Chapter Summaries

Xu Cheng recruited the orphan Ju Zi into the Holy Spirit Cult by redirecting her desire for revenge toward opposing the ruling class and war. After revealing that he was the Sun Moon Empire’s Eleventh Prince and the cult’s Holy Son, he offered her two paths, and she chose to return to Mingdu, study at the Royal Academy, and serve as his secretary.

• Xu Cheng questioned Ju Zi about her parents’ deaths and argued that war and the noble ruling class, rather than Dai Hao alone, were responsible for her family’s suffering.
• Xu Cheng invited Ju Zi to join the Holy Spirit Cult, and she accepted after recognizing it as an organization that opposed noble rule and advocated equality.
• At a restaurant, Ju Zi thanked Nana and told Xu Cheng she wanted to follow him and pursue a peaceful world.
• Xu Cheng introduced himself as the Eleventh Prince of the Sun Moon Empire and the Holy Son of the Holy Spirit Cult, then told Ju Zi she could call him Brother Cheng.
• Xu Cheng offered Ju Zi the choice of joining the army or returning to Mingdu to attend the Sun Moon Empire Royal Academy and work as his secretary, and she chose the second option.

Xu Cheng received a first-generation artificial intelligence soul tool core design and began studying it in Elder Cheng’s laboratory. When the Imperial Family Inspection Team arrested him over Wang Shaojie’s death, Xu Cheng went along with them, planning to expose the Fourth Prince’s weakness.

• Xu Cheng received the first-generation artificial intelligence soul tool core formation design for taking in Ju Zi and analyzed it in Elder Cheng’s laboratory.
• Xu Cheng concluded that the design could be paired with advanced soul tools and decided to study it further with Elder Cheng.
• Xu Cheng encountered six Imperial Family Inspection Team members led by Xu Mochen, who accused him of harming Wang Shaojie and ordered him to come with them.
• Xu Cheng stopped An Ying from intervening and let Xu Mochen place him in Golden Handcuffs.
• Xu Cheng secretly asked Nana to notify Elder Cheng and the Holy Spirit Cult, then followed Xu Mochen to central Mingdu to draw out the Fourth Prince’s weakness.

After Xu Cheng was seized by the Imperial Family Inspection Team, the Holy Spirit Cult and the princes learned of his arrest and began reacting to the political danger. Xu Cheng was taken to the team’s torture chamber and bound to the Dragon-Peeling Pillar.

• Nana told Lin Jiayi that Xu Cheng had been taken by men claiming to represent the Imperial Family Inspection Team, and Lin Jiayi hurried to alert Elder Cheng and Hall Master Jing.
• Zhongli Wu learned that the Holy Son had been imprisoned, summoned five enshrined elders, and ordered them to accompany him to Mingdu.
• Xu Tianran heard that Xu Jiran’s men had taken Xu Cheng and decided to go to the Imperial Family Inspection Team, fearing Xu Cheng’s death would leave him vulnerable.
• Xu Mochen ordered Xu Cheng taken to the Interrogation Room to answer for attacking a member of the imperial family.
• A Soul Emperor ordered Xu Cheng bound to the Dragon-Peeling Pillar, and Xu Cheng realized they intended to torture him.

Xu Cheng remained calm while the Imperial Family Inspection Team interrogated him, protected by his Red Dust Protection. Afterward, Xu Mochen revealed that Xu Cheng was Cheng Baiqing’s sole final disciple and the Holy Spirit Cult’s Holy Son, leaving the team terrified of the consequences of targeting him.

• Xu Cheng used his Red Dust Protection to resist the torture device and challenged the interrogating Soul Emperor, who insulted him before being called away.
• Xu Mochen suggested that his team go further against Xu Cheng, but the interrogating Soul Emperor objected because they had only planned to intimidate him and gather evidence.
• Xu Mochen told the team that Xu Cheng might be connected to the Holy Spirit Cult and had recently become Cheng Baiqing’s sole final disciple.
• The team realized that Xu Cheng’s powerful backing could bring severe consequences for their actions.
• Xu Mochen revealed that Xu Cheng was the Holy Spirit Cult’s Holy Son, and the interrogating Soul Emperor shattered his teacup in shock.

Xu Mochen planned to protect himself and his men by forcing Xu Cheng to confess to colluding with the Holy Spirit Cult, while secretly reporting that the plan was proceeding smoothly. In the torture chamber, the Dragon-Peeling Pillar failed to pierce Xu Cheng, and he began to suspect someone was manipulating the Imperial Family Inspection Team.

• Xu Mochen convinced Second, Fifth, and the others to frame Xu Cheng as a conspirator against the Sun Moon Empire so the Fourth Prince would have to protect them.
• Xu Mochen sent a message through a Communication Soul Tool saying that the plan was proceeding smoothly.
• Second accused Xu Cheng of colluding with Evil Soul Masters, but Xu Cheng insisted that joining the Holy Spirit Cult had nothing to do with being an Evil Soul Master.
• Second ordered Fifth to activate the Dragon-Peeling Pillar, but a reddish-gold light around Xu Cheng stopped its spikes from reaching him.
• Second realized Xu Cheng's defensive Soul Tool could overpower the Dragon-Binding Lock, and Xu Cheng suspected the inspectors were tools of an unknown mastermind.

Xu Cheng turned the Imperial Family Inspection Team’s attempt to frame and torture him into a trap for Xu Jiran, while Elder Cheng and Jing Hongchen rushed to rescue him. The team’s members had confessed by the time Xu Tianran arrived, and Elder Cheng ordered the Crown Prince to leave.

• Xu Jiran tried to reach Xu Mochen and learned that Xu Cheng had taken control of the Imperial Family Inspection Team.
• Elder Cheng and Jing Hongchen broke into the team’s headquarters after hearing screams from the interrogation room.
• They found Xu Cheng directing An Ying as the team members were tortured, then Xu Cheng pretended to seek help from Elder Cheng despite having no real injuries.
• Jing Hongchen and Elder Cheng vowed to protect Xu Cheng and hold the team accountable.
• Xu Tianran arrived and Xu Cheng told him the team members had confessed, but Elder Cheng ordered him to get out.

At court, Xu Cheng demanded punishment for Xu Jiran and the Imperial Family Inspection Team, but Xu Jiran tried to discredit him by exposing his ties to the Holy Spirit Cult. Xu Cheng summoned Long Xiaoyao and other powerful figures, leaving Xu Jiran unable to press his accusation as the officials denied any connection between the cult and evil soul masters.

• Xu Cheng told the emperor that Xu Jiran had used the Imperial Family Inspection Team to frame and torture him, then demanded the team’s commander and members be killed.
• Xu Jiran objected that Xu Cheng had no right to kill the prince commanding the team, while Elder Cheng’s support for Xu Cheng drew notice from the court.
• Xu Jiran accused Xu Cheng of being the Holy Spirit Cult’s Holy Son and of colluding with evil soul masters.
• Xu Cheng called on Elder Long, and Long Xiaoyao entered the hall with five powerful black-robed figures.
• Xu Cheng asked whether the Holy Spirit Cult had any connection to evil soul masters, and the officials denied it while Xu Jiran trembled under the newcomers’ pressure.

Three years after the Holy Spirit Cult appeared, Xu Cheng had become a Soul King and Level 6 Soul Engineer while helping develop secret missile technology at Mingde Hall. He declined the academy tournament and planned to visit the Star Dou Great Forest, hoping to meet Tian Meng and other spirits.

• Xiao Hongchen asked Xu Cheng to enter the academy tournament, but Xu Cheng refused because he had work to finish for Cheng Baiqing.
• Xu Cheng explained that missile guidance was working, but his team still needed to conceal the Level 9 Soul Tool's fluctuations before the technology could be completed.
• Xiao Hongchen urged Xu Cheng to improve his cultivation, and Xu Cheng pointed out that he was already ahead of Xiao in both cultivation and soul engineering.
• Xu Cheng said he would be ready for the All-Continent Soul Master Tournament and thought about visiting the Star Dou Great Forest to seek Tian Meng, Electrolux, and Bingbing.
• Meng Hongchen asked Xu Cheng to enter the tournament, and he said he would visit the Star Dou Forest instead while stroking her hair.

Xu Cheng agreed to join the inter-academy tournament assessment after learning that Xu Tianzhen and Mingdu Soul Engineer Academy would participate. In Mystic Yin City, Jiang Nannan sought a cure for her mother and walked into a trap meant for Xu Sanshi, leaving him in an empty room.

• Xu Cheng accepted Elder Cheng's instruction to take the assessment, and Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen, and Tang Ya also signed up.
• Nana told Xu Cheng that Mingdu Soul Engineer Academy would enter the tournament, and Xu Cheng realized Xu Tianzhen was coming.
• Xu Cheng reflected on his growing political influence and Ju Zi's work as his secretary before leading the group to prepare for the assessment.
• Jiang Nannan learned that the Mystic Yin Divine Pill could cure her mother but cost nearly a million Gold Soul Coins, and a Mystic Yin Sect steward offered help in exchange for a price.
• Jiang Nannan left home to meet the steward, while the steward led Xu Sanshi to a house and promised him a girl; Xu Sanshi found the room empty.

Jiang Nannan walked through the Mystic Yin Sect’s festive streets, believing she was being sold to secure her mother’s welfare, then overheard a commoner recounting a sympathetic version of the Spirit Hall’s history. The crowd grew angry at Tang San for opposing the Spirit Hall despite having received its help, while Jiang Nannan’s fate remained unresolved.

• Jiang Nannan walked silently through the crowded, lantern-lit streets as a steward measured her like a commodity.
• A commoner uncle told nearby townspeople that the Holy Spirit Cult was a sect for ordinary people and praised the Spirit Hall for once awakening commoners’ Martial Souls for free.
• The uncle argued that nobles charged common families heavily for Martial Soul awakenings and that a unified continent might have spared commoners conscription and war.
• The uncle claimed Tang San opposed the Spirit Hall because it had hunted his mother, a Blue Silver Grass Soul Beast, and described Tang San’s neglectful, drunken father.
• The uncle said the Spirit Hall had awakened Tang San’s Martial Soul and supported him with a monthly subsidy, prompting the crowd to condemn Tang San for turning against it.