Chapter Summaries

Chen Ping and the Shrek group traveled to the Star Luo Empire’s western border to investigate the Death Hand Bandit Group. After learning that the bandits operated in the Mingdou Mountain Range, Chen Ping questioned Ma Xiao Tao’s plan to rush in without preparation, and the Reserve Team stopped when he raised his hand.

• Ning Tian considered investing in Chen Ping’s flying soul guidance devices, trusting his actions more than lofty promises after the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School’s past experience with Yu Xiaogang and Tang San.
• Chen Ping’s group reached the border military camp, then used military flying soul guidance devices to travel onward and arrive at the Star Luo Empire’s western border at night.
• Dai Yueheng used his Face-Face Fruit ability to secure the group’s entry to the camp and obtain intelligence about the Death Hand Bandit Group and its fur-smuggling operation.
• Ma Xiao Tao prepared to lead the group into the Mingdou Mountain Range immediately, and Chen Ping realized Shrek had made no meaningful preparations.
• Chen Ping raised a hand, stopping the six other Reserve Team members as Ma Xiao Tao noticed their hesitation.

Chen Ping challenged Ma Xiao Tao’s plan to attack the Death Hand Bandit Group using vague intelligence and calculated the danger of the Inner Courtyard’s missions. The students were left confronting how little preparation their mission leader had made before setting out.

• Ma Xiao Tao accused Chen Ping of backing out, and Chen Ping questioned her about casualties on her past Surveillance Group missions.
• Ma Xiao Tao said teammates had died on five of her more than twenty missions, and Chen Ping used those figures to estimate that fewer than half of Inner Courtyard students survived thirty missions.
• Chen Ping argued that the team had nearly two days to gather firsthand intelligence and asked whether Ma Xiao Tao had planned their tactics, support, and medical assistance.
• Ma Xiao Tao and the other Inner Court Students showed that they had not considered those preparations, and Chen Ping blamed their careless approach for the high death rate.

Chen Ping persuaded Ma Xiao Tao and the other Inner Court Students to adopt a cautious reconnaissance plan and arrange medical support before confronting the Death Hand Bandit Group. Ma Xiao Tao agreed to let Chen Ping help plan the mission, and Xuan Zi left impressed by his tactical insight.

• Ma Xiao Tao and the other Inner Court Students considered Chen Ping's proposed tactics and were alarmed by how devastating his asymmetric warfare ideas could be.
• Ma Xiao Tao agreed to conduct close-range reconnaissance before devising a strategy, and asked Dai Yueheng to arrange logistics, maintenance, and medical support.
• Chen Ping asked to join Ma Xiao Tao on reconnaissance and recommended that Ling Luo Chen accompany them for her control abilities.
• Chen Ping said the remaining Outer Courtyard Reserve Members should rest, and Ma Xiao Tao conceded that his plan accounted for their needs.
• Xuan Zi listened outside the tent as Chen Ping persuaded the students, then left impressed and relieved that Chen Ping belonged to Shrek.

Chen Ping, Ma Xiao Tao, and Ling Luo Chen tracked the Death Hand Bandit Group through the Mingdou Mountain Range and found their cave hideout. After discovering that the bandits' security was careless, Chen Ping ordered the group to look for another exit before considering an attack.

• Chen Ping led Ma Xiao Tao and Ling Luo Chen through the mountain range using stealth and explained how the Wenlan Trees could point to an Evil Soul Master and the bandits’ recent presence.
• Chen Ping used tree hearts, campfire remains, and soot to infer that the bandits’ base was nearby.
• Ma Xiao Tao leaped into the air to scout and spotted footprints leading toward a hill, then realized her reckless move might have exposed them to sentries.
• The three reached the cave and found the entrance guards and the Soul Master sentry asleep while the bandits rested inside.
• Chen Ping told Ma Xiao Tao and Ling Luo Chen to find another exit because more than three hundred bandits were inside and sealing the cave could be dangerous.

Ma Xiao Tao, Ling Luo Chen, and Chen Ping entered the Death Hand Bandit Group’s hidden escape tunnel and found Corpse Slaves and explosives. Chen Ping then scouted the cave’s interior, discovering grisly evidence linked to the Fur Goods Smuggling Case.

• Ma Xiao Tao and Ling Luo Chen found the concealed second exit and spotted twelve Corpse Slaves standing inside it.
• Chen Ping identified the Corpse Slaves, tested that they were in standby mode with raw meat, and led the others past them and the hidden explosives.
• Chen Ping used the Mammoth Staff to lift the tunnel lid slightly and inspect the cave’s interior.
• Chen Ping saw human skins, a child’s corpse, traps, sleeping bandits, and Soul Master bandits resting on a wooden platform.
• Chen Ping noticed stripped Soul Beast corpses hanging from the cave ceiling, matching the Star Luo Military’s Fur Goods Smuggling Case.

Chen Ping and his companions completed their reconnaissance of the Death Hand Bandit Group and reported the cave’s layout, defenses, and escape tunnel to Shrek’s team. The students devised a coordinated assault using poison smoke and other tactics, while Jiang Nannan identified the threat of a Corpse Explosion.

• Chen Ping, Ma Xiao Tao, and Ling Luo Chen inspected the bandits’ cave, spotted the skinned Soul Beast Corpses, and returned safely to the Military Camp.
• Chen Ping refreshed himself with the Life Carving Knife, then joined Ma Xiao Tao and Ling Luo Chen in briefing the assembled Shrek members.
• Dai Yueheng proposed charging into the cave, while Chen Zifeng warned that the Evil Soul Master could escape through the Secret Tunnel.
• Yao Haoxuan suggested sending poison smoke through the Secret Tunnel, and the group developed additional tactics to trap the bandits.
• Jiang Nannan connected the hanging Soul Beast Corpses to a possible Corpse Explosion, alerting the group to the Death God Envoy’s potential defense.

The group struggled to figure out how to administer poison, and Bei Bei admitted he knew little about the Tang Sect’s lost poison techniques. Chen Ping used his system to deduce recipes for poisonous smoke and selected Sky Prison Lock, a mixed poison capable of taking down a peak Soul King.

• Wu Feng asked how the group was supposed to administer poison, and the others looked to Bei Bei for help.
• Xu Sanshi urged Bei Bei to demonstrate Tang Sect techniques, but Bei Bei admitted he had not studied poison and that the Tang Sect’s poison methods had largely been lost.
• Chen Ping reflected that the Tang Sect’s Poison Scripture had disappeared long ago and considered using his system to develop substitute poisons.
• The system offered to deduce the Tang Sect Poison Manual for Scholar Points, but Chen Ping instead requested poisonous-smoke methods that could incapacitate someone at the highest level of Soul King.
• Chen Ping received several poisonous-smoke recipes and chose the mixed poison called Sky Prison Lock.

Chen Ping prepared and tested the Sky Prison Lock, a poisonous-smoke weapon, and Shrek’s group devised a plan to use it against the bandits in the cave. Before the assault, Chen Ping added close-combat precautions for the team.

• Chen Ping made the Sky Prison Lock, and its smoke incapacitated Xu Sanshi within seconds during a test in the tent.
• The group confirmed that Xu Sanshi would recover and estimated how long Soul Masters could hold their breath while fighting in the cave.
• Shrek split into two teams: the Formal Team would smoke and enter the cave, while the Reserve Team would guard and collapse the main entrance with a Standard Soul Guidance Shell.
• Chen Ping advised the Inner Courtyard members to advance and support one another, counterattack immediately when someone was injured, and carry the wounded out of danger.

Chen Ping's team collapsed the Mountain Bandits' cave and used toxic smoke to kill most of its occupants, but the Death God Envoy triggered a chain of Corpse Explosions. Two elderly Soul Douluo then emerged behind the four protected Inner Courtyard members, while Elder Xuan realized the team was in danger.

• Chen Ping's team silently approached the Mountain Bandits' cave, killed the guards at its entrance, and prepared the attack.
• He Caitou detonated a Level 6 Standard Soul Guidance Shell, collapsing the cave entrance as the Inner Courtyard members entered through the Back Mountain passage.
• Chen Ping and the others found the bandits dead from toxic smoke and began collecting their bodies with Storage Rings.
• The Death God Envoy feigned death, then triggered Corpse Explosion; Ma Xiao Tao activated an Invincible Shield to protect herself, Chen Ping, Ling Luo Chen, and Yao Haoxuan.
• Two elderly men with Soul Douluo-level auras appeared behind the four, and Elder Xuan sensed the explosions and realized the team faced danger.

Dai Yueheng and the Shrek team encountered Zhongli Di and Zhongli Tian, the twin Evil Soul Douluos, in the mountain cave. Dai Yueheng delayed their pursuit long enough to retreat to the Inner Courtyard group, who prepared to face the brothers together.

• Dai Yueheng recognized Zhongli Di and Zhongli Tian and used his White Tiger abilities to cover his teammates' retreat.
• Zhongli Di restrained a weakened Shadowfiend Leopard while Zhongli Tian sent beast souls against Dai Yueheng.
• Dai Yueheng activated the Holy Domain Wall, destroying two of Zhongli Tian's Ten Thousand Year beast souls and buying time to escape.
• Zhongli Tian transformed into his snake-like Martial Soul form and corroded the remaining walls with poison as Dai Yueheng reached the others.
• Gongyang Mo buffed the assembled team, and the Inner Courtyard students used He Caitou's Cigars to prepare for the fight.

Chen Ping led Shrek’s students in a desperate attempt to hold off the Evil Soul Douluo Zhongli Tian and Zhongli Di until Xuan Zi arrived. The brothers broke through the cave defenses and overwhelmed most of the team, while Ma Xiao Tao battled their Crimson Gold Lion beast soul.

• Chen Ping ordered the team to use the cave’s winding passages to stall Zhongli Tian and Zhongli Di.
• The Zhongli Brothers sent blood-colored beast souls through the ground, then burst into the cave and attacked the Shrek students.
• Zhongli Tian summoned a Crimson Gold Lion beast soul and targeted Ma Xiao Tao.
• Ma Xiao Tao unleashed several Phoenix skills, destroyed half the lion’s head, and briefly raised her power to the Soul Saint level.
• The beast souls injured Chen Ping, Gongyang Mo, and the others with physical and soul-targeting attacks.

Chen Ping and the Shrek Inner Courtyard students retreated from the Zhongli Brothers’ beast souls, but the brothers cornered them with powerful Natal Beast Souls. Chen Ping detonated hidden Level 6 Fixed Soul Guidance Shells, then used another Golden Crystal Stone to shield the group from the resulting blast.

• Chen Ping ordered the group to retreat as the Zhongli Brothers’ beast souls attacked, and Zhongli Di released his Netherworld Ghost Tiger.
• Zhongli Tian’s injured Crimson Gold Lion rapidly healed, while the Zhongli Brothers pursued the retreating students.
• Zhongli Di struck several Level 6 Fixed Ammunition shells hidden beneath the gore, which Qian Duoduo had given Chen Ping.
• The shells exploded in the enclosed cave, vaporizing the summoned beast souls and sending a deadly shockwave toward Shrek’s group.
• Chen Ping threw his other Golden Crystal Stone into the passage, creating an Invincible Shield between the students and the explosion.

Chen Ping used the Golden Crystal Stone’s shield to shelter the group from the Zhongli Brothers’ explosion, but the two wounded Soul Douluo survived and cornered them. With Xuan Zi still absent, Chen Ping prepared to use a desperate final trump card as Zhongli Tian lunged at him.

• Chen Ping wedged the Golden Crystal Stone’s Invincible Shield into the tunnel wall, protecting the group from the explosion’s shock wave and heat.
• After the shield dissipated, the scorched and injured group saw the Zhongli Brothers appear as giant Nether Domain Snakes, still alive despite their wounds.
• Chen Ping realized Xuan Zi had not arrived in time and judged that the group could not defeat the two Soul Douluo in their Martial Soul Avatar states.
• Chen Ping drew the Life Carving Knife and warned the Inner Courtyard students that his final trump card might kill anyone nearby, but they accepted the risk.
• Zhongli Tian dismissed Chen Ping’s threat, blamed him for his brother’s death, and lunged toward him.

Chen Ping broke Zhongli Ren’s Beast Soul Staff, unleashing its bloodthirsty spirits against the wounded Zhongli Brothers and Shrek group. As the Beast Souls threatened to overwhelm them, Electrolux took control of Chen Ping’s body and prepared a method to fight the undead.

• Chen Ping cut apart the Beast Soul Staff’s gemstone and unleashed its Beast Souls on Zhongli Tian and Zhongli Di.
• Ma Xiao Tao and Dai Yueheng destroyed Beast Souls that attacked Chen Ping, but many more spirits continued to menace the injured group.
• An aged voice spoke in Chen Ping’s Sea of Consciousness, and Electrolux took control of his body as the gray bead vanished.
• Chen Ping briefly questioned Electrolux, who identified himself as the Holy Necromancer and dodged the Beast Souls’ attacks.
• Electrolux gripped the Mammoth Staff and channeled white flames that turned into eerie Black Flame at both ends.

Electrolux unleashed Black Flame against the beast souls, then revealed that Chen Ping’s Spiritual Origin was close to collapse and warned him to flee through the escape tunnel. Chen Ping followed and found Zhongli Di dead, torn apart by the Shadowfiend Leopard’s shadows.

• Electrolux spread Black Flame through the cave, burning the beast souls and Zhongli Tian while the Shrek group fell unconscious.
• Zhongli Di escaped in Gray Mist, and Electrolux told Chen Ping that his Sea of Consciousness was shattered and he would die soon if he kept moving.
• Electrolux used his remaining divine sense to hold Chen Ping’s Sea of Consciousness together, then fell asleep and urged him to enter the escape tunnel.
• Chen Ping used the Life Carving Knife to try to mend his Spiritual Origin, then followed Zhongli Di through the tunnel.
• Zhongli Di passed the Shadowfiend Leopard’s corpse, unaware that its layered shadows had taken a leopard-like form.
• Chen Ping reached Zhongli Di as leopard-shaped shadows pounced and tore off his head.

Xuan Zi arrived at the cave and found the Inner Court students alive but gravely injured, while Chen Ping faced the dying Shadowfiend Leopard and the dangerous Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring it left behind. The chapter ended with Chen Ping beginning to absorb the ring despite his shattered Sea of Consciousness.

• Xuan Zi broke through the mountain into the cave and found Ma Xiao Tao, Yue Heng, and the other Inner Court students unconscious but still alive.
• Chen Ping approached the mortally wounded Shadowfiend Leopard and understood that it had sacrificed itself to kill Zhongli Di.
• Chen Ping ended the Shadowfiend Leopard’s suffering, then took Zhongli Di’s storage ring and found no medicine for his damaged Sea of Consciousness.
• Chen Ping decided to risk absorbing the Shadowfiend Leopard’s Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring and hooked it onto the Mammoth Staff.

Chen Ping absorbed the Shadowfiend Leopard's unusually powerful Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, discovering that it caused no Soul Tremor because the beast had exhausted its soul in revenge. As its energy tore through his body, the Life Carving Knife repeatedly repaired him, and he continued absorbing the ring while Xuan Zi, Wang Yan, Wu Feng, and Ning Tian watched anxiously.

• Chen Ping realized the Shadowfiend Leopard's Soul Ring caused no Soul Tremor because the beast had spent its remaining strength avenging itself and had no soul left to unleash one.
• The Soul Ring's violent power battered Chen Ping's body, and Xuan Zi arrived just as Chen Ping began bleeding from the strain.
• Chen Ping used the Life Carving Knife's life force to repair his injuries and endured the Soul Ring's energy without slowing his absorption.
• Wang Yan and the Outer Courtyard students rescued the Inner Courtyard students before Wang Yan entered the tunnel to check on Chen Ping.
• Wu Feng and Ning Tian arrived, saw Chen Ping covered in blood, and anxiously asked Wang Yan what had happened.

Chen Ping endured the dangerous absorption of a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring as his third ring, his only way to repair the damage to his Sea of Consciousness. The absorption succeeded, leaving him with three Soul Rings and a new aura as a Soul Elder.

• Wang Yan explained that Chen Ping was absorbing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring and that no one could help him through the ordeal.
• Ning Tian and Wu Feng realized Chen Ping had chosen the unprecedented risk because his Sea of Consciousness could not heal through rest.
• Elder Xuan stood vigil while Chen Ping's body resisted the Shadowfiend Leopard Soul Ring's violent energy and his green life force repaired the resulting damage.
• Chen Ping endured the Soul Power onslaught, and Elder Xuan announced that the most dangerous moment had passed.
• Chen Ping awoke feeling renewed as a black Soul Ring formed around his Mammoth Staff, confirming that his Ten Thousand Year third ring had succeeded.

Chen Ping recovered after absorbing the ten-thousand-year Shadowfiend Leopard Soul Ring, though his newly formed Sea of Consciousness was still only a small puddle. As he recounted the battle in the mountain cave, Xuan Zi confronted the consequences of arriving too late, and the group learned that the injured students were stable but would need time to recover.

• Chen Ping regained consciousness and found that his damaged Sea of Consciousness had reformed into a small, partially liquefied pool.
• Wang Yan supported Chen Ping, who reassured Ning Tian and Wu Feng before exchanging an awkward, silent look with the ashamed Xuan Zi.
• Jiang Nannan reported that Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng had awakened but needed bed rest, while Xiaotao's Evil Fire showed signs of flaring up again.
• Wang Yan and Xuan Zi learned that Chen Ping had used Fixed Ammunition shells, shattered Zhongli Ren's Soul Tool, and defeated Zhongli Tian through a dangerous backlash.
• Chen Ping explained that the Shadowfiend Leopard's revenge had left him no choice but to absorb its ten-thousand-year Soul Ring, prompting the girls to check that he was uninjured.

After the mission ended in disaster, Elder Xuan took the injured Inner Courtyard students back to Shrek Academy and left the Outer Courtyard students to compete in the tournament. Chen Ping was asked to guide the team, which would have to rely on its reserve members while Dai Yueheng and Yao Haoxuan recovered.

• Wang Yan said Zhongli Tian and Zhongli Di had brought about their own deaths, while Chen Ping buried the Shadowfiend Leopard that had saved his life.
• Chen Ping reconsidered his mistakes during the mission and decided he could no longer trust Xuan Zi to keep the team safe.
• Elder Xuan wrapped five injured Inner Courtyard students in Soul Power and took them back to Shrek Academy for treatment.
• Elder Xuan left Dai Yueheng and Yao Haoxuan to recover at the Military Camp and told the seven Outer Courtyard students they would have to take the injured students’ places in the tournament.
• Elder Xuan asked Chen Ping to guide the team, and Wang Yan explained that they had no choice but to rely on the reserve students while the injured recovered.