Chapter Summaries

Wang Chen, a talented young member of the Sun Moon Empire’s Wang Family, attended the tournament final hoping to record Zhang Lexuan’s powerful techniques in his damaged Black Book. The match began with Zhang Lexuan facing the armored soul engineer Li Li, as the crowd roared for Shrek Academy.

• Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy’s contestants worried about facing Zhang Lexuan, so Elder Ma and Elder Zhang urged them to regain their confidence and do their best.
• Wang Chen watched from the luxury seats while noble girls discussed his family’s upcoming clan competition and his prospects against the older Wang Teng.
• Wang Chen recalled his Artifact Spirit Martial Soul, his strong cultivation, and the Black Book’s ability to record and help him learn skills he witnessed.
• Wang Chen hoped the Sun Moon team would force Zhang Lexuan to reveal her Battle Skill and secret techniques so he could record them.
• The tournament final began, with Zhang Lexuan facing the Soul Tool Armor–equipped Li Li as spectators cheered for Shrek Academy.

Zhang Lexuan defeated Li Li with her fourth soul skill, then challenged the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy to send its next fighter. She also swiftly crushed Song Wu’s Invincible Shield and struck him off the stage, leaving the academy’s team facing the prospect of a one-against-seven defeat.

• Li Li activated his Great Strength Bear martial soul and fired numerous Rank 5 Soul Tool Cannons at Zhang Lexuan.
• Zhang Lexuan used her fourth soul skill to dissolve Li Li’s attack and knock him unconscious, then called for the next opponent.
• Elder Ma ordered the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy contestants to use defensive Soul Tools and wear down Zhang Lexuan, while keeping captain Sun Tianyu for last.
• Song Wu rushed onto the arena after Zhang Lexuan taunted the academy’s members about their Soul Tools.
• Zhang Lexuan shattered Song Wu’s Invincible Shield with a palm strike, broke his chest, and sent him tumbling off the stage.

Zhang Lexuan swept all seven Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy contestants in the tournament final, securing the championship for Shrek Academy. Wang Chen recorded her Secret Arts and Battle Skills in his damaged black book and left confident that he could win the Family Competition against Wang Teng.

• The Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy contestants hesitated to face Zhang Lexuan until their teachers threatened to expel anyone who refused to fight.
• Zhang Lexuan used a Secret Art to defeat captain Sun Tianyu and the other contestants in succession, while Wang Chen watched and recorded her skills.
• Zhang Lexuan kicked the final opponent off the arena, completing a one-against-seven sweep and winning the championship for Shrek Academy.
• Wang Chen reviewed the two skills recorded in his damaged black book and decided his trip to watch the tournament had been worth it.
• Wang Chen became confident he could defeat Wang Teng at the Family Competition a month later.

Wang Chen examined two powerful techniques recorded from Zhang Lexuan and named them World Domination and Ring Tempering. He set aside World Domination because he lacked the Spiritual Power to use it, but was eager to learn Ring Tempering after the tournament.

• Wang Chen recognized the first technique as likely World Domination and decided he could not use it until his Spiritual Power reached Soul Sage level.
• Wang Chen identified the second technique as a gentler variation of the Clear Sky Sect's Ring Burst and chose it as a technique suited to him.
• Wang Chen named the two recorded techniques World Domination and Ring Tempering, then returned his consciousness to his body.
• Wang Chen refrained from studying the techniques in the spectator stands and watched Zhang Lexuan and Shrek Academy celebrate their victory.
• Elder Ma and Elder Zhang worried about explaining Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's humiliating seven-to-one defeat to Jing Hongchen.

After accomplishing his goal at the tournament, Wang Chen returned safely to Mingdu and reunited with his family. Meanwhile, a silver-haired girl in the Hongchen Family tried to sneak out, but her grandfather caught her at the gate.

• Wang Chen tactfully declined an invitation from several Sun and Moon Empire girls and left Heaven Dou Plaza with Shen Kang.
• Wang Chen told Shen Kang to arrange their return to the Sun and Moon Empire, leaving the travel plans to him.
• Wang Chen spent three more days traveling and arrived safely at Ying Hou Manor in Mingdu.
• A silver-haired girl tried to sneak out of the Hongchen Family estate, but her grandfather called out to her.
• The girl turned around with an innocent smile and told her grandfather she wanted to go out because she was bored at home.

Jing Hongchen stopped Meng Hongchen from going to see Wang Chen and assigned a guard to keep her away from the Wang Family. He explained that Wang Yan’s support for the Second Prince, Xu Tianyu, had made any connection between their families politically dangerous.

• Meng Hongchen tried to slip away, but Jing Hongchen caught her and questioned her about going to see Wang Chen.
• Jing Hongchen argued that Wang Chen was beneath Meng Hongchen in status and talent, but she defended him and called him Wang Chen Gege.
• Jing Hongchen ordered Number Three to protect Meng Hongchen and bring her back if she went to the Wang Family, making Meng Hongchen cry and run to her residence.
• Jing Hongchen recalled that Wang Yan had backed Xu Tianyu in the succession struggle, risking the Wang Family’s destruction if the Second Prince lost.
• Jing Hongchen decided to keep Meng Hongchen away from Wang Chen so Wang Yan could not use their connection to claim his support.

Jing Hongchen cut off Meng Hongchen and Wang Chen’s contact to keep the family out of the princes’ struggle, then rushed to Mingde Hall after learning its most important experiment had failed. Meng Hongchen devised another way to reach Wang Chen, while Wang Chen reunited with his parents and heard troubling news.

• Jing Hongchen ordered that Wang Chen and his dogs be barred from his home and that any princes’ recruitment attempts be rejected, then flew to Mingde Hall to address the failed experiment.
• Meng Hongchen recalled meeting Wang Chen as a child and, unable to leave her guarded residence, decided to contact him another way.
• Wang Chen returned home and reunited with Wang's Father and Wang's Mother, who welcomed him and prepared his favorite dishes.
• Wang Chen heard troubling news from his parents at dinner, which spoiled his appetite.

After Wang Yan backed the Wang Family’s support of Second Prince Xu Tianyu, Wang Chen worried that Xu Tianran’s future retaliation could destroy the clan. He learned Ring Tempering from the Black Book and successfully used his two Soul Rings to raise his power to a level comparable to a Soul Elder.

• Wang Chen recalled that Xu Tianyu would eventually orchestrate an attack on Xu Tianran, who would later retaliate by killing him and wiping out his faction.
• Wang Chen resolved to seek a way to protect the Wang Family, while planning to flee with his parents if the clan’s survival became impossible.
• Wang Chen decided to strengthen himself before making plans and used the Black Book to learn Ring Tempering.
• Wang Chen activated Martial Soul Possession and drew energy from his two yellow Soul Rings to strengthen himself.
• Wang Chen used his strong Spiritual Power to control the Soul Ring energy and raised his Soul Power from level twenty-eight to a level comparable to a Soul Elder.

Wang Chen tested the power of his strengthened soul rings by piercing a durable training dummy with his spear. Meanwhile, Xu Tianyu sought Wang Yan’s advice about a compromised subordinate and then asked him to help approach Jing Hongchen through Wang Chen’s closeness to Meng Hongchen.

• Wang Chen used Ring Tempering’s power and went to the training room to release the lingering energy in his meridians.
• Wang Chen combined his soul skills with the Wind Piercing Spear’s Core Arrays and pierced through a mannequin built to withstand a Soul Elder’s third soul skill.
• Xu Tianyu told Wang Yan that Xu Tianran had caught one of his men’s weaknesses, and Wang Yan advised him to protect the man if the matter was minor or eliminate him if it could implicate Xu Tianyu.
• Xu Tianyu asked Wang Yan about Wang Chen’s closeness to Meng Hongchen, and Wang Yan warned that Jing Hongchen would not get involved.
• Xu Tianyu urged Wang Yan to try approaching Jing Hongchen anyway, saying there was nothing to lose if the attempt failed.

Xu Tianyu believed the Wang Family’s support put him close to claiming the Sun and Moon Empire’s throne. The next morning, Wang Chen broke through to Level Twenty-Nine and completed a Third-Grade Core Array, planning to sell his work.

• Xu Tianyu agreed to pursue Jing Hongchen’s support and celebrated his strengthened faction with Wang Yan.
• Wang Chen cultivated after using the Ring Tempering Secret Art and broke through to Level Twenty-Nine.
• Wang Chen took a Vitality Pill to stabilize his Soul Power and strengthen his foundation.
• Wang Chen carved a Third-Grade Core Array and confirmed that it worked successfully.
• Wang Chen stored the Core Array to sell later, relying on the Black Book to learn Soul Tool techniques quickly.

Wang Yan summoned Wang Chen and assigned him a family task connected to the Wang Family’s political maneuvering. Wang Chen learned that he was simply expected to deepen his relationship with Meng Hongchen, then was dismissed.

• Wang Chen finished practicing Core Arrays and joined his parents for dinner.
• Wang Shan arrived at Wang Chen’s home and carried him at high speed to the clan head’s great hall.
• Wang Chen entered the hall, greeted Wang Yan respectfully, and privately considered how to counter Xu Tianran’s future purge.
• Wang Yan told Wang Chen to deepen his feelings for Meng Hongchen, then dismissed him.

Wang Yan ordered Wang Chen to visit Meng Hongchen more often, intending to draw the Hongchen Family into the Wang Family’s alliance with the Second Prince. The chapter revealed Wang Yan’s desperation to become a Titled Douluo before his remaining years ran out, while Meng Hongchen went to the Hundred Treasures Pavilion under Number Three’s watch.

• Wang Yan told Wang Chen to seek out Meng Hongchen, and Wang Chen left after hiding his suspicions behind a respectful farewell.
• Wang Yan swallowed a life-force pill and reflected that, at 107 years old, he had only a few years left unless he could break through to Titled Douluo.
• Wang Yan resolved to use any means necessary, including staking his family on the struggle for the throne, to gain the resources he needed to survive.
• Meng Hongchen left home for Mingdu’s commercial street, followed by Number Three, the Soul Sage and Seventh-Level Soul Engineer assigned to protect her.
• Meng Hongchen reached the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, a Soul Engineer marketplace and auction house backed by Ninth Level Soul Engineers from Mingde Hall.

Meng Hongchen left a letter for Wang Chen at the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, while Wang Chen returned home, ate, and cultivated. He decided to avoid visiting the Hongchen Family and muddle through Wang Yan’s request to get closer to Meng Hongchen.

• Meng Hongchen used her VIP access at the Hundred Treasures Pavilion to leave Wang Chen a letter, hoping they could communicate without meeting.
• Wang Chen left Wang Yan’s hall and hurried home, greeting clan members who asked him about the Soul Duel Tournament.
• Wang Chen told his parents that Wang Yan had asked him to get along with a little girl, then ate and cultivated until noon.
• Wang Chen stopped cultivating when his meridians began to hurt, ate a nourishing lunch, and considered practicing his Ring Tempering Secret Art.
• Wang Chen worried that Jing Hongchen would attack him if he visited the Hongchen Family, so he chose to muddle through Wang Yan’s instruction.

Wang Chen found the Hongchen Family had barred him from visiting Meng Hongchen, then went to the Hundred Treasures Pavilion to sell his Core Arrays and buy supplies. He used Meng Hongchen’s token to enter VIP Room 607.

• Wang Chen went to the Hongchen Family and learned Jing Hongchen had ordered the guards to turn away visitors and specifically keep him out.
• Wang Chen realized the Second Prince, Xu Tianyu, might have sent him to exploit his connection with Meng Hongchen and draw Jing Hongchen into the succession struggle.
• Wang Chen left the Hongchen Family and headed to the commercial street to sell Core Arrays and buy cultivation materials.
• Wang Chen sold his Core Arrays at the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, bought pills, and used Meng Hongchen’s token to open Room 607.

Wang Chen found Meng Hongchen’s letter in a secured lockbox, replied to her, and discovered that the Soul Devouring Carving Knife would be auctioned in a month. Knowing it was actually Gold of Life, he planned to win the upcoming Family Competition to secure funds, or ask Meng Hongchen for help.

• Wang Chen opened the lockbox with his birthday and read Meng Hongchen’s letter, which said she would leave him a letter every Monday.
• Wang Chen wrote back about the amusing events he had seen at the Soul Duel Tournament and left his reply in the lockbox.
• Wang Chen browsed Sun and Moon Empire intelligence and learned that the owner of the Soul Devouring Carving Knife had died and his family planned to auction it at the Sun and Moon Auction House in a month.
• Wang Chen recognized the knife as Gold of Life, but realized he had only 20,000 Gold Soul Coins and needed more money to bid.
• Wang Chen decided to pursue first place in the Family Competition three weeks later to gain family resources, or ask Meng Hongchen to lend him money.

Wang Chen reported that the Hongchen Family had blocked him from meeting Meng Hongchen, and Wang Yan dismissed the failed assignment. Meanwhile, Xu Tianran proposed that Xu Tianshi ally with him against their Second Brother, and Xu Tianshi considered accepting so he could later compete with Xu Tianran for the Crown Prince Position.

• Wang Chen returned to the Wang Family after learning about the Gold of Life and reported his failed visit to Clan Leader Wang Yan.
• Wang Chen claimed the Hongchen Family's guards had refused to let him meet Meng Hongchen, and Wang Yan told him to stop trying and cultivate.
• Xu Tianran met Xu Tianshi at a luxurious estate outside Mingdu and proposed they join forces against their Second Brother.
• Xu Tianran warned Xu Tianshi that Second Brother's support from the Yinghou Wang Family could secure him the Crown Prince Position.
• Xu Tianshi feared Second Brother would punish him if he became Crown Prince and considered allying with Xu Tianran before eventually challenging him.

Xu Tianran and Xu Tianshi allied against Xu Tianyu, but Emperor Xu Jing learned of their plot and forbade the princes from involving powerful Soul Engineers in their succession struggle. The princes and Ninth Level Soul Engineers backed off, while Meng Hongchen asked Jing Hongchen if she could visit Wang Chen.

• Xu Tianshi agreed to ally with Xu Tianran, and the two planned to eliminate Xu Tianyu first while a worshipper secretly watched them.
• Xu Tianran left for Mingdu using the Level 7 Soul Tool Wings of the Night Sky, and the hidden worshipper flew to the imperial city to report what he had seen.
• Xu Jing read the report and ordered a decree forbidding the princes from contacting Mingde Hall, the Five Great Nation Protecting Soul Engineer Corps, or the Palace Worship Hall.
• Xu Jing warned that any prince who disobeyed would be expelled from Mingdu and sent back to his fief, startling Xu Tianran, Xu Tianyu, and Xu Tianshi.
• The princes stopped contacting Ninth Level Soul Engineers, who felt relieved, and Meng Hongchen asked Jing Hongchen if she could visit Wang Chen Gege.

As the princes struggled for the throne, Wang Chen prepared for the Wang family's Family Competition, where he aimed to defeat his cousin Wang Teng and take first place. The competition was about to begin, with Soul Tool crafting and combat announced as its two rounds.

• Jing Hongchen told Meng Hongchen not to seek out Wang Chen until the Crown Prince Position was decided, then promised not to interfere afterward.
• The First Prince Xu Tianran and Third Prince Xu Tianshi joined forces against the Second Prince Xu Tianyu, forming an unstable three-way standoff.
• Wang Chen spent more than half a month crafting Soul Tool Core Arrays, practicing Ring Tempering, and cultivating, becoming able to activate the technique instantly.
• Wang Chen and the other disciples gathered at the Wang family’s Martial Arts Arena for the Family Competition, where he set his sights on first place and Wang Teng as his main opponent.
• Wang Teng boasted that his Soul Elder cultivation and Thousand-Year Soul Ring would let him defeat Wang Chen, and vowed to smash his head into tofu if he lost.
• The organizers announced that the Family Competition would have two rounds: Soul Tool crafting and a contest using martial souls and Soul Tools.

Wang Chen and Wang Teng began crafting Soul Tools in the Wang Family Competition, where only personally crafted tools were permitted. Wang Yuan recognized Wang Chen’s advanced technique, leaving Wang Teng shaken before the second round.

• Wang Yuan announced that competitors had to craft at least a Second Grade Soul Tool from family-provided materials within three hours or be eliminated.
• Wang Teng planned three ordinary Third Grade Soul Tools for offense, defense, and mobility, then began inscribing a core array.
• Wang Chen chose to craft one offensive and one mobility Soul Tool, using Core Array Linkage Amplification Technology to enhance their power while reducing Soul Power consumption.
• Wang Yuan and the other judges noticed Wang Chen’s skill and judged his Soul Engineering ability far beyond Wang Teng’s.
• Wang Teng saw Wang Chen’s technique and nearly lost confidence.

Wang Chen outperformed Wang Teng in the first round of the Family Competition by crafting two peak Third Grade Soul Tools. After the competitors drew lots for the second round, Wang Teng swapped numbers with another disciple to secure a fight against Wang Chen and challenged him.

• Wang Teng steadied himself after his carving knife slipped, then focused on crafting while Wang Family members debated who would win.
• Wang Chen's parents argued with Wang Teng's parents in the stands until other family members intervened.
• After three hours, Wang Chen advanced with a spear and a Soul Tool Thruster, while only thirty-six disciples qualified for the second round.
• Wang Teng told Wang Chen he would still win the competition, and the disciples rested for an hour before drawing lots.
• Wang Teng drew Number Three and Wang Chen drew Number Five, so Wang Teng traded slips with the disciple who had drawn Five.
• Wang Teng challenged Wang Chen, activated his Martial Soul Possession, and released Soul Elder-level Soul Power.