Chapter Summaries

Youlun completed the final version of a teleportation formation plate for the Devil Race, but each successful research breakthrough continued to transform him toward becoming human. As footsteps approached his chamber, he restored his Devil Race appearance with runes carved into his palm.

• Youlun activated a newly repaired formation plate and suffered a brief, agonizing pain that left dark gold blood on his fingers.
• Youlun examined his face and saw that his devil markings had nearly vanished and the horn on his temple had flattened further.
• Youlun recalled that every completed research project accelerated his transformation, so he had hidden his progress while developing teleportation tools.
• Youlun finished carving the final teleportation runes and sealed the stone slab after a peak Demon General successfully tested the latest formation plate.
• When footsteps approached, Youlun used runes on his left palm to restore his devil markings, horns, and red eyes.

Youlun completed a blood-powered teleportation formation for Helisi and Musa, opening a passage to the lower realm. A pureblood devil woman emerged from the rift, and her presence forced most of the devils in the hall to kneel as she assessed her new surroundings.

• Youlun told Musa and Helisi that he needed nine more rune slabs and thirty devils for a blood sacrifice to complete the formation.
• Youlun inscribed the slabs and installed all ten in the teleportation formation while Devil Generals brought thirty Devil Soldiers to the hall.
• Musa's guards sacrificed the thirty Devil Soldiers, and their blood activated the formation as Youlun watched from a corner.
• A rift opened above the formation, and a pureblood devil woman stepped through as the slabs shattered.
• The woman's bloodline pressure forced the devils to their knees; Musa remained standing but lowered his head, while she called the lower realm a miserable environment.

Sheng Xiao'er arrived at the Devil fortress, dismissed the teleportation array, and questioned Helisi about Wind and Snow Pass before selecting Youlun’s maker as a potential attendant. Meanwhile, Liu Qing sensed a powerful presence from the fortress as he prepared to infiltrate it in search of the Netherworld Bone Fire.

• Sheng Xiao'er emerged from the shattered teleportation array and compelled the Devil Race gathered in the hall to rise.
• Helisi reported the human defenses at Wind and Snow Pass, and Sheng Xiao'er dismissed the threat as minor.
• Sheng Xiao'er identified Youlun as the one who had made the array, then ordered Helisi to gather Demon Generals so she could choose an attendant.
• Helisi and Musa suspected Sheng Xiao'er was the Sheng Household’s third young lady and decided not to summon the Devil Master yet.
• Liu Qing sensed a high-level presence emanating from the fortress while studying an earth escape method, and his master's remnant soul warned that it resembled the Central Heaven Devil Race.

Liu Qing disguised himself as Saen and waited for a chance to enter the fortress, hoping to locate the Netherworld Bone Fire. He joined a gathering of Demon Generals summoned to welcome a powerful guest from the Central Heaven Great Region, whose arrival could put him in grave danger.

• Liu Qing perfected his Flame Demon disguise and told his master's voice in the ring that Saen's female slaves had been trying to approach him.
• A summons ordered every Demon General to gather outside the fortress so a distinguished guest could choose a personal attendant.
• Liu Qing decided to use the summons as an opportunity to enter the fortress, despite his master's warning that a powerful devil might detect him.
• Liu Qing joined hundreds of Demon Generals at the fortress and secretly sensed for the Netherworld Bone Fire while looking for a way inside.
• Musa introduced the honored guest from the Central Heaven Great Region and warned the gathering that looking at her or showing disrespect would mean death.

Sheng Xiao'er used the Soul-Charming Incantation to inspect the Demon Generals and chose Liu Qing, disguised as the Flame Demon Saen, as her attendant. Liu Qing's master concealed his consciousness from her contract, leaving Liu Qing to follow Sheng Xiao'er while recognizing how dangerous she was.

• Sheng Xiao'er cast the Soul-Charming Incantation over the gathered Demon Generals, and Liu Qing's master shielded him while he pretended to be controlled.
• Sheng Xiao'er sensed a purity in Liu Qing's soul and selected him despite his low cultivation.
• Sheng Xiao'er placed a master-servant contract on Liu Qing, while his master's ancient mental power disguised the brand and hid his true consciousness.
• Liu Qing introduced himself as Saen, bowed to Sheng Xiao'er, and took his place as her attendant.

Qin Tiexin reached body tempering perfection and tested his strength before sparring with Duan Xuan, who explained the different branches of body refining. He left considering what kind of cultivation method to seek at the Body Refining Master Conference.

• Qin Tiexin struck the strength-testing stele and displayed a force of fifteen thousand jin, startling the cultivators nearby.
• Duan Xuan arrived, tested her strength at six thousand three hundred jin, and challenged Qin Tiexin to a bare-handed spar.
• Qin Tiexin held off Duan Xuan's quick attacks, and she ended the spar after failing to break through his defense.
• Duan Xuan explained six broad body-refining paths and described her Blazing Sun Body Refining Instruction as a blend of strength and speed.
• Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan parted, and Qin Tiexin headed back to Zone C to prepare for the Body Refining Master Conference and seek a Qi and Blood Realm method.

Three days before the Body Refining Master Conference, Qin Tiexin inspected the venue, registered as a contestant, and learned the event schedule. He secured a small stall space and looked ahead to the conference opening.

• Qin Tiexin inspected the reinforced fighting platforms and noticed the many Body Refining cultivators arriving at Wind and Snow Pass, including a Qi and Blood Realm cultivator.
• Qin Tiexin registered as a Flowing Cloud Sect contestant, lifted a five-thousand-jin stone lock, and received token D-16.
• A registrar explained that the fifteen-day conference would begin with five days of exchanges and trading, followed by Devil Race hunting, a secret realm assessment, and fighting-platform combat.
• Qin Tiexin applied for a stall to sell his Law Artifacts and offer custom orders and weapon repairs.
• The stall steward assigned Qin Tiexin a small spot on the right side of the venue, and Qin Tiexin surveyed the platforms as he waited for the conference to begin.

Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan attended the opening of the Body Refining Master Conference at Wind and Snow Pass, where Gu Dan announced its stages and the prizes. The conference began, and Qin Tiexin remained focused on finding a suitable Qi and Blood Realm cultivation method.

• Qin Tiexin completed his preparations, and Nangong Yao declined to attend because of her assignments hunting the Devil Race.
• Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan arrived at the conference grounds and observed the body cultivators and trading stalls.
• Gu Dan, True Person Iron Fist, and Yang Qingxue arrived by flying through physical strength and introduced the conference's three stages.
• True Person Iron Fist, Yang Qingxue, and Gu Dan displayed prizes that included a demon beast spirit bone, Dragon Blood Body Refining Pills, and supreme-grade law artifact armor.
• Qin Tiexin considered the prizes but decided that finding a suitable cultivation method mattered more to him, and the conference officially began.

Qin Tiexin spent two days trying to trade his law artifacts for a Qi and Blood Realm body refining method, learning why such methods were closely guarded. He finally obtained a recovery-focused method in exchange for his tower shield and an Ice-Spined Wolf King spirit bone, leaving him with a possible complement to the strength-oriented method he still hoped to find.

• Qin Tiexin set out his law artifacts and spirit bones at the trading area, but body cultivators refused to trade their methods for them.
• A rogue cultivator offered an incomplete copy of the Iron Bone Art, but Qin Tiexin rejected it because its Qi and Blood Realm section was unusable.
• Duan Xuan explained why body refining methods were guarded and suggested Qin Tiexin seek a method through future assessment rewards or the secret realm.
• On the second day, a gray-robed cultivator offered the Qi and Blood Realm section of the Essence Restoration and Body Fortification Instruction in exchange for Qin Tiexin's tower shield and Ice-Spined Wolf King leg bone.
• Qin Tiexin accepted the trade and later studied the method, noting techniques that might complement his future primary cultivation method.

At a cultivation gathering, Qin Tiexin listened to three Meridian Opening Realm cultivators explain strength, speed, and choosing a suitable cultivation path. He decided to build around his strength talent while borrowing other styles’ techniques, then learned that the first combat assessment would begin the next morning with a seven-day Devil Race hunt.

• True Person Iron Fist explained the importance of firm foundations and strength limits, and announced that Iron Fist Sect was recruiting talented rogue cultivators.
• Yang Qingxue demonstrated speed-type combat and taught how speed cultivators could stack bursts of Qi and Blood; Duan Xuan asked whether Qin Tiexin had considered pursuing speed, and he declined.
• Gu Dan described the trade-offs among cultivation paths and urged cultivators to choose methods suited to their talents and fighting styles.
• Qin Tiexin concluded that strength would remain his main path, with recovery, speed, and defense techniques serving as support, and resolved to test his strength limit before advancing.
• An event organizer announced that contestants who passed the preliminary test would begin a seven-day Devil Race hunt the next morning, with devil cores used to tally results.

Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan formed a two-person team for the assembly’s seven-day Devil Core hunt and prepared to travel through the Devil Domain Forest. They entered the forest, avoided outer patrols, and settled into a concealed camp for their first night.

• The assembly steward announced the hunting rules, including Devil Core scoring, distress talismans, and rewards for the highest-ranked teams.
• Duan Xuan joined Qin Tiexin, and they decided to hunt as a two-person team rather than recruit more members.
• Qin Tiexin checked his weapons and supplies before he and Duan Xuan collected their team token and prepared to depart.
• The next morning, Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan entered the Devil Domain Forest and headed north by east, avoiding Devil Soldier patrols on the outskirts.
• At dusk, they camped in a concealed mountainside cleft and agreed to take turns keeping watch.

Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan hunted demons together, exploiting their weaknesses to kill a Flame Demon General and a Horned Demon General. They continued deeper into the demon-infested territory, leaving the Shadow Demon General encounter and their journey unresolved.

• Qin Tiexin explained that a Flame Demon General’s shoulder fissures were its weak point, and Duan Xuan distracted it while he pierced the fissure with two javelins and killed it.
• Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan spent the next two days killing Devil Soldier squads and lower-rank Demon Generals while avoiding high-rank ones.
• Qin Tiexin engaged a Horned Demon General on a rocky slope while Duan Xuan circled behind it and used her whip to bring it down.
• Duan Xuan repeatedly stabbed the Horned Demon General’s vulnerable underside, and Qin Tiexin finished it with Mountain Shattering.
• Qin Tiexin praised Duan Xuan’s fifth thrust as they recovered from the fight.

Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan hunted devils together, defeated a Shadow Devil, and found four Rogue Cultivators killed by a high-tier Blood Devil. On the final day of their assessment, Qin Tiexin noticed the Devil Race had grown scarce, and they returned to Wind and Snow Pass to report their suspicions.

• Qin Tiexin used Spirit Material Sense to locate the Shadow Devil, and he and Duan Xuan trapped and killed it.
• Over the following days, Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan coordinated their devil hunts and defeated an Ice Devil General.
• Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan followed a distress signal to a clearing, where they found four Rogue Cultivators killed by a high-tier Blood Devil.
• Qin Tiexin noticed that Devil Soldiers and Demon Generals had become scarce along their route, and Duan Xuan agreed that something seemed wrong.
• Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan turned back toward Wind and Snow Pass to report what they had observed.

Liu Qing earned Sheng Xiao'er’s trust by making her quarters clean and free of Devil Qi while secretly learning the Black Stone Fortress’s defenses and locating the Netherworld Bone Fire. When he encountered a powerful human cultivator accompanied by Demon Generals, his master warned that the man concealed heavy blood baleful Qi, leaving Liu Qing to reconsider his plans amid signs of a possible conspiracy.

• Liu Qing prepared a clean, purified stone chamber and bed for Sheng Xiao'er, who accepted the room and began relying on him.
• Sheng Xiao'er rejected Devil Beast blood as food and burned a Devil Soldier and a human corpse brought to her, calling them filthy.
• Liu Qing's master warned him about the Charm Devil race's mind arts and revealed that the Netherworld Bone Fire lay about three zhang underground.
• Liu Qing used his expanded access to learn the fortress's routes, guard rotations, and the sealed secret chamber beneath the main hall.
• Liu Qing encountered a cloaked human accompanied by two Demon Generals, and his master identified the man as a high-level Golden Core cultivator concealing heavy blood baleful Qi.
• Liu Qing returned to his quarters and reconsidered his plans as he weighed Sheng Xiao'er, the human cultivator, the Netherworld Bone Fire, and a possible conspiracy.

Sheng Xiao'er met with the human traitor True Person Xueying, who sought royal holy blood to make a breakthrough to Nascent Soul and agreed to aid the Devil Race’s assault on Wind and Snow Pass. After giving him a drop of blood, Sheng Xiao'er authorized the rallying order for the eastern assault.

• True Person Xueying entered Sheng Xiao'er's chamber, where Helisi explained that he had supplied the Devil Race with human intelligence and resources for over a century.
• Xueying begged Sheng Xiao'er for royal holy blood to complete the Holy Blood Pill and break through to Nascent Soul.
• Sheng Xiao'er agreed to give him holy blood if he attacked Wind and Snow Pass's west gate in seven days and drew out its Nascent Soul Cultivators.
• Xueying revealed that he had killed his one hundred disciples for their Essence Blood and planned to capture Body Refining cultivators during the secret-realm round of the Body Refining Master Conference.
• Sheng Xiao'er gave Xueying a drop of holy blood, then told Helisi to issue the rallying order for the eastern assault.

Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan returned to Wind and Snow Pass after the first round, registered their Devil Cores, and collected their rewards. After reporting changes in the Devil Domain Forest to Deacon Wang, Qin Tiexin realized the conference’s second round would take place in a new secret realm.

• Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan returned to the pass and submitted their Devil Cores, earning 422 points between them.
• Qin Tiexin collected their team’s Refined Blood Pills and exchanged their cores for 116 more, which he split with Duan Xuan.
• Qin Tiexin reported the decline in high-rank Demon Generals and Devil Soldier patrols to Deacon Wang.
• Qin Tiexin cleaned Edgeless and reread the Jade Slip about the conference’s past assessments.
• Qin Tiexin noticed that the announcement promised a new secret realm and realized contestants might be seeking its untouched treasures.

Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan learned that the second assessment would take place in the Iron Spine Sect Ruins, a secret realm tied to Qin Tiexin’s saber technique and footwork. After entering the ruins, they headed toward a leaning tower to survey the area, with five days of exploration ahead and their safety no longer guaranteed.

• Qin Tiexin recognized the Iron Spine Sect as the source of the Heavy Mountain Saber Technique and Mountain-Shaking Steps he had learned.
• An elder announced that contestants would explore the Iron Spine Sect Ruins for five days and would be responsible for their own lives inside.
• Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan agreed to stay together after reading the Jade Slip’s information about the ruins and its dangers.
• The contestants traveled by flying boat to the Black Meteor Mountain Range, where True Person Iron Fist and True Person Gu Dan warned them about the Demon Beasts.
• Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan crossed the fissure into the ruins and set off toward a leaning tower to survey the area.

Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan searched the ruins’ Cultivation Method Pavilion and Artifact Forging Room but found only ruined materials and no valuables. They continued deeper into the ruins after the pavilion collapsed during a fight between other teams.

• Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan entered the Cultivation Method Pavilion and found its shelves empty and its texts reduced to fragments.
• Qin Tiexin surveyed the ruins from the pavilion’s third floor and pointed out the main hall and inner sect area.
• Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan left as other cultivators fought near the pavilion, and the damaged tower collapsed behind them.
• Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan reached the Artifact Forging Room and found rusted equipment, ordinary iron, and no valuable spirit materials or Law Artifacts.
• Duan Xuan urged them to keep moving, and Qin Tiexin continued with her into the ruins.

Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan encountered a massive bull-shaped Demon Beast that killed a cultivator with a single charge. As they tried to retreat unseen, a shaft of light made Duan Xuan’s red outfit catch its attention, and it charged at them.

• Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan followed the sound of heavy breathing to a stone hall where cultivators were watching a huge bull-shaped Demon Beast.
• A burly cultivator tried to surprise the Demon Beast, but it charged him down and killed him despite his shield and armor.
• The other cultivators fled, while Qin Tiexin led Duan Xuan backward from their hiding place.
• A shaft of light reflected off Duan Xuan’s red outfit, and the Demon Beast spotted them.
• The bull-shaped Demon Beast roared and charged straight at Duan Xuan.

Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan fought and killed a powerful bull-shaped Demon Beast in a ruined stone hall, discovering a jade slip embedded in its old leg injury. They found that it held a complete sword technique, and after securing the hall for the night, Duan Xuan suggested they eat the beast.

• Qin Tiexin distracted the charging Demon Beast while Duan Xuan attacked it, and they struggled to penetrate its tough hide and mane.
• Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan spotted an old injury on the beast’s right hind leg, where a jade slip was embedded in a scar.
• Qin Tiexin held the beast by its horns as Duan Xuan stabbed the scar, and Qin Tiexin thrust Edgeless down its throat to kill it.
• Qin Tiexin extracted the jade slip and discovered it contained a sword technique spanning the Qi Refinement Realm through the Golden Core Realm; Duan Xuan kept it.
• Qin Tiexin and Duan Xuan secured the stone hall and rested for the night, where Duan Xuan suggested they eat the Demon Beast.