Episode Summary
Meng Xizhou discovers the truth about her father's death: he sacrificed her demon core to save Nan Fengyi's life and hid the Shanhai Tu in her umbrella. She learns she is the Demon King and faces a choice: reclaim her core (killing Nan Fengyi) or let all demons perish. Nan Fengyi captures and tortures her for the scroll's location, but Meng Xizhou escapes, revealing she came for him intentionally.
Spoiler Alert
Desperate to uncover the truth about her father's death, Meng Xizhou, with the help of Tie Lao, journeys back into the painting. She witnesses a past conversation between her father, Li Shiyi, and Bai Ze Clan, Nan Fengyi's father. Bai Ze Clan, desperate to save his ailing son, Nan Fengyi, who needs a demon core to survive, barters for it with the Shanhai Tu. Meng Xizhou pleads with her father not to comply, but Li Shiyi expresses his wish for his daughter to live a normal, happy life, free from the burden of being the Demon King. He gives the Shanhai Tu to Bai Ze Clan, and extracts Meng Xizhou's demon core, giving the core to Bai Ze Clan.
Meng Xizhou watches as Bai Ze Clan implants her demon core into Nan Fengyi. Li Shiyi then conceals the Shanhai Tu within a small umbrella – the very umbrella Meng Xizhou carries. He transfers his accumulated power to Meng Xizhou, ensuring her survival until she turns twenty. Li Shiyi expresses his regret for being a demon hunter and reveals his hope that Meng Xizhou will reclaim her demon core, become the Demon King, and fulfill her mother's wish of saving all demons.
The scene darkens as Meng Xizhou, in her past life as A'Xi, is murdered by Bai Ze Clan. Li Shiyi confronts Bai Ze Clan, accusing him of treachery, knowing he would return. Li Shiyi offers his life in exchange for the Shanhai Tu, and Bai Ze Clan kills him, vowing to find the scroll himself.
Emerging from the painting, Meng Xizhou is questioned by Bei Gongshuo about her father's death. Overwhelmed, she remains silent. Bei Gongshuo offers comfort, emphasizing that she must move forward. Meng Xizhou is distraught, realizing she is the Demon King. Tie Lao, overhearing this, is shocked, revealing that the Demon King title can be inherited.
Tie Lao pledges the allegiance of all demons to Meng Xizhou. Bei Gongshuo reassures her, stating that regardless of her identity, she remains the kind and righteous goddess. He envisions a future of human-demon harmony, with himself as the Human King and Meng Xizhou as the Demon King. Meanwhile, Du Yuelian brings Nan Fengyi home and shows him relics left by his father, revealing his possession of Meng Xizhou's demon core and his father's role in Li Shiyi's death. Meng Xizhou grapples with her mother's dying words and the weight of her destiny.
Meng Xizhou remembers her mother's plea to save her siblings trapped within the Shanhai Tu, confirming her lineage as the Demon King, granddaughter of the ancient Demon King. She also recalls Renguang's warning: reclaiming her demon core would kill Nan Fengyi, but failure to do so would lead to her own death and the demise of all demons. Miaoyun, aware of Nan Fengyi and Du Yuelian's conversation, and knowing Nan Fengyi possesses knowledge of the Shanhai Tu's location, instructs him to retrieve it, using the killing aura previously given to him to monitor him.
