Chapter Summaries

Gu Qing rejected Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and Oscar from Self Academy, judging their resolve and self-belief unfit despite their talent. After facing his criticism, the three knelt and begged to stay as menial workers, and Gu Qing asked if they were prepared to start at the very bottom.

• Gu Qing set Self Academy’s admission standards, and Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong qualified by stepping forward.
• Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and Oscar asked to join, but Gu Qing rejected them after criticizing their motives, habits, and lack of self-belief.
• Dai Mubai realized he did not want to keep running away, and the three decided they could not leave the academy.
• Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and Oscar knelt and asked Gu Qing to let them stay, even as menial workers.
• Gu Qing asked whether they had truly thought through starting at the very bottom, even without becoming students.

Gu Qing accepted Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and Oscar as odd-job workers under a six-month Soul Power seal, while testing Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong for admission to Self Academy. After both girls passed, Ning Rongrong asked to call him Brother Qing, leaving the room stunned.

• Gu Qing sealed Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and Oscar's Soul Power for at least half a year and assigned them academy chores as a test of their resolve.
• Gu Qing told Flender to arrange the three men's accommodations and ordered Yu Xiaogang to deliver results on Blue Tyrant Academy within half a month.
• Zhu Zhuqing explained that she came to Self Academy to take control of her future and passed Gu Qing's entrance test.
• Ning Rongrong said she wanted to become strong enough to protect others herself, and Gu Qing accepted her as well.
• Gu Qing told the girls they must obey his orders, and Ning Rongrong asked if she could call him Brother Qing, startling Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Zhu Zhuqing.

Ning Rongrong’s martial soul resonated with Gu Qing’s, prompting her to seek his attention with a teasing nickname and offers of Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect resources. Gu Qing welcomed the four girls as Self Academy’s first core students and explained its personalized training and points system.

• Ning Rongrong explained that her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda had reacted to Gu Qing, then offered him sect resources in exchange for closeness.
• Xiao Wu stepped between Ning Rongrong and Gu Qing, while Tang San silently hoped Gu Qing would someday have descendants who inherited his Mystic Jade Body.
• Gu Qing told Ning Rongrong she could address him as she wished but had to obey academy rules and focus on cultivation.
• Gu Qing named Tang San, Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing Self Academy’s first core students and announced individualized instruction and a points system with rewards.

Gu Qing examined Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong’s Martial Souls and soul skills, then outlined specialized training paths for both. He proposed a Self-Created Soul Skill for Zhu Zhuqing and a way for Ning Rongrong to apply her support enhancements to herself, leaving her stunned by his explanation.

• Gu Qing asked Zhu Zhuqing to demonstrate her Hell Spirit Cat Martial Soul and two soul skills, Hell Stab and Nether Hundred Claws.
• Ning Rongrong showed her Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda and demonstrated its strength and speed enhancements on Tang San and Zhu Zhuqing.
• Gu Qing told Zhu Zhuqing to focus on speed and assassination, proposing a Self-Created Soul Skill he tentatively named Netherworld Absolute Kill.
• Zhu Zhuqing thanked Gu Qing for his guidance and privately wondered whether her loyalty and appearance were all she could offer him.
• Gu Qing explained that Ning Rongrong could circulate her enhancement Soul Power through a vortex above her dantian to strengthen herself as well as her teammates.

Gu Qing used Heavenly Heart Lotus to refine training plans for Zhu Zhuqing’s Netherworld Absolute Kill and Ning Rongrong’s Soul Power vortex. Ning Rongrong visited him late at night, looking serious, and entered his room.

• Gu Qing asked Tang San to take Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing to their dormitory after promising to prepare training plans.
• Zhu Zhuqing made both beds, and Ning Rongrong teased her about becoming a good wife and mother.
• Gu Qing activated Heavenly Heart Lotus and worked out adjustments to Zhu Zhuqing’s technique and Ning Rongrong’s vortex training.
• Gu Qing wrote down the plans, then answered a quiet knock at his door from Ning Rongrong.
• Ning Rongrong entered Gu Qing’s room in her nightgown, her expression solemn.

Ning Rongrong discovered Gu Qing had stayed up preparing cultivation plans and learned that his Black-Gold Lotus resonated intensely with her Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda. Their possible Martial Soul Fusion Skill was interrupted when Xiao Wu arrived and questioned Gu Qing about his feelings for Ning Rongrong.

• Ning Rongrong saw Gu Qing's detailed plans for her and Zhu Zhuqing and asked what his Martial Soul was.
• Gu Qing revealed the Buddha Wrath Tang Lotus, and Ning Rongrong's Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda reacted with a powerful resonance.
• Gu Qing suspected their two support-type Martial Souls might create a composite Martial Soul Fusion Skill.
• Hearing Xiao Wu approach, Ning Rongrong hid beneath Gu Qing's bed curtain before Xiao Wu entered.
• Xiao Wu asked Gu Qing what he thought of Ning Rongrong, and he praised her talent and potential.
• Xiao Wu clarified that she wanted to know whether Gu Qing had romantic interest in Ning Rongrong.

Xiao Wu confessed her romantic feelings to Gu Qing, and he told her he was not rejecting her but would wait until she was older. After Tang San arrived, Xiao Wu discovered Ning Rongrong hiding behind the bed curtains, while Tang San’s growing physical longing for Gu Qing was revealed.

• Xiao Wu admitted that she feared losing Gu Qing and confessed that she liked him as more than a brother.
• Gu Qing reassured Xiao Wu that Ning Rongrong could not replace her and said he would wait until she was older to discuss her feelings.
• Xiao Wu agreed to wait, then hid behind the bed curtains when she recognized Tang San’s footsteps.
• Xiao Wu found Ning Rongrong hiding under the blanket, and the two stayed concealed when Gu Qing opened the door for Tang San.
• Tang San entered dressed lightly, and her thoughts revealed that the Mystic Jade Body was causing her to crave physical closeness with Gu Qing.

Tang San confronted Gu Qing about whether he saw her as more than a little sister, then tested his reaction by guiding his hand to her body. Gu Qing admitted she attracted him but asked her to wait until she could separate genuine feelings from the influence of their cultivation; after Tang San left, he discovered Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong hiding behind the bed curtains.

• Tang San asked Gu Qing whether he looked at her differently from Ning Rongrong, and he said she would always be his most important little sister.
• Tang San pressed Gu Qing’s hand against her body and asked whether he felt anything in response to her.
• Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong watched from behind the bed curtains, with Xiao Wu growing angry and Ning Rongrong holding her back.
• Gu Qing admitted Tang San was attractive to him but said he would not act until she could distinguish her own feelings from the resonance of their cultivation.
• Tang San left after warning Gu Qing she would make him pay if he forgot his promise to talk when she was older.
• Gu Qing opened the curtains and found Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong hiding together.

Ning Rongrong discovered that her Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda resonated with Gu Qing’s Buddha Wrath Tang Lotus, and testing their Soul Power helped her break through to level twenty-seven. The resonance confirmed a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, but Gu Qing sent Ning Rongrong and Xiao Wu back to their dorm, where Zhu Zhuqing was waiting and asked whether Ning Rongrong had gained anything.

• Xiao Wu confronted Ning Rongrong for hiding behind Gu Qing’s bed curtains, and Ning Rongrong explained that she had come to investigate the resonance between their Martial Souls.
• Gu Qing and Ning Rongrong joined hands and circulated their Soul Power, which merged smoothly and helped Ning Rongrong break through to level twenty-seven.
• Their joined Soul Power erupted into a powerful ring of light, and Gu Qing suppressed it before confirming that their Martial Souls could form a Fusion Skill.
• Gu Qing told Ning Rongrong to consolidate her breakthrough and sent her back with Xiao Wu, warning that they would face triple training loads if they returned.
• Ning Rongrong found Zhu Zhuqing waiting in the dormitory, and Zhu Zhuqing asked whether she had gained anything.

Ning Rongrong told Zhu Zhuqing about her Martial Soul Resonance with Gu Qing, which had helped her break through to level twenty-seven. More than half a month later, Gu Qing gave the four students their final, stronger dose of body-tempering medicine and guided its power through Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong as Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and Oscar passed the training grounds.

• Zhu Zhuqing deduced that Ning Rongrong had visited Gu Qing and noticed that she had advanced from level twenty-six to level twenty-seven.
• Ning Rongrong explained the Martial Soul Resonance to Zhu Zhuqing, who asked to accompany her the next time she visited Gu Qing.
• Gu Qing prepared a body-tempering injection fifty percent stronger than the previous batch and gave the final dose from the Sunset Forest trip to the four students.
• Gu Qing guided the medicine through Zhu Zhuqing’s meridians, focusing it on the areas tied to her Hell Spirit Cat abilities.
• Gu Qing guided the medicine through Ning Rongrong’s upper-body meridian nodes while she endured the treatment.
• Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and Oscar paused to watch Gu Qing treat the girls, then continued hauling gravel to the Back Mountain Training Area.

After a month of intense training, Gu Qing told Tang San he would take her to Sunset Forest to obtain her fourth soul ring while the others stayed behind to train. In the bathhouse, Tang San accepted her growing sense of herself as a woman, and Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing arrived to give Gu Qing a massage but hesitated outside his bathing room.

• Gu Qing ended the day's body tempering and announced that he and Tang San would leave for Sunset Forest the next morning to hunt her fourth soul ring.
• The four girls soaked in the hot spring, where Ning Rongrong and Xiao Wu teased Tang San and touched her, prompting her to compare their reactions with how Gu Qing's touch affected her.
• Tang San recalled her past uncertainty about being male or female and accepted her female body and changing heart willingly.
• Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing approached the men's bath with supplies to massage Gu Qing, and Dai Mubai let them pass after realizing Zhu Zhuqing had given up on him.
• Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing stopped in the changing room and argued over which of them should enter first.

Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing tried to repay Gu Qing for teaching them by massaging him, but their attention turned intimate before Xiao Wu interrupted them. The next morning, Tang Hao asked Gu Qing what kind of soul beast he planned to hunt for his fourth soul ring.

• Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing massaged Gu Qing in the bath, and Ning Rongrong climbed into the pool while Zhu Zhuqing joined her.
• Dai Mubai listened outside the bathroom, felt bitter about Gu Qing's closeness with the two women, and left without approaching.
• Gu Qing stopped Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing after half an hour and escorted them from the bathroom.
• Xiao Wu caught up with Gu Qing, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing, demanded to be included in a future massage, and was told to go sleep before their journey.
• At dawn, Tang Hao asked Gu Qing what he planned to hunt for his fourth soul ring.

Gu Qing and Tang San prepared to leave for Sunset Forest, but Yu Xiaogang returned with Liu Erlong to discuss merging Blue Tyrant Academy with their academy. Gu Qing demonstrated his unusual martial soul and strength, and Liu Erlong began considering the merger as Yu Xiaogang urged her to trust Gu Qing.

• Gu Qing and Tang San set out for Sunset Forest after Gu Qing gave Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu training instructions.
• Yu Xiaogang arrived with Liu Erlong and introduced her as Blue Tyrant Academy's headmaster, ready to discuss a merger.
• Liu Erlong questioned Gu Qing's ability to take over Blue Tyrant Academy and released her level seventy-eight Soul Sage pressure.
• Gu Qing revealed his Black-Gold Lotus martial soul and millennium first soul ring, while Tang San displayed his three unusual soul rings.
• Liu Erlong demanded a reason to trust Gu Qing, and Yu Xiaogang urged her to accept the opportunity and grow closer to him.

Liu Erlong broke with Yu Xiaogang after he tried to use her as a bargaining chip for his Martial Soul Evolution, then handed Blue Tyrant Academy over to Gu Qing. Gu Qing refused to let Yu Xiaogang become a student but gave him a six-month job at Self Academy, and he set off with Tang San to catch up with Liu Erlong.

• Yu Xiaogang suggested that Liu Erlong pair with Gu Qing to secure help with his Martial Soul Evolution, and Liu Erlong angrily accused him of treating her as a bargaining chip.
• Liu Erlong offered herself and Blue Tyrant Academy to Gu Qing, but he stopped her from using herself to spite Yu Xiaogang and told her to choose her future for herself.
• Liu Erlong handed Blue Tyrant Academy over to Gu Qing and told Yu Xiaogang that their relationship was over.
• Yu Xiaogang asked to study at Self Academy, but Gu Qing made him a menial worker responsible for organizing library materials and assisting with basic martial soul theory for six months.
• Gu Qing told Tang San they would catch up with Liu Erlong, explaining that her safety mattered and that her strength would help during their trip to Sunset Forest.

Gu Qing invited Liu Erlong to join him and Tang San on a hunt in Sunset Forest, and she accepted, still recovering from her heartbreak. At the forest’s edge, Gu Qing revealed that he wanted a fourth soul ring from a seventy- to eighty-thousand-year-old plant soul beast, shocking Liu Erlong.

• Liu Erlong asked Gu Qing whether his offer to welcome her as a Self Academy teacher was sincere, and he invited her to hunt soul beasts with him and Tang San.
• Gu Qing teased Liu Erlong about her attempted kiss, making her laugh and agree to join them.
• Liu Erlong rode Gu Qing toward Sunset Forest while Tang San followed behind, watching Gu Qing’s hand around Liu Erlong’s waist with jealousy.
• At the forest’s edge, Gu Qing showed Liu Erlong a map and explained that he and Tang San wanted plant-type fourth soul rings suited to their abilities.
• Gu Qing said he wanted an offensive plant soul beast aged seventy to eighty thousand years, while secretly hoping to find a Thunder Hell Vine; Liu Erlong warned that such a soul beast was far beyond his rank.

Gu Qing, Liu Erlong, and Tang San traveled through Sunset Forest and found Dugu Yan and her teammates cornered by a Purple Mist Scorpion King. Gu Qing entered the scorpion’s poisonous mist unharmed, leaving Dugu Yan startled as he prepared to help.

• Gu Qing reassured Liu Erlong that he could withstand a powerful soul ring and welcomed her as a probationary instructor at Self Academy.
• Liu Erlong agreed to trust Gu Qing, and Tang San followed him deeper into the forest.
• Gu Qing sensed a fight ahead and led Liu Erlong and Tang San to a clearing where Dugu Yan and three teammates were defending themselves against a Purple Mist Scorpion King.
• Gu Qing recognized the roughly five-thousand-year-old scorpion and suspected it had been driven from its territory by something worse.
• Gu Qing approached Dugu Yan and her poisoned teammates, then walked into the Purple Mist Scorpion King’s poisonous mist without being harmed.

Gu Qing saved Dugu Yan and her teammates from a Purple Mist Scorpion King, then asked Dugu Bo to help find soul beasts for him and Tang San. Dugu Bo revealed an eighty-thousand-year Thunder Fire Phoenix Tree in Sunset Forest, and Gu Qing considered it as a possible target.

• Gu Qing shattered the Purple Mist Scorpion King's pincer with one punch and gave Dugu Yan medicine for her shoulder wound.
• Dugu Bo arrived, learned Gu Qing had saved Dugu Yan, and offered to repay the favor.
• Gu Qing introduced himself as the headmaster of Self Academy and asked Dugu Bo about suitable lightning-element and healing plant soul beasts.
• Dugu Bo said he knew of an eighty-thousand-year Thunder Fire Phoenix Tree in Sunset Forest's Thunder Fire Basin.
• Gu Qing considered the tree's lightning-and-fire attributes as a promising alternative soul ring.

Dugu Bo led Tang San and the others to a forty-thousand-year Emerald Jade Cloud Vine, which welcomed Tang San because their life attributes shared a connection. Tang San absorbed it and gained a healing soul skill, then prepared to continue toward the Thunder Fire Basin.

• Dugu Bo identified a forty-thousand-year Emerald Jade Cloud Vine and agreed to take Tang San to it before heading to the Thunder Fire Basin.
• Dugu Yan insisted on joining the group, and Dugu Bo allowed her to come as long as she followed Gu Qing's orders.
• The group reached the vine's hot spring, where Tang San's Blue Silver Grass resonated with the Emerald Jade Cloud Vine and it accepted her.
• The Emerald Jade Cloud Vine dissolved into life energy, and Tang San absorbed its black soul ring.
• Tang San gained her fourth soul skill, Blue Silver Light of Life, which healed and purified a target, increased her vitality, and could detoxify poison.

Gu Qing led the group to the Thunder Fire Phoenix Tree, a powerful lightning-and-fire soul beast, and chose to face its attacks alone. Its elements pierced his Mystic Jade Glazed Body enough to injure him slightly, and he realized he could use the damage to temper his physique.

• Gu Qing noted Tang San’s healing and defensive abilities, then asked Dugu Bo to lead the group to the Thunder Fire Phoenix Tree.
• The group crossed scorched, sulfurous terrain and found the nearly ninety-thousand-year tree at the center of a storm-filled basin.
• Gu Qing told Tang San, Dugu Bo, and Liu Erlong to wait while he tested the tree’s power, refusing Tang San’s offer to use her Buddha Wrath Tang Lotus.
• The Thunder Fire Phoenix Tree struck Gu Qing with lightning and flames, and both attacks partially penetrated his elemental immunity.
• Gu Qing examined his minor burns and paralysis and decided the tree’s attacks were suitable for tempering his body.

Gu Qing revealed the Buddha Wrath Tang Lotus and used its Buddha Lotus Heart skill to recover while tempering his body against the Thunder Fire Phoenix Tree. As the tree intensified its attacks, Gu Qing activated Heavenly Heart Lotus to study its energy and movements.

• Gu Qing revealed the Buddha Wrath Tang Lotus and stunned Dugu Bo, Dugu Yan, and Liu Erlong with his plant Martial Soul and powerful Soul Rings.
• Gu Qing swallowed a seed created by Buddha Lotus Heart, restoring his vitality and Soul Power while improving his ability to absorb energy.
• Gu Qing charged the Thunder Fire Phoenix Tree and deliberately endured some of its lightning and fire, healing repeatedly as his body grew tougher.
• The tree attacked Gu Qing with electrified vines, and one slammed him into a long trench; he rose, discarded his ruined shirt, and continued fighting.
• Gu Qing activated Heavenly Heart Lotus, sharpening his perception so he could read the tree’s energy flows and anticipate its attacks.