Chapter Summaries

A weathered old man found a dead infant in a tiny coffin and carried him to the Liu Clan Ancestral Estate, where a grieving young madam took him in. As the infant opened his eyes, the maid saw the glowing character for regret reflected in them.

• A lightning strike exposed a tiny coffin, and a wounded beast’s blood fell onto the dead infant’s lips as a halo enveloped him.
• The weathered old man picked up the infant, and the coffin vanished into his cloak.
• The old man left the infant beneath a rear gate of the Liu Clan Ancestral Estate and disappeared into the storm.
• The young madam rejected a cloth doll she had mistaken for her dead child and fled into the rear courtyard.
• The young madam picked up the infant, and the maid saw the character for regret glowing in his eyes.

Liu Ding astonished the Liu Clan by lifting the First Soul-Forging Cauldron as an infant, and Liu Yandong fought to secure his place in the clan’s future. After examining the child, Grand Fate Master Fang Xi declared that Liu Ding had no past.

• Liu Ji became a One-Vessel Martial Apprentice by lifting the First Soul-Forging Cauldron, but the infant Liu Ding then lifted it too and stunned the Liu Clan.
• Liu Ji vowed that Liu Ding would never surpass him, while Liu Ding dropped the cauldron when his strength ran out.
• Liu Yandong proposed taking Liu Ding as his grandson, drawing opposition from Nie Zhengxu and other elders over the child’s unknown origins and the succession.
• Liu Yandong summoned Grand Fate Master Fang Xi and promised that Liu Ding and the younger generation could compete for the patriarch position in twelve years.
• Fang Xi used a great hypnotic art to examine Liu Ding’s past, then reported that the child had no past.

Fang Xi revealed that Liu Ding would grow into a fool, but Liu Yandong still acknowledged him as his heir. Three years later, Liu Ding failed to lift the First Soul-Forging Cauldron while Liu Ji impressed the clan with his cultivation, then used Liu Ding to steal Golden Lion cubs and abandoned him when their mother returned.

• Fang Xi explained that Liu Ding’s seven spirits were damaged and that he would grow up unable to retain memories, but Liu Yandong firmly acknowledged him as his heir.
• Three years later, Liu Ding failed to lift the First Soul-Forging Cauldron, while Liu Ji lifted the Three Soul-Forging Cauldrons and won praise from the clan.
• Liu Ji led several children into the forest and sent Liu Ding into the Golden Lion’s cave to retrieve cubs.
• Liu Ji and the other children took Golden Lion cubs and fled, while Liu Bo shoved Liu Ding and stole the cub he had tried to keep.
• The mother Golden Lion returned with a roar, and the children ran off, leaving Liu Ding on the ground.

Liu Ding fled the Golden Lion with a wounded white civet cat, which guided him to a hidden cave behind a waterfall. After he ate two powerful Spirit Fruits and began refining their clashing energies, he cultivated for three days while the Liu Clan fell into chaos.

• Liu Ding escaped the mother Golden Lion, rescued a bloodied white civet cat, and followed its directions to a waterfall cave.
• Liu Ding treated the civet cat's wounds and named her Xiao Zhi after discovering she was female.
• Liu Ding found Xiao Zhi's store of Spirit Orbs and immortal herbs and ate a Fire Dragon Fruit and a Moon Yin Fruit.
• Liu Ding began refining the fruits' opposing energies with Liu Yandong's breathing method and cultivated for three days and three nights.
• The Liu Clan was thrown into complete chaos while Liu Ding remained motionless in cultivation.

After surviving a dangerous transformation, Liu Ding returned to the Liu clan with Xiao Zhi, a small civet cat that became his companion. He found that Yan Hanyan no longer recognized him and that Liu Yandong had turned away from him; the chapter ended with Xiao Zhi showing keen interest in the Seven Soul-Forging Cauldrons.

• Liu Ji blamed Liu Bo and Liu Ding for the Golden Lion cub theft, while Liu Yandong searched for the missing Liu Ding and Yan Hanyan's condition worsened.
• Liu Ding completed his transformation, felt his Soulforce grow, and persuaded Xiao Zhi to return with him to the Liu clan.
• The children mocked Liu Ding for calling Xiao Zhi his beast pet, and Xiao Zhi frightened Liu Ji when he tried to touch it.
• Liu Yandong left Liu Ding without comforting him, while Zhu'er promised she would not abandon him.
• Liu Ding wandered into the ancestral hall, where Xiao Zhi circled the Seven Soul-Forging Cauldrons and watched them intently.

A cloaked shadow lured Little Dot to the ancestral hall and used Xiao Zhi’s disappearance to persuade him to meditate in the First Soul-Forging Cauldron. Little Dot discovered the cauldron’s water warmed as he copied its strange totem posture, while the shadow realized the cauldrons were meant for cultivation and left him with a “secret of men.”

• A cloaked shadow woke Little Dot and told him Xiao Zhi was hiding in the ancestral hall.
• Little Dot searched the Seven Soul-Forging Cauldrons, found Xiao Zhi underwater in the First Soul-Forging Cauldron, and hugged her after jumping in.
• The cloaked shadow told Little Dot to meditate by imitating the totem carved on the First Soul-Forging Cauldron.
• Little Dot’s posture made the cauldron water grow warm, and the cloaked shadow inspected the other cauldrons and realized cultivation required sitting in medicinal liquid.
• The cloaked shadow promised to bring Xiao Zhi back and told Little Dot to keep their exchange secret as a secret of men.

Liu Ding had spent years secretly warming the Soul Forging Cauldron so Xiao Zhi could cultivate, and he later faced a group of clan youths who wanted his white fox to fight their Golden Lion. When Liu Tao charged at him, she swallowed a Black Tortoise Soul Pill, setting up a clash with Liu Ding.

• The little civet cat realized Liu Ding’s stance heated the Soul Forging Cauldron and happily bathed with him, while he promised to keep their visits secret.
• Liu Ding accompanied Xiao Zhi in the cauldron once each year, and more than seven years passed.
• At Crescent Moon Bay, Liu Ji and the other youths plotted to make the Golden Lion fight Liu Ding’s white fox.
• Liu Ding refused to let Xiao Zhi fight and traded taunts with Liu Tao, angering her by recalling their past encounters.
• Liu Tao charged Liu Ding using Dragon Gait after swallowing a Black Tortoise Soul Pill, while the other youths expected her to unleash Four-Vessel Martial Apprentice power.

Liu Tao used a Black Tortoise Soul Pill to attack Liu Ding, but their duel ended with him pinning her and accidentally kissing her while trying to stop her scream. Liu Ji ordered the furious spectators to seize Liu Ding.

• Liu Ji declared Liu Tao and Liu Ding's fight a fair duel as witnesses watched.
• Liu Tao took a Black Tortoise Soul Pill and attacked Liu Ding, but her strike was diverted toward the Little White Fox.
• Liu Tao relentlessly pursued Liu Ding, who sent the Little White Fox away and taunted her as a female rogue.
• Liu Ding knocked Liu Tao off balance, pinned her on the riverbank, and bit down on her clothing before accidentally landing on her lips.
• Liu Ji ordered the spectators to grab Liu Ding, and the young bulls rushed over and hauled him away.

Liu Ji challenged the Little White Fox to a beast fight after Liu Chengwu stopped the clan youths from beating Liu Ding. The Little White Fox defeated Mighty, but Liu Ji attacked her himself, leaving her in danger as he closed in with a fatal strike.

• Liu Chengwu arrived and ordered the youths to release Liu Ding, interrupting Liu Ji before he could attack him.
• Liu Ji challenged the Little White Fox to fight his Golden Lion, promising not to trouble Liu Ding before the clan patriarch succession battle if she accepted.
• The Little White Fox dodged Mighty’s first attacks, then broke half his tail with a paw strike and shattered his nose with a punch.
• Liu Ji refused to accept Mighty’s defeat and attacked the Little White Fox with Qilin’s Surge.
• Liu Chengwu hesitated to intervene when he saw Nie Zhengxu watching, while Liu Ji caught up to the weakened Little White Fox and brought down a fatal palm strike.

Liu Ding’s Little White Fox killed Liu Ji’s Golden Lion, and Liu Yandong stopped Liu Ji from attacking them in anger. Afterward, Liu Yandong’s hidden injury worsened, while Nie Zhengxu arranged a dangerous shortcut to strengthen Liu Ji for the contest to become clan head.

• Little White Fox used the Golden Lion to block Liu Ji’s attack, killing the beast, and Liu Ding rushed to protect her.
• Liu Ji tried to attack Liu Ding and Little White Fox, but Liu Yandong kicked him down and forced him to apologize.
• Liu Yandong returned home and coughed up blood, then made Liu Ding promise not to tell anyone.
• Nie Zhengxu told Liu Ji that the Golden Lion’s death was acceptable and urged him to sacrifice anything to gain power.
• Nie Zhengxu gave Liu Ji the Murong Family’s Suanni Soulforging Pill and Golden Lion blood in exchange for territory if Liu Ji became clan head.
• Liu Ji drank the pill and blood and began cultivating as Nie Zhengxu planned to push him toward the Seven Cauldrons Realm.

Liu Ji discovered Xiao Zhi could take human form and told Nie Zhengxu, who used the revelation to challenge Liu Yandong. After Xiao Zhi transformed again in the Seven Soul-Forging Cauldrons, Liu Yandong arranged to take her into custody, leaving her fate to be addressed before the elders in fifteen days.

• Liu Ji broke through in cultivation, then witnessed Xiao Zhi take human form in the ancestral hall and told Nie Zhengxu he wanted her.
• Liu Ding and Xiao Zhi tested the Fire Dragon Fruit in the cauldron’s medicinal bath, and Xiao Zhi transformed into a beautiful young woman again.
• Nie Zhengxu and the elders confronted Liu Yandong after Liu Ding’s resistance toppled the Seven Soul-Forging Cauldrons and exposed the pair.
• Liu Yandong argued that Xiao Zhi was Liu Ding’s beast pet and ordered the Family Disciplinary Hall to take her into custody for his own interrogation.
• Nie Zhengxu warned that the Council of Elders could deal with Xiao Zhi in fifteen days, while Liu Ding clung to her and protested her removal.

Liu Ding collapsed from a Demonic Fire Affliction after Xiao Zhi was taken away, and the clan’s physicians failed to save him. General Jiang arrived to treat him, but after sending Liu Yandong away, he brought out the Black Willow Coffin that had once buried Liu Ding.

• Liu Yandong restrained Liu Ding while the Hall of Law Enforcement disciples took Xiao Zhi away, and Liu Ding soon collapsed with a Demonic Fire Affliction.
• Nie Zhengxu learned that Xiao Zhi was a spirit beast whose willing soul sacrifice could grant Liu Ji power equivalent to a Beast Soul Grandmaster, and he hurried to secure her.
• Liu Yandong and the elders could not wake Liu Ding, and physicians from Bleser City failed to lower his fever.
• General Jiang arrived and persuaded Liu Yandong to carry Liu Ding to the clan’s highest watchtower while he attempted a treatment.
• After Liu Yandong went below the tower, General Jiang revealed the Black Willow Coffin that had once buried Liu Ding.

Liu Ding awoke from a vivid dream of a brief lifetime and was no longer foolish after General Jiang repaired his damaged seven souls. General Jiang then revealed to Liu Yandong that Liu Ding was his biological grandson, resurrected through the Black Willow Coffin.

• While Liu Ding lay in the Black Willow Coffin during a violent storm, he dreamed of growing up, losing the girl he loved, and dying after a motorcycle crash.
• Liu Ding awoke in the watchtower and told Liu Yandong he was all right before hurrying down the steps.
• General Jiang reappeared and told Liu Yandong that he had repaired Liu Ding's damaged seven souls using the coffin.
• General Jiang revealed that Liu Ding was Liu Yandong's biological grandson, whom he had carried from the Liu Coffin and left at his daughter-in-law's backyard gate.
• General Jiang explained that the willow coffin wood had come from an exceptionally perfect otherworld and that Liu Ding had truly died before being resurrected.

Liu Yandong learned that Liu Ji would reach the Seven Cauldrons Martial Apprentice Realm before the Sect Lord Contention and decided Liu Ding needed pressure to grow stronger. Liu Ding failed to lift the Five Soulforging Cauldrons, but Liu Yandong promised he would see Xiao Zhi the next day while preparing him for a harsher trial.

• General Jiang told Liu Yandong that Liu Ding had a solid foundation but would struggle to advance, and warned that Liu Ji would reach the Seven Cauldrons Martial Apprentice Realm before the contention.
• Liu Ding tried to visit Xiao Zhi in the Heavenly Prison, but Elder Yannan refused him entry and assured him she was safe.
• Liu Ding asked Liu Yandong for a written pass, but Liu Yandong took him to the ancestral hall to test his strength instead.
• Liu Ding lifted the first four Soul-Forging Cauldrons one-handed but could not move the Five Soulforging Cauldrons, even after taking a Qilin Soul Pill.
• Liu Yandong urged Liu Ding to become strong enough to protect those he cared about and promised he would see Xiao Zhi the next day.

Liu Ding struggled to cultivate Qilin's Surge before being summoned to a Liu Clan assembly, where Nie Zhengxu proposed that Xiao Zhi form a Spirit Beast Contract with Liu Ji. The proposal left Liu Yandong furious and Liu Ding seated beside the shackled Xiao Zhi as the clan watched.

• Liu Ding attempted to condense soul energy while cultivating Qilin's Surge, but the vortex dispersed before he could form soulforce.
• Zhu'er summoned Liu Ding to the Ancestral Hall, where he found the clan's leaders gathered and Xiao Zhi bound in Mystic Iron Shackles.
• Liu Ding sat beside Xiao Zhi and comforted her, and she leaned her head against his shoulder.
• Nie Zhengxu proposed sparing Xiao Zhi punishment if she formed a Spirit Beast Contract with the clan's most promising youth, Liu Ji.
• Liu Yandong crushed his chair's armrest as the clansmen watched Liu Ding and Xiao Zhi with mockery.

Liu Ding defended Xiao Zhi from Nie Zhengxu and Liu Ji, then agreed that she would be offered as a contract to whoever defeated him in the Sect Lord Contention. After Xiao Zhi chose to trust Liu Ding, he vowed to fight Liu Ji despite being at a lower realm.

• Nie Zhengxu had Liu Ji display the Six Soulforging Cauldrons to pressure the clan into giving Xiao Zhi to him.
• Liu Ding challenged the clan elders’ decision and proposed that Xiao Zhi would contract with whoever defeated him in the Sect Lord Contention, if she agreed.
• Xiao Zhi accepted Liu Ding’s proposal, wrote the Spirit Beast Contract in blood, and was freed from her shackles.
• Nie Zhengxu threatened Liu Yandong, but Liu Canglong’s intervention stopped him from challenging the decision.
• Liu Ding mocked Liu Ji’s breakthrough and declared that he would fight him at the Sect Lord Contention, vowing never to give up Xiao Zhi.

Liu Zhi joined the Liu Clan and arranged for anyone seeking her contract to challenge her after the Sect Lord Contention. She and Liu Ding discussed their future and went to the Martial Arts Hall, where Liu Ji and Liu Tao were sparring.

• Liu Zhi accepted the Liu surname, and Liu Yandong welcomed her into the clan.
• Liu Zhi proposed that the winner of the Sect Lord Contention must defeat her to obtain her contract, and Liu Ji agreed.
• Liu Zhi confronted Nie Zhengxu, whose confidence faltered when he saw the strange light in her eyes.
• At Crescent Moon Bay, Liu Ding promised to help Liu Zhi regain her contract, and she suggested they run away together.
• Liu Zhi led Liu Ding to the Martial Arts Hall to seek a new path toward the Five Cauldrons Realm of Qilin's Surge.
• Liu Ding and Liu Zhi arrived as Liu Ji and Liu Tao sparred before a cheering crowd.

Liu Ding watched Liu Tao fight Liu Ji, then challenged the clan’s rules to enter the Library Pavilion. He wagered that he could lift the Fourth Soul-Forging Cauldron with one hand, while Liu Tao promised to let him take liberties with her if he succeeded.

• Liu Tao fought Liu Ji in the Martial Arts Hall, but Liu Ji lost focus after seeing Liu Zhi and then broke free of his suppressed realm to strike Liu Tao down.
• Liu Ding and Liu Zhi headed toward the Library Pavilion, but Liu Tao stopped them and mocked Liu Ding for lacking the required cultivation.
• Liu Cheng Lin explained the Library Pavilion’s entry rules, and Liu Ding asked to test his strength by lifting a Ding.
• Liu Tao challenged Liu Ding to lift the Fourth Soul-Forging Cauldron with one hand, wagering that she would let him take liberties with her if he succeeded.
• Liu Ding accepted the wager and asked Liu Ji to bring over the Black Tortoise Ding.

Liu Ding stunned the Martial Arts Hall by lifting the Black Tortoise Ding, then went to the Library Pavilion to look for a way forward in his cultivation. There, he found a Fourth Soul-Forging Cauldron martial skill called Seven Stars Steps whose star formation matched the Big Dipper from his memories.

• Liu Ding lifted the Black Tortoise Ding one-handed and teased Liu Tao, who fled without settling their bet.
• Liu Ding tossed the Black Tortoise Ding to Liu Ji, then went to the Library Pavilion while Liu Zhi left without accepting Liu Ji's escort.
• Liu Ji threatened Liu Ding over the coming Sect Lord Contention and declared he would make Liu Ding watch Liu Zhi nestle in his arms.
• Liu Ding searched the Library Pavilion's cultivation insights and realized his soul sensations seemed far beyond his actual Four-Vessel Martial Apprentice strength.
• Liu Ding found the Seven Stars Steps scroll and recognized its seven-star formation as the Big Dipper from his dream memories.

Liu Ding struggled to master Seven Stars Steps and searched for another way to break through his cultivation bottleneck. He discovered that Liu Ji had reached Six Soulforging Cauldrons using a pill from the Murong Family, and left to tell Liu Yandong about the plot to strengthen Liu Ji further.

• Liu Ding borrowed the Seven Stars Steps scroll, then ate Zhi'er's medicinal turtle soup and learned that she could no longer sleep in his arms after transforming into a human.
• Liu Ding practiced Seven Stars Steps but got stuck at the Meridian Court points, despite meeting the scroll's cultivation requirements.
• Liu Ding worried that Liu Ji's strength could endanger Zhi'er and decided to investigate how Liu Ji had advanced so quickly.
• Liu Ding watched Liu Ji take a medicinal bath at the Nie Residence and learned that a Suanni Soulforging Pill from the Murong Family had helped him reach Six Soulforging Cauldrons.
• Nie Zhengxu planned to find a Seven Soul-Forging Cauldrons pill if needed, then decided Liu Ji should begin medicinal baths from the First Soul-Forging Cauldron.
• Liu Ding quietly left the Nie Residence, intending to tell Liu Yandong what he had learned.