At the end of the first month of Incense Accumulation Year 81.
Goldsource Island, the seat of the Four Seas Commerce Guild's General Association, in the Endless Sea.
The docks, normally bustling with ships coming and going, had long since been cleared. Red decorations adorned every corner, and brocade banners fluttered in the breeze.
The sea was calm, with blue waters and azure skies stretching into the distance. Bright sunlight shone on the white sand of the tidal flats, bathing it in a jade-like radiance.
Within the city stood glazed pagodas and crystal lotuses studded with kingfisher-blue ornaments, amid halls filled with gold and jade. Large numbers of Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators, dressed in splendid robes, stood in orderly ranks, apparently awaiting the arrival of some important personage.
Among the welcoming crowd stood Chi Yingting, a true disciple of the Incense Accumulation Sect. He, too, had changed into a new magical robe, magnificent yet tasteful, and craned his neck in anticipation.
They were awaiting Li Ling's arrival.
Li Ling had spent barely over a month at his own Floating Cloud Platform when he received an invitation from the Four Seas Commerce Guild to visit Goldsource Island, where its General Association was based.
After repeated discussions and deliberations among its senior leadership, the Four Seas Commerce Guild had decided to elevate Li Ling to the position of supreme elder, grant him treatment approaching that of a Nascent Soul cultivator, and do everything possible to support the Incense Path and help expand spirit incense production.
Such attention had not come out of nowhere. Since Li Ling created Dust-Transcending Incense and news of it began circulating in secret, word had gradually reached the small inner circle of the guild's leadership.
Once Pei Qingguang and the other Nascent Soul cultivators confirmed its