Chapter Summaries

Ling Yi returned to his forging room and watched Ah Yin and Yang Shelly spar before offering guidance on their contrasting combat styles. He encouraged Ah Yin to plan each move carefully and Yang Shelly to embrace her forceful instincts, while Ah Yin’s Soul Beast aura remained a recurring problem.

• Ling Yi concluded that Ah Yin’s Soul Beast aura would keep returning until she reached Level 60, and realized he should conceal his own aura when traveling.
• Ling Yi returned to his forging room and found Ah Yin and Yang Shelly exchanging attacks in a fierce spar.
• Ah Yin used her severed whip to bind Yang Shelly’s feet and turn the fight around, but Yang Shelly blocked most of her strikes with her Hook Scythe Spear.
• Ling Yi healed the two women and advised Yang Shelly to improve her strength, speed, and control while urging Ah Yin to stay calm and plan her Soul Skill use.
• Ling Yi told Yang Shelly to trust her instincts and enjoy the danger and force of battle.

Ling Yi left Gengxin City with Yang Shelly and Ah Yin, traveling through the wilderness partly to conceal his Soul Beast aura and avoid the Official Road. Tai Tan’s letter about Tang Hao’s extraordinary strength and planned visit made Ling Yi wary of possible protection and Spirit Hall interference, and the chapter left him preparing for what might happen next.

• Ling Yi, Yang Shelly, and Ah Yin stopped by a stream in the northern Star Luo Empire, where Yang Shelly prepared firewood and Ling Yi cooked meat for his birthday.
• Ling Yi reflected that he needed at least eight months to refine Ah Yin’s Blue Silver Emperor aura, which experts at Soul Douluo level could currently detect.
• Ling Yi recalled leaving Gengxin City because he had completed his goals there and wanted to return to Waterwood Principality.
• Lou Gao told Ling Yi and Tie Futu about Tai Tan’s letter praising Tang Hao as a 24-year-old Soul Emperor and saying that he would visit Gengxin City with Tang Hao to seek guidance.
• Ling Yi believed Tai Tan’s claims and worried that Tang Hao might have powerful protectors, while Spirit Hall’s ambitious new Pope Qian Xunji might also take action.

Tang Hao, Tang Yuehua, and their companions arrived in Gengxin City, where Tang Yuehua was struck by the residents’ hopeful spirit. At the Blacksmith Association, they met Tang Chen and were welcomed by Tie Futu and Lou Gao.

• Tang Hao and Tang Yuehua noticed Gengxin City’s unusual order and the hopeful smiles of its residents, which made Tang Yuehua eager to learn about the city.
• Tang Chen emerged from the crowd and greeted Tang Hao and Tang Yuehua, while Tai Tan and the others paid their respects.
• Tang Hao suggested that the group go to the Blacksmith Association after noticing passersby watching them.
• Tie Futu and Lou Gao welcomed the group, and Tai Tan introduced them as the continent’s two Divine Craftsmen.
• Tang Chen greeted Tie Futu, who returned the greeting respectfully.

Tang Hao passed the Blacksmith Association’s assessment and was recognized as a Blacksmith Grandmaster. He donated his greatsword to the association’s exhibition area, then went with Tang Yuehua and the others to view the displayed works.

• Lou Gao examined Tang Hao’s greatsword and judged its color, grain, luster, and durability to be of high quality.
• Lou Gao declared Tang Hao a Blacksmith Grandmaster, and the gathered association members praised his achievement without objection.
• Tang Hao refused to take the greatsword home and told Lou Gao to keep it, so Lou Gao assigned Si Long to display it.
• Tai Tan explained the exhibition area to Tang Hao, who invited Tang Yuehua to go look at the other works.
• Lou Gao led Tang Hao, Tang Yuehua, Tai Tan, Yang Wushuang, and the others to the exhibition area, where Si Long had placed the greatsword on a stand.

Lou Gao showed Tang Hao and the others several celebrated weapons before revealing that Ling Yi had become a Divine Blacksmith. The chapter ended with Tie Futu praising Ling Yi’s sword and saying that neither he nor Lou Gao could match its craftsmanship.

• Lou Gao described the Eight Edges Armor Piercing Spear, and Yang Wushuang admired its craftsmanship while Tai Tan pointed out the impractical weight of another exhibit, the Leigu Wengjin Hammers.
• Yang Wushuang decided not to ask about buying the spear, recognizing that the exhibits were being displayed for their commemorative value rather than for sale.
• Tang Yuehua and Tang Hao noticed a bluish-green sword that gave everyone who saw it a profound sense of sharpness.
• Tai Tan asked who had forged the sword, and Lou Gao proudly identified his junior brother Ling Yi as its creator.
• Tie Futu explained that Ling Yi was his senior brother’s disciple and praised the sword’s craftsmanship as beyond his and Lou Gao’s abilities.

Lou Gao revealed that Ling Yi had become a Divine Craftsman at only 20, shocking Tai Tan. After Tai Tan examined Ling Yi’s Azure Nether Sword, Tang Yuehua infused it with her Soul Power and made Yang Wushuang sense danger.

• Lou Gao told Tai Tan that Ling Yi was 20 years old and had already reached Divine Craftsman level.
• Lou Gao handed Tai Tan the Azure Nether Sword and demonstrated its Sword Radiance.
• Tai Tan bent the sword into a circle, watched it spring back into shape, and sensed the sword intent within it.
• Tai Tan passed the sword to Tang Yuehua, who infused it with Soul Power and made Yang Wushuang feel a hint of danger.

Tang Yuehua discovered that the Azure Nether Sword could store her Soul Power and learned how Ling Yi had forged and enchanted it. Lou Gao then led the group to a calligraphy display and books that left Tang Chen and the others shaken by Ling Yi’s work.

• Tang Yuehua briefly lost her strength when her Soul Power flowed into the Azure Nether Sword, then pulled the sword free and found her Soul Power stored inside it.
• Lou Gao explained that Ling Yi had forged the sword from eleven materials, awakened its spirituality, and engraved arrays that let it store Soul Power and activate the Breaking Clan’s Sharp skill.
• Yang Wushuang began to form an idea after learning the sword’s connection to the Breaking Clan.
• Tang Hao and the others read Ling Yi’s calligraphy and were drawn into its imagery, while Tang Chen was shocked by its effect.
• Lou Gao brought the group to a bookshelf, where Tang Hao and Tai Tan picked up books about material reactions and properties under different forging conditions.

Ling Yi’s influence over Gengxin City and his role in Kuku Candil’s rise were revealed, while Tang Yuehua grew curious about Ling Yi. Tang Hao gave Yuehua the Azure Nether Sword in exchange for a future favor to the Blacksmith Association.

• Tai Tan and Yang Wudi reported that Kuku Candil was acting city lord of Gengxin City while his father, Arthur Candil, recuperated in seclusion.
• The chapter revealed that Ling Yi had mentored Kuku Candil and helped arrange support for him, and that Tie Futu’s breakthrough to Soul Douluo had changed Ling Yi’s plans.
• Ling Yi wondered whether he was still the protagonist after Tie Futu’s breakthrough made him feel like a tool providing someone else’s opportunity.
• Tang Yuehua became curious about Ling Yi and considered traveling to Waterwood Principality to meet him.
• Tang Hao presented Tang Yuehua with the Azure Nether Sword, which he had traded for a promise to help the Blacksmith Association hunt powerful Soul Beasts.

Tang Hao gave Tang Yuehua the Azure Nether Sword and Sinking Silver Inner Armor in exchange for the Blacksmith Association’s help obtaining Soul Rings, then prepared to enter Slaughter City. On a barren mountain, a masked young man and Luo San Pao faced a Wind Shadow Leopard, whose imminent attack was interrupted by a shout from afar.

• Tang Hao and Tang Chen finalized a deal with Lou Gao, and Tang Yuehua received the Azure Nether Sword and Sinking Silver Inner Armor.
• Tang Hao promised Tang Yuehua he would forge her something comparable after his second brother returned from Slaughter City.
• In the year 2612 of the Douluo Calendar, twenty-five-year-old Tang Hao prepared to enter Slaughter City and seek Domain Power.
• On a barren mountain, a masked young man ordered Luo San Pao to attack a Wind Shadow Leopard, but the leopard dodged the blast and gagged from its gas effect.
• The Wind Shadow Leopard gathered a whirlwind and prepared to pounce before a voice from afar called out, making the three creatures pause.

Ling Yi encountered the runaway Yu Xiaogang in the mountain wilderness, apologized for Wind Shadow Leopard’s attack, and left him a portable water distiller. After departing, Ling Yi learned from Ah Yin that only a Soul King was secretly guarding Yu Xiaogang.

• Wind Shadow Leopard approached Yu Xiaogang, and Ling Yi arrived with Yang Shelly and Ah Yin to stop the awkward encounter.
• Ling Yi introduced himself, recognized Yu Xiaogang, and gave him a portable distiller as an apology.
• Yu Xiaogang accepted the distiller and watched Ling Yi and his companions leave, reflecting on their meeting.
• Ah Yin sensed the area and told Ling Yi that, apart from one Soul King, no one else was nearby.

Ling Yi, Yang Shelly, and Ah Yin encountered a Breaking Clan convoy in Yasuo City, where Yang Pojun recognized Shelly and told her that the Main Family had been asking after her. Shelly learned that the clan’s Second Master was Yang Wushuang, the younger brother of clan head Yang Wudi.

• Ling Yi and the two women wandered Yasuo City after confirming that its strongest Soul Master was only a Soul King.
• Yang Shelly spotted a Breaking Clan convoy and decided she did not want to approach it, unsure whether its members came from the main line.
• Yang Pojun came over and identified Yang Shelly as a member of Yang Yuanzhao’s Fourth Branch, then introduced himself as a Second Branch member.
• Yang Pojun told Yang Shelly that the Main Family’s Second Master had sent word through the Speed Clan’s Bai Clan to ask about her.
• Yang Pojun explained that the Second Master was Yang Wushuang, the younger brother of clan head Yang Wudi.

Ling Yi politely refused Yang Pojun’s invitation to join the Breaking Clan as a guest elder, saying he wanted to return home. Their conversation then revealed that Ling Yi had also helped develop influential herbal prescriptions, astonishing Yang Pojun.

• Yang Pojun formally invited Ling Yi to join the Breaking Clan as a guest elder on behalf of Yang Wushuang.
• Ling Yi thanked Yang Pojun but firmly declined the invitation, saying he wanted to return home.
• Yang Pojun accepted Ling Yi’s refusal and then chatted with him and Yang Shelly about family matters and herbs.
• Yang Pojun learned that Ling Yi had improved herbal remedies and developed prescriptions used by the Heaven Dou Empire’s border army.
• Ling Yi credited physicians and folk remedies for helping him, leaving Yang Pojun stunned by his range of accomplishments.

Yang Pojun tried to recruit Ling Yi into the Yang Clan by linking his proposal to Yang Shelly’s feelings for him and the clan’s expectations for her marriage. Ling Yi recognized the pressure behind the pitch, but the chapter ended before he answered.

• Yang Pojun again urged Ling Yi to join the Yang Clan, praising his forging skills and knowledge of herbs, but Ling Yi declined.
• Yang Pojun praised the Soul Breaking Spear and argued that the clan’s descendants owed loyalty to the family, and Ling Yi agreed that blood ties carried responsibilities.
• Ling Yi asked whether Yang Pojun was referring to Yang Shelly, and Yang Pojun admitted that she was part of the Yang Clan’s bloodline.
• Yang Pojun said Yang Shelly might be matched with someone from a comparable clan or the Clear Sky Sect, then implied that Ling Yi joining the Breaking Clan would remove obstacles to their relationship.

Ling Yi countered Yang Pojun’s suggestion of a marriage alliance by arguing that Yang Shelly’s wishes and potential mattered more to the Breaking Clan. The next morning, Shelly returned with Yang Pojun’s caravan to Long Xing City to discuss her future with her parents, leaving Yang Pojun anxious about facing them.

• Ling Yi argued that the Breaking Clan would benefit more from Shelly’s cultivation than from using her in a marriage alliance.
• Yang Pojun countered that Shelly would eventually marry and suggested a suitable man from a nearby clan.
• Shelly left the conversation, and Ling Yi advised her to return home and ask her parents about her future.
• The next morning, Ling Yi and Ah Yin rode out of Yasuo City while Shelly prepared to travel back to Long Xing City with Yang Pojun’s caravan.
• Yang Pojun apologized to Shelly, who said she understood and privately planned to let her parents decide whether she should enter a marriage alliance.

Yu Xiaogang overheard a group of low-level Soul Masters discussing Ling Yi and learned about his reputation as a gifted healer in the Border Army. The account ended with Brother Lu hinting at Ling Yi’s Innate Soul Power.

• Yu Xiaogang listened as Lao Liang and his companions described surviving a Red Spotted Toad’s poison with Detoxification Powder.
• Lao Liang’s companions discussed how their families depended on their work and how expensive it would be to support their children’s cultivation.
• Yu Xiaogang recognized Ling Yi’s name and recalled the graceful, composed person he admired and envied.
• Brother Lu recounted how Ling Yi had saved soldiers during the war and cured a poison injury that Count Altimos could not treat.
• Brother Lu said Ling Yi had left the Border Army after leaving behind medicinal formulas, then teased the group with a question about Ling Yi’s Innate Soul Power.

Xiao Yan confronted Yu Xiaogang for openly asking about Ling Yi and uncovered that Yu Xiaogang had deliberately used himself as bait to draw out people with direct knowledge of Ling Yi. The chapter left Yu Xiaogang surprised that a border-army officer had seen through his plan.

• Xiao Yan found Yu Xiaogang being held by guards and ordered them to beat him for refusing to answer questions about Ling Yi.
• Yu Yi watched from a nearby restaurant, intending to let Yu Xiaogang suffer a little so he might return to the clan.
• Yu Xiaogang revealed two yellow soul rings and knocked down the guards who tried to attack him.
• Xiao Yan showed his three soul rings and accused Yu Xiaogang of deliberately luring the soldiers out to discover his goal.
• Yu Xiaogang recalled that he had openly asked about Ling Yi to draw the attention of people in the Heaven Dou Border Army who knew him firsthand.

Xiao Yan worried that Yu Xiaogang’s clan might target Ling Yi for his prescription-making ability, while Yu Yi reported Ling Yi’s information to a clan contact. Meanwhile, Ling Yi and Ah Yin reached Waterwood Principality, where Ah Yin noticed the unusually abundant Blue Silver Grass and Ling Yi hinted that it could be cultivated there because he was absent.

• Xiao Yan stopped his guard from pursuing Yu Xiaogang and suspected that certain members of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan wanted Ling Yi and his ability to develop prescriptions.
• Yu Yi delivered information about Ling Yi to a Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan contact point in Kelo City, then saw Yu Xiaogang cultivating diligently and gained some respect for him.
• Ah Yin traveled with Ling Yi through snowy Waterwood Principality and remarked that the Blue Silver Grass there seemed unusually plentiful and vigorous.
• Ling Yi told Ah Yin that the Blue Silver Grass could be cultivated on a large scale because he was not there, then reflected on the development work his associates had carried out in his absence.

Ling Yi and Ah Yin watched a merchant sell Blue Silver Grass that had stalled at forty-nine years, then Ling Yi explained why both the seller and buyer could benefit from the deal. As they rode away, they sampled Blue Silver Rice wine and discussed how Li Zhishu had developed it while Ling Yi was away.

• A young Soul Master bought a Blue Silver Grass plant from A Qiang for five Silver Soul Coins after A Qiang claimed it was fifty years old.
• Ling Yi bought Blue Silver Rice wine from a street vendor while Ah Yin noticed A Qiang taking out another identical Blue Silver Grass.
• Ling Yi explained that A Qiang's plants had temporarily stalled at forty-nine years and that the buyer's plant could still break through with proper cultivation.
• Ling Yi said the buyer, who had recently reached level 9, might receive a surprise when he cultivated the plant alongside his own Soul Power.
• Ling Yi and Ah Yin rode out of town as Ling Yi explained that he had cultivated Blue Silver Rice and asked Li Zhishu to develop the rice wine from it.

Ling Yi returned to Blue Silver Territory after four years and reunited with his family and friends at Shan Hai Estate. The territory celebrated his return with a feast, while Yang Shelly, far away, planned to travel to Waterwood Principality to find him.

• Ling Yi watched Long Yin and Dugu Xin patrol North River Mouth Town and saw that both had become Soul Elders.
• Dugu Xin sensed Ling Yi watching, and Long Yin recognized him on the street.
• Ling Shan, Ling Si, Zhang Miao, Zhang Xiaoyu, and Ling He rushed to Shan Hai Estate and joyfully reunited with Ling Yi and Ah Yin.
• Yang Shelly sneezed while traveling with a merchant caravan near the Star Luo Empire and thought about going to Waterwood Principality after finishing her arrangements.
• Li Zhishu, Chen Tianqi, and Gao Yanlun prepared a barbecue feast at Shan Hai Estate, and Ling Yi eagerly welcomed Li Zhishu's cooking.

Ling Yi discussed leaving the Waterwood Principality and learned how political factions had taken control of the Blacksmith Association - Waterwood Principality Branch. He remained calm about losing influence and explained that he had anticipated the powerful families’ interference.

• Li Zhishu asked Ling Yi whether he planned to leave the Waterwood Principality, and Ling Yi admitted he did but not yet.
• Ling Yi asked Zhang Lei about the Blacksmith Association - Waterwood Principality Branch and the Mercenary Guild’s development.
• Zhang Lei explained that the association had consolidated the principality’s blacksmiths and markets, expanded toward Biqi Province, and brought in representatives tied to the grand duke and several marquis families.
• Li Zhishu criticized the grand duke and marquises for their greed and asked Ling Yi why he was not angry about them taking over the association.
• Ling Yi said he had expected the association to attract powerful rivals and noted that its growth had not depended on him alone.