Chapter Summaries

Zhou Qing and Tang San enrolled at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy as regular students, though they were assigned to a Work-Study Student dormitory. After they left, Yu Xiaogang saw their enrollment forms and recognized their Innate Full Soul Power as an opportunity.

• Zhou Qing used two Silver Soul Coins to avoid trouble with the academy gatekeeper, and Tang San agreed not to retrieve them.
• Zhou Qing and Tang San presented their Martial Soul certificates, and Teacher Mo Hen assigned them to Dormitory Seven because the regular-student dormitories were full.
• Zhou Qing paid fifty Silver Soul Coins for their tuition, then left with Tang San to find bedding.
• Yu Xiaogang arrived at the registration office, examined their enrollment forms, and reacted to their Innate Full Soul Power as an opportunity.

Zhou Qing and Tang San settled into Dormitory Seven, where they met Xiao Wu and helped her buy bedding. Yu Xiaogang came to give the boys bedding, but Zhou Qing rejected the offer as an insult to their dignity.

• Zhou Qing and Tang San bought supplies and arrived at Dormitory Seven, where Xiao Wu had beaten Wang Sheng and demanded that they call her Sister Xiao Wu.
• Xiao Wu declared the boys her followers, then borrowed two Copper Soul Coins from Zhou Qing to buy her own bedding.
• Wang Sheng learned that Zhou Qing and Tang San were regular students from Holy Soul Village, a village known for producing grain and a Soul Saint.
• Yu Xiaogang arrived with bedding he had prepared for the boys, but Zhou Qing insisted that accepting it would insult them.

Zhou Qing and Tang San refused Yu Xiaogang’s bedding, so he gave it to other Work-Study Students and invited the two boys to become his disciples. Wang Sheng described Yu Xiaogang’s poor reputation, and the chapter ended with him learning that both boys had Innate Full Soul Power despite their unusual Martial Souls.

• Zhou Qing suggested Yu Xiaogang give the bedding to Work-Study Students who needed it, and Yu Xiaogang agreed.
• Wang Sheng gave the two bedding sets to the students with the thinnest bedding, and they thanked him and Yu Xiaogang.
• Yu Xiaogang invited Zhou Qing and Tang San to visit him if they wanted him as their teacher, then left Dormitory Seven.
• Wang Sheng explained Yu Xiaogang’s poor reputation, and Tang San became disgusted with him.
• Tang San revealed his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul and Innate Full Soul Power, while Zhou Qing showed Wang Sheng his certificate confirming the same.

Xiao Wu challenged Zhou Qing and Tang San to a spar after learning they had Innate Full Soul Power. Zhou Qing fought her to a draw, and Xiao Wu then called Tang San forward to fight.

• Xiao Wu brought new bedding to Dormitory Seven and learned from the work-study students that Zhou Qing and Tang San had Innate Full Soul Power.
• Xiao Wu challenged Zhou Qing and Tang San to spar, and Zhou Qing agreed to fight first.
• Xiao Wu attacked Zhou Qing with a fast kick, but he caught her leg and spun her around with Great Windmill.
• Xiao Wu used her scorpion-tail braid to pull Zhou Qing down, and Tang San freed him after the two fell to the ground.
• Zhou Qing proposed calling their match a draw and suggested they spar again, and Xiao Wu agreed.
• Xiao Wu challenged Tang San next, and he accepted after she refused to call the unfought match a draw.

Tang San and Xiao Wu called their battle a draw, then Wang Sheng explained how Nuoding's Adventurer's Guild worked and how it recruited Soul Masters. Zhou Qing described humanity's expansion into remote Soul Beast territories, leaving Xiao Wu troubled by the conflict between humans and Soul Beasts despite her attempt to put it aside.

• Tang San evaded Xiao Wu with Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track until they agreed to call their fight a draw.
• Wang Sheng offered to treat Dormitory Seven to a meal, and Tang San asked him about the Nuoding Guild.
• Wang Sheng explained that certified Soul Masters with Soul Rings could register as adventurers and take guild missions; Xiao Wu decided she wanted to become one.
• Wang Sheng described missions to explore Soul Beast habitats, and Zhou Qing explained that humans hunted and cleared Soul Beasts to expand their territory.
• Xiao Wu objected to the treatment of Soul Beasts but set aside her anger when she smelled food at the dining hall.

At Nuoding Junior Academy, Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu learned about the divide between commoner and noble students before Xiao Chenyu’s group mocked the work-study students. After discussing the academy’s tolerance of student fights, Xiao Wu tried to get Zhou Qing to do her assigned work, and he agreed only if he kept the pay.

• Wang Sheng explained that meals on the cafeteria’s second floor cost far more because they included expensive Soul Beast meat, and Tang San considered how food widened the gap between commoner and noble Soul Masters.
• Xiao Chenyu arrived with his lackeys, mocked the work-study students, and invited his group upstairs for a meal while Xiao Wu grew angry.
• Wang Sheng stopped Xiao Wu from confronting Xiao Chenyu in the cafeteria and explained that students could spar elsewhere; Zhou Qing suggested the academy allowed it to prepare students for the Soul Master World’s cruelty.
• After lunch, Xiao Wu asked Tang San and Zhou Qing to do her work-study chores, but Tang San refused and Zhou Qing agreed on the condition that he kept the compensation.
• Zhou Qing privately considered Xiao Wu a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast and thought about keeping her as reserve food.

Zhou Qing and Tang San began settling into academy life while investigating cultivation and planning to obtain Soul Rings. After Mo Hen explained the Meditation Methods and his limits in helping them, Zhou Qing decided that he and Tang San would seek help through the Adventurer's Guild.

• Zhou Qing claimed Xiao Wu's reward for completing work, and Xiao Wu left to do her assigned task.
• Tang San planned to visit a Blacksmith Shop, while Zhou Qing asked Wang Sheng where the Library was and searched for books about Soul Beasts, Soul Masters, and Soul Tools.
• After Mo Hen taught the students basic literacy and meditation, Zhou Qing asked about the differences between the Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced Meditation Methods.
• Zhou Qing asked Mo Hen for leave to obtain a Soul Ring, but Mo Hen said he could not take him before the semester ended and offered to ask other teachers for help.
• Zhou Qing declined to trouble Mo Hen and said he and Tang San would seek assistance at the Adventurer's Guild; Mo Hen offered to take them hunting if no one accepted their task.

Zhou Qing and Tang San posted missions at Nuoding Guild to hunt their first-ring Soul Beasts, and Xiao Wu registered as an adventurer before trying to accept their task. She was challenged for it by Romantina, a physically powerful young woman whose Martial Soul was her brain, leaving the group facing a new rival for the mission.

• Zhou Qing and Tang San left the academy with Xiao Wu and posted missions to hunt a three-to-four-hundred-year-old Wolf Bristle Grass and Moo Spring Ox, negotiating the rewards with receptionist Alice.
• Xiao Wu revealed her four-hundred-year soul ring, registered as an adventurer with a Gold Soul Coin borrowed from Zhou Qing, and learned how to use her Adventure Card.
• Xiao Wu chose Zhou Qing and Tang San's hunting mission, but Romantina pressed her hand onto the mission slip and refused to yield.
• Alice told Zhou Qing that Romantina was the vice city lord's daughter, had a brain Martial Soul, and had defeated a level-twenty Support System Soul Master despite remaining below level ten.

Zhou Qing agreed to let Romantina join the Soul Beast hunt after learning she had reached level ten and was experienced in the forest, despite doubts about her strange behavior. Xiao Wu also insisted on coming along, and the group prepared to take the mission together.

• Romantina tore down Zhou Qing and Tang San's task sheets and asked Alice to let her join their hunt for a Soul Ring.
• Zhou Qing questioned Romantina's reasons for taking the task, and she admitted she wanted to test her strength against a Moo Spring Ox.
• Zhou Qing agreed to bring Romantina after deciding her forest experience could help, and Tang San supported his choice.
• Romantina and Xiao Wu traded insults, while Zhou Qing suspected Romantina's vivid imagination made her react strangely to the argument.
• Zhou Qing decided Xiao Wu should join as well, and Xiao Wu asked whether she would receive the payment.

Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu traveled with Romantina to Nuoding Soul Hunting Forest, where she explained its dangers and the role of Spirit Hall in managing hunting grounds. The group reached the forest’s outskirts, and Zhou Qing’s invitation to team up later prompted another bizarre outburst from Romantina.

• Zhou Qing suggested splitting the reward evenly, but Romantina insisted she wanted to face the Moo Spring Ox herself and denied she would extort anyone if injured.
• Romantina led Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu by carriage to Nuoding Soul Hunting Forest and explained how local exploration guides helped Soul Masters avoid dangers.
• Romantina described how Spirit Hall managed smaller Soul Hunting Forests to protect Soul Beasts and preserve access to Soul Rings for Commoner Soul Masters.
• Romantina warned the children to be cautious when choosing Soul Hunting Teams, since disputes could lead teams to break their agreements.
• Zhou Qing invited Romantina to form a team with them after they became Soul Masters, and Romantina responded with an elaborate, sexually charged fantasy about him.

Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu traveled with Romantina while Zhou Qing considered the unusual resonance between their Body Martial Souls and the potential of Romantina's Brain Martial Soul. Romantina revealed that her family’s strange wooden staff could channel Soul Power into flames, and Zhou Qing left her with a new name for it: the Phoenix Wutong Staff.

• Romantina’s suggestive remarks embarrassed Zhou Qing, Xiao Wu, and Tang San, and Zhou Qing considered whether their Body Martial Souls might have the potential for a Martial Soul Fusion Skill.
• Romantina bought supplies and daggers for the group, explaining that each Soul Master had to deliver the final blow to a Soul Beast to absorb its Soul Ring.
• Romantina demonstrated her black wooden staff, explaining that it was a family heirloom said to come from the Phoenix Parasol Tree and could gather fire when infused with Soul Power.
• Romantina called the staff the Flame Broom and vowed to use it as a great knight to sweep her enemies away.
• Zhou Qing suggested renaming it the Phoenix Wutong Staff, and Romantina accepted the name as a second title while accusing him of having improper thoughts about her.

Romantina led Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu into the Soul Hunting Forest to find a three- to four-hundred-year-old Wolf Bristle Grass for Tang San. After Romantina deliberately provoked it and endured its seed-spreading attack until nightfall, she said she no longer wanted it.

• Romantina showed the Spirit Hall guards her adventurer's Identity Card and mission papers, and they let the group enter the forest.
• Romantina used a map to guide the group to a clearing containing the forest's only Soul Beast Wolf Bristle Grass.
• Romantina warned Tang San about small animals in the grass, then struck the Wolf Bristle Grass and drew its leaves and tufts around herself.
• The Wolf Bristle Grass spread its seeds across Romantina as she struggled free, while Zhou Qing blushed, Tang San looked away, and Xiao Wu criticized Romantina's behavior.
• After the Wolf Bristle Grass released Romantina at night and wilted, Romantina said she no longer wanted it.

Tang San hunted the Wolf Bristle Grass and absorbed its Spirit Ring as his First Spirit Ring, while Romantina harvested and cooked its seeds. The Blue Silver Grass grew rapidly during the absorption, leaving Zhou Qing to witness an unexpected change.

• Romantina drained the Wolf Bristle Grass and collected its seeds, shocking Tang San, Zhou Qing, Xiao Wu, and the watching Tang Hao.
• Tang San dug up the Wolf Bristle Grass and burned it while Romantina cooked its seeds into a paste for the group.
• Zhou Qing, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Romantina ate the seed paste, which Zhou Qing found seemed to stimulate his Soul Power.
• Tang San used his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul to absorb the Wolf Bristle Grass's yellow Spirit Ring.
• The Blue Silver Grass grew around Tang San's hand as bluish-green energy flowed from the Spirit Ring into its leaves.

Tang San absorbed his first spirit ring and gained an External Soul Bone, raising his soul power to about Level Fourteen. Zhou Qing explained why the Wolf Bristle Grass suited him and warned Romantina against choosing a spirit ring that was too old.

• Tang San finished absorbing the Wolf Bristle Grass spirit ring, and Zhou Qing and Tang Hao recognized that he had also obtained an External Soul Bone.
• Tang San estimated that his soul power had reached Level Fourteen, nearly Level Fifteen, and sensed a closer connection to his two martial souls.
• Romantina was astonished by Tang San's soul power, and Zhou Qing attributed his progress to the Wolf Bristle Grass's age and compatibility with Blue Silver Grass.
• Zhou Qing warned Romantina to choose a spirit ring around three or four hundred years old because a stronger one could cause trouble.
• Romantina's eyes lit up when Zhou Qing said an older spirit ring would be painful.

Zhou Qing and his companions tracked a herd of Moo Spring Oxen to a pool in Nuoding Forest, where Zhou Qing chose to hunt the nearly five-hundred-year-old chief. Romantina struck first, and as the group surrounded the beast, she and Zhou Qing discovered their Body Martial Souls resonated.

• Tang San explained that his First Soul Skill, Life Accumulation, stored life force that might strengthen Soul Skills, though he could not yet test its effects.
• After an uneventful night, Romantina led Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu to a pool where a herd of ten Moo Spring Oxen came to drink.
• Zhou Qing chose the nearly five-hundred-year-old Moo Spring Ox chief, confident that his cultivation method would let him refine its spirit ring.
• Romantina attacked the chief with her Phoenix Wutong Staff, driving it back while the other Moo Spring Oxen fled into the woods.
• Zhou Qing and Romantina activated their Martial Soul Possessions, and Romantina felt their Body Martial Souls resonate with each other.

Zhou Qing, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Romantina worked together to defeat the Moo Spring Ox, and Zhou Qing absorbed its Soul Ring. Afterward, he estimated that his Soul Power had reached Level Fourteen or Fifteen.

• Zhou Qing used his strength and Planetary Gravity to topple the Moo Spring Ox, while Tang San and Romantina wounded it.
• Romantina told Zhou Qing to kill the burning Moo Spring Ox with the Phoenix Wutong Staff, but it rolled away and the staff struck its rear instead of its throat.
• The Moo Spring Ox died, and Zhou Qing absorbed its yellow Soul Ring, strengthening his Soul Power and vitality.
• Tang San recognized Zhou Qing's internal cultivation as unusually advanced, and Zhou Qing estimated his Soul Power was around Level Fourteen or Fifteen.

After obtaining his first spirit ring, Zhou Qing tested his earth-powered soul skill and named it Yongchun. He demonstrated its full force before Tang San and Romantina, who realized the Moo Spring Ox had never been able to unleash its own strongest charge.

• Zhou Qing reasoned that soul power cultivated past a bottleneck could not be retained before a spirit ring, and that innate soul power might remain hidden within a martial soul.
• Xiao Wu asked about Zhou Qing’s first soul skill, and he explained that it stored the Power of the Earth to strengthen his Qi and Blood and release the force through his fists.
• Zhou Qing used the skill to break a thick tree with one punch and named the ability Yongchun.
• Zhou Qing ran to build up speed, then unleashed a blood-red Moo Spring Ox that charged through and knocked down more than a dozen trees.
• Tang San marveled at the Moo Spring Ox’s power, and Romantina explained that Zhou Qing’s earlier tactics had prevented it from reaching its full charging strength.

After Zhou Qing exhausted himself using the full form of his First Soul Skill, Tang San and Romantina helped prepare the Moo Spring Ox for food. Xiao Wu discovered a Head Soul Bone inside its skull, leaving Tang San wary as everyone faced the prospect of competing for the treasure.

• Zhou Qing explained that the Power of the Earth helped restore his Soul Power, then recovered quickly while Tang San and Romantina prepared the Moo Spring Ox.
• Zhou Qing mocked Xiao Wu for not helping, so she took the ox head to the pool and cut it open.
• A lustrous green Head Soul Bone fell from the Moo Spring Ox's skull, surprising Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Romantina.
• Tang San readied a Bamboo Leaf Dart and prepared to attack if Xiao Wu or Romantina tried to seize the Soul Bone.
• Tang Hao watched from hiding and realized Zhou Qing and Tang San had found two Soul Bones during their first Soul Beast hunt.

Zhou Qing kept the Moo Spring Ox Head Soul Bone instead of absorbing it, while Romantina offered to buy it and Xiao Wu reluctantly tried beef for the first time. As they ate, a group of five strangers emerged from the woods.

• Xiao Wu handed the Moo Spring Ox Head Soul Bone to Zhou Qing, and Romantina gave a bizarre, sexually charged speech about protecting it.
• Zhou Qing decided to study the low-age Head Soul Bone and said he would sell it to Romantina if his research failed; she offered one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.
• Romantina roasted the Moo Spring Ox meat, and Zhou Qing urged Xiao Wu to eat some despite her refusal to eat beef.
• Xiao Wu tasted the beef, found it delicious, and kept eating while feeling guilty about thinking of Da Ming's bull head.
• A group of five emerged from the woods near the pool, led by a short-limbed, fat man with yellow hair and curled golden mustaches.

Romantina explained why Baron Dales and his Soul Masters had come from Falling Star City to hunt Moo Spring Oxen near Nuoding City. After Dales approached and offered to help Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu, Romantina sent him away without revealing that they had already killed the herd's leader.

• Romantina identified Baron Dales as the city lord of Falling Star City and explained that people from border cities could hunt Soul Beasts across the empire boundary.
• Zhou Qing reasoned that Dales had come to hunt Moo Spring Oxen because they migrated toward the warmer Nuoding region for winter.
• Romantina confirmed that Falling Star City had harsher winters than Nuoding City, despite the cities being just over two hundred li apart.
• Dales approached Romantina, explained that he had reached Level 30, and asked where the Moo Spring Ox herd had gone so he could hunt its leader for a Soul Ring.
• Romantina pointed out the herd's path and refused Dales's offer to take her friends along, saying they had already obtained suitable Soul Rings.