Chapter Summaries

Ye Chen arranged for Xin Yue’s cultivation and protection before preparing to enter the Pill Tower’s Secret Realm. After Xuan Kongzi revealed that Ye Chen might someday subdue the Three Thousand Blazing Flames, Ye Chen learned he would enter the Secret Realm alongside Cao Ying.

• Ye Chen gave Ye Zhong a pill for Xin Yue and arranged for Hu Tian and the Three Yao Brothers to guard her when she went to Jia Nan Academy.
• Ye Chen gave Ye Zhong antidote and Dou Spirit Pills for the Three Yao Brothers and explained that he would enter prolonged seclusion.
• Xuan Kongzi told Ye Chen that the Pill Tower had handled the Three Thousand Blazing Flames and explained that the flame had grown stronger while sealed.
• Xuan Kongzi said Ye Chen’s affinity for star power gave him the best chance of subduing the Three Thousand Blazing Flames if he became strong enough.
• Xuan Kongzi told Ye Chen that he and Cao Ying would enter the Secret Realm together the next day.

Ye Chen and Cao Ying followed Xuan Kongzi through an ancient altar and a small space in the void to the entrance of the Secret Realm. There, they met the Small Pill Tower’s Third Elder and learned that the place they were about to enter was called Soul Domain.

• Ye Chen and Cao Ying waited for Xuan Kongzi, then followed him to the top of the Giant Tower.
• Xuan Kongzi activated the altar and used Soul Power and Space Power to transport them away.
• Ye Chen and Cao Ying arrived in a small space in the void, where Xuan Kongzi told them the Secret Realm entrance lay ahead.
• Xuan Kongzi introduced Ye Chen and Cao Ying to the Third Elder, who guarded the entrance.
• The Third Elder asked if they were the candidates entering Soul Domain, and Ye Chen recognized the Secret Realm’s name.

Ye Chen entered the Soul Domain and discovered that it contained no Heaven and Earth Energy, but let him wield his Soul Power freely. After defeating a strange Soul Body and absorbing its Soul Crystal, he learned that secluded cultivation here meant hunting Soul Bodies to strengthen his soul.

• Ye Chen and Cao Ying sat on the lake as a voice guided them into the Soul Domain, but Ye Chen arrived alone.
• Ye Chen explored the gray, lifeless domain and found that he could not sense Heaven and Earth Energy, while his Soul Power felt unusually clear and easy to control.
• Ye Chen dispersed dense gray mist with his Soul Power, revealing a half-human, half-beast Soul Body that attacked him.
• Ye Chen struck the Soul Body apart and caught the Soul Crystal it left behind.
• Ye Chen absorbed the Soul Crystal and realized that killing Soul Bodies in the Soul Domain strengthened his soul.

Ye Chen treated the Soul Domain as a place to hunt Soul Bodies and improve his soul, moving from its weak outskirts toward stronger territory. After finding that stronger Soul Bodies yielded more noticeable gains, he continued deeper while planning to refine his Soul Handprint.

• Ye Chen gathered a dozen Soul Bodies and destroyed them with Soul Profound Seal Palm, collecting twelve Soul Crystals.
• Ye Chen absorbed the crystals and saw small increases in his Spirit and Soul Control attributes.
• Ye Chen decided to venture beyond the outskirts to find stronger prey and practice the other forms of Soul Handprint.
• Ye Chen encountered increasingly powerful, humanlike Soul Bodies, defeated some through strategy, and absorbed crystals that made his Soul Power noticeably stronger.
• Ye Chen concluded that his large Soul Value base made further increases increasingly difficult and continued deeper into the Soul Domain.

Ye Chen reached a light barrier in the Soul Domain and wondered whether he had reached its end, only to be approached by an ancient Pill Pagoda expert. After Ye Chen knelt to pay his respects, the old man promised him a soul skill and passed its information into his consciousness.

• Ye Chen traveled through the Soul Domain, killed many Soul Bodies, and raised his Soul Value above fifteen hundred, where Soul Crystals no longer helped him improve.
• Ye Chen reached a light curtain and wondered whether the Soul Domain had ended, but a mysterious voice rebuked him for underestimating the Pill Pagoda's inheritance.
• Ye Chen attacked the unseen speaker with a Soul Profound Handprint, and the expert recognized the technique and identified Xuan Kongzi as Ye Chen's teacher.
• Ye Chen introduced himself as Xuan Kongzi's direct disciple and greeted the white-robed old man, who confirmed he was an ancestor of the Pill Pagoda.
• Ye Chen knelt to pay respects, and the old man praised his cleverness before tapping his forehead and imparting a soul skill.

Ye Chen learned the Soul Arrow skill from the old ancestor and heard about the dangers and opportunities beyond the Border Region. The old ancestor revealed that the Soul Domain contained three areas besides the Border Region, leaving Ye Chen wondering whether the hidden Central Region held Emperor Realm souls.

• The old ancestor taught Ye Chen Soul Arrow and explained its three realms, while Ye Chen thanked him for passing down the skill.
• The old ancestor explained that the Border Region was a safe training area and that Ye Chen’s powerful Soul Power let him advance sooner than most entrants.
• The old ancestor told Ye Chen that the Outer Domain held soul bodies with Spirit Realm Souls and powerful soul attacks, whose Soul Crystals could help him reach the Spirit Realm.
• Ye Chen agreed to enter the Outer Domain, and the old ancestor warned that the soul bodies were incomplete fragments that could be killed if he found an opening.
• The old ancestor revealed that the Soul Domain’s three areas did not include the Border Region, prompting Ye Chen to suspect a Central Region with Emperor Realm souls.

Ye Chen entered the Soul Domain’s Outer Domain and learned that absorbing its Spiritual Energy could make him lose his illusory state, so he set out to strengthen his Soul Realm by fighting Soul Bodies. He encountered a heavily armored Spirit Realm Soul Body and began testing its defenses.

• The old man warned Ye Chen that the Soul Domain could corrode Soul Bodies and that he had to leave if his illusory feeling began to disappear.
• Ye Chen entered the Outer Domain, absorbed its dense Spiritual Energy, and quickly expelled it after realizing it made the surroundings feel increasingly real.
• Ye Chen wondered why Xuan Kongzi and Xuan Yi had not explained the Soul Domain’s dangers, then cautiously moved through the Outer Domain.
• Ye Chen spotted a heavily armored Soul Body with a Mountain-Splitting Axe on a barren mountain, and the Soul Body attacked him.
• Ye Chen dodged the axe strike and hit the Soul Body with Soul Profound Seal Palm, but its black armor blocked the damage.
• Ye Chen wondered whether soul arrows could penetrate the armor.

Ye Chen defeated a powerful Soul Body by keeping his distance and wearing it down with Soul Arrows, then absorbed the Spiritual Energy in the Soul Crystal it left behind. He learned that accumulating this energy in the Soul Domain could eventually bring his soul into the Spirit Realm and make him an Eighth Grade Alchemist Master.

• Ye Chen dodged the Soul Body’s axe and pierced its black armor with a Soul Arrow.
• Ye Chen kept the Soul Body at a distance and attacked it for most of the day, despite its strong recovery.
• Ye Chen finally destroyed the Soul Body, which collapsed into Soul Power and left behind a Soul Crystal.
• Ye Chen absorbed the Soul Crystal’s Spiritual Energy and realized that accumulating it could eventually advance his soul to the Spirit Realm.

Cao Ying battled a group of cultivators in the Soul Domain while an unseen old man watched her and Ye Chen through a mirror. Meanwhile, news spread that the Black Fire Sect Master would visit the Ye Family, whose standing had risen sharply, and the chapter left the visit three days away.

• Cao Ying used her Avatars and Soul Thorns to fight the old man and his companions at the edge of the Soul Domain.
• An old man watched both Cao Ying and Ye Chen from beneath a Mirror Surface in the sky.
• Shopkeeper Yuan and Shopkeeper Fang discussed the Black Fire Sect Master’s planned visit to Elder Ye Zhong to request a Seventh Grade Peak pill.
• People across Ye City spread news of the visit and speculated that the Black Fire Sect was offering gifts to make peace with the Ye Family.
• The Ye Family’s prestige continued to rise because of Ye Chen’s achievements and Heaven Frost Child’s recent visit.

Lin Qingyue’s connection to Heaven Frost Child helped the Ye Family gain a powerful ally and prompted the Black Fire Sect to submit. Meanwhile, Song Chun’er and the other women waited in Ye Chen’s courtyard until Ye Xinyue returned from Jia Nan Academy, having risen to the peak of Nine Star Da Dou Shi.

• Lin Qingyue arranged Heaven Frost Child’s visit through her daughter, strengthening his ties with the Ye Family and helping them overcome their lack of a Dou Zun ally.
• The Black Fire Sect Master submitted to the Ye Family because Heaven Frost Child’s presence made resistance too dangerous.
• Song Chun’er, Xiao Yi Xian, and Queen Medusa waited in Ye Chen’s courtyard while Qing Lin and her mother cultivated.
• Ye Xinyue returned from Jia Nan Academy during the academy break and reunited with Song Chun’er.
• Ye Xinyue revealed that she had entered the Inner Academy, reached the peak of Nine Star Da Dou Shi, and planned to use clan resources to break through before returning to school.

While Ye Chen remained unaware of events in the outside world, Nalan Yanran sought Yun Yun’s support to break off her engagement to Xiao Yan, setting the story’s main conflict in motion. In the Soul Domain, Cao Ying entered the Outer Domain and fled from a Spirit Realm Soul Body that could counter her illusions.

• Ye Chen continued hunting prey in the Soul Domain, unaware that the outside world had reached a turning point.
• In Wutan City, Xiao Yan endured the aftermath of three years of lost cultivation while the event that would change his life drew near.
• Nalan Yanran asked Yun Yun to support her request to break off her engagement, and Yun Yun agreed.
• Cao Ying crossed into the Outer Domain of the Soul Domain and was attacked by a Spirit Realm Soul Body that saw through her illusions and shattered her Soul Avatars.
• Cao Ying fled from her pursuer and vowed to trap him in his greatest fear if she found an opening.

Cao Ying fought her pursuer with her Soul Illusion Technique and a powerful sword attack, but he overpowered her and trapped her with a crystalline claw. Ye Chen intervened and pulled her into the gray mist as they fled together.

• Cao Ying created 108 avatars and attacked her pursuer, but he effortlessly dodged them.
• Cao Ying merged her phantoms into a powerful sword strike, which the pursuer shattered with a punch, though the attack briefly disoriented him.
• The pursuer formed a crystalline Soul Power claw and froze Cao Ying in place as it grabbed for her.
• Ye Chen struck the claw with a Soul Handprint, seized Cao Ying's hand, and told her to go.
• Ye Chen and Cao Ying fled into the gray mist, and Cao Ying thanked him while he gave no reply.

Ye Chen and Cao Ying stopped fleeing when the pursuing Spirit Realm Soul Body tracked Ye Chen’s Spiritual Energy. They joined forces against it, and Ye Chen launched a powerful Soul Handprint as the chapter ended.

• Ye Chen realized the pursuer had locked onto him through his Spiritual Energy and sent Cao Ying ahead while he prepared to fight.
• Cao Ying insisted on helping, and Ye Chen asked her to hold the enemy off for ten breaths while he prepared an attack.
• The pursuer emerged from the Gray Mist, scattered Ye Chen’s Soul Handprints, and attacked him with Crystal Giant Hands.
• Ye Chen drew the enemy’s attention while Cao Ying struck with her swords, forcing the pursuer to raise a Soul Defense Barrier.
• Ye Chen formed a strange hand seal and released a massive palm imprint accompanied by a tiger’s roar.

Ye Chen defeated the pursuer with powerful soul techniques and explained to Cao Ying how Spiritual Energy strengthened soul attacks. Their conflicting estimates of how long they had spent in the Soul Domain left them uncertain about its nature, and they went to rest together.

• Cao Ying's soul sword restrained the pursuer long enough for Ye Chen to break his defenses and destroy him with Soul Arrow, Ten Thousand Arrows Volley.
• Ye Chen collected the pursuer's Soul Crystal, then told Cao Ying that Spiritual Energy greatly increased the strength of soul techniques.
• Ye Chen said he was close to reaching the Spirit Realm and reassured Cao Ying that her progress would eventually take her there too.
• Cao Ying said she had spent more than three years raising her Soul Power, while Ye Chen believed only a few months had passed, leaving both confused about time in the Soul Domain.
• Ye Chen invited Cao Ying to rest and share her experiences, and she followed him despite insisting she could manage without his help.

Ye Chen absorbed a Soul Crystal and broke through to the Spirit Realm after a ten-day transformation. Cao Ying asked what had changed, and Ye Chen introduced his new ability, the Eye of Deception Piercing, which could see through illusions.

• Ye Chen and Cao Ying recovered from battle, and Ye Chen absorbed a Soul Crystal while Cao Ying resisted the corrosive Spiritual Energy around them.
• The Spiritual Energy triggered a transformation in Ye Chen, causing turmoil around the mountain as he began to develop a more substantial, living presence.
• Nearly ten days later, Ye Chen completed his transformation and released a vast wave of Soul Power that showed he had reached the Spirit Realm.
• Cao Ying asked Ye Chen about his breakthrough and its effects, and he told her he had gained the Eye of Deception Piercing, which could see through false illusions.

Ye Chen and Cao Ying hunted Soul Crystals in the soul space, where Ye Chen reached the Spirit Realm and Cao Ying began transforming her soul. Ye Chen emerged into the outside world, and the Small Pill Tower's Third Elder recognized his breakthrough and immense potential.

• Cao Ying congratulated Ye Chen on gaining the Eye of Deception Piercing while hiding her frustration.
• Ye Chen and Cao Ying hunted soul bodies together, collecting Soul Crystals as Cao Ying absorbed Spiritual Energy and began transforming her soul.
• Ye Chen assessed his greatly increased Soul Power and Soul Control, then decided to leave the soul space because it no longer offered him much progress.
• Ye Chen's soul broke through to the Spirit Realm, sending a powerful shockwave through the small space.
• The Small Pill Tower's Third Elder shielded Cao Ying from the shockwave and praised Xuan Kongzi for taking in such an extraordinary disciple.

Ye Chen reunited his soul with his body after entering the Spirit Realm in the Soul Domain and learned that three years had passed in the outside world. The Third Elder explained that time in the Soul Domain was irregular and unlike anything recorded in ordinary experience, but Ye Chen remained troubled by the mystery.

• Ye Chen's soul returned to his body, and he struggled briefly to control the Soul Power that erupted from him.
• After adapting, Ye Chen freely shaped his Soul Power and tried his soul techniques while the Third Elder watched.
• The Third Elder told Ye Chen that reaching the Spirit Realm inside the Soul Domain was unusual, since most people only awakened their souls there and advanced later.
• Ye Chen learned that three years had passed outside, despite his own experience of about nine months and Cao Ying's experience of over four years.
• The Third Elder described the Soul Domain as a place between illusion and reality where ordinary knowledge, including the passage of time, did not apply, but Ye Chen remained unconvinced.

Xiao Yan began learning alchemy from Yao Lao, who introduced him to Heavenly Flames before refining Qi Gathering Powder to help him advance to Dou Zhe again. Meanwhile, Jia Nan Academy’s Inner Academy gathered for the start of its Strong Ranking Tournament.

• Xiao Yan prepared Medicinal Materials in his room and asked Yao Lao to begin teaching him medicine refining.
• Yao Lao summoned the Bone Spirit Cold Flame and explained how alchemists borrowed Heavenly Flames to strengthen their flames and pills.
• Yao Lao taught Xiao Yan about the Bone Spirit Cold Flame and the Heavenly Flame Ranking, then began refining Qi Gathering Powder for him.
• The Jia Nan Academy Inner Academy held its Strong Ranking Tournament, drawing a vast crowd to the central square.

Ye Xinyue and Han Yue led Star Pavilion at the Inner Academy grand competition, where Han Yue learned that Xinyue had advanced beyond her own Dou Ling cultivation. Xinyue remained confident about the competition and privately thought of her brother Ye Chen as the true monster.

• Ye Xinyue used her strength and Profound Spirit Sword to establish Star Pavilion with Han Yue as her deputy.
• Ye Xinyue and Han Yue arrived at the crowded competition square with Star Pavilion’s members, and the students made way for them.
• Han Yue said that reaching the top fifty would raise Star Pavilion’s status and improve its access to academy resources.
• Ye Xinyue confidently told Han Yue not to underestimate her, prompting Han Yue to suspect that she had advanced again.
• Ye Xinyue confirmed her breakthrough, and Han Yue realized that she had fallen two stars behind her.
• Ye Xinyue privately thought that Han Yue would understand what a real monster was once she met Ye Chen.

Ye Xinyue prepared to challenge for the Strong Ranking and recalled how she had met Zi Yan, the mysterious first-place holder, in the mountains outside Jia Nan Academy. The chapter left Xinyue stunned after Zi Yan bit through an Adamantine Fruit with her teeth.

• Ye Xinyue aimed for a top-ten finish in the Strong Ranking Tournament and secretly hoped to claim second place, while Zi Yan held the untouchable first spot.
• A month earlier, Xinyue discovered Zi Yan beating a Fifth-Order Serrated Elephant and taking the Adamantine Fruit it had guarded.
• Xinyue followed Zi Yan, but Zi Yan noticed her and warned her not to follow or she would be beaten.
• Zi Yan bit into the exceptionally hard Adamantine Fruit, leaving Xinyue speechless.