Chapter Summaries

After a Tang Sect system malfunction injured Su Mo, Mu Xi demanded compensation, and Xu Li discovered that Su Mo’s life force had been dangerously depleted. Su Mo remained confident he could reach Titled Douluo before eighteen, while Ling Zichen invited him to join the Tang Sect as her assistant.

• Mu Xi pressed Ling Zichen to explain the Tang Sect’s visit and demanded compensation for Su Mo’s injury.
• Xu Li said the Tang Sect would examine Su Mo and report his injuries to headquarters before deciding on compensation.
• Xu Li examined Su Mo and revealed that his depleted life force made it almost impossible for him to live past eighteen.
• Xu Li said Su Mo could overcome the danger if he reached Titled Douluo before turning eighteen.
• Su Mo reassured Mu Xi that he could reach that realm and said he would someday surpass Yun Ming as the continent’s number one.
• Ling Zichen teased Su Mo about his confidence and invited him to join the Tang Sect as her assistant.

Ling Zichen offered Su Mo a chance at mechanical ascension through her secret human-modification research, but he refused and bargained with the Tang Sect for compensation instead. After Xu Li healed him, Su Mo secured a promise of an External Soul Bone—then revealed that the Soul Bone in his right hand was exceptionally valuable.

• Ling Zichen told Su Mo that her private research might free him from his lifespan limit, but Su Mo rejected becoming her test subject.
• Xu Li used her Tree of Life Martial Soul to heal Su Mo's injuries, and he tore off his bandages once treatment was complete.
• Ling Zichen relayed the situation to Zang Xin and told Su Mo the Tang Sect would grant one not-too-unreasonable request.
• Su Mo demanded a complete set of Three-Word Battle Armor, but Ling Zichen refused, even after Mu Xi offered to ask her father to forge one.
• Su Mo settled for an External Soul Bone at least as valuable as the Soul Bone in his right hand, and Ling Zichen agreed.
• Su Mo showed Ling Zichen his dark-golden right claw, making her realize she had been tricked.

Su Mo told Ling Zichen what happened in Hero Hall, prompting her to investigate the suspicious Ring Detonation code and promise him a matching External Soul Bone. After Mu Xi left for Heaven Dou City, a mysterious woman appeared behind Su Mo and covered his eyes.

• Su Mo admitted he had deliberately maneuvered Ling Zichen into agreeing to find him an External Soul Bone matching his Dark-Gold Terrorclaw Bear Right Palm Bone.
• Ling Zichen sent Mu Xi out and listened as Su Mo recounted what happened with Tang San in Hero Hall.
• Ling Zichen said Hero Hall should not have contained Ring Detonation code, asked Su Mo to keep the matter secret, and promised Wu Zhangkong would deliver the Soul Bone.
• Mu Xi returned, worried about Su Mo's supposed need to reach Titled Douluo before eighteen, while Su Mo hid that he had arranged to survive using Izanagi and Transcription Seal.
• Mu Xi told Su Mo she was going to Heaven Dou City to visit an elder and left before school started.
• A mysterious woman appeared behind Su Mo, covered his eyes, and complained that he was fickle.

After being discharged, Su Mo returned home to Leng Yulai, who was devoted to him, and asked her for help killing someone. He revealed that Tang Wulin could not be killed because Tang San had left divine consciousness behind.

• Leng Yulai kissed Su Mo before he completed his discharge paperwork, while Wu Zhangkong told Tang Wulin that Su Mo had been discharged.
• Wu Zhangkong kept Su Mo's life-threatening condition from Tang Wulin and directed him to focus on cultivating the Mysterious Heaven Skill.
• Su Mo returned home and found Leng Yulai waiting in a maid outfit; she eagerly embraced him and reported that the Holy Spirit Cult had become more active.
• Su Mo asked Leng Yulai to help him kill someone, and she realized he meant Tang Wulin.
• Su Mo explained that Tang San's divine consciousness made Tang Wulin impossible to kill, startling Leng Yulai.

Su Mo arranged for the Holy Spirit Cult to target Wu Zhangkong, hoping repeated attacks on Tang Wulin would exhaust the protection Tang San had left him. Wu Zhangkong took Tang Wulin to Long Bing’s grave in Heaven Dou City, where a Holy Spirit Cult member attacked and revealed that Fengniao had named Wu Zhangkong as a target.

• Su Mo explained to Leng Yulai that he intended to use assassinations against Tang Wulin to wear down Tang San’s power, while blaming the attacks on Wu Zhangkong.
• Leng Yulai sent Dark Fengniao Wu Zhangkong’s whereabouts, then mourned having to return to the Holy Spirit Cult; Su Mo invited her to stay with him for a month.
• Su Mo remembered saving Leng Yulai as a child in the Star Dou Forest and later sending her to infiltrate the Holy Spirit Cult.
• In Heaven Dou City’s public cemetery, Wu Zhangkong brought Tang Wulin to Long Bing’s tomb and spent over an hour cleaning it.
• A skull of dark energy attacked Tang Wulin, but Wu Zhangkong destroyed it and confronted the cloaked attacker.
• The attacker said Fengniao had named Wu Zhangkong and invited him to join the Soul Mourning Banner; Wu Zhangkong recognized the Holy Spirit Cult and reacted with killing intent.

Wu Zhangkong revealed his Two-Word Battle Armor, Sky Ice, to counter a Spirit Douluo from Dark Fengniao who threatened Tang Wulin. The black-clad enemy unleashed an endless tide of vengeful souls, and Wu Zhangkong struggled to fend off the attack as the souls began corroding his mind.

• A black-clad Spirit Douluo from Dark Fengniao threatened Wu Zhangkong and Tang Wulin with the Soul Mourning Banner’s mental attacks.
• Tang Wulin urged Wu Zhangkong not to surrender, and Wu Zhangkong activated his Sky Ice Battle Armor, silencing the wails but nearly freezing Tang Wulin.
• Tang San protected Tang Wulin from the cold and explained that Wu Zhangkong wore a complete set of Two-Word Battle Armor.
• The black-clad man unleashed his eighth Soul Skill, Thousand Soul Evil Thought, sending ghost mist at Wu Zhangkong.
• Wu Zhangkong fought back with the Sky Frost Sword, but the souls continually replenished and their lingering resentment began corroding his mind.

Tang San took control of Tang Wulin to evade Long San’s attacks at the cemetery, but relinquished control when golden scales began covering Wulin’s arms. Wu Zhangkong shielded Wulin from Long San’s final strike and, finding him unresponsive and feverish, called the Tang Sect branch for help.

• Tang San took control of Tang Wulin and used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to evade Long San’s Soul Devouring Seal.
• Su Mo and Leng Yulai watched the cemetery fight on a surveillance feed, and Su Mo confirmed Tang San had taken control.
• Long San launched a powerful attack at Tang Wulin and fled, while Wu Zhangkong turned back to protect him.
• Tang San noticed golden scales spreading over Tang Wulin’s arms and returned control to him, leaving Wulin unable to answer when he called out.
• Wu Zhangkong blocked Long San’s attack with his body, was badly injured, and found Tang Wulin unconscious, feverish, and covered in golden scales.
• Wu Zhangkong called the Tang Sect branch in Heaven Dou City for help.

Su Mo learned that the Spirit Pagoda had ordered the Holy Spirit Cult to target Ling Zichen and sent Leng Yulai to retrieve her body tissue so he could investigate her claim that she could survive her depleted life force. At the Tang Sect’s Heaven Dou City Branch, Zhao Song told Wu Zhangkong that Tang Wulin was likely suffering a backlash from his bloodline, but hesitated to explain further.

• Su Mo learned from Leng Yulai that Dark Fengniao had changed course to assassinate Ling Zichen on the Spirit Pagoda’s orders.
• Su Mo told Leng Yulai to bring back Ling Zichen’s body tissue so he could use Impure World Reincarnation to question her about restoring overdrawn life force.
• Leng Yulai kissed Su Mo before leaving to retrieve Ling Zichen’s tissue.
• Zhao Song brought the unconscious Tang Wulin to the Tang Sect’s Heaven Dou City Branch after Wu Zhangkong called for help.
• Zhao Song told Wu Zhangkong that Tang Wulin was likely experiencing a bloodline backlash, then hesitated when Wu Zhangkong demanded an explanation.

Zhao Song revealed that Tang Wulin’s suffering matched the effects of an abandoned Soul Beast bloodline-transplant experiment, leaving his survival uncertain. Inside Tang Wulin’s mind, Tang San realized his use of Divine Power had awakened the Golden Dragon King Divine Core and chose to repair its seal despite the cost.

• Zhao Song told Wu Zhangkong that Tang Wulin’s symptoms matched records of failed bloodline-transplant experiments and that surviving the backlash depended on luck.
• Wu Zhangkong asked whether Her Holiness Holy Spirit could intervene, but Zhao Song said the one-hour survival limit made help unlikely and reminded him that some subjects had survived.
• Tang San saw the Golden Dragon King Divine Core weakening its seal and realized his Divine Power had awakened it.
• Tang San weighed using his remaining Divine Power to repair the seal against needing it to oppose the Abyssal Sage King.
• As Tang Wulin’s Dragon Transformation worsened, Tang San chose to repair the seal and considered guiding Wulin to devour that Silver Dragon later.

Tang San repaired the seal on Tang Wulin’s Golden Dragon King Divine Core and used its purified essence to heal him, but the effort left little divine power for future dangers. Meanwhile, a mysterious attacker ambushed Ling Zichen’s convoy, and she and her companions faced a long wait for reinforcements.

• Tang San restored the Golden Dragon King Divine Core’s seal, contained its rampaging power, and used a purified Dragon Core to heal Tang Wulin.
• Zhao Song saw Tang Wulin recover and received Ling Zichen’s highest-level distress signal, then rushed toward Eastsea City.
• Wu Zhangkong received the same distress signal but stayed with Tang Wulin, knowing he could not reach Ling Zichen in time.
• Ling Zichen fought off a mysterious attacker on the highway from Eastsea City to Shrek City with her red-grade Soul-Conducting Mecha while most of her escort convoy was killed.
• Xu Li told Ling Zichen that nearby reinforcements had been wiped out and that Tang Sect Headquarters and Heaven Dou City reinforcements would take at least an hour to arrive.

Ling Zichen unleashed her Red-Grade Mecha against Dark Fengniao after learning the Tang Sect reinforcements had been wiped out, but Xu Li and Song Yi were killed and her mecha was disabled. Cornered, she detonated herself in a devastating blast; Leng Yulai secretly used spatial power to save one of Ling Zichen’s fingers for Su Mo.

• After hearing the Tang Sect reinforcements had been wiped out, Ling Zichen lifted her mecha’s firepower restrictions and attacked Dark Fengniao.
• As the mecha overheated, Ling Zichen ordered Xu Li and Song Yi to escape, but Dark Fengniao killed them before they could leave.
• Grief-stricken, Ling Zichen overloaded the mecha’s weapons, then charged Dark Fengniao after its turrets failed.
• Dark Fengniao stopped the damaged mecha and prepared to kill Ling Zichen, but she detonated herself in a blinding explosion that destroyed her and the mecha.
• Zhao Song and the other Tang Sect powerhouses arrived to find a vast crater, while Dark Fengniao escaped with half his sleeve destroyed.
• Leng Yulai revealed that she had used spatial power to sever and preserve one of Ling Zichen’s fingers for Su Mo.

Leng Yulai brought Ling Zichen’s severed finger to Su Mo’s secret cave, where he used the Impure World Reincarnation to revive Ling Zichen. After she recognized him, Ling Zichen wrongly assumed he had resurrected her to ask for help with his depleted life force.

• Leng Yulai arrived at Su Mo’s hidden coastal cave and gave him Ling Zichen’s severed finger.
• Su Mo used Ling Zichen’s blood on a scroll and sacrificed Su Li to perform the Impure World Reincarnation.
• Ling Zichen returned in an Edo Tensei body and wondered who had revived her.
• Su Mo told Ling Zichen that he had brought her back, and she eagerly asked how he did it.
• Ling Zichen assumed Su Mo needed her help with his depleted life force, leaving Su Mo speechless.

Su Mo revealed that he had transformed Ling Zichen into a paper-bodied being with rapid regeneration, and she eagerly embraced the chance to conduct dangerous experiments. He then offered her unlimited research funding to join him, leaving her tempted despite her Tang Sect contract.

• Ling Zichen told Su Mo that she was researching how to fuse humans and mechas to extend human life, and Su Mo questioned whether she had planned to use him as a test subject.
• Su Mo dismissed Ling Zichen's research and told her to go back, but she discovered that she had lost her sense of touch and that her damaged body regenerated from scraps of paper.
• Leng Yulai turned Ling Zichen into paper scraps, but she quickly reassembled and demanded to know what Su Mo had done to her.
• Ling Zichen welcomed her regenerative body because it would let her test dangerous experiments, and Su Mo invited her to become his subordinate.
• Ling Zichen initially refused because she was the Tang Sect's chief scientist, but Su Mo's offer of unlimited funding and resources made her hesitate.

Ling Zichen considered Su Mo’s offer to support her Positive Cycle Array research but grew suspicious after learning Leng Yulai belonged to the Holy Spirit Cult. Su Mo denied being connected to the cult and left Ling Zichen wondering whether Leng Yulai was an undercover agent.

• Ling Zichen weighed leaving Tang Sect for Su Mo’s research platform, then demanded proof that he was sincere.
• Su Mo pointed out Leng Yulai, whom Ling Zichen initially mistook for Heavenly Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu.
• Leng Yulai revealed she was Leng Yaozhu’s younger sister and a member of the Holy Spirit Cult’s Four Great Dark Heavenly Kings.
• Ling Zichen suspected Su Mo had lured her out of Tang Sect to steal her Positive Cycle Array research and vowed not to help the cult.
• Su Mo explained that Leng Yulai’s status made it unlikely she had sincerely joined the Holy Spirit Cult, and Ling Zichen guessed she might be an undercover agent.

Su Mo convinced Ling Zichen to join his research effort by revealing himself as the Agent of the Plane Will and showing her Douluo Continent’s history. After taking her to the research base, he returned to Eastsea Academy when the vacation ended, where his unexpected reunion with Class Zero left Gu Yue visibly worried.

• Ling Zichen questioned Su Mo about why he wanted to research the Positive Cycle Array, and he told her that the age of Soul Masters would end.
• Su Mo used his Sharingan to show Ling Zichen the history of Douluo Continent, convincing her that he represented the Plane Will and securing her agreement to join him.
• Su Mo summoned Ling Zichen to his research base, where an enormous coffin appeared and enclosed her.
• When Eastsea Academy reopened after the month-long vacation, Xie Xie and Tang Wulin arrived in Class Zero and were surprised to find Su Mo already there.
• Gu Yue entered last, froze when she saw Su Mo, then quietly took a seat.

Wu Zhangkong introduced Xu Xiaoyan as Class Zero’s new student, and the class reacted coolly because of their past clash on the Spirit Ascension Platform. Tang Wulin revealed that he had reached rank twenty, and Wu Zhangkong attributed his sudden progress to a bloodline awakening.

• Wu Zhangkong brought Xu Xiaoyan into Class Zero and told her to introduce herself.
• Xu Xiaoyan said she was ten years old, had the Star Wheel Ice Staff Martial Soul, and possessed seventeen levels of Soul Power.
• Xie Xie teased Xu Xiaoyan about their earlier defeat of her and her brother on the Spirit Ascension Platform.
• Tang Wulin introduced himself as a rank-twenty Soul Grandmaster, surprising Xie Xie, Su Mo, and Gu Yue.
• Wu Zhangkong explained that Tang Wulin had broken through four levels during vacation after his bloodline awakened.

Wu Zhangkong introduced Xu Xiaoyan to Class Zero, where she became captivated by Gu Yue and Su Mo, while Gu Yue grew suspicious of Tang Wulin’s sudden bloodline-related breakthrough. Su Mo’s Level 32 cultivation stunned the class, and Wu Zhangkong had Gu Yue explain how the Old-Era and Soul Spirit cultivation systems differed in speed.

• Wu Zhangkong explained that Tang Wulin had advanced four levels after his bloodline awakened, prompting Gu Yue to question how the Golden Dragon King’s berserk power could have enabled it.
• Xu Xiaoyan introduced herself, admired Gu Yue, and decided to remain in Class Zero after noticing Su Mo.
• Su Mo revealed that he was a ten-year-old Level 32 Soul Elder with a Sharingan, and confirmed his third Soul Ring came from a peak thousand-year Earth Beast.
• Wu Zhangkong asked the students to compare the cultivation systems, and Gu Yue explained that the Old-Era system advanced faster early while the Soul Spirit system became faster later.

Wu Zhangkong explained the Soul Spirit System’s benefits to Class Zero, then took Su Mo aside and gave him an Ice Jade Scorpion soul bone while probing him about Ling Zichen’s attack. He revealed that the Holy Spirit Cult had targeted Ling Zichen, who had died on her way back to Tang Sect Headquarters.

• Wu Zhangkong explained that Soul Spirits lowered the threshold for cultivation breakthroughs, while Su Mo and Gu Yue silently knew the rise in Limit Douluos came from changed planar laws.
• Wu Zhangkong ordered Class Zero to the training field and took Su Mo aside, while Tang Wulin guessed the Tang Sect was compensating him.
• Wu Zhangkong gave Su Mo an Ice Jade Scorpion left claw bone with the Ice Explosion skill.
• Wu Zhangkong told Su Mo that the Tang Sect had traced the Hero Hall System malfunction to the Holy Spirit Cult, which had targeted Ling Zichen rather than Su Mo.
• Wu Zhangkong revealed that Ling Zichen had been attacked by the Holy Spirit Cult and died on her way back to Tang Sect Headquarters.

Wu Zhangkong secretly tested Su Mo’s reaction to news of Ling Zichen’s death, then led the students through physical and spiritual power tests. Tang Wulin and Gu Yue posted exceptional readings, and Su Mo’s spiritual power test ended with the numbers surging beyond expectations.

• Wu Zhangkong told Su Mo that Ling Zichen had died and secretly recorded Su Mo’s reaction for Liang Xiaoyu to assess whether he was connected to the attack.
• Su Mo returned to the field, where Wu Zhangkong punished Xie Xie with a hundred laps for questioning him and began the tests.
• Tang Wulin led the strength test, while Xu Xiaoyan scored poorly; Wu Zhangkong challenged Su Mo for holding back, but accepted his explanation that he had used a secret technique earlier.
• Xie Xie’s spiritual power reached fifty-nine, Xu Xiaoyan’s reached sixty-one, and Tang Wulin’s reached two hundred and fifty.
• Gu Yue’s reading reached two hundred and seventy-eight, and Su Mo’s spiritual power numbers then began climbing rapidly, leaving Xie Xie terrified.

Su Mo's spiritual power exceeded the academy tester's two-thousand-point limit, so Wu Zhangkong excluded him from the combat test. While watching the others fight, Su Mo recognized Tang Wulin's incomplete Mysterious Heaven Skill and began considering how to use his own complete version to pose as the Sea God's successor.

• Su Mo's spiritual power climbed past the tester's two-thousand-point limit before Wu Zhangkong shut it off.
• Wu Zhangkong paired Xie Xie with Gu Yue and Tang Wulin with Xu Xiaoyan, while Su Mo watched from the sidelines.
• Su Mo used his Sharingan to observe the combat test and noticed Tang Wulin and Xie Xie practiced the same abridged Mysterious Heaven Skill.
• Su Mo realized he could use his copied complete Mysterious Heaven Skill to claim he was the Sea God's successor and seek benefits from the Tang Sect and Shrek.
• Tang Wulin and Xu Xiaoyan fought Gu Yue and Xie Xie to a draw.