Chapter Summaries

Gu Sheng tested Dugu Bo’s Poison Array with his Soul Power and a swarm of venomous snakes, but fled when he sensed Dugu Bo approaching. After Dugu Bo searched the area and left, Gu Sheng and the snakes returned to their temporary lodging.

• Gu Sheng scattered the poison clinging to his hand, creating a cavity in the Poison Array that let the venomous snakes advance deeper.
• As the array’s poison surged toward him, Gu Sheng sensed a powerful presence, ordered the Millennial Mandrill Serpent to retreat, and escaped on the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent.
• Dugu Bo emerged from the Poison Array and wondered how ordinary snakes had penetrated so deeply into it.
• Dugu Bo spotted the distant Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent but failed to detect Gu Sheng, then repeatedly returned to search the area before finally leaving.
• Gu Sheng waited for Dugu Bo to depart, met up with the Mandala Snake in a nearby forest, and headed back to their temporary lodging.

Gu Sheng watched Dugu Bo suffer a violent poison backlash and learned that the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well only eased the poison’s effects. After Dugu Bo recovered, a cloaked stranger confronted him, leaving Dugu Bo wary and considering escape.

• Gu Sheng observed Dugu Bo’s poison backlash, during which Dugu Bo thrashed about and spread poisonous mist through the surrounding forest.
• Gu Sheng reasoned that Dugu Bo’s Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor poison periodically overwhelmed him and considered exploiting the opportunity to obtain the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
• Dugu Bo eventually recovered enough to reflect on his wish to live for his granddaughter, Dugu Yan, and to find a cure for her poison.
• A cloaked, short figure landed before Dugu Bo and mocked his wretched condition.
• Dugu Bo prepared to attack but sensed danger and began considering how to retreat.

Gu Sheng approached Dugu Bo while he was weakened and offered to pay for three months’ use of the hot spring, but Dugu Bo refused and attacked. Their negotiation ended in a fight, with Dugu Bo transforming into his Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor form and Gu Sheng answering with a gigantic beast form despite having no Soul Rings.

• Gu Sheng concealed his identity and approached Dugu Bo, who sensed a threat but chose to negotiate rather than attack immediately.
• Gu Sheng offered to pay for the right to use Dugu Bo’s hot spring for three months, and Dugu Bo rejected the deal.
• Dugu Bo attacked Gu Sheng with a jade-green serpent, but Gu Sheng evaded the attacks and their spreading poison.
• Dugu Bo activated all nine Soul Rings and transformed into the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor.
• Gu Sheng transformed into a colossal, two-tailed feline beast and claimed Dugu Bo was not worth using Soul Rings on, while inwardly admitting he had none.
• Dugu Bo, enraged by the insult, surged forward and unleashed a tide of dark-green poison.

Gu Sheng fought Dugu Bo in their transformed forms, using Matatabi’s flames to burn away the Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor’s poison. The battle escalated as Gu Sheng fired a Tailed Beast Ball, and Dugu Bo revealed a head Soul Bone attack that Gu Sheng recognized as Medusa’s Gaze.

• Gu Sheng’s Matatabi flames burned away Dugu Bo’s venom and blasted through his Poison Array, forcing him to dodge.
• Dugu Bo’s tail struck Gu Sheng, but the flames scorching Matatabi’s body repelled the attack and left Dugu Bo wary.
• Gu Sheng pressed the attack while Dugu Bo struggled without his poison, and their clashes shook the mountain and drove nearby soul beasts away.
• Gu Sheng trapped Dugu Bo’s Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor and fired an incomplete Tailed Beast Ball at him.
• Dugu Bo’s Lifebound Poison Pearl shield shattered against the Tailed Beast Ball, so he unleashed pale beams from his eyes.
• Gu Sheng recognized the eye beams as Medusa’s Gaze from Dugu Bo’s head Soul Bone and observed without intervening.

Gu Sheng’s Tailed Beast Ball forced Dugu Bo to use his Medusa’s Gaze and then his Eighth Soul Skill, Time Freeze, to stop and destroy it. The attack was neutralized, and Gu Sheng realized how dangerous Dugu Bo’s time-based abilities were.

• Dugu Bo used Medusa’s Gaze to petrify Gu Sheng’s Tailed Beast Ball, but the attack broke through after being weakened.
• Dugu Bo used Time Freeze to immobilize Gu Sheng and the Tailed Beast Ball, then fused his jade-green bead with the attack.
• Dugu Bo transformed the Tailed Beast Ball into a jade-like sphere and shattered it before restoring the frozen space.
• Gu Sheng realized that Dugu Bo had stopped time for three seconds and understood why his time-based skill was difficult to counter.

Gu Sheng and Dugu Bo halted their battle after Gu Sheng offered to ease the snake poison tormenting Dugu Bo in exchange for access to Hot Spring Valley. Dugu Bo tentatively accepted, but demanded that Gu Sheng seal away his poison and threatened to take them both down if he was deceived.

• Gu Sheng formed a stable Tailed Beast Ball and challenged Dugu Bo to block it again, prompting Dugu Bo to threaten to unleash his Ninth Soul Skill, Biphosphorus Divine Light.
• Gu Sheng refused to back down but agreed to stop fighting because Chu Xin and the others were in the forest, then reiterated that he had come to make a deal.
• Dugu Bo rejected Gu Sheng's request to use Hot Spring Valley for three months, explaining that its springs helped suppress the snake poison's backlash.
• Gu Sheng offered to use his flames to suppress Dugu Bo's poison and place a restriction on his Poison Pill, easing the backlash for a period of time.
• Dugu Bo remained wary of letting Gu Sheng place a restriction inside his body, but agreed to the deal and warned that he would self-destruct his Poison Pill if Gu Sheng deceived him.

Gu Sheng sealed Dugu Bo’s serpent poison for three months and arranged to complete the transaction later. After Dugu Bo left, Gu Sheng’s disguise collapsed, revealing that the fight had left his body severely damaged by the power of the Two-Tailed Matatabi.

• Dugu Bo agreed to let Gu Sheng suppress the Azure Serpent Poison and demanded that they begin immediately.
• Gu Sheng used his flames to suppress the poison and explained that the seal would last three months, after which he would leave a longer-lasting seal.
• Dugu Bo accepted the terms, felt free of the poison’s immediate restraint, and left the Poison Array laughing.
• Gu Sheng’s cloak exploded after Dugu Bo departed, and the injured young man spat blood as purple cracks spread across his body.
• Gu Sheng realized that Dugu Bo had been weakened and that, if the fight had continued, Gu Sheng would have collapsed first.

Gu Sheng returned to his companions after spending the night recovering from his battle with Dugu Bo, then led them through the Poison Array to the hot spring in the valley. Chu Xin sensed something far beneath the spring with her Byakugan, but the vision injured her eyes before she could see it clearly.

• Gu Sheng left the Poison Array after recovering enough to protect himself and confirming that Dugu Bo had gone.
• Liu Daimei, Mei Daizi, Chu Xin, and Ryoko helped Gu Sheng enter the Poison Array with the serpents, using a jade-green bead to shield them from its poison.
• Gu Sheng reassured his companions that he would avoid taking such risks again and said they could soon absorb Soul Rings to recover and advance.
• Gu Sheng's group climbed to the valley and discovered an extraordinary hot spring.
• Chu Xin used her Bloodline Limit Byakugan to search beneath the spring, saw something far below, and began bleeding from her eyes before she could identify it.

Gu Sheng and his companions discovered the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, a rare treasure basin where extreme cold and heat gathered to nourish extraordinary plants. As they examined it, Gu Sheng recalled how its powers had kept Dugu Bo’s poison suppressed, creating an opening for him.

• Mei Daizi treated Chu Xin after she used her ocular techniques to investigate the spring, while Gu Sheng reflected on the women’s abilities and growth.
• Liu Daimei sensed that the hot spring restrained her vampire nature and warned that she disliked the place.
• Ryoko and the others marveled at the pool’s white and vermilion halves, which remained sharply divided despite sharing one spring.
• Gu Sheng recognized the site as the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, one of the three great Treasure Gathering Basins that nurtured rare medicinal plants.
• Gu Sheng recalled that the spring’s extreme forces suppressed Dugu Bo’s poison but allowed it to accumulate, causing periodic outbreaks that gave Gu Sheng an opportunity.

Gu Sheng and the others explored the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, where they found medicinal plants growing amid dense energy mist. Gu Sheng identified a likely Aromatic Silk Beauty and tasted a petal to record its effects, leaving its exact identity unconfirmed.

• Gu Sheng warned Chu Xin and the others that the calm red spring was hot enough to rival lava.
• The group discovered that the surrounding mist held dense, nearly liquefied energy and that rare medicinal plants filled the area.
• Liu Daimei recognized an enormous Cordyceps, while the others spotted giant Ginseng, Lingzhi, He Shou Wu, and Tianshan snow lotuses.
• Gu Sheng tasted Cordyceps and a petal from a cold medicinal herb to collect information for his database.
• Gu Sheng found a pale-pink flower beside the meeting point of the springs and suspected it was an Aromatic Silk Beauty.
• Gu Sheng tore off and swallowed a small piece of the flower’s petal to analyze its effects.

Gu Sheng explored the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, using his system to identify rare Mystic Herbs and carefully sample their properties. He considered how the treasures could strengthen him and his companions, but remained uncertain about which path to pursue next.

• Gu Sheng ate small portions of medicinal plants and spiritual treasures, using the system to identify their effects and recover from his injuries.
• Gu Sheng identified the Ninth Grade Dragon Salve and summoned Azure Spirit, reserving the herb for the little dragon rather than letting it eat it immediately.
• Gu Sheng found numerous potent herbs and noted that consuming them improperly could cause deadly clashes between their medicinal powers.
• Gu Sheng considered allocating the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, Eight-Petaled Immortal Orchid, and Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew to strengthen himself and his companions.
• Gu Sheng pondered whether to focus on developing his scarlet flame or to pursue the fusion of multiple attributes.

Gu Sheng weighed the Flame Path against the Multi-Attribute Path and examined which world’s cultivation system should become his primary focus. He set aside his path choice for now and concluded that The Nine Cauldrons World’s martial artist system offered the strongest prospects.

• Gu Sheng considered whether to pursue pure fire or cultivate multiple attributes, noting that his access to Lord God instances gave him time to develop gradually.
• Gu Sheng ruled out the Naruto ninja system as his primary path because it lacked a clear route beyond the Fourth Star Level and relied heavily on bloodlines.
• Gu Sheng judged the Douluo Soul Master system too dependent on Soul Rings and concluded that its routes to godhood imposed restrictions and were largely tied to the God Realm.
• Gu Sheng examined The Nine Cauldrons World martial path, including the Void Realm and Emperor Yu’s breaking of the world’s limits, and found its principles applicable across worlds.
• Gu Sheng decided to put off choosing between the Flame Path and the Multi-Attribute Path while favoring The Nine Cauldrons World as his primary cultivation system.

Gu Sheng chose to temper his body in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well rather than commit himself to a single elemental path. He survived entering the spring and began using its immense energy to strengthen himself, though the process remained extremely dangerous.

• Gu Sheng considered using the immortal-grade plants to pursue multiple attributes or a powerful fire path, then decided he wanted to keep his options open.
• Gu Sheng approached the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, enduring alternating cold and heat while practicing Internal Fist techniques to regulate his body.
• Gu Sheng reached the spring and fell into the point where the Frigid Yin Spring and Scorching Yang Spring converged.
• Liu Daimei and the others feared Gu Sheng had died, but he soon floated back to the surface.
• Gu Sheng kept half his body above the water and punched through the violent energy, using his mastery of Internal Fist to redirect it and temper his body.

Gu Sheng emerged from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well transformed after absorbing energy from the surrounding herbs. The herbs awakened as intelligent Soul Beasts, leaving Liu Daimei and the others stunned as Gu Sheng blamed the change on the system.

• A pink halo spread from Gu Sheng, calming the spring and drawing energy from the surrounding Spiritual Herbs and Immortal Medicines into him.
• Gu Sheng emerged from a cocoon of light transformed, and Liu Daimei teased him about his new appearance.
• Mei Daizi noticed that a thorny vine had become a Plant-type Soul Beast, while Chu Xin sensed Soul Beast fluctuations throughout the area.
• Gu Sheng swept a pink halo over the oldest herbs, awakening them and prompting them to cry out in childish voices.
• Gu Sheng quieted the awakened plants, then admitted he did not know how they had gained intelligence, though he privately blamed the system.

Gu Sheng considered the extraordinary number of ancient Plant-type Soul Beasts awakened at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, where many had cultivation accumulated over hundreds of thousands of years. The plants remained sheltered from heavenly tribulations as long as they stayed rooted there, and Gu Sheng contemplated asking them to sacrifice themselves for him.

• The chapter explained that the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well had suppressed the awakening of Soul Beasts, leaving its ancient plants with enormous stores of accumulated energy.
• Gu Sheng’s spirit-awakening efforts caused countless plants to gain intelligence, including more than ten Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Emperors.
• The awakened Plant-type Soul Beasts transformed the Sunset Forest into a sanctuary that could rival the Star Dou Forest, with their overlapping domains making the valley difficult for outsiders to invade.
• Gu Sheng learned that the Soul Beasts could face heavenly tribulations as they converted their stored energy into cultivation, but the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well concealed them from the tribulations while they remained rooted there.
• Gu Sheng considered persuading the newly awakened plants to sacrifice themselves, since they could leave seeds and grow back into Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.
• Gu Sheng imagined that nine such sacrifices could give him nine Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Rings and make him a nine-ring Titled Douluo in a single day.

Gu Sheng invited the young Plant-type Soul Beasts to become Spirit Souls, then began binding Blazing Apricot Beauty to himself through the contract he had devised. The bond produced a pitch-black Soul Ring and a Soul Bone, while Gu Sheng’s body transformed and the Source Fire’s power swept across the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well valley.

• Gu Sheng rejected the idea of using Soul Beast sacrifices to rush his cultivation and asked the Plant-type Soul Beasts whether they would leave with him as Spirit Souls.
• The Soul Beasts accepted Gu Sheng’s invitation, and he chose Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, Blazing Apricot Beauty, and Earth Dragon Golden Gourd.
• Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, Blazing Apricot Beauty, and Earth Dragon Golden Gourd each condensed into a gemstone reflecting their ice, fire, and earth attributes.
• Gu Sheng used his pink light and an incantation to bind Blazing Apricot Beauty, severing its connection to the hot spring as their spiritual origins merged.
• Blazing Apricot Beauty vanished into Gu Sheng’s right palm, producing a pitch-black Soul Ring and a scarlet Soul Bone.
• Gu Sheng’s body transformed into a translucent red form as Source Fire and vitality flooded into him, scattering Dugu Bo’s poisonous miasma and clouds above the valley.

Gu Sheng broke through to level twenty and formed Little Red, a Spirit Soul from Blazing Apricot Beauty, while refusing to let her occupy another Soul Ring slot. He then contracted Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass to form a second Soul Ring and a right-leg Soul Bone, leaving another embryo beginning to form in his mental sea.

• Gu Sheng absorbed Blazing Apricot Beauty as his first Soul Ring, and his Sharingan changed as his Soul Power surged to the peak of level nineteen.
• Gu Sheng broke through to level twenty, and a crimson embryo hatched into a little girl who called him Daddy; he named her Little Red.
• Little Red tried to enter Gu Sheng's newly opened Soul Ring slot, but Gu Sheng rejected the idea because he wanted to preserve his slots.
• Gu Sheng contracted Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, which formed a second Soul Ring and fused into his right leg as a Soul Bone.
• A crystal-blue embryo formed in Gu Sheng's mental sea, and Little Red clung to him while warning against its aura.

Gu Sheng welcomed Little Blue and Little Crystal as new Spirit Souls while Little Red competed for his affection. After absorbing the Earth Dragon Golden Gourd, his Soul Power and three Soul Rings advanced, though his body still limited how powerful the rings could become.

• Little Red tried to keep Gu Sheng from getting close to Little Blue, but Gu Sheng welcomed Little Blue, and the two little girls agreed to get along as family.
• Gu Sheng's Soul Power rose steadily as he explained how his accumulated cultivation and Soul Rings affected his recovery in the Douluo World.
• The Earth Dragon Golden Gourd fused with Gu Sheng's left leg, giving him a third pitch-black Soul Ring with crimson light and an age nearing eighty thousand years.
• Little Crystal hatched and climbed onto Gu Sheng's head after finding his hands occupied by Little Red and Little Blue.

After absorbing three Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Rings and Soul Bones, Gu Sheng’s body was overwhelmed by their power and transformed inside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. The girls could not reach him, but he eventually returned to calm with a sacred golden sheen on his skin.

• Gu Sheng’s three Soul Spirit Contracts left him with three black Soul Rings and drove a massive surge of power through his body.
• The Soul Rings and Soul Bones transformed Gu Sheng’s organs and attributes, while his overloaded body turned crimson and his meridians swelled painfully.
• Gu Sheng jumped into the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well as golden flames rose from him, and the forces of his three Soul Bones reshaped his bones, muscles, and meridians.
• Liu Daimei, Chu Xin, Ryoko, and Mei Daizi tried to approach Gu Sheng but were driven back by the dangerous power surrounding the spring.
• After an unknown stretch of time, Gu Sheng gradually calmed, and a sacred golden layer spread across his bronze-colored skin.

After recovering from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Gu Sheng healed the four girls and began arranging Spirit Soul contracts with immortal herbs for them. He matched Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew to Chu Xin and prepared Aromatic Silk Beauty for Mei Daizi, leaving the other girls’ choices unresolved.

• Gu Sheng emerged from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and used his Ultimate Water (Ice) to heal the four girls, warning them not to risk standing so close again.
• Gu Sheng communicated with nearby Soul Beasts and decided the girls should contract suitable Spirit Souls, since immortal herbs could help transform their abilities.
• Gu Sheng selected Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew for Chu Xin’s Byakugan and summoned the herb so she could begin communicating with it.
• Gu Sheng considered Mei Daizi’s Wood Release sapling and chose Aromatic Silk Beauty, the queen of immortal herbs, as its potential Spirit Soul.