Recaps

Huo Yuhao tried to wear down the badly wounded Xu Zhengyang with agile attacks, hidden weapons, and Ultimate Ice. Xu Zhengyang instead fought more fiercely and unleashed Spear Radiance for the first time, piercing Huo Yuhao's shoulder and leaving the match unresolved.

• Huo Yuhao released his Emperor Ice Jade Scorpion Martial Soul and attacked the exhausted Xu Zhengyang with a short blade and Sleeve Cannon while avoiding direct weapon clashes.
• Huo Yuhao combined spiritual interference, Midnight and Noon Soul-Chasing Life-Taking Balls, and a blade thrust to wound Xu Zhengyang's shoulder.
• Xu Zhengyang knocked Huo Yuhao away with his shoulder, but Huo Yuhao's Ultimate Ice began seeping into his wounds.
• Huo Yuhao resumed his close-range attacks to exhaust Xu Zhengyang, but Xu Zhengyang's fighting spirit grew stronger despite the encroaching cold.
• Xu Zhengyang launched Explosive Flame Shattering Spear against Huo Yuhao's Ice Emperor's Wrath and manifested Spear Radiance for the first time.
• Xu Zhengyang's Spear Radiance pierced Huo Yuhao's shoulder and hurled him several meters away.

Huo Yuhao and Xu Zhengyang fought to a draw after both were gravely injured, and the Sun Moon Team went on to defeat Shrek Team and win the championship. Afterward, Huo Yuhao learned that Xu Zhengyang’s unusual constitution and fierce fire attribute had helped him withstand Ice Emperor’s Wrath.

• Xu Zhengyang broke free of Huo Yuhao’s ice and struck back, while Huo Yuhao wounded him with the Godly Zhuge Crossbow.
• The Heavenly Fiend Douluo declared the match a draw because neither Huo Yuhao nor Xu Zhengyang could continue fighting.
• Meng Hongchen poisoned Xiao Xiao and defeated Wang Dong, giving the Sun Moon Team the championship.
• Huo Yuhao asked the Skydream Iceworm why Xu Zhengyang had endured his attacks, and it pointed to Xu Zhengyang’s formidable constitution and unusual fire attribute.
• Huo Yuhao realized that Xu Zhengyang’s fire might make him a natural counter to Huo Yuhao’s Ultimate Ice.

After the Sun Moon Team defeated Shrek in both the team battle and individual matches, they were declared champions and received three top-grade Soul Bones. The victory left Xu Jiawei facing political fallout and growing danger in Star Luo City, while Huo Yuhao and Xu Zhengyang sensed they might become enemies.

• The Skydream Iceworm told Huo Yuhao that a curse inside Xu Zhengyang's spear was balanced against his Martial Soul, and warned that Xu Zhengyang might become his lifelong enemy.
• Heavenly Fiend Douluo declared the Sun Moon Team the tournament champions after they won both finals.
• Meng Hongchen treated the poisoned Shrek members, and Huo Yuhao gave Xu Zhengyang an antidote for the Godly Zhuge Crossbow poison.
• Xu Jiawei presented the championship and runner-up awards to Ma Rulong and Ma Xiaotao, including three fifty-thousand-year Soul Bones for the Sun Moon Team.
• Ma Rulong handed the rewards to Ma Rufeng, who stored them away as the team prepared to leave Star Luo City amid the threat of theft and political unrest.

After the Sun Moon Team returned from its championship, Xu Zhengyang helped distribute the tournament’s Soul Bones and discussed his plan to bring Zhengtian Academy’s Martial Soul Department into the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy. Jing Hongchen agreed the relocation was underway, though he questioned whether Xu Zhengyang was overestimating Zhengtian Academy.

• Ma Rufeng led the Sun Moon Team safely back to the academy, where Crown Prince Xu Tianran and the academy leadership celebrated their championship and promised generous rewards.
• Ma Rufeng and Jing Hongchen praised the team’s contributions and allocated three Soul Bones to Ma Rulong, Xu Zhengyang, Xiao Hongchen, and Meng Hongchen, with the remaining members receiving Gold Soul Coins and cultivation materials.
• Xu Zhengyang assigned the Mighty Demon Tiger Left Arm Soul Bone to Ma Rulong, the Ice Giant Dragon Head Soul Bone to Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, and kept the Divine Fire Fierce Bird Right Arm Soul Bone for his father.
• Jing Hongchen told Xu Zhengyang that Zhengtian Academy’s relocation was underway, with about thirty people expected and land, funding, and resources set aside for a new Martial Soul Department.
• Xu Zhengyang defended the plan, arguing that Zhengtian Academy’s Martial Soul legacies could fill the Sun Moon Empire’s greatest weakness, while Jing Hongchen and Ma Rufeng considered his reasoning.

Jing Hongchen told Xu Zhengyang about the fallout in Star Luo City and appointed him captain for the next Soul Master Tournament. Xu Tianyuan then rewarded Xu Zhengyang by admitting him to the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion and inviting him to call him Clan Uncle.

• Jing Hongchen explained that Xuan Zi had mediated clashes between Du Busi and the Star Luo Imperial Family, which compensated the gathered powers and kept the dispute from becoming a war.
• Jing Hongchen appointed Xu Zhengyang captain and Xiao Hongchen vice-captain for the next Soul Master Tournament, and Xu Zhengyang promised to prepare his team and train them in the Martial Soul Department.
• Xu Zhengyang and Xu Jie met Xu Tianyuan and Xu Tianran at the prince's residence, where Xu Tianyuan asked Xu Zhengyang what reward he wanted for his tournament performance.
• Xu Tianyuan granted Xu Zhengyang early entry into the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion as an ordinary member with the title of staff officer, and told him to improve his Soul Engineer level.
• Xu Tianyuan invited Xu Zhengyang to call him Clan Uncle, and Xu Zhengyang accepted and pledged to bring greater glory to the Sun Radiance Lineage.

Xu Zhengyang defended his rumors of imperial turmoil by proposing a strategy to weaken Shrek Academy's influence and divide the three empires through preferential Soul Tool trade with the Dou Ling Empire. Xu Tianran and Xu Tianyuan accepted the plan's potential, but Xu Tianran then questioned Xu Zhengyang about bringing Zhengtian Academy into conflict with the Holy Spirit Cult.

• Xu Tianyuan and Xu Tianran questioned Xu Zhengyang about spreading rumors of turmoil and succession struggles in the Sun Moon Empire.
• Xu Zhengyang explained that Shrek Academy's greatest strength lay in its ability to unite the three empires and traditional sects against the Sun Moon Empire.
• Xu Zhengyang argued that reducing the perceived external threat and undermining Shrek Academy could divide the opposing powers and allow the Sun Moon Empire to defeat them separately.
• Xu Zhengyang proposed granting the Dou Ling Empire preferential Soul Tool trade while imposing an embargo on the Heaven Soul Empire and Star Luo Empire to create friction over profits and supply.
• Xu Tianran and Xu Tianyuan judged the trade strategy feasible and discussed its implementation.
• Xu Tianran questioned the proposed incorporation of Zhengtian Academy into the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy and warned that the Holy Spirit Cult would seek to destroy its Angel Martial Soul.

Xu Zhengyang persuaded Xu Tianran that recruiting Zhengtian Academy could provide a counterweight to the Holy Spirit Cult while also serving its expansion into the Douluo Continent. He then proposed enticing the cult to seize the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Embryo in Star Luo City, arguing that its dangers could provoke a deadly conflict with the Star Luo Imperial Family.

• Xu Zhengyang argued that the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy should distance itself from the Holy Spirit Cult and recruit Zhengtian Academy to strengthen its reputation.
• Xu Tianran defended cooperation with the Holy Spirit Cult because the Sun Moon Empire needed its top-tier experts and warned that recruiting an Angel Martial Soul could provoke it.
• Xu Zhengyang presented the Angel Martial Soul as a future safeguard against the Holy Spirit Cult and argued that recruiting Zhengtian Academy would weaken their shared enemies.
• Xu Zhengyang advocated continued short-term cooperation with the Holy Spirit Cult and encouraging its activities on the Douluo Continent to destabilize the three great empires.
• Xu Zhengyang proposed using the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Embryo to entice the Holy Spirit Cult into raiding Star Luo City.
• Xu Zhengyang argued that the embryo likely belonged to a Fierce Beast and could not be absorbed safely, potentially causing a fight to the death between the Holy Spirit Cult and the Star Luo Imperial Family.

Xu Zhengyang persuaded Xu Tianran to steer the Holy Spirit Cult toward the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Embryo, then discussed the Sun Moon Team’s chances in a reformed Soul Master Tournament. He asked Xu Tianran to arrange a meeting with Tang Ya to obtain the Tang Sect’s techniques and legacy, and Xu Tianran agreed while warning him of the danger.

• Xu Zhengyang told Xu Tianran that the Holy Spirit Cult would likely pursue the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Embryo after he leaked information about it.
• Xu Tianran revealed that he planned to let sects and factions enter the next Soul Master Tournament, and he demanded that Xu Zhengyang’s Sun Moon Team win the championship.
• Xu Tianran said Xu Tianzhen would join the team, and Xu Zhengyang reluctantly agreed to nurture her.
• Xu Zhengyang named Tang Ya as the person he needed to strengthen the team and explained the value of the Tang Sect’s legacy, including the Mysterious Heaven Technique.
• Xu Tianran agreed to contact the Holy Spirit Cult, but warned Xu Zhengyang that he would have to visit Tang Ya himself and face serious danger.

Xu Zhengyang proposed using the Holy Spirit Cult to draw Shrek Academy and other powers into conflict, buying the Sun Moon Empire time and weakening its rivals. Xu Tianran agreed to let him meet Tang Ya, but Xu Zhengyang left uncertain whether he could survive the visit or persuade her to reveal the Tang Sect’s secret techniques.

• Xu Zhengyang told Xu Tianran that the empire could provoke the Holy Spirit Cult into conflict with the Star Luo Empire, Shrek Academy, and other powers by exploiting the Star Luo Imperial Family’s Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Embryo and spreading rumors.
• Xu Tianran praised Xu Zhengyang’s strategic insight, warned him not to use schemes against the Xu Clan, and agreed to let him meet Tang Ya.
• After Xu Zhengyang left, Xu Tianran and Xu Tianyuan discussed using the plan to eliminate foreign agents, weaken rival empires, and settle internal threats.
• Xu Tianran said he would speak with the Holy Spirit Cult to protect Xu Zhengyang, while acknowledging that the visit was his own choice and could be dangerous.
• Back in his dormitory, Xu Zhengyang worried about the danger of visiting the Holy Spirit Cult and wondered how he could persuade Tang Ya to hand over the Tang Sect’s secret techniques.

The newly formed Sun Moon Team welcomed Xu Tianzhen, a thirteen-year-old princess with rank forty-six Soul Power, who challenged Xu Zhengyang’s authority as captain. Xu Zhengyang defended his leadership by stressing combat experience over talent, and the chapter ended with Xu Tianzhen challenging him to a fight for the captaincy.

• Xu Zhengyang’s eight-member team was formed, and the students learned their ranks and training plan.
• Xu Tianzhen joined Class One and questioned why Xu Zhengyang was captain, arguing that her higher Soul Power made her the better candidate.
• Xu Tianzhen criticized the Sun Moon team’s tournament victory and praised Shrek Academy, while Xu Zhengyang warned her about the dangers of its harsh world and Xiao Hongchen described Shrek students’ combat skills.
• Xu Zhengyang said Xu Tianzhen lacked practical combat experience and did not qualify for the team, prompting her to threaten him with her status.
• Xu Tianzhen challenged Xu Zhengyang and demanded the captaincy if she won.

Xu Zhengyang defeated Xu Tianzhen in a match without using his Martial Soul, Soul Rings, or Soul Tool, forcing her to join the Sun Moon Team as an ordinary member. He left her with a warning that the team needed discipline and ruthless training if it hoped to defeat Shrek Academy.

• Xu Zhengyang accepted Xu Tianzhen's challenge and agreed that she would train with the team if she lost.
• Xu Tianzhen attacked with her Sun Martial Soul, but Xu Zhengyang countered her first two Soul Skills without summoning his own Martial Soul.
• Xu Tianzhen unleashed her third and fourth Soul Skills, but Xu Zhengyang pierced through her flames with his Spear Intent and stopped his fingers at her neck.
• Xu Zhengyang declared that Xu Tianzhen had lost and ordered her to train as an ordinary team member; she collapsed in fear and accused him of bullying her.
• Xu Tianzhen vowed to challenge Xu Zhengyang again and threatened to have her imperial brother remove him as captain.
• Xu Zhengyang told Xu Tianzhen that strength, combat experience, and strict training mattered more than her status if the Sun Moon Team wanted to defeat Shrek Academy.

Xu Zhengyang began preparing the Sun Moon Team for the next Soul Master Tournament with dangerous training, while Zhengtian Academy arrived to establish an independent Martial Soul Department. He recognized Ye Guyi among its students, realizing that the talented user of a Holy Angel Martial Soul could help against Evil Soul Masters.

• Xu Zhengyang warned the team that Shrek Academy was far stronger than they believed and ordered every member, including Xu Tianzhen, to write a final letter before five years of perilous training.
• Xu Zhengyang imposed an intensive training regimen, and after a month the team had grown tougher while Xu Tianzhen made significant progress.
• Xu Zhengyang received no news about the Holy Spirit Cult or Tang Ya, but Zhengtian Academy arrived at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy with seven teachers and twenty-three students.
• Dean Jing Hongchen and the academy arranged for Zhengtian Academy to run an independent Martial Soul Department, with the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy providing facilities, funding, and Soul Tools.
• Xu Zhengyang noticed Ye Guyi among the visitors and recognized her Holy Angel Martial Soul as both exceptionally powerful and naturally effective against Evil Soul Masters.

Xu Zhengyang helped Jing Hongchen arrange cooperation with Zhengtian Academy, then advised him against Shrek Academy’s proposed exchange student plan. Jing Hongchen agreed to reject the plan because Huo Yuhao could become a major threat to the Sun Moon Empire.

• Jing Hongchen and Xu Zhengyang secured agreements for Martial Soul courses, Zhengtian Academy students to join the Sun Moon Team, and Ye Wuqing to become a team leader.
• Jing Hongchen told Xu Zhengyang he hoped to recruit more academies and declining sects to strengthen the Sun Moon Empire’s Martial Soul cultivation system.
• Jing Hongchen revealed that Shrek Academy’s Mu En had proposed an exchange student plan, but Xu Zhengyang argued that Shrek offered little benefit and posed a risk of exposing their knowledge.
• Xu Zhengyang warned Jing Hongchen that Shrek was likely pursuing the exchange plan because Huo Yuhao had rare Martial Soul talents and could excel as a Soul Engineer.
• Jing Hongchen decided the exchange student plan must not proceed, fearing they would train Huo Yuhao into a powerful enemy.

Jing Hongchen warned Xu Zhengyang about the Holy Spirit Cult but, after hearing his plans to seek Tang Ya and the Tang Sect’s legacy, gave him the Sword of Judgment to protect himself. Xu Zhengyang left determined to obtain the Mysterious Heaven Technique and meet Tang Ya despite the danger.

• Jing Hongchen told Xu Zhengyang that the Holy Spirit Cult had infiltrated the academy and warned that dealing with it could cost him his life, principles, or freedom.
• Xu Zhengyang insisted that Tang Ya’s knowledge of Tang Sect hidden weapons could help him develop Soul Tools usable by ordinary people.
• Jing Hongchen agreed to help Xu Zhengyang and gave him the Sword of Judgment, a powerful Level 8 Soul Tool that could serve as payment or protection.
• Jing Hongchen warned Xu Zhengyang to resist the Holy Spirit Cult’s influence and remember his loyalty to the Sun Moon Empire.
• Xu Zhengyang accepted the sword, left the conference room, and reaffirmed that he would obtain the Mysterious Heaven Technique.

Ye Guyi confronted Xu Zhengyang after sensing an evil presence in his Martial Soul, the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear. She tested the spear with her Holy Angel’s sacred power, but the curse remained unaffected, leaving its nature unresolved.

• Ye Wuqing and Ye Guyi joined the Sun Moon Team, and Ye Wuqing introduced Martial Soul training and instruction.
• After training, Ye Guyi accused Xu Zhengyang of harboring an evil presence and examined his Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear.
• Xu Zhengyang explained that the spear’s bloody presence came from his own blood essence and that a cursed weapon had left an evil force in his Martial Soul.
• Ye Guyi probed the spear with her sacred Soul Power, but it absorbed her power without reacting as she expected.
• Ye Guyi used Holy Light Illumination on the spear, which remained unaffected and instead released a fiery-red presence.

Ye Guyi tested Xu Zhengyang’s Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear and discovered that its dark curse had fused with his Martial Soul in an unusual balance. She could not remove it, but suspected it might eventually become a power Xu Zhengyang could use.

• Ye Guyi’s holy Soul Skills failed to affect the curse, while Xu Zhengyang’s spear autonomously repelled her attack with its White Tiger soul and Spear Intent.
• Ye Guyi explained that the curse had not infected Xu Zhengyang’s body or soul in the usual way and seemed controlled from deep within his soul.
• Xu Zhengyang revealed that he had destroyed the Soul Devouring Carving Knife after buying it at auction, and its curse had transferred to his Martial Soul.
• Ye Guyi concluded that she could not remove the curse with her current strength, though she might help if she reached the Soul Sage realm.
• Ye Guyi suggested the curse might eventually aid Xu Zhengyang and could combine with his Martial Soul’s power.

Xu Zhengyang followed a Holy Spirit Cult emissary to the cult’s hidden headquarters in the Evil Demon Forest, hoping to meet Tang Ya. As he entered its underground defenses, Zhang Peng ordered the cult to corrupt and recruit him rather than kill him, and the stone gate sealed behind Xu Zhengyang.

• After several days of cultivation, Xu Zhengyang opened his dormitory door to a black-robed man who offered to take him to the Holy Spirit Cult.
• Xu Zhengyang put on a Soul Tool hood, was carried away for a day, and arrived at a concealed gate in the Evil Demon Forest.
• The emissary left Xu Zhengyang at the entrance, and Xu Zhengyang stepped through the stone gate as a scorching Qi in his body resisted the evil aura.
• Zhang Peng, the Holy Spirit Cult’s Sixth Consecrator, told the emissary to monitor Xu Zhengyang and ensure he survived while the cult tried to corrupt and recruit him.
• Zhang Peng discussed Xu Zhengyang’s unusual potential and political connections, and learned that Tang Ya was still cultivating her Dark Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul.
• Xu Zhengyang descended into the headquarters past eerie blue flames, and the stone gate closed and sank out of sight behind him.

Xu Zhengyang descended into the Holy Spirit Cult’s undead formation, where the resentful spirits nearly overwhelmed him until Electrolux revealed himself from Xu Zhengyang’s Sea of Spirit and intervened. Electrolux explained his presence and warned that the purple lightning figure from the past might return, while the chapter left Xu Zhengyang facing the Cult’s mass enslavement of the dead.

• Xu Zhengyang resisted the toxins and black aura on the stairs, but the swelling desires and undead spirits began to overpower him.
• As Xu Zhengyang fought the undead with his Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear, a voice from his Sea of Spirit told him to stay still.
• Electrolux manifested, revealed that he was a remnant soul who had entered Xu Zhengyang during the lightning tribulation, and said he had helped keep Xu Zhengyang’s curse in balance.
• Electrolux explained that he had appeared to prevent the undead from controlling Xu Zhengyang and revealed that the purple lightning figure may have come from the God Realm and spared Xu Zhengyang’s life.
• Electrolux sensed an extremely evil presence and countless enslaved resentful spirits beneath the Holy Spirit Cult, calling the organization intolerable.

Xu Zhengyang survived the Holy Spirit Cult’s resentful-spirit stairway with Electrolux’s help and met Zhang Peng, the Sixth Consecrator. Zhang Peng seized Xu Zhengyang’s spear after learning it carried a curse, leaving Xu Zhengyang at his mercy.

• Electrolux explained that he had kept the curse on Xu Zhengyang’s Martial Soul under control and demonstrated necromancy by making the curse’s undead form consume the stairway’s resentful spirits and evil presence.
• Electrolux fell silent, and Xu Zhengyang continued down the stairs to an enormous hall, where the man in black who had brought him to the Holy Spirit Cult was waiting.
• The man in black led Xu Zhengyang to Zhang Peng, the Sixth Consecrator, who questioned him about seeking Tang Ya and how he had crossed the stairway.
• Zhang Peng threatened Xu Zhengyang for concealing a way to control resentful spirits, and Xu Zhengyang claimed his Martial Soul’s curse helped him withstand them.
• Zhang Peng reacted to Xu Zhengyang’s claim that his Martial Soul was cursed and used his power to pull the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear from Xu Zhengyang’s hand.

Zhang Peng tested Xu Zhengyang’s cursed Martial Soul and discovered it could devour vengeful spirits, then revealed how much the Holy Spirit Cult knew about Xu’s past and ambitions. Zhang Peng tried to recruit him by offering the Cult’s methods, while Xu Zhengyang considered using the Cult’s hostility toward Shrek Academy for his own plans.

• Zhang Peng infused Xu Zhengyang’s Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear with dark energy and found that the curse on it resisted and balanced the energy.
• Zhang Peng sent a Soul Beast’s vengeful spirit into the spear, where it began to be devoured beyond Xu Zhengyang’s control.
• Zhang Peng identified himself as the Holy Spirit Cult’s Sixth Worshipper and Scorpion Tiger Douluo, then explained his theory that Xu’s curse granted him a devouring ability.
• Zhang Peng recited details of Xu Zhengyang’s background and guessed that Xu sought the Cult’s help to remove the curse or overcome his limits.
• Zhang Peng defended the Holy Spirit Cult’s cultivation methods and urged Xu to join, citing Tang Ya and Xu’s lack of a true cultivation inheritance.
• Xu Zhengyang concealed his true intentions and considered exploiting the conflict between the Holy Spirit Cult and Shrek Academy.

Zhang Peng tried to recruit Xu Zhengyang into the Holy Spirit Cult by exposing his spirit-devouring power as evidence that he was an Evil Soul Master. Xu Zhengyang resolved to exploit the cult’s mistaken belief while relying on Electrolux to protect him, as Zhang Peng reported his suspicions to Zhongli Wu.

• Zhang Peng warned Xu Zhengyang that his power made him an Evil Soul Master and that the Sun Moon Empire would punish him, then urged him to join the Holy Spirit Cult.
• After Zhang Peng left, Xu Zhengyang considered using his apparent resemblance to an Evil Soul Master to exploit the cult while planning to control or destroy it.
• Electrolux explained that he could break the Holy Spirit Cult’s soul brands and agreed to stabilize Xu Zhengyang’s soul, but warned him against reckless action.
• Zhang Peng told Zhongli Wu that Xu Zhengyang’s curse let him devour vengeful spirits and that he might have cultivated through methods like the cult’s.
• Zhongli Wu questioned whether Xu Zhengyang truly used methods similar to those of the Holy Spirit Cult.

Zhongli Wu met Xu Zhengyang, examined his cursed Martial Soul, and questioned his interest in Tang Ya and his opinion of the Holy Spirit Cult. Xu Zhengyang challenged the world’s judgments of the Cult and Evil Soul Masters, arguing that strength and reputation shaped what people considered righteous.

• Zhongli Wu introduced himself as the Holy Spirit Cult’s leader and inspected Xu Zhengyang’s Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear, discovering that its curse devoured the darkness from his Death God Demon Puppet.
• Zhongli Wu questioned Xu Zhengyang’s reasons for seeking Tang Ya, and Xu Zhengyang admitted he wanted to learn about the Tang Sect’s cultivation methods and secrets.
• Zhongli Wu offered Xu Zhengyang a chance to join the Holy Spirit Cult, then pressed him to explain how he viewed the Cult and Evil Soul Masters.
• Xu Zhengyang described the Cult’s infamous reputation but said that public judgments were not necessarily his own and that the world’s assessments were too extreme.
• Xu Zhengyang argued that strength and reputation determined who was seen as righteous, contrasting Shrek Academy’s influence with the Holy Spirit Cult’s image.
• Xu Zhengyang cited Shrek Academy’s intervention in the Star Luo Empire’s auction as an example of how its reputation made others accept its actions, while the same intervention by Zhongli Wu would provoke suspicion.

Xu Zhengyang explained to Zhongli Wu how the Holy Spirit Cult’s reputation could be reshaped through withdrawal from worldly affairs and by offering help to Soul Masters with poor talent or damaged Martial Souls. Zhongli Wu and Zhang Peng were impressed by his strategy, while Xu Zhengyang reflected on how Zhongli Wu’s recklessness had ruined the cult’s alliance with the Sun Moon Empire.

• Zhongli Wu accepted that his reputation would have made him an ineffective mediator and asked Xu Zhengyang how the Holy Spirit Cult could change its standing.
• Xu Zhengyang described how Shrek Academy’s graduates and political ties protected its reputation, then outlined how the Sun Moon Empire’s trade restrictions could fuel conflict among the three great empires.
• Xu Zhengyang argued that the label of Evil Soul Master was unfair and that other powers had blamed the Holy Spirit Cult for atrocities it had not committed.
• Xu Zhengyang urged the Holy Spirit Cult to abandon coercive control and withdraw from worldly affairs while offering help to Soul Masters burdened by weak Innate Soul Power or defective Martial Souls.
• Zhongli Wu and Zhang Peng were astonished by Xu Zhengyang’s plan, and Xu Zhengyang privately blamed Zhongli Wu’s recklessness for destroying the cult’s alliance with the Sun Moon Empire.

Xu Zhengyang analyzed the balance between the Holy Spirit Cult, the Sun Moon Empire, and Shrek Academy, then met Tang Ya as Zhongli Wu had arranged. He told her that Huo Yuhao and Bei Bei had revived the Tang Sect’s name, leaving Tang Ya visibly shaken.

• Xu Zhengyang warned Zhongli Wu that the Holy Spirit Cult, the Sun Moon Empire, and the Douluo Continent’s powers were in a fragile balance, and that conflict could benefit Shrek Academy.
• Zhongli Wu pressed Xu Zhengyang to join the Holy Spirit Cult, then arranged for him to meet Tang Ya while privately plotting to exploit Xu’s devouring ability.
• Zhongli Wu ordered Zhang Peng to secretly monitor Xu Zhengyang and his cultivation, hoping to use him to gain influence over the Sun Moon Empire.
• Xu Zhengyang entered Tang Ya’s room, where her black Blue Silver Grass attacked him before the escort identified him as the Cult Leader’s guest.
• Xu Zhengyang told Tang Ya that Huo Yuhao and Bei Bei had performed brilliantly in the Soul Master Tournament as Tang Sect disciples, and Tang Ya repeated their names in confusion and pain.

Xu Zhengyang traded the Sword of Judgment for Tang Ya’s copies of the Tang Sect’s secret arts and hidden-weapon blueprints. After he left, Zhongli Wu revealed that he planned to control Xu Zhengyang with a Soul Seal and use him as a pawn inside the Sun Moon Imperial Family.

• Xu Zhengyang persuaded Tang Ya to exchange the Tang Sect’s knowledge for the Sword of Judgment, after Zhongli Wu ordered her to cooperate.
• Tang Ya copied the Tang Sect’s secret manuals and hidden-weapon blueprints, and Xu Zhengyang stored them in his Soul Tool.
• Tang Ya asked Xu Zhengyang to remember the Tang Sect and its past glory, and he promised to show mercy to its members if he encountered them.
• Zhongli Wu took the Sword of Judgment from Tang Ya and rewarded her with a Soul Tool ring.
• Zhongli Wu told Zhang Peng that he had placed a Soul Seal on Xu Zhengyang and intended to make him a pawn inside the Sun Moon Imperial Family.