Chapter Summaries

Bidding for the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast embryo surged after the auctioneer revealed it might grant an additional martial soul. Elder Ma, short on funds, turned to Meng Hongchen for help, and Ye Luochen unexpectedly asked her to hand over her money.

• Elder Ma bid one hundred million Gold Soul Coins for the embryo, hoping it would help the Sun Moon Empire overcome its disadvantage in martial soul strength.
• Other bidders quickly surpassed Elder Ma, whose earlier purchases had left the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy short of money.
• Elder Ma realized that Meng Hongchen could provide funds, but worried that she would refuse to compete for the embryo.
• Ye Luochen bluntly told Meng Hongchen to gather her money and secret savings for the bid.
• Meng Hongchen calmly counted her cash, valuables, and checks, then gave Ye Luochen about one hundred million Gold Soul Coins and offered to ask her brother for more.

Ye Luochen secured 250 million Gold Soul Coins from Meng Hongchen and the academy to pursue the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast embryo. He admitted that the embryo’s chance to grant him a second martial soul was irresistible, then began to qualify his answer with “But…”

• Ye Luochen asked Meng Hongchen for funds, and she transferred him 150 million Gold Soul Coins after suggesting she could ask her brother for more.
• Elder Ma and the others reacted with shock and jealousy when they realized Ye Luochen had secured 250 million Gold Soul Coins in total.
• Ye Luochen stayed silent as the others’ envy grew, understanding that Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen considered him a valued friend.
• Meng Hongchen asked whether Ye Luochen wanted the embryo for a chance at gaining a second martial soul.
• Ye Luochen acknowledged the embryo’s powerful appeal and the hope it offered, then began to add a qualification.

Ye Luochen warned that the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast embryo’s unknown nature and the Star Luo Empire’s decision to auction it suggested a trap aimed at Sun Moon. He still intended to pursue it, arguing that the Academy could afford the risk and might gain an enormous advantage.

• Ye Luochen pointed out that the embryo’s age, species, attribute, and consciousness were unknown, making its supposed benefits uncertain.
• Ye Luochen questioned why the Star Luo royal family would auction an item that might create a Twin Martial Soul user, especially at an invitation-only auction attended by Sun Moon.
• Elder Ma realized the auction might be a trap specifically targeting Sun Moon and asked why Ye Luochen had requested 150 million Gold Soul Coins.
• Ye Luochen admitted he wanted the embryo despite the risk and said the Academy had enough confidence and wealth to play along.
• Elder Ma accepted that spending hundreds of millions could strain the Academy’s finances but would not undermine its foundations, while the embryo might be worth the gamble.

Elder Ma won the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast embryo for the Sun Moon Empire, then secretly entrusted it to Ye Luochen to carry home while others drew attention. Ye Luochen left with the reserve team, prepared to return to the empire under the cover of a justified personnel change.

• Elder Ma raised the bid to one hundred and fifty million, outbidding the other powers and winning the embryo.
• Elder Ma warned the team that rival powers might attack them once they left the auction house.
• Elder Ma secretly gave Ye Luochen a ring containing the embryo and instructed him to return to the Sun Moon Empire with the reserve members.
• Elder Ma planned to keep the other powers focused on himself and Meng Hongchen while the team used personnel adjustments as cover for Ye Luochen's departure.
• Ye Luochen accepted the assignment and followed the team outside, confident he could reach Sun Moon territory safely.

After leaving the auction house, Ye Luochen and the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Team were ambushed, but Elder Ma blocked the attack and staged a handoff to mislead their enemies. The team returned safely to the hotel, where Elder Ma continued the deception so Ye Luochen could escape notice with the priceless treasure.

• After the team left the auction house, powerful enemies surrounded them with crushing pressure that affected only their group.
• Elder Ma activated a Soul Tool barrier to dispel the pressure and deter the attackers.
• Elder Ma secretly gave Meng Hongchen the Soul Tool and a ring, pretending the ring held the God-Sealing Altar, and Meng Hongchen played along.
• The team returned safely to the hotel, where Elder Ma arranged for Meng Hongchen to be escorted upstairs under heavy protection.
• By the time Ye Luochen's group went upstairs, the once-busy hotel lobby had emptied, leaving Ye Luochen unnoticed.

Ye Luochen safely returned to the Sun Moon Empire with the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast embryo, and Jing Hongchen rushed to escort him to Mingde Hall. Jing Hongchen confirmed the treasure’s presence, praised Ye Luochen, then grew grave as he examined the embryo more closely.

• Ye Luochen and the reserve team members left Star Luo City without being followed and crossed the Mingdou Mountain Range into the Sun Moon Empire.
• Ye Luochen reported the embryo’s details to Jing Hongchen, who arrived at the border station that night and took him directly to Mingde Hall.
• Ye Luochen brought out the God-Sealing Altar, and Jing Hongchen confirmed its aura and praised him for bringing it back intact.
• Jing Hongchen examined the soul beast embryo more closely, and his expression turned solemn and grim.

Jing Hongchen discovered that the soul beast embryo Ye Luochen bought had an aura suggesting it once possessed at least three hundred thousand years of cultivation, making it too powerful for the Sun Moon Empire to absorb safely. As Jing Hongchen prepared to put the embryo away, Ye Luochen asked whether powerful restorative abilities could let someone withstand its energy.

• Jing Hongchen examined the embryo and told Ye Luochen that its ice attribute and stability seemed sound, but its aura suggested it had once been a Beast King with at least three hundred thousand years of cultivation.
• Jing Hongchen explained that absorbing the embryo as a martial soul would require a Super Douluo, while absorbing its soul ring would require an exceptionally powerful Soul Douluo.
• Ye Luochen realized that the Sun Moon Empire lacked anyone capable of using the embryo, and worried that they had wasted 150 million Gold Soul Coins.
• Jing Hongchen said they might need a treasure capable of restoring a damaged body to use the embryo, then tried to put the God-Sealing Altar away.
• Ye Luochen stopped Jing Hongchen and asked whether someone with sufficiently powerful restorative abilities could survive the embryo's energy, and Jing Hongchen agreed.

Jing Hongchen learned that life energy from the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife had greatly improved Ye Luochen’s self-repair ability, giving them a possible way to overcome the soul beast embryo’s dangerous energy. He trusted Ye Luochen to attempt absorbing it, while admitting he would not risk his own descendants for the same experiment.

• Jing Hongchen explained that powerful self-repair could allow a body to withstand energy it otherwise could not absorb.
• Ye Luochen cut his arm with the Dark Iron Blade, and pale green light quickly healed the wound.
• Ye Luochen told Jing Hongchen how the Spirit-Devouring Carving Knife’s life energy had strengthened his recovery and might still be absorbed again.
• Jing Hongchen realized Ye Luochen’s abilities could make absorbing the soul beast embryo possible and promised to support him.
• Ye Luochen questioned whether Jing Hongchen truly trusted him, and Jing Hongchen said he did not doubt those he employed.
• Jing Hongchen admitted he would rather have Ye Luochen risk the attempt than endanger his descendants, Xiao and Meng.

Ye Luochen reported the tournament’s upheavals to Jing Hongchen, then chose to remain at the academy and resume his research rather than return to Star Luo City. At Xuan Ziwen’s laboratory, he met an unfamiliar girl who introduced herself as Ju Zi, Xuan Ziwen’s senior disciple.

• Ye Luochen told Jing Hongchen about Shrek Academy’s injuries, Wang Yan’s defection, the Body Sect’s appearance, the Sun Moon Academy’s growing reputation, and the auction attacks.
• Jing Hongchen focused on Shrek’s weakened state and suggested Ye Luochen return to the tournament, but Ye Luochen declined.
• Jing Hongchen praised Ye Luochen’s talent and circumstances, told him to cultivate at the academy, and advised him to visit Xuan Ziwen, who had repeatedly asked for him.
• Ye Luochen went to Xuan Ziwen’s private laboratory and found a black-haired girl handling the Stamping Machine Tools while Xuan Ziwen was absent.
• The girl introduced herself as Ju Zi, claimed to be Xuan Ziwen’s disciple and Ye Luochen’s senior, and tossed him her badge as proof.

Ye Luochen returned to Xuan Ziwen’s research lab, where he met Ju Zi and saw the latest Soul Tool production machines. After working together to improve the assembly line, the group finished the day with a new machine capable of producing fifth-grade Soul Tools, while Xuan Ziwen saved an unfinished device for Ye Luochen to inspect the next day.

• Ye Luochen apologized to Ju Zi, and Xuan Ziwen arrived and showed him machines that automated the production of fourth-grade Soul Tools and processed core formations up to sixth grade.
• Xuan Ziwen discovered that Ju Zi had dismantled parts of the core-formation machine, and Ye Luochen pointed out that she had fallen asleep with the missing pieces in her hands.
• Xuan Ziwen explained that Ju Zi was his student and had helped develop the new machines, and Ju Zi woke and recognized Ye Luochen from their earlier encounter.
• Ye Luochen, Ju Zi, and Xuan Ziwen reassembled the machine and spent hours testing ideas, improving the assembly line until it could produce fifth-grade Soul Tools.
• Xuan Ziwen sent Ju Zi and Ye Luochen to rest and asked Ye Luochen to return the next day to inspect an unfinished device, warning that he feared Ye Luochen might swallow it like his earlier prototypes.

Ye Luochen visited Xuan Ziwen’s laboratory and discovered that his teacher had built a machine that launched metal balls without using Soul Power. The breakthrough brought Ye Luochen’s idea of Mechanical Drive Technology closer to making Soul Tools usable by ordinary people.

• Ye Luochen returned to Mingde Hall and found Xuan Ziwen waiting to show him a large machine.
• Xuan Ziwen loaded a metal ball into the machine and operated it with levers and buttons, launching it hard enough to dent a sturdy metal panel.
• Ye Luochen noted the machine’s power, then realized it had operated without any Soul Power input.
• Xuan Ziwen explained that he had made Ye Luochen’s proposed Mechanical Drive Technology work.
• Ye Luochen recognized that the technology could remove Soul Power as a barrier to using Soul Tools and advance the goal of bringing them into every home.

Ye Luochen and Xuan Ziwen refined a machine that operated without Soul Power, proving that Soul Tools could be made usable by ordinary people. Just as Xuan Ziwen celebrated their breakthrough, Ye Luochen’s Dark Iron Blade began absorbing the new prototype, and Xuan Ziwen gave up trying to stop it.

• Xuan Ziwen showed Ye Luochen an early machine prototype and explained its complicated controls and reliance on stored energy.
• Ye Luochen and Xuan Ziwen analyzed the machine together, but their experiments destroyed it; Xuan Ziwen revealed he had hidden a more advanced backup prototype.
• The pair spent the afternoon improving the backup until they replaced its Soul Tool core formations with mechanical structures, making it simple to operate without Soul Power.
• Xuan Ziwen celebrated the breakthrough and imagined Soul Tools entering every household, then noticed Ye Luochen standing silently with his eyes shut.
• Ye Luochen’s Dark Iron Blade began devouring the new machine, and Xuan Ziwen watched with a relieved smile, saying he was tired and would let it all be destroyed.

After Ye Luochen’s Dark Iron Blade devoured another of Xuan Ziwen’s inventions, Xuan tested it and found that Ye Luochen’s Innate Soul Power had risen to rank seven. The two considered what might trigger the strange evolutions, and Ye Luochen planned to seek Wang Yan’s expertise in Martial Soul theory once the tournament ended.

• Ye Luochen apologized to Xuan Ziwen after the Dark Iron Blade devoured his machine, and Xuan Ziwen rebuilt it while grumbling about losing another treasured invention.
• Xuan Ziwen asked whether Ye Luochen’s Martial Soul had changed, then used a crystal ball to test his Innate Soul Power.
• The test showed that Ye Luochen’s Innate Soul Power had risen to rank seven, and he noticed that the Dark Iron Blade had changed in appearance.
• Xuan Ziwen speculated that Ye Luochen’s Martial Soul evolved when he made groundbreaking Soul Tool achievements in which he personally participated.
• Ye Luochen considered consulting Wang Yan about Martial Soul theory after Wang Yan joined the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy’s team following the tournament.

After his martial soul’s improvement raised his innate Soul Power to Level Seven, Ye Luochen wandered the academy and found a mysterious swordsman who made him feel an unprecedented danger. Though Ji Juechen first dismissed him as too weak, he accepted Ye Luochen’s challenge after sensing his changed aura.

• Ye Luochen reflected on how his increased talent could help him keep pace with powerful peers and advance in Soul Tool research.
• After resting, Ye Luochen skipped class and Mingde Hall, found cultivation unresponsive, and wandered around the academy.
• Ye Luochen watched the arena fights and noticed a pale, seemingly unremarkable man whose presence he could not sense.
• Other students identified the man as Sword Fanatic and recognized Ye Luochen as the first-year Soul Tool genius.
• Ji Juechen told Ye Luochen he was too weak to fight and explained that academy restrictions limited him to one arena match each month.
• Ye Luochen insisted on fighting, and Ji Juechen sensed his changed aura and accepted the challenge.

Ye Luochen challenged Ji Juechen and used Soul Tools to bombard the Sword Maniac, disrupting his momentum and forcing him to defend. Ji Juechen eventually unleashed a sweeping sword strike that destroyed the barrage, and Ye Luochen barely escaped by abandoning his armored shell.

• Ji Juechen warned Ye Luochen that he would not hold back, and their arena match began.
• Ye Luochen fired two Soul Guidance rays, which Ji Juechen endured while continuing to gather momentum.
• Ye Luochen deployed his Soul Guidance Cannon Platform and overwhelmed Ji Juechen with sustained fire, forcing him to raise his sword and lose his initial momentum.
• Ye Luochen kept up the barrage as Ji Juechen gathered momentum again while blocking the attacks.
• Ji Juechen swept his greatsword through the barrage, detonating the incoming attacks and sending a powerful strike toward Ye Luochen.
• Ye Luochen escaped the strike by slipping out of his heavy armored shell and rolling away.

Ye Luochen and Ji Juechen fought to a standstill in a fierce sword clash, then both entered deep meditation before their duel could end. Jing Hongchen sealed them off and ordered the Soul Guidance combat zone cleared.

• Ji Juechen relentlessly attacked Ye Luochen, forcing him to abandon his attempts to evade and meet the greatsword with his Dark Iron Blade.
• Ye Luochen tried to exploit the greatsword’s reach by closing in, but Ji Juechen’s skill kept him suppressed at both close and long range.
• Ye Luochen poured his Soul Power and spiritual power into a strike that clashed with Ji Juechen’s sword, leaving Ye Luochen badly injured and Ji Juechen bleeding.
• Ye Luochen recovered and charged at Ji Juechen, but an arriving figure stopped him before his blade reached Ji Juechen’s throat.
• Ye Luochen and Ji Juechen sat down and entered deep meditation, prompting Jing Hongchen to enclose them in separate Soul Guidance barriers and clear the combat zone.

After Ye Luochen and Ji Juechen's match ended without a clear winner, Jing Hongchen sent the betting students away and considered Ye Luochen's unexpected strength. Both fighters entered enlightenment-type deep meditation, leaving Jing Hongchen to wonder whether the name Chen brought good fortune.

• A student asked Jing Hongchen who had won, and Jing Hongchen reprimanded the students for betting on the match before dismissing them.
• Jing Hongchen reflected on Ji Juechen's strength and recognized how astonishingly well Ye Luochen had fought despite his lower cultivation.
• Jing Hongchen questioned how Ye Luochen's final slash could resemble an attack used by a supreme expert and admitted he could not determine whether it would have defeated Ji Juechen.
• Jing Hongchen decided to reconsider Ye Luochen's training plan so it would develop his martial soul talent as well as his Soul Tool skills.
• Jing Hongchen noticed that Ye Luochen and Ji Juechen had both entered enlightenment-type deep meditation, then joked about requiring academy students to add Chen to their names.

After a month of deep meditation, Ye Luochen and Ji Juechen awakened in dangerously weakened condition, then began recovering under the academy’s care. Ye Luochen discovered that meditation had greatly improved his Soul Power and spiritual power, and two familiar figures arrived to tease him.

• Xuan Ziwen found Ye Luochen awakening inside the Soul Tool barrier and caught him when he collapsed.
• Jing Hongchen explained that Ye Luochen needed rest and medicinal liquid rather than food, and Xuan Ziwen went to get it.
• Ji Juechen also awoke, and academy specialists monitored both men and prepared medicinal liquids to aid their recovery.
• After three days, Ye Luochen had mostly recovered and learned his Soul Power had risen from level forty-three to level forty-eight while his spiritual power reached the level of a rank-six Soul Engineer.
• Two long-unseen figures visited Ye Luochen and mocked him as the 150-Million Retreat Bro.

Ye Luochen heard how the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy defeated Shrek after he left the tournament, while Xiao Hongchen grew jealous of Ye Luochen’s latest fortune. Meng Hongchen revealed that Ma Xiaotao collapsed near death after Ma Rulong used the Sword of Judgment, leaving Ye Luochen to consider how Shrek would react.

• Xiao Hongchen tried to boast about the tournament, but Meng Hongchen teased him after Ye Luochen mentioned his month-long deep meditation.
• Ye Luochen explained that his Martial Soul had evolved again before he entered deep meditation, and Xiao Hongchen stormed out in frustration.
• Meng Hongchen told Ye Luochen that Shrek sent no new team members and that the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy dominated the final battle.
• Ma Xiaotao lost control as her evil fire worsened, transforming into a Black Phoenix and forcing Ma Rulong to use the Sword of Judgment.
• The Sword of Judgment made Ma Xiaotao collapse with her Martial Soul dispersed and her life force extremely weak, shocking Ye Luochen.

Meng Hongchen told Ye Luochen how Shrek withdrew after Xuanzi’s outburst, and how the Sun Moon team defeated the Body Sect to win the tournament. She warned Ye Luochen that Crown Prince Xu Tianran had required him to attend the award ceremony in ten days, which might coincide with a shift in imperial power.

• Meng Hongchen recounted how Xuanzi stormed the arena after Ma Xiaotao fell, attacked Ma Rulong, and was stopped by the Star Luo Emperor’s guardian Douluo.
• Meng Hongchen said Shrek withdrew from the tournament, the Body Sect nearly defeated the Sun Moon team, and Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen helped secure the championship.
• Meng Hongchen told Ye Luochen that the academy expected him to attend the award ceremony in Ming Capital in ten days because his intelligence had helped the team win.
• Meng Hongchen warned Ye Luochen that Crown Prince Xu Tianran had personally named him and that skipping the ceremony could be taken as refusing to side with the Crown Prince.
• Ye Luochen asked about Wang Yan, and Meng Hongchen said he had escaped through a special passage before Xuanzi flew into a rage and flattened a mountain outside Star Luo City.