Ao Han

Biodata

Power Progression

Ao Han's exact cultivation realm is not named in the supplied chapters.

Background / History

Early Life and Rule

Ao Han was the ninth son of the East Sea Dragon King. Ao Dongping entered his service as a military staff officer while he was still young and remembered him as a curious child who asked questions about the turtle's chancellor ancestor. Ao Bo, older and stronger, frequently bullied him during their youth 375 407.

Although his natural cultivation aptitude ranked toward the bottom among the princes, Ao Han trained diligently and developed a reputation for martial prowess. After establishing his own fief at the Sea-Heaven Pillar, he concentrated on recruiting and drilling troops. His territory consequently became the smallest and least developed of the princes' domains 386 399 407.

Military Expansion and the Demon Cave

As the succession struggle intensified, Ao Han spent his own essence on a Bloodline Summons to expand his army. His ministers opposed the policy, but he insisted that military strength—not accumulated wealth—would secure the throne. Recruitment outpaced his supply of capable officers, leaving him with soldiers he could not adequately command 383 399.

He ordered General Lei to recruit three thousand soldiers and destroy a powerful Demon Cave. Despite having personally promoted Lei, Ao Han distrusted his humble background and assigned Ao Dongping to monitor him. After the expedition, Ao Han criticized Lei's failure to explain the enemy's Crossing Waves Military Formation, but spared him punishment and awarded him the Lightning Flash, Dragon Cry formation and its accompanying techniques 375 389.

Ao Bo's Ambush

While escorting birthday gifts toward the Dragon Palace, Ao Han's army encountered a Weak Water boundary and an ambush led by Ao Bo. With his central army stranded halfway through the barrier, Ao Han used bloodline resonance to bring the remaining soldiers across, then ordered them to recover before counterattacking 402 403.

Ao Han shattered the devil ray battle formation with a sword strike, but the attack left him too depleted to repeat it immediately. Ao Bo subsequently pressed him hard in their direct duel. Near defeat, Ao Han spat out his concealed blue treasure, piercing both Ao Bo's chest and the Black Dragon formation's projection 403 404 405.

Afterward, Ao Han offered surviving enemy dragon soldiers a choice between accepting his dragon blood and serving him or dying. His guards executed those who refused. He swallowed Ao Bo's Dragon Pearl and retained the corpse 406.

Return to the Dragon Palace

Ao Han returned to the palace with his mother, the Third Consort, helping mediate his audience with the Dragon King. Although his father reprimanded him, Ao Han interpreted his escape from imprisonment as proof that royal authority over the princes was weakening. He also used his mother's connections to establish private contact with palace ministers 409 410 411.

When the Dragon King arranged arena contests to settle the succession, Ao Han and Ao Dongping assessed his rivals and possible alliances. Ao Han considered approaching his old friends Ao Xin and Ao Yi, while identifying Ao Ming—Ao Bo's full brother—as a particularly dangerous opponent 414.

At Cui Jiuyang's suggestion, he visited the mentally disturbed Ao Tai to investigate an earlier attack. Ao Tai's contradictory recollections frustrated him, and he eventually left the questioning to Cui Jiuyang 415 416.

Magnetic Source Mountain

Ao Han attempted to eliminate Ao Ming before the arena contests. With Ao Dongping concealing his absence, he traveled west accompanied by Cui Jiuyang, whom he knew as the crab demon Yang Chenghu. They selected Magnetic Source Mountain as an ambush site 419.

During their stay, Cui Jiuyang discovered that Ao Han's blue treasure was altering his bloodline. Ao Han also recovered unassimilated blue material from Ao Bo's flesh and fed it to the treasure. He believed that refining the material into a weapon before improving his cultivation had been the decisive advantage in their battle 420.

The ambush failed because Ao Ming possessed five related treasures that blocked Ao Han's attack. Cui Jiuyang intervened and forced both brothers to explain the origin of their weapons: ancient dragon remains located through the Bloodline Ancestor-Returning Technique. Both surrendered their dragon-bone treasures and fled under orders to keep the encounter secret 421 422.

Failed Seizure of the Throne

Following the old Dragon King's disappearance, Ao Han trapped the assembled princes within the Sea-Heaven Pillar's core district using the Sea-Heaven One-Line Grand Formation. He intended to kill them together with its strongest attack, Sea-Heaven's Wrath. The princes countered by emptying the treasury of the Spirit Stones needed to sustain the formation 448 449 452.

While personally searching for replacement crystals and warm jade, Ao Han relaxed his vigilance near his own territory. Ao Ming ambushed him from an ocean trench and drove a sword through his chest. His troops formed the defensive Tortoise Shell Like a Mountain formation, preventing Ao Ming from finishing him 449.

Ao Han continued supervising resource collection despite his injuries. When the Sixth Prince's army arrived and his plan became untenable, despair triggered qi deviation and unconsciousness. His cultivation foundations were ruined 450 452.

Relinquishing His Claim

Cui Jiuyang found Ao Han sheltering in the Demon Cave. After being shown the devastation caused by the Bloodline Ancestor-Returning Technique, Ao Han surrendered his Sea Eye Spell Canon pages. He denied having intended to kill his brothers for the technique, though he admitted considering the use of his father's body after inheriting the throne 453.

Ao Han supported Ao Tai's accession, arguing that he himself was crippled and Ao Ming was too ruthless to rule. Cui Jiuyang partially treated his unhealing chest wound but deliberately left him needing a lengthy recovery. Ao Dongping later publicly announced Ao Han's withdrawal, and the ministers selected Ao Tai as Dragon King 453 454 456.

Appearance

• Human form: Tall and imposing, with a jade-like face, swordlike eyebrows, bright eyes, and a straight, high nose. His bearing combines princely elegance with a battle-hardened warrior's air 389 406.
• Court clothing: Wears a snow-white robe and a purple-gold coiling-dragon crown 389.
• Military clothing: Travels in gleaming golden armor decorated with coiling dragons swallowing clouds; later appears with a fiery-red cloak 394 408.
• Later injuries: His chest wound extends through his back. Before Cui Jiuyang's treatment, its edges are blackened, rotten, and foul-smelling; Ao Han conceals it with an illusion 454.

Personality

Ao Han is intensely martial and ambitious. He regards a powerful army as the essential foundation of kingship, dismissing administrative development when it competes with recruitment. His dedication to training compensates for limited natural talent, but his contempt for low-born commanders undermines his treatment of capable subordinates such as General Lei 375 399 407.

His temper becomes increasingly volatile during the succession struggle. He celebrates the possible deaths of the Second and Third Princes without grieving, accepts the killing of relatives as part of royal competition, and eventually attempts to destroy the assembled contenders outright 386 410 413 448.

Despite his rashness, Ao Han can exercise patience and accept advice. He waits for Ao Ming to approach closely before springing his ambush, invites suggestions from his officers, and continues trusting Ao Dongping even while withholding cultivation secrets from him. After his defeat, he also recognizes that Cui Jiuyang's offer to reconsider his candidacy is a test rather than a genuine invitation 400 415 421 454.

Abilities & Skills

Bloodline Summons

Uses Dragon Qi and bloodline resonance to influence and coordinate dragon-blooded followers 383 403.

• Expands his forces through a summons that consumes his own essence 383.
• Links his central army through a command token, synchronizing the soldiers' Dragon Qi and Demonic Power 403.
• Enables soldiers to cross Weak Water through bloodline connection, which the barrier cannot block 403.
• Heavily drains both Ao Han and the soldiers; Ao Bo demonstrates more efficient bloodline control 403 404.

Military Command and Battle Formations

Possesses practical experience in battlefield deployment despite his poor management of long-term army expansion 399 402.

• Commands Dragon Soaring Across the Four Seas, a royal formation equal in rank to Ao Bo's Black Dragon Shocking the World 402.
• Integrates treasure wagons into his crossing formation so the troops can quickly separate from them and deploy defenses 402.
• Channels a devastating sword attack through the formation's golden-armored Divine Dragon, destroying the devil ray formation in one strike 403.
• Cannot immediately repeat that attack when depleted, relying on a threatening posture to conceal his exhaustion 404.

Swordsmanship and Dragon Senses

Uses precise sword techniques supported by golden sword qi 405.

• Targets openings in Ao Bo's saber attacks rather than matching their ferocity directly 405.
• Detects an intruding paper figure when his Dragon Qi forces its unusual aura out of concealment 397.
• Possesses keen dragon eyesight capable of recognizing minute irregularities; Cui Jiuyang considers ordinary invisibility unreliable within his direct line of sight 412 413.

Transformation and Concealment

Changes form to travel covertly and avoid recognition 419.

• Becomes a dragon-shaped jade pendant carried by Cui Jiuyang 419.
• Assumes dragon and sea-snake forms during the journey west 419.
• Conceals his aura while waiting to ambush Ao Ming 421.
• These transformations consume substantial Demonic Power, requiring recovery stops 419.

Bloodline Ancestor-Returning Technique

Uses knowledge from the Sea Eye Spell Canon to seek ancient dragon remains and recover stronger ancestral bloodline qualities 422.

• Draws transformative power from his refined dragon-bone treasure by repeatedly cycling Spiritual Power through it 420.
• Develops an increasingly cold aura; a complete transformation into another dragon type is not confirmed 420.
• Progresses slowly because the material has already been fixed into a treasure rather than directly assimilated into his flesh 420.
• Later relinquishes his copy of the technique after Cui Jiuyang exposes its destructive consequences 453.

Sea-Heaven One-Line Grand Formation

Controls the grand formation protecting the Sea-Heaven Pillar's core district 448 449.

• Reaches Sea-Heaven Oneness after roughly two days, preventing both entry and escape 448 449.
• Possesses the killing move Sea-Heaven's Wrath 448.
• Requires a continuing supply of spiritual resources; the removal of treasury Spirit Stones forces Ao Han to search for replacements 449 452.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Dragon-bone treasure — An elongated, irregular ice-blue object marked with red traces, refined from Ming's remains. Stored within Ao Han's body and launched from his mouth as a piercing blue streak; later surrendered to Cui Jiuyang 405 420 422.
• Treasured sword — Used against Ao Bo and Ao Ming 405 421.
• Dragon-maw hammers — A pair of heavy hammers carried when departing his palace in military attire 394.
• Command token — Establishes the bloodline connection used to coordinate his central army at the Weak Water crossing 403.
• Sea Eye Spell Canon fragments — Secretly collected pages containing cultivation methods, including the Bloodline Ancestor-Returning Technique; handed over to Cui Jiuyang 385 422 453.
• Storage magical treasure — Holds Ao Bo's corpse, which Ao Han later uses to recover residual dragon-bone material 420.
• Protected command tent — Its curtains incorporate Abyssal Mist to obstruct outside Divine Sense; restrictive spells also guard the ground beneath it 397 412.

Relationships

• Ao Dongping — Long-serving strategist and childhood adviser. Ao Han retains trust in him despite concealing the Sea Eye Spell Canon's secrets; Dongping later helps secure his survival and announces his withdrawal from the succession 407 415 452 456.
• Cui Jiuyang / Yang Chenghu — Initially approaches Ao Han disguised as Ao Dongping's crab-demon student. Investigates his cultivation, confiscates his dragon-bone treasure, and later protects and partially treats him 419 422 453 454.
• East Sea Dragon King — Father and sovereign. Ao Han increasingly interprets his father's inability to restrain the princes as evidence of declining authority 408 411.
• Third Consort — Mother and political supporter. Accompanies him to meet the Dragon King and provides connections to court ministers 409 411.
• General Lei / Lei Chuanyun — Personally promoted subordinate whose humble origins Ao Han disdains. Awards him Lightning Flash, Dragon Cry after the Demon Cave expedition 375 389.
• Ao Bo — Seventh brother and childhood tormentor. Ambushes Ao Han at Weak Water and is killed by his concealed treasure 402 405 407.
• Ao Ming — Sixteenth brother and Ao Bo's full brother. Survives Ao Han's attempted ambush and later inflicts the wound that ends his succession bid 414 421 449.
• Ao Tai — Fourteenth brother. Ao Han visits him during the succession investigation and ultimately endorses him as Dragon King 415 453 456.
• Ao Xin — Fifth brother, once close to Ao Han; considered a potential ally in the arena contests 414.
• Ao Yi — Tenth brother and childhood playmate. Maintains exchanges with Ao Han after receiving his own fief and is considered another possible ally 414.

Notable Quotes

“In tens of thousands of years, I've never heard of anyone becoming Dragon King by working an abacus and hoarding gold! To become Dragon King, you need a million troops under your command. They're the ones who have to lift you onto that throne!” 399

“I wasn't imprisoned in the Sea Eye dungeon today. That alone is enough to make all my brothers understand this. Father truly has grown old.” 411

“How could you beat me in battle when I turned the treasure into fighting strength first?” 420