Chapter Summaries

Liang Qu and the Frog Clan prepared to observe Dream White Fire at midnight, arranging humans and frogs in a circle around the fish. When the fire was released into the air, its scales became starlike lights and Liang Qu’s mind went blank as his sea of qi surged.

• Old Toad confirmed that the tower for Heaven-Questioning Divination was nearly complete and showed Liang Qu and the others the preserved Dream White Fire.
• Liang Qu and Old Toad agreed to surround the fish with humans and frogs on the lotus leaves and release it at midnight.
• The group struggled to hold their awkward positions as laughter and slippery frog bodies repeatedly collapsed their formation.
• At the end of the Hai hour, Liang Qu used Vortex Water to release Dream White Fire into the air while everyone watched in darkness.
• Dream White Fire’s scales split into starlike lights, and Liang Qu’s mind went blank as stormy waves surged through his sea of qi.

Liang Qu endured the Dream White Fire and retraced his cultivation and memories, rebuilding and strengthening his Dragon Court Immortal Islands. As others began to wake, his Qi Sea continued to expand and the fifth stage of his cultivation began to take shape.

• Liang Qu used three hundred thousand measures of Marsh Essence to fuel the forging as the Dream White Fire consumed every color and left him motionless.
• Old Toad discovered that Liang Qu still had a heartbeat and waited while Liang Qu slowly recovered his senses and memories.
• Liang Qu relived his past training and teachings, then retraced his cultivation from the Nine Apertures through the Three Bridges and three Divine Power Seeds.
• Liang Qu rearranged the pillars and beams of his first and second Dragon Court Immortal Islands, completing much of the fourth stage.
• Frog Guerrilla separated Da Pang and Er Pang from the human-frog dumpling, and Old Toad rewarded him with a Treasure Fish.
• The others began waking on the lotus leaves as Liang Qu's Qi Sea grew to seventy times its former size and a roof rose over his Dragon Court, beginning the fifth stage.

Liang Qu emerged from a long Sudden Enlightenment with a vast Qi Sea and nearly completed Divine Power, then shared his new Dragon Court Art with Xu Zishuai. After collecting seasonal tributes from the Merfolk and Dragon Man clans, he asked the Frog Duke about the outcome of his ritual.

• Liang Qu completed the five parts of his second Dragon Court Immortal Island, gained an enormous Qi Sea, and advanced two stages while nearing his second Divine Power.
• Xu Zishuai told Liang Qu that he had been meditating for months, had reached Hunting Tiger, and had waited for him while the others departed.
• Liang Qu gave Xu Zishuai his Dragon Court Art notes, and Xu Zishuai eagerly agreed to test the revised cultivation method.
• Liang Qu learned that his wife had gone to gather Lotus Seeds, then used Water Travel Thousand Miles to collect tributes from the Merfolk and Dragon Man clans.
• Liang Qu counted his Marsh Essence and plans for strengthening Dragon Spirit Silk, then asked the Frog Duke about the ritual's outcome.
• The Frog Duke declared that the ritual had brought great fortune.

Liang Qu learned that Old Toad could no longer clearly divine the Flood Dragon, though the Frog Clan's future remained auspicious. He sought Sea Market Master’s support for the Dragon Pearl plan, only to discover she had turned Octopus King’s corpse into a divination ritual.

• Old Toad revealed that the Flood Dragon had become hazy to his divinations two or three years earlier, but he foresaw an auspicious future for the Frog Clan.
• Liang Qu asked Old Toad to watch for signs and told Long Binglin to have his Senior Brother wait aboard the ship.
• Liang Qu traveled to Sea Abyss Palace and explained his plan to seize the Dragon Pearl to Sea Market Master, asking her to prepare the Sea Merchants for possible retaliation.
• Sea Market Master led Liang Qu to an underground chamber where Octopus King’s dead body lay inside a transparent crate.
• Liang Qu recognized the eerie aura around Octopus King’s corpse as a ritual, and Sea Market Master confirmed she had made it into a divination ritual.

Liang Qu used the Octopus King's divination ritual to assess whether Sea Market Master should help him oppose the Flood Dragon, and the oracle advised caution while promising support through reduced trade routes. Back aboard the Treasure Ship, Liang Qu learned Huaiyin Martial Academy might receive an imperial plaque as a pilot program and watched Pingyang Prefecture continue to prosper.

• Liang Qu asked Sea Market Master to use the Octopus King's ritual to weigh the risks of helping him, and the oracle warned against forcing a confrontation.
• Sea Market Master agreed to study reducing his trade routes before Liang Qu reached the Celestial Man realm, strengthening their alliance with the Frog Clan.
• Xu Zishuai praised Liang Qu's Three Bridges Transform into Three Dragons method and guessed that he had deduced it from an encounter.
• Xu Zishuai told Liang Qu that the imperial court was discussing a pilot program to grant plaques to martial academies, beginning with Pingyang Prefecture.
• Liang Qu reflected on the growing prosperity of Pingyang Prefecture as shops and improved roads spread between Yi Xing City and Ping Yang Town.

Bai Mingzhe investigated Southern Zhili outsiders while Liang Qu managed River Conservancy Office affairs and responded to flooding in Haiyan County. Su Guishan then told Liang Qu that the office had been promoted to the Huai Dong River Conservancy Office and gave him a Mystic Armor Mask with the authority to execute lower-ranked officials first and report later.

• Bai Mingzhe ordered his clan to restrain its younger members after learning that outsiders from Southern Zhili had concealed their origins and purpose.
• Liang Qu reviewed River Conservancy Office cases and arranged for Long Pingjiang to lead Merfolk and Military men to drain flooded areas in Haiyan County.
• Su Guishan summoned Liang Qu, gave him new official accessories to distribute, and explained the River Conservancy Office's promotion to the Huai Dong River Conservancy Office.
• Su Guishan gave Liang Qu a Mystic Armor Mask and explained that it allowed him to execute officials below the fifth rank before reporting his actions.

Liang Qu received new River Conservancy Office authority and the Mystic Armor Mask, then went to Haiyan County to stop the flooding. At Morning Dew Canyon, Fat Catfish inspected construction work before a Fish Monster brought it fragments of white jade.

• Su Guishan explained the Mystic Armor Mask’s limits and the privileges attached to the River Conservancy Office’s Spiritual Artifacts.
• Liang Qu learned that Su Guishan would receive Dragon Scale Armor and that he had earned ten Great Merits for inviting the Ming King to oversee Pingyang.
• Liang Qu activated the Mystic Armor Mask and flew to Haiyan County, where he parted the floodwater and clouds to save the rice seedlings.
• Fat Catfish inspected the fish school’s work at Morning Dew Canyon while its followers praised its talent and standing.
• A Fish Monster hurried to Fat Catfish, stumbled on a reef, and scattered fragments of white jade, which Fat Catfish picked up.

Liang Qu cultivated in the Dragon Court, condensed a new Dew Seed, and prepared for another journey with his Water Beasts. Fat Catfish showed him a haul of white jade fragments dug from a canyon, leaving Liang Qu surprised.

• Ta Ta Kai packed clothes for Long E Ying and the River Otters, while Xu Shi asked after Liang Qu and learned he was cultivating underwater.
• Liang Qu completed more Dragon Court tiles, condensed a Dew Seed, and considered saving it to strengthen his River Lord talent or develop a long-range divine ability.
• Liang Qu struck Old Giant Clam after it complained about the scales stirring in his belly, then gathered the Water Beasts before setting out on a journey.
• Fat Catfish showed off its new armor and twin coral sledgehammers while Xiao Kui watched, and Liang Qu learned Xiao Shunzi had gone to the academy.
• Fat Catfish presented Liang Qu with two chests of white jade fragments dug from a canyon, and Liang Qu reacted with surprise.

Liang Qu learned that Fat Catfish had uncovered White Marble and embezzled Dark Azure Iron while leading the Morning Dew Canyon excavation, then rewarded him and prepared to travel west. Meanwhile, Bai Mingzhe watched Blue Lake and anticipated the arrival of another group of imperial agents.

• Fat Catfish showed Liang Qu the White Marble fragments and Dark Azure Iron he had found in Morning Dew Canyon.
• Long E Ying identified Dark Azure Iron, and Fat Catfish admitted he had kept two-thirds of the material and turned in the rest to the Great Huai Army.
• Liang Qu rewarded Fat Catfish with Marsh Essence and told him to keep digging Morning Dew Canyon.
• Liang Qu ordered the water beasts to pack the Treasure Ship, then set off west with his companions.
• Bai Mingzhe considered the factions among the groups sent by the imperial court and expected new experts to arrive within the year.
• A short-haired middle-aged man fished on a rock outside a village by Blue Lake.

A short-haired man caught a goshawk and a Black Spotted Dragon while fishing, then spoke of atoning for a past mistake and preparing to uproot Blue Lake's Hidden Stake again. In Jinling, Liang Qu spent Great Merits on rare treasures and alchemy supplies before returning to the Treasure Ship to cultivate at fivefold speed.

• The short-haired man used a fishing line to haul ashore a little fish, a goshawk, and a Black Spotted Dragon, then learned the group would return to Hantai Prefecture to help Zhe Dan recover.
• Long Yao and Long Li explored Jinling while a young nobleman approached them, and Ta Ta Kai's fart sent his white deer fleeing into a wonton stall.
• Liang Qu ordered Yin Yang Wood and Growth Element to expand the imperial-bestowed Treasure Ship and make room for Golden Haired Tiger.
• Liang Qu exchanged thirty-eight Great Merits for rare treasures and a Great Pill, then returned to the Treasure Ship's Quiet Room to cultivate at fivefold speed.

Liang Qu used the Two Elements Great Pill and accelerated cultivation to break through into Second Realm Perfected Elephant, while his Treasure Ship grew and set sail for Great Snow Mountain. He discovered that his Slaying the Flood Dragon Divine Power could cut through space, then Ze Cauldron triggered Drowning Karma.

• Creation Wood transformed Liang Qu's Treasure Ship into a vessel nearly sixty meters long, and the River Otters set it sailing again.
• Liang Qu consumed the Two Elements Great Pill and spent weeks cultivating, while Fat Catfish found Dark Azure Iron and shared part of it with Lin Jie of the Great Huai Army.
• Liang Qu's Qi Sea surged past two hundredfold, completing his breakthrough into Second Realm Perfected Elephant as Huai Kong and Long Binglin witnessed his breakthrough.
• Liang Qu tested his Slaying the Flood Dragon Divine Power and saw it cut the orderly black lines surrounding space before the damage healed.
• Ze Cauldron trembled and announced that Drowning Karma had triggered, with its accumulation reaching one.

After Drowning Karma appeared whenever Liang Qu entered the Great Snow Mountain region, he discovered that Mahavairocana could dispel it and suspected the Lotus Sect was behind the effect. He left the cause of the ritual unresolved as Huai Kong proposed that Lotus Sect believers served as its anchors.

• Liang Qu noticed Drowning Karma after reaching the Great Snow Mountain and ordered Little Mirage Dragon to record the crew’s daily misfortunes.
• Liang Qu left the snow mountain region, watched the Drowning Karma dissipate, and confirmed that it returned almost immediately when he came back.
• Liang Qu used Mahavairocana to dispel the Drowning Karma, then concluded that the Great Snow Mountain and Lotus Sect were its source.
• Liang Qu reviewed the crew’s recorded minor mishaps and asked Little Mirage Dragon to report if anyone suffered more than three incidents.
• Liang Qu told Long E Ying, Long Binglin, and Huai Kong about the Drowning Karma, and Huai Kong suggested Lotus Sect believers acted as anchors for the ritual.

Liang Qu reunited with Cha Qing and learned about the Bai Clan’s control of Hantai Prefecture and the powerful forces around Blue Lake. When a suspected Bai Clan spy arrived, Liang Qu and the others disappeared from sight, leaving Cha Qing to greet him alone.

• Cha Qing returned home to find Liang Qu, Long E Ying, Long Binglin, a bald monk, Fan Zixuan, and Kou Zhuang gathered around a hotpot.
• Cha Qing reported that Hantai Prefecture was controlled by the Bai Clan, whose patriarch Bai Mingzhe served as Prefect and whose forces included numerous Perfected Elephant experts.
• Cha Qing explained the Bai Clan’s long history, its negotiated relationship with the dynasty, and its worship of the Jun Shuang General, a ritual made from its former Martial Saint ancestor.
• Liang Qu asked whether factions within the Bai Clan could provide an excuse for a purge, but knocking at the gate interrupted him.
• Cha Qing opened the gate for Li Gongga, a suspected Bai Clan spy, and found that Liang Qu and the others had vanished along with the vegetables and extra bowls.

Li Gongga invited Cha Qing and his companions into a scheme to buy and resell Bai Clan salt and iron, prompting Liang Qu to fund the purchase. After hearing their account of the Bai Clan’s motives, Liang Qu asked them to explain the clan’s internal power struggles.

• Li Gongga joined Cha Qing, Fan Zixuan, and Kou Zhuang for hotpot and offered them Snow Python Silk as he proposed buying scattered shares of Prayer Flag Iron and Dragon Spine Salt for resale.
• After Li Gongga left, Liang Qu and Ta Ta Kai emerged from the concealed corner, and the three men explained the offer and identified the goods as Bai Clan products.
• Cha Qing explained that he and the others had taken up mining because outsiders could not find better work in Hantai Prefecture.
• Liang Qu gave Cha Qing three thousand taels to buy the goods and told him to proceed without worry.
• Cha Qing reasoned that the Bai Clan had recruited Li Gongga as an informant and was testing them near the year-end to learn their superior’s identity.
• Liang Qu asked Cha Qing and the others to describe the Bai Clan’s internal power struggles.

Liang Qu weighed the Bai Clan’s internal divisions while deciding to focus on the Great Snow Mountain Blood Sacrifice and visit Junxiao General Temple for information. After the Drowning Karma vanished, he considered provoking more bad luck to make it deal with his troubles, then prepared for his next move at the temple.

• Liang Qu concluded that the Bai Clan’s dispute over Bai Mingzhe and Bai Chenfeng had deep roots, but chose to celebrate the New Year Festival before gathering more information at Junxiao General Temple.
• At the Yang Residence’s New Year banquet, Liang Qu’s Drowning Karma dissipated, and he wondered whether he could deliberately accumulate more to handle his problems.
• Lu Gang delivered the new Spirit Weapon Gluttony, while Long E Ying and the Sturgeon Clan adapted a cultivation method for Round Head.
• Liang Qu returned to Great Snow Mountain, instructed Huai Kong on Round Head’s formations and appearance, then traveled with Long E Ying to Junxiao General Temple.
• Liang Qu joined the crowded temple procession and slipped up an empty side path, hoping to test whether his plan would work.

Liang Qu secretly triggered Drowning Karma by urinating on the Jun Shuang General’s statue, causing ice horns to form on its head. After learning the incident was concealed, he decided to target more General Temples and asked Cha Qing for their locations and extra water flasks.

• Liang Qu and Long E Ying entered the Jun Shuang General Temple unseen and waited until the hall was cleared.
• Liang Qu urinated onto a beam so the water dripped onto the statue, where it froze into two horns and triggered Drowning Karma.
• The temple keeper and a young man discovered the horns and concluded that urine had dripped onto the statue.
• Liang Qu escaped with Long E Ying, and the next day Cha Qing found that the temple had kept the incident quiet.
• Liang Qu asked Cha Qing for the locations of the remaining General Temples and two more water flasks.

Liang Qu secretly desecrated every General Temple in Hantai Prefecture, then set his sights on Lotus Sect temples in the Great Snow Mountain region. Meanwhile, Bai Xingwen found a Tianji Stone that could help him escape confinement, while Zhe Dan woke at a village hideout.

• Liang Qu evaded the Bai Clan’s growing guard presence and desecrated the remaining General Temples, raising his Drowning Karma to forty-eight.
• Bai Xingwen denounced Bai Mingzhe’s Confinement Order, but He De Ban arrived and the gathered youths scattered.
• Liang Qu studied Cha Qing’s map of Lotus Sect temples and decided to scout the Great Snow Mountain region with Long E Ying and Yan Rui while Binglin watched the Treasure Ship.
• Zhe Dan woke after less than a month of unconsciousness and learned that Jian Zhongyi had gone to the Prefectural Office with Lord Ling Xuan to buy supplies.
• Bai Xingwen’s servant brought him a Tianji Stone, and Bai Xingwen ordered the servant to use it to help him escape confinement.

Liang Qu’s attempt to draw trouble with accumulated luck brought a runaway yak and caught Bai Xingwen’s lustful attention on Long E Ying. Elsewhere, Bai Xingwen’s cultivation with Sang Sang Zha Xi was interrupted by the sight of Long E Ying, while Ling Xuan and Jian Zhongyi traced the yak’s rampage to a rat.

• Liang Qu took Long E Ying and Long Yanrui sightseeing in Hantai, explaining that he wanted to attract trouble and use small antagonists as bait for a bigger target.
• Liang Qu’s accumulated luck coincided with bird droppings, a falling roof tile, a stray dog, and a red-eyed yak charging through the street.
• Bai Xingwen spotted Long E Ying from a second-floor room and became infatuated with her, then ordered Sang Sang Zha Xi to resume their cultivation.
• Ling Xuan ordered mutton while Jian Zhongyi sensed fierce karmic force near the runaway yak’s path.
• A cattle farmer’s son found that a black-red rat had bitten Big Ox, while the cattle shed’s roof had also collapsed.

Liang Qu and his companions secretly followed Bai Xingwen and learned that the Lotus Sect had infiltrated Hantai Prefecture more deeply than expected. After Chai Gou proposed using the sect to empower the woman Bai Xingwen desired, Liang Qu ordered his allies to prepare to strike.

• Bai Xingwen learned from Chai Gou that the woman he sought might have come from Southern Zhili and could be connected to scouts who had visited Hantai half a year earlier.
• Liang Qu, Long E Ying, Long Yanrui, and Cha Qing secretly listened as Chai Gou advised Bai Xingwen to use the Lotus Sect to make the woman a Dakini and secure her later as a reward.
• Chai Gou proposed involving Bai Xingwen’s great-grandfather to negotiate with the Lotus Sect and shield the Bai Clan from potential consequences.
• Liang Qu concluded that the plan revealed a wider Lotus Sect presence in Hantai and told Cha Qing to have their people prepare to slaughter the pigs.

Liang Qu devised a pretext to take Frog Duke to Blue Lake, where they set a trap for Bai Xingwen. After Bai Xingwen boarded their ship, Liang Qu killed him, and a furious voice called out over the bloodied lake.

• Liang Qu persuaded Frog Duke to use his old connection to the Ice Jade Toad Clan as an excuse to travel to Blue Lake, then rapidly brought the group there and cleared his Drowning Karma.
• The Sacred Emperor discussed Liang Qu’s mission, while Bai Mingzhe let Bai Xingwen leave under He De Ban’s protection and hoped to use the coming conflict to strengthen the Bai Clan’s position.
• Bai Xingwen met a master from Ice Wheel Bodhi Temple, then followed Chai Gou’s report toward the Treasure Ship that he believed carried the woman he desired.
• Liang Qu disguised the Treasure Ship and prepared an ambush, hiding his allies and using a false Long E Ying as bait.
• Bai Xingwen boarded the ship despite He De Ban’s suspicions, and Liang Qu struck him down, scattering his body across the skiff.
• He De Ban saw Bai Xingwen’s severed head as the mist cleared, while a furious voice boomed over Blue Lake.