Chapter Summaries

Dai Chong and the others killed a Tiger Demon Cat so Cheng Xiao could attempt to extract its shadow. Cheng Xiao successfully summoned the Tiger Demon Cat as an obedient shadow, but its roar alarmed Dai Chong, who feared something had gone wrong.

• Dai Chong and his six companions ambushed the Tiger Demon Cat at its nest and killed it without anyone being injured.
• Cheng Xiao used Shadow Domain and commanded the Tiger Demon Cat's shadow to stand up.
• The Tiger Demon Cat resisted at first, but Cheng Xiao's second command overcame it and summoned its shadow form.
• The Tiger Demon Cat's shadow submitted to Cheng Xiao, while Dai Chong heard its roar and feared that something had happened.

Cheng Xiao secretly turned slain soul beasts into Shadow Soldiers, but failed to control a powerful Three-Eyed Giant Ape. As Dai Chong and Sixth Brother grew suspicious of Cheng Xiao’s changes, Sixth Brother proposed killing him to seize whatever secret he possessed.

• Dai Chong and the six others found Cheng Xiao beside the Tiger Demon Cat’s corpse, and Cheng Xiao concealed the truth about its shadow.
• Cheng Xiao left with the group while the Tiger Demon Cat’s shadow stirred beneath his feet and obeyed his mental command.
• Cheng Xiao failed three times to summon the 3,200-year-old Three-Eyed Giant Ape’s shadow after successfully recruiting four weaker soul beasts.
• Sixth Brother told Dai Chong that Cheng Xiao seemed to grow stronger after each hunt, and Dai Chong admitted he had noticed the change too.
• Sixth Brother suggested Cheng Xiao possessed a valuable secret technique and gestured that they should kill him.

Dai Chong and Sixth Brother plotted to steal Cheng Xiao’s secret technique, while Cheng Xiao completed his collection of six soul beast shadows and handed over the commission at Spirit Hall. After Cheng Xiao left, Dai Chong sent Third Brother to track him so the group could investigate him further.

• Sixth Brother urged Dai Chong to finish the commission and then force Cheng Xiao to reveal his secret technique, and Dai Chong agreed to discuss the plan discreetly.
• Cheng Xiao returned and claimed he had finished practicing, while Sixth Brother and Dai Chong feared he had overheard their conversation.
• Cheng Xiao made the Profound Dark Tortoise his seventh target and added its shadow to his collection, bringing his total to six soul beast shadows after the Three-Eyed Giant Ape extraction failed.
• Cheng Xiao and the seven escorts went to Spirit Hall, where the commission handover was verified and Dai Chong received the claim form.
• After Cheng Xiao left Spirit Hall, Dai Chong ordered Third Brother to follow him while the others collected the commission.

Cheng Xiao expanded his Shadow Legion in the Star Dou Great Forest and discovered that Shadow Summoning had a limit tied to his strength. When Dai Chong and his six companions tried to ambush him, Cheng Xiao sprang a deadly counterattack with three five-thousand-year Soul Beasts.

• Cheng Xiao's Shadow Legion killed several Soul Beasts, and he concluded that he could not summon shadows stronger than his current authority allowed.
• Cheng Xiao sent eight of his thirteen Soul Beast shadows to keep watch and sensed Third Brother spying on him near the edge of his domain.
• The next day, Dai Chong and the other six tracked Cheng Xiao and planned to trap him, believing he was only a child they could overpower.
• Cheng Xiao appeared before the group, confronted them about their trap, and promised them a Life-and-Death Gift Pack.
• Three five-thousand-year Soul Beasts charged at Dai Chong and his companions after Cheng Xiao's Shadow Soul Beasts provoked them.

Cheng Xiao used his Shadow Domain and its endlessly reviving Soul Beasts to kill the seven mercenaries who had tried to ambush him. As he delivered finishing blows, a Dark Golden Dreadclaw Bear appeared behind him.

• The wounded Dai Chong offered Cheng Xiao two purple cards and an apology in exchange for letting the group leave, but Cheng Xiao refused and summoned thirteen Soul Beast shadows.
• The seven mercenaries killed a Tiger Demon Cat and tried to break through, only for it to revive beneath a cloak of shadow.
• Cheng Xiao's Soul Beasts surrounded the mercenaries, drained their Soul Power, and killed all seven.
• Cheng Xiao withdrew the Shadow Domain, delivered finishing blows, and began looting the bodies while Sixth Brother cursed him.
• A Dark Golden Dreadclaw Bear approached behind Cheng Xiao, and he recognized it in alarm.

Cheng Xiao mistook a Crystal Bear for a Dark Golden Dreadclaw Bear and nearly fled, but recognized the rare Soul Beast after it shattered one of his shadows. He chose to fight and ordered his Soul Beasts to attack, only to discover the Crystal Bear was far stronger than he expected.

• Cheng Xiao encountered a giant bear and prepared to escape, believing it was a nearly three-thousand-year Dark Golden Dreadclaw Bear.
• Cheng Xiao restrained the bear with Touch of Soul Binding, rolled beneath its attack, and fled while sending thirteen Soul Beasts to obstruct it.
• The bear shattered Sixth Brother, and Cheng Xiao recognized the silver-crystal fragments as proof that it was a Crystal Bear.
• Cheng Xiao decided to risk fighting the rare Soul Beast and ordered his shadows into a coordinated attack.
• The Crystal Bear crystallized and shattered Lightning Stripe Tiger and Profound Dark Tortoise with successive blows, prompting Cheng Xiao to order all his shadows to attack.

Cheng Xiao used his Shadow Soul Beasts and three venomous Soul Beasts to kill the rampaging Crystal Bear without letting it self-destruct. After summoning its shadow, he prepared to absorb its Soul Ring and discovered a dazzling Left Palm Bone in the bear’s corpse.

• Cheng Xiao recalled that the Crystal Bear’s vulnerable spot was the back of its neck and ordered his Soul Beasts to attack while the Heart-Shattering Bee, Nine-Segment Wolf Spider, and Spotted Head Boa prepared to strike.
• The Lightning Stripe Tiger drew the Crystal Bear’s attention, and the Tiger Demon Cat disrupted its vision, allowing the Heart-Shattering Bee to sting the back of its neck and paralyze it with venom.
• The Nine-Segment Wolf Spider poisoned the Crystal Bear’s brain while the Spotted Head Boa injected venom into its neck, killing it before it could self-destruct.
• Cheng Xiao summoned the Crystal Bear’s shadow and decided to absorb its purple Soul Ring, then had the shadow open the corpse to check for an External Soul Bone.
• Cheng Xiao found no right-side Soul Bone, but the Crystal Bear’s left paw contained a radiant Left Palm Bone.

Cheng Xiao discovered an External Soul Bone on the Crystal Bear, but a Dreadclaw Bear interrupted his attempt to absorb the Crystal Bear’s Soul Ring and forced him to flee. After escaping, he absorbed the Crystal Bear Left Palm Bone.

• Cheng Xiao identified the Crystal Bear’s transparent Left Palm Bone as an External Soul Bone and ordered the Shadow Soul Beasts to guard him while he prepared to absorb its Soul Ring.
• A massive Dreadclaw Bear charged into the Shadow Domain, and Cheng Xiao ordered his fourteen Soul Beasts to delay it as he ran.
• The Dreadclaw Bear tore through all fourteen Soul Beasts faster than they could revive, while Cheng Xiao fled without looking back.
• Cheng Xiao escaped and rejoiced that he had kept the Crystal Bear Left Palm Bone, despite losing his chance to absorb its Soul Ring.
• After recovering his Soul Power in a secluded spot, Cheng Xiao used Soul Power to fuse the Crystal Bear Left Palm Bone into his left hand.

Cheng Xiao endured the painful fusion of the Crystal Bear Left Palm Bone and discovered that it granted him the ability to crystallize targets with Soul Power. After concealing his Shadow Soul Beasts, he encountered a group of strangers who blocked his path.

• Cheng Xiao withstood the Crystal Bear Left Palm Bone’s scorching pain as it fused with his bones.
• Cheng Xiao completed the fusion and gained a transparent, clawed left hand with powerful cutting ability.
• Cheng Xiao tested the bone’s crystallization ability by turning a large tree into crystal.
• Cheng Xiao recalled the Shadow Soul Beasts when strangers entered his Shadow Domain and tried to leave unnoticed.
• A group of strangers caught up with Cheng Xiao, and a young woman complained that another girl had attracted a mad bear.

Cheng Xiao encountered a group led by a Soul Douluo in the Star Dou Great Forest and realized the two girls were likely Zhuyun and Zhu Zhuqing. When the man noticed the crystal tree and pursued him, Cheng Xiao escaped his first attack but was cornered and asked to speak with his supposed elder.

• Cheng Xiao met the group and claimed that his elder had gone ahead to scout the path.
• Cheng Xiao recognized the tall girl as Zhuyun and suspected that the shorter girl was Zhu Zhuqing.
• The group's leader noticed a massive crystal tree and ordered Cheng Xiao to stop, but Cheng Xiao ran.
• The Soul Douluo pursued Cheng Xiao and used his clone to reach for him.
• Cheng Xiao's Touch of Soul Binding briefly trapped the pursuer, but the man broke free and cornered him.
• Cheng Xiao asked the Soul Douluo to wait until he could catch up with his elder.

Cheng Xiao convinced Zhu Mo and his daughters that he was waiting for elders who had supposedly gone missing, and he traveled with them through the Star Dou Great Forest. The group reached the site where Cheng Xiao had killed Dai Chong’s team, and Zhu Mo learned that one body was missing its right arm, leaving the External Soul Bone’s whereabouts uncertain.

• Cheng Xiao claimed his elder had crystallized a tree while testing a Soul Bone Skill, and Zhu Mo let him stay with the Zhu Family until his elders returned.
• Cheng Xiao abandoned his chance to escape after Zhu Zhuqing caught him sneaking out at night.
• The next morning, Cheng Xiao joined Zhu Mo’s group as they traveled carefully through the forest, while Zhu Mo instructed Zhu Zhuyun and Zhu Zhuqing about avoiding unnecessary fights.
• Cheng Xiao pretended to recognize Dai Chong’s Spirit Hall mercenary token and persuaded Zhu Mo to search for his supposed elders.
• Zhu Mo’s group found the slaughtered mercenaries, and Cheng Xiao theatrically mourned his supposed Seventh Uncle.
• A scout told Zhu Mo that the mercenaries had been ambushed and that one corpse’s right arm was missing, but the group had not found the arm.

After Zhu Mo drove off the Dreadclaw Bear, Cheng Xiao tried to separate from the Zhu Family and stay behind to seek the wounded beast, while Zhu Zhuqing chose to return with him. As they camped for the night, Zhu Zhuqing questioned Cheng Xiao about his Martial Soul and hinted that their souls might resonate.

• Cheng Xiao pretended to mourn his dead elders while Zhu Mo learned that the soul bone had been taken by someone else.
• A wounded Dreadclaw Bear charged the group, and Zhu Mo used his Spirit Cat True Body to severely wound it before leading everyone away.
• Cheng Xiao realized the three-thousand-year Dreadclaw Bear could provide a powerful shadow and tried to part ways with Zhu Mo.
• Zhu Zhuqing insisted on returning, and she invited Cheng Xiao to go with her; Zhu Mo assigned two servants to escort them.
• At their night camp, Cheng Xiao planned to slip away and asked to be called Tang San, while Zhu Zhuqing questioned him about his Martial Soul and explained the resonance needed for a Martial Soul Fusion Skill.

Cheng Xiao exploited Zhu Zhuqing’s mistaken belief that they shared Martial Soul resonance to gain her trust and agree to serve her, then slipped away to find the wounded Dreadclaw Bear. He discovered the bear guarding its dead mate and prepared to attack it with his soul beasts.

• Cheng Xiao dismissed Zhu Zhuqing’s belief in their Martial Soul resonance but used it to steer their conversation toward family and loyalty.
• Zhu Zhuqing invited Cheng Xiao to pledge loyalty to her personally, and he agreed after hearing about the Zhu Family’s offer.
• Cheng Xiao volunteered for watch duty, then left the camp after the servants fell asleep.
• Cheng Xiao followed drag marks to a clearing littered with dead soul beasts and found the barely living Dreadclaw Bear.
• Cheng Xiao realized the Dreadclaw Bear had been guarding the Crystal Bear’s corpse, then surrounded it with fourteen soul beasts, including the Crystal Bear.

Cheng Xiao killed the Dreadclaw Bear and used its shadow to bring it back as a Shadow Dreadclaw Bear, then absorbed its Soul Ring. The Crystal Bear's Left Palm Bone evolved during the absorption, leaving Cheng Xiao with greatly increased attack power.

• Cheng Xiao ordered the Crystal Bear and thirteen other Soul Beasts to overwhelm the weakened Dreadclaw Bear, which never attacked the Crystal Bear.
• After the Dreadclaw Bear died and its purple Soul Ring appeared, Cheng Xiao repeatedly commanded its shadow to rise, succeeding on his final attempt.
• The revived Shadow Dreadclaw Bear eagerly joined the Crystal Bear, while Cheng Xiao had his shadows guard the area and began absorbing the Soul Ring.
• As the Soul Ring's pain reached its peak, Cheng Xiao's Crystal Bear Left Palm Bone appeared and absorbed energy, allowing him to complete the process.
• Cheng Xiao examined the evolved Left Palm Bone and tested its claws, which sliced through stone and the Dreadclaw Bear's tough hide.

After Cheng Xiao killed the Dreadclaw Bear and gathered his Shadow Soul Beasts, Zhu Zhuqing and her servants caught up with him. When the servants tried to force him back to the Zhu Family, Cheng Xiao revealed his identity and unleashed his fifteen Shadow Soul Beasts, leaving the confrontation poised to turn violent.

• Cheng Xiao dismissed the extra Soul Beasts, stored fifteen shadows, and prepared to leave the Star Dou Great Forest.
• Zhu Zhuqing and her two servants found Cheng Xiao at the Dreadclaw Bear's nest and realized he had concealed his true intentions.
• Zhu Zhuqing told the servants to let Cheng Xiao go, but the older servant refused and ordered Cheng Xiao to return with them.
• The servants revealed six and five Soul Rings and tried to intimidate Cheng Xiao into obeying.
• Cheng Xiao declared that his name was not Tang San and summoned fifteen Shadow Soul Beasts from the surrounding shadows.
• The older servant urged his companion to seize Cheng Xiao, and Cheng Xiao ordered his Soul Beasts to attack.

Cheng Xiao used his Shadow Soul Beasts to fight two Soul Emperor servants, killing Zhu Lie and then defeating the older man with Shadow Concealment Prison. The older man died believing Cheng Xiao was only a Soul Grandmaster, while Cheng Xiao’s thousand-year Soul Ring revealed his power was far greater than expected.

• Cheng Xiao ordered fifteen Shadow Soul Beasts to attack as the two servants unleashed their strongest Soul Skills against him.
• A Dreadclaw Bear blocked the attacks, while a Crystal Bear crystallized Zhu Lie’s arm and a Heart-Shattering Bee stung him to death.
• The older servant charged Cheng Xiao in a rage, destroyed most of the Shadow Soul Beasts, and slipped past the Dreadclaw Bear to attack him.
• Cheng Xiao revealed his yellow and purple Soul Rings and used Shadow Concealment Prison to shield himself from the older man’s scythe strike.
• When the prison shattered, its burst of shadow blinded the older man, and Cheng Xiao ordered the Dreadclaw Bear to kill him.

Zhu Zhuqing fled after Tang San and the dark soul beasts overwhelmed her group, then returned to Zhu Mo with a Zhu Family Guard. After she explained what happened, Zhu Zhuyun mocked her for running away, and Zhu Zhuqing faced her in anger.

• Zhu Zhuqing hid in the forest, ashamed and terrified that she had abandoned Zhu Lie and Zhu Lian to save herself.
• A Zhu Family Guard found Zhu Zhuqing while inspecting the Dreadclaw Bear's corpse, and she asked him to take her to Zhu Zhuyun.
• The guard learned Zhu Lie was dead and Zhu Lian was missing, then led Zhu Zhuqing to Zhu Mo's group.
• Zhu Zhuqing recounted her encounter with Tang San and the fifteen dark soul beasts, and Zhu Mo realized the boy had deceived him.
• Zhu Zhuyun mocked Zhu Zhuqing for fleeing, and Zhu Zhuqing glared at her in anger.

Zhu Mo’s group investigated the Dreadclaw Bear’s lair and realized Cheng Xiao had deceived them and likely killed the Soul Ancestor squad. Zhu Mo chose to report him to Spirit Hall, while Zhu Zhuqing quietly wondered whether recruiting him could have changed her fate.

• Zhu Mo led Zhu Zhuqing, Zhu Zhuyun, and their servants to the Dreadclaw Bear’s lair to investigate Cheng Xiao and the missing Zhu Lian.
• The servants found Zhu Lie’s poisoned corpse and severed arm, Zhu Lian’s body cut apart, and no trace of Cheng Xiao.
• Zhu Mo concluded that Cheng Xiao had fabricated his story about the seven elders and probably killed the Soul Ancestor squad, using soul beasts to conceal his involvement.
• Zhu Zhuyun and Zhu Zhuqing recognized how extraordinary and calculating Cheng Xiao was, and Zhu Zhuqing felt both inferior to him and drawn to the strength he represented.
• Zhu Mo decided not to pursue Cheng Xiao and instead ordered his group to tell Spirit Hall that he was a dangerous Fallen One.
• As the group headed toward the Star Luo Empire, Zhu Zhuqing wondered whether the outcome would have changed if her offer had persuaded Cheng Xiao to help her.

The author responded to readers’ criticisms of the gatekeeper’s attitude, Zhu Zhuqing’s interest in the protagonist, and the protagonist’s battle against a Soul Emperor, explaining the intended characterizations and tactics. The author remained undecided about changing the Soul Emperor into a Soul King and announced that the next volume would begin in Heaven Dou City.

• The author explained that the gatekeeper’s contempt for the protagonist’s low innate Soul Power and unknown mutated Martial Soul was meant to be understandable, though the wording would be softened.
• The author said Zhu Zhuqing had watched the protagonist as a detached observer before they held hands, while the protagonist misread her gaze because he feared his lies would be exposed.
• The author defended the protagonist’s victory over a Soul Emperor and Soul Kings, arguing that the shadows’ revivals, the Dreadclaw Bear, and a surprise attack that deprived enemies of vision created an opportunity to win.
• The author acknowledged that the Dreadclaw Bear was not truly a ten-thousand-year soul beast and considered, but did not decide, whether to change the Soul Emperor into a Soul King.
• The author concluded the volume and announced the next volume, Dragon in the Fields, would take place in Heaven Dou City.

In Heaven Dou City, Cheng Xiao met an old man and his granddaughter while Xue Beng’s guards forced their way through the crowded avenue. After concealing his strength and learning the pair had come to visit Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Cheng Xiao offered to help them, and the old man sized him up.

• Xue Beng’s Royal Imperial Guard cleared Star Dou Avenue with threats and whips as the Fourth Prince rode through the crowd.
• A young girl stumbled into Cheng Xiao, and he explained that the arrogant rider was Xue Beng, the Fourth Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire.
• Cheng Xiao told the old man and his granddaughter that he had come to study etiquette at Moonlight Pavilion, claiming his rank-one Innate Soul Power and mutated Martial Soul limited his prospects.
• The old man said his granddaughter was preparing to enroll at Heaven Dou Royal Academy and that they had come to the city for a stroll and to visit an old friend.
• Cheng Xiao offered to help the pair navigate Heaven Dou City, and the old man narrowed his eyes as he assessed Cheng Xiao’s intentions.