Chapter Summaries

Qi Dao weighed his options and decided to seek Qian Renxue, now disguised as Xue Qinghe, before reaching the Level Twenty bottleneck. Meanwhile, Yu Xiaogang discovered Tang San’s Clear Sky Hammer and took him to the Soul Hunting Forest, where Tang Hao secretly raged at the possibility of Tang San receiving a Ten-Year Soul Ring.

• Qi Dao ruled out Spirit Hall, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and several academies, then decided that serving Xue Qinghe would offer safety and help him meet Sword Douluo.
• Yu Xiaogang gave Tang San chicken drumsticks and a bun, winning his gratitude before asking him to release his Twin Martial Souls.
• Yu Xiaogang recognized Tang San’s Clear Sky Hammer and learned that his father was Tang Hao, then warned him to keep the hammer secret.
• Yu Xiaogang took Tang San to the Soul Hunting Forest and suggested a Ten-Year Solitary Bamboo as a possible match for his Blue Silver Grass.
• Tang Hao watched from hiding and threatened Yu Xiaogang in his thoughts for considering a Ten-Year Soul Ring for Tang San.

Xiao Wu challenged Qi Dao after absorbing her First Soul Ring, but he effortlessly blocked her attacks with his sheathed sword. She activated her Waist Bow skill and charged again, leaving Tang San to wonder whether she could find an opening.

• Xiao Wu returned to Dorm Seven and showed Wang Sheng and the others her Hundred-Year Soul Ring before asking to challenge Qi Dao.
• Qi Dao accepted Xiao Wu's challenge as a one-time match, and students gathered in the woods behind the academy to watch.
• Tang San hurried to the hill and arrived before the match began, then watched Xiao Wu activate her Martial Soul Possession.
• Qi Dao blocked Xiao Wu's kicks and punches with his sheathed sword, then struck her back and told her to train for a few more years.
• Xiao Wu activated her First Soul Skill, Waist Bow, and charged again as Tang San considered whether her explosive power could turn the fight around.

After Qi Dao defeated Xiao Wu in a spar, Tang San challenged him to defend her and lost despite using his Soul Skill and Tang Sect techniques. Qi Dao left Tang San with two bleeding wrist wounds, demonstrating how easily he could have crippled him.

• Qi Dao struck Xiao Wu down with his scabbard after countering her Soft Skill, and Tang San rushed forward to check on her.
• Tang San challenged Qi Dao after Qi Dao tried to leave, and Qi Dao drew Peerless Sword and agreed to fight without holding back.
• Tang San revealed his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul and used Blue Silver Entanglement, but Qi Dao cut through the vines and closed in.
• Tang San tried to evade with Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track and attack with hidden stones, but Qi Dao deflected every move.
• Qi Dao cut Tang San's wrists and declared him defeated, leaving Tang San shocked by how close he had come to being seriously injured.

Tang San struggled to understand his defeat by Qi Dao and asked Yu Xiaogang to explain Qi Dao’s background and strength. Yu Xiaogang claimed Qi Dao’s sword Martial Soul and Innate Soul Power had been misjudged, and revealed that Qi Dao had once defeated a rank-thirteen Soul Master twice with a single stroke.

• Qi Dao defeated Tang San, then left with Xiao Chenyu and the others while Wang Sheng told Xiao Wu to take Tang San to the infirmary.
• Tang San realized the others had left him out and considered how Qi Dao had countered his Blue Silver Grass and Tang Sect techniques, including his hidden weapons.
• After his wrist healed, Tang San went to Yu Xiaogang and asked about Qi Dao after admitting he had challenged and lost to him.
• Yu Xiaogang claimed Qi Dao’s cracked iron sword was a beneficial mutation and estimated his Innate Soul Power had been around rank five, not half a rank.
• Yu Xiaogang told Tang San that Qi Dao had defeated Notting Academy’s rank-thirteen strongest student twice when he first enrolled, ending both matches with one stroke.

Yu Xiaogang explained Qi Dao’s self-created Soul Skill to Tang San and helped him regain confidence after his defeat. Meanwhile, Qi Dao continued cultivating, reached Level Twenty, and decided to leave.

• Yu Xiaogang told Tang San that Qi Dao’s self-created Soul Skill briefly multiplied his Strength but heavily strained his body.
• Yu Xiaogang praised Tang San for standing up for his companion and encouraged him to grow stronger than Qi Dao.
• Qi Dao cultivated by visualizing the Peerless Sword and refining his Soul Power circulation, raising his cultivation speed.
• After the first semester of sixth grade, Qi Dao reached Level Twenty and decided to leave.

Qi Dao reached Level Twenty and decided to leave Notting Academy for Heaven Dou City to seek the Crown Prince’s aid in obtaining his Second Soul Ring. After bidding farewell to his friends and family, he set out for Heaven Dou with his parents, carrying Headmaster Hans’s letter of introduction and Xiao Chenyu’s gift of fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins.

• Qi Dao told Headmaster Hans he wanted to graduate early and enter the Crown Prince’s service, and Hans gave him a letter of introduction to an Earl in Heaven Dou City.
• Qi Dao said goodbye to Xiao Chenyu and the others, and Xiao Chenyu gave him a gold card containing fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins.
• The academy’s teachers and students saw Qi Dao off, while Yu Xiaogang criticized his choice and reassured Tang San that a powerful friend could help with his Soul Ring.
• Qi Dao told Qi Father and Qi Mother about reaching Level Twenty and his plans, and they decided to accompany him to Heaven Dou City.

Qi Dao and his parents encountered three murderous Fallen Soul Masters on the road, and the family prepared to fight despite being outmatched. Qi Dao ended the chapter resolved to make his attackers pay for their lives.

• Three Fallen Soul Masters fled Spirit Hall after slaughtering villagers and planned to seek refuge in the Extreme West.
• Qi Father smelled blood as he drove Qi Mother and Qi Dao along the road, then stopped when the three men blocked their way.
• Qi Father offered the men money, but they revealed their intent to kill the family and drink their blood.
• The three attackers revealed their Martial Souls and Soul Rings, showing that they were powerful Soul Ancestors.
• Qi Mother asked Qi Dao whether he feared death, and Qi Dao drew Peerless and vowed to fight anyone who came for his life.

Qi Dao and his parents fought three Fallen Soul Masters, and Qi Dao used the Heart Sword State to sever the scrawny Soul Ancestor’s arm. With Qi Father gravely wounded and Qi Mother guarding him, Qi Dao faced the burly leader, who demanded his last words.

• Qi Mother enhanced Qi Dao and Qi Father with her Berserk Light Soul Skill, and the three family members charged the Fallen Soul Masters.
• Qi Dao caught the scrawny man off guard and cut off one of his arms, but the tall Third attacked Qi Mother and struck Qi Dao with venom.
• Qi Dao wounded the tall Third with Sword Qi while Qi Father was knocked down and badly injured by the burly man.
• Qi Mother rushed to Qi Father and drew a dagger to defend herself as Qi Dao stood between his parents and the three Soul Ancestors.
• The burly leader dismissed the scrawny man and asked Qi Dao to speak his last words.

Qi Dao recovered from his weakness and reached a new level of swordsmanship after remembering his parents and the promise he had made them. He killed the three attackers with one strike, leaving Qi Father and Qi Mother alive.

• Qi Dao's power faded, and the burly man ordered Third Brother to seize Qi Father and Qi Mother.
• Qi Father and Qi Mother accepted that they might die, and Qi Mother raised a dagger to her throat.
• Qi Dao remembered his mother's nursery rhyme, his father's wooden sword, and his promise to take them to the Divine Realm, then attained unity with heaven and earth.
• The burly man attacked Qi Dao with his fourth soul skill, but Qi Dao's Sword Intent destroyed the energy blade.
• Qi Dao unleashed one sword strike powered by heaven and earth, killing the burly man and his two companions.

After Qi Dao collapsed from the immense cost of his sword strike, his parents searched for help and encountered a merchant caravan. The caravan’s elegant owner agreed to treat him and revealed herself as a powerful Soul Emperor.

• Qi Dao collapsed unconscious after using Peerless, and Qi Mother found his body covered in fine cracks.
• Qi Father discovered that the nearest city was over two hundred li away, so Qi Mother drove their carriage in search of help.
• Qi Mother stopped a Ye merchant caravan and asked whether it had a healing Soul Master.
• The caravan leader obtained permission from its owner to bring Qi Dao and his parents over for treatment.
• The elegant lady praised Qi Dao’s courage, summoned a purple begonia, and revealed six Soul Rings, shocking Qi Father and Qi Mother.

After a healing Soul Master saved Qi Dao and his father, Qi Dao joined her caravan bound for Heaven Dou City. On the journey, he realized his desperate sword strike had let him grasp a new defensive Sword Intent, which he named Heaven Guard.

• The elegant woman used her Nine Heart Begonia Martial Soul to heal Qi Dao and his father, and Qi Dao woke to find his family safe.
• Qi Dao thanked the woman and offered her fifty thousand Gold Soul Coins; she accepted and invited his family to travel with her caravan to Heaven Dou City.
• Qi Dao recognized the caravan's Ye banner and guessed that the woman belonged to the Nine-Hearted Begonia Clan and was probably Ye Lingling's mother.
• Qi Dao recalled briefly entering the state of Man and Sword as One, though he could not reproduce it, and realized the experience had deepened his understanding of Swordsmanship.
• Qi Dao manifested a thread of Sword Intent and named his defensive power Heaven Guard Sword Intent.

The Qi family arrived in Heaven Dou City and parted ways with Madam Ye, who chose to leave Qi Dao with a favorable impression rather than recruit him. With Headmaster Hans's introduction, Qi Dao met Earl Mei Luo, who arranged for him to meet Crown Prince Xue Qinghe, and Qi Dao was welcomed at the Crown Prince's Residence.

• The Qi family reached Heaven Dou City and kept quiet about Qi Dao's victory over three Fallen Soul Masters.
• Qi Dao and his parents said farewell to Madam Ye, who praised Qi Dao's talent and decided not to recruit him into the Nine-Hearted Begonia Clan.
• The Qi family settled at a hotel, and Qi Dao visited Earl Mei Luo with Headmaster Hans's letter of introduction.
• Earl Mei Luo welcomed Qi Dao and offered to introduce him to Crown Prince Xue Qinghe.
• Qi Dao met Xue Qinghe at the Crown Prince's Residence, where she greeted him warmly and praised his promise.

Qi Dao met Xue Qinghe, proved his unusual cultivation and showed her his Martial Soul, the Peerless Sword. Xue Qinghe accepted his account, gave him valuable gifts and arranged for an escort to take him to the Sunset Forest to hunt a Soul Ring.

• Xue Qinghe questioned Qi Dao about reaching Level Twenty at eleven despite having Innate Half-Level Soul Power, and he confirmed the claim.
• Qi Dao showed Xue Qinghe the Peerless Sword and explained how absorbing a Soul Ring and the Ironclad Turtle's metallic properties had repaired its damaged blade.
• Xue Qinghe apologized for doubting Qi Dao and gave him a Deep Blue Ring Soul Tool with nine cubic meters of storage.
• Xue Qinghe gave Qi Dao fifty thousand gold soul coins and a house in central Heaven Dou City.
• Xue Qinghe assigned a Soul Emperor to escort Qi Dao to the Sunset Forest to hunt his next Soul Ring.

Qi Dao traveled with Xius into the Sunset Forest to find a suitable Soul Beast for his Second Soul Ring, while Xue Qinghe ordered an investigation into his background. When they discovered a fourteen-hundred-year-old Dark Gold Sword Bamboo, Qi Dao insisted he could absorb it and revealed that his First Soul Ring was six hundred years old.

• After Qi Dao left, Snake Lance Douluo and Porcupinefish Douluo questioned his claim about reaching Level Twenty with half a level of Innate Soul Power, and Xue Qinghe ordered an investigation in Notting City.
• Qi Dao returned to the hotel to inform his parents, then traveled with Xius to the Sunset Forest to search for a Second Soul Ring.
• Qi Dao listed several possible Soul Beasts, including Dark Gold Sword Bamboo and Dark Gold Bear, and explained why their abilities suited his Sword Martial Soul.
• After six days of searching, Qi Dao and Xius found a fourteen-hundred-year-old Dark Gold Sword Bamboo.
• When Xius warned him that the bamboo was too old, Qi Dao said he could absorb a Millennium Soul Ring and revealed that his First Soul Ring was six hundred years old.

Qi Dao absorbed a fourteen-hundred-year Dark Gold Sword Bamboo Soul Ring and gained the Dark Gold Sword Array, impressing Xius with his new power. He left the forest having proven he could withstand a millennium second ring.

• Xius questioned Qi Dao about his six-hundred-year first Soul Ring, and Qi Dao explained that rigorous body training had let him exceed the usual limit.
• Xius used his Martial Soul Possession to break the Dark Gold Sword Bamboo's stalk and called Qi Dao over to destroy its roots.
• Qi Dao absorbed the Dark Gold Sword Bamboo's millennium Soul Ring with only slight pressure, while Xius watched anxiously.
• Qi Dao summoned his Peerless Sword, whose blade had gained a dark-gold sheen and greater sturdiness, sharpness, and armor-piercing power.
• Qi Dao demonstrated his Second Soul Skill, Dark Gold Sword Array, using eighteen Flying Swords to slice through several large trees.

Qi Dao tested the control of his Flying Swords after obtaining his Second Soul Ring, then told his parents and Xue Qinghe about his progress. Xue Qinghe took a greater interest in him, while Qi Dao's parents chose to return to Notting City, and he asked her to arrange an escort.

• Qi Dao reduced the number of Flying Swords he controlled to ease the strain on his mind and considered using them to fly on a sword.
• Qi Dao returned to Heaven Dou City with Xius, told his parents he had obtained a fourteen-hundred-year Second Soul Ring, and showed them how Peerless had transformed.
• Xius reported Qi Dao's achievement to Xue Qinghe, who wondered about his unexplained ability to absorb Soul Rings above his level and decided to groom him as a trusted confidant.
• Xue Qinghe visited Qi Dao's family and learned about his past and his promise to become a God.
• Qi Father and Qi Mother chose to return to Notting City, and Qi Dao asked Xue Qinghe to arrange an escort for them.

Qi Dao settled into the mansion Xue Qinghe gave him, saw his parents off, and practiced flying on his Flying Sword. Later, Xue Qinghe read a report on Qi Dao and learned that Yu Xiaogang was the Grandmaster who had once tried to take him as a disciple.

• Xue Qinghe arranged for Xius to escort Qi Dao's parents home and gave Qi Dao a grand mansion in Heaven Dou City.
• Qi Dao explored the city with his parents, who warned him to stay safe before departing for Notting City with Xius.
• Qi Dao practiced riding his Flying Sword and found that his flight speed depended on how quickly he could control it with his Second Soul Skill.
• Snake Lance Douluo gave Xue Qinghe a booklet detailing Qi Dao's life, achievements, and victories at Notting Academy.
• Xue Qinghe learned that Yu Xiaogang had only reached Level Twenty-Nine and dismissed him as a fame-seeker.

Xue Qinghe arranged for Qi Dao to study at Heaven Dou Academy, where he hoped to find a path to the Immortal Herbs in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Qi Dao joined Heavenly Subtlety Class One and introduced himself to his new classmates.

• Xue Qinghe visited Qi Dao, befriended him, and suggested he attend Heaven Dou Academy.
• Qi Dao agreed to study at Heaven Dou Academy because he hoped to reach the Immortal Herbs through Dugu Yan.
• A month later, Xue Qinghe introduced Qi Dao to the Three Education Commissioners, who assigned him to Zhou Huan's class.
• Zhi Lin took Qi Dao to meet Zhou Huan, who agreed to teach him.
• Zhou Huan brought Qi Dao to Heavenly Subtlety Class One, where Qi Dao introduced himself as a rank twenty-two Soul Grandmaster with the Peerless Sword Martial Soul.

Qi Dao challenged his new classmates at Heavenly Subtlety Class One, revealing a Millennium Soul Ring and defeating Osler with a single sword strike. He then asked Zhou Huan if he could challenge him next.

• Zhou Huan arranged sparring matches to assess the class after the break, and Qi Dao watched the students' abilities.
• Qi Dao chose Zhou Huan as his opponent, but Zhou Huan suggested he fight Osler instead.
• Qi Dao revealed his Peerless Sword, Level Twenty-Two Soul Grandmaster rank, and purple Millennium Soul Ring, shocking the class.
• Osler attacked Qi Dao, who defeated him with one burst of Sword Qi without using a Soul Skill.
• Ye Lingling healed Osler, who acknowledged Qi Dao's strength, and Qi Dao again asked Zhou Huan to fight him.

Qi Dao challenged Zhou Huan, a Level 47 Soul Ancestor, and revealed speed, sword techniques, and Soul Skills that surprised the onlookers. He broke Zhou Huan’s Iron Wall with Heaven Guard Sword Intent, but ran out of strength after forcing the teacher back several steps.

• Zhou Huan released his Eyebrow-Level Copper Staff and four Soul Rings before Qi Dao launched his challenge.
• Qi Dao rushed Zhou Huan with Sword Qi and swift, forceful sword strikes, making the teacher retreat before he counterattacked.
• Zhou Huan overwhelmed Qi Dao’s attacks with his spinning staff and struck him aside with Sweep Across a Thousand Armies.
• Qi Dao summoned eighteen Flying Swords with his Second Soul Skill, but Zhou Huan stopped them with his Iron Wall Soul Skill.
• Qi Dao entered the Heart Sword State and shattered the barrier with Heaven Guard Sword Intent, then forced Zhou Huan back several steps.
• Qi Dao exhausted himself with the final strike, while Zhou Huan steadied himself and remained standing.