Chapter Summaries

Lu Feng and his team traveled to Severed Cloud Pass, where Guan Shanhai assigned them to guard the third entrance alongside Lu Shuang. They settled into a cramped camp before their first day on the defensive line.

• Su Ying gave Lu Feng a map of Severed Cloud Pass and warned him that someone might have helped the demonic beasts breach the Yongzhou defensive line.
• Lu Feng met his ten team members, led by Ji Qingqing, and followed Guan Shanhai toward Severed Cloud Pass.
• Lu Feng and the others reached the pass at dusk and were assigned a shared tent in the western camp.
• Guan Shanhai ordered the teams to reinforce the first defensive line and assigned Lu Feng and Lu Shuang to the third entrance.
• Lu Shuang told Lu Feng that they were competitors, then Lu Feng's team settled into their tent and Ji Qingqing offered him a cushion.

Lu Feng and Lu Shuang arrived at the third entrance and took charge of its defenses after hearing about the repeated demonic beast attacks. When a pack of nearly forty second-tier Silver Moon Wolves approached, Lu Feng told Lu Shuang he would deal with them himself.

• Lu Feng accepted Lin Amei’s pink cushion and rested with Ji Qingqing’s team through the night.
• Lu Feng and Lu Shuang’s teams reached the gorge, where Captain Zhao showed them the defensive positions and then led his wounded martial artists away.
• Lu Feng assigned sentries to the west side of the gorge while Lu Shuang’s team took positions on the east side.
• The White-Foreheaded Tiger King ordered the Golden-Winged Eagle to send second-tier Silver Moon Wolves to test the newcomers.
• Ji Qingqing reported that nearly forty wolves were approaching, and Lu Feng told Lu Shuang he would handle them.

Lu Feng defended the western canyon entrance alone, killing successive packs of second-tier Azure Wind Wolves while keeping his female soldiers out of combat. In the demon den, the White-Foreheaded Tiger Demon ordered an attack on the fourth entrance for the morning after tomorrow and continued sending lesser demons to wear down the humans.

• Lu Feng killed the first pack of Azure Wind Wolves alone, took first place with 390 points, and ordered Ji Qingqing to collect their essence blood while leaving the corpses at the entrance.
• Ji Qingqing returned with bottles of essence blood, and Lu Feng told her and the others to rest because the night might be dangerous.
• The Golden-Winged Eagle reported that Lu Feng had killed every wolf at the third entrance while other entrances were locked in bloody battles.
• The White-Foreheaded Tiger Demon ordered the Scarlet Flame Tiger to tell the other entrances to attack the fourth entrance together the morning after tomorrow.
• The White-Foreheaded Tiger Demon directed the Golden-Winged Eagle to keep sending lesser demons to the third entrance to exhaust the defenders.
• Another pack of second-tier wolf demons entered the corpse-filled canyon, and Lu Feng charged in to kill them.

Lu Feng defended Severed Cloud Pass against repeated waves of second-tier wolf demons, rapidly earning points while Ji Qingqing's team collected their essence blood. As more wolves attacked through the night, Lu Feng continued fighting without showing fatigue, while Lu Shuang watched and wondered about his strength.

• Lu Feng slaughtered five daytime waves of wolf demons, bringing his token to two thousand points and first place.
• Two Hua Jin martial artists visited the canyon, checked on the attacks, and promised to bring news from the other entrances the next morning.
• Lu Feng and Lu Shuang discussed why the demonic beasts were sending wave after wave, and Lu Feng went out to meet a larger nighttime attack.
• Lu Feng killed the seventy or eighty wolf demons, then told Ji Qingqing to keep her team on a proper rest rotation.
• Three more waves of wolf demons attacked during the night, and Lu Feng killed them all without circulating his True Essence or showing signs of fatigue.

Lu Feng and Lu Shuang learned that the demonic beasts’ coordinated attacks were likely a test prompted by a high-ranking informant, while Lu Feng explained that he had hidden his strength by fighting without True Essence. At Starfall Plain, Su Ying destroyed a horde of demonic beasts with her Lightning Control Technique and escorted her subordinates back to the defensive line.

• Two scouts reported that every other entrance had suffered casualties and that all the previous night’s attackers had been second-tier wolf demons.
• Lu Feng told Lu Shuang that the beasts’ behavior suggested someone had leaked the reinforcements’ plans, and Lu Shuang questioned why he had not concealed his strength.
• Lu Feng said he had fought using only physical strength, and Lu Shuang explained that forcibly activating a spirit weapon required burning essence blood.
• A horde of several hundred demonic beasts advanced on the first defensive pit at Starfall Plain, where Su Ying and Shen Qingwu were stationed.
• Su Ying flew out to meet the horde and killed the beasts with her Lightning Control Technique before her guards reached the battlefield.
• Su Ying’s subordinates collected the essence blood, and she protected them as they returned to the defensive line.

Su Ying edged close to Shen Qingwu’s score but worried about Lu Feng’s battle at Severed Cloud Pass. At a strategy meeting, Wu Qingfeng proposed using the fourth-tier White-Foreheaded Tiger outside the pass to provoke its emperor, but his plan to sacrifice the pass drew objections.

• Shen Qingwu showed Su Ying that she had 2,048 points, eight more than Su Ying, while Su Ying worried about Lu Feng and the battle at Severed Cloud Pass.
• Qin Bailian and Song Xuanji warned that defending passively risked heavy losses, and Song Xuanji used a map to explain the importance of Severed Cloud Pass and Fallen Star Plain.
• Song Xuanji proposed sending Zhao Changgeng, secretly a Great Grandmaster, to launch a surprise attack on territory held by the demonic beasts.
• Qin Bailian cautioned that the sixth-tier White-Foreheaded Tiger Emperor would require two or three Celestial Person Realm experts to suppress and that a captured stronghold could not be held.
• Wu Qingfeng proposed luring out and killing the tiger emperor’s fourth-tier son at Severed Cloud Pass, even if the pass had to be breached to do so.
• Xiao Tianqi objected that sacrificing Severed Cloud Pass to kill one fourth-tier demonic beast was not worth the cost.

Wu Qingfeng proposed using the White-Foreheaded Tiger Emperor’s departure to seize Yangshang Town and cut off the demonic beasts’ route into Yongzhou, while ordering the reinforcements at Severed Cloud Pass to withdraw if it fell. After Xiao Tianqi sent Lu Feng a warning to stay alive, Lu Feng inferred that the higher-ups had another plan and resolved to retreat if the defenses collapsed.

• Wu Qingfeng explained that killing the fourth-tier White-Foreheaded Tiger would draw the White-Foreheaded Tiger Emperor away and create an opening to capture Yangshang Town.
• Lu Qingshan recognized that holding Yangshang Town would block the demonic beasts’ only broad southern route into Yongzhou.
• Xiao Tianqi questioned the cost to the defenders and civilians at Severed Cloud Pass, and Wu Qingfeng promised to withdraw the reinforcing disciples if the pass was breached.
• Wu Qingfeng said two fifth-tier demon lords guarded the White-Foreheaded Tiger, so the group agreed to wait for it to come to them and finalized their plans.
• Xiao Tianqi sent Su Ying and Lu Feng messages, and Lu Feng received the warning, “Staying alive comes first.”
• Lu Feng studied the defensive map, suspected the higher-ups had a separate plan, and decided he would not remain at his post if the second defensive line fell.

Lu Feng stayed behind at Severed Cloud Pass while Lu Shuang led a team outside to hunt demonic beasts for doubled points. After she returned with most of her team badly wounded, she revealed they had encountered more than a thousand beasts, while the White-Foreheaded Tiger Demon ordered an attack on the pass to begin earlier.

• Scout martial artists told Lu Shuang that the Lord Director had ordered teams to hunt demonic beasts outside Severed Cloud Pass for doubled points.
• Lu Feng chose to guard the canyon while Lu Shuang led her team outside the pass the next morning.
• Lu Feng defended against a pack of wolf demons and saw that he had fallen to second place in the points rankings.
• The White-Foreheaded Tiger Demon learned that humans were hunting outside the pass and ordered an attack on the fourth entrance at three quarters past midnight.
• Lu Shuang returned with six badly wounded team members and told Lu Feng that her group had encountered over a thousand demonic beasts outside the pass.

After learning that the fourth entrance was under attack, Lu Feng and Lu Shuang split up to reinforce it by different routes while leaving the third entrance under Ji Qingqing’s watch. Lu Feng raced through the forest, unaware that a pack led by a fourth-tier Scarlet Flame Tiger was heading toward the third entrance.

• Lu Shuang told Lu Feng that she had killed most of more than a thousand demonic beasts, but four subordinates died closing an escape route.
• Lu Feng killed two smaller waves of demonic beasts while guarding the camp, then a scout reported that the fourth entrance was under heavy attack.
• Lu Shuang prepared to reinforce the fourth entrance, and Lu Feng persuaded her that the beasts might have concentrated their forces there.
• Lu Feng and Lu Shuang chose separate routes so that one could still reach the fourth entrance if the other was delayed.
• Lu Feng ordered Ji Qingqing and the remaining demon slayer to retreat to the second line of defense if the third entrance came under attack, then raced through the forest.
• A pack of demonic beasts led by a fourth-tier Scarlet Flame Tiger and a third-tier Black Wind Leopard moved toward the third entrance.

Lu Feng intercepted a demon horde heading for the third entrance and killed its leader, the Scarlet Flame Tiger. He continued cutting through the remaining demons, leaving the attack on the entrance disrupted.

• The Scarlet Flame Tiger told the Black Wind Leopard that they would feint at the fourth entrance and ambush the third while its defenders were distracted.
• Lu Feng spotted more than two thousand demons moving toward the third entrance and decided to stop them.
• The Black Wind Leopard surrounded Lu Feng with lesser demons and ordered them to capture him alive.
• Lu Feng killed the attacking demons with his Ink-Sunken Saber, then faced the Scarlet Flame Tiger and its forces.
• Lu Feng used Nine Extremes Heaven-Breaking Slash to split the Scarlet Flame Tiger in two.
• With their leader dead, the remaining demons faltered, and Lu Feng charged into the horde, cutting them down.

After killing the Scarlet Flame Tiger, Lu Feng left the fleeing demon beasts behind and hurried to the fourth entrance, where he found a massive beast horde and learned its leaders were trying to draw human reinforcements into a trap. He launched himself at the horde before its defenders could raise the alarm.

• Lu Feng collected the Scarlet Flame Tiger's demon core and essence blood, then headed for the fourth entrance with his True Essence restored along the way.
• Lu Feng hid in a tree, saw that the fourth entrance was still holding against more than ten thousand demon beasts, and confirmed that no fifth-tier Demon Lord was present.
• The Profound Water Crocodile explained that Third Brother intended to use low-tier beasts to lure human troops from other passes and weaken their defenses before a large assault.
• The Black Iron Bear admitted he did not understand the plan but agreed to follow the Profound Water Crocodile's orders.
• Lu Feng charged out of the forest toward the beast horde, and the fourth-tier Demon Kings sensed him before the guards could sound an alarm.

Lu Feng held the fourth entrance against a demonic beast horde, slaughtering its first wave and clashing with the Profound Water Crocodile. Inside the pass, Yu Wei and the few surviving members of his squad struggled to hold back the endless attackers as they waited for reinforcements.

• The fourth-tier Tiger King sent more than two hundred first- and second-tier demonic beasts to wear Lu Feng down, but Lu Feng killed them all in moments.
• Lu Feng blocked the entrance with the beasts’ corpses, and the Profound Water Crocodile attacked him to draw him away.
• Lu Feng matched the Profound Water Crocodile’s strength and endured its death roll without injury, while the Tiger King watched and the Black Iron Bear waited to join the fight.
• Inside the pass, Yu Wei and the Headquarters Demon-Slaying Bureau disciple surnamed Jin fought alongside four wounded survivors from their squad against the advancing horde.
• Yu Wei took a Jin Recovery Pill and kept fighting, uncertain whether he could hold out until reinforcements arrived.

Yu Wei and Jin held the fourth entrance against a demonic beast attack until the beasts dwindled and reinforcements arrived. Lu Shuang went outside to investigate and found Lu Feng alone, holding back an enormous horde at the pass entrance.

• Yu Wei and Jin defended the passage while their exhausted teammates recovered, and they noticed that the demonic beasts were arriving in smaller numbers.
• Lu Shuang arrived, learned that Lu Feng had not reached the pass, and went outside to investigate the sudden decline in the attack.
• Reinforcements from the second defensive line reached the pass, and their Late Grandmaster leader followed Lu Shuang outside with several skilled fighters.
• Lu Shuang cut down several beasts in the passage and found Lu Feng standing alone at the entrance, repeatedly striking down the horde with his Ink-Sunken Saber.

Lu Shuang arrived to help Lu Feng defend the pass and used a sword formation to slaughter the demonic beasts, while Lu Feng charged into the horde to keep killing. Reinforcements then emerged from the pass and began suppressing the beast tide.

• Lu Shuang joined Lu Feng outside the pass, learned that Yu Wei and Junior Brother Jin were safe, and prepared a sword formation.
• Lu Feng warned Lu Shuang that over a dozen fourth-tier demon kings were watching from a nearby slope and might attack if she exhausted her True Essence.
• The tiger king dismissed the sword formation as a threat to the demon kings, and Lu Shuang completed it, killing more than a thousand demonic beasts within its range.
• Lu Feng observed that the formation could not move and required Lu Shuang to keep supplying True Essence, so he charged beyond its range to attack the beast horde.
• Four Grandmasters and around a dozen Hua Jin martial artists emerged from the pass, and their arrival suppressed the demonic beasts' advance.

Lu Feng and Lu Shuang fought the demon kings and hordes after reinforcements arrived, with Lu Feng prioritizing weaker beasts and rescuing isolated Hua Jin martial artists. Another group of reinforcements arrived as Lu Feng suspected the demon kings were stalling for something.

• The Tiger King sent a Black Crane to tell the young master to make his move, then unleashed the demon kings against the humans.
• The Black Iron Bear and Profound Water Crocodile attacked Lu Feng, but he dodged them with Carefree Steps and Phantom Steps while killing lower-tier demonic beasts.
• Lu Shuang killed one fourth-tier demon king with her Frost Sword, but three others forced her onto the defensive.
• Lu Feng rescued a Hua Jin martial artist surrounded by third-tier beasts and urged him to rejoin the main group.
• Lu Feng noticed the demon kings were holding back from the pass and seemed to be wearing down their opponents while waiting for something.
• Another group of reinforcements arrived about half an hour later.

Lu Feng used Nine Extremes Heaven-Breaking Slash to kill a fourth-tier Dark Water Python in one strike, frightening the other demon kings into fleeing toward the other Grandmasters. As the humans came under greater pressure, they began converging on Lu Feng, who remained the demon kings’ target.

• Jiang Han, Lin Jingfeng, and four Hua Jin martial artists joined the fight as more than a dozen fourth-tier demon kings attacked the human Grandmasters together.
• A Hua Jin martial artist was killed by a leopard demon, and the Demon-Slaying Bureau’s morale faltered.
• Lu Feng unleashed Nine Extremes Heaven-Breaking Slash, crushing nearby lesser demon beasts with its force and killing the Dark Water Python with one saber strike.
• The Black Iron Bear and Profound Water Crocodile fled Lu Feng and attacked other Grandmasters, while Lu Shuang realized Lu Feng had hidden more of his strength than she had believed.
• Lu Feng continued killing low-tier demon beasts as the demon kings overwhelmed the other Grandmasters, and one Grandmaster fell after being struck in the chest.
• The demon kings avoided Lu Feng and pursued the fleeing Grandmasters; the humans recognized the demons feared him and began converging on his position.

Lu Feng called for the human forces to retreat behind the pass while he and Jiang Han held off the demon kings. After Lu Feng killed an Iron-Arm Ape but was struck by three demon kings, Lu Shuang and Jiang Han helped him withdraw into the passage.

• Lu Feng urged the Grandmasters and Hua Jin martial artists to retreat behind the pass as the prolonged battle drained their strength.
• Lu Shuang set up a sword formation to cover the retreat, while Lu Feng and Jiang Han held back the charging demon kings.
• The Profound Water Crocodile organized the demon kings into groups of four to attack Lu Feng’s three phantoms at once.
• Lu Feng killed a wounded Iron-Arm Ape with a thrust to its throat, but three demon kings struck him and injured his internal organs.
• Lu Shuang and Jiang Han helped Lu Feng retreat into the passage as Lin Jingfeng called for everyone to withdraw.

The demon beasts captured a wounded human Grandmaster and blockaded the Fourth Entrance pass instead of pursuing Lu Feng’s group. After realizing the blockade was meant to prevent reinforcements from reaching other passes, Lu Shuang rejected the suggestion that everyone split up and return to their own defenses.

• The fourth-tier Tiger King ordered the demon beasts to guard the cave entrance, and they found a living human Grandmaster among the dead.
• The Tiger King ordered the Black Iron Bear to nurse the Grandmaster back to health, while the other demon kings treated him as essential to their survival.
• Lu Feng’s group retreated into the Fourth Entrance pass, where Lu Shuang checked on Lu Feng and the others tended their injuries.
• Lu Feng suspected the demon beasts had drawn them away to attack another pass, but Jiang Han discovered that the beasts remained outside and were blockading the entrance.
• Lu Shuang rejected the suggestion that everyone return separately to their own passes, and the group looked to Lu Feng for another plan.

Lu Feng and Lu Shuang explained why the defenders should regroup at the second line, but Xiao Tianqi’s message revealed that it had already fallen. Lu Feng realized the order to return to the city likely meant the higher-ups planned to abandon the third line as well, leaving Severed Cloud Pass and Shouyun City at risk.

• Lu Feng proposed withdrawing the scattered defenders from the first line to concentrate their forces at the second, and Lu Shuang used a map to explain the strategy.
• Jiang Han explained how the narrow passage between the lines would let the defenders trap and defeat demonic beasts entering the second line.
• The group received Xiao Tianqi’s message that the second line of defense had fallen and that they must return to the city.
• Lu Feng compared the message with the map and concluded that the higher-ups had not intended to defend the third line, potentially abandoning Severed Cloud Pass and exposing Shouyun City.

After learning that the demonic beasts had overrun the second line of defense, Lu Feng ordered a retreat but turned back toward the third entrance to bring Ji Qingqing and the others to safety. On the way, he upgraded his Phantom Sword Art to major accomplishment and continued toward the pass.

• Lu Feng learned that the demonic beasts had taken the second line of defense and ordered everyone to return to the city.
• Lu Feng told Lu Shuang he would go to the third entrance for Ji Qingqing and the others, while she investigated the second line’s fall and the division chiefs’ whereabouts.
• Lu Shuang returned to the city as Lu Feng raced toward the third entrance and checked his status and points.
• Lu Feng spent ten million Demon Points to raise Phantom Sword Art to major accomplishment and gained Sword Intent, six attacking phantoms, and greater precision.
• Lu Feng decided not to upgrade Nine Extremes Heaven-Breaking Slash and continued toward the third entrance at full speed.