Chapter Summaries

Tian Meng detonated four hundred thousand years of origin power to escape the Snow Empress and the other rulers of the Far North. The blast devastated the Core Area, and the injured Snow Empress survived as the Titan Snow Demon King pursued Tian Meng.

• Tian Meng released four golden rings of origin power and detonated them as the Snow Empress attacked with her domain and sword.
• Tian Meng controlled Huo Yuhao and fled behind a defensive barrier, revealing that its rage had partly been an act to make the Snow Empress retreat.
• The explosion devastated the Core Area, while an enormous Ice Bear charged toward the blast.
• The Ice Empress found the Snow Empress alive but gravely injured, while the Titan Snow Demon King pursued Tian Meng.

After the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm’s desperate attack injured the Snow Empress, Ice Empress, and Titan Snow Demon King, Huo Yuhao and the silkworm hid in a crevice and began recovering. The story then moved ahead to the start of the new school term, where Electrolux told Lu Ran that Mu En was close to death.

• The Snow Empress and Ice Empress discovered the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm’s vitality-rich slough and agreed to divide it, while the Snow Empress pondered a possible connection to Lu Ran.
• Huo Yuhao hid with the weakened Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, took a pill from his Storage Soul Tool, and slowly recovered from the strain of escaping the Far North core region.
• The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm told Huo Yuhao to recover and leave the Far North, then vowed that they would return to choose an Ice Attribute Soul Beast and take revenge.
• A month passed, the new students enrolled, and Mu En became frailer as he left Sea God Pavilion affairs to the Elders and academy heads.
• Electrolux told Lu Ran that Mu En’s body was like a candle flickering in the wind.

Lu Ran hoped to find a way to use immense life force to extend Mu En’s life, then attended his promotion exam as Shrek’s new semester began. The first-year exam started in the Beast Fighting Arena, where a student faced a five-hundred-year White Long-Armed Ape.

• Lu Ran recalled Electrolux saying that immense life force might be able to extend Mu En’s life, and resolved to try if he found a source.
• Wang Yan explained the promotion exam rules and warned Class One that students had to earn an overall score above sixty to pass.
• Wang Yan led Class One through the gray walls into the enormous Beast Fighting Arena, which Lu Ran already knew from his earlier visits.
• The students gathered with the judges and teachers, and Class One and Class Two began taking turns in the exam.
• The first male student from Class One chose a five-hundred-year Soul Beast, and a White Long-Armed Ape entered the arena as the referee began the exam.

Students from Class One watched two Class Two students face Soul Beasts in the Beast Fighting Arena. Ding Ning defeated a six-hundred-year-old Giant Horned Ox through repeated clashes with her giant hammer, then returned to cheers from both classes.

• A male student used Great Strength Ape—Possession and defeated a five-hundred-year-old Wind Ape, suffering a bloody facial wound.
• Wang Dong questioned Lu Ran about his Soul Beast choice, while Dai Huabin criticized the male student for choosing a five-hundred-year-old Soul Beast.
• Class Two’s Ding Ning entered the arena to face a six-hundred-year-old Giant Horned Ox as her classmates cheered her on.
• Ding Ning summoned a giant black iron hammer and repeatedly struck the Giant Horned Ox’s horns until it fled.
• Ding Ning thanked the students from both classes for their praise and returned to Class Two while teachers repaired the arena floor.

Wang Dong chose to fight a thousand-year Soul Beast and defeated a Bloodthirsty Demon Bear with her powerful Soul Skills. The assessment ended with a teacher intervening to stop her final attack, and Wang Dong returned to Lu Ran exhausted but proud.

• Wang Dong chose a thousand-year Soul Beast and revealed that she had three Soul Rings, including two purple ones.
• Wang Dong blinded the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear with explosive light clusters and injured its foreleg with her Butterfly Goddess wings.
• Wang Dong unleashed her Butterfly God Slash as the bear used its Earthquake Wave, and a burly teacher intervened to restrain the bear and block her attack.
• Du Weilun ended the assessment and approved of Wang Dong's talent and strength.
• Wang Dong boasted to Lu Ran about her performance, then nearly collapsed from exhaustion.

Dai Huabin sought to prove himself by choosing a thousand-year Soul Beast, driven by his resentment toward Lu Ran. He fought the Wind Tiger with reckless force and, imagining it was Lu Ran, launched a deadly strike as the battle continued.

• Lu Ran helped Wang Dong after her exercise, and she teased him about competing in the assessment.
• Teachers healed the Bloodthirsty Demon Bear and restored the arena for the remaining students’ assessments.
• Dai Huabin chose to fight a thousand-year Soul Beast, hoping to overcome the humiliation of being outclassed by Lu Ran.
• Dai Huabin waited for the Wind Tiger to attack, then activated three Soul Skills and met its charge head-on.
• Dai Huabin ignored his wounds and lunged at the Wind Tiger, imagining it was Lu Ran and trying to sever its neck.

Dai Huabin was reprimanded for deliberately injuring the Wind Tiger, while Lu Ran drew the crowd’s attention as he entered the arena to face a Thousand-Year Violent Bear. The chapter ended with Lu Ran standing calmly as the beast advanced.

• A teacher stopped Dai Huabin from attacking the Wind Tiger further, and Du Weilun ordered him to leave the arena for violating the assessment rules.
• A teacher healed Dai Huabin and warned him against treating competition as slaughter, but Dai Huabin remained silent and vowed to make those who had turned against him pay.
• Wang Dong celebrated Dai Huabin’s reprimand and reflected on his privileged background and reputation among Shrek’s lower-year students.
• After the assessment resumed, Lu Ran chose a Thousand-Year Soul Beast and entered the arena to face a Violent Bear.
• Lu Ran remained relaxed as the Violent Bear approached, leaving the watching students waiting to see how he would fight.

Lu Ran passed his Beast Fighting Arena test by using his Soul Beast Affinity to calm a thousand-year Violent Bear and petting it instead of fighting it. That night, Fan Yu visited Huo Yuhao’s dormitory and learned that Huo Yuhao had not returned since the school year began.

• Lu Ran approached the Violent Bear without revealing a Soul Ring, and it lowered itself so he could stroke its head.
• The Violent Bear relaxed under Lu Ran’s touch, and the judges struggled to decide how to score the encounter.
• Du Weilun followed Yan Shaozhe’s instruction to give Lu Ran a passing grade, and Lu Ran told the teachers he had defeated the bear.
• Lu Ran explained that his Golden Hat’s passive Soul Skill, Soul Beast Affinity, had made the Violent Bear friendly toward him.
• That night, Fan Yu questioned Huo Yuhao’s dormmate, who said Huo Yuhao had not returned since the school year began and had left during the break to go for a walk.

Huo Yuhao endured the transfer of a ten-thousand-year-old Ice Jade Scorpion’s power in the Far North to gain an Ultimate Ice Martial Soul. At Shrek Academy, Dai Huabin brooded over his low assessment score and the attention Lu Ran had received.

• Fan Yu searched Huo Yuhao’s friends and academy staff but could not find him and grew increasingly worried.
• Huo Yuhao agreed to absorb the Ice Jade Scorpion’s origin power and Soul Ring after Tian Meng promised they could give him an Ultimate Ice Martial Soul.
• Tian Meng poured the scorpion’s power into Huo Yuhao, who convulsed in agony as the snow buried him.
• All students in Class One passed the assessment, and Wang Yan gave them an extra day off.
• Dai Huabin saw that he had scored fifty points and became furious as students discussed Lu Ran’s achievement and treated Dai Huabin as unable to surpass him.

Huo Yuhao returned to Shrek and apologized to Fan Yu and Zhou Yi, claiming his Martial Soul had caused him trouble before he awakened a second one. Days later, Wang Yan led the Core Disciples to the Soul Fighting Zone for the Selection Tournament, while Ning Tian and Wu Feng wondered who would team up with her.

• Huo Yuhao knelt before Fan Yu and Zhou Yi and apologized for disappearing, then said his Martial Soul had been acting strangely.
• Huo Yuhao concealed the truth after Tian Meng warned him, and gave Fan Yu and Zhou Yi a rehearsed explanation about his Spirit Eye, a spiritual Soul Ring, and awakening Twin Martial Souls.
• Huo Yuhao released his Ultimate Ice and revealed the Ice Jade Scorpion tattoo, leaving Fan Yu and Zhou Yi shocked and eager to hear more.
• Several days later, Wang Yan told the Core Disciples to follow him to the Soul Fighting Zone for the Selection Tournament.
• Ning Tian asked Lu Ran about the tournament rules, while Wu Feng decided she wanted to protect Ning Tian and grew wary of Lu Ran.
• The Core Disciples entered the cleared Soul Fighting Zone, where no other students had been allowed to watch.

Lu Ran watched the Soul Guidance Department arrive at the Soul Fighting Arena and learned that Huo Yuhao had become one of its Core Disciples. Huo Yuhao confronted Dai Huabin with silent hatred, while He Caitou stayed alert to his junior’s grudge.

• Lu Ran saw Huo Yuhao and He Caitou arrive, and He Caitou’s heavily armed appearance reminded him of the Detective.
• Dai Huabin spotted Huo Yuhao and delighted in seeing the hatred in his eyes, then openly flirted with Zhu Lu.
• Huo Yuhao stayed calm despite his anger, and He Caitou checked on him before silently memorizing Dai Huabin’s name.
• Fan Yu had protected Huo Yuhao from expulsion by claiming he was on a secret mission and making him a Core Disciple of the Soul Guidance Department.
• Yan Shaozhe and the Martial Soul Department accepted Huo Yuhao’s transfer, wary of worsening tensions with Xian Lin'er and the Soul Guidance Department.

At the Soul Fighting Arena, Xuan Zi began the core disciple assessment as a no-rules free-for-all, with the last seven students standing declared winners. The students immediately targeted Lu Ran, who turned the fight around with his Rock Crystal Dragon and Jade Azure Bird, while Xu Sanshi faced him next.

• Jiang Nannan arrived and approached Lu Ran, but Xuan Zi descended and announced the assessment rules: the last seven people standing would win.
• The students formed teams, then most of them joined forces to attack Lu Ran and the three people beside him.
• Ning Tian used her Seven-Colored Treasure Pagoda to strengthen Lu Ran, Wang Dong, and Wu Feng as they prepared to fight back.
• Lu Ran summoned the Rock Crystal Dragon and Jade Azure Bird, which sent more than a dozen opponents flying and disrupted the other teams.
• Xu Sanshi activated his Black Tortoise abilities, but Lu Ran's enormous yellow figure suddenly appeared in front of him.

Lu Ran overwhelmed the students who attacked him, astonishing the teachers and revealing the gap between his strength and their expectations. As the defeated students struggled on the arena floor, Dai Huabin suffered a mysterious loss of control and screamed in pain.

• Xu Sanshi used Profound Darkness Displacement to escape the Rock Crystal Dragon's attack, while the third-year student swapped into his place was struck and carried away for treatment.
• Lu Ran's counterattack left more than half the students down or struggling to stand, though he had not moved from his spot.
• The teachers watched in disbelief as Lu Ran's strength exceeded what they thought possible for a three-ring Soul Master.
• Wu Feng realized Lu Ran had held back during their earlier sparring match and felt distressed about her Young Lord.
• Dai Huabin charged at Lu Ran, but the Rock Crystal Dragon shattered his White Tiger Protection Barrier with a casual tail strike.
• As Dai Huabin fell, a strange chaos took over his mind and body until a sudden burst of pain brought him back to consciousness, making him scream.

Huo Yuhao brutally attacked Dai Huabin during the Soul Fighting Arena assessment, driven by years of hatred toward the Duke's Mansion. A teacher stopped Zhu Lu from striking back, declared Huo Yuhao the loser, and carried off the injured Dai Huabin.

• Huo Yuhao used his Soul Skills to disable Dai Huabin, then pinned him down and repeatedly punched his face while recalling the humiliations he and his mother had endured.
• Zhu Lu charged at Huo Yuhao, who raised ice walls and used Dai Huabin as a human shield, but she broke through and sent him flying.
• A middle-aged male teacher shielded Dai Huabin, stopped Zhu Lu, and caught the force of her attack with a Defensive Soul Tool.
• Huo Yuhao laughed despite his injuries, startling the students and teachers, while Bei Bei wondered why he had changed and He Caitou concluded that he and Dai Huabin shared a blood feud.
• The teacher declared Huo Yuhao the loser, and Huo Yuhao accepted the verdict as the teacher lifted the badly injured Dai Huabin away.

Zhu Lu tried to stop the teacher from removing the unconscious Dai Huabin, then protested Huo Yuhao’s victory as he left the arena injured. Huo Yuhao celebrated taking the first step toward revenge for his mother, but Teacher Fan Yu appeared before him and his excitement faded.

• Zhu Lu begged for someone to heal Dai Huabin and tried to block the male teacher, but he carried Dai Huabin to the teachers’ stand for treatment.
• Zhu Lu accused Huo Yuhao of deliberately injuring and poisoning Dai Huabin and demanded that he be expelled.
• Xuan Zi dismissed Zhu Lu’s complaints, while a female teacher used her turquoise scepter to treat Dai Huabin’s injuries.
• Huo Yuhao left the arena in pain, believing he had avenged his mother and resolving to destroy the Duke’s Mansion and kill Dai Huabin.
• Teacher Fan Yu appeared before Huo Yuhao, and Huo Yuhao lowered his head as his excitement faded.

Fan Yu pretended to expel Huo Yuhao before secretly taking him away, protecting him from consequences for injuring Dai Huabin. He comforted Huo Yuhao in flight, while Zhu Lu stayed behind and planned to complain to the Duke's Mansion.

• Fan Yu publicly ordered Huo Yuhao to leave Shrek Academy, and He Caitou pleaded for him before Huo Yuhao could explain himself.
• Fan Yu apologized to the teachers and carried Huo Yuhao away on a Flight Soul Tool, leaving the crowd behind.
• Huo Yuhao cried and apologized to Fan Yu, who comforted him and explained that the public expulsion was a necessary show to protect him.
• Tian Meng told Huo Yuhao that his awakened Ultimate Martial Soul made him more important than Dai Huabin and urged him to keep cultivating toward godhood.
• Zhu Lu accused Fan Yu of covering for Huo Yuhao, but Xuan Zi ordered the match to continue; Zhu Lu decided to complain to the Duke's Mansion afterward.

The arena battle ended with Lu Ran and six others named the Seven Monsters Reserve Team, after which they fought a friendly match against the official Shrek Seven Devils. Dai Huabin woke from a nightmare to learn that Huo Yuhao had defeated him in the Core Disciple examination, and he returned four days later looking furious and exhausted.

• The students began fighting in the darkened Soul Fighting Arena, and Zhu Lu and Cui Yajie eliminated He Caitou before being eliminated themselves.
• Lu Ran, Jiang Nannan, Ning Tian, Wu Feng, Wang Dong, Bei Bei, and Nanmen Yun'er were the last seven standing, and Xuan Zi named them the Seven Monsters Reserve Team.
• Lu Ran held his own against Ma Xiaotao and used the Rock Crystal Dragon and Jade Azure Bird against Chen Zifeng and Xi Xi, while keeping his Golden Hawksbill secret.
• Dai Huabin woke beside Zhu Lu and learned that the Core Disciple examination had ended and Huo Yuhao had defeated him.
• Four days later, Dai Huabin returned to class looking exhausted and bloodshot, with a menacing aura.

Dai Huabin resolved to seek revenge on Huo Yuhao after Shrek’s authorities dismissed his accusations. On a forest trip, Xuan Zi explained the Inner Academy’s role as the Shrek Inspectorate and asked the students whether they would accept its dangerous responsibilities.

• Dai Huabin brooded over the academy’s protection of Huo Yuhao and vowed to take justice into his own hands.
• Two weeks later, Xuan Zi and Wang Yan led the Reserve Team and the current Shrek Seven Devils through the forest outside Shrek Academy.
• Xuan Zi explained that Inner Academy students had sacrificed themselves in their duties and asked the Reserve Team to accept those responsibilities; the six agreed.
• Xuan Zi revealed that the Inner Academy was also the Shrek Inspectorate, which investigated Evil Soul Masters and other threats the empires failed to address.
• Xuan Zi said each Inspector had to complete thirty missions and asked whether the group was willing to join; everyone answered yes.

Lu Ran considered the Shrek Inspectorate’s vital but unchecked role as Xuan Zi prepared the students for their first mission against Evil Soul Masters. Ma Xiaotao briefed them on a bandit gang in the Mingdou Mountain Range, and Lu Ran summoned the Jade Azure Bird to carry the team there.

• Lu Ran weighed the Inspectorate’s contributions against the danger of giving its members great power without oversight.
• Xuan Zi agreed to lead the Reserve Team and the official Shrek Seven Monsters on a mission, following the tradition of veterans guiding newcomers.
• Ma Xiaotao explained that the Death Messengers, a cruel bandit gang led by a powerful Evil Soul Master, had to be eliminated from the Mingdou Mountain Range within three or four days.
• Wang Yan distributed disguise rings, clothing, cloaks, and masks, and Ma Xiaotao arranged the team’s travel to the mountain range.
• Lu Ran summoned the Jade Azure Bird, astonishing the others with its lifelike appearance and enormous size.

The Shrek group traveled at high speed toward the Mingdou Mountain Range, combining several Soul Masters’ boosts as they crossed the forest and reached the border between the Star Luo Empire and the Sun Moon Empire. Dai Yueheng borrowed Military Soul Tools to speed up the rest of their journey, while Wang Dong and Bei Bei inspected them.

• Ning Tian, Gongyang Mo, Yao Haoxuan, and Lu Ran boosted the group’s speed and attributes before they set out with Wang Yan.
• The Jade Azure Bird carried Ning Tian above the forest and outpaced Ma Xiaotao and the other students traveling on foot.
• After crossing hundreds of miles of forest, the group continued toward the Star Dou Great Forest’s outskirts and rested along the way.
• The group reached the border military camp, where Dai Yueheng borrowed more than a dozen Military Soul Tools.
• Wang Dong and Bei Bei examined the Flight Soul Tools while Lu Ran showed little interest in them.