Chapter Summaries

Xiao Hongchen presented Shrek’s leaders with Soul Tool applications for healing, emergency treatment, and possible limb reattachment, challenging their confidence in traditional healing methods. The exchange ended with the delegation leaving unsettled by the Sun Moon Empire’s broad technological challenge and Shrek’s need to respond.

• Dean Yan urged caution as the discussion turned to medical treatment, and Qian Duoduo and Xian Lin'er praised Healing System Soul Masters and traditional healing methods.
• Xiao Hongchen asked how ordinary people and low-ranked Soul Masters without access to healers could survive severe injuries or poison.
• Xiao Hongchen displayed a Life-Healing Soul Guider and Soul Power Guiding Silver Needles, then showed research into limb reattachment and functional prosthetic organs.
• Huo Yuhao recalled his experiences in the Extreme North, while Yan Shaozhe recognized the research as an exploration of life itself.
• Xiao Hongchen put away the research document, and the Soul Tool exchange ended with the Shrek delegation leaving confused and urgently aware of the Sun Moon Empire’s comprehensive challenge.

Sword Pavilion spent a day exploring Shrek City and sharing a friendly tea gathering with Huo Yuhao and the Shrek Seven Monsters Reserve Team. Ji Juechen left with a deeper understanding of the ordinary lives their struggles were meant to protect, while the two groups parted on warmer terms.

• Ji Juechen watched Sea God Lake and reflected on Mu En's guidance, while the other members of Sword Pavilion explored Shrek City in their own ways.
• Sword Pavilion gathered at a teahouse, where its members shared impressions of the city and its people.
• Huo Yuhao, Beibei, and the Shrek Seven Monsters Reserve Team arrived, and the two groups joined their tables for tea and conversation.
• The young Soul Masters exchanged friendly boasts and opinions, easing some of the tension between their groups.
• The groups said farewell at sunset, and Ji Juechen looked back at Shrek City's lights with a renewed sense of what his sword protected.

At Shrek’s treasure appreciation gathering, Ji Juechen discussed the meaning of Martial Souls with Xuan Zi and chose Calming Heart Iron to steady his sword heart. The gathering ended with both groups exchanging resources, ideas, and friendship.

• Shrek Academy invited the Sword Pavilion members to an Inner Court treasure appreciation gathering, where they examined rare materials and chose items suited to their needs.
• Xuan Zi asked Ji Juechen what a Martial Soul meant and urged him to consider whether his Annihilation was more than a tool for cutting things away.
• Ji Juechen spent his plentiful points on Calming Heart Iron, explaining to Huo Yuhao that a sword heart needed to be still.
• Beibei and Jing Ziyan held a friendly spar that ended in a draw and strengthened their friendship.
• The gathering ended harmoniously, with both groups gaining resources and a deeper understanding of each other.

Wang Qiuer challenged Ji Juechen beside Sea God Lake, and her overwhelming strength and fortune broke through his Silence Domain and defeated him. After she left, Ji Juechen accepted the defeat as a glimpse of the limits of Annihilation and resolved to grow stronger.

• Wang Qiuer appeared at the lakeshore and challenged Ji Juechen, recognizing the power of severance in his sword.
• Wang Qiuer’s Golden Dragon Spear broke through Ji Juechen’s Silence Domain, and their first clash sent him crashing through trees.
• Ji Juechen attacked with Annihilation and Trajectory Severance, but Wang Qiuer’s power and speed overcame each technique.
• Wang Qiuer struck with Sweeping the Thousand Armies, shattered Ji Juechen’s defense, and sent him into Sea God Lake.
• Wang Qiuer told Ji Juechen to seek her out when he became stronger, then left as he recovered and resolved to advance beyond his current limits.

After his defeat by Wang Qiuer, Ji Juechen sought Dean Yan Shaozhe’s guidance on martial souls and domains. Yan Shaozhe’s demonstration helped Ji Juechen see new possibilities for Annihilation, and Ji left with a clearer path toward transforming his domain.

• Ji Juechen asked Yan Shaozhe to explain the meaning of martial souls and how to advance along the path of domains.
• Yan Shaozhe showed Ji Juechen how his radiant domain could embrace and guide another domain rather than suppress it.
• Yan Shaozhe urged Ji Juechen to let Annihilation encompass more than severing, including protection and renewal.
• Ji Juechen adapted a Soul Engineer’s approach and restructured his domain into functions for defense, concealment, interference, and attack.
• Yan Shaozhe praised Ji Juechen’s insight, and Ji returned home resolved to develop his Annihilation domain further.

Ji Juechen tested the insights he had gained from Yan Shaozhe in a private battle outside Sea God's Pavilion. Though Yan Shaozhe overwhelmed him with the Kingdom of Light, Ji Juechen briefly split the domain and emerged with a clearer path for his own power.

• At Ji Juechen's request, Yan Shaozhe held another instructional battle outside Sea God's Pavilion, watched by Xuan Zi, Huo Yuhao, and several Core Disciples.
• Ji Juechen used his domain to form a Veil of Silence, conceal himself, and create a concentrated Wall of Absolute Silence that blocked most of Yan Shaozhe's light strike.
• Yan Shaozhe unleashed his Kingdom of Light, which dispelled Ji Juechen's concealment and suppressed his Soul Power and domain.
• Ji Juechen poured his strength and understanding of rebirth into his Annihilation sword intent and cut a brief rift through the Kingdom of Light before collapsing from exhaustion.
• Yan Shaozhe praised Ji Juechen's Silent Fire Rebirth, and Ji Juechen thanked him, convinced that his sword path and domain had found a new future.

After the Seven Heroes of Sword Pavilion departed Shrek, Shrek's leaders assessed the Sun Moon Empire's advantages and ordered sweeping reforms and tournament preparations. Both sides began intensive training and research, leaving the story poised for their coming clash at the tournament.

• The Seven Heroes of Sword Pavilion left Shrek City, and Yan Shaozhe called the Shrek leaders and reserve team back to Sea God's Pavilion.
• Qian Duoduo, Xian Lin'er, Yan Shaozhe, and Huo Yuhao assessed the Sun Moon Empire's Soul Tool technology and Sword Pavilion's strengths.
• Mu En ordered the Soul Tool Department to absorb the Sun Moon Empire's advances and directed Xuan Zi to intensify combat training for Inner Court disciples.
• Shrek expanded Soul Tool research and arranged simulated cultivation for Huo Yuhao and the other Core Disciples.
• Jing Hongchen ordered Sword Pavilion to begin its highest-intensity preparations as Ji Juechen, Xiao Hongchen, and the others focused on cultivation, research, and teamwork.

As the Second Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament approached in Maple Leaf City, Ji Juechen, Huo Yuhao, Wang Qiuer, Long Aotian, and their teams arrived stronger than before. The Holy Spirit Cult prepared to strike, and the chapter ended with the tournament set to begin the next day.

• Maple Leaf City filled with tournament teams, and Long Aotian sized up Ji Juechen from across the city.
• Ji Juechen arrived with the Sword Pavilion, whose members had strengthened their abilities over the past year.
• Huo Yuhao and the Tang Sect team assessed their rivals, while Wang Qiuer prepared for the competition.
• Holy Spirit Cult figures in the lower district waited for a signal to begin harvesting souls.
• As night fell, Ji Juechen sensed the city's murderous tension, Huo Yuhao made final tactical deductions, and the major teams prepared for the tournament to begin tomorrow.

The Second Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament opened at the Mingdu Great Soul Arena, where Xu Tianran declared that Soul Tools would face no restrictions. After the draw placed the competing teams into groups, Ji Juechen and Huo Yuhao crossed paths in the corridor, setting the stage for a contest on the Sun Moon Empire’s terms.

• Xu Tianran and Ju Zi presided over the opening ceremony as delegations from across the continent gathered in Mingdu.
• Jing Hongchen led the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy and the Seven Heroes of Sword Pavilion onto the stage to cheers from the home crowd.
• Xu Tianran announced that the tournament would place no restrictions on Soul Tool use, and Yan Shaozhe said Shrek Academy would follow the rules.
• The draw assigned Shrek Academy to Group C, the Tang Sect to Group E, the Body Sect to Group B, and the Holy Spirit Sect to Group H.
• Huo Yuhao spoke with Ji Juechen in a corridor after the ceremony, and Ji Juechen declared that his sword would cut through the rules.

The Tang Sect dismantled the Heavenly Armor Sect’s formation through Huo Yuhao’s precise coordination, while Wang Qiuer crushed a Dou Ling Empire team alone with overwhelming strength. Her challenge to Ji Juechen heightened the tournament’s tension as suspicious laughter from the Holy Spirit Sect drew Ye Guyi’s attention.

• Huo Yuhao guided the Tang Sect team as they exploited weak points in the Heavenly Armor Sect’s defense and forced its captain to concede.
• Jing Hongchen recognized the efficiency of Huo Yuhao’s tactics, while Yan Shaozhe watched the Tang Sect’s victory with satisfaction.
• Wang Qiuer defeated the seven-member Dou Ling Empire team in under ten seconds using her Golden Dragon Spear and then challenged Ji Juechen with her gaze.
• Ji Juechen opened his eyes and tightened his grip on his Iron Sword as he met Wang Qiuer’s fighting spirit.
• Ye Guyi sensed sinister laughter from the Holy Spirit Sect and turned toward its black-robed members with her hand on her sword.

The Body Sect defeated Heavenly Dragon Gate in a display of terrifying bodily control, drawing the attention of the tournament’s factions. That night, Huo Yuhao and Ye Guyi discovered Holy Spirit Sect members plotting to take talented Soul Masters for a ritual, but the conspiracy remained undisturbed.

• Long Aotian and the Body Sect defeated all seven Heavenly Dragon Gate members in under two minutes using their bodies to disrupt and overpower their opponents.
• Long Aotian and Ji Juechen recognized each other as potential rivals, while Jing Hongchen and Yan Shaozhe worried about the Body Sect’s strength.
• Huo Yuhao searched Maple Leaf City for Evil Soul Masters and found two Holy Spirit Sect members discussing high-quality specimens for a ritual requiring blood essence and souls.
• Ye Guyi arrived in the alley, and Huo Yuhao signaled her not to expose them; she withdrew without confronting the Holy Spirit Sect members.
• Huo Yuhao memorized the Evil Soul Masters’ auras and vanished, leaving their conspiracy undiscovered.

Sword Pavilion and the Body Sect began their quarterfinal match, with Xiao Hongchen, Jing Ziyan, and Nana’s coordinated Soul Tool assault challenged by Long Aotian’s formation and perception. Ji Juechen erased Long Aotian’s powerful attack with his Annihilation domain, and both teams prepared to fight in earnest.

• Long Aotian challenged Ji Juechen before the teams entered the arena and the referee began the match.
• Xiao Hongchen launched a layered Metal Storm while Jing Ziyan sent Purple Smoke Chains at the Body Sect’s formation.
• Long Aotian and his teammates blocked or disrupted the attacks, and Long Aotian used Unity of Heaven and Man to expose Nana’s ambush.
• The Body Sect’s sonic attack forced Nana out of concealment and injured her, while Long Aotian awakened his Silver-grade power and attacked Ji Juechen.
• Ji Juechen used Annihilation to make Long Aotian’s air blade disappear, and Long Aotian declared that the warm-up was over.

Sword Pavilion and the Body Sect fought a fierce quarterfinal as Ji Juechen’s Annihilation sword and Ye Guyi’s Sacred Domain turned the tide against Long Aotian’s coordinated assault. Ji Juechen seriously wounded Long Aotian, but Long Aotian rose and revealed that the battle was not over.

• Long Aotian transformed with his fourth soul skill, Mad God Slash, while the Body Sect attacked Sword Pavilion from multiple directions.
• Ji Juechen evaded Long Aotian’s battle axe and searched for the moment when its momentum faltered as his teammates struggled to defend themselves.
• Ye Guyi unleashed her Sacred Domain and Sword of Purification, dispelling the Mental Pierce attacks and severely wounding the Body Sect member who had launched them.
• Ji Juechen used Absolute Silence: Soul Sever to disrupt Long Aotian’s power and inflict a serious chest wound, forcing him out of his Mad God Slash form.
• Long Aotian stopped his bleeding and awakened a stronger, more ancient aura, declaring that the warm-up was over.

Ji Juechen and Long Aotian unleashed their ultimate attacks, and Ji Juechen’s Annihilation strike redirected Long Aotian’s assault before both fighters collapsed. Long Aotian conceded, giving Sword Pavilion the victory, while members of the Holy Spirit Sect secretly marked Ji Juechen and Ye Guyi as sacrifices for their ritual.

• Ye Guyi, Nana, Jing Ziyan, Xiao Hongchen, and Jing Yu fought together against the Body Sect, with Ye Guyi repeatedly protecting her injured companions.
• Long Aotian activated his Martial Soul Avatar and unleashed Heaven and Earth Transformation at Ji Juechen.
• Ji Juechen used Annihilation: Void Attraction to alter Long Aotian’s attack, but his sword shattered and he collapsed unconscious as Long Aotian fell heavily injured.
• Long Aotian conceded, and the referee announced Sword Pavilion’s victory as its members guarded and carried away Ji Juechen.
• Holy Spirit Sect observers watched Ji Juechen and Ye Guyi leave, calling their souls and vital blood ideal sacrifices for the god of death.

The factions assessed the cost and significance of Sword Pavilion’s narrow victory over the Body Sect as Ji Juechen and Long Aotian began recovering from their injuries. After the tournament resumed, Huo Yuhao led the Tang Sect to a crushing win over Heavenly Dragon Gate, while the Holy Spirit Sect watched the rising contenders more openly.

• Jing Hongchen ordered the healers to spare no expense treating Ji Juechen, while Xiao Hongchen and the others reflected on their hard-won victory and grew closer as comrades.
• Long Aotian accepted his defeat by Ji Juechen and ordered the Body Sect to report the duel, calling Ji Juechen’s Annihilation Sword Dao a threat and a challenge.
• Huo Yuhao explained to the Shrek team that Ji Juechen had redirected Long Aotian’s attack by interfering with its connection to its target, and Wang Qiuer linked the feat to Annihilation’s power of nothingness.
• The tournament committee delayed the matches for two hours to replace the damaged arena, then resumed the competition with the Tang Sect facing Heavenly Dragon Gate.
• Huo Yuhao used the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion Torso Bone’s Wrath of the Ice Emperor to freeze and defeat Heavenly Dragon Gate’s captain with one punch.
• The Tang Sect’s victory intensified the tournament’s uncertainty as the Holy Spirit Sect scrutinized the leading teams more openly.

After Huo Yuhao’s Extreme Ice punch secured Tang Sect’s victory, rival factions reassessed him and the tournament’s tensions rose. The Holy Spirit Sect prepared a blood sacrifice for the quarter-finals, while Jing Yu sensed that a dark fate was closing in on Maple Leaf City.

• Jing Hongchen and the Sun Moon Empire’s envoy marked Huo Yuhao as a major threat, while Yan Shaozhe strengthened Shrek’s guard around Tang Sect.
• Representatives of the former three empires began discussing limited cooperation against the growing influence of Shrek and the Sun Moon Empire.
• Xiao Hongchen vowed to surpass Huo Yuhao with Soul Tools and began refining his weapons, while Ye Guyi sensed a worsening Evil Aura and Jing Yu foresaw black Threads of Destiny swallowing the city.
• Huo Yuhao warned his companions that revealing Extreme Ice might bring trouble, and Tang Sect’s members pledged to protect one another.
• Holy Spirit Sect’s Black Robes planned to use the tournament as a sacrificial stage and targeted the quarter-finals to summon the Grim Reaper.

The Tang Sect and Sword Pavilion began their team final, trading coordinated attacks as Ji Juechen’s Absolute Silence Domain disrupted Huo Yuhao’s battlefield vision and weakened Wang Qiuer’s power. The opening clash ended with Ji Juechen stopping Wang Qiuer’s charge, leaving Huo Yuhao searching for the domain’s limits as both teams prepared to reveal more of their strength.

• Huo Yuhao shared Spirit Detection with the Tang Sect, while Jing Ziyan spread Purple Smoke to interfere with it.
• Jiang Nannan broke through a Smoke node and Beibei pressured Nana, but Xiao Hongchen’s Metal Storm blocked their attacks as Ji Juechen’s Annihilation intent distorted Huo Yuhao’s detection.
• Nana attacked Xiao Xiao from concealment, but Xiao Xiao exposed her, Xu Sanshi switched places with Xiao Xiao to block the strike, and Ye Guyi stopped Beibei from pursuing Nana.
• He Caitou bombarded Sword Pavilion’s rear line, and Xiao Hongchen used rotating metal defenses to shield Ye Guyi and Jing Yu.
• Wang Qiuer charged Ji Juechen with her Golden Dragon Spear, but his Absolute Silence Domain weakened her power and halted her attack.
• Huo Yuhao studied Ji Juechen’s domain as the first exchange ended and the teams prepared for a fiercer clash.

Huo Yuhao and the Tang Sect found a weakness in Ji Juechen’s Absolute Silence Domain and disrupted it, but Ji Juechen answered with his ultimate sword strike, Return to the Void. The gray attack reached Huo Yuhao as it began erasing the power of his Ice Empress’s Claw, leaving him in mortal danger.

• Xiao Hongchen unleashed a barrage of transforming metal weapons while Jing Ziyan filled the attack with illusions, and Huo Yuhao directed the Tang Sect’s defense.
• Huo Yuhao pressured Ji Juechen with Wang Qiuer and identified a flaw in the domain, then told Wang Donger to strike it with Butterfly Goddess’s Light.
• Wang Donger’s light attack disrupted the domain, allowing Wang Qiuer and Huo Yuhao to charge Ji Juechen.
• Jing Yu warned Ji Juechen to shift left and target Huo Yuhao, and Ji Juechen followed her guidance to unleash Return to the Void.
• Ji Juechen’s gray sword line erased the Ice Empress’s Claw’s power and reached Huo Yuhao, leaving him unable to evade in time.

Wang Donger shielded Huo Yuhao from Ji Juechen’s Return to the Void, giving him time to counter it with Emperor Sword—Peerless Ice. As Wang Qiuer pressed Ji Juechen and the Tang Sect gained the upper hand, Jing Yu called for a desperate attack on Xiao Xiao, leaving the battle’s outcome uncertain.

• Wang Donger burned her power to form a barrier of light that blocked Ji Juechen’s Return to the Void long enough for Huo Yuhao to recover.
• Huo Yuhao unleashed Emperor Sword—Peerless Ice, and its extreme frost clashed with Ji Juechen’s annihilating sword line.
• Wang Qiuer wounded Ji Juechen and drove him back, weakening Sword Pavilion’s formation as the Tang Sect fighters suppressed their opponents.
• Jing Yu foresaw a chance and urged Xiao Hongchen and Jing Ziyan to abandon defense and attack Xiao Xiao.
• Xiao Hongchen and Jing Ziyan combined an overloaded cannon blast and a poisonous ray against Xiao Xiao, leaving the final outcome undecided.

The Tang Sect and Sword Pavilion’s championship battle ended in mutual devastation after Ji Juechen gravely wounded Huo Yuhao with his final sword. Before the referee could announce a result, Zhong Liwu and the Holy Spirit Cult trapped Maple Leaf City’s Great Soul Arena in a sacrificial formation, turning the fight for the championship into a struggle for survival.

• Xiao Hongchen and Jing Ziyan launched a desperate attack on Xiao Xiao, and Huo Yuhao, Xu Sanshi, and Wang Donger protected her at the cost of severe injuries.
• Ji Juechen seized Huo Yuhao’s opening and pierced him beneath the shoulder with his final sword, leaving both fighters gravely wounded and nearly all the competitors unable to continue.
• As the referee prepared to assess the battered teams, a crushing pressure froze everyone in Maple Leaf City’s Great Soul Arena.
• Zhong Liwu and several powerful Holy Spirit Cult members appeared above the arena and declared that everyone present would be sacrificed to summon the God of Death.
• A cursed formation surrounded the arena and sealed Maple Leaf City, leaving the injured competitors trapped as the Holy Spirit Cult’s conspiracy began.