Chapter Summaries

Li Ling used his ability to read and influence people’s thoughts to turn Qian Dan and other Qian Household elders against Qian Kun’s plan to join the Nether Path, igniting a rebellion across the lineage. Qian Kun escaped his confrontation with Li Ling and returned to his body on Goldsource Island, where he prepared to counterattack with the Greenfly Mother Coin.

• Li Ling persuaded Qian Dan to oppose Qian Kun, and Qian Dan sent his allies to seize key figures and identify Qian Kun’s loyalists.
• Qian Dan’s faction caused unrest throughout the Qian Household and urged the Money Guild’s Council of Elders to strip Qian Kun of his Treasure Envoy title and reclaim the Greenfly Coin.
• A subordinate told Qian Kun that his authority at the General Association was collapsing, and Li Ling accused him of betraying the Qian Household’s ancestors and the Money Guild’s neutral position.
• Qian Kun used a Mystic Traversal Talisman to escape Li Ling and Yu Qiuxian, then returned to his body on Goldsource Island.
• Qian Kun emerged from the Secret Chamber, ordered his trusted allies summoned, and took out the Greenfly Mother Coin.

Qian Kun used the Greenfly Coin to expose and defeat rebels in the Qian Household, then captured Qian Dan and pursued him with Money Dao arts. Qian Dan escaped with Li Ling’s help, and Li Ling struck Qian Kun after luring him into the fight.

• Qian Kun used the Greenfly Coin’s Ten-Direction Discernment to identify enemy cultivators and ordered the Qian Household disciples to attack them.
• Qian Kun summoned Qian Dan with four Greenfly Coins and struck him down with a Money Dao sword art.
• Qian Dan used the Wish-Granting Abacus to recover and escaped Qian Kun’s next attack with Formless Incense refined by Li Ling.
• Qian Dan called for Li Ling, revealing that he had been nearby and helping Qian Dan evade Qian Kun.
• Li Ling attacked Qian Kun with a gigantic palm, turning Qian Dan’s rebellion into an ambush against the Grand Elder.

Li Ling attacked Qian Kun on Goldsource Island, but Qian Kun summoned the Money Puppet, a colossal deity forged from the greed tied to Greenfly Coins. Its power pierced Li Ling’s defenses and began corrupting his mind with material desire, leaving him struggling to resist when Qian Kun offered a priceless Water Spirit Pearl.

• Li Ling fought Qian Kun on Goldsource Island, overcoming his rapid healing and eventually using Spirit-Bewildering Incense to take control of him.
• Qian Kun broke free of the incense and used the Mother Coin to summon eighteen Child Coins, including coins Li Ling had previously possessed.
• Qian Kun revealed that nine hidden yin coins gathered the greed of Greenfly Coin users and formed the Money Puppet, a massive deity powered by faith in money.
• Qian Kun merged with the Money Puppet, whose coins pierced Li Ling’s Xiyi Illusory Body and infected his mind with uncontrollable greed.
• Qian Kun threw out a Water Spirit Pearl, and Li Ling, already fighting the Money Puppet’s corruption, faced its powerful temptation.

Li Ling resisted the Money Puppet’s power of material desire with his Incense Path arts and turned Qian Kun’s greed against him. After Qian Kun was consumed by the puppet, Li Ling helped Pei Qingguang and Jin Yuanbo restrain it, and it was reduced to eighteen Child Coins and one Mother Coin.

• Qian Dan succumbed to greed and lunged for Qian Kun’s treasures while Li Ling used Heart-Cleansing Jiangzhen Incense and his Incense Path arts to regain his clarity.
• Qian Kun released the Pixiu Seal and waited for Li Ling to succumb, but Li Ling scattered his own treasures to reveal that Qian Kun was also affected by the Money Puppet’s power.
• Li Ling used Copper-Stench Bewitching Incense to intensify Qian Kun’s greed, and Qian Kun was consumed by the Money Puppet as he tried to flee.
• Pei Qingguang and Jin Yuanbo arrived and asked Li Ling to stop the rampaging puppet, so he enveloped it in Immaculate Incense and helped them restrain it.
• Pei Qingguang used an unknown object to dissolve the Money Puppet, leaving eighteen Child Coins and one Mother Coin.

After killing Qian Kun, Li Ling accepted the Greenfly Coins and became a Money Guild Treasure Envoy, securing the guild’s promise to maintain neutrality. He cleansed Qian Dan’s mind of material desire, then returned to his lodgings on Goldsource Island and summoned the eighteen Child Coins of Nine Yin and Nine Yang and the Mother Coin.

• Pei Qingguang and Jin Yuanbo asked Li Ling to become Treasure Envoy, and Li Ling accepted after learning the role involved containing the Dao Artifacts’ harmful forces.
• Li Ling and the Money Guild agreed to let Qian Kun’s loyalists escape and leave the aftermath behind, while the guild arranged for Qian Ding to succeed as a Treasure Envoy.
• Li Ling used Whisk Incense to expel the material-desire contamination from Qian Dan, who regained his reason and returned a golden needle he had seized.
• Qian Dan left to attend to the Qian Household, while Li Ling returned to his lodgings and summoned the eighteen Child Coins of Nine Yin and Nine Yang and the Mother Coin.

Li Ling accepted the Greenfly Coin and the Money Guild’s Treasure Envoy position while learning that the relic’s curse still needed to be cleansed. He arranged to use Incense Path methods to refine it, helped Qian Dan secure support through the Incense Market, and began fumigating the treasure at his immortal abode.

• Li Ling examined the Greenfly Coin’s ominous aura and concluded that Whisk Incense could clear some of its filth but not remove its harmful effects entirely.
• Pei Qingguang and Jin Yuanbo explained to the Money Guild’s elders that Li Ling and the Guild were using one another, and that the Guild’s survival mattered more than retaining the Greenfly Coin.
• Li Ling told Nie Yingzhi that the Greenfly Coin’s curse grew through its cycle of Mother and Child Coins, and that he would seek to transform it with Incense Path methods.
• Li Ling advised Qian Dan to look beyond the immediate struggle with Qian Ding and invited the Qian Household to join the Incense Market, which Qian Dan accepted.
• Li Ling completed exchanges with the Money Guild, returned the Greenfly Coin to the Que Luo Immortal Abode, and ordered a ritual altar built to refine it through Incense Fumigation.

After Qian Kun’s death, the Qian Household’s branches struggled to adjust to losing their former power and surrendered businesses, properties, and attendants. Qian Dan used Li Ling’s patronage to secure influence and prepare his branch to profit from trade with the righteous factions.

• Xin Yue promised to shelter Qian Feng’s group but postponed settling their business claims, and Qian Ming urged them to accept the loss of their former standing.
• The Council of Elders appointed Qian Ding Treasure Envoy on a temporary basis, demanded that his branch return properties and pay for island defenses, and arranged for several attendants to leave.
• Qian Ding accepted the loss of attendants and suspected Zhang Ming and Wan Yong had colluded with Li Ling and Qian Dan against Qian Kun.
• Qian Dan resented the Council of Elders’ seizure of his branch’s assets but relied on Li Ling’s support, Zhang Ming, and Wan Yong to retain influence.
• Qian Dan planned to make his branch an intermediary for factions trading with the Incense Market and sent secret letters ordering his followers to sell or transfer businesses that no longer fit their plans.

Li Ling examined the Greenfly Coins with Mu Qingsi and developed a way to turn their curses into Copper-Stench Bewitching Incense, while recognizing that the Money Guild might still control the treasure. As the righteous forces neared victory in Du Sea and prepared to expand, a strange celestial phenomenon disrupted both sides.

• Li Ling explained to Mu Qingsi why he would convert the Money Dao’s power into Incense Path methods instead of absorbing it into himself.
• Li Ling demonstrated the coins’ material-desire curse, which made rabbits attack one another and could leave lasting corruption in its victims.
• Li Ling described how Copper-Stench Bewitching Incense consumed the coins’ curses and renewed their power, but warned that the Money Guild might know how to control or recall them.
• Shu Changsheng and the righteous forces captured cities in Du Sea and killed Corpse Immortal Sect elders, pushing the sect toward retreat.
• Li Ling ordered the Rosy Mists Gate to prepare to rebuild Du Sea and expand the Incense Market as the Heavenly Court established its influence.
• A strange celestial phenomenon appeared over the sea and threw the righteous and evil paths into disarray.

Li Ling learned that the Fell Star in the South Sea contained an extraordinary concentration of Dao connotation and might be an arrangement left by a mighty expert, possibly a banished immortal. As the Heavenly Court and Netherworld Sect investigated and prepared to fight over it, Radiance Heavenly Lord defended the site and routed a Demonic Path challenger.

• Li Ling convened the Incense Accumulation Sect’s senior members after news arrived that the Heavenly Court had seized the Fell Star in the South Sea.
• Li Ling explained to Mu Qingsi that the Fell Star’s dense Dao connotation might come from a mighty expert and warned that Dao integration and true refinement could mean losing oneself to the Great Dao.
• Li Ling learned that the Heavenly Court might send him to the South Sea to join the struggle over the Fell Star, whose origins remained uncertain.
• At Jizhong Island, Heavenly Court forces battled zombies and ghost monsters as factions fought over the place where the Fell Star had fallen.
• Radiance Heavenly Lord arrived in a Bronze Chariot, challenged the Demonic Path to seize the Fell Star, and killed the Yellow Springs Dao envoy who confronted her.
• The Demonic Path forces retreated after Radiance Heavenly Lord’s attack, while the righteous cultivators cheered and she anticipated further conflict.

Li Ling led Chi Yingting and others to the South Sea to investigate a powerful treasure, where his Empathic Perception identified its foul aura as Five Turbidities Qi. He suspected the Fell Star might be an opportunity for Tong Daquan, but realized other people with the same affinity could also be drawn to it.

• Li Ling prepared to investigate the South Sea with Chi Yingting and other heirs, warning them that the treasure could augment Dao connotation or allow a dead Great Power to occupy someone else's place.
• Chi Yingting demonstrated how he had incorporated the Wondrous Method of Xiyi into his Smoke Form Technique, and Li Ling gave him three uses of Formless Incense to protect against mental attacks.
• Li Ling arranged cooperation with Heavenly Court and Immortal Sect experts, brought Lin Rouniang along, and left Mu Qingsi behind to guard their home.
• Li Ling's group used a Translocation Array to reach the northern edge of the South Sea, where strange magnetic forces disoriented several disciples and revealed distant treasure light.
• Li Ling sensed a foul odor within the treasure light and recognized it as resembling the Five Turbidities Qi associated with Tong Daquan's Five Turbidities Evil Body.
• Li Ling considered that the Fell Star might be Tong Daquan's opportunity, then realized other cultivators with similar origins could also be attracted to it.

Li Ling arrived at Jizhong Island, where the Heavenly Court and Immortal Sects had sealed a fallen meteorite whose power caused cultivators’ bodies to mutate. After learning that the Netherworld Sect was hunting people able to withstand it, Li Ling revealed that one of his true disciples might be destined for the Fell Star and asked to test them.

• Li Ling and his companions encountered Netherworld Sect patrols, and Chi Yingting killed one rogue cultivator with the Coin-Bearing Golden Toad.
• Earth Spirit Sect and Primordial Origin Sect elders welcomed Li Ling to Jizhong Island, where forces from many factions guarded the sealed area.
• Radiance Heavenly Lord explained that the Fell Star had caused horrifying mutations among nearby cultivators, so she had sealed it and called for reinforcements.
• Shang Yanshou revealed that the Netherworld Sect had found three people able to approach the Fell Star, killed two, and was still searching for more destined candidates.
• Li Ling said that one of his true disciples might be destined for the Fell Star and asked Radiance Heavenly Lord to let them try.

Tong Daquan resonated with the Fell Star and absorbed its power, while Li Ling and the other cultivators watched its spirit resonance grow stronger. When the Fell Star cracked and its crystal core struck Tong Daquan, Li Ling helped preserve his consciousness and restore his mutated body, though the crisis was still unfolding.

• Li Ling and the others entered the valley where Shang Yanshou explained the Fell Star’s dangers and the cultivation boundaries around it.
• Tong Daquan sensed that the Fell Star might be alive, and Radiance Heavenly Lord ordered the cultivators to keep the discovery secret while confirming Tong Daquan’s resonance with it.
• Over several days, Tong Daquan absorbed the Fell Star’s power, strengthening his five turbidities evil body as the stone’s emerald radiance grew purer and more intense.
• The Fell Star cracked and sent a crystal core into Tong Daquan, causing his body to swell and mutate as he screamed in pain.
• Li Ling told Tong Daquan to abandon his body and guard his mind, then used Returning Soul Incense and the Soul-Summoning Method to preserve his consciousness and return it to his restored body.

After Tong Daquan absorbed the Fell Star, Li Ling and the righteous cultivators guarded him while demonic and rogue cultivators plotted to investigate the island. The Thousand-Faced Devil Lord agreed to infiltrate righteous territory, and Li Ling later sensed that an approaching patrol cultivator was suspicious.

• Tong Daquan remained unconscious after absorbing the Fell Star, so Li Ling left him inside the Grand Array under guard.
• The Demonic Path sent experts to probe the righteous camp, and Meng Chu enlisted an old senior to plan another attempt.
• The old senior and other Core Formation Cultivators deceived rogue and young cultivators into scouting Jizhong Island for them.
• A recruiter hired the Thousand-Faced Devil Lord to investigate the situation inside righteous territory, and he accepted the deal.
• Li Ling tried different incense methods to clear Tong Daquan's mind, then told Chi Yingting to stop a suspicious patrol cultivator approaching the camp.

Chi Yingting confronted an infiltrator in the Primordial Origin Sect camp and recognized that the faceless shapeshifter was using Yan Buyong’s thousand-faced dharma body. Just as he identified the opponent as Li Ying, Li Ling warned that the man was no longer their eldest senior brother.

• Chi Yingting used the Water-Moon Mirror to isolate himself and the disguised infiltrator after detecting that one of the patrolling disciples’ thoughts were unusually calm.
• The infiltrator shed his disguise and shifted through multiple faces, combining techniques from different sects to fight Chi Yingting.
• Chi Yingting used his incense arts and magic treasure to counter the attacks, but the opponent regenerated after being beheaded and transformed into a Five-Clawed Golden Dragon.
• Chi Yingting recognized the thousand-faced dharma body and suspected that the opponent was Li Ying, who had gained Yan Buyong’s methods.
• Li Ling spoke from outside the mirror and told Chi Yingting that the opponent was no longer their eldest senior brother.

Li Ling and Chi Yingting discovered that the Thousand-Faced Devil Lord contained Li Ying among his many identities and pursued him after he escaped the Water-Moon Mirror. The Devil Lord fled with numerous transformations, then revealed Li Ying’s unusual method for extracting incense essence and creating a new form.

• Li Ling explained that Yan Buyong’s method had caused Li Ying to lose himself among many identities, and he asked Chi Yingting to force the Thousand-Faced Devil Lord through his transformations.
• The Thousand-Faced Devil Lord escaped the Water-Moon Mirror as a golden carp, prompting Li Ling and Chi Yingting to pursue him over the sea.
• Li Ling and Chi Yingting repeatedly attacked the Devil Lord, who restored his injuries and vitality by switching identities, before he escaped using bird and fish transformations.
• Li Ling revealed that he had marked the Devil Lord and promised to pursue him later, then returned to Jizhong Island with Chi Yingting.
• After fleeing thousands of li, the Devil Lord used Li Ying’s identity to process a frozen woman’s body and refine its grease into incense essence.
• Li Ying gathered the incense essence and transformed into the woman, then returned to his own appearance and opened another wooden box.

Li Ling used the Scent-Seeking Art to track the Thousand-Faced Devil Lord, then entered his dreamscape with Chi Yingting and discovered the Devil Lord could defend against dream intrusion. As demonic forces prepared an all-out assault on the righteous camp, the Devil Lord planned to exploit the chaos to target Chi Yingting.

• Li Ling taught Chi Yingting the Scent-Seeking Art, and Chi Yingting traced the Thousand-Faced Devil Lord's route while sensing his muddled aura.
• Li Ling entered the Devil Lord's dreamscape with Chi Yingting, but they found a barren wilderness and Yan Buyong's enormous corpse, revealing that the Devil Lord had dreamscape methods.
• The Thousand-Faced Devil Lord replenished his lost avatars with Shape-Seizing Life-Creation and decided to capture Chi Yingting's avatar to strengthen himself.
• The Devil Lord gathered intelligence through the Netherworld Sect and learned that Li Ling kept the Incense Accumulation disciples closely protected.
• Netherworld Sect leaders decided to launch an all-out assault because Tong Daquan remained alive and might merge with the Fell Star.
• The Thousand-Faced Devil Lord recognized the assault as his chance to attack the Incense Accumulation disciples while someone else held Li Ling back.

The Thousand-Faced Devil Lord infiltrated Jizhong Island, sabotaged its grand array, and abducted Han Zhen after he briefly wounded him. The Devil Lord escaped with Han Zhen while the island’s defenses crumbled under the Demonic Path assault.

• The Thousand-Faced Devil Lord disguised himself as Junior Brother Huang, killed a Formation Dao disciple, and secretly damaged several crucial formation eyes.
• The Demonic Path launched a stronger assault after the grand array weakened, while Radiance Heavenly Lord and Li Ling struggled to hold the island’s defenses.
• The Thousand-Faced Devil Lord disguised himself as a Money Guild cultivator and targeted Han Zhen, who evaded his first attack with the Wondrous Method of Xiyi.
• Han Zhen stabbed the Devil Lord with the Profound Ice Sword, and the other disciples helped dismember the frozen cultivator.
• The Thousand-Faced Devil Lord reassembled his body, restrained Han Zhen with the Great Thunder-Sealing Art, and fled beyond the array with him.

Li Ling realized that the Thousand-Faced Devil Lord had abducted Han Zhen to strengthen his human-incense methods, then secretly followed him to a hidden island. As the Devil Lord began refining human incense and Li Ling prepared to strike, the Devil Lord escaped the first attack but was mysteriously compelled to turn back and face him.

• After learning Han Zhen had been captured, Li Ling sent Chi Yingting to pursue the Thousand-Faced Devil Lord and suspected the abduction was tied to Han Zhen’s Incense Path talent.
• Li Ling inferred that the Devil Lord was building a new, unorthodox branch of the Incense Path and secretly overtook Chi Yingting to follow him.
• The Devil Lord carried Han Zhen to a hidden island, where he displayed human-derived incense and used Han Zhen’s blood to test its properties.
• Han Zhen recognized the Devil Lord’s knowledge of the secret Human Incense Volume and saw Li Ling watching with grief, though the Devil Lord remained unaware of him.
• When the Devil Lord changed into Li Ying’s form, Li Ling hesitated and his Soul-Reaping Incense attack alerted the Devil Lord, who fled in Huo Luo’s form.
• The Devil Lord tried to transform again and escape, but an unexplained impulse made him turn back toward Li Ling, leaving him alarmed.

Li Ling defeated the Thousand-Faced Devil Lord with his new Incense-Thought Lure and discovered that his many avatars belonged to Li Ying, his former disciple. After Li Ying’s warped nature proved beyond saving, Li Ling killed him, captured his remnant soul, and hinted that he would start over with it.

• Li Ling used Incense-Thought Lure to manipulate the Thousand-Faced Devil Lord’s thoughts while his Xiyi Illusory Body made him impossible to hit.
• Li Ling killed more than fifty of the Devil Lord’s avatars as Chi Yingting and Han Zhen watched.
• The Thousand-Faced Devil Lord revealed himself as Li Ying and begged Li Ling to spare him and let him return to the sect.
• Li Ling judged that Li Ying’s fundamental nature had been corrupted beyond repair and killed his final avatar with Soul-Reaping Incense.
• Li Ling extracted Li Ying’s remnant soul and placed it in a Dharma-Realm Incense Burner, saying he might as well start over.

Li Ling uncovered the Thousand-Faced Devil Lord’s human-incense methods and planned to send Li Ying into reincarnation, while studying the Thousand-Faced Method. At Jizhong Island, the demonic assault faltered against Radiance Heavenly Lord, and Hong Quan prepared to use a trump card.

• Li Ling, Chi Yingting, and Han Zhen excavated the devil lord’s ruined workshop and found incense materials and the bodies of hundreds of victims.
• Li Ling explained that Human-Refined Incense gained power by taking human lives and warned Chi Yingting that its methods could not lead to Dao Transformation.
• Li Ling discovered that Li Ying’s remnant soul had been polluted by other spirit resonances, but resolved to send him into reincarnation and help him cultivate again.
• Li Ling studied the devil lord’s notes and discerned the Thousand-Faced Method, which used incense and spirit resonance to create powerful avatars.
• At Jizhong Island, Radiance Heavenly Lord’s Solar Spear wiped out nearly half the advancing demonic cultivators, and Hong Quan took out the Blood-Red Gourd Treasure.