Chapter Summaries

Xu Zhengyang defeated Mi Jia with his spear, then assessed the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy’s team and warned Ma Rulong that its members lacked the life-or-death instincts needed to beat Shrek. He left Ma Rulong considering whether the team’s disciplined training could make up for that weakness.

• Xu Zhengyang dodged Mi Jia’s explosive soul-tool attacks and used his spear to bat the glowing bombs away without letting them stick or detonate near him.
• Xu Zhengyang predicted Mi Jia’s escape, shattered two incoming bombs with Overlord’s Furious Charge, and knocked Mi Jia down before placing his spear at his neck.
• Ma Rulong and Ma Rufeng recognized the strength of Xu Zhengyang, Xiao Hongchen, and Meng Hongchen, and considered how much the young reserves might improve before the next tournament.
• After observing the team’s training, Xu Zhengyang told Ma Rulong he relied on his martial soul more than soul tools and argued that a powerful physique was essential for adapting to danger.
• Xu Zhengyang claimed he could kill every main team member except Ma Rulong in a fight to the death, and said the team’s lack of killing aura and life-or-death experience would hinder it against Shrek.
• Xu Zhengyang told Ma Rulong that Shrek’s high student casualty rate reflected the deadly experience that gave its students instincts the Sun Moon team could not gain through ordinary training.

Xu Zhengyang watched the Practical Control Department’s challenge tournament and met Ji Juechen, a formidable swordsman who had returned to the academy. Ji Juechen challenged Xu Zhengyang after sensing something familiar in him, and the two prepared to fight.

• Xu Zhengyang’s classmates excelled in physical testing, and his own attributes approached the Soul Sage level, drawing the academy’s attention.
• Xiao Hongchen defeated a succession of older students at the department’s challenge tournament.
• Ji Juechen arrived, and Meng Hongchen explained his unusual background and fearsome combat ability.
• Ji Juechen challenged Xu Zhengyang, who accepted and faced him on the platform.
• Ji Juechen said he had sensed something in Xu Zhengyang that resembled his own pursuit, and Xu Zhengyang called him the purest person he had met, though a pity.

Xu Zhengyang fought Ji Juechen in a contest of spear and sword techniques, and their all-out clash ended in a draw that Ji Juechen regarded as a loss. Xu Zhengyang returned to his dormitory and reflected on Ji Juechen’s dedication and the meaning of their battle.

• Ji Juechen and Xu Zhengyang faced off, each praising the other's weapon before beginning their duel.
• Ji Juechen and Xu Zhengyang exchanged rapid sword and spear strikes, damaging the arena while neither gained a clear advantage.
• Ji Juechen unleashed the power of all five Soul Rings as Xu Zhengyang combined Devil Tiger Destruction Kill with Tyrant's Furious Collapse, and their attacks left both badly wounded.
• Xu Zhengyang called the battle even, but Ji Juechen said he had lost because he had fought a Soul Elder while possessing Soul King strength, then left the arena.
• The onlookers were stunned by Xu Zhengyang's strength, and Meng Hongchen told Xiao Hongchen that she admired Xu Zhengyang more and more.
• Xu Zhengyang returned to his dormitory, reviewed the duel, and reflected on Ji Juechen's devotion to the sword and to becoming stronger.

Xu Zhengyang entered Deep Meditation after his battle with Ji Juechen and experienced countless brutal spear battles, gradually understanding the weapon’s fearless, iron-blooded spirit. He awoke having created a new spear move, Destroy Cities and Shake Mountains, while Xu Jie and the others had watched over him.

• Xu Zhengyang relived battlefield scenes in which spear-wielding generals charged enemy ranks and killed opposing commanders with the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear.
• Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen found Xu Zhengyang entranced in his dormitory, and Jing Hongchen identified his condition as Deep Meditation.
• Xu Jie agreed to guard Xu Zhengyang, while Jing Hongchen warned that the meditation could last from days to months and that Xu Zhengyang must not be disturbed.
• Xu Zhengyang experienced the roles of soldiers and generals who fought without retreating, even when wounded or surrounded.
• Xu Zhengyang unleashed a powerful spear strike, awoke from Deep Meditation, and named his new move Destroy Cities and Shake Mountains.

After emerging from 110 days of Deep Meditation, Xu Zhengyang found his spiritual power, spear mastery, and cultivation speed greatly improved. Over the following months, he reached Soul Power level forty as his classmates and the academy’s tournament team grew stronger through hard training.

• Xu Zhengyang woke from Deep Meditation after 110 days, and his parents and teacher Xu Jie helped him recover with nutrient solution and care.
• Xu Zhengyang discovered that his Sea of Spirit had expanded, his body had taken on a golden tint, and his meditation speed had increased by at least thirty percent.
• Within a month of returning to his routine, Xu Zhengyang became a Level 3 Soul Engineer and continued improving his formations and spear techniques.
• Over six months, Xu Zhengyang reached Soul Power level forty and repeatedly defeated Ji Juechen, while classmates including Ding Xiaobu, Ye Canshang, Lan Xiu, Qiu Yi, and Ye Nongfeng advanced to Soul Ancestor.
• Xiao Hongchen reached Soul King at thirteen, while Meng Hongchen neared the same realm, and Xu Zhengyang advised Ma Rufeng on tougher practical training for the academy team.
• Xu Zhengyang discussed future Soul Engineer mentors with Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, but remained focused on researching Life-Bound Soul Tools and cultivating his Second Martial Soul.

Xu Zhengyang entered the Jingyang Mountain Range alone to find a powerful tiger-type Soul Beast for his fourth Soul Ring, carrying an array of high-level Soul Tools. Deep inside Jingyang Peak, he discovered a twenty-one-thousand-year-old Scarlet Gold Earth-Splitting Tiger feeding on a vast deposit of dragon-patterned black gold.

• Xu Zhengyang prepared his Soul Tools and left the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy to hunt alone in the Jingyang Mountain Range.
• Xu Zhengyang searched the range’s central mountains and climbed Jingyang Peak, avoiding dangerous Soul Beasts while looking for a suitable tiger.
• Xu Zhengyang found an enormous, unnaturally deep cave and cautiously entered it to investigate strange sounds.
• Xu Zhengyang discovered a Scarlet Gold Earth-Splitting Tiger about twenty-one thousand years old inside the cave.
• Xu Zhengyang recognized that the tiger was eating dragon-patterned black gold and realized the cave held a massive, exceptionally valuable deposit.

Xu Zhengyang studied the powerful Scarlet Gold Earth-Splitting Tiger and prepared an ambush to obtain its Soul Ring. After badly wounding it with Soul Tool Bombs, he faced its furious counterattack and was left ready to continue the fight.

• Xu Zhengyang observed the Scarlet Gold Earth-Splitting Tiger feeding on dragon-patterned black gold and spent nearly twenty days learning its habits.
• Xu Zhengyang captured a Steel-Tusked Boar, planted five Elemental Soul Tool Bombs in it, coated it with paralyzing poison, and set ten more bombs in a concealed ground trap.
• The Scarlet Gold Earth-Splitting Tiger found the boar, cautiously approached it, and killed it with a bite to the head and neck.
• Xu Zhengyang remotely detonated all fifteen bombs, blasting the tiger into a deep crater and badly mangling its body and mouth.
• The wounded Scarlet Gold Earth-Splitting Tiger charged Xu Zhengyang, who blocked it with Devil Tiger Destruction Kill and was knocked back several dozen meters.

Xu Zhengyang defeated the twenty-one-thousand-year Scarlet Gold Earth-Splitting Tiger through a carefully prepared battle using poison, Soul Tools, and his strongest skills. He dragged the dying beast into the Dragon-Patterned Black Gold mine, sealed the entrance, and began recovering before absorbing its Soul Ring.

• Xu Zhengyang and the grievously injured Scarlet Gold Earth-Splitting Tiger exchanged full-strength attacks until their clash left them both badly hurt.
• Xu Zhengyang’s toad poison weakened the tiger, and he struck it with the Disintegration Ray before teleporting a spear into its back wound.
• Xu Zhengyang trapped the tiger with the Heavenly Net and Earthly Web, blinded it with his spear, and tore into its head with his Darkgolden Terrorclaw.
• Xu Zhengyang subdued the tiger, carried it to the Dragon-Patterned Black Gold mine, and collapsed the entrance to keep others away.
• Xu Zhengyang killed the barely breathing tiger, saw its enormous black Soul Ring appear, and took spirit medicines and herbs to recover before absorbing it.

Xu Zhengyang endured the perilous absorption of a twenty-one-thousand-year Soul Ring, gaining a powerful new skill and reaching rank forty-two. While mining Dragon-Patterned Black Gold, he uncovered a gigantic dragon skeleton and a Dragon Pill that overwhelmed his Second Martial Soul when they touched.

• Xu Zhengyang survived three days of agony to absorb the Scarlet Gold Earth-Splitting Tiger’s Soul Ring, reaching rank forty-two and gaining Scarlet Gold Mad God Slash.
• Xu Zhengyang harvested the tiger’s corpse and mined more than ten tonnes of Dragon-Patterned Black Gold with his Darkgolden Terrorclaw.
• Xu Zhengyang uncovered a nearly hundred-meter dragon skeleton buried beneath the deposit and found a fiery-red Dragon Pill in its skull.
• Xu Zhengyang summoned the Purple Brilliant Heaven-Destroying Dragon, which was drawn to the Dragon Pill despite sensing its overwhelming power.
• The Dragon Pill touched the Purple Brilliant Heaven-Destroying Dragon and flooded it with dragon power, forcing Xu Zhengyang to withdraw his Second Martial Soul.

Xu Zhengyang returned to the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy with a Dragon Pill and a vast haul of Dragon-Patterned Black Gold, then began the new term with an extraordinary physical examination and an unexpected instructor assignment. Teacher Xu Jie explained that the academy and the Sun Radiance Lineage had taken notice of Xu Zhengyang, and that his future would extend beyond the academy toward important missions for the imperial family.

• Xu Zhengyang stored the Dragon Pill, escaped the collapsing cave with over ten tonnes of Dragon-Patterned Black Gold, and returned to the academy as the new term began.
• Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen, and their classmates showed major advances in cultivation and Soul Engineer levels, while Xu Zhengyang's physical strength exceeded the academy's testing equipment limit.
• Xu Zhengyang learned that Xuan Ziwen had been assigned as his instructor, and Xiao Hongchen suggested the academy wanted to develop him as both a Soul Master and Soul Engineer.
• Xu Zhengyang asked Teacher Xu Jie about the assignment, and Xu Jie said it came from higher up and was connected to Xu Zhengyang's pursuit of a Life-Bound Soul Tool.
• Teacher Xu Jie told Xu Zhengyang that the Sun Radiance Lineage considered him an outstanding talent and expected him to undertake important missions beyond the academy, prompting him to consider the imperial family's role in his future.

Xu Zhengyang joined Xuan Ziwen’s Soul Tool laboratory after passing an assessment with a dagger that impressed the Level 8 Soul Engineer. As Xuan Ziwen taught the students, his belief that Soul Tools should advance humanity gave Xu Zhengyang new ideas about applying knowledge from Blue Star.

• Xuan Ziwen welcomed Xu Zhengyang, Ju Zi, Ke Ke, Wang Shaojie, and Zi Mu into his laboratory and challenged them to make Level 3 Soul Tools in two hours.
• Xu Zhengyang forged a dagger from tungsten steel while the other four students made Soul Cannons.
• Xuan Ziwen praised each student’s work and passed all five, noting that Xu Zhengyang’s dagger approached the level of a Level 4 Soul Tool.
• The students explained why they wanted to become Soul Engineers, and Xuan Ziwen argued that Soul Tools should advance human society rather than serve only combat or war.
• Xuan Ziwen’s instruction deepened Xu Zhengyang’s knowledge, and his ideas prompted Xu Zhengyang to consider powerful technologies from Blue Star that could improve ordinary weapons.

Xu Zhengyang invented a pistol powered by formations in its cartridges and demonstrated its power to Xu Jie. Recognizing its military significance and the danger of its design spreading, Xu Jie asked whether anyone else knew about it.

• Xu Zhengyang drew plans for a Type 92-style pistol and designed cartridges containing six cooperating formations.
• His first pistol exploded when its primer overwhelmed the copper cartridge case, but after further experiments he fired a revised cartridge that pierced a tree a hundred meters away.
• Xu Zhengyang considered the pistol’s potential and the danger of its plans reaching the Tang Sect, then brought it to Xu Jie for assessment.
• Xu Jie watched Xu Zhengyang fire the pistol and recognized that it could match an ordinary Soul Ancestor’s strike without requiring the user to wield Soul Power.
• Xu Jie asked whether anyone else had seen the pistol, and Xu Zhengyang said he had kept it secret and come to Xu Jie immediately.

Xu Jie and Xu Zhengyang presented Xu Tianyuan with a handgun that ordinary people could use, revealing a new approach to Soul Tool manufacturing with the potential to transform warfare. Xu Tianyuan kept the invention secret and made Xu Zhengyang a core disciple of the Sun Radiance Lineage, while warning him that his growing prominence would draw enemies.

• Xu Jie brought Xu Zhengyang to Xu Tianyuan’s guarded military camp and presented Zhengyang’s handgun as a matter that could change the Sun Radiance Lineage and the empire.
• Xu Tianyuan tested the handgun by having Xu Zhengyang fire at him, then caught the bullet and recognized that it used a new method of attack independent of the user’s Soul Power.
• Xu Zhengyang explained how stronger formations and larger bullets could increase the weapon’s power and range, and Xu Tianyuan realized that such weapons could let ordinary soldiers change the course of battles.
• Xu Zhengyang gave Xu Tianyuan the handgun’s blueprints and confirmed that no outsiders had seen the weapon or its plans; Xu Tianyuan ordered the three of them to keep the invention secret.
• Xu Tianyuan granted Xu Zhengyang core disciple status in the Sun Radiance Lineage and promised him access to its resources and protection from the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion.
• Xu Tianyuan revealed that he had arranged for Xu Zhengyang to study under Xuan Ziwen and warned that the younger man’s achievements and new status would attract enemies.

Xu Zhengyang urged Jing Hongchen to prepare the Sun Moon team thoroughly for the Soul Master Tournament, proposing extensive equipment and safeguards against Shrek Academy. Jing Hongchen approved the tournament supplies but rejected Xu Zhengyang’s suggestion to profit by auctioning defective Soul Tools in the Star Luo Empire.

• Xu Zhengyang returned to studying and training, and his Soul Power reached level forty-four as the tournament drew near.
• Jing Hongchen gathered the main team and substitutes, praised their preparations, and announced that the Soul Master Tournament would begin in a month.
• Xu Zhengyang warned that Shrek Academy could field Soul Emperors or even a Soul Sage, and proposed preparing control-type Soul Tools to restrain them.
• Xu Zhengyang recommended equipping every team member with armor, shields, teleportation devices, weapons, bombs, healing tools, and Milk Bottles; Jing Hongchen agreed to arrange the equipment.
• Xu Zhengyang suggested auctioning defective Soul Tools in the Star Luo Empire to recover the costs, but Jing Hongchen rejected the idea and left with Ma Rufeng to discuss tournament arrangements.

Xu Zhengyang’s team reached Star Luo City for the Soul Master Tournament after the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy equipped them with costly Soul Tools. Meanwhile, Shrek suffered devastating casualties in a battle with the Death Hand Bandit Group, and Xu Zhengyang awaited the tournament’s start.

• Jing Hongchen assigned Ma Rufeng to lead the expedition and agreed to sell defective Soul Tools in the Star Luo Empire to raise resources and mislead its researchers.
• A week later, Xu Zhengyang’s team received Class 6 and Class 7 Soul Tools and ran toward the Star Luo Empire with Ma Rufeng and two teachers, including Xu Jie.
• Xuan Zi led Shrek’s team against the Death Hand Bandit Group, whose leader detonated bombs hidden in corpse slaves, killing Yao Haoxuan and gravely injuring several others.
• Huo Yuhao froze the Death Messenger and his remaining corpse slaves with the Ice Empress’s power, while Xuan Zi killed the Evil Soul Masters; Huo Yuhao also suffered spiritual damage.
• After nearly twenty days, Xu Zhengyang’s group arrived in Star Luo City and settled into the Star Luo Grand Hotel, where Xu Zhengyang prepared for the tournament.

Xu Zhengyang watched Shrek defeat Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy with Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’s overwhelming fusion attack, then exposed a thief near the competitors’ passage. When Ma Rufeng released his Titled Douluo presence to capture the man, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong fainted, and Shrek’s leaders hurried them away.

• Xu Jie explained the Soul Master Tournament’s knockout, group, and elimination stages to the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy Team.
• Xu Jie and Ma Rulong drew a team from the Heaven Soul Empire for the Sun Moon Team’s first-round match, while Xu Zhengyang and the others watched Shrek face Tianling Academy.
• Huo Yuhao revealed six blood-red Soul Rings and joined with Wang Dong to defeat all seven Tianling Academy members with a golden beam.
• Xu Zhengyang pointed out a suspicious man in black, and Ma Rufeng captured him by releasing his Titled Douluo presence.
• Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong fainted from Ma Rufeng’s presence, and the Shrek leaders carried them out of the Soul Fighting Arena.

A thief’s capture and the residual pressure from Ma Rufeng’s presence caused Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong to faint, undermining Shrek’s attempt to conceal its strength. Meanwhile, the Sun Moon Team crushed its first opponent and advanced, leaving the other teams wary.

• Ma Rufeng caught a thief, and Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong fainted after being affected by the Titled Douluo’s residual pressure; the referee rejected Shrek’s complaint because Ma Rufeng had not attacked them.
• Xu Zhengyang joined Xiao Hongchen and five Soul Kings in the Sun Moon Team’s lineup, displaying strong soul rings and Level 5 soul tools.
• The Sun Moon Team overwhelmed its opponents with coordinated cannon fire and Xu Zhengyang’s control tools, winning its knockout match in one minute without taking damage.
• Xu Zhengyang and the Sun Moon Team returned to the Star Luo Grand Hotel, while Xu Jie stayed behind to analyze the remaining matches.
• Wang Yan and Zhou Yi questioned Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong after they woke, and Huo Yuhao worried that his collapse had weakened Shrek’s earlier attempt to intimidate its future opponents.

The Shrek and Sun Moon teams entered the round robin, where Xu Sanshi and Xiao Hongchen each impressed in their opening matches. Xu Zhengyang watched Shrek’s Tang Sect techniques closely, then visited the Starlight Auction House with Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen and found it selling many high-level Soul Tools.

• Zhou Yi said the Sun Moon Team had won its second match and described Xu Zhengyang’s unusual Soul Ring configuration and sharp control skills; Huo Yuhao wondered whether Xu Zhengyang had arranged the thief incident to test him.
• Bei Bei recalled meeting Xu Zhengyang two years earlier, inviting him to join the Tang Sect, and losing to him in a fight where Xu Zhengyang used no Soul Tools.
• The elimination matches ended without major upsets, and the round robin began with Shrek, Sun Moon, and Star Luo Royal Academy as seeded teams in their groups.
• Shrek sent Xu Sanshi against Yunluo Soul Engineer Academy, and he defeated three Soul Ancestors with little effort; Xu Zhengyang studied his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track and longed to obtain the Tang Sect Secret Arts.
• The Sun Moon Team sent Xiao Hongchen against its opponents, and he defeated four contestants before their team surrendered; Xu Zhengyang praised his skill and reflected that future tournaments would bring tougher challenges.
• Xu Zhengyang, Xiao Hongchen, and Meng Hongchen visited the Starlight Auction House, where Xu Zhengyang noticed a large stock of valuable Level 6-or-higher Soul Tools.

Xu Jiawei and Xu Jiujiu investigated Shrek and the Sun Moon Team while assessing the growing trade in powerful Soul Tools across Star Luo City. As the empire prepared a high-stakes auction, Xu Zhengyang watched the Godsealing Altar sell for a price he could not afford and knew he could not safely claim it.

• Xu Jiujiu reported that Shrek had fielded young outer court students and that the Sun Moon Team had dominated its matches while saving captain Ma Rulong and other reserves.
• Xu Jiawei and Xu Jiujiu discussed Star Luo's plan to auction a precious asset, fearing the Sun Moon Empire's growing military strength and ambitions.
• Xu Jiujiu told Xu Jiawei that finely made Level 4 to Level 8 Soul Tools had flooded Star Luo City's markets at unusually low prices, puzzling the imperial family.
• Xu Jiawei ordered his people to buy and study some of the high-level Soul Tools, while news of a world-changing treasure at the Starlight Auction House stirred the city.
• Xu Zhengyang, Xiao Hongchen, and Meng Hongchen watched the auction, and Xu Zhengyang dismissed the idea of buying the Godsealing Altar because it cost 150 million Gold Soul Coins and would be dangerous to possess.

As Shrek Academy faced Zhengtian Academy, Xu Zhengyang studied the team’s inheritance and focused on Yu Mengdi, whose Angel bloodline might preserve the lost cultivation knowledge of Spirit Hall. The match began with Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan facing Yu Mengdi and Yang Yifan in the first two-on-two round.

• The Sun Moon Team continued winning easily while opponents increasingly singled out Huo Yuhao in their matches against Shrek.
• Xu Zhengyang explained to Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen that he wanted to meet the Sun Moon Academy’s dean and investigate Zhengtian Academy’s cultivation inheritance.
• Xu Zhengyang said Yu Mengdi’s Angel Clan bloodline might have preserved parts of Spirit Hall’s cultivation system.
• Shrek Academy drew Zhengtian Academy for a two-two-three match format, and Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan took the stage against Yu Mengdi and Yang Yifan.
• Yu Mengdi summoned her Angel Martial Soul, prompting awe and fear among the spectators and aversion from Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen.