Recaps

Li Ling exploited the Merchant Association’s financial crisis and backed Luo Jingwei as the North Sea fell into disorder, then united the region and defeated its pirate powers. After surviving a tribulation and creating Dust-Transcending Incense, he erased his karmic ties and faced a widening conflict with Ma Wanbao and the General Association.

• Li Ling found the Blood Shark King’s treasure and learned that powerful factions were using rumors about it to draw him into their schemes.
• As Ma Wanbao flooded the North Sea with talisman currency, Li Ling stockpiled supplies for the Incense Accumulation Sect and warned that the policy would bring disaster to ordinary cultivators.
• Luo Jingwei rose from an impoverished youth to a feared pirate commander, using the Greenfly Coin to defeat the Merchant Association’s forces near HLD.
• Li Ling captured Luo Jingwei, explained the coin’s growing Money Causality, and made a deal to support him as an ally against Ma Wanbao’s faction.
• After decades of unrest, Li Ling gathered the North Sea factions, became supreme alliance leader, and led the campaign that destroyed Mirage Tower and killed the pirate kings.
• Ma Wanbao attacked Li Ling during his Five-Nine Heavenly Tribulation, but Li Ling created Dust-Transcending Incense and erased his karmic ties, making the final lightning strike vanish.
• Li Ling and Mu Qingsi escaped as the attackers forgot their target, and the General Association recognized the Incense Path while special envoys sought Li Ling’s incense.
• The Four Seas Commerce Guild valued Li Ling’s Dust-Transcending Incense at ten billion talisman currency, while Ma Wanbao lost support and a special envoy confronted him as he tried to leave.

After helping reorganize the North Sea, Li Ling brought the Incense Path to Great Qian and used its crafts to support the campaign in Yue Province. His search for Zhu Wu’s Dragon Heart Stone drew him into a clash between dragon veins and a mysterious vision involving Bai Xiaohuan.

• Li Ling killed Ma Wanbao in his dream, and the Myriad Treasures Tower surrendered to the Three Dao Alliance as the North Sea settled under Nie Yingzhi’s leadership.
• Li Ling and Mu Qingsi met their relative Mu Hou and agreed to provide modest support for Zhao Kong’s campaign in Yue Province.
• Li Ling accompanied Zhu Lisheng and the Incense Path to Great Qian, where he encountered organized demon settlements and investigated Black Wind Stronghold and Soul-Rending Mountain.
• Zhu Lisheng’s disciples developed Miasma-Repelling Incense and Sweet Spring Incense, earning Zhao Kong’s backing as the Incense Path expanded its trade and helped address Yue Province’s hazards.
• Li Ling reunited with Yin Changming, learned about the Dragon-Seeking Society and Hou Lu’s ambitions, and clashed with Dao Registry Bureau cultivators who accused him of aiding Yin Changming.
• Zhao Kong sent the Incense Path to support Great Qian’s campaign against the Demon Kingdom, where its incense helped rout a stronghold and earned the sect military merits and official appointments.
• Li Ling entered Soul-Rending Mountain’s Dream Realm and disturbed Zhu Wu’s regenerating heart, provoking the Flood Dragon and a struggle between the Great Qian and Demon Kingdom dragon veins.
• A mysterious red light carried Li Ling’s consciousness to a celestial palace, where a Heavenly Book revealed concealed Immortal Register entries, including Bai Xiaohuan’s name.

Li Ling seized the Dragon Heart Stone, hid it while developing new incense cultivation methods, and later arranged to trade it for rare treasures. The trade was ambushed by Great Qian forces, but Li Ling used Formless Incense to help Elder Fu and Yin Changming escape.

• Li Ling stole the Dragon Heart Stone from Ju Huang at Soul-Rending Mountain and escaped the competing factions, then evaded government agents tracking its dragon-vein aura.
• Li Ling concealed the stone and used incense to erase Bai Xiaohuan’s name from the Heavenly Book, confirming that incense could sever karmic ties.
• Li Ling hid the stone near Copper Bell Mountain, subdued Ju Huang and Qing Ji, and researched an incense method that helped strengthen his companions and transform Lin Rouniang into a living, intelligent being.
• Zhuang Dongwang tracked Li Ling to Copper Bell Mountain, forcing Li Ling to leave with his companions after Ju Huang and Qing Ji ended their agreement in exchange for Blood Orchid Incense.
• Li Ling asked Mo Qingping to find a buyer and negotiated with Yin Changming to exchange the Dragon Heart Stone for rare treasures and cultivation materials.
• Su Yongdao’s agents prepared to intercept the trade, while Yan Heming infiltrated the Dragon-Seeking Society’s party and helped stage the ambush.
• Li Ling recognized counterfeit trade goods as the ambush began, and after Great Qian forces attacked Yin Changming and Elder Fu, he used Formless Incense to break the Dragon-Locking Formation and lead them into the woods.

Li Ling navigated political upheaval, strengthened the Incense Accumulation Sect, and organized a North Sea response to a spreading demon disaster. He led an expedition into an ancient Immortal Abode, where the group fought demonic shadows and faced a dense, indistinct figure.

• Li Ling and the elders killed Zhuang Dongwang, then One-Mind Daoist explained Zhu Wu’s history and the Heavenly Court’s role in controlling fortune and karma.
• Li Ling learned that Yan Buyong had died, warned his allies to avoid the ensuing struggle, and joined the Four Seas Commerce Guild as a supreme elder while securing support and autonomy for his sect.
• Chi Yingting fought Hua Aotian after the Red Emperor Sword Sect insulted their sect, and Li Ling secured his release before urging him to grow strong enough to defend the sect.
• Luo Jingwei reported spreading attacks, and demon flocks devastated the Long Sea as Li Ling organized North Sea defenses and ordered the pursuit of the Sea Wolf Gang.
• Li Ling identified She Xingde as the pirates’ mastermind and killed him, then investigated the demon outbreak with allies who traced it to a decaying Spirit Transformation cultivator’s corpse near Quelu Island.
• Li Ling assembled an expedition to find the Immortal Abode, recruited Luo Jingwei’s pirates and other cultivators, and agreed to let Mu Qingsi join.
• The expedition entered the cave heaven, where Li Ling exposed and destroyed a disguised demon, then used incense and spells to fight yin spirits and guide the group through the ruins.
• Li Ling’s group fought off a vast horde of demonic shadows, then faced a single dense, indistinct figure as he warned An Qinglong not to act rashly.