Chapter Summaries

Zi Zhenzhu took Bo Saixi to the sealed Dragon Palace so she could see the truth about Poseidon, while Di Tian realized the Vague Man had captured Zi Ji and planned to seek help. Qin Chen visited the sleeping Zi Ji and woke her with a slap.

• Zi Zhenzhu agreed to take Bo Saixi to the Dragon Palace, but insisted that Bo Saixi come alone.
• Di Tian concluded that the Vague Man was the person who had abducted Zi Ji and decided to send someone to Heaven Dou City and report the matter to Master.
• Di Tian returned toward the Star Dou Forest, vowing to save Zi Ji.
• Qin Chen left the women sleeping in his suite and went to visit Zi Ji.
• Qin Chen slapped Zi Ji awake, and she sprang up in terror when she saw him.

Qin Chen told the imprisoned Zi Ji that Di Tian already knew where she was and challenged her to bet whether he would come to rescue her. Zi Ji accepted the wager, and Qin Chen lifted her Soul Power seal, leaving her free to contact Di Tian but still afraid to challenge Qin Chen.

• Zi Ji woke and angrily demanded that Qin Chen release her, threatening him with Di Tian’s wrath.
• Qin Chen explained that Di Tian had learned of her capture from footage shown on the Heavenly Curtain, but would not dare launch a beast tide to save her.
• Qin Chen offered to release Zi Ji if Di Tian came to rescue her that day, but demanded that she submit to him if she lost.
• Zi Ji rejected the stakes at first, then accepted after Qin Chen taunted her confidence in Di Tian.
• Qin Chen removed Zi Ji’s Soul Power seal, but the fear she felt in his presence stopped her from attacking him.

Zi Ji activated Di Tian’s Reverse Scale to summon him, but Di Tian chose to flee toward Star Dou Forest rather than face Qin Chen. After Qin Chen crushed her resistance, Zi Ji surrendered to him while continuing to send Di Tian her location.

• Zi Ji activated Di Tian’s Reverse Scale and told Qin Chen that Di Tian could sense her location and arrive immediately.
• Di Tian sensed Zi Ji’s summons but feared Qin Chen and turned back toward Star Dou Forest, resolving to seek help from his lord.
• Zi Ji waited for Di Tian to arrive, then realized he had received her message but was not coming.
• Qin Chen told Zi Ji that Di Tian had abandoned her and used his aura to pin her to the bed when she accused him of blocking the summon.
• Zi Ji accepted her defeat, knelt before Qin Chen, and followed his instructions while continuing to hold the glowing Reverse Scale.
• Qin Chen took Zi Ji to the sofa, and Di Tian never appeared despite the scale continuing to transmit her location.

Qin Chen kept Zi Ji under his control, and You joined him as the Heavenly Curtain revealed Dugu Yan as the fifteenth-ranked beauty. Dugu Yan rejoiced that her vanished beloved might see her name and return, while Dugu Bo feared others would come for her.

• Qin Chen persuaded the subdued Zi Ji to follow him, and she pledged herself to him while he considered abducting Bibi Ji as well.
• You left the Ice Empress and Snow Empress and joined Qin Chen and Zi Ji in his lounge.
• The Heavenly Curtain announced Dugu Yan's ranking, her vanished beloved, and rewards that included poison immunity and increased Soul Power and Soul Ring ages.
• Dugu Bo erupted in fury and worried that powerful people might try to take Dugu Yan away.
• Dugu Yan celebrated her ranking and hoped her beloved would see her name and return for her.

Dugu Yan’s appearance on the Peerless Beauty Ranking worried powerful figures who feared she might be targeted, while her grandfather accepted the risk of letting her pursue the person she loved. Ning Fengzhi then worried that Ning Rongrong might appear on the list without any connection to the Dark Night Arena Master, and Ice Empress recognized Dugu Yan as someone the Monarch had visited.

• Dugu Yan smiled at the Heavenly Curtain, and Dugu Bo decided to risk his life rather than take away her hope.
• Ning Fengzhi told Sword Douluo Chen Xin and Gu Rong that he feared Ning Rongrong might appear on the Ranking List without being connected to the Dark Night Arena Master.
• Ning Fengzhi considered sending Ning Rongrong to live at the Dark Night Arena and hoped Dugu Yan’s lover would prove to be the Arena Master.
• At Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Qin Ming lamented that Dugu Yan had not moved on, while Yu Tianheng angrily threatened the man he blamed for abandoning her.
• Ice Empress recognized Dugu Yan and told Snow Empress that the Monarch had often brought her along when visiting the girl.

The Ice Empress recalled how the Monarch had tricked a young girl into sparring with her, then went to investigate why he had called You over while Snow Empress waited for him. The Heavenly Curtain began Dugu Yan’s Memory Recall, showing her at Heaven Dou Royal Academy beside a veiled girl, as Qin Ming announced the academy would soon receive an Honorary Lecturer.

• The Ice Empress told Snow Empress how the Monarch had passed her off as his mutated Martial Soul and made her spar with a little girl.
• The Ice Empress teased Snow Empress about pursuing the Monarch, then left to find out why he had summoned You.
• The Heavenly Curtain activated Dugu Yan’s Memory Recall and showed her with the Heaven Dou Royal Academy team, alongside a black-clad girl whose face was concealed.
• Qin Ming and Yufeng suspected the veiled girl was Ye Lingling, while Yu Tianheng blamed the man who had driven Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling away from the team.
• Qin Ming told the students that Heaven Dou Royal Academy would soon welcome an Honorary Lecturer who could guide their cultivation.

Qin Ming told the Heaven Dou Royal Academy students that the Crown Prince had recommended an Honorary Lecturer, prompting speculation that he might be the Grandmaster behind the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul. Yu Xiaogang dismissed the unknown lecturer as a fraud, while the students in the Heavenly Curtain image waited beneath the sun without seeing anyone arrive.

• Qin Ming said he had never met the Honorary Lecturer, whose appointment the Crown Prince had strongly recommended.
• Yu Tianheng wondered if the lecturer was the Grandmaster who had proposed the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul, and Qin Ming admitted he knew nothing about the theory.
• Flender asked Yu Xiaogang if he had once been an Honorary Lecturer at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, but Yu Xiaogang mocked the idea and declared the lecturer a charlatan.
• Tang San praised Yu Xiaogang's theories and called the Honorary Lecturer a likely fraud, while Ma Hongjun and Oscar gossiped about Dugu Yan and another girl.
• The seven students in the Heavenly Curtain image stood beneath the blazing sun all morning without seeing anyone, and Dugu Yan began to lose patience.

After Qin Ming dismissed the team when Grandmaster failed to arrive, Yu Tianheng invited the others to eat together, but they found Ye Lingling with a black-robed youth. The youth asked Ye Lingling to treat him to a meal, and she unexpectedly agreed, leaving Dugu Yan and the team stunned.

• Qin Ming sent the team away to rest and went to confirm the training time with the Education Committee.
• Yu Tianheng invited the team to eat in Heaven Dou City, and they agreed to invite Ye Lingling as well.
• At the Trial Ground exit, the team saw a black-robed youth asking Ye Lingling to treat him to a meal.
• Dugu Yan pulled Ye Lingling behind her and angrily warned the youth to stay away from her.
• The youth teased Dugu Yan about being jealous, then ignored her and asked Ye Lingling whether she would go.
• Ye Lingling agreed to go, shocking Dugu Yan, Yu Tianheng, and the other team members.

A black-robed youth named Master Chen charmed Ye Lingling with a fortune-telling claim, then appeared the next day as the Royal Sky Battle Team’s new honorary lecturer. Dugu Yan and Yu Tianheng challenged his appointment, but Qin Ming silenced them.

• The black-robed youth took Ye Lingling to lunch, held her hand, and claimed he could read her fate.
• Ye Lingling told her teammates she believed the youth’s predictions, while Dugu Yan dismissed him as a swindler.
• The next day, Qin Ming introduced the youth as Master Chen, an honorary lecturer recommended by Crown Prince Hall.
• Dugu Yan and Yu Tianheng questioned Master Chen’s qualifications, and Qin Ming angrily rebuked the team until they fell silent.

At the Royal Sky Battle Team’s introduction, Master Chen dismissed most of the students’ talent and provoked Dugu Yan into challenging him. He accepted her challenge, leaving the team stunned as Dugu Yan released her Soul Power.

• Qin Ming apologized to Master Chen, then had the seven Royal Sky Battle Team members introduce themselves and their Martial Souls.
• After hearing the students’ levels, Master Chen praised Ye Lingling’s talent but criticized the rest of the team.
• Dugu Yan angrily demanded to know who Master Chen was, and he mocked her talent and called her an old woman.
• Dugu Yan challenged Master Chen to a duel, while Yu Tianheng and the others tried to pass it off as a spar.
• Master Chen accepted the challenge, and Dugu Yan stepped forward as jade-green Soul Power erupted from her body.

Dugu Yan challenged the black-robed youth, who revealed that he possessed a rare Mutated Beast Martial Soul released outside his body. As Yu Xiaogang reacted with jealousy from a carriage outside Heaven Dou City, the youth summoned a jade-green scorpion that seemed designed to provoke Dugu Yan.

• Dugu Yan transformed into her serpent form and confronted the black-robed youth, who teased her and claimed he was in his thirties with a Mutated Beast Martial Soul that could leave his body.
• Yu Tianheng confirmed that released Mutated Beast Martial Souls existed, recalling the powerless Luo Sanpao.
• Yu Xiaogang heard the exchange through the Heavenly Curtain and grew jealous when he learned the youth had a similar Martial Soul and a higher level than his own.
• The black-robed youth summoned the Jade Phosphorous Scorpion, angering Dugu Yan because its name echoed her Jade Phosphorous Serpent.
• A translucent jade-green scorpion appeared on the youth's arm, and its presence sent a bone-piercing chill through the Trial Ground.

Qin Chen presented Ice Empress as his Mutated Beast Martial Soul and had her face Dugu Yan in a one-on-one fight while he lounged nearby. After Ice Empress easily dodged and broke Dugu Yan’s poison arrow, Qin Chen abruptly called for a pause, leaving everyone wondering why.

• Qin Chen claimed his Martial Soul had absorbed his Soul Rings, and the Royal Sky Battle Team accepted his explanation.
• Qin Chen told Ice Empress to spar with Dugu Yan, then settled into a recliner and told her to go easy on her opponent.
• Dugu Yan attacked Ice Empress with her First Soul Skill, Jade Green Poison Arrow.
• Ice Empress dodged two poison arrows and snapped the third with her Silver-White Foreclaw, while Yu Tianheng and the others assumed she had been poisoned.
• Qin Chen suddenly called for a pause, confusing Dugu Yan, the spectators, and Ice Empress before his panicked expression vanished.

The black-robed youth proposed a wager with Dugu Yan, and Qin Ming rebuked her and Yu Tianheng for their double standards. Dugu Yan accepted the terms, and the duel resumed with her engulfing the Jade Green Scorpion in poison mist.

• The black-robed youth wagered that Dugu Yan would be his maid and hand-wash his clothes and socks for a month if she lost, while she demanded he leave the academy if she won.
• Yu Tianheng objected to the wager, but the black-robed youth called out his double standards, and Qin Ming scolded him and Dugu Yan for their harsh demand.
• Dugu Yan softened her demand, but the black-robed youth insisted on the wager, and she accepted the sock-washing condition.
• The duel resumed as the Ice Empress charged Dugu Yan, who dodged its pincers and unleashed her Third Soul Skill, Emerald Phosphorus Purple Poison.
• Dugu Yan’s poison mist spread across the Trial Ground and swallowed the Jade Green Scorpion.

Master Chen defeated Dugu Yan after Ice Empress proved immune to her poison and pinned her with its claws. Dugu Yan apologized, while Master Chen left her with a warning about her arrogance and the greater talents beyond her experience.

• Dugu Yan claimed her Emerald Phosphorus Purple Poison would kill Master Chen's scorpion, but he said Little Ice was immune to every poison.
• Ice Empress burst through the Poison Mist, pinned Dugu Yan by the neck, and secured Master Chen's victory.
• Dugu Yan's teammates tried to comfort her, while Qin Ming praised Master Chen's unusual Mutated Martial Soul.
• Dugu Yan apologized to Master Chen, who told her that greater people existed beyond the world she knew.

Qin Ming reprimanded Dugu Yan after her defeat, and she ran away in tears. In the present, the Ice Empress followed the sounds from Qin Chen’s room, was caught peeking, and joined him and You.

• The black-robed youth invited Ye Lingling for a walk, but she stayed with Dugu Yan before he left with the Jade Green Scorpion.
• Qin Ming scolded Dugu Yan for her arrogance and poor conduct, and she shoved away her teammates and ran toward the academy gates.
• The Ice Empress watched Dugu Yan’s memory in the Dark Night Arena and felt nostalgic about her time with the Monarch.
• The Ice Empress heard You and Zi Ji in Qin Chen’s room, crept over, and peeked through the door.
• Qin Chen noticed the Ice Empress, who entered the room and went to his side while You continued.

The Black-robed Youth watched Qin Ming train the Royal Sky Battle Team, then Dugu Yan reaffirmed her promise after losing to him and vowed to defeat him and make him apologize. Outside the scene, Dugu Bo learned that the infuriating young man was the person Dugu Yan had been waiting for, and asked why she seemed to hate him.

• Qin Chen spent time with Ice Empress at the Dark Night Arena before the Heavenly Curtain shifted to a new day.
• Qin Ming led the Royal Sky Battle Team in coordination training while the Black-robed Youth lounged nearby and watched.
• Dugu Yan told the Black-robed Youth she would honor her bet, then vowed to defeat him and make him apologize for calling her a frog at the bottom of a well.
• The Black-robed Youth offered to teach Dugu Yan Secret Skills if she bought him a meal, but she rejected the offer.
• Dugu Bo asked Dugu Yan whether the infuriating young man on the Heavenly Curtain was the person she had been waiting for, and she confirmed that he was.
• Dugu Bo questioned why Dugu Yan seemed to hate the young man if she had been waiting for him.

Dugu Yan reluctantly washed Master Chen’s clothes after losing a bet, while he continued to lounge through the Royal Sky Battle Team’s training without offering guidance. The chapter left the team wondering what he had come to teach them, and Qin Ming asked whether any of them had ever approached him with cultivation questions.

• Dugu Yan told Dugu Bo that she had fallen for a formidable man, then firmly denied having romantic feelings for Yu Tianheng.
• Dugu Yan visited Master Chen’s residence and reluctantly accepted his socks and robe to wash after he threatened to withhold a future fight arrangement.
• Dugu Yan returned the clean clothes the next evening, only for Master Chen to hand her another set of socks and a robe to wash.
• For several days, Dugu Yan repeated the laundry routine while the Royal Sky Battle Team trained under Qin Ming and Master Chen slept nearby without teaching them.
• Yufeng asked Qin Ming what Master Chen was supposed to teach them, and Qin Ming asked whether anyone had taken the initiative to ask him about cultivation.

Qin Ming encouraged the Royal Sky Seven to ask Master Chen for guidance, and Yufeng became so absorbed in a discussion with him that he went to dinner with him. Later, Dugu Yan asked Master Chen why his Jade Green Scorpion resisted her venom, and his explanation left her wondering whether he truly was a Martial Soul theory expert before he criticized her control of her poison.

• Qin Ming told the Royal Sky Seven that powerful masters would not teach them unless they asked for guidance.
• Yufeng approached Master Chen during a training break, listened to him for the rest of training, and left with him for dinner.
• Osler asked Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan whether they had sought guidance from Master Chen, and both indicated they had not.
• Dugu Yan brought Master Chen clean clothes, then asked why his Jade Green Scorpion was immune to her Jade Phosphorous Serpent Venom.
• Master Chen explained the Five Poisons and said Dugu Yan's poor control of her poison was already causing it to backfire on her.

The black-robed youth exposed Dugu Yan’s poison backlash and confirmed that he could cure it, but demanded a reason to teach her. After struggling with her pride and watching Ye Lingling seek his guidance, Dugu Yan offered money and then a precious Spirit Bone.

• The black-robed youth challenged Dugu Yan’s poison control by revealing that she and Dugu Bo could not cure the toxins causing her painful backlash, then told her to wash his clothes.
• The next day, Yufeng, Osler, and Shi Mo’s brothers gathered to learn from the black-robed youth while Qin Ming urged Yu Tianheng, Dugu Yan, and Ye Lingling to set aside their pride and seek guidance.
• Ye Lingling joined the group listening to the black-robed youth, while Yu Tianheng and Dugu Yan stayed behind, conflicted and unwilling to approach.
• That night, Dugu Yan asked the black-robed youth if he could cure her toxins, and he confirmed that he could.
• When Dugu Yan asked him to teach her, the black-robed youth demanded a reason; she offered him money and then a precious Spirit Bone prepared by her grandpa.

Dugu Yan agreed to ask her grandfather to trade the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eyes and its herbs for treatment, while Chen entertained Heaven Dou Royal Academy students with a fantastic tale about Sun Wukong. The chapter ended with Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling baffled by his story as their classmates listened spellbound.

• Chen demanded that Dugu Yan ask her grandfather to give him the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eyes and all its herbs in exchange for curing her poison and strengthening her Jade Phosphorous Serpent Venom.
• Dugu Yan agreed to speak with her grandfather, and Chen warned her that the deal would be void if he came to disturb him.
• At the academy, Yufeng, Dugu Yan, and Yu Tianheng joined Chen while the students gathered to hear his story instead of training with Qin Ming.
• Chen claimed that the God Realm's enforcers could not harm Sun Wukong on the Beast Execution Platform, despite using weapons and divine fire.
• Yufeng, Osler, and the Shi Mo Brothers were captivated by Chen's tale, while Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling found it absurd and learned nothing useful.