Chapter Summaries

Mu Qingsi and Li Ling fought off Northsky Island Merchant Association elders who attacked while Li Ling underwent his heavenly tribulation. As the tribulation intensified and Li Ling exhausted his defensive treasures, he relied on an incense formation to withstand the lightning, while four attackers remained nearby.

• Mu Qingsi detected twelve intruders, and Elder Xiao teleported the elders into the Inner Valley, where one was lost in the mountain-protecting array.
• The Merchant Association elders attacked Li Ling during his tribulation, but his nascent soul dharma form killed several, and his Bone-Burning Curse Art killed Elder Huang.
• Li Ling returned his dharma form to his body to face the stronger second stage of the tribulation, while Mu Qingsi and the smoke dragons fought the remaining elders.
• Li Ling endured the second stage and faced a third stage four times stronger than the first, using up his defensive magic treasures as several lightning strikes injured him.
• Li Ling activated an incense formation that gathered a fragrant canopy above him, drawing the lightning away while leaving him seemingly unharmed.

While Li Ling endured the final stage of his heavenly tribulation, Ma Wanbao and the powerful families attacked him and Mu Qingsi. Li Ling reached the pinnacle of the fifth level of the Incense Path and produced Dust-Transcending Incense, causing the tribulation clouds to lose their target and disperse.

• Ma Wanbao and the powerful families sent successive waves of cultivators to Little Olive Island, where Mu Qingsi fought to protect Li Ling as he underwent tribulation.
• The attackers rescued their companions trapped in the Face Trees and tried to reach Li Ling, but Mu Qingsi held them back with the grand array and her sword pellet.
• Wang Erxi escaped Mu Qingsi’s Water-Moon Mirror and struck Li Ling with a silver ring just before the fourth lightning bolt fell.
• Li Ling endured the later lightning strikes with help from the Heart-Cleansing Jiangzhen Incense, but the eighth bolt left him gravely injured and the final crimson strike gathered overhead.
• Li Ling unfolded his Incense Accumulation Divine Domain and advanced his Incense Path attainments to the pinnacle of the fifth level, producing Dust-Transcending Incense.
• The tribulation clouds stalled and began to disperse as Ma Wanbao arrived and witnessed Li Ling’s divine domain.

Li Ling refined high-grade Formless Incense and used it with Mu Qingsi to escape notice as Ma Wanbao and the others attacked. The incense made people forget their existence, and their names began fading from the Heavenly Court’s immortal registers.

• Li Ling used Dust-Transcending Incense to erase his karmic ties, causing the final heavenly lightning strike to vanish.
• Ma Wanbao and the others attacked Li Ling, and Wang Erxi’s jade hairpin pierced his shoulder before Mu Qingsi pulled him into the formation’s secret chamber.
• Li Ling refined high-grade Formless Incense and used it with Mu Qingsi to erase their presence and blur others’ memories of them.
• Ma Wanbao, Wang Erxi, and the Foundation Establishment cultivators broke the grand array, then forgot whom they had been pursuing.
• People and places connected to Li Ling began forgetting him, while the names of Li Ling and Mu Qingsi faded from the Heavenly Court’s immortal registers.

Li Ling and Mu Qingsi escaped Ma Wanbao’s attack, and Li Ling used the Myriad Treasures Tower’s assault during his tribulation to justify war and bargain with the Merchant Association. The Association recognized the Incense Path’s claims and sent rare materials for Li Ling to test whether he could reproduce his tribulation-saving incense.

• Li Ling and Mu Qingsi escaped Little Olive Island while Ma Wanbao and his allies forgot their target, but Ma Wanbao remembered Li Ling after returning to the ship and found him gone.
• Li Ling returned to the Incense Accumulation Sect and ordered Nie Yingzhi to declare war on the Myriad Treasures Tower for attacking him during his tribulation.
• Li Ling told Elder Shang he would discuss the conflict with Elder Qiu and the other Treasure Envoys, hinting that his incense had helped him survive the attack.
• Ma Wanbao learned that the General Association would not mediate for him and feared Li Ling had traded his incense for powerful backing.
• The General Association recognized Li Ling and his allies’ rights to the Spirit Peak Blessed Lands and granted the Incense Path standing alongside the Merchant Association.
• Two special envoys delivered materials to Li Ling under an offer of debt relief and joint governance of the North Sea if he could refine the incense, and he immediately began testing them.

Li Ling's Dust-Transcending Incense won the Four Seas Commerce Guild's recognition and secured his leverage to pursue the Incense Path and confront Ma Wanbao. Ma Wanbao lost the General Association's support, faced Li Ling's curse striking Wang Erxi, and was confronted by a special envoy as he tried to flee.

• Jiang Sheng and Feng Ningxin delivered Li Ling's Dust-Transcending Incense to the Four Seas Commerce Guild, where the Gold-Splitting Scale valued it at the upper limit of ten billion in talisman currency.
• Pei Qingguang and the Nascent Soul cultivators examined the incense, and Jin Yuanbo received it to prepare for his approaching tribulation.
• Li Ling told Mu Qingsi that he would repay Madam Zhao, seek more materials from the Merfolk Kingdom, and deal with Ma Wanbao; Mu Qingsi suggested the Money Dao might support Ying Ting as his successor.
• Ma Wanbao learned that the General Association and several guilds were withdrawing their support, and he suspected Li Ling had bought off the senior figures.
• Wang Erxi came to Ma Wanbao with a scorched stench, and Tian gave her a silver pearl to resist what Ma Wanbao identified as Li Ling's curse.
• Ma Wanbao decided to return to Eastchang Island, but a special envoy burst in and declared that he would not escape.

Li Ling recovered enough to protect himself while his allies weakened Ma Wanbao and the Myriad Treasures Tower across the North Sea. After finding Ma Wanbao’s whereabouts, Li Ling entered his dream with prepared treasures and resolved to finish their conflict.

• A tall, lean man and another attacker ambushed Ma Wanbao, but Ma Wanbao escaped with Tian and Wang Erxi after Tian weakened the red light that had trapped him.
• Li Ling used stored Spirit Incense to heal his injuries, then demonstrated the Bone-Burning Curse Art to Shu Changsheng and Chi Yingting.
• Ma Wanbao learned that Tu Yuan and Han Feng had turned against him and that pirate commander Luo Jingwei had seized the Myriad Treasures Tower’s reserves at Silver Vault.
• Over nearly half a year, Li Ling’s allies gained support as the Myriad Treasures Tower lost resources and influence, while Wang Erxi suffered lingering harm from the curse.
• Li Ling found Ma Wanbao’s whereabouts and a Nightmare-Binding Anchor, then entered Ma Wanbao’s dream with secret treasures and talismans to kill him.

Li Ling and Mu Qingsi invaded Ma Wanbao’s dreamscape during his tribulation and battled him and his companions. Li Ling overpowered Ma Wanbao, while Mu Qingsi and Lin Rouniang dealt with Madam Tian and Wang Erxi; Madam Tian escaped the island only to be killed by an unseen attacker.

• Li Ling and Mu Qingsi entered Ma Wanbao’s dreamscape, where Ma Wanbao summoned Madam Tian and Wang Erxi to fight them.
• Mu Qingsi clashed with Wang Erxi and Madam Tian, using her Profound Yin Sword Pellet and Blazing Cloud Gourd to hold them off.
• Ma Wanbao made his dreamscape nearly real and formed a golden giant, but Li Ling’s incense domain overwhelmed it and let him seize and crush Ma Wanbao repeatedly.
• Ghost Spirit Brides appeared in Ma Wanbao’s study and drew Madam Tian and Wang Erxi into a dream, where Mu Qingsi and Lin Rouniang defeated them; Wang Erxi was killed and Madam Tian escaped.
• Madam Tian fled west from Eastchang Island, but an unseen attacker tore her apart and crushed her fleeing true core.

After Ma Wanbao’s death, the Myriad Treasures Tower surrendered, and Li Ling established a new order for the North Sea before passing the Incense Accumulation Sect leadership to Nie Yingzhi and retiring to secluded cultivation. His retirement was interrupted when a message revealed that someone from the Mystic Continent was looking for him.

• The Tall, Thin Cultivator and the Brocade-Clad Middle-Aged Man killed Ma Wanbao and found Wang Erxi dead before fleeing the island as the elders arrived.
• After Ma Wanbao’s death, the Myriad Treasures Tower surrendered to the Three Dao Alliance, and the General Association helped negotiate a settlement that strengthened the Artisans.
• Li Ling celebrated the North Sea’s reorganization, announced plans to spread incense-making techniques, and formally passed the sect master position to Nie Yingzhi.
• Li Ling arranged training on Goldsource Island for Chi Yingting and accepted a position as an Attendant of the General Association in exchange for support cultivating Core Formation candidates.
• Under Nie Yingzhi’s leadership, the North Sea developed workshops and auxiliary crafts, eased economic hardship, and returned to peace by Incense Accumulation Year Seventy.
• Li Ling concealed the Floating Cloud Platform and began his retirement, but after returning home he discovered that someone from the Mystic Continent was looking for him.

Li Ling and Mu Qingsi met Mu Hou, a descendant of the Mu Household and the Mystic Xin Marquis, who explained Great Qian’s ongoing campaigns and asked them to support his grandson, the third prince Zhao Kong. They agreed to offer modest aid, leaving their involvement in the struggle over Yue Province to begin.

• Li Ling and Mu Qingsi received word that the Great Qian Emperor’s envoy was their distant relative and decided to meet him at the Incense Accumulation Sect.
• Mu Hou greeted Li Ling and Mu Qingsi as his ancestors, and Mu Qingsi confirmed that he descended from the Mu Household.
• Mu Hou recounted Great Qian’s rise and its continuing wars against rebel forces across the Mystic Continent.
• Mu Hou revealed that he had come to seek aid for his grandson, the third prince Zhao Kong, in the campaign to conquer Yue Province.
• After discussing Great Qian’s ties with the Four Seas Commerce Guild and the Incense Path’s interests, Li Ling and Mu Qingsi agreed to provide modest support.

Li Ling weighed the Mystic Xin Marquis and Eunuch Lin’s request for help in expanding the Incense Path into Great Qian, then learned more about the dynasty’s power and customs. He considered sending a separate sect branch to the mainland, while the visitors examined incense products that could aid their campaign in Yue Province.

• Li Ling questioned the Mystic Xin Marquis and Eunuch Lin’s motives, then discussed the risks of mainland expansion with Nie Yingzhi, who advised caution.
• Li Ling proposed sending one branch of the sect to develop in Great Qian and asked a Merchant Association steward about the mainland’s rulers, imperial fortune, and cultivation world.
• Li Ling contacted Luo Mu, who encouraged him to help Mu Hou and offered travel credentials for a few attendant cultivators through official channels.
• The Mystic Xin Marquis and his companions toured the sect’s Incense Path facilities and learned about its cultivation methods and products.
• The Mystic Xin Marquis asked about buying Three Treasures Floating Incense Pill, but the sect steward said it was never sold privately.
• The Mystic Xin Marquis’s group ordered over a thousand jin of Miasma-Repelling Incense, and Nie Yingzhi inferred it was intended for the army’s campaign in Yue Province.

Li Ling committed to spreading the Incense Path in Great Qian, sending Zhu Lisheng and a large contingent with teachings, disciples, and supplies. The third prince welcomed the mission as support for Yue Province, while local sects and spirit monsters began reacting to the news.

• The Mystic Xin Marquis and his advisers discussed using the Incense Path to strengthen Great Qian and help the third prince establish control over Yue Province.
• Li Ling summoned Li Ying and Zhu Lisheng, arranged the mission, and decided to bring his teachings to Great Qian.
• Zhao Kong and Zhou Ji learned that Zhu Lisheng would lead three hundred Incense Makers and expert attendants carrying extensive Incense Path teachings and materials, and they planned rewards for him.
• The imperial uncle told Zhao Kong that the visitors sought travel permits and support for spreading their teachings, not official investitures, easing the prince’s concerns.
• Rumors of the northern spread reached Yue Province’s cultivation factions, and Yin Changming worried about Li Ling’s growing power.
• Spirit monsters passed along Lord Bashan’s grudge against the Incense Path and agreed to confront the newcomers when they landed.

Li Ling observed the Incense Path’s welcome ceremony in Windward Harbor, then secretly intervened when demons attacked the King of Yue’s forces. After discovering that the land’s fortune let its officials and even certain demons draw on Heaven-and-Earth Origin Energy, he sensed the Great Lin River God calling to him.

• Zhao Kong and Zhu Lisheng welcomed the Treasure Ship, while Li Ling examined the local fortune and learned how rank and status shaped access to the land’s power.
• A band of transformed demons attacked the ceremony, and three Foundation Establishment Great Demons fled while government forces pursued them.
• Li Ling watched a military officer and his soldiers use fortune and battle formations to fight the demons, until a Blue-Feathered Thunder Roc overwhelmed them.
• Li Ling trapped the four Great Demons in his Water-Moon Mirror, and his strength partly returned as the land’s mountains and rivers resonated with him.
• Li Ling sensed four golden beams calling to him and realized that the Great Lin River God had awakened.

Li Ling subdued four Great Demons and traveled with the Blue-Feathered Thunder Roc to Soul-Rending Mountain, where he discovered the demons possessed official fortune resembling that of Great Qian officials. He fought King White Feather, then fled when a powerful formation rose over the mountain, leaving him to wonder about its strength.

• Li Ling released four Great Demons, incapacitated them with his incense abilities, and forced the Blue-Feathered Thunder Roc to guide him toward Soul-Rending Mountain.
• As the Blue-Feathered Thunder Roc carried Li Ling through the mountains, Li Ling noticed the demon cultivators' red official aura and suspected a connection to Great Qian's system.
• King White Feather attacked Li Ling after the Blue-Feathered Thunder Roc called for help, but Li Ling endured her strikes and knocked her into a mountaintop.
• A powerful Flood Dragon-shaped force rose over Soul-Rending Mountain, and Li Ling vanished to a secluded mountain rather than confront it.
• Li Ling meditated beside his Returning Soul Incense and concluded that the force at Soul-Rending Mountain was anything but ordinary.

Li Ling discovered a thriving demon settlement in the mountains of Soul-Rending Mountain, while Zhu Lisheng negotiated with Zhao Kong over the Incense Path’s expansion into Great Qian. Zhao Kong welcomed the sect’s trade but refused to permit the Incense Perception Cult to spread freely, leaving Zhu Lisheng to focus on establishing the sect through commerce.

• Li Ling evaded the demons searching the mountains and found a stockade where demons and spirit monsters lived and worked in an organized community.
• Zhao Kong, Zhu Lisheng, and their companions discussed incense tea and spirit incense as they traveled through Hundred Yue.
• Zhao Kong supported the Incense Path’s workshops and trade but warned that the Incense Perception Cult’s public proselytizing could threaten Great Qian’s order.
• Zhao Kong explained that the dynasty’s strict controls stemmed from past religious uprisings, including those connected to the Great Lin River God.
• Zhu Lisheng abandoned plans for covert proselytizing and accepted that the sect would first have to build trust through its commercial operations.

Zhu Lisheng established the Incense Path’s foothold in Yue, while Li Ling infiltrated Black Wind Stronghold to learn about the demon kingdom’s origins and government. After reaching the stronghold commandant’s residence, Li Ling witnessed its guards pay respects to a rabbit demon called Grandma Rabbit.

• Zhao Kong granted Zhu Lisheng a commercial street for an Incense Market and agreed to support the Incense Path with land, personnel, policies, and military arrangements.
• Li Ling found that the stronghold’s protections blocked spirit projection, so he used Spirit-Bewildering Incense to question the dog demon Hei Ergou and learned about Black Wind Stronghold and King Hou Lu.
• Li Ling learned that demons from Gathering Cave Continent had built a network of mountain settlements and that the demon kingdom had allied with tribes, sects, magnates, and rebels against Great Qian.
• Li Ling persuaded Hei Ergou to lead him into Black Wind Stronghold, bewildered the guards at its gate, and entered unnoticed.
• Li Ling explored the stronghold, learned about its rulers Lord Tiger and Tiger Three-Whiskers, and found signs of an organized demon society and government.
• Li Ling approached Lord Tiger’s fortified residence and saw wolf soldiers and other guards solemnly salute a returning rabbit demon called Grandma Rabbit.

Li Ling rescued Bai Xiaohuan after Grandma Rabbit and a wolf Demon Soldier tried to kill her, then fed her suspected transformation fruits and carried her out of the stockade. When Lord Tiger returned, Li Ling went back to the stone house, where Tiger Captain ordered Grandma Rabbit and the wolf Demon Soldier slaughtered for a feast.

• Li Ling entered Grandma Rabbit’s manor and discovered a garden of unusual spiritual plants.
• Grandma Rabbit ordered the wolf Demon Soldier to kill Bai Xiaohuan after she stumbled upon them, but Li Ling stunned them with Spirit-Bewildering Incense and revived Bai Xiaohuan.
• Bai Xiaohuan identified the garden plants as spirit fruits that could enable transformation, and Li Ling uprooted one plant and fed her several fruits.
• Li Ling carried Bai Xiaohuan out of the stockade, then returned after she heard that Lord Tiger had come back.
• Li Ling found Tiger Captain and the other leaders in the stone house, where Tiger Captain ordered Grandma Rabbit and the wolf Demon Soldier slaughtered.

Li Ling investigated the theft of the Transformation Fruit at Black Wind Stronghold and learned that its demons could harness earth veins and fortune. A strange dream suggested that an invisible force had once steered him toward becoming a ruler, leaving him shaken awake.

• Tiger Captain questioned Grandma Rabbit and the Wolf Demon servant about the missing Transformation Fruit, but neither knew where it had gone.
• Gray Big Wolf reported that gate guards had been knocked unconscious by a pat and that Hei Ergou had been tricked into giving away his money, so Tiger Captain sent Old Hu to Soul-Rending Mountain for help.
• Li Ling returned to Black Wind Stronghold, identified its leaders, and left Netherdream Incense in nearby residences before rescuing Bai Xiaohuan from searching demons.
• Li Ling questioned Bai Xiaohuan and learned that Black Wind Stronghold had been founded by the Great Demons of the Demon-Gathering Grotto and relied on farming, military defense, and an earth vein spirit array.
• Li Ling discussed Dragon Soul Fruit and the path of fortune with Mu Qingsi, then experienced a vivid dream in which he founded the Great Han Dynasty before dying and leaving victory to his descendants.
• Li Ling realized the dream might reveal an alternate fate manipulated by an invisible hand, and he jolted awake.

After sensing that powerful forces might be shaping his fate, Li Ling investigated the dreams of Black Wind Stronghold’s demons and witnessed them collecting dragon blood from a strange cavern. He later learned Bai Xiaohuan’s fur loss heralded her transformation, then heard from Zhu Lisheng that Yue Province’s dangerous miasma could inspire their first practical incense product.

• Li Ling told Mu Qingsi about his unsettling vision, then failed to enter the dreams of Black Wind Stronghold’s higher-ranking Demon Generals until he used Netherdream Incense to bypass their protection.
• Li Ling witnessed the old fox’s memory of the Tiger Captain and other demons receiving dragon blood from a burly ape Demon King beside a cavern containing a gigantic, pulsing-looking growth.
• Li Ling found Bai Xiaohuan distraught over losing her fur and reassured her that she was about to transform after consuming the transformation fruit.
• Zhu Lisheng reported that the Incense Path Workshop had been established in Ancient Yue City and proposed developing Miasma-Repelling Incense to protect travelers from Yue Province’s poisonous forests.

Li Ling and Zhu Lisheng developed Miasma-Repelling Incense for Great Qian’s Yue Province army, then demonstrated its effectiveness to Zhao Kong. Zhao Kong placed a large order and prepared to use the incense to support a campaign against the Demon Kingdom.

• Li Ling proposed adapting several incense formulas to counter the poisonous miasma, and Zhu Lisheng’s team completed the incense within days.
• Zhao Kong visited the Incense Path workshop and watched the incense suppress mountain miasma while protecting a test rider and his horse.
• Zhu Lisheng explained the incense’s cost, production capacity, and potential to repel insects and other pests, and Zhao Kong asked for a stronger version.
• Zhu Lisheng offered Zhao Kong the formula and production method, explaining that the Incense Path aimed to spread its teachings and build local industry.
• Zhao Kong accepted the formula and ordered one hundred thousand portions for fifteen units of talisman currency each, planning to use them before marching into the mountains against the Demon Kingdom.

Zhao Kong’s forces tested Miasma-Repelling Incense and found it effective against dangerous insects and miasma, prompting the Incense Accumulation Sect to devise further military supplies. Meanwhile, Li Ling uncovered the connection between Hou Lu’s Demon Kingdom and Zhu Wu’s scattered remains, and resolved to help attack Soul-Rending Mountain as he strengthened himself.

• General Lu’s vanguard used Miasma-Repelling Incense to clear a camp, driving away insects and avoiding the usual snake bites and miasma-related casualties.
• Zhou Ji reported the incense’s success to Zhao Kong, who asked Zhu Lisheng to find solutions for the army’s other problems in Yue Province.
• Zhu Lisheng’s disciples proposed developing insect repellents, parasite-killing water, food preservatives, and specialized incense, then began work on their assigned plans.
• Li Ling investigated Soul-Rending Mountain and learned that Hou Lu possessed Zhu Wu’s heart, while Zhu Wu’s remains and spiritual essence were bound to the Mystic Continent.
• Li Ling concluded that Hou Lu’s growing Demon Kingdom could help awaken Zhu Wu or seize his station, and decided to contribute to the attack on Soul-Rending Mountain.