Dragon Clan

Biodata

Power Progression

Organization

Rule and Policies

• The clan’s order is founded on bloodline rank: true dragons are regarded as supreme, flood dragons rank beneath them, and lesser aquatic races are expected to obey. Abyss’s cause-and-effect-based laws directly challenge this system 31.
• Dragon Clan wartime conscription forces subordinate clans to provide personnel and resources. The Sea Spirit Clan was ordered to provide three thousand adults for the Eastern Sea battlefield, while the Black-Shelled Turtle Tribe was ordered to surrender young turtles for armor refinement 2 17.
• Blackwater Dragon Palace forces are associated with enslavement, massacres, seizure of spiritual resources, and exploitation of weaker races; the Book of Cause and Effect reveals these deeds during the attack on Abyss 11 13.
• The Ancestral Dragon recognizes that harsh conscription has contributed to resistance among the aquatic races, though he states that the Dragon Clan can no longer retreat from the coming war 30 50.
• By the eve of the final Dragon-Han battle, the Ancestral Dragon prioritizes preserving young branches over forcing them into a doomed battle 50.
• After the catastrophe, surviving dragon branches are permitted to rebuild, but Abyss explicitly forbids the restoration of the Dragon Clan’s old hegemonic order 65.
• While stabilizing the Eastern Sea, Ao Lie prioritizes younger lineages and the injured, orders branches to cease fighting over water palaces, and sends persistent contenders to repair damaged sea eyes 66.
• Ao Lie’s continuing assistance does not require the Eastern Sea remnants to recognize him formally as Dragon King. The Dragon King Seal remains in the water palace while he returns to Dragon-Suppressing Pass after completing his work 68.
• Dragon descendants raised in Abyss are not taught to treat weaker races as natural servants. Their education permits cooperation across clan boundaries, while mixed-blood children cultivate according to their own bodies and choose their registration when they reach adulthood 115 122.
• Abyss-registered dragon residents fall within the recruitment protections agreed between Di Jun and Mysterious Abyss: the Demon Court will not forcibly conscript Abyss-registered clans, while Abyss will not actively recruit clans under the Demon Court. Refugees remain subject to the Book of Cause and Effect rather than receiving automatic protection from lawful prosecution 135.

Military Capabilities

Dragon Clan Battle Formations

• Dragon soldiers can combine their dragon qi into a massive Blackwater True Dragon formation capable of striking fortified positions 13.
• The Blackwater Dragon Army includes cultivators from the Celestial Immortal realm upward, with Golden Immortal generals and Supreme Unity Golden Immortal elders 12.
• Before the Three-Clan era’s collapse, Main Lineage forces could deploy Great Luo Late Stage experts such as Ao Cang, whose attack nearly breaks Abyss’s Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Formation 28 29.
• Ao Yin employs the Black Water Spirit-Binding Array against the Sea Devourer remnant soul, but the formation fails to restrain it and Dragon Clan fighters are drained during the encounter 22.
• Dragon Clan secret arts can attack the Primordial Spirit. Ao Yin combines such an art with nine halberd shadows when attempting to kill Ao Lie at the Northern Dark Water Palace 24.

Bloodline Authority

• The Ancestral Dragon’s aura instinctively compels dragon bloodlines, including Ao Lie, to bow 31.
• His Reverse Scale carries sufficient dragon fortune to guide and protect a branch of the clan’s young bloodline toward Abyss 32.
• The Main Lineage’s authority can deter even powerful outsiders; Ancestor Xuan Jia does not act against Ao Xuan because of the envoy’s backing by the Ancestral Dragon 27.
• During the Three-Clan collapse, the Reverse Scale becomes cracked and dimmed, but it continues conveying the Ancestral Dragon’s orders to preserve the Dragon Clan’s younger generation 57 59 60.
• Dragon Clan bodies are naturally powerful and closely attuned to water. Purer dragon bloodlines cultivate faster and can inherit stronger divine abilities, while bloodline also influences suitable cultivation paths, physical growth, lifespan, and temperament 115 122.
• The clan’s draconic might exerts an innate superior-bloodline pressure over water-dwelling beings, distinct from the overwhelming physical vitality displayed by an Ancestral Witch such as Gonggong 84.

Water-Domain Resources

• The Dragon Clan seeks control of water palaces, sea veins, and water-attributed treasures such as the Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Pearl 20 26.
• The Blackwater Dragon King wields the Blackwater Dragon Pearl and Blackwater Law, using them to threaten Dragon-Suppressing Pass 14.
• After the Dragon-Han Cataclysm, most Eastern Sea water palaces and many spiritual veins are damaged or destroyed, making sea-eye restoration and resource redistribution central to the remnants’ recovery 64 66.
• Seven-tenths of the Eastern Sea underwater palaces are reported destroyed three thousand years after the catastrophe. Ao Lie later repairs several crucial sea eyes during his repeated visits to assist the remnants 64 68.
• Water-related abilities also support peaceful work among Abyss’s younger dragons: Nuwa observes a young dragon cooperating with a Plant-Spirit cultivator to make rain over a Spirit Field 115.

Post-Cataclysm Condition

• The Dragon Clan no longer possesses unified command over the Four Seas; its remaining branches fight over territory and leadership rather than acting as a single hegemonic force 64.
• Its surviving soldiers and elders are subject to the Three Lives Gate’s karmic examination when seeking entry to Abyss. A wounded dragon elder may be admitted when his killing karma arose primarily from protecting fleeing young bloodlines rather than pursuing conquest 60.
• The Dragon Clan’s remaining strength is deliberately separated from its former hegemonic fortune, which Abyss refuses to inherit 60 65.
• Ao Lie’s authority over the Eastern Sea remnants rests on his standing at Dragon-Suppressing Pass, Abyss’s support, and his role in preserving the young bloodlines under the Ancestral Dragon’s final instructions, rather than on a Dragon Clan army of his own 66.
• Some Dragon Clan dead join Abyss’s Realm-Guarding Yin Soldiers after their resentment is purified. Their service protects surviving children rather than restoring the former Dragon Clan military order 49.

History

Expansion and Northern Sea Oppression

At the beginning of the Dragon-Han Cataclysm, the Dragon Clan stands at the height of its power under the Ancestral Dragon’s rule over the Four Seas. Its military expansion and conscription drive many minor aquatic clans from their homes 1 2.

The Blackwater Dragon Palace destroys Cold Moon Island after the Sea Spirit Clan refuses to provide three thousand adults for the Eastern Sea battlefield. Ao Zheng pursues the surviving refugees into the Northern Sea, where they escape into Abyss 2.

After Ao Zheng’s defeat, the Blackwater Dragon Palace becomes suspicious of Abyss. It infiltrates the realm through the spy Han Qi, whose altered report convinces the Blackwater Dragon King that Abyss’s hidden Black Tortoise is severely injured and vulnerable 8.

War with Abyss

Acting on this misinformation, the Blackwater Dragon King sends his third son Ao Lie and three hundred Dragon Clan elites to investigate Abyss. Ao Lie’s force is suppressed by the Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Formation, and Ao Lie is sentenced to guard Abyss’s outskirts for one thousand years 9.

The Dragon King later leads three thousand Blackwater Dragon Army soldiers against Dragon-Suppressing Pass. Abyss’s formation, Realm Guard, and Book of Cause and Effect suppress the invading army, while Lu Chen’s Abyss Dharma Body defeats the Blackwater Dragon King and forces a withdrawal 12 13 14 15.

The defeat establishes Abyss as a Northern Sea power the Blackwater Dragon Palace cannot casually attack. Ao Lie refuses his father’s order to return and remains at Dragon-Suppressing Pass voluntarily 15 16.

During the struggle for the Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Pearl, Ao Yin accuses Ao Lie of betraying the clan for defending Abyss’s claim to the treasure. Ao Lie acknowledges the inheritance and resources he received from Blackwater Dragon Palace but rejects its treatment of weaker clans as slaves, blood food, and artifact materials. With assistance from the Realm Guard, the Book of Cause and Effect, and Ancestor Xuan Jia, he withstands Ao Yin and helps force the Dragon Clan expedition to withdraw 24.

Main Lineage Intervention

After Abyss acquires the Black Tortoise Sea-Calming Pearl, the Dragon Clan Main Lineage demands that the Mysterious Abyss Emperor appear at the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace to account for sheltering dragon fugitives, detaining Ao Lie, and claiming the Northern Dark Water Palace’s treasures 26 27.

Abyss delays the summons and spends a millennium strengthening its defenses. When Ao Cang arrives with the Main Lineage, he attacks Dragon-Suppressing Pass but retreats after Lu Chen’s Great Dream Black Tortoise Technique damages his Primordial Spirit 28 29.

The Ancestral Dragon then invites Lu Chen to the Eastern Sea. Lu Chen accepts the Dragon Token but refuses to leave Abyss, prompting the Ancestral Dragon to send a Dao Thought to inspect the realm personally 30 31.

Conditional Understanding with Abyss

During their discussion, Lu Chen states that Abyss judges entrants by cause and effect rather than dragon bloodline. The Ancestral Dragon accepts that Dragon Clan survivors may enter Abyss only if they submit to its laws and karmic examination 31 32.

The Ancestral Dragon gives Abyss half of his Reverse Scale as a token to guide a branch of endangered young dragons to safety. He subsequently orders the Dragon Clan not to interfere with Abyss and permits threatened young bloodlines to seek refuge there 32 33.

The arrival of Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin branches creates disputes over resources, cultivation grounds, and inherited wartime grievances. The Demon Cult exploits these divisions, but Ao Lie and the other Abyss defenders ultimately cooperate against Youdu, demonstrating that the rival bloodlines can defend a shared order 38 39 40 41.

As wounded members of the Three Clans seek treatment, Lu Chen establishes a three-day truce in Abyss’s rescue zone. A burned young dragon carrying a cracked phoenix egg becomes an early example of protection across former enemy lines. The rescued children are subsequently placed under the Young Clans Court’s rules against inherited grudges and private violence 45 46.

Before the Dragon-Han Final Battle, the Ancestral Dragon issues a secret order forbidding young Dragon Clan branches from entering battle if the Main Lineage collapses. They are instead instructed to follow the Reverse Scale’s aura to Northern Sea Abyss 50.

Collapse of the Three-Clan Era

As the Three Clans’ decisive battle collapses, the Ancestral Dragon’s Reverse Scale begins cracking and transmits a weakened command for the Dragon Clan’s young lineage to retreat north 57.

Lu Chen opens the Eastern Sea Abyss Bridge through the Three Lives Gate. Ao Lie leads the evacuation of dragon children, weaker descendants, and severely wounded members, while battle-hardened soldiers are refused passage because of their killing karma 57 58.

The surviving dragon bloodlines enter Abyss alongside the Phoenix and Qilin survivors. They are resettled near the Northern Darkness Sea, retain their clan identity, and accept the Three Lives Gate’s examination, Abyss’s medicine, and its rules against inherited violence 59 60.

Abyss preserves the Dragon Clan’s young “fire seeds” without accepting the hegemonic fortune and destructive karmic burden that accompanied the former rule of the Four Seas 60.

After the Reverse Scale has completely dimmed, Ao Lie bows toward the Eastern Sea and bids farewell to the Ancestral Dragon. His farewell, alongside those of Feng Li and Lin Yue to their own rulers, marks the end of the Three-Clan era within Abyss even as the rescued children continue their lives in the Young Clans Court 63.

Post-Cataclysm Reconstruction

Three thousand years after the Dragon-Han Cataclysm, the Eastern Sea dragon branches remain divided over ruined water palaces, territory, and leadership. Unable to agree on a new ruler, they invite Ao Lie to return because of his reputation at Dragon-Suppressing Pass, his role in receiving the surviving young bloodlines, and the Ancestral Dragon’s final command that he guard the gate 64.

Lu Chen permits Ao Lie to help stabilize the Dragon Clan only on the condition that its old hegemony is never revived. Ao Lie accepts this boundary and refuses to lead a restoration of the Ancestral Dragon’s Four Seas order 65.

Although the Eastern Sea sends Ao Lie a Dragon King Seal and proposes him as the Northern Sea King, he declines the title. He personally ends the branch conflicts, reorganizes the water palaces around the needs of younger and injured dragons, and returns to Dragon-Suppressing Pass after Eastern Sea order is restored 66.

Ao Lie continues traveling between Abyss and the Eastern Sea over the following several thousand years. He mediates further branch conflicts, repairs important sea eyes, and brings young dragons who have lost their elders to Abyss’s Young Clans Court. The Eastern Sea remnants retain their respect for him and increasingly seek him out when they cannot resolve a problem, while the question of whether he formally counts as Dragon King becomes less important 68.

The Abyss-Born Generation

By Nuwa’s visit to Abyss, descendants of dragons and other clans have been born and raised within the realm rather than merely arriving as refugees. Nuwa observes a young dragon making rain with a Plant-Spirit cultivator and sees children of formerly hostile clans sharing everyday work and education 115.

The contrast with the Dragon-Han generation contributes to Nuwa’s reflections on life and bloodline. She recalls a Little Black Dragon patiently teaching a Little Deer Spirit to cultivate, despite the old Dragon Clan’s assumption that ordinary aquatic beings were natural servants. She also remembers a mixed-blood child being told to cultivate according to its own body and choose its clan registration upon adulthood. These examples help her recognize the importance of allowing living beings to learn, adapt, and determine their own futures as she develops her creation of the Innate Dao Body 122.

Departed Dragon Souls and Reincarnation

Dragon Clan souls also receive shelter within Abyss. During the Demon Cult’s assault with vengeful souls, one dragon spirit sees its surviving child in the Young Clans Court and voluntarily enters the Dead-Soul Register to guard the realm, asking only that the child live 49.

Houtu later questions a departed Dragon Clan elder while seeking to understand the needs of the dead. After the road to reincarnation becomes available, an old Dragon Clan elder joins the Phoenix Clan woman and other souls leaving Abyss through the Three Lives Gate to enter reincarnation 141 163.

Refugee Support During the Ten Suns Crisis

As refugees fleeing the ten suns bring the Three Lives Post Stations close to capacity, Ao Lie proposes connecting the stations through the Northern Sea’s water veins. His plan uses stabilized passages anchored by the Ninefold Netherworld Cold Spring to transfer refugees to less crowded stations without expanding beyond the Northern Sea. Mysterious Abyss approves trial routes, and Ao Lie begins mapping the connections in his capacity as an Abyss defender rather than as a Dragon King 197.

Abyss-Aligned Dragon Bloodlines

• Ao Lie — Third Prince of the Blackwater Dragon Palace who initially enters Abyss as an invader. After being punished, he becomes outer-gate guardian of Dragon-Suppressing Pass and later chooses Abyss’s laws over Dragon Clan bloodline loyalty 9 15 24.
• Dragon Clan refugees — Dragon bloodlines may enter Abyss only after passing the Book of Cause and Effect and agreeing to the same rules imposed on every other clan 31 32.
• Young dragon cultivators — Dragon descendants in Abyss struggle with inherited hostility toward Phoenix and Qilin bloodlines, but later join the Three-Clan Guardian Formation against the Demon Cult 38 41.
• Young Clans Court residents — Dragon children are educated alongside Phoenix, Qilin, and minor-clan children under rules forbidding inherited grudges and private violence 46.
• Dragon Clan fire seeds — Young, weak, and wounded survivors of the Dragon-Han collapse enter Abyss through the Eastern Sea Bridge under Ao Lie’s supervision; their fighting elders often remain behind to secure their escape 57 58.
• Postwar dragon survivors — Dragon Clan survivors in Abyss retain their heritage but are governed by the Three Lives Gate and common Abyss rules rather than ancestral rank. They cannot be forcibly recalled by outside dragon branches 60 65 68.
• Mixed-blood descendants — Dragon-blooded children in Abyss may cultivate according to their own bodies and choose their clan registration after reaching adulthood rather than having their identity imposed solely by lineage 103 116 122.
• Dragon Clan guardian souls — Purified dragon spirits may voluntarily register among Abyss’s Realm-Guarding Yin Soldiers to protect surviving children 49.
• Orphaned young dragons — Ao Lie brings young dragons who have lost their elders from the Eastern Sea to the Young Clans Court during his continuing reconstruction work 68.
• Abyss-born descendants — Later generations grow up cooperating with other races rather than inheriting the old assumption of dragon supremacy. Examples include a young dragon making rain over Spirit Fields with a Plant-Spirit cultivator and a Little Black Dragon teaching a Little Deer Spirit cultivation 115 122.
• Departed dragon residents — Dragon souls can remain within Abyss while awaiting a way onward; an old Dragon Clan elder later passes through the Three Lives Gate into reincarnation 141 163.

Notable Members

Relationships

• Abyss — Initially treats Abyss as a rebellious refuge sheltering conscription escapees and detaining Dragon Clan members; the Ancestral Dragon later recognizes it as a conditional sanctuary for endangered dragon bloodlines 12 30 32.
• Blackwater Dragon Palace — Northern Sea branch whose aggression against Abyss causes the first open war between Abyss and the Dragon Clan 9 12 15.
• Ao Lie — His defection exposes the conflict between inherited Dragon Clan loyalty and Abyss’s rule-based order. He later becomes a bridge between Abyss and the surviving Eastern Sea branches without binding either side to a new hegemony, continuing to assist the remnants while returning to his gate-guarding post 24 65 66 68.
• Phoenix Clan — Rival Three Clan power competing with the Dragon Clan for supremacy, though the Frost Phoenix Lineage later seeks refuge in Abyss 20 25.
• Qilin Clan — Rival Three Clan power whose Water Qilin branch later coexists with dragon and phoenix refugees in Abyss 20 38.
• Northern Sea minor clans — Many flee Dragon Clan conscription and exploitation; their treatment becomes a central source of Abyss’s conflict with the Blackwater Dragon Palace 2 11 13.
• Three Lives Gate — Screens Dragon Clan refugees by causality, heart-nature, and killing tribulation, preserving children and survivors while preventing violent soldiers and old hatred from entering unchecked. It later also provides departed dragon souls with passage into reincarnation 51 57 60 163.
• Luohou and the Demon Cult — Luohou seeks to exploit the Three Clans’ accumulated hatred and karma during the Dragon-Han Cataclysm; his demonic attacks threaten the Dragon Clan evacuation through the Eastern Sea Bridge 43 50 58.
• Demon Court — The post-cataclysm Demon Court permits dragons to retain their Dragon Clan identity while joining its broader registry, though the surviving Dragon Clan as a whole does not immediately align itself with the new hegemonic power 99 101 103.
• Di Jun — Regards the former Three Clans’ rigid bloodline rule and compulsory mobilization as warnings for his own alliance. His later agreement with Mysterious Abyss protects Abyss-registered clans from forced Demon Court conscription without allowing Abyss to shelter lawful fugitives indiscriminately 79 82 103 135.
• Nuwa — Observes dragon descendants cooperating with other clans in Abyss. Their departure from old bloodline assumptions, together with the freedom granted to mixed-blood children, contributes to her reflections on adaptability and choice during her creation of the Innate Dao Body 115 122.
• Houtu — Listens to a departed Dragon Clan elder while investigating the needs of souls and the possibility of a path beyond death; an old dragon elder later enters reincarnation through the Three Lives Gate 141 163.

Trivia

• The Dragon Clan’s highest authority does not immediately classify Abyss as an enemy because Abyss never declares war on the Dragon Clan, attacks a Dragon Clan water palace, or recruits troops for conquest 30.
• The Ancestral Dragon leaves residual perception within his Reverse Scale, but Lu Chen seals it with the Heaven-Deceiving Tortoise Shell and prevents the token from becoming a means of surveillance 32.
• Ao Lie’s position at Dragon-Suppressing Pass changes from punishment to an acknowledged duty after the Ancestral Dragon instructs him to uphold Abyss’s rules 32 33.
• Ao Lie is offered a Dragon King Seal carrying the title “Northern Sea King,” but leaves it in the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace after stabilizing the dragon branches and returns to complete his gate-guarding duty 66.
• Within Abyss, former Dragon Clan titles and bloodline rank do not override common law: even dragon descendants must first learn how to survive under the Three Lives Gate’s rules 51 60 68.
• The Eastern Sea remnants eventually become accustomed to finding Ao Lie in the Northern Sea whenever they need help, regardless of whether he formally bears the Dragon King title 68.
• Nuwa contrasts the old generation’s belief in innate dragon nobility with a young black dragon’s willingness to teach an ordinary deer spirit cultivation 122.

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