Chapter Summaries

Tian Hao entered the tournament match against Beast Team as Phantom Sound Academy’s sole competitor and overwhelmed their formation with his Sword Domain and paired sword qi. He charged Xue Min as the battle began, leaving the outcome undecided.

• Xue Ye struggled with government documents while Xue Zhan and Tian Hao distracted him in the Main Viewing Stand.
• Tian Hao explained that Phantom Sound Academy had only two members and that his teammate could not compete, so he would fight Beast Team alone.
• Xue Min objected to the uneven match, but both teams agreed to fight when the referee called them to begin.
• Tian Hao manifested his fused Amethyst Gold Grass Sword and expanded his Sword Domain to encompass all seven members of Beast Team.
• Tian Hao sent twelve Violet-Gold Sword Qi at six opponents and charged Xue Min, disrupting Beast Team’s formation and forcing its members onto the defensive.

Tian Hao defeated the Beast Team with his domain and precise swordsmanship, drawing attention from the other tournament teams and factions. After the day's matches ended, a strange recorded image of him began spreading through Heaven Dou City.

• Ning Fengzhi and Bone Douluo realized Tian Hao's unusual domain had helped him control the fight.
• Tian Hao dodged Xue Min's attacks, disrupted her spear rhythm, and defeated her while his Sword Qi took down the rest of the Beast Team.
• Xue Min's teammates blamed Tian Hao's domain and agile Sword Qi, while Feng Aotian and other academy teams considered ways to counter him.
• Tian Hao warned Prince Xue Zhan that Soul Kings and certain abilities could still trouble him, then forced Xue Ye to applaud his victory.
• The day's matches concluded, and factions began investigating Phantom Sound Academy as a strange recorded image spread through Heaven Dou City.

Xue Zhan took the Crown Prince Xue Ye to the Snowfang Legion camp, while Emperor Xue Sheng signaled that the succession remained undecided. At the camp, Tian Hao and Chen Xin explored ways to control the legion’s deadly Killing Intent, and Xue Zhan revealed the Snowfang Greatswords’ grim cost.

• Tian Hao suggested training Xue Ye in the Snowfang Legion, and Xue Zhan carried the struggling Crown Prince away while the palace guards stood by.
• Emperor Xue Sheng said the empire needed an emperor who knew how to ride a horse, reassuring Xue Ye’s supporters that he had not changed the heir.
• At the Snowfang Legion camp, Chen Xin rejected Tian Hao and Xue Zhan’s plan to guide the swords’ Killing Intent because ordinary soldiers could not withstand it.
• Xue Zhan explained that the Snowfang Greatswords absorbed Killing Intent and gradually drove their wielders mad, while family inheritance improved compatibility only slightly.
• Xue Zhan revealed that even his Soul Douluo maternal grandfather had been killed by his sword’s Killing Intent, and that Snowfang Legion soldiers usually struggled to live past forty.

Tian Hao and Chen Xin fused the Asura Seven Kill Sword with Chen Xin’s Seven Kill Sword to lower the former’s requirements, while Chen Xin agreed to teach Tian Hao a secret soul-ring method. Tian Hao then traveled under military escort to the Soul Master Competition, where he found Xue Ye exhausted from work.

• Tian Hao suggested using Chen Xin’s Seven Kill Sword to guide the Snowfang Legion’s killing intent and later fuse with the Asura Seven Kill Sword, but Chen Xin said the legion’s secret could not be used directly.
• Chen Xin offered to teach Tian Hao the Secret Method of Refining Soul Rings, then used his Seven Kill Sword and domain to help fuse the Asura Seven Kill Sword with his own.
• Tian Hao said Chen Xin’s guidance could lower the Asura Seven Kill Sword’s threshold to Soul Saint level, and the two completed a preliminary fusion by the next morning.
• A Ten Thousand Commander escorted Tian Hao to the Heaven Dou Grand Spirit Arena with ten thousand soldiers because people in the city were targeting his Soul Bone.
• Tian Hao joined Xue Zhan beside Xue Ye and joked that the Crown Prince’s pale complexion looked like face powder, prompting Xue Zhan to explain that Xue Ye was overworked.

Tian Hao faced Godwind Team’s aerial attacks and endured their first combined Soul Skill with an undamaged sword qi shield. Godwind Team launched a second, far more powerful combined attack, leaving the outcome unresolved.

• Feng Aotian ordered Godwind Team to fly and rain a coordinated barrage of Wind Blades down on Tian Hao.
• Tian Hao formed a shield of twelve spinning strands of sword qi and held his ground against the Wind Blades for a minute.
• The first attack carved a deep trench through the arena, but the ground beneath Tian Hao and his sword qi remained unharmed.
• Feng Aotian and his teammates combined their Soul Skills to create a massive tornado that reached the strength of a Ten Thousand Year Soul Skill.
• Huo Zhan worried about facing Godwind Team, while Ying Mei watched Tian Hao and wondered whether he could withstand the tornado.

Tian Hao used his Sword Domain and spiritual power to seize control of the Godwind Team's Wind Tornado, forcing Feng Aotian to surrender before reclaiming the sword qi he had infused into it. Feng Aotian explained Tian Hao's abilities to the Blazing Fire Team, then asked Tian Hao about the name of his Self-Created Soul Skill.

• Tian Hao entered the Wind Tornado and used his sword qi, Sword Domain, and spiritual power to weaken Feng Aotian and the Godwind Team's control of it.
• Feng Aotian surrendered as his teammates risked being pulled into the tornado, and rescuers carried them to safety.
• Tian Hao reclaimed the sword qi he had spread through the tornado and converted it back into soul power.
• Feng Aotian told Ying Mei, Huo Zhan, and the Blazing Fire Team that Tian Hao had overpowered the tornado and recovered his sword qi.
• Feng Aotian returned to his team's stands and later asked Tian Hao what his Self-Created Soul Skill was called.

Tian Hao explained how his Gale Swift Sword had countered Godwind Academy’s Wind Tornado, then provoked Xue Ye by asking him to support his marriage to Yue'er and singing a pointed song. He later declared that Xue Zhan could not compete with Xue Ye for the throne, leaving the court wondering what backing he had.

• Tian Hao explained that his Self-Created Soul Skill, Gale Swift Sword, had countered the Wind Tornado and that his Sword Domain had helped him seize control of it.
• Tian Hao asked Xue Ye to introduce him to Tang Zhen and seek guidance, claiming his skill resembled the Clear Sky Sect’s Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer.
• Tian Hao urged Xue Ye to stop pursuing Yue'er and let them marry, then sang “guest” to needle him about attending their wedding.
• Xue Ye warned Tian Hao that Xue Zhan could not compete with him, and Tian Hao agreed, saying Xue Zhan lacked the resolve to pay any price for the throne.
• Xue Ye and Emperor Xue Sheng wondered what backing Tian Hao had as the two teams entered below.

Tian Hao was caught in a misleading scandal with Ning Fengzhi, angering Leng Qing'er, while Ning Fengzhi and Gu Rong discussed secretly eliminating him. Ning Fengzhi also worried that Chen Xin might transform the Snowfang Legion and strengthen the Heaven Dou Imperial Family.

• Tian Hao asked Xue Ye for a ship so he could take Yue'er overseas, and Xue Ye resumed reviewing his documents with a cold snort.
• Tian Hao checked on Ning Fengzhi and met Leng Qing'er, but Bone Douluo showed him a picture card that made it appear he had an improper relationship with Ning Fengzhi.
• Tian Hao angrily called the image a misunderstanding, but Leng Qing'er remained cold, so Tian Hao returned to the military camp with Prince Xue Zhan.
• Ning Fengzhi told Gu Rong that he believed Tian Hao might flee overseas, then said he wanted him eliminated because he threatened Ning Fengzhi's chance to recruit Sword Douluo.
• Gu Rong agreed that Tian Hao could be killed only in secret, while Ning Fengzhi considered framing the Clear Sky Sect and asked whether Chen Xin could transform the Snowfang Legion.

Tian Hao told Chen Xin that he had sensed Ning Fengzhi’s killing intent and discussed why the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect might target him. After learning that Tian Hao had reached Level 30, Chen Xin urged him to investigate whether he could condense a Soul Core at that threshold.

• Tian Hao told Chen Xin that Ning Fengzhi had directed killing intent at him, and they suspected it was connected to Chen Xin’s refusal to join the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
• Tian Hao suggested that Chen Xin infiltrate the sect, but Chen Xin refused and said he would focus on cultivation and prepare for the plan against Slaughter City.
• Tian Hao revealed that the Godwind Academy battle had pushed his two kinds of soul power to Level 30 and his fused soul power to Level 40.
• Chen Xin explained the special Martial Soul and bloodline changes at Levels 30, 70, and 90, along with the Soul Core System research.
• Chen Xin asked Tian Hao not to advance his soul power yet and to test whether he could condense a Soul Core at Level 30, and Tian Hao agreed to try.

Tian Hao used Sword Qi and the Sword Domain to force the Elephant Armor Team to surrender without a direct fight. Afterward, Feng Aotian proposed joining the Blazing Fire Team to combine forces with Ying Mei, but she refused and remained confident she could defeat Tian Hao herself.

• Tian Hao continued cultivating his Grass Sword Martial Souls while attending the Soul Master Competition.
• Tian Hao spread Sword Qi across the arena floor, then rose above it, preventing the Elephant Armor Team from reaching him safely.
• Hu Yan Kai surrendered to avoid injuries before the next match, and Tian Hao reclaimed the Sword Qi he had released.
• Feng Aotian proposed temporarily joining the Blazing Fire Team to use Wind-Fire Harmony with Ying Mei against Tian Hao.
• Huo Zhan rejected Feng Aotian's proposal, and Ying Mei declared that she could defeat Tian Hao without his help.

Tian Hao fought the Blazing Fire Team and countered Ying Mei’s fused-ring fireball with his newly demonstrated Sword Twelve. After the match’s explosive clash, Tang Zhen recognized the technique’s potential and became more determined to eliminate Tian Hao.

• Tian Hao used his Sword Domain and twelve Solid Sword Qi to force most of the Blazing Fire Team to withdraw.
• Huo Zhan endured the attack while protecting Ying Mei, but withdrew after Tian Hao concentrated all twelve Sword Qi on him.
• Ying Mei asked Tian Hao for half a minute to finish fusing her four Soul Skills, and he reduced the reach of his domain while combining his Sword Qi.
• Ying Mei launched her compressed fireball as Tian Hao unleashed Saint Spirit Swordplay—Sword Twelve, splitting the attack before it exploded.
• Tang Zhen compared Tian Hao’s technique to the Clear Sky Sect’s Great Sumeru Hammer and resolved to kill him before he could become a threat.

Tian Hao survived Ying Mei's Fusion Ring Skill and defeated her, while she resolved to seek a stronger soul ring before the Promotion Tournament. Back at the Main Viewing Stand, Tian Hao discussed the limits of his swordplay and teased Xue Ye with a song, leaving Emperor Xue Sheng determined to make his son's assessment harder.

• Tian Hao emerged unharmed from Ying Mei's sea of flames, and Ying Mei conceded defeat while vowing to beat him in the Promotion Tournament.
• Ying Mei asked whether Sword Twelve was the limit of Tian Hao's Saint Spirit Swordplay, and he said it was not.
• Ying Mei withdrew from the remaining Preliminary Tournament matches to hunt for a stronger soul ring, and Feng Aotian followed her after saying he had also reached level fifty.
• Tian Hao told Xue Zhan that Ying Mei's Fusion Ring Skill was only a pseudo-Ten Thousand Year Soul Skill and considered advancing his Distraction Control Method to divide his mind into eight uses.
• Tian Hao sang Xue Ye a new version of "guest" for Yue'er's wedding, and Emperor Xue Sheng decided to make Xue Ye's assessment more difficult.

Tian Hao provoked Tang Zhen into attacking so he could capture and study Tang Zhen’s Soul Power. After discovering that Tang Zhen was nearing Level 99, Tian Hao nurtured the power to accelerate his breakthrough and informed Chen Xin, who resolved to revise their plan against the Clear Sky Sect.

• Tian Hao sat beside Tang Zhen and provoked him with talk of marrying Tang Yuehua and demanding the Great Sumeru Hammer Secret Method as her dowry.
• Tang Zhen injected Soul Power into Tian Hao, suppressing his power and fracturing bones in his shoulder and left arm, while Tian Hao secretly captured the Soul Power and healed himself.
• Tang Zhen left, intending to find a chance to kill Tian Hao outside Heaven Dou City, while Ning Fengzhi considered cooperating with the Clear Sky Sect.
• Tian Hao examined Tang Zhen’s Soul Power, discovered it was advancing beyond Level 98 toward Level 99, and used Life God Power and Life Evolution Ability to nurture it.
• Tian Hao told Chen Xin that Tang Zhen was nearing Level 99, and Chen Xin said he would send the news back and revise the plan to eliminate the Clear Sky Sect.

Tian Hao faced the Emperor Team Reserve Squad and used a vast rain of Sword Qi to eliminate most of its members. He left Tang Qiang and Shi Cheng as the last opponents, then grabbed Shi Cheng and swung him at Tang Qiang.

• Tian Hao recognized Tang Qiang as a Clear Sky Sect Soul King and taunted him about the sect's ties to the Heaven Dou Empire.
• Tang Qiang rejected Tian Hao's offer to hold back and summoned his Clear Sky Hammer, while Tian Hao prepared to eliminate him from the tournament.
• Tian Hao filled the arena sky with Violet-Gold Sword Qi and sent it raining down on the Emperor Team Reserve Squad.
• Tang Qiang blocked the Sword Qi with Clear Sky Guardian, but the referee rescued four teammates, leaving two members to face Tian Hao.
• Tian Hao concentrated his Sword Qi and rushed Shi Cheng, then threw his sword toward Tang Qiang and grabbed Shi Cheng's leg.
• Tian Hao lifted Shi Cheng and swung his body toward Tang Qiang as Tang Qiang knocked away the thrown sword.

Tian Hao collected Shi Cheng’s blood after Tang Qiang’s hammer shattered Shi Cheng’s defenses, then faced Tang Qiang alone. He activated his Sacrifice Method and unleashed a massive Sword Qi Storm, bringing their battle to a standstill as the other teams watched in shock.

• Tang Qiang mistakenly struck Shi Cheng with the Clear Sky Hammer, shattering his Turtle Shield and badly injuring him, while Tian Hao collected Shi Cheng’s blood.
• Tang Qiang unleashed his fifth soul skill, Raging Strike, but Tian Hao avoided the attack and recovered much of his scattered sword qi.
• Tian Hao warned Tang Qiang that he would use his real trump card, then activated the Sacrifice Method and amplified his strength with the Ring Detonation Secret Method.
• Tian Hao spun the Amethyst Gold Grass Sword into a massive Sword Qi Storm and clashed with Tang Qiang’s Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer.
• Tian Hao and Tang Qiang fought to a standstill, each expending strength as Tian Hao reclaimed some of his dispersed sword qi.
• Shi Cheng and the academy teams, including the Elephant Armor Team, watched in shock as they realized they could not withstand Tian Hao’s attack.

Tian Hao defeated Tang Qiang with a life-threatening Soul Power technique, then approached Tang Zhen to provoke him and secretly obtain a drop of his blood. He left the stand with the blood hidden in his Sea of Spirit, intending to use it to help a strand of Soul Power transform.

• On the Main Viewing Stand, Leng Qing'er explained that Tian Hao's technique resembled her grandfather's Soul Sacrifice, which could kill a stronger opponent but cost the user's life.
• Tian Hao's violet-gold Sword Qi Storm overwhelmed Tang Qiang's Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer, and the referee carried the badly injured Tang Qiang off the arena for treatment.
• Tian Hao asked Tang Zhen how his performance compared with Tang Hao's and declared that he would defeat his second brother-in-law someday.
• Tian Hao offered to trade his Sacrifice Method for Tang Zhen's Ring Detonation Secret Method, then slapped a mosquito on Tang Zhen's hand and collected the blood.
• Tian Hao hid Tang Zhen's blood in his Sea of Spirit and left, planning to use it to help a strand of Soul Power complete its transformation.

After sacrificing his soul power to defeat Tang Qiang, Tian Hao discovered that the technique had strengthened his body and accelerated the conversion of soul power into Martial Soul Origin. He prepared for the next tournament matches and the coming assault on Slaughter City, while his Amethyst Gold Grass Sword fusion neared ninety percent.

• Tang Yuehua realized why Tian Hao had sought her out and cried over his sacrifice, while Tang Ye and Tang Xue pointed out that Tang Qiang was the one who had suffered most.
• Tian Hao explained to Xue Zhan that sacrificed soul power could not be reclaimed, but its use had strengthened his body and brought other benefits.
• Tian Hao told Chen Xin that the Sacrifice Method rapidly converted activated soul power into Martial Soul Origin and raised Soul Power Fusion Degree, then urged him to prepare for Slaughter City.
• Chen Xin decided to return to War Soul Hall to send news to Qian Daoliu and help Spirit Hall prepare for the Slaughter City plan.
• Tian Hao replenished his Dantian soul seas and found that the battle had raised the Amethyst Gold Grass Sword fusion degree by at least ten percentage points, bringing it close to ninety percent.

Tian Hao faced Skywater Academy’s powerful vice-captain, Lan Luan, and broke free after her team froze him with a coordinated attack. He unleashed his sacrifice-empowered sword qi as Lan Luan hurled a gigantic ice ball at him, refusing to dodge.

• Tian Hao entered the arena against Skywater Team and recognized that Lan Luan had recently become a Soul King.
• Lan Luan urged Tian Hao to conserve his strength, but he insisted on fighting and used sacrifice to strengthen himself.
• Skywater Team combined Water and Ice soul skills, and Lan Luan’s Extreme Freezing Current froze Tian Hao inside a massive block of ice.
• Tian Hao shattered the ice with a fourteen-meter Violet-Gold Sword Qi and swept away the team’s ice spikes.
• Lan Luan combined her soul skills to form a huge ice ball and propelled it toward Tian Hao, who refused to dodge.

Tian Hao defeated Tianshui Team, then used Thunder Team’s lightning attack to temper his soul power during their final preliminary match. Thunder Team surrendered after exhausting their strength without hurting him, while Tian Hao’s grass swords reached a ninety-percent Soul Power Fusion Degree.

• Tian Hao shattered Lan Luan’s ice attack with Saint Spirit Swordplay—Sword Fourteen, and Tianshui Team surrendered.
• Tian Hao concealed the damage from his Sacrifice Method, while Tang Zhen considered letting him destroy himself but remained prepared to kill him.
• Yu Suisui led Thunder Team in drawing lightning from the storm clouds to attack Tian Hao.
• Tian Hao stood still and used the lightning to temper his soul power, raising his grass swords’ Soul Power Fusion Degree to ninety percent.
• Thunder Team exhausted its soul power without injuring Tian Hao and surrendered.

After Tian Hao dominated the Preliminary Tournament, rival teams discussed how to face him and learned that fighting him had helped several Heaven Dou Division competitors break through. They decided to join forces to challenge him before the Promotion Tournament, while reflecting on the power of Self-Created Soul Skills.

• At a banquet arranged by Xue Zhan, the rival teams discussed Tian Hao, and Lan Luan advised them to surrender if they encountered him because his strength belonged at the Finals stage.
• Lin Feng asked Ying Mei, Feng Aotian, Lan Luan, Hu Yan Kai, and Yu Suisui how they had advanced; they explained how battling or witnessing Tian Hao had helped stimulate their breakthroughs.
• Feng Aotian, Yu Suisui, and Hu Yan Kai advised the other teams to challenge Tian Hao together, warning them to prepare mentally and bring enough strength to make the fight worthwhile.
• Ying Mei said Tian Hao would accept a challenge only if his opponents could pressure him, so Lin Feng and the others agreed to join forces.
• Huo Zhan asked about the strength of Tian Hao’s Self-Created Soul Skills, and Feng Aotian and Ying Mei discussed how such skills could grow beyond fixed Soul Ring skills.