Chapter Summaries

Li Ling used the Blood-Burning Curse Art to target the unorthodox cultivators who had helped kill Shu Changsheng. The Man-Eating Monk was struck by the curse and fled to the Netherworld Sect, where Elder Han recognized that a nascent soul cultivator had attacked him.

• Li Ling decided to avenge Shu Changsheng and gathered sympathetic links to the hunters, beginning with the Man-Eating Monk.
• Li Ling taught his disciples about the Blood-Burning Curse Art and used spirit incense to prepare the ritual against the Man-Eating Monk.
• The Man-Eating Monk ate at Old Qin's cannibal den while Elder Guo and his followers confronted the establishment.
• The Man-Eating Monk's body began burning, so he fled the den and escaped to a Netherworld Sect secret station.
• Elder Han diagnosed the Man-Eating Monk with a profound curse and suspected Shu Changsheng's master had cast it.

The Corpse Immortal Sect sent Helyan Yu to cure the Man-Eating Monk’s curse, but his medicine only slowed the symptoms and he could not reach the curse’s root in the victim’s consciousness. After months of failed research, the same mysterious figure appeared in Helyan Yu’s own Purple Mansion.

• The Man-Eating Monk’s condition worsened until the Corpse Immortal Sect dispatched the Nascent Soul physician Helyan Yu to examine him.
• Helyan Yu made Dragon Marrow Pills that temporarily countered the Man-Eating Monk’s corrupted blood, but the symptoms returned after the pills ran out.
• Helyan Yu found an untouchable, smoky figure in the Man-Eating Monk’s sea of consciousness and realized it was the curse’s root.
• Elder Han reported that Red Mei-Niang, Huang Yicheng, and Shi Rong had developed identical symptoms after participating in the hunt for Shu Changsheng.
• Helyan Yu treated the afflicted cultivators and researched their condition for nearly half a year, but their symptoms worsened and the treatment costs mounted.
• Helyan Yu discovered the hazy figure appearing in his own Purple Mansion and jolted awake in terror.

Helyan Yu discovered Li Ling’s incense curse had infected him and only managed to suppress it by transforming his body before fleeing the sect. When the Man-Eating Monk and his companions relapsed, the Corpse Immortal Sect decided to kill them, while Cong Jian and the Two Mourning Elders feared Li Ling would target them next.

• Helyan Yu determined Li Ling’s power was causing the illness and altered his body to suppress its spread, then left after giving the Man-Eating Monk and the others Great Elixirs that only eased their symptoms.
• Three months later, the Man-Eating Monk, Red Mei-Niang, the Horse-Faced Man, and the Yellow-Faced Old Woman relapsed and confronted Elder Han, who could not locate Helyan Yu.
• Xin Yue ordered the Corpse Immortal Sect to eliminate the four and spread a story that they had betrayed the sect after Helyan Yu cured them.
• Cong Jian and the Two Mourning Elders feared Li Ling would come after them and resolved to hide rather than return to the front lines.
• A Corpse Immortal Sect envoy lured the four with promises of help, ambushed and killed them, then used a secret art to raise their corpses for study.

Li Ling destroyed the souls of the Man-Eating Monk and the others, then sent an incense deity to challenge Xin Yue at the Corpse Immortal Sect’s headquarters. As five ghost immortals confronted him, a vast bank of dark clouds appeared over the North Sea.

• Li Ling used Phantom Floating Fragrance to kill the Man-Eating Monk and the others, then burned their lingering souls to ensure they could not be resurrected.
• Li Ling’s incense deity slipped past the Corpse Immortal Sect’s defenses and called Xin Yue out to fight, though Xin Yue was away on Sun Wheel Mountain.
• Immortal Elder Huang confronted Li Ling, recognized him, and realized the attack was connected to the hunt for Shu Changsheng.
• Four more ghost immortals arrived to support Immortal Elder Huang as Li Ling prepared to face them.
• Dark clouds spread across ten thousand miles of the North Sea.

Nether Heaven began encroaching on the world, drawing Jun Heaven into a clash that let Blood Sea Demon Venerable project an Avatar. Meanwhile, Li Ling used his Xiyi Illusory Body to overwhelm the Ghost Immortals on Sangting Island, where a phantom of Immortal Elder Huang’s Dharma Form appeared as Li Ling’s Avatar continued to develop.

• Li Ling told Mu Qingsi that Nether Heaven had arrived and explained why the Heavenly Dao coveted his origins, while Jun Heaven opposed the invasion.
• Blood Sea Demon Venerable projected an Avatar into the world as Jun Heaven was occupied, and Li Ling flew out to confront him.
• On Sangting Island, five Nascent Soul Ghost Immortals trapped Li Ling’s Avatar, but his Xiyi Illusory Body evaded their attacks and wounded Immortal Elder Huang.
• A girl wielding Evil-Repelling Incense sealed the Ghost Immortals away from Huang, while Li Ling’s illusory attacks battered him until he summoned his Dharma Form.
• Li Ling’s Avatar plunged into the fallen Huang, and the Blood Shadow Sect Grand Elder realized that Li Ling might be using Huang’s soul to sustain it.
• A half-illusory, dog-headed phantom resembling Huang’s Dharma Form rose from the place where he had fallen.

Li Ling used his perfected Xiyi Illusory Body to deceive and defeat the Ghost Immortals attacking Sangting City, killing the Old Ancestor of the Iron Corpse Gate while the others fled. As the battle shifted back to the North Sea, the Blood Sea Demon Venerable abandoned his fight with Li Ling and charged the boundary wall of the Que Luo Immortal Abode, while Lin Rouniang appeared with Asura Race reinforcements.

• The Ghost Immortals tried poison, illusion, and blood-law attacks against Li Ling, but his incense-based Xiyi Illusory Body deceived their senses and turned their assault against them.
• The Grand Elder of the Blood Shadow Sect used blood essence and a secret talisman to resist Li Ling’s fragrance law, but Li Ling concealed himself in a deeper layer of the void and evaded his attacks.
• Li Ling explained how he had perfected the Xiyi Illusory Body, convincing the Ghost Immortals that they could not defeat him.
• The Copper Corpse Sect’s Ghost Immortal and the other surviving Ghost Immortals fled, while Li Ling pursued and killed the Old Ancestor of the Iron Corpse Gate.
• Li Ling recalled his will to his true body on the North Sea battlefield as the Blood Sea Demon Venerable charged the Que Luo Immortal Abode’s boundary wall and Lin Rouniang appeared with Asura Race fighters.

Lin Rouniang and six Asura experts arrived at the North Sea to seize someone from Li Ling, who confronted them and used his evolved phantom-fragrance ability to isolate her from her guards. He mortally wounded Lin Rouniang, but she survived through a life-lock power tied to the Lord of Yellow Springs, leading Li Ling to suspect that she was already fusing with the deity.

• Lin Rouniang arrived at the North Sea with six Asura experts and demanded that Li Ling hand over the person they had come to retrieve.
• Lin Rouniang threatened Mu Qingsi, Li Ling's disciples, and the North Sea's inhabitants, but Li Ling argued with her before she ordered two Asuras to hold him back.
• Two Asura experts trapped an apparent Li Ling inside a fire shield with soul-targeting Yin Wind and Yin Fire, while Li Ling's real body pursued Lin Rouniang's group.
• Li Ling used his evolved phantom-fragrance ability to draw Lin Rouniang into his domain and deceive her Asura guards with phantoms.
• Li Ling pierced Lin Rouniang and struck her primordial spirit, but she survived, healed, and revealed that her life lock made her impossible to kill.
• Li Ling sensed innate law power in Lin Rouniang and suspected that she possessed a dharma body belonging to the Lord of Yellow Springs and had begun fusing with the deity.

Li Ling tried to seal Lin Rouniang, but his desperate attack awakened the Nether Heaven Will within her. As her death-domain spread across the North Sea and killed countless people, Li Ling searched for a countermeasure before the Que Luo Immortal Abode reported that its boundary wall had been breached.

• Li Ling transported Lin Rouniang away and tried to seize her primordial spirit, but the danger awakened the Nether Heaven Will within her.
• Lin Rouniang’s Nether Heaven Will reached for Li Ling, but his Xiyi Illusory Body let her power pass through him unharmed.
• Lin Rouniang’s divine domain engulfed the North Sea, killing vast numbers of mortals, Qi Refining cultivators, and sea creatures.
• Li Ling tried to affect Lin Rouniang’s mind with Will-Consent Incense and Phantom Floating Fragrance, but her Dao Realm intuition blocked the attack.
• A message from the Que Luo Immortal Abode warned Li Ling that its boundary wall had been breached.

Li Ling and the Incense Accumulation Sect held off the Blood Sea Demon Venerable and the Asura experts while he tried to stop Lin Rouniang from reclaiming her blood soul dao body. Before either side could prevail, a heavenly tribulation descended over the North Sea, forcing the darkness to withdraw and leaving everyone facing the arrival of a terrifying new power.

• Li Ling urged Nie Yingzhi to use every defense while the Incense Accumulation Sect's disciples summoned seven Dragonfire Incense Deities to battle the Blood Sea Demon Venerable's avatar.
• True Person Wu Yan, True Person Gu Yan, and Lan Kai arrived and helped Gong Chi stabilize the defense of the Immortal Abode.
• Li Ling focused on Lin Rouniang, but she left to search for her former blood soul dao body, and he followed her into the Que Luo Immortal Abode.
• Lin Rouniang refused to abandon her plan to become the Netherworld Sect Saintess, while Li Ling rejected her demand to hand over the woman she sought.
• A heavenly tribulation's immense eye appeared over the North Sea, and the Blood Sea Demon Venerable and the Asura experts reacted as the darkness rapidly withdrew.

Li Ling and the Incense Accumulation Sect survived the demonic assault after Nether Heaven withdrew, but he discovered that Lin Rouniang had been marked by Nether Heaven. He realized the attack may have been a diversion to awaken her hidden connection to Nether Heaven, leaving him to rely on his Scent Identification ability to uncover the threat.

• Li Ling let the Blood Sea Demon Venerable's avatar carry Lin Rouniang and the Asura experts away, then thanked the rogue cultivators and True Lord Guangfa for their help.
• Li Ling returned to Mu Qingsi and explained that the sect had avoided heavy losses, while reasoning that the demons had planned their attack around his absence and the Corpse Immortal Sect's actions.
• Li Ling visited the sheltered Lin Rouniang and noticed a blood mark on her forehead that drew him into a vision of the Underworld before he broke free.
• Li Ling concluded that Nether Heaven had secretly marked Lin Rouniang through a soul resonance, and that the attack and the other Lin Rouniang had distracted him from its true objective.
• Lin Rouniang asked what the mark was, and Li Ling chose to trust his Scent Identification ability as a means of contending with Nether Heaven's influence.

Li Ling entered Lin Rouniang’s soul to stop a blood-red mark from awakening, discovered its link to the Yellow Springs and Nether Heaven, and used Will-Consent Incense to alter the mark. The mark retained his incense essence, and in the Underworld Lin Rouniang realized Li Ling was taking it as the curved jewel vanished from her forehead.

• Li Ling entered Lin Rouniang’s consciousness, seized her before she could merge with the Yellow Springs, and discovered the abyss of death beneath the blood pool.
• Li Ling recognized that the Other Shore Flowers had produced generations of Nether Heaven’s incarnations, and that Lin Rouniang’s inherited spirit resonance connected her to them.
• As the Nether Heaven figures approached and suppressed Li Ling, he used Will-Consent Incense to alter their spiritual influence, then escaped with Lin Rouniang.
• Li Ling returned to reality and found the mark on Lin Rouniang’s forehead had turned golden; a trace of his incense essence remained after its color became red again.
• In the Underworld, Lin Rouniang sensed the mark changing and told Blood Sea Demon Venerable that Li Ling was about to take it.
• The mark stirred, Lin Rouniang screamed, and the curved jewel disappeared from her forehead.

Li Ling turned a law of death into the Incense Path ability Soul-Reaping Incense and learned that the Nether Heaven disaster had killed nearly all the mortals across ten thousand li. He ordered the Incense Accumulation Sect to rescue survivors and recruit them, while the Netherworld Sect added him to its register of dangerous experts.

• Li Ling gained control of a law of death, shaped it into the Soul-Reaping Incense divine ability, and resolved the hidden danger in Lin Rouniang.
• Nie Yingzhi reported the disaster’s losses, and Li Ling said he would seek a way to resurrect some of the dead.
• Li Ling recognized that the survivors were likely exceptionally talented and ordered the sect to bring them in, care for them, and screen them himself.
• Nie Yingzhi, Song Yang, Luo Ying, and other disciples traveled across the region to gather survivors and protect them from demons, ghosts, famine, and unrest.
• At Sun Wheel Mountain, Xin Yue received notice that Li Ling and the Incense Accumulation Sect had been added to the Netherworld Sect’s special register, then crushed the letter in anger.

Li Ling and Mu Qingsi inspected the survivors recruited into the Incense Accumulation Sect and discovered an unusually rich crop of talent, including several children with rare Dao bodies and incense aptitudes. Li Ling ordered special attention for the gifted recruits as the examinations continued and the sect began planning how to cultivate them.

• Nie Yingzhi reported that the first batch of more than a thousand recruits had arrived, and Li Ling and Mu Qingsi went to observe their examinations.
• The elders identified twelve-year-old Lin Feng as a fire virtue Dao body and admitted him directly to the inner court as a formal disciple.
• Li Ling recognized eight-year-old Luo Zhen as an earthly incense Dao body and ordered her placed on a separate register for discreet special attention.
• Li Ling identified Han Zhen as having a heavenly incense Dao body, Ye Zhen as having a human incense Dao body, and Tong Daquan as having a five turbidities evil body.
• Li Ling recognized Fang Xin's hundred-blossom incense resonance and decided to cultivate her as the sect's public-facing immortal maiden.

Li Ling refined his resurrection art and restored more than a hundred million mortals across the North Sea, beginning in the Bamboo Step Kingdom. He stopped after recognizing that the Underworld and Heavenly Court drew departed souls away, while further resurrections risked disrupting human society.

• Li Ling used the Dharma-Realm Incense Burner, spirit incense, and Luo Tian Grand Rite Radiant Rain to resurrect a million people in the Bamboo Step Kingdom, then instructed the gathered cultivators to explain what had happened and manage the aftermath.
• Li Ling traveled for more than half a year, using his improved resurrection art to restore over a hundred million mortals, though he could not properly revive some frail, mentally impaired, or remote residents.
• Li Ling found that later rounds of resurrection worked increasingly poorly, and Elder Shang and others explained that the Underworld gathered departed souls while the Heavenly Court could claim their heavenly souls.
• Li Ling realized that restoring more people could disturb family relationships and social order, potentially causing a human tribulation, and concluded that he had reached the limits of his current abilities.

Li Ling developed a plan to improve Returning Soul Incense by combining it with the power of death, then received news from Longevity Hall about a Soul-Returning Tree in the Bashan Demon Kingdom. He and Mu Qingsi planned to travel there in about ten years, disguise themselves as dragon-blooded demons, and enlist Ju Huang and Qing Ji’s help.

• Li Ling reflected on how reviving mortals had advanced his resurrection methods and concluded that Returning Soul Incense needed an incense containing the power of death to help cultivators project their souls.
• Nie Yingzhi told Li Ling that envoys from Longevity Hall had arrived with a confidential letter about the Soul-Returning Tree.
• Yun Ji presented Li Ling with a fruit pit from the divine tree and materials from its homeland, and reported that the Bashan Demon Kingdom would likely host a Myriad Demon Gathering in ten years.
• Li Ling assigned the fruit pit and accompanying materials to Song Yang for planting, then told Mu Qingsi he planned to travel to Gathering Grotto Continent with her.
• Li Ling and Mu Qingsi discussed disguising themselves as dragon-blooded demons and contacting Ju Huang and Qing Ji to help them enter the Bashan Demon Kingdom.

Li Ling and Mu Qingsi traveled with an Incense Accumulation Sect delegation to visit Longevity Hall, officially to renew ties and explore cooperation while Li Ling sought a chance to study the hidden divine tree. Venerable Longevity welcomed them to Unity Heart Mountain and introduced Longevity Hall’s leading cultivators.

• Li Ling approved Zhan Li’s plan to renew trade and improve beast-taming with Longevity Hall, including purchasing spirit beasts for the sixth-generation disciples.
• Three months later, Li Ling and Mu Qingsi arrived at Gathering Grotto Continent with the visiting delegation and were greeted by Zong Mobo and Han Zhiyou.
• The delegation rode Golden-Feather Thunder Rocs to Longevity Hall’s mountain gate at Unity Heart Mountain.
• Venerable Longevity welcomed Li Ling and Mu Qingsi and introduced Lady Fox Immortal, Hong Lei, and Yu Qiuxian.

Li Ling and Mu Qingsi toured the Longevity Hall and observed its Beast-Taming Ceremony, where youths formed life-bound bonds with spirit beasts through the Unity Heart Art. Li Ling recognized the art’s unusual similarities to cultivation between Dao Companions and wondered how its founder had developed it.

• Li Ling met the Longevity Hall’s cultivators and learned how its alliance and ongoing conflict with demons shaped its customs.
• Gong Chi guided Li Ling, Mu Qingsi, and their companions around the Longevity Hall’s headquarters and nearby villages.
• Gong Chi explained that the Beast-Taming Ceremony used the Unity Heart Art to help youths contract spirit beasts and begin cultivation.
• Chief Jia welcomed Li Ling and the others to Jiayuan Stockade’s ceremony, where youths entered a spirit-beast pasture to seek compatible partners.
• Three boys formed life-bound contracts with spirit beasts, and Li Ling sensed their energies merging as they began cultivating true essence.
• Mu Qingsi compared the Unity Heart Art to their own practice, and Li Ling considered whether Daoist Tongxin had drawn on the mysteries of Dao Companion cultivation.

Li Ling and Mu Qingsi watched the Longevity Hall use Beast-Taming Incense to help its pupils form spirit-beast contracts, then agreed to explore cooperation in developing and selling the incense. After accepting a Black-Ice Sky Wolf cub as a gift, Li Ling sensed trouble outside and went with Mu Qingsi to investigate a rampaging bear king.

• Li Ling and Mu Qingsi recognized that the Longevity Hall had selected unusually talented pupils for the ceremony, and saw Beast-Taming Incense help more youths contract spirit beasts.
• Elder Gong Chi offered Li Ling a Black-Ice Sky Wolf cub and proposed a direct business partnership in selling domesticated spirit beasts and Beast-Taming Incense; Li Ling accepted the proposal.
• Li Ling returned to his lodgings, arranged for the cat demons to care for the cub, and discussed the benefits of cooperation with Mu Qingsi.
• Li Ling explained how Beast-Taming Incense could develop into a major branch of the Incense Path and considered giving the Longevity Hall a return gift.
• Li Ling sensed an incident near a distant mountain and went with Mu Qingsi to find a rampaging pale-golden bear king fighting several Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Li Ling developed Heartlink Incense to let people communicate with spirit beasts and tested it with Ma Lian’s companions. The animals reacted with surprise and excitement as the incense spread, but the chapter ended before they communicated.

• Li Ling subdued the rampaging Golden Bear King and learned that Ma Lian had lost control of it while trying to make it his spirit companion.
• Elder Gong Chi prepared to punish Ma Lian, but Li Ling asked to keep him as an adviser, sparing him from Reflection Cliff.
• Li Ling decided to develop Heartlink Incense to help people communicate with animals, and Ma Lian assisted him by bringing his spirit companions to the experiments.
• After more than half a month, Li Ling completed a practical Heartlink Incense formula and invited Ma Lian and his spirit beasts to test it.
• As the incense spread, Ma Lian’s spirit beasts stared at one another in shock and excitement.

Li Ling used Heartlink Incense to let people and spirit beasts share emotions and communicate, then refined its formula into a dreamlike method and presented it to the Longevity Hall. Venerable Longevity and Elder Gong Chi accepted the incense as a gift.

• Li Ling sensed that Heartlink Incense made emotions visible and enabled him to communicate with Ma Lian’s Blue-Eyed White Wolf and leopard.
• Ma Lian used the incense to understand his spirit beasts and marveled at how it let them share thoughts without awakening their spirituality.
• Li Ling explained that the incense created temporary mental resonance between humans and beasts, and Ma Lian realized that the experience might help him communicate with them later without it.
• Several days later, Li Ling finalized the formula by using dreamlike incense components to bring people and animals into a shared state between sleep and waking.
• Li Ling presented the improved Heartlink Incense to the Longevity Hall, and Venerable Longevity and Elder Gong Chi accepted it.