Chapter Summaries

Bai Chen continued developing his forging fundamentals under Duan Xuan, who summoned Zhen Hua to teach the promising boy. Meanwhile, Bai Chen’s Douluo II group reached Mingdu and negotiated with Jing Hongchen for Ning Tian and her attendant to enroll at the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy in exchange for a major Soul Tool order.

• Duan Xuan corrected Bai Chen’s forging movements and rhythm, then told him to return in three days.
• Duan Xuan called Zhen Hua and asked him to come teach Bai Chen, whom he believed had exceptional potential.
• Hua Tianyu and Ning Jingchen led their group into Mingdu and went to the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy.
• Ning Jingchen asked Jing Hongchen to enroll Ning Tian and her attendant, and offered to buy five hundred sets of Level-Five Soul Guide Devices for the sect.
• Jing Hongchen agreed to arrange the enrollment, while Ning Jingchen gave Lin Jiayi private instructions before he left with the two children.
• Ning Jingchen and Jing Hongchen spent the afternoon discussing the sect’s transformation.

Jing Hongchen declined to sabotage Bai Chen and Ning Tian, believing the Sun-Moon Empire’s technological lead was safe, while Bai Chen and Ning Tian settled into the academy and explored its facilities. In their laboratory, Bai Chen began practicing forging and activated his Domination Domain as he pushed his hammering further.

• Jing Hongchen told Lin Jiayi he had invited the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect to join the Sun-Moon Empire, but Ning Jingchen had given no definite answer.
• Bai Chen and Ning Tian learned they had been assigned the same dormitory, then explored the academy and discovered the privileges of their Young Masters’ Class.
• Bai Chen obtained a laboratory key from Lin Jiayi and asked Ning Tian to keep what she saw there secret.
• Bai Chen found forging tools and metals in the laboratory, then practiced hammering metal while adapting to his current strength.
• Bai Chen activated his Domination Domain and first Soul Ring, using Steel Bone Shaking Gold as his aura surged.

Bai Chen advanced his forging by creating Thousand-Forged Metal, while Duan Xuan summoned Divine Artisan Zhen Hua to assess the six-year-old’s talent. After three days of practice, Bai Chen impressed both artisans with a superior forging performance, leaving Zhen Hua astonished by his ability and unusual Soul Rings.

• Bai Chen used his new strength to forge Thousand-Forged Metal and began another piece, intending to impress Zhen Hua.
• Duan Xuan told Zhen Hua that Bai Chen was six years old and asked him to prepare a forging hammer as a gift for the child.
• Three days later, Duan Xuan introduced Bai Chen to Zhen Hua, who offered him Thousand-Forged hammers to use for the assessment.
• Bai Chen began forging before the two artisans, and Zhen Hua noticed his two Soul Rings, powerful strikes, and mastery of Duan Xuan’s hammer technique.
• Bai Chen completed an exceptionally high-quality piece, and both Duan Xuan and Zhen Hua were impressed by his rapid progress.

After Bai Chen forged Second-Grade Thousand-Forged metal, Zhen Hua accepted him as his disciple and helped him perform a Blood Sacrifice on his forging hammers. The hammers awakened the traits Devouring and Bestowal and Echo, and Bai Chen finished his first lesson with Zhen Hua.

• Zhen Hua praised Bai Chen's Second-Grade Thousand Forging and offered to make him his disciple, and Bai Chen accepted.
• Zhen Hua cut Bai Chen's hand so his blood could sacrifice the forging hammers made from his Thousand-Forged metal.
• Bai Chen discovered that his left hammer could devour energy from metal and bestow it on another target.
• Bai Chen discovered that his right hammer could copy and store the effect of a strike for about three seconds, and Zhen Hua named its trait Echo.
• Zhen Hua taught Bai Chen for two hours while Duan Xuan left, and the lesson ended with Zhen Hua praising his disciple's talent.

Bai Chen chose Tang Sect for access to Abyssal creatures, Dragon Valley, and other resources, and Zhen Hua quickly arranged an introduction to Zang Xin. Zang Xin brought Bai Chen to the Hall of Heroes for an assessment, where the six-year-old began his first trial.

• Zhen Hua explained the four major soul master organizations, and Bai Chen chose Tang Sect for its resources and technology.
• Zhen Hua introduced Bai Chen to Zang Xin, Tang Sect's vice hall master, who explained the sect's halls and invited Bai Chen to undergo an assessment.
• Zang Xin took Bai Chen and Zhen Hua to a technology company's Hall of Heroes and registered Bai Chen for a medium-difficulty test.
• Bai Chen entered the Hall of Heroes, where his first trial required him to survive for thirty seconds against a young man who appeared before him.

Bai Chen defeated Huo Yuhao in the Intermediate Assessment, then fought a Two-Ring Huo Yuhao in the Advanced Assessment. After struggling against Huo Yuhao’s strength and defenses, Bai Chen used his forging hammers and the Echo trait to break through and win.

• Bai Chen defeated the first simulated Huo Yuhao when his Soul Shock backfired against Bai Chen’s Evil Power, passing the Intermediate Assessment immediately.
• Bai Chen charged the Two-Ring Huo Yuhao, but their exchanges revealed that Huo Yuhao’s Ultimate Ice, Soul Bones, and Spiritual Detection gave him the advantage.
• Bai Chen used a devouring forging hammer to weaken and shatter Ice Empress’s Pincer, while Zang Xin learned from Zhen Hua that Bai Chen had forged the hammers himself.
• Huo Yuhao activated Ice Emperor’s Body Protection and endured Bai Chen’s attacks, forcing Bai Chen to change tactics.
• Bai Chen used Echo to combine three prepared hammer strikes with a fresh blow, breaking Huo Yuhao’s defense and knocking him out.

Bai Chen passed the Hall of Heroes’ Ultimate Assessment by defeating Huo Yuhao’s phantom with his soul skills, then revealed that his Martial Soul could advance only by devouring life. Zang Xin accepted that Bai Chen had no intention of killing people, but refused to send him to the Abyss Battlefield while he was still too weak.

• Bai Chen used Time Freeze and Evil Explosion Technique to defeat the Ultimate Assessment’s Huo Yuhao phantom and complete every current assessment.
• Zhen Hua and Zang Xin reacted with amazement when Bai Chen returned, and Bai Chen explained the effects of his two soul skills.
• Bai Chen told Zang Xin that his Martial Soul could advance only by devouring life and asked for something nonhuman he could kill freely.
• Zang Xin’s concern eased after Bai Chen made clear that he would not cultivate by killing people.
• Zhen Hua suggested Abyss creatures as suitable targets, but Zang Xin rejected the idea and barred Bai Chen from the Abyss Battlefield until he was strong enough to contend with a Soul Saint.

After passing the Tang Sect’s Ultimate Assessment, Bai Chen chose to study the Medicine Scripture and Poison Scripture so he could help Dugu Bo’s family, then learned the Tang Sect’s other arts. Zang Xin took him to the Spirit Pagoda to test whether slaughtering Soul Beasts in the Spirit Ascension Platform could help his Martial Soul, offering to cover unlimited visits.

• Zang Xin explained that Bai Chen’s assessment qualified him to learn all six Tang Sect ultimate arts and one additional technique.
• Bai Chen chose the Medicine Scripture and Poison Scripture despite Zang Xin recommending Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer, and Zhen Hua encouraged Zang Xin to let him follow his interests.
• Bai Chen accepted the Tang Sect’s medical and toxicological research so he could try to cure the poison afflicting Dugu Bo’s family as compensation for the Icefire Yin Yang Well’s eventual loss.
• On the way home, Zang Xin taught Bai Chen the Mysterious Heaven Skill, then instructed him in the other Tang Sect Six Absolutes.
• The next morning, Zang Xin took Bai Chen to the Spirit Pagoda and proposed that he slaughter Soul Beasts in the Spirit Ascension Platform, with the Tang Sect paying for unlimited entries.

Bai Chen entered the Spirit Ascension Platform, discovered that absorbing its Soul Beasts could increase his Soul Power, and joined a trio of young soul masters after disguising himself as Tang Wulin. Their group was overwhelmed by a huge Wind Demon Wolf pack, leaving them facing a desperate fight.

• Zang Xin brought Bai Chen into the Spirit Pagoda, where Bai Chen entered the Spirit Ascension Platform and found that absorbing a Ten-Year Soul Beast gave him a small increase in Soul Power.
• Bai Chen pretended to be Tang Wulin, a child whose older brother had been lost to a powerful Soul Beast, and Gu Qingyu and Han Lingyi persuaded Li Shaohan to take him along.
• Bai Chen's companions killed several Soul Beasts without letting him claim any, and Gu Qingyu proposed giving him the next Ten-Year Soul Beast they encountered.
• A pack of around a hundred Wind Demon Wolves charged the group, and Gu Qingyu warned them to run as the wolves closed in.

Bai Chen led Gu Qingyu, Han Lingyi, and Li Shaohan through a Wind Demon Wolf pack, defeated its Wolf King, and reached Level 24. After parting from the others, he discovered that Devouring Power could grant him a Wind Blade ability, which he began training and investigating.

• Bai Chen rescued Gu Qingyu and Han Lingyi from the Wind Blades and accepted command of the battle.
• Bai Chen flew past the wolf pack, killed the Wolf King's two guards, and pierced the Wolf King's skull with his Evil God Hook.
• Bai Chen absorbed the Wolf King's energy, broke through his bottleneck, and reached Level 24 before helping the others finish off the pack.
• Bai Chen thanked Gu Qingyu, Han Lingyi, and Li Shaohan, then left them to investigate a Wind Blade ability he had gained by devouring a Wind Demon Wolf.
• Bai Chen practiced the Wind Blade for an hour and concluded that its power and efficiency improved with proficiency, while its acquisition depended on unknown conditions and probability.

Bai Chen left the Spirit Ascension Platform with a new Soul Skill and joined the Tang Sect’s Soul Battle Hall. Zang Xin brought him to the Time Secret Realm, where Bai Chen sensed his Time Attribute understanding improving and spent his allotted visit forging.

• Bai Chen defeated several Soul Beasts in the Spirit Ascension Platform, gained a Dark-Attribute blinding Soul Skill, and finally lost to three Millennium Soul Beasts.
• Zang Xin made Bai Chen a White-Rank Fighter in the Soul Battle Hall and explained the hall’s duties, ranks, and promotion requirements.
• Zang Xin took Bai Chen to the Tang Sect’s Time Secret Realm, where twelve hours passed for every hour outside and visitors risked accelerated aging if they stayed too long.
• Bai Chen sensed the Time Force in his body growing more active, entered the Forging Room, and forged until his twelve hours were up.
• After Bai Chen emerged, he asked Zang Xin whether the space was related to the Time Attribute.

Bai Chen discovered that he could spend up to half a month in the Soul Battle Hall Space each week, giving him far more time to study and practice. Meanwhile, his counterpart in the Douluo II Era prepared to begin classes at the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy.

• Zang Xin summoned a conditioning specialist, who determined that Bai Chen could remain in the Soul Battle Hall Space for half a month before risking assimilation by the Time Law.
• Bai Chen settled into a routine of Spirit Ascension Platform visits and extended study in the Soul Battle Hall Space, while Na'er grew more cheerful and attached to him.
• Bai Chen's Douluo II counterpart forged blood-sacrificed Thousand-Forged hammers and improved his strength through intensive forging, while Ning Tian learned about soul tools under his guidance.
• Ning Tian noticed Bai Chen had grown taller, and he took her hand as they headed to the academy's opening ceremony.
• Lin Jiayi welcomed the Young Masters' Class students and announced that they would undergo a physical assessment before classes began.

Bai Chen concealed the true extent of his physical strength during the academy’s tests, but a malfunctioning instrument drew attention to his data. Jing Hongchen ordered Lin Jiayi to court Bai Chen with extra resources, leaving Bai Chen set to receive a doubled rare-metal quota.

• Lin Jiayi led the students through physical tests, and Bai Chen’s physical data appeared impossibly high before the tester malfunctioned.
• Bai Chen recorded strong results across the remaining tests while holding back, then was appointed class monitor without objection.
• Lin Jiayi explained that the academy judged students on both Soul Master and Soul Engineer abilities, and students could challenge the class monitor through competitions in either field.
• Lin Jiayi showed Bai Chen’s test results to Jing Hongchen, who suspected the physical data was false and ordered him to offer Bai Chen more benefits.
• Lin Jiayi told Bai Chen that his laboratory’s rare-metal quota would be doubled, and Bai Chen thanked him while pretending to be delighted.

Bai Chen sought Xuan Ziwen as a mentor and used a powerful Soul Tool to draw him into a private deal. After swearing to keep the secret, Xuan Ziwen watched Bai Chen forge Thousand-Forged metal and began examining the result.

• Bai Chen decided Xuan Ziwen could teach him and learned about the young researcher’s work at Mingde Hall.
• Bai Chen offered Xuan Ziwen three hundred Gold Soul Coins to inspect a Level-Two Soul Ray made with Thousand-Forged Metal.
• Xuan Ziwen recognized that a special process had strengthened the Soul Tool’s material and invited Bai Chen to his laboratory.
• Xuan Ziwen swore not to reveal the technique, and Bai Chen demonstrated it by forging Second-Grade Thousand Forging metal.
• Xuan Ziwen reacted with surprise at Bai Chen’s strength, then eagerly examined the forged metal.

Bai Chen became Xuan Ziwen’s student by offering to teach him Thousand-Forged Metal forging in exchange for soul tool instruction. Xuan Ziwen declined Bai Chen’s invitation to join the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect, then was stunned to learn Bai Chen was six years old and a Level-Four Soul Engineer after watching him quickly build a Level-Four Soul Tool.

• Bai Chen offered to teach Xuan Ziwen his forging technique if Xuan Ziwen would teach him soul tool technology, and they agreed to remain each other’s teachers indefinitely.
• Bai Chen invited Xuan Ziwen to leave the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy for the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect, but Xuan Ziwen refused because Mingde Hall offered a better research environment.
• Xuan Ziwen asked Bai Chen why he wanted to study soul tools, and Bai Chen said he hoped to advance society.
• Xuan Ziwen was shocked when Bai Chen revealed he was six years old and a Level-Four Soul Engineer.
• At Xuan Ziwen’s request, Bai Chen used his Darkgolden Terrorclaws and Thousand-Forged Metal to make a Level-Four Soul Tool in minutes, leaving Xuan Ziwen shaken by the result.

Bai Chen and Xuan Ziwen continued exchanging lessons, and Xuan Ziwen introduced Bai Chen and Ning Tian to Jing Ziyan, a gifted Level-Four Soul Engineer. Bai Chen recognized Jing Ziyan’s connection to Ji Juechen and began probing for information about powerful Soul Masters who might become his allies.

• Xuan Ziwen taught Bai Chen about Soul Tools while Bai Chen taught Xuan Ziwen forging, and their mutual respect grew despite Xuan Ziwen’s struggles with the craft.
• Bai Chen brought Ning Tian to a lesson, and she bonded with Xuan Ziwen over how exceptional and frustrating Bai Chen could be.
• Jing Ziyan entered the laboratory, mistook the children for Xuan Ziwen’s illegitimate children, and apologized before he introduced her to Bai Chen and Ning Tian.
• Bai Chen recognized Jing Ziyan as someone connected to Ji Juechen and considered recruiting him to his camp.
• Bai Chen asked Jing Ziyan about powerful Soul Masters, claiming he wanted to grow stronger to protect Ning Tian, and she agreed to tell him about them.

Bai Chen learned about Ji Juechen and arranged to meet him, hoping to recruit the sword-focused soul master for the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect. After Ji Juechen accepted Bai Chen’s challenge, he sparred with Jing Ziyan and lost, then turned his attention to Bai Chen.

• Bai Chen asked Jing Ziyan about Ji Juechen and learned that the seventeen-year-old Rank 41 soul master trained by seeking fights rather than using medicinal substances.
• Bai Chen told Xuan Ziwen he wanted to recruit Ji Juechen for the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect and admitted he still hoped to recruit Xuan Ziwen too.
• Bai Chen met Jing Ziyan and Ji Juechen at the academy entrance, and Ji Juechen accepted Bai Chen’s request for guidance after sensing his strength in their handshake.
• Jing Ziyan brought Bai Chen and Ji Juechen to a Soul Device Testing Ground, where she and Ji Juechen began a sparring match.
• Jing Ziyan defeated Ji Juechen after ten minutes, and Ji Juechen turned his gaze toward Bai Chen.

Bai Chen accepted Ji Juechen’s challenge after giving him time to recover, then used his Domination Domain and Soul Guidance Thrusters to fight the sword genius at close range. As Ji Juechen’s Sword Intent grew stronger, Bai Chen decided to stake the match on a single powerful attack, leaving the outcome unresolved.

• Bai Chen dodged Jing Ziyan’s kick and agreed to wait until Ji Juechen had recovered before sparring.
• Ji Juechen began meditating, and after about ten minutes he returned to face Bai Chen in the arena.
• Bai Chen activated Steel Bone Shaking Gold and the Domination Domain, then used four Soul Guidance Thrusters to launch a sudden attack that sent Ji Juechen flying.
• Ji Juechen countered with his Sword Intent, forcing Bai Chen to stop after their weapons clashed and sending him flying again.
• Bai Chen decided to end the fight before Ji Juechen’s Sword Intent could build further, activated his thrusters, and charged with his Darkgolden Terrorclaw as Ji Juechen raised his sword to meet it.

Bai Chen defeated Ji Juechen in a spar, breaking his sword, then agreed to forge him a replacement from Heavenly Meteoric Iron. After Bai Chen successfully Thousand-Forged the metal, Ji Juechen performed a Blood Sacrifice to bind it to himself, and Bai Chen continued the forging as Ji Juechen stayed to watch.

• Bai Chen won his spar with Ji Juechen after Ji Juechen's Heavenly Meteoric Iron Sword broke, and Ji Juechen accepted the loss.
• Jing Ziyan teased Bai Chen for hiding his strength, then proposed that she and Ji Juechen spar with him and look after him at the academy; Bai Chen agreed.
• A week later, Bai Chen brought Ji Juechen to Xuan Ziwen's laboratory to forge him a new sword, declining Xuan Ziwen's offer to make a Soul Tool instead.
• Bai Chen used his forging hammers and Domination Domain to successfully complete First-Grade Thousand Forging on Ji Juechen's Heavenly Meteoric Iron.
• Ji Juechen cut himself and offered his blood to the metal in a Blood Sacrifice, linking it to himself, then remained in the laboratory while Bai Chen continued forging.

Bai Chen forged Ji Juechen a new sword, refined the Nine-Treasure Glazed Sect’s medicinal resources into pills, and helped Ning Tian reach Level Ten. The group prepared to travel to Qiling Mine Cave so Ning Tian could hunt for her first Soul Ring.

• Bai Chen finished forging Ji Juechen’s sword, and Ji Juechen thanked him and promised to repay his help.
• Bai Chen asked Xuan Ziwen to build an alchemy furnace, trading him ten pieces of First-Grade Thousand Forging metal for it.
• Bai Chen refined the sect’s medicinal herbs into pills, and he and Ning Tian absorbed them; Bai Chen reached Level Eighteen while Ning Tian reached Level Ten.
• Bai Chen told Xuan Ziwen, Jing Ziyan, and Ji Juechen that Ning Tian was ready to hunt for her first Soul Ring.
• Xuan Ziwen provided an academy map, and Bai Chen chose Qiling Mine Cave as a suitable place for Ning Tian to hunt.