Chapter Summaries

Li Qing tried to avoid fighting Spirit Hall Academy’s strongest students, but Dean Lin Qianxin arranged for Kong Weiyang to remain his opponent until he accepted the match. Li Qing finally faced Kong Weiyang and prepared to test his Shadow Demon Martial Soul.

• Li Qing forfeited against Cai Yingyi, then won his next match against a level-forty-three opponent and postponed his remaining battles until afternoon.
• Han Mingye worried that Li Qing’s victories would damage the Advanced Soul Master Division’s reputation, and Lin Qianxin ordered the arena to keep assigning Kong Weiyang and Cai Yingyi until Li Qing fought them.
• As rain poured, Li Qing used his Magnetism Shield as an umbrella and planned to visit Gengxin City after his final assessment to buy metals for more Soul Tool components.
• Li Qing found Kong Weiyang, a level-forty-seven control-type Soul Ancestor with a Shadow Demon Martial Soul, assigned as his opponent again and decided to accept the battle.
• Li Qing and Kong Weiyang released their Martial Souls, and Li Qing watched the shadows and red eyes surrounding Kong Weiyang as the match began.

Li Qing realized that his Scythe of Judgment had likely severed the spiritual bond between Hu Liena and Xie Yue, leaving them unable to use their Martial Soul Fusion Skill. Lin Qianxin brought him to Pope’s Hall, where he faced Bibi Dong and the siblings.

• Yu Shaofei questioned Li Qing about Hu Liena and Xie Yue’s collapse, but Li Qing claimed he did not know what had happened.
• After Hu Liena and Xie Yue suffered mental pain and received treatment, they recovered but discovered their mental connection was gone.
• Hu Liena and Xie Yue tried ten times to perform their Martial Soul Fusion Skill and failed each time.
• Lin Qianxin took Li Qing to Pope’s Hall, where he met Bibi Dong with Hu Liena and Xie Yue present.

Li Qing won five soul fights on the second day of the assessment, earned money by selling popcorn and betting on himself, and prepared for the final day. The chapter ended with a brutal fight between King Kong Wolf and Moon Bear.

• An elderly Spirit Hall official praised Brand’s work and decided it was time to call him back.
• Li Qing narrowly defeated Bing Lanxing, then won all five of his soul fights on the second day of the assessment.
• Li Qing sold more than a thousand servings of popcorn and added the proceeds and his betting winnings to his savings.
• Han Mingye reprimanded the Advanced Soul Master Division students who had lost to Li Qing and said he had found someone else to face him the next day.
• Qian Renxue, Wu Jian, and Ailaso watched Li Qing’s fireworks display, which left Qian Renxue captivated.
• King Kong Wolf used its self-healing ability while savagely biting Moon Bear’s arm in their fight.

Li Qing spent a day experimenting with gunpowder and metal flame reactions to make fireworks for Qian Renxue, while preparing food and milk tea for her. When the display was ready, he stayed hidden because his face was blackened by the explosions, and Wu Jian watched as he prepared to set off the fireworks.

• Qian Renxue agreed to return the next evening so Li Qing could show her fireworks.
• Li Qing worked through the night and morning to develop firework shells, then made Qian Renxue lunch and milk tea.
• Li Qing finished more than a dozen shells by sunset, despite explosions blackening his face.
• Qian Renxue waited at the original place while Wu Jian relayed Li Qing's message.
• Li Qing refused to meet Qian Renxue because he feared his soot-covered face would ruin her impression of him.
• Wu Jian joined Li Qing by the launch tube as Li Qing lit a fire starter and began the display.

Ling Qing set up a popcorn stall and drew a crowd with the irresistible smell and taste of his popcorn. He postponed making the second variety until the next day, unaware that the decision would bring someone misery.

• Ling Qing bought bags of Exploding Corn and Butterfly Exploding Corn, then set up signs and equipment for his popcorn stall.
• Ling Qing cooked a pot of popcorn, attracting passersby with its sweet fragrance and charging three Copper Soul Coins per serving.
• Customers tasted the popcorn and praised it, and a long line formed as Ling Qing sold out his first batch and cooked more.
• Ling Qing openly prepared popcorn in front of the customers, expecting that chefs would soon work out how it was made.
• Ling Qing chose to keep selling the first kind of popcorn and make the other variety tomorrow, planning to have Huang Wenxin help him.

Li Qing was summoned before Xue Ye and demonstrated how he made popcorn, which Xue Ye and Wan Tianlin tasted. Xue Ye suddenly vomited blood and collapsed, and Li Qing was ordered seized.

• Gu Xiang brought Li Qing to the platform after his noisy popcorn-making attracted Xue Ye’s attention.
• At Xue Ye’s command, Li Qing prepared and popped corn again for the emperor to inspect.
• Li Qing brought the popcorn to Xue Ye, who tasted it and praised its flavor before offering some to Wan Tianlin.
• Xue Ye suddenly flushed, spat blood, and fainted, so guards were ordered to seize Li Qing.

Li Qing enrolled at the academy’s Intermediate Soul Master Division and joined its elite Class One, where his age and level shocked his classmates. The chapter left him seated beside a black-haired woman while a red-haired student glared at him.

• Liu Qianxin asked Li Qing about his age, Soul Power, and previous certification city, then arranged for him to enter the Intermediate Soul Master Division.
• Deng Yuguang processed Li Qing’s enrollment, placed him in Class One, and sent him to homeroom teacher Yu Shaofei.
• Yu Shaofei registered Li Qing for a private dorm room and brought him to class, where Li Qing introduced himself as a ten-year-old level thirty-one Battle Soul Master with the Scythe of Judgment martial soul.
• Yu Shaofei assigned Li Qing a seat that stirred up the class, and a red-haired student glared at him and made a throat-slitting gesture.
• Li Qing greeted his black-haired deskmate and thought she was pretty, though not as pretty as Qian Renxue.

Li Qing recovered from his exhausting test with Wu Jian, then hunted and prepared a porcupine for a meal on a quiet hilltop. Elsewhere, Xue Ye woke to Xue Qinghe’s apparent devotion, while Xue Qinghe revealed a cold smirk after leaving his father’s room.

• Wu Jian rescued the exhausted Li Qing as the hill collapsed, and Li Qing joked that he had moved the mountain because he could not move Wu Jian’s feet.
• Xue Qinghe cared for the poisoned Xue Ye, who whispered that he felt he would not survive, but Xue Qinghe refused to listen and left to seek an antidote.
• After leaving Xue Ye, Xue Qinghe showed no sign of sorrow and smirked coldly.
• Liu Lin dressed in his official robes and told Liu Hu he was going to Kus City to see Xue Ye, while Liu Hu suspected he mainly wanted to try the local food.
• Li Qing recovered his Soul Power, hunted a porcupine, and returned to the hilltop with firewood.
• Li Qing used the Scythe of Judgment to cut wood, then roasted the porcupine with seasonings as its fragrance filled the air.

After passing the preliminary judging, Ling Qing settled into the contestants’ hotel and traded egg fried rice for Huang Wenxin’s Eight Treasures Ruyi Soup. They shared their dishes in the hotel kitchen, where the other chefs watched enviously.

• Han Ming tasted Ling Qing’s egg fried rice, but the other judges ate the rest before he could praise it; Ling Qing passed and received contestant number 1320.
• Ling Qing arrived at Xiangju Building and rested in his assigned room.
• Huang Wenxin visited Ling Qing and asked to try his egg fried rice, offering to pay.
• Ling Qing proposed exchanging the rice for Huang Wenxin’s Eight Treasures Ruyi Soup, and Huang Wenxin agreed.
• Ling Qing and Huang Wenxin cooked at adjacent stations, with Ling Qing observing Huang Wenxin’s technique.
• Ling Qing and Huang Wenxin exchanged dishes and quickly finished them as the other chefs watched.

Ling Qing became suspicious that Liu Lin was hiding a secret in Tumbled Stone Forest, but Liu Lin steered him away by inviting him to his home. While searching the cluttered cottage for clues, Ling Qing asked Liu Hu about his mother and learned that she had died when he was young.

• Ling Qing sensed Liu Lin approaching without detecting him and suspected Liu Lin was far stronger than a Soul Elder.
• Liu Hu told Liu Lin that Ling Qing was traveling to Kus City, and Ling Qing said he was carrying a letter for his academy dean.
• Liu Lin urged Ling Qing to leave Tumbled Stone Forest and then insisted that he come to the family home for a meal.
• At Liu Lin's cottage, Ling Qing looked over the clutter for clues while Liu Hu praised his father's cooking.
• Ling Qing asked why Liu Hu's mother was absent, and Liu Hu said she had died when he was very young.

The succubus tried to escape Liu Lin, but after finding Gulu dead, she sacrificed her lifeblood essence to destroy the sealing array in a massive explosion. Liu Lin and Ling Qing were blasted away, Stone Forest Village was leveled, and Tang San sensed the distant earthquake in Nuo Lan City and wondered whether it was connected to Ling Qing.

• The succubus tricked Liu Lin with exploding purple orbs and fled toward the cave entrance, where she blasted Ling Qing aside as she passed.
• The succubus found Gulu split in two and realized the youth she had struck might have killed him, while Liu Lin caught up and shouted her name.
• The succubus sacrificed her lifeblood essence to form a destructive black sphere, and Liu Lin carried the injured Ling Qing away from the sealing array.
• The succubus's attack destroyed the array and the Tumbled Stone Forest, sending Liu Lin and Ling Qing flying and leveling Stone Forest Village.
• Tang San felt the distant earthquake in Nuo Lan City and briefly suspected it was connected to Ling Qing before dismissing the thought.

Ling Qing bought an unidentified fragmented map after it sparked fierce bidding, then watched Hu Liena win a powerful cracked shield. He also acquired a Sword Pellet to study its workings and hoped to reproduce it.

• Will presented an abstract fragmented map made from Snow God Silkworm silk, and Ling Qing won it for thirteen thousand Gold Soul Coins.
• Hu Liena suspected Ling Qing had a reason beyond curiosity for buying the map, but he did not notice her suspicion.
• Will auctioned a cracked defensive Soul Tool, and Ling Qing recognized an eerie aura like the one he had sensed from Zhang San.
• Hu Liena won the shield for four hundred and fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins, and Ling Qing was delighted with the result.
• Ling Qing won a single-use Sword Pellet capable of unleashing a Spirit Emperor-level sword strike so he could study how it worked and try to produce more.

Bibi Dong ordered Li Qing to resolve the Judgment power preventing Hu Liena and Xie Yue from using their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, and he eventually succeeded. Two months later, the academy assigned a demanding arena assessment, and Li Qing agreed to team up with Xu Yu for the two-person matches.

• Li Qing flattered Bibi Dong, who ordered him to fix Hu Liena and Xie Yue's broken Martial Soul Fusion Skill within three days.
• Li Qing dissolved the power of Judgment in Hu Liena and Xie Yue, while Elder Chrysanthemum delivered information that made Bibi Dong realize Li Qing was that man's disciple.
• Two months later, Yu Shaofei announced that students had to earn ten solo and ten two-person victories at the Spirit City Douluo Arena within three days.
• Yan chose a different teammate so he might face Li Qing, and Xu Yu asked Li Qing to partner with him for the two-person matches.

Li Qing trained his Judgment skill, cut through a stone pillar, and increased his first soul ring’s age before Liu Lin coerced him into handing over several Soul Tools. After learning Liu Lin would report the Tumbled Stone Forest incident, Li Qing continued his journey and arrived in Kus City as its annual Best Chef competition began.

• Li Qing cut through a black stone pillar with his Judgment skill, raising his first soul ring’s age by one hundred years.
• Liu Lin invited Li Qing to eat, then demanded several of his Soul Tools in exchange for access to rare stones.
• Li Qing learned Liu Lin’s family held the hereditary rank of count and that Liu Lin planned to report the Tumbled Stone Forest incident to the Heaven Dou Empire.
• Li Qing paid Liu Lin another Soul Tool to conceal his involvement, then continued toward Kus City.
• Two days later, Li Qing arrived in Kus City as the annual Best Chef competition began.

Li Qing and Yan agreed to fight at the Douluo Arena, where Li Qing revealed an extraordinary soul-ring configuration and battled Yan with his martial soul put away. After Yan’s Flame Lord proved exceptionally durable, Li Qing targeted his crotch with a series of underhanded attacks, leaving the match unresolved.

• Li Qing challenged Yan to become his lackey if he lost, while Yan demanded that Li Qing kowtow and call him Dad if he lost.
• Li Qing and Yan registered their named match at the Douluo Arena, where Yan’s Soul Power tested at level thirty-seven and Li Qing learned Yan had a Silver Fighting Soul Badge.
• Yan released his Flame Lord martial soul and enlarged his body with his first two soul skills, while Li Qing revealed one yellow and two purple soul rings.
• Li Qing put away his scythe and used the Unknowable Eye, Sharingan, and Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to trade powerful blows with Yan.
• When Li Qing’s punches failed to injure Yan’s formidable defense, he began attacking Yan’s crotch with a string of sneaky techniques.

After the red-robed man killed Li Qing and took the Blood Bat King Spirit Bone, the Demon Plan revived Li Qing and transformed him with overwhelming demonic power. Li Qing defeated the attacker and killed him with the Scythe of Judgment, while Han Jin watched from hiding.

• The red-robed man removed Li Qing’s imprint from Zhang San’s ring and took the mutated thousand-year Blood Bat King skull, but the Spirit Bone was pulled into Li Qing and swallowed by black mist.
• The Demon Plan revived Li Qing, whose Replication Eyes and demonic power let him stop the red-robed man’s Ghost Snake Sweep.
• Han Jin watched in fear as Li Qing manifested the Scythe of Judgment and clashed with the red-robed man, overpowering him.
• Li Qing struck the red-robed man in the face and severed one of his arms with a blade aura, leaving the Spirit Bone on the severed hand.
• The red-robed man fled, but Li Qing threw the Scythe of Judgment after him and cut through his body.

Li Qing discovered that Outlaw Zhang San’s Spirit Bone reacted to him until he activated the Unknowable Eye, while a gray-robed man elsewhere claimed to have found him. At the academy, Li Qing learned that Kong Yuan wanted to meet him and that students would receive their final assessment results next semester before beginning a two-month holiday.

• Li Qing found the Spirit Bone glowing red in his Storage Belt, and it fell silent when he activated the Unknowable Eye.
• A gray-robed man sitting atop corpses in a Star Luo Empire village said that he had found Li Qing.
• Mo Yu told Li Qing that Kong Yuan had asked about him and would return from a mission within three days.
• Yu Shaofei postponed the final assessment results until next semester and assigned students to raise their Soul Power by at least one rank during the holiday.

Xiao Xue asked Li Qing to promise to fulfill a future request, and Wu Jian used his sword aura to help Li Qing break through to Soul Power Level 28. Meanwhile, Liu Lin encountered Cai Guangtou at Stone Forest Village and learned more about Li Qing’s cooking competition.

• Li Qing realized Xiao Xue fit the conditions he had named, then joked with her about what she might demand as repayment for saving him.
• Xiao Xue asked Li Qing to promise to accept a suitable future request, and he agreed after she assured him it would not be immoral.
• Wu Jian cut Li Qing’s finger with the Crimson Abyss Sword and sent sword aura into him, prompting Li Qing to break through to Soul Power Level 28.
• Liu Lin met Cai Guangtou at the Cai family’s entrance and confirmed that Cai Guangtou had lost his first cooking competition match to Li Qing.
• Li Qing thanked Wu Jian for helping him break through, and Xiao Xue praised his cultivation talent.

Li Qing defeated Yan in the Douluo Arena by combining his Judgment and Second Spirit Skill into a self-created move, Instant Hell, Judgment Slash, earning a large prize. Later, Yan accepted his loss and declared himself Li Qing’s little brother, though he refused to follow immoral orders.

• Yan used Granite Rock to grow heavier and escape Li Qing’s attempt to throw him out of the arena, then swung Li Qing toward him with the scythe’s chain.
• Li Qing bound Yan with the chain, but Yan dismissed Lord’s Body to slip free and evade Li Qing’s first Judgment strike.
• Li Qing repeatedly attacked Yan’s defenses until two crossing slashes broke through, then used Instant Hell, Judgment Slash to shatter Lord’s Body and defeat him.
• The referee declared Li Qing the winner, and the arena awarded him nearly five thousand Gold Soul Coins.
• During afternoon class, Yan bowed to Li Qing, accepted his loss, and declared himself Li Qing’s little brother while setting a limit against immoral demands.

Ling Qing battled Wu Jian, using his Judgment Sickle and a carefully planned strike to overcome the trial. As the hill split and began to collapse beneath them, Wu Jian admitted defeat and recognized Ling Qing's potential.

• Ling Qing used his spatial second spirit skill to attack Wu Jian, but Wu Jian countered with fast sword auras and forced him to retreat.
• Ling Qing transformed the Judgment Sickle into its chain-linked second form and repeatedly lashed the ground while Wu Jian dodged and taunted him.
• Ling Qing restored the scythe to its original form and unleashed his first spirit skill, Judgment, using all his Soul Power to send a green blade arc into the ground.
• The hill began to crack and collapse because Ling Qing's earlier strikes had weakened it and Judgment had split the earth beneath it.
• Wu Jian realized Ling Qing had targeted the hill rather than him, conceded defeat, and saw potential in Ling Qing to join the Golden Generation.