Chapter Summaries

Bibi Dong and Ye Xiao met with the Moon Emperor in Linhai City to discuss the Spirit Hall Empire’s trade mission. Bibi Dong refused an exclusive deal but granted the Moon Empire first choice of goods, and the Moon Emperor began asking about Soul Tools and their prices.

• A lord warned the Moon Emperor that Ye Xiao was important to Bibi Dong and that many formidable women stayed by his side.
• The Moon Emperor met Bibi Dong and Ye Xiao in Linhai City and asked whether the Spirit Hall Empire had come to trade or pursue other plans.
• Bibi Dong said her empire had crossed the sea to sell surplus goods and buy local specialties.
• Ye Xiao said they would travel north to negotiate with the Sun Empire after finishing trade in Linhai City, prompting the Moon Emperor to seek priority for his country.
• Bibi Dong rejected an exclusive arrangement but gave the Moon Empire first choice of the initial batch of goods.
• The Moon Emperor began asking Bibi Dong about the goods and their prices, focusing on Soul Tools.

The Moon Empire and the Spirit Hall Empire agreed on trade terms that limited sales to Level 4 Soul Tools and below, then began a major exchange at Linhai City. The Moon Emperor equipped his elite guard and bought up goods, while Bibi Dong and Ye Xiao discussed how Moon Coins would be converted into Gold Soul Coins.

• Bibi Dong told the Moon Emperor that the Spirit Hall Empire would sell no Soul Tools above Level 4, and the two sides settled trade categories, quantities, prices, payments, ports, and schedules.
• The Moon Emperor decided to let the Spirit Hall Empire trade with the Sun Empire, reasoning that the Moon Empire could buy more Soul Tools and counter them with greater numbers.
• The Moon Emperor ordered the Ministry of Revenue to transport Moon Coins to Linhai City, and Ye Xiao determined they could be melted down into Gold Soul Coins with some loss.
• Bibi Dong said the coin conversion would spread Gold Soul Coins through the Moon Empire's market and treated the melting loss as advertising expense.
• The Moon Emperor bought full Level 3 Soul Tool equipment and half a month's supply of crystals for the Imperial Palace Guard, and Temur judged the newly equipped corps could hold out against Soul Masters.
• The Moon Empire bought more than half of the Spirit Hall Empire's other goods, including cloth, flour, farming tools, medicines, and ceramic ornaments, which its Royal Caravan resold inland at much higher prices.

Bibi Dong and Ye Xiao discussed the Spirit Hall Empire’s trade strategy and plans to use the proceeds to develop poorer regions. After the fleet left Linhai City, the Moon Emperor ordered Temur to invade the Sun Empire’s northern border before it could buy equivalent equipment.

• Bibi Dong told Ye Xiao that the Spirit Hall Empire had left goods for the Sun Empire and expected Moon Empire military action to prompt further sales.
• Bibi Dong outlined plans to invest trade profits in poorer areas through local industries, logistics, and road construction, and Ye Xiao agreed.
• The fleet spent another half month trading in Linhai City, and the city lord bid farewell as it departed.
• The Moon Emperor ordered Temur to take the Royal Imperial Guard north, join the Northern Border Legion, and attack the Sun Empire before it could purchase Spirit Hall Empire equipment.
• Temur accepted the order and left the Imperial Study to lead the campaign.

Temur led the Moon Empire’s Royal Imperial Guard and Northern Border Legion into a surprise campaign against Iron Gate Pass. As the legion staged a frontal feint, Temur and ten thousand guards silently began flying up the pass’s sheer flank.

• Temur mobilized the ten thousand Royal Imperial Guards under imperial orders, while the three-hundred-thousand-strong Northern Border Legion began preparing to march north.
• Temur proposed using tier-three Soul Guidance Thruster Boots to fly the guards across Iron Gate Pass’s cliffside ridge while Helan Shan’s troops staged a frontal feint.
• Helan Shan agreed to draw the defenders’ attention with a loud display of a full assault, and Zhou Tiejun reinforced the pass’s front defenses without guarding the cliffs.
• Temur led the guards to the flank and ordered them to climb silently with their thrusters until they landed.

Temur led the Imperial Guard in a surprise assault that captured Iron Gate Pass for the Moon Empire, allowing the Northern Border Legion to enter the Sun Empire’s heartland. The Sun Empire’s emperor learned the pass had fallen and began questioning how the Moon Empire’s new equipment had made the attack possible.

• Temur signaled the ten-thousand-man Imperial Guard to attack Iron Gate Pass from behind while Helan Shan’s troops drew the defenders’ attention from the canyon.
• Temur’s forces used Soul Tool Cannons, shields, and wrist blades to overwhelm the defenders, killing Zhou Tiejun and capturing the three fortresses and both city walls.
• The Northern Border Legion marched through the pass, and Helan Shan inspected the damage before calling the battle simple.
• The Sun Empire’s emperor heard that Iron Gate Pass had fallen and demanded to know how ten thousand soldiers had flown over the cliffs.
• A minister told the emperor that spies had reported the Moon Empire’s emperor visiting Linhai City.

After losing Iron Gate Pass, the Sun Empire’s emperor concluded that overseas traders had supplied the Moon Empire with powerful Soul Tools and ordered a massive counterattack. He also sent officials to search the empire’s coastal ports for those traders, accepting the risks of contact because the Moon Empire had already gained the advantage.

• The emperor and his officials suspected that the Moon Empire had obtained its new Soul Tools through Linhai City, and the Grand Tutor conjectured that the sellers had come from overseas.
• The emperor ordered five hundred thousand troops and two-thirds of the Soul Master corps, commanded by Wu Chenglie, to assemble within three days and prepare to retake Iron Gate Pass.
• The emperor ordered the Ministry of Rites to inspect coastal ports and identify any overseas traders and their goods.
• The Minister of War warned that overseas traders might use commerce to infiltrate the Sun Empire, but the emperor insisted that they could not afford to let the Moon Empire keep its advantage.

Ye Xiao and Bibi Dong sailed toward the Sun Empire to trade, expecting the empire to buy weapons after the Moon Empire’s attack. Their fleet reached Nanlin City, where its enormous ironclad ships caused panic as the local officials and defenders tried to respond.

• The emperor ordered the Ministry of Rites to prepare for the fleet’s arrival and receive its people as state guests.
• Ye Xiao and Bibi Dong discussed the likely war between the Moon Empire and the Sun Empire and planned to establish a trade route between them.
• The fleet reached Nanlin City, the Sun Empire’s largest southern seaport, and its ironclad ships terrified the harbor’s residents.
• Nanlin City’s fishermen, vendors, sailors, and defenders panicked at the sight of the fleet’s massive hulls and cannon ports.
• The defending general sent for the Ministry of Rites, whose Vice Minister Su Wenchuan had been waiting in Nanlin City for the overseas merchants.

Su Wenchuan met Ye Xiao and Bibi Dong as their fleet arrived at Nanlin City, seeking to secure the goods that had helped the Moon Empire capture Iron Gate Pass. The Sun Empire began buying the fleet’s supplies on the spot, paying with coins and valuable goods.

• Su Wenchuan saw the approaching fleet and hurried toward the harbor after learning that the Moon Empire had used its Soul Tools to capture Iron Gate Pass.
• The Nanlin City Lord tried to stop Su Wenchuan, but Su Wenchuan explained the fleet’s role in the Moon Empire’s victory and continued toward the city gate.
• Ye Xiao and Bibi Dong met Su Wenchuan, who admitted that the Sun Empire had sent Ministry of Rites officials to its ports because it feared the fleet would arrive.
• Ye Xiao offered to sell the Sun Empire the same kinds of goods the Moon Empire had bought, and Su Wenchuan ordered officials to bring payment and wagons.
• Sun Empire officials and merchant guilds gathered at Nanlin City’s gate, offering coins, gold, silver, and other valuable goods to buy the fleet’s supplies.

Bibi Dong and Ye Xiao finished their trade with the Sun Empire and discussed the possibility of future contact. After Su Wenchuan described the dangerous Evil Demon Great Forest, Ye Xiao decided to visit it, leaving Su Wenchuan eager to advance his career.

• Bibi Dong declined Su Wenchuan’s invitation to meet the Sun Empire’s emperor and explained that the Spirit Hall Empire had no plans to expand across the sea.
• Ye Xiao told Su Wenchuan that ships could reach the Spirit Hall Empire by way of Sea God Island, and Su Wenchuan promised to organize an inspection delegation.
• Ye Xiao asked about major soul-beast territories, and Su Wenchuan warned him that the Evil Demon Great Forest held dangerous spiritual-type beasts, including Hundred-Thousand-Year Evil Eye Tyrants.
• Ye Xiao considered seeking out the Evil Emperor in the forest, while Bibi Dong decided she was willing to go with him.
• Su Wenchuan departed for the imperial capital after Ye Xiao wished him success, and he imagined becoming the next Minister of Rites.

Su Wenchuan returned to Sun City and reported the Spirit Hall Empire’s overwhelming naval and military strength to the emperor and court. After hearing about Sea God Island and receiving a nautical chart, the emperor decided the Sun Empire should send an envoy delegation to investigate.

• Su Wenchuan arrived at the palace and reported that he had bought the remaining goods from the Spirit Hall Empire.
• Su Wenchuan described the Spirit Hall Empire’s enormous, specialized fleet and its heavily equipped, confident soldiers.
• Su Wenchuan presented Ye Xiao’s nautical chart and explained that Sea God Island was home to seven Sacred Pillar Titled Douluo, a rank ninety-nine Limit Douluo High Priestess, and a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
• The emperor concluded that the Sun Empire had underestimated the Spirit Hall Empire’s strength and decided to send an envoy delegation there.

The Sun Empire launched a massive counterattack at Iron Gate Pass, where Temur’s Moon Empire forces struggled to conserve their dwindling Soul Tool Cannon ammunition. By the tenth day, the battle had become a tug-of-war, with the Sun Empire opening new breaches in the walls.

• Su Wenchuan told the emperor that Bibi Dong and Ye Xiao planned to enter the Evil Demon Great Forest, and the emperor feared the consequences if they were harmed.
• Wu Chenglie led five hundred thousand Sun Empire soldiers to attack Iron Gate Pass before the Moon Empire could repair its defenses.
• The Moon Empire’s Soul Tool Cannons devastated the Vanguard Cavalry, but Wu Chenglie ordered a relentless assault to overwhelm the defenders with numbers.
• Temur restricted cannon fire after ammunition ran low, and Wu Chenglie sent siege equipment forward, eventually smashing open a breach in the wall.
• Wu Chenglie committed the Sun Empire’s Soul Master Legion and Imperial Guard as both sides fought fiercely around the breach.
• By the tenth day, the Moon Empire had blocked one breach with rubble, but the Sun Empire had opened two more elsewhere along the wall.

The Sun Empire captured most of Iron Gate Pass after a bloody campaign, while the Moon Empire retained Flying Stone Pass. Ye Xiao and Bibi Dong arrived at the Evil Demon Great Forest and observed its corrupted landscape and unusual soul beasts.

• Temur rotated the Moon Empire's defenders among three breaches as Wu Chenglie's forces kept up their attacks and burned several ammunition wagons.
• Wu Chenglie led a nighttime assault that captured the main city, and the Sun Empire later seized Dragon Gate Pass and Lock and Key Pass at enormous cost.
• Wu Chenglie failed to take Flying Stone Pass after losing more than four thousand men on its narrow plank road, leaving the Moon Empire in control of the pass.
• Wu Chenglie ordered his deputy to bombard Flying Stone Pass once ammunition arrived, while Temur inventoried his depleted supplies and prepared to hold it.
• Ye Xiao and Bibi Dong reached the Evil Demon Great Forest, where Bibi Dong noted that most of its soul beasts would count as Evil Spirit Beasts elsewhere.

Ye Xiao, Bibi Dong, and Ye Qianxue entered the Evil Demon Great Forest to find the Evil Emperor, planning to recruit him or kill him for his Soul Bone. Ye Qianxue’s sacred light spread through the forest, drawing the attention of nearby townspeople and awakening the seven-hundred-thousand-year-old Evil Emperor.

• Bibi Dong suggested that Ye Xiao summon Ye Qianxue to use her Six-winged Angel Martial Soul against the forest’s evil power.
• Ye Xiao summoned Ye Qianxue, who greeted him affectionately and called Bibi Dong her grandmother.
• Ye Xiao told Ye Qianxue they would either bring the Evil Emperor to the Star Dou Great Forest or kill him and take his Soul Bone.
• Ye Qianxue released her Six-winged Angel Martial Soul, and its sacred light burned away the forest’s corrupted vines and moss.
• People in a nearby Sun Empire city and soldiers at a border outpost saw the sacred light and knelt in awe.
• The seven-hundred-thousand-year-old Evil Emperor opened its giant eye in the swamp, and the forest’s Spirit Beasts bowed down.

Ye Qianxue confronted the Evil Emperor alone while Ye Xiao and Bibi Dong watched from a nearby ridge. She resisted its spiritual illusion and charged again, but its Mental Blast drove her back and damaged her holy wings.

• The Evil Emperor sensed Ye Qianxue's sacred power as she arrived with Ye Xiao and Bibi Dong, then she demanded it leave the Evil Demon Great Forest for the Star Dou Great Forest or be killed.
• Ye Xiao and Bibi Dong withdrew to a nearby ridge while Ye Qianxue faced the Evil Emperor alone.
• The Evil Emperor raised its eighty-one tentacles and used its Spiritual Field to suppress Ye Qianxue, but her sacred light shielded her from the field.
• The Evil Emperor infiltrated Ye Qianxue's senses with an illusion, and she broke it by unleashing purer sacred power.
• Ye Qianxue charged the Evil Emperor's eye, but its Mental Blast struck her Holy Light Shield and hurled her backward, scattering several golden feathers.

Ye Qianxue battled the Evil Emperor in the swamp, dodging its mental and space-time attacks before landing a powerful strike that badly wounded it. The Evil Emperor prepared its Light of Destruction as Ye Qianxue gathered sacred power for her next attack.

• Ye Qianxue resisted the Evil Emperor’s mental assault, and it fired a Mental Paralysis Ray while animating dead trees to attack her.
• Ye Qianxue dodged the paralysis ray and destroyed the attacking branches with the Angel Holy Sword, while Bibi Dong and Xiao noted her lack of battle experience.
• Ye Qianxue avoided the Evil Emperor’s Light of Space-Time and counterattacked with Holy Whirlwind.
• The Evil Emperor blocked Holy Whirlwind with its tentacles, but Ye Qianxue’s strike left deep wounds and nearly severed one tentacle.
• The Evil Emperor prepared its Light of Destruction as Ye Qianxue compressed the sacred power in her sword to an intense white glow.

Ye Qianxue defeated the Evil Emperor and persuaded it to leave the Evil Demon Great Forest for the Star Dou Great Forest with Ye Xiao. As the group headed toward the harbor, the Sun Empire’s emperor concluded from scouts’ reports that the Spirit Hall Empire had won the battle.

• Ye Qianxue pierced the Evil Emperor’s eye with her holy sword and made it agree to leave the forest with Ye Xiao.
• Ye Qianxue healed her injuries, and Ye Xiao invited the Evil Emperor to meet stronger beasts and perhaps make friends in the Star Dou Great Forest.
• The Evil Emperor asked for one day to settle matters, then met Ye Xiao at the forest’s edge the next day in a greatly reduced form.
• Ye Xiao, Ye Qianxue, Bibi Dong, and the Evil Emperor headed toward the harbor while Ye Qianxue discussed her fight with Bibi Dong.
• The Sun Empire’s emperor heard ministers report that Spirit Hall’s sacred light had outlasted the Evil Emperor’s dark light and concluded that Spirit Hall had won.

The Spirit Hall Empire’s fleet departed Nanlin City for home, while the Evil Emperor learned about human technology and the powerful beings awaiting it across the sea. The fleet sailed calmly into the sunset as merchants in Nanlin City began planning their own voyage to Sea God Island.

• The emperor ordered border legions to watch the Evil Demon Great Forest and send small squads to scout when possible.
• Ye Xiao showed the Evil Emperor the metal warships and explained that the Spirit Hall Empire used Spirit Souls so humans and Spirit Beasts could coexist.
• Ning Rongrong, Shui Yue'er, Huo Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ye Lingling came out from behind cargo crates to look at the Evil Emperor, and Ye Xiao said it would rank at least third on their continent.
• Ye Xiao ordered the fleet to set off for home, and Bibi Dong and the others departed as Nanlin City residents watched them leave.
• The owner of Yongfeng Firm and other Nanlin City merchants began planning ships to reach Sea God Island and trade for goods.
• The fleet sailed across calm waters for a day as the sunset spread across the sky.

After returning to the Spirit Hall Empire, Ye Xiao began matching his companions with suitable divine inheritances. He finished a list of candidates and left the plans ready for the future.

• Ye Xiao watched Ning Rongrong and Shui Yue'er sleep after punishing them for replacing his pillows with ice packs, and decided to ask his descendants about suitable divine positions.
• Half a month later, Bibi Dong returned to Spirit City and went straight to work on urgent government documents.
• Ye Xiao parted from his companions and entered his study to review information on known divine inheritances compiled by Ye Qianxue.
• Ye Xiao listed candidate divine positions for everyone, including the Goddess of Light, God of Wealth, and Glazed Goddess for Ning Rongrong.
• Ye Xiao ruled out the Nine-Colored Goddess for now because her partner, the Food God, would not leave the God Realm without her.

Bibi Dong ordered regular trade caravans to the Sun Moon Continent to spread Gold Soul Coins and gather intelligence while keeping the local war profitable. Ye Xiao gave the girls a list of divine inheritances and urged them to begin their trials, leaving them preparing to set out on separate paths.

• Bibi Dong directed the Minister of Commerce to send trade caravans every two months and promote Gold Soul Coins across the Sun Moon Continent.
• Bibi Dong instructed the Minister of Commerce to place intelligence agents among the traders and ensure the Sun Empire and Moon Empire’s war continued.
• Ye Xiao gathered Ning Rongrong, Shui Yue'er, Huo Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, Ye Lingling, Dugu Yan, Meng Yiran, Bai Chenxiang, and the others, then gave them a list of suitable divine positions and inheritance locations.
• Ye Xiao explained that Dong'er was nearing Dual God Integration, Bo Saixi would soon inherit the Sea God position, and his own accumulated faith could let him create a divine position.
• Ning Rongrong told the girls to pack and prepare to pursue their chosen divine trials starting the next day.

Ning Rongrong and Tang Yuehua climbed Ten-Thousand-Ren Peak to reach the entrance to the Radiant Splendor Sacred Realm, where Ning hoped to inherit the Goddess of Light’s divine position. As they arrived at the summit, the entrance still hung several dozen meters above them.

• Ning Rongrong asked Tang Yuehua whether the Goddess of Light would pass her divine position to her, and Tang Yuehua reassured her.
• Ning Rongrong and Tang Yuehua continued west toward Ten-Thousand-Ren Peak and saw the Radiant Splendor Sacred Realm’s light above its summit.
• Ye Xiao told Bibi Dong that he missed Ning Rongrong and Tang Yuehua, and Bibi Dong took him inside with her.
• Ning Rongrong and Tang Yuehua climbed the steep, spirit-beast-free mountain and paused to recover along the way.
• Ning Rongrong and Tang Yuehua reached the summit and saw the entrance to the Radiant Splendor Sacred Realm suspended above them.