Chapter Summaries

Li Ling failed to restore Zuo Zhongliang as an individual and resolved to let incense offerings preserve the Demon-Subduing True Lord’s ideals. In the Spirit Peak Blessed Land, Xi Yuanlin’s corpse revived under the Blood Sea Demon Venerable’s control, and Ming Tu recognized Li Ling and urged him to join the Netherworld Sect.

• Li Ling tried to resurrect Zuo Zhongliang with Wengwu Incense, but could only gather a fragment of spiritual essence and planned to restore him as a deity through offerings and stories.
• Li Ling and the Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord discovered Xi Yuanlin’s headless corpse in the spirit spring, where it had begun to stir with the demon venerable’s blood essence.
• Xi Yuanlin’s corpse stood up and identified itself as Ming Tu, the Blood Sea Demon Venerable, who had projected his spirit to learn who had severed his connection with Youyan.
• Ming Tu recognized Li Ling from their past encounter over Lin Rouniang and teased him about their connection, while Li Ling denied having more than one wife.
• Ming Tu told Li Ling a parable about four wives, identifying the fourth as Li Ling’s true nature and urging him to enter the Netherworld Sect to pursue immortality.

Li Ling learned that a mighty Netherworld cultivator had arranged for Lin Rouniang to become a vessel for Nether Heaven, then refused the being’s offer to become his Dao Companion. After the Blood Sea Demon Venerable discovered Zuo Zhongliang’s favor from Mystic Heaven and demanded his soul, Li Ling refused, and the Demon Venerable attacked.

• Li Ling and the Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord of the Thunder Division learned that Lin Rouniang had been a Netherworld Sect Saintess whose preserved corpse was meant to receive Nether Heaven Will.
• The Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord of the Thunder Division explained the rival Heavenly Daos and said the Lord of Yellow Springs sought to establish reincarnation as an immutable foundation of the Underworld.
• The headless corpse offered to have the Lord of Reincarnation become Li Ling’s Dao Companion, but Li Ling refused and insisted on relying on himself.
• The headless corpse used a secret art to view past events and saw Zuo Zhongliang draw upon Mystic Heaven power with his blade strike.
• The headless corpse demanded Zuo Zhongliang’s soul, but Li Ling withdrew it and refused to hand it over.
• The Blood Sea Demon Venerable transformed into a Yaksha avatar and used a law to affect Li Ling’s blood, but Li Ling escaped his perception with Phantom Floating Fragrance.

Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord fought Blood Sea Demon Venerable’s avatar beneath Jade Lang Mountain, while Li Ling realized how the Tribulation Path could overcome even powerful cultivators. Li Ling trapped the Blood God avatars in his Incense Path realm, allowing Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord to destroy the Demon Venerable’s exposed avatar.

• Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord used thunder arts to destroy Blood Sea Demon Venerable’s summoned forces and strike into the underground spirit spring, injuring the hidden avatar.
• Li Ling watched the Thunder Soldier Tribulation Finger and realized that Tribulation Path power could penetrate spiritual consciousness and threaten even Spirit Transformation cultivators.
• A Blood God avatar emerged from the spring and escaped through the Blood Escape Great Art, spreading its power into the living Garrison Commissioners, Night Watchers, and cultivators.
• Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord warned Li Ling that the Blood God could multiply through living hosts, forcing him to destroy the area if no other solution existed.
• Li Ling used the Orchid of the Secluded Valley to draw the Blood Sea Demon Venerable avatar into his Incense Path realm, where blood and material powers could not reach.
• Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord seized the opportunity and blasted the trapped avatar to death.

Li Ling and the Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord repelled the Blood Sea Demon Venerable’s avatar and restored peace to Jade Lang Mountain. As the new Council of Elders reorganized the West Sea, Li Ling punished the Flawless Treasure Association while leaving the Zhu family a path to preserve its holdings, and ordered Xi Yuanlin’s network to face severe scrutiny.

• Li Ling and the Vast Dharma Heavenly Lord treated the wounded after the Blood Sea Demon Venerable’s avatar vanished, then reviewed how their powers had helped them defeat it.
• The West Sea Incense Market, Heaven-Piercing Tower, and Money Guild formed a new Council of Elders to reorganize the Four Seas Commerce Guild’s forces.
• Zhu Tianxiang admitted the Flawless Treasure Association’s wrongdoing, while Yao Lingxian argued that Zhu’s surrender and aid in protecting Jade Lang Mountain warranted leniency.
• Li Ling ordered the Heavenly Goods Trading Company and Flawless Treasure Association broken up, but allowed the Zhu family to keep its wealth, enterprises, and Council seat if Zhu resigned.
• Li Ling ordered Xi Yuanlin’s family, descendants, associates, and protégés investigated and threatened severe punishment for anyone involved with demons.

After the Incense Accumulation Sect took control of Jade Lang Mountain, its forces confiscated the former ruling families’ property while resistance grew among their fallen factions. As Li Ling warned his disciples not to repeat the old powers’ abuses, he learned that a revolt was planned for the Incense-Burning Grand Gathering.

• The Incense Market confiscated a shop claimed by the Lin Household, and Uncle Fu persuaded the young proprietor to leave rather than resist.
• Several days later, Night Watchers and the Garrison Commissioner captured a wounded man who fought back against the new authorities.
• Onlookers discussed the fallen clans’ legacy, and rogue cultivators condemned the Heavenly Goods Trading Company for its crimes.
• Zhan Li reported to Li Ling that the Incense Accumulation Sect was inventorying the former factions’ assets with help from Zhu Tianxiang’s information.
• Li Ling cautioned Yao Lingxian and Zhan Li against greed and said the new regime should transform Jade Lang Mountain rather than exploit it.
• A messenger reported that conspirators planned an uprising at the Incense-Burning Grand Gathering early the next month.

Li Ling discussed how the Incense Market’s own disciples could be corrupted by wealth and taught Yao Lingxian the secret formula for Will-Consent Incense. After guiding Yao through trial batches, Li Ling took him to see the captured conspirators and tested the incense on them.

• Li Ling told Yao Lingxian that the greatest threat to the Incense Market’s rule came from its own Incense Path Disciples, whose pursuit of wealth could harm others’ cultivation paths.
• Li Ling explained that people could change their surroundings by remaining true to their hearts, then taught Yao Lingxian the formula and method for refining Will-Consent Incense.
• Yao Lingxian refined several batches, and Li Ling corrected his mistakes until he understood the process, which also helped him recognize and lessen his attachment to wealth.
• A report said that several Heavenly Goods Trading Company stewards had been caught plotting to sabotage the Incense-Burning Grand Gathering, and Li Ling and Yao Lingxian went to see them.
• Li Ling secretly burned Will-Consent Incense near the prisoners, and its fragrance clouded their minds as a golden-robed Incense Deity appeared in their thoughts.

Li Ling demonstrated how Mind-Pleasing Incense awakened criminals’ buried kindness and transformed their behavior, revealing conversion as a form of Incense Path power. He warned Yao Lingxian that the ability could frighten lesser cultivators and resolved to master the Conversion Law before sharing its methods with the sect.

• Li Ling summoned a monk-shaped Incense Deity whose Mind-Pleasing Incense made the prisoners relive karmic visions of hell and confront their past sins.
• One prisoner escaped his vision after grasping a spider’s thread, then woke and carefully moved a real spider to safety as his kindness returned.
• Li Ling explained to Yao Lingxian that conversion used matter to influence spirit and awaken wisdom, while admitting he had not mastered the Conversion Law.
• The prisoners confessed their crimes and revealed Demonic Path contacts and hiding places, so Yao Lingxian ordered the Night Watchers to use them to draw out the Netherworld Sect’s envoys.
• Li Ling cautioned that conversion could be seen as brainwashing and provoke fear among lower-ranking cultivators, then vowed to master the law and pass its methods to the sect.

Li Ling realized that Lin Rouniang’s lingering karmic ties made her a potential vessel for a powerful being, and he vowed to protect her through the Incense Path. Meanwhile, the Blood Sea Demon Venerable awakened another Lin Rouniang in the Impure Land and gave her a scripture to connect with Nether Heaven.

• Li Ling told Lin Rouniang that a Netherworld power might use her as an anchor, then urged her to strengthen herself with incense rather than change her name.
• Lin Rouniang agreed to face the enemy with Li Ling, who left her residence determined to oppose the being’s reincarnation arts.
• In the Impure Land, another Lin Rouniang emerged from a coffin and recalled her hatred of Li Ling, realizing her life soul and primordial spirit were incomplete and still in his possession.
• The Blood Sea Demon Venerable told Lin Rouniang that reclaiming her souls from Li Ling was necessary, and revealed that Li Ling had become a powerful Nascent Soul cultivator who had even bested him.
• The Blood Sea Demon Venerable gave Lin Rouniang the Netherworld Secret Record, and a strange Dharma Power began to condense within her as she accepted it.

Lin Rouniang gained a new life and immense dharma power in the Transmigration Pool, where a mysterious female immortal appeared to take over her body. Meanwhile, Li Ling sensed the change and reached her just as the immortal recognized him.

• Lin Rouniang failed to locate her reincarnated blood spirits, so the Blood Sea Demon Venerable sent her to the Transmigration Pool to strengthen her for Nether Heaven’s descent.
• Lin Rouniang entered the pool, revived fully, and absorbed spiritual lights that clarified the bloody figure behind her.
• Li Ling discussed Nascent Soul cultivation with Mu Qingsi and resolved to find ways to help her overcome her cultivation bottleneck.
• After sensing a change connected to Lin Rouniang, Li Ling projected a strand of will into the Transmigration Pool and discovered that a ying spirit was replacing her soul and consciousness.
• Lin Rouniang awoke with immense dharma power and encountered a three-eyed female immortal resembling her, who greeted Li Ling by saying, “We finally meet again.”

Li Ling witnessed his origin as the Primordial Orchid and learned of his ancient connection to the Other Shore Flower, now the Lord of Yellow Springs. After escaping her deadly reach, he warned the Heavenly Court that she might take over Lin Rouniang, but no conflict followed and the Underworld’s plans remained unclear.

• Li Ling saw the Primordial Orchid awaken in primordial chaos and understood that its scattered consciousness and fragrances had shaped his present existence.
• The Lord of Yellow Springs called Li Ling her husband and tried to take him home, but he rejected her claim and concealed himself from her instant-death power.
• The Lord of Yellow Springs killed several Asura maidservants while searching for Li Ling, who disrupted her perception and escaped.
• Li Ling consulted records and learned that the Lord of Yellow Springs had reincarnated across a hundred lifetimes and commanded the laws of death and reincarnation.
• Li Ling discreetly warned the Heavenly Court that the Lord of Yellow Springs might take over Lin Rouniang, prompting the court to prepare for danger.
• No war or further activity from the Blood Sea followed, leaving Li Ling uncertain about what the Lord of Yellow Springs and her allies intended.

Li Ling learned more about Nether Heaven’s deadly laws and realized how his Incense Path might help him contend with powers rooted in the Great Dao. After more than a century of secluded cultivation and the Incense Accumulation Sect’s growth, Nie Yingzhi came to report, and Li Ling summoned him to the Floating Cloud Platform.

• The Heavenly Court Envoy told Li Ling that Lin Rouniang had fallen ill after bearing Nether Heaven Will’s power and warned that she might seek him out later.
• The envoy explained the Blood Sea Demon Venerable’s strength and described the lethal reach of the Lord of Yellow Springs’ Instant-Death Dharma Body.
• Li Ling analyzed how laws took effect and concluded that his Scent Identification talent and Phantom Floating Fragrance might let him harness the Great Dao’s laws indirectly.
• Li Ling spent more than a hundred years cultivating in seclusion while the Incense Accumulation Sect’s markets and fifth generation of true disciples flourished.
• On the first day of year three hundred of the Incense Accumulation Era, Nie Yingzhi came to report, and Li Ling summoned him to the reappeared Floating Cloud Platform.

Li Ling revealed his newly created Xiyi Illusory Body and discussed the Incense Accumulation Sect’s growth with Nie Yingzhi. He gave Nie Yingzhi a rare Enlightenment Incense, which helped him successfully achieve Core Formation.

• Nie Yingzhi visited Li Ling, who explained that his Xiyi Illusory Body was a pseudo-Dharma Body designed to let him evade even formidable enemies.
• Nie Yingzhi reported the sect’s expanding ranks and its shortage of Core Formation cultivators, and Li Ling promised to attend the midyear celebration.
• Li Ling gave Nie Yingzhi an Enlightenment Incense made to grant an Incense Path spirit root and Dao seed.
• Nie Yingzhi burned the incense, absorbed its golden fragrance, and achieved Core Formation after more than two hours.

Li Ling wrestled with how to use the rare Enlightenment Incense and began assessing younger disciples while the Incense Accumulation Sect celebrated its three-hundredth anniversary and Nie Yingzhi’s Core Formation. The festivities were interrupted when Li Ling received news that the Netherworld Sect had launched a full-scale invasion after Sun Wheel Mountain fell.

• Li Ling warned Nie Yingzhi to keep his Core Formation breakthrough discreet, and they arranged for him to emerge from seclusion three months later with a plausible explanation.
• Nie Yingzhi announced his breakthrough, and the sect prepared a grand anniversary celebration as disciples and envoys gathered at the Que Luo Immortal Abode.
• Li Ling explained that his Formless Body made each disciple perceive his appearance differently, then heard about their lives and considered who should receive future Enlightenment Incense.
• After Mu Qingsi urged him to let things take their course, Li Ling invited his disciples to recommend promising younger True Disciples and guided them while assessing their temperaments.
• During the Incense-Burning Grand Gathering, Li Ling received an urgent Heavenly Court message that Sun Wheel Mountain had fallen and the Netherworld Sect’s army had begun a full-scale invasion.

Li Ling learned that the Netherworld Sect had opened a front in the East Sea and prepared the Incense Accumulation Sect to answer the Heavenly Court’s levy. As he gathered intelligence on the enemy, he discovered that Xin Yue had taken control of the ancient Corpse Kun and that Xin Yue’s Corpse Plague Daoist arts were connected to Shu Changsheng’s cultivation path.

• Li Ling told the sect’s second-generation True Disciples about Sun Wheel Mountain’s fall, and they agreed the sect could not stand aside as the East Sea crisis worsened.
• Li Ling assigned Shu Changsheng, Chi Yingting, Luo Dao, Luo Jingwei, Feng Qing, An Qinglong, and other disciples and elders to reinforce the East Sea, exceeding the Heavenly Court’s requested levy.
• Li Ling sought information about the campaign and learned that Desolate Baleful Heavenly Lord would oversee the East Sea, while Zhao Ziren’s report named Xin Yue and five Ghost Immortals as the enemy’s main force.
• Zhao Ziren’s intelligence revealed that Xin Yue had mastered the Corpse Kun, an ancient horror freed from Sun Wheel Mountain, and that the Corpse Immortal Sect was directing the campaign.
• Li Ling recognized that Xin Yue’s Corpse Plague Daoist arts resembled the path Shu Changsheng had cultivated, performed a calculation, and grew troubled.

Shu Changsheng and the Incense Accumulation Sect reinforcements arrived at Lijian Mountain and learned that the East Sea was under attack by the Netherworld Sect’s corpse-ghoul armies and a spreading corpse plague. Shu offered a cheap Plague-Repelling Incense and sent disciples to help, while Corpse Immortal Sect elders secretly ordered a hunt for the newcomers.

• Shu Changsheng and the others reached Lijian Mountain, where merchant association cultivators welcomed them and described the East Sea’s besieged battlefronts.
• The merchant association elders explained that the Netherworld Sect’s Corpse Kun produced swarms of evolving corpse insects that formed much of the enemy army.
• East Sea cultivators asked Shu for help stopping a corpse plague that spread through people, flies, and rats and threatened the region’s future population.
• Shu offered to publish the Incense Accumulation Sect’s inexpensive Plague-Repelling Incense recipe and send disciples to teach its use.
• Shu’s disciples deployed to different regions, while Luo Jingwei and other fighters went to report to the Heavenly Court’s army.
• Hidden Corpse Immortal Sect elders learned that the Incense Accumulation Sect had arrived and ordered their forces to begin the hunt.

The Incense Accumulation Sect and its allies spread Plague-Repelling Incense and aid across the East Sea, slowing the Corpse Plague while confronting the region’s social hardships. As Shu Changsheng returned toward Lijian Mountain, demonic cultivators ambushed his group, and a Merchant Association cultivator betrayed them for a bounty on his life.

• Han Jia taught locals how to prepare Plague-Repelling Incense, then guided them as many struggled to follow the formula correctly.
• Incense Path disciples distributed the incense and provided disaster relief, medical care, and support for orphans, helping curb the Corpse Plague and stabilize the region.
• Shu Changsheng warned his companions that deaths and hardship could drive survivors toward the Demonic Path, even if they escaped Corpse Transformation.
• Demonic cultivators led by notorious experts surrounded Shu Changsheng’s Treasure Ship, while nearly a hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators closed in behind them.
• A Merchant Association cultivator surnamed Xia attacked Elder Qiu and revealed that the Black Market had offered rewards for Shu Changsheng’s life and Netherworld Sect cultivation methods for joining the hunt.
• Shu Changsheng summoned the Corpse Plague Daoist and wounded Xia, then the demonic cultivators attacked the ship and forced the Divine Incense Gate disciples to brace for battle.

Shu Changsheng fought off the Unorthodox Cultivators pursuing his Treasure Ship after learning Lijian Mountain had also been attacked, but Cong Jian overwhelmed him with his golden-corpse strength. Cong Jian twisted Shu Changsheng’s head off, then realized the apparent body was only smoke.

• Shu Changsheng learned that Lijian Mountain had been attacked and decided to break through without waiting for reinforcements.
• The Unorthodox Cultivators assaulted the Treasure Ship, and Shu Changsheng wounded Red Mei-Niang and used his Magic Treasures to fend off their attacks.
• The Two Mourning Elders threatened the ship’s array, so Shu Changsheng killed the horse-faced man with the Thunder of Sacred Judgment and sent Elder Qiu to protect the rear.
• Cong Jian revealed himself as a Corpse Immortal Sect elder and attacked Shu Changsheng, resisting his Foul Stench and shattering the Corpse Plague Daoist.
• Cong Jian twisted off Shu Changsheng’s head, then realized the body he held was an illusion made of smoke.

Shu Changsheng fought Cong Jian while protecting the Incense Accumulation Sect disciples and Merchant Association cultivators, then sacrificed himself rather than be captured. His Soul Lamp went out at the sect’s Que Luo Immortal Abode as the survivors fled.

• Cong Jian killed Elder Qiu, then tried to force Shu Changsheng to join the Netherworld Sect while attacking the people Shu was protecting.
• After Unorthodox Cultivators broke through the Treasure Ship’s Grand Array, Shu Changsheng used incense arts and a spatial-translocation technique to move the Safety Cabin and its occupants away.
• Shu Changsheng ordered the others to flee, held off Cong Jian, and exhausted his strength while preventing the pursuers from crossing his smoke boundary.
• As Cong Jian moved to capture him, Shu Changsheng detonated his True Core and Three Treasures to avoid becoming a weapon or hostage against his sect.
• Han Jia, Yun Qi, and the other survivors fled, while Shu Changsheng’s Soul Lamp went out in the Incense Accumulation Sect’s ancestral hall.

After Shu Changsheng died in the East Sea campaign, Li Ling arranged for him and the other fallen disciples to receive divine investiture, balancing his grief with his duties as a leader. The Heavenly Court appointed Shu Changsheng Lao Li True Lord of the Plague Division, and Li Ling approved the investiture as Great Qian began the apotheosis ritual to restore his soul.

• Nie Yingzhi reported Shu Changsheng's death and the names of other disciples killed by the demonic path, and Li Ling ordered him to petition the Heavenly Court for their investiture.
• Li Ling admitted to Mu Qingsi that he struggled with the loss but believed his disciples had to share the risks of war, and Mu Qingsi supported giving Shu Changsheng a divine path.
• The Heavenly Court granted Shu Changsheng the position of Year-Duty Lao Li True Lord of the Plague Division, which Li Ling judged acceptable despite its unfamiliar authority and location.
• Zhu Lisheng and the others reported that Great Qian had begun promoting worship of Lao Li True Lord and carrying out the apotheosis ritual to summon Shu Changsheng's scattered souls.
• After considering other possibilities, Li Ling signed and sealed the Heavenly Court's Investiture of the Gods, confirming Shu Changsheng's apotheosis.

One year after Shu Changsheng’s death, the Great Qian Dynasty appointed him the Plague God of Yunzhong Prefecture, and he awakened as a deity bound to the Heavenly Court and the people’s faith. After Li Ling and Zhu Lisheng visited him, Li Ling questioned whether the newly born god was truly still his disciple.

• The court’s shrine and the people’s worship helped form Shu Changsheng’s divine body, and he awakened as the Phthisis-and-Leprosy True Lord with newly appointed subordinate gods.
• Shu Changsheng learned that his divine power, identity, and will were tied to his immortal register, the Heavenly Court, and Yunzhong Prefecture’s welfare.
• Li Ling and Zhu Lisheng visited Shu Changsheng, who explained that his cultivation had been replaced by the power of his divine station and that he was less free than before.
• Li Ling explained that the divine path could change Shu Changsheng’s nature and that the boundary between life and death was uncertain, even to someone able to recognize his scent.
• Li Ling left with Zhu Lisheng, revealing that he had visited to determine whether the deity was still truly Shu Changsheng.