Handed Over to the State: From a Cold Palace Well to the Dragon God of Longguo

Overworked office drone Jiang Shang wakes up to find himself in the world of Journey to the West, transformed into the Dragon King of a cold palace well in Chang'an: a koi carp trapped in a dry well and about to lose his divine status for failing to meet his performance targets. The vengeful spirits of disgraced concubines torment him every day, the Buddhist order cuts off all his incense offerings to make life difficult for him, and even his rainmaking KPI has been snatched up by his rivals.

Just when all hope seems lost, his phone turns into a jade tube and unexpectedly connects him to his mother back on Earth by video call. She promptly reports her “scam artist son” to the authorities, and from then on Jiang Shang is on the state payroll!

When myth meets the modern world, his comeback begins. 1.4 billion people in China make him their mascot, giving him exclusive access to the nation’s incense offerings. Weather satellites put cloud maps at his disposal, and he can bring rain to deserts and wastelands alike. The Yangtze, the Yellow River, and all four oceans become his divine domain, and wherever water flows, there is his place of power. He uses modern public relations to rewrite the Jing River Dragon King’s death sentence, satellite tracking to take down the Black Wind Cave’s criminal operation, and career advice and marriage arrangements to throw the story of Journey to the West into utter chaos.

At last, as he rises to power, spiritual energy flows back into Earth. The Dragon Kingdom is the first to recover, ushering in a new era in which everyone can become a dragon. A single koi, carrying an entire civilization, swims toward the ultimate evolution: the return of all worlds to their source.