Chapter Summaries

Shi Yi, a reincarnated orphan in Riverbank Village, took part in his Martial Soul awakening ceremony and manifested a mutated living ant. The chapter ended as he placed his hand on the Soul Power testing crystal, waiting to learn whether he could become a Soul Master.

• Shi Yi lost the fish he had caught, then hurried with Li Changshou to the village hut for the annual Martial Soul awakening.
• A young Battle Soul Master from Spirit Hall arrived and arranged the black stones for the ceremony.
• The village children awakened ordinary Martial Souls, including a scythe, Blue Silver Grass, a hammer, and a shovel, but showed no Soul Power.
• Shi Yi entered the Awakening Array and manifested a living ant as his mutated Martial Soul.
• The young Soul Master told Shi Yi to test his Soul Power, and Shi Yi placed his hand on the blue crystal ball.

Shi Yi awakened Level 1 Innate Soul Power and received a certificate that allowed him to enroll at Nuoding City Junior Soul Master Academy. After preparing to leave the village, he studied his ant Martial Soul and discovered that it could eat, inspiring him to consider how living Martial Souls might grow and cultivate.

• Shi Yi awakened Soul Power, received his Awakening Certificate, and learned he could attend an academy in Nuoding City.
• Shi Yi helped the young man pack up and asked about traveling to Nuoding City, then learned he would need to leave soon to attend the academy.
• Li Changshou and Li Yi congratulated Shi Yi, prepared him food and supplies, and arranged for him to travel with villagers going to the market.
• Back home, Shi Yi summoned his ant Martial Soul, named it Little Ant, and discovered that it could eat rice porridge.
• Shi Yi wondered whether Little Ant could absorb energy and grow independently, then welcomed it as family.

Shi Yi left Riverbank Village for Nuoding City to begin his Soul Master path, analyzing Little Ant’s potential and planning how to develop his Martial Soul. He reached Nuoding City and went to its Junior Soul Master Academy, where an aggressive gatekeeper stopped him.

• Shi Yi found Little Ant eating an ordinary ant and watched it feed before preparing to leave the village.
• Shi Yi departed Riverbank Village with Uncle Wang, then hired a carriage in Moonflower City to travel to Nuoding City.
• During the journey, Shi Yi assessed Little Ant’s strengths and weaknesses and sketched plans for developing his Martial Soul.
• After two days on the road, Shi Yi arrived in Nuoding City and asked for directions to the Junior Soul Master Academy.
• At the academy entrance, a young gatekeeper stopped Shi Yi, and Shi Yi approached him.

Shi Yi entered Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy and found Yu Xiaogang in the Library, where he challenged one claim in Yu Xiaogang’s book. After Yu Xiaogang saw Shi Yi’s living ant Martial Soul and offered to teach him, Shi Yi accepted his offer to become his disciple.

• Shi Yi registered at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy as a Work-Study Student and searched its Library for a Meditation Method.
• Shi Yi met Yu Xiaogang, the author of Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul, and questioned his claim about Innate Soul Power and Martial Soul strength.
• Yu Xiaogang examined Shi Yi’s certificate, learned that his Martial Soul was a mutated ant with Innate Level 1 Soul Power, and took him to his dormitory.
• Shi Yi released his living ant Martial Soul, startling Yu Xiaogang and prompting him to give Shi Yi his Meditation Method.
• Yu Xiaogang offered to pass on his knowledge if Shi Yi took him as his master, and Shi Yi accepted.

Shi Yi became Yu Xiaogang’s disciple and began exploring ways to improve the basic Meditation Method. During dinner, his idea about keeping his martial soul summoned made Yu Xiaogang reconsider his own assumptions, though he still hesitated to summon his own martial soul in public.

• Shi Yi accepted Yu Xiaogang as his teacher and was allowed to study in his room and read its books.
• Shi Yi moved into Dormitory Seven, met Wang Sheng, and received bedding from Teacher Mo on Yu Xiaogang’s behalf.
• Shi Yi read the Meditation Method and drew a diagram of the body’s meridians as he considered how to improve cultivation.
• At dinner, Shi Yi suggested optimizing the Meditation Method, and Yu Xiaogang offered to let him study his unfinished research.
• Shi Yi explained that he kept Little Ant summoned because it could absorb the energy of heaven and earth, prompting Yu Xiaogang to reconsider his research but hesitate to summon San Pao in public.

Shi Yi taught Little Ant to write and began meditating while considering how to overcome their innate limits. Yu Xiaogang revealed Luo Sanpao and chose to let Shi Yi study independently, and Shi Yi began using Yu Xiaogang’s research to develop a cultivation method of his own.

• Shi Yi thanked Yu Xiaogang for the meal, then took Little Ant to a secluded grove to explore and learn to write the character for “one.”
• Shi Yi considered absorption, inheritance, and plunder as ways to improve himself and Little Ant, then returned to the dormitory and began meditating.
• The next morning, Shi Yi exercised and ate breakfast with Yu Xiaogang, who agreed that self-preservation mattered most before they began his studies.
• Yu Xiaogang summoned Luo Sanpao and explained that Shi Yi’s independent thinking made direct instruction a risk, so he offered him access to the books in his room instead.
• Shi Yi studied Yu Xiaogang’s diagrams of Soul Power circulation and began sensing his own Soul Power to work toward creating an internal cultivation cycle.

Shi Yi created the Twelve Meridians cultivation method by completing a Soul Power cycle through his channels, then spent two years using it to build his foundation and reach level nine. When Yu Xiaogang sent him to deliver bedding to his new disciple, Shi Yi met Tang San at the academy dormitory.

• Shi Yi circulated Soul Power through his meridians and completed a cycle, confirming Yu Xiaogang's theory while discovering that blocked channels slowed the process.
• Shi Yi suggested that Soul Rings or a powerful expert might clear Yu Xiaogang's blocked channels, though Yu Xiaogang doubted he could obtain the help or resources needed.
• Shi Yi named his gentle foundational method Twelve Meridians and focused on clearing his channels while he was young.
• Over the next two years, Shi Yi advanced from level one to level nine with the Twelve Meridians cultivation method.
• Yu Xiaogang told Shi Yi to take bedding to Tang San, his new disciple, at Nuoding Academy.
• Shi Yi delivered the bedding to Tang San in Dormitory Seven and introduced himself as Tang San's Senior Disciple Brother.

Shi Yi discussed Tang San’s potential and proposed ways to develop his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul, while Yu Xiaogang revealed that Tang San also had the Clear Sky Hammer. The chapter ended with Yu Xiaogang considering Shi Yi’s advice as Tang Hao listened from a hidden seat in the cafeteria.

• Shi Yi told Yu Xiaogang that Tang San’s disciplined nature might limit his ability to surpass his master in theoretical research.
• Yu Xiaogang asked Shi Yi to devise a growth plan for Tang San, and Tang San chose to eat with his roommates rather than join them.
• Shi Yi recommended cultivating Blue Silver Grass through plant-type Soul Rings that could grant vitality, poison, parasitism, devouring, reproduction, and other traits.
• Yu Xiaogang revealed that Tang San had the Clear Sky Hammer, and Shi Yi said Tang San could focus on that Martial Soul while consulting his father about its cultivation.
• Tang Hao listened unseen as Shi Yi argued that focused mastery of the Clear Sky Hammer could be better than accumulating many abilities.
• Shi Yi advised Yu Xiaogang to share the options with Tang San and let him decide what suited him best.

Yu Xiaogang, Shi Yi, and Tang San discussed how Tang San should develop his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul before seeking his first Soul Ring. Tang San chose to pursue his own plan, while Shi Yi began thinking about improving his own abilities.

• Yu Xiaogang gave Tang San food and told him they would leave the academy the next morning to find a suitable Soul Ring.
• Yu Xiaogang asked Tang San how he thought Blue Silver Grass could develop, and Tang San suggested giving it sharpness.
• Shi Yi and Yu Xiaogang explained three development plans: sharpness and strength, toughness and poison, or a broad range of plant traits.
• Tang San chose to decide his own development plan, saying he wanted to build a strong foundation rather than seek immediate gains.
• Yu Xiaogang agreed to Tang San's choice and planned to collect him from his dormitory the next morning.
• Shi Yi warned Yu Xiaogang that they might need the Dean's help to hunt a powerful animal Soul Beast, then began searching Yu Xiaogang's bookshelves.

Shi Yi received Yu Xiaogang’s Storage Belt and pondered how he might learn to make Soul Tools, then reached level ten and set out with Yu Xiaogang, Tang San, and Nuoding Academy’s dean to find Soul Rings. The group entered the Soul Hunting Forest and camped there after a day of searching without finding suitable Soul Beasts.

• Shi Yi asked Yu Xiaogang about Soul Tools, received his Storage Belt, and considered studying materials, blacksmithing, and Core Formations despite the expense.
• Shi Yi broke through to level ten, and Yu Xiaogang prepared to take him and Tang San to the Soul Hunting Forest for their first Soul Rings.
• Yu Xiaogang led Shi Yi, Tang San, and the dean toward the forest, explaining Soul Master knowledge along the way and identifying the Thousand Jun Ant as Shi Yi’s planned choice.
• Inside the forest, Yu Xiaogang introduced Luo Sanpao and Shi Yi revealed Little Ant, while Yu Xiaogang explained their Living Mutation Martial Souls to Tang San.
• After searching for suitable Soul Beasts for half a day, Yu Xiaogang chose a sheltered depression for the group to camp, and Tang San noticed something as he prepared insect-repelling powder.

Tang San killed a Gold Devouring Leopard and absorbed its hundred-year Soul Ring while Shi Yi discovered that Little Ant gained a metallic sheen after eating the beast. The next morning, Tang San awakened as a one-ring Soul Master and demonstrated the sharpness of his Blue Silver Grass and his Tang Sect throwing technique.

• Tang San dodged a Gold Devouring Leopard, and the Dean defeated it after Yu Xiaogang identified it as a suitable Soul Beast.
• Tang San killed the wounded leopard, absorbed its Soul Ring, and endured the violent heat as the ring merged with his Blue Silver Grass.
• Shi Yi let Little Ant devour the leopard's corpse and noticed its carapace had developed a faint metallic sheen.
• The Dean guarded Tang San through the night while Shi Yi watched Little Ant and considered hunting in Sunset Forest for the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
• Tang San woke with improved physical abilities, revealed his Soul Ring and sharper Blue Silver Grass, and used the Throwing Hand Arrow to send leaves into a tree.

Shi Yi and Yu Xiaogang advised Tang San on developing his Blue Silver Grass techniques, then led the group to hunt a Thousand Jun Ant for Shi Yi’s Soul Ring. Shi Yi absorbed the ring as Little Ant transformed, and Tang San wondered how Shi Yi had circulated Soul Power so efficiently.

• Shi Yi suggested that Tang San develop his Blue Silver Grass hidden-weapon techniques into Self-Created Soul Skills and consider Soul Ring traits that enhanced projectiles.
• Yu Xiaogang had Little Ant guide the group through the Soul Hunting Forest, where they found a Thousand Jun Ant of roughly the age they sought.
• The Dean restrained and wounded the Thousand Jun Ant, then told Shi Yi to finish it; Shi Yi killed it and began absorbing its yellow Soul Ring.
• Shi Yi sped up his Soul Power circulation when the ring’s energy overwhelmed him, easing the pressure as he absorbed it.
• Little Ant grew Sword Teeth and powerful forelimbs during the absorption, while Tang San questioned how Shi Yi’s cultivation method processed the energy so quickly.

After absorbing his first Soul Ring, Shi Yi gained a major physical transformation and a strength-boosting skill, then proposed ways to develop his Living Martial Soul. He and Tang San registered at Spirit Hall in Nuoding City and collected their subsidies, and the chapter ended with Shi Yi asking Tang San to teach him blacksmithing.

• Shi Yi awakened after absorbing the Thousand Jun Ant Soul Ring, gained a 150% Strength Increase skill, and discussed its limits and his Living Martial Soul research ideas with Yu Xiaogang and Tang San.
• Yu Xiaogang sent Shi Yi and Tang San to register as Soul Masters at Nuoding City's Spirit Hall and collect their monthly subsidies.
• Shi Yi led Tang San through the city and teased him about Xiao Wu before taking him to Spirit Hall for an assessment.
• Ma Xiunuo assessed the boys, finding Tang San had level thirteen Soul Power and Shi Yi had level twelve, and they collected their subsidies.
• Tang San stopped at a blacksmith shop and said he wanted to keep practicing the craft he had learned from Tang Hao, while Shi Yi asked him to teach him forging.

Shi Yi discovered that Little Ant could enter Beast Soul Possession, but learned that Little Ant’s intelligence and desire for freedom meant it had to cooperate. He left the academy’s young students to handle their own affairs, then discussed forging and the potential of Soul Tools with Yu Xiaogang.

• Shi Yi sent Tang San to the Back Mountain while he stayed behind to study whether Little Ant could undergo Beast Soul Possession.
• Shi Yi used Soul Power to possess Little Ant and heard its childlike thoughts, then ended the possession after learning it disliked being unable to move.
• Shi Yi concluded that possession required communication and the Living Martial Soul’s willingness, but decided not to explain the discovery to Yu Xiaogang.
• Shi Yi met Xiao Wu and the Work-Study Students in the Cafeteria, greeted Xiao Wu as Sister Xiao Wu, and told Tang San he would not take her teasing to heart.
• Shi Yi told Yu Xiaogang he planned to forge with Tang San and explained that Soul Tools might eventually serve as a Soul Master’s second Martial Soul.

Shi Yi and Tang San visited Shi San’s Blacksmith Shop and became apprentices after Tang San demonstrated his forging skill and Shi Yi tried to imitate him. The chapter left them beginning work together, with Tang San set to teach Shi Yi.

• Shi Yi gave Tang San breakfast and encouraged him to accept Yu Xiaogang’s support despite what others might say.
• Shi Yi and Tang San reached the Blacksmith Shop and asked Shi San to take them on as apprentices.
• Tang San lifted Shi San’s hammer and used the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer to refine pig iron, astonishing the blacksmiths.
• Shi Yi tried the technique but struck less precisely than Tang San, who agreed to teach him.
• Shi San hired both boys, offering them meals and wages as they began work at the shop.

A year after beginning his Soul Tool research, Shi Yi completed a Wind-attribute Core Formation and embedded it in an Iron Essence sword. He woke after collapsing from exhaustion, while Yu Xiaogang examined the weapon and warned him to keep his invention secret and rest.

• At Shi San's Blacksmith Shop, Shi Yi explained to Tang San that his Iron Essence sword needed a Core Formation to store and amplify Soul Power.
• Shi Yi asked Yu Xiaogang for conductive Wind-attribute materials, and Yu Xiaogang arranged to obtain them from Flender.
• Three days later, Shi Yi chose a pure Wind Crystal and a sharp Spirit Feather from the materials Yu Xiaogang brought back.
• Shi Yi spent a day and night carving a Dual Core Formation into the Wind Crystal, fitted it into the sword's hilt, and collapsed from exhaustion before testing it.
• After Shi Yi awoke, Yu Xiaogang praised the sword's Wind-attribute effects, cautioned him to conceal his ability to make Soul Tools, and urged him to rest.

Fourteen-year-old Shi Yi arrived in Suotuo City ahead of Tang San and Xiao Wu and explored Flender’s shop, studying its old Soul Tools. He left with a Hair Crystal for developing defensive Soul Tools, while Flender anticipated that Shrek would become more interesting.

• Shi Yi explained how Tang San had abandoned Soul Tool design and manufacture, then parted from Tang San and Xiao Wu after reaching Suotuo City.
• Shi Yi found Flender’s shop and spent the afternoon recording the designs, materials, and damaged Core Formations of its Soul Tools.
• Tang San and Xiao Wu arrived at the shop, where Flender assessed them as Tang San pulled Xiao Wu away from Shi Yi.
• Shi Yi noticed a Hair Crystal in the shop and asked Flender its price as the day ended.
• Flender let Shi Yi take the crystal, then suspected that Shi Yi knew his identity; Shi Yi denied it and left the shop.

Shi Yi collected Hair Crystal, rented a home and research room near Shrek Academy, and watched Tang San and the others face Zhao Wuji’s entrance test. After Zhao Wuji defeated them but passed them anyway, Shi Yi returned to his room and headed to Suotuo City to buy supplies.

• Shi Yi broke open the crystal, gathered its Hair Crystal needles, and considered their potential for defensive Soul Tools.
• Shi Yi met Xiao Wu and Tang San on the road to Shrek Academy, then rented two houses in the nearby village instead of joining the registration queue.
• Shi Yi watched Tang San, Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing fight Zhao Wuji, who overwhelmed them and left Tang San injured.
• Zhao Wuji declared that the students had passed the test, and Shi Yi told him he had already rented a place nearby.
• Shi Yi returned to his room, worried about the academy’s food, and set out for Suotuo City to buy supplies.

Shi Yi joined Shrek Academy despite being over the age limit, after Flender accepted his record of reaching Soul Power Level twenty-seven with Innate Level 1 Soul Power. After Dai Mubai challenged his admission and nearly struck him, Flender stopped the attack and warned Shi Yi not to provoke Dai Mubai or use his Soul Tools against students.

• Shi Yi recorded his cultivation progress, made breakfast, and offered Flender porridge when the Dean visited to ask why he had not registered.
• Flender admitted Shi Yi to Shrek Academy and summoned him to the training ground when the bell rang.
• Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun doubted Shi Yi's admission, but Flender confirmed his cultivation achievement and Tang San vouched for his Innate Level 1 Soul Power.
• Dai Mubai charged at Shi Yi after Shi Yi mocked him, but Flender seized Dai Mubai's fist and stopped him.
• Flender assigned Oscar and Ning Rongrong to run twenty laps, then took Tang San and Shi Yi to his office and warned Shi Yi about Dai Mubai and his Soul Tools.
• Shi Yi left the office, and Tang San gave Flender a letter from their teacher.

Shi Yi baited Ning Rongrong into meeting him in Suotuo City, while Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin discussed Shi Yi’s reported cultivation and Ning Rongrong’s future. Back at Shrek Academy, Flender punished Oscar for lying about Ning Rongrong completing her laps and confronted her about skipping the assignment.

• Shi Yi waited at a teahouse in Suotuo City, where Ning Rongrong found him and admitted she had stopped running her laps.
• Ning Rongrong offered Shi Yi a place among the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect’s core disciples if he proved his cultivation, but Shi Yi refused and left.
• A report about Shi Yi’s background led Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin to discuss whether his rise from Innate Level 1 Soul Power could be real and how Ning Rongrong might benefit from meeting talented youths.
• Flender questioned Oscar about the students’ laps, then ordered him to run another twenty after he lied to cover for Ning Rongrong.
• Ning Rongrong admitted she had not completed Flender’s assignment, and Flender listed her time in Suotuo City before she realized he had been watching her.