Chapter Summaries

Leng Xiyue revealed that Tang Hao was working for her, severing Yu Xiaogang’s last connection to Tang San and ordering the Ice Empress to remove him from Shrek Academy. She then assigned new training, ending with Dai Mubai questioning whether the three-against-seven fights would be too easy.

• Yu Xiaogang reminded Tang San to keep his Martial Soul’s connection to Tang Hao secret, but Leng Xiyue revealed that Tang Hao had been captured and now worked for her.
• Ning Rongrong and Dai Mubai recognized Tang San’s father as Haotian Douluo, while Ning Rongrong rejected Yu Xiaogang’s theories as the explanation for Tang San’s innate full soul power.
• Leng Xiyue ordered the Ice Empress to drag Yu Xiaogang away, and Tang San watched without pity before asking about his father.
• Leng Xiyue reassured Tang San that she would protect Tang Hao and let him explain his own affairs later.
• Flender reflected on his long friendship with Yu Xiaogang, and Leng Xiyue assigned devil training to Qinghan, Tang San, Xiao Wu, Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing, while Dai Mubai, Oscar, and Ma Hongjun would lead three-against-seven team Soul Fighting.
• Dai Mubai asked Leng Xiyue whether the three-against-seven fights would be too easy.

Three months later, the Imperial Fighting Team returned to the Great Soul Arena of Suotuo City, where Manager Ao asked them to face the Shrek Seven Devils. Qin Ming understood the arena hoped the matchup would balance the betting, though he doubted his team could win.

• Qin Ming praised Yu Tianheng's progress, while Yu Tianheng dismissed the arena's opponents and Dugu Yan encouraged his confidence.
• A staff member recognized the Imperial Fighting Team's badge and fetched Manager Ao after learning the Shrek Seven Devils had returned and registered for a match.
• Qin Ming and Yu Tianheng discussed Shrek's reputation, and Yu Tianheng showed interest in challenging the team.
• Manager Ao told Qin Ming that Shrek's registration had drawn two million Gold Soul Coins in wagers and that repeated losses had brought the arena close to bankruptcy.
• Qin Ming questioned whether the Imperial Fighting Team could defeat Shrek, and Manager Ao admitted he hoped their fan bases would balance the betting and reduce the arena's losses.

Qin Ming agreed to have the Imperial Fighting Team face the Shrek Seven Devils and reviewed their opponents’ roster with the team. After Dugu Yan rallied the discouraged fighters, Yu Tianheng began planning their strategy before they headed to the Central Main Soul Fighting Arena.

• Qin Ming accepted Manager Ao’s invitation and received information on the Shrek Seven Devils.
• Manager Ao summoned the Imperial Fighting Team and Qin Ming showed them the Shrek roster.
• The Imperial Fighting Team worried about Shrek’s strength and its two Soul Ancestors.
• Dugu Yan proposed a plan to target Shrek’s weaker members and encouraged the team to fight.
• Yu Tianheng and Dugu Yan began working out tactics, and Qin Ming led the team to the Central Main Soul Fighting Arena.

Leng Xiyue learned that the Shrek Seven Devils would face the Imperial Fighting Team, while Flender discussed buying an academy in Heaven Dou City and pursuing Liu Erlong. The two teams entered the arena for their headline match, which had not yet begun.

• Leng Xiyue discovered that the Shrek Seven Devils' next opponents were the Imperial Fighting Team, and Flender and Zhao Wuji looked forward to profiting from the favorable betting odds.
• Leng Xiyue asked Flender about buying a place in Heaven Dou City, and he recommended Blue Tyrant Academy, owned by his old friend Liu Erlong.
• Flender confessed that he loved Liu Erlong and had decided to pursue her; Leng Xiyue offered to send people to support him.
• Doudou introduced the headline match between the Shrek Seven Devils and the Imperial Fighting Team to the packed arena.
• Yu Tianheng led the Imperial Fighting Team onto the stage, while the relaxed Shrek Seven Devils entered from the other side.

The Shrek Seven Devils faced the Imperial Fighting Team in their final Suotuo City match, and Oscar’s sausages let the team copy Dai Mubai’s combat form. After the fight began, all seven prepared to unleash the Formless Heavenly Astral Sword, leaving the Imperial Fighting Team facing a potentially lethal assault.

• Oscar urged Dai Mubai to force Yu Tianheng to reveal his moves, while Dai Mubai said they should finish the match decisively.
• Flender and Zhao Wuji recognized Qin Ming as the Imperial Fighting Team’s leader and discussed his prospects at Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
• Shrek adopted a single-line snake formation, and Yu Tianheng arranged his team to meet it while protecting Ye Lingling.
• When Dugu Yan released her poison, the Shrek Seven Devils ate Oscar’s transparent sausages instead of attacking.
• Yu Tianheng realized Oscar’s food could empower the whole team and warned his teammates, but they had already eaten the sausages.
• Dai Mubai and the others transformed into forms resembling his Evil-Eyed White Tiger and charged the Imperial Fighting Team with Formless Heavenly Astral Swords.

The Shrek Seven Devils defeated the Imperial Fighting Team in less than a minute, leaving their opponents stunned. After Oscar invited them to visit Shrek Academy, Qin Ming urged his students to learn from the loss, while Qin Ming arrived to greet Flender and Zhao Wuji.

• The Shrek Seven Devils overwhelmed the Imperial Fighting Team, and Doudou declared them the winners.
• Oscar invited the defeated team to visit Shrek Academy, and Yu Tianheng accepted so they could learn about the team and Leng Xiyue.
• Qin Ming told his students to grow through defeat and suggested they visit Shrek Academy the next day.
• The Little Monsters returned to their private box and discussed where to eat.
• Qin Ming arrived at the private box and greeted Flender and Zhao Wuji.

Qin Ming reunited with Flender and Zhao Wuji at Shrek Academy, then learned that Leng Xiyue planned to merge teams for the tournament. The chapter ended with Leng Xiyue proposing that Heaven Dou lend players to compete under the Jiuzhou Heaven Dou Imperial Academy’s name.

• Qin Ming hurried to greet Flender and Zhao Wuji, calling himself a disciple of Shrek Academy.
• Flender introduced Qin Ming to Leng Xiyue, who welcomed him as a friend.
• At a hotel, Qin Ming described the tournament’s powerful rivals and the weakness of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy team.
• Leng Xiyue proposed that Heaven Dou lend players to the Jiuzhou Heaven Dou Imperial Academy’s team and promised to give them chances to compete.
• Qin Ming heard how the arrangement could improve Heaven Dou’s prestige while strengthening the combined team.

Qin Ming agreed to arrange visits between the Imperial Fighting Team and Shrek Academy, while Leng Xiyue revealed that the Little Monsters were not intended to be Jiuzhou’s championship team. During the Shrek visit, Ye Lingling sought an audience with the Empress, and the Ice Empress revealed that both Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan had problems she could help resolve.

• Leng Xiyue told Qin Ming that the Little Monsters would compete as the second team while another team aimed to win the championship.
• Qin Ming proposed reciprocal academy visits, and Leng Xiyue agreed.
• Qin Ming brought the Imperial Fighting Team to Shrek Academy the next morning, where Ye Lingling asked to see the Empress.
• Dugu Yan accompanied Ye Lingling, and the Ice Empress offered to help resolve both women’s problems in exchange for a price.

Leng Xiyue offered to help Ye Lingling research a way around the Nine Heart Begonia lineage’s deadly inheritance and promised to cure Dugu Yan’s martial-soul poison. She invited Ye Lingling and her elder to join the Jiuzhou Empire, leaving Ye Lingling hopeful but with the decision still ahead of her.

• The Ice Empress brought Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling to meet Leng Xiyue after explaining that their problems could be solved.
• Leng Xiyue served them Blue Silver Emperor tea and said she planned to sell it as a luxury product.
• Leng Xiyue offered to research Ye Lingling’s lineage problem with a Jiuzhou Empire elder who also had the Nine Heart Begonia martial soul.
• Ye Lingling realized she had little attachment to the Heaven Dou Empire and grew hopeful about Leng Xiyue’s offer.
• Leng Xiyue invited Ye Lingling to work for her and promised to help fulfill a wish as advance payment.

Leng Xiyue offered to treat Dugu Yan and Dugu Bo’s life-bound poison in exchange for their cooperation, while Ye Lingling agreed to join her academy after the tournament. During Dugu Yan’s treatment, Qin Menglan and Ah Yin discussed whether Martial Souls could be grafted or used to improve ordinary people.

• Ye Lingling asked Leng Xiyue to treat Dugu Yan and explained that her grandfather had been unable to cure the poison afflicting Dugu Yan’s family.
• Leng Xiyue agreed to treat Dugu Yan and told her to have Dugu Bo come to Heaven Dou City to discuss his own treatment.
• Ah Yin treated Dugu Yan with a medicinal bath, explaining that the poison could return as her strength and Soul Rings advanced.
• Leng Xiyue invited Ye Lingling to report to her academy after the tournament, and Ye Lingling accepted while remaining with Huangdou for now.
• Qin Menglan proposed studying bloodlines and Martial Souls to improve ordinary people, and Ah Yin said Martial Soul grafting was possible, including through the sacrifice of a Soul Beast over three hundred thousand years old.
• Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling grew uneasy as Qin Menglan and Miho Nishizumi discussed grafting prisoners’ Martial Souls onto their own people.

Leng Xiyue used the Imperial Fighting Team’s visit to showcase the Jiuzhou Empire’s military and research strength, then led her party to Heaven Dou City to continue preparations for its tournament and assess their influence there. Luo Qianrou reported on the Trade Guild’s intelligence work and proposed using addictive drugs to control nobles, leaving Leng Xiyue to decide whether to permit the tactic.

• Leng Xiyue impressed Dugu Yan with the Jiuzhou Empire’s technology and arranged for her to report what she had seen to her grandfather.
• After the Imperial Fighting Team completed its visit, Flender told Leng Xiyue that Erlong had agreed to host them in Heaven Dou City.
• Leng Xiyue’s party traveled to Heaven Dou City and was welcomed at the Nine Provinces Trade Guild by Luo Qianrou and her aides.
• Leng Xiyue met privately with Luo Qianrou, who described the Trade Guild’s intelligence network, arms sales, and efforts to establish the Jiuzhou Empire’s financial system.
• Luo Qianrou presented a list of nobles who could be controlled with addictive drugs and offered to accept responsibility for using them, while Leng Xiyue questioned whether the tactic would make them like the Governor’s Residence.

Leng Xiyue reassured Luo Qianrou that she would take responsibility for any coercive methods used to protect the people under her rule. As the Jiuzhou Empire expanded its influence through Heaven Dou’s new army, informants, and Nine Provinces Coin, the chapter left Heaven Dou vulnerable to a financial war it had little means to fight.

• Luo Qianrou declared her loyalty to Leng Xiyue, crediting her with giving former slaves security and influence.
• Leng Xiyue said she wanted exploited people to live peacefully and would accept blame herself if she ever ordered them controlled by force.
• After Qian Renxue secured authority to form a new army, opposition members within Heaven Dou began working with Luo Qianrou as informants.
• The Nine Provinces Trade Guild spread Nine Provinces Coin, offering both banknotes and digital transactions redeemable for Gold Soul Coins.
• Leng Xiyue considered using the currency’s reach to manipulate Heaven Dou’s grain market, while Heaven Dou lacked an effective response short of outlawing the currency and preparing for war.

Leng Xiyue continued expanding the Nine Provinces Trade Guild’s influence in Heaven Dou and planned an official visit to the emperor. She then took Tian Meng and Ma Hongjun to approach Moonlight Pavilion, hoping to seize control of its intelligence network with a forged Clear Sky identity token.

• Leng Xiyue approved Luo Qianrou’s intelligence network and told her to warn the Heaven Dou Emperor that she would visit the Imperial Palace in three days.
• The group enjoyed shopping on Heaven Dou City’s Commercial Street while Tian Meng and Ma Hongjun lamented that they were both single.
• Tian Meng suggested that Dugu Bo’s treasure land might contain something to permanently resolve Ma Hongjun’s Evil Fire problem.
• Leng Xiyue invited Tian Meng and Ma Hongjun to Moonlight Pavilion, an intelligence organization that could help the Trade Guild reach the nobility.
• Leng Xiyue revealed a forged Clear Sky Identity Token and planned to use it to persuade Moonlight Pavilion’s owner to hand over the organization.

Leng Xiyue visited Moonlight Pavilion with Ma Hongjun and Tian Meng, using Tang Hao’s token to request an audience with Tang Yuehua. After Ma Hongjun threw out a man who mocked them, Tang Yuehua welcomed Leng Xiyue upstairs and arranged for her companions to be served separately.

• Leng Xiyue, Ma Hongjun, and Tian Meng arrived at Moonlight Pavilion, where Leng Xiyue handed an attendant Tang Hao’s token and asked to see the owner, Tang Yuehua.
• A wealthy man mocked Leng Xiyue for thinking she could meet Tang Yuehua, and Ma Hongjun grabbed him and kicked him out of the pavilion.
• Tang Yuehua descended the stairs, recognized Leng Xiyue, and invited her upstairs.
• Leng Xiyue asked Tang Yuehua to arrange suitable service for Ma Hongjun and Tian Meng, who then went with attendants to a private room.

Leng Xiyue manipulated Tang Yuehua into believing Tang Hao had been captured and threatened with execution, then used the fear for her brother to make Tang Yuehua reveal her past relationship with Xue Ye. Tang Yuehua agreed to provide Leng Xiyue with information, realizing she was being drawn into a plan in Heaven Dou.

• Tang Yuehua mistook Leng Xiyue's possession of Tang Hao's identification token as proof that Tang Hao had been captured, and begged for his life.
• Leng Xiyue claimed Tang Hao had attacked trade routes and would be executed unless he cooperated, then asked Tang Yuehua about her relationship with Xue Ye.
• Leng Xiyue displayed a sound-recording Soul Tool, and Tang Yuehua admitted that she had once been romantically involved with Xue Ye to establish herself in Heaven Dou City.
• Leng Xiyue put away the Soul Tool, promised to protect Tang Yuehua and Tang Hao, and asked her to prepare a copy of her information.
• Tang Yuehua agreed and realized Leng Xiyue had begun placing her pieces in Heaven Dou.

Leng Xiyue visited Tang Yuehua at Moonlight Pavilion, where they shared tea with Xiao Bai and discussed Tang Yuehua’s past. Tang Yuehua recalled how the Clear Sky Sect’s withdrawal after Tang Hao’s affair ended her marriage prospects with Xue Ye.

• Leng Xiyue asked Tang Yuehua to serve tea and brought Xiao Bai, whom she introduced as her Martial Soul and dear sister.
• Tang Yuehua brewed imperial tribute tea, and Leng Xiyue praised its refreshing effects while Xiao Bai found its taste unimpressive.
• Tang Yuehua explained that Xue Ye trusted her and reflected that she had been born at the wrong time.
• Tang Yuehua recalled that she and Xue Ye had once planned to marry, but the Clear Sky Sect’s withdrawal after Tang Hao’s affair destroyed the match.

Tang Yuehua soothed Leng Xiyue and Xiao Bai with a restorative bath and zither music, and Leng Xiyue fell into a peaceful sleep. When someone knocked with what seemed to be serious news, Xiao Bai offered to handle the matter with Tang Yuehua so Leng Xiyue could keep resting.

• Tang Yuehua asked Leng Xiyue to spare Xue Ye, and Leng Xiyue said it would depend on Tang Yuehua's performance.
• Tang Yuehua changed Leng Xiyue into a gauzy dress and joined her in the Moonlight Pavilion's costly medicinal bath.
• Leng Xiyue and Xiao Bai relaxed in the bath, and Tang Yuehua played the zither until Leng Xiyue fell asleep.
• Tang Yuehua heard a knock at the door and prepared to find out what had happened.
• Xiao Bai offered to accompany Tang Yuehua and deal with the matter so Leng Xiyue would not be disturbed.

Ma Hongjun defeated Xue Beng’s fighters after Xue Beng caused trouble at the Moonlight Pavilion, and Xiao Bai arrived with Tian Meng to prevent the dispute from implicating the pavilion. When Xue Beng’s uncle brought armed guards to arrest Ma Hongjun, a young girl stepped in front of him.

• Head Steward Aude told Tang Yuehua that Ma Hongjun had beaten Xue Beng’s men and warned that the fourth prince might bring his elders.
• Tang Yuehua went downstairs and found Ma Hongjun taunting the defeated fighters while Tian Meng watched.
• Xiao Bai arrived, told Tian Meng to keep the conflict from causing trouble for the Moonlight Pavilion, and approved Ma Hongjun’s actions after hearing why he had fought.
• Xue Beng’s uncle arrived with armed guards, accused Ma Hongjun of attacking a prince, and ordered the guards to seize him.
• A young girl stepped in front of Ma Hongjun just as Tian Meng rose to intervene.

Xue Ke defended Ma Hongjun when Prince Xue Xing tried to arrest him, but Tian Meng drove off Dugu Bo and the imperial party. The group returned to the Moonlight Pavilion, where Xue Ke performed for Ma Hongjun, who enjoyed her company but felt he had no standing to pursue her.

• Xue Ke stood between Ma Hongjun and Prince Xue Xing's guards, urging Xue Beng to stop causing trouble.
• Dugu Bo spread sleeping poison toward Ma Hongjun and Xue Ke, but Tian Meng dispelled it and ordered him to leave.
• Dugu Bo fled, and Prince Xue Xing took Xue Beng and the others away.
• Xue Ke thanked Tian Meng and spoke with Ma Hongjun before Tang Yuehua invited them inside the Moonlight Pavilion.
• Xue Ke performed for Ma Hongjun, who enjoyed her company but doubted he could pursue a princess or influence Tian Meng.

After enjoying Tang Yuehua’s bathhouse, Leng Xiyue met Xue Ke and agreed to bring her along to Blue Tyrant Academy. Xue Ke hoped to build ties with Leng Xiyue, who also saw potential use in the princess’s position.

• Leng Xiyue woke after bathing, drank Tang Yuehua’s tea, and asked her to prepare more of the treatment for future visits.
• Leng Xiyue found Tian Meng and Ma Hongjun talking with Xue Ke, then learned that Xue Ke was Crown Prince Xue Qinghe’s younger sister.
• Leng Xiyue praised Xue Qinghe and Xue Ye while warning against the Star Luo Empire during her conversation with Xue Ke.
• As Leng Xiyue prepared to meet Flender’s group at Blue Tyrant Academy, Xue Ke asked to accompany her, and Leng Xiyue agreed.
• Tang Yuehua watched Leng Xiyue and the others leave, then returned to make arrangements.