Chapter Summaries

Xue Qinghe studied Zhou Qing’s faith-based cultivation theory but found her own faith blocked by her concealed identity, then sent Snake Lance and Pufferfish to investigate Zhou Qing’s origins and Nuoding Academy’s students. Meanwhile, Yu Tianheng and the Imperial Fighting Team Two discussed their defeat and the cost of buying Zhou Qing’s Qi Field theory.

• Xue Qinghe tried to cultivate with the theory and concluded that hiding her true identity kept her faith from reaching its full power.
• Xue Qinghe ordered Snake Lance to investigate Nuoding City and Holy Soul Village, and Pufferfish to investigate Nuoding Academy’s thirty-six students.
• Pufferfish reported that most of the students were ordinary people or Soul Scholars, leading Xue Qinghe to suspect Zhou Qing wanted to build a force among commoners.
• Dugu Yan comforted Yu Tianheng after the team’s defeat, while Yu Feng, Ye Lingling, and Shi Mo speculated about Nuoding Team’s strength and Romantina’s Brain Martial Soul.
• Yu Tianheng identified Zhou Qing as Nuoding Team’s core and suspected he had helped create the Soul Ring Secondary Refinement Theory.
• The Imperial Fighting Team Two members considered buying Zhou Qing’s Qi Field theory but concluded they could not afford its two-billion-gold-coin price individually.

Dugu Yan told Dugu Bo about Zhou Qing’s theory and Tang San’s ability to neutralize her poison, prompting her grandfather to seek them out. Meanwhile, Zhou Qing assigned his students a practical study of Heaven Dou City’s management before the tournament.

• Dugu Yan left Qin Ming and Yu Tianheng to ask Dugu Bo for two billion gold soul coins to buy Zhou Qing’s theory.
• Dugu Bo learned about the Soul Ring Secondary Refinement Theory, Qi Field Power, and Tang San’s treatment of Dugu Yan’s poison, then set out to question Zhou Qing and Tang San.
• Dugu Bo searched Heaven Dou Royal Academy and several upscale inns for the Nuoding Team but failed to find them because they were staying at a cheap guesthouse.
• Zhou Qing gathered the thirty-six students, including Xiaolan, and tasked them with studying how the tournament crowds affected Heaven Dou City and summarizing the basics of city management.
• Zhou Qing gave each student one hundred gold soul coins for their half-month assignment, separate from food and lodging.

Dugu Bo found Zhou Qing and the Nuoding Team after searching Heaven Dou City, while Xue Ye and Xue Qinghe discussed Zhou Qing’s ambitions. Dugu Bo’s attempt to bring the team to his residence ended in refusal after their qi fields repelled his pressure.

• Xue Ye told Xue Qinghe to get closer to Zhou Qing and his team after learning that Zhou Qing might establish a sect or found a nation.
• Dugu Bo tracked the Nuoding Team to their inn and invited them to his residence, revealing that he was Poison Douluo.
• Zhou Qing refused Dugu Bo’s invitation, and four Mind-Sense Qi Fields shattered Dugu Bo’s presence when he pressured Zhou Qing.
• Dugu Bo recognized the team’s ability to withstand Soul Douluo-level pressure and focused his attention on Tang San’s ability to neutralize Dugu Yan’s poison.
• Zhou Qing refused again when Dugu Bo asked to discuss the matter at his residence, and Tang San offered to hear him out where they were.

Dugu Bo confronted Tang San about curing Dugu Yan’s Jade Phosphor Serpent Poison, while Tang San and Zhou Qing realized he was secretly poisoned himself. Dugu Bo left with Tang San’s prescription, and Tang San concluded that the Poison Douluo had no proper way to cultivate or control poison.

• Dugu Bo demanded to know how Tang San had cured Dugu Yan, and Tang San explained that realgar could repel venomous creatures and help counter snake venom.
• Dugu Bo tested the realgar with his Jade Phosphor Serpent Poison and watched it corrode away, then asked Tang San about his knowledge of Dugu Yan’s and his own condition.
• Tang San admitted that Dugu Yan had poisoned herself, and Dugu Bo restrained his killing intent when Zhou Qing, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Romantina stood against him.
• Tang San wrote Dugu Bo a prescription that could alleviate his condition, and Dugu Bo took it before leaving under the pretense of apologizing for Dugu Yan.
• After Dugu Bo left, Tang San told Zhou Qing that Dugu Bo seemed to need their help and recognized that he concealed his poisoning and lacked a sound method for cultivating poison.

Dugu Bo tested Tang San’s prescription and found that it slightly eased his poisoning, then brought Tang San and Zhou Qing to discuss their conditions. After Tang San identified his symptoms and Zhou Qing joined him in overwhelming Dugu Bo’s presence, they planned a more accurate examination with Romantina.

• Dugu Bo drank Tang San’s decoction and performed the prescribed movements, which slightly relieved his pain.
• Dugu Bo found Zhou Qing and Tang San, brought them to his residence, and agreed to provide Jade Phosphor Serpent Poison for their research.
• Tang San accurately described Dugu Bo’s recurring symptoms, and Dugu Bo confirmed them.
• Dugu Bo tested Tang San with his presence, but Zhou Qing combined his Mind-Sense Qi Field with Tang San’s and broke through it.
• Tang San explained that he needed a more accurate assessment, so Zhou Qing asked Dugu Bo to bring Romantina and warned him to bear with her personality.

Dugu Bo brought Romantina to his home so Zhou Qing and Tang San could examine his ailment. After Romantina used Spiritual Detection and Spiritual Sharing, they discovered that poison had spread through Dugu Bo’s meridians and altered the surrounding cells, though the cause and treatment remained unclear.

• Dugu Bo carried Romantina away from the street, alarming Xiaolan and the surrounding pedestrians.
• At Dugu Bo’s home, Zhou Qing jokingly tried to arrange Romantina’s marriage to Dugu Bo, but Dugu Bo rejected the idea.
• Zhou Qing asked Dugu Bo to relax, and Romantina used her First Soul Skill to reveal his meridians, Soul Power, and Martial Soul.
• Zhou Qing and Tang San examined Dugu Bo’s body through Spiritual Sharing and found poison circulating through his meridians and changing the cells around them.

Zhou Qing and Tang San identified Dugu Bo’s Jade Phosphor Serpent Poison as the result of a dangerous cultivation method and considered using a refined Soul Power circulation to turn the poison into a source of strength. To verify their plan, Zhou Qing asked Dugu Bo to use Martial Soul Possession, and Dugu Bo revealed his serpent-like form.

• Zhou Qing concluded that Dugu Bo’s body had adapted to Jade Phosphor Serpent Poison through years of dangerous cultivation, aided by the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
• Zhou Qing explained that using a Soul Bone to bear the poison could preserve Dugu Bo’s poison arts and prevent the poison from tormenting him.
• Tang San proposed making Dugu Bo an experimental subject and improving his Great Zhou Circulation so the poison could flow through his body and potentially temper his Martial Soul.
• Zhou Qing asked Dugu Bo to use Martial Soul Possession to let them examine his condition, and Dugu Bo complied, revealing dark green scales and a long serpent tail.

Zhou Qing explained that the Dugu Lineage’s poison might be changing its descendants’ bodies to help them adapt to their Martial Soul, then offered to develop a cultivation method to manage the process. Dugu Bo could not afford Zhou Qing’s enormous fee, so Zhou Qing proposed an installment plan with interest.

• Zhou Qing questioned Dugu Bo about how his Martial Soul Possession differed from Dugu Yan’s and ruled out Martial Soul Evolution and gender as causes.
• Zhou Qing theorized that Jade Phosphor Serpent Poison had affected Dugu Yan and Dugu Xin before birth, and that the Dugu Lineage’s poison was gradually altering its bloodline across generations.
• Zhou Qing told Dugu Bo that his body had adapted to the poison and outlined a new cultivation method using a Martial Cauldron Soul Furnace and medicinal substances.
• Dugu Bo asked whether Zhou Qing and his companions could really create the method, and Zhou Qing demanded two hundred billion gold soul coins.
• Dugu Bo said he could not pay that amount and offered to fulfill three requests, but Zhou Qing insisted on cash and began calculating an interest-bearing installment plan.

Dugu Bo agreed to thirty conditions and signed Zhou Qing and Tang San’s lengthy treatment contract before they began examining his meridians and acupoints. Their awkward examination was interrupted by Dugu Yan, who walked in at the worst possible moment and saw them touching her grandfather.

• Dugu Bo bargained down the debt by raising his conditions to thirty, and Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Romantina accepted.
• Zhou Qing drew up two copies of the agreement, and Dugu Bo signed and fingerprinted both.
• Zhou Qing and Tang San examined Dugu Bo’s body with help from Romantina’s Spiritual Detection and Spiritual Sharing skills.
• Dugu Yan entered and saw Zhou Qing and Tang San touching Dugu Bo in private areas, shattering her image of her grandfather.
• Dugu Bo told Dugu Yan that things were not what they looked like and asked whether she believed him.

Zhou Qing and Tang San examined Dugu Bo and guided his Soul Power through a new circulation route that relieved the poison damaging his body. Dugu Bo’s ailment began to resolve, his Martial Soul started evolving, and his Soul Power rose to Level 93, leaving Dugu Yan confused by his declaration that the three helpers were his sworn siblings.

• Dugu Yan questioned Dugu Bo after finding Zhou Qing and Tang San examining him, while Romantina shut the door before she could learn more.
• Zhou Qing and Tang San identified how accumulated Jade Phosphor Serpent Poison had damaged Dugu Bo’s organs and meridians.
• Zhou Qing and Tang San guided Dugu Bo’s Soul Power through a route based on the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, forming a cauldron-like circulation with his poison and Martial Soul.
• Dugu Bo’s Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor Martial Soul gained a jade-like luster and stronger spirituality as the circulation eased his condition.
• Dugu Bo’s Soul Power burst outward, collapsing the room, and he emerged saying his ailment was cured and his cultivation had reached Level 93.
• Dugu Bo told Dugu Yan that Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Romantina were his sworn siblings.

Dugu Bo agreed to let Romantina treat Dugu Yan later and became a test subject for Zhou Qing and Tang San’s evolving cultivation methods. As Dugu Bo carried them toward Nuoding Academy’s guesthouse, Zhou Qing learned that Titled Douluo generally could not truly fly.

• Dugu Bo asked how Dugu Yan could be treated without anyone touching her, and Zhou Qing proposed that Romantina handle the treatment.
• Dugu Bo postponed Dugu Yan’s treatment until he had fully recovered and agreed to help the Nuoding Team during the Continental Elite Tournament by testing improved cultivation methods.
• Zhou Qing explained that Soul Power circulation should be adjusted to match changes in climate and environment, and Dugu Bo took their cultivation research seriously.
• Zhou Qing prepared to return to the guesthouse, so Dugu Bo carried him, Tang San, and Romantina there with a series of long leaps.
• Zhou Qing discovered that Dugu Bo was not actually flying and wondered whether Dugu Bo’s Dan Pearl might be an early form of a Soul Core.

After Dugu Bo visited the group, Zhou Qing explained how the Continental Elite Tournament and Romantina’s soul-ring refinement could advance their influence and fund the Worker-Peasant Council. The tournament began in Heaven Dou City, where Nuoding Academy headed to the arena.

• The Nuoding Academy Dean and Mo Hen greeted Dugu Bo, who said he might visit Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Romantina again before departing.
• Zhou Qing told the Dean that the tournament would bring attention to Nuoding City and described his plans to build support while preparing for powerful figures and gods.
• Zhou Qing explained that Romantina could earn vast sums by refining soul rings, with most of the funds supporting the Worker-Peasant Council’s public projects.
• The group discussed the Council’s growth and the protection Dugu Bo’s presence could provide, while Romantina imagined becoming indispensable to their earnings.
• On the tournament’s opening day, Nuoding Academy completed its morning training and traveled to the Heaven Dou Great Soul Fighting Arena.

Nuoding Academy’s team waited through the Continental Elite Tournament’s opening ceremony while Zhou Qing discussed past tournament prizes with the others. The Elephant Armored Academy team was called out next, confirming its connection to the Elephant Armored Sect.

• A muscular young man mocked the Nuoding Academy Dean and his team, but his grandfather stopped him and warned him to surrender if they faced a much stronger opponent.
• Inside the waiting room, other academy teams were called out while Nuoding Academy’s team waited and shared snacks.
• Zhou Qing described past prizes, including an Advanced Meditation Method and a pill that could increase Soul Power and improve cultivation aptitude.
• Tang San and Xiao Wu discussed Spirit Hall’s research and its possible usefulness for studying the body and cultivation.
• The Elephant Armored Academy team was called out, and Zhou Qing recognized it as the Elephant Armored Sect’s team.

Nuoding Academy entered the Pan-Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament, where Emperor Xue Ye declared the competition open. Zhou Qing and his companions stayed committed to helping commoners rather than serving the empire, while Xue Ye misread their composure as enthusiasm for his speech.

• Wang Sheng condemned the arrogance of Elephant Armored Academy, and Tang San predicted that such a high-profile sect would not last.
• Nuoding Academy entered the Heaven Dou Great Soul Fighting Arena as the final team and was introduced as an intermediate academy that had earned a place by challenging an advanced academy.
• Zhou Qing explained that Xue Ye was a Soul Douluo, while Tang San and Zhou Qing noted that age, illness, and poor combat experience likely weakened him.
• Xue Ye declared the tournament open and urged the competitors to fight for the glory of the empire.
• Zhou Qing, Tang San, Xiao Wu, Romantina, Wang Sheng, Bu Liu, and Bu Qi remained calm and resolved to fight for the common people.
• Xue Ye assumed the Nuoding Team had been inspired by his speech and privately thought Qinghe still had much to learn from his father.

At the Continental Elite Tournament opening, Ning Fengzhi hinted that he favored two teams, while Salas announced the first-round matchups and offered Spirit Hall membership to teams that reached the Finals. The Nuoding Team was drawn against Elephant Armored Academy, leaving Huyan Zhen puzzled about Spirit Hall’s intentions.

• Ning Fengzhi praised the participating Soul Masters and said he favored two teams besides the Heaven Dou Royal Team, but kept their identities secret.
• Ning Fengzhi privately anticipated seeing how Zhou Qing and the Nuoding Team had developed and wondered why they were eager to enter the tournament.
• Salas drew the first-round matchups, pairing Elephant Armored Academy with Nuoding Academy and Heaven Dou Royal Academy Second Team with Divine Wind Academy.
• Salas promised that any team reaching the Finals could join the Martial Soul Hall, stirring excitement among the spectators.
• Huyan Zhen wondered why Salas had matched Elephant Armored Academy against a team he believed was weak and considered whether Spirit Hall had backed down.

Zhou Qing explained that the Continental Elite Tournament served the interests of powerful factions, then led Nuoding Team into its first-round match against Elephant Armored Academy. The match began with both teams revealing their abilities, and Nuoding Team shocked the audience with their extraordinary spirit rings.

• Zhou Qing told Xiao Wu and the others that Salas had likely arranged the matchup to pressure the Elephant Armored Sect, which had not yet fully allied with Spirit Hall.
• The audience booed Nuoding Team as it entered the arena, while the students and staff from Nuoding Academy cheered them on.
• Huyan Li introduced himself as Elephant Armored Academy's level 35 captain, and Zhou Qing answered with a casual description of his own abilities.
• The Elephant Armored Academy team possessed their Diamond Mammoth martial souls and displayed their powerful builds and spirit rings.
• Ning Fengzhi told Huyan Zhen that Zhou Qing had impressed him before, prompting Huyan Zhen to question whether Nuoding Team could threaten his academy.
• Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu revealed three thousand-year spirit rings each, while Romantina and the remaining Nuoding Team members displayed unusual rings that stunned the audience.

Zhou Qing’s Nuoding Team faced the Elephant Armored Academy Team, whose coordinated formation linked their soul power through matching vibration frequencies. Zhou Qing ended the match with his Mind-Sense Qi Field, leaving the Elephant Armored Team unconscious and much of the nearby competition field incapacitated as the Nuoding Team claimed victory.

• Huyan Li led the Elephant Armored Academy Team forward and formed a defensive array by matching the team’s soul power vibration frequencies.
• Zhou Qing and Tang San recognized the formation’s vibration-based principle, while Zhou Qing reflected on the nobles’ wealth and the poverty of ordinary people.
• Zhou Qing released his Mind-Sense Qi Field, knocking out Huyan Li and the other six Elephant Armored Academy members, along with many nearby academy competitors.
• Zhou Qing withdrew the field before it reached the spectators, and the stunned audience realized that he had incapacitated the teams rather than arranged a fixed match.
• The referee checked the Elephant Armored Academy members, confirmed they had only fainted, and declared the Nuoding Team the winner.

After the Nuoding Team won its first Preliminary Competition match using the Mind-Sense Qi Field, nearly fifteen Advanced Academies demanded that Nuoding Academy be expelled or that its ability be restricted. Xue Ye, Salas, and Ning Fengzhi faced pressure to respond, while Ning Fengzhi realized Zhou Qing’s Spiritual Power had become astonishingly strong and wondered why he was intimidating everyone.

• The Nuoding Team defeated its opponents with the Mind-Sense Qi Field, leaving most spectators baffled before the crowd began cheering for the team's mysterious power.
• Yu Tianheng called the Qi Field Power unreasonable, while Qin Ming confirmed that the defeated teammates had only fainted and questioned why the ability should be restricted.
• The deans and team leaders of nearly fifteen Advanced Academies demanded that Nuoding Academy be disqualified or that the Mind-Sense Qi Field be restricted.
• Bu Liu and Bu Qi mocked the protesting academies, while Xue Ye, Salas, and Ning Fengzhi weighed the political consequences of responding to their demands.
• Ning Fengzhi met Zhou Qing's gaze, sensed that his Spiritual Power rivaled his own, and wondered why Zhou Qing had chosen to intimidate the arena.

Zhou Qing agreed to limit Nuoding Team’s Qi Field Power only if the other teams were barred from using Self-Created Soul Skills as well, then proposed a match against Huyan Zhen to resolve the tournament dispute. His challenge to the Elephant Armored Sect’s Soul Douluo stunned the venue, and Ning Fengzhi recognized Zhou Qing’s influence over the entire gathering.

• Xue Ye asked Huyan Zhen to propose a solution, and Huyan Zhen suggested prohibiting Nuoding Team from using abilities that made opponents faint.
• Zhou Qing accepted the restriction on the condition that the other Advanced Academies also stop using Self-Created Soul Skills.
• Zhou Qing offered to face Elephant Armored Academy again and clarified that Huyan Zhen, not Huyan Li, would be the opponent.
• The crowd erupted when Zhou Qing challenged Huyan Zhen, and Ning Fengzhi realized Zhou Qing was controlling the entire venue.

Zhou Qing challenged Huyan Zhen to a match, using the controversy over the Nuoding Team’s Self-Created Soul Skills to force the tournament officials and academy headmasters into a confrontation. Huyan Zhen accepted, and Zhou Qing’s team prepared to face him without restrictions on his Soul Skills.

• Zhou Qing demanded that the Nuoding Team receive a qualification to advance if they won against Huyan Zhen, or withdraw from the tournament if they lost.
• Salas, Xue Ye, and Ning Fengzhi agreed to the challenge, with Ning Fengzhi suggesting that Huyan Zhen be barred from using Soul Skills.
• The fifteen Advanced Academy headmasters supported the match, and Huyan Zhen reluctantly accepted.
• Zhou Qing insisted that Huyan Zhen should be allowed to use his Soul Skills, and Tang San, Xiao Wu, Romantina, Wang Sheng, Bu Liu, and Bu Qi joined him.
• The assembled academies and spectators suspected Zhou Qing meant to use the unrestricted match to intimidate those who coveted the Nuoding Team’s Self-Created Soul Skills.