Chapter Summaries

After the Three Great Merchant Associations failed to recruit Storybook Writers capable of imitating the Langya Forum, Taishutong ordered an expanded search. Steward Xie Jing discovered that many writers in his assigned region had already disappeared, leaving their whereabouts unexplained.

• Storybook Writers failed to reproduce the Langya Forum’s style, and the Three Immortals Forum lost users as readers mocked their work and gave up on it.
• Taishutong angrily ordered the Three Great Merchant Associations to increase their rewards and search for writers across the Northern Region.
• Xie Jing searched a barren mountain for the renowned writer Meng but learned from two farmers that Meng had left with two Immortal Masters nearly a month earlier.
• Xie Jing visited Wu Liang’s residence in Fuye City and learned that Wu Liang had also left with two friends.
• Xie Jing marked Wu Liang’s name off his intelligence list and realized that one-fifth of the writers in his area had vanished over the past month.

Xie Jing suspected that someone had secretly taken away the best Storybook Writers after the Tianwen Communication Talismans appeared. On Heavenly Severing Island, Wang Mu summoned four writers whose novels had become popular and decided to nurture them.

• Xie Jing connected the disappearance of the Storybook Writers to the arrival of the Tianwen Communication Talismans and grew alarmed.
• Nie Tingting told Wang Mu that rival merchant associations had raised their bounty for Storybook Writers, unaware that Wang Mu had already recruited the best writers for the North Sea.
• Wang Mu said the remaining writers were moldable and asked Nie Tingting to bring Chen Nan, Li Dou, Feng He, and Meng Ji to him.
• Chen Nan and the others nervously met Wang Mu, who praised their popular novels and credited them with talent despite his own guidance.
• Wang Mu offered to focus on nurturing the four writers, and they grew excited at the opportunity.

Wang Mu taught Chen Nan, Li Dou, Meng Ji, and Feng He how to write popular fiction, emphasizing reader satisfaction and clear, accessible prose. He assigned Li Dou a new story to study and gave him the pen name Heavenly Silkworm.

• Wang Mu showed the four writers his annotations on their manuscripts and explained that their popular books still had serious flaws.
• Wang Mu told them to write accessible fiction suited to ordinary readers instead of imitating sages and their grand principles.
• Chen Nan and Li Dou realized that readers wanted stories about overcoming hardship and that their own experiences could make those stories vivid.
• Wang Mu urged the writers to make reader satisfaction their core aim and use clear, direct language.
• Wang Mu matched the writers with specialized paths and gave Li Dou Martial Firmament to study, then suggested Heavenly Silkworm as his pen name.

Wang Mu trained promising Storybook Writers and then visited the Langya Merchant Association’s new Tianwen tower to inspect its upgraded communication system. After he placed his hand on the core crystal and offered his blood, the system manifested as Qianji and called him Master.

• Wang Mu assigned Li Dou, Chen Nan, Meng Ji, and Feng He book projects and pen names, then instructed them to study their manuscripts carefully.
• Wang Mu completed the first round of training for selected Storybook Writers and learned from Nie Tingting that Xia Yaoyao’s project was ready for his review.
• Wang Mu traveled with Nie Tingting to Xingyuan Island, where Su Hongyuan and Xia Yaoyao showed him the newly built Tianwen tower.
• Wang Mu placed his hand on the tower’s core crystal and let his blood fall onto it.
• A semi-transparent phantom appeared before Wang Mu, bowed, and introduced itself as Qianji, his Master.

Wang Mu gained control of the Langya Server’s Array Spirit, Qianji, and proposed using it to synchronize banks’ transactions through a fee-based Online Banking Management System. After assigning Su Hongyuan and Xia Yaoyao to develop it, he checked on Old Li’s mission to Lixiao Immortal City.

• Wang Mu explored the Langya Server’s capabilities and confirmed that Qianji could handle the forum’s work and future growth.
• Su Hongyuan and Xia Yaoyao showed Wang Mu the Money Seal and explained that banks could not keep Communication Talisman payments synchronized in real time.
• Wang Mu proposed routing bank data through the Langya network for Qianji to manage, then suggested offering the system to banks with three years of free management fees for the first batch.
• Su Hongyuan agreed the system was feasible if they adjusted the formation’s underlying structure, and Wang Mu told him to create a separate channel for it.
• On the way back from Xingyuan Island, Wang Mu learned Old Li had reached Lixiao Immortal City to coordinate with Meng Xingzhu, and ordered the forum operations team to build momentum for him.

Li Yuanhua met Meng Xingzhu in Lixiao Immortal City to plan the Ascension Convention, while Meng Xingzhu discovered his bizarre performance of a lovesick sister was part of a task for the Young Master. Li Yuanhua then revealed that he had brought mysterious props to help promote the convention.

• Li Yuanhua greeted Meng Xingzhu and declared that serving the Young Master and organizing the Ascension Convention were his duty.
• Meng Xingzhu dismissed the attendants and set up a soundproof barrier so she and Li Yuanhua could review his preliminary plan.
• Li Yuanhua answered a Communication Talisman by impersonating a woman comforting a man who wanted to kill his wife and her father, leaving Meng Xingzhu stunned.
• Li Yuanhua had a disciple send kissing sounds through the Communication Talisman, then explained that the exchange was an act for the Young Master's task.
• Li Yuanhua and Meng Xingzhu resumed discussing the convention's challenges, and Li Yuanhua revealed that the Young Master had provided mysterious props.

Tang Qian learned that Wang Mu’s Langya Merchant Association was holding free Ascension Conventions near Lixiao Immortal City, prompting the Three Great Merchant Associations to respond with their own events. As the rival conventions began, Fang Xue explained to Zhang Yi that Langya’s North Sea work included extensive free disaster relief.

• Tang Qian saw a popular Langya Forum post exposing the Three Great Merchant Associations’ misconduct, including their handling of the Communication Talisman incident.
• A servant told Tang Qian that Langya was offering free Spiritual Root tests, Spirit Stones, and cultivation techniques in cities near Lixiao Immortal City, and Tang Qian hurried to the council hall.
• Tang Qian told the elders that Langya’s convention gave them no grounds to intervene, while Taishutong warned that the effort could win the loyalty of future Immortal Seeds.
• Taishutong said the Three Great Merchant Associations would hold their own Ascension Convention, despite the elders’ objections that it would bring little profit.
• The Three Great Merchant Associations launched their Xiaju Ceremony alongside their convention, drawing crowds and public discussion.
• Fang Xue told Zhang Yi that Langya had held many conventions in the North Sea and that its foundation provided free disaster relief, medical care, and help rebuilding livelihoods.

Fang Xue and others spread damaging stories about the Three Great Merchant Associations, persuading people to avoid their Xiaju Ceremony and attend Wang Family Young Master’s Ascension Convention instead. Two days later, the Ascension Convention venues were packed while Tang Qian found the Xiaju Ceremony nearly deserted.

• Fang Xue told Zhang Yi that the Three Great Merchant Associations had exploited disaster victims, sold defective medicine, and distributed Communication Talismans that exploded.
• Fang Xue claimed Young Master Wang had donated the most to the associations’ foundation out of sincere kindness, and urged Zhang Yi to direct Spiritual Root candidates to the Ascension Convention.
• Cultivators spread posts on the Langya Forum praising Young Master Wang and warning others that the Xiaju Ceremony was dangerous.
• A village chief instructed the children leaving to test their Spiritual Roots to attend the Ascension Convention rather than the Xiaju Ceremony.
• After two days, the Ascension Convention venues filled to capacity, while Tang Qian found the Xiaju Ceremony venue empty and grew furious.

Tang Qian struggled to attract people to the Three Great Merchant Associations’ Xiaju Ceremony, then discovered that Wang Mu had exposed their past conduct on the Langya Forum. He tried to denounce Wang Mu online, but the forum blocked his comment.

• Tang Qian questioned the Fat Manager after mortals fled the free Xiaju Ceremony, and blamed the stewards’ intimidating manner.
• Tang Qian offered water to youths from Westyuan Village, but they fled when they learned the event was the Xiaju Ceremony and feared the water was poisoned.
• Tang Qian ordered the Fat Manager to investigate the mortals’ reactions and learned that an unfavorable post about the merchant associations was trending on the Langya Forum.
• Tang Qian read the post, recognized that it had exposed the Three Great Merchant Associations’ old North Sea misconduct, and cursed Wang Mu.
• Tang Qian tried to post that Wang Mu’s claims were lies and that the Langya Merchant Association was corrupt, but the forum flagged his comment as containing sensitive words.

Tang Qian was blocked from criticizing Wang Mu on the forum and broke down while messaging Liufang Fairy. Meanwhile, Wang Mu prepared a new business launch to counter the Three Great Merchant Associations, whose leaders began discussing retaliation.

• Tang Qian discovered that praise of Wang Mu and the Langya Merchant Association passed the forum filters, while criticism was blocked, and he received a thirty-six-hour mute after trying to challenge a post about Wang Mu's philanthropy.
• Tang Qian broke down crying when Liufang Fairy messaged him, alarming the Fat Manager outside his room.
• At Tianwen Communication Talismans headquarters, Wang Mu warned Li Yuanhua and Meng Xingzhu that the Three Great Merchant Associations might counter their forum campaign with increased material incentives.
• Wang Mu told Meng Xingzhu to prepare four shops near Lixiao Immortal City for a dawn opening, using plans he would provide and support from the Technical Department.
• After learning what had happened, the Three Great Merchant Associations condemned the tactics, and Xue Wuying asked why they could not retaliate on their own forum.

Taishutong doubled the Spirit Stone rewards for the Three Great Merchant Associations’ Xiaju Ceremony and required participants to swear they would never buy from the Langya Merchant Association. As cultivators mocked the restriction, a Langya Chat Room opened in Taiyue City.

• Taishutong ordered the Three Great Merchant Associations to double the rewards for Immortal Seeds and impose a Heart Demon Blood Oath against buying from the Langya Merchant Association.
• The elders agreed that the higher costs were worthwhile to keep the Immortal Seeds from using Langya’s services and planned to get the first mortals to attend by forceful means.
• News of the increased rewards and oath spread, and cultivators criticized the restriction because it would deny participants Tianwen Communication Talismans, the Langya Forum, Xianliao, and novels.
• A shop called Langya Chat Room opened in Taiyue City, more than four hundred li south of Lixiao Immortal City.

Langya Merchant Association opened Langya Chat Rooms where Cultivators could rent Bright Moon Grade Tianwen Communication Talismans cheaply, drawing huge crowds across the region. The Three Great Merchant Associations were left wondering at Wang Mu’s strategy until they learned that Langya was giving free Tianwen Monthly Cards to Immortal Seeds, diverting mortals from their Spiritual Root tests.

• A middle-aged Shopkeeper let Lu Bo and a female cultivator rent Bright Moon Grade Tianwen Communication Talismans for ten Spirit Crystals per three Hours.
• Lu Bo showed Zhang Liang the rented talisman and its features, then persuaded him to pay ten meals at Sea Moon Tower for the shop’s location.
• News of the rentals spread, and Cultivators crowded Langya Chat Rooms in the city and more than a hundred nearby towns.
• The Three Great Merchant Associations’ leaders debated Wang Mu’s motives but could not explain why Langya was charging so little for access.
• A steward reported that Langya would give every Immortal Seed detected at the Ascension Convention a free Tianwen Monthly Card, causing many mortals to abandon plans to have their Spiritual Roots tested by the associations.

The Three Great Merchant Associations tried to draw people to their aptitude tests with generous Spirit Stone rewards, but Zhang Dali chose the Langya Merchant Association’s Ascension Convention because its people had once saved his parents. Su Yingxue attended the Xiaju Ceremony instead, tested positive for an Inferior fire Spiritual Root, and was ordered to swear a Heart Demon Blood Oath against buying from Langya.

• The Three Great Merchant Associations’ executives learned that Langya was offering Tianwen Moon Cards and went to investigate.
• Su Yingxue urged Zhang Dali to attend the Xiaju Ceremony for its larger rewards, but he chose the Ascension Convention because his parents trusted Langya after its immortal masters saved them.
• Zhang Dali left for the Ascension Convention while Su Yingxue went to the Xiaju Ceremony, convinced it was safe and more rewarding.
• Su Yingxue tested positive for an Inferior fire Spiritual Root and received twenty Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
• A blank-faced man told Su Yingxue she had to swear a Heart Demon Blood Oath never to buy from Langya, then cut her finger to draw a drop of blood for the oath.

Su Yingxue went to the Ascension Convention expecting Zhang Dali to regret his choices, but discovered that his Tianwen Monthly Card made him popular with cultivators. She realized she had missed the same opportunity, then collapsed after spitting blood.

• Su Yingxue left the Xiaju Ceremony, took comfort in her Spirit Stones, and headed to the Ascension Convention to meet Zhang Dali.
• Su Yingxue found Zhang Dali surrounded by cultivators offering him gifts and friendship after his Spiritual Root was detected.
• A cultivator told Su Yingxue that Zhang Dali’s Inferior Earth Spiritual Root was less important than his Tianwen Monthly Card, which granted valuable access to the Langya Chat Rooms.
• Su Yingxue learned that the Three Great Merchant Associations’ Communication Talismans were costly and inferior to Tianwen’s, and realized she had made a foolish choice.
• Su Yingxue spat blood and collapsed as the cultivator nearby denied causing it.

Wang Mu’s Tianwen Monthly Card campaign made the Ascension Convention more appealing than the Xiaju Ceremony, while the Three Great Merchant Associations struggled to respond. Li Yuanhua then met with Lixiao Immortal City’s bank owners and offered to help manage their money.

• Qi Refining Cultivators gave gifts and favors to newly tested Immortal Seeds, drawing ordinary people back to the Ascension Convention and stirring Tang Qian and the others to anger.
• Nie Tingting told Wang Mu that the Tianwen Monthly Card had helped the Ascension Convention outperform the Xiaju Ceremony, and Wang Mu ordered Old Li to begin the next stage of the plan.
• Tang Qian learned that Li Yuanhua was contacting banks in various immortal cities and ordered the steward to keep watch.
• Li Yuanhua met four prominent bank owners in Lixiao Immortal City and proposed that the Langya Merchant Association help manage their money.

Li Yuanhua tried to recruit Immortal City banks into a Langya Merchant Association alliance that would standardize and manage their operations for a fee, but the bankers rejected his proposal. After hearing Su Mo’s report, Tang Qian met with Taishutong to discuss Wang Mu’s intentions.

• Li Yuanhua warned the bankers that the industry needed reform and proposed an alliance to unify its rules and operations.
• Li Yuanhua said the first five banks to join would receive three years without management fees, but the bankers balked at paying the alliance to manage their conduct and accounts.
• Su Mo and the other bankers declined to commit and left, while Li Yuanhua ordered a fresh meal and asked for the next group to be contacted.
• Su Mo reported Li Yuanhua’s proposal to Tang Qian at the Penglai Merchant Association’s Lixiao Immortal City headquarters.
• Tang Qian went to see Taishutong, who had also received a report, and asked whether Wang Mu intended to conduct banking business in their territory.

Wang Mu’s plan to ally with Lixiao Immortal City’s banks stalled as they refused to give the Langya Merchant Association control over their accounts and operations. Li Yuanhua prepared to pursue a second plan, but Mu Shuang offered to bring her struggling Dragonrise Bank into the alliance, accepting that its business would change.

• Taishutong and Tang Qian believed Wang Mu could not expand into banking after more than a dozen prominent banks rejected Li Yuanhua’s proposal.
• Over three days, Li Yuanhua approached progressively smaller banks, but none agreed to join the Langya Merchant Association’s alliance.
• Wang Mu told Li Yuanhua to proceed with the second plan, since the banks’ resistance had been anticipated.
• Mu Shuang requested an audience with Li Yuanhua at Mu Garden and asked to join the alliance on behalf of Dragonrise Bank.
• Li Yuanhua warned Mu Shuang that the alliance would control how Dragonrise Bank operated, and she agreed so her family’s legacy could survive.

Li Yuanhua introduced Mu Shuang to Wang Mu as a potential manager for the Langya Merchant Association’s banking business, and Wang Mu promised to help her build a new golden age for her family. After making Mu Shuang swear loyalty to the Young Master, Li Yuanhua began giving her her first assignment.

• Li Yuanhua summoned Wang Mu through a unique Boundless Communication Talisman and had Mu Shuang greet him.
• Li Yuanhua explained Mu Shuang’s family background and her connection to Dragonrise Bank in Lixiao Immortal City.
• Wang Mu asked whether Mu Shuang was willing to oppose the Three Great Merchant Associations, and she declared her resolve to work for the Langya Merchant Association.
• Wang Mu welcomed Mu Shuang and promised to give her the chance to restore her family’s fortunes.
• Li Yuanhua insisted that Mu Shuang swear loyalty to Wang Mu, and she made more than ten Heart Demon Blood Oaths.
• Li Yuanhua told Mu Shuang to begin by changing Dragonrise Bank’s name.

Mu Shuang opened Longxing Cooperative as Langhuan Jade Pavilion’s first cooperative bank, drawing a huge crowd by promising deposits without management fees and free pills. The Three Great Merchant Associations chose to wait and see, while Mu Shuang prepared to explain the bank’s rules to the gathered customers.

• Mu Shuang accepted her new identity as Pavilion Master of Langhuan Jade Pavilion after the renovated Dragonrise Bank reopened as Longxing Cooperative.
• Langhuan Jade Pavilion announced on the Langya Forum that depositors would pay no management fees and could receive free spiritual pills, prompting crowds to rush to the bank.
• Taishutong and the Three Great Merchant Associations discussed Longxing Cooperative, but decided not to act because they expected the free-fee offer to be unsustainable.
• Mu Shuang stepped before the crowd outside Longxing Cooperative and began explaining Langhuan Jade Pavilion’s rules.

Mu Shuang announced that Langhuan Jade Pavilion charged no safekeeping fees and paid interest on deposits, drawing interest from merchants and the crowd. Su Mo dismissed the offer as unsustainable and warned that the Mu Family would face retaliation, while Mu Shuang continued explaining fixed-term deposit rates.

• Mu Shuang announced that Langhuan Jade Pavilion charged no safekeeping fees and would pay interest on deposits.
• Mu Shuang explained that demand deposits could be withdrawn at any time and earned roughly three thousandths annual interest.
• Shopkeepers and stewards from smaller merchant associations considered depositing their organizations’ funds to earn extra Spirit Stones.
• Ye Changhai warned Su Mo that the Mu Family’s return with the Langya Merchant Association’s support could put Dongmo Money House at risk.
• Su Mo dismissed the deposit offer as an unsustainable lure and claimed the Mu Family would be punished for working with the Langya Merchant Association.
• Mu Shuang explained that fixed-term deposits paid higher interest, with annual rates of one percent for terms under ten years and two percent for longer terms.