Chapter Summaries

Li Ling used Nightmare Suppression to repeatedly draw Pine Daoist into dreams, extracting his dream spirits and learning that Sacred Origin Kingdom planned to exploit the chaos in Mystic Xin Kingdom as part of a wider struggle to establish a unified dynasty. After eighteen attacks left Pine Daoist mentally shattered, Li Ling returned to Quiet Serenity Residence and saw the Ninth Princess practicing with a Flying Sword.

• Pine Daoist was expelled from the Dragon Lord’s gathering after he inexplicably stood and summoned his Flying Sword, then dreamed that the other cultivators killed him.
• Li Ling harvested Pine Daoist’s second dream spirit and learned that Violet Cloud True Person’s Sacred Origin Kingdom was preparing to challenge Mystic Xin Kingdom and help reshape the mortal world’s political order.
• Li Ling tried to hypnotize Pine Daoist again, but Pine Daoist briefly resisted before becoming trapped in a foggy wilderness filled with water essence puppets.
• Li Ling repeatedly forced Pine Daoist into dreams, harvested his dream spirits eighteen times, and left him disoriented and mentally damaged in the wilderness.
• Li Ling returned to Quiet Serenity Residence and found the Ninth Princess outside, practicing with a Flying Sword beneath the dark sky.

Li Ling secretly scattered the Dragon Lord’s rogue cultivators by making them disappear one after another, while the Dragon Lord’s advisers suspected a powerful expert was behind the incidents. The Dragon Lord refused to abandon his plans and decided to send more people into the Mystic Xin Kingdom in secret.

• The Ninth Princess secretly practiced Cloud Escape before dawn, and Li Ling suspected she was preparing for the dangers of the Fiefdom Establishment.
• The Pine Daoist found himself a thousand miles west of the Royal City and chose to flee rather than return to the Huai River Commandery Prince’s manor.
• After the Pine Daoist vanished, Li Ling impersonated him and lured the middle-aged rogue cultivator surnamed Mo away, making him disappear as well.
• The Dragon Lord ordered the two remaining rogue cultivators to retreat to Beyond-the-World Valley, but Li Ling followed them and secretly sent each to a distant part of the land.
• Mister Wu warned the Dragon Lord that a mysterious expert might be targeting his agents, but the Dragon Lord resolved to send more people into the Mystic Xin Kingdom in secret.

Li Ling developed Spirit-Bewildering Incense and traded Yin Changming’s Blood Essence Gourd for Teaweed Incense. After securing the incense, he prepared to begin transforming his Dao body.

• Li Ling studied ways to strengthen his hypnosis and began blending Spirit-Bewildering Incense, but lacked the materials to give it the effects he wanted.
• Yin Changming received Li Ling’s reply and sent Thirteenth Son to Xuansin Royal City with the Blood Essence Gourd to trade for Teaweed Incense.
• Thirteenth Son met Li Ling’s alternate incarnation at the Beyond the World Inn, and they completed the trade.
• Thirteenth Son learned that Li Ling’s side could obtain more Teaweed Incense and inferred that he served a senior expert.
• Li Ling returned to a secluded mountain with the Teaweed Incense and decided he could begin transforming his Dao body.

Li Ling left the Royal City in secret and used ji earth grand tai sui and Teaweed Incense to transform his body. After watching his flesh decay until only jade-like bones remained, he regenerated his body and completed the yang-soul dao body.

• Li Ling tested the Blood Essence Gourd, confirmed it could store incense essence, and refined it with Wish-Granting Incense.
• Li Ling filled the gourd with more than thirty times the usual amount of Teaweed Incense and told the Ninth Princess he would go into seclusion at Li's Incense Workshop.
• Li Ling used the Great Lin River God's divine power to travel physically to an uninhabited wilderness southwest of the Great Lin River.
• Li Ling infected himself with ji earth grand tai sui and watched his body decay until he became a jade-like skeleton.
• Li Ling deployed the stored Teaweed Incense, regenerated his flesh and blood, and completed the yang-soul dao body.

After completing his transformation into a Pure Yang Dao Body, Li Ling returned to the Royal City, while a group of rogue cultivators plotted to assassinate the Mystic Xin King. Their attack on the palace was swiftly crushed by an unseen cultivator, leaving one attacker alive for questioning.

• Li Ling completed his bodily transformation, discovered his new strength and abilities, and used the stench left by his regeneration to produce Impure Stench.
• After seven days in seclusion, Li Ling returned to his residence in the Royal City.
• A middle-aged man recruited three newly initiated rogue cultivators to assassinate the Mystic Xin King, while Madam Han and the recruiter arranged for Fellow Daoist Ma to watch them.
• The three rogue cultivators entered the Royal City, feasted, and then broke into the palace, confident their flying swords would make the assassination easy.
• An unseen cultivator killed two of the attackers, maimed and captured the third, and emerged only after the guards had secured their prisoner.

After the Ninth Princess learned that the new Wang planned to use her to protect his throne, she chose with Li Ling to leave mortal affairs and seek peace in the Immortal Sects. Her title as Pacifying-the-Kingdom Grand Princess nevertheless drew the Sacred Origin Kingdom’s attention, and the Dragon Lord ordered an investigation into her strength and considered capturing her.

• Li Ling recovered from seclusion, ate an enormous meal, and heard from Eunuch Xu that three rogue cultivators had attempted to assassinate the king.
• The new Wang visited the Ninth Princess and asked her to seek Immortal Sect aid, then proposed investing her as the Pacifying-the-Kingdom Grand Princess.
• Yellow Cloud True Person warned the Ninth Princess that the new Wang was drawing her into a struggle for power, and the Ninth Princess decided with Li Ling to withdraw to the Immortal Sects’ blessed land.
• Madam Han and Feng discussed how the Ninth Princess’s new title might obstruct the Sacred Origin Kingdom’s plans and sent their assessment to the Dragon Lord.
• The Dragon Lord ordered Spirit Materials and death-sworn agents to investigate Mu Qingsi’s strength and added that they could try to capture her.

Li Ling killed three masked attackers who ambushed him, then rushed back to find the Ninth Princess under attack by a sword cultivator and a dwarf. After the Ninth Princess was wounded, Li Ling confronted the two men and crushed the sword cultivator’s hand.

• Li Ling seized three gray-clad men who tried to ambush him and killed them with Foul Stench before dumping their bodies off a cliff.
• The Ninth Princess’s bronze bell warned her of danger, and she hurried toward the Fragrant Incense Pavilion with her flying sword.
• A middle-aged sword cultivator trapped the Ninth Princess in mirage cloud and attacked her while a dwarf used smoke bombs and talismans to overwhelm her defenses.
• The attackers wounded the Ninth Princess and claimed Li Ling had already been captured, but Li Ling appeared and vowed to kill them.
• The middle-aged sword cultivator jabbed at Li Ling, who seized his hand and crushed his fingers.

Li Ling defeated the attackers threatening the Ninth Princess, revealed that he had secretly gained the power to cultivate, and healed her. After reporting the attack to Yellow Cloud True Person, he and the Ninth Princess prepared to hunt down whoever had sent the assailants.

• Li Ling crushed the middle-aged sword cultivator's hand, killed him with his own sword, and tracked down and killed the dwarf hiding in the mirage cloud.
• Li Ling healed the Ninth Princess and explained that he had been cultivating through Teaweed Incense, while keeping his ability to perform soul projection secret.
• The Ninth Princess handled the arriving guards, and Li Ling contacted Yellow Cloud True Person to report the attack and identify the attackers' magical artifact.
• Yellow Cloud True Person ordered the royal capital sealed against rogue cultivators and revealed that the sect intended to use its political schemes to purge them; she also urged the Ninth Princess to use her Golden Scissors against enemies.
• The Ninth Princess showed Li Ling the Golden Scissors and admitted she had planned to use it, while Li Ling reassured her and proposed that they track down the force behind the attack.

Li Ling and the Ninth Princess tracked the Dragon Lord’s agents to a hideout in Wang Du and killed Feng Zhen and Madam Han, using the Ninth Princess’s Golden Scissors and Li Ling’s flying sword. The city was sealed in response, while the Dragon Lord accepted the setback and began considering how to exploit the fact that other cities remained open.

• Li Ling and the Ninth Princess followed the rogue cultivators’ trail to a hideout, where Li Ling forced his way past mortal lookouts and confronted Feng Zhen and Madam Han.
• Feng Zhen and Madam Han fled after Li Ling struck their hideout with Gang Qi, and the Ninth Princess killed Feng Zhen with the Golden Scissors.
• Li Ling killed Madam Han with his flying sword after her attempt to flee and her claim of being a registered disciple of Sacred Origin Peak.
• The Ninth Princess told Royal City Office personnel that she had killed the attackers and asked them to compensate frightened townspeople, after which the city was sealed by decree.
• The Dragon Lord learned that his agents had been killed and, after Mister Wu advised caution, decided to take advantage of the fact that other cities could not seal their gates.

Li Ling and the Ninth Princess prepared for their cultivation while turmoil spread through the Mystic Xin Kingdom. When they learned that Yellow Cloud True Person had suffered a serious setback in seclusion, Li Ling realized his Teaweed Incense might help repair her Dao Body and decided to speak with her.

• Li Ling and the Ninth Princess traded cultivation advice, and he encouraged her to refine a cloud treasure and improve her combat skills.
• As wars and rebellions destabilized the Mystic Xin Kingdom, Li Ling told his relatives to keep a low profile and trusted that Yellow Cloud True Person would preserve order.
• Luo Mu disciplined the disciples who had rushed back to Mystic Xin Peak, then learned from Yellow Cloud True Person that Bì Wind had damaged her foundation and that she would soon emerge from seclusion.
• More than a month later, Li Ling and the Ninth Princess heard rumors that Yellow Cloud True Person had failed to advance, and Luo Mu summoned them to the Spirit Peak without confirming the rumors.
• Li Ling realized Teaweed Incense might repair Yellow Cloud True Person's Dao Body, and he resolved to offer his help.

Li Ling and the Ninth Princess arrived at Mystic Xin Peak and reunited with Yellow Cloud True Person, who revealed that her failed seclusion had left her gravely injured and unable to reach Nascent Soul. After learning that Teaweed Incense could restore a damaged Core Formation Dao Body, Li Ling offered to help, but Yellow Cloud True Person warned that the Heavenly Tribulation had also injured her soul.

• Lu Zheng brought Li Ling and the Ninth Princess into Cloud Above Heaven, where Zhou Cheng and Yi Yi escorted them up Mystic Xin Peak.
• Li Ling and the Ninth Princess met Little Mingyue before Yellow Cloud True Person summoned them into her residence.
• Yellow Cloud True Person warmly welcomed the Ninth Princess, then admitted that her failed advancement had damaged her body and shortened her lifespan.
• The Ninth Princess explained how a Nascent Soul senior had enabled Li Ling to begin Qi Refining, and Yellow Cloud True Person connected the opportunity to his past help.
• Li Ling offered Teaweed Incense as a remedy for Yellow Cloud True Person's injuries, but she revealed that the Bì Wind had damaged her soul as well as her Dao Body.

Li Ling helped Yellow Cloud True Person recover from her Bì Wind injuries by organizing the production of Teaweed Incense, while learning more about Mystic Xin Peak’s entrenched family ties and inefficiency. After Li Ling finished arranging the incense supply, Yellow Cloud True Person asked for his judgment on the Mystic Xin Kingdom, and he called its problems too deeply entrenched to turn back.

• Yellow Cloud True Person told Li Ling that Bì Wind had struck her and asked about his connection to True Person Zixu and Yin Changming.
• Li Ling offered Teaweed Incense to treat Yellow Cloud True Person, who summoned Luo Mu to organize its production across Mystic Xin Peak.
• Li Ling and Gao Lan found that the incense cultures needed better spirit water, so they used mystic origin true water and other costly materials to improve production.
• Li Ling observed that Mystic Xin Peak’s disciples were tied together by royal marriages and often worked inefficiently, but chose not to interfere.
• Li Ling reported that the peak had made enough Teaweed Incense to treat Yellow Cloud True Person through the end of the year.
• Yellow Cloud True Person asked Li Ling to assess the Mystic Xin Kingdom, and he said its problems were too deeply entrenched to turn back.

Yellow Cloud True Person explained to Li Ling why she refused to abandon Xu Xin and revealed a plan to establish the Heavenly Court by controlling heavenly tribulations. Li Ling returned to the Ninth Princess unsettled by the possibility that a powerful figure sought to become the Heavenly Emperor and reshape the world.

• Li Ling blamed Yellow Cloud True Person's lenient governance for Xu Xin's weak disciples and rulers, while she argued that powerful cultivators ultimately determined a kingdom's fate.
• Yellow Cloud True Person revealed that Li Ling's Teaweed Incense had extended her life and that she intended to contend for Xu Xin's share in the sect's plan to unite the Mystic Continent.
• Yellow Cloud True Person explained that someone sought to establish the Heavenly Court, control heavenly tribulations, and become the Heavenly Emperor, while cultivators who resisted might be destroyed or recruited into the new order.
• Yellow Cloud True Person said she was deciding whether to register Li Ling as a formal Skycloud Sect disciple, while keeping him and Qing Si's paths separate as a precaution.
• Li Ling returned to the Ninth Princess and said Yellow Cloud True Person might need their help to defend Xu Xin's allotted fortune, then struggled to judge whether the Heavenly Court's ambition was righteous or wicked.

Li Ling received a public commendation from Yellow Cloud True Person for his incense formula and help repairing her Dao Body, and chose a Book Spirit and the Blazing Cloud Gourd as rewards. He learned that the Sacred Origin Kingdom had invaded Xu Xin and that he would be sent to help defend it, while the Old Ancestor prepared to equip him for the conflict.

• Zhou Cheng summoned Li Ling and the Ninth Princess to the peak, where Yellow Cloud True Person publicly praised Li Ling and announced his reward.
• Li Ling asked for a Book Spirit to help with his research, and Yellow Cloud True Person offered to obtain one in exchange for Spirit Materials.
• Yellow Cloud True Person privately urged Li Ling to choose the Blazing Cloud Gourd as well, and he accepted it as his second reward.
• Luo Mu told Li Ling that the Sacred Origin Kingdom had attacked Xu Xin, captured ten cities, and reached Seven Waters Pass, so Li Ling would be sent to help.
• Luo Mu revealed that the Blazing Cloud Gourd was a ten-cycle magic treasure and let Li Ling select additional equipment from the treasury.

Li Ling received private rewards from the Old Ancestor and learned he was expected to help oversee rogue cultivators, while Seven Waters Pass came under a major assault by the Sacred Origin Kingdom. Just as the enemy nearly breached the walls, Li Ling and three other cultivators arrived, and Li Ling identified himself to the opposing cultivators.

• Li Ling accepted magical artifacts and Spirit Materials, chose Zhou Cheng and Yi Yi to accompany him, and learned of his future assignment concerning rogue cultivators.
• At Seven Waters Pass, Zhao Yan defeated and killed two Mystic Xin officers in single combat, weakening the defenders' morale.
• The Sacred Origin Kingdom brought reinforcements and launched a fierce assault that drove the defenders from part of the walls.
• Li Ling and three other cultivators appeared above the pass, prompting the Sacred Origin Kingdom's troops to retreat from the walls.
• Li Ling descended on a cloud and introduced himself to the opposing cultivators as Li Ling of the Mystic Xin Kingdom.

Li Ling drove the Sacred Origin Kingdom's forces from Seven Waters Pass with the Blazing Cloud Flame Art, then learned that Zhao Yi had arrived with a Magic Treasure and planned another assault. As the enemy army advanced the next day, Li Ling prepared to use the Blood Essence Gourd's Unconquerable Incense.

• Li Ling used the Blazing Cloud Flame Art to melt the ground and force the Sacred Origin Kingdom's cultivators and army to retreat from the pass.
• Zhao Yi arrived as reinforcement, instructed the Sacred Origin Peak disciples to use mortal soldiers and recruited cultivators to draw out Li Ling, and prepared to confront him with his own Magic Treasure.
• Lu Wencheng welcomed Li Ling and his companions into the pass, where Li Ling explained that he had restrained himself from killing and expected the enemy's true leader to arrive.
• The next day, Zhao Yi coordinated an army assault and promised to hold Li Ling back while the cultivators attacked the defenders.
• As the army advanced, Li Ling opened the Blood Essence Gourd and released the Unconquerable Incense.

Li Ling used Unconquerable Incense to repeatedly sap the Sacred Origin Kingdom soldiers’ will to fight and delay their assault on Seven Waters Pass. As Zhao Yi’s forces struggled to counter the tactic, a rogue cultivator proposed burning the city down.

• Li Ling’s Unconquerable Incense bewildered the Sacred Origin Kingdom’s front-line soldiers, causing them to abandon the first assault until they recovered the next day.
• Lu Wencheng explained that the Sacred Origin Kingdom rewarded soldiers with rank, land, and wealth for killing enemies, giving them strong incentives to fight despite the danger.
• Li Ling released more incense during the renewed assault and secretly transformed his mental power into additional fragrance, forcing the attackers to retreat again.
• Zhao Yi tried different tactics over the following days, but Li Ling’s incense continued to disrupt the attacks and left the cultivators searching for a countermeasure.
• Li Ling projected his spirit into the enemy camp and overheard a rogue cultivator suggest, “Burn the city down!”

He Yuan proposed burning Seven Waters Pass with poisonous smoke, but Li Ling killed him before he could carry out the plan. The Sacred Origin Kingdom then tested ways to counter Li Ling’s Unconquerable Incense, and its troops launched an attack that showed the incense could be weakened by smoke and military pressure.

• He Yuan persuaded the commander to approve a surprise night attack and received Zhao Yi’s Cloud Escape artifact to infiltrate Seven Waters Pass.
• Li Ling ambushed and killed He Yuan inside the pass, then hid his belongings and returned his corpse to the Sacred Origin Kingdom’s camp.
• The Sacred Origin Kingdom assembled Boulder Cannons and launched smoke charges, while Li Ling recognized the display as an attempt to draw out the defenders and test the incense.
• Zhou Cheng knocked the smoke charges from the air, but Li Ling realized the Sacred Origin Kingdom was using harmless smoke to disperse the incense and probe its limits.
• The Sacred Origin Kingdom’s troops charged through the smoke with more clarity than before, and its cultivators advanced, believing they had found an opening.

Li Ling defeated Zhao Yi and his allies, turning the battle for the city into a rout with his powerful body and incense arts. As the enemy fled, Li Ling discovered that their despair could help him evolve Unconquerable Incense.

• Li Ling assigned opponents to Qing Si, Zhou Cheng, and Yi Yi, then drew Zhao Yi away to fight and refused his offer to join Sacred Origin Peak.
• Li Ling abandoned swordplay and struck Zhao Yi with the Air-Splitting Palm, forcing him to rely on his Purple Cloud Canopy and Soul-Suppressing Xun.
• Li Ling resisted the xun’s soul attack, seized the Magic Treasure, and chased Zhao Yi until mortal soldiers drove him back with arrows and crossbows.
• Li Ling used Unconquerable Incense to make the elite crossbowmen abandon the fight, and Zhao Yi’s retreat caused the Sacred Origin Peak disciples and rogue cultivators to flee.
• Li Ling let Commander Lu Wencheng lead the troops in pursuit, then sensed that the enemy’s despair could serve as a new ingredient to evolve Unconquerable Incense.

After lifting the siege at Seven Waters Pass, Li Ling used incense offerings and his divided spirit to refine the Soul-Suppressing Xun he had taken from Zhao Yi. He tested its mental-suppressing power and learned that replacements had arrived to take over the pass.

• Li Ling cleared the enemy camp of equipment and supplies, then reported the victory to Yellow Cloud True Person, who told him to refine the Soul-Suppressing Xun and return to the Royal City once reinforcements arrived.
• Li Ling used Divided Spirit Manifestation and Spirit-Communing Incense to speed up the removal of Zhao Yi's imprint and discovered that incense could nourish and purify a Magic Treasure.
• After five days of refinement, Li Ling tested the Soul-Suppressing Xun, finding that its sound could paralyze warhorses and disrupt people's thoughts, though mental resistance could counter it.
• Li Ling considered sharing the Soul-Suppressing Xun with Qing Si through a cultivation method and planned to ask Yellow Cloud True Person about it.
• A guard reported that five immortal masters had arrived to take over the defense, so Li Ling and Zhou Cheng went to meet them.