Chapter Summaries

Tang San grew up under Tang Hao’s care and, after initially choosing to stay home, learned blacksmithing and strengthened his soul power. Tang Hao eventually allowed him to attend Nuoding Academy, where Tang San arrived ready to begin his studies.

• Tang San awakened rank-three soul power with Blue Silver Grass, but refused Old Jack’s offer to attend school because he did not want to leave Tang Hao alone.
• Tang Hao stopped drinking, taught Tang San blacksmithing and soul-power cultivation, and provided him with meat as Tang San grew stronger over three months.
• Old Jack returned to urge Tang Hao to let Tang San attend a Soul Master Academy, and Tang Hao agreed.
• Tang Hao told Tang San that he had an important family burden to shoulder and would explain it when Tang San became a powerful Soul Master.
• Old Jack escorted Tang San to Nuoding Academy, where Tang San presented his Spirit Hall certificate and found his dormitory with a teacher’s help.

Tang San arrived at Nuoding Academy, where a dormitory fight led him to meet Xiao Wu and Yu Xiaogang. He asked Yu Xiaogang what a Soul Master was and ended by asking how he could become the right kind.

• Tang San introduced himself in Dorm Seven, then struck Wang Sheng with his Forging Hammer after Wang Sheng ordered him to obey.
• Xiao Wu arrived and defeated the other students while Tang San watched without joining the fight.
• Yu Xiaogang and Director Su entered, and Yu Xiaogang reprimanded the students before Director Su took them to the Infirmary.
• Tang San followed Yu Xiaogang and asked what a Soul Master was, so Yu Xiaogang explained the profession's power and status.
• Tang San asked Yu Xiaogang how he could become the right kind of Soul Master.

Yu Xiaogang explained his unusual martial soul and theories to Tang San, then offered to teach him as his disciple. Tang San accepted and received an ancient book called the Dharma Sutra.

• Yu Xiaogang told Tang San that becoming a proper soul master required strength and invited him to become his disciple.
• Yu Xiaogang summoned Luo Sanpao and described how his theories and poor luck had shaped his martial soul and soul skills.
• Yu Xiaogang advised Tang San to develop Blue Silver Grass around its vitality and offered to teach him regardless of whether he became his disciple.
• Tang San accepted Yu Xiaogang as his master.
• Yu Xiaogang gave Tang San an ancient book called the Dharma Sutra, which he had found in a secluded cave.

Tang San studied the Dharma Sutra with Grandmaster, gained a new meditation method, and cultivated it into a breakthrough to rank four. Meanwhile, Grandmaster reviewed Xiao Wu’s records and resolved to keep an eye on her.

• Tang San recited the Dharma Sutra with Grandmaster and comprehended a meditation method suited to his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul.
• Grandmaster told Tang San that books from the same ruins had led other people toward troubling paths, making him wary of sharing the Dharma Sutra widely.
• Tang San ate with Grandmaster, returned to Dorm Seven, and avoided Xiao Wu when she tried to approach him.
• Tang San practiced his new method, named it the Blue Silver Creation Dao, absorbed lingering energy from soul-beast meat, and reached rank four.
• Grandmaster reviewed Xiao Wu’s records, suspected she might belong to a hidden sect, and decided she needed more guidance.

Tang Hao visited Grandmaster, entrusted Tang San to him with the Pope Token, and revealed the truth about Qian Xunji and Tang San’s mother. Months later, Tang San had grown stronger through training and blacksmith work, and he faced Xiao Wu when she cornered him at the academy.

• Tang Hao entered Grandmaster’s room and asked him to guide Tang San, while Grandmaster insisted Tang San was destined for more than a peaceful life.
• Tang Hao gave Grandmaster the Pope Token and entrusted Tang San to him before leaving on an uncertain mission.
• Tang Hao told Grandmaster he had only beaten Qian Xunji nearly to death and confirmed the rumors about his wife were true.
• Tang San studied soul-beast knowledge, followed Grandmaster’s training plan, and worked as a blacksmith to pay for food and forge training weights.
• Xiao Wu, now Nuoding City’s big sister, surrounded Tang San with her lackeys and demanded that he call her Sister Xiao Wu.
• Tang San realized he could not avoid a fight and decided to test a new move he had developed.

Tang San fought Xiao Wu and held his own until she used her first soul skill, prompting the Director of Education to stop the spar. Meanwhile, Grandmaster surveyed the Soul Hunting Forest and discovered a disguised Century Mandala Snake, which he drove deeper into the forest.

• Tang San and Xiao Wu traded fast blows, with Tang San using martial techniques and his Blue Silver Creation Dao to withstand her attacks.
• Xiao Wu used her First Soul Skill, Waist Bow, and struck Tang San in the chest, but his healing ability helped him recover.
• A Director of Education ended the fight and stopped Xiao Wu from continuing after she complained about his interference.
• Tang San told the Director of Education he was fine and considered whether the fight might help him break through to level five soul power.
• Grandmaster surveyed the Soul Hunting Forest with two Soul Elders, identified a Century Mandala Snake disguised as a Snake Vine Flower, and drove it deeper into the forest.

After reaching level ten, Tang San traveled with Grandmaster to the Soul Hunting Forest to obtain his first soul ring, while wrestling with the cost of killing soul beasts. He tore down a Glazed Jade Vine and watched a yellow soul ring appear before him.

• Grandmaster explained the scarcity of soul beasts and described three alternatives to hunting them: divine trials, self-condensation, and a soul beast's sacrifice.
• Tang San considered the lives behind soul rings but accepted that he needed to grow stronger, and Grandmaster brought him to the Soul Hunting Forest with two hired Soul Elders.
• Grandmaster identified a Glazed Jade Vine as a suitable target and told Tang San to pull it down.
• Tang San sensed intense vitality in the vine's roots, then used his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul to tear down the vine-covered stone wall.
• A yellow soul ring appeared before Tang San.

Tang San gained the Energy Storage soul skill from the Glazed Jade Vine, while Grandmaster’s hidden knowledge of possible gold of life sparked a confrontation with Shen Gang. The chapter ended with Grandmaster using Divine Departure to defeat Shen Gang as he tried to seize Tang San.

• Tang San absorbed the Glazed Jade Vine’s soul ring and gained the passive Energy Storage skill, which stored vitality and soul power.
• Shen Gang challenged Grandmaster’s explanation of the Glazed Jade Vine and revealed that gold of life might be hidden in the rock wall.
• Grandmaster admitted he had concealed the possibility because he wanted the treasure to remain in the forest, while Shen Gang demanded that they search for it.
• Shen Gang smashed the wall, found no gold of life, and accused Tang San of hiding it; Fa Yan tried to stop him and offered compensation.
• Shen Gang charged at Tang San, but Grandmaster summoned Luo Sanpao and used Divine Departure to subdue him.

Tang San and Grandmaster gave Fa Yan a grain of Gold of Life to deliver to Spirit Hall in exchange for a reward, then resumed their work in Nuoding City. Three months later, Fa Yan returned with Chrysanthemum Douluo, who had taken an interest in Tang San’s cultivable Blue Silver Grass, and Grandmaster found Xiao Wu in his hands.

• Tang San recovered a grain of Gold of Life from the manure pool after Shen Gang was incapacitated by Grandmaster and Luo Sanpao’s combined Soul Skill.
• Tang San agreed to let Fa Yan deliver the Gold of Life to Spirit Hall, and Grandmaster explained how to contact its higher-ups.
• Tang San and Grandmaster returned to Nuoding City, while Shen Gang was later punished and then found dead in his home.
• Fa Yan delivered the Gold of Life to Spirit Hall’s Pope, received a lavish reward, and returned to Nuoding City three months later with Chrysanthemum Douluo.
• Grandmaster reacted gravely when Fa Yan revealed Chrysanthemum Douluo had accompanied him, then an orange-haired man appeared with Xiao Wu dangling from his hand.

Chrysanthemum Douluo confronted Grandmaster and Tang San while claiming Xiao Wu, and he tested Tang San’s identity as Tang Hao’s son. Tang San denied the connection, but Chrysanthemum Douluo remained certain the Pope had confirmed it.

• Grandmaster realized Bibi Dong had likely been watching him for the Dharma Sutra, while Chrysanthemum Douluo treated the unconscious Xiao Wu as an unexpected prize.
• Fa Yan left as Chrysanthemum Douluo questioned Grandmaster about Tang San’s identity and remarked on the boy’s unusual Blue Silver Grass.
• Chrysanthemum Douluo pressured Tang San into releasing his Blue Silver Grass martial soul, then wondered why he had not revealed a Clear Sky Hammer.
• Chrysanthemum Douluo linked Tang San to Tang Hao through their names, ages, and home village, but Tang San argued that his father would have protected him and that his surname proved nothing.
• Chrysanthemum Douluo recalled that the Pope had confirmed Tang San was Tang Hao’s son, though Tang San seemed more sincere than the cunning boy the Pope had warned him about.

Chrysanthemum Douluo spared Tang San and revealed that the Pope had left him a Strange Book, while Grandmaster explained Tang San’s family history and Xiao Wu’s transformed soul beast nature. Tang San struggled to decide what he thought of Spirit Hall, and Grandmaster revealed a Right Arm Soul Bone from the Storage Bracelet.

• Chrysanthemum Douluo withdrew his oppressive aura, warned Tang San not to become Spirit Hall’s enemy, and left after telling him to ask Grandmaster about Xiao Wu and that the Pope would reclaim the Strange Book.
• Grandmaster took Tang San back to the academy and explained that Tang Hao was his father, his mother had been a transformed soul beast, and Xiao Wu was one too.
• Grandmaster told Tang San that Xiao Wu might be spared if the Pope valued her potential, including her ability to create self-condensing soul rings.
• Tang San weighed whether he should fight Spirit Hall, considering both his mother’s fate and the organization’s benefits to ordinary people.
• Grandmaster urged Tang San to grow stronger and took a Right Arm Soul Bone out of the Storage Bracelet.

Bibi Dong explained why she had spared Tang San and given him a soul bone, while Tang San chose to study the bone and gradually strengthen it instead of absorbing it. At Spirit City, Xiao Wu remained in Bibi Dong’s custody and began seeing both the ugliness and beauty of human life, though she still did not understand the Pope’s intentions.

• Ghost Douluo questioned Bibi Dong’s decision to trade a soul bone for the gold of life, and she explained that Hu Liena’s martial spirit had benefited from it and that killing Tang San could provoke Tang Hao.
• Tang San told Grandmaster he wanted to use the right arm bone to study life force and develop Energy Refinement, and Grandmaster agreed to give him three years before they left the academy.
• Tang San continued his studies, smithing, training, and efforts to strengthen his soul ring, soul bone, and heart while carrying a new hope of easing conflict between soul beasts and humans.
• Bibi Dong confronted Xiao Wu in Spirit City, revealed that she intended to educate her rather than immediately claim her soul ring and soul bone, and warned her to obey.
• Xiao Wu spent several weeks following a strong, handsome middle-aged man around the city and saw both human cruelty and kindness without learning Bibi Dong’s purpose.

Tang San and Grandmaster brought their mobile blacksmith shop to Grass Nest Village, where Tang San demonstrated his wares to village chief Ma Bangde. Ma Bangde ordered farming tools and asked Tang San to teach the village blacksmith basic techniques, then revealed he also wanted a male chastity belt.

• Tang San and Grandmaster arrived at Grass Nest Village in their mobile blacksmith shop and set up for business.
• Tang San showed Ma Bangde and the villagers a finely made hoe and offered to forge goods to order.
• Ma Bangde asked Tang San to make a batch of farming tools and teach the village blacksmith the basics of forging.
• Ma Bangde described his second request, and Grandmaster identified it as a male chastity belt.

Ma Bangde asked Tang San and Grandmaster to help control his grandson Ma Hongjun, whose mutated Martial Soul had left him with powerful desires and a talent for causing trouble. After meeting Ma Hongjun, Grandmaster suspected his incomplete mutation was a Fire Phoenix, and Tang San fought him so Grandmaster could study its effects.

• Ma Bangde explained Ma Hongjun's history and asked Tang San to make a chastity lock for him, but Tang San requested to meet the boy first.
• Ma Bangde led Tang San and Grandmaster to his home, where Ma Hongjun greeted them rudely and dismissed their attempts to help.
• Grandmaster proposed that Ma Hongjun's Martial Soul was an incompletely evolved Fire Phoenix and asked him to fight Tang San for study.
• Ma Hongjun revealed his blazing Martial Soul and attacked with Flame Ray, while Tang San fought cautiously against the fire that countered his Blue Silver Grass.
• After studying the fight and signaling Tang San, Grandmaster watched as Tang San gathered Soul Power in his palms for Blue Silver Creation Palm.

Tang San defeated Ma Hongjun in a spar, and Grandmaster warned that Ma Hongjun’s Evil Fire Phoenix could eventually kill or corrupt him. Tang San offered to help him overcome the danger, and Ma Hongjun chose to follow him and Grandmaster.

• Tang San struck Ma Hongjun with his Blue Silver Creation Palm and sent him flying, then praised how strongly Ma Hongjun’s evil fire countered Blue Silver Grass.
• Grandmaster explained that Ma Hongjun’s evil fire amplified his desires and could eventually overwhelm him, causing his body to burst apart or turning him into an Evil Soul Master.
• Grandmaster said Ma Hongjun could seek a treasure or soul ring to purify the fire, or master his desires and control it through intense training.
• Tang San encouraged Ma Hongjun, described the phoenix’s survival through heavenly fire, and invited him to find Tang at Tang’s Blacksmith Shop.
• Ma Bangde urged Ma Hongjun to leave the village with Tang San and Grandmaster, and Ma Hongjun caught up with them.

Ma Hongjun joined Tang San and Grandmaster to train his Evil Fire Phoenix martial soul, and the three left Grass Nest Village after a week. On the road, Tang San confided in Ma Hongjun about Xiao Wu and revealed his soul bone, trusting him to keep the secret.

• Ma Hongjun asked to accompany Tang San and Grandmaster, and Tang San warned him that mastering his evil fire would require grueling training.
• Grandmaster planned Ma Hongjun's training around martial-soul control, soul-power cultivation, study, and moral discipline, and allowed him to study the Dharma Sutra.
• Ma Hongjun trained by forging alongside Tang San, practicing control of his flames while Tang San honed his forging skills.
• After completing the Grass Nest Village order, Tang San and Ma Hongjun left, and Ma Hongjun joked about the villagers and his girlfriends as they traveled.
• Tang San told Ma Hongjun about Xiao Wu and the gold of life, then revealed that his treasure was a soul bone.
• Ma Hongjun promised to keep Tang San's soul-bone secret, and Tang San trusted him before they continued toward Ma Hongjun's training.

After nearly three months of work, Tang San and Ma Hongjun finished forging a powerful axe that Ma Hongjun named Phoenix Emperor. As they prepared to seek second soul rings, airborne Soul Beasts drawn by the forge’s phoenix-like cry descended on their camp.

• Tang San and Ma Hongjun completed the axe, and Ma Hongjun quenched it with his Evil Fire and named it Phoenix Emperor.
• Ma Hongjun proposed testing a combat technique, but Grandmaster told him and Tang San to obtain their second soul rings before fighting.
• The group returned to their carriage to rest, while Grandmaster kept watch and Tang San continued cultivating through the night.
• Tang San sensed danger and woke Ma Hongjun; Grandmaster identified nearby Netherworld Wolves, but Tang San warned that something stronger was approaching.
• Tang San sensed the threat overhead, and several avian Soul Beasts flew toward the camp, drawn by the earlier phoenix-like cry.

Tang San, Ma Hongjun, and Grandmaster escaped a flock of avian soul beasts by hiding their carriage beneath a lake. When Tang San surfaced to investigate what had flipped the carriage, he discovered they had landed on a Dewdrop Spirit Clam with at least two thousand years of cultivation.

• Grandmaster used knockout smoke to bring down many birds while Tang San and Ma Hongjun dodged and restrained others without killing them.
• A thousand-year Blazing Feather Sparrow rallied the surviving birds, forcing Grandmaster, Tang San, and Ma Hongjun to flee in the carriage.
• The three put on masks and plunged the carriage into the lake, where the birds scattered except for the Blazing Feather Sparrow.
• After waiting until dawn, Tang San left the carriage with Luo Sanpao to investigate what had overturned it.
• Tang San found an enormous Dewdrop Spirit Clam beneath the carriage and recognized it as a soul beast with at least two thousand years of cultivation.

Tang San killed a Dewdrop Spirit Clam for its soul ring, and Grandmaster’s plan trapped the Blazing Feather Sparrow in the clam’s shell. Tang San began absorbing the clam’s thousand-year soul ring while Ma Hongjun prepared to absorb the sparrow’s soul ring.

• Tang San noticed the Dewdrop Spirit Clam’s poisonous pearl, decided to kill it, and used Blue Silver Entanglement to crush it and claim its purple soul ring.
• Tang San returned to the carriage with the clam’s shell and other remains, and Grandmaster devised a plan to catch the Blazing Feather Sparrow.
• Tang San and his companions lured the sparrow into charging at straw dummies above the clam’s shell, trapping it inside.
• Ma Hongjun boiled the trapped Blazing Feather Sparrow in water and killed it while Tang San began absorbing the clam’s soul ring.
• Ma Hongjun prepared to absorb the sparrow’s soul ring as Grandmaster warned him to stay within his limits.

Tang San and Ma Hongjun finished absorbing their Thousand-Year Soul Rings and tested their new abilities in a sparring match. They left the Star Dou Great Forest for Suotuo City, with Tang San and Ma Hongjun reaching Soul Power levels twenty-two and twenty-one respectively.

• Ma Hongjun survived absorbing a Thousand-Year Soul Ring and gained the two-stage Second Soul Skill Scarlet Feather Phoenix, which boosted his attributes and flames.
• Tang San healed Ma Hongjun, then sparred with him as Ma Hongjun tested his strengthened Martial Soul and Tang San revealed his Blue Silver Sharp Sword technique.
• Tang San used his Second Soul Skill, Blue Silver Dewdrop, to block Ma Hongjun's Phoenix Fire Line and explained its purifying, restraining, healing, and Soul Power-restoring effects.
• Tang San told Grandmaster that the dewdrops could be stored for long periods in gold or gemstones, prompting Grandmaster to consider expanding the smithy's business.
• Tang San, Ma Hongjun, and Grandmaster prepared the spirit clam and sparrow for a meal, then set out for Suotuo City at a leisurely pace.
• Tang San was ten years old and had Soul Power level twenty-two, while Ma Hongjun was ten years old and had Soul Power level twenty-one.