Zhao Lin

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Zhao Lin (赵林)
Alias(es)	Eternal God 214
Species/Race	Human; later becomes an Incense Life in one simulation record 215
Gender	Male 191
Affiliation	Eternal Life Cult; its followers pray to him as the Eternal God 192 214
Occupation/Role	Su Yang's disciple; Incense God-path cultivator and faith deity 191 192
Status	Variable across simulation records: disappears and becomes an Incense Life in one record, while another records his death at the hands of the Deep Sea Dragon Clan 215 247
First Appearance	Chapter 191

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Peak Golden Core; Spirit Transmutation-level Incense Dao	192	After 100 years under Su Yang's tutelage, Zhao Lin reaches peak Golden Core cultivation. His faith is gathered covertly through dreams.
Top-tier Saint King combat power	195	His true strength surpasses Su Yang's and is assessed as comparable to a top-tier Saint King.
Integrated Body Saint (public disguise)	195	Leaves the Eastern Archipelago while concealing his Incense God Power as Magical Power and presenting himself as an Integrated Body Saint.
Top-three Heavenly Pride	195	Enters the Heavenly Pride Ranking's top three shortly after making his name publicly.
Powerful Supreme-level combat power	207	Overwhelms the Soul Refining Saint King and his remaining followers despite facing them alone.
Tribulation Transcendence-level strength	210	The Soul Transferring Quasi-Emperor recognizes Zhao Lin's Incense God path as the source of his Tribulation Transcendence-level strength.
Incense Life	215	After his true body and clones are destroyed, he persists within the minds of believers and can manifest wherever faith in him exists.
Quasi-Emperor	215	Declares that he has attained Quasi-Emperor strength before launching reprisals against his enemies.
Void Returning King (alternate simulation)	237	In a separate record, develops an Incense Godhood method in Crimson Cloud Heaven but reaches only Void Returning King-level strength before being transformed into a Crimson Dragon and abducted.
Powerful Quasi-Emperor (alternate simulation)	276	His screened preaching produces higher-quality faith; he becomes a Quasi-Emperor comparable to possessors of sealed Supreme physiques.
True Great Emperor-level strength (alternate simulation)	288	His incense-and-fire path does not require a Heavenly Heart Mark or Immortal Spirit Mark; sufficient faith and incense allow him to reach Great Emperor-level power.

Background & History

Su Yang discovers Zhao Lin on Shuizhizi Island as a prodigious boy with an innate Incense God Body and an Earth Grade Spiritual Root. Recognizing both his potential and the danger of exposing such a talent too early, Su Yang accepts him as a disciple. 191

Under Su Yang's instruction, Zhao Lin reaches peak Golden Core cultivation and develops his Incense Dao to Spirit Transmutation-level strength. His followers no longer openly use the name Eternal Life Cult; instead, they pray to Zhao Lin in dreams, reducing the chance that his faith network will be discovered. 192

Zhao Lin's concealed strength eventually exceeds Su Yang's, but prolonged secrecy leaves him frustrated and emotionally unbalanced. After Mu Xixue defeats Su Yang, Zhao Lin attacks and incapacitates her, partly out of anger at her arrogance and partly because he resents remaining unknown despite his superior power. Su Yang responds by allowing him to leave the Eastern Archipelago, gain fame as a Heavenly Pride, and continue hiding the true nature of his abilities. 195

His Incense God path becomes increasingly dangerous after he accidentally turns the Soul Refining Saint King into an avatar. The Soul Transferring Quasi-Emperor later exposes Zhao Lin's ability to refine others' main bodies into clones, causing cultivators across the Azure Firmament Realm to view him as a major threat. 208 212

After his believers, divine name, and dream-preaching method are uncovered, Zhao Lin vanishes. Quasi-Emperor Qi locates and destroys Zhao Lin's physical body and clones, but Zhao Lin survives by transforming into an Incense Life sustained by the faith of his believers. 214 215

As an Incense Life, Zhao Lin grows more ruthless and begins killing enemies and nonbelievers. His remaining true essence later reveals that an Outer God, the God of Bewitching Heart, has corrupted him. This uncorrupted remnant asks Su Yang to expose the contamination so Heaven and Earth Will will permit the destruction of Zhao Lin's followers without karmic consequences. 215 216

In another simulation record, Su Yang intervenes earlier: Zhao Lin is taught immortal cultivation, has his Dao Heart and disposition tempered, and is guided to preach only to suffering beings whom he can genuinely help. This version conceals his faith network more effectively and gains power through higher-quality incense and faith. 270 276

Personality

Zhao Lin is fiercely loyal to Su Yang. He attacks Mu Xixue after she defeats his master, claiming that he cannot tolerate seeing Su Yang humiliated. He also volunteers to confront the Soul Shifting Quasi-Emperor rather than allow Su Yang to be endangered because of him. 195 209

His Dao Heart is initially unstable. Being forced to conceal his strength, seeing weaker peers celebrated, and being judged solely as Su Yang's disciple leave him resentful and suppressed. 194 195

After becoming an Incense Life, Zhao Lin's temperament changes drastically: he becomes dismissive of mortal lives, increasingly disrespectful toward Su Yang, and willing to cause catastrophic collateral damage. His surviving true essence attributes this shift to vulnerability to Outer God corruption after losing his physical body. 216

In better-guided simulation records, he is more cautious and selective, preaching only to beings in hardship and providing them knowledge and strength in exchange for faith. 276

Abilities & Skills

Incense God Body

Zhao Lin possesses an innate Incense God Body, enabling him to cultivate through faith and incense rather than relying solely on conventional cultivation. 191

• Believers contribute incense and faith that directly increase his power. 192 276
• His cultivation can advance without the normal thresholds faced by conventional cultivators, provided he has enough faith and incense. 288
• The quality of followers matters: selectively helping suffering beings produces stronger, higher-quality faith. 276
• His dependence on believers becomes a critical vulnerability once enemies identify and target his faith network. 212 216

Dream Preaching

Zhao Lin spreads faith by entering the dreams of living beings, allowing him to build a hidden following without an obvious sect structure. 192 214

• He can ignore space and distance to enter the dreams of mortals and low-level cultivators. 214
• Followers pray to him within dreams, making the Eternal Life Cult difficult to trace through ordinary investigations. 192 214
• His influence reaches sea creatures and young dragons in the Deep Sea Dragon Clan's territory in an alternate simulation. 240
• Widespread belief in him reduces mortals' potential to become high-level cultivators, making his faith system a threat to major powers. 214

Avatars and Clone Conversion

Zhao Lin can create and control avatars, with a recorded case in which the Soul Refining Saint King is transformed into one of his clones. 208

• His clones can be recalled instantly. 212
• The Soul Transferring Quasi-Emperor publicly reveals that Zhao Lin can refine others' main bodies into clones through his avatars. 212
• The accidental conversion of the Soul Refining Saint King demonstrates that this power can affect high-level cultivators. 208
• This ability causes widespread fear that enemies may be forcibly turned into Zhao Lin's extensions. 212

Incense Life

When his physical body and all known clones are destroyed, Zhao Lin can transform into an Incense Life that exists through the minds and faith of his believers. 215

• He can appear wherever believers remain. 215
• Destroying an Incense avatar only costs him a portion of accumulated Incense Life, which can be replenished through faith. 215
• Without a physical body, he states that he is at his strongest, but this state also leaves him susceptible to Outer God corruption. 209 216
• If followers develop divergent impressions of him, the resulting conflicting deity-images can drive an Incense God mad and cause its avatars to fight one another. 247

Faith-Based Will Unification

In later simulation records, Zhao Lin's followers can collectively influence the Azure Firmament Realm's Heaven and Earth Will. 294 297

• He can unify the will of large populations through his faith network. 294 335
• Burning large amounts of Incense God Power can raise his combat power enough to restrain two Extreme Dao Heavenly Immortals alone. 297
• Using power in battle reduces the energy he can devote to influencing followers and maintaining their unified will. 297

Relationships

• Su Yang — Master and disciple. Su Yang discovers Zhao Lin's Incense God Body, trains him, and later receives the warning that Zhao Lin has been corrupted by an Outer God. 191 192 216
• Mu Xixue — Zhao Lin attacks her after she defeats Su Yang; later, Zhao Lin's clone develops mutual affection with her while adventuring on the Xuqing Continent. 195 204
• Soul Refining Saint King — Enemy whose attempt to attack Zhao Lin's Dao Heart backfires, resulting in his transformation into Zhao Lin's avatar. 207 208
• Soul Transferring Quasi-Emperor — Principal enemy who exposes Zhao Lin's Incense God path, leads efforts to eliminate him, and suffers the loss of a clone during Zhao Lin's retaliation. 212 215
• Quasi-Emperor Qi — Initially helps protect Zhao Lin from the Soul Transferring Quasi-Emperor, but later joins the effort to eliminate Zhao Lin after confirmation of Outer God corruption. 210 216
• Deep Sea Dragon Clan — Captures Zhao Lin after his transformation into a Crimson Dragon in one simulation record; another record states that the clan ultimately kills him. 237 247
• Qin Wushang — Leaves Su Yang's side alongside Zhao Lin in order to help him when Zhao Lin's strength declines. 339

Trivia

• Zhao Lin's divine name is Eternal God. 214
• At one point, he has nearly a thousand highly talented friends, many of whom are powerful enough that attacking them would provoke major consequences. 215
• Zhao Lin initially keeps his true identity from Mu Xixue because he fears that revealing it could implicate her. 204
• In an alternate simulation, the Grotto-Heaven Spirit transforms him into a Crimson Dragon to prevent his death. 237