Chapter Summaries

Chen Hong completed the Generation One Soul Engine and traveled with his father and a Spirit Hall convoy to inspect the mineral vein near White Cloud Village. The Holy Maiden summoned him to her carriage after learning he had a spiritual-type martial soul.

• Chen Hong finished Generation One, an upgraded Soul Engine that produced far more power than his previous model.
• A Spirit Hall messenger summoned Chen Hong, and Chen Lin insisted on accompanying him to Bishop Suotuo.
• Chen Hong and Chen Lin met Bishop Suotuo and a Spirit Hall Elder outside Suotuo City, then joined the convoy heading for White Cloud Village.
• Chen Hong teased Chen Lin during the fast journey while Spirit Hall members carried them to keep pace with the convoy.
• Bishop Suotuo brought Chen Hong to the carriage, where the Holy Maiden invited him inside and asked about his spiritual-type martial soul.

Hu Liena tested Chen Hong’s resistance to Charm, but his Sage Time soul skill broke her influence. The encounter ended with Hu Liena astonished by Chen Hong’s unusual mental defenses.

• Chen Hong climbed into Hu Liena’s carriage and told her that his martial spirit was mental-type.
• Hu Liena asked whether Chen Hong wanted to learn about Illusion Techniques, and he eagerly agreed.
• Hu Liena used her Charm on Chen Hong and prompted him to call her beautiful.
• Chen Hong’s Sage Time soul skill activated, freeing him from Hu Liena’s Charm as he recalled that his mother had nearly beaten him to death.
• Hu Liena used Charm again, and Chen Hong looked into her red eyes.

Chen Hong explained to Hu Liena that his Mental Focus soul skill had delayed the effects of her successful charm, then asked her to speak in his defense as the skill wore off. When Sage Time ended, his suppressed desires erupted and he shouted that he was the Holy Maiden’s dog.

• Hu Liena’s charm activated on Chen Hong, but his clear gaze made her believe he had resisted it.
• Chen Hong revealed that his Mental Focus skill suppressed his desires and postponed their effects rather than eliminating them.
• As the soul skill weakened, Chen Hong gave Hu Liena a Generation One Soul Engine and asked her to speak in his defense.
• Hu Liena agreed, and Chen Hong released Sage Time.
• Chen Hong’s suppressed desires erupted, and he howled that he was the Holy Maiden’s dog, leaving Hu Liena, Chen Lin, and the Spirit Hall group stunned.

Hu Liena restrained Chen Hong after her enchantment left him acting shamelessly, and he regained his senses in the carriage. When she teased him about wanting to be her dog, Chen Hong turned the joke back on her.

• Hu Liena told Bishop Suotuo that Chen Hong had suffered backlash from his soul skill and refused help as the carriage continued.
• Chen Hong licked Hu Liena's calf, so she kicked him away, then had the Spirit Hall Elder bind him and stuff his mouth.
• Chen Hong wriggled toward Hu Liena until he recovered his senses, then turned to face the carriage wall in embarrassment.
• Hu Liena teased the bound Chen Hong, asking if he still wanted to be her dog.
• Chen Hong removed the cloth from his mouth and grinned as he echoed Hu Liena's teasing tone.

After Hu Liena freed Chen Hong, they spoke as equals about his Soul Engine and the prospects for Soul Tools. Chen Hong defended his expertise and ended by declaring that established craftsmen belonged at the kids’ table, leaving the listeners outside the carriage laughing.

• Hu Liena ordered an Elder to untie Chen Hong and told him to call her by name.
• Chen Hong proposed discussing the Soul Engine and said he needed an angel investor.
• Chen Hong predicted that the discovery of Soul Guidance Mithril Ore would spur mineral exploration and create opportunities for blacksmithing and Soul Tools.
• Hu Liena questioned how Chen Hong could persuade experienced Divine Craftsmen despite his age.
• Chen Hong cited his years of research into metals and Soul Tools, then proclaimed himself a founding master and said other researchers belonged at the kids’ table.
• The Spirit Hall Elder and Bishop Suotuo laughed at Chen Hong’s boast while Chen Lin looked on with an odd expression.

Chen Hong showed Hu Liena that his Soul Engine was worth taking seriously, then demonstrated how it could power a carriage. The chapter ended as he put Chen Lin in the driver’s seat to test the improvised machine.

• Hu Liena admitted Chen Hong had talent, apologized for doubting him, and agreed to hear more about his Soul Engine.
• Chen Hong offered to let Hu Liena try the Generation One Soul Engine and sketched the wooden parts needed to adapt her carriage.
• Hu Liena stopped the convoy, and a Spirit Hall Elder fetched the rods and gears Chen Hong requested.
• With Chen Lin and the Spirit Hall group helping, Chen Hong fitted a wooden power-transmission system and installed the Soul Engine on the carriage.
• Chen Hong assigned Chen Lin to test-drive the carriage, joking that a crash might cost him his head.

Chen Hong demonstrated the first Soul-Powered Wooden Cart to Spirit Hall, then explained that he wanted Soul Tools to help people rather than become weapons. As the carriage continued toward White Cloud Village, he declared his lofty ambition to preserve Soul Tool knowledge and bring peace to the world.

• Chen Lin and Chen Hong powered the Soul-Powered Wooden Cart, and it began moving without horses as the Spirit Hall group watched in amazement.
• Chen Hong celebrated the invention while Hu Liena resolved to win over the unusual young genius.
• Chen Hong accelerated the carriage and told Hu Liena that practical Soul Tools could benefit ordinary people instead of merely fueling slaughter.
• Chen Hong criticized Martial Soul School for teaching children to value violence, leaving the Spirit Hall group unable to refute him.
• Hu Liena asked Chen Hong about his goal, and he declared that he would establish justice, protect all living beings, preserve Soul Tool knowledge, and bring peace to all ages.

Chen Hong and the Spirit Hall group reached White Cloud Village and confirmed that the hill held a vast Soul Guidance Mithril ore vein with an unknown associated ore. After Chen Hong’s reckless cart ride and playful announcement, Hu Liena ordered Chen Lin to teach him a lesson, then had the group send word to Spirit City and rest.

• Chen Hong apologized to Hu Liena for the dangerous cart ride, and she urged him to be more careful before he led the group to the mine.
• Chen Hong and the Spirit Hall Spirit Masters surveyed the hill and found a vein stretching at least three kilometers, containing Soul Guidance Mithril and an unknown associated ore.
• Chen Hong announced the discovery to Hu Liena, who reacted by telling Chen Lin he could discipline his son.
• Chen Lin gave Chen Hong a knuckle to the head, then apologized to the others for his son’s behavior.
• Hu Liena told the group to send a message to Spirit City and rest.

Chen Hong introduced an Armored Soul-Powered Truck at Baiyun Mining Area, where Hu Liena helped power it after Chen Lin ran out of Soul Power. Their ride led to an argument about Chen Hong’s focus on development and Hu Liena’s desire to recruit him, which he eventually accepted as becoming her subordinate.

• Chen Hong brought his newly built Armored Soul-Powered Truck to Baiyun Mining Area, but it broke down when Chen Lin ran out of Soul Power.
• Hu Liena supplied Soul Power to the Generation One Soul Engine while Chen Hong steered the truck up the mountain road.
• Hu Liena suggested the truck might be useful in warfare, and Chen Hong explained that he cared more about development and production than strength and conquest.
• Chen Hong threatened to drive the truck off a steep slope when Hu Liena awkwardly said she agreed to his supposed wish to be her dog.
• Hu Liena clarified that she wanted Chen Hong as her subordinate, and Chen Hong agreed after complaining that she should have said so earlier.
• Bishop Suotuo asked a Spirit Hall Elder whether Chen Hong and Hu Liena had been saying something strange.

Hu Liena returned to Spirit City with the Armored Soul-Powered Truck and ore, while Chen Hong stayed in Suotuo City to avoid drawing attention. He named his emerging approach Soul Guidance Engraving Technology and later reunited with his family for dinner.

• Hu Liena prepared to take the Armored Soul-Powered Truck and high-quality ore back to Spirit City, while Chen Hong refused to accompany her and suggested she take Chen Lin instead.
• Hu Liena told Chen Hong to seek help from Bishop Suotuo if needed and said Spirit Hall would discuss the Soul Engine transaction with Chen Lin.
• Chen Hong explained that he wanted to keep a low profile and believed other powers would struggle to reproduce his Soul Engine efficiently.
• Chen Hong named his localized technological approach Soul Guidance Engraving Technology and planned to develop Engraving Technology further.
• Chen Hong and Chen Lin returned to Suotuo City more than a week later, where Ye Lingling joined the family for dinner at Suspended Pot Medical Center.

Chen Hong learned that his mother, Ning Lu, had ties to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and came from a family with unusual Martial Soul mutations. Ning Lu described her Seven-Colored Wine Gourd’s powerful but inconvenient enhancement abilities, while hinting at why she had not returned to her relatives.

• At dinner, Chen Lin told Ning Lu and the others about the past week, and Ning Lu recognized White Cloud Village’s valuable mineral vein.
• After Chen Lin left, Ning Lu praised Ye Lingling’s Nine Heart Begonia and revealed that her parents belonged to branches of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and the Ye Clan.
• Ning Lu explained how her parents’ Seven Star Sword and Begonia Flower Gourd lineages had contributed to her Seven-Colored Wine Gourd Martial Soul.
• Chen Hong teased Ning Lu about supposedly ruining generations of Martial Soul experiments, and Ning Lu knocked him on the head.
• Ning Lu explained that her Soul Wine could boost her own abilities by 140 percent, but required drinking and could leave her drunk in a prolonged battle.

Chen Hong studied his Sage Inscription while Ye Lingling healed him and helped him cultivate, and he set his sights on extending his Sage ability to others. With Ning Lu’s and Ye Lingling’s help, he broke through to Level 12 before Ye Lingling returned to school.

• Ye Lingling healed the dragon horns Chen Hong had grown after Ning Lu beat him, while he studied his Soul Ring Soul Power Flow Diagram.
• Chen Hong noticed that Ye Lingling’s Soul Power nourishment seemed to speed up his cultivation, and she offered to keep helping him.
• Chen Hong continued guiding Ye Lingling in Comprehending Soul Rings and found that he had understood 12% of his Sage Inscription.
• Ye Lingling told Ning Lu that combining Nine Heart Begonia Soul Power with Life Nectar could boost Chen Hong’s cultivation, so Ning Lu made him a gourd of it to drink daily.
• Chen Hong’s bottleneck loosened, and with Ning Lu’s and Ye Lingling’s help, he broke through to Level 12 within a few days.
• Ye Lingling’s vacation ended, and she prepared to return to school.

Chen Hong declined to travel with Ye Lingling but promised to visit her in Heaven Dou City, then focused on developing the Technology Guild and its Soul-Powered Products. Hu Liena gave the guild a borrowed Pope’s Edict from Bibi Dong, but revealed that Spirit Hall expected Chen Hong to hand over the Soul Engine technical schematics.

• Ye Lingling asked Chen Hong to go to school with her, and he refused but promised to visit her in Heaven Dou City when he could.
• Ye Lingling made a pinky promise with Chen Hong, hugged him, and left for Heaven Dou City.
• Chen Hong went to the Chen Family Ironworks to work on upgrading it into the Technology Guild and developing Soul-Powered Products.
• Hu Liena presented Chen Hong with a Pope’s Edict that Bibi Dong had lent to the Technology Guild.
• Hu Liena told Chen Hong that Spirit Hall wanted the Soul Engine technical schematics in return.

Chen Hong handed Spirit Hall the blueprints for a lesser Soul Engine and prepared to negotiate with representatives from the Balak Kingdom and Heaven Dou Empire. After Spirit Hall left, he began writing the Technology Guild’s Theory of Technological Thinking, which later generations remembered as the start of a new Divine Canon.

• Chen Hong gave Hu Liena the blueprints and explained that their technology was not as advanced as his current Soul Engine.
• Hu Liena accepted the blueprints, and Chen Hong gave Chen Lin the Pope’s Edict to display at the guild entrance.
• Representatives from the Balak Kingdom and Heaven Dou Empire arrived, and Chen Hong instructed his staff to offer the Empire blueprints and negotiate road-building rights with Balak.
• Chen Hong drafted the Technology Guild’s Theory of Technological Thinking, adapting it to a world where gods existed.
• Kong Deming’s later preface described how the theory evolved into a Divine Canon.

Chen Hong and the Technology Guild secured agreements with Heaven Dou Empire and Spirit Hall, then built a cement factory and sand and gravel plant to launch road construction. Their first improved cement avenue opened near Suotuo City, drawing attention to the guild’s roads and Soul-Powered Trucks.

• Ning Lu told Chen Hong that Heaven Dou Empire had demanded exclusive Soul Engine rights within its borders in exchange for payment and stone, and they suspected First Prince Xue Qinghe was warning the guild over its actions concerning a mineral vein.
• Chen Hong and Ning Lu discussed Heaven Dou Empire’s pressure, while Chen Hong welcomed the chance to expand the guild’s road network through its territory.
• The Technology Guild was established in Suotuo City, where Chen Lin recruited blacksmiths and apprentices for production and Ning Lu helped set up the Operations Department.
• Chen Lin taught apprentices to make Chen Hong’s improved cement formula and organized production into separate assembly-line stages.
• Chen Lin and Chen Hong opened a cement factory and a nearby sand and gravel plant, then used their first cement to build an improved road.
• The Technology Guild opened its first cement avenue to traffic with ten Soul-Powered Trucks, prompting nearby nobles to take notice and consider ordering vehicles.

Chen Lin unveiled the Technology Guild’s new Soul-Powered Trucks and announced plans to build roads that would connect cities and villages. As the crowd celebrated, Chen Hong suddenly fainted on the city wall, and Ning Lu carried him to a clinic.

• Chen Hong and Ning Lu watched Chen Lin receive an honor medal at the opening ceremony for the convoy in Suotuo City.
• Chen Lin unveiled the new Soul-Powered Trucks and promised the Technology Guild would build roads and give its profits back to society.
• The crowd cheered, and Chen Lin let several people ride in the trucks on the new road.
• Bishop Suotuo asked Chen Hong about ordering a truck, but Chen Hong suddenly fainted and fell over the battlements.
• Bishop Suotuo caught Chen Hong, and Ning Lu carried him toward a clinic after checking him over.

After recovering from the mental overload that had left him unconscious, Chen Hong comprehended the Sage Inscription and began designing a new Soul Tool. He completed a ring-shaped device called [Sage]'s Ring, while continuing to avoid developing weapons that could make the Technology Guild a target.

• Chen Hong explained that the Technology Guild had expanded its departments and was producing roads and Soul-Powered Trucks while he stayed out of the public eye.
• Chen Hong recalled that the crowd celebrating the road's opening had overwhelmed his sensitive Spirit Martial Soul and caused him to lose consciousness.
• After three months of meditation, Chen Hong comprehended the Sage Inscription and studied a Class 3 calming Soul Tool necklace collected by his mother, Ning Lu.
• Chen Hong melted down the necklace for its Mental Attribute Metal and used the material to create a device engraved with the Sage Inscription.
• Chen Hong finished a ring-shaped Soul Tool after three nights and named it [Sage]'s Ring.

Chen Hong tested the [Sage]'s Ring on a pig, discovered that it made the animal noticeably smarter, and began the Bajie Project. He later forged a pale gold ring for himself and, after putting it on, questioned why he had to save his benefactor.

• Chen Hong placed the pale silver [Sage]'s Ring on a pig and watched it follow simple commands, so he named it Bajie and decided to raise it.
• Chen Hong brought Bajie to Ning Lu and announced that he had found a pig smarter than Chen Lin, prompting Chen Lin's Family Status to drop by one.
• Ning Lu arranged for more spiritually infused metal, and Chen Hong forged a pale gold [Sage]'s Ring for himself while reserving the silver one for Bajie or Ning Lu.
• Ning Lu tested the ring and found that it restrained her Drunkenness state, while Chen Lin declined to wear one.
• Chen Hong crowned himself with the pale gold ring and murmured, "Form is Emptiness, No Self. Benefactor, why must I save you?"

Chen Hong showed his parents how his adjustable [Sage]'s Ring protected him from mental turbulence, then learned Ye Lingling was visiting. A week later, he welcomed her to the Technology Guild and showed her his unfinished Soul-Powered Motorcycle.

• Chen Hong explained that his [Sage]'s Ring could adjust its Sage Degree and shield him from the mental turbulence caused by crowds.
• Ning Lu was relieved that Chen Hong had found a way to manage his Martial Soul problem, and she told him she planned to take him to meet his grandfather while leaving Chen Lin behind for now.
• A week later, Chen Hong worked on a two-wheeled Soul Powered Machinery device in the Technology Guild workshop.
• Ye Lingling arrived and turned to leave when Chen Hong teased her about visiting the clinic, but he stopped her and led her into the workshop.
• Chen Hong revealed that his invention was a Soul-Powered Motorcycle and promised to finish it and take Ye Lingling for a ride.

Over the past year, Chen Lin’s Technology Guild transformed Suotuo City through Soul-Powered vehicles, new jobs, and extensive road construction, while the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires profited from competing truck industries without taking on major infrastructure costs. Chen Hong finished the world’s first underage Soul-Powered Motorcycle and rode it with Ye Lingling through the wheat fields, where she quietly reflected on the world he wanted to change.

• Chen Hong completed the underage Soul-Powered Motorcycle in front of Ye Lingling.
• The Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires established their own Soul-Powered Truck industries, but left most road construction costs to the Technology Guild.
• The Technology Guild expanded Suotuo City’s road network, absorbed the Blacksmith Guild, and created new industries and tens of thousands of jobs.
• A hardened road linked Suotuo City and Barak City, spurring trade and passenger transport between them.
• Chen Hong rode the Soul-Powered Motorcycle through the wheat fields with Ye Lingling behind him, and she rested her head against his back.