Chapter Summaries

Lu Ren exposed Shrek Academy’s false kidnapping scheme and rescued Ji Juechen from an ambush outside Star Luo City. After killing the Shrek attackers, Lu Ren and Zhang Peng raced back to the arena, where Jing Hongchen followed with Ji Juechen as the finals were already underway.

• Jing Hongchen and Zhang Peng confronted Cheng Gang after he tried to lure Lu Ren away, while Lu Ren searched the city for Ji Juechen and found no trace of him.
• Lu Ren discovered Ji Juechen fighting a Shrek Soul Douluo outside the city, revealed the kidnapping claim was a bluff, and forced Cheng Gang to confess that Shrek had sent him to keep Lu Ren from the finals.
• Lu Ren, Zhang Peng, and Jing Hongchen reached the valley, where they killed the Shrek Soul Douluo and a hidden rank-95 Super Douluo who had ambushed Ji Juechen.
• Lu Ren scolded Ji Juechen for going off alone, then told Jing Hongchen to escort him back while he and Zhang Peng hurried to the arena.
• Lu Ren used Projection Sorcery to race ahead at astonishing speed, leaving Zhang Peng struggling to keep up as they returned toward Star Luo City.

Shrek manipulated the finals format and provoked Xu Sanshi into killing two Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy members, while Xuan Zi suppressed the team’s attempt to retaliate. Lu Ren returned with Jing Hongchen, killed a Shrek Soul King in the arena, and challenged Xuan Zi when he appeared ready to intervene.

• Huang Jinxu announced that the finals would begin with individual battles, prompting Elder Ma and the Sun Moon team to suspect Shrek of manipulating the tournament.
• Shrek sent Jiang Nannan to fight Chen Fei, and her injuries enraged Xu Sanshi, whose awakened Black Tortoise Shield Form let him kill Chen Fei and then Chen An.
• Ma Rulong accused Shrek of deliberately engineering the deaths, but Xuan Zi stopped the Sun Moon team’s retaliation and threatened them into continuing the tournament.
• Lu Ren returned with Ji Juechen and Jing Hongchen, and Jing Hongchen told Lu Ren to unleash his full strength against Shrek.
• Lu Ren instantly cut a Shrek Soul King in half, and when Xuan Zi approached the corpse, Lu Ren used his Language Domain to accuse him of wanting to break the tournament rules.

Lu Ren retaliated against Shrek after its students killed Sun Moon Royal Academy competitors, reviving Chen Fei and Chen An while killing He Caitou, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan. As the Star Luo Empire ordered the final to continue and a humanlike cockroach monster began killing people in the city, Shrek conceded the individual matches.

• Lu Ren challenged Xuan Zi’s double standard, and Jing Hongchen threatened Shrek with his Level 9 Soul Tool to stop Xuan Zi from attacking.
• Lu Ren killed He Caitou with a precise strike of Spiritual Power, then Chen Fei and Chen An unexpectedly revived after Lu Ren had healed them with Reverse Cursed Technique Release.
• Lu Ren killed Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan, while Xuan Zi demanded that the competition be stopped and Emperor Xu Jiawei refused.
• Dai Hao reported that Guardian Douluo Cheng Gang had been found dead, eaten by cockroaches, and an official warned Xu Jiawei that a humanlike cockroach was attacking people across the city.
• Xu Jiawei ordered the competition to continue and Shrek to help fight the monster, while Huang Jinxu awarded Lu Ren the match.
• Lu Ren rejected Xuan Zi’s attempt to concede for Shrek, and Dai Yueheng finally conceded the individual matches on the team’s behalf.

Lu Ren manipulated the tournament into a final team battle and used his Malevolent Shrine domain to kill every remaining Shrek competitor, securing the championship for the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy. Xuan Zi rushed away to confront Kurourushi, while Yan Shaozhe was left staring at the aftermath of Shrek’s defeat.

• A Star Luo official told Xuan Zi that a black-robed, knife-wielding cockroach was killing powerful figures, and Xuan Zi flew off to confront Kurourushi.
• Lu Ren ordered the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy to concede the two-two-three matches so he could face Shrek’s remaining students together in the team battle.
• Shrek chose Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng to lead five substitute Soul Kings against Lu Ren, while Lu Ren sent all his teammates off the stage and fought alone.
• Lu Ren opened Malevolent Shrine, disrupted Ma Xiaotao’s Evil Fire and Shrek’s fusion domain, then killed all seven Shrek fighters with his Slashes.
• Huang Jinxu declared the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy the tournament champion as spectators protested and Yan Shaozhe stood stunned by Shrek’s deaths.

After Zhang Peng stopped Yan Shaozhe from attacking Lu Ren, Yan Shaozhe withdrew to find Xuan Zi, whom Lu Ren’s allies had trapped in Star Luo City. Lu Ren then revealed that he had secretly preserved Ma Xiaotao and planned to use her condition to draw the Holy Spirit Cult into conflict with Shrek, while Zhang Peng realized Lu Ren already knew his affiliation with the cult.

• Yan Shaozhe attacked Lu Ren, but Jing Hongchen’s defenses and Zhang Peng’s intervention stopped him.
• Lu Ren warned Yan Shaozhe that Xuan Zi was in danger, prompting Yan Shaozhe to leave Star Luo Plaza with the surviving Shrek students.
• Lu Ren and Jing Hongchen agreed to evacuate the Sun Moon Team before Star Luo City became a battlefield, while Lu Ren and Zhang Peng withdrew to an alley.
• Lu Ren revealed that he had secretly kept Ma Xiaotao alive and turned her into an Evil Soul Master by allowing her Evil Fire to consume her Martial Soul.
• Lu Ren asked Zhang Peng to alert the Holy Spirit Cult about Ma Xiaotao so it would try to recruit her and clash with Shrek.
• Zhang Peng realized Lu Ren knew he belonged to the Holy Spirit Cult and questioned why Lu Ren still trusted him.

Lu Ren explained why he trusted Zhang Peng and hinted that he could help him break through his Level 96 bottleneck, while Kurourushi continued hunting Shrek and Star Luo’s Titled Douluo in Star Luo City. Xuan Zi confronted Kurourushi, but as their battle turned against him, Kurourushi began its Domain Expansion: Coffin of the Iron Mountain.

• Lu Ren told Zhang Peng that he trusted him for his loyalty and hinted that he could help him advance beyond Level 96; Zhang Peng promised to cooperate and agreed to stay until the matter was over.
• Kurourushi killed three Shrek Titled Douluo and two Star Luo Guardian Douluo by ambushing them with its swarms and Festering Life Sword.
• Xuan Zi returned to Star Luo City and attacked Kurourushi, but Kurourushi’s slash split his Soul Power palm and its swarms let it escape his follow-up strike.
• Xuan Zi used Gravity Control to pin Kurourushi and the cockroach swarms, but Kurourushi formed a hand seal and began its Domain Expansion, Coffin of the Iron Mountain.

Kurourushi trapped Xuan Zi in Womb Profusion and severely wounded him before Xuan Zi shattered the domain and escaped. Du Busi stopped Xuan Zi from killing Kurourushi, defeated his weakened rival, and declared that Huo Yuhao belonged to the Body Sect.

• Kurourushi expanded Womb Profusion, where his guaranteed-hit attacks and insect eggs tore through Xuan Zi's defenses and drained his power.
• Xuan Zi smashed open Kurourushi's domain with a powerful soul power strike and escaped as Kurourushi's technique burned out.
• Du Busi appeared and struck Xuan Zi away, allowing Kurourushi to flee, then dismissed Xuan Zi's accusations of aiding the cockroach.
• Xuan Zi challenged Du Busi, but Du Busi unleashed his Martial Soul Avatar and beat the weakened Xuan Zi into submission.
• Du Busi said he protected only the Body Sect and claimed Huo Yuhao as one of its members because of his Spirit Eyes Body Martial Soul.

Du Busi abducted Xuan Zi while the battered Shrek survivors tried to escape Star Luo City, but the Snow Empress blocked their retreat. As the group turned back and chased Kurourushi, Lu Ren detonated the corpses prepared along their route, trapping them in a massive explosion.

• Du Busi defeated the remaining resistance and carried Xuan Zi away, while Shrek and Star Luo’s Guardian Douluo argued over responsibility for the deaths in the city.
• Yan Shaozhe led Wang Dong'er, Huo Yuhao, and Xiao Xiao toward safety and regrouped with Xian Lin'er and the surviving Shrek elders.
• The Snow Empress appeared in a frozen domain, killed a Shrek Titled Douluo who challenged her, and forced the group to turn back toward Star Luo City.
• The Shrek group found Kurourushi behind a row of corpses, and Kurourushi fled as Yan Shaozhe and the others pursued it.
• Lu Ren remotely triggered the Corpse Explosion Technique, detonating the corpses and engulfing the Shrek group in a chain of explosions.

Lu Ren’s ambush devastated Shrek’s remaining forces, leaving Yan Shaozhe and a few survivors trapped between his allies and the Snow Empress. As Yan Shaozhe unleashed his Phoenix Descends skill, Lu Ren exposed its hidden escape mechanism, leaving him horrified that his secret had been revealed.

• Kurourushi’s corpse explosions shattered Shrek’s defenses and killed most of its remaining fighters while Yan Shaozhe shielded Huo Yuhao and the other children.
• Lu Ren, Jing Hongchen, Zhang Peng, and the Snow Empress closed in on the trapped survivors, and the Snow Empress nearly killed a wounded Super Douluo with a single palm.
• Du Busi returned with the battered Xuan Zi and demanded that Shrek surrender Huo Yuhao, but Yan Shaozhe and the other elders refused.
• The attackers overwhelmed Shrek’s last defenders, and the Snow Empress froze Xian Lin'er to death after Zhang Peng defeated her in battle.
• Yan Shaozhe unleashed Phoenix Descends, but Lu Ren revealed that he could escape through his Phoenix True Flame and later rebuild his body, shocking Yan Shaozhe with his knowledge of the secret.

The Snow Empress and Lu Ren crushed Shrek’s remaining fighters, and Xuan Zi pleaded for the children’s lives before Lu Ren promised to spare them and had Kurourushi devour him. Lu Ren claimed Shrek’s darkness-attribute Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone, then discovered the battlefield was strewn with the fallen elders’ Soul Bones.

• The Snow Empress froze Yan Shaozhe in his Phoenix True Body and shattered him with an Emperor’s Palm.
• Lu Ren killed Xiao Xiao with an unseen attack, leaving Wang Dong’er and Huo Yuhao terrified as Xuan Zi shielded them.
• Xuan Zi knelt and begged Lu Ren to spare Wang Dong’er and Huo Yuhao, and Lu Ren agreed while demanding the wagered Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.
• Xuan Zi handed Lu Ren a darkness-attribute Soul Bone, which delighted Lu Ren because it contained abundant Cursed Energy.
• Lu Ren summoned Kurourushi, which cut Xuan Zi’s throat and devoured him before spitting out six Soul Bones.
• Lu Ren spotted Soul Bones among the fallen Shrek elders and realized their corpses had left a fortune on the battlefield.

After Shrek Academy’s expedition was nearly wiped out, Lu Ren spared Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er and wrestled with the guilt of killing Xiao Xiao. Du Busi defended Lu Ren’s decision to strike first, condemned Shrek’s cheating and hollow talk of glory, and the survivors began dividing the Soul Bones as Wang Dong’er left with Ma Xiaotao.

• Lu Ren offered the scattered Soul Bones for division, then spared Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’er despite their terror.
• Du Busi told Lu Ren that killing his enemies had been necessary but urged him to remember the innocent lives he had taken, and Lu Ren gained a small increase in Spiritual Power during enlightenment.
• Huo Yuhao asked Lu Ren why he opposed Shrek and had spared him in the Far North, but Lu Ren ignored him while collecting Soul Bones.
• Du Busi explained that Shrek had provoked its downfall and accused Huo Yuhao of secretly helping his teammates cheat, then mocked Shrek’s claims of glory.
• Wang Dong’er asked what would happen to her, and Lu Ren let her leave with the unconscious Ma Xiaotao.
• Lu Ren offered the collected Soul Bones to the others, Du Busi took three for the Body Sect, and Zhang Peng deferred to the Snow Empress.

Lu Ren and his allies divided the spoils from their victory over Shrek, while the Snow Empress left without taking any Soul Bones. After the group separated, Lu Ren used a month of Star Luo City’s negative emotions to help Zhang Peng break through his cultivation bottleneck, bringing the trip to a successful end.

• The Snow Empress declined to take any Soul Bones, and Zhang Peng chose three Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones before returning Lu Ren’s offer of the dark-attribute Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.
• Jing Hongchen selected four Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones, promised Lu Ren a suitable Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone, and left to return to the Sun Moon Empire.
• Lu Ren collected the remaining Soul Bones, while Du Busi took Huo Yuhao away to show him the world beyond Shrek.
• Lu Ren told Zhang Peng he had prepared an opportunity for him and released a Cursed Spirit filled with negative emotions gathered from Star Luo City.
• Zhang Peng absorbed the Cursed Energy, loosened his Level 96 bottleneck, and set out with Lu Ren for the Sun Moon Empire.

After the massacre in Star Luo City, Xu Jiawei ordered the empire to protect itself while Mu En learned that Shrek’s expeditionary force had been annihilated and Huo Yuhao had left with the Body Sect. Shrek retreated from the front lines, leaving Mu En to face its uncertain future and Wang Dong’er wondering whether he would seek revenge on Lu Ren.

• Xu Jiawei heard that Shrek’s people and the cockroach monster had vanished, then ordered martial law, repairs, compensation, and secrecy while the Star Luo Empire watched events unfold.
• Wang Dong’er struggled to carry the unconscious Ma Xiaotao toward Shrek, then fired a Clear Sky Sect distress signal when she could go no farther.
• Several days later, Wang Dong’er told Mu En and Tai Tan that Shrek’s leaders and disciples had been killed, while Ma Xiaotao remained in a coma.
• Tai Tan judged that Lu Ren had planned the massacre carefully, and Mu En learned that Du Busi had taken Huo Yuhao away to the Body Sect.
• Mu En said Shrek had lost its strength to fight and would retreat behind the scenes; Tai Tan left after confirming that Wang Dong’er would continue studying there.

Zhang Peng told Zhongli Wu that Ma Xiaotao had become an Evil Soul Master, prompting the Holy Spirit Cult to prepare an attack on Shrek. At the Hongchen Family residence, Lu Ren sent Kurourushi to Shrek to abduct Bei Bei during the coming chaos and use him as leverage against Mu En.

• Zhang Peng returned to Mingdu, met Zhongli Wu, and revealed that he was close to breaking through to level 97.
• Zhang Peng told Zhongli Wu that Ma Xiaotao had become a twenty-year-old Soul Saint with an Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul mutated to possess the Ultimate Fire attribute.
• Zhongli Wu ordered the Holy Spirit Cult to seize Ma Xiaotao at Shrek and declared that she would become its future Saintess.
• Zhang Peng left the meeting pleased that the Holy Spirit Cult’s attack would further weaken Shrek and damage its reputation.
• Lu Ren ordered Kurourushi to lurk near Shrek and abduct Bei Bei during the fighting, warning it to keep him alive as leverage against Mu En.

Lu Ren absorbed two Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones, reaching Rank 69, and tested his Domain Expansion against the Ice Empress’s Eternal Frozen Domain. Worried that Mu En could counter his domain, he sought more realistic practice, and the Snow Empress offered to take him to a deserted wasteland for a full-strength spar.

• Lu Ren absorbed the dark-attribute Right Arm Soul Bone, rose from Rank 63 to Rank 66, and dismissed its two offensive Soul Skills as less useful than his Cursed Techniques and Binding Vows.
• Lu Ren’s Domain Expansion overwhelmed the Ice Empress’s Eternal Frozen Domain, though her domain briefly neutralized its sure-hit effect; he concluded that Douluo domains could resist his technique.
• Lu Ren absorbed Xuan Zi’s earth-attribute Torso Bone and reached Rank 69, while leaving the incompatible light-attribute Soul Bone in his Storage Soul Tool.
• Lu Ren worried that Mu En’s domain-like Sovereign’s Descent could counter his Domain Expansion and resolved to unlock the Ten Shadows Technique and Mahoraga after reaching Soul Saint.
• Lu Ren and the Ice Empress repeatedly practiced domain battles in his cramped room, but she complained that the space and her need to limit her strength made the training ineffective.
• The Ice Empress recommended sparring with the Snow Empress instead, and the Snow Empress arrived and offered to take Lu Ren to a deserted wasteland outside the city.

The Holy Spirit Cult attacked Shrek Academy, seized Ma Xiaotao, and abducted Bei Bei, leaving the dying Mu En to entrust the academy to Song Yunzhi and prepare to pursue his remaining goals. Outside Mingdu, Lu Ren tested his domain against the Snow Empress and revealed that he feared a future confrontation with Mu En, while the Snow Empress offered to help despite her weakened origin.

• Zhongli Wu led the Holy Spirit Cult's attack on Shrek Academy, and Mu En repelled the force at the cost of more of his remaining life essence; Ma Xiaotao was taken.
• Mu En named Song Yunzhi the next Sea God Pavilion Master, told her and Lin Huiqun to guard Shrek, and declared that he would try to recover Ma Xiaotao and make Lu Ren pay.
• Elder Zhuang reported that Bei Bei had been abducted from the Golden Ancient Tree without a struggle, and Mu En refused to let the other elders pursue him.
• Mu En went to the Golden Ancient Tree to ask the ancestors for strength before taking action.
• Lu Ren's domain was overwhelmed by the Snow Empress's domain, and she explained that his greater domain mechanics could not overcome her superior cultivation.
• Lu Ren told the Snow Empress he was preparing for a possible battle against Mu En, and she offered to fight beside him despite her damaged origin; she then asked when he would reach Titled Douluo.

Lu Ren refused to risk making the Snow Empress his Soul Spirit before he was strong enough, then released more than fifteen hundred Cursed Spirits to gather Cursed Energy across the continent. The surge drew Mingdu’s Holy Spirit Cult fighters to him, and after Lu Ren slaughtered them, the survivors mistook him for their legendary Holy Son.

• Lu Ren proposed becoming the Snow Empress’s Soul Saint host, but she refused, warning that the fusion could kill them both and bring her Heavenly Tribulation early; Lu Ren concealed his plan to help her recover with ten-thousand-year profound ice marrow.
• After the Snow Empress and Ice Empress left, Lu Ren returned to Mingdu and dispatched more than fifteen hundred Cursed Spirits across the continent to absorb Cursed Energy and send most of it to him.
• The Cursed Energy surge exposed the Holy Spirit Cult’s hidden fighters in Mingdu, who rushed toward Lu Ren, believing they had found the pure darkness origin they coveted.
• Lu Ren killed the approaching Evil Soul Masters with Invisible Slashes and Positive Energy, overwhelming their attacks and preventing the survivors from escaping.
• As the remaining Evil Soul Masters revered Lu Ren, they declared that he must be the legendary Holy Son and urged him to seek out the Holy Emperor.

Lu Ren learned from the Ice Empress that the Holy Spirit Cult’s followers possessed faith power, so he decided to investigate the mysterious Holy Emperor while preparing to face Mu En. After Nana gave him a map of the cult’s Mingdu bases, he raided its largest underground stronghold and forced a surviving guard to guide him and answer questions.

• Lu Ren killed the remaining Evil Soul Masters at the first site, but the dying elder praised the Holy Emperor and refused to explain who he was.
• The Ice Empress sensed faith power among the Holy Spirit Cult, leading Lu Ren to suspect a god might stand behind the cult and decide to investigate.
• Lu Ren visited Nana’s courtyard, learned Ye Guyi had been in Deep Meditation for a month, and received a detailed map of Holy Spirit Cult bases in Mingdu.
• Lu Ren entered the cult’s largest underground base, killed one guard who resisted, and ordered the survivors to lead him to records about the Holy Emperor and explain the base.
• One guard tried to silence his companion for threatening to reveal cult secrets, so Lu Ren killed him with Spiritual Power; the remaining guard chose his life over loyalty and agreed to talk.

Lu Ren learned that Zhang Peng was cultivating in the Holy Spirit Cult’s underground base beneath Mingdu, then faced the Zhongli brothers with the Ice Empress. By combining her power with his Cursed Technique, he destroyed the brothers and blasted a tunnel through the base, leaving the pair to consider how much stronger their new attack could become.

• Lu Ren questioned an Evil Soul Master, learned that the Holy Spirit Cult’s senior fighters had left Mingdu and Zhang Peng was guarding the base’s deepest area, then killed his informant.
• The Zhongli brothers confronted Lu Ren, and he summoned the Ice Empress, whose presence alarmed them enough to prepare their strongest combined attack.
• Lu Ren strengthened his Cursed Technique by revealing information and persuaded the Ice Empress to pour all her power into him by declaring his love for her.
• Lu Ren fired Maximum: Uzumaki, which he dubbed the Pure Love Cannon, overpowering the brothers’ attack, killing them, and blasting a vast tunnel through the underground base.
• The Ice Empress questioned how Lu Ren had amplified her power, and he explained that their combination could grow stronger with further development.

Lu Ren destroyed a Holy Spirit Cult base and obtained a book revealing that the cult’s Holy Emperor was based on Tang San’s historical deeds. He concluded that the Evil Soul Masters’ faith was reaching Tang San in the Divine Realm, leaving the Ice Empress shocked by his connection to the cult.

• Lu Ren questioned Zhang Peng about the Holy Emperor after destroying the underground base, and Zhang Peng explained that the figure was based on distorted history.
• Zhang Peng gave Lu Ren a book about the Holy Emperor and urged him to leave before Zhongli Wu and the Holy Spirit Cult’s main force returned.
• Lu Ren returned to the Hongchen residence, advised Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen during their training, and read the book in his room.
• Lu Ren recognized the book’s account of Slaughter City’s destruction as a distorted version of Tang San’s deeds.
• Lu Ren explained to the Ice Empress that the Holy Emperor was Tang San and that the Holy Spirit Cult’s followers’ faith reached him in the Divine Realm.