Chapter Summaries

Li Ling learned that the Illusionist’s scheme had failed to persuade Immortal Long, then discovered that the treasure ship was bound for Jade Lang Mountain. There, he hoped to investigate the orchid of the secluded valley, which he believed could advance his Incense Path research and resolved not to let the merchant association monopolize.

• Li Ling secretly reported the Illusionist and Immortal Long’s tense meeting to Mu Qingsi and learned that their ship would sail to Jade Lang Mountain.
• Hai Zhenming explained that Immortal Long’s crew sold spoils at Jade Lang Mountain, where the ship would join a coordinated auction.
• Li Ling met Immortal Long’s granddaughters Ning Yue and Ling Yue and reflected on how time could wash away the marks of past wrongdoing.
• Hai Zhenming told Li Ling that Jade Lang Mountain would auction information about the rare orchid of the secluded valley and organize a search for it.
• Li Ling recognized the orchid as a promising material for his Incense Path research and decided the merchant association must not control its discovery and gathering.
• The treasure ship reached Jade Lang Mountain as its grand auction ended and guests began going ashore.

Li Ling and Mu Qingsi pursued information about the orchid of the secluded valley and learned that Lu Xing’s ancient text pointed to an otherworldly grotto-heaven. When Elder Jin arrived, Li Ling sensed the orchid’s fragrance on him and realized the guild had likely explored the place already.

• Immortal Long saw Li Ling and Mu Qingsi off and directed them to Elder Jin at the West Sea Branch Headquarters.
• Elder Jin’s chief steward showed Li Ling records about the orchid of the secluded valley and introduced Lu Xing, who had learned of it from an ancient text about an otherworldly grotto-heaven.
• Lu Xing invited Li Ling and Mu Qingsi to join him in exploring the grotto-heaven, while Li Ling suspected the guild had concealed a preliminary expedition from him.
• Elder Jin returned, and Li Ling detected a faint orchid fragrance clinging to him, suggesting the guild had already visited the grotto-heaven.

Li Ling and Mu Qingsi joined preparations for a secret-realm expedition while investigating the Orchid of the Secluded Valley and following Li Ling’s Dream Omen to an auction. At the auction, a gigantic Sea-Tower Behemoth burst in, and Li Ling recognized the scene from his dream.

• Elder Jin approved Li Ling and Mu Qingsi joining Lu Xing’s expedition, and they agreed to follow the usual contract procedures.
• Li Ling marked Lu Xing with Returning Soul Incense and told Mu Qingsi that Elder Jin’s orchid fragrance suggested the guild possessed an Orchid of the Secluded Valley.
• Li Ling and Mu Qingsi spent several days at Jade Lang Mountain’s Market Gathering before using an invitation to attend its final auction.
• At the auction, Li Ling recognized the venue from his Dream Omen and noticed Immortal Long and Illusionist’s group among the guests, whose killing intent concerned him.
• A Sea-Tower Behemoth smashed into the venue, but the guild’s cultivators and Grand Array restrained it, and Li Ling exclaimed that his dream had come true.

Li Ling and Mu Qingsi witnessed Wan Chengbo and the Sea-Tower Behemoth ravage Jade Lang Mountain and plunder the Merchant Association’s vault. Li Ling seized the orchid-scented treasure he had come for, paid for it with spirit stones, and escaped with Mu Qingsi before anyone discovered his involvement.

• Wan Chengbo freed the Sea-Tower Behemoth, which devastated the streets and opened the underground treasure vault while the Merchant Association’s defenders could not stop them.
• Recognizing the moment from his dream and following the orchid fragrance, Li Ling projected his spirit soul into the vault and convinced Wan Chengbo he was not there to defend the Merchant Association.
• Li Ling followed Wan Chengbo into the flooded vault, found the brocade box carrying the orchid scent, and took it despite Wan Chengbo’s attack.
• Li Ling left a chest containing about ten million spirit stones in the box’s place, told Wan Chengbo he wanted no part in his conflict, and returned to Mu Qingsi.
• Li Ling and Mu Qingsi slipped away as the Merchant Association evacuated the auction guests, then went to meet Lu Xing and the others more than ten li away.

Li Ling discovered that the Orchid of the Secluded Valley was a living, hidden treasure whose spirit resonance matched his own true-nature human incense. Absorbing it confirmed his understanding of the Incense Path and awakened a law within him, leaving him transformed into a three-headed, eight-armed Celestial Person.

• Lu Xing recognized the Orchid of the Secluded Valley in Li Ling’s box, though most of the cultivators could not see it.
• Li Ling and Mu Qingsi watched the orchid unfold and move, while Lu Xing shared a copied account by Daoist Tong about the treasure.
• Li Ling realized Daoist Tong had mistaken the orchid’s hazy appearance for an ordinary flower and concluded that the true orchid could be perceived through affinity.
• Li Ling sensed the orchid’s spirit resonance matched his true-nature human incense and absorbed it, receiving vast memories about the Incense Path and the origins of the Dao.
• Li Ling realized his Incense Accumulation Divine Domain reflected the perceptions of others, then transformed into a youthful Celestial Person with three heads and eight arms.

Li Ling attained the Nascent Soul level and mastered the Incense Path law Phantom Floating Fragrance, awakening to his true self and gaining True Sight. After seeing the True Spirits behind the mortal world, he rescued people and guided the dead onward, then used Phantom Floating Fragrance to evade the karma of his intervention.

• Li Ling achieved Orchid-Inspired Enlightenment, reached the Nascent Soul level, and mastered Phantom Floating Fragrance as a power of law.
• Li Ling realized his Three Heads and Eight Arms Dharma Form and his reincarnated body were false appearances, and settled upon the Orchid of the Secluded Valley as his Natal Dao Fruit.
• Li Ling's True Sight revealed the True Spirits among the stars and the spiritual nature of the living beings suffering in the disaster.
• Li Ling used Heavenly Ascension Spirit Incense to guide the dead back to the heavens and rescued survivors within several li.
• Phantom Floating Fragrance made Li Ling's figure fade and shielded him from the karma of saving people, leaving him laughing at his discovery.

After Wan Chengbo robbed the Merchant Association’s Treasure Vault, its leaders sought to restore their reputation and cover their losses by targeting convenient scapegoats. Li Ling and Mu Qingsi were selected as possible suspects, leaving their fate in the hands of the Association’s plotters.

• Wan Chengbo escaped with the stolen treasures, and Elder Han stayed to oversee the Merchant Association’s recovery after the elders promised to pay him at the wartime rate.
• Nie Yong argued that the Merchant Association should quickly punish suspected looters to intimidate other factions, even without solid evidence.
• The leaders agreed to target grassroots rogue cultivators and began compiling a list of people who could take the blame.
• Elder Jin put Lu Xing and his companions on the shortlist, but Nie Yong doubted they could plausibly be blamed for robbing the Treasure Vault.
• Elder Jin mentioned Li Ling and Mu Qingsi, and the leaders agreed that they were suitable scapegoats; they also discussed targeting honest employees inside the Association.

Li Ling hired Lu Xing and the other rogue cultivators to explore the cave heaven at Qikong Mountain after the Merchant Association had taken an Orchid of the Secluded Valley. The Merchant Association arranged to pursue them, and when attackers ambushed the group in the West Sea, Li Ling overwhelmed them with his newly unleashed power.

• Li Xing’s group realized the Merchant Association had secretly found the cave heaven and taken an Orchid of the Secluded Valley, then Li Ling offered to hire them for the journey to Qikong Mountain.
• Li Ling promised each cultivator a million spirit stones and a share of other finds, and the group agreed to leave that night.
• Nie Yong ordered a pursuit of Lu Xing’s party while discussing how the incident could give the General Association a chance to intervene in the West Sea Branch Headquarters.
• In the southwestern West Sea, two Core Formation cultivators and their allies blocked Li Ling’s group, and Li Ling used the Wind Spirit Butterfly to blast several attackers away.
• The two Core Formation attackers fled from Li Ling, but they suddenly slammed into a towering wall of water.

Li Ling defeated an ambush by Heaven-Piercing Tower using his newly mastered incense and water abilities, then captured the surviving attackers. After learning the West Sea Branch Headquarters had hired them, he killed their handler and made the remaining captives serve him while he investigated the organization.

• Li Ling trapped the Twin Heroes of the Long Sky with water and Spirit-Bewildering Incense, overcoming their defenses and knocking them unconscious.
• Li Ling questioned the two Core Formation cultivators, suspected someone had sent them, and secretly approached the middle-aged cultivator watching the battle with a magic mirror.
• Li Ling subdued the middle-aged cultivator, who admitted that the West Sea Branch Headquarters at Jade Lang Mountain had hired them to intercept and kill him.
• Li Ling rejected the captive’s offer of three tasks, killed him, and sealed away his true core.
• Li Ling identified the surviving captives as members of Heaven-Piercing Tower and placed restrictions on them, ordering them to investigate the organization in exchange for their lives.

Li Ling took the Twin Heroes of the Long Sky and other cultivators toward the secret realm, while learning how the Heaven-Piercing Tower exploited rogue cultivators and how dire conditions in the West Sea had become. At the Water Demon Palace ruins, Elder Luan and You Yuque decided to wait for Lu Xing, believing he had the destined connection needed to enter.

• Li Ling explained that he had brought the Twin Heroes of the Long Sky along to help search for the orchid of the secluded valley, then questioned Gu Feixiong and Han Xiong about the West Sea.
• Mu Qingsi and Li Ling examined the Heaven-Piercing Tower's influence, and Li Ling concluded that its system of disposable attendants reflected the growing control of money and resources over cultivators.
• After the Twin Heroes failed to report back, Nie Yong and Elder Jin considered sending more cultivators after Li Ling and secretly alerted Elder Luan and his companions at the secret realm.
• Elder Luan rejected the report blaming Lu Xing and other rogue cultivators for the Jade Lang Mountain robbery, then surmised that Lu Xing's destined connection might reveal the hidden entrance.
• You Yuque agreed to wait for Lu Xing and went with Netherworld Sect disciples to the World Gate stele at the Water Demon Palace ruins.

Li Ling and his companions reached Lai’er Island, where he discovered a hidden, artificially constructed passage leading to the Water Demon Palace. After the Merchant Association’s Elder Luan welcomed them, Li Ling spotted a hostile Ghost Soul Sect cultivator and deciphered the inscription on a stone stele.

• Gu Feixiong described Lai’er Island’s conflicting legends of vanished ruins, missing people, strange sounds, and blood-red seas as Li Ling and his companions approached.
• Li Ling saw a pillar of light that only he could perceive and sensed that a Spirit Transformation expert’s will was suppressing something beneath the island.
• Merchant Association cultivators led Li Ling’s group into a valley whose altered space and time had previously kept Lu Xing from finding the hidden entrance.
• Li Ling identified the valley’s spatial mechanisms and sensed that the concealed route was deliberately constructed and inaccessible to ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators.
• Elder Luan welcomed the group, while Li Ling noticed You Yuque, a hostile cultivator from the Ghost Soul Sect, sitting near a stone stele.
• Li Ling deciphered the Immortal Script on the stele as “Water Demon Palace,” startling Mu Qingsi.

Lu Xing activated the Palmprint Stone and released a Nether Serpent, while Li Ling used Heavenly Ascension Spirit Incense to destroy it and exposed the Merchant Association’s scheme. Li Ling and Mu Qingsi attacked Elder Luan and the others, but fresh black serpents rose from the fallen as blood spread across the ground.

• Elder Luan asked Lu Xing to press his hand into the Palmprint Stone, and a Nether Serpent emerged from the sealed door and attacked him.
• Li Ling repeatedly defended Lu Xing, then used Heavenly Ascension Spirit Incense to destroy the serpent and sever its connection to the door.
• You Yuque revealed that Nether Serpents were undying while connected to their source, and he and Elder Luan discussed capturing Li Ling or sacrificing him.
• Li Ling unleashed his hidden strength and incapacitated most of Elder Luan’s and You Yuque’s allies with Spirit-Bewildering Incense.
• Mu Qingsi struck Elder Luan with her Sword Pellet, destroying his body and True Core.
• Black serpents surged from the fallen cultivators as blood spread across the ground.

Li Ling discovered that You Yuque and the Netherworld Sect planned to open the Water Demon Palace and let the Underworld’s blood sea invade the West Sea. After refusing to join them, Li Ling watched You Yuque flee toward the stone door.

• Blood and black serpents flowed from the widening stone door, and Li Ling recognized them as manifestations of intense negative emotions connected to the Nether River.
• You Yuque identified himself as an elder of the Ghost Soul Sect and claimed descent from the Ghost Soul Demon Venerable, but Li Ling exposed his family as a collateral branch that had lost its ancestral standing.
• You Yuque revealed that the Water Demon Palace held a Netherworld Sect predecessor whose plan would turn the West Sea into part of the Underworld’s blood sea.
• Li Ling reasoned that the righteous experts were occupied elsewhere and that mid-level cultivators could influence the outcome, while You Yuque warned that the Netherworld Sect and Blood Sea Demon Venerable would retaliate against opposition.
• Li Ling rejected the Netherworld Sect’s Dao, and You Yuque fled toward the stone door.

Li Ling used his ability to mimic You Yuque’s aura, opening the stone gate and entering a blood-soaked realm connected to the Underworld with Mu Qingsi. He discovered the source of the Nether River’s flow as the Illusionist and other Netherworld Sect elders arrived outside the ruins.

• You Yuque fled through the stone gate, but it reverted to ordinary stone slabs when Li Ling investigated it.
• Li Ling used the Evil-Repelling Incense Deity to hold back the nether serpents and gave physical evil-repelling incense to the others.
• Li Ling imitated You Yuque’s scent and bearing, causing the serpents to ignore him and making the passage reappear.
• Li Ling and Mu Qingsi entered the passage and found a desolate realm connected to the Underworld and a tributary of the Nether River.
• Li Ling traced the river’s flow to a black cavern in the blood-red sun that poured scarlet blood into the realm.
• The Illusionist and his fellow Netherworld Sect elders arrived above the ruins in a Treasure Ship.

Li Ling and Mu Qingsi discovered that the blood-red sun was an enormous eye, while a remnant soul of a Netherworld Sect cultivator awakened as a gigantic serpent. Trapped in mirrored cave heavens as the seal loosened, Li Ling tried to keep the group together while black-serpent venom stirred despair and resentment.

• Cultivators activated ancient sites around Lai'er Island, dimming the pillar of light and causing the blood-red sun inside the stone gate to grow closer and bleed more heavily.
• Li Ling and Mu Qingsi found that the sun was an enormous eye, then returned to the valley after Lu Xing reported growing numbers of Nether Serpents.
• A venomous serpent possessed Fellow Daoist Han, who attacked Lu Xing before Gu Feixiong struck him down and identified the serpents as manifestations of negative emotions.
• Li Ling led the group away from the valley, but they emerged into another blood-sun cave heaven and saw a vast serpent formed from a Netherworld Sect mighty cultivator's remnant soul.
• The group passed through the stone gate into an identical cave heaven, where the serpent's eye turned toward them and several people panicked as black mist and serpent shadows gathered around them.
• Li Ling stopped people from fleeing blindly, then saw a ray of light rise as the object sealing the cave heaven loosened.

Li Ling used his incense powers to calm the trapped cultivators and battle the Demon Venerable Remnant Soul as the Netherworld Sect flooded the West Sea with blood. He destroyed the colossal serpent and collapsed the passage, leaving You Yuque trapped as the sea eye vanished.

• Li Ling calmed the panicking cultivators with Phantom Floating Fragrance and destroyed the Black Nether Serpents approaching them.
• The Demon Venerable Remnant Soul broke free, while the Illusionist and his companions opened the seal and entered the blood-filled sea to search for the sea eye.
• Li Ling confronted the colossal serpent with his spiritual consciousness and discovered that his incense powers countered its mental pollution.
• Li Ling expanded his divine domain, purified the surrounding corruption, and shattered the colossal serpent with Incense-Rhyme Flowing Wind.
• You Yuque searched for the sea eye as the passage collapsed around him, then realized it had vanished.

After defeating the giant serpent guarding the sea eye, Li Ling received hundreds of merit golden clouds and discovered that secluded orchids grew in the foul mud left by the Nether River. He realized the plants could purify the filth but withered when removed, so he planned to stay nearby and study them.

• You Yuque learned that the giant serpent had been defeated and the Netherworld Sect's plan had failed, while the cave heaven's spatial paths returned to normal.
• Li Ling received seven hundred and ninety-nine merit golden clouds after defeating the remnant soul and recognized their substance as similar to materials used to refine incense.
• Li Ling sensed secluded orchids growing in the Nether River's polluted mud and explained that they were manifestations of ying spirits and xiyi.
• Li Ling tried to remove several orchid seedlings, but each withered after being separated from the riverbed.
• Li Ling noticed that the secluded orchids purified nearby filth and decided to settle there to study them and gather materials over time.

Li Ling sent his companions to search for the Orchid of the Secluded Valley and went with Mu Qingsi to pursue You Yuque, but a Heavenly Court chariot destroyed the Netherworld Sect party before Li Ling could reach them. Li Ling confronted the chariot’s occupant and fought the Radiance Heavenly Lord, who removed her mask after their evenly matched battle.

• Li Ling gave his companions spirit incense to help them locate places where the Orchid of the Secluded Valley might grow, then left with Mu Qingsi to find You Yuque.
• The Golden Crow Chariot arrived as You Yuque and the Illusionist met their Netherworld Sect forces, and its Solar True Fire killed most of the gathered cultivators.
• The Illusionist died from a bronze spear, and You Yuque’s Asura Battle Armor failed to save him from the Radiance Heavenly Lord’s attack.
• Li Ling sensed You Yuque’s aura disappear and met the Golden Crow Chariot inside the Cave Heaven, where he endured its flames and challenged its occupant.
• The Radiance Heavenly Lord attacked Li Ling, but his Three Heads and Eight Arms Dharma form and yang spirit let him hold his ground; she then removed her mask.

Li Ling and Mu Qingsi learned that Yellow Cloud True Person had become Radiance Heavenly Lord and had been watching over them from the Heavenly Court. After warning them about the approaching final tribulation and their ties to the Netherworld Sect, she advised Li Ling on bringing his sect into the Heavenly Court, leaving him resolved to pursue that alliance.

• Radiance Heavenly Lord revealed that she was Yellow Cloud True Person, who had survived death through apotheosis and had arranged for help and challenges to test Li Ling and Mu Qingsi.
• Yellow Cloud True Person explained the Heavenly Court's opposition and the approaching final tribulation, while Li Ling counseled her to accept her duties.
• Li Ling told Yellow Cloud True Person that he and Mu Qingsi had entered the Nether River to gather spirit incense, and she warned that his ties to the Netherworld Sect could bring future conflict.
• Li Ling asked about bringing his sect into the Heavenly Court, and Yellow Cloud True Person advised him to start with contact between their disciples and said the Heavenly Court needed help with incense offerings and preserving the memories of those granted apotheosis.
• Li Ling realized the Heavenly Court had been supporting his Incense Path and resolved to strengthen his sect's connection with it.

After Yellow Cloud True Person resealed the Water Demon Palace, Li Ling considered securing the site for the Incense Accumulation Sect and expanding into the West Sea. As Li Ling and his companions headed home, Immortal Long’s Blood Jade Amulet summoned the soul of Han Xiuguang.

• Yellow Cloud True Person told Li Ling that the Three Sects and the Four Seas Commerce Guild would need to approve his bid to guard the sealed site, and Li Ling proposed using Orchid of the Secluded Valley to suppress its corruption.
• Yellow Cloud True Person departed after warning Li Ling that taking charge would mark his sect as a Heavenly Court vassal, and the sun’s return weakened the Nether Path’s influence.
• Gu Ying gathered members of several local Lineages to investigate the Water Demon Palace, but they found the surrounding area calm and the Cave Heaven already buried beneath the sea.
• The Twin Heroes of the Long Sky and the Heaven-Piercing Tower’s party apologized to Li Ling and offered their help before departing.
• Immortal Long learned that the Illusionist’s party had been wiped out, then watched a blood-red figure emerge from the Blood Jade Amulet and reveal himself as Han Xiuguang.