Chapter Summaries

Xu Cheng drew Wang Shaojie as his opponent in the assessment, where Wang threatened revenge after Xiao Hongchen frightened him with a Soul Tool. As the competition began, Xiao Hongchen swiftly defeated Huang Hao and drew cheers from the crowd.

• Xu Cheng drew number seventeen and learned that Wang Shaojie would be his assessment opponent.
• Wang Shaojie mocked Xu Cheng, and Xiao Hongchen threatened him with a Level 3 Fixed-Installation Soul Guidance cannon before leaving with Xu Cheng.
• Wang Shaojie admitted to himself that fear had left him unable to move and blamed Xu Cheng for his humiliation.
• The first twenty candidates entered their assessment areas, where Xiao Hongchen faced Huang Hao.
• Xiao Hongchen defeated Huang Hao in two moves, earning applause and cheers from the spectators.

Xu Cheng killed Wang Shaojie during their assessment match after Wang insulted Xu Cheng’s mother and attacked him. Jing Hongchen declared Wang’s actions deserving of death, while Xu Cheng noticed Elder Cheng’s newly warm regard for him.

• Jing Hongchen worried that Xiao Hongchen might resent Xu Cheng, but Elder Cheng said Xiao was proud rather than foolish.
• Wang Shaojie insulted Xu Cheng’s deceased mother and challenged him to a fight, prompting Xu Cheng to decide he would die.
• Wang Shaojie charged with a sword, but Xu Cheng used Crimson Moon Mist to trap him in an illusion and cut his throat with a Soul Guidance Ray.
• Wang Shaojie died while believing he had killed Xu Cheng, and Xu Cheng calmly asked the teacher to announce the winner.
• Lin Jiayi announced Xu Cheng’s victory, and Jing Hongchen said Wang Shaojie had deserved death for insulting the late imperial consort and attacking a fellow student.

After defeating Wang Shaojie, Xu Cheng received support from his classmates and watched Nana and the others win their first assessment matches. Elder Cheng then took Xu Cheng to a confidential room in Mingde Hall, tested his knowledge of soul tools, and asked him to become his disciple.

• Wang Shaojie's death led the crowd to realize he had provoked Xu Cheng as a pawn in the struggle for the throne, while Xu Cheng's classmates gathered to comfort him.
• Nana won her assessment match, and Meng Hongchen grew jealous of how close Nana seemed to Xu Cheng.
• Nana, Tang Ya, Meng Hongchen, Xiao Hongchen, and Xu Cheng set off to celebrate their wins, but Elder Cheng stopped Xu Cheng at the school gates and took him away.
• At Mingde Hall, Elder Cheng asked Xu Cheng about the soul tool he had repaired and tested his knowledge of its core array.
• After Xu Cheng gave a detailed answer, Elder Cheng praised him and asked him to become his disciple.

Xu Cheng became Cheng Baiqing’s final disciple and received the sixty-thousand-year Evil Eye Tyrant skull he had once seen at auction. He absorbed the Soul Bone by overpowering its remnant soul with Crimson Moon Eye, expanding his Sea of Consciousness as Cheng Baiqing watched in astonishment.

• Cheng Baiqing accepted Xu Cheng as his disciple and gave him the sixty-thousand-year Evil Eye Tyrant skull.
• Xu Cheng assured Cheng Baiqing that he could control the Holy Spirit Cult, and Cheng Baiqing pledged his support in the imperial succession struggle.
• Cheng Baiqing stood guard as Xu Cheng began absorbing the Soul Bone, while the Evil Eye Tyrant’s resistance alarmed him.
• Xu Cheng used Crimson Moon Eye to burn away the Evil Eye Tyrant’s remnant soul in his Sea of Consciousness.
• Xu Cheng’s Sea of Consciousness expanded, and Cheng Baiqing realized that Xu Cheng had subdued the remnant soul.

After Elder Cheng accepted Xu Cheng as his disciple, Xu Cheng discovered that his new soul bone skill, Neural Prediction, greatly enhanced his ability to track and anticipate movement. He entered the second elimination round ready to test it against Feng Ying, while Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen learned that Xu Cheng had already repaired the Level 7 Soul Tool dagger.

• Elder Cheng told Xu Cheng to wash up and go to the competition after a night of cultivation.
• Xu Cheng tested Neural Prediction and found that it expanded and sharpened his perception, letting him anticipate movements across a wide area.
• Xiao Hongchen congratulated Xu Cheng on becoming Elder Cheng's disciple, then learned that Xu Cheng had completed the dagger repair test.
• Xiao Hongchen told Meng Hongchen that Xu Cheng had repaired her short dagger before she gave it to their grandfather, leaving her stunned.
• Lin Jiayi began the second round of elimination matches, and Xu Cheng faced Feng Ying, an agility-type soul engineer with an Azure Luan Bird martial soul.

Xu Cheng used his Neural Prediction skill and ranged soul tools to defeat Feng Ying without being touched, impressing the audience and Jing Hongchen. Afterward, Xu Cheng spotted Tang Ya fighting a strikingly handsome swordsman whose strength concealed a strange flaw.

• Xu Cheng activated Neural Prediction and countered Feng Ying's Flash Strike with a Class 2 ranged soul cannon, sending him flying.
• Feng Ying repeatedly attacked but could not reach Xu Cheng, then conceded and vowed to catch up with him.
• Elder Cheng told Jing Hongchen that he had given Xu Cheng the Evil Eye Tyrant Skull, which had granted him Neural Prediction.
• Xu Cheng told Xiao Hongchen about the skull and its skill, and Nana pointed out assessment area eleven.
• Xu Cheng saw Tang Ya fighting a handsome young swordsman, noticed a strange flaw in him, and blurted out a name.

Xu Cheng watched Tang Ya defeat Ji Juechen, learned about Shi Xing’s ranking handbooks, and considered recruiting him for a future intelligence bureau. After seven days of assessments, Xu Cheng and Xiao Hongchen faced off for the Freshman Champion title, while Ji Juechen and the spectators wondered how the mysterious Xu Cheng would fight.

• Tang Ya defeated Ji Juechen with her dark Blue Silver Grass, and Xu Cheng recognized Ji Juechen’s potential despite his current lack of soul power.
• Xiao Hongchen showed Xu Cheng Shi Xing’s rankings of the students, placing Xu Cheng second among the boys, and Xu Cheng took an interest in Shi Xing’s intelligence-gathering skills.
• After seven days of assessments, Xu Cheng and Xiao Hongchen became the last two contestants, with the final match set to decide the Freshman Champion.
• Shi Xing gathered bets on the match, while Ji Juechen recalled Xu Cheng’s advice about balancing soul power and spiritual power and watched with renewed curiosity.
• Elder Cheng told Jing Hongchen that Xu Cheng and Xiao Hongchen would likely be evenly matched if Xiao Hongchen avoided close contact and did not fall into a trap.

Xu Cheng and Xiao Hongchen began their final assessment match by unleashing nearly a hundred Soul Tools each. Xu Cheng revealed that his Drones could operate with reduced spiritual-power demands through programmed core formations, then opened fire on Xiao Hongchen.

• Xiao Hongchen summoned nearly a hundred metal cannon barrels and used his Soul Skills to control and power them.
• Xiao Hongchen blanketed the arena with cannon fire, but Xu Cheng emerged from the smoke unharmed.
• Xu Cheng revealed nearly a hundred Drones carrying Level 3 High-Explosive Soul Cannons, astonishing the spectators and Jing Hongchen.
• Xu Cheng explained that he had programmed Soul Tool core formations to automate operations and reduce spiritual-power consumption.
• Xu Cheng pointed at Xiao Hongchen and fired, shaking the assessment grounds with thunderous blasts.

Xu Cheng defeated Xiao Hongchen in the arena, then shared the secret behind his technique and reconciled with him. Jing Hongchen awarded the assessment’s top students powerful soul tools, while Meng Hongchen’s kindness strengthened Tang Ya’s attachment to the Sun Moon Imperial Academy.

• Xu Cheng overwhelmed Xiao Hongchen, who used his Invincible Shield, and the two left the stage together as friends.
• Xu Cheng promised to explain his technique to Xiao Hongchen, who wondered whether learning it might let him surpass Xu Cheng.
• Jing Hongchen began presenting prizes to the top students, giving Ji Juechen the adaptive Level 7 Spirit Sword and Nana the adaptive Level 7 Nether Daggers.
• Meng Hongchen reassured Tang Ya by holding her hand, and Jing Hongchen awarded Tang Ya the Level 7 Invincible Golden Body Shield.

After the semester ended, Xu Cheng received Jing Hongchen’s Level 9 Red Dust Protection and a valuable Level 7 Core Array, then left Sun Moon Imperial Academy with Nana. As they traveled to visit Nana’s parents and head for the border in search of Ju Zi, Nana offered him a lap pillow.

• Jing Hongchen gave Xu Cheng Red Dust Protection and a Level 7 Core Array, while Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen received Level 8 Soul Tools.
• Meng Hongchen offered to ask Jing Hongchen for another reward, and Xu Cheng revealed that he had also received Red Dust Protection.
• After the semester ended, Xu Cheng and Nana left the academy in a soul-powered car with a black-robed driver.
• Xu Cheng explained that he had analyzed the Core Array and identified it as a core for mass-producible humanoid mechs.
• Nana offered Xu Cheng a lap pillow, and he rested his head on her thighs and fell asleep.

Nana visited her parents’ graves with Xu Cheng, while Tang Ya left for Shrek Academy to fulfill her father’s wish and revive the Tang Sect. Tang Ya reached the Tang Sect and found its gates sealed, leaving her hopes shattered.

• Nana paid her respects at her parents’ graves, and Xu Cheng comforted her as she grieved.
• Nana teased Xu Cheng on their ride back, then asked about Tang Ya, whom he had allowed to leave under Wu Yun’s protection.
• Tang Ya traveled toward the Star Dou Great Forest, resolving to go to Shrek Academy despite missing her friends in the Sun Moon Empire.
• Tang Ya entered the city and walked through the familiar streets toward the Tang Sect.
• Tang Ya arrived at the Tang Sect and saw sealing strips across its vermilion gates.

Tang Ya struggled to control her murderous urges as she traveled to Shrek City to enroll at Shrek Academy, while Wu Yun dealt with the aftermath of the City Defense Army massacre. At the academy entrance, a student accused Tang Ya of being an Evil Soul Master spy, pushing her close to losing control.

• Tang Ya suppressed her bloodlust and hurried away without anyone noticing.
• Wu Yun killed the City Defense Army soldiers in a teahouse, paid the owner one Gold Soul Coin for two bowls of tea, and left as a flock of crows.
• Tang Ya reached Shrek City and went to Shrek Academy to enroll, explaining that the Tang Sect's destruction had delayed her arrival.
• Bei Bei welcomed Tang Ya and felt eager to help her, but another student accused her of surviving the Tang Sect's destruction by joining the Evil Soul Masters.
• Tang Ya angrily denied the accusation and struggled to contain her violent urges.

Tang Ya fought Shrek Academy students after they accused her of being an Evil Soul Master, but Dean Yan Shaozhe stopped her and offered to forgive her only if she joined the academy. Tang Ya rejected his offer and condemned Shrek Academy as hypocrites who had ignored the Tang Sect’s destruction and supported the nobles’ oppression.

• Tang Ya used her dark blue silver grass to drain Wang Heng’s life force and trap a student with the White Bird martial soul.
• Bei Bei used his Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon powers to break Tang Ya’s vines and rescue his teammates while Zhang Lei’s group stalled her.
• Dean Yan Shaozhe arrived and subdued Tang Ya, then privately offered to forgive her if she joined Shrek Academy.
• Tang Ya accused Shrek Academy of valuing her talent while ignoring the Tang Sect’s destruction, and called its members Evil Soul Masters.
• Tang Ya recalled Xu Cheng’s question about whether Shrek counted as an Evil Soul Master and challenged the academy’s role in sustaining noble oppression.

Yan Shaozhe tried to kill Tang Ya after she condemned Shrek Academy, but Zhang Peng and Crow intervened and revealed her as the Holy Spirit Cult's Saintess. Xu Cheng learned his plan had succeeded and told Nana they would go to the front lines once Tang Ya arrived and received a dose of strong medicine.

• Tang Ya accused Yan Shaozhe and Shrek Academy of hypocrisy, and Yan Shaozhe summoned a soul-power hand to kill her.
• Bei Bei stepped in to protect Tang Ya, but Yan Shaozhe ordered him to stay out of it.
• Zhang Peng shattered the attack and Crow spirited Tang Ya away, while Zhang Peng revealed she was the Holy Spirit Cult's Saintess.
• Yan Shaozhe ordered everyone to keep the incident secret and left to discuss the Holy Spirit Cult with Mu En.
• Xu Cheng received a message confirming the plan had worked, then told Nana they would head to the front lines after Tang Ya arrived and received strong medicine.

Mu En blamed Shrek Academy’s arrogance and inaction for Tang Ya’s turn toward the Holy Spirit Cult, while Tang Ya woke at one of the cult’s branches and accused Xu Cheng of engineering her conflict with Shrek. The chapter left Xu Cheng showing her the branch’s work educating commoners as Tang Ya dismissed it as a shabby display.

• Yan Shaozhe reported to Mu En that he had driven Tang Ya away, and Mu En said Shrek’s inaction and arrogance had pushed her toward the Holy Spirit Cult.
• Mu En suspected Tang Ya’s visit to Shrek had been an overt scheme and warned Yan Shaozhe that questioning the gate guards would change nothing.
• Tang Ya woke in a small house and recognized Nana, who invited her to follow.
• Tang Ya discovered she was in a Holy Spirit Cult branch where farmers worked the fields and children learned about martial souls and soul power.
• Tang Ya accused Xu Cheng of letting her provoke Shrek so she would sever ties with the academy and expose her identity.
• Xu Cheng described a former Sun Moon Imperial Academy student who taught commoners and awakened their martial souls for free, but Tang Ya mocked the branch as a shabby show.

Xu Cheng challenged Tang Ya’s view of the Holy Spirit Cult by comparing its work for commoners to Spirit Hall’s past, leaving her stunned and questioning her beliefs. He then reached a military camp with Nana and Wu Yun to seek Huo Qing, but learned she would return in about an hour.

• Xu Cheng told Tang Ya that the Holy Spirit Cult ran free martial-soul awakening classrooms and compared its efforts with Spirit Hall’s support for Tang San, leaving Tang Ya unable to defend her ancestor or her old beliefs.
• Xu Cheng invited Tang Ya to stay in the village until classes began and said she could choose whether to remain.
• Nana admitted she was jealous of Xu Cheng’s attention to Tang Ya, while Wu Yun complained during their journey on the giant crow.
• Xu Cheng, Nana, and Wu Yun reached a camp guarded by the all-female Fire Phoenix Soul Engineer Corps, whose guards surrounded them.
• Xu Cheng introduced himself and asked to see Huo Qing; the leading woman said Huo Qing was on border patrol and would return in about an hour.

Xu Cheng reunited with Huo Qing, a battalion commander who had once served his mother, and reassured her that he had powerful support in the succession struggle. Huo Qing feared he was being manipulated into the fight for the throne.

• Xu Cheng waited while Crow transformed into crows and departed, and Huo Lei cautiously answered his questions about the conflict and the troops.
• Huo Qing arrived with around twenty armored soldiers, recognized Xu Cheng, and embraced him tearfully before taking him to her camp.
• Huo Qing and Xu Cheng spoke privately, and she lamented that her battalion command was too little to support his ambitions.
• Xu Cheng told Huo Qing that Elder Cheng and the Holy Spirit Cult backed him, leaving her concerned that someone was using him in the succession struggle.

Xu Cheng reassured Huo Qing that Cheng Baiqing and the Holy Spirit Cult supported him in his bid for the Sun Moon Empire’s throne. After Huo Qing welcomed Nana and entrusted her with a powerful soul tool, Xu Cheng judged that he held the advantage over Crown Prince Xu Tianran and the Fourth Prince.

• Xu Cheng told Huo Qing he was Cheng Baiqing’s final disciple and had received a sixty-thousand-year Evil Eye Tyrant head soul bone.
• Xu Cheng revealed that he was the Holy Spirit Cult’s Holy Son and explained that Zhongli Wu had discovered his blood-eyes martial soul after its awakening.
• Huo Qing accepted Xu Cheng’s position and promised to help him, then gave Nana the Class 6 Crimson Blood Sword and charged her with protecting Xu Cheng.
• Xu Cheng compared his faction’s strengths with those of the Fourth Prince and Crown Prince Xu Tianran, concluding that he had the advantage.

Xu Cheng planned to help Huo Qing overcome her stalled cultivation and become a Level 9 Soul Engineer, strengthening his influence in the Sun Moon Empire and his position in the Holy Spirit Cult’s succession struggle. He ended by promising to gather several Super Douluo to help her condense a soul core.

• Huo Qing told Xu Cheng that she had found no leads on Ju Zi, a girl with an orange martial soul.
• Xu Cheng learned that Huo Qing believed she would never reach Level 9 because her unstable soul power and limited potential made a breakthrough to Titled Douluo unlikely.
• Xu Cheng considered using outside experts to help Huo Qing condense a soul core, since she relied mainly on Soul Tools rather than her martial soul.
• Xu Cheng reflected that strengthening Huo Qing could expand his own forces, which were vulnerable to the Holy Spirit Cult’s internal factions and Ye Xishui’s schemes.
• Xu Cheng assured Huo Qing that he would invite several Super Douluo to help her break through.

Xu Cheng met Xu Tianran at Huo Qing’s camp and left after a brief exchange, while Huo Qing forced the Crown Prince to retreat from the restricted military zone. Elsewhere, Xu Cheng encountered a ragged girl who called herself Ju Zi.

• Huo Qing offered to introduce Xu Cheng to the Soul Engineer Corps Commander, but he declined to avoid entangling her in the Succession Struggle.
• Huo Lei reported that Xu Tianran had come to request an audience, and Xu Cheng went with Huo Qing to meet him.
• Xu Cheng exchanged veiled remarks with Xu Tianran, then left before his eldest brother could respond.
• Huo Qing ordered Huo Lei to escort Xu Cheng and warned Xu Tianran that the camp was a restricted military zone.
• Huo Qing’s soldiers surrounded Xu Tianran and his attendants, forcing them to leave without a fight.
• In a border town, Xu Cheng found a filthy, ragged girl who told him her name was Ju Zi.