Chapter Summaries

Qian Renxue and her companions tracked the Evil Soul Masters to their altar on the Great Snow Mountain and battled their level ninety-two leader. After Qian Renxue wounded him with Angel Descent, he sacrificed the lives bound to the altar to raise his strength to level ninety-seven, and Ling Feng stepped forward to confront him.

• Qian Renxue's group found a village massacred by the Evil Soul Masters and rescued children hiding in a well.
• Ling Feng discovered a dying old man, who revealed that the Evil Soul Masters' lair was on the Great Snow Mountain and that a Titled Douluo led them.
• Qian Renxue climbed the mountain with Ling Feng, Jin Chen, Hu Liena, Xie Yue, Yan, and Dugu Yan, then confronted the leader at his altar.
• Qian Renxue used Angel Descent to reach level ninety-seven and struck the leader, wounding him and destroying half the altar.
• The leader used the altar's blood to raise his strength to level ninety-seven and lunged at Qian Renxue, so Ling Feng activated Dark Dragon King True Body and moved to block him.

Ling Feng, Qian Renxue, and their companions defeated the Evil Soul Master leader, destroyed his altar, and rescued the captive children. After surviving a seven-day trek out of the Extreme Cold Land, the army returned south and reached the outskirts of Spirit City.

• Ling Feng and Qian Renxue killed the Evil Soul Master leader with help from Jin Chen and the four little ones.
• Zhao Tiezhu’s forces cleaned up the battlefield, destroyed the altar, and prepared to return to Spirit City.
• Ling Feng, Qian Renxue, and the army endured seven days of blizzards before reaching the edge of the snowfield.
• The army traveled south as villagers cheered Spirit Hall’s Holy Daughter and Holy Son for defeating the Evil Soul Masters and rescuing people.
• Half a month later, the army reached Spirit City, where Qian Daoliu and the Seven Consecrated awaited them.

Qian Renxue and Ling Feng returned to Spirit Hall after defeating the northern Evil Soul Masters and received promotions and rewards. As Qian Renxue began the Angel God’s Fourth Trial, Ling Feng set out with Jin Chen to seek his own path to godhood.

• Qian Xunji welcomed Qian Renxue home, and Qian Daoliu recognized her and Ling Feng’s return.
• Qian Daoliu promoted Qian Renxue and Ling Feng to commanders, promoted several companions to stewards, and rewarded the First Angel Legion’s soldiers.
• Qian Renxue wondered whether their actions had mattered, and Ling Feng reassured her that they had saved the northern children.
• Qian Renxue continued training after her Angel God’s Fourth Trial began, while Ling Feng struggled to understand where his own road to godhood lay.
• Jin Chen told Ling Feng about Qian Renxue’s trial and offered to travel with him to find his own godhood; Ling Feng agreed.
• Ling Feng and Jin Chen left Spirit City to seek their paths, while Qian Renxue stayed behind to continue her trial.

Ling Feng and Jin Chen traveled across the sea to Sea God Island, where Ling Feng sought guidance on the path to godhood. After the Sea Soul Masters refused to let them meet the Sea God, a blue light emerged from the temple and appeared before Ling Feng.

• Ling Feng and Jin Chen left Spirit City and reached Sea-Viewing Town, where locals warned them that no one returned from Sea God Island.
• Ling Feng hired the old boatman Chen for one thousand Gold Soul Coins to take them to the island.
• After sailing for seven days and waiting through a day and night of dense fog, Ling Feng and Jin Chen arrived at Sea God Island.
• Sea Soul Masters surrounded Ling Feng and Jin Chen, but Ling Feng refused to leave and asked to meet the Sea God for guidance on the path to godhood.
• As evening fell, blue light shot from the temple and formed a flickering phantom before Ling Feng.

Ling Feng and Jin Chen left Sea God Island after Bo Saixi refused to let Ling Feng meet the Sea God, telling him his path did not lie upon the sea. As they traveled on, Ling Feng resolved to follow his own path, and Jin Chen vowed to become a god alongside him.

• Bo Saixi told Ling Feng the Sea God would not see him because his path did not lie upon the sea, then revealed that the previous Dark Sacred Dragon wielder had died.
• Ling Feng and Jin Chen left Sea God Island by boat, and Ling Feng explained that his path was not yet steady enough for meeting the Sea God to help him.
• The old boatman revealed that he had once sought a god, but returned to fishing after being told he was not destined to become one.
• As they left Sea-Viewing Town, Ling Feng told Jin Chen that finding one's own path mattered more than becoming a god.
• Jin Chen declared that he would become a god too, and Ling Feng encouraged him.

Ling Feng and Jin Chen arrived in Gengxin City, where Ling Feng studied the rhythms of the blacksmiths’ hammering in search of his own path. An old blacksmith gifted him the sword Return to Heart, and Ling Feng continued listening for insight at the Heavenly Craft Workshop.

• Ling Feng and Jin Chen reached Gengxin City and explored its crowded streets of blacksmith shops.
• Ling Feng listened to the blacksmiths’ hammering and recognized the different paths expressed through their rhythms.
• An old blacksmith praised Ling Feng’s understanding of his life’s work and gave him the sword Return to Heart.
• Ling Feng spent the next day visiting the city’s forges, observing and listening without finding his own path.
• Ling Feng stood outside the Heavenly Craft Workshop and listened to its unusual hammering rhythm.

After leaving Gengxin City, Ling Feng sent Jin Chen back to Spirit City before traveling alone into the Extreme North. He encountered a Frost Giant Bear in the Core Area, then decided to return to Spirit Hall before seeking his eighth Soul Ring in the Star Dou Great Forest.

• Ling Feng and Jin Chen left Gengxin City, carrying the old blacksmith's lesson that a road was made by walking it.
• Ling Feng told Jin Chen to return to Spirit City because the Extreme North was too dangerous for him, and Jin Chen agreed to wait there.
• Ling Feng traveled north alone through the wilderness and snow, reaching the Extreme North's Core Area.
• Ling Feng quietly circled around a Frost Giant Bear without alarming it.
• Ling Feng decided to return to Spirit Hall, then go to the Star Dou Great Forest to obtain his eighth Soul Ring.

Ling Feng reached level eighty and went to the Star Dou Great Forest to ask Gu Yuena for his eighth Soul Ring. She gave him a five-hundred-thousand-year Dark Dragon God Soul Ring, which he absorbed and emerged from with a new soul skill, a Soul Bone, and level eighty-four cultivation.

• Ling Feng told Qian Daoliu he was going to seek his eighth Soul Ring from Gu Yuena, and Qian Daoliu warned him to be careful.
• Ling Feng traveled to the Lake of Life, where Di Tian summoned Gu Yuena to meet him.
• Ling Feng asked Gu Yuena for a five-hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring, and she agreed to give him a dark-attribute remnant of the Ancient Dark Dragon God.
• Ling Feng endured the Soul Ring's violent power as it fused with his Dark Sacred Dragon Martial Soul and condensed into his eighth Soul Ring.
• Ling Feng reached level eighty-four and gained the Sigh of the Dark Dragon God soul skill and the Dark Dragon God's Left Arm Bone.

Ling Feng gained a five-hundred-thousand-year Eighth Spirit Ring and returned to Spirit City, where Qian Daoliu learned of his breakthrough to rank eighty-four. In the God Realm, the God of Destruction revealed that the Asura God had smuggled a human soul into the lower realm, then showed the Goddess of Life an infant without identifying whose soul it held.

• Gu Yuena warned Ling Feng that the Dark Dragon God's power was meant for protection and that she would reclaim it if he lost control.
• Di Tian explained that Ling Feng's Sigh of the Dark Dragon God was weak against strong-willed opponents and offered Lord's help if his power went out of control.
• Ling Feng returned to Spirit City and showed Qian Daoliu his five-hundred-thousand-year Eighth Spirit Ring and his breakthrough to rank eighty-four.
• The God of Destruction watched Ling Feng in the lower realm and told the Goddess of Life that the Asura God feared him.
• The God of Destruction revealed that the Asura God had rebuilt Tang Hao, given him powerful Spirit Rings, and smuggled a human soul into the lower realm attached to an infant.

The God of Destruction chose Qiangu Lingfeng as a candidate to challenge his divine trials, setting a deadly first test. A violet token reached Ling Feng in Spirit City, where the God of Destruction identified himself.

• The God of Destruction exposed the Asura God's plan to place Tang San's soul in the infant Wang San and decided to choose a pawn of his own.
• The God of Destruction selected Qiangu Lingfeng for the Nine Trials of Destruction, making clear that the trials were a competition rather than a gift.
• The God of Destruction created the first trial: Ling Feng had to endure thirty days in the Domain of Destruction and kill a phantom Five-Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast without Soul Bone skills or divine artifacts.
• Ling Feng stood in the Worship Hall, troubled by Gu Yuena's words about the Dark Dragon God's power being meant to protect, when a violet token descended before him.
• The God of Destruction spoke through the token and revealed himself to Qiangu Lingfeng.

Ling Feng accepted the God of Destruction’s Nine Trials and entered the Domain of Destruction to face the first trial. After days of being battered by the Destruction Giant Dragon, he remained determined to fight, with the thirty-day trial still underway.

• The God of Destruction revealed that he chose Ling Feng because the Asura God feared his potential, and Ling Feng accepted the Nine Trials of Destruction.
• The God of Destruction set the first trial: Ling Feng had to endure the Domain of Destruction for thirty days and kill a five-hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast phantom without using Soul Bone skills or divine artifacts.
• Ling Feng told Qian Daoliu about the trial, and Qian Daoliu urged him to come back alive.
• Ling Feng activated the purple token and entered the Domain of Destruction, where he summoned his Dark Sacred Dragon martial soul and found the Destruction Giant Dragon.
• The Destruction Giant Dragon repeatedly struck Ling Feng down, but he kept charging it through the first four days of the trial.

Ling Feng completed the first Trial of Destruction after defeating the Destruction Giant Dragon, then returned to Spirit City as the Worship Hall convened to discuss founding the Spirit Hall Empire. Qian Xunji proposed Qian Renxue as its founding Empress, and the assembled leaders voiced their support as Qiangu Xiaoye began to address the question of who could rule.

• Ling Feng endured twenty-nine days in the Domain of Destruction, defeated the Destruction Giant Dragon with his Eighth Soul Skill, and completed the God of Destruction's First Trial.
• Three days later, Qian Daoliu summoned Spirit Hall's leaders to the Worship Hall while Ling Feng's injuries were still healing.
• Qian Xunji proposed founding the Spirit Hall Empire and naming Qian Renxue its founding Empress.
• Golden Crocodile Douluo, Qianjun Douluo, Falling Devil Douluo, Green Phoenix Douluo, Mighty Lion Douluo, Light Feather Douluo, Dugu Bo, Yue Guan, and Gui Mei supported the proposal.
• Qiangu Xiaoye said the empire needed a ruler with prestige, ability, and courage.

Spirit Hall's leaders approved founding the Spirit Hall Empire in three months, with Qian Renxue as its founding Empress and Martial Soul Capital as its capital. The chapter ended with Qian Xunji beginning to draft the founding proclamation before dawn.

• Qian Renxue agreed to become the founding Empress after Qian Daoliu asked if she was willing.
• Qian Daoliu chose the name Spirit Hall Empire, and the leaders selected Spirit City, renamed Martial Soul Capital, as its capital.
• Qian Xunji proposed imperial appointments, while Yue Guan and Gui Mei agreed to serve as Left Envoy and Right Envoy.
• The leaders set the founding ceremony for three months later and decided to avoid war with the two great empires for the time being.
• Qian Daoliu formally declared Qian Renxue the founding Empress, and Ling Feng stood beside her as she looked toward the Angel God Statue.
• Before dawn the next morning, Qian Xunji began drafting the founding proclamation.

Qian Xunji finalized and distributed Spirit Hall’s proclamation founding the Spirit Hall Empire, with Qian Renxue as its Empress. Xue Ye and Dai Tianfeng each ordered a generous gift and planned to attend the founding ceremony in Martial Soul Capital in three months.

• Qian Xunji completed the proclamation, and Qian Daoliu, Ling Feng, and Qian Renxue approved it.
• Spirit Hall stewards copied and distributed the proclamation across the continent, and within three days news of the new empire had spread.
• Xue Ye accepted that he could not stop Spirit Hall from founding its empire and ordered preparations to attend the ceremony with a generous gift.
• Dai Tianfeng discussed Qian Renxue’s age with Zhu Wuchang, then ordered a generous gift and said he would personally attend the ceremony.

After Spirit Hall founded the Spirit Hall Empire with Qian Renxue as Empress, people across the continent weighed the change with hope and fear. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect prepared to seek accommodation, while support grew among commoners and independent cultivators and opposition remained among those tied to the old powers.

• Ning Fengzhi asked Chen Xin whether Spirit Hall would move against the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and they agreed the sect could not defeat the Spirit Hall Empire; Ning planned to bring a lavish gift to the Martial Soul Capital in three months.
• An old blacksmith in Gengxin City read the proclamation and said Spirit Hall’s support for commoners made him hopeful about Qian Renxue’s rule.
• Tavern patrons in Suotuo City debated the new empire, while a hooded Gray Robe left after thinking of Qian Renxue, Qiangu Lingfeng, and his son, who had forgotten his origins in Spirit Hall’s kindergarten.
• Wang San attended class in Spirit City, happily reciting Martial Soul Basics without knowing his biological father was searching for him.
• An elderly independent cultivator praised Spirit Hall’s free kindergarten and declared his support for the empire, drawing cheers from the crowd.
• Soul Master clans and others with ties to the two great empires feared Spirit Hall would overthrow the old order and destroy their interests.

Spirit Hall held its founding ceremony in Martial Soul Capital as Qian Xunji announced the creation of the Martial Soul Empire and named Qian Renxue its founding Empress. The ceremony had begun, but Qian Renxue had not yet appeared or been enthroned.

• An old Soul Master called on people to unite and fight Spirit Hall, but most onlookers ignored him.
• Martial Soul Capital was decorated for the founding ceremony as guests and tens of thousands of commoners gathered at Angel Square.
• Xue Ye, Xue Qinghe, Dai Tianfeng, Zhu Wuchang, Ning Fengzhi, and leaders from academies and other groups took their places among the guests.
• The ceremony began with 108 cannon blasts and the Spirit Hall Empire's anthem, Ode to the Angel.
• Qian Xunji declared that Spirit Hall had founded the Martial Soul Empire, named Martial Soul Capital its capital, and announced Qian Renxue as its founding Empress.

Qian Renxue was crowned founding Empress of the Spirit Hall Empire and announced decrees to improve life for its citizens. As the crowd celebrated, the rulers and guests from the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires reflected on their own inability to enact similar reforms.

• Qian Renxue appeared in her imperial robes and displayed the overwhelming divine aura of her Twelve-Winged Angel martial soul.
• Qian Xunji proclaimed Qian Renxue the founding Empress, then placed the empire’s golden crown upon her head as the Angel God’s phantom appeared above the square.
• Qian Renxue declared three years of tax exemption, free state-funded kindergartens and schools, and a state-subsidized halving of salt prices.
• The citizens erupted in cheers, while Xue Ye and Dai Tianfeng recognized that entrenched interests kept their empires from matching Qian Renxue’s decrees.
• Ning Fengzhi recalled Qian Renxue’s childhood vow to protect Spirit Hall and all living beings, and felt that his sect had chosen the right alliance.

After Qian Renxue became Empress of the Spirit Hall Empire, Ling Feng and Qian Xunji watched her pray and share an emotional reunion as father and daughter. Three days later, Qian Xunji began telling Qian Renxue about her mother, Bibi Dong.

• Qian Renxue raised the Holy Sword and was acclaimed as Empress of the Spirit Hall Empire while Ling Feng and the others watched.
• Qian Renxue prayed for the empire and its people, and Ling Feng assured Qian Xunji that she could be a good ruler.
• Qian Renxue thanked Qian Xunji, embraced him, and cried as Ling Feng left them alone.
• Three days after the founding ceremony, Qian Xunji told Qian Renxue that he needed to speak about her mother, Bibi Dong.

Yu Xiaogang lived as a reclusive, impoverished adviser at Suotuo City Junior Soul Master Academy, passing his days between writing and drinking. Teacher Liu brought him a Spirit Hall announcement declaring the destruction of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, leaving Yu Xiaogang frozen and shaken by the news.

• Yu Xiaogang dreamed of his childhood at the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan while dozing over his manuscript.
• Teacher Liu rushed into Yu Xiaogang’s room and urged him to read an urgent notice from Spirit Hall.
• Yu Xiaogang read that the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had been condemned for colluding with Evil Soul Masters and attacking Spirit Hall branch halls.
• The announcement stated that Yu Yuanzhen, Yu Luomian, and Yu Tianxiao had been executed and that the clan had been removed from the Upper Three Sects.
• Yu Xiaogang trembled and turned ash-white as Teacher Liu cautiously asked if he was all right.

Yu Xiaogang learned that the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had been destroyed, stirring memories of his rejection and exile from the clan. As news of the Spirit Hall Empire spread around him, he remained numb and went to the window overlooking the drainage ditch.

• Yu Xiaogang recalled awakening Luo Sanpao instead of a dragon martial soul and being cast out by his father, Yu Yuanzhen.
• Yu Xiaogang read the notice that the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had perished and that his father and the clan elders were dead.
• Yu Xiaogang ordered Teacher Liu out, frightening him into fleeing the room.
• Yu Xiaogang sat alone as people outside discussed Empress Qian Renxue, Regent Qian Xunji, and the Spirit Hall Empire.
• Yu Xiaogang rose stiffly and looked out the window at the drainage ditch.