Chapter Summaries

Chen Xiaojun explained how the Evil-Absorbing Formation would gather and refine negative energy at Iron Jaw Fortress for cultivation and combat, then revealed a Heart of the Divine Tree as a candidate for its main formation core. The group recognized the treasure’s ability to harmonize yin and yang and contain diverse energies.

• Chen Xiaojun explained that the formation could gather negative energy suited to the martial souls and cultivation needs of the Ma Family, the Yang Family, and other soul masters.
• Chen Xiaojun credited data from his Nethersea Seven Kill Sword with helping Chen Cong complete the Evil-Absorbing Formation.
• Zuo Jinhua spread out a detailed map of Iron Jaw Fortress, and Chen Xiaojun described nine formation nodes and their energy conduits.
• Chen Xiaojun proposed placing nodes at sites such as the main gate, Soul Duel Arena, taverns, the City Lord's Mansion, and the Negative Martial Soul Training Base.
• Qin Luguang noted that Iron Jaw Fortress's newly discovered mithril could supply a key material for the formation's conduits.
• Chen Xiaojun revealed a Heart of the Divine Tree, which Qin Luguang, Zhu Yanfeng, and Yang Zhicheng recognized as a potential main formation core.

Chen Xiaojun explained how the Evil-Absorbing Formation could purify and harness Iron Jaw Fortress’s negative energy for cultivation, defense, and attracting visitors. Chen Zhang ordered the Four Families Alliance to prioritize construction and begin preparations while awaiting the official blueprints.

• Chen Xiaojun described the Heart of the Divine Tree as the formation’s main core and outlined substitutes for its nine secondary cores.
• Chen Xiaojun explained how the formation could turn impure resentment and baleful energy into spiritual defenses while cleansing the fortress and easing visitors’ excess baleful qi.
• Ma Zhibin praised the formation’s benefits and questioned whether Chen Xiaojun had planned to install it at Iron Jaw Fortress in advance.
• Chen Xiaojun said the formation idea had recently taken shape and that the fortress, resources, and solution had come together at the right time.
• Chen Zhang made the Evil-Absorbing Formation the Four Families Alliance’s top priority, ordering an urgent request for the official blueprints and assigning site surveys and recruitment.

Chen Xiaojun, Qin Luguang, and Zhu Yanfeng went to interrogate Dou Jing and the four Soul Sages captured with him, seeking information about Barton's hidden network and Spirit Hall's plans in Heaven Dou City. As Qin Luguang confronted Dou Jing in the interrogation chamber, Chen Zhang remained behind with Ma Zhibin, who pressed him to explain the Chen Clan's Yin Yang Five Elements knowledge.

• Chen Zhang ordered the group to uncover Barton's secrets and the Spirit Hall network in Heaven Dou City.
• Qin Luguang and Zhu Yanfeng led Chen Xiaojun toward the interrogation chamber while Ximen Dark Fire Guards escorted them.
• Ma Zhibin asked Chen Zhang about Yin Yang and the Five Elements, then joked that Chen Zhang was trying to seduce him.
• The guards opened the reinforced chamber, where Dou Jing and four Soul Sages were bound to torture pillars.
• Qin Luguang taunted Dou Jing about having to experience the same interrogations his group had once inflicted on others.

Qin Luguang and Zhu Yanfeng tortured Dou Jing, Li Wuya, Yan Zhen, Yin Jiu, and Mo Li to force them to reveal what they knew, while Chen Xiaojun observed. Dou Jing learned that Barton had escaped, and Yan Zhen was stunned when Qin Luguang accused Barton of serving the Spirit Hall Jin Family.

• Qin Luguang interrogated Yan Zhen and Mo Li, but they refused to answer.
• Qin Luguang punched Dou Jing and Zhu Yanfeng crushed Li Wuya's injured shoulder to break the prisoners' resolve.
• Zhu Yanfeng used the Bone Marrow Separation Hand on Yan Zhen, who endured the pain without screaming.
• Qin Luguang ordered the Dark Fire Guards to tighten the prisoners' rune chains and forcibly drain their Soul Power.
• Zhu Yanfeng told Dou Jing that Barton had escaped, and Dou Jing confirmed he had gotten away.
• Qin Luguang accused Barton of being connected to the Spirit Hall Jin Family, prompting Yan Zhen to react in disbelief.

Zhu Yanfeng accused Dou Jing and the Bone Excavation Group of concealing Barton’s ties to the Jin Family and Spirit Hall, while Chen Xiaojun tried to persuade the prisoners to reveal Barton’s hidden networks. Dou Jing appeared ready to talk, then attacked Chen Xiaojun with a concealed, needle-like aura.

• Zhu Yanfeng argued that Barton’s powerful escape techniques pointed to a connection with the Golden Crocodile Jin Family, and Yan Zhen demanded to know if the accusations were true.
• Li Wuya and Yin Jiu denied knowing about Barton’s alleged role and accused the Chen Clan of using the turmoil to destroy the Bone Excavation Group.
• Chen Xiaojun told Dou Jing that Barton and the Jin Family would not save the prisoners, and urged him to reveal Barton’s hidden lines and communications in exchange for a chance to ease their suffering.
• After a long silence, Dou Jing challenged Chen Xiaojun to force the information from him and launched a concealed, ice-cold aura at him.

Chen Xiaojun survived Dou Jing’s hidden mental attack and revealed that Da Siming’s light cocoon devoured it. He then confronted Dou Jing about his connection to Barton and Spirit Hall, while the others began to doubt the vice leader.

• Dou Jing’s Fierce Needle struck Chen Xiaojun, but Chen Xiaojun remained unharmed as Qin Luguang tried to attack Dou Jing and Zhu Yanfeng stopped him.
• Chen Xiaojun explained that he had absorbed the attack as negative energy, shocking Dou Jing and revealing to Yan Zhen that Dou Jing was a vice leader.
• Inside Chen Xiaojun’s Upper Soul Nest, Da Siming’s light cocoon pulled in and consumed the Fierce Needle.
• Chen Xiaojun questioned Dou Jing about his mental technique and possible ties to Spirit Hall, the Golden Crocodile Jin Family, and Barton.
• Li Wuya protested, Yin Jiu stayed hidden, and Zhu Yanfeng accused Dou Jing of dragging his followers into danger and concealing Barton’s presence.

Chen Xiaojun sealed Dou Jing’s Upper Soul Nest and questioned the captured members of the Bone Excavation Group. Their testimonies revealed that Barton had trusted Blood Fang with the group’s most important secrets, leaving the investigation with few usable clues.

• Yan Zhen struggled to accept that Dou Jing and Barton had deceived him, while Li Wuya declared that he would rather die than betray his brother.
• Chen Xiaojun confronted Yan Zhen with the evidence against Dou Jing and offered him a chance to explain what he knew.
• Chen Xiaojun placed a Yin Sha Deep Abyss Seal on Dou Jing to prevent him from using Mental Power again.
• Yan Zhen admitted that he had only handled killings and knew little of the group’s arrangements, while Mo Li described fencing stolen goods and overhearing Barton’s men discuss pressure from above.
• Yin Jiu said Barton had relied most on Blood Fang, who controlled the crucial information and had served as his trusted aide.
• Chen Xiaojun recognized Blood Fang as the powerful Soul Sage he had killed, realizing that the key lead into Barton’s secrets had been lost.

Chen Xiaojun used his Mind Reading Technique on Dou Jing and exposed that Barton was holding Dou Jing’s children as leverage. Dou Jing agreed to tell them what he knew after Chen Xiaojun promised to spare the children, while Chen Xiaojun privately admitted he had only guessed and bluffed.

• Chen Xiaojun used Blood Fiend Qi to probe Dou Jing’s memories and learned that Barton had his offspring under control.
• Dou Jing reacted with panic when Chen Xiaojun revealed the secret, confirming that Barton was using his children as leverage.
• Chen Xiaojun named his method the Mind Reading Technique and threatened to harm Dou Jing’s child unless Dou Jing talked.
• Dou Jing agreed to tell Chen Xiaojun everything if he guaranteed his child’s life, and Chen Xiaojun accepted.
• Chen Xiaojun privately revealed that the technique only showed recent memories and that he had bluffed his way into exposing Dou Jing’s weakness.
• Qin Luguang concluded that Dou Jing had attacked Chen Xiaojun to seek a quick death and protect his children, while Zhu Yanfeng called the explanation hindsight.

Dou Jing recounted how Barton rose through the Bone Excavation Group, gained backing from powerful allies, and reshaped its businesses after becoming leader. He explained that Barton reached Soul Douluo ten years after joining, while Qin Luguang and Zhu Yanfeng suspected the Jin Family had secretly supported his rise and cultivation.

• Dou Jing said Barton joined the Bone Excavation Group twenty-one years earlier as a level-69 Soul Emperor and rose through the Soul Hunting Department by fighting bravely and earning his comrades' trust.
• Dou Jing described Barton reaching level 78 and becoming a Vice Leader in his seventh year, with a powerful soul bone and suspected secret support from the Jin Family.
• Dou Jing said Barton became leader after the old leader died, winning support from Tang Hengyu and Hahn as well as Dou Jing and other allies.
• Dou Jing explained that Barton consolidated control over key departments, expanded mining and trade through Hahn's Zhicheng Merchant Association, and brought the group into human trafficking.
• Dou Jing said Barton's rival Vice Leader died in an apparent accident five or six years later, and Barton became a Soul Douluo in his tenth year with the group.
• Zhu Yanfeng estimated that Barton had reached level 85 by the present and judged his innate talent consistent with that of an elite disciple from a ninth-rank aristocratic family.

Dou Jing revealed how Spirit Hall infiltrated and divided control of the Bone Excavation Group, with Blood Fang’s Garrison Army faction taking over human trafficking while Barton retained authority over routine operations. Chen Xiaojun and the others learned the group had served as a hidden supply base, but the exact purpose of the trafficked soul masters remained unclear.

• Dou Jing explained that Barton recruited outside soul masters, including Blood Fang, Huo Yifeng, Mao Zeqian, and the Quentin Brothers, who brought new organizational and intelligence capabilities into the Bone Excavation Group.
• Dou Jing said the group’s valuable materials flowed through concealed channels and that human trafficking expanded after Blood Fang’s faction arrived, sending many young soul masters to Spirit Hall.
• Qin Luguang concluded that Spirit Hall had used the Bone Excavation Group as a hidden foothold in Heaven Dou City, and Chen Xiaojun asked why Spirit Hall wanted so many soul masters.
• Dou Jing said the enslaved soul masters appeared to end up in Spirit Hall’s Garrison Army, and that Blood Fang’s allies backed him against Barton despite Barton’s greater rank.
• Dou Jing described Barton’s dispute with Blood Fang over high-grade Soul Tool materials and said the Jin Family’s influence over the group’s core affairs weakened afterward.
• Dou Jing clarified that Barton still handled routine operations, while Blood Fang’s faction controlled human trafficking and divided special resources with Barton’s side.

Dou Jing recalled how Barton had saved his life, helped him have a child, and won his loyalty during a power struggle. After Barton seized power, Dou Jing carried out his orders but began to suspect how deeply Barton’s dealings with outside factions ran.

• Twenty-one years earlier, Barton rescued Dou Jing from Crystal Scorpions in the Soul Crystal Mine Pit and was badly wounded saving him.
• Eighteen years earlier, Barton gave Dou Jing a Mystic Ice Life-Giving Orchid, and Dou Jing’s wife later became pregnant.
• Fourteen years earlier, Barton offered Dou Jing Earth Core Jade Marrow in exchange for the Guard Department supporting his bid to lead the group, and Dou Jing accepted his leadership.
• After Barton seized power, Dou Jing led the Guard Department in killing ten opponents while the Rust Brothers Company blocked the mine passage.
• Dou Jing discovered that Barton’s alliances and dealings extended to Rust, Zhicheng, mineral smuggling channels, and Jin Family intelligence outposts.

Dou Jing recalled how Barton’s protection of his family, favors, and political compromises bound him ever more tightly to the Bone Excavation Group and Spirit Hall. In the dungeon, he judged that Barton had retained some principles but had ultimately become a prisoner of forces controlling his fate.

• Ten years earlier, Dou Jing agreed to fake his wife and child’s deaths and move them to Heaven Dou City, but Barton secretly placed them under surveillance and used their safety to ensure Dou Jing’s loyalty.
• Seven years earlier, Dou Jing killed and erased an informant on Barton’s orders, recognizing that Barton relied on him to eliminate dangerous loose ends.
• Five years earlier, Barton gave Dou Jing a thirty-thousand-year-old Left Arm Bone that helped him break through to Soul Douluo, and Dou Jing realized the gift also strengthened Barton’s hold over him.
• Three years earlier, Dou Jing learned that Blood Fang had known about his son and wanted to send him to Spirit City, while Barton had blocked that plan and preserved Dou Jing’s chance to see him in Heaven Dou City.
• In the dungeon, Dou Jing told Zhu Yanfeng and Qin Luguang that Barton had once had principles but had become trapped by the Jin Family and Spirit Hall.

At Soul Fighting Academy, Ma Yinqi revealed that Chen Xinyi was Donghuang Xiuyi, the Genius List’s top-ranked fighter, and that she possessed a 100,000-year sixth soul ring. Chen Jianjun admitted he had been bound by a family gag order, leaving his teammates scrambling to rethink their strategy against Chang'an Team.

• Ma Yinqi barged into the Tactical Conference Room and confronted Chen Jianjun with intelligence identifying Chen Xinyi as Donghuang Xiuyi and revealing her 100,000-year soul ring.
• Gui Dang, Xue Wanni, and Fang Yiling reacted with shock and anger as they realized their plans had treated Donghuang as a healer and underestimated her strength.
• Ximen Chuixue pointed out that Donghuang had a sixth soul ring, confirming she was a Soul Emperor and intensifying the team’s alarm about her abilities.
• Chen Jianjun explained that a family gag order had kept him from learning or revealing the full extent of Donghuang’s identity and power.
• Ma Yinqi demanded compensation, the teammates rebuked Chen Jianjun, and he handed her his money pouch, which she declared insufficient.

After learning that Chen Xiaojun had slain six Soul Sages and that Ma Liang had been badly injured again, Chen Jianjun and his teammates assessed the threat posed by Xiaojun and Xiao Yi before the tournament. They resolved to prepare for a deadly contest, while Chen Jianjun sensed their opponents were playing a much larger game.

• Ma Yinqi confronted Chen Jianjun with a secret letter reporting Chen Xiaojun's battle against six Soul Sages and complained that Ma Liang had been injured five times while following him.
• Gui Dang, Xue Wanni, Fang Yiling, and Ximen Chuixue reacted to Xiaojun's sword skills and Xiao Yi's strength, and Chen Jianjun admitted that he had not known how powerful his brother had become.
• Fang Yiling urged the team to find a way to survive against Xiao Yi and Xiaojun, and Gui Dang and Xue Wanni accepted the challenge and vowed to fight them.
• Chen Jianjun and the others speculated that Xiaojun's sword skills came from a new inheritance and identified possible limits in Xiaojun's and Xiao Yi's abilities.
• Chen Jianjun imagined Xiaojun and Xiao Yi facing one another across the tournament and concluded that the competition would be a fight to the death.

As the search for the missing Qinghuang Sword Monarch fueled a bloody conflict in Heaven Dou City's Underground World, the Imperial Military Department identified Crimson Embrace as the likely kidnapper. Mystic Bird Division elites then raided a Crimson Embrace altar, where cultists planned to use Qinghuang as a vessel for their lord.

• Underground factions and official forces fought fiercely across Heaven Dou City's districts as the search for Qinghuang Sword Monarch continued.
• Ge Laihao demanded a larger military assault, but Zuo Tinggang warned that the underground passages would make heavy forces vulnerable.
• Mystic Bird Division reported that Crimson Embrace had likely abducted Qinghuang, and Imperial Prince Xue Jiqing ordered a hunt for the cult and the missing Black Tongue.
• The Ye Xiao action team infiltrated a bone altar and discovered Crimson Embrace cultists preparing Qinghuang as a vessel for the Lord of Corrupt Blood.
• The Ye Xiao elites launched a swift assault on the gathered cultists.

Ge Laizheng and Yu Yuancheng killed the cult priest, but his prophecy that Qinghuang Sword Monarch would unleash a flood of corrupt blood within seven days spread panic through the Underground City. The city descended into chaos as crowds surged against official exits, while Ge Laihao recognized that Crimson Embrace had gained cover for its next move.

• A cultist pierced by a Mystic Bird Division blade tore open his chest and sprayed corrosive Black Blood, killing three elites and turning the battle into a bloody melee.
• Ge Laizheng and Yu Yuancheng arrived, broke the priest’s defenses, and struck him down.
• Before dying, the priest declared that Qinghuang Sword Monarch had been claimed by the Lord of Corrupt Blood and would drown the surface within seven days.
• The prophecy spread through the Underground World, driving slum residents, smugglers, and others into a panicked rush toward the exits.
• Crowds overwhelmed the order at the controlled entrances, and Ge Laihao saw the city’s exit nodes marked as severely disorderly.
• Ge Laihao recognized that Crimson Embrace had used the panic as a shield, while the search for Qinghuang Sword Monarch became urgent.

Chen Xun assigned personnel to Heaven Dou City and told Si Baining to prepare for an accelerated promotion to Titled Douluo before sending him to Star Luo City. Meanwhile, Zhu Hanshu and a group of companions arrived at the Chen Family Mountain Fortress in Toske Province, where Zhao Deyun greeted them.

• Chen Xun dispatched ten Chen Family members to Heaven Dou City, assigning seven to Iron Jaw Fortress and three to the Heaven Dou Duke Residence.
• Chen Xun told Si Baining that his promotion ceremony would take place in three or four days and that he would reinforce the Chen Family’s position in Star Luo City afterward.
• Chen Xun explained that the Crimson Church might retaliate for the Sunset City battle and that the Chen Family needed additional strength in Star Luo because Chen Qiujun remained badly injured.
• Meng Wei reported that Ma Tianyang had come to visit, and Chen Xun welcomed him into the hall.
• Zhu Hanshu arrived at the Toske Province Mountain Fortress on the Golden Crown Eagle King with Ma Tianxiang, Luo Zongtao, Rong Yunhua, and Zhao Shan.
• Zhao Deyun greeted Zhu Hanshu and the others, and Zhu Hanshu suggested they talk inside.

Chen Hanxin and the other leaders discussed the Chen Clan’s new administration, the expansion of its guards, and the ancestral land’s growing role as a strategic hub. The ancestral land was set to become a fortified second headquarters and training center for the clan’s eastern operations.

• Chen Hanxin assigned clan affairs to herself and placed Rong Yunhua in charge of eastern finance as part of the new leadership structure.
• Zhu Hanshu outlined plans to expand the Chen Shadow Guard, promote Mo Qiyuan as a vice commander, and eventually give Mo Zimo a senior command post at headquarters.
• Zhu Hanshu said the clan would screen people from a human-trafficking syndicate in Heaven Dou City to recruit suitable candidates for its guards and internal affairs forces.
• The leaders agreed to expand training facilities at the ancestral land and move most new Brocade-Clad Guards training there, while reducing Soul Fighting City’s training base to medium size.
• Chen Hanxin explained that the ancestral land’s defenses and location would support the clan’s eastern expansion and future Plan Number Five, making it a natural second headquarters.

Chen Xiaojun confronted the captives who protested their confinement at Iron Jaw Fortress and killed their ringleader to end the unrest. The courtyard fell silent as he left, while the remaining captives faced the Chen Clan’s authority.

• Chen Xiaojun entered the courtyard where captives from the Bone Excavation Group were demanding their freedom from Chen Mu, Gu Yuanchao, and Ma Liang.
• Chen Xiaojun stopped Gu Yuanchao from attacking as Xue Li Luke urged the captives to keep protesting.
• Chen Xiaojun drew the Nethersea Seven Kill Sword and advanced, frightening Xue Li Luke into stammering about the Chen Clan’s reputation and the law.
• Chen Xiaojun asked the ringleader’s name, called him Xue Li Luke, and beheaded him with a single strike.
• Chen Xiaojun left the courtyard as the other captives stood frozen in silence.

After Chen Xiaojun coldly killed Xue Li Luke, he realized the impulse did not feel like his own and suspected the Black-Red Light Cocoon in his sea of consciousness was influencing him. Ye Xiuxin confirmed that the cocoon could absorb negative energy and erode his judgment, leaving Chen Xiaojun warned to resist its influence.

• Chen Mu told Chen Xiaojun that something was wrong with him, and Chen Xiaojun asked Third Child to visit him later.
• Chen Xiaojun reviewed his past killings and concluded that his sudden, indifferent urge to kill Xue Li Luke was unlike his true will.
• Chen Xiaojun confronted the Black-Red Light Cocoon in his sea of consciousness, but it gave no answer.
• Ye Xiuxin examined Chen Xiaojun and found no serious physical injury, but agreed that his sword strike had seemed too cold and unconsidered.
• Ye Xiuxin studied the blood crystals and explained that the cocoon could devour negative energy, draw on his power, and deepen its connection to his Nethersea Seven Kill Sword.
• Ye Xiuxin warned Chen Xiaojun that using the cocoon's power could erode his will and judgment, and urged him to stay on guard.