Chapter Summaries

At Shrek Academy, Yu Xiaogang tried to expel Lu Ning for drinking, but Lu Ning challenged his authority and accepted a one-year life-and-death combat challenge against Tang San. Yu Xiaogang ordered Tang San to surpass him, while Dai Mubai warned Ma Hongjun not to give Yu Xiaogang another excuse to expel Lu Ning.

• Yu Xiaogang demanded that Flender expel Lu Ning for drinking, but Flender argued that Lu Ning’s drinking did not interfere with his cultivation or classes.
• Lu Ning told Yu Xiaogang that his criticism would matter only if Yu Xiaogang or one of his disciples could defeat him, and Yu Xiaogang challenged Tang San to surpass Lu Ning in life-and-death combat within a year.
• Lu Ning accepted the challenge and left, while Flender tried to explain his strength and past help to Yu Xiaogang.
• Yu Xiaogang ordered Tang San to surpass Lu Ning, and Tang San agreed despite feeling uncomfortable with the insult.
• Ma Hongjun urged Lu Ning to go out drinking, but Dai Mubai warned him that Yu Xiaogang might use it as another reason to expel Lu Ning.

Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai discussed Grandmaster and his advice, while Ning Rongrong explained Grandmaster’s history with Flender to Xiao Wu. Still drunk after a night of drinking, Lu Ning wandered into the girls’ dorm and mistook Ning Rongrong for Ma Hongjun.

• Ma Hongjun dismissed Grandmaster’s authority, but Dai Mubai defended Grandmaster’s reputation and told Ma Hongjun to focus on cultivation.
• Ning Rongrong told Xiao Wu that Grandmaster and Flender had once been part of the Golden Iron Triangle, whose Martial Soul Fusion Skill could challenge a Titled Douluo.
• Ning Rongrong argued that Grandmaster’s cultivation theories might not suit everyone, and Xiao Wu agreed before they went to sleep.
• Lu Ning woke in the middle of the night to relieve himself, then drunkenly entered the girls’ dorm and climbed into bed beside Ning Rongrong.
• Lu Ning mistook Ning Rongrong’s body for Ma Hongjun’s until he noticed the difference and realized whom he had touched.

Lu Ning accidentally entered Ning Rongrong and Xiao Wu’s room after drinking fake wine, though Ning Rongrong only realized who had visited the next morning. At the village entrance, Yu Xiaogang ordered Lu Ning to leave before the first lesson began.

• Lu Ning withdrew his hand from Ning Rongrong, quietly left the room, and Ning Rongrong woke briefly but convinced herself she had imagined the visitor.
• Ning Rongrong got up early and urged Xiao Wu to hurry to Yu Xiaogang’s first lesson, wary that he might target someone after failing to make an example of Lu Ning.
• At the village entrance, Ning Rongrong asked Dai Mubai about Lu Ning and heard that he had stayed in his room after drinking too much.
• Lu Ning arrived cursing a wine peddler for selling him fake wine, and he traded barbs with Ma Hongjun and Ning Rongrong.
• Yu Xiaogang ordered Lu Ning to leave, saying he was not qualified to train and should not disrupt the lesson.

Yu Xiaogang drove Lu Ning away from the training area, but Lu Ning defended his right to pour wine at the village drainage ditch. Yu Xiaogang then used Tang San’s victory over Dai Mubai to argue that Soul Power alone could not decide battles, prompting Dai Mubai to challenge him.

• Yu Xiaogang told Lu Ning to leave, and Lu Ning argued that he was outside the classroom and had every right to use the village ditch.
• Yu Xiaogang asked Tang San about his third Soul Skill, then arranged for Tang San to fight Dai Mubai.
• Tang San restrained Dai Mubai with Spider Web Restraint and its poison, winning the duel.
• Yu Xiaogang used the fight to claim combat awareness mattered more than Soul Power and indirectly disparaged Lu Ning.
• Ma Hongjun challenged Yu Xiaogang’s reasoning, but Yu Xiaogang dismissed his argument.
• Dai Mubai offered to fight Yu Xiaogang, saying his higher Soul Power would make the test fairer.

Yu Xiaogang’s argument with Dai Mubai escalated until Lu Ning challenged Tang San to prove that Yu Xiaogang’s theories were not universal. The duel began with Lu Ning revealing his Azure Lotus Sword and three thousand-year Soul Rings, shocking Yu Xiaogang.

• Yu Xiaogang rejected Dai Mubai’s criticism and threatened that he could leave Shrek Academy if he refused to follow his teachings.
• Dai Mubai denounced Yu Xiaogang’s credentials and said he would stop funding Shrek Academy, while Tang San defended his teacher.
• Lu Ning accused Yu Xiaogang of using him to establish authority and challenged Tang San to a duel with any methods allowed.
• Yu Xiaogang agreed to the duel and said Lu Ning could leave Shrek Academy if he lost.
• Tang San introduced himself as a level-thirty-one Blue Silver Grass Control System Battle Soul Elder, and Lu Ning revealed his level-thirty-nine Azure Lotus Sword and three thousand-year Soul Rings.

Lu Ning overwhelmed Tang San in their fight, first countering his Blue Silver Grass skills with the Azure Lotus Sword and then using his Wine Gourd to absorb Tang San’s hidden weapon and pull him in for a kick. He mocked Yu Xiaogang for treating general Soul Ring theories as rules that applied to everyone.

• Yu Xiaogang saw Lu Ning’s three Thousand-Year Soul Rings and assumed he had twin Martial Souls, then berated him for adding Soul Rings before becoming a Titled Douluo.
• Tang San attacked Lu Ning with Spider Web Restraint, but Lu Ning cut through it with Banishing Immortal Sword Breaks Illusions.
• Tang San followed with Blue Silver Entanglement, and Lu Ning again destroyed the attack with his first Soul Skill.
• Yu Xiaogang told Tang San to use his weapons, so Tang San launched a Sleeve Arrow at Lu Ning.
• Lu Ning summoned his Wine Gourd and used Clouds in the Azure Sky, Water in the Bottle to absorb the Sleeve Arrow and drag Tang San within reach, then kicked him away.
• Lu Ning called Tang San trash and told Yu Xiaogang that his theories could not be forced onto every individual case.

After defeating Yu Xiaogang, Lu Ning rejected his claims that his teaching had made Tang San strong and refused a proposed student-training contest. Flender persuaded Lu Ning to compete for Shrek Academy, and Lu Ning agreed to a three-year challenge with a humiliating penalty for Yu Xiaogang if he lost.

• Lu Ning explained that his strength and soul rings came from his own unusual circumstances, then argued that Tang San's talent and hidden weapons—not Yu Xiaogang's teaching—made him strong.
• Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun agreed that Yu Xiaogang had not taught Tang San his hidden weapons, and Ma Hongjun suggested comparing students after a period of training.
• Yu Xiaogang challenged Lu Ning to train students separately and compare their soul power, combat ability, and improvement after a year, but Lu Ning refused because he was still a student.
• Flender secretly urged Lu Ning to accept the contest and offered to make Yu Xiaogang kowtow if Lu Ning won.
• Lu Ning agreed to compete over three years, demanding that Yu Xiaogang run naked around Spirit City with his underwear over his head if he lost.

Lu Ning and Yu Xiaogang agreed to a three-year teaching wager, with the loser facing a humiliating punishment in Spirit City. Zhao Wuji chose Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing as Lu Ning’s students, and both girls accepted the arrangement for their own reasons.

• Lu Ning proposed that the loser strip, put their underwear on their head, and run three laps around Spirit City, and Yu Xiaogang accepted the wager while adding his own terms.
• Yu Xiaogang stipulated that Zhao Wuji would choose two students for Lu Ning to teach for three years, and they would compete against Tang San and Xiao Wu.
• Zhao Wuji selected Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing, reasoning privately that their lower soul ranks could give Lu Ning an advantage over Tang San and Xiao Wu.
• Lu Ning accepted the students Zhao Wuji chose, and Zhu Zhuqing approached him because she wanted to grow stronger and survive her family’s struggle.
• Ning Rongrong also joined Lu Ning, deciding she could return to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect if his teaching proved inadequate.

Lu Ning promised Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong a better way to increase the age of the Soul Rings they could absorb, then led them toward Suotuo City instead of starting a workout. He offered them a drink from his Wine Gourd, but the chapter ended before revealing what it was or explaining his method.

• Tang San, Xiao Wu, and the others ran laps while Zhao Wuji and Flender prepared medicinal herbs for their baths.
• Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing woke Lu Ning, and Ning Rongrong demanded that he begin their training.
• Lu Ning claimed exercise improved Soul Ring absorption limits only slowly and said he knew a better method, but warned that they might not dare try it.
• Lu Ning took Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing on a stroll toward Suotuo City, leaving the others to train.
• Lu Ning offered the girls a sip from his White Jade Gourd, and Ning Rongrong scolded him for encouraging them to drink.

Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong discovered that Lu Ning’s Wine Gourd made their Soul Power circulate automatically, while Lu Ning said he was going into the city to buy whale rubber to increase the age of Soul Rings they could absorb. Zhu Zhuqing explained that the Star Luo Imperial Family used whale rubber as an aphrodisiac, leaving Ning Rongrong frightened and questioning Lu Ning’s intentions.

• Zhu Zhuqing tasted Lu Ning’s wine and found that it made her Soul Power circulate faster on its own.
• Ning Rongrong drank from the Wine Gourd, experienced the same effect, and tried to get more before Lu Ning took it back.
• Ning Rongrong asked why Lu Ning was going into the city, and he said he planned to buy whale rubber to raise the age of Soul Rings they could absorb.
• Zhu Zhuqing explained that the Star Luo Imperial Family used whale rubber as an aphrodisiac to help emperors father children.
• Ning Rongrong backed away in fright and asked Lu Ning what he intended to do with the whale rubber.

Lu Ning took Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong to buy fine wine and whale rubber, while Zhu Zhuqing agreed to test a small piece to see whether it could help her absorb older Soul Rings. Back at Shrek Academy, Xiao Wu envied the trio’s leisurely day, and Yu Xiaogang extended the others’ training by half an hour.

• Ning Rongrong hesitated over Lu Ning’s whale rubber, but Zhu Zhuqing chose to trust him because she needed to grow stronger for the succession struggle.
• Ning Rongrong paid for Lu Ning’s Jade Spring Spirit Wine, then joined him and Zhu Zhuqing in searching Suotuo City for whale rubber.
• Lu Ning bought one ten-thousand-year piece and several smaller pieces, and Zhu Zhuqing took a thousand-year piece to test before asking for more.
• Xiao Wu complained that she and the others had trained all day while Lu Ning, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ning Rongrong had spent the day shopping.
• Tang San defended Yu Xiaogang’s training plan, and Yu Xiaogang ordered an extra half hour of training.

Xiao Wu complained about Yu Xiaogang’s exhausting training, while Zhu Zhuqing accidentally took whale rubber improperly and suffered severe side effects. Lu Ning identified her mistake, but Zhu Zhuqing’s condition was worsening as she asked what to do.

• Xiao Wu returned from training covered in mud and envied Ning Rongrong’s new dress and fun day out in Suotuo City.
• Xiao Wu asked Ning Rongrong to speak to Lu Ning about letting her join the girls’ training instead.
• Zhu Zhuqing softened thousand-year whale rubber over an ordinary wood fire, swallowed it, and felt intense side effects without any improvement to her physique.
• Zhu Zhuqing went to Lu Ning’s room and told him she had taken the whale rubber but felt strange.
• Lu Ning followed Zhu Zhuqing to her room, realized she had eaten the whale rubber after barely softening it, and warned that the side effects could be fatal.
• As Zhu Zhuqing’s condition worsened, she asked Lu Ning what she should do.

Zhu Zhuqing sought Lu Ning's help after taking whale glue incorrectly and finding its effects unbearable. After they spent the night together, she learned the improvement was modest and confronted him about his claim that her method was wrong.

• Lu Ning suggested Zhu Zhuqing relieve the whale glue's effects herself, then explained that his own method involved Flower Willow Lane.
• Zhu Zhuqing realized the force inside her would not fade on its own and asked Lu Ning to help her in secret.
• Lu Ning and Zhu Zhuqing spent the night together, driving away most of the force and absorbing the whale glue's power.
• Zhu Zhuqing asked how much her body had improved, and Lu Ning estimated it was only a few decades' worth because she had taken a small piece of thousand-year whale glue incorrectly.
• Zhu Zhuqing told Lu Ning to come back because she had something else to tell him.

Zhu Zhuqing asked Lu Ning why the effects of her whale rubber had not fully faded, and he explained that its hardness meant she would need several days to digest it. Later, Ning Rongrong got Lu Ning’s White Jade Gourd from him, while Yu Xiaogang remained confident that his students would outperform Lu Ning’s in three years.

• Zhu Zhuqing asked Lu Ning why she still felt the whale rubber’s power, and he said its hardness would make it take days to digest fully.
• Lu Ning left Zhu Zhuqing’s room, then returned to his own room and denied to Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai that he had visited Flower Willow Lane.
• Ning Rongrong knocked at Lu Ning’s door and demanded he get up for class, but Lu Ning declared a day off and handed her the White Jade Gourd to refill with wine.
• Ning Rongrong teased Dai Mubai about respecting her teacher, and Tang San said he had fetched wine for his father.
• Yu Xiaogang told Tang San not to argue and said the results of his bet with Lu Ning would speak for themselves in three years.

Ning Rongrong learned that whale rubber could raise a soul ring’s age limit and demanded Lu Ning’s ten-thousand-year supply. Lu Ning refused because he planned to visit Sunset Forest, and Ning Rongrong realized he might have reached level 40.

• Zhu Zhuqing drank from Lu Ning’s Wine Gourd and told Ning Rongrong that whale rubber worked, though its improvement was limited and its side effects were tolerable.
• Ning Rongrong calculated that regular whale rubber might let her obtain Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings and asked Zhu Zhuqing for some.
• Zhu Zhuqing said Lu Ning had the remaining whale rubber, including the ten-thousand-year piece.
• Ning Rongrong pounded on Lu Ning’s door and demanded the ten-thousand-year whale glue.
• Lu Ning refused, saying he was saving it for a planned trip to Sunset Forest.
• Ning Rongrong asked whether Lu Ning had broken through to level 40.

Lu Ning revealed that he had become a twelve-year-old Soul Ancestor, refused Ning Rongrong’s invitation to join the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and prepared to travel to the Star Dou Great Forest with his disciples. After Lu Ning departed with Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing, Tang San vowed to increase his training and surpass him.

• Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing were astonished when Lu Ning revealed he had reached level 40, and Ning Rongrong invited him to join the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, but he refused.
• Zhu Zhuqing asked how they would study during Lu Ning’s soul-hunting trip, so Lu Ning went to discuss the plan with Flender.
• Flender decided to take Lu Ning to the Star Dou Great Forest and agreed that Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing could come, offering to draw away Ning Rongrong’s guardians.
• Lu Ning, Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Flender set out for the Star Dou Great Forest while Dai Mubai and Yu Xiaogang worried about the gap between Lu Ning and the other students.
• Tang San told Yu Xiaogang that he would increase his training load and surpass Lu Ning to prove his teacher right.

Lu Ning and Flender searched the Star Dou Great Forest for a suitable offensive fourth soul ring but found none before nightfall. As Lu Ning kept watch, Zhu Zhuqing came to him for help with the surging power from the undigested whale rubber.

• Flender praised Tang San and vowed to use his connections and resources to train him.
• At the Star Dou Great Forest, Lu Ning told Flender he wanted an approximately twenty-five-thousand-year offensive soul beast suited to a sword martial soul.
• Flender led Lu Ning, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing through the Inner Area, but they found no suitable soul beast before nightfall.
• Flender assigned Lu Ning to keep watch while the others slept, then teased him that Zhu Zhuqing had feelings for him.
• Zhu Zhuqing emerged from her tent and asked Lu Ning to help her deal with the power churning inside her.

Lu Ning used his second Soul Skill to hide the campsite while he helped Zhu Zhuqing regulate her Soul Power through the night. By morning, Zhu Zhuqing had reached Level 28, and Lu Ning received a God-bestowed Soul Ring as he set out with Flender, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ning Rongrong to search deeper in the forest for an attack-type Soul Beast.

• Lu Ning enveloped the campsite in his second Soul Skill, hiding it from outside observers for more than two hours.
• Lu Ning helped Zhu Zhuqing regulate her Soul Power through the night, and she woke feeling her Soul Power flow more smoothly.
• By morning, Zhu Zhuqing had reached Level 28, while Lu Ning's Soul Power and Soul Ring ages had increased slightly.
• The Wealth Option awarded Lu Ning a God-bestowed Soul Ring and revealed several saved Soul Bones and Gold Soul Coin cards in his inventory.
• Lu Ning joined Flender, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ning Rongrong to venture deeper into the forest in search of an attack-type Soul Beast.
• Ning Rongrong asked why Zhu Zhuqing's skin looked smoother, and Zhu Zhuqing quietly credited the whale rubber.

Lu Ning absorbed a god-bestowed soul ring after consuming ten-thousand-year whale rubber, gaining a forty-eight-thousand-year Fourth Soul Ring. He challenged Flender to test his new skill, One Sword Freezes Fourteen Provinces.

• Flender and Lu Ning defeated an eighteen-thousand-year Profound Sword Demon Turtle that was suited to Lu Ning's sword martial soul.
• Lu Ning asked Flender to soften his ten-thousand-year whale rubber, swallowed it, and held the turtle's soul ring while using a god-bestowed soul ring.
• Lu Ning's god-bestowed soul ring reached forty-eight thousand years and granted him the Fourth Soul Skill One Sword Freezes Fourteen Provinces, a final strike that concentrated his remaining soul power and mental power.
• Lu Ning challenged Flender to a spar so he could test his new skill, and Flender agreed to fight him at the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Lu Ning tested his fourth Soul Skill against Flender and wounded Flender’s Martial Soul Avatar with a devastating frost sword strike. After Flender warned him about the skill’s risks, he sent Lu Ning, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ning Rongrong back to the academy together, privately suspecting Lu Ning might win over both girls.

• Lu Ning summoned the Azure Lotus Sword and unleashed his fourth Soul Skill, One Sword Freezes Fourteen Provinces, draining all his remaining Soul Power and Mental Power.
• Flender used his sixth Soul Skill and Martial Soul Avatar to withstand Lu Ning’s strike, but the sword Qi shattered his barrier and wounded his Cat Owl form.
• Flender questioned Lu Ning about the skill’s cost and cautioned him that its long buildup and exhaustion made it dangerous to use in a real fight.
• Ning Rongrong invited Lu Ning to visit the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and meet its sword-wielding Titled Douluo, but Lu Ning declined for now.
• Flender told Lu Ning, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ning Rongrong to walk back to the academy together while privately imagining Lu Ning marrying both girls.