Chapter Summaries

Xue Ye tested Xue Qinghe about Huo Yuhao and the factions at court while warning him to keep control in his own hands. After Xue Qinghe rejected marriage proposals, he resolved to find Huo Yuhao and bring her faction into Spirit Hall's camp, while Xue Ke kept the Mystic Water Pill Huo Yuhao had given her.

• Xue Ye visited Xue Qinghe's residence and questioned him about Huo Yuhao, the court, and marriage.
• Xue Qinghe told Xue Ye that Huo Yuhao had visited but had already left, and agreed that he was not ready to marry.
• Xue Ye warned Xue Qinghe to keep control firmly in his hands before leaving for the palace.
• At court, Xue Qinghe rejected proposals to select a consort, and the factions each believed they had gained an advantage.
• Xue Qinghe decided he needed to find Huo Yuhao and bring her faction into Spirit Hall's camp.
• Xue Ke kept the Mystic Water Pill Huo Yuhao had given her in a box beside her bed.

Zhu Zhuqing struggled with doubts about whether she had truly escaped her old dependence or merely entered Huo Yuhao’s orbit, and she buried herself in cultivation rather than asking for help. Huo Yuhao recognized her distress but chose to wait for her to confront it herself, while Elder Yi watched them with concern.

• Zhu Zhuqing repeatedly heard inner voices questioning whether she was truly free after leaving Dai Mubai and the Star Luo Empire.
• Zhu Zhuqing considered asking Huo Yuhao for help but resisted, feeling that doing so would repeat her habit of depending on others.
• Zhu Zhuqing questioned whether Huo Yuhao’s support had created a new attachment, despite knowing he had asked for her consent and had helped her without expecting repayment.
• Zhu Zhuqing devoted herself to cultivation to escape her troubling thoughts, and Huo Yuhao recognized that she was concealing an inner struggle.
• Huo Yuhao chose to remain by Zhu Zhuqing’s side without interfering, while Elder Yi sighed over the state of both of them.

Huo Yuhao reached rank fifty while cultivating at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, where the Hundred-Thousand-Year Snow Lotus suddenly took human form as Xiao Xue Lotus. After the Snow Empress lost her temper over being called “Auntie,” Huo Yuhao learned that Xiao Xue Lotus’s transformation lacked an apparent explanation or heavenly tribulation.

• Huo Yuhao reached rank fifty after four days of intensified cultivation at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
• Huo Yuhao discovered Xiao Xue Lotus, the Hundred-Thousand-Year Snow Lotus, eating breakfast in human form, and she called him “Sister Huo” before asking for more food.
• Xiao Xue Lotus called the Snow Empress “Auntie,” prompting the Snow Empress to attack her before the Evil Lord pulled Xiao Xue Lotus out of danger.
• The Snow Empress chased the Evil Lord into the sky and fought him until her anger subsided, while Xiao Xue Lotus hid behind the Sea Princess.
• Huo Yuhao questioned Xiao Xue Lotus and realized that she had transformed without taking human form to cultivate anew or undergoing a heavenly tribulation.

Huo Yuhao learned how Xiao Xue Lotus took human form and discovered that Octagonal had taught her, prompting Snow Empress to punish Octagonal with a cultivation deadline. He then planned his next steps toward establishing the Spirit Pagoda, leaving his search for a god's inheritance until later.

• Huo Yuhao learned from Xiao Xue Lotus that Octagonal had told her how to avoid heavenly tribulation and take human form.
• Snow Empress confronted Octagonal, who admitted teaching Xiao Xue Lotus, and ordered it to cultivate until it could take human form within a month.
• Snow Empress reflected to Huo Yuhao that soul beasts had little choice but to cultivate under the threat of heavenly tribulations, while Huo Yuhao felt a strange sense of familiarity about their emotions.
• Huo Yuhao decided to sign a contract with Xiao Xue Lotus at rank fifty and said he would visit Gengxin City and Spirit City before pursuing a god's inheritance.

After breakfast, Huo Yuhao reflected on his failures toward Yun Han before signing soul spirit contracts with Li Ya and Xiao Xue Lotus. The new rings advanced his cultivation, and the chapter ended with the others examining him after he learned Xiao Xue Lotus’s abilities.

• The Snow Empress tried to make peace with Xiao Xue Lotus by offering her breakfast, but Xiao Xue Lotus remained wary before quickly letting go of her resentment.
• Huo Yuhao remembered Yun Han and regretted returning him to Ju Zi instead of fulfilling Du Busi’s dying wish to protect him.
• Li Ya signed a soul spirit contract with Huo Yuhao, granting him a red ring, Soul King cultivation, and the skills Mermaid's Blessing and Tranquilizing Melody.
• Xiao Xue Lotus agreed to sign a contract with Huo Yuhao’s Snow Maiden martial soul, giving him five red rings and rank fifty-two cultivation.
• Huo Yuhao learned Xiao Xue Lotus’s skills, Cold Lotus Ice Court and Cold Lotus Ring, then noticed the Ice Empress, the Sea Princess, and the others studying him.

After absorbing Xiao Xue Lotus’s Soul Ring, Huo Yuhao discovered that his body and meridians had improved, then reflected with Elder Yi on his lack of understanding of his own abilities. He began examining the many powers within himself, recognizing that he had only mechanically used Necromancy and other inherited abilities.

• Huo Yuhao noticed his skin had become fairer and his Soul Power circulated faster after absorbing Xiao Xue Lotus’s Soul Ring, while A Ling and the others admitted they had been admiring his new complexion.
• Snow Empress explained that absorbing a snow lotus’s power naturally improved Huo Yuhao’s body and meridians, and Elder Yi confirmed his cultivation would benefit.
• Huo Yuhao continued meditating at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well while Zhu Zhuqing remained in Deep Meditation.
• Huo Yuhao told Elder Yi that his strength had come too easily and that he lacked talent, comprehension, creativity, and control over his emotions.
• Elder Yi urged Huo Yuhao to understand himself and his power, so Huo Yuhao examined the different attributes within his body and realized they were mixed and poorly understood.
• Huo Yuhao recognized that he had only patched Elder Yi’s Soul Spirit Contract and used Necromancy mechanically without understanding their foundations.

Huo Yuhao reflected on the nature and limits of the powers he had encountered, from spiritual power and vitality to Ultimate Ice and fate. As his contemplation ended without a new insight, Elder Yi began to guide him by asking how light and darkness existed in the world.

• Huo Yuhao distinguished pure darkness as an attribute from the resentment and negative emotions associated with Evil Soul Masters.
• Huo Yuhao considered the abilities of the gold of life in his bones and admitted he knew almost nothing about its chaos power.
• Huo Yuhao recalled the Evil Lord’s explanation that the Light of Time and Space used vitality to push spiritual power beyond its limits and accelerate changes in a target’s structure.
• Huo Yuhao reflected on the control of spiritual power, the Snow Empress’s teachings about Ultimate Ice, and the fate power he had returned to the Auspicious Beast.
• Elder Yi watched Huo Yuhao finish contemplating, then asked him how light and darkness existed in the world.

Huo Yuhao learned from Elder Yi that opposing attributes could transform into one another, then used his new insight to condense his first Soul Core from the Cold Spring’s extreme cold. He succeeded despite the danger to his body, while Snow Empress and the others stood guard.

• Huo Yuhao realized that ice and fire, like light and darkness, could transform under certain conditions, and Elder Yi explained that all attributes depended on and affected one another.
• Elder Yi demonstrated the cooperation of multiple elements by forming a small birdlike skeleton, but his attempt to create life ended in an explosion.
• Huo Yuhao gained new insight into elemental powers, then began absorbing the Cold Spring’s energy and directing it toward his dantian to condense a Soul Core.
• Xiao Bai and A-Tai alerted Snow Empress and the others when Huo Yuhao’s body became encased in ice, and they stood guard rather than interrupting him.
• Huo Yuhao manipulated the cold within his meridians by altering its temperature while compressing the energy in his dantian, with Elder Yi’s light helping him through the critical moment.
• Huo Yuhao successfully condensed his first Soul Core, which rotated in his dantian with the power of ultimate ice.

Huo Yuhao condensed an Ultimate Ice soul core in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, gaining six Soul Power ranks and reaching rank fifty-eight. After reuniting with everyone, he learned from Elder Yi how soul cores could convert Soul Power between gaseous, liquid, and solid states, and began studying the process.

• Huo Yuhao completed his soul core and thanked Elder Yi, who told him to rest before cultivating again.
• Huo Yuhao emerged from the ice after five days, and Xiao Xue Lotus fed him Snow Lotus petals while the Sea Princess lent him clothes.
• Huo Yuhao told everyone that his ice-attribute soul core had raised his Soul Power to rank fifty-eight, then agreed to cook for Xiao Xue Lotus.
• After dinner, Huo Yuhao noticed his soul core breaking down liquid Soul Power into tiny particles and asked the Evil Lord and Elder Yi about it.
• Elder Yi explained that Spiritual Power could control Soul Power's concentration and demonstrated how to change its state between gas, liquid, and solid.
• Huo Yuhao sat down to sense his soul core's automatic conversions and realized he still had much to learn.

Qian Renxue struggled to focus while secretly searching for Huo Yuhao, whose martial soul had unsettled her. At the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, Huo Yuhao confronted his painful memories and admitted the selfish reasons behind his past actions before Elder Yi urged him to move forward.

• Qian Renxue secretly searched for Huo Yuhao with Salas and resolved to return to Spirit City after reaching rank sixty.
• Huo Yuhao continued cultivating beside the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well while Zhu Zhuqing remained in Deep Meditation.
• Huo Yuhao stopped before Lovesick Heartbreak Red and reflected on how fear of loneliness, rather than romantic love, had shaped his relationship with Dong'er and his decision to pick the flower.
• Huo Yuhao remembered the friends and teachers he had deceived or abandoned and condemned himself for breaking promises and neglecting his responsibilities.
• Elder Yi struck Huo Yuhao and told him to stop dwelling on the past; Huo Yuhao resolved to keep moving forward and leave Lovesick Heartbreak Red undisturbed.

Huo Yuhao reached level 60, signed Soul Spirit Contracts with Octagonal and Sea Princess, and learned why Sea Princess’s Soul Ring was orange-gold. The group then returned to life at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well while Huo Yuhao consolidated his cultivation.

• Huo Yuhao broke through to level 60 and signed a Soul Spirit Contract with Octagonal, gaining six red Soul Rings and reaching level 61.
• Huo Yuhao gained Octagonal Mysterious Ice Spikes and Mysterious Ice Amplification from Octagonal’s Soul Ring.
• Sea Princess volunteered to become Huo Yuhao’s next Soul Spirit, and she scolded Li Ya for teasing her before signing the contract.
• Huo Yuhao gained an orange-golden Soul Ring and the skills Illusory Bubbles and Heart of the Ocean from Sea Princess, reaching level 62.
• Huo Yuhao explained that Soul Rings from Soul Spirits with at least 500,000 years of cultivation could become orange-gold under the improved contract.
• Huo Yuhao stopped actively cultivating Soul Power and focused on consolidating his cultivation at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

Zhu Zhuqing relived her lonely childhood, her desperate escape from the Star Luo Empire, and her disillusionment with Dai Mubai as the White Tiger consumed her. In Deep Meditation, an ethereal voice offered her a way to escape the cage and control her fate, and she emerged with Soul Ancestor cultivation.

• Zhu Zhuqing remembered how her engagement to the third prince and the Star Luo succession struggle left her isolated and in danger.
• Zhu Zhuqing fled through the Star Dou Great Forest to find Dai Mubai, but saw him at Suotuo City with two girls and left without confronting him.
• Zhu Zhuqing enrolled at the academy with nowhere else to go while the White Tiger continued to consume her and deepen her despair.
• A familiar woman helped Zhu Zhuqing and urged her to control her fate, but the White Tiger reappeared and trapped her in a cage.
• An ethereal voice offered Zhu Zhuqing escape if she accepted it, and she spat blood in Deep Meditation as a fourth Soul Ring appeared, making her a Soul Ancestor.

Zhu Zhuqing awakened from deep meditation as a Soul Ancestor, while Huo Yuhao concealed the truth about his Soul Rings and struggled to answer her question about his connection to the Star Luo Dai Family. Their reunion ended with both keeping their thoughts to themselves, as Huo Yuhao prepared to move on to Gengxin City.

• Zhu Zhuqing awakened with four Soul Rings and a changed outlook, and Huo Yuhao congratulated her on becoming a Soul Ancestor.
• Huo Yuhao showed Zhu Zhuqing six simulated black Soul Rings and gave her a Soul Tool that could disguise her Soul Ring colors.
• Zhu Zhuqing asked Huo Yuhao to swear he had no connection to the Star Luo Dai Family, but he could not answer as he confronted his painful memories and doubts.
• Zhu Zhuqing changed the subject and went to eat, while Huo Yuhao prepared a meal and introduced her to Xiao Xue Lotus and Octagonal.
• Huo Yuhao studied the map marking Gengxin City and prepared to begin his next course of action.

Huo Yuhao and Zhu Zhuqing set out for Gengxin City, crossing from the Heaven Dou Empire into the Star Luo Empire. As they continued toward their destination, three figures watched them from the sky.

• Huo Yuhao asked Zhu Zhuqing whether she would travel with him, and she agreed despite her lingering fear of facing the Star Luo Empire.
• Huo Yuhao and Zhu Zhuqing left the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and traveled by carriage toward the border, while Huo Yuhao reflected on Mingdu and the stagnation of the Original Douluo Three Kingdoms.
• Huo Yuhao and Zhu Zhuqing left the carriage at the border and paid tolls to pass through both empires' outposts.
• Zhu Zhuqing grew more resolute as she and Huo Yuhao continued walking toward Gengxin City.
• Three figures watched Huo Yuhao and Zhu Zhuqing from the distant sky.

Huo Yuhao and Zhu Zhuqing explored Gengxin City and went to the Blacksmith Association to seek Divine Blacksmith Lou Gao. As a troublemaker harassed Huo Yuhao, Huo Yuhao secretly forced him to kneel.

• Huo Yuhao and Zhu Zhuqing entered Gengxin City, where Huo Yuhao was disappointed by the poor quality of its smithies and metals.
• Zhu Zhuqing urged Huo Yuhao to visit the Blacksmith Association, and the pair headed there while Huo Yuhao sensed hostile gazes around them.
• A vendor praised Divine Blacksmith Lou Gao and warned Huo Yuhao and Zhu Zhuqing that Spirit Hall members made the city unsafe for women.
• The Blacksmith Association receptionist said Lou Gao rarely received visitors, but Huo Yuhao could post a forging commission.
• A man causing trouble at the association demanded a huge refund, then approached Huo Yuhao and called him a little sister.
• Huo Yuhao secretly made the troublemaker fall to his knees, leaving the onlookers bewildered and Zhu Zhuqing aware of what he had done.

Huo Yuhao stopped a group of troublemakers from disrupting the Blacksmith Association and met Si Long, who agreed to take him and Zhu Zhuqing to see Lou Gao. Si Long explained that Bishop Miles’s harassment was tied to Gengxin City’s competing interests in the ironware business, and they reached the top floor to meet the Divine Blacksmith.

• Huo Yuhao used Spiritual Power to force the troublemaking leader to kneel silently, and the gang left after pulling him back to his feet.
• Si Long thanked Huo Yuhao and agreed to take him and Zhu Zhuqing to meet Lou Gao, though he warned them they might have to wait a long time.
• As they climbed to the top floor, Si Long said Spirit Hall-backed thugs came every few days to harass the Blacksmith Association without causing damage.
• Si Long explained that Miles wanted control of the ironware business and that other powerful groups in Gengxin City were allowing his harassment for their own interests.
• Huo Yuhao, Zhu Zhuqing, and Si Long reached the top floor while discussing the Blacksmith Association’s predicament.

Huo Yuhao used Spiritual Detection Sharing to help Lou Gao complete a forging, sparking Lou Gao’s interest in him and his Soul Skill. After seeing the Eight Treasures Wishful Soft Armor’s unusual properties, Huo Yuhao became eager to investigate it despite remembering his reason for coming to Gengxin City.

• Huo Yuhao watched Lou Gao forge and sensed an unclear insight related to Soul Tools.
• Huo Yuhao used Spiritual Detection Sharing to guide Lou Gao, who finished forging with renewed excitement.
• Lou Gao rushed to Huo Yuhao and asked him to teach the technique, then sent Si Long away to speak with him.
• Lou Gao invited Huo Yuhao to join the Blacksmiths' Guild and showed him the Eight Treasures Wishful Soft Armor.
• Huo Yuhao recognized the armor’s malleability and ability to regain its shape, which awakened his curiosity as a Soul Engineer.

Huo Yuhao recognized the advanced metalworking behind Lou Gao’s Eight Treasures Wishful Soft Armor and praised his effort to combine metals. Lou Gao found a kindred spirit in Huo Yuhao and brought him to his workshop, while Zhu Zhuqing and Si Long waited outside.

• Huo Yuhao examined the Eight Treasures Wishful Soft Armor and deduced that Lou Gao had refined and melted several metals together.
• Huo Yuhao praised Lou Gao’s method as an important path for the future of forging, and Lou Gao was delighted that someone understood his research.
• Huo Yuhao reflected on how combining metals and other materials could offer alternatives as rare metals became scarce.
• Lou Gao pulled Huo Yuhao into his workshop to continue their animated discussion, leaving Zhu Zhuqing and the armor in the corridor.
• Si Long returned with refreshments, put away the armor, and watched his teacher enjoy a conversation with Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao read Lou Gao’s records of metal experiments and discussed ways to improve metal purification and smelting. He then explained that he had come to Gengxin City to secure a stable, continuous supply of rare metals, leaving Lou Gao silent.

• Lou Gao gave Huo Yuhao his extensive experimental records, and Huo Yuhao read them and recognized the promise of the metal-processing research.
• Huo Yuhao and Lou Gao discussed metals while Zhu Zhuqing and Si Long listened, and Lou Gao eagerly recorded Huo Yuhao’s knowledge.
• Lou Gao offered Huo Yuhao the Eight Treasures Wishful Soft Armor and asked him to become his assistant, but Huo Yuhao declined both offers.
• Huo Yuhao told Lou Gao that he needed help finding a steady source of rare metals, and Lou Gao fell silent.

Huo Yuhao learned that Gengxin City and the continent could not supply the rare metals needed to develop advanced Soul Tools, and heard how corruption had weakened the city. He left with Zhu Zhuqing, agreed to learn alchemy from Elder Yi, and then encountered a group led by someone who called Zhu Zhuqing his little sister.

• Si Long and Lou Gao told Huo Yuhao that the continent lacked enough rare metals for his plans and warned him about corruption and shoddy equipment in Gengxin City.
• Si Long explained that the Blacksmith Association had little influence over military contracts or the city’s powerful merchants, leaving Zhu Zhuqing troubled by the empire’s decline.
• Huo Yuhao said farewell to Lou Gao and encouraged him to continue his smelting experiments before following Zhu Zhuqing out of the city.
• Elder Yi offered to teach Huo Yuhao alchemy, and Huo Yuhao agreed.
• A group emerged from the woods near Huo Yuhao and Zhu Zhuqing, and their leader addressed Zhu Zhuqing as his little sister.