Chapter Summaries

Dong Jian took part in Iron Bamboo Village’s Martial Soul Awakening ceremony and discovered that his black-and-white jade pendant was connected to a strange beast Martial Soul. As the beast appeared, a sealed realm began to awaken in his consciousness.

• Dong Jian turned Zhao Hu’s attempt to shove him into a mud puddle against him, then learned that Su Yuntao had arrived to awaken the children’s Martial Souls.
• Dong Jian watched the other children awaken ordinary Martial Souls, while Zhao Hu received a yellow dog Martial Soul and level-one Soul Power.
• Dong Jian entered the awakening formation, and his pendant grew hot as he sensed a sleeping beast beneath a mist-covered mountain.
• The awakening stones went dark, then Dong Jian’s cracked pendant released black-and-white light and revealed a round beast Martial Soul that made Su Yuntao’s Lone Wolf cower.
• A stone stele rose in Dong Jian’s consciousness, displaying the words “Divine Dragon Secret Realm.”

Dong Jian awakened a mysterious panda-like Martial Soul and tested at level-six Soul Power, but a hidden force shattered the crystal and revealed that his awakening was incomplete. The Divine Dragon Secret Realm opened its first trial, while Tang San’s Innate Full Soul Power was confirmed in Holy Soul Village.

• Dong Jian’s panda-like Martial Soul appeared, ate part of an Awakening Stone, and possessed him with greatly increased weight and strength.
• Su Yuntao tested Dong Jian and found level-six Innate Soul Power, while Dong Jian sensed that the Divine Dragon Secret Realm had absorbed another part of his power.
• A messenger told Su Yuntao that Tang San had awakened Blue Silver Grass with Innate Full Soul Power.
• Dong Jian saw black-and-white energy form a ring inside the testing crystal, which cracked as the Divine Dragon Secret Realm reported that his awakening was only ninety percent complete.
• The crystal ball shattered, Dong Jian’s panda Martial Soul grew and revealed a dragon-shaped phantom, and the Divine Dragon’s voice began the first trial.
• Nine wooden stakes rose in the first hall, where a stone stele declared that Dong Jian had to stand firm for six hours.

Dong Jian awakened an unusual black-and-white panda Martial Soul that shattered the testing crystal, but he refused to go with Su Yuntao for further examination and received Iron Bamboo Village’s work-study slot. After learning that his mother’s jade pendant had fused with the Martial Soul, Dong Jian entered the Divine Dragon Secret Realm and faced its first trial.

• Su Yuntao confirmed that Dong Jian’s body was unharmed but that his Soul Power test was abnormal, then recommended a Defense System path and reported the awakening to the Nuoding City Spirit Hall Branch.
• Dong Jian declined immediate examination at the Spirit Hall Branch, and Su Yuntao gave him a Martial Soul certificate and warned him not to choose his First Soul Ring himself.
• The village chief awarded Iron Bamboo Village’s work-study slot to Dong Jian, and Dong Jian slapped Zhao Hu after Zhao Hu insulted Dong Shan.
• Dong Shan told Dong Jian to keep the panda’s apparent consciousness secret and revealed that the fused jade pendant belonged to Dong Jian’s mother’s family.
• Dong Shan promised to explain more when Dong Jian became a Soul Grandmaster and began teaching him to control his Martial Soul and cultivate Soul Power.
• Dong Jian entered the Divine Dragon Secret Realm, where the first trial required him to use Martial Soul Possession and stand firm for three shichen.

Dong Jian struggled to balance on the secret realm’s shifting posts while possessed by his Panda Martial Soul, then realized he had to move with them instead of resisting. After he improved, the trial added attacks, and he learned that standing firm meant keeping his center of gravity under assault.

• Dong Jian began the first trial, which required him to stand on a moving wooden post for three shichen while using Martial Soul Possession.
• Dong Jian repeatedly fell as he tried to counter the posts’ movements, then recognized that his Martial Soul’s weight made his balance harder to control.
• Dong Jian watched the panda balance effortlessly by moving with the swaying post and realized he needed to follow its motion.
• Dong Jian adjusted his body to the post and gradually stayed upright for longer, eventually balancing for thirty breaths.
• The other eight posts began rotating and one struck Dong Jian with a stick, knocking him down as the stele revealed that the trial required him to keep his center of gravity under attack.

Dong Jian completed the Body Refining Hall’s first trial and gained Center of Gravity Perception, then used his new control to withstand Dong Shan’s pushes. Li Man warned that a mysterious Martial Soul scholar had come to Iron Bamboo Village asking about Dong Jian’s Black-and-White Bear Martial Soul.

• Dong Jian learned from the panda to redirect the wooden sticks’ force and completed the first trial without falling.
• Dong Jian acquired Center of Gravity Perception, and the stone stele revealed a second trial involving nine wooden figures.
• Dong Jian left the Divine Dragon Secret Realm and woke in the real world after only one night had passed.
• Dong Jian used his improved balance to withstand Dong Shan’s increasingly strong pushes without falling.
• Li Man arrived with medicinal herbs and told Dong Jian and Dong Shan that a visitor had been asking whether Dong Jian’s Martial Soul could leave his body and act independently.

Mo Lin, a scholar from Nuoding City, came to examine Dong Jian’s unusual panda Martial Soul and offered him a defensive Soul Ring plan, but Dong Jian challenged his assumptions and defeated Luo Ke in a test. Mo Lin left after revealing that he had known Dong Jian’s mother, while the emblem on his card matched a badge Li Man’s father had left behind, and the Divine Dragon Secret Realm trembled.

• Li Man told Dong Shan that Mo Lin had asked whether Dong Jian’s Martial Soul could act independently, and Mo Lin arrived with Luo Ke to inspect Dong Jian and ask about his missing jade pendant.
• Mo Lin offered a free examination and a defensive Soul Ring plan, but Dong Jian and Li Man questioned its assumptions and risks.
• Dong Jian agreed to a strength test with Luo Ke, then used Luo Ke’s force against him and sent him tumbling into a charcoal basket.
• Mo Lin offered Dong Jian a place at his research institute and revealed that Dong Jian’s mother had once refused him, leaving Dong Shan shaken.
• Dong Jian found an eye emblem on Mo Lin’s card, the Divine Dragon Secret Realm trembled, and Li Man recognized the matching design on a damaged badge left by her father.

Dong Jian and Li Man agreed to investigate Mo Lin’s organization together while studying Dong Jian’s unusual Martial Soul, after her tests revealed that his Soul Power was at least level nine but partly sealed. When the panda ate a medicinal herb, it absorbed the herb’s energy and activated the Divine Dragon Secret Realm’s second trial, which required Dong Jian to withstand nine wooden figures for one incense stick.

• Li Man revealed that her father, Li Ze, disappeared after joining a Mutated Martial Soul research project, and she suspected everyone connected to the symbol on the broken badge.
• Dong Jian persuaded Li Man and his wary father, Dong Shan, to cooperate, with strict limits on testing and sharing research.
• Li Man tested Dong Jian’s panda Martial Soul and revised her assessment after seeing him use his weight and momentum to move with unusual agility.
• The panda ate Li Man’s Purple Leaf Root, absorbing its energy and activating the Divine Dragon Secret Realm’s second trial.
• Li Man’s tests showed that Dong Jian had at least level-nine Soul Power, with some of it sealed in his Martial Soul, and she warned him against ordinary meditation.
• Dong Jian and Li Man formed a partnership to investigate the organization and Li Ze’s death, while the secret realm summoned nine wooden figures for its second trial.

Dong Jian concealed his true Soul Power and began training under Li Man's plan, but the Divine Dragon Secret Realm's second trial became urgent when his powers fell out of balance. He had three days to complete the trial or risk an unknown mutation of his Martial Soul.

• Li Man told Dong Jian and Dong Shan to hide Dong Jian's level-nine-or-higher Soul Power and outlined a plan focused on body refinement and controlling his Martial Soul's energy.
• Dong Jian agreed not to cultivate with ordinary meditation or choose a First Soul Ring until they understood his three interacting powers.
• Dong Jian entered the Body Refining Hall and repeatedly failed the trial to withstand nine wooden figures inside a circle for one incense stick's time.
• During his tenth attempt, Dong Jian used the wooden figures' attacks to make them collide and nearly lasted the full trial, but one grabbed his ankle and the others knocked him out.
• The Divine Dragon Secret Realm warned that yin and yang powers were out of balance and Dong Jian's Martial Soul consciousness was affected by life energy, giving him three days to complete the second trial before an unknown mutation.

Dong Jian defended his work-study student spot against Zhao Hu and two older boys, then discovered that his Panda Martial Soul was dangerously out of balance. After he briefly suppressed its violent instincts, Li Man warned that he had until sunrise to regain control before it became a true out-of-control Soul Beast.

• Zhao Hu demanded Dong Jian give up the village’s work-study student spot, but the village chief confirmed it remained registered to Dong Jian.
• Dong Jian used his opponents’ movements and balance against them, defeating Zhao Dazhuang and Chen Shi without releasing his Martial Soul.
• Zhao Hu attacked Dong Jian while using Martial Soul Possession, but Dong Jian struck him with a shoulder collision and sent him into the charcoal pile.
• Li Man noticed Dong Jian’s Martial Soul forces were unbalanced, and Dong Jian’s Panda Martial Soul emerged with dark red eyes and tried to charge after Zhao Hu’s group.
• Dong Jian accepted and guided the panda’s urge to attack until it returned to his body, but Li Man warned that he had only until sunrise to regain control.

Dong Jian completed the Divine Dragon Secret Realm’s second trial by using the wooden figures’ force against one another, stabilizing the powers within his body and raising his Soul Power to level seven. After choosing an Earth Savage Bear for his First Soul Ring, he learned that Tang San would pass through Iron Bamboo Village in three days and told Dong Shan he wanted a bear at least four hundred years old.

• Li Man used her Green Jade Bamboo to monitor Dong Jian’s Soul Power and help steady its conflicting forces while he cultivated.
• Dong Jian mastered Circular Force Redirection, defeating all nine wooden figures by turning their attacks against one another and completing the second trial.
• The secret realm stabilized the black, white, and emerald energies in Dong Jian’s body, cleared the Panda Martial Soul’s killing intent, and raised his Soul Power to level seven.
• Dong Jian chose the balanced path for his First Soul Ring, and the secret realm recommended an Earth Savage Bear aged four hundred years or more.
• The village chief told Dong Shan that Tang San would pass through Iron Bamboo Village in three days and that Dong Jian would need to leave soon to hunt for a Soul Ring.
• Dong Jian rejected Dong Shan’s suggestion of a Rock Armor Bear and insisted on hunting an Earth Savage Bear aged at least four hundred years.

Dong Jian learned that he had to reach Soul Power level ten before absorbing a Soul Ring, so he followed Li Man’s cautious cultivation plan and prepared to leave for Nuoding Academy. At the village entrance, he met Tang San for the first time, and Tang San noticed his unusually quiet footsteps.

• Dong Shan warned Dong Jian that attempting to absorb a Soul Ring before level ten could damage his meridians and Martial Soul, drawing on his own past injury as an example.
• Li Man explained that Dong Jian’s usable Soul Power was only level seven and proposed a cautious plan to balance his body, meridians, and Martial Soul.
• Dong Jian chose Li Man’s plan over ordinary meditation and agreed to leave early for Nuoding Academy with her.
• Over three days, Dong Jian stabilized his level-seven Soul Power by guiding its circulation through his physical techniques without provoking an imbalance.
• Dong Shan gave Dong Jian money and supplies before he and Li Man set out for Nuoding City, and Dong Jian asked his father to take him hunting for an Earth Savage Bear once he reached level ten.
• At the village entrance, Dong Jian met Tang San, who noticed that Dong Jian walked with almost no unnecessary sound.

Dong Jian, Tang San, and Li Man traveled toward Nuoding City, where Li Man recognized a wounded roadside man as a likely ambusher. The man revealed an Eye of Liangyi badge and activated his Soul Ring as footsteps closed in from both sides.

• Dong Jian met Tang San at Iron Bamboo Village and noticed his unusually controlled movements, while Tang San questioned Dong Jian's training.
• Li Man reasoned that Tang San's Blue Silver Grass and Innate Full Soul Power pointed to either a rare mutation or an unusual Martial Soul, and Tang San denied knowing which.
• When the carriage jolted and spilled Li Man's medicine bottles, Tang San subtly redirected one bottle while Dong Jian caught it, revealing each other's exceptional skills.
• Near Nuoding City, Li Man warned the group that a wounded man's claw marks looked fabricated and spotted an Eye of Liangyi badge beneath his sleeve.
• The man admitted he had come for Li Ze's daughter, activated a pale Yellow Soul Ring, and was joined by approaching footsteps from both sides of the road.

Zhou Qian ambushed Dong Jian, Tang San, and Li Man on their way to Nuoding Academy, revealing the Return to One Society’s experiments on Martial Souls before escaping with a fusion potion. At the academy gates, Yu Xiaogang noticed the lingering black-and-white Soul Power around Dong Jian.

• Zhou Qian questioned Li Man about her father’s research and tried to provoke Dong Jian into revealing his Panda Martial Soul.
• Tang San, Dong Jian, and Li Man coordinated to escape Zhou Qian’s smoke and defeat his two club-wielding accomplices.
• Tang San used Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon to shift Zhou Qian’s footing, allowing Dong Jian to strike him with Mountain-Leaning Collision.
• Li Man identified Zhou Qian’s Martial Soul as artificially altered, but he drank a fusion potion, strengthened himself, and fled into the woods.
• Zhou Qian warned that someone at Nuoding Academy was waiting for Dong Jian, and Tang San proposed sparring with him after they arrived.
• Yu Xiaogang noticed the lingering black-and-white Soul Power around Dong Jian at the academy entrance.

Dong Jian and Tang San faced scrutiny at Nuoding Academy, where Yu Xiaogang verified their certificates and examined their Martial Souls. After identifying a possible imbalance in Dong Jian’s Panda Martial Soul, Yu Xiaogang warned that choosing the wrong First Soul Ring could kill him before he turned ten.

• The gatekeeper accused Tang San and Dong Jian of forging their certificates, but Dong Jian subdued him and Li Man threatened to report his conduct to the Spirit Hall Branch.
• Yu Xiaogang confirmed the certificates were genuine and deduced that Tang San possessed a second Martial Soul after examining his Blue Silver Grass and learning his father had a hammer Martial Soul.
• Dong Jian manifested his Panda Martial Soul, and Yu Xiaogang observed distinct black and white powers before recommending bear-type Soul Beasts for his First Soul Ring.
• Dong Jian and Li Man challenged Yu Xiaogang’s Soul Ring recommendation because he lacked evidence about Dong Jian’s unique Martial Soul, while Tang San defended Yu Xiaogang’s expertise.
• Yu Xiaogang warned that the opposing powers in Dong Jian’s Martial Soul could become unbalanced, then revealed that a similar Soul Master had died before age ten and cautioned Dong Jian against choosing the wrong First Soul Ring.

Dong Jian questioned Yu Xiaogang’s theories and refused to become his disciple, choosing instead to exchange research data while Tang San accepted Yu Xiaogang as his teacher. Yu Xiaogang’s account of a case involving opposing attributes then connected Li Man’s father, Li Ze, to the mysterious researcher Lin Yu.

• Yu Xiaogang warned that Dong Jian’s opposing Panda Martial Soul attributes could make him unstable and said his First Soul Ring must preserve their balance.
• Dong Jian and Li Man challenged the certainty and evidence behind Yu Xiaogang’s theories, while Tang San defended Yu Xiaogang’s conclusions about Twin Martial Souls.
• Dong Jian declined to become Yu Xiaogang’s nominal disciple but agreed to attend lessons and exchange research data; Tang San knelt and became Yu Xiaogang’s disciple.
• Yu Xiaogang refused to share the original case records but quoted a handwritten line about black and white twins that alarmed Li Man.
• Li Man recognized the record-keeping marks as her father Li Ze’s, and Yu Xiaogang revealed that the woman who gave him the material had left the name Lin Yu.

Dong Jian and Li Man joined Dorm Seven, where Dong Jian defeated Wang Sheng and proposed choosing leaders by responsibility rather than strength alone. After Tang San argued with Dong Jian and Li Man over Yu Xiaogang, they discovered Zhou Qian’s blood sample had been stolen, and Xiao Wu arrived as Dong Jian sensed a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

• Dong Jian and Li Man completed registration and were assigned to Dorm Seven after Yu Xiaogang agreed to explain what he knew about Lin Yu that night.
• Dong Jian defeated Wang Sheng without using his Martial Soul, declined the title of boss, and proposed that students follow whoever was best suited to each task.
• Li Man treated the work-study students’ injuries and recorded their conflicts, while Tang San arrived and defended Yu Xiaogang from criticism.
• Dong Jian and Tang San argued over whether Yu Xiaogang’s theories should be questioned, then Li Man discovered Zhou Qian’s blood sample was missing and found an Eye of Liangyi paper at the window.
• Xiao Wu arrived and asked who led Dorm Seven, while Dong Jian’s Panda Martial Soul sensed the scent of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.

Dong Jian and Xiao Wu fought to a draw, and Dong Jian arranged a body-and-technique spar with Tang San for the next morning. He postponed investigating the stolen blood sample until they grew stronger, then entered the newly opened Hundred Battles Hall and was immediately struck down by an identical version of himself.

• Xiao Wu challenged Dong Jian for control of Dorm Seven, and they fought to a draw after he redirected her Waist Bow with Circular Force Redirection.
• Dong Jian proposed sharing Dorm Seven responsibilities according to each person's strengths, while Tang San challenged him to a spar at the academy training ground the next morning without using Martial Souls.
• Dong Jian and Li Man decided to pause their investigation into the stolen blood sample and the Return to One Society until they had at least their First Soul Rings.
• Dong Jian entered the newly opened Hundred Battles Hall, where he faced a mirror-image opponent with the same abilities and was sent flying by a Mountain-Leaning Collision.

Dong Jian lost his body-only spar with Tang San, whose Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon, and pebble throws kept him at a distance. The fight revealed what Dong Jian needed to train, and the Hundred Battles Hall began a new trial that forced him to fight without sight.

• Dong Jian failed for the third time against his mirror image in the Hundred Battles Hall and realized that it could predict his habits, so he left to conserve his strength for the spar with Tang San.
• Tang San used Mysterious Jade Hand, Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon, and Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to evade Dong Jian’s close-range attacks and keep him from landing a decisive blow.
• Tang San used three pebbles to shift Dong Jian’s balance, then struck his chest and won the spar; Dong Jian accepted the loss and recognized that he had relied too heavily on sight to track Tang San.
• Yu Xiaogang pointed out Dong Jian’s lack of speed and long-range attacks, while Li Man recorded Tang San’s footwork and proposed training Dong Jian to judge movement by sound.
• That night, the Hundred Battles Hall recorded Dong Jian’s weaknesses and began a targeted trial in total darkness, requiring him to endure for one incense stick without using his eyes.

Dong Jian trained with Li Man and Xiao Wu to read attacks without sight, then broke through to rank eight and completed the Hundred Battles Hall’s no-vision trial. The hall’s final stage began with two mirror images attacking together, one copying Dong Jian’s moves and the other imitating Tang San’s Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.

• Dong Jian repeatedly failed the Hundred Battles Hall’s blind trial until he realized that the first sound could be a decoy and that he needed to judge an attack’s speed and distance.
• Li Man trained Dong Jian to distinguish the sounds and trajectories of bamboo leaves, while Xiao Wu tested his ability to detect attacks from the air; Dong Jian caught her wrist once with Circular Force Redirection.
• Dong Jian’s Soul Power broke through the rank-seven barrier, raising him to rank eight and giving him a rough sense of his surroundings with his eyes closed.
• Dong Jian used sound and ground vibrations to anticipate the mirror image’s feints and struck it with Mountain-Leaning Collision, completing the no-vision trial.
• The Hundred Battles Hall summoned two mirror images for its final stage: one copied Dong Jian’s moves, while the other used footwork resembling Tang San’s Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.

Dong Jian defeated the Hundred Battles Hall's paired mirror images and received Kung Fu Deconstruction, but learned that understanding an opponent's techniques could not make up for his physical limits. As Tang San and Xiao Wu began separate paths toward their first Soul Rings, Dong Jian resumed training and was bound by a Blue Silver Grass simulation.

• Dong Jian used the mirror images' coordinated attacks against each other, defeated them, and earned Kung Fu Deconstruction as his reward.
• A revived mirror image struck Dong Jian despite his reading its attack, and the stele warned that his body could not keep up with what he saw.
• Tang San left with Yu Xiaogang to hunt for his first Soul Ring, while Yu Xiaogang refused to take Xiao Wu because the permit was registered only for Tang San.
• Xiao Wu left the academy to find her own way to obtain a Soul Ring, and Dong Jian agreed with Li Man to limit his daily combat training and record his condition.
• Dong Jian entered the Hundred Battles Hall to study control techniques, but a Blue Silver Grass simulation bound him, and the stele identified insufficient physical strength as the reason he could not break free.