Chapter Summaries

Tang Xuan began an intense special training program for Tang San and Xiao Wu, pushing them through weighted runs, exercises, log training, and a fight against him. He continued tormenting them with new drills over the following week.

• Tang Xuan gave Tang San and Xiao Wu weighted vests and ordered them to run twenty-five laps without using soul power, while he ran forty laps in his heavier vest.
• Tang Xuan assigned them sets of strenuous exercises, then took the exhausted pair to lunch.
• Tang Xuan made Tang San and Xiao Wu do sit-ups and run with a heavy log before forcing them to fight him.
• Tang Xuan dragged the unconscious pair to medicinal baths in his cultivation room and left them to recover.
• Over the next week, Tang Xuan devised more punishing training routines for Tang San and Xiao Wu.

Tang Xuan prepared to become the Douluo Continent’s first pill refiner and began experimenting with the Body Tempering Pill. After succeeding on his third attempt and seeing its benefits, he spent the next two weeks refining pills and improving his technique.

• Tang Xuan had a middle-aged man gather medicinal ingredients and a pill furnace, then ordered guards to keep everyone away.
• Tang Xuan attempted to refine a Body Tempering Pill twice, but both attempts ended in furnace explosions.
• Tang Xuan succeeded on his third attempt and produced three low-quality first-rank pills.
• Tang Xuan gave one pill to a guard, whose body expelled impurities and whose Soul Power rose from level 23 to level 24.
• Tang Xuan gave the remaining pills to the guard to share and spent two weeks refining pills without leaving the house.

After two weeks of seclusion, Tang Xuan refined Body Tempering Pills and shared them with Grandmaster, Tang San, and Xiao Wu, helping them strengthen their bodies and cultivation. Over the following year, Tang Xuan continued refining pills and training Tang San and Xiao Wu as their soul power ranks increased.

• Tang Xuan refined low-quality second-grade Body Tempering Pills after spending two weeks in seclusion and brought his pills to Grandmaster.
• Tang Xuan gave Grandmaster, Tang San, and Xiao Wu high-quality first-grade Body Tempering Pills, then instructed them to use the second-grade pills only after finishing the first-grade ones.
• Grandmaster, Tang San, and Xiao Wu absorbed the pills, and Grandmaster warned Tang Xuan to guard against people who might covet them.
• Tang Xuan resumed refining pills and training Tang San and Xiao Wu, who later reached ranks 25 and 23, respectively.
• Tang Xuan refined high-quality second-grade pills and reached rank 29, while Grandmaster advanced to rank 35 after a year of cultivation and absorbing the pills.

Tang Xuan hunted a Great Strength Vajra Monkey for his third soul ring and killed it after luring it into a close-range attack. The monkey’s soul began to fade as the Godslayer Sword in its chest devoured its strength.

• At the beginning of the year 2642, Tang Xuan reached level thirty, while Lin Ao broke through to level 90 and Song Ming and Su Qing neared the same breakthrough.
• Tang Xuan led Lin Ao, Su Qing, and Song Ming into the Star Dou Great Forest to find a Great Strength Vajra Monkey for his third soul ring and a soul beast for Lin Ao’s ninth.
• Tang Xuan battled the twenty-thousand-year Great Strength Vajra Monkey from the air, wearing it down with repeated sword strikes while Lin Ao and the others guarded the area.
• Tang Xuan baited the enraged monkey into punching him, blocked its fist with his Dragon Wings, and drove his sword through its heart, though the impact injured him and cracked the wings.
• The dying Great Strength Vajra Monkey tried to detonate its soul but found that the Godslayer Sword was devouring its strength.

Tang Xuan absorbed his first Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring, reaching level thirty-three and gaining a skill that enhanced his attack, speed, and defense. As he and Lin Ao prepared to search for Lin Ao’s ninth Soul Ring, Tang Xuan sensed a powerful presence approaching.

• Tang Xuan dismissed Lin Ao’s worries about his risky fight and began absorbing the Great Strength Vajra Monkey’s black Soul Ring.
• Tang Xuan defeated the monkey’s soul in his sea of consciousness and completed the absorption after two hours.
• Tang Xuan reached level thirty-three and gained a Soul Skill that boosted his attack, speed, and defense.
• Tang Xuan asked Lin Ao what kind of Soul Beast he wanted for his ninth Soul Ring, and Lin Ao chose a strength-type beast at least seventy-five thousand years old.
• Tang Xuan sensed a powerful presence approaching and warned Lin Ao, Song Ming, and Su Qing to take cover.

Tang Xuan and his companions fought the Lie Yan Mad Lion so Lin Ao could claim her eighty-thousand-year soul ring and potentially obtain a soul bone. After they killed her, Lin Ao prepared to absorb the black soul ring and advance toward becoming a Titled Douluo.

• Tang Xuan identified the Lie Yan Mad Lion and explained that stirring her resentment before killing her could make her produce a soul bone for Lin Ao.
• Su Qing, Song Ming, and Lin Ao attacked the Lie Yan Mad Lion in turns, deliberately prolonging the fight and inflicting wounds to provoke her.
• The enraged Lie Yan Mad Lion burned her life force and charged at the group, but Tang Xuan weakened her flames and blinded her with his sword.
• Lin Ao used his Martial Soul Avatar to pierce the Lie Yan Mad Lion's chest and kill her.
• Lin Ao turned toward the black soul ring rising from the corpse and prepared to absorb it as Song Ming and Su Qing teased him.

Tang Xuan discovered that the Godslayer Sword could devour power from soul-beast corpses, strengthening his cultivation, while Lin Ao absorbed the Lie Yan Mad Lion's Soul Ring and Soul Bone. Lin Ao reached the peak of rank ninety-two and chose the title Ten-Thousand-Jun Douluo, leaving the Heaven Sect with a powerful Titled Douluo to guard it.

• Tang Xuan plunged the Godslayer Sword into the Lie Yan Mad Lion's corpse and absorbed its remaining power, raising his soul power to rank thirty-four and his spiritual power to the Soul Emperor level.
• Lin Ao finished absorbing the eighty-thousand-year Soul Ring and reached the peak of rank ninety-one.
• Tang Xuan, Song Ming, Su Qing, and Lin Ao searched the Lie Yan Mad Lion's corpse and found an eighty-thousand-year torso Soul Bone.
• The group left the Star Dou Great Forest's inner reaches, and Lin Ao absorbed the Soul Bone, reaching the peak of rank ninety-two.
• Lin Ao accepted Tang Xuan's suggestion and chose Ten-Thousand-Jun Douluo as his title.

After recognizing that his body tempering had only reached the minor attainment of the second realm, Tang Xuan began an extreme training regimen to strengthen his physique. By noon, he had completed an enormous set of exercises but still had not reached his body's limit.

• Tang Xuan reviewed his fight with the Great Strength Vajra Monkey and decided he needed to focus on physical training.
• Tang Xuan started running around the academy field with an eight-thousand-jin boulder and three thousand jin of weighted clothing, using no Soul Power.
• Xiao Wu let go of the log she was carrying with Tang San, causing it to topple him, and she and Tang San watched Tang Xuan train.
• Tang Xuan completed one hundred weighted laps, two thousand push-ups, squats, frog jumps, burpees, and more running while Tang San and Xiao Wu marveled at his stamina.
• By noon, Tang Xuan had completed thousands of repetitions and dozens of laps but remained just short of his body's limit.

Tang Xuan took Tang San and Xiao Wu to his restaurant, where they learned the meat came from a soul beast he had killed for a Soul Ring. After lunch, Tang Xuan resumed his punishing training and pushed his body to its limit beneath a 23,000-jin iron block.

• Tang Xuan brought Tang San and Xiao Wu to his restaurant, where they began eating before he joined them.
• Tang San and Xiao Wu accused Tang Xuan of killing soul beasts indiscriminately until he explained that the meat came from the Lie Yan Mad Lion he had killed to obtain a Soul Ring.
• Tang San and Xiao Wu apologized, then joined Tang Xuan in eating the lion meat, including its roasted legs.
• Tang San and Xiao Wu went to study with the Grandmaster while Tang Xuan returned to the training ground and completed arduous obstacle courses and exercises.
• Tang Xuan loaded a 23,000-jin iron block onto his back, struggled to stand beneath a total weight of 35,000 jin, and began slowly walking laps around the training ground.

Tang Xuan broke through his physical training limit, then improved rapidly by sparring with Heaven Sect elders. After the elders fled his challenges, he decided to seek out soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest for training.

• Tang Xuan completed his 135th lap, collapsed unconscious, and was carried back to the dormitory by Tang San and Xiao Wu.
• Tang Xuan trained with a fifty-thousand-jin iron block for three months before deciding it could no longer help him improve.
• Tang Xuan sparred daily with Song Ming and became strong enough to make their bouts nearly even, prompting Song Ming to call for a break.
• Lin Ao, Nock, Xiao Cheng, and Wang Wei reported on the Heaven Sect and merchant association's growth, and Xiao Cheng gave Tang Xuan a development report.
• Song Ming, Nock, Xiao Cheng, Wang Wei, and Lin Ao found excuses to leave rather than spar with Tang Xuan.
• Tang Xuan decided to train by fighting soul beasts and flew toward the Star Dou Great Forest.

Tang Xuan arrived in Suotuo City to join Shrek Academy and offered to fund it through the Heavenly Journey Merchant Guild. Flender accepted the investment, and Tang Xuan left after learning enrollment would begin in five days.

• Tang Xuan met Flender at his shop and said he had come to apply to Shrek Academy, with Tang San due to arrive in a few days.
• Tang Xuan offered the academy funding from the Heavenly Journey Merchant Guild in exchange for a nominal affiliation, and revealed that he was the guild's president.
• Flender agreed to the arrangement, signed Tang Xuan's contract, and discovered it imposed a ten-million-gold-coin penalty for breaking it.
• Tang Xuan told Flender that his teacher Xiaogang had reached rank 40, while Flender shared that he had advanced to the peak of rank 79.
• Tang Xuan left the shop after Flender told him Shrek Academy was south of the city and enrollment would begin in five days.

Tang Xuan watched Tang San and Xiao Wu arrive in Suotuo City, then stepped in to fight Dai Mubai at the Rose Hotel. He defeated Dai Mubai with one punch and planned to give him further attention at Shrek Academy.

• Tang San and Xiao Wu arrived in Suotuo City and chose to stay at the Rose Hotel.
• Tang San and Xiao Wu argued with Dai Mubai, who challenged Tang San to a fight.
• Tang Xuan entered the hotel and offered to fight Dai Mubai on Tang San and Xiao Wu's behalf.
• Dai Mubai attacked Tang Xuan, but Tang Xuan shattered his White Tiger Protection Barrier and punched him through a wall.
• Xiao Wu celebrated Tang Xuan's victory, while Tang San wondered at his older brother's strength and resolved to train harder.

Tang Xuan overwhelmed Dai Mubai in their rematch, then healed him with a rare pill and learned they would meet again at Shrek Academy. After Dai Mubai fled, Tang Xuan ordered the hotel to double the damage compensation and profit from future fights.

• Dai Mubai used several soul skills against Tang Xuan, but Tang Xuan shattered his attack and sent him crashing through the hotel into the teahouse.
• Tang Xuan feared he had killed Dai Mubai, hurried to check on him, and gave him a Third-Grade Healing Pill that quickly healed his broken ribs.
• Dai Mubai apologized to Tang San and Xiao Wu, learned they were applying to Shrek Academy, and fled when Tang Xuan suggested they spar again there.
• The hotel manager showed Tang Xuan a damage list totaling 120,000 Gold Soul Coins, and Tang Xuan ordered him to double the compensation and charge double for future damage.
• Tang San and Xiao Wu overheard Tang Xuan's instructions and went upstairs, regarding him as a profiteer.

Tang Xuan, Tang San, and Xiao Wu reached Shrek Academy and passed its registration checks, where they also encountered Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing. Dai Mubai led them toward the fourth trial, while Tang Xuan wondered why Flender had spent so little of the money he had provided on repairing the academy.

• Tang Xuan teased Xiao Wu and Tang San about their relationship as the three traveled toward Shrek Academy.
• At the academy entrance, Li Yusong revealed his Soul Emperor strength and announced the strict age and Soul Power requirements for registration.
• Tang Xuan paid the fees, and he, Tang San, and Xiao Wu passed the age checks; Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing also qualified.
• Li Yusong sent the group directly to the fourth trial, and Dai Mubai reluctantly led them there while avoiding Tang Xuan.
• Tang Xuan noticed that the academy had received only modest repairs despite the large sum he had given Flender.

Tang Xuan and the other candidates began Shrek’s fourth trial, a battle against Zhao Wuji, after revealing their levels and soul-ring configurations. Their coordinated attacks sent Zhao Wuji flying, but the one-incense-stick test was still underway.

• Dai Mubai warned the group that Zhao Wuji was a level seventy-eight Battle Soul Saint, and the candidates introduced their martial souls and levels.
• Tang Xuan assigned the group’s battle roles, and they revealed their soul rings, stunning the others with Tang San’s and Tang Xuan’s ten-thousand-year rings.
• Ning Rongrong boosted the group as Zhao Wuji attacked her, but Tang San pulled her clear and restrained Zhao Wuji with Blue Silver Grass.
• Tang Xuan, Xiao Wu, and Zhu Zhuqing attacked Zhao Wuji while Tang San launched Xiao Wu with Meteor Human Hammer, sending Zhao Wuji flying.

Tang Xuan challenged Zhao Wuji alone and revealed strength and sword skills powerful enough to contend with the much higher-level Soul Saint. The duel continued as Zhao Wuji escalated his attacks, and Tang Xuan’s Sword Domain weakened him just before a close-range strike landed.

• After Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, Tang San, and Ning Rongrong were overwhelmed, Tang Xuan asked Zhao Wuji to restart the test and face him alone.
• Tang Xuan and Zhao Wuji traded punches, and Tang Xuan’s raw strength proved superior despite their thirty-nine-level gap.
• Tang Xuan wounded Zhao Wuji with the Godslayer Sword, broke through his defenses with Sword Burst, and took to the air to attack with sword energy.
• Zhao Wuji shattered the sword energy with his sixth Soul Skill, then used gravity skills to slow and pin Tang Xuan down.
• Tang Xuan activated Sword Domain, weakening Zhao Wuji’s attributes and reducing the force of his Great Strength Vajra Palm, which still knocked Tang Xuan back several meters.

Tang Xuan and Zhao Wuji fought an astonishing battle that left both of them injured, though Tang Xuan slightly overpowered Zhao Wuji with the second move of the Godslayer Sword Art. After recovering, Tang Xuan reassured Tang San and apologized to Zhao Wuji, while Zhao Wuji passed the students and arranged for their accommodations.

• Tang Xuan used his Origin-Recovery Pill and attacked the exhausted Zhao Wuji with his first and second Soul Skills.
• Tang Xuan unleashed Star-Splitting Sword Slash, forcing Zhao Wuji to use his Martial Soul Avatar as Tang San and the others fled to safety.
• The sword strike sent Zhao Wuji through a wooden house and left Tang Xuan injured; both men survived the clash, and Tang Xuan began recovering with pills.
• Oscar arrived amid the destruction, while Tang San, Dai Mubai, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ning Rongrong were stunned by Tang Xuan's strength.
• Tang Xuan gave Tang San a pill for Xiao Wu, and Zhao Wuji passed the students and told Dai Mubai and Oscar to arrange their accommodation.
• Tang Xuan apologized to Zhao Wuji for the earlier fight, and Oscar wondered aloud whether Zhao Wuji had caused the destruction.

Tang Xuan discovered that the black-robed man who had beaten Zhao Wuji was his father, Tang Hao, and reunited with him after six years apart. Tang Hao left without seeing Tang San, carrying medicine from Tang Xuan and agreeing to avoid worsening his severe injuries.

• Tang Xuan gave Zhao Wuji a bottle of Third-Grade Healing Pills and returned to his room to cultivate.
• Tang Hao brutally beat Zhao Wuji in the woods, then offered him guidance that left Zhao Wuji grateful.
• Tang Xuan emerged from hiding when Tang Hao sensed him, and he tearfully reunited with his father.
• Tang Xuan diagnosed Tang Hao's severe internal injuries and gave him Fourth-Grade Healing Pills and Meridian-Opening Pills.
• Tang Hao refused to see Tang San, promised to avoid fights as much as possible, and vanished into the night.

Tang Xuan joined Shrek Academy but was immediately appointed teaching assistant because he had little left to learn there. At the evening assembly, Flender disciplined Oscar and confronted Ning Rongrong, who ran off crying before the students departed for training.

• Tang Xuan met Ma Hongjun at the morning assembly, where Oscar warned Ma Hongjun not to provoke Tang Xuan or Tang San.
• Flender introduced himself, assigned Oscar and Ning Rongrong twenty laps, and dismissed the other students before asking Tang Xuan and Tang San to meet him.
• Flender recognized that Tang Xuan had already surpassed the academy’s graduation requirements and appointed him teaching assistant, despite Tang Xuan’s protests.
• At dusk, Flender caught Oscar lying about finishing his laps and ordered him to run another twenty.
• Ning Rongrong challenged Flender’s authority, but he told her she was the weakest student, and she ran away crying.
• Flender sent Dai Mubai to find Oscar and told the remaining students to prepare for their night training.

Tang Xuan put the seven students through their first rigorous training day, testing their endurance with weighted village laps and a demanding obstacle course and mud-pit exercise. After ordering them to recover in medicinal baths and go to bed, he began planning the next stage of their training.

• Tang Xuan gathered the seven students, set strict rules, and ordered them to run village laps wearing fifteen-kilogram vests.
• Tang Xuan supervised from the air as the students’ pace separated, and he frightened Ma Hongjun back into running by throwing a sword into the ground near him.
• The group completed fifty laps, after which Tang Xuan gave them ten minutes to eat and assemble again.
• Tang Xuan assigned new vest weights and had Tang San and Xiao Wu demonstrate an obstacle course that left the others scraped and exhausted.
• Tang Xuan made all seven carry a heavy log while doing sit-ups in the mud until they reached three hundred repetitions, then sent them to wash, take medicinal baths, and sleep.
• Tang Xuan returned to his quarters and began drafting the next training plan.