Chapter Summaries

Long Zhanye nearly killed the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff while consumed by uncontrollable killing intent, but Ye Guyi stopped him with her Sacred Praise soul skill. After recovering, Long Zhanye threatened the talking beast, which offered to become his beast slave to survive.

• The Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff begged Long Zhanye to spare it as his killing blow came down, and Ye Guyi discovered that the beast could speak.
• Ye Guyi used her Third Soul Skill, Sacred Praise, to suppress Long Zhanye's killing intent and bring him back to his senses.
• Long Zhanye learned the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff could talk and demanded a reason not to kill it.
• The Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff apologized for hunting the food on Long Zhanye and pleaded for its life.
• The Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff offered to become Long Zhanye's beast slave, mistaking Tang San for his mount and slave.

Long Zhanye spared the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff and took it with him as Golden Hair before finding a way out of the Mingdou Mountain Range with Ye Guyi. Back at Mingde Hall, he claimed Ye Guyi was his girlfriend to get her past a guard into Experimental Zone 7.

• Long Zhanye chose to keep the Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff after learning its cultivation had reached forty thousand years despite its age of only twenty thousand years.
• Long Zhanye named the reluctant beast Golden Hair and stored it in his Storage Belt.
• Long Zhanye followed Golden Hair's directions and left the Mingdou Mountain Range with Ye Guyi.
• Long Zhanye brought Ye Guyi through Mingde Hall's access gates, but a guard stopped them at Experimental Zone 7.
• Long Zhanye put his arm around Ye Guyi and told the guard she was his girlfriend, so the guard let them enter.

Ye Guyi followed Long Zhanye into Experimental Zone No. 7, where its advanced Soul Tools persuaded her to stay and study. Long Zhanye presented Kong Deming with Starfall Nether Gold to meet his third requirement, but concealed the deposit’s location.

• Ye Guyi angrily confronted Long Zhanye for taking advantage of her, then silently accepted the chance to remain in Mingde Hall and study in Experimental Zone No. 7.
• Long Zhanye brought Ye Guyi to Ruo Lin and Kong Deming in the experimental zone.
• Long Zhanye presented Kong Deming with a fist-sized piece of Starfall Nether Gold from the Mingdou Mountain Range.
• Kong Deming praised the ore’s exceptional purity and asked Long Zhanye where the deposit was located.
• Long Zhanye claimed he had destroyed the mountain range with his Soul Cannons and could bring back only that piece, hiding the deposit’s true location.

Kong Deming agreed to teach Long Zhanye personally after lamenting the Starfall Nether Gold mine Long Zhanye had destroyed, and allowed Ye Guyi to stay in Experimental Zone No. 7. The next day, Ye Guyi eagerly explored Mingde Hall while she and Long Zhanye settled into an arrangement that served both their needs.

• Kong Deming scolded Long Zhanye for destroying a mine of Starfall Nether Gold, then offered to teach him real skills by hand.
• Long Zhanye asked Kong Deming to let his girlfriend, Ye Guyi, stay and study, and Kong Deming agreed.
• Ye Guyi thanked Kong Deming, then traded teasing remarks with Long Zhanye as they followed their master through the experimental area.
• The next day, Ye Guyi explored Mingde Hall's instruments, Soul Tools, and blueprints, excited by its advanced technology.
• Long Zhanye monitored Ye Guyi with Mental Power but gave her freedom, while relying on her Holy Angel to suppress his Killing Intent when he fought.

Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen invited Long Zhanye to join the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy team for the upcoming Spirit Master Elite Tournament, promising him the champion’s Soul Tool. Long Zhanye remained conflicted between his hatred of Shrek and the risks his ties to the Body Sect would bring, leaving his answer unresolved.

• Long Zhanye and Ye Guyi encountered Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen waiting in a Mingde Hall corridor.
• Xiao Hongchen raised the tournament, but Long Zhanye initially refused to participate because it could expose his abilities and complicate his ties to Mingde Hall and the Body Sect.
• Xiao Hongchen offered Long Zhanye the team’s champion’s Soul Tool reward, while Meng Hongchen said they wanted to challenge Shrek Academy’s dominance.
• Xiao Hongchen admitted that Huo Yuhao, who had beaten him five years earlier, still unsettled him and said Long Zhanye’s help in defeating him would secure their victory.
• Long Zhanye weighed his hatred of Shrek against the danger of facing Body Sect acquaintances on behalf of Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, and did not give the siblings an answer.

Long Zhanye agreed to help Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen against Shrek Academy as their team’s Main Controller, in exchange for a True Dragon Pill. He then challenged Xiao Hongchen to a test of strength, and Xiao Hongchen eagerly accepted.

• Meng Hongchen tried to persuade Long Zhanye to help her and Xiao Hongchen, but he pointed out that their family ties made him their grand-martial uncle.
• Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen addressed Long Zhanye as grand-martial uncle and asked him to support them.
• Long Zhanye agreed to make a move only when their team faced Shrek Academy, and demanded the Main Controller position.
• Long Zhanye asked for a True Dragon Pill as payment, and Xiao Hongchen said he would ask his grandfather whether one could be found.
• Long Zhanye challenged Xiao Hongchen to show his strength, and Xiao Hongchen accepted the match.

Long Zhanye effortlessly countered Xiao Hongchen’s combined martial soul and soul tool attack, then dismantled his metal torrent and exposed the weaknesses in his fighting style. Xiao Hongchen was left standing in silence after Long Zhanye shattered his confidence.

• Xiao Hongchen attacked Long Zhanye with Floating Thunder Orbs, a barrage of Soul Guidance Rays, and a metalized punch.
• Long Zhanye stopped the orbs and rays with Killing Intent, caught Xiao Hongchen’s punch, and sent the thunder orbs exploding back at him.
• Xiao Hongchen unleashed his seven Soul Rings and used Love of Metal to gather a torrent of metal fragments against Long Zhanye.
• Long Zhanye crossed the metal torrent with his footwork, grabbed Xiao Hongchen, and disrupted the Soul Power circulating through him.
• Long Zhanye told Xiao Hongchen that he relied too heavily on his martial soul and that his body and reactions could not keep pace with his attacks.

Long Zhanye faced Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen together, then defeated their powerful Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Red Dust Attachment, with his golden palm and Demon-Breaking Sword. The siblings rose from the clash shocked and respectful, while Long Zhanye acknowledged their strength despite having spent nearly eighty percent of his Soul Power.

• Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen attacked Long Zhanye in a coordinated assault, combining close-range punches, Soul Guidance Rays, and icy mist.
• Long Zhanye deflected their strikes and dispersed Meng Hongchen's mist, but the siblings retreated and activated their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Red Dust Attachment.
• Long Zhanye activated Golden Bloodlust, strengthening his body and tripling his strength as he prepared to meet the fusion attack.
• Long Zhanye struck with his golden palm and Demon-Breaking Sword, overpowering Red Dust Attachment and sending both siblings crashing to the ground.
• Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen stood and bowed respectfully as Long Zhanye praised their strength.

Long Zhanye discovered that Xiao Hongchen’s Soul Power was solidifying because of the medicine he had taken, putting his future cultivation at risk. He could not cure the problem, but offered a Gold Wolf King’s remains as a possible way to slow it, leaving Xiao Hongchen hopeful and grateful.

• Long Zhanye told Xiao Hongchen that his Soul Power was beginning to solidify, a process that could trap him at Soul Saint.
• Long Zhanye said the medicine had likely caused the problem and urged Xiao Hongchen to stop taking it and cultivate quickly to reach Title Douluo before the solidification progressed.
• Meng Hongchen pleaded with Long Zhanye to help her brother, but he admitted he could not solve the problem himself.
• Xiao Hongchen offered to repay Long Zhanye if he could help, and Long Zhanye gave him a Gold Wolf King’s remains to eat and prepare as a possible way to slow the condition.
• Xiao Hongchen accepted the advice with renewed hope and promised to repay Long Zhanye’s kindness.

Long Zhanye considered whether Xiao Hongchen’s Soul Power solidification could be addressed by cultivating a Heart Soul Core, but he judged the untested method too risky to recommend. Back in Mingde Hall, he continued learning from Kong Deming and noticed that Kong used a different engraving knife for each part of a Core Array.

• Long Zhanye studied the Nirvana Secret’s Body Five-Viscera Deification Soul Core and considered using it to help Xiao Hongchen condense a Heart Soul Core early, but he decided not to risk damaging his foundation.
• Long Zhanye left the Hongchen siblings and returned to Mingde Hall’s experimental area, where he continued assisting Kong Deming with a Humanoid Soul Tool.
• Long Zhanye mastered the production of most Level 7 Soul Tools and learned by watching Kong Deming engrave Class Nine Core Arrays.
• Ye Guyi quietly asked Long Zhanye why Kong Deming used a different engraving knife for each component.
• Long Zhanye observed Kong Deming switch knives while engraving a single Core Array and wondered about the unusual technique.

Long Zhanye asked Kong Deming why he used several Engraving Knives to carve a Level 9 Core Array, and Kong explained how the technique brought him close to creating Level 10 Soul Tools. He showed Long Zhanye and Ye Guyi five top-ranked knives he had used for decades, then began introducing them.

• Long Zhanye asked Kong Deming why he switched between multiple Engraving Knives while carving Level 9 Core Arrays.
• Kong Deming explained that engraving multiple Soul Power circulation methods and attributes into one Level 9 Core Array was a key step toward making a Level 10 Soul Tool.
• Kong Deming said no one knew how to engrave a true Level 10 Core Array, so he sought to make Level 9 arrays reach comparable strength.
• Kong Deming summoned five Ranked Engraving Knives, each among the top ten on the Engraving Knife Ranking, and said they could carry five attributes and circulation methods.
• Kong Deming revealed that he had forged the top eight knives on the ranking and began pointing out the crimson knife among his five finest.

Kong Deming showed Long Zhanye five of the highest-ranked engraving knives and explained their origins and powers. He then revealed that his sixth-ranked knife had been destroyed, his seventh had been given to the Sun Moon Imperial Family, and his eighth was the Azure Heaven Dragon Transformation Blade.

• Kong Deming described the fifth-ranked Nine Phoenix Facing Sun Engraving Knife and its Phoenix Flame, which could strengthen a Soul Tool by more than thirty percent.
• Kong Deming explained that the Necrotic Evil Demon Blade contained the souls of ten thousand innocent people, then described how he made the Thunder Judgment Blade from a rock altered by a Lightning Tribulation.
• Kong Deming identified the Ice Extreme Divine Blade as the second-ranked engraving knife and revealed that his first-ranked Sun Moon Divine Blade came from a god's inheritance temple.
• Long Zhanye asked where the other three of Kong Deming's eight top-ten engraving knives were, and Kong Deming put away the five he had displayed.
• Kong Deming said the sixth-ranked knife had been destroyed in an experiment and the seventh had been given to the Sun Moon Imperial Family.
• Kong Deming showed Long Zhanye the eighth-ranked Azure Heaven Dragon Transformation Blade, whose blade bore a dragon pattern and carried wind-attribute power.

Kong Deming explained the histories and powers of several Ranked Engraving Knives, then examined Long Zhanye’s Dark Green Dragon Engraving Knife and discovered its fusion with the Crimson Blade had greatly improved its quality. He challenged Long Zhanye to surpass Jing Hongchen’s record for becoming a Level 9 Soul Engineer, promising him an engraving knife as a reward, and Long Zhanye left determined to study.

• Kong Deming described several powerful engraving knives and said Jing Hongchen owned the ninth-ranked Blade of the Other Shore Red Dust, which Kong had forged for him.
• Long Zhanye showed Kong his Dark Green Dragon Engraving Knife and revealed that it had devoured another engraving knife.
• Kong identified the absorbed weapon as the sixty-second-ranked Crimson Blade, which had chosen to assimilate with Long Zhanye’s knife and raised its quality to at least the forty-second rank.
• Kong recalled that Jing Hongchen had advanced from a Class 8 to a Level 9 Soul Engineer in seven years and offered Long Zhanye an engraving knife if he broke that record.
• Long Zhanye acknowledged the difficulty of reaching Level 9 and agreed to hurry off and study.

Jing Hongchen sought Long Zhanye’s help with Xiao Hongchen’s Soul Power solidification and offered him a chance to approach the Holy Spirit Cult in exchange. Long Zhanye accepted, hoping to find a True Dragon Pill, and was promised a place on Mingde Hall’s next monthly delivery.

• Jing Hongchen asked Long Zhanye whether he could resolve Xiao Hongchen’s Soul Power solidification, and Long Zhanye replied that he had some ideas but no proven method.
• Jing Hongchen said Mingde Hall did not possess a True Dragon Pill, but suspected the Holy Spirit Cult might have one because of its extensive soul-beast hunting.
• Long Zhanye offered to help Xiao Hongchen if Jing Hongchen introduced him to the Holy Spirit Cult.
• Jing Hongchen offered Long Zhanye the researcher’s spot on Mingde Hall’s next full-moon delivery to the Holy Spirit Cult, and Long Zhanye accepted.
• Jing Hongchen and Long Zhanye each believed the exchange served their own interests, with Jing focused on his grandson and Long Zhanye on finding the True Dragon Pill.

Long Zhanye’s Heavenly Eye showed him a veiled Evil Soul Master who looked like his missing mother, leaving him desperate to learn whether she had become part of the Holy Spirit Cult. On the night of the full moon, he prepared to deliver Soul Tools to the cult and uncover the truth.

• Long Zhanye repeatedly saw images of Holy Spirit Cult sacrifices and a veiled woman in visions from his Heavenly Eye.
• Long Zhanye recognized the woman’s face as nearly identical to his mother’s and wondered what had happened to his missing mother and baby brother.
• Long Zhanye blamed Shrek for his family’s fate and swore to make Shrek pay if it had caused his mother to become an Evil Soul Master.
• On the fifteenth day of the month, Long Zhanye prepared to attend the transaction between Mingde Hall and the Holy Spirit Cult.
• Jing Hongchen privately warned Long Zhanye to count the Soul Tools, avoid provoking the Evil Soul Masters, and conceal his strength before giving him a black robe and mask.

Long Zhanye reached a hidden Holy Spirit Cult camp to investigate after collecting unusual soul tools from Jing Hongchen. He found Elder Mask inside the lead tent and searched the camp for the woman from the Heavenly Eye image while assessing the danger around him.

• Long Zhanye stored the soul tools and suspected their sealed compartments were designed to hold extracted souls.
• Following Jing Hongchen's instructions, Long Zhanye flew to a secluded camp in the Evil Demon Forest under a blood moon.
• A black-clad Spirit King-level Evil Soul Master let Long Zhanye enter after he identified himself as Po Hongchen of Mingde Hall.
• Long Zhanye sensed more than four hundred Evil Soul Masters throughout the camp and heard women being abused in the tents.
• A guard said Elder Mask was occupied, and Long Zhanye recognized the powerful aura from the Ming Capital black market.
• Long Zhanye used his Double Pupil and Mental Power to search the camp for the woman from the image and any threats.

Long Zhanye delivered Soul Tools to Elder Mask and assessed the unstable Title Douluo as a potential target. He stirred Elder Mask’s desire by claiming to know women far more beautiful than the ones in his tent, then said they were noblewomen beyond his reach.

• A guard told Long Zhanye that Elder Mask was ready to receive him, and Long Zhanye entered to find three abused women and Elder Mask’s grotesque, unmasked face.
• Elder Mask asked to inspect the Soul Tools from Mingde Hall, and Long Zhanye displayed them for him.
• Long Zhanye sensed that Elder Mask’s rank-ninety-one Soul Power was unstable and considered exploiting his weakness and desperation for talent.
• Long Zhanye praised the women in the tent, then claimed he had seen beauties who surpassed them and made Elder Mask demand to meet them.
• Long Zhanye said the women were noble daughters from powerful families and that he had no way to approach them.

Long Zhanye bargained with Masked Douluo for a reward and accepted the Soul Manipulation Technique, hoping it might help him investigate the visions of soul extraction and find the woman in them. After leaving the Holy Spirit Cult camp, he decided that Shrek Academy students at the upcoming Spirit Master Elite Tournament would make suitable targets to trade for Masked Douluo’s favor.

• Long Zhanye persuaded Masked Douluo to promise generous rewards in exchange for finding him beautiful women, but rejected a seventh Soul Ring and a Spirit Bone.
• Masked Douluo offered to teach Long Zhanye the Soul Manipulation Technique, and Long Zhanye accepted because it might reveal the truth behind his visions.
• Long Zhanye left the camp while Masked Douluo turned his attention back to the women on the bed.
• Long Zhanye considered taking women from the Ordinary Alliance but decided Masked Douluo would likely find them too familiar.
• Long Zhanye resolved to target female Shrek Academy students at the upcoming Spirit Master Elite Tournament, believing the Sun Moon Empire would bear the blame.

Long Zhanye doubted Masked Douluo’s offer and decided to test his sincerity before acting against Shrek. He visited the Bright Jade Sect, surveyed its weak disciples, and fell asleep on a pavilion roof, where the sect’s elders eventually came to confront him.

• Long Zhanye suspected Masked Douluo might be deceiving him, so he planned to test the proposed deal before moving against Shrek.
• Long Zhanye flew to the Ming Capital to visit the Bright Jade Sect, where his dead fiancée had once been a disciple.
• Long Zhanye surveyed the sect from its tallest pavilion and found that most disciples were weak, with no seventh-rank soul engineers.
• Long Zhanye fell asleep on the pavilion roof until the gathered disciples’ shouting woke him.
• Three Bright Jade Sect elders, each with an aura above the Soul Saint level, emerged to confront Long Zhanye.

Long Zhanye confronted the Bright Jade Sect over Xiahou Ling’s death and challenged its members to prove they were not Evil Soul Masters. After the Vice Sect Master Gai Feng threatened him, the Bright Jade Sect Master arrived and faced him.

• A Bright Jade Sect elder called Long Zhanye a rat, and Long Zhanye reminded the crowd that the sect had proposed marriage to his village six years earlier.
• Two elders recognized Long Zhanye as the surviving Twin Martial Souls genius from Body Village, and the crowd reacted with surprise.
• Long Zhanye accused the sect of causing Xiahou Ling’s death and demanded to know whether it was a sect of Evil Soul Masters.
• Gai Feng revealed herself as the Vice Sect Master, activated her eight Soul Rings and bat wings, and threatened Long Zhanye.
• Long Zhanye asked Gai Feng her name, then saw the Bright Jade Sect Master arrive and recognized her from the engagement banquet six years earlier.