Recaps

The Imperial Family Inspection Team took Lu Ren into custody, but he broke free and faced down the team with Ji Juechen, Jing Ziyan, and Meng Hongchen at his side. The confrontation ended with Ji Juechen charging the Seven-Ring Soul Sage, while Jing Hongchen continued watching from the shadows.

• Meng Hongchen tried to stop Xu Mochén from taking Lu Ren, but Lu Ren agreed to go with the Inspection Team and told her to follow their plan.
• Meng Hongchen told Jing Hongchen about Lu Ren's arrest, and Jing Hongchen trusted Lu Ren to handle the situation while secretly deciding not to intervene yet.
• Outside the academy, Lu Ren snapped the Soul Tool handcuffs and confronted Xu Mochén as the Seven-Ring Soul Sage revealed his Martial Soul.
• Ji Juechen and Jing Ziyan joined Lu Ren, and Meng Hongchen caught up as the Inspection Team faced the three Soul Emperors and the Soul Saint.
• Ji Juechen drew his sword and charged the Soul Saint, eager to fight him.

Lu Ren overwhelmed the imperial disciplinary squad with his physical strength, then activated Blood Manipulation as he joined Ji Juechen and Jing Ziyan against the Level 7 Soul Engineer. The Soul Engineer aimed his powerful Soul Tool at Lu Ren, setting up their next clash.

• Ji Juechen and Jing Ziyan struggled against the Level 7 Soul Engineer, who used his Soul Tools to wound them and push them back.
• Lu Ren knocked Wang Shaojie unconscious, destroyed the ranged Soul Tools, and defeated Xu Mochén and the remaining Soul Masters.
• Lu Ren activated Blood Manipulation: Flowing Red Scale and incapacitated the rest of the squad in a rapid attack.
• Ji Juechen and Jing Ziyan withdrew to Lu Ren's side, battered by the Level 7 Soul Engineer's attacks.
• The Soul Engineer confronted Lu Ren over Xu Mochén's injuries and aimed his Level 7 ranged Soul Tool at him.

Lu Ren defeated a Soul Saint-level Level 7 Soul Engineer by revealing the self-imposed restrictions behind his enhanced strength, then using blood-based attacks and poison. He left the injured group to Jing Hongchen, telling the Hall Master to clean up the mess.

• The Level 7 Soul Engineer fired a powerful Soul Tool beam at Lu Ren, but Lu Ren's blood armor withstood it unharmed.
• Lu Ren revealed that he had permanently sacrificed his First and Second Soul Skills for a constant sixty-percent increase to all attributes, and explained that revealing information strengthened his technique.
• Lu Ren cut the Soul Engineer's beam in half, then pierced his Level 7 Soul Tool Shield with Piercing Blood, though the Invincible Shield stopped the weakened attack.
• Lu Ren spread a blood mist, used it to approach the Soul Engineer, and cut his waist with a blood blade before retreating.
• The Soul Engineer's wound poisoned him, and he collapsed as Lu Ren explained that his blood was toxic.
• Lu Ren called on Jing Hongchen to clean up, and Jing Hongchen regretted making Lu Ren handle the fight himself.

Lu Ren discovered that he could use Reverse Cursed Technique Release to heal others after saving a Level 7 Soul Engineer poisoned by his blood. He spared Wang Shaojie, warned him to stay away, and left Jing Hongchen to deal with the Imperial Family Inspection Team.

• Ji Juechen, Jing Ziyan, Meng Hongchen, and Jing Hongchen reacted with shock and admiration after Lu Ren defeated the Level 7 Soul Engineer and shattered his Level 7 Soul Tool.
• Lu Ren used Reverse Cursed Technique Release disguised as Soul Power and found that it cured the engineer’s poison and healed his injuries.
• The Level 7 Soul Engineer woke, admitted the inspection team had been at fault, and blamed Wang Shaojie for inciting them.
• Lu Ren refused to kill the imperial family members and threatened Wang Shaojie with repeated beatings if he returned to the academy.
• Lu Ren left with Meng Hongchen following him, while Jing Hongchen ordered the kneeling inspection team to explain what had happened.

Lu Ren explained to Jing Hongchen and the others how Binding Vows exchanged irreversible sacrifices for power, while hiding the details of his third Soul Ring. He planned to keep sacrificing Soul Skills and Soul Bones to gain ever greater abilities.

• Ji Juechen asked whether he and the others could learn Binding Vows, and Lu Ren explained that the ability depended on his Martial Soul and could not be replicated with Soul Power.
• Jing Hongchen arrived and questioned Lu Ren about his blood-controlling Martial Soul and the spiritual-power-like energy he had sensed.
• Lu Ren described Binding Vows as absolute contracts that exchanged an irreversible cost for an equivalent reward, and said he had permanently lost his first and second Soul Skills for a constant enhancement.
• Jing Ziyan calculated that Lu Ren's sixty-percent boost brought his Soul Power close to a Soul Emperor's, and Lu Ren clarified that it was roughly equivalent to rank fifty-nine.
• Lu Ren kept his third Soul Ring's Binding Vow secret and planned to sacrifice future Soul Skills and Soul Bones in exchange for stronger abilities.

Lu Ren rejected offensive Soul Tools as unnecessary for his abilities but asked Jing Hongchen for defensive ones, then discussed his future with Meng Hongchen. He left open the possibility of staying in the Sun Moon Empire while saying he wanted to travel and grow stronger.

• Jing Hongchen offered Lu Ren a chance to try Soul Tools, but Lu Ren argued that his Piercing Blood was more effective than most offensive Soul Tools.
• Lu Ren asked Jing Hongchen for Invincible Shields and other defensive Soul Tools, and Jing Hongchen promised to provide some and secure a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone for him.
• After Jing Hongchen left, Lu Ren told Meng Hongchen that Soul Tools did not suit him and predicted they might one day become powerful enough to kill gods.
• Ji Juechen went to train harder, and Jing Ziyan followed him.
• Meng Hongchen asked whether Lu Ren would leave the Sun Moon Empire after graduation; Lu Ren said he had not decided but wanted to explore the continent and improve his strength.

Meng Hongchen asked Lu Ren to take her with him someday, and he agreed to consider it once she was strong enough to protect herself. A month later, Lu Ren encountered Xuan Zi, the Taotie Douluo, waiting outside his dorm room.

• Meng Hongchen asked Lu Ren if he would take her with him if he left, and Lu Ren told her they could discuss it when she was strong enough to stand on her own.
• Lu Ren encouraged Meng Hongchen to cultivate and aim for Soul King before Xiao Hongchen ended his seclusion.
• Over the next month, Meng Hongchen broke through level fifty, while Lu Ren advanced from level forty-five to level forty-seven and improved his control of Cursed Energy and Soul Power.
• Xuan Ziwen tested Lu Ren's Spiritual Power and found it had reached Soul King level, then urged him to study Soul Tools.
• Lu Ren returned to his dorm and found Xuan Zi, the Level 98 Taotie Douluo, waiting outside.

Lu Ren confronted Xuan Zi, who tried to recruit him to Shrek Academy after recognizing his extraordinary abilities. Lu Ren explained that he had joined the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy to lead it to victory over Shrek, and he remained standing against Xuan Zi’s escalating pressure.

• Lu Ren calmly acknowledged Xuan Zi and revealed that he had expected Shrek to find him.
• Xuan Zi praised Lu Ren’s talent and questioned why he had chosen the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy over Shrek.
• Lu Ren said he had joined because the Sun Moon academy needed him more, prompting Xuan Zi to dismiss its Soul Engineers.
• Xuan Zi pressed Lu Ren with increasingly powerful Soul pressure, but Lu Ren stood firm and resisted it.
• Lu Ren said the Sun Moon academy needed him to defeat Shrek in the Continental Soul Master Tournament and declared that Shrek’s past glory had become a shackle.

Lu Ren rejected Xuan Zi’s offer to join Shrek Academy and challenged him to wager a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone on the upcoming tournament. Xuan Zi accepted and swore on his Martial Soul to honor the bet if Lu Ren led the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy to victory.

• Xuan Zi took the alarm Soul Tool from Lu Ren and learned that the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy had promised Lu Ren a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone for helping it win the tournament.
• Xuan Zi offered Lu Ren a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone and a set of Soul Bones if he joined Shrek Academy, but Lu Ren refused because he was bound by an agreement with the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.
• Lu Ren proposed that Xuan Zi give him a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone if Sun Moon won, while Lu Ren would join Shrek and serve Xuan Zi for life if Shrek won.
• Xuan Zi accepted the wager and swore on his Taotie Martial Soul to give Lu Ren a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone if Sun Moon defeated Shrek.

Lu Ren forced Xuan Zi to agree to deliver a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone within one year if Lu Ren led the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy to defeat Shrek Academy. Lu Ren’s Martial Soul ability then bound both men to their wager, leaving Xuan Zi alarmed by the force linking their lives.

• Lu Ren demanded a deadline for Xuan Zi’s promised Soul Bone, and Xuan Zi crushed him under his Titled Douluo pressure when Lu Ren accused Shrek of dishonesty.
• Lu Ren endured the pressure and stood back up, prompting Xuan Zi to relent and promise the Soul Bone within one year if Lu Ren won the tournament.
• Lu Ren swore that he would join Shrek and obey its demands if he lost, sealing his oath with his Martial Soul.
• Xuan Zi felt an invisible force bind him to Lu Ren after Lu Ren explained that his Martial Soul ability had created a binding vow between them.
• Lu Ren warned that breaking either side of the wager would trigger a penalty, while Xuan Zi struggled to understand the strange bond connecting their lives.

Lu Ren confronted Xuan Zi after binding them both to a wager with a Binding Vow, explaining that breaking it would bring an unavoidable price. Xuan Zi realized Lu Ren had exploited his arrogance, but the two remained bound to the wager: Lu Ren would either win a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone or join Shrek Academy.

• Lu Ren warned Xuan Zi that breaking their Binding Vow would bring an inevitable consequence and might damage his Martial Soul.
• Xuan Zi erupted in anger, but Lu Ren stood his ground and argued that Xuan Zi had voluntarily accepted the wager and its terms.
• Lu Ren explained that Xuan Zi could have stopped listening or killed him before the vow was formed, but chose to learn about the Binding Vow and proceed.
• Xuan Zi tried to resist the vow with his Soul Power, but the invisible chains tightened and caused him pain.
• Lu Ren reminded Xuan Zi that the wager required him to hand over a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone if Lu Ren won, while Lu Ren would join Shrek Academy if he lost.
• Xuan Zi recognized that Lu Ren had used his arrogance against him, and Lu Ren concluded that weakness could also be a weapon.

Lu Ren forced Xuan Zi to accept a wager, but Xuan Zi returned and tried to take him to Shrek Academy. Lu Ren triggered the academy alarm and vanished into a sea of blood, leaving Xuan Zi unable to locate his real body as the academy’s forces converged.

• Xuan Zi admitted defeat and agreed to give Lu Ren a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone if Lu Ren won within a year after the tournament.
• After Xuan Zi left, he returned and tried to take Lu Ren to Shrek Academy so he could make him join another team before the Continental Tournament.
• The academy alarm sounded, and Lu Ren triggered a vast sea of blood that engulfed the corridor and concealed him.
• Xuan Zi realized Lu Ren had used a bloodstain on a Soul Tool to set off the alarm and summon the academy’s defenders.
• Xuan Zi searched the sea of blood with his Spiritual Power but found Lu Ren’s identical presence in every drop and could not locate his actual body.

Xuan Zi fled the Illustrious Virtue Hall after Jing Hongchen and the Soul Engineers arrived, leaving Lu Ren near death in the blood-soaked corridor. Lu Ren recovered enough to explain that he had refused Xuan Zi’s recruitment offer, and Jing Hongchen ordered him to remain at the academy for protection.

• Xuan Zi sensed Jing Hongchen and the Soul Engineers approaching and vanished into the sea of blood.
• Jing Hongchen found Lu Ren barely alive and ordered a doctor, but Lu Ren woke and assured him he was not dead.
• Jing Hongchen restored some of Lu Ren’s strength with his Soul Power, then ordered level-one security and warned the higher-ups about a Titled Douluo intruder in Mingdu.
• Lu Ren identified his attacker as Taotie Douluo, Xuan Zi, and said he had come to recruit him from Shrek Academy.
• Lu Ren told Jing Hongchen that he had refused Xuan Zi’s offer and that Xuan Zi fled when the alarm sounded and the Soul Engineers arrived.
• Jing Hongchen told Lu Ren to stay at the academy because they could not fully protect him if Xuan Zi continued watching him.

Lu Ren revealed that he had used a Martial Soul wager to bind Xuan Zi to an agreement, then began learning necromancy from Electrolux. Xuan Zi returned to Shrek and called a Sea God Pavilion meeting, admitting he might have caused trouble again.

• Lu Ren told Jing Hongchen that Xuan Zi had left and explained that their Martial Soul wager required Shrek to give him something if they lost the tournament.
• Lu Ren returned to his dormitory and told Electrolux that their cooperation was not bound by a Binding Vow.
• Electrolux offered to teach Lu Ren necromancy, and Lu Ren agreed to begin with the basics.
• Xuan Zi hurried back to Shrek, troubled by the wager and determined to win the tournament.
• Xuan Zi arrived at the Sea God Pavilion meeting and admitted to the elders that he might have caused trouble again.

Xuan Zi reported Lu Ren’s extraordinary abilities to Shrek Academy’s Elders, revealing that he had wagered a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone on the upcoming tournament. The Elders feared Lu Ren could threaten Shrek’s team, and the chapter ended with Elder Song asking whether their students could withstand him.

• Xuan Zi recounted how he met Lu Ren, failed to find his real body, and agreed to wager a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone on the tournament.
• The Elders rebuked Xuan Zi for making the wager, then asked how likely Shrek was to win if Lu Ren led the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy’s team.
• Xuan Zi described Lu Ren’s immense Soul Power, constant amplification, extraordinary physical strength, powerful Spiritual Power, and possible brain-type Body Martial Soul.
• Xuan Zi explained Lu Ren’s blood manipulation and Binding Vow, including the rule-like consequences of breaking their agreement.
• Elder Song summarized Lu Ren’s abilities and asked whether Shrek’s children could withstand him in the tournament.

Xuan Zi vowed to lead Shrek’s tournament preparations after returning from his failed attempt to recruit Lu Ren. Mu En explained how Xuan Zi’s disrespect had confirmed Lu Ren’s poor opinion of Shrek, and Xuan Zi left determined to make the academy worthy of the boy’s respect.

• Xuan Zi declared that Shrek would win and said he would double the children’s training intensity.
• Mu En reminded Xuan Zi that he had failed to recruit Lu Ren, lost their wager, and incurred a vow to pay a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.
• Mu En told the pavilion elders that Lu Ren distrusted Shrek because its students had mistreated him and Xuan Zi had belittled him.
• Xuan Zi admitted his mistake and vowed to win the tournament so Lu Ren would see Shrek as a place worth joining.
• Mu En entrusted the generation’s children to Xuan Zi, then quietly smiled as Elder Song questioned why he did not seem worried.

Lu Ren persuaded Jing Hongchen to let him leave the academy for a few days to cultivate in Mingdu, taking Ji Juechen along. In the capital, Lu Ren absorbed the city’s abundant negative emotions as Cursed Energy, while Ji Juechen became fascinated by Lu Ren’s fusion of Soul Power and Spiritual Power.

• Lu Ren told Jing Hongchen he needed to leave the academy to cultivate, and argued that Shrek’s people would be away from Mingdu for several days.
• Jing Hongchen agreed on the condition that someone accompany Lu Ren, and Lu Ren chose Ji Juechen.
• Lu Ren promised Ji Juechen there would be strong opponents to challenge, and Ji Juechen eagerly agreed to go.
• Lu Ren and Ji Juechen arrived in Mingdu, where Lu Ren absorbed the city’s negative emotions and converted them into Cursed Energy.
• Ji Juechen watched Lu Ren and marveled at the seamless fusion of his Soul Power and Spiritual Power.

Lu Ren and Ji Juechen found a hidden entrance to the Holy Spirit Cult, where Lu Ren discovered that his Reverse Cursed Technique could severely cripple Evil Soul Masters. They entered the concealed courtyard and were surrounded by a Soul Saint and two Soul Emperors.

• Lu Ren led Ji Juechen through Mingdu’s increasingly dark streets to a secluded wooden door, which he recognized as an entrance to the Holy Spirit Cult.
• Lu Ren persuaded Ji Juechen to join him by promising strong opponents, then knocked on the door using a secret signal.
• When a black-clad young man opened the door, Lu Ren poured positive energy into him, causing his Evil Soul Master power and Martial Soul to collapse.
• Lu Ren realized that his Reverse Cursed Technique was an especially effective counter to Evil Soul Masters, and he and Ji Juechen entered the courtyard.
• The cult members gathered around Lu Ren and Ji Juechen, led by a Soul Saint and accompanied by two Soul Emperors.

Lu Ren and Ji Juechen confronted three Evil Soul Masters at a Holy Spirit Cult stronghold. Ji Juechen engaged the two Soul Emperors while Lu Ren struck the Seven-Ring Soul Sage with a single devastating punch, leaving him gravely injured and embedded in a wall.

• A Soul Emperor transformed into a flaming skeleton, while another covered himself in bone armor and joined him in surrounding Lu Ren and Ji Juechen.
• Lu Ren assigned the two Soul Emperors to Ji Juechen and warned him to kill them before they could kill him.
• Ji Juechen drew his sword and charged at the two Soul Emperors.
• The Seven-Ring Soul Sage transformed into a skeletal fiend and attacked Lu Ren with a bone saber.
• Lu Ren stopped the saber with an invisible slash, activated Flowing Red Scale, and hit the Soul Sage with a Black Flash punch.
• The Soul Sage crashed into a courtyard wall with his skull cracked and his black flames flickering.

Lu Ren unleashed his Domain Expansion, Malevolent Shrine, trapping the Soul Saint in an isolated space where the man's Martial Soul Avatar and Soul Power were suppressed. With the domain's guaranteed Soul Slashes ready to strike, the Soul Saint faced a lethal threat.

• The Soul Saint activated his Seventh Soul Skill, Martial Soul Avatar, and threatened to kill Lu Ren and his companions.
• Lu Ren formed a hand sign and expanded Malevolent Shrine, replacing the courtyard with an isolated shrine domain.
• The Soul Saint found his movements and Soul Power heavily restricted and recognized the space as a domain.
• Lu Ren's domain rules took effect, enabling endless guaranteed Dismantle and Cleave attacks that also struck the soul.

Lu Ren killed the Soul Saint with Malevolent Shrine, then watched Ji Juechen finish off the two Soul Emperors. The battle ended with all three enemies dead and the courtyard outside Lu Ren’s domain unharmed.

• Malevolent Shrine’s sure-hit Slashes destroyed the Soul Saint’s bones, Soul Power, consciousness, and soul.
• Lu Ren withdrew his domain after confining its effects to the space around the Soul Saint, leaving the rest of the courtyard untouched.
• Lu Ren reflected that the newly advanced Soul Saint had been helpless against his domain and turned to check on Ji Juechen.
• Ji Juechen defeated one Soul Emperor with a single sword strike that split its body and destroyed its Soul Power structure.
• Ji Juechen pierced the remaining Soul Emperor’s eye socket, then cut its body in two, killing both Soul Emperors.

Lu Ren and Ji Juechen defeated the Holy Spirit Cult’s branch, and Lu Ren discovered a Soul Pearl holding the souls the cult used to control its enslaved followers. He wondered whether he could absorb the souls.

• Lu Ren offered Ji Juechen a Mystic Water Pill, but Ji Juechen refused because he would not rely on medicine for his sword.
• More than a dozen Holy Spirit Cult followers attacked, and Lu Ren killed them all with a barrage of slashes.
• Lu Ren asked Ji Juechen to guard the courtyard while he searched the basement.
• Lu Ren passed the frightened Holy Servants and found a Soul Pearl containing the souls of their loved ones.
• Lu Ren wondered whether he could absorb the souls in the Soul Pearl.

Lu Ren cleansed the imprisoned souls in the Soul Pearl and reached rank forty-eight after absorbing the Cursed Energy released by the dead Evil Soul Masters. The freed holy servants pledged to follow him, and he recognized their leader, Nana, as a student from his academy.

• Electrolux warned Lu Ren that absorbing other people's souls would overwhelm him with their memories, emotions, and obsessions, so Lu Ren chose to cleanse the souls instead.
• Lu Ren used Positive Energy to destroy the Soul Pearl and free the trapped souls, allowing the holy servants to say goodbye to their loved ones.
• Lu Ren reached Soul Power rank forty-eight and told Ji Juechen he planned to destroy more Holy Spirit Cult strongholds in Mingdu; Ji Juechen agreed to join him.
• The holy servants knelt before Lu Ren and pledged to serve him for life, while their leader thanked him for freeing them and cleansing her parents' souls.
• Lu Ren recognized the girl as Nana, a fellow student at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, and Nana realized he was the boy with seventy-eight consecutive victories.

Lu Ren considered taking in Nana and the other freed Holy Servants after destroying a Holy Spirit Cult branch. He decided to conceal their survival from the academy and make the Cult believe they had died in the attack.

• Nana recognized Lu Ren as a fellow student from the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy and thanked him for freeing the Holy Servants and their loved ones’ souls.
• Nana and the eight other survivors offered to follow Lu Ren, explaining that they had nowhere safe to go and feared the Holy Spirit Cult’s pursuit.
• Lu Ren decided the survivors could help him build a faction, but dismissed the idea of reporting the Cult to Jing Hongchen because it could draw him into imperial politics.
• Lu Ren promised to cover up Nana’s absence from the academy and erase the base’s traces so the Holy Spirit Cult would believe the survivors had died in the attack.

Lu Ren recruited Nana and the eight Holy Servants to build an intelligence network in Mingdu, giving them money and a Communication Soul Tool. After they left to establish themselves, he began dismantling the courtyard and the bodies of the Evil Soul Masters with his Slashes.

• Lu Ren told Nana and the Holy Servants they would work for him by establishing an intelligence network in Mingdu and reporting what they learned.
• Nana explained they could not afford housing, so Lu Ren gave her Gold Soul Coins and a Communication Soul Tool, placing her in charge of the group.
• Lu Ren told them to help other coerced people he rescued and sent Nana and the eight Holy Servants away before daybreak.
• After Nana and the others left, Lu Ren used Dismantle to rain Slashes over the courtyard and the Evil Soul Masters’ corpses.