Episode Summary
Sima Jiao discovers his father, who reveals the clan's history of self-sacrifice to empower him. His father then performs a final sacrifice, giving Sima Jiao his Inner Core. The immense power causes Sima Jiao to lose control and destroy the Black Jade Lotus Pond. In the chaos, Liao Tingyan is brought as a hostage but disappears. The episode jumps forward 18 years to a much more powerful Sima Jiao emerging from seclusion, still searching for a living Liao Tingyan.
Spoiler Alert
Episode 19 of When Destiny Brings the Demon begins at the Black Jade Lotus Pond, where Sima Jiao senses the aura of the Fengshan Spirit Fire. He finds it emanating from a massive Blood Coagulation Flower. He knows only a Fengshan clan member with immense power could create such a thing. When he investigates, the flower reveals its true form: his own father.
His father explains everything. Long ago, the Sima and Fengshan clans were hunted by other factions who coveted their spiritual power. To save their people, the two clans arranged a marriage between Sima Jiao's parents, hoping to produce a child with the purest, most powerful bloodline. That child was him.
The clans saw Sima Jiao as their only hope. To speed up his growth, they began sacrificing themselves in a blood ritual to transfer their power to him. One by one, they gave their lives. His father, feeling the pressure and needing to hide their plan from the outside world, pretended to go insane. He faked a massacre of his own people and then tried to kill himself. But before he died, Shi Qianlv's clan found him and secretly took him away. Later, Sima Jiao's mother followed suit, merging with the Spirit Fire and pouring all her energy into her son.
Now, finally seeing his son, the father is filled with peace. He tells Sima Jiao that all their deaths will be worth it if he can achieve an immortal body. Thinking of all the suffering he has endured, Sima Jiao wants to take his father away from the pond. But his father refuses, saying his purpose is to remain. He urges Sima Jiao to become stronger to defeat Shi Qianlv and his powerful followers. Then, for his final act, he performs one last blood sacrifice, condensing his entire life force into an Inner Core. After his father takes his own life to produce the core, Sima Jiao, left with no other choice, absorbs it.
With two Spirit Fires now inside him, Sima Jiao's body feels like it's burning. In a fit of rage and pain, he unleashes his power and sets the entire Black Jade Lotus Pond on fire.
Sensing something is wrong, Shi Qianlv rushes to the pond only to find his carefully cultivated Blood Coagulation Flower gone and the whole place engulfed in flames. Furious that his last asset has been destroyed, he orders Ye Ruling to capture Liao Tingyan.
Ye Ruling finds Liao Tingyan and brings her to the edge of the fiery chaos. Shi Qianlv plans to use her as a hostage in a last-ditch effort. But the scene is pure pandemonium. Sima Jiao, having just absorbed a new Spirit Fire, can't control his power and is destroying everything with the last shred of his consciousness.
As the Black Jade Lotus Pond collapses, Shi Qianlv and the other clan leaders try to flee, but the inferno makes escape seem impossible. In the confusion, Ye Ruling quietly cuts the chains binding Liao Tingyan and tries to help her escape. A protective magical artifact Sima Jiao once made for Liao Tingyan activates, and Ye Ruling is nearly killed shielding her. Struggling against the destruction, Shi Qianlv screams at Sima Jiao, "Liao Tingyan is on this mountain! If you keep burning it, none of us will get out alive!"
Hearing her name snaps Sima Jiao back to his senses. He stops everything and frantically searches for Liao Tingyan amidst the ruins. He finds the spot where he last sensed her, but all that's left is the longevity lock he gave her. She's gone. However, her life lamp hasn't gone out, which means she's still alive somewhere. Sima Jiao begins to search for her like a man possessed.
Eighteen years pass. The war between the clans continues. Nian Jiu is now a grown man, leading the Fengshan clan against Shi Qianlv's forces. Sima Jiao has been in seclusion all this time, cultivating his power. One day, as if answering a call, he finally awakens. He emerges from his seclusion with vastly increased power, effortlessly killing the enemies attacking his people. Nian Jiu is overjoyed to see his master so powerful.
