The fragrance was rich yet intangible, trickling out of the void like a murmuring stream. For a moment, its source was impossible to trace.
But Li Ling soon concluded from experience that it was a kind of operculum incense, and one of exceptionally high quality at that.
It might have come from the shells of flowing conches or limpets.
The Incense Compendium recorded: "The larger limpet kind are like bowls, with one side at the front extending straight for several inches. Their rugged shells are craggy and thorned. Burn their opercula with mixed incense to enhance its fragrance; burned alone, their scent is unpleasant."
Conch-shell incense also belonged to this category of material. Most shelled mollusks smelled rank, fishy, and acrid; neither their shells nor their flesh necessarily smelled pleasant. Some records stated that they "must be boiled with wine and honey to remove the fishy odor and slime before use."
In the cultivation world, however, shelled mollusks were a major group among the sea races, encompassing many genera and species. Conch maidens were particularly well known.
Conch maidens were a kind of spirit creature whose appearance closely resembled humans, born with humanoid Dao Bodies.
Beyond that, the fragrances produced by many spiritually endowed creatures far surpassed Flowing Conch Incense. Li Ling had heard of them before.
Could this fragrance belong to this grotto-heaven world itself?
Li Ling suddenly stirred, remembering the enormous snail shell he had seen before coming here.
It was the remnant shell of a Demon King. Though classified as a river snail, it also belonged to the Pond Snail Family. There was nothing surprising about such a river-snail Demon King possessing an extraordinary bloodline and fragrant flesh and shell.
Li Ling felt that he had failed to notice the scent at first because the exotic flowers