Chapter Summaries

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.

Feng Xiaotian repeatedly attacked and rescued Godwind teammates while avoiding sustained contact with Dong Jian, gradually stretching the Imperial Fighting Team's formation. As Godwind learned to block Li Man's bamboo footholds, Li Man redirected her support to Yu Feng, setting up a new way for him to turn in midair.

• Feng Xiaotian made repeated dives against the Imperial Fighting Team, changing direction or pulling away before Dong Jian could redirect him for long.
• Dong Jian used Li Man's Green Jade Bamboo to reach Feng Xiaotian, but Feng Xiaotian escaped after only brief contact while rescuing a Godwind teammate.
• Feng Xiaotian and Godwind's other agile fighters stretched the Imperial Fighting Team's formation, and Godwind began cutting down Li Man's bamboo footholds in advance.
• Yu Tianheng called the Imperial Fighting Team back together, while Yu Feng exchanged a move with Feng Xiaotian in the air and continued pursuing him from the side.
• Li Man placed her fourth Green Jade Bamboo foothold along Yu Feng's falling path, and Feng Xiaotian focused on the point where it would appear beneath him.

The Imperial Fighting Team tested Li Man’s Dragon Bamboo Borrows the Air to redirect Yu Feng and disrupt Feng Xiaotian’s rescues. Feng Xiaotian adapted by climbing out of Dong Jian’s interception, while Godwind began treating Yu Feng and the fleeting bamboo footholds as threats.

• Yu Feng’s forceful landing shattered Li Man’s first bamboo foothold, but he dodged Feng Xiaotian’s attack.
• Li Man gave Yu Feng a second foothold, which he used lightly to redirect Feng Xiaotian and force him onto a new path.
• Dong Jian deflected Feng Xiaotian’s dive just enough for Yu Tianheng and the team to pressure a stranded Godwind Soul Master.
• Yu Feng agreed to make Feng Xiaotian turn once more so Dong Jian could get into position.
• Li Man’s next foothold helped Yu Feng force Feng Xiaotian to turn twice, but Feng Xiaotian climbed away and left his teammate exposed to Yu Tianheng’s lightning.

The Imperial Fighting Team defeated Godwind by keeping Feng Xiaotian occupied in the air while Yu Tianheng and his teammates split apart the ground formation. After the victory, Qin Ming presented information about their next opponent, Skywater Academy, whose arena had been prepared with layers of ice, water, and cavities.

• Feng Xiaotian pressured Yu Feng in the air while Godwind's ground fighters clustered together, and Li Man told Dong Jian she had two reliable uses of Dragon Bamboo Borrows the Air left.
• Yu Tianheng and Shi Mo pressed Godwind's left flank as Dugu Yan narrowed their movement with poison, and Li Man's bamboo support helped Yu Feng divert Feng Xiaotian into Dong Jian's path.
• Yu Tianheng broke through Godwind's ground formation, while Li Man saved her last support point until Feng Xiaotian feinted toward her and forced him to change direction again.
• The Imperial Fighting Team kept Godwind divided until their lead teacher conceded, and the referee declared Heaven Dou Royal Academy the winner.
• Qin Ming showed the team information about Skywater Academy, and Dong Jian recognized that Shui Bing'er had prepared an arena with frozen layers, water, and cavities.

Dong Jian shut down Mountain Domain after Shui Bing'er’s ice-and-water tactics fed him misleading footfall signals, then relied on observing opponents’ movements instead. As the shifting ice broke apart Li Man’s ground formation anchors, she withdrew three nodes and decided the next formation would not rely on the ground.

• Shui Bing'er used thin ice, water, and hollows beneath the stage to multiply and distort the signals Dong Jian received through Mountain Domain.
• After making two positioning mistakes, Dong Jian turned off his black fourth Soul Ring and used Force Observation to read opponents’ body movements, blocking their attacks more accurately.
• Shui Bing'er’s sliding ice disrupted Li Man’s ground routes, forcing her to adjust the formation while Shi Mo and Yu Tianheng avoided compromised paths.
• Shui Bing’er split the central ice sheet into sections that moved in different directions, shifting Li Man’s anchors and breaking their connections.
• Li Man withdrew three ground nodes and told the team that the next formation would not be placed on the ground.

Li Man’s mobile formation links were repeatedly disrupted as Shui Bing’er froze the people carrying their anchor points. Li Man established backup anchors, then withdrew one formation eye to reduce the network she had to manage, leaving the next round with only a temporary healing route still open.

• Shui Bing’er targeted the people carrying Li Man’s mobile formation eyes, freezing Yu Feng’s takeoff point and Shi Mo’s leg to break the routes.
• Li Man redirected the healing route through Yu Feng, letting Ye Lingling’s healing reach Yu Tianheng at the front.
• Li Man added backup anchors for the two critical routes and switched one connection to Yu Feng before Shi Mo’s route was fully cut.
• Shui Bing’er attacked Yu Feng and Shi Mo together, forcing both anchors out of position and breaking Ye Lingling’s healing line.
• Dong Jian blocked an advancing Skywater fighter while Li Man withdrew an outer formation eye to simplify the network.

Imperial Fighting Team adapted to Shui Bing'er’s ice control by abandoning its sprawling formation and relying on short, temporary links and independent movement. They defeated Skywater Academy, and Qin Ming’s next matchup sheet named Thunder Academy.

• Li Man shrank the formation to a few short links, while Dong Jian kept Yin-Yang Mountain Domain inactive and the team moved without waiting for a complete route.
• Skywater Academy repeatedly froze the team’s mobile anchors, but Yu Feng, Shi Mo, and Dugu Yan took turns covering gaps as Ye Lingling and the front line reconnected.
• Dugu Yan marked an impassable strip with poison, and Dong Jian redirected Yu Tianheng’s retreat so he could return to the attack and strike Skywater Academy’s control position.
• Imperial Fighting Team repeatedly shifted its short links until Yu Tianheng broke into the control zone, Dugu Yan’s poison separated Skywater Academy’s front and rear, and the team suppressed its opponents.
• The referee declared Heaven Dou Royal Academy the winner, and Qin Ming showed the team its next matchup against Thunder Academy.

Yu Tianheng faced Yu Tianxin as Thunder Academy kept its formation close behind its captain, preventing the Imperial Fighting Team from exploiting a gap. After twice holding back to avoid overextending, Yu Tianheng finally pursued through an opening, leaving both teams stretched to their limits as he faced his next decision.

• Yu Tianheng and Yu Tianxin clashed head-on while Thunder Academy’s flanks kept pace with Yu Tianxin, denying the Imperial Fighting Team its previous tactic.
• Yu Tianheng stopped pursuing when his teammates were out of position, and Yu Tianxin used the pause to drive the Imperial Fighting Team backward.
• Dugu Yan and Li Man helped the team regain its footing as Yu Tianxin pointed out that Thunderclap was no longer leaving him to charge ahead alone.
• Yu Tianheng stopped again when Yu Feng remained occupied, allowing Thunderclap to press its advantage and put the Imperial Fighting Team on the back foot.
• Yu Tianheng chose to pursue through a real opening created by Dugu Yan’s poison mist, forcing Yu Tianxin back while both teams stretched their lines to the limit.

Yu Tianheng learned to judge when to pursue Thunder Academy and when to regroup, leading Imperial Fighting Team to victory. After the match, Yu Tianxin promised to meet his first wave next time, while Shrek continued closing the gap in the standings.

• Yu Tianheng pursued Yu Tianxin, but Dong Jian and the others covered the stretched formation as Thunder Academy pressed back.
• Yu Tianheng chose not to pursue a second opening, allowing Imperial Fighting Team to regroup and withstand Yu Tianxin's counterattack.
• Yu Feng and Dugu Yan helped expose a gap in Thunderclap's formation, and Yu Tianheng charged through Li Man's three-breath shortcut.
• Dong Jian, Shi Mo, and Yu Feng delayed Yu Tianxin's response while Yu Tianheng called his team back into formation.
• Imperial Fighting Team exploited another opening to break Thunder Academy's formation, and the referee declared Heaven Dou Royal Academy the winner.
• Yu Tianxin and Yu Tianheng discussed their next encounter as Imperial Fighting Team's points rose and Shrek drew closer in the standings.

Dong Jian watched Shrek compete and updated his models using their newly observed tactics, finding that the team had changed significantly since Suotuo City. He left the full simulation disabled because the model was only thirty-one percent reliable, while Shrek and the Imperial Fighting Team continued studying one another ahead of a likely future match.

• The Imperial Fighting Team reviewed the standings, and Qin Ming brought them to watch Shrek's match during their break.
• Dong Jian observed Shrek's improved coordination, including Ning Rongrong's support, Oscar's supplies, Tang San's layered control, and Dai Mubai's changed role.
• Shrek won after Tang San chose to redirect pressure through Dai Mubai rather than pull Zhu Zhuqing back immediately, and Dong Jian recorded the tactical differences.
• Dong Jian updated the Divine Dragon Secret Realm's models, raising Tang San's reliability to thirty-one percent, but rejected a full simulation and kept only risk alerts.
• Tang San and Dong Jian watched each other from across the stands, while Grandmaster observed the Imperial Fighting Team and Qin Ming reminded his team that both rankings and people changed.

After Shrek’s second match, Dong Jian tested the Divine Dragon Secret Realm’s model against Tang San’s choices and restricted it to comparisons and risk warnings rather than attack recommendations. Meanwhile, Yu Xiaogang and Tang San recognized that Dong Jian’s force-redirection techniques came from sustained physical training, not a Soul Skill, and the chapter ended with the Imperial Fighting Team joking about spectators trying to imitate him.

• Dong Jian watched Shrek’s match before updating the model, which misread Tang San’s control choices as Tang San conserved his control and protected Ning Rongrong through his teammates.
• The model’s reliability rose to 36 percent, and Dong Jian rejected its recommended opening target, limiting its use to historical comparisons, known-ability warnings, and similar past situations.
• Yu Xiaogang reviewed recordings of Dong Jian’s movements and concluded that his force redirection and footwork came from long-term training rather than a specific Soul Skill.
• Tang San revised his notes to focus on whether Dong Jian’s momentum returned to zero between movements, leaving uncertain parts blank rather than forcing them into a fixed system.
• Qin Ming brought the Imperial Fighting Team a spectator’s drawing that called Dong Jian’s technique a borrowed-force Soul Skill, and Li Man teased Dong Jian about trying to master it.