Chapter Summaries

Han Xiuguang revealed that he had become a ghost immortal and recruited Immortal Long into the Netherworld Sect’s plans, including a backup Blood Sacrifice scheme in the West Sea. Meanwhile, Li Ling brought Lu Xing to confront the Merchant Association, where he forced his way into its branch headquarters.

• Han Xiuguang explained the Netherworld Sect’s ghost immortality and reincarnation doctrines to Immortal Long and invited him to join its struggle against the Heavenly Court.
• Han Xiuguang disclosed that the Nether Serpent’s soul in the Water Demon Palace was only one of its primary souls and proposed a large-scale Blood Sacrifice to bring the Underworld’s influence into the West Sea.
• Li Ling reassured Lu Xing that he would deal with the Merchant Association for making them scapegoats, then approached its West Sea Branch Headquarters.
• Li Ling used Spirit-Bewildering Incense to make the guards lead his group inside and declared that they were debt collectors.
• Li Ling struck down the guards blocking their path with Void Wave Slash and overwhelmed another expert with his Nascent Soul aura.

Li Ling confronted the West Sea Branch Headquarters over its role in the scheme that led the Twin Heroes of the Long Sky to attack him, and revealed his new Nascent Soul cultivation and powerful affiliations. As the association’s leaders resisted taking broad responsibility, Jin Yuanbo of Goldsource Island contacted Li Ling to intervene.

• Li Ling threatened to destroy the association’s island, Jade Lang Mountain’s arrays, and its harbors unless someone answered for the attempted ambush.
• Han Ruoming arrived and learned that the association had wrongly blamed innocent travelers for Wan Chengbo’s raid, then withdrew from the dispute.
• Nie Yong admitted proposing the scheme, but Li Ling accused the Money Guild, the Heavenly Goods Trading Company, and the Flawless Treasure Association of sharing responsibility.
• Xi Yuanlin and Zhu Tianxiang rejected unlimited liability, and the confrontation stalled as Nie Yong remained silent.
• Jin Yuanbo contacted Li Ling through a jade pendant and congratulated him on advancing to Nascent Soul.

Li Ling demanded control of the Heaven-Piercing Tower and compensation from the West Sea, while Jade Lang Mountain's factions argued over whether to admit his Incense Market. In the West Sea, Immortal Long arrived with Han Xiuguang and the Netherworld Sect, and ordered the preparations for a blood sacrifice to begin.

• Li Ling demanded that the Merchant Association leave the Heaven-Piercing Tower and its people to him, and either pay thirty billion spirit stones or give his Incense Market a stake and seat on Jade Lang Mountain.
• Mu Qingsi questioned Li Ling's plan to establish a foothold in the West Sea, and Li Ling explained that it could serve as a buffer against the Netherworld Sect and future disasters.
• Jade Lang Mountain's factions split over Li Ling's demands, while Li Ling contacted the Twin Heroes of the Long Sky and told Nie Yingzhi to prepare.
• Immortal Long discussed the Heavenly Ghost Secret Record and the nature of spirit cultivation with Han Xiuguang aboard his treasure ship in the West Sea.
• Ning Yue accused Immortal Long of planning to slaughter people around the Misty Wave Kingdom, and Immortal Long confirmed his intent before ordering Hai Zhenming and General Zhilong to begin.

Immortal Long and Netherworld Sect forces launched a coordinated massacre across the Misty Wave Kingdom, turning the deaths into a ritual that summoned the Underworld’s power and unleashed undead horrors. By noon the next day, Gu Ying and the others learned that millions had died and realized the kingdom was becoming a living hell.

• Immortal Long’s forces attacked a Heavenly Treasure Pavilion ship, killing its crew and destroying the vessel when they resisted.
• Foundation Establishment cultivators deployed Unorthodox Cultivators and Netherworld Sect disciples across the islands to slaughter mortals and gather souls.
• A Corpse Immortal Sect group summoned a Yin Glutton and set out to attack a nearby town.
• After tens of millions died, corpses rose as zombies, and blood mist and corpse qi spread across the Misty Wave Kingdom as part of a planned Underworld ritual.
• Gu Ying and the others received news of the massacre and realized the Underworld was invading and the Misty Wave Kingdom was becoming a living hell.

The Netherworld Sect’s invasion devastated the Misty Wave Kingdom, while the West Sea Branch Headquarters proved unable to unite local forces against it. After securing Yellow Cloud True Person’s support against a Netherworld Nascent Soul expert, Li Ling seized control of Jade Lang Mountain and ordered the Merchant Association to resist.

• The Netherworld Sect persuaded Gu Ying’s clan to submit, offering them a choice about when to be reborn in Netherworld Soil and promising opportunities for their descendants.
• Li Ling learned that the Merchant Association could not command the West Sea’s independent local powers, and Yellow Cloud True Person refused to intervene unless a Nascent Soul expert or Demon Venerable-level remnant soul appeared.
• Li Ling proposed drawing out the Netherworld Sect’s Nascent Soul expert so Yellow Cloud True Person could kill him, and she agreed to watch the region; he requested jurisdiction over the Misty Wave Kingdom and its surroundings in return.
• Li Ling ordered Jade Lang Mountain to provide the Heaven-Piercing Tower and dispatch Core Formation experts to investigate the Netherworld Sect’s plans.
• When a Foundation Establishment steward challenged his authority, Li Ling killed him and warned the assembly that anyone who defied him would die.
• The leaders pledged to follow Li Ling and resist the Netherworld Sect and the demonic path.

Li Ling confirmed that the Netherworld Sect planned to sacrifice Horsehead Island to revive the Water Demon and arrived to stop the ceremony. He killed Han Xiuguang in a surprise attack, while Immortal Long survived the opening strike.

• The Heaven-Piercing Tower pledged its personnel and assets to Li Ling, while its intelligence revealed that Misty Wave Kingdom's aristocratic clans were aiding the Netherworld Sect and that Horsehead Island faced a planned tsunami.
• Li Ling verified through his Dream Dao methods that Immortal Long and Han Xiuguang would gather on Horsehead Island to oversee the Water Demon's revival and a blood sacrifice.
• At the beach, the Netherworld Sect raised an altar and summoned the Water Demon's Anger-and-Delusion Avatar as Han Xiuguang explained their plan to unleash a tsunami and destroy Horsehead Island.
• Li Ling projected his soul above the gathering, sensed the Underworld's blood sea pressing against the world's boundary, and prepared to strike.
• Immortal Long sensed danger and shielded himself with a treasure, but Li Ling's palm blast struck Han Xiuguang and shattered his body.

Li Ling used his newly gained Nascent Soul abilities to defeat Immortal Long, despite the latter empowering himself with Azure Dragon Blood. After killing the enemy leaders and destroying the altar and the water demon, Li Ling left the surviving forces in disarray.

• Li Ling ambushed Immortal Long, and Hai Zhenming sacrificed himself to protect him before Li Ling killed Hai Zhenming.
• Immortal Long unleashed the Azure Dragon Blood, gaining Nascent Soul-level power and finally perceiving Li Ling.
• Li Ling concealed himself with the Myriad Wonders Incense Transformation Art, killed the fleeing cultivators, destroyed the altar, and cut apart the water demon.
• Li Ling used scent and illusion to evade Immortal Long, then struck the Azure Dragon dharma form with his Three Heads and Eight Arms giant.
• Li Ling battered Immortal Long until the Azure Dragon Blood withdrew, pinned General Zhilong underground, and killed Immortal Long.
• With both factions' leaders gone, the surviving cultivators abandoned the altar and fled in chaos.

Li Ling examined the spoils from Horsehead Island and learned from Yellow Cloud True Person that dao fruits were sources of law that powerful cultivators could seize from one another. He left wary of the dangers ahead and warned to keep his own dao-fruit secrets hidden.

• Li Ling ordered the West Sea cultivators to pursue the fleeing Demonic Path forces, then examined Immortal Long's Azure Dragon Blood and suspected it could empower hosts while consuming their life essence.
• Li Ling collected a foul mist's fragrant residue, named it Demon Saliva Incense, and used the soul-returning method to rejoin Mu Qingsi at their concealed refuge.
• Mu Qingsi relayed Yellow Cloud True Person's message that the Heavenly Observation Treasure Mirror had found no trace of the Demonic Path, and Li Ling contacted the Old Ancestor about the continuing ominous conditions near the Misty Wave Kingdom.
• Yellow Cloud True Person explained that the Demonic Path's massacre had polluted the earth veins and that chaos would persist despite the defeat of its leaders.
• Yellow Cloud True Person taught Li Ling about dao fruits, Spirit Transformation, and the conflict caused by cultivators seeking to acquire and combine dao fruits.
• Yellow Cloud True Person warned Li Ling never to reveal the secrets of his dao fruits until he could withstand any challenge, and Li Ling solemnly accepted her guidance.

Yellow Cloud True Person explained her origins and taught Li Ling to seek the roots of his Dao, but his dream meditation revealed no clear answer. After seeing the Demonic Path’s devastation in the Misty Wave Kingdom, Li Ling resolved to organize relief efforts; meanwhile, Immortal Long escaped and returned as a ghost immortal.

• Yellow Cloud True Person described her true-yang origins, divine gifts, and the importance of discovering one’s own Dao roots through the Dharma Form.
• Li Ling entered the Netherworld through Fragrance-Guided Dream Entry to investigate his origins, but lost himself in the Dreamscape and returned without an answer.
• Li Ling and Mu Qingsi surveyed the plague-ridden city and refugee camps, where demonic miasma, famine, and mass death threatened the population.
• Li Ling deduced that the Netherworld Sect had engineered the crisis to lure survivors into cities for a final harvest, and resolved to bring in grain, ships, cultivators, and local deities to aid the Misty Wave Kingdom.
• Immortal Long’s treasure ship escaped detection, and his relatives’ offerings awakened him from a spirit tablet as a ghost immortal.

Immortal Long returned as a ghost immortal, married Meng He, and welcomed the Netherworld Sect’s influence into the Dragon Palace. Ning Yue and Ling Yue fled, but Immortal Long secretly approved their escape as part of his plan to preserve his bloodline.

• Immortal Long revealed his ghost immortal cultivation to his descendants and promised to pass on the method.
• Meng He congratulated Immortal Long, and he agreed to marry her and provide hosts and corpse souls for her people.
• Immortal Long’s return lifted the Dragon Palace’s spirits, and he married Meng He aboard the Dragonhead Treasure Ship.
• Ning Yue and Ling Yue, alarmed by the ghosts serving the Dragon Palace, disguised themselves as guests and escaped by boat.
• Immortal Long burned the sisters’ letter, told his steward to conceal their departure, and privately revealed that he had arranged for them to escape.

Li Ling argued that the West Sea cultivators could not dismiss mortals as useless and urged them to save the people of the Misty Wave Kingdom from the Netherworld Sect. After persuading the leaders, he promised to announce a practical relief plan and asked for their support.

• Li Ling returned to Jade Lang Mountain and proposed providing relief to the five or six hundred million people of the Misty Wave Kingdom.
• Xi Yuanlin, Zhu Tianxiang, and other leaders objected, citing the cost, karmic consequences, and their limited ability to fight the Corpse Plague and poisonous miasma.
• Li Ling argued that mortals were the foundation of cultivation, could become powerful, and would leave the West Sea vulnerable if the Netherworld Sect took over.
• Xi Yuanlin, Zhu Tianxiang, Nie Yong, and the other leaders admitted Li Ling had convinced them but challenged him to offer a workable plan.
• Li Ling said he had prepared a plan and would issue announcements asking West Sea cultivators to help, then requested the leaders’ full support.

Li Ling reorganized the Heaven-Piercing Tower into a Public Brokerage House, drawing rogue cultivators into paid procurement and regional defense assignments in the Misty Wave Kingdom. The plan attracted eager recruits but relied on staggered payments and the merchant association’s credibility, leaving Li Ling to consider its risks and next steps.

• A Foundation Establishment cultivator restored order among the crowd gathered to hear about the Heaven-Piercing Tower’s assignments.
• A merchant association spokesman offered cultivators payment for gathering sea goods and for regional defense duties in the Misty Wave Kingdom.
• Fang Lin chose a regional defense assignment, hoping its rewards would help him earn enough to pursue Foundation Establishment.
• Merchant association members reported to Li Ling that cultivators were signing up enthusiastically for the Public Brokerage House’s services.
• Li Ling explained that delayed payments kept the initial costs low but put the Heaven-Piercing Tower’s reputation and solvency at risk if it failed to honor its IOUs.
• Li Ling told the association to keep raising funds, then privately reviewed his plans and steadied his resolve.

Li Ling offered the Misty Wave Kingdom’s aristocratic clans a chance to switch sides, but only one lineage could survive. Gu Ying chose to sacrifice the other clans, and Li Ling ordered their seized holdings redistributed to rogue cultivators.

• Li Ling told Nie Yong to secretly offer the local clans one place to leave the Demonic Path and pledge allegiance.
• Gu Ying learned that only one lineage would be spared and summoned the other household leaders to a meeting.
• Gu Ying ambushed the gathered clans, killed several leaders, and led the Gu Household in hunting down the survivors.
• The Gu Household and Heaven-Piercing Tower nearly wiped out the other local lineages, though the Xiao Household’s Old Ancestor escaped.
• Li Ling ordered the Heaven-Piercing Tower to confiscate the clans’ businesses and announced that some holdings would reward rogue cultivators who founded domains, kingdoms, or sects.

After Li Ling’s crackdown freed resources and territory, cultivators competed for grants by protecting mortals and hunting demonic forces. Li Ling then summoned Incense Perception Cult members and Incense Accumulation Sect envoys to Jade Lang Mountain to begin spreading Incense Lore.

• Senior Feng recruited Fang Lin and seven other Qi Refining cultivators with promises of rewards, gave them magical artifacts, and assigned them to aid disaster victims.
• The Azure Sea Twin Heroes spared three novice demonic cultivators, who offered information about hidden demonic networks and criminal schemes.
• Cultivators across the Misty Wave Kingdom took on relief and garrison duties to compete for territory, while Li Ling divided the seized resources among his sect, supporters, and lower-ranking cultivators.
• Xi Yuanlin, Zhu Tianxiang, and Nie Yong admired Li Ling’s willingness to share resources, though they doubted they could act as generously themselves.
• Yao Lingxian, Zhong Wen, Lin Ce, and 154 others arrived at Jade Lang Mountain and reported to Li Ling as Incense Perception Cult members, sect teachers, missionary envoys, and Incense Makers.

Li Ling sent Incense Accumulation Sect disciples to spread incense formulas that could help ordinary people and cultivators resist supernatural threats. After reading the Concise Incense Canon, Fang Lin discovered an exceptional sensitivity to incense essence and unexpectedly mastered Incense-to-Rainbow Transformation.

• Li Ling left Han Ruoming in charge of Jade Lang Mountain, then traveled to the Misty Wave Kingdom with a hundred people while leaving several dozen behind.
• At Tulin Harbor, Incense Accumulation Sect disciples distributed simplified formulas for Omba Incense, Great Unity Incense, and Wish-Granting Incense to help residents guard against ghosts and disasters.
• The incense formulas spread among cultivators, and Fang Lin received the Concise Incense Canon from Senior Feng and began studying and making incense.
• Fang Lin discovered that his spiritual consciousness could perceive incense essence as colored light and concluded that he had exceptional fragrance sensitivity.
• Fang Lin used incense fumigation and the Incense Deity Visualization Method to cultivate, then mastered Incense-to-Rainbow Transformation.

Fang Lin and Huang Jin investigated a zombie attack, but Huang Jin revealed himself as a Demonic Path cultivator and left Fang Lin to transform into a corpse. As Fang Lin accepted his fate and made peace with himself, his resentment vanished in a sudden enlightenment that bewildered Huang Jin.

• Fang Lin met Huang Jin and traveled with him to investigate reports of zombies and an Unorthodox Cultivator near East Huang Manor.
• Fang Lin and Huang Jin tracked dense yin baleful qi to an ancient tomb, where Fang Lin discovered hidden bone soldiers and a green stiff.
• Huang Jin betrayed Fang Lin, revealed his Five Stiff Battle Formation, and had his zombies maul him before carrying him into the mountains.
• Huang Jin left Fang Lin wounded in a ravine, intending to turn his resentment into power for a Corpse Ghoul.
• As corpse poison spread through his body, Fang Lin recalled his past, accepted his fate, and experienced sudden enlightenment that erased his hatred.

After Fang Lin accepted his impending death, Huang Jin’s attempt to turn him into a zombie instead drove him to awaken a white-bone cultivation path. Li Ling found Fang Lin on a mountain, strengthened his bones with Teaweed Incense, and restored some of his memories and awareness.

• Fang Lin let go of his hopes and remained calm as Huang Jin mutilated him, then Huang Jin used the Skull Pestle to draw his soul into the treasure.
• Fang Lin’s soul awakened to a new perspective and established his dao foundation, while the Skull Pestle’s control passed to him.
• Huang Jin ordered four Green Stiffs to devour Fang Lin’s body, transforming them into yakshas as Fang Lin became a radiant skeleton.
• Huang Jin was overcome by Fang Lin’s lingering radiance and stripped away his own flesh, then followed the fragrance left by Fang Lin’s bones.
• Fang Lin encountered Li Ling and Mu Qingsi on the mountain, and Li Ling recognized his white-bone path and granted him Teaweed Incense.
• Li Ling used Phantom Floating Fragrance to gather Fang Lin’s scattered spirit resonance, restoring some of his memories and awareness.

Li Ling accepted Fang Lin as his disciple, refined his dangerous nirvana lotus incense into balanced still lotus incense, and discovered that Fang Lin’s four zombie guardians had unusual dharma-body potential. At Lai’er Island, Li Ling found secluded orchids growing in the corrupted marsh, while a mysterious shadow appeared at Fang Lin’s abandoned trail and cast out You Yuque’s lost Asura Battle Armor.

• Fang Lin told Li Ling how betrayal and the White Bone Sect’s inheritance had turned him into a wandering skeleton, and Li Ling took him as a disciple to save his soul and teach him the Incense Path.
• Li Ling transformed Fang Lin’s overbearing nirvana lotus incense into still lotus incense, calming its influence while preserving the original incense for use against enemies.
• Li Ling examined Fang Lin’s four zombie guardians and found that their flesh-linked bodies resembled avatars with the essence of dharma bodies.
• Li Ling brought Fang Lin and the guardians to Lai’er Island, where he planned to establish an Incense Path lineage and found Lu Xing waiting with reports about the orchid fields.
• Li Ling and Mu Qingsi inspected the blood-fouled marsh and found that secluded orchids had grown and would likely flower in about ten years.
• A mysterious shadow found Huang Jin’s motionless skeleton at Fang Lin’s abandoned trail and sent out You Yuque’s lost Asura Battle Armor.

Ten years after the crisis, the Incense Accumulation Sect had strengthened its influence in the West Sea through trade, folk incense customs, and a network of local garrison powers. As Yao Lingxian considered the sect’s plans to seek the Heavenly Court’s protection, Li Ling harvested mature Orchids of the Secluded Valley and discovered a new use for their fragrance.

• The rebuilt market around Horsehead Island and Tulin Harbor prospered, while widespread Omba Incense customs helped drive low-level Corpse Ghouls and Unorthodox Cultivators from the region.
• Feng Jide presented Yao Lingxian with Te Xia Incense from his household’s territory and sought to join the Incense Market as a supplier.
• Yao Lingxian and Nie Yingzhi discussed how garrison envoys and local lineages could extend the sect’s rule and prepare the Misty Wave Kingdom for eventual handover to the Heavenly Court.
• Yao Lingxian wondered whether Li Ling, who had defected from the sect, was part of the founder’s larger plan.
• Li Ling harvested eight mature Orchids of the Secluded Valley and found that their fragrance could catalyze Spirit-Focusing Incense, briefly unleashing immense divine sense power.

Li Ling refined Three Marvel Incense from the orchid of the secluded valley, azure dragon blood, and Demon Saliva Incense, discovering that its effects varied with each cultivator’s affinity and reserves. After uncovering his connection to the Primordial Orchid, he learned that Immortal Sect envoys were arriving in the Misty Wave Kingdom to negotiate the Incense Accumulation Sect’s place among the righteous powers.

• Li Ling refined Three Marvel Incense and gained a dramatic increase in cultivation, stronger flesh and water-control abilities, and other powers from its spirit resonances.
• Mu Qingsi gained more modest benefits from the incense, while Fang Lin’s transformation produced a giant Skeleton Divine Dragon before he calmed it with still lotus incense and gained cultivation.
• Li Ling reserved incense for Chi Yingting, planned for Fang Lin to become a hidden heir, and explained that he would arrange opportunities according to each disciple’s circumstances.
• While studying with orchid of the secluded valley and Netherdream Incense, Li Ling dreamed of the Primordial Orchid and realized that his soul and true spirit originated from it.
• Yao Lingxian informed Li Ling that Nascent Soul envoys from the Skycloud Seven Disciples, the Ascending Immortal Sect, and Wandering Immortal Island had reached the West Sea to inspect the region and negotiate with him.