Chapter Summaries

Yu Sheng poured corrosive lake water into the Mountain Cave while its trapped voice tried to curse and threaten him, but the curse backfired and connected to Yu Sanshui in Ink City. Yu Sanshui traced the connection to the Swamp Pool, then visited the Black Market and confronted Hei Laosan.

• Yu Sheng ignored the Mountain Cave’s insults and threats as he repeatedly poured lake water inside, then gave his name as Yu Sanshui and rested beside the stone tablet.
• The entity in the Mountain Cave used Yu Sanshui’s name to form a curse, only for the resulting black-gas face to open its eyes and regard the cave with amusement.
• In Ink City, Yu Sanshui sensed the curse and learned that it connected him to a Mountain Cave, marsh water, and a venomous bee at the Swamp Pool.
• Yu Sanshui decided it was time to meet the person who had been searching for him and vanished from the street unnoticed.
• Yu Sanshui appeared at the Black Market’s manor, where Hei Laosan welcomed him as a Ninth Awakening senior, and Yu Sanshui mocked his modest shop before taking his rocking chair.

Yu Sanshui robbed the Black Market’s estate after failing to find its Ninth Awakening expert, then warned the fat old man that someone was pursuing him. The fat old man let Yu Sanshui leave with the furnishings, destroyed the shop, and donated the Demon Plant-covered hill to Ink Pavilion as the Black Market came under scrutiny.

• Yu Sanshui identified the room’s valuable furnishings and asked whether the Black Market’s Ninth Awakening expert was present.
• When the fat old man said the Black Market would give him the estate, Yu Sanshui accepted the offer and packed up the room’s furnishings and rocking chair.
• Yu Sanshui warned the fat old man that a pursuer would arrive in about ten minutes, threatened to retaliate if the Black Market investigated him again, and asked him to pass a message to Zhao Zicheng.
• The fat old man decided the shop no longer needed to exist, arranged to give the Demon Plant-covered hill to Ink Pavilion, and left as the shop collapsed.
• A black-robed figure appeared among the ruins and vanished after glancing toward the lake; a giant beast hid in the water, and Guard Bureau personnel found a note identifying the hill as a gift from the Black Market.

Yu Sanshui appeared inside the Mountain Cave and frightened the Demon Beast, then used his remaining power to seal the cave’s entrance. Yu Sheng entered afterward, while the Demon Beast cursed Yu Sanshui and Yu Sheng wondered whether the name alone could provoke such a reaction.

• The Guard Bureau’s Light Group gathered supplies from the low hill, and Chu Huai warned them to stay away from the artificial lake before leaving to sleep.
• Yu Sanshui appeared in the Mountain Cave, where the Demon Beast recognized his voice and realized it had summoned someone terrifying through its name-based curse.
• Yu Sanshui examined the Demon Beast’s array and the old turtle’s corpse, then deduced how the array worked before his fading presence could last much longer.
• After Yu Sheng poured lake water into the cave, Yu Sanshui laughed about the array and sealed the entrance with a character carved into the rock.
• Yu Sheng entered the Mountain Cave as the Demon Beast cursed Yu Sanshui, and he wondered whether Yu Sanshui’s name had set it off so badly.

Yu Sheng investigated the Mountain Cave and uncovered signs that its strange organs and blood-jade structures formed part of a giant turtle-like body or revival array. The hidden soul grew increasingly desperate to drive him away, but Yu Sheng ignored its pleas and continued examining the secret.

• The hidden soul cursed Yu Sheng and demanded that he leave, while Yu Sheng examined the black heart it had retrieved for him.
• Yu Sheng mapped the locations of the cave’s organs and recognized that their arrangement resembled a giant turtle.
• Yu Sheng struck a stone pillar with his flaming hammer, exposing a soft, tough blood-jade core that seemed to contain flowing blood and demonic aura.
• Yu Sheng wondered whether the island was a turtle’s corpse and whether the organs formed an array meant to revive it.
• The hidden soul offered to reveal the Ten Thousand Poisons Fruit and then pleaded with Yu Sheng to stop investigating, accidentally beginning to mention Yu Sanshui before cutting itself off.

Poison Bee revealed that it had hidden a dead Demon God in Marsh Lake and planned to use the Ten Thousand Poisons Fruit and its rebirth ability to revive the corpse. It offered Yu Sheng two fruits in exchange for leaving, but when he refused to swear an oath, Poison Bee chose to wait him out.

• Poison Bee admitted that the corpse in Marsh Lake belonged to a Demon God and explained how the marsh water concealed it.
• Poison Bee described its plan to use the Ten Thousand Poisons Fruit and its Talent Divine Ability to revive the corpse as a powerful Demon God.
• Yu Sheng deduced how the Demon God's presence had affected the demon plants and how Poison Bee intended to restart the corpse.
• Poison Bee offered Yu Sheng two of the three Ten Thousand Poisons Fruits and promised not to become his enemy if he left.
• Yu Sheng refused to swear a Heaven and Earth Oath, so Poison Bee declared that it would wait until he died.

Yu Sheng waited in the cave for the Ten Thousand Poisons Fruit to ripen while pressing its guardian about why it had approached him. Meanwhile, Yu Mo met Yu Sanshui, Yu Sheng’s father, and dropped his act when Yu Sanshui proposed cooperation.

• The cave’s guardian agreed not to demand an oath but warned Yu Sheng to leave peacefully after taking the Ten Thousand Poisons Fruit, which would ripen in a week.
• Yu Sheng ate a steamed bun in silence, then asked the guardian why it had approached him before closing his eyes.
• Yu Mo met Yu Sanshui in the wilderness and pretended to be moved by meeting Yu Sheng’s father, telling him stories about Yu Sheng’s devotion.
• Yu Sanshui recognized Yu Mo’s performance and accused him of pretending not to recognize him in order to manipulate him.
• Yu Sanshui said he had come to discuss cooperation, and Yu Mo calmly asked what he wanted to cooperate on.

Yu Sanshui tried to leave after Yu Mo fled from the proposed fight against a Ninth Awakening, but a black-robed man confronted him and demanded his belongings back. The man followed Yu Sanshui for an hour, repeating the demand even after Yu Sanshui admitted he had broken the item.

• Yu Sanshui told Yu Mo that a Ninth Awakening was pursuing him and asked him to help fight it.
• Yu Mo ordered the Confucian Scholar to push his wheelchair and flee, and the Confucian Scholar carried him away at great speed.
• A black-robed man appeared before Yu Sanshui, refused to fight, and demanded that Yu Sanshui return his belongings.
• Yu Sanshui said he had broken the item long ago, but the black-robed man followed him and repeated the same demand.
• Yu Sanshui lost his temper and accused the black-robed man of copying Yu Sheng’s manner of speaking, but the man calmly demanded his belongings again.

Yu Sanshui tried to escape the black-robed man by getting himself arrested, but the man followed him into the cell and kept demanding his things. Meanwhile, Yu Mo and Confucian Scholar left the area after Yu Mo discovered a prepared note that made him worry about the two uncontrolled Ninth Awakening individuals.

• Yu Sanshui entered a motel with the black-robed man, then reported himself for soliciting a prostitute and taunted the man to keep following him.
• Yu Sanshui insisted the Guard Bureau officers lock him up, but the black-robed man appeared in his cell and repeated, "Give me back my things."
• Yu Mo and Confucian Scholar discussed their escape from the potential fight, and Confucian Scholar claimed the powerful figures were his inner demons.
• Yu Mo unfolded a note about Yu Sheng's father, tore it up, and said the two uncontrolled Ninth Awakening individuals made the situation unstable.
• Yu Mo asked Confucian Scholar to take him back to Ink City, and Confucian Scholar immediately pushed his wheelchair away from the sky he had been pretending to watch.

Sun Wen learned that the man in the photograph carried by Reserve Corps soldiers had died, but he steadied himself and led the supply convoy toward Demon-Suppressing Pass. Meanwhile, Yu Sheng continued cultivating in the Mountain Cave as the voice urged him to listen, then began offering sincere advice on refining his Aura Simulation.

• Sun Wen saw the photograph on the box carried by Reserve Corps soldiers and broke down as memories of the man returned to him.
• Sun Wen refused to let another rescue team member take his place and led the vehicles toward Demon-Suppressing Pass.
• Yu Sheng ignored the voice's pleas and silenced it temporarily by throwing a Round Ball, then listened as it explained its wish to survive and avoid conflict with humans.
• The voice told Yu Sheng how to improve his Aura Simulation and suggested combining Demon Crystals with Starfall Fruit before absorbing them.

The Poison Bee tried to persuade Yu Sheng that it was neutral and revealed how to combine a Demon Crystal, Blood Orchid, and Starfall Fruit into a potent cultivation liquid. After testing the mixture on a mole, Yu Sheng used it to cultivate while the Poison Bee watched and thought gravely of Yu Sanshui.

• The Poison Bee claimed it had never harmed humans and said it only wanted to grow stronger and forge a friendly connection with Yu Sheng.
• The Poison Bee revealed that Blood Orchid was needed to activate the Starfall Fruit with a Demon Crystal.
• Yu Sheng produced the ingredients from the Mountains and Rivers Bottle and made the cultivation liquid in the Mountain Cave.
• Yu Sheng tested the liquid on a mole, which grew much stronger after enduring an hour of pain.
• Yu Sheng took the remaining liquid to Lakeheart Island, then repeatedly left and returned to cultivate in the Mountain Cave.
• The Poison Bee chuckled at Yu Sheng’s apparent shyness, then murmured about Yu Sanshui with a grave tone.

Poison Bee warned Yu Sheng that the Ten Thousand Poisons Fruit would ripen in four days and that he must leave before Poison Bee sealed the area. At Demon-Suppressing Pass, Shi Guang and Yuan Qingshan urged the aged Chu Yu to survive and defend the pass rather than die in the next battle, but Chu Yu remained resolved to follow her heart.

• Poison Bee told Yu Sheng to restore the organs that nourished the Ten Thousand Poisons Fruit and to take two fruits and leave when they ripened in four days.
• Poison Bee said his Talent Divine Ability would seal the area for at least twenty years and wished Yu Sheng success among the Human Race.
• At Demon-Suppressing Pass, Shi Guang thanked Chu Yu for her sacrifice and called her the most beautiful person she had ever seen because her heart was clean.
• Chu Yu said she would die in her next fight and intended to give everything she had, even though she could no longer paint.
• Yuan Qingshan told Chu Yu not to fight in the final battle so she could remain alive to defend Demon-Suppressing Pass and deter the Demon Domain.
• Chu Yu rejected Yuan Qingshan's apology and said she had no regrets about following her heart.

Yu Mo urged Yuan Qingshan to concentrate the Human Race’s forces at Demon-Suppressing Pass, arguing that the Eight-Tailed Fox wanted to use them as a whetstone rather than destroy them outright. After Yu Mo showed him intelligence that strengthened the case for taking the risk, Yuan agreed to a major troop transfer, leaving the decisive battle to hinge on the plan.

• Yuan Qingshan met Yu Mo, who proposed gathering the Human Race’s forces at Demon-Suppressing Pass because he believed the Eight-Tailed Fox would leave the other passes alone.
• Yuan Qingshan warned that Yu Mo’s plan was a dangerous gamble, but Yu Mo argued that it could reduce casualties and buy the Human Race time.
• Yu Mo gave Yuan documents containing intelligence he believed was ninety percent reliable, changing Yuan’s assessment.
• Yuan Qingshan agreed to transfer most of the forces from the other three passes and Border Armies, along with many fourth-awakening fighters, to reinforce Demon-Suppressing Pass.
• Yu Mo wondered whether Yu Sheng had died in the Swamp Pool, then had the Confucian Scholar wheel him back toward Ink City.

Old White Ape and Ji Hong realized Eight-Tailed Fox had kept them from the final battle because it feared their ambitions, and they decided to fight back. Eight-Tailed Fox prepared the remaining Demon Lords for battle and watched the two suspiciously as they began plotting against it.

• Old White Ape lamented that Eight-Tailed Fox had used him and Ji Hong as pawns, and Ji Hong agreed they should fight rather than accept their exclusion.
• Eight-Tailed Fox thanked the Demon Lords and promised rewards, while ordering most Twelve God Clan leaders to oversee the battle from the rear and naming Bifang and Zhu Yan as vanguards.
• Eight-Tailed Fox privately judged Ji Hong and Old White Ape too ambitious to trust, fearing they would eventually turn against it as they had turned on Fei.
• Old White Ape sensed Eight-Tailed Fox watching them, and he and Ji Hong accused each other of devising ways to scheme against it.

As the New Year approached, Yu Mo returned and redirected Light Group leaders and volunteers to the looming battle at Demon-Suppressing Pass. At Ink Academy, Xu Yuanqing became vice principal, while the vice principal announced he would take over as principal after the battle.

• Old White Ape recognized that Ji Hong was still using his War God persona to deceive the Eight-Tailed Fox and keep up appearances even with him.
• Chu Huai organized New Year festivities and public morale efforts before Yu Mo returned and ordered him to join the battle at Demon-Suppressing Pass.
• Chu Huai tried to escape his duties by jumping out a window, but Yu Mo sent the Confucian Scholar to bring him back.
• People quietly left their families and assembled to reinforce the battlefield as Demon Beasts gathered on the Thousand-Li Demon Plain and soldiers amassed at Demon-Suppressing Pass.
• The principal appointed Xu Yuanqing vice principal, and Xu Yuanqing tried to bribe the current vice principal after learning he would become principal following the battle.
• The vice principal kicked Xu Yuanqing after discovering his promised token was only twenty thousand.

Xu Yuanqing learned why Ink Academy’s Eighth Awakening leaders had to leave for the front lines, then discovered his driving school venture had failed. Meanwhile, Yu Sheng began laying an array for Poison Bee to protect the Ten Thousand Poisons Fruit, though the array would also help Poison Bee revive.

• The Principal explained that after Demon-Suppressing Pass fell, Ink Academy’s leaders decided that anyone who reached the Eighth Awakening must serve where they were needed most, and Xu Yuanqing accepted the rule.
• The Principal revealed that a Mobei City company had monopolized Jiangcheng’s driving school market a year earlier, leaving Xu Yuanqing’s new school without students and crushing his hopes of returning to his business.
• Zhao Zicheng, Lin Xiaoxiao, and Mu Yu remarked that Xu Yuanqing seemed to be a child of fortune, unaware that Shi Guang held a stake in the competing school and Yu Sheng had helped it enter the market.
• Poison Bee warned Yu Sheng that the Ten Thousand Poisons Fruit would ripen in two days and said an array was needed to suppress attention from powerful Demon Lords.
• Poison Bee swore a Heaven and Earth Oath that the array would not harm Yu Sheng, then revealed it would also serve as the key to its revival.
• Yu Sheng entered a cavern, found a pitch-black heart, and began carving the array around it with his Long Sword.

Yu Sheng deliberately left the final strokes unfinished on every array in the Mountain Cave, despite Poison Bee’s instructions and apparent concern for him. Elsewhere, Eight-Tailed Fox prepared for the final battle, while Confucian Scholar gave Yu Mo an elusive account of the Immortal Realm.

• Yu Sheng stopped short of completing the final stroke of the first array, and Poison Bee explained that the array needed to be closed to draw on the turtle corpse’s demonic energy and ripen the Ten Thousand Poisons Fruit.
• Yu Sheng continued through the Mountain Cave, leaving the final stroke unfinished on each array; after a day, he ate a hard steamed bun and listened as Poison Bee offered to help expand his storage space.
• Eight-Tailed Fox learned that forces from the three mountains, five cities, and six factions had assembled and said they would begin the final battle once the Demon God Drum arrived.
• Yu Mo asked Confucian Scholar about the Immortal Realm, and Confucian Scholar first invented scenes in the darkness before describing it as a transcendent existence he could not convey.

Yu Mo spent New Year's Eve alone at Light Group Headquarters, while Yu Sanshui was released from the Guard Bureau and tried to escape Black Robe, who kept demanding that he return something. After repeated calls, someone at the Light Group finally answered Yu Sanshui's complaint.

• Yu Mo returned to the deserted Light Group Headquarters, wished himself a happy New Year, and worked while the Confucian Scholar brought him water.
• Yu Sanshui was released from the Guard Bureau for the holiday and thanked the staff member who let him go.
• Black Robe followed Yu Sanshui and repeatedly demanded that he give something back.
• Yu Sanshui used his awakening object to escape into the wilderness, but Black Robe appeared beneath his hiding tree and revealed he could track him.
• Yu Sanshui called the Light Group to complain about Black Robe, kept calling through the afternoon, and finally reached a weary staff member.

Yu Sanshui brought the black-robed man back to Mobei City after Yu Mo said the Light Group could not attack Soul Hunt for another fifteen days. At home, Yu Sanshui pretended to have donated his fortune so he could persuade Guiqin to visit, while the black-robed man kept demanding his things back.

• Yu Sanshui called Yu Mo and demanded that the Light Group wipe out Soul Hunt, but Yu Mo said the Light Group was short-handed and asked him to hold the black-robed man for fifteen days.
• Yu Sanshui accused the black-robed man of exploiting the Light Group's weakness, then took him toward Mobei City, and they arrived at Yu Sanshui's home an hour later.
• Yu Sanshui called Guiqin and claimed he had donated his entire fortune to Demon-Suppressing Pass, then persuaded her to come over for steak and red wine.
• Yu Sanshui changed into worn clothes, messed up his hair, and stained his sleeve with red liquid to look pitiful while the black-robed man repeatedly demanded his things back.
• Yu Sanshui told the black-robed man to turn invisible when Guiqin arrived, then waited for her.

Yu Sanshui tried to win Guiqin’s affection while Black Robe silently haunted the room and demanded his belongings. Black Robe’s frightening performance drove Guiqin to flee, leaving Yu Sanshui furious with him.

• Yu Sanshui kept glancing at Black Robe during dinner with Guiqin, who grew uneasy when she noticed his strange behavior.
• Yu Sanshui comforted Guiqin about his poverty and steered her away from the voice demanding its things; Black Robe charged his voice changer on the sofa.
• Yu Sanshui and Guiqin went to bed together, but Black Robe crept to the bedside and demanded his things in a sinister voice.
• Black Robe appeared behind Yu Sanshui as a bloodied figure and repeated that Yu Sanshui owed a life, terrifying Guiqin into fleeing the house.
• Yu Sanshui cursed Black Robe and threatened to kill him.

Yu Sanshui discovered that the black-robed figure was a woman after her voice changer broke, then followed her out while trying to woo her. Meanwhile, Yu Sheng completed the arrays that would unleash enough demon aura to ripen the Ten Thousand Poisons Fruit, but he questioned Poison Bee’s claim that it needed another day.

• The black-robed figure’s voice changer broke, and Yu Sanshui realized she was a woman.
• Yu Sanshui abruptly shifted from anger to flirtation, apologized to the black-robed woman, and followed her out of the room.
• Poison Bee warned Yu Sheng that the Ten Thousand Poisons Fruit needed another day to ripen.
• Yu Sheng completed the arrays, activating the heart and causing demon aura to spread through the Mountain Cave.
• Yu Sheng questioned Poison Bee’s claim that the fruit needed another day, and Poison Bee denied lying to him.