Chapter Summaries

A Hawk Chicken missile struck and sank the Jade Sea and Tang Valley, the Light Fleet’s last flying beast carrier. General Tai'ao'duo concluded that Su Ming had exhausted his supply of advanced weapons and ordered a full assault for the next morning, while Su Ming and Zijin confirmed the missile’s success.

• Yin'er saw a missile approach from the sun’s direction and watched it race toward the Jade Sea and Tang Valley.
• The Hawk Chicken missile pierced the carrier’s magic shield and hull, then exploded in its lower hold and caused the ship to sink.
• General Tai'ao'duo arranged the rescue, then told Yin'er and the Naga Queen that Su Ming likely had no missiles left and ordered an assault on the White Bone Fortress at six the next morning.
• Yin'er agreed to rest with the Silver Dragon Guard on Shining Island, and Tai'ao'duo ordered supplies sent there.
• Su Ming and Zijin examined the missile’s final photographs and sonar evidence, confirming that the Jade Sea and Tang Valley had sunk.

Su Ming and his crew prepared for the Light Fleet’s attack as the Veil of Eternal Winter brought a blizzard that crippled their radar. The chapter ended with Su Ming switching to the Pansy’s VHF radar after the S-band system lost all target signals.

• Su Ming and Stacy identified psoriasis on the silver dragons, and Stacy promised to keep them off the battlefield while they recovered.
• A severe cold wave and blizzard struck the northern sea, and Su Ming detected the Light Fleet’s two battle groups approaching the Pansy.
• Su Ming and Zijin discussed their planned journey to her homeland and her mothers, Atiya and Misaila.
• Tai'ao'duo’s forces began a long-range magical attack, and Su Ming ordered the Pansy’s crew to battle stations.
• The Veil of Eternal Winter intensified until the blizzard blinded the crew and overwhelmed the S-band radar, so Su Ming activated the VHF radar system.

Zijin used radar-guided Star Core magic to destroy the Light Fleet warship Scourge of Absolution. The Scourge of Absolution was left a wreck and everyone aboard was killed.

• Jisu's team used frequency-hopping very high frequency radar to detect the enemy ships' masts through the blizzard.
• Zijin tracked the enemy ships while Su Ming prepared the Hymn of Heaven and the repaired Star Core.
• The Heart of Winter activated above the Pansy as Zijin locked the Star Core onto the Scourge of Absolution.
• Zijin cast Eye of Oracle and Sacred Chant Stairway, trapping the warship in a blazing force field.
• Zijin unleashed Firmament Judgment, piercing the Scourge of Absolution and killing everyone aboard.

Stacy and Qiluo arrived at the silver dragons’ cave, where the Silver Dragon Guard was suffering from psoriasis Stacy had secretly caused. Yin'er confronted her about attacking the dragons, but their dispute exposed that they had been acting on conflicting accounts of Su Ming and the Light Fleet’s intentions.

• Qiluo carried Stacy across Shining Island, and they recalled their earlier visit to treat a dragon.
• Yin'er learned that Stacy and Qiluo were approaching, while the suffering silver dragons hoped the physician could cure them.
• Stacy admitted she had infected the Silver Dragon Guard with psoriasis using a net beneath the sea.
• Yin'er accused Stacy of betraying Bay Owl, but Stacy said the dragons had come with the Light Fleet to kill her group.
• Stacy explained that Su Ming and Bay Owl had saved her companions on the Sacred Mountain, while Yin'er insisted he had believed Su Ming was a brutal Bone King controlled by the Temple of Light's claims.

Stacy convinced the Silver Dragon Guard that Elder Yinfei had misled them and persuaded them to wait for the truth rather than attack. As the battle’s blizzard faded, Su Ming and Zijin spotted Saxon the Trickster arriving with Temple of Light clergy, and he greeted the Bone King and Bay Owl.

• Stacy explained to the Silver Dragon Guard that Su Ming and Bay Owl were partners, not captor and slave, and Qiluo mocked the dragons for being misled.
• Yin'er blasted a mage who urged the dragons to join the attack, then told Stacy that the Silver Dragon Guard would wait and investigate before deciding what to do.
• Stacy promised the dragons medicine and hot baths after the battle, then offered Bay Owl’s soothing spell and ordered the dragons to line up for treatment.
• The Scourge of Absolution fell silent, the Veil of Eternal Winter dissipated, and the snow began to ease as the crew cleared the Pansy’s deck.
• Su Ming saw about fifty Sea Eagle Beasts approaching, led by Saxon the Trickster and accompanied by high-ranking clergy from the Temple of Light.
• Saxon greeted the Bone King and Bay Owl as the necromancers formed ranks aboard the Pansy.

Zijin and the Final Bone Mad Machines fought off Saxon’s clerics and the Naga assault on the Pansy. After the Naga queen ordered a retreat, Su Ming sent Bowers to capture her, and Bowers struck her with Finger of Death as she tried to escape.

• Zijin confronted the attacking clerics while the Pansy’s disguised spellcasters unleashed volleys that devastated their formation; Saxon had already fled, leaving the archbishops behind.
• Zijin broke an archbishop’s defenses and killed him, then scattered more clerics with Dark Hornless Dragon: Wild Dance.
• Naga warriors and mages attacked the Pansy, where the trainees held their positions despite casualties and the rescue team pulled the wounded from the line.
• The Naga queen recognized the aerial assault was collapsing, ordered a retreat, and shattered the trainees’ shared shield with a shockwave from her trident.
• Su Ming ordered Bowers to capture the queen, and Bowers hit her with Finger of Death as she fled toward the sea.

Su Ming pursued the fleeing Naga Queen but failed to capture her, while Zijin defeated the remaining Naga forces. The queen escaped into the deep sea with survivors, leaving Su Ming and Zijin to take prisoners and vow to settle the score later.

• Su Ming overtook the Naga Queen with Gossamer Wings of Darkness and tried to trap her with Claw of Confinement, but she escaped into the sea using Abyssal Current Serpentine Movement.
• Su Ming tracked the queen with Dark Beacon and used his amphibious rifle to kill Naga mages who attacked him from underwater.
• Zijin returned to the Pansy after the battle, where Bowers and the trainees secured surrendered Naga prisoners and struggled to capture fleeing Sea Eagle Beasts.
• Zijin warned Su Ming not to pursue the queen underwater, then cast Chaos Annihilation into the sea and killed Naga warriors who had not escaped to deeper water.
• Su Ming found no sign of the Naga Queen and vowed to hunt her down and settle the score later.

Su Ming pursued the fleeing Dawn Pioneer Class cruisers with the Pansy, prioritizing the magic warship Thorns of Atonement. When Beianqi’s gunfire repeatedly overshot an enemy cruiser, Zijin detected enemy mages manipulating the shells’ gravity, and Su Ming identified their Levitation Spell as the cause.

• Su Ming returned to the Pansy as its crew finished capturing Sea Eagle Beasts and clergy, then ordered the ship to pursue the fleeing cruisers.
• Beianqi inspected and tested the Mark 71 naval gun before joining Su Ming in the bridge command center.
• Su Ming chose to pursue the eastern battle group, which included the magic warship Thorns of Atonement.
• The Pansy caught up with an eastern cruiser, and Beianqi fired two three-shell salvos that both overshot the target.
• Zijin sensed enemy mages casting a Levitation Spell along the shells’ flight path, and Su Ming realized they were interfering with the shells’ gravity.

Beianqi used the Mark 71’s simultaneous-impact firing technique to disable an enemy cruiser, and the Pansy pursued the Temple of Light’s magic warships. As necromancers boarded the damaged ships, Captain Ma Moreno prepared to destroy the Thorns of Atonement rather than let it be captured.

• Beianqi accelerated the Pansy and fired a three-shell salvo that struck the Dawn Pioneer Class cruiser simultaneously, overwhelming its mages and destroying its bridge and foredeck.
• Beianqi fired another salvo that crippled the cruiser, and Bowers led a boarding party that forced its remaining crew to surrender.
• Zijin proposed capturing the Thorns of Atonement and claimed she could stop its self-destruct core, while Su Ming warned that its captain, Ma Moreno, would destroy the ship rather than surrender it.
• Su Ming sent fifty necromancers to repair and secure the damaged Scourge of Absolution as the Pansy pursued the Thorns of Atonement.
• The Pansy caught the Thorns of Atonement and destroyed its exposed magic-array nodes, collapsing its shield, while necromancers launched to board it.
• Ma Moreno reached the ship’s core magic array and prepared to activate its destruction sequence, fearing the Temple would punish his family if he let the enemy capture the vessel.

Su Ming and Zijin stopped Ma Moreno from destroying the Thorns of Atonement, then chose not to exploit his death for propaganda. After setting the captured warship to be repaired and sailing toward another enemy vessel, Su Ming found Younier caring for animals Stacy had collected.

• Ma Moreno failed to activate the warship’s destruction sequence, and he killed himself rather than face the Temple’s punishment.
• Bowers proposed using Ma Moreno’s corpse to deceive the Divine Covenant Faction, but Su Ming and Zijin rejected the plan to protect their credibility.
• Su Ming left a hundred necromancers aboard the Thorns of Atonement to guard it while repairs began, then returned with Zijin to the Pansy.
• The Pansy sailed at full speed toward another fleeing enemy warship.
• Su Ming found Younier caring for a snake, a hedgehog, and two lizards that Stacy had collected, and Zijin worried that Stacy might ignore her warning about the silver dragons.

Su Ming ended the fleet’s pursuit after capturing a second Dawn Pioneer Class warship, then returned to stabilize the damaged Scourge of Absolution. Meanwhile, Rupert and his team infiltrated Grodno Harbor and prepared to attack its ships and paladin garrison.

• Su Ming’s fleet captured a second Dawn Pioneer Class warship, then halted the chase and returned with its prizes to repair the Scourge of Absolution.
• The crew sealed the Scourge of Absolution’s leaks as the blizzard weakened, but Stacy reported she was bringing guests and Beianqi warned that twelve huge airborne targets were approaching.
• Rupert led the damage control team to Grodno Harbor and ordered an attack after half an hour, planning to use the harbor’s dinner hour to their advantage.
• Rupert, Hansite, Jielusi, and Ruixiuli infiltrated the harbor town by posing as travelers seeking shelter and a healer.
• Ruixiuli and Jielusi went to deal with the paladin garrison, while Rupert and Hansite prepared to attack the two offshore transport ships.

Rupert distracted the sailors while Ruixiuli, Jielusi, and the Final Bone Mad Machines attacked the Holy Knight Order’s harbor encampment. After the attack succeeded, Stacy and the Silver Dragons arrived at the Pansy, where Su Ming began transforming the ship’s stern.

• Rupert tricked the sailors into bringing him aboard a cargo ship and kept them occupied with free rum as the assault began.
• Ruixiuli and Jielusi attacked the Holy Knight Order’s encampment, and the Final Bone Mad Machines’ damage control team joined the battle, forcing the holy knights to flee.
• Rupert knocked out sailors who came onto the deck while a bard’s music put the crew of a nearby ship into a deep sleep.
• Stacy arrived near the Pansy on Yin’er with the Silver Dragons and Qiluo, while the Sea Eagle Beasts were moved to the forward deck.
• Su Ming directed more than a hundred necromancers to expand and reshape the Pansy’s aft deck.

Su Ming and Zijin received the Silver Dragons aboard the Pansy, where Zijin challenged Yin'er over the dragons’ role in the Temple of Light’s campaign. The Silver Dragons began treatment for their skin infection and received food, while Yinfei’s whereabouts remained unknown.

• The Silver Dragons landed on the Pansy, increasing its displacement by 900 tons, and Su Ming ordered the ballast tanks adjusted.
• Stacy warned Su Ming and Zijin that something was wrong with Yinfei and that the Silver Dragons should be kept under watch.
• Zijin challenged Yin'er over the Silver Dragons’ role in restricting their tactics, but Yin'er blamed Yinfei’s misleading intelligence and said he did not know where she was.
• Zijin arranged treatment for the infected dragons, and Stacy’s trainees built a pool and used hot water and medication on their scales.
• Su Ming’s crew prepared a huge seafood risotto for the Silver Dragons, and Yin'er relaxed as he saw the treatment and supplies being organized.

Zijin challenged Yin'er to a fight over her bid for the Dragon King's throne, but he instead pledged to support her after seeing how humans fed and cared for the dragons aboard the Pansy. Yin'er explained that the Dragon Race's hardships had convinced him they needed a capable leader, and he hinted that dragons' great strength came with serious vulnerabilities as the group prepared to reach Dragon Valley.

• Zijin challenged Yin'er to fight after he admitted that most Silver Dragons opposed an undead bone dragon becoming their king.
• Zijin collapsed into Su Ming's arms, then emerged as a bone dragon and called Yin'er to battle.
• Yin'er bowed and declared that he would support Zijin as the new king, surprising her.
• Yin'er said that the hot bath and carefully prepared meal aboard the Pansy showed him how poorly dragons lived in Dragon Valley, and Zijin agreed that the valley's resources were strained.
• Su Ming exposed Qiluo's unicorn disguise, and the trainees pulled her from a Silver Dragon's bowl and gave her food in her own bucket.
• Yin'er described how human civilization had advanced while dragons stagnated, then pointed out that dragons' strength came with costly recovery needs and asked whether Zijin had explained their weaknesses to Su Ming.

Yin'er and Zijin’s bone dragon fought above the Pansy while Su Ming recorded their battle and discovered an unfamiliar technique coating Yin’er’s wings. The fight continued as Yin’er accelerated using the strange fluid-like film, leaving Su Ming intent on studying it.

• Zijin challenged Yin'er to fight after recognizing Silver Dragons who had beaten her in the past, and Yin'er recalled that her old pranks had provoked them.
• Yin'er and Zijin’s bone dragon took to the sky, while Su Ming activated the Pansy’s cameras and watched from the bridge with Zijin’s human body in his arms.
• Yin'er and the bone dragon exchanged breath attacks, then clashed at close range and inflicted wounds that each dragon quickly resisted or repaired.
• Su Ming noticed a shifting pale-blue film on the leading edges of Yin’er's wings as he accelerated, and adjusted the cameras to capture the unfamiliar flight technique.
• Stacy joined Su Ming on the platform, and Zijin complained to her that Su Ming was not interested in her.

Zijin defeated Elder Yin'er in a long-range aerial beam duel, then returned to the Pansy as Su Ming considered how to prepare for the much stronger Yinfei. He asked Miao Xin to commission an extraordinarily fast, accurate, concealed weapon with simple ammunition, leaving her exasperated by the demands.

• Zijin and Elder Yin'er exchanged precisely aimed energy beams while maneuvering at high speed, and their first two attacks collided in midair.
• In the third exchange, Zijin's beam struck Yin'er's head while his beam hit near her shoulder, but both dragons' magical shields blocked the attacks.
• Elder Yin'er conceded, praising Zijin's aerial combat skills, and she returned to the Pansy.
• Zijin told Su Ming that Yinfei had several times Yin'er's magical power, durability, shield strength, acceleration, and breath power.
• Su Ming contacted Miao Xin and requested a powerful, concealed weapon with extreme speed and accuracy and easy-to-make ammunition, prompting her to joke that the engineers might as well hang themselves.

The Vanguard Warrior encountered raiders plundering a Temple of Light supply ship and drove them off, then rescued the ship’s survivors. General Tai'ao'duo pursued the fleeing raiders’ mothership while his mages fought the fire and searched the hold.

• Su Ming and Miao Xin argued about whether fighter jets should engage dragons in close-range combat.
• General Tai'ao'duo spotted raiders plundering a Temple of Light supply ship and ordered the Vanguard Warrior to attack.
• The raiders fled their boats using magic, and Tai'ao'duo spotted their mothership and decided to pursue it.
• Tai'ao'duo sent his mages to fight the growing fire and search the supply ship’s hold.
• The mages found two injured survivors, including a beautiful female healer, whose discovery disappointed Tai'ao'duo.

Jielusi and Ruixiuli revealed themselves aboard the Vanguard Warrior and slaughtered its guards, using the dead soldiers’ bones and souls to power their attacks. They captured General Tai'ao'duo as their necromancer allies returned to overwhelm the Temple of Light’s mages, and the remaining defenders surrendered.

• General Tai'ao'duo realized the wounded healer and burned crewman were disguises, but Jielusi and Ruixiuli attacked and killed his guards.
• Jielusi unleashed a soul attack while Ruixiuli struck down the advancing fighters with a bone blade, then the pair reached Tai'ao'duo.
• The necromancers returned to attack the mages from the supply ship as Ruixiuli held Tai'ao'duo at blade point and Jielusi wounded him.
• Ruixiuli killed an officer who reached for a firearm and demanded the other defenders surrender.
• The Temple of Light soldiers and officers dropped their weapons, leaving the Vanguard Warrior in the pair’s hands.

Su Ming’s forces captured Temple of Light ships, supplies, and General Tai'ao'duo after their victory near Giant Horn Island. The captured general was brought before Stacy, who eagerly thanked Su Ming as Tai'ao'duo struggled in fear.

• Su Ming’s Pansy captured two Temple of Light supply ships, while Beianqi’s Five Fangs ambushed and captured a cruiser and a supply ship.
• Rupert’s damage control team captured the Vanguard Warrior and took General Tai'ao'duo alive, completing Su Ming’s naval objectives.
• Su Ming ordered the captured ships and supplies organized and began planning the flotilla’s course to Dragon Valley.
• Su Ming and Younier worked on distributing supplies as captured ships returned to the anchorage around Shining Island.
• Jielusi and Ruixiuli brought the bound Tai'ao'duo to Su Ming, who learned that interrogation had yielded little useful information.
• Stacy arrived, saw Tai'ao'duo, and thanked Su Ming while the terrified general struggled against his restraints.

Su Ming arranged for Stacy to test sildenafil on Tai'ao'duo as part of a plan to make the Divine Covenant Faction lift its warrants on necromancers. Ruixiuli then revealed a picture book depicting Su Ming and Zijin together, leaving Zijin embarrassed and furious as Ruixiuli handed Su Ming a second copy.

• Stacy thanked Su Ming, Jielusi, and Ruixiuli, then took Tai'ao'duo away to serve as a volunteer for her drug tests.
• Su Ming asked Miao Xin to obtain sildenafil, then gave the drug to Stacy to test on Tai'ao'duo.
• Su Ming told Zijin that he planned to use the drug to pressure the Divine Covenant Faction's leaders into lifting their warrants on all necromancers.
• Ruixiuli revealed that his interrogation records were incomplete and presented Su Ming with a picture book that had caused Grand Elder Yinfei to leave the Light Fleet.
• Zijin recognized herself and Su Ming in the book's illustrations, blushed, and tried to keep Su Ming from seeing it, but Ruixiuli handed him an identical copy.