Chapter Summaries

Yan Feijun and his companions fought Wang Changkun and his five cultivators while Li Yan was away, and Yan Feijun lost his left hand to the Meteor Sand Beasts. As the battle turned against them and they worried about Li Yan, the four began retreating toward their hidden subsidiary killing formations.

• Wang Changkun sent his Meteor Sand Beasts at Yan Feijun, who lost his left hand after trying to strike one head-on.
• Bai Rou asked whether Yan Feijun could keep fighting, and he agreed to follow their plan rather than confront Wang Changkun alone.
• The battle split into two groups, with Yan Feijun and Sun Guoshu fighting five cultivators while Bai Rou and Hu Xiaowang faced Wang Changkun and the beasts.
• Bai Rou and her companions grew anxious about Li Yan as the fighting drained Hu Xiaowang and left Yan Feijun badly weakened.
• Sun Guoshu urged the group to use their formations, and the four quietly retreated toward the subsidiary killing formations.

Hu Xiaowang and Yan Feijun trapped Wang Changkun’s group in poison formations and killed everyone inside, including the three Death Sand Beasts. Li Yan returned safely and claimed that a nearby martial uncle had slain the two demonic cultivators pursuing him, leaving the others to wonder about the sect’s hidden support.

• Hu Xiaowang and Yan Feijun activated four subsidiary killing formations, separating Wang Changkun and the other foreign cultivators from the Wangliang Sect group.
• Wang Changkun and the Death Sand Beasts struggled against the poison, while the four foreign cultivators in the other formations fell silent.
• Hu Xiaowang and Yan Feijun dismantled the formations and confirmed that all five captives had died, leaving no bodies or belongings behind.
• Bai Rou urged the others to hurry toward Li Yan, but he appeared flying back alone before they could leave.
• Li Yan said a martial uncle had killed the two demonic cultivators pursuing him, and Yan Feijun suggested the sect had arranged backup for their mission.

Li Yan and the others hid near Zhouyang Town after surviving an encounter with foreign cultivators and their strange demon beasts. From their vantage point, they surveyed the demonic cultivator stronghold, and Hu Xiaowang pressed Li Yan to explain how they would find their targets.

• Li Yan warned the group not to rely on the possibility of a hidden Golden Core Realm protector, while Bai Rou believed Martial Uncle Wei had arranged secret protection.
• Hu Xiaowang explained that Yan Feijun had been wounded by Wang Changkun’s powerful spells and resilient Meteor Sand Beasts, and he and Yan Feijun regretted destroying the enemy’s Storage Pouches.
• Li Yan revealed that he had secretly watched Wang Changkun’s group die in the formation before returning to his companions, then urged everyone to leave before the third day began.
• Over the next two days, Li Yan and the others traveled cautiously and reached a hidden mountainside three li north of Zhouyang Town on the fifth evening.
• The group observed that Zhouyang Town held many demonic cultivators and no apparent mortals, while Hu Xiaowang demanded that Li Yan explain how they would locate their two insider targets.

Li Yan and the others watched Zhouyang Town for the two Luoshu Lake informants, but an unexpected buildup of Devil Race forces and repeated searches made their hiding place unsafe. After Bai Rou spotted one informant among a wounded Qingling Sect squad, the group decided they had to enter the crowded town to make contact.

• Li Yan explained that the informants had no fixed contact time, so the five companions divided the town into sections and watched the courtyards without using Divine Sense.
• As more Devil Race squads gathered in Zhouyang Town, Sun Guoshu judged that they were assembling for redeployment rather than hunting the group.
• Bai Rou spotted one supposed informant in a seven-person squad of wounded Qingling Sect cultivators, but the squad vanished into the crowded town before they could follow it.
• Hu Xiaowang and Yan Feijun urged the group to infiltrate the town and contact the informant, while warning squads searched near their illusion array.
• Li Yan agreed they could no longer stay hidden, but the group faced entering a town now crowded with at least two thousand cultivators.

As Divine Sense sweeps threatened to expose the group, Li Yan urged his companions to infiltrate Zhouyang Town that night and proposed disguising themselves as a Devil Race scouting squad. He revealed that he could imitate the devil cultivator Wuyuan and produce authentic devilish qi, but his companions mistook him for an enemy and attacked before he could explain.

• Li Yan warned that powerful Divine Senses were sealing off the area and said the group had to reach Zhouyang Town before their escape route became a battlefield.
• Hu Xiaowang asked how they could approach the town, and Li Yan proposed disguising the group as a Devil Race scouting squad.
• Bai Rou pointed out that they could not imitate devil cultivators' aura, while Hu Xiaowang and Yan Feijun doubted Li Yan's plan.
• Li Yan transformed into Wuyuan and radiated pure devilish qi, frightening the others into preparing to fight.
• Li Yan dispelled the devilish qi and reappeared on Cloud-Piercing Willow, explaining that an item in his hand was the key to producing it.

Li Yan used a devil core to disguise his aura and led Bai Rou, Hu Xiaowang, Yan Feijun, and Sun Guoshu toward Zhouyang Town. After blending in with returning squads, they faced questions from a devil cultivator inspecting their group, leaving Li Yan to maintain his cover.

• Li Yan explained that a devil core could release devilish qi and demonstrated how he used it to disguise himself.
• Li Yan advised the others to alter their appearances and pose as South Sea cultivators, then changed his own face to resemble the manor lord of Grieving Spirit Manor.
• Yan Feijun considered asking Li Yan for the devil core, but Hu Xiaowang stopped him from risking their mission.
• Li Yan activated the devil core and concealed his spiritual aura, convincing the others that his disguise was convincing.
• Li Yan led the group out past the patrols and flew with them to Zhouyang Town, where they joined the arriving cultivator squads.
• A devil cultivator questioned Li Yan about why only five had returned, and Li Yan claimed they had encountered a Golden Core cultivator before a Lord Devil appeared.

Li Yan and his companions entered Zhouyang Town by deceiving the devil cultivators guarding its gate, then split up to search for informants. Sun Guoshu found the informants’ location, and Li Yan prepared to gather the others and bring them back.

• Li Yan pretended to be a powerful devil cultivator, copied the order to report to the third area, and led Bai Rou and the others past the town inspection.
• After they escaped the guards’ attention, Li Yan assigned the five of them separate search areas and set the ruined altar as their meeting place.
• Li Yan searched his area for Luoshu Lake disciples but found none, then returned to the altar and met Sun Guoshu.
• Sun Guoshu told Li Yan that he had located the informant’s squad in a courtyard about two li away, where roughly forty people and four or five devil cultivators had gathered.
• Li Yan praised Sun Guoshu’s success and said they needed to find the others quickly and bring them back.

Li Yan and the others found the courtyard where the Luo Shu Lake disciple was staying and learned that they needed to obtain a restriction token from the leading demonic cultivator before rescuing the informants. Li Yan entered the courtyard under the pretense of seeking a place to rest, but the demonic cultivators refused to give his squad a room.

• Bai Rou and Sun Guoshu independently identified the target's courtyard, and the five gathered to share their intelligence.
• Li Yan explained that they needed the restriction token held by the leading demonic cultivator before they could take the two Luo Shu Lake disciples out of Zhouyang Town.
• The group investigated the courtyard and learned that four demonic cultivators were inside, while the presence of another leader remained uncertain.
• Li Yan led the others through the courtyard gate, pushed past the human cultivators on guard, and used his Divine Sense to locate the Luo Shu Lake disciple's room.
• Li Yan claimed his squad needed a temporary room, but the short, sturdy demonic cultivator said the courtyard was full and refused.

Li Yan used the demonic cultivators’ need to reorganize their teams to gain an opening to approach Jiao Hua, the Clear Spirit Sect leader he had been seeking. Jiao Hua agreed to combine their teams under Li Yan’s command, and the chapter ended as he called his injured subordinates out to meet them.

• Jiao Hua asked Li Yan whether he was looking to form a team, and Li Yan confirmed that he wanted to join forces with others.
• Jiao Hua and the other demonic cultivators described torturing captured human cultivators, angering Bai Rou and the others behind Li Yan.
• Li Yan deflected suspicion by criticizing both his own subordinates and the South Sea cultivators, then asked which people belonged to Jiao Hua.
• A sinister-faced demonic cultivator offered to combine his stronger team with Li Yan’s but insisted on being captain; Li Yan ignored him and asked Jiao Hua instead.
• Jiao Hua agreed that Li Yan should be captain, and Li Yan asked him to bring out his six subordinates so they could meet.

Li Yan negotiated with Jiao Hua over merging their squads after discovering that the six Clear Spirit Sect cultivators were badly weakened and controlled by restrictions. As Li Yan pressed for a larger share of battle spoils, he tried to confirm whether the devil cultivators intended to use his team as shields in the coming battle.

• Jiao Hua brought six Clear Spirit Sect disciples into the courtyard, including a Luo Shu Lake cultivator whose grief and hatred Li Yan noticed.
• Li Yan inspected the six disciples and realized that three were close to death after losing much of their essence blood and cultivation.
• Jiao Hua proposed that his six disciples merge with Li Yan's team, while carefully avoiding saying that Li Yan would command them.
• Li Yan feigned dissatisfaction with the weakened squad, prompting Jiao Hua to offer him a share of the spoils in exchange for cooperation.
• Li Yan demanded forty percent, and Jiao Hua countered with twenty percent while weighing the value of using Li Yan's people as shields.
• Li Yan continued bargaining to probe the purpose of the devil cultivators' gathering and the role his team would play in the coming battle.

Li Yan learned that the Devil Race was gathering for a battle that could begin as soon as the next day, then lured Jiao Hua into a private conversation by claiming he possessed a technique that enhanced human cultivators at the cost of their lifespans. He left Jiao Hua intrigued, with the restriction token and Li Yan’s true plan still undisclosed.

• Li Yan agreed to let Bai Rou and the other three get acquainted with Jiao Hua’s six cultivators while warning Jiao Hua that they would part ways if his squad proved ineffective.
• Li Yan told Bai Rou that he had the Luoshu Lake restriction token but no firm plan, and asked her group to learn the whereabouts of another target who might have died.
• Jiao Hua and the short, stout devil cultivator told Li Yan that summoned squads were gathering and that an attack could begin within a day, possibly targeting Windcool Mountain.
• Li Yan invited Jiao Hua to speak privately about making the human cultivators more useful, and Jiao Hua took him into a room.
• Li Yan claimed he had a secret technique that consumed lifespan to strengthen human cultivators, telling Jiao Hua it had let Bai Rou and the others fight at least twenty percent above their realms.

Li Yan tricked Jiao Hua into touching a poisoned jade slip, then subdued him and searched his Storage Pouch. He discovered crimson iron blocks containing soul essences bound to six captives, leaving their fate in his hands.

• Jiao Hua sealed the room and examined Li Yan’s jade slip, believing they would negotiate over the secret art.
• Li Yan revealed the jade slip was blank and used its poison to rob Jiao Hua of control over his spiritual power and Divine Sense.
• Li Yan forcibly broke through Jiao Hua’s Storage Pouch imprint, causing Jiao Hua severe pain, and found spirit stones, strange talismans, and a magic treasure.
• Li Yan inspected two crimson iron blocks and identified trapped soul essences belonging to six Qingling Sect disciples, including the Luoshu Lake disciple from the courtyard.
• Li Yan realized that destroying the blocks could free the captives, while shattering any one of the faces would kill its corresponding person.

Li Yan decided to keep the restriction tokens and the surviving Luoshu Lake disciple for the mission, then tortured Jiao Hua to learn the limits of his devil body. The chapter left Jiao Hua alive in unbearable agony while Li Yan dismissed the devil cultivator’s famed toughness.

• Li Yan chose not to break the crimson iron blocks, took Jiao Hua’s Storage Pouch and restriction tokens, and concluded that the other missing Luoshu Lake disciple had died.
• Li Yan told Jiao Hua he would test the methods used to torture Desolate Moon Continent cultivators and pierced Jiao Hua’s armor and body with one finger.
• Li Yan hooked Jiao Hua’s spine with his finger and snapped it, leaving Jiao Hua unable to use his final desperate counterattack.
• Li Yan repeatedly broke Jiao Hua’s spine and inflicted severe wounds while keeping him conscious, mocking his strength as only that of a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
• Li Yan washed the blood from his transformed arm and said he would forgo Jiao Hua’s devil core so Jiao Hua could continue suffering.

Li Yan secured the restriction tokens from Jiao Hua and learned that Yu Yuanjun was the only surviving target they sought. With demonic reinforcements possibly arriving by morning, the group prepared to extract Yu Yuanjun and escape Zhouyang Town that night.

• Li Yan left Jiao Hua poisoned and disabled, then returned to Bai Rou and the others with two restriction tokens bearing the faces of six people.
• Bai Rou confirmed that Yu Yuanjun was likely their living contact, while the other target had died six days earlier after Jiao Hua triggered his restriction token.
• Li Yan warned that demonic reinforcements might arrive by morning and urged the group to escape that night.
• Sun Guoshu proposed calling Yu Yuanjun over as a way to remove him without raising suspicion, and Li Yan approved the plan.
• Sun Guoshu went to Yu Yuanjun's room and called him over, while Yu Yuanjun privately despaired over the loss of his younger clansman and feared his Lineage had abandoned him.

Yu Yuanjun learned that Li Yan was rescuing him after confirming the Luo Shu Lake Lineage token and the restriction holding his essence soul. Li Yan refused to rescue the five other Qingling Sect disciples, and the group prepared to leave without exposing their plan.

• Yu Yuanjun hesitated to answer Sun Guoshu's summons, fearing the demonic cultivators were testing his connection to Luo Shu Lake, but went to Li Yan's room.
• Li Yan showed Yu Yuanjun the Lineage token, and Yu Yuanjun recognized the character "Yu" and the lake engraved on it.
• Li Yan revealed the restriction token containing Yu Yuanjun's essence soul, then explained why it had to remain hidden until they reached the rear.
• Yu Yuanjun asked Li Yan to rescue the five other Qingling Sect disciples, but Li Yan refused and warned him not to expose their whereabouts.
• Hu Xiaowang opened the door, and the group left the room with Yu Yuanjun following as Li Yan addressed Jiao Hua before they departed.

Li Yan led his group out of the courtyard after secretly killing Jiao Hua, then found the town entrance sealed to departures. After pretending to give up, Li Yan prepared to force their way out and gave Yu Yuanjun pills to swallow.

• Li Yan ordered Yu Yuanjun to lead the group away while the courtyard's cultivators mistakenly assumed Li Yan and Jiao Hua had merely quarreled.
• Li Yan and the others reached Zhouyang Town's entrance and learned from four guards that no one could leave.
• Li Yan pretended to accept the restrictions and led the group back down the street, easing the guards' suspicions.
• Li Yan quietly asked the group if they were ready, and Hu Xiaowang urged Yu Yuanjun to swallow the pills he had been given.
• Li Yan told Yu Yuanjun to swallow the pills if he wanted to survive.

Li Yan and his companions caused a poisonous, chaotic disturbance at Zhouyang Town’s entrance and used it to escape. They flew north on the Cloud-Piercing Willow, leaving Yu Yuanjun bewildered and captive as they put distance between themselves and the town.

• Li Yan’s group triggered explosions and poisonous smoke at the town entrance, making cultivators believe demon beasts were attacking.
• Li Yan seized the dazed Yu Yuanjun, forced the pill into his mouth, and carried him through the mist while the group shouted that enemies were attacking.
• Li Yan and his companions passed through the apparent demon-beast threat and emerged outside town, where no beasts were present.
• Li Yan summoned the Cloud-Piercing Willow, and the six escaped north without being stopped or pursued.
• Hu Xiaowang praised Li Yan’s plan, while Yu Yuanjun remained confused about their escape.
• The group’s earlier plan had relied on Hu Xiaowang and Yan Feijun secretly setting poisonous formations at the entrance while the others distracted and covered them.

Li Yan and his companions escaped Zhouyang Town using poison and illusion formations, but Golden Core devil cultivators soon discovered the attack and Teng Wuji pursued a suspicious squad. Li Yan noticed Teng Wuji heading directly toward them as they fled north.

• Hu Xiaowang and Yan Feijun set poison and illusion formations at the town entrance, allowing Li Yan's group to escape while killing six devil cultivators and injuring others.
• Li Yan's group disguised themselves as devil cultivators and flew north at a normal pace to avoid attracting attention.
• Teng Wuji and another Golden Core devil cultivator destroyed the formations, assessed the casualties, and ordered an investigation into the guards and perimeter watch.
• Teng Wuji spotted a suspicious squad heading north and pursued it while Wu handled the aftermath in Zhouyang Town.
• Li Yan sensed Teng Wuji leaving the town and realized the devil cultivator was flying straight toward their group.

Li Yan and his companions fled from the pursuing Golden Core Realm cultivator Teng Wuji, who used an immortal art to try to stop them. Li Yan resisted the spell and revealed his human identity, but Teng Wuji renewed his attack as the group remained in danger.

• Li Yan sensed a powerful pursuer, accelerated the Cloud-Piercing Willow, and changed course while Bai Rou and the others realized they were being chased.
• Two Fengliang Mountain squads found their route blocked by the Devil Race’s repeated Divine Sense scans and considered infiltrating between sweeps to reach Zhouyang Town.
• Teng Wuji concluded that Li Yan’s group was hiding something and ordered them to stop as he pursued them.
• Teng Wuji’s mind-affecting immortal art made Bai Rou and the others move to stop Li Yan, but Li Yan shouted to break its hold and kept the Cloud-Piercing Willow moving.
• Li Yan’s disguise began to fail, so he returned to his true appearance and put away the devil core he had used to disguise himself.
• Teng Wuji saw that Li Yan was human and threatened the group, while Li Yan endured the renewed pressure without stopping.

Li Yan and his companions fled from Teng Wuji, but his No Trace of the Demonic Shadow technique let him catch up despite the Cloud-Piercing Willow’s speed. With escape impossible, the group hid in a valley and prepared for a fight as Teng Wuji searched overhead.

• Teng Wuji’s demonic sound attack failed to overwhelm Li Yan and his companions, and he pursued them while trying to intercept them with Devil Race squads.
• Li Yan guided the Cloud-Piercing Willow around enemy squads and kept searching for allied forces while Hu Xiaowang recovered and thanked him for saving them.
• Teng Wuji used No Trace of the Demonic Shadow to close the distance, forcing Li Yan to tell the others to prepare to defend and wait for rescue.
• Li Yan and his companions descended into a valley and vanished from Teng Wuji’s view.
• Teng Wuji hovered above the valley and searched for them while six pairs of eyes watched him from below.