Chapter Summaries

The Undying Underworld Phoenix Clan's Supreme Great Elder Ming Feng analyzed the gray-robed old man's abilities and the Black Devil Race's response, then summoned Li Yan to discuss their proposed cooperation. The chapter ended with Li Yan asking Ming Feng what he thought of the Black Devil Race's demands.

• Ming Feng questioned Ming Qi in detail and concluded that the Black Devil Race had responded in little over half a day, showing it took the matter seriously.
• Ming Feng asked Ming Qi to invite the gray-robed old man out for a talk, and Li Yan was brought from his spirit storage pouch into a guarded pavilion.
• Li Yan sensed Ming Feng's powerful presence upstairs and recognized the old man in coarse hemp clothing before him as a Divine Thought incarnation.
• Ming Feng greeted Li Yan, thanked him for helping Ming Qi and Ming Yu obtain the inheritance, and promised the clan would repay his assistance.
• Ming Feng proposed discussing Li Yan's help, and Li Yan asked what Ming Feng thought of the Black Devil Race's demands.

Li Yan and Ming Feng planned how the Black Devil Race could help the four phoenix clans escape the Nine-Headed Green Phoenix Clan and discussed where the clans could settle afterward. Li Yan proposed the Heavenly Demon Grassland and asked them to investigate whether another Undying Underworld Phoenix Clan lived there; Ming Feng eagerly accepted.

• Ming Feng explained that the other three phoenix clans also resisted the Nine-Headed Green Phoenix Clan, then described their dwindling influence and the threat posed by its two Tribulation Transcendence Realm ancestors.
• Li Yan and Ming Feng devised a plan to secure the other clans' cooperation after the Black Devil Race reached an agreement, with force ready to control any suspicious ancestors.
• Ming Feng agreed that the four clans would need to leave the Jieyou Realm, and Li Yan recommended that they resettle together in the Heavenly Demon Grassland of the North Pasture Realm.
• Li Yan said he suspected another Undying Underworld Phoenix Clan lived deep in the Heavenly Demon Grassland and asked Ming Feng to investigate and report any discoveries.
• Ming Feng promised that his clan would search for the possible phoenix clan and inform Li Yan if they found any news.

Li Yan secured the Undying Underworld Phoenix Clan’s agreement to cooperate with the Black Devil Race and shared guidance on settling in the Heavenly Demon Grassland. As the Black Devil Race prepared to counter the enemy’s planned assault, Mu Guyue returned with orders to prepare for a decisive battle.

• Ming Feng agreed to help Li Yan locate other Undying Underworld Phoenix clans, and Li Yan explained the Heavenly Demon Grassland’s forces and possible settlement sites.
• Ming Qi left the clan to relay the agreement and plan to the Black Devil Race, while Li Yan returned to the Black Devil Race’s camp.
• Mu Guyue warned Li Yan that the enemy might attack within days, possibly across several fronts and with Void Refinement Realm cultivators.
• The Black Devil Race summoned Li Yan and Mu Guyue, then ordered Mu Guyue to deliver Sandstar King Stones and prepare for a counteroffensive alongside the coming enemy assault.
• Li Yan and Mu Guyue inferred that the Undying Underworld Phoenix Clan had supplied reliable information about the enemy’s plans.
• Mu Guyue returned with a revised secret order to prepare for a decisive battle, surprising Li Yan.

The allied armies of the Nine-Headed Green Phoenix Clan and the Red-Eyed Flame-Horned Beast Clan launched a major assault to test the Black Devil Race and force its army back. As Haolin boasted of his strength and command, the Phoenix Four Clans’ vanguard and the Black Devil army closed in on one another.

• The allied armies attacked the Black Devil Race from several directions, aiming to defeat its forces and expose its hidden strength before a later decisive battle.
• Fellow Daoist Meng warned Haolin that the fortresses’ success depended on the Nine-Headed Green Phoenix Clan, but Haolin dismissed his concern and claimed his clan would lead the assault.
• Haolin privately resented the Red-Eyed Flame-Horned Beast Clan’s presence and imagined using the allied army to win fame and status.
• Ming Qi, Ming Yu, and the other Phoenix Four Clans commanders held the formation as their vanguard approached the Black Devil army.
• With the armies only several thousand zhang apart, the Phoenix Four Clans shouted “Descend!” and plunged forward while the Black Devil Race shouted “Charge!” and surged upward.

The Black Devil Race and Phoenix Four Clans armies crossed without engaging their main forces, as the Black Devil soldiers killed Phoenix Four Clans cultivators marked as traitors. Ming Qi and the other commanders forced the Undying Underworld Phoenix Clan onward while secret orders from the clans revealed an effort to eliminate Nine-Headed Green Phoenix Clan sympathizers embedded in their ranks.

• The Black Devil Race army abruptly flew upward as the Phoenix Four Clans army descended, allowing the two forces to pass one another without a direct clash.
• Black Devil Race soldiers attacked Scarlet-Eyed Flame-Horned Beast Clan cultivators and green-armored fighters, killing suspected traitors as they crossed the battlefield.
• Ming Qi and the other Void Refinement Realm cultivators ordered the Undying Underworld Phoenix Clan to keep moving and killed or subdued clansmen who hesitated.
• The Phoenix Four Clans had secretly ordered trusted disciples to surround and kill suspected Nine-Headed Green Phoenix Clan sympathizers during the armies' crossing.
• The clans had transferred many sympathizers out of important roles, but spies remained embedded in the armies and were swept along by the advancing forces.

The Phoenix Four Clans ambushed their own traitors and broke away from the Nine-Headed Green Phoenix Clan as the Black Devil Race struck the unprepared army. Ming Qi ordered the four clans to turn back and attack the Nine-Headed Green Phoenix Clan and Red-Eyed Flame-Horned Beast Clan, while Li Yan and Mu Guyue watched from the Black Devil Race rear.

• The Phoenix Four Clans killed known traitors and sealed suspected conspirators before their armies reached the Black Devil Race.
• The Black Devil Race charged through the unprepared Nine-Headed Green Phoenix Clan army, while the Red-Eyed Flame-Horned Beast Clan tried to rally and resist.
• The Red-Eyed Flame-Horned Beast Clan man surnamed Meng rushed to the front, and Haolin realized the four clans had defected and erupted in fury.
• The four clans' Void Refinement cultivators spread around their army to suppress unrest, and a Blazing Fire Heavenly Phoenix Clan cultivator ordered the army to stop.
• Ming Qi ordered the four clans to turn around and attack the Nine-Headed Green Phoenix Clan and Red-Eyed Flame-Horned Beast Clan, forbidding them to attack the Black Devil Race.
• Li Yan and Mu Guyue saw the four clans turn back to fight, allowing the Black Devil Race's rear army to prepare its full-strength assault.

Mu Guyue and Li Yan watched the Black Devil Race launch its assault alongside the Phoenix Four Clans, knowing the alliance’s real plan was to break through to the Red-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Clan’s third defensive line and threaten its nest. Meanwhile, the Third Supreme Elder arrived at the Undying Underworld Phoenix Clan’s camp and transported its guards into the Spirit Storage Space, leaving them confused and afraid.

• Mu Guyue and Li Yan understood that the Black Devil Race had arranged for the Phoenix Four Clans to expose the Nine-Headed Green Phoenix Clan to a surprise attack as the armies crossed.
• The Black Devil Race’s leaders prepared to exploit the Phoenix Four Clans’ cooperation to pierce the enemy’s defenses and advance toward the Red-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Clan’s nest.
• Li Yan followed Mu Guyue’s army to protect her and her child as the battle risked becoming a decisive confrontation.
• A Devil Emperor ordered the Black Devil Race army to advance, and its troops erupted into battle cries.
• A trusted aide of Ming Qi transmitted a jade slip from the Undying Underworld Phoenix Clan’s camp, after which the Third Supreme Elder arrived through the teleportation array.
• The Third Supreme Elder told the guards not to panic and transported them into the Spirit Storage Space, where they wondered why he had brought them there.

The Phoenix Four Clans began their escape under a deal with the Black Devil Race, while the Third Supreme Elder of the Undying Underworld Phoenix Clan carried out a surprise attack at the second line of defense. Ming Feng led his clan through a spatial rift using a Sandstar King Stone, leaving the clans’ evacuation underway.

• The Third Supreme Elder of the Undying Underworld Phoenix Clan destroyed the teleportation array, gathered his clansmen into the Spirit Storage Space, and prepared to seize the second line of defense with cultivators from the other three clans.
• Ming Feng and the other Supreme Elders completed their preparations, storing clansmen and resources in separate Spirit Storage artifacts to reduce the risk of losing everything.
• Ming Feng ordered the Undying Underworld Phoenix Clan to set out after the Third Supreme Elder teleported away.
• Ming Feng opened a spatial rift with a Sandstar King Stone, and Ming Hua and the other cultivators entered it.
• Ming Feng followed the clan through the rift while sensing their surroundings and carrying the clan-protecting grand formation.

The Phoenix Four Clans shut down their protective formations and fled through spatial rifts with the Black Devil Race’s help, while the Nine-Headed Green Phoenix Clan tried to stop them. Ming Feng entered the rift last, carrying his Dao Companion’s memorial tablet, and closed the passage behind him.

• Ming Feng saw the other three clans deactivate their formations as the four clans began entering spatial rifts, but Feng Hao’s pressure halted them.
• A Black Devil Race Devil Venerable appeared, blocked Feng Hao’s attack, and helped the clans resume their escape.
• Feng Hao and a female elder of the Nine-Headed Green Phoenix Clan confronted the Black Devil Race, but two Black Devil Race cultivators kept them occupied as the clans fled.
• The Black Devil Race taunted the Green Phoenix elders about their army’s dire situation, while Ming Feng watched Nine-Headed Green Phoenix Clan cultivators approach.
• Ming Feng touched his Dao Companion’s memorial tablet, entered the spatial rift as the last to leave, and swept his palm to close it.

The Phoenix Four Clans escaped under cover of the Black Devil Race’s plan, while powerful avatars restrained the Nine-Headed Green Phoenix Clan’s ancestors. As the Black Devil Race launched a surprise assault on the Red-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Clan, its army broke through the second line and reached the third-line defenders.

• Ming Feng and the other Phoenix Clan leaders learned that the Black Devil Race had sent powerful avatars to hold back the Nine-Headed Green Phoenix Clan’s ancestors while the clans escaped.
• Ming Feng realized the Black Devil Race intended to exploit the Phoenix Four Clans’ rebellion to strike directly at the Red-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Clan’s lair.
• The Black Devil Race and the Red-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Clan began a brutal battle across the first line of defense.
• The Phoenix Four Clans turned on the Nine-Headed Green Phoenix Clan’s troops as they advanced past the second line, leaving the third-line defenders without warning.
• The Red-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Clan’s and Nine-Headed Green Phoenix Clan’s Body Integration Realm cultivators argued amid the confusion as the Black Devil Race army and Great Devil Kings surged toward them.

The Black Devil Race and the Phoenix Four Clans fought their way to the Red-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Clan’s mountain-backed city, suffering heavy casualties along the way. Ming Qi and Ming Yu regrouped their battered clan army and prepared to contact the other clans so Senior Wu could lead their retreat.

• The Black Devil Race and Phoenix Four Clans breached the Red-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Clan’s defenses and advanced into its territory, while the defenders pulled back to their city.
• The Red-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Clan’s city was surrounded on three sides, with the dangerous Black Flame Mountain range behind it serving as a natural barrier.
• Ming Qi and Ming Yu reorganized the surviving Undying Underworld Phoenix Clan troops after Ming Yu was gravely wounded and Ming Qi suffered a wounded Nascent Soul.
• Three of the four Phoenix Four Clans Body Integration Realm cultivators died in battle, and the Undying Underworld Phoenix Clan’s Third Supreme Elder was among the dead.
• Ming Yu told Ming Qi to contact the other three clans so Senior Wu, the only surviving Body Integration Realm cultivator among the four clans, could lead them in retreat.

The Phoenix Four Clans stopped their advance at the Crimson-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Clan’s territory and prepared to withdraw, wary that the Black Devil Race might turn against them. Before Ming Qi could leave, Mu Guyue delivered her a jade slip, leaving her to wonder whether the Devil Race intended to break its agreement.

• The Phoenix Four Clans halted their assault at the edge of the Crimson-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Clan’s territory and reorganized while watching for hostile moves from the Black Devil Race.
• Ming Qi ordered the clans to withdraw toward the meeting point with the Great Supreme Elder and planned to contact the other clans.
• Mu Guyue arrived before Ming Qi, confirmed her identity, and handed her a jade slip sent from above.
• Ming Yu asked Ming Qi whether the Devil Race planned to go back on its word before Ming Qi had examined the jade slip.

Ming Qi received a jade slip from Li Yan asking her to find Zuo Qiudan and arrange for him to travel safely to the North Pasture Realm with the Undying Underworld Phoenix Clan. The clan’s retreat remained on course, while Elder Ming Lin recognized the secret plan’s connection to the Black Devil Race.

• Ming Qi, Ming Yu, and Elder Ming Lin reacted tensely when a Devil Emperor delivered a jade slip addressed to Ming Qi.
• Ming Qi heard Li Yan’s message asking her to locate Zuo Qiudan using clues from the Dustless Pill formula and help him join the journey to the North Pasture Realm.
• Ming Qi hid the jade slip’s contents from Ming Yu and Elder Ming Lin, then reassured them that it was unrelated to the clan’s retreat.
• Ming Yu understood that a senior had sent the message and accepted that Ming Qi would explain it to her later in private.
• Elder Ming Lin recalled the clan’s secret plan to turn against the Nine-Headed Green Phoenix Clan during the war and realized who had likely sent Ming Qi the jade slip.

Ming Qi and Ming Yu’s survival during the battle was secretly ensured by Li Yan, who had concealed himself and intervened when they faced mortal danger. As the Black Devil Race and the Red-Eyed Flame-Horned Beast Clan fought outside the city, a giant bull shadow appeared in the sky, signaling that the Tribulation Transcendence Realm battle had reached its conclusion.

• Two Void Refinement Realm cultivators connected Ming Qi’s movements to the Undying Underworld Phoenix Clan’s secret cooperation with the Black Devil Race and concluded that Ming Qi had completed the mission.
• Ming Qi flew to the Purple-Gold Jade Phoenix Clan after telling the two cultivators to put things in order.
• Li Yan revealed that he had secretly watched the battlefield and intervened to save Ming Qi and Ming Yu, especially when Ming Yu was near death.
• After the Phoenix Four Clans withdrew, the Black Devil Race attacked, and both sides’ armies continued fighting for three days outside the Red-Eyed Flame-Horned Beast Clan’s city.
• A supreme pressure descended, and a vast bull shadow appeared above the battlefield; the Red-Eyed Flame-Horned Beast Clan rejoiced while the Black Devil Race’s Great Devil Kings prepared to order a withdrawal.

The Red-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Race began retreating toward Blackflame City and the dead zone after its ancestors admitted defeat and ordered the survivors to flee. As the Black Devil Race renewed its assault, five Red-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Race elders and their chosen forces stayed behind to cover the retreat, launching a final counterattack.

• The Red-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Race's ancestor ordered its members to retreat while the ancestors held off the Black Devil Race for another quarter of an hour.
• A Black Devil Race Devil Venerable ordered a full attack on Blackflame City, and the armies resumed fighting as the Tribulation Transcendence Realm cultivators clashed above.
• Red-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Race Body Integration Realm cultivators secretly organized an orderly retreat and five elders volunteered to stay behind and cover it.
• A late-stage Body Integration Realm elder set the counterattack to begin in ten breaths, while another elder ordered Mu Han to hold the eastern front with his personal guard battalion.
• Mu Han and the other elders arranged for trusted units, including Meng Hong's Demon-Slaying Battalion, to remain behind as the rest withdrew.
• Across the battlefield, the Red-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Race launched a fierce counterattack to buy time for its clansmen to retreat.

The Scarlet-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Clan launched desperate counterattacks as it retreated, while Li Yan watched from hiding and reflected on his place among the warring clans. The Black Devil Race withdrew ten thousand li from Black Flame City after four Devil Venerables arrived to attack its protective formation, and Li Yan escaped with the army.

• The Scarlet-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Clan fought back with secret arts and self-detonations, forcing the Black Devil Race’s advance to falter as clansmen retreated.
• Some Scarlet-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Clan cultivators ignored their superiors and charged back to die beside their friends and relatives.
• The Scarlet-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Clan notified the Nine-Headed Green Phoenix Clan to retreat, while its leaders planned to use the allies as a shield against the Black Devil Race.
• Li Yan watched the battle from a hidden place on Black Flame City’s wall and considered how his former enemy had become the side he supported.
• Four Devil Venerables appeared above Black Flame City, and the Black Devil Race army retreated ten thousand li after receiving orders from the sky.
• Li Yan flew out with the Black Devil Race army and made three rapid moves during the retreat.

Li Yan protected Mu Sha and Mu Guyue from deadly counterattacks as the Black Devil Race attacked Black Flame City. The city fell after its formation was shattered, but the battle killed one Devil Venerable and severely wounded the three survivors; Li Yan then prepared to join the pursuit into Black Flame Mountain.

• Li Yan used the Phoenix Soaring movement technique to save Mu Sha and Mu Guyue from enemy cultivators attempting to detonate themselves and their magic treasure.
• Li Yan joined Mu Sha outside Black Flame City and sensed that three of the four Devil Venerables appeared depleted or injured.
• The Black Devil Race attacked Black Flame City's formation, while the Crimson-Eyed Flame-Horned Beast Clan prepared to retreat into Black Flame Mountain.
• The formation's destruction killed one Crimson-Eyed Flame-Horned Beast Clan ancestor, and another detonated himself and the formation's final power, killing one Devil Venerable and seriously injuring the other three.
• Mu Guyue told Li Yan that she had orders to enter Black Flame Mountain with the pursuit force, and Li Yan said he would join her.

Li Yan considered whether the Black Devil Race secretly possessed a Mahayana Realm expert, a hidden strength that could explain why it had risked a devastating war against the Scarlet-Eyed Flame-Horned Beast Race. He reached the military drill ground and appeared beside Mu Guyue and a group of Devil Emperors, leaving a patrol captain unsure why they welcomed a cultivator who was not of their race.

• Li Yan recalled Mu Guyue's rumor of stronger Black Devil Race experts and reasoned that one might have reached the Mahayana Realm through a rare, secret method.
• Li Yan concluded that the Black Devil Race might have anticipated the losses from its war and retained a hidden trump card to protect itself while its remaining Devil Venerables were weakened.
• Li Yan concealed himself as he traveled to the military drill ground, then revealed himself wearing his Grey Mask and Ger Yuan's token.
• A patrol squad spotted Li Yan and tried to raise an alarm, but he abruptly appeared beside Mu Guyue and several Devil Emperors.
• The patrol captain saw the Devil Emperors greet Li Yan without hostility and asked whether anyone knew him, since he did not seem to belong to their race.

Li Yan joined Mu Guyue’s squad as the Black Devil Race prepared to enter Black Flame Mountain and pursue the retreating Red-Eyed Flame-Horned Beast Clan. Despite Mu Guyue’s warning that the operation was dangerous, Li Yan insisted on going, and the squad set out after a nearby boom raised suspicions.

• Patrol squads and Great Devil Kings recognized that the Grey Mask was accepted by Mu Guyue’s forces, though many did not know who Li Yan was.
• Mu Guyue explained that Black Flame City had been evacuated and that enemy cultivators might ambush pursuers around Black Flame Mountain.
• Li Yan argued that the enemy must know the mountain better than the Black Devil Race and refused Mu Guyue’s request to stay behind.
• A thunderous boom sounded nearby, but the Great Devil Kings could not determine what had happened through their divine senses.
• A Great Devil King ordered Mu Guyue’s squad, including Li Yan, to set out toward Black Flame Mountain.

Li Yan and the Black Devil Race squads entered Black Flame Mountain to search for fleeing Red-Eyed Flame-Horn Beast Clan cultivators. After hearing the Great Devil King’s instructions on the mountain’s crushing gravity and the limits on flying and divine sense, Li Yan’s squad dispersed laterally to begin its search.

• Li Yan and the other Devil Emperors left the military drill ground and passed through Black Flame City’s gate toward Black Flame Mountain.
• At the valley entrance, Li Yan learned that the Devil Venerable had destroyed the array and that Great Devil Kings were guarding against a counterattack.
• Li Yan entered Black Flame Mountain and felt its gravity pull heavily on his body.
• The Great Devil King explained the mountain’s increasing gravity, the limits on travel and divine sense, and how the squads would spread out to search.
• Li Yan’s squad followed its Great Devil King laterally into the barren mountain terrain as the other squads dispersed.