Chapter Summaries

Li Ling learned that Yan Buyong’s death had sparked a violent scramble across the Mystic Continent and urged his associates to stay out of it. After returning to Northsky Island, he received news that the Great Qian Emperor had been assassinated and that the King of Yue was being sent to Qian Province to take the throne.

• Li Ling learned from One-Mind Daoist that Yan Buyong, a Spirit Transformation cultivator, had been killed and that powerful factions were competing for his remains and attainments.
• As the Mystic Continent descended into chaos over Yan Buyong’s corpse and treasures, Li Ling warned Zhu Lisheng and Li Ying to avoid the fighting and focus on their work.
• Li Ling returned to the Floating Cloud Platform, where he learned that the Great Qian Emperor had been assassinated by a Nascent Soul expert who escaped after the Netherworld Sect intervened.
• Li Ling warned Zhu Lisheng and Li Ying to keep a low profile and urged Zhao Kong not to pursue the throne, but Zhu Lisheng told him the King of Yue had already been ordered to take it.
• Zhu Lisheng reported that the Three Sects would not let the King of Yue refuse and had sent at least four Nascent Soul experts to escort him to Qian Province.

Li Ling learned that disturbances and attacks spreading from the West Sea were worsening, while Luo Jingwei investigated them and guarded the North Sea's shipping lanes. As Li Ling prepared to travel to Goldsource Island, he also learned that Li Ying had joined the dangerous struggle for a legacy in Mystic Continent.

• Luo Jingwei rescued stranded merchants, pursued their attackers from the West Sea, and returned their ship while punishing those responsible.
• After another treasure ship was massacred, Luo Jingwei tracked down a Foundation Establishment rogue cultivator from the West Sea, and further attacks convinced him that a wider calamity was spreading.
• Luo Jingwei sent Li Ling a detailed report and proposals, but Northsky Island had shelved the report while Li Ling was away.
• Li Ling praised Luo Jingwei's initiative and learned that Li Ying had entered the contest for a legacy in Mystic Continent, despite Li Ling's concerns about the danger.
• Li Ling received an invitation to Goldsource Island to accept promotion to Grand Elder of the Merchant Association and prepare to refine a powerful treasure.

Li Ling visited Goldsource Island to join the Four Seas Commerce Guild’s senior leadership and negotiate how Dust-Transcending Incense would be produced and sold. He secured the guild’s agreement to auction the incense while pushing for sales in the North Sea and on Nine-Wan Island, despite the security risks.

• The Four Seas Commerce Guild welcomed Li Ling to Goldsource Island and offered him a supreme elder position and support for the Incense Accumulation Sect in exchange for joining its leadership.
• Li Ling met with fourteen Nascent Soul experts and explained that immaculate treasure materials limited Dust-Transcending Incense production, which he could currently guarantee once every ten years.
• Qiu Canzi confirmed that suitable immaculate treasure materials were exceptionally rare and difficult to refine, making Li Ling’s skills essential to securing incense production.
• Pei Qingguang proposed that the guild handle the incense auctions, and Li Ling agreed to supply at least three portions every ten years on commission.
• Li Ling demanded that one portion be auctioned on Northsky Island and that he retain the right to hold exclusive auctions on Nine-Wan Island.
• After the elders warned that those locations could be raided, Li Ling asked the guild to provide guards and reinforce his sect’s defenses so the auctions could proceed.

Li Ling secured the General Association’s agreement to his terms for producing and selling the incense substance while protecting the Incense Accumulation Sect’s control over its legacy. He also acquired the Wind Spirit Butterfly, a Spirit Treasure that greatly amplified his and Mu Qingsi’s Incense Path abilities, and left negotiations poised for a final arrangement.

• Li Ling told Mu Qingsi he had insisted on autonomy to protect the Incense Accumulation Sect from the General Association and to prevent it from controlling future proceeds and distribution.
• Qiu Canzi and the other experts failed to reproduce or understand Li Ling’s incense essence, while Li Ling commissioned Lei Yezi to refine his Skywind Crystal into a treasure.
• Lei Yezi completed the Wind Spirit Butterfly in seven days, and Li Ling discovered it could command wind, extend the reach of Incense Path abilities, and grow through feeding on incense essence.
• Li Ling had Mu Qingsi use the Wind Spirit Butterfly and her matching earrings, allowing her Spirit-Bewildering Incense to spread across the Inner Garden at nearly Core Formation strength.
• The General Association agreed in principle to Li Ling’s proposed supply allocation and revenue split, offered rare treasures and logistical support, and required that it receive at least half of any independently refined products for sale.

Li Ling joined the Four Seas Commerce Guild’s Grand Council as a nonexecutive honorary elder and began using its resources to strengthen the Incense Accumulation Sect. As the sect’s disciples celebrated on Goldsource Island, Chi Yingting confronted a visiting cultivator who insulted their sect as third-rate.

• Pei Qingguang admitted Li Ling to the Grand Council and granted him quasi-Nascent Soul treatment, an official seal, and an Edict Talisman.
• Li Ling learned about his new privileges, consulted the General Association’s secret texts on Mystic Heaven Dao Venerable, and arranged for guild personnel to support Incense Mountain Court.
• Li Ling planned to build the Incense Accumulation Sect’s intelligence network with his own disciples and subordinates while leaving the guild’s special envoys unused for now.
• News of Li Ling’s appointment spread among cultivators, many of whom dismissed the incense path as an unfamiliar side path or viewed the appointment as a commercial arrangement.
• Chi Yingting and the Incense Accumulation Sect’s disciples celebrated the guild’s support at the Drunken Immortal Tower while a visiting group discussed Li Ling’s appointment nearby.
• Third Senior Brother called the Incense Accumulation Sect a third-rate sect with no future, and Chi Yingting crushed his cup and rose to confront him.

Chi Yingting fought Hua Aotian of the Red Emperor Sword Sect after Hua and his fellow disciples insulted the Incense Accumulation Sect, and Chi defeated him with his seven emotions incense arts. Li Ling challenged the patrol office’s unequal treatment, and Chi was released, leaving the dispute between the sects unresolved.

• Chi Yingting confronted Hua Aotian and the Red Emperor Sword Sect disciples after they insulted the Incense Accumulation Sect, and the two agreed to settle the matter through combat.
• Chi Yingting used his seven emotions incense deities to disrupt Hua Aotian’s mind, but Hua’s deep Dharma power let him resist and counterattack.
• Chi Yingting summoned an Incense Ancestor Dharma Form and overwhelmed Hua Aotian, who was struck into an archway before the island patrol arrested both fighters.
• Li Ling learned that Chi Yingting had been detained while Hua Aotian had been released, and demanded that the patrol office treat both sides fairly.
• The hall master agreed to release Chi Yingting after Li Ling argued that the Red Emperor Sword Sect had provoked the fight.

After Chi Yingting defeated Hua Aotian, Li Ling negotiated a reconciliation between the Incense Accumulation Sect and the Scarlet-Yellow Sword Sect. The dispute ended peacefully, but Li Ling recognized that his sect remained vulnerable as upheaval threatened the wider cultivation world.

• Li Ling released Chi Yingting without formal punishment, while warning him against rashly risking the sect’s interests.
• Li Ling met Hua Qingyuan through the Merchant Association, and Hua Aotian apologized so the two sects could settle their dispute.
• Chi Yingting asked whether the Incense Accumulation Sect was merely a third-rate sect, and Li Ling explained how its standing compared with the wider cultivation world.
• Li Ling told Chi Yingting that the sect must combine incense-making with the strength to defend itself, and described resource-based cultivation as a rising force.
• Li Ling worried that coming turmoil could endanger the Incense Accumulation Sect despite its alliances and the General Association’s support.

Li Ling established an incense market on Goldsource Island and learned that immortal spirit marrow could supply Dust-Transcending Incense. As he considered the power struggles that might come with approaching turmoil, flying demons attacked a treasure ship near the Bamboo Step Kingdom.

• Li Ling urged Chi Yingting to cultivate toward Core Formation so he could help support their sect.
• Li Ling negotiated with the Merchant Association and other parties to establish a cooperative incense market in Goldsource Island’s Eastern City.
• Pei Qingguang brought Li Ling immortal spirit marrow, which Li Ling confirmed could be used to refine Dust-Transcending Incense.
• Li Ling told Chi Yingting that Spirit Peak Blessed Lands had historically been gained through war and reflected on the coming age of turmoil.
• A treasure ship sailing near the Bamboo Step Kingdom encountered a swarm of flying demons, and its crew raised the alarm and prepared to fight.

A vast demon tide overwhelmed a treasure ship and devastated the Long Sea archipelago, killing more than a million people before spreading toward the North Sea. Luo Jingwei and his allies learned that the catastrophe was approaching their waters, recalled their scattered forces, and began gathering reports while hoping stronger factions could respond.

• A flock of flying demons attacked Luo Jingwei's treasure ship, and its crew fought back with mechanical crossbows, the ship's array, and Thunderclap Bombs.
• The pirates saw countless demons filling the sky and heading toward island kingdoms, while some descended to attack the ship again.
• Demon flocks descended on the Long Sea and slaughtered its inhabitants, wiping out more than a million people within a few days before spreading elsewhere.
• A captain reported the catastrophe's scale and the demons' northeastward migration to Luo Jingwei and the assembled leaders.
• Fellow Daoist He said the West Sea had suffered a separate demon disaster involving powerful sea beasts and speculated that a Demon Cavern or Sea Eye might have appeared.
• Luo Jingwei ordered the leaders to recall their scattered forces, compile regional reports, and respond as circumstances required.

Li Ling returned to find the North Sea in turmoil and organized regional defenses, economic relief, and military preparations against the Demon Calamity. After the Sea Wolf Gang massacred Flowing River Island, he ordered the gang eradicated, while its leader Old She prepared another attack and planned to escape amid the chaos.

• Li Ling returned to Floating Cloud Platform, where Nie Yingzhi reported blocked shipping routes, rising spirit material prices, and Luo Jingwei's findings about the unusual demons and devils.
• Li Ling ordered Luo Jingwei to continue investigating and summoned the North Sea Branch Headquarters elders to coordinate their response.
• The elders agreed to secure Northsky Island and nearby markets, stabilize prices and aid refugees, and reorganize the Shark-Slaying Alliance for military operations.
• News arrived that the Sea Wolf Gang had looted Flowing River Island and massacred its people, prompting Li Ling to demand the gang's eradication.
• Old She and the Sea Wolf Gang shipmasters reached Red Conch Island to attack, while Old She concealed his recent Core Formation breakthrough and plotted to abandon his accomplices and flee.

After divining that She Xingde, a newly advanced Core Formation pirate, had masterminded the massacres at the Market Wards, Li Ling vowed to hunt him down and destroy his forces. He mobilized Luo Jingwei’s pirate faction to carry out the pursuit, and Feng Qing agreed that they should help Li Ling unite the North Sea against the demonic crisis.

• The Merchant Association arrived too late to catch the pirates, while the Council of Elders argued over whether to pursue them; Li Ling left to investigate using divination.
• Li Ling traced aura from the massacre victims and identified She Xingde as the mastermind, then promised the survivors he would handle the matter himself.
• Li Ling used the victims’ aura traces to determine the pirates’ approximate direction and ordered Luo Jingwei’s forces to hunt them down.
• Luo Jingwei, An Qinglong, and Feng Qing discussed Li Ling’s motives, and Luo explained that Li Ling already held legitimate authority as a senior figure in the General Association.
• Feng Qing realized Li Ling sincerely wanted to unite the North Sea against the demonic crisis and agreed that they should help him.

Luo Jingwei’s forces attacked She Xingde’s pirate fleet, prompting its Foundation Establishment leaders to flee while the ships were overwhelmed. Feng Qing confronted She Xingde at sea, and as he began to lose ground, Li Ling arrived in avatar form.

• Luo Jingwei’s men boarded the pirates’ ships, killed those who resisted, and refused to accept surrender.
• She Xingde persuaded the other Foundation Establishment cultivators to abandon their ships and escape underwater, leaving false traces behind.
• Luo Jingwei sent An Qinglong into the fleet, while his forces anticipated the leaders’ escape and ordered a pursuit.
• Feng Qing attacked the fleeing She Xingde with his undying azure flame, but She Xingde summoned a giant water demon and gradually gained the advantage.
• Li Ling projected his soul into an avatar and arrived amid the mist as Feng Qing challenged She Xingde with an unexplained fragrance.

Li Ling used Feng Qing’s incense offering and the Wind Spirit Butterfly to kill She Xingde and capture his true core, then gathered reports and demon materials from refugees fleeing the West Sea. After reaching Northsky Island, he announced She Xingde’s death and asked the elders to help investigate the Demon Calamity.

• Feng Qing summoned Li Ling through Returning Soul Incense, and Li Ling overwhelmed She Xingde with the Wind Spirit Butterfly’s power.
• Li Ling killed She Xingde, captured his escaping true core, and left Feng Qing and Luo Jingwei’s group to pursue the remaining pirates.
• Li Ling questioned West Sea refugees and bought demon inner elixirs, a demon heart, and demon claws from the rogue cultivator surnamed He.
• Li Ling traveled farther west, contacted Northsky Island, and arrived while its elders were organizing a force to pursue She Xingde.
• Li Ling told the stunned elders that She Xingde had already been slain and asked them to gather information and physical objects to investigate the Demon Calamity.

Li Ling coordinated Northsky Island’s investigation of the Demon Calamity and used reports from across the seas to trace the demons to ruins at Quelu Island. After suspecting a connection to the Nether Path, he prepared to investigate further.

• Northsky Island’s investigators surveyed demon-struck areas, questioned wary survivors, documented demon populations, and ambushed a flock of batlike demons for a bounty.
• Reports from Northsky Island and the West Sea revealed that the West Sea faced a far larger demon invasion and could not yet spare forces to investigate its source.
• Li Ling concluded that the demons’ shared bloodlines and evolution might point to a Demonic Path expert and a Nether Path technique spiraling out of control.
• Li Ling contacted Elder Shang, Yun Li, Qi Heng, and Xiu Yexin, and they agreed that the Demon Calamity might involve the Nether Path but could not confirm a link to the Blood Sea Demon Venerable.
• Elder Shang reported that the West Sea had located the calamity’s suspected origin at Quelu Island, where newly surfaced ruins might be an Ancient Cultivator Residence.
• Li Ling recognized Quelu Island’s name as a clue and felt he could use the new information to investigate further.

Li Ling traced the source of the North Sea disaster to an ancient immortal abode where a dead Spirit Transformation cultivator’s corpse was rotting and spawning demons. He and the North Sea elders identified a possible resurrection plot and learned the site was likely the lost Que Luo Domain, where a Netherworld Sect elder had died centuries ago.

• Li Ling used the Dreamscape Return to Heaven Art to find an abandoned ancient abode beneath a newly emerged island and saw a corpse releasing baleful energy that formed demons.
• Li Ling reported his vision to Elder Shang, Yun Li, Qi Heng, and Xiu Yexin, who concluded the corpse belonged to a middle-antiquity Spirit Transformation cultivator and its decay was causing the demonic outbreak.
• Li Ling and the elders suspected the corpse was being used to resurrect someone, though they could not determine whether the target was the dead cultivator, his killer, or a potential demonic puppet.
• The elders agreed they had to stop the spreading demonic disaster before it transformed the North Sea.
• Qi Heng used his contacts to learn that Netherworld Sect elder You Heng had died near the former lands of Que Luo after becoming trapped inside an immortal abode during an attack on its rogue cultivator owner.

Li Ling failed to persuade Northsky Island’s elders to join an expedition to the Que Luo Immortal Abode, so he recruited a small team of willing cultivators and arranged rewards and obligations through Northsky Island. As the demon tide threatened the North Sea, the team gathered to depart, and Li Ling was surprised when his wife Mu Qingsi joined them.

• Li Ling urged the North Sea’s powers to recover or destroy the corpse behind the demonic disaster, but the elders refused to accompany him.
• Li Ling recruited Luo Jingwei and his pirates by offering treasure shares and a chance to clear their names, while warning that he intended to reform the North Sea.
• Li Ling selected two Core Formation rogue cultivators and Chang Hao, while many lower-level cultivators volunteered for the dangerous expedition.
• As another hundred million demons spread into the North Sea, Li Ling finalized the roster and had Northsky Island establish contracts, compensation, and expedition rules.
• At the May tenth gathering, Mu Qingsi told Li Ling she would join the expedition, and he agreed after she explained her strength and reasons.

Li Ling and the cultivators searched the newly risen island, questioned a dead cultivator’s remnant soul, and found the World Gate after defeating its demon guards. As they prepared to enter, Li Ling recognized the last returning searcher as an impostor and struck first.

• Li Ling divided the search party into teams to look for the Immortal Abode’s entrance.
• Elder Xiu questioned a corpse while Yang Guangli used divination to confirm that its owner had been betrayed and murdered.
• The cultivators followed a report of the World Gate and helped eliminate the demons guarding it.
• Li Ling sent Chang Hao, Feng Qing, and half the party to guard the entrance with the Mystic Traversal Talisman's dao marker token, while the rest prepared to enter.
• When the last searcher returned late, Li Ling sensed that his scent was wrong and attacked, calling him a fiend and demanding that he reveal his true form.

Li Ling led the expedition through the World Gate into a spirit-rich cave heaven, where the group found a ruined immortal palace and encountered dangerous yin spirits. He used evil-repelling incense to slow the spirits and protect those they were possessing.

• Old Eight transformed into a demonic monster, and Li Ling, An Qinglong, and Feng Qing destroyed it after it attacked the group.
• Li Ling warned the cultivators to stay together and keep watch as they entered the cave heaven through the World Gate.
• The expedition crossed a failing grand array and reached the ruined immortal palace, where Li Ling sensed a vast, ominous presence in the Inner Garden.
• Li Ling led two cultivators ahead to scout, but one transformed, forcing the group to retreat as several weak cultivators came under attack.
• Li Ling projected his soul, identified the attackers as fragmented yin spirits, and used the Myriad Wonders Incense Transformation Art to restrain them.

Li Ling and the cultivators explored the Inner Garden after Evil-Repelling Incense protected them from yin spirits, and Gong Chi awakened with increased cultivation and a Wood Dao ability after absorbing the remnants of a yin spirit. The group gathered spiritual plants and incense materials while navigating the distorted terrain, unaware that the ancient corpse ahead had begun to move.

• Li Ling used Evil-Repelling Incense and Fire-Thunder spells to help the group defeat the yin spirits, though the rogue cultivator who had been fully possessed died.
• Li Ling examined the unconscious Gong Chi, then led the group forward in rotating teams while incense smoke kept the route safe.
• Gong Chi awakened with stronger cultivation and an innate-seeming Wood Dao ability, and Li Ling concluded that he had absorbed ying spirits and spirit resonance from the yin spirit.
• Li Ling explained the risks of ying spirits and Soul Possession, while the cultivators speculated about gaining power from the remains of the ancient Middle Antiquity figure.
• Li Ling found ancient agarwood suitable for making soul-enhancing incense, and the group collected mutated spiritual plants as they explored the Inner Garden.
• Li Ling and An Qinglong led the group through distorted, hazardous terrain, while the corpse in a nearby courtyard twitched its fingers.

Li Ling and his companions navigated the shattered space near the Inner Garden, where he identified ruins of a once-inhabited mortal settlement. A wandering shadow awakened the demonic forces around them, and after the group defeated a vast horde, a mysterious figure approached as Li Ling warned An Qinglong not to attack.

• Li Ling studied ancient reliefs and explained that the ruins belonged to a populated settlement protected by the Immortal Abode’s powerful master.
• A black shadow rose from the nameless corpse and wandered through nearby gardens, briefly restoring them before they fell back into ruin.
• Li Ling sensed stronger corpse stench as a vast army of demonic shadows surrounded the group, who used Evil-Repelling Incense to defend themselves.
• An Qinglong, Luo Jingwei, Li Ling, and the others fought the demonic horde, with incense, lightning, and fire helping them destroy its members.
• After the army vanished, a single dense, indistinct figure approached, and Li Ling urgently warned An Qinglong not to act rashly.