Chapter Summaries

Ling Yi explained how the Blacksmith Association - Waterwood Principality Branch had matured and warned Long Yin and Qingqiu Xin not to interfere blindly in its affairs. As he discussed Li Zhishu’s Blue Silver Rice wines and the support of the Blacksmith Association Headquarters, he revealed that Tie Futu had recently advanced to Soul Douluo, astonishing everyone.

• Li Zhishu and the others credited Ling Yi with founding the Blacksmith Association - Waterwood Principality Branch, while Long Yin and Qingqiu Xin offered to summon their fathers to discuss it.
• Ling Yi said he would visit the principality’s rulers himself and warned Long Yin and Qingqiu Xin that the association’s affairs were complicated.
• Ling Yi described the association’s growth, and Zhang Lei reported that it had gained over eighteen hundred blacksmiths in four years.
• Ling Yi praised Li Zhishu’s wines made from Blue Silver Rice and explained how brewing surplus grain could support the Blue Silver Territory’s plans.
• Ling Yi told Li Zhishu that Lou Gao had become a Soul Emperor and that Tie Futu had advanced to Soul Douluo, leaving the others stunned.

Ling Yi’s return to Blue Silver Territory alarmed Grand Duke Mu Feng and Mu Li, especially after they learned that Divine Blacksmith Tie Futu had reached Soul Douluo. While news spread across the principality, Ling Yi celebrated with the people of Blue Silver Territory.

• Grand Duke Mu Feng learned that Ling Yi had returned and that Tie Futu had supposedly broken through to Soul Douluo, then ordered his attendant to verify the news and warn Mu Li.
• Mu Li dismissed the need to prepare for Ling Yi’s return, but his attendant reminded him of Ling Yi’s strength, connections, and influence throughout the principality.
• Mu Li asked whether Dugu Bo had reached Soul Saint, then learned that Tie Futu had become a Soul Douluo more than two months earlier.
• News of Ling Yi’s return spread through Waterwood Principality as Ling Yi raised a toast at a banquet in Shan Hai Estate.

Ling Yi tested Li Zhishu’s strength and learned he was close to breaking through to level forty, then urged him to focus on soul power cultivation and choose a Blue Silver Grass soul beast for his fourth Soul Ring. The chapter left Li Zhishu preparing to build rapport with a suitable plant while Ling Yi offered to take him to the Soul Beast Forest if he preferred another option.

• At dawn, Ling Yi brought Ah Yin to the Warehouse and left A'Huang and Meow Meow to guard her as her Blue Silver Grass phantom grew stronger within the Yin Yang Eight Trigrams Diagram.
• Li Zhishu visited Ling Yi, and they reminisced about Ling Yi’s earlier ambitions and breakthroughs as they drank tea in the courtyard.
• Ling Yi asked about Li Zhishu’s soul power and tested his training in Furious Horse Over the Pass and Bull Demon Great Strength by clashing fists with him.
• Ling Yi judged that Li Zhishu’s strength was near two thousand jin and his soul power was close to level forty, then told him to spend less time tempering his body and more time cultivating soul power.
• Ling Yi offered Li Zhishu a choice of five-thousand- to eight-thousand-year Blue Silver Grass varieties in his room to prepare for his fourth Soul Ring, or a trip to the Soul Beast Forest.

Ling Yi revealed a nearly fifty-thousand-year-old Duck-billed Flame Beast heart and left it with Li Zhishu to study for food that could aid cultivation. After learning about the growing Mercenary Guild and the Waterwood Principality, Ling Yi set out for Mu Zhi City, stirring undercurrents across the principality.

• Ling Yi took a giant heart from a storage box and identified it as belonging to a Duck-billed Flame Beast over forty-nine thousand years old.
• Ling Yi asked Li Zhishu to study how to turn the heart into dishes Soul Masters could absorb, explaining that the kitchen served as a Mimetic Cultivation Ground for Food System Soul Masters.
• Over seven or eight days, Ling Yi learned about the Blue Silver Territory, the local Blacksmith Association branch, and the emerging Mercenary Guild.
• Ling Yi learned that Soul Master groups and clan forces were establishing Mercenary Guild branches around the Waterwood Principality's Soul Beast Forests.
• Ling Yi left the Blue Silver Territory for Mu Zhi City, the principality's capital, and his departure stirred undercurrents throughout the region.

Ling Yi returned to Jin Manor after several years away and reunited with Old Master Jin and Jin Hua. He privately questioned his master about whom they could trust in the association and whether the trade-team handover had attracted suspicion.

• A Lai welcomed Ling Yi back to Jin Manor and told him Old Master Jin was in the back courtyard.
• Ling Yi reunited with Jin Hua and Old Master Jin, who ordered Jin Hua and A Lai to stand guard outside.
• Ling Yi prepared tea beside the furnace while using noisy bamboo and a Sound-Eating Bat Statue to guard their private conversation.
• Ling Yi asked Old Master Jin which association members could be trusted, and Old Master Jin named Mu Li, Bai Zhong, Sun Bing, and the blacksmiths recruited by Li Qiang and Fu Shan.
• Ling Yi asked how Bai Zhong and Sun Bing were handing the trade team over to Long Ang and Qing Qiu Li, and whether their marquis fathers had noticed anything.

Ling Yi visited the Blacksmith Association and toured Waterwood Principality, leaving its leaders uneasy despite making no demands or changes. After returning to Shan Hai Estate, he learned that Li Zhishu had reached level 40 and was preparing to pursue a new approach to his Soul Ring.

• Ling Yi met President Mu Li, whose nervousness led him to offer to arrange a tour of the city.
• Ling Yi left Mu Zhi City with Zhang Mufeng, his other young companions, and Dugu Xin, then spent about half a month touring the principality and meeting its people.
• Grand Duke Mu Feng and other interested parties grew suspicious because Ling Yi’s visits appeared to involve no action or change.
• Ling Yi returned to Shan Hai Estate and resumed his secluded routine.
• Li Zhishu told Ling Yi that he had reached level 40 and revealed he had chosen a 7,700-year Crimson Flame Blue Silver Grass as his fourth Soul Ring, inspired by Zhang Lei’s success merging a refined Battle Halberd into his Hoe Martial Soul.

Ah Yin returned to Blue Silver Territory as its second Soul Ancestor, while Li Zhishu celebrated his martial soul's rare evolution and wondered how far he could cultivate. Ling Yi hinted at an opportunity for Food System Soul Masters who reached Titled Douluo before forty, and the chapter ended with Long Yin asking what it was.

• Ah Yin returned to Blue Silver Territory after successfully breaking through to Soul Ancestor.
• Li Zhishu's martial soul evolved into a food containing roasted meat after he absorbed a soul ring, though neither he nor Ling Yi understood how it happened.
• Li Zhishu asked Ling Yi whether he could become a Soul Douluo or Titled Douluo, and Ling Yi encouraged him by comparing his prospects with Tie Futu's.
• Ling Yi mentioned that a Food System Soul Master who became a Titled Douluo before forty might gain a special opportunity.
• Long Yin asked Ling Yi what the opportunity was as Ling Yi glanced toward Ah Yin.

Ling Yi discussed the prospect of reaching the continent’s highest realms before revealing that he was on the verge of breaking through to level 40. He completed the breakthrough in front of his stunned companions, leaving them to react to his rapid progress.

• Ling Yi speculated that reaching the Titled Douluo realm before forty could offer hope of matching Qian Daoliu and Tang Chen, while Ah Yin wondered whether gods were present on the continent.
• Long Yin asked Ling Yi whether he was close to level 40, and Ling Yi said he expected to break through soon.
• Ling Yi’s companions reacted with astonishment as they recalled how far he had advanced since they first met seven years earlier.
• Ling Yi said that becoming a viscount and expanding the Blue Silver Territory mattered less to him than finding ways to implement his plans externally.
• When Long Yin asked how soon the breakthrough would happen, Ling Yi counted down from three and broke through to level 40 at once.

Ling Yi revealed that he had absorbed a nearly ten-thousand-year Light Blue Silver Grass soul ring, astonishing his companions. He examined a seed with Ah Yin and reflected on the growth bottlenecks among his cultivated Blue Silver Grass, leaving his Martial Soul stalled at the peak of the nine-thousand-nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine-year level.

• Ling Yi returned from his bedroom and claimed he had absorbed a soul ring in only three minutes, prompting disbelief from everyone.
• Ling Yi summoned his Light Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul and displayed a purple-black fourth soul ring aged nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine years, which granted Holy Light Illumination.
• Ling Yi explained that he could refine a soul ring’s energy while socializing, then asked Ah Yin to examine the seed left behind after the Light Blue Silver Grass underwent nirvana.
• Ah Yin found no change in the seed’s aura, apart from its dormant spiritual fluctuations becoming more hidden.
• Ling Yi considered how few of his Blue Silver Grass plants had surpassed five thousand years and how their growth had stalled at successive age barriers, leaving his Martial Soul at nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine years.

Yang Shelly arrived in North River Mouth Town and reunited with Ling Yi at Shan Hai Estate after reaching Soul Ancestor and obtaining her fourth Soul Ring. As Ling Yi welcomed her, she noticed a deep-blue Diamond Mark above his brows.

• Ethan Parker offered to guide Yang Shelly around town, but she declined and asked for Ling Yi.
• Yang Shelly met Zhang Mufeng and asked whether Ling Yi was at Shan Hai Estate, then Chen Ningqi escorted her there.
• Ling Yi greeted Yang Shelly and arranged a welcoming banquet for her and his friends and family.
• Yang Shelly told Ling Yi that she had reached Soul Ancestor and absorbed a Soul Ring from a Six-Legged Blade Chi over six thousand two hundred years old.
• Yang Shelly noticed a deep-blue Diamond Mark above Ling Yi's brows and asked when it had appeared.

Ling Yi explained the composite array pattern between his brows and revealed that he had created the Origin Returning Seal to store energy from his Soul Skills. He used it to maintain a Flawless Body state, leaving him able to cultivate and conduct research more efficiently.

• Ling Yi told Yang Shelly that the mark between his brows was a composite Soul Guiding Array Pattern, then asked whether it looked good.
• Ah Yin volunteered to escort Yang Shelly to the Guest Courtyard, and the two women left together while chatting.
• Ling Yi explained that his Origin Returning Seal combined eight Soul Guiding Array Patterns and stored energy drawn from his Soul Skills.
• Ling Yi described how his Soul Skills healed hidden injuries, regenerated damaged tissue, and cleansed toxins to put his body into a Flawless Body state.
• Ling Yi said he had been casting his Soul Skills on himself daily and developed the Origin Returning Seal to maintain that state more easily.

Ling Yi continued cultivating in the Waterwood Principality, while Ah Yin sensed that its widespread Blue Silver Grass could eventually raise his martial soul to the ten-thousand-year level. After their latest Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Ling Yi noticed his Blue Silver Grass martial soul awakening, and Ah Yin’s Soul Beast aura was absorbed into it.

• Ling Yi found that 1.8-times gravity no longer strengthened his body effectively, while 1.9-times gravity nearly killed him by bursting capillaries and nerves.
• Grand Duke Mu Feng and the other powerful figures of the Waterwood Principality stayed relieved that Ling Yi remained inside Blue Silver Territory after learning Tie Futu had become a Soul Douluo.
• Ah Yin sensed that the Blue Silver Grass planted throughout the principality was awakening her Blue Silver Emperor bloodline and could naturally advance Ling Yi’s martial soul within one to five years.
• Ling Yi gradually sensed a faint, growing awakening within his Blue Silver Grass martial soul as he examined his body and practiced controlling it.
• After another Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Ling Yi absorbed some of Ah Yin’s Blue Silver Emperor aura, while Ah Yin’s martial soul absorbed a human quality from Ling Yi’s Blue Silver Grass.

Ling Yi welcomed Dugu Bo with wine and heartfelt thanks, and the two began catching up over drinks. Dugu Bo revealed that he had come to take Dugu Xin to Heaven Dou City, prompting Xin to protest.

• Ling Yi thanked Dugu Bo for supporting Blue Silver Territory and apologized for missing their earlier appointment, offering him Blue Silver Rice Blossom Fragrance.
• Dugu Bo accepted the wine and, after Ling Yi explained it had been brewed for their reunion, asked him to refill his bowl.
• Li Zhishu brought out side dishes and joined Ling Yi, Dugu Bo, and Dugu Xin as Dugu Bo listened to Ling Yi recount the past five years.
• Ling Yi said he planned to stay home and cultivate, then invited Dugu Bo to remain and discuss medicinal herbs with him.
• Dugu Bo told Ling Yi he had come to take Dugu Xin to Heaven Dou City, and Dugu Xin stood up to ask why.

Dugu Bo criticized Dugu Xin for lacking real battle experience, and Ling Yi diverted their argument by asking how much Dugu Bo had advanced in five years. As Ling Yi considered Dugu Bo’s cultivation and his plan to travel to Heaven Dou City, he suspected their route might bring them near Sunset Forest.

• Dugu Bo told Dugu Xin that sparring and hunting soul beasts had not given him enough life-or-death tempering, and Dugu Xin objected.
• Ling Yi poured wine and tried to calm Dugu Bo and Dugu Xin, who continued to ignore each other.
• Ling Yi asked Dugu Bo how much his strength had advanced since their last meeting five years earlier.
• Ling Yi reflected on soul cultivation and Dugu Bo’s future progress, then connected Dugu Bo’s planned trip to Heaven Dou City with nearby Sunset Forest.

Dugu Bo revealed that he had reached Level 69, bringing him close to becoming a Soul Sage and strengthening his plans to establish the Jade Phosphor Serpent Dugu Family. Dugu Xin remained attached to Shan Hai Estate but felt proud of his father, though Li Zhishu teased him for showing it.

• Dugu Bo told Ling Yi that he had broken through to Level 69 two months earlier, and Ling Yi congratulated him with a teasing hint of admiration.
• Dugu Xin silently resented his father's decision to take him away from Blue Silver Territory, which he now considered his true home.
• Dugu Xin reflected on Dugu Bo's savings and the Soul Sage strength needed to establish an influential soul master family.
• Dugu Xin felt proud that his forty-six-year-old father was close to becoming a Soul Sage and unconsciously straightened his back.
• Li Zhishu teased Dugu Xin about the corners of his mouth, and Ling Yi briefly burst out laughing.
• The author noted that more than seven hundred words had been moved to the next chapter, which would update after midnight.

Dugu Bo thanked Ling Yi and Li Zhishu for helping Dugu Xin become happier and more mature, then reconsidered how to train his son. After Li Zhishu argued that Ling Yi could save Dugu Xin even from near-fatal injuries, Dugu Bo recalled Ling Yi reviving a dead fish.

• Dugu Xin left to train with Ling Shan and the others, giving Dugu Bo space to discuss his plans with Ling Yi and Li Zhishu.
• Dugu Bo thanked Ling Yi and Li Zhishu, explaining that Dugu Xin had become more cheerful and sensible since joining them.
• Ling Yi and Li Zhishu asked why Dugu Bo planned to take Dugu Xin to Heaven Dou City for dangerous combat training.
• Li Zhishu challenged Dugu Bo to consider whether he could judge the danger objectively as Dugu Xin's father.
• Li Zhishu argued that Ling Yi could save Dugu Xin even if he was beaten to his last breath, and Dugu Bo remembered Ling Yi bringing a dead fish back to life.

Ling Yi weighed a major choice after Dugu Bo revealed important news, while battles continued at Shan Hai Estate and Liu Erlong faced questions about where she would study next. Liu Erlong declared she would attend neither Flame Radiance Academy nor Blazing Academy, leaving her friends shocked and her plans unclear.

• Ling Yi returned to his study, wrote “Clear” and “Still,” and considered the two paths before him.
• A'Huang watched Meow Meow fight a gray opponent in the former Old Forest.
• Yang Shelly and Ah Yin fought an evenly matched hand-to-hand battle in the great warehouse.
• Si Ke Xin and Audrey asked Liu Erlong which academy she planned to attend after graduating from Luolin Junior Soul Master Academy.
• Liu Erlong said she would attend neither Purple Star Academy nor Flame Radiance Academy, and her friends wondered whether she meant to choose an intermediate soul master academy.

Liu Erlong returned home and told her mother, Liu Yan, that she wanted to leave the Soul Master academy and move to Gengxin City. Liu Yan was stunned by her daughter's choice to leave Luolin City and the Heaven Dou Empire for a distant city in the Star Luo Empire.

• Liu Erlong returned home and clung to Liu Yan, showing how much she had missed her mother.
• Liu Yan welcomed Liu Erlong and served her a costly meal of bone broth and several dishes.
• After dinner, Liu Erlong told Liu Yan she no longer wanted to attend the Soul Master academy.
• Liu Yan asked what Liu Erlong planned to do instead, and Liu Erlong firmly said she wanted to go to Gengxin City.
• Liu Yan realized that Gengxin City was in the Star Luo Empire and questioned why Liu Erlong wanted to travel so far.

Liu Erlong explained to Liu Yan that she wanted to learn forging and might attend Heavenly Craft Academy in Gengxin City. She then urged her mother to leave Luolin City and the Heaven Dou Empire with her for the Star Luo Empire.

• Liu Erlong told Liu Yan about the Blacksmith Association and its plan to establish Heavenly Craft Academy under Divine Blacksmith Tie Futu.
• Liu Yan asked whether Liu Erlong planned to study at the academy, and Liu Erlong said she wanted to learn forging but would decide about the academy after visiting.
• Liu Yan panicked that Liu Erlong might become a blacksmith, but Liu Erlong explained that she wanted to reach Thousand Refinement Level and sell her forged tools.
• Liu Yan asked whether Liu Erlong needed money, and Liu Erlong interrupted her before asking her mother to leave for Gengxin City in the Star Luo Empire.
• Liu Erlong said she could support herself with her Spirit Hall stipend and that the Blacksmith Association or Heavenly Craft Academy could help her obtain a suitable soul ring.

Yu Luomian learned that Liu Yan and Liu Erlong had left Luolin City, while the mother and daughter arrived in Gengxin City and encountered Yu Xiaogang on the street. Yu Xiaogang continued seeking Ling Yi, whose connection to the Blacksmith Association had brought him to the city.

• Yu Luomian questioned Dean Yi Qingzhu about Liu Erlong's early graduation and departure, but Yi Qingzhu did not know where she had gone.
• Liu Yan and Liu Erlong entered Gengxin City in men's clothing and planned to find lodging near the Blacksmith Association Headquarters.
• Liu Erlong felt a strange stirring from her Fire Dragon Martial Soul as a young man passed her, but she continued on with Liu Yan.
• Yu Xiaogang drifted through Gengxin City, reflecting on his journey to learn about Ling Yi after discovering that Ling Yi was a Divine Blacksmith.