Chapter Summaries

Yu Xiaogang was exposed as the plagiarist of Lu Yun’s Martial Soul Evolution theory and expelled from the Nuoding City Spirit Hall branch. Tang San was tested, denied Spirit Hall benefits because of his connection to Yu Xiaogang, and left to face his tearful teacher.

• Ma Xiunuo identified Lu Yun as the Soul Master whose theory Yu Xiaogang had plagiarized, and guards expelled Yu Xiaogang from the branch.
• Ma Xiunuo tested Tang San’s Martial Soul and Soul Power while Soul Masters watched from outside the laboratory.
• Ma Xiunuo offered Tang San a place in Spirit Hall to study his Blue Silver Grass, but Tang San refused.
• Ma Xiunuo registered Tang San with the Heaven Dou Empire and told him that his stipend was suspended because Yu Xiaogang had been listed as a Discredited Person and Tang San was his acknowledged disciple.
• Tang San left the Nuoding Spirit Hall branch and saw Yu Xiaogang rushing toward him in tears.

Tang San stayed close to Yu Xiaogang, who promised to celebrate his Soul Master status with a meal, but the loss of his stipend left them eating cheap roadside fish instead. They sought Tang San’s enrollment at Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy, where Zhao Tong led them inside and mocked Yu Xiaogang about being thrown out by Dean Wu.

• Tang San continued to treat Yu Xiaogang respectfully while privately viewing him as a useful connection, and the two set out for Two Nations Spring.
• Yu Xiaogang learned that his Soul Master stipend had stopped and went to the City Lord’s Mansion, where he was told to ask Spirit Hall; he and Tang San settled for cheap grilled fish.
• Yu Xiaogang and Tang San returned to Nuoding Junior Soul Master Academy and found a new gatekeeper, who summoned a staff member after Tang San showed his Blue Silver Grass and Hundred-Year Soul Ring.
• Zhao Tong escorted Yu Xiaogang and Tang San into the academy and teased Yu Xiaogang about being publicly thrown out by Dean Wu.

Yu Xiaogang and Tang San brought Tang San to Notting Academy, where he had to pass a practical assessment to enroll. Tang San entered the ring expecting to prove himself, but Xiao Chenyu cut through his Blue Silver Grass and charged toward him.

• Zhao Tong told Yu Xiaogang that Tang San had to pass an assessment because he had missed registration, and Yu Xiaogang accepted the requirement.
• Zhao Tong led Yu Xiaogang and Tang San to the Soul Fighting Zone, where Wu Fang announced Tang San's entrance assessment would be a one-on-one match against Xiao Chenyu.
• Xiao Chenyu appeared as Tang San's examiner, and Tang San insisted that he would challenge Lu Chen after defeating him.
• Tang San used Entanglement, but Xiao Chenyu's Blade Glow severed the Blue Silver Grass and let him rush within five meters of Tang San.

Tang San fought Xiao Chenyu in his assessment match and tried to make up for his weak supply of hidden weapons by attacking with embroidery needles. Director Su stopped the attack and threatened to fail Tang San unless he apologized, but Yu Xiaogang objected before Tang San could comply.

• Xiao Chenyu broke through Tang San’s first Soul Skill, and Tang San retreated while preparing hidden weapons instead of following Yu Xiaogang’s coaching.
• Ning Rongrong, Lu Chen, and Chen Xin recognized that Tang San was holding ordinary embroidery needles, which he had bought because Yu Xiaogang refused to pay for better weapons.
• Tang San used Purple Demon Eye to send the needles toward Xiao Chenyu, but Director Su swept them away with his fan and condemned Tang San for using weapons in the match.
• Director Su threatened to declare Tang San’s assessment a failure unless he publicly apologized to Xiao Chenyu, and Tang San considered complying to keep his work-study place.
• Yu Xiaogang shouted that Director Su had no right to make his disciple apologize.

Yu Xiaogang abandoned his demand for Tang San to stand firm when Director Su confronted him with a bill for years of academy expenses. Tang San apologized, then resumed his Soul Fighting assessment using poisoned Blue Silver Grass blades as hidden weapons, while Bibi Dong ordered Spirit Hall to cut benefits for serious offenders and Discredited Persons.

• Yu Xiaogang urged Tang San not to apologize, but Director Su demanded that Yu repay two hundred Gold Soul Coins for academy expenses he had not been entitled to.
• Unable to afford the bill, Yu Xiaogang told Tang San to apologize, and Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong shared screenshots of his reversal in the Chat Group.
• Bibi Dong ordered Chrysanthemum Douluo to update city branches' records of Fallen Soul Masters, serious criminals, and Discredited Persons, and to deny them Spirit Hall benefits.
• Tang San apologized to Xiao Chenyu and promised not to use weapons in sparring matches; Director Su handed him Yu Xiaogang's bill and said his future work-study earnings would be deducted.
• Tang San resumed the assessment and threw poisoned, Mysterious Heaven Skill-infused Blue Silver Grass leaves at Xiao Chenyu, slowing him with the Mandala Snake toxin.

Tang San nearly defeated Xiao Chenyu, but Xiao Chenyu activated his Bloodthirsty Berserk Soul Bone skill and overwhelmed him. The match ended with Tang San bruised but mostly unharmed, while Yu Xiaogang received Su Youming’s strange condolences and congratulations.

• Tang San bound Xiao Chenyu with Blue Silver Grass and moved in to deliver the finishing blow, but Xiao Chenyu’s berserk state broke free of the vines.
• Xiao Chenyu savagely beat Tang San until Su Youming intervened and restrained him at Lu Tian’s signal.
• Lu Chen explained the Bloodthirsty Berserk Hurricane Right Leg Bone’s benefits and risks to Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong.
• Xiao Lang thanked Lu Chen for helping his son, and his favorability toward Lu Chen rose from 45 to 69.
• Yu Xiaogang examined Tang San and found his injuries mostly superficial, then Su Youming offered him condolences and congratulations.

Yu Xiaogang sought treatment for the bloodied Tang San after Xiao Chenyu defeated him, but Su Youming tricked him into paying Nicolas fifty Gold Soul Coins. Tang San woke to learn that, despite losing, he had passed the assessment and become a work-study student at Nuoding City Junior Soul Master Academy.

• Yu Xiaogang treated Tang San's wounds and asked Su Youming to explain why he had offered condolences and congratulations.
• Su Youming pointed out that Nicolas had healed Xiao Chenyu, and Yu Xiaogang asked her to treat Tang San.
• Nicolas healed Tang San but refused to treat Yu Xiaogang's facial scars, then demanded fifty Gold Soul Coins.
• Su Youming revealed that Nicolas was neither a Nuoding Academy teacher nor its school doctor, and Nicolas insisted Yu Xiaogang pay for her work.
• Yu Xiaogang paid Nicolas, and Tang San woke as Su Youming told him that he had passed the assessment and become a work-study student.

Tang San enrolled at Nuoding Academy as a work-study student, where Yu Xiaogang’s debts and reputation drew ridicule and Tang San’s resentment grew. In Dorm Seven, he confronted Wang Sheng about Xiao Chenyu’s promise to protect work-study students, until three visitors arrived and one mocked his aggression.

• Su Youming confirmed Tang San’s admission after his fight with Xiao Chenyu and told him his work-study wages would help repay Yu Xiaogang’s debt.
• Tang San and Yu Xiaogang were mocked by teachers at the academic affairs office, and Yu Xiaogang left Tang San at the dormitory after urging him to attend weekend lessons.
• Tang San reached Dorm Seven, where students discussed Xiao Chenyu’s promise that regular students would stop bullying work-study students.
• Tang San intimidated Wang Sheng with his Soul Ring and demanded to know what Xiao Chenyu had done.
• Three figures appeared in the doorway, and one called Tang San “Little Scumbag” and criticized his habit of resorting to violence.

Lu Chen brought Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong to Dorm Seven, where Tang San became infatuated with Xiao Wu and challenged Lu Chen. Lu Chen knocked Tang San down with a single punch, leaving him defeated on the floor.

• Lu Chen arrived at Dorm Seven with Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong, and Tang San recognized him while noticing Xiao Wu for the first time.
• Tang San approached Xiao Wu and introduced himself, but she rebuked him and told Lu Chen to beat him up.
• Tang San attacked Lu Chen with Blue Silver Grass and his hidden techniques, hoping to defeat him in front of Xiao Wu.
• Lu Chen dodged Tang San's attacks and broke his nose with a punch, sending him crashing to the floor.
• Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong celebrated Tang San's defeat while Lu Chen regretted having to hold back his strength.

After Lu Chen defeated Tang San, he offered Wang Sheng a chance to study at Spirit Hall Soul Master Academy. Tang San tried to condemn Wang Sheng and warn Xiao Wu about Lu Chen, but Xiao Wu kicked him away.

• Lu Chen punched Tang San, who suppressed the urge to reveal his second martial soul and feared he might never defeat Lu Chen.
• Lu Chen asked Wang Sheng about his future and offered to help him join Spirit Hall Soul Master Academy through his connection to Grand Steward Li Feng.
• Wang Sheng eagerly clasped Lu Chen's hand and declared that joining Spirit Hall had been his dream since childhood.
• Tang San accused Wang Sheng of betraying the Heaven Dou Empire and warned Xiao Wu not to trust Lu Chen.
• Xiao Wu interrupted Tang San's warning with a powerful whipping kick.

After Xiao Wu kicked Tang San for insulting Lu Chen, he lost more Fortune Points and his resentment toward her deepened. Xiao Wu kissed Lu Chen to make Tang San give up, leaving Tang San consumed by hatred and locked into a mortal-enemy status.

• Xiao Wu kicked Tang San after he exposed Lu Chen's shortcomings, earning Lu Chen 10,000 Fortune Points.
• Ning Rongrong plotted with Xiao Wu to further humiliate Tang San, while Wang Sheng agreed to keep an eye on him.
• Xiao Wu kissed Lu Chen in front of Tang San, and Ning Rongrong took a screenshot for the Chat Group.
• Xiao Wu admitted her feelings to Lu Chen, raising her affection to 89, then fled with Ning Rongrong as the students cheered.
• Tang San's affection for Xiao Wu became hatred, and his status toward her was permanently locked as mortal enemy.
• Bibi Dong summoned Hu Liena to Pope's Hall while Hu Liena continued chatting, unaware of the summons.

Tang San went to Nuoding Academy’s infirmary for treatment after his nose was badly broken, but School Doctor Wang could not restore it to its original shape. Tang San left with a healed but crooked nose and became the focus of attention in the canteen.

• Tang San hurried to the infirmary and asked School Doctor Wang to heal his fractured nose.
• School Doctor Wang warned that he could heal the injury but could not guarantee the nose’s shape, and Tang San agreed to treatment.
• Tang San tried to use the Mysterious Heaven Skill to help repair his nose, but School Doctor Wang’s painful treatment prevented him from concentrating.
• School Doctor Wang healed the injury, but Tang San discovered that his nose tilted noticeably to the left.
• School Doctor Wang recognized Tang San, ushered him out, and went to the canteen.
• Tang San entered the crowded canteen, where students discussed his crooked nose and teachers watched with amusement.

Tang San tried to settle into life at Nuoding Academy, only to discover that the fish head and tofu soup he had enjoyed was a gift from Lu Chen. He left the dining hall humiliated after Lu Chen overheard his bitter thoughts and taunted him.

• A regular student asked Wang Sheng why he was not helping Tang San, and Wang Sheng said Tang San had intimidated the work-study students with his Soul Ring and Soul Power.
• Tang San bought a meal in the dining hall and eagerly ordered three bowls of the limited fish head and tofu soup, but the cook restricted him to one.
• Tang San relished the soup and thought that Nuoding Academy was not so bad, while mocking Lu Chen and the others for supposedly eating ordinary food upstairs.
• Tang San overheard Lu Chen, Xiao Wu, and Rongrong discussing their luxurious meal and learned that Lu Chen had sent half a Splendid Sea Bream head to the kitchen for the soup.
• Tang San felt sick with embarrassment at having praised Lu Chen's gift, then vowed to use the nobles' generosity to strengthen himself and eventually defeat them.
• Lu Chen's laughter came from upstairs as he told Tang San that Tang San was already beneath his feet.

Lu Chen humiliated Tang San into thanking him for the soup, then Tang San struggled through the exhausting road-sweeping job assigned to him. Mo Hen kept rejecting his work and told him to continue, leaving Tang San facing a punishing day of labor.

• Lu Chen confronted Tang San after hearing him badmouth him and offered future meals in exchange for gratitude.
• Tang San reluctantly thanked Lu Chen for the soup, and Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong shared the moment in the Chat Group.
• Tang San swept the academy’s leaf-covered main road while Mo Hen inspected his work under Wu Fang’s strict orders.
• Tang San asked whether he could change or get help with his assignment, but Mo Hen told him to keep working.

Tang San sought work at Nuoding City's smithies so he could forge Tang Sect hidden weapons, but city regulations required him to report the weapons' functions and uses. After visiting every smithy and finding the same rules, he returned to Manager Liu, resigned to hiding some details.

• Tang San went to Nuoding City's largest smithy, hoping to earn money and use its tools and materials to forge hidden weapons.
• Tang San impressed Shi San by demonstrating the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer, but Shi San explained that Manager Liu had to approve his hiring.
• Manager Liu offered Tang San a place if he followed rules requiring him to report the functions and intended uses of privately made weapons, which Tang San refused.
• Tang San blamed Xiao Chenyu and the City Lord's Mansion for the regulation, then visited every other smithy and found the same rules.
• Tang San returned to Manager Liu, who revealed that the other two smithy managers were his brothers.

Tang San found Yu Xiaogang after taking a job at a smithy and discovered that his teacher had spent nearly all his money on research materials. The chapter left Tang San silently resenting Yu Xiaogang for focusing on his own Martial Soul instead of helping his disciple.

• Tang San accepted a smithy job paying one Silver Soul Coin a month, with commissions, and declined the offered meals.
• Tang San learned Yu Xiaogang had moved out of the inn, retrieved his address, and found him living in a filthy shack.
• Tang San asked why Yu Xiaogang had moved, and Yu Xiaogang admitted he had spent his money paying old bills for books and research materials.
• Tang San inspected the books and found they concerned dragon Soul Beasts, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, and Yu Xiaogang's Sanpao.
• Yu Xiaogang explained that he planned to use Soul Bones to help Sanpao evolve into a Dragon Species, leaving Tang San silently angry at his teacher's self-centeredness.

Lu Chen completed his Title Mission, received a powerful new title, and entered a seven-day Plane Reverberation set during Huo Yuhao’s departure from the White Tiger Duke’s Mansion. He followed Huo Yuhao toward the Star Dou Great Forest and prepared to arrange a meeting to guide his first Soul Ring absorption.

• Lu Chen reviewed the settlement of his mission to devastate Tang San physically and mentally, receiving the Azure Emperor Spirit Suppression title and noticing a reward pool containing a slumbering soul fragment.
• Lu Chen entered a Plane Reverberation in the Peerless Tang Sect timeline and watched Huo Yuhao leave the White Tiger Duke’s Mansion, swear revenge, and take his mother’s surname.
• Lu Chen followed Huo Yuhao toward the Star Dou Great Forest while reviewing missions targeting Huo Yuhao, Tang Ya, Bei Bei, and the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, as well as a task to earn Electrolux’s recognition.
• Lu Chen watched Huo Yuhao travel nearly three hundred li through cultivation and perseverance, then planned a chance encounter to help him absorb a Ten-Year Wind Baboon as his first Soul Ring.

On his fourth day of travel, Huo Yuhao met Lu Chen while looking for food and shelter by a river. After they shared a meal and became friends, Lu Chen agreed to help Huo Yuhao hunt for his first Soul Ring in the Star Dou Great Forest.

• Huo Yuhao followed the sound of a river into the woods and found Lu Chen fishing.
• Lu Chen gave Huo Yuhao his catch and invited him to share a meal made from his prepared ingredients.
• Huo Yuhao cooked grilled fish, and he and Lu Chen became friends over dinner.
• Huo Yuhao told Lu Chen he planned to enter the forest alone to hunt a Soul Beast so he could apply to a Soul Master Academy.
• Lu Chen offered to help Huo Yuhao hunt for a suitable Soul Beast when they reached the Star Dou Great Forest.

Lu Chen and Huo Yuhao traveled together toward the Star Dou Great Forest, but Huo Yuhao’s favorability toward Lu Chen kept fluctuating instead of steadily increasing. At a streamside meal, they met Tang Ya and Bei Bei, and Lu Chen invited them to join, prompting Huo Yuhao’s favorability to rise.

• Lu Chen and Huo Yuhao spent two days traveling, cultivating, and sharing meals, while Huo Yuhao’s favorability toward Lu Chen swung between 20 and 30.
• Lu Chen and Huo Yuhao reached a stream near Huo Yuhao’s destination and camped to rest before entering the Star Dou Great Forest.
• While Huo Yuhao cooked, Lu Chen reflected on the shrinking forest and the growing difficulty commoner Soul Masters faced in finding Soul Rings.
• Tang Ya and Bei Bei arrived after smelling the food, and Lu Chen noticed Bei Bei react warily when he saw him.
• Tang Ya asked Huo Yuhao about the cooking, but Huo Yuhao looked to Lu Chen instead of offering them food himself.
• Lu Chen invited Tang Ya and Bei Bei to join them, and Huo Yuhao’s favorability rose from 20 to 31.

Lu Chen, Huo Yuhao, Bei Bei, and Tang Ya shared a meal, and Bei Bei quietly assessed the two boys while Tang Ya warmed to Lu Chen. After Lu Chen and Huo Yuhao left, Bei Bei decided to follow them and consider recruiting Huo Yuhao into the Tang Sect.

• Tang Ya enthusiastically ate Lu Chen and Huo Yuhao’s grilled fish, while Bei Bei joined them and exchanged teasing remarks with her.
• Lu Chen asked Bei Bei and Tang Ya whether they were a couple, embarrassing Tang Ya and prompting Bei Bei to redirect the conversation by asking the boys their names.
• Bei Bei questioned Lu Chen and Huo Yuhao about why they were traveling alone, but both boys avoided answering.
• After the meal, Lu Chen and Huo Yuhao departed, and Tang Ya realized they might be heading to the Star Dou Great Forest without adults.
• Bei Bei judged Huo Yuhao to have weak Soul Power and notable maturity, then decided he and Tang Ya would follow the boys from a distance and assess Huo Yuhao for the Tang Sect.