Chapter Summaries

Key events

• Su Chen begins receiving what appears to be another God-Given Soul Ring. His body shakes violently from the pain as golden light gathers behind him into the image of a colossal five-clawed dragon. Even his sweat turns golden.
• Bibi Dong and the Spirit Hall elders recognize the divine aura, while Yu Xiaogang explains God-Given Soul Rings and the different levels of divine trials to Tang San and the others.
• Tang San realizes Su Chen’s apparent connection to a deity could make his ambitions and revenge against Spirit Hall harder to achieve. He resolves to cultivate harder and pursue divine trials himself.
• In the Divine Realm, the Sea God summons five other deities after recognizing the Dragon God’s aura around Su Chen. The gods conclude that Su Chen has received the Dragon God’s trials, likely left behind when the Dragon God split into the Golden and Silver Dragon Kings.
• The God of Evil urges the Asura God to send forces to Douluo Star to kill both Su Chen and the Silver Dragon King before the threat grows.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Chen endures extraordinary pain, revealing the scale of the trial and the power tied to him.
• Tang San shifts from surprise to anxious determination, seeing Su Chen as a growing obstacle and deciding he must seek divine trials of his own.
• Yu Xiaogang acts as the group’s source of lore, though he admits his knowledge is limited and privately speculates about dangerous places where trials might be found.
• Tang Hao reacts warily when Yu Xiaogang recognizes the God-Given Soul Ring, briefly showing suspicion and killing intent.
• The Divine Realm gods move from alarm to debate. The Sea God presents the evidence, the God of Kindness offers an explanation, and the God of Evil presses for a preemptive attack; the Asura God is left to respond.

Significant themes

• Power and destiny: Divine trials suggest that Su Chen’s rise is guided by forces beyond ordinary cultivation.
• Fear of emerging threats: Tang San sees Su Chen as an obstacle, while the Divine Realm considers eliminating him before his power develops.
• Knowledge and uncertainty: Characters rely on fragmentary legends to interpret unprecedented events.
• Inheritance and division: The Dragon God’s legacy persists through the aftermath of its split, potentially reshaping the mortal and divine worlds.

Plot points and events

• In the Divine Realm, the Supreme Gods debate whether to send gods to Douluo Star to pursue the human who received the Dragon God’s Nine Trials. The Asura God argues that gods should not meddle in mortal affairs; a vote ends three to two against intervention.
• The Asura God orders the Sea God to monitor Su Chen and report only if he proves evil. The God of Evil, however, secretly recruits the Rakshasa God, whose successor is Spirit Hall’s Pope, Bibi Dong. He gives her a covert task that violates the Divine Realm’s rules, tempting her with the chance to leave the realm and explore the universe.
• On Douluo Star, Su Chen continues absorbing his God-Given Soul Ring. Golden rings repeatedly strike him, cycling from one to nine and back. The ordeal causes intense pain and severe bleeding, and his external soul bone—the Cloak—appears.
• Su Chen ultimately withstands the trial and gains a hundred-thousand-year soul ring, astonishing the spectators. As Tang Hao recognizes Su Chen as a future obstacle to his revenge, he tries to leave with Tang San. But the Cloak develops a new flame-like pattern, prompting Tang Hao to stop; Su Chen then calls out to him.

Character developments and interactions

• Asura God maintains his public commitment to noninterference, though he recognizes the God of Evil’s hostility and past hypocrisy.
• God of Evil accepts the vote outwardly but covertly pursues his own plan through the Rakshasa God.
• Rakshasa God hesitates over breaking the rules but is persuaded by the promised freedom to explore beyond the Divine Realm.
• Su Chen displays exceptional endurance and reaches a remarkable breakthrough. His Cloak visibly changes as the trial progresses.
• Bibi Dong watches anxiously, understanding that surviving longer will bring Su Chen greater rewards.
• Tang Hao sees Su Chen’s power as a threat to his revenge and attempts to leave with Tang San, but Su Chen’s call interrupts him.
• Feng Xiaotian realizes Su Chen had not shown his full strength in earlier matches.

Significant themes

• Divine noninterference versus secret manipulation: The gods formally uphold limits on influencing the mortal world while some pursue covert schemes.
• Endurance and reward: Su Chen’s suffering and perseverance yield extraordinary power.
• Rising threat and rivalry: Su Chen’s rapid growth reshapes the balance of power and sharpens Tang Hao’s hostility.
• Transformation: The Cloak’s evolving patterns suggest that Su Chen’s external soul bone is developing alongside his strength.

Key plot points and events

• Su Chen unexpectedly returns Ah Yin, Tang San’s mother and Tang Hao’s wife, ahead of the agreed three-year deadline, asking nothing in return. Tang San suspects a trap because Su Chen previously used Ah Yin to force concessions from him and his father.
• Ah Yin’s Blue Silver Emperor form responds affectionately to Tang Hao and Tang San. Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ning Rongrong are impressed by Su Chen’s generosity; Yu Xiaogang suspects the gesture is also a calculated way to strengthen Spirit Hall’s reputation.
• At the tournament award ceremony, Spirit Hall Academy is named champion. Pope Bibi Dong presents three rare Soul Bones to the Golden Generation.
• Su Chen yields the honor of receiving the prize to Xu Yu, but his teammates insist the recognition belongs to him. He accepts the Soul Bones from Bibi Dong, who praises him and expresses hope that he will enter Douluo Hall.
• Chrysanthemum Douluo summons Su Chen and the Golden Generation to the Papal Hall. Bibi Dong confronts Su Chen over why he released the hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast. The chapter ends as Hu Liena notices unexpected hostility in her teacher’s expression.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Chen appears magnanimous by keeping his promise to return Ah Yin, earning admiration even from people who distrust him. His teammates also recognize him as the driving force behind their victory, while Yu Xiaogang sees political calculation beneath the gesture.
• Tang San and Tang Hao are moved by Ah Yin’s return, though Tang San remains wary of Su Chen.
• Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ning Rongrong revise their impressions of Su Chen after witnessing his apparent generosity.
• The Golden Generation shows strong solidarity: Xu Yu, Yan, Hu Liena, and the others defer to Su Chen as their team’s central figure.
• Bibi Dong shifts from public praise of Su Chen to a private, pointed challenge about his decision to release the Soul Beast, raising doubts about her motives. Hu Liena senses this change and becomes uneasy.

Significant themes

• Trust and reputation: Su Chen’s promise-keeping wins admiration, though others question whether it is sincere or strategic.
• Power and ambition: The Soul Bones symbolize the immense stakes of Soul Master politics, while the award ceremony reinforces Spirit Hall’s dominance.
• Public image versus private intent: Su Chen’s honorable public gesture contrasts with Yu Xiaogang’s suspicion of its political value, and Bibi Dong’s public support clashes with her private hostility.

Key plot points and events

• Su Chen explains to Bibi Dong why she should not attack Xiao Wu during the tournament: doing so publicly would damage Spirit Hall’s reputation. He notes that after the ten-day reprieve, she can pursue Xiao Wu without restraint.
• Bibi Dong accepts Su Chen’s reasoning and lets him decide how to distribute the three tournament prizes: a fire-attribute right arm bone, an agility-type left leg bone, and a wisdom skull.
• Su Chen gives the fire arm bone to Yan, the left leg bone to Zhang Ping, and the wisdom skull to Hu Liena. Xie Yue declines because he already has a soul bone; Xu Yu graciously yields the skull to Hu Liena.
• Bibi Dong points out that Su Chen himself could have benefited from the fire and wisdom bones. The group realizes how readily he prioritized his companions over himself.
• Su Chen reveals that he already possesses a rare, hundred-thousand-year soul bone—the Heaven-Equal Crown—earned by completing the Dragon God’s Third Trial. He confirms that he is undertaking the Dragon God’s Nine Trials.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Chen demonstrates political judgment in advising Bibi Dong and generosity in distributing the bones according to his companions’ abilities rather than keeping suitable prizes for himself.
• Bibi Dong shows concern for Su Chen alongside her interest in Xiao Wu and the tournament prizes. She trusts his judgment and praises his allocation.
• Yan, Zhang Ping, and Hu Liena each receive a bone suited to their abilities. Yan is initially reluctant, while Zhang Ping is surprised to be chosen.
• Hu Liena and Xu Yu show mutual consideration: Hu Liena recommends the agility bone for Zhang Ping, and Xu Yu persuades Hu Liena to accept the wisdom skull.
• The Golden Generation’s surprise and gratitude deepen after learning that Su Chen’s apparent selflessness does not stem from lacking a soul bone.

Significant themes

• Reputation and political responsibility: Bibi Dong’s actions as Pope affect Spirit Hall’s standing and public support.
• Fairness and teamwork: Soul bones should go to those who can use them best, while thoughtful distribution helps prevent resentment.
• Generosity and loyalty: The characters repeatedly put one another’s needs first.
• Hidden power and destiny: Su Chen’s exceptional soul bone and Dragon God trials reveal the growing significance of his divine path.

Key plot points and events

• Su Chen reveals that his Dragon God trial awarded him a God-Given Head Soul Bone. When activated, it boosts his Soul Power and all-attribute resistance by 20%.
• He clarifies that his support skills—already powerful—now increase strength, speed, and defense by 50%, following his rise from Soul Power rank 40 to rank 50. That ten-rank increase, along with the Soul Ring and Soul Bone, came from the first three rewards of his trial.
• Su Chen discloses that he is undertaking the highest-tier Dragon God’s Nine Trials. Bibi Dong explains the trial ranking system: higher-ranked trials offer the possibility of inheriting a deity’s power, but failure is fatal.
• Su Chen’s Fourth Trial requires him to enter Slaughter City, pass through Hell Road, and obtain Divine Slaughter’s Domain within three years. He asks Bibi Dong not to send guards, insisting he must face the danger on his own.
• Bibi Dong agrees to care for Su Chen’s young granddisciple, Xiao Xingyue, and the blacksmiths he brought back from the Strength Clan.
• Hu Liena asks to enter Slaughter City as well, arguing that she wants to test herself through life-and-death trials rather than be treated as a protected ornament.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Chen is confident and increasingly open about his extraordinary progress. He jokes with Zhang Ping and Yan when they question whether he is human, while remaining serious about accepting the risks of his trial.
• Bibi Dong is astonished by Su Chen’s rewards and concerned about the danger ahead, but respects his resolve and agrees to his requests. She also reveals that she herself is undergoing divine trials.
• The Spirit Hall Golden Generation and the two Douluo are stunned by Su Chen’s rapid advancement; Hu Liena’s admiration and ambition are especially apparent.
• Hu Liena’s decision to follow Su Chen into Slaughter City marks a firm assertion of her independence and determination.
• Su Chen and Zhang Ping share playful familiarity, while the group’s teasing reactions contrast with the grave discussion of the trials.

Significant themes

• Power and its price: Divine rewards bring immense strength, but the trials are life-threatening and failure means death.
• Independence and growth: Su Chen rejects constant protection, and Hu Liena likewise seeks hardship to realize her potential.
• Ambition and comparison: Su Chen’s exceptional gains leave his peers amazed—and, in some cases, aware of the widening gap between them.
• Trust and responsibility: Bibi Dong supports Su Chen by accepting responsibility for those he leaves behind, even as she worries about his safety.

Key plot points and events

• Bibi Dong agrees to let Hu Liena and Su Chen travel to Slaughter City, warning them to return alive. Hu Liena insists she wants to fight independently, and Su Chen agrees to respect her choice.
• Su Chen asks about Bibi Dong’s progress; she reveals she has reached the Seventh Trial of the Rakshasa Nine Trials.
• Later, Su Chen leaves Spirit Hall’s victory celebrations and sits on a mountain with Xiao Xingyue. He confirms he plans to depart for Slaughter City the next day.
• The Seventh Worshipper arrives with a summons from Qian Daoliu, Spirit Hall’s Great Elder. Su Chen goes to the Elder Hall alone.
• When the Seventh Worshipper demands that Su Chen kneel before Qian Daoliu, Su Chen refuses, saying he kneels only to his late parents and his teacher. The Seventh Worshipper tries to force him, but Qian Daoliu effortlessly disperses his power.
• Su Chen recognizes Qian Daoliu as Angel Douluo, one of the era’s three Limit Douluos.

Character developments

• Su Chen displays confidence in his ability to survive Slaughter City, while also respecting Hu Liena’s determination to prove herself. His refusal to kneel shows his pride and firm personal principles.
• Hu Liena asserts her independence and competitive spirit, choosing to face danger without Su Chen’s protection.
• Bibi Dong reveals progress in her own divine trials and expresses genuine concern for her disciples’ safety.
• Qian Daoliu is introduced as composed, immensely powerful, and capable of stopping another Titled Douluo with ease.

Character interactions

• Bibi Dong speaks as both Pope and teacher, balancing authority with concern for Su Chen and Hu Liena.
• Su Chen and Hu Liena negotiate the terms of their journey: he offers protection, but accepts her wish to stand on her own.
• Xiao Xingyue shares a quiet moment with Su Chen before his departure.
• Su Chen clashes with the Seventh Worshipper over whether he must show deference, but Qian Daoliu ends the confrontation calmly.

Significant themes

• Independence and self-reliance: Hu Liena wants to prove herself without relying on Su Chen.
• Loyalty and respect: Su Chen’s reverence is reserved for his parents and teacher, rather than institutional rank.
• Power and authority: The chapter hints at tension between Spirit Hall’s factions, while establishing the Elder Hall—and Qian Daoliu—as formidable forces.
• Preparation for danger: The coming journey to Slaughter City and Bibi Dong’s trials foreshadow further tests of strength and character.

Key plot points and events

• Su Chen meets Qian Daoliu, who explains that Bibi Dong became wary of him after hearing that unidentified people had entered Spirit City. She feared they might be Su Chen’s allies or that he knew about them.
• Qian Daoliu says he supports Bibi Dong’s ambitions for Spirit Hall, but cautions Su Chen not to lower his guard: even he cannot fully understand her motives.
• He shares letters from Qian Renxue. They show her concern for Su Chen and make clear that Qian Daoliu knows she loves him.
• Qian Daoliu offers Su Chen the post of Judgment Elder if he marries Qian Renxue. Su Chen says he will marry her, but insists he will earn the position himself rather than receive it through marriage.
• Before Su Chen’s journey to Slaughter City for his Fourth Trial, Qian Daoliu gives him rare Antidote Pills to counter the city’s poisonous air and yellow springs dew. He explains that Bibi Dong had personally asked him for pills for Su Chen and Hu Liena, though he had refused her request.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Chen shows growing confidence and ambition, accepting his feelings for Qian Renxue while rejecting a title gained through family ties. He is also moved to learn that Bibi Dong went to Qian Daoliu on his behalf.
• Qian Daoliu reveals a protective, strategic side: he warns Su Chen about Bibi Dong, supports his potential future with Qian Renxue, and helps prepare him for Slaughter City.
• Qian Renxue’s letters convey her affection and concern, even though she is away undercover.
• Bibi Dong’s actions reveal unexpected concern for Su Chen and Hu Liena, despite her strained relationship with Qian Daoliu.

Significant themes

• Trust and caution: Qian Daoliu urges Su Chen to remain alert, especially around Bibi Dong, whose intentions are difficult to read.
• Love and loyalty: Qian Renxue’s letters and Bibi Dong’s request for the antidotes show care expressed across distance and strained relationships.
• Merit versus inheritance: Su Chen wants to earn authority through his own strength, not marriage.
• Preparation and sacrifice: The antidotes underscore the danger of Su Chen’s trial and the support others provide to help him face it.

Key plot points

• While walking back from meeting Qian Daoliu, Su Chen senses an ambush and narrowly avoids a dagger strike, though he is lightly wounded.
• His attacker is Hidden Blade, a level-73 Soul Saint. Su Chen holds his own using his enhanced physical abilities, qi barrier, Explosive Step, and soul skills, eventually striking Hidden Blade with a powerful wind-infused Rasengan.
• A second assassin, a Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Master, boosts Hidden Blade’s attack. Before Hidden Blade’s final assault can kill Su Chen, Qian Daoliu emerges and blocks the daggers.
• Bibi Dong also arrives. Both attackers take poison to prevent interrogation. Recognizing the pagoda, Bibi Dong blames the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and angrily threatens Ning Fengzhi.
• Su Chen asks Bibi Dong to let him handle his own revenge, resolving to repay those responsible.

Character developments

• Su Chen demonstrates that his growing strength and ingenuity let him challenge a Soul Saint despite his lower level. He remains composed under pressure and asserts his desire to pursue justice himself.
• Bibi Dong shows fierce protectiveness toward Su Chen and reacts angrily to the apparent involvement of a rival sect.
• Qian Daoliu acts decisively to save Su Chen, confirming that his earlier concern for him was genuine.
• Hidden Blade and his accomplice are willing to die rather than reveal who hired them.

Significant themes

• Power and self-reliance: Su Chen’s accumulated abilities and clever tactics enable him to survive a stronger foe.
• Loyalty and protection: Both Qian Daoliu and Bibi Dong intervene to safeguard Su Chen.
• Revenge and agency: Su Chen insists on taking responsibility for avenging the attack himself.
• Political intrigue: The assassins’ deaths leave the conspiracy unresolved, while the pagoda’s appearance points toward a dangerous conflict between Spirit Hall and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

Character interactions

• Su Chen faces Hidden Blade in a tactical duel, briefly gaining the upper hand before the second assassin’s support turns the attack more dangerous.
• Qian Daoliu confronts Hidden Blade and demands to know who sent him, but the assassin dies by poison.
• Bibi Dong identifies the pagoda and condemns Ning Fengzhi; Su Chen then asks her not to take revenge on his behalf.

Key plot points and events

• After traveling through dangerous terrain for half a month, Su Chen and Hu Liena reach a small, ominous town: the entrance to Slaughter City.
• They enter a tavern where patrons drink a foul, blood-red beverage called yellow springs dew. Su Chen drinks his cup, while Hu Liena spits hers out.
• The patrons recognize them as newcomers and taunt them, then threaten Hu Liena. Su Chen orders the attackers killed.
• A level-46 soul master attacks Su Chen, but Su Chen withstands his blow and kills him with one punch. When a voice declares that killing the tavern’s occupants is the entry trial, the patrons attack.
• Su Chen kills the men without using his martial soul; Hu Liena uses her martial soul and Charm skill to defeat the women. A hidden passage opens, granting them entry to Slaughter City.

Character developments and interactions

• The arduous journey has brought Su Chen and Hu Liena closer. Their playful flirting shows growing comfort and mutual attraction, though Su Chen jokes that he would only court her if she accepted sharing him with Xiao Xue.
• Hu Liena responds in kind, teasing him about Bibi Dong, but remains focused when the tavern turns hostile.
• Su Chen is calm, confident, and brutally decisive in combat. Hu Liena proves capable and effective in her own right, handling her opponents with her Charm ability.

Significant themes

• Survival and violence: Entry into Slaughter City is earned through lethal combat, and its inhabitants treat cruelty as ordinary.
• Trust and partnership: Su Chen and Hu Liena rely on one another, splitting the fight between them.
• Darkness and corruption: The town’s oppressive atmosphere, blood-red drink, and predatory patrons establish Slaughter City as a dangerous, morally bleak place.

Plot points and events

• Su Chen and Hu Liena travel through an underground passage toward Slaughter City. Hu Liena tries to get closer to him by asking why he works so hard; Su Chen says their privileged position as the Pope’s students gives them a duty to help others.
• Su Chen reflects that he must prepare for threats beyond the continent, especially Tang San’s likely future powers and the Divine Realm’s response to his own potential Dragon God inheritance.
• The pair reach Slaughter City, where their guides welcome them and issue identification tokens: Hu Liena is 9526, Su Chen 9527. Su Chen expects Tang San to arrive soon with 9528.
• Their guides explain that Soul Masters can use martial souls and soul power in the city, but not soul skills. The King of Slaughter rules it, backed by a powerful enforcement squad. Escape is possible only by surviving Hell Road, which only eight of 3,451 challengers have completed.
• Hu Liena asks why Spirit Hall tolerates the city. Her guide explains that it functions as a sealed prison for dangerous criminals and Evil Soul Masters, reducing threats beyond its walls. Su Chen agrees, viewing it as a refuge that also helps keep the outside world safer.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Chen is ambitious and strategic: he sees his current strength as preparation for future conflicts with Tang San and the gods, while presenting his drive as a responsibility to protect others.
• Hu Liena is increasingly focused on Su Chen. A defeat by him three years earlier made him both her rival and someone who has left a deep impression on her. She seeks conversation and is flustered when she accidentally bumps into him.
• The guides, Rou Rou and A Fu, provide the newcomers with the rules and history of Slaughter City. Hu Liena’s question prompts a discussion of the city’s role and moral ambiguity.

Significant themes

• Power and responsibility: Su Chen believes privilege and strength bring an obligation to protect others.
• Preparation and ambition: He looks beyond immediate victories toward the Divine Realm and the dangers that may follow.
• Justice and containment: Slaughter City is brutal, yet serves as a prison that shields the outside world from its most dangerous inhabitants.
• Sanctuary and destruction: Su Chen regards the city as a remarkable refuge, foreshadowing his condemnation of Tang San for ultimately destroying it to prevent others from gaining Divine Slaughter’s Domain.

Key plot points

• Su Chen and Hu Liena arrive in Slaughter City and learn that its protected outer city contrasts with an unregulated inner city where violence is constant.
• Rejecting the guides’ advice to acclimate first, they go straight to the Hell Slaughter Arena. Su Chen dismisses the guides’ offers of protection and personal services; Hu Liena does the same.
• They register to compete. Arena fighters enter in groups of ten, and only one can survive each match. A victory earns a year of indulgence in the city, while participation costs a cup of yellow springs dew—human blood.
• Watching a match, Hu Liena sees the winner absorb Soul Power from the defeated. Su Chen explains that most of it is drawn into the arena, beneath which lies the Hell Road they will eventually have to traverse.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Chen’s familiarity with Slaughter City gives him confidence and makes him alert to its hidden mechanisms. He pushes Hu Liena to treat every fight as deadly and warns her against mercy.
• Hu Liena shares his resolve to enter the arena. She is disciplined and guarded, turning down her guide’s advances and taking Su Chen’s warning seriously.
• Their relationship is marked by trust and mutual purpose: they register together, and Hu Liena relies on Su Chen’s knowledge while preparing to face the arena’s dangers.

Significant themes

• Survival and moral compromise: Slaughter City rewards violence and offers pleasure in exchange for participation in death.
• Power and exploitation: The city’s economy and protection systems depend on bloodshed, while the arena appears to harvest Soul Power for its own purpose.
• Vigilance and self-preservation: In a place without reliable rules or friendship, compassion toward enemies can be fatal.

Key plot points and events

• Two years after entering Slaughter City, Su Chen and Hu Liena have become feared champions known as the Asura King and Hell Messenger. A group of fallen ones ambushes them in a dead-tree forest; the pair defeat the attackers, kill the six who remain, and collect their blood for sustenance and entry fees.
• Hu Liena has won 100 consecutive matches. Su Chen needs one more victory to qualify for the Hell Road, and they plan to enter it after his next match rather than wait indefinitely for Tang San.
• While walking, they find an unusual trail of healthy flowers and cherry trees amid Slaughter City’s corruption. Rotting corpses along the path suggest the place is lethal.
• Deeper in, the flowers’ combined fragrance—identified by Hu Liena as Gu Incense—begins to overwhelm them with lustful sensations. They realize the plants’ pollen and other flowers interact to create the dangerous effect, and wonder who arranged them.

Character developments

• Su Chen has remained at Soul Power rank 50, but repeated exposure to Yellow Springs Dew has greatly strengthened his body and defenses. He is less fixated on Tang San than before, confident that his Dragon God’s Nine Trials have made him stronger.
• Hu Liena has advanced nine ranks to rank 68, despite having only five Soul Rings. She is now a Battle Soul King and remains alert, capable, and knowledgeable about the local flora.
• Both have adapted to Slaughter City’s brutality and operate efficiently as a team, though the Gu Incense places their self-control under pressure.

Significant themes

• Survival and moral hardening: The pair treat killing and drinking blood as necessities in Slaughter City.
• Power and changing ambition: Su Chen’s growing strength alters how much importance he attaches to Tang San and reinforces his desire to move forward.
• Corruption concealed by beauty: The pristine flowers and inviting fragrance mask a deadly trap.
• Trust and partnership: Su Chen and Hu Liena rely on each other’s judgment and abilities while facing danger.

Character interactions

• Hu Liena asks Su Chen what to do after the ambush; they follow their usual arrangement for dividing the spoils. An attacker begs to see her smile, but she coldly refuses before the pair finish the survivors.
• On their walk, Hu Liena notices the flowers and questions whether they should continue. Su Chen challenges her to follow her own decision, and they proceed together.
• When the fragrance affects them, Hu Liena identifies its cause and explains the mixture of plants, while Su Chen struggles against its effects and considers who might have designed the trap.

Plot points and events

• Su Chen and Hu Liena realize they have been poisoned by a “gu incense” that inflames lust and plants a poison that sex can only temporarily ease. They must find the person who administered it to obtain the antidote.
• They follow a passage toward the apparent exit of Slaughter City and discover a secluded bamboo house in a flower-filled courtyard.
• Wang Mei, the house’s alluring occupant, gives them pills that quickly suppress the poison’s effects. She reveals that she is the high priestess of the God of Lust and that the passage was a test of their willpower.
• Su Chen cannot receive the God of Lust’s trials because he is already undergoing another deity’s trials. Hu Liena, however, qualifies. When she steps onto the courtyard’s formation, its light shifts through the trial ranks and turns gold: she has received the God of Lust’s Nine Trials.

Character developments

• Hu Liena resists acting on her desire for Su Chen despite her secret feelings for him, insisting she will not use the poison to bind him to her.
• Su Chen struggles against the poison but remains determined to find its source. Wang Mei’s influence briefly overwhelms him, though he recovers quickly.
• Hu Liena gains a major opportunity to close the gap between herself and Su Chen through a deity’s trials.

Character interactions

• Su Chen and Hu Liena cooperate to find a cure while carefully avoiding each other, since their attraction could weaken their resistance.
• Hu Liena openly admires the skill behind the gu incense and later asks Wang Mei about the rules governing divine trials.
• Wang Mei tests both travelers, treats them with antidote pills, and grants Hu Liena the God of Lust’s Nine Trials.

Significant themes

• Willpower and self-control: The passage tests whether the travelers can resist desire rather than surrender to it.
• Ambition and divine recognition: Hu Liena’s new trials offer a path toward greater power and parity with Su Chen.
• Desire and integrity: Hu Liena’s feelings for Su Chen are set against her pride and determination to act honorably.

Plot points

• Su Chen enters the arena for his hundredth challenge, needing one more victory to qualify for Hell Road and gain control over his killing intent.
• Nine powerful Fallen, each with soul power above rank eighty, unite to stop him. The winner would earn a privileged, permanent place in Slaughter City.
• Su Chen reveals his martial soul: a golden Five-Clawed Golden Dragon, along with two black soul rings and a hundred-thousand-year red one. Its presence suppresses the snake-wielding opponent.
• Though Slaughter City normally forbids soul skills, Su Chen uses elemental control—an ability connected to the Dragon God’s Nine Trials—to create nine swamps. He traps and kills all nine opponents, then absorbs their soul power.
• The crowd celebrates him as King Asura. As the fight ends, the King of Slaughter appears to address him and disrupts his connection to the elements.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Chen displays confidence and reveals a major part of his hidden power. His victory confirms that he is far stronger and more resourceful than his reputation alone suggested.
• The nine challengers initially mock and threaten Su Chen, but their confidence collapses once they are trapped; they cannot use soul skills to escape.
• Hu Liena, watching from the stands before entering Hell Road with Su Chen, believes he can win but doubts his claim that he will defeat all nine in two moves. The swift victory overturns her expectations.
• The spectators shift from skepticism to admiration, chanting Su Chen’s name after witnessing his feat.
• The King of Slaughter’s sudden intervention signals that Su Chen’s success has drawn the attention of Slaughter City’s most powerful figure.

Significant themes

• Power and reputation: Su Chen’s victory transforms his feared nickname into a public symbol of dominance.
• Ingenuity within constraints: He exploits elemental control and self-created techniques to overcome rules that prevent ordinary soul skills.
• Desperation and coercion: The challengers risk their lives for a chance at status, despite recognizing Su Chen’s threat.
• An approaching confrontation: The King of Slaughter’s arrival suggests that Su Chen’s path to Hell Road may face a new obstacle.

Key plot points and events

• Su Chen and Hu Liena emerge victorious in the Hell Slaughter Arena, prompting the crowd to chant for the King of Slaughter.
• The King of Slaughter appears with bat wings and a terrifying aura. Su Chen recognizes him as Tang Chen, a once-mighty Clear Sky Sect master and Asura God candidate who was corrupted by the Rakshasa God’s influence and possessed by the Blood-Red Nine-Headed Bat King.
• The King offers Su Chen and Hu Liena the title of Slaughter Gods, privileged status, permission to use Soul Skills, and freedom from paying Yellow Springs Dew. He hopes to keep them from attempting the Hell Road and gaining Divine Slaughter’s Domain.
• Both refuse, since they must pass through the Hell Road to continue their Divine Trials.
• The King warns that thousands have won a hundred arena victories, but only eight have ever survived the Hell Road.
• Su Chen reveals that the King is not human but a Soul Beast—the Nine-Headed Bat King—because his Dragon God Divine Trial gives him a special sensitivity to Soul Beasts. He then promises, on behalf of Spirit Hall, to support Slaughter City and asks the King to open the Hell Road.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Chen demonstrates confidence and insight by identifying the King’s true nature, despite the danger of provoking him. He uses his position as Spirit Hall’s Holy Son to reassure the King and negotiate for access to the Hell Road.
• Hu Liena recognizes the King’s offer as an attempt to prevent new bearers of Divine Slaughter’s Domain from emerging. She firmly rejects the offer alongside Su Chen.
• The King of Slaughter / Tang Chen reveals both his immense power and his strategic fear of challengers who might acquire Divine Slaughter’s Domain. Though hostile toward Su Chen’s revelation, he hesitates to attack because of Su Chen’s ties to Spirit Hall and its Pope.

Significant themes

• Corruption and lost identity: Tang Chen’s divine trials were tainted by the Rakshasa God, turning a great warrior into the King of Slaughter.
• Power versus freedom: The King’s lavish privileges are a tempting alternative to the dangerous Hell Road, but Su Chen and Hu Liena choose their own trials over a comfortable, controlled life.
• Knowledge as leverage: Su Chen’s understanding of the King’s identity shifts the encounter and gives him a way to negotiate.
• The danger of ambition: The Hell Road’s grim record emphasizes the deadly cost of pursuing greater power.

Key plot points and events

• Su Chen persuades the King of Slaughter to let him and Hu Liena attempt Hell Road, promising to pass on the King’s regards to the Pope.
• The King opens the Gate of Hell by draining the life and Soul Power of everyone in the arena. The Fallen spectators are killed, while Su Chen and Hu Liena are drawn into the passage.
• They arrive in a vast cavern above an abyss filled with Yellow Springs Dew. A bridge marks the route through Hell Road, where the pair’s unstable killing intent may make progress difficult.
• Hu Liena’s first Divine Trial requires her to cross Hell Road and obtain Divine Slaughter’s Domain. Failure means death.
• As they advance, they encounter intelligent Bloodthirsty Bats. Su Chen uses his fire-based Soul Skill to kill many and drive the rest away.

Character developments

• Su Chen remains composed and confident, reassuring Hu Liena and taking the lead against the bats. His unusual, versatile fire technique proves effective even in Hell Road.
• Hu Liena feels apprehensive about the trial and the dangers ahead, but Su Chen’s presence calms her. She also recognizes that he can still use Soul Skills and admires this advantage.
• The King of Slaughter appears cold and pragmatic. Though he grants their request, he uses the spectators as sacrifices to open Hell Road.

Significant themes

• The cost of divine trials: Failure means death, and even the trial’s entrance is opened through mass sacrifice.
• Trust and reassurance: Su Chen’s confidence helps Hu Liena face a frightening trial.
• Hidden supernatural forces: Slaughter City is shaped by lingering divine wills, including those associated with Lust and Rakshasa.
• Power and adaptability: Su Chen’s skills give him an edge, but Hell Road remains dangerous and their unstable killing intent may hinder them.

Character interactions

• Su Chen negotiates with the King of Slaughter, invoking Spirit Hall’s importance to the city and promising to deliver a message to the Pope.
• Su Chen comforts Hu Liena before they begin the trial; she responds with renewed resolve.
• During the bat attack, Hu Liena observes the creatures’ intelligence while Su Chen acts decisively, using his Soul Skill to protect their progress.

Key plot points and events

• Su Chen and Hu Liena face the three-headed Bloodthirsty Bat King, the second trial on Hell Road.
• Su Chen first attacks it with a fire dragon, but the bat king regenerates its destroyed heads and commands its minions to break the path and attack the bridge.
• Su Chen takes Hu Liena into the air using his external soul-bone Cloak. Remembering that all three heads must be destroyed simultaneously, he unleashes three fire dragons and burns the bat king to ash.
• Afterward, Hu Liena notices Su Chen’s growing arousal while they are holding each other. She pinches him to stop him from acting on his impulse, reminding him that Hell Road is still dangerous.
• They pause to recover. Hu Liena massages Su Chen, then transforms into a pink fox and offers to carry him so he can conserve his strength before the unknown third trial.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Chen displays confidence and overwhelming firepower, inventing another self-created soul skill. Despite his strength, repeated attacks drain his limited soul power, so he accepts a rest.
• Hu Liena is impressed by Su Chen’s abilities and clearly cares for him. She balances her attraction with caution, stopping their intimate moment for safety. Her massage and offer to carry him show her affection and her desire to please him.
• Their closeness grows through teasing, physical contact, and mutual attraction, though Su Chen misreads Hu Liena’s offer to carry him as purely practical.

Significant themes

• Power and ingenuity: Su Chen adapts to the bat king’s regeneration by attacking all three heads at once.
• Danger and restraint: Their attraction must be set aside because Hell Road remains a threat.
• Affection and misunderstanding: Hu Liena’s romantic interest shapes her actions, while Su Chen does not fully grasp her intentions.

Key plot points and events

• Su Chen and Hu Liena encounter the Ten Headed Fierce Yang Serpent, a fire-breathing primordial beast that also releases poisonous mist. Hu Liena suggests destroying the bridge and escaping by flight, but Su Chen chooses to fight.
• Using flight, clones, and his Wind Release: Rasengan, Su Chen targets the serpent’s vulnerable head-and-back protrusions, destroying eight of them while avoiding its devastating flames.
• The wounded serpent releases its inner core, whose pressure restricts Hu Liena. Su Chen resists it with his dragon aura and Qi Barrier, then uses his strongest technique, Wind Release: Rasenshuriken, to deliver a fatal blow.
• Su Chen catches the inner core, severing its connection to the serpent and preventing it from self-destructing. The beast falls into the Yellow Springs Dew.
• To reach the blood-red vortex—the Hell Road’s only exit and the route to Divine Slaughter’s Domain—Su Chen carries Hu Liena as they fly inside.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Chen displays confidence, tactical knowledge, and growing power. He knows the serpent’s weak points and how to secure its inner core, and reveals the Dragon God’s Heart and his most powerful attack.
• Hu Liena proves alert and capable in combat, evading the serpent’s attacks and identifying the danger of its poisonous mist. She is startled by Su Chen’s clones and recognizes the Dragon God’s Heart through her own connection to the Nine Trials of Lust.
• Their relationship remains playfully intimate but somewhat tentative: Su Chen teases Hu Liena and puts an arm around her, while she initially pulls away and insists she is not “loose.” She ultimately accepts his help when flying into the vortex.

Significant themes

• Power and strategic knowledge: Su Chen wins through both overwhelming abilities and precise knowledge of the serpent’s weaknesses.
• Trust and cooperation: Hu Liena contributes warnings and suggestions, while ultimately relying on Su Chen to get them safely onward.
• Growing intimacy: Their teasing and Hu Liena’s reluctant acceptance of his closeness suggest increasing trust and affection.

Key plot points

• After emerging from Hell Road, Su Chen lies unconscious as blood-red energy floods his body, transforming him and granting him the Divine Slaughter’s Domain.
• Hu Liena awakens with the same domain. While Su Chen is unconscious, she removes his mask and confesses that she has loved and admired him since he defeated her five years earlier. She nearly kisses him, but he wakes and catches her.
• Su Chen demonstrates the domain, which boosts combat power and grows stronger with killing intent. He also reveals the rewards from Dragon God’s Fourth Trial: ten soul-power levels, a God-Given Soul Ring, a strengthened body, and the Dragon-Slaying Sword, a Super Divine Artifact whose baleful energy the domain can help him withstand.
• Hu Liena shares that her Second Trial requires her to survive alone for three months in Death Canyon. Su Chen refuses to reveal his Fifth Trial: he must become Pope of Spirit Hall, a difficult prospect while his teacher, Bibi Dong, holds the position.
• As they leave for Spirit Hall, Hu Liena quietly retrieves and keeps Su Chen’s mask.

Character developments and interactions

• Hu Liena openly acknowledges her long-hidden feelings and resolves to pursue Su Chen, even if he does not return them. Her embarrassment after he wakes contrasts with her bold confession.
• Su Chen remains kind and curious about Hu Liena’s trial, but keeps his own assignment secret. He appears unaware of the depth of her feelings.
• Their relationship grows more intimate through Hu Liena’s confession, the near-kiss, and her careful handling of his mask.

Significant themes

• Ambition and rivalry: Su Chen’s past victory over Hu Liena inspired her to improve and became the beginning of her attachment to him.
• Love and vulnerability: Hu Liena risks rejection by voicing her feelings, while her nervousness exposes the tenderness behind her confident manner.
• Power and its costs: The Divine Slaughter’s Domain strengthens its bearer through killing intent, and the Dragon-Slaying Sword’s dangerous baleful energy underscores the risks of great power.
• Duty and political ambition: Su Chen’s next trial pits his divine task against loyalty to Bibi Dong and the challenge of taking her position.

• Plot: Su Chen and Hu Liena leave Hell Road, having both obtained Divine Slaughter’s Domain. Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo appear, congratulate Su Chen, and escort them back toward Spirit Hall. On the way, Hu Liena learns that Spirit Hall supplies Slaughter City in exchange for ore used in Soul Tools. Chrysanthemum Douluo argues that, despite its horrors, the city serves as a prison for dangerous criminals and keeps them from threatening the outside world. Su Chen reflects that he has already taken the snow-colored swan kiss, preventing the destruction of Slaughter City that occurred in the original storyline.
• Character developments and interactions: Su Chen’s achievement earns the elders’ genuine respect, while he quietly considers how he might one day succeed Bibi Dong as Pope. Hu Liena looks back on her two years in Slaughter City with nostalgia and questions the arrangement between it and Spirit Hall; she accepts Chrysanthemum Douluo’s explanation. The four depart together, unaware that they are being watched.
• Closing revelation: From a distant peak, Tang Hao senses that two people have obtained Divine Slaughter’s Domain. His son, Tang San, vows to pass Hell Road, defeat Su Chen, and destroy Spirit Hall. He has spent the past two years mastering the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer, driven by his hatred of Su Chen. The chapter notes that Su Chen’s pressure led Tang San to enter Slaughter City two years earlier than in the original story.
• Themes: Power commands respect; even a brutal institution may serve a practical role by containing greater threats; and altered choices can redirect history. The chapter also emphasizes ambition and vengeance, setting up a future clash between Su Chen and Tang San.