Chapter Summaries

Xu Zhengyang awakened a large iron rod Martial Soul with only half a rank of Innate Soul Power, but discovered he had also awakened a strange second Martial Soul. As he considered his past life, the coming conflict between the Sun Moon Empire and the Douluo Continent, and his lack of a path to strength, he wondered whether he would have to become a Soul Engineer.

• Xu Zhengyang awakened a large iron rod Martial Soul and half a rank of Innate Soul Power, drawing boos and mockery from those present.
• Xu Zhengyang returned home and revealed a purple, snake-like second Martial Soul in his palm.
• Xu Zhengyang recalled that he had come from Blue Star and been reborn into the Douluo World, where his father Xu Haoyang served the Sun Radiance Clan and his mother Yang Miaowen was a Soul Master.
• Xu Zhengyang reflected on the Sun Moon Empire's future war with the Douluo Continent and feared that the empire's defeat would bring disaster to his clan.
• Xu Zhengyang questioned how he could grow stronger with such low Innate Soul Power and wondered whether he would have to become a Soul Engineer.

Xu Zhengyang examined his two martial souls and realized that his heavy iron rod was an incompletely awakened Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear, while his second soul appeared to be the Sun Moon Empire’s rare Purple Radiance Heaven-Destroying Dragon. He resolved to cultivate beyond his martial souls’ limitations, but feared the consequences if the dragon’s identity became known.

• Xu Zhengyang summoned his massive, rusted iron rod and realized its shape and fierce, pure-yang aura marked it as a mutated Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear.
• Xu Zhengyang decided to follow Ji Juechen’s path of painstaking cultivation and martial-soul refinement to overcome his limitations.
• Xu Zhengyang summoned his second martial soul, a purple, scaled creature with four limbs, fangs, and several bumps on its body.
• Xu Zhengyang identified the creature as the Purple Radiance Heaven-Destroying Dragon, a rare imperial martial soul, and worried its awakening could bring upheaval and disaster to his family.

Xu Zhengyang reassured his worried parents that he would keep cultivating despite having only half a level of innate Soul Power, and discussed his prospects as a Soul Master and soul engineer. He persuaded Xu Haoyang to let him study independently while still registering for and taking exams at the junior academy.

• Xu Zhengyang emerged at dinner and promised Yang Miaoyun and Xu Haoyang that he would not give up and would cultivate harder.
• Xu Haoyang explained the limits of cultivating with half a level of innate Soul Power, promised to support his son, and gave him the Xu family's meditation method.
• Xu Zhengyang told Xu Haoyang that his Martial Soul was a spear that had not fully awakened, and asked about the secret method for combining a Martial Soul with a soul tool.
• Xu Haoyang encouraged Xu Zhengyang to study soul tools, but Xu Zhengyang said he would focus on the Soul Master path while using soul-tool knowledge if it helped him grow stronger.
• Xu Zhengyang resisted attending Dongyang City Junior Soul Master Academy, and he and Xu Haoyang agreed that he could cultivate at home as long as he registered, took the exams, and maintained his grades.

Xu Zhengyang began cultivating despite his sluggish Soul Power circulation and devised a rigorous body-training routine using medicinal baths and spear practice. His training slightly improved his meditation speed, and he continued working to strengthen his body and cultivation.

• Xu Zhengyang found that his half-rank Soul Power circulated painfully slowly, so he planned to improve his cultivation by strengthening his body with medicinal ingredients.
• Xu Zhengyang took a hundred gold soul coins from Yang Miaoyun, bought medicinal herbs, and ordered a heavy spear and other training equipment.
• Xu Zhengyang had a training ground built in the family’s backyard and began practicing basic spear thrusts with the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear.
• Xu Zhengyang followed a daily routine of spear practice, reading, strength training, running, medicinal baths, and evening meditation.
• Xu Zhengyang noticed that exhausting his body and recovering in the medicinal bath eased his cultivation bottleneck and slightly accelerated his Soul Power circulation.

Xu Haoyang gave Xu Zhengyang a precious Mysterious Water Pill to help him overcome his weak Innate Soul Power, but Xu Zhengyang became fascinated by its unusual composition and delayed taking it. His investigation led him to wonder whether a living Mysterious Underworld Turtle might reveal the pill’s secrets, though he believed only one place could still hold one.

• Xu Haoyang presented Xu Zhengyang with a Mysterious Water Pill and explained that he had obtained it to support his son’s growth.
• Xu Zhengyang realized his father had likely paid a steep price to secure the rare pill, and Xu Haoyang reassured him that his parents’ sacrifices were worthwhile.
• Xu Zhengyang examined and tasted a tiny piece of the pill, finding no trace of the ingredients or fire-attribute presence he expected.
• Xu Zhengyang spent the next few days researching the pill instead of taking it, puzzling his parents with his behavior.
• Xu Zhengyang concluded that studying a living Mysterious Underworld Turtle might reveal the pill’s secrets and help him overcome the limits of Innate Soul Power, though he knew such a creature could only appear in one place.

After taking the Mysterious Water Pill, Xu Zhengyang greatly improved his physique and Soul Power, then spent two years training with his family’s support. At age eight, he reached rank ten and became a prospective Soul Master.

• Xu Zhengyang swallowed the Mysterious Water Pill and spent the night undergoing its effects, which cleansed his body and cleared his meridians.
• Xu Zhengyang found his Soul Power had risen to roughly rank two and his rusted iron rod Martial Soul showed signs of change; Xu Haoyang praised his progress at breakfast.
• Xu Zhengyang intensified his daily physical training and meditation, while studying medicinal herbs and medicine but refusing to pursue Soul Tool research.
• Xu Haoyang and Xu Zhengyang’s mother provided extensive resources and meals to support his training over the next two years.
• Xu Zhengyang reached rank ten at age eight, becoming a prospective Soul Master, and consistently ranked among the best on his academy exams.

After reaching rank ten, Xu Zhengyang tested his spear skills against his father Xu Haoyang and was easily defeated, though Xu Haoyang praised his progress and pointed out weaknesses. Xu Zhengyang explained his plan to seek a powerful tiger-type Soul Ring to awaken his Martial Soul, and Xu Haoyang agreed to take him to the Jingyang Mountain Range.

• Xu Zhengyang sparred with Xu Haoyang, whose overwhelming strength stopped his attacks and bent his spear with a single palm strike.
• Xu Haoyang praised Xu Zhengyang's spear foundation but advised him to improve his transitions and use a lighter weapon.
• Xu Haoyang asked Xu Zhengyang what Soul Ring he wanted after reaching rank ten.
• Xu Zhengyang said he wanted a roughly five-hundred-year-old tiger Soul Beast with yang and tough attributes, hoping tiger-type Soul Rings would awaken his Martial Soul and overcome its limitations.
• Xu Haoyang agreed to take Xu Zhengyang to the Jingyang Mountain Range the next day to search for tiger-type Soul Beasts.

Xu Haoyang took Xu Zhengyang to the Jingyang Mountain Range to search for a suitable tiger-type Soul Beast for his first Soul Ring. After ten days, they found a six-hundred-year-old Ironclad Explosive Flame Tiger, and Xu Zhengyang insisted that he could absorb it.

• Xu Haoyang gave Xu Zhengyang a Class 4 flying Soul Tool and taught him how to use it as they flew toward the Jingyang Mountain Range.
• Xu Haoyang and Xu Zhengyang rested near a Sun Moon Empire troop station before entering the mountain range on foot the next morning.
• Xu Haoyang protected Xu Zhengyang from several attacks by ten-year Soul Beasts as they searched the outskirts for tiger-type Soul Beasts.
• After ten days of searching, Xu Zhengyang and Xu Haoyang heard a tiger's roar and found an Ironclad Explosive Flame Tiger feeding on a giant ox.
• Xu Haoyang judged the tiger to be over six hundred years old and unsuitable for Xu Zhengyang's first Soul Ring, but Xu Zhengyang insisted he could absorb it.

Xu Haoyang demonstrated the power of his Soul Tools by overpowering an Ironclad Explosive Flame Tiger, prompting Xu Zhengyang to reconsider his rejection of Soul Tools without changing his commitment to Martial Soul cultivation. Xu Haoyang then offered him thousand-year whale glue, and Xu Zhengyang resolved to pursue the strongest Soul Rings beyond their limits.

• Xu Haoyang used his Soul Tools to blast, trap, and subdue the Ironclad Explosive Flame Tiger while Xu Zhengyang watched.
• Xu Zhengyang considered how Soul Tools could overwhelm Soul Masters but also recognized the risks of neglecting Martial Soul cultivation and combat training.
• Xu Haoyang explained that Soul Engineers could unleash tremendous strength below Soul Sage and that selling Soul Tools had helped him provide for Xu Zhengyang.
• Xu Zhengyang said he would keep Martial Soul cultivation as his main focus while considering Soul Tools as an elective and trying Soul Tool research.
• Xu Haoyang revealed that he had prepared thousand-year whale glue for Xu Zhengyang and warned him about its aphrodisiac side effect.
• Xu Zhengyang accepted the whale glue and vowed to obtain the strongest Soul Rings beyond their limits.

Xu Zhengyang endured the dangerous absorption of a six-hundred-year Soul Ring and overcame his Martial Soul’s limitations. He emerged at rank fourteen, far stronger than before.

• Xu Zhengyang swallowed the heated whale glue and endured its effects in a tub of cold water as black impurities left his body.
• Xu Zhengyang killed the trapped Ironclad Explosive Flame Tiger and drew its yellow Soul Ring toward his Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear.
• Xu Zhengyang endured two hours of extreme pain while absorbing the Soul Ring as Xu Haoyang protected him with Soul Tools.
• Xu Zhengyang completed the absorption and told Xu Haoyang that his Soul Power had reached rank fourteen.

After absorbing the Ironclad Explosive Flame Tiger’s Soul Ring, Xu Zhengyang reached rank fourteen and confirmed that his Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear was meant to follow the spear path. At the Great Soul Arena, he watched Soul Engineers fight and began reconsidering how Soul Tools could shape combat.

• Xu Zhengyang told Xu Haoyang that his first Soul Skill, Explosive Flame Shattering Spear, doubled his attack power and added explosive flame and burning effects.
• Xu Zhengyang and Xu Haoyang left the Jingyang Mountain Range with the Ironclad Explosive Flame Tiger’s body, then Xu Haoyang took him to register for a Great Soul Arena match.
• Xu Zhengyang watched two Class Three Soul Engineers, one with a Vajra Demon Ape Martial Soul and the other with a Herculean Divine Ox Martial Soul, fight using Soul Tools and win through attrition.
• Xu Haoyang explained that Soul Engineers could hold a major advantage over Soul Masters before the Soul Sage realm, prompting Xu Zhengyang to consider the limits of his own approach.
• Xu Zhengyang watched a food-type Soul Elder battle a tool Martial Soul Soul Elder and was surprised when the food-type Soul Master seemed to gain the advantage.

Xu Zhengyang won his first soul dueling match against an Ice Silkworm Soul Master who relied on three Class 1 Soul Tools. Afterward, Xu Zhengyang considered how Soul Tools might shape his future beyond the path of a Soul Master.

• Xu Zhengyang faced a twenty-year-old Ice Silkworm Soul Master and dismissed his opponent's doubts about fighting someone so young.
• Xu Zhengyang and the Ice Silkworm Soul Master exchanged attacks evenly, with Xu Zhengyang matching his opponent's strength and spear techniques.
• The Ice Silkworm Soul Master used his first Soul Skill and three Soul Tools to freeze Xu Zhengyang's spear and slow him down.
• Xu Zhengyang activated his first Soul Ring, shattered his opponent's saber with a powerful strike, and pinned him with the spear to win.
• Xu Zhengyang reviewed the close fight and thought of Ji Juechen, wondering whether he should pursue the path of a Soul Engineer as well as a Soul Master.

After winning thirty Soul Dueling Arena matches, Xu Zhengyang asked his parents to let him leave Dongyang City to seek opportunities and improve. Xu Haoyang required him to become a Class 1 Soul Engineer first, and the next morning took him to the Xu Clan's Soul Tool factory, where they met branch head Xu Yuanxuan.

• Xu Zhengyang won thirty consecutive Soul Dueling Arena matches and concluded that the Soul Engineers he faced relied too heavily on their tools and lacked combat awareness.
• Xu Zhengyang told Xu Haoyang and his mother that he wanted to leave Dongyang City to temper himself, but Xu Haoyang insisted he first become a Class 1 Soul Engineer.
• Xu Haoyang explained that Soul Engineers dominated the Sun Moon Empire and that learning forging might help Xu Zhengyang understand and evolve his Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear Martial Soul.
• Xu Zhengyang agreed to learn Soul Tool forging from Xu Haoyang and said he would leave to temper himself after qualifying as a Class 1 Soul Engineer.
• Xu Haoyang took Xu Zhengyang to the Xu Clan's Soul Tool forging base and explained the branch's work and the clan's fire-controlling talent.
• Xu Haoyang introduced Xu Zhengyang to Xu Yuanxuan, the head of Dongyang City's Xu Clan.

Xu Yuanxuan examined Xu Zhengyang’s unusual Martial Soul and identified it as a spear made from rare metals that might be improved through forging. Xu Zhengyang chose to pursue the dangerous method, and Xu Haoyang began teaching him how to forge and control fire.

• Xu Haoyang brought Xu Zhengyang to the factory, where Xu Yuanxuan examined Xu Zhengyang’s Martial Soul.
• Xu Yuanxuan discovered that the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear contained Yang Flame Iron and Extraterrestrial Meteoric Copper, and said it might be an incompletely awakened Tool Martial Soul.
• Xu Yuanxuan explained that relentless forging and rare metals could potentially evolve the spear, though the process required at least Thousand Refinements and could endanger Xu Zhengyang’s life.
• Xu Zhengyang decided to forge the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear into the strongest Martial Soul and Soul Tool in the world.
• Xu Haoyang began teaching Xu Zhengyang casting techniques and fire control, and gathered the tools he would need.

Xu Zhengyang spent a year forging his Martial Soul, training with the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Technique, and learning to engrave Soul Tool formations. After earning his Class 1 Soul Engineer badge, he prepared to leave Dongyang City for real-world experience, equipped with Soul Tools supplied by Xu Haoyang.

• Xu Zhengyang hammered the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear daily, gradually removing its rust and reshaping it into a three-meter spear, though its blunt spearhead remained a flaw.
• Xu Zhengyang learned the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Technique and used its eighty-one-strike sequence to temper his body, causing black impurities to seep out during recovery.
• Over the year, Xu Zhengyang's Soul Power rose from rank fourteen to rank seventeen, and he mastered the hammer technique.
• Xu Zhengyang engraved formations to make a cannon-like Class 1 Soul Tool and earned his Class 1 Soul Engineer badge.
• Xu Zhengyang decided to leave the clan and Dongyang City to gain experience, and Xu Haoyang equipped him with powerful defensive, weapon, flight, and storage Soul Tools.

Xu Zhengyang traveled alone across the Ice Sea to temper his body against the extreme cold and fight Soul Beasts. After half a month of hardship, he sensed danger during a night of meditation and faced a nearly thousand-year-old Polar Ice Fox that had chosen him as prey.

• Xu Zhengyang left Dongyang City wearing a hundred kilograms of weights and headed northwest toward the Ice Sea.
• He crossed the icy floes and open water, fought weaker Soul Beasts, avoided stronger ones, and trained each day in the bitter cold.
• After half a month, Xu Zhengyang had lost three and a half kilograms but gained combat experience, agility, and vigilance.
• While Xu Zhengyang meditated one night, he sensed danger and dodged the Polar Ice Fox's sudden attack.
• Xu Zhengyang summoned his Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear and watched the cautious Polar Ice Fox, knowing he had to kill it before it could exploit an opening.

Xu Zhengyang battled the cunning Polar Ice Fox for four days before trapping it in a deep ice pit and killing it. A yellow Soul Ring appeared as the fox fell.

• Xu Zhengyang tried to lure the Polar Ice Fox with a roasted seagull, but it ambushed him, wounded his hand, and stole the bait.
• Xu Zhengyang and the Polar Ice Fox traded traps and sneak attacks for four days while he fought without using his high-grade Soul Tools.
• Xu Zhengyang used himself as bait to draw the Polar Ice Fox into a deep, smooth-walled ice pit.
• Xu Zhengyang fought the trapped fox, resisted its charm ability, and activated his first Soul Skill.
• Xu Zhengyang pierced the Polar Ice Fox with his spear, and a yellow Soul Ring appeared.

Xu Zhengyang killed a Polar Ice Fox and found a rare, low-age Head Soul Bone, which he kept for his father. After a year of deadly travel across the Ice Sea, he had grown stronger and more combative, reached Soul Power level twenty, and sensed his body changing toward a pure Yang physique.

• Xu Zhengyang killed the Polar Ice Fox after fighting it for four or five days and discovered a rare Head Soul Bone inside its head.
• Xu Zhengyang stored the Soul Bone in a lead box and continued northwest into the Ice Sea.
• Xu Zhengyang survived repeated attacks from powerful Soul Beasts and several close brushes with death during a year of travel.
• Xu Zhengyang endured the extreme cold and dangerous battles, hardening his body and strengthening his combat instincts.
• Xu Zhengyang reached Soul Power level twenty and sensed that his body was becoming more like a pure Yang physique.

Xu Zhengyang traveled from the Ice Sea through the Frozen Forest into the Heaven Soul Empire and searched Sunset Forest for a powerful tiger-type Soul Beast. He found a White-Eyed Devil Tiger whose strength and age made it a promising but risky target.

• Xu Zhengyang crossed the frozen wilderness and entered the Heaven Soul Empire, where he concealed his Sun Moon Empire gear and changed his appearance.
• He traveled to Sunset Forest and discovered that its Soul Beast population and variety surpassed those of the Jingyang Mountain Range.
• Xu Zhengyang searched the forest’s outskirts for a suitable tiger-type Soul Beast while noting its rare spirit herbs and other creatures.
• Xu Zhengyang heard a tiger’s roar that resonated with his Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear and followed it through the forest.
• Xu Zhengyang found a massive White-Eyed Devil Tiger and realized it was over a thousand years old.

Xu Zhengyang hunted a lone White-Eyed Devil Tiger in Sunset Forest, hoping to claim its Soul Ring despite its age and strength exceeding his limit. After a fierce battle, he lured the enraged tiger into a trap and trapped it with the Thunder Flame Enemy-Binding Net.

• Xu Zhengyang followed the White-Eyed Devil Tiger for five days and confirmed it roamed alone.
• Xu Zhengyang set a deep pit filled with iron caltrops, then ambushed the tiger at its den with the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear.
• The White-Eyed Devil Tiger awakened, fought back fiercely, and used an innate Soul Skill that increased its strength and defense.
• Xu Zhengyang fled as the enraged White-Eyed Devil Tiger pursued him through the forest.
• Xu Zhengyang leaped over the concealed pit, and the White-Eyed Devil Tiger plunged onto the caltrops before Xu Zhengyang trapped it in the Thunder Flame Enemy-Binding Net.