Chapter Summaries

Xuan Ming, a mutated boy sold by a Spirit Hall deacon to traffickers, was shackled and taken toward Heaven Dou City after a failed escape. The traffickers grew wary of each other over his value, and when the young man tried to feed Xuan Ming, his weakness caused the porridge to spill.

• The traffickers discussed selling Xuan Ming for a fortune and revealed that they had bought him for only two thousand Gold Soul Coins.
• Xuan Ming recalled his awakening, his black dragon mutations, lack of Soul Power, and failed attempt to escape before the traffickers captured and beat him.
• Xuan Ming asked the traffickers how they would split the money from selling him, making their already tense partnership more uneasy.
• After the rain stopped, the traffickers camped and debated whether to keep Xuan Ming hungry or feed him so his health would not suffer.
• The young man brought Xuan Ming a bowl of porridge, but Xuan Ming could not hold it and spilled it onto the carriage floor.

Xuan Ming was forced to serve the wounded middle-aged man after the man killed his young accomplice, then seized a chance to fight back. He killed the middle-aged man with his spear and fled after a sudden surge of power helped him overcome the man’s Soul Skill.

• Xuan Ming ate porridge and warned the young man that greed could cost him his life.
• The next morning, Xuan Ming found the young man dead and the middle-aged man gravely wounded after a fight at their campsite.
• The middle-aged man made Xuan Ming treat his injuries, put his shackles back on, and prepare porridge while keeping him under threat.
• Xuan Ming threw hot porridge into the man’s eyes, then attacked with his Black Dragons and blood-red spear.
• When the middle-aged man’s Yellow Soul Ring flashed, Xuan Ming’s body changed and he drove his spear through the man’s heart.
• After the rain stopped, Xuan Ming had fled the campsite.

Xuan Ming encountered the badly injured Dugu Bo in the woods and was forced to help him prepare medicine under threat from a venomous snake. After Dugu Bo’s condition improved, he asked Xuan Ming for one of the fish he had grilled.

• Xuan Ming hid from travelers on the road and weighed his options for finding a guide and obtaining a Soul Ring.
• A powerful voice ordered Xuan Ming into the woods, where he found a gravely injured old man.
• The old man identified himself only through his actions, threatened Xuan Ming with a Nine-Section Jade, and made him prepare medicine; Xuan Ming recognized him as Dugu Bo.
• Xuan Ming fetched water, lit a fire, and brewed medicine according to Dugu Bo’s instructions.
• Dugu Bo drank the medicine and circulated his power to recover, then asked Xuan Ming for a grilled fish.

Xuan Ming helped the injured Poison Douluo Dugu Bo recover while learning to cultivate, and Dugu Bo considered taking him under his wing. After healing most of his injuries, Dugu Bo implied that Xuan Ming should become his disciple, but Xuan Ming worried that staying with him would make him a target for Yue Guan and Gui Mei.

• Dugu Bo demanded more medicine from Xuan Ming and admitted that two people had beaten him, leading Xuan Ming to suspect Yue Guan and Gui Mei were hunting him.
• Xuan Ming asked Dugu Bo to teach him cultivation, and Dugu Bo discovered that he had just awakened with rank-ten Soul Power before showing him how to meditate.
• Xuan Ming told Dugu Bo he had been sold for two thousand Gold Soul Coins after his Martial Soul Awakening, and Dugu Bo recognized his unusual talent and considered raising him alongside Yanzi.
• After Xuan Ming spent his first night cultivating, Dugu Bo explained how talent and cultivation potential worked, then ordered him to brew the final batch of medicine.
• Dugu Bo recovered seventy or eighty percent of his strength and implied that Xuan Ming should become his disciple, but Xuan Ming pointed out that Dugu Bo was still being hunted and feared he would drag him down.

Dugu Bo fled Yue Guan and Gui Mei with Xuan Ming, who lost control of his Black Dragon Martial Soul and unleashed an Innate Domain that briefly affected all three Titled Douluos. Impressed by Xuan Ming’s talent, Yue Guan and Gui Mei prioritized capturing him and offered to let Dugu Bo go if he handed the boy over.

• Dugu Bo rejected Yue Guan’s offer to join Spirit Hall and kept fleeing while carrying Xuan Ming.
• Xuan Ming urged Dugu Bo to leave him behind, but Dugu Bo refused because Xuan Ming had helped him and still held his Nine-Section Jade.
• Dugu Bo and Yue Guan clashed through their Martial Soul Avatars, and Xuan Ming endured the mental pressure as Dugu Bo escaped again.
• Xuan Ming’s Black Dragon Martial Soul entered a berserk state, and his roar released an Innate Domain that briefly suppressed Dugu Bo, Yue Guan, and Gui Mei.
• Yue Guan and Gui Mei decided to capture Xuan Ming instead of continuing to pursue Dugu Bo, and Yue Guan offered to spare Dugu Bo if he handed the boy over.

Xuan Ming and Dugu Bo escaped Yue Guan and Gui Mei through a coordinated ambush, but the two Titled Douluos caught up and resumed their attack. As Dugu Bo struggled against them, he sensed something and rushed deeper into the forest.

• Dugu Bo let Xuan Ming appear to leave, then Xuan Ming used his domain to suppress Yue Guan and Gui Mei while Dugu Bo struck them and fled with him.
• Dugu Bo explained that he had forced Xuan Ming to cooperate because Spirit Hall would distrust him after the fight, leaving him with no safe option but to stay with Dugu Bo.
• Gui Mei caught up with the fugitives, and Yue Guan joined him despite being poisoned by Dugu Bo.
• Yue Guan and Gui Mei pressed their attack while keeping their distance to avoid provoking Dugu Bo into self-destruction.
• As Dugu Bo prepared to use his eighth Soul Skill, he sensed something and accelerated into the dense forest.

Dugu Bo escaped Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo by reaching Prince Xue Xing’s military camp, where Xue Xing protected him by declaring him a guest elder of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family. Afterward, Dugu Bo tested Xuan Ming’s domain and discovered that Xuan Ming could use it to suppress and expel the Nine-Section Jade’s deadly poison from his body.

• Dugu Bo fled into the Heaven Dou Empire’s military camp, with Yue Guan and Gui Mei close behind.
• Prince Xue Xing stopped Yue Guan and Gui Mei from attacking Dugu Bo, claiming Dugu Bo was a guest elder of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family.
• Yue Guan and Gui Mei withdrew rather than risk a conflict with the Heaven Dou army, and Xue Xing invited Dugu Bo to rest in the command tent.
• Dugu Bo explained that Spirit Hall had hunted him after he refused to join, then asked Xuan Ming to use his white-light domain on him.
• Dugu Bo had the Nine-Section Jade bite Xuan Ming so he could test whether the domain could suppress the venom; Xuan Ming expelled two drops of poison from his wrist.

Dugu Bo brought Xuan Ming to his home in Heaven Dou City and left him with his granddaughter, Dugu Yan. As Dugu Yan tested Xuan Ming’s strange Martial Soul, he explained its automatic reactions, then agreed to keep the dragons under control.

• Bibi Dong heard Yue Guan and Gui Mei’s report about Xuan Ming’s domain and ordered Yue Guan to bring the boy back if an opportunity arose.
• Dugu Bo brought Xuan Ming to his quiet residence, where Dugu Yan ran to greet her grandfather.
• Dugu Bo introduced Xuan Ming to Dugu Yan, then left to handle urgent business without even remembering Xuan Ming’s name at first.
• Dugu Yan tried to touch the dragons growing from Xuan Ming’s back, but one nearly bit her, so Xuan Ming explained that they reacted instinctively.
• Xuan Ming demonstrated the knee-jerk reflex to explain the dragons’ behavior, and Dugu Yan ordered him to keep them from moving.

Dugu Yan took Xuan Ming to find food, and he told her about his hardship and how he met Dugu Bo. Their walk was interrupted when a prince from the Balak Kingdom tried to seize Xuan Ming as a slave, leaving Dugu Yan facing him and his guards.

• Dugu Yan offered to take Xuan Ming to eat, and he said it was inconvenient to go out with the two black dragons on his shoulders.
• As they walked, Xuan Ming told Dugu Yan that Dugu Bo had been injured, pursued by two Titled Douluo, and had forced the Nine-Section Jade to bite him.
• Xuan Ming told Dugu Yan that his home was gone and that a patrolling deacon had sold him for two thousand Gold Soul Coins after his Martial Soul awakening.
• A richly dressed prince from the Balak Kingdom stopped Dugu Yan and Xuan Ming and demanded to buy Xuan Ming, whom he mistook for a slave.
• Xuan Ming named a price of two hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, but the prince ordered his guards to seize them both.
• Dugu Yan activated her Martial Soul Possession and challenged the prince and his four Soul Elder guards.

Xuan Ming and Dugu Yan were cornered by Prince Baers’s guards, and Xuan Ming’s attempt to kill Baers ended when General Ge Long struck him down. Xue Qinghe intervened after recognizing Dugu Yan, but she left with the injured Xuan Ming and vowed to tell Dugu Bo, leaving Baers fearing the consequences.

• Baers ordered his guards to seize Xuan Ming and Dugu Yan, and Xuan Ming used his domain to help them escape.
• The guards caught up and surrounded them, so Xuan Ming urged Dugu Yan to release her Jade Phosphorous Illusion Poison while he charged Baers.
• General Ge Long knocked Xuan Ming away before his spear could reach Baers, and Xue Qinghe stopped the general from attacking again.
• Xue Qinghe recognized Dugu Yan and explained that she was Dugu Bo’s granddaughter, leaving Baers alarmed.
• A guard healed Xuan Ming, and Dugu Yan rebuked Xue Qinghe’s claim that the attack had been a misunderstanding.
• Dugu Yan carried Xuan Ming away and said she would tell her grandfather what happened, while Xue Qinghe warned Baers that Dugu Bo would likely demand an apology.

Dugu Yan brought the injured Xuan Ming to Ye Lan, who healed him and warned that his unusual appearance and innate full Soul Power could make him a target. After discussing the street incident and the danger ahead, Xuan Ming asked Ye Lingling for food.

• Dugu Yan carried Xuan Ming to Ye Lingling's home and asked Ye Lan to treat him.
• Ye Lan used her Nine Heart Begonia to heal Xuan Ming's internal injuries and explained that his earlier treatment had missed the danger.
• Xuan Ming explained that he had tried to kill Baers because he saw no other way to escape, while Dugu Yan blamed Ge Long for interfering.
• Ye Lan warned Dugu Yan that Xuan Ming should conceal his appearance and keep a low profile because his domain and innate full Soul Power could attract hostile attention.
• After Ye Lan went to rest, Xuan Ming told Ye Lingling he was hungry, and she ran to the kitchen.

Xuan Ming’s abnormal appetite led Ye Lan to discover that his martial soul mutation had changed his entire body, and she worried that the transformation might carry a dangerous defect. After learning that his twin black dragons had once nearly bitten him to death but now mostly obeyed him, Ye Lan suspected their unruly nature was the mutation’s flaw.

• Xuan Ming ate pastries, chicken, and other food in enormous quantities, while Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling watched in shock.
• Ye Lan examined Xuan Ming and described his body as resembling that of a humanoid Soul Beast, possibly because he was in a constant state of Martial Soul Possession.
• Ye Lan explained how Beast Martial Soul traits and mutations could develop, then learned that Xuan Ming’s mother had a Black Snake Martial Soul and was not a Soul Master.
• Ye Lan warned that powerful martial soul mutations could come with serious defects and worried that Xuan Ming’s Black Dragon mutation might have a dangerous cost.
• Xuan Ming said his twin dragons had nearly bitten him to death when they first awakened, but he fought them and gained control; Ye Lan concluded their unruliness might be the defect.

Dugu Yan brought Xuan Ming to Ye Lan’s home, where his black dragons startled her and highlighted the danger of his unusual Martial Soul. The next day, Xue Qinghe approached Dugu Yan while she helped Xuan Ming get clothes made, seeking to smooth things over for Prince Baers, but Dugu Yan questioned the sincerity of his apology.

• Dugu Yan brought Xuan Ming to Ye Lan’s house and urged him to bathe, but let him wash alone when his black dragons showed hostility.
• The next morning, a black dragon snapped at Dugu Yan when she approached Xuan Ming in the tub, and Ye Lan explained that Martial Souls did not sleep.
• Xuan Ming considered his Soul Rings, and Ye Lan advised waiting for Dugu Bo to return before deciding how to cultivate his Twin Martial Souls.
• Dugu Yan, Ye Lingling, and Ye Lan took Xuan Ming to a tailor to have suitable clothes made.
• Xue Qinghe met them at the tailor’s shop and explained that Baers had recognized his mistake and wanted to apologize.
• Dugu Yan challenged Xue Qinghe, asking why Baers had not come to apologize himself.

Xuan Ming challenged Dugu Yan and Xue Qinghe over their willingness to excuse Baers because of his noble connections, while Xue Qinghe explained that punishing him could destabilize the wartime alliance. Dugu Yan was left unable to decide, and Xuan Ming refused to claim authority over a choice that could have far-reaching consequences.

• Xue Qinghe brought Baers to apologize to Dugu Yan, but Baers’s disrespect toward Xuan Ming angered her and ended the attempt at reconciliation.
• Xuan Ming pointed out that Xue Qinghe and Baers were concerned about offending Poison Douluo, not about the harm done to ordinary people, and Baers insulted him as a slave.
• Xue Qinghe explained that Poison Douluo’s position as a Heaven Dou Imperial Family guest elder meant Baers’s death could strain relations with the Balak Kingdom while the Star Luo Empire’s army remained at the border.
• Dugu Yan asked Xuan Ming whether they should postpone revenge, but Xuan Ming said he could neither forgive Baers on others’ behalf nor demand revenge that might endanger countless lives.
• Xuan Ming said he did not want Poison Douluo to avenge him and argued that nobody involved believed Baers had done nothing wrong; Xue Qinghe denied excusing Baers, but Xuan Ming challenged him again.

Xue Qinghe visited Xuan Ming to learn about his past and assess his role in the conflict with Baers. After witnessing Xuan Ming's extraordinary strength and hearing how he had nearly killed Baers, Xue Qinghe questioned his motives and learned that Xuan Ming had not believed he could escape the guards alone.

• Xue Qinghe learned from Dugu Yan that Xuan Ming was an orphan from Aolai City and that he was staying at the Ye residence.
• Xuan Ming shattered a massive rock with his blood spear, surprising Xue Qinghe and wrecking flowers and plants in the courtyard.
• Xuan Ming told Xue Qinghe that he had nearly killed Baers because he believed Baers would kill him if he did not act first.
• Xue Qinghe noticed the killing intent of Xuan Ming's twin dragons and abandoned his plan to persuade him to let the matter go.
• Xuan Ming explained that he had taken Dugu Yan along because he did not think he could escape three Soul Elders and a Soul Ancestor alone.

Xuan Ming used his innate domain to show Xue Qinghe its power, then accepted the first prince’s offer to let him kill Baers himself. Afterward, Qian Renxue explained to Snake Lance Douluo that Xuan Ming had deliberately distanced himself from Dugu Yan to draw her into helping him.

• Xuan Ming explained that he had taken Dugu Yan with him because escaping alone was unlikely, and Xue Qinghe questioned how close the two were.
• Xuan Ming released his domain over Xue Qinghe, sealing her senses and suppressing her Soul Power until she resisted with her Angel Domain.
• Xue Qinghe offered to help Xuan Ming kill Baers, and Xuan Ming questioned whether he could accept such a valuable gift.
• Xue Qinghe promised Xuan Ming that he could kill Baers with his own hands.
• Back at the first prince’s residence, Qian Renxue told Snake Lance Douluo that Xuan Ming had recognized her hints and intentionally made himself seem distant from Dugu Yan to win her help.

Xue Qinghe arranged a royal autumn hunt at Sunset Forest, intending to use the trip to make Baers disappear in a staged soul-beast attack while helping Xuan Ming obtain a soul ring. The procession reached the hunting grounds, where Dugu Yan complained about the princes pursuing her.

• Qian Renxue decided Xuan Ming was worth taking a risk for and suggested Baers could be killed outside Heaven Dou City in a staged soul-beast attack.
• Xue Qinghe persuaded Baers to join a royal autumn hunt and secured the old emperor’s approval to organize it.
• Xue Qinghe invited Dugu Yan and told her that Baers could be made to suffer during the hunt; he also blamed Baers for damaging Ye Lan’s plants and brought replacement herbs.
• Xuan Ming asked how to cultivate his twin martial souls, and Xue Qinghe advised him to cultivate only one for now, though Dugu Yan asked which one he should choose.
• The autumn hunting procession reached Sunset Forest, and Dugu Yan returned to her tent irritated by the princes’ attempts to court her, especially Baers’s.

Xuan Ming refused to take part in the autumn hunt, while Qian Renxue prepared to use the event to kill the third prince and draw Xuan Ming closer to her side. The hunting party set out, leaving Xuan Ming and Ye Lingling to reject the spectacle as pointless cruelty.

• Dugu Yan spoke with Ye Lingling and Xuan Ming before Xue Haizang approached and asked to see Xuan Ming’s innate domain, which Xuan Ming refused to show.
• At midnight, Snake Lance Douluo told Qian Renxue that the target had been located in Sunset Forest and questioned her plan to attack during the hunt.
• Qian Renxue said she would separate the princes from their guards, target the third prince as well, and seek to win Xuan Ming’s trust by investigating the Spirit Hall deacon who had abducted him.
• The autumn hunting party began moving, and Xue Qinghe invited Xuan Ming to join the hunt.
• Xuan Ming criticized the staged hunt as a one-sided slaughter, and Ye Lingling agreed that tormenting helpless Soul Beasts was no entertainment.

Xue Qinghe brought Xuan Ming to Snake Lance Douluo, who examined his blood spear and explained its dangerous devouring trait and the benefits of its killing aura. Snake Lance Douluo then assessed Xuan Ming's soul-ring limits, but discovered that his mutated body was so unusual he suspected Xuan Ming might be a humanoid soul beast.

• Xue Qinghe led Xuan Ming to a secluded grove, where Snake Lance Douluo appeared and asked to examine his blood spear.
• Xuan Ming handed over the spear, and Snake Lance Douluo and Xue Qinghe discovered that it devoured blood Qi, including Xuan Ming's own.
• Xuan Ming explained that the spear returned only a small portion of the blood Qi it consumed, while Snake Lance Douluo said its flaws could not be fixed and recommended fierce, blood-rich soul beasts for its soul rings.
• Snake Lance Douluo demonstrated martial-soul presence and explained that killing aura could condense into a stronger killing might.
• Xue Qinghe asked Snake Lance Douluo to estimate Xuan Ming's soul-ring limit, but the assessment revealed that Xuan Ming's mutated body was highly unusual.
• Snake Lance Douluo said Xuan Ming might be a humanoid soul beast, then stopped before stating his limit.

Xue Qinghe maneuvered the Third Prince, Xue Haizang, into leading a nighttime trip into Sunset Forest, creating a chance to separate the princes from the main group. Xuan Ming agreed to go along, and Xue Qinghe, Dugu Yan, and Ye Lingling joined the expedition as it set out.

• Snake Lance Douluo told Xue Qinghe that Xuan Ming weighed eight hundred, and Xuan Ming agreed to keep what happened secret.
• The Third Prince showed off a white tiger, but Ye Lingling identified it as a weakened tigress that had recently given birth, and Xuan Ming mocked his luck.
• After the Third Prince insisted on searching for the tigress's cubs, Xue Qinghe privately welcomed the chance to get the princes away from the main group.
• The Third Prince gathered his companions and persuaded them to enter Sunset Forest that night, despite Xue Qinghe's warnings.
• The Third Prince invited Xuan Ming along, and Xuan Ming accepted; Xue Qinghe, Dugu Yan, and Ye Lingling then joined them.
• The group set off before General Ge Long and the others could stop them.