Chapter Summaries

Mu Qingsi sensed an attack on the Immortal Abode and watched the Xiwu Sect assault its defenders and worksite. As she realized the invaders were targeting the laborers and Grand Array construction, her worry for Li Ling and the site drove her to break through into Core Formation.

• Mu Qingsi contacted Li Ling after feeling uneasy, then rushed upward when Gong Chi's attack shook the underground cavern and her Communication Talisman lost its signal.
• Gong Chi fought Wang Shuo and Lin Dongpi in his ghost-faced wooden form, rejecting Lin Dongpi's offer to join the Xiwu Sect because Elder Li had saved him and the Incense Accumulation Sect had earned his loyalty.
• Lin Rouniang attacked Wang Shuo while Gong Chi held Lin Dongpi back, and Mu Qingsi sent an urgent message to Li Ling using the Incense Prayer Method.
• Jin He and Zhu He pursued Yang Guangli after killing Jia Renjing, while Zhu He left to help the Xiwu Sect attackers destroy the mine and kill its laborers.
• Mu Qingsi recognized that the Xiwu Sect's assault aimed to disrupt the Grand Array's construction, and her intense worry and indignation pushed her into Core Formation.

Mu Qingsi formed a high-grade core and discovered that Li Ling’s Incense Path abilities let her wield power far beyond that of an ordinary Core Formation cultivator. She defeated the Xiwu Sect attackers and killed Zhu He just as Li Ling arrived, astonished and delighted by her breakthrough.

• Mu Qingsi formed a high-grade core, awakened the power of the Cosmic Void, and gained the ability to borrow Heaven-and-Earth Origin Energy through Incense Fumigation.
• Mu Qingsi appeared in the valley and summoned her sword-immortal Incense Deity, whose Sword Qi killed the Xiwu Sect’s Foundation Establishment cultivators.
• Zhu He arrived and attacked Mu Qingsi with a flaming blade, but she shattered it with her Void Storehouse Divine Sword.
• Mu Qingsi’s Sword Pellet used the power of time to pierce Zhu He, and she followed with successive sword arts that killed him.
• Li Ling arrived and realized that Mu Qingsi had advanced to Core Formation with a high-grade core.

Li Ling and Mu Qingsi helped defeat the Xiwu Sect cultivators inside the Immortal Abode, but Wang Shuo escaped through a shattered void passage. Outside, Jian Fenghao ambushed the returning Xiwu Sect elders and forced them to surrender, then learned they had damaged the North Sea forces’ construction efforts.

• Li Ling used Spirit-Bewildering Incense to capture or kill most of the fleeing Xiwu Sect cultivators, then joined Mu Qingsi in rescuing Yang Guangli and capturing Jin He.
• Li Ling, Mu Qingsi, and Lin Rouniang found the aftermath of Lin Rouniang’s fight with Wang Shuo and learned that Lin Dongpi had escaped; Li Ling then detected Wang Shuo’s deception and pursued him through a void rift.
• Li Ling and Mu Qingsi found the minor cave heaven shattered, realized Wang Shuo had escaped, and discussed using Yin-Yang Union to fight a powerful Sky Sword Sect elder if necessary.
• Lin Dongpi and Wang Shuo emerged from the void outside the Que Luo Domain, where Jian Fenghao and his cultivators cut off their escape and demanded their surrender.
• Jian Fenghao offered Lin Dongpi and Wang Shuo positions as attendant elders in the Sky Sword Sect, and the wounded Xiwu Sect cultivators surrendered.
• Lin Dongpi tried to conceal their losses, but Wang Shuo revealed that they had killed Formation Masters and Construction Workers, prompting Jian Fenghao to ask for details.

Jian Fenghao arranged talks with Li Ling while Wang Shuo plotted a surprise assault on the Que Luo Immortal Abode. Li Ling and Mu Qingsi intercepted Wang Shuo’s force and killed him, while Li Ling continued negotiating with Jian Fenghao and prepared to spring a trap.

• Jian Fenghao decided to use talks to test Li Ling and probe for a chance to attack the Immortal Abode.
• Wang Shuo persuaded Jian Fenghao to let Xiwu Sect forces launch a surprise assault, hoping to secure favor with the Sky Sword Sect.
• Jian Fenghao’s force met Li Ling outside the Immortal Abode, where Li Ling showed him the bound Jin He and Zhu He during negotiations.
• Li Ling and Mu Qingsi trapped Wang Shuo and his companions in an enclosed void, and Mu Qingsi killed Wang Shuo with her Sword Pellet.
• Li Ling offered to release Zhu He as a sign of goodwill, but Jian Fenghao sensed an abnormal aura and realized it was a trap.

Li Ling and Mu Qingsi used their dual cultivation to overwhelm Jian Fenghao and the cultivators who had tried to seize the fruits of Li Ling’s battle. After defeating their enemies, they killed most of them but spared a group of Foundation Establishment cultivators, whom Li Ling believed could still reform.

• Li Ling revealed that the apparent Zhu He was a wooden puppet bearing Zhu He’s aura, then trapped Jian Fenghao and the others inside the Water-Moon Mirror’s minor cave heaven.
• Li Ling and Mu Qingsi joined their powers through Yin-Yang Union, raising their cultivation and attacking the trapped cultivators together.
• Their union advanced into a manifestation of ultimate yin and ultimate yang, letting Li Ling bewilder the enemies with Heaven and Earth Have Fragrance while Mu Qingsi killed Jian Fenghao with the Profound Yin Sword Pellet.
• After the surviving cultivators begged for mercy and threatened future retaliation, Li Ling and Mu Qingsi killed them, while Li Ling stopped Mu Qingsi from killing the remaining Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Li Ling defeated the forces of the Sky Sword Sect and Xiwu Sect, recruited some surviving Rogue Cultivators, and organized the Immortal Abode’s defenses and development. As the rival sects challenged him and public attention grew, Li Ling asserted that his strength could protect the Immortal Abode and ordered that fallen allies’ shares go to their heirs.

• Li Ling returned from the Water-Moon Mirror, killed Wang Shuo, Lin Dongpi, Mo Zongying, and the remaining True Disciples, and spared the surrendered Rogue Cultivators.
• Shu Changsheng and the others arrived, and Li Ling instructed Shu Changsheng to manage public opinion, build alliances, and secretly dispose of the traitor.
• Li Ling assigned the captured cultivators to patrol, combat, and mining teams while the North Sea contingent worked to seal the Cave Heaven’s fissures.
• Li Ling and Mu Qingsi’s joint technique reached power beyond four thousand years of cultivation, giving Li Ling confidence that he could hold the Immortal Abode.
• The Xiwu Sect and Sky Sword Sect protested and sought to rescue Jin He, while Li Ling maintained the stalemate and consolidated his cultivation.
• Li Ling ordered that Chang Hao’s and the fallen cultivators’ promised shares be delivered to their heirs, prompting widespread discussion in the North Sea.

After Chang Hao’s death, the Chang Household faced a coordinated seizure of its property and influence on Eastchang Island. Luo Dao arrived with Li Ling’s decree, offering the household a secure path to inherit Chang Hao’s rights and wealth in the Que Luo Immortal Abode.

• Chang Household members argued over whether to surrender their holdings as creditors and rival households moved against them after Chang Hao’s death.
• Chang Qing agreed to give up the Creek Mountain Mine and managed successive demands from Eastchang Island’s households to limit the Chang Household’s losses.
• The Ji Household and the Mo Household arrived to claim the Chang Household’s shares in the Myriad Treasures Tower and sovereignty over a nearby Spirit Island.
• Luo Dao arrived under Li Ling’s decree and announced that the Chang Household could settle Chang Hao’s accounts and inherit his rights and obligations in the Que Luo Immortal Abode.
• Luo Dao said Chang Hao’s 2.836 billion spirit stones had been prepared there, and Chang Qing welcomed the news as timely help.

Li Ling gathered allies, workers, and resources to develop the Que Luo Immortal Abode while honoring the shares and inheritances owed to others. After nine years of construction, the grand array severed the Immortal Abode from the outside world and moved it into the chaos void, establishing Li Ling’s practical control.

• Chang Qing chose to send the Chang Household’s eligible children to join the Incense Accumulation Sect and sent a group to the Que Luo Domain with Luo Dao.
• Li Ling honored the Immortal Abode shares and inheritances of fallen cultivators, earning widespread trust and prompting the Shang Family to offer supplies and personnel.
• Sea Ji brought displaced merfolk and sea folk to work in the Immortal Abode, while Shang Yuxian delivered resources and skilled workers in exchange for benefits.
• Luo Dao brought the Chang Household and other rogue cultivators to the Immortal Abode, where they joined its growing workforce.
• Li Ling spent nine years overseeing the Immortal Abode’s development as his control and the Incense Accumulation Sect’s sovereignty became established.
• Lin Ji and thirty-six formation masters activated the completed grand array, severing the Immortal Abode’s connection to the outside world and relocating it into the chaos void.

Li Ling and Lin Ji completed the Heavenly Star Reflection Method, connecting the Que Luo Immortal Abode to the North Sea and beginning the Incense Accumulation Sect’s relocation there. With the new home secured, Li Ling turned his attention back to the severe lingering consequences of the Demon Calamity in the western North Sea.

• After nine years of work, Lin Ji saw Lunar Yin take its place in the sky, and Li Ling celebrated the array’s progress with an Incense-Burning Feast and a market gathering.
• At dawn, Lin Ji used the Star-Leading Line and Fixed Compass to finish the Grand Array after Solar Yang rose, opening a gateway between the immortal abode and the North Sea.
• Nie Yingzhi and the others crossed through the gateway, and Nie told Li Ling that the sect could relocate from Nine-Wan Island within one to three years.
• Li Ling instructed Nie Yingzhi to arrange the relocation, reduce the workforce, and finalize the promised shares in the immortal abode.
• The Incense Accumulation Sect began its relocation, while Li Ling refocused on the western North Sea and found that the Demon Calamity’s damage remained severe.

Li Ling planned to use the Hundred-Shark Devouring Sacrificial Ceremony Secret Realm as a public trial ground to train cultivators and guide the North Sea's fortunes. As he worked to stabilize the region, a new Rogue Cultivator force moved to seize Western Thunder-Tide Island, making another battle inevitable.

• Li Ling argued with Mu Qingsi that the Incense Accumulation Sect had to face the North Sea's turmoil rather than withdraw from the world.
• Li Ling invited Lin Ji and Master Jin to inspect the secret realm and asked them to add teleportation and guiding functions so it could serve as a trial ground.
• Li Ling told Mu Qingsi he would publicize the secret realm and use its trials to encourage cultivators, find talent, and shape the North Sea's prevailing spirit.
• Nie Yingzhi and the other disciples maintained production and supplies, while the Incense Accumulation Sect kept its Incense Market operating after the demonic calamity.
• Luo Jingwei reported that a rising Rogue Cultivator planned to seize Western Thunder-Tide Island and establish a domain, and Li Ling realized that conflict was approaching.

Sha Jing defended his claim to Thunder Tide Island when the Lin Household and its allies came to confront him. He annihilated the five foundation establishment cultivators who attacked, leaving the island under his control.

• Sha Jing watched his forces defeat the Shrimp People and declared Thunder Tide Island his territory.
• The elderly Lin cultivator and Yan confronted Sha Jing, demanding that he withdraw and arguing over the Lin Household's claim to the island.
• Three more foundation establishment cultivators arrived to aid the Lin Household, and they attacked Sha Jing together.
• Sha Jing unleashed the power of his thunder beast soul, killed the three attackers in moments, then beheaded the elderly Lin cultivator and Yan.

Li Ling gathered Sha Jing and the Long Sea’s rival powers to arbitrate their territorial disputes, proposing that they settle conflicts through contests in his secret realm. The gathering ended with the factions weighing his binding terms and the Lin Household’s claim against Sha Jing’s.

• After defeating the Lin Household’s elder and his helper, Sha Jing let the fleeing clans escape because he and his thunder beast soul were too exhausted to pursue them.
• Feng Qing revealed his Core Formation cultivation and invited Sha Jing to Commander Luo Jingwei’s warship, where Li Ling and other powerful cultivators had assembled.
• Luo Jingwei explained that Li Ling had summoned the Long Sea’s rising powers and old clans to discuss their competing territorial claims, including Sha Jing’s seizure of Thunder Tide Island from the Lin Household.
• The head of the Lin Household protested that Sha Jing had killed his clansmen and taken the island, while Li Ling declared that he intended to restore peace across the Long Sea.
• Li Ling proposed that rival forces settle disputes by fighting in his Hundred-Shark Devouring Sacrificial Ceremony Secret Realm, requiring participants to accept a binding contract and threatening opponents who rejected his territorial rulings.

Li Ling forced the Long Sea’s old powers to compete with Sha Jing’s rogue cultivators in a secret-realm trial, and the major authorities backed his plan. The Lin Household reluctantly prepared to fight for Thunder Tide Island, while Sha Jing’s followers welcomed the trial as their chance to enter the ruling class.

• Local powers and aristocratic clans publicly opposed Li Ling’s plan, but he ordered them to attend the trial at the Que Luo Immortal Abode in three months.
• The representatives appealed to Northsky Island and Goldsource Island, but both authorities supported Li Ling and told the local powers to obey.
• The Lin Household learned that the Hundred-Shark Devouring Sacrificial Ceremony Secret Realm would pit cultivators against one another and struggled to choose participants and secure support.
• The Lin Household’s head accused his capable relatives of abandoning the clan, then adjourned the meeting in despair.
• Sha Jing told his followers that the trial was an opportunity, ordered each leader to muster five obedient Qi Refining cultivators, and vowed to lead them against the Lin Household.

Li Ling held a tournament to settle disputes over Long Sea territories, replacing needless warfare with trials in a secret realm and winning the support of North Sea leaders. As the ceremony drew to a close, he discovered that the victors’ fighting spirit had produced an exceptionally potent form of Spirit-Focusing Incense, which he kept for future use.

• Li Ling welcomed North Sea leaders and explained his plan to resolve disputes over lands and factional foundations through trials in secret realms.
• Sha Jing’s group defeated the Thunder Tide Island Lin Household’s contingent, and the secret realm’s blessing strengthened the surviving participants.
• The former Red Conch Island Lineage reclaimed its ancestral foundations, while new Foundation Establishment cultivators took control of Flowing River Island and other territories were awarded through further contests.
• Li Ling and the Northsky Island elders endorsed the victors’ governing rights, allowing both old and new powers to secure territories according to the contest results.
• Li Ling sensed the ceremony’s gathered fighting spirit forming a powerful new kind of Spirit-Focusing Incense, condensed it into crystals, and put it away.

Li Ling established new regional powers across the Long Sea Southwest and used the ceremony to deepen his understanding of human incense, while reaffirming his aim to master the Heaven, Earth, and Human paths. After consolidating his reforms, he summoned his rogue cultivator allies and offered support for them to found sects or clans.

• Li Ling studied Supreme Spirit-Focusing Incense and resolved to comprehend earthly incense so future Incense Path disciples could inherit methods spanning Heaven, Earth, and Human.
• At the ceremony, Li Ling used his incense accumulation divine domain to reveal the benevolent qualities of the victors and formally invested the new regional powers.
• Li Ling recognized Luo Jingwei's White Sand Commerce Guild as ruler of the southwestern shipping routes and tasked it with eliminating the Sea Wolf Gang.
• Li Ling publicized the new order, and the rising powers took control of the defeated factions' territories as Northsky Island and other interests divided their assets.
• Li Ling considered extending his system of replacing old powers with new ones and summoned Lin Ji, Master Jin, and other rogue cultivators to offer support for founding sects or clans.

Li Ling helped rogue cultivators establish new sects and commerce guilds, offering them work and a share in expanding the incense trade overseas. The Four Seas Commerce Guild approved support for the new enterprises, while its elders began building influence of their own alongside Li Ling’s growing network.

• Li Ling offered spirit islands, resources, and trade opportunities to cultivators willing to found enterprises, and Lin Ji, Master Jin, Han Cheng, and Ye Bin agreed to establish four organizations.
• Duanmu Ya and Hai Zhenqing sought Li Ling’s support for the Hundred Patterns Gate and Seven Immortals Gate, while he redirected other applicants who lacked the expertise or resources to start enterprises.
• Li Ling arranged loans, land, and cooperation with established organizations for the emerging powers, expanding his network of subordinate forces and allies.
• Elder Shang, Yun Li, Qi Heng, Xiu Yexin, and other Four Seas Commerce Guild elders reviewed Li Ling’s applications and approved support under existing policies.
• The Four Seas Commerce Guild elders began investing in local powers and placing their people among them, while Li Ling welcomed their move as a way to bind them more closely to his network.

White Sand Commerce Guild raided a pirate ship as the Incense Path expanded its influence across the North Sea. Shanchen and his fellow West Sea cultivators found that strict governance and a lack of credentials left them with few ways to earn a living, but Shanchen refused to work at the Que Luo Immortal Abode.

• The White Sand Commerce Guild captured a treasure ship and brought it to Green River Market, where a local cultivator explained the Incense Path's growing control of trade.
• Shanchen and his companions, newcomers from the West Sea, learned that the Sea Wolf Gang had been nearly destroyed and that surveillance and reporting rewards made piracy dangerous.
• Shanchen's group discovered that travel permits and credentials were required for legitimate work, while their lack of practical crafts limited their options.
• After searching for work, the men learned that hauling bricks at the Que Luo Immortal Abode was their remaining opportunity, and Shanchen angrily refused to do it.

Li Ling learned that the North Sea’s stable livelihoods and craft training had attracted rogue cultivators and families fleeing the West Sea’s worsening crisis. He chose to receive refugees cautiously rather than expand into the dangerous West Sea, then privately renewed his search for Li Ying.

• Shanchen and the West Sea rogue cultivators collected their wages and resolved to save for cultivation pills and learn crafts through the Incense Accumulation Sect.
• Nie Yingzhi reported that the North Sea’s stability had attracted newcomers, while the West Sea suffered violence, poverty, and confusion amid demonic turmoil and piracy.
• Nie Yingzhi presented a letter from the Le Household of Li Mountain, which sought permission to move some of its clan to the North Sea.
• Li Ling advised receiving West Sea households and their resources but avoiding a risky expansion, noting that Goldsource Island was unlikely to intervene.
• After Nie Yingzhi left, Li Ling read a Dragon-Seeking Society letter about Li Ying and replied that he wanted to see him alive or see his body if he was dead.

Li Ling and Mu Qingsi worried over the long-missing Li Ying and the troubles facing Zhu Lisheng, while Zhu Lisheng struggled to reach Core Formation amid political pressure in Great Qian. After receiving news of new incense materials and handling official duties, he discovered an apparent assassination attempt in the Sacred Capital.

• Li Ling and Mu Qingsi discussed Li Ying’s disappearance, the passage of generations in the sect, and the problems caused by the Incense Perception Cult.
• Li Ling explained that Zhu Lisheng was being blamed for the cult’s misdeeds and had little time to attain Core Formation before Great Qian’s political fortunes shifted.
• Zhu Lisheng reflected on his stalled cultivation and the danger of losing his position as Imperial Preceptor when Zhao Kong died.
• Zhu Lisheng praised a report about new incense spices from Nether Province and ordered them added to the Incense Path Compendium.
• Zhu Lisheng dozed at his desk, heard a voice calling him in a dream, and saw a Five-Clawed Golden Dragon appear in the Sacred Capital.
• Zhu Lisheng summoned the divine soldiers and officers and accused them of failing to detect an attempt on his life.

Li Ling entered Zhu Lisheng’s dream to investigate the attempt on his life and discovered that the Incense Perception Cult was involved. He identified the cult’s likely leader, Yao Lingxian, as a possible traitor empowered by the Divine Dragon Cult and other forces, but the trail was cut off before he could confirm the full scheme.

• Zhu Lisheng told Li Ling that he suspected the Three Sects were using the assassination attempt to undermine his position as Human Preceptor.
• Li Ling entered Zhu Lisheng’s dreamscape and prepared a ritual to seek answers from Jun Heaven.
• Li Ling witnessed scenes revealing that the Incense Perception Cult had spread through Great Qian by using stolen incense teachings to win followers and gather offerings.
• A streak of blood-red light destroyed the visions before Li Ling could trace the cult’s backers, so he told Zhu Lisheng that the Incense Perception Cult was involved.
• Zhu Lisheng suspected that the cult’s founder, Yao Lingxian, had emerged to act personally, and Li Ling warned that Yao Lingxian might have advanced to Core Formation with outside support.