Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Ning Tian, Wu Feng, and Jiang Yu leave the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect for Shrek Academy. Ning Yunxiu gives them practical advice, warns them not to tolerate anyone mistreating them, and cautions them about the hostile Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
• Before leaving, Jiang Yu learns that the Heart of Space contains immense mental and spatial energy. The Grand Elder was injured when it resisted her investigation, so Jiang Yu is warned to handle it carefully until he is stronger.
• The trio first travel to Star Dou Great Forest to obtain Ning Tian’s third Spirit Ring. She has spent nearly five months refining her Soul Power and improving her physique, and has mastered Three Apertures Control Heart, an exceptional achievement for someone her age.
• Wu Feng remains unusually quiet and hides beneath a veil because her red-and-green coloring is still visible; Ning Tian reassures her that it should fade soon.
• The group rejects a Scale-Armored Beast because its defensive Ring would not best serve their team. They later find a roughly two-thousand-year-old Demon Lizard Dragon. It attacks, and the trio prepare for battle, with Ning Tian enhancing her companions and Jiang Yu striking first.

Character development

• Ning Yunxiu reveals her affection and pride beneath her confident advice; the farewell is difficult for her, though she tries to hide her sadness.
• Ning Tian shows growing skill and tactical judgment. She has advanced quickly in both cultivation and sect technique, and chooses a Spirit Ring for its value to the team rather than accepting a familiar, conventional option.
• Jiang Yu learns the danger surrounding the Heart of Space and takes the warning seriously.
• Wu Feng, usually outspoken, is subdued and embarrassed about her temporary appearance, while still accompanying the others.

Character interactions

• Ning Yunxiu sends the children off with both reassurance and a promise that the sect will support them if trouble arises. Ning Tian and Wu Feng are visibly moved.
• Ning Tian comforts Wu Feng during the journey.
• The trio make the Spirit Ring decision together, trusting Ning Tian’s assessment and coordinating smoothly in combat through years of fighting as a team.

Significant themes

• Family and home: The departure emphasizes the comfort and security of home, as well as the emotional cost of leaving it.
• Growth and independence: The young cultivators must face challenges without constant protection from their elders.
• Teamwork and practical judgment: Ning Tian’s choice reflects the importance of matching individual abilities to the group’s needs.
• Power and caution: The Heart of Space’s mysterious strength underscores the danger of pursuing or handling power beyond one’s current abilities.

Key plot points and events

• In a nearby part of the Star Dou Great Forest, Bei Bei, Tang Ya, and Huo Yuhao fight a thousand-year Mandala Snake. Bei Bei wears it down, while Huo Yuhao quietly supports him; Tang Ya kills it with a throwing knife and begins absorbing its Spirit Ring.
• As Bei Bei explains the Soul Beast to Huo Yuhao, the pair narrowly evade a dark-purple figure racing through the forest, followed by Jiang Yu.
• Jiang Yu has been pursuing a thousand-year Demon Lizard Dragon. When it tries to escape by air, he uses the Light Dragon Dagger, supported by Ning Tian’s Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, to cripple and nearly kill it. Ning Tian finishes it off and begins absorbing its Spirit Ring.
• The two teams spot one another. Jiang Yu recognizes the unfamiliar group as oddly familiar, while Bei Bei studies Jiang Yu’s abilities and suspects he comes from a powerful organization.

Character developments

• Huo Yuhao shows keen observation and curiosity, notices Jiang Yu’s unusual speed and purple Second Spirit Ring, and gains further insight into stronger Soul Masters.
• Bei Bei demonstrates combat skill and a protective instinct toward Huo Yuhao. Though friendly in conversation, he remains cautious about strangers and possible threats.
• Tang Ya is eager and decisive: she takes the opening Bei Bei creates, kills the Mandala Snake, and immediately focuses on absorbing its ring.
• Jiang Yu proves exceptionally powerful for his age, combining his own Soul Skills with Ning Tian’s support to defeat the Demon Lizard Dragon. He is also pragmatic, telling Wu Feng to avoid provoking the other team.
• Ning Tian supports Jiang Yu and takes care to assess the other group before proceeding. Wu Feng remains protective and suspicious, but follows Jiang Yu’s instruction.

Significant themes

• Power and talent: Jiang Yu’s strength, young age, and thousand-year Second Spirit Ring mark him as an extraordinary Soul Master.
• Caution and trust: In the forest, people can be as dangerous as Soul Beasts, so both groups assess one another carefully.
• Teamwork: Bei Bei’s opening enables Tang Ya’s kill, while Ning Tian’s support amplifies Jiang Yu’s attack.
• Fate and coincidence: The narration highlights the striking parallel between two nearby teams, each consisting of two boys and a girl, whose paths unexpectedly cross.

Character interactions

• Bei Bei coaches Huo Yuhao through the Mandala Snake encounter and explains what they have fought; Huo Yuhao listens eagerly.
• Bei Bei and Tang Ya coordinate the kill with a brief command and immediate response.
• Jiang Yu rebukes Wu Feng’s suspicion, joking that she is more likely to cause trouble herself, then advises her to stay civil toward the strangers.
• Bei Bei and Huo Yuhao watch Jiang Yu’s team from a distance. Bei Bei’s respect for Jiang Yu’s skill is tempered by concern that the stranger’s powerful backing could make the encounter dangerous.

Key plot points

• After recovering from the fight, Jiang Yu confirms that the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm has fused with Huo Yuhao. He is unsure whether Electrolux’s remnant soul has joined him as well, but wants to acquire it for its necromantic abilities and half-plane.
• Jiang Yu recognizes that his growing strength and his competition with Huo Yuhao for major opportunities will eventually draw the attention of the God King. He accepts that he and the God King cannot coexist, though he considers Huo Yuhao a useful distraction for now.
• Tang Ya and Ning Tian finish absorbing their Spirit Rings. Ning Tian’s accumulated cultivation surges, raising her to level thirty-four; Wu Feng, still at level twenty-eight, feels envious.
• Tang Ya approaches Jiang Yu’s group and learns that the three are new Shrek Academy students. Their high cultivation—especially Ning Tian’s—stuns Tang Ya, Bei Bei, and Huo Yuhao.
• Tang Ya invites them to travel to the academy together. After checking with Jiang Yu and Wu Feng, Ning Tian agrees. The six reach Shrek City, where a huge crowd has gathered for enrollment.
• The groups part at the city gate: Bei Bei and Tang Ya take Huo Yuhao to register, while Jiang Yu, Ning Tian, and Wu Feng plan to handle enrollment themselves. Wu Feng then criticizes the decision to use an interview admission spot on Huo Yuhao, and Jiang Yu begins to explain the situation.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Yu remains calculating and focused on the larger conflict with the God King. He observes others’ motives and plans to explain why Huo Yuhao was admitted.
• Ning Tian shows composure and diplomacy, easing the tension between the groups and making decisions in consultation with Jiang Yu and Wu Feng.
• Wu Feng reveals a more perceptive side beneath her bluntness: she recognizes Tang Ya’s interest in recruiting talented students and questions the value of bringing Huo Yuhao into the sect.
• Tang Ya is warm, impulsive, and eager to make friends. She also sees the newcomers as potential recruits for the struggling Tang Sect.
• Bei Bei remains protective of Tang Ya and helps guide Huo Yuhao through enrollment. Huo Yuhao is present but mostly quiet and concerned.

Significant themes

• Ambition versus control: Jiang Yu’s pursuit of strength sets him against the God King, who seeks to control the world’s fate.
• Competing destinies: Jiang Yu sees himself and Huo Yuhao as rivals shaped by forces beyond their control, rather than as simply right or wrong.
• Talent and merit: The characters debate whether Huo Yuhao’s weak cultivation makes him an unsuitable recruit, raising questions about potential versus present ability.
• Trust and hidden motives: Tang Ya’s friendliness builds rapport, but the others remain alert to her recruitment agenda and her probing into their backgrounds.

Plot points and events

• Jiang Yu tells Ning Tian and Wu Feng that Huo Yuhao’s Body Martial Soul is probably his eyes, with a mental attribute. He believes Yuhao’s poor health in childhood explains his slow cultivation.
• Ning Tian considers recruiting Yuhao, but Jiang Yu points out that Yuhao has joined the Tang Sect and that both Bei Bei and the Body Sect could make interference dangerous.
• Jiang Yu suggests Bei Bei’s Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon heritage, combined with his upbringing at Shrek, may connect him to a powerful Shrek figure. Ning Tian works out the implication; Wu Feng loudly blurts it out and has to be silenced.
• The trio delays registration, hoping to be placed together. They register that evening as specially invited students, bypass the entrance assessment, and are assigned to New Student Class Nine.
• At the academy gate, Jiang Yu privately criticizes Tang San’s conduct while looking at his statue.
• At the dormitory entrance, Jiang Yu senses something extraordinary in the frail old man on watch and bows. The old man is Mu En, who later reflects on the unusual newcomers—especially Jiang Yu’s dragon aura and exceptional mental strength.

Character developments

• Jiang Yu shows sharp judgment about Huo Yuhao and Bei Bei, caution about powerful factions, and strong perception in recognizing Mu En’s presence.
• Ning Tian is thoughtful and increasingly assertive: she understands Jiang Yu’s hints and firmly warns Wu Feng to control her speech.
• Wu Feng remains impulsive and eager to stay close to Ning Tian, but promises to behave after being threatened with a return to her sect.
• Mu En becomes intrigued by the incoming students, whose vitality stirs him after decades of stillness.

Character interactions

• Jiang Yu and Ning Tian exchange coded observations about Bei Bei’s lineage; Wu Feng’s confusion prompts Ning Tian to explain.
• Ning Tian disciplines Wu Feng, who clings to her and pleads not to be sent away.
• The trio follows Jiang Yu’s lead in showing respect to Mu En, despite not knowing who he is.

Significant themes

• Hidden potential and first impressions: Huo Yuhao’s apparent weakness conceals a rare martial soul, while Jiang Yu’s unusual qualities catch Mu En’s attention.
• Power, lineage, and loyalty: The characters weigh the influence of the Tang Sect, the Body Sect, and Bei Bei’s heritage.
• Caution and discretion: Wu Feng’s impulsiveness contrasts with the need to keep sensitive information quiet.
• Renewal and expectation: The new students’ arrival awakens Mu En’s long-dormant interest in the future.

Key plot points and events

• Jiang Yu moves into Dorm 119, where he meets his roommate, Xie Huanyue, a friendly, exceptionally large freshman with a powerful defensive martial soul. Jiang Yu recognizes his future potential and considers helping recruit him for the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
• Jiang Yu and Xie Huanyue bond while settling in. Jiang Yu invites him to dinner, then brings him together with Ning Tian and Wu Feng.
• They meet Nanmen Yun’er, Wu Feng’s gentle, green-haired roommate and another promising soul master. The group goes to the poorly equipped freshmen’s dining hall, where Wu Feng complains about the conditions.
• Jiang Yu explains that the outer court is not Shrek’s true center and buys an extravagant meal. Ning Tian supplies tables and chairs from her storage Soul Tool. Their conspicuous feast attracts attention but helps the five freshmen grow closer.
• Jiang Yu notices Huo Yuhao eating an inexpensive meal but observes that the struggling boy is too hesitant to greet them.
• The next morning, Xie Huanyue heads to his separate class while Jiang Yu attends New Student Class Nine. He joins Ning Tian, Wu Feng, and Nanmen Yun’er in the back row by the window.
• Their teacher, Mu Jin, arrives. Jiang Yu reflects bitterly on Shrek’s reputation and on Zhou Yi, another former student and teacher whom he considers especially despicable.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Yu is confident and pragmatic: he sees little reason to remain in the outer court once he qualifies for the Inner Court, and he treats talented classmates as possible recruits. He quickly builds rapport with Xie Huanyue and Nanmen Yun’er.
• Xie Huanyue is warm and helpful, assisting Jiang Yu with his room and readily accepting his dinner invitation once he learns Jiang Yu is wealthy.
• Ning Tian and Wu Feng remain Jiang Yu’s close companions. Ning Tian’s practical generosity—producing furniture—helps make the group’s meal possible, while Wu Feng openly challenges the academy’s harsh living arrangements.
• Nanmen Yun’er joins the group through Wu Feng and Ning Tian; her gentle manner makes an immediate impression on Jiang Yu.
• Huo Yuhao appears as an impoverished, socially hesitant freshman, contrasting with Jiang Yu’s privileged group.
• Jiang Yu’s internal commentary, including his delight at claiming the back-row window seat, adds humor and shows his outsider perspective on familiar academy customs.

Significant themes

• Privilege and inequality: The contrast between the group’s lavish meal and Huo Yuhao’s cheap food highlights differences in wealth and opportunity.
• Institutional hardship: Wu Feng criticizes Shrek’s crowded, poorly equipped outer court; Jiang Yu frames its shortcomings as evidence that the Inner Court is what truly matters.
• Talent, loyalty, and recruitment: Jiang Yu views promising peers not only as friends but also as potential allies for the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
• Belonging and camaraderie: Shared practical help and food rapidly turn unfamiliar classmates into a social group.

Plot points and events

• Mu Jin introduces Class Nine’s rules, warning students that Shrek’s permissive attitude toward fighting does not excuse rule-breaking.
• He appoints Jiang Yu and Ning Tian as class monitor and deputy monitor because both are Soul Elders. Jiang Yu declines the monitor role, saying Ning Tian should take it, and invites anyone who wants to challenge them to fight Wu Feng first.
• Mu Jin endorses the challenge and explains that Shrek’s freshman assessment, in three months, will be based on actual combat and eliminate more than two-thirds of the students. He leads the class to the Soul Dueling Area for a demonstration.
• On the way, the students encounter Wang Dong’s dazzling Light Goddess Butterfly wings. Jiang Yu watches, reflects on Wang Dong’s limited progress and troubled future, then continues on.
• Nanmen Yun’er shares gossip about Freshman Class One’s teacher, Zhou Yi, who is notorious for harsh treatment and making students run laps.

Character development and interactions

• Jiang Yu shows confidence and a sharp, provocative sense of humor, but declines leadership duties because he does not want the responsibility. He supports Ning Tian’s advancement and uses Wu Feng as the first hurdle for challengers.
• Ning Tian is positioned to take the monitor role, which aligns with her responsibilities as the future head of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
• Wu Feng proudly accepts the prospect of fighting and warns classmates that she may not control her strength.
• Mu Jin is comparatively gentle in manner but firmly upholds Shrek’s competitive, strength-first culture.
• The class reacts differently to Jiang Yu: many girls admire him, while many boys resent his confidence. The group then follows him and his companions toward the dueling area.

Significant themes

• Strength and competition: Shrek treats combat as the measure of ability, and students may challenge one another to prove themselves.
• Merit and responsibility: Authority is assigned to the capable, but Jiang Yu’s refusal highlights that strength does not necessarily mean wanting leadership.
• Harsh institutional expectations: The coming assessment makes clear that most students will be eliminated.
• Fate and identity: Jiang Yu’s thoughts about Wang Dong foreshadow the loss of her identity in her later transformation into Tang Wutong.

Key plot points and events

• During the first class of the school year, Wu Feng overwhelms a group of weaker freshmen, demonstrating the gap between ordinary students and Shrek’s strongest talents. Jiang Yu and Ning Tian observe without needing to intervene.
• Mu Jin uses the defeat to warn the class against arrogance. He later keeps Jiang Yu, Ning Tian, and Wu Feng behind; Jiang Yu’s conversation with him results in special permission to attend Mu Jin’s classes selectively, in exchange for an unstated favor.
• Jiang Yu is focused on winning the freshman assessment, chiefly because core disciple status could help him enter the Inner Court later.
• One morning, the trio visits Sea God Lake and spots Ma Xiaotao, her Evil Fire out of control, charging toward Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong.
• Before the remembered scene of the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm stopping Ma Xiaotao can occur, time and space seem to freeze. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong disappear, and Ma Xiaotao redirects toward Jiang Yu and the two girls.
• Realizing the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm has shifted the danger onto them, Jiang Yu grabs Ning Tian and Wu Feng and races toward Shrek Square.

Character developments

• Jiang Yu remains strategic and goal-oriented, pursuing core disciple status and the chance to advance toward the Inner Court. When danger arises, he reacts quickly and decisively.
• Wu Feng displays confidence and combat skill, relishing the chance to fight after years of demanding training under Jiang Yu.
• Ning Tian shows practical judgment, recognizing that excessive physical training can harm young students’ development.
• Mu Jin appears stern while privately enjoying Wu Feng’s one-sided victory; he also grants Jiang Yu unusual flexibility after making a deal with him.
• Ma Xiaotao is presented as an overwhelming threat when her Evil Fire takes control.

Significant themes

• True strength versus arrogance: the freshmen learn that Shrek’s standards are far beyond ordinary ability.
• Preparation and balance: training matters, but physical development also requires proper nourishment and care.
• Ambition and opportunity: Jiang Yu’s pursuit of core disciple status is driven by the future access it could provide.
• Unpredictable danger: familiar events do not unfold as expected, and a problem meant for others can suddenly become one’s own.

Character interactions

• Wu Feng’s performance earns the freshmen’s awe and Mu Jin’s barely concealed amusement.
• Wu Feng teases Jiang Yu while praising the scenery and looking admiringly at Ning Tian; Jiang Yu reacts with irritation.
• Ning Tian and Wu Feng share alarm at Ma Xiaotao’s terrifying appearance and aura.
• Jiang Yu protects both girls by carrying them away as Ma Xiaotao bears down on them.

Key plot points and events

• Ma Xiaotao, driven mad by her out-of-control Evil Fire, pursues Jiang Yu, Ning Tian, and Wu Feng. Jiang Yu boosts their speed with his Light Dragon Dagger and Ning Tian’s Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.
• They flee into Shrek Square, where Ma Xiaotao’s arrival sparks panic. She ignores the students caught in the flames and focuses on the trio.
• Ma Xiaotao unleashes her powerful fifth Soul Skill, Phoenix Cloud-Piercing Strike. Ning Tian protects the group with the Eternal Boundary Wall, leaving them unharmed.
• Ning Tian and Wu Feng withdraw and leave the counterattack to Jiang Yu. He fires the Soul-Destroying Cannon, despite a distant voice ordering him to stop.
• Ma Xiaotao’s defenses fail against the beam. At the last moment, she briefly regains clarity, and a golden phoenix intervenes—revealed as Bright Phoenix Avatar—pushing Ma Xiaotao away and enclosing the cannon’s destructive energy. The chapter ends before the outcome is clear.

Character development and interactions

• Jiang Yu acts decisively under pressure, prioritizing escape and then retaliation. Though Ma Xiaotao is far stronger, he refuses to let her attack go unanswered.
• Ning Tian and Wu Feng move from fear to resolve. They trust Jiang Yu to handle the fight and escape rather than remain in danger.
• Ma Xiaotao is almost entirely consumed by rage and madness, but the threat to her life briefly restores her awareness, bringing fear and regret.
• The three companions cooperate closely: Jiang Yu leads their escape, Ning Tian shields them, and both girls give him the opportunity to fight back.

Significant themes

• Power and vulnerability: Jiang Yu is vastly outmatched, but teamwork and Soul Tools let the trio survive.
• Responsibility amid loss of control: Ma Xiaotao’s madness causes widespread harm, though the chapter suggests she is not fully beyond awareness.
• Retaliation and moral ambiguity: Jiang Yu considers his attack justified, while the order to stop—and his refusal—raises questions about the limits of self-defense.
• Trust and sacrifice: Ning Tian and Wu Feng rely on Jiang Yu, while the golden phoenix’s intervention introduces another act of protection at the brink of disaster.

Key plot points and events

• Ma Xiaotao’s rampage leaves flames across Shrek Square and more than a hundred students injured. The Tree of Life Soul Sage heals the victims, including Jiang Yu, whose internal injuries came from firing the Soul-Destroying Cannon.
• Yan Shaozhe arrives and criticizes Jiang Yu, Ning Tian, and Wu Feng for using such a destructive Soul Tool. Ning Tian argues that they were defending themselves after Ma Xiaotao attacked them without provocation.
• Jiang Yu condemns the academy for failing to stop Ma Xiaotao and calls her an Evil Soul Master, citing her monstrous behavior and the danger she posed to students and civilians.
• Ning Tian reveals that the three are specially admitted students from the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and that the sect’s leaders will soon arrive to demand an explanation.
• Realizing that the incident could jeopardize Shrek’s longstanding commercial partnership with the sect, Yan Shaozhe changes his approach and promises the students a satisfactory explanation. He grants them three days off.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Yu stands by his decision to fight back despite his injuries, openly challenging Yan Shaozhe’s attempt to shift blame.
• Ning Tian shows composure and political confidence, confronting Yan Shaozhe and invoking her sect’s influence to secure accountability.
• Wu Feng backs Ning Tian and bluntly rejects Yan Shaozhe’s assumptions.
• Yan Shaozhe shifts from anger and defensiveness to caution and deference once he learns the students’ identity. His concern is driven partly by the potential consequences for Shrek’s finances and reputation.
• Teacher Zhuang treats the injured students and follows Yan Shaozhe’s instructions; he takes the unconscious Ma Xiaotao away.

Significant themes

• Accountability versus institutional self-protection: Yan Shaozhe initially prioritizes protecting Ma Xiaotao and Shrek’s reputation over acknowledging the students’ suffering.
• Power and influence: The students’ sect affiliation changes how the academy treats them, exposing the role of political and financial leverage.
• Justice and reputation: Jiang Yu insists that witnesses and public scrutiny should determine who was at fault, rather than allowing Shrek to control the story.

Plot points and events

• After Yan Shaozhe takes Ma Xiaotao away to suppress her Evil Fire, he leaves Jiang Yu, Ning Tian, and Wu Feng on Sea God Island. He says an Inner Court disciple will guide them and that the rest will be discussed when Senior Ling Huan arrives.
• Wu Feng and Ning Tian are angry at Shrek Academy’s double standards: its staff treated them harshly until they learned their backgrounds, then dismissed the incident as a misunderstanding. Jiang Yu is unsurprised; he views Shrek as an overreaching power rather than a neutral academy.
• Zhang Lexuan arrives to guide the three. Jiang Yu recognizes her as a celebrated Inner Court senior and discreetly tells his companions about her exceptional cultivation. She gives him Clear Spirit Pills to heal his internal injuries.
• While Zhang Lexuan shows them around, the three explain what happened. She listens, offers no defense of Yan Shaozhe, and continues treating them kindly.
• The following day, Illusion Douluo arrives and publicly demands that Yan Shaozhe answer for bullying disciples of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Her immense Spiritual Power affects everyone below Titled Douluo rank on the island. Yan Shaozhe appears to face her.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Yu remains distrustful of Shrek, but treats Zhang Lexuan with respect and is impressed by her. His attraction to her is apparent, despite his insistence that it is not just her beauty.
• Ning Tian and Wu Feng share his anger at the academy’s treatment. Ning Tian reacts jealously when Zhang Lexuan touches Jiang Yu’s hand; Wu Feng notices and struggles with her own bitterness.
• Zhang Lexuan comes across as warm, perceptive, and fair-minded. She senses tension among the three, recognizes Jiang Yu’s discreet message, and listens without defending Shrek’s conduct.
• Yan Shaozhe is confronted by the consequences of his actions and appears uneasy before Illusion Douluo, whose power and history with him make her a serious threat.

Significant themes

• Institutional hypocrisy and abuse of power: Shrek’s status and influence do not prevent it from acting unfairly or overstepping its role.
• Loyalty and accountability: Illusion Douluo arrives to defend the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect’s disciples and demand that Yan Shaozhe answer for his conduct.
• Trust, reputation, and personal relationships: Zhang Lexuan’s considerate behavior contrasts with the academy’s treatment of the visitors, while Jiang Yu, Ning Tian, and Wu Feng’s feelings complicate their alliance.

Key plot points

• The Illusion Douluo confronts Shrek Academy Dean Yan Shaozhe over the mistreatment of Jiang Yu, Ning Tian, and Wu Feng. Yan admits the academy was at fault and invites her to the Sea God Pavilion to discuss compensation.
• Zhang Lexuan brings the three students to the Pavilion, where they witness the Illusion Douluo berating Yan. She reveals she once attended Shrek and was one of that generation’s Shrek Seven Devils, giving her seniority and influence over the academy’s leadership.
• After checking that the students are unharmed, the Illusion Douluo demands a premium Soul Bone of at least ten thousand years for each student, plus twenty of each type of pill Yan had offered. Yan refuses, objecting to the scale of the demand.
• Xuan Zi arrives and tries to defuse the dispute. He proposes a compromise: one premium Soul Bone, two valuable pills for each student, and guaranteed Inner Court admission for all three in six years.

Character developments

• Yan Shaozhe acknowledges his poor handling of the incident, but his authority and composure are undermined by the Illusion Douluo’s accusations and demands.
• The Illusion Douluo is shown as fiercely protective of the students, outspoken, and exceptionally powerful. Her history at Shrek explains why she can challenge its leadership so forcefully.
• Zhang Lexuan acts as a guide for Jiang Yu and the others, while her research into the Illusion Douluo’s past helps explain the balance of power.
• Xuan Zi emerges as a mediator, recognizing the academy’s fault while judging the Illusion Douluo’s requested compensation excessive.
• Jiang Yu, Ning Tian, and Wu Feng remain mostly observers, but the Illusion Douluo’s careful inspection shows they are the central concern of the dispute.

Significant themes

• Accountability and respect: Yan admits wrongdoing, while the Illusion Douluo insists that respect must be earned through action.
• Power and seniority: The academy’s officials are constrained by the Illusion Douluo’s strength, reputation, and former ties to Shrek.
• Protection and compensation: The confrontation centers on securing meaningful restitution for students harmed by an institution’s failure.

Character interactions

• The Illusion Douluo repeatedly challenges and humiliates Yan, who cannot openly retaliate.
• She warmly checks the three students, then uses their safety and the academy’s culpability to press her demands.
• Xuan Zi trades barbs with the Illusion Douluo, then intervenes with a settlement proposal that shifts the argument toward negotiation.

Key plot points and events

• Illusion Douluo rejects Xuan Zi’s compensation offer as inadequate, arguing that most of it would not meaningfully help Jiang Yu, Ning Tian, and Wu Feng. She emphasizes that the three students are vital to the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect’s future.
• She warns Xuan Zi and Yan Shaozhe that, had the students been harmed, she would have considered destroying Shrek Academy to avenge them and create an opportunity for her sect to recover.
• Illusion Douluo reveals the sect possesses an ancestral treasure that could temporarily raise her to Ultimate Douluo level. Combined with a divine artifact, accumulated ancestral power, and hundreds of Fixed Soul Cannon Shells, she claims she could devastate Shrek Academy and much of Shrek City.
• As negotiations reach a dangerous stalemate, Mu En appears. He recognizes Illusion Douluo’s longstanding tendency to threaten mutual destruction and gently reproaches her.
• Mu En agrees that Shrek Academy will provide the compensation she requested, accepting responsibility for its serious failure in student supervision. He then begins offering three additional guarantees, but the chapter ends before they are explained.

Character developments

• Illusion Douluo shifts from angry bargaining to a cold, calculated threat, revealing both her fierce loyalty to the students and her willingness to sacrifice herself for her sect.
• Xuan Zi remains outwardly casual despite the confrontation, while Yan Shaozhe appears ashamed when Mu En acknowledges the academy’s responsibility.
• Mu En is revealed to be far more than the students’ seemingly ordinary dormitory gatekeeper: he is the Sea God Pavilion Master and a highly respected elder.
• Ning Tian and Wu Feng are stunned to discover the gatekeeper’s true identity. Jiang Yu and Zhang Lexuan help them recover their composure.
• Mu En notes that Illusion Douluo’s temperament may have hindered her cultivation, though she believes suppressing it also held her back.

Significant themes

• Responsibility and accountability: Mu En accepts that Shrek Academy must answer for its failure rather than evade blame.
• Loyalty and sacrifice: Illusion Douluo places the sect’s survival and the students’ safety above her own life.
• Power and deterrence: Her threat shows how accumulated resources can turn a weaker faction’s desperation into a credible danger.
• Temperament and cultivation: Mu En suggests that insight, rather than sheer Soul Power accumulation, matters at the highest levels.

Character interactions

• Illusion Douluo challenges Xuan Zi’s offer and warns him and Yan Shaozhe that Shrek could face catastrophic consequences.
• Mu En’s arrival immediately eases the room’s tension; he speaks to Illusion Douluo with familiarity and authority.
• Mu En reassures her that the academy will meet her compensation demands, while Yan Shaozhe reacts with embarrassment and Xuan Zi remains largely unmoved.

Key plot points and events

• Mu En offers Illusion Douluo three guarantees for Jiang Yu and the other two youngsters: they will be treated fairly at Shrek, receive an unobstructed path through the Inner Court with core-disciple benefits, and get priority consideration for the next Shrek Seven Devils.
• Mu En reveals that he has long suspected Jiang Yu possesses Twin Martial Souls. After sensing Jiang Yu’s power firsthand, he discovers that a surge of pure light awakens a rare bloodline within him. The force distorts both space and time before briefly covering Jiang Yu in silver dragon scales and draining his Soul Power.
• Mu En identifies the bloodline as that of the Space-Time Dragon, a legendary True Dragon associated with light, shadow, space, and time—and the Dragon God’s shadow guard. He ranks its bloodline above his own Radiant Sacred Dragon and even the Gold and Silver Dragons, though below the Nine Great Dragon Kings.
• Mu En orders Zhang Lexuan to retrieve three treasures from the Sea God Pavilion treasury to aid Jiang Yu.

Character developments

• Mu En demonstrates keen perception, generosity toward Illusion Douluo’s students, and deep knowledge of dragon lore. His recognition of Jiang Yu’s bloodline rests on an incomplete dragon inheritance he acquired years earlier.
• Jiang Yu learns that his hidden Twin Martial Souls share an extraordinary origin. The Space-Time Dragon bloodline is powerful but unstable, physically taxing him when awakened.
• Illusion Douluo moves from cautious suspicion to astonishment and intense curiosity, especially after Shrek identifies a bloodline her own sect has studied for years.
• Xuan Zi and Yan Shaozhe are also surprised by the Space-Time Dragon’s exceptional status.

Significant themes

• Trust and reciprocity: Mu En offers unusually favorable guarantees to repair Shrek’s earlier wrongdoing and reassure Illusion Douluo.
• Hidden identity and revelation: Jiang Yu’s concealed Martial Soul is exposed through Mu En’s observation and a direct test.
• Power and its cost: Jiang Yu’s remarkable bloodline manifests with pain, exhaustion, and loss of Soul Power.
• Legacy and rarity: The discovery suggests Jiang Yu may carry one of the most exalted dragon bloodlines, transforming the stakes of his future.

Character interactions

• Mu En reassures Illusion Douluo with concrete promises, then explains that his interest is driven by Jiang Yu’s unusual talent and Martial Soul.
• Illusion Douluo allows Mu En to examine Jiang Yu and later presses him for an explanation of the Space-Time Dragon.
• Mu En’s light power triggers Jiang Yu’s bloodline; after Jiang Yu collapses, Mu En restores him with life-giving light.
• Zhang Lexuan follows Mu En’s order to fetch the designated treasures, while the others react with growing amazement to Jiang Yu’s identity.

Plot and key events

• Jiang Yu wakes in the Sea God Pavilion after Mu En and the others have left. Illusion Douluo, Ning Tian, and Wu Feng fill him in; Mu En’s discovery is unlikely to cause trouble.
• The group divides three Soul Bones awarded for their actions:
  • Jiang Yu receives a rare Space Spirit Right Leg Bone, currently a little over ten thousand years old. It can slowly absorb spatial power and evolve—though reaching one hundred thousand years would take roughly ninety thousand years at its current pace.
  • Ning Tian is assigned a sixty-thousand-year Mirror Shadow Beast skull bone.
  • Illusion Douluo keeps a thirty-thousand-year Flamewind Demon Wolf Right Leg Bone, explaining that its wind-and-fire abilities suit her purposes and not Wu Feng’s.
• Wu Feng is promised the Flame Lord left-leg bone she bought at auction. Illusion Douluo also tells her to refine a Soul Ascension Pill, arrange to obtain her third Spirit Ring, and focus more on cultivation.
• Illusion Douluo explains how to use the Soul Refining Pills, and the three spend seven days in the Sea God Pavilion refining them and cultivating.
• Jiang Yu reaches Soul Power level 37 and completes the transformation of his Soul Power Vortex by absorbing the pavilion’s powers of light and life, as well as the Soul Bone.
• Illusion Douluo takes the group back to the outer court, with Zhang Lexuan flying them across Sea God Lake. As they leave, Jiang Yu recalls Mu En’s parting words.

Character development and interactions

• Jiang Yu is both excited by the Space Spirit bone’s unusual potential and disappointed by its glacial evolution rate. He also recognizes how valuable the Sea God Pavilion is to his cultivation.
• Illusion Douluo acts as a protective, practical mentor: she distributes the rewards according to their suitability, guides Wu Feng’s development, and oversees the group’s pill refinement.
• Wu Feng briefly fears she has been overlooked, then eagerly ingratiates herself with Illusion Douluo when she learns she will receive the auctioned bone. Her obedience highlights her affection and respect for her “Great-Grandma.”
• Ning Tian is included in the rewards and cultivation plans, while Yan Shaozhe quietly endures Illusion Douluo’s seven-day stay and is relieved when the group finally leaves.
• Zhang Lexuan helps the group return to the outer court after their time among Shrek’s senior figures.

Significant themes

• Power and patience: Jiang Yu’s Soul Bone has extraordinary potential, but its growth demands immense time.
• Mentorship and care: Illusion Douluo’s decisions balance the students’ needs with her own plans, and she gives Wu Feng clear direction.
• Growth through opportunity: Jiang Yu’s stay at the Sea God Pavilion accelerates his cultivation and strengthens his foundation, though access to such advantages is temporary.
• Return to ordinary life: After an intense, unusual week, the students must leave the privileged inner sanctum and resume their lives in the outer court.

Plot points and events

• After their successful trip to the Inner Court, Ning Tian, Wu Feng, and Jiang Yu return to the Outer Court stronger than before. Ning Tian’s new skull Soul Bone greatly improves her Soul Power and Spiritual Power; Wu Feng reaches Soul Elder and gains a third Spirit Ring, making her a formidable fighter.
• Their homeroom teacher, Mu Jin, realizes they were involved in the recent disturbance and assumes their success will help him beat rival teacher Zhou Yi in the freshman assessment.
• Jiang Yu continues studying the Heart of Space in secret, but his attempts to activate it fail. He suspects it is a Divine Artifact whose power can only be revealed to someone it recognizes.
• During overnight meditation near the Heart of Space, Jiang Yu discovers that his Space Spirit Right Leg Bone has grown stronger—apparently by about a hundred years in a single night. He concludes that the Heart of Space is accelerating the bone’s absorption of spatial energy.
• Excited by the possibility that his Soul Bone could reach the hundred-thousand-year level in a few years—or perhaps sooner—Jiang Yu shares the discovery with Ning Tian and Wu Feng. They demand the customary celebratory treat.

Character developments and interactions

• Ning Tian and Wu Feng return from the Inner Court with major gains, drawing increased attention from other students.
• Jiang Yu becomes more convinced of the Heart of Space’s immense potential and trusts Ning Tian and Wu Feng enough to share his discovery with them.
• Mu Jin grows confident that the trio will give him an advantage over Zhou Yi in the coming assessment, and privately considers setting her up.
• The trio’s bond remains strong: they celebrate one another’s breakthroughs and regard each other as reliable partners, despite hints of romantic tension.

Significant themes

• Power unlocked through mysterious artifacts: The Heart of Space appears to possess extraordinary abilities that are not yet fully understood.
• Ambition and rapid growth: Jiang Yu immediately calculates how quickly his Soul Bone might advance, while the others’ recent gains intensify the competition at Shrek Academy.
• Trust and shared success: Jiang Yu’s willingness to tell his friends reflects the trio’s deep loyalty and mutual support.
• Rivalry and scheming: Mu Jin’s confidence—and his thoughts of manipulating Zhou Yi—introduce the upcoming freshman assessment as a source of conflict.

Key plot points and events

• Jiang Yu, Ning Tian, and Wu Feng head to the academy gates to try Huo Yuhao’s increasingly popular grilled fish. Wu Feng and Jiang Yu bicker until Ning Tian threatens to cut their allowances.
• Three classmates offer the trio their places in line, explaining that Huo Yuhao sells only twenty fish a day. Jiang Yu compensates them with Gold Soul Coins, and Ning Tian encourages the exchange, partly hoping to recruit the talented but financially struggling purple-haired girl into the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
• Jiang Yu recognizes Huo Yuhao and recalls the incident at Sea God Lake: Sky Dream Ice Silkworm had redirected danger toward Jiang Yu and his companions while helping Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong escape. Huo Yuhao has since worried about what they witnessed and the possible consequences.
• Jiang Yu takes three fish and praises Huo Yuhao’s cooking, briefly making Huo Yuhao think he has not been recognized. Jiang Yu then says he will not pay because he is in a bad mood, pointedly testing Huo Yuhao. Someone nearby immediately challenges Jiang Yu, accusing him of bullying a new student.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Yu appears generous toward struggling classmates, but his friendly gesture contrasts with his lingering resentment toward Huo Yuhao. He approaches the encounter with controlled menace and hints that he intends to settle an old score.
• Ning Tian acts as mediator between Jiang Yu and Wu Feng, and demonstrates both generosity and practical interest in recruiting talented students.
• Wu Feng remains quick-tempered and competitive, though Ning Tian’s threat of financial consequences readily stops her quarrel.
• Huo Yuhao is proud of supporting himself through his stall, but seeing Jiang Yu revives his guilt and fear about the Sea God Lake incident.
• The chapter ends with Jiang Yu’s provocation interrupted by an unidentified defender, setting up a confrontation.

Significant themes

• Generosity and social responsibility: Jiang Yu and Ning Tian help classmates with fewer resources.
• Hidden guilt and consequences: Huo Yuhao’s escape left unresolved dangers and a lasting burden of fear.
• Resentment and payback: Jiang Yu has not forgotten what happened at Sea God Lake and is waiting for a chance to retaliate.
• Appearances versus motives: Jiang Yu’s praise of Huo Yuhao’s fish masks a deliberate test and threat.

Plot points and events

• Wang Dong intervenes when Jiang Yu confronts Huo Yuhao, accusing Jiang Yu and his companions of bullying him and threatening to report them.
• Huo Yuhao insists Jiang Yu is his friend, but cannot explain what happened. His silence convinces Wang Dong that he has been threatened.
• Wu Feng takes Wang Dong’s challenge and overwhelms her in a fight without using martial souls. She uses dirty tactics, including a painful punch to the abdomen, leaving Wang Dong curled up and barely conscious.
• Wu Feng then moves toward Huo Yuhao, but Tang Ya throws a small knife to stop her. Jiang Yu catches and crushes it.
• Bei Bei and Tang Ya arrive and, seeing Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong on the ground, demand to know whether Jiang Yu and the others attacked them. Wang Dong claims they did so without provocation. Jiang Yu challenges Huo Yuhao to tell them what really happened.

Character developments and interactions

• Huo Yuhao is visibly conflicted: he calls Jiang Yu a friend but cannot explain the incident or defend him, leaving others to interpret his silence.
• Wang Dong is protective and confrontational, stepping between Huo Yuhao and Jiang Yu. Her confidence, however, is overcome by Wu Feng’s superior strength and ruthless fighting style.
• Wu Feng acts fiercely in defense of Jiang Yu and follows his lead, showing that she has learned—and expanded on—his underhanded combat tactics.
• Ning Tian backs Jiang Yu and Wu Feng without hesitation, trusting Jiang Yu’s judgment even though she does not know the full reason for his changed attitude toward Huo Yuhao.
• Jiang Yu remains controlled but openly contemptuous of Wang Dong’s accusation. His challenge to Huo Yuhao makes clear that he expects the truth to be spoken.
• Bei Bei and Tang Ya arrive as protectors of Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, but their certainty is challenged when Jiang Yu refuses to accept their accusation.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and trust: Jiang Yu, Ning Tian, and Wu Feng stand together, while Huo Yuhao’s silence strains trust between him and those trying to defend him.
• Truth versus appearances: Wang Dong and the arriving seniors judge the situation from what they see, but Jiang Yu insists there is a hidden explanation.
• Power and protection: The confrontation shows how strength shapes the encounter, while also raising questions about whether force is justified in defending an ally.

Chapter summary

• The confrontation escalates: Jiang Yu and his companions confront Huo Yuhao over an earlier incident. Huo Yuhao cannot bring himself to deny his role, and Bei Bei and Tang Ya realize the matter is serious. They fear the powerful backing behind Jiang Yu’s group and worry about Huo Yuhao’s safety.
• Huo Yuhao apologizes, but Jiang Yu rejects it: Huo Yuhao says he acted because he had no choice. Jiang Yu accuses him of redirecting out-of-control Ma Xiaotao toward them, putting their lives at risk; without their protective Soul Tools, he says, they likely would not have survived. Huo Yuhao insists he never meant to kill them, but Jiang Yu argues that the consequences matter—and that Huo Yuhao benefited from the act.
• The dispute turns physical: Furious after learning what happened, Wu Feng charges Huo Yuhao. Bei Bei intervenes, unwilling to abandon him, partly because Huo Yuhao’s ability to influence Ma Xiaotao suggests unusual potential. Wu Feng and Bei Bei clash, then release their powerful dragon martial souls as the fight intensifies.
• An instructor stops the fight: Before they can collide, a stern middle-aged man with eight Spirit Rings appears and knocks both fighters back. He condemns them for letting a private quarrel become a public fight at the academy gates. The spectators, who had been hoping for a bloody spectacle, scatter.

Character developments and interactions

• Huo Yuhao is shaken and remorseful, but cannot fully explain the incident. His guilt is complicated by Jiang Yu’s view that he bears responsibility even if he did not intend the outcome.
• Jiang Yu remains cold and unwavering. He sees the danger to his companions as more important than Huo Yuhao’s intentions and warns Bei Bei not to interfere.
• Bei Bei tries to mediate, then chooses to protect Huo Yuhao despite the risks. His intervention reflects both concern for the younger student and belief in Huo Yuhao’s potential.
• Tang Ya presses Huo Yuhao for an explanation and helps pull him and Wang Dong to their feet.
• Wu Feng reacts with open fury and prefers action to discussion. Once Bei Bei steps in, she treats him as an opponent too.
• The conflict exposes hidden stakes: Jiang Yu knows about Bei Bei’s secret background and is not deterred by it, leaving Bei Bei alarmed.

Significant themes

• Responsibility versus intent: Huo Yuhao says he did not mean to cause harm, while Jiang Yu insists that his actions and their consequences still make him accountable.
• Loyalty and protection: Bei Bei’s choice to defend Huo Yuhao clashes with Jiang Yu’s determination to protect his own companions.
• Power and vulnerability: The characters’ concern over political backing, martial strength, and life outside academy protection shows how unequal power can shape personal conflicts.
• Violence as spectacle: The watching students treat the escalating fight as entertainment, contrasting sharply with the real danger faced by those involved.

After Du Weilun banned Huo Yuhao from selling grilled fish, Huo Yuhao took a cafeteria job while Jiang Yu and his friends moved on. As the freshman assessment approached, Ning Tian and Wu Feng decided to form their own team without Jiang Yu, and the chapter ended with Wu Feng catching Jiang Yu and Ning Tian teasing each other.

• Du Weilun recorded the students' names and banned Huo Yuhao from conducting commercial activities in the Outer Court, ending his grilled-fish business.
• Huo Yuhao found work serving food in the cafeteria, where Jiang Yu occasionally noticed his complicated gaze and ignored it.
• Mu Jin explained the freshman assessment rules and told the students to form teams for approval.
• Ning Tian told Jiang Yu that she and Wu Feng would team up with Yun'er instead, so they could train without relying on him.
• Jiang Yu predicted that Ning Tian's team could reach the top four and teased her by patting her head.
• Wu Feng entered the classroom, saw Jiang Yu and Ning Tian tussling, and accused them of doing something behind her back.

Jiang Yu, Ning Tian, and Wu Feng split into separate teams for the freshman assessment, and both teams advanced through the early rounds. As Ning Tian’s team prepared to face Zhou Yi’s seeded team, Mu Jin wagered his and Zhou Yi’s jobs on which seeded team would reach the top sixteen.

• Jiang Yu persuaded Mu Jin to let him, Ning Tian, and Wu Feng form separate assessment teams.
• Ning Tian, Wu Feng, and Nanmen Yun'er won all ten round-robin matches, while Jiang Yu advanced with the support-type twins Tang Yueyue and Tang Xingxing.
• Both teams qualified for the ranking tournament and finished first in their respective sections.
• Ning Tian’s team reached the round of thirty-two, where Mu Jin spotted Zhou Yi’s seeded team among their opponents.
• Mu Jin and Zhou Yi argued over their students and their personal history before Mu Jin proposed that the loser of their top-sixteen wager resign from Shrek Academy and leave education for good.