Recaps

An Chen and the others coordinated their attacks against Zhao Wuji, but his full strength and Soul Skills overwhelmed them. The examination ended with Xiao Wu unconscious, Zhu Zhuqing injured, and Zhao Wuji declaring that Ning Rongrong and An Chen had lost.

• An Chen, Tang San, and Xiao Wu used a coordinated attack to slam Zhao Wuji headfirst into the ground, but Zhao Wuji recovered and activated his Vajra Gigantic Bear Martial Soul.
• Zhao Wuji struck the field with overwhelming force, scattering the examinees and sending Dai Mubai crashing into a wall when he pleaded for restraint.
• An Chen spotted an opening and guided Tang San and Xiao Wu’s attacks, while Zhu Zhuqing struck Zhao Wuji from behind with Netherworld Hundred Claws.
• Zhao Wuji activated Immovable Wisdom King Body, blasting Zhu Zhuqing unconscious and injuring Xiao Wu, Tang San, and An Chen with the shockwave.
• Xiao Wu used her confusion-type Soul Skill to weaken Zhao Wuji’s attack on Tang San, then collapsed from Soul Power backlash; An Chen confirmed she was not in danger.
• Zhao Wuji told Ning Rongrong and An Chen that they had lost because they had not endured for the time it took the incense to burn.

Tang San and An Chen continued the trial against Zhao Wuji, using An Chen’s Spirit Vision to help target openings in Zhao Wuji’s Soul Power. Zhao Wuji used four Soul Rings, then declared that the two boys had earned admission to Shrek Academy.

• Tang San asked An Chen to join him in another fight against Zhao Wuji, and An Chen agreed while Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing pledged to leave with them if they lost.
• An Chen used Spirit Vision to spot gaps in Zhao Wuji’s Soul Power, while Tang San attacked with Hidden Weapons aimed at those openings.
• Zhao Wuji used Gravity Enhancement, slowing Tang San and An Chen, but Tang San used Blue Silver Grass to hinder Zhao Wuji and keep retreating.
• Zhao Wuji activated his Fourth Soul Ring, which settled over Tang San, and declared that Tang San and An Chen had qualified for admission.

Tang San and An Chen fought Zhao Wuji with hidden weapons, poison, and An Chen’s ability to spot gaps in Soul Power. Zhao Wuji accepted their test and told them to meet at the academy playground the next morning.

• Zhao Wuji used Locational Tracking to pursue Tang San, who bound him with Blue Silver Grass and fired six crossbow bolts at him.
• An Chen spotted a gap in Zhao Wuji’s defense and struck his chest with the Iron Pot after detonating a Shadow Mark.
• Tang San poisoned Zhao Wuji with hidden weapons, while An Chen helped him exploit a gap in Zhao Wuji’s Gravity Squeeze.
• Tang San’s attacks and An Chen’s strikes disrupted Zhao Wuji’s Soul Power, but Zhao Wuji hit Tang San and sent him flying.
• Tang San’s tiny black hammer struck Zhao Wuji’s palm and face, leaving him bloodied and dazed.
• Zhao Wuji declared that Tang San and An Chen had passed, set a meeting for the next morning, and praised An Chen’s Iron Pot and eye Soul Skill.

After Tang San and the others passed Zhao Wuji’s test, the freshmen settled into their dormitories at Shrek Academy. The next morning, An Chen joined Tang San and Xiao Wu on their way to the cafeteria, where they met Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, Dai Mubai, and Ma Hongjun.

• Oscar healed Zhao Wuji and the injured freshmen with his sausages, and Zhao Wuji confirmed that they had passed the test.
• Tang San removed the Dragon Whisker Needles from Zhao Wuji, then fainted from exhaustion; Zhao Wuji ordered Dai Mubai to arrange rooms for the freshmen.
• Tang San woke in a dormitory with Oscar and An Chen, learned Xiao Wu was sharing a room with Ning Rongrong, and clarified that he and Xiao Wu were only friends.
• At dawn, Tang San gathered his scattered Hidden Weapons, then went to find Xiao Wu; An Chen stayed in the dormitory until later.
• An Chen joined Tang San and Xiao Wu on their way to the cafeteria, where Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, Dai Mubai, and Ma Hongjun had gathered.

Dai Mubai introduced Ma Hongjun and explained Shrek Academy’s rules and tuition before Flender summoned the students. An Chen noticed Flender looked different from his memories and became wary when Flender seemed to see through him, as the headmaster took Oscar and Ning Rongrong away for a special lesson.

• Dai Mubai introduced Ma Hongjun, who corrected him about his Phoenix Martial Soul, and explained the academy’s rules, tuition, and the limits of Spirit Hall subsidies.
• Oscar arrived clean-shaven and joked with Tang San and An Chen about courting Ning Rongrong before the students gathered on the Playground.
• Flender arrived wearing a gold-rimmed Monocle, and An Chen noticed his appearance differed from the Flender he remembered, though the others reacted as if nothing was unusual.
• Xiao Wu recognized Flender as the merchant uncle who had sold Tang San the Plate Crystal, while Oscar described Flender as a level seventy-eight Soul Saint who held grudges but protected his own.
• Flender instructed the students to pay their tuition and prepare for a dangerous lesson that night, then took Oscar and Ning Rongrong with him.
• Flender remarked on An Chen’s Iron Pot Martial Soul and Shadow Attribute Soul Skills, and An Chen suspected the headmaster’s gaze had seen through him to the Potion.

An Chen witnessed Li Yusong turn into a tentacled monster before Flender erased the abnormality, leaving everyone else unaware that anything had happened. Flender’s monocle and the others’ altered memories convinced An Chen that the headmaster was hiding something dangerous.

• An Chen questioned Dai Mubai and Tang San about Flender’s distinctive monocle, and both said Flender had always worn it.
• Li Yusong reported that Spirit Hall wanted the academy to make up a payment, triggering An Chen’s Clown Warning.
• An Chen saw Li Yusong mutate into a tree-like tentacled creature, while a sapling grew from An Chen’s arm and disturbing thoughts flooded his mind.
• Flender restored Li Yusong and removed a mass of tentacled tumors, then resumed their conversation as if nothing had happened.
• Tang San and Xiao Wu denied seeing anything unusual, and An Chen realized that everyone else remembered Flender and the incident differently before he hurried away.

An Chen used Divination to discover that the Flender he knew had changed, but he stayed with the Shrek students and followed Flender to the Suotuo Great Soul Arena for their first combat lesson. He entered the arena wary of Flender, whose Monocle seemed to watch him.

• An Chen asked Divination what was abnormal about Flender and saw an image of the Flender he remembered, making him suspect something had changed.
• An Chen considered fleeing Shrek Academy but joined the others for training after reminding himself that Flender had not harmed him.
• Flender reprimanded Ning Rongrong after she failed to complete her run, then sent Oscar to comfort her.
• Flender led the students through Suotuo City and assigned them actual combat at the Suotuo Great Soul Arena, where they were to earn at least a Silver Douhun Emblem before graduation.
• An Chen followed the group into the arena and noticed Flender's Monocle glinting as though it were watching him.

An Chen registered for the Suotuo Great Soul Arena and teamed up with Ma Hongjun as the Hot Pot Duo. After watching Xiao Wu defeat Qing Bao and Tang San defeat Zhu Zhuqing, An Chen won his first match by using his Iron Pot to knock out Zhang Wei.

• An Chen registered for the arena and formed the Hot Pot Duo with Ma Hongjun.
• Xiao Wu defeated Qing Bao with her Waist Bow in her first match.
• Tang San used his Purple Demon Eye and Binding to defeat Zhu Zhuqing.
• An Chen faced Zhang Wei and blocked his Soul Skills with the Iron Pot.
• An Chen overwhelmed Zhang Wei with repeated pot strikes and knocked him unconscious, winning the match.

An Chen and Ma Hongjun fought the Iron Wall Duo in the two-on-two Soul Arena and won by combining An Chen’s Black Fog and attacks with Ma Hongjun’s flames. Afterward, their friends praised the pair as they returned to the resting area.

• An Chen and Ma Hongjun entered the ring as the Hot Pot Duo and traded insults with the Iron Wall Duo.
• An Chen dodged the Iron Shield man’s charge while Ma Hongjun used his flames to heat the Iron Armor man’s defenses.
• An Chen enveloped the arena in Black Fog and guided Ma Hongjun’s Phoenix Fire Line against the Iron Shield man’s ankle.
• An Chen used Detonate and repeated Iron Pot strikes to knock the Iron Shield man unconscious.
• An Chen and Ma Hongjun defeated the Iron Armor man with Black Fog, flames, and Detonate, earning the host’s announcement that the Hot Pot Duo had won.
• Ma Hongjun celebrated with An Chen, and Tang San and Dai Mubai praised their teamwork.

An Chen nearly broke through to level thirty while Oscar reached the same milestone, prompting Li Yusong to lead a lesson on accepting Oscar’s Sausages. The class passed the exercise, and Li Yusong announced they might hunt Soul Beasts the next day to help Oscar obtain his Soul Ring.

• An Chen left the Soul Arena to cultivate, but after a night of progress he remained just short of a breakthrough.
• At breakfast, Dai Mubai discussed going out, while An Chen declined and chose to keep cultivating; Ning Rongrong arrived at class looking haggard.
• Li Yusong took charge of the lesson and Oscar hurried in, excited to announce that he had reached level thirty.
• Li Yusong ordered everyone except Oscar to eat both kinds of Sausage, and Ning Rongrong stepped forward first before the others followed.
• Li Yusong declared the class had passed and said they might leave the next day to hunt a Soul Beast for Oscar’s Soul Ring.

An Chen reached Rank 30 and joined Zhao Wuji and the Shrek students on their journey to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt a Soul Beast for Oscar. After reaching Star Dou Town and settling into an inn, the group encountered teachers and students from Canghui Academy.

• An Chen cultivated overnight, broke through to Rank 30, and prepared for the trip.
• Zhao Wuji led the students toward the Star Dou Great Forest, and Dai Mubai assigned them positions in a formation.
• The group ran more than four hundred kilometers with Oscar's Sausages sustaining them and reached Star Dou Town by nightfall.
• Dai Mubai booked rooms and treated the students to dinner, while Ma Hongjun tried to ease the awkward mood among them.
• A group wearing Canghui Academy emblems entered the inn, and An Chen recognized their affiliation.

An Chen and the Shrek group provoked a confrontation with Canghui Academy at a restaurant, where Dai Mubai and Xiao Wu quickly defeated several students. The Canghui students summoned their Martial Souls, and Dai Mubai called on his companions to do the same.

• Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai insulted Canghui Academy, prompting its dean Ye Zhiqiu to send a student to teach them a lesson.
• The Canghui student tried to spill a dish on Dai Mubai and kick their table, but Dai Mubai struck him and sent him crashing through two tables.
• Ye Zhiqiu ordered his students to attack, and Xiao Wu leaped in and threw two of them before the others could react.
• Dai Mubai, An Chen, Ma Hongjun, and Tang San joined Xiao Wu as the Canghui students summoned their Martial Souls and displayed one white and one yellow Soul Ring each.
• Dai Mubai mocked the Canghui students' ten-year Soul Rings and told his companions to summon their Martial Souls.

Dai Mubai and the others fought Ye Zhiqiu after a dispute with Canghui Academy, and An Chen helped them overcome the Soul King with his Black Fog and detonating Shadow Mark. Zhao Wuji ended the fight with a single slap, then reminded the students to support one another as they returned to the hotel.

• Dai Mubai, Tang San, Ma Hongjun, and An Chen released their Martial Souls, prompting Ye Zhiqiu to step forward and reveal his Dark Turtle Martial Soul and five Soul Rings.
• Tang San devised a plan to exploit Ye Zhiqiu’s limited attack options, while An Chen privately suspected Ning Rongrong was not yet trusted as a teammate.
• Dai Mubai, Zhu Zhuqing, Tang San, Ma Hongjun, and An Chen attacked Ye Zhiqiu, but his defense and cold-based skills repelled their initial assaults.
• An Chen detonated his Shadow Mark twice to interrupt Ye Zhiqiu’s skills, letting Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and Xiao Wu overwhelm and restrain him.
• Zhao Wuji arrived, ordered Xiao Wu to release Ye Zhiqiu, and knocked him more than thirty meters away with a slap that cracked his shell.
• Zhao Wuji questioned Ning Rongrong about not supporting the team, then reminded the students to help one another before leading them back to the hotel.

An Chen and the others entered the Star Dou Great Forest to find Oscar a Soul Ring, while An Chen hoped to find a Shadow Attribute Soul Beast. They encountered a wounded Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent, and the group brought it down so Oscar could claim it.

• Zhao Wuji led the group into the Star Dou Great Forest and warned them to stay close and avoid attacking Soul Beasts without permission.
• The group avoided several harmless Soul Beasts, and An Chen noticed Xiao Wu grew troubled by the idea of hunting them.
• An Chen, Tang San, and Zhao Wuji sensed an approaching Soul Beast, which Zhu Zhuqing identified as a Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent suitable for Oscar.
• Zhu Zhuqing attacked the serpent, but it dodged and released colorful mist as its speed surged.
• An Chen engulfed the serpent in Black Fog, then Dai Mubai and Ning Rongrong struck it down, and An Chen's Detonate attack knocked it unconscious.
• Tang San bound the unconscious Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent with Blue Silver Grass to keep it from flying away.

An Chen and the Shrek group captured a Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent for Oscar, but Snake Granny Chao Tianxiang arrived and claimed it for her granddaughter, Meng Yiran. Tang San defeated Meng Yiran in a duel, allowing Oscar to claim the serpent’s Soul Ring and begin absorbing it.

• An Chen used his Second Soul Skill to restrain the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent, and Zhao Wuji subdued it so Oscar could take its Soul Ring.
• Chao Tianxiang and Meng Yiran arrived, claiming they had wounded and pursued the serpent first, and Zhao Wuji showed them that Oscar and An Chen had reached level thirty.
• Chao Tianxiang proposed a duel to settle the dispute, and Tang San volunteered to fight Meng Yiran in Oscar’s place.
• Tang San used Blue Silver Grass and Hidden Weapons to disarm Meng Yiran and hold a blade at her throat, forcing her to concede.
• Chao Tianxiang let the Shrek group keep the serpent, and Oscar killed it and began absorbing its Soul Ring.

Oscar and Tang San obtained their Third Soul Rings, but the search for An Chen’s Soul Ring failed, and the group returned to Shrek. When Grandmaster arrived, he revealed a Monocle and an identical An Chen appeared, prompting the real An Chen to flee.

• Oscar reached level thirty-one and gained a flight skill, while Tang San announced that he had reached level thirty.
• A Titan Giant Ape attacked the group and carried Xiao Wu away; Tang San pursued it, and the others followed to protect him.
• The group found Tang San absorbing a purple Soul Ring beside a dead spider, and Xiao Wu returned safely; she said she had also obtained her Third Soul Ring.
• After failing to find a suitable Shadow Attribute Soul Beast for An Chen, the group returned to Shrek, where Flender promised to take An Chen hunting the next day.
• Grandmaster arrived and placed a silver-rimmed Monocle over his right eye, after which an identical An Chen appeared and the real An Chen ran from Shrek.

After escaping Shrek, An Chen reached Xuanshui City and investigated the strange Flender and Yu Xiaogang while planning to obtain his third soul ring. He learned that Sanchao Post traded in Whale Glue and set out toward the seaside, though the sailor’s warning that the place was “unearthly” remained unexplained.

• An Chen collapsed in the woods after fleeing, then reached Xuanshui City and rested at an inn.
• An Chen reviewed the unsettling events at Shrek, considered where to go next, and used divination to learn that Flender and Yu Xiaogang were not pursuing him.
• An Chen decided to seek a Shadow-attribute soul ring and investigate Whale Glue as a way to strengthen his body.
• An Chen overheard reports of ordinary villagers behaving strangely and learned from a drunken sailor that Sanchao Post traded in Whale Glue and was considered unearthly.
• An Chen left Xuanshui City and headed toward Sanchao Post by way of the seaside.

An Chen arrived at Sanchao Post under the guise of a mercenary seeking Whale Rubber and learned that Director Mokai controlled the town’s trade. After settling into the inn, he woke to a guest’s terrified account of a man with tentacles who had touched her in a dream.

• An Chen entered Sanchao Post disguised as a mercenary and observed the town’s noisy street life.
• An Chen checked into the Sanchao Inn and told an attendant he was seeking Whale Rubber for an important figure in Heaven Dou City.
• The attendant directed An Chen to Director Mokai, who controlled the Whale Rubber business and wielded influence over Sanchao Post.
• An Chen spent the night listening to the inn’s rowdy guests before falling asleep.
• A woman screamed in the night, then told the attendant she had dreamed of a man with sea-rattan tentacles licking her and insisted the experience had felt real.

An Chen visited Mokai to negotiate for thousand-year Whale Rubber and noticed a strange, living mark on Mokai’s wrist. At the shore, he found the terrified woman from the inn, who described being wrapped in vines or tentacles and said she could no longer tell what was real.

• An Chen heard townspeople discuss a woman who had screamed about tentacles at the inn and left before dawn.
• An Chen visited Mokai at the Sanchao Post Master Manor and asked to buy Whale Rubber.
• Mokai offered a fist-sized piece of Three-Thousand-Year Whale Glue for thirty thousand Gold Soul Coins and said he needed a few days to prepare it.
• An Chen noticed a purplish-red mark wriggling on Mokai’s wrist, but Mokai claimed it came from Cambing Poison Coral and a beneficial Martial Soul mutation.
• An Chen found the woman from the inn at the beach, where she described a man whose vines or tentacles had wrapped around her and said she could not distinguish reality from delusion.

An Chen witnessed a woman transform into a tree and explode, then discovered purplish-red traces in Mokai’s Whale Rubber and investigated his courtyard at night. He found more tainted Whale Rubber and Ritual Magic materials, and heard several people breathing nearby.

• An Chen watched a woman turn into a grotesque tree and explode, then fled the shore before the crowd arrived.
• Back at the inn, An Chen examined his Whale Rubber and saw purplish-red traces like those on Mokai’s wounds.
• An Chen entered Mokai’s courtyard at night but found no sign of him in the main rooms.
• An Chen broke into a side room and found Whale Rubber marked with the same purplish-red traces.
• An Chen opened two Storage Soul Tools, found Ritual Magic materials inside, and stored them in his Ring.
• An Chen heard movement and the breathing of more than three people deeper in the room.

An Chen discovered humanoid auras behind a hidden wall, then encountered Mokai, who revealed his mutated Martial Soul and attacked him. An Chen escaped Mokai’s vines and mind-altering fragrance by detonating his mark, but Mokai’s next attack began to affect him as he fled.

• An Chen used Spirit Vision to glimpse about five humanoid auras behind a wall, but found no way through and returned to the courtyard.
• An Chen met Mokai beneath the banyan tree, where Mokai accused him of breaking in and revealed that he intended to sacrifice him to a being.
• Mokai transformed as vines burst from his body, then used his four soul rings and level 40 Soul Ancestor power to attack An Chen.
• An Chen used his Black Fog and iron pot to fend off Mokai’s blows, but the vines’ sweet fragrance clouded his thoughts until the system’s warning snapped him awake.
• An Chen detonated the mark on Mokai, slipped through a gap in the vines, and ran for the wall, but Mokai activated his Third Soul Ring and the red light and scent began affecting him again.

An Chen resisted Mokai’s mind-altering fragrance and, after using Listen despite the danger, triggered Ignite to defeat him. As Mokai lay dying, An Chen prepared a spirit-summoning ritual to uncover the truth behind the attempted sacrifice.

• Mokai’s fragrance weakened An Chen and left him unable to move or use his Soul Skills, but anger helped him resist its effects.
• An Chen activated Listen, accidentally exposing himself to terrifying Babbles that overwhelmed his senses.
• Mokai’s vines began wrapping around An Chen, who said “Ignite” and magnified Mokai’s emotions until Mokai collapsed, blinded and badly injured.
• An Chen recovered enough to approach Mokai and watched him weaken, realizing the System Barrier had interfered with his Ritual Magic.
• An Chen took ritual materials from the Ring and prepared to summon a spirit before Mokai’s corpse to learn about Mokai’s mark, Martial Soul, and intended sacrifice.

An Chen survived the encounter with Mokai, discovered a hidden room containing a Human Tree, and took the valuables from Mokai’s Jade Pendant and Altar. The next morning, he learned that Mokai’s residence had burned down and that Hall Master Cang had fought an Evil Soul Master who fled out to sea.

• Mokai prayed at an Altar until a revelation told him to find someone, and An Chen experienced a disturbing vision of a towering tree.
• An Chen recovered from the vision, found Mokai’s corpse, took the Jade Pendant and its valuables, and collected the contaminated Whale Glue from the warehouse.
• An Chen opened a hidden passage with the Jade Pendant and found a Human Tree in one room and another Altar with a fragrant Gold Soul Coin in another.
• An Chen burned Mokai’s corpse and returned to the inn, while a black-robed man on a hillside thanked the “kind Mother” after finding what he sought.
• The next morning, An Chen heard inn patrons say Director Mo’s residence had burned and Hall Master Cang had fought an Evil Soul Master who escaped out to sea.

An Chen realized Mokai's cult had sought him and planned to leave to purify the contaminated Whale Glue and hunt for his third Soul Ring. A new Evil Soul Master confronted Spirit Hall Hall Master Cang Lan by the sea, where their battle ended with both apparently incapacitated.

• An Chen failed to enable the system's concealment, connected Mokai's tentacles and dream attacks to the woman who died by the sea, and suspected an entity behind the contaminated Whale Glue was seeking him.
• An Chen decided to leave town, purify the Whale Glue, and hunt for a third Soul Ring, then packed and returned to the spot where he had stopped days earlier.
• An Chen saw a huge storm forming over the sea and hid in an earthen pit as the hillside shook.
• Cang Lan explained that he had fought a strange black-robed Evil Soul Master through the night after finding her at Sanchao Post, then unleashed his sixth Soul Skill, Eye of the Storm.
• The black-robed elder turned into mist, passed through Cang Lan's storm, and re-formed behind him before her howl made her chest cave in; Cang Lan lost consciousness and the storm began to fade.

An Chen used a Spirit Hall elder’s Black Card to avoid being detained, then traveled inland to obtain his Third Soul Ring. After absorbing a five-thousand-year Double-Headed Wolf ring, he awakened a new Soul Skill and emerged with three rings.

• An Chen stopped fleeing when Spirit Hall members approached, but Fu Lei accused him of aiding an Evil Soul Master and demanded to inspect his Storage Soul Tool.
• An Chen accidentally revealed a Spirit Hall Elder Exclusive Black Card, causing Fu Lei to apologize and let him leave.
• An Chen put the card away and continued inland, resisting the urge to kill the Spirit Hall group as his Babble worsened.
• An Chen purified contaminated Whale Glue through a ritual to The Fool, absorbed it, and later hunted a five-thousand-year Double-Headed Wolf.
• An Chen endured the wolf’s Soul Ring as it fused with him and his Iron Pot, then opened his eyes with yellow, yellow, and purple Soul Rings and judged his new Soul Skill interesting.