Chapter Summaries

Fang Yun learned why Ao Xuan resented Ao Yuwei and him while Ao Xuan and Lei Zhongmo prepared to challenge the later Dragon Gates. He refused Ao Qingyue’s advice to give up and declared that he would soon join them.

• Ao Xuan taunted Fang Yun about falling behind at the Dragon Gate, and Ao Qingyue warned her not to interfere in Fang Yun’s affairs or antagonize Ao Yuwei.
• Ao Hai summoned Ao Xuan and Lei Zhongmo and secretly advised them on ascending the Dragon Gate.
• Ao Qingyue told Fang Yun that Ao Xuan had loved Ao Wushan, who loved Ao Yuwei and had left after vowing to return as a Sage and take Ao Yuwei as his wife.
• Ao Qingyue explained that Ao Xuan also resented Fang Yun because Ao Yuwei admired his poetry and prose, while the marriage between Ao Xuan and Lei Zhongmo might be tied to the Thunder Ancestor.
• Ao Qingyue suggested giving up after six Dragon Gates, but Fang Yun insisted he would not surrender.
• Ao Xuan and Lei Zhongmo announced they were leaving for the eighth and Ninth Dragon Gates, and Fang Yun told them he would be there shortly.

Fang Yun practiced the Dragon Gate Ascension while Ao Hai’s interference blocked the undercurrents, and the other races blamed the Western Sea Dragon Palace for ruining their chances to advance. The chapter ended with five unfamiliar Flood Dragon Marquises arriving and calling Fang Yun their father.

• Ao Xuan and Lei Zhongmo used an undercurrent to clear the Seventh Dragon Gate and taunted Fang Yun and the others.
• Ao Hai’s interference scattered the undercurrents, leaving Fang Yun and the other challengers unable to progress.
• A golden beam announced that someone had cleared the Ninth Dragon Gate, and Ao Qingyue and others blamed the Western Sea Dragon Palace for obstructing them.
• Fang Yun continued practicing until he reached a height of eighty-four zhang and three cun, then returned to meditate.
• Five unfamiliar Flood Dragon Marquises swam to Fang Yun, nudged him, and called him “Daddy,” prompting the gathered races to joke about him.

Fang Yun learned why the five golden carp Yu Wei had raised recognized him as their father, named the newly transformed Flood Dragons, and accepted Ao Qingyue’s gifts and help with their registration. The Fire Qilin then offered five precious Sun Pearls, which Fang Yun refused.

• Ao Qingyue explained that the five golden carp had transformed into Flood Dragons after leaping over Dragon Gate Phantoms triggered by Fang Yun’s words, and that they instinctively regarded him as their father.
• Fang Yun named the five Flood Dragons Ao Ren, Ao Yi, Ao Li, Ao Zhi, and Ao Xin, and they celebrated by playing around him.
• Ao Qingyue gave Fang Yun five drops of dragon sage blood for the little Flood Dragons and advised him to delay their training and consumption of treasures.
• Ao Qingyue offered to visit the Flood Dragon Sage Palace to register the five Flood Dragons, and Fang Yun agreed.
• The Fire Qilin presented five Sun Pearls as gifts for Fang Yun’s children, but Fang Yun refused them as too precious.

Fang Yun accepted gifts for the five little flood dragons and exchanged treasures with Jukong while the Water Race offered more gifts. The five children then headed to the Seventh Dragon Gate to practice, still angry at Ao Hai for blocking Fang Yun’s attempt.

• Ao Qingyue urged Fang Yun to accept five Sun Pearls for the little flood dragons, and the Fire Qilin gave them to him.
• The Shadow Race Demon King bestowed Shadow Void Armor on the five little flood dragons, and Ao Qingyue explained its protective power.
• Jukong gave Fang Yun a vat of blood medicine containing sacred blood, and Fang Yun traded Bloodmang Realm divine treasures for treasures from the Summit of Myriad Stars.
• Fang Yun gave the five little flood dragons River-Drinking Shells, and members of the Water Race offered them gifts.
• The five little flood dragons called Ao Hai a bad dragon and swam to the Dragon Gate to practice getting used to their flood dragon bodies.

Fang Yun watched the five little Flood Dragons strengthen their leaps and push back Ao Hai’s control of the water, then crossed the Seventh Dragon Gate himself. He reached the Eighth Dragon Gate, where Lei Zhongmo was stunned to see him and Ao Xuan blamed Ao Hai for failing to stop him.

• The five little Flood Dragons began their ascents, and their growing power created undercurrents that drove Ao Hai’s control away from the surrounding water.
• Fang Yun practiced leaping with the strengthening undercurrents, cleared a hundred zhang, and gave the five little Flood Dragons advice before crossing the Seventh Dragon Gate.
• Crossing the Seventh Dragon Gate strengthened Fang Yun and his Literary Palace Coiled Dragon, and he flew toward the Eighth Dragon Gate.
• Lei Zhongmo was astonished to see Fang Yun at the Eighth Dragon Gate, while Ao Xuan cursed Ao Hai for failing to stop him.

Fang Yun reached the Eighth Dragon Gate, where he faced enemies who had invaded the Jing Kingdom and learned that the Lei Family and Western Sea Dragon Palace had made plans to stop him. Ao Hai cleared the Eighth Dragon Gate and left ahead of Fang Yun, while Ao Xuan hinted that the Dragon Palace would use a final method if Fang Yun reached the Ninth Dragon Gate.

• Fang Yun greeted the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace members and silently marked Lang Lie and E Xiong as enemies he intended to kill.
• Ao Xuan questioned Fang Yun about clearing the Seventh Dragon Gate, and Fang Yun said he no longer needed her to deliver his message to the Ninth Dragon Gate.
• Ao Hai burst through the Eighth Dragon Gate and headed straight for the Ninth, leaving the gathered kings stunned.
• Fang Yun sat three li from the Dragon Gate on Walking the Blue Clouds and began observing the Dragon Kings and Demon Kings.
• Ao Xuan told Lei Zhongmo that the Lei Family would have to honor its promises if Fang Yun cleared the Ninth Dragon Gate, and said the Western Sea Dragon Palace would use its final method to stop him.

Fang Yun studied the Demon Kings and Dragon Kings at the Eighth Dragon Gate, using their leaps to learn how to master his own strength. After Lei Zhongmo and Ao Xuan cleared the gate, Fang Yun followed and saw the immense final Dragon Gate revealed beyond it.

• Fang Yun observed the kings’ techniques for hours, exhausting his literary qi before Literary Thoughts Gushing restored it.
• Fang Yun rested by reciting the Spring and Autumn Annals, then discovered Lang Lie had already reached the Ninth Dragon Gate.
• Ao Xuan and Lei Zhongmo threatened Fang Yun and departed; Ao Xuan helped Lei Zhongmo make a triple leap that cleared the Eighth Dragon Gate.
• Ao Xuan also cleared the Eighth Dragon Gate with a triple leap, and Fang Yun passed it with a double leap shortly afterward.
• Fang Yun saw the fog disperse and reveal the ten-thousand-foot Dragon Gate, whose vast presence seemed to form its own world.

Fang Yun emerged from the Eighth Dragon Gate into the space of the Dragon Gate’s true body and learned that Ao Yuwei and Ao Huang had passed the Ninth Dragon Gate. He reassured the Great Dragon Kings that he would finish Journey to the West and agreed to discuss trading sacred dragon ambergris with Jing Kai after they left the Dragon Gate.

• Fang Yun surveyed the gathered dragon and water races, noticed Ao Yuwei, Ao Huang, and the Dragon Ancestor were absent, and wondered why several stronger True Dragons had not passed the Ninth Dragon Gate.
• Several Great Dragon Kings asked Fang Yun whether he would continue Journey to the West, and he promised to finish it before becoming a Great Scholar.
• Jing Kai greeted Fang Yun and revealed that he and his brother would protect him if the Lei Family pushed him too far, angering Lei Zhongmo.
• Jing Kai offered to buy sacred dragon ambergris from Fang Yun, and Fang Yun agreed to discuss the trade after they left the Dragon Gate.

Fang Yun discussed Dragonbone Coral Gold and the Dragon Emperor Treasure Realm with Ao Chang and Jing Kai while preparing to attempt the Ninth Dragon Gate. As other races continued their trials, five young Flood Dragons arrived, transformed and grown after only a few hours.

• Ao Chang offered to trade trinkets for Fang Yun's Dragonbone Coral Gold, and Fang Yun said factions other than the Western Sea Dragon Palace and Demon Barbarians could trade while supplies lasted.
• Jing Kai told Fang Yun that Ao Huang would look for a suitable treasure for him in the Dragon Emperor Treasure Realm, and Ao Chang explained the Realm's power and the lifespan gained by passing the Ninth Dragon Gate.
• Ao Xuan mocked Fang Yun for talking about the Treasure Realm and extra lifespan before attempting the gate, and Fang Yun calmly challenged her to laugh.
• A Great Dragon King leaped before the Ninth Dragon Gate and suffered damaged scales, showing Fang Yun that the gate's water amplified the impact of each leap.
• Fang Yun noticed that six of the seventeen Demon Kings and Barbarian Kings were unfamiliar to him, adding to his suspicion about their origins.
• Five silver Flood Dragons swam to Fang Yun, having doubled in size and grown stronger; Lei Zhongmo recognized them as the carp he had seen before the Dragon Gate Ascension.

At the Ninth Dragon Gate, Fang Yun reunited with the five little flood dragons he had raised, who had crossed eight gates and called him Daddy. As the five prepared to attempt the final gate, Ao Cang confronted Fang Yun and hinted that the Western Sea Dragon Palace had one last measure to use.

• Ao Mo and the other Flood Dragon Kings recognized the five flood dragons as extraordinary and learned they were Fang Yun's children, formed from his voice of the Sacred Way.
• Fang Yun greeted the five little flood dragons and ordered them to attempt the Ninth Dragon Gate despite their doubts that they were ready.
• The five little flood dragons insulted Ao Hai, embarrassing the Western Sea Dragon Palace dragons.
• Ao Cang greeted Fang Yun and said he could go no farther, while Ao Xuan and Lei Zhongmo appeared to anticipate the Western Sea Dragon Palace's final move.
• Fang Yun thanked the Western Sea Dragon Sage for forcing him into Bloodmang Ancient Land and vowed to repay that supposed kindness a hundredfold.

Fang Yun faced a Dragon Race political maneuver when Ao Cang proposed sealing the river to stop Dragon Gate Ascension, backed by two other True Dragons. Fang Yun forced the dispute into an All Kings Grand Assembly, where the assembly would decide whether to seal the river.

• Ao Cang accused Fang Yun of harming the Dragon Race and proposed an edict to seal the river and forbid Dragon Gate Ascension.
• Ao Gui and Ao Ju supported Ao Cang in convening a True Dragon Grand Assembly, while Ao Chang objected to the move.
• Lei Zhongmo and Gu Cang taunted Fang Yun about his prospects and the Lei Family's claim to a fief in Bloodmang.
• Fang Yun requested that the assembly be broadened to include the Water Race, and Ao Cang changed it into an All Kings Grand Assembly.
• The Sea-Calming Dragon King called for the All Kings Grand Assembly to begin and decide whether to seal the river.

Ao Cang accused Fang Yun of insulting the Dragon Race, killing its members, and claiming Dragon Race property, while Fang Yun challenged his arguments. Jing Kai reminded the assembly that the Dragon Race had sent a Demon Emperor into the Bloodmang Realm to force Fang Yun to his death.

• Lei Zhongmo and Ao Xuan discussed how Southern and Northern Sea Dragon Palace orders would sway the Great Dragon Kings against Fang Yun.
• Ao Cang addressed the assembly and argued that Fang Yun should be barred from Dragon Gate Ascension for keeping Ancestral Dragon True Blood, killing Lei Jiu, Lei Wu, and Ao Wo, and withholding Bloodmang Realm treasures.
• Fang Yun questioned whether the dragons would give up Ancestral Dragon True Blood themselves and mocked Ao Cang’s claims as robber’s logic.
• Ao Cang’s supporters demanded that Fang Yun surrender treasures, including the Dragon City Ruins and the Crime-Suppressing Hall.
• Ao Chang read Fang Yun’s fan inscription calling Ao Cang shameless, and Jing Kai accused the Western Sea Dragon Palace of sending a Demon Emperor to kill Fang Yun.

At the All Kings Grand Assembly, Ao Cang persuaded most of the Great Dragon Kings to support sealing the river by promising early access to the Battle Realm and Dragon City. Fang Yun opposed the measure, but the assembly approved it twenty-two to nine, and the Dragon Gate acknowledged the decision.

• Ao Cang defended sealing the river and revealed that the Western Sea Dragon Palace had discovered a link between the Heaven-Splitting Hall and the Battle Realm.
• Ao Cang promised that sealing the river’s supporters could enter the Battle Realm early and pursue Dragon City’s treasures and hall seals.
• Fang Yun rebuked Ao Cang and warned the dragons not to regret sealing the river, while Lei Zhongmo mocked him and demanded the Bloodmang Fief.
• Twenty-two dragons voted to seal the river and seven opposed it before Fang Yun cast his vote against the measure.
• Ao Cang declared the final count as twenty-two to nine and announced that the river at the Dragon Gate would be sealed.

The Dragon Gate Ascension ended, and Fang Yun confronted Lei Zhongmo, Ao Cang, and the Dragon Kings over their threats and schemes. Ao Cang then tried to pressure Fang Yun into seeking the Flood Dragon Sage’s forgiveness by threatening the futures of his five children.

• Ao Cang ended the Dragon Gate Ascension after the Imperial Jade Seal smoothed the river’s undercurrents, then declared that opposing the Western Sea Dragon Palace had a price.
• Lei Zhongmo offered to return the Bloodmang Fief only if Fang Yun apologized to the Lei Family, then threatened to damage Fang Yun’s legacy and sacred way when he refused.
• Fang Yun vowed to stop Lei Zhongmo from becoming foremost among the Four Great Talents and threatened to kill him with the True Dragon Ancient Sword.
• Fang Yun confronted Ao Cang and the Great Dragon Kings, promising to settle his grievances with them; they answered with threats of their own.
• Ao Cang ordered Ao Mo to arrange special cultivation and a Saint Enfeoffment method for Fang Yun’s five children, while urging Fang Yun to seek the Flood Dragon Sage’s forgiveness.

Fang Yun faced pressure from the Flood Dragon Palace over the five little Flood Dragons, then searched for a way to overcome the Ninth Dragon Gate. His words of benevolence and righteousness stirred the Dragon Gate, and he resolved to leap over it.

• The five little Flood Dragons clung to Fang Yun, and he warned Ao Mo that he would fight to the death if anyone harmed them.
• Ao Mo said the Flood Dragon Sage Palace would protect the children, while Ao Cang urged it not to disappoint the dragon race and Ao Chang affirmed Fang Yun's place among them.
• Fang Yun told Ao Chang that his second way to challenge the ban on Dragon Gate Ascension was to force his way through.
• Fang Yun recalled the Sea of Learning Dragon Boat forming a Dragon Gate Phantom and considered how it might relate to the Dragon Gate.
• Fang Yun recited passages about self-examination, benevolence, and righteousness, causing the Dragon Gate to chime and leaving some Great Dragon Kings ashamed.
• Fang Yun reflected on his past failures and sacrifices, then resolved that he must leap over the Dragon Gate.

As three True Dragons plotted to exploit the Dragon Gate and destroy Fang Yun, he contemplated how to attain a clear conscience and gained a new insight into the Dragon Gate and the Sea of Learning. He then taught the five little Flood Dragons a poem, and a golden Dragon Boat carried them upward.

• Ao Cang, Ao Gui, and Ao Ju secretly planned to violate the True Dragon Grand Assembly's decision and suppress Fang Yun if he challenged the Dragon Gate.
• Fang Yun reflected on his life and questioned how one could leap the Dragon Gate, recalling the Literary Heart Fish and the Literary Heart Giant Whale.
• Fang Yun realized that his Literary Heart Flame had transformed into a Literary Heart Giant Whale carrying a Dragon Boat.
• Fang Yun gathered the five little Flood Dragons and recited the "Poem on Exhorting Learning" to teach them the value of studying the Human Race's classics.
• A golden Dragon Boat appeared beneath the river and carried Fang Yun and the five little Flood Dragons upward.

Fang Yun summoned his Sea of Learning Dragon Boat at the Ninth Dragon Gate and vowed to break through the True Dragons’ blockade. As the boat surged toward the gate, a gigantic Purple Giant Whale carried it upward and smashed the three True Dragons aside.

• Fang Yun recited four poems, causing his Dragon Boat to appear and grow powerful before the Ninth Dragon Gate.
• The Dragon Boat rose into the air, clearing the fog and drawing astonished reactions from Yan Yukong, Lei Yigu, Kong Yingnian, and the gathered races.
• Ao Cang, Ao Gui, and Ao Ju demanded that Fang Yun abandon the boat and threatened to destroy his Literary Palace and Literary Guts.
• Fang Yun declared that he would use the Dragon Boat to open the sealed river and leap the Dragon Gate.
• A ten-thousand-zhang Purple Giant Whale emerged beneath the boat and leaped toward the Dragon Gate, breaking the three True Dragons into pieces when they struck it.

Fang Yun crossed the Ninth Dragon Gate aboard the Sea of Learning dragon boat, while the giant whale left Ao Cang, Ao Gui, and Ao Ju too weakened to ascend. His success also sealed the Lei Family’s loss of an enormous wager, leaving Lei Zhongmo and his family facing the consequences.

• The giant whale smashed Ao Cang, Ao Gui, and Ao Ju apart, and its supreme literary-heart power drained their strength and scales as their bodies regenerated.
• Ao Cang failed twice to cross the Ninth Dragon Gate, while Ao Chang revealed that the three True Dragons had used Dragon Sages’ Edicts of Sages to escape the assemblies’ restrictions.
• Ao Cang cursed Fang Yun over his lost chance to become Dragon Emperor, the ancestral dragon true blood, and Yu Wei’s love.
• The Dragon Gate came alive as the giant whale carried Fang Yun, the dragon boat, and five little Flood Dragons over its top.
• Lei Zhongmo and the Lei Family watched Fang Yun succeed, knowing they had lost the Bloodmang Fief and owed a vast collection of wealth and treasures.

Fang Yun received the Time-Pointing Chariot in the Dragon Emperor Treasury, but his Literary Palace Coiled Dragon absorbed the treasury’s golden light and left him unconscious. While disoriented, he briefly glimpsed Dragon City before forgetting it, though the Strange Book World recorded a rough sketch.

• Fang Yun recognized the scarred golden dragon as Ao Kong and examined the chariot carried on its back.
• Fang Yun identified the treasure as the Time-Pointing Chariot, accepted it, and sent it into his Literary Palace.
• The Literary Palace Coiled Dragon awakened and absorbed a flood of golden light from the Dragon Emperor Treasury, causing Fang Yun to lose consciousness.
• Fang Yun awoke amid turbulent darkness and glimpsed a ruined city that he recognized as Dragon City.
• Fang Yun forgot the city after exhaustion overwhelmed him, but the Strange Book World recorded a rough sketch of it.

Fang Yun and the others returned from the Dragon Gate, where the Lei Family had lost every wagered treasure. Lei Zhongmo gathered the clan elders to recount the defeat and ask whether the family would pursue war or peace with Fang Yun.

• Eighteen people descended into the Sacred Academy, and the Medical Hall carried the unconscious Fang Yun, Yan Yukong, and others away for treatment.
• Lei Zhongmo returned to the Lei Family with silver hair and a deeply aged face, then summoned the clan elders to the council hall.
• Lei Zhongmo announced that the Lei Family had lost and confirmed that it had lost every treasure it wagered.
• Lei Tingzhen ordered the family to send everything they had wagered to Fang Yun in the Jing Kingdom and refuse to renege.
• Lei Zhongmo recounted the Dragon Gate events and asked whether the Lei Family would make war or peace with Fang Yun.
• Lei Tingzhen dismissed everyone below Grand Academician and closed the council hall for a private deliberation.