Chapter Summaries

Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun considered selling a Spirit Bone through Heaven Dou Auction House, while Liu Erlong warned Yu Xiaogang and Flender about the danger posed by Xie Ru and Chen Xuan. Yu Xiaogang agreed to lie low for now but resolved to regain his dignity when Xiao San became famous.

• Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun decided to consider Heaven Dou Auction House as a way to make money by selling a Spirit Bone.
• Liu Erlong grew angry over Zhou Qiubai's humiliation of Yu Xiaogang, while Flender urged her to avoid provoking powerful people.
• Liu Erlong told Flender and Yu Xiaogang that Xie Ru had single-handedly wiped out seven Evil Soul Masters and defeated Sword Douluo Chen Xin in swordsmanship.
• Liu Erlong warned Yu Xiaogang not to provoke Xie Ru or Chen Xuan again, and Yu Xiaogang agreed to let the matter go temporarily.
• Yu Xiaogang silently vowed to wash away his humiliation once Xiao San became famous.

Yu Xiaogang brooded over his theories and blamed Xie Ru and Chen Xuan for his troubles, while Shui Bing'er and Qian Renxue reflected on Zhou Qiubai's strength and character. The chapter ended with Qian Renxue ordering continued surveillance and an investigation into Zhou Qiubai's ties to Xie Ru and Chen Xuan.

• Yu Xiaogang reread his Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul and insisted that the world, not his theories, was wrong.
• Shui Yue'er told Shui Bing'er and the Skywater Team about Zhou Qiubai's victories, including his defeat of a Soul Emperor.
• Shui Bing'er said Zhou Qiubai would not hold back against them because giving an opponent his all was a form of respect.
• Qian Renxue ordered She Long to keep watching Zhou Qiubai from a distance.
• Qian Renxue explained that she valued Zhou Qiubai's temperament and persistence, then ordered an investigation into his relationship with Xie Ru and Chen Xuan.

After Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun broke through, they headed to the Heaven Dou Auction House to sell a Spirit Bone. Meanwhile, Ning Fengzhi sent Chen Xin to observe Zhou Qiubai, who entered the auction center with Yang Guyun carrying a numbered bidder plaque.

• Yang Guyun said she was ready to break through Rank Forty-Three, and Zhou Qiubai planned to reach Rank Thirty-Eight within three days.
• Zhou Qiubai broke through to Rank Thirty-Eight, and he and Yang Guyun confirmed the next morning that they had both advanced.
• Ning Fengzhi asked Chen Xin to observe Zhou Qiubai without interfering, and Chen Xin agreed to visit Heaven Dou City.
• Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun went to the Heaven Dou Auction House, where Zhou Qiubai offered a high-quality, roughly 4,800-year-old wind-attribute Spirit Bone for auction.
• The appraiser agreed to an eight percent commission, completed the paperwork, and had a maid escort Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun to the auction center.

Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun attended the Heaven Dou Auction House, where they encountered Tang San and Xiao Wu, then met Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin. As the auction began, Zhou Qiubai prepared to sell some items, but the chapter ended before his lots appeared.

• Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun entered the auction center and spotted Tang San and Xiao Wu in the White Zone.
• Zhou Qiubai sensed Chen Xin's Sword Intent and exchanged a measured look with the white-haired elder before Ning Fengzhi introduced himself and Chen Xin.
• Ning Fengzhi sat beside Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun, discussed their meeting with the Crown Prince, and learned Zhou Qiubai had come to sell items for spending money.
• Hong Yu opened the auction and presented Star Pattern Iron, which sold for three thousand two hundred Gold Soul Coins.
• Several lots of Spirit Beast materials, rare herbs, and antique artifacts followed, selling for thousands to tens of thousands of Gold Soul Coins.

At the Heaven Dou Auction House, Zhou Qiubai watched rare lots sell, including a Moonlight Fox that made him uneasy and a valuable Spirit Bone. Ning Fengzhi won the Swift Wind Falcon right leg bone for one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins after a Black Zone bidder recognized him and withdrew.

• Zhou Qiubai observed Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin refrain from bidding while Tang San stopped bidding on Dragon Blood Ginseng once its price exceeded five thousand Gold Soul Coins.
• A complete set of ritual-making tools sold to a Black Zone guest for fifteen thousand Gold Soul Coins.
• Hong Yu auctioned a Moonlight Fox, and Zhou Qiubai questioned whether it was right to keep the creature caged; an elegantly dressed noblewoman bought it for ninety-five thousand Gold Soul Coins.
• Ning Fengzhi bid on an incomplete Codex but stopped when its price exceeded three thousand Gold Soul Coins.
• Hong Yu presented a four-thousand-eight-hundred-year-old Thousand-Year Swift Wind Falcon right leg bone, and bids pushed its price past ninety thousand Gold Soul Coins.
• Ning Fengzhi bid one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins for the Spirit Bone, prompting a Black Zone bidder who recognized him to withdraw.

At the Heaven Dou Auction House, the final item was revealed as a Cat Girl whose Martial Soul awakening had mutated her into a half-human, half-beast, provoking Xiao Wu’s anger. Chen Xin recognized Xiao Wu as a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form, and Zhou Qiubai began considering how to pit Chen Xin against the injured Tang Hao.

• Ning Fengzhi bought the Spirit Bone from Zhou Qiubai, who accepted the sale and appreciated the goodwill behind it.
• Hong Yu unveiled the final auction item, a Cat Girl whose body had mutated during her Martial Soul awakening, and warned bidders that the Auction House offered no guarantees.
• Xiao Wu stood up in anger at the Cat Girl’s treatment, while Tang San urged her to calm down.
• Chen Xin sensed Xiao Wu’s identity as a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form and informed Ning Fengzhi, who told him not to act yet because Ning Rongrong attended the same academy.
• Zhou Qiubai noticed Chen Xin’s discovery and considered using him to confront the wounded Tang Hao.

At the auction, Ning Fengzhi outbid Prince Xue Xing for Xiao Yao, a Cat Girl being sold into servitude. Zhou Qiubai refused to accept her as a gift and declared her free, arranging for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to shelter her.

• Bidders competed for Xiao Yao until Ning Fengzhi offered three hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, causing Prince Xue Xing to withdraw.
• Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun sold the Spirit Bones backstage, and Zhou Qiubai received a stored-value card with ninety-two thousand Gold Soul Coins.
• Ning Fengzhi offered Xiao Yao to Zhou Qiubai, who refused to treat her as a possession and told her she was free.
• Zhou Qiubai gave Xiao Yao money and asked Ning Fengzhi to arrange a place for her at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
• Xiao Yao chose to follow Zhou Qiubai and thanked him, but he told her she did not need to serve him.

Ning Fengzhi tried to recruit Zhou Qiubai to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect during a dinner, but Zhou declined, leaving Chen Xin intrigued by his sword intent and Ning Fengzhi still probing the others at the table.

• Ning Fengzhi invited Zhou Qiubai, Yang Guyun, and Xiao Yao to dine at the Seven Treasure Pavilion after Zhou refused financial help.
• Ning Fengzhi asked Zhou Qiubai about his master and future plans, then offered him a vacant guardian elder position.
• Zhou Qiubai declined the offer, and Chen Xin briefly let killing intent show before deciding that Zhou's sword talent was too valuable to kill.
• Ning Fengzhi apologized for Chen Xin's behavior, then praised Yang Guyun's potential and learned that Yang considered himself separate from the Breaking Clan.
• Chen Xin reflected on the 100,000-year transformed Spirit Beast he had seen and the prospect of gaining its Soul Ring and Soul Bone.

Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin weighed Tang San’s identity and Zhou Qiubai’s potential while deciding to avoid open conflict. Liu Erlong confronted Zhou Qiubai over his public criticism of Yu Xiaogang’s theories, and the chapter ended as she prepared to attack him.

• Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin realized Tang San’s identity and chose to observe Xiao Wu rather than seize her by force.
• Chen Xin praised Zhou Qiubai’s talent, and Ning Fengzhi decided they should monitor the situation to avoid conflict among the Upper Three Sects.
• The innkeeper reported that Liu Erlong had arrived looking for Zhou Qiubai, who declined Ning Fengzhi’s offer of help and went downstairs with Yang Guyun and Xiao Yao.
• Liu Erlong accused Zhou Qiubai of humiliating Yu Xiaogang, but Zhou defended his criticism of theories that contradicted the facts.
• Liu Erlong summoned her seven Soul Rings and threatened to teach Zhou Qiubai a lesson on Yu Xiaogang’s behalf.

Liu Erlong confronted Zhou Qiubai over his criticism of Yu Xiaogang’s theories, but Chen Xin and Ning Fengzhi intervened, and Flender admitted the theories had flaws. After Liu Erlong left, Zhou Qiubai declined Chen Xin’s offer of a sword match for now and promised to seek him out in three years.

• Liu Erlong tried to attack Zhou Qiubai, but Chen Xin appeared and stopped her from pressuring him.
• Ning Fengzhi invoked Xie Ru’s and Chen Xuan’s doubts about Yu Xiaogang’s theories, prompting scholars to condemn Liu Erlong’s defense of them.
• Flender arrived and admitted that some of Zhou Qiubai’s criticism of Yu Xiaogang’s theories made sense.
• Zhou Qiubai apologized for his earlier harsh words and urged Liu Erlong to discuss the theories with Yu Xiaogang; Liu Erlong then left with Flender.
• Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin worried that Shrek Academy might be unsuitable for Ning Rongrong.
• Chen Xin challenged Zhou Qiubai to a sword-only match, and Zhou Qiubai promised to visit the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect in three years if he reached Soul Emperor.

Zhou Qiubai agreed to meet Chen Xin in three years, then arranged for Xiao Yao to stay with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect so she could learn to protect herself. After parting from her, he and Yang Guyun planned to find work in Heaven Dou City.

• Zhou Qiubai promised Chen Xin he would return in three years, while Chen Xin explained that he willingly bore his responsibilities to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and Ning Rongrong.
• Ning Fengzhi offered to take Xiao Yao into the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and Zhou Qiubai encouraged her to go there and train until she could protect herself.
• Xiao Yao accepted Ning Fengzhi's offer after Zhou Qiubai promised she could join him and Yang Guyun later, and she waved goodbye as the carriage departed.
• Zhou Qiubai admitted to Yang Guyun that he would keep his three-year challenge to Chen Xin, then said they should seek paid work after using their savings for a meal.

Chen Xin decided to leave the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect’s daily affairs to Gu Rong so he could enter seclusion and study the Sword Dao. Ning Fengzhi and Gu Rong agreed to support him, then the three discussed whether Ning Rongrong should remain at Shrek Academy and the danger of Xiao Wu’s identity.

• Chen Xin told Ning Fengzhi he wanted to study the Sword Dao after witnessing Xie Ru and Zhou Qiubai’s swords, and proposed that Gu Rong take over the sect’s daily affairs.
• Ning Fengzhi agreed to support Chen Xin, and Gu Rong readily accepted responsibility for the sect while Chen Xin entered seclusion.
• Gu Rong criticized Liu Erlong, Yu Xiaogang, Dai Mubai, and Ma Hongjun, and urged Ning Fengzhi to remove Ning Rongrong from Shrek Academy.
• Ning Fengzhi said Ning Rongrong could not leave yet, prompting Gu Rong to ask whether he was waiting because of Xiao Wu, the hundred-thousand-year transforming spirit beast.
• Chen Xin questioned why Tang Hao let Xiao Wu stay beside his son in Heaven Dou City, and Ning Fengzhi recalled that Tang Hao had once traveled with the Blue Silver Emperor.

Ning Fengzhi reasoned that Tang San was Tang Hao and Ah Yin’s son, with the Blue Silver Emperor and Clear Sky Hammer as his Twin Martial Souls, and planned to use that information to gain the Clear Sky Sect’s gratitude and secure Xiao Wu’s Spirit Bone. The chapter ended as Zhou Qiubai and his companions arrived at the Mercenary Guild, where Gu Rong had been told to discreetly guide them.

• Ning Fengzhi explained to Chen Xin and Gu Rong why Ah Yin was likely a transformed Blue Silver Emperor and Tang San likely possessed Twin Martial Souls.
• Ning Fengzhi proposed informing the Clear Sky Sect so it would protect Tang San and Xiao Wu, while the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect could later obtain Xiao Wu’s Spirit Bone.
• Chen Xin and Gu Rong agreed to follow Ning Fengzhi’s plan and wait until the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament began before acting.
• Ning Fengzhi told Gu Rong to watch the Mercenary Guild and quietly guide Zhou Qiubai and his companions toward suitable missions.
• The next morning, Zhou Qiubai and his companions arrived at the Mercenary Guild in Heaven Dou City’s northern district.

Zhou Qiubai registered with the Heaven Dou Mercenary Guild and accepted a mission to investigate the North City Disappearance Case. The next day, he and Yang Guyun began questioning families in the slums, starting with an elderly woman.

• Zhou Qiubai paid the registration fee and registered at the guild as a level thirty-eight Soul Elder with the White Clothes Sword Martial Soul.
• Zhou Qiubai chose the mission to investigate the disappearances after learning that twenty-seven people had vanished and previous investigators had been lost or driven mad.
• Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun discussed Xiao Yao leaving with Ning Fengzhi and agreed that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect could offer her a safer, more stable life.
• The next day, Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun visited the slums and showed an elderly woman their mission token.
• Zhou Qiubai asked the elderly woman whether anyone in her family had gone missing.

Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun investigated the nighttime disappearances of poor civilians and captured three assassins linked to the Shadow Society. They learned the captives were being held at an underground base in an abandoned cave north of the city, and found its entrance beneath a banyan tree.

• Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun questioned families of the missing and discovered the victims were poor civilians who vanished at night around the Old District.
• Zhou Qiubai planned a trap, and Yang Guyun acted as bait while Zhou Qiubai hid nearby.
• Three masked Soul Elders attacked Yang Guyun with poisoned weapons, but Zhou Qiubai intervened and captured them.
• Zhou Qiubai questioned one attacker, who identified the Shadow Society and revealed that its captives were held in an underground base beneath an abandoned karst cave three li north of the city.
• Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun found a narrow entrance beneath a large banyan tree and prepared to investigate the cave.

Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun discovered a cave laboratory where fanatics had imprisoned and mutated people in pursuit of power. They defeated the captors and freed the prisoners, leaving the survivors to recover after Zhou admitted they had come on a paid mission.

• Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun entered the cave and found around twenty mutated people locked in cages beside pools of dark-red liquid.
• The scar-faced leader and his followers defended their experiments, claiming they sought to overthrow Soul Masters and gain power for ordinary people.
• Yang Guyun disabled the seven black-clad fighters while Zhou Qiubai outmaneuvered their leader.
• The leader swallowed a pill that boosted his strength, but Zhou Qiubai pierced his chest with the White Clothes Sword, and he died from the wound and its backlash.
• Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun opened the cages, gave the weakened prisoners water and food, and Zhou explained they had come as mercenaries to fulfill a mission.

Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun rescued the captives and exposed the Shadow Society’s links to nobles and officials while completing their mercenary job. Their discovery drew the attention of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and Xue Qinghe, and Zhou Qiubai returned to the inn to find Chen Xuan waiting for him.

• Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun searched the Shadow Society’s hideout, found records of its members and funding, and handed the rescued civilians and arrested accomplices to the City Guard.
• Zhou Qiubai collected the 4,500 Gold Soul Coins reward from the Mercenary Guild and told Yang Guyun that the Shadow Society’s ideology could cause chaos.
• Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun returned to their inn, where they found Chen Xuan waiting to see Zhou Qiubai.
• Ning Fengzhi and Gu Rong discussed the Shadow Society’s funding and suspected that Spirit Hall might be using it to create disorder, though they had no proof.
• Xue Qinghe read a secret report and decided the Shadow Society’s anti-Soul Master ideology had to be eradicated, making Zhou Qiubai her inadvertent ally.

Xue Qinghe reflected on Zhou Qiubai’s independence, while Chen Xuan warned him not to investigate the Shadow Society further and gave him a book. Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun took a mission at an abandoned mine, where they encountered a swarm of Iron-Eating Beasts and began fighting them.

• Xue Qinghe wondered whether she could live as freely as Zhou Qiubai, then suppressed the thought and accepted her fate as Qian Renxue.
• Chen Xuan warned Zhou Qiubai that the Shadow Society had deep connections and advised him to stop investigating, then handed him an untitled bundle of bamboo slips.
• Zhou Qiubai told Yang Guyun that Chen Xuan had urged him to leave the Shadow Society matter alone, and the pair spent the next seven days taking missions instead of fighting in the Great Soul Arena.
• Zhou Qiubai accepted a mission to investigate unusual activity at West Mountain Mine, despite the one-eyed old man warning that several Soul Masters had died there.
• Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun found gnawed bones at the abandoned mine, then watched thousands of Iron-Eating Beasts pour out and devour the ground.
• Yang Guyun and Zhou Qiubai fought the beetles, but their numbers overwhelmed the pair, so Zhou Qiubai sheathed his sword and told Yang Guyun to retreat.

Zhou Qiubai killed the Iron-Eating Beast queen and completed the mine mission, while Qian Renxue learned that Salas had targeted him and ordered him protected. Back at the inn, Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun discussed their watchers and Xue Qinghe’s mannerisms, ending with Yang Guyun realizing Zhou suspected Xue Qinghe was a woman in disguise.

• Zhou Qiubai found the Iron-Eating Beast queen in the cavern, killed it, and caused the swarm to collapse.
• Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun returned to the Mercenary Guild and collected eight hundred Gold Soul Coins for completing the mission.
• Qian Renxue learned that Salas had sent two Soul Kings to target Zhou Qiubai and ordered She Long to protect him without revealing their identities.
• Zhou Qiubai and Yang Guyun noticed they had been followed and considered whether Xue Qinghe’s people were monitoring or protecting them.
• Yang Guyun described Xue Qinghe’s feminine mannerisms, and Zhou Qiubai suggested that Xue Qinghe might be a woman in disguise.

Zhou Qiubai revealed to Yang Guyun that Xue Qinghe was Qian Renxue in disguise and that Xiao Wu was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, then explained his history with Tang Hao and learned Yang would help him seek revenge. Three days later, Xiao Yao wrote to Zhou Qiubai from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, where Ning Rongrong questioned her about him.

• Zhou Qiubai told Yang Guyun that Qian Renxue had impersonated Xue Qinghe to take control of Heaven Dou and that she was working against her mother, Bibi Dong.
• Zhou Qiubai revealed that Xiao Wu was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit and that Tang Hao's wife, Ah Yin, had also been a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
• Zhou Qiubai recounted how Tang Hao had hunted him after he refused to hand over his footwork and pledge allegiance to Tang San, and he said he would seek revenge on Tang Hao but not Tang San unless provoked.
• Yang Guyun explained that the Breaking Clan resented Tang Hao and agreed to help Zhou Qiubai get revenge.
• Three days later, Xiao Yao wrote Zhou Qiubai a letter and asked a woman to deliver it to Yuelai Inn.
• Ning Rongrong brought Xiao Yao new clothes and asked what kind of person Zhou Qiubai was.