Chapter Summaries

Xiao Wu connected the violent hierarchy among soul beasts to her father’s disappearance and agreed with Zhou Qing’s comparison between that food chain and human class divisions. Zhou Qing concluded that changing Douluo Continent would require overturning its existing powers and rebuilding society, but he doubted he had the courage to stand against the world.

• Xiao Wu recalled that her hundred-thousand-year soul beast father went to the Star Dou Great Forest’s core area and never returned, and she suspected a Ferocious Beast had killed him.
• Xiao Wu accepted Zhou Qing’s comparison between the status of nobles and commoners and the food chain among soul beasts.
• Zhou Qing reflected that developing Soul Tools would not change who benefited from society, because social consciousness shaped its structure.
• Zhou Qing decided that changing Douluo Continent would require overthrowing the Heaven Dou Empire, the Star Luo Empire, and Spirit Hall, then rebuilding society.
• Zhou Qing worried that his friends and the wider world would turn against him, and questioned whether he had the courage to oppose everyone.

Zhong Dingxiu, a level 78 Soul Saint leading the Star Luo Royal Academy Team, arrived in Nuoding City and took control of a Friendly Tournament over a Soul Bone dispute. He announced prizes and a chance to join the Star Luo Royal Academy, while Zhou Qing and Tang San recognized the danger behind his conciliatory words.

• Xiao Wu chased Zhou Qing after he teased her and ran away.
• Zhong Dingxiu silenced the crowd with his Soul Saint power and said he would resolve the unrest over the Soul Bone before continuing to Heaven Dou City.
• Zhou Qing realized Zhong Dingxiu's intervention could redirect the Soul Masters' resentment toward City Lord Xiao, while Tang San also judged him to be hiding hostile intentions.
• Zhong Dingxiu announced a seven-versus-seven team tournament with one hour to register, offering a Storage Soul Tool as one of the prizes.
• Zhong Dingxiu offered the winners a chance to earn recognition from a Star Luo Royal Academy Team member and potentially join the academy.

Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu decided to enter the friendly tournament, hoping to win the Storage Soul Tool, and recruited Wang Sheng to complete their team. Wang Sheng insisted on fighting despite his limited talent, determined to learn whether he could continue pursuing the path of a soul master.

• Xiao Wu urged the group to join the tournament, and Tang San agreed because he wanted the Storage Soul Tool and believed his hidden weapons could give them an edge.
• Tang San named the Storage Soul Tool “The Moon Shines Brightly in the Twelve Towers,” and Zhou Qing agreed to enter the tournament despite their team needing more members.
• Xiao Wu brought Wang Sheng over as a potential teammate, and Zhou Qing offered him one-seventh of the Storage Soul Tool’s value if he protected himself in the arena.
• Wang Sheng insisted that he could hold off an opponent and explained that he wanted to experience a real soul master battle before deciding whether to keep pursuing cultivation.
• Zhou Qing recognized Wang Sheng’s fear that his low innate talent would limit his future, while Wang Sheng said he wanted to become a just powerhouse like Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu.

Zhou Qing’s group discussed filling the remaining spots on their Friendly Tournament team, and Qingzhu Zhu asked to join despite Zhou Qing’s concerns about her safety. The chapter ended with Romantina shaking Zhou Qing while Qingzhu Zhu tugged at his sleeve, leaving Wang Sheng awkwardly watching the commotion.

• Zhou Qing reassured Wang Sheng about facing a Soul Master and named him a team member, then asked for recommendations to fill two open places.
• Tang San suggested Teacher Mo Hen, and Xiao Wu proposed Xiao Chenyu, but Zhou Qing rejected Xiao Chenyu because his role overlapped with Wang Sheng’s.
• Qingzhu Zhu asked to join Zhou Qing’s team, and Zhou Qing warned that she could get hurt, but she insisted on taking part.
• Romantina accused Zhou Qing of being into little girls, then shook him and demanded that he take responsibility for ruining her chances of marriage.
• Tang San and Xiao Wu left to find Teacher Mo Hen, while Qingzhu Zhu tried to free Zhou Qing from Romantina’s grip and Wang Sheng stood awkwardly nearby.

Dai Weisi and Zhu Zhuyun confronted Dai Mubai after seeing Zhu Zhuqing tug at Zhou Qing’s sleeve, using the scene to press Dai Mubai to keep competing rather than flee. Dai Mubai wilted under their taunts, while Zhu Zhuyun wondered what made Zhou Qing so exceptional to her younger sister.

• Dai Weisi noticed Zhu Zhuqing tugging at Zhou Qing’s sleeve and mocked Dai Mubai for failing to hold on to his fiancée.
• Zhu Zhuyun explained that Zhu Zhuqing had come to see Dai Mubai for herself and urged him to take part in the competition.
• Dai Weisi told Dai Mubai to give up cultivation and become an idle prince if he refused to compete, then suggested Zhu Zhuqing might help win over talented commoner Soul Masters.
• Dai Mubai accused Dai Weisi of using Zhu Zhuqing as a bargaining chip, but Dai Weisi challenged him to defeat him if he wanted to change anything.
• Zhu Zhuyun defended letting Zhu Zhuqing enjoy herself, and Dai Mubai became dejected as he realized he saw her more as an asset than someone he loved.
• Zhu Zhuyun questioned why Zhou Qing had made Zhu Zhuqing set aside her reserve, though she thought he did not seem interested in either girl.

Zhou Qing assembled the Nuoding Academy team for the Friendly Tournament and discussed the challenges they might face with Teacher Mo Hen. The seven members were ready to compete, though Mo Hen admitted he lacked team-fighting experience.

• Zhou Qing stopped Romantina from making a scene, and she teased him by calling him her student while onlookers misunderstood their exchange.
• Mo Hen arrived with Tang San and Xiao Wu and asked Zhou Qing whether he had gathered all the tournament candidates.
• Zhou Qing counted himself, Tang San, Xiao Wu, Romantina, Wang Sheng, Qingzhu Zhu, and Mo Hen as the team's seven members.
• Mo Hen warned the group that the Friendly Tournament allowed tactics beyond Martial Soul abilities and advised them to beware other Soul Masters.
• Mo Hen admitted he had never fought in a team match, and Zhou Qing suggested opponents might go easy on their young team to impress the Star Luo Royal Academy Team.

Zhou Qing’s team entered the first round against seven Tiger Type Soul Masters, while their opponents underestimated them. As the match was about to begin, Zhou Qing and Tang San analyzed the enemy team’s likely tactics and weaknesses.

• Zhong Dingxiu drew numbers eighteen and twenty, pairing Mo Hen’s team with their first-round opponents.
• Zhou Qing suspected the pairing was arranged because of Qingzhu Zhu’s identity, and the opposing team expected an easy win against children.
• The opposing team revealed seven two-ring Tiger Type Soul Masters, while Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu gave excuses for not summoning their Martial Souls.
• Mo Hen worried about the mismatch, but Zhou Qing reasoned that the opponents were likely Assault System fighters without healing, support, or food abilities.
• Tang San explained that the Tiger Type team would probably surround them and close in to attack with their claws.

Zhou Qing analyzed the seven teammates’ roles and explained why standard Soul Master classifications did not fully describe their abilities. He began outlining a more flexible system based on combat functions, leaving Qingzhu Zhu impressed by how accurately he understood her clan’s plans for her martial soul.

• Mo Hen and the others were surprised by Tang San’s insight into team battle analysis and Zhou Qing’s ability to recognize it.
• Zhou Qing classified the seven teammates by their apparent Soul Master roles, including Romantina as a Control System soul master and Wang Sheng as leaning toward Defense System.
• Zhou Qing rejected a conventional formation because Tang San, Romantina, Xiao Wu, and he could each fight in ways that exceeded their assigned roles.
• At Tang San’s prompting, Zhou Qing introduced a combat-role system of Tank, Mage, archer, support, assassin, and warrior.
• Zhou Qing explained that Qingzhu Zhu’s Nether Spirit Cat martial soul had both speed and Dark Attribute talents, and that her clan would likely prioritize claw skills before developing its dark abilities.

Zhou Qing assigned roles for the upcoming team battle based on each teammate’s abilities and explained how they should fight. The chapter ended as he began to outline the roles for himself and Tang San.

• Zhou Qing told Qingzhu Zhu to act as an assassin, targeting exhausted opponents’ toes and ankles to upset their balance.
• Zhou Qing assigned Wang Sheng to keep moving, protect himself, and join Qingzhu Zhu in attacking her targets.
• Zhou Qing asked Mo Hen to throw and dismiss his spear, using it for lethal ranged attacks when opportunities arose.
• Zhou Qing told Xiao Wu to attack opponents directly while watching out for her safety, and asked Romantina to use Spiritual Impact while protecting herself.
• Romantina asked about her other ways of using her Martial Soul, but Zhou Qing postponed the discussion until she had two rings; he then began assigning roles to himself and Tang San.

Zhou Qing organized his team’s roles and tactics before the battle began. Qingzhu Zhu, Tang San, Romantina, and Mo Hen helped break the enemy formation, and Wang Sheng claimed the first knockout.

• Zhou Qing assigned Tang San a roaming support role and gave him the Gray Pouch of Hidden Weapons, telling him to use Gold Soul Coins instead.
• Zhou Qing explained that he had sold the Moo Spring Ox's Head Soul Bone to Vice city lord Romanyac for five hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.
• When Zhong Dingxiu declared the battle underway, Zhou Qing identified the opposing team as Assault System soul masters and told his group to follow their own duties.
• Qingzhu Zhu escaped the encirclement and clawed an opponent's ankle, then Tang San struck the same injury with Gold Soul Coins.
• Romantina used Spiritual Impact on three Soul Grand Masters, allowing Mo Hen to knock one down with his spear.
• Wang Sheng charged a kneeling Soul Grandmaster, threw him face-first to the ground, and knocked him unconscious.

Wang Sheng defeated a Soul Grandmaster, while Dai Weisi and Zhu Zhuyun analyzed Zhu Zhuqing’s team and recognized the strategy behind its chaotic-looking teamwork. The battle continued with Team Twenty’s fighters falling one by one, leaving its captain as the only opponent.

• Wang Sheng defeated a Soul Grandmaster, drawing cheers from Nuoding Academy’s students and praise from Dai Weisi and Zhu Zhuyun.
• Dai Mubai resented the praise of Wang Sheng and clenched his fists as he felt mocked by Dai Weisi and Zhu Zhuyun.
• Zhu Zhuyun analyzed Zhou Qing’s team and, with Dai Weisi’s help, realized that its members followed assigned roles despite their lack of coordination.
• Romantina distracted a Soul Grandmaster with flirtatious taunts, and Mo Hen knocked him unconscious with his spear.
• Xiao Wu suppressed the captain of Team Twenty while Tang San, Qingzhu Zhu, Zhou Qing, and Mo Hen helped defeat the remaining opponents.

After Team Eighteen won its first match, Wang Sheng’s determination to continue as a Soul Master made Zhou Qing confront his own arrogance and reconsider how he could bring change to the Douluo Continent. The chapter ended with Zhou Qing embracing a new outlook while Wang Sheng asked him to stop calling him “Brother Wang.”

• Zhong Dingxiu praised Team Eighteen’s victory and considered whether Zhou Qing’s team strategy could influence the Star Luo Royal Academy Team.
• Zhou Qing helped Wang Sheng to his feet, and Wang Sheng said he wanted to keep pursuing the path of a Soul Master so he would not disappoint the Work-Study Students who looked up to him.
• Wang Sheng’s words made Zhou Qing recognize that his contempt for others came from arrogance and that becoming strong alone would not be enough to change the Douluo Continent.
• Tang San and Romantina teased Zhou Qing, while Mo Hen tried to rein in Romantina’s jokes.
• Zhou Qing told Wang Sheng to begin with small things and keep his passion, but Wang Sheng asked him to call him by his name instead.

Zhou Qing explained why Food System and Healing System Soul Masters were classified separately from Support System Soul Masters, despite the categories being unnecessary in team matches. After the first round, the Star Luo Royal Academy Team went to Xiao Manor, where City Lord Xiao told Dales that Sisi had died saving him.

• Tang San asked Zhou Qing why Food, Healing, and Support System Soul Masters were rarer than other types, and Zhou Qing explained that they were often assigned to logistics or recruited by powerful groups.
• Wang Sheng asked why the three support categories were divided, and Zhou Qing explained that Food and Healing Soul Masters had indispensable roles in warfare.
• After all eighteen first-round matches ended, Zhong Dingxiu and the Star Luo Royal Academy Team went to Xiao Manor to rest.
• Dales told City Lord Xiao to look after Zhong Dingxiu and his team, and City Lord Xiao complained that Dales had once set him up.
• Dales asked City Lord Xiao about Sisi, and City Lord Xiao said she had died shielding him.

After learning that Sisi died during the attack on Xiao Manor, Su Yuntao wrestled with his grief and anger at the nobles who had exploited her. Zhou Qing suggested that Spirit Hall might be able to change the system that let nobles mistreat commoners, leaving Su Yuntao to consider that possibility.

• Dales and City Lord Xiao left together, and Su Yuntao realized from their conversation that Sisi had died on the day Xiao Manor was attacked.
• Su Yuntao went to the Nuoding Guild, where he drank fruit wine and asked Alice whether he should seek revenge for something precious that had been ruined and discarded.
• Alice interpreted Su Yuntao's words as referring to his parents, and Su Yuntao slapped himself before thanking her for helping him remember his responsibilities.
• Su Yuntao told Zhou Qing that Sisi was gone and questioned why Soul Masters had to curry favor with nobles.
• Zhou Qing suggested that Su Yuntao could try to change things, and said Spirit Hall had the power to challenge the noble systems of the Two Great Empires.

Zhou Qing encouraged Su Yuntao to respond to Alice’s feelings, then joined the team’s banquet, where Romantina got drunk and caused a scene. As the celebration continued, Tang San discussed the next day’s matches and the team’s advantage over its opponents.

• Zhou Qing told Su Yuntao that Alice liked him, and Su Yuntao nervously left the Nuoding Guild after drinking Zhou Qing’s Fruit Wine.
• Zhou Qing reassured Wang Sheng that Su Yuntao would not join the team and gave Qingzhu Zhu fruit juice instead of Fruit Wine.
• Romantina overheard Zhou Qing’s teasing, started pulling at her breastplate, and was pinned down by Zhou Qing and Xiao Wu before passing out.
• Zhou Qing declared that the team would forbid anyone under eighteen from drinking strong liquor, and Mo Hen quietly exchanged his liquor for Fruit Wine.
• Tang San reviewed the teams competing in the next round, and Zhou Qing agreed that their team’s tactics and strength gave them an advantage.

Zhou Qing explained why he would delay publishing his team-role theory, fearing attention from Spirit Hall and other powerful groups. Meanwhile, Zhong Dingxiu questioned the Star Luo Royal Academy Team about the tournament and warned them to kill opponents before they could use underhanded tactics.

• Mo Hen asked Zhou Qing whether he had considered publishing his six-role classification for Soul Master teams.
• Zhou Qing said he wanted to keep a low profile and would wait until he chose a faction and reached at least Soul Ancestor before publishing the theory.
• Mo Hen realized that a published theory could expose Zhou Qing’s identity and attract attention from major powers, while Xiao Wu and Wang Sheng agreed that their advantage should be used first.
• At Xiao Manor, Zhong Dingxiu asked the Star Luo Royal Academy Team for their views on the Friendly Tournament’s first round.
• A team member described how a Soul Grandmaster had used flour to blind an opponent, and Zhong Dingxiu urged the students to kill enemies quickly before they could use vicious tricks.

The Star Luo Royal Academy Team analyzed Team Eighteen’s unusual fighters and unorthodox battle plan, with Dai Weisi concluding that their success depended on strong execution and possibly the strategic talent of Tang San or Zhou Qing. After Zhong Dingxiu shared Zhou Qing’s new Soul Master classifications, Dai Weisi and Zhu Zhuyun recognized their value, leaving Zhou Qing’s abilities newly respected.

• The Star Luo Royal Academy Team reviewed Team Eighteen’s members, noting their unconventional combat styles and questioning whether Tang San was truly a commoner.
• Dai Weisi explained that Team Eighteen’s fighters likely received individual assignments before the match and succeeded through their ability to execute them.
• Dai Weisi praised Wang Sheng’s courage and said he might have considered him as an attendant, then remarked that Wang Sheng was braver than Dai Mubai.
• Dai Weisi told Zhong Dingxiu that Tang San or Zhou Qing might have devised Team Eighteen’s battle plan, though an expert could be guiding them if neither had.
• Zhong Dingxiu relayed Zhou Qing’s classifications of Soul Master roles, and Dai Weisi and Zhu Zhuyun praised the system’s usefulness.

Zhong Dingxiu and Dai Weisi discussed Zhou Qing’s talent and the possibility of recruiting him for Star Luo, while Dai Weisi grew more convinced Dai Mubai had abandoned the competition. Dai Mubai instead went looking for Team Eighteen at the Nuoding Guild, where Zhou Qing and his friends were celebrating.

• Zhong Dingxiu told Dai Weisi that Zhou Qing was a gifted commoner and said they could try to recruit him, though they could not force him.
• Dai Weisi considered how Zhou Qing’s talents and potential allies might strengthen Star Luo, then grew angry when he heard Dai Mubai had left.
• Dai Weisi assumed Dai Mubai had gone to indulge himself and privately gave up on his younger brother, hoping the empire might protect Zhu Zhuqing instead.
• Dai Mubai asked around for Team Eighteen and found the Nuoding Guild, where Zhou Qing and his friends were celebrating.
• Qingzhu Zhu secretly drank Romantina’s strong liquor, coughed, and collapsed against Zhou Qing as Xiao Wu laughed and then vomited.

After a banquet, Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu confronted Dai Mubai when he demanded that they hand over Qingzhu Zhu. Dai Mubai attacked, but the three beat him down, leaving him on the ground as they mocked him to tell his parents.

• Zhou Qing, Tang San, and Xiao Wu carried their unconscious companions out of the Nuoding Guild after the banquet, with Qingzhu Zhu clinging to Zhou Qing's back.
• Dai Mubai stopped them and demanded that Zhou Qing put Zhu Zhuqing down, while Zhou Qing and Tang San insisted she was named Qingzhu Zhu.
• Dai Mubai activated his White Tiger Martial Soul, and Zhou Qing punched him in the nose before Xiao Wu and Tang San joined in with slaps.
• Xiao Wu stomped on Dai Mubai, Tang San urged him to stop attacking people without reason, and Zhou Qing taunted him to tell his parents what happened.

After Dai Mubai lost to Zhou Qing and his companions, he concealed the beating while Dai Weisi investigated and then dropped the matter. The group discussed the risk of retaliation, and Zhou Qing made clear he had no reason to accept Dai Mubai’s challenge as the story left open the possibility of a public duel after the championship.

• Dai Mubai returned bruised, denied losing to Dai Weisi, and Dai Weisi called him useless before asking Zhong Dingxiu to investigate the fight.
• Zhong Dingxiu found no trace of the battle, and Dai Weisi dismissed the matter as long as it did not harm the Star Luo royal family’s reputation.
• Tang San worried the Star Luo Royal Academy Team might retaliate, while Zhou Qing argued the royal family would keep the incident private to avoid embarrassment.
• Tang San considered Dai Mubai an enemy but said killing him would bring greater trouble, and resolved to improve the Tang Sect’s principles.
• Tang San predicted Dai Mubai might challenge Zhou Qing publicly after the championship, but Zhou Qing said he did not have to accept a challenge from a stronger noble.