Recaps

Lu Ning’s intimate encounter with Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing continued while Bibi Dong and Yu Xiaogang discussed Lu Ning’s growing influence and the possibility of having the Worship Hall eliminate him. Salas reported that Lu Ning had killed Huyan Zhen and Shi Nian, and the chapter ended with Bibi Dong learning that he had once defeated Tai Tan.

• Lu Ning undid Ning Rongrong’s ties, and Ning Rongrong then undid Zhu Zhuqing’s ties and began kissing her.
• Bibi Dong told Yu Xiaogang that Lu Ning might be behind several recent developments and promised to find someone to deal with him.
• Bibi Dong and Yu Xiaogang discussed Qian Daoliu and the Worship Hall’s Titled Douluo as possible threats to Lu Ning.
• Bibi Dong summoned Salas and identified Yu Xiaogang as a newly appointed Spirit Hall elder entitled to hear its secrets.
• Salas reported that Lu Ning had at least four Soul Douluo and one Titled Douluo protecting him, and that Huyan Zhen and Shi Nian had both died after attacking him.
• Bibi Dong questioned Salas about intelligence that Lu Ning had defeated Tai Tan, and Salas said the only reliable witnesses were four Heaven Dou Royal Academy faculty members.

Lu Ning traveled with the Heaven Dou Empire’s teams toward Spirit City for the tournament Finals, where Ma Hongjun boasted that rival teams had given up on the championship. His teasing sparked an argument with Huo Wu, while the girls of Skywater Academy watched Lu Ning and Shui Bing’er remarked that she wished he had really left.

• Meng Shenji explained the tournament schedule to Lu Ning and told him the teams would depart at noon under military escort.
• The Heaven Dou Empire’s sixteen teams set out for Spirit City alongside the Star Luo Empire’s teams and Spirit Hall’s seeded team.
• Ma Hongjun told Lu Ning and Oscar that he had discovered a way to cultivate his Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul, but Oscar mocked his explanation.
• Ma Hongjun said the rival academies had given up on winning the championship, prompting Huo Wu to challenge him to a fight in the arena.
• Girls from Skywater Academy secretly watched Lu Ning, and Shui Bing’er said it would have been better if he had really left.

Feng Xiaotian challenged Lu Ning and Dai Mubai to a match, but Zhu Zhuqing stopped him from reaching their carriage. Lu Ning offered to have Dai Mubai fight Feng Xiaotian in exchange for learning the core principles of Feng Xiaotian’s Thirty-Six Slashes, and Feng Xiaotian agreed.

• Shui Bing'er discussed rumors about Lu Ning’s strength and said her team would forfeit if they faced Imperial Battle Team One.
• Feng Xiaotian jumped onto Dai Mubai’s carriage and challenged Lu Ning to a match before they reached Spirit City.
• Dai Mubai tried to kick Feng Xiaotian off the carriage, but Feng Xiaotian avoided him and moved toward Lu Ning’s carriage.
• Zhu Zhuqing kicked Feng Xiaotian down to the ground, surprising him with her speed and strength.
• Lu Ning offered to have Dai Mubai fight Feng Xiaotian if Feng Xiaotian explained the core principles of his Self-Created Soul Skill, the Thirty-Six Slashes.
• Feng Xiaotian agreed to share the skill and asked Lu Ning to tell him if he later found a way to fix its flaws.

Feng Xiaotian explained his self-created soul skill, Thirty-Six Slashes, to Dai Mubai before asking Lu Ning to fight him instead. Lu Ning fought without releasing his martial soul, effortlessly countered Feng Xiaotian’s attacks, and took to the air without wings as Feng Xiaotian began his strongest technique.

• Feng Xiaotian explained how Thirty-Six Slashes built power through successive attacks, and Lu Ning understood how the technique worked.
• Lu Ning agreed to spar with Feng Xiaotian after Feng Xiaotian said he wanted to face him rather than Dai Mubai.
• Lu Ning refused to release his martial soul and kicked apart Feng Xiaotian’s ten wind blades with his bare leg.
• Feng Xiaotian activated Twin Wolf Possession, took to the sky, and began Thirty-Six Slashes with the intent to defeat Lu Ning.
• Lu Ning rose into the air without wings and moved faster than Feng Xiaotian, leaving Huo Wu stunned by the gap between their abilities.

Lu Ning defeated Feng Xiaotian without using his Martial Soul, then led the team into Spirit City for the tournament finals. As the teams arrived, Yu Xiaogang and Spirit Hall’s geniuses watched from above and dismissed the Heaven Dou Empire’s competitors as ordinary.

• Lu Ning defeated Feng Xiaotian in a few moves, using only his physical strength and leaving Feng Xiaotian unable to build up his Self-Created Soul Skill.
• Lu Ning warned Feng Xiaotian that he was neglecting his foundations by creating Soul Skills before reaching a higher rank, and Feng Xiaotian accepted the advice.
• The team arrived in Spirit City, where Ning Rongrong explained Spirit Hall’s support among low- and mid-ranking Soul Masters.
• Lu Ning entered Spirit City with the team and explained that the seeded teams would receive a first-round bye before competing in four matches.
• Yu Xiaogang, Xie Yue, Hu Liena, and Yan watched the arriving teams from the city gate tower, and Hu Liena and Yan judged the Heaven Dou competitors to be ordinary.

The Spirit Hall trio recognized Lu Ning as a terrifying threat, and Yu Xiaogang devised a plan to eliminate him with their Martial Soul Fusion Skill. Meanwhile, Shrek’s opponents kept forfeiting, leaving the championship within reach as Flender explained the final round’s format.

• Yan, Hu Liena, and Xie Yue sensed Lu Ning’s overwhelming strength and feared he could prevent Spirit Hall from winning the championship.
• Yu Xiaogang told the Spirit Hall trio to use their Martial Soul Fusion Skill to send Lu Ning out of the arena, even if it cost most of their team.
• Xie Yue accepted the plan, while Hu Liena privately considered using her charm to persuade Lu Ning to join Spirit Hall.
• The Skywater Team, Blazing Fire Team, and Divine Wind Team forfeited to Shrek, advancing them directly to the fifth round alongside the Imperial Fighting Team, Star Luo Royal Academy Team, and Spirit Hall Team.
• Flender explained that the final round began with individual matches, and he believed Lu Ning could win Shrek a place in the winners’ bracket by defeating fourteen opponents in succession.

The Shrek and Imperial Fighting teams agreed that Lu Ning would hold the line while the others took turns competing. Ma Hongjun faced Yan and unleashed Phoenix Roaring Sky Strike, leaving Yan engulfed in flames as he tried to protect himself.

• Ma Hongjun, Yu Tianheng, and Flender persuaded the team to let them compete instead of having Lu Ning fight everyone alone.
• Yu Xiaogang sent Yan to face Ma Hongjun and warned him not to underestimate the Evil Fire Phoenix martial soul.
• Yan dominated Ma Hongjun early in the match, while Lu Ning said he would give Ma Hongjun a gift after the competition.
• Ma Hongjun grabbed Yan and held him in place as his fourth soul skill charged beneath them.
• Ma Hongjun unleashed Phoenix Roaring Sky Strike, and Yan used Granite Rock to shield his whole body from the pillar of fire.

After Ma Hongjun was badly injured by Yan, Lu Ning prepared to take the next match, but Zhu Zhuqing insisted on facing her older sister Zhu Zhuyun herself. The sisters revealed their different levels of strength, and Zhu Zhuyun launched the opening attack.

• Yan threw the incapacitated Ma Hongjun onto the arena, but Yu Xiaogang ordered Yan to withdraw and Spirit Hall forfeited the second match.
• Lu Ning carried Ma Hongjun back, and Ye Lingling healed him; Zhu Zhuqing rejected Lu Ning's offer to fight and chose to face Zhu Zhuyun.
• Zhu Zhuyun urged Zhu Zhuqing to return home and accept the family’s punishment, while Zhu Zhuqing accused her of hypocrisy and stepped onto the stage.
• Zhu Zhuqing revealed that she had become a Soul King, surpassing Zhu Zhuyun, a level forty-seven Soul Ancestor.
• Zhu Zhuyun charged at Zhu Zhuqing and used her First Soul Skill, Hell Stab.

Zhu Zhuqing defeated Zhu Zhuyun in the individual match, revealing that her soul bones had made her far stronger than her sister expected. The Star Luo and Spirit Hall teams both withdrew from the individual matches to conserve their strength for the losers' bracket and team battles, while Lu Ning checked that Ma Hongjun had recovered.

• Zhu Zhuqing overpowered Zhu Zhuyun's Hell Stab with her own, and Zhu Zhuyun realized her sister possessed soul bones.
• Zhu Zhuqing used her Netherworld Shadow Clone and Netherworld Slash, but referees blocked the attack before it could badly injure Zhu Zhuyun, and Shrek Academy won.
• Zhu Zhuyun accepted her elimination and asked Zhu Zhuqing to spare Dai Weisi if she ever took the throne; Zhu Zhuqing made no promise.
• Dai Weisi withdrew the Star Luo Team from the individual matches and entered the losers' bracket team match.
• Yu Xiaogang withdrew the Spirit Hall Team from the individual matches, explaining that he wanted Xie Yue to save his secret techniques and martial soul fusion skill for the final match.
• Lu Ning confirmed that Ma Hongjun had recovered, and Ma Hongjun praised Lu Ning's healing before Ye Lingling teased him.

Lu Ning chose the seven members for the final team match and arranged for Zhu Zhuqing, Dugu Yan, and Rongrong to leave Spirit City. As Zhu Zhuqing departed, she told Zhu Zhuyun that she loved Lu Ning and had never loved Dai Mubai, while Zhu Zhuyun stayed behind to see what storm Lu Ning would stir up before Spirit Hall.

• Ma Hongjun asked whether Yan had fought again, and Lu Ning promised to avenge him without revealing the Azure Luan Soul Bone.
• Lu Ning told Flender that the final team would include himself, Ma Hongjun, Dai Mubai, Oscar, Yu Tianheng, Yu Feng, and Ye Lingling, while Dugu Yan, Zhu Zhuqing, and Rongrong would leave with Flender and Bai Baoshan.
• The Star Luo Empire Team lost to the Spirit Hall Team, and Dai Weisi grew wary when members of the Imperial Fighting Team departed before their last match.
• Zhu Zhuyun saw Zhu Zhuqing off and asked whether Lu Ning was the one she loved; Zhu Zhuqing confirmed it and said she had never had feelings for Dai Mubai.
• Zhu Zhuyun warned that the Zhu clan elders would punish Zhu Zhuqing for defying the family’s rules, then chose to remain in Spirit City and watch what Lu Ning would do before Spirit Hall.

At the Continental Advanced Academy Soul Master Tournament in Spirit City, Lu Ning asked Pope Bibi Dong to witness his agreement with Yu Xiaogang after the match. The Imperial Fighting Team and Spirit Hall Team prepared to face off, with the Imperial Fighting Team entering without a control system Soul Master.

• Pope Bibi Dong displayed three Soul Bones as the tournament’s reward and praised Lu Ning before the assembled Soul Masters.
• Lu Ning reminded Bibi Dong that he and Yu Xiaogang had an agreement, and she agreed to bear witness after the match.
• Yu Xiaogang said he would honor the agreement, though Bibi Dong sensed unease in his evasive behavior.
• Xie Yue led Spirit Hall Team into the arena, while Lu Ning led the Imperial Fighting Team, whose lineup lacked a control system Soul Master.
• Yu Xiaogang and Yue Guan questioned the Imperial Fighting Team’s lineup and discussed the unexplained departures of Dugu Yan, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing.
• The referee ordered both teams to release their Martial Souls.

Lu Ning revealed that he was a fifteen-year-old Soul Saint with two Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings, forcing Spirit Hall’s team to surrender. Bibi Dong offered him an Elder’s position, but he declined and went to claim the three soul bones.

• Lu Ning released the Azure Lotus Sword and revealed an extraordinary soul ring configuration, including two Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings.
• Bibi Dong and the spectators realized Lu Ning was a Soul Saint, and the Spirit Hall referees recognized that the match could become a massacre.
• Xie Yue surrendered on behalf of Spirit Hall’s team, and Bibi Dong accepted the forfeit.
• Bibi Dong offered Lu Ning entry into the Elder Hall, but Lu Ning declined to join any faction for the time being.
• Bibi Dong kept Spirit Hall’s doors open to Lu Ning and directed him to claim the three soul bones prepared as the grand prize.

After Shrek won the tournament, Lu Ning claimed all three Soul Bones and accepted them into his storage space, intending to reroll their traits before distributing them. He then confronted Yu Xiaogang about their old wager, but Bibi Dong began defending Yu Xiaogang and questioned whether the agreement could be enforced before the three years were up.

• Yu Tianheng urged Lu Ning to collect the three Soul Bones, while Ma Hongjun hoped to receive the flame right arm bone; Lu Ning claimed all three, and the Shrek members accepted his decision.
• Lu Ning collected the Soul Bones from Bibi Dong, planning to exchange them for better ones before giving them to his companions.
• Lu Ning reminded Yu Xiaogang of their agreement and said he could not keep avoiding him after the tournament.
• Bibi Dong asked Yu Xiaogang to explain the agreement and offered to judge it, while privately looking for grounds to annul it.
• Yu Xiaogang described the agreement as a joke and accused Lu Ning of using his champion status to coerce Spirit Hall; Lu Ning countered by suggesting Yu Xiaogang might have killed his missing students.
• Bibi Dong rebuked Lu Ning for making unsupported accusations, then argued that the students were absent and the three-year term had not yet ended.

Bibi Dong guaranteed Yu Xiaogang would honor his six-month bet with Lu Ning, while Spirit Hall agreed to let witnesses attend if the wager came due. After the visitors departed, Lu Ning warned Gu Rong that Bibi Dong would retaliate and suggested the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect relocate to Heaven Dou City.

• Ning Fengzhi accepted Bibi Dong as Yu Xiaogang's guarantor and agreed to bear the punishment if Lu Ning failed to appear in six months.
• Lu Ning asked that witnesses be allowed to attend when the bet was honored, and Golden Crocodile Douluo declared that Spirit Hall welcomed Soul Masters from across the world.
• Bibi Dong ordered the visitors out, while Dai Weisi instructed his companions to report truthfully and discussed Zhu Zhuqing's possible expulsion from the Star Luo Empire.
• The Imperial Fighting Team left Spirit City, and Ma Hongjun and Yu Tianheng praised Lu Ning's confrontation with Yu Xiaogang.
• Gu Rong invited Lu Ning to stay with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, but Lu Ning suggested that the sect move to Heaven Dou City to avoid Bibi Dong's retaliation.