Chapter Summaries

Xiao Lin considered how his evolved Great Strength Bull Demon Horn and Imprisoning Dragon Staff could help him choose a soul beast and cultivate. When Xiao Wu returned to Dorm Seven boasting about her strength, Xiao Lin revealed that he had already reached level 20 and stunned her.

• Xiao Lin reflected that the Great Strength Vajra Bull's consciousness had helped evolve his Great Strength Bull Demon Horn and increased its Soul Power storage to forty percent.
• Xiao Lin read about the Silver Wolf, Lightning Leopard, and Bright Wind Owl as possible soul beasts for a speed-enhancing Soul Skill.
• Xiao Lin hoped Xiao Wu would guide him and Tang San to suitable soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest when Tang San reached level twenty.
• Xiao Wu returned to Dorm Seven and tried to claim the role of its big sister, but admitted she had not reached level twenty.
• Xiao Lin revealed his level 20 Soul Power, leaving Xiao Wu wide-eyed with shock.

Xiao Lin, Tang San, and Xiao Wu decided to take leave and travel to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt soul beasts for their next soul rings. After the academic affairs director reluctantly gave them leave slips, the three prepared to depart.

• Xiao Wu apologized to Xiao Lin, then quietly reflected on the soul beasts she had found near Notting City for Xiao Lin and Tang San.
• Tang San told Xiao Lin that his Soul Power had increased slightly and suggested they set out for the Star Dou Great Forest.
• Xiao Wu stopped meditating and joined Xiao Lin and Tang San as they agreed to leave together to hunt Soul Beasts.
• Xiao Lin, Tang San, and Xiao Wu asked the academic affairs director for more than a month of leave.
• The academic affairs director angrily handed the three of them leave slips and ordered them out.

Xiao Lin, Tang San, and Xiao Wu traveled through the Star Dou Great Forest, where Xiao Wu secretly used Er Ming's dung to keep Soul Beasts away. When they entered the Mixed Region, they encountered a gigantic Titan Giant Ape, leaving Xiao Lin staring suspiciously at Xiao Wu.

• Xiao Lin, Tang San, and Xiao Wu entered the Star Dou Great Forest in a cautious formation, carrying armor, powders, and Sleeve Arrows.
• Xiao Wu secretly scattered powder made from Er Ming's dung, and the group encountered very few Soul Beasts as they traveled.
• Xiao Lin questioned why the forest held so few Soul Beasts, while Xiao Wu suggested a powerful nearby beast had driven them away.
• After two days, Tang San sensed danger in the Mixed Region, so Xiao Lin agreed to enter only a short distance and look around.
• A massive Titan Giant Ape roared through the Mixed Region, and Xiao Lin realized it was far larger than the books described.
• After the Titan Giant Ape left, Xiao Lin stared at Xiao Wu and wondered how he was supposed to play along with her.

Xiao Lin identified a crushed soul beast as a Thunder Shadow Leopard and absorbed its soul ring with the Imprisoning Dragon Staff. The lightning-filled Soul Power formed a rudimentary second set of meridians and a new dantian inside him.

• Xiao Lin, Tang San, and Xiao Wu found the badly injured leopard that Xiao Wu had led them to.
• Xiao Lin recognized the beast as a Thunder Shadow Leopard, a hybrid with Lightning Leopard and Shadow Leopard blood, and killed it with the Imprisoning Dragon Staff.
• Xiao Lin absorbed the leopard’s dark purple soul ring and used the staff to suppress its consciousness.
• The soul ring’s violent lightning Soul Power broke through Xiao Lin’s existing meridians and formed rudimentary new meridians and a dantian.

Xiao Lin successfully absorbed the Thunder Shadow Leopard’s soul ring and gained a powerful second soul skill with escalating speed and attack boosts, a blinding lightning flash, and a shadow clone. After discussing the skill with Tang San and Xiao Wu, he decided to pursue extreme-output abilities and learned the skill’s name: Flowing Shadow Lightning Flash.

• Xiao Lin absorbed the Thunder Shadow Leopard’s soul ring, reached Level 23, and gained three and a half levels of soul power.
• Xiao Lin told Tang San and Xiao Wu that his second soul skill boosted his speed and attack power, could be activated twice for a stronger state, and created a flash and shadow clone.
• Tang San and Xiao Wu reacted with amazement as Xiao Lin explained how the skill’s boosts could grow with his level and combine with Weapon Soul True Body.
• Xiao Lin said he would seek soul skills with high consumption and powerful short-term boosts, then learned that his new skill was called Flowing Shadow Lightning Flash.

Tang San broke through to level 20 while the group traveled through the Outer Perimeter Zone, and Xiao Lin began searching for a Vitality-type Soul Beast for his Second Soul Ring. After Hu Liena warned them that the Titan Giant Ape was nearby, Xiao Lin fled with Tang San and Xiao Wu, unaware that Xiao Wu was worried about Er Ming.

• Tang San broke through as the group neared the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest, and Xiao Lin proposed finding Pom Pom Cotton or a Soul Gathering Pumpkin for his Soul Ring.
• Xiao Lin arranged for Xiao Wu to lead, Tang San to follow at her side, and himself to guard them as they searched for a suitable Soul Beast.
• Hu Liena encountered the three and warned them that the Titan Giant Ape had appeared nearby, then ran on alone to avoid distracting Chrysanthemum Douluo.
• Xiao Wu worried that Er Ming might be in danger, while Tang San wondered why the Titan Giant Ape had followed them to the Outer Perimeter Zone.
• Xiao Lin grabbed Tang San and Xiao Wu and used Flowing Shadow Lightning Flash to flee in another direction, leaving three motionless shadows behind.

Xiao Lin escaped with Tang San and Xiao Wu, then analyzed the mysterious girl they had encountered while searching for Tang San’s Soul Beast. Elsewhere, the Titan Giant Ape overwhelmed Yue Guan, leaving Chrysanthemum Douluo on the verge of death.

• Xiao Lin carried Tang San, Xiao Wu, and the others several kilometers away and discovered that his new Soul Power dantian stored extra energy and replenished him continuously.
• Xiao Lin, Tang San, and Xiao Wu reasoned that the mysterious girl was likely a gifted Control Type or Support Type Soul Master with powerful companions.
• Tang San resolved to forge stronger hidden weapons to protect Xiao Lin and Xiao Wu, while Xiao Wu privately devised an excuse for her upcoming breakthrough.
• The Titan Giant Ape told Yue Guan that Spirit Hall had killed Xiao Wu’s mother and refused to let him go.
• Yue Guan unleashed his Ninth Soul Skill to cover his escape, but the Titan Giant Ape crushed the attack with Gravity Domain, and the wounded Yue Guan collapsed near death.

Tang San found and killed a fifteen-hundred-year Pom Pom Cotton, then began absorbing its soul ring. Xiao Wu broke through to level twenty, but the Titan Giant Ape seized her, prompting Xiao Lin to chase after it while Tang San remained behind.

• Xiao Wu led Tang San and Xiao Lin to a Pom Pom Cotton, which Tang San bound with Blue Silver Entanglement and killed with an iron hammer.
• Tang San began absorbing the Pom Pom Cotton's soul ring while Xiao Lin and Xiao Wu stood guard.
• Xiao Wu secretly broke through the level-twenty bottleneck as Tang San continued absorbing the ring.
• The Titan Giant Ape appeared and carried Xiao Wu away in its hand.
• Xiao Lin activated his Second Soul Ring and chased after the Titan Giant Ape, leaving Tang San behind.

Xiao Lin returned to Tang San after the Titan Giant Ape carried Xiao Wu away and found Xie Yue guarding Tang San beside the injured Chrysanthemum Douluo. Once Tang San completed his Soul Ring absorption, he and Xiao Lin set out to rescue Xiao Wu, with Xiao Lin promising not to abandon either of them.

• Xiao Lin left the Titan Giant Ape's trail and returned to Tang San, where he met Xie Yue and the injured Chrysanthemum Douluo.
• Xie Yue explained that he had protected Tang San while Tang San absorbed his Soul Ring, and Xiao Lin concealed the truth about their companions and elders.
• Tang San successfully absorbed the purple Soul Ring, and his Blue Silver Grass and body changed.
• Xiao Lin and Tang San followed the Titan Giant Ape's footprints to search for Xiao Wu.
• Tang San asked Xiao Lin to prioritize protecting Xiao Wu, and Xiao Lin promised he would not abandon either of them.

Xiao Wu reunited with Xiao Lin and Tang San after absorbing a powerful Second Soul Ring, while Tang San revealed the full capabilities and limitations of his own. Xiao Lin advised Tang San to seek a life-force Soul Ring that could help Blue Silver Grass withstand both fire and ice.

• Xiao Wu returned unharmed and said she had absorbed a 1,500-year Lightning Rabbit Soul Ring, hiding the truth about her encounter with the Titan Giant Ape and Sky Azure Bull Python.
• Xiao Wu described Lightning Charge, which boosted her movement, reaction, and attack speeds, increased her speed and attack with each Soul Power level, and could paralyze opponents.
• Tang San pretended his Second Soul Skill was unimpressive, then revealed it enhanced Blue Silver Grass’s abilities, including Super Regeneration, Giantification, Soul Power transmission, and perception.
• Tang San explained that ice and fire could threaten his Blue Silver Grass, and Xiao Lin suggested seeking a life-force Soul Beast with water affinity and cold resistance or an exoskeleton.

After returning to Notting Academy, Xiao Lin assessed how the three friends’ abilities had developed and discussed Xiao Wu’s unexpectedly low Soul Skill consumption. He left open the possibility that Self-Condensed Soul Rings might explain it, intending to investigate further.

• Xiao Lin, Tang San, and Xiao Wu returned to Notting Academy after half a month in the Star Dou Great Forest, having practiced their Soul Skills and teamwork along the way.
• Xiao Lin reviewed the trio’s combat data and decided to keep Weapon Soul True Body as a trump card around outsiders.
• Xiao Lin advised Xiao Wu to seek a Lightning Rabbit Soul Skill for her Third Soul Skill, possibly gaining Teleportation and further lightning abilities.
• Xiao Lin considered the risks of Tang San’s Twin Martial Souls and Soul Power pressure, but felt reassured by Tang San’s improved vitality and constitution.
• Xiao Wu told Xiao Lin that her Second Soul Skill consumed less Soul Power than her First, and Xiao Lin wondered whether Self-Condensed Soul Rings caused the effect.

Bibi Dong rewarded Yue Guan for surviving his encounter with the Titan Giant Ape, then ordered Gui Mei to investigate the beast before she considered attacking it in three years. Reports of exceptionally talented young soul masters and new theories also made her suspect the Star Luo Empire was hiding a divine inheritance.

• Bibi Dong awarded Yue Guan a Ten Thousand Year Soul Bone and ten thousand Gold Soul Coins, then heard how the Titan Giant Ape had nearly killed him.
• Bibi Dong ordered Gui Mei to investigate the Titan Giant Ape’s movements and planned to consider making a move after the Advanced Academy Soul Master Competition in three years.
• Bibi Dong questioned how Little San could possess Blue Silver Grass with Innate Full Soul Power and absorb a millennium-level Second Soul Ring.
• Bibi Dong suspected the Star Luo Empire might conceal powerful geniuses and a War God inheritance, and decided to put pressure on it.
• Wu Ning arrived outside Papal Hall with a new thesis, and Bibi Dong ordered him to bring it in.

Bibi Dong rejected Yu Xiaogang’s latest thesis after Wu Ning called it a repackaging of Spirit Hall data and Xiao Yan’s ideas. At the Secret Base in Notting City, Xiao Lin began teaching Tang San and Xiao Wu that a Self-Condensed Soul Ring might work like a circuit, but his demonstration ended with an exploding light bulb.

• Wu Ning told Bibi Dong that Yu Xiaogang’s thesis reused Spirit Hall data and plagiarized Xiao Yan’s viewpoints, and Bibi Dong rejected it.
• Yu Xiaogang trained Ma Hongjun and Oscar, remained confident in his thesis, and planned for them to absorb thousand-year Soul Rings.
• Xiao Lin explained that he had bought Soul Tools to study Self-Condensed Soul Rings, while Tang San hoped to use Soul Tools to develop stronger Hidden Weapons.
• Xiao Lin proposed that a Self-Condensed Soul Ring should function as a circuit and demonstrated by connecting his Thunder and Lightning Soul Power to a light bulb.
• The light bulb exploded after flashing, and Tang San recognized that Xiao Lin’s soul power had traveled through the circuit before returning to his body.

Xiao Lin taught Tang San and Xiao Wu how Soul Power circuits could form basic attack and defense arrays. Tang San grasped the idea of increasing a Soul Tool’s output through circuit structures, while Xiao Wu remained puzzled about how complicated arrays related to her Self-Condensed Soul Rings.

• Xiao Lin explained how Soul Power flowing through wires could power a Lighting Soul Tool, and Tang San became eager to master Soul Tools and surpass the Tang Sect.
• Xiao Lin assigned Tang San to dismantle the other Lighting Soul Tools and inspect their Soul Power arrangements with his Purple Demon Eyes.
• Xiao Lin drew three connected circles to show how circulating Soul Power could form basic Attack and Defense Arrays that strengthened attacks against anyone touching their connections.
• Tang San suggested using a structure to increase Soul Power’s effect, and Xiao Lin demonstrated how repeated rebounds could accelerate Soul Power and boost its output.
• Xiao Wu asked whether the method could create Soul Tools for other Soul Skills, but Xiao Lin admitted he did not know how, leaving Xiao Wu unable to explain her doubts about Self-Condensed Soul Rings.

Xiao Lin considered how soul power formations and soul rings might work, then discussed Soul Tool design with Tang San. Tang San successfully modified a Lighting Soul Tool, while Xiao Lin began probing the principles behind its construction.

• Xiao Lin reasoned that micro-carving could train his Mental Power and help him learn to inscribe formations into Soul Tools.
• Xiao Lin theorized that Ring Burst and Ring Fusion activated or linked soul ring circuits, and considered using the same idea to connect his Imprisoning Dragon Staff with Little San's Blue Silver Grass.
• Tang San excitedly announced that he had modified a Lighting Soul Tool by dismantling and rearranging parts from other Lighting Soul Tools.
• Xiao Lin questioned whether Tang San's brighter Lighting Soul Tool would have a shorter lifespan and asked about its materials, soul power capacity, and formation circuits.
• Tang San suggested copying successful Soul Tool designs first and learning their deeper principles gradually.

Di Tian summoned the Ferocious Beasts after learning that the Auspicious Beast had weakened because several human Children of Destiny were affecting Soul Beast fortune. He rejected a proposed Beast Tide, warning that Soul Beast destiny now rested with those humans.

• Di Tian’s furious roar alarmed the Star Dou Great Forest’s Ferocious Beasts, and they gathered in his territory.
• Di Tian asked whether Lei Huang had come, and Ten Thousand Demons King explained that Lei Huang had returned to Thunder Canyon to seek divine traces.
• Scarlet King admitted that the Auspicious Beast had grown weak, but Di Tian said its condition was improving and cleared Scarlet King of blame.
• Di Tian revealed that several human Children of Destiny had caused the decline in Soul Beast fortune and that humanity would become overwhelmingly powerful.
• Ten Thousand Demons King and Bear Monarch proposed a Beast Tide, but Di Tian refused, explaining that the Children of Destiny’s influence had also helped the Auspicious Beast and that Soul Beast destiny now lay in their hands.

The Fierce Beasts debated how to find the human Child of Destiny, and Ten Thousand Demons King proposed sending the Auspicious Beast into human society. Di Tian refused to risk her, assigned Scarlet King to watch her, and ordered Xiao Wu to search for the Child of Destiny while Xiao Lin and Tang San remained unaware they were being targeted.

• Ten Thousand Demons King proposed that Xiao Wu gather human knowledge and identify possible Children of Destiny, but Bi Ji said Xiao Wu was too foolish and would risk exposure.
• Ten Thousand Demons King suggested sending the Auspicious Beast Three-Eyed Golden Lion instead, prompting Bear Monarch and Scarlet King to protest while Di Tian weighed the risks.
• The recovered Three-Eyed Golden Lion insisted on finding the Child of Destiny, but Di Tian refused to let her go and said she had only five thousand years of cultivation.
• Ten Thousand Demons King proposed a Beast Tide to weaken the human empires and protect the Auspicious Beast, but Di Tian rejected the plan.
• Di Tian ordered Scarlet King to keep the Auspicious Beast under constant watch and told Xiao Wu to find the Child of Destiny and report back.
• Xiao Lin and Tang San continued studying Soul-Congealing Rings and Soul Devices, unaware that the Fierce Beasts had targeted them.

As summer vacation began, Xiao Lin invited Xiao Wu to return with him and Tang San so she could train her Mental Power instead of going back to the Star Dou Great Forest. In Holy Soul Village, the three made an oath to become sworn siblings, though Xiao Wu ended up calling Tang San Third Brother.

• Xiao Lin reached level 25, Tang San reached level 23 and a half, and Xiao Wu reached level 24 as summer vacation began.
• Xiao Wu decided not to return to the Star Dou Great Forest and asked to go home with Xiao Lin and Tang San instead.
• Tang San recalled the two Soul Tools he had made and hesitated over Xiao Wu joining them, but Xiao Lin invited her along to train her Mental Power.
• That night in Holy Soul Village, Xiao Lin, Tang San, and Xiao Wu drank together and swore to become sworn siblings.
• Xiao Wu called Xiao Lin Big Brother and Tang San Third Brother, while Xiao Lin and Tang San kept their usual forms of address.

Xiao Lin and Tang San searched for Yellow Soul Herb seeds in the Back Mountain, and Tang San found one that might help revive his mother. After Xiao Lin fed the Mutated Demon Eye Magic Tree a Blood-Red Loquat Fruit, it grew stronger and repeatedly trapped him with its mental control.

• Grandpa Old Jack urged Xiao Lin to find a girlfriend, so Xiao Lin slipped away to the Back Mountain, where Tang San and Xiao Wu were training.
• Xiao Lin suggested searching for Yellow Soul Herb seeds, and Tang San began digging while Xiao Lin planned to strengthen the Mutated Demon Eye Magic Tree with a Blood-Red Loquat Fruit.
• Tang San found a Yellow Soul Herb seed and told Xiao Wu he would help bring her mother back, prompting Xiao Wu to kiss him and run out of the cave.
• Xiao Lin fed the Blood-Red Loquat Fruit to the Mutated Demon Eye Magic Tree, which quickly gained enough power to paralyze him with its mental control.
• Xiao Lin used the Imprisoning Dragon Staff Supporting Heaven and Earth Diagram to break free, but the Mutated Demon Eye Magic Tree immediately controlled him again.

Xiao Lin and Tang San struggled against the Demon Eye Magic Tree’s powerful Soul Sound while Tang San studied a Soul Tool that might let them use the Blood-Red Agate’s ability without absorbing it. At Shrek Academy, Yu Xiaogang brooded over another rejected Thesis and sought money from Liu Erlong to support Ma Hongjun’s cultivation.

• Xiao Lin broke free of the Demon Eye Magic Tree’s control only long enough to move toward a safer place, while Tang San later escaped its Soul Sound and Xiao Wu remained motionless in a deep sleep.
• Xiao Lin told Tang San that the Blood-Red Loquat Fruit had made the Demon Eye Magic Tree much stronger and regretted that they could not use its attacks for mental training.
• Tang San suggested using a horn-shaped Speaker Soul Tool to activate the Blood-Red Agate’s abilities without absorbing the External Soul Bone, then sat down to study it as he and Xiao Lin adapted to the tree’s control.
• Yu Xiaogang smashed porcelain after Spirit Hall rejected his Thesis about the optimal Soul Ring configuration for Food Soul Masters, then reassured himself that his intelligence surpassed ordinary people’s.
• Yu Xiaogang felt confident about Ma Hongjun’s cultivation and planned to use ice-attribute resources to suppress his Evil Fire, but he wrote to Liu Erlong to borrow money for the academy.