Chapter Summaries

Li Ling endured a heavenly tribulation with the protection of his merit golden clouds, while powerful cultivators gathered nearby and misjudged his strength and intentions. After Yan Buyong praised Li Ling’s potential for Spirit Transformation, Li Ling translocated away without acknowledging the spectators.

• Li Ling relied on his merit golden clouds to block the escalating lightning strikes of his first minor heavenly tribulation.
• Chi Yun-Zi and Fairy Hongxia arrived near Li Ling’s tribulation, and Yan Buyong later joined them as an incarnation of a Spirit Transformation cultivator.
• Nascent Soul experts from the Mystic Continent’s three orthodox powers gathered and discussed the scale of Li Ling’s tribulation.
• The cultivators saw Li Ling’s three-headed, six-armed child celestial aspect, and Yan Buyong judged that he had the potential for Spirit Transformation.
• Li Ling translocated away before any of the gathered cultivators could approach him.

After surviving a thunder tribulation, Li Ling discovered that wind and yin-fire calamities were still striking him, leaving him near death. The Ninth Princess replenished his mental power through their dual-cultivation bond, reviving him as the fire calamity continued.

• Li Ling survived the thunder tribulation, gained lightning dharma gang, and realized he was one opportunity away from Foundation Establishment.
• Li Ling sensed that his tribulation karma remained and endured the bì wind calamity, which devastated his Inner Landscape Grotto-Heaven and weakened his body.
• The Ninth Princess sent Li Ju and Luo Zhen out, then used Teaweed Incense to help restore Li Ling's flesh as he endured the wind calamity.
• A yin-fire calamity struck Li Ling, consuming the remaining merit golden clouds and scorching his soul despite the incense restoring his body.
• As Li Ling began to lose consciousness, the Ninth Princess poured her mental power into him through their dual-cultivation bond, restoring his strength.

Li Ling survived the yin fire by synchronizing his power with the Ninth Princess and breaking through to Foundation Establishment, gaining his own origin dharma power. After revealing the truth about his cultivation and discussing the suspicious heavenly tribulations, he demonstrated his new ability and chose to let his dharma power grow naturally.

• The Ninth Princess continued supporting Li Ling with her mental power until he took control of their synchronized circulation and used his dharma form to multiply their strength.
• Li Ling established his foundation, transformed his dharma power, and extinguished the yin fire with Divided Spirit Manifestation.
• Li Ling revealed his Incense-Feeding Soul Tempering and recent tribulations to the Ninth Princess, then warned that his true identity must remain secret.
• Li Ling explained that his tribulation had cleared his karmic burdens but suspected someone might be manipulating events against exceptional cultivators.
• Li Ling demonstrated his new control of Heaven-and-Earth Origin Energy by floating their six-thousand-jin bed, and decided not to use outside materials to increase his dharma power.

After establishing his foundation, Li Ling concealed his breakthrough and recovered while learning about cultivation from the Ninth Princess. A visit to Beyond-the-World Valley revealed that his tribulation had made True Person Zixu the center of widespread attention, prompting Li Ling to avoid projecting his soul again and keep a low profile.

• The Ninth Princess said that Li Ling’s tribulation had helped her grasp the meaning of a Dao foundation, and they decided not to tell the Old Ancestor about his breakthrough yet.
• Li Ling and the Ninth Princess discussed dharma power and magical treasures while he recovered and continued helping restore Beyond-the-World Valley.
• After concealing his aura, Li Ling used his Wu You incarnation to visit the valley and heard that True Person Zixu’s tribulation had attracted many powerful onlookers.
• A waiter told Li Ling that rumors portrayed True Person Zixu as a potential Spirit Transformation expert who might establish a sect and become Fairy Hongxia’s Dao companion.
• Worried that powerful cultivators might have recognized him during his tribulation, Li Ling returned to his body and resolved to avoid Soul Departure and keep a low profile.

After reaching Foundation Establishment, Li Ling tested his new Dharma Power and developed Netherdream Incense to explore the Dream Dao. He guided the Ninth Princess into a shared dream, where they tested its powers and limits before he offered to take her out to explore.

• Li Ling explained the freedoms associated with different cultivation realms and tested his Dharma Power with the Ninth Princess, finding that its strength varied while his Divine Sense remained around three hundred jin.
• Li Ling used the Book Spirit to search its remembered books and made Netherdream Incense from netherdream flowers and drunken fruit.
• After nearly half a month of experimentation, Li Ling and the Ninth Princess used the incense to enter a shared dream, where he demonstrated his control and explained how dream powers depended on mental strength and the soul.
• The Ninth Princess practiced dream abilities, including simulated Nine Heavens Divine Thunder, while Li Ling warned her not to rely on imagined powers and bound her with an Immortal-Binding Rope.
• After they played and cultivated in the dream, Li Ling said it was time to take the Ninth Princess out to explore.

Li Ling and the Ninth Princess explored the Netherdream Realm, entering Li Ju’s dream to learn how dream invasion and control worked. Over the following days, Li Ling continued developing Netherdream Incense and entered the Beyond-the-World Inn waiter’s dream, where they found rogue cultivators kowtowing to him.

• Li Ling explained how anchors, lucid awareness, and mental connections shaped dream confrontations as he and the Ninth Princess searched for Li Ju’s dream.
• Li Ling and the Ninth Princess entered Li Ju’s dream, where she replaced her own dream figure and watched Li Ju imagine becoming Li Ling’s favored concubine.
• The Ninth Princess turned Li Ju’s dream into a laundry-room nightmare, then Li Ju woke and recalled smelling a fragrance in her dream.
• Li Ling and the Ninth Princess explored the Netherdream Realm while he worked to improve Netherdream Incense and learned how people’s dreams were connected across the void.
• Li Ling entered the Beyond-the-World Inn waiter’s dream, changed its setting to Beyond-the-World Valley, and found a crowd of rogue cultivators kowtowing to the waiter.

Li Ling and the Ninth Princess explored a cultivator’s dream, where Li Ling uncovered news about rising conflict and the Fushan Five Friends taking over the valley. After learning the sect was monitoring True Person Zixu and restricting travel, Li Ling chose to conceal himself and grow stronger, then visited Beyond-the-World Valley and found its Market Gathering had grown quiet.

• Li Ling manipulated the waiter’s dream to provoke a fight, then used his growing control to recover genuine memories and hear news of fighting at Seven Waters Pass and the Fushan Five Friends’ appointment.
• Han Gusheng and Lin Li left word that the Fushan Five Friends would provisionally manage the valley, while a Mystic Xin Peak disciple revealed the sect’s order to monitor True Person Zixu and investigate the unaffiliated cultivation world.
• Li Ling decided to conceal himself and avoid unnecessary travel, though he and the Ninth Princess planned to visit Beyond-the-World Valley in their real bodies to obtain Spirit Materials.
• Li Ling and the Ninth Princess visited the valley and discovered that its Market Gathering had lost many cultivators and much of its trade since the upheaval.
• Li Ling and the Ninth Princess sent a visiting card to ask the Fushan Five Friends why the valley remained so deserted.

Li Ling and the Ninth Princess visited Beyond-the-World Valley, where Jiang Binghua described the decline of its Market Gathering and a rogue cultivator staged a public accusation against the Myriad Treasures Pavilion. After the dispute ended without proof, Li Ling decided to follow the man and investigate using his Dream Path Divine Ability.

• Li Ling and the Ninth Princess met Jiang Binghua, who explained that the Market Gathering had withered after outside support was withdrawn.
• Li Ling reasoned that Beyond-the-World Valley's troubles would ease over time and left its management problems to the Fushan Five Friends.
• That night, Li Ling and the Ninth Princess returned to the valley and found a rogue cultivator accusing the Myriad Treasures Pavilion of trying to cheat him.
• Xiao Yicheng told Li Ling that the accusation was likely a deliberate attempt to stir up trouble, while Fang Lisong could only urge both sides not to block the way.
• After the rogue cultivator left and the crowd dispersed, Li Ling proposed following him to investigate and test his Dream Path Divine Ability on a cultivator.

Li Ling explored the dreams of the rogue cultivator who had caused trouble at the Market Gathering and learned that the man had joined an organization in the Sacred Origin Kingdom in pursuit of a Foundation Establishment Pill. The chapter ended as Li Ling followed him to a meeting with Bu Fang and a white-robed cultivator addressed as Mister Wu.

• The rogue cultivator changed his appearance after leaving the Market Gathering, while Li Ling and the Ninth Princess returned home on the Purple-Gold Flying Shuttle.
• Li Ling entered the rogue cultivator’s dream and saw his struggles to extend his life, including failed remedies and a poisonous pill.
• The rogue cultivator learned from a fellow cultivator that service to the Sacred Origin Kingdom could earn merit toward a Foundation Establishment Pill, then joined the organization.
• Senior Han sent the rogue cultivator to Beyond-the-World Valley in the Mystic Xin Kingdom to stir up trouble and test the response.
• Li Ling followed the rogue cultivator to meet Bu Fang and saw him greet the white-robed cultivator in the seat of honor as Mister Wu.

Li Ling learned that the Sacred Origin Kingdom was coordinating with Inkstone Mountain City to stir up trouble in Mystic Xin Kingdom, then decided to investigate through Zhao Wuyan rather than risk going himself. He tasked Zhao Wuyan with collecting Netherdream Incense and discreetly scouting the rendezvous point.

• Li Ling overheard Mister Wu and Senior Han discuss provoking trouble in Beyond-the-World Valley and learned that their contacts were in Inkstone Mountain City.
• Li Ling used Spirit-Bewildering Incense to erase Bu Fang's memory of the dream, and Bu Fang suspected Nightmare Suppression but chose not to report it.
• Li Ling and the Ninth Princess judged that investigating Inkstone Mountain City directly would be too risky, then settled on using Zhao Wuyan as their foothold.
• Li Ling entered Zhao Wuyan's dream as Senior Zixu and instructed him to collect Netherdream Incense and stroll near the rendezvous point in Inkstone Mountain City.
• Zhao Wuyan agreed to carry out the task, and Li Ling told him to prioritize secrecy and let events unfold naturally.

Zhao Wuyan infiltrated the Worthy Recruitment Hall and replaced its incense so Li Ling could examine its servants’ dreams. While exploring a kitchen helper’s memories, Li Ling discovered his unspoken love for the dancer Yan Ni and sensed a strange fragrance emerge from the man’s feelings.

• Zhao Wuyan entered Inkstone Mountain City, found the Worthy Recruitment Hall, and secretly replaced its incense before returning to an inn.
• Li Ling and the Ninth Princess used Netherdream Incense to enter the dreams of the hall’s servants and found the kitchen helper Little Zhao’s dream.
• Li Ling reinforced Little Zhao’s unstable dream and viewed memories of his years working at the hall, including his concealed love for Yan Ni.
• As Li Ling revisited Little Zhao’s first encounter with Yan Ni, an unusual fragrance rose from the kitchen helper’s emotions, causing Li Ling to pause.

Li Ling developed Memory-Recollection Incense from Little Zhao’s dream, learned its uses and risks, and found Lin Rouniang among the people meeting at the Worthy Recruitment Hall. He entered Bu Fang’s dream disguised as Elder Dream and attacked him, leaving Bu Fang’s fate uncertain.

• Li Ling collected Little Zhao’s fragrant mental aura and realized it could help people willingly sink into dreams, revealing a deeper principle of Dream Dao cultivation.
• Li Ling tested Memory-Recollection Incense, learned it could stir memories but harm the mind like harvesting a Dream Spirit, and explained its potential uses and limitations to the Ninth Princess.
• Li Ling stopped extracting incense from Little Zhao and repaid him by guiding him to buried wealth while warning him to keep it secret.
• Li Ling discovered Senior Han, Bu Fang, and Lin Rouniang meeting at the Worthy Recruitment Hall, then destroyed the leftover Netherdream Incense to avoid endangering innocent servants.
• Li Ling entered Bu Fang’s dream disguised as Elder Dream, lured him close, and bit his head in a monstrous form.

Bu Fang endured a string of nightmares that blurred the line between dreams and reality, then was arrested after wandering beyond Inkstone Mountain City. As a mysterious sleep-inducing powder spread through the dungeon and made key figures drowsy, golden radiance descended on Lin Rouniang.

• Bu Fang repeatedly dreamed of being betrayed, killed, and denied the Foundation Establishment Pill he sought.
• Bu Fang left the city while confused, and two Sacred Origin Kingdom cultivators found him lying unconscious in the wilderness.
• Mister Wu and Han Zhongming suspected Bu Fang might have been captured by the Mystic Xin Kingdom and ordered him searched and imprisoned.
• Lin Rouniang questioned Mister Wu about the rogue cultivators, while Bu Fang recognized a packet of powder as sleep-inducing fragrant powder and claimed it was his.
• Someone took the powder, and gray-black haze spread through the dungeon as Bu Fang, the interrogators, Mister Wu, Han Zhongming, and Lin Rouniang grew sleepy.
• Golden radiance suddenly descended from the sky as Lin Rouniang opened her eyes.

Li Ling infiltrated Lin Rouniang’s dreams, overcame her Ghost Soul Sect techniques and her parents’ mental imprints, and seized control of her mind. He then used their connection to project an avatar from the dream into reality.

• Li Ling used a simulated Heavenly Tribulation to destroy Lin Rouniang’s first dream defense and seize part of her dream spirit.
• Lin Rouniang invoked Ten Thousand Ghosts Entering Dreams, but Li Ling used Transcendence Incense to disperse her ghosts and defeat her again.
• Lin Rouniang summoned the Blood River and its Eight Great Blood Spirits, but Li Ling destroyed them and seized another part of her dream spirit.
• Lin Hongxia and Xiao Lin appeared to protect their daughter, but Li Ling used Spirit-Bewildering Incense to confuse and shatter their mental imprints.
• Li Ling witnessed Lin Rouniang’s memories and discovered that her deepest fear and regret concerned Granny Wu’s death and his own role in it.
• Li Ling recognized himself as Lin Rouniang’s greatest mental obstacle, took control of her dream, and projected an avatar into her room.

Li Ling discovered that he could cross between dreams and reality through Lin Rouniang’s mental world, but the contact fatally wounded her. After intercepting her on Yellow Springs Road, he brought the transformed Blood Spirit Bride into his dream realm, where the Ninth Princess learned what had happened.

• Li Ling crossed into the unstable overlap between Lin Rouniang’s dream and reality, then accidentally tore out an illusory heart that caused her to die.
• Lin Hongxia found Lin Rouniang’s lamp extinguished and told Xiao Lin that the Old Ancestor might guide her true spirit back from the Blood Sea.
• Lin Rouniang appeared as a Blood Spirit Bride on Yellow Springs Road, where Li Ling recognized her, knocked her down, and sensed a terrifying presence approaching.
• Li Ling carried Lin Rouniang away from Yellow Springs Road before a paper carriage arrived and returned to his dream realm.
• Li Ling explained to the Ninth Princess that Lin Rouniang had become a powerful Ghost Cultivator after merging with her Blood Spirits, and the Ninth Princess joked that lifting her veil made her his bride.

Li Ling dealt with the aftermath of Lin Rouniang’s death, freed Bu Fang, and began reshaping the Blood Spirit Bride into a controlled fighting force. As the Ninth Princess trained against the spirit in Li Ling’s dream, he recalled that Lin Rouniang’s group had gathered to plot over the Dragon Soul Fruit.

• Li Ling decided to let Bu Fang escape and avoid taking Lin Rouniang’s belongings, while the Inkstone Mountain City Lord and Mister Wu discovered her corpse and managed the scene.
• Mister Wu and Han Zhongming left Inkstone Mountain, and Li Ling guided Bu Fang out of confinement before arranging for him and Zhao Wuyan to go into hiding.
• Li Ling tested the Blood Spirit Bride’s abilities and discussed her risks with the Ninth Princess, then began changing her nature with incense and borrowed power from the Great Lin River God.
• Li Ling and the Ninth Princess studied basic Ghost-Control Arts, and she practiced the Battlefield Combat Method against the Blood Spirit Bride in his dream.
• Li Ling recalled that Spirit-Bewildering Incense had helped him uncover the purpose of Lin Rouniang’s gathering: their plans involved the Dragon Soul Fruit.

Li Ling prepared to exploit the Sacred Origin Kingdom’s search for dragon soul fruit while developing his dream-based abilities and refining shared Magic Treasures with the Ninth Princess. He discovered that the search party had located the fruit inside a fragile secret realm, and the chapter left him watching their next moves through Guang Dan’s dreams.

• Li Ling told the Ninth Princess that he might use the dragon soul fruit opportunity to secretly undermine the Sacred Origin Kingdom and help the Old Ancestor and Mystic Xin Kingdom.
• Li Ling sent Zhao Wuyan to watch the Sacred Origin Kingdom’s search party while he practiced the Ghost-Control Art, refined Fragrance-Guided Dream Entry, and worked to unlock Granny Wu’s Myriad-Treasure Pouch.
• Li Ling and the Ninth Princess completed their shared Magic Treasures, tested the Golden Scissors and Blazing Cloud Gourd, and discussed using the Blood Essence Gourd to store healing and restorative substances.
• Li Ling entered Guang Dan’s dream and saw the Sacred Origin Kingdom’s group locate the dragon soul fruit in an unnamed canyon connected to the Netherworld Ghost Domain.
• Li Ling learned that the secret realm was fragile, had a power limit around Foundation Establishment, and could collapse if stronger cultivators or Magic Treasures unleashed their full power.

Li Ling manipulated Guang Dan’s dreams to learn that the expedition had obtained the Dragon Soul Fruits, then sent Zhao Wuyan to seize them and disrupt the factions’ alliance. Zhao Wuyan encountered the Unusual Events Bureau and other cultivators in a standoff, invoked Li Ling as True Person Zixu, and fought his way toward the Demonic Path leader holding the fruits.

• Li Ling used nightmares to conceal his intrusion into Guang Dan’s dreams as the party explored the Underworld.
• Guang Dan’s party harvested the Dragon Soul Fruits and divided them among the Demonic Path, the Sacred Origin Kingdom, and other leaders.
• Li Ling told Zhao Wuyan to target the Demonic Path faction and seize its share of the fruits.
• Zhao Wuyan arrived at a valley where the Unusual Events Bureau and Mystic Xin Kingdom cultivators faced the Demonic Path and Sacred Origin Kingdom factions.
• Li Ling possessed Zhao Wuyan through the Incense Prayer Method, and Zhao Wuyan invoked True Person Zixu before charging into the enemy ranks.
• Zhao Wuyan fought through the opposing cultivators and reached the Demonic Path leader holding the Dragon Soul Fruits.

Li Ling learned that Zhao Wuyan had safely retrieved the Dragon Soul Fruits and ended the debt between them, then entered Zhao Wuyan’s dream to transfer the spoils. There, he uncovered Yin Changming’s hidden mark and confronted him as Yin Changming proposed that Li Ling join the rogue cultivators’ alliance against the Three Sects’ Heaven-Sealing Scheme.

• Zhao Wuyan escaped the battle with the Dragon Soul Fruits, while the Unusual Events Bureau’s forces fought the remaining enemies and the Dragon Lord reacted furiously to the losses.
• Li Ling told Zhao Wuyan to keep one fruit as a reward, declared their debt settled, and warned him that powerful cultivators might investigate the divine power used in the battle.
• Chi Yun-Zi investigated the gorge but failed to find Zhao Wuyan, and the Skycloud Sect later sent more personnel to reinforce the Mystic Xin Kingdom Unusual Events Bureau.
• Li Ling visited Zhao Wuyan’s dream and told him to offer Wish-Granting Incense at the Great Lin River to transfer two fruits.
• Li Ling detected Yin Changming’s hidden mark beneath the dream cavern and exposed Yin Changming, who admitted sneaking into Zhao Wuyan’s dream to reach Li Ling.
• Yin Changming invited Li Ling to join the rogue cultivators’ alliance against the Three Sects’ Heaven-Sealing Scheme and asked to discuss their plans.

Li Ling followed Yin Changming into Mo Qingping’s Dreamlike Island, where he learned about the rogue cultivators’ alliance and met its members at a market gathering. The gathering ended with Li Ling discovering that his own Old Ancestor, Yellow Cloud True Person, was among them.

• Yin Changming told Li Ling that rogue cultivators were organizing against the three sects’ plan to seal the heavens and invited him to meet their allies.
• Li Ling followed Yin Changming’s divine sense into the Dream Realm and arrived at Mo Qingping’s stable dream sanctuary, Dreamlike Island.
• Mo Qingping invited Li Ling to attend the island’s market gathering, and Li Ling agreed to come two days later.
• Li Ling returned to Dreamlike Island for the gathering, where twelve Core Formation and higher-level cultivators greeted him.
• Li Ling recognized Yellow Cloud True Person among the gathered cultivators and was shocked to find his own Old Ancestor there.