Chapter Summaries

Chi Yun-Zi, True Person Qingyu, and True Person Yingxuan visited Li Ling to negotiate the Incense Accumulation Sect’s admission into the Heavenly Court. They explained the court’s growing role and the benefits of joining, leaving Li Ling to consider the sect’s place in the new order.

• Chi Yun-Zi, True Person Qingyu, and True Person Yingxuan admired the prosperity of the Misty Wave Kingdom and discussed Li Ling’s achievements and the Incense Accumulation Sect’s potential value to the Heavenly Court.
• The three Great Cultivators met Li Ling at Lai’er Island and formally opened talks about admitting his sect into the Heavenly Court and the Righteous Immortal Sect.
• Chi Yun-Zi explained the Heavenly Court’s structure, its plans to bring unaffiliated powers into its ranks, and the Incense Accumulation Sect’s consideration as a future Righteous Immortal Sect.
• Chi Yun-Zi described three benefits of joining: exemption from heavenly tribulation for those holding Heavenly Court offices, the restoration of immortal blessed lands such as Li Ling’s Que Luo Immortal Abode, and access to rare treasures produced by immortal mountains.
• Li Ling recognized how much power and resources the established Immortal Sects controlled, while the Netherworld Sect and the Yellow Springs Underworld continued to contest that authority.

Li Ling negotiated the Incense Accumulation Sect’s entry into the Heavenly Court’s Righteous Immortal Sect, demanding broad autonomy and the right to govern its territories. Afterward, Chi Yun-Zi explained that the Heavenly Court’s weakness and urgent need for gods might force it to grant Li Ling’s demands, though the power to invest gods remained its bottom line.

• Chi Yun-Zi corrected Li Ling’s understanding of Netherworld Soil and explained how karmic tribulation accumulated until upheaval renewed the universe’s origin.
• Li Ling agreed that the Incense Accumulation Sect would answer mobilization orders and suppress demons, but asked to govern its own cultivators and gods without court summons.
• Li Ling demanded authority to invest and dismiss gods in his territory and proposed extending the same autonomous rule to lands the sect acquired across the four seas.
• After the meeting, True Person Qingyu and True Person Yingxuan criticized Li Ling’s demands, while Chi Yun-Zi said Li Ling understood the Heavenly Court’s weakness and was bargaining for greater autonomy.
• Chi Yun-Zi described the Heavenly Court’s shortage of gods and their mistreatment in remote lands, then argued that it might need to grant the Incense Accumulation Sect special privileges without surrendering its authority over apotheosis.

Li Ling negotiated the Incense Accumulation Sect’s autonomy and role in the Heavenly Court, securing protection and favorable terms across its territories. The Heavenly Court also commissioned incense products for its preparations against the demonic path, and Li Ling began studying a Celestial Master Dao inheritance to improve the Incense Path.

• Chi Yun-Zi offered Li Ling autonomy in the North Sea while requiring the Incense Accumulation Sect to help establish dynasties and earth deities elsewhere.
• Li Ling negotiated the right to nominate deity candidates in other seas and secured exemptions, a loose immortal rank, and Heavenly Court protection for the sect.
• Chi Yun-Zi explained that the Heavenly Court needed Spirit-Communing Incense, Cloud-Producing Incense, and improved Returning Soul Incense to support its growing fight against ghosts and the demonic path.
• Chi Yun-Zi gave Li Ling the Supreme Immortal Master's Celestial Resonance Scripture as a source of knowledge about apotheosis, spirits, souls, and ghosts.
• True Person Qingyu and True Person Yingxuan stayed at Lai'er Island to help defend it, while Li Ling directed his disciples to expand incense production and began studying the inheritance scroll.

Li Ling studied the Celestial Resonance Scripture and learned how its teachings connected the Heavenly Court, the Heavenly Dao, and the path of incense. As the Incense Accumulation Sect prepared to join the Heavenly Court’s camp, allies delivered powerful defenses and treasures, including an unusual incense burner for Li Ling.

• Li Ling read the Celestial Resonance Scripture and realized its ceremonies could help him seek the Dao through the Heavenly Dao.
• Li Ling used Dream Entry to advance his incense research, developing improvements to Spirit-Communing Incense, Cloud-Producing Incense, and Returning Soul Incense.
• The Righteous Immortal Sect alliance arranged combat treasures and protections for the Incense Accumulation Sect as it prepared to join the Heavenly Court’s camp.
• Chi Yun-Zi informed Li Ling that the Innate Five Elements Banners had arrived at the Que Luo Immortal Abode, and the sect received robes, thunder weapons, and other battle treasures.
• A Skycloud Sect envoy delivered the Seven-Treasure Cloudglow Immortal Robe to Mu Qingsi and the Dharma-Realm Incense Burner to Li Ling.

Li Ling received an ancient incense-related treasure and learned the terms of his appointment as a Scattered Great Unity Immortal, while the Heavenly Court prepared to formalize its alliance with the Incense Accumulation Sect. As Li Ling gathered allied sects to coordinate their cooperation, the sea remained eerily quiet despite growing concern that the Netherworld Sect was watching and waiting.

• Li Ling examined an ancient treasure said to command all incense and accepted an immortal register from the Heavenly Court envoy, who explained his Scattered Great Unity Immortal status and possible authority to deploy heavenly forces.
• Li Ling planned to combine the formal Fengshan Heaven-Sacrifice Ceremony with a celebration of his advancement to Nascent Soul.
• Elder Shang and Shang Yuxian learned that Li Ling had allied with the Heavenly Court, while Jade Lang Mountain's leaders debated how the change would affect their interests and watched for the Netherworld Sect's response.
• In Year 116 of Incense Accumulation, Li Ling returned to the Que Luo Immortal Abode and invited allied righteous sects to discuss future cooperation under cover of his celebration.
• Li Ling and the allied factions tightened their precautions, but the sea stayed peaceful, leaving them to suspect that the Netherworld Sect was lying low and waiting for an opportunity.

Li Ling hosted a vast gathering to celebrate his advancement to Nascent Soul, drawing nearly fifty Nascent Soul cultivators and delegations from across the Immortal Sects. The Heavenly Court sent an imperial decree that invested him with a heavenly register and named him the True Lord of Clear Source, Wondrous Methods, Supreme Dao, Primal Orchid, and Incense Accumulation.

• Li Ling filled the Incense Accumulation Sect with Incense Essence and Spirit Resonance, creating a fragrant domain that nourished residents and repelled Yin Spirits.
• Delegations from major Immortal Sects, unaffiliated cultivators, and allied powers arrived to congratulate Li Ling and discuss cooperation.
• Nie Yingzhi and the other disciples received the guests and their gifts as the celebration filled the sect’s main peak and Market Ward.
• The Heavenly Emperor’s ceremonial procession arrived, and a heavenly official announced that he had brought an imperial jade decree for the Incense Accumulation Sect.
• Li Ling received the decree, which granted him the Exalted Upper Primal Primordial Cave Heaven Vajra Three-Five Nine Heavens Primal Register and bestowed his new title.

Li Ling accepted his Heavenly Court investiture and redirected the Incense Accumulation Sect toward producing incense useful to the court. As the celebration spread news of the Heavenly Court across the North Sea, the Netherworld Sect plotted around the Four Seas Commerce Guild’s neutrality, while something ancient began awakening on an unnamed West Sea island.

• Li Ling accepted the Heavenly Court’s edict, celebrated the Incense Accumulation Sect’s anniversary, and rewarded disciples, visitors, and followers.
• Li Ling told Nie Yingzhi that the sect should prioritize service to the Heavenly Court and ordered increased production of Spirit-Communing Incense and Cloud-Producing Incense, along with improvements to Returning Soul Incense.
• Qian Kun rejected Yan Taisheng’s attempt to sway the Four Seas Commerce Guild, insisting that the association would remain neutral between the immortal dao and demonic path.
• Yan Taisheng told Netherworld Sect ghost immortals to seek individual allies and other forces, and to watch for an opportunity arising from tensions in the West Sea.
• Something that had slept for many years began awakening beneath the trees on an unnamed island in the West Sea.

After the celebration, Li Ling planned to preserve the Incense Accumulation Sect’s grassroots influence while expanding its ties to the Heavenly Court, warning that spreading the Incense Path could protect the sect from enemies. A sudden demonic calamity darkened the West Sea around Horsehead Island, where monsters killed residents before evil-repelling incense shielded one man until daylight returned.

• Venerable Longevity invited Li Ling to visit Gathering Grotto Continent, and Li Ling expressed interest in investigating its Soul-Returning Trees and spirit incense.
• Li Ling told Nie Yingzhi to prioritize the Longevity Hall’s Mind-Harmony Incense orders and explained that the sect should spread incense-making to reduce its vulnerability to the Netherworld Sect.
• A message informed Li Ling that the Nether Path had resurfaced, and he told Nie Yingzhi he had preparations in place.
• Demonic qi blotted out the sky across three thousand li around Horsehead Island, and Feng Jide ordered reports and emergency procedures to be carried out.
• Master Yu and his household were torn apart and rapidly decomposed as darkness spread, while a procession of corpses led by black-and-white figures approached a man returning home with medicine.
• The man’s evil-repelling incense manifested as an umbrella-bearing girl who protected him, and daylight returned as he and other survivors woke while many people remained dead.

Li Ling explained the Netherworld Pure Land and organized forces to investigate the spreading anomaly in the West Sea. After uncovering clues linking Immortal Long to the Netherworld Sect, Li Ling confronted a possessed messenger who tried to recruit him, but she refused to disclose her mission before he moved to capture her.

• Li Ling told Xi Yuanlin, Nie Yong, and the others that the Netherworld Pure Land was a hidden realm of spirit souls and that the Netherworld Sect had brought it into the Yang Realm.
• Li Ling reassured the West Sea leaders that he would seek help from the Heavenly Court, while Han Ruoming withdrew into seclusion to avoid the danger.
• Li Ling mobilized West Sea cultivators and the Heaven-Piercing Tower to investigate the anomaly, and learned that Immortal Long might have joined the Netherworld Sect.
• Li Ling arrived at the black-curtained anomaly and discovered that a Heaven-Piercing Tower messenger was possessed by a woman from the Ghost Soul Sect.
• The woman invited Li Ling and the Incense Accumulation Sect to join the Netherworld Sect, but refused to explain her recent activities, so Li Ling prepared to capture her.

Li Ling confronted Ye Lianyi in the Netherworld and learned that the Meng Family and Immortal Long were advancing a plan to turn the Misty Wave Kingdom into Netherworld Soil. After driving Ye Lianyi away, he found Immortal Long’s ship but sensed a powerful, hidden danger aboard.

• Li Ling projected his soul into the Netherworld, subdued Ye Lianyi’s dreamlike manifestation, and questioned her about the changes in the Misty Wave Kingdom.
• Ye Lianyi revealed that the Meng Family had recruited Immortal Long and that the Netherworld Sect planned to seize living souls and convert the kingdom into Netherworld Soil.
• Li Ling struck Ye Lianyi’s manifestation and used the Wind Spirit Butterfly to destroy her surroundings, potentially erasing her anchors to the pure land.
• Li Ling traveled to another region of the Netherworld and recognized Immortal Long’s ship, the Sturgeon Class treasure ship, crossing between the yin and yang worlds.
• Li Ling prepared to attack the ship but sensed intense malice and stopped, suspecting that a Nascent Soul-level expert was hidden aboard.

Li Ling infiltrated the Netherworld Sect’s ghost ship and discovered that its cultivators were torturing the souls of people they had killed to harvest their negative emotions. He attacked Immortal Long and Meng He, killing her before the Meng Family’s nascent soul Old Ancestor intervened and challenged the unseen attacker.

• Li Ling concealed himself with Formless Incense and boarded the Dragon Palace as it returned from the Netherworld to the living world.
• Li Ling overheard Immortal Long and Meng He discuss Immortal Long’s cultivation and the Soul Jade made from the spirituality of ten thousand living souls.
• Li Ling discovered that the ship’s cabins held tortured ghosts whose resentment and fear were gathered as resources for Netherworld Soil.
• Li Ling ambushed Immortal Long and Meng He, but their scapegoat ghosts deflected his first attacks; he then killed Meng He with a follow-up strike.
• An unknown force struck across space and forced Li Ling to retreat, while Immortal Long crushed a Secret Talisman to summon Meng Chu, the Meng Family’s nascent soul Old Ancestor.

Li Ling fought Meng Chu and Immortal Long aboard the Treasure Ship, revealing his identity and using the Incense Accumulation Divine Domain to cleanse and deliver the tormented ghosts. Meng Chu’s cursed ghosts repeatedly regenerated, while Li Ling concealed himself completely and circled behind his opponents.

• Immortal Long warned Meng Chu that Li Ling had killed his previous incarnation on Horsehead Island, and Meng Chu confirmed rumors linking Li Ling to True Person Zixu.
• Meng Chu used a Substitute Death Ghost to survive Li Ling’s surprise attack, then struck back with a Nether River finger and the Profound Yin Soul-Seizing Hand.
• Li Ling summoned a torrent of Incense Essence that devastated the ship’s ghosts and revealed himself, while Meng Chu recognized him and accused him of taking the souls’ lives.
• Li Ling’s incense cleansed the ghosts and freed unjustly dead spirits, earning him merit golden clouds and disproving Meng Chu’s claims of karmic consequences.
• Meng Chu summoned Ghost Generals and ghost kings protected by an Undying Curse, and Li Ling found that they regenerated after every attack.
• Li Ling concealed his presence with Formless Incense while using Divided Spirit Manifestation to distract Meng Chu, then circled behind the two men.

Li Ling killed Immortal Long and drove Meng Chu away, then investigated Immortal Long’s treasure ship and uncovered its role as a ferry between the living world and the Underworld. He began coordinating with the Heavenly Court, the Merchant Association, and West Sea powers as Meng Chu brought Immortal Long’s soul fragments to the Ghost Soul Sect’s Ten Thousand Spirits Mountain.

• Li Ling killed Immortal Long by destroying his body and spirit after exhausting his scapegoat ghosts, while Meng Chu arrived too late to save him.
• Meng Chu threatened Li Ling, detonated thousands of Curse Ghosts to cover his escape, and vanished into the void.
• Li Ling told Yao Lingxian to claim Immortal Long’s treasure ship, then accompanied the party as they investigated it and found an Asura King’s heart powering the vessel.
• Li Ling and Yao Lingxian concluded that the Netherworld Sect had refitted the ship to carry souls between realms and considered how to approach the West Sea’s other powerful figures.
• Li Ling began contacting the Heavenly Court, the Merchant Association, and maritime powers while arranging to refit the captured ship; Meng Chu carried Immortal Long’s soul fragments to the Ghost Soul Sect’s Ten Thousand Spirits Mountain.

Meng Chu used the Soul-Summoning Banner to recover Immortal Long's life soul and sought a corpse to resurrect him. When the corpse awoke with Li Ling's soul instead, Meng Chu realized Li Ling had returned in the wrong body.

• Meng Chu borrowed the Soul-Summoning Banner and summoned Immortal Long's life soul from across the heavens and myriad worlds.
• Tan Chunniang and Yin Du questioned Meng Chu about his West Sea defeat, and he explained how Li Ling had killed Immortal Long and seized the Treasure Ship.
• Yin Du recalled earlier incidents involving Li Ling and True Person Zixu, while the elders agreed that dealing with Li Ling in the West Sea was dangerous.
• Meng Chu followed Yin Du to his underground palace and bought a prepared cultivator corpse to use as Immortal Long's new body.
• The corpse awakened with no memories, and Meng Chu sensed its soul before recognizing it as Li Ling.

Meng Chu and Yin Du investigated the incense fragrance fused into Immortal Long’s soul, while Li Ling helped drive back the Netherworld Pure Land’s influence in the West Sea. The sun returned for now, but Li Ling prepared to defend the region and put Fang Lin in charge of the Dragon Palace treasure ship.

• Meng Chu suspected Li Ling had infused Immortal Long’s soul with incense essence, and Yin Du removed the soul to study it.
• Yin Du placed Immortal Long’s soul in an oil lamp and arranged to test whether reincarnation through a pregnant woman could remove the fragrance.
• Yin Du fed a pregnant woman xin'you root to see whether its powerful garlic scent would affect her unborn child and Immortal Long’s soul.
• Li Ling organized incense-burning ceremonies across the West Sea, and sunlight broke through the haze as the Netherworld Pure Land temporarily receded.
• Li Ling warned Yao Lingxian that the Pure Land could return, and he planned to work with the Heavenly Court to establish divine authorities and secure the West Sea.
• Li Ling visited the Dragon Palace treasure ship and decided to station Fang Lin aboard because Fang Lin’s lotus incense subdued the Asura King and the ship’s evil spirits.

Li Ling witnessed the Heavenly Court appoint Constable Zhao Bin as Tulin City's City God and send thirty thousand heavenly soldiers to establish a garrison in the Misty Wave Kingdom. Zhao Bin asked Li Ling to help recruit heroic spirits to fill the region’s vacant divine offices.

• Li Ling tested whether Buddhist light could transmute evil ghosts, but it destroyed their spirits instead of preserving them.
• Li Ling and other Righteous Immortal Sect experts attended the dedication of Tulin City's City God Temple, where Constable Zhao Bin became an Orthodox God through the Heavenly Court's appointment.
• Li Ling realized that heaven-bestowed merit could potentially create powerful Divine Path soldiers for the Incense Accumulation Sect.
• Divine General Fan Renshi arrived with Heavenly Court troops and told Li Ling that they would garrison Lai'er Island and assist in taking over defense around the Water Demon Palace.
• Zhao Bin told Li Ling that he had no subordinate gods and asked him to help recruit heroic spirits to fill the region's divine offices.

Li Ling helped Zhao Bin establish the City God administration and develop incense offerings as Zhao Bin’s patrols disrupted the Netherworld Sect’s influence. The Netherworld Sect retaliated with a surprise assault, killing Zhao Bin and destroying the City God Temple.

• Li Ling helped Zhao Bin appoint fallen cultivators and local ghosts to staff the City God administration, while religious assemblies spread incense offerings across the Misty Wave Kingdom.
• Zhao Bin’s patrols captured wandering ghosts and destroyed an evil ghost, and Li Ling observed how different grades of incense sustained the City God and his subordinates.
• Netherworld Sect envoys learned that Zhao Bin’s patrols were reducing the souls reaching the Fallen Soul Plain, and their disciples decided to attack him.
• A Netherworld Sect force ambushed Zhao Bin outside the City God Temple, overwhelmed his guards, and tore apart his divine body.
• The attackers smashed the temple’s plaque and annihilated the Heavenly Court’s foothold in Tulin Harbor.

After the demonic cultivators seized Tulin Harbor and killed its City God, the Heavenly Court appointed Zuo Zhongliang to lead a powerful campaign against the Netherworld Sect. Li Ling recognized Zuo as an old acquaintance from his mortal life, and their reunion ended with Zuo asking for Li Ling’s full support in the coming war.

• Yao Lingxian told Li Ling that demonic cultivators had killed Zhao Bin and slaughtered the officials and divine beings at Tulin Harbor.
• The Heavenly Court’s forces launched a broad purge, but their scattered searches killed few demons and risked weakening Lai’er Island’s defenses.
• The Heavenly Court appointed a new Tulin City God, and Zuo Zhongliang arrived to pay his respects to Li Ling.
• Li Ling recognized Zuo Zhongliang as a former Hundred-Household Commander from the Mystic Xin Kingdom and invited him to reminisce over tea.
• Zuo Zhongliang recounted his rise from mortal demon hunter to an apotheosized True Lord and explained that he had brought a veteran force to fight the Netherworld Sect.
• Zuo Zhongliang asked Li Ling to support the Heavenly Court’s campaign, which he had accepted as a retaliation for the killing of Zhao Bin.

Li Ling tested an improved Returning Soul Incense that allowed Zuo Zhongliang and his officers to return from the Netherworld Pure Land, then focused on refining the formula for wider use. Zuo Zhongliang began investigating possible Void Passages and learned that demons had gathered on Fallen Soul Plain.

• Zuo Zhongliang explained his plan to strike at the Netherworld Sect in the Netherworld Ghost Domain, and Li Ling agreed to test his improved Returning Soul Incense.
• Li Ling took Zuo Zhongliang and several officers into the Netherworld Pure Land, where they confirmed they could sense their own incense and use it to return to their bodies.
• Li Ling and the officers tested the incense repeatedly and established how long it could maintain a connection for cultivators at different levels.
• Li Ling focused on improving the incense formula and preparing for mass production, while Zuo Zhongliang investigated possible Void Passages across his jurisdiction.
• Zuo Zhongliang learned that a host of demons had gathered on Fallen Soul Plain.

Zuo Zhongliang led Heavenly Court forces into the Netherworld, where they destroyed a ghost city and killed powerful Nether Path cultivators, strengthening the West Sea’s security. After the victory, Li Ling received rewards for the Incense Accumulation Sect and examined spirit objects brought back from the expedition, which smelled of corpses and Blood Fiend.

• Zuo Zhongliang and his companions infiltrated a ghost city on the Fallen Soul Plain and saw the torment and exploitation suffered by its ghosts.
• Zuo Zhongliang led the gods up the mountain, killed the Nether Path ghost immortal Tai Wushi with his Eight Renowned Swords, and helped destroy the other peak’s inhabitants.
• Yao Lingxian reported the victory to Li Ling, who concluded that the West Sea was safer and that the Heavenly Court could establish a route into enemy territory.
• Li Ling approved opportunities for Incense Accumulation Sect disciples to travel, study secret texts, and gather spirit materials as rewards for improving Returning Soul Incense.
• Zuo Zhongliang gave Li Ling materials and treasures from the Netherworld, and Li Ling suspected the foul-smelling objects had formed from obsessions.