Chapter Summaries

Ning Chen warned Qian Renxue that Salas could use their dealings against her if she became emperor, but she assured him that she held power over Salas. After receiving Spirit Hall records of people with soul power but no martial soul, Ning Chen began identifying recruits and arranged for his Earl’s Residence to be built on the outskirts of Heaven Dou City.

• Ning Chen cautioned Qian Renxue that Salas might expose their past dealings and destabilize the empire, but she said she had leverage over him.
• Qian Renxue stayed for breakfast, then left, and Ning Chen received a detailed batch of Spirit Hall records from her.
• Ning Chen found nearly a hundred registered cases of people with soul power but no martial soul and marked the most talented for further investigation.
• Ning Chen learned that no central site was available for his Earl’s Residence and asked imperial officials to build it on the outskirts instead.
• Ning Chen contributed money to speed construction and continued recruiting talented children using Qian Renxue’s intelligence.

Soul beasts fleeing the Star Dou Great Forest overwhelmed the Balak Kingdom, while Emperor Xue Ye and Crown Prince Xue Qinghe fought over the empire’s response. After Spirit Hall helped stabilize Suotuo City, Bibi Dong learned that the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape had gone berserk and that the Titan Giant Ape had nearly killed one of her elders.

• The soul beast rampage devastated the Balak Kingdom’s army, forcing its troops to retreat to Suotuo City and request aid from Heaven Dou and Spirit Hall.
• Emperor Xue Ye assigned Crown Prince Xue Qinghe’s supporters to the relief force, but Xue Qinghe countered by proposing troops under the emperor’s control, intensifying their political struggle.
• Emperor Xue Ye imprisoned nobles aligned with Xue Qinghe, who retaliated by having Spirit Hall soul masters assassinate the emperor’s supporters; the empire’s infighting delayed aid to Balak.
• Bibi Dong sent two Titled Douluo elders and a thousand-strong Soul Master Legion to Suotuo City, where they helped stabilize the invasion.
• Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan told Bibi Dong that the Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape had driven soul beasts from the forest, and that the Titan Giant Ape had severely injured one of the investigating elders.

As the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape’s rampage devastated the Star Dou Great Forest and nearby human settlements, Bibi Dong prepared to hunt them. Qian Daoliu intervened, choosing to drive the beasts back into the forest rather than risk disrupting its balance, while Bibi Dong ordered Spirit Hall to prepare for the aftermath.

• Bibi Dong ordered Chrysanthemum Douluo to monitor the Star Dou Great Forest and investigate unusual visitors after its two overlords went berserk.
• The Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape attacked human territory, devastating towns and pushing Suotuo City toward collapse.
• Bibi Dong assembled the Elders' Hall and prepared to lead an expedition to hunt the two soul beasts for her second martial soul.
• Qian Daoliu arrived at the Elders' Hall and explained that killing the beasts could destabilize the Star Dou Great Forest and unleash more soul beasts.
• Qian Daoliu set out to drive the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape back into the forest and forbid them from leaving again.
• Bibi Dong accepted Qian Daoliu's decision and ordered Chrysanthemum Douluo to plan relief and recovery efforts in the Balak Kingdom.

Ning Chen’s search for children with body martial souls continued to frustrate him, and an ambush halted his return to Heaven Dou City. He sensed the attackers and confronted three figures led by a woman with a poisonous Ghost Vine martial soul.

• Bibi Dong returned to the Papal Palace in silence after Qian Daoliu’s appearance unsettled Spirit City.
• Qian Renxue and Emperor Xue Ye escalated their struggle in Heaven Dou City through assassinations and imperial law, while neutral nobles tried to contain the conflict.
• Ning Chen learned that a child he hoped to recruit had left with a merchant caravan and would not return for at least two months.
• On his way back to Heaven Dou City, Ning Chen noticed soul power hidden in an unusual growth of vines and realized someone had laid an ambush.
• Three figures emerged from the woods, led by a pale-purple-haired woman whose martial soul was the poisonous Ghost Vine.

Three Soul Sages sent by Xue Ye ambushed Ning Chen, mistaking him for Cao Benqi, but Ning Chen revealed overwhelming strength by killing Liu Qing with one punch. The two surviving attackers realized he was not Cao Benqi and questioned his identity.

• A female Soul Sage declared that she and her two companions had come to kill Cao Benqi, while Ning Chen dismissed their confidence.
• The agility attack Soul Sage Liu Qing launched a surprise dagger strike at Ning Chen, but Ning Chen vanished and appeared behind him.
• Ning Chen struck Liu Qing with one punch, sending him crashing through a tree and leaving him motionless.
• The female Soul Sage asked Ning Chen who he really was after realizing he was not Cao Benqi.
• The three Soul Sages were revealed to be under Xue Ye's command, sent to kill Ning Chen as a warning to Xue Qinghe.

Ning Chen revealed his true identity and Titled Douluo strength to the two surviving Soul Sages, who fled after seeing his hundred-thousand-year ninth Spirit Ring. He caught up with the male Soul Sage and blocked his axe with his bare arm, leaving the fight unresolved.

• The female Soul Sage mistook Ning Chen for a double sent by Crown Prince Xue Qinghe to protect Cao Benqi.
• Ning Chen revealed his true face and summoned nine Spirit Rings, including a red hundred-thousand-year ninth ring.
• The female and male Soul Sages realized Ning Chen was a Titled Douluo and fled in opposite directions, abandoning their mission and Liu Qing.
• Ning Chen used Voidstep to catch the male Soul Sage and taunted him as he tried to escape.
• The male Soul Sage attacked with his enormous axe, but Ning Chen blocked it with his arm reinforced by the Thousand Mountains Formula and earth vein aura.

Ning Chen killed the Giant Axe Soul Sage with the Thousand Mountains Formula, then used his hundred-thousand-year soul bone's Teleportation skill to catch the fleeing Ghost Vine Soul Sage. Cornered, she tried to flatter him and bargain for her life.

• Ning Chen used the Thousand Mountains Formula's suppressive force to stop the Giant Axe Soul Sage from escaping.
• Ning Chen struck the Giant Axe Soul Sage with a mountain-like punch, killing him.
• Ning Chen used Teleportation from Xiao Wu's hundred-thousand-year soft bone rabbit left leg bone to pursue the fleeing Ghost Vine Soul Sage.
• The Ghost Vine Soul Sage used her Seventh Soul Skill to raise a barrier of vines, but Ning Chen teleported through it and blocked her path.
• The Ghost Vine Soul Sage apologized, claimed she had only followed orders, and offered to do anything if Ning Chen spared her.

Ning Chen defeated and killed the Ghost Vine Soul Sage after rejecting her offer to serve him, then burned the bodies of all three attackers. He concluded that Xue Ye, ruler of the Heaven Dou Empire, had sent them to kill him.

• The Ghost Vine Soul Sage tried to seduce Ning Chen and offered to serve him, but he rejected her and questioned why he would trust someone who had just tried to kill him.
• The Ghost Vine Soul Sage unleashed her Ghost Vine True Body in a desperate final attack, but Ning Chen shattered the vines with Thousand Peaks Shaking Mountains.
• Ning Chen teleported in front of the injured Ghost Vine Soul Sage and killed her with a palm strike to the chest.
• Ning Chen used a talisman to burn the Ghost Vine Soul Sage's corpse, then burned the bodies of the Giant Axe Soul Sage and Liu Qing.
• Ning Chen reflected on the attack and deduced that Xue Ye had sent the three Soul Sages after him.

Ning Chen’s plans to recruit Body Soul Masters were disrupted when Xue Ye halted construction on his Earl’s Residence, prompting him to reconsider his alliance with Qian Renxue. He left for the Martial Soul Temple to gather records of children with abnormal Soul Power and quietly copied the useful information onto Recording Jade Slips before departing.

• Ning Chen returned to Heaven Dou City and learned that Xue Ye had halted construction on his Earl’s Residence.
• Ning Chen reconsidered building a training base in Heaven Dou City and wondered whether attaching himself to Qian Renxue had been a mistake.
• Ning Chen visited Bishop Silfo at the Martial Soul Temple and asked for as much information as possible about people with abnormal Soul Power.
• Ning Chen screened the files for children who had awakened their Martial Souls in recent years and recorded the qualifying information onto two Recording Jade Slips.
• Ning Chen returned the files and quietly left the Martial Soul Temple.

Qian Daoliu defeated the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape at the Lake of Life, then ordered them to remain in the Star Dou Great Forest. After he left, the wounded soul beasts grieved that they had failed to find Sister Xiao Wu.

• News spread through Heaven Dou City that Qian Daoliu had driven the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape back into the Star Dou Great Forest.
• At the Lake of Life, Qian Daoliu defeated the two soul beasts and warned them never to invade human territory again.
• Qian Daoliu spared the pair because he knew powerful ferocious beasts, including Di Tian and Bi Ji, stood behind them.
• After Qian Daoliu departed, the Sky Azure Bull Python and the Titan Giant Ape realized they had failed to find Sister Xiao Wu and feared she would never return.

The Sky Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape accepted that they could not avenge Xiao Wu for now and resolved to remain in the Star Dou Great Forest. After Qian Daoliu returned to Spirit City, his intervention fueled speculation across the continent and heightened unease in the Heaven Dou Empire.

• The Sky Azure Bull Python convinced the Titan Giant Ape that they could not challenge the Qian Family Titled Douluo or find Xiao Wu’s abductor, so they would wait in the Star Dou Great Forest for another opportunity.
• Qian Daoliu left the forest and flew straight to Spirit City after resolving the soul beast disturbance.
• Suotuo City’s city lord feared Qian Daoliu had left because he was displeased, but two Titled Douluo from Spirit City reassured him.
• The Heaven Dou Empire and Star Luo Empire speculated about Qian Daoliu’s motives and wondered why he had acted instead of Bibi Dong or Spirit Hall’s other Titled Douluo.
• Qian Daoliu’s emergence shifted the atmosphere in Heaven Dou City and reminded the empire that Spirit Hall remained immensely powerful.

Emperor Xue Ye secretly met with Prince Xue Xing and Dugu Bo to discuss his growing conflict with Crown Prince Xue Qinghe. He pressed them to take sides, then focused on his more easily manipulated younger brother.

• Emperor Xue Ye summoned Prince Xue Xing and Dugu Bo to a private meeting in the Imperial Palace and invited them to sit.
• Prince Xue Xing initially refused to sit out of deference, but accepted after Emperor Xue Ye insisted.
• Emperor Xue Ye complained that Xue Qinghe had turned against him despite his support and asked the two men for their views.
• Prince Xue Xing and Dugu Bo stayed silent, wary of being drawn into the imperial family’s conflict.
• Emperor Xue Ye intended to pull both men into his camp and turned his attention to manipulating Prince Xue Xing.

Emperor Xue Ye secured Prince Xue Xing’s allegiance by promising his son a position at Heaven Dou Royal Academy and an inheritable dukedom with a fief. He then offered Dugu Bo official protection for his valley, a title and territory for Dugu Yan, and a sixty-thousand-year Soul Bone, leaving Dugu Bo to consider the rewards for his granddaughter.

• Emperor Xue Ye asked Prince Xue Xing’s eldest son’s age and offered him a role at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, followed by a dukedom and fief.
• Prince Xue Xing accepted the offer, declared his allegiance to Emperor Xue Ye, and accused Xue Qinghe of disloyalty and faction-building.
• Emperor Xue Ye turned to Dugu Bo and offered to recognize and protect his valley in the Sunset Forest as his territory.
• Emperor Xue Ye promised Dugu Yan an earl’s title and separate territory, and offered her a sixty-thousand-year snake Soul Bone from the imperial treasury.

Emperor Xue Ye secured Dugu Bo’s support against Xue Qinghe and concluded that she was secretly aligned with Spirit Hall. He planned to win over the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy’s education commissioners, while he and his allies remained uncertain how to handle Ning Fengzhi.

• Dugu Bo thanked Emperor Xue Ye for acting on Dugu Yanyan’s behalf and promised to stand with him against Xue Qinghe.
• Emperor Xue Ye and Dugu Bo shared their suspicions that Xue Qinghe’s forces included Spirit Hall Soul Masters, and Emperor Xue Ye vowed she would not inherit the throne.
• Prince Xue Xing reported that the three education commissioners seemed ready to abandon Xue Qinghe, and Emperor Xue Ye ordered him to offer them forgiveness and continued service.
• Emperor Xue Ye, Dugu Bo, and Prince Xue Xing discussed gathering support against Xue Qinghe and worried about how to handle Ning Fengzhi and the powerful Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.