Recaps

Dong Jian and the Imperial Fighting Team defeated Blazing Fire in their second match by adapting their formation and fighting independently instead of relying on his constant direction. Huo Wu warned that their next opponent, Godwind Academy’s Feng Xiaotian, might never come down to the ground.

• Huo Wu found the Imperial Fighting Team using the same formation, but Dong Jian stayed silent while his teammates judged and answered threats on their own.
• Li Man introduced Scorched Bamboo Abandoned Path by destroying overheated formation eyes and abandoning burned nodes instead of trying to preserve every route.
• Dong Jian redirected Huo Wushuang’s charge into Shi Mo’s Black Tortoise shell, letting Yu Tianheng, Li Man, and Yu Feng turn the impact into a coordinated counterattack.
• When Huo Wu’s flames threatened to split the team, Yu Tianheng took command, Li Man narrowed the formation, and Dong Jian held the final connecting point so the team stayed together.
• Yu Feng and Yu Tianheng helped secure the win, and Qin Ming stopped the match; afterward, Huo Wu warned that an airborne opponent could negate the team’s ground-based tactics.
• Qin Ming received the next exchange schedule, which named Godwind Academy and Feng Xiaotian, leaving Dong Jian uneasy about facing an opponent who might stay in the air.

Dong Jian challenged Feng Xiaotian and lost when he could not keep up with the flying Soul Master's rapid attacks. After Li Man pointed out that Feng Xiaotian had to make contact to attack, Dong Jian began considering how to exploit those moments in a rematch.

• Feng Xiaotian challenged Dong Jian to a one-on-one match so he could test Dong Jian's ten-thousand-year Fourth Soul Ring.
• Dong Jian used Yin-Yang Mountain Domain and Force Observation to read Feng Xiaotian's attacks, but could not reliably react to his aerial changes of direction or maintain contact for Yin-Yang Force Redirection.
• Feng Xiaotian used Gale Demon Wolf Thirty-Six Consecutive Slashes to drive Dong Jian out of the arena, ending the match with Dong Jian's defeat.
• Dong Jian reviewed the fight and recognized that he could endure Feng Xiaotian's attacks but had no reliable way to pursue him in the air.
• Li Man advised Dong Jian to focus on the moments when Feng Xiaotian had to make contact rather than chase his flight path, and Dong Jian agreed to recover and try again the next day.

Dong Jian and Li Man tested a tactic against Feng Xiaotian, using temporary Green Jade Dragon Bamboo nodes to redirect Dong Jian after contact and break Feng Xiaotian’s Thirty-Six Consecutive Slashes. The team prepared for its next exchange against Skywater Academy, where Dong Jian expected the ground itself to be unreliable.

• Qin Ming arranged a training session where Li Man gave Dong Jian three formation nodes to test against Feng Xiaotian.
• Dong Jian used Li Man’s temporary bamboo node to alter his direction after contact, though repeated attempts showed the node could not bear much weight or last long.
• Feng Xiaotian avoided the pre-placed nodes, so Li Man and Dong Jian changed tactics and waited for him to attack before creating one.
• On Feng Xiaotian’s twentieth slash, Li Man formed a bamboo vine at the moment of contact, letting Dong Jian pivot and break Feng Xiaotian’s Thirty-Six Consecutive Slashes.
• Qin Ming revealed that Skywater Academy would arrive in three days, and Dong Jian anticipated facing Shui Bing’er on ground that might not be trustworthy.

Skywater Academy defeated the Imperial Fighting Team by exploiting the ice and water to disrupt Dong Jian’s Yin-Yang Mountain Domain and Li Man’s ground-based formation. After the match, Dong Jian and Li Man decided to fight without relying on their strongest methods in the next match.

• Shui Bing'er froze, melted, and shifted layers of ice and water, confusing Dong Jian’s Mountain Domain and displacing Li Man’s formation anchors.
• Skywater Academy trapped Shi Mo and split the Imperial Fighting Team with an ice wall, prompting Qin Ming to stop the match and award Skywater Academy the win.
• Dong Jian admitted he had relied too much on his Fourth Soul Skill, while Li Man recognized that she had relied too much on the ground remaining stable.
• The Divine Dragon Secret Realm reminded Dong Jian that his basic combat techniques worked independently of Mountain Domain.
• Dong Jian vowed not to use his Fourth Soul Skill in the next match, and Li Man said she would avoid using a main ground formation.

Dong Jian led the Imperial Fighting Team to victory over Skywater Academy without using his Fourth Soul Skill, relying on observation and coordination as the team learned to reconnect its forces. After Qin Ming defined Yu Tianheng as the spearhead, Li Man as the net, and Dong Jian as the pivot, the next exchange roster named Thunder Academy and Yu Tianxin, setting up a test for Yu Tianheng.

• Dong Jian kept his Fourth Soul Ring and Yin-Yang Mountain Domain inactive while Li Man adapted her formation into mobile nodes attached to teammates.
• Dong Jian guided Yu Tianheng, Shi Mo, and Osler through Shui Bing'er's icy terrain, intervening only when the team's central line or healing route was threatened.
• The Imperial Fighting Team regrouped as a unit and forced Skywater Academy's defensive line apart, winning the second exchange match and leaving the series tied at one win apiece.
• The Divine Dragon Secret Realm recorded Dong Jian's Fourth Soul Skill participation as zero and marked Yin-Yang Force Redirection as initially mastered.
• Qin Ming arranged the tactics wall with Yu Tianheng as the spearhead, Li Man as the net, and Dong Jian as the pivot.
• A new exchange roster listed Thunder Academy and Yu Tianxin, suggesting Yu Tianheng would face the next major test.

Yu Tianheng sparred with Yu Tianxin and conceded that his cousin had a slight edge in a one-on-one head-on fight. Yu Tianheng then challenged him to a team battle the next day, with Dong Jian and Li Man sitting out, to prove what made him a captain.

• Thunder Academy arrived at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, and Yu Tianheng agreed to spar with Yu Tianxin.
• Yu Tianxin’s relentless attacks pushed Yu Tianheng back, and Yu Tianheng admitted Yu Tianxin had a slight edge in a head-on duel.
• Yu Tianxin questioned whether Yu Tianheng led the Imperial Fighting Team or relied on Dong Jian and Li Man, and Yu Tianheng challenged him to a team battle the next day.
• Yu Tianheng said Dong Jian and Li Man would not participate, and Yu Tianxin accepted the challenge.

Thunder Academy lost its exchange match against the Imperial Fighting Team despite Yu Tianxin repeatedly winning his individual clashes with Yu Tianheng. Yu Tianxin realized that his aggressive advances had separated him from his teammates, while Yu Tianheng’s coordination kept his team intact.

• Yu Tianxin led Thunder Academy in repeated charges, gaining the upper hand in several clashes while the Imperial Fighting Team defended and regrouped.
• Yu Tianheng gave up a chance to press his advantage and ordered his teammates to restore their formation.
• Dugu Yan, Yu Feng, Osler, and the Shi Brothers exploited gaps in Thunder Academy’s formation, forcing its members apart as Yu Tianxin kept pushing forward.
• Yu Tianxin won the final head-on clash with Yu Tianheng, but Thunder Academy’s formation had already collapsed, so its teacher stopped the match and declared the Imperial Fighting Team the winner.
• Yu Tianxin asked Dong Jian what he had seen, and Dong Jian pointed out that Yu Tianxin had won many exchanges but his teammates could not keep up with him.

After Thunder Academy’s exchange match, Yu Tianheng explained to Yu Tianxin why he had learned to pause and coordinate with his team, while accepting that Yu Tianxin might still choose a more aggressive path. With the tournament registration deadline ten days away, Qin Ming ended academy exchanges and shifted the team’s training toward refining and concealing their abilities.

• Yu Tianheng told Yu Tianxin that repeated team-battle failures had taught him to wait for his teammates rather than seize every opening, and Yu Tianxin accepted that their approaches differed.
• Yu Tianxin challenged Dong Jian about serving under Yu Tianheng, and Dong Jian explained that he trusted the captain to make the final decision while each teammate handled a distinct role.
• Thunder Academy departed, and Qin Ming announced that the Imperial Fighting Team would stop exchanges and spend the remaining ten days organizing what to reveal and what to conceal.
• Qin Ming told Dong Jian and Li Man to make their fusion skill’s twelve-breath duration appear to be only eight.

Qin Ming trained Dong Jian and Li Man to conceal the twelve-breath complete Mountain-Suppressing Dragon Bamboo as a weaker public version lasting about eight breaths, while Ye Lingling discovered that Dong Jian’s Dark Gold Spine Armor was becoming harder to hide. The chapter ended with news that Crown Prince Xue Qinghe would visit the academy the next morning, prompting Li Man to warn Dong Jian to conceal his Soul Power carefully.

• Qin Ming ordered Dong Jian and Li Man to redesign their fusion skill so outsiders would see only a plausible eight-breath version without the Dark Gold Spine Armor.
• Dong Jian’s Dark Gold Spine Armor activated faintly on its own, and Ye Lingling explained that Soul Power had begun naturally flowing through its nine embedded locations.
• Dong Jian and Li Man developed a Sealed Spine version of Mountain-Suppressing Dragon Bamboo that lasted seven and a half breaths and allowed only a one-step adjustment.
• Ye Lingling sensed that the Dark Gold Spine Armor was integrating more deeply with Dong Jian’s body and might be detectable by powerful Soul Masters familiar with Soul Bones.
• An academy teacher announced that Crown Prince Xue Qinghe would visit the next morning, and Li Man warned Dong Jian to keep his Soul Power tucked away.

Xue Qinghe visited the Imperial Fighting Team and asked Dong Jian about his rare Soul Ring and the Dark Gold Earth Vein Bear, prompting Li Man to suspect he had noticed Dong Jian’s hidden armor. After Xue Qinghe left, Qin Ming prepared the team to conceal its tactics by replacing their names with numbered calls.

• Xue Qinghe questioned the team about their tournament preparations and asked Dong Jian about his ten-thousand-year Soul Ring and the Dark Gold Earth Vein Bear’s back plates.
• Qin Ming explained that all nine members would register and rotate through matches, with Dong Jian linking their tactics and no one guaranteed a place.
• Li Man noticed Xue Qinghe glance at Dong Jian’s back as he left and warned Dong Jian to keep his Soul Power away from the armor’s most conspicuous spots.
• Dong Jian used the Divine Dragon Secret Realm to review Xue Qinghe’s behavior, but it could not determine his intentions from the available evidence.
• Qin Ming gave the team numbered tactical calls and told them to stop announcing the full names of their formations during matches.

Qin Ming taught the Imperial Fighting Team to coordinate through numbered formations and recover when their plans broke down, then destroyed the written record of their secret trump card. After Dugu Yan received word that she needed a final poison check at Sunset Forest, Dong Jian and Li Man were assigned to accompany her, and Dong Jian prepared to revisit the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

• Qin Ming organized the team's existing tactics into five numbered formations and taught them to use numbers and hand signals instead of shouting specific instructions.
• Qin Ming explained that anyone could initiate part of the Yin-Yang Axis formation, while Dong Jian only needed to judge whether its stages connected.
• The team practiced formation transitions, and after a communication breakdown they independently recovered into a complete formation without following any numbered tactic.
• Qin Ming burned the manual's final page, which recorded the team's secret twelve-breath formation involving Dark Gold Spine Armor and Mountain-Suppressing Dragon Bamboo.
• A staff member delivered Dugu Yan a letter from Sunset Forest, and she told the team her grandfather wanted her back for a final poison check before the tournament.
• Qin Ming sent Dong Jian and Li Man with Dugu Yan, while Dong Jian thought about returning to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and the white flower still waiting there.

Dong Jian, Li Man, and Dugu Yan returned to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well so Dugu Bo could assess Dugu Yan’s poison storage before the tournament. As they prepared to leave, Dong Jian cut his palm on a piece of ore, and the Lovesick Heartbreak Red glowed more clearly in response.

• Dong Jian, Li Man, and Dugu Yan entered Sunset Forest and met Dugu Bo at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
• Dugu Bo examined Dugu Yan and found that she had stored too much poison in her Right Arm Soul Bone, so he guided her through releasing some of it safely.
• Dong Jian and Li Man discussed the limits of Dugu Yan’s Soul Bone and Dugu Bo’s unresolved need for a compatible poison-attribute Soul Bone.
• Dong Jian and Li Man visited the Lovesick Heartbreak Red, which briefly glowed after they turned away, but they chose not to investigate it.
• Dugu Bo asked Dong Jian to straighten an old herb rack, and Dong Jian cut his palm on nearby ore as Li Man hurried to check the wound.
• The Lovesick Heartbreak Red’s red markings glowed more clearly after Dong Jian’s palm began to bleed.

Dong Jian and Li Man watched the Lovesick Heartbreak Red respond to them, then acknowledged their feelings without confessing or picking the flower. After they returned to Heaven Dou Royal Academy, a participant list revealed that Tang San and the rest of the Shrek team would compete in the Soul Master Tournament, prompting Qin Ming to warn Dong Jian not to rely on old information.

• The Lovesick Heartbreak Red glowed and lifted slightly from the Black Perish Stone, and Dugu Bo suggested it responded to what Dong Jian and Li Man kept in their hearts.
• Dong Jian and Li Man admitted they understood some of their feelings but left the confession and the flower untouched.
• Dong Jian, Li Man, and Dugu Yan left Sunset Forest and returned to Heaven Dou Royal Academy, where Yu Feng gave them the latest tournament participant lists.
• Dong Jian recognized Tang San, Xiao Wu, Dai Mubai, Oscar, Ma Hongjun, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing on Shrek's roster.
• Qin Ming cautioned Dong Jian that the Shrek he knew was from the past, while the reliability of the old combat model in the Divine Dragon Secret Realm began to decline.

The Imperial Fighting Team reviewed the outdated information they had on Shrek and agreed to retain past observations without treating them as current answers. On the Soul Master Tournament’s opening day, Dong Jian waited with the team while Qin Ming held the first-round lineup, leaving his participation undecided.

• Yu Feng argued that the team should prioritize Tang San, but Li Man and Dong Jian warned that their old knowledge of Shrek might no longer apply.
• Dong Jian used the Divine Dragon Secret Realm to check the old battle models, found their reliability low, and shut them down as current tactical analyses.
• Qin Ming organized cautious notes on Shrek’s members, and the team agreed to update its information after seeing them fight.
• An education committee assistant asked Qin Ming to consider fielding Dong Jian for publicity because of his ten-thousand-year Fourth Soul Ring, but Qin Ming made no decision without knowing the opponent.
• At the tournament’s opening, the Imperial Fighting Team gathered in the waiting area as Qin Ming held the first-round lineup and Dong Jian waited to learn whether he would compete.

The Imperial Fighting Team opened the tournament with a decisive win using its traditional seven members, while Dong Jian sat out and kept his black Fourth Soul Ring hidden. The next draw matched them against an opponent Qin Ming approved for Dong Jian to face, leaving him ready to reveal part of his power.

• Huo Wu studied the Imperial Fighting Team's formation, Feng Xiaotian greeted Dong Jian from afar, and Shui Bing'er examined the fighting platform as the academies gathered.
• The draw paired Heaven Dou Royal Academy with a weaker local academy, but Qin Ming rejected the education committee's request to use Dong Jian as a spectacle and selected the traditional seven-member lineup.
• Yu Tianheng, Dugu Yan, Ye Lingling, Yu Feng, Osler, Shi Mo, and Shi Mo defeated their opponents cleanly without Dong Jian taking the field.
• Dong Jian watched the match without using his observation or simulation abilities, while Tang San noted that the Imperial Fighting Team's fundamentals had remained intact.
• After the day's draw ended, Qin Ming told Dong Jian he would fight in the second match and could use his Fourth Soul Ring, but only to show what was necessary.

Dong Jian revealed his black Ten Thousand Year Fourth Soul Ring during the Imperial Fighting Team’s match against Cangyan Academy, then used Yin-Yang Mountain Domain to sense ground forces and coordinate his teammates. The Imperial Fighting Team won, while Huo Wu recognized that Dong Jian’s real strength lay in keeping the team’s formation moving through disruption.

• Qin Ming selected Dong Jian and Li Man for the Imperial Fighting Team’s second tournament match against Cangyan Academy, whose members planned to target Dong Jian.
• Dong Jian revealed a genuine black Fourth Soul Ring, prompting Yu Xiaogang to conclude that his physical capacity, spiritual strength, and Soul Power control exceeded those of an ordinary Soul Ancestor.
• Cangyan Academy’s attempt to pincer Dong Jian was broken up by Yu Tianheng and Shi Mo, while Dong Jian used precise redirection and positioning to open a gap for Osler.
• Dong Jian activated Yin-Yang Mountain Domain, sensed ground impacts, and guided Shi Mo and Yu Tianheng as the Imperial Fighting Team countered Cangyan Academy’s coordinated advance.
• Dugu Yan, Li Man, Osler, Yu Tianheng, and Shi Mo exploited the opening to break Cangyan Academy’s formation, and the opposing captain conceded the match.
• Tang San noted that Dong Jian attacked less after activating his Fourth Soul Skill, while Huo Wu said the greater threat was his ability to keep the Imperial Fighting Team moving after its formation was disrupted.

The Imperial Fighting Team defeated Luochuan Academy after Dong Jian ignored its feints and focused on the one attack that threatened the team’s formation. Qin Ming then revealed that their next opponent was Elephant Armor Academy, whose all-in, tightly coordinated style would put Dong Jian’s selective defense to a harder test.

• Qin Ming warned Dong Jian that Luochuan Academy was preparing feints to disrupt his Yin-Yang Mountain Domain, but kept him in the lineup and told him not to force the skill.
• Luochuan Academy flooded the arena with false vibrations, and Dong Jian narrowed Mountain Domain’s range rather than trying to process everything.
• When Luochuan launched five simultaneous attacks, Dong Jian dealt only with the threat to Ye Lingling’s connection to the front line while his teammates handled the others.
• The Imperial Fighting Team broke Luochuan’s formation and won its third match after Luochuan Academy conceded.
• Dong Jian heard other teams suggest attacking with no feints, and Qin Ming announced that Elephant Armor Academy would be their next opponent.

The Imperial Fighting Team won its fifth and sixth rounds with different lineups, showing that it had no fixed core formation. As the team prepared to face Elephant Armor Academy, Li Man devised a plan to stagger their advance rather than meet all seven opponents head-on.

• Qin Ming left Dong Jian out for the fifth round, and Li Man led the Imperial Fighting Team’s formation as they secured their fifth victory.
• Qin Ming left Li Man out for the sixth round, and the team used Dugu Yan’s poison zones and its players’ positioning to win again.
• The team’s changing lineups confused outside analysts, while Tang San decided Shrek should prepare based on whoever actually took the field.
• Qin Ming selected Yu Tianheng, Dong Jian, Li Man, Dugu Yan, Ye Lingling, and both Shi brothers for the match against Elephant Armor Academy, leaving out both agility attackers.
• Li Man proposed staggering Elephant Armor Academy’s seven-man advance so the Imperial Fighting Team would not have to face them all at once.
• At the arena entrance, Huyan Li taunted Dong Jian’s team, and Elephant Armor Academy stepped forward together as the match was about to begin.

Dong Jian and the Imperial Fighting Team tested a way to stagger Elephant Armor Academy’s advance, but Huyan Li’s relentless pressure left Dong Jian unable to complete his redirects. The chapter ended as Elephant Armor began its second push and Dong Jian faced another shoulder charge with insufficient room to turn.

• Li Man told Dong Jian to stagger Elephant Armor’s arrivals rather than try to pull the seven members apart, while Yu Tianheng and the others prepared to support him.
• Dong Jian used his Mountain Domain to read Huyan Li’s movement, but Huyan Li kept advancing and denied him the space to redirect the pressure.
• Elephant Armor pushed the Imperial Fighting Team’s three load-bearing points backward, while Li Man tracked the opponents’ footsteps and Dugu Yan marked the ground with a small patch of poison mist.
• Yu Tianheng struck Huyan Li with a lightning-charged punch, briefly stopping his advance and allowing Dong Jian to break contact.
• Li Man placed four Green Jade Dragon Bamboo array points to record Elephant Armor’s routes, and Dong Jian used the Mountain Domain to study their second advance.
• Dong Jian’s Divine Dragon Secret Realm assessed that he lacked room to turn under Huyan Li’s frontal load just as Huyan Li pressed his shoulder forward again.

The Imperial Fighting Team struggled to stop Elephant Armor’s relentless, coordinated advance, and Li Man eventually changed tactics by yielding staggered ground instead of trying to force the opponents aside. The chapter ended as Huyan Li stepped into the position she had prepared, separating Elephant Armor’s front line for the first time.

• Huyan Li and Elephant Armor pushed Dong Jian and the Shi Brothers backward, while Dong Jian’s attempts to redirect their momentum failed against the continuous force behind the front row.
• Li Man tried to stagger Elephant Armor’s timing with Green Jade formation points, but the team trampled the bamboo and kept advancing; Dugu Yan’s poison only made one member shift slightly inward.
• Yu Tianheng used Thunder Dragon Body to strike Huyan Li’s shoulder and drive him back half a step, but Elephant Armor’s teammates filled the gap and resumed their advance.
• As the Imperial Fighting Team neared the boundary, Li Man placed three formation points behind her team and ordered the others not to block Elephant Armor.
• Dong Jian and the Shi Brothers retreated in staggered directions, breaking Elephant Armor’s simultaneous contact with their front line, and Huyan Li stepped into the position Li Man had yielded.

Li Man and Dong Jian used bamboo markers, poison, and staggered contact to disrupt Elephant Armor's synchronized advance, creating an opening for Yu Tianheng to injure one of its members. Huyan Li ordered another layer of defense, and Li Man prepared to keep the gap open.

• Li Man positioned Green Jade Dragon Bamboo along the Imperial Fighting Team's retreat routes while Shi Mo and Dugu Yan drew Elephant Armor's outer members off their straight paths.
• Dong Jian turned Huyan Li's charge aside, causing a teammate behind him to check his step, and Yu Tianheng struck the exposed member until he retreated.
• Li Man let Elephant Armor close ranks while Shi Mo and Yu Tianheng kept its members out of sync, and Tang San recognized that the bamboo controlled the order of contact.
• Dong Jian shifted an Elephant Armor member's footing as Yu Tianheng attacked, opening a gap in the formation and driving the man back with repeated punches.
• Huyan Li ordered another layer of defense, and Li Man moved two formation points farther back and told her team not to let the gap close.

The Imperial Fighting Team defeated Elephant Armor by breaking its united advance and coordinating their defenses and counterattacks. Their injuries made the victory costly, and Huo Wu signaled Li Man after the next-round matchup against Blazing Fire was posted.

• Dong Jian failed to redirect Elephant Armor's third consecutive charge alone, and Li Man warned him against trying to handle the whole formation by himself.
• Dong Jian, Shi Mo, Li Man, Dugu Yan, and Yu Tianheng coordinated to absorb Elephant Armor's attacks, stagger its formation, and force one member out of the line.
• Yu Tianheng exploited Huyan Li's isolation, with Dong Jian guiding his momentum, to break Elephant Armor's centerline.
• The Imperial Fighting Team wore down Elephant Armor until its leading teacher conceded, though both Shi Brothers and Dong Jian were injured.
• Huo Wu signaled Li Man after seeing the Imperial Fighting Team's condition, and the next-round matchup against Blazing Fire was posted.

The Imperial Fighting Team faced Blazing Fire without the injured Shi Brothers, and Huo Wu targeted Li Man’s Ten Thousand Bamboos Return to the Veins formation with controlled flame attacks. Li Man realized Huo Wu was not trying to burn through the network but to make her dismantle it herself, leaving the team to fight with only five connected nodes.

• The Imperial Fighting Team fielded Yu Tianheng, Dong Jian, Li Man, Dugu Yan, Ye Lingling, Yu Feng, and Osler against Blazing Fire.
• Huo Wu revealed she knew about Scorched Bamboo Abandoned Path and began grazing Li Man’s formation nodes with fire while Blazing Fire held the front line.
• Li Man abandoned nodes seven, nine, two, and four as their fire contamination threatened the formation’s Soul Power routes.
• Huo Wu stopped attacking the nodes after Li Man cut off node four, while the reduced formation slowed the Imperial Fighting Team’s coordination.
• Dong Jian pointed out that Blazing Fire was not exploiting the gaps, and Li Man concluded that Huo Wu was making her dismantle her own formation.

Li Man refined how she managed bamboo nodes scorched by Huo Wu, distinguishing between nodes to discard and those she could seal and later reopen. As Blazing Fire prepared a larger attack that heated every remaining node, Li Man braced herself to respond.

• Li Man discarded nodes seven and nine, sealed nodes two and four, and kept node five after Huo Wu's flames struck the formation.
• Li Man sealed node six and node three, while her teammates avoided the affected routes and adapted their positions without needing her to direct every move.
• Li Man reopened node two after confirming its fire residue had weakened, but sealed it again when Huo Wu launched a stronger sequence of attacks.
• Dong Jian pointed Yu Tianheng toward the empty gap left by the sealed node, and Yu Tianheng used it to strike Blazing Fire's rear line.
• Li Man discarded the deeply contaminated node three and reopened node four as Huo Wu gathered Blazing Fire's team for a larger attack.
• Blazing Fire spread fire across the arena, heating every remaining node as Li Man placed her hand against the main vein of the Green Jade Dragon Bamboo.

Li Man adapted her Green Jade Dragon Bamboo formation under Blazing Fire’s spreading flames, using temporary seals and a brief reopening to help Heaven Dou Royal Academy break through. Heaven Dou won, and Li Man left with new techniques to develop while Huo Wu promised to counter them next time.

• Huo Wu spread Blazing Fire’s flames across the arena, forcing Li Man to abandon or temporarily seal several bamboo nodes while her teammates kept fighting.
• Li Man reopened number two as it cooled, but tracking several sealed nodes strained her mental power and left the formation increasingly reduced.
• Yu Tianheng and Li Man agreed to preserve one route ahead of him while Dugu Yan, Yu Feng, Osler, and Dong Jian adapted to the narrowing battlefield.
• Li Man waited until Huo Wu focused elsewhere, then briefly reopened number five so Dong Jian could redirect Yu Tianheng through a newly available angle.
• Yu Tianheng disrupted Huo Wu’s control of the fire field, allowing the Imperial Fighting Team to reconnect and overwhelm Blazing Fire’s formation; Blazing Fire conceded.
• Huo Wu vowed to burn through number five next time, and Li Man resolved to keep developing temporary sealing and reopening as alternatives to abandoning nodes.