Chapter Summaries

Cheng Xiao awakened two conflicting martial souls, the Shadow King and the Destruction King, but their conflict left him with only level-one Innate Soul Power. He began training to control their power and enrolled at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy, where he encountered Yu Xiaogang.

• Cheng Xiao awakened a mutated Black Pupil martial soul and tested at level-one Innate Soul Power, while discovering the Shadow King and Destruction King within his consciousness.
• Cheng Xiao realized the Shadow King was sealing the destructive dragon and decided to strengthen his body so he could eventually unleash both martial souls.
• Cheng Xiao began an exhausting daily training regimen and kept exercising despite severe soreness.
• Cheng Xiao went to enroll at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy, and the gatekeeper mocked his low Soul Power before letting him enter.
• Cheng Xiao collided with Yu Xiaogang, who took his certificate, redirected him to the registration office, and returned the certificate without helping him there.

Yu Xiaogang waited at Nuoding City’s academy gates, hoping to find a talented disciple, but dismissed Cheng Xiao after inspecting his Martial Soul certificate. Cheng Xiao realized Yu Xiaogang was scouting students and left for registration, wary of getting involved with Tang San.

• Yu Xiaogang watched the academy gates, hoping to find a promising disciple, and approached Cheng Xiao when he arrived alone.
• Yu Xiaogang inspected Cheng Xiao’s Martial Soul certificate, saw his Black Pupil Martial Soul and Level 1 Soul Power, and sent him to the registration desk.
• Cheng Xiao watched Yu Xiaogang repeat the same approach with other students and suspected he was searching for a disciple.
• When an argument outside the gates drew Yu Xiaogang over, Cheng Xiao recognized his disciple-hunting scheme and connected it to Tang San’s arrival.
• Cheng Xiao headed to the registration desk, deciding to stay away from Tang San.

Cheng Xiao pushed through exhausting training, then met Xiao Wu after collapsing from overexertion. He helped her get bedding and settle into Dormitory Seven, where he secretly chose a bed far from Tang San’s; he left still thinking about Xiao Wu’s fragrance.

• Cheng Xiao completed his punishing training and collapsed on the ground from exhaustion.
• Xiao Wu found Cheng Xiao, carried him to the infirmary, and the doctor treated his overexertion.
• Cheng Xiao thanked Xiao Wu and offered to help her buy bedding and daily necessities.
• Cheng Xiao accompanied Xiao Wu to Dormitory Seven, where she defeated the other students and established herself as its leader.
• Cheng Xiao learned Tang San’s bed location and made Xiao Wu’s bed far away from it before returning to his dormitory.

After two months at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy, Cheng Xiao’s grueling training had strengthened him, and practicing Tai Chi Fist helped him recover from exhaustion. He secured Xiao Wu’s promise that she and Tang San would help him hunt a plant-type Soul Beast for his first Soul Ring, while Tang San remained wary of him.

• Cheng Xiao continued his intense daily training and found that practicing Tai Chi Fist eased his fatigue and restored some of his energy.
• Xiao Wu offered Cheng Xiao water and asked why he trained so hard; he said he wanted to become stronger and had reached Soul Power level three.
• Cheng Xiao asked Tang San how his studies with Grandmaster were going, then lamented that he had no teacher to help him obtain a Soul Ring.
• Cheng Xiao asked Xiao Wu and Tang San to help him hunt a Soul Beast when the time came, and Xiao Wu agreed on the condition that he choose a plant-type Soul Beast.
• Tang San hesitated and agreed to join only if Grandmaster had no other task for him, while Cheng Xiao privately regarded the two as useful pawns.

Cheng Xiao examined the Meditation Technique Xiao Wu had received from Tang San and realized it might explain the bottleneck in his Tai Chi practice. He tested it while practicing and briefly broke through the obstruction, then suspected the technique’s route avoided the Ren Du Meridians.

• Cheng Xiao practiced Tai Chi while Xiao Wu complained that Tang San had left her to clean alone for three days.
• Xiao Wu showed Cheng Xiao the Meditation Technique Tang San had given her, and he studied its cultivation routes.
• Cheng Xiao recognized that the technique combined research from different schools and noticed its routes skipped parts of the meridians.
• Cheng Xiao practiced Tai Chi while circulating Soul Power according to the technique, and a crack in his spine briefly opened the barrier he had sensed.
• Cheng Xiao realized the Soul Power route bypassed the Ren Du Meridians and wondered whether cultivators avoided them because they were difficult to traverse.

Cheng Xiao forced his Soul Power through the Ren Du Meridians while practicing Tai Chi, completed a Lesser Heavenly Circuit, and discovered that the practice might raise his Soul Power Affinity. Relieved that his potential could grow beyond his current limits, he was interrupted by Xiao Wu asking whether his attack had been a Soul Skill.

• Cheng Xiao repeatedly practiced Tai Chi and pushed his Soul Power through the difficult Ren Du Meridians, while Xiao Wu sulked at being ignored.
• Cheng Xiao completed a Lesser Heavenly Circuit, connected his Twelve Meridians, and struck the ground with a forceful palm that left a crater.
• Xiao Wu watched in amazement and wondered whether Cheng Xiao had used a Self-Created Soul Skill.
• Cheng Xiao found that his Soul Power had not increased, but reasoned that Tai Chi had improved his Soul Power Affinity and could raise his cultivation potential.
• Cheng Xiao felt relieved about his future prospects, and Xiao Wu leaned close to ask whether his attack had been a Soul Skill.

Cheng Xiao explained that his Tai Chi was an unfinished combination with the Meditation Technique, then used its soft strength to counter Xiao Wu’s Soft Skills. Xiao Wu tricked and launched him with her first soul skill, but Cheng Xiao caught hold of her in midair and left her unable to escape.

• Xiao Wu noticed that Cheng Xiao’s Tai Chi had blasted a crater and asked him to demonstrate its power.
• Cheng Xiao refused to show Tai Chi again, explaining that his first attempt at combining it with the Meditation Technique was incomplete and difficult to reproduce.
• Xiao Wu attacked Cheng Xiao with her Soft Skills, but Cheng Xiao used Tai Chi Cloud Hands to redirect her strength and throw her away before catching her.
• Xiao Wu pretended to be caught, wrapped her scorpion braid around Cheng Xiao, and used her First Soul Skill, Waist Bow, to launch him into the air.
• Cheng Xiao seized Xiao Wu’s arms as she threw him and used his soft, yielding movements to trap her in midair.

Cheng Xiao defeated Xiao Wu in a sparring match, and Tang San returned to find them lying together. Tang San concealed his jealousy while Cheng Xiao recognized that Xiao Wu’s affection gave him leverage over Tang San.

• Cheng Xiao used a joint lock and tickling to make Xiao Wu surrender after their sparring match.
• Tang San returned from observing Soul Beasts and found Xiao Wu resting in Cheng Xiao’s arms, prompting a surge of jealousy and killing intent.
• Xiao Wu excitedly told Tang San about Cheng Xiao’s Self-Created Soul Skill, unaware of his reaction.
• Tang San hid his feelings, offered to help Xiao Wu clean, and Cheng Xiao decided Xiao Wu’s favor would keep Tang San from attacking him.

After two and a half years of refining his Tai Chi cultivation method, Cheng Xiao reached level ten and enlisted Xiao Wu and Tang San to help him hunt for a Soul Beast. Xiao Wu persuaded Tang San to agree, leaving the three of them ready to set out together.

• Cheng Xiao perfected his Tai Chi-based Soul Power circulation route and reached level ten, while Tang San and Xiao Wu had already advanced to level twenty and Tang San gained the Parasite skill from his second Soul Ring.
• Cheng Xiao rejected the usual help hunting a weak Soul Beast and reminded Xiao Wu and Tang San of their old agreement to help him find a Soul Ring.
• Cheng Xiao repeatedly asked Tang San to accompany him, while Tang San resisted because of their strained relationship and his suspicion of Cheng Xiao.
• Xiao Wu grew impatient with Tang San's delays and threatened to go with Cheng Xiao without him.
• Tang San gave in and agreed to ask his teacher for leave so he could accompany Xiao Wu and Cheng Xiao on the hunt.

Cheng Xiao chose a nearly five-hundred-year-old Soul Binding Vine for his first Soul Ring, hoping its control ability could help counter Tang San's Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. After Tang San and Xiao Wu subdued the vine, Cheng Xiao began absorbing its ring while Tang San concealed a fleeting wish that he would fail.

• Tang San explained the Soul Beasts they encountered in the forest, and Cheng Xiao identified a five-hundred-year-old Soul Binding Vine as his target.
• Cheng Xiao reasoned that his physique, Spiritual Power, and Martial Soul might let him absorb a Soul Ring beyond the usual first-ring limit.
• Xiao Wu objected to the risk, but Cheng Xiao persuaded her and Tang San to let him try, promising to stop if anything went wrong.
• Tang San and Xiao Wu cut off the Soul Binding Vine's attacking vines, and Cheng Xiao delivered the final blow.
• Cheng Xiao sat down to absorb the vine's yellow Soul Ring as Tang San suppressed his jealous, hostile thoughts.

After absorbing a Soul Binding Vine ring, Cheng Xiao gained Touch of Soul Binding and tested it against Tang San’s Entanglement. Tang San lost the spar and began to doubt whether Blue Silver Grass was suited to the Control System as they left the Soul Hunting Forest.

• Cheng Xiao absorbed the Soul Ring and gained Touch of Soul Binding, which let him control shadows as tentacles.
• Cheng Xiao and Tang San agreed to compare their first soul skills while Xiao Wu refereed.
• Cheng Xiao’s shadow bound Tang San as he dodged Tang San’s pursuing Blue Silver Grass, winning the spar.
• Cheng Xiao explained how his shadow-based skill could anchor to its target while Tang San’s vines depended on roots, then led Xiao Wu toward the forest exit.
• Tang San watched Cheng Xiao and Xiao Wu leave and began to doubt his choice to develop Blue Silver Grass along the Control System path.

Tang San told Yu Xiaogang that Cheng Xiao’s victory had made him doubt his chosen path, but Yu Xiaogang reassured him and analyzed weaknesses in Cheng Xiao’s soul skill. Tang San regained his confidence after Yu Xiaogang dismissed Cheng Xiao as someone who would never rise beyond level nineteen.

• Yu Xiaogang noticed Tang San’s distraction and asked what had troubled him since the Soul Beast hunt.
• Tang San explained that Cheng Xiao had hunted a five-hundred-year Soul Binding Vine and defeated him in a sparring match.
• Yu Xiaogang realized Cheng Xiao’s Soul Ring could support his Over-Limit Absorption theory and considered using Tang San as a second test case.
• Yu Xiaogang comforted Tang San, analyzed three possible weaknesses in Cheng Xiao’s shadow-binding skill, and urged Tang San to consult him about cultivation doubts.
• Yu Xiaogang predicted Cheng Xiao would reach at most level nineteen and reminded Tang San that his Twin Martial Souls could lead him to become a Titled Douluo.
• Tang San accepted Yu Xiaogang’s judgment, stopped viewing Cheng Xiao as a rival, and regained his good spirits.

After two years of cultivation, Cheng Xiao joined his uncle Cheng Yu on a summer business trip to Moon Village to learn the whale-oil trade. He witnessed the Whale Hunting Grand Assembly and its slaughter of demonic whales, then left with a harder understanding of the Soul Master world.

• Cheng Xiao advanced to level seventeen while Tang San and Xiao Wu reached level twenty-seven, and he considered seeking the immortal herbs at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
• Cheng Yu took Cheng Xiao to Whale Hunting City to learn the family’s whale-oil supply route and introduced him to their partner, Lyu Han, in Moon Village.
• Cheng Xiao learned that Moon Village’s hunters used a secret technique to lure demonic whales and held the Whale Hunting Grand Assembly each summer.
• Cheng Xiao and Cheng Yu joined Lyu Han’s fleet, which spent ten days at sea before the Sea Soul Masters lured a pod of Gray-Eyed Demonic Whales back to Moon Bay.
• The villagers slaughtered the whales, and Cheng Xiao accepted that the strong preyed on the weak, thinking briefly of Xiao Wu before hardening his resolve.

During Moon Bay’s bonfire celebration, Cheng Xiao discovered that a discarded lump from a Demon Whale’s head was Whale Rubber, a valuable material that could raise a Soul Master’s Soul Ring absorption limit. He persuaded Lyu Han to collect more for him and left with the first piece and a promise of help.

• Cheng Xiao joined the villagers’ dancing before wandering over to watch them butcher Demon Whales and boil whale oil.
• Cheng Xiao saw a butcher discard a golden crystal from a Demon Whale’s skull and recognized it as Whale Rubber.
• Cheng Xiao asked for the crystal, and the butcher gave it to him for free because he considered it trash.
• Lyu Han explained that Whale Rubber ruined whale oil and that only a few pieces might appear each year, while earlier pieces had been discarded or given to children.
• Cheng Xiao pretended he collected unusual stones and asked Lyu Han to save future pieces; Cheng Yu offered Lyu Han Imperial Jade Liquid, and Lyu Han agreed to ask around.

Cheng Xiao used Whale Rubber to strengthen his body and raise the soul-ring age he could withstand. As he practiced Tai Chi to control its intense medicinal effects, his Ren Du Meridians opened and his Soul Power broke through.

• Cheng Yu led the first convoy away while Cheng Xiao stayed in Whale Hunting City to guard the next shipment and kept Whale Rubber’s cultivation effects secret from his uncle.
• Cheng Xiao assessed three pieces of Thousand-Year Whale Rubber and concluded they could let him safely choose a soul ring aged between two thousand and two thousand five hundred years.
• Cheng Xiao had a furnace made, heated the Whale Rubber, and swallowed all three pieces despite their strong odor and burning heat.
• Cheng Xiao plunged into the sea to cool himself, then practiced Tai Chi to guide the medicinal power through his body.
• Cheng Xiao entered the Selfless and Formless state, corrected his Tai Chi circulation route, opened his Ren Du Meridians, and broke through in Soul Power.

Cheng Xiao’s Selfless and Formless state and the Whale Rubber’s medicinal power helped him complete his Tai Chi Energy Circulation Method and reach Level 18, but the power also prematurely destabilized his Martial Souls. He used a Tai Chi formation to balance the Shadow King and Destruction King, leaving him able to wield both as a true Twin Martial Souls user.

• Cheng Xiao completed his Soul Power circulation, opened the Ren Du Meridians, and reached Level 18 as the Whale Rubber’s medicinal power strengthened his body and Spiritual Power.
• The remaining medicinal power surged into Cheng Xiao’s Martial Souls, shattered their balance, and began liberating the Destruction King’s power.
• Cheng Xiao struggled against the destructive force and the collapsing sphere of shadow until he recalled Tai Chi’s principles of yin and yang.
• Cheng Xiao formed a Tai Chi diagram from the powers of shadow and destruction, using it as a buffer to stop the forces from tearing apart his body.
• Cheng Xiao summoned the Shadow King and the Destruction King through the Tai Chi formation and gained the ability to wield both Martial Souls.

Cheng Xiao discovered that releasing his Martial Souls had raised his Soul Power to level twenty and awakened the Shadow Domain, but the growing conflict between his Martial Souls still threatened his life. He told Cheng Yu about his rapid progress, leaving his uncle to weigh the family’s support against the risks and expense of training him.

• Cheng Xiao found that his Soul Power had reached level twenty and gained the Shadow Domain ability, which let him summon and command up to twenty shadows of the dead by saying “Stand up!”
• Cheng Xiao decided to seek a Soul Ring and eventually gather fifteen shadow guards, while targeting Soul Beasts rather than people to avoid attracting Spirit Hall’s attention.
• Cheng Xiao told Cheng Yu that he had reached level twenty, and Cheng Yu was shocked by his nephew’s talent and worried about the cost of supporting him.
• Cheng Yu questioned how Cheng Xiao had cultivated so quickly despite having Innate Soul Power of only level one and asked why he wanted to hunt Soul Beasts several times stronger than needed for his first ring.

Cheng Xiao tried to persuade Cheng Yu to fund the hunt for seven high-age Soul Beasts by revealing Whale Rubber’s ability to raise Soul Ring absorption limits. Cheng Yu agreed the secret must stay hidden but could only afford three Soul Beasts without selling the family’s property or taking on debt.

• Cheng Yu refused Cheng Xiao’s request to hunt seven Soul Beasts that were at least two thousand years old.
• Cheng Xiao told Cheng Yu that Whale Rubber had helped him break through to level twenty and could increase the age of Soul Rings a Soul Master could absorb.
• Cheng Yu considered stockpiling or selling the Whale Rubber secret, but Cheng Xiao warned that powerful forces might kill the family to seize it.
• Cheng Xiao insisted that the secret could not be shared until the family had protection from at least one Titled Douluo.
• Cheng Yu said the family could afford to hunt only three Soul Beasts without selling its property or going into debt.

Cheng Xiao revealed his Twin Martial Souls to persuade Cheng Yu that the Cheng Family should invest in him. Cheng Yu agreed to arrange the family’s full support, provided Cheng Xiao took on three conditions, and began planning to help him rise.

• Cheng Yu hesitated to risk the Cheng Family’s assets on Cheng Xiao’s innate level-one Soul Power, and the two fell silent.
• Cheng Xiao revealed that he had Twin Martial Souls, attributing the awakening of his second Martial Soul to eating the Whale Rubber.
• Cheng Xiao demonstrated Shadow King and Dragon Emperor, convincing Cheng Yu that the family could rise through his strength.
• Cheng Yu agreed to persuade the family to mortgage its assets for one-time support, but said Cheng Xiao would have to manage on his own afterward.
• Cheng Yu required Cheng Xiao to leave Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy for Moonlight Pavilion, make connections there, and provide financial support for the family.
• Cheng Yu also required Cheng Xiao to win the championship or runner-up at the Soul Master Tournament before turning twenty and earn a noble title; Cheng Xiao agreed.

Cheng Xiao hired a seven-person Soul Ancestor team to hunt Soul Beasts so he could collect their shadows and build his Shadow Team. After setting out for the Star Dou Great Forest, he revised his targets to cover a range of combat strengths, and the group began planning their hunt.

• Cheng Yu persuaded the Cheng Family to mortgage its businesses and hire a well-rounded team of Soul Ancestors for Cheng Xiao.
• Cheng Xiao told Dai Chong and the team that they would kill seven specified Soul Beasts while he collected blood and performed procedures on the bodies.
• Cheng Yu watched the group depart and quietly hoped they would return safely.
• At their camp outside the Star Dou Great Forest, Cheng Xiao named a two-thousand-year Diamond Tiger as their first target, and Yang Lie warned that it would be difficult and dangerous to find.
• Cheng Xiao broadened his target criteria to include Soul Beasts with strong attack, defense, speed, endurance, and control, aiming to form a coordinated Shadow Team.