Chapter Summaries

The Technology Guild activated the Suotuo Mental Network, letting Battle Soul Instrument users access its forums, knowledge base, and videos through Mental Data Traffic. Qian Daoliu visited Chen Hong to try the new technology, and Chen Hong said soul-bone Root Servers could eventually enable communication across regions.

• The Suotuo Mental Network activated across Suotuo City, and Battle Soul Instrument users saw its illusory interface.
• Spirit Masters and wealthy commoners bought all ten thousand Goggle Battle Soul Instruments in less than half an hour, while others complained about missing out.
• Huang’s free announcements explained that users spent recoverable Mental Power as Mental Data Traffic to receive information through the network.
• Qian Daoliu visited Chen Hong, tried a Goggle Battle Soul Instrument, and praised the network’s potential to change life across the continent.
• Chen Hong told Qian Daoliu that enough soul bones used as Root Servers could make cross-regional communication theoretically possible.

Chen Hong explained to Qian Daoliu how Soul Bone Spirits supported his theory that soul rings and soul bones were fundamentally the same. As Suotuo City's Mental Network expanded, Chen Hong realized voluntary payments were generating Faith Turbulence at a dramatically increased rate.

• Qian Daoliu questioned Chen Hong about the Root Server, and Chen Hong explained that it meant a Soul Bone Spirit.
• Qian Daoliu considered Chen Hong’s Three Souls Theory and concluded that the Soul Bone Spirit supported the idea that soul rings and soul bones were fundamentally the same.
• Chen Hong monitored the growing Faith Turbulence in Suotuo City’s Mental Network while relaxing with Kelly’s completed book.
• Chen Hong estimated that the ten thousand Goggle Battle Soul Instruments sold that day could generate Faith Turbulence comparable to ten thousand Fanatic Believers.
• Chen Hong recalled that forcibly extracting Mental Power had produced no Faith Turbulence, but voluntary payments for Mental Data Traffic had caused netizens to contribute it enthusiastically.

Chen Hong explained how faith could benefit gods and how he planned to use the Mental Network to attract believers and develop a knowledge-sharing platform. In his courtyard, Qian Daoliu inferred that Soul Spirits might be created, and Chen Hong confirmed the idea while noting its potential conflict with the Three Realms of Soul Rings.

• Chen Hong reasoned that gods could need faith and compared the Angel God's relationship with mortals to Poseidon's coercive treatment of Sea Soul Beasts.
• Chen Hong explained that he used appealing videos to attract internet users and earn money while aiming to turn the Mental Network into a platform for exchanging knowledge.
• Qian Daoliu asked Chen Hong whether Soul Ring Spirits, or Soul Spirits, could be created by applying the idea of Bone Spirits to Soul Rings.
• Chen Hong confirmed Qian Daoliu's inference and said Soul Spirits might conflict with the Three Realms of Soul Rings.
• Qian Daoliu suggested Chen Hong's Bone Spirit could relate to the Soul Ring Form Realm by changing a Soul Ring's manifested form.

Chen Hong and Qian Daoliu discussed Soul Spirits, soul bones, and the limits of Mental Network computing before Qian Daoliu gave Chen Hong a Space Stone and Spirit Hall’s restricted Martial Soul archives. Qian Daoliu’s interest in Chen Hong’s unusual Psychic Power grew as he questioned whether it was truly a Martial Soul.

• Qian Daoliu deduced that Bone Spirits and Soul Spirits were advanced soul lifeforms, and Chen Hong explained why Soul Spirits could hinder powerful Spirit Masters while still enriching the Soul Master System.
• Chen Hong and Qian Daoliu continued discussing Soul Spirits and soul bones as the Suotuo Mental Network’s initial user demand began to ease.
• Huang appeared beside Chen Hong after working as the Mental Network’s Root Server, and Chen Hong explained that he planned to boost Huang’s computing capacity with Mental Primordial Liquid.
• Qian Daoliu gave Chen Hong a large Space Stone and Spirit Hall’s restricted archives to support his Martial Soul research.
• Qian Daoliu recalled Chen Hong’s Psychic Power and wondered whether it could really be a Martial Soul.

Qian Daoliu discussed the classification of Body Martial Souls with Chen Hong and revealed that Bo Saixi possessed a Sea God martial soul. Chen Hong realized Qian Daoliu’s understanding of the Sea God might explain something about Chen Hong’s own martial soul, and the chapter ended as he prepared to point it out.

• Qian Daoliu explained that Spirit Masters whose martial souls manifested as body parts could lose their martial souls if those parts were severed, and proposed classifying them as Body Martial Souls.
• Qian Daoliu compared Chen Hong’s psychic abilities to an Evil Soul Master’s eye martial soul but concluded that Chen Hong’s intangible power did not fit the known classifications.
• Qian Daoliu demonstrated the Six-Winged Angel and revealed that another God-tier Martial Soul was the Sea God, possessed by the Sea God High Priest Bo Saixi.
• Chen Hong and Kelly were shocked by Qian Daoliu’s account, and Chen Hong asked whether gods could alter other people’s martial souls.
• Chen Hong took a deep breath and asked Qian Daoliu whether he had just mentioned Body Martial Souls.

Chen Hong explained to Qian Daoliu why Bo Saixi’s Sea God Martial Soul differed from the Qian Family’s Six-Winged Angel and revealed that the Sea God had altered her Martial Soul to make her a vessel for His descent. Qian Daoliu recognized the implications, while Chen Hong noted that he could currently alter only his own soul rings.

• Chen Hong pointed out that the Sea God had left no bloodline, making Bo Saixi’s Sea God Martial Soul fundamentally different from Qian Daoliu’s inherited Six-Winged Angel.
• Chen Hong asked what Bo Saixi would become when she used Martial Soul Avatar, leading Qian Daoliu to realize that she would transform into the Sea God Himself.
• Qian Daoliu stopped Chen Hong from continuing after he mentioned a myth about a lifelike statue allowing a deity to descend.
• Qian Daoliu concluded that the Sea God had forcibly altered Bo Saixi’s Martial Soul and set her body as a coordinate for Sea God Descent.
• Qian Daoliu reasoned that if the Sea God perished, Bo Saixi could inherit His divine position directly, and Chen Hong remarked on the strange things the world contained.

Chen Hong refined Faith Turbulence through the Suotuo Mental Network while reading Kelly’s account of the maritime kingdoms, and he calculated how the network could transform Mental Power and Soul Engineer production. By nightfall, the network’s users had mostly gone to sleep, but Chen Hong saw the potential for its output to grow dramatically as more people joined.

• After Chen Hong remarked that the Sea God High Priest had taken on the Sea God’s appearance, Qian Daoliu left Suotuo City, visibly upset.
• Chen Hong read Kelly’s Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms while Kelly watched him from behind an Artificial Reef and wondered whether he would keep his promise to return her to the sea.
• Chen Hong used the Three-No Big Head Doll Huang to refine Mental Data from the Suotuo Mental Network into Mental Primordial Liquid while monitoring Kelly and sensing Qian Daoliu’s presence.
• As night fell, Spirit Masters who had acquired Battle Soul Instruments explored the Suotuo Mental Network until their Mental Power ran out and they fell asleep.
• Chen Hong observed that network activity had dropped overnight and estimated that one million users could produce a drop of Mental Primordial Liquid each day, giving hundreds of people the potential to become Fifth Tier Soul Engineers each year.

Chen Hong realized that his efficient cultivation of Mental Primordial Liquid came from cultivating subscribers and decided to reward his readers. He posted nine virtual photos of Sophie and Soya under a pseudonym, then discovered the post had gone viral and exposed his identity to the women.

• Chen Hong compared his faith-gathering method to a subscription service and decided to give his readers occasional benefits.
• Chen Hong sent two drops of Mental Primordial Liquid to Huang, created the pseudonym Big Fat Chuchu Immortal, and posted nine virtual photos to the Suotuo Mental Network forum.
• Chen Hong sensed the forum traffic surge, and Huang asked whether he feared that the post would expose him.
• Chen Hong checked the post and saw that users were praising the photos while Zhao Wuji accidentally used his real name and then changed it.
• Chen Hong realized the photos depicted Sophie and Soya, and the Master of the Suspended Pot threatened to have her son dox Big Fat Chuchu Immortal.

Hai Ya and the Sea Soul Mercenary Group arrived in a rapidly industrializing Suotuo City, where the new Suotuo Mental Network had drawn the continent’s attention. Hai Ya met Technology Guild president Chen Lin and asked whether Suotuo Shipyard had completed its Soul Guidance Steel Armored Ship.

• Hai Ya and Sai Hun surveyed Suotuo City’s prosperous streets and reflected on how much it had changed.
• The Star Luo Empire tightened its border and questioned Count Suotuo Chen Lin over refugees migrating to the city, but Suotuo’s new Mental Network brought attention from across the continent and eased the pressure.
• Hai Ya and Sai Hun concluded that their group might have found a promising opportunity in Suotuo City.
• Hai Ya met Chen Lin at the Technology Guild headquarters and asked about the completed Soul Guidance Steel Armored Ship.
• The chapter explained that Suotuo Shipyard’s Soul Engineers had combined shipbuilding methods with Soul Guidance technology to create a steel vessel powered by Soul Power.

At Suotuo Shipyard, Barry showed Chen Lin and the Sea Soul Mercenary Group a steel armored ship built with Lightweight Steel and Lightness Engravings. Chen Lin explained how its Soul Engine and steam turbine formed a hybrid propulsion system, and the ship was left unfinished in the dry dock.

• Chen Lin led the Sea Soul Mercenary Group through Suotuo Shipyard and met its director, Barry, the prince of the Balak Kingdom.
• Barry explained that the Iron Smelting Department had developed Lightweight Steel, which was stronger and half the weight of ordinary Hundred Refined Steel.
• Barry described Lightness Engravings, which increased the ship’s theoretical cruising speed by fifty percent but required continuous Soul Power to prevent it from sinking.
• Chen Lin explained that the ship could be propelled by Soul Power fed into its Soul Engines or by coal-fired steam driving a turbine.
• Barry presented the steel armored ship, which was still being fitted with Interlocking Armor and had not yet been completed.

Chen Lin showed Hai Ya and the Sea Soul Mercenary Group their new Soul Guidance Steel Armored Ship, named it the Sea Soul Ship, and arranged for the crew to learn how to operate it before its delivery. The ship had no weapons yet, as the Technology Guild planned to focus on expanding the Sea Soul Fleet before developing armaments.

• Chen Lin explained the Steam Turbine power system, and Hai Ya and Sai Hun praised the idea.
• Chen Lin suggested naming the ship the Sea Soul Ship, and Hai Ya enthusiastically accepted.
• Barry told Hai Ya that the ship would be completed in a week and arranged for the crew to train with shipyard workers.
• Hai Ya brought nearly all his core members and remaining wealth to Suotuo City, planning to trade for Soul Tools and fund a long-distance voyage.
• Hai Ya asked Chen Lin about weapons for the ship, and Chen Lin said the guild would add them after its technology advanced and the Sea Soul Fleet had grown.

Chen Hong discussed the Sea Soul Fleet and his soul beast cultivation research with Chen Lin in Suotuo City. He sensed the Shrek Seven Devils had returned with drastically changed auras, leaving him startled and wondering what had happened to them.

• Chen Lin told Chen Hong that the Sea Soul Fleet project had officially begun and that its first Topaz-Class Battleship, the Sea Soul Ship, had cost nearly one hundred million Gold Soul Coins.
• Chen Hong explained that Xiaoying absorbed Soul Power faster than Bajie, leading him to identify bloodline as a key factor in soul beast cultivation speed alongside soul augmentation and environmental energy.
• Chen Hong told Chen Lin that future battleships could cost less as the technology matured, and that Ning Fengxun could help the Sea Soul Fleet become self-sufficient.
• Chen Hong sensed the Shrek Seven Devils through the Suotuo Mental Network and froze when he noticed their familiar but drastically changed auras.

At Shrek Branch Academy, the Shrek Little Monsters cultivated in Ye Lingling’s Life Simulation Environment while reflecting on how her Imperial Fighting Team had become a major contender for the Soul Master Tournament. Tang San returned just as Ma Hongjun wondered when he would come back, leaving the group reunited after several months apart.

• Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing praised the benefits of Ye Lingling’s Life Simulation Environment and its Power of Life.
• Ye Lingling’s Imperial Fighting Team earned its Berserker Team reputation through her powerful healing and three-minute Battlefield Oracle state.
• The Shrek Team acknowledged that it would need luck to defeat the Imperial Fighting Team in the tournament.
• Ma Hongjun complained that Tang San had been gone for several months as the tournament preliminaries approached.
• Tang San arrived and greeted his partners after his long absence.

Tang San returned to the Shrek group and distributed Immortal Grade herbs to his companions, revealing that he had transformed his Blue Silver Grass at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. He left the group preparing for the Soul Master Tournament, with one herb still unused and his concerns about Dugu Bo and Chen Hong unresolved.

• Tang San reunited with the Shrek group and learned that Yu Xiaogang was working with Heaven Dou Royal Academy teachers on Soul Ring Age calculations.
• Tang San gathered his companions and gave Dai Mubai, Oscar, Ma Hongjun, and Ning Rongrong Immortal Grade herbs suited to them.
• Tang San recalled that he had kept four herbs for himself and used three to transform his Blue Silver Grass and raise his cultivation to the threshold of Level Forty.
• Tang San explained that he had returned from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well because he missed Xiao Wu and did not want to delay the tournament qualifiers.
• Tang San considered confronting Dugu Bo over the herbs but decided against it, fearing that Dugu Yan might tell Ye Lingling and draw Chen Hong's attention to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

Tang San distributed Immortal Grade treasures and gave Xiao Wu the Lovesick Heartbreak Red. Zhu Zhuqing rejected Dai Mubai, explaining that she had come to Shrek Academy to resist her fate, not because she loved him, and that the Technology Guild had changed their prospects.

• Tang San reflected on how Chen Hong’s influence protected and constrained him, then handed Xiao Wu the Lovesick Heartbreak Red.
• Tang San and Xiao Wu embraced as their companions dispersed to cultivate.
• Dai Mubai and Oscar left disappointed after looking at Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong.
• Zhu Zhuqing told Dai Mubai that she had never loved him and had sought him out only because she needed to fight her fate.
• Zhu Zhuqing said the Technology Guild’s rise would eventually force the Star Luo imperial family to yield and declared that Dai Mubai’s abandoned fiancée was not her.

After the Shrek Seven Devils returned to Suotuo City with the effects of their immortal herbs still clinging to them, Chen Hong sensed their unusual auras. Yu Xiaogang presented his Soul Ring Age Formula, and Chen Hong approved its research process and offered to refine its accuracy through the Suotuo Mental Network.

• Oscar silently left Ning Rongrong after realizing he could not bear the meaning of her cherished Dandelion Crown, and he continued cultivating Soul Ring Form Studies while awaiting his own mutation.
• The Shrek Seven Devils returned to Suotuo City by Soul-Powered Car with Yu Xiaogang, Liu Erlong, and Blue Tyrant Academy students.
• Chen Hong detected the lingering Immortal Grade aura on the seven and joked that Ning Lu might brew them into liquor.
• Yu Xiaogang gave Chen Hong his research report on the Soul Ring Age Formula, which listed the formula, its supporting data, and its contributors.
• Chen Hong checked Yu Xiaogang's research and advised him to circulate the draft and issue an academic statement so the Suotuo Mental Network could help reduce the formula's margin of error.

Yu Xiaogang presented his Soul Ring Age Formula to Chen Hong, who urged him to share the research while its accuracy was refined. After Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong left, Ning Rongrong revealed that her Martial Soul had evolved into the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, and Ma Hongjun showed off his transformation.

• Chen Hong confirmed Yu Xiaogang's Soul Ring Formula was viable and told him to circulate a report before the formula's margin of error was finalized.
• Yu Xiaogang left the reception hall with Liu Erlong, leaving the Shrek Seven Devils to speak with Chen Hong.
• Ma Hongjun nervously asked whether Lady Ning planned to brew the Shrek group in wine jars, and Ning Rongrong teased him.
• Ning Rongrong revealed her Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda after consuming the Aromatic Silk Beauty and reaching the Level Forty bottleneck.
• Ma Hongjun demonstrated his Hen-to-Phoenix transformation, prompting Chen Hong to remark that he looked more human.

Chen Hong inferred that Tang San and the Shrek Seven Devils had gained immortal herbs in Sunset Forest and offered Tang San a voluntary exchange. Tang San asked whether the Technology Guild could protect the secret, and Chen Hong assured him that even the Clear Sky Sect could not safely challenge the Guild’s backing from Spirit Hall.

• Chen Hong deduced that Tang San’s trip to Sunset Forest had brought the Shrek Seven Devils unusual gains, using their cultivation levels and Xiao Wu’s concealed aura as clues.
• Chen Hong explained that he did not intend to seize their treasures and urged the group to continue studying Soul Ring Form and Intent Studies.
• Chen Hong offered to exchange something valuable for Tang San’s discovery if Tang San was willing.
• Tang San asked the Shrek companions to keep the discussion secret, then sought a definite answer about the Technology Guild’s ability to protect it.
• Chen Hong said the Clear Sky Sect could not protect its sovereign if he harmed the Technology Guild, which had Spirit Hall’s support and Qian Daoliu’s favor.

Tang San told Chen Hong about the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, hoping he would seize its Immortal Grade herbs from Poison Douluo, but Chen Hong cared only about its effect on plant growth. Realizing that the Well’s tenfold growth speed could combine multiplicatively with his Sage State, Chen Hong saw the potential for a hundredfold increase in plant Soul Beasts’ cultivation and began considering how his methods might affect intelligent beings.

• Tang San told Chen Hong that the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well held Immortal Grade herbs and gave plants tenfold growth speed, and he urged Chen Hong to target Poison Douluo.
• Chen Hong dismissed the herbs and Poison Douluo, then focused on the Well’s effect on plant growth.
• Chen Hong applied his Soul Beast Cultivation Formula and reasoned that combining the Well’s environmental boost with Sage State could give plant Soul Beasts a hundredfold cultivation speed.
• Chen Hong speculated that Sage State might eventually affect Spirit Masters and intelligent Red Realm Soul Beasts as his intelligence surpassed theirs.
• Tang San confirmed that the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well made plants grow ten times faster, though he doubted the benefit would matter much during his lifetime.

Chen Hong secured Tang San’s cooperation over the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and sought Qian Daoliu’s help, saying the discovery could pry up the world. After Qian Daoliu returned from visiting Chen Hong, he took the Worship Hall elders away to see the world, leaving Dugu Bo to wake surrounded by burly men.

• Chen Hong gave Tang San a drop of Mental Primordial Liquid as a deposit for the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and sent the Shrek Seven Devils away while he considered his plans.
• Chen Hong concealed his aura, visited the Suotuo Archbishop, and asked to see Qian Daoliu, describing his discovery as something that could pry up the entire world.
• Qian Daoliu broke through to Realm of Form Completion, traveled to meet Chen Hong, then returned to the Worship Hall three hours later.
• Qian Daoliu told the Super Douluo elders to conceal their auras and follow him to see the world, and the Worship Hall announced that they would cultivate in isolation.
• Dugu Bo woke in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to find himself surrounded by burly men.