Chapter Summaries

Dugu Yan and Li Man coordinated their two control cores against Shui Bing'er and Xue Wu, but Skywater Academy won the platform-control match after demonstrating an embryonic Martial Soul Fusion. Crown Prince Xue Qinghe invited four students to a palace showcase and quietly ordered further observation of Dong Jian, whose dormant Key Fragment stirred.

• Dugu Yan and Li Man struggled to coordinate their tactics, then captured the left and right platforms while Shui Bing'er and Xue Wu took the center.
• Shui Bing'er and Xue Wu combined their powers into an embryonic fusion that overwhelmed the arena, and Skywater Academy won by controlling two platforms.
• Dugu Yan and Li Man reviewed their coordination as Qin Ming urged them to accept when their plans failed.
• Dong Jian considered adapting his shock-wave technique to icy ground and began forming the idea of a Mountain-Shifting Step.
• Xue Qinghe invited Yu Tianheng, Dugu Yan, Dong Jian, and Li Man to a palace showcase, then ordered an attendant to keep observing Dong Jian and Li Man.
• Xue Qinghe recognized a possible resemblance between Dong Jian's Panda Martial Soul and an old Spirit Hall record, while Dong Jian's dormant Key Fragment trembled.

Xue Qinghe questioned the Heaven Dou Royal Academy team about their exchange, Martial Souls, and teamwork, revealing an old record of a Yin-Yang Iron-Eating Beast resembling Dong Jian’s Panda Martial Soul. Dong Jian and Li Man kept their secrets guarded, and the chapter ended with them preparing for training against Feng Xiaotian and testing bamboo’s resistance to Huo Wu’s fire.

• Xue Qinghe asked Yu Tianheng, Dugu Yan, Li Man, and Dong Jian about the exchange, their team’s strengths, and their Martial Souls.
• Xue Qinghe described Spirit Hall records of a Yin-Yang Iron-Eating Beast linked to black and white powers, earth veins, and ancient seals; Dong Jian’s Key Fragment detected a partial structural overlap with his Panda Martial Soul.
• Li Man explained that her resonance with Dong Jian’s Martial Soul had led to the Dragon Bamboo Tremor Formation, while their attempts at a complete fusion had failed.
• After the meeting, Dong Jian and Li Man agreed to accept ordinary imperial resources without revealing their Martial Soul cores, combination techniques, or private secrets.
• That night, Dong Jian told Li Man the Key Fragment had found only a partial structural overlap, and they set aside further investigation for now.
• Li Man told Dong Jian that Feng Xiaotian and Yu Feng would join open-ground trajectory training, while Huo Wu planned to test how well bamboo formations resisted fire.

Dong Jian and Yu Feng practiced reading and restricting Feng Xiaotian’s flight, while Li Man and Huo Wu tested how fire and poison interacted with bamboo formations. Qin Ming announced that Heaven Dou Royal Academy would face Blazing Fire Academy in the final team match, leaving both teams preparing to apply what they had learned.

• Feng Xiaotian taught Dong Jian to judge flight changes through body cues and to place short tremors where an opponent had to change movement.
• Dong Jian and Yu Feng coordinated to restrict Feng Xiaotian’s routes, and Yu Feng brushed his sleeve during the exercise.
• Huo Wu and Li Man tested how flames, venom, smoke, and underground roots could expose or preserve parts of Li Man’s bamboo formation.
• Li Man and Huo Wu agreed to help each other improve their techniques, while Dugu Yan questioned their cooperative approach.
• Qin Ming announced a five-on-five match between Heaven Dou Royal Academy and Blazing Fire Academy, with Yu Tianheng, Dugu Yan, Dong Jian, Li Man, and Yu Feng on Heaven Dou’s team.
• Dong Jian considered how to make his shockwaves come from more than one position in the upcoming match.

The Imperial Fighting Team defeated Blazing Fire Academy by combining Dugu Yan’s poison control, Li Man’s formations, Dong Jian’s tremors, and coordinated attacks from the rest of the team. After the match, both teams recognized what they had learned, and the Imperial Fighting Team prepared to take its new tactics to the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace in three days.

• Huo Wushuang and the Fire Leopard Soul Masters targeted Dong Jian, Dugu Yan, and Li Man, but Li Man and Dugu Yan redirected them with bamboo formations and poison mist.
• Li Man and Dong Jian disrupted Huo Wu’s fire walls, letting Yu Tianheng charge through while Yu Feng’s attack interrupted the Fire Star Soul Master’s support skill.
• Huo Wu used Blazing Sun against Dong Jian, who shifted his weight to spread the recoil and avoided taking the attack head-on.
• Yu Tianheng, Dugu Yan, Li Man, Dong Jian, and Yu Feng coordinated to trap Huo Wu, and Blazing Fire Academy’s teacher stopped the match before she could continue fighting.
• Huo Wu and Dugu Yan exchanged challenges with Li Man, while Feng Xiaotian and Ye Lingling discussed Dong Jian’s new step and its strain on his legs.
• The teams concluded their final exchange at Five Elements Academy, and the Imperial Fighting Team prepared to bring its new tactics to the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace in three days.

Li Man and the other young Soul Masters trained with rivals from the Five Elements Academy, learning to adapt their control techniques and read changing battlefield conditions. The chapter ended as the palace demonstration began, with two mixed groups preparing to compete for four flags.

• Li Man trained with Shui Bing'er on the frozen lake, learning to detect false traces and changing routes without relying on visible formations.
• Dong Jian practiced sensing wind from the air with Feng Xiaotian and Yu Feng, then used Yu Feng’s movement to predict where he would step.
• The young Soul Masters discussed their techniques over lunch, while Qin Ming announced mixed teams for a complex-terrain flag exercise at the palace.
• Xue Qinghe watched the training and said he was interested in what the Soul Masters would become when their abilities were combined.
• The palace’s young Soul Master demonstration officially began the next day.

Dong Jian and Li Man helped the first team win the imperial martial contest by using a partially fused Vibrating Bamboo Spear to disrupt the central platform. Their Dual-Key Cycle stability rose to twenty-four percent, and they left the palace to focus on reaching rank thirty before seeking their Third Soul Rings.

• The two teams divided their forces among the arena’s four areas, and Shui Bing’er secured the shallow-water flag for the first team.
• Yu Tianheng and Huo Wushuang captured the wooden bridge and stone forest flags, while Xue Wu secured the sandy-field flag for the second team.
• With both sides contesting the central flag, Li Man and Dong Jian combined their powers through formation anchors and launched a Vibrating Bamboo Spear that shook the arena.
• Yu Tianheng grabbed the central flag, giving the first team a third flag and the victory when the incense burned out.
• Xue Qinghe praised their partial shared cycle, and the Divine Dragon Secret Realm recorded their Dual-Key Cycle stability at twenty-four percent.
• Xue Qinghe gave the participants medicinal baths and access to the royal archives, while Qin Ming told Dong Jian and Li Man to reach rank thirty before discussing their Third Soul Rings.

Li Man and Dong Jian both reached level thirty through careful training, and Qin Ming selected suitable Soul Beasts for their Third Soul Rings. The four set out for the Royal Soul Hunting Ground, where their hunt began.

• Qin Ming stopped Li Man and Dong Jian from repeating Vibrating Bamboo Spear until they reached level thirty and Ye Lingling cleared them of lingering injuries.
• Li Man broke through to level thirty after refining how she dismantled and rebuilt her bamboo formations.
• Dong Jian completed a full force-transfer circuit during defensive training and broke through to level thirty without sustaining new injuries.
• Qin Ming chose a roughly seventeen-hundred-year-old Wandering Root Golden Bamboo for Li Man and an approximately eighteen-hundred-year-old Dual-Vein Mountain-Treading Beast for Dong Jian.
• Dong Jian and Li Man agreed to test a host-based core before attempting partial fusion after they obtained their Third Soul Rings.
• Qin Ming, Ye Lingling, Shi Mo, Dong Jian, and Li Man entered the Royal Soul Hunting Ground to find the two Soul Beasts.

Li Man and Dong Jian obtained their third Soul Rings and tested how their new abilities could support the Imperial Fighting Team. Qin Ming then announced that the team would travel to Suotuo City in one month to face unfamiliar opponents, whose identity remained unknown.

• Li Man located and defeated a roughly seventeen-hundred-year-old Wandering Root Golden Bamboo, then absorbed its Soul Ring and gained the Parasitic Bamboo Formation Eye.
• Dong Jian defeated an approximately eighteen-hundred-year-old Dual-Vein Mountain-Treading Beast, absorbed its Soul Ring, and gained Mountain Shifting.
• Back at the academy, Li Man and Dong Jian tested their abilities with Shi Mo, Dugu Yan, and Yu Feng, forming a mobile defensive line with a new aerial formation node.
• Qin Ming announced that the Imperial Fighting Team would go to Suotuo City in one month to fight an unfamiliar team on a winning streak.
• Dong Jian and Li Man realized Suotuo City lay in the direction Tang San and Xiao Wu had gone, but they did not know the opposing team's identity.

A month before heading to Suotuo City, the Imperial Fighting Team trained in rotating combinations while Qin Ming kept the lineup undecided. Dong Jian and Li Man integrated their abilities into the team, and the chapter ended with the nine members departing for Soto as their paths began to converge with Tang San’s.

• Qin Ming rotated the nine members through different formations, and the team adapted its defense and control tactics as opponents learned to counter them.
• Dong Jian coordinated with Yu Feng to force Feng Xiaotian to land, while Li Man saved two of ten formation eyes from Huo Wu’s fire.
• Shui Bing’er and Xue Wu gave Li Man an ice crystal containing a strand of bamboo and warned that a sealed formation eye might take a different form.
• Osler worried about competing for a lineup spot, while the Shi Brothers asked Dong Jian to keep training their triangular defense.
• Ye Lingling tracked the team’s injuries and Soul Power, and Li Man began using that information to manage her teammates through her commands.
• Dong Jian and Li Man stabilized at level thirty-one, and Qin Ming announced five team Soul Fighting matches in Soto before the team left Heaven Dou City.

The Imperial Fighting Team won four Soul Fighting matches in Suotuo City while adjusting its lineups and tactics to the unfamiliar arena. After watching the Shrek Seven Devils win, Dong Jian and Li Man recognized former classmates Tang San and Xiao Wu, and the arena matched the two teams for the Imperial Fighting Team’s fifth match.

• Dong Jian and Osler won their two-on-two match by drawing apart their opponents and taking down the agility attacker together.
• Li Man and Dugu Yan adapted their tactics to the hard arena floor and won their two-on-two match using a formation anchor on Dugu Yan’s wrist.
• The Imperial Fighting Team won four team matches with changing lineups, and Qin Ming urged Li Man to reduce the number of commands she gave under pressure.
• Dong Jian and Li Man recognized Tang San and Xiao Wu while the team watched the Shrek Seven Devils win a match.
• The Shrek Seven Devils’ matchmaking application arrived that night as the Imperial Fighting Team’s opponent for its fifth match.

The Imperial Fighting Team watched the Shrek Seven Devils win their eighth match and studied Tang San’s improved control and concealed abilities. Qin Ming selected seven fighters for the teams’ upcoming match, while Tang San decided to keep his Eight Spider Lances hidden unless necessary.

• Qin Ming ordered the Imperial Fighting Team to observe Shrek’s match, where Tang San coordinated the Shrek Seven Devils to defeat their opponents.
• Dong Jian and Li Man recognized Tang San and Xiao Wu from Nuoding Academy, and the two teams exchanged glances across the arena.
• Qin Ming received the next matchup and selected Yu Tianheng, Dugu Yan, Ye Lingling, Shi Mo, Yu Feng, Dong Jian, and Li Man to face Shrek.
• Qin Ming assigned Dugu Yan and Li Man to restrict Tang San’s Blue Silver Grass while the rest of the team handled Shrek’s formation.
• Tang San showed Xiao Wu the hidden Eight Spider Lances beneath his skin and said he would keep them concealed unless the match required them.

Shrek and the Imperial Fighting Team prepared detailed tactics for their upcoming team Soul Fight, with Tang San planning to keep his Eight Spider Lances hidden until he could break their formation. Both teams entered the Soto Great Soul Arena and began the match, each carrying suspicions and countermeasures about the other's unseen abilities.

• Grandmaster and Tang San reviewed the Imperial Fighting Team's abilities, and Tang San assigned Shrek's members tactical roles while warning them about Dugu Yan's poison and Li Man's bamboo control.
• Tang San decided to reveal the Eight Spider Lances only after the Imperial Fighting Team's formation opened, using them to cross the bamboo formation and attack its control core.
• Li Man and Dong Jian considered the possibility that Tang San had an External Soul Bone and prepared a Dragon Bamboo Tremor Formation to counter extra points of support.
• At the Soto Great Soul Arena, Tang San and Dong Jian exchanged words about their recent breakthroughs and agreed that the coming match would show which team was stronger this time.
• The Imperial Fighting Team and Shrek released their Martial Souls and took their positions, and the referee started the Soul Fight.

Shrek used Oscar’s Mushroom Sausage to give all seven members temporary flight, bypassing the Imperial Fighting Team’s ground-based defenses. Li Man then extended her formation through a bamboo node on Yu Feng, allowing Dong Jian’s shockwaves to disrupt the air as Shrek attacked from above.

• Ning Rongrong, Oscar, and Tang San supported Shrek’s opening while Yu Tianheng and Dai Mubai clashed without either fighter advancing deep into the opposing formation.
• Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu tried to break through the Imperial Fighting Team’s rear defenses, but Dong Jian, Shi Mo, and Li Man’s decoy formation eyes stopped them, and Tang San rescued them with Blue Silver Grass.
• Tang San’s Spider Web Restraint tested the Imperial Fighting Team’s defenses, while Dong Jian redirected its pulling force and Shi Mo escaped.
• Oscar gave all seven Shrek members Mushroom Sausages, and they took to the air to attack the Imperial Fighting Team from above.
• Li Man attached a Parasitic Bamboo Formation Eye to Yu Feng, then used Dragon Bamboo Tremor Formation to channel a shockwave through it and disrupt the air currents.

Shrek used the Flying Mushroom Sausage and Tang San’s Blue Silver Grass to launch repeated aerial attacks against the Imperial Fighting Team’s defenses. When the sausage’s effect ended, Tang San revealed his Eight Spider Lances and forced his way through the Dragon Bamboo Tremor Formation, leaving Shrek’s assault on Ye Lingling underway.

• The Imperial Fighting Team disrupted Shrek’s first aerial attack with the Parasitic Bamboo Formation Eye, then used poison and ground tremors to weaken the team’s aerial routes.
• Tang San coordinated attacks on the rear line, but Li Man and Dong Jian thwarted Xiao Wu’s approach while Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling kept Zhu Zhuqing from reaching Ye Lingling.
• Li Man recognized Tang San’s changing posture just as the Flying Mushroom Sausage wore off, and Tang San revealed his Eight Spider Lances to stay aloft.
• Tang San used the Eight Spider Lances to break through the Dragon Bamboo Tremor Formation, tear open Li Man’s main formation, and force Dugu Yan from her control position.
• Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing renewed their assault on Ye Lingling as Shrek’s counterattack began.

The Imperial Fighting Team used Li Man and Dong Jian’s embryonic Mountain-Suppressing Dragon Bamboo fusion to disrupt Shrek’s formations and sever Ning Rongrong’s connection to Dai Mubai. As the teams rearranged after the fusion ended, Tang San prepared to use his concealed Hidden Weapons for the first time.

• Tang San broke Li Man’s ground formation and disrupted the Imperial Fighting Team’s coordination, while Dong Jian and Li Man countered his movement with Mountain Shifting and Dragon Bamboo Piercing Formation.
• Dai Mubai and Yu Tianheng clashed as Tang San blocked Ye Lingling’s healing, and Ma Hongjun’s flames burned away bamboo roots and redirected Dugu Yan’s poisonous mist.
• Li Man and Dong Jian created the embryonic Mountain-Suppressing Dragon Bamboo fusion, which linked the battlefield’s structures and slowed Shrek’s movements for six breaths.
• The fusion enabled Li Man and Dong Jian to break Shrek’s Blue Silver Grass connection between Ning Rongrong and Dai Mubai, while Yu Tianheng and Dai Mubai struck each other head-on.
• After the fusion ended, the Imperial Fighting Team pushed toward Shrek’s rear line, and Tang San steadied himself before aiming his concealed Hidden Weapons at them.

The Imperial Fighting Team and Shrek fought to exhaustion, with the Imperial team’s coordinated defense eventually forcing Tang San to surrender. After the match, both teams acknowledged the result and prepared to face each other again.

• Tang San’s Hidden Weapons stopped the Imperial Fighting Team’s advance, and both teams regrouped for a final assault.
• The Imperial Fighting Team’s defenses drove Xiao Wu away, knocked Ma Hongjun out of the fight, and sent Ning Rongrong and Oscar out of bounds.
• Dong Jian, Li Man, and Dugu Yan briefly restrained Tang San, allowing Yu Feng to push Ning Rongrong out of the arena.
• Tang San rallied Shrek for one last attack, but the seven Imperial Fighting Team members maintained their formation until Shrek could no longer continue.
• Tang San surrendered, and the referee declared the Imperial Fighting Team the winner.
• After the fight, Tang San and Dong Jian discussed their tactics, while Grandmaster and Qin Ming acknowledged the teams’ efforts.

After defeating Shrek, the Imperial Fighting Team reviewed the match and confronted how close the victory had come. Qin Ming set recovery limits and made clear that future lineups would depend on the opponent, leaving Dong Jian and Li Man to consider how to improve their unstable fusion without risking another near-collapse.

• Qin Ming reviewed Shrek’s flight, Tang San’s Eight Spider Lances, and the Imperial Fighting Team’s unstable Mountain-Suppressing Dragon Bamboo fusion, identifying gaps in their counters.
• Qin Ming ordered Dong Jian and Li Man to suspend full fusion training until Ye Lingling confirmed their recovery, while allowing only reduced-intensity practice.
• Qin Ming credited the victory to the team’s intact formation and nine-person preparation, and said future lineups would be chosen to suit each opponent rather than remain fixed.
• Ye Lingling assessed the team’s injuries and imposed restrictions, including ten days without vibration training for Dong Jian and seven days of limits on Li Man’s formation work.
• Dong Jian and Li Man agreed that their fusion had nearly cost them the match and that they needed a better plan than pushing themselves to their limits again.

After the Suotuo City victory, Qin Ming rotated all nine Imperial Fighting Team members through changing lineups to test their value in different tactics. As Dugu Yan’s poison accumulated inside her body, it suddenly erupted during training and she collapsed in an uncontrolled poison mist.

• On the carriage ride back, Dong Jian and Osler agreed to settle whether they belonged in the next lineup with a two-on-two fight, while Shi Mo and Shi Mo discussed proving themselves apart from their usual partnership.
• At Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Qin Ming introduced daily rotating lineups without fixed starters or substitutes, and the first team battle showed how Osler’s threat could force Dugu Yan to shrink her poison zone.
• Dong Jian and Osler won a token contest through coordinated movement, while Li Man’s formations trapped Dong Jian and Osler chose to secure a token instead of rescuing him.
• After a chaotic all-nine-member battle, Qin Ming asked whether a fixed seven could handle every opponent, and the team recognized that all nine could alter their tactics.
• Ye Lingling warned that Dugu Yan’s poison was accumulating; when Dugu Yan suffered sudden chest pain, her poison mist erupted and she collapsed as Li Man cleared escape routes and Dong Jian moved to catch her.

Dugu Yan collapsed after her Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison spiraled out of control, and Ye Lingling could heal her injuries but not remove the poison tied to her Martial Soul. Qin Ming summoned Dugu Bo, who arrived and angrily accused Dugu Yan of cultivating poison into her bones.

• Dugu Yan's poison mist engulfed the training ground, and Li Man and Yu Feng redirected it away from the other members of the Imperial Fighting Team.
• Ye Lingling healed Dugu Yan's meridian damage and woke her, but Dugu Yan's attempt to draw the poison back into herself caused her condition to worsen.
• Li Man and Dong Jian realized the poison was sinking toward Dugu Yan's chest and bones, while Dugu Yan admitted her episodes had grown more frequent and severe.
• Qin Ming sent a message to Dugu Bo despite Dugu Yan's objections, and Dong Jian's black-and-white Soul Power temporarily contained the poison on his arm.
• Li Man proposed drawing off the excess poison without severing its connection to Dugu Yan, but the group had not found a safe way to contain it.
• Dugu Bo arrived at the training ground, examined Dugu Yan, and asked who had told her to cultivate poison into her bones.

Dugu Bo confronted Dong Jian and Li Man after they warned that Dugu Yan’s poison was accumulating in her body, then discovered that his own poison was also escaping his control. The chapter left them proposing to find a temporary place for the poison to go so they could test whether it could leave the body without losing the Martial Soul’s control.

• Dugu Bo questioned Dugu Yan, Ye Lingling, Li Man, and Dong Jian about how they had noticed her worsening poison backlash.
• Dugu Bo tested Dong Jian and Li Man with his Titled Douluo pressure, and they described the cold-hot imbalance in his Soul Power and the poison leaking from his body.
• Li Man challenged Dugu Bo to stop all naturally leaking poison, and he realized that he could not fully contain it.
• Dong Jian, Ye Lingling, and Dugu Bo confirmed that poison beyond Dugu Yan’s control had accumulated in her bones and internal organs.
• Li Man proposed finding the poison a temporary place to go to test whether it could leave the body while remaining under the Martial Soul’s control.