Chapter Summaries

Xi Yuanlin and Zhu Tianxiang secretly agreed to arrange Yao Lingxian’s assassination in response to the Incense Market’s expansion. An assassin stabbed Yao Lingxian in his home, but a crimson-robed noblewoman emerged from his corpse and used Teaweed Incense as the chapter ended.

• The West Sea Merchant Association elders complained about losing business to the Incense Market, but Xi Yuanlin and Zhu Tianxiang refused to take action publicly.
• Xi Yuanlin proposed killing Yao Lingxian, and Zhu Tianxiang agreed to help arrange it through the underworld.
• Yao Lingxian returned home, where an unfamiliar incense in his clothing made him dizzy and revealed that someone had targeted his habits.
• An assassin stabbed Yao Lingxian repeatedly and escaped after killing the servants who had witnessed the attack.
• A crimson-robed noblewoman emerged from Yao Lingxian’s apparent corpse and released a cloud of Teaweed Incense before disappearing.

After an assassin nearly killed Yao Lingxian, he organized a broad investigation that uncovered the fugitive’s trail to Nether Mountain. Li Ling decided to use the evidence to retaliate against Jade Lang Mountain, leaving his disciples preparing for a possible confrontation.

• Yao Lingxian survived the assassination attempt, sealed the Market Ward, and enlisted Heavenly Court officials and local forces to investigate.
• Zuo Zhongliang and Fan Renshi joined Yao Lingxian’s search, but nearly half a month of investigation revealed no trace of the culprit.
• Two Night Watchers asked Zhao Ziren to help find the assassin, and he used his Mind-to-Mind Communication ability to trace her to a barren mountain outside Nether Mountain Market Ward.
• Zhao Ziren reported the lead to the Night Watchers, and Yao Lingxian’s investigation produced evidence implicating Jade Lang Mountain.
• Li Ling approved action against Jade Lang Mountain and told Nie Yingzhi to proceed boldly, while Nie Yingzhi advised him to enter seclusion before influential figures tried to intervene.

The Misty Wave Kingdom’s garrison commissioners captured Kong Yantao and traced her assassination attempt on Yao Lingxian to shipowners in Ruoshan Ward. Yao Lingxian and her allies chose to attack the ward openly, leaving Xi Yuanlin and Zhu Tianxiang caught between the Incense Market and the West Sea powers demanding retaliation.

• Feng Jide’s team ambushed and captured Kong Yantao, who revealed that shipowners in Ruoshan Ward had hired her to assassinate Yao Lingxian.
• Xi Yuanlin and Zhu Tianxiang learned of Kong Yantao’s capture and expected the investigation to implicate Merchant Association forces, while Yao Lingxian and her allies decided to pursue the case without sparing the West Sea powers.
• The Misty Wave Kingdom’s garrison commissioners and the Sea King led a fleet against Ruoshan Ward, defeated its defenders after a day of fighting, and arrested those implicated.
• The attack shocked the West Sea and Jade Lang Mountain, where hostile merchants urged Xi Yuanlin and Zhu Tianxiang to lead a counterattack against the garrison commissioners.
• Xi Yuanlin and Zhu Tianxiang realized the Incense Market had deliberately provoked a confrontation, but mounting pressure left them unable to avoid taking a side.

Xi Yuanlin and Zhu Tianxiang rallied Jade Lang Mountain's merchant association and West Sea elites against the Incense Accumulation Sect as tensions escalated into months of covert clashes. Lai'er Island then issued a public proclamation exposing Jade Lang Mountain's alleged crimes and calling for a campaign against its leaders, sending the West Sea into open war.

• Xi Yuanlin recognized that the Incense Path was undermining Jade Lang Mountain's old businesses and decided to turn the merchant association's anger toward war.
• Xi Yuanlin and Zhu Tianxiang contacted Yu Yunfei on Goldsource Island, who said the General Association would help neither side, and then gathered support from Han Ruoming and other West Sea elites.
• Clashes between the two camps escalated from attacks and arson by Qi Refining cultivators to raids, killings, and looting, while senior cultivators stayed out of direct confrontations.
• On the last day of the year, Lai'er Island issued a proclamation in the Incense Accumulation Sect's name, accusing Jade Lang Mountain's clans and merchant groups of piracy, human trafficking, and other crimes.
• The proclamation called on West Sea cultivators to join the campaign against Jade Lang Mountain, and war spread rapidly across the region.

The Misty Wave Kingdom and Lai'er Island forces seized trading company territory across the West Sea while gathering cultivators and using publicized crimes to rally support. As the conflict spread, Jiang Shiqun arrived at the Que Luo Immortal Abode on the General Association’s behalf, and Li Ling welcomed him to discuss their intentions.

• Rogue cultivators and Misty Wave Kingdom Night Watchers broke through a trading company market ward, while Elder Qi and the other elders withdrew rather than intervene.
• Garrison Commissioners identified Rong Zhaoyou as a suspect in the Geng Lian Island massacre but delayed arresting him so they could investigate the other trading company members.
• Misty Wave Kingdom forces occupied trading company holdings, while Jade Lang Mountain allies formed defensive alliances and Lai'er Island recruited cultivators to its cause.
• Yao Lingxian’s published evidence and Li Ling’s Heavenly Court connections helped Lai'er Island attract support from rogue cultivators and sect disciples.
• Jiang Shiqun arrived at the Que Luo Immortal Abode as an envoy from the General Association, and Li Ling welcomed him to discuss their intentions.

Li Ling persuaded Jiang Shiqun and the Four Seas Commerce Guild to support his campaign against Jade Lang Mountain by promising higher tribute and a prosperous West Sea under his rule. The General Association chose neutrality and local autonomy, leaving the two sides to fight while Jade Lang Mountain prepared to ally with unorthodox cultivators.

• Li Ling argued that Jade Lang Mountain’s demon-linked merchants harmed the West Sea and offered to repay its tax arrears, increase tribute, and develop the region if the General Association backed him.
• Jiang Shiqun consulted other leaders, who cited Li Ling’s successful governance of the North Sea, then agreed to support his takeover while asking him to spare certain lineages and people.
• Li Ling insisted that the mastermind behind the attempt on Yao Lingxian would be punished and that the Incense Accumulation Sect would reorganize Jade Lang Mountain’s Council of Elders.
• The Three Great Treasure Envoys postponed intervention in the West Sea dispute and let the sides fight, prohibiting Foundation Establishment cultivators from entering the conflict.
• Jade Lang Mountain’s elders rejected the General Association’s decision and discussed recruiting demonic and unorthodox cultivators, offering protection in exchange for a share of their plunder.

Yao Lingxian’s investiture ceremony gave the Incense Accumulation Sect’s fallen fighters a place in the Heavenly Court and greatly strengthened its supporters’ morale in the West Sea war. As Jade Lang Mountain’s forces faltered and lost a hundred islands, Xi Yuanlin proposed seeking reinforcements from the Netherworld Sect.

• Yao Lingxian petitioned the Heavenly Court to invest fallen fighters and other worthy souls, and the Heavenly Book granted them divine bodies and official posts.
• News of the investitures inspired the Incense Accumulation Sect’s forces and made Jade Lang Mountain’s cultivators increasingly reluctant to fight.
• Three months later, Jade Lang Mountain’s leaders discussed their losses after the opposing forces took a hundred islands and neared their heartland.
• Zhu Tianxiang urged Jade Lang Mountain to deploy foundation establishment cultivators, but Xi Yuanlin warned that the opposing side had experts too.
• Xi Yuanlin told Zhu Tianxiang to ask the Netherworld Sect for reinforcements while keeping the conflict within the Qi Refining Realm.

Xi Yuanlin and Zhu Tianxiang secured Netherworld Sect aid for Jade Lang Mountain, while Li Ling arranged to sabotage the shipment passing through Nether Mountain. Zhao Ziren used Copper-Stench Bewitching Incense to stir greed among rogue cultivators, and Chen Zhisheng began eyeing the arriving Corpse Immortal Sect disciples.

• Xi Yuanlin and Zhu Tianxiang negotiated Netherworld Sect support in the form of cultivation methods, treasures, and corpse forces instead of direct intervention.
• Yao Lingxian reported the Netherworld Sect’s involvement to Li Ling, who concluded that the war had to end before Jade Lang Mountain could recover.
• Zhao Ziren told Madam Jin that a shipment for Jade Lang Mountain would pass through Nether Mountain and gave her Copper-Stench Bewitching Incense to use on local rogues and Demonic Path practitioners.
• Madam Jin arranged for the incense to be burned at the Gilded Den, gradually intensifying guests’ greed without their knowledge.
• Chen Zhisheng spotted Corpse Immortal Sect disciples at the Gilded Den and, driven by greed, secretly headed toward their quarters, where he found three Foundation Establishment True Disciples.

Chen Zhisheng stole three Corpse Immortal Sect disciples’ treasure pouches during a staged disturbance, then discovered they held a vast cache of sect supplies and fled the You Mountain King’s territory. The disciples later realized the goods were missing and reported the theft to their elders, who rushed to investigate.

• Chen Zhisheng transformed into a mosquito and infiltrated the room where three Corpse Immortal Sect disciples were drinking, waiting for a chance to steal from them.
• After Zhao Ziren secretly guided rogue cultivators into provoking a fight with the disciples, Chen Zhisheng used Empty-Handed Wonder to take all three treasure pouches.
• Chen Zhisheng found the pouches packed with spirit materials, cultivation texts, magical artifacts, and ghost-cultivation supplies, then decided to flee before experts could track him.
• Zhao Ziren noticed Chen Zhisheng leaving and watched him depart with a smile.
• The Corpse Immortal Sect disciples discovered their pouches were missing and informed their elders, who angrily scolded them before one elder hurried to their location.

Nie Si investigated the theft of the Corpse Immortal Sect’s supplies with Zhao Ziren’s help, while Zhao secretly protected the thief, Chen Zhisheng. Chen Zhisheng boarded a ferry bound for the Misty Wave Kingdom, seeking refuge in Righteous Immortal Sect territory.

• Nie Si told Zhao Ziren that the stolen supplies had been commissioned to support the West Sea, and Zhao ordered a search of Nether Mountain Market Ward’s records.
• Zhao gave Nie Si guest records, and Nie Si identified several possible suspects, including Chen Zhisheng, then sent disciples carrying flying zombies to pursue them.
• Madam Jin learned that Zhao had secretly altered the records to mislead Nie Si and planned to help conceal Chen Zhisheng’s trail.
• Chen Zhisheng reached the Yin-Yang Ferry Route and boarded Immortal Long’s former vessel after registering for a temporary Travel Permit.
• Chen Zhisheng headed toward the Misty Wave Kingdom, hoping to reach Righteous Immortal Sect territory before the Netherworld Sect could intercept him.

Xi Yuanlin allied Jade Lang Mountain with the Netherworld Sect and accepted a plan to unleash the Nether Serpent Demon Venerable’s blood essence as the Incense Market advanced through the West Sea. At a demonic workshop, Jade Lang Mountain’s forces ambushed Incense Market reinforcements with Foundation Establishment yin gluttons, killing one cultivator and driving the others to flee.

• Xi Yuanlin decided to abandon restraint, move his younger members to safety, and join the Netherworld Sect in resisting the Incense Market.
• As Lai'er Island captured more cities, Senior Brother He gave Xi Yuanlin a bottle of the Nether Serpent Demon Venerable’s blood essence and explained the plan to use slaughter and hatred to rebuild Youyan’s demonic soul.
• Incense Market cultivators and a Night Watcher discovered Jade Lang Mountain’s flesh-and-blood workshop and attacked it.
• The workshop’s chief steward ordered his subordinates to release Foundation Establishment yin gluttons against the attackers.
• Jade Lang Mountain’s forces used a Netherworld Sect treasure and the yin gluttons to ambush the three Foundation Establishment reinforcements, killing Fellow Daoist Yu and forcing his companions to flee.

Yao Lingxian secured approval for an all-out assault on Jade Lang Mountain after the righteous side learned that its enemies had broken the rules first. As the Netherworld Sect helped Jade Lang Mountain’s defenders prepare for war, the Corpse Immortal Sect produced a Blood God Dao Fruit that could strengthen its corpse puppets.

• Yao Lingxian reported the rule-breaking to his superiors, who ordered the righteous forces to launch an all-out assault and seize Jade Lang Mountain.
• The righteous coalition surrounded Jade Lang Mountain, while Han Ruoming refused to intervene and advised its leaders to surrender to the Incense Market.
• Xi Yuanlin and Zhu Tianxiang turned to the Netherworld Sect for support, and its messengers recruited Unorthodox Cultivators by promising them rewards and teaching them escape methods.
• Senior Brother He and the Corpse Immortal Sect refined cultivator corpses into powerful zombies and ordered widespread slaughter to gather blood and origin energy.
• Senior Brother He and his companions produced a Blood God Dao Fruit from a vast blood pool, which they said could make corpse puppets hard to kill and help turn the war in their favor.

Xi Yuanlin learned how the Corpse Immortal Sect’s blood corpses gained their near-immortality, and the Merchant Association deployed them to turn the fighting near Jade Lang Mountain against the righteous forces. After the righteous forces suffered heavy defeats, the Heavenly Court summoned its Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord, who appeared as the Firmament Tribulation Eye and struck Jade Lang Mountain with a devastating thunderbolt.

• Senior Brother He explained to Xi Yuanlin how blood corpses were strengthened, how difficult they were to destroy, and how the blood sea could transform those with the right bloodline.
• The Merchant Association deployed blood corpses near Jade Lang Mountain, where they overwhelmed an advance party and helped unorthodox cultivators capture the wounded true disciple Mu.
• The blood corpses defeated several forces, and the Corpse Immortal Sect transformed the captured Mu into a monster while he was still alive.
• Zuo Zhongliang and the righteous forces failed to retake Jade Lang Mountain, prompting the Righteous Immortal Sect to summon the Heavenly Court’s Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord.
• The Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord revealed his Firmament Tribulation Eye form and unleashed a massive thunderbolt that engulfed Jade Lang Mountain and the surrounding hundred li.

The Thunder Division's Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord broke Jade Lang Mountain's defenses, forcing the merchant association's forces to collapse. As Zhu Tianxiang surrendered and Li Ling arrived in person, Xi Yuanlin contaminated the mountain's spirit vein with Demon Venerable Youyan's blood, and Li Ling sensed the scent of the Nether River.

• The Thunder Division's Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord destroyed the blood corpses and broke the grand array, while Fan Renshi searched for Netherworld Sect disciples among the fleeing defenders.
• Xi Yuanlin found Senior Brother He in the valley and decided to destroy Jade Lang Mountain's spirit vein by pouring Demon Venerable Youyan's blood essence into its underground spring.
• Zhu Tianxiang surrendered to the Thunder Division's Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord and offered the merchant association's records, treasury keys, and information about Netherworld Sect infiltrators.
• Li Ling arrived by soul projection and accepted Zhu Tianxiang's surrender on the Incense Accumulation Sect's behalf.
• Li Ling sensed the foul scent of the Nether River, and the Thunder Division's Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord was stunned as the temperature suddenly plunged.

As the righteous forces secured Jade Lang Mountain, Zhan Li and Zuo Zhongliang discovered that Xi Yuanlin might be using the Spirit Peak Vein to help the Demon Venerable Youyan and the Blood Sea corrupt the West Sea. Zuo Zhongliang found Youyan forming within a blood-tainted spring and attacked him, leaving the battle underway.

• Zhan Li pieced together reports that Xi Yuanlin had not fled and warned the front line that he might be targeting the Spirit Peak Vein.
• Zuo Zhongliang led the Demon-Suppressing Army underground, then received an urgent message that Xi Yuanlin might be near the vein and intend to destroy it.
• Zuo Zhongliang crossed a thick rock wall and discovered the Spirit Peak Vein's spring had become a blood-filled pool where a giant Nether Serpent lay coiled.
• Zuo Zhongliang recognized the serpent as the Demon Venerable Youyan, who was using blood essence and the vein to form a Spirit Body and connect the Nether River to the Blood Sea.
• Zuo Zhongliang sent a warning to the Heavenly Court and charged Youyan with his Demon-Slaying Saber.
• Youyan summoned swarms of Nether Serpents and attacked Zuo Zhongliang.

Zuo Zhongliang invoked the Supreme Nine Luminaries Deity Invocation Talisman and drew Mystic Heaven’s attention, enveloping the cavern in an unfathomable state that froze Youyan and the hidden observers. He gathered his strength and began unleashing his Black Tortoise Dao Entry killing move, leaving his attack to converge into light.

• Zuo Zhongliang’s attacks repeatedly wounded Youyan, but the serpent regenerated by drawing power from the polluted spirit spring.
• Zuo Zhongliang used the Supreme Nine Luminaries Deity Invocation Talisman, while Senior Brother He and Xi Yuanlin watched from their hiding place and discussed the risks of his sacrifice.
• Zuo Zhongliang connected with Mystic Heaven, and its presence trapped the cavern and its inhabitants in an otherworldly state where they could think but not move.
• Xi Yuanlin realized the power was the inherent state of a being merged with the heavenly dao, though he doubted his conclusion about its realm.
• Zuo Zhongliang unleashed his Black Tortoise Dao Entry killing move through repeated strikes across time, and his overlapping Blade Gang formed light.

Zuo Zhongliang destroyed Youyan’s remnant soul and killed Senior Brother He, then used his last strength to behead Xi Yuanlin and send his body down the river. Xi Yuanlin survived as a severed head, attempted to become a ghost cultivator, and absorbed Youyan’s blood essence, transforming into a human-headed serpent that headed for the artificial blood pool.

• Zuo Zhongliang’s saber light annihilated Youyan’s remnant soul and killed Senior Brother He, while Xi Yuanlin barely survived the fading attack.
• Xi Yuanlin realized Zuo Zhongliang was exhausted, struck him down, and mocked him for the damage to his trading company.
• Zuo Zhongliang seized Xi Yuanlin’s ankle and severed his head, then pushed his body into the river before his own divine form dissipated.
• Xi Yuanlin tried to reunite with his body but could not find it, then attempted a Nascent Soul breakthrough and began converting himself into a ghost cultivator.
• Xi Yuanlin entered the blood pool and absorbed Youyan’s blood essence, transforming into a human-headed serpent that shed its skin and headed toward the artificial blood pool.

Zuo Zhongliang’s subordinates tracked a monstrous creature to a blood pool and discovered that Xi Yuanlin had become a regenerative, four-headed Nether Serpent with a deadly devouring ability. As Xi Yuanlin overwhelmed the Heavenly Court forces, Li Ling and the Thunder Division’s Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord arrived above the pool.

• Zuo Zhongliang’s subordinates found his scattered belongings, a gigantic shed snakeskin, and trails leading out of the cavern.
• The officers followed signs of blood and destruction to a vast blood pool, where they found Xi Yuanlin transformed into a serpent-bodied monster.
• Xi Yuanlin dragged several Heavenly Soldiers and Night Watchers into the pool and swallowed a Garrison Commissioner’s Flying Sword, but three Core Formation experts and their allies attacked him.
• The attackers wounded Xi Yuanlin, but he regenerated, revealed more heads, and used his devouring ability to kill cultivators despite their coordinated assault.
• Xi Yuanlin displayed the Netherworld Sect’s Four Curses and swallowed a Core Formation expert, leaving the remaining fighters on the verge of defeat.
• Li Ling and the Thunder Division’s Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord arrived above the blood pool.

Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord killed Xi Yuanlin, but discovered that the fiend had contaminated Jade Lang Mountain’s spirit veins with blood from the Nether River. As Xi Yuanlin’s remnant soul clung to the mountain and threatened the West Sea, Li Ling vowed to restore the region himself.

• Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord defeated Xi Yuanlin with lightning, destroying his four heads and body while Li Ling watched.
• Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord discovered that Xi Yuanlin had secretly drained the blood pool into Jade Lang Mountain’s spirit veins and split open the mountain to inspect the damage.
• Xi Yuanlin’s remnant soul appeared in the tainted blood, claiming an undying body, and Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord explained that the contamination could revive him and spread across the West Sea.
• Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord proposed evacuating the island and destroying Jade Lang Mountain with Ten Thousand Thunders Descending, but Li Ling asked whether the mountain could be restored.
• Li Ling recalled how helpless he had once been amid calamities in the Mystic Xin Kingdom and told Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord that he would take charge of restoring Jade Lang Mountain and bringing peace to the West Sea.

Li Ling cleansed Jade Lang Mountain’s Nether River corruption with his Incense Accumulation Divine Domain, then planted Orchids of the Secluded Valley to suppress the remaining filth. He learned that Zuo Zhongliang had sacrificed his life after falling victim to the Demonic Path.

• Li Ling spread his Divine Domain across Jade Lang Mountain and used Great Fragrance Realm’s Three Thousand Sandalwood Fragrances to dispel the foul atmosphere and restore the island.
• Li Ling explained that the Nether River’s influence had taken root in the Merchant Association’s people and the island’s accumulated death and suffering, then neutralized the remaining sinister power.
• Li Ling planted more than a hundred Orchids of the Secluded Valley, which took root across the barren mountains and began absorbing the Nether River’s filth.
• Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord of the Thunder Division praised Li Ling’s method and asked whether it could restore other demon caverns and deathlands; Li Ling described the Incense Accumulation Sect’s research.
• Li Ling detected Zuo Zhongliang’s scent on a Heavenly God and learned that Demon-Subduing True Lord had fallen victim to the Demonic Path and sacrificed his life.