Chapter Summaries

Lin Chen connected the Nether Blood Moon Clan’s curse to the Blood Moon Devil Lotus and Moon-Eroding Nether Poison, but he could not determine the clan’s location or what opportunity Dugu Bo had in mind. After learning Shrek Academy had arrived in Heaven Dou City, Lin Chen stayed focused on the clues and anticipated his master’s return.

• Lin Chen explained to Xiao Wu that Moon-Eroding Nether Poison had fused with the Nether Blood Moon Clan’s bloodline, causing full-moon frenzies and a backlash from sunlight.
• Lin Chen wondered whether Dugu Bo wanted him to obtain the Blood Moon Devil Lotus or cure the clan, and he could not find the clan’s secluded location in the records.
• Qin Ming told the Imperial Fighting Team that Shrek Academy had settled in Heaven Dou City under Flender, Liu Erlong, and Grandmaster Yu after changing Blue Tyrant Academy’s name.
• Yu Tianheng and Dugu Yan dismissed Shrek’s chances, while Qin Ming warned that its talented students could become formidable if they reached the main tournament.
• Lin Chen reviewed his notes on the lotus, poison, and clan, then wondered whether the Nether Blood Pool lay in the Star Dou Great Forest and expected Dugu Bo to arrive soon.

Lin Chen and Xiao Wu traveled to Iron Hammer Valley to propose a partnership with the Strength Clan to manufacture Hidden Weapons. At the valley entrance, Tai Nuo stopped beating Tai Long after learning that the visitors were the famous Lin Chen and Xiao Wu.

• Lin Chen prepared drawings and materials for three Hidden Weapons and planned to test a manufacturing partnership with the Strength Clan.
• Lin Chen and Xiao Wu arrived at Iron Hammer Valley, where Tai Nuo chased and beat Tai Long for losing a close fight to Tang San.
• Tai Long recognized Lin Chen and Xiao Wu as the Imperial Fighting Team's Chen Wu Duo and told Tai Nuo about Lin Chen's fame.
• Tai Nuo dropped his hammer and approached Lin Chen with unusual courtesy, asking whether he was the Heaven Dou Royal Academy Soul Ancestor.

Lin Chen visited the Strength Clan with Xiao Wu and arranged for Tai Nuo’s clan to forge and sell his Hidden Weapons. The partnership was agreed upon, and Tai Long ended the visit by asking about Lin Chen’s mysterious Fourth Soul Skill.

• Lin Chen introduced himself and Xiao Wu to Tai Nuo and explained that he wanted to discuss a partnership.
• Tai Nuo welcomed Lin Chen and Xiao Wu into the Strength Clan’s busy blacksmithing valley.
• Lin Chen showed Tai Nuo blueprints for several Hidden Weapons and proposed supplying materials in exchange for thirty percent of the finished products.
• Tai Nuo accepted the deal and planned to make sample Hidden Weapons before beginning mass production.
• After the meal, Tai Long asked Lin Chen what his Fourth Soul Skill was.

Lin Chen sparred with Tai Long and defeated him through precise technique and overwhelming strength. He then let Tai Nuo test his Chaos Prison Suppression, which slowed and oppressed the Soul King as he tried to break free.

• Tai Long challenged Lin Chen to a hand-to-hand spar, and Lin Chen accepted.
• Lin Chen evaded Tai Long's attacks and redirected his force with Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon until Tai Long admitted defeat.
• Tai Nuo asked to experience Lin Chen's Chaos Prison Suppression, and Lin Chen spread the domain over half the courtyard.
• Tai Nuo entered the domain, felt his strength, speed, Soul Power circulation, and defenses suppressed, then unleashed his power to break against it.
• Tai Nuo's attack made the domain shake and sent ripples through its gray-black glow.

Lin Chen demonstrated his Domain Soul Skill to Tai Nuo, then taught him the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer and showed how it could improve the Strength Clan’s forging. Tai Nuo rewarded Lin Chen with a better share of their cooperation, and Lin Chen left with Xiao Wu after arranging for prototypes to be delivered to the academy.

• Tai Nuo broke free of Lin Chen’s domain and praised the power of Lin Chen’s Control System ability.
• Tai Nuo asked whether Lin Chen’s method of redirecting force could help the Strength Clan’s forging, and Lin Chen introduced the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer.
• Lin Chen forged a billet of refined iron with eighty-one consecutive strikes, impressing Tai Nuo, Tai Long, and the watching blacksmiths.
• Xiao Wu wiped Lin Chen’s sweat as Tai Nuo examined the smooth, dense iron plate and realized the technique could greatly improve the clan’s work.
• Tai Nuo offered Lin Chen sixty percent of their cooperation’s profits, and Lin Chen agreed to provide written instructions while Tai Nuo promised prototypes within three days.
• Lin Chen left with Xiao Wu, and Tai Long asked to learn from him while Tai Nuo praised the connection with Lin Chen as a blessing for the Strength Clan.

Lin Chen warned Tai Nuo against confronting Tang San at Shrek Academy, explaining the risks posed by the academy’s Soul Saints, Tang San’s hidden weapons, and the lack of honor in beating a younger opponent. Tai Nuo hesitated over whether to let the matter go after hearing the case against seeking revenge.

• Tai Nuo ordered the Strength Clan to begin training in the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer, while Lin Chen and Xiao Wu went clothes shopping in Heaven Dou City the next morning.
• Lin Chen gave Tai Nuo written instructions for the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer and learned that Tai Nuo planned to confront Tang San on Tai Long’s behalf.
• Lin Chen warned Tai Nuo that Shrek Academy’s powerful Soul Saints could intervene and that Tang San’s poisoned hidden weapons made him dangerous.
• Lin Chen argued that even a victory over the much younger Tang San would damage Tai Nuo’s reputation, leaving Tai Nuo unsure whether to abandon his plan.

Lin Chen agreed to become Tai Long’s sworn brother and go to Shrek Academy to challenge Tang San on Tai Long’s behalf. At the academy, the group found Ma Hongjun harassing Jiang Zhu, and Lin Chen stopped Tai Nuo from intervening while Tai Long confronted Ma Hongjun.

• Lin Chen offered to spar with Tang San as Tai Long’s sworn brother, and Tai Long eagerly accepted the bond.
• Lin Chen, Xiao Wu, Tai Long, and Tai Nuo traveled to Shrek Academy to settle the score with Tang San.
• Ma Hongjun tried to force Jiang Zhu to accept his flowers and held her wrist when she refused.
• Tai Long yanked Ma Hongjun away from Jiang Zhu and warned him to stop pestering her.
• Tai Nuo released his Soul King pressure against Ma Hongjun, but Lin Chen urged him to let the younger students handle the dispute.
• Ma Hongjun recognized Lin Chen and demanded that he leave Shrek Academy, despite his growing fear.

Lin Chen intervened when Ma Hongjun harassed Jiang Zhu, leading Tai Long and Ma Hongjun to fight. After Tang San stopped them, Lin Chen challenged him to a spar to settle the score for Tai Long, and Tang San accepted.

• Jiang Zhu shyly greeted Lin Chen, while Xiao Wu and Tai Long defended her from Ma Hongjun's unwanted advances.
• Ma Hongjun refused to apologize and challenged Tai Long, so both released their Martial Souls and fought among the rose bushes.
• Tang San arrived with Oscar and Ning Rongrong and used Blue Silver Grass to separate the fighters.
• Tang San questioned Lin Chen's involvement, and Lin Chen said he had come to defend his friend Jiang Zhu and avenge Tai Long.
• Lin Chen challenged Tang San to a spar, and Tang San accepted.

Lin Chen rejected Tang San’s wager involving Jiang Zhu and set terms that protected her wishes and Tai Long. Tang San accepted the revised terms, and the two prepared to spar as their Soul Rings revealed the gap in their strength.

• Tang San proposed that a sparring match decide whether he apologized to Tai Long and whether Ma Hongjun could continue pursuing Jiang Zhu.
• Xiao Wu criticized Tang San for treating Jiang Zhu’s wishes as a wager, and Lin Chen asked Jiang Zhu whether she disliked Ma Hongjun’s harassment.
• Jiang Zhu said she disliked Ma Hongjun pestering her and was a little scared, so Lin Chen required Ma Hongjun to apologize and leave her alone regardless of the match’s outcome.
• Lin Chen said Tang San would have to apologize to Tai Long and stop provoking him and the Strength Clan if Lin Chen won.
• Tang San accepted Lin Chen’s terms and challenged him to fight.
• Tang San revealed three Soul Rings as a thirty-seventh-level Soul Elder, while Lin Chen revealed four Soul Rings as a forty-third-level Soul Ancestor, stunning Tang San.

Lin Chen revealed that his Soul Rings had increased in age and fought Tang San in another sparring match. Tang San struggled under Lin Chen’s concentrated Chaos Prison Suppression domain, leaving the fight heavily in Lin Chen’s favor.

• Tang San, Ma Hongjun, Ning Rongrong, and Jiang Zhu were shocked to see Lin Chen’s three black Soul Rings and wondered how their ages had increased.
• Tang San attacked Lin Chen with Blue Silver Grass, but Lin Chen’s Chaos Shield repelled the vines.
• Tang San used Purple Demon Eye and Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to close in, while Lin Chen withdrew his shield and activated Chaos Prison Suppression.
• Lin Chen concentrated the domain around himself and Tang San, suppressing Tang San’s movement, Soul Power, and Blue Silver Grass.
• Tang San forced himself forward through the domain, but Tai Nuo judged that trying to outlast Lin Chen was the wrong strategy.

Tang San broke free of Lin Chen’s Chaos Prison Suppression and fought him in close quarters, but Lin Chen blocked his Dragon Whisker Needles with the Chaos Shield. Tang San obscured the battlefield with Blue Silver Grass, leaving Lin Chen sensing a new, dangerous attack behind the grass curtains.

• Tang San burned through his Mysterious Heaven Skill and wrapped himself in Blue Silver Grass to force his way out of Lin Chen’s domain.
• Lin Chen pursued Tang San immediately and struck him before he could recover, then fought him to a standstill in close combat.
• Tang San attacked Lin Chen with three Dragon Whisker Needles, but Lin Chen’s Chaos Shield deflected them.
• Tang San raised curtains of Blue Silver Grass that blocked sight and disrupted Soul Power sensing.
• Lin Chen sensed a dangerous presence approaching from behind the grass curtains.

Tang San used a deadly Hidden Weapon during his spar with Lin Chen, but Lin Chen contained the blast and emerged unharmed. The others condemned Tang San for endangering everyone at Shrek Academy, while Xiao Wu angrily confronted him.

• Tang San launched the Mother-Child Soul-Chasing Life-Taking Orb at Lin Chen, risking the people gathered around them.
• Lin Chen expanded his Chaos Shield to contain the exploding weapon and its poison fog and needles.
• Lin Chen repelled the needles and neutralized the poison fog, emerging without injury.
• Tang San stared in disbelief, and Lin Chen criticized him for treating the spar like a fight to the death.
• Tai Long and Tai Nuo condemned Tang San for endangering the students, and Xiao Wu angrily accused him of trying to poison everyone in the garden.

Lin Chen overwhelmed Tang San in their spar, leaving him battered and unable to continue. Tang San admitted defeat and began recovering with Oscar’s sausages.

• Xiao Wu condemned Tang San for using lethal attacks, while Lin Chen asked Oscar to prepare Recovery Sausages for Tang San.
• Lin Chen activated the Void Divine Eye and used Void Shift to strike Tang San faster than he could defend or counterattack.
• Tang San’s attempts to fight back failed as Lin Chen’s spatially edged blows weakened him and damaged his meridians.
• Lin Chen stopped after Tang San fell and said he had sought justice for his brother.
• Tang San admitted he had lost, and Oscar gave him Recovery Big Sausages to restore his strength.

Lin Chen defeated Tang San in a spar and stood up to Yu Xiaogang when he accused him of going too far. Afterward, Lin Chen visited Iron Hammer Valley and taught Tai Nuo and the smiths how to perform the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer.

• Tang San apologized for hitting Tai Long too hard, and Ma Hongjun apologized to Jiang Zhu for pestering her.
• Tang San admitted defeat to Lin Chen and asked how he had obtained his Soul Rings; Lin Chen refused to explain and said he hoped to fight him again at the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament.
• Yu Xiaogang arrived, heard Ning Rongrong’s account, and accused Lin Chen of injuring Tang San excessively.
• Tai Long, Tai Nuo, Lin Chen, and Xiao Wu challenged Yu Xiaogang’s criticism, and Lin Chen offered to spar with him; Yu Xiaogang avoided the challenge and left with Tang San and the others.
• Tai Nuo invited Lin Chen and Xiao Wu to eat and then brought them to Iron Hammer Valley, where Lin Chen demonstrated the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer and answered the smiths’ forging questions.

Lin Chen and Xiao Wu left Tai Nuo’s valley and shared a playful, intimate journey back to the lakeside dormitory. Xiao Wu found Dugu Bo waiting in the courtyard, where he had apparently seen Lin Chen carry her home.

• Lin Chen declined Tai Nuo’s invitation to stay for dinner and left the valley with Xiao Wu.
• On the road, Lin Chen joked that an old man in a dream had taught him smithing, then teased Xiao Wu by hinting she was the girl in his dreams.
• Lin Chen carried Xiao Wu at great speed through the moonlit fields and told her she was the only girl who could appear in his dreams.
• At the dormitory, Xiao Wu blushed after saying she would never need to walk again, then hurried inside.
• Xiao Wu found Dugu Bo in the courtyard; he said he had been watching the moon for more than half a shichen and glanced toward the gate where Lin Chen had left her.

Dugu Bo told Lin Chen that he had spent over two weeks in the imperial palace investigating Emperor Xue Ye’s mysterious illness but had found no clear source. He warned Lin Chen to stay out of the dangerous imperial struggle and focus on cultivating.

• Dugu Bo teased Lin Chen about returning with a trail of excitement, then joined him for tea.
• Dugu Bo explained that Prince Xue Xing had asked him to examine the ailing Emperor Xue Ye, but his investigation had uncovered only a faint possible trace of poison.
• Lin Chen offered to use his Martial Soul to help, but Dugu Bo firmly refused and warned him about the dangers of palace politics.
• Dugu Bo revealed that Prince Xue Xing had once saved his life by driving off Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo, which was why he had agreed to serve as a guest elder.
• Dugu Bo advised Lin Chen to avoid the investigation and concentrate on cultivation, and Lin Chen accepted his guidance.

Lin Chen explained his findings about the Moon-Eroding Nether Poison, and Dugu Bo began recounting how he first encountered the Nether Blood Moon Clan ten years earlier. His story ended as someone emerged from Sinking Moon Valley, just after the clan members shrugged off his poison.

• Lin Chen told Dugu Bo that the Moon Curse was a blood poison inherited from the Blood Moon Devil Lotus and linked to the Nether Blood Moon Clan.
• Dugu Bo began explaining that, ten years earlier, he had been stuck at level eighty-nine and traveled in search of poisons or herbs to overcome his cultivation bottleneck.
• After hearing of a poisonous miasma in the Hidden Bone Mountain Range, Dugu Bo ventured alone into the mountains and found Sinking Moon Valley.
• A patrol of six Nether Blood Moon Clan members surrounded Dugu Bo near the valley entrance.
• Dugu Bo released Jade Phosphorous Serpent Emperor poison, but the patrol barely reacted, and someone then walked out of the valley.

Dugu Bo recounted how he entered Sinking Moon Valley and learned that the Nether Blood Moon Clan suffered from a hereditary poison that made them lose control under the full moon. He explained that the poison was bound to the clan’s bloodline and resisted ordinary cures, leaving its true remedy unresolved.

• Dugu Bo recalled meeting Ye Mingshang, who recognized the poison in Dugu Bo’s body and invited him into Sinking Moon Valley.
• Dugu Bo described the valley’s dark, isolated surroundings and said he stayed there for half a year to temper his poison.
• During a full moon, clan members went berserk, and deacons used Nether Pills to suppress their attacks temporarily.
• Ye Mingshang told Dugu Bo that the Moon-Eroding Nether Poison came from Blood Moon Devil Lotus seeds swallowed by the clan’s ancestors and had become entwined with their bloodline.
• Dugu Bo studied the poison and Nether Pill, finding that the poison could not be separated from the clan’s bloodline without causing a fatal backlash.

Lin Chen, Dugu Bo, Xiao Wu, and Dugu Yan set out in disguise for the Star Luo Empire, where Dugu Bo said Lin Chen would learn about an opportunity tied to the Nether Blood Moon Clan. They traveled southwest from Heaven Dou Royal Academy, with their destination still unrevealed.

• Dugu Bo told Lin Chen they would travel to Sinking Moon Valley to meet Ye Mingshang and said the opportunity would depend on Lin Chen's abilities.
• Dugu Bo disguised himself as a carriage driver and set out with Lin Chen and Xiao Wu to avoid Spirit Hall's attention near the border.
• Dugu Yan confronted Dugu Bo and insisted on joining the journey, so Dugu Bo reluctantly agreed after Lin Chen and Xiao Wu supported her.
• The group left Heaven Dou Royal Academy in a blue-cloth carriage and traveled southwest, with Dugu Bo watching the road while the girls shared snacks.
• Xiao Wu spotted Jialing Pass as the carriage continued along the imperial road.

Lin Chen, Xiao Wu, Dugu Yan, and Dugu Bo traveled through Jialing Pass and reached Silves City, where they stopped for the night. At the hotel, Xiao Wu asked to share Lin Chen’s room, explaining that she was used to sleeping beside him.

• The group crossed Jialing Pass after guards inspected their caravan.
• Lin Chen explained that Silves was a vassal kingdom and a hub where several powers kept watch over trade.
• The travelers arrived in Silves City and checked into the Stuart Hotel for the night.
• Xiao Wu asked to stay in Lin Chen’s room, saying she could only sleep soundly when he was beside her.
• Dugu Yan teased Xiao Wu, and Dugu Bo told everyone to eat and get to bed before their morning departure.