Although the shrines of the foremost incense gods were invariably in the centers of towns, those incense gods could not make their homes inside them.
The incense gods of Northern Jambudvipa were the product of a compromise, but in truth, the incense gods had conceded more.
As things stood, the path of incense and fire was not truly a proper Immortal Path.
It was merely a way of providing somewhere for the mountain and wilderness fairies to go, to appease them at the time.
When the treaty had been established, incense gods had been allowed to erect shrines, but they could not take up residence in towns. Even if they truly wished to benefit the people under their governance, they could not act directly.
In essence, the immortal families of that time had intended to prevent demons from truly dominating and controlling the people under their governance.
The treaty imposed a great many restrictions on the incense gods.
The treaty back then had seemed rather like surrendering sovereignty and humiliating one's nation, but circumstances were now completely different. The treaty was now, in fact, the greatest safeguard protecting these incense gods.
Almost all incense gods had established cave abodes on their own mountains.
Those with prestige and cultivation could establish their own abodes and take in followers. Most demons without backing, whose cultivation was still insufficient to establish shrines of their own, would temporarily serve under these foremost incense gods.
A smaller hall would also be established within the shrine, and its incense and fire prayer power would belong to these lesser demons who could not establish shrines of their own.
In Northern Jambudvipa, truly prestigious incense gods had never been solitary figures. They genuinely had quite a few demons of considerable cultivation under their command.
However, what mattered most