Chapter Summaries

Jiang Hai met Jing Hongchen, the master of Illustrious Virtue Hall, who offered him a research institute and a special consultant position. Jing planned to let Jiang study the long-guarded Demon Body, hoping he could uncover its secrets and give the hall leverage in its dealings with His Highness.

• Lin Jiayi showed Jiang Hai the vast underground Illustrious Virtue Hall and warned him not to enter its restricted research facilities.
• Jing Hongchen ordered Lin Jiayi to give Jiang a research institute and considered letting him study the Demon Body, Illustrious Virtue Hall's Thirteenth Taboo.
• Jing Hongchen met Jiang Hai, asked about his teacher, and suggested he might have studied under the legendary Ji Bronze Coffin.
• Jing Hongchen appointed Jiang Hai a special consultant with Research Institute No. 13, an annual allowance, and the obligation to submit one Level 7 Soul Tool each year.
• After Jiang Hai and Lin Jiayi left, Jing Hongchen said he hoped Jiang would uncover the Demon Body's secrets and provide Illustrious Virtue Hall with leverage.

Lin Jiayi brought Jiang Hai to receive his black-level Identity Card and Level 7 Soul Engineer Badge, then explained the history and dangers of Laboratory No. 13’s prehistoric Demon Body. Jiang Hai became interested in the Fate-Reversing Blade developed from that research and arranged to exchange his Soul Guidance Automobile blueprints for its plans before heading to the laboratory.

• Lin Jiayi gave Jiang Hai a new Level 7 Soul Engineer Badge and a black-level Identity Card granting access to Laboratory No. 13.
• Lin Jiayi told Jiang Hai that Laboratory No. 13 studied the Demon Body, a remarkably dense corpse believed to date from a prehistoric civilization over a hundred thousand years ago.
• Lin Jiayi explained that research into the Demon Body had caused deadly accidents, including the death of a Level 9 Soul Engineer, and that Fu Bing had developed the dangerous Fate-Reversing Blade from the project.
• Jiang Hai asked to exchange his Soul Guidance Automobile blueprints for the Fate-Reversing Blade’s blueprints, and Lin Jiayi agreed while warning him about its severe backlash and mental influence.
• Lin Jiayi said he would take Jiang Hai to Laboratory No. 13 and have the Fate-Reversing Blade blueprints delivered later.

Jiang Hai entered Research Laboratory No. 13, learned about its specimens and the Demon Body sealed inside the Demon-Suppressing Coffin, and began studying the laboratory’s records. He discovered that Divine Finger Douluo’s failed attempt to use the Demon Body’s blood had caused a massacre and ended the empire’s research, leaving Jiang Hai to face the same dangerous subject.

• Lin Jiayi explained the laboratory’s security, preserved specimens, and the danger posed by the Demon Body before Jiang Hai opened the door with his Identity Card.
• Jiang Hai inspected the laboratory and learned how its specimen system, supplies, and research funding worked as Lin Jiayi departed to bring the Fate-Reversing Blade blueprints.
• Jiang Hai read the laboratory archive and learned that its eight hundred and thirty-one specimens included Divine Finger Douluo, a Level 9 Soul Engineer who had studied the Demon Body.
• Jiang Hai discovered that Divine Finger had replaced his blood with demon blood in an attempt to extend his life, lost his sanity, and killed the Soul Engineers working with him.
• Divine Finger regained his senses before dying, offered his body as a specimen, and left the emperor’s ban to halt research into the Demon Body.

Jiang Hai studied the Fate-Reversing Blade and the Demon Body research in Laboratory No. 13, then used the Bronze Coffin to refine Divine Finger Douluo’s corpse. The corpse greatly increased Jiang Hai’s power, but its evil energy nearly overwhelmed him, leaving him to rely on the flame of civilization to recover.

• Jiang Hai examined the Fate-Reversing Blade blueprints and learned that the Level 8 Soul Tool depended on demon blood to unleash its power.
• Jiang Hai recognized that Laboratory No. 13’s research records and preserved bodies could help him develop his Lifebound Soul Tool and strengthen himself.
• Jiang Hai placed Divine Finger Douluo’s corpse inside the Bronze Coffin, which refined it and rapidly increased his attributes and soul power.
• Divine Finger Douluo’s evil energy flooded Jiang Hai with wicked thoughts and raised demonic markings across his body.
• The bronze car engraving used the flame of civilization to dissipate the evil energy, and Jiang Hai meditated until his mind and aura settled.
• Jiang Hai concluded that he could cultivate with the corpse for only two hours at a time, but its benefits could help him reach Level 51 within a month.

After a year studying in Laboratory No. 13 and refining Divine Finger Douluo, Jiang Hai reached a new level in soul engineering and devised a plan for a Level 9 Lifebound Soul Tool. With his strength and blood vitality greatly increased, he prepared to seek soul beasts for his fifth and sixth soul rings, daring to aim for a hundred-thousand-year fifth ring.

• Jiang Hai limited his daily cultivation with Divine Finger Douluo's corpse and spent the rest of his time studying the archive's research on the Demon Body.
• After a year in Laboratory No. 13, Jiang Hai finished the archive's materials, advanced his soul engineering skills, and became confident he could create a Level 8 Soul Tool.
• Jiang Hai planned to use his body as the core of a Level 9 Lifebound Soul Tool and the Four Symbols Radiance Armor as its casing, with four corresponding soul bones as materials.
• Jiang Hai decided he needed to continue studying at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy and seek rare soul bones through the White Tiger Family, the Illustrious Virtue Hall, and other channels.
• Jiang Hai's soul power remained at level fifty despite reaching the strength of level fifty-five, while his physical constitution and blood vitality grew dramatically.
• Jiang Hai set out to obtain soul beasts for his fifth and sixth soul rings and considered absorbing a hundred-thousand-year soul ring as his fifth, relying on the Bronze Coffin's protection.

After a year of secluded research, Jiang Hai emerged and agreed to mentor a Shrek Academy exchange student before hunting for his next soul ring. He planned to delay the hunt for a few days and asked to be assigned the most talented student.

• Jiang Hai left the Illustrious Virtue Hall and went to Lin Jiayi's office to request leave to obtain a soul ring.
• Lin Jiayi told Jiang Hai that Shrek Academy's exchange students would arrive that night and asked him to mentor one of them.
• Jiang Hai agreed to guide a student for a few days, then hunt for a soul ring, and revealed that he expected to reach Level 8 Soul Engineer after returning.
• Lin Jiayi agreed to assign Jiang Hai the most talented student and congratulated him on his progress.
• Jiang Hai returned to his dormitory and told Xue Linglong that his soul-beast hunt would have to wait until after he mentored a Shrek Academy student.

Jiang Hai joined the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy teachers assigned to mentor Shrek Academy’s exchange students, despite postponing his soul-ring hunt. After the student-teacher pairings were drawn, Xuan Ziwen took Huo Yuhao and Jiang Hai took He Caitou, while Fan Yu watched with concern.

• Jiang Hai met Xuan Ziwen before Lin Jiayi briefed the teachers on the exchange assignment and warned them to protect the academy’s secrets.
• Lin Jiayi introduced the ten Shrek students and explained that each would receive one-on-one instruction from a Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy teacher.
• Jiang Hai and Huo Yuhao studied each other, but Huo Yuhao did not recognize Jiang Hai because Jiang Hai had changed his appearance.
• Xuan Ziwen drew Huo Yuhao as his student and led him away.
• Jiang Hai drew He Caitou, invited him to come along, and left with him as Fan Yu frowned.

Jiang Hai brought He Caitou to the Forty-First Laboratory, tested his soul-engineering work, and offered to guide his studies. He Caitou accepted, and Jiang Hai left him with textbooks and access to the lab before departing for an extended period.

• Jiang Hai cut open the Forty-First Laboratory door, registered He Caitou's identity card, and showed him the well-stocked lab.
• Jiang Hai explained soul-engineering specializations and revealed that he was nearly a level 8 soul engineer with expertise in three fields.
• Jiang Hai offered He Caitou a choice between continuing with fixed-load soul tools under limited guidance or studying one of Jiang Hai's specialties, and He Caitou chose to study under him.
• He Caitou made a level 6 fixed-load soul cannon, and Jiang Hai judged it to be competent but ordinary.
• Jiang Hai gave He Caitou a list of self-study textbooks, told him he could use the lab and its materials, and left for an uncertain period.

Jiang Hai reluctantly agreed to escort Huo Yuhao, Ju Zi, and Keke to the Jingyang Mountain Range for practical training and soul rings. During the flight, he caught Huo Yuhao secretly probing the Vermilion Bird Wings and warned him by burning away his spiritual power, then rescued him as he fell.

• Xuan Ziwen asked Jiang Hai to take Huo Yuhao, Ju Zi, and Keke to the Jingyang Mountain Range after Huo Yuhao injured Wang Ziwen.
• Jiang Hai accepted the task but warned the three that they would have to return without him after obtaining their soul rings.
• Keke challenged Jiang Hai's authority, but he refused to let the group split up and ordered them to follow his decisions in the mountain range.
• Jiang Hai used the Vermilion Bird Wings to carry Xue Linglong and keep pace with the others as they flew toward the Jingyang Mountain Range.
• Jiang Hai noticed Huo Yuhao probing the Vermilion Bird Wings' core arrays and ignited the spiritual power attached to them.
• Huo Yuhao's flying soul tool lost power and he began to fall, but Jiang Hai caught him with the Vermilion Bird Wings.

Huo Yuhao nearly fell from the sky after his Spiritual Detection was noticed by Jiang Hai, who warned him against secretly studying others’ Soul Tools. While the group rested before entering the Jingyang Mountain Range, Jiang Hai explained lifebound Soul Engineers, leaving Huo Yuhao and the others puzzled by his approach.

• Jiang Hai told Huo Yuhao that he had detected his spiritual probing and had punished him for secretly studying the Vermilion Bird Wings’ core array.
• Jiang Hai carried Keke and Ju Zi onward when their Soul Power ran low, then stopped the group in a forest near the southern branch of the Jingyang Mountain Range to recover.
• Huo Yuhao gathered a rabbit, a deer, and wild honey, and Ju Zi prepared a meal while the group discussed their Soul Engineer specialties.
• Jiang Hai explained that lifebound Soul Engineers developed Soul Tools by studying the Soul Master’s own body, soul, Martial Soul, and Soul Skills.
• After Ju Zi and Keke described the risks and reputation of Modification Department Soul Engineers, Jiang Hai challenged their narrow view and asked whether they had heard, “The flesh is weak, ascend through machinery.”

Jiang Hai explained that Soul Tools might let people preserve their souls in replaceable mechanical bodies, prompting Huo Yuhao and the others to consider the possibilities and limits of immortality. Over lunch, Keke described the Jingyang Mountain Range, leaving the group with an overview of its layout and dangerous main peak.

• Jiang Hai argued that Soul Tools could theoretically enable mechanical ascension by housing human consciousness and souls in machinery.
• Electrolux told Huo Yuhao and the others that mechanical ascension was achievable but that souls would eventually fade, even if bodies could endure.
• Jiang Hai warned the group not to limit their thinking about Soul Tools, then everyone shared a meal prepared by Ju Zi.
• Huo Yuhao asked Keke about the Jingyang Mountain Range, and she described its mineral-rich terrain, metallic-energy Soul Beasts, eight branches, and forbidden main peak.

Jiang Hai led Huo Yuhao and the others into the Jingyang Mountain Range to search for a suitable Soul Beast for Huo Yuhao, using Silver Wolf blood and his Glazed Heart Mirror to track one. They camped for the night, where Ju Zi was moved to tears by Huo Yuhao’s cooking, and Jiang Hai assigned the watches.

• Keke explained why the Sun Moon Empire prohibited large-scale mining in the Jingyang Mountain Range, then asked Huo Yuhao about his abilities and Martial Soul.
• Huo Yuhao revealed that he had twin Martial Souls, one spiritual and one ice-attribute, and had reached level 40 without obtaining his fourth Soul Ring.
• Jiang Hai used Silver Wolf blood to track a compatible Soul Beast and led the group deeper into the mountain range, telling everyone to stay close and conceal their auras.
• At night, Jiang Hai directed Huo Yuhao to find rabbits for dinner; Huo Yuhao wondered whether Jiang Hai’s detection abilities explained why they had encountered no Soul Beasts.
• Ju Zi wept and murmured “Dad!” after tasting Huo Yuhao’s cooking, and Jiang Hai assigned Xue Linglong the first watch and Huo Yuhao the second.

Jiang Hai led Huo Yuhao and the others through the Jingyang Mountain Range, using his Glazed Heart Mirror to avoid soul beasts and locate a suitable ten-thousand-year Silver Wolf King for Huo Yuhao's fourth soul ring. When the wolf pack spotted them, Xue Linglong summoned the Heavenly Snow Woman, whose Ultimate Ice power astonished Huo Yuhao and seemed to surpass even his Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion.

• Keke challenged Jiang Hai for making Huo Yuhao keep watch, but Huo Yuhao and Ju Zi defended the arrangement, and Ju Zi shared how war had killed her parents.
• The next day, Jiang Hai led the group onward and told Huo Yuhao he had found a ten-thousand-year Silver Wolf King with enough spiritual power to suit his fourth soul ring.
• The group tracked the wolf pack for three days to a valley containing three ten-thousand-year golden wolves and over a hundred thousand-year golden wolves, along with the Silver Wolf King.
• When the Silver Wolf King noticed them, Huo Yuhao offered to get Ju Zi and Keke to safety, but Jiang Hai told him to protect them while he and Xue Linglong engaged the pack.
• Xue Linglong summoned the Heavenly Snow Woman, and Huo Yuhao realized her Ultimate Ice martial soul was even higher in quality than his Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion.

Huo Yuhao learned that Xue Linglong was the Snow Empress reborn as a human, then watched her and Jiang Hai devastate the golden wolf pack. The battle ended with Xue Linglong and Jiang Hai killing all three ten-thousand-year Golden Wolf Kings before Huo Yuhao could reach them.

• Huo Yuhao and the spirits in his Sea of Consciousness recognized Xue Linglong as the Snow Empress reborn as a human, and he began to suspect Jiang Chuan’s identity.
• Xue Linglong used Ice and Snow Lord's Command to kill more than twenty golden wolves, while Jiang Hai cut down the pack with his blood-red saber.
• Three ten-thousand-year Golden Wolf Kings attacked Jiang Hai and Xue Linglong, and Ju Zi, Keke, and Huo Yuhao joined the fight against two of them.
• Huo Yuhao weakened the Golden Wolf Kings with Mass Enfeeblement, while Ju Zi’s bombs and Keke’s soul cannon failed to seriously injure one.
• Xue Linglong beheaded one Golden Wolf King with Ice Extreme Peerless, then froze another with Ice Soul Divine Light as Jiang Hai killed the last one.
• Huo Yuhao arrived after the Golden Wolf Kings and the other enemies had been defeated.

Jiang Hai and the others defeated a pack of Golden Wolves and captured the Silver Wolf King, which Huo Yuhao killed to obtain his fourth soul ring. By noon the next day, Huo Yuhao had successfully absorbed the twenty-thousand-year ring and become a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor.

• Jiang Hai killed the three Golden Wolf Kings, pursued the fleeing Silver Wolf King, and captured it for Huo Yuhao.
• Huo Yuhao thanked Jiang Hai, killed the weakened Silver Wolf King, and began absorbing its soul ring while the others stood guard.
• Jiang Hai lent Keke the Heavenly Mandate Blade to search the wolf corpses for soul bones and materials, then explained that it lacked the Fate-Reversing Blade's side effects.
• Jiang Hai gave the Golden Wolf materials to Keke and the materials from the three Golden Wolf Kings to Xue Linglong, while the group camped beside Huo Yuhao.
• By noon the next day, Huo Yuhao had stabilized his new black soul ring and advanced to a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor.

Huo Yuhao successfully absorbed his fourth soul ring, then debated with Jiang Hai whether peace could come from unifying the continent or required a sword powerful enough to deter every nation. Jiang Hai left with Xue Linglong after telling Huo Yuhao to call him Teacher Jiang Chuan, and the two parted ways.

• Huo Yuhao opened his eyes after absorbing his ten thousand year fourth soul ring, and his Spiritual Detection range expanded to six hundred meters.
• Keke teased Ju Zi about protecting Huo Yuhao, and the two girls playfully scuffled while Jiang Hai asked Huo Yuhao how the absorption had gone.
• Huo Yuhao urged Jiang Hai to return to Shrek Academy, but Jiang Hai refused and argued that the Sun Moon Empire and its soul engineers could transform society.
• Huo Yuhao said he would protect the Star Luo Empire and oppose a war, while Jiang Hai proposed that an impartial, overwhelming sword could deter all nations from fighting.
• Electrolux and Tian Meng discussed whether a god or soul tools could serve as that sword, and Huo Yuhao pondered their words.
• Jiang Hai told Huo Yuhao to call him Teacher Jiang Chuan, then left with Xue Linglong deeper into the Jingyang Mountain Range.

Jiang Hai and Xue Linglong climbed Jingyang Mountain in search of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast, facing increasingly dangerous terrain and powerful creatures. They reached a vast ore deposit guarded by a formidable presence, and Jiang Hai drew his Red Dragon Sword to investigate.

• Jiang Hai left Keke, Ju Zi, and Huo Yuhao to search for the soul ring he needed, while Huo Yuhao reflected on Jiang Hai's vendetta and felt desolate.
• Jiang Hai and Xue Linglong reached Jingyang Mountain, whose forests, exposed mineral deposits, and snowy summit offered a promising place to search for a hundred-thousand-year soul beast.
• Jiang Hai used his Glazed Heart Mirror to navigate the mountain, and he and Xue Linglong spent ten days climbing to its mineral-rich region.
• Jiang Hai and Xue Linglong discovered an enormous red rock iron deposit and sensed an overwhelming danger from one or more powerful soul beasts nearby.
• Jiang Hai and Xue Linglong considered whether the danger came from a hundred-thousand-year soul beast or a powerful variant, then Jiang Hai drew his Level 5 Red Dragon Sword and prepared to advance.

Jiang Hai and Xue Linglong discovered a clan of Red Rock Pangolins guarding a red rock iron deposit, led by an eighty-thousand-year Pangolin King. Xue Linglong unleashed an avalanche to prevent the clan from retreating underground, and Jiang Hai attacked as the disaster descended.

• Jiang Hai's Red Dragon Sword struck the red rock iron deposit, drawing a group of Red Rock Pangolins out of the mountainside.
• Jiang Hai and Xue Linglong discovered thirty-seven pangolins and were attacked by the enormous Red Rock Pangolin King, which nearly broke Jiang Hai's defensive Soul Tool Shield.
• Jiang Hai identified the Pangolin King as an eighty-thousand-year Soul Beast and proposed fighting the clan so they could use its tunnels to reach a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast inside Jingyang Mountain.
• Xue Linglong merged with her Heavenly Snow Woman Martial Soul and unleashed her Great Blizzard, setting an avalanche loose from the mountain's summit.
• As the Red Rock Pangolins began retreating underground, Xue Linglong froze one with Ice Soul Divine Light, while Jiang Hai sent six flying swords at six others.

Jiang Hai fought the Red Rock Pangolins and killed a thirty-thousand-year beast, then defeated a fifty-thousand-year one and took its Soul Bone. The enraged Red Rock Pangolin King attacked him, shattering his Soul Engineer Ring barrier as it slammed into the Bronze Coffin.

• Jiang Hai used the Heavenly Mandate Blade and Bronze Coffin to kill a thirty-thousand-year Red Rock Pangolin, empowering his blade with its blood.
• The Red Rock Pangolins attacked from underground, and Jiang Hai used his Soul Engineer Ring barrier and Vermilion Bird Wings to evade their strikes.
• Jiang Hai endured a fifty-thousand-year Red Rock Pangolin's charge with his Iceflame Diamond Transformation, then used his Cicada Slough Clone to kill it and seize its Soul Bone.
• The Red Rock Pangolin King launched a full-strength attack at Jiang Hai, shattering the Soul Engineer Ring barrier before crashing into the Bronze Coffin.

Jiang Hai escaped the Red Rock Pangolin King’s attack by fleeing underground as Xue Linglong unleashed an avalanche and fought the king above. Deep in Jingyang Mountain’s tunnels, Jiang Hai killed a Red Rock Pangolin and waited in ambush as three more approached.

• The Red Rock Pangolin King’s strike broke through Jiang Hai’s defenses, forcing him to use four Cicada Slough Clones to escape.
• Xue Linglong’s Great Blizzard triggered an avalanche, and Jiang Hai dove into a cave while the Red Rock Pangolin King pursued him through the snow.
• Xue Linglong struck the Red Rock Pangolin King with Emperor’s Palm: Great Cold Without Snow, then charged with Emperor Sword: Ice Extreme Peerless.
• Jiang Hai marked his path through Jingyang Mountain’s tunnels and used the Glazed Heart Mirror to detect an approaching Red Rock Pangolin.
• Jiang Hai killed the Red Rock Pangolin with the Heavenly Mandate Hand and waited as three more Red Rock Pangolins converged on the blood’s scent.