Chapter Summaries

After leaving the Star Dou Great Forest, Huo Yuhao and the Shrek group rested in a nearby town. While exploring alone, Huo Yuhao detected the smell of rotting corpses and secretly entered a house, where he found a hidden passage leading underground.

• Huo Yuhao and Zhu Zhuqing sat together by the campfire before Zhao Wuji took over the night watch.
• Zhao Wuji led the Shrek group safely out of the Star Dou Great Forest and gave them half a day to rest in a nearby town.
• Huo Yuhao and Zhu Zhuqing wandered the town, ran into Xiao Wu, and later met Ning Rongrong and Oscar.
• Huo Yuhao smelled decay near a secluded alley and used his Simulation Soul Skill to investigate a house.
• Huo Yuhao entered through the chimney, found an opening inside a cabinet, and followed the passage underground toward the stronger stench and faint sounds.

Huo Yuhao discovered an underground workshop where workers processed the corpses of people who had died in terrible conditions. As he remained invisible, his hidden Soul Rings stirred fear throughout the chamber, and the workers and Soul Masters stopped to await what would happen.

• Huo Yuhao reached a hidden underground workspace and saw five Soul Masters overseeing forty-eight workers.
• Huo Yuhao watched workers strip flesh from an elderly man's corpse, sort his bones, and soak them in a pool of mixed Soul Beast blood.
• Huo Yuhao saw corpses of people of many ages and conditions stacked in straw mats, including a badly wounded young girl.
• Huo Yuhao sensed that the workers acted from numbness and a need for wages rather than cruelty or enthusiasm.
• Huo Yuhao's nine concealed Soul Rings appeared behind him, and everyone in the chamber felt instinctive terror and stopped working.
• The five Soul Masters activated their Martial Souls as the chamber fell silent, and a strange sound preceded a horrifying sight.

Huo Yuhao used Tian Meng's Domain and Bone Manipulation to make the corpses in the underground processing site attack the workers and five soul masters, then examined the dead men's memories. He found the information he wanted, but what he learned left him conflicted.

• Huo Yuhao activated Tian Meng's Domain and Bone Manipulation, raising the corpses around the underground space as undead fighters.
• The undead corpses attacked the workers, while the five soul masters fought back and found that the bodies kept returning to their original forms unless pulverized.
• The five soul masters tried to flee, but the slowed, relentless undead overwhelmed and killed them.
• Huo Yuhao ended both skills, returned the undead to their original state, and used Time Reversal to inspect the dead men's memories.
• Huo Yuhao found the information he sought in the five soul masters' memories, but felt complicated about what he learned.

Huo Yuhao reflected on the harm caused by hunting soul beasts for soul bones and considered how Spirit Hall’s checks on empires and sects had limited large-scale hunts. He concluded that the fake soul beast bones before him were being manufactured to meet demand for products made from soul beasts.

• Huo Yuhao reconsidered soul-bone hunting from the perspective of soul beasts and recognized why the Ice Empress had been enraged by the Ice Jade Scorpion Left Arm Bone.
• Huo Yuhao recalled his concerns that human greed could drive soul masters, rulers, and even the Spirit Pagoda toward harmful extremes.
• Huo Yuhao assessed the low cultivation of most soul masters and the mutual checks among Spirit Hall, empires, and sects that restrained large-scale soul beast hunts.
• Huo Yuhao noted that soul beast meat, hides, blood, and bones were valuable goods, but carcasses from soul-hunting could not satisfy the market.
• Huo Yuhao faced a place used to manufacture fake soul beast bones.

After uncovering the corpse-based counterfeit Soul Beast bone business, Huo Yuhao struggled with whether its workers deserved death and reflected on the tangled causes and consequences of wrongdoing. He told Elder Yi he could not judge such questions with certainty, but would stop evil whenever he saw it.

• Huo Yuhao learned that workers used stolen corpses to make counterfeit Soul Beast bones and other products under a noble's protection.
• Huo Yuhao questioned whether killing the workers had been a mistake because they had treated the work as a way to earn a living, despite participating in something cruel.
• Elder Yi asked Huo Yuhao to consider whether guilt came from thoughts or actions, and whether wrongdoing was conscious or unconscious.
• Huo Yuhao reflected on thieves, soldiers, Evil Soul Masters, Soul Masters hunting Soul Beasts, and his own role in the Mingdu Explosion.
• Huo Yuhao told Elder Yi he could not give a definite answer about guilt but would stop evil without hesitation when it occurred before him.
• Elder Yi sighed and chuckled at Huo Yuhao's answer, recognizing the idealism of youth while valuing his kindness.

Huo Yuhao purified the souls in the underground space and sealed the cavern before returning to the inn. There, he intervened when Dai Mubai tried to pressure Zhu Zhuqing, and listened to Dai Mubai offer his self-serving explanation.

• Elder Yi urged Huo Yuhao to hold to his convictions and explained why the workers shared responsibility for the evil they supported.
• Huo Yuhao used his Purification Flame to release the wandering souls, then sealed the underground cavern with earth.
• Huo Yuhao encountered Dai Mubai pressuring Zhu Zhuqing near the woods by the inn as he tried to persuade her to help defeat two rivals.
• Dai Mubai grabbed Zhu Zhuqing and claimed that neither of them could escape the obligations tied to their surnames.
• Huo Yuhao pulled Zhu Zhuqing away from Dai Mubai and challenged his conduct.
• Dai Mubai gave Huo Yuhao a version of events that favored himself, but Huo Yuhao did not believe him.

Huo Yuhao defended Zhu Zhuqing as Dai Mubai explained his past and insisted that his engagement entitled him to her. Zhu Zhuqing accepted Huo Yuhao’s offer to try Martial Soul Fusion, while the Shrek group watched from the inn.

• Zhu Zhuqing remembered how her sister once protected her and instinctively took Huo Yuhao’s hand as he shielded her from Dai Mubai.
• Dai Mubai blamed his behavior with women on frustration and claimed that he and Zhu Zhuqing were destined to be together, angering Huo Yuhao.
• Huo Yuhao sensed Zhu Zhuqing’s Martial Soul Fusion and asked through their minds whether she wanted to try it; Zhu Zhuqing agreed.
• Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu, Oscar, Ma Hongjun, Tang San, and Zhao Wuji watched the confrontation from the inn’s windows.

Huo Yuhao and Zhu Zhuqing used Martial Soul Fusion, with Huo Yuhao guiding her through the process and Elder Yi helping bridge their incompatible powers. The fusion ended with Zhu Zhuqing transformed into a three-eyed, cat-eared figure, while Dai Mubai reacted with fear at the familiar gaze in her eyes.

• Huo Yuhao told Dai Mubai that he had no chance with Zhu Zhuqing, then embraced Zhu Zhuqing as the onlookers watched in confusion.
• Zhao Wuji and Dai Mubai recognized that Huo Yuhao and Zhu Zhuqing were beginning a Martial Soul Fusion.
• Huo Yuhao guided Zhu Zhuqing as Spirit Eyes and the Hell Spirit Cat merged, and Elder Yi added dark power from Huo Yuhao's Holy Necromancer to help the fusion.
• The black cocoon broke after two seconds, revealing Zhu Zhuqing transformed with a black cloak, cat ears, a tail, and three differently colored eyes.
• Dai Mubai recognized Huo Yuhao's intimidating gaze in Zhu Zhuqing's third eye and grew frightened while Zhu Zhuqing remained absorbed in the fusion's effects.

After Zhu Zhuqing and Huo Yuhao used their Martial Soul Fusion, they confronted Dai Mubai and told him to stop pursuing Zhu Zhuqing. Dai Mubai’s shameless response enraged Huo Yuhao, who nearly strangled him before Zhao Wuji intervened.

• Zhu Zhuqing and Huo Yuhao discussed their Martial Soul Fusion in the Sea of Consciousness, then Zhu Zhuqing told Dai Mubai that she and Huo Yuhao would not separate and he should stop bothering them.
• Dai Mubai suggested that the three of them could be together, shocking everyone in the inn and leaving Zhu Zhuqing and Huo Yuhao disgusted.
• Huo Yuhao took control of Zhu Zhuqing’s body, seized Dai Mubai by the throat, and lifted him off the ground before he could activate his martial soul.
• Zhao Wuji used his Great Strength Vajra Bear Martial Soul to pry Dai Mubai free after Oscar, Ma Hongjun, and Tang San rushed to get help.
• Zhao Wuji had Oscar and Ma Hongjun carry the unconscious Dai Mubai away, then tried to soothe Zhu Zhuqing and Huo Yuhao.

Zhu Zhuqing and Huo Yuhao demonstrated their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, which they named Netherworld Walker, before the group settled in for the night. The next morning, they set out for Shrek Academy, while Huo Yuhao continued to consider the need to strengthen himself to contain the power sealed within him.

• Oscar and Ma Hongjun carried the unconscious Dai Mubai away, while the others gave Zhu Zhuqing time to recover from her anger.
• Zhu Zhuqing explained that Netherworld Walker boosted her strength and speed, let her use Huo Yuhao's Soul Skills, and allowed her to move through shadows, then demonstrated its abilities.
• Zhao Wuji stopped Oscar's suggestion that Zhu Zhuqing fight him and urged her and Huo Yuhao to end their fusion; Huo Yuhao named the skill Netherworld Walker.
• Zhu Zhuqing and Huo Yuhao cultivated together through the night as Ning Rongrong and Xiao Wu slept, while Tang San went to the woods because he could not sleep.
• Huo Yuhao reflected that he needed to raise his soul power to contain the Gold of Life and Chaos Energy sealed within him, and the group departed for Shrek Academy the next morning.

After returning to Shrek Academy, Huo Yuhao and Zhu Zhuqing resumed cultivating, while Yu Xiaogang arrived and began training the students. Yu Xiaogang matched Huo Yuhao against the other seven Shrek students, and Huo Yuhao eliminated all of them except Tang San, leaving the two ready to fight.

• Zhao Wuji returned to Shrek Academy and told Flender about the dangerous trip to the Star Dou Great Forest, including Huo Yuhao's fourth soul ring and his Martial Soul Fusion Skill with Zhu Zhuqing.
• Yu Xiaogang concluded that the mysterious roars that drove away the Titan Giant Ape came from the Sky Azure Bull Python, and he grew interested in Huo Yuhao's rapid cultivation.
• Yu Xiaogang began training the students the next morning and ordered Huo Yuhao to fight all seven of them at once.
• Huo Yuhao used Spiritual Detection, his soul skills, and his physical attacks to eliminate Ma Hongjun, Oscar, Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, Dai Mubai, and Ning Rongrong.
• After Xiao Wu fainted, Tang San began slipping into a frenzy, and Huo Yuhao prepared to fight him one-on-one.

Huo Yuhao and Tang San faced off after their teammates were eliminated, and Tang San tried to trap Huo Yuhao with hidden weapons, Blue Silver Grass seeds, and his Eight Spider Lances. Huo Yuhao defeated him with a spiritual attack, leaving the onlookers too stunned to announce the match’s end.

• Yu Xiaogang believed Tang San could defeat a depleted Huo Yuhao and hoped to recruit Huo Yuhao as another twin-Martial-Soul disciple.
• Tang San attacked Huo Yuhao with Blue Silver Entanglement and hidden weapons while secretly scattering Blue Silver Grass seeds across the field.
• Huo Yuhao used Dark Night Judgment to mark Tang San, then hit him with Spiritual Storm as Tang San rushed forward with his Eight Spider Lances.
• Tang San’s seeds sprouted around Huo Yuhao, but Huo Yuhao broke through Tang San’s spiritual defenses with an amplified spiritual attack.
• Tang San collapsed unconscious, and the spectators remained too stunned by Huo Yuhao’s combat ability to declare the match over.

After defeating Tang San, Huo Yuhao examined him and found no unusual abilities beyond the Tang Sect Secret Arts. Yu Xiaogang mistook Huo Yuhao for a twin Martial Soul bearer and offered to teach him, but Huo Yuhao refused and returned to cultivate, puzzled by Yu Xiaogang’s reaction.

• Huo Yuhao ended the match, revived Tang San, and examined him, finding no unusual strength or spiritual power beyond traces of the Tang Sect Secret Arts.
• Yu Xiaogang sent Tang San away to rest with Xiao Wu and the others, then took Huo Yuhao aside and declared that he must possess twin Martial Souls.
• Yu Xiaogang offered to make Huo Yuhao his disciple and help him develop his abilities, but Huo Yuhao politely refused because he already had a teacher.
• Yu Xiaogang grew angry at Huo Yuhao’s refusal, while Huo Yuhao sensed his resentment but did not understand it.
• Huo Yuhao left Yu Xiaogang and returned to his dormitory to meditate, reflecting on Yu Xiaogang’s unwillingness to accept correction.

Huo Yuhao endured Yu Xiaogang’s punishing training and exclusion from Soul Fighting matches, recognizing that Yu Xiaogang was retaliating for his refusal to become a disciple. Watching Shrek’s victories and Flender’s gambling winnings, he reflected on how success had fostered Shrek’s fear of failure and began seeing the academy more plainly.

• Huo Yuhao trained by carrying stones and soaking in medicinal baths, while Yu Xiaogang kept him out of individual and team Soul Fighting matches and pushed Zhu Zhuqing to partner with Dai Mubai.
• Huo Yuhao recognized Yu Xiaogang’s resentment over his refusal to become a disciple, and saw contempt in Yu Xiaogang and Tang San toward him and other potential disciples.
• While watching a Shrek Seven Devils match, Huo Yuhao reflected that Shrek’s repeated victories had made its members fear defeat and resist improvement.
• Huo Yuhao found Flender betting on the match; after the Shrek Seven Devils won, Flender collected the Gold Soul Coins and claimed the academy needed the money.
• Back in his dormitory, Huo Yuhao meditated and realized Shrek was gradually losing its special emotional meaning to him.

Huo Yuhao reflected on Shrek Academy’s flaws and decided to focus on becoming stronger rather than risk confronting Tang San while vulnerable. He told Zhu Zhuqing he planned to leave, and agreed to wait two days so she could compete before leaving with him.

• Huo Yuhao reconsidered Shrek Academy’s reputation, recognizing both its unfair practices and the loyalty its teachers and students had shown.
• Huo Yuhao resolved to prioritize cultivation and address the Chaos Energy within him before taking any risk involving Tang San or a possible god watching over him.
• Zhu Zhuqing returned and realized Huo Yuhao was considering leaving Shrek Academy; he confirmed that he planned to speak with Dean Flender the next day.
• Zhu Zhuqing asked Huo Yuhao to stay two more days so she could compete in an upcoming match, then leave with him; Huo Yuhao agreed.

Huo Yuhao agreed to replace Ma Hongjun in Shrek’s upcoming team match against the Heaven Dou Royal Team, despite Yu Xiaogang’s earlier efforts to keep him out. After watching Shrek’s meeting, Huo Yuhao decided he would leave soon, while Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling wondered whether Shrek’s Huo Yuhao was their old acquaintance.

• Yu Xiaogang called Huo Yuhao to Shrek’s meeting and assigned him Ma Hongjun’s place against the Heaven Dou Royal Team, whose captain Dugu Yan was a level fifty-two Soul King.
• Huo Yuhao accepted the lineup change and listened as Yu Xiaogang and Tang San led the match discussion, then decided there was little reason for him to remain at Shrek.
• Dugu Yan and the Imperial Fighting Team reviewed Shrek’s information and prepared for the match, with Dugu Yan giving the team brief instructions.
• Ye Lingling recognized that Shrek’s Huo Yuhao resembled their old friend, and Dugu Yan planned to ask her about it after the match.

The Shrek Team faced the Imperial Fighting Team, with Huo Yuhao using Spiritual Detection Sharing to carry out the battle plan and hold off Dugu Yan. He knocked Yu Tianheng out of the arena, but Dugu Yan poisoned Dai Mubai and removed him from the match, leaving Huo Yuhao alone against her.

• Flender asked Yu Xiaogang whether Dugu Yan was a descendant of Dugu Bo, and Yu Xiaogang confirmed it with a nod.
• Huo Yuhao connected the Shrek Team through Spiritual Detection Sharing as both teams began their planned attacks.
• Dugu Yan tried to evade Huo Yuhao and support Yu Tianheng, but he dodged her ten thousand year soul skill and used Spiritual Storm to disrupt their attack on Dai Mubai.
• Huo Yuhao struck Yu Tianheng with a single punch and sent him out of the arena.
• Dugu Yan unleashed a barrage of poison attacks, but Huo Yuhao evaded them all.
• Dugu Yan poisoned Dai Mubai's left leg and kicked him out of the arena, leaving her to face Huo Yuhao one-on-one.

Tang San’s team struggled against the Imperial Fighting Team’s defensive formation, which used healing and flight to wear them down. After Oscar was captured and forced to surrender sausages before leaving the arena, Tang San deployed his Eight Spider Lances, revealing the External Soul Bone Yu Xiaogang had warned him to conceal.

• The Imperial Fighting Team retreated into a defensive formation, while Yu Feng harassed Ning Rongrong and Oscar from the air.
• Yu Feng feinted toward Ning Rongrong, seized Oscar as he landed, and carried him toward his team; Zhu Zhuqing wounded Yu Feng but could not stop him.
• Osler threatened to tie Oscar to Shi Mo’s shield, so Oscar handed over several sausages and left the arena.
• Tang San and his teammates struggled to break through the formation as Ye Lingling healed the Imperial Fighting Team and their own soul power dwindled.
• Tang San rushed the defenders with his Eight Spider Lances, despite Yu Xiaogang’s warning that revealing the External Soul Bone could invite others to steal it.

Tang San and the Shrek Team turned the match against the Imperial Fighting Team by exploiting Spiritual Detection Sharing and disrupting their formation. After Huo Yuhao eliminated Dugu Yan, the remaining opponents surrendered, leaving Shrek victorious.

• Tang San used his Eight Spider Lances and Blue Silver Grass to pressure Shi Mo and his companion, while Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing attacked and Ning Rongrong boosted them.
• The Imperial Fighting Team regrouped, and Dugu Yan unleashed poison to break free from Huo Yuhao before rushing toward Ning Rongrong; Zhu Zhuqing intercepted her and drew her away.
• Ye Lingling tossed Dugu Yan an Oscar sausage, then jumped from Yu Feng’s flight, while Yu Feng pursued Ning Rongrong; Ning Rongrong wounded him with her purple blade, and he fell unconscious.
• Huo Yuhao took the sausage from Dugu Yan and gave it to Zhu Zhuqing, while Ning Rongrong eliminated Yu Feng and Ye Lingling, then joined Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu in eliminating Osler.
• Huo Yuhao defeated Dugu Yan with Dark Night Judgment and Spiritual Storm, and the two remaining Imperial Fighting Team members surrendered, securing Shrek’s victory.

After Shrek defeated the Imperial Fighting Team, Huo Yuhao reunited with Dugu Yan and helped her cure Dai Mubai’s poison. The next morning, Huo Yuhao and Zhu Zhuqing left Shrek Academy together for Heaven Dou City, after Huo Yuhao gave Flender money to improve the school.

• Huo Yuhao went to Dugu Yan and asked her to neutralize the poison that had knocked Dai Mubai unconscious.
• Dugu Yan cured Dai Mubai, then caught up with Huo Yuhao and asked why he was leaving Shrek; he said he planned to return to Heaven Dou City.
• Ye Lingling took Dugu Yan away to review the match and prepare for the Imperial Fighting Team’s departure.
• Zhu Zhuqing told Huo Yuhao she trusted him and agreed to leave with him, relying on their Martial Soul Fusion Skill.
• Huo Yuhao and Zhu Zhuqing told Flender they had decided to leave, and Huo Yuhao gave him a Black Card worth two hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.
• Huo Yuhao and Zhu Zhuqing left Shrek Academy and set out for Heaven Dou City.