Chapter Summaries

Li Ling reflected on his failed pursuit of cultivation despite his mastery of incense, then arranged to acquire low-grade artifacts, pills, and talismans for study. He revealed that his uncanny ability to recognize people by scent came from an innate power to perceive scents and discern their qualities.

• Li Ling woke from a nightmare beside his wife, Mu Qingsi, and went to inspect his incense workshop.
• At the workshop, Li Ling blended Spirit-Communing Incense and recalled how his deficient Spirit Root had blocked his hopes of cultivating immortality.
• Senior Brother Zhu arrived to collect incense tribute for the Old Ancestor, and Li Ling persuaded him to seek low-grade artifacts, pills, and talismans for study.
• Mu Qingsi visited Li Ling at noon, and he recognized her by her scent before she could surprise him.
• Li Ling explained that his innate gift let him visualize scents and judge people by their odors.

Li Ling lamented his inability to cultivate and continued studying Spiritual Consciousness before a Horse-Faced Daoist kidnapped him for his Spirit-Communing Incense. Taken to a mountain cave, Li Ling discovered that Shopkeeper Huo and the Zhu Yuan Kingdom's Azure Cloud True Person wanted the incense formula, while Shopkeeper Huo's greed revealed a danger to Li Ling's life.

• At dinner, Li Ling told the Ninth Princess that he hoped his research might earn him a chance to cultivate and escape mortal aging.
• After returning home in the spring rain, Li Ling studied records about Spiritual Consciousness and the soul, but a Horse-Faced Daoist attacked him and carried him off in a magical sack.
• The Horse-Faced Daoist took Li Ling to a mountain cave, where Shopkeeper Huo revealed that the Zhu Yuan Kingdom's Azure Cloud True Person had ordered his capture to obtain the Spirit-Communing Incense method.
• Shopkeeper Huo searched Li Ling, took his notes and belongings, and found the Spirit Talisman given to him by Old Ancestor Yellow Cloud.
• When Shopkeeper Huo examined Li Ling's Spirit-Communing Incense, Li Ling sensed his sudden greed and murderous intent, then tried to encourage him to leave a trail by scattering incense powder.

Li Ling used Spirit-Communing Incense to stretch his Spiritual Consciousness far enough to reach his Communication Talisman, though he did not know whether he had contacted the Old Ancestor. The next morning, Senior Brother Zhu rescued him from Shopkeeper Huo and the horse-faced Daoist, and Li Ling recovered his belongings before they set off for home.

• Li Ling used Spirit-Communing Incense to project his Spiritual Consciousness and reach toward the Communication Talisman, causing a sudden surge that startled the horse-faced Daoist.
• The horse-faced Daoist questioned Li Ling, but Li Ling blamed the man's alarm on his unfamiliarity with the incense, and the group left the cave at dawn.
• Li Ling complained about the rough mountain trail, and a strange yellow cloud spread around the horse-faced Daoist before blasting him into the air and severing his feet.
• Senior Brother Zhu arrived, killed the horse-faced Daoist and the guards, and restrained Shopkeeper Huo, who confessed that he had investigated Li Ling's background.
• Senior Brother Zhu killed Shopkeeper Huo and returned Li Ling's Communication Talisman and belongings, while Li Ling retrieved his notes and asked for the fallen flying sword.

After falling ill, Li Ling discovered that he could extend his spiritual consciousness and leave his body, and he traced the mysterious threads strengthening his soul to the scent of incense. He kept his discoveries secret and prepared to test them with Spirit-Communing Incense.

• Li Ling returned to the estate with Senior Brother Zhu, then developed a fever and discovered he could extend his spiritual consciousness a hundred feet without incense.
• Li Ling found that he could leave his body and explore nearby, but his spirit was weak and could move only a few feet above the ground.
• Over several days, Li Ling absorbed mysterious threads that strengthened his divine sense and learned to move his own hair, though progress remained slow.
• Li Ling discovered that the threads carried the scent of spreading incense and suspected they were connected to Spirit-Communing Incense.
• Li Ling decided to conceal his abilities and asked Eunuch Wang to bring every piece of Spirit-Communing Incense from the Fragrant Incense Pavilion for experiments.

Li Ling discovered that burning incense released Incense Essence he could absorb, giving him a new path to strengthen his soul despite his deficient Spirit Root. After weeks of recovery and experimentation, he went with the Ninth Princess to Master Hong’s workshop to witness the completion of his own flying sword.

• Li Ling used Spirit-Communing Incense to reveal and absorb vast amounts of Incense Essence, confirming that his scent-visualizing gift let him capture it directly.
• Li Ling compared different incense products and aromatic ingredients, finding that his own incense released the most essence and that absorbing too much at once was difficult.
• Li Ling spent nearly half a month recovering and experimenting, consuming millions of strands of Incense Essence and slightly strengthening his thoughts and Spirit Body.
• The Ninth Princess explained that a cultivator could bind an artifact with blood essence or Divine Sense, and Li Ling learned that his lack of a complete Spirit Root would not prevent him from refining a weapon.
• Li Ling and the Ninth Princess visited Master Hong’s forge, where Master Hong prepared to fuse Li Ling’s blood essence into the completed flying sword.

Li Ling learned that the immortal sects were preparing for war between Mystic Xin and Zhu Yuan, and he arranged relief supplies for civilians who might be displaced. After seeing the Ninth Princess demonstrate her flying sword and Qi Refining abilities, he began to understand how completely cultivators outmatched mortals in the coming conflict.

• Master Hong helped Li Ling bind his blood to a newly made, unranked Golden Shuttle flying sword, which the Ninth Princess placed in a jade box.
• Master Hong revealed that authorities had ordered weapons and military supplies, and the Ninth Princess explained that the Old Ancestor planned to seize territory from Zhu Yuan in retaliation against Patriarch Azure Cloud.
• On the journey home, Li Ling voiced concern for civilians and soldiers, while the Ninth Princess explained that cultivators from both sides would also fight under limits barring direct attacks on mortals.
• Li Ling ordered Eunuch Xu to prepare grain, clothing, and medicine for disaster relief, and the Ninth Princess warned Eunuch Xu to prevent the servants from exploiting the effort.
• At Li Ling's request, the Ninth Princess demonstrated her flying sword and lifted a hundred-pound stone, leading him to consider the vast advantage cultivators held over mortal armies.

Li Ling and the Ninth Princess were attacked by Wei Du, who disguised himself as a wounded guard, but the household guards drove him away. Worried that Wei Du was still hiding in the city, Li Ling used Soul Projection to follow the lingering scent of blood and explore the night as a spirit.

• Li Ling discussed the nature and rarity of spirit roots with the Ninth Princess before her Heart-Warning Bell alerted them to an intruder.
• Wei Du disguised himself as a wounded guard, revealed himself, and attacked the Ninth Princess, but crossbow-wielding guards forced him to flee.
• Li Ling informed Yellow Cloud True Person and learned that Zhu Ming had already gone after Wei Du.
• Concerned Wei Du might remain in the city, Li Ling decided to search for him using Soul Projection and his scent-tracking ability.
• Li Ling left his body, followed the bloody scent to the nearby grove, and found that his Spiritual Consciousness illuminated only a limited area around him.

Li Ling used his scent-tracking ability to find Wei Du’s hiding place and secretly activated a City Patrol Guard’s communication talisman to guide Zhu Ming’s forces there. After Zhu Ming killed Wei Du, the cultivators concluded that a hidden Foundation Establishment expert had intervened and agreed to keep the matter quiet while Zhu Ming reported to the Old Ancestor.

• Li Ling followed Wei Du’s scent through the alleys, recognized his tricks for doubling back, and found him hiding beneath a residence’s eaves.
• Li Ling secretly activated a City Patrol Guard’s communication talisman, prompting a report that Wei Du was hiding east of the city.
• Zhu Ming led soldiers and cultivators to the residence, discovered Wei Du, and killed him with a flying-sword attack.
• Zhu Ming questioned the officer who had reported Wei Du and learned that the talisman had activated inside the officer’s pouch without being removed.
• Zhu Ming and the other cultivators inferred that a Foundation Establishment expert had intervened and warned that the unknown figure might have ulterior motives.
• Zhu Ming ordered everyone to keep the incident secret until he could report it to the Old Ancestor.

Li Ling created Returning Soul Incense, designed for his Spirit Body to perceive and follow after Soul Projection. After Zhu Ming delivered the Old Ancestor’s instructions and taught the Ninth Princess Cloud Escape, Li Ling realized he could try adapting the technique for his soul.

• Li Ling used incense sugar maple syrup and other aromatics to make four samples of Returning Soul Incense, whose fragrance ordinary people could not smell.
• Zhu Ming told Li Ling and the Ninth Princess that Wei Du had been dealt with, warned them about a suspicious stranger, and instructed Li Ling to keep supplying Spirit-Communing Incense to the Old Ancestor.
• Zhu Ming taught the Ninth Princess Cloud Escape and explained how cultivators could refine external cloud fiend to aid their cultivation; Li Ling listened as well.
• Zhu Ming said the Old Ancestor and other cultivation geniuses had reached Foundation Establishment in a hundred days, then departed.
• Li Ling tried to study Cloud Escape but could not activate it without spiritual qi, so he decided to test whether he could use it after Soul Departure.

Li Ling developed Returning Soul Incense and discovered that its scent could guide a projected soul across an unexpectedly vast distance. He reported the incense to Yellow Cloud True Person, received support and knowledge about souls, and began preparing for further research.

• Li Ling practiced Cloud Escape as a projected soul, then lit Returning Soul Incense and found that its scent reached at least two hundred li from the Royal City.
• Li Ling returned before dawn and told Yellow Cloud True Person about the incense; she promised support and asked him to send samples for testing.
• Li Ling requested incense sugar maple and knowledge about souls, along with questionnaires for cultivators who used Returning Soul Incense.
• Li Ling compiled the incense formula, and Lu Zheng arrived with an incense sugar maple tree and a Jade Scroll of information from the elder.

Li Ling investigated reports of a water monster in Huangkou Town, discovered that the creature was a powerful man-eating water monkey, and followed it to its underground lair. There he found a box containing a fragrant spiritual material that greatly increased his Divine Sense.

• Li Ling traveled to Huangkou Town in Soul Departure to investigate a water monster and found the townspeople accusing a beaten boy of summoning it.
• Li Ling noticed that Master Huang gave off the strongest stench of rotting corpses, then saw a water monkey kill the two servants guarding the boy and flee toward the river.
• Li Ling pursued the water monkey downstream and found its lair, where human skeletons and animal remains showed that it had been feeding on people.
• Li Ling deduced that the water monkey had grown powerful by devouring fresh human remains and was likely comparable to a mid-stage qi refining cultivator.
• Li Ling found a brocade box hidden among bones in a stone chamber and absorbed the million strands of incense essence released by its spiritual material, increasing his Divine Sense by more than a hundred grams.

Li Ling investigated the unusual agarwood he found in the Water Monkey’s lair, then learned how the Unusual Events Bureau exposed the monster’s human accomplice and a demonic method. After secretly entering the bureau’s dungeon, he overheard officials suspecting that Huang De had not provided enough victims to explain the Water Monkey’s strength.

• Li Ling identified the strange fragrant object as rare, Heavenly Treasures-quality agarwood, hid it near the Water Monkey’s lair, and anonymously alerted the Unusual Events Bureau.
• Li Ling read that the bureau had deployed to Huangkou Town, and the Ninth Princess explained how cultivators used merit to offset heavenly tribulations.
• The Unusual Events Bureau killed the Water Monkey and discovered that Huang De had used a Demon-Taming Method stolen from the orphan Gou Wa Zi to direct its attacks.
• Li Ling learned that the bureau suspected a hidden mastermind and later entered its dungeon, where an Attendant identified the Three Treasures Demon-Refining Art and questioned whether someone else had secretly fed the Water Monkey.

Li Ling investigated the Unusual Events Bureau’s response to a suspected demonic plot, then secretly read the confiscated Three Treasures Demon-Refining Art and considered adapting its baleful-intent techniques for incense cultivation. He began experimenting at the Fragrant Incense Pavilion and learned that Vice Minister Pei could help him find heavenly treasures suitable for incense.

• Hundred-Household Commander Zuo, whose name was Zuo Zhongliang, urged the Unusual Events Bureau to investigate the water monster’s remains, but officials dismissed his concerns and decided to let him investigate on his own.
• Li Ling entered the bureau’s archive undetected, found the confiscated Three Treasures Demon-Refining Art, and suspected its missing control methods concealed a way for demonic cultivators to exploit those who refined demons.
• Li Ling memorized the art and saw that its baleful-intent methods might help him refine Cloud Fiend or Incense Baleful Force, so he went to the Fragrant Incense Pavilion to experiment.
• Vice Minister Pei and other officials visited Li Ling to build ties with him, and Pei offered to prepare an index of heavenly treasures and incense materials from the Gazetteer of the Ten Thousand Nations.

Li Ling created Cloud-Producing Incense, which greatly improved the Ninth Princess’s Cloud Escape cultivation and his own flight speed. Using its incense essence, he then successfully refined incense baleful force, giving his spirit body a tangible form and opening a new path toward divine manifestation.

• Li Ling told the Ninth Princess he had devised a way to help her cultivate cloud fiend, then spent three days formulating a new incense from ambergris, borneol, Flowing Conch Incense, and storax oil.
• The Ninth Princess refined the incense’s thick smoke into cloud fiend and found it improved her Cloud Escape cultivation efficiency by at least tenfold.
• Li Ling named the incense Cloud-Producing Incense and found its essence converted into cloud fiend at over a hundred times his usual rate, increasing his flight speed by nearly fifty percent.
• Li Ling used the incense essence to attempt refining incense baleful force, and his spirit body grew tangible enough to strike the ground with force.
• After testing his new form and returning to his intangible state, Li Ling resolved to practice transforming at will and continue developing his cultivation path.

Li Ling witnessed Zuo Zhongliang fight a cultivator and an armored ape, then tracked down the wounded cultivator and killed him with Incense Baleful Force. Searching the corpse, Li Ling found the complete Three Treasures Demon-Refining Art and an ebony token bearing a mysterious inscription.

• Li Ling encountered Zuo Zhongliang battling an armored ape and a middle-aged cultivator, and watched Zuo Zhongliang kill the ape and wound the cultivator.
• Li Ling used Divine Sense to warn Zuo Zhongliang of the cultivator’s attempted sneak attack, then followed the fugitive after he escaped underground.
• Special Envoy Mu met the wounded cultivator and ordered him to reach Xuansin Royal City within three days.
• Li Ling waited until the cultivator had treated his wounds, then ambushed him with Incense Baleful Force and let him bleed to death.
• Li Ling searched the corpse and found five talisman artifacts, supplies, the complete Three Treasures Demon-Refining Art, and an ebony token inscribed with words about becoming a Netherworld Immortal of the Grave.

Li Ling tracked Special Envoy Mu to a demonic cultivator stronghold in a mortuary, where he discovered five monstrous Human-Head Centipedes and several accomplices. While spying on Mu, Li Ling saw a map linked to a possible plan amid war in the south and recognized a fragrant twig that might lead him to the agarwood forest he sought.

• Li Ling hid the dead demonic cultivator’s belongings and followed Special Envoy Mu toward Cascade River County.
• Li Ling found Mu at the Longhe Charity Cemetery and discovered five Human-Head Centipedes inside coffins.
• Li Ling surveyed the mortuary and identified Mu, a baleful-intent cultivator, a gaunt old man tending centipedes, and the bewitched caretaker.
• Li Ling saw Mu study a marked map of the Great Lin River region and remark that war in the south offered a rare opportunity.
• Li Ling recognized the fragrant twig Mu examined as a potent source of incense essence and suspected it could lead him to a forest of valuable fragrant wood.

Li Ling identified devil finger wood as the Spirit Material he wanted and learned more about its properties through Vice Minister Pei’s research. After the Skycloud Sect praised his Returning Soul Incense and offered him a protective treasure, Li Ling asked the sect to increase its support for his research.

• Li Ling searched the Unusual Events Bureau’s archives, confirmed that a token belonged to Changzhou’s Corpse Immortal Sect, and found no records of Human-Head Centipedes.
• Li Ling discovered that Special Envoy Mu and his subordinate had been killed, and he spotted devil finger wood listed among the evidence from the bureau’s operation.
• At a banquet hosted by Vice Minister Pei, Li Ling rewarded the dancers and musicians, then accepted Pei’s annotated Gazetteer of the Ten Thousand Nations.
• Li Ling found a record describing devil finger wood as a fragrant, unranked Spirit Material that could nourish yin souls, and he wrote to the Old Ancestor about Spirit Materials and spirit incense.
• Yellow Cloud True Person told Li Ling that he could stop supplying Spirit-Communing Incense and focus on making a hundred portions of Returning Soul Incense each month, with increased benefits and a special protective treasure.
• Li Ling asked Yellow Cloud True Person to petition the Skycloud Sect for greater support for his research.

Li Ling persuaded Yellow Cloud True Person to support his Spirit Material research and received a hundred materials from the sect as a reward for Returning Soul Incense. After the Incense Affairs Bureau supplied devil finger wood, Li Ling used it to create a dramatically improved Spirit-Communing Incense and greatly strengthened his Divine Sense.

• Li Ling convinced Yellow Cloud True Person to fund his research with ungraded Spirit Materials and agreed that the Incense Affairs Bureau would exchange Spirit-Communing Incense for materials from other sects.
• Li Ling directed Vice Minister Pei to collect Spirit Material samples, then received a storage bag containing a hundred materials from Lu Zheng as a reward for Returning Soul Incense.
• Li Ling examined the materials with the Ninth Princess and resolved to study Incense Essence using his newly awakened gift.
• Eight days later, Vice Minister Pei brought samples that included devil finger wood, and Li Ling shut himself away to test it.
• Li Ling replaced the ordinary agarwood in Spirit-Communing Incense with devil finger wood and produced a powerful new batch with far more than a million fragrance souls.
• Li Ling consumed the improved incense and confirmed that one portion strengthened his Divine Sense by three taels, while one portion of devil finger wood yielded ten portions of incense.

Li Ling completed Gang Condensation, formed sword qi, and secretly helped the Unusual Events Bureau officers defeat a group of Green Stiffs in Lianhe County. After the survivors regrouped with Zuo Zhongliang, the Corpse Immortal Sect's special envoy appeared and revealed that he had killed Attendant Huang.

• Li Ling refined incense essence, completed his first true Gang Condensation, and created a sharp sword from his Gang Baleful Energy.
• Li Ling went to Lianhe County and found three Unusual Events Bureau officers fighting six Green Stiffs while a demonic cultivator controlled them from hiding.
• Li Ling killed the hidden demonic cultivator, disrupting his control and giving the officers a chance to cut down the Green Stiffs.
• Li Ling followed the surviving officers into the city and watched them discover that Old Guan had died from corpse-poisoned wounds.
• Zuo Zhongliang arrived with his companions, and Hundred-Household Officer Yuan explained that Attendant Huang had drawn away an enemy special envoy.
• The Corpse Immortal Sect special envoy appeared, declared that he had killed Attendant Huang, and vowed to turn the officers into zombies.

Li Ling intervened when Zuo Zhongliang and the Unusual Events Bureau officers fought a powerful evil cultivator, then killed the foe by exploiting his mistaken belief that Li Ling was an unfathomable master. Afterward, Li Ling searched the cultivator’s belongings and left while considering whether someone higher in the Demonic Path was coordinating their activities.

• Zuo Zhongliang and the Unusual Events Bureau officers wounded the evil cultivator, but his poisonous mist and attacks forced the others to retreat.
• Zuo Zhongliang stayed behind to hold off the evil cultivator, who wounded him badly during their fight.
• Li Ling manifested as a spirit body, and the evil cultivator mistook him for a powerful senior and became too afraid to resist.
• Li Ling pretended to be a superior master, then pierced the evil cultivator’s throat with a sword of Gang Baleful Energy and killed him.
• Li Ling searched the dead cultivator’s belongings, found no devil finger wood, and left while considering who might be directing the Demonic Path followers.