Chapter Summaries

On New Year's Eve, Liang Qu received letters from friends and mentors, celebrated with his companions, and saw the Water Monkey Great Sage's fusion reach 69% as he prepared for the coming battle in the Southern Border. The chapter ended with Pufferfish naming a surviving Dragon King as a potential hero, while Fat Catfish searched for another Demon King to aid the Heavenly God.

• Liang Qu collected letters of New Year's greetings from Abbot Dixian, Louguan Platform, his mentors, senior brothers, and other acquaintances.
• Liang Qu invited his companions to share a New Year's Eve hot pot and led them in the blessing, “Yuan Ri Zhe Rang, Yi Er Song Wen.”
• Ta Ta Kai led a family of River Otters to perform Otter Sacrifice Fish, raising Liang Qu's Water Monkey Great Sage fusion degree to 69%.
• Liang Qu examined his expanded sea of qi and prepared himself for the imminent battle in the Southern Border.
• King Chong and his Steward discussed the Southern Border's month-long pause and whether Xingyi Marquis could wait for his qi traces to be found.
• Fat Catfish asked Pufferfish to name a hero who could aid the Heavenly God, and Pufferfish said one Dragon King still remained.

Liang Qu warned Lao Yingtian that a coming catastrophe could expose his associates and revealed that Dragon King's Lair contained another god, leaving Lao Yingtian uncertain whether to trust him or refine the supreme-grade Blood Treasure. As Liang Qu finished his preparations across both realms, Fat Catfish visited the White Dragon Palace and later returned to join Liang Qu’s assembled Water Beasts.

• Fat Catfish decided to present himself as a Black Dragon and traveled to the White Dragon Palace, where he handed out Bullhorn Pomfret to its dragonkind.
• Liang Qu told Lao Mengyao and Xi Ziyu that he might disappear for months or years and left them in charge of routine matters.
• Liang Qu brought Lao Yingtian through a vortex to Dragon King's Lair, warned him that Heavenly Fire Sect might investigate their connections, and advised him to flee there if danger arose.
• Lao Yingtian returned to Suyu Pavilion with the warning weighing on him and chose to wait before deciding whether to use the supreme-grade Blood Treasure.
• Liang Qu stocked supplies at Dragon King's Lair, learned from the Old Dragon King that the Blood River Realm was real but shaped by reincarnation and human manipulation, and completed his preparations in both realms.
• On the night of the Third day of the Third Month, Fat Catfish brought wages for the Water Beasts, rejoined Liang Qu's formation, and followed them into the Vortex Palace.

Liang Qu used a devastating Water Dragon Spear to drain the Southern Border army’s qi and shatter its morale, forcing Meng Yi to consider withdrawing from Qin Prefecture. As Pan Tong weighed Meng Yi’s proposal to face Liang Qu personally, King Chong arrived at the front lines, just as Liang Qu had expected.

• Hundred-Legged promised Meng Yi that the mayflies’ second stage would arrive by mid-March, while King of South Sea learned that Da Shun held the advantage and resolved to secretly investigate the Southern Border’s framing of him.
• Saintess Li’s transformed Black Cicadas warned Meng Yi’s forces during Liang Qu’s blood rain, but the alarm continued after the rain proved to be blood.
• Liang Qu formed a ten-thousand-fold Water Dragon Spear and threw it across Linjiang, splitting the clouds and forcing Meng Yi to use two Da Xi jade plaques to stop it.
• Liang Qu’s attack depleted much of the Southern Border army’s qi, crushed its morale, and led Meng Yi to urge Pan Tong to withdraw from Qin Prefecture or personally face Liang Qu.
• Long Yanrui told Liang Qu that King Chong had arrived at the front lines, and Liang Qu said King Chong had taken the bait.

Liang Qu renewed his Water Dragon Spear assault while King Chong fought Pan Tong, then used the battle to complete his transformation and reclaim Fubo. The chapter ended with the Linjiang River rising upright as Pan Tong saw Liang Qu return as a powerful new presence.

• Liang Qu asked about the Southern Border reinforcements and dismissed a letter offering surrender from a suspected member of the Twenty-Four Fiends.
• Liang Qu began another Water Dragon Spear attack on Awakening of Insects, and Pan Tong and King Chong clashed as Da Shun and Southern Border forces watched.
• Liang Qu concealed himself beneath the Linjiang River while King Chong fought Pan Tong and the distant Da Xis stood ready to intervene.
• Liang Qu's Plants Encountering Spring and Silkworm Cocoon techniques restored his body, filled his sea of Qi, and awakened the Black Emperor's Gaze.
• Liang Qu retrieved Fubo from the riverbed as the Half-Blood Ape's white fur fell away and the Linjiang River rose upright before Pan Tong.

The White Ape and King Chong killed Pan Tong after a brutal battle, then faced a gathering of Martial Saints and Great Shamans who tried to determine the White Ape’s identity and allegiance. As the Flood Dragon and other Demon Kings raced toward the Southern Border, Liang Qu grabbed Pan Tong’s corpse and fled, only to turn back toward the Southern Border while Old Toad shouted directions from the Vortex Palace.

• Xu Zishuai returned to forge iron while Lu Gang worked through the distant battle between Martial Saints.
• The White Ape and King Chong overwhelmed Pan Tong, and the White Ape crushed his skull, killing the Southern Border Da Xi.
• Martial Saints and Young Dragons gathered around Linjiang as the Wolf Lord and others wondered who the White Ape, Stone in the River, and Flood Dragon were aligned with.
• The Southern Border False Dragon appeared, then the Flood Dragon raced south from the Jianghuai estuary as the assembled powers watched the White Ape.
• The White Ape seized Pan Tong’s corpse and tried to flee toward the Eastern Sea, but the gathered Martial Saints and Great Shamans blocked its path.
• Fat Catfish swallowed Pan Tong’s remains, and Liang Qu turned back toward the Southern Border as the Flood Dragon pursued; Old Toad shouted, “Left!”

Liang Qu fled through the Southern Border as the Flood Dragon pursued him, absorbing Long Qi and undergoing a death-and-rebirth transformation that greatly increased his power. The chase ended with him striking the Flood Dragon and the pair racing toward the Lu Cang River, while the Southern Border’s leaders watched in alarm.

• Li Xianghan and the Green Pattern Valley clanspeople evacuated to the ritual caves after learning that Pan Tong Da Xi had died and two Demon Kings were approaching.
• The White Ape and Flood Dragon swept through Green Pattern Valley, and the Old Ancestor later learned that the stockade had lost its Three Strands of Heaven and Earth Long Qi.
• Liang Qu escaped the Flood Dragon’s attacks with help from the Old Toad and the Vortex Palace while collecting Long Qi from Southern Border stockades.
• The White Ape’s Spirit Fish Silkworm Cocoon disintegrated, triggering a rebirth that expanded Liang Qu’s qi sea and restored his body through the fourth realm of Myriad Victory Embracing Oneness.
• Liang Qu punched the Flood Dragon hard enough to make it retreat, then fled onward as the Southern Border Tusi and Great Shaman watched the Demon Kings approach the Lu Cang River.

Liang Qu, as White Ape, joined the Turtle King, Frog King, General Yuan, and Sea Market Master to battle Flood Dragon while the Southern Border and Da Shun forces fought around them. Flood Dragon split into two bodies and pursued White Ape into the Southern Border, but Liang Qu turned north again after calling for Frog Duke to shake off their pursuer.

• Yang Xu ordered Heyuan Prefecture’s soldiers to assemble after Northern Court and Southern Border forces entered battle, and the Northern Court Khan ordered troops south while banning trade with sea merchants.
• Frog King, Turtle King, and Sea Market Master arrived at the Lu Cang River, where Sea Market Master fused with Liang Qu as he became White Ape.
• White Ape and the three Demon Kings, joined by General Yuan, struck Flood Dragon together and wounded its lower jaw, but Flood Dragon split into two bodies and fought both battle groups at once.
• Flood Dragon and White Ape left the river to battle through the Southern Border, while the Tusi sought aid from the Old Man in Bamboo Hat and was refused.
• Liang Qu told Sea Market Master that their plan was working, called for Frog Duke to shake Flood Dragon off, and turned White Ape north.

Lan Jicai tracked the shifting battles among the Demon Kings as the White Ape and Liang Qu tried to escape the flood dragon. After the White Dragon King’s feint created an opening, the White Ape reached Jianghuai, awakened its power over the rivers, and sent a pillar of water piercing into the sky.

• Lan Jicai explained that the flood dragon’s strength still overwhelmed the White Ape and the four kings, while speculating that Liang Qu and the White Ape shared a Rank Fruit connection.
• The White Dragon King headed south, causing the flood dragon to abandon its fight and flee north, but then abruptly turned back toward the E River.
• Liang Qu recognized the opening and had Frog Duke propel the White Ape past the flood dragon and into Jianghuai.
• The flood dragon caught up and restricted the White Ape’s spatial traversal, but the White Ape bit off one of its teeth and swallowed dragon blood.
• The White Ape opened Vortex Palace, poured its Vortex Water and Essence Water into Jianghuai, and raised a colossal pillar of water toward Cloud Heaven.

Liang Qu used the White Ape to wield a colossal water pillar, turning Jianghuai Great Marsh into a vast vortex and advancing the Vortex Palace into Marshland Kingdom (False). He battered the Flood Dragon with the pillar and new water powers, then suddenly vanished near Iron Head Fish as the battle continued.

• The White Ape strained to raise and rotate a water pillar over Jianghuai Great Marsh, while Liang Qu’s River Rule Degree climbed to 1.
• The White Ape endured the Flood Dragon’s venom, consumed its blood, and opened a jade Heavenly Gate to advance the Vortex Palace into Marshland Kingdom (False) (Small).
• The White Ape used the pillar to smash the Flood Dragon into the Great Marsh, then pinned it under the pillar and attacked with swarms of Water Dragons and a Black Dragon.
• The White Ape struck the Flood Dragon with gray Water Mist and knocked it back, then slipped into the current and vanished.
• The Flood Dragon’s expression changed when it saw Iron Head Fish.

Liang Qu’s White Ape fought through the Dragon Palace’s sealed passage and discovered that the Fire Tree Silver Flower’s roots were the Dragon Pearl, gaining Marsh Essence by consuming them while battling Flood Dragon and Iron Head Fish. After the fourth root raised his fusion rate to 80%, a second Flood Dragon appeared, leaving him facing two of them.

• The White Ape entered the Dragon Palace, found a secret passage behind its jade wall, and fled into it with Iron Head Fish and Flood Dragon in pursuit.
• The White Ape discovered the Dragon Pearl’s power in the Fire Tree Silver Flower’s roots and consumed them for Marsh Essence, increasing his Water Monkey Great Sage fusion rate.
• The White Ape and Sea Market Master evaded Flood Dragon and Iron Head Fish among the roots, while the battle at Lu Cang River continued and Flood Dragon’s avatar withdrew from the Southern Border.
• The White Ape reached the fourth root, raised his fusion rate to 80%, and struck Iron Head Fish while avoiding Flood Dragon’s trap.
• A second Flood Dragon emerged from the passage and circled with the first above the White Ape.

Liang Qu’s White Ape fought the Flood Dragons and Iron Head Fish in the Dragon Palace, rapidly refining the True Dragon’s Legacy and overpowering them. After the Flood Dragon escaped, it attacked the Southern Border’s False Dragon and surged upstream in the Lu Cang River, revealing that its goal lay beyond the Dragon Palace battle.

• Liang Qu’s White Ape used the tree roots and its growing strength to fend off the Flood Dragons and Iron Head Fish while refining Marsh Essence.
• White Ape shattered Iron Head Fish’s head plating, broke through the Dragon Palace, and emerged riding a Flood Dragon as its refinement reached 95%.
• White Ape battered the Flood Dragon across Jianghuai, but backlash from forcibly refining the True Dragon’s Legacy weakened it and let Iron Head Fish and the Flood Dragon escape in different directions.
• Sea Market Master took control as Liang Qu’s consciousness faltered, and the Flood Dragon fled south while White Ape pursued it.
• The Flood Dragon entered the Lu Cang River, wounded the Southern Border’s False Dragon, and continued upstream as the Old Man warned that its true purpose was not the Dragon Palace.

Liang Qu’s White Ape transformation pursued the Flood Dragon as it tried to claim the Lu Cang River, finally stopping it with the Drought Demon Fruit. Powerful elders intervened and ended the conflict, leaving the Flood Dragon alive and the Jianghuai Dragon Palace changing hands; General Yuan arrived too late and received only a wisp of Long Qi.

• Liang Qu fought the White Ape in the Cloud Sea while the Flood Dragon fled south toward the Lu Cang River, forcing the Southern Border and Da Shun to react to its attempt to go into the water.
• Liang Qu recovered his strength, fused with the Water Monkey Great Sage, and pursued the Flood Dragon, but its heaven-and-earth momentum let it overpower his attacks and keep moving toward the sea.
• Liang Qu used the Drought Demon Fruit to dry the riverbed and break the Flood Dragon’s momentum, stopping its attempt to go into the water before he could land a finishing blow.
• An old man in a rain cape, a man in broad robes, and the Whale Emperor intervened, declared the Jianghuai Dragon Palace would change hands, and ordered the conflict to end.
• The Flood Dragon escaped into the sea, while the White Ape and Sea Market Master remained behind as the combatants withdrew.
• General Yuan arrived afterward, hailed the White Ape as Jianghuai’s new lord, and planted a peach branch containing Yi Wood Long Qi on Shou Mountain.

The military campaign reached a temporary halt as Liang Qu and his allies returned to the Dragon Palace and claimed control of Jianghuai. After the Dragonfolk and Dragon Sturgeons pledged allegiance, Liang Qu declared that his next target was the Ghost Mother Sect.

• The army announced that soldiers on a list could return home early, while Xu Zishuai warned Lu Gang that the flood dragon’s fate omen suggested another clash with A Shui and the White Ape.
• General Yuan returned to Pengze and told the Time Insect that the flood dragon might honor its promise to let bygones be bygones, allowing him to survive whichever side won.
• Liang Qu’s water beasts argued over their merits and rewards, while Old Toad claimed the title of Chancellor before they entered the damaged Dragon Palace.
• Liang Qu discovered that the flood dragon had removed most of the Dragon Palace Treasury’s valuable contents and promised the Turtle King and Frog King a share of future rewards.
• Ao Qing, Long Chen, and thousands of Dragonfolk and Dragon Sturgeons arrived at the Dragon Palace and pledged themselves to Liang Qu as Water Lord.
• Liang Qu pointed toward the Eastern Waters and named the Ghost Mother Sect as his next target.

Liang Qu consolidated his victory over the Flood Dragon, expanded his control across the Eastern Waters, and reflected on the Whale Emperor’s intervention and the dangers still ahead. He sent Long Pingjiang and Long Pinghe to the Lingnan front, where news arrived that he had breached Heaven’s Gate and become a Martial Saint.

• Liang Qu used Pai Xiao Xing’s new Omnipresent talent to map Dragon Palace waterways and ordered the Dragonfolk to hunt down the Ghost Mother Sect.
• Fat Catfish evolved into an Ink Tiger Flood Dragon Catfish as the Dragon Palace’s residents repaired their home and celebrated Liang Qu’s victory.
• Liang Qu explained to Long E Ying and the Water Beasts that the Whale Emperor had maneuvered carefully to preserve its reputation while aiding the Flood Dragon.
• Liang Qu used his Wish-Fulfilling Long Qi to shrink the Marshland Kingdom creatures and considered how his advancement had brought him closer to creating a world of his own.
• Liang Qu gave Long Pingjiang and Long Pinghe his Divine Power Token and sent them to the Lingnan front.
• Meng Yi learned that Liang Qu had breached Heaven’s Gate and become a Martial Saint, then collapsed in tears as Centipede reacted in shock.

Liang Qu led Da Shun’s forces to crush the Ghost Mother Sect in the Jiang Huai Great Marsh, where King Chu chose death over surrender and revealed the sect’s resurrection ritual. In May, Liang Qu received orders to return from the Southern Border as Long Pingjiang prepared to impersonate him, leaving the world watching a decoy head north.

• Wen Shiyun learned that his master, the Xingyi Marquis, had won a great victory at the Southern Border and received five days of leave to visit him.
• Su Guishan and the River Conservancy Office attacked the Ghost Mother Sect’s stronghold while Liang Qu appeared in the cave, revealing that he had switched places with the White Ape.
• Liang Qu questioned King Chu about the Ghost Mother Sect’s ritual and its ties to Da Gan, then allowed King Chu to take his own life and trapped his soul.
• Liang Qu examined the ritual’s connection to the underworld, took the Demon Empress and the young imperial prince from their coffin, and sent King Chu’s corpse to the Imperial Capital.
• Da Shun’s forces completed a month-long purge of the Ghost Mother Sect, and Liang Qu took none of the captured treasures.
• Liang Qu received orders to return from the Lingnan front as Long Pingjiang used a living-looking body made from Martial Saints’ remains to impersonate him and head north.

Liang Qu advanced to the Young Dragon realm, transformed Fubo and Abyssal Wood into Profound Weapons, and arranged for a bloodfiend decoy to preserve Stone in the River’s cover. He returned to the capital, where the court and Sacred Emperor welcomed and honored him for pacifying the Southern Border.

• Liang Qu emerged from seclusion as a Young Dragon Martial Saint, revealing an Immeasurable Sea and a vast range for his Divine Powers.
• Liang Qu cultivated a fifth stage of the Yin Yang Spirit Seed Art and refined Fubo and Abyssal Wood with his newly gained Self-Nature.
• Liang Qu arranged for Long Pingjiang to maintain a bloodfiend double called Stone in the River while he traveled north from Jianghuai.
• Liang Qu’s fleet reached the capital, where the Prime Minister and officials welcomed him and presented the Emperor’s decree and rewards.
• The Sacred Emperor personally honored Liang Qu at the palace gates, and the Shun Historical Records recorded his pacification of the Southern Border.

Liang Qu’s attainment of Enlightenment and Sainthood was celebrated across Da Shun, and he returned to the capital as a Martial Saint. The Sacred Emperor presented him with travel restrictions and possible fiefs, then explained why Liang Qu’s success in office had depended on the benefits he brought others.

• Liang Qu sent thirty-eight Heavenly Feather Guards across Da Shun to announce his sainthood, and the court declared a seven-day Grand Feast for the World.
• Liang Qu celebrated with the crowd, recalled how Marquis Weining’s sainthood had been announced years earlier, and scattered silver for people to buy wine.
• Xiang Fangsu returned home and told his mother that the Southern Border rebellion had been pacified, the Ghost Mother Sect destroyed, and Liang Qu made a Martial Saint.
• The Sixth Prince delivered Liang Qu a map showing where he could travel freely, where he needed notice or approval, and seven possible fiefs.
• The Sacred Emperor asked Liang Qu to choose a fief, then explained that his smooth career came from sharing credit and benefits, and warned that he was unsuited to ordinary political life.

Liang Qu chose a secret third option for his enfeoffment, then received honors for his victories in the Southern Border and Jianghuai. At the ceremony, he was enfeoffed as King of Huai with a fief spanning thirteen ports along the Huai River.

• Liang Qu rejected both an ordinary fief and becoming an Imperial Clan King, choosing the Sacred Emperor’s undisclosed third option.
• Liang Qu asked the Sacred Emperor to protect the Sea Market Master, but the emperor warned that doing so would provoke the Whale Emperor; Liang Qu instead requested artisans, breeding aquatic beasts, access to Moon Gazing Tower, and Creation Great Medicine.
• Liang Qu and Long E Ying met Tan Yifeng and Liao Lanqing at Moon Gazing Tower to investigate a fifth level of their cultivation method, which Liang Qu called the Sacred Fruit.
• The court held ceremonies honoring Liang Qu and other commanders for their victories in the Southern Border and Jianghuai, promoting Liang Qu to State Duke and awarding him Great Merit.
• At the June 27 enfeoffment ceremony, the Sacred Emperor named Liang Qu King of Huai and granted him thirteen ports along the Huai River, authority over commercial taxes and grain transport, and a princely residence in Yixing.

Liang Qu received his imperial enfeoffment as King of Huai, along with honors for his family, teacher, and companions, and learned that his fief consisted of thirteen scattered ports along the Huai River. Back in Yixing, Chen Zhaoan stopped villagers from refusing their Summer Tax and attacking the grain collectors, while Liang Qu left the palace eager to develop his new territory.

• The Emperor’s edict ennobled E Ying and honored Yang Dongxiong, Xu Shi, and Liang Qu’s ancestors and supporters.
• In Yixing, villagers refused to pay Summer Tax and beat the grain collectors, prompting Chen Zhaoan to confront them.
• Chen Zhaoan condemned the villagers’ attempt to exploit expected tax write-offs, but Liang Liu rallied many to resist until Chen Qingjiang arrived and the crowd began to move.
• Liang Qu learned that the Emperor had granted him thirteen ports whose combined territory formed his fief, and the Emperor explained that the arrangement reduced opposition to enfeoffing him in Southern Zhili.
• Liang Qu welcomed the challenge of building ports and waterways, then met his family and companions and joked that he could not bear the cold at such heights.

Liang Qu completed the ancestral rites of his enfeoffment as King of Huai and met an Immortal, who explained cultivation and questioned him about wrongdoing in his hometown. Liang Qu defended his plans to educate and guide Yixing’s people, and the Immortal withheld a promised gift pending further discussion.

• Xu Wanxing publicly read the imperial decree announcing Liang Qu’s kingship and the titles bestowed on his family, while Xu Rongguang’s household celebrated with the crowd.
• Liang Qu studied cultivation with Tan Yifeng and Liao Lanqing, then prepared to pay respects to his ancestors as part of his enfeoffment ceremony.
• Liang Qu participated in the rites at the Imperial Ancestral Temple, where the offerings affirmed his status as King of Huai.
• The Sacred Emperor brought Liang Qu to the Heavenly Craftsmanship Institute, where an Immortal explained why Liang Qu could not sense the Stone in the River and gave him a booklet on nurturing a Rank Fruit.
• The Immortal asked Liang Qu whether he would keep helping Yixing after villagers withheld taxes and assaulted clerks; Liang Qu condemned the violence but argued that poverty, circumstances, and education shaped people’s actions.
• Liang Qu told the Immortal that Yixing’s people needed guidance rather than blanket condemnation, and the Immortal paused before deciding whether to grant him a special gift.