*Notice the intro forgot about TS's second red ring lol?

Maybe I'm crazy but imo that was one of the best episodes I've seen for some time.

I absolutely LOVED the use of flashbacks to describe their individual motivations. Rong Rong's vision of Spirit Hall invading Seven Treasure (as if she were there), Sword Douluo losing his arm, the aftermath of the massacre, etc. were fantastic, as were Oscar's experiences, fighting for his life with hunting parties in the quest for an attack ability. The use of STORY made it so much more compelling, and it didn't hurt that they employed all the best music tracks.

I admit this is my least favorite of the nine trials, but damn...this ep completely took me by surprise.

*had to laugh at Fatty's almost failed 'reach around'😂

I can’t agree more. Most of the time, screen production falls short and can’t live up to its novel. But it turns out, they even surpassed the novel.

I thought both episodes (last week’s and this) were excellent. I just love the inclusion of every Shrek member.

Fatty’s ending pose was just classic! 😂🤣🤣

Tbh the flashback moments (usually in motivational scenes) in normal anime really piss me off as they're mostly shot for shot content we've already watched which is just lazy and boring. but this epsiodes use of flashback events was really incredible and such a refreshing change from the norm. good music too lol!

YES!! EXCELLENT POINT! We almost never get new material/scenes in anime flashbacks, which is probably a big part of why I liked this ep so much. It would have been cool to get more of Mubai/ZZQ at Star Luo, but all good.

The art direction was crazy creative.

dragging?? this is 100x faster than the manga, manga spent so much time on every 10 steps of the stairs where they actually battle something. If anything its too fast for me

bro the manga spent over a year before the stairs was finished and they even skipped the 2nd test and made a new one

Edited. My OP was speaking more to those complaining that it's dragging on other sites, not that I agree with them. You're exactly right--compared to the rate they're leveling up, the screen time is super short. It was only a couple episodes ago that Fatty got his 6th ring and now he's one lvl short of 70 ffs LOL. Never read the manga but the novel spent a lot of time on each of the trials too.

ahhh ok... btw when ts get this 7th ring he actually have to battle a dragon for it in the manga, is it the same for the LN?

Oh wow, no nothing like that in the novel. The big difference between the novel and the adaptation in getting his 7th was the difficulty in absorbing it. The latter kinda underemphasized how close TS was to dying--the novel was far more graphic. YT Addict gave a great description of it in the comments.

i just hope they will not spend the next ep just on TS going up the stairs

I did not expect them to make the most boring part of this trial the best part, the music was on point

wasn't the blue silver king ring supposed to expand to a red ring?

It does but that's a long way off yet.

Why in the beggining of the episode theres one less red ring now?

Great episode. Rong Rong's trial had me in tears.

I really love how they presented the “boring arc” here. They balanced the backstory of each Shrek member very delicately adding so much more vibrancy and depth to each character.

To be honest, this 1st test is my least fav mini-arc in the novel because this is where the author started giving ridiculous plot armours to XW (and TS to a lesser extent).

We all know TS and co will pass the test but what matters the most is how they do it. In this respect, the animation totally transcend the novel to a new level.

The only thing I love in the novel is how selfless TS is and his relationship with Rong Rong is the most heartwarming and special (though nothing romantic). In the novel, TS literally piggybacked Rong Rong all the way, blocking the pressure head-on for her, giving her his soul power and strengthening his domain by staying in his 7th ring martial soul form when she started getting weaker and weaker. In return, Rong Rong pushed herself to the limit and risked her life for TS later. She used her “heart blood” (literally coughing out blood from her heart onto her pagoda) to intensify the strength of it. I can’t recall in details what exactly are the consequences should TS fail but Rong Rong definitely went above and beyond to help him.

What I hate most in the novel is undoubtedly the bunny part. I know, I’m probably known here as the bunny hater but the part where she “contributed” is just so exaggerated. Our boy TS piggybacked his soulless bunny in the beginning all the way up to the 323 step and with the remaining steps, TS was on the edge of collapsing. The whole time, the author emphasised how powerful the Seagod light is and how overpowering it is for each and every one of them. But it seems this logic doesn’t quite apply to our bunny.

So for a dramatic ending, bunny hops into action and since TS was so weak, he could only maintain his domain to just envelope the two of them, anything outside, the pressure is just neck-breaking and soul-shatteringly strong. But bunny is able to use her invisible golden body for 3 secs (which doesn’t make sense that her soul still has that power because it has become TS’s soul bone ability). What’s more, TS couldn’t use that ability to shield himself earlier because it would get bounced off but she could because she’s shielding him and not directing it at the Seagod light. Like what logic is this? 🤦‍♂️

In that 3 secs she kicked TS up 8 steps with her 8-stage-drop. Like how exactly? All in 3 seconds? When the 3-sec protection ended, she still managed to kick him up one more step and at that time his domain was already gone. Like really? TS is dying there while the bunny could still kick him up without any shield and she was still planning to kick him up one last step to 333. Of course, to dramatise everything the author then wrote that if she did, she would be unable to withstand the pressure alone and get shot off like Mubai. Why only at 332? The 3-sec ended at 331 but she was still standing there. 🙄

But in the end, the author still chose to give the glory to TS, with him dropping his final card: the evolved Death-god domain. That domain is theoretically even more powerful than the Seagod light and could cut through the light like a Deathgod. I didnt quite understand the power and strength of it until the author introduced the “Asura God”. Apparently Asura God is much more powerful than the Seagod and he’s one of the 5 original God Kings in the divine realm. Long story short, Slaughter City is part of the Asura God’s inheritance test just like the Seagod tests and TS’s Deathgod domain is a true power of the Asura God.

My question is, if this domain is so freaking powerful why only showcase that for the very last step while the bunny who is supposed to have a weak and unstable soul can outperform TS? It seems as if the author desperately tries to fit the bunny in wherever he can and power her up every time, no matter how ridiculous it is. This whole XW reanimation/resurrection plot is just so flawed to begin with. I really wanted and I tried so hard to like XW but the author is just ruining her character with all these implausible scenes.

Anyway, I just wanted to get it off my chest, maybe I’m just too nit picky about XW. I’m sure there are plenty of people who love her and the “SanWu” pair. Don’t let me spoil your fondness for her. But I’m glad the production team is trying (rather successfully) to plug up the plot holes of the novel. Kudos to the anime/donghua for their revitalised portrayal of each character!

nah I'm not gonna reveal all that spoilers lol

I'm a Xiao Wu x Tang San enjoyer but hear me out
IF XIAO WU ACTUALLY DIED, and TS while being all melancholic and grieving strongly overcome the trials and tribulations the story would be sooooo much better, and that episode 134 would leave a way bigger impact on us (at least my tears are not for nothing lol).

The only why I still ship them is because ep134 was so damn beautifully sad
Not that i can think of XW's replacement if she actually died, uhh maybe Hu Lieana will do

BINGO. As you and YT Addict just noted, it's her ABSENCE, along with INTERMITTENT appearances to support TS that could have made her character so much better--rather than backpacking her way through the novel..

I know right, ep134 was epic. I don’t mind TS being a one-woman-man, and their love is indeed heartbreaking. I just feel that the author made the wrong move resurrecting XW’s soulless body. Like you said, the impact of both of their sacrifices was reduced dramatically when she was so easily brought back to life just by eating some herbs. Perhaps let TS resurrect her rightfully when he becomes SeaGod. That will be the biggest motivation for TS to pass all the tests and trials. In that way, the readers will miss her more and her sacrifice would not be in vain.

yep that's what i wanted to say.

some episodes after the sacrifice aaaaaaand she's back 🤣

Damn...thanks for the recount because I was dreading the idea of rereading the material for next week 🤣. The XW plot armor was so ridiculous that the details were almost wiped clean from my memory LOL. I have to laugh that only yesterday (practically) TS refused XW's body (wink wink) for fear of damaging her soul, but she's somehow magically just fine on steps 330+, using a SB ability she doesn't possess and that logically shouldn't benefit TS at all 😂🤦‍♂️. Imo the last good use of XW's character died when she helped TS win the bet against Bai He. I loved how the animators adapted that. It convinced me that if the author had given TS a different 6th ability (rather than XW herself) and confined her appearances to spiritual form--Nullity and perhaps more frequent emotive scenes as TS got closer to TD--it may have worked. Once she went corporeal, it was over.

The only good thing about next week is his evolved DG domain. I swear every time I think about all the story line opportunities for Asura development TS *could* have had, it makes me ill. The Clear Sky Hammer and its affinity with DG/Asura should have been the focal point of the entire story, or at the very least, better balanced with the voluminous material devoted to the SG trials. Instead, the author largely ignored it by comparison. And worse, when TS is finally ready to put rings on his CS Hammer--the ONE thing we looked forward to the whole show--the author slaps them on so fast it's practically an afterthought.

“Once she went corporeal, it was over. Not saying I'm full of better solutions, just that it doesn't work LOL.”

Nope, it doesn’t! Remember we once laughed about it, if Bibidong got hold of XW’s spirit ring. That would be the most hilarious scene ever! Imagine Bibidong invoking XW’s soul to let her “eight-stage-drop” TS. 🤣🤣

IKR, the comedy possibilities are endless lol. Bibi might have found herself getting 8-staged by XW if she ever used her🤣🤣 . Mother's ring works but daughter's has a GLITCH😂.

if only mc werent such a simp

Ohh yall know what yall were doing here with making us wait for TS. But the way they used the flash backs and finally shown ther Sword Duoluo on how he lost his arm fitted so well here and relieved me of my wanting to see how it happened and how he survived. it was a nice touch to be honest. All of them climbing over their hurdles. It shown each will power and motivations as their innerstruggles.

I loved Rong Rong epic music when she reached her goal. Loved that what fatty raised his hand in a cool style that fits his personality. This was awesome and took away the boredom of the stair climb. This episode was great. TS needs a nerf i will bet after this though he is already so OP its ridiculous. Keep these going and please don't end this yet i need more episodes.

They never showed the fight of Sword Douluo. Now they show us glimpses of it?! From the looks of it, It was EPIC. Why didn't they showed it properly!!

And they prolonged the test a bit too much. I was expecting that the test will be over in half a episode.
I guess the Next full episode will be Tang San doing the test. It makes me feel like I have watched only for 5 mins even though 20 mins have passed.

This was the FASTEST EPISODE in a while! so intense and they havent even shown Tang San yet!!!!!

I skipped every flashback after oscar climbed the stair except rong rongs

this episode was so epic, everyone worked so hard to deal their struggles as they climb up the stairs. and i believe zzq is has black level 5 test and should have a slightly lower stairs to go than dai mubai who has black level 6 test right? but she move along with dai mubai together idk why but it's just so wholesome, if her first test is same as mu bai's first test then forget what i said lol. shout out to tang san for using his wits to the max for figured out a loophole of sea god's light, he even still help them by give them his soul power even though he was the one who got to climb up more stairs than them + oscar's skills is so useful dang

I mean, they made It look cool and all but reality is that they wasted an entire episode on them just climbing stairs.

Congrats!

Ning Rong Rong part gave me chills where she used the pain she felt over the destruction of her tribe as a motivational strength for her to Reach a point where she not only restores the tribes prominence but also has the power to Protect it .....Chills

Imagine having a friend group from childhood where you all become the most influential people in the world in your own ways. Gosh, I want that sort of ambitious friend group

Is the stair arc over yet?

Decent episode, in reality could've been skipped but I'm a true rider aha!!

What's the title of the series in the AD after the episode

This was the most intense stairs climb I may have seen in an anime.
Frankly it was great!

I'm just glad that it didn't take a half a year or so to see them finish climbing the stairs.

An episode per stair 🤣

That could have well been the case, if they followed the manga xD

snethemba boi

I thought I can see all of them pass this episode lol

skip ...skip ...... skip...... skip
and finished this episode in 4 minutes lol

as an anime only yeah this feels a bit dragged out BUT:
1. at least we know Chen Xin held his own against 5 titled douluos UwU
2. it showcased how hard and tolling the stairs are OmO
3. Rong Rong is so damn strong, while being an auxiliary type and been supporting the others before her, she manage to do it ^_^
4. the scenes are spectacular and beautiful

so yeah it's dragged out but beautifully

and uhh did they forgot Xiang Xiang or she's not supposed to climb? i mean her test is upgraded afterall right?

her test was passed when it was upgraded she climbed the steps and got her reward

I really wanted to see the fight to attain tang sans 2nd red soul ring. It was so epic in the manga. Im so sad they didnt show it here

I said to myself "There's no way the whole episode is just going to be everyone walking up stairs." and I was right, San and Wu still haven't done it yet...fuck me.

well in the manhwa they spent a whopping 40 chapters 🤣
thiis is a pretty good upgrade I would say

Intense!!!

Hi