Chapter Summaries

Lu Yu explained how Holy Soul Village’s tourism venture was earning money and organized wages and profits to benefit its villagers as visitor numbers grew. While preparing to leave after training the villagers, he encountered Su Yuntao, who was shocked to learn that Lu Yu had already become a level twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster.

• Lu Yu explained the first day’s earnings and urged the villagers to preserve Holy Soul Village’s reputation through good service.
• He established wages, rewards, and a village fund so the work and profits would benefit the households fairly.
• Tourists continued to flock to Holy Soul Village, and Lu Yu decided to stay ten more days before leaving.
• Su Yuntao arrived and criticized the monument’s story about a Soul Sage, then questioned why Lu Yu was back in the village.
• Lu Yu explained that he had returned to visit and thank the villagers, and Su Yuntao advised him to resume cultivation soon.
• Su Yuntao asked about Lu Yu’s strength and was stunned when Lu Yu said he was a level twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster.

Lu Yu welcomed Su Yuntao to Holy Soul Village, concealed the village’s prosperity, and persuaded him to postpone the children’s martial soul awakening until the next day. After Su Yuntao enjoyed the village’s food and conversation, Lu Yu considered how to protect the village once he left.

• Lu Yu led Su Yuntao into Holy Soul Village and explained that its improvements came from villagers’ labor rather than sudden wealth.
• Lu Yu told Su Yuntao the village’s story of the Gray Boy, and the village chief arrived to greet the Spirit Hall envoy.
• Lu Yu convinced Su Yuntao and the village chief to delay the martial soul awakening ceremony until the next day so the village could prepare.
• Lu Yu and Su Yuntao discussed soul master cultivation, then Su Yuntao eagerly ate the village’s snacks.
• Lu Yu realized the village needed a capable soul master to provide security and teach its children, and decided to seek one.

After enjoying Old Jack's wife's cooking, Su Yuntao inspected Holy Soul Village's newly built Spirit Hall and prepared to awaken the village children's martial souls. Old Jack encouraged the children to value one another regardless of their martial souls, while the chapter ended with the village chief recalling that Lu Yu had taught him this perspective.

• Su Yuntao stayed for dinner at Old Jack's home and praised the meal, then decided to inspect Holy Soul Village's children the next day.
• Lu Yu showed Su Yuntao the stone Spirit Hall and explained how the villagers had built it together to inspire the children.
• Old Jack brought the children to the Spirit Hall and reprimanded one who suggested Shitou had no chance of awakening a martial soul.
• Old Jack told the children that people could live useful lives whether or not they became Soul Masters, and Shitou regained his confidence.
• The child apologized to Shitou, who forgave him, and Old Jack privately recalled that Lu Yu had shared those ideas with him.

At the Martial Soul awakening ceremony, Lu Yu watched Su Yuntao test the village children and saw Stone suffer as he tried to awaken a sealed Martial Soul. Lu Yu stepped in to help Stone, while Su Yuntao warned that interfering could be dangerous.

• Old Jack reassured the seven children that anyone could become useful, then brought them to Spirit Hall for their awakenings.
• Su Yuntao tested the first five children, whose Martial Souls were sickles, hoes, or Blue Silver Grass, and found that none had Soul Power.
• Stone went next, but his awakening caused him intense pain, and Lu Yu and Su Yuntao realized that his Martial Soul had been sealed.
• Su Yuntao hesitated to intervene, fearing the risks and the trouble Stone's origins could bring, while Lu Yu hurried to Stone's side.
• Lu Yu told Su Yuntao he could not leave Stone to suffer or die, and Su Yuntao warned that helping him regain consciousness might be beyond their abilities.

Lu Yu secretly helped Little Shitou weaken the seal on his martial soul, then concealed their progress by making it seem the awakening had failed. He sent Little Shitou away with Luoshen while he prepared to deal with Su Yuntao, leaving the village chief’s wife asking whether Little Shitou’s problem could be resolved.

• Lu Yu sent the other children away and carefully guided Little Shitou’s Soul Power against the seal until a crack formed, then stopped before the seal broke.
• Little Shitou awakened and showed level-nine Soul Power, while Lu Yu and Little Shitou pretended that his martial soul remained inaccessible.
• Lu Yu took Little Shitou to the village chief’s house, where the village chief’s wife comforted him with rice cakes.
• Lu Yu asked Luoshen to take Little Shitou out while he sent Su Yuntao off, and Little Shitou agreed to wait and follow Lu Yu’s instructions.
• Little Shitou left with Luoshen, silently resolving to repay those who had helped him, while the village chief’s wife asked Lu Yu if his situation could be resolved.

Lu Yu explained that Little Shitou’s sealed Martial Soul might be tied to a powerful family and that breaking the seal could expose the village to danger. After learning he was adopted, Little Shitou chose the safety of his village and adoptive parents over awakening his Martial Soul, but Old Jack said his parents also had a right to decide.

• The village chief’s wife told Lu Yu she had suspected Little Shitou was adopted after noticing the costly Heavenly Silkworm Silk in his swaddling cloth.
• Su Yuntao declined Lu Yu’s invitation to stay, then pulled Lu Yu aside and warned him that breaking Little Shitou’s seal could alert its caster and endanger the whole village.
• Lu Yu explained Little Shitou’s sealed Martial Soul and the risks of breaking it to Old Jack and the village chief’s wife, who shared their memories of the child’s arrival six years earlier.
• Little Shitou overheard the discussion, said he did not blame his adoptive parents, and wondered whether his origins and sealed Martial Soul could bring danger to everyone.
• Luoshen comforted Little Shitou, who then told Lu Yu and the village chief’s family he would rather give up having a Martial Soul than endanger the village and his parents.
• Old Jack told Little Shitou that the decision was not his to make alone and that his father and mother also had the right to know.

After learning that Stone had a powerful Martial Soul Seal that could endanger his life and the village, Stone and his adoptive parents discussed whether to remove it. Lu Yu proposed taking Stone far from Holy Soul Village to attempt the dangerous procedure, but its outcome remained uncertain.

• Old Jack told Stone's adoptive parents that a Martial Soul Seal had been found inside Stone and that Stone already knew he was adopted.
• Lu Yu warned the family that the sealed Martial Soul could harm Stone as he grew, while removing the seal could draw the attention of a powerful family and endanger the village.
• Stone's adoptive parents vowed to support him, but Stone worried about bringing danger and hardship upon them and the villagers.
• Stone broke down crying after his parents comforted him and assured him they would not abandon him.
• Lu Yu outlined the choice between letting Stone live as an ordinary person or taking him away from Holy Soul Village to attempt to break the seal, warning that he could not guarantee success or safety.

Lu Yu persuaded Shi Tou’s adoptive parents to keep his unusual situation secret and wait before deciding whether he should remain with them. When Shi Tou asked about his origins, they revealed that they had found him as an infant in a black wicker trunk by a river; his mother brought the trunk out as their story ended.

• Lu Yu warned Shi Tou’s adoptive parents that powerful people might someday try to reclaim him, and they asked for until the next day to decide what to do.
• Lu Yu told the couple to conceal what had happened and explain Shi Tou’s distress as disappointment over failing to awaken a martial soul.
• Shi Tou stopped Lu Yu and the village chief from leaving and asked his parents why they lacked martial souls and how they had found him.
• Shi Tou’s parents admitted that they were not his biological parents and said they had planned to tell him everything when he turned sixteen.
• Shi Tou’s father recounted finding the infant Shi Tou in a waterproof black wicker trunk caught in riverside branches, then adopting him after searching for anyone who might have abandoned him.
• Shi Tou’s mother brought out and opened the black wicker trunk, while Lu Yu wondered whether its color was associated with a particular family.

Lu Yu examined the keepsakes Shitou’s adoptive parents had saved and found that his swaddling cloth contained Heavenly Silkworm Silk, suggesting Shitou came from a powerful family. He speculated that Shitou’s birth mother might have hidden him to protect him, then set a three-day deadline for Shitou to decide whether to awaken his martial soul and leave Holy Soul Village with him.

• Shitou’s adoptive parents showed him his childhood clothes and toys, and Shitou was moved by the care they had given him.
• Lu Yu examined Shitou’s black swaddling cloth and discovered its unusual fabric and Heavenly Silkworm Silk lining, which pointed to a wealthy and influential family.
• Lu Yu and Old Jack considered why Shitou had been sent downstream in a waterproof chest, and Lu Yu suggested his birth mother might have been trying to save him from harm.
• Shitou’s adoptive parents questioned Lu Yu’s theory, while Shitou hoped his birth parents had been forced to abandon him and drew comfort from his adoptive family’s love.
• Lu Yu gave Shitou three days to decide whether to pursue his origins and martial soul; if Shitou chose to go, Lu Yu planned to take him away and break his Martial Soul Seal.
• Lu Yu and the village chief left Shitou’s home as villagers gathered outside and speculated about Shitou’s martial soul.

Lu Yu waited for Shitou to decide whether to undo the Martial Soul Seal and leave his adoptive parents to discover his origins. Shitou arrived resolute, having chosen to go, while Lu Yu prepared to return to the academy with him and Luoshen.

• Lu Yu and the village chief left Shitou's home as villagers assumed Shitou had no Martial Soul and gossiped about his future.
• Shitou's mother angrily defended him against the villagers, then she and Shitou's father took him inside.
• Lu Yu prepared Luoshen for academy life, explained Tang San and the Soul Master schools, and discussed how she could gain a Second Soul Ring.
• Luoshen and Lu Yu expected Shitou to have declined, but Shitou came to them on the third day with his decision made.
• Shitou told Lu Yu that his adoptive parents had agreed to let him undo the Martial Soul Seal and seek his origins because they wanted him to live a long life.

Lu Yu and Luoshen prepared to leave Holy Soul Village while Little Shitou secretly resolved to follow them and pursue the truth about his origins. They found him on the road, took him with them toward Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy, and stopped in the woods to rest.

• Lu Yu told Little Shitou to make the villagers believe he resented having no Martial Soul and to bring a few belongings so they could misdirect the force behind his origins.
• Little Shitou told nearby children he would leave the village and become powerful, but they dismissed his words as a tantrum.
• As the village prepared a farewell banquet for Lu Yu, Little Shitou's mother searched for him while other women criticized his wish to leave.
• After the banquet, Lu Yu and Luoshen departed Holy Soul Village, and Little Shitou's parents and the villagers saw them off.
• Lu Yu and Luoshen found Little Shitou carrying a bundle on the road, grabbed his arms, and used Soul Power to carry him swiftly toward Nuoding City.
• After traveling most of the day, they stopped in the woods, where Lu Yu served a meal from his spatial Soul Tool and Little Shitou watched in amazement.

Lu Yu brought Stone to Nuoding City, disguised him as Er Heizi, and arranged for Luoshen to enroll at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy. After Lu Yu clashed with Xiao Wu and easily threw her into a tree, he left before Tang San could learn how strong he had become.

• Stone's parents and the villagers searched for him, then concluded that he had left Holy Soul Village to seek strength.
• Lu Yu disguised Stone as an ugly orphan named Er Heizi and coached him on a new backstory as they traveled to Nuoding City.
• Lu Yu showed Spirit Hall's certificate at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy and helped Luoshen enroll before promising to return for her.
• Lu Yu encountered Tang San and Xiao Wu, and Xiao Wu criticized him for neglecting the academy.
• After Xiao Wu attacked, Lu Yu dodged her kick, grabbed her ankle, spun her through the air, and hurled her into a tree.
• Tang San went to help the dizzy Xiao Wu, but Lu Yu had already left, frustrating both of them.

Lu Yu took Shitou to Suotuo City and explained how its crowds and location would help them hide while they laid the groundwork for Shitou's future. Meanwhile, Luoshen was cornered by a group of predatory boys at the academy, and the chapter left her facing them as Lu Yu and Shitou remained unaware.

• Lu Yu left Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy with Shitou before Tang San could speak with him, and Shitou quietly resolved to protect Lu Yu.
• Lu Yu chose Suotuo City as the place to establish traces of Shitou's past and led him there over several days.
• Luoshen rejected the boys who pursued her at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy, while Wu and his companions plotted to force her to submit.
• Luoshen overheard the boys discussing their plan, then stopped when they recognized her and surrounded her on the path to her dormitory.
• In Suotuo City, Shitou admired the bustling streets and resolved to grow strong enough to bring his parents to see other cities.
• Lu Yu urged Shitou to enjoy the city's food and goods before their plan forced them to flee, but Shitou still hesitated to spend money.

Lu Yu took Shitou around Suotuo City, then explained the dangers and sacrifices involved in breaking his Martial Soul Seal. Shitou chose to break it anyway, and Lu Yu led him toward the Battle Soul Arena, while Wu Ge tried to ingratiate himself with Luoshen.

• Lu Yu treated Shitou to food and snacks, and Shitou happily thanked him while vowing to repay his kindness.
• Lu Yu showed Shitou the Battle Soul Arena and explained that its fights could bring money and fame but also serious injury.
• Lu Yu warned Shitou that breaking the seal could bring hardship, pursuit, and slaughter, but Shitou said he wanted control of his own life and chose to break it.
• Lu Yu accepted Shitou's decision and walked with him toward the Battle Soul Arena.
• Wu Ge and his lackeys tried to persuade Luoshen to befriend them, but she refused, and Wu Ge continued boasting about his rank sixteen Soul Master status.

At Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy, Luoshen refused Wu Ge’s demands and faced his underling Zhang Feng in a confrontation. After Zhang Feng revealed his weapon and Luoshen introduced herself as Level 19, she admitted she did not know what a Soul Duel was, prompting the group to mock her.

• Wu Ge tried to force Luoshen to become his girlfriend and servant, while students nearby held back from helping her.
• Luoshen insulted Wu Ge and refused his demands, so Wu Ge ordered Zhang Feng to teach her a lesson.
• Zhang Feng revealed his Level 13 cultivation, Void-Breaking Great Axe, and bloodthirsty nature as he prepared to fight Luoshen.
• Luoshen introduced herself as a Level 19 Soul Master with the Luoshen Sword, surprising Wu Ge and Zhang Feng.
• When an underling questioned her knowledge of Soul Duels, Luoshen asked what one was, and the group laughed at her.

Luoshen faced Wu Ge’s group after they mocked her claims about her Soul Power, then defeated Zhang Feng with ease and humiliated him without injuring him. When Li Jiajun launched a surprise attack and was also thrown down, he rose to fight again, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Luoshen revealed her bright yellow Hundred-Year Soul Ring after Zhang Feng challenged her to prove her strength.
• Zhang Feng attacked Luoshen with his great axe, but she outmaneuvered him, threw him to the ground, and tore his clothes apart without wounding him.
• Li Jiajun suddenly attacked Luoshen with his Ghost Wolf martial soul, but she used his momentum to slam him into the ground.
• Li Jiajun sprang back up with the Ghost Wolf phantom appearing behind him and prepared to attack again.

Luoshen defeated Li Jiajun and stood against Wu Ge’s assembled followers after he ordered them to attack her. Tang San and Xiao Wu passed by, but Tang San dismissed Luoshen as a troublemaker and led Xiao Wu away as the confrontation escalated.

• Li Jiajun attacked Luoshen with his Ghost Wolf martial soul and poisonous claws, but she blocked him with sword qi and defeated him with a sweeping sword strike.
• Luoshen warned Li Jiajun to correct his character and focus on cultivation, while Wu Ge grew furious at the defeat of his followers.
• Wu Ge ordered six or seven lackeys with varied martial souls to surround Luoshen, and Soul Power filled the path near the girls’ dormitory.
• Tang San and Xiao Wu arrived, heard that Wu Ge’s followers had challenged Luoshen, and watched from the crowd.
• Tang San called Luoshen a troublemaker and attention seeker, then pulled Xiao Wu away instead of helping her.
• Luoshen welcomed the chance to fight the assembled lackeys and challenged them to show their strength.

Luoshen defeated Wu Ge’s followers and faced down Wu Ge before academy teachers arrived, while Lu Yu brought Stone to Suotuo City’s Battle Soul Arena to watch the fights. Lu Yu was called to compete under the name Wang Xiaoming, and the chapter ended as he stepped onto the stage and looked toward Stone.

• Luoshen defeated Wu Ge’s lackeys one by one and confronted Wu Ge, who threatened her with his family’s influence.
• Academy teachers arrived, and Wu Ge left; Luoshen later focused on her studies at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy.
• Lu Yu explained the Battle Soul Arena’s ranks and rules to Stone and took him to watch the matches.
• Lu Yu waited in the Ninth Division’s resting area while Stone watched the fights from the stands.
• The hostess announced Lu Yu, registered as Wang Xiaoming, as the next competitor against Wang Mingchun, and Lu Yu stepped onto the stage.

Lu Yu faced the notorious and brutal Wang Mingchun in the Soto Battle Soul Arena while Shitou and the spectators watched. Wang Mingchun threatened to maim him, but Lu Yu remained unafraid as the match’s confrontation escalated.

• Shitou worried that the slender Lu Yu could not defeat the massive Wang Mingchun, while spectators predicted Lu Yu would be badly injured.
• Wang Mingchun mocked Lu Yu and demanded that he kneel and beg for mercy, but Lu Yu told him he would be the one crying later.
• Lu Yu dismissed Wang Mingchun’s fame and said defeating a villain should earn extra money, enraging his opponent.
• Wang Mingchun boasted about tearing off opponents’ arms and enjoying their screams, while the crowd eagerly anticipated Lu Yu’s suffering.
• Lu Yu recognized the spectators’ bloodthirsty excitement and warned Wang Mingchun that his plan to tear off Lu Yu’s arm could backfire.
• Angered by Lu Yu’s lack of fear, Wang Mingchun promised to make him suffer twice as much.

Lu Yu faced Wang Mingchun, a three-ring Soul Master whose elephant-based skills combined ground shockwaves, a binding trunk, and sonic attacks. Lu Yu evaded him with talismans and air-stepping, while Wang Mingchun grew desperate and prepared another attack.

• Wang Mingchun revealed his three Soul Rings, including a thousand-year ring, and used Martial Soul Possession to transform into an elephant-like giant.
• Wang Mingchun used Giant Elephant Trample to send a shockwave through the ground, but Lu Yu sensed the danger and dodged.
• Wang Mingchun launched Elephant Trunk Entanglement and used trumpeting sound waves to hinder Lu Yu, who evaded the trunk while stepping through the air with talismans.
• Lu Yu's unexplained techniques startled the spectators and arena staff, while Azi reassured the staff that Lu Yu had chosen to face a stronger opponent.
• Wang Mingchun exhausted Soul Power trying to catch Lu Yu, then concentrated most of his remaining strength in his trunk and planned to disguise a potentially lethal attack as an accident.