Chapter Summaries

Ju Zi watched Cao Yu cultivate, then teased him about his height and threatened to expose his past actions until he called her Big Sister. She took him to the cafeteria for lunch, where the serving staff mistook them for siblings and teased Ju Zi about taking him in.

• After Xuan Ziwen left the workshop, Ju Zi studied Cao Yu while he cultivated until he opened his eyes and caught her watching him.
• Ju Zi compared their heights and asked Cao Yu how he had grown so tall, and he complimented her figure.
• Ju Zi threatened to reveal Cao Yu's past actions unless he called her Big Sister, and he gave in when she prepared to shout.
• Ju Zi took Cao Yu to the cafeteria and offered to pay for his meal.
• The cafeteria staff assumed Cao Yu was Ju Zi's younger brother and teased her about taking him in, making her blush.

Ju Zi and Cao Yu ate together and joked about their relationship, while other students mistook them for a couple. Meng Hongchen arrived looking for Cao Yu, found him with Ju Zi, and sat beside him after greeting him.

• Ju Zi worried that the academy's aunties would gossip about her being Cao Yu's sworn older sister, and Cao Yu teased her about it.
• Cao Yu told Ju Zi he was sixteen, a Soul Emperor, and a Martial Soul Master from Shrek who was visiting on vacation.
• The students in the cafeteria watched Ju Zi and Cao Yu chat and assumed they were a couple.
• Meng Hongchen entered the cafeteria searching for Cao Yu and passed by male students who had mistaken her gaze for interest in them.
• Meng Hongchen greeted Cao Yu, and he invited her to sit beside him while Ju Zi remained at the table.
• Little Roué and the other students complained that Meng Hongchen had chosen the newly arrived exchange student.

Cao Yu escaped Ju Zi and Meng Hongchen's rivalry over him, while Xuan Ziwen waited for his returning students. The chapter ended as Ke Ke and the other two arrived back from their task and entered the room.

• Ju Zi and Meng Hongchen competed to put meat in Cao Yu's bowl until he fled the cafeteria with his food.
• Cao Yu finished his meal in his dormitory, returned his dishes, and brushed off cafeteria patrons who asked him to teach them his supposed romantic skills.
• Over the next four days, Cao Yu cultivated alone, leaving Xuan Ziwen frustrated that he would not ask to learn about Soul Tools.
• Ju Zi predicted that Ke Ke had spent most of her assigned task playing around, and Xuan Ziwen worried about her performance.
• Ke Ke and two male students returned, and Xuan Ziwen welcomed them inside.

Ke Ke returned with the requested materials and met Cao Yu, while she and Ju Zi teased each other over whether Ju Zi liked him. That night, the Shrek students compared their unhelpful lessons at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, and Cao Yu ended the evening by joking about eating Immoral Dog.

• Ke Ke returned with the ore Xuan Ziwen had requested, and he confirmed that the materials were complete.
• Ke Ke noticed Cao Yu cultivating, learned he was a powerful Shrek exchange student, and Ju Zi teased her for staring at him.
• Ke Ke accused Ju Zi of blushing because she liked Cao Yu, and Ju Zi tickled her until Xuan Ziwen told them to get back to work.
• Cao Yu declined Ke Ke and Ju Zi's lunch invitation because he had struggled to finish the food they served him before.
• Chen Beifeng, He Caitou, and the others described how their instructors withheld useful lessons, and Cao Yu encouraged them to study materials from his research institute.
• Cao Yu released Immoral Dog from Elder Yi's demiplane and joked that he was wondering whether dog meat hot pot tasted good.

Cao Yu joined Ju Zi, Ke Ke, Zi Mu, and Wang Shaojie on a trip to the Jingyang Mountain Range to test their Soul Tools. After Ju Zi prepared a meal for the group, Cao Yu jokingly offered to hire her as a cook after graduation.

• Cao Yu had Immoral Dog turn off the light before they went to sleep.
• Xuan Ziwen assigned the students to test their Soul Tools in the Jingyang Mountain Range and asked Cao Yu to protect the group.
• Ju Zi, Ke Ke, Zi Mu, Wang Shaojie, and Cao Yu flew toward the mountain range using their Flying Soul Tools.
• Ju Zi stopped the group at noon and prepared roasted chicken for everyone.
• Ke Ke praised Ju Zi’s cooking while eating, and Cao Yu offered Ju Zi a cooking job at his home after graduation.

Cao Yu, Ju Zi, Ke Ke, Zi Mu, and Wang Shaojie tested an experimental All-Terrain Detection Soul Tool in the Jingyang Mountain Range and camped there overnight. Their dinner attracted five Earth-Splitting Bears, and Cao Yu and the others began fighting them.

• Ju Zi showed Cao Yu and Ke Ke the All-Terrain Detection Soul Tool and demonstrated how it moved through the mountain forest.
• Cao Yu tested the machine, criticized its crude controls and uncomfortable ride, and then he, Ju Zi, and Ke Ke handed it over to Zi Mu and Wang Shaojie.
• Ju Zi and Ke Ke prepared dinner at the campsite, where the group was approached by four ten-thousand-year Earth-Splitting Bears and one thousand-year Earth-Splitting Bear.
• Cao Yu, Zi Mu, and Wang Shaojie shielded Ju Zi and Ke Ke as the bears charged, and Cao Yu used his Second Martial Soul's enhancement to confront them.
• Cao Yu was forced back by the bears' combined strength, while Zi Mu and Wang Shaojie came to support him and Ju Zi and Ke Ke fired their long-range Soul Tools.

Cao Yu used spiritual attacks to draw five Earth-Splitting Bears away from his companions and into a pack of Golden Wolves. After the two groups began fighting, Cao Yu reunited with Ju Zi and the others and watched as Ke Ke wondered which side would win.

• Ju Zi and Ke Ke disrupted the Earth-Splitting Bears with Soul Cannons while Cao Yu's spiritual attacks made the bears focus on him.
• Cao Yu lured the five Earth-Splitting Bears away, and Zi Mu, Wang Shaojie, Ju Zi, and Ke Ke followed.
• Cao Yu dodged the bears' attacks and led them toward a pack of eighty or ninety Golden Wolves.
• The Earth-Splitting Bears charged into the Golden Wolves, and the Golden Wolf King gathered its pack to face them.
• Cao Yu escaped and rejoined the others, who watched the battle as Ke Ke asked which side would win.

After Cao Yu and the others returned safely from their field test, they reported the danger they faced to Xuan Ziwen and celebrated at a restaurant. Xuan Ziwen hinted that Cao Yu should be bolder about his feelings for Ju Zi.

• Ke Ke asked Cao Yu to carry her down from the tree, and Wang Shaojie and Ju Zi grew troubled when they saw her cling to him.
• The group returned to camp, took turns keeping watch, and flew back to the academy the next morning.
• Ju Zi gave Xuan Ziwen the All-Terrain Detection Soul Tool test data, and he told the exhausted students to rest before treating them to dinner.
• At the restaurant, Cao Yu said Ju Zi could cook for him for the rest of his life, and Xuan Ziwen urged him to be bolder.

Jing Hongchen arranged an exception allowing Cao Yu to pass his Soul Engineer assessment through battles and enter Mingde Hall if he won. Cao Yu began the assessment against Zi Mu and Wang Shaojie, with further matches against Ju Zi and Ke Ke scheduled.

• Jing Hongchen told Xuan Ziwen to make Cao Yu's assessment a series of battles and quietly instructed him to ensure Cao Yu was not treated too harshly.
• Xuan Ziwen announced that Cao Yu would fight other Soul Engineers, and Ju Zi, Ke Ke, Zi Mu, and Wang Shaojie volunteered to challenge him.
• Xuan Ziwen arranged three matches: Cao Yu against Zi Mu and Wang Shaojie, then against Ju Zi and Ke Ke, followed by a match against all four if he won the first two.
• Xuan Ziwen brought the group to the assessment area the next morning and started Cao Yu's first battle against Zi Mu and Wang Shaojie.
• Zi Mu slashed at Cao Yu with his sword, Cao Yu dodged, and Wang Shaojie followed with a hammer strike.

Cao Yu passed three combat assessments by defeating the other students, while Xuan Ziwen observed the weaknesses of soul engineers in individual combat. Xuan Ziwen then brought Cao Yu to Mingde Hall, where Jing Hongchen assigned Meng Hongchen as his assistant and offered him generous research conditions.

• Cao Yu used his speed to defeat Wang Shaojie and Zi Mu, passing the first assessment.
• Cao Yu dismantled Ju Zi and Ke Ke's soul tools before they could activate them, passing the second assessment.
• Cao Yu fought Zi Mu, Wang Shaojie, Ju Zi, and Ke Ke together, but defeated them after a little over ten minutes.
• Xuan Ziwen took Cao Yu to Mingde Hall's underground manufacturing base, where Cao Yu reunited with He Caitou and the others.
• Jing Hongchen introduced Meng Hongchen as Cao Yu's assistant and offered to provide unlimited experiment materials and let him keep anything he made.

Cao Yu earned his Level 3 Soul Engineer badge with Meng Hongchen’s hands-on guidance, then went out with her for dinner and a walk around Mingdu. When the academy’s closing bell rang, Meng Hongchen had kept him out until they were standing in front of a luxurious hotel, leaving them unable to return to the academy.

• Meng Hongchen taught Cao Yu to engrave Soul Tool arrays and guided his hand until he could control the carving knife.
• Over the next few months, Cao Yu earned his Level 3 Soul Engineer badge, making He Caitou and the others envious of his lessons with Meng Hongchen.
• Cao Yu invited Meng Hongchen to dinner, and they ate together at an upscale restaurant in Mingdu.
• Meng Hongchen took Cao Yu on a long walk through the city, repeatedly delaying his return with excuses to shop.
• When the academy’s closing bell rang, Meng Hongchen and Cao Yu were outside a luxurious hotel, and she asked what they should do since they could not get back in.

Cao Yu rejected Meng Hongchen’s advances, later made peace with her, and earned his Level 4 Soul Engineer badge. As summer vacation approached, he planned to travel to the Far North to obtain Soul Rings for his third Martial Soul, Ice.

• Cao Yu took Meng Hongchen back to the academy instead of entering a hotel, and she angrily accused him of not being a man before running off.
• Cao Yu found Meng Hongchen avoiding him at Mingde Hall the next morning, and she ignored him while he worked.
• Cao Yu coaxed Meng Hongchen into forgiving him, and she continued guiding his Soul Tool experiments over the next three months.
• Cao Yu received his Level 4 Soul Engineer badge from Xuan Ziwen, surprising Xuan Ziwen, Ju Zi, and Ke Ke.
• Ju Zi hosted a picnic before summer vacation, where Cao Yu and the others discussed Ke Ke’s upcoming Level 7 Soul Engineer assessment.
• Cao Yu decided to travel to the Far North after the next day to obtain Soul Rings for his third Martial Soul, Ice.

Cao Yu and his companions searched the Far North for a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast, and his Shadow Clone subdued an Ice Soul Turtle. The turtle offered to lead them to seven other hundred-thousand-year ice-attribute Soul Beasts, and Cao Yu agreed to spare it for now.

• Cao Yu traveled north with his Shadow Clone and Immoral Dog, who asked him to find a female beast pet.
• Cao Yu used Spiritual Detection to locate a sleeping hundred-thousand-year Ice Soul Turtle beneath the ice.
• Cao Yu broke the ice to wake the turtle, and his Shadow Clone stopped its attack and seized its neck.
• The Ice Soul Turtle begged for mercy and offered to reveal the locations of seven other hundred-thousand-year ice-attribute Soul Beasts.
• Cao Yu withdrew his sword and ordered the Ice Soul Turtle to lead the way.

Cao Yu and the Shadow Clone hunted several hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts with the Ice Soul Turtle’s help, while the Immoral Dog received three female wolves. As Cao Yu approached the final target, the Storm Snow Demon Ape, he found it being hunted by an Ice Jade Scorpion, awakening the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm’s memories of Bing'er.

• The Ice Soul Turtle led Cao Yu and the Shadow Clone to the Frozen Giant Bear, which the Shadow Clone defeated before Cao Yu absorbed its Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring and gained its right arm bone.
• The Ice Soul Turtle guided Cao Yu to the Snow Wolf King, and Cao Yu obtained its Soul Ring while the Immoral Dog was given three female snow wolves to take into the demiplane.
• Cao Yu hunted an Ice Nether Insect, a Mystic Ice Ironwood Pig, and an Icefield Snake in succession.
• Cao Yu found the Storm Snow Demon Ape near death as an Ice Jade Scorpion hunted it, and the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm woke and began exclaiming about Bing'er.

Cao Yu's Shadow Clone rescued the Storm Snow Demon Ape from the Ice Empress so Cao Yu could claim it as his chosen Soul Ring. After Tian Meng revealed himself and urged the Ice Empress to transform into a human, Cao Yu offered proof that the Snow Empress had done so, leaving the Ice Empress doubtful but intrigued.

• Cao Yu's Shadow Clone stopped the Ice Empress from killing the Storm Snow Demon Ape, then knocked the beast unconscious despite her attack.
• The Ice Empress confronted Cao Yu, who insisted that the Storm Snow Demon Ape was his chosen prey and that she could not take it.
• Tian Meng pleaded with Cao Yu to let him appear before the Ice Empress, and Cao Yu agreed.
• Tian Meng told the Ice Empress she could avoid her coming four-hundred-thousand-year tribulation by transforming into a human like the Snow Empress.
• Cao Yu gave the Ice Empress a strand of the Snow Empress's hair as proof, and she recognized it.

Cao Yu took Ice Empress to his demiplane, killed the Storm Snow Demon Ape, and absorbed his sixth ice-attribute Soul Ring before returning to Shrek Academy. He reunited with Wang Dong and then met up with Tang Ya, Ning Tian, Jiang Nannan, Xiao Xiao, and Ma Xiaotao.

• Ice Empress questioned Cao Yu about Snow Empress, then entered his demiplane after Tian Meng assured her that he had treated Snow Empress well.
• Cao Yu warned Immoral Dog to avoid Ice Empress, left her in the demiplane, and killed the unconscious Storm Snow Demon Ape.
• Cao Yu absorbed his sixth ice-attribute Soul Ring, thanked the Ice Soul Turtle for its help, and left the Far North.
• At Shrek Academy, Cao Yu surprised Wang Dong in their dorm room, and she hugged and playfully punched him for returning after claiming he would be gone for three years.
• Cao Yu learned that Tang Ya and the others were still at the academy, then met Tang Ya, Ning Tian, Jiang Nannan, Xiao Xiao, and Ma Xiaotao at Shrek Square.

Cao Yu returned to Shrek, reunited with his friends, and helped the Ice Empress begin transforming into a human. Ma Xiaotao then took him to the inner court, saying her Phoenix Fire was acting up and he had to come with her that night.

• Cao Yu told Tang Ya, Ning Tian, Ma Xiaotao, Jiang Nannan, and the others that he had passed the Level 4 Soul Engineer examination and learned they had passed the inner court assessment.
• Cao Yu and his friends played by Sea God Lake until sunset.
• The Ice Empress decided to become an embryo and take human form, and Cao Yu began her transformation with a Transformation Talisman and his blood.
• Cao Yu prepared to leave Shrek, but Ma Xiaotao carried him to the inner court and said her Phoenix Fire was acting up again.

After returning to the Sun Moon Empire, Cao Yu resumed his studies and received a Level 5 Soul Tool assignment from Xuan Ziwen. The chapter leaves him walking away from Ji Juechen, whose interest in him only grows after their awkward first meeting.

• Ma Xiaotao told Cao Yu her bracelet had broken, and he went with her to her residence before leaving for the Sun Moon Empire the next day.
• Cao Yu reached Sunrise City and reunited with He Caitou and Ye Xiaosheng, who teased him about his vacation and Meng Hongchen.
• Meng Hongchen gave Cao Yu snacks she had bought especially for him, and classes soon returned to their routine.
• Xuan Ziwen gave Cao Yu a Level 5 Stationary Soul Cannon blueprint and told him he could complete it without a deadline to earn his Level 5 Soul Engineer badge.
• Ji Juechen introduced himself to Cao Yu and offered his hand, but Cao Yu brushed past him, leaving Ji Juechen awkwardly intrigued.

Cao Yu agreed to duel Ji Juechen for their weapons, and the two six-ring Soul Masters began a fierce fight in the academy arena. As the match drew a crowd, Meng Hongchen, Ju Zi, and Ke Ke cheered for Cao Yu, and other female students joined them.

• Ji Juechen challenged Cao Yu to a duel and offered his extraterrestrial meteoric iron sword; Cao Yu agreed to wager a Level 7 Soul Tool.
• Cao Yu and Ji Juechen paid to use the competition testing grounds, where Teacher Li refereed and prohibited highly lethal weapons.
• Ji Juechen drew his sword and unleashed his sword intent, while Cao Yu charged him with the speed boost from his Second Martial Soul.
• Cao Yu and Ji Juechen traded blows, and the noise of their fight drew a crowd to the spectator stands.
• Meng Hongchen cheered for Cao Yu, then Ju Zi and Ke Ke joined her, prompting more female students to cheer as well.

Cao Yu defeated Ji Juechen in the arena and invited him to join his research institute in Star Luo City. Ji Juechen accepted on the condition that he could challenge Cao Yu once every year.

• Cao Yu caught Ji Juechen’s sword between his fingers, disarmed him, and defeated him in their fight.
• Teacher Li stopped Cao Yu from slamming Ji Juechen into the ground and announced Cao Yu as the winner.
• Ji Juechen honored his promise and gave Cao Yu his sword, and Cao Yu asked him to meet the next day.
• Cao Yu returned the sword and invited Ji Juechen to follow him and work at his research institute in Star Luo City.
• Ji Juechen agreed to join Cao Yu if he could challenge him once a year.