Chapter Summaries

Cui Jiuyang interrupted Ao Han and Ao Ming’s duel after discovering that their magical treasures were made from dragon bones, and he demanded to know where they had obtained them. The princes revealed that the bones had appeared near East Sea sea eyes with pages of the Sea Eye Spell Canon, while Cui Jiuyang threatened to kill one of them if they kept silent.

• Ao Han ambushed Ao Ming near Magnetic Source Mountain, but Ao Ming’s five bone-claw treasures blocked his attack, and the brothers began fighting.
• Cui Jiuyang recognized the blue treasures as dragon bones and trapped both princes with Three Chi Seven’s sword light.
• Ao Ming and Ao Han joined forces against Cui Jiuyang, mistaking his sword’s aura for Cui Chengshou’s.
• Cui Jiuyang invoked Cui Chengshou’s reputation and demanded to know where the dragon bones came from.
• Ao Han said the bones and Sea Eye Spell Canon pages had appeared beside East Sea sea eyes, and Ao Ming admitted someone was scheming against the East Sea Dragon Palace.
• Cui Jiuyang wounded both princes and warned that he would kill one of them after five more strikes if they refused to answer.

Cui Jiuyang learned that the East Sea Dragon Princes had collected the remains of Ming, the ancient Cold Li Dragon King, and angrily spared them after they surrendered their dragon-bone treasures. He set off for the Dragon Palace to gather the remaining bones, but turned into a crab before reaching it because he knew he could not defeat the old Dragon King.

• Ao Han told Cui Jiuyang that the Dragon Princes had found ancient dragon remains using the Bloodline Ancestor-Returning Technique and had taken bones belonging to Ming.
• Cui Jiuyang realized Ming's bones had caused the changes to his Dragon-Transformation Wall and Abyss in the Water, and raged over Ming's apparent death after obeying the Heavenly Court.
• Ao Ming said the Dragon Princes did not know how Ming died and guessed that he had died of old age; both brothers offered to surrender their dragon bones.
• Ao Han and Ao Ming relinquished control of their magical treasures, and Cui Jiuyang withdrew his sword light and warned them to keep the encounter secret.
• Cui Jiuyang collected the dragon bones and flew toward the Dragon Palace, intending to find the rest of Ming's remains.
• Cui Jiuyang turned into a crab near the Dragon Palace because he judged that he could not defeat the old Dragon King.

Cui Jiuyang, disguised as Yang Chenghu, reported Ao Han’s encounter with a swordsman claiming to be Cui Chengshou to Ao Dongping and the Dragon King. The Dragon King dismissed the supposed threat, leaving Ao Dongping to reflect on Ao Han’s reckless choices.

• Cui Jiuyang returned to the barracks and told Ao Dongping that a swordsman had defeated Ao Han and Ao Ming, taken their dragon-bone treasures, and let them escape after questioning them.
• Ao Dongping feared the incident would keep Ao Han from the Dragon Prince Duel and urged an immediate report to the Dragon King, warning that the Dragon Palace might be in danger.
• Cui Jiuyang concealed his identity with Canghai Ke’s crab shell aura and accompanied Ao Dongping to the Dragon King’s study.
• Cui Jiuyang recounted the encounter to the Dragon King, who reasoned that the swordsman could not have been Cui Chengshou because the Dragon Palace remained unharmed.
• The Dragon King criticized Ao Han’s recklessness and compared him to Ao Que, prompting Ao Dongping to accept blame for failing to guide the prince.

Cui Jiuyang learned that the Dragon King understood his identity and the circumstances surrounding Ao Que, but the king let him leave unharmed. As the Duel Before the Hall began, Cui Jiuyang remained uneasy and waited for the Dragon Princes to expose the Sea Eye Spell Canon and their ancestral dragon bones.

• The Dragon King told Ao Dongping that Ao Que had died at Cui Jiuyang's hands and surmised that Cui Chengshou had summoned Cui Jiuyang from a later age.
• The Dragon King blamed the Heavenly Court for the Dragon Palace's struggles over succession and dismissed Ao Dongping without punishing him.
• Cui Jiuyang's Dantian treasures stirred beneath the white jade plaza, but he found no trace of dragon qi and continued on without investigating.
• Back at camp, Cui Jiuyang repeatedly felt watched and unsettled, though his inspection revealed no problem with his treasures or cultivation.
• The Dragon Princes arrived at the Dragon Palace, and Ao Xin mocked Ao Lie's speech about brotherhood and the coming contest.
• On the day of the Duel Before the Hall, Ao Lie left camp first with his Dragon Guards, followed by Ao Xin.

Cui Jiuyang attended the Dragon Princes’ duels with Ao Tai and discovered that a faint call from the Crystal Hall was stirring the Dragon-Transformation Wall and the Abyss in the Water, suggesting Ming might still be alive. When Ao Tai became upset that the princes were truly fighting, Cui Jiuyang persuaded him to go to the Crystal Hall, giving him a chance to investigate the call.

• Ao Dongping and Cui Jiuyang went to White Jade Plaza and discussed Guixu and the Dragon Palace’s ceremonial preparations.
• Ao Tai recognized Cui Jiuyang, joined him, and learned that the Dragon Princes were holding duels to choose an heir.
• Cui Jiuyang searched the plaza for Ming, then traced a faint, stirring call to the Crystal Hall as the duels began.
• Ao Tai cried when he realized the princes were fighting for real, drawing the Dragon King’s attention.
• Cui Jiuyang told Ao Tai that fetching the Four Treasures of the Study could let the Dragon King stop the duels, and Ao Tai set off for the Crystal Hall.

Cui Jiuyang used Ao Tai to enter the Crystal Hall and secretly found a concealed room, then swapped places with a paper figure to investigate it. His careful search revealed only an empty hidden space, leaving him unsure whether the room held any secret at all.

• Cui Jiuyang concealed the Four Treasures of the Study, prompting Ao Tai to search the Crystal Hall’s corridors for them.
• When Old Sun stopped Cui Jiuyang from following Ao Tai, Cui Jiuyang slipped a paper figure into Ao Tai’s sleeve and used it to scout the hall.
• The paper figure discovered that an apparently empty room concealed a much larger space, and Cui Jiuyang planned to enter it after the arena proceedings.
• Ao Tai brought writing implements to the Dragon King, who promised to forbid the Dragon Princes from fighting after a new king was chosen.
• Cui Jiuyang used Steal Heaven and Change Sun to swap places with the paper figure and enter the hidden room.
• Cui Jiuyang cautiously searched the room with his divine sense but found nothing inside its concealed space.

Cui Jiuyang found a way to detect the hidden formation in the Crystal Hall and realized Ming was trapped inside it as a weak dragon soul. He identified the formation as the Extreme of Night and Day, but still needed to trace its original ray of light to free Ming.

• Cui Jiuyang felt the Dragon-Transformation Wall, and Ming briefly called out to him before falling silent again.
• Cui Jiuyang tested the room with talisman-paper creatures and found no defensive formations or visible trace of Ming.
• Cui Jiuyang noticed the room lacked shadows and deduced that hidden Luminous Pearls were creating an illusion.
• Cui Jiuyang felt the walls, marked hidden spherical protrusions, and used their positions to map the formation's lights.
• Cui Jiuyang recognized the Extreme of Night and Day formation and realized he had to find its first ray of light to rescue Ming.

Cui Jiuyang freed Ming from the Extreme of Night and Day formation and placed his fading dragon soul into a Demon Soul Cocoon. As he watched over the cocoon in the dark, an unseen attacker wounded him and then narrowly missed his head.

• Cui Jiuyang traced the formation’s light paths and shattered the Luminous Pearls that concealed Ming’s Eye.
• Cui Jiuyang found Ming’s nearly dispersed dragon soul and used dragon qi to stabilize it before forming a Demon Soul Cocoon.
• After Ming’s cocoon vanished, an unseen person entered the room and silently stabbed Cui Jiuyang in the waist.
• Cui Jiuyang dodged the attacker’s next strike, which cut off some of his hair, then used Crane Feather to heal his wound and expel black threads.

Cui Jiuyang exposed and killed Old Sun, a Ghost Octopus assassin who attacked him in the Dragon Palace’s Crystal Hall. He then planned to turn Ming’s Demon Soul Cocoon formation into a portable artifact so he could move it safely before the Dragon King discovered him.

• Cui Jiuyang used a series of talismans to flood the dark room with light and reveal Old Sun, whose slime had concealed him from sight and divine sense.
• Old Sun recognized Cui Jiuyang and charged him with a black dagger, but Cui Jiuyang’s flying sword Three Chi Seven severed the weapon and killed him.
• Cui Jiuyang stored Old Sun’s corpse in the Register of Soldiers and Horses and checked the corridor, finding no sign that anyone had been alerted.
• Cui Jiuyang decided that Ming’s Demon Soul Cocoon could be nourished without restoring his lost dragon body, but it would need careful protection during transport.
• Cui Jiuyang resolved to create a Formation Disc that would make the Demon Soul Cocoon’s Magic Formation portable.

Cui Jiuyang smuggled the Demon Soul Cocoon out of the Dragon Palace and set out for Canghai Ke’s former Sea Eye lair to nourish Ming. After the Dragon King activated the palace’s Grand Formation, Cui Jiuyang changed course to avoid pursuit and continued south through the East Sea.

• Cui Jiuyang transferred the Demon Soul Cocoon onto a Formation Disc and escaped the Dragon Palace while invisible.
• Cui Jiuyang chose Canghai Ke’s Sea Eye as a concealed, Spiritual Energy-rich place to protect and nourish the cocoon.
• Cui Jiuyang sensed the East Sea Dragon Palace’s Grand Formation activate and realized the Dragon King had discovered the missing life-prolonging medicine.
• Cui Jiuyang worried that the Paper Person impersonating Yang Chenghu could expose Ao Dongping, then detoured south to avoid a likely search along the direct route.
• Cui Jiuyang traveled through the warmer southern waters, observing the Sea Race and the freedom of life beneath the sea.

Cui Jiuyang fled across the East Sea while protecting the Demon Soul Cocoon, then confronted the Dragon Palace forces sent to capture him. The Dragon King arrived and tried to negotiate for the treasure, but Cui Jiuyang insisted that the Demon Soul Cocoon mattered more and demanded they speak face-to-face.

• Cui Jiuyang hurried through the sea in various animal forms, greeting aquatic creatures while keeping the Demon Soul Cocoon safe.
• Cui Jiuyang sensed that the Paper Person in the Dragon Palace had been destroyed and feared that Ao Dongping was in danger.
• Cui Jiuyang changed course to evade the Dragon Palace’s pursuit but was eventually cornered by a tiger shark general and eight hundred shark Demon Soldiers.
• Cui Jiuyang defeated the tiger shark general and shattered the soldiers’ battle formation with two sword strikes.
• The Dragon King arrived, offered to treat Cui Jiuyang as an honored guest if he returned the stolen treasure, and listened as Cui Jiuyang explained the Demon Soul Cocoon’s importance.
• Cui Jiuyang asked the Dragon King to take human form and speak with him, and the Dragon King complied.

Cui Jiuyang refused the Dragon King’s offers to trade for the Demon Soul Cocoon and condemned his desperate pursuit of immortality. When the Dragon King’s sea-turtle Formation Masters secured the cocoon, Cui Jiuyang fought back with Three Chi Seven and used the Dragon-Trapping Method to briefly hinder him.

• The Dragon King offered Cui Jiuyang treasures, merit artifacts, and Magical Treasures in exchange for the Demon Soul Cocoon, but Cui Jiuyang refused.
• Cui Jiuyang confronted the Dragon King over his use of unknown cultivation methods and revealed that he had once returned life-extending elixirs to the people instead of using them.
• The Dragon King threatened Cui Jiuyang, then resumed bargaining while waiting for his summoned subordinates to arrive.
• The Dragon King’s sea-turtle subordinates laid a wide Demon Soul Cocoon formation, removing the danger that the cocoon would be destroyed if Cui Jiuyang dropped his Formation Disc.
• Cui Jiuyang attacked with Three Chi Seven, but the Dragon King blocked it with the Four Seas Seal.
• Cui Jiuyang used the Dragon-Trapping Method from the Record of All Under Heaven to halt the Dragon King for an instant.

Cui Jiuyang wounded the old Dragon King with Heaven-Slaying and escaped while Dragon Palace generals pursued him. As the Dragon King resumed the Dragon Prince Duels at the Sea-Heaven Pillar, Cui Jiuyang made his way toward the Sea Eye and the duels continued awkwardly.

• Cui Jiuyang struck the old Dragon King with Heaven-Slaying, splitting his crown and drawing blood, then fled without being pursued by the injured king.
• The old Dragon King killed the sea turtles who had arrived late and asked whether his blood smelled foul.
• Cui Jiuyang recovered much of his spiritual power, killed the pursuing Six-Eyed Flying Fish general, and carved taunts into the general's body.
• The Dragon Palace generals mourned the Six-Eyed Flying Fish, then carried his body to the Sea-Heaven Pillar to report their failure to capture Cui Jiuyang.
• Cui Jiuyang disguised himself as an ordinary sea demon and headed toward the Sea Eye while the Dragon King ordered the dragon princes to resume their duels at the Sea-Heaven Pillar.
• The dragon princes fought awkwardly at the Sea-Heaven Pillar, and the cross-eyed Spear-Headed Golden-Armored Shrimp praised Ao Lie after his flying sword nearly severed a flagpole.

Ao Dongping was brought before the Dragon King, who questioned him about his bond with Cui Jiuyang before taking him away. Meanwhile, Cui Jiuyang continued nourishing Ming’s Demon Soul Cocoon in the Sea Eye and wondered whether Ming had anticipated the trouble in heaven.

• The Sixth Highness accidentally killed the Eighth Highness during their staged duel, and the Dragon King suspended the spell duels again.
• The Dragon King grieved over the Eighth Highness, then ordered two ministers surnamed Ao executed and placed beside his son’s body.
• The Dragon King summoned Ao Dongping, questioned whether he had truly regarded Cui Jiuyang as a disciple, and flew away with him.
• Cui Jiuyang recalled Ao Dongping’s account of his ancestor nearly being sucked into Guixu and seeing the Great Yaomo imprisoned there.
• Cui Jiuyang kept nourishing Ming’s Demon Soul Cocoon and wondered whether Ming had left him the Twelve Dragon Scales and a spiritual vein because he had foreseen trouble in heaven.

Cui Jiuyang tried to save Ming, whose dragon soul remained trapped in a Demon Soul Cocoon after absorbing spiritual power. Unable to perform a rebirth formation, he began transforming Ming into a Buzhou Commander with the Buzhou Ghost Soldiers.

• Cui Jiuyang tended the Demon Soul Cocoon and reflected on the dangerous Sea Eye Spell Canon and its role in drawing people into traps.
• When the cocoon stopped absorbing spiritual power, Cui Jiuyang confirmed Ming was still half-dead and realized he lacked a suitable formation for an ancient dragon.
• Cui Jiuyang decided to use Ming’s dragon scales, the Yin-Yang Qi Reversal Gourd, and the Buzhou Ghost Soldiers to form a Yin-Yang Qi Buzhou Transformation Grand Formation.
• Cui Jiuyang entered Abyss in the Water with the Demon Soul Cocoon and joined the 1,001 assembled Buzhou Ghost Soldiers.
• Cui Jiuyang activated the Heaven-Slaying Army Formation, and the soldiers’ movements began gathering killing aura around him.

Cui Jiuyang began transforming Ming’s dragon soul into a Buzhou Commander, then confronted the Dragon King and Ao Dongping when they found him in the Sea Eye. He exposed the Dragon King’s treatment of an ancient dragon, while Ao Dongping considered where his loyalty lay.

• Cui Jiuyang used the Yin-Yang Qi Reversal Gourd, dragon qi, and the Buzhou Battalion Transformation Formation to begin transforming Ming’s dragon soul.
• The Dragon King found Cui Jiuyang in the Sea Eye, where Ao Dongping stood in prison clothes and demanded the return of the Dragon Palace’s stolen treasure.
• Cui Jiuyang warned Ao Dongping that the Dragon King would not let him return alive, then revealed that the Dragon King had refined an ancient dragon’s soul and scattered its body across the East Sea.
• Ao Dongping argued that the Dragon King had the right to dispose of a dead dragon and that the matter concerned only the Dragon Clan’s internal laws.
• Cui Jiuyang recalled Ao Dongping’s belief that loyalty to the Dragon Palace and its ruler ultimately meant loyalty to the Four Seas.

Cui Jiuyang fought the Dragon King to protect Ming’s transformation in the Abyss in the Water and exposed his suspicions that the king had harmed his own sons to extend his life. The Dragon King struck down Ao Dongping, while Cui Jiuyang continued defending the Abyss as Ming’s transformation reached its final stage.

• Ao Dongping accepted that he was likely to die and told Cui Jiuyang he would hear what had happened before judging his loyalty.
• Cui Jiuyang asked whether the Dragon King’s sword wound had healed, prompting the king to attack him and try to silence him.
• Cui Jiuyang dodged the Dragon King’s attacks to buy time for Ming’s transformation inside the Abyss in the Water.
• When a powerful aura of slaughter rose from the Abyss, the Dragon King attacked it with the Four Seas Seal, and Cui Jiuyang blocked the assault with Three Chi Seven.
• Cui Jiuyang accused the Dragon King of harming Ao Luo and Ao Tai to prolong his life, and the Dragon King attacked Ao Dongping, shattering his shell and sending him flying.
• Cui Jiuyang continued fighting to protect Ming’s Dragon Soul, while the Dragon King revealed in his thoughts that he had used the Sea Eye Spell Canon to seek a longer life.

Cui Jiuyang fought the rotting Dragon King as the ruler tried to reclaim the dragon soul inside the Abyss in the Water and stop Ming’s transformation. The chapter ended with Cui Jiuyang unleashing his suppressed spiritual power and confronting the Dragon King’s devastating tail strike.

• Cui Jiuyang rescued the badly injured Ao Dongping, who explained that the Dragon King planned to gather the Dragon Clan and trap them all.
• Cui Jiuyang charged the Dragon King, whose true form revealed a body and dragon soul deteriorating as his stolen life force leaked away.
• Cui Jiuyang traded blows with the Dragon King, cutting him with Three Chi Seven while the rotting dragon blood spread through the Sea Eye.
• Cui Jiuyang and the Dragon King noticed that Ming’s transformation inside the Abyss in the Water had nearly reached its crucial stage.
• The Dragon King shattered the Abyss in the Water’s protective light and prepared a powerful tail strike, while Cui Jiuyang released his suppressed spiritual power to face him.

Cui Jiuyang revived Ming as the Buzhou Commander, but the Dragon King unleashed the sea to force them into Guixu. Ming hooked the Dragon King with his Bronze Hooked Halberd and dragged him down with them, and the group found themselves falling through Guixu’s strange darkness.

• Cui Jiuyang held on to Ao Dongping as the Dragon King’s suction pulled them toward his maw, then used the Heart Talisman Technique to bring Ming back from the Abyss in the Water.
• The Dragon King unleashed the gathered seawater to drive Cui Jiuyang, Ao Dongping, and Ming into Guixu.
• At Cui Jiuyang’s order, Ming summoned the Bronze Hooked Halberd, hooked the Dragon King, and dragged him down into Guixu with them.
• Cui Jiuyang wounded the restrained Dragon King as they crossed into Guixu, then stopped using Three Chi Seven when he sensed an invisible wall around them.
• The group continued falling through Guixu’s darkness, past a vast, still sea and towering columns of water, until they began to feel as if they were rising.

Cui Jiuyang and Ming fought the Dragon King in Guixu until a monkey resembling Sun Wukong appeared and nearly tricked Cui Jiuyang into surrendering his heart. Ao Dongping helped him recognize the creature as a Heart-Stealing Divine Ape, which then left while the Dragon King remained trapped.

• Cui Jiuyang, Ming, and their companions reached Guixu and saw the immense bones of dead Great Yaomo drifting across its silent sea.
• Cui Jiuyang summoned the Buzhou Battalion and used Heaven-and-Earth Manifestation to grow larger before he and Ming attacked the weakened Dragon King.
• The Dragon King tried to flee, but a monkey appeared, froze him, and asked Cui Jiuyang to lend him a dragon to eat.
• Ao Dongping warned Cui Jiuyang about the East Sea's lack of any connection to the legends of Sun Wukong, prompting Cui Jiuyang to realize the monkey was a Heart-Stealing Divine Ape.
• The Heart-Stealing Divine Ape admitted it had tried to steal Cui Jiuyang's heart, then departed, leaving the Dragon King restrained by the Dragon-Trapping Method.