Chapter Summaries

Jiang Donghua, who had secretly broken through to the Dou Wang realm, challenged Xie Ying, Han Jue, and Sun Mang to attack him together. Sun Mang instead took him on alone and launched his signature combat skill, leaving Jiang Donghua standing still as the attack rushed toward him.

• Jiang Donghua revealed that only Xie Ying, Han Jue, and Sun Mang had accepted his challenge and invited all three to attack him at once.
• Xie Ying, Han Jue, Sun Mang, and the spectators reacted with disbelief and anger as Jiang Donghua insisted they had no chance unless they fought together.
• Sun Mang rejected the invitation for a group attack, entered the arena, and formally challenged Jiang Donghua.
• After the referee began the match, Sun Mang unleashed his wind-attribute Dou Qi and used Sky-Rending Spiral Kill to send two wind drills at Jiang Donghua.
• Jiang Donghua stood motionless before Sun Mang's attack and slowly raised his eyelids.

Jiang Donghua shattered Sun Mang’s strongest attack with one punch and defeated him, stunning the arena and forcing Xie Ying and Han Jue to abandon their plan to challenge him separately. The two Strong Ranking experts accepted Jiang Donghua’s invitation to fight him together and took positions on either side of him.

• Sun Mang unleashed his Sky-Rending Spiral Kill at Jiang Donghua, who casually blocked it with the Heavenly Gang Overlord Fist.
• Jiang Donghua’s punch shattered Sun Mang’s attack, broke his arms, and sent him flying until the duty elder caught and set him down.
• The crowd erupted in cheers for Jiang Donghua as Xie Ying and Han Jue watched in shock and reconsidered fighting him alone.
• Jiang Donghua invited Xie Ying and Han Jue to challenge him together, and they immediately accepted.
• Xie Ying and Han Jue appeared on the arena, taking positions to Jiang Donghua’s left and right.

Jiang Donghua faced a coordinated attack from top-ten Strong Ranking experts Xie Ying and Han Jue, who unleashed their strongest combat skills. As their attacks closed in, Jiang Donghua finally moved, leaving the outcome uncertain.

• Han Jue and Xie Ying unleashed their Dark Corrosion and Geng Metal Battle Qi, alarming the arena audience and the elder on duty.
• Jiang Donghua stood calmly without taking a defensive stance, further angering Xie Ying and Han Jue.
• The elder announced the start, and Han Jue launched Dark Corrosion Ghost Hand while Xie Ying used Geng Metal Mountain Splitting Slash to trap Jiang Donghua from both sides.
• Chen Ming watched the combined attack and recalled how much stronger Jiang Donghua's Heavenly Gang Overlord Fist had become since three days earlier.
• As the attacks were about to hit, Jiang Donghua finally moved.

Jiang Donghua revealed that he was a Dou Wang by manifesting Battle Qi Wings and effortlessly dodging Xie Ying and Han Jue's combined attack. His revelation stunned the arena and led Ye Tianxing and the elders to recognize his extraordinary talent and potential.

• Jiang Donghua formed Battle Qi Wings and rose into the air, evading Xie Ying and Han Jue's attacks.
• Xie Ying and Han Jue realized Jiang Donghua was a Dou Wang, and the spectators erupted in shock at the freshman's strength.
• Ye Tianxing and the elders discussed Jiang Donghua's exceptional potential and his possible future as a major powerhouse.
• Ye Tianxing said Jiang Donghua's emergence could give Jia Nan Academy a formidable future foundation.

Jiang Donghua revealed the overwhelming power of a Dou Wang as he fought Xie Ying and Han Jue for the third-place Strong Ranking position. After barely enduring his attack, the two surrendered, and Donghua Pavilion celebrated their leader.

• Jiang Donghua unleashed his Heavenly Gang Overlord Fist at Xie Ying and Han Jue.
• Xie Ying raised his Gold Guardian Wall while Han Jue formed a Corrosive Devouring Vortex, but both were injured and exhausted by the strike.
• Jiang Donghua prepared to attack again, so Xie Ying and Han Jue surrendered and leaped off the stage.
• Xie Ying complained that Jiang Donghua could have claimed his third-place ranking without a fight if he had revealed he was a Dou Wang.
• Donghua Pavilion's members cheered as Jiang Donghua returned to the stage, celebrating their leader's strength.

After Jiang Donghua rose to third place on the Strong Ranking by revealing his Dou Wang strength, Lei Lie congratulated him and invited him to celebrate. Jiang Donghua declared his interest in challenging top-ranked Qin Xiao, leaving the Inner Academy buzzing over their possible showdown.

• Lei Lie rushed onto the arena, celebrated Jiang Donghua's breakthrough, and admitted he had come prepared to support him.
• Jiang Donghua thanked Lei Lie, then said he was interested in taking the Strong Ranking's number one spot from Qin Xiao.
• The students debated whether Jiang Donghua's Dou Wang realm or Qin Xiao's powerful thunder-and-fire attacks would prevail in a future fight.
• Jiang Donghua's rise to third place and strength made Donghua Pavilion and its new students safe from other factions.
• Lei Lie escorted Jiang Donghua away from the arena and invited him to celebrate with roasted meat and strong liquor.

Lei Lie brought Jiang Donghua to the Medicine Spirit Pavilion, where Jiang learned that its chef, Mu Chen, was a former top-five Strong Ranking fighter who served medicinal dishes and spirit wines. Mu Chen welcomed Jiang after hearing he had taken third place on the Strong Ranking and offered to treat him to a meal.

• Lei Lie brought Jiang Donghua to the Medicine Spirit Pavilion, where the guard let them enter after Mu Chen arranged a table in Bamboo Rhyme Pavilion.
• Jiang Donghua sensed the pavilion's rich medicinal fragrance and detected the fresh blood scent of a high-level magical beast.
• Lei Lie told Jiang Donghua that Mu Chen had once been a top-five Strong Ranking fighter and had developed cultivation-enhancing medicinal dishes and spirit wines.
• Jiang Donghua examined the pavilion's medicinal plants while Lei Lie waited with him in Bamboo Rhyme Pavilion.
• Mu Chen entered, recognized Lei Lie, and learned from him that Jiang Donghua had reached third place on the Strong Ranking.
• Mu Chen respectfully welcomed Jiang Donghua and offered to pay for their meal.

Jiang Donghua learned that Mu Chen suffered from a mysterious hidden injury that had resisted treatment by renowned alchemists and steadily eroded his cultivation. Intrigued by the rare ailment, Jiang Donghua began considering its possible causes.

• After Mu Chen left to arrange the meal, Jiang Donghua asked Lei Lie about the weakness he had sensed in Mu Chen.
• Lei Lie said Mu Chen had a deep hidden injury and that numerous Inner Academy elders and high-grade alchemists had failed to cure it.
• Lei Lie explained that Mu Chen had once been a formidable talent, but returned from a mission or training mishap with declining cultivation and withdrew from the Strong Ranking.
• Lei Lie said Mu Chen’s strength now hovered around Six-star Dou Ling after once falling nearly one star every half year.
• Jiang Donghua considered possible causes, including poison, a forbidden technique, a harmful substance, or a parasitic energy entity, and became eager to investigate.

Mu Chen served Jiang Donghua and Lei Lie his medicinal dish, Blazing Flame Stewed Mountain Delicacy, impressing them with its flavor and ability to temper Fire-attribute Battle Qi. Jiang Donghua praised Mu Chen’s skill but noted that his Wood-attribute Battle Qi prevented him from meeting the requirements to become an alchemist.

• Mu Chen entered the private room with Blazing Flame Stewed Mountain Delicacy and explained its ingredients and preparation.
• Jiang Donghua tasted the dish and found that its gentle energy could slightly temper and purify Fire-attribute Battle Qi.
• Lei Lie devoured his entire plate and enthusiastically praised Mu Chen’s cooking.
• Jiang Donghua admired Mu Chen’s medicinal-cuisine technique and said his Wood-attribute Battle Qi kept him from becoming an alchemist.

Jiang Donghua learned that Mu Chen was suffering from a curse rooted in his bloodline and soul, and offered to try to help in exchange for free meals at the Medicine Spirit Pavilion. Mu Chen led him to a secret room to explain the matter further, leaving Jiang Donghua facing the mystery of the curse.

• Lei Lie revealed that Jiang Donghua was a Fourth-grade Alchemy Master, prompting Mu Chen to examine him with sudden hope.
• Jiang Donghua offered to investigate Mu Chen’s condition in exchange for meals without Fire Energy, and Mu Chen accepted.
• Mu Chen stopped Lei Lie from leaving and invited Jiang Donghua to speak privately in his secret room.
• Mu Chen explained that Ye Tianxing had identified the affliction as Curse Power entangled with his bloodline and soul.
• Mu Chen said he had endured the curse for five years, relying on medicinal herbs and meals to suppress it as his cultivation and life force declined.
• Mu Chen opened the secret room and invited Jiang Donghua inside.

Mu Chen showed Jiang Donghua the curse consuming his vitality and recounted how a Spiritual Realm Soul had afflicted him five years earlier. Jiang Donghua recognized the curse’s terrifying origin but was left facing a problem beyond ordinary pills and alchemy.

• Mu Chen revealed a dark, living mark on his chest that devoured the secret room’s medicinal energy and vitality.
• Mu Chen explained that he had acquired the mark while investigating ancient ruins near the Black Corner Region five years earlier.
• Mu Chen recounted how a violent soul body killed dozens of Dou Wang experts and grievously wounded a Dou Huang before the gathered experts destroyed it.
• Mu Chen said the soul body’s final shriek sent cursed fragments into nearby people, and one struck him.
• Jiang Donghua concluded that the soul body had possessed a Spiritual Realm Soul and that its curse attacked the soul’s origin, making Mu Chen’s condition far worse than he had expected.

Jiang Donghua analyzed the black Curse Mark inside Mu Chen and warned that it might be a soul-devouring curse or a parasitic soul seed. After Mu Chen revealed that other Alchemy Masters had only made guesses rather than examine the curse directly, Jiang Donghua appeared eager to investigate its core himself.

• Jiang Donghua considered several possible purposes for the soul fragments implanted in Mu Chen and concluded that the curse was unlike any case he knew.
• Jiang Donghua told Mu Chen the mark might drain his life and soul as revenge, incubate a soul fragment, or be a hybrid curse tied to the ruin.
• Mu Chen said other Fifth-grade and Sixth-grade Alchemy Masters had been unable to remove the mark and feared that investigating it would expose them to its Curse Power.
• Mu Chen realized Jiang Donghua seemed intent on sending his own Soul Force into the curse to investigate its core.

Jiang Donghua used a protected strand of Soul Power to investigate the black mark on Mu Chen's chest, hoping to uncover the curse's nature and weakness. The mark swallowed the strand, but Jiang Donghua discovered what seemed to be fragments of an ancient, ruined memory.

• Jiang Donghua noticed a strange resonance in Mu Chen's black mark and decided to investigate it despite Mu Chen's warnings.
• Jiang Donghua explained that the Soul Severing Ruler could protect his soul by severing the probing strand if it faced danger.
• Mu Chen overcame his fear, knelt before Jiang Donghua, and pledged his life to him in gratitude.
• Jiang Donghua sent a tiny strand of Soul Power toward the mark, which abruptly sucked it into a dark, oppressive space.
• Jiang Donghua cautiously explored the darkness and found vague fragments that seemed like memories of ancient ruins.

Jiang Donghua entered the Curse Mark’s dark space and discovered the Old Monster Remnant Soul at its core. The remnant’s attacks unexpectedly nourished and strengthened Jiang Donghua’s Soul Force, leaving him eager to understand the strange connection.

• Mu Chen sensed the dormant Curse Mark become active as Jiang Donghua worked to investigate it.
• Jiang Donghua found the Old Monster Remnant Soul floating motionless in the curse space and watched it before cautiously approaching.
• The remnant awakened and attacked Jiang Donghua, but its soul impact transformed into nourishing energy when it touched his Soul Force.
• Jiang Donghua approached the Soul Body again and confirmed that its repeated attacks made his Soul Force stronger and more solid.

Jiang Donghua repeatedly provoked the Old Monster Remnant Soul and absorbed its attacks, weakening the curse on Mu Chen and strengthening his own Soul Force. Mu Chen’s cultivation surged to late Eight-star Dou Ling, while Jiang Donghua kept tormenting the nearly depleted remnant soul for more nourishment.

• Jiang Donghua repeatedly drew out the Old Monster Remnant Soul’s spiritual attacks and absorbed them into his Soul Force.
• Mu Chen felt the black Curse Mark weaken and his battle qi return, breaking through to Seven-Star Battle Spirit.
• The Old Monster Remnant Soul grew thinner and weaker as Jiang Donghua absorbed its energy.
• Mu Chen’s cultivation rapidly climbed through Seven-Star and into late Eight-star Dou Ling.
• Jiang Donghua, dissatisfied with the remnant soul’s dwindling energy, poked and provoked it into releasing another attack, which he absorbed.

Jiang Donghua survived Venerate Huanhai’s remnant soul self-destruction and received fragments of the legendary alchemist’s knowledge and memories. Mu Chen’s spreading curse mark receded, while Jiang Donghua was left with a vast inheritance to absorb.

• The Old Monster Remnant Soul self-destructed, shattering the dark space and making Mu Chen’s Curse Mark spread painfully across his body.
• Venerate Huanhai revealed that he had been an Eighth-grade Alchemist and Eighth Star Dou Zun from Sound Valley, hunted by Soul Hall for an item he had obtained.
• Venerate Huanhai explained that he had left a Soul-Eating Curse Seal and a final recording in the ruins, but did not ask Jiang Donghua to avenge him.
• Venerate Huanhai’s recording dissolved into rings of light that flowed into Jiang Donghua and flooded his mind with fragments of alchemy, cultivation, and life experience.
• Mu Chen’s black curse patterns receded and disappeared as Jiang Donghua received Venerate Huanhai’s legacy.

The last remnants of Venerate Huanhai’s power triggered alarms across the Inner Academy, while Jiang Donghua and Mu Chen absorbed the energy in the secret room. Elder Qian, Elder Wu, and Ye Tianxing searched for an imagined Dou Zun intruder as the two cultivators struggled to survive the energy surging through their bodies.

• Venerate Huanhai’s residual Soul Force burst through the secret room’s barriers and briefly spread across the Inner Academy.
• Elder Qian and Elder Wu awoke from seclusion, sensed a powerful Dou Zun aura, and rushed toward its source.
• Ye Tianxing flew above the Inner Academy and called out respectfully to the supposed senior, but received no answer.
• Jiang Donghua absorbed Venerate Huanhai’s Soul Force while struggling to refine it before his soul consciousness reached its limit.
• Mu Chen regained his stored Dou Qi along with some of Venerate Huanhai’s energy, causing his cultivation to surge as his meridians neared rupture.

Ye Tianxing, Elder Qian, and Elder Wu failed to find the source of a terrifying soul fluctuation and warned the hidden presence to leave Jia Nan Academy alone. In the secret room, Jiang Donghua discovered a soul-refinement incantation that let him control and absorb the energy, while Mu Chen endured the energy’s physical torment and grew stronger.

• Ye Tianxing, Elder Qian, and Elder Wu searched the Inner Academy for the vanished Dou Zun-level soul fluctuation but could not locate its source.
• Ye Tianxing warned the hidden senior that Jia Nan Academy was protected by Mang Tianchi and demanded that they stop disturbing the students.
• Jiang Donghua saw Mu Chen suffering from the energy and drew strength from realizing that Mu Chen appeared to be in even worse pain.
• Jiang Donghua recalled Venerate Huanhai’s soul-refinement technique and used its incantation to guide, purify, and absorb the external Soul Force.
• Mu Chen’s Wood-attribute Battle Qi repeatedly repaired his damaged body as he absorbed energy and steadily regained strength.
• The violent fluctuations in the secret room subsided as Jiang Donghua and Mu Chen continued their cultivation.

After more than ten days of treatment and cultivation in the secret chamber, Jiang Donghua awoke having absorbed Venerate Huanhai’s soul origin and alchemy knowledge. He stopped just short of reaching the Spiritual Realm and vowed to seek justice for Venerate Huanhai and protect Sound Valley if he gained the strength.

• Lei Lie worried outside the private room, then convinced himself that the silent treatment was likely succeeding and resolved to follow Jiang Donghua.
• More than ten days passed as Jiang Donghua and the other figure recovered from the dangerous refinement and stabilized their cultivation.
• Jiang Donghua awoke with his Soul Force at the peak of Great Perfection of Mortal Realm, just shy of the Spiritual Realm.
• Jiang Donghua gained Venerate Huanhai’s incomplete alchemy experience, pill formulas, and memories.
• Jiang Donghua vowed to seek justice against Soul Hall and watch over Sound Valley if he became strong enough.

Mu Chen completed his breakthrough and awakened as a powerful Dou Zong after tempering the energy within him. As he thanked Jiang Donghua, Ye Tianxing rushed to Medicine Spirit Pavilion to investigate the unfamiliar aura.

• Jiang Donghua observed Mu Chen repeatedly compressing and releasing his Dou Qi to refine it and stabilize his foundation.
• Mu Chen’s breakthrough fluctuations gradually settled as his aura strengthened over several days.
• A powerful, unfamiliar Dou Zong aura spread across the Inner Academy, prompting Ye Tianxing to investigate its source at Medicine Spirit Pavilion.
• Mu Chen awoke with the strength of at least a three-star Dou Zong and laughed with joy at his transformation.
• Mu Chen tried to kneel in gratitude, but Jiang Donghua stopped him with Soul Force.
• Mu Chen discovered he could walk through the air and marveled at his new power.