Chapter Summaries

Liang Qu’s animated Blue Cat and Brown Rat show captivated the Merfolk during the New Year Festival, and Quan Linghan proposed turning Dragon Spirit Silk performances into a business. Quan Linghan then revealed that a Mermaid Tribe of more than eighteen hundred people might relocate to Jiangchuan, potentially making Dragon Spirit Silk production possible.

• Liang Qu showed the Merfolk a lively Blue Cat and Brown Rat performance made with Dragon Spirit Silk, and the audience eagerly watched more episodes.
• Quan Linghan and Quan Yuxuan found crowds gathering outside the Ice Crystal Palace to watch Liang Qu’s shadow play.
• Quan Linghan asked Liang Qu whether Dragon Spirit Silk could be used for a public viewing business, and Liang Qu considered the idea of opening a theater.
• Liang Qu asked whether Jiangchuan County had enough Merfolk to make Dragon Spirit Silk, and Quan Linghan said a Mermaid Tribe might relocate there.
• Quan Linghan told Liang Qu that a Mermaid Tribe of more than eighteen hundred people was living in seclusion in western Jiang Huai Great Marsh and that negotiations might bring them to Jiangchuan.

Liang Qu arranged support for Quan Linghan’s search for merfolk and a theater project, then celebrated the New Year with friends and guests at the Ice Crystal Palace. After the visitors departed and spring arrived, Pingyang received the promised Profound Yellow Energy and the Sea Market Master’s caravan.

• Quan Linghan told Liang Qu that the Mermaid Tribe was searching for other merfolk because Mermaid Silk production could not meet demand, and Liang Qu promised protection and court support for those who relocated.
• The Old Monk led the New Year blessing verse at the Ice Crystal Palace, and Liang Qu celebrated with the assembled guests.
• Liang Qu brought Shunzi and Xiao Kui to the Ice Crystal Palace, where they joined Wen Shiyun in watching stories while the adults played and talked.
• After the New Year break, King of Yue and the Old Monk departed, leaving Liang Qu to remember that the Old Monk had not answered him about Jian Zhongyi.
• In late March, the Profound Yellow Energy Liang Qu had exchanged arrived in Pingyang, and the Sea Market Master brought his merchant caravan as promised.

Liang Qu learned that Northern Fish wanted protection money from the sea merchants, while the Sea Market Master gave him a rare wisp of abyssal current qi. After storing it in the Ze Cauldron and examining its properties, Liang Qu called on the Time Insect to work on understanding profound yellow qi.

• Liang Qu discussed Northern Fish's demand for protection money with Xiang Fangsu and Ke Wenbin as the officials negotiated with the Sea Market Master.
• The Sea Market Master gave Liang Qu five Treasure Fish and a jar containing high-grade abyssal current qi, which he had traded for with the Horn Shark King.
• Liang Qu brought the jar home and stored the abyssal current qi in the Ze Cauldron, bringing his total to three wisps of long qi.
• Liang Qu considered the properties of profound yellow qi, especially its mastery of the six pitch standards and harmony of the five notes.
• Liang Qu opened a bamboo tube and told the Time Insect to get to work.

Liang Qu worked with the Time Insect to begin fusing Abyssal Current and Profound Yellow Long Qi, rewarded Long Binglin with an Abyssal Current Spirit Fish, and prepared to advance. After receiving the freshly refined Innate Pure Yang Pill, he swallowed it at once and gained over a million Marsh Essence.

• Liang Qu redirected the Time Insect from trading Profound Yellow for Abyssal Current and persuaded it to start weaving the two strands together.
• Liang Qu invested ten thousand essence to produce an Abyssal Current Spirit Fish and gave it to Long Binglin, who revealed his seed was Startling Dragon Transformation.
• The Time Insect struggled for days to weave Creation Long Qi while Long Binglin returned to the Dragon Man Clan Grounds to break through and construction continued at the sea merchant settlement.
• Liang Qu ate five Treasure Fish and invested two hundred thousand Marsh Essence to strengthen his Azure Dragon flesh and blood, then traveled to the Imperial Capital to collect the Innate Pure Yang Pill.
• Liang Qu swallowed the freshly refined Innate Pure Yang Pill in Accumulated Water Pond and gained 1,080,278 Marsh Essence.

Liang Qu used the Innate Pure Yang Pill and Marsh Essence to complete his Hunting Tiger stage and begin another breakthrough beneath Accumulated Water Pond. As his blood, Qi, spirit, and flesh began to merge, onlookers wondered whether he could become a Grandmaster in his twenties.

• The Sacred Emperor learned that Liang Qu had swallowed the great pill and sunk to the bottom of Accumulated Water Pond, then asked about the Buddhist Arhat traveling back toward the Hanging Temple.
• Liang Qu refined the pill’s fierce Yang energy, which filled his body with golden light and made nearby Martial Masters sense a blazing furnace beneath the pond.
• Little Mirage Dragon flew in carrying Fubo and Liang Qu’s belongings, then tossed them into the river as Fubo’s brilliance drew attention to Liang Qu’s breakthrough.
• The pill’s power completed the flesh of Liang Qu’s third Azure Dragon, bringing him to Hunting Tiger Completion after a day and a night beneath the water.
• Liang Qu spent 500,000 Marsh Essence to refine the Water King Ape, then continued breaking through as observers identified signs of Profound Light Opening.
• Liang Qu’s blood, Qi, spirit, and flesh surged together and began to merge.

Liang Qu’s Profound Light Opening triggered the Myriad Victory Embracing Oneness Art and transformed him into an infant, allowing him to be reborn and have his innate deficiencies repaired. After nearly half a year underwater, he returned to adulthood with his realm intact and a renewed appearance.

• Liang Qu opened Profound Light at Accumulated Water Pond, and witnesses marveled at his Hunting Tiger Completion and powerful essence and qi.
• The Sacred Emperor heard the chief eunuch’s theory that the Innate Pure Yang Pill had triggered Gale Refinement through the Myriad Victory Embracing Oneness Art.
• Long E Ying and the pond beasts discovered that Liang Qu had regressed into an infant and watched him gradually grow back while his foundation was reshaped.
• Liang Qu examined the Ze Cauldron and found that his Water King Ape fusion had advanced, his River’s Favor had increased, and he was close to completing Melting Hundred Classics.
• By late Sixth Month, Liang Qu emerged from his transformation, returned to adulthood, and saw that his appearance had become closer to his original self.
• Liang Qu asked Long E Ying whether his rebirth had made him more handsome, then noticed that his potential was greater than he had realized.

Liang Qu emerged from two months of cultivation in Accumulated Water Pond and learned that a Grandmaster was to be executed in West City. He went to watch and discovered the condemned man was Jian Tianyuan.

• Liang Qu realized the Pure Yang great pill had made him unusually tall and used a cultivation technique to conceal the change.
• Liang Qu discussed his planned third Divine Power Seed with Long E Ying and checked the still-sleeping Time Insect, whose Profound Yellow Long Qi had only partly fused.
• Liang Qu and Long E Ying set out to boat among the summer lotuses, but a group of drinkers told them that a Grandmaster would be executed in West City.
• Liang Qu asked Baldy to lead them to the execution ground and met Feather Forest Army captain Meng Qiang there.
• Meng Qiang told Liang Qu that Jian Tianyuan was the Grandmaster being executed.

Liang Qu and Meng Qiang discussed Jian Tianyuan’s execution and Liang Qu’s rapid cultivation before Liang Qu and Long E Ying watched the Grandmaster’s public execution. Jian Tianyuan was killed by five thunderbolts, and officials collected his remains.

• Meng Qiang told Liang Qu that Jian Tianyuan had taken the blame for Jian Zhongyi’s treason, while the Jian Family paid a large sum and Jian Zhongyi was confined to Qingzhou.
• Liang Qu revealed that he had reached Profound Light Opening and expected to enter Melting Hundred Classics soon, leaving Meng Qiang lamenting his own slower progress.
• Liang Qu and Long E Ying joined the Feather Forest Guard inside the execution ground to watch Jian Tianyuan’s execution.
• Jian Tianyuan arrived in chains, trembling and panicked, and the crowd mocked him as officials tried unsuccessfully to feed him his final meal.
• Prince Ning’s grandson struck Jian Tianyuan with five thunderbolts, killing him, and officials placed his remains in a Yellow Leather Bag.

After watching Jian Tianyuan’s execution, Liang Qu and Long E Ying toured Accumulated Water Pond and discussed Jian Zhongyi. Liang Qu then visited Sky Vessel Tower to collect the items Lu Jia had found before returning to Pingyang, and the chapter ended with Lu Jia presenting them.

• Liang Qu and Long E Ying boated across Accumulated Water Pond while discussing Jian Zhongyi and planning to face him with Binglin and Yan Rui.
• At sunset, Liang Qu dropped Long E Ying off at home and rode to Sky Vessel Tower to collect the items he had requested from Lu Jia.
• Lu Jia noticed that Liang Qu’s appearance had changed after he returned to the prenatal state.
• Lu Jia opened a wooden box and showed Liang Qu a new booklet and two glass bottles containing faint golden and silver glimmers.

Liang Qu obtained the Yin Yang Spirit Seed Art and two Spirit Seeds from Lu Jia, then brought Long E Ying to the Dragon Man Clan Grounds to investigate the White Ape’s new talent. There, Long Binglin reported success, and the Ze Cauldron absorbed a strand of Dragon Seed Aura.

• Lu Jia explained that the Sun Moon Spirit Seeds came from the masters of Moon Gazing Tower and gave Liang Qu the Yin Yang Spirit Seed Art.
• Liang Qu learned how the art nurtured Spirit Seeds and spirit fruit, then paid Lu Jia for the art and two seeds.
• Liang Qu showed his purchases to Long E Ying, who questioned whether Lu Jia could be trusted but agreed that Moon Fruit could make the expense worthwhile.
• The next day, Liang Qu and Long E Ying went to the Dragon Man Clan Grounds to investigate the White Ape’s Vortex Armor and pursue another matter.
• Long Binglin reported that he had completed his mission, and the Ze Cauldron absorbed one strand of Dragon Seed Aura.

Liang Qu watched Long Binglin demonstrate the three stages of his newly awakened Startling Dragon Transformation and learned that Long E Ying possessed the same Divine Power. Hoping to complete his Ying Long Marks and the Azure Dragons within him, Liang Qu asked Long Binglin to take him near the Dragon Seed Sturgeon in the Jiang Huai Great Marsh.

• Liang Qu congratulated Long Binglin on becoming a Grandmaster and credited his breakthrough to his near-mastery and years of loyal service.
• Long Binglin demonstrated the three stages of the Startling Dragon Transformation, which enhanced his abilities and gave him dragon horns, scales, claws, and a tail.
• Long E Ying confirmed that she also had the Startling Dragon Transformation, and Long Binglin offered to take the Little Mirage Dragon to learn it.
• Liang Qu realized he needed one more strand of Dragon Seed Aura to complete his Ying Long Marks and the three Azure Dragons within him.
• Liang Qu asked Long Binglin to take him near the Dragon Seed Sturgeon, and Long Binglin agreed to consult the Third Elder.

Liang Qu arranged a pretext to visit Dragon Abyss Path while preparing to investigate the fourth strand of Dragon Qi. At Chaotic Rock Beach, he unveiled his transformed White Ape and tested his new Vortex Armor against Long Binglin, whose attacks could not affect it.

• Long Zongyin arranged a Water Banquet invitation for Ao Qing and the Divine Turtle King, using the younger Dragonfolk’s advancement to True Image as the occasion.
• Long Binglin told Liang Qu about the Divine Turtle King, and Liang Qu decided to spar with him at sea.
• Liang Qu transformed into a much larger White Ape, revealing that Hunting Tiger Completion had made him a Great Demon.
• Liang Qu activated Vortex Armor, and Long Binglin’s Water Blades, water pressure, and currents failed to affect him.
• Long Binglin struck the ground with his dragon claws, but Liang Qu remained unmoved as much of the force sank into the mud.
• Liang Qu dismissed Vortex Armor and challenged Long Binglin to continue sparring.

Liang Qu returned from the Imperial Capital in time to perform Yixing Town’s River God Sacrifice, which drew a large crowd and distributed meat to villagers and the poor. After the festival, he learned that Xu Tiling and the others had been away since late June, and the Bing Fire Day arrived as Long Binglin announced that the invitations were ready.

• Liang Qu performed the River God Sacrifice, gaining River’s Favor while the Jiang Huai Great Marsh remained calm.
• Long E Ying, Long Yao, and Long Li teased one another at the Liang Residence before E Ying threatened them with an ice spike and household discipline.
• Yixing Town distributed sacrificial meat by wrist marks, and Lin Songbao’s group gave an elderly widow and her two grandsons meat despite their missing marks.
• Liang Qu asked Li Shoufu about Xu Tiling and the others and learned they had left at the end of June and had not returned.
• The River God Sacrifice ended, the two suns of Bing Fire Day appeared, and Long Binglin told Liang Qu that the invitations were ready.

Liang Qu arranged for an imperial delegation to reward Long E Ying, Frog Duke, and White Ape for their service against the Octopus King and the Flood Dragon. The envoy reached White Ape and proclaimed its appointment as Subordinate Second Rank Pacifying Huai General.

• Liang Qu delayed his departure so he could receive the Imperial Capital delegation, which was bringing rewards for White Ape, Frog Duke, and Long E Ying.
• The imperial envoy granted Long E Ying the title of Prefecture Lady, with her annual stipend withheld until she married Liang Qu, and appointed Frog Duke Subordinate Fifth Rank Chief Clerk.
• Liang Qu took the envoy to the Lotus Root Field and explained how to leave White Ape a message without revealing its location to the Flood Dragon.
• Six days later, the envoy sailed alone to the meeting place, where White Ape emerged from the water to receive the decree.
• The envoy appointed White Ape Subordinate Second Rank Pacifying Huai General.

The White Ape received the titles of Pacifying Huai General and Marquis of Changyuan, along with a military post staffed largely by Liang Qu’s River Conservancy colleagues. Liang Qu saw the official recognition as a way to build Favorability and gain leverage against the Flood Dragon, though his theory about Rank Fruit remained speculation.

• The imperial envoy proclaimed the White Ape Pacifying Huai General and Marquis of Changyuan, naming him the orthodox god of the Huai River and granting him the right to receive sacrifices.
• The White Ape respectfully accepted the edict and offered Lotus Seeds to the imperial envoy, who explained that the generalship came with a substantial salary and an army.
• The envoy appointed Liang Qu as Sili Commandant and assigned Long Pingjiang, Long Pinghe, and other River Conservancy officials to the Pacifying Huai Army.
• The envoy warned that the White Ape’s rewards must remain quiet because the Dragon Lord had been missing for more than a century and the Flood Dragons were watching for an opportunity.
• Liang Qu concluded that the White Ape’s legal standing could help him gather Favorability and possibly secure a Rank Fruit, though he acknowledged that the idea was only speculation.
• After arranging their next meeting, the imperial envoy departed, and Liang Qu took a wide detour back to the pond.

Liang Qu celebrated his new official appointments and discussed his future with Long E Ying before learning that the Ghost Mother Sect had attacked Xihe Prefecture. Su Guishan said the crisis was contained and assigned Liang Qu to escort supplies for Pingyang Prefecture, while he began selecting local officials.

• Liang Qu told Long E Ying that he held several salaried posts, and they discussed the limits of his legitimacy and the years they had spent together.
• An imperial envoy returned, and Liang Qu agreed to host the delegation at a banquet the next day.
• Su Guishan arrived and reported that Ghost Mother Sect Grandmasters had carried out blood sacrifices and robbed Sea Merchants in Xihe Prefecture; Wei Lin had wounded one, and the attackers' plan had been thwarted.
• Su Guishan told Liang Qu that Xihe Prefecture no longer needed his help, but asked him to escort grain and medicine shipments for Pingyang Prefecture in the coming days.
• Su Guishan, now serving as both Water River Governor and Pingyang Prefect, asked Liang Qu to recommend candidates for vacant posts, then asked him to cook something sweet.

Liang Qu made egg tarts with Long E Ying and shared them with his companions before arranging for Li Shoufu to oversee relief supplies for disaster-stricken Xihe Prefecture. He then traveled toward Dragon Abyss Path to obtain Dragon Qi, but an armed group intercepted him near the Green Mountain range.

• Liang Qu made egg tarts with Long E Ying, and Su Guishan praised his talent for recognizing promising people.
• Liang Qu encouraged Li Shoufu to seize the opportunity to lead the gathering of provisions and medicinal materials for Xihe Prefecture.
• Long Binglin explained that Dragon Abyss Path was a Dragon Sturgeon Clan treasure land and described other treasure lands in the Jiang Huai Great Marsh.
• Liang Qu traveled with Long Binglin toward Dragon Abyss Path to obtain Dragon Qi while Pingyang Prefecture gathered relief supplies.
• Two broad-backed prawns challenged Liang Qu and his companions near the Green Mountain range.

Liang Qu and Long E Ying visited Turtle King’s territory to deliver an invitation, where Liang Qu sparred with Sword Twelve and encountered the powerful Turtle King. Before he could meet the Great King, Liang Qu unexpectedly reunited with Wu Cangshou.

• Liang Qu and Long E Ying arrived at the lush Turtle Clan territory and told Sword Twelve and Sword Thirteen they had brought an invitation for Turtle King.
• Long E Ying explained that Turtle King commanded the Sword Shrimp, Fist Crab, and electric eel clans, and that the Sword Shrimp ranked themselves by strength.
• Sword Twelve challenged Liang Qu to a weapon spar, and Liang Qu defeated it with a single strike, damaging its Forehead Sword.
• Sword Thirteen led Liang Qu, Long E Ying, Fat Catfish, and their party through the territory to a gorge where Turtle King rested among other turtles.
• Liang Qu recognized Wu Cangshou, who had come with Long E Ying, and Wu Cangshou urged him to meet the Great King.

Liang Qu and the Dragon Man Tribe representatives visited the Turtle King to invite him to a banquet celebrating their advances to True Image. The Turtle King declined to attend but gave them three great medicines, and Liang Qu spotted a rare Abalone Pearl in Green Pool’s treasure vault.

• Long Binglin, Long E Ying, and Liang Qu paid respects to the Turtle King and invited him to the Dragon Man Tribe’s banquet celebrating three new True Image cultivators.
• The Turtle King accepted their gifts but refused to attend, warning that his presence might draw the Flood Dragon’s suspicion toward the Dragon Man Tribe.
• The Turtle King ordered Wu Cangshou to give the visitors three great medicines, and Long Binglin accepted them after the Turtle King insisted.
• The Turtle King asked Fat Catfish what species it was, and Fat Catfish proudly claimed to be a Legless Frog.
• Wu Cangshou led Liang Qu, Long Binglin, and Long E Ying into Green Pool’s treasure vault, where they chose medicines and Liang Qu discovered a rare Abalone Pearl.

Liang Qu visited the Turtle Clan’s treasure vault, gained a great deal of Marsh Essence by handling pearls, and left with pearls as gifts before heading toward Dragon Abyss Path. On the journey, he considered the unplanted third Hunting Tiger Divine Power Seed and decided he needed a catalyst to develop it further.

• Liang Qu handled the Abalone Pearl and four shells of valuable pearls, gaining about one hundred thousand Marsh Essence in total.
• Long E Ying and Long Binglin chose treasures, while Liang Qu collected several pearls of each color to give as gifts.
• The group left the Green Water Pool and found the Turtle King watching Fat Catfish perform for the giant tortoises.
• The Turtle King asked about Fat Catfish’s race, then let Liang Qu and the others depart for Ao Qing.
• Liang Qu sorted the pearls on Fat Catfish as Long Binglin estimated they would reach Dragon Abyss Path in two or three hours.
• Liang Qu checked the sleeping Time Insect and reflected that the third Hunting Tiger Divine Power Seed needed a catalyst before he planted it.