Chapter Summaries

Li Ling attended a gathering of Core Formation cultivators while disguised as True Person Zixu, learning about Dreamlike Island and the powerful figures around him. After he claimed Teaweed Incense had cured Yin Changming’s affliction, Yellow Cloud True Person recognized a connection to her junior, Li Ling, and asked what relationship he had with Senior Zixu.

• Li Ling met Yellow Cloud True Person and feared she might recognize the Ninth Princess, then greeted the assembled cultivators as Senior Zixu.
• Mo Qingping explained Dreamlike Island’s dream realm and his efforts to create a dream within a dream, while Li Ling considered its connection to his own Divine Domain.
• The cultivators discussed their Dao Paths, and Li Ling learned about Madam Mei’s identity as a plum-tree demon and the reputations of the other guests.
• Yin Changming praised Senior Zixu for curing his Ji Earth Grand Tai Sui affliction, drawing the guests’ attention to Li Ling.
• Li Ling credited luck and invented a story about finding Teaweed Incense overseas, prompting Yellow Cloud True Person to ask about his relationship with her junior, Li Ling.

Li Ling explained his Incense Path and used its formulas to arrange a trade with Mo Qingping. He then joined Yin Changming and the remaining Alliance cultivators to discuss the Three Sects’ plan to seal heaven, revealing how human fortune could strengthen the Heavenly Dao.

• Li Ling told Yellow Cloud True Person that he and Zixu True Person shared the same bloodline, then explained the Incense Path to the gathered cultivators.
• Li Ling named several incense formulas he could refine, prompting interest in Teaweed Incense and a private offer from Mo Qingping to exchange the Dream-Weaving Art for the Netherdream Incense formula.
• Yellow Cloud True Person, Madam Mei, and other rogue cultivators left to enter the Market Gathering, while Li Ling stayed with Yin Changming, Mo Qingping, Lin Ti, and the others.
• Yin Changming warned the Alliance cultivators that the Three Sects’ sealing of heaven and Dao Registry System would restrict rogue cultivators and their descendants.
• Li Ling explained that State-and-Shrine Sealing of Heaven could strengthen the Heavenly Dao and that Extinguish Immortals and Elevate Humanity could aid someone seeking Dao Integration, astonishing the assembled cultivators.

Li Ling’s remarks on Dao, Heaven, Earth, and humanity gave Yin Changming and other rogue cultivators a framework for understanding the three sects’ plan to seal Heaven, and they spread his ideas as the wisdom of Senior Zixu. Unaware of their reaction, Li Ling returned from Dreamlike Island with the Dream-Weaving Art and explained its uses to the Ninth Princess.

• Li Ling explained that the path to the Great Dao progressed through humanity, Earth, and Heaven, prompting Yin Changming, Mo Qingping, the Cave Master of Fu Mountain, and Lin Ti to reconsider the three sects’ plans and the weakness of the rogue cultivators’ Alliance.
• After leaving Dreamlike Island, Yin Changming and Mo Qingping shared Li Ling’s theory with their fellow cultivators, who praised Senior Zixu and called for the ideas to be spread.
• Li Ling returned to his body, sensed that people were discussing him, and wondered what he had gained from the gathering.
• Li Ling reviewed his rewards, including the Dream-Weaving Art he had obtained by trading the Netherdream Incense recipe.
• Li Ling explained to the Ninth Princess that the Dream-Weaving Art could build stable dream worlds and preserve objects within them, and advised her to practice it as a way to steady the mind.

Li Ling and the Ninth Princess practiced the Dream-Weaving Art, while Mo Qingping tested Li Ling’s Netherdream Incense and discovered that it greatly increased the realism of dreams and reduced the effort needed to sustain them. A month later, Li Ling returned to the Market Gathering and was shocked to learn how the incense could be used.

• Li Ling rapidly learned to create realistic dream objects, using his dharma power and innate abilities to automate and multiply the work.
• Li Ling explained to the Ninth Princess that the Dream-Weaving Art could develop from simulating objects in dreams to creating mental weapons and projecting dreams into reality.
• Mo Qingping experimented with Netherdream Incense, fell asleep on his Clear Dream Pillow, and found that it raised the verisimilitude of his dream creations above eighty percent.
• Mo Qingping showed his disciples the incense’s effects and created vivid dream scenery, creatures, and servants while the fragrance lasted.
• A month later, Li Ling returned to the Market Gathering and was surprised to discover that the incense could soothe the mind and stabilize dreams.

Li Ling arranged for Mo Qingping to quietly watch over an unnamed junior and discussed preparing for the Old Ancestor’s eventual decline with the Ninth Princess. After they ate the Dragon Soul Fruits, Li Ling’s new water-controlling power resonated with the Cicada-Wing Gauze Sash, revealing a vast flood-dragon phantom to him.

• Mo Qingping explained that Netherdream Incense improved his Dream-Weaving Art, while Li Ling declined to advise rogue cultivators on their political future.
• Mo Qingping offered Li Ling more Dream Dao arts, and Li Ling asked him to bestow them on a junior and secretly help that junior when needed.
• Li Ling returned to the Ninth Princess and explained that he had arranged for Mo Qingping to serve as a discreet backer; they discussed the Old Ancestor’s declining prospects and their own preparations.
• Li Ling retrieved the two Dragon Soul Fruits, and he and the Ninth Princess ate them, gaining an innate ability to control water.
• Li Ling sensed the Cicada-Wing Gauze Sash react to his new power, grasped it, and saw a vast flood dragon spanning heaven and earth.

Li Ling discovered that the Great Lin River God had once been the flood dragon Zhu Wu and that records of the expert who killed him had been mysteriously erased. After investigating the Dragon Soul Fruit’s law-based effects, Li Ling gained a clearer understanding of his new water-related abilities but found that their power was limited.

• Li Ling saw a vision of Zhu Wu battling an unseen opponent before heavenly tribulation struck him down, while a dark shadow escaped into the floodwaters.
• Li Ling and the Ninth Princess searched records for the dragon-slayer’s name but found only that an unnamed expert had killed the dragon.
• Li Ling identified Zhu Wu’s name in older texts and noticed that two-character subjects had vanished from records, including jade slips.
• Li Ling realized the Dragon Soul Fruit let him perceive laws and revisit fragments of Zhu Wu’s memories, but its insight was incomplete and could not be strengthened by eating more fruit.
• The Ninth Princess confirmed that her Water-Control Ability could manipulate only a small amount of water, while Li Ling discovered he could command small aquatic creatures.

Li Ling and the Ninth Princess discussed the purpose of Dragon Soul Fruits, while Yellow Cloud True Person explained her plans to give up Spirit Peak and secure places for her disciples in the sect. She advised Li Ling and Qing Si to cultivate independently and warned that the Mystic Continent might leave little room for rogue cultivators, leaving Li Ling to conceal that he had already reached Foundation Establishment.

• Li Ling reasoned that Dragon Soul Fruits could turn the earth’s Spirit Resonance into spiritual resources for mortals and mortal kings, though he doubted that increasing their supply would be simple.
• After hearing that Mystic Xin would cede the Southeastern Lands and Three Southwestern Commanderies to Zhu Yuan, Li Ling asked Yellow Cloud True Person to confirm the agreement.
• Yellow Cloud True Person said she had agreed with Qingyunzi to surrender the territory and planned to relinquish Spirit Peak while placing her disciples in positions within the sect’s central authority.
• Yellow Cloud True Person asked what Li Ling and Qing Si intended to do, then recounted how the Mu Household’s dying wish had led her to establish and protect Mystic Xin.
• Yellow Cloud True Person advised Li Ling and Qing Si to focus on cultivation and warned that those seeking advancement beyond Foundation Establishment might have to leave the Mystic Continent for Overseas or other continents.
• Li Ling reassured the Ninth Princess that the warning concerned their distant future and chose not to reveal that he had already reached Foundation Establishment.

Li Ling informed Mystic Xin Peak disciples that the Old Ancestor planned to reconcile with the Zhu Yuan Kingdom, then reflected on how the decision treated those who had fought as pawns. As secret alliance talks began in Xuansin Royal City, Wei Yan introduced himself to Zhu Ming as Wei Du’s younger brother.

• Li Ling reunited with Zhu Ming and the other returning disciples, who were astonished by his and the Ninth Princess’s cultivation progress.
• Li Ling told the Mystic Xin Peak disciples that the Old Ancestor had ordered reconciliation with the Zhu Yuan Kingdom, and he urged them to cooperate despite their wartime grievances.
• Li Ling told the Ninth Princess that the Old Ancestor’s decision had disregarded the disciples’ lives and feelings, and he suspected the Old Ancestor understood the cost of sending her descendants away from the sect.
• The Zhu Yuan Kingdom’s envoys arrived secretly in Xuansin Royal City, and the two sides began negotiating their alliance under the watch of Li Ling, Zhu Ming, and other cultivators.
• Wei Yan approached Zhu Ming during the talks and identified himself as Wei Du’s younger brother.

Li Ling deflected Wei Yan’s challenge and rejected the Zhu Yuan Kingdom’s attempt to recruit him through marriage, while negotiations over territory, reparations, and incense workers continued. The kingdoms then proposed wagered duels to settle grievances, and Wei Yan challenged Zhu Ming in the first match.

• Wei Yan threatened to avenge Wei Du, but Li Ling stopped his divine sense attack and accepted responsibility for the conflict, prompting Wei Yan to leave.
• Senior Brother Gan reprimanded Wei Yan, who revealed that Wang had sent him to stir up trouble rather than preserve a peaceful alliance.
• The kingdoms argued over the costs of relocating vassal clans, war reparations, and the transfer of Li Ling’s incense workers and Spirit-Communing Incense expertise.
• A Zhu Yuan envoy offered Princess Qingyou’s hand if Li Ling moved to Zhu Yuan, but Li Ling refused because he was already married to Qing Si.
• Li Ling and the Ninth Princess discussed the marriage proposal and agreed he should not become a bargaining chip for the Zhu Yuan Kingdom.
• The Zhu Yuan leadership proposed wagered duels to settle disputes, and Wei Yan challenged Zhu Ming in the first match.

Li Ling stopped Zhu Ming’s wagered duel with Wei Yan, forced the Zhu Yuan Kingdom’s delegation to back down, and won approval from Luo Mu despite Mu Tai’s objections. As Li Ling arranged for Zhu Ming and the others to remain on their assignment, a princess traveling through the Mystic Xin Kingdom learned that Li Ling possessed multiple magic treasures.

• Li Ling warned Zhu Ming that Wei Yan’s side had prepared secret incantations and pills, then used the Soul-Suppressing Xun to incapacitate Wei Yan and wound him.
• Li Ling and the Ninth Princess used the Soul-Suppressing Xun and a flying sword to overpower Senior Brother Gan, then persuaded him to end the confrontation and leave with the Zhu Yuan Kingdom delegation.
• Mu Tai rebuked Li Ling for disrupting the peace talks, but Li Ling defended his actions and later convinced Luo Mu that he had not undermined the larger plan.
• Li Ling asked Luo Mu to recall Zhu Ming and the other disciples, but Luo Mu decided they should stay until the peace talks concluded.
• A eunuch informed a princess that Li Ling had stopped the duel and possessed at least two magic treasures, while a young man was kicked off the princess’s carriage convoy.

Li Ling and the Ninth Princess welcomed Huo Qingqing, Princess Qingyou of the Zhu Yuan Kingdom, and suspected that she was pursuing her own romantic schemes. They entered her lucid dream and discovered that she planned to use her lover’s Soul-Summoning Talisman to infiltrate Li Ling’s dream and uncover his secrets.

• Li Ling learned that Princess Qingyou was coming to negotiate, and he and the Ninth Princess received her at their residence.
• After Huo Qingqing left, Li Ling and the Ninth Princess entered her dream and found she could control it, where she met a man with Foundation Establishment Dharma Power.
• Li Ling realized the Zhu Yuan Kingdom might be trying to arrange Qingyou’s marriage to pass her on, while the Ninth Princess suspected Qingyou of dangerous intentions.
• Li Ling used Soul Projection to overhear Huo Qingqing asking her lover to enter Li Ling’s dream and investigate him.
• Huo Qingqing’s lover hesitated, then revealed that his Soul-Summoning Talisman could trace an aura through familiar objects and help him reach Li Ling’s dream.

Li Ling allowed Huo Qingqing’s accomplice to summon his Dream Spirit, then used his incense arts and Blood Spirit Bride to turn the attack against them. The Blood Spirit Bride marked both the man and Huo Qingqing, and Huo Qingqing awoke in agony as the ghost attacked her dream.

• Li Ling let Huo Qingqing obtain his Agarwood Bracelet, then prepared for the dream-summoning ritual she had arranged.
• The man dragged Li Ling’s Dream Spirit into his dream and tried to trap him with an ancient city and nightmare beasts.
• Li Ling used Netherdream Incense and Evil-Repelling Incense to resist the man, then summoned the Blood Spirit Bride.
• The Blood Spirit Bride attacked the man through his dreams, leaving him convinced a real ghost had entered his consciousness.
• Li Ling realized Huo Qingqing had also been marked, entered her dream, and watched the Blood Spirit Bride overcome her defenses.
• Huo Qingqing woke at the Prince Consort’s Residence clutching her chest in pain.

Li Ling confronted Huo Qingqing after she attacked his household guards while demanding he undo the danger he had placed within her. Huo Qingqing left for the Embassy to seek help, but her heart pain worsened until she accused Li Ling of harming her.

• Li Ling and the Ninth Princess discussed the dangerous Blood Spirit Bride, while Huo Qingqing waited anxiously for her cultivator lover to respond.
• Huo Qingqing stormed into the Prince Consort's Residence, killed one guard, injured others, and demanded that Li Ling resolve her problem.
• Li Ling refused Huo Qingqing's compensation and ordered her to leave, then privately warned that she would suffer for bringing the conflict on herself.
• Huo Qingqing moved to the Embassy and sought experts who could exorcise evil, while rumors spread that her spell against Li Ling had backfired.
• Over the following days, Huo Qingqing's heart pain grew worse, and she accused Li Ling of harming her.

Senior Brother Gan dismissed Huo Qingqing’s accusation against Li Ling and suspected her lover, Fang Jing, was behind the dream attacks. Li Ling exposed Fang Jing’s identity and discovered that he possessed a dream-realm beacon, while Fang Jing was left trapped and exhausted before the red-robed ghost.

• Senior Brother Gan concluded that Huo Qingqing’s lover Fang Jing was more likely responsible for her torment than Li Ling, but continued meeting Li Ling under the pretext of negotiating through the night.
• Huo Qingqing and the scarred cultivator Yuan entered Huo Qingqing’s dream to confront the ghost, but Li Ling secretly separated and bewildered them before the Blood Spirit Bride attacked.
• After Huo Qingqing and Yuan woke in pain, Yuan sketched the young man she had glimpsed, and Huo Qingqing recognized him as Fang Jing.
• Li Ling confronted Fang Jing, who found himself cornered by the red-robed ghost and realized his secrets had likely been exposed.
• Li Ling learned from Fang Jing’s dreams that he had an inherited beacon to a secret realm that might hold a powerful cultivator’s legacy.

Li Ling obtained Fang Jing’s Dao Marker to a hidden Netherdream Realm legacy and learned that Huo Qingqing had been exploiting Fang Jing through dreams. As Huo Qingqing’s condition worsened, she died suddenly, and Li Ling discovered that the Blood Spirit Bride had mutated and was feeding on her victims’ blood essence, spiritual essence, and lifespan.

• Li Ling revealed Huo Qingqing’s deception to Fang Jing, who gave him a Dao Marker but vowed to seek the hidden secret realm himself after reaching Foundation Establishment.
• Li Ling and the Ninth Princess discussed the Dao Marker and the possibility that it led to a genuine rogue cultivator’s legacy.
• Huo Qingqing’s fear and illness worsened, while Li Ling denied Luo Mu’s suspicion that he was responsible for her condition.
• Huo Qingqing admitted she had no evidence against Li Ling and sent a trusted attendant to offer him an opportunity in exchange for help.
• Huo Qingqing suffered a fatal heart attack before her attendant could carry out the request, and Li Ling discovered that the Blood Spirit Bride had grown more lifelike and was consuming her victims’ essence and lifespan.

Li Ling discovered that sunlight weakened the Blood Spirit Bride but could not destroy her, then chose to keep her rather than risk strengthening her or losing a powerful combatant. After she absorbed Huo Qingqing’s resentment, she attacked him in his bed; Li Ling contained her and realized he would need to dispel her resentment instead of weakening her further.

• Li Ling and the Ninth Princess tested the Blood Spirit Bride in sunlight and with fire, finding that she endured both and grew more resistant to sunlight.
• The Zhu Yuan Kingdom sealed Princess Qingyou’s body and treated her death as an illness, while Mystic Xin Peak offered spiritual materials and peace negotiations resumed at Li Ling’s residence.
• Li Ling and the Ninth Princess practiced the Dream-Weaving Art and discussed using it to develop their dreams and visit Dreamlike Island.
• The Blood Spirit Bride appeared in Li Ling’s room and stabbed through his body toward his heart, injuring him before he drove her off with gang baleful energy and restrained her using the Ghost-Control Art and Evil-Repelling Incense.
• Li Ling learned from the blood and resentment around the Blood Spirit Bride that she had absorbed Huo Qingqing’s resentment and attacked from murderous instinct, so he resolved to use Transcendence Incense rather than weaken her with sunlight or fire.

Li Ling and the Ninth Princess visited Dreamlike Island’s Market Gathering under the identity Senior Zixu had arranged for him, and Mo Qingping and Yin Changming recognized Li Ling and quietly looked after him. After buying information about ghost spirits, Li Ling drew Mo Qingping’s attention, and the island master devised a way to help him without seeming too deliberate.

• Li Ling recovered from the Blood Spirit Bride’s attack and decided to keep supporting Chao Shu and Jie Hua rather than dismiss them abruptly.
• Li Ling brought the Ninth Princess to Dreamlike Island and appeared as a junior favored by True Person Zixu.
• Mo Qingping and Yin Changming recognized Li Ling and instructed a disciple to watch what he did at the Market Gathering.
• A manager at the Money House gave Li Ling and the Ninth Princess two hundred thousand Jade Coins prepared for them in advance.
• Li Ling bought cultivation records and information about ghost control and ghost spirits, prompting Mo Qingping to arrange for him to acquire the island master’s own notes.

Li Ling and the Ninth Princess explored a cultivation market, where Li Ling acquired minor arts and received a strange book that revealed the Blood Spirit Bride’s connection to the Yellow Springs Sect. He realized she could grow beyond his control and began considering ways to contain her, while the people behind her still believed True Person Zixu had killed Lin Rouniang.

• Li Ling bought several Foundation Establishment arts, including the Paper Crane Art, while the Ninth Princess explained their uses and limitations.
• A young man in brocade gave Li Ling a copy of Beyond the World: Strange Tales, then vanished along with his stall.
• Li Ling read the book’s account of blood resentment and deduced that the Yellow Springs Sect had created Lin Rouniang’s origin blood and controlled it through the Blood Sea.
• Li Ling concluded that the Blood Spirit Bride could grow powerful enough to turn against him, and that the Ghost-Control Art could not truly control her.
• Li Ling resolved to keep his cultivation above hers, cleanse her with incense, and eventually seek a way to seal or eliminate her, while keeping his identity concealed.

Li Ling strengthened the dream objects he had brought back and continued seeking a way to control the Blood Spirit Bride, then developed the Incense-Form Art, which turned his body into smoke. He demonstrated the art to the Ninth Princess and offered to teach it to her, but she chose to focus on reaching Foundation Establishment first.

• Li Ling burned Netherdream Incense to nourish the dream objects, making them more vivid and stable.
• Li Ling studied the Blood Spirit Bride and concluded that he needed to create an incense suited to her circumstances.
• After months of political negotiations, the Mystic Xin Kingdom and Zhu Yuan Kingdom formed an alliance against the Sacred Origin Kingdom.
• Li Ling and the Ninth Princess discussed their progress with materialization and dematerialization spells, and Li Ling explained how their yin and yang qualities could complement each other.
• Li Ling demonstrated the Incense-Form Art, turning his body insubstantial like smoke and evading the Ninth Princess's flying sword, while explaining the art's strengths and weaknesses.
• The Ninth Princess declined Li Ling's offer to teach her the Incense-Form Art for now and chose to focus on reaching Foundation Establishment.

Li Ling entered a secret realm through a Dao marker and discovered that it was Dream Butterfly Valley, a rare place where dreams and reality met. A swarm of dream butterflies attacked him, leaving him dazed and motionless as his dream spirit and Dao marker were put at risk.

• The Blood Spirit Bride tormented Li Ling in his sleep, but he waited until she followed her pattern and sealed her with evil-repelling incense in his dream.
• Li Ling told the Ninth Princess he would explore the realm linked to Fang Jing’s Dao marker, then projected his dream spirit through the connection.
• Li Ling crossed the realm’s boundary and followed a peculiar fragrance through a dark forest to a lake and a hillside.
• Li Ling recognized the engraved name Dream Butterfly Valley and realized the realm was the true Dream Realm, where dream and reality met.
• Hundreds of dream butterflies descended on Li Ling, and their wing scales’ fragrance clouded his mind until he stood motionless.