Chapter Summaries

The Shrek group reached the Star Luo Empire’s western border and learned that the Death's Hand Bandit Group operated in the Mingdou Mountain Range. When Ma Xiaotao prepared to lead the group straight into the mountains, Chen Ping and the Reserve Team stopped, questioning the lack of preparation.

• Ning Tian considered buying Chen Ping’s Flying Soul Tools and judged him more trustworthy than Tang San based on his actions.
• Chen Ping cooked for the group during their journey, and they reached the Star Luo Empire’s western border late at night.
• Dai Yueheng used his Face Fruit ability to secure military Flying Soul Tools and bring the group into the border camp.
• Elder Du and the military provided intelligence that Death's Hand had over three hundred members and recently smuggled more than seven hundred Soul Beast pelts.
• Ma Xiaotao prepared to lead the group into the Mingdou Mountain Range, but Chen Ping raised his hand and stopped the Reserve Team from following.

Chen Ping challenged Ma Xiaotao’s rushed plan to attack the Death’s Hand bandit gang, arguing that poor preparation put the Inspection Corps at needless risk. He left the team confronted with its high mission death rate and the lack of basic reconnaissance and support planning.

• Ma Xiaotao accused Chen Ping of losing his nerve, but Chen Ping asked how often her past missions had caused casualties.
• Chen Ping held up his communicator to Xuan Zi as he pressed Ma Xiaotao to answer; she said teammates had died on five of her more than twenty missions.
• Chen Ping calculated that the Inner Court’s mission death rate meant fewer than half of its students would survive thirty missions and graduate.
• Chen Ping asked why the team would not use its remaining time to scout the bandits and plan its tactics, medical support, and long-range cover.
• Ma Xiaotao and the other Inner Court students were bewildered by Chen Ping’s proposed preparations, leaving him to condemn their careless approach to survival.

Chen Ping persuaded Ma Xiaotao and the others to adopt a cautious reconnaissance plan rather than charge into battle against the Death's Hand Bandit Group. Ma Xiaotao put him in charge of the arrangements, and Xuan Zi left impressed by Chen Ping’s tactical insight.

• Ma Xiaotao and the other Inner Court students recognized the merit of Chen Ping’s tactical ideas and agreed to scout the enemy before deciding how to act.
• Ma Xiaotao assigned Dai Yueheng to coordinate logistical maintenance and medical support, and he offered to arrange a reserve force of healing Soul Masters.
• Chen Ping proposed joining Ma Xiaotao on close reconnaissance with Ling Luochеn, while the rest of the team rested.
• Ma Xiaotao accepted Chen Ping’s arrangements after he explained that the other Outer Court Reserve Team members needed to conserve their strength.
• Xuan Zi listened outside the tent, then left marveling at Chen Ping’s abilities and thinking Shrek was fortunate to have him.

Chen Ping, Ma Xiaotao, and Ling Luochen tracked the Death's Hand Bandit Group through the Mingdou Mountain Range and found clues suggesting its leader was an Evil Soul Master. They reached the bandits' cave, discovered its guards asleep, and began searching for other exits before attacking.

• Chen Ping explained how the Wenlan Tree cores and nearby campfire remains could reveal the bandits' habits and camp location.
• Ma Xiaotao leaped into the air to scout, and Chen Ping warned that her careless move could have exposed their reconnaissance.
• The three followed footprints to a cave and found the bandits and their Soul Master sentry asleep.
• Chen Ping told Ma Xiaotao and Ling Luochen to locate the cave's other exits before they confronted the more than three hundred bandits inside.

Chen Ping, Ma Xiaotao, and Ling Luochеn found a concealed second entrance to the bandits’ cave and discovered corpse slaves guarding it. They passed through the tunnel and surveyed the cave’s innermost area, uncovering its defenses and signs of the bandits’ hide-smuggling operation.

• Ma Xiaotao and Ling Luochеn found the concealed second exit and confirmed Chen Ping’s warning that the cave had multiple entrances.
• Ma Xiaotao and Ling Luochеn saw twelve corpse slaves at the entrance, and Chen Ping identified them and tested that they were in standby mode.
• Chen Ping led Ma Xiaotao and Ling Luochеn past the inactive corpse slaves and showed them explosives hidden in the tunnel.
• Chen Ping used the Barbarian Elephant Staff to open the tunnel cover slightly and inspect the cave’s deepest area.
• Chen Ping saw human skins, a child’s corpse, barricades, traps, sleeping bandits, and stripped Soul Beast carcasses hanging from the cave ceiling.

Chen Ping and Ma Xiaotao and Ling Luochеn completed a close reconnaissance of the Death's Hand Bandit Group's cave and returned to the Military Camp with key intelligence. Shrek's team devised a coordinated plan to trap the Death Messenger, and Jiang Nannan warned that the hanging soul beast corpses could be used for Corpse Explosion.

• Chen Ping, Ma Xiaotao, and Ling Luochеn inspected the cave, noted the escape passage and hanging soul beast corpses, and withdrew without alerting the bandits.
• The three returned to the Military Camp, where Dai Yueheng said the Military Medical Team could follow and provide healing support.
• Chen Ping shared the reconnaissance findings and invited the team to propose tactics against the bandits and the disguised Evil Soul Master.
• Chen Zifeng suggested splitting their forces, while Yao Haoxuan proposed sending poisonous smoke through the tunnel to reach the lair.
• The students developed a coordinated plan to contain the bandits, and Jiang Nannan proposed that the hanging corpses were intended for Corpse Explosion.

When the group struggled to devise a way to poison the bandits, Bei Bei admitted that the Tang Sect had lost its traditional poison-making knowledge. Chen Ping used his system to deduce formulas for toxic smoke and settled on one called Heavenly Prison Lock.

• Wu Feng asked how the group would poison the bandits, and Xu Sanshi urged Bei Bei to demonstrate the Tang Sect’s poison arts.
• Bei Bei admitted he knew little about preparing poisons, explaining that the Tang Sect’s knowledge of toxicology had been lost over generations.
• Chen Ping considered using his system to find poison formulas and questioned how related clues affected the deduction cost.
• Chen Ping asked the system to deduce toxic-smoke formulas capable of incapacitating targets up to Soul King level.
• The system provided several preparation methods, and Chen Ping chose the blended poison called Heavenly Prison Lock.

Chen Ping tested the Heavenly Prison Lock’s poisonous smoke and helped the Shrek group finalize a plan to attack the bandits in their cave. After assigning teams and explaining close-quarters precautions, they prepared for the operation that night.

• Chen Ping made a Heavenly Prison Lock torch and tested its colorless, odorless smoke on Xu Sanshi, who collapsed but soon began recovering.
• The group confirmed the smoke could quickly incapacitate Soul Masters and decided to use it against the three hundred bandits in the cave.
• The Shrek group split into two forces: Chen Ping and the regular members would enter the cave, while the Reserve Team would guard the entrances and collapse the main route with a Fixed Soul Cannon Shell.
• Chen Ping taught the group precautions for coordinated cave combat, including supporting wounded teammates and retreating under cover.

Chen Ping and the Shrek team carried out a nighttime assault on the bandits’ cave, using poisonous smoke and a cannon shell to kill most of its occupants. When the Death Messenger triggered Corpse Explosion, two Soul Douluo-level intruders appeared behind the team, leaving Xuan Zi alarmed outside the collapsed entrance.

• Chen Ping convinced Xuan Zi to stay behind and joined the Shrek team as they infiltrated the bandit cave at night.
• The team killed the guards, poisoned the cave, and sealed its main entrance with He Caitou’s Sixth-Level Fixed Soul Cannon Shell.
• Chen Ping’s group entered through the rear passage and found the bandits apparently dead, but the Death Messenger survived and triggered Corpse Explosion.
• Ma Xiaotao protected Chen Ping, Ling Luochеn, and Yao Haoxuan with an Invincible Shield as the explosions consumed the corpses and spread through the cave.
• Two nearly identical old men entered through the rear passage, revealed they had noticed the team, and confronted the survivors.
• Xuan Zi sensed two Soul Douluo-level auras inside the mountain and regretted not guarding the rear entrance.

Dai Yueheng and the Shrek students encountered Zhongli Di and Zhongli Tian, the two Soul Douluo brothers seeking revenge, inside the mountain. Dai Yueheng bought time for his teammates to retreat and regroup, leaving the students prepared to face the brothers together.

• Dai Yueheng recognized Zhongli Di and Zhongli Tian and unleashed his White Tiger abilities to cover his teammates’ retreat.
• Zhongli Di restrained a weakened Fiend Shadow Leopard while Zhongli Tian destroyed Dai Yueheng’s attack with a Beast Soul.
• Dai Yueheng activated the Wall of the Sacred Domain, whose explosion destroyed Zhongli Tian’s two ten-thousand-year Beast Souls.
• Zhongli Tian transformed into his snake-like Martial Soul form and corroded the remaining defensive walls with venom.
• Dai Yueheng escaped down the tunnel and rejoined the Inner Court students, who received Gongyang Mo’s enhancements and used He Caitou’s Cigars to prepare for battle.

The Shrek team prepared to hold off Zhongli Tian and Zhongli Di until Xuan Zi could arrive, but the brothers attacked with waves of beast souls. Ma Xiaotao met a powerful Crimson Gold Lion while the others struggled against beast souls that inflicted both physical and spiritual injuries.

• Chen Ping gave the Shrek team an emergency plan to use the cave’s terrain to delay the two Evil Soul Douluos.
• Zhongli Tian and Zhongli Di burst from the ground and unleashed blood-colored beast souls against the team.
• Zhongli Tian summoned a Crimson Gold Lion and sent it after Ma Xiaotao.
• Ma Xiaotao unleashed several soul skills, reached Seven-Ring Soul Sage strength, and blasted away half the Crimson Gold Lion’s head.
• Chen Ping, Gongyang Mo, and the others struggled against beast souls whose attacks caused physical damage and assaults on their souls and spiritual power.

Chen Ping led Shrek’s Inner Court students in retreat as the Zhongli brothers unleashed their Beast Souls and cornered them. He detonated Qian Duoduo’s Level 6 Fixed Soul Cannon Shells, then used his second Golden Crystal to shield the group from the blast.

• Chen Ping ordered the group to retreat, but Zhongli Di released a Netherworld Ghost Tiger while Zhongli Tian’s injured Crimson Gold Lion rapidly healed.
• Zhongli Di discovered several Level 6 Fixed Soul Cannon Shells beneath the gore, which Chen Ping had received from Qian Duoduo.
• The cannon shells exploded in the enclosed cavern, vaporizing the summoned Beast Souls and sending a devastating shock wave toward Chen Ping’s group.
• Chen Ping activated his second Golden Crystal to form an Invincible Shield that sealed the passage against the approaching blast.

Chen Ping and the injured Shrek Inspection Corps students survived the explosion by sheltering in a passage behind the Golden Crystal’s Invincible Shield, but the Zhongli brothers appeared in their Netherworld Snake Martial Soul Avatar forms. With Xuan Zi still absent and their options exhausted, Chen Ping prepared to use a deadly final gamble as Zhongli Tian lunged at him.

• Chen Ping’s Golden Crystal shield wedged into the passage and held back the explosion’s shock wave, protecting the group while scorching them with heat and debris.
• The shield dissipated, and the injured students realized the explosion had not stopped the Zhongli brothers, who appeared as two badly wounded Netherworld Snakes.
• Chen Ping recognized that their thirty-second window for Xuan Zi to arrive had passed and that the group could not defeat two Soul Douluos in Martial Soul Avatar states.
• Chen Ping gripped the Living Being Carving Knife and warned the students that his final trump card could kill everyone nearby, but they accepted the risk.
• Zhongli Tian dismissed Chen Ping’s threat, confirmed that he seemed to have no tricks left, and lunged toward him.

Chen Ping shattered Zhongli Ren’s Beast Soul Staff and released its crazed spirits, worsening the battle for the Shrek group and the Zhongli brothers. As the Beast Souls overwhelmed them, Electrolux took control of Chen Ping’s body and began preparing a counterattack.

• Chen Ping cut apart the Beast Soul Staff with the Living Being Carving Knife, unleashing its Beast Souls against Zhongli Tian and Zhongli Di.
• Chen Ping used the broken staff to spray more Beast Souls at Zhongli Di, while Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng protected Chen Ping from the spirits that turned on him.
• The Beast Souls battered both the Zhongli brothers and the weakened Shrek group, whose Defensive Soul Tools helped keep them alive.
• An aged voice spoke in Chen Ping’s Sea of Consciousness, and Electrolux took control of Chen Ping’s body as the gray bead disappeared.
• Electrolux identified himself as the Holy Necromancer, the Undead Scourge, and sent white flames across the Barbarian Elephant Staff until black flames formed at both ends.

Electrolux used black soul fire to destroy the beast souls and protect the Shrek group, then revealed that Chen Ping’s spiritual origin was close to collapse. Chen Ping followed Zhongli Di through the escape tunnel and found him dead, torn apart by leopard-shaped shadows.

• Electrolux unleashed black flames that burned the beast souls and Zhongli Tian while Zhongli Di escaped as gray mist.
• Electrolux warned Chen Ping that his shattered spiritual origin would kill him within minutes and said he had used up most of his divine consciousness keeping Chen Ping alive.
• Electrolux told Chen Ping to follow the escape tunnel, then fell unconscious again.
• Chen Ping used the Living Being Carving Knife to try to steady his Sea of Consciousness before pursuing Zhongli Di.
• Leopard-shaped shadows rose from the dead Fiend Shadow Leopard’s corpse and tore off Zhongli Di’s head as Chen Ping arrived.

Xuan Zi reached the cavern and found the Inner Court students alive but unconscious with severe damage to their Seas of Consciousness. Chen Ping mercy-killed the dying Fiend Shadow Leopard, then chose to absorb its Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring despite the danger to his own fragile Sea of Consciousness.

• Xuan Zi burst through the mountain ceiling, found the Inner Court students, and confirmed that none had died, though all were injured and comatose.
• Chen Ping approached the dying Fiend Shadow Leopard and recognized that it was pleading for him to end its suffering.
• Chen Ping used the Living Being Carving Knife to kill the Fiend Shadow Leopard, and a black Soul Ring rose from its corpse.
• Chen Ping searched Zhongli Di's Storage Ring but found no treasures that could heal his damaged Sea of Consciousness.
• Chen Ping drew the Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring onto his Barbarian Elephant Staff and began absorbing it despite the risk.

Chen Ping absorbed the Fiend Shadow Leopard’s exceptionally powerful Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, discovering that its shattered soul could not inflict Soul Shock. As the ring’s energy tore through his body, the Living Being Carving Knife continually repaired his injuries, leaving him fighting to survive while Xuan Zi, Wang Yan, Wu Feng, and Ning Tian watched in alarm.

• Chen Ping realized the Fiend Shadow Leopard’s Soul Ring lacked Soul Shock because the beast’s soul had been destroyed before its death.
• The Soul Ring’s domineering energy ravaged Chen Ping’s body, while Xuan Zi rushed in and feared the absorption would kill him.
• The Living Being Carving Knife released life force that repeatedly repaired Chen Ping’s injuries as he continued absorbing the ring.
• Wang Yan and the Outer Court students rescued the injured Inner Court students, then Wang Yan examined Chen Ping’s perilous condition.
• Wu Feng and Ning Tian arrived and anxiously asked Wang Yan what had happened to Chen Ping.

Chen Ping endured the brutal absorption of a ten-thousand-year Fiend Shadow Leopard Soul Ring as his third ring, using its energy to heal damage to his Sea of Consciousness. He survived the ordeal and awakened with a black third Soul Ring, leaving those around him relieved at his unprecedented achievement.

• Wang Yan explained that Chen Ping had to absorb the Soul Ring himself because his injuries left him no other way to repair his Sea of Consciousness.
• Ning Tian and Wu Feng realized Chen Ping was attempting a ten-thousand-year third Soul Ring, an unprecedented feat, while Xuan Zi watched in remorse.
• Chen Ping resisted the Fiend Shadow Leopard's savage Soul Power as it battered his body, while green life energy repeatedly healed his wounds.
• Chen Ping gradually absorbed and converted the Soul Ring's energy, and Xuan Zi announced that the most dangerous stage had passed.
• After a long absorption, Chen Ping opened his eyes as a black Soul Ring formed around him, confirming that he had achieved a ten-thousand-year third ring.

After absorbing the Fiend Shadow Leopard Soul Ring, Chen Ping recovered his Sea of Consciousness and began cultivating mental power, then recounted how he had protected the Shrek students from Zhongli Tian and Zhongli Ren. The students survived, but Dai Yueheng and Ma Xiaotao needed extended rest, and Ma Xiaotao's Evil Fire threatened to flare again.

• Chen Ping recovered from absorbing the Soul Ring, though his Sea of Consciousness had only just begun to condense into a mental-power sea.
• Wang Yan supported Chen Ping, who reassured Ning Tian and Wu Feng before exchanging a strained look with Xuan Zi over his late arrival.
• Jiang Nannan reported that Dai Yueheng and Ma Xiaotao could not use Soul Skills for at least half a month, and that Ma Xiaotao's Evil Fire was flaring again.
• Xuan Zi learned that Chen Ping had kept all seven Inner Court students alive despite failing Defensive Soul Tools and the attack by two Soul Douluos.
• Chen Ping explained how he detonated Level Six Fixed-Installation Cannon Shells, shattered Zhongli Ren's Level Eight Soul Tool, and survived by absorbing the Fiend Shadow Leopard Soul Ring.

After the mission ended in disaster, Chen Ping buried the Fiend Shadow Leopard and reflected on the mistakes that had led to the Zhongli brothers’ attack. Xuan Zi returned the injured Inner Court students to Shrek Academy and left Wang Yan and the Outer Court team to represent the academy in the tournament, placing Chen Ping in charge of guiding them.

• Chen Ping gathered the Fiend Shadow Leopard’s remains and buried it after escaping the cave.
• Chen Ping reconsidered the mission’s failures and lost confidence in Xuan Zi’s reliability.
• Xuan Zi decided to take most of the injured Inner Court students back to the academy, leaving Dai Yueheng and Yao Haoxuan to recover at the military camp.
• Xuan Zi told the seven Outer Court students that they would have to compete in the tournament and entrusted Chen Ping with steering the team.
• Wang Yan explained that the team would compete while Dai Yueheng, Yao Haoxuan, and Xiaotao recovered.