Chapter Summaries

Li Ling learned that factions within the Money Guild were aiding the White Ning Nether Kingdom, while Xie Shaojing and her fellow ghost cultivators were drawn into the kingdom’s recruitment efforts. After Xie refused an envoy, Gu Ya plotted to frame her and force her into the conflict.

• Li Ling read reports of the Money Guild’s resource transfers to the White Ning Nether Kingdom and resolved to watch the factions within the Four Seas Commerce Guild.
• Granny Hai visited Xie Shaojing, Luo Zhi, Gu Han, and Gu Jie at their tomb and warned them not to become involved in the coming war.
• Gu Ya arrived on behalf of the King of the White Ning Kingdom and offered to recruit Xie Shaojing into its forces.
• Xie Shaojing refused Gu Ya’s offer and withdrew into the tomb.
• Gu Ya decided to spread claims that Xie was threatening mortals and arrange bloody crimes to provoke the orthodox factions into attacking her.

Xie Shaojing and her sisters were targeted by Money Guild agents posing as righteous inspectors, but Market Ward cultivators exposed the fraud and drove the impostors away. After visiting the Fine Goods Ward to verify the public notices, Xie Shaojing learned that Envoys Wen and Yao were behind the scheme, just as Li Ling confronted them.

• Xie Shaojing fought two supposed Fine Goods Ward inspectors who attacked her tomb, then retreated inside after one wounded her with a powerful Magic Treasure.
• Suspecting the attackers were impostors, Xie Shaojing fled with her sisters when the men began arguing with a second group of cultivators.
• The pursuers revealed Money Guild-style Escape Artifacts, but genuine Market Ward cultivators arrived, killed one impostor, and forced the others to flee.
• A Market Ward cultivator warned Xie Shaojing about criminals impersonating garrison envoys and explained that the righteous factions judged cultivators by their actions.
• Xie Shaojing took her sisters to the Fine Goods Ward, where they saw notices denying plans to target grassroots cultivators.
• Envoys Wen and Yao discussed their failed deception in a Money Guild property until Li Ling appeared and confronted them.

Li Ling defeated Envoy Wen and Envoy Yao, then used Envoy Wen’s memories to identify Long Xu as their backer. Long Xu refused to withdraw from the East Sea, and Li Ling captured Envoy Yao before addressing the cultivators gathered at Fine Goods Ward.

• Envoy Wen and Envoy Yao attacked Li Ling, but he trapped them with his incense techniques and rendered them helpless.
• Li Ling captured Envoy Wen’s soul and refined it into incense, uncovering Long Xu’s role as the mastermind behind the envoys.
• Long Xu appeared through a projection and challenged Li Ling over his treatment of the envoys.
• Li Ling offered to release Envoy Yao and return Envoy Wen’s soul if Long Xu withdrew from the East Sea, but Long Xu refused.
• Long Xu vanished, and Li Ling captured Envoy Yao before arriving above Fine Goods Ward to address the gathered cultivators.

Li Ling invoked his Heavenly Court authority to recruit cultivators of every background into the Rosy Mists Gate and strengthen the righteous cause against the Netherworld Sect. His proclamation helped spark a wider conflict, leaving the White Ning Kingdom preparing to fight as forces clashed across several seas.

• Li Ling publicly recruited East Sea cultivators, promising fair rewards and a place in the righteous cause regardless of their origins or Dao Path.
• Xie Shaojing asked whether ghosts could join, and Li Ling welcomed her and other sentient beings; grassroots cultivators then flocked to enlist with the Rosy Mists Gate.
• The Rosy Mists Gate registered the new recruits, while the White Ning Kingdom learned that the righteous coalition had gained hundreds of cultivators and was preparing to attack.
• Two Core Formation experts and their troops struck the White Ning Kingdom's underground palace, and a Money Guild messenger offered the king a treasure, talisman, and method to summon an elder's avatar.
• The White Ning Kingdom's king ordered his forces into battle as Shu Changsheng launched a campaign on Yiwu Island and both sides opened fronts across multiple regions.

Shu Changsheng led the Heavenly Court forces against the Netherworld Sect’s demonic army, using his divine rank to battle its veteran Ghost Immortals. The arrival of Wan Yong, a powerful Money Guild attendant long thought dead, interrupted the fight and left the Heavenly Court troops reeling from his attack.

• Shu Changsheng descended into the enemy ranks and unleashed Soul-Reaping Incense shaped into a corrosive beast by his Suanni mount.
• Yan Zhao called on the four Ghost Immortal elders, who recognized that Shu Changsheng’s divine rank gave him genuine Nascent Soul-level power.
• Guo Yuanchi and Dongfang Ming ambushed the Ghost Immortals and destroyed the Grand Elder of the Copper Corpse Sect with thunder.
• A mountain-sized Money Mountain blocked Dongfang Ming’s attack, then crashed into the Heavenly Court forces, capsizing treasure ships and sweeping troops into the sea.
• Shu Changsheng confronted the man behind the ingot, who introduced himself as Wan Yong, and Guo Yuanchi and Dongfang Ming identified him as a reclusive Grand Elder of the Money Guild.

Li Ling confronted the White Ning King at the White Ning Island burial grounds, where the Money Guild’s secret treasures countered his techniques and gave the king formidable defenses. Li Ling ultimately pierced the king’s golden body with destruction intent and Soul-Reaping Incense, dissolving his mind and will.

• The White Ning King overwhelmed the righteous cultivators with his blood axe and corpse generals until a hidden Greenfly Coin reversed Li Ling’s attack and a talisman gave the king a golden giant’s body.
• Li Ling recognized the Greenfly Coin as a Money Guild secret treasure that could breach his Xiyi Illusory Body, while the diamond-hard golden giant could resist his Incense Path techniques.
• The White Ning King advanced in his golden giant form, and Li Ling manifested a matching dharma form and struck the giant with destruction intent, shattering it and turning the king’s body to blood mist.
• The White Ning King used the Blood Sea Great Method to spread his blood essence throughout the golden body and claimed that he could not be killed while any essence survived.
• Li Ling sent Soul-Reaping Incense carrying the law of death through the golden body, dissolving the White Ning King’s mind and will.

Li Ling defeated White Ning King’s forces on White Ning Island and rejected Qian Fu’s proposal to maintain a profitable stalemate with the Netherworld Sect. As the Incense Accumulation Sect secured the region, Li Ling investigated the Money Guild’s divided loyalties and learned that Pei Qingguang’s Pei Family branch would support him at a critical moment.

• Li Ling confronted Qian Fu after White Ning King died, rejected Qian Fu’s proposal to stage limited clashes with the Netherworld Sect, and watched Qian Fu withdraw.
• The Incense Accumulation Sect’s leaders reported that White Ning Island was secured, while the Du Sea campaign had stalled after Wan Yong forced the righteous forces to retreat.
• Li Ling told his followers not to treat the Money Guild as a single enemy and reassured North Sea representatives that he would not blame them for attacks they had not carried out.
• Li Ling contacted Pei Qingguang through Elder Shang and asked about the Money Guild’s position on Qian Fu and Wan Yong.
• Pei Qingguang said the Three Great Treasure Envoys could not control the guild’s factions, but promised that his Pei Family branch would side with Li Ling at a critical moment.

Li Ling accepted that the Money Guild could not be fully trusted, while its Treasure Envoys debated how to respond to the Incense Accumulation Sect’s expansion in the East Sea. Qian Kun secretly retrieved five powerful treasures from the Guild’s hidden vault, preparing to oppose Li Ling’s faction without openly breaking ties.

• Nie Yingzhi told Li Ling that the Money Guild could not be trusted, and Li Ling said he still had to deal with it because it dominated maritime trade.
• Pei Qingguang, Jin Yuanbo, and Qian Kun discussed the Incense Accumulation Sect’s growing influence and agreed that Pei Qingguang would remain neutral while Qian Kun’s faction opposed Li Ling in the East Sea.
• Qian Kun proposed opening the Money Guild’s secret treasury, and the three Treasure Envoys agreed that he could take ordinary magic treasures rather than risk losing the Guild’s remaining Dao Artifacts.
• The three Treasure Envoys entered the hidden vault beneath Goldsource Island, a realm connected to the Sea Eye of the Returning Ruins.
• Qian Kun drew five magic treasures from the vault and said they would provide several Nascent Soul-level fighting forces, while Pei Qingguang warned him not to go too far.

Li Ling discovered that centuries of war had accumulated a corrupting aura of mortal dust, then learned the Money Guild was retaliating against his intervention in the East Sea conflict. He sent clones to protect his allies and faced Qian Fu as attacks erupted across several seas.

• Li Ling perceived how deaths, grief, and violence had polluted the mortal world, recognized the resulting aura as mortal dust, and compared it with the pure spirit aura of the Que Luo Immortal Abode.
• Shu Changsheng asked Li Ling for help against powerful opponents assisting the Netherworld Sect, and Li Ling identified them as Money Guild members before manifesting on the battlefield.
• Li Ling learned that Qian Fu was attacking the Rosy Mists Gate headquarters, while Yao Lingxian and Nie Yingzhi reported suspicious operations in the West Sea and North Sea.
• Li Ling created clones to respond to the attacks and confronted Qian Fu, who explained that the Money Guild sought revenge and wanted to deter Li Ling from interfering in the East Sea conflict.

Li Ling rejected Qian Fu’s demand for a restrained contest and fought the Money Guild’s attacks across several fronts. As battles spread, he ordered Feng Qing to strike at the Guild’s financial lifeline in the North Sea.

• Li Ling assessed Qian Fu’s golden giant and rejected his proposal to avoid escalating their conflict, warning that the Money Guild would pay a price for bringing the fight to his door.
• Wan Yong attacked the Heavenly Court’s troops with Money Mountain and killed an Incense Accumulation Sect disciple with his Coin-Bearing Golden Toad, while Li Ling resisted his attempt to provoke him.
• Qian Fu attacked the Market Ward at the Rosy Mists Gate, killing residents and destroying buildings, and Li Ling began fighting him.
• Li Ling appeared at the White Sand Commerce Guild headquarters and asked Feng Qing whether his forces were ready to act.
• Li Ling ordered Feng Qing to use rogue cultivators to drive non-Incense Market merchant associations from the Boli Kingdom, especially the Money Guild’s Money Houses.

Li Ling rallied the North Sea factions to seize the Money Guild’s local holdings and break from its General Association after Qian Fu attacked the Rosy Mists Gate and Lai’er Island. As Li Ling kept Qian Fu occupied, the General Association ordered Qian Fu to return immediately because Northsky Island was declaring independence.

• Feng Qing mobilized the White Sand Commerce Guild, while factions across the North Sea and West Sea joined Li Ling’s campaign against the Money Guild.
• Yao Lingxian and his allies surrounded the Four Seas Money House on Lai’er Island and forced its staff to redeem talisman currency for spirit stones.
• Li Ling told Northsky Island’s elders to confiscate Money Guild businesses within the Incense Markets’ reach and transfer them to the North Sea Branch Headquarters.
• Li Ling reassured the elders that the Incense Accumulation Sect would protect them, and they agreed to sever ties with the General Association.
• Li Ling returned his attention to the Rosy Mists Gate, where he had been holding off Qian Fu as the Golden Giant Dharma Form devastated the Market Ward.
• The General Association ordered Qian Fu to suspend hostilities and return at once because Northsky Island was preparing to declare independence and seize its holdings.

Li Ling used the Ghost Tiger and his Incense Path methods to defeat Wan Yong, then pursued him with Thought-Sensing Incense Transmission and merged an illusory body into him. Wan Yong reached a Money Guild property and contacted the General Association, unaware that Li Ling’s influence remained within him.

• After Qian Fu withdrew, Li Ling released the Ghost Tiger and used the Treasure-Fumigation Method to turn Wan Yong’s own Copper Coin against him.
• The Ghost Tiger wounded Wan Yong’s soul, forcing him to abandon his body and Magic Treasures and flee hundreds of thousands of li.
• Li Ling tracked Wan Yong with incense essence and manifested an illusory body through Thought-Sensing Incense Transmission.
• Li Ling bewildered and immobilized Wan Yong with Spirit-Bewildering Incense and Will-Consent Incense, then merged his illusory body into Wan Yong.
• Wan Yong restored his physical body with a Sacred Fruit and summoned the visitor who reported messages from the General Association and the Corpse Immortal Sect.
• Wan Yong activated the communication Array, and the figures of Qian Kun and the others appeared in the Secret Chamber.

Li Ling used the Money Guild conflict to divide its factions and isolate Grand Elder Qian, while the Incense Accumulation Sect made limited concessions to Pei Qingguang's allies. The chapter ended as stone drums sounded across the North Sea, stirring nearly every local earth deity.

• Li Ling defeated Wan Yong, took his Magic Treasures, and sent Shu Changsheng to report on the Money Guild's movements.
• Nie Yingzhi told Li Ling that Goldsource Island demanded the sect end its attacks, and Li Ling said the sect had to pursue opportunities while preparing for a larger conflict.
• Li Ling rejected Pei Qingguang's demands to restore Qian Kun's faction's seized assets, but offered compensation to other factions and promised sanctions against those who joined the fight.
• Li Ling explained to Nie Yingzhi that he meant to distinguish allies from enemies and exploit divisions within the Money Guild.
• The Incense Accumulation Sect made limited concessions, leaving Grand Elder Qian isolated as other Money Guild elders avoided joining his retaliation.
• Stone drums sounded at the sect's mountain gates and across the North Sea, stirring nearly every local earth deity.

Li Ling sounded the Heaven-Summoning Drum and gathered the North Sea’s City Gods and other deities at the Incense Accumulation Sect’s mountain gate. He explained that he would send capable fighters to support the East Sea, where the conflict with the Netherworld Sect had weakened the divine administration.

• The Heaven-Summoning Drum alarmed spies and faction leaders, who recognized that Li Ling could command the North Sea’s deities under his Heavenly Court authority.
• A spy watched the Boli Kingdom’s City God summon local deities, then report their mysterious departure to a superior.
• City Gods from across the North Sea gathered at the Incense Accumulation Sect’s mountain gate, where Li Ling appeared and received their greetings.
• Li Ling said the summons tested the deities’ readiness, recorded attendance, and recruited fighters to support the East Sea.
• Li Ling explained that the East Sea needed more divine officials and hinted that volunteers could gain promotions and other benefits.

The Money Guild refused to unite against Li Ling, leaving the Qian Household exposed as the Incense Accumulation Sect expanded into the East Sea. Li Ling divided his opponents with promises and secret alliances while six Nascent Soul experts gathered with Shu Changsheng’s Heavenly Court army to retake Du Sea.

• The Money Guild’s Grand Elders declined to oppose Li Ling together, and Qian Kun returned to his territory determined to deepen the Qian Household’s cooperation with the Netherworld Sect.
• Li Ling sent northern deities and recruited cultivators to the East Sea, while explaining to Nie Yingzhi that the sect needed to shoulder the costs of its expansion.
• Li Ling ordered Nie Yingzhi to distribute shares of merchant interests to Pei Qingguang and others, intending to divide the Money Guild and isolate the Qian Household.
• The Money Guild backed away after Li Ling appeared to target only Grand Elder Qian, while Li Ling secretly lobbied its members and promised them a share of the spoils.
• Six Nascent Soul experts from Heavenly Court-aligned sects assembled with Shu Changsheng’s army to retake Du Sea, preparing to surround Qian Fu.

Li Ling and a group of Immortal Sect experts ambushed Qian Fu as he prepared to attack Li Haoran's forces. They overwhelmed him, and Golden Dove's thunderbolt finally pierced his defenses, but Wan Yong arrived as Qian Fu called for help.

• Shu Changsheng explained that the Immortal Sect reinforcements would help Li Ling target Qian Fu while the battle on Ni Fang Island continued.
• Qian Fu appeared before Li Haoran's forces, but Li Haoran summoned Li Ling to stop him from leaving.
• Li Ling's allies, including Yu Qiuxian, True Person Qingyu, Fang Qu, Ma Dai, Ding Tunan, and Golden Dove, surrounded Qian Fu and attacked his Golden Giant Dharma Form.
• Qian Fu endured the group's assault and tried to stall while sending a plea for help to nearby Money Guild members.
• Ding Tunan and Yu Qiuxian pinned Qian Fu down, and Golden Dove's thunderbolt damaged his body and struck directly at his Primordial Spirit.
• Qian Fu sensed reinforcements arriving, and Wan Yong appeared on the battlefield.

Li Ling and the Immortal Sects captured and killed Qian Fu after Wan Yong switched sides and helped bind him. News of the defeat reached the Qian Household, where Qian Kun learned that Li Ling could call on a powerful alliance of righteous Nascent Soul cultivators, leaving the island’s factions shaken.

• Wan Yong used the Wind-Subduing Cord to bind Qian Fu and declared that he had joined Li Ling’s side.
• Li Ling explained that he had subtly changed Wan Yong’s will with Transmutation, then urged the Immortal Sects’ cultivators to attack Qian Fu.
• Golden Dove struck Qian Fu with a Divine Firmament Heavenly Thunder Strike, and Li Ling drew out his soul for the Ghost Tiger to devour.
• Qian Kun learned that Qian Fu’s Soul Lamp had gone out and urged his household to investigate before seeking revenge.
• Wan Yong’s report revealed that seven righteous Nascent Soul cultivators, including Golden Dove, True Person Qingyu, and Ma Dai, had surrounded Qian Fu.
• News of Qian Fu’s death and Li Ling’s formidable allies spread across Goldsource Island, throwing its upper echelon into disarray.

After the Council of Elders refused to oppose Li Ling, Qian Kun decided to turn the Qian Household toward the Corpse Immortal Sect in hopes of recovering its losses. Wan Yong questioned whether the sect would truly help, urging caution as the household faced a consequential choice.

• At the Council of Elders, Qian Kun called for sanctions against Li Ling, but Pei Qingguang and the other elders refused to involve the guild in the conflict.
• Li Ling told Pei Qingguang that he had killed Qian Fu to avenge the Rosy Mists Gate and had no intention of attacking other elders without cause.
• After Pei Qingguang reported Li Ling's response, the elders left the dispute to the Qian Household, and Qian Kun departed in anger.
• Qian Kun secretly pledged the Qian Household to Xin Yue, who promised control of Chang Kong Sea after a future campaign against the Rosy Mists Gate.
• Rumors of Qian Kun's decision alarmed Qian Household members worried about their other holdings, while Wan Yong warned Zhang Ming that the Corpse Immortal Sect might only be using them.

Qian Kun failed to persuade the Money Guild elders to oppose Li Ling and secretly prepared to rely on the Corpse Immortal Sect. On Water Dragon Island, Li Ling and Wan Yong sought to persuade Zhang Ming to join the other Qian Household attendants in resisting Qian Kun alone and preserving the household’s neutrality.

• Qian Kun’s fellow elders refused to support his vendetta against Li Ling, so he secretly instructed Wan Yong and Zhang Ming to advance cooperation with the Corpse Immortal Sect.
• Wan Yong told Zhang Ming that Qian Kun’s plans would drag them into a dangerous conflict, and Li Ling appeared to invite them to talk.
• Li Ling explained his conflict with the Qian Household and urged Zhang Ming to avoid being forced into the Netherworld Sect’s struggle.
• Wan Yong revealed that the other attendant elders intended to remain neutral and remove Qian Kun if necessary, claiming they wanted to protect the Qian Household rather than betray it.
• Zhang Ming learned that the plan targeted Qian Kun alone and that he might be the only attendant still following him.

Li Ling and his allies lured Qian Kun’s avatar into a prepared ambush and attacked him with incense powers, Yu Qiuxian’s spirit beast, and a barrage of spells. As Qian Kun was badly wounded, a rumor spread through the Qian Household that he was dead and Qian Dan would succeed him.

• Qian Kun’s disciples suffered losses amid rising attacks by righteous cultivators, while Wan Yong and Zhang Ming discussed the costs of joining the Corpse Immortal Sect.
• Yue Hengzhong arrived as the Corpse Immortal Sect’s envoy, and Li Ling, Wan Yong, and Yu Qiuxian prepared to use him as bait for Qian Kun.
• Zhang Ming lured Yue Hengzhong away on a sea-beast hunt so he would not interfere with the planned ambush.
• Qian Kun’s avatar arrived to meet Wan Yong and Zhang Ming, but Li Ling trapped him in an incense domain and launched a surprise attack with Yu Qiuxian.
• Li Ling and Yu Qiuxian’s assault left Qian Kun badly wounded as a rumor spread that he was dead and Qian Dan would succeed him.