Chapter Summaries

Lu Yuan sparred with Qian Renxue, who had agreed not to use her martial soul or soul skills. When Lu Yuan nearly struck her with the Piercing Spear, Qian Renxue revealed her martial soul to deflect it, and she told him she would use it in their next session.

• Yan Tuo told Lu Yuan and Qian Renxue to fight freely, and Qian Renxue said she would not use her martial soul or soul skills.
• Lu Yuan pressed Qian Renxue with the Piercing Spear, showing that his new weapon and improved technique made his attacks faster.
• Qian Renxue outmaneuvered Lu Yuan, but he used Piercing Edge to catch her off guard with a low-angle strike.
• Lu Yuan closed in and aimed the spear at Qian Renxue's flank, forcing her to summon her martial soul and knock the weapon aside.
• Yan Tuo ended the spar, and Qian Renxue told Lu Yuan she would use her martial soul when they trained again tomorrow.

Lu Yuan fought Qian Renxue after she summoned the Six-Winged Angel, enduring her greater speed and strength and devising a spear maneuver that nearly struck her. After Qian Renxue used her first spirit skill to defeat him, Instructor Yan announced that the eight trainees would begin stage assessments together the next day.

• Qian Renxue summoned the Six-Winged Angel and quickly overwhelmed Lu Yuan in their training match.
• Lu Yuan used Piercing Edge and the Piercing Spear to regain distance and briefly disrupt Qian Renxue's grip, but she continued to suppress him.
• Lu Yuan anticipated Qian Renxue's dodge and trapped her between himself and a sweeping strike, forcing her to use her first spirit skill to deflect the spear.
• Qian Renxue acknowledged that Lu Yuan's final move would have hit her if she had not used a spirit skill, then Instructor Yan ended the match.
• Instructor Yan announced stage assessments for all eight trainees the next day, and Hu Liena suggested they should eliminate Lu Yuan first.

Lu Yuan dominated the seven-person token snatching match, earning enough points to finish the first event early. Yan Tuo sent him to the North Combat Zone for afternoon training, where his opponents would be at least Two-Ring.

• Yan Tuo started the match, and the seven others immediately teamed up to target Lu Yuan.
• Lu Yuan used his spear and Piercing Edge to break the encirclement and snatch Zhou Qi’s token, eliminating him.
• Hu Liena and Lu Yuan each took tokens amid the shifting alliances, and the field narrowed to the two of them.
• Lu Yuan finished with three stolen tokens and two survival points, while Hu Liena scored four points.
• Yan Tuo excused Lu Yuan from the remaining first event and told him that starting the next afternoon, he would fight opponents who were at least Two-Ring.

Lu Yuan began training in the northern combat grounds, where Xu Heng defeated him after forcing him to use Piercing Edge and his second spirit skill. After Lu Yuan was told to fight two more matches, a golden-robe deacon delivered the Grand Pontiff’s order for him to visit the Elder Hall the next morning.

• Yan Tuo brought Lu Yuan to the northern training grounds and left him with Shao Ping for a sparring match.
• Shao Ping assigned Xu Heng, a level 21 Long-armed Ape user, to fight Lu Yuan.
• Lu Yuan used Piercing Edge to break free of Xu Heng’s close-range pressure and cut his defensive fur, forcing Xu Heng to use his second spirit skill.
• Xu Heng overpowered Lu Yuan and stopped just short of striking his chest, and Shao Ping declared Lu Yuan the loser.
• Shao Ping told Lu Yuan he had two more matches that afternoon, and a golden-robe deacon arrived with the Grand Pontiff’s order for Lu Yuan to go to the Elder Hall the next morning.

Lu Yuan received a new training schedule focused on improving his Soul Power, body, and spear control after Qian Daoliu explained that the Piercing Spear outpaced him. Qian Daoliu also revealed that Xiao Xue would eventually leave Spirit City for Tiangou, bringing the future names Tiangou and Xue Qinghe closer to reality.

• Qian Daoliu tested Lu Yuan’s Soul Power and found that he was still level eleven, then gave him a revised daily training schedule and injury-recovery pills.
• Qian Daoliu explained that Lu Yuan’s spear was dangerous, but his young body and limited Soul Power could not keep pace with it, so he needed to strengthen all three.
• Lu Yuan asked about entering the Black Gate and learned that he had to reach level thirty, passing level twenty first, while Qian Daoliu set a level-fourteen goal for the next half year.
• Qian Daoliu asked about Lu Yuan’s recent matches with Xiao Xue and advised him to fight her more before she became too busy to train with him.
• Qian Daoliu told Lu Yuan that Xiao Xue would leave Spirit City for Tiangou after turning nine, though her departure date had not been decided.

Lu Yuan broke through to level twelve and spent the following months improving through daily cultivation and fights in the North Combat Zone. After a tougher match against Xu Heng at the end of the third month, he tested his Soul Power and reached level thirteen.

• Lu Yuan advanced to level twelve after cultivating past the barrier between levels eleven and twelve.
• Yan Tuo confirmed Lu Yuan's new level, and Qian Renxue arranged to fight him again.
• Lu Yuan fought Du Chuan, who noticed that Lu Yuan's increased Soul Power let him wield the Piercing Spear more steadily, though Lu Yuan still lost.
• Over the next three months, Lu Yuan improved his fighting technique and began forcing stronger opponents to use Soul Skills or suffer torn clothes.
• Lu Yuan fought Xu Heng in a prolonged match that Xu Heng won after using both Soul Skills.
• Lu Yuan tested his Soul Power and reached level thirteen.

Lu Yuan reached Soul Power Level 14 after six months of training in the North Combat Zone, while Qian Daoliu told him Qian Renxue would soon leave for Tiangou. As Qian Renxue prepared to stop sparring with him, Lu Yuan saw a new Destiny Node marked Latent beneath her Gray Text.

• Lu Yuan tested his Soul Power and confirmed he had reached Level 14, then went to the Worship Hall to meet Qian Daoliu.
• Qian Daoliu told Lu Yuan that Qian Renxue would leave for Tiangou within a month and would stop going to the East Training Area starting the next day.
• Qian Renxue joined them and said she would leave in a few days, describing the departure as what she should do.
• Lu Yuan and Qian Renxue agreed to leave their unfinished sparring match owed until they could meet again.
• Lu Yuan saw Qian Renxue's Gray Text identify her as Xue Qinghe in the Heaven Dou Empire, with a new Destiny Node marked Latent.

Lu Yuan fought Qian Renxue again and lost, then learned she would leave Spirit City in seven days. Her fate showed a twenty-year latent period, and Lu Yuan planned to see her off at the North Gate.

• Lu Yuan and Qian Renxue fought at the training grounds, where he lasted longer than before but lost when his sore arm slowed him.
• Qian Renxue told Lu Yuan that her departure date had been moved up to seven days away and described the maps, names, relationships, and rules she was studying.
• Lu Yuan saw Qian Renxue’s fate display identify her as Xue Qinghe, leaving Spirit City at nine for a twenty-year latent period.
• Qian Renxue said she did not know when she would return, and Lu Yuan asked when and where she would leave so he could see her off.
• Qian Renxue reminded Lu Yuan that she had won their match before leaving the training grounds.

Lu Yuan saw Qian Renxue off as she left Spirit City for Tiangou in an inconspicuous caravan. After exchanging farewells and cautions, he watched her carriage pass beyond the city gates, whereupon a gray message appeared announcing her departure.

• Hu Liena asked Lu Yuan to wish Qian Renxue a smooth journey because Yan Tuo would not let her come to the North Gate.
• Qian Renxue met Lu Yuan at the gate in plain travel clothes and explained that she might not be able to send messages from Tiangou.
• Lu Yuan and Qian Renxue discussed possible danger, leaving Spirit City, and the limits on what she could write in future messages.
• Qian Renxue urged Lu Yuan not to overtrain or take needless risks, then asked him to wish her a safe arrival in Tiangou.
• Qian Renxue departed in the caravan, and Lu Yuan saw a gray message identify her as nine years old and leaving Spirit City.

Lu Yuan began training against real Spirit Beasts in a Soul Hunting Area after Shao Ping decided the North had taught him nearly all it could. After Lu Yuan killed an Iron-Backed Jackal and learned to assess tracks, a Gray Text appeared above Shao Ping’s head as the group changed routes to avoid a larger beast.

• Shao Ping told Lu Yuan that his afternoon training would move outside the city so he could learn to deal with real Spirit Beasts.
• Shao Ping took Lu Yuan and two Spirit Hall Spirit Masters into a Soul Hunting Area and instructed him to survive rather than kill anything.
• Lu Yuan fought and killed an Iron-Backed Jackal, taking a claw swipe while testing its strength before defeating it with Piercing Edge and a follow-up strike.
• Shao Ping questioned Lu Yuan about the jackal, then taught him to identify Spirit Beasts and danger by examining tracks and other signs.
• The group found fresh dragging marks and scraped trees that suggested a beast over a hundred years old, so Shao Ping changed their route.
• As Lu Yuan followed Shao Ping, Gray Text appeared above Shao Ping’s head.

Lu Yuan and Shao Ping’s group encountered an Iron-Backed Jackal pack in the North Hunting Forest, where Lu Yuan saved Shao Ping from the pack leader’s ambush and changed his serious-injury fate node. They decided to report the unusually powerful beast and the forest disturbance to the Patrol Team.

• Shao Ping led the group away from suspicious tracks, but they discovered signs of a large Iron-Backed Jackal pack and decided to return.
• The jackals followed and attacked, and Lu Yuan wounded one with Piercing Edge while holding his position.
• Lu Yuan spotted the pack leader ambushing Shao Ping near a sharp broken log and struck its foreleg, allowing Shao Ping to kill it.
• Lu Yuan’s intervention erased Shao Ping’s serious-injury fate node and granted Lu Yuan Origin of Destiny.
• Shao Ping identified the dead beast as an Iron-Backed Jackal Leader with over three hundred years of cultivation and ordered the group to report the disturbance to the Patrol Team.

Lu Yuan’s training in the North Hunting Forest sharpened his spear skills until he could face powerful Spirit Beasts alone. After drawing with Xu Heng at level 19, Lu Yuan learned that he was close to level 20 and would meet the Grand Pontiff at the Worship Hall after breaking through.

• Lu Yuan killed a hundred-year Crimson-Tailed Wolf in seventeen breaths, and Shao Ping recorded that he had improved by three breaths.
• Across the changing seasons, Lu Yuan grew strong enough to defeat Spirit Beasts of around two hundred years and hold his own against those near three hundred years old.
• Lu Yuan’s strike against a Gray-Armored Beast was blocked by Xu Heng, and the scene shifted from the North Hunting Forest to the Northern Combat Arena.
• Lu Yuan countered Xu Heng’s familiar spear-suppressing moves and ended their fight with his spear at Xu Heng’s vital point while Xu Heng’s palm stopped near Lu Yuan’s shoulder.
• Shao Ping called the match a draw and, after Lu Yuan said his Soul Power was full, paused his forest training so Lu Yuan could prepare to break through to level 20.
• Shao Ping told Lu Yuan to come to the Worship Hall after his breakthrough because the Grand Pontiff had been waiting for him.

Lu Yuan broke through to Level 20 and met with Qian Daoliu to choose a Second Spirit Ring suited to his weakness in close combat. He chose a wounded seven-hundred-and-twenty-year Quake-Armor Beast and prepared to hunt it alone the next morning, with others allowed only to protect his life.

• After three days of recovery and cultivation, Lu Yuan quietly broke through to Level 20.
• Yan Tuo confirmed Lu Yuan's level and reduced the intensity of his training before reporting the breakthrough to the Worship Hall.
• Qian Daoliu reviewed Lu Yuan's draw with Xu Heng and identified close-range suppression as his main weakness.
• Qian Daoliu presented three Spirit Beast candidates, and Lu Yuan rejected the Shadow-Clawed Cat and Iron-Spined Savage Bull in favor of the injured Quake-Armor Beast.
• Lu Yuan chose the Quake-Armor Beast for its shock-rebound abilities, hoping to keep opponents from pinning down his spear.
• Qian Daoliu scheduled the hunt for the next morning and told Lu Yuan that his escorts would intervene only to save his life.

Lu Yuan fought the injured seven-hundred-and-twenty-year Quake-Armor Beast alone in a stone ravine and killed it with his final use of Piercing Edge. After Shao Ping told him to recover before absorbing it, Lu Yuan restored his strength beside the beast’s newly formed Yellow Spirit Ring.

• Lu Yuan and Shao Ping reached the stone ravine, where a deacon reported that the Quake-Armor Beast remained injured but still had considerable fighting strength.
• Lu Yuan refused to change targets and entered the ravine alone, where he learned that the beast’s damaged right hind leg slowed its turns.
• Lu Yuan repeatedly attacked the beast’s injured leg and flank, weakening it until it fled, then used Piercing Edge to bring it down.
• The Quake-Armor Beast launched a desperate counterattack and struck Lu Yuan, but he exploited its failing leg to pierce a gap in its neck armor and kill it.
• Shao Ping checked Lu Yuan’s injuries and told him to recover before absorbing the Yellow Spirit Ring as Lu Yuan began restoring his Soul Power.

Lu Yuan absorbed the Quake-Armor Beast’s 700-Year Spirit Ring, reached level 21, and gained the close-range Soul Skill Shock Edge. He left the ravine determined to challenge Xu Heng again after recovering from his injuries.

• Shao Ping treated Lu Yuan’s injuries and warned him that absorbing a 700-Year Spirit Ring carried serious risks.
• Lu Yuan endured the ring’s punishing vibrations, guided its power through his Piercing Spear, and stabilized at level 21.
• Lu Yuan tested Shock Edge on a boulder, using the spear shaft to deliver a focused vibration that cracked and shattered the stone.
• Shao Ping tested Shock Edge by gripping the spear; it briefly numbed his hand, though his greater Soul Power let him suppress it on a second attempt.
• Lu Yuan realized Shock Edge could counter Xu Heng’s habit of grabbing and pinning his spear, and declared that he would challenge Xu Heng again after recovering.

Lu Yuan returned to North Field after recovering and defeated Xu Heng in a sparring match by using his new Shock Edge skill to disrupt Xu Heng’s close-range tactics. Shao Ping ended Lu Yuan’s daily sparring there and told him the Grand Pontiff had summoned him.

• Lu Yuan met Xu Heng at North Field and revealed that he had gained a 720-year Second Spirit Ring.
• Lu Yuan used Shock Edge to break Xu Heng’s grip on his spear and counter his usual close-range suppression.
• Xu Heng adapted by avoiding the spear shaft, but Lu Yuan combined Shock Edge with Piercing Edge to keep control of the fight.
• Lu Yuan and Xu Heng exchanged attacks until both landed strikes that stopped just short of their targets, and Xu Heng acknowledged Lu Yuan’s victory.
• Shao Ping told Lu Yuan he no longer needed daily sparring at North Field and that the Grand Pontiff had summoned him.

After winning his second sparring match against Xu Heng, Lu Yuan finished his training at North Field and was assigned to assist Qian Renxue in Tiangou. He departed Spirit City with Han Lie’s team, beginning the journey to Heaven Dou City, where Qian Renxue would arrange to meet him.

• Lu Yuan told Qian Daoliu that he had defeated Xu Heng, and Qian Daoliu ended his North Field training.
• Qian Daoliu ordered Lu Yuan to travel to Tiangou and assist Qian Renxue, whose plans he would learn after meeting her.
• Qian Daoliu gave Lu Yuan a route map and roster, and told him to travel with Han Lie’s team in three days.
• Lu Yuan studied the route and prepared for the journey while suspending practical sparring.
• Lu Yuan met Han Lie at Spirit City’s eastern gate and departed with the team toward Heaven Dou City.

Three days after leaving Spirit City, Lu Yuan joined Luo Cheng in tracking down two Spirit Master robbers near an abandoned quarry. Lu Yuan captured the short-knife Spirit Master, and the group returned the prisoners to the Branch Hall, leaving him with a new understanding of how much more complicated human opponents were than Spirit Beasts.

• Deacon Zhou told Han Lie that two wandering Spirit Masters had been robbing caravans near the city, and Han Lie sent Lu Yuan with Luo Cheng to help capture them.
• Zhao Xun led Lu Yuan and Luo Cheng toward the quarry, where they avoided a warning trap before splitting up to corner the fugitives.
• Lu Yuan blocked the short-knife Spirit Master's escape and used Shock Edge to disrupt his close-range attacks.
• When the short-knife Spirit Master tried to flee and threw both knives at Lu Yuan, Lu Yuan knocked them aside, caught up with him, and forced him to surrender.
• Luo Cheng returned with the Gray Fox Spirit Master, and the group handed both captives over to the Branch Hall for questioning.
• Luo Cheng asked Lu Yuan how the capture compared with hunting Spirit Beasts, and Lu Yuan said that dealing with people was more troublesome.

Lu Yuan arrived in Heaven Dou City and recognized Qian Renxue disguised as the First Prince, Xue Qinghe. After receiving a secret invitation, he met her in a secluded courtyard, where she greeted him by saying, "You really came."

• Han Lie led the caravan through the remaining Branch Halls and onward to Heaven Dou City.
• Lu Yuan entered the imperial capital with the caravan and studied its streets as they traveled to the Spirit Hall Sanctuary.
• Lu Yuan recognized Qian Renxue beneath her Xue Qinghe identity when her imperial carriage passed the caravan.
• An attendant brought Lu Yuan a note inviting him to White Stone Alley at dusk, and Lu Yuan secretly left the Sanctuary to meet the sender.
• Lu Yuan entered a secluded courtyard and faced Xue Qinghe, who told him, "You really came."

Lu Yuan met Qian Renxue in secret, then attended a young Spirit Master exchange at Heaven Dou Royal Academy. He defeated the Rank 24 Gu Yan with his Second Soul Skill, Shock Edge, and drew the attention of the Rank 28 Qin Yue.

• Lu Yuan met Qian Renxue at White Stone Alley, told her he had reached Rank 21 and gained a 720-year Second Spirit Ring, and learned how to contact her discreetly in Tiangou.
• Deacon Zhao brought Lu Yuan to Heaven Dou Royal Academy’s young Spirit Master exchange, where Qian Renxue treated him as a stranger in her Xue Qinghe identity.
• Lu Yuan faced Gu Yan, a Rank 24 Soul Master with a Rending Claw Panther Martial Soul, in the sparring field.
• Lu Yuan used Shock Edge to disrupt Gu Yan’s attack, then defeated him with Piercing Edge, stopping his spearpoint just before Gu Yan’s throat.
• Qin Yue, a Rank 28 student, pushed through the crowd and fixed his gaze on Lu Yuan’s Piercing Spear.