Chapter Summaries

Yu Sheng prepared to enter the Swamp Pool by covering himself in Poisonheart Flower juice, while the Azure Bird recognized him and offered protection. Yu Sheng leaped onto a rock in the poisonous wetland, leaving the Mountain-Guarding Old Man behind with advice on how to infiltrate Skyvault Ravine.

• The Azure Bird stopped Yu Sheng’s Iron Rod and recognized him, and Yu Sheng confirmed his identity before coating himself with Poisonheart Flower juice.
• Yu Sheng explained that the juice could conceal energy fluctuations only up to the fifth awakening, so the eighth-awakening Azure Bird could not hide in the Swamp Pool with him.
• The Azure Bird abandoned his offer to accompany Yu Sheng and promised to wait for his return.
• Yu Sheng warned the Azure Bird to stay back, then advised him to impersonate the Seven-Tailed Fox and fool his clever older brother to move freely in Skyvault Ravine.
• Yu Sheng sprinted into the Swamp Pool and landed on a protruding rock in the mist.

Yu Sheng entered the Swamp Pool, where the Poisonheart Flower let him pass among its dangerous beasts without drawing their attacks. He deduced that the poison gas was eroding the creatures’ emotions and making them puppets under a hidden demon lord’s control, then stopped for the night as the gas thickened.

• The Mountain-Guarding Old Man sensed at least twenty demon lords near Demon-Suppressing Pass and cautiously crawled toward it as a gray snake.
• Yu Sheng used the Poisonheart Flower’s scent to travel through the Swamp Pool without alerting its beasts.
• Yu Sheng examined the swamp’s creatures and observed that they attacked instinctively despite facing danger.
• Yu Sheng wore a pale gray bead necklace, which eased the poison gas’s effects, and concluded that the gas was corrupting the beasts and making them puppets for a hidden demon lord.
• Yu Sheng stopped advancing after dark and sheltered in a tree as the poison gas thickened and the swamp creatures grew more active.

Yu Sheng entered the Swamp Pool at night and confirmed that its demon beasts fought in a gu-cultivating environment, growing stronger by devouring one another. He began collecting ingredients from the creatures he hunted and found a Heavenly Spider Flower on a spider.

• Yu Sheng watched a level-five demon beast emerge from the swamp before a hidden level-six beast dragged it underwater and killed it.
• Yu Sheng observed the Swamp Pool’s frenzied nighttime hunting and suspected the moon triggered the beasts’ madness, while hidden forces replenished their numbers.
• Yu Sheng concealed his longsword in his sleeve, killed a scorpion, and collected its black liquid in a wooden bucket.
• Yu Sheng wounded the scorpion and waited as a gecko licked the liquid and climbed onto the corpse.
• A spider attacked the gecko, and Yu Sheng killed the spider and collected its green liquid.
• Yu Sheng noticed a flower growing on the spider’s head and identified it as a possible Heavenly Spider Flower.

Yu Sheng abandoned a corpse-filled trap in the Swamp Pool, while Sun Yingxiong urged Yu Mo not to sacrifice his humanity for the Human Race. Yu Mo continued toward Demon-Suppressing Pass at dawn, and Sun Yingxiong appeared with Zhong Yushu, teasing him about their old talents.

• Yu Sheng left the battlefield after deciding the corpses might attract something he could not handle, and an enormous centipede soon emerged to devour them.
• Near Demon-Suppressing Pass, Sun Yingxiong told Yu Mo that his Ninth Awakening restricted him and entrusted the Human Race to him.
• Yu Mo argued that saving the majority could require sacrificing a few, while Sun Yingxiong insisted that humans must risk themselves rather than coldly accept such losses.
• Sun Yingxiong told Yu Mo not to seal away his heart, then disappeared while Yu Mo sat thinking until dawn and continued toward the pass.
• Sun Yingxiong met Zhong Yushu on a hill and teased him by recalling his Nine-Pattern talent and reputation as the Military Academy’s strongest freshman.

Sun Yingxiong left Zhong Yushu and vanished into the Demon Domain, where he planned to hide and kill demons while the Human Race erased records of him. After Zhong Yushu gave him one last toast, the Demon Domain’s leaders blamed the dead Qiongqi for their defeat, leaving Eight-Tailed Fox facing their growing disunity.

• Sun Yingxiong teased Zhong Yushu about their past, then left him immobilized and headed into the Demon Domain under cover of his concealed aura.
• Sun Yingxiong disappeared among the demon beasts, while Zhong Yushu reflected on the loneliness of his choice and the Human Race’s plan to erase his name from its records.
• Zhong Yushu freed himself, raised a final toast to Sun Yingxiong, and wondered whom he could show off to when he reached the ninth awakening.
• The Reserve Corps members below remained unaware that Sun Yingxiong had been there.
• Eight-Tailed Fox demanded an explanation for the defeat, and Red Dragon and the other God Race Clan Leaders blamed Qiongqi for the loss.
• Eight-Tailed Fox recognized that the defeat had exposed the Demon Domain’s fragile unity and threatened the reforms built on victory.

Eight-Tailed Fox invited Ji Hong and Old White Ape into the war council, hoping to gain their counsel after the Demon Clan’s defeat. Old White Ape identified the mistaken assessment of Sun Yingxiong and Eight-Tailed Fox’s overconfidence as key causes, and Eight-Tailed Fox accepted the criticism and asked for more advice.

• Eight-Tailed Fox summoned Ji Hong and Old White Ape to the meeting, but Ji Hong initially refused, citing his low status and the Demon Gods’ covenant.
• Eight-Tailed Fox publicly rewarded Ji Hong and Old White Ape with the right to attend the meeting, silencing Red Dragon when it objected.
• At Old White Ape’s urging, Ji Hong accepted the invitation and joined the council, where Eight-Tailed Fox asked for his view of the battle.
• Ji Hong called the battle decision foolish, and Old White Ape explained that the Demon Clan had wrongly judged Sun Yingxiong as an easy target.
• Old White Ape blamed Eight-Tailed Fox’s overconfidence for the defeat, and Eight-Tailed Fox admitted fault and asked him for further insights.

Old White Ape advised Eight-Tailed Fox on how the Demon Domain should attack the Human Race, and Eight-Tailed Fox ordered preparations for a second battle. Afterward, Old White Ape reflected on how his alliance with Ji Hong had brought more danger to humans, while Ji Hong’s determination to kill him remained unchanged.

• Old White Ape proposed tying down the human forces at Demon-Suppressing Pass while striking the mountain, and urged attacks on all four passes, especially Dawn Pass.
• Eight-Tailed Fox accepted Old White Ape’s advice and ordered the Demon Domain to prepare for war, warning the God Race Clan Leaders against causing further trouble.
• Taotie and the other clan leaders agreed to exclude Red Dragon from their plans, but Eight-Tailed Fox assigned Red Dragon and the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan to attack Demon-Suppressing Pass together.
• Old White Ape asked Ji Hong whether he hated him, and Ji Hong replied that they were merely using each other and would have reached the same outcome anyway.
• After Ji Hong left, Old White Ape revealed that he had tried more than ten personas to grow close to Ji Hong, but Ji Hong’s resolve to kill him had never faltered.

Yu Sanshui burned the surveillance photographs he had taken of Yu Sheng, then slipped unseen out of Mobei City and vanished as a black-robed figure arrived to pursue him. At the Light Group, Chu Huai learned Yu Sheng’s father had disappeared and recalled Yu Sheng’s patient, ruthless way of preparing for a kill.

• Yu Sanshui received a call from Shufen, flirted with her, and reflected on whether to choose her or Xiuqin before a Shenli Bao advertisement interrupted him.
• Yu Sanshui cleaned his room and burned photographs that showed Yu Sheng noticing the cameras watching him.
• Yu Sanshui left Mobei City unseen by the soldiers and disappeared after complaining that someone was pursuing him.
• A black-robed figure appeared where Yu Sanshui had vanished and said they would finally find him.
• At the Light Group, Chu Huai learned that Yu Sheng’s father had disappeared and recalled how Yu Sheng spent three years secretly preparing to kill a stronger opponent.

Chu Huai planned to find Xiao Nan and settle old scores while Shi Guang worked tirelessly at Demon-Suppressing Pass, where Shen Feng’s death weighed on the survivors. A Confucian Scholar warned the elders that the Demon Domain would likely attack all Four Great Passes within three days.

• Chu Huai learned that Xiao Nan was hiding near Light Group Headquarters and ordered Xiao Liu to gather Old Lu and the others before they went to confront him.
• Shi Guang collected corpses at Demon-Suppressing Pass with her seemingly bottomless cart and transported two wounded soldiers down the pass.
• Wang Youcai struggled with the shock of seeing Shen Feng killed by a Demon Beast’s final attack while the other students and soldiers continued their work.
• Chu Yu offered Shi Guang an untouched boxed meal, and Shi Guang accepted it after Chu Yu urged her to eat enough to keep working.
• A Confucian Scholar told Yuan Qingshan and the other elders that the Demon Domain would likely launch a large-scale attack on all Four Great Passes within three days.

Yuan Qingshan prepared the passes for a likely second battle, while Yu Sheng devised a way through Swamp Pool by provoking its demon beasts into chaos. His repeated explosions stirred the swamp and drove the beasts to confront the venomous python, but the disturbance eventually subsided.

• Yuan Qingshan assigned forces to the other passes and hoped Chu Yu would not have to fight.
• Yu Sheng watched a sixth-level venomous python guarding the only safe route across the mud pit and decided to create chaos around Swamp Pool.
• Yu Sheng hid beneath a boulder as explosions began erupting around the swamp, waking its demon beasts.
• The blasts enraged sixth-level demon beasts, which gathered at the venomous python's mud pit and nearly started a fight.
• More explosions struck, but the demon beasts eventually scattered, and the venomous python settled back down before another blast sounded.

Yu Sheng used repeated explosions to turn the Swamp Pool’s demon beasts against one another, then crossed the area in search of a poisonous pool and its dark gray fish. In Ink City, a young breakfast-shop owner received a warning and escaped through a hidden passage, only to be spotted and flee again.

• Yu Sheng triggered explosions when the venomous python flicked its tongue, provoking the sixth-level demon beasts and starting a battle among the creatures.
• After the fighting stopped, Yu Sheng emerged from beneath a boulder, replaced his damaged Crystal Stone pendant, and crossed the mud pool through the treetops.
• Yu Sheng recalled Xiao Nan’s directions and changed course toward a poisonous pool, where he needed to collect water and catch a dark gray fish before daybreak.
• In Ink City, a young breakfast-shop owner read a half-hour-old warning, locked himself in his kitchen, and escaped through a hidden passage beneath a freezer.
• The young man changed his jacket in an abandoned underground parking garage, but a teasing voice called out that his escape was professional, so he turned and ran.

Chu Huai and the others captured Xiao Nan, while a powerful old man learned Yu Sanshui had left and arranged to meet him. As the Demon Clan prepared another assault on Demon-Suppressing Pass, Yu Mo warned that the coming battle would cost many lives and throw the wider situation into chaos.

• Chu Huai revealed that he had disabled Xiao Nan’s escape plans and arrested him under the Light Group’s authority, while Lu Xiao warned him not to resist.
• A fat old man learned Yu Sanshui had left and said he wanted to talk to him the day after tomorrow, wondering why Yu Sanshui had finally exposed himself.
• The Eight-Tailed Fox ordered Ji Hong and the Black Flood Dragon King to lead an attack on Demon-Suppressing Pass in three days, with all four passes striking at once.
• Yu Mo predicted that the battle would be a bloody struggle and warned that the resulting chaos could bring consequences for the Human Race.

As Demon-Suppressing Pass prepared for another battle, Chu Yu spoke with Shi Guang and tried to understand why she never smiled. Chu Yu asked Shi Guang to be her friend and encouraged her to smile, but Shi Guang remained silent as they watched the sunset.

• The wounded withdrew from Demon-Suppressing Pass, demon beast corpses were transported away, and supporting experts departed for other passes as soldiers prepared for battle.
• Chu Yu finished a painting of Shi Guang pushing her cart and asked why she never smiled.
• Shi Guang said that showing emotions could reveal weakness to enemies and interfere with combat.
• Chu Yu shared her past and present with Shi Guang, then asked her to be a friend.
• Chu Yu urged Shi Guang to smile, but Shi Guang did not respond as they watched the sunset together.

Yu Mo asked the Confucian Scholar to help him stage a fatal sacrifice to detonate the Ten Thousand Poisons Fruit and aid Yu Sheng, saying he was ready to die. Meanwhile, Yu Sheng tested Xiao Nan’s theories about the Swamp Pool before hiding as its Demon Beasts grew active, but he was eventually drawn into a battle.

• Yu Mo told the Confucian Scholar to injure him badly in seven days, leave him among Demon Beasts, and let him detonate the Ten Thousand Poisons Fruit to help Yu Sheng.
• Yu Mo said he was tired of his work and wanted to die early, while the Confucian Scholar accepted that he could meditate another Yu Mo into existence.
• Yu Sheng tied snakes to rocks and threw them into a black lake, then tested a gecko and confirmed that nothing he threw into the lake resurfaced.
• Yu Sheng recognized that his findings matched Xiao Nan’s deductions about the Swamp Pool, based on information gathered by death soldiers and dying Awakeners.
• Yu Sheng hid as night brought a frenzy of elite Demon Beasts, but later became caught up in the fighting despite avoiding the strongest beasts.

Yu Sheng tested the lake and concluded that a boat made from gray trees and covered in python skin might let him cross it. In Sin City, Chu Huai tricked Xiao Nan into revealing the Black Market’s likely base, then threatened to veto his admission.

• Yu Sheng experimented with poisonous insects and pythons, observing that python skin and gray trees resisted the lake water.
• Yu Sheng hunted a fifth-level poisonous python and concluded that a boat built from gray trees and covered in python skin might work.
• Chu Huai confronted Xiao Nan over his repeated betrayals, then offered him money for information about the seniors.
• Xiao Nan said the seniors were in the Black Market and that their base was likely in Ink City near the Eastern Suburbs.
• Chu Huai revealed that Uncle Black had heard the conversation and would veto Xiao Nan’s admission to the Black Market.
• Chu Huai said he would also use his own veto against Xiao Nan, leaving him devastated.

Chu Huai had Xiao Nan detained briefly, then ordered his release while arranging to keep him under surveillance. Elsewhere, Uncle Black wondered whether the missing man had reached the ninth awakening, and Xiao Nan ran into Chu Huai again outside Third Prison.

• Xiao Nan tried to persuade Chu Huai to make him an ally, but Chu Huai ordered him locked up.
• Chu Huai told Xiao Liu to release Xiao Nan without charges in an hour and keep tracking him.
• Chu Huai reflected that he could clean up the Light Group and put it in the open.
• A middle-aged man told Uncle Black that he could not find the missing man and had only sensed his aura outside Mobei City.
• Uncle Black suspected the man might be at the ninth awakening and said he was fond of Xiao Nan.
• Lu Xiao dragged Xiao Nan out of Third Prison, where Xiao Nan saw Chu Huai and awkwardly greeted him.

Chu Huai rejected Xiao Nan’s offers, then arranged a covert operation to use him as bait and draw out whoever threatened him. As Xiao Nan slipped away through the city, Chu Huai tracked his movements and coordinated the Light Group’s teams.

• Xiao Nan offered money and a year of service in exchange for help, but Chu Huai refused and returned to Third Prison.
• Chu Huai suspected Xiao Nan’s pursuer might be at the Eighth Awakening and asked Xiao Liu to request two such fighters while keeping Xiao Nan alive if possible.
• Chu Huai considered several possible enemies and asked Yu Mo to deploy two Ninth Awakening members, but Yu Mo refused because Chu Huai wanted to go fishing.
• Xiao Nan waited outside Third Prison, analyzed the forces stationed there, then left and disappeared into an alley.
• Chu Huai tracked Xiao Nan on the Large Screen and directed surveillance teams to confirm he was the bait and follow him.

Chu Huai tracked Xiao Nan through Ink City, suspecting he was hiding something, while two eighth-awakening experts watched him. Xiao Nan vanished from a guarded room without any detectable energy, leading the experts to declare a ninth-awakening threat and place Ink City on highest alert.

• Chu Huai ordered surveillance teams to track Xiao Nan and had an eighth-awakening expert follow him from the air as he circled through the streets.
• Xiao Nan checked that his footprints were alone in the snow, then entered a house while Chu Huai continued monitoring him.
• Chu Huai had an expert check for underground passages and kept confirming that Xiao Nan remained in the room as the day passed.
• The two experts sensed Xiao Nan’s presence vanish without energy fluctuations and concluded that a ninth-awakening person had taken him.
• The experts declared Ink City on highest alert and ordered residents to stay home, while Chu Huai advised them not to provoke the unknown person and accepted responsibility as acting leader of the Light Group.

Chu Huai investigated the Ninth Awakening figure who had targeted Xiao Nan and realized the man was connected to Soul Hunt. Meanwhile, Yu Sanshui met Xiao Nan on the Ink Pavilion rooftop and asked him to deliver a message to the pursuer.

• Chu Huai called Yu Mo about the Ninth Awakening figure, and Yu Mo identified the target as Lawless Outlaws and ordered the city lockdown lifted.
• Chu Huai reviewed Xiao Nan's file and deduced that Xiao Nan had been caught up in Soul Hunt's conflict with its Ninth Awakening enemy.
• Chu Huai resumed searching surveillance footage as Ink City returned to normal.
• Yu Sanshui appeared on the Ink Pavilion rooftop and told Xiao Nan that Soul Hunt would arrive soon.
• Yu Sanshui asked Xiao Nan to tell Soul Hunt, "dumbass, stop chasing me," and Xiao Nan shuddered at his smile.

Yu Sanshui forced Xiao Nan to take on tasks involving the Light Group and Black Market, then escaped while a black-robed Ninth Awakening figure searched for him. Xiao Nan was soon returned to the Third Prison, while Yu Sheng tested a raft on the lake with a sealed crocodile aboard.

• Yu Sanshui pressured Xiao Nan into agreeing to join the Light Group and create trouble for Soul Hunt, and told him to seek a place in the Black Market.
• Yu Sanshui vanished, and Xiao Nan encountered a black-robed figure searching for him; he pretended to be Chu Huai and claimed Yu Sanshui had kidnapped him.
• Xiao Nan taunted the black-robed figure about its budget voice changer, then fled when the figure threatened to remember his face.
• Light Group members caught Xiao Nan in an alley and dragged him back to the Third Prison, where he lamented his fate and fell asleep.
• After spending three days making two rafts, Yu Sheng sealed a crocodile's demonic energy and sent it onto the lake aboard one of them.