Chapter Summaries

Ling Feng and Song Si fought to a knockout, and Zhou Qing awarded the first round to the Noble Students because Song Si fainted first. Wang Sheng then defeated Liu Long by using Tang San’s advice to attack his legs, leaving the two rivals with a new sense of mutual respect.

• Ling Feng and Song Si knocked each other unconscious, but Zhou Qing declared Ling Feng the winner because Song Si fainted first.
• Xiao Wu challenged Zhou Qing’s fairness, and Zhou Qing explained that he wanted Song Si to understand he had lost.
• Wang Sheng faced Liu Long, who revealed he had caused Wang Sheng’s injuries the day before.
• Wang Sheng used Tang San’s advice to grab Liu Long’s ankle, topple him, and punch his eyes.
• Zhou Qing checked Liu Long’s head and confirmed he was unharmed, while Liu Long accepted the loss and promised to win next time.

After Xiao Wu defeated Xiao Chenyu, Yu Xiaogang confronted Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu for obtaining Soul Rings without his help. He offered his research and guidance in hopes of taking them as disciples, but their response was left unresolved.

• Xiao Wu defeated Xiao Chenyu with her Waist Bow, while Zhou Qing and Tang San discussed how her Soft Bone Rabbit physique made the Soul Skill seem unnecessary.
• Yu Xiaogang arrived, learned that Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu had obtained Soul Rings, and asked why they had not sought his guidance.
• Zhou Qing and Tang San explained that they were accustomed to relying on themselves, while Xiao Wu angrily questioned why Yu Xiaogang was asking about her circumstances.
• Yu Xiaogang described his Mutated Waste Martial Soul and research, then offered to analyze suitable Soul Beasts and help the three obtain powerful Soul Skills if they became his disciples.

Zhou Qing and Tang San challenged Yu Xiaogang’s claims about his theories and his old friend, prompting Yu Xiaogang to storm off and insult them. After he left, Tang San explained why Yu Xiaogang’s Ten Core Theories were flawed, and Zhou Qing concluded that Spirit Hall must have helped publish them.

• Zhou Qing questioned Yu Xiaogang about when he began researching Martial Soul theory, and Yu Xiaogang claimed he was mocked because his theories threatened powerful factions.
• Yu Xiaogang offered to help the children hunt soul beasts through an old friend, but Zhou Qing pointed out that the friend might no longer be close to him after fourteen years apart.
• Tang San agreed that people changed, and Yu Xiaogang angrily stormed off after rejecting their doubts.
• Yu Xiaogang insulted the children as shallow commoners, and Sister Xiao Wu cursed him for his arrogance.
• Tang San explained the flaws in Yu Xiaogang’s Ten Core Theories, and Zhou Qing reasoned that Spirit Hall must have helped make them widely known.

Zhou Qing explained that Yu Xiaogang wanted talented disciples with Innate Full Soul Power to prove his Martial Soul theories and restore his reputation. As Nuoding City faced possible turmoil over the Head Soul Bone, Zhou Qing urged caution and avoided making Yu Xiaogang an enemy.

• Xiao Wu asked Zhou Qing why Yu Xiaogang wanted them as disciples, and Zhou Qing said he sought fame and students whose talent could support his theories.
• Zhou Qing and Tang San reasoned that Yu Xiaogang's cultivation failure likely stemmed from his unwillingness to communicate with his mutated Martial Soul and adapt his methods.
• Xiao Wu condemned Yu Xiaogang, while Zhou Qing explained that they should still treat him carefully because of his family background and ties to the academy headmaster.
• Zhou Qing warned Tang San and Xiao Wu that Nuoding City might become unsettled because the vice city lord had paid five hundred thousand gold soul coins for his Head Soul Bone.

Zhou Qing and Tang San received permission to arrange their schedules freely after obtaining First Spirit Rings, while Xiao Wu secured the same privilege and tried to persuade them to join her on a guild mission. Zhou Qing agreed to explore Nuoding City with her, and the chapter ended with Xiao Wu mocking his looks and haircut.

• Mo Hen granted Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu permission to skip regular classes and attend only semester assessments.
• Xiao Wu visited Zhou Qing in the Library, complained that he and Tang San were too busy, and argued with Zhou Qing about studying and Romantina.
• Xiao Wu threatened to tell Romantina about Zhou Qing's teasing remarks, then pressured him to find Tang San and take a mission at the Nuoding Guild with her.
• Zhou Qing agreed to explore Nuoding City with Xiao Wu and consider routes out of the city as a precaution against future conflict.
• Xiao Wu laughed at Zhou Qing's claim that he and Tang San were handsome, mocking their appearances and Zhou Qing's buzz cut.

Zhou Qing, Xiao Wu, and Tang San visited Nuoding Guild to look for work after hearing that a Soul Bone auction would be held in the city. They found a well-paid task guarding the auction venue three days later, but had not yet decided whether to take it.

• Zhou Qing heard townspeople discussing the vice city lord's daughter's hundred-year Head Soul Bone and the auction planned for three days later.
• Zhou Qing and Xiao Wu teased and wrestled with each other at the Blacksmith Shop while Tang San finished forging and collected his wages.
• Zhou Qing persuaded Tang San and Xiao Wu to visit Nuoding Guild to find tasks and earn Gold Soul Coins.
• Xiao Wu rejected a task to spar with Xiao Chenyu, whom she resented for wanting to make her his pet.
• Zhou Qing pointed out a task to guard the Soul Bone auction, and Xiao Wu read that it paid each Soul Master one hundred Gold Soul Coins per hour.

Xiao Wu accepted a lucrative guard-duty task at the soul bone auction, while Zhou Qing explained to Tang San that he wanted to identify the soul bone’s buyer and prepare for possible unrest in Nuoding City. The chapter left Tang San having abandoned his plan to assassinate Dales and Xiao Wu learning why the task paid so well.

• Xiao Wu accepted the two-hour auction guard task for one hundred Gold Soul Coins an hour.
• Zhou Qing told Tang San he wanted to discover who would obtain his former soul bone and prepare for a possible conflict involving City Lord Xiao and Dales.
• Zhou Qing warned that killing Dales in Nuoding City could inflame tensions between Heaven Dou Empire and Star Luo Empire and endanger nearby civilians.
• Tang San abandoned his idea of assassinating Dales after considering the consequences.
• Xiao Wu returned with the task sheet showing sixteen participants, and Zhou Qing explained that the job’s high pay reflected the risk of clashing with Soul Masters at the auction.

Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu accepted a sparring mission at the City Lord's Mansion and encountered Su Yuntao, who revealed that Sisi was involved with both City Lord Xiao and Dales. Su Yuntao begged to accompany them, still unable to let go of Sisi, and explained his efforts to earn the standing needed to marry her.

• Xiao Wu accepted a mission to serve as Xiao Chenyu's sparring partner, and the three headed for the City Lord's Mansion.
• Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu met an exhausted Su Yuntao, who admitted he had secretly watched Sisi with City Lord Xiao and Dales.
• Xiao Wu condemned the affair, while Zhou Qing and Tang San learned more about what Su Yuntao had seen.
• Su Yuntao asked to accompany them to the City Lord's Mansion and offered them a month's salary.
• Su Yuntao explained his Spirit Hall duties and his plan to become a branch Hall Master so he could marry Sisi, despite realizing her ambitions were greater than his.

Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu discussed Su Yuntao’s heartbreak and revealed their Soul Power Levels had risen to fifteen, fourteen, and thirteen after gaining their first Soul Rings. They arrived at the City Lord’s Mansion to begin their mission as sparring partners for the young master.

• Xiao Wu questioned Su Yuntao’s devotion to Sisi, while Zhou Qing suggested the Adventurers who condemned infidelity were probably unmarried.
• Su Yuntao explained that he and Sisi had come from the same village, then asked the three children about their Soul Power Levels.
• Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu reported Levels fifteen, fourteen, and thirteen, astonishing Su Yuntao.
• Su Yuntao recalled receiving a sixty-year wolf Soul Ring because the safer academy hunts had exhausted the local supply of hundred-year wolves.
• Zhou Qing presented the mission paper at the City Lord’s Mansion, and the guard went inside to report their arrival.

Zhou Qing, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Su Yuntao visited Xiao Chenyu at the City Lord's Mansion for a guild task, but Su Yuntao said he had come only to confirm something. The chapter ended when Sisi walked into the living room and startled Su Yuntao, Zhou Qing, and Tang San.

• Su Yuntao explained his standing among Nuoding City's Soul Grandmasters and said few people knew about his relationship with Sisi.
• Steward Xiao welcomed Su Yuntao and led him and the students into Xiao Chenyu's home after Xiao Chenyu heard that a Battle Soul Master had arrived.
• Xiao Chenyu recognized Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu, while Zhou Qing claimed they were close and Xiao Wu helped herself to his oranges.
• Tang San asked Xiao Chenyu to lead them to the training ground, but Su Yuntao said he had come only to confirm something.
• Sisi entered Xiao Chenyu's living room, surprising Su Yuntao, Zhou Qing, and Tang San.

Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu discussed the disguised young Soul Master who had entered the City Lord's Mansion, concluding that she was after the Soul Bone. The girl confronted them and proposed an alliance, but Zhou Qing refused and hinted that Tang San might deal with her if she became a threat.

• Tang San and Zhou Qing noticed that the young girl had unusually strong Soul Power, and Zhou Qing estimated her level at around eighteen.
• Zhou Qing reasoned that the girl was an outsider who had come to the City Lord's Mansion for the Soul Bone.
• The young girl appeared in a white dress, teased Xiao Wu, and offered Zhou Qing a partnership in exchange for turning him into a man.
• Zhou Qing refused the girl's offer and dismissed her claim that he liked Romantina.
• Zhou Qing asked Tang San how many moves he would need to defeat the girl if she attacked.

Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu quickly defeated a woman who tried to Charm them, and Zhou Qing reflected on how taking human form had diminished Xiao Wu’s former abilities as a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. The woman remained incapacitated below the balcony while Zhou Qing considered how Soul Beast cultivation might be transformed into spirit rings.

• Tang San estimated that he could defeat the woman within three minutes, and she revealed her Spirit Fox Martial Soul and used her Charm Soul Skill.
• Zhou Qing resisted the Charm and punched the woman, while Tang San also recovered quickly from its effects.
• Xiao Wu struck the woman, activated Waist Bow, and launched her off the balcony, leaving her unable to fight.
• Xiao Wu taunted the woman below, and Zhou Qing concluded that transforming into a human had cleansed and reforged Xiao Wu’s Spiritual Power.
• Zhou Qing reasoned that human-form Soul Beasts gradually shed their former cultivation through spirit rings, while most absorbed spirit-ring energy was used to form Soul Skills.

Zhou Qing, Xiao Wu, and Tang San exposed a soul master who had infiltrated Xiao Manor to steal an auctioned Soul Bone and helped capture her. Xiao Chenyu thanked them and offered his help.

• Zhou Qing warned Xiao Wu that she had gone too far when she threw the woman from the second floor.
• Zhou Qing told Steward Xiao that the woman was a level-eighteen soul master who had used Xiao Chenyu to enter the manor and planned to steal a Soul Bone.
• Tang San intercepted the fleeing woman with Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon and sent her toward Zhou Qing.
• Zhou Qing struck the woman with Yongchun, smashing her into a wall, and Xiao Manor's servants moved to dig her out and capture her.
• Xiao Chenyu learned the woman had infiltrated the manor, thanked Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu, and offered them his help.

After a Spirit Fox soul master was captured, Zhou Qing learned that she was Sisi, the woman Su Yuntao loved, and that she might become Xiao Chenyu’s stepmother. Su Yuntao decided to let Sisi go and planned to meet her once more to explain himself.

• Tang San confirmed that the captured Spirit Fox soul master was alive but had suffered severe damage to her meridians.
• Zhou Qing asked Xiao Chenyu about his late mother and learned that City Lord Xiao might marry Sisi, a soul master who had recently stayed at Xiao Manor.
• Su Yuntao recognized Sisi, and Xiao Chenyu realized Su Yuntao had taken revenge on him during their earlier sparring.
• Xiao Chenyu offered to persuade his father to end his relationship with Sisi, hoping to prevent her from becoming his stepmother.
• Su Yuntao refused Xiao Chenyu’s offer and said he would let Sisi go, asking only to see her once more and explain his decision.

After Su Yuntao met Sisi and accepted that she saw him only as a good big brother, Zhou Qing questioned whether he could change the world without being shaped by its rules. At the Nuoding Guild, Alice revealed that she cared for Su Yuntao but would not pursue him because of her job and his future.

• City Lord Xiao let Su Yuntao meet Sisi, while Zhou Qing took Tang San and Xiao Wu away from Xiao Manor.
• Xiao Wu admitted she felt weak, and Zhou Qing reflected on cruelty, privilege, and whether he could change the world.
• Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu collected their reward at the Nuoding Guild, where Su Yuntao arrived grieving and said Sisi had seen him only as a good big brother.
• Alice gave Su Yuntao Fruit Wine instead of strong liquor, and he admitted he liked sweet drinks before leaving.
• Alice told Zhou Qing and Tang San that she and Su Yuntao had been classmates and that she cared for him, but she would not risk his future or give up her job.

Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu went to the Nuoding Opera House and watched Romantina perform her bizarre new song, “Brave Bull! Fearless!” The audience cursed her after its abrupt shift into loud rap, while Romantina secretly delighted in their insults.

• Zhou Qing stopped Xiao Wu from telling Alice that Su Yuntao had broken up with Sisi, arguing that Su Yuntao needed time to recover and Alice had never confessed to him.
• Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu bought tickets and watched the opera “Heaven Dou Royal,” which portrayed the empire’s rise through its founder’s love story.
• Romantina appeared as a substitute singer and announced that she had knocked out the performer she was replacing.
• Romantina performed “Brave Bull! Fearless!” with gentle verses about her adventures before switching to loud, rapid rap about being abandoned by her companions.
• The audience shouted curses at Romantina, who flushed and trembled with delight, while Sky Dream Ice Silkworm sensed her intense enjoyment and heard her claim that a worm was inside her brain.

After Romantina’s opera performance, she reunited with Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu and clung to Zhou Qing while enjoying the attention and mock heartbreak. At the academy’s Back Mountain, Zhou Qing tried to discuss her First Soul Skill, but Romantina turned the conversation suggestive and relished his verbal jab.

• Romantina noticed Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu in the audience and pretended to be hurt, prompting people nearby to feel guilty for criticizing her.
• After the performance, Romantina confronted Zhou Qing, and Xiao Wu told her that he had joked about toying with and abandoning her.
• Romantina grabbed Zhou Qing and proclaimed that they were a team, while Tang San and Xiao Wu reacted with embarrassment and disapproval.
• Zhou Qing left the crowd with Romantina, but Tang San and Xiao Wu made excuses to go their separate ways.
• At Nuoding Academy’s Back Mountain, Zhou Qing tried to discuss Romantina’s First Soul Skill, but she teased him until he called her a freak, which she enjoyed.

Zhou Qing tested Romantina’s four soul skills and learned that they matched the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm’s abilities, though Romantina had given them her own names. When they tested Spiritual Impact, both of them fainted, suggesting Zhou Qing had reflected her attack back at her.

• Romantina described her four soul skills: detecting her surroundings, sharing information, disrupting enemies, and unleashing a spiritual shockwave.
• Zhou Qing praised the skills and suggested renaming them Spiritual Detection, Spiritual Sharing, Spiritual Interference, and Spiritual Impact.
• Romantina revealed that she had publicly displayed only Spiritual Impact, while Zhou Qing considered how she could conceal the other three skills.
• Zhou Qing asked Romantina to demonstrate Spiritual Impact, and her attack made him lose consciousness.
• Zhou Qing woke up unharmed and found Romantina unconscious too, then suspected his stronger Spiritual Power had reflected her attack.

Zhou Qing discussed the difficulty of measuring Spiritual Power with Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, who had possessed Romantina, and explained his ideas about Soul Power circulation and soul skills. The chapter left Zhou Qing preparing to test Spiritual Detection and Spiritual Sharing through Romantina.

• Zhou Qing woke Romantina with water and recognized that Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had possessed her.
• Sky Dream Ice Silkworm explained that he had searched for powerful Spirit System Soul Masters and discussed why soul beasts and humans differed in their loyalties.
• Zhou Qing outlined his ideas about Soul Rings, martial souls, Soul Power routes, and Grafting to Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.
• Sky Dream Ice Silkworm agreed to try lending Romantina Spiritual Power so she could sense her Brain Martial Soul's complex Soul Power route.
• Sky Dream Ice Silkworm said he did not know how soul skill patterns formed, and Zhou Qing asked him to use Spiritual Detection and Spiritual Sharing within Romantina's limits for a test.

Zhou Qing used Sky Dream Ice Silkworm’s Spiritual Detection to examine his body and discovered how his Spirit Ring connected to his Martial Soul. He left with evidence that the two could be grafted together and ideas for using Romantina’s Brain Martial Soul to build a simulated Mental World.

• Sky Dream Ice Silkworm used Romantina’s Spiritual Detection and Spiritual Sharing, revealing a black-and-white map of Nuoding Academy.
• Zhou Qing proposed that Romantina’s Brain Martial Soul could form a Mental World, with Spiritual Sharing letting others enter it.
• Zhou Qing asked Sky Dream Ice Silkworm to use Spiritual Sharing on him and inspect the connection between his Martial Soul and Spirit Ring.
• Sky Dream Ice Silkworm detected Zhou Qing’s body in detail, and Zhou Qing saw fine, separate lines from the Martial Soul and Spirit Ring contained within connecting channels.