Chapter Summaries

Fang Lin joined Heaven Dou Academy’s regular team after Qin Ming promised to seek treatment for his physical and meridian damage. He consumed a piece of Thousand-Year Whale Rubber, greatly improved his physique, and planned to continue taking progressively older pieces.

• Qin Ming warned Fang Lin that pushing his body beyond its limits could damage his foundation and meridians, then offered to arrange treatment if Fang Lin joined the regular team.
• Fang Lin agreed to represent the academy and asked whether the treatment could also help a thirty-eight-year-old level twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster.
• Fang Lin melted and drank the Thousand-Year Whale Rubber in the cultivation room, enduring intense heat and pain as it reshaped his body.
• Afterward, Fang Lin found his strength and explosive power had increased by thirty-five percent and resolved to avoid using his meridian-damaging secret technique.
• Fang Lin planned to consume Whale Rubber of gradually increasing ages as he advanced, provided he could afford it.

Fang Lin joined Qin Ming’s training session, where the reserve members introduced themselves and learned about Soul Master roles in team combat. Qin Ming began a timed exercise in which Yu Tianheng and Yu Feng had to break through the Shi Brothers’ defense and touch Ye Lingling, leaving both teams preparing their tactics.

• Fang Lin completed his morning training and rushed to Qin Ming’s assembly, where he and Yu Feng were warned against arriving late.
• The reserve members introduced themselves, and Fang Lin recognized Ye Lingling from Begonia Studio.
• Qin Ming explained the roles of different Soul Master types and assigned Yu Tianheng and Yu Feng to attack the Shi Brothers’ defense within one incense stick’s burn.
• Yu Tianheng planned to draw the Shi Brothers’ attention so Yu Feng could reach Ye Lingling, while Ye Lingling directed the brothers to protect her.
• Fang Lin and Dugu Yan watched from the sidelines and speculated about which side would win.

Qin Ming reviewed the match in which the Shi brothers and Ye Lingling defeated Yu Tianheng and Yu Feng, then assigned training to improve the team’s coordination, technique, and stamina. The group began a long-distance run from their training grounds to Heaven Dou City and back.

• The Shi brothers and Ye Lingling defeated Yu Tianheng and Yu Feng after Yu Tianheng used too much Soul Power and Yu Feng could not get past the younger Shi Mo.
• Qin Ming ended the match and explained that poor coordination, especially the timing between Yu Tianheng and Yu Feng, had cost them the fight.
• Qin Ming assigned Yu Tianheng individual sparring with Fang Lin without Soul Skills to improve his physical techniques.
• Qin Ming told Ye Lingling to train her stamina by running so she could evade opponents when her teammates were occupied.
• Qin Ming assigned the entire group a round-trip run between their training grounds and Heaven Dou City, to be completed before sunset.

Fang Lin and the Imperial Fighting Team struggled through Qin Ming’s weighted endurance exercise between Heaven Dou Academy and Heaven Dou City. Fang Lin carried extra stones to help his teammates, and the chapter ended with Yu Tianheng waiting at a crossroads as the exhausted group fell behind.

• Qin Ming ordered the team to carry stones on a round-trip trek to Heaven Dou City and warned that anyone who failed could lose their place on the team.
• Yu Tianheng and the Shi Brothers took the heaviest baskets, while Fang Lin carried twenty kilograms and later lightened Yu Feng and Dugu Yan’s loads.
• Fang Lin offered to carry Ye Lingling’s stones, but she refused until he explained that Qin Ming’s exercise was meant to teach teamwork; she then let him take her basket.
• At Heaven Dou City, Qin Ming warned the group that they were running out of time, and the team began the difficult return journey.
• Fang Lin took Dugu Yan’s stones so she could help Ye Lingling, bringing his own load to forty kilograms, while Yu Feng kept his original weight.
• After the exhausted group covered less than five kilometers in an hour, Yu Tianheng appeared at a crossroads and seemed to be waiting for them.

Fang Lin led the exhausted group in working together to finish Qin Ming’s weighted mountain run before dark. Qin Ming confirmed that everyone had passed, and the team rested and ate before training was set to continue the next day.

• Yu Tianheng joined Fang Lin’s group, took on extra stones, and helped the others move faster while Yu Feng and Dugu Yan took turns supporting Ye Lingling.
• Near the mountain, Fang Lin sent Yu Feng to bring back the Shi Brothers, explaining that Qin Ming was testing teamwork rather than individual ability.
• The Shi Brothers returned with Yu Feng, and the group redistributed their loads; Fang Lin eventually carried the exhausted Ye Lingling on his back.
• The group reached the gathering place just before dark, and Qin Ming announced that they had all passed the training.
• The seven returned to their rooms for medicinal baths, then ate dinner as Qin Ming told them to rest and prepare to learn one another’s fighting abilities and Soul Skills.

Fang Lin asked Ye Lingling whether Nine Heart Begonia could heal his father’s old injuries, then sparred with Yu Tianheng and revealed that the academy’s unpleasant Soul Beast meat soup was the secret to strengthening the body. The group began trying the soup, while Fang Lin led Ye Lingling away before she could taste it.

• At dinner, Shi Mo explained that Black Tortoise Soul Masters could combine their defensive skills, and said seven Soul Saints had once used the technique to defend against a Titled Douluo.
• Fang Lin asked Ye Lingling whether Nine Heart Begonia could heal his father’s hidden injuries, and Ye Lingling said her level seventy-six aunt might be able to help but that Fang Lin would need Teacher Qin or the education committee to persuade her.
• Fang Lin and Yu Tianheng sparred without Soul Skills, and Yu Tianheng noticed Fang Lin had become considerably stronger in less than half a month.
• At breakfast, Yu Tianheng asked Fang Lin how he had strengthened his body, and Fang Lin presented the academy’s gamey Soul Beast meat soup as the secret.
• Yu Feng tried the soup, and Yu Tianheng and the Shi Mo brothers fetched bowls while Dugu Yan refused to drink it.
• When Ye Lingling showed interest in trying the soup, Fang Lin claimed he had sprained his ankle and led her out of the cafeteria.

Fang Lin met Dugu Bo and explained how two deadly Immortal Herbs could help cure the poison in Dugu Bo’s body. Dugu Bo took him to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, where Fang Lin recognized the herbs and persuaded Dugu Bo to let him try refining them.

• Fang Lin waited in the woods and asked Dugu Bo whether Dugu Yan’s serpent venom had been transferred to her Soul Bone.
• Fang Lin explained that two extreme ice-and-fire herbs could help neutralize the poison in a Jade Phosphorous Serpent Soul Master.
• Dugu Bo took Fang Lin to his herb garden at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, where Fang Lin identified the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and Infernal Delicate Apricot.
• Fang Lin said he could refine the herbs by taking them together in the well, and Dugu Bo agreed to let him try.
• Fang Lin asked Dugu Bo to pick the herbs without touching them directly.

Fang Lin survived the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well after refining the two immortal herbs, gaining an Ice and Fire Golden Body that made him immune to poison, ice, and fire. Dugu Bo agreed to use Fang Lin’s blood to treat his snake-venom backlash and keep him at the herb garden, where Fang Lin noticed other rare herbs he did not yet know how to safely use.

• Fang Lin ate the octagonal mysterious ice grass and infernal delicate apricot, then jumped into the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to refine their medicinal power.
• After spending a day in the spring, Fang Lin emerged with an Ice and Fire Golden Body, but Dugu Yan and Dugu Bo saw him naked before he jumped back into the water.
• Dugu Yan returned to the academy with Dugu Bo, saying she could explain Fang Lin’s whereabouts to Teacher Qin and the education committee members.
• Fang Lin told Dugu Bo that his blood could serve as the key ingredient in an antidote, and Dugu Bo agreed to treat his poison with a few drops each day for up to half a year.
• Dugu Bo ordered Fang Lin to stay at the herb garden, where Fang Lin spotted several other immortal herbs but realized he did not know how to harvest or use them safely.

Fang Lin strengthened his body and Martial Soul while cultivating at Dugu Bo’s herb garden, and Dugu Bo considered the benefits Fang Lin’s Immortal Herbs might bring Dugu Yan. After Fang Lin reached level twenty-nine and asked for meat, Dugu Bo brought him a Soul Beast to cook, then asked how old he was.

• Fang Lin practiced with his saber while Dugu Bo observed and suspected the Immortal Herbs had improved Fang Lin’s Martial Soul and physique.
• Fang Lin ate Jade Phosphorus Seven-Absolute Flowers at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and cultivated there as autumn turned to winter, reaching Soul Power level twenty-nine in under two months.
• Fang Lin asked Dugu Bo to let him leave the valley to hunt Soul Beasts for meat, so Dugu Bo brought him an uninjured Thousand-Year Soul Beast corpse.
• Fang Lin roasted the Soul Beast meat with seasonings, and Dugu Bo tasted it and asked Fang Lin how old he was.

Fang Lin finished half a year of cultivation in Dugu Bo’s valley, reached Soul Power level thirty, and continued helping Dugu Bo purge his poison. Dugu Bo took him back to Heaven Dou Academy after proposing a future match with Dugu Yan, which Fang Lin avoided by suggesting she was already involved with Yu Tianheng.

• Dugu Bo mistook Fang Lin’s words and believed he had set his sights on Dugu Yan, prompting Fang Lin to flee into the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
• Over the next half year, Fang Lin refined most of the two Immortal Herbs’ medicinal power, reached level thirty, and consumed Jade Phosphorus Seven-Absolute Flowers.
• Dugu Bo told Fang Lin he would take him back to Heaven Dou Academy because Fang Lin had nearly eaten all the flowers and his blood had become less useful as medicine.
• Dugu Bo offered to consider Fang Lin and Dugu Yan being together if Fang Lin reached level forty-five before turning twenty.
• Fang Lin told Dugu Bo that Yu Tianheng might already be with Dugu Yan, and Dugu Bo carried him back to Heaven Dou Academy.

Fang Lin returned to Heaven Dou Academy after six months away and reunited with Ye Lingling and his teammates, learning how they had progressed. Qin Ming then took him toward the Empire Soul Hunting Forest, where Fang Lin insisted he could absorb a four-thousand-year Soul Ring; Qin Ming decided to test his claim before proceeding.

• Dugu Bo brought Fang Lin back to Heaven Dou Academy, where Ye Lingling recognized him and welcomed him home.
• Fang Lin reunited with Yu Feng, Yu Tianheng, Dugu Yan, the Shi Brothers, and Ye Lingling, and their teasing turned their awkward reunion into laughter.
• Qin Ming noticed Fang Lin had reached level thirty and revealed that Dugu Yan had become a level-thirty-one Soul Elder, while Yu Feng and Ye Lingling had reached level twenty-six.
• Qin Ming took Fang Lin away from group training and set out with him for the Empire Soul Hunting Forest, giving him a guide to its Soul Beasts.
• Fang Lin asked to consider Soul Beasts from the Fourth Soul Ring volume and declared he wanted a Soul Ring at least four thousand years old.
• Qin Ming warned Fang Lin that a four-thousand-year Soul Ring was dangerous at level thirty, but after Fang Lin credited his confidence to Dugu Bo, Qin Ming turned back to find a more direct way to test him.

Qin Ming tested Fang Lin’s physical and mental endurance, then advised him to seek a Third Soul Ring of roughly 3,600 years and choose a utility skill suited to his strengths. He named three possible Soul Beasts for Fang Lin to consider as they continued down the mountain.

• Fang Lin admitted to Qin Ming that he had been too confident about absorbing a four-thousand-year Soul Ring.
• Qin Ming tested Fang Lin by increasing Soul Power pressure while Fang Lin used neither his Martial Soul nor Soul Power.
• Qin Ming concluded that Fang Lin could likely absorb a Soul Ring around 3,600 years old, with 3,800 years as the upper limit.
• Qin Ming recommended a utility-type Third Soul Skill and listened as Fang Lin asked for a way to counter energy attacks or evade and close in.
• Qin Ming suggested the Crane Feather Pattern Antelope, the Void Pattern Jade Tapir, and the Mysterious Nether Gold-Entwining Tree as possible Soul Beasts.

Fang Lin chose a Mysterious Nether Gold-Entwining Tree for his third Soul Ring and absorbed its nearly four-thousand-year ring. He reached Soul Elder level and discovered that the new Soul Skill strengthened his long saber, though its unusual extra effect remained unclear.

• Fang Lin chose the Mysterious Nether Gold-Entwining Tree after weighing its advantages against the Void Pattern Jade Tapir, then traveled with Qin Ming to the Soul Hunting Forest.
• Qin Ming identified the tree as younger than four thousand years by its fruits and burned away its vines, allowing Fang Lin to destroy its trunk.
• Fang Lin absorbed the purple Soul Ring despite its powerful energy, while Qin Ming guarded him.
• Fang Lin completed the absorption, reached level thirty-three, and felt his body grow stronger.
• Fang Lin told Qin Ming that the Soul Skill enhanced his long saber’s weight, hardness, and explosive power, and mentioned another effect he could not yet explain.

Fang Lin tested his third Soul Skill, discovering that it strengthened his saber and let it grow to enormous size as he poured in Soul Power. The next morning, Qin Ming set up a group battle for Fang Lin and Yu Feng against Dugu Yan and the others, and the teams prepared to fight.

• Fang Lin demonstrated Profound Nether Overlord Body Saber to Qin Ming, who judged that Fang Lin’s Iron Saber Martial Soul had become a high-quality Tool Martial Soul.
• Fang Lin returned to the training ground that night and found that additional Soul Power made his saber grow to nearly five meters before he could no longer hold it.
• Fang Lin speculated that his improved Martial Soul quality and rapid cultivation might have resulted from the ice and fire Immortal Herbs.
• Yu Feng, Yu Tianheng, and the others asked Fang Lin about his third Soul Skill, and Fang Lin promised to show them during training.
• Qin Ming paired Fang Lin with Yu Feng against Dugu Yan, Shi Mo, Shi Mo, and Ye Lingling, then ordered them to win by knocking down their opponents.
• Fang Lin told Yu Feng to keep Dugu Yan occupied while he cut down the Shi Mo Brothers.

Fang Lin defeated the Shi Mo Brothers, bypassed Dugu Yan’s poison to eliminate Ye Lingling, and then overcame Dugu Yan’s counterattack. The match ended with Dugu Yan withdrawing her Martial Soul after Fang Lin tapped her out.

• Fang Lin shattered the Shi Mo Brothers’ joined turtle-shell shield with his Shadow Blade, leaving them unable to fight.
• Fang Lin charged through Dugu Yan’s poisonous mist using his Invincible Golden Body Soul Skill and tapped Ye Lingling out of the match.
• Dugu Yan used her poison to stall Fang Lin, then slowed him with an eerie green beam and attacked with her snake tail.
• Fang Lin caught Dugu Yan’s tail, tapped her shoulder with the back of his saber, and released her.
• Dugu Yan withdrew her Martial Soul as the poisonous mist dispersed.

Fang Lin defeated Yu Tianheng, Ye Lingling, and Dugu Yan in a second match after Qin Ming promised him his overdue credit allowance. The others realized Fang Lin had been holding back, and the chapter ended with the team marveling at his strength.

• Ye Lingling healed the Shi Mo Brothers, and Qin Ming questioned Fang Lin about resisting Dugu Yan's poison before reviewing the team's mistakes.
• Qin Ming sent Yu Tianheng, Ye Lingling, and Dugu Yan to fight Fang Lin, then promised him his full credit allowance if he won before Ye Lingling could heal anyone.
• Dugu Yan buffed Yu Tianheng while Ye Lingling prepared to heal him, and Fang Lin launched a powerful attack with his Third Soul Skill.
• Fang Lin's saber clash sent Yu Tianheng flying, then he knocked out Ye Lingling and Dugu Yan before she could heal Yu Tianheng.
• Yu Feng and the Shi Mo Brothers realized Fang Lin had been holding back and expressed amazement at his strength.

Fang Lin declined Yu Feng’s invitation to bet on the Shi Mo Brothers, then collected his academy subsidies and arranged to redeem more Soul Crystals. He joined Yu Feng and Dugu Yan on their trip to Heaven Dou City, where Yu Feng challenged Fang Lin’s claim that he hated gambling.

• Yu Feng invited Fang Lin to Heaven Dou City to bet on the Shi Mo Brothers’ winning streak, but Fang Lin claimed he hated gambling and refused.
• After a healer treated Yu Tianheng, Fang Lin collected his Heaven Dou Grade token and learned that his subsidies could be redeemed at the academic affairs office.
• Fang Lin asked Cheng Mo to upgrade his Iron Essence inner armor and redeemed two Soul Crystals for his father’s retired army friends.
• Cheng Mo explained Soul Crystal limits and effects, and Fang Lin asked him to set aside two more.
• Fang Lin caught up with Yu Feng and rode with him and Dugu Yan to Heaven Dou City, then denied having said he hated gambling.

Fang Lin updated his Spirit Hall status to Soul Elder and searched Heaven Dou City for five-thousand-year Whale Rubber. He placed an order through Seven Treasures Pavilion, declined another recruitment offer, and left considering how to afford better equipment.

• Fang Lin collected his Spirit Hall allowances, tested at level thirty-three, received a Soul Elder badge, and declined the young deacon’s offer to join Spirit Hall.
• Fang Lin visited Begonia Studio, but Uncle Ye had no older Whale Rubber available.
• Fang Lin went to Seven Treasures Pavilion, where Shopkeeper Ning Yuanzhi offered to order five-thousand-year Whale Rubber from Vast Sea City for a hundred-Gold-Soul-Coin deposit.
• Fang Lin paid the deposit and declined Ning Yuanzhi’s offer to provide the Whale Rubber for free if he joined the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
• Fang Lin saw a ten-cubic-meter Storage Soul Tool priced at ten thousand Gold Soul Coins and considered stealing herbs from Dugu Bo’s garden to raise the money.

Fang Lin went to Heaven Dou City's Soul Fighting Arena, where he met Dugu Yan and persuaded her to form a two-person team with him. They registered as Blade and Jade Phosphorous, leaving them ready to compete together.

• Fang Lin checked the arena records for the Black Tortoise Brothers' match, then meditated while considering how to obtain Immortal Herbs to strengthen his spiritual power and prepare for his Fourth Soul Ring.
• Dugu Yan arrived at the arena and told Fang Lin that Qin Ming had assigned her to earn a Silver Soul Badge within a year.
• Fang Lin asked Dugu Yan to team up, explaining that he could fight safely within her poison fog and help cover its weakness against wind-type opponents.
• Dugu Yan agreed, and she and Fang Lin registered as a two-person team called Blade and Jade Phosphorous.

Fang Lin and Dugu Yan fought Lin Qing and Yang Chen in a two-on-two Soul Fight, where Dugu Yan's poison pressured their opponents and Fang Lin shielded her from a barrage of ice arrows. The opposing team retreated by jumping off the platform, giving Fang Lin and Dugu Yan the win.

• Fang Lin and Dugu Yan watched the Shi Mo Brothers defeat their opponents in arena eight.
• Fang Lin and Dugu Yan entered the platform and faced Lin Qing, a bow-wielding Tool Soul Master, and Yang Chen, a spear-wielding Tool Soul Master.
• Dugu Yan spread poisonous mist across the platform, and Lin Qing and Yang Chen considered withdrawing rather than risk being poisoned.
• Lin Qing fired a storm of ice arrows toward Fang Lin and Dugu Yan, and Fang Lin cut the arrows apart while protecting Dugu Yan.
• Lin Qing and Yang Chen jumped off the platform, and the referee declared Fang Lin and Dugu Yan the winners.