Chapter Summaries

At the King’s birthday tournament, Blanche introduced Luo Ning’s silk fabric shawl to the noblewomen, who eagerly sought the new cloth. Luo Ning dominated his early fights, and by afternoon he, Missy, Franz, and Kalada remained in contention for the top three.

• Blanche showed the noblewomen her silk fabric shawl, explained its qualities, and promised to introduce them to Luo Ning at the banquet.
• The King opened the Martial Arts Tournament, and Luo Ning faced Yar of Ferensburg Duchy in his first match.
• Luo Ning defeated Yar with a single sword clash, then won his following matches in five moves or fewer, including his fight against Facundo.
• Missy, Kalada, and Franz Silva also continued winning, while Rhys lost to Kalada after suffering a minor injury.
• By afternoon, Luo Ning Wushan, Missy Cox, Franz Silva, and Kalada were the four remaining competitors.

Kalada defeated Franz Silva in the first match of the final four, then Luo Ning defeated Missy after a brief exchange. Luo Ning advanced, while Missy and Kalada acknowledged one another from the arena and stands.

• Luo Ning learned from Knight Rhys that Franz Silva was Archmage Bellora Silva’s great-grandson and the Magic Academy’s youngest Great Mage.
• Kalada used his speed to pressure Franz, prevented him from casting another spell, and knocked him down to win the match.
• Luo Ning greeted Missy before their match as Blanche watched from the stands and cheered for both of them.
• Luo Ning held back while exchanging moves with Missy, who conceded after realizing she could not find an opening.
• Missy congratulated Luo Ning and left the arena, briefly exchanging a nod with Kalada.

Luo Ning and Kalada fought fiercely in the Championship Match, trading powerful fire, wind, and lightning Battle Skills as Luo Ning tried to recruit him. Kalada unleashed the level-six Thunder Flash, leaving Luo Ning facing an attack few knights at Kalada’s rank could master.

• Luo Ning and Kalada began the final match, and their first clash showed that they were evenly matched.
• Luo Ning pressed Kalada and offered him a place in Wubei Territory, but Kalada said Luo Ning was not qualified to recruit him.
• Luo Ning and Kalada exchanged powerful Battle Skills, while King Bruno ordered the Light Physicians to stand by.
• Luo Ning gradually suppressed Kalada, who was wounded and admitted he would concede if his strongest move failed to defeat Luo Ning.
• Kalada gathered a massive Thunder Sphere with Thunder Flash, shocking the watching knights and making Luo Ning question whether Kalada had reached Gold Rank or mastered the skill across ranks.

Luo Ning defeated Kalada in the Martial Arts Tournament and was named its champion and the Flame Knight. He presented his victory’s Laurel Wreath to Princess Blanche, whose spirits lifted as the arena cheered her name.

• Kalada unleashed Thunder Flash, and Luo Ning met it with Explosive Flame Slash.
• Luo Ning’s attack overwhelmed Kalada’s Thunder Flash and sent him crashing to the edge of the stands.
• Kalada admitted defeat, and the audience cheered for Luo Ning.
• King Bruno declared Luo Ning the tournament champion and bestowed the title of Flame Knight upon him.
• Luo Ning presented the Laurel Wreath to Blanche, and the crowd cheered her name.

After the tournament’s championship match, Luo Ning tried to recruit Kalada before the Royal Knight Order could claim him. Kalada revealed that someone had repeatedly blocked his efforts to serve nobles, and Luo Ning learned that the woman Kalada loved was Missy.

• Luo Ning searched for Kalada at Bullhorn Bay Supernatural Academy and found him speaking with Philemon, who told Kalada to seek him out after becoming a Golden Knight.
• Kalada explained that he still did not qualify to join the Royal Knight Order, and Luo Ning asked whether he would join Wubei Territory instead.
• Luo Ning offered Kalada a place in his territory and outlined the pay and opportunities available to his knights, but Kalada said someone had been preventing him from serving nobles.
• Kalada told Luo Ning that the person obstructing him would soon appear and left open the possibility of joining if Luo Ning still wished to recruit him afterward.
• Luo Ning asked whether Kalada’s secret love was a noblewoman, and Kalada revealed that she was Missy, his opponent in the tournament.

At Blanche's birthday banquet, Luo Ning learned about Franz's dual cultivation and rejected Finance Minister Luther's attempt to buy his withdrawal from recruiting Kalada. When nobles mocked Kalada, Luo Ning defended him and opened the way for a proper conversation.

• Luo Ning spoke with Franz about wine and learned that Franz's great-grandfather had ordered him to cultivate both Battle Qi and magic to Level Six.
• Luther asked Luo Ning to stop recruiting Kalada and offered cooperative projects in exchange, explaining that he opposed Kalada's relationship with his daughter Missy.
• Luo Ning considered Luther's offer but decided Kalada's loyalty and potential mattered more than the Finance Minister's influence.
• Young nobles mocked Kalada at the banquet, and Luo Ning joined him at the table and helped expose their assumptions about his manners and experience with demon beast meat.
• Luo Ning told Kalada they could talk properly, and Kalada agreed.

Luo Ning secured Kalada’s loyalty by agreeing to help him become an Honorary Knight, then turned Blanche’s introductions into a large order for Wubei silk clothing. The chapter ended with Luo Ning celebrating the order with Blanche and planning to expand silk production.

• Luo Ning offered Kalada a place in Wubei Territory and agreed to his goal of becoming an Honorary Knight, and Kalada swore his loyalty.
• Luther watched Kalada join Luo Ning, while Missy reminded Luther to honor his promise not to force her into a marriage alliance.
• Blanche brought Luo Ning to meet noblewomen who wanted silk clothing, and he recorded orders for eighty garments at a starting price of fifty gold coins each.
• Luo Ning praised and kissed Blanche for securing the orders, then planned to expand mulberry planting and silk production.

After the banquet, Luo Ning received his 50,000-gold champion's reward and earned two Prosperous Fortune achievements, gaining Attribute Points and Energy Essence. He spent his Attribute Points to advance his knight and mage progress, then prepared for the coming expedition against the White Whale Pirate Group and to Rapids Island.

• After sharing a kiss, Luo Ning and Blanche returned to the banquet, which ended at midnight.
• Tom and David told Luo Ning that Golden Feather Palace had delivered five chests containing 50,000 gold coins in total.
• Luo Ning opened the chests and earned two Prosperous Fortune achievements, raising his Attribute Points to 3,003 and Energy Essence to 7,560.
• Luo Ning considered using his Energy Essence to strengthen Elrond so he could help remove Rulans's Soul Devouring Surge, but concluded he needed to gather more.
• Luo Ning spent his Attribute Points, reaching Gold Rank (2500/2500) as a knight and Archmage (1699/3500) as a mage.
• Luo Ning stored the gold in his Spatial Ring and set his sights on the White Whale Pirate Group and Rapids Island.

Luo Ning learned that the White Whale Pirate Group was a small force and prepared to leave the Royal Capital with knights to destroy it. Kalada said goodbye to his parents in Bullhorn Bay and departed to begin his new life as Luo Ning’s follower.

• Bruno told Luo Ning he had hoped to recruit Kalada, but accepted that Kalada had chosen to follow him.
• Philemon reported that the White Whale Pirate Group hid on a small island and had only one Golden Knight, one Silver Knight, three Bronze Knights, and more than a dozen weaker knights.
• Bruno said he would send several knights with Luo Ning to wipe out the pirates, and Luo Ning thanked him before leaving to meet them.
• Kalada explained his plans to his parents, who supported him despite worrying about how far away Wubei Territory was.
• Kalada promised to return to visit and possibly bring his parents to Wubei Territory, then left Bullhorn Bay with his travel bag.

Luo Ning set out for Bullhorn Bay with Missy, while Rhys Dennis negotiated his family's support for the expedition against the White Whale Pirate Group and to Rapids Island. Luo Ning accepted Pointed Horn City's conditions, and his party prepared to continue gathering forces for the voyage.

• Luo Ning said farewell to Blanche and rode toward Bullhorn Bay with Missy and his party.
• Luo Ning teased Missy about Kalada and suggested that she and Kalada could serve him if they became a couple; Missy blushed and rode ahead.
• Rhys Dennis persuaded Baron Lucci Boggs to prepare Pointed Horn City's fleet, though Lucci insisted that Rhys inform his father and cover the expedition's costs, casualties, and ship losses.
• Luo Ning agreed to Lucci's three conditions when Rhys presented them at the docks and said Baron Melonica would help protect the expedition.
• Luo Ning reflected that Melonica had become a Meteor Knight, strengthening Wushan Territory's forces.

Mellen ordered the White Whale Pirate Group to retreat before the royal fleet reached its island base. As Luo Ning’s ships arrived, the base appeared nearly empty, leaving him to wonder whether Victor had misled them.

• Mellen learned that King Bruno’s fleet was targeting the White Whale Pirate Group and refused to intervene.
• Mellen sent Herd a message ordering him to evacuate with core members and assets while leaving the others behind.
• The White Whale Pirate Group’s leader received the message and hurried outside to act on it.
• Luo Ning teased Kalada about Missy, then kicked him toward her so they would speak.
• Luo Ning’s fleet reached White Whale Island, where he saw only two small boats and questioned whether it was truly the pirates’ base.

Luo Ning’s forces landed on White Whale Island with almost no resistance and discovered that the pirate leader had already fled with the group’s core members and valuables. After capturing the island’s remaining pirates and slaves, Luo Ning ordered useful workers and sailors identified for possible recruitment in Wubei Territory.

• Five pirates spotted four noble ships approaching White Whale Island and fled toward shore, where Kalada and Missy quickly subdued them.
• Luo Ning and the others disembarked, and Melonica emerged from cultivation after making a small gain.
• Luo Ning’s group learned from the prisoners that the pirate leader had left the island a day earlier with several members on three ships, suggesting he had received advance warning.
• Luo Ning questioned Victor, who said the White Whale Pirate Group had no other base, and ordered the remaining pirates captured.
• The knights gathered the island’s pirates and slaves, but searches found only scattered coins and wheat because the leader had taken the valuable goods.
• Luo Ning ordered his people to identify useful prisoners, especially craftsmen and sailors, to bring back to Wubei Territory.

Luo Ning considered White Whale Island’s value as a maritime base and watched Melonica train, then learned why Melonica remained loyal to the Wushan Family and planned to avenge Rulans. After Luo Ning claimed he was fifty percent confident he could cure Rulans, Melonica said he would consider cooperating if the cure succeeded.

• Luo Ning removed six ordinary prisoners from the prisoner list and planned to bring them back to Wubei Territory to serve him.
• Luo Ning marked White Whale Island on a map and considered asking the king for rights to the island and Rapids Island, or paying rent to use it as a maritime base.
• Luo Ning watched Melonica practice Fire Dance Lightning Strike Slash and learned that Melonica stayed in Wushan Territory out of gratitude to Rulans.
• Melonica said he would leave Wushan Territory after Rulans died and become an assassin to kill the person who had schemed against the Marquis.
• Luo Ning said he was fifty percent confident he could cure Rulans, and Melonica promised to consider cooperating if he succeeded.

Wubei Territory expanded its population, workforce, industries, and military under Luo Ning’s plans while he was away. The arrival of Yousef Rivet, an Advanced Mage and the eldest son of Lingchuan City’s viscount, signaled growing support for Luo Ning, as the chapter ended with his territories’ projects progressing under loyal administrators.

• Free people and residents brought by Rognar increased the populations of Wubei Territory’s four towns, while Krami raised the number of retained Professional Knights from seven to twenty-two.
• Chahar prepared workshops and a Pasture City shop as Elrond recruited ordinary people to research herbs and began plans for Magic Potion production.
• Elrond learned that Yousef Rivet, an Advanced Mage and the eldest son of Viscount Sandro Riv, had come to join Wubei Territory, and hurried to meet him.
• Wubei Territory expanded Ironwood Armor production, papermaking, weaving, silk work, farmland reclamation, and plans for manure fertilizer processing.
• Macken and Serin organized Boulder Territory and Red Mountain Town, Callus and Fons began constructing an iron-smelting blast furnace, and Rydal took command of Wushan Castle’s Fifth Knight Order.

Luo Ning and his group arrived at Rapids Island, where Knight Vali Price explained the island’s divided factions and the growing threat from the White Flower Society. Luo Ning planned an attack for the next day while assigning troops to defend the harbor, then asked Vali about the society’s name.

• Luo Ning and his group reached Rapids Island on the third day of their voyage and were welcomed by Knight Vali Price.
• Vali told Luo Ning that the island had more than twenty thousand people divided among his royal faction, the Rahn Society, and the larger, unruly White Flower Society.
• Vali explained that the White Flower Society had injured his deputy, Corin, and that his men could no longer safely investigate the society’s territory.
• Lucci judged the White Flower Society to be poorly armed and trained, and Luo Ning agreed that his forces could defeat it directly.
• Luo Ning ordered Vali, Lucci, and Missy to attack the White Flower Society the next day while Rhys guarded the harbor against the Rahn Society.
• Luo Ning asked Vali why the White Flower Society was not named after its leader, as the Rahn Society was.

Luo Ning identified the poisonous white flower’s tuber as a potato and demonstrated how to roast it, then flew over the White Flower Society’s territory with Carlos and discovered its people harvesting potatoes. The sight suggested the Society already knew how to eat them, and Luo Ning spotted a second pier on Rapids Island.

• Luo Ning discussed the next day’s battle against the White Flower Society with Vali and the others.
• Luo Ning, Tom, and David found a white flower in the forest, and Luo Ning identified its tuber as a potato.
• Luo Ning roasted the potato and had Tom and David taste it, then told them to keep its preparation secret.
• Luo Ning summoned Carlos and flew over the White Flower Society’s territory, where he saw people digging up potatoes.
• Luo Ning spotted a second pier on the eastern side of Rapids Island.

Luo Ning uncovered the White Flower Society's lumber-smuggling dock and led a force to arrest its leaders. When the White Flower Society and Clifford met them in a valley, they realized the approaching army was not Vali's usual guard squad.

• Luo Ning investigated the White Flower Society's hidden dock and suspected its members were smuggling lumber to become independent of Vali.
• Luo Ning surveyed the Rahn Society, then returned to the port as Lucci, Missy, and Vali prepared for the next day's operation.
• Luo Ning led nearly a hundred people toward the White Flower Society and allowed its lookout to report their approach.
• Marcelo and Clifford gathered the White Flower Society's people, believing Vali had brought the port guards to pressure them over lumber deliveries.
• Marcelo and Clifford saw the well-equipped force approaching and realized it was not Vali's squad, while Luo Ning drew the Flame Flow Sword and ordered an attack.

Luo Ning’s forces crushed the White Flower Society’s rebellion on Rapids Island, capturing Marcelo and the powerful Golden Knight Clifford. With the battle over, Luo Ning ordered a search of the rebels’ territory to uncover who Clifford was and whether anything suspicious remained.

• Luo Ning’s knights attacked the White Flower Society, and Kalada and Lucci led the forces to overwhelm the rebels.
• Clifford tried to flee but was stopped by Luo Ning, who defeated him with Fire Flash and left him badly injured.
• The White Flower Society’s fighters surrendered after Marcelo and Clifford were captured, though Luo Ning’s side also suffered casualties.
• Vali presented Marcelo to Count Luo Ning Wushan, and Luo Ning said he would take the prisoners to Golden Feather City rather than kill them.
• Marcelo claimed Clifford was another descendant of criminals imprisoned on Rapids Island, but Vali insisted the Golden Knight was not from the island.
• Luo Ning ordered the captives secured and called for a thorough search of the White Flower Society’s territory.

Luo Ning suppressed the White Flower Society and the Rahn Society on Rapids Island, then investigated the White Flower Society’s smuggling operation and its ties to Blood Sail. Back at Bullhorn Bay, he prepared to meet a prisoner whose arrival was announced by Kalada.

• Luo Ning reassured the captured White Flower Society members and noticed many were disabled or intellectually impaired, prompting him to consider regulating marriage on Rapids Island.
• Vali discovered the White Flower Society’s hidden dock, and Luo Ning ordered him to interrogate Marcelo and his accomplices without harming them.
• Clifford confessed that he was Blood Sail’s Third Leader, while Luo Ning suspected the timber-smuggling operation had other partners but lacked evidence.
• Luo Ning returned to the harbor with Marcelo and Clifford, then led his team to the Rahn Society, whose leader surrendered after learning Marcelo had been captured.
• Kalada told Luo Ning that the person he wanted to see had arrived, and Tom and David brought a bald man in fetters into the study.

Luo Ning secured Rapids Island, spared its cowardly leader Rahn in exchange for his service, and returned to Bullhorn Bay with prisoners and potatoes. Bruno publicized Luo Ning’s achievements, and Luo Ning arrived to a staged crowd welcoming him.

• Luo Ning agreed to spare Rahn and put him to work managing Rapids Island, though Rahn remained imprisoned while Knight Vali oversaw the island.
• Luo Ning’s men helped Knight Vali take control of the Rahn Society’s and White Flower Society’s territories, and Luo Ning sent a report to Golden Feather Palace.
• Luo Ning sailed for Bullhorn Bay with prisoners including Marcelo and Clifford, carrying potatoes back for planting in Wubei Territory.
• Bruno learned that Blood Sail had become involved and ordered Mel to publicize Luo Ning’s achievements to build his reputation.
• Five days later, Luo Ning arrived at Bullhorn Bay to find a crowd waving royal and Wushan family flags and cheering his name.