Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Tang Hao, enraged by Tang San’s failed awakening and blaming Su Chen for it, secretly attacks Dorm Seven with his killing domain, aiming to cripple or kill Su Chen.
• Su Chen’s Chaos Ancestral Dragon Martial Soul and newly fused Ancestral Dragon Reverse Scale awaken in response. Their divine aura destroys Tang Hao’s domain and overwhelms him.
• Recognizing that he cannot challenge the power without risking his own life and Tang San’s, Tang Hao retreats.
• Su Chen comforts Xiao Wu, whose hundred-thousand-year transformation energy and meridian blockages are also soothed by his Pure Yang Dragon Emperor Aura.
• The system rewards Su Chen for defeating Tang Hao and winning Xiao Wu’s devotion: Tang San loses fortune, Su Chen receives the first volume of the Ancestral Dragon Hegemony Body Art, and his Soul Power rises two levels to twenty-two.
• Su Chen wonders whom Tang Hao will target to vent his anger.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Chen reveals a divine level of power that even Tang Hao fears. He protects Xiao Wu without hesitation and gains a major increase in strength.
• Tang Hao shifts from murderous confidence to terror and retreats, realizing Su Chen’s power may be beyond the mortal world.
• Xiao Wu goes from fear to deep trust and affection. Feeling safe with Su Chen—and relieved by the healing effect of his aura—she embraces him and cries.
• Their closeness grows as Su Chen gently reassures and comforts her.

Significant themes

• Protection and trust: Su Chen’s decisive defense gives Xiao Wu a profound sense of safety.
• Power and humility: Tang Hao’s reputation and strength are rendered insignificant before Su Chen’s divine Martial Soul.
• Fate and fortune: The system frames emotional bonds and victories as shifts in fortune, with Tang San losing advantage as Su Chen gains rewards.
• Unintended consequences: Tang Hao’s retreat leaves open the question of where his anger will fall next.

Plot points

• Injured and humiliated after Tang San’s failed soul-ring absorption became public, Yu Xiaogang tries to protect his reputation by writing to his friend Flender. He plans to explain Tang San’s condition as a rare, harmful mutation and have Flender take him in.
• Tang Hao bursts into Yu’s villa, furious after being driven off by Su Chen’s overwhelming power. He blames Yu for taking Tang San into the Soul Hunting Forest, abandoning him when danger appeared, and forcing him to absorb a withered ten-year soul ring.
• Yu attempts to save himself by invoking his family and connections, including the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and Spirit Hall’s Bibi Dong. Mentioning Spirit Hall only intensifies Tang Hao’s rage: he recalls its role in Ah Yin’s death.
• Tang Hao crushes Yu’s knees and nearly kills him, but leaves him alive to keep Tang San’s situation concealed. He threatens to destroy Yu’s clan if Yu again treats Tang San as a test subject or uses him to support his theories, then disappears.

Character developments and interactions

• Yu Xiaogang shifts from wounded self-pity and reputation management to abject terror. His boastful reliance on powerful connections proves useless against Tang Hao.
• Tang Hao is shown as grief-stricken, enraged, and fiercely protective of Tang San. Though he brutally punishes Yu, he restrains himself from killing him because Tang San needs cover in Nuoding City.
• The confrontation exposes the gap between Yu’s self-image as a respected theorist and Tang Hao’s view of him as a negligent, self-serving teacher. Tang Hao’s anger also reveals how deeply Ah Yin’s death and Tang San’s suffering still affect him.

Significant themes

• Reputation versus responsibility: Yu tries to preserve his standing rather than confront the harm done to Tang San.
• Parental protection and grief: Tang Hao’s violence is driven by his determination to defend his son and honor Ah Yin’s sacrifice.
• Power and vulnerability: Yu’s social connections cannot protect him from Tang Hao’s overwhelming strength.
• Secrecy and sacrifice: Tang Hao spares Yu not out of mercy, but because keeping him alive may help conceal Tang San’s identity and condition.

Key plot points

• After the humiliation at the academy, Tang San retreats to a rundown smithy and hammers iron despite a fractured arm, damaged meridians, and the lingering effects of the Deadwood Vine. He is driven by revenge against Su Chen and Yu Xiaogang and resolves to rely on Tang Sect Hidden Weapons rather than Soul Rings.
• Tang Hao secretly appears and warns him that hammering with one arm and brute force is worsening his injuries. He demonstrates how to generate power from the calves, rotate it through the waist and hips, and direct it into the hammer—a principle behind the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer.
• Tang Hao leaves Tang San gold and medicine before disappearing into the night. Using the new technique, Tang San works faster and with less strain.
• By dawn, Tang San has forged a refined-iron Sleeve Arrow loaded with three short, venom-coated bolts. He vows to kill Su Chen.

Character developments

• Tang San is physically wounded but becomes more capable as a smith after learning Tang Hao’s method. His brief response to his father’s care is quickly overtaken by bitterness and an increasingly lethal desire for revenge.
• Tang Hao shows unexpected tenderness and concern. Though he cannot remain or explain everything, he supports his son with instruction, money, and medicine while keeping his own grave injuries and danger from Spirit Hall in mind.

Character interactions

• Tang Hao’s quiet concern contrasts with Tang San’s guarded, wolf-like alertness. Tang San is startled by his father’s affection, having grown used to his distance.
• Their brief lesson is a rare moment of connection: Tang Hao offers practical help without disclosing the full secret technique, and Tang San listens closely and immediately applies it.

Significant themes

• Pain and perseverance: Tang San pushes through severe injury, though his determination borders on self-destruction.
• Inheritance and fatherhood: Tang Hao passes on a powerful technique and offers care through deeds rather than explanations.
• Power beyond conventional status: Tang San plans to use skill and Hidden Weapons to challenge Soul Masters who rely on powerful Martial Souls and Soul Rings.
• Humiliation turning into vengeance: Tang San’s desire to recover from defeat is increasingly eclipsed by hatred and a willingness to kill.

Bibi Dong learned of Su Chen’s extraordinary martial soul and soul rings, then ordered him secretly protected while planning to recruit him. Six years later, Su Chen and Xiao Wu left Nuoding Academy, but Tang San ambushed them with poisoned bolts.

• Bibi Dong received Ma Xiunuo’s report that Su Chen had a divine-grade dragon martial soul and two thousand-year soul rings at the Soul Grandmaster realm.
• Bibi Dong sealed the Nuoding records, promoted Ma Xiunuo and Su Yuntao, and ordered Shadow Guards to protect Su Chen in secret.
• Six years later, twelve-year-old Su Chen had reached level forty and prepared to leave Nuoding Academy with Xiao Wu.
• Su Chen sensed Tang San hiding beside the alley as he and Xiao Wu headed out of the city.
• Tang San attacked Su Chen with three poisoned refined-steel bolts aimed at his eyes and throat.

Su Chen effortlessly defeats Tang San and Yu Xiaogang’s ambush, then leaves Tang San alive with his pride and body shattered. Three days later, Su Chen and Xiao Wu arrive at Suotuo City’s Rose Hotel, where he begins his plan to seize Shrek’s opportunities.

• Yu Xiaogang summons Luo Sanpao to attack Su Chen from behind, but Su Chen’s aura destroys the blast and shatters Luo Sanpao.
• Tang San attacks Su Chen with his Mysterious Jade Hand, but Su Chen breaks his hand and arm with one punch and sends him crashing through a wall.
• Su Chen leaves Tang San alive and walks away with Xiao Wu, while Yu Xiaogang urges Tang San to seek help from Flender at Shrek Academy in Suotuo City.
• Tang San vows to rebuild his hidden weapons and use Shrek’s power to destroy Su Chen.
• Three days later, Su Chen and Xiao Wu arrive at the Rose Hotel in Suotuo City, and Su Chen leads her inside to begin his scheme.

Su Chen and Xiao Wu arrived at the Rose Hotel and claimed its finest suite, but Dai Mubai tried to take it by force. Su Chen exposed Dai Mubai’s flight from the Star Luo Imperial Family, leaving Dai Mubai enraged and threatening him.

• Su Chen paid for the Red Ocean suite at the Rose Hotel and prepared to check in with Xiao Wu.
• Dai Mubai arrived with twin companions and demanded the Red Ocean, insisting that his fists made the rules.
• Dai Mubai tossed a Gold Soul Coin at Su Chen and ordered him to leave with Xiao Wu.
• Xiao Wu mocked Dai Mubai, and Su Chen called him a stray dog who had fled the Star Luo Imperial Family.
• Dai Mubai recognized that Su Chen had exposed his deepest shame and shouted that Su Chen was courting death.

Su Chen crippled Dai Mubai with one punch at the Rose Hotel, then took the key to the top-floor room and left with Xiao Wu. A black-clad girl watched him go, stunned by his strength.

• Dai Mubai unleashed his White Tiger Martial Soul and attacked Su Chen with his Soul Skills, but Su Chen crushed the White Tiger Fierce Light Wave with one hand.
• Dai Mubai activated White Tiger Vajra Transformation, yet Su Chen's aura froze him before Su Chen shattered his tiger claws and shield with a single punch.
• Su Chen's punch grievously injured Dai Mubai and damaged his Martial Soul Origin, while the system rewarded Su Chen with the Dragon Emperor Void-Shattering Fist and 100,000 Gold Soul Coins.
• Su Chen took the room key from the attendant and headed upstairs with Xiao Wu.
• A black-clad girl hidden in the lobby watched Su Chen leave and Dai Mubai lie unconscious in the ruined courtyard.

Zhu Zhuqing rejected Dai Mubai after seeing his debauchery and began to admire Su Chen. The next morning, Su Chen exposed Shrek Academy’s dishonest admissions and lack of official credentials before a furious crowd, and Li Yusong attacked him.

• Zhu Zhuqing judged Dai Mubai a coward and resolved to follow a powerful figure like Su Chen instead.
• At Shrek Academy’s entrance, Li Yusong rejected an underqualified boy after taking his family’s registration fee and refused to refund it.
• Su Chen arrived with Xiao Wu and accused Li Yusong of exploiting applicants through the no-refund policy.
• Su Chen denounced Shrek Academy as an unlicensed school that took credit for its students’ talents, prompting the crowd to demand refunds.
• Li Yusong flew into a rage, unleashed his Soul Emperor power, and swung his Dragon Pattern Staff at Su Chen.

A hidden Spirit Hall Shadow Guard saved Su Chen from Li Yusong, revealing that a powerful Soul Saint protected him and shocking Flender and the applicants. Flender then challenged Su Chen to survive an incense stick against Zhao Wuji, wagering refunds and a public apology against Su Chen and Xiao Wu enrolling at Shrek Academy.

• A black-robed Shadow Guard struck Li Yusong through a farmhouse, bowed to Su Chen, and vanished into the shadows.
• Flender recognized the guard as a Soul Saint death sworn of the Pope's Hall, while Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing reacted with awe and heightened interest in Su Chen.
• Li Yusong emerged injured from the rubble, and Flender apologized to Su Chen before proposing a wager.
• Flender offered to refund the applicants' fees and publicly apologize if Su Chen lasted an incense stick against Zhao Wuji, but demanded that Su Chen and Xiao Wu enroll if he failed.
• The crowd condemned the wager, and Xiao Wu urged Su Chen not to accept.

Su Chen wagered that he could defeat Zhao Wuji in half an incense stick and demanded that Shrek refund the applicants’ fees and let anyone leave with him if he won. As Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong joined Xiao Wu at his side, Tang San arrived consumed by jealousy, and Zhao Wuji’s martial soul reacted with fear to Su Chen’s dormant dragon aura.

• Su Chen accepted Flender’s challenge and stipulated that Shrek would refund all registration fees and let applicants leave with him if he won; Flender agreed.
• Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong left the registration line to join Su Chen, while Xiao Wu stood beside him.
• Yu Xiaogang brought the injured Tang San to the village entrance, where Tang San saw the three girls gathered around Su Chen and burned with jealousy.
• Su Chen told the girls to retreat as Zhao Wuji arrived and activated his Great Strength Vajra Bear martial soul and seven soul rings.
• Zhao Wuji’s bear martial soul whimpered at the primordial dragon aura radiating from Su Chen, leaving Zhao Wuji shocked.

Su Chen defeated Zhao Wuji in a head-on clash, then stopped Tang San from ambushing Ning Rongrong and Xiao Wu and exposed his treachery. After winning his wager with Flender and leaving Shrek with his companions, Su Chen received rewards and noticed Zhu Zhuqing was suffering from a deep-rooted cold poison.

• Su Chen used the Dragon Emperor Void-Shattering Fist to drive back Zhao Wuji, shocking the onlookers.
• Tang San secretly fired three poisoned needles at Ning Rongrong and Xiao Wu, but Su Chen melted them with his dragon aura and struck Tang San into a muddy puddle.
• Zhao Wuji condemned Tang San's ambush, while Flender ordered teachers to carry the unconscious Tang San away for treatment.
• Su Chen claimed victory in his wager, prompting Flender to promise a full refund of Shrek Academy's registration fees; Su Chen then invited ambitious fighters to join his team at the Soto Great Soul Arena.
• As Su Chen left Shrek Village with Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu, the system awarded him a God-Gifted Fourth Soul Ring and Pure Yang Dragon Marrow.
• Su Chen saw that Zhu Zhuqing's meridians were afflicted by netherworld cold poison and recognized that the Pure Yang Dragon Marrow could help her.

Su Chen absorbed a god-gifted fourth Soul Ring that became a ten-thousand-year black ring and broke through to level forty. His breakthrough triggered Zhu Zhuqing’s accumulated extreme yin cold poison, and he offered to save her with Pure Yang Dragon Marrow, which she agreed to take.

• Ning Rongrong used her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect card to reserve three luxury suites for Su Chen and the others.
• Su Chen cultivated with the God-Gifted Fourth Soul Ring, which evolved into a ten-thousand-year black ring as he advanced to level forty.
• Zhu Zhuqing collapsed when Su Chen’s pure yang aura triggered the cold poison in her meridians.
• Su Chen carried Zhu Zhuqing to the couch and summoned Pure Yang Dragon Marrow to treat her.
• Su Chen explained the treatment required their fullest union of bodies, and Zhu Zhuqing agreed.

Su Chen used Primordial Chaos Ancestral Dragon marrow to cure Zhu Zhuqing, transform her martial soul, and raise her soul power to level twenty-nine. Zhu Zhuqing pledged herself to him, and the next morning Su Chen led her, Ning Rongrong, and Xiao Wu to register a team at the Soto Great Soul Arena.

• Su Chen guided the dragon marrow through Zhu Zhuqing, removing her cold toxin and old injuries while transforming her Hell Spirit Cat into a Nether Shadow Dragon Cat.
• Zhu Zhuqing's soul power surged to the perfected peak of level twenty-nine, and she declared that she would serve only Su Chen.
• Su Chen promised to crush the Star Luo Imperial Family and embraced and kissed Zhu Zhuqing.
• The next morning, Ning Rongrong and Xiao Wu noticed Zhu Zhuqing's transformation as she followed Su Chen from the chamber.
• Su Chen led the three girls toward the Soto Great Soul Arena to register their team, Dragon God.

Su Chen registered the Dragon God Team at the Soto Great Soul Arena, where Zhu Zhuqing, Xiao Wu, and Ning Rongrong quickly swept through their matches. After Dai Mubai attacked Zhu Zhuqing and was defeated, Yu Xiaogang challenged the team to a full-team deathmatch that night, and Su Chen accepted.

• Ning Rongrong paid to register the Dragon God Team, and Su Chen's Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring aura shocked the arena staff and manager Ao Tianhai.
• Ning Rongrong boosted Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu as they defeated the Mad Lion and Ironclad Rhinoceros Soul Elders in three breaths.
• The Dragon God Team swept its two-on-two and three-on-three matches, rapidly building a winning streak at the arena.
• Flender brought Tang San, Dai Mubai, Oscar, and Ma Hongjun to the Great Soul Arena, where they saw Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu with Su Chen.
• Dai Mubai charged at Zhu Zhuqing, but she defeated him with one Hell Stab and warned him not to insult her again.
• Yu Xiaogang challenged the Dragon God Team to a full-team deathmatch in the Central Main Soul Fighting Arena that night, and Su Chen accepted.

Yu Xiaogang, Flender, Dai Mubai, and Tang San prepared Shrek Team to face Su Chen’s Dragon God Team, with Tang San secretly planning to use a forbidden poisoned crossbow. In the arena, Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu swiftly defeated Shrek’s main attackers, leaving Tang San overwhelmed by rage and intent on killing Su Chen.

• Yu Xiaogang urged Shrek Team to win, and Flender tacitly agreed to the match despite his doubts.
• Tang San planned Shrek’s tactics and secretly prepared his venom-coated Godly Zhuge Crossbow to kill Su Chen.
• The Dragon God Team and Shrek Team entered the central ring, where Su Chen sat out while Ning Rongrong boosted Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu.
• Dai Mubai charged Zhu Zhuqing alone, but she shattered his defense and knocked him through the ring’s railing with her soul skills.
• Xiao Wu overwhelmed Ma Hongjun and slammed him into the arena floor, knocking him unconscious within moments.
• Tang San saw Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun defeated and swore to kill Su Chen.

Tang San launched a lethal hidden-weapon attack at Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ning Rongrong, but Su Chen shielded them and crippled Tang San’s arms with a punch. After the Shrek Team was expelled from the Great Soul Arena and Su Chen received a divine reward, a terrifying sword intent suddenly targeted him from the shadows.

• Tang San secretly readied his Godly Zhuge Crossbows, then attacked the three girls with poisoned hidden weapons as they turned away.
• Su Chen intercepted the weapons with his Pure Yang Dragon Aura, revealing a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring and protecting Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ning Rongrong.
• Su Chen struck Tang San with the Dragon Emperor Void-Shattering Fist, destroying the meridians in both arms and crippling him.
• Yu Xiaogang fainted, and Manager Ao announced the Shrek Team’s permanent expulsion after its lethal sneak attack; Flender and Zhao Wuji fled with the injured.
• Su Chen received a drop of Nine-Colored Divine Marrow from the system and reassured the three girls, then sensed a deadly sword intent locking onto his forehead from the dome’s shadows.

Su Chen confronted Sword Douluo Chen Xin, who accused him of approaching Ning Rongrong and threatened him with overwhelming sword intent. Su Chen revealed a trace of the Nine-Colored Divine Marrow, causing Ning Rongrong's Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda to show signs of breaking through its limits and leaving Chen Xin stunned.

• Chen Xin appeared above the arena and suppressed Su Chen with his sword intent while questioning his intentions toward Ning Rongrong.
• Ning Rongrong defended Su Chen, and Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing joined him despite Chen Xin's threat.
• Su Chen insisted that he protected Ning Rongrong as a teammate and claimed he could give her a future the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect could not.
• Chen Xin challenged Su Chen's claim that Ning Rongrong could surpass the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's limits.
• Su Chen released a trace of the Nine-Colored Divine Marrow, making Chen Xin's Seven Kill Ancient Sword tremble and causing Ning Rongrong's pagoda to reveal outlines of its eighth and ninth tiers.

Chen Xin accepted Su Chen as a worthy companion for Ning Rongrong and promised the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect’s support. As Su Chen prepared to take the girls to the Star Dou Great Forest, Tang San and Yu Xiaogang plotted to ambush them there.

• Su Chen revealed a heaven-born substance that could mend the Seven Treasures, and Chen Xin withdrew his hostility, entrusted Ning Rongrong to him, and offered the sect’s protection.
• Ning Rongrong apologized to Su Chen for nearly putting him in danger and pledged herself to him after he had shielded her from Chen Xin’s sword intent.
• Su Chen decided to leave Suotuo City for the Star Dou Great Forest with Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu to help the girls advance and pursue soul-beast opportunities.
• Tang San lamented his ruined hidden weapons, crippled hands, and expulsion from the Soto Great Soul Arena while Yu Xiaogang told him Su Chen’s group would travel to the forest.
• Yu Xiaogang proposed following the group and using Flender and Zhao Wuji to ambush them, while Tang San vowed to make the Star Dou Great Forest Su Chen’s grave.

Su Chen and the three girls reached the supply town near the Star Dou Great Forest, where he crushed a Canghui Academy student’s armor with one punch after Ye Zhiqiu attacked him. The Shrek group witnessed the defeat, and Su Chen left the tavern with Zhu Zhuqing, Xiao Wu, and Ning Rongrong.

• Su Chen comforted Zhu Zhuqing during the journey while Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong teased him for favoring her.
• Su Chen led the three girls into a tavern in the supply town, where Canghui Academy students insulted them.
• Su Chen’s Dragon Emperor Pressure forced a Canghui student to his knees, prompting Ye Zhiqiu to attack him with his Black Tortoise martial soul.
• Su Chen shattered Ye Zhiqiu’s tortoiseshell armor with one punch, shocking the Shrek group as they entered the tavern.
• Su Chen paid the tavern proprietor for the damage and left with Zhu Zhuqing, Xiao Wu, and Ning Rongrong.

Su Chen and the girls defeated a sixteen-hundred-year-old Ghost Tiger for Zhu Zhuqing’s third soul ring, but Snake Granny Chao Tianxiang and Meng Yiran arrived and claimed the beast for themselves. Su Chen rejected their demand and accused Chao Tianxiang of endangering Meng Yiran’s future as a Soul Master.

• Su Chen identified the Ghost Tiger and directed Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, and Xiao Wu to trap and attack it.
• Zhu Zhuqing saw through the Ghost Tiger’s clones, wounded its true body, and prepared to finish it off.
• Chao Tianxiang and Meng Yiran arrived, claimed they had been tracking the Ghost Tiger, and demanded that Su Chen yield it to Meng Yiran.
• Ning Rongrong and Xiao Wu challenged Chao Tianxiang and Meng Yiran’s claim to the beast.
• Su Chen dismissed the Peerless Dragon Snake family’s prestige and told Chao Tianxiang that she had nearly ruined Meng Yiran’s future.