Recaps

Lu Cheng’s team faced Yu Linglong’s team in their tenth elimination-round match, with first place in their group at stake. After the opposing team exposed the lack of a frontline, Lu Cheng unleashed his three-legged firebird power and pinned Yu Linglong beneath his bow, aiming an arrow at his head.

• Ning Cong supported Lu Cheng and Xue Ling'er with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda as Xue Ling'er clashed with Yu Linglong.
• Yu Linglong broke through Xue Ling'er's defense and charged toward Lu Cheng and Ning Cong while Zhan Ling attacked from the flank.
• Lu Cheng pulled Ning Cong out of Zhan Ling's attack and fired arrows to fend off both opponents before confronting Yu Linglong.
• Lu Cheng summoned the phantom of a three-legged firebird, whose presence suppressed Yu Linglong and his Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul.
• Lu Cheng knocked Yu Linglong down, pinned him with his fire bow, and aimed a fiery arrow at his head.

Lu Cheng won the freshman assessment match and discovered that Ma Xiaotao seemed to recognize him from the simulator. The chapter ended with Ma Xiaotao embracing him and saying she would thank him properly.

• Sang Qi surrendered, and the referee declared Lu Cheng’s team the winner after Lu Cheng defeated Yu Linglong and overwhelmed the opposing team.
• Lu Cheng spotted Ma Xiaotao watching him from the stands and worried that she remembered their simulated past.
• Yu Linglong accepted his defeat, while Tang Ya and Jiang Nannan left the arena as the freshmen began to disperse.
• On the way to the cafeteria, Lu Cheng found Ma Xiaotao waiting beneath a tree and sent Ning Cong and Xue Ling’er ahead.
• Ma Xiaotao said Lu Cheng looked like an old acquaintance and thanked him for helping her martial soul undergo its Second Awakening.
• Ma Xiaotao embraced Lu Cheng from behind and told him she would thank him properly.

Ma Xiaotao confronted Lu Cheng about the love and life he had denied her, then asked him to promise not to leave her behind again. Lu Cheng agreed and resolved to grow stronger, while Ma Xiaotao ended the conversation by preparing whale rubber and a medicinal bath for him.

• Lu Cheng grilled black carp and fed it to Ma Xiaotao, who recalled how he had once cared for her while keeping her at a distance.
• Ma Xiaotao told Lu Cheng she had loved him since childhood and accused him of treating her feelings as something disposable.
• Ma Xiaotao recalled abandoning Shrek Academy to find Lu Cheng and resented that Zhang Lexuan had died beside him while she guarded their graves.
• Ma Xiaotao asked Lu Cheng not to scheme against her again and to take her with him if he was going to die; Lu Cheng promised he would.
• Lu Cheng resolved to become stronger, and Ma Xiaotao produced whale rubber and offered him a medicinal bath.

After Lu Cheng’s team won the freshman advancement tournament, Shrek Academy gave the champions rewards barely better than the runner-up’s, prompting Ning Cong to see the decision as deliberate disrespect. Lu Cheng accepted the rewards with a smile while privately losing faith in the academy, and stopped Ning Cong from openly protesting.

• Ning Cong questioned Lu Cheng about his exhaustion, and Lu Cheng claimed Ma Xiaotao had asked him to help with her cultivation.
• Lu Cheng’s team defeated every opponent and claimed first place in the freshman advancement tournament.
• Du Weilun announced the teams’ rewards, giving Lu Cheng’s team only three Coiling Dragon Fruits, two Sinking Immortal Herbs, core disciple status, and help obtaining a suitable Soul Ring.
• Ning Cong grew angry at the meager rewards, while Du Weilun defended them as part of Shrek Academy’s plan to temper its students.
• Lu Cheng thanked Du Weilun and accepted the rewards, privately deciding that Shrek Academy did not value him.
• Ning Cong asked why Lu Cheng had stopped him from protesting, insisting that the rewards were insulting.

After Shrek Academy refused to help Lu Cheng, he turned to Ning Cong and the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect to rescue Mother Jiang and provide Soul Bones. The chapter ended with Ma Xiaotao revealing that she had become a Soul Saint and obtained a Soul Bone from a hundred-thousand-year Golden Earth Dragon King.

• Lu Cheng concluded that Shrek Academy would not help rescue Mother Jiang and asked Ning Cong for assistance.
• Ning Cong rushed to the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect representative, and Ning Ye promised to bring Mother Jiang safely to Shrek City within three days.
• Ning Ye sent Lu Cheng a fire-attribute Soul Bone, and Ning Cong gave him a crimson left arm bone and gave Xue Ling'er a ten-thousand-year earth dragon Soul Bone.
• Lu Cheng visited Ma Xiaotao, who showed him a Soul Bone from a hundred-thousand-year Golden Earth Dragon King she had killed with an elder.
• Ma Xiaotao told Lu Cheng that she had advanced to Soul Saint.

Lu Cheng absorbed two Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones while Ma Xiaotao stood guard, and he broke through to rank thirty. He and Ma Xiaotao agreed she would travel with him, and Lu Cheng planned to head to the Star Dou Great Forest after they rescued his mother.

• Lu Cheng showed Ma Xiaotao the Soul Bone from the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect and explained that the academy's reward had been inadequate.
• Ma Xiaotao got angry at Yan Shaozhe and wanted to confront him, but Lu Cheng reminded her that he planned to leave Shrek Academy.
• Ma Xiaotao insisted on going with Lu Cheng, and he agreed before telling her about the plan to rescue his mother.
• Lu Cheng entered the bathing spring and absorbed Ning Cong's Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone as Ma Xiaotao kept watch.
• Lu Cheng absorbed Ma Xiaotao's Golden Earth Dragon King Soul Bone and reached rank thirty, with further cultivation waiting until he obtained his third Soul Ring.

After absorbing two Soul Bones, Lu Cheng tested his strengthened bow and traveled to Shrek City, where he reunited with his recovering mother and Jiang Nannan. Xu Jiangliu learned that his plan to use Jiang Nannan for his son's Martial Soul awakening had failed and ordered an investigation into Lu Cheng.

• Lu Cheng gained two Soul Bone Skills and tested his faster, longer-range Sun-Shooting Bow, which fired a light-flame arrow through a tree.
• Ma Xiaotao invited Lu Cheng to the Star Dou Great Forest in a few days to obtain his third Soul Ring, and he agreed.
• In Shrek City, Lu Cheng found Mother Jiang recovering under the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's care and thanked the elder who had rescued her.
• Jiang Nannan rushed to embrace Mother Jiang, and Lu Cheng began cultivating after his worries about home were resolved.
• In Black Tortoise City, Xu Jiangliu raged that Jiang Nannan had escaped and ordered an investigation into Lu Cheng, while postponing his son's awakening ceremony.

After reaching the peak of rank thirty-seven, Lu Cheng went with Ma Xiaotao to Sunset Forest to find the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and Jiaojiao. Jiaojiao recognized him from the simulation and, despite her resentment, ordered him to follow her.

• Lu Cheng absorbed an eight-thousand-year Scarlet Fire Spirit Rhinoceros Soul Ring, gained the Armor Piercing Soul Skill, and decided to seek Jiaojiao at Sunset Forest.
• Lu Cheng asked Ma Xiaotao to accompany him, and they traveled to Sunset Forest with a Level 7 Soul Tool to drive back the poisonous miasma.
• Ma Xiaotao fired ice-pearl shells while Lu Cheng searched from the air, and they found the secluded valley containing the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
• Youyou confronted the pair, but Jiaojiao emerged from the well and recognized Lu Cheng, showing anger and heartache over their shared memories.
• Jiaojiao dismissed Youyou and the others, then beckoned Lu Cheng to follow her.

Lu Cheng apologized to Jiaojiao, and she chose to become his Soul Spirit again and help him ascend to godhood. She and Ma Xiaotao clashed over him before Jiaojiao gave him an Immortal Herb to evolve his Blood Pupils Martial Soul, leaving his eyes changed.

• Lu Cheng admitted that he accepted the consequences of deceiving Jiaojiao, and she calmed down.
• Ma Xiaotao waited outside the cave, relieved when Lu Cheng emerged safely.
• Jiaojiao announced that she would follow Lu Cheng again as his Soul Spirit and entrust the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well to Youyou.
• Jiaojiao and Ma Xiaotao argued over Lu Cheng and were told to stay away while his Martial Soul awakened.
• Jiaojiao gave Lu Cheng Full Moon Wearing Autumn Dew, and after swallowing it, he saw red pupils emerge within his eyes.

After his Martial Soul’s Second Awakening, Lu Cheng named his blood-red double pupils and accepted Jiaojiao’s sacrifice at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Three months later, he emerged strengthened and ready to return to Shrek Academy, while Jiaojiao and Ma Xiaotao immediately resumed their feud.

• Lu Cheng discovered that his Second Awakening gave him true double pupils and Spiritual Power that could manifest, and he named the ability Double Pupils.
• Jiaojiao embraced Lu Cheng in her scorching Yang Spring and began sacrificing herself to become his Soul Spirit and provide him with a Soul Bone.
• After three months of dormancy, Lu Cheng emerged with a Golden Crow phantom behind him, his body tempered and his Soul Power at the peak of rank forty-four.
• Ma Xiaotao called Lu Cheng a monster, and he decided it was time to return to Shrek Academy.
• Jiaojiao manifested beside Lu Cheng and argued with Ma Xiaotao until he proposed they return to Shrek Academy.

After returning to Shrek Academy with a dramatically changed appearance, Lu Cheng reunited with Ning Cong and rushed to the second-year entrance assessment. He reached roll call in time, though his teacher struggled to recognize him, and the assessment was about to begin.

• Lu Cheng returned to the dormitory, where Ning Cong recognized him only after Lu Cheng explained that he had awakened a Second Martial Soul.
• Ning Cong told Lu Cheng that the academy had nearly expelled him for missing the start of the semester and teased him about traveling with Ma Xiaotao.
• Ning Cong reminded Lu Cheng that the second-year entrance assessment was starting, and Lu Cheng carried him at great speed to the Great Beast Dueling Arena.
• Lu Cheng arrived in time for roll call, but the teacher doubted his identity because his appearance had changed so much.
• Other students at the arena noticed Lu Cheng's striking looks as they gathered for the assessment.

Lu Cheng returned to Shrek Academy’s assessment and chose to face a ten-thousand-year soul beast, revealing his second-awakened Blood Pupils to Du Weilun. As a Blazing Fire Rhinoceros entered the arena, the students and teachers watched anxiously while Lu Cheng stood his ground.

• Xue Ling'er fought a five-hundred-year soul beast and earned 110 points in her assessment.
• Du Weilun discovered that Lu Cheng had undergone a second awakening of his Blood Pupils and asked what soul beast he wanted to face.
• Lu Cheng chose a ten-thousand-year soul beast, and Du Weilun ordered a Blazing Fire Rhinoceros brought into the arena.
• Yan Shaozhe considered using Xiaotao to bind Lu Cheng to Shrek Academy and warned himself to act if Lu Cheng proved disloyal.
• Yu Linglong and the other students watched as the enormous Blazing Fire Rhinoceros entered, while Lu Cheng remained unmoving before it.

Lu Cheng faced a ten-thousand-year Blazing Fire Rhinoceros in Shrek Academy’s beast dueling arena and revealed the overwhelming power of his Golden Crow abilities. After the battle displayed his Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring, Yan Shaozhe considered how to keep the eleven-year-old Soul Ancestor at the academy.

• The Blazing Fire Rhinoceros charged Lu Cheng, and Du Weilun ordered teachers to rescue him when he failed to dodge.
• Lu Cheng caught the rhinoceros’s hoof with one hand and then shot arrows into its eyes and throat.
• The enraged rhinoceros attacked with flames, but Lu Cheng used his Fourth Soul Skill, Feathers Turned into Arrows, to unleash a rain of Golden Crow feathers.
• The students and Yan Shaozhe saw Lu Cheng’s Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring and the Golden Crow’s true form.
• Yan Shaozhe decided to keep Lu Cheng settled at Shrek Academy before considering how to develop his potential.

Lu Cheng defeated a Ten-Thousand-Year Blazing Fire Rhinoceros during his Shrek Academy assessment, earning full marks and drawing the attention of the academy’s leaders and students. Meanwhile, Zhang Lexuan searched the Sun Moon Empire for her brother’s killer and Lu Cheng, until a message from Xiaotao told her to return because Lu Cheng had been found.

• The judges gave Lu Cheng full marks, and Yan Shaozhe tried to reassure him that the academy had intended to temper him.
• Gong Changlong confronted Yan Shaozhe over the damage to his arena, then learned Lu Cheng had killed the Blazing Fire Rhinoceros.
• Ning Cong and the Shrek students crowded around Lu Cheng, while Yu Linglong realized Lu Cheng had never considered him a rival.
• Lu Cheng resolved to raise his strength before the next year’s new students arrived and to wait for Zhang Lexuan before deciding his next move.
• Zhang Lexuan searched her memories and concluded that Mu En might have been involved in her family’s slaughter, then vowed to uncover the truth and find her brother.
• Zhang Lexuan received Xiaotao’s message saying Lu Cheng had been found and that she should return at once.

Zhang Lexuan learned that Lu Cheng might be at Shrek Academy and set off to find him, while Xu Sanshi and the Black Tortoise Sect tried to force Jiang Nannan to honor a marriage contract. As Xu Jing moved to seize Jiang Nannan, a fiery arrow tore through the sky toward them.

• Zhang Lexuan used the second Martial Soul Lu Cheng had given her and flew toward Shrek Academy after learning he might be there.
• Xu Sanshi arrived at Jiang Nannan’s home with steward Chen Nian and learned that his father had arranged their betrothal.
• Jiang Nannan rejected Xu Sanshi and the marriage contract, while Chen Nian threatened to enforce it on behalf of the Black Tortoise Sect.
• Xu Jing defeated Jiang Nannan’s protectors and injured her, but she refused to go with him even when he threatened to take her by force.
• As Xu Jing struck at Jiang Nannan’s neck, a powerful fiery-red arrow shot toward them.

Lu Cheng rescued Jiang Nannan from Xu Jing and the Black Tortoise Sect, then called on Ma Xiaotao to fight them. As Ma Xiaotao attacked Xu Jing, Lu Cheng comforted Jiang Nannan, who struggled with her feelings as she clung to him.

• Lu Cheng shot down the dagger at Jiang Nannan’s throat and forced Xu Jing to block a second arrow with his Xuanming Armor.
• Lu Cheng appeared, carried the exhausted Jiang Nannan in his arms, and told her he would handle the Black Tortoise Sect.
• Xu Jing demanded to know Lu Cheng’s master, and Lu Cheng answered with Ma Xiaotao’s name.
• Ma Xiaotao arrived as a Soul Saint with a hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring and trapped Xu Jing and his companions in a cage of divine fire.
• Ma Xiaotao used Divine Phoenix Avatar to attack Xu Jing, while Lu Cheng shielded Jiang Nannan from the shock wave.
• Jiang Nannan clung to Lu Cheng and blushed, insisting she was holding on because it was easier, while he told her he was not tired.

Ma Xiaotao killed Xu Jing after he threatened Shrek Academy, while Lu Cheng and Jiang Nannan returned to their family meal. Zhang Lexuan arrived at the courtyard and calmly joined them, leaving Lu Cheng frozen in the doorway.

• Ma Xiaotao overpowered Xu Jing, killed him with a Divine Phoenix Cloud-Piercing Strike, and burned his body to ash.
• Ma Xiaotao spared Xu Sanshi because he was a Shrek Academy student, then left after finding Lu Cheng carrying Jiang Nannan.
• Jiang Nannan returned to the courtyard with Lu Cheng, and he told her he had brought her a present from Heaven Dou City.
• Ning Ye came to apologize for the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect's failure to protect Lu Cheng and announced a trade boycott of the Black Tortoise Sect.
• Zhang Lexuan arrived at the courtyard, revealed herself to Lu Cheng, and joined the family meal while he stood stunned at the door.

Lu Cheng tried to navigate a tense meal as Zhang Lexuan teased him and Jiang Nannan defended him, while both women competed for his attention. The meal ended with Zhang Lexuan moved by the jade hairpin he had brought her, and Lu Cheng carefully pinned it into her hair.

• Zhang Lexuan teased Lu Cheng by calling him her big brother and hinting at how much he had done for her, leaving him uneasy.
• Jiang Nannan sat beside Lu Cheng and confronted Zhang Lexuan, insisting she stop tormenting him.
• Lu Cheng reassured Jiang Nannan that Zhang Lexuan was only joking, but Jiang Nannan stayed close and fed him herself.
• Lu Cheng gave Mother Jiang jade plaques and fastened a pink-rabbit bracelet onto Jiang Nannan's wrist at her request.
• Zhang Lexuan asked whether Lu Cheng had brought her a present, and he gave her a jade hairpin with a wind chime.
• Lu Cheng pinned the hairpin into Zhang Lexuan's hair, and she gazed at him with reddening eyes and growing affection.

Zhang Lexuan confronted Lu Cheng about his past deceptions and feared he would abandon her again, but accepted his confession and warned him not to lie to her. Six months later, Lu Cheng prepared to seek his fifth Soul Ring and pursue Huo Yuhao’s power sources, while Zhang Lexuan left to investigate her clan’s massacre and take revenge on Mu En.

• Zhang Lexuan told Lu Cheng she was happy he had come to Shrek Academy but threatened to cripple him and keep him with her if he tried to leave.
• Lu Cheng admitted he had hidden the truth and made decisions for Zhang Lexuan, and she forgave him while warning him not to lie again.
• Six months later, Zhang Lexuan teased Lu Cheng about his strengthened body as he planned to travel to the Star Dou Great Forest for his fifth Soul Ring.
• Lu Cheng planned to find Huo Yuhao, Electrolux, and Tian Meng as the main storyline approached.
• Zhang Lexuan said she would investigate the Zhang Clan massacre and kill Mu En, then left with Xiaotao accompanying Lu Cheng.

Ning Tian and her companions withdrew from Star Dou Great Forest’s core after a costly encounter with Burrowing Spirit Armors, and she decided to travel directly to Shrek Academy. As the camp settled for the night, an unseen attacker dragged an attendant underground.

• Ning Tian recalled how her party had pursued a rare Holy Spirit Salamander into the core region before hundreds of Burrowing Spirit Armors forced them to retreat.
• Ning Tian told Wu Feng that she had begun to admire her intended future husband, and the two discussed the marriage alliance and a possible name for their future son.
• Ning Tian learned that White Embankment City was about a day away and ordered Elder Ling to take the group directly to Shrek Academy instead of returning to the sect headquarters.
• A pitch-black figure erupted from the earth, seized an attendant, and dragged him underground, prompting someone to shout for everyone to get ready.

A Burrowing Spirit Armor pack ambushed Ning Tian’s group during their retreat from the Star Dou Great Forest, leaving Wu Feng and Ning Tian isolated as a Ten-Thousand-Year beast attacked. Wu Feng charged to protect Ning Tian, but a mysterious crimson beam killed the beast, leaving Wu Feng to wonder whether she had done it.

• Elder Ling led the group away from their camp after Burrowing Spirit Armor attacked, and Ning Tian promised compensation to the families of fallen attendants.
• The group endured a night of attacks, then three enormous Burrowing Spirit Armor ambushed them at dawn and scattered their formation.
• A massive beast cornered Ning Tian and Wu Feng after the Horned Qilin Horse threw them off, while Ling Nan and the other elites were unable to help.
• Ning Tian shielded Wu Feng from the beast, then used her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda to strengthen Wu Feng as she prepared to fight.
• Wu Feng attacked the beast’s eye, but a crimson pillar of light pierced its head and killed it, leaving her staring at her claws and asking whether she had slain it.

An unseen expert intervened in the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect’s fight with the Burrowing Spirit Armors, then Lu Cheng rescued Ning Tian from the thirty-thousand-year beast. After Lu Cheng teased Wu Feng, Ning Tian reacted with surprise at his words.

• Elder Ling thanked the distant expert who had killed a Ten-Thousand-Year Burrowing Spirit Armor, but received no response.
• The thirty-thousand-year Burrowing Spirit Armor King split into three and charged Ning Tian, while Elder Ling’s spear wounded it without stopping its attack.
• Crimson arrows struck the beast, and Lu Cheng carried Ning Tian out of its path while kicking Wu Feng away.
• Lu Cheng brought Ning Tian to safety in a tree, and Wu Feng landed nearby, complaining that she was not fine.
• Lu Cheng called Wu Feng silly and easy to bully, leaving Ning Tian staring at him in surprise.

Lu Cheng rescued Ning Tian and Wu Feng, then escorted them toward Shrek Academy while searching for Tang Ya and Bei Bei. He found Tang Ya alone in the Star Dou Great Forest and decided to follow her.

• Lu Cheng discussed his new Nether King Snake Soul Ring with Elder Ling after the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect party escaped the Burrowing Spirit Armors.
• Ling Nan recognized Lu Cheng from Ning Cong's description, and Ning Tian realized that her rescuer was the person she had admired from afar.
• Huo Yuhao left the Duke's Mansion, took his mother's surname, and vowed to avenge her before heading toward the Star Dou Great Forest.
• Lu Cheng carried Ning Tian through the forest while Wu Feng followed, and he searched for Tang Ya and Bei Bei with his Blood Pupils.
• Lu Cheng found Tang Ya by herself and decided to follow her, wondering where Bei Bei had gone.

Tang Ya ventured into the Star Dou Great Forest and met Huo Yuhao, who was about to absorb a Wind Baboon’s Soul Ring when the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm appeared. Tian Meng abandoned Huo Yuhao for Lu Cheng, whose Sea of Consciousness also drew in Electrolux, and asked Lu Cheng to help Huo Yuhao obtain a suitable Soul Ring.

• Tang Ya entered the Star Dou Great Forest alone and found Huo Yuhao cooking fish, then invited him to join the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy.
• Huo Yuhao tried to absorb the Wind Baboon’s white Soul Ring, but the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm emerged and offered to help him become a god.
• Tian Meng judged Huo Yuhao’s aptitude too poor and left, while the gust from his departure destroyed Huo Yuhao’s Soul Ring.
• Tian Meng found Lu Cheng, fused with him, and marveled at his aptitude, physical strength, and awakened mental-type Martial Soul.
• Electrolux entered Lu Cheng’s Sea of Consciousness, and Tian Meng asked Lu Cheng to help Huo Yuhao find a suitable Soul Ring.

Lu Cheng used his new spiritual abilities to question Wu Feng about her feelings for Ning Tian and convinced her that she might be mistaking friendship for love. Elsewhere, Tang Ya was nearly killed by a powerful Mandala Snake but was caught by Lu Cheng, who had defeated it.

• Lu Cheng used Spiritual Detection to survey the area, while Wu Feng woke and learned that Ning Tian was safe after a spiritual attack.
• Lu Cheng teased Wu Feng about liking Ning Tian, and she admitted wanting to stay with her before he suggested their bond was friendship rather than romantic love.
• Tang Ya fought a nine-hundred-year Mandala Snake, but a second, much larger snake struck her and left her badly injured.
• As Tang Ya fell toward the larger snake's jaws, she recalled her family's deaths and her failing efforts to revive the Tang Sect.
• Lu Cheng caught Tang Ya and left her staring in astonishment at the defeated Mandala Snake and the handsome boy holding her.