Chapter Summaries

Elder Song visited the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect to secure support for Shrek’s soul-engineering program after the Heaven Dou Empire rebuffed her. The sect promised to help recruit young students, but secretly planned to send its eligible direct-line disciple to Mingdou Academy as Ning Chen pursued closer ties with the Sun Moon Empire.

• After Du Busi rejected Shrek’s request for help recruiting soul engineers, Elder Song left Heaven Dou City disappointed and went to the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.
• Elder Song and Ning Chen praised Ning Tian’s studies and discussed Shrek’s desire to train more young soul engineers with the sect’s support.
• An elder said no direct-line disciples were eligible, but offered to screen collateral-line disciples and affiliates for promising candidates.
• Elder Song thanked the sect and left, believing its long bond with Shrek would withstand the Illustrious Virtue Hall’s influence.
• After she departed, Ning Chen and an elder acknowledged that they had withheld an eligible direct-line disciple because the sect planned to send him to Mingdou Academy.

Huo Yuhao continued helping Jing Hongchen consolidate power in the Sun Moon Empire while secretly using Mental Suggestion to make people forget Northern Douluo. When Jing Hongchen briefly remembered and asked about Northern Douluo, Huo Yuhao realized that genuine emotion might offer a new way to influence people.

• The Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect quietly reassessed its ties with Shrek while avoiding an open break.
• Huo Yuhao and Jing Hongchen purged officials who had colluded with the criminal underworld, and the Sun Moon bureaucracy feared Huo Yuhao's authority.
• Jing Hongchen declined Huo Yuhao's suggestion to bring Xiao and Meng into the Cabinet, saying they were still too young.
• Jing Hongchen asked how Northern Douluo was doing, and Huo Yuhao said he had returned to the Far North after Sun Moon stabilized.
• Huo Yuhao reflected on his Mental Suggestion and realized that genuine emotion might provide a special way to influence people.

Huo Yuhao considered how to rule the Sun Moon Empire without resorting to mental control, while Jing Hongchen weighed the future of Illustrious Virtue Hall and the Hongchen siblings. When officials reported that the Star Luo Empire and Tianhun wanted to inspect Mingdou Academy and City, Huo Yuhao agreed to receive their visitors.

• Huo Yuhao rejected Tian Meng's suggestions to brainwash officials or bind them with Master-Servant Contracts, preferring to use only Mental Suggestion.
• Jing Hongchen considered training Xiao Hongchen to succeed him but worried that his grandson lacked the experience to manage Illustrious Virtue Hall.
• Jing Hongchen reflected that Xiao and Meng Hongchen needed to keep cultivating and gain experience before taking on important roles.
• An official told Jing Hongchen that Star Luo and Tianhun wanted to inspect Mingdou Academy and City and that the Star Luo Imperial Family hoped to visit next week.
• Huo Yuhao agreed to receive the visiting delegation.

Huo Yuhao showed Xu Jiujiu and Nebula Douluo the plans for Mingdou City and discussed Shrek Academy’s efforts to recruit soul-tool talent. He remained confident that Mingdou City would rise as the continent’s economic center and that history would prove Shrek wrong.

• Xu Jiujiu and Nebula Douluo admired Mingdou City’s rapid construction as Huo Yuhao said it could someday bring people to the stars.
• Huo Yuhao used Spiritual Sharing to show them a detailed map of Mingdou City and explain how major powers and merchant associations had secured sites there.
• Xu Jiujiu noted that the Shrek Merchant Association was the only one of the continent’s ten great merchant associations not yet involved in the city.
• Xu Jiujiu told Huo Yuhao that Azure Eagle Douluo had asked the Star Luo Empire and Tianhun to help screen soul-tool talent for Shrek Academy.
• Huo Yuhao criticized Shrek’s recruitment plan, said its soul-tool students relied on training at Sun Moon Academy, and declared that history would reveal the victor.

Mingdou City’s booming trade enriched merchants, soul engineers, and the Sun Moon Empire while reshaping relations among the neighboring empires. Huo Yuhao resisted Jing Hongchen’s call to raise taxes, and the chapter ended with him reflecting on the hidden cost of the trade boom.

• Mingdou City and Mingdou Academy drew merchants and settlers, while major powers divided the city’s commerce and kept criminal groups from taking root.
• The Sun Moon Empire’s newly available soul tools flooded markets in the Star Luo Empire and the Heaven Dou Empire, leaving the Dou Ling Empire increasingly isolated.
• Small workshops in the Sun Moon Empire expanded exports through Mingdou City, while the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect remained the sole reseller of Illustrious Virtue Hall soul tools.
• An official brought Jing Hongchen Mingdou City’s trade figures, and Jing noted that they had doubled from the previous month.
• Jing Hongchen suggested raising the tax rate to thirty percent, but Huo Yuhao rejected the idea and warned against draining the market too quickly.
• Huo Yuhao reflected on the apparent bargains and called the trade boom “Hayek’s great hand.”

Huo Yuhao explained to Jing Hongchen how the Sun Moon Empire could use low-cost soul tool exports to weaken rival nations’ research and leave them vulnerable. After persuading Jing Hongchen of the strategy, Huo Yuhao left to attend Mingdou Academy, while keeping his concerns about the Hongchen Family’s future to himself.

• Huo Yuhao asked Jing Hongchen which nations benefited more from the soul tool trade, and Jing Hongchen concluded that Tianhun and the Star Luo Empire gained more financially.
• Huo Yuhao argued that cheap, popular Sun Moon soul tools could discourage rival nations from developing their own soul guidance technology.
• Huo Yuhao proposed expanding exports, spreading claims that soul engineers were weak at higher levels, and concealing advanced technology at tournaments to make other nations underestimate Sun Moon.
• Jing Hongchen saw how the trade could widen Sun Moon’s technological advantage and leave rival nations’ defenses vulnerable to sabotage.
• Huo Yuhao considered that the wealth generated by trade could threaten imperial control of the Illustrious Virtue Hall and the Hongchen Family, then left for Mingdou Academy.

Huo Yuhao enrolled Qian Feng at Mingdou Academy and reflected on how the new school could educate children with evil martial souls while reshaping society. As students arrived from across the continent, he considered the academy’s enormous costs and the political opportunities they presented.

• Huo Yuhao asked Qian Feng whether he wanted to focus on soul mastery or soul engineering, and Qian Feng chose to pursue becoming a soul master.
• Huo Yuhao gave Qian Feng a transfer letter, and Qian Feng entered Mingdou Academy to register on his own.
• Huo Yuhao discussed the nature of evil martial souls with Electrolux and asked him to teach the children once they were older.
• Huo Yuhao reflected that Mingdou Academy’s subsidies and construction costs could justify cutting military spending and strengthen the city’s trade.
• Huo Yuhao noticed a student wearing the crest of a Star Luo noble family and smiled at the ambitions that had brought students to Mingdou.

Mingdou Academy held its opening ceremony, where representatives of the Sun Moon Empire and Star Luo Empire praised peace and cooperation. Du Busi then demanded that the academy win the next continent-wide Youth Soul Master Tournament, prompting a challenge from someone Huo Yuhao suspected was Xuan Zi of Shrek.

• Ye Yulin addressed the ceremony and officially declared Mingdou Academy established.
• Xu Jiujiu spoke about ending the wars and making Mingdou City a place for cooperation among the Three Great Empires.
• Huo Yuhao told Xuan Ziwen that he feared Du Busi would say something inappropriate.
• Du Busi took the podium, silenced the gathering, and declared that Mingdou Academy must win the next continent-wide Youth Soul Master Tournament.
• A powerful voice challenged Du Busi's arrogance, and Du Busi suspected it came from Xuan Zi of Shrek.

Mingdou Academy’s opening ceremony was interrupted when Xuan Zi challenged Du Busi’s appointment as honorary dean and his promise that the students would win the next tournament. Huo Yuhao realized Shrek was using the confrontation to undermine Mingdou Academy’s reputation, and the argument remained unresolved.

• Du Busi insisted on representing the Heaven Dou Empire at the ceremony and declared that Mingdou Academy’s students had to win the next tournament.
• Xuan Zi confronted Du Busi from across the square, criticizing his role as honorary dean and his claims about the students.
• Ye Yulin defended Mingdou Academy’s ceremony and warned Xuan Zi not to interfere in its internal affairs.
• Du Busi mocked Xuan Zi, while Xuan Zi argued that the academy’s young students could not reasonably be expected to defeat older competitors.
• Huo Yuhao told Xuan Ziwen that Shrek was exploiting Du Busi’s boast to make Mingdou Academy look foolish if its students later failed to win.

At Mingdou Academy’s opening ceremony, Xuan Zi challenged Du Busi over the academy’s tournament ambitions, but Huo Yuhao turned the exchange into a defense of Mingdou’s peaceful educational philosophy. The students ended by chanting against Shrek, leaving Xuan Zi stunned.

• Xuan Zi warned Du Busi that pushing students to win could lead them to damage their foundations, prompting Du Busi to prepare a retort.
• Huo Yuhao took the stage and argued that Shrek’s own experience showed how intense competition could drive students to dangerous extremes.
• Huo Yuhao presented Mingdou Academy as a place devoted to peace, education, and character, winning loud applause from the audience.
• A student asked whether Mingdou could defeat Shrek, and Huo Yuhao encouraged the students to work toward that goal over time.
• The students began chanting “Down with Shrek,” and Xuan Zi recoiled in shock as their chorus grew.

At Mingdou Academy’s opening ceremony, Huo Yuhao turned the students’ cheers against Xuan Zi, who left after wishing the academy well at the tournament five years later. After the ceremony, Huo Yuhao arranged publicity and outlined his approach to teaching and student assessments, while Du Busi grew more open to Soul Tools.

• Huo Yuhao encouraged Mingdou Academy’s students to chant “Down with Shrek,” embarrassing Xuan Zi in front of the assembled guests.
• Du Busi praised the students, and Xuan Zi left after wishing Mingdou Academy success in the tournament five years later.
• Huo Yuhao ended the ceremony before Du Busi could continue speaking, then discussed the honorary dean’s role and Soul Tools with him and Xuan Ziwen.
• Xuan Ziwen explained how Soul Tools helped build Mingdou City and the academy, and Du Busi admitted he had been prejudiced against them.
• Huo Yuhao told Xuan Ziwen to publicize the ceremony and emphasize moral education, then explained that Mingdou Academy would challenge students without expelling those who failed assessments.

Mingdou Academy’s students began studying across both departments, while Huo Yuhao and Xuan Ziwen addressed early teaching problems and factional divisions. Xuan Ziwen revealed that a Dou Ling Empire faction wanted help placing a child in the Junior Division, suggesting the empire was becoming anxious about the academy.

• Mingdou Academy’s students increasingly took courses in both the Martial Soul Department and the Soul Tool Department, while Huo Yuhao promoted Spiritual Power, physical fitness, and caution against dangerous shortcuts.
• Huo Yuhao observed that classes were running smoothly, and Xuan Ziwen reported uneven Soul Tool foundations and cliques among students from different empires.
• Huo Yuhao proposed mixed-country team assessments to encourage cooperation among students.
• Xuan Ziwen explained that major factions wanted to place disciples in the Junior Division as a fallback while they waited to see how the Senior Division performed.
• Xuan Ziwen told Huo Yuhao that one interested faction and its child came from the Dou Ling Empire, and Huo Yuhao understood that people there were growing anxious.

Huo Yuhao discussed a Dou Ling merchant association’s request to enroll its president’s son at Mingdou Academy and proposed a residency requirement for students from outside the three founding nations. He intended to use the academy’s growing influence to draw talent and factions away from the Dou Ling Empire.

• A rising Soul Tool merchant association from the Dou Ling Empire moved some businesses to Mingdou City and sought a place at Mingdou Academy for its president’s youngest son.
• Xuan Ziwen told Huo Yuhao that the boy had rank-seven innate soul power and that the academy’s Junior Division required no entrance examination.
• Huo Yuhao proposed requiring students from other countries to show recognized Mingdou City residence, with priority for those whose elders had permanent homes and businesses there.
• Huo Yuhao told Xuan Ziwen to draft the provisional requirement, which would let Mingdou City decide which Dou Ling factions could gain access to the academy.
• Huo Yuhao expected Mingdou Academy to draw talented people from the Dou Ling Empire and weaken its ties to Shrek Academy over time.

Huo Yuhao investigated a disturbance in Qian Feng’s evil martial soul and discovered that Ye Guyi’s Holy Angel aura was affecting him. After helping Qian Feng calm down, Huo Yuhao learned Ye Guyi had come to Mingdou City without a clear purpose, and a teacher approached to ask whether they were Qian Feng’s family.

• Huo Yuhao sensed a change in Qian Feng’s martial soul and went to the Junior Division to check on him.
• Huo Yuhao found Qian Feng alone in the square, reacting to Ye Guyi’s sacred aura from outside the gate.
• Huo Yuhao let Ye Guyi enter, and she thanked Qian Feng for remembering that she had rescued him.
• Huo Yuhao advised Qian Feng to control his soul power and reassured him that stronger cultivation would make him less vulnerable to Ye Guyi’s influence.
• Ye Guyi told Huo Yuhao that she had come to Mingdou City after the Holy Spirit Cult’s destruction but did not know where to go.
• A Junior Division teacher approached Huo Yuhao and Ye Guyi and asked whether they were members of Qian Feng’s family.

After seeing Qian Feng at Mingdou Academy, Ye Guyi resolved to join Huo Yuhao in preventing Evil Soul Masters from the moment of Martial Soul Awakening. Huo Yuhao outlined a continent-wide organization to oversee awakenings, leaving Ye Guyi to consider the vast costs and his plan to recruit student volunteers.

• A pastoral care teacher worried that Qian Feng was withdrawn, while Huo Yuhao reassured him that Qian Feng would cooperate with others.
• Huo Yuhao explained to Ye Guyi that the Junior Academy taught children kindness and justice, and argued that few people were born villains.
• After Qian Feng returned to his dormitory, Ye Guyi told Huo Yuhao she wanted to join him and eradicate Evil Soul Masters at their roots.
• Huo Yuhao described a unified organization that would oversee Martial Soul Awakenings in every country, town, and village.
• Ye Guyi questioned how the plan could be funded, and Huo Yuhao proposed using Mingdou Academy Senior Division students as volunteers who earned activity credits.

Huo Yuhao recruited Ye Guyi to help guide young soul masters and prevent them from becoming evil soul masters, then introduced her to Mingdou Academy’s deans and secured her a researcher position. Ye Guyi remained troubled by leaving Shrek without saying goodbye, and Huo Yuhao ended by asking what she thought of the academy’s laboratories.

• Huo Yuhao invited Ye Guyi to join a future department overseeing Martial Soul Awakening, and she immediately agreed.
• Ye Guyi asked about Huo Yuhao’s status in the Sun Moon Empire, and he called himself the real Executive Vice Emperor.
• Huo Yuhao introduced Ye Guyi to the deans, who praised her abilities and appointed her a specially appointed researcher with a laboratory and rare metals.
• Ye Guyi showed the deans her divine-attribute soul tools, including the Holy Judgment sword Qian Duoduo had made for her.
• Ye Guyi confessed that she felt guilty for leaving Shrek without farewell and feared facing Qian Duoduo and Xian Lin'er again.
• Huo Yuhao asked Ye Guyi how Mingdou Academy’s laboratories compared with Shrek’s and whether its facilities would suit Qian Duoduo and the others.

As Mingdou Academy’s first academic year ended, students from Star Luo and Tianhun made strong progress in the Soul Tool Department, and Huo Yuhao and Xuan Ziwen reviewed the examinations and planned the next year’s teaching and research. Xuan Ziwen chose Ning Yuan as a student, while Huo Yuhao planned to consult the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well about the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect’s proposed trade.

• Students from Star Luo and Tianhun improved their soul tool skills, while the academy encouraged competition and punished bullying.
• Huo Yuhao and Xuan Ziwen reviewed the year-end results, noting that Ning Yuan earned full marks in both the Soul Tool and Martial Soul Departments.
• Huo Yuhao considered the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect’s proposed trade for the Aromatic Silk Beauty and said he would ask the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well about it during vacation.
• Huo Yuhao and Xuan Ziwen agreed to restore the mentor system for second-year Soul Tool Department students and support research projects.
• Xuan Ziwen chose Ning Yuan and several other innovative students as potential mentees.

As the holiday began, Qian Feng confirmed that shared soul ring technology could help Xiao Tian inherit a suitable soul skill and that the academy could later increase low-age rings. Qian Feng then went to meet Huo Yuhao, ready to become a soul master and learn the technology himself.

• Mingdou Academy's homeroom teacher announced that students at rank ten could apply for the academy's help obtaining soul rings.
• Xiao Tian told his friends that he planned to try shared soul ring technology to inherit a powerful soul skill from his father.
• Qian Feng said father-and-son sharing could have a success rate near one hundred percent and that the academy could later increase soul ring ages.
• Qian Feng declined his homeroom teacher's offer to help him obtain a hundred-year soul ring and stayed at the academy for the holiday.
• Qian Feng visited Huo Yuhao and said he was ready to learn shared soul ring technology once he officially became a soul master.

Huo Yuhao showed Qian Feng how his research stored and shared soul rings, then recommended an enhancement skill for Qian Feng’s first soul ring. Qian Feng accepted the choice, and Huo Yuhao began preparing him to take over this work in the future.

• Huo Yuhao reviewed Qian Feng’s stable mental state and lack of martial soul outbursts over the past year.
• Huo Yuhao explained that his research could separate soul rings with very few failures and share them between compatible Soul Masters.
• Huo Yuhao took Qian Feng to a room filled with soul tools and showed him the improved Soul Ring Storage Device, which could preserve human soul rings indefinitely with a steady supply of soul power.
• Huo Yuhao selected a strength-enhancing soul ring from a scythe-type tool martial soul and explained that it would remain useful at higher ranks.
• Qian Feng considered Huo Yuhao’s advice and agreed to choose the enhancement skill.

Huo Yuhao demanded that Shrek Academy apologize directly to Qian Feng and Mingdou Academy for falsely accusing him, rejecting Xuan Zi’s carefully limited apology. Xuan Zi escalated the dispute by unleashing his pressure, and Huo Yuhao answered by sending his wine gourd at him and preparing to settle the matter openly.

• Xuan Zi apologized to Douling’s emperor, Princess Xuelan, Sky Sun Douluo, and the spectators for disrupting the tournament, but did not apologize to Qian Feng or Mingdou Academy.
• Sky Sun Douluo urged Mingdou Academy to accept the apology and resume the match, but Huo Yuhao pointed out that Shrek had not apologized to his teammate.
• Xuan Zi accused Huo Yuhao of quibbling and defended Shrek’s suspicions, while Ye Guyi stated that Qian Feng was certainly not an Evil Soul Master.
• Xuan Zi invoked Shrek’s duty to guard against Evil Soul Masters and released his Level 98 Super Douluo pressure over the arena.
• Huo Yuhao kicked his wine gourd at Xuan Zi, whose aura was forced back as Huo Yuhao’s eyes glowed ice blue and he declared they would settle the matter clearly.