Chapter Summaries

Baron Dales learned that Zhou Qing carried a Soul Bone and planned to exploit Romantina’s connection to it to stir unrest in Nuoding City and advance his own ambitions. After Romantina warned him that the Soul Bone’s fluctuations had exposed it, Zhou Qing stored it in the Gray Pouch, revealing the Storage Soul Tool to her instead.

• A Soul Grandmaster told Baron Dales that Zhou Qing’s bundle gave off the fluctuations of a Soul Bone, and Dales’s men urged him to seize it.
• Dales rejected an immediate attack because Romantina might have a powerful protector, and planned to spread word that she had obtained a Soul Bone to provoke trouble in Nuoding City.
• Dales intended to exploit the resulting unrest to gain influence and create a pretext for conflict between the Star Luo Empire and the Heaven Dou Empire.
• Xiao Wu complained about Dales’s lecherous appearance, while Romantina warned Zhou Qing that the Soul Bone’s fluctuations had drawn his attention.
• Zhou Qing put the Soul Bone into the Gray Pouch and explained to Romantina that he and Tang San had inherited the Storage Soul Tool from a Soul Saint associated with Holy Soul Village.

Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu stayed wary of Dales over the Soul Bone while Romantina enthusiastically tried to join their future adventures. Zhou Qing advised Romantina to seek a Spiritual Attribute Soul Ring and left her considering the Moo Spring Ox as her best option in Nuoding Soul Hunting Forest.

• Zhou Qing armed himself with Tang San’s improved Godly Zhuge Crossbows and gave one to Romantina as hush money.
• Romantina reacted eagerly to Zhou Qing’s offer and begged him to let her join his future adventure team.
• Zhou Qing asked Romantina about her first Soul Ring, and she said she wanted to become a knight who could take hits and fight.
• Zhou Qing explained that a Spiritual Attribute Soul Beast would suit Romantina’s Brain Martial Soul, though suitable beasts were rare and unavailable in the local forest.
• Zhou Qing argued that the Moo Spring Ox likely had a hidden Spiritual Attribute because it had dropped a Head Soul Bone, making it Romantina’s best local choice.

A nearly million-year-old Sky Dream Ice Silkworm appeared in Nuoding Forest and chose Romantina as the host for its sacrifice, promising immense power in exchange for revenge on the Ferocious Beasts that had stolen its cultivation. Romantina received its white Soul Ring and fainted, while Zhou Qing wondered why the silkworm had appeared there.

• Zhou Qing, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Romantina were trapped when the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm emerged from beneath the ground, while Tang Hao was immobilized in hiding.
• The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm revealed that it wanted to sacrifice itself to a human with strong Spiritual Power and make that person help it take revenge on the Ferocious Beasts.
• The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm explained its nearly million years of spiritual cultivation, its plan to grant Romantina a second Martial Soul, and its offer to give Tang San powerful Soul Rings.
• Zhou Qing's Blood Circulation System resisted the silkworm's soul-level pressure, making him a possible alternative host.
• The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm sacrificed itself to Romantina, forming a jade-white Soul Ring around her head and causing her to faint.
• Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu regained their ability to move, and Zhou Qing wondered whether Xiao Wu's presence had drawn the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm to Nuoding Forest.

Sky Dream Ice Silkworm successfully sacrificed itself to Romantina, granting her a growing Intelligent Soul Ring, four Soul Skills, and an ice second Martial Soul. After Romantina woke, Zhou Qing asked to buy the silkworm’s shed skin, prompting Sky Dream Ice Silkworm to protest from her Sea of Spirit.

• Sky Dream Ice Silkworm entered Romantina’s Sea of Spirit and explained that its sacrifice gave her a Soul Ring that could grow up to a million years, four Soul Skills, and an ice second Martial Soul.
• Romantina teased Sky Dream Ice Silkworm about its feelings for Bing Bing and accused it of being a scum-bug.
• Romantina woke and told Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu that a flesh worm had violated her.
• Zhou Qing examined the empty silkworm skin and asked Romantina to sell it to him, and she agreed.
• Sky Dream Ice Silkworm protested that the skin was its commemorative cast-off shell and should not be sold.

Romantina bonded with the Million-Year Soul Beast Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, who shared control of her body and promised to protect her group. With Zhou Qing holding the silkworm’s shed skin and Sky Dream joining their team, Tang Hao decided Tang San no longer needed Yu Xiaogang’s protection.

• Sky Dream Ice Silkworm took control of Romantina’s body, promised the group powerful future Spirit Rings, and argued with her over their shared body.
• Zhou Qing stored Sky Dream Ice Silkworm’s shed skin in his Storage Soul Tool, and Sky Dream agreed to let him keep it safe.
• Sky Dream introduced himself by name, explained that he had grown powerful after living in a cave of Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow, and promised to point out Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures.
• Romantina recovered control and welcomed Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu onto her team before Baron Dales arrived and congratulated her on obtaining her First Spirit Ring.
• Tang Hao left Nuoding Forest, deciding Sky Dream’s protection meant Tang San did not need Yu Xiaogang’s help.

After escaping Nuoding Forest without Dales attacking, Zhou Qing and his companions returned to Nuoding City to register as Soul Masters. At the Spirit Hall branch, they met Su Yuntao and Sisi before Romantina led them to Grandmaster Ma Xiunuo.

• Zhou Qing, Tang San, Romantina, and Xiao Wu left Nuoding Forest while keeping their crossbows ready, and Dales's group let them go.
• The four hired a carriage back to Nuoding City and headed to the Spirit Hall branch after reaching the city safely.
• Romantina told the guards she and her friends had become Soul Masters and were there to register.
• Zhou Qing recognized Sisi and noticed she seemed to be stringing Su Yuntao along.
• Romantina greeted Su Yuntao and Sisi, then said she would take her friends to see Grandmaster Ma Xiunuo.

Romantina registered as a Soul Master with Ma Xiunuo and brought Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu to register as well. Ma Xiunuo discovered Zhou Qing had reached Level 15 after absorbing a nearly five-hundred-year spirit ring and warned the children about the danger of hunting without a teacher.

• Sisi learned that the boys had Innate Full Soul Power but looked down on their Blue Silver Grass and Heart martial souls.
• Romantina registered with Ma Xiunuo, who measured her Soul Power at Level 11 and certified her as a Soul Master.
• Romantina introduced Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu as new students at Nuoding Academy who had obtained their First Spirit Rings.
• Zhou Qing's test showed Level 15 Soul Power, and he told Ma Xiunuo that his spirit ring came from a nearly five-hundred-year-old Moo Spring Ox.
• Ma Xiunuo scolded Romantina for taking the children on a hunt without a teacher, and Romantina promised not to do it again.

Zhou Qing and Tang San declined Ma Xiunuo’s invitations to join Spirit Hall, while Xiao Wu rejected her own invitation after learning Titled Douluo might teach at its academy. Zhou Qing learned that the branch library held Soul Master records and information on Soul Beasts and Soul Bones, and planned to visit it often.

• Zhou Qing declined Ma Xiunuo’s invitation to join Spirit Hall, explaining that he wanted to remain independent while he learned more about the continent’s powers.
• Tang San tested at Soul Power Level fourteen and declined Ma Xiunuo’s invitation because he planned to rebuild the Tang Sect.
• Xiao Wu tested at Soul Power Level thirteen, objected that Ma Xiunuo had not invited her, and then refused to join Spirit Hall when he offered.
• Zhou Qing asked about Spirit Hall’s books, and Ma Xiunuo explained that outsiders could browse the branch library for five Copper Soul Coins per hour.
• Ma Xiunuo said the library contained Soul Master cultivation records and information on Soul Beasts and Soul Bones, and Zhou Qing said they would visit often.

Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu joined Romantina at the Nuoding Guild, where they settled a mission reward and formed an adventuring party. Romantina proposed a Martial Soul Fusion Skill with Zhou Qing and then embarrassed him with her increasingly suggestive attention, leaving him regretting that he had come.

• Romantina split the mission reward with Xiao Wu, then invited Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu to celebrate their new party with Fruit Wine.
• Romantina told Zhou Qing she suspected they could use a Martial Soul Fusion Skill together, and he cautiously agreed to look for an opportunity.
• Romantina mistook Zhou Qing's hesitant response for enthusiasm and made suggestive remarks about their future fusion.
• Tang San and Xiao Wu teased Zhou Qing, prompting him to call them improper children and reveal that he was an orphan.
• Romantina comforted Zhou Qing by pulling him against her bosom and calling herself his mother, while her remarks only made him more uncomfortable.

After learning that Romantina’s Soul Bone had been exposed, Romanyac feared Baron Dales would use it to stir up conflict between the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires. The chapter ended with Romanyac deciding to obtain Zhou Qing’s unabsorbed Head Soul Bone and auction it to protect Nuoding City.

• Romanyac told Romantina that Dales had revealed she possessed a Soul Bone and warned that the news could put her in danger.
• Romanyac urged Romantina to hand over the Soul Bone so he could auction it, but she explained that she had returned it to Zhou Qing under the Adventurer’s Guild rules.
• Romanyac considered sending Romantina away, then proposed buying Zhou Qing’s Soul Bone before the news spread.
• Romantina revealed that the Soul Bone was a Head Soul Bone and that Zhou Qing had not absorbed it because he wanted to study it.
• Romanyac agreed that Zhou Qing’s decision not to absorb the Soul Bone was good and prepared to seek it out.

Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu returned to Nuoding Academy and met a heartbroken Su Yuntao, who told them that Sisi had gone to the City Lord's Mansion with the city lord. Zhou Qing urged Su Yuntao to face Sisi and let her go if she wanted a different life.

• Zhou Qing proposed that the three of them test their martial souls and Soul Skills at the academy's Back Mountain the next day, while Xiao Wu realized she had skipped class and work-study duties without permission.
• At Nuoding Academy's gates, Zhou Qing spotted a dispirited Su Yuntao and asked what was wrong.
• Su Yuntao told Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu that Sisi had entered the City Lord's Mansion with the city lord, leaving him heartbroken.
• Tang San guessed that Sisi might have chosen the wealthier city lord, and Su Yuntao lamented that he could not match the man's house, carriage, or servants.
• Zhou Qing advised Su Yuntao to go to the City Lord's Mansion, speak plainly with Sisi, and let her go if she wanted a happy life.

Zhou Qing surrendered the Head Soul Bone to Nuoding City's vice city lord Romanyac, accepting five hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins after learning that Dales planned to blame Romantina for possessing it. Tang San concealed his anger toward Dales, whom he resolved to kill.

• Zhou Qing explained his theory that Martial Souls influenced their owners' habits and personalities, then prepared to leave with Tang San and Xiao Wu.
• Romantina and Romanyac asked Zhou Qing to hand over the Head Soul Bone so they could auction it and divert the unrest Dales might cause.
• Zhou Qing requested a Storage Soul Tool instead of money, but Romanyac explained that helping him obtain one through Spirit Hall would expose their political ties and endanger his position.
• Romanyac revealed that Dales would spread news claiming Romantina had obtained the Soul Bone, making an auction the only practical solution.
• Zhou Qing accepted a Soul Card containing five hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, and Romantina apologized for his loss.
• Xiao Wu and Tang San comforted Romantina, while Tang San blamed Dales and resolved that he would pay for his actions.

After the incident with Lies, Zhou Qing focused on getting stronger and investigated how Spirit Rings affected Martial Souls. He and Tang San tested their Martial Souls, and Zhou Qing concluded that matching Spirit Rings could guide a Martial Soul but could not easily change its inherent potential.

• Sky Dream Ice Silkworm vowed to freeze Lies if they met, but Zhou Qing said he would handle the matter himself before leaving for Dormitory Seven with Tang San and Xiao Wu.
• The next morning, Zhou Qing and Tang San trained, while Zhou Qing resolved to strengthen himself and continue researching Martial Souls and Soul Tools.
• Xiao Wu learned that Xiao Chenyu and his group had beaten Wang Sheng and the other Work-Study Students, and she promised to confront them after class, bringing Zhou Qing and Tang San along.
• Zhou Qing and Tang San went to the Back Mountain to examine their Martial Souls and Soul Skills after obtaining Spirit Rings.
• Tang San reported that his Blue Silver Grass had faint silver threads and that his cultivation route diagram had become clearer, while Zhou Qing reasoned that Spirit Rings could guide a Martial Soul's quality but usually could not overcome its inherent potential.

Zhou Qing explained his theory that compatible Soul Beast soul rings graft abilities onto Martial Souls, while Tang San considered how Soul Skills might grow with their users. The chapter ended with Zhou Qing comparing soul ring absorption to grafting branches onto peach trees.

• Zhou Qing reasoned that Soul Beasts whose attributes matched a Martial Soul were more likely to pass on their fundamental abilities, while mismatched soul rings could cause pain or death during absorption.
• Zhou Qing considered how Tang San's Blue Silver Overlord Spear grew stronger with him and proposed that Soul Skills and soul ring ages might evolve alongside Soul Power and Martial Soul growth.
• Tang San used Zhou Qing's ideas to form a clearer understanding of how innate potential, Soul Power cultivation, and soul rings shaped a Martial Soul.
• Zhou Qing rejected pruning as an analogy for soul rings and explained how Uncle Wang grafted branches from another peach variety to grow larger, juicier peaches.
• Tang San understood that soul ring absorption was like grafting, with a Soul Beast's ability joining a Martial Soul and granting it a Soul Skill.

Zhou Qing explained his theory that Soul Rings could be grafted more completely onto Martial Souls by aligning their Soul Power circulation routes. He began testing the idea himself, discovered distinct circulation systems in his Martial Soul and Soul Ring, and prepared to examine the Soul Ring’s internal patterns.

• Zhou Qing compared Soul Ring skills to grafting and said a Soul Beast needed high compatibility with a Martial Soul for a complete graft.
• Tang San realized that Soul Skills circulated through routes inside Soul Rings, unlike Self-Created Soul Skills, which used routes in the body.
• Zhou Qing theorized that Soul Masters could sense their Martial Souls’ circulation paths and graft them onto Soul Ring routes so the rings could evolve with the Martial Souls.
• Zhou Qing refused to let Tang San experiment first and entered his Sea of Spirit while Tang San stood guard.
• Zhou Qing sensed his Martial Soul’s Blood Circulation System, found that his Soul Ring floated separately at its edge, and focused on examining the patterns inside it.

Zhou Qing and Tang San found that their Spiritual Power was insufficient to perceive and connect the intricate pathways of Soul Rings and Martial Souls. Tang San discovered that his Life Accumulation Soul Skill boosted his Mysterious Jade Hand by fifty percent, while Zhou Qing began to raise a concern about Tang San’s right hand.

• Zhou Qing and Tang San examined the patterns within their Soul Rings and concluded they lacked the Spiritual Power to study their pathways precisely.
• Tang San compared Soul Ring patterns to Soul Tool Core Formations, and Zhou Qing explained that Soul Tool civilization had largely vanished, though ancient offensive Soul Tools might remain.
• Tang San activated Life Accumulation and found that its energy flowed through his Meridians, strengthening the Mysterious Jade Hand.
• Tang San used the enhanced Mysterious Jade Hand to crack a boulder and estimated that the Soul Skill increased its power by fifty percent.
• Zhou Qing encouraged Tang San about their Martial Souls, then began asking about Tang San’s right hand.

Tang San discovered that the Soul Ring had caused a strange growth to merge with his right palm, and Zhou Qing concluded it was an External Soul Bone with an unusual connection to Tang San’s Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul. Their discussion led Tang San to wonder whether Soul Rings could also have a special form that grew stronger with their owner.

• Tang San released white specks from his bluish-green right-hand glove, and they grew into Blue Silver Grass that absorbed Zhou Qing’s Soul Power.
• Zhou Qing touched the grass and found that it produced a power protecting his Meridians, which Tang San recognized as a weaker version of his First Soul Skill.
• Zhou Qing identified Tang San’s palm growth as a Soul Bone and explained that its seeds and Blue Silver Grass form suggested a close connection to Tang San’s Martial Soul.
• Tang San confirmed that the Soul Bone strengthened as his Soul Power increased, and Zhou Qing suggested it could offer a model for linking Soul Rings to their owners’ cultivation.
• Tang San considered whether a special Soul Ring might grow stronger alongside a Soul Master and their Martial Soul.

Zhou Qing and Tang San examined the Swift Wind Right Palm Bone, worked out how Tang San might conceal its skill, and prepared to use his support abilities openly. Their plans were interrupted when Xiao Chenyu arrived and insulted Xiao Wu, leaving Tang San and Zhou Qing facing a confrontation.

• Zhou Qing explained that the palm bone’s Soul Power patterns might eventually help spirit rings graft directly onto Martial Souls, allowing Soul Masters to use skills faster or simultaneously.
• Zhou Qing tested Tang San’s abilities and found that his special energy lasted indefinitely when unused, while the Blue Silver Grass created by the soul bone skill faded within three minutes after Tang San stopped supplying Soul Power.
• Tang San named the bone the Swift Wind Right Palm Bone, and Zhou Qing advised him to combine its skill with his First Spirit Ring skill to hide the bone’s existence.
• Wang Sheng, Xiao Wu, and the other Work-Study Students met Zhou Qing and Tang San on the back mountain after finishing their academy tasks.
• Xiao Chenyu arrived with his lackeys, mocked Wang Sheng and the others, and propositioned Xiao Wu as his pet rabbit.
• Zhou Qing reminded Tang San that Xiao Chenyu was the city lord’s son, and Tang San agreed that Xiao Chenyu resembled his father.

Zhou Qing refused Xiao Chenyu’s bet to make Xiao Wu his pet and used his first soul skill to intimidate Xiao Chenyu’s group into accepting fairer sparring rules. He then encouraged the work-study students to stand up for themselves, and Wang Sheng chose a tall, skinny student to fight.

• Xiao Chenyu proposed a best-of-three bet, with Xiao Wu becoming his pet if his group won, but Zhou Qing and Tang San refused to wager her.
• Zhou Qing revealed his Hundred-Year Soul Ring and used his first soul skill, Yongchun, to knock Xiao Chenyu and his lackeys down and smash trees in the woods.
• Xiao Chenyu abandoned his threat, and Zhou Qing proposed that future challenges be sparring matches without baseless mockery or bullying.
• Zhou Qing explained to Xiao Wu and Tang San that he had wanted to intimidate Xiao Chenyu and set a fairer example rather than hurt him.
• Zhou Qing urged the work-study students to become strong and brave enough to resist bullies, prompting them all to volunteer to fight.
• Wang Sheng chose a tall, skinny work-study student as one of the contestants.

Zhou Qing watched the Work-Study Students face Xiao Chenyu’s group in a best-of-three sparring match, while Tang San refrained from secretly helping Song Si. After Song Si’s likely defeat, Tang San gave Wang Sheng advice for his next fight, and Wang Sheng prepared to face either Liu Long or Xiao Chenyu.

• Xiao Chenyu agreed to the match and sent Ling Feng to fight Song Si first.
• Song Si attacked with his Frying Pan, but Ling Feng dodged and struck Song Si repeatedly as the fight turned against him.
• Tang San tried to help Song Si with a pebble, but Zhou Qing stopped him and explained why Song Si needed to face the result himself.
• Wang Sheng asked Tang San not to interfere in his upcoming fight, and Tang San agreed to offer only advice.
• Tang San advised Wang Sheng to target Liu Long’s lower body or Xiao Chenyu’s waist, depending on which opponent he faced.