qingyi Demon Cores.
• Old White Ape said his part of their cooperation was finished and warned that they probably had about a month left to live.
• An Xin said she trusted Ji Hong and hoped Old White Ape would stand with the Human Race, then she and Zhao Qingyi started down the mountain.
• Old White Ape stopped An Xin and gave her a package of mostly edible lollipops, which she shared with Zhao Qingyi.

An Xin and Zhao Qingyi left Old White Ape and continued across the silent Demon Plain, resolved to face their deaths while secretly preparing to save the world. Old White Ape dressed for his final game and set out to place his own pieces as humans celebrated the New Year.

• An Xin and Zhao Qingyi bickered as they walked away from Old White Ape, now at the sixth awakening and accepting that they were nearing death.
• Old White Ape reflected on the feelings stirred by giving a gift and concluded that pure souls deserved respect.
• Old White Ape put on a festive red robe and announced that the final game was about to begin, calling on the Eight-Tailed Fox to make a move.
• People across human territory celebrated the New Year with lanterns, family greetings, festive programs, and a dumpling-making contest at the Ink Pavilion.

As a vast Beast Tide gathered at Demon-Suppressing Pass, the defenders prepared for a battle Yu Mo expected to become a prolonged war of attrition. Yu Mo urged Yuan Qingshan to wait for an opportunity, but when Yuan refused to abandon the pass, Yu Mo committed himself to fighting beside him.

• The soldiers and Ink Academy graduates prepared for the Beast Tide, while Shi Guang told Chu Yu she had to catch up with someone who would need her in the future.
• Yu Mo arrived at Demon-Suppressing Pass and warned Yuan Qingshan that the Eight-Tailed Fox would use waves of Demon Beasts to exhaust the defenders and consolidate its power.
• Yu Mo said they had to wait for an opportunity, and that he believed someone would not disappoint him.
• Yu Mo proposed retreating three thousand li if no opportunity came, but Yuan Qingshan refused to abandon Demon-Suppressing Pass or the civilians it protected.
• Yu Mo praised Yuan Qingshan as a worthy Ink Pavilion Head and vowed to fight rather than retreat.

At noon, the Demon Clan began its third assault on Demon-Suppressing Pass, with Yuan Qingshan countering the Demon God Drum while the Eight-Tailed Fox arranged the battlefield. As the Eighth Awakening fighters engaged, Ji Hong held back, certain the Human Race would lose and planning to fight afterward.

• Yuan Qingshan declared that the Human Race had to preserve its unity and pride, while Yu Mo quietly approved of his resolve.
• The Eight-Tailed Fox ordered the beasts to charge, and Yuan Qingshan used his own drum to counter the Demon God Drum’s effect on the soldiers.
• The Eight-Tailed Fox forced the battle into direct matchups and watched for Zhong Yushu to emerge from Deep Mountain, but the mountain remained silent.
• The Eight-Tailed Fox called for a Demon Lord to fight, and Zhu Yan and Bifang charged toward Demon-Suppressing Pass as two elderly men came out to meet them.
• Red Dragon restrained itself from joining the battle, while Black Flood Dragon King stood obsequiously behind the Eight-Tailed Fox.
• Ji Hong told Old White Ape that the Human Race could not win and that he would fight only after their defeat.

Old White Ape provoked Eight-Tailed Fox over its treatment of Ji Hong, drawing a reprimand from the Demon God and forcing Eight-Tailed Fox to choose between kneeling and preserving its authority. Afterward, Old White Ape and Ji Hong discussed how to prove their value and disrupt Eight-Tailed Fox’s plans in the final battle.

• Old White Ape loudly accused Eight-Tailed Fox of sabotaging rivals and sidelining Ji Hong, prompting Eight-Tailed Fox to order Black Flood Dragon King to kill him.
• The Demon God’s pressure struck the group, injuring Black Flood Dragon King and forcing Old White Ape to kneel and apologize.
• Eight-Tailed Fox apologized to the Demon God but refused to kneel, then left without helping the wounded Black Flood Dragon King.
• Old White Ape apologized to Eight-Tailed Fox and returned to Ji Hong’s side after the Demon God intervened.
• Old White Ape told Ji Hong that the Demon God was watching the final battle and that they needed to show their value while hindering Eight-Tailed Fox’s plan.
• Old White Ape asked Ji Hong how much the Human Race could accomplish.

Ji Hong and Old White Ape discussed Yu Sheng, the Ten Thousand Poisons Fruit, and the information Old White Ape had traded for two outfits. Old White Ape revealed that he knew about Yu Sheng’s trip to the Swamp Pool and hinted that the Human Race still had a powerful chance to turn the battle around, while Ji Hong saw through his attempts to test him.

• Old White Ape explained that a human calling himself Yu Sheng had sold him two outfits, and Ji Hong recognized the name.
• Old White Ape revealed that he had traded information about the Swamp Pool and the Ten Thousand Poisons Fruit for the outfits, then claimed Yu Sheng had entered the Swamp Pool half a month earlier.
• Old White Ape said some of his information about the Ten Thousand Poisons Fruit was false and suggested Yu Sheng had been killed, but Ji Hong refused to show anger.
• Old White Ape explained that a human contact had recently told him about Yu Sheng’s trip to the Swamp Pool and hinted that he possessed a powerful trump card for the Human Race.
• Ji Hong and Old White Ape accused each other of childish tricks, then Old White Ape revealed that he communicated with humans by phone using the Demon-Suppressing Pass signal.
• Ji Hong left as Old White Ape bragged about watching television dramas and posting bullet comments.

As the Beast Tide battle raged at Demon-Suppressing Pass, Yu Sheng remained immersed in comprehending spatial rules while Poison Bee raced to finish its array. Yu Sheng’s explosions damaged three more caves, forcing Poison Bee to repair the arrays as he continued gathering energy toward the Seventh Awakening.

• The fighters at Demon-Suppressing Pass battled the Beast Tide, with Shi Guang striking from within its ranks and Zhao Zicheng and the others defending as a unit.
• Yu Mo watched the battle and said they could pin their hopes on a slim chance of survival.
• Yu Sheng pressed a button on a remote control while still immersed in comprehension, setting off three explosions in the cave.
• Poison Bee checked the caves for more bombs, then found three damaged arrays and split portions of its soul to repair them simultaneously.
• Yu Sheng absorbed energy from the Mountains and Rivers Bottle, deepening his grasp of spatial rules while dangerous spatial cracks flickered around him.

Yu Sheng returned just as Poison Bee was about to complete the arrays, then destroyed the first one and confronted him at the next. Poison Bee pleaded to withdraw and offered all three Ten Thousand Poisons Fruits, desperate to survive.

• Poison Bee weakened as he prepared to make the final stroke that would complete the arrays.
• Yu Sheng stopped Poison Bee, examined the array, and destroyed it with his sword.
• Yu Sheng destroyed the Demon Beast corpse, freeing Poison Bee’s soul, which rushed to the next array.
• Poison Bee admitted defeat and offered Yu Sheng two Ten Thousand Poisons Fruits in exchange for being allowed to leave.
• Yu Sheng questioned why he should give up an extra fruit when victory was assured, and Poison Bee offered all three fruits and swore never to kill another Human Race member.

Yu Sheng forced Poison Bee to agree to accompany him to the Human Race, then learned that removing the Ten Thousand Poisons Fruit and Old Turtle’s corpse would trigger a violent frenzy among the Swamp Pool’s beasts. Poison Bee warned that escaping would be dangerous and said their lives were now linked.

• Yu Sheng destroyed another Array, took its black heart, and offered to spare Poison Bee if he came to the Human Race.
• Poison Bee tried to bargain by offering to become an inside agent, but Yu Sheng insisted that he would take him back either way.
• Poison Bee weighed escaping by possessing another beast, then abandoned his pride and agreed to cooperate.
• Poison Bee led Yu Sheng to the Ten Thousand Poisons Fruit and warned that picking it and removing Old Turtle’s corpse would unleash the beasts’ suppressed aura and make them attack until they died.
• Poison Bee told Yu Sheng that escaping the Swamp Pool would be extremely difficult and that their lives were now linked.

Poison Bee returned the three souls hidden in the Ten Thousand Poisons Fruits to himself, then accepted his fate rather than risk trying to control Yu Sheng. Yu Sheng expanded the Mountains and Rivers Bottle’s spatial rift above Lakeheart Island and prepared to use it to take in the Demon God remains.

• Poison Bee summoned the three souls from the Ten Thousand Poisons Fruits and absorbed them, strengthening his body as Yu Sheng collected the gray fruits in the Mountains and Rivers Bottle.
• Poison Bee told Yu Sheng that his soul was at its strongest and that he might be able to control him, but he chose not to gamble on it.
• Yu Sheng questioned Poison Bee’s belief that everything was fate, then left the underground cave and returned to Lakeheart Island.
• Yu Sheng opened the Mountains and Rivers Bottle’s space above the island, and the rift revealed that most of its contents had burned to ash while the stalactite and its bottle remained intact.
• Yu Sheng used a mountain-and-sea hammer to strike the rift repeatedly until it grew considerably larger, while Poison Bee wondered whether it would be large enough to take in the Demon God remains.

Yu Sheng freed Old Turtle’s corpse from Lakeheart Island and stored it in the spatial rift, provoking the beasts and poisonous gas throughout the Swamp Pool. He escaped the vortex and reached shore, then left immediately as the Marsh Water became the only sanctuary nearby.

• Yu Sheng used the Mountains and Rivers Bottle’s energy to free Old Turtle’s corpse from the Marsh Water’s suction.
• Poison Bee concluded that Yu Sheng was destined to carry the Demon God’s corpse out of the Swamp Pool.
• Yu Sheng contained Old Turtle’s corpse in the spatial rift as Lakeheart Island disappeared and the surrounding beasts roared.
• Yu Sheng tied planks to his feet, rode the currents out of the vortex, and reached the lakeshore.
• Yu Sheng surveyed the exposed shore and left at once to avoid being surrounded by the awakened beasts.

Yu Sheng fought through the Swamp Pool’s escalating chaos to gather Demon Crystals and recover his energy, while the poison gas continued to threaten him. After the first Beast Tide assault ended, Zhao Zicheng, Mu Yu, A Tai, and the others regrouped with Xu Yuanqing, who warned them that the Demon Domain planned a war of attrition.

• Yu Sheng found that his supplies had burned away, assessed his remaining protection and resources, and began recovering energy in hiding.
• Yu Sheng silently killed a wounded giant crocodile and took its Demon Crystal, while the bloody carcass drew Demon Beasts into a frenzy.
• Yu Sheng hunted for Demon Crystals and used them to replenish his energy as nightfall intensified the fighting and seventh-level Demon Beasts joined the chaos.
• After a day-long battle, Zhao Zicheng, Mu Yu, A Tai, and the others survived the Beast Tide’s first assault, though they were wounded and exhausted.
• Xu Yuanqing checked that the students were alive, warned them to rest before the Demon Domain’s next attack, and hurried away to handle the war effort.

Demon beasts attacked Demon-Suppressing Pass again as Yu Mo persuaded Yuan Qingshan to rotate out some soldiers, while the defenders fought beneath fireworks and Xu Yuanqing confronted a seventh-level demon king. Meanwhile, Yu Sheng treated a poisoned wound alone in Swamp Pool and ignored Poison Bee’s offer to help.

• Yu Mo advised Yuan Qingshan to withdraw a third of the soldiers from Demon-Suppressing Pass to rest, and Yuan Qingshan agreed.
• Fireworks rose behind the human lines as soldiers rotated off the battlements, while the remaining defenders prepared to face the next assault.
• Yuan Qingshan countered the Demon God Drum as the soldiers used fire, frost, and thunder to attack the charging demon beasts and hawks.
• Xu Yuanqing rode a flaming phoenix into the sky and engulfed a seventh-level demon king in flames.
• Demon beasts reached Demon-Suppressing Pass and began close combat, staining the walls with blood.
• Yu Sheng cauterized his poisoned chest wound and absorbed energy from a demon crystal, ignoring Poison Bee’s suggested cure.

Yu Sheng navigated the Demon Beast-infested swamp through the night while Poison Bee warned that a level-seven Demon King guarded the exit. As daylight left him with fewer hiding places, Yu Sheng charged toward the remaining horde, and Poison Bee watched to see whether he could overcome the blockade.

• Yu Sheng treated and masked his wounds, then used Demon Beast blood to draw pursuers away while moving through the darkness.
• Poison Bee warned Yu Sheng that daylight would make the beasts more ferocious and that a level-seven Demon King was sealed near the Swamp Pool's exit.
• Yu Sheng reached the final stretch with a quarter of the distance left and found the route increasingly crowded with Demon Beasts.
• Poison Bee revealed that two other level-seven Demon Beasts had moved to the Core Area, leaving only the Demon King to block Yu Sheng's way.
• Yu Sheng readied his longsword and Demon Cores, then charged into the horde, weaving past beasts and striking only when attacked.
• Poison Bee silently studied Yu Sheng's combat skills and wondered how the player expected him to pass a level-seven Demon King's blockade.

Yu Sheng fought his way through the Beast Tide while the survivors at Demon-Suppressing Pass endured another wave. Shi Guang painted a portrait of Chu Yu, leaving the story at dawn as the fighting continued.

• Yu Sheng escaped a ring of fighting, recovered with a Demon Crystal, and charged toward another Beast Tide line.
• Zhao Zicheng, Big White, and the others rested after repelling another attack, while Lin Xiaoxiao tended Big White’s wounds.
• Chu Yu showed Shi Guang a painting of her smiling and admitted she could no longer paint because of her age.
• Shi Guang painted Chu Yu as she had looked in her youth, then added her own blood beneath the figure.
• Chu Yu thanked Shi Guang and said she loved the painting as dawn rose.

Yu Sheng fought through Swamp Pool’s battle lines to fulfill his agreement, despite his injuries and the danger ahead. After forcing his way through the final beast horde, he emerged weakened and unsteady.

• The Eight-Tailed Fox rebuked Zhu Yan and Bifang for failing to kill the Human Race’s Eighth Awakening fighters, then ordered them to attack again.
• Yu Sheng pushed onward through the battlefield, explaining to Poison Bee that he had to deliver on his deal because he had taken the money.
• Yu Sheng used his Long Sword and hammer to kill Demon Beasts and break through another battle line.
• With only 400 meters left, Yu Sheng charged into the final horde as the crystal stone on his chest filled with poisonous gas and shattered.
• Yu Sheng used Sucker Punch to leap out of the beast horde, then landed weakened and swaying.

Yu Sheng pushed toward the exit despite Poison Bee’s warnings, but a Seventh Level Demon King blocked his path. Exhausted and wounded, he faced the creature as it trapped him inside its Demon Aura blockade.

• Poison Bee urged Yu Sheng to rest, recover from the poison, and wait for a safer chance to leave, but Yu Sheng refused because he feared violating the contract’s deadline.
• Yu Sheng charged toward the exit, but an enormous claw burst from the swamp, reopened his wound, and knocked him down.
• Yu Sheng struck the claw with his hammer, cracking its scales and briefly driving it back before he rushed forward.
• A scaled tail swept at Yu Sheng, and the Demon King’s Demon Aura then blocked his Teleportation.
• The Demon King rose from the mire, and Yu Sheng stood his ground despite his failing strength while Poison Bee speculated that someone might intervene.

Yu Sheng used a brief illusion of a powerful awakening object to trick the Demon King and escape the Swamp Pool, though he collapsed from his injuries after reaching safety. Sun Yingxiong found him with two Ten Thousand Poisons Fruits, while An Xin and Zhao Qingyi departed with the fruits and Sun Yingxiong hoped to one day fight the Demon Gods openly.

• The Demon King attacked the badly injured Yu Sheng, but Yu Sheng revealed that the three awakening objects he had used were not the only ones he possessed.
• Yu Sheng spent two Demon Crystals to manifest an antique Scroll that gathered the Dragon-Patterned Staff, the Mountains and Rivers Bottle, and the Phoenix Hammer, briefly frightening the Demon King.
• Yu Sheng used the Scroll’s dazzling light to flee 250 meters and then escaped the Swamp Pool, while the enraged Demon King attacked the low-level demon beasts.
• Poison Bee realized Yu Sheng had used the Scroll as a bluff, then sensed a ninth-awakening presence and concealed himself.
• Sun Yingxiong found the collapsing Yu Sheng, who produced two Ten Thousand Poisons Fruits before passing out.
• An Xin and Zhao Qingyi took one fruit each and left, and Sun Yingxiong thanked them on behalf of the human race before voicing his hope of confronting the Demon Gods.

Sun Yingxiong carried the unconscious Yu Sheng away, while Ji Hong volunteered to fight for the Demon Domain after Bifang and Zhu Yan returned from another draw. The Eight-Tailed Fox kept to a war of attrition, and Ji Hong prepared to enter the fourth battle.

• Sun Yingxiong helped the unconscious Yu Sheng onto his shoulder and walked away, lamenting that he had to rely on the younger generation despite reaching the ninth awakening.
• The Eight-Tailed Fox saw Bifang and Zhu Yan return wounded after another draw and began to discuss the next battle.
• Ji Hong stood up and volunteered to fight, then scorned the Demon Lords and accused the Eight-Tailed Fox of disgracing the Demon Domain.
• Old White Ape joined Ji Hong in mocking the Eight-Tailed Fox, who agreed to send Ji Hong into the fourth battle but insisted it would remain a war of attrition.
• The Eight-Tailed Fox explained that an all-out assault was still risky, while Ji Hong and Old White Ape discussed how long the attrition strategy might continue.

Ji Hong fought Ink Academy's Old Principal during the fourth Beast Tide assault while An Xin and Zhao Qingyi waited for the all-out attack. Yu Mo revealed that the plan depended on a promised arrival, and said he was waiting for the wind.

• Ji Hong confronted Ink Academy's Old Principal and accused him of hypocrisy before trapping them both inside his painted mountains and rivers.
• Ji Hong and the Old Principal exchanged powerful attacks, with the Old Principal's sunlight breaking Ji Hong's spear.
• An Xin told Zhao Qingyi to wait until the all-out assault before acting, though they watched the carnage at Demon-Suppressing Pass with anguish.
• Yuan Qingshan warned Yu Mo that the defenses might not withstand the rotating attacks, and Yu Mo predicted that Eight-Tailed Fox would launch a full assault in the sixth round.
• Yu Mo said the plan depended on their agreement being fulfilled that day and told Yuan Qingshan he was waiting for the wind.

As the exhausted defenders prepared for the Demon Domain’s fifth offensive, Zhao Zicheng ordered the badly wounded A Tai to retreat rather than risk weakening the squad’s formation. The squad agreed to fight the coming wave and withdraw afterward.

• Shi Guang helped the rescue team use improved carts to transport wounded soldiers more efficiently.
• Zhao Zicheng urged A Tai to retreat, warning that his injuries endangered both himself and the squad’s formation.
• Mu Yu revealed he had reached the fifth awakening and gained a defensive skill, assuring A Tai he could manage without a meat shield.
• Xu Yuanqing knocked A Tai unconscious and carried him down from the pass.
• Zhao Zicheng and Lin Xiaoxiao assessed their injuries, and Zhao ordered the squad to fight the fifth wave before retreating.

As the freshmen of the 149th class prepared for the fifth battle, Ji Hong returned to the Demon Domain camp after badly wounding Ink Academy’s Old Principal. Old White Ape challenged Eight-Tailed Fox over his treatment of Ji Hong and used the Demon God’s response to accuse the Demon Lord of disloyalty.

• Zhao Zicheng saved A Tai, then told his classmates to recover and fight without holding back in the fifth round.
• Ji Hong returned to camp after overwhelming the Old Principal and leaving Qi Changshan struggling to hold him off.
• Old White Ape mocked Eight-Tailed Fox for claiming credit for Ji Hong’s rise while treating him like a pawn.
• The Demon God announced that rewards would be given according to merit after the war, and Old White Ape loudly thanked him.
• Old White Ape accused Eight-Tailed Fox of disrespecting the Demon God by not kneeling and hinted that he might be planning a rebellion.
• Eight-Tailed Fox denied disloyalty and called the ritual hypocritical, while Old White Ape insisted that devotion to the Demon God had to be shown through action.

The Eight-Tailed Fox ordered the fifth battle to begin before the Demon army’s all-out assault, while Yu Sheng recovered after risking his life in the previous fight. Sun Yingxiong thanked Yu Sheng, then revealed the grief and regret he carried after watching his son die without being able to intervene.

• The Eight-Tailed Fox demanded that a Demon Lord perform better than Ji Hong in the fifth battle and ordered the all-out assault to follow.
• Yu Sheng woke in the darkness and reached for his sword before Sun Yingxiong assured him he was safe.
• Sun Yingxiong thanked Yu Sheng for saving human lives, but Yu Sheng said he had acted only for payment.
• Sun Yingxiong lay beside Yu Sheng beneath the stars and explained that his son had died a week earlier while he watched, unable to act as a Ninth Awakening human.
• Sun Yingxiong said he hoped his son had become a star and would never be tired again.

Yu Sheng considered Sun Yingxiong’s advice about opening his heart, then fell asleep after deciding to treat saving people as a transaction. Meanwhile, Zhao Zicheng, Lin Xiaoxiao, and Mu Yu survived the fifth Beast Tide wave, and Zhao joked that they should stay and die fighting as the Ink Academy Three Brave Warriors.

• Sun Yingxiong told Yu Sheng that he had already opened a crack in the door sealing himself away, then left him to think.
• Yu Sheng decided to treat saving people as a fair transaction and fell asleep, while Sun Yingxiong listened from a tree.
• Zhao Zicheng, Lin Xiaoxiao, Big White, and Mu Yu coordinated their attacks to kill a fifth-level Demon Beast and protect soldiers.
• Zhao Zicheng and Lin Xiaoxiao killed another Demon Beast as it attacked a soldier, trusting each other to finish the fight.
• The fifth Beast Tide wave lasted through the night before the beasts retreated at dawn, leaving Zhao Zicheng, Lin Xiaoxiao, Big White, and Mu Yu exhausted and injured.
• Zhao Zicheng joked that they should keep fighting until they died and become the Ink Academy Three Brave Warriors in the textbooks.