Chapter Summaries

Tang San was left devastated after his hidden weapons failed against You Xing, while Tang Hao watched anxiously from hiding. You Xing challenged Tang San not to give up, but his praise and disappointment drew Tang San deeper into following his lead.

• Tang Hao watched Tang San lose to You Xing and worried that the defeat would shatter his son's resolve, but he stayed hidden.
• You Chen noticed Tang Hao's intense attention and feared he might intervene, though the match had been fair.
• You Xing approached the defeated Tang San and asked whether he was really admitting defeat.
• Tang San doubted whether even his strongest hidden weapons could harm a soul master of the same rank.
• You Xing said Tang San's hidden weapons could defeat stronger opponents, then declared himself disappointed in him, drawing Tang San's thoughts along with his words.

You Xing's words revived Tang San's fighting spirit, and the two promised to face each other again in three years. Tang Hao left reassured by their rivalry but remained wary of You Chen, whom he judged capable of treating Tang San as an enemy without mercy.

• You Xing challenged Tang San's despair after his defeat, reminding him that he had lost to the strongest one-ring Soul Master.
• Tang San stood again, resolved to earn You Xing's recognition, and proposed a rematch in three years when he became a Soul Grandmaster; You Xing agreed to improve together.
• Tang Hao watched their exchange and saw You Xing encouraging Tang San, though he also imagined parallels with his own past relationships.
• You Chen sent Tang San and Yu Xiaogang away to let Tang San recover, while Tang San belatedly wondered why You Xing had not mentioned his martial soul.
• Tang Hao withdrew after the residence gates closed and concluded that You Chen's attitudes toward different people were genuine, but that he might eliminate Tang San if he ever regarded him as an enemy.

You Chen continued cultivating while avoiding contact with Tang Hao and used Tang San’s growing affection for Xiao Wu to provoke hostility toward You Xing. His experiments revealed that important characters carried Destiny Force, which lowered mission triggers and boosted rewards, leaving him determined to collect first-time rewards from every major figure he could target.

• You Chen concluded Tang Hao was unlikely to reveal himself and returned to his usual cultivation, accepting that he could not predict every danger.
• You Chen kept Xiao Wu friendly with Tang San while arranging for Tang San to see her flirting with You Xing, provoking jealousy and defeat missions.
• You Chen’s tests led him to identify Destiny Force as a factor that lowered mission thresholds and increased rewards for important characters.
• You Chen determined that high-Destiny-Force characters could yield powerful first-time rewards regardless of their current strength.
• You Chen resolved to trigger at least one mission against every important character from the original work and claim their first rewards.

Over the past year, You Chen balanced his task farming and Dog Training Plan while remaining loyal to Spirit Hall, even as Tang San’s cultivation slowed under growing pressures. Bibi Dong tightened surveillance on You Chen in Notting City, apparently believing he had gone there to target Yu Xiaogang, while You Chen’s own plans continued smoothly.

• You Chen concluded that he would not turn against Spirit Hall to reconcile with Tang San, since Tang San’s future revenge against Spirit Hall stemmed from his identity as Tang Hao’s son.
• You Chen discovered that tasks involving Tang San and Yu Xiaogang could merge into group tasks, stacking their rewards, though he triggered only one during the year.
• You Chen’s Dog Training Plan progressed without provoking Tang Hao, while Tang San’s lost crossbows, work-study chores, and mental strain slowed his cultivation from level 13 to level 15.
• Tang San thanked You Chen after the Notting City Hall Master removed the sign banning Yu Xiaogang and dogs, and Bibi Dong later sent two more Yellow-robed Deacons to monitor You Chen.
• You Chen inferred that Bibi Dong suspected he had gone to Notting City to target Yu Xiaogang, while she apparently failed to suspect that he had killed Bai Hu.

Over the year, You Chen strengthened his body and spiritual abilities, mastered several cultivation techniques, and ranked their usefulness. He then turned to practical experiments to refine his research into soul ring absorption limits and ways to raise them.

• You Chen raised his Soul Power Level from 54 to 57, developed Soul Sage-level physical strength on his main account, and brought his alt account's body to the Soul Emperor level.
• You Chen advanced the Soul Shocking Tactic and Aura Concealment Art to Great Accomplishment, while his Distraction Control Soul Refining Art reached the Five Hearts Realm.
• You Chen discovered that perfected Aura Concealment could hide soul rings while using their skills and could simulate different soul ring colors.
• You Chen adapted the Cloud Movement Fist into the Wind Movement Fist and combined them into Wind Cloud Movement, then rated his cultivation methods by their value to him.
• You Chen analyzed the materials Wan had collected to estimate soul ring absorption limits and began practical experiments to find more precise results and methods to raise those limits.

Over the past year, You Chen developed the Soul Power Borrowing Method to raise soul ring age limits and improved Starlight Avatar so it could persist through the night. He prepared to help Soul Arena Beasts’ strongest combatant obtain a fourth soul ring, testing whether his method worked on ten-thousand-year rings.

• You Chen used his research into the Mysterious Heaven Skill to create the Soul Power Borrowing Method, which let soul masters use accumulated hidden soul power while absorbing a ring.
• You Chen tested the method on several Beast Soldiers, who waited after reaching their bottlenecks before obtaining older soul rings.
• You Chen optimized Self-Transformed Starlight Avatar, extending its duration beyond eighteen hours and letting it recharge from starlight at night.
• You Chen developed a preliminary way to keep the avatar stable at a distance by placing part of his mind inside it.
• You Chen prepared to help Soul Arena Beasts’ strongest combatant, who had been stuck at Level 40 for a year, obtain a fourth ring and test the borrowing method on a ten-thousand-year soul ring.

Tang San invited Xiao Wu to spend winter break at his home, but she declined and told him You Chen was taking You Xing to the Star Dou Great Forest for training and a second soul ring. Realizing You Xing was nearing Soul Grandmaster while he remained level 15, Tang San hurried home to seek help from his father, only to find a letter saying Tang Hao had left.

• Tang San invited Xiao Wu to visit Holy Soul Village, but she refused because she planned to stay at the academy and research her second soul ring.
• Xiao Wu told Tang San that You Chen had taken You Xing to the Star Dou Great Forest for training and to obtain his second soul ring.
• Tang San felt driven to cultivate faster so he could face You Xing in their promised fight in two years.
• Tang San remembered his suspicions about his father and rushed home, where he found Tang Hao's letter saying he had left and could not be found.

You Chen and You Xing were intercepted outside Notting City by Spirit Hall deacons, but You Chen defeated their Soul King leader’s attack and escaped. He intended the confrontation to shape Bibi Dong’s suspicions while preserving his ability to leave more freely later.

• A Soul King and two Soul Ancestors ordered You Chen to return to Notting City and leave You Xing’s soul ring to another deacon.
• You Chen revealed his five soul rings, took You Xing into the air, and broke the Soul King’s ten-thousand-year soul skill with his third soul skill.
• You Chen warned the deacons that he would have killed them if they were not members of Spirit Hall, then flew away with You Xing.
• The defeated Soul King ordered the others to notify their superior that only a Soul Emperor could restrain You Chen.
• You Chen considered how the staged departure would lower Bibi Dong’s guard and strengthen her belief that he deeply valued You Xing.

You Chen arrived at a hidden Soul Arena Beasts base with his disciples and prepared to help Ignis hunt her fourth soul ring. Ignis accepted the risks of absorbing a twelve-thousand-year Earth Fire Dragon soul ring and told You Chen she was ready to offer him her heart.

• You Chen flew at full speed after escaping the Spirit Hall members and reached a hidden village near the Star Dou Great Forest in less than half a day.
• Twenty-seven Soul Arena Beasts greeted You Chen, including Ignis, a fifteen-year-old level-40 Soul Master known as the Red Dragon.
• Ignis's parents and villagers had feared her mutated Fire Dragon traits, and after fleeing and nearly being sold into slavery, she joined You Chen's organization.
• You Chen warned Ignis that the Soul Power Borrowing Method might not protect her from irreversible harm while absorbing a twelve-thousand-year soul ring.
• Ignis agreed to hunt the Earth Fire Dragon and told You Chen she was prepared to offer him her heart.

You Chen assessed Ignis’s Fire Dragon Martial Soul and explained how soul power aptitude, bloodline stability, and inheritance shaped Martial Soul strength. He offered Ignis the chance to become the first Beast Head if she reached Soul Ancestor and met his combat assessment, inspiring the other Soul Arena Beasts to compete for the role.

• You Chen judged Ignis’s innate full soul power and Fire Dragon talent as greater than her six-dimensional scores suggested.
• You Chen explained that powerful Martial Souls such as the Flame Lord were harder to pass down consistently than the stabilized Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon and Clear Sky Hammer.
• You Chen reasoned that the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan likely excluded Liu Erlong from its family register to protect its bloodline from degeneration through mixing with the Fire Dragon Martial Soul.
• You Chen promised Ignis the Dragon Head position if she advanced to Soul Ancestor and demonstrated Soul King-level combat strength.
• The Soul Arena Beasts learned that Beast Heads held ruling authority and could each make one wish of You Chen, prompting them to aspire to the rank.

You Chen explained the paths to becoming a Beast Head and urged the Soul Arena Beasts to approach their mission with patience, while promising to watch over them. As the group set out to obtain Ignis’s Fourth Soul Ring and test their combat ability, You Chen revealed the Black Fire Crossbow, a gunpowder-powered weapon he believed could help them hunt the Ten Thousand Year Earth Fire Dragon.

• You Chen explained that Soul Arena Beasts could become Beast Heads through strength, special merit, or defeating the current Beast Head of their species.
• You Chen clarified that the mission would not earn special merit and told the Soul Arena Beasts he would watch over them as they departed.
• You Chen planned to keep dangerous soul beasts away while the group tested its ability to hunt Ignis’s Fourth Soul Ring.
• You Chen revealed that he had developed the Black Fire Crossbow by combining gunpowder with the Godly Zhuge Crossbow’s design.
• You Chen judged that the Black Fire Crossbow gave the Soul Arena Beasts a chance to hunt the Ten Thousand Year Earth Fire Dragon.

You Chen guided the Soul Arena Beasts to the territory of a Ten Thousand Year Earth Fire Dragon and prepared them for a difficult trial. He located the beast and sent a Starlight Avatar to lure it out, leaving the hunting party poised to attack.

• The Soul Arena Beasts reached the boundary between the forest's outer ring and inner mixed zone after half a day of travel.
• You Chen watched the party's scouting and teamwork, pleased that they coordinated effectively and used their Black Firearms when needed.
• You Chen decided the hunt would test the party's ability to take on a powerful Earth Fire Dragon, while he stood ready to intervene if anyone faced danger.
• You Chen created a Starlight Avatar, announced that he had found the target, and flew toward its canyon.
• The Earth Fire Dragon drank beside a stream, sensed danger, and looked toward the approaching Starlight Avatar as a column of compressed air blades shot at it.

You Chen and the Soul Arena Beasts lured the Ten Thousand Year Earth Fire Dragon into a prepared ambush and wounded it badly with Black Fire Crossbows. As Kui and the other soul masters restrained the raging dragon, Amona attacked its wounded chest.

• You Chen's Starlight Avatar struck the Earth Fire Dragon with Wind Dragon's Roar, then drew the enraged beast toward a trap.
• The Earth Fire Dragon sank into a concealed swamp, where more than twenty Soul Arena Beasts fired a volley of modified Black Fire Crossbows into it.
• The wounded Earth Fire Dragon entered Berserk Mode and swept its tail at the Soul Arena Beasts, but their Defense and Control System squads coordinated to block and weaken its attacks.
• Kui organized the Control System soul masters to restrain the dragon while the Beast Soldiers' strongest members, Ignis and Amona, joined the fight.
• Amona charged the Earth Fire Dragon and punched its wounded chest with a tiger-headed phantom.

The Soul Arena Beasts’ plan to hunt the Earth Fire Dragon faltered when the wounded beast fled, forcing You Chen to intervene. You Chen stopped it with Dragon Might and knocked it unconscious with two punches.

• Amona and Ignis kept the Earth Fire Dragon occupied while Kui restrained it and the team fired another volley of Black Fire Crossbow bolts.
• The Earth Fire Dragon chose to flee, and Kui rallied the briefly stunned Soul Arena Beasts to intercept it.
• You Chen abandoned his work clearing nearby soul beasts and sent his Starlight Avatar exploding into the Earth Fire Dragon to knock it down.
• The Earth Fire Dragon got back up and tried to flee again, but You Chen arrived and froze it with the Soul Shocking Tactic focused through Dragon Might.
• You Chen struck the Earth Fire Dragon with Wind Movement Fist and Cloud Movement Fist, knocking it unconscious as the Soul Arena Beasts arrived.

You Chen defeated the Earth Fire Dragon and oversaw Ignis absorbing its twelve-thousand-year soul ring. Ignis gained a powerful boosting soul skill and accepted the dragon’s torso soul bone from You Chen, leaving her close to the Soul Emperor level.

• You Chen criticized Wind Cloud Movement as too slow to use reliably in battle, then ordered the Soul Arena Beasts to stay alert while they remained in the Star Dou Great Forest.
• You Chen told Ignis to finish off the unconscious Earth Fire Dragon, and she killed it before absorbing its Ten Thousand Year soul ring with the Soul Power Borrowing Method.
• After half an hour, Ignis reached level 45 and gained Red Dragon Battle Body, a soul skill that boosted her strength and defense.
• You Chen offered Ignis the Earth Fire Dragon’s torso soul bone, and, after she objected, insisted she accept it as a debt to repay through future service.
• Ignis later gained Red Dragon Battle Mark from the soul bone, a boosting skill that worked together with Red Dragon Battle Body.

After Ignis absorbed her soul ring, You Chen weighed whether to use his strength to equip his alt account with new soul rings or delay for the greater potential of researching a more advanced Soul Power Borrowing Method. He left the choice unresolved, considering whether system rewards and physical cultivation might make the faster path worthwhile.

• You Chen confirmed that Ignis's successful soul ring absorption fulfilled his trip's goals, including testing the Soul Power Borrowing Method, the Soul Arena Beasts, and the Black Fire Crossbow.
• You Chen realized he could now hunt soul beasts for his alt account's second and third soul rings, then obtain a sixth ring for his main account and reach Soul Emperor.
• You Chen ruled out immediately pursuing Soul Sage because he could not yet hunt a soul beast strong enough for his seventh ring.
• You Chen considered researching two-ring borrowing to raise the age of his alt account's soul rings further, but recognized that progress would be far more difficult and time-consuming.
• You Chen compared advancing quickly for greater safety and efficiency with waiting to develop his potential, while questioning whether the second path would outperform system rewards or physical cultivation.

You Chen reconsidered whether to pursue Soul Power Borrowing Method before absorbing more soul rings, realizing that he did not need to choose between immediate power and long-term plans. He ordered Soul Arena Beasts to return to their headquarters in the Star Luo Empire, where his training base and research institute were located.

• You Chen weighed the years required to develop Two-Ring Borrowing Method against the benefits of advancing his physical cultivation and absorbing soul rings.
• You Chen remembered that he had once planned to leave Spirit Hall and live quietly, and realized that he had trapped himself in black-and-white thinking about overturning the original fate.
• You Chen decided to make the choice he considered most correct at the time, since knowingly ignoring Soul Power Borrowing Method’s potential would make him regret it.
• You Chen ordered Soul Arena Beasts to return from the Star Dou Great Forest.
• You Chen and Soul Arena Beasts traveled through Star Luo City and the Star Radiance Duchy before settling at a valley near the Asturias Mountain Range, the group’s base and You Chen’s secret research institute.

You Chen handed Lin Zhi the Black Fire Crossbow data and new rifle blueprints, then entrusted him with developing the next generation of firearms. Lin Zhi agreed to build a Barrett Sniper Rifle capable of threatening Titled Douluo, while You Chen prepared to focus on the second-ring Soul Power Borrowing Method.

• You Chen gave Lin Zhi the Black Fire Crossbow performance records, and Lin Zhi identified severe durability problems that limited the weapon to six shots.
• You Chen showed Lin Zhi modern rifle blueprints and told him to take full responsibility for developing the firearms.
• Lin Zhi doubted his ability to work without You Chen, but You Chen encouraged him to trust in You Chen's confidence in him.
• You Chen ordered Lin Zhi to prioritize building a Barrett Sniper Rifle within three years, regardless of cost.
• Lin Zhi recognized the Barrett Sniper Rifle as a weapon capable of assassinating Titled Douluo-level experts and agreed to try building it.

You Chen reflected on Soul Arena Beasts’ growth, limits, and need to remain hidden from Spirit Hall before appointing Ignis as its first Beast Head. He told Ignis to exercise the authority of her new position so the organization could act independently of him.

• You Chen inspected the researchers and camp, maintaining equal standing among Soul Arena Beasts while recognizing that the organization’s growth was limited by the scarcity of beastification mutants.
• You Chen considered why Soul Arena Beasts had settled in Star Luo, where they were less likely to attract Spirit Hall’s attention, and concluded they could eventually become a powerful sect.
• You Chen announced Ignis’s appointment as the organization’s first Beast Head, the Dragon Head, and left the members to celebrate.
• Ignis met You Chen at the training ground and bowed, but he told her that Beast Heads held authority and status equal to his in order to lead the organization independently.

You Chen asked Ignis to stop treating him as an unquestionable god and to make her own decisions, then invited her to state the wish she had earned as the first Beast Head of her species. Ignis wished to become stronger, and You Chen gave her a cultivation method while hinting that he had prepared more.

• You Chen told Ignis to set an example by thinking for herself, and Ignis agreed while keeping her reverence for him in her heart.
• You Chen asked Ignis to name her wish as the first Beast Head of her species.
• Ignis wished to become strong enough to stand beside You Chen and share his burdens.
• You Chen gave Ignis the Five Qi Fire Evil method, which could strengthen her fire abilities and potentially rival a top-tier ten-thousand-year soul skill.
• Ignis thanked You Chen but doubted the method could bring her close to her goal, and You Chen asked whether she thought her wish was worth only that method.