Chapter Summaries

Yang Ling drove the Star Sea Fishing Alliance and the Rong Tribe’s Heavenly Wolf Guard away from the deep pool after defeating their fifth-rank fighters. He let the surviving Heavenly Wolf Guard leave after forcing Lord Liu to admit that Yang Ling was loyal to the Iron Clothes Department.

• Yang Ling ordered the Star Sea Fishing Alliance’s martial artists to retreat two li, then told Lord Liu and the Heavenly Wolf Guard to leave the pool.
• When Lord Liu and the Sixth-Rank Heavenly Wolf Guard challenged him, Yang Ling struck Lord Liu before he could finish speaking and kicked him repeatedly into defeat.
• The Rong Tribe’s martial artists and Zhao State’s fighters were stunned by Yang Ling’s strength, while Lu Yunchen suspected Yang Ling had an extraordinary background.
• Yang Ling approached Lord Liu, who warned that killing him would break the cooperation between Zhao State and the Rong Tribe.
• Yang Ling reminded Lord Liu that he had accused him of being a spy from the Great Dream Dynasty, so Lord Liu admitted he had only said it to cause trouble and affirmed Yang Ling was loyal to the Iron Clothes Department.
• Yang Ling let Lord Liu and the Rong Tribe’s martial artists leave, clearing the deep pool.

Yang Ling claimed the Ironback Thorn Fish King and stored it in his Green Dragon Ring before setting out to find the Fourth Prince. He came across Yun Ruo and a group of Seventh Rank Iron Clothes fleeing a vast swarm of Carnivorous Fire Beetles and prepared to face the insects.

• Yang Ling let the Zhao State martial artists divide the Ironback Thorn Fish in the king's mouth while he kept the fish king for himself.
• Yang Ling rejected the others' hopes of sharing the fish king, stored it in his Green Dragon Ring, and asked Lu Yunchen where the Fourth Prince had gone.
• Lu Yunchen told Yang Ling that the Fourth Prince was with the Fifth and Sixth Princes, He Tongchen, and Jieshu, then pointed out paths taken by several Iron Clothes masters.
• Yang Ling spotted Yun Ruo and a dozen Seventh Rank Iron Clothes fleeing at least ten thousand Carnivorous Fire Beetles and rushed to help.
• Yang Ling told Yun Ruo to move away, but Yun Ruo stayed to warn him that the beetles could self-detonate and seriously injure even an Upper Sixth Rank martial artist.

Yang Ling slaughtered a swarm of more than ten thousand Carnivorous Fire Beetles with repeated Blade Storms, leveling up and astonishing the gathered martial artists. He returned to the group and asked Yun Ruo whether something had happened farther ahead.

• The Seventh Rank Iron Clothes and Lu Yunchen warned that Carnivorous Fire Beetles could explode, and the approaching martial artists withdrew from the swarm.
• Yang Ling told Yun Ruo to retreat and chose to face the beetles alone, while Zhang Wei realized he wanted to gain experience.
• Yang Ling unleashed Blade Storm ten times with the Heaven Swallowing Golden Sword and killed the entire swarm before it could use Flame Explosion.
• The experience from the beetles raised Yang Ling to level 131, leaving the onlookers stunned by his power and the Divine Weapon's spirituality.
• Yang Ling returned to the others and asked Yun Ruo whether something had happened ahead.

Yun Ruo reported that Carnivorous Fire Beetles had overwhelmed the expedition near the Old Flood Dragon’s corpse, prompting Lu Yunchen and several others to retreat from Fire Cloud Cave. Outside, the leaders decided to investigate the cave themselves, and Xie Jinjia revealed the Frost Qilin Armor as they prepared to enter.

• Yun Ruo told the martial artists that the Old Flood Dragon’s corpse lay among vast patches of rare herbs, but a huge Carnivorous Fire Beetle swarm had forced the expedition to flee.
• Lu Yunchen ordered a retreat; Zhang Wei and others went with him, while most of the other factions chose to remain, and Yang Ling stayed behind to investigate.
• Yang Ling confiscated the roasted Ironback Thorn Fish from Zhao Yan and Monk Mingfa, gave them to Yun Ruo, then hurried deeper into the cave.
• After Lu Yunchen’s group reported the danger to Li Zhong, Chen Quan, Xie Jinjia, and Li Ting agreed to investigate Fire Cloud Cave themselves.
• Xie Jinjia transformed his azure bracer into the full-body Frost Qilin Armor, astonishing the martial artists and Players present.

Yang Ling learned that Xie Jinjia, Chen Quan, and Li Ting had brought powerful spiritual battle armor and descended into Fire Cloud Cave with their followers. After considering how to upgrade his own armor, Yang Ling encountered the Pacify the Rong King’s group fleeing a swarm of Carnivorous Fire Beetles, just as dozens of figures fell through the cave ceiling and landed around him.

• Yang Ling heard from Zhang Wei that Xie Jinjia had revealed the Frost Qilin Armor and realized the Third-Rank Grandmasters were preparing to enter Fire Cloud Cave.
• Xie Jinjia, Chen Quan, and Li Ting donned their battle armor, distributed protective items to their Fourth-Rank Grandmasters, and agreed to divide Fire Cloud Cave’s gains equally.
• Li Zhong led the Grandmasters into Fire Cloud Cave, while Lu Yunchen and the others stayed behind and Hua Zhuo suggested searching the island.
• Yang Ling considered using Fire Flood Dragon Blood to give his Sky Wolf Battle Armor spirituality and tried to arrange a meeting with Li Fengxian, who had already left Fire Cloud Cave.
• Yang Ling spotted the Pacify the Rong King and others fleeing more than a hundred thousand Carnivorous Fire Beetles, then watched seawater pour through the ceiling and dozens of figures land around him.

Yang Ling encountered a force from the Great Dream Dynasty’s Divine Guard Office in Fire Cloud Cave as Carnivorous Fire Beetles swarmed the area. After a third-rank grandmaster in golden armor destroyed the swarm, she revealed the dynasty’s claim to Fire Flood Dragon Island and offered to protect Zhao Zheng and his companions.

• Yang Ling recognized the arriving fighters as Divine Guard Office experts and sensed that their leader was a third-rank grandmaster.
• Yang Ling warned the group about the Carnivorous Fire Beetles, while Zhao Zheng and his companions hurried toward him and tried to leave.
• A Divine Guard Office expert blocked their way, and the woman crushed the beetle swarm by shattering the ground with her steps.
• Yang Ling identified himself as Ji Kongliu and introduced He Tongchen, Jieshu, and the Zhao princes, but the woman exposed his misleading account.
• The woman told Zhao Zheng that the Great Dream Dynasty claimed Fire Flood Dragon Island and said he could report this to his emperor after matters were settled.
• The woman donned golden divine weapon armor and offered to protect the group while they remained in Fire Cloud Cave.

Yang Ling and the Zhao State princes were forced by the Divine Guard Office into a hidden route through Fire Cloud Cave, where they found a palace complex and a massive, half-skeletonized dragon corpse surrounded by rare herbs and swarms of giant Carnivorous Fire Beetles. As radiation corroded everyone nearby, the woman ordered Yang Ling to approach the corpse and gather the treasures.

• The woman led the group along an unmarked shortcut through Fire Cloud Cave, revealing that the Great Dream Dynasty knew the island better than Zhao State did.
• The group emerged before a palace complex and an enormous dragon corpse, surrounded by rare herbs and giant Carnivorous Fire Beetles.
• Yang Ling identified the potent herbs and recognized that the radiation was rapidly rotting his flesh and that of the others.
• Zhao Zheng warned the woman that the radiation and beetles made staying dangerous, but she asked whether the Fire Flood Dragon was truly dead.
• Qi Chunqiu concluded that the Fire Flood Dragon was thoroughly dead, and the woman accepted his judgment.
• The woman told Ye Zhan not to go near the corpse and ordered Yang Ling to gather the herbs and search for the Crimson-Refined Fire Flood Dragon Sect's inheritance.

Zhao Zheng, Zhao Yuan, and Zhao Qi stood up to a Third-Rank Grandmaster to protect Yang Ling, only to learn that he had already reached Upper Fifth Rank and condensed martial way kindling. As Yang Ling prepared to approach the Fire Flood Dragon's corpse, Xie Jinjia arrived and challenged the Great Dream Dynasty's authority over Zhao State's officials.

• Zhao Zheng, Zhao Yuan, and Zhao Qi refused to let the woman send Yang Ling toward the Fire Flood Dragon's corpse, even when she threatened them with death.
• The woman revealed that Yang Ling had reached the peak of Upper Fifth Rank and condensed martial way kindling, surprising Zhao Zheng, Zhao Yuan, Zhao Qi, Master Jie Hai, and He Tongchen.
• Yang Ling confirmed his cultivation and agreed to retrieve the rare flowers and herbs, while the woman destroyed tens of thousands of approaching Carnivorous Fire Beetles.
• Yang Ling prepared to charge toward the corpse, confident he could exploit the danger surrounding it, but Xie Jinjia arrived with Li Zhong, Lu Yunshuang, Ji Kongliu, and Xu Wenjun and challenged the Great Dream Dynasty's right to order Zhao State's officials around.

Xie Jinjia and Nangong Fengge confronted each other over the Zhao princes and the Great Dream Dynasty’s bid to claim the Crimson-Refined Fire Flood Dragon Sect’s inheritance. As Yang Ling tried to reach the rare herbs, Chen Quan arrived to block him, and Li Ting proposed a division of the spoils that Nangong Fengge rejected.

• Xie Jinjia identified Nangong Fengge as a descendant of the Heavenly Will Sect and demanded that she release the Zhao princes, but she refused until the Great Dream Dynasty obtained the inheritance.
• Nangong Fengge ordered Yang Ling to collect the rare flowers and herbs, and Yang Ling rushed toward the enormous corpse while declaring his concern for the princes.
• Chen Quan arrived and stopped Yang Ling with a saber strike that carved a trench in front of him.
• Li Ting arrived and proposed that the Star Sea Fishing Alliance take forty percent of the island’s spoils while the other three powers divided the rest.
• Nangong Fengge dismissed Li Ting’s claim to negotiate, prompting him to ask whether she was showing his alliance too little respect.

Li Ting allied the Star Sea Fishing Alliance with Nangong Fengge’s Great Dream Dynasty, forcing the Zhao State and Rong Tribe to accept an unequal division of Fire Cloud Cave’s spoils. Yang Ling volunteered to approach the Fire Flood Dragon’s corpse alone, while those who knew him reflected on his hidden strength and loyalty.

• Li Ting rejected the other factions’ attempt to exclude the Star Sea Fishing Alliance and proposed an alliance with Nangong Fengge, offering the Great Dream Dynasty access to Fire Flood Dragon Island in exchange for half the inheritance or rare plants.
• Li Ting revealed River Elder’s cooperation with the Great Dream Dynasty and told him he would need to openly declare his allegiance.
• Nangong Fengge demanded sixty percent of the spoils for her side, and Xie Jinjia and Chen Quan accepted rather than risk a fight that would leave everyone with nothing.
• Nangong Fengge asked Xie Jinjia to send fifth-rank minor grandmasters with Yang Ling, but Yang Ling argued that only those with martial way kindling could survive near the corpse and volunteered to go alone.
• Chen Quan and Li Ting agreed that Yang Ling could represent their factions as well, and Yang Ling rushed toward the corpse while pretending to be indignant.
• Lu Yunshuang and Yun Buchuan recognized Yang Ling as the man Ruo'er had worked with, while Zhao Xun privately disputed Yun Buchuan’s claim that he had first recognized Yang Ling’s potential.

Yang Ling endured the corpse’s deadly radiation and reached the rare herbs growing around it. While the assembled martial artists watched, he secretly began collecting everything for his own advancement.

• Lu Yunshuang disparaged the Iron Clothes Department and said Yang Ling’s ties to the court would hinder his Martial Way, prompting Yun Buchuan to defend him.
• The martial artists watched Yang Ling’s skin repeatedly decay and regenerate as he approached the colossal corpse, and Zhao Zheng recognized him as an upper-fifth-rank minor grandmaster.
• River Elder suggested Zhao State had concealed Yang Ling’s rank, drawing suspicion from Hua Jinsong and the others until Li Ting ordered him to stop talking.
• Yang Ling reached the rare flowers and herbs beside the corpse and decided they could help advance his internal energy and martial skills.
• Yang Ling removed his upper garment and filled it with rare flowers and herbs while the other martial artists watched.

Yang Ling gathered rare herbs while enduring the Fire Flood Dragon Corpse’s radiation, then secretly chiseled free one of its scales. After inspecting the scale, he began to suspect the corpse might truly belong to the Old Flood Dragon.

• Yang Ling selectively gathered rare flowers and herbs as the radiation ate away at his arms, while the watching martial artists estimated the damage to his vitality and foundations.
• Li Zhong asked Xie Jinjia to compensate Yang Ling for his sacrifice, and Xie Jinjia agreed to report his contributions but refused to promise divine weapon armor.
• Nangong Fengge told Yang Ling to bring back the Crimson-Refined Fire Flood Dragon Sect’s inheritance method intact, and Yang Ling waved to acknowledge her.
• Out of sight of the third-rank grandmasters, Yang Ling used his Hundred Refined Qilin Crane-Mouth Hoe to free a door-sized scale and stored it in the Green Dragon Ring.
• After reading the scale’s details and continuing to search the corpse, Yang Ling sensed something was wrong and wondered whether it was truly the Old Flood Dragon.

Yang Ling collected rare flowers and herbs from the Fire Flood Dragon’s corpse while hiding the valuable items he had found, then joined the others as Fire Cloud Cave began to collapse. The martial artists fled with the enormous corpse, and the group raced through the flooding cave toward safety.

• Yang Ling chipped two scales from the second Fire Flood Dragon’s corpse, gathered nearby herbs, and returned before his radiation damage became too severe.
• Nangong Fengge and Xie Jinjia divided the herbs between their groups, while Chen Quan suspected a larger jadeblood fleeceflower was missing; Qi Chunqiu searched Yang Ling but found nothing.
• Zhao Zheng checked on Yang Ling, who claimed his injuries would take six months to a year to heal.
• Fire Cloud Cave began trembling and cracking, prompting the four Third-Rank Grandmasters to evacuate everyone while carrying the Fire Flood Dragon’s corpse.
• Li Zhong carried Yang Ling and Zhao Zheng as the group fled through the collapsing, flooding cave, while Xie Jinjia and the other Grandmasters surged ahead with the corpse.

Zhao State and the Rong Tribe prepared to divide Fire Flood Dragon Island, with the Rong Tribe offering to give up a fishing village in exchange for Yang Ling. When the Fire Flood Dragon’s corpse emerged from Fire Cloud Cave, its radiation harmed the gathered martial artists, and the missing scales prompted accusations against Zhao State as Xie Jinjia waited for Yang Ling.

• The refined old man and the middle-aged lay scholar discussed Zhao State’s coming occupation of Fire Flood Dragon Island and its agreement to divide the island and fishing villages with the Rong Tribe.
• The refined old man revealed that the Rong Tribe had offered to surrender a fishing village if Zhao State handed over Yang Ling, and the middle-aged lay scholar questioned whether officials would accept the deal.
• The martial artists returned to the Crimson-Refined Fire Flood Dragon Sect as the island and surrounding waters shook, while Zhang Wei assured them that Yang Ling was safe.
• A huge creature erupted from the earth, and the martial artists discovered it was the Fire Flood Dragon’s corpse, whose radiation began corroding their bodies until the Third-Rank Grandmasters carried it away.
• Li Ting noticed two scales missing from the corpse, and Nangong Fengge and Chen Quan said Zhao State must bear the loss as Xie Jinjia waited for Li Zhong to bring Yang Ling out.

As Fire Cloud Cave collapsed, the martial artists escaped, and the three princes were rescued by Grandmasters. Yang Ling denied taking two missing Fire Flood Dragon Scales, while the factions agreed to leave the mystery unresolved; the chapter ended with everyone wondering why Nangong Fengge and the Divine Guard Office experts had emerged from the cave.

• The ground continued sinking, and Xu Wuji discovered the three princes were missing after he and the other senior eunuchs had explored deeper into the cave.
• Li Zhong emerged carrying Yang Ling and Zhao Zheng, while Lu Yunshuang and an Arhat Temple Grandmaster brought out the Fifth and Sixth Princes.
• Xie Jinjia questioned Yang Ling about two missing Fire Flood Dragon Scales, and Yang Ling claimed someone else had removed them.
• Xie Jinjia and the other Grandmasters agreed to leave the missing scales unexplained and divide the remaining scales among their factions.
• Ji Kongliu, Xu Wenjun, Yun Buchuan, and other Fifth-Rank Experts escaped, and the martial artists noticed that Nangong Fengge and Divine Guard Office experts had come out of Fire Cloud Cave.

Nangong Fengge declared that the Great Dream Dynasty would claim the waters around Fire Flood Dragon Island, but Xie Jinjia and Chen Quan revealed that the Zhao State and Rong State planned to divide the territory between them. The Star Sea Fishing Alliance faced pressure to choose a side as Zhao State fighters realized the strategic stakes and Chen Quan urged Li Ting not to cooperate with the Dynasty.

• Nangong Fengge introduced herself and announced that the Great Dream Dynasty would establish a border around Fire Flood Dragon Island and control access to its waters.
• Hua Jinsong and River Elder told their followers to accept the Star Sea Fishing Alliance's decisions, while River Elder argued that the Dynasty was a stronger ally than the Zhao State or Rong State.
• Li Ting suggested discussing the territory after dividing the Fire Flood Dragon Corpse, but Nangong Fengge warned that the Dynasty would take over even without the Alliance's cooperation.
• Xie Jinjia challenged the Dynasty's claim by recounting its past defeat on Fire Flood Dragon Island, and Chen Quan declared that the Zhao State and Rong State had agreed to divide the waters between them.
• Zhao Yingying recognized the strategic importance of the plan, while Yang Ling and Zhang Wei anticipated rewards and battle as the Zhao State's fighters rallied.
• Chen Quan urged Li Ting to side with the Zhao State and Rong State, warning him that the Great Dream Dynasty had destroyed the Crimson-Refined Fire Flood Dragon Sect.

Nangong Fengge tried to force the Star Sea Fishing Alliance to submit to the Great Dream Dynasty, while Zhao State and Rong Tribe forces threatened the alliance’s fishing villages. A Human Immortal arrived to overwhelm the factions, but a colossal crimson divine ape emerged from the sea and struck him down, prompting him to flee.

• Star Sea Fishing Alliance martial artists rejected joining the Great Dream Dynasty because of their ancestral blood feud, and Li Ting told Nangong Fengge to leave after they divided the fire flood dragon’s corpse.
• Nangong Fengge threatened to devastate the alliance’s fishing villages, while Xie Jinjia revealed that Zhao State and Rong Tribe forces had reached them first.
• A thousand-zhang wave approached Fire Flood Dragon Island with a middle-aged Human Immortal standing atop it, and Nangong Fengge said the Great Dream Dynasty would kill the alliance if it refused to cooperate.
• A crimson divine ape rose from the sea and shattered the wave with one punch, reducing the Human Immortal to a skeleton.
• The Human Immortal shouted, “You're not dead yet!” and fled as his body began to regenerate.

The Divine Ape Spirit Body revealed himself as Ji Tianming, the Crimson-Refined Fire Flood Dragon Sect’s Old Ancestor, and drove Nangong Fengge’s forces from Fire Flood Dragon Island. After he vanished, Li Ting began negotiations over the island’s waters and exposed Hua Jinsong as a Zhao State spy.

• The Divine Ape Spirit Body identified himself as Ji Tianming, and Yang Ling realized that his sworn brother had been presiding over Fire Cloud Cave as the Fire Flood Dragon.
• The Star Sea Fishing Alliance’s martial artists knelt to honor their Old Ancestor, while Nangong Fengge challenged his survival and then fled with Qi Chunqiu and her subordinates after he ordered them to leave.
• Ji Tianming asked Zhao State and the Rong Tribe to arrange governance of the waters around Fire Flood Dragon Island, then vanished in a display that left Xie Jinjia and Chen Quan unsure whether he had truly died.
• Li Ting led the Alliance in mourning for the Old Ancestor and proposed negotiating the waters’ administration aboard his ship, asking Zhao State and the Rong Tribe to recall their spies.
• Li Zhong agreed to recall Zhao State’s people, and Hua Jinsong revealed himself as the Command Department’s Second Branch Master, prompting shock among the fishing villages and officials.

Hua Jinsong and Old Tu revealed their covert roles, and the Star Sea Fishing Alliance agreed to cooperate with Zhao State and Rong State over Fire Flood Dragon Island. As powerful officials arrived aboard giant ships, Yang Ling discovered that even inspecting a high-ranking figure’s attributes could overwhelm him.

• Hua Jinsong revealed himself as the Iron Clothes Department's Second Branch Master, while River Elder was exposed as a Great Dream Dynasty spy.
• Old Tu revealed that he was the Lone Wolf General, one of Rong State's Twelve Wolf Generals, and explained that his joking persona had helped conceal his identity.
• Li Ting agreed that the Star Sea Fishing Alliance would ally with Zhao State and Rong State, but the parties began negotiating over the Fire Flood Dragon Corpse and compensation.
• The experts boarded the Alliance's warship while Hua Zhuo, Qin Kunlun, and other lower-ranked martial artists returned to their fleets in small boats.
• Yang Ling and Zhang Wei watched Zhao State and Rong Tribe ships approach; trying to inspect a powerful official's attribute panel nearly knocked them both unconscious.
• Yang Ling looked toward the Rong Tribe's ship and met the gaze of someone staring back at him.

Yang Ling attended negotiations over Fire Flood Dragon Island, where the Rong Tribe demanded him in exchange for a fishing village. After his martial way kindling and actions beneath Fire Cloud Cave were revealed, Zhao State refused to hand him over and the talks turned to dividing the island’s waters and treasures.

• Li Ting met with Zhao State and Rong Tribe officials and said his Old Ancestor had ordered the waters around Fire Flood Dragon Island placed under joint administration.
• The Rong Tribe's Minister of War demanded that Yang Ling return with them, offering an additional fishing village in exchange.
• Minister Kong and the other officials learned that Yang Ling had condensed martial way kindling, and Li Zhong described how he had retrieved rare flowers and herbs and probed the Fire Flood Dragon Corpse beneath Fire Cloud Cave.
• Minister Kong rejected the Rong Tribe's demand and proposed discussing the division of the waters, the Fire Flood Dragon Corpse, and its Fire Spirit Pearls.
• The Rong Tribe and Zhao State began discussing a preliminary division plan, and Yang Ling was relieved that Zhao State would not send him away.