Chapter Summaries

Xu Zhengyang overwhelmed Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen in their match, breaking through their poison, Soul Tools, and combined defenses. He left both of them defeated, and the onlookers saw him as an almost monstrous opponent.

• Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen attacked Xu Zhengyang together, but he swept Meng Hongchen aside and shattered Xiao Hongchen’s barrage of Soul Cannons.
• Meng Hongchen used Ice Refraction to reach Xiao Hongchen, but Xu Zhengyang’s Devil Tiger Destruction Kill broke their defenses and sent them flying.
• Meng Hongchen strengthened her poison while Xiao Hongchen formed a powerful Soul Cannon, but Xu Zhengyang used Heavenly Dipper Poison Dragon Drill to knock Meng Hongchen down and hold his spear to her neck.
• Xu Zhengyang used Tyrant's Furious Collapse to break Xiao Hongchen’s cannon blast and destroy the temporary Soul Cannon, then struck Xiao Hongchen’s shoulder and sent him flying.
• Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen both fell, and the spectators regarded Xu Zhengyang as a monster after his decisive victory.

Xu Zhengyang explained how he overcame Meng Hongchen’s poison and criticized Xiao Hongchen’s dependence on Soul Tools and poor combat adaptability. He argued that strong Soul Masters formed the foundation of powerful Soul Engineers, leaving the students and Teacher Xu Jie reconsidering the academy’s training approach.

• Xu Zhengyang explained that his training in Sunset Forest had given him strong poison resistance and that his spear techniques dispersed Meng Hongchen’s poisonous mist.
• Xu Zhengyang told Xiao Hongchen that his Three-Legged Golden Toad Martial Soul and Soul Skills were wasted because he relied too heavily on Soul Tools and could not adapt when Xu Zhengyang closed in.
• The students and Teacher Xu Jie recognized that Xiao Hongchen had been unable to fight once his opponent reached close range.
• Xiao Hongchen questioned how Xu Zhengyang could become a powerful Soul Engineer while using a Soul Master’s approach and remaining a Level 1 Soul Engineer.
• Xu Zhengyang argued that powerful Soul Engineers first needed strong Soul Master abilities, including physical strength, combat skill, and adaptability, prompting the observers to reflect on the academy’s methods.

Xu Jie warned Xu Zhengyang that his low innate Soul Power might limit his future cultivation, but Xu Zhengyang vowed to break through those limits. Meanwhile, Jing Hongchen told Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen to learn from their defeat, leaving them with Xu Zhengyang as a formidable rival.

• Xu Jie announced Xu Zhengyang as class monitor and Xiao Hongchen as deputy monitor, then advised Xu Zhengyang to improve his Soul Engineer abilities.
• Xu Jie revealed that the Sun Radiance Lineage and its clan head had been watching Xu Zhengyang, but warned that his half-rank innate Soul Power could hinder his progress.
• Xu Zhengyang recalled his slow cultivation and declared that he would break through his limits and surpass his classmates.
• Xu Jie urged Xu Zhengyang not to provoke Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen unnecessarily, while promising the Sun Radiance Lineage would protect him from unfair treatment.
• Jing Hongchen told Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen that Xu Zhengyang was powerful enough to challenge a Soul King and that they should earn back their pride rather than complain.
• Jing Hongchen said Xu Zhengyang reminded him of someone and could surpass that person, and described him as useful competition for his grandchildren.

Xu Zhengyang studied the Practical Control Department’s books while trying to understand how Ji Juechen had forged his Martial Soul into a Soul Tool, but he found no answers and grew uncertain about his own method. He settled into an intense routine at the academy, and an incident began to change his thinking and others’ understanding of Soul Tools.

• Xu Zhengyang explored the library’s Practical Control Department books and learned how the department combined Martial Souls and Soul Tools for combat.
• Xu Zhengyang found no information about Life-Bound Soul Tools or Ji Juechen’s cultivation and wondered how Ji Juechen had absorbed Soul Rings.
• Xu Zhengyang questioned why his attempt to incorporate Gold of Life into his Martial Soul had failed, despite Ji Juechen appearing to have succeeded.
• Xu Zhengyang adopted a demanding daily schedule of physical training, classes, library study, Martial Soul forging, medicinal baths, and meditation.
• Xu Zhengyang’s classmates grew to respect his discipline, while an unspecified incident began changing his views and their understanding of Soul Tools.

Xu Zhengyang struggled to find a way to turn his Martial Soul into a Soul Tool, despite advancing quickly in Soul Engineering. Xu Jie brought him to Illustrious Virtue Hall, the academy’s hidden Soul Tool research center, hoping it would help him find answers.

• Xu Zhengyang grew skilled at inscribing Soul Tool formations but remained uncertain how to refine his Martial Soul into a Soul Tool.
• Xu Zhengyang asked Xu Jie for advice and showed him the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear, which Xu Jie recognized as meticulously forged from high-quality materials.
• Xu Jie explained that Xu Zhengyang’s Martial Soul was already beyond the limits of human forging and said he could offer little guidance.
• Xu Jie took Xu Zhengyang through guarded checkpoints and down a lift beneath the academy.
• Xu Jie introduced Illustrious Virtue Hall as the heart of the academy’s Soul Tool research and an exception to its usual entry rules.

Xu Zhengyang entered the Illustrious Virtue Hall’s restricted repository and studied theories about life-bound soul tools. He began to understand how martial souls and external weapons could be nurtured and united, but had not yet learned the full process of forging one.

• Xu Jie brought Xu Zhengyang to the Illustrious Virtue Hall’s book repository, where guards admitted him because he belonged to the Sun Radiance Lineage.
• Xu Jie explained that the repository held unverified theories and far-reaching ideas that could shape the future of soul engineering.
• Xu Zhengyang found and read books about life-bound soul tools, martial soul and soul tool combinations, and humanoid soul tools.
• Xu Zhengyang studied how Kong Deming’s Silver Moon Divine Light Shield became a level 10 soul tool and how Ji Juechen’s growing longsword resembled a life-bound soul tool.
• Xu Zhengyang concluded that Ji Juechen nurtured his sword with soul power and spiritual power, allowing it to develop like a life-bound soul tool.

Xu Zhengyang infused his Soul Power and life force into the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear, forging a bond between himself and his Martial Soul. The experience awakened his Spear Intent, and he arrived late to class with a sharper, more formidable presence.

• After meeting with Xu Jie, Xu Zhengyang reflected on Ji Juechen's sword and decided to infuse his soul into the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear without destroying his Martial Soul.
• Xu Zhengyang poured his Soul Power and blood essence into the spear, draining his life force as the weapon gained an unusual, living presence.
• The next morning, Xu Zhengyang entered a state of enlightenment, summoned a spear of light, and unleashed a strike that tore a huge fissure through the ground.
• Xu Zhengyang realized that his Spear Intent had begun to take shape and vowed to advance alongside the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear.
• Xu Zhengyang arrived nearly at the end of the second lesson, surprising his classmates and puzzling Xu Jie with his sharpened presence and the spear still in his hands.

Xu Zhengyang told Teacher Xu Jie that he planned to nurture his Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear as a life-bound soul tool, then discussed the academy’s prospects in the next Soul Master Tournament. After Xu Zhengyang explained that Shrek Academy’s brutal combat training gave its students an advantage, Xu Jie asked what he would do if he led the team.

• Xu Zhengyang arrived late carrying his Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear and kept it summoned after sitting down.
• After class, Xu Zhengyang told Xu Jie he had chosen to nurture his spear with soul power until it became a life-bound soul tool.
• Xu Jie explained that the academy hoped Xu Zhengyang’s class, including Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, would compete in the next Soul Master Tournament.
• Xu Zhengyang revealed that he had traveled through the Extreme North to Shrek City and described Shrek Academy’s harsh trials and combat training.
• Xu Jie recalled his own crushing defeat by Shrek Academy and asked Xu Zhengyang what he would do as the next tournament team’s leader.

Xu Zhengyang persuaded Xu Jie to add daily physical training and frequent combat classes to Class One, arguing that Soul Engineers also needed strong bodies and practical fighting skills. After the students began the new routine, Xu Zhengyang finished the first fifty-kilometer run well ahead of them and went to practice with his spear.

• Xu Zhengyang recalled He Caitou's combination of Soul Master and Soul Engineer training and proposed morning weighted exercise and practical combat classes to Xu Jie.
• Xu Jie approved the new classes, and Xu Zhengyang suggested removing students with weak combat ability and spreading rumors about his low Innate Soul Power to provoke the class geniuses.
• Xu Jie announced that Class One would run one hundred laps each morning and hold two practical combat sessions a week, despite Xiao Hongchen questioning the need for running.
• Xu Zhengyang started running first, and two hours later the exhausted students rested while he practiced alone with the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear.

After Xiao Hongchen challenged Xu Zhengyang’s physical training, Xu Zhengyang proposed fighting all thirty-nine classmates at once. The students gathered in the arena to face him, where Jing Hongchen watched and praised Xu Zhengyang’s potential despite his low Innate Soul Power.

• Xiao Hongchen objected to the extra physical training and accused Xu Zhengyang of holding the class back, insulting his low Innate Soul Power.
• Xu Zhengyang confronted Xiao Hongchen, argued that combat ability mattered, and challenged the entire class to fight him together.
• Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen, and their classmates accepted Xu Zhengyang’s challenge and went with him to the arena.
• The referee and Xu Jie were startled as Xu Zhengyang faced thirty-nine students, including six Soul Elders, while onlookers gathered.
• Jing Hongchen arrived beside Xu Jie and said Xu Zhengyang might be the kind of talent the academy needed, though he regretted Xu Zhengyang’s Innate Soul Power.

Xu Zhengyang faced thirty-nine classmates armed with Soul Tools and used his agility and spear to disrupt their formation. He had knocked three opponents down without being injured, while Xiao Hongchen watched his plans unravel and Meng Hongchen stayed back to avoid poisoning her teammates.

• Xu Zhengyang and thirty-nine opponents revealed their Martial Souls and Soul Rings before the match began.
• At the referee’s command, the thirty-nine opponents attacked with Soul Tools while Xu Zhengyang ran along the platform’s edge to evade them.
• Xu Zhengyang counterattacked with Looking Back at the Moon, swept one opponent off their feet, and pierced another’s shoulder through a Level 3 Soul Tool shield.
• Xu Zhengyang used a nearby opponent to block a ray aimed at his head, leaving three opponents down and himself unharmed.
• Xiao Hongchen grew furious at his side’s early losses, while Meng Hongchen remained beside him because she could not safely use her toxins around teammates.

Xu Zhengyang battled the remaining members of his class, survived their coordinated attacks, and finally removed the hundreds of jin of weights he had been wearing. His opponents and the spectators realized that he had been fighting with a substantial handicap, just as the arena battle continued.

• Xu Zhengyang used his speed and combat awareness to evade attacks and knock down more than half of his thirty-nine opponents while conserving his strength.
• Xu Zhengyang attacked Xiao Hongchen, but Qiu Yi blocked his spear with his shield, and Meng Hongchen, Xiao Hongchen, Ding Xiaobu, and others launched a coordinated counterattack.
• Lan Xiu's spiritual attack briefly dazed Xu Zhengyang, while Ye Nongfeng's blood-red ray struck him; Xu Zhengyang answered with Tyrant's Furious Collapse, driving back his attackers but suffering his first injury.
• Xu Zhengyang recognized Xiao Hongchen's plan to exploit a brief opening, while Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen insisted that their full team would eventually exhaust and defeat him.
• Xu Zhengyang removed his soft armor, wrist guards, and foot guards, revealing that he had fought while carrying several hundred jin of weight.
• The spectators erupted in surprise, and Xu Jie realized Xu Zhengyang had also been carrying enormous weights during his morning runs.

After removing his weights, Xu Zhengyang overwhelmed his classmates in a fight against thirty-nine opponents, leaving Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen, and the others badly injured. He ended the battle by insulting the Hongchen siblings as they lay defeated.

• Xu Zhengyang removed his weights and launched a stronger attack, blasting aside Lan Xiu, Ye Canshang, and their Soul Tools.
• Xu Zhengyang feinted past the group’s defense and struck Ding Xiaobu, gravely wounding him.
• Xu Zhengyang disarmed Meng Hongchen and sent her flying with a spear strike, leaving her badly injured.
• Xiao Hongchen fired his merged Soul Tool cannon, but Xu Zhengyang blocked it and continued attacking Lan Xiu and the others.
• After two minutes, Xu Zhengyang had defeated all thirty-nine classmates, while Jing Hongchen and Xu Jie watched in surprise.
• Xu Zhengyang mocked Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen for failing to improve, and the injured siblings spat blood in humiliation.

Xu Zhengyang challenged Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen to rely less on Soul Tools and develop their bodies, Martial Souls, and real combat skills. Jing Hongchen began to understand why Shrek Academy produced stronger fighters, while Meng Hongchen realized her poison was already harming her.

• Xu Zhengyang told Xiao Hongchen that his dependence on Soul Tools left him poorly prepared for real combat, despite his exceptional talent and powerful Martial Soul.
• Xu Zhengyang explained that Shrek Academy's brutal life-and-death training gave its students the ability to survive desperate battles, and Jing Hongchen reconsidered the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy's approach.
• Xiao Hongchen rejected Xu Zhengyang's claim that he would lose to a genius from the Heaven Dou Empire, and Xu Zhengyang told him and Meng Hongchen that true experts needed comprehensive strength without major shortcomings.
• Meng Hongchen asked whether Xu Zhengyang had recommended physical training and combat experience for that reason, and he explained that poison Soul Masters needed strong bodies to withstand their own poison.
• Meng Hongchen realized Xu Zhengyang's warning applied to her, since she had already begun to feel the harmful effects of her poison.

After defeating Class One, Xu Zhengyang persuaded the academy to make physical conditioning and combat training a regular part of their education. The students trained harder while continuing to excel in Soul Tool studies, and Ye Nongfeng reached Soul Elder as the academy considered whether to expand the program.

• Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen questioned their repeated losses, and Jing Hongchen explained Xu Zhengyang’s advantages in physical fitness, Martial Soul use, and combat experience.
• Xu Zhengyang’s defeat of the class left the students shaken but also inspired many to respect his strength and take combat ability seriously.
• Teacher Xu Jie began arranging regular physical training and twice-weekly combat assessments for Class One, while Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen trained especially hard.
• At Xu Zhengyang’s suggestion, Xu Jie introduced varied conditioning exercises and medicinal baths, which the academy readily funded.
• Class One continued progressing in Soul Tool studies and cultivation; Ye Nongfeng broke through to Soul Elder, while academy leaders debated whether to adopt the training method more widely.

Xu Zhengyang developed a high-temperature medicinal steam therapy to improve his cultivation and clear blocked meridians. After a year at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, he had reached the peak of level thirty-seven and become a Level 2 Soul Engineer, while his classmates also advanced rapidly.

• Xu Zhengyang received a Mysterious Water Pill and a Soul Ascension Pill as rewards from the academy for leading Class One’s training and cultivation changes.
• Xu Zhengyang built a heated, lidded tub and used medicinal steam based on traditional Chinese medicine to stimulate his body and accelerate cultivation.
• Xu Zhengyang followed a demanding daily routine for a year and reached the peak of level thirty-seven after taking the Soul Ascension Pill.
• Xu Zhengyang became a Level 2 Soul Engineer two months after enrolling and neared Level 3, while Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen reached levels forty-six and forty-five.
• About half of Class One reached the Soul Elder realm, and the students developed unusual soul tools and fought fiercely during practical combat training.

After a year of sparring with Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, Xu Zhengyang continued cultivating with his self-developed steam therapy. When the siblings visited, they learned he planned to join the Practical Control Department, and Xiao Hongchen revealed that he and Meng Hongchen had chosen it too.

• Xu Zhengyang cultivated in his dorm using medicinal steam, a method he had developed to temper his body and meridians.
• Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen arrived after a year of repeatedly challenging Xu Zhengyang and losing wagers to him.
• Xiao Hongchen used his Three-Legged Golden Toad ability to turn the door and lock to gold and open the door, then found Xu Zhengyang immersed in a steaming barrel.
• Xu Zhengyang warned the siblings that his cultivation method was tailored to his constitution and could poison or burn anyone who copied it.
• The siblings asked Xu Zhengyang which department he would choose after his first year, and he said he would join the Practical Control Department under Teacher Xu Jie.
• Xiao Hongchen said he and Meng Hongchen had also chosen the Practical Control Department instead of the War Department, partly because he wanted to develop his Martial Soul combat skills.

Xu Zhengyang negotiated access to the Illustrious Virtue Hall’s lava earthfire in exchange for treating Meng Hongchen’s Martial Soul poison, then explained ways to reduce its effects. The chapter ended with Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen accidentally seeing Xu Zhengyang half-dressed and covered in training wounds.

• Xiao Hongchen told Xu Zhengyang that he and Meng Hongchen would join the academy team as reserves and said he hoped to compete with Xu Zhengyang for captain in the next Soul Master Tournament.
• Xu Zhengyang asked Xiao Hongchen for access to the secret lava earthfire, and Xiao Hongchen agreed after Xu Zhengyang offered to resolve Meng Hongchen’s Martial Soul poison.
• Xu Zhengyang explained that intense body training had already reduced the poison’s effects and recommended a high-grade Soul Bone or a jade phosphorus seven-absolute flower as further treatment.
• Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen left Xu Zhengyang’s dorm room, but Meng Hongchen returned and saw him wearing only shorts, with his body covered in wounds.
• Xiao Hongchen rushed in after hearing Meng Hongchen scream, and Xu Zhengyang angrily ordered both of them out.

Xu Zhengyang visited the Sun Moon Empire’s heavily guarded Hengduan Mountains arsenal and used its lava earthfire to fuse the Gold of Life into his Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear. He successfully forged the spear into a sharper weapon with enhanced properties.

• Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen brought Xu Zhengyang to the Hengduan Mountains, where Xiao explained that the underground facility was the empire’s largest Soul Tool manufacturing base.
• Xiao Hongchen lent Xu Zhengyang his grandfather’s private forging room, and Xu examined its lava-heated furnaces.
• Xu Zhengyang heated the Gold of Life and Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear in the lava earthfire, then hammered them together for an entire day.
• Xu Zhengyang tested the finished spear by cleaving top-grade tungsten steel in two and concluded that the Gold of Life strengthened its connection to the Martial Soul and Sea of Spirit while aiding recovery.

The Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy team assessed its new reserves, Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen, and Xu Zhengyang, in matches against starting members. Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen won decisively, while Xu Zhengyang began his bout against Mi Jia, whose speed-enhancing Soul Tools made him a formidable opponent.

• Ma Rufeng introduced the three new reserves to the team, and the students reacted with surprise at their abilities and Xu Zhengyang’s low Soul Engineer rank.
• Xiao Hongchen used his Gold Sacrifice Soul Skill to defeat Chen Fei after a close fight.
• Meng Hongchen poisoned and defeated Chen An with her Vermilion-Eyed Ice Toad abilities.
• Xu Zhengyang faced Mi Jia, who equipped propulsion Soul Tools to greatly increase his speed.
• Xu Zhengyang revealed his spear Martial Soul and its unusual yellow-and-purple Soul Ring configuration as the match began.