Chapter Summaries

Meng Yun and He Fei entered the Number Plate Scramble, where Meng Yun deliberately sought elimination while He Fei relied on stealth and explosives to survive. He Fei’s plan caused a massive blast that split the training ground open, prompting Dai Mubai to suspend the exercise and order the site locked down.

• The recruits learned the Number Plate Scramble rules, and Team Twenty-One was separated before entering the arena.
• Meng Yun abandoned caution, drew attention near the entrance, and was quickly eliminated; He Fei celebrated when he heard the announcement.
• He Fei used his knowledge of the training ground to hide and later reunited with his lackeys near the shrinking arena’s great pit.
• As Team One and Team Two fought nearby, He Fei detonated explosive balls buried in the pit to stun the remaining recruits and seize their number plates.
• The blast opened an enormous fissure in the ground, and Dai Mubai suspended the exercise and ordered General Chen to lock down the area.

He Muyu asked He Qiming to lend her the He Family’s Secret Manual so she could decipher the Soul Tool locking the inner area of the ruins. He Qiming revealed the hidden manual, while Wang Xiaofeng found a stack of other writings and picked up one titled “Intent Sky Art.”

• He Muyu explained that the military had explored several sections of the five-thousand-year-old ruins but could not open the gate to the inner area.
• Wang Xiaofeng realized He Muyu had come to ask He Qiming for help, and she admitted that she wanted to borrow the He Family’s Secret Manual.
• He Qiming agreed to lend the manual and revealed a hidden compartment in the ceiling and a concealed layer in a wooden box.
• He Qiming showed the family’s ancient Secret Manual and explained that it was the source of the He Family’s inherited techniques.
• Wang Xiaofeng asked He Li if he could read the other booklets, then picked one up and read its title: “Intent Sky Art.”

Wang Xiaofeng studied the He Family’s incomplete Intent Sky Art and found methods for cultivating and using spiritual power that could address his weakness in Spirit. Meanwhile, He Muyu hurried back to the army, leaving He Qiming behind as the household laughed over his claims about family heirlooms.

• Wang Xiaofeng read He Qiming’s Intent Sky Art and learned that it drew on an incomplete ancient study of Essence, Qi, and Spirit.
• Wang Xiaofeng realized his Spirit cultivation lagged behind his Essence and Qi, and he gained inspiration from the booklet’s methods for stimulating and mobilizing spiritual power.
• He Li brought out lunch, and He Muyu ate quickly while He Qiming stopped pretending to plead for more time with her.
• He Muyu mounted a horse and left for the army, promising He Qiming she would bring back the family heirloom.
• He Li teased He Qiming about owning several books with the same cover, and the household laughed as Wang Xiaofeng continued studying.

Wang Xiaofeng received a warning letter from Ma Hongjun and set out with Nidya for the military district where Fatty and Mu Bai appeared to be in trouble. After reaching the forest near their destination, he heard unexplained barking and went to investigate.

• Wang Xiaofeng trained, ate breakfast, and continued working on a method to increase spiritual power without side effects.
• Wang Danu received a letter addressed to Wang Xiaofeng, who later found its warning: danger, come quickly, along with an address.
• Wang Xiaofeng and Nidya told his parents they were leaving, then crossed the desert and continued toward the address by carriage.
• Wang Xiaofeng went into the forest to find ingredients for Nidya’s dinner and caught a black snake.
• Wang Xiaofeng heard dogs barking nearby and went to check what was happening.

Wang Xiaofeng watched a group of tomb raiders escape a rival gang, then explored their abandoned tomb and found damaged murals depicting what seemed to be the destruction of the world. He returned to camp with several bird Soul Beasts instead of pheasants and began cooking for Nidya.

• Wang Xiaofeng used his calabash's enhanced senses to watch a rival gang capture five tomb raiders emerging from a pit.
• The tomb raiders broke free, used red smoke made from chili powder to escape, and were pursued after their leader realized the smoke was not poison.
• Wang Xiaofeng entered the tomb, studied its damaged murals about an ancient world-ending event, and took a strange piece of iron sheet.
• Wang Xiaofeng encountered several bird Soul Beasts fighting and stopped them.
• Wang Xiaofeng returned to Nidya at the campsite and prepared a meal from the birds he had caught.

Wang Xiaofeng showed Nidya the strange iron shard he had found in the tomb, which resisted both Soul Power and spiritual power. After reaching Liu Xian Town, they learned that rumors about the military district’s excavation had drawn crowds hoping to find treasure.

• Wang Xiaofeng showed Nidya the shard and explained that it blocked Soul Power and spiritual power while being harder than ordinary refined iron.
• Nidya took Wang Xiaofeng’s tent for the night, and later slipped into his carriage to sleep beside him.
• After three days of travel, Wang Xiaofeng and Nidya arrived at Liu Xian Town and waited in a long line to enter.
• Wang Xiaofeng learned that conspicuous military activity had sparked rumors of a miraculous treasure and an immortal’s tomb, drawing crowds to town.

Wang Xiaofeng and Nidya reached the Southwest Military Region and secured permission to join the search for the missing Second Prince, Dai Mubai. They marched with Han Guang’s soldiers to a damaged barrier in a gorge, where the expedition stopped to rest.

• Wang Xiaofeng and Nidya drew attention at an inn before leaving for the Southwest Military Region.
• Han Guang ordered another search for Dai Mubai, and Wang Xiaofeng and Nidya arrived claiming to be the prince’s friends.
• Wang Xiaofeng used his Soul Power to withstand the soldiers’ show of force, then met Han Guang and was told he could join the next expedition.
• Han Guang tested Wang Xiaofeng by throwing the imperial command token at him, and Wang Xiaofeng caught it without damaging it.
• Wang Xiaofeng and Nidya joined a thousand soldiers at dawn and marched to a gorge containing a damaged, unstable barrier.

Wang Xiaofeng and the expedition entered the mysterious ruins through a temporary breach in the barrier, which quickly began repairing itself. They traveled through a vast underground cavern and reached an ancient city wall and gate.

• A soldier explained that the barrier could only be breached during a brief morning window when its energy weakened.
• Five Soul Saints attacked the weakened barrier, opening a hole while the expedition defended itself from the blast.
• The general ordered everyone into the ruins, and nearly a thousand people passed through before the barrier began repairing the entrance.
• Wang Xiaofeng and Nidya descended through a narrow, dusty passage into a vast cavern, where Nidya asked him to tell her more jokes later.
• The expedition rested as it traveled deeper through the ruins, then reached an old city wall and followed it to a city gate.

Wang Xiaofeng and Nidya searched an eerily preserved underground city and found a huge pyramid at its center. After Wang Xiaofeng touched a glowing inscription on a stone stele, he lost consciousness and awoke in a bright, vibrant world.

• Wang Xiaofeng and Nidya slipped away from the soldiers and searched the empty, perfectly preserved city.
• Wang Xiaofeng decided to head toward the city center, where they found a massive black-stone pyramid.
• Wang Xiaofeng and Nidya explored the pyramid, climbed to its flat top, and found ancient writing carved inside an altar-like structure.
• Nidya spotted a black stone stele, and Wang Xiaofeng touched its strange inscription despite the dark patches covering part of the text.
• The stele flashed, Wang Xiaofeng collapsed as his sense of space and direction twisted, and he awoke in a bright world amid human voices.

Wang Xiaofeng appeared in a sunlit city where its inhabitants could neither see nor touch him, and he investigated the strange environment. He discovered that the bright world was an illusion projected beneath a thick layer of soil.

• Wang Xiaofeng emerged into a bustling city beneath an enormous sun and realized the people there could not see or touch him.
• Wang Xiaofeng followed the inhabitants into a pyramid, but he could not handle its books or learn what they were saying.
• Wang Xiaofeng left the pyramid and rode the calabash upward toward the sky.
• Wang Xiaofeng threw an ore fragment upward, found it struck a ceiling of packed earth, and concluded that he was still underground.

Wang Xiaofeng was trapped in an illusion and watched a remnant soul reveal how the Carlrea Empire’s Soul Tool civilization rose and fell after creating an Artificial God. He returned to the pyramid only seconds later, reunited with Nidya, and said he knew where Dai Mubai and the others were.

• Wang Xiaofeng was approached by a pair of floating hands that communicated telepathically and invited him to watch a vision of the past.
• The remnant soul showed Wang Xiaofeng a cataclysm that nearly wiped out humanity, followed by the rise of the West Asia Empire and its recovery.
• Wang Xiaofeng learned that energy crystals fueled Carlrea’s advanced Soul Tool civilization and that its rulers secretly created an Artificial God.
• The remnant soul revealed that the Artificial God became a calamity, other gods appeared, and the last human refuge fell to civil war.
• As the remnant soul faded, it named its country Carlrea and asked Wang Xiaofeng to remember its civilization.
• Wang Xiaofeng returned to the pyramid, reassured Nidya, and told her he knew where Dai Mubai and the others were.

Wang Xiaofeng used the Monster Hand’s memories to find Dai Mubai and the missing soldiers inside the ancient shelter, but a mistaken console operation unleashed a flood and triggered the structure’s collapse. The survivors were buried underground, where Wang Xiaofeng and Nidya struggled to keep the injured alive while a Soul Saint dug toward the surface.

• Wang Xiaofeng followed the Monster Hand’s directions with Nidya and activated the pyramid, prompting the general and two cloaked retainers to investigate.
• Wang Xiaofeng broke through a hidden wall and found chambers containing humans and Soul Beasts, then followed Nidya to the Hell White Tiger holding Fatty and Dai Mubai.
• Wang Xiaofeng pressed the wrong control button, shattering the Hell White Tiger’s tank and unleashing dark-blue water, which he absorbed with his Gourd as Nidya tried to freeze it.
• The group freed Dai Mubai and rescued several soldiers before the shelter collapsed, but they failed to escape the surrounding earth and were buried underground.
• Wang Xiaofeng and Nidya discovered that the rescued people were critically weakened and that the Gourd’s dark-blue water had ruined their stored ginseng, while the exhausted wolfman stopped digging and the general urged everyone to work together.

An earthquake devastated the military region and buried Wang Xiaofeng and the Second Prince’s group beneath the ruins, but Han Guang rescued them. After recovering, Wang Xiaofeng encountered the freakish hand’s final projection, which left him its remnant and knowledge as an apology.

• An earthquake struck Liu Xian Town and devastated the nearby military region, prompting Han Guang to organize rescue efforts and rush toward the ruins.
• Buried underground, Wang Xiaofeng tapped an iron bowl to signal for help until Han Guang’s dragon-form Martial Soul Avatar found the Second Prince and the survivors.
• Han Guang received the casualty report and learned that the Second Prince would recover after resting for a month.
• Wang Xiaofeng awoke at the top of the pyramid and met the freakish hand’s projection, which explained that he had passed its Small Test and left him its final remnant.
• Wang Xiaofeng watched the projection disappear, accepted the droplet it left behind, and wished it peace.

Wang Xiaofeng used the Calabash Vine to absorb Monster Hand’s Spiritual Essence and inherited its memories, though the knowledge was written in ancient script. He woke from a protective sleep to find Nidya furious, and her power froze and collapsed a nearby military building.

• Wang Xiaofeng suspected Monster Hand’s Spiritual Essence could contain hidden dangers, so he placed it at the roots of the Calabash Vine in his Sea of Consciousness.
• The Calabash Vine grew two jade-colored calabashes, which merged into Wang Xiaofeng and sent a torrent of unfamiliar memories into his mind.
• Wang Xiaofeng directed the memories into the Library, where they became books written in ancient script he could not read.
• An old physician told Nidya that Wang Xiaofeng’s spiritual power had put his body into a protective sleep and confirmed he would recover once it stabilized.
• Wang Xiaofeng opened his eyes, and Nidya’s anger caused a nearby wooden military building to freeze and collapse.

After recovering from his long unconsciousness, Wang Xiaofeng developed Thinking Acceleration Mode to study more efficiently in his Sea of Consciousness. Dai Mubai visited him, reported on his friends’ recovery, and gave him books about ancient writing.

• Nidya scolded Wang Xiaofeng for sleeping unconscious for two days and treated his injuries.
• Wang Xiaofeng spent seven days creating Thinking Acceleration Mode, which stabilized the time ratio in his Sea of Consciousness at about 1:2.
• Nidya woke Wang Xiaofeng and told him Dai Mubai had recovered and was waiting to see him.
• Dai Mubai said Zhu Qing was fine, while Fatty’s cultivation speed might be slower for two years.
• Dai Mubai gave Wang Xiaofeng copied books about the writings of ancient kingdoms, which he gladly accepted.

After reconstruction stalled, Wang Xiaofeng decided to leave Star Luo and asked Dai Mubai to look after his cousin He Muyu. On the journey home, he saw a suspicious cavalry unit and felt that trouble was approaching.

• Wang Xiaofeng learned that Dai Mubai was overwhelmed with military work while the damaged base faced an eventual relocation.
• Wang Xiaofeng told Dai Mubai he was leaving and asked him to look after He Muyu, and Dai Mubai agreed.
• Ma Hongjun stayed behind to help Dai Mubai, while Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing saw Wang Xiaofeng and Nidya off.
• Old Wang stopped their carriage in a small town to let twenty cavalrymen bearing an unfamiliar banner pass.
• Wang Xiaofeng noticed the riders had weakened vitality and smelled blood, then continued onward with a sense of impending danger.

A black mist triggered a violent Beast Tide in Padli Desert, while Dai Mubai learned that Muye City was under threat and Wang Xiaofeng’s party discovered the city had fallen. Wang Xiaofeng began assessing the danger as he worried the tide could reach Soul Suppression City and his parents.

• In Padli Desert, black mist drove Sand Rats and other beasts into a spreading frenzy that grew into a massive Beast Tide.
• Dai Mubai learned from a Crimson Rock Army soldier that Muye City was in grave danger and realized Wang Xiaofeng and Nidya might be there.
• On the road, Nidya noticed crowds of malnourished refugees fleeing as Wang Xiaofeng’s party approached Muye City.
• Old Wang reported that a Beast Tide had overrun Muye City and several nearby towns, leaving few survivors.
• Wang Xiaofeng worried that the Beast Tide might spread to Soul Suppression City and began considering its severity.

Wang Xiaofeng encountered a rampaging Black Gorilla Soul Beast while a Beast Tide ravaged the city and chose to fight rather than return to camp. After the beast transformed and overwhelmed the streets, Wang Xiaofeng defeated it, leaving the soldiers and civilians to realize that the young Soul Ancestor had won.

• Three fleeing Soul Masters were caught and killed by the Black Gorilla, which then attacked a man and his child.
• A Calabash Vine shielded the man and child, while the Black Gorilla's blood-fueled transformation made it even more powerful.
• Wang Xiaofeng struck the Black Gorilla and drew its attack away from the civilians, but it hammered him into a crater with a barrage of punches.
• Wang Xiaofeng stopped the Black Gorilla's final punch and defeated it as Nidya evacuated civilians nearby.
• Wang Xiaofeng gave Nidya a thumbs-up and decided to confront the Soul Beasts instead of returning to camp.

Wang Xiaofeng treated an injured civilian, then fought off a flock of corrupted birds and killed a powerful Blood Eagle while teaching his hidden Ink Workshop observer a combat technique. As Wang Xiaofeng and Nidya examined the spoils, a hooded figure watched them and vowed to leave no living thing within a hundred thousand li.

• Wang Xiaofeng knocked out the injured man's father to treat his leg, then learned that the grateful man in the straw rain cape belonged to the Ink Workshop.
• A corrupted flock descended on the town, and Nidya used her fused soul rings to freeze and destroy many of the birds.
• The flock vanished and revealed a Blood Eagle, which Wang Xiaofeng fought and killed by detonating Soul Power inside it.
• Wang Xiaofeng explained his technique to the concealed Ink Workshop man, then told Nidya he expected the man to leave the organization and join their side.
• A hooded figure watched Wang Xiaofeng and Nidya from a distant hillside and threatened to kill every living thing within a hundred thousand li.

Wang Xiaofeng cleaned up the contaminated battlefield and prepared to investigate the abnormal Beast Tide. After agreeing to meet with Inspector Wang Fucheng, he was struck from behind by Nidya’s scepter.

• Wang Xiaofeng collected the corpses and bloodstained soil in his Gourd while Nidya watched, then lectured her about mistakes in her Ring Fusion.
• Wang Xiaofeng finished cleaning the pit and found soldiers gathered around him.
• Wang Fucheng introduced himself as the town’s security inspector and invited Wang Xiaofeng to his residence to discuss a matter affecting the commoners.
• Wang Xiaofeng accepted the invitation, stored the Gourd, and set off with Wang Fucheng.
• Nidya silently raised her ice scepter and brought it down on Wang Xiaofeng’s head.