Chapter Summaries

Li Ling gathered information about Yue Province’s rogue cultivators and the rumored dragon vein in Soul-Rending Mountain, then discovered that Bai Xiaohuan’s transformation had greatly strengthened her. He gave her the remaining transformation fruits to test whether she could become a Great Demon.

• Li Ling met Xu Wang and Mo Ling, learned about the Dao registration system and their private gatherings, and invited them to bring him to one.
• Xu Wang and Mo Ling told Li Ling rumors about the Dragon-Seeking Society, the Soul-Rending Mountain dragon vein, and the conflict between Demon King Hou Lu and the Divine Dragon Cult.
• Li Ling gave the two cultivators rare Incense Path tea before returning to his ship, where he learned that Bai Xiaohuan had emerged from her room.
• Li Ling found that Bai Xiaohuan had taken on a human appearance and gained great strength and vitality after absorbing the transformation fruits.
• Li Ling gave Bai Xiaohuan his remaining fruits and asked her to eat them so he could see whether she could advance to a Great Demon.

Li Ling strengthened Bai Xiaohuan with Dragon Blood Fruit and began teaching her cultivation, while investigating the local cultivators and keeping a low profile in Windward Harbor. As he prepared to shift his inquiries into the shadows, Yin Changming of the Blood Inkstone Palace appeared and drew him out to sea.

• Bai Xiaohuan ate the fruit, completed another transformation, and gained enough strength to lift cargo crates weighing about a thousand jin.
• Li Ling began teaching Bai Xiaohuan martial arts and cultivation, and she rapidly advanced to the equivalent of a mid-stage qi refining cultivator.
• Li Ling showed Dao Registry Bureau attendants his credential from the Immortal Register Hall, and they apologized and withdrew.
• Zhao Kong learned Li Ling was in Windward Harbor but decided not to approach him after realizing Li Ling did not wish to meet.
• Li Ling sensed a familiar aura, followed its owner far out to sea, and greeted Yin Changming of the Blood Inkstone Palace.

Li Ling met Yin Changming, learned that the Dragon-Seeking Society wanted to trade for Incense Path goods and other supplies, and agreed to explore an arrangement. Yin Changming explained that Zhu Wu’s source essence had become three hundred Dao fruits, and the chapter ended as Dao Registry Bureau cultivators approached and Yin struck at Li Ling.

• Li Ling reunited with Yin Changming, who told him the Blood Inkstone Palace had been destroyed and that Nascent Soul cultivators in the Dragon-Seeking Society were seeking Senior Zixu.
• Yin Changming asked Li Ling to support the Dragon-Seeking Society with incense products, magic treasures, and pills; Li Ling agreed to discuss trade in exchange for spirit materials and treasures.
• Li Ling asked Yin Changming about Soul-Rending Mountain’s demon kings, and Yin explained Hou Lu’s plan to become a Demon Emperor and the struggle over earth veins and spirit resonance.
• Yin Changming explained that Zhu Wu’s Dragon Heart Stone could reshape cultivators with dragon blood and that Zhu Wu’s source essence had formed three hundred Dao fruits.
• Pu Hui and Gao Yihua approached from the coast, and Yin Changming identified them as Great Qian’s Dao Registry Bureau cultivators before striking at Li Ling.

Li Ling fought off Pu Hui and Gao Yihua after they accused him of colluding with the Dragon-Seeking Society, then revealed his Immortal Register and identity as a leader of the Incense Accumulation Sect. After Li Ling left the Mystic Continent for home, Su Yongdao agreed to keep watch on his disciple Zhu Lisheng.

• Yin Changming escaped the attacks of Pu Hui and Gao Yihua while Li Ling withdrew from the fight.
• Pu Hui and Gao Yihua accused Li Ling of aiding Yin Changming and attacked him, but Li Ling overwhelmed them with his three-headed, eight-armed dharma form.
• Li Ling showed them his Immortal Register, identified himself, and warned them not to treat him like an ordinary rogue cultivator.
• Yin Changming and a gray-robed man watched Li Ling fight, and the man said he hoped to cooperate with Li Ling and the Incense Path against Great Qian’s pressure.
• Pu Hui and Gao Yihua reported their encounter to Su Yongdao, who learned that Li Ling had left the Mystic Continent and agreed to monitor Zhu Lisheng.

Li Ling planned to spread the Incense Path beyond the North Sea while Zhu Lisheng’s disciples developed products for Yue Province. They discovered that Sweet Spring Incense could make dangerous water safe, opening the way to wider settlement and cultivation.

• Li Ling told Li Ying to contact the Dragon-Seeking Society and spread the Incense Path, despite the risks of political division and Great Qian’s reaction.
• Li Ling let Bai Xiaohuan tend flowers rather than force her to master cultivation techniques.
• Zhu Lisheng reported that incense products were selling well in Yue Province and urged his disciples to solve the region’s dangerous water problem caused by living gu parasites.
• A disciple found a local creature resembling water musk, and Zhu Lisheng’s group worked out how to use its essence against parasites in water.
• Zhu Lisheng’s disciples created Sweet Spring Incense, a tasteless, refreshing liquid that could kill living gu parasites and other pathogens in water.

Zhu Lisheng and the Incense Path developed Sweet Spring Incense to combat Living Gu Parasites, winning the King of Yue’s support and opening a trade channel for the sect. As Great Qian prepared to attack the Demon Kingdom, Yin Changming told Li Ling that the invasion might create a chance to seize the Dragon Heart Stone.

• Zhu Lisheng investigated a clinic treating Living Gu Parasites and learned that remote communities lacked the resources to care for infected patients.
• The Incense Path cultivators developed Sweet Spring Incense, which killed parasites in water and could enter the bloodstream to treat or prevent infection.
• Zhao Kong praised Zhu Lisheng, granted the Incense Path an exclusive operating concession, and ordered more than ten thousand bottles of Sweet Spring Incense.
• Over the following months, the Incense Path helped Yue Province tackle miasma and parasites, expanded its mainland trade, and supplied goods for Great Qian’s planned campaign against the Demon Kingdom.
• Yin Changming told Li Ling that Great Qian’s attack could weaken the Demon Kingdom’s fortune and create an opening to seize the Dragon Heart Stone.

As Great Qian prepared to campaign against the Demon Kingdom, the Incense Accumulation Sect sent disciples to support the army. Huo Liang and his fellow Incense Path cultivators helped rout the demons at a mountain stronghold with Unconquerable Incense, earning the campaign’s first merit.

• Yin Changming told Li Ling that the Dragon-Seeking Society sought the Dragon Vein in Soul-Rending Mountain, and Mu Qingsi warned Li Ling against trusting the society.
• Zhao Kong ordered Great Qian’s armies to prepare for a campaign against the Southern Yue Chieftain, the Ancient Wu Remnants, and the Demon Kingdom, and Zhu Lisheng agreed to send elite disciples.
• Huo Liang and seventeen other Incense Accumulation Sect disciples joined the army, where Zhu Lisheng equipped them with artifacts and Dragonfire Incense.
• After the vanguard suffered casualties against the Demon Kingdom’s strongholds, two Incense Path disciples used Unconquerable Incense to sap the demon soldiers’ will to fight.
• Great Qian’s army routed the weakened demons, captured the stronghold, and earned the Incense Path its first merit of the campaign.

Zhu Lisheng and the Incense Path disciples earned official ranks in Great Qian, gaining authority and the protection of national fortune. Li Ling learned that their appointments carried both benefits and constraints, then used the fortune reaching him to plan another attempt to peer into Soul-Rending Mountain.

• Huo Liang and the other Incense Path practitioners supported Great Qian's army with incense, scent detection, and food-preservation methods, earning acclaim and accumulating merits.
• The King of Yue appointed Zhu Lisheng and the other disciples to official posts, granting them ranks, authority, and access to Great Qian's national fortune.
• Li Ling sensed the golden dragon's fortune blessing Zhu Lisheng and contacted him, learning that the appointment had improved his abilities and clarified his path to Core Formation.
• Yin Changming warned Li Ling that Great Qian's fortune could bind ambitious cultivators, though Li Ling's arrangements had allowed him to benefit without bearing most of the costs.
• Li Ling told Zhu Lisheng to fulfill his duties, then privately planned to use the faint shelter of fortune to try peering into Soul-Rending Mountain again.

Li Ling entered the Dream Realm projection of Soul-Rending Mountain to investigate its hidden treasure and discovered the heart of the Vile Flood Dragon Zhu Wu, including a Dragon Heart Stone. When he tried to take it, a dragon-vein phantom attacked, alerting the Demon Kingdom and prompting Hou Lu to lock down the mountain.

• Li Ling used Fragrance-Guided Dream Entry to reach the Dream Realm corresponding to Soul-Rending Mountain and slipped past its defenses.
• Li Ling found a crystalline heart embedded in the grotto wall and concluded it was Zhu Wu’s regenerating heart, with a Dragon Heart Stone at its core.
• Li Ling reached toward the Dragon Heart Stone, but a flood-dragon phantom burst from the heart and pursued him.
• The disturbance triggered a thunderclap in Soul-Rending Mountain, and Qing Ji reported that the dragon vein had been disturbed.
• Hou Lu ordered the mountain locked down and flew into the grotto to stand guard.

Li Ling escaped the collapsing Dream Realm after summoning the Great Qian Dragon Vein to battle the Demon Kingdom Dragon Vein, then encountered a mysterious Heavenly Book and Immortal Registers. Back in reality, he concluded that Zhu Wu had guided him to the vision, and he and Mu Qingsi were left wondering why Bai Xiaohuan’s name appeared in the book.

• Li Ling fled the Flood Dragon through the collapsing Dream Realm and used Formless Incense to evade its pursuit.
• Li Ling summoned the Great Qian Dragon Vein, which fought the Demon Kingdom Dragon Vein while he escaped Soul-Rending Mountain.
• A mysterious red light struck Li Ling and carried his consciousness to a celestial palace, where a Heavenly Book showed him concealed Immortal Register entries and one bearing Bai Xiaohuan’s name.
• Li Ling woke in the Fragrant Incense Pavilion, where Mu Qingsi asked about his distress and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
• Li Ling recounted the vision to Mu Qingsi and concluded that Zhu Wu had stirred his mind; he wondered why Bai Xiaohuan’s name appeared in an Immortal Register.

Li Ling developed the Incense Compendium as the Incense Accumulation Sect expanded into Yue Province, where its disciples supported Great Qian’s war against the Demon Kingdom. Dragonfire Incense helped the army capture a stronghold, and Yue Province’s officials began appointing Incense Path disciples to bridge mortal and immortal institutions.

• Hou Lu, Qing Ji, and Bai Yu investigated the fading disturbance in Earth Dragon Cave but could not determine why the Great Qian Dragon Vein had clashed with the Demon Kingdom’s dragon vein.
• Li Ling heard Nie Yingzhi report that the sect was sending another hundred disciples and three hundred apprentices to Yue Province, along with supplies and newly discovered incense materials.
• Li Ling proposed the Incense Compendium to classify incense essences and give Incense Path disciples without Fragrance-Sensing Talent a way to measure and understand them.
• The Yue Province army used cannons and Dragonfire Incense to destroy a demon stronghold’s defenses and capture it at low cost.
• Yue Province’s officials recognized the Incense Path disciples’ education and adaptability, then appointed many of them as grassroots attendants and army cultivators.

Five years after arriving in Great Qian Yuezhou, Zhu Lisheng saw the Incense Transmission Dao’s farming and workshops flourishing and urged his disciples to build practical skills rather than chase distant cultivation goals. Zhao Kong then informed him that the armies had gathered at Soul-Rending Mountain for the final assault.

• Zhao Kong and Zhou Ji discussed how the Incense Accumulation Sect’s education produced talented officials and whether Yue Province could adopt its methods while managing the influence of Incense Path practitioners.
• Zhu Lisheng inspected fields of wonder-scent beans and tobacco, which the mountain folk had begun growing as profitable cash crops.
• Zhu Lisheng visited Nanzhi County’s busy workshops, where local workers prepared incense and other supplies for the war.
• Zhu Lisheng taught his disciples that Qi Refining alone did not make them exceptional and urged them to become capable artisans and serve practical needs.
• Zhu Lisheng prepared proposals for expanding workshops and recruiting workers, but Zhao Kong told him the armies had joined at Soul-Rending Mountain and would soon attack.

Great Qian’s army began its assault on Soul-Rending Mountain, where Hou Lu’s weakened Demon Kingdom struggled to resist. As the battle wore on, rival factions and a neighboring Demon King secretly converged to seize the mountain’s Dragon Heart Stone and Dragon Vein.

• Zhang Wenxuan surveyed the forces gathered around Soul-Rending Mountain and ordered two armies to send out vanguards while Great Qian’s Dragon Vein strengthened its troops.
• Hou Lu ordered the demons to prepare for battle, and fighting erupted on the mountain’s southern and northern approaches as human cannons and demon forces clashed.
• Yin Changming and Elder Fu watched the battle from a distant peak, waiting for the Demon Kingdom’s fortune to weaken enough for them to seize the Dragon Heart Stone.
• Members of the Divine Dragon Cult hid nearby and debated when to move, while planning to take the Dragon Heart Stone and the Demon Kingdom’s Dragon Vein.
• The Golden-Haired Lion King arrived with his followers, intending to claim Soul-Rending Mountain’s fortune after Hou Lu refused to request his aid.

As the Great Qian army pressed Hou Lu’s forces, Yin Changming and Elder Fu infiltrated Soul-Rending Mountain to seize the Dragon Heart Stone. They reached the Spirit Vein Spring, where Ju Huang confronted them, and the chapter ended with her knocking Yin Changming down as he moved toward the treasure.

• Yin Changming and Elder Fu entered Soul-Rending Mountain while the Demon Kingdom’s fortune weakened, and Li Ling secretly followed them into the mountain through the dream realm.
• During the Great Qian army’s assault, Elder Fu and Yin Changming disguised themselves as Demon Soldiers and slipped into the cavern holding the Dragon Heart Stone.
• Elder Fu broke the cavern’s restrictions, and the pair reached the Spirit Vein Spring without encountering guards.
• Ju Huang emerged beside the spring and identified herself as a Peak Envoy of the Seventh Sacred Peak, a powerful being with a sacred scion bloodline.
• Elder Fu and Yin Changming split up to fight Ju Huang and take the Dragon Heart Stone, but Ju Huang evaded Elder Fu’s attack and knocked Yin Changming off his feet.

The Divine Dragon Cult, the Dragon-Seeking Society, and the Golden-Haired Lion King reached the cavern and joined the fight against Ju Huang, one of Lord Bashan’s Seven Great Generals. Zhuang Dongwang seized the Dragon Heart Stone, but Ju Huang took it from him and used its power to transform her blood into a deadly weapon.

• The Divine Dragon Cult members and the Golden-Haired Lion King arrived to find Ju Huang battling Yin Changming, Elder Fu, and their Black Demon Corpses.
• Zhuang Dongwang joined forces with Yin Changming and Elder Fu, and their group attacked Ju Huang, who evaded them through the cavern’s passages and killed a Divine Dragon Cult member.
• Zhuang Dongwang shattered the cavern walls and exposed the Dragon Heart Stone, then endured its power long enough to seize it.
• Elder Fu and Yin Changming freed Ju Huang and attacked Zhuang Dongwang, allowing Ju Huang to knock him aside and coil around the Dragon Heart Stone.
• The Golden-Haired Lion King explained that Ju Huang’s Nine-Infant bloodline let her withstand the stone’s power, and Ju Huang swallowed the gem.
• Ju Huang softened under the stone’s influence and killed a Divine Dragon Cult member with blood transformed by the Dragon Heart Stone; Zhuang Dongwang recognized the danger of her blood.

Ju Huang used the Dragon Heart Stone to overwhelm the cultivators, but the Great Qian Dragon Vein suppressed her as the Demon Kingdom’s army collapsed outside. Elder Fu and Zhuang Dongwang trapped her with their hidden treasures, giving Li Ling the opening to seize her and force the Dragon Heart Stone out.

• Elder Fu and Zhuang Dongwang agreed to cooperate against Ju Huang, who used blood-red rays to kill the Thunder Envoy and other fighters while shrugging off most attacks.
• The Great Qian army overwhelmed the Demon Kingdom’s forces, draining its fortune as Lord Tiger fled and the Blue-Feathered Thunder Roc was gravely wounded.
• The Great Qian Dragon Vein suppressed Ju Huang and forced her to retreat, but Elder Fu ensnared her with a golden rope while Zhuang Dongwang attacked with a blade made from Zhu Wu’s claw.
• Elder Fu revealed the Dragon-Seeking Society’s Dragon Tooth Sword, and Li Ling suddenly appeared behind Ju Huang, grabbed her throat, and forced the Dragon Heart Stone out of her.

Li Ling seized the Dragon Heart Stone from Ju Huang and escaped the attacks of Zhuang Dongwang and Elder Fu by using his incense arts and a prepared retreat. After the others left Soul-Rending Mountain, Li Ling revealed that he had secretly monitored them for days and flew toward the coast.

• Li Ling surprised Ju Huang, took the Dragon Heart Stone, and evaded her and the attacks from Zhuang Dongwang and Elder Fu.
• Li Ling used Formless Incense to slip between the Dragon Tooth Sword and Dragon-Claw Flying Knife, then stored the stone and escaped through Soul-Returning Reentry as Ju Huang sealed the passage.
• Ju Huang was trapped inside with the Golden-Haired Lion King, while Zhuang Dongwang questioned Elder Fu and Yin Changming about Li Ling before the groups went their separate ways.
• Li Ling emerged from his hidden mountain hollow and revealed that he had used Returning Soul Incense to monitor the others for days before flying toward the coast.

After discovering that the Dragon Heart Stone could not be taken beyond the Mystic Continent, Li Ling searched Yue Prefecture for a place to establish it. The Great Qian authorities tracked the dragon vein and pursued him, and Li Ling found that Pu Hui and Gao Yihua were directing the hunt.

• Li Ling discovered that crossing from land into the sea with the Dragon Heart Stone drew the attention of a terrifying unseen will, forcing him to remain on the Mystic Continent.
• Li Ling studied a map of Yue Prefecture and searched for suitable sites to plant the Dragon Heart Stone, but found none that met his needs.
• Wind-Catching Agents intercepted Li Ling near Windward Harbor, and he escaped after pretending to produce a Travel Permit.
• Li Ling realized the authorities could track the dragon vein and fled as government forces searched the Market Ward.
• After his pursuers located him again, Li Ling hid his body on Yue Province's border and sent out his soul to find the hunt's leaders, Pu Hui and Gao Yihua.

Li Ling ambushed Pu Hui and Gao Yihua, wounded them, and stole their Dragon-Seeking Disk before escaping to a remote mountain range. He found a way to mask the Dragon Vein's aura and considered the dangers and possibilities of possessing it, including its connection to the Heavenly Book and Zhu Wu's true spirit.

• Pu Hui and Gao Yihua tracked Li Ling toward Cloud Province, but Li Ling followed them and attacked from concealment.
• Pu Hui used a Truth-Seeking Talisman to reveal Li Ling, while Gao Yihua's Sword Pellet destroyed Li Ling's avatar and slightly injured his Nascent Soul.
• Li Ling struck both men down, took their Dragon-Seeking Disk, and spared their lives before disappearing.
• Pu Hui reported the theft, prompting the Dao Registry Bureau to call for reinforcements as Su Yongdao ordered an investigation.
• Li Ling tested the Dragon-Seeking Disk and found that evil-repelling incense could mask the Dragon Vein's aura, then crushed the disk and hid its fragments.
• Li Ling weighed his options for the Dragon Vein and considered its links to the Heavenly Book, Zhu Wu's true spirit, and his own cultivation.

Li Ling concealed the Dragon Heart Stone in an abandoned Great Lin River God Temple and used incense to create a hidden artificial blessed land. He tested his theory on Bai Xiaohuan and confirmed that Dust-Transcending Incense and Formless Incense could erase her entry from the Heavenly Book, leaving him wondering whether the Merchant Association’s leaders already knew the secret.

• Li Ling hid the Dragon Heart Stone in the ruined temple and used incense and the Great Lin River God’s divine domain to conceal its aura and cultivate a small artificial blessed land.
• Li Ling arranged for the Merchant Association to bring Bai Xiaohuan from the North Sea so he could test whether incense could remove someone from the Heavenly Book.
• Bai Xiaohuan burned and inhaled the Dust-Transcending Incense and Formless Incense, and Li Ling returned to the temple to attempt to view the Heavenly Book.
• After more than a hundred failed attempts, Li Ling reached the Heavenly Book and saw that Bai Xiaohuan’s name, date, official post, and rank had disappeared from its page.
• Li Ling confirmed that the two incenses could sever karmic ties and free someone from the Great Dao’s restraints, then questioned whether the Merchant Association’s leaders already knew about their power.