Chapter Summaries

Huangfu Ji and Liu Erlong fought, and their Martial Souls briefly resonated during a clash. Back at the dormitory, Huangfu Ji suspected their shared status as Martial Soul mutations caused it, while Zhao Yuan mistook his pondering for romantic worries about Liu Erlong.

• Huangfu Ji and Liu Erlong exchanged blows, with Liu Erlong gaining the upper hand while Huangfu Ji used his Dragon Wings to evade her attacks.
• Huangfu Ji descended and fought Liu Erlong on the ground, using his technique to neutralize her fierce attacks.
• Huangfu Ji and Liu Erlong felt an unusual resonance between their Martial Souls during a clash and stopped fighting to ponder it.
• Huangfu Ji returned to the dormitory and suspected their Martial Souls resonated because both were mutations.
• Zhao Yuan guessed Huangfu Ji had confessed to Liu Erlong and urged him to pursue her, but Huangfu Ji denied that they were anything more than friends and classmates.

Huangfu Ji and Liu Erlong finished the Junior Soul Master Academy’s lessons early and received permission to skip class, while Zhao Yuan was forced to keep attending. When the vacation began, Huangfu Ji stayed behind in Qingyang City, and Liu Erlong’s mother grew worried after learning her daughter had befriended Grand Duke Qingyang.

• Huangfu Ji and Liu Erlong completed the academy’s curriculum and received Cheng Yao’s permission to stop attending classes, but they were forbidden from leaving the academy.
• Zhao Yuan asked to skip class so he could protect Huangfu Ji, but Cheng Yao refused and Zhao Gu beat him in the Dean’s office.
• When vacation began, Zhao Yuan invited Huangfu Ji to his home, but Huangfu Ji stayed at the academy because he could not leave Qingyang City.
• Liu Erlong invited Huangfu Ji to spend the holiday at her home, but he declined, and she promised to bring him her mother’s cake when school resumed.
• Liu Erlong told her mother about her friendship with Huangfu Ji, and Mother Liu worried that her daughter could be caught up in the dangers surrounding the Grand Duke.

Liu Erlong refused her father Yu Luomian’s offer to return to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, choosing to stay with her mother and friends. That night, an unknown assassin shot at Huangfu Ji, who narrowly escaped before the attacker vanished.

• Mother Liu told Liu Erlong that Yu Luomian wanted to bring her to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan for training, but Liu Erlong refused to go without her mother.
• Liu Erlong reaffirmed her decision to stay with Mother Liu and her friends, then spoke to her mother about Huangfu Ji.
• Huangfu Ji spent the night alone in the academy while Cheng Yao stayed nearby to protect him.
• An intruder slipped into the academy, aimed an ink-black bow at Huangfu Ji, and fired an arrow through his window.
• Huangfu Ji dodged the arrow, and Cheng Yao spotted the attacker, who escaped through a spatial vortex.
• Cheng Yao rushed to Huangfu Ji’s dormitory and confirmed that he was unharmed.

After surviving an assassination attempt arranged by Yuan Hao, Huangfu Ji avoided provoking him while the city’s investigation failed to find the assassin. When school resumed, Liu Erlong brought him the cake her mother had made, and he eagerly tasted it.

• Cheng Yao found Huangfu Ji shaken but unharmed, and Huangfu Ji refused to retaliate or investigate Yuan Hao while he lacked the power to challenge him.
• Yuan Hao rebuked the failed assassin and ordered a public investigation after news of the attack spread, while Liu Erlong worried outside the sealed city.
• The army searched Qingyang City for three days without finding the assassin, and the Empire later censured Yuan Hao without imposing a substantial punishment.
• Huangfu Ji continued cultivating, reaching Soul Power Level seventeen, while Cheng Yao failed to find high-quality Whale Rubber.
• When school resumed, Liu Erlong brought Huangfu Ji the cake her mother had made, and he took a bite with delight.

Huangfu Ji and Liu Erlong spent five years studying Martial Soul Fusion Skills and finally created one that transformed them into a powerful golden-and-crimson dragon. They left the training field exhausted but convinced that their new skill could defeat many opponents quickly.

• Huangfu Ji praised the cake Liu Erlong and her mother had made and promised to send medicine to help her mother's health.
• Huangfu Ji and Liu Erlong studied Martial Soul Fusion Skills together for five years, with Zhao Yuan occasionally helping them find what they needed.
• Huangfu Ji reached level thirty and Liu Erlong reached level twenty-seven as they prepared to test their fusion skill on the academy training field.
• Huangfu Ji and Liu Erlong fused into a giant dragon that unleashed golden flames and lightning and cut down trees with golden slashes.
• Huangfu Ji and Liu Erlong separated after nearly exhausting their Soul Power, and Liu Erlong said their skill could take on ten Soul Grand Masters.

Huangfu Ji and Liu Erlong developed and named their Martial Soul Fusion Skill Dragon Descends to the Nine Heavens as they prepared to leave their Junior Soul Master Academy. After graduating, Huangfu Ji asked Cheng Yao to help him leave the Qingyang Duchy and study at the Royal Academy in Heaven Dou City, but Cheng Yao worried the Empire might detain him.

• Huangfu Ji named the fusion skill he created with Liu Erlong Dragon Descends to the Nine Heavens, and Zhao Yuan praised its power.
• Liu Erlong argued that strength was necessary to reclaim Huangfu Ji's authority, while Zhao Yuan said both force and governance would matter.
• A teacher summoned Huangfu Ji to the Dean's Office, where Cheng Yao reflected on having protected him since childhood and said he would have to rely on himself after graduation.
• Huangfu Ji asked Cheng Yao to consult Uncle Wang about letting him leave the Qingyang Duchy and enroll at the Royal Academy in Heaven Dou City.
• Cheng Yao hesitated because he feared the Empire might detain Huangfu Ji.

Huangfu Ji planned to leave Qingyang and study at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, while Cheng Yao prepared to feign a defection to Yuan Hao and secretly build strength. The chapter ended with Huangfu Ji telling Zhao Yuan and Liu Erlong that leaving would help him return stronger.

• Huangfu Ji convinced Cheng Yao that studying in Heaven Dou City was safer than remaining in Qingyang, despite the danger Yuan Hao posed.
• Huangfu Ji instructed Cheng Yao to pretend to defect to Yuan Hao while secretly gathering strength for a future attack.
• Cheng Yao revealed that Yuan Hao owned a piece of Thousand-Year Whale Rubber, and Huangfu Ji told him to ask for it, confident Yuan Hao would hand it over.
• Huangfu Ji decided to attend the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, and Cheng Yao and the others were left to arrange his admission.
• Huangfu Ji told Zhao Yuan and Liu Erlong that he planned to study in Heaven Dou City to see more of the world and return stronger.

Huangfu Ji planned to leave the Qingyang Duchy to seek power, allies, and the resources of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, while Liu Erlong tried to go with him. He agreed to let her join him only after she realized her mother’s poor health made the journey impractical, and he urged her to grow stronger at home.

• Huangfu Ji told Liu Erlong he would leave the duchy and return within ten years, while planning to recruit powerful Soul Masters and overlooked civil and military talents.
• Liu Erlong insisted on accompanying Huangfu Ji, but he warned that his status and lack of power would put her in danger.
• Huangfu Ji agreed to take Liu Erlong after she argued that they should face danger together, then asked whether her ill mother could make the journey.
• Huangfu Ji urged Liu Erlong to stay and become stronger so she could support him in the future, and she bristled at the suggestion that she was weak.
• Liu Erlong compared her potential to Zhao Yuan’s, called him Zhao Xiaopang, and Zhao Yuan reluctantly accepted the nickname.

Yuan Hao granted Huangfu Ji's request for Thousand-Year Whale Rubber, while his advisors wrongly assumed it was for an aphrodisiac. Huangfu Ji explained that the rubber could strengthen the body and raise Soul Ring absorption limits, then summoned Liu Erlong to help soften it with her Fire Dragon Martial Soul.

• Yuan Hao and his advisors debated why twelve-year-old Huangfu Ji wanted Thousand-Year Whale Rubber, and Yuan Hao ordered it sent to him.
• Huangfu Ji inspected the whale rubber and asked Zhao Yuan to find someone with powerful flames to soften it.
• Zhao Yuan assumed Huangfu Ji wanted to use the rubber as an aphrodisiac, but Huangfu Ji explained its effects on the body and Soul Ring absorption limits.
• Huangfu Ji asked Zhao Yuan to bring Liu Erlong to his dormitory, where she mistook the whale rubber for a sign of his lecherous intentions.
• Huangfu Ji explained the whale rubber's effects to Liu Erlong, and she chose to trust him despite her shock.

Huangfu Ji consumed Thousand-Year Whale Rubber, enduring its intense effects in an ice-filled barrel as Liu Erlong worried outside and began questioning her feelings for him. After recovering, he planned to hunt a stronger Soul Beast for his third Soul Ring, and the next day he and Liu Erlong and Zhao Yuan left Qingyang City.

• Liu Erlong softened the Whale Rubber with her flames while Zhao Yuan prepared an ice-filled bath barrel for Huangfu Ji.
• Huangfu Ji ate the Whale Rubber, endured its heat in the ice barrel, and circulated his Soul Power until his body recovered by evening.
• Liu Erlong worried about Huangfu Ji and wondered whether she had fallen for him after Zhao Yuan teased her about her concern.
• Huangfu Ji decided to pursue a two-thousand-five-hundred-year Soul Beast for his third Soul Ring and asked Liu Erlong and Zhao Yuan to help.
• Huangfu Ji, Liu Erlong, and Zhao Yuan left Qingyang City the next day to hunt Soul Beasts after Yuan Hao approved their trip.

Huangfu Ji, Zhao Yuan, and Liu Erlong searched a wild Soul Beast Forest for a suitable Soul Beast for Huangfu Ji, but found none before nightfall. They camped in the forest, where Huangfu Ji kept watch and heard a sudden sound underground.

• Huangfu Ji, Zhao Yuan, and Liu Erlong entered the forest and searched for a suitable Soul Beast, avoiding one they encountered on the way.
• Zhao Yuan urged Liu Erlong to act delicate so Huangfu Ji would carry her, and Liu Erlong threatened to hang him from a tree.
• After searching until afternoon without finding a suitable Soul Beast, the three set up camp and spent the evening cultivating and eating by a bonfire.
• Huangfu Ji stayed up to keep watch while Zhao Yuan and Liu Erlong returned to their tents, then heard a sudden sound from underground.

Huangfu Ji, Liu Erlong, and Zhao Yuan fought a Spiked Earth Turtle that emerged beneath their camp, hoping it would be a suitable Soul Beast for Huangfu Ji. An unseen archer pierced Huangfu Ji’s wing, but Zhao Yuan’s defense let Huangfu Ji and Liu Erlong unleash their Martial Soul Fusion Skill and knock the turtle into a crater.

• Huangfu Ji sensed an underground Soul Beast approaching, and he, Liu Erlong, and Zhao Yuan prepared to fight it.
• A Spiked Earth Turtle burst from beneath the campfire, and Liu Erlong identified it as a Soul Beast at least two thousand five hundred years old.
• Liu Erlong and Huangfu Ji attacked the turtle while Zhao Yuan defended them, and their blows wounded it and broke several of its spikes.
• An arrow from the darkness pierced Huangfu Ji’s Dragon Wing, leaving him unable to dodge the turtle’s earth-yellow beam.
• Zhao Yuan blocked the beam with his Second Soul Skill, and Liu Erlong caught Huangfu Ji as he fell.
• Huangfu Ji and Liu Erlong activated Dragon Descends to the Nine Heavens, and the giant dragon burned and paralyzed the turtle before knocking it into a crater.

Huangfu Ji absorbed a nearly three-thousand-year Soul Ring and gained a powerful defensive third Soul Skill, while suspecting that a military officer had secretly attacked him. After the group left the forest, they discovered their horses had been stolen and decided to buy replacements in the nearest city.

• Liu Erlong beat the wounded Spiked Earth Turtle until it could no longer struggle, and Huangfu Ji killed it before absorbing its Soul Ring.
• Huangfu Ji successfully absorbed the two-thousand-nine-hundred-year Soul Ring, reached level thirty-one, and became a Soul Elder.
• Huangfu Ji revealed his third Soul Skill, Dragon Scale Armor, which removed negative conditions, increased his defense, and weakened attacks against him.
• Huangfu Ji realized that the attacker who had struck his Dragon Wings was likely the same person who had tried to assassinate him at the academy.
• Huangfu Ji, Liu Erlong, and Zhao Yuan left the forest after resting, then discovered their horses were gone and decided to buy replacements in the nearest city.

After returning to Qingyang City, Huangfu Ji learned that Emperor Xue Ye had ordered him to attend Heaven Dou Royal Academy, prompting Yuan Hao to plan his assassination once he left the Duchy. Huangfu Ji departed the next morning after exchanging gifts and promises with Liu Erlong.

• Zhao Yuan, Huangfu Ji, and their companions returned to Qingyang City after replacing their lost Heavenly Soul Horses with ordinary horses.
• Yuan Hao and his Advisors received Huangfu Ji's imperial admission notice and a decree granting Yuan Hao authority over Qingyang State, then decided to let Huangfu Ji leave and arrange a secret assassination beyond the Duchy's borders.
• Yuan Hao sent Huangfu Ji's admission notice to Cheng Yao, who gave it to Huangfu Ji when he returned to the Junior Soul Master Academy.
• Huangfu Ji told Zhao Yuan and Liu Erlong that he would leave the next day, and Liu Erlong withdrew after hearing the news.
• Liu Erlong gave Huangfu Ji a cake before his departure, and Huangfu Ji gave her a storage Soul Tool ring and urged her to seek Zhao Yuan if she faced trouble.
• Huangfu Ji rode away from the academy, while Liu Erlong put on the ring after Zhao Yuan reappeared.

Huangfu Ji was ambushed by masked Soul Masters sent by Yuan Hao while traveling toward the Empire. After killing one pursuer, he escaped the remaining seven and hid among a merchant caravan.

• Huangfu Ji left Qingyang Duchy alone and became vigilant as he entered territory governed by the Empire.
• Masked Soul Masters attacked Huangfu Ji at an inn during a storm, but he escaped on his Heavenly Soul Horse.
• The pursuers surrounded Huangfu Ji outside town, forcing him to flee through the night and hide in a cave.
• After leaving the forest, Huangfu Ji was ambushed in a valley, and the attackers killed his Heavenly Soul Horse.
• Huangfu Ji fought eight masked Soul Masters, killed one with his Sacred Martial Slash, then fled while wounded and low on Soul Power.
• Huangfu Ji reached a resting merchant caravan and blended into it to evade the seven remaining pursuers.

Huangfu Ji escaped his pursuers when Clear Sky Sect members intervened, and he met Tang Yuehua while traveling with their caravan. After reaching Baihe City, he grew friendlier with Yuehua, though her departure reminded him of Liu Erlong.

• Clear Sky Sect soul masters drove off the masked attackers who had pursued Huangfu Ji.
• Huangfu Ji introduced himself to Tang Yuehua, who recognized him as the Grand Duke of Qingyang Duchy.
• Tang Yuehua invited Huangfu Ji to travel with the caravan, and he accepted before continuing toward Heaven Dou City.
• Huangfu Ji told Tang Yuehua that he was leaving the duchy to study at Heaven Dou Royal Academy and escape Yuan Hao's surveillance.
• After the caravan reached Baihe City, Huangfu Ji cultivated at the inn and agreed to call Tang Yuehua Yuehua.
• As Tang Yuehua left his room, Huangfu Ji watched her go and thought of Liu Erlong.

After rain kept the caravan in Baihe City, Huangfu Ji and Tang Yuehua went out together to enjoy the city and its lotus scenery. They ended up at the Great Soul Arena, where a crowded life-and-death battle featuring Xing Hu was about to begin.

• Huangfu Ji left the inn for a walk after the rain stopped, and Tang Yuehua joined him while Clear Sky Sect members watched them suspiciously.
• Tang Yuehua bought a hairpin at a stall, where the owner mistook her and Huangfu Ji for a couple; both denied the misunderstanding.
• Huangfu Ji and Tang Yuehua found Lotus Lake too crowded to enjoy and left without viewing the flowers.
• Huangfu Ji invited Tang Yuehua to the Great Soul Arena, and they followed spectators to Xing Hu's life-and-death match.
• Huangfu Ji and Tang Yuehua reached the packed stands as Xing Hu's battle was about to begin.

Tang Yuehua and Huangfu Ji watched Xing Hu enter a life-and-death soul battle against Meng Jin, where the crowd favored Xing Hu after his fifteen straight victories. Xing Hu overpowered Meng Jin’s opening attack and leaped to bring his axe down, leaving the outcome unresolved.

• A spectator explained to Tang Yuehua that the Life-and-Death Zone featured duels to the death and offered larger betting payouts than the Match Zone.
• The host introduced level fifty-six Soul King Meng Jin and level fifty-four Soul King Xing Hu, whose fifteen consecutive victories had earned him the crowd’s support.
• Xing Hu stepped onto the platform, revealed his scarred body, and summoned his Mountain Splitting Axe and five Soul Rings.
• Huangfu Ji predicted Xing Hu would win, and the host began the battle.
• Meng Jin summoned his Crimson Flame Horse Martial Soul and launched two fireballs, but Xing Hu split them with his axe and leaped toward him with a two-handed overhead strike.

At the Great Soul Arena, Meng Jin tried to surrender from his life-and-death battle with Xing Hu, but Xing Hu killed him. Huangfu Ji helped the shaken Tang Yuehua leave, then decided he wanted Xing Hu.

• Meng Jin panicked when Xing Hu’s axe nearly struck him and begged to surrender, but the Great Soul Arena’s rules and spectators offered him no reprieve.
• Xing Hu activated his Fourth Soul Skill, broke through Meng Jin’s attack, and split him in two with the Mountain Splitting Axe.
• Tang Yuehua was horrified by Meng Jin’s death, so Huangfu Ji helped her leave the arena.
• Outside, Tang Yuehua vomited and later told Huangfu Ji she would endure such sights to strengthen herself.
• On the way back, Huangfu Ji thought about Xing Hu and realized he had taken a liking to him.

Huangfu Ji considered recruiting Xing Hu, and Tang Yuehua obtained a detailed dossier to help him. She suggested winning Xing Hu’s loyalty by curing his gravely ill mother.

• Huangfu Ji told Tang Yuehua that Xing Hu’s strength and potential made him worth recruiting.
• Tang Yuehua decided that building ties with Huangfu Ji could help the Clear Sky Sect improve its relations with Heaven Dou nobility and the imperial family.
• Tang Yuehua delayed their departure and brought Huangfu Ji a detailed dossier on Xing Hu, which the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had provided.
• Tang Yuehua told Huangfu Ji that many forces had failed to recruit Xing Hu, then explained that he was devoted to his elderly, seriously ill mother.
• Tang Yuehua advised Huangfu Ji to cure Xing Hu’s mother so Xing Hu would serve him out of gratitude.