Chapter Summaries

Li Yan trapped Elder Meng, Elder Jin, and Elder Mu in an illusion formation and appeared to kill Jin and Mu. Elder Meng realized the surroundings were illusory, but the Grey Mask spoke to him through the formation, leaving him to insist it was only a projection as he vowed to break free.

• Elder Meng threw his golden melon hammer at the Grey Mask, but the Grey Mask dodged and Elder Mu's attack struck Elder Jin instead.
• The hammer passed through the Grey Mask without drawing blood, and Elder Meng recognized that he was caught in an illusion formation as Jin and Mu fell toward the ground.
• Elder Meng searched for the formation's barrier by tracking his hammer, but it continued flying without reaching one.
• The Grey Mask looked up at Elder Meng and declared that he would never escape the formation.
• Elder Meng recoiled, then laughed and claimed the Grey Mask was only projecting his consciousness through the formation.

Li Yan, disguised as the Grey Mask man, shattered Elder Meng’s body with a punch and left him trapped inside the formation after his Nascent Soul escaped. Elder Meng desperately searched for the barrier, and the chapter ended as a noose suddenly dropped into his path.

• Elder Meng mistook Li Yan’s attack for an illusion and swung his golden melon hammer at him.
• Li Yan’s punch shattered Elder Meng’s arm, and the rebound of his own hammer smashed his skull.
• Elder Meng’s Nascent Soul fled using teleportation, but the formation made him circle through the same scenes without finding its barrier.
• Elder Meng concluded that the Grey Mask man was a hidden Body Integration cultivator and switched from teleporting to probing for the formation’s boundary.
• A noose suddenly dropped into Elder Meng’s flight path, and he dodged aside.

Li Yan captured and killed Elder Meng, learned that Hengdong Fortress held the only hidden teleportation contingency, and erased all traces of the failed ambush. The Black Devil Race secured the fortresses at heavy cost, while Mu Han suspected You Jia’s disappearance was connected to the enemy’s tactics and faced blame for the defeat.

• Li Yan trapped Elder Meng’s Nascent Soul, searched his memories, and destroyed it after learning that Mu Han had secretly placed a teleportation formation at Hengdong Fortress.
• Li Yan concluded that the ambush had been limited to Hengdong Fortress, destroyed the remaining evidence, and concealed his involvement as the battle ended.
• Mu Han realized the Black Devil Race had blocked his forces from reaching the fortresses and suspected the enemy’s unusual tactics were connected to You Jia’s disappearance.
• The Black Devil Race took the fortresses, and Mu Guyue received orders to hold them while her forces repaired defenses and counted their heavy casualties.
• Mu Guyue discussed the battle’s losses with Li Yan, while the injured Mu Han was berated after his side lost the first defensive line and six mid-stage cultivators.

After Li Yan revealed to Mu Guyue that he had secretly killed four enemy Void Refinement cultivators, she realized the Scarlet-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Race would likely delay its counterattack. The fortresses remained unchallenged, and Devil Emperor Teng Zhang arrived to announce rewards for the successful raid.

• Mu Han reported that Elder Jin and the other four had probably been poisoned, keeping the Black Devil Race unaware of the battle’s true outcome.
• Li Yan told Mu Guyue that he had used a hidden teleportation array to kill four Void Refinement cultivators and had taken essence blood from three Scarlet-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast cultivators.
• Mu Guyue concluded that the enemy would not counterattack until it understood how its cultivators had died, and Li Yan assured her they would hold the fortresses.
• Mu Guyue oversaw repairs and inspections as the Scarlet-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Race launched no counterattack.
• Li Yan noticed Devil Emperor Teng Zhang arriving, and Teng Zhang later praised Mu Guyue’s surprise-attack plan and announced that the clan would reward the participants according to their reported merits.

After the surprise attack won a great victory, Devil Emperor Teng Zhang rewarded the army in full and ordered it to rest and receive reinforcements. He praised Li Yan through Mu Guyue, accepted his refusal of rewards, and asked whether he would provide Sandstar King Stone or information about its source.

• Devil Emperor Teng Zhang announced that all reported military merits would be rewarded in full and that another army would take over the first line of defense while the troops rested and received reinforcements.
• After dismissing the other generals, Teng Zhang told Mu Guyue that Li Yan deserved recognition and invited him to state any request for a reward.
• Mu Guyue said Li Yan wanted no reward, and Teng Zhang praised her judgment and admitted that Li Yan's strength surpassed his own.
• Teng Zhang asked Mu Guyue whether Li Yan would sell Sandstar King Stone or provide clues to where it could be obtained, promising benefits in return.

Mu Guyue explained the limits and origins of the Sandstar King Stones to Devil Emperor Teng Zhang, following Li Yan’s plan to keep them scarce and raise her standing in the Black Devil Race. After Mu Guyue’s army withdrew from the front, she and her son gained time to cultivate, and Li Yan prepared to help them break through their major realms.

• Mu Guyue told Devil Emperor Teng Zhang that Li Yan had owned fifteen Sandstar King Stones, that the twelve used by her army were depleted, and that the stones required rare materials to refine.
• Mu Guyue offered to lend the stones to other armies, while Li Yan’s strategy kept them as her personal treasures and made their scarcity a source of influence.
• Devil Emperor Teng Zhang accepted that he could not obtain the stones and left after thanking Li Yan.
• The next day, Mu Guyue handed over Hengdong Fortress and led her army, along with troops withdrawn from other frontlines, to a rear garrison to recuperate.
• Three years later, Mu Guyue’s army remained stationed in a vast fortified valley, where Li Yan planned to help Mu Guyue and her son advance to their next major realms.

Li Yan guided Mu Sha and Mu Guyue in preparing for breakthroughs while the family settled into secluded cultivation. After Mu Sha reached Spirit Transformation, Mu Guyue’s Heavenly Tribulation began, and Li Yan stood guard as the army’s devil commanders watched.

• Li Yan taught Mu Sha the principles needed to reach Spirit Transformation, and Mu Sha later entered secluded cultivation to contemplate them.
• Li Yan helped Mu Guyue deepen her understanding of the laws of heaven and earth before the family entered secluded cultivation.
• Mu Sha encountered his Heavenly Tribulation in the second year of seclusion, and Li Yan guarded him as he successfully achieved Spirit Transformation.
• Li Yan prepared for a possible advance into the late Void Refinement Realm while waiting for Mu Guyue’s breakthrough.
• Mu Guyue emerged from seclusion and flew to a prepared tribulation site after sensing her Heavenly Tribulation approaching.
• Dark clouds gathered over Mu Guyue as Li Yan stood guard nearby, drawing the attention and respect of the devil commanders.

Mu Guyue endured a perilous four-day tribulation and successfully broke through to the Void Refinement Realm, though her soul was gravely injured. After Li Yan treated her for four days, he emerged to find nearly all the army’s demon commanders still gathered outside her cave.

• Mu Sha emerged from seclusion after sensing the tribulation and watched anxiously as his mother, Mu Guyue, faced it.
• Mu Guyue suffered grievous injuries during the tribulation, while Li Yan prepared to use his soul techniques to save her if necessary.
• Mu Guyue told Li Yan not to intervene and endured the remaining tribulations with her soul, ultimately surviving and succeeding.
• Li Yan carried the unconscious Mu Guyue into her cave, treated her severe soul injuries, and remained with her until her soul stabilized four days later.
• Li Yan emerged from the cave and found Mu Sha and nearly all the army’s demon commanders waiting outside; they saluted him.

After Mu Guyue survived her Heavenly Tribulation and became a Devil Emperor, she and Li Yan spent years recovering and cultivating in seclusion. Devil Emperor Teng Zhang visited to deliver the clan’s appointment and informed Mu Guyue that she would be transferred out of her army.

• Li Yan reassured Mu Sha that Mu Guyue was safe but needed to recover, and urged him to return to cultivation.
• Mu Guyue’s army rested and reorganized while Li Yan secluded himself to pursue the late stage of the Void Refinement Realm.
• Four years later, Mu Guyue emerged after stabilizing her realm, then entered seclusion again while Li Yan continued cultivating.
• A year later, Mu Guyue completed her further cultivation and welcomed Devil Emperor Teng Zhang, who congratulated her and said the clan had an appointment for her.
• Teng Zhang told Mu Guyue that the clan would transfer her out of her army.

Li Yan emerged from seclusion and questioned Mu Guyue about the worsening battlefield situation as the Black Devil Race prepared to send her former army back to the front. Teng Zhang revealed that the Red-Eyed Flame-Horn Beasts had gained an unexpected ally, the Nine-Headed Azure Phoenix Clan.

• Mu Guyue sent a sound-transmission talisman after Teng Zhang left, and Li Yan emerged from seclusion to ask about the military situation.
• Li Yan concealed his late-stage Void Refinement Realm cultivation while Mu Guyue explained that she had been transferred from frontline command to the second line of defense.
• Teng Zhang arranged for Mu Guyue's former army to march to the front within three days and take over half of its previous defensive line because casualties had surged.
• Mu Guyue questioned why the Black Devil Race had shifted from attacking to struggling to defend, and Teng Zhang explained that the Red-Eyed Flame-Horn Beasts had received reinforcements.
• Teng Zhang revealed that the new force aiding the Red-Eyed Flame-Horn Beasts was the Nine-Headed Azure Phoenix Clan.

Mu Guyue and Li Yan discussed why the Nine-Headed Azure Phoenix Clan had joined the war against the Black Devil Race and reviewed the clan’s origins and rise to power. The Black Devil Race faced a worsening war and was preparing to hand command of Mu Guyue’s army to her deputy.

• Mu Guyue learned from Teng Zhang that the Nine-Headed Azure Phoenix Clan had joined the Red-Eyed Flame-Horned Beast Clan, despite having previously rejected an alliance with the Black Devil Race.
• Teng Zhang speculated that the Red-Eyed Flame-Horned Beast Clan had offered the Nine-Headed Azure Phoenix Clan an enormous price, and said the Black Devil Race was considering paying other forces for help.
• Teng Zhang left Mu Guyue to arrange the army’s affairs and choose a replacement commander before she went to the second line of defense.
• Li Yan asked Mu Guyue about the Nine-Headed Azure Phoenix Clan, and she explained its origins as the migrated Ice-Eyed Azure Phoenix Clan and its bloodline’s evolution.
• Mu Guyue told Li Yan that four other phoenix clans were under the Nine-Headed Azure Phoenix Clan’s influence and described how the clan had gradually become the strongest among them.

Li Yan and Mu Guyue discussed why the Nine-Headed Azure Phoenix Clan had joined the war against the Black Devil Race and what forces it might have brought. Mu Guyue prepared to leave for the second line of defense while Li Yan decided to follow the army toward the front and visit Mu Sha.

• Li Yan asked Mu Guyue about the Nine-Headed Azure Phoenix Clan’s strength, and they reasoned that its forces likely included subordinate phoenix clans.
• Li Yan and Mu Guyue speculated that profit and fear of the Black Devil Race’s expansion had prompted the Nine-Headed Azure Phoenix Clan to intervene.
• Li Yan advised Mu Guyue to wait for new intelligence as the army advanced, and she invited him to accompany her to the second line of defense.
• Li Yan declined to go with Mu Guyue immediately and said he would visit Mu Sha and follow the army to the front line.
• Mu Guyue agreed to proceed to the second line of defense and planned to depart with the army in four hours.

Li Yan recalled that the Nine-Headed Azure Phoenix Clan controlled the Undying Nether Phoenix clan and suspected it had compelled them to join the war. He infiltrated the Red-Eyed Flame-Horned Beast clan’s frontline camps searching for Ming Qi and Ming Yu, then headed toward the rear defensive line after failing to find them.

• Mu Sha apologized to Li Yan and hurried to Mu Guyue’s command tent after she summoned the principal generals.
• Li Yan left the military camp and recalled that Ming Qi and Ming Yu belonged to the Undying Nether Phoenix clan, which was under the Nine-Headed Azure Phoenix Clan’s influence.
• Li Yan concluded that the Undying Nether Phoenix clan may have been drawn into the war by the Nine-Headed Azure Phoenix Clan and decided to investigate why it had sent troops.
• Li Yan searched six Red-Eyed Flame-Horned Beast frontline camps but did not find Ming Qi or Ming Yu.
• Li Yan headed toward the clan’s second defensive line, reasoning that the sisters were more likely stationed in the rear or had stayed with their clan.

Li Yan investigated the Phoenix-clan camps and found their forces poorly coordinated despite stronger, more intricate defenses. He then reconnoitered Mu Han’s second defensive line but found its surveillance too dense to infiltrate safely, leaving him without a clear opening.

• Li Yan surveyed three frontline camps and found that Nine-Headed Azure Phoenix Clan commanders led the allied forces while Red-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Clan cultivators served in supporting roles.
• Li Yan judged that the Phoenix clans’ disorganized troops would need time to coordinate before the Red-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Clan could launch a major offensive.
• Li Yan reached the forest outside Mu Han’s second defensive line and detected hidden formations and sentries beneath the area’s dense Divine Sense coverage.
• Li Yan watched the camp for two hours as only two cultivators briefly left to inspect formations, then returned without moving beyond the guards’ surveillance.
• Li Yan concluded that waiting to use an exiting cultivator’s token would be risky and that the reinforced formations could expose an infiltration attempt.

Li Yan watched the second line of defense and found a way to infiltrate through a concealed forest sentry post. After taking down its four guards, he realized one had spotted the breach, leaving him to face whatever alarm or consequences might follow.

• Li Yan observed the camp through the night and noticed hidden sentry posts in the forest and on a distant hill.
• Li Yan chose the forest post and used the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief to breach its concealment formation.
• Li Yan found four Spirit Transformation cultivators of the Red-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Clan guarding the post and discovered they were coordinating Divine Sense patrols with the opposite hill.
• One guard sensed an unusual disturbance in the earth and saw the breach just as Li Yan entered.
• Li Yan struck the four guards with a prepared soul technique and finger strikes, knocking them unconscious before they could sound an alarm.

Li Yan incapacitated four Spirit Transformation cultivators at the second line of defense, searched their souls, and disguised himself as the young sentry to infiltrate the military camp. He learned he had to wait four days for the next shift change and discovered that the Nine-Headed Azure Phoenix Clan had not sent cultivators to the third line of defense, leaving him concerned about Mu Sha’s safety.

• Li Yan used the "Lost Soul and Scattered Spirit" spell to knock out four sentries, then chose the young cultivator as the one to impersonate.
• Li Yan searched the four sentries’ souls, altered the young cultivator’s memories, and arranged for him to remain inside Tuban.
• Li Yan entered the military camp in disguise by using Tuban to briefly retrieve the young cultivator’s identity token during the formation inspection.
• Li Yan learned he had to wait four days for the hidden sentry posts to rotate shifts before he could proceed.
• Li Yan discovered that the camp was shared by the Scarlet-Eyed Flame-Horned Beast Clan and the Phoenix clans, but that the Nine-Headed Azure Phoenix Clan had not sent anyone to the third line of defense.
• Li Yan wondered how the battle was progressing and worried that Mu Sha might be forced to fight on the front line.

Li Yan entered the enemy camp disguised as a returning sentry, using knowledge gained through Soul Search to pass its defenses. He reached the sentry’s tent safely and began surveying the camp before deciding what to do next.

• Four cultivators finished their watch and flew back toward the camp, while Li Yan kept slightly behind them to preserve room to react.
• Li Yan followed the three sentries through the camp gate and used Five Elements spiritual power to pass through the formation without raising suspicion.
• As the group separated inside the camp, Li Yan headed to the tent of the young cultivator whose identity he had assumed.
• Li Yan checked the tent against his stolen memories, then sat on the bed and began surveying key areas of the camp with his divine sense.

Ming Qi and Ming Yu worried that the Nine-Headed Green Phoenix Clan was using their clans as the vanguard against the Black Devil Race, while their own clan’s leadership had yet to respond. Li Yan infiltrated the Undying Underworld Phoenix Clan’s camp and began looking for a cultivator.

• Ming Yu complained that their clans were suffering heavy casualties while the Nine-Headed Green Phoenix Clan committed fewer fighters to the battle.
• Ming Qi said the clans could not withdraw without orders and hoped their Supreme Great Elder would secure a fairer agreement among the Phoenix clans.
• Li Yan evaded the camp’s patrols and used the young cultivator’s memories to navigate into the area controlled by the Nine-Headed Green Phoenix Clan.
• Li Yan used the Heaven-Stealing Kerchief to pass through the Undying Underworld Phoenix Clan’s defensive formation.
• Li Yan entered the Undying Underworld Phoenix Clan’s camp and set his sights on one of its cultivators.

Li Yan infiltrated the Undying Underworld Phoenix camp, used Soul Search to learn why the clan had gone to war, and discovered that Ming Qi and Ming Yu were both there. He approached Ming Qi’s cave dwelling in disguise, where the sisters recognized the gray-robed old man from their past.

• Li Yan used Soul Search on Ming Shi and learned that the Undying Underworld Phoenix Clan had gone to war with the Black Devil Race at the Nine-Headed Green Phoenix Clan’s order.
• Ming Shi reflected on the clan’s casualties and flew away after recalling an elder’s warning not to speak carelessly about troop deployments.
• Li Yan learned from the search that Ming Qi and Ming Yu were at the second defensive line, and decided to approach Ming Qi for information.
• Ming Qi and Ming Yu sensed a gray-robed old man approaching their cave dwelling through the night.
• Ming Qi recognized the visitor and reacted with astonishment as the sisters’ memories of him resurfaced.

Li Yan secretly sought out Ming Qi and Ming Yu, and the sisters verified his identity with the jade sword Ming Qi had once given him. After meeting them in their cave dwelling, Li Yan explained that he had come to visit the Undying Underworld Phoenix Clan and learn about its circumstances; his real purpose remained concealed.

• Li Yan sensed Ming Qi and Ming Yu in the cave dwelling and waited for them to open its formation.
• Ming Qi recognized the jade-colored little sword Li Yan sent her and bowed to him, and Ming Yu followed suit.
• Ming Qi brought Li Yan and Ming Yu inside to avoid attracting attention, then returned the jade sword to him.
• Li Yan told the sisters that he had come to visit the Undying Underworld Phoenix Clan after learning unexpected news about it.