Recaps

The old Demon King’s rage destroyed the great hall, and Zi Rong ordered Ye Xun to guard Xiao Tingyu until her wedding in three days. That night, Qiaoqiao sat awake beneath the corridor, where Wen Zhi joined her.

• Ye Xun and the Queen Dowager tried to calm the old Demon King as the tangled consorts sparked chaos on the dais.
• The snake consort cut the red-robed consort free, and both consorts fled while Qiaoqiao, Wen Zhi, and their Second Senior Sister escaped among the palace maids.
• The old Demon King unleashed a palm strike that reduced the hall to dust, then collapsed after the poison in his body took effect.
• The Queen Dowager’s hair fell out, Qiaoqiao and Ye Xun laughed at her, and Zi Rong slapped Ye Xun before ordering him to guard Xiao Tingyu until the wedding.
• Wen Zhi felt Xiao Tingyu gently press her fingers against her palm as the maids led her away.
• That night, Qiaoqiao sat awake beneath the corridor until Wen Zhi came to sit beside her.

Wen Zhi told Qiaoqiao that Xiao Tingyu seemed to be controlled by a formation, but she believed her senior sister could recover and left to research how to break it. After talking with Tu San about their masters, Qiaoqiao dreamed of the mysterious divine sword again and escaped the darkness with her protective sword intent, waking on a rainy hilltop.

• Wen Zhi told Qiaoqiao that Xiao Tingyu seemed controlled by a formation, but a signal from Xiao Tingyu had given her hope that she could recover.
• Wen Zhi left to research how to break the formation and warned Qiaoqiao to rest before their coming battle.
• Tu San joined Qiaoqiao beneath the stars and said he missed Zi Yu, then spoke about how much he loved his master.
• Qiaoqiao fell asleep and met the divine sword again, but it refused to reveal where it was and its light went out.
• Qiaoqiao used her sword intent to break through the dream's darkness and woke on a hilltop in the autumn rain.

Qiaoqiao and Wen Zhi joined the Demon King's wedding procession to reach Xiao Tingyu, who had been confined by the Queen Dowager. The procession began circling the royal capital, leaving Qiaoqiao's plan ready to unfold.

• Rumors about the destruction of the royal hall spread through the Demon Realm, angering the Queen Dowager.
• The Queen Dowager kept Xiao Tingyu confined, and palace guards prevented Qiaoqiao and Wen Zhi from visiting her.
• Qiaoqiao and Wen Zhi disguised themselves among the palace maids accompanying the wedding procession.
• The Demon King’s wedding carriages paraded through the capital with the Fox King and Xiao Tingyu in front, followed by the Queen Dowager and her snake demon consort.

As the Fox King’s wedding procession reached the city gates, Wen Zhi prepared for the Xiao Household elders to rescue Xiao Tingyu, aware that their earlier failure had led to the household’s ruin. The Xiao Household’s extravagant dowry convoy arrived, and its six disguised elders greeted Xiao Tingyu, who remained numb and unresponsive.

• Ye Xun rode through the demon city with Xiao Tingyu, expecting the Xiao Household’s dowry to enrich him and refusing to let her father visit before the wedding.
• Wen Zhi recalled that the Xiao Household elders planned to rescue Xiao Tingyu and that, in Qiaoqiao’s dream, Xiao Tingyu’s refusal had led to their deaths and the Xiao Household’s decline.
• The city gates opened to reveal twenty carriages carrying a billion Spirit Stones and more than a thousand Law Artifacts, overshadowing Ye Xun’s wedding procession.
• Ye Xun accused Xiao Tingyu’s father of trying to embarrass him, but Xiao Tingyu sat silently and blankly.
• Six Xiao Household guards dismounted, greeted Xiao Tingyu as the Eldest Young Lady, and received only a faint response.

Xiao Tingyu broke free of Ye Xun’s control during their wedding procession and publicly declared that she was unwilling to marry him. With the Xiao Household elders and her junior sisters intervening, she escaped the carriage, while the fight with Ye Xun continued.

• A Xiao Household elder asked whether Xiao Tingyu was marrying Ye Xun willingly, and Wen Zhi’s voice urged her to refuse.
• Xiao Tingyu laughed, stood up, slapped Ye Xun, and announced that she was not willing to marry him.
• The Xiao Household elders revealed themselves and fought the Demon Realm guards as Xiao Tingyu tried to escape Ye Xun’s grasp.
• Xiao Tingyu explained that her formation expertise and a Pure Sage Pearl had helped her resist the Soul-Seizing Formation, while Wen Zhi’s pill had restored her fully.
• Ye Xun attacked Xiao Tingyu, but Qiaoqiao intervened with the Remnant Snow Sword, allowing Xiao Tingyu to break free and leap into Wen Zhi’s arms.
• The Fox King attacked Qiaoqiao, but another sword strike carrying Dragon Qi blasted him back.

Fu Fengyuan, Tu San, and the Xiao Household elders helped Xiao Tingyu and her companions fight their way through the demons, until Bai Fu arrived and turned the battle against Zi Rong. With Qiaoqiao directing the elders to attack Ye Xun, they severed all nine of the Fox King's tails, which Qiaoqiao discovered were fake.

• Fu Fengyuan and Tu San intervened to protect Xiao Tingyu, Qiaoqiao, and the other women as demons swarmed them.
• Zi Rong transformed into a giant nine-tailed fox and overwhelmed the Xiao Household elders, but Qiaoqiao told Xiao Tingyu they had a secret weapon.
• Bai Fu arrived and drove Zi Rong back with his sword, reversing the battle and forcing the demons to keep their distance.
• Qiaoqiao urged the Xiao Household elders to target Ye Xun, and they rushed to attack him while he fought Fu Fengyuan.
• The six elders cut off all nine of Ye Xun's tails, and Qiaoqiao picked up one and declared that the tails were fake.

Xiao Tingyu rejected Ye Xun after his false nine-tailed identity was exposed, and the demons tore him apart. As Bai Fu defeated Zi Rong, Zi Yu stepped forward to reveal the truth behind the unrest on Demon Moon Mountain.

• The demons discovered that three of Ye Xun's nine tails were fake and turned against him when they realized he was only a six-tailed fox.
• Ye Xun begged Xiao Tingyu to save him and blamed Zi Rong, but Xiao Tingyu rejected him and kicked him into the crowd, where the demons killed him.
• The Fox King's statue collapsed, and Xiao Tingyu felt her long-held resentment finally clear.
• Bai Fu struck Zi Rong down, leaving her injured and exposed in her aged human form, while the purple fox clan stayed to protect her.
• Zi Yu removed her veil and announced that she would expose the truth behind the unrest on Demon Moon Mountain.

Zi Yu exposed Zi Rong as an impostor who had murdered the former Purple Fox clan leader and stolen her skin. She revealed that she was a thousand-year-old purple lingzhi who had waited for a chance to avenge the old clan leader, and the chapter ended with her thanking Qiaoqiao and her companions for helping create that opportunity.

• Zi Yu explained that the unrest on Demon Moon Mountain had been Zi Rong’s attempt to purge fox elders who opposed her, not a trap for the Fox King.
• Zi Yu cut open Zi Rong’s face and stripped away the demon skin that concealed her true, weak form.
• Zi Yu revealed that the skin belonged to the former clan leader, whom Zi Rong had killed and flayed, and pointed to the old wound that proved her accusation.
• Zi Yu told the demons she was a thousand-year-old purple lingzhi who had gained fox form from the old clan leader’s blood and Demon Power.
• Zi Yu recounted how events led her to follow Qiaoqiao and her companions to the royal capital, where she could expose Zi Rong and avenge the old clan leader.

Zi Yu offered the fox clan the old clan leader’s demon core, and the foxes asked her to lead them. Before she could answer, the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda collapsed, while the snake consort killed Zi Rong and the earthworm consort revealed he had used the Xiao Household’s Shatter the Myriad Realms to free the demons sealed inside.

• Zi Yu gave the fox clan the demon core containing nearly half the old clan leader’s Demon Power, and the foxes asked her to become their leader.
• The Demon-Suppressing Pagoda collapsed, and two masses of shadow rose as demons surged toward it.
• Bai Fu took Qiaoqiao and the disciples to the pagoda, while the snake consort strangled Zi Rong in the pit.
• Qiaoqiao and her companions arrived at the pagoda and saw the earthworm consort holding Shatter the Myriad Realms as two great demons rose into the air.
• An elder of the Xiao Household recognized the artifact, which the earthworm consort had used to break the pagoda’s seal.

Qiaoqiao talked Qiongqi and Hundun out of attacking the Human Realm by warning that the Devil Race threatened the Demon Realm and explaining that conquering the Devil Realm could expand demon territory. The demons considered her claims as Qiongqi weighed what to do.

• A great demon swallowed Earthworm Consort, and the chapter revealed that it and another great demon had eaten nearly all the demons imprisoned in the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda.
• Qiongqi and Hundun emerged as ancient demon lords, and Qiongqi announced its intention to sweep through the Human Realm while Hundun complained that it was hungry.
• Qiaoqiao stopped Bai Fu from attacking and questioned Qiongqi about ruling the three realms, then warned that the Devil Race posed the greater threat.
• Qiaoqiao pointed to traces of Devil Race activity near the Demon Realm, and Hundun confirmed that Devil Qi remained there.
• Qiaoqiao explained that Devil Qi could devour Yao Qi and that conquering the Devil Realm could create new demon territory, unlike conquering the Human Realm.

Qiaoqiao persuaded Qiongqi and Hundun to leave and attack the Devil Realm, defusing the immediate crisis at the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda. When Commandant Feng and Protector Cheng accused her and her companions of treason and attacked her, an unseen sword strike pierced both men.

• Qiaoqiao explained that conquering the Devil Realm would benefit Qiongqi, and Hundun agreed with her reasoning.
• Qiongqi rushed off toward the Devil Realm to expand its territory, with Hundun following, and the Yao Qi around the ruins dispersed.
• Commandant Feng and Protector Cheng arrived with sect elders and accused Qiaoqiao and the Flowing Cloud Sect of conspiring with demons.
• Qiaoqiao challenged Commandant Feng and Protector Cheng about their confinement, while Xiao Tingyu, Tu San, and some demons defended her.
• Commandant Feng and Protector Cheng attacked Qiaoqiao, but a flash of sword light pierced both men's chests and shattered their meridians.

After Bai Fu killed Protector Cheng and Commandant Feng with slaughter sword intent, the western Divine Pillar began to hum and sway. Qiaoqiao heard a voice calling her to come find it as the earth shook, leaving humans and demons staring in fear at the pillar’s movement.

• Protector Cheng and Commandant Feng died instantly from a sword strike, and the accompanying elders realized they could not identify the attacker.
• The elders recognized the strike as slaughter sword intent, while the disciples of Ethereal Peak realized Bai Fu had used it and feared what it meant for him.
• Xiao Tingyu saw the words “[Qiaoqiao, Darkening Value 75]” above Qiaoqiao, who clutched her head as a voice from the Divine Pillar called to her.
• The western Divine Pillar hummed, drawing the attention of humans and demons as cultivators argued over whether it could collapse.
• The earth shook, and the western Divine Pillar visibly swayed and hummed louder, leaving the crowd stunned and frightened.

The Divine Pillar collapsed, revealing a divine sword that flew into Qiaoqiao’s arms and made her its master. Qiaoqiao formed her Nascent Soul, but after her cultivation surged, she fainted in Bai Fu’s arms as humans and demons surrounded them.

• Cracks spread across the Divine Pillar, and humans and demons fled as fierce winds and lightning swept the land.
• The Divine Pillar collapsed, revealing a golden divine sword that Qiaoqiao caught in her arms.
• The divine sword returned to Qiaoqiao, and she formed her Nascent Soul as her cultivation soared.
• Qiaoqiao sheathed the sword and impressed Xiao Tingyu with her newfound power, then fainted from the rapid cultivation rise.
• Bai Fu caught Qiaoqiao, and Xiao Tingyu noticed that humans and demons had surrounded them, staring at Qiaoqiao.

After Qiaoqiao caught the divine sword, a mysterious formation transported Ethereal Peak and the Xiao Household elders underground beneath the Divine Pillar. As they searched for a way out, they discovered an ancient mural about the goddess, the Demon God, and the collapse of the pillar, but sword energy destroyed the mural before they could see the rest.

• A blue formation swallowed Xiao Tingyu, Qiaoqiao, Bai Fu, and the others as a crowd rushed to seize Qiaoqiao's divine sword.
• Xiao Tingyu woke in an underground cave, where Qiaoqiao rested in Bai Fu's arms and the Xiao Household elders determined they were beneath the Divine Pillar.
• Qiaoqiao checked Bai Fu with the Zhaowu Mirror and saw black Qi nearly engulfing him.
• The group found a mural showing a goddess defeating the Demon God, the Divine Pillar collapsing, and the Demon God later returning to rampage through the Three Realms.
• Sword Qi struck the stone wall and shattered the remaining mural before the group could learn more.

After escaping the underground passage, Qiaoqiao and the others learned that the Cultivation World believed she was the goddess reincarnated and was searching for her. In Youzhou City, news of the Xiao Household’s eldest young lady becoming the Fox King’s Demon Queen had already stirred concern.

• Bai Fu destroyed the mural before it could reveal how the goddess had repaired the Divine Pillar, and the group wondered whether the Demon God had survived.
• The group followed a light through the passage and emerged in the Human Realm, where A-Qi and A Xue were arguing over who should hatch A-Qi’s egg.
• A-Qi and A Xue reunited with Qiaoqiao and told the group they were ten li from Youzhou City.
• A-Qi said rumors identified Qiaoqiao as the divine sword’s master and the goddess reincarnated, and that cultivators across the Cultivation World were searching for her.
• The chapter recounted how Youzhou City had learned that the Xiao Household’s eldest young lady was to become the Fox King’s Demon Queen, prompting locals to worry about the Xiao Household’s ties to the Demon Realm.

After the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda and Divine Pillar collapsed, Qiaoqiao took the divine sword and was declared by rumor to be the divine maiden. As the realms fell into turmoil and cultivators demanded that she save them, Qiaoqiao insisted she was the Heavenly Dao's emissary and prepared to return to the Flowing Cloud Sect.

• The Demon-Suppressing Pagoda collapsed during the wedding, then the Divine Pillar fell and revealed a divine sword that Qiaoqiao took before she and her companions escaped by teleportation array.
• Cultivators learned that the wedding had failed, the Fox King was dead, the Demon Realm had a new ruler, and a great demon had invaded the Devil Realm.
• The Jade Slip Forum linked Qiaoqiao's divine sword to the prophecy of the divine maiden and demanded that the Flowing Cloud Sect explain itself or hand over the sword.
• Xiao Tingyu worried about the strange “Darkening Value” text that had appeared above Qiaoqiao, but Qiaoqiao said she felt fine and called herself the Heavenly Dao's emissary.
• Bai Fu led the group back toward the Flowing Cloud Sect, while A Xue picked up A-Qi's egg and offered to carry Qiaoqiao home.

The Xiao Household brought Qiaoqiao back to the Flowing Cloud Sect, where rival sects gathered outside demanding answers about her. Welcomed by her fellow disciples, Qiaoqiao admitted she had obtained the divine sword, while Ning Shuang worried about rumors that she was the divine maiden’s reincarnation and refused to let her face the Demon God alone.

• The Xiao Household elders used a heaven-tier jade flying shuttle to return to the Flowing Cloud Sect with Qiaoqiao and brought Spirit Stones and Law Artifacts as thanks for her companions’ help.
• More than a hundred cultivators from rival sects gathered outside the Flowing Cloud Sect, demanding that Qiaoqiao explain herself, but Mu Liuyun kept them beyond the reinforced formation.
• The disciples welcomed Qiaoqiao back to Ethereal Peak, where Yue Tingxi had reached Golden Core and Qiaoqiao and the young sect master appeared to have reached Nascent Soul or higher.
• Yue Tingxi asked whether Qiaoqiao had obtained the divine sword, and she openly confirmed it; he promised to protect her, but she reminded him that she was his senior sister.
• Ning Shuang congratulated Qiaoqiao on taking first place in the sect competition and resolved that she would not let Qiaoqiao confront the Demon God alone.

The Flowing Cloud Sect elders vowed to protect Qiaoqiao from being forced to fight the Demon God, while Wen Zhi learned that Qiaoqiao was not the divine maiden destined to be imprisoned in the Divine Pillar. A Xue then reported Song Wuya’s planned ritual and a possible early failure of the Glazed Sea seal, leaving the Demon God’s emergence in question.

• Mu Liuyun and the Flowing Cloud Sect elders arrived and declared that they would protect Qiaoqiao rather than let her be forced to fight the Demon God.
• The elders tried to recruit Qiaoqiao, but Immortal Venerable Wanghan’s sword intent made them back down, and Fu Fengyuan led them away.
• At Plucked Pear Courtyard, Wen Zhi asked Qiaoqiao about the mural, and Qiaoqiao confirmed she was not the divine maiden but a messenger of justice.
• Wen Zhi cried as she realized the Divine Pillar could be repaired by imprisoning the divine maiden inside it and filling it with her flesh.
• A Xue told Qiaoqiao that Song Wuya would perform a heaven-praying ritual and that Devil Qi had erupted above the Glazed Sea, threatening its seal.

Qiaoqiao entered an illusion in which the Cultivation World surrounded Ethereal Peak and demanded that Bai Fu surrender her as a sacrifice to repair the Heavenly Pillar. Bai Fu protected her with the Protective Sword Formation and confessed that he liked her, leaving Qiaoqiao to insist that he had done nothing wrong.

• Qiaoqiao recognized that the people surrounding Ethereal Peak included many who had died, and realized the illusion showed her loved ones meeting tragic ends.
• The cultivators demanded that Bai Fu hand Qiaoqiao over, while the Protective Sword Formation kept them from entering Ethereal Peak.
• Qiaoqiao asked Bai Fu why he refused to let them take her, and he said his sword Dao existed to protect those he cared about.
• Bai Fu told Qiaoqiao that he liked her and led her toward Falling Plum Hall.
• Bai Fu admitted that developing feelings for his disciple was a fault, but Qiaoqiao replied that neither he nor his feelings violated the sect rules.

Qiaoqiao and Bai Fu spent their remaining days together on Ethereal Peak after the silver sword formation appeared, growing closer as they passed the time. The chapter left them sharing a meal of wild amaranth that Bai Fu had cooked for her.

• Bai Fu asked Qiaoqiao to stop thinking of him as her master until the sword formation disappeared, and she began calling him by his name.
• Qiaoqiao grieved at her senior brother's and senior sister's graves, while Bai Fu invited her to practice swordsmanship with him.
• Qiaoqiao demonstrated her sword skill in the plum grove, then accidentally kissed Bai Fu when she tried to decorate him with a plum petal.
• Qiaoqiao and Bai Fu settled into daily routines together, brewing plum wine, making tea, and spending time in the grove.
• Qiaoqiao said she wanted to eat amaranth, so she and Bai Fu searched Ethereal Peak, found some, and Bai Fu cooked several dishes for her.
• After eating three bowls, Qiaoqiao asked Bai Fu to cook for her every day.

Qiaoqiao mocked the cultivators demanding that she sacrifice herself to repair the Divine Pillars, while Bai Fu continued protecting her despite his declining strength. After they returned to Falling Plum Hall for dinner, Bai Fu’s worsening condition showed as he sat beneath the moon and suppressed a painful cough.

• Qiaoqiao realized the Protective Sword Formation was draining Bai Fu’s true spirit and lifespan, leaving him no chance to recover while the cultivators surrounded them.
• Qiaoqiao challenged the gathered cultivators for refusing to fight the Demon God and questioned why she had to die to repair the Divine Pillars.
• Song Wuya confronted Qiaoqiao, but Bai Fu’s sword formation injured cultivators who charged at her and sent the crowd retreating.
• Bai Fu took Qiaoqiao back to Falling Plum Hall, where they ate clay-pot tofu together.
• Bai Fu sat in the courtyard to admire the moon, coughed, and hid his pain as Qiaoqiao approached and covered his eyes.

Bai Fu’s sword formation held off the cultivators for forty-nine days, but vanished at dawn as he weakened and his hair turned white. He transferred a protective silver light to Qiaoqiao and promised her wishes would come true before she lost consciousness and awoke in a dark space filled with resentment Qi.

• Qiaoqiao showed Bai Fu a jade comb from the cave treasury, and he told her it had belonged to his grandmaster and asked her to comb his hair.
• Bai Fu coughed blood before asking Qiaoqiao whether she liked their peaceful days, but he left his question about whether she liked him unspoken.
• After forty-nine days, Bai Fu’s Protective Sword Formation disappeared, and Peak Master Yue, Commandant Nangong, Commandant Feng, Elder Bing, and their followers rushed up Ethereal Peak.
• Nangong Gua demanded the divine maiden, and Bai Fu shielded Qiaoqiao as she said she wished to save her senior brothers and sisters and restore Ethereal Peak.
• Bai Fu transferred silver light into Qiaoqiao, kissed her forehead, and told her that her wishes would come true before she lost consciousness.
• Qiaoqiao awoke in a pitch-black, bitterly cold space where resentment Qi began to coil around her.

Qiaoqiao learned that her dreams were memories of her past life and that she had been imprisoned inside the Central Divine Pillar after dying. The Divine Sword explained the Pillars’ role in holding up the three realms, but its revelations left Qiaoqiao facing the truth of her death and the source of the resentment surrounding her.

• Qiaoqiao recognized the dark space as the inside of the Divine Pillar, where the Divine Sword’s light drove back the resentment.
• The Divine Sword told Qiaoqiao that her dreams were memories of her past life, including what she had seen on Ethereal Peak.
• The Divine Sword revealed that Qiaoqiao had been taken away and imprisoned inside the Divine Pillar until the three realms collapsed and time turned back.
• Qiaoqiao asked why heavenly fire had not fallen after the Four-Direction Divine Pillars collapsed, and the Divine Sword explained that a fifth, Central Divine Pillar supported the three realms.
• The Divine Sword said the resentment inside the pillar came from the Goddess’s obsession and revealed that Qiaoqiao’s corpse had been sealed there after she died.
• Qiaoqiao realized that she had died in her past life.

Qiaoqiao resisted the divine maiden’s resentment and learned that the Divine Sword had promised someone not to explain why time turned back. After waking, she learned Bai Fu had gone to stop Song Wuya’s ritual and rushed with A Xue to the Stargazing Platform, where a crowd awaited Song Wuya’s prayer to heaven.

• Qiaoqiao nearly let the divine maiden’s resentment consume her, but the Divine Sword urged her to stay calm.
• A Protective Sword Formation activated without Qiaoqiao’s call, and the Divine Sword refused to reveal who had caused time to turn back.
• Qiaoqiao woke in Wen Zhi’s arms after sleeping for six hours and learned that Bai Fu had gone to stop Song Wuya.
• Qiaoqiao ordered A Xue to fly her to the Stargazing Platform, and Xiao Tingyu followed with Wen Zhi and the fourth junior brother in a jade flying shuttle.
• Cultivators gathered at the Stargazing Platform, hoping Song Wuya’s ritual would reveal how to repair the collapsed Divine Pillars.

Qiaoqiao arrived at the Stargazing Platform as Immortal Venerable Wanghan killed Song Wuya after the pavilion master revealed part of a divine oracle. The crowd accused Wanghan of madness and questioned his motives, while Qiaoqiao arrived and was recognized as the divine maiden.

• Song Wuya began a divination ritual at the Stargazing Platform, promising an answer about the Divine Pillars, the divine maiden, and the Demon God.
• Qiaoqiao and A Xue rushed toward the platform, and Qiaoqiao rode the divine sword at full speed.
• A divine oracle descended onto Song Wuya and told him to find the Central Divine Pillar; he began to say the divine maiden must be used to save the three realms and kill the Demon God.
• Bai Fu, known as Immortal Venerable Wanghan, struck Song Wuya with sword intent, and Song Wuya died beneath a storm of attacks.
• Bai Fu’s killing intent wounded cultivators, who accused him of madness and suspected the Flowing Cloud Sect wanted to replace the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion.
• Qiaoqiao landed on the platform and shouted that the accusations were bullshit, and the cultivators recognized her as the divine maiden.