Chapter Summaries

After emerging from nearly half a year of cultivation, Wu Xuan reunited with Xiao Xiao and learned that Qian Gu Ming had entered Shrek's Inner Court. Ma Xiaotao, whose Evil Fire had worsened after obtaining her Seventh Soul Ring, carried Wu Xuan away for help, and he began suppressing the black flames with his Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Gathering Wind.

• Wu Xuan reunited with Xiao Xiao after two years apart and showed her the Shrek Supervisory Group emblem he had received after passing Mu En's assessment.
• Xiao Xiao told Wu Xuan that Qian Gu Ming had been admitted to the Inner Court after defeating Dai Huabin, while Nanmen Yun'er had not yet entered.
• Ma Xiaotao swooped down and carried Wu Xuan away as her Evil Fire erupted, leaving Xiao Xiao upset.
• The narration explained that Ma Xiaotao's nearly Hundred-Thousand-Year Three-headed Crimson Demon Mastiff soul ring had worsened her Evil Fire, and that Wu Xuan's wind had kept it in check during his seclusion.
• Ma Xiaotao brought Wu Xuan to her cabin and begged him to help; Wu Xuan activated his Ten-Thousand-Year first soul ring and sent pale-cyan breezes surging into her body.

Wu Xuan cleansed most of the Evil Fire from Ma Xiaotao’s body and Sea of Consciousness, though he could not eradicate it entirely. Ma Xiaotao confessed her feelings, Wu Xuan accepted them, and she took the initiative with him in her room.

• Wu Xuan used Spirit Gathering Wind to clear the evil aura from Ma Xiaotao’s meridians and Sea of Consciousness, but the process left him drained and did not permanently eliminate the Evil Fire.
• Ma Xiaotao asked Wu Xuan to kill her if she ever became an Evil Soul Master and explained that she trusted him to act without hesitation.
• Ma Xiaotao confessed that she had liked Wu Xuan since he first helped suppress her Evil Fire, and Wu Xuan told her he liked her too.
• Ma Xiaotao invited Wu Xuan to stay in her room and kissed him, while her Evil Fire showed faint signs of flaring up again.

After spending the night together, Ma Xiaotao learned that Wu Xuan had returned with breakfast and still meant what he had told her. Wu Xuan explained two ways to control her Evil Fire, and Yan Shaozhe summoned them to receive exchange students from the Sun Moon Empire.

• Ma Xiaotao woke remembering her night with Wu Xuan and worried that he had left without facing her.
• Wu Xuan returned with breakfast, reassured Ma Xiaotao that his feelings were genuine, and clarified that he and Xiao Xiao were not together.
• Wu Xuan proposed finding Extreme Fire Soul Beasts or locating the Cockcomb Phoenix Sunflower to help Ma Xiaotao suppress her Evil Fire.
• Ma Xiaotao's Soul Tool Communication device rang, and Yan Shaozhe told her and Wu Xuan to welcome the Sun Moon Empire exchange students and show them the Inner Court's strength.
• Wu Xuan excused himself to attend the reception, leaving Ma Xiaotao to see him again that night.

Yan Shaozhe led the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy exchange students into Shrek City while Wu Xuan spoke with Xiao Xiao and the Hongchen siblings discussed their plans for him. The chapter left Yan Shaozhe confident that Wu Xuan would remain loyal to Shrek and pleased that Ma Xiaotao had won his favor.

• Wu Xuan reassured Xiao Xiao that suppressing Ma Xiaotao's Evil Fire had not exhausted him, and Xiao Xiao blushed and ran off when he asked how she knew he had returned late.
• Yan Shaozhe welcomed Old Ma and the Sun Moon exchange students, who mocked Shrek City's walls and horse-drawn carts as they followed him into the city.
• Xiao Hongchen used a soundproof Soul Tool to confront Meng Hongchen about her interest in Wang Dong and Wu Xuan and reminded her of Jing Hongchen's orders to recruit Wu Xuan.
• Meng Hongchen rejected her grandfather's plans to control her romantic choices, while Xiao Hongchen vowed to defeat Wu Xuan after training in close-combat Soul Tools.
• Yan Shaozhe overheard the Hongchen siblings and resolved to punish the exchange students for targeting Wu Xuan, whom he regarded as Shrek's future Sea God Pavilion Master.

Yan Shaozhe welcomed the Sun Moon exchange students to Shrek’s Inner Court but withheld its red uniforms, while Xiao Hongchen challenged the academy’s assessment. At the Battle Soul Arena, Xiao and Meng Hongchen encountered Wu Xuan, who dismissed them as irrelevant despite their rivalry.

• Zhang Lexuan welcomed the exchange students and handed them Inner Court regulations and a map, while Yan Shaozhe explained that they would not receive red uniforms unless they passed the entrance assessment.
• Old Ma objected that the students had been promised Inner Court treatment, and Yan Shaozhe agreed they could study there as temporary students even if they failed.
• Xiao Hongchen introduced himself as the exchange team’s captain and declared that he and his teammates wanted to take the assessment.
• At the Battle Soul Arena, Wu Xuan refused Wang Dong’s invitation to join the Tang Sect and argued that an old promise to the sect did not bind the Wu Clan.
• Xiao and Meng Hongchen confronted Wu Xuan, who pretended not to recognize them and called them irrelevant, leaving Xiao furious.

Yan Shaozhe arranged a combat assessment for the Sun Moon exchange students, provoking them into facing Shrek’s Inner Court disciples. Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen challenged Wu Xuan together, and the chapter ended as their match began.

• Yan Shaozhe explained the assessment rules and assured Old Ma that students who failed would receive training and another chance to pass.
• Meng Hongchen challenged Wu Xuan, who taunted her and Xiao Hongchen into fighting him together.
• Yan Shaozhe announced the first match, and Inner Court disciples gathered to watch and study the exchange students’ combat methods.
• Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen revealed their martial souls and six soul rings each as the battle began.

Wu Xuan displayed his evolved wind abilities as Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen launched powerful attacks against him. He unleashed his fusion soul skill, Jade Clear Wind Fire Burn, and left both siblings’ assaults defeated as Meng Hongchen barely escaped the Green Flame.

• Wu Xuan revealed that he could disguise his Wind Element Martial Soul and showed cultivation at the peak of Soul King.
• Meng Hongchen activated her upgraded soul tool armor while Xiao Hongchen summoned a Level Eight close-combat soul tool greatsword.
• Xiao Hongchen awakened the Gengjin Sword and sent a flood of golden sword qi toward Wu Xuan as Meng Hongchen charged with Ice-Fire Poison Dragon Drill.
• Wu Xuan formed emerald-green crystals from a hurricane and ignited them with Jade Clear Wind Fire Burn.
• The Green Flame overwhelmed Meng Hongchen’s attack and damaged her armor, forcing her to escape with an Invincible Shield, while it decomposed Xiao Hongchen’s sword qi.

Wu Xuan overwhelmed Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen during their advancement assessment, defeating their strongest attacks and Martial Soul Fusion Skill. He left the siblings unconscious but alive, and Yan Shaozhe confirmed they would recover after resting.

• Xiao Hongchen used his Golden Magnetic Field and Gengjin Sword while Meng Hongchen unleashed Corrosive Ice, but Wu Xuan erased both attacks with his Hurricane Strangler.
• Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen joined together to unleash their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Red Dust's Longing.
• Wu Xuan countered with King's Descent and Finger Wind Dragon, shattering the fusion skill and knocking the siblings unconscious.
• Wu Xuan told Yan Shaozhe that the siblings had only fainted from the impact on their minds and would recover after a day or two.
• Yan Shaozhe examined Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen and confirmed that they were safe.

Wu Xuan’s group defeated the Sun Moon exchange students in their assessment matches, prompting Wu Ming to reconsider her opposition to Soul Tools. Afterward, Ma Xiaotao openly grew closer to Wu Xuan, while Xiao Xiao worried she might lose him to her.

• Wu Xuan defeated Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hong, and Shrek’s Inner Court students went on to win all seven assessment matches.
• Old Ma realized Yan Shaozhe had arranged the assessment to expose the exchange students’ weaknesses, while Han Ruo Ruo and Chu Qingtian persuaded Wu Ming to retrieve her discarded Soul Tools.
• Yan Shaozhe declared that none of the exchange students had passed and had Zhang Lexuan take them to their dormitories.
• Wu Xuan teased Qian Gu Ming about his self-created skill and family, then Ma Xiaotao arrived and took Wu Xuan by the hand to the cafeteria.
• Qian Gu Ming urged Xiao Xiao to act before Ma Xiaotao won Wu Xuan over, and Xiao Xiao chased after them after scolding him.
• At the crowded Inner Court cafeteria, students were stunned to see Ma Xiaotao bring Wu Xuan to eat, and Xiao Xiao lost her composure.

Wu Xuan registered as a Shrek inspector and received his first mission: investigating a strange illness in Lingguang City with Ma Xiaotao and Yao Haoxuan. After he questioned the mission assignment, Mu En hinted that the outbreak might involve Evil Soul Masters and gave him a Level Nine defensive Soul Tool, Red Dust Blessing.

• Wu Xuan registered with Zhang Lexuan as a Yellow-grade inspector and learned the Inspection Corps' ranks and rules.
• Wu Xuan opened his mission scroll and learned he would investigate a strange outbreak in Lingguang City alongside Ma Xiaotao and Yao Haoxuan.
• Wu Xuan visited Mu En and asked for a future mission to hunt Evil Soul Masters instead of conducting investigations.
• Mu En suggested the Lingguang City outbreak might be connected to Evil Soul Masters and gave Wu Xuan the Level Nine Soul Tool Red Dust Blessing for protection.
• Mu En told Wu Xuan to rest before the mission and promised another reward once he advanced to Purple grade.

Wu Xuan, Ma Xiaotao, and Yao Haoxuan set out on a surveillance mission to investigate a mysterious illness near Lingguang City. After learning that the illness was not contagious but affected many people, they disguised themselves and prepared to investigate.

• Wu Xuan and Ma Xiaotao woke, dressed, and left for their mission with Yao Haoxuan.
• Mu En declined Yan Shaozhe's offer to secretly follow the group, trusting Wu Xuan to handle the danger.
• The three traveled for several days using Flying Soul Tools, and Wu Xuan teased Ma Xiaotao about her resistance to Soul Tools.
• Ma Xiaotao explained that many people near Lingguang City had fallen ill, though the illness was not contagious and overwhelmed local healers.
• Wu Xuan, Ma Xiaotao, and Yao Haoxuan changed their appearances and clothes before beginning their investigation.

Wu Xuan, Ma Xiaotao, and Yao Haoxuan investigated Lingguang City’s mysterious illness and discovered that its victims had all visited the same pleasure district. They suspected an Evil Soul Master was draining people’s vitality and planned to stake out the northern district that night.

• Wu Xuan noticed that Lingguang City had no merchant caravans, and inn attendants explained that the governor had sealed the trade routes to hide the illness from the Sun Moon Empire.
• Wu Xuan assigned Ma Xiaotao to take over the investigation and request that the trade route reopen, while Yao Haoxuan investigated where sick commoners had been and Wu Xuan questioned nobles and soul masters.
• After three or four days of searching, Wu Xuan marked a pleasure district on a map because sick nobles, soul masters, and commoners had all visited it.
• Wu Xuan, Ma Xiaotao, and Yao Haoxuan suspected an Evil Soul Master was cultivating by drinking human blood, but Wu Xuan’s aura detection could not locate the culprit among the district’s mixed auras.
• Wu Xuan decided that the three would stake out the northern district that night and watch for the Evil Soul Master to return.

Wu Xuan, Ma Xiaotao, and Yao Haoxuan waited in Lingguang City for the hidden Evil Soul Master known as the Rat in the Gutter. After several nights without success, Wu Xuan sensed the culprit and joined the chase, confronting him as a Soul Sage.

• Ma Xiaotao and Yao Haoxuan took Wu Xuan to a tavern in the northern district to relax while they kept watch for the Evil Soul Master.
• Wu Xuan drank strong liquor without harm, then spent several nights watching the district with his companions.
• On the fifth day after the trade routes reopened, Sky Dream Ice Silkworm alerted Wu Xuan to the cloaked figure nearby, and Wu Xuan told Ma Xiaotao and Yao Haoxuan to surround him.
• The fat Evil Soul Master used Blood Curtain Heavenfiend to drain blood and then scattered into phantoms with Bloodshadow Escape.
• Wu Xuan destroyed several phantoms, pursued the black-robed man, and forced him back into his original form with the Soul Breaking Spear’s Soul Pressure.
• The man revealed himself as a Soul Sage, and Wu Xuan summoned five black Soul Rings as he faced him.

Wu Xuan defeated the ugly Evil Soul Master, whose Bloodthirsty Gorilla martial soul had been used to drain and kill civilians. Ma Xiaotao and Yao Haoxuan arrived as Wu Xuan burned the captured man with Green Flame, leaving his fate at the flames’ mercy.

• Wu Xuan confronted the ugly man over the civilians he had drained and killed, then trapped him in Hurricane Battlefield.
• The ugly man transformed into his Bloodthirsty Gorilla Avatar and used Blood Mist Invasion, but Wu Xuan’s fused fourth and fifth soul skills dispersed the mist and drained his Soul Power.
• Wu Xuan shattered the ugly man’s Martial Soul Avatar and blasted away his right arm with Mysterious Crystal Claw.
• Ma Xiaotao and Yao Haoxuan arrived with the other blood shadows captured, while the ugly man denied being an Evil Soul Master and cursed Shrek.
• Wu Xuan struck the ugly man with Green Flame, which began consuming his body as fear replaced his defiance.

Wu Xuan and Ma Xiaotao and Yao Haoxuan completed their inspection mission after defeating an Evil Soul Saint and finding a letter recruiting people to the Holy Spirit Cult. Back at Shrek Academy, Ma Xiaotao learned Wu Xuan might become the next Sea God Pavilion Master, accepted a new post in the Outer Court, and received a hundred-thousand-year soul bone.

• Wu Xuan collected the ugly man's Storage Soul Tool, divided its Gold Soul Coin savings cards among himself, Ma Xiaotao, and Yao Haoxuan, and found a letter addressed to the Holy Spirit Cult.
• Wu Xuan stopped Ma Xiaotao and Yao Haoxuan from destroying the letter so they could bring it back to Shrek Academy for the elders to review.
• Zhang Lexuan awarded all three credit for two Black-level missions after hearing Wu Xuan had defeated an Evil Soul Saint alone.
• Ma Xiaotao asked Wu Xuan to help suppress her Evil Fire that night, and he agreed while asking to take the initiative.
• Yan Shaozhe told Ma Xiaotao that Elder Mu intended to make Wu Xuan successor to the Sea God Pavilion Master and appointed her dean of instruction for the Outer Court's Martial Soul Department.
• Yan Shaozhe gave Ma Xiaotao a Hundred Thousand Year Three-Eyed Spirit Tiger Concentration Skull as a reward for accepting the appointment.

Mu En and Xuan Zi gave Wu Xuan Shrek’s 290,000-year-old Silver Scale Griffin Left Leg Bone and charged him with destroying the Holy Spirit Cult and stopping the Sun Moon Empire’s invasion plans. After absorbing it and reaching Rank Sixty, Wu Xuan received his next inspection mission and left the Sea God Pavilion.

• Wu Xuan showed Mu En and Xuan Zi a secret letter revealing that Evil Soul Masters had formed an organized force, and he vowed to destroy them.
• Mu En gave Wu Xuan the 290,000-year-old Silver Scale Griffin Left Leg Bone, entrusting him with defeating the Holy Spirit Cult and thwarting the Sun Moon Empire’s ambitions.
• Wu Xuan absorbed the Soul Bone in just over four hours, reached Rank Sixty, and gained the Soul Skills Forest Thunder Shining World and Endless Erosion.
• Wu Xuan asked to take his next inspection mission, and Mu En handed him a black scroll before he left the Sea God Pavilion.

Wu Xuan spent the night with Ma Xiaotao after learning Mu En had entrusted him with a 290,000-year Silver Scale Griffin Left Leg Soul Bone. While Xiao Xiao searched for him, Qian Gu Ming guessed where Wu Xuan was and urged her to pursue him, leaving her determined not to give up.

• Wu Xuan visited Ma Xiaotao, and the two spent the night together before discussing the Soul Bone Mu En had given him.
• Ma Xiaotao asked Wu Xuan to activate the Silver Scale Griffin Soul Bone, whose lightning attribute could suppress her Evil Fire, and they resumed their intimate encounter.
• Xiao Xiao waited outside Wu Xuan's room and called Qian Gu Ming after he failed to answer her Soul Tool Communication.
• Qian Gu Ming guessed that Ma Xiaotao had lured Wu Xuan away, and Nanmen Yun'er agreed the possibility was believable.
• Xiao Xiao decided to take the initiative and pursue Wu Xuan, refusing to give up even if Ma Xiaotao had won him over.

Wu Xuan traveled to Heaven Dou City on an inspection mission to execute a corrupt count and everyone involved in his crimes. He uncovered the Body Sect’s plan to seize a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast Embryo, then destroyed the estate and its occupants before leaving to pursue his mission.

• Wu Xuan left Sea God Island after spending the night with Ma Xiaotao and set out to carry out Mu En’s order to execute a count and his accomplices.
• Heaven Dou Empire city guards confronted Wu Xuan in the air, but he immobilized them with his soul skills and continued toward the capital.
• Wu Xuan infiltrated the count’s estate and overheard Body Sect disciples boasting that their sect was working with the Star Luo Imperial Family to obtain a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast Embryo.
• Wu Xuan killed Old Jin with his spear, then used his soul skills to destroy the estate and kill the three Body Sect disciples.
• Wu Xuan left the crater, deciding that pursuing his sixth soul ring mattered more than the information he had uncovered.

After completing a string of missions, Wu Xuan set out with Xiao Xiao for Starlight City to investigate wolf bandits suspected of working with Evil Soul Masters. They stopped near Sunset Forest, where Wu Xuan discovered the forest’s outskirts were almost entirely devoid of soul beasts, and Xiao Xiao offered to explain why.

• Wu Xuan finished his missions and received an assignment to wipe out wolf bandits near Starlight City and kill their suspected Evil Soul Master commander.
• Xuan Zi let Xiao Xiao accompany Wu Xuan after she pleaded to join him on the mission.
• Wu Xuan agreed to travel with Xiao Xiao, and they flew toward Starlight City using his Flying Soul Tool and Extreme Wind.
• The pair stopped to rest near Sunset Forest, where Wu Xuan investigated the forest with his aura perception.
• Wu Xuan found no Hundred-Year Soul Beasts in the western Outskirts Zone, and Xiao Xiao offered to tell him why the forest had become so barren.

Wu Xuan and Xiao Xiao traveled toward Starlight City to investigate the Wolf Thieves, while Xiao Xiao recounted how a toxic miasma had once devastated Sunset Forest. They found evidence of massacres along the way and camped for the night, still unaware of the Wolf Thieves’ location.

• Xiao Xiao explained that a toxic miasma had driven Soul Beasts from Sunset Forest and triggered a deadly migration, which Shrek’s Sea God Pavilion Master helped suppress.
• Wu Xuan and Xiao Xiao reached the towns near Starlight City, where Wu Xuan began searching for the organized Wolf Thieves with his aura perception.
• Wu Xuan found that mixed Soul Power auras made it difficult to locate the Wolf Thieves, so he and Xiao Xiao put on their Shrek Supervisory Group armor and continued investigating.
• Wu Xuan and Xiao Xiao passed several ruined villages, and Xiao Xiao condemned the Wolf Thieves and the Evil Soul Masters controlling them.
• Wu Xuan cooked dinner for Xiao Xiao at a campsite, then checked the surroundings for danger before settling down.