Chapter Summaries

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.

Lu Ren and Ji Juechen hunted the Holy Spirit Cult across Mingdu, wiping out eight strongholds and sharpening Ji Juechen’s swordsmanship. They left Soul Douluo-guarded strongholds untouched because Lu Ren judged them too dangerous to challenge.

• Lu Ren erased every trace of a courtyard battle while Ji Juechen watched, then the two set out to destroy more Holy Spirit Cult strongholds.
• Lu Ren and Ji Juechen wiped out eight strongholds in one day, with Ji Juechen fighting the Soul Emperor guardians and Lu Ren killing the Soul Saint elders.
• Ji Juechen improved through the successive battles, eventually killing Soul Emperors in only three to five strikes.
• After a Soul Saint woke during Lu Ren’s attempted assassination and nearly injured him, Lu Ren abandoned stealth attacks and relied on Malevolent Shrine to kill the remaining Soul Saints.
• Lu Ren avoided strongholds guarded by Soul Douluos, deciding that confronting them would be too risky for now.

Ji Juechen and Lu Ren destroyed eight Holy Spirit Cult strongholds, gaining strength and rescuing captives, while the cult’s leadership struggled to find clues. Nangong Wan learned of the losses and demanded answers from his intelligence subordinates.

• Ji Juechen fought through the eighth stronghold, advanced to level sixty-three, and declared that he had had his fill.
• Lu Ren absorbed cursed energy from the defeated Evil Soul Masters and advanced from level forty-seven to level fifty, while Electrolux grew stronger from the energy he absorbed.
• Lu Ren rescued several dozen captives, connected them with Nana’s intelligence network, and looted the strongholds’ wealth and resources.
• The Holy Spirit Cult discovered that eight branches had been destroyed, with hundreds of members and their imprisoned souls missing and no useful clues left behind.
• Nangong Wan smashed a table in the Xishui Alliance Leader’s Hall and demanded to know how the branches had been wiped out without a trace.

Nangong Wan punished two Evil Soul Masters for failing to find the killer who had destroyed eight Holy Spirit Cult strongholds, then investigated one of the purified sites himself. He concluded that the attacker likely wielded the Holy Angel Martial Soul and had purified the cult’s members and their souls.

• Nangong Wan killed an Evil Soul Master who reported that the killer had erased every trace from the destroyed strongholds.
• Nangong Wan killed another Evil Soul Master for licking brain matter, then heard that the attacker might be an unaffiliated Evil Soul Master.
• Nangong Wan ordered the surviving Evil Soul Masters to take him to a destroyed Branch Altar and threatened them if they deceived him.
• Nangong Wan found that his Soul Power could detect no trace at the site and concluded that the attacker had purified the cult members, their souls, and all residual energy.
• Nangong Wan suspected that the attacker possessed the Holy Angel Martial Soul and had used the cult members to increase their cultivation.

After bringing the badly wounded Ji Juechen to Nana’s courtyard, Lu Ren secluded himself to break through to level fifty and discovered that his Sea of Consciousness had expanded dramatically. The system confirmed his Spiritual Power had reached the Spirit Abyss Realm and rewarded him with Cursed Speech, while Projection Sorcery remained locked until he reached the late Spirit Abyss Realm.

• Lu Ren brought the gravely injured Ji Juechen to Nana’s courtyard, where Ji Juechen insisted on treating his wounds himself.
• Lu Ren told Nana he was about to break through and entered seclusion in his room.
• Lu Ren released the power he had been suppressing, and his Sea of Consciousness expanded from a pond into an ocean that was still growing.
• The system announced that Lu Ren had reached the Soul King realm and awarded him the Cursed Technique Cursed Speech.
• Lu Ren checked his status and saw that his Spiritual Power was at the Spirit Abyss Realm with 6,666 points, while Projection Sorcery required the late Spirit Abyss Realm.

Lu Ren assessed his Spiritual Power and learned the details of Cursed Speech and Projection Sorcery. He resolved to reach the late Spirit Abyss Realm so he could unlock Projection Sorcery.

• Lu Ren judged that his 6,666 points of Spiritual Power left him far short of the late Spirit Abyss Realm.
• Lu Ren learned that Cursed Speech could make his words come true by spending Cursed Energy and Soul Power, but could backfire against stronger opponents.
• Lu Ren recognized that Reverse Cursed Technique could heal injuries caused by Cursed Speech and that he could activate the technique selectively.
• Lu Ren learned that Projection Sorcery required him to plan twenty-four frames of movement, with failed execution leaving him frozen for a second.
• Lu Ren realized that Projection Sorcery could stack speed and combine with his Yuji Itadori template, then resolved to break through to the late Spirit Abyss Realm.

Lu Ren realized his spiritual power and soul power determined how many cursed techniques he could hold, while Electrolux recovered further by absorbing his cursed energy. With the Soul Spirit Contract nearing completion and Electrolux able to project a god-level presence, Lu Ren prepared to persuade the Ice Empress and establish the Spirit Pagoda.

• Lu Ren deduced that his spiritual power and cultivation increased his capacity for cursed techniques, and that he could currently hold only Malevolent Shrine, Blood Manipulation, and Cursed Speech.
• Electrolux appeared in Lu Ren's Sea of Consciousness with a youthful form, and Lu Ren assured him he did not regret sharing cursed energy.
• Electrolux said he could complete the Soul Spirit Contract in a few months, before Lu Ren went to the Far North.
• Electrolux revealed he could now project a god-level presence to intimidate others, strengthening Lu Ren's plans to negotiate with the Ice Empress.
• Lu Ren declared that he would rely on Electrolux to establish the Spirit Pagoda and spread the benefits of soul spirits.

Electrolux warned Lu Ren against rushing to improve his Spiritual Power and realized that Lu Ren’s brain might be his Martial Soul. After Lu Ren explained his Binding Vow and admitted he had misled others about its consequences, Electrolux prepared to reveal the Martial Soul’s identity, while Xuan Zi at Shrek Academy realized the Body Sect might be interested in Lu Ren.

• Electrolux advised Lu Ren to improve his Spiritual Power through experience and cultivation rather than seeking shortcuts.
• Electrolux suggested that Lu Ren’s unusually powerful brain might be his Martial Soul and asked why he had never tried to understand it.
• Lu Ren explained that his Binding Vow barred him from actively investigating his Martial Soul, but allowed him to receive information from someone else.
• Lu Ren admitted he had exaggerated the danger of breaking Binding Vows to mislead Meng Hongchen and the others, and Electrolux agreed to tell him what his Martial Soul was.
• At Shrek Academy, Xuan Zi recalled the Sea God Pavilion’s deduction that Lu Ren had a brain-type body Martial Soul and wondered what would happen if the Body Sect discovered him.

Xuan Zi devised a plan to make Lu Ren grateful to Shrek by rescuing him from the Body Sect, and Mu En tacitly approved. Meanwhile, Lu Ren learned that his brain was his Martial Soul and decided to join the Body Sect after the tournament, unaware that Xuan Zi was already heading there to set his scheme in motion.

• Xuan Zi planned to let the Body Sect try to seize Lu Ren, then rescue him and use his gratitude to persuade him to join Shrek.
• Elder Song judged the plan plausible, and Xuan Zi claimed he could succeed unless Du Busi intervened; Mu En tacitly agreed.
• Xuan Zi flew toward the Heaven Dou Empire to approach the Body Sect's headquarters.
• Electrolux told Lu Ren that his brain was a uniquely powerful body Martial Soul and the foundation for his control of Cursed Techniques.
• Lu Ren decided to pursue a second awakening through the Body Sect after completing the tournament and securing the promised soul bones.

Lu Ren considered the complications of joining the Body Sect, then secretly healed Ji Juechen and sent Nana to investigate Ye Guyi of the Ordinary Alliance. Ji Juechen later confronted him about his recovery, but Lu Ren denied responsibility and dragged him off for a mysterious checkup.

• Lu Ren set aside his concerns about a future war between the Body Sect and the Sun Moon Empire and cultivated with Electrolux through the night.
• Lu Ren found Ji Juechen's Evil Qi-tainted injuries barely healed, knocked him unconscious, secretly healed him with Reverse Cursed Technique, and gave him a Healing Pill.
• Lu Ren ordered Nana to discreetly investigate the Ordinary Alliance and find Ye Guyi's whereabouts and movements.
• Ji Juechen recovered fully and confronted Lu Ren about being knocked out and healed, but Lu Ren feigned ignorance and blamed Nana's medicine.
• Lu Ren pulled Ji Juechen away for a checkup, saying he had something new to try.

Lu Ren tested his newly awakened Cursed Speech on Ji Juechen by commanding him to take a shit, sending him rushing into the restroom. Ji Juechen emerged resentful and disgusted, while Lu Ren was pleased by how well the ability worked.

• Lu Ren brought Ji Juechen to the restroom and claimed he needed help testing a new Spiritual Power ability.
• Ji Juechen eagerly agreed to spar and raised his sword as Lu Ren activated Cursed Speech.
• Lu Ren commanded Ji Juechen to take a shit, triggering an overwhelming urge that made Ji Juechen abandon the fight and rush into the restroom.
• Lu Ren noted that Cursed Speech worked despite Ji Juechen's greater cultivation and wondered how powerful it might be against stronger opponents.
• Ji Juechen emerged from the restroom glaring at Lu Ren, who defended bringing him there as a favor.