Chapter Summaries

Lin Yan recovered in Star Dou Town and searched for a trustworthy team to enter the Star Dou Great Forest. He agreed to meet with Lei En’s Boulder team, which was seeking a Power Attack System Soul Master to help obtain a third Soul Ring for its Support System member.

• Lin Yan rested overnight at the Ancient Tree Inn, washing, cultivating, eating, and sleeping before setting out at dawn.
• Lin Yan examined recruitment offers but rejected teams whose goals, members, or attitudes seemed unsuitable.
• Lei En approached Lin Yan and invited him to join the Boulder team, which had a Defense System, Agility Attack System, Healing System, and Control System member.
• Lin Yan asked Lei En about his identity, team coordination, and how the gains would be divided.
• Lin Yan accepted Lei En’s invitation to meet the other teammates and said he was entering the forest for training.

Lin Yan, using the alias Lin Shuo, joined Lei En’s team after defeating Ji Qiu in a test of strength without revealing his Soul Rings. The five members set out from Star Dou Town for the Star Dou Forest to obtain Su Yun’s Third Soul Ring.

• Lei En introduced Lin Shuo to Ling Ren, Xiao Yun, and Ji Qiu as the Power Attack System Soul Master joining their team.
• Ji Qiu challenged Lin Shuo’s strength and attacked him with his Thorn Vine Martial Soul.
• Lin Shuo evaded and redirected Ji Qiu’s attacks, then drew his sword and held it to Ji Qiu’s neck.
• Ji Qiu accepted his defeat, apologized for underestimating Lin Shuo, and welcomed him onto the team.
• Lei En formally introduced the Boulder team and its goal of obtaining Su Yun’s Third Soul Ring.
• Lin Shuo and the four team members left Star Dou Town and headed for the Star Dou Forest.

Lei En led the Rock team deeper into the Star Dou Great Forest to find a Soul Beast for Su Yun, and the group fought off several attacks along the way. Lin Yan’s swordsmanship protected his teammates and earned their trust, leaving the team more closely bonded as they continued their expedition.

• Lei En assigned positions and led the group cautiously into the deeper forest.
• Ji Qiu, Lei En, Lin Yan, and Ling Ren quickly defeated a pack of Ten-Year Wind Wolves and later handled a Mandala Snake and an Iron-Armored Mole.
• The group was nearly overwhelmed by poisonous arrows from a large pack of Poison Water Toads, but Lin Yan deflected many attacks while Ji Qiu and Lei En created an opening to defeat the Hundred-Year leaders.
• Su Yun used her Soul Skill to ease the team’s injuries and fatigue after the battle.
• Ling Ren asked whether Lin Yan was connected to Sword Douluo Chen Xin, and Lin Yan denied it, saying he had practiced swordsmanship since childhood.
• Lei En, Ling Ren, and Su Yun praised Lin Yan, and the team’s trust and coordination grew as they resumed their journey.

The group found a rare Dew-Condensing Cattail that Su Yun wanted as her third Soul Ring, and Lin Yan explained its restorative properties and estimated age. After warning that its dew might attract a guardian Soul Beast, Lei En ordered the team to search the area, but they found no powerful Soul Beasts nearby.

• Lin Yan stopped the group at a valley entrance, then led them to a Dew-Condensing Cattail growing beside a stream.
• Lin Yan identified the plant, explained how it could restore Soul Power, and estimated its age at about thirteen hundred years.
• Su Yun chose the Dew-Condensing Cattail for her third Soul Ring, and the others praised Lin Yan for finding and identifying it.
• Lin Yan warned that the plant's condensed dew could attract a guardian Soul Beast, so Lei En ordered the team to scout the surroundings.
• Ji Qiu and Ling Ren reported that they found no powerful Soul Beasts nearby.

Lin Yan and his companions fought three camouflaged Hundred-Year Sickle Mantis Shrimp guarding the Dew-Condensing Cattail. They defeated the Soul Beasts, and three Yellow Soul Rings appeared above the stream.

• Lin Yan noticed suspicious stones surrounding the Dew-Condensing Cattail, and three Sickle Mantis Shrimp burst from the water to attack the group.
• Lei En blocked two attackers with Boulder Defense while the third wounded Ling Ren, and Lin Yan and Ji Qiu disrupted it so Ling Ren could pierce its eye.
• Lin Yan killed one Sickle Mantis Shrimp by thrusting through a gap in its armor, easing the pressure on Lei En.
• Ji Qiu harassed the remaining attackers while Lei En used Rock Shock to slow them, and Ling Ren killed the blinded beast with a thrust through its wounded eye socket.
• Lei En and Lin Yan defeated the final Sickle Mantis Shrimp, and three Yellow Soul Rings appeared above the stream.

After the guardian beasts were defeated, Su Yun asked the Dew-Condensing Cattail to scatter its seeds before killing it and absorbing its Soul Ring. She successfully absorbed the 1,300-year-old ring and broke through to rank thirty-one.

• Su Yun healed Ling Ren, and Lei En praised Lin Shuo for finding the right Soul Beast and directing the battle.
• Lin Yan urged the group to have Su Yun absorb the Dew-Condensing Cattail’s Soul Ring before further danger arose.
• Su Yun asked the Dew-Condensing Cattail to spread its seeds, and it released glowing tufts across the valley before withering.
• Su Yun thanked the plant, killed it, and began absorbing the purple Soul Ring as Lei En, Ling Ren, and Ji Qiu guarded her.
• After about two hours, Su Yun completed the absorption, reached rank thirty-one, and announced her success.

Su Yun revealed her third Soul Skill, Soul Power Condensed Dew, which gradually restored her teammates’ Soul Power. Her companions then urged her to absorb an emerald Torso Soul Bone, whose new skill, Life-Protecting Dew, gave her a damage-absorbing shield that could heal her and nearby allies.

• Su Yun demonstrated Soul Power Condensed Dew, restoring Soul Power to herself and her teammates with controllable range and concentration.
• Su Yun revealed an emerald Torso Soul Bone, and Lei En, Ling Ren, and Ji Qiu each refused it in favor of Lin Shuo.
• Lin Yan told Su Yun that her matching Martial Soul made her the best choice to absorb the Soul Bone, and Lei En and the others stood guard as she began.
• Su Yun absorbed the Soul Bone, which strengthened her physique and subtly changed her Healing Dandelion Martial Soul.
• Su Yun revealed Life-Protecting Dew, a shield that absorbed half of incoming damage and converted energy into healing, or healed nearby allies if forcibly broken.

After the mission ended, Lin Yan told Lei En and the others that a family trial required him to hunt a Thousand-Year Soul Beast alone, convincing them to leave while keeping his real motives secret. Once they departed, he headed deeper into the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt on his own.

• Lei En led the group in harvesting valuable materials from the Thousand-Year mantis shrimp before they prepared to leave the Star Dou Great Forest.
• Lin Yan told Lei En, Ling Ren, Ji Qiu, and Su Yun that he had to stay behind to complete his family's trial by killing a Thousand-Year Soul Beast alone.
• When Lei En offered to stay nearby, Lin Yan claimed that outside help would invalidate his trial and that a hidden family protector would keep him from dying.
• Su Yun gave Lin Yan life-giving dew, and he promised the group he would visit them at Soto Academy after his training.
• Lei En led Ling Ren, Ji Qiu, and Su Yun away, and Lin Yan revealed that his family trial and protector were lies before heading deeper into the forest.

Lin Yan searched the Star Dou Great Forest for an Iridescent Withering and Flourishing Fern whose concealment ability could hide his Soul Ring colors. He exposed and killed a roughly fourteen- to fifteen-hundred-year-old specimen, and a deep purple Soul Ring appeared above its corpse.

• Lin Yan cautiously crossed the misty swamps and humus-rich forest, avoiding several dangerous Soul Beasts.
• Lin Yan reached the swamp-forest boundary and spotted a patch of moss whose color and texture seemed unnatural.
• Lin Yan threw a bright red cloth over the suspected hiding place, forcing the Iridescent Withering and Flourishing Fern to reveal itself.
• The Iridescent Withering and Flourishing Fern attacked Lin Yan with disorienting spores and multicolored projectiles, but his steel armor protected him from serious harm.
• Lin Yan charged the plant, cut its fronds, pierced its stem, and thrust his longsword into its vital core.
• The Iridescent Withering and Flourishing Fern died, and a deep purple Soul Ring condensed above its corpse.

Lin Yan absorbed the Iridescent Withering and Flourishing Fern’s thousand-year Soul Ring, gaining Illusory Color Concealment and strengthening his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul. He left the swamp borderland with his Soul Ring disguised as a hundred-year ring and new hope of breaking through his former cultivation limit.

• Lin Yan absorbed the fourteen-hundred-year Soul Ring, enduring its violent energy with the Supreme Purity Breathing Technique and his Life Origin.
• Lin Yan’s Soul Power rose to rank fifteen, and he gained Illusory Color Concealment, which could disguise his Soul Ring, conceal his Martial Soul, and release hallucinogenic spores.
• Lin Yan discovered that his Blue Silver Grass had grown tougher and could extend several meters to bind targets, while its strengthened Life Origin seemed to loosen his cultivation limit.
• Lin Yan tested the skill’s disguise, invisibility, and binding effects, then collected spores and rhizomes from the Iridescent Withering and Flourishing Fern.
• Lin Yan disguised his Soul Ring as a hundred-year ring and headed toward the outer region of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Lin Yan rescued Han Shuirou from an Ironback Wolf in the Star Dou Great Forest by using his Illusory Color Concealment Soul Skill. After she recovered, they agreed to travel together toward the forest’s exit.

• Lin Yan practiced extending and binding with his Blue Silver Grass as he made his way through the forest.
• Lin Yan heard Han Shuirou calling for help and saw an Ironback Wolf closing in on her.
• Lin Yan pulled Han Shuirou behind a tree and concealed them both until the Ironback Wolf gave up and left.
• Han Shuirou told Lin Yan that she had become separated from her Plant Academy group after a pack of Gale Demon Wolves attacked.
• Lin Yan gave Han Shuirou water and medicine, and they rested while she recovered some Soul Power.
• Lin Yan and Han Shuirou set off together, with Lin Yan scouting ahead as they traveled toward the forest’s exit.

Lin Yan and Han Shuirou defeated an eight-hundred-year Mysterious Ice Vine, allowing Han Shuirou to absorb its Soul Ring and gain her second Soul Skill. After reuniting with Teacher Su Ling and the Plant Academy students, Lin Yan parted ways with them and left the Star Dou Great Forest.

• Lin Yan and Han Shuirou found an eight-hundred-year Mysterious Ice Vine beside a waterfall and planned to defeat it together.
• Lin Yan restrained the Mysterious Ice Vine with Blue Silver Grass while Han Shuirou attacked its roots, and they killed it.
• Han Shuirou absorbed the Soul Ring, advanced to rank twenty-two, and gained Mysterious Ice Entanglement.
• Two days later, Teacher Su Ling and several Plant Academy students found Han Shuirou, and Su Ling thanked Lin Yan for rescuing and helping her.
• Han Shuirou learned Lin Yan's name and invited him to visit Plant Academy before he left the group and exited the Star Dou Great Forest.

Lin Yan returned to Nuoding City with a Thousand-Year Soul Ring and found the Hundred Herbs Shop running smoothly in his absence. After reviewing his gains, he settled on a plan to evolve his Blue Silver Grass through compatible life-type Soul Rings and pursue an Intermediate Soul Master Academy for knowledge and resources.

• Lin Yan returned to the Hundred Herbs Shop and found Uncle Zhang and Brother Li had managed it well while he was away.
• Lin Yan reviewed how the Iridescent Withering and Flourishing Fern Soul Ring had strengthened his Blue Silver Grass and loosened its potential barrier.
• Lin Yan estimated that his next Soul Ring could be around four thousand years old, perhaps five thousand if he further strengthened his body.
• Lin Yan considered ways to find information on powerful plant Soul Beasts and chose an Intermediate Soul Master Academy as his best option.
• Lin Yan decided to stabilize his rank-fifteen Soul Power, practice his new abilities, research nearby academies, and check on the shop regularly.

Lin Yan secured the Hundred Herbs Shop’s operations and trained to strengthen his Soul Master abilities while researching intermediate academies. He discovered three living spores among the remains of the Iridescent Withering and Flourishing Fern and planned to seek more opportunities in the market district.

• Lin Yan praised Uncle Zhang and Brother Li, gave them bonuses, and assigned them responsibilities with a share of the shop’s monthly profits.
• Lin Yan spent several days consolidating his rank-fifteen Soul Power, improving Illusory Color Concealment while moving, and testing his Blue Silver Grass’s control abilities.
• Lin Yan consulted Grandmaster Ma Xiunuo and gathered rumors to shortlist the Suotuo, Filast, and Fasinuo Intermediate Soul Master Academies.
• Lin Yan found three iridescent spores inside the withered remains of the Iridescent Withering and Flourishing Fern and stored them in a jade box.
• Lin Yan decided to visit the market district the next day to learn more about academy admissions and possible opportunities to grow stronger.

Lin Yan searched Nuoding City's market district for information and followed his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul's faint resonance to a piece of withered wood. He discovered a dormant trace of life origin inside it and left the wood safely tucked against his body.

• Lin Yan visited the market district, listened to merchants and mercenaries at the Welcome Guests teahouse, and learned that Soto Academy had added a practical combat component to its entrance test.
• As Lin Yan passed an old man's stall, his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul stirred in response to a piece of withered wood.
• Lin Yan bought the wood along with a piece of black ironstone, disguising his interest in the wood.
• Back at the Hundred Herbs Shop, Lin Yan fed Soul Power into the wood until a faint golden glimmer revealed a nearly dormant trace of life origin.
• Lin Yan stopped his experiment to avoid extinguishing the wood's fragile vitality and secured it in a brocade pouch against his body.

Lin Yan’s careful nourishment strengthened the hidden Life Origin in the dead wood, while the Iridescent Withering and Flourishing Fern spores showed little change. After learning of a provincial auction, he planned to raise funds and continued cultivating and tending the dormant specimens.

• Lin Yan nourished the dead wood and three spores with Soul Power, and on the fifth day he saw a pale golden glow reappear in the wood as its Life Origin grew slightly stronger.
• Lin Yan observed only a barely perceptible brightening in the spores, recorded his findings, and limited how often he nourished the dead wood.
• Lin Yan visited Spirit Hall, where Ma Xiunuo told him about a Heaven Dou Auction House auction in the provincial capital a month later and offered a letter of recommendation.
• Lin Yan counted a little over twenty thousand Gold Soul Coins in available assets and decided to seek items that could help his stalled physical training while raising more money.
• Lin Yan returned to the Hundred Herbs Shop and resumed cultivating while nurturing the spores and Spirit-Nurturing Wood.

Lin Yan negotiated with Spirit Hall to license three medicinal formulas and secure funds for the upcoming auction. He agreed to a partnership that would expand the Hundred Herbs Shop brand, then returned to studying the dead wood and iridescent spores.

• Lin Yan prepared three proven medicinal formulas, samples, and a projected-returns report to seek funding from Spirit Hall.
• Lin Yan offered Ma Xiunuo the formulas' production and sales rights for a licensing fee and thirty percent of future net proceeds; Ma Xiunuo referred the proposal to the provincial main hall.
• Seven days later, Zhou Ming offered a one-time licensing payment of one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins and proposed making Lin Yan the second-largest shareholder in a Spirit Hall-backed Hundred Herbs Shop chain with a twenty-percent profit share.
• Lin Yan accepted the terms and signed a contract that included rights to inspect accounts and participate in decision-making.
• After Zhou Ming and Ma Xiunuo left, Lin Yan looked forward to the auction and returned to examining the dead wood and iridescent spores.

After nurturing the Iridescent Withering and Flourishing Fern spores and a piece of dead wood, Lin Yan witnessed them sprout and comprehended a new power he named Withering and Flourishing Intent. He realized it resembled a domain and began cultivating it through continued observation and nourishment.

• After seven days of nourishing the spores with Soul Power, Lin Yan watched all three Iridescent Withering and Flourishing Fern spores sprout.
• The dead wood responded to the seedlings’ vitality, glowed with golden light, and produced an emerald-green shoot.
• Lin Yan entered a two-hour state of enlightenment as the cycle of withering and flourishing resonated with his cultivation.
• Lin Yan consciously manifested a small Withering and Flourishing Intent field and tested how it could wither and revive a plant.
• Lin Yan compared his Intent to domains, noticed improvements to his Soul Power, and resolved to deepen his understanding of life’s cycles.
• Lin Yan nourished the dead wood and seedlings again, finding that their exchange of vitality strengthened his grasp of the Intent.

Lin Yan experimented with Withering and Flourishing Intent, discovering their effects and a brief balance that improved his Soul Power cultivation and recovery. After securing an auction invitation and choosing several lots to pursue, he left Nuoding City for Fasinuo City.

• Lin Yan tested Withering and Flourishing Intent on herbs and insects, finding that Withering caused decline while Flourishing encouraged growth and healing.
• Lin Yan briefly balanced both Intents around himself and noticed gains in Soul Power efficiency and recovery.
• Grandmaster Ma Xiunuo gave Lin Yan an invitation and partial catalog for the Fasinuo City auction, warning him to travel carefully.
• Lin Yan selected Soul-Warming Jade, Spirit-Clearing Spring, and Thousand-Year Blood Ginseng as auction targets and planned his bids.
• Lin Yan prepared his route, instructed the Hundred Herbs Shop's assistants, and set out by carriage for Fasinuo City.

Lin Yan arrived in Fasinuo City for the Heaven Dou auction and unexpectedly reunited with Lei En, Su Yun, Ji Qiu, and Ling Ren. After discussing their plans for advanced soul master academies, the group headed to the auction house, where they entered as the event began.

• Lin Yan reached Fasinuo City and checked into the Clear Spring Inn before exploring the crowded streets.
• Lin Yan reunited with Lei En, Su Yun, Ji Qiu, and Ling Ren, who had come to the city for the auction.
• At the Oak Barrel, Lei En thanked Lin Yan for his past help, and the group discussed their plans to attend advanced soul master academies.
• Lei En and Su Yun invited Lin Yan to join them at Spirit Hall Academy, but Lin Yan said he had his own plans and would decide later.
• Lin Yan and his four companions left the tavern, passed the invitation check, and entered the Fasinuo Auction House.