Chapter Summaries

Huo Yuhao completed his control assessment by petrifying a thousand-year Purple Lightning Demon Mouse, earning 140 points. Wang Dong challenged Dai Huabin over their wager, and Huo Yuhao prepared to carry out the trap he had planned after the assessment.

• Mu Jin sent Huo Yuhao first, and he chose to face a randomly selected thousand-year soul beast.
• Huo Yuhao used his Third Soul Skill to petrify the Purple Lightning Demon Mouse, which shattered and died.
• The examiners awarded Huo Yuhao 140 points, deducting ten because his skill countered the beast by chance.
• Wang Dong defended Huo Yuhao's score and taunted Dai Huabin about their wager.
• The remaining assessments proceeded smoothly, and Huo Yuhao planned to spring his killing trap on Dai Huabin after winning the wager match.

Huo Yuhao humiliated Dai Huabin during the Upgrade Assessment and secretly planted a lethal seed in his brain, while Dai Huabin vowed revenge. The next morning, Huo Yuhao tested his new abilities and used Eye of Plunder to steal Tang Ya's Devouring Ability, leaving him with a capacity to store up to ten abilities.

• Wang Dong and Dai Huabin completed their assessments, but Dai Huabin was badly wounded when the Wind Tiger charged him, leaving him unable to catch up in points.
• Huo Yuhao reminded Dai Huabin of their bet, mocked him, and touched his cheek while secretly sending an icy seed into his brain.
• Dai Huabin woke in the infirmary and swore to repay Huo Yuhao's humiliation tenfold, while Zhu Lu stayed by his side.
• Huo Yuhao teased Wang Dong in their dormitory, and she accidentally let a woman's voice slip out before denying it.
• Huo Yuhao tested Ghost Eye and Eye of Plunder, then stole Tang Ya's Devouring Ability and discovered that Eye of Plunder could store up to ten abilities.

Tang Ya briefly felt as if she had lost something, while Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong prepared to attend Shrek City's Treasure Appreciation Fair with Xiao Xiao. At the fair, Huo Yuhao began browsing for a piece of Whale Rubber as Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao had their credit assessed.

• Tang Ya stopped and told Bei Bei she felt as if she had lost something, but she found nothing missing and continued on.
• Wang Dong invited Huo Yuhao to the Treasure Appreciation Fair, and they agreed to browse despite having little money.
• Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong invited Xiao Xiao, and the three left Shrek Academy for the Treasure Gathering Pavilion.
• The three showed their invitations and entered the pavilion's quieter second floor.
• Huo Yuhao began browsing for Whale Rubber while Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao went to have their credit assessed.

Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao bought items at the Treasure Gathering Pavilion, where Wang Dong spent heavily on a soul bone and gave Huo Yuhao a storage bracelet. As Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong left for snacks, a green Soul Power light bullet attacked them, forcing Huo Yuhao to flee with her.

• Wang Dong decided to buy the Radiant Earth Dragon King Soul Bone despite its exorbitant price, using a pitch-black card.
• Huo Yuhao bought Ten Thousand Year Whale Rubber and spotted a string of eight unusual black fruits, which he purchased as well.
• Xiao Xiao bought a Class 4 badge Soul Tool that could paralyze opponents.
• Wang Dong took Huo Yuhao to a snack stall and gave him an ancient storage Soul Tool bracelet as a gift from the Treasure Gathering Pavilion.
• A green Soul Power light bullet struck at Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, and Huo Yuhao grabbed her and ran.

Huo Yuhao lured eight assassins out of Shrek City and unleashed his full power against them. He slaughtered their Soul King leader and several others, while the fight continued in the wasteland.

• Huo Yuhao grabbed Wang Dong by the ankle and hurled her toward Shrek Academy, then fled in the opposite direction to draw the assassins away.
• Huo Yuhao faced the eight pursuers in the wasteland and activated Iron Will and the Saint King Pupil.
• Huo Yuhao killed the first Soul Elder with a single blow, frightening the remaining assassins.
• Huo Yuhao used the Eye of the Devil to incapacitate another Soul Elder, then smashed his head with an ice-wreathed fist.
• Huo Yuhao teleported behind the Soul King, frightened him with an illusion, and tore out his beating heart.
• Huo Yuhao continued slaughtering the assassins by teleporting through their ranks.

Huo Yuhao absorbed the assassins’ bodies, deceived Du Weilun about the attack, and uncovered proof that Dai Huabin had ordered the assassination. He killed Dai Huabin and received compensation from Shrek Academy before he and Wang Dong turned their attention to the unusual fruits they had bought.

• Huo Yuhao used the Eye of Plunder to absorb the assassins’ corpses, kept one body as evidence, and stored the recovered Soul Power with Sky Dream Ice Silkworm.
• Huo Yuhao took the assassins’ storage Soul Tools, wounded himself, and told Du Weilun that he had killed the Soul Elder guarding the road to the academy.
• Xuan Zi found the commission details in a storage Soul Tool, and Mu En sent an elder to confront the guild that had arranged the attack.
• Huo Yuhao examined the Soul King’s storage Soul Tool, confirmed Dai Huabin was behind the assassination, and killed Dai Huabin with his power.
• Shrek Academy forced the guild out of existence and compensated Huo Yuhao with a bank card and a Shangbao Association identity card; he and Wang Dong split the money.
• Wang Dong and Huo Yuhao looked at the unusual fruits and decided to open them.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong opened the fruits from the Twin Lotus Tree, uncovering several strange treasures and an empty fruit. Wang Dong found a hexagram-shaped treasure compatible with her Martial Soul, and they were left with her second fruit still to open.

• Huo Yuhao offered Wang Dong two fruits, then opened a Blazing Flame Fruit and an Ice Crystal Fruit with the White Tiger Dagger.
• Huo Yuhao opened a fruit containing a green, scale-like crystal and another that was completely empty.
• Wang Dong explained that the fruits came from the Twin Lotus Tree, whose gifts reflected the nutrients it received from humans and were difficult to open without a sharp dagger.
• Wang Dong used the White Tiger Dagger to open her first fruit and found a hexagram-shaped spiritual treasure that she felt would help her fuse a Soul Bone.

Wang Dong absorbed a crystal fruit that unleashed a powerful sword aura, while Huo Yuhao discovered an Undead Fungus and used it to strengthen his Ghost Domain. He then consumed the Ice Crystal Fruit, Blazing Flame Fruit, and Whale Rubber, leaving him struggling against intense heat and desire as Wang Dong meditated nearby.

• Wang Dong opened a crystal-clear fruit, and its sword aura damaged her bangs before the fruit melted into her blood and forced her to meditate.
• Huo Yuhao opened the remaining fruits, finding three empty ones and an Undead Fungus that awakened Electrolux.
• Electrolux identified the fungus and explained its effects, then asked Huo Yuhao to find spiritual objects rich in life force.
• Huo Yuhao absorbed the Undead Fungus through his Ghost Eye, expanding his Ghost Domain, and packed away the empty fruit pits.
• Huo Yuhao ate the Ice Crystal Fruit and Blazing Flame Fruit, then melted and swallowed Whale Rubber, enduring alternating extremes and an overpowering desire.

Huo Yuhao teased Wang Dong about a note suggesting the Light Goddess Butterfly appeared only on beautiful women, then let the matter drop and returned to cultivation. Days later, he and Shrek Academy’s Core Disciples gathered at the Soul Fighting Zone for an assessment led by Xuan Zi, where they found the arena strangely empty.

• Huo Yuhao told Wang Dong about the note hidden in a fruit pit, and she nervously denied that it meant she was a girl disguised as a boy.
• Huo Yuhao said he had already disposed of the note and would not expose Wang Dong, then resumed cultivating as academy activities returned to normal.
• Mu Jin gathered Huo Yuhao and the other Core Disciples from the three classes and led them to the Soul Fighting Zone.
• Huo Yuhao saw Zhu Lu glare at him resentfully and Ning Tian regard him gently before the students from higher grades arrived.
• Xuan Zi arrived eating a chicken leg and drinking from a wine gourd, confirmed that everyone was present, and led the Core Disciples farther into the empty Soul Fighting Zone.

Xuan Zi began the core disciple assessment, a free-for-all in which the last seven students standing would pass. Huo Yuhao’s group teamed up and withdrew to the arena’s edge, and Huo Yuhao eliminated He Caitou before turning his attention to the second-year group.

• Xuan Zi announced the Collective Melee rules and started the assessment, leaving twenty-six core disciples in the arena.
• Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, Ning Tian, and Wu Feng formed a team and moved to the edge of the field to observe their opponents.
• Huo Yuhao asked Ning Tian to boost him and charged at the unteamed He Caitou.
• Huo Yuhao used his Titan Profound Ice King martial soul to freeze and destroy He Caitou’s Soul Tools, then punched him out of the arena.
• Xuan Zi criticized He Caitou and told Huo Yuhao to get serious, while Huo Yuhao switched back to his Ice Spirit Eye martial soul and studied the second-year group.

Huo Yuhao’s team clashed with Bei Bei’s group, and Huo Yuhao defeated Jiang Nannan and Xu Sanshi while preventing Bei Bei from eliminating Ning Tian. He joined forces with Bei Bei, leaving the other teams to avoid them until Xuan Zi intervened by compressing the Soul Fighting Platform.

• Xu Sanshi used Mysterious Underworld Displacement to switch places with Ning Tian, but Huo Yuhao intercepted Bei Bei’s attack on her.
• Huo Yuhao overpowered Bei Bei with Iron Will, then pried apart Jiang Nannan’s Waist Bow and threw her away.
• Huo Yuhao knocked away Xu Sanshi’s Mysterious Underworld Shield and threw him off the platform, where Xuan Zi caught him.
• Huo Yuhao proposed an alliance to Bei Bei after pointing out that their team had lost a member, and Bei Bei agreed.
• The other teams avoided Huo Yuhao’s group, so Xuan Zi compressed the Soul Fighting Platform with his Soul Power.

Xuan Zi forced the Core Disciples to fight Huo Yuhao’s team, then selected seven students for the reserve team and as substitutes for the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament. After dismissing the others, he kept Huo Yuhao behind for a private conversation.

• Xuan Zi ordered the Core Disciples not to retreat, and Huo Yuhao defeated the first two attackers by turning their coordinated assault against them.
• Six more third-year Core Disciples attacked Wu Feng and Xiao Xiao, but Wang Dong returned to help and Huo Yuhao knocked the defensive lead fighter away with one punch.
• Xuan Zi dismissed the eliminated students and explained that the seven remaining students would be reserve-team members and substitutes, subject to evaluation over the next five years.
• Xuan Zi stressed confidentiality, dismissed the other six students, and left Huo Yuhao alone with him in the Soul Fighting Arena.
• Huo Yuhao waited quietly for Xuan Zi to explain why he had kept him behind.

Huo Yuhao rejected Xuan Zi’s appeal to Shrek’s honor, and Mu En advised Xuan Zi to recruit him with benefits rather than pressure. Over the next two weeks, Huo Yuhao turned Xuan Zi’s combat training to his advantage, then caught a feather thrown at him outside his dorm room.

• Huo Yuhao told Xuan Zi he wanted a stable faction, career advancement, and wealth rather than glory, then left the Soul Fighting Zone.
• Xuan Zi reported Huo Yuhao’s response to Mu En, who advised him to promise benefits without pressuring the student.
• Xuan Zi stopped pressing Huo Yuhao for an answer, and two weeks passed with him leading the Reserve Team’s combat training.
• Xuan Zi had Huo Yuhao face him while distracting him with trash talk, but Huo Yuhao adapted by making a spectacle of his attacks while conserving energy.
• Huo Yuhao caught a feather thrown at him as he opened his dorm room door, and Wang Dong spoke smugly.

Huo Yuhao dismissed Tang Sect hidden weapons as outdated and convinced Wang Dong to stop considering joining the sect. At Xuan Zi’s training session, he and the others met Shrek Academy’s Inner Court members and learned they were reserve competitors for the upcoming tournament, though Huo Yuhao believed his group would carry the team.

• Huo Yuhao demonstrated that Soul Power could make a goose feather a powerful projectile and argued that hidden-weapon techniques were obsolete compared with Soul Tools and Soul Power cultivation.
• Wang Dong defended powerful poisoned weapons, but Huo Yuhao told her to study toxicology instead; she stopped bringing up joining the Tang Sect.
• Bei Bei noticed Wang Dong’s changed attitude and appeared disappointed that he had not recruited a new member for Tang Ya.
• Huo Yuhao’s group arrived for Xuan Zi’s training and met seven unfamiliar Inner Court disciples, including Ling Luochen.
• Xuan Zi explained that the tournament would begin in ten days and said Huo Yuhao’s group would compete against weaker opponents to conceal the main team’s abilities.
• Xuan Zi began the introductions by asking the reserve team to state their names and Soul Power Levels.

Huo Yuhao joined Dai Yueheng's team for a friendly match against Ma Xiaotao's team, where Dai Yueheng's hostility toward him surfaced. Huo Yuhao refused to explain the Reserve Team members' abilities and mocked Dai Yueheng, then signaled Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao to leave the rest to him.

• The Reserve Team and Inner Court students introduced themselves, and Huo Yuhao noticed Ma Xiaotao had reached Rank 69 after her Evil Fire was erased.
• Xuan Zi arranged a friendly match, with Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng choosing opposing teams.
• Ma Xiaotao chose Ling Luochen and Ning Tian first, while Dai Yueheng selected Huo Yuhao for his team.
• Dai Yueheng moved his team away from the others and asked the Reserve Team members to explain their abilities.
• Huo Yuhao mocked Dai Yueheng for wanting to know everyone's abilities, and Dai Yueheng began assigning tasks to his Inner Court teammates.
• Huo Yuhao signaled Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao to protect themselves and leave the rest to him.

Huo Yuhao’s team faced Ma Xiaotao’s team in a spar, with the senior members clashing while Huo Yuhao and Jiang Nannan traded control moves. The match continued as Huo Yuhao sent Jiang Nannan safely to the edge of the platform.

• Xuan Zi began the spar, and Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng charged into a direct clash.
• Chen Zifeng tried to ambush Ma Xiaotao, but Wu Feng deflected his sword before Ma Xiaotao countered with Phoenix Sky-Screaming Strike.
• Ling Luochen challenged Huo Yuhao to an ice-element contest while Xiao Xiao and Wang Dong held back the opposing reserve members.
• Jiang Nannan clamped her legs around Huo Yuhao’s neck, but Huo Yuhao used ice element at her ankle to make her lose balance.
• Huo Yuhao caught Jiang Nannan and pushed her safely onto a chair at the platform’s edge.

After the battle, Xuan Zi criticized both teams and dismissed them. Huo Yuhao later went out to meet Ling Luochen, who led him away for a private conversation.

• Xuan Zi declared Dai Yueheng's team the losers, criticized the students' performances, and sent both teams back.
• Wang Dong teased Huo Yuhao about Ling Luochen, then learned he had again refused Xuan Zi's offer to join the Inner Court.
• A middle-aged man told Huo Yuhao that an Inner Court senior wanted to speak with him, and Wang Dong warned him that it might be a trap.
• Huo Yuhao left the dormitory and found Ling Luochen waiting for him in ice-blue robes.
• Ling Luochen invited Huo Yuhao for a walk, and he agreed as she led him out of Shrek.

Ling Luochen brought Huo Yuhao to a tavern and revealed that Elder Xuan had asked her to lure him into the Inner Court. She explained why Inner Court students struggled to find factions after graduation, then stood after drinking and preparing to say more.

• Ling Luochen led Huo Yuhao past Shrek Academy's gate surveillance and into Shrek City, where they went to a private room in a tavern.
• Ling Luochen admitted that Elder Xuan had asked her to test Huo Yuhao and use any means to draw him into the Inner Court.
• Huo Yuhao criticized Shrek Academy's increasingly utilitarian conduct and said he would not make it his final destination.
• Ling Luochen advised Huo Yuhao to feign agreement with Xuan Zi, but he said he had his own way to resist pressure.
• Ling Luochen said she wanted to bet on Huo Yuhao and asked him to help her someday if he gained the strength to leave the academy.
• Ling Luochen explained that Inner Court students had bloodied their hands for the academy and often became difficult for other factions to accept, then stood after drinking more.

Huo Yuhao returned to Shrek Academy after Ling Luochen warned him, then joined the official and reserve teams as they set out for the tournament. When Xuan Zi asked the reserve members to join the Shrek Inspectorate, Huo Yuhao and three others refused, but Xuan Zi still brought them along as the Reserve Team.

• Ling Luochen warned Huo Yuhao to be careful, and he returned to Shrek Academy using Ghost Eye to bypass the guards.
• Huo Yuhao saw Xuan Zi leave the Outer Court after searching for someone, and the days before the tournament passed quietly.
• Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong left Shrek Academy with the official and reserve teams, led by Xuan Zi and Wang Yan.
• Xuan Zi asked the Reserve Team to join the Shrek Inspectorate, and Ning Tian, Wu Feng, and Bei Bei agreed while Huo Yuhao, Xiao Xiao, Wang Dong, and Jiang Nannan stayed silent.
• Huo Yuhao argued that the Inspectorate only treated the symptoms of evil and refused to be bound to its work for life.
• Xuan Zi gave Inspector's Rings to Bei Bei, Ning Tian, and Wu Feng, kept the other four as the Reserve Team, and Ma Xiaotao began explaining their mission.

Huo Yuhao questioned the Inspection Team’s lack of intelligence about the bandits before setting out for the Mingdou Mountain Range with Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, and Jiang Nannan. He used his Ghost Domain to arrive ahead of Xuan Zi’s group, received the Undead Eye reward, and pointed out that an Evil Soul Master was already nearby.

• Huo Yuhao asked Ma Xiaotao whether the Inspection Team had investigated the bandits’ abilities, but Xuan Zi told her not to heed someone outside the team.
• Xuan Zi said the others could not be accommodated, while Ma Xiaotao offered to take Ning Tian and Dai Yueheng to take Wu Feng; Xuan Zi then led the Inspection Team toward the Mingdou Mountain Range.
• Huo Yuhao told Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, and Jiang Nannan they would go to the Mingdou Mountain Range first and used his Ghost Domain to travel there at high speed.
• The system rewarded Huo Yuhao with the Undead Eye after he approached the Soul King Death God, increasing his affinity with dark-attribute creatures and resistance to non-holy-attribute creatures.
• Huo Yuhao told Wang Dong and the others that an Evil Soul Master was nearby and pointed toward the western part of the forest.