Chapter Summaries

Liang Qu, Long Binglin, and Long E Ying returned to the Immortal Island Above the Clouds and defeated the Mirage Tiger guarding the palace. Little Mirage Dragon absorbed the tiger’s qi and gained the ability to transform it into a powerful white tiger and a silver-white armguard for Liang Qu.

• Liang Qu and his companions entered the Immortal Island Above the Clouds with Little Mirage Dragon and sent fourteen mist beasts ahead toward the palace.
• Liang Qu warned Long Binglin and Long E Ying about the Mirage Tiger, then the three of them fought it in the palace hall.
• Long Binglin restrained the tiger while Long E Ying drove it into reach, allowing Liang Qu and the others to defeat it and obtain Marsh Essence and Geng Metal Mirage Tiger Qi.
• Liang Qu fed the Mirage Tiger Qi to Little Mirage Dragon, which summoned a lifelike white tiger that retained some of the original tiger’s instincts.
• Little Mirage Dragon transformed the white tiger into a silver-white armguard that wrapped around Liang Qu’s right arm and reached his shoulder.

Liang Qu arrived at the Imperial Capital’s strength-event selection for the Martial Examination as an instructor, drawing the crowd’s attention with his striking Scholar-Warrior Sleeve and Little Mirage Dragon. He met Meng Qiang and learned that a candidate had been caught secretly taking drugs, then wondered why no one had tried to bribe him.

• Crowds gathered at the Martial Arts Hall to watch the Martial Examination’s strength-event selection and discuss Liang Qu’s reputation.
• Liang Qu arrived on a crimson horse wearing a new arm guard manifested by Little Mirage Dragon, and the crowd erupted at his appearance.
• Liang Qu greeted the other instructors and spoke with Meng Qiang, who explained that the Feather Forest Army was there to keep order.
• A candidate was caught secretly taking drugs, struck by an instructor, and dragged away by clerks.
• Liang Qu asked Meng Qiang why nobody had offered him a bribe, and Meng Qiang said his reputation made him seem unlikely to accept one.

Liang Qu demonstrated the Martial Examination’s pillar-lifting trial by carrying all five Bronze Pillars across the red line with one hand, astonishing the candidates and officials. After Instructor Wei repeated the rules and penalties, the examination began.

• Instructor Wei explained the ten Martial Examination rules to the candidates in Class A Queue.
• A candidate asked Liang Qu to demonstrate the pillar trial, drawing the attention of the entire field.
• Liang Qu lifted the Dragon Pillar with one hand and explained the different pillars’ weights and scores.
• Liang Qu stacked all five Bronze Pillars, carried them ten steps across the red line, and set them down steadily.
• Instructor Wei warned the candidates about penalties for violating the rules, then struck the gong to begin the examination.

Liang Qu oversaw the martial examination, where candidates struggled with the pillars and officials caught a substitute examinee and a candidate who had taken pills. After the day’s tests, Liang Qu hurried home and found Awei facing a Golden Armor Beetle in the quiet room.

• Bai Zhiduan failed to lift the elephant pillar, then managed only to move the ox pillar and received five points.
• Liang Qu and Instructor Wei exposed a candidate using a false identity, and the Feather Forest Army took him away.
• Officials caught another candidate secretly taking pills and imprisoned him pending a later decision.
• The day’s examination ended without anyone lifting the dragon pillar, and only three candidates barely lifted the elephant pillar.
• Liang Qu rushed home and found Awei facing a Golden Armor Beetle that had grown short legs and looked like it was made of gold.

Liang Qu subdued the newly transformed Time Insect and discovered that its fused Long Qi had become Life Creation Long Qi, which could extend life, restore vitality, and produce Seeds of Life Creation. He left with a powerful new resource for cultivating divine powers, though he worried about finding enough Marsh Essence to use it.

• Liang Qu returned to find Awei and the transformed Time Insect locked in a fierce battle, then caught the insect and easily withstood its attacks with his newly seeded Dragon Tiger Golden Body.
• Awei told Liang Qu that the Time Insect had swallowed its cocoon, and Liang Qu used the Ze Cauldron to drain the insect and recover the fused Long Qi.
• The Ze Cauldron revealed that the strand was Life Creation Long Qi, combining the effects of Seasonal Long Qi, Dead Wood Meeting Spring, and Heavenly Water Morning Dew.
• Liang Qu discovered that Life Creation Long Qi could produce a Seed of Life Creation each season for three thousand Marsh Essence, and that the seeds could nurture divine powers or replace certain Long Qi requirements.
• Liang Qu calculated how the seeds could help him advance, then worried that his growing plans would require more Marsh Essence than he could easily obtain.

Liang Qu failed to subdue the Time Insect again, contained it in a stronger bamboo tube, and watched it spin a golden cocoon. While overseeing the Martial Examination, he learned the Northern Court delegation was being held as hostages and saw the strength selection conclude before the Treasure Ship arrived.

• Liang Qu’s second attempt to subdue the Time Insect failed, so he asked Lu Gang for a material the insect could not bite through.
• Liang Qu bought an oversized tube made from Jade Seed Bamboo, and the Time Insect soon spun itself a golden cocoon inside it.
• Meng Qiang told Liang Qu that the Northern Court delegation was being kept in the capital as hostages while their return gifts were withheld.
• A contestant lifted the Dragon Pillar, and the strength selection ended with three people having lifted one, including an examinee with an Innate Martial Bone.
• The Treasure Ship arrived almost the day after the competition ended.

Liang Qu and his companions inspected the court’s gift: a treasure ship carved from Small Creation Wood that could gather sun and moon essence to aid cultivation. After discovering the ship’s cultivation room and hidden compartments, Liang Qu decided to remain in the Imperial Capital a few more days before departing.

• Eunuch Li presented Liang Qu with a large treasure ship, and Liang Qu’s companions examined its seamless hull and learned it was a self-repairing Spiritual Artifact made mostly from Small Creation Wood.
• Eunuch Li explained that the ship could use sun and moon essence to speed its voyage or store the essence for a cultivation room, and Liang Qu tested the room and absorbed what it held.
• Eunuch Li showed Liang Qu the ship’s hidden compartments, spare Small Creation Wood, and ice cellar before accepting two hundred taels in Silver Notes and leaving.
• Liang Qu and his companions admired the ship while Lu Gang explained that Small Creation Wood was rare and controlled by the court.
• Liang Qu told Hu Qi they would leave after the fifteenth and stay in the Imperial Capital a few more days.

As Liang Qu prepared to leave the capital, he agreed to carry gifts to his friends in Pingyang Prefecture. There, Quan Linghan decided to bring another Mermaid Tribe from Pengze to Jiangchuan County so they could repay Liang Qu for his help.

• The mothers of Ran Zhongshi, Ke Wenbin, and Xiang Fangsu asked Liang Qu to deliver gifts to their children, and Su Xiaoran’s maid gave him a box for Ke Wenbin.
• Quan Linghan reflected on the Mermaid Tribe’s new prosperity and the success of Mermaid Silk, which had made enough money to cover their taxes.
• Quan Linghan summoned Quan Guangqin and Quan Yuxuan and told them that a second Mermaid Tribe, mostly members of the Leng Surname Tribe, lived in Pengze.
• Quan Linghan explained that he had kept the other tribe’s existence secret to protect them if the Pengze Merfolk were ever endangered.
• Quan Linghan announced that he wanted to bring the other Mermaid Tribe to Jiangchuan County and repay Liang Qu for yielding part of his dividends.

After watching the civil and martial Number One Scholars parade through the Imperial Capital, Liang Qu and his companions departed aboard the Treasure Ship for home. On the journey south, they opened chests dredged from Accumulated Water Pond, but the first held little more than ruined belongings and silver.

• The civil and martial Number One Scholars emerged from the Noon Gate and led the examination parade through the capital while the crowd celebrated.
• Liang Qu told his senior brothers and sisters it was time to leave, and they closed the Xu Residence and set sail south aboard the Treasure Ship.
• Xu Zishuai and Xiang ChangSong discussed how quickly the Treasure Ship could return, estimating a journey of less than fifteen days.
• Liang Qu revealed that A Fei had dredged up five chests from Accumulated Water Pond and opened the first, which contained rotten belongings, decayed pills, and about two hundred taels of silver.
• At Xu Zishuai's urging, Liang Qu broke the chains on the remaining four chests.

Liang Qu’s crew found three thousand taels of Great Qian silver in the final underwater crate, restoring his assets. Meanwhile, a mysterious middle-aged man in Cang Prefecture learned of Liang Qu’s approaching Treasure Ship and killed the messenger who had tracked him, saying Liang Qu did not know him.

• Liang Qu’s crew opened the last crate and found three thousand taels of Great Qian treasury silver, which Liang Qu stripped of its stamps.
• Liang Qu rewarded A Fei with dragon meat and counted the unexpected silver toward the cost of settling the Time Insect.
• A messenger told a middle-aged man in Cang Prefecture that Liang Qu would arrive aboard a distinctive Treasure Ship in about three days.
• The middle-aged man questioned the messenger about Liang Qu and his companions while sharing a meal.
• When the messenger asked whether they were old acquaintances, the middle-aged man killed him and said he knew Liang Qu, but Liang Qu did not know him.

Liang Qu’s sudden premonition warned him of danger just before Grandmaster Ning Gongcai appeared aboard the ship, demanding the White Ape and seizing him. As the ship sank and Ning Gongcai crushed Liang Qu’s golden protection, Liang Qu revealed a jade token that triggered an enormous surge of silver light.

• Xu Yuelong and Ran Zhongshi wondered why Southern Zhili’s divination had changed from minor misfortune to great fortune, and Ran Zhongshi suggested asking Frog Duke.
• As Liang Qu’s group neared Cang Prefecture, Liang Qu experienced a sudden premonition and prepared his protective tokens.
• Ning Gongcai appeared on the ship, identified himself as Ning Chaoqing’s father, and demanded to know where the White Ape was.
• Ning Gongcai seized Liang Qu and threatened to kill the others as his Soul-Devouring Bone-Corroding Wind damaged the ship.
• The ship plunged into the water, and Liang Qu used a Golden Body Token to resist Ning Gongcai before drawing out a jade token.
• Ning Gongcai froze upon seeing Liang Qu’s jade token, which shattered and released an expanding ring of silver light.

Liang Qu fought Ning Gongcai, a suspected Ghost Mother Sect Grandmaster, after Ning ambushed him on the Cang Prefecture canal. Liang Qu killed Ning but collapsed from his injuries, while the Prefect learned of the attack.

• A burst of light let Liang Qu and the others escape Ning Gongcai’s attack, but Ning seized Liang and crushed his skull before Liang used a jade tablet to break free.
• Ning pursued the fleeing Water Beasts with gray mist, and Liang rallied schools of fish to block the mist and help the beasts escape.
• Liang trapped Ning in a massive water vortex and attacked with Vortex Blades and venomous Water Guns while keeping him from reaching the surface.
• After a quarter hour, Ning floated to the surface with his body rotted and his heart barely beating, while Liang staggered ashore and collapsed.
• The chief constable told the Prefect of Cang Prefecture that Liang had been ambushed on the canal by an attacker suspected to be a Ghost Mother Sect Grandmaster.

After Liang Qu's treasure ship sank in the Jinglan Grand Canal, Cang Prefecture's authorities and the Wang and Li Families recovered its cargo and brought him to the Prefectural Office. Liang Qu woke from his injuries and asked whether the Grandmaster who attacked him was dead.

• Li Xiaoyan stopped looters from taking crates from the river, and the Wang and Li Family heads ordered their people to secure the wreck and close the Cang Prefecture stretch of the canal.
• Deng Yingshen and his subordinates brought the unconscious Liang Qu to the Prefectural Office, where physicians said his head injury would heal but warned that he would suffer dizziness, vomiting, and sleeplessness.
• The physicians confirmed that the Grandmaster attacker was beyond saving after taking a Martial Saint's blow and being further injured by poisoned water.
• Lu Gang tried to repair the ship with the creation timber while Ta Ta Kai and the river otters opened and dried the salvaged crates.
• Liang Qu woke that evening, heard what had happened, and asked whether his attacker was dead.

After surviving the attack on the Blood River, Liang Qu learned the slain enemy had been an ordinary Grandmaster and explained how the Flood Dragons’ hunt for the White Ape had led to the ambush. As word of his victory spread, the court convened and an imperial envoy arrived in Cang Prefecture with Small Creation Wood from the Ten Directions.

• Liang Qu recovered enough to learn that the Ghost Mother Sect attacker had been an ordinary Grandmaster, then discussed the Flood Dragons’ bounty for the White Ape with his companions.
• Deng Yingshen and several Cang Prefecture family heads visited Liang Qu, who thanked them for helping salvage the ship and promised to report the attack to the court.
• Liang Qu wrote a letter, confirmed that his Official Seal and the bamboo tube containing the Time Insects had survived, and felt relieved that his twelve Great Merits were safe.
• News spread through Cang Prefecture that Liang Qu had killed a Ghost Mother Sect Grandmaster, and the court convened at midday the following day.
• Meng Qiang discussed Liang Qu’s feat at the Training Field, and an imperial envoy carrying Small Creation Wood from the Ten Directions arrived in Cang Prefecture on the third day.

Liang Qu recovered from the Grandmaster’s attack and learned that the court would award him twenty great merits, but it wanted him to pretend to remain ill for two months. The delay would last until the Sea Expedition Fleet returned, when the court could safely deal with the Jiang Huai Flood Dragon that had placed a bounty on him.

• A physician declared that Liang Qu’s foundation was sound and advised him to rest and avoid fighting, while Liang Qu used the Little Mirage Dragon and Heavenly Water Morning Dew to recover quickly.
• Xu Wenzhu and Lan Jicai visited Liang Qu with healing pills and Small Creation Wood for his Treasure Ship, explaining that the court would credit him with twenty great merits.
• Liang Qu asked for additional rewards, and Xu Wenzhu explained that the court had come to appease him and wanted him to pretend to be ill for two months.
• Xu Wenzhu and Lan Jicai told Liang Qu that the River Conservancy Office had used Ning Chaoqing’s bloodline connection to locate and attack a Ghost Mother Sect branch.
• Xu Wenzhu explained that the court could not safely confront the Jiang Huai Flood Dragon until the Sea Expedition Fleet returned, and Liang Qu realized why he had to wait two months.

Xu Wenzhu explained that two returning Martial Saints and the King of Yue would confront the Flood Dragon, which might grant Liang Qu a reward such as Creation Great Medicine. He also asked about the White Ape and the River Lord, then escorted Liang Qu toward home as he prepared to pretend to recover from his injuries.

• Xu Wenzhu told Liang Qu that the Sea Expedition Fleet had been recalled early and that, in two months, three Martial Saints would demand an explanation from the Flood Dragon.
• Xu Wenzhu said that after the Flood Dragon gave an explanation, Liang Qu could choose one reward, possibly including Creation Great Medicine.
• Liang Qu told Xu Wenzhu that the White Ape might claim the Jianghuai Water Lord position and that the River Lord had taught the White Ape the spear technique it passed on to him.
• Xu Wenzhu described Furnace as a realm of godlike power and doubted that Rainbow Transformation existed, cautioning Liang Qu against getting lost in tales of distant realms.
• Lan Jicai told Liang Qu to repair his ship with lumber and return by boat, while Xu Wenzhu said he would travel south with him.

The search for Ning Gongcai’s missing remains ended when a water worker found them upstream, and Xu Wenzhu and Lan Jicai assembled the corpse and contained its dangerous Gray Wind. Liang Qu learned that the remains were worth only silver, while the bones and flesh would be confiscated for the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.

• A young water worker found Ning Gongcai’s half-corpse upstream and received eight hundred taels from the Prefect as a reward.
• Xu Wenzhu reassured Deng Yingshen that the Three Laws Department would not implicate him, then had the remains pieced together for Liang Qu to inspect.
• Ning Gongcai’s heart began beating faintly as fragments of his scattered spirit gathered, and Xu Wenzhu explained that the corpse could not truly revive.
• Gray Wind emerged from the remains, and Lan Jicai captured it in a clay jar after three days of gathering it.
• Lan Jicai valued the remains at ten or twenty thousand silver, then told Liang Qu that the bones and flesh were being confiscated for the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.

Liang Qu returned safely to Pingyang Prefecture after surviving a Ghost Mother Sect ambush and reported that he had killed a Grandmaster. The officials then discussed the Flood Dragon bounty and decided to consult the Record Military Advisor about gathering allies.

• Liang Qu and Xiang ChangSong assessed the treasure ship's damage and thanked Prefect Deng for helping them after the attack.
• Xiang Fangsu and Ke Wenbin waited for A Shui at Jiang Huai Great Marsh while the River Conservancy fleet prepared to land on a floating island.
• Liang Qu arrived at Shang Rao Wharf, tossed silver ingots to the townsfolk, and reunited with familiar faces in Pingyang Prefecture.
• Liang Qu recounted his return journey to Yang Dongxiong, Su Guishan, Xu Wenzhu, and the other officials, who learned he had killed a Grandmaster and helped uproot a Ghost Mother Sect branch.
• The officials discussed whether the Flood Dragon could be defeated and proposed recruiting Toad King and Turtle King, then asking the Record Military Advisor for advice.

Liang Qu returned to Pingyang Prefecture with gifts and Silver Notes for his friends, while they teased Ke Wenbin over a missing wooden box that Liang Qu had actually saved. He reunited with his neighbors and companions, then went home and received two manuscripts from Old Monk.

• Ran Zhongshi explained that Ya Fu had become the Frog Clan’s Frog Duke and held a well-paid post in the River Conservancy Office.
• Liang Qu told his friends he had brought back more than thirty crates of gifts and Silver Notes from the Imperial Capital.
• Liang Qu claimed Miss Su’s wooden box for Ke Wenbin had been lost in the shipwreck, then revealed that Ta Ta Kai had kept it safe.
• Liang Qu and the River Otters walked through Azure Stone Street, where Oolong greeted him and he saw how much Shunzi and his family’s house had changed.
• Liang Qu visited Old Monk, who handed him the manuscripts "Tongue Consciousness Method" and "Consciousness Method."

Liang Qu studied two new Yogacara Dharma Gates and shared consciousness methods with the Dragonfolk. Long Pingjiang revealed that after Liang Qu restored his talent, he could sense his Bloodline Shackles had vanished and believed he could advance to Hunting Tiger.

• Liang Qu learned that the Tongue Consciousness Method strengthened persuasion and the Consciousness Method broke delusions and resisted obsessions.
• Liang Qu asked the Old Monk about his cultivation gains, then requested more little commands and wrote to King of Yue for another Martial Saint Jade Token.
• Liang Qu had Long E Ying, Long Yao, and Long Li copy the consciousness methods, and gave Long E Ying the Nose Consciousness Method to learn.
• Long Binglin returned with Long Yanrui, Long Pingjiang, and Long Ping He; Long Yanrui offered to protect Liang Qu, but Liang Qu said a Dragonfolk Grandmaster might be possible in two months.
• Long Pingjiang told Liang Qu that restoring his talent had removed the bloodline barriers he once expected to face, and that he felt ready to break through to Hunting Tiger.