Chapter Summaries

Li Ling killed Xu Yan after discovering that Crescent Moon wielded a hidden Time Dao Law and countering the quickblade with paired water-essence weapons and Wind-Thunder Transformation. Blood Lion and Tong Zhifeng arrived too late, found no trace of the attacker, and began a manhunt while suspecting he had a companion.

• Xu Yan unleashed Crescent Moon’s time-slowing power, but Li Ling recognized the saber’s secret and escaped its slash.
• Li Ling’s avatar fought Xu Yan, parried his rapid attacks with two weapons, and used Wind-Thunder Transformation to paralyze and fatally wound him.
• Xu Yan collapsed with his heart pierced, and Li Ling struck him away before he could reach his Treasure Pouch.
• Blood Lion and Tong Zhifeng found Xu Yan dead and his saber and valuables missing, with no lingering soul or resentment at the scene.
• Tong Zhifeng identified signs of martial cultivation, and Blood Lion recognized traces of the Wind-Thunder Transformation and suspected the attacker had a companion.
• Blood Lion ordered a Rivers and Lakes Manhunt Order through the Black Market, while Tong Zhifeng warned that the bandits needed to prepare for further attacks.

Li Ling traced the history of Xu Yan’s jade saber and decided to have its timeglow ancient jade extracted for other treasures. He then tracked down Tong Zhifeng, whose poison failed to drive Li Ling away, and forced the pirate chieftain to order an attack.

• Li Ling used Dreamscape Reversal to learn that Xu Yan’s saber was the original blank of a superior treasure artifact, and he and Mu Qingsi decided to find a trusted expert to extract its material.
• After reviewing the riches taken from Xu Yan, Li Ling projected his soul and pursued Tong Zhifeng to his treasure ship.
• Li Ling released beguiling incense aboard the ship, stirring unrest among the pirates, while Tong Zhifeng’s array sealed the area and poisonous miasma killed hundreds of his subordinates.
• Tong Zhifeng waited in a hidden chamber as Li Ling revealed an avatar on deck and used the Visualization Method to clear the poison.
• Seeing his precious miasma being dispersed, Tong Zhifeng ordered his cultivators and warriors to come out and fight Li Ling.

Li Ling attacked Tong Zhifeng and Shang Ningzhen’s pirates, breaking their formation before Tong Zhifeng unleashed a powerful octopus-like monster and a soul-attacking Conch Horn. Unable to defeat the vigilant couple without exposing his Dharma form, Li Ling withdrew and prepared to try again with help from his own Dao Companion.

• Tong Zhifeng and Shang Ningzhen led their surviving pirates into formation, protecting an embryo that grew into a giant octopus-like monster.
• Li Ling amplified his wind and thunder attacks, broke the pirates’ formation, and killed or injured many of them.
• Tong Zhifeng used his Dharma power to control the monster, which struck Li Ling’s avatar apart, while Li Ling narrowly missed an ambush on Tong Zhifeng.
• Tong Zhifeng attacked Li Ling with a Conch Horn that targeted the soul, and Shang Ningzhen and the monster struck the avatar as well.
• Li Ling made his avatar vanish, but Tong Zhifeng and Shang Ningzhen kept watch in shifts and left him no chance to ambush them.
• Li Ling finally left, returned to his wife, and went to sleep while planning another attempt.

Li Ling and Mu Qingsi invaded Tong Zhifeng’s dream to attack the Blood Shark Bandit chieftain and uncover his memories. Tong Zhifeng and Shang Ningzhen were left under assault, while the dream revealed how the couple had gone from poor lovers to pirate chieftains.

• Mu Qingsi cautioned Li Ling against exposing their secrets, and he agreed this would be their last attack on the Blood Shark Bandits for now.
• After several days of failed attempts, Li Ling found Tong Zhifeng’s dreamscape and entered it with Mu Qingsi, where they trapped him in nightmares.
• Li Ling and Mu Qingsi attacked Tong Zhifeng in his dream, while a red bridal figure seized Shang Ningzhen aboard the Treasure Ship.
• Tong Zhifeng briefly regained lucidity and summoned his Dharma power and treasures, but Li Ling and Mu Qingsi overwhelmed him and Mu Qingsi captured a memory.
• Tong Zhifeng’s memory showed that he and Shang Ningzhen had fallen in love as poor youths, joined a chivalrous pirate crew, and gradually become corrupt Blood Shark Bandit chieftains.

After killing Tong Zhifeng and his wife, Li Ling and Mu Qingsi paused their pirate-hunting and quietly moved their spoils, while rumors of the mysterious attacker spread across Northsky Island. Li Ling sold conspicuous loot through the Black Market, but the Blood Shark Bandits traced the transaction and Blood Lion began searching for his cover identity.

• Li Ling and Mu Qingsi discussed the danger of continuing to hunt pirates and reflected on Tong Zhifeng and his wife's past and devotion to each other.
• Rumors spread that a mysterious figure had killed Blood Shark Bandit leaders, while Shang Yuxian visited Li Ling and praised his profitable shipping investments.
• Li Ling returned to the Incense Accumulation Sect with Mu Qingsi, secretly transported his plunder, and sold conspicuous magical items through the Black Market.
• The Black Market Trader sold the stolen Spirit Rhinoceros Jade Horn and other goods, then sent them through a translocation technique to the Blood Shark Bandits.
• Blood Lion used a tracing talisman to view Li Ling's Black Market transaction, found that his earlier identity was obscured, and ordered informants to investigate Northsky Island's entry and exit records.

Nine years after the siege of Northsky Island, Li Ling’s incense market had flourished, and Luo Ying developed a new idea for a hundred-flavors banquet while seeking inspiration for the sect’s anniversary celebration. The chapter ended with Sea Ji arriving to establish broader trade with the Incense Accumulation Sect and Li Ling reviewing the Merfolk Kingdom’s goods for the upcoming exhibition.

• Nine years after the siege, Li Ling’s Auspicious Ward had become a thriving incense market that put pressure on Northsky Island.
• Luo Ying and Song Yang observed the dockworkers, and Luo Ying drew inspiration from the many flavors of ordinary life for her incense cuisine path.
• Luo Ying used her Myriad Wonders Incense Transformation Art to spread a fragrant aroma, then decided to prepare a hundred-flavors banquet for the visiting guests.
• Li Ling and Mu Qingsi welcomed Sea Ji, princess of the Merfolk Kingdom, who had come to expand trade and introduce the incense path in her kingdom.
• Li Ling read the Merfolk Kingdom’s ledger of incense materials and other goods prepared for the grand trade exhibition.

As Auspicious Ward prepared for the Incense Accumulation Sect’s anniversary celebration, Sea Ji chose a site for the Merfolk Kingdom’s trading depot and learned that Li Ling’s exhibition-sale plans were stirring opposition. Li Ling dismissed warnings about the Rare Treasures Tower and opened the celebration’s large-scale sales alongside the Incense-Burning Grand Gathering.

• Rogue cultivators arrived in Auspicious Ward for the upcoming anniversary celebration and Incense-Burning Grand Gathering, praising the town’s incense arrays and expecting a busy market.
• Sea Ji and her companions surveyed Auspicious Ward, and Sea Ji selected a southeast-facing building for the Merfolk Kingdom’s trading depot.
• Min Lian explained that merchant association leaders had brought goods for an exhibition-sale trial, while the Rare Treasures Tower and Treasure Pavilion were displeased with the competition.
• Sea Ji suspected Li Ling had invited her as part of a plan, but concluded the Merfolk Kingdom would likely support him because it benefited from the Incense Path.
• Steward Guo and Steward Lan delivered the merchant association’s consigned goods, and Steward Lan warned Li Ling that the Rare Treasures Tower opposed his plans.
• Li Ling rejected the idea of backing down and, on the Incense Accumulation Sect’s anniversary, announced the grand celebration and opened the exhibition sales with an Incense-Burning Grand Gathering.

Li Ling held the Incense Accumulation Sect’s anniversary festival and opened the Auspicious Ward’s Ten-Thousand Nations Trade Fair, drawing crowds, guests, and merchants. The festival’s first sales reports exceeded one hundred million in talisman currency, leaving the guests convinced the venture had succeeded.

• Li Ling lit the Incense Tower and activated the great array, whose fragrant essence healed mortals, aided cultivators, and nourished the sect’s array.
• Madam Zhao praised Li Ling’s growing Fragrance-Sensing Upside-Down Bird, and he credited her gift for Xiaojiu’s growth.
• Li Ling opened the market gathering and hosted more than sixty cultivators and guests at the Hundred Flavors Hall.
• Li Ling toasted the guests and praised the Wealth-Building Dao, earning the Merchant Association cultivators’ enthusiastic approval.
• Stewards reported rapidly rising trade fair sales, which passed one hundred million in talisman currency in under a quarter of an hour.

At the Incense Accumulation Sect’s anniversary banquet, Li Ling explained the booming exhibition sales and presented Luo Ying’s Spirit Resonance cuisine, outlining his plans to develop and document the Immortal Cuisine branch of the Incense Path. Though someone reported a stall being accused of shortchanging customers, the banquet continued and sales surpassed five billion by day’s end.

• Elder Xu, Steward Guo, and the other guests discussed the exhibition’s sales, the prosperity of the cultivation world, and the forces shaping its growth.
• Li Ling served Spirit Resonance dishes prepared by Luo Ying, whose cooking earned Madam Zhao’s praise and an invitation to visit the Snail Shell Sanctuary with Li Ling.
• Li Ling introduced Luo Ying’s Hundred-Flavors Incense and explained how Incense Cuisine could nourish cultivators through everyday meals without directly competing with the Pill Dao.
• Li Ling announced that he planned to add an “Immortal Cuisine” section to the Incense Path Compendium and asked the guests to help Luo Ying and the others gather knowledge.
• A disciple reported that someone accused a North Sea Branch Headquarters stall of shortchanging customers, while Elder Xu and Elder Zhen warned Li Ling to consider possible interference from the Rare Treasures Tower or the Council of Elders.
• The exhibition’s transaction total passed five hundred million in two hours, one billion in four hours, and five billion by the end of the day.

The Rare Treasures Tower tried to counter the Incense Accumulation Sect’s successful trade fair with deep discounts, but Li Ling used the sect’s control of incense goods to secure its foothold. As the sect expanded into culinary products, Yun Li decided to contact Li Ling and reconsider their rivalry.

• Yun Li told the Rare Treasures Tower’s leaders that the Incense Accumulation Sect’s trade fair had generated five billion in transactions, and they debated how to curb its growth.
• After learning that the General Association had granted the Incense Market special permission to sell precious treasures and spirit materials, Xiong Feiyu proposed that the Rare Treasures Tower hold its own discounted trade fair.
• The Rare Treasures Tower launched steep discounts, while Li Ling ordered incense workshops and manufacturers not to supply its event, leaving it without incense products or materials.
• Months later, the Rare Treasures Tower’s event had underperformed, and the Incense Accumulation Sect’s Luo Ying became popular for her cooking as the sect introduced hundred-flavors incense.
• Yun Li learned that Luo Ying was protected by influential cultivators and the Money Guild, then decided to write to Li Ling to discuss the future of their relationship.

Li Ling negotiated trade boundaries with the Rare Treasures Tower, reflected on the responsibilities and moral limits of leading the incense path, and developed new incense from Merfolk Kingdom materials. The chapter ended with Shu Changsheng returning to the Incense Accumulation Sect, startling the mountain-patrolling disciples.

• Li Ling and Yun Li agreed on a framework for dividing trade in spirit materials according to who discovered their uses, while leaving disputed goods for joint management.
• Li Ling told Elder Shang that he would not oppose others discovering new uses for spirit materials, then explained to Mu Qingsi that the sect’s worldly work remained a responsibility he could not abandon.
• Li Ling refined Merfolk Kingdom ambergris into Dragonfire Incense and spring-bloom grass into Spirit-Focusing Incense, which could temper the mind and help mortals exercise their mental power.
• Li Ling planned to sell Dragonfire Incense at a premium and offer Spirit-Focusing Incense in both affordable and more heavily promoted versions.
• Shu Changsheng returned to the Incense Accumulation Sect, and the mountain-patrolling disciples recognized him with alarm.

Shu Changsheng returned to the Incense Accumulation Sect and his family tried to arrange a marriage for him, but he drove away three prospective brides with a crude perfume prank. He rejected marriage for now, declaring that he would pursue Foundation Establishment and eventually found his own sect, though Shu Wangsheng mocked his ambitions.

• Shu Changsheng returned to the Incense Accumulation Sect, where fellow disciples warned newcomers about his old pranks and his family welcomed him home.
• Shu Wangsheng urged Shu Changsheng to marry, and Shu Changsheng reluctantly agreed to meet three prospective brides from prominent sect families.
• Shu Changsheng showed Miss Lin perfume he claimed was made from human waste, causing her to flee; Miss Nan and Miss Yang later rejected him as well.
• Shu Wangsheng confronted Shu Changsheng after all three meetings failed, while Shu Changsheng claimed the women had not fancied him.
• Shu Changsheng said he would prioritize Foundation Establishment and eventually found his own sect, but Shu Wangsheng mocked him by comparing him unfavorably to Sect Master Li.

Li Ling rewarded Shu Changsheng and Li Ying for their service and prepared them to attempt foundation establishment. Both succeeded within months, leaving the Incense Accumulation Sect with two new foundation establishment cultivators.

• Shu Changsheng recounted his travels, and Li Ling praised his broadened perspective before teaching him the Corpse-Rot Foul Stench art and promising him a Foundation Establishment Pill and Spirit-Focusing Incense.
• Li Ling assigned Li Ying to coordinate the Spirit-Focusing Incense plans and secretly gave him a Three Treasures Floating Incense Pill to aid his cultivation.
• Shu Changsheng entered seclusion while Li Ling considered how to cultivate capable disciples and balance the influence of the Shu Household.
• Several months later, Shu Changsheng emerged having established his foundation and cultivated an incense deity called the Corpse Plague Daoist.
• The sect received word that Li Ying had also successfully established his foundation.

Li Ling celebrated Shu Changsheng and Li Ying becoming the Incense Accumulation Sect’s first true disciples, assigning them paths suited to their strengths and considering how they might eventually establish branches. After the Money Guild evaluated Enlightenment Incense and Spirit-Focusing Incense, Li Ling approved a distribution agreement and formally put Li Ying in charge.

• Li Ling granted Shu Changsheng and Li Ying the rank of true disciple, with Li Ying named eldest senior brother because he advanced first and was older.
• Shu Changsheng complained to Shu Wangsheng about losing the eldest senior brother position, and Shu Wangsheng suspected Li Ying’s timely advancement had not been a coincidence.
• Li Ling told Mu Qingsi that Shu Changsheng should pursue combat and the poison path, while Li Ying should manage the sect’s business relationships and incense distribution.
• Yellow Cloud True Person and other senior cultivators sent congratulations, while Yellow Cloud True Person arranged for Han Gusheng to attend the celebration.
• The Money Guild evaluated Spirit-Focusing Incense and Enlightenment Incense, proposed prices and distribution terms, and Li Ling approved the agreement.
• Li Ling formally placed Li Ying in charge of incense distribution and began building Li Ying’s team and authority.

After decades of growth, the Incense Accumulation Sect had developed a native-born population and seven Foundation Establishment true disciples. Li Ling summoned his disciples to establish branches under a unified sect, laying out how they would preserve and govern the Incense Path’s inheritance.

• Xin Dayuan retired in comfort after decades of service, and Li Ling approved his administrative elder benefits.
• Zhu Lisheng, Luo Ying, Song Yang, Luo Dao, and Yang Ziying reached Foundation Establishment as Li Ling developed new incense products and expanded the Incense Path’s cultivation system.
• At the Incense-Burning Grand Gathering, Li Ying and the other six true disciples gathered in the council hall to meet Li Ling.
• Li Ling assigned his disciples branches suited to their interests: the Incense Perception Cult, Divine Incense Gate, Incense Transmission Dao, Heavenly Incense School, Incense-Burning Gate, and Hundred Flavors Gate.
• Li Ling explained that the branches would pursue separate practices while remaining under the Incense Accumulation Sect, and outlined how their leaders would share authority and preserve the Dao tradition.

Li Ling organized the Incense Accumulation Sect’s division into six branch sects, arranging their personnel, resources, and rules to preserve the main sect’s authority and encourage cooperation. As the branches prepared to depart, he noticed the name Chi Yingting in the new disciples’ register.

• The announcement that Li Ling’s disciples would establish six sects drew interest from the Money Guild, the Rare Treasures Tower, rogue cultivators, and secular rulers seeking opportunities.
• Mu Qingsi reviewed transfer requests with Li Ling, who approved Shu Wangsheng’s move to the Divine Incense Gate, kept Elder Jin and Elder Ruan at headquarters, and honored the other Qi Refining cultivators’ preferences.
• Li Ling and Mu Qingsi discussed fair divisions of property and secret texts; Li Ling kept control of the sect’s teachings and set rules for shared resources, merit, and future leadership.
• Li Ling provided each Foundation Establishment disciple with funding, pills, treasures, and incense texts to establish their branch sects.
• In September, Li Ling reviewed the latest personnel registers and noticed Chi Yingting’s name among the new disciples from the Bamboo Step Kingdom.

Li Ling discovered that Chi Yingting could sense human incense and recognized him as a rare Incense Path genius, while also taking an interest in Nie Yingzhi. Years later, the two boys had become the celebrated Twin Elites, locked in a contest for supremacy among their peers.

• Li Ling observed the first-year students and noticed Chi Yingting's unusual ability to perceive the fragrance around him.
• Li Ling tested Chi Yingting with the Myriad Wonders Incense Transformation Art and confirmed his talent for sensing human incense.
• Li Ling instructed Director Fu and Min Lian to secretly watch over Chi Yingting and Nie Yingzhi, declaring his intention to take Chi Yingting as his true disciple in twenty years.
• The Incense Accumulation Sect expanded its education and training, attracting gifted children and producing more capable disciples.
• Chi Yingting and Nie Yingzhi distinguished themselves among neighboring intakes and became known as the Twin Elites, with Chi excelling in fragrance-sensing and Nie in learning and leadership.

During the Academy’s assessments, Chi Yingting revealed that he could sense incense essence and had cultivated seven true incense deities, prompting Li Ling to take him as a personal disciple and prepare him for Foundation Establishment. Li Ling also arranged for the jealous Nie Yingzhi to study abroad under Li Ying’s guidance, while the sect began preparing for its centennial celebration.

• Li Ling arrived during the Academy assessments and watched Nie Yingzhi pass with outstanding marks after he demonstrated an illusory Dragonfire Incense Deity.
• Chi Yingting revealed his Fragrance-Sensing Talent and manifested seven true incense deities, astonishing the assessors and Li Ling.
• Li Ling took Chi Yingting as his personal disciple, while Nie Yingzhi grew jealous and misunderstood Chi Yingting’s glance as a show of superiority.
• Li Ling explained to Mu Qingsi that he hoped Chi Yingting’s advancement and his rivalry with Nie Yingzhi would help both disciples reach Foundation Establishment.
• The Court of Celestial Observations made Chi Yingting a personal disciple and assigned Nie Yingzhi to study abroad, while Li Ling secretly arranged for Li Ying to guide him.
• Li Ling began teaching Chi Yingting Fragrance-Guided Dream Entry on Dreamlike Island, and several months later the sect’s centennial celebration arrived.

At the Incense Accumulation Sect’s centenary celebration, Li Ling welcomed his returning disciples and rewarded the promising juniors they had brought. Chi Yingting showcased the Seven Emotions Incense in a series of bouts, and as he defeated challenger after challenger, the guests realized he was attempting foundation establishment.

• Li Ying and the other true disciples reported on the schools they had founded, then their students performed and received spirit materials and magical artifacts from Li Ling.
• Director Fu proposed a martial exhibition, and Chi Yingting defeated Han Fenglai of the Nine Spirits Sect by using the Seven Emotions Incense to overwhelm him with fear.
• Chi Yingting overcame a veteran sword cultivator surnamed Fang and a Merchant Association guard, drawing further challengers and impressing the gathered guests.
• The guests suspected Chi Yingting was using the bouts to build his confidence and digest the effects of a cultivation medicine as he pursued foundation establishment.
• Chi Yingting’s aura reached its peak, his Dharma power manifested, and his incense deities solidified as everyone realized he had made a breakthrough.

After Chi Yingting’s Foundation Establishment leaves Nie Yingzhi feeling insignificant, Li Ying guides him to reconsider his ambitions and focus on his own Dao. Nie Yingzhi enters seclusion, while Li Ling learns that the Skycloud Sect’s Old Ancestor is critically ill.

• Nie Yingzhi broods over witnessing Chi Yingting’s rise and feels he has no standing beside him.
• Li Ying takes Nie Yingzhi to the Grand Market Gathering, where the ordinary lives of the market’s visitors prompt Nie Yingzhi to reflect on his own place in the world.
• Li Ying tells Nie Yingzhi that cultivation depends on his own Dao heart rather than comparison with Chi Yingting or others, and reveals that Li Ling asked him to offer this guidance.
• Nie Yingzhi thanks Li Ying, realizes he must enter seclusion, and leaves as his understanding advances toward forging his Dao foundation.
• Li Ling tells Li Ying to guide Nie Yingzhi and says his own chance at Core Formation may come when the sect’s Twin Prodigies and Seven Talents are complete.
• Mu Qingsi tells Li Ling that the Skycloud Sect’s Old Ancestor is critically ill, stirring a foreboding in Li Ling.