Time hurried on, and in the blink of an eye, another sixteen years had passed.
On Lai'er Island, an incense-burning ceremony of unprecedented grandeur was underway in the main hall of the Incense Workshop's West Sea Branch Headquarters.
"By decree of the Supreme One, may your lonely souls be delivered. All ghost wraiths, all beings of the four births, receive this grace. Those with heads shall be delivered; those without shall ascend. Slain by spear or blade, drowned in water or hanged by rope, dead in the light or dead in the dark, wrongfully accused and unjustly killed, creditors and enemies, souls who come to claim a life..."
Daoists from every quarter performed rites and purification ceremonies, mounted the altar to offer sacrifices to Heaven, then recited scriptures to deliver all the souls who had died violent, untimely, or unjust deaths and accumulated resentment in recent days.
As thick smoke rose, vast quantities of incense essence merged into the void, gathering into a torrent that reached up to Heaven.
At once, heaven and earth grew clear and bright. Even the sunlight seemed a little more transparent, and a warm atmosphere suffused the surroundings.
Several cultivators versed in Wind and Aura Observation looked around and saw radiant fortune hanging over the place like an imperial canopy.
Within this field, demons scattered and evil beings could scarcely intrude, greatly safeguarding the branch headquarters' main hall and even the whole of Lai'er Island.
"The Incense Accumulation Immortal Sect really does things on a grand scale. Every ten-odd years, they hold a ceremony like this, delivering departed souls and driving out evil spirits everywhere."
"Not only that, they've established a Garrison Commissioner's Office and put night watchers in charge of nightly patrols. This place has become a flourishing bastion of the righteous path. Those