Chapter Summaries

Chen Xiaojun warned his team not to underestimate their rivals and proposed concealing their true strength with flexible tactics. He revealed that his brother and Ximen Chuixue possessed a powerful Martial Soul Fusion Skill, leaving the team shaken by the competition ahead.

• Chen Xiaojun proposed using deliberate misdirection and adaptable tactics, and Gao Cuilan pledged to contribute her family’s secret techniques despite her lower soul power.
• Chen Xiaojun rebuked the team’s overconfidence, reminding them that their rivals were also growing stronger and that his injured Upper Soul Nest limited his ability to fight prolonged battles.
• Chen Xiaojun listed formidable opponents from Spirit Hall, Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Moonlight Academy, Sword Rain Academy, and Soul Fighting Academy, prompting the team to take the competition more seriously.
• Chen Xiaojun revealed that his brother and Ximen Chuixue had a Martial Soul Fusion Skill that had reached at least Soul Saint-level strength, and the team fell silent under the pressure.

Chen Xiaojun and his companions responded to news that the Soul Fighting Academy had another Martial Soul Fusion Skill by rallying for the tournament and discussing their lineup. After the feast, Chen Xiaojun sent Gao Cuilan a calling card to arrange a visit to her family in three days.

• Chen Xiaojun revealed that the Soul Fighting Academy knew the Seven Kill Sword well and possessed another Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Baxia, but Xiao Yi's calm and his companions' resolve helped steady the group.
• Liu Ruyan and Wuyan withdrew from the preliminary qualifier lineup so Liu Ruyan could focus on the Publicity Division, and the group discussed finding three replacements.
• Liu Ruyan recommended Severn Neal, a defensive Soul Master from the Academy Faction, and Chen Xiaojun agreed that the team should choose candidates carefully.
• After Liu Ruyan left, Chen Xiaojun asked Zhu Wuneng to fetch a calling card and gave it to Gao Cuilan, asking her to tell her family he would visit her grandfather and father in three days.

Chen Xiaojun and Chen Mu discussed how they learned about Xue Shiqiong and Senior Chuxin’s relationship, then assessed Soul Fighting Academy and the tournament’s other threats. Chen Xiaojun hinted that someone would come to them the next day with information.

• Chen Mu explained that he had sent Uncle Yuqi to eavesdrop on Madam Xue and Senior Chuxin, and Chen Xiaojun confirmed that Uncle Yuqi would keep their secrets.
• Chen Xiaojun reflected on the older students’ pride and discussed Soul Fighting Academy’s rare tournament appearances and its past loss to a Spirit Hall genius.
• Chen Xiaojun admitted that beating Soul Fighting Academy depended on his recovery and Xiao Yi’s performance, and warned that the opposing team’s martial souls and tactics made them formidable.
• Chen Xiaojun said they needed to verify information from many sources and hinted that someone would come to them the next day, leaving Chen Mu curious.

Chen Xiaojun helped Chen Mu find a new approach to his difficult sword techniques, while their relaxed conversation revealed that Chen Mu’s father had returned and planned to take his mother to Soul Fighting City. The chapter ended with Chen Xiaojun asking why.

• Chen Xiaojun suggested that Chen Mu use Yin-Yang imbalance as an attack rather than obsessively seeking perfect balance, and Chen Mu conceived a potential seventeenth sword based on his agility and unpredictability.
• Chen Xiaojun reminded Chen Mu to build his next sword around his agility attack traits, prompting Chen Mu to consider what should drive his eighteenth sword.
• Chen Bin, Chen Shurui, and the others joined Chen Xiaojun and Chen Mu for a relaxed afternoon with fruit from the Vine Sea Secret Realm.
• Chen Mu said his father had returned after hearing that Grandpa was badly injured and would stay for about a month.
• Chen Mu revealed that his father planned to take his mother to Soul Fighting City, and Chen Xiaojun asked why.

Chen Mu and Chen Xiaojun discussed the Chen Clan’s growing family and speculated that the ninety-nine-year-old Grand Elder Chen Hong was nearing a breakthrough to level ninety-six. The chapter listed the clan’s new children and marriage pressures, leaving Chen Chenghui as the only unmarried uncle.

• Chen Mu and Chen Xiaojun discussed how Chen Hong had grown more easygoing and whether his changed temperament could help him reach the Super Douluo realm.
• Chen Mu teased Chen Bin about his new baby brother and described the family’s growing pressure on unmarried and separated relatives to have children.
• The chapter detailed Chen Xiyuan’s daughter Qing Ke, Chen Wu’s son Chen Yun, and the children and circumstances of the other middle-generation siblings.
• Chen Yaoting returned to Chenlin Village with his grandson Chen Haoxuan, while Chen Qingrui welcomed another son, Chen Yunze.
• The clan’s Population Growth Plan was described as bearing fruit, while Chen Chenghui remained unmarried and Chen Surong had not remarried.

The Chen Clan’s population boom continued, driven by medical formulas, martial arts, and the clan’s accumulated fortune. Chenlin Village’s population climbed toward eight hundred as families and followers moved in, while other clans sought access to the Chen Clan’s methods.

• The Chen Clan’s younger generation grew to sixteen members, and its elders anticipated another population golden age.
• Ye Xiuxin and the Zhu Family helped promote childbirth with medical expertise, health-preserving formulas, and yang-strengthening medicines, while Chen Xiaojun suspected several factors had contributed to the boom.
• The Research Department’s Martial Soul Division began investigating whether the Nine Yang Divine Skill and Big Dipper Art affected fertility, while others credited the Chen Clan’s fortune.
• Retainer Families and Branch Lines bought the refined formulas and pills and exchanged for the Pure Yang Limitless Skill and Heavenly Cycle Formless Canon.
• Families including the Ximen Family and Ma Family asked the Chen Clan for access to its methods, but the clan held firm until it could meet its own needs.
• Chenlin Village’s population swelled past five hundred in the Chen Clan’s Main Lineage and followers, while incoming families brought the permanent population close to seven or eight hundred.

Chen Xiaojun explained the Chen Clan’s extensive resources and plans to accelerate the cultivation of its senior Soul Douluo. The chapter ended with the clan’s powerful elders preparing to focus on breakthroughs, including Chen Wenchao and Chen Yaoting at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

• Chen Xiaojun and Chen Mu discussed Chenlin Village’s education, training, resources, and role as a home for the Chen Clan and its followers.
• Chen Mu and Chen Bin reported that Sixth Uncle and Chen Bin’s father were both level 79 and nearing Soul Douluo.
• Chen Xiaojun said the clan would increase support for Fourth Uncle, Sixth Uncle, and Fifth Uncle, including access to fifty-thousand-year soul bones.
• Chen Xiaojun described the clan’s nearly thirty high-grade soul bones and its many other accumulated resources.
• Chen Mu understood that the clan would send elders from Grandpa’s generation to the Secret Land over the next two years to cultivate.
• The chapter detailed the Main Lineage’s senior Soul Douluo, noting that Chen Wenchao and Chen Yaoting were pursuing breakthroughs at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

Chen Xiaojun explained the Chen Clan’s planned personnel reshuffle and broader organizational reforms to Chen Mu. The reforms remained in planning, with the recent attack likely to delay their discussion, and the clan was considering supervisory leadership positions to oversee its new departments.

• Chen Xiaojun outlined likely promotions for Chen Wu, Chen Hua, and Chen Zhang, and named Chen Qingrui, Chen Chenghui, and Chen Surong as their probable successors in current roles.
• Chen Mu joked about eventually taking over his father’s position, while Chen Xiaojun suggested he might step up as the older generation’s successors advanced.
• Chen Xiaojun described the Economic Management Department’s divisions and the Research Department’s three divisions, then urged Chen Mu to visit the injured Sister Youchu and thank Shen Lang and Shen Fei for rescuing them.
• Chen Xiaojun explained plans to establish ten additional departments and clarify financial oversight, including transferring non-economic expenditures to a new Finance Ministry.
• Chen Xiaojun said the clan’s outdated structure required reform and proposed supervisory leadership positions above the departments, with each position overseeing several departments.

Chen Xiaojun explained the Chen Clan’s plan to divide leadership among a clan chief, grand elder, and deputy clan chiefs with distinct responsibilities. The clan expected Chen Xun to become chief, Chen Xiyuan to become grand elder, and Chen Wu, Chen Zhang, and Chen Hua to contend for deputy positions.

• Chen Xiaojun told Chen Mu that the Chen Clan planned to appoint deputy clan chiefs to share the clan chief’s responsibilities.
• Chen Mu asked how the senior leadership would be arranged, and Chen Xiaojun explained the plan for separate administrative, military, and oversight powers.
• The chapter described Soul Fighting City’s three leading offices, their checks and balances, and Ximen Wenhua’s appointment as Chief Steward.
• The Chen Clan’s proposed structure placed the clan chief over clan affairs and the grand elder over oversight and adjudication, with two or three deputy clan chiefs handling specialized duties.
• The clan expected Chen Xun to succeed as clan chief and Chen Xiyuan to become grand elder, while Chen Wu, Chen Zhang, and Chen Hua were likely deputy clan chief candidates.

Chen Xiaojun discussed the Chen Clan’s likely leadership roles and agreed to attend the Winding Stream Banquet’s cultural exchange, hoping Chen Hua could help with a matter involving Ji Tiantian. Chen Hua arrived after overhearing Chen Mu mock his father and asked Chen Xiaojun why he had brought him up and mentioned the banquet.

• Chen Xiaojun outlined the likely roles for the Chen Clan’s next generation, and Chen Mu complained that the rest of them would still serve under the three leading siblings.
• Chen Xiaojun hinted that he might need Chen Hua’s help but kept the reason secret, while Chen Mu promised to assist.
• Su Ningxia told Chen Xiaojun that the Winding Stream Banquet and Wenhua Pavilion would hold a cultural exchange in Chang'an, and Chen Xiaojun agreed to attend.
• Chen Mu guessed that Chen Xiaojun wanted Chen Hua to use his ties to the Ji Family and Teacher Jixiang to help with Ji Tiantian, then teased Chen Hua’s refined airs.
• Chen Hua appeared at the doorway, caught Chen Mu mocking him, and asked Chen Xiaojun why he had mentioned him and the Winding Stream Banquet.

Chen Xiaojun persuaded Chen Hua to help him approach Jixiang, then explained why Moonlight Academy’s Vice Dean was vital to the Chen Clan. He revealed that the clan’s ancestral holdings near Moonlight City included a share of a valuable spirit marrow stone vein.

• Chen Xiaojun told Chen Hua about Jixiang and secured his agreement to help with Chen Cong’s assignment.
• Chen Hua dragged Chen Mu to the Practice Ground while the others watched and joked.
• Chen Xiaojun explained Moonlight Academy’s ties to the Moon Palace, the clan’s research, and its strategic position in Tosk Province.
• Chen Xiaojun revealed that the Chen Clan had moved away from its ancestral home near Moonlight City more than two hundred years earlier and still held assets there.
• Chen Xiaojun explained that the clan shared ownership of a large spirit marrow stone vein and that the academy’s Vice Dean represented its interests in Tosk Province.
• Chen Xiaojun suggested Chen Shurui study at Moonlight Academy and joked that Chen Bin could come along too.

Chen Xiaojun discussed possible academies for the younger Chen family members and helped Zhu Wuneng choose a signature verse. He then explained his plan to send Xiao Yi to the Frozen Forest for her second soul ring, leaving her quietly unhappy with his protective arrangements.

• Chen Xiaojun suggested that Nine Heavens Academy might suit Old Nine and Old Ten, who were expected to study at Sword Rain Academy.
• Chen Xiaojun gave Zhu Wuneng several signature verses before Zhu chose “Smile and Watch the Martial World's Storms Change; alone, I walk the road to the ends of the earth.”
• Chen Xiaojun told Dugu Fu that Xiao Yi would accompany him to the Frozen Forest with Third Granduncle to hunt an ice silkworm for her second soul ring.
• Chen Xiaojun explained the plan and his concerns about Xiao Yi's safety, but Xiao Yi insisted that she could handle the danger.

Chen Xiaojun reviewed intelligence about the Elite Tournament’s top contenders with Zhou Tianshu and confirmed that information about Xiao Yi remained sealed. He proposed that Tianshi City create a supplementary Heavenly Prodigy Ranking for talented young Soul Masters who could not fit on the main list.

• Zhou Tianshu gave Chen Xiaojun a booklet about the tournament’s ranked prodigies and other powerful contenders.
• Zhou Tianshu identified the Little Night Emperor, the Child of War, and the Holy Light White Tiger as leading talents, and noted that Chen Xiaojun had surpassed the latter two in the rankings.
• Chen Xiaojun and Zhou Tianshu confirmed that Tianshi City had classified all intelligence about Xiao Yi as Grade Five Top Secret.
• Zhou Tianshu asked Chen Xiaojun how Tianshi City should recognize the many new talents when the Heavenly Prodigy Ranking had limited places.
• Chen Xiaojun suggested establishing a supplementary Heavenly Prodigy Ranking.

Chen Xiaojun proposed new rankings and tournament publications to expand Tianshi City’s influence. Zhou Tianshu embraced the plan and committed the city to preparing the projects before the tournament ended in August.

• Chen Xiaojun suggested a supplementary ranking for gifted young heroes who lacked a place on the main Heavenly Prodigy Ranking.
• Chen Xiaojun proposed dividing the rankings by Soul Master specialty and creating attention-grabbing features such as the Twelve Golden Hairpins, Arms Compendium, Divine Beast Portraits, and Plant World.
• Chen Xiaojun urged Tianshi City to publish tournament predictions and analysis as a series of professional special issues.
• Zhou Tianshu praised the proposals, planned dedicated publishing teams, and said Tianshi City would begin preparing the projects immediately.

Chen Xiaojun asked Zhou Tianshu why Fasinuo Province seemed to have more soul masters than the commonly cited awakening rate could explain. Zhou revealed that the continent’s population was far higher than old estimates and that Tianshi City’s research showed the soul power awakening rate had recently risen to 1.5 per thousand.

• Chen Xiaojun questioned Zhou Tianshu about the mismatch between Fasinuo Province’s expected number of soul power awakenings and the number of students entering its academies.
• Zhou Tianshu explained that old population figures were unreliable because unregistered people, hidden troops, displaced people, and criminal groups escaped official counts.
• Zhou Tianshu said Tianshi City estimated the continent’s current population at over two billion, possibly more than 2.2 billion, meaning around thirty million people awakened martial souls each year.
• Chen Xiaojun calculated that about fifteen hundred people in Fasinuo Province should awaken soul power annually based on the larger population estimate.
• Zhou Tianshu revealed that Tianshi City’s research put the awakening rate at 1.5 per thousand, up from 1.0 per thousand a thousand years earlier and 1.3 per thousand a century ago.

Chen Xiaojun learned that Soul Power awakenings were far more numerous than he had estimated and that the rate had risen sharply over the past dozen years. Zhou Tianshu linked the increase to population growth and explained that growing Soul Beast populations and shrinking living space could drive Beast Tides.

• Chen Xiaojun revised his estimates after Zhou Tianshu said about 4,000 people awakened Soul Power in Fasinuo Province and 60,000 to 70,000 across the continent each year.
• Zhou Tianshu said Soul Power awakenings had increased significantly over the past dozen years and that Tianshi City believed the rise was connected to the era's many outstanding prodigies.
• Chen Xiaojun asked what had caused the increase, and Zhou Tianshu speculated that population growth was involved, citing the spread of high-yield crops after a year of mysterious vitality a thousand years earlier.
• Zhou Tianshu explained that Soul Beast populations had grown along with humanity's, while their territory had not expanded, worsening their living conditions.
• Chen Xiaojun concluded that Beast Tides were driven in part by Soul Beasts' struggle for territory, and Zhou Tianshu agreed that they used the tides to reduce excess numbers or seize land.

Chen Xiaojun and Zhou Tianshu discussed how a thousand-year surge in vitality may have transformed the continent and increased martial soul awakenings, prompting Chen Xiaojun to suspect the world was ascending to a higher dimension. Zhou Tianshu then revealed that the competition format had changed after disputes over academy placements.

• Chen Xiaojun asked whether the ancient surge of vitality had changed the continent and strengthened humans, soul beasts, and other races, and Zhou Tianshu agreed.
• Zhou Tianshu proposed that lingering vitality had stimulated human martial souls and bloodlines while increasing the quantity and quality of spirit medicines and mineral deposits.
• Chen Xiaojun connected these changes to a possible dimensional ascension and wondered what further effects it might bring.
• When Zhou Tianshu asked what he was thinking about, Chen Xiaojun claimed he was considering how to advance through the semifinals.
• Zhou Tianshu told Chen Xiaojun that Soul Fighting Academy would not face his academy before the finals because the competition format had changed amid disputes over regional places.

Zhou Tianshu told Chen Xiaojun that the finals had expanded to forty teams and explained how the new slots and invitation would be assigned. The Heaven Dou Empire invited Sea God Island, while the tournament organizers planned to cancel the ranking tournament and use a round-robin format to determine the final standings.

• Zhou Tianshu told Chen Xiaojun that the finals would expand to forty teams, with two slots for the Three Rivers Basin and additional slots for the empires.
• Zhou Tianshu explained that the final slot was an invitation chosen by the Heaven Dou Empire, which had invited Sea God Island.
• Chen Xiaojun reflected on the Chen Clan's role in establishing Sea God Academy and felt guilty when he thought of Xixi.
• Zhou Tianshu said the Heaven Dou Empire had canceled the ranking tournament after the semifinals and planned to use a round-robin tournament to decide the final results and rankings.

Chen Xiaojun received a letter from the Sea God Island Saintess while Xiao Yi delivered letters and a pouch for Ou Ya’s daughter, Xixi. After Xiao Yi vanished using her refined movement skills, Chen Xiaojun and Ou Ya discussed the breathing techniques’ unexplained potential, leaving Chen Xiaojun determined to ask his supposed master about their hidden secrets.

• Chen Xiaojun met Ou Ya in the courtyard and asked whether Sea God Academy had been invited to the Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament.
• Ou Ya gave Chen Xiaojun a letter from the Sea God Island Saintess.
• Xiao Yi appeared and gave Ou Ya a sealed letter and embroidered pouch for Xixi, then disappeared into the mist.
• Chen Xiaojun explained that Xiao Yi’s movement skills and Mist Breathing had reached exceptional levels.
• Ou Ya told Chen Xiaojun that Water Breathing and Wind Breathing still felt incomplete, and Chen Xiaojun said he would ask his master about their secrets.

Chen Xiaojun visited Xiao Yi to ask about the Breathing Technique after realizing its users still felt constrained despite its power. Their discussion led him to suspect that none of them had reached the technique’s true physical limits, leaving him to consider whether that was the source of the restraint.

• Chen Xiaojun reflected on the Breathing Technique’s power and decided to ask Xiao Yi about his sense that it had untapped potential.
• Chen Xiaojun found Xiao Yi reading his unfinished story, "Domineering Holy Maiden Falls in Love with Me," and she praised several lines from it.
• Chen Xiaojun asked Xiao Yi about her letter to Xixi and the cloth pouch, but Xiao Yi dismissed them as ordinary exchanges between old friends.
• Chen Xiaojun asked whether Xiao Yi felt restrained while practicing the Radiant Clouds Breathing Technique, and she said she did.
• Xiao Yi explained that she sensed the technique had a limit she had not reached, and Chen Xiaojun realized none of its current practitioners had reached their physical limits.