Chapter Summaries

Xu Cheng used kindness toward slum children to show a Holy Spirit Cult member how charity could win commoners' support and weaken the nobility's influence. After reaching level 30, he recalled his origins and plans to oppose Tang, then prepared to act before Tang Ya's family and the Tang Sect suffered a calamity that night.

• Xu Cheng returned a kitten to a little girl, and a black-robed Holy Spirit Cult member questioned why the cult was doing good deeds.
• Xu Cheng explained that the children's gratitude could make commoners distrust noble accusations against the Holy Spirit Cult and help the cult gain popular support.
• The black-robed man recognized Xu Cheng's strategy, while Xu Cheng received a system reward that raised him to level 30 Soul Elder.
• Xu Cheng recalled that he was the Sun Moon Emperor's eleventh son, had joined the Holy Spirit Cult after awakening [Blood Eyes], and planned to oppose Tang.
• Xu Cheng noted that Tang Ya would face a major upheaval that night and decided to lay the groundwork in advance.

Xu Cheng and Wu Yun traveled to Heaven Dou City, where the Tang Sect was under attack by the Iron Blood Sect and its allies. As Tang Ce and his daughter faced the besieging City Defense Army, Xu Cheng watched from hiding, leaving the Tang Sect's fate unresolved.

• Xu Cheng read an article praising Xiao Hongchen and prepared for his first day at the academy.
• Xu Cheng summoned Wu Yun and asked him to take him to the Heaven Dou Empire Ruins to deal with something.
• Xu Cheng and Wu Yun reached Heaven Dou City and discovered that the Tang Sect was being attacked.
• Xu Cheng and Wu Yun concealed their auras and watched as Tang Ce escaped the shattered gate with his daughter.
• Tie Li revealed that the Iron Blood Sect had arranged for the City Defense Army to surround Tang Ce and his daughter.
• Tang Ce told his daughter to escape to Shrek Academy and preserve the Tang Sect's legacy.

Xu Cheng stopped the Iron Blood Sect from killing Tang Ya and recruited her into the Holy Spirit Cult by offering revenge. As Tang Ya’s grief turned to murderous power, approaching Soul Douluo-level figures arrived in Heaven Dou City.

• Tang Ce sent Tang Ya fleeing while he stayed behind to fight the Iron Blood Sect, using Peacock Plume to injure Tie Li and kill many pursuers.
• Tie Tang struck Tang Ya and sent her crashing into a wall, but Xu Cheng froze the attackers before they could kill her.
• Xu Cheng offered Tang Ya a chance to join the Holy Spirit Cult and take revenge, and she accepted.
• Under Wu Yun’s suppression, Tang Ya’s Blue Silver Grass killed the helpless attackers as her Soul Power surged from about level eleven to level twenty.
• Xu Cheng and Wu Yun noticed several powerful figures approaching Heaven Dou City, and a Soul Douluo announced their arrival.

Xu Cheng and Wu Yun helped Tang Ya awaken her power, and she slaughtered the Iron Blood Sect before collapsing. After Xu Cheng restored her, he took her to the Star Dou Great Forest, where he absorbed a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring and decided Tang Ya would stay with him while he tried to reform the Holy Spirit Cult.

• Wu Yun's Super Douluo aura drove away Heaven Dou's rulers, and Xu Cheng told Tang Ya to kill Tie Li after he pleaded for mercy.
• Tang Ya's awakened power overwhelmed the Iron Blood Sect, and she collapsed after killing its members and finding her parents dead.
• Xu Cheng carried Tang Ya away, gave her a Dragon Whisker Pill to stabilize her, and set out with Wu Yun to hunt soul beasts.
• At a camp outside the Star Dou Great Forest, Xu Cheng absorbed a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring in less than half an hour.
• Xu Cheng said Tang Ya would stay with him and explained that he wanted to keep her away from the Holy Spirit Cult until it had changed.

Xu Cheng revealed that he belonged to the Holy Spirit Cult and offered Tang Ya a choice between forced brainwashing at its headquarters and working for him for five years in exchange for her freedom. The chapter ended with Tang Ya facing that decision.

• Xu Cheng inspected his Soul Tool Analysis reward while pretending to sleep beside the campfire.
• Xu Cheng told Tang Ya that he had saved her and clarified that Tie Li, not he, had arranged her family's downfall.
• Tang Ya learned that Xu Cheng belonged to the Holy Spirit Cult and tried to flee, but Xu Cheng stopped her at the edge of an abyss.
• Xu Cheng offered Tang Ya two choices: be brainwashed at the Holy Spirit Cult's headquarters or work for him for five years without losing her consciousness.

Xu Cheng forced Tang Ya to accept joining the Holy Spirit Cult, then arranged her second Soul Ring while challenging her beliefs about Tang San and Spirit Hall. Tang Ya was left shaken by his arguments and his claim that the Holy Spirit Cult revered Tang San as its founding patriarch.

• Xu Cheng trapped Tang Ya in an illusion, persuaded her to join him, and gave her roasted meat before she chose to focus on surviving.
• Xu Cheng discussed options for Tang Ya’s second Soul Ring, and Wu Yun sent out his crow clones to search for suitable Soul Beasts.
• Xu Cheng said Tang San had used a similar Soul Ring combination, prompting Tang Ya to protest that her ancestor was not an Evil Soul Master.
• Xu Cheng questioned Tang Ya about Tang San’s killings in Slaughter City and the destruction of Spirit Hall, leaving her unable to defend what she had been taught.
• Xu Cheng told Tang Ya that the Holy Spirit Cult revered Tang San as its founding patriarch.

Xu Cheng provoked Tang Ya into overcoming her despair and absorbing a powerful Soul Ring, while Jing Hongchen arranged for Xu Cheng to share a dorm room with his grandson. The chapter left Tang Ya absorbing the ring under guard and Jing Hongchen considering Xu Cheng’s political importance.

• Wu Yun returned with an unconscious Mandala Snake, and Xu Cheng explained that he and Tang Ya had debated whether Tang San was an Evil Soul Master.
• Xu Cheng’s teasing drove Tang Ya to tears, but he challenged her to pursue the truth and prove herself worthy of restoring the Tang Sect.
• Tang Ya killed the Mandala Snake and began absorbing its pale purple Soul Ring while Wu Yun stood guard.
• At Mingde Hall, Jing Hongchen learned that Xu Cheng was enrolling and ordered Lin Jiayi to assign him to his grandson’s dorm room.
• Jing Hongchen reflected that Xu Cheng’s influence in the Holy Spirit Cult made him difficult for any future emperor to oppose.

Xu Cheng and Tang Ya enrolled in the Sun Moon Imperial Academy, where Xu Cheng joined the Soul Tool Department’s new Class One and met Xiao Hongchen. The chapter leaves Xu Cheng and his classmates heading to the laboratories for their first practical lesson.

• Xu Cheng and Tang Ya entered Mingdu, and a black-robed man confirmed their academy registrations and examination requirements.
• Xu Cheng and Tang Ya passed the academy’s identity checks and soul power tests, then went to their respective departments.
• Xu Cheng entered new Class One, where Xiao Hongchen introduced him as the Sun Moon Imperial Family’s eleventh prince.
• Lin Jiayi introduced himself as the class’s homeroom teacher and tested the students on soul tools and core arrays.
• Lin Jiayi sent the class to the laboratory building, while Xiao Hongchen offered to teach Xu Cheng to reproduce a Level 1 core array.

Lin Jiayi introduced Class One to Soul Tool construction, and Xiao Hongchen offered to teach Xu Cheng how to replicate a Level 1 core formation. Xu Cheng analyzed and copied it with astonishing speed, leaving Xiao Hongchen unable to find any flaws.

• Lin Jiayi led Class One into Experimental Stations 14 and 15 and explained Soul Tool core formations, circuits, and casings.
• Xiao Hongchen told Xu Cheng that his grandfather had made him follow the regular curriculum despite his Level 3 Soul Engineer ability.
• Xiao Hongchen gave Xu Cheng a Level 1 core formation to analyze and teach him how to replicate.
• Xu Cheng used his mastery-level skill to analyze the core formation in a few dozen seconds.
• Xu Cheng replicated the formation while Xiao Hongchen fell asleep, and Xiao Hongchen woke to find no obvious flaws in the result.

Xu Cheng impressed Xiao Hongchen by replicating and completing a soul tool, then revealed his Blood Eyes martial soul while testing his marksmanship. At lunch, he met Meng Hongchen, who showed interest in him, as Xu Cheng considered how to keep her from siding with his rivals.

• Xu Cheng replicated a Level 1 core formation and finished a Soul Guidance Ray while Xiao Hongchen questioned his skill.
• Xu Cheng hit a moving target between the brows at the shooting range and told Xiao Hongchen that his twin martial souls included Blood Eyes.
• Xu Cheng and Xiao Hongchen went to the cafeteria, where they met Meng Hongchen and her roommate Tang Ya.
• Meng Hongchen asked Xu Cheng about his eyes, and he confirmed that Blood Eyes was his martial soul.
• Xu Cheng welcomed Meng Hongchen's interest as he weighed the threat posed by his brothers Xu Jiran and Xu Tianran.

Xu Cheng considered how advanced soul-tool guidance could give the Sun Moon Empire a way to strike Shrek Academy, then attended a history class with Xiao Hongchen. After Xiao stumbled through the teacher’s question about the empire’s historic defeat, Xu Cheng stood to give his own answer and make an impression on the renowned Level 9 Soul Engineer.

• Xu Cheng declined Meng Hongchen’s invitation to a welcome party and focused on studying soul tools and imagining long-range missile guidance.
• Xu Cheng and Xiao Hongchen headed to history class, where Xiao complained that Xu had analyzed a soul-tool core formation far faster than he could.
• The history teacher recounted how Shrek’s dean and more than sixty Titled Douluos had turned the war around, forcing the Sun Moon Empire to accept defeat and humiliating treaties.
• Xiao Hongchen vowed to destroy Shrek Academy with Level 9 Fixed Soul Guidance Cannons, while Xu Cheng said revenge could come at the next Continental Academy Soul Master Tournament.
• When the teacher asked Xiao to discuss the empire’s defeat, Xu Cheng secretly supplied him with the question, then watched him give a vague answer.
• The teacher called on Xu Cheng next, and Xu stood, intending to impress the Level 9 Soul Engineer.

Xu Cheng impressed Cheng Baiqing and the students of New Class One by proposing new directions for Sun Moon Empire soul-tool development, including humanoid mechas, long-range missile guidance, and information warfare. The class ended with Xiao Hongchen demanding to know how Xu Cheng had developed such advanced ideas, while Cheng Baiqing became keenly interested in him.

• Xu Cheng explained that the Sun Moon Empire had lost its ancient war because its soul tools lagged behind elite combat power and faced too little pressure to develop quickly.
• When Cheng Baiqing asked for original ideas, Xu Cheng proposed wearable exoskeletons and humanoid mechas that could let low-level Soul Masters pilot powerful equipment.
• Xu Cheng argued that long-range attacks needed reliable guidance and that reconnaissance, radar, and other information systems could determine the outcome of battles.
• The bell ended the class, and Cheng Baiqing concluded that Xu Cheng’s mecha theory was his own and that his other ideas merited further research.
• The students admired Xu Cheng, while Xiao Hongchen threatened to end their friendship if Xu Cheng claimed he had only just started learning about soul tools.

Xu Cheng visited the Experimental Area with Xiao Hongchen and began learning to make basic Level 1 Soul Tools, using his Analysis ability to quickly understand and produce them. After working late, he was joined by Nana, the girl he had rescued years earlier after the Holy Spirit Cult took her parents’ souls.

• Xiao Hongchen took Xu Cheng to the second-floor laboratories and gave him several basic Level 1 Soul Tool cores to study.
• Xu Cheng analyzed the cores, learned how melee and ranged Soul Tools differed, and made several Level 1 Soul Tools himself.
• Xu Cheng concluded that studying the tools further would not help him uncover Tracking and Positioning Technology yet.
• Nana appeared beside Xu Cheng and tidied the laboratory while he worked.
• Xu Cheng recalled rescuing Nana after her parents died and releasing their souls.

Xu Cheng helped Nana settle into the academy and promised to accompany her to visit her parents’ graves, while continuing his rapid Soul Tool research until his spiritual power stalled. The chapter ended when Meng Hongchen asked him to repair her broken Soul Tool.

• Nana told Xu Cheng she had reached rank twenty-seven and earned a Level 3 Soul Engineer certificate, then walked with him back toward the dorms.
• Xu Cheng asked about Nana’s classmates, and she mentioned Meng Hongchen and Tang Ya; he urged her to treat Tang Ya kindly because she was the last survivor of her sect.
• Nana asked Xu Cheng to accompany her to her parents’ graves in two months, and he agreed.
• Xu Cheng reproduced many Level 2 Soul Tools and a few Level 3 ones, but his spiritual power reached a bottleneck that kept him from testing higher-level designs.
• Xiao Hongchen found Xu Cheng brooding on the sports field, and Meng Hongchen interrupted to ask Xu Cheng to repair her broken close-combat Soul Tool.

Xu Cheng examined Meng Hongchen’s damaged dagger and learned it was a Level 7 Adaptive Soul Tool, but he offered to try repairing it before joining her and Xiao Hongchen at the Sun Moon Auction House. As the auction began, Xu Cheng considered using the Light-Guiding Screen to spread films and shape public opinion.

• Meng Hongchen asked Xu Cheng to repair her dagger, and he discovered its anti-detection measures were far beyond those of a Level 3 Soul Tool.
• Xiao Hongchen revealed that the dagger was a Level 7 Adaptive Soul Tool, and Xu Cheng said he would try to fix it.
• Xiao Hongchen invited Xu Cheng and Meng Hongchen to the Sun Moon Auction House, and the three traveled to Mingdu.
• Xu Cheng saw the Light-Guiding Screen in their private room and considered making films to influence people and expose God King Tang.
• The attendant announced the auction’s start, and an elderly man appeared on the screen.

Xu Cheng failed to buy an Evil Eye Tyrant Head Soul Bone at auction and realized his lack of money and political backing left him constrained. After Nana offered to share his burdens, he remembered Ju Zi’s impending orphaning and recognized her as a potential ally with exceptional military and administrative talent.

• Xu Cheng passed on a Level 7 Star Luo Formation because it cost two million Gold Soul Coins and he lacked the money.
• Xu Cheng wanted the sixty-thousand-year Evil Eye Tyrant Head Soul Bone, but Xiao Hongchen’s bids could not keep up with the rising price, and a mysterious guest bought it for nine million five hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.
• Xu Cheng returned to the Experimental Area and concluded he needed the public support of a powerful Sun Moon Empire figure, while avoiding actions that could worsen the succession struggle.
• Nana comforted Xu Cheng and offered to share his burdens, prompting him to recall that Ju Zi would soon become an orphan and to consider her talents.

Xu Cheng sent a letter to Huo Qing and worked to analyze Meng Hongchen’s Level 7 Soul Tool, hoping to earn the backing of powerful figures at Mingde Hall. Jing Hongchen and Elder Cheng revealed that they had accidentally made the Soul Tool far harder to repair than intended, leaving Xu Cheng to face what amounted to rebuilding it from scratch.

• Xu Cheng sent An Yin to deliver a letter to Huo Qing, asking her to watch for Ju Zi.
• Xu Cheng began analyzing Meng Hongchen’s Level 7 Soul Tool to demonstrate his talent and gain an influential patron.
• Xu Cheng completed his analysis but found the Soul Tool’s complex core far beyond anything he had studied, and he continued researching day and night.
• Elder Cheng admitted to Jing Hongchen that he had accidentally damaged the connection between the Soul Tool’s levels, making a complete rebuild necessary.
• Jing Hongchen and Elder Cheng agreed to observe Xu Cheng’s progress and use the academy’s end-of-term assessment as another chance to assess him.

Xu Cheng spent a month studying and reforging Meng Hongchen’s short dagger, successfully testing it before exhaustion sent him back to the dorm. After waking, he learned from Xiao Hongchen that the final assessment would take place that afternoon.

• Xiao Hongchen found Xu Cheng immersed in advanced Soul Tool books and chose not to discourage him or tell Meng Hongchen about his efforts.
• Xu Cheng completed the dagger’s core and assembly, then tested the repaired Soul Tool and left a deep gouge in an iron target.
• Xu Cheng returned to the dorm at dawn and fell asleep, while Xiao Hongchen mistook the dagger on the desk for proof that Xu Cheng had given up and took it to Meng Hongchen.
• Xu Cheng woke around noon feeling pleased with his work, and Xiao Hongchen told him the final assessment was that afternoon.

Jing Hongchen discovered that Xu Cheng had repaired Meng’s dagger after a month of research, and its power accidentally triggered alarms throughout Mingde Hall. Jing Hongchen and Cheng Baiqing realized Xu Cheng had achieved what they thought impossible, leaving Jing Hongchen eager to take him as a disciple.

• Jing Hongchen reviewed Xu Cheng’s borrowed books and experiments and realized he had found the right approach to repairing the dagger’s soul power seal.
• Jing Hongchen tested the dagger, which functioned at Level 7 and cut through two metal pillars, triggering alarms across Mingde Hall.
• Lin Jiayi rushed in with a group, and Jing Hongchen told him to call the incident an accident and dismiss everyone.
• Cheng Baiqing examined the dagger’s modified core array, and Jing Hongchen concluded that Xu Cheng had repaired it himself.
• Jing Hongchen and Cheng Baiqing marveled that Xu Cheng had fixed the dagger in a month, and Jing Hongchen considered taking him as a disciple.

Cheng Baiqing claimed Xu Cheng as his first and last disciple, while Jing Hongchen accepted that he could not challenge him. At the academy’s freshman assessment, Xu Cheng dismissed Wang Shaojie’s insult as the students prepared to draw lots for individual matches.

• Cheng Baiqing declared that Xu Cheng would be his disciple, and Jing Hongchen readily yielded to him.
• Jing Hongchen considered Cheng Baiqing’s influence and realized his recognition of Xu Cheng could intensify the imperial succession struggle.
• At the packed Soul Tool testing arena, Meng Hongchen focused on Xu Cheng while Xiao Hongchen tried to discuss which students counted as geniuses.
• Wang Shaojie insulted Xu Cheng, but Xu Cheng caught Meng Hongchen’s wrist and called Wang a dog, prompting Xiao Hongchen to order Wang away.
• Lin Jiayi announced that the freshman assessment’s first round would be an individual competition and called the students to draw lots for opponents.