Recaps

Li Ling helped negotiate peace between the Four Seas Commerce Guild and the Merfolk, proving his innocence by descending deep into the Filth Abyss and gaining a new fragrance-based power. He remained in the Merfolk Kingdom to explore trade and teach Die'er the Incense Path.

• Li Ling studied Formation Dao with Lin Ji, then helped build an incense-based array that trapped and defeated merfolk attackers at Northsky Island.
• Li Ling accepted the Merchant Association’s envoy mission, escaped a demon general’s attack, and reached Deepwater Guestland, where Sea Ji stopped Lianju from accusing him without proof.
• Li Ling entered the Filth Abyss to clear his name and descended over one hundred thousand zhang before returning with a new fragrance and records of an unfamiliar imprint.
• Sea Ji recognized Li Ling as a friend of the Merfolk, and he persuaded the tribal leaders to withdraw their forces and reconsider demands for reparations.
• Li Ling discovered that the Filth Abyss had advanced his Incense Transformation Art, then resisted a mysterious merfolk woman who entered his dream.
• Li Ling toured the Merfolk market and learned from Sea Ji why the kingdom resisted expanded trade with humans, while she gave him private credentials to barter for goods.
• Li Ling taught Die'er to read and make incense, gave her the Concise Incense Canon, and began experimenting with ways to help her cultivate.
• Shang Yuxian arrived with war reparations as Sea Ji questioned Die'er about Li Ling’s lessons, and Die'er explained that he had taught her the Incense Path.

Li Ling uncovered the Zhu Household’s collusion with the Blood Shark Bandits, then secretly struck at the pirates before ending his pursuit. Years later, his incense market flourished, and its trade fair challenged the Rare Treasures Tower, which failed to compete and sought to negotiate with him.

• Li Ling discovered the Zhu Household had supplied the Blood Shark Bandits with Northsky Island’s defenses, exposed its crimes, and helped the island withstand the pirate attack.
• Li Ling killed Huo Jiu and the Zhu Household leaders, recovered their plunder, and used the Water-Moon Mirror against them.
• Li Ling secretly sowed greed among the pirates and black-market traders, then killed Xu Yan and attacked Tong Zhifeng’s ship before withdrawing.
• Li Ling and Mu Qingsi entered Tong Zhifeng’s dream and captured a memory of how he and Shang Ningzhen became pirate chieftains.
• Nine years later, Li Ling welcomed Sea Ji to Auspicious Ward as the Merfolk Kingdom expanded trade and prepared to introduce the Incense Path.
• Li Ling opened the Incense Accumulation Sect’s anniversary trade fair, where sales soared and Luo Ying introduced Hundred-Flavors Incense cuisine.
• The Rare Treasures Tower tried to compete with steep discounts, but Li Ling withheld incense supplies from its event, which underperformed.
• Yun Li learned that Luo Ying had influential protectors and decided to write to Li Ling about the future of their relationship.

Li Ling expanded the Incense Accumulation Sect, raised new disciples, and mourned Yellow Cloud True Person before confronting Blood Lion and uncovering the Merchant Association’s ties to the Blood Shark Bandits. After the General Association’s envoys moved against him, Li Ling escaped to Little Olive Island, where Cheng Xiong pursued him and was swallowed by the One-Horned White Whale.

• Li Ling developed new incense, promoted Shu Changsheng and Li Ying to true disciples, and assigned his disciples to establish six branches under the Incense Accumulation Sect.
• Li Ling discovered Chi Yingting’s fragrance-sensing talent and took him as a personal disciple, while Nie Yingzhi struggled with jealousy before finding his own direction in cultivation.
• Li Ling visited the dying Yellow Cloud True Person, learned of the threat to unseal the Great Lin River God, and received part of Mystic Xin Peak’s inheritance after her death.
• After a cargo ship vanished, Li Ling traced the attack to Blood Lion, captured Mo Yan, and drew the One-Horned White Whale into the Water-Moon Mirror.
• Li Ling and Lin Ti entered Blood Lion’s black market, where Lin Ti killed Blood Lion after Li Ling rejected his offer and warning about the Merchant Association.
• Li Ling secretly helped Northsky Island turn against the Black Market and conceal its past pirate dealings, while the Blood Shark Bandits withdrew their peripheral forces.
• Cheng Xiong and Yin Sujun planned to capture Li Ling for Lord Bashan, but Li Ling escaped with Elder Shang’s help and reunited with Mu Qingsi on Little Olive Island.
• Cheng Xiong followed Li Ling’s planted trail to Little Olive Island, where the One-Horned White Whale swallowed him before he burst through its lower jaw.

Li Ling advanced to Core Formation, helped organize resistance against the Blood Shark Bandits, and defended Nine-Wan Island from the Jade-Eyed Demon King. After the Blood Shark King attacked the sect, Li Ling cursed and killed him, while fresh threats emerged across the North Sea.

• Li Ling killed Cheng Xiong, completed Core Formation, and used his new Dharma Form to defeat him.
• Li Ling followed the Greenfly Coin’s karmic connection to Lin Ping, then refined the coin and announced his Core Formation advancement.
• Li Ling helped form the Shark-Slaying Alliance as the Blood Shark Bandits launched a wider war across the North Sea.
• Mu Qingsi summoned Heavenly Soldiers and Generals to defend Nine-Wan Island, and Li Ling empowered them to defeat the Jade-Eyed Demon King.
• The Alliance suffered a crushing defeat, and Li Ling discovered that the Blood Shark King had infiltrated his territory.
• Li Ling fought the Blood Shark King while the sect repelled the bandits’ attack, then pursued the king and laid a seven-day curse that triggered tribulation.
• Li Ling tracked down and killed the weakened Blood Shark King, defeated Old Ancestor Stone Octopus’s flesh, and returned with the king’s remains.
• Merchant Association stewards reported new attacks and a supply seizure, while a man on Eastchang Island offered one billion in talisman currency to regain the Myriad Treasures Tower’s Council seat.