Recaps

Xu Zhengyang learned that Shrek Academy was dangerous and realized he could not safely enroll, while his investigations suggested he lived in the era of the Peerless Tang Sect. A chance encounter in a Shrek City restaurant confirmed the era when he recognized Tang Ya, Jiang Nannan, Xu Sanshi, and Bei Bei, leaving him watching their confrontation.

• Xu Zhengyang concluded that Shrek Academy prized combat ability and that joining it would risk exposing his origins and violating his agreement to return home before turning twelve.
• Xu Zhengyang identified Yan Shaozhe as Shrek Academy's dean and inferred that he lived in the era of the Peerless Tang Sect.
• At a crowded restaurant, Tang Ya took the seats Jiang Nannan and her companions had been about to use, and Jiang Nannan challenged her.
• Tang Ya insulted Jiang Nannan, prompting Xu Sanshi to threaten Tang Ya and warn that he would not spare Bei Bei.
• Bei Bei appeared to intervene, and Xu Zhengyang recognized Jiang Nannan, Tang Ya, Xu Sanshi, and Bei Bei from the original novel.

Xu Zhengyang met Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, Tang Ya, and Jiang Nannan at a crowded restaurant in Shrek City, realizing they were Shrek Academy students and that he was two years older than Huo Yuhao. After sharing his table with them, he left the city, having learned where he stood in the timeline and gained a rough sense of Shrek Academy.

• Xu Zhengyang recognized Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, Tang Ya, and Jiang Nannan as prominent Shrek Academy students and worked out their ages relative to his own and Huo Yuhao's.
• Xu Sanshi and Bei Bei argued over the last available seats, and the restaurant manager asked Xu Zhengyang to share his table with them.
• Xu Zhengyang reluctantly agreed to share the table, warning the manager not to let the others interfere with his meal.
• Bei Bei apologized for Tang Ya's rude comment, while Xu Zhengyang continued eating and drinking before leaving the restaurant.
• Xu Zhengyang decided that his visit had served its purpose and left Shrek City with a clearer understanding of the timeline and Shrek Academy.

Bei Bei and Tang Ya recognized Xu Zhengyang as a powerful, experienced blacksmith and followed him out of Shrek City to recruit him to the Tang Sect. Xu Zhengyang refused their offers, revealed his opposition to Shrek Academy’s system, and left them with Tang Ya’s vow to restore the Tang Sect.

• Bei Bei told Tang Ya that Xu Zhengyang’s savage Soul Power, killing aura, and weighted steps marked him as a formidable fighter and likely a skilled blacksmith.
• Bei Bei proposed recruiting Xu Zhengyang to help revitalize the Tang Sect, and Tang Ya eagerly agreed.
• Xu Zhengyang left Shrek City and vowed to return to bring Shrek Academy down from its undefeated pedestal.
• Bei Bei and Tang Ya caught up with Xu Zhengyang outside the city and offered friendship and a way into Shrek Academy, but he refused.
• Xu Zhengyang explained that his position kept him from joining Shrek Academy and criticized its survival-and-elimination system.
• Xu Zhengyang described the Tang Sect as a fallen power, and Tang Ya vowed to lead it back to glory.

Bei Bei challenged Xu Zhengyang after deciding the mysterious visitor was hostile to Shrek, but Xu Zhengyang matched him in close combat without using a Martial Soul. Xu Zhengyang shattered Bei Bei’s Thunder Dragon Claw with his spear-inspired technique, leaving Bei Bei astonished and the two fighters still standing.

• Bei Bei questioned Xu Zhengyang’s reason for visiting Shrek City and challenged him after concluding he would not join the Tang Sect.
• Xu Zhengyang won their initial clash of fists, pushing Bei Bei back three steps.
• Bei Bei summoned his Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul, but Xu Zhengyang traded dozens of claw and palm strikes with him without falling behind.
• Bei Bei used his first Soul Skill, Thunder Dragon Claw, against Xu Zhengyang.
• Xu Zhengyang pierced through Thunder Dragon Claw with Tyrant's Furious Collapse, tearing Bei Bei’s sleeve and leaving a red mark on his arm.

Xu Zhengyang defeated Bei Bei in a sparring match without using a Soul Skill, overcoming Bei Bei’s Tang Sect techniques and Thunderbolt Fury. When Bei Bei asked his name, Xu Zhengyang introduced himself as Long Aotian and left him expecting another defeat if they met again.

• Bei Bei used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track and Mysterious Jade Hand against Xu Zhengyang, but Xu Zhengyang’s strength and speed let him counter the techniques.
• Xu Zhengyang’s Tiger Roars in the Mountains and Forests tore through Bei Bei’s Thunderbolt Fury and left his fingers pressed against Bei Bei’s shoulder.
• Bei Bei conceded defeat and told Tang Ya that Xu Zhengyang had outmatched him in physique, strength, and combat techniques.
• Tang Ya urged Bei Bei to use Tang Sect hidden weapons, but Bei Bei refused, saying it would ruin the spar and likely injure them both.
• Bei Bei asked Xu Zhengyang his name, and Xu Zhengyang introduced himself as Long Aotian before saying Bei Bei would still not match him next time.

Xu Zhengyang traveled from Shrek City to Star Luo City, where he planned to obtain the Soul Devouring Carving Knife and its Gold of Life. He left himself determined to acquire it and use it to transform the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear.

• After Xu Zhengyang left, Bei Bei told Tang Ya he suspected Long Aotian belonged to the Body Sect and warned that provoking the sect could be dangerous.
• Xu Zhengyang chose to travel under another name, then followed the roads around the Star Dou Great Forest toward Star Luo City while carrying three hundred jin of weights.
• After roughly three days, Xu Zhengyang reached Star Luo City, rested overnight, and went to the auction house.
• Xu Zhengyang recalled that he could not temper the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear further without a higher-grade metal, and identified the Gold of Life in the Soul Devouring Carving Knife as the material he wanted.
• After meditating through the night, Xu Zhengyang considered his future plans and resolved to obtain the Soul Devouring Carving Knife.

Xu Zhengyang attended the Starlight Auction House under the name Long Aotian, hoping to find the Soul Devouring Carving Knife, but it never appeared. After several nights of fruitless auctions, he saw a Mysterious Water Pill and began missing home.

• Xu Zhengyang entered the Starlight Auction House, passed its screening, and took a masked seat in the auction hall.
• Xu Zhengyang watched Class 4 soul tools and other items sell for prices that astonished him.
• Xu Zhengyang waited through the auction but did not see the Soul Devouring Carving Knife, and he wondered whether he had arrived too early.
• Xu Zhengyang returned to the auction house over the next few days while cultivating at his hotel, but most of the offerings did not interest him.
• Xu Zhengyang saw a Mysterious Water Pill go up for auction and thought about his father and returning home sooner.

Xu Zhengyang won a Mysterious Water Pill at the Starlight Auction House and learned that the Soul Devouring Carving Knife would be auctioned at next week’s VIP session. Short of the money needed to buy it, he arranged to auction his Polar Ice Fox Head Soul Bone.

• Xu Zhengyang outbid the other bidders and bought the Mysterious Water Pill for thirty-two thousand gold soul coins.
• Xu Zhengyang learned from the transaction clerk that a Soul Devouring Carving Knife would be auctioned on the first of next month for more than two hundred thousand gold soul coins.
• Xu Zhengyang realized his remaining one hundred and twenty thousand gold soul coins were not enough to buy the carving knife.
• Xu Zhengyang showed the clerk his nearly thousand-year-old Polar Ice Fox Head Soul Bone, which the auction house estimated was worth at least one hundred thousand gold soul coins.
• Xu Zhengyang asked the clerk to auction the Soul Bone before the first of next month and transfer the proceeds to his account.

Xu Zhengyang improved his cultivation after taking a Mysterious Water Pill, then returned to the Starlight Auction House and bid on the cursed Soul Devouring Carving Knife. The chapter ended with the knife sold to him for two hundred thousand gold soul coins.

• Xu Zhengyang took a Mysterious Water Pill and raised his Soul Power rank from twenty-six to twenty-seven.
• Xu Zhengyang spent three days cultivating before returning to the Starlight Auction House and finding that his Soul Bone had sold for a hundred and twenty thousand gold soul coins.
• Xu Zhengyang attended the VIP auction, where the auctioneer revealed that the Soul Devouring Carving Knife ranked ninety-ninth and had brought about the deaths of all thirty-seven of its former owners.
• Xu Zhengyang bid two hundred thousand gold soul coins on the Soul Devouring Carving Knife, and the auctioneer sold it to him.

Xu Zhengyang examined the cursed Soul Devouring Carving Knife and sought a way to extract its gold of life without being corrupted by its evil energy. He traveled to Gengxin City, bought a smithy, and registered as Long Aotian to find skilled blacksmiths and better forging facilities.

• Xu Zhengyang inspected the Soul Devouring Carving Knife and sensed that its evil energy could corrupt him if he touched it.
• Xu Zhengyang concluded that Dongyang City's facilities could not safely destroy the carving knife or extract its gold of life.
• Xu Zhengyang traveled from Star Luo City to Gengxin City, the continent's famed blacksmithing center.
• Xu Zhengyang explored Gengxin City and bought a poorly run smithy with five blacksmiths and a top-notch blast furnace.
• Xu Zhengyang registered in Gengxin City as Long Aotian so he could seek superior casting techniques and communicate with skilled blacksmiths.

Xu Zhengyang settled in Gengxin City and used his new blacksmith shop to forge his Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear, discovering that the technique could gradually change both the spear and his own body. After an exhausting day of forging and cultivation, he resolved to improve his skills and temper his Martial Soul in the city.

• Xu Zhengyang opened the Zhengyang Blacksmith Shop and rehired its five workers at double their previous wages.
• Xu Zhengyang used the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Technique to strike his Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear eighty-one times, slightly compacting its shaft and defining its spearhead.
• Xu Zhengyang felt the forging impacts tempering his body and clearing his meridians as he pushed himself to exhaustion.
• After the workers left, Xu Zhengyang took a medicinal bath and meditated, cultivating at least twenty percent faster than usual.
• Xu Zhengyang decided to develop his forging skills in Gengxin City and continue shaping his Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear.

Xu Zhengyang attended a Blacksmith Association gathering in Gengxin City, where he learned from veteran smiths and asked President Lou Li about forging his Martial Soul. Lou Li warned that hammering a Martial Soul could severely injure or cripple its owner, leaving Xu Zhengyang’s plan in doubt.

• Xu Zhengyang continued hammering the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear, practicing his spear techniques, and refining his self-created moves.
• Xu Zhengyang went to the Blacksmith Association’s monthly gathering and exchanged forging knowledge with its members.
• Xu Zhengyang observed President Lou Li and learned from the veteran blacksmiths’ techniques and attention to detail.
• After the gathering, Xu Zhengyang introduced himself as Long Aotian and asked Lou Li how to forge Yang flame iron and extraterrestrial meteoric copper.
• Xu Zhengyang explained that those metals composed his Martial Soul and that he wanted to forge it into a sharper, more powerful weapon.
• Lou Li warned that forging a Martial Soul could burn Xu Zhengyang, sever his meridians, or destroy his Martial Soul.

Lou Li examined Xu Zhengyang’s Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear and explained why he could not yet forge its impure, unusually powerful materials. Xu Zhengyang left with a long-term plan to refine his Martial Soul and new ideas about using magma or lightning to destroy the Soul Devouring Carving Knife and extract the Gold of Life.

• Xu Zhengyang showed Lou Li his Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear, and Lou Li detected sealed power in its spearhead.
• Lou Li found that the spear contained many impurities and had been crudely forged, making it too difficult for Xu Zhengyang to refine with his current strength and cultivation.
• Lou Li advised Xu Zhengyang to persist with repeated hammering and refining rather than expect to succeed quickly.
• Lou Li told Xu Zhengyang that magma had once been used to forge Extraterrestrial Meteoric Copper and that lightning could also refine metals, though both methods were dangerous.
• Xu Zhengyang realized that magma or lightning might help destroy the Soul Devouring Carving Knife and remove its curse to obtain the Gold of Life.

Xu Zhengyang spent a year in Gengxin City refining his spear, tempering the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear, and improving his forging skills. He reached the peak of rank twenty-nine at age twelve, but sensed that his limited innate talent would make future breakthroughs increasingly difficult.

• Xu Zhengyang used his stronger spiritual power to understand the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear through forging and felt their bond grow closer.
• Xu Zhengyang followed a demanding daily routine of spear practice, forging with a heavy black-gold hammer, medicinal baths, and meditation.
• Xu Zhengyang improved his forging and spear techniques until he could deliver more than a thousand hammer blows and nearly forge a Class 6 Soul Tool model.
• After a year in Gengxin City, Xu Zhengyang had grown taller and stronger, and reached the peak of rank twenty-nine at age twelve.
• Xu Zhengyang sensed a bottleneck caused by his limited innate talent and worried that future Soul Power breakthroughs would become harder.

Xu Zhengyang and Lou Li worked to forge the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear’s unyielding spearhead, and Xu Zhengyang finally shaped it through hours of hammering. The spearhead took the form of a black-and-gold tiger’s head and began merging with Xu Zhengyang’s blood, though its edge remained unsharpened.

• Xu Zhengyang heated the spearhead and struck it repeatedly with the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Technique, gradually changing the Extraterrestrial Meteoric Copper.
• After five hours, Xu Zhengyang had flattened and shaped the spearhead as far as he could, but he could not finish it with his black-gold hammer alone.
• Lou Li gave Xu Zhengyang his Vajra Chisel and helped stoke the furnace, allowing Xu Zhengyang to forge with both hands.
• Xu Zhengyang continued hammering for another hour, exhausted himself, and spat blood onto the spearhead, which began to merge with it.
• Lou Li examined the transformed spear and praised its quality, noting that its edge had not yet been sharpened.

Xu Zhengyang completed the first stage of reforging the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear, then closed his blacksmith shop and left Gengxin City. He reached Azure Thunder Mountain, where he planned to use natural lightning to suppress the cursed Soul Devouring Carving Knife and protect its gold of life.

• Xu Zhengyang examined the reshaped Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear and thanked Lou Li for helping him complete the forging.
• Xu Zhengyang decided that sharpening the spear and adding gold of life were his next steps, while recognizing he still needed the Illustrious Virtue Hall's secret forging technique.
• After recovering, Xu Zhengyang paid and dismissed the five workers, shut down Zhengyang Blacksmith Shop, and left Gengxin City.
• Xu Zhengyang traveled for five days to Azure Thunder Mountain in the southeastern Star Luo Empire.
• Xu Zhengyang planned to expose the Soul Devouring Carving Knife to the mountain's lightning in hopes of suppressing its curse without revealing the weapon or its gold of life to anyone.

Xu Zhengyang brought the Soul Devouring Carving Knife to Azure Thunder Mountain, hoping the mountain’s lightning would destroy it. The knife’s power resisted the lightning and provoked an even greater storm, leaving Xu Zhengyang facing an escalating battle between the black skull and the mountain’s gathering purple lightning.

• Xu Zhengyang climbed Azure Thunder Mountain despite the Soul Devouring Carving Knife growing increasingly unstable.
• At the summit, Xu Zhengyang dodged powerful lightning strikes and used his Class 5 defensive Soul Tool to endure the assault.
• Xu Zhengyang threw the wooden box containing the Soul Devouring Carving Knife into the sky, where lightning shattered it and exposed the knife.
• The Soul Devouring Carving Knife unleashed a huge black skull that roared as lightning enveloped it and began turning black.
• Xu Zhengyang realized the knife might contain its creator’s soul, and watched as the skull and Azure Thunder Mountain’s lightning fought.
• The black skull shouted with hatred and defiance as the dark clouds gathered and the lightning intensified and turned purple.

Xu Zhengyang tried to cleanse the Soul Devouring Carving Knife with heavenly lightning, but the weapon’s remaining phantom and another dark presence entered his Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear along with the gold of life. He lost consciousness as the lightning subsided, while Tang San sensed an unforeseen change connected to his daughter Wutong.

• A powerful black phantom emerged from the Soul Devouring Carving Knife and struck at the heavenly lightning, prompting a purplish-red lightning giant to appear and attack it.
• As the knife melted, Xu Zhengyang placed his Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear beneath the gold of life, which began to merge into the spear.
• The weakened black phantom entered the spear, and an unknown black presence also slipped through a fissure in the laws of heaven and earth into the spear.
• Xu Zhengyang endured a devastating surge of lightning, swallowed his prepared medicines, and lost consciousness as the spear and both black presences merged into his body.
• The lightning giant vanished after scrutinizing Xu Zhengyang, leaving him on Azure Thunder Mountain beside the golden granules.
• In the God Realm, Tang San told Xiao Wu that he sensed an unforeseen change in the future, though he believed Wutong was safe and would soon bring them a great surprise.

Xu Zhengyang recovered from the lightning strike on Azure Thunder Mountain and discovered that the Soul Devouring Carving Knife’s curse had transferred to his Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear. He also found a mysterious gray power in his spiritual sea that might be Electrolux, leaving him injured but alive with two unexplained forces to investigate.

• Xu Zhengyang woke badly injured beside the Gold of Life, which had kept him alive, and realized it had not merged into his body.
• Xu Zhengyang summoned his Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear and found ancient black patterns resembling those on the Soul Devouring Carving Knife.
• Xu Zhengyang concluded that the curse had transferred onto his Martial Soul, though he could not understand why it had not killed him.
• Xu Zhengyang examined his spiritual sea and discovered a powerful gray aura connected to the Devil Tiger’s Eye.
• Xu Zhengyang suspected the gray power might be Electrolux and decided to accept the mystery for now.

After surviving a lightning strike, Xu Zhengyang recovered with the help of the Gold of Life, broke through to Soul Power rank thirty, and entered the Star Dou Great Forest to seek a third Soul Ring. He discovered two powerful Soul Beasts fighting and recognized the tiger as a Nether Flame Demon Tiger.

• Xu Zhengyang recovered near Azure Thunder Mountain, and the Gold of Life helped his body heal and grow stronger after the lightning strike.
• The lightning strike broke Xu Zhengyang’s rank-twenty-nine bottleneck and raised his Soul Power to rank thirty.
• Xu Zhengyang entered the Star Dou Great Forest to find a tiger-type Soul Beast for his third Soul Ring, cautiously searching with his Devil Tiger’s Eye.
• After three days of exploring and surviving several attacks, Xu Zhengyang heard a tiger’s roar and a bear’s bellow and hurried toward the battle.
• Xu Zhengyang saw a dark-gold bear fighting a huge black tiger and identified the tiger as a Nether Flame Demon Tiger.

Xu Zhengyang identified a wounded mother Nether Flame Demon Tiger fighting a Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear and decided to seize the tiger's Soul Ring. After he secretly took her cub, the furious mother unleashed a powerful attack, and the battle continued with both Soul Beasts fighting desperately.

• Xu Zhengyang recognized the giant bear as a two-thousand-year Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear fighting a six-thousand-year Nether Flame Demon Tiger.
• Xu Zhengyang discovered that the female tiger had recently given birth and that her cub lay wounded in a nearby den.
• Xu Zhengyang decided to claim the Nether Flame Demon Tiger's Soul Ring and secretly took the cub into his living-storage Soul Tool.
• The Nether Flame Demon Tiger returned to find her den empty, roared in grief, and attacked the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear with renewed fury.
• The Nether Flame Demon Tiger appeared to use Teleportation and tore a chunk of flesh from the bear's shoulder, leaving both Soul Beasts locked in a desperate fight.

Xu Zhengyang used a Thunder Flame Enemy-Binding Net and poisoned Flame Spear to attack the two Soul Beasts as they fought. He blinded the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear with his second Soul Skill, but both beasts remained ferocious and continued to batter him.

• The Nether Flame Demon Tiger and Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear fought fiercely, suffering grievous wounds as Xu Zhengyang watched for an opening.
• Xu Zhengyang dropped his Thunder Flame Enemy-Binding Net over the battling beasts and stabbed the Nether Flame Demon Tiger with his poisoned Flame Spear.
• The Soul Beasts tore the net and sent Xu Zhengyang flying, but he used the intact section to trap them again and pierced the tiger through a wound in its torso.
• Xu Zhengyang activated Devil Tiger Destruction Kill and struck the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear in the head, blinding one of its eyes.
• The bear lashed out wildly and sent Xu Zhengyang flying again as he struggled to survive the two beasts' attacks.

Xu Zhengyang killed the Nether Flame Demon Tiger and the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear, then absorbed the tiger’s Soul Ring and discovered his body was transforming toward a pure Yang physique. While dissecting the bear, he found its right palm External Soul Bone and suspected it was the one associated with Huo Yuhao.

• Xu Zhengyang used poisons and repeated attacks to kill the two wounded Soul Beasts, then took their corpses to a safe place and revealed their purple Soul Rings.
• Xu Zhengyang absorbed the Nether Flame Demon Tiger’s Soul Ring despite the overwhelming pain, while the vertical eye on his forehead absorbed some of the pressure.
• After two days, Xu Zhengyang awoke with greatly enhanced strength and recovery, and suspected that repeated tiger Soul Rings had begun transforming him toward a pure Yang physique.
• Xu Zhengyang examined the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear and resolved to keep absorbing tiger-type Soul Rings beyond his limits.
• Xu Zhengyang dissected the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear and found a right palm External Soul Bone, which he suspected had belonged to the bear associated with Huo Yuhao.

Xu Zhengyang absorbed the Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear's External Soul Bone, gaining its powerful claw and reaching Soul Power rank thirty-three. After reviewing his new Nether Tiger Space-Rending Spear skill, he prepared to leave Star Dou Great Forest and return home after three years of solitary training.

• Xu Zhengyang endured the External Soul Bone's madness and scorching pain until he absorbed it, drawing on years of physical tempering.
• Xu Zhengyang manifested the Darkgolden Terrorclaw and demonstrated that its blades could carve deep cracks into the ground.
• Xu Zhengyang assessed his gains, including rank thirty-three Soul Power, the Darkgolden Terrorclaw skill, and the Nether Tiger Space-Rending Spear, which pierced through space and enhanced his spear attack.
• Xu Zhengyang packed the two Soul Beast corpses and prepared to leave Star Dou Great Forest, longing to return home after three years alone.

Xu Zhengyang searched for a nursing tigress to save the injured Netherflame Demon Tiger cub whose mother he had killed. He encountered the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, left the cub with it, and fled the Star Dou Great Forest, hoping the powerful Soul Beast could care for it.

• Xu Zhengyang treated the Netherflame Demon Tiger cub and decided to search for a nursing tigress rather than kill or abandon it.
• After two days of searching, Xu Zhengyang heard a roar and discovered the Three-Eyed Golden Lion in the forest.
• The Three-Eyed Golden Lion attacked Xu Zhengyang with a mental strike, but his Devil Tiger Illusion Breaking skill disrupted it and let him dodge.
• Xu Zhengyang set the cub down near the Three-Eyed Golden Lion and escaped at full speed with his flying Soul Tool.
• The Three-Eyed Golden Lion found the cub and watched Xu Zhengyang flee, puzzled by his actions and his vertical eye.