Chapter Summaries

Li Si accepted Elder Huang’s offer to join the Corpse Immortal Sect’s coming counteroffensive in Chang Kong Sea, hoping to gain resources and advance his cultivation. In Weiying Sea, Zhang San and other students were invited to join the Incense Accumulation Sect’s Garrison Commissioner’s Office, and Zhang San agreed.

• Li Si attended a Corpse Immortal Sect market gathering, where Elder Huang explained how to improve his Blood Spirit Brew.
• Elder Huang told Li Si that the sect planned a major counteroffensive and offered participants powerful rewards, including a chance to earn a Foundation Establishment Pill.
• Li Si accepted the offer, eager to obtain corpses and resources for his cultivation.
• Zhang San learned about affinity in Incense Path cultivation during a free lesson and benefited from the sect’s wisdom incense.
• The instructor invited students to join the Garrison Commissioner’s Office to fight demons and fiends, and Zhang San agreed.

Li Haoran imposed order on the Chang Kong Sea by crushing local cultivators who resisted the Heavenly Court, but his forces could not prevent the surrounding region from falling into chaos. At the northern border, Zhang San and his fellow Named Disciples killed Unorthodox Cultivators and discovered the horrifying remains of their victims.

• Li Haoran ordered strict registration and service requirements for local cultivators, then lured regional leaders to Zhiling Island and killed those who resisted while rewarding those who surrendered.
• Li Haoran's rule brought order to Zhiling Island, but the Heavenly Court lacked troops to control surrounding territories, where Li Si and other Demonic Path followers massacred civilians and recruited defectors.
• The Incense Accumulation Sect's stronger administration and production system helped Shu Changsheng's territory incorporate local rogue cultivators and keep the border under control.
• Zhang San and fellow Named Disciples investigated reports of murder and zombie-making near a town, found three Unorthodox Cultivators, and fought their Human-Head Centipede.
• After killing the Unorthodox Cultivators and the Human-Head Centipede, Zhang San and his companions found dozens of mutilated corpses and bodies prepared for transformation, leaving Zhang San furious and sickened.

Zhang San discovered a low-cost incense formula that disrupted the senses of Human-Head Centipedes, turning years of investigation into a weapon against the Demonic Path. Shu Changsheng offered him a promotion, but Zhang San said his only wish was to leave something useful behind and save lives.

• Zhang San, now an Inspector with a family, continued to brood over how to counter Human-Head Centipedes despite his wife urging him to rest from his injuries.
• After his son’s pet centipede reminded him of the Demonic Path’s Gu Worms, Zhang San investigated an abandoned residence and realized that the creatures’ senses might be vulnerable to a new approach.
• Zhang San exchanged merit for access to forbidden manuals and a captured Human-Head Centipede, then tested a formula made from ordinary medicinal ingredients.
• Zhang San and the gathered cultivators confirmed that the formula blocked the Gu Worm’s senses, and the news reached Shu Changsheng on Huanwang Island.
• Shu Changsheng praised Zhang San’s discovery and offered to guarantee his promotion to Garrison Commissioner, while Zhang San credited earlier research and said he wanted to leave fragrance in the world by saving lives.

Shu Changsheng ordered Zhang San’s Insect-Repelling Incense secretly produced for the growing demonic threat in the Chang Kong Sea. There, Li Si destroyed a frontier city despite Elder Qiu’s sacrifice, while Li Haoran faced worsening supply shortages and the question of requesting reinforcements from the Weiying Sea.

• Shu Changsheng approved secret production of Zhang San’s Insect-Repelling Incense, and the Incense Accumulation Sect developed improved versions and related spells.
• Li Si led an attack on a Chang Kong Sea city, using his flying zombie, Human-Head Centipede, and Grudge Essence Skulls to overwhelm its defenders.
• Elder Qiu bound Li Si’s Human-Head Centipede and sacrificed himself to cripple it, but Li Si healed with Blood Spirit Brew and slaughtered the remaining defenders.
• Righteous reinforcements arrived days later to find the city destroyed, its nearly one hundred thousand inhabitants dead, and walking corpses left behind.
• Li Haoran learned that local contributions and production could no longer sustain the army, and he hesitated over whether to request reinforcements from the Weiying Sea.

Shu Changsheng accepted Li Haoran’s request for reinforcements and set out from Weiying Sea to support Chang Kong Sea. He personally destroyed a demonic stronghold on Yanshan Island and ordered the army to continue north toward Zhiling Island.

• Shu Changsheng agreed to reinforce Chang Kong Sea after weighing the opportunity to strengthen his bid for Heavenly Lord.
• Shu Changsheng arranged Weiying Sea’s defenses, coordinated with Nie Yingzhi and Li Ling, and promised Li Haoran that troops would arrive within three months.
• Elder Huang sent rogue cultivators to Yanshan Island, where Netherworld Sect preparations enabled them to build a Hundred Ghost Grand Array using corpse ghouls.
• Shu Changsheng learned that the array threatened the northbound army’s route and chose to attack Yanshan Island personally.
• Shu Changsheng broke through the array with his Soul-Reaping Incense and destroyed the Corpse Immortal Dao puppets and hidden demonic forces.
• Shu Changsheng ordered his troops to continue toward Zhiling Island and join forces with Li Haoran.

Shu Changsheng’s forces were halted by the White Bone Sect’s Bone King Deity, which withstood their attacks and forced them to retreat and seek reinforcements. Gong Chi arrived from the Incense Accumulation Sect and bound the giant puppet with his Wood-Ghost Dharma Form, leaving its controllers alarmed.

• Elder Huang deployed the Bone King Deity to block Shu Changsheng’s advance, while Core Formation cultivators from factions hostile to Shu volunteered to fight him.
• Shu Changsheng’s attacks, including the Corpse Plague Daoist and Soul-Reaping Incense, failed against the Bone King Deity, forcing the righteous forces to retreat.
• Shu Changsheng rallied twelve Giant Spirit Divine Generals for another assault, but the Bone King Deity remained unharmed and the enemy’s flying zombies attacked the rear, so he withdrew again.
• Shu Changsheng’s allies urged him to request help, and an Incense Accumulation Sect Attendant named Gong Chi arrived with a credential and offered to test the enemy.
• Gong Chi summoned a Wood-Ghost Dharma Form that towered over the Bone King Deity, filled it with vines, and bound it in place, frightening the three Core Formation cultivators controlling it.

Gong Chi crippled the Bone King Deity and helped Shu Changsheng's forces seize an island, forcing Elder Huang to reinforce his defenses and prepare for a larger battle. The armies settled into a standoff near Zhiling Island, where Shu Changsheng learned that Centipede Island held a force of Human-Head Centipedes.

• Gong Chi used Wood Dao vines and fire to immobilize and destroy the Bone King Deity, while the orthodox army waited for an opening.
• Shu Changsheng ordered his forces to attack once the puppet was paralyzed, and they broke through the unorthodox formation and took the island.
• After hearing of the defeat, Elder Huang accepted that Gong Chi had exceeded the expected strength of the battle and summoned reinforcements and powerful treasures.
• Shu Changsheng and Li Haoran's forces approached Zhiling Island, and Elder Huang's defenses forced the million-strong armies into a standoff.
• Ye Zhen, Han Zhen, and Luo Zhen reported that Centipede Island concealed Corpse Immortal Dao puppets and Human-Head Centipedes, which Shu Changsheng recognized as a possible enemy weak point.

Li Si and the unorthodox defenders prepared for a righteous assault on Centipede Island, but Cloud-Producing Incense confused their centipede-type gu worms and crippled their defenses. Gao Huan defeated Wu Lan as the island fell, while treasure ships sailed deeper toward the enemy commander's headquarters.

• Li Si watched the Corpse Immortal Sect's blood feast and considered whether to join the Heavenly Dragon Gate formally as an elder.
• Wu Lan ordered the defenders to hold Centipede Island when scouts reported that a small righteous force was approaching.
• Li Si led the eastern beach defenses as ten treasure ships arrived, and the attackers deployed Heavenly Soldiers and Generals through the thunderfire.
• The righteous forces spread Cloud-Producing Incense, disorienting the centipede-type gu worms and allowing their troops to overrun the beach defenses.
• Wu Lan found his confused centipede heavenly dragon under attack, then fought Gao Huan and suffered a severe wound.
• The unorthodox defenders began fleeing as the righteous forces took the island, and treasure ships sailed past toward the enemy commander's headquarters.

After the defeat at Centipede Island, Li Si killed a wounded companion and forced witnesses to support his cover story before fleeing toward the west. An East Sea Immortal Alliance patrol pursued him, and although Li Si tried to exploit the scattered fugitives, the patrol used incense powder to disorient his Human-Head Centipede, which plunged into the sea.

• After the righteous army blocked the northern route, Li Si chose to head west with several unorthodox cultivators and a wounded Foundation Establishment rogue cultivator.
• Li Si ambushed and killed the wounded cultivator, then coerced his companions into claiming the dead man had been a spy for the righteous forces.
• An East Sea Immortal Alliance patrol found traces of the battle and followed the fugitives west on a great peng.
• When the patrol caught up, Li Si threatened his companions into holding off their pursuers, but they scattered and fled instead.
• The patrol leader recognized Li Si as the one maintaining the original route and ordered his team to pursue him, only to discover that Li Si was a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
• The Immortal Alliance cultivators threw incense powder at Li Si's Human-Head Centipede, disorienting it until it crashed headfirst into the sea.

Li Si was killed by Ye Zhen, Luo Zhen, Han Zhen, and their allies, while Shu Changsheng’s Insect-Repelling Incense enabled the righteous forces to break through the Corpse Immortal Sect’s defenses. The three righteous armies converged on Elder Huang’s command headquarters and crushed the Demonic Path’s nearly million-strong force, leaving the war at a stopping point before the Incense Accumulation Sect’s next operations.

• Li Si tried to rescue his rampaging Human-Head Centipede but was overwhelmed by the Three True Ones of Incense Accumulation and their allies, who killed him and destroyed his body and soul.
• Shu Changsheng received word that the righteous forces had breached the defenses around Centipede Island, and he coordinated a wider offensive with Li Haoran and others.
• Elder Huang struggled to assess the threat as reports arrived of Centipede Island’s fall and righteous forces advancing across the southern theater.
• Shu Changsheng’s Plague Division Troops attacked while Elder Huang hesitated, and the righteous forces used Insect-Repelling Incense to neutralize the enemy’s Human-Head Centipedes and Centipede Heavenly Dragons.
• Shu Changsheng’s force, Li Haoran’s force, and Gao Huan’s southern force joined in a final assault, annihilating almost all of the Demonic Path’s nearly million-strong army.

Shu Changsheng defeated Huang Zongmai’s forces and pacified the Chang Kong Sea, prompting Li Ling to seek a Heavenly Lord appointment for him. The Heavenly Court offered Shu only an acting position for now, and Li Ling rejected the compromise.

• Shu Changsheng, Li Haoran, and Gao Huan encircled Huang Zongmai’s army, killed his giant Demon Monster, and captured Huang and his remaining followers.
• Nie Yingzhi reported the victory to Li Ling, who agreed that Shu’s achievement should earn him the position of Heavenly Lord.
• Nie Yingzhi submitted a memorial and sent supplies to the Heavenly Court to press for Shu’s reward.
• True Lord Guangde visited Li Ling and explained that officials disputed Shu’s eligibility for the Heavenly Lord position despite the three Heavenly Venerables’ reported support.
• Li Ling argued that Shu needed the position’s authority to confront Xin Yue, then rejected the Heavenly Court’s offer to appoint him acting Heavenly Lord.

Li Ling forced the Heavenly Court to grant Shu Changsheng the substantive position of Plague Heavenly Lord and command of the East Sea’s righteous forces. Shu Changsheng accepted the divine office and became the new Plague Heavenly Lord, while Li Haoran accepted his subordinate role in the coming campaign.

• Li Ling rejected the Heavenly Court’s initial offer of an acting Heavenly Lord position, and he explained to Nie Yingzhi that his show of anger was meant to secure fair terms before Shu Changsheng was sent to fight Xin Yue.
• The Heavenly Court reconsidered and offered Shu Changsheng the substantive Heavenly Lord position, command of the East Sea’s righteous forces, and the option to keep or transfer his Lao Li True Lord office.
• The Heavenly Court compensated Li Haoran and the Primordial Origin Sect with troops, staff, supplies, treasures, and subordinate divine offices, while Li Haoran acknowledged his shortcomings and prepared to serve under Shu Changsheng.
• Shu Changsheng returned to the Heavenly Court and gave Thunder-Control Heavenly Venerable a detailed report on the East Sea.
• Thunder-Control Heavenly Venerable bestowed the position fruit of Plague Heavenly Lord on Shu Changsheng, who fused with it and became the new Plague Division Heavenly Lord.

Shu Changsheng returned to the East Sea as Plague Division Heavenly Lord and planned an offensive to retake Du Sea. Both sides reinforced the region until their visible Nascent Soul-level forces were roughly balanced, while the demonic army built up local rogue cultivators and waited for further reinforcements.

• Shu Changsheng returned to Weiying Sea, received congratulations, and accepted Suanni as a mount from Yang Ziying on Li Ling's behalf.
• Shu Changsheng gathered the Plague Division True Lords and ordered the Weiying Sea troops to redeploy to Du Sea and coordinate with Li Haoran's forces.
• Qiu Zhi reported that he could not reclaim Du Sea alone, while Yan Zhao and his advisers asked Grand Elder Xin for help against Shu Changsheng's advance.
• Xin Yue sent Old Bear and four Nether Path Ghost Immortals to reinforce Du Sea after learning that Guo Yuanchi and Dongfang Ming would join Shu Changsheng.
• The Heavenly Court sent two Star Lord-level quasi-Nascent Soul combatants to Du Sea, bringing the opposing forces' visible high-level strength to rough parity.
• Yan Zhao's forces avoided a direct confrontation, challenged the righteous army with mobile cultivators, and expanded their rogue-cultivator forces as both sides prepared for further reinforcements.

The Incense Accumulation Sect began limiting its direct support for the East Sea and demanded repayment, prompting East Sea leaders to debate how to settle their debts and whether to grant the sect territory and markets. The chapter left Zhang San wondering whether the sect’s East Sea expansion would reward him with a path to Foundation Establishment.

• Li Ling agreed with Nie Yingzhi that the Incense Accumulation Sect needed to make its support for Shu Changsheng sustainable and shift toward mutually beneficial exchanges.
• Nie Yingzhi sent the East Sea Immortal Alliance a letter reducing supplies and demanding repayment of its debts, prompting Guo Wuyan and other leaders to discuss repayment terms.
• Dongfang Cheng urged the Spirit Emperor Sect to repay its debts by resuming production and offering assets to the Incense Accumulation Sect, and the Dongfang Family chose him to negotiate.
• The East Sea began circulating rumors that the Incense Accumulation Sect might establish an East Sea Branch Headquarters or a new sect, exciting local disciples who hoped for advancement.
• Zhang San received a confidential letter suggesting that the sect might reward his Insect-Repelling Incense invention by securing his path to Foundation Establishment.

Three years after the Incense Accumulation Sect began developing the East Sea, Li Ling attended the founding ceremony of the Rosy Mists Gate, where newly promoted Foundation Establishment cultivators reflected on how the sect rewarded practical contributions. He established the sect as a base for spreading the incense path eastward and an experiment in supporting disciples beyond his direct lineage.

• Dong Haisheng welcomed guests to the Rosy Mists Gate’s founding ceremony, and Guo Wuyan learned that Dong had joined to repay the Incense Accumulation Sect for saving his grandson’s family.
• Zhang San recalled how the sect gave him repeated pills until he overcame his lack of Foundation Establishment aptitude, and he and his colleagues discussed the sect’s emphasis on rewarding contributions and practical results.
• The Rosy Mists Gate’s people and visiting guests gathered to welcome Li Ling, whose immense Dharma form and fragrance of wisdom impressed the East Sea visitors.
• Li Ling accepted Dong Haisheng’s suggestion to inscribe the sect’s name on its gate and carved “Rosy Mists Gate” into the stone with his Dharma power.
• Li Ling toured the grounds and established the Rosy Mists Gate as an overseas subordinate sect meant to spread the incense path eastward and extend support beyond his direct disciples.

Li Ling celebrated the founding of the Rosy Mists Gate, granted its members rewards and an authentic incense-path transmission, then proposed using Soul-Soothing Incense and Water and Land Rituals to avert a ghostly disaster in the East Sea. He leaves Zhang San and the others with the new incense formula and orders them to teach it to their disciples.

• Li Ling toured the Rosy Mists Gate, praised its foundation, and rewarded its disciples and workers while appointing Zhang San and others to senior posts.
• Li Ling presented the Rosy Mists Gate with his personally written Incense Path Compendium, establishing its authentic place within the Incense Accumulation Sect’s lineage.
• Li Ling met Huayan and Dong Haisheng, learned that restless souls and hidden demonic cultivators threatened the East Sea’s recovery, and proposed soothing ghosts with incense and rituals.
• Li Ling explained that satisfying wandering souls could slow their descent into evil, hinder the Netherworld Sect’s methods, and create work for the region’s people and cultivators.
• Li Ling gave Zhang San and the others his locally adapted Soul-Soothing Incense formula, and they quickly learned how to refine it.

Li Ling’s Rebirth Grand Offering spread incense across Chang Kong Sea, soothing wandering ghosts and disrupting their transformation into hostile spirits. The incense also flowed into the Impure Land, where Netherworld Sect experts gathered and Hundred-Eyed Boy ordered them to leave it alone for now.

• Zhang San oversaw preparations across Zhiling Island as Rosy Mists Gate distributed Soul-Soothing Incense and established Rebirth Grand Offering altars throughout Chang Kong Sea.
• At noon, Zhang San began the offering, and cultivators and mortals burned incense while chanting prayers that spread incense essence across the region.
• The incense essence neutralized yin baleful qi and softened the wandering ghosts’ greed, wrath, obsession, and grievances, alarming Netherworld Sect disciples and Unorthodox Path experts.
• Incense essence seeped into the Impure Land, where corpse ghouls and demon monsters consumed it and gradually became more content.
• White Bone Fairy, Patrol Envoy Mokara, and Old Man of the Mountain met Hundred-Eyed Boy, who told them the Incense Accumulation Sect was holding the offering and advised them to leave the incense essence alone for now.

Soul-Soothing Incense spread across the East Sea and altered wandering souls, corpse spirits, and undead, while Xin Yue examined its effects and recognized a potential threat to the Corpse Immortal Sect’s long-term plans. He left the gathered elders considering how Li Ling’s ongoing efforts might undermine their supply of Nether Path resources.

• After the Rebirth Grand Offering, incense essence reached an abandoned island, where wandering souls absorbed it and began to change.
• Four corpse puppets absorbed incense essence, broke free of a rogue cultivator’s control, killed him, and regained their living appearances.
• Incense essence calmed the ghosts and corpse souls gathered at a mass burial ground and gave them traces of incense-offering energy.
• Xin Yue told the Corpse Immortal Sect’s elders that Li Ling was using Soul-Soothing Incense to counter yin baleful qi and impede corruption.
• Xin Yue burned Soul-Soothing Incense in the hall, and the elders watched corpse ghouls and ghost wraiths absorb it and acquire a trace of yang nature.
• Xin Yue and the elders realized that widespread use of the incense could gradually make Nether Path resources harder to gather and threaten the sect’s long-term plans.

Li Ling learned that years of Rebirth Grand Offerings and Incense Path measures had weakened corpse-raising and other unorthodox practices across the East Sea, though some rogue cultivators adapted by mixing Feast Incense with blood offerings. Meanwhile, Xin Yue prepared to stir up rogue cultivators across several seas before a major war, unaware that their numbers and demon monsters had sharply declined.

• Huayan reported that the Rebirth Grand Offering had been completed, and Li Ling ordered the sect to monitor its effects on lonely souls and wandering ghosts.
• Five years later, Huayan presented records showing that incense offerings had made corpse-raising harder and driven up the prices of materials used in unorthodox cultivation.
• Li Ling explained that improvised Feast Incense methods might help a few cultivators but would weaken the Corpse Immortal Sect overall, and he called for tighter control of the Black Market.
• Xin Yue received news that rogue cultivators had developed a Feast Incense formula and ordered it rewarded and spread, then planned for communities across several seas to cause disorder before the next great battle.
• Netherworld Sect Messengers began preparing rogue cultivators for the coming conflict, but loose organization left them unaware that their forces were far smaller and had fewer demon monsters than in past mobilizations.

The White Ning King revealed his ties to the Netherworld Sect and prepared to lead its forces against the righteous path, but Rosy Mists Gate and its allies disrupted his supporters’ coordination. Meanwhile, envoys from the Four Seas Commerce Guild arrived secretly at the Incense Market Branch Headquarters to investigate the region’s development and local powers.

• The White Ning King accepted the Corpse Immortal Edict, and Netherworld Sect disciples and demonic cultivators pledged support for his campaign.
• The righteous path reported the Netherworld Below to the Rosy Mists Gate, which organized a coalition and recruited local forces to oppose the White Ning Kingdom.
• Huayan and Dong Haisheng used their connections to persuade local powers to remain neutral or secretly support the righteous path.
• Righteous experts blocked the Bliss Banquet’s rogue cultivators from coordinating with the White Ning King’s army, leaving him to face the Chang Kong Sea’s forces largely alone.
• Envoy Wen and Envoy Yao met secretly with the Four Seas Commerce Guild’s local Steward Elders and asked for reports on the Incense Market and local powers.