Chapter Summaries

Cheng Xiao awakened the Shadow Soldier martial soul with Innate Full Soul Power and refused Su Yuntao’s offer to join Spirit Hall. After failing to raise a dead chicken, he heard Ashborn offer him the Shadow Monarch’s power, leaving him in pain as he began to inherit it.

• Su Yuntao examined Cheng Xiao’s unfamiliar Shadow Soldier martial soul and discovered that Cheng Xiao had Innate Full Soul Power.
• Cheng Xiao declined to join Spirit Hall, and Su Yuntao issued him a martial soul certificate and offered future help.
• Village Chief Cheng celebrated Cheng Xiao’s Innate Full Soul Power after Su Yuntao shared the news.
• Cheng Xiao tried to turn a dead chicken into a Shadow Soldier, but the attempt failed.
• Ashborn spoke to Cheng Xiao, explained that he could not use the same system as Sung Jin-woo, and began transferring his power to him.

Cheng Xiao trained for three months before his grandfather brought him to Nuoding Academy, where his innate Full Soul Power earned him immediate admission. Outside the gate, Tang San challenged the gatekeeper’s unequal treatment and nearly attacked him before a newcomer interrupted.

• Cheng Xiao completed his morning run and ate breakfast prepared by Grandpa Cheng, who told him he would attend Nuoding Academy as a work-study student.
• Cheng Xiao and Grandpa Cheng traveled to Nuoding City, where Grandpa Cheng said goodbye to him outside the academy.
• Cheng Xiao showed the gatekeeper his martial soul certificate, and the gatekeeper admitted him after seeing that he had innate Full Soul Power.
• The gatekeeper turned away Old Jack and Tang San, prompting Tang San to accuse him of discrimination and ready his Silent Sleeve Arrow.
• A middle-aged man arrived just as Tang San was about to shoot the gatekeeper, stopping both Tang San and the gatekeeper.

Master intervened after the gatekeeper mistreated Tang San, then introduced himself as Yu Mouren and tried to recruit Tang San and Cheng Xiao as disciples. Tang San accepted him as his master, while Cheng Xiao declined and followed them toward the Academic Affairs Office.

• Master apologized to Old Jack for the gatekeeper's behavior and warned the gatekeeper not to repeat it.
• Master caught up with Cheng Xiao and Tang San, explained that he was neither an academy teacher nor a leader, and invited them to become his disciples.
• Master revealed that he had deduced Tang San possessed Twin Martial Souls, causing Tang San to ready his sleeve arrow before calming down.
• Master explained his Martial Soul theories to Tang San, who knelt and asked him to accept him as a disciple.
• Cheng Xiao declined Master's offer, and Master left with Tang San for the Academic Affairs Office while Cheng Xiao followed behind them.

Cheng Xiao and Tang San enrolled at Nuoding Academy and faced down the students in Dormitory Seven, quickly establishing themselves as formidable newcomers. As Tang San was about to accept the dormitory boss position, Xiao Wu arrived at the door.

• Master left after Cheng Xiao and Tang San completed their registration at Nuoding Academy.
• Wang Sheng mocked the boys' Martial Souls and tried to bully Tang San, but Tang San knocked him down and Cheng Xiao defeated several of the other students.
• Wang Sheng and the others backed down, and Cheng Xiao declined the dormitory boss position, recommending Tang San instead.
• Tang San was preparing to accept the position when Xiao Wu appeared at the entrance to Dormitory Seven.

Xiao Wu became Dormitory Seven’s boss after defeating Tang San, then challenged Cheng Xiao and was easily beaten. When Teacher Mo delivered bedding to Cheng Xiao and Tang San but not Xiao Wu, she proposed sharing Cheng Xiao’s bedding.

• Tang San challenged Xiao Wu for Dormitory Seven’s leadership and lost when he froze during their duel.
• Xiao Wu declared herself the boss and demanded that Cheng Xiao explain the school or fight her.
• Cheng Xiao defeated Xiao Wu with a quick throw and told her not to bother him, but she denied agreeing to that condition.
• Teacher Mo gave bedding to Cheng Xiao and Tang San and assigned the new work-study students to clean the garden beside the Playground for ten Copper Soul Coins a day.
• With no bedding of her own, Xiao Wu suggested moving her bed beside Cheng Xiao’s and sharing his bedding.

Cheng Xiao, Xiao Wu, and Tang San joined Dormitory Seven for lunch, where Xiao Chenyu mocked the Work-study students and Tang San defended his teacher, Master. The chapter ended with Wang Sheng and the others warning Cheng Xiao and Xiao Wu against studying under Master, while Xiao Wu grew more curious about Cheng Xiao.

• Xiao Wu pushed Cheng Xiao's beds together, and Wang Sheng invited the Dormitory Seven students to lunch after learning Tang San and Xiao Wu had no money.
• Xiao Chenyu mocked the Work-study students in the cafeteria, but Cheng Xiao agreed with Xiao Wu that they could wait for a better time to fight back.
• Master invited Tang San to eat upstairs, and Tang San refused until Wang Sheng criticized Master and urged him to find another teacher.
• Tang San warned Wang Sheng not to insult Master, rejected Wang Sheng's offer to pay, and went upstairs to eat with his teacher.
• Cheng Xiao told the others that Master had offered to take him as a disciple, and Wang Sheng and the Work-study students advised him and Xiao Wu that Master only taught theory.
• Xiao Wu listened to the others discuss Master and became increasingly curious about Cheng Xiao.

Cheng Xiao studied Soul Beasts and arranged to travel to the Soul Hunting Forest the next morning to obtain his first soul ring. Back at the dormitory, Xiao Wu got bored and quietly slipped under Cheng Xiao’s blanket to disturb him.

• Tang San ate with Master, who offered him meals on the second floor and dismissed the rumors about him.
• Cheng Xiao studied Soul Beast types and attributes in the library before asking Director Su for help obtaining his first soul ring.
• Director Su could not spare a teacher, but the headmaster offered to take Cheng Xiao to the Soul Hunting Forest the next morning.
• Master joined the plan, saying he would take his disciple to hunt Soul Beasts as well.
• Cheng Xiao returned to the dormitory and told Xiao Wu he planned to sleep early before the trip.
• Xiao Wu slipped under Cheng Xiao’s blanket and reached toward his waist, intending to keep him from sleeping.

Cheng Xiao, Tang San, Master, and Dean Mano traveled from Nuoding City to the Soul Hunting Forest to hunt Soul Beasts. After entering, Master summoned Luo San Pao and ordered it to lead them into the forest.

• Master introduced Tang San as his new disciple and predicted that his guidance could help Tang San reach the rank of Titled Douluo.
• The group bought travel supplies, including twenty jin of white radishes, and set off by carriage; Master gave Tang San a blue belt that he named Twenty-Four Bridges Moonlight Night.
• After arriving at the Soul Hunting Forest, Cheng Xiao felt the Shadow Power in his body stir as he approached the forest.
• Dean Mano presented the group’s permit, and soldiers opened the guarded entrance to the Soul Hunting Forest.
• Master summoned his mutated martial soul, Luo San Pao, and ordered it to lead the group in search of suitable Soul Beasts.

Cheng Xiao, Tang San, Master, and Headmaster Mano searched the Soul Hunting Forest for soul beasts. Cheng Xiao rejected Master’s recommendation to hunt a Shadow Vine, and the group then spotted a pack of Nether Wolves led by a huge figure shrouded in black mist.

• Master revealed that Luo San Pao was his Martial Soul and gave Tang San a short sword to kill a suitable Soul Beast.
• Cheng Xiao felt unusual Shadow Power building inside him but concealed it from Headmaster Mano.
• Master recommended a hundred-year-old Shadow Vine for Cheng Xiao’s first soul ring, while Mano urged the group to keep searching.
• Cheng Xiao agreed with Mano and rejected Master’s recommendation, angering Master.
• Luo San Pao detected approaching Soul Beasts, and Mano released his Rock Shield Martial Soul as the group saw more than ten Nether Wolves following a massive black-mist-shrouded figure.

Master fled the Nether Demon Wolf with Tang San and Cheng Xiao, but Tang San secretly tried to sacrifice Cheng Xiao to secure his own escape. Cheng Xiao dodged the attack and confronted the wolf after releasing the Shadow Monarch, leaving the beast terrified by his aura.

• Principal Mano charged the Nether Wolf pack to let Master, Tang San, and Cheng Xiao escape, but the Nether Demon Wolf defeated him and pursued the fleeing group.
• The Nether Demon Wolf caught up and swatted Luo San Pao aside, injuring Master through their connection and forcing him to keep running despite the pain.
• Tang San decided to use Cheng Xiao as a distraction and fired a Silent Sleeve Arrow at his thigh, but Cheng Xiao sensed it and dodged.
• Master told Tang San to leave Cheng Xiao behind, and the two continued fleeing while Cheng Xiao turned to face the Nether Demon Wolf.
• Cheng Xiao released the Shadow Monarch, summoning a powerful aura of death that filled the Nether Demon Wolf with fear and regret.

Cheng Xiao received the Shadow Monarch’s inheritance, awakened as the Third-Generation Sovereign, and killed the Nether Demon Wolf with the power released through his body. After recovering and absorbing the wolf’s shadow, he began processing his new skills, while Tang San and Master rested in the forest after fleeing.

• Cheng Xiao gained Shadow Power skills and formed a growth soul ring that carried thousand-year strength.
• The Nether Demon Wolf attacked Cheng Xiao, but the Shadow Monarch’s power killed it with a dark purple ray.
• The system declared Cheng Xiao the Successor of the Third-Generation Sovereign and issued the Sovereign’s gift, including a title and recovery.
• Cheng Xiao woke after nightfall, noticed changes to his body, and sat down to absorb the inherited information.
• The Nether Demon Wolf’s shadow entered Cheng Xiao’s shadow, and its weak yellow soul ring rose from its corpse.
• Tang San and Master, exhausted from fleeing, stopped to rest beside a bonfire in the dark forest.

Tang San and Master encountered a Mandala Snake in the Soul Hunting Forest, and Tang San killed it using Tang Sect techniques. After Mano and Cheng Xiao arrived and witnessed the fight, Tang San decided to kill them to keep his abilities secret.

• Master told Tang San to feed White Radishes to Luo San Pao, then explained that they helped restore its fart-based Soul Skills.
• Tang San spotted a poisonous Mandala Snake and warned Master, who told him to run.
• Cheng Xiao met the injured Mano and concealed his suspicion that Tang San had tried to leave him behind.
• Mano and Cheng Xiao followed Master and Tang San's shouts and found them facing the Mandala Snake.
• Tang San wounded the snake with a Silent Sleeve Arrow and killed it with his Short Sword and Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.
• Tang San pretended to stumble and decided to kill Master and Mano because they had witnessed his Tang Sect techniques.

Tang San agreed to test Master's theory by absorbing the Mandala Snake's Soul Ring, while Master collapsed from the snake's venom. Mano struggled to treat Master's poisoning, and Cheng Xiao urged him to trust Tang San with the task once he finished absorbing the ring.

• Tang San lowered his sleeve arrow after seeing Master's concern and claimed he had stabbed the Mandala Snake by accident.
• Master identified the Mandala Snake's Soul Ring as suitable for Tang San, and Tang San agreed to absorb it despite his doubts about using an animal Soul Beast's ring.
• Tang San summoned Blue Silver Grass and began absorbing the Mandala Snake's Soul Ring.
• Master collapsed when the venom from Luo San Pao's bite took effect, and Mano checked him and began examining the poisoned area.
• Cheng Xiao suggested that Tang San treat Master after absorbing the ring, and urged Mano to trust him.

Tang San absorbed a Soul Ring and used the Mysterious Heaven Skill to draw the poison from Master, allowing Mano to bring him back to Nuoding City for treatment. Cheng Xiao worried that his millennium first Soul Ring would attract danger, but gained a skill that concealed its true appearance.

• Tang San woke after absorbing a Soul Ring and discovered that Master had been poisoned.
• Mano persuaded Tang San to draw the poison from Master's embarrassing wound, and Tang San reluctantly used his mouth and the Mysterious Heaven Skill to remove it.
• Cheng Xiao told Mano he had absorbed a century-old Soul Beast's Soul Ring, and Mano accepted the claim.
• Mano carried Master out of the Soul Hunting Forest with Cheng Xiao and Tang San, then found a healing-type Soul Master who helped Master wake up.
• Cheng Xiao went to the academy's rear mountain and worried that his millennium Soul Ring would expose him to danger.
• Cheng Xiao received the passive skill Disguise, which hid the true appearance of his Soul Rings from everyone else.

Cheng Xiao faced Nuoding Academy boss Xiao Chenyu and his followers, defeating Liu Long and Ling Feng with ease. Xiao Chenyu then revealed his Wolf martial soul and challenged Cheng Xiao, who disclosed his Shadow Soldier martial soul and level thirteen strength before their fight began.

• Cheng Xiao decided to visit Spirit Hall in Nuoding City for a Soul Master appraisal and his subsidy.
• Xiao Chenyu led more than twenty upperclassmen to confront Cheng Xiao and ordered Liu Long to attack him.
• Cheng Xiao caught Liu Long’s staff and incapacitated him with a punch.
• Cheng Xiao used Strike the Weak Point to throw Ling Feng to the ground and knock him unconscious.
• Xiao Chenyu announced that he was a level eleven, one-ring War Soul Master with a Wolf martial soul, and Cheng Xiao introduced himself as a level thirteen, one-ring War Soul Master with a Shadow Soldier martial soul.

Cheng Xiao revealed his Level 13 Soul Master strength and a supposedly hundred-year soul ring, prompting Xiao Chenyu to surrender and accept him as boss. After the work-study students arrived, Cheng Xiao left with Xiao Wu while Xiao Chenyu and Wang Sheng handled the aftermath; elsewhere, Tang San went to Spirit Hall for his Soul Master assessment and subsidy.

• Cheng Xiao displayed his Level 13 cultivation and Dark Purple soul ring, and Xiao Chenyu surrendered after believing Cheng Xiao’s first ring was a hundred-year one.
• Xiao Chenyu promised that the senior students would stop bullying work-study students and insisted on calling Cheng Xiao boss.
• Wang Sheng and the work-study students arrived, and Xiao Wu recognized Cheng Xiao before learning that Xiao Chenyu’s group had surrendered.
• Cheng Xiao told Xiao Chenyu and Wang Sheng to handle the follow-up, then left the grove with Xiao Wu as the senior students greeted him as their boss.
• Xiao Chenyu declared himself Cheng Xiao’s number one lackey, while Tang San left Master’s room and headed to Spirit Hall for his Soul Master assessment and subsidy.

Cheng Xiao and Xiao Wu went to Spirit Hall in Nuoding City for Soul Master Appraisals after Tang San warned Xiao Wu about the subsidy and embarrassed himself. Cheng Xiao revealed his powerful Shadow Monarch martial soul and level thirteen Soul Power, while Ma Xiunuo invited him to consider joining Spirit Hall after graduation.

• Tang San told Xiao Wu that Spirit Hall merely distributed subsidies funded by the Two Great Empires, and Cheng Xiao pointed out that Tang San was still going to collect his subsidy from Spirit Hall.
• Xiao Wu left Tang San and caught up with Cheng Xiao, and the two entered Spirit Hall in Nuoding City to undergo Soul Master Appraisals.
• Ma Xiunuo recognized Cheng Xiao as the child with Innate Full Soul Power whose awakening Su Yuntao had recorded, then led him and Xiao Wu to the appraisal room.
• Cheng Xiao released the Shadow Monarch, whose dark purple Soul Ring and black mist astonished Ma Xiunuo.
• Cheng Xiao's appraisal showed level thirteen Soul Power, and he claimed that a four-hundred-year-old Wolf-type Soul Beast had raised his power by three levels.
• Ma Xiunuo praised Cheng Xiao and invited him to seek him or Su Yuntao if he wanted to join Spirit Hall after graduation.

After Cheng Xiao and Xiao Wu became Soul Masters, Xiao Wu entrusted her Gold Soul Coin to Cheng Xiao for safekeeping, and they headed to a blacksmith shop. Tang San then collected his and Master’s subsidies, heard Ma Xiunuo criticize Master, and left determined to prove his teacher’s martial soul theories.

• Ma Xiunuo gave Cheng Xiao and Xiao Wu their Soul Master badges and Gold Soul Coins after Xiao Wu declined his invitation to join Spirit Hall.
• Xiao Wu gave her coin to Cheng Xiao to keep, and they set off for the blacksmith shop.
• Tang San passed his Soul Master assessment and collected his badge and monthly subsidy.
• Ma Xiunuo recognized Yu Xiaogang’s badge and disparaged Master’s theories and inability to break through rank thirty.
• Tang San left Spirit Hall resolved to prove Master’s theories and returned to the academy to eat.

Cheng Xiao and Xiao Wu visited a blacksmith shop to commission two short swords, and the blacksmith agreed to forge them from Profound Iron. After Xiao Wu lent Cheng Xiao a Gold Soul Coin toward the cost, they left with a month-long wait ahead and joked about how he should repay her.

• Cheng Xiao showed the blacksmith his Soul Master's Handbook and paid a Gold Soul Coin to prove he could commission the swords himself.
• Cheng Xiao drew his short sword design, and the blacksmith agreed to forge two swords from Profound Iron for nine Gold Soul Coins.
• Xiao Wu offered to lend Cheng Xiao a Gold Soul Coin, and the blacksmith reduced the price by one coin after they paid two.
• The blacksmith estimated the swords would take about a month to finish, and Cheng Xiao thanked Xiao Wu for helping him.
• Cheng Xiao promised to treat Xiao Wu to food for a month, then teased her by pinching her cheek, prompting her to call him awful.

Tang San heard about Cheng Xiao's victory and resolved to find a blacksmith job so he could make hidden weapons. Back at Dormitory Seven, Cheng Xiao learned Xiao Chenyu had arranged for upperclassmen to handle the work-study students' chores, and he agreed to spar with Tang San the next day.

• Tang San heard students praise Cheng Xiao and Xiao Chenyu, then decided to seek work at a blacksmith shop to gather materials for hidden weapons.
• Wang Sheng told Cheng Xiao that Xiao Chenyu had claimed the title of his number one lackey and arranged for upperclassmen to do the work-study students' chores.
• Xiao Wu told the work-study students that she had accompanied Cheng Xiao to get his Soul Master certification, then went to sleep.
• Cheng Xiao made room on the shared beds for himself without waking Xiao Wu.
• Tang San returned to the dormitory, watched Cheng Xiao avoid discussing their past conflict, and asked to spar with him.
• Cheng Xiao agreed to spar with Tang San but put off talking about it until tomorrow.