Chapter Summaries

Lu Ren ate breakfast while Meng Hongchen warned him that someone from Shrek had targeted him, then Ji Juechen and Jing Ziyan challenged him to a two-on-one fight. As they released their Martial Souls, Lu Ren sensed that Ji Juechen had begun to comprehend an embryonic domain.

• Lu Ren ignored the attention of the other students and let Meng Hongchen sit with him in the cafeteria.
• Meng Hongchen apologized for her brother, asked about Lu Ren's unusual power, and warned him that someone from Shrek had set their sights on him.
• Lu Ren told Meng Hongchen he had been assigned to the Practical Soul Tool Department, then left the cafeteria.
• Ji Juechen and Jing Ziyan stopped Lu Ren and challenged him together; Lu Ren accepted.
• Jing Ziyan and Ji Juechen released their Martial Souls, and Lu Ren sensed an embryonic domain forming around Ji Juechen.

Lu Ren defeated Ji Juechen and Jing Ziyan after briefly expanding his domain, leaving Ji Juechen determined to pursue him. Xiao Hongchen watched the fight and decided to go into seclusion to reach Soul King and challenge Lu Ren again.

• Lu Ren expanded his domain for 0.2 seconds, crushing Ji Juechen's incomplete domain before withdrawing it unharmed.
• Lu Ren cut apart Jing Ziyan's Soul Cannon shells and knocked her back with a Black Flash, while Ji Juechen remained unable to move.
• Ji Juechen named his domain Loneliness, and Lu Ren confirmed that his own domain had broken it.
• Lu Ren left after telling Ji Juechen he was stronger, and Ji Juechen resolved to chase him for as long as it took.
• Xiao Hongchen told Meng Hongchen he would enter seclusion and reach Soul King within a month so he could challenge Lu Ren again.

After Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen reflected on Lu Ren’s strength, Wang Shaojie decided to summon his cousin from the Imperial Family Inspection Team to retaliate. Lu Ren warned Jing Hongchen, who arranged for him to stay beside Meng Hongchen as protection and planned to handle the imperial family’s response.

• Meng Hongchen encouraged Xiao Hongchen to keep cultivating, while remembering Jing Hongchen’s advice to follow Lu Ren’s example and find his own path.
• Wang Shaojie, still furious over his humiliation, decided to seek help from his cousin, the Imperial Family Inspection Team Captain.
• Lu Ren sensed Wang Shaojie’s resentment and anticipated that he would cause trouble, then went to Illustrious Virtue Hall to warn Jing Hongchen.
• Meng Hongchen offered to poison Wang Shaojie, and Jing Hongchen told her not to start trouble and ordered Lu Ren to stay by her side at all times.
• Lu Ren urged Jing Hongchen to raise the academy’s alert level against possible Shrek intruders, but Jing Hongchen rebuked him and sent him away.
• Jing Hongchen wondered why Lu Ren had revealed himself at Shrek before coming to the Sun Moon Empire, then celebrated Xiao Hongchen’s decision to cultivate in seclusion and pursue Soul King.

Meng Hongchen accompanied Lu Ren through the academy, where Xuan Ziwen recruited him to help test Soul Tools and investigate his Spiritual Power. Jing Hongchen then had a dim cultivation room with unusually dense energy built for Lu Ren, leaving him to consider the academy’s effort to keep him there.

• Meng Hongchen asked whether Lu Ren feared the Imperial Family Inspection Team, and he reassured her that he had nothing to worry about with her nearby.
• Xuan Ziwen explained his ideas for the Practical Soul Tool Department and asked Lu Ren to help test Soul Tools, then offered to examine the Spiritual Power he had sensed.
• Lu Ren accepted Xuan Ziwen’s badge and agreed to visit him for tests related to Spiritual Power.
• Meng Hongchen asked Lu Ren what kind of cultivation room he wanted, and he requested one that was gloomy.
• Jing Hongchen arranged a custom cultivation room with dark walls, dim lighting, and more than three times the Heaven and Earth Energy of an ordinary room, and Lu Ren thanked him.

Lu Ren spent a week cultivating at Illustrious Virtue Hall while training with Ji Juechen, Jing Ziyan, and Meng Hongchen. On the eighth morning, Wang Shaojie arrived with the Imperial Family Inspection Team, and Lu Ren was arrested for investigation.

• Lu Ren cultivated in his room and considered exploring Mingdu for Cursed Energy once the Shrek visitors arrived.
• Over the next seven days, Lu Ren sparred with Ji Juechen and Jing Ziyan, trained Meng Hongchen, and strengthened his foundation.
• Wang Shaojie came to the cafeteria with seven Imperial Family Inspection Team members and accused Lu Ren of assaulting him.
• Meng Hongchen challenged the team’s authority, but Lu Ren agreed to cooperate and questioned whether they were acting officially or defending Wang Shaojie.
• The team leader put golden handcuffs on Lu Ren, suppressing his Soul Power.

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.