Chapter Summaries

After organizing the Nuoding Spirit Hall library, Zhou Qing explained to Ma Xiunuo why he stayed close to his friends and planned to train with them. Ma Xiunuo then learned that Su Yuntao’s feelings for Alice had made him reconsider becoming the next Hall Master, and suspected he might leave Spirit Hall.

• Zhou Qing finished sorting the shelves, declined Ma Xiunuo’s lunch invitation, and described his plans to meet Tang San and the others before taking guild missions.
• Zhou Qing explained that he gathered his friends for meals and missions so they would stay close and improve their coordination.
• Ma Xiunuo praised Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu’s abilities and expressed hope that Romantina would keep pace with them.
• Zhou Qing returned his library pass to Su Yuntao and left the Nuoding Spirit Hall Branch.
• Su Yuntao told Ma Xiunuo that he did not want to become the next Hall Master after realizing Alice might have feelings for him.
• Ma Xiunuo understood Su Yuntao’s reluctance to take the position and suspected he might be considering leaving Spirit Hall.

Su Yuntao struggled with whether to leave Spirit Hall for Alice, while Zhou Qing, Tang San, Romantina, and Xiao Wu discussed their guild missions and Soul Master studies. The chapter ended with Xiao Wu reluctantly agreeing to study human meridians and acupoints.

• Ma Xiunuo invited Su Yuntao to lunch at the Nuoding Guild and urged him to face Alice rather than keep hesitating about leaving Spirit Hall.
• Zhou Qing refused to cut in line at the academy cafeteria, prompting other students who had cut ahead to return to the back of the queue.
• Xiao Wu complained that the team’s available missions were boring, and Zhou Qing advised her to study meridian and acupoint diagrams.
• Zhou Qing speculated that a rule of Douluo Continent enabled Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts to take human form, while Tang San explained why meridian knowledge mattered to cultivation.
• Xiao Wu agreed to work harder at memorizing meridians and acupoints, dreading what she called her brain’s development after birth.

Zhou Qing, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Romantina accepted a vague task to find or kill the accomplices of the Soul Masters who attacked Xiao Lang. They set out to investigate Nuoding City and its surroundings, while Ma Xiunuo warned them that their target was dangerous.

• Xiao Wu chose the task, which offered rewards for leads or for capturing or killing the accomplices of the attack on Xiao Lang.
• Zhou Qing pointed out that the task gave no useful description of the suspects, but agreed to take it as a chance to practice investigation and learn about the local Soul Masters.
• Tang San realized he had neglected intelligence gathering while focusing on forging and the Soul Tool Core Formation.
• Su Yuntao and Ma Xiunuo approached the group, and Ma Xiunuo cautioned them that pursuing a Soul Grandmaster was dangerous, especially for six-year-olds.

Zhou Qing and the others investigated the Soul Ancestor linked to the attack on Xiao Manor by questioning Hu Lingling, a captured Soul Master. They confirmed she was connected to the Soul Ancestor, but Hu Lingling’s attempt to use a Secret Art failed and left her badly injured.

• Ma Xiunuo and Su Yuntao warned Zhou Qing, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Romantina that the target was a Soul Ancestor who might have Fallen tendencies, but the group decided to continue the mission.
• Tang San revealed that his upgraded Soul Tool: Divine Crossbow of Zhuge could fire twenty volleys per round, and Zhou Qing proposed gathering intelligence by drawing the enemy out.
• Zhou Qing brought the group to Xiao Manor, where Steward Xiao explained that a veiled woman Soul Ancestor had repeatedly passed near the estate and took them to question Hu Lingling.
• Zhou Qing noticed Hu Lingling react when he described a female Soul Ancestor and concluded that she was connected to the target.
• Zhou Qing used his Martial Soul’s Blood Resonance to frighten Hu Lingling and told her he had killed the Soul Ancestor, provoking her into a furious outburst.
• Hu Lingling tried to unleash a Secret Art, but her damaged Meridians caused it to fail; her skin split and she collapsed covered in blood while Tang San kept his crossbow trained on her.

Tang San saved Hu Lingling after her secret art left her with severed tendons and veins, but she remained crippled and vowed revenge. Zhou Qing then revealed he had bluffed her about Hu Fangyuan, leaving Hu Lingling devastated and furious.

• Tang San examined Hu Lingling and found her tendons and veins severed, her Soul Power gone, and her life in danger.
• Zhou Qing told Tang San to treat Hu Lingling, and Tang San used medicine and the Mysterious Heaven Skill to save her life, though he said she would remain frail.
• Zhou Qing explained that Hu Lingling had gone berserk after he used Qi and Blood with Soul Power to intimidate her, and he speculated that the veiled Soul Ancestor might not have been a woman.
• Hu Lingling woke and refused to reveal her secret art, vowing to avenge Hu Fangyuan and make Zhou Qing and the others suffer.
• Zhou Qing admitted he had never met Hu Fangyuan and had only been bluffing, causing Hu Lingling to laugh hysterically and ask whether Zhou Qing had been sent by heaven to punish her.

Zhou Qing and the others left Hu Lingling after discussing the dangerous Soul Power technique she had used and the possibility that it came from the Fallen Ones. Zhou Qing then laid out two choices for dealing with the Soul Ancestor they were investigating, leaving the group to decide whether to proceed alone or tell Ma Xiunuo's Grandmaster.

• Zhou Qing explained that Hu Lingling's dangerous Soul Power circulation could overtax and damage her body, and Tang San compared it to a deadly technique from his previous life.
• Zhou Qing suggested that the technique might have originated with the Fallen Ones, but said they needed to find Hu Fangyuan before judging Hu Lingling's affiliations or motives.
• Tang San reflected on Zhou Qing's view that the pursuit of power would always produce fallen people, and worried that Zhou Qing lacked the courage to change the world.
• Zhou Qing offered two options: continue investigating the Soul Ancestor or report their suspicions to Ma Xiunuo's Grandmaster while keeping their trump cards concealed.

Zhou Qing and his companions chose to confront the Soul Ancestor connected to the woman at Xiao Manor, but the man sensed Romantina’s Spiritual Power and fled Nuoding City. Sky Dream Ice Silkworm tracked him toward Falling Star City, while Zhou Qing warned that revealing Romantina’s wide-area detection ability would put her in danger.

• Zhou Qing, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Romantina agreed to seek out the Soul Ancestor after confirming his connection to the woman they had captured.
• Steward Xiao inspected the woman and told Zhou Qing and the others that her condition was deserved and that the master probably would not blame them.
• Zhou Qing sensed a Spiritual Power scan, and Tang San identified the departing, head-to-toe-covered figure as the Soul Ancestor with a Spiritual Attribute Martial Soul.
• Zhou Qing ordered Romantina to use Spiritual Detection and Sharing, then Sky Dream Ice Silkworm took over and expanded the detection range across Nuoding City.
• Sky Dream Ice Silkworm tracked the fleeing Soul Ancestor toward Falling Star City, and Tang San suspected he was connected to Dales.
• Zhou Qing cautioned that exposing Romantina’s long-range detection ability could attract powerful factions or make them try to eliminate her.

Zhou Qing and his companions learned that the Soul Ancestor who sensed Sky Dream Ice Silkworm’s Spiritual Power might have a Spirit Devouring Worm Martial Soul, and they decided to pursue him to Falling Star City. Zhou Qing also hoped the investigation would uncover how his biological parents had died, while Wang Sheng agreed to lead the students’ morning exercises during their absence.

• Sky Dream Ice Silkworm described Soul Beast races with strong Spiritual Power and recalled green insects that could detect his probes; Xiao Wu identified them as Spirit Devouring Worms.
• Zhou Qing concluded the fleeing Soul Ancestor might have a Spirit Devouring Worm Martial Soul and agreed with Tang San to track him to Falling Star City.
• Romantina estimated the investigation could take days or longer, so Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu obtained extended leave from Mo Hen by claiming they had accepted a Nuoding Guild mission.
• Zhou Qing asked Wang Sheng to lead the other students in their morning exercises, and Wang Sheng enthusiastically agreed to supervise them.

Hu Fangyuan returned to Falling Star City after abandoning his attempt to rescue Hu Lingling, then told Dales about a terrifying Spiritual Power presence in Nuoding City. He revealed his plan to evolve his Martial Soul using an old Fallen One discovery and demanded pregnant women for his experiments.

• Hu Fangyuan recovered his Soul Power outside Falling Star City, revealed he had found the missing volume of "Origin of Martial Souls," and entered the city.
• Hu Fangyuan told Dales that he had sensed a Soul Douluo-level expert in Nuoding City and had given up on rescuing Hu Lingling.
• Hu Fangyuan ordered Dales to find pregnant women for his half-month cultivation, suggesting they target villages in Heaven Dou if necessary.
• Dales objected to abducting pregnant women, but Hu Fangyuan promised to evolve his Martial Soul in exchange for his help.
• Hu Fangyuan revealed a hidden page from "Origin of Martial Souls" and explained the Fallen Ones’ theory that a Martial Soul could evolve by undergoing gestation again.

Zhou Qing, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Romantina arrived in Falling Star City and explored its busy streets, whose buildings and atmosphere differed sharply from Nuoding City. Zhou Qing explained that the Star Luo Empire’s Imperial Roads had encouraged trade as well as serving military needs, leaving Tang San wondering why Heaven Dou had not built similar roads.

• Romantina drove the exhausted horse into Falling Star City, where Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu paid the gate fee and entered.
• Zhou Qing and Tang San admired Falling Star City’s distinctive buildings and crowded, lantern-lit streets, while Tang San briefly felt reminded of his previous life.
• Romantina led the group toward the city center and described its round-the-clock commerce, which Zhou Qing connected to the Imperial Roads.
• Tang San asked why Nuoding City was less prosperous, and Zhou Qing explained that Star Luo’s roads supported troop movements and merchant travel.
• Tang San understood that road construction served military purposes across dynasties, then wondered why the Heaven Dou emperor had not ordered similar roads.

Zhou Qing, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Romantina arrived in Falling Star City and settled into the luxurious Welcome Spring Inn, while Tang San reflected on the political structure of the Heaven Dou Empire and memories of his previous life. After enjoying a meal and exploring his superior room, Zhou Qing took a cold shower and turned his attention to serious matters.

• Zhou Qing explained that the kingdoms and duchies within the Heaven Dou Empire resisted Imperial Roads because they wanted to preserve their independence, prompting Tang San to compare Heaven Dou and Star Luo with empires from his previous life.
• Romantina led Zhou Qing and the others to Welcome Spring Inn, where she arranged a meal and four superior rooms.
• Romantina described the inn's amenities, including Soul Guiding Lamps, heated showers, and round-the-clock service, while Xiao Wu complained that Nuoding City lacked such comforts.
• Zhou Qing and the others ate a hearty meal, then went to their rooms on the third floor.
• Zhou Qing enjoyed the soft bed and took a cold shower, clearing his head before deciding to think about serious matters.

Zhou Qing worried that exposing the hidden Soul Ancestor might damage Falling Star City, then took Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Romantina out to the night market. There, they met a sharp-tongued little girl who asked to join them.

• Zhou Qing reflected that the hidden Soul Ancestor might be connected to Dales and could bring disaster to Falling Star City if other Fallen Ones were involved.
• Zhou Qing invited Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Romantina to visit the night market, and Romantina accidentally knocked them all to the floor when she jumped onto Zhou Qing’s back.
• Xiao Wu patted a little girl’s head, but the girl slapped her hand away and scolded her.
• The little girl mocked Xiao Wu, and Zhou Qing and Tang San restrained Xiao Wu before she could retaliate.
• Zhou Qing apologized to the little girl, who asked to accompany them while they shopped.

Zhou Qing recognized Ning Rongrong and feared that her powerful Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect protectors might discover Xiao Wu’s identity. After Ning Rongrong followed the group downstairs, Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo discussed why they had brought her through the borderlands.

• Ning Rongrong introduced herself, and Zhou Qing recognized her as the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect’s young lady.
• Zhou Qing warned Tang San and Romantina to keep Xiao Wu from saying anything that might attract Ning Rongrong’s hidden protectors.
• Zhou Qing awkwardly offered Ning Rongrong a Copper Soul Coin as an apology, and she accepted it before he led the group away.
• Ning Rongrong checked which way Zhou Qing and the others had gone, then hurried downstairs after them.
• Sword Douluo told Ning Fengzhi that Ning Rongrong had gone downstairs, and Ning Fengzhi explained that he had let her explore small cities while they traveled back to the sect.

Ning Fengzhi explained to Sword Douluo why he had accepted Xue Qinghe as his disciple and why he was watching the Heaven Dou–Star Luo border for signs of war. He revealed that Yu Xiaogang might have taught the Star Luo Royal Academy Team its winning tactics, leaving Sword Douluo astonished.

• Ning Fengzhi told Sword Douluo that the empires’ apparent peace concealed a continuing struggle and that he was cautiously investing in the Heaven Dou Empire by accepting Xue Qinghe as his disciple.
• Ning Fengzhi explained that he had brought Ning Rongrong to the border to let her travel, study the region for signs of conflict, and possibly find a safe refuge if war came.
• Ning Fengzhi said he had investigated the Star Luo Royal Academy Team’s victories in Nuoding City and suspected that it had learned new tactics during its detour.
• Ning Fengzhi identified Yu Xiaogang as a former resident of Nuoding City, and Sword Douluo reacted with astonishment at the possibility that he had developed the tactics.

Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo investigated Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu but learned they had left Nuoding City. In Falling Star City, the children explored the night market, where a vendor told them a story about disappearances blamed on the vengeful spirits of a rural couple.

• Ning Fengzhi told Sword Douluo about the three talented children and their resemblance to the Star Luo Royal Academy Team’s tactics, but said they had left Nuoding City on a mission.
• Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo examined crude portraits of Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu and decided they would have to leave scouts behind.
• Zhou Qing treated Xiao Wu, Tang San, and Romantina to food and drinks at Falling Star City’s night market.
• Zhou Qing asked a vendor whether the night market was always busy, and the vendor recounted how outsiders had disappeared around the city since a rural couple was killed six years earlier.
• The vendor said people blamed the disappearances on the dead couple taking revenge.

Zhou Qing explained why he suspected Ning Rongrong was a high-ranking member of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and warned his companions against getting entangled with the sect. Ning Rongrong tracked them down using her Martial Soul’s treasure-sensing ability and revealed her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.

• The stall owner warned Romantina and the others about human traffickers, and Xiao Wu joked that she could beat one easily.
• Zhou Qing and his companions inferred from Ning Rongrong’s Years Silkworm silk clothes that she was likely an important member of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
• Zhou Qing warned that accepting the sect’s protection could bind their futures to its interests, while Romantina joked that being a spoiled young miss’s plaything sounded appealing.
• Xiao Wu worried that a Titled Douluo might detect her Soul Beast aura and suggested moving to another inn.
• Ning Rongrong appeared beside the group and said her Martial Soul could sense precious treasures, then revealed her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda and Soul Master cultivation.

Zhou Qing showed Ning Rongrong the Soul Guidance Crystal but refused to trade the Radiant Goddess Butterfly Egg for information about Soul Crystals. After seeing the egg, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm revealed that it belonged to a Divine Beast that had surpassed the million-year threshold.

• Ning Rongrong recognized Zhou Qing's Soul Guidance Crystal as a highly pure Soul Crystal and offered to explain it in exchange for the other treasure in his pouch.
• Zhou Qing refused to trade the Radiant Goddess Butterfly Egg and handed the Soul Guidance Crystal to Tang San, who stored it in The Moon Shines Brightly in the Twelve Towers.
• Zhou Qing opened the metal box to show Ning Rongrong the pure-white egg, and Xiao Wu sensed its immense vitality and its ability to conceal her Soul Beast aura.
• Sky Dream Ice Silkworm identified the egg as a Radiant Goddess Butterfly Egg and explained that the Radiant Goddess Butterfly was a Divine Beast race that had broken through the million-year threshold.

Zhou Qing learned that the Light Goddess Butterfly was a Divine Beast whose egg could grant its refiner the corresponding Martial Soul. He suspected the Butterfly was connected to the fallen God of Love and concluded that she had arranged for the Seed of Nature and her egg to be nurtured together.

• Sky Dream Ice Silkworm explained that the Light Goddess Butterfly survived her apparent death by transforming her body into an egg and retaining a wisp of Divine Sense.
• Sky Dream Ice Silkworm said that refining the egg would grant the Light Goddess Butterfly Martial Soul and recommended that Xiao Wu or Romantina refine it.
• Zhou Qing suspected that the Light Goddess Butterfly and the God of Love were the same being, linking her powers over sunlight and moonlight to the Valley of Asking Love.
• Zhou Qing hypothesized that the God of Love used her Martial Soul incarnations to find the Seed of Nature and return it to the Valley of Asking Love.
• Zhou Qing concluded that the God of Love planned to have the Child of Destiny nurture the Seed of Nature and hatch her egg so they could grow together.

Zhou Qing explained the Radiant Goddess Butterfly Egg to Ning Rongrong, who demanded it and offered to help with his task. Her argument with Xiao Wu escalated into Xiao Wu spinning her around, leaving Zhou Qing to hope Ning Rongrong’s hidden protectors would not intervene.

• Zhou Qing told Ning Rongrong that the metal box contained a Radiant Goddess Butterfly Egg and explained its rarity.
• Ning Rongrong asked Zhou Qing to give her the egg, and he offered it in exchange for three conditions he had not yet decided on.
• Ning Rongrong cursed at Zhou Qing, then offered to help with his task after he declined to explain the conditions.
• Ning Rongrong and Xiao Wu traded insults about their figures, and Xiao Wu lunged at Ning Rongrong.
• Xiao Wu lifted Ning Rongrong and spun her around like a propeller while Zhou Qing watched and hoped her hidden protectors would not overreact.

Zhou Qing, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Romantina encountered Ning Rongrong in Falling Star City and brought her into their mission to capture a Soul Ancestor. The group set off together, with Ning Rongrong insisting that her support abilities made her useful.

• Xiao Wu spun Ning Rongrong around and ruffled her hair, while Ning Rongrong threatened to get even but seemed to enjoy the rough treatment.
• Zhou Qing explained that the group had come to capture a Soul Ancestor, and Ning Rongrong offered to buy his Light Goddess Butterfly Bug Egg before asking everyone’s names.
• Zhou Qing introduced himself and his companions under false names, calling Tang San Zhang San, Xiao Wu Wu Xiao, and Romantina Tina Roman.
• Ning Rongrong proposed starting the mission, and Zhou Qing and Tang San agreed to bring her along, knowing she could follow them and had powerful protectors nearby.
• Xiao Wu called Ning Rongrong a deadweight, so Ning Rongrong announced that she was an eleventh-level Soul Master with a twenty-percent Strength Amplification skill and refused to promise the group a boost.