Li Ling

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Li Ling (李柃)
Alias(es)	Prince Consort Li; Wu You, a soul-projection identity; True Person Zixu, the identity associated with his widely misreported tribulation; Nation-Protecting True Person; Incense Accumulation Immortal Venerable; Incense Ancestor 102 125 549 967 995
Species/Race	Human cultivator who crossed over from a previous life; later discovers that his soul and awareness originate from the Primordial Orchid 235 602 791
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Mystic Xin Peak, earlier; Incense Accumulation Sect; Heavenly Court camp 96 303 868 1009
Occupation/Role	Spirit-incense artisan, progenitor of the Incense Path, founder of the Incense Accumulation Sect, and its senior patriarch after relinquishing sect leadership 100 303 430 555
Spouse / Dao Companion	Mu Qingsi, also called Qing Si and the Ninth Princess; later appointed Pacifying-the-Kingdom Grand Princess 87 150 203
Cultivation	Spirit Transformation with the Xiyi Dharma Body Dao Fruit; his Wisdom Dharma Body additionally obtains Earth Immortal rank through mastery of the Pure Land 884 933 982
Status	Active through the finale, when his sect is considered a superpower within the Heavenly Court camp 1009
Earliest Provided Appearance	Dining with the Ninth Princess at their residence 2

Power Progression

Li Ling’s innate soul qualities and early Dharma-Form Transformation precede his corresponding cultivation realms; possessing them does not mean he had already attained Nascent Soul 26 481.

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Incense Essence cultivation discovered	5	Spirit-Communing Incense reveals strands he calls Incense Essence. Absorbing millions of strands strengthens his thoughts and Spirit Body, providing a cultivation route despite his deficient Spirit Root.
Initial Dharma-Form Transformation	21	Shapes his projected Spirit Body with Gang and Baleful Intent into a three-headed, six-armed celestial child. The form is an early step toward a dharma body, not a Nascent Soul breakthrough.
Divine Sense reaches approximately 100 jin	31	Incense made from Devil Finger Wood raises his Divine Sense from roughly 60 jin to 100 jin. He can manipulate Incense Essence and perceive the fragrance of sunlight, moonlight, and Five Elements energies.
Rejuvenated pure-yang constitution	87	Emerges from seclusion with a youthful, still-growing body that naturally absorbs sun and moon essence and requires enormous nourishment.
Foundation Establishment	125	Confirmed after surviving his tribulation. Gains dharma power capable of reproducing techniques he understands; conceals the breakthrough from the ancestor and other cultivators.
Spirit-Origin Dao Fruit assimilated	294 295	Refines Shi Jizi’s legacy with Mu Qingsi. Adds 60 years of cultivation, exceeding a century’s accumulated dharma power; his innate multiplication ability raises its effective strength to more than three times that amount.
Unidentified spiritual transformation	321	Reaches approximately 108,000 zhang in the Filth Abyss. After confronting ultimate solitude, body and primordial spirit disappear from his perception, while divine sense and dharma power remain usable. No conventional realm is identified.
Cultivation reaches 400 years	379	Successfully assimilates a major accumulation of power while preparing to confront Cheng Xiong and pursue Core Formation.
Core Formation	382	Confirmed after defeating Cheng Xiong. The breakthrough makes him substantially stronger, but he recognizes that it does not give him the power to protect an entire region unaided.
Temporary experience of Nascent Soul power	527	Union with Mu Qingsi touches ultimate-yin and ultimate-yang laws, unfolding a fragrant divine domain. This is described as an experience beyond Core Formation, not a confirmed permanent realm advancement.
Approaches Nascent Soul	551	Realizes that Scent Identification concerns the nature of the spirit rather than merely smell. His dharma power spontaneously forms an incense-like domain; he hopes to delay advancement to deepen his understanding.
Three Marvel Incense enhancement and origin awakening	602	Three Marvel Incense strengthens his soul, body, cultivation, and control over water and other forces. A subsequent dream-state reveals his connection to the Primordial Orchid and brings profound spiritual transformation.
Nascent Soul confirmed	633 690	Identified as a Nascent Soul master. Later testimony confirms that he has become a powerful Nascent Soul cultivator and defeated the Blood Sea Demon Venerable; the exact breakthrough chapter is not provided.
Destruction law mastered	772	Extracts law origin from Lord Bashan’s remnant soul through Great Perfect Mirror Wisdom Incense. Demonstrates destruction by erasing a section of stone.
Chang Ghost and Soul Devouring true intent	773	Refines additional powers from Bashan’s soul, enabling him to produce spirit resonance himself and investigate using souls as incense.
Reincarnation Dao Fruit condensed	790	Uses Past-Life Wisdom Incense and Conversion Power during Lin Rouniang’s awakening to acquire laws involving death, ghosts, soul-summoning, and reincarnation.
Spirit Transformation	880 884	After more than a century of seclusion and refinement of Incense Path origins, is confirmed newly advanced. His Soul-Summoning Method reaches law-level power, and he receives imperial investiture as an Immortal Venerable.
Xiyi Dharma Body Dao Fruit	933	Publicly announces the achievement after more than a century of further seclusion. The union of law and Primordial Spirit makes him exceptionally difficult to injure.
Reward-body manifestation	967	An altar and Incense-Burning Grand Gathering manifest a reward body with power comparable to his true body, allowing him to intervene while remaining in the North Sea.
Earth Immortal rank through the Pure Land	982	His Wisdom Dharma Body becomes a stone Buddha and takes mastery of the land’s earth veins. He recognizes a breakthrough toward deathlessness but still needs to assimilate the acquired power.
Precursor to Dao Integration and True Refinement	989	Orchid-Scented Breath channels the Pure Land Great Incense Buddha’s power into an ordinary avatar. Venerable Ling Ming recognizes the avatar’s reintegration with Li Ling as a precursor, not a completed breakthrough.

Background / History

Li Ling crossed over into the cultivation world with knowledge from a previous life. Before becoming a royal son-in-law, he had already spent more than ten years studying fragrance and incense in his new world and was qualified to discuss the discipline with established artisans. Cultivation later allowed him to extend that practical knowledge from tangible materials toward spiritual principles 235 791.

His marriage to the Ninth Princess placed him within Mystic Xin Peak’s royal and sect network. Yellow Cloud True Person’s system strongly favored blood relations and marriage connections, giving him access to protection, resources, and cultivation knowledge. His deficient Spirit Root nevertheless left him resentful of his apparent lack of a cultivation path until he discovered that he could directly perceive and absorb Incense Essence 5 93.

He initially cultivated through experimentation, soul projection, and concealed interventions against demonic forces. As his power grew, he moved from the Royal City to overseas holdings and developed the Incense Path into an organized teaching tradition. His sect’s schools, shared lineage, and market standards became foundations for influence extending beyond his own combat strength 17 48 203 303.

Appearance

• Rejuvenated physical body: Youthful and still developing after seclusion; its pure-yang constitution demands substantial food while absorbing sun and moon essence 87.
• Early spiritual aspect: A refined celestial child with three heads and six arms, later described as resembling the soul of his previous life 21 239.
• Expanded combat form: Develops a three-headed, eight-armed Dharma Form, whose additional perspectives and limbs improve his alertness and ability to answer coordinated attacks 580.
• Reward-body appearance: A manifestation encountered during Lin Rouniang’s awakening wears fluttering white robes and has a graceful, jade-tree-like bearing 791.
• Pure Land manifestation: His Wisdom Dharma Body takes the form of a stone Buddha after acquiring the land’s earth-vein authority 982.

Personality

Li Ling is an experimentalist rather than a passive recipient of cultivation teachings. His first Incense Essence investigations compare finished incense, imitations, individual aromatics, and raw ingredients. He continues this habit when developing healing treatments, testing treasures, and adapting cultivation methods to different bodies and spiritual affinities 5 167 469.

His compassion extends beyond family and sect. He prepares relief for people displaced by war, condemns the use of disciples as political pawns, and favors directing stolen pirate wealth toward public benefit. This does not make him unwilling to kill: he decisively eliminates attackers and criminals when he considers them responsible for serious harm 6 151 231 291.

Self-reliance and caution temper his ambition. He appreciates powerful patrons but refuses to assume their protection will always hold. When stronger enemies threaten him, he uses concealment, staged disappearances, institutional scrutiny, and withdrawal rather than insisting on a direct contest 80 377 773.

As a teacher, he values an enduring lineage over a single privileged heir. He adapts opportunities to individual aptitude, recognizes that practical inventions can matter more to ordinary practitioners than they do to him, and expects disciples to share knowledge rather than treat their status as ownership of the sect 303 360 602.

Abilities & Skills

Scent Identification and Incense Essence

• Detects and absorbs Incense Essence directly, unlike ordinary cultivators who initially receive incense’s benefits passively 5.
• Perceives fragrances belonging to sunlight, moonlight, Five Elements energies, bodily constitutions, and spiritual qualities 31 203 376.
• Uses residual scent as evidence: identifies Madam Ling’s contact with stone rice incense and detects the Nether River when the Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord cannot 230 676.
• Ultimately understands Scent Identification as recognition of a person’s spiritual nature; fragrance and stench express the perceiver’s response rather than immutable categories 551.
• Early limit: Excessive absorption overwhelms him, making slow, steady burning more useful than consuming or processing ingredients all at once 5.

Incense Making and Cultivation Research

• Produces Spirit-Communing Incense, Teaweed Incense, Cloud-Producing Incense, Unconquerable Incense, and other specialized products 5 31 75 100.
• Creates Heavenly Incense Guidance, a method that helps others sense Incense Essence and shape incense resonance using knowledge drawn from his research and cultivation studies 240.
• Develops the Incense-Sensing Breath-Nurturing Art, aiming to make Incense Essence a basis for laws and Dao Fruits rather than merely a source of cultivation nourishment 469 524.
• Refines Three Marvel Incense from the secluded-valley orchid, azure dragon blood, and Demon Saliva Incense; it forms a dragon-shaped incarnation without being burned 602.
• Limit: Strong incense does not affect everyone equally. Individual affinity and reserves determine both its benefits and the danger of overwhelming transformation 602.

Soul Projection, Incarnations, and Multitasking

• Projects his soul outside his sleeping body to investigate archives, track political conspirators, and act through concealed identities such as Wu You 17 80 125.
• Possesses an exceptionally high spiritual rank, making his early projected body difficult for insufficiently advanced observers to detect 26.
• Uses innate Multitasking to analyze opponents while fighting and coordinate activity across multiple locations 549 832.
• Early limit: His incarnation is vulnerable to sunlight and Crow-Blood Oil. He counters this with an incense canopy that softens sunlight and obscures perception 117.
• Limit: Experienced masters can distinguish his unusual projected soul from a true Nascent Soul; One-Mind Daoist exposes his actual Core Formation cultivation 481.

Dharma-Form Transformation and Multiplication

• Shapes Gang and Baleful energy into a three-headed, six-armed celestial aspect and manifests weapons including sabers, spears, swords, and halberds 21 51.
• Later employs three heads and eight arms to block multiple attacks and retain attention for simultaneous operations 580 832.
• His innate Nascent Soul-level multiplication ability greatly amplifies accumulated cultivation; its absolute benefit grows as his underlying reserves increase 294 295 379.
• Can replenish his projected spirit by refining compatible incense and prayer power during combat 51.
• Limit: Exceptional forms and innate abilities do not substitute for balanced cultivation. Before Spirit Transformation, he acknowledges that his direct killing power and overall foundations lag behind comprehensive experts 766.

Concealment, Feathering, and the Xiyi Method

• Formless Incense removes people from opponents’ awareness rather than merely hiding their physical appearance. He uses it to escape coordinated encirclement with companions 477.
• Phantom Floating Fragrance distorts attention, confuses targeting, and lets him attack from concealment while leaving convincing illusions 645 709.
• The Wondrous Method of Xiyi develops into the Xiyi Illusory Body and ultimately the Xiyi Dharma Body, joining his Primordial Spirit with law 766 933 937.
• His mature domain can sever an enemy’s connection with the world, interrupt regeneration, and briefly remove that enemy from others’ memories 937.
• Limits: Law power and Dharma Body experts can counter sophisticated defenses. Nether Heaven’s influence exposes weaknesses in Xiyi and prompts further refinement 693 772.

Dream Entry and Divination

• Enters dreams with Mu Qingsi to investigate concealed intentions, including Princess Qingyou’s planned intrusion into his own mind 152.
• Uses Dreamscape Reversal and spiritual calling to locate enemies such as Ma Wanbao 428.
• Examines dreamscape visions to uncover political plots and identify the location of the Greenfly Coin 382.
• Draws upon keepsakes and personal connections as anchors for spiritual investigation and restoration 633 659.

Emotional Influence and Conversion Power

• Unconquerable Incense breaks the will to fight; at Seven Waters Pass, elite crossbowmen abandon their weapons 100.
• Spirit-Bewildering Incense disorients enemies, including Li Ying during their confrontation 549.
• Studies emotional balance through the Blood Spirit Bride, discovering that rainbow flowers calm her only when their petals balance all seven emotions 167.
• Uses Conversion Power through Myriad Wonders Incense Transformation to acquire compatible laws and spiritual resonances 735 790.
• Adapts Chi Yingting’s Seven-Faced Deity Dharma Form to exploit an Asura’s anger and karmic hindrances, then strengthens an Eight-Armed Asura manifestation with collective offerings 937.
• Limit: Spiritual resonance can alter identity. He selectively absorbs useful powers rather than indiscriminately taking everything from another soul 772.

Healing, Restoration, and Reincarnation

• Teaweed Incense invigorates blood, regenerates flesh, and reconstructs the body; it can also stabilize grievously injured beings without fully curing them 75 465.
• Incense Fumigation Therapy transforms Dao Bodies and supports Mu Qingsi’s cultivation 102 110.
• Restores Yang He’s nearly extinguished soul, a feat Xiao Changchen judges comparable to resurrection 634.
• Combines Returning Soul Incense, Dream Dao, spirituality, and the Stone of Time to draw a person’s spiritual presence across the River of Time 659.
• Past-Life Wisdom Incense gathers scattered past-life resonances, restoring awareness and helping an incarnation resist another being’s control 790 791.
• After Spirit Transformation, his law-level Soul-Summoning Method offers fallen disciples and residents a chance to reincarnate 884.
• Limit: Even advanced cultivators cannot readily create the three ethereal souls and seven corporeal souls from nothing 633.

Destruction, Soul Arts, and Curses

• Masters destruction law through Lord Bashan’s remnant soul, erasing matter rather than simply breaking it 772.
• Acquires Chang Ghosts and Soul Devouring at true-intent level, opening a route toward producing spirit resonance and restoring awareness to remnant souls 772 773.
• Employs the Bone-Burning Curse Art, including a soul-tracing rite, and teaches it to disciples with strict warnings about further transmission 428 465.
• Condenses a Reincarnation Dao Fruit while acquiring related death, ghost, and soul-summoning powers 790.

Incense Deity Avatars and Orchid-Scented Breath

• Separates unrelated laws into Incense Deity avatars, preserving useful powers without retaining all their impurities within his main cultivation 927.
• Leaves avatars that disciples can summon for protection, distributing power in ways ordinary Spirit Transformation cultivators cannot readily reproduce 928.
• Orchid-Scented Breath, paired with the Incense-Hearing, Self-Seeing Method, channels living beings’ wishes and the power of heaven and earth into projections 967.
• Ritual invocation manifests a reward body able to wield his origin Dao Fruit at strength comparable to his true body 967.
• Combines eight breaths into the Realm of Returning to Hiddenness, enabling an ordinary avatar to receive immense power from his greater existence 989.
• Uses the Incense Ancestor Origin to increase his own Origin Energy and dharma power and those of allied Heavenly Venerables 995.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Golden Shuttle flying sword — Commissioned from Master Hong and bonded with Li Ling’s blood during forging. Initially unusable because he lacked spiritual force; he later kills Madam Han with his flying sword 6 90.
• Soul-Suppressing Xun — Captured from Zhao Yi after its mental attack fails against him. Li Ling and Mu Qingsi later use it to disorient and disarm the Zhu Yuan delegation 100 151.
• Water-Moon Mirror — Holds Cheng Xiong’s captured true core. Later bestowed upon Chi Yingting 382 558.
• Soul-Seizing Mirror — Commissioned treasure that emits immobilizing divine light. Sustained restraint consumes Divine Sense, and its effectiveness strongly depends on the relative strength of wielder and target; later given to Chi Yingting 167 558.
• Appearance-altering mask — Taken from Tong Yuan; changes energy signatures and modifies outward form by guiding vital blood and Origin Energy 228.
• Ten Thousand Souls Banner — Half-finished Ghost Soul Sect artifact taken after killing Senior Brother Yan. Li Ling identifies it as the evil treasure behind the sect’s local activities 117.
• Dharma-Realm Incense Burner — Used in wisdom-incense and past-life rituals 633 788.
• Stone of Time — Supplies temporal laws that compensate for deficiencies in Returning Soul Incense 659.
• Dragon Heart Stone — Resource used to refine Blood Orchid Incense and awaken and cultivate the reborn Lin Rouniang. Its depletion and dangerous karma lead Li Ling to limit its use and eventually sell it 469 477.
• Secluded-valley orchid — Key material for Three Marvel Incense and the discovery of his connection to the Primordial Orchid 602.
• Spirit-communing precious jade — Brought to the sect after Pei Qingguang commits his support 884.
• Immortal Register Hall credential — Skycloud Sect document whose prestige causes Great Qian’s Dao Registry Bureau officials to withdraw their travel-permit inquiry 444.

Relationships

Family and Dao Companion

• Mu Qingsi / Ninth Princess — Wife, Dao Companion, cultivation partner, and trusted accomplice. She protects his body during projection, supports his investigations, and develops a complementary Incense Path rather than merely copying his own 125 231 469.
• Yellow Cloud True Person — Mu Qingsi’s ancestor and Li Ling’s early patron. Supplies resources, treasures, connections, and assignments, while he remains determined not to depend entirely on her protection 18 80 96 311.
• Mu Hou — Distant relative through the Mu Household, serving as Mystic Xin Marquis and the Great Qian emperor’s father-in-law. Seeks the couple’s support for his grandson Zhao Kong 431.

Disciples and Successors

• Li Ying — Former disciple whom Li Ling raised and supported. His pursuit of other traditions and possible alteration through Yan Buyong create a painful separation; Li Ling defeats him but cannot bring himself to kill or capture him 484 549 551.
• Shu Changsheng — Second disciple, formally accepted after inventive incense research. Li Ling gives him a superior-grade magical burner and stresses responsibility over inherited privilege 303 512.
• Chi Yingting — Personal disciple with rare Incense Essence perception. Receives direct instruction, former protective treasures, and designated inheritance of Li Ling’s cultivation and Dao lineage 360 558 602.
• Nie Yingzhi — Student and later Sect Master. Li Ling secretly arranges guidance after Nie’s disappointment at Chi Yingting’s selection and later relies on Nie for administration and intelligence 360 431 823.
• Zhu Lisheng — Disciple entrusted with the Great Qian mission. Li Ling particularly values his ability to establish institutions and nurture future Incense Path talent 433 555.
• Yao Lingxian — Li Ying’s disciple and Li Ling’s granddisciple. Li Ling retrieves him from the mainland, preserves his lineage, and later entrusts him with Jade Lang Mountain’s development 549 555 690.
• Fang Lin — Disciple whose composure and affinity allow him to control Three Marvel Incense’s dangerous transformation. Quietly selected as an heir to the Hidden Sect 600 602.
• Bai Xiaohuan — Promising student whose body and cultivation Li Ling develops with transformation fruit; later manages his household nursery 444 555.

Allies and Associates

• Luo Mu — Senior sect relative and adviser who explains Li Ling’s assignments, helps him choose companions, and supports his defense of Zhu Ming during the peace talks 96 151.
• Zhou Cheng and Yi Yi — Trusted fellow disciples chosen to accompany Li Ling and Mu Qingsi at Seven Waters Pass; also assist in investigating the Ling Household 96 230.
• Zhu Ming — Earlier rescuer whose wartime debt becomes a target of diplomatic manipulation. Li Ling accepts responsibility for the grievance and prevents an unfair duel 149 150 151.
• Elder Shang — Commercial patron and political ally who helps secure Li Ling’s overseas livelihood and escape from hostile envoys. Their cooperation remains subject to the Merchant Association’s divided interests 202 377 426.
• Shang Yuxian — Admirer, later adviser, and close friend of the couple. Protects his cultivation secrecy and supplies personnel and resources without continuing to seek a place between him and Mu Qingsi 195 493 530.
• Lady Zhao / Zhao Ran — Incense-business contact and research collaborator who recognizes the practical value of Li Ling’s fragrance perception 202 203.
• Sea Ji — Merfolk ruler connected through Yellow Cloud True Person. Waits for him during his Filth Abyss expedition and establishes trade involving his incense 311 321 331.
• Yin Changming — Blood Inkstone Palace acquaintance whose ties with Li Ling deepen through the Dragon-Seeking Society. Li Ling rescues him from an encirclement 444 477 484.
• One-Mind Daoist — Experienced mentor who exposes the limits of Li Ling’s projected soul and explains the Heavenly Court’s origins 481.
• Sichen Yuan Guang — Heavenly Court ally who warns him about Dharma Body experts and powerful retaliatory threats, then advocates for his abilities during the Bottomless Cave crisis 772 967.

Lin Rouniang and Major Adversaries

• Lin Rouniang, reborn blood spirit — A new consciousness developed from the Blood Spirit Bride through the Dragon Heart Stone. Li Ling cultivates her, accepts responsibility for her lingering karmic ties, and encourages her resistance to outside control 469 690.
• Lin Rouniang, original woman and Nether Heaven-linked incarnation — Carries old memories and hatred, threatens Li Ling’s loved ones, and becomes entangled with Nether Heaven’s will. Li Ling later uses Past-Life Wisdom Incense to restore awareness and, by the finale, seeks willing cooperation rather than coercion 690 709 790 1009.
• Cheng Xiong — Hostile Merchant Association envoy. Li Ling counters his investigation with a staged abduction, later defeats him, and traps his true core 377 382.
• Ma Wanbao — Myriad Treasures Tower rival whose attack during Li Ling’s tribulation leads to war, isolation, and eventual death 426 428 430.
• Qian Household — Money Guild faction that attacks Li Ling’s followers and economic interests. He retaliates against its infrastructure and exploits internal divisions to isolate its leadership 832 837 843.
• Venerable Lianwu — Demonic Path enemy who threatens disciples and seeks Yu Jiu’s intervention. Li Ling later interrupts his blood-drop rebirth through the Xiyi domain 773 937.
• Lord Bashan — Defeated demon ruler whose remnant soul supplies Li Ling with destruction law, Chang Ghost techniques, and Soul Devouring power; his death brings the danger of retaliation from Yu Jiu 772 773.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Arc	Li Ling’s Role
Discovering an independent cultivation path	Turns incense-making expertise into spiritual cultivation, commissions his own flying sword, and prepares civilian relief when sect retaliation threatens war 5 6.
Hidden struggle against demonic cultivators	Investigates through soul projection and acts as an unidentified ally of the Unusual Events Bureau. The Bureau moves from fearing the unknown expert to indirectly inviting his cooperation 17 21 48.
Royal succession and Dragon Lord attacks	Discovers that his marriage and sect connections can determine political legitimacy. Attempts to withdraw from royal struggles, then joins Mu Qingsi in eliminating agents plotting against them 80 87 90.
Seven Waters Pass	Arrives with fellow cultivators to reinforce an overwhelmed garrison, defeats Zhao Yi, breaks the enemy’s morale with incense, and recruits rogue cultivators to maintain the defense 96 100 102.
Zhu Yuan reconciliation	Challenges demands for his workers, formula, and marriage. Protects Zhu Ming when negotiators attempt to turn an old grievance into a rigged duel 149 150 151.
Overseas settlement and pirate investigations	Establishes himself on Moon-Sand Island, builds incense-business contacts, and exposes the Ling Household’s profitable collaboration with pirates 203 230 231.
Little Olive Island and institutional expansion	Defends his holdings, negotiates sales of the Three Treasures Origin-Returning Pill, and expands the Incense Accumulation Sect’s educational and market influence 291 303.
Cheng Xiong crisis	Uses a staged disappearance to frustrate stronger opponents and turn their investigation into a public liability. After gaining the strength to defeat Cheng Xiong, conceals his whereabouts and secures the damaged island 377 382.
War with the Myriad Treasures Tower	Converts an attack during tribulation into political leverage. His side gains support through useful goods and resources, while Ma Wanbao’s organization loses allies and cohesion; Li Ling subsequently steps down from sect leadership 426 428 430.
Return of the Incense Path to Great Qian	Sends Zhu Lisheng with 300 qualified Incense Makers, teachings, guardians, and supplies. The mission seeks permission to teach and trade rather than official investiture 431 433.
Cultivation research and West Sea consolidation	Refines methods for independent Incense Path cultivation, manages the break with Li Ying, discovers Three Marvel Incense, and establishes differentiated plans for his successors 469 549 555 602.
Jade Lang Mountain and Netherworld conflict	Becomes a civil and political authority during the mountain’s conquest, detects a hidden Nether River threat, and later designates the site as a maritime trade and raw-material hub 676 690.
Nether Heaven and the study of laws	Investigates Lin Rouniang’s inherited ties, strengthens Xiyi against higher-law threats, and develops ideas about law precedence before more than a century of secluded cultivation 690 692 693.
Money Guild economic war	Counters attacks on disciples and civilians by striking Money Houses, separating the Qian Household from other guild factions, and encouraging opposition within its own lineage 823 832 837 843.
Immortal Venerable and Dharma Body era	Returns to protect the sect, prepares reincarnation rites for the fallen, and publicly demonstrates the Xiyi Dharma Body. Cooperates with the Heavenly Court in recovering the Ageless Tree’s stump 884 933 937.
Bottomless Cave and Pure Land	Descends through ritual invocation, bypasses Qi Xue, and acquires earth-vein authority. Coordinates a spatial and gravitational trap with righteous forces 967 982.
Final tribulation	Rescues Han Zhen during the battle against Red Fang, reveals avatar-reintegration power, and enhances allied Heavenly Venerables against the Nether Heaven Incarnation 989 995.
Finale	Secures Lin Rouniang’s willing cooperation and hosts a celebration attended by envoys from numerous powers, with the Incense Accumulation Sect recognized as a superpower in the Heavenly Court camp 1009.

Notable Quotes

“A creature grieves when its own kind suffers. How could this concern only my family, friends, and hometown?” 6

“Quite particular about the rules of their game, aren't they?” 6

“What pleases the heart is fragrance.” 551

“The mighty cultivator is me!” 791

Trivia

• His first personally commissioned flying sword fulfills a long-standing dream of immortal heroes; his excitement over it is separate from his secret discovery of incense cultivation 5.
• Rumors exaggerate his Foundation Establishment tribulation into a supposed Spirit Transformation tribulation, making “True Person Zixu” famous long before Li Ling actually reaches that realm 125.
• His educational strategy combines modern teaching principles from his previous life with cultivation lineage, standardized weights and measures, and incense appraisal rules 303.
• He once kept the mortal cats White Lion and Flower Leopard. After their deaths, Xiandie and Taxue fill their place as pets and guards 555.
• His reward-body invocation produces responsive titles from future timelines, indicating possible future attainments across the River of Time rather than achievements already completed by his present self 967.