Chapter Summaries

Cui Jiuyang and the Dragon Palace officers inspected the demon cave and questioned a captured red fish demon about its recent infighting. Ao Dongping recognized that the slain chief’s supposed swordfish brother was likely an impostor marlin, leaving the officers with a mystery about the cave’s true history.

• Cui Jiuyang asked General Lei how to record the battle, and General Lei deferred writing the report until they had questioned survivors in the demon cave.
• General Lei, Military Advisor Zhang, and Ao Dongping entered the cave while the recovered demon soldiers guarded its entrance; the Personal Guards' Camp secured the cave’s disoriented troops in its chambers.
• Military Advisor Zhang questioned a red fish demon and promised him a chance to join Ao Han’s army, earning his cooperation.
• The red fish demon said the second chief had killed the giant clam chief, murdered those who objected, and cooked their bodies in the chief’s shell.
• The red fish demon identified the second chief as a swordfish, but Ao Dongping said the fugitive’s escape aura belonged to a marlin, a natural enemy of swordfish.

General Lei, Ao Dongping, and Cui Jiuyang uncovered a vast treasury hidden behind the demon cave’s sealed iron door, raising suspicions about the cave’s origins and the Dragon Palace’s possible troubles. As General Lei and Ao Dongping began questioning whether Cui Jiuyang could be trusted with the secret, Cui Jiuyang pretended to be overcome by greed.

• General Lei and Ao Dongping concluded that the marlin impersonating the demon cave’s second leader was likely tied to the Dragon Palace, and worried that hidden problems had arisen there.
• Ao Dongping identified flaws in the Black Tortoise Suppresses the Sea formation on the iron door and cut through its runes, allowing General Lei to open it.
• General Lei, Ao Dongping, and Cui Jiuyang saw a chamber filled with gold, jewels, and rare spiritual materials, far beyond what a small demon cave should possess.
• General Lei ordered his personal guards to stand watch outside while he and Ao Dongping privately considered whether Cui Jiuyang was trustworthy.
• Cui Jiuyang noticed their suspicion and feigned excitement and greed as he moved toward the treasury entrance.

Cui Jiuyang entered the Demon Cave treasury with General Lei, Ao Dongping, and Military Advisor Zhang, concealed his intentions, and quietly pocketed treasure while avoiding the Dragon Palace’s surveillance. On the army’s return, the leaders feared the treasury was tied to the Dragon Palace succession struggle, while Three Chi Seven revealed it wanted a jeweled sword from the treasury.

• Cui Jiuyang considered controlling the leaders with the Five Warlords Register but detected Dragon Qi monitoring their souls and decided to remain undercover.
• General Lei, Ao Dongping, Military Advisor Zhang, and Cui Jiuyang each selected a treasure before recording the treasury’s contents and distributing rewards to the guards.
• As the army returned with its spoils, General Lei and the others suspected the Demon Cave treasury belonged to a rival dragon prince and ordered the force to march day and night to Ao Han’s residence.
• Cui Jiuyang fell back through the column while Three Chi Seven’s sword intent reached out and latched onto a jeweled sword in the treasury.
• Cui Jiuyang suppressed Three Chi Seven and promised to steal the sword later, keeping his identity and its presence hidden from the leaders.

Cui Jiuyang discovered that Three Chi Seven had become an Immortal Sword after it spoke to him, and he continued traveling undercover with the Dragon Palace army. During the column’s rest stops, General Lei, Ao Dongping, and Military Advisor Zhang struggled over how to report the stolen Crossing Waves formation to Ao Han, amid the dragon princes’ growing rivalry.

• Cui Jiuyang stole an ornate scabbard from the Treasure Vault, and Three Chi Seven discarded its blade and settled inside it.
• Three Chi Seven grew restless on the journey, but Cui Jiuyang soothed it through his divine sense, and it answered him with the word “Okay.”
• Cui Jiuyang realized that Three Chi Seven had gained a sword spirit and become an Immortal Sword, giving him hope of one day matching Great-Grandfather’s swordsmanship.
• General Lei, Ao Dongping, and Military Advisor Zhang repeatedly discussed how to tell Ao Han that enemies had used the Dragon Palace’s Crossing Waves formation.
• The chapter explained that the Dragon princes’ conflicts were intensifying as the aging Dragon King held on to power while allowing his sons to recruit their own demon soldiers.

The chapter recounted Ao Que’s rebellion and the old Dragon King’s growing volatility, while General Lei and Ao Dongping worried about how Ao Han would react to the Demon Cave incident. Cui Jiuyang secretly listened to their deliberations as the army reached Ao Han’s fief, where they saw his palace and newly recruited forces.

• Ao Que stole ten Dragon Pearls, armed his Eight Tooth Generals with eight of them, and was eventually imprisoned in the East Sea’s Sea Eye before escaping.
• The old Dragon King grew unpredictable after Ao Que’s rebellion, and General Lei and Ao Dongping feared they and Ao Han would be blamed for the escaped Spear Fish Demon and the Crossing Waves Military Formation incident.
• General Lei and the others decided he would report the truth to Ao Han while Ao Dongping explained the risks, and Cui Jiuyang secretly listened to their meetings with his divine sense.
• General Lei’s army marched for nearly half a month into Ao Han’s fief and reached the Sea-Heaven Pillar, where Ao Han’s palace stood.
• As the army approached the palace, it encountered newly recruited forces whose powerful demons made General Lei worry that his standing with Ao Han was diminishing.

Cui Jiuyang and his companions traveled through the bustling interior of the Sea-Heaven Pillar to report to Ao Han. The chapter left them overlooking the sea-demon city and army camp from a vast corridor near the palace.

• Ao Dongping reassured General Lei that he would speak on his behalf if Ao Han was angry, and Ao Han ordered them to report to his command tent with attendants.
• Cui Jiuyang examined the Sea-Heaven Pillar and observed its busy workshops, markets, food production, and flowing-water elevators.
• Cui Jiuyang tried an elevator current and, while exploring the tunnels, accidentally extinguished a luminous algae ball before awkwardly attempting to restore it.
• The messenger led the group through a hidden private water elevator and deeper into the Sea-Heaven Pillar.
• Cui Jiuyang and the others reached a broad corridor near the palace, where they could see the city below and the demon army drilling in formation.

Cui Jiuyang entered Ao Han’s palace with General Lei and Ao Dongping and found the East Sea dragon prince presiding over a lavish Sea-Heaven Banquet. As the revelers pretended not to notice Ao Han, he seized and ate a Sea Butterflies maid for making a small noise.

• Cui Jiuyang sensed the immense dragon qi within Ao Han’s palace and considered his chances against the dragon prince.
• The group crossed into the palace and followed the herald through its warm interior toward the banquet hall.
• The herald told General Lei and Ao Dongping to enjoy the Sea-Heaven Banquet instead of reporting official business that night, then joined the revelers.
• Cui Jiuyang spotted Ao Han sprawled on a golden throne among his attendants while the guests avoided looking directly at him.
• When a Sea Butterflies maid’s platter clinked, Ao Han fixed her with his gaze, grabbed her with a claw, and ate her as the clam spirits continued smiling.

After the banquet, Cui Jiuyang learned more about Ao Han and prepared for the dangerous audience ahead. The next morning, General Lei went to meet Ao Han while Cui Jiuyang waited outside the Dragon Prince’s study.

• Ao Dongping stopped Cui Jiuyang from drawing Ao Han’s attention again and took the drunken General Lei and Cui Jiuyang back to his Strategist's Mansion.
• At Ao Dongping’s Ancestral Mansion, a little sea turtle told Cui Jiuyang that the residence belonged to his family and that they shared the Ao surname.
• Cui Jiuyang meditated through the night, refined his magical artifacts, and judged that he had only a thirty percent chance of defeating Ao Han.
• The next morning, Ao Dongping warned Cui Jiuyang not to drink too much walrus milk before their audience, and General Lei set off for Ao Han’s palace with renewed resolve.
• At Ao Han’s study, the little sea turtle took the military documents away to be transcribed, leaving Cui Jiuyang and Huang Daoling waiting outside.

Cui Jiuyang listened in as Ao Han questioned General Lei about the Demon Cave’s treasure and military formation, then watched General Lei earn Ao Han’s favor and receive a new formation. Cui Jiuyang stayed with Ao Dongping instead of returning to camp, and began asking him about General Lei’s advancement.

• Cui Jiuyang used a Heavenly Ear Talisman planted on Ao Dongping to hear General Lei report to Ao Han about the Demon Cave expedition and the treasure they had recovered.
• Ao Han criticized General Lei for returning without answers about the Crossing Waves Military Formation, but spared him punishment and awarded him Lightning Flash, Dragon Cry and its accompanying techniques.
• Cui Jiuyang hoped to remain near the Sea-Heaven Pillar and its secrets, so Ao Dongping arranged for him to stay at the military adviser's residence for training.
• Ao Dongping took Cui Jiuyang to his study and asked what he was scheming after noticing his wistful stare.
• Cui Jiuyang began asking Ao Dongping whether General Lei’s new military formation meant he had earned a promotion.

Cui Jiuyang carried Ao Dongping’s letter to General Lei, where he read Ao Dongping’s deductions that Ao Han had already decided to wage war. The letter then warned that war would be dangerous while Ao Lie remained poised to exploit any conflict, and General Lei was left pondering its contents.

• Ao Dongping summoned Cui Jiuyang after three days of lessons and sent him to General Lei with a sealed letter, instructing him to answer questions honestly.
• Cui Jiuyang reached the camp and delivered the letter to General Lei, who read it with an expression that shifted from grave to relaxed and back again.
• Cui Jiuyang secretly read the letter and saw Ao Dongping argue that Ao Han’s unusual behavior suggested he knew which Dragon Prince was behind the Demon Cave and was preparing for war.
• Ao Dongping reasoned that Ao Han’s promised new military orders would involve a joint deployment of himself and General Lei, likely sending them out as a vanguard.
• Ao Dongping warned that Ao Han must not go to war yet because Ao Lie could use the conflict as a pretext to seize territory, and General Lei stared at the letter in thought.

Ao Dongping and General Lei secretly met to discuss how to stop His Highness from going to war, fearing that an early campaign would ruin their futures and provoke the Dragon Palace. Ao Dongping began explaining that few things might change His Highness’s mind.

• Ao Dongping’s letter warned General Lei that His Highness’s war plans could make them targets for suppression or leave them facing death or imprisonment.
• General Lei destroyed the letter, questioned Cui Jiuyang about Ao Dongping’s visitors, and decided they needed to devise a way to dissuade His Highness.
• General Lei disguised himself as a tiny electric eel and hid in Cui Jiuyang’s robes to travel secretly to Ao Dongping’s residence.
• Ao Dongping cleared the study of Dragon Qi, cast a concealment spell, and told Cui Jiuyang to watch the doorway while he and General Lei spoke.
• General Lei asked Ao Dongping to find a way to prevent His Highness from entering the perilous conflict, and Ao Dongping warned that changing His Highness’s mind would be difficult.

Ao Dongping and General Lei sought a way to stop Ao Han from going to war, and Cui Jiuyang proposed using the Demon Cave Treasure Vault theft to prompt the Dragon King to intervene. They struggled to find a proper reason for Ao Han to visit the Dragon Palace, until Cui Jiuyang suggested a son could simply visit his father.

• Ao Dongping told General Lei that only the Dragon Palace and the Dragon King could stop Ao Han from going to war, but they had to avoid appearing disloyal or making Ao Han look like a complainer.
• General Lei mentioned the Dragon King's rare inspection tours, and Ao Dongping dismissed the idea as too distant to help.
• Ao Dongping invited Cui Jiuyang to offer ideas, and Cui Jiuyang suggested arranging for Ao Han to visit the Dragon Palace and reveal the theft of treasures from the Demon Cave Treasure Vault to the Dragon King.
• Ao Dongping and General Lei recognized the plan could make the Dragon King investigate the theft and deter Ao Han from war, but worried that reporting it directly would damage Ao Han's reputation.
• Cui Jiuyang suggested that Ao Han could visit the Dragon King simply out of family affection, but Ao Dongping said he was thinking too simply.

Ao Dongping devised a plan to use the Third Consort’s approaching birthday to expose the theft of Dragon Palace treasures and avoid a war, then carefully arranged how to suggest it to His Highness. After he discreetly mentioned the birthday to the Dragon Guards, he waited to see whether they would prompt His Highness to act.

• Ao Dongping proposed that His Highness present treasures taken from the Demon Cave to the Third Consort, allowing the Dragon King to discover the stolen Dragon Palace goods and investigate the Dragon Prince behind the scheme.
• Ao Dongping sent General Lei back to camp with Cui Jiuyang while he planned how to persuade His Highness without revealing their private discussion.
• General Lei told Cui Jiuyang to stay in camp overnight, and Cui Jiuyang watched the demon soldiers drill before returning to Ao Dongping’s residence the next morning.
• Cui Jiuyang read Ao Dongping’s detailed plan, including how to enlist the Dragon Guards and the Third Consort, and they reviewed the possibilities before burning the papers.
• Ao Dongping casually told the Dragon Guards about the Third Consort’s birthday and the old Dragon King’s declining health, then said the next day’s instructions would show whether they had acted on the hint.

Ao Dongping arranged for himself and General Lei to escort birthday gifts to the Dragon Palace with Ao Han, though Ao Han's unexpected response left him puzzled. General Lei and Ao Dongping prepared the troops and treasures, and Ao Han joined them as the journey began.

• Ao Dongping discovered that no one had prepared birthday gifts for the consort, so he reminded Ao Han and was put in charge of arranging them.
• Ao Dongping and Cui Jiuyang registered the treasures and presented a plan for delivering them to the Dragon Palace; Ao Han agreed to send Ao Dongping and General Lei with the gifts.
• Ao Dongping wondered why Ao Han had accepted the plan so readily and decided that he and General Lei would prepare the escort and route.
• General Lei summoned Ao Dongping to camp, where Cui Jiuyang and the little sea turtles helped organize supplies, personnel, and travel contingencies.
• General Lei inspected the treasure shipment, then he and Ao Dongping went to Ao Han's residence to request his departure.
• Ao Han emerged in golden armor carrying dragon-maw hammers and prepared to travel with the escort.

Cui Jiuyang assessed Ao Han’s elite dragon troops and drew confidence from the growing Buzhou Battalion, while General Lei endured harassment from Ao Han’s arrogant followers during the march to the Dragon Palace. The chapter left General Lei retreating after surrendering wine and food, unable to challenge the dragon soldiers who insulted him behind his back.

• Cui Jiuyang sensed Ao Han’s formidable dragon army, judged his chances against the Dragon Prince to be only ten percent, and found more than two hundred transformed Ghost Soldiers inside the Abyss in the Water.
• Ao Han’s troops set out for the Dragon Palace, with General Lei and Ao Dongping leading the rear guard and transporting the birthday gifts.
• Dragon Guards and dragon soldiers repeatedly made General Lei provide wine, food, labor, and other favors during the journey.
• A Dragon Guard falsely summoned General Lei, then demanded Coral Spring wine and pickled hammerhead sharks from him.
• General Lei gave the Dragon Guard a vat of wine and three pickled sharks before leaving, while the dragon soldiers insulted him behind his back.

Cui Jiuyang infiltrated the Central Army camp while delivering wine and Hammerhead Sharks, secretly locating Ao Han’s main tent. He sent an improved Talisman-Paper Little Person to investigate, but its Divine Sense could not penetrate the tent.

• General Lei ordered Cui Jiuyang and the lesser demons to deliver Coral Spring and three Hammerhead Sharks to the Central Army.
• Cui Jiuyang joined the delivery cart so he could investigate Ao Han’s camp, and the dragon soldiers led the group to a secluded tent where women’s laughter came from inside.
• Cui Jiuyang kept his Divine Sense limited as he followed the delivery party, secretly scanning the camp and locating Ao Han’s main tent.
• Cui Jiuyang sent a Talisman-Paper Little Person toward Ao Han’s tent while his own body left with the lesser demons.
• The Talisman-Paper Little Person slipped past the Dragon Guards but found that its Divine Sense could not penetrate the tent.

Cui Jiuyang's Talisman-Paper Little Person infiltrated Ao Han's tent and saw him cultivating with a mysterious object, but Ao Han sensed an unusual aura and ordered the central army's camp sealed and searched. Cui Jiuyang returned to the rear army and concealed his involvement while General Lei and Ao Dongping gathered troops to show support.

• The Talisman-Paper Little Person slipped into Ao Han's tent on a Dragon Guard's boot and watched Ao Han cultivate with a long, narrow object.
• Ao Han's Dragon Qi surged through the tent, forcing out the little person's aura, and Cui Jiuyang disintegrated it before it could be caught.
• Ao Han ordered the central army's camp sealed and commanded the Dragon Guards to search for spies.
• Cui Jiuyang returned to the rear army and told General Lei and Ao Dongping that he had noticed nothing unusual before the camp was sealed.
• General Lei assembled two hundred demon soldiers and led Ao Dongping and Cui Jiuyang toward the central army's camp to demonstrate their loyalty.

Cui Jiuyang and Ao Dongping entered the Central Army Camp after its formation shattered and learned that unknown female demons had attacked the camp and escaped. Ao Dongping hinted that the soldiers under interrogation might have colluded with another Dragon Prince, while Cui Jiuyang reflected on the princes competing to inherit the East Sea throne.

• The formation around the Central Army Camp shattered from within, and several fleeing shadows escaped north as General Lei and Ao Han pursued them.
• Ao Dongping led Cui Jiuyang into the camp, where they found the tents abandoned and the soldiers gathered around an interrogation.
• Ao Zhenyuan explained that female demons discovered in a tent had attacked after the camp was sealed, killed two dragon soldiers, and escaped using a magical treasure.
• Ao Zhenyuan tortured the Dragon Guards and dragon soldiers who had been carousing with the demons, seeking a confession that they had colluded with outside enemies.
• Ao Dongping told Cui Jiuyang that another Highness could have offered the soldiers greater benefits, and Cui Jiuyang considered the Dragon Princes’ prospects of inheriting the throne.

Ao Han's army investigated how demon women infiltrated its ranks, while Ao Zhenyuan and Ao Dongping suspected a plot targeting the prince. The women escaped pursuit with a strange magical treasure, and Ao Han ordered stricter military discipline as the officers returned to General Lei's tent to discuss their concerns.

• Ao Zhenyuan tortured the dragon soldiers and Dragon Guards who had hidden demon women, but they confessed to nothing, so he sent them away to await judgment.
• Ao Zhenyuan warned Ao Dongping that someone might have watched the army from the moment it left the Sea-Heaven Pillar and lured Ao Han into a trap.
• Ao Han returned without catching the demon women, accepted Ao Dongping's explanation that the rear army had procured them as courtesans, and ordered the army to follow military law strictly.
• General Lei told Ao Zhenyuan that the demon women had escaped inside a nail-snail treasure that shrank them and sped away.
• Ao Dongping and General Lei returned to General Lei's tent, set up a Soundproofing Restrictive Spell, and discussed what had happened while Cui Jiuyang brewed tea.

Ao Han’s army learned that a drifting Weak Water Boundary lay ahead, where crossing would drain most of their Spiritual Power and leave them vulnerable to an ambush. As the commanders met to plan their crossing, Strategist Li proposed scouting beyond the boundary with his Listening to the Sea ability.

• General Lei left Ao Dongping’s tent to cultivate and prepare for a possible attack on the treasure convoy.
• Cui Jiuyang realized the enemy had been waiting for the army to reach the Weak Water Boundary before striking.
• Scouts reported a Weak Water curtain a hundred miles ahead, and Ao Han summoned his generals and strategists to plan.
• Ao Han explained how crossing the boundary would weaken the army and invited the commanders to suggest a countermeasure.
• Strategist Li proposed crossing first with the vanguard and using Listening to the Sea to detect ambushes before the main force advanced.
• Another general stepped forward to address Ao Han.