Chapter Summaries

Key Plot Points

• Ma Hongjun's Phoenix Evil Fire goes out of control, threatening the village and his classmates.
• Tang San uses Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon to disrupt Ma Hongjun's Soul Power, but the fire subsides unexpectedly.
• Cuihua, a villager, is frightened by the incident and tells Ma Hongjun she doesn't want to see him again.
• Flender arrives and orders Ma Hongjun to apologize to the villagers and deducts his allowance.

Character Developments

• Ma Hongjun's fear of hurting others and his desire to control his powers grow stronger.
• Tang San's concern for his classmates increases, leading him to take risks.
• Xiao Wu's protective nature towards Tang San becomes more apparent.
• Flender shows a stricter side, emphasizing responsibility and consequences.

Significant Themes

• Control and Responsibility: The struggle to control one's powers and the responsibility that comes with them is a central theme, exemplified by Ma Hongjun's situation.
• Consequences of Actions: The incident at the village entrance highlights the consequences of one's actions, affecting both the perpetrator (Ma Hongjun) and the bystanders (the villagers and his classmates).
• Bonding and Friendship: Despite the danger, Tang San and his classmates work together to help Ma Hongjun, strengthening their bonds.

Character Interactions

• Tang San and Ma Hongjun: Tang San's actions lead Ma Hongjun to view him as a savior and a big brother figure, fostering a stronger bond between them.
• Xiao Wu and Tang San: Xiao Wu's protective nature towards Tang San is evident in her concern for his well-being and her defense of him against Ma Hongjun's gratitude.
• Flender and Ma Hongjun: Flender's stern demeanor and emphasis on responsibility create tension between him and Ma Hongjun, but also show his commitment to his students' growth.

Chapter Summary: “Fire Resistance Takes Shape, the Fatty Is Grateful”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Tang San returns injured after fighting Zhao Wuji, with strange black energy seeping from his left hand. He hides the injury because it is connected to the Clear Sky Hammer, whose existence must remain secret.
• Xiao Wu worries about Tang San, while Dai Mubai and Ning Rongrong question whether he is concealing another powerful ability. Tension rises, but Dai Mubai ultimately respects Tang San’s privacy.
• Ji Yuan suppresses the black energy and helps control the residual Evil Fire within Tang San. He then uses the Evil Fire’s origin to refine his charred Demon Vine.
• The refinement succeeds: Ji Yuan’s vine develops fiery red patterns and gains resistance to ordinary flames, allowing it to absorb small amounts of heat without burning.
• Ji Yuan realizes Ma Hongjun’s Evil Fire can serve as a renewable source of Flame Origin. He plans to continue absorbing it, benefiting both himself and Ma Hongjun while allowing Tang San to appear responsible for helping the fatty.
• Ma Hongjun visits Tang San the next morning with breakfast to apologize for the trouble caused by his Evil Fire. He acknowledges that Tang San prevented the situation with Cuihua from becoming worse and asks Tang San for future help when his Evil Fire flares up.
• Tang San advises Ma Hongjun to seek help from Flender or Dai Mubai rather than entering the village again. Ma Hongjun agrees but hopes Tang San can continue assisting him.
• The group attends Flender’s training session. Oscar is ordered to produce sausages, and every student must eat one to become accustomed to relying on his food-based healing ability.
• Most of the group remains uncomfortable with Oscar’s crude sausage incantation, but they comply. Ma Hongjun accepts his sausage without complaint, while Ning Rongrong continues to object to the exercise.
• Ji Yuan secretly absorbs most of the sausages’ restorative energy through the spore network in the group, using it to heal Tang San’s damaged body and strengthen his own Demon Vine.
• Ji Yuan studies Oscar’s Martial Soul and discovers that its restorative energy is repeatedly generated through special “Life Ripples.” He hopes to reproduce or understand this healing mechanism.
• When Ji Yuan absorbs too much of the energy from Oscar’s next sausage, Oscar notices that it feels incomplete and begins to suspect something is wrong.

Character Developments

• Tang San: Remains secretive about the Clear Sky Hammer and endures physical strain while protecting his companions from the truth. He becomes more understanding toward Ma Hongjun and offers him practical guidance.
• Ji Yuan: Makes major progress in evolution. His Demon Vine gains resistance to ordinary fire and begins absorbing heat directly. He also expands his plans to exploit both Ma Hongjun’s Flame Origin and Oscar’s healing energy.
• Xiao Wu: Continues to act protectively toward Tang San and confronts anyone who pressures him. She also maintains her hostile, teasing relationship with Ning Rongrong and Ma Hongjun.
• Ma Hongjun: Shows guilt and responsibility after the previous day’s incident. His attempt to apologize and help Tang San marks a small step toward maturity, though he remains gluttonous and comical.
• Oscar: Gains more recognition for the usefulness of his food-based Martial Soul, but Ji Yuan’s interference begins to weaken the quality of his sausages. Oscar becomes suspicious when he senses that one sausage is missing part of its usual effect.
• Ning Rongrong: Remains proud and resistant to the group’s crude training methods, but she still participates. Her sharp exchanges with Xiao Wu reveal her difficulty adapting to the team.
• Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing: Dai Mubai acts as a mediator, while Zhu Zhuqing remains distant and restrained, especially toward him.

Significant Themes

• Secrets and trust: Tang San’s hidden power creates suspicion among the group, but the others must learn to respect personal boundaries.
• Mutual dependence: Ma Hongjun, Tang San, Oscar, and Ji Yuan become linked through a cycle of injury, healing, and energy exchange.
• Growth through adversity: Tang San’s injuries, Ma Hongjun’s Evil Fire, and Ji Yuan’s damaged body all become opportunities for development.
• Exploitation and hidden agendas: Ji Yuan secretly manipulates everyone’s energy for his own evolution, turning the team’s training and healing resources into nourishment.
• Team bonding through conflict: Arguments, teasing, shared meals, and forced cooperation gradually bring the group closer despite their tensions.
• Adaptation and evolution: Ji Yuan’s successful fire resistance symbolizes his ability to transform harmful forces into sources of strength.

Character Interactions

• Xiao Wu protects Tang San from Dai Mubai and Ning Rongrong’s questioning, while arguing with Ning Rongrong over hypocrisy and hidden backgrounds.
• Dai Mubai attempts to calm the conflict and later warns Ma Hongjun not to burden Tang San excessively.
• Ma Hongjun apologizes to Tang San and seeks a closer relationship with him, calling him “Big Brother.” Xiao Wu repeatedly objects to the nickname.
• Oscar jokes with Ma Hongjun about their relationship, creating a lighter atmosphere despite the group’s earlier tension.
• Zhu Zhuqing’s brief remarks keep her emotionally distant, particularly when Dai Mubai tries to interact with her.
• Flender and Zhao Wuji force the students to accept Oscar’s sausages as part of their training, reinforcing discipline over personal preference.
• Tang San’s improved recovery reassures Oscar, though Ji Yuan’s secret absorption of the healing energy threatens to expose his interference.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Oscar discovers an issue with his Recovery Sausages, which lack a certain feedback from his martial soul.
• Oscar feeds the sausages to his teammates, and Ji Yuan secretly absorbs the restorative energy, healing the Demon Vine and enhancing the teammates' abilities.
• Oscar struggles to make sausages as his soul power drains faster than usual, and a defective sausage appears.

Character Developments

• Oscar's confidence in his martial soul is shaken, but he continues to make sausages under Flender's guidance.
• Tang San suspects something is wrong with Oscar's sausages, but Ji Yuan's intervention prevents him from pursuing it.
• The teammates accept Oscar's sausages without question, showing their trust in him.

Significant Themes

• Trust and teamwork: The teammates accept Oscar's sausages without hesitation, demonstrating their trust in him and their willingness to support each other.
• The power of food-type martial souls: Oscar's sausages have remarkable healing and restorative properties, highlighting the unique strength of food-type martial souls.
• The consequences of overuse: Oscar's rapid soul power depletion and the appearance of a defective sausage underscore the dangers of pushing one's limits.

Character Interactions

• Oscar and his teammates: The teammates support Oscar and encourage him to keep making sausages, while Oscar expresses his frustration and concern about the situation.
• Tang San and Ji Yuan: Tang San suspects something is wrong with Oscar's sausages, but Ji Yuan's intervention prevents him from investigating further.
• Flender and Oscar: Flender pushes Oscar to keep making sausages, seeing it as an opportunity for him to improve and learn to rely on his teammates' support.

Chapter Summary: “Intersection with the Food System, Stealing Vitality”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Oscar creates another restorative sausage under Flender and Zhao Wuji’s supervision. The sausage appears normal, but Oscar suffers unusually severe exhaustion.
• Ji Yuan reveals the cause: while harvesting the sausage’s regenerative energy, he nearly transfers the Demon Vine’s aura into it. Oscar’s Martial Soul is unusually sensitive, so Ji Yuan must steal the Rule of Regeneration gradually rather than taking Soul Power directly.
• Flender dismisses Oscar’s weakness as overtraining and orders him to rest and eat more. Oscar begins consuming enormous quantities of food.
• Zhu Zhuqing becomes suspicious of the strange situation and investigates the academy’s water bucket. Ji Yuan suppresses the spores’ energy signature, preventing her from discovering anything unusual.
• Tang San notices similarities between his own post-cultivation weakness and Oscar’s exhaustion. Ji Yuan secretly siphons some of Tang San’s newly formed inner power and replaces it with restorative energy taken from Oscar’s sausage, strengthening Tang San’s belief that his condition may be related to his Twin Martial Souls.
• When Tang San is about to examine Oscar’s meridians, Ji Yuan prevents direct contact by provoking Ma Hongjun’s Evil Fire. Tang San instead treats Ma Hongjun, allowing Ji Yuan to steal some of Tang San’s inner power and absorb Ma Hongjun’s excess fire energy.
• Over the following three days, Oscar’s appetite becomes extreme as Ji Yuan repeatedly extracts regenerative energy from his Martial Soul. Oscar progresses from eating several bowls of porridge to clinging to the dining hall’s rice bucket.
• Ji Yuan combines the stolen regenerative law with the Demon Vine. After several failed or damaging attempts, the vine begins repairing itself and absorbing life energy more efficiently.
• Ji Yuan also removes old injuries and stagnant blood from Tang San’s meridians, leaving him physically lighter. Tang San begins suspecting that Oscar’s sausages are continually repairing him.
• By the third night, the Demon Vine’s charred scars have disappeared, replaced by interwoven crimson and pale-green patterns. Ji Yuan prepares to test its newly strengthened regenerative power by attacking one vine with another.
• Just before the experiment begins, Tang San’s Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridge emits a faint flash and scraping sound, suggesting a possible disturbance or hidden presence.

Character Developments

• Ji Yuan: Becomes increasingly strategic and cautious. He avoids stealing obvious Soul Power, instead extracting the more subtle regenerative law from Oscar’s Martial Soul. He also manipulates Ma Hongjun and Tang San to conceal his actions and successfully strengthens the Demon Vine.
• Oscar: Suffers escalating hunger and fatigue but continues producing sausages under Flender’s orders. His frustration turns into exaggerated dependence on food, while he becomes convinced that something is wrong with his consumption.
• Tang San: Grows suspicious of both his own weakness and Oscar’s altered restorative effects. He remains unaware of Ji Yuan’s interference, though his increasing physical recovery makes him suspect a connection between his condition and Oscar’s sausages.
• Zhu Zhuqing: Demonstrates sharp observation and skepticism by investigating the water source. Although she finds nothing, she remains more suspicious than the others.
• Ning Rongrong: Initially mocks Oscar but gradually recognizes that his condition is abnormal. Her concern is disguised as irritation and concern for the team’s performance.
• Ma Hongjun: Continues to struggle with his Evil Fire. Ji Yuan exploits this problem to distract Tang San and harvest more energy.
• Flender and Zhao Wuji: Treat Oscar’s exhaustion as ordinary overexertion and fail to notice the deeper cause.

Significant Themes

• Hidden parasitism and exploitation: Ji Yuan secretly feeds on the abilities, vitality, and internal energy of the academy members while making the effects appear natural.
• Regeneration as both healing and theft: The regenerative power that restores Oscar’s sausages and Tang San’s body is being extracted and repurposed to evolve the Demon Vine.
• Suspicion versus concealment: Zhu Zhuqing and Tang San notice inconsistencies, but Ji Yuan repeatedly suppresses evidence and redirects their attention.
• The cost of power: Oscar’s food-based abilities provide healing, but their use leaves him dangerously hungry and weak.
• Manipulation of relationships: Ji Yuan uses the characters’ concern for one another—Tang San helping Ma Hongjun, others worrying about Oscar—to conceal his own actions.
• Transformation through fusion: The Demon Vine evolves by combining its destructive instincts with regenerative law, suggesting the creation of a more dangerous and self-sustaining power.

Character Interactions

• Flender and Zhao Wuji pressure Oscar to continue producing sausages, while Flender dismisses his exhaustion as normal.
• Oscar and Ning Rongrong exchange sarcastic remarks, though her criticism reveals growing concern.
• Xiao Wu questions Tang San about his weakness, prompting Ji Yuan to manipulate Tang San’s energy.
• Zhu Zhuqing challenges Dai Mubai’s casual attitude toward strange events by investigating the water source.
• Oscar seeks Tang San’s help in diagnosing his condition, but Ji Yuan diverts Tang San to treat Ma Hongjun instead.
• Ma Hongjun relies on Tang San to suppress his Evil Fire, unknowingly helping Ji Yuan harvest its energy.
• Tang San and Xiao Wu share a quiet moment in which Tang San conceals his suspicions and physical changes from her.
• The chapter ends with Ji Yuan on the verge of testing the regenerated Demon Vine, interrupted by an unexplained reaction from Tang San’s Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridge.

Chapter Summary: “Self-Healing at Full Capacity, Regrowing Severed Limbs”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ji Yuan hides inside the sole of Tang San’s shoe and continues secretly parasitizing him. When Tang San is nearly awakened by a sound from the seventh jade stone, Ji Yuan uses a drowsiness toxin to make him dismiss it.
• To stabilize the newly acquired Rule of Regeneration, Ji Yuan repeatedly severs one of his own Demon Vine limbs. Each time, the limb regrows faster and with less Soul Power. The regenerated vine becomes thinner but tougher, combining fiery-red markings with hidden green regenerative patterns.
• Ji Yuan concludes that, as long as his core survives, he can recover from severe injuries: fire and poison will no longer easily kill him, and even severed limbs can be restored.
• Ji Yuan drains Tang San’s Mysterious Heaven Skill energy, triggering a nightmare in which dark-red vines emerge from Blue Silver Grass and bind him. Ji Yuan suppresses the Clear Sky Hammer’s reaction and prevents Tang San from detecting the cause.
• Xiao Wu wakes Tang San and comforts him. He tells her about the frightening mountain-and-grass dream and admits that he feels watched, but she encourages him to stop worrying and rest.
• By morning, Tang San is pale and weak, but Ji Yuan secretly feeds him enough vitality to keep him functional. Tang San insists on attending training despite Xiao Wu’s concern.
• Flender announces that the students will train at the Soto Great Soul Arena, where they will participate in genuine combat. The students react with varying degrees of excitement, fear, or reluctance.
• Ji Yuan welcomes the trip because the arena will provide more soul masters, injuries, blood aura, and Martial Soul clashes to nourish his parasitic network.
• During breakfast, Ji Yuan lightly interferes with Oscar’s recovery, leaving Oscar feeling strangely empty. He also causes Ma Hongjun’s internal flame to twitch, interrupting his teasing of Oscar and creating comic confusion at the table.
• Before leaving, Ji Yuan tightens his spore network. Although the connection to the academy’s central node will weaken with distance, the parasitic points inside the Shrek students are now established, allowing him to maintain control through Tang San as the primary host.
• On the road, Xiao Wu supports Tang San until his condition improves. Ning Rongrong notices his quick recovery and suspects he may have consumed Oscar’s sausages.
• Zhu Zhuqing notices something unusual near Tang San’s feet: a discarded piece of vine skin that is charred but producing fresh dark-red buds. The chapter ends as she stops to inspect it, potentially bringing Ji Yuan’s secret closer to discovery.

Character Developments

• Ji Yuan: Gains confidence in his regenerative abilities and becomes increasingly monstrous and self-sufficient. He shifts from merely hiding and feeding to actively manipulating Tang San’s dreams, motivation, physical condition, and future decisions.
• Tang San: Becomes physically weaker and increasingly uneasy, suffering unexplained nightmares and sensing that he is being watched. Nevertheless, his desire to prove himself pushes him toward dangerous combat at the Great Soul Arena.
• Xiao Wu: Shows strong concern for Tang San and repeatedly protects him from suspicion and overexertion. Her support is affectionate but also increasingly frustrated by his refusal to rest.
• Oscar: Continues suffering unexplained exhaustion and reduced vitality, though he cannot identify Ji Yuan’s interference.
• Ma Hongjun: Remains playful and provocative, but Ji Yuan’s manipulation briefly causes him physical discomfort and interrupts his teasing.
• Ning Rongrong: Becomes suspicious of Tang San’s rapid recovery and questions whether he is concealing something.
• Zhu Zhuqing: Displays the sharpest observational awareness in the group. Her discovery of the regenerating vine remnant may threaten Ji Yuan’s concealment.
• Flender and Zhao Wuji: Maintain their harsh training philosophy, pushing the students toward real combat despite their injuries and exhaustion.

Significant Themes

• Regeneration and evolution: Ji Yuan’s repeated self-mutilation transforms regeneration from a theoretical law into a reliable survival ability.
• Predation and parasitism: Ji Yuan treats the Shrek students as sources of energy, manipulating their bodies and emotions while remaining hidden within their group.
• Loss of agency: Tang San believes he is choosing to train and fight, but Ji Yuan subtly removes his hesitation and strengthens his craving for battle.
• Appearance versus reality: Tang San appears merely tired rather than dangerously weakened because Ji Yuan conceals and adjusts his condition. Similarly, Ji Yuan hides beneath an ordinary shoe while growing into a powerful threat.
• Growing suspicion: Tang San’s nightmares, Oscar’s weakness, Ning Rongrong’s questions, and Zhu Zhuqing’s discovery all suggest that Ji Yuan’s secret may eventually be exposed.
• Danger as nourishment: The Great Soul Arena is presented not only as a test for the students but also as a feeding ground where Ji Yuan expects to gain power from combat, wounds, and bloodshed.

Important Character Interactions

• Ji Yuan and Tang San: Ji Yuan secretly poisons, drains, stabilizes, and mentally influences Tang San while using him as the central node of the parasitic network.
• Tang San and Xiao Wu: Xiao Wu comforts Tang San after his nightmare, worries about his poor condition, and tries to prevent him from overtraining. Tang San reassures her but refuses to withdraw.
• Flender and the students: Flender orders the group to undertake real combat at the Soto Great Soul Arena, dismissing their concerns and emphasizing hardship.
• Zhao Wuji and Tang San: Zhao Wuji teases and challenges Tang San about his condition, reinforcing the academy’s harsh attitude toward weakness.
• Oscar and Ma Hongjun: Their joking over food creates comic relief, but Ji Yuan’s interference turns the exchange into another opportunity to manipulate their bodies.
• Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu, and Tang San: Ning Rongrong questions Tang San’s rapid recovery, while Xiao Wu defensively blocks her insinuations.
• Zhu Zhuqing and Tang San/Ji Yuan: Zhu Zhuqing notices the regenerating vine remnant near Tang San’s shoe, becoming the first person to encounter tangible evidence of Ji Yuan’s presence.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhu Zhuqing discovers a strip of charred, shed vine skin near Tang San’s shoe. A dark-red sprout and faint residual energy make her suspect it is more than ordinary burnt vegetation.
• Tang San and Xiao Wu dismiss the discovery as mud or grass stuck to his shoes, while Ji Yuan secretly conceals the remaining traces of green energy inside Tang San’s sole.
• Zhu Zhuqing questions Tang San about his recent symptoms—heaviness in his left hand, weakness, coughing blood, and disturbing dreams—suggesting that his condition may not simply be Twin Martial Soul rejection.
• The teachers downplay her suspicions. Flender demands evidence, while Zhao Wuji treats the shed skin as worthless debris and nearly touches it before Tang San warns him it may be poisonous.
• Zhu Zhuqing challenges Tang San to a sparring match so she can investigate him directly. Tang San accepts because refusing would make her more suspicious.
• During the fight, Zhu Zhuqing deliberately targets Tang San’s feet rather than trying to defeat him. She sends Hell Spirit Soul Power through the ground to search for signs of a living presence.
• Ji Yuan disguises himself as dead skin, closes his feeding pores, and uses ordinary grass roots as false traces, successfully evading Zhu Zhuqing’s detection.
• Ji Yuan also drains some of Tang San’s gathered energy, making him appear genuinely weak. The spar ends in a draw when both fighters restrain their final attacks.
• Afterward, Zhu Zhuqing collects the shed skin and announces that she will question Tang San privately that night. Tang San agrees, while Xiao Wu becomes increasingly protective and suspicious.
• Ji Yuan prepares to let Zhu Zhuqing uncover part of the truth, intending to make her believe Tang San is suffering from poison rather than parasitism.

Character Developments

• Zhu Zhuqing: Becomes more openly suspicious and demonstrates her sharp instincts, persistence, and investigative ability. Rather than arguing, she tests Tang San physically and collects evidence for later examination.
• Tang San: Maintains a calm exterior while secretly coordinating with Ji Yuan. He accepts Zhu Zhuqing’s challenge because he understands that avoiding her would expose him further. His weakness during the fight is partly genuine and partly engineered.
• Ji Yuan: Shows increasingly sophisticated control over his concealment and over Tang San’s body. He disguises himself, suppresses his aura, manipulates the battlefield, and deliberately shapes the explanation Zhu Zhuqing is likely to reach.
• Xiao Wu: Acts fiercely protective of Tang San, repeatedly defending him and becoming angry at Zhu Zhuqing’s probing. Her concern grows as Tang San’s weakness becomes visible.
• Dai Mubai: Supports Tang San and initially dismisses Zhu Zhuqing’s doubts, though he recognizes that her suspicions are serious.
• Flender and Zhao Wuji: Represent contrasting responses to danger: Flender permits the conflict to be resolved openly, while Zhao Wuji remains careless and dismissive of the evidence.
• Ma Hongjun and Oscar: Provide comic relief through arguments about poison and Oscar’s sausages, helping ease the tension without affecting the central investigation.

Significant Themes

• Appearance versus reality: The shed skin appears to be dead plant matter, but it conceals evidence of Ji Yuan’s presence.
• Secrecy and controlled disclosure: Tang San and Ji Yuan do not simply hide the truth; they manipulate what Zhu Zhuqing is allowed to discover so she reaches a safer false conclusion.
• Instinct versus authority: Zhu Zhuqing’s instincts lead her to question the official explanation, while the teachers rely on assumptions and dismiss incomplete evidence.
• Trust and protection: Xiao Wu’s immediate defense of Tang San contrasts with Zhu Zhuqing’s determination to test him, showing two different forms of concern.
• Investigation through conflict: The sparring match functions less as a competition than as Zhu Zhuqing’s method of examining Tang San’s body and behavior.
• Parasitism and bodily danger: The chapter deepens the threat posed by Ji Yuan’s hidden presence and suggests that Tang San’s health and cultivation are being actively manipulated.

Character Interactions

• Zhu Zhuqing and Tang San engage in a tense exchange in which she asks increasingly specific questions about his symptoms, while he gives carefully prepared explanations.
• Xiao Wu repeatedly confronts Zhu Zhuqing, defending Tang San and objecting to what she sees as an unnecessary and dangerous interrogation.
• Dai Mubai sides with Tang San and challenges Zhu Zhuqing’s implication that the master’s examination may have been incomplete.
• Flender and Zhao Wuji dismiss or minimize Zhu Zhuqing’s evidence, creating a conflict between her suspicion and the teachers’ complacency.
• During the spar, Zhu Zhuqing and Tang San communicate indirectly through their movements: she investigates his feet, while he and Ji Yuan evade detection. Their final simultaneous attacks end the fight in a draw.
• The chapter closes with Zhu Zhuqing and Tang San agreeing to speak privately that night, setting up a direct confrontation in which Ji Yuan plans to disguise parasitism as poisoning.

Chapter Summary: “Using Another to Kill, Poison Outbreak Disguise”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhu Zhuqing confronts Tang San outside the dormitory with a charred strip of shed skin she found near his shoes. She suspects that something unusual may be attached to or growing on him.
• Tang San admits that the object does not resemble ordinary Blue Silver Grass, but explains that Yu Xiaogang had attributed his recent weakness, coughing blood, and left-hand heaviness to Martial Soul rejection, lingering snake venom, and the strain of cultivating the Mysterious Heaven Skill.
• Zhu Zhuqing insists that Tang San remove his shoes so she can search for a possible parasite. The inspection reveals nothing suspicious, since Ji Yuan has concealed itself within the sole and made itself appear lifeless.
• To redirect everyone’s suspicions, Ji Yuan deliberately triggers the accumulated poisons in Tang San’s meridians. Tang San suddenly collapses, coughs up foul black blood, and appears to be suffering from a severe poisoning.
• The others panic. Xiao Wu blames Zhu Zhuqing for pressuring Tang San, while Dai Mubai, Oscar, Ma Hongjun, and Zhao Wuji attempt to help. Oscar’s healing sausage provides only limited relief.
• Ji Yuan secretly drains poisoned blood and vitality from Tang San while allowing enough restorative energy to remain for Tang San to recover superficially. It also manipulates Tang San’s internal energy and hallucinations, making it seem as though he is expelling poison through his own cultivation.
• Yu Xiaogang arrives and examines Tang San. Ji Yuan deliberately emphasizes the lingering Datura Snake venom and the strange heaviness of the Clear Sky Hammer, guiding Yu Xiaogang toward a particular explanation.
• Yu Xiaogang asks whether Tang San saw a “Red Vine.” After hearing the account, he concludes that the object is not a normal parasite, setting up the revelation that the strange entity may be associated with Red Vine.

Character Developments

• Tang San: Becomes increasingly aware that something is wrong with his body, but remains dependent on Yu Xiaogang’s explanations. His physical suffering and hallucinations intensify, while Ji Yuan uses him as a host and manipulates his symptoms.
• Ji Yuan: Demonstrates greater control and cunning. It hides within Tang San’s shoe, manipulates existing poisons, drains the resulting blood, and stages a convincing poisoning crisis to conceal its true nature. Its goal is to use Yu Xiaogang to identify or legitimize a suitable “outer shell.”
• Zhu Zhuqing: Shows sharp observation and growing suspicion of Tang San’s condition. Although her investigation appears to trigger the crisis, she accepts responsibility and immediately seeks help when his condition worsens.
• Xiao Wu: Displays intense protectiveness toward Tang San and hostility toward Zhu Zhuqing. Her fear increases as Tang San’s condition deteriorates, but she continues trying to support and comfort him.
• Yu Xiaogang: Remains confident in his analytical abilities, but Ji Yuan subtly manipulates the evidence he sees. His recognition of the Red Vine marks a potentially important step toward uncovering the truth.
• Dai Mubai, Oscar, Ma Hongjun, and Zhao Wuji: Act as concerned teammates and emergency responders. They help Tang San, summon assistance, and reinforce the impression that the crisis is a genuine poisoning incident.

Significant Themes

• Deception and misdirection: Ji Yuan creates a false explanation—poisoning caused by existing toxins—in order to hide its presence and influence the investigation.
• Manipulation of trust: Tang San trusts Yu Xiaogang’s medical and martial-soul explanations, while the others rely on visible symptoms rather than understanding the deeper threat.
• Hidden bodily corruption: The chapter emphasizes the horror of an unseen organism or force living inside Tang San and manipulating his body from within.
• Powerlessness and dependence: Tang San cannot fully control his body, his internal energy, or his hallucinations. Even his allies and teacher are unable to distinguish the real cause of his illness.
• Protective relationships under strain: Xiao Wu’s devotion conflicts with Zhu Zhuqing’s suspicion, creating tension within the group while Tang San’s condition forces them to cooperate.
• Using others as tools: Ji Yuan’s plan involves turning both Tang San and Yu Xiaogang into instruments—Tang San as the host and Yu Xiaogang as the person who will identify or provide the desired disguise.

Important Character Interactions

• Tang San and Zhu Zhuqing: Their guarded conversation centers on the shed skin and the possibility that something is attached to Tang San. Zhu Zhuqing’s direct questioning forces him into an inspection.
• Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing: They clash openly, with Xiao Wu defending Tang San and accusing Zhu Zhuqing of frightening or harming him.
• Tang San and Xiao Wu: Xiao Wu remains emotionally devoted, while Tang San tries to calm her even as he is collapsing and coughing blood.
• Zhu Zhuqing and the group: Her suspicions initially isolate her, but once Tang San becomes ill, she takes responsibility and rushes to bring Yu Xiaogang.
• Yu Xiaogang and Tang San: Yu Xiaogang examines Tang San and begins interpreting the symptoms, unknowingly following the path Ji Yuan has prepared.
• Ji Yuan and Yu Xiaogang: Although they never interact openly, Ji Yuan deliberately manipulates the evidence so Yu Xiaogang will identify the mysterious organism through the concept of “Red Vine.”

Chapter Summary: “Theoretical Gaps Filled, Doubts Dispelled”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yu Xiaogang examines the strange scrap of shed skin and concludes that it is residue produced by Tang San’s body while expelling the Datura Snake’s venom.
• He explains that Tang San’s Blue Silver Grass, aided by the Mysterious Heaven Skill and the interaction between his Twin Martial Souls, absorbed most of the poison but forced some of it back into his meridians.
• The remaining poison causes Tang San to cough black blood, experience chest pain, and expel mutated tissue through his feet. This explanation convinces most of the group that the scrap was not evidence of parasitism.
• Ji Yuan secretly manipulates Tang San’s body, redistributing the poison to create convincing pain and weakness while absorbing most of Yu Xiaogang’s antidote for himself. He carefully leaves enough medicinal effect to make Tang San appear to recover naturally.
• Yu Xiaogang gives Tang San antidote pills and orders him not to circulate his cultivation. He determines that the poison is troublesome but ultimately indicates Tang San’s body is adapting to the Soul Ring.
• Zhu Zhuqing admits that she impulsively tested Tang San because the scrap’s aura disturbed her. Tang San forgives her, while Xiao Wu remains protective and resentful.
• The group agrees to keep the incident secret. Yu Xiaogang takes Tang San to his office for overnight observation, accompanied by Xiao Wu.
• Tang San asks whether he can still participate in battles at the Great Soul Arena. Although Xiao Wu objects, Yu Xiaogang permits him to go under controlled, low-intensity conditions.
• The next morning, the group prepares to travel to Suotuo City. Tang San appears recovered enough to walk, aided by Oscar’s sausage and Ji Yuan’s controlled manipulation.
• Zhu Zhuqing’s suspicions are reduced but not completely eliminated. When she investigates the site of the shed skin, a black fragment disintegrates into mud and ash.
• As Tang San leaves the academy, the Clear Sky Hammer in his left hand suddenly emits an ominous tremor, suggesting that a new complication is beginning.

Character Developments

• Tang San: Becomes more convinced that his symptoms are the result of residual poison and detoxification. Despite Xiao Wu’s concern, he insists on continuing toward the Soul Arena because he wants to understand his limits rather than remain protected indefinitely.
• Yu Xiaogang: Demonstrates his expertise by providing a logical explanation for Tang San’s condition. He becomes more actively involved in monitoring Tang San and accepts that controlled combat may be necessary to uncover the truth.
• Ji Yuan: Continues manipulating Tang San’s body from within the shoe sole and meridians. He deceives the others by simulating symptoms, controlling the poison, absorbing the antidote, and maintaining the appearance of a genuine recovery.
• Zhu Zhuqing: Moves from suspicion toward reluctant acceptance after seeing Tang San’s symptoms and hearing Yu Xiaogang’s explanation. However, her instincts remain unsettled, and she secretly continues investigating.
• Xiao Wu: Displays intense protectiveness toward Tang San, blaming Zhu Zhuqing for triggering the crisis and opposing his return to combat. Her concern reveals how deeply she prioritizes his safety.
• Flender, Zhao Wuji, Dai Mubai, Oscar, and Ma Hongjun: Help stabilize the group after the crisis. Their banter, particularly Oscar’s complaints about exhaustion, relieves the tension.
• Oscar: Raises a secondary concern about his own weakness, but Yu Xiaogang explains that it comes from repeatedly using recovery skills rather than from poison.

Significant Themes

• Deception and controlled appearances: Ji Yuan carefully manufactures evidence that supports Yu Xiaogang’s theory, showing how appearances can override incomplete truth.
• Trust versus suspicion: Zhu Zhuqing’s doubts are challenged but not entirely erased, while Tang San chooses to trust her motives despite being harmed by her investigation.
• Protection versus personal growth: Xiao Wu wants Tang San to rest, whereas Tang San believes danger and combat are necessary to discover his limits.
• Adaptation through suffering: Yu Xiaogang interprets Tang San’s pain as evidence that his body and Martial Souls are adapting, turning apparent injury into a sign of potential growth.
• Hidden danger beneath apparent resolution: Although the immediate crisis ends, Ji Yuan’s plans continue, Zhu Zhuqing remains suspicious, and the tremor from the Clear Sky Hammer foreshadows further trouble.

Important Character Interactions

• Yu Xiaogang and Tang San establish a mentor-student dynamic built on medical observation and obedience, though Tang San ultimately negotiates to continue fighting.
• Xiao Wu confronts Zhu Zhuqing and defends Tang San, while Tang San prevents the conflict from escalating by acknowledging Zhu Zhuqing’s concern.
• Dai Mubai restrains Xiao Wu’s anger and supports Tang San, reinforcing his role as a stabilizing presence.
• Flender and Yu Xiaogang cooperate in deciding whether Tang San can travel and fight.
• Oscar and Ma Hongjun’s comic argument about weakness and training lightens the tense atmosphere.
• Zhu Zhuqing apologizes to Tang San, but her continued investigation shows that her trust has not been fully restored.

Chapter Summary: Soto City Conflict, the Fatty Humiliated

Key Plot Points and Events

• Tang San suffers another painful reaction in his left hand as the poison in his body triggers fluctuations from his second Martial Soul, the Clear Sky Hammer. Yu Xiaogang warns him not to use Soul Power or touch the hand for two days.
• Ji Yuan secretly manipulates the symptoms, making Tang San and the others believe the second Martial Soul is becoming increasingly dangerous. His goal is to keep Tang San from controlling it while secretly cultivating him as a future “blood bag.”
• The Shrek group travels to Soto City to familiarize themselves with the Great Soul Arena. Flender warns them not to recklessly accept private fights.
• Ma Hongjun becomes distracted by a woman and secretly leaves the group. He is confronted in an alley by Bu Le, a powerful Soul Ancestor with a pink, seductive-type Martial Soul.
• Bu Le humiliates and severely beats Ma Hongjun, overpowering his Evil Fire and mocking him for looking at women in the area.
• When the group realizes Ma Hongjun is missing, Tang San senses Soul Power nearby. Dai Mubai, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and the others find him injured.
• Bu Le recognizes the Shrek students but arrogantly challenges them. Tang San prevents Dai Mubai from attacking immediately, reasoning that a battle near the Soul Arena would attract unwanted trouble.
• The group decides to lure Bu Le into a secluded alley. Xiao Wu volunteers to act as bait, exploiting Bu Le’s lack of caution around women.
• Xiao Wu successfully draws Bu Le into the trap. Tang San prepares his Blue Silver Grass from above, while Ji Yuan secretly positions a venom tendril beneath the ground, preparing to poison Bu Le.
• The chapter ends just as the ambush is about to begin.

Character Developments

• Tang San: Shows restraint and responsibility by refusing to use his second Martial Soul and by prioritizing strategy over direct retaliation. He is protective of Xiao Wu but ultimately trusts her plan.
• Xiao Wu: Demonstrates courage, quick thinking, and confidence. She is angered by Ma Hongjun’s humiliation and willingly risks herself to lure Bu Le into the trap.
• Ma Hongjun: His impulsive lust leads him into danger. Despite being badly beaten, he remains defiant and asks his companions to avenge him. His humiliation exposes his recklessness and vulnerability.
• Dai Mubai: Acts protectively toward Ma Hongjun and is ready to fight Bu Le, though he accepts Tang San’s more cautious approach.
• Yu Xiaogang: Remains focused on Tang San’s physical condition and firmly forbids him from using the Clear Sky Hammer.
• Flender: Displays authority and disappointment in Ma Hongjun’s behavior while allowing the group to handle the conflict strategically.
• Ji Yuan: Continues secretly manipulating events. He worsens the apparent danger of Tang San’s second Martial Soul and views Bu Le as a useful test subject for his poison.
• Zhu Zhuqing: Remains suspicious of Tang San’s connection to the unusual fluctuations, particularly watching his shoes, though she has no proof.

Significant Themes

• Manipulation and hidden motives: Ji Yuan secretly engineers Tang San’s symptoms and views both Tang San and Bu Le as tools for his own plans.
• Restraint versus recklessness: Tang San’s careful strategy contrasts with Ma Hongjun’s impulsive behavior and Bu Le’s arrogant aggression.
• Loyalty and group protection: The Shrek students quickly unite to rescue Ma Hongjun despite his foolish actions.
• Exploitation of weakness: Bu Le uses his strength and seductive Martial Soul to dominate others, while Xiao Wu turns his weakness against him.
• The danger of hidden power: Tang San’s second Martial Soul is presented as a growing threat, though the true danger lies in Ji Yuan’s manipulation of the situation.

Important Character Interactions

• Yu Xiaogang and Tang San discuss the danger of the second Martial Soul, with Xiao Wu reinforcing the warning.
• Ma Hongjun and Oscar exchange teasing remarks before Ma Hongjun’s impulsive departure.
• Bu Le humiliates Ma Hongjun, creating the central conflict.
• Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Dai Mubai debate how to retaliate without causing trouble near the Soul Arena.
• Xiao Wu volunteers as bait despite Tang San’s concern, and their disagreement highlights both her independence and his protectiveness.
• The chapter concludes with Tang San and Ji Yuan independently preparing their traps for Bu Le.

Chapter Summary: “Ambush in a Dark Alley, Neurotoxic Needles”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Tang San initiates an ambush on Bu Le in a dark alley, coordinating the Shrek students’ attacks.
• Tang San uses Blue Silver Grass to restrain Bu Le, while Dai Mubai attacks with his White Tiger abilities. Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ma Hongjun support from different positions.
• Bu Le reveals strong Soul Power and activates a pink defensive barrier that repels restraints, pulls attackers inward, and expands explosively through the alley.
• Tang San identifies that Bu Le’s barrier is difficult to penetrate and orders the group to force him to move rather than attack directly.
• The students coordinate their abilities: Dai Mubai drives Bu Le backward, Zhu Zhuqing attacks from the shadows, and Ma Hongjun uses fire to block escape routes.
• When Bu Le charges Tang San, Ji Yuan secretly intervenes. Hidden roots emerge from muddy ground and inject venom into Bu Le’s heel.
• The poison spreads through Bu Le’s nerves, becoming more severe as he circulates Soul Power. His movements weaken, his barrier destabilizes, and the others exploit the opening.
• Tang San fires sleeve arrows into the weakened barrier, while the group continues attacking without killing Bu Le.
• Bu Le attempts to summon help with a whistle, but Zhu Zhuqing knocks it away. Dai Mubai, Xiao Wu, and Ma Hongjun beat him down.
• Bu Le boasts about his connections in Suotuo City, but becomes frightened when Zhao Wuji arrives. He immediately claims the incident was a misunderstanding.
• Tang San notices that the poison affecting Bu Le is not caused by his Blue Silver Grass. Yu Xiaogang and the others also realize that an unknown party poisoned him.
• As the chapter ends, Bu Le begins convulsing violently. Something beneath him drains the muddy water and blood downward, suggesting Ji Yuan’s roots are extracting the poison—and possibly Bu Le’s blood—while everyone watches in confusion.

2. Character Developments

• Tang San demonstrates strong battlefield leadership, quickly analyzing Bu Le’s barrier and directing the team’s coordinated strategy. However, his physical condition remains fragile, as his old internal poison causes him to cough and slow down.
• Dai Mubai acts as the main offensive force, using brute strength to control Bu Le’s position and protect Tang San. His anger toward Bu Le is especially obvious.
• Xiao Wu repeatedly protects Tang San and uses her agility and soft skills to redirect attacks. She also shares the group’s desire to punish Bu Le more severely.
• Zhu Zhuqing proves highly observant and fearless, attacking from the shadows and identifying the barrier’s ability to pull opponents inside. She also begins suspecting that something unusual is connected to Tang San’s position.
• Ma Hongjun is driven by personal anger after being struck and humiliated by Bu Le. Although impulsive, he follows Tang San’s instructions and uses his flames tactically.
• Oscar serves as the cautious counterbalance to Ma Hongjun, repeatedly preventing him from escalating the fight or killing Bu Le.
• Bu Le shifts from arrogant confidence to panic. His belief that his power and social connections will protect him collapses once the poison disrupts his body and Zhao Wuji appears.
• Ji Yuan remains hidden and manipulates the battle from underground. He deliberately prevents Tang San from using his hidden weapons at a key moment, secretly poisons Bu Le, and later begins draining him through an underground root network.

3. Significant Themes

• Teamwork and tactical coordination: The Shrek students overcome Bu Le’s superior defense by combining restraint, positioning, fire, and close combat rather than relying on individual strength.
• Justice versus revenge: The group wants to punish Bu Le for his cruelty, but Tang San repeatedly insists that they subdue rather than kill him. Ma Hongjun and Xiao Wu struggle with this restraint.
• Hidden power and manipulation: Ji Yuan’s invisible intervention changes the battle without the others’ knowledge, showing that the apparent victory is partly the result of a concealed agenda.
• Consequences of arrogance: Bu Le’s confidence and cruelty collapse once he faces opponents who coordinate effectively and once his own body turns against him.
• Moral ambiguity: Although Bu Le is clearly villainous, Ji Yuan’s secret poisoning and possible extraction of his blood introduce a darker form of justice that may be more dangerous than the students’ direct retaliation.
• Trust and suspicion: Tang San realizes the poison is not his own, while Zhu Zhuqing begins noticing clues linking the strange attack to Tang San’s vicinity.

4. Character Interactions

• Tang San directs Dai Mubai, Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ma Hongjun throughout the fight, establishing him as the group’s tactical center.
• Xiao Wu repeatedly shields Tang San, while Dai Mubai protects him through direct attacks and positioning.
• Ma Hongjun wants to retaliate personally against Bu Le, but Oscar restrains him and Tang San later stops him from going too far.
• Zhu Zhuqing warns the others about Bu Le’s barrier and later prevents him from using the whistle.
• Tang San and Xiao Wu show mutual concern when Tang San’s poison-related condition worsens.
• Flender initially reprimands the students for causing trouble but becomes less accusatory after seeing Ma Hongjun’s injuries.
• Zhao Wuji’s arrival immediately frightens Bu Le, revealing Bu Le’s awareness of Shrek’s reputation and authority.
• Yu Xiaogang questions Tang San about the poison, but Tang San denies responsibility and warns him not to touch Bu Le.
• Zhu Zhuqing quietly observes the area around Tang San’s shoes, suggesting she may be close to discovering Ji Yuan’s involvement.

Chapter Summary: The Draining of Bu Le, a Forged Evil Soul

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• After Ma Hongjun confronts Bu Le in the red-light district, Tang San pulls him away when Bu Le suddenly begins to wither. His body collapses inward, his flesh dries up, and the surrounding mud loses its moisture and vitality.
• Zhao Wuji confirms that Bu Le’s death resembles the work of an Evil Soul Master who drains blood and life force. However, no attacker or trace of Soul Power can be found, leading Yu Xiaogang to suggest that Bu Le may have been carrying a deadly technique or corruption that finally backfired.
• Tang San suspects the death is connected to other drained corpses and objects he has encountered, including shriveled wolves in the Soul Hunting Forest and a Blood Ginseng in Notting City. Yu Xiaogang warns him not to treat every unexplained event as proof that he is involved.
• Tang San discovers black-gray poisonous residue in the soil beneath Bu Le’s corpse. Yu Xiaogang examines it and determines that it resembles residue from an evil technique involving the overuse of flesh and blood, but cannot identify its exact source.
• The group returns to the hotel. Zhao Wuji handles the scene to prevent the city guards from connecting it to the students, while Ma Hongjun is ordered to write a self-criticism and undergo extra training.
• Yu Xiaogang orders Tang San to receive examinations before and after cultivation and forbids him from participating in individual Soul Fighting matches until his condition is better understood.
• The group decides to make their official Soul Fighting Arena debut in a team battle. Tang San names the team the Shrek Seven Monsters.
• At the end of the chapter, Tang San’s Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridge reacts to the mysterious silver needle used to collect the residue, implying that the belt or something connected to it may be linked to the incident.

2. Character Developments

• Tang San: Becomes increasingly suspicious that the draining incidents are connected to his own body, his poison, or his Twin Martial Souls. He remains observant and analytical, collecting evidence rather than openly revealing Ji Yuan’s involvement. His physical condition worsens, leaving him pale and weak, despite repeatedly insisting that he is fine.
• Ji Yuan: Secretly consumes Bu Le’s blood, marrow, Soul Power, flesh, and the corrupted energy within his Martial Soul. It leaves behind an artificial explanation involving poison and an Evil Soul Master technique. Ji Yuan’s poison sac evolves, gaining a paralytic effect capable of interrupting an opponent’s Soul Power circulation.
• Xiao Wu: Shows strong concern for Tang San and repeatedly challenges his habit of concealing his pain and blaming himself for mysterious events. Her protectiveness becomes more obvious when she confronts Zhu Zhuqing for watching Tang San too closely.
• Yu Xiaogang: Acts as Tang San’s stabilizing mentor, separating genuine evidence from speculation. He identifies the residue as the product of an evil flesh-and-blood technique and imposes stricter medical and cultivation supervision.
• Ma Hongjun: His desire for revenge against Bu Le disappears when he witnesses the horrifying death. Although still impulsive and comedic, he accepts punishment and insists on participating in the team battle despite his injuries.
• Zhu Zhuqing: Remains observant and perceptive, independently agreeing with Tang San that Bu Le’s blood may have been drawn into the ground. Her quiet scrutiny suggests she notices more than she says.
• Dai Mubai, Oscar, Flender, and Zhao Wuji: Help contain the situation. Dai Mubai urges discretion, Oscar treats Ma Hongjun while joking with him, Flender organizes the group’s response, and Zhao Wuji cleans up the scene.

3. Significant Themes

• Hidden corruption and false explanations: Bu Le’s death appears to be the result of an Evil Soul Master technique, but the reader knows Ji Yuan caused and manipulated the aftermath. The chapter emphasizes how easily appearances can be constructed.
• Self-doubt and concealed danger: Tang San’s suspicion that the incidents are connected to him reflects his growing awareness that something is wrong with his body, while Ji Yuan’s presence remains hidden.
• The danger of power gained through immoral means: Bu Le’s apparent connection to flesh-draining cultivation suggests that corrupt methods eventually consume their users.
• Trust versus secrecy: Tang San trusts Yu Xiaogang’s judgment but still withholds the truth about Ji Yuan. His secrecy protects him temporarily but also isolates him from those trying to help.
• Formation of a team: The naming of the Shrek Seven Monsters marks a transition from a group of students into a unified combat team, even as unresolved dangers threaten them.

4. Important Character Interactions

• Tang San saves Ma Hongjun from approaching the dying Bu Le, while Xiao Wu remains focused on Tang San’s health.
• Zhao Wuji and Flender debate whether Bu Le was killed by an outside Evil Soul Master or by a technique already implanted in him.
• Yu Xiaogang challenges Tang San’s tendency to connect every mystery to himself, then responds to his worsening condition by requiring regular examinations.
• Zhu Zhuqing and Tang San independently identify the possibility that Bu Le’s blood or energy was drawn underground, while Xiao Wu objects to their grim investigation.
• Ma Hongjun and Oscar exchange jokes while treating Ma’s injuries, lightening the tension after the disturbing death.
• The group jointly chooses the name Shrek Seven Monsters, establishing a shared identity before their first official team battle.
• The chapter closes with Yu Xiaogang noticing that Tang San’s belt reacts to the collected residue, creating a new mystery tied to the silver needle and the earlier draining incidents.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yu Xiaogang investigates an abnormal reaction from Tang San’s Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridge belt. A poisoned silver needle causes the jade to heat up, suggesting that something within the belt may be connected to evil poison or a hidden artifact.
• Yu Xiaogang concludes that the belt itself is not necessarily dangerous but warns Tang San not to interfere with its internal space while his Soul Power remains unstable. Tang San is told to continue wearing it, while Yu Xiaogang keeps the suspicious needle for further study.
• The group discusses Ma Hongjun’s injuries after his encounter with Bu Le. Despite his swollen face, he is expected to compete because his injuries do not seriously affect his fire-based attacks.
• The team prepares its formation for the Great Soul Arena. Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing will guard the flanks, Ma Hongjun will provide rear fire support, Ning Rongrong will strengthen the front line, Oscar will prepare recovery sausages, and Tang San will focus on controlling the battlefield.
• Yu Xiaogang specifically warns Tang San not to use or raise his left hand, reinforcing the mystery surrounding Tang San’s hidden power and his father’s instruction to keep it concealed.
• At the arena, the group officially registers as the Shrek Seven Monsters. Tang San gives the captain position to Dai Mubai because of his higher Soul Power and greater combat experience.
• The Shrek team encounters the intimidating Crazy Team, whose members possess intense blood qi and aggressive Martial Souls. Tensions rise as both sides exchange insults, especially between Ma Hongjun and the Crazy Team’s female member.
• Yu Xiaogang reveals that the Crazy Team’s most dangerous member is its support-system Soul Master. Her third Soul Skill, Frenzy, greatly increases her teammates’ strength and speed while dulling their pain, though it leaves them weakened afterward.
• Tang San develops a strategy based on exhausting the berserk opponents. He plans to immobilize them with Blue Silver Grass, while Dai Mubai and Xiao Wu restrain the front line, Zhu Zhuqing attacks the support Soul Master, Ma Hongjun blocks movement with fire, and Ning Rongrong and Oscar maintain support.
• As the match begins, the Crazy Team activates Frenzy, causing all seven members to flush red and enter a highly aggressive state. At the same time, Ji Yuan secretly spreads his tendrils through Tang San’s Blue Silver Grass and prepares to use paralysis venom.

Character Developments

• Tang San remains calm and tactical, taking responsibility for battlefield control while concealing his concern over the belt and his left hand. He also demonstrates humility by assigning the captaincy to Dai Mubai.
• Yu Xiaogang continues acting as Tang San’s cautious mentor, restricting his use of dangerous abilities and warning him against recklessness.
• Ji Yuan manipulates events from beneath Tang San’s shoe. He deliberately used the poisonous needle to create suspicion around the belt and now views the Crazy Team’s berserk condition as an opportunity to absorb or exploit their heightened blood qi.
• Ma Hongjun remains hot-tempered and prideful, reacting strongly to insults about his injured face. However, he still maintains his role as an important ranged attacker.
• Dai Mubai shows leadership and combat awareness, accepting the captaincy and analyzing the Crazy Team’s fighting style.
• Xiao Wu displays protectiveness toward Tang San and readiness to defend her teammates, though Tang San restrains her from escalating the confrontation.
• Ning Rongrong becomes more assertive and tactically knowledgeable, recognizing the danger posed to support Soul Masters during the battle.
• Oscar provides comic relief but also fulfills an important support role by preparing recovery sausages.
• Zhu Zhuqing remains blunt, disciplined, and focused on targeting the enemy support member.

Significant Themes

• Hidden power and deception: Ji Yuan deliberately creates false clues around Tang San’s belt, showing how appearances and suspicions can be manipulated.
• Control versus recklessness: Tang San’s strategic restraint contrasts with Ma Hongjun’s impulsive temper and the Crazy Team’s uncontrolled aggression.
• Teamwork and role specialization: Each Shrek member is assigned a specific battlefield function, emphasizing cooperation over individual strength.
• The danger of forbidden abilities: Tang San’s left hand, unstable Soul Power, and the belt’s unexplained reaction all suggest that hidden powers can carry serious consequences.
• Predation beneath the surface: Ji Yuan sees the Crazy Team’s Frenzy state not simply as a threat but as an opportunity, revealing his increasingly parasitic and calculating nature.
• Composure under pressure: The chapter contrasts the Shrek team’s preparation and discipline with the Crazy Team’s violent intimidation and blood-fueled fighting style.

Character Interactions

• Yu Xiaogang and Tang San discuss the belt, the poisoned needle, and the need to conceal Tang San’s left hand.
• Xiao Wu worries about Tang San’s condition and stays physically close to him, while Tang San reassures her.
• Ma Hongjun and Oscar exchange insults and jokes, with Oscar still supporting Ma Hongjun despite teasing him.
• Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun clash verbally over Ma Hongjun’s reckless behavior, revealing both their differing personalities and their familiarity as teammates.
• Ning Rongrong and Ma Hongjun trade playful threats, showing that she is becoming more comfortable asserting herself within the team.
• The Shrek team confronts the Crazy Team, particularly over insults directed at Ma Hongjun and challenges from the Crazy Team’s leader.
• Tang San prevents Xiao Wu and Ma Hongjun from provoking a fight before the match, reinforcing his role as the team’s calm strategist.
• The chapter ends with both teams facing one another: the Crazy Team empowered by Frenzy, while Tang San and Ji Yuan quietly prepare a concealed counterattack.

Chapter Summary: “Dark Web of the Arena, Cross-Body Devouring”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Shrek Seven Monsters battle the Crazy Team, whose members use the Frenzy ability to ignore pain and charge recklessly.
• Ning Rongrong boosts Dai Mubai and Xiao Wu with her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, while the rest of Shrek coordinates defense and counterattacks.
• Dai Mubai clashes directly with Mad Rhino, Ma Hongjun uses fire to divide the enemy formation, Oscar supplies recovery sausages, and Zhu Zhuqing attempts to reach the Crazy Team’s rear support.
• Tang San deliberately allows the Crazy Team to advance. The broken Blue Silver Grass stalks scattered across the arena conceal Ji Yuan’s bloodsucking sub-spores.
• The spores enter the Crazy Team members through small wounds and gradually drain their blood, vitality, and Soul Power. Their Frenzy-enhanced bodies initially hide the effect.
• When the Crazy Team charges through Ma Hongjun’s flames toward Ning Rongrong, Ji Yuan activates the spores fully. Mad Rhino’s attacks begin to weaken, and the support Soul Master’s Frenzy skill starts collapsing.
• Zhu Zhuqing exploits the disruption to attack the enemy’s rear line, while Xiao Wu uses an opponent’s momentum to throw him into Mad Rhino. The Crazy Team’s formation falls apart.
• Dai Mubai defeats Mad Rhino with a point-blank White Tiger Radiant Wave. Zhu Zhuqing restrains the support Soul Master, causing Frenzy to end completely.
• The remaining Crazy Team members collapse from exhaustion, giving Shrek the victory.
• After the match, Yu Xiaogang discovers that Tang San’s body contains traces of the Crazy Team’s Frenzy aura and unusually agitated blood and vitality. The chapter ends when Tang San’s Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridge suddenly becomes intensely hot, apparently reacting to something connected with the arena.

Character Developments

• Tang San: Demonstrates strategic leadership by using controlled retreats and Blue Silver Grass to create the conditions for Ji Yuan’s hidden attack. He believes he won through control alone, remaining unaware of the true mechanism behind the enemy’s rapid weakening. Afterward, he suffers strange fluctuations in his body and becomes the focus of Yu Xiaogang’s suspicion.
• Ji Yuan: Operates secretly through the Blue Silver Grass network, using parasitic sub-spores to drain the Crazy Team and transfer their blood and vitality into the Demon Vine core. He also begins fusing the stolen power with paralysis-toxin principles, indicating a dangerous new development.
• Dai Mubai: Holds the frontline against Mad Rhino despite heavy pressure, trusting Tang San’s plan and ultimately delivering the decisive attack.
• Xiao Wu: Shows confidence and aggressiveness, though Tang San repeatedly protects her from taking Frenzy-enhanced opponents head-on. She later uses her technique and the enemy’s weakened condition to disrupt their formation.
• Zhu Zhuqing: Patiently searches for an opening and decisively targets the Crazy Team’s support Soul Master once Frenzy begins to fail.
• Ning Rongrong and Oscar: Work together under pressure. Oscar saves Ning Rongrong when she nearly falls in Mad Rhino’s path, leading to lighthearted bickering afterward.
• Ma Hongjun: Provides crucial battlefield control with his fireline but is also reckless, taking unnecessary hits. His confidence and comic exchanges with Oscar and the defeated Crazy Team relieve the tension.
• Yu Xiaogang: Recognizes that the Crazy Team’s Frenzy ended far earlier than expected and correctly senses that something abnormal has entered Tang San’s meridians.
• Flender: Celebrates Shrek’s victory but is less suspicious than Yu Xiaogang, initially attributing the result to Tang San’s control.

Significant Themes

• Strategy over brute force: Shrek wins by manipulating the battlefield and exploiting the Crazy Team’s reckless advance rather than overpowering Frenzy directly.
• Hidden power and deception: The apparent success of Tang San’s Blue Silver Grass conceals Ji Yuan’s parasitic intervention, creating a gap between what the characters believe happened and what actually occurred.
• The danger of uncontrolled strength: The Crazy Team’s Frenzy grants tremendous temporary power but leaves them vulnerable once their vitality is secretly drained.
• Trust and teamwork: Shrek’s victory depends on each member fulfilling a role—support, restraint, offense, rescue, and battlefield control.
• Unnatural transformation: Ji Yuan’s absorption of blood, vitality, and paralysis principles suggests that his abilities are evolving in a potentially dangerous and morally troubling direction.
• Foreshadowing and mystery: Tang San’s strange internal condition and the heating Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridge imply that the battle has triggered a deeper connection or hidden consequence.

Important Character Interactions

• Tang San repeatedly directs Dai Mubai, Xiao Wu, and Ma Hongjun, establishing him as the team’s tactical center.
• Xiao Wu challenges Tang San’s protective instructions, showing both independence and trust in his judgment.
• Ning Rongrong and Oscar’s argument after he saves her highlights their growing familiarity and comic rapport.
• Zhu Zhuqing and the Crazy Team’s support Soul Master have a tense standoff that ends the enemy’s resistance.
• Yu Xiaogang’s examination of Tang San creates the chapter’s major revelation: Tang San has unknowingly absorbed or retained something from the Crazy Team.
• Mad Rhino directly questions Tang San about the mysterious draining effect, but Tang San gives a deliberately incomplete answer, preserving the secret of Ji Yuan’s involvement.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• After defeating the Crazy Team, Tang San and the Shrek team return to the lounge. Arena staff carry away several Crazy Team members, who are severely weakened and display strange symptoms, including drained Soul Power and unstable breathing.
• Yu Xiaogang examines Tang San’s belt, whose jade pieces react strongly to the nearby poisoned silver needles. He concludes that the belt is drawing in a similar aura rather than harming Tang San directly.
• The group discusses how Tang San’s Blue Silver Grass may have absorbed some of the Crazy Team’s berserk blood energy through physical contact during the battle. Ning Rongrong questions this explanation, but Tang San and Yu Xiaogang suggest that his poison-affected Blue Silver Grass may have developed unusual absorption properties.
• Yu Xiaogang orders Tang San not to cultivate until he can conduct a full examination. Tang San agrees, while Xiao Wu insists on watching him to prevent him from secretly practicing.
• Unbeknownst to the others, Ji Yuan uses the hidden Demon Vine within Tang San’s sole to absorb and refine the berserk energy. He combines it with Ma Hongjun’s mutated Evil Fire and uses the effects of Bu Le’s poison, Oscar’s regeneration ability, and Ning Rongrong’s enhancement to create powerful Bloodrage Spores.
• During the night, Oscar unexpectedly breaks through to level thirty. The team celebrates, and Yu Xiaogang declares that they must immediately seek Oscar’s third Soul Ring.
• The group decides to travel to the dangerous Star Dou Great Forest. Zhao Wuji will lead the expedition, while Yu Xiaogang and Flender remain behind.
• Xiao Wu becomes visibly uneasy at the mention of Star Dou, though she hides the reason and claims only to be frightened.
• Before the group can depart, an arena representative arrives with alarming news: something has happened to the Crazy Team, and Tang San is being asked to identify a body.

2. Character Developments

• Tang San: Becomes the focus of suspicion because of the strange energy absorbed during the battle. He remains calm and accepts Yu Xiaogang’s instructions, while also defending Ning Rongrong from Xiao Wu’s anger. Unknown to him, Ji Yuan is using his body to cultivate and create new weapons.
• Yu Xiaogang: Takes a cautious, investigative role. He examines the belt, offers a rational explanation for the energy transfer, and prioritizes Tang San’s safety by ordering him to stop cultivating.
• Xiao Wu: Shows intense protectiveness toward Tang San, quickly becoming defensive whenever others imply he may be responsible for the Crazy Team’s condition. Her anxiety about entering Star Dou hints at a deeper personal connection or fear.
• Ning Rongrong: Acts as the most skeptical member of the group. She challenges the assumption that Blue Silver Grass could absorb berserk energy, though she does not have enough evidence to expose the truth.
• Ji Yuan: Continues secretly strengthening himself through Tang San’s body. He transforms the absorbed berserk energy and Evil Fire into Bloodrage Spores, treating the Shrek team as potential “blood bags” for future experimentation.
• Oscar: Achieves level thirty at fourteen, marking a major advancement for a food-type Soul Master. His excitement and confidence increase, especially in response to Ning Rongrong’s reluctant congratulations.
• Ma Hongjun: Remains comic relief through his embarrassment, fear of Bu Le, and teasing of Oscar, but his Evil Fire becomes an important ingredient in Ji Yuan’s creation.
• Zhu Zhuqing and Dai Mubai: Zhu Zhuqing remains observant and suspicious of the battle’s unnatural details, while Dai Mubai continues defending Tang San and supporting the team.

3. Significant Themes

• Hidden danger beneath victory: The Shrek team celebrates winning the match, but the aftermath reveals that the battle involved unnatural energy absorption and potentially fatal consequences.
• Trust versus suspicion: Several characters struggle between trusting Tang San and questioning the impossible events surrounding him. Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing notice inconsistencies, but lack proof.
• Power gained through risk and exploitation: Ji Yuan converts poison, berserk energy, Evil Fire, regeneration, and enhancement into Bloodrage Spores, showing how power can be built by combining dangerous forces.
• Protection and loyalty: Xiao Wu fiercely protects Tang San, while Tang San defends both Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong, reinforcing the team’s emotional bonds.
• Foreshadowing and concealed identities: Xiao Wu’s reaction to Star Dou Great Forest and Ji Yuan’s secret activities suggest major revelations ahead.
• Growth and transition: Oscar’s breakthrough signals a new stage for the team, shifting the story from tournament battles toward a dangerous expedition.

4. Character Interactions

• Xiao Wu confronts Ning Rongrong for implying that Tang San may have absorbed or consumed the Crazy Team’s energy, but Tang San stops the argument and acknowledges Rongrong’s legitimate concern.
• Yu Xiaogang and Flender work together to investigate Tang San’s condition, with Yu Xiaogang taking the lead in analyzing the belt and setting restrictions.
• Dai Mubai defends Tang San when Zhu Zhuqing expresses suspicion, though Zhu Zhuqing maintains that she is questioning the battle’s unreasonable details rather than accusing him outright.
• Oscar celebrates his breakthrough with Flender, Yu Xiaogang, and the others, while Ma Hongjun teases him and Ning Rongrong offers guarded praise.
• Xiao Wu watches Tang San closely to ensure he does not cultivate, but Ji Yuan secretly cultivates through him while he sleeps.
• The chapter ends with the team’s plans interrupted by the arena’s request for Tang San to identify a Crazy Team member’s body, sharply escalating the mystery surrounding the battle.

Chapter Summary: Oscar’s Breakthrough and Departure for Star Dou

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Soul Fighting Arena summons Tang San and the Shrek teachers after members of the Crazy Team collapse following their defeat. Mad Rhino is barely alive, while two other frontline fighters are in critical condition.
• Yu Xiaogang investigates the victims and finds black, poisonous residue mixed with the effects of Frenzy backlash. He concludes that the Crazy Team activated Frenzy too early and prolonged it, causing severe damage that was worsened by an external poison.
• Mad Rhino briefly accuses Tang San’s Blue Silver Grass of draining him, but his confused testimony shifts toward blaming the Crazy Team’s support soul master and the team’s uncontrolled Ruyi Plate ability. This redirects suspicion away from Tang San.
• The Soul Fighting Arena agrees to investigate its own fighters and promises compensation to Shrek Academy. Tang San and the teachers return safely to the hotel.
• Yu Xiaogang examines Tang San and determines that, for now, his meridians are stable despite the Frenzy aura within him. He warns Tang San to obey Zhao Wuji during the upcoming journey.
• Oscar has broken through and is ready to obtain his third Soul Ring, so the group proceeds with its planned journey to the Star Dou Great Forest.
• The team travels to the outskirts of Star Dou and enters the forest without stopping at a tavern. Zhao Wuji establishes a strict formation, placing Oscar and Ning Rongrong in the center.
• Tang San detects approaching movement through vibrations carried by the Blue Silver Grass. The group encounters a Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent of a suitable age for Oscar’s Soul Ring.
• The serpent attacks by spitting poisonous mist at Tang San, setting up the chapter’s next confrontation.

Character Developments

• Tang San: Remains calm under suspicion but becomes troubled by Mad Rhino’s claim that his Blue Silver Grass drained Soul Power. He acknowledges the danger of the Frenzy aura in his body and agrees to follow Yu Xiaogang’s and Zhao Wuji’s instructions.
• Yu Xiaogang: Demonstrates his expertise by interpreting the victims’ injuries and constructing a plausible explanation involving Frenzy backlash and external poison. He protects Tang San from further suspicion while taking his physical condition seriously.
• Oscar: Reaches the breakthrough necessary to obtain his third Soul Ring. Though nervous about entering Star Dou, he remains eager and uses humor to hide his fear. The Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent may provide the opportunity he needs.
• Xiao Wu: Shows strong concern for Tang San and insists that he return safely. Her anxiety increases as the group nears Star Dou, hinting at her fear of being recognized as a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
• Zhao Wuji: Acts as the group’s protective leader, confronting the Soul Fighting Arena and later enforcing strict travel and combat discipline.
• Zhu Zhuqing: Remains observant and cautious, noticing unusual black ash around Tang San’s shoe but choosing not to comment.
• Ji Yuan: Secretly manipulates the evidence around the Crazy Team’s injuries, disguising his influence as poison and Frenzy backlash. He also expands his sensory network through the forest’s Blue Silver Grass and prepares to respond to the serpent’s attack.

Significant Themes

• Deception and the management of suspicion: The truth behind the Crazy Team’s injuries is deliberately obscured through layered explanations, allowing Tang San and Shrek Academy to avoid blame.
• Trust and protection: Tang San depends on his teachers and companions, while Xiao Wu’s protectiveness reveals the depth of their bond.
• Growth and preparation: Oscar’s breakthrough marks a major step in his development, while the group’s formation and travel rules emphasize that advancement comes with greater danger.
• Hidden identities and fear of exposure: Xiao Wu’s unease reflects the danger of returning to the Star Dou Great Forest, where her true nature could be discovered.
• Nature as both weapon and information network: Tang San’s Blue Silver Grass becomes a means of detecting enemies, while Ji Yuan uses the forest’s interconnected vegetation to sense movement, blood, and nearby creatures.

Important Character Interactions

• Xiao Wu argues with Tang San about accompanying him to the Soul Fighting Arena and later demands that he promise not to act recklessly.
• Zhao Wuji aggressively challenges the Soul Fighting Arena’s responsibility, while Flender and Yu Xiaogang restrain him and guide the investigation.
• Yu Xiaogang questions Mad Rhino and redirects attention toward the Crazy Team’s support soul master after the survivor’s confused accusation.
• Oscar and Ning Rongrong exchange teasing remarks about his sausages, with her caution contrasting with his nervous humor.
• Zhao Wuji assigns everyone a combat position in Star Dou, reinforcing his authority and the team’s dependence on coordinated action.
• Tang San and Zhu Zhuqing independently detect danger in the forest, though Tang San’s ability is publicly attributed to the Blue Silver Grass while Ji Yuan secretly provides much of the underlying perception.
• The chapter ends with the group facing the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent, potentially giving Oscar the chance to acquire his third Soul Ring.

Chapter Summary: Phoenix-tail Serpent Appears, Intercepting the Venom

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Shrek team battles a Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent, which Oscar needs for his third Soul Ring.
• The serpent attacks with highly corrosive venom. Tang San blocks it with Blue Silver Grass while the others protect him and restrict the creature.
• Ji Yuan secretly absorbs the venom, blood, and the serpent’s unusual “lightness” energy through roots and drainage pores connected to Tang San’s body and Blue Silver Grass. This prevents Tang San from suffering serious injury and leaves him apparently resistant to the poison.
• The team coordinates effectively:
  • Dai Mubai restrains the serpent.
  • Ma Hongjun uses fire to limit its movement.
  • Zhu Zhuqing attempts to strike its crest.
  • Zhao Wuji knocks it into the air and later pins it down.
  • Tang San uses Spider Web Restraint to trap it.
  • Oscar prepares to deliver the final blow and claim the Soul Ring.
• Before Oscar can kill the serpent, Chao Tianxiang, the “Serpent Grandmother,” and her granddaughter Meng Yiran arrive. They claim they had been pursuing the creature first.
• Zhao Wuji argues that soul beasts belong to no one and that whoever defeats one has the right to its Soul Ring. Chao Tianxiang counters that Meng Yiran, who is also rank thirty, needs the same serpent.
• Rather than directly fighting Zhao Wuji, Chao Tianxiang proposes that the younger generation compete for the Soul Ring.
• Oscar is reluctant because he is a food-type Soul Master, so Tang San volunteers to represent him.
• Tang San challenges Meng Yiran to a contest using only hidden weapons and poison, without Martial Souls. Meng Yiran accepts.
• Meanwhile, Ji Yuan secretly spreads a venom-coated root network beneath Meng Yiran and Chao Tianxiang, intending to absorb poison during the upcoming confrontation.

Character Development

• Tang San demonstrates leadership, composure, and tactical skill. He protects Oscar’s opportunity while concealing his growing poison resistance and Ji Yuan’s involvement.
• Ji Yuan becomes increasingly proactive and calculating. He not only absorbs the serpent’s venom and energy but also prepares a hidden trap around the opposing pair, prioritizing the acquisition of stronger poison.
• Oscar shows both excitement and insecurity about obtaining his third Soul Ring. He is eager to act but lacks confidence when confronted by Meng Yiran.
• Dai Mubai acts as a dependable frontline fighter, protecting the others and restraining the serpent despite being injured.
• Zhao Wuji serves as the team’s authority and protector. He prevents Oscar from acting recklessly and negotiates with Chao Tianxiang while remaining ready to fight.
• Meng Yiran is proud, confrontational, and highly competitive. She immediately treats Oscar and Tang San as rivals and accepts the challenge to prove her superiority.
• Chao Tianxiang is cautious and perceptive. She recognizes Tang San’s unusual ability to resist the serpent’s venom and carefully evaluates the Shrek team before proposing a contest.
• Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu, Ma Hongjun, and Zhu Zhuqing each support the team in distinct ways: boosting strength, protecting companions, applying pressure through humor, and testing the serpent’s speed.

Significant Themes

• Teamwork and coordinated combat: The serpent is defeated through the combined efforts of every Shrek member rather than one person’s strength.
• Competition and ownership: The dispute highlights the Soul Master world’s rule that a soul beast has no owner, while also showing how rival groups negotiate when both need the same Soul Ring.
• Concealed power and deception: Tang San’s resistance to the venom and Ji Yuan’s secret absorption remain hidden from the others, creating an advantage beneath the visible battle.
• Adaptation and evolution: Tang San suspects that his previous venomous Soul Ring has strengthened Blue Silver Grass’s poison resistance, suggesting that abilities can develop through accumulated experience.
• Courage versus insecurity: Oscar’s fear of facing Meng Yiran contrasts with Tang San’s willingness to stand in for him.
• Poison as both threat and resource: The serpent’s venom is dangerous to the team but valuable to Ji Yuan, who treats toxins as nourishment and potential power.

Important Character Interactions

• Tang San and Oscar: Tang San protects Oscar’s chance to gain the Soul Ring and later takes his place in the contest.
• Oscar and Meng Yiran: Their verbal conflict establishes the rivalry over the Phoenix-tail Serpent.
• Zhao Wuji and Chao Tianxiang: Their negotiation reflects the tension between two powerful Soul Masters trying to protect their younger companions without immediately resorting to combat.
• Tang San and Meng Yiran: Their challenge shifts the conflict from a dispute over the serpent to a direct contest between equally ranked competitors.
• Xiao Wu and Tang San: Xiao Wu instinctively defends him, while Tang San remains calm and focused.
• Ji Yuan and Tang San: Ji Yuan secretly assists Tang San throughout the battle, while Tang San unknowingly benefits from the protection and concealed absorption.
• Ma Hongjun and Oscar: Ma Hongjun repeatedly teases Oscar, providing comic relief but also exposing Oscar’s nervousness.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Tang San and Meng Yiran engage in a duel over the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent Soul Ring, which Oscar needs to advance.
• Meng Yiran attacks aggressively with her poisoned Soulbreaking Blade, targeting Tang San’s hands and vital points.
• Tang San relies on Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track and an array of hidden weapons—including Bone-Piercing Nails, sleeve arrows, and Willow Leaf Knives—rather than Blue Silver Grass.
• Although Meng Yiran’s poison temporarily discolors Tang San’s hand, his Mysterious Jade Hand and exceptional poison resistance neutralize it.
• Meng Yiran releases a poisonous powder, but Tang San emerges unharmed. He defeats her by firing a Bone-Piercing Nail past her ear, demonstrating that he could have seriously injured her.
• Chao Tianxiang accepts Meng Yiran’s loss, and Meng Yiran reluctantly allows Oscar to claim the Soul Ring while vowing to defeat Tang San in the future.
• Oscar kills the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent and begins absorbing its yellow-purple Soul Ring.
• During the absorption, Oscar’s Soul Power becomes unstable. Something appears to be drawing power from the Soul Ring through hidden spore-like connections, ending the chapter on the question: “Who is eating my Soul Ring?”

2. Character Developments

• Tang San: Demonstrates superior hidden-weapon skills, poison resistance, tactical restraint, and confidence. He defeats Meng Yiran without revealing the full extent of his abilities, but becomes wary when Zhu Zhuqing notices unusual movements underground.
• Meng Yiran: Begins arrogant and aggressive, but is forced to acknowledge Tang San’s superiority. Her defeat does not crush her resolve; instead, she develops a strong competitive determination to surpass him.
• Chao Tianxiang: Initially confident in Meng Yiran, she becomes impressed by Tang San’s techniques and accepts the outcome honorably. She also notices that the surrounding grass behaves strangely.
• Ji Yuan: Secretly manipulates the battlefield through underground roots, poisonous thorns, spores, and hidden energy links. He harvests traces of Chao Tianxiang’s poison and Soul Power for analysis and appears to be siphoning energy from Oscar’s new Soul Ring.
• Zhu Zhuqing: Shows sharp observational skills, noticing that the ground and grass move unnaturally. Her suspicions about Tang San’s hidden abilities intensify.
• Oscar: Gains the opportunity to absorb the Soul Ring, but his advancement is disrupted by an unknown force draining or consuming its power.
• Xiao Wu and the others: Support Tang San emotionally and remain alert during the duel and Oscar’s absorption. Xiao Wu is especially protective of Tang San, while Zhao Wuji maintains order and prevents interference.

3. Significant Themes

• Hidden strength and deception: Tang San’s Blue Silver Grass is only one aspect of his abilities, while Ji Yuan’s concealed powers operate beneath everyone’s notice.
• Competition and honor: The duel follows established rules, and despite the hostility, Chao Tianxiang acknowledges that a loss is a loss.
• Observation versus concealment: Zhu Zhuqing’s keen perception begins to threaten Ji Yuan’s secrecy, creating tension between what the group sees and what is actually happening.
• Poison and adaptation: Poison is used both as a weapon and as a source of knowledge, with Tang San resisting Meng Yiran’s toxins and Ji Yuan secretly analyzing Chao Tianxiang’s poison.
• Uncontrolled power and danger: Oscar’s Soul Ring absorption reveals that gaining power may carry unforeseen risks, especially when an unknown force interferes.

4. Character Interactions

• Tang San and Meng Yiran clash in a tense, skill-based duel, exchanging taunts and testing each other’s poison and weapon techniques.
• Xiao Wu openly defends Tang San and worries over his poisoned hand.
• Oscar and Ma Hongjun provide comic relief, though Oscar becomes nervous about Meng Yiran’s hostility and the danger surrounding his Soul Ring.
• Zhao Wuji and Chao Tianxiang supervise the duel, maintaining a respectful but competitive exchange between the two sides.
• Zhu Zhuqing directly questions Tang San about the underground movement, but Zhao Wuji interrupts before the matter can escalate.
• After the duel, Oscar begins absorbing the Soul Ring under the group’s protection, only for the mysterious energy drain to expose Ji Yuan’s hidden involvement.

Chapter Summary: “Poison Against Poison, Lining One’s Own Pockets”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Oscar suddenly realizes that his newly acquired Soul Ring is leaking energy from his body. Zhao Wuji restrains him while Ning Rongrong stabilizes his distorted Soul Power without amplifying it.
• Tang San discovers that the Soul Ring’s energy is being pulled away and that the heat is connected to his Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridge belt.
• Unbeknownst to the others, Ji Yuan is secretly siphoning the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent’s remaining power through Spore Nodes planted in Oscar and near the corpse. He redirects the energy toward the snake to avoid being discovered.
• Tang San treats Oscar with silver needles, sealing the meridians through which the Soul Ring’s power is escaping. Xiao Wu worries that Tang San will injure himself again, but he insists on helping Oscar.
• Ji Yuan carefully moderates his theft, returning some of the stolen energy and feeding Oscar life force so that Oscar will survive and remain a useful “blood bank.”
• Oscar’s Soul Ring finally stabilizes. Chao Tianxiang observes that the serpent’s venom had been exhausted during the battle, contributing to the instability.
• Chao Tianxiang questions Tang San’s unusual abilities—his poison resistance, hidden weapons, medical knowledge, and meridian control—and warns Zhao Wuji that Tang San’s talents may attract dangerous attention.
• Meng Yiran returns with Chao Tianxiang and mocks Oscar, while also challenging Tang San over their earlier duel. Tang San refuses to discuss the fight and prioritizes Oscar’s recovery.
• Ji Yuan combines the poison principles and speed-related laws stolen from Chao Tianxiang, Meng Yiran, and the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent, strengthening his own poison abilities.
• Oscar successfully absorbs the Soul Ring and reveals his third Soul Skill: Mushroom Sausage, activated by the awkward incantation, “I have a Mushroom Sausage.” The sausage grows small wings and appears to possess powerful effects.
• Just as Zhao Wuji is about to test the sausage, a heavy staff strike announces the arrival of Meng Yiran’s grandfather. The dragon-headed staff lands directly on a root Ji Yuan failed to withdraw.

Character Developments

• Oscar shows surprising resilience. Though frightened and physically weakened, he remains humorous and cooperative while enduring the dangerous Soul Ring absorption.
• Tang San demonstrates his medical expertise and willingness to risk himself for his companions. His abilities increasingly attract suspicion from outsiders, especially Chao Tianxiang.
• Ji Yuan becomes more calculating and powerful. He limits his energy theft to keep Oscar alive, while secretly merging multiple poison and speed principles into stronger poison thorns.
• Xiao Wu continues to protect Tang San and openly objects to his repeated self-sacrifice.
• Ning Rongrong uses the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda carefully, stabilizing Oscar without worsening his unstable condition.
• Chao Tianxiang becomes increasingly wary of Tang San, recognizing that his talents exceed what a normal academy could teach.
• Meng Yiran remains resentful and competitive toward Tang San after losing to him, though Chao Tianxiang restrains her from provoking another confrontation.
• Zhao Wuji struggles to control the crisis but remains protective of the students and suspicious of the supernatural cause behind Oscar’s instability.

Significant Themes

• Hidden manipulation and exploitation: Ji Yuan secretly steals power from Oscar and the serpent while presenting himself as a protector of the group.
• Risk versus survival: Tang San risks his own health to save Oscar, while Ji Yuan carefully balances theft and preservation so his source of power does not die.
• The danger of exceptional talent: Chao Tianxiang recognizes that Tang San’s abilities may expose him to unwanted attention and potential threats.
• Comradeship and protection: The group works together to stabilize Oscar, with Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, Tang San, and Zhao Wuji each contributing in different ways.
• Poison as both weapon and resource: Poison is treated not only as an attack method but also as a source of laws and abilities that Ji Yuan can absorb and refine.
• Humor amid danger: Oscar’s embarrassing Soul Incantation and the group’s teasing provide comic relief during a life-threatening crisis.

Important Character Interactions

• Xiao Wu repeatedly tries to stop Tang San from overexerting himself, while Tang San insists that Oscar must be saved.
• Zhao Wuji and Ning Rongrong coordinate to restrain and stabilize Oscar.
• Oscar jokes with Ma Hongjun, Ning Rongrong, and Zhao Wuji despite his pain, preserving the group’s usual banter.
• Chao Tianxiang questions Zhao Wuji about Tang San’s background and warns him about the risks of Tang San’s unusual abilities.
• Meng Yiran confronts Tang San about their previous battle, but Tang San ignores the provocation.
• The chapter ends with the sudden arrival of Meng Yiran’s grandfather, creating an immediate threat to Ji Yuan, whose exposed root is struck by the old man’s staff.

Key plot points and events

• Dragon Duke Meng Shu confronts Shrek Academy over Oscar absorbing the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent’s Soul Ring. Zhao Wuji argues that the group won the agreed contest, while Meng Yiran admits she lost.
• Meng Shu tests the group with his Soul Power and questions Tang San about his age, strength, and unusual hidden weapon. Tang San keeps his family secrets private; Zhao Wuji and Chao Tianxiang intervene to ease the confrontation.
• Ning Rongrong invokes her identity as Ning Fengzhi’s daughter, causing Meng Shu to pause. He ultimately demands another contest: Tang San must fight Meng Yiran without Soul Power or lethal force, and, if he loses, teach her three hidden-weapon techniques. Tang San refuses, saying they are family secrets and he owes no compensation.
• Oscar tests his new Soul Skill: Mushroom Sausages let their eater fly at high speed, though producing them drains him badly. Tang San and other companions try them.
• Ji Yuan, the concealed vine spirit beneath Tang San’s feet, uses the flight energy to steal a small portion of the Soul Skill’s airspeed rules. When Meng Shu strikes the ground again, the stolen energy surges back through Ji Yuan’s roots, revealing the vine. Zhu Zhuqing spots it and draws her blade.

Character developments and interactions

• Tang San remains composed under Meng Shu’s interrogation and pressure, protects his secrets, and stands firm against the demand to teach his techniques. He also tests Oscar’s new skill, while Xiao Wu repeatedly defends him.
• Xiao Wu is visibly wary of powerful Soul Masters. Ji Yuan senses her fear and suppresses its influence to protect her Soul Beast Origin. She also challenges Zhu Zhuqing for questioning Tang San.
• Zhao Wuji acts as the group’s protector, repeatedly placing himself between Meng Shu and the children, though he is cautious about provoking him.
• Meng Shu is stern and protective of Meng Yiran’s dignity, but tempers his actions after Ning Rongrong identifies herself. He still presses for a rematch and compensation.
• Meng Yiran resents losing the Soul Ring and challenges Tang San’s courage; her grandfather’s intervention keeps the dispute alive.
• Oscar is delighted by his flying ability but discovers its steep cost in Soul Power. His joking and experiments briefly lighten the tense scene.
• Zhu Zhuqing notices Ji Yuan’s movement and speaks up despite Tang San and Xiao Wu interpreting her comments as provocation. Her observation exposes the hidden threat.
• Ji Yuan shows patience and opportunism, stealing only a small portion of Oscar’s flight-related energy and using it to move its roots more easily.

Significant themes

• Fairness versus power: The group won by agreed rules, yet Meng Shu’s status and strength let him demand another contest.
• Secrecy and loyalty: Tang San protects his family’s hidden techniques, while his friends defend him against outside pressure.
• Power’s costs and risks: Oscar’s useful flight skill exhausts him, and Ji Yuan’s attempt to exploit the energy creates an unforeseen danger.
• Trust and observation: Zhu Zhuqing’s attention to subtle details clashes with the group’s suspicions, but ultimately reveals what lies beneath Tang San.

Chapter Summary: “The Dragon Granny Arrives, Stealing Dragon Qi in Secret”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhu Zhuqing discovers a strange dark-red vine root retracting from beneath Tang San’s shoe. Tang San recognizes it as the Demon Vine connected to Ji Yuan, but hides his knowledge.
• Ji Yuan severs the exposed portion before Meng Shu, the Dragon Duke, can investigate it. The detached vine turns black and crumbles into poisonous powder.
• Meng Shu suspects the plant is unusual and orders Tang San to lift his shoe for examination. Tang San hesitates because doing so would reveal the Demon Vine, while Xiao Wu strongly defends him.
• To create a distraction, Ji Yuan uses the severed vine’s remaining power and the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent’s poison to release a poisonous mist toward Meng Yiran. Meng Shu disperses it before Meng Yiran is seriously injured.
• During the confusion, Ji Yuan secretly attacks the traces of Dragon Qi left in the soil by Meng Shu’s dragon cane. Though the Dragon Qi damages his roots, Ji Yuan forcibly consumes and refines it.
• Meng Shu senses that something has touched his Martial Soul and searches the area, but Ji Yuan feigns death by shrinking into a harmless-looking thorn inside Tang San’s shoe. The Dragon Qi is concealed within the Demon Vine.
• Meng Shu fails to uncover the truth. Zhu Zhuqing notices that the vine severed itself rather than being destroyed, but keeps her suspicions to herself.
• Meng Shu warns Tang San that he will question him again regarding their hidden-weapon contest. He also threatens Oscar, saying he will reclaim the Soul Ring if Oscar disgraces the flying ability obtained from Meng Yiran’s sacrifice.
• Meng Shu, Chao Tianxiang, and Meng Yiran depart. Meng Yiran challenges Tang San to defeat her again in the future, while Xiao Wu confidently predicts another loss.
• Zhao Wuji orders the group to leave immediately. Oscar discusses using his new flying Soul Skill, leading to brief banter with Ma Hongjun and Ning Rongrong.
• Zhu Zhuqing privately presses Tang San about the strange root. Tang San promises to inspect his shoe once they are safe.
• Before the group can depart, the forest becomes unnaturally silent. Soul beasts flee, Tang San’s jade pendant turns cold, and the Blue Silver Grass bows toward an approaching presence.
• Xiao Wu recognizes the incoming entity and says, “It’s here,” ending the chapter on a threatening cliffhanger.

Character Developments

• Tang San: Remains calm and deceptive under pressure, protecting Ji Yuan’s secret while allowing Xiao Wu to defend him. He also shows concern for Xiao Wu by stepping in front of her when Meng Shu’s Soul Power affects her.
• Ji Yuan: Demonstrates increasing intelligence, stealth, and power. He manipulates poison to distract Meng Shu and risks damaging his roots to consume the Dragon Duke’s domineering Dragon Qi.
• Xiao Wu: Fiercely protects Tang San and becomes visibly alarmed when Meng Shu’s aura affects her. Her reaction to the approaching presence suggests she recognizes or fears it.
• Zhu Zhuqing: Becomes increasingly suspicious of Tang San’s unexplained condition. Unlike the others, she observes the root carefully and recognizes that it deliberately severed itself.
• Meng Shu: Shows perceptiveness and authority, sensing that the poisonous plant and his Martial Soul have been tampered with. However, he cannot locate the hidden threat.
• Meng Yiran: Recovers from the poison attack without losing her pride. She remains competitive toward Tang San and resents Oscar’s involvement.
• Oscar: Gains a flying Soul Skill and begins adjusting to its limitations, though he is still low on Soul Power. His interactions become more playful and confident.
• Zhao Wuji: Acts protectively toward the students and repeatedly tries to prevent Meng Shu from investigating Tang San too closely.

Significant Themes

• Secrecy and concealment: Tang San and Ji Yuan must hide the Demon Vine from powerful observers, emphasizing the danger of revealing their true abilities.
• Trust and protection: Xiao Wu defends Tang San without hesitation, while Tang San protects both Xiao Wu and Ji Yuan’s secret.
• Power and risk: Ji Yuan’s theft of Dragon Qi shows that gaining strength requires enduring pain and danger.
• Observation versus truth: Zhu Zhuqing correctly notices suspicious details, but lacking proof, cannot expose the secret.
• Unseen threats: The mysterious arrival at the end reinforces the danger of the Star Dou Great Forest and suggests a powerful figure connected to Xiao Wu.

Important Character Interactions

• Tang San and Xiao Wu: Xiao Wu openly shields Tang San from Meng Shu’s investigation; Tang San later protects her from scrutiny.
• Tang San and Zhu Zhuqing: Zhu Zhuqing questions Tang San directly about the root, while he gives a cautious promise to investigate later.
• Meng Shu and Tang San: Meng Shu remains suspicious and warns that he will question Tang San again.
• Meng Shu and Oscar: Meng Shu places responsibility on Oscar to honor Meng Yiran’s sacrificed Soul Ring and threatens to reclaim it if Oscar fails.
• Oscar, Ma Hongjun, and Ning Rongrong: Their exchanges provide comic relief after the tense confrontation.
• Meng Yiran and Tang San/Xiao Wu: Meng Yiran challenges Tang San to a rematch, and Xiao Wu responds confidently on his behalf.