Recaps

Xu Yi arranged for Victor, Shalu, and Urgat to promote and sell Magic Air Conditioners in Anvilmar City, with fifty units to arrive after they prepared. Viscount Leslie then urged Xu Yi to attempt the Level Five Mage examination, but withdrew the request when Xu Yi questioned his reasons.

• Victor, Shalu, and Urgat agreed to sell an initial batch of fifty Magic Air Conditioners in Anvilmar City on credit, after a week of preparations.
• Viscount Leslie warned Xu Yi that the three young men had previously mishandled business, but Xu Yi said the investment would still publicize the air conditioners.
• Viscount Leslie came to see Xu Yi before his Mages' Guild Qualification Certification Examination and asked what mage level he could pass.
• Xu Yi said he expected to pass Level Four and might pass Level Five, and Viscount Leslie asked him to attempt Level Five after the Elementary Examination.
• Xu Yi worried that failing Level Five would leave him with only a Junior Mage rating and disappoint Great Mage Camilla, so Viscount Leslie withdrew his request.

Xu Yi took the Mages' Guild Elementary Examination and faced Anke Allen, who had used his connections to become an examiner and threatened to make him fail. Xu Yi honored Allen's challenge to use only second-level magic and blasted him off the stage with a Thunderclap Fireball.

• Xu Yi and Elwin arrived at the Examination Grounds to take the Elementary Examination, and Xu Yi finished the written test quickly.
• Anke Allen threatened Xu Yi and boasted that he would use only second-level magic to defeat him in the practical examination.
• The applicants completed written and other magical assessments before the practical combat test began.
• Allen appeared among the examiners and told Xu Yi he would give him the lowest evaluation and make him fail.
• Xu Yi reminded Allen of his promise, then launched a Thunderclap Fireball that pierced Allen's Water Ripple Spell and hurled him off the stage.

Xu Yi passed the Mage examination and then challenged the Agriculture Bureau officials to offer proper compensation for the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s help spreading farmland magic machinery. He left Harvey and Servini facing his refusal to hand over the technology for only a noble title, with negotiations unresolved.

• Xu Yi defeated examiner Allen with a Thunderclap Fireball, passed the examination, and left for the countryside.
• Xu Yi met Agriculture Bureau officials Harvey and Servini as they inspected the farmland machinery’s work in an experimental field.
• Harvey and Servini praised the machines’ ability to prepare farmland quickly and said the King had placed them in charge of the project.
• Harvey asked Xu Yi to transfer the machinery technology and help the Agriculture Bureau establish a factory, offering him a special ennoblement in return.
• Xu Yi explained the machines’ prices and sales potential, rejected the title as inadequate compensation, and said the guild would cooperate only for an appropriate return.

Xu Yi negotiated with Servini for the kingdom to promote Farmland Magic Machinery while preserving his guild’s independence, and demanded a territory in exchange for helping fund benefits for buyers. Meanwhile, Parmes Allen learned that Xu Yi was connected to powerful figures and was due to meet the king, then was startled when Xu Yi arrived at his residence.

• Xu Yi rejected the Agriculture Bureau’s proposal to take control of Farmland Magic Machinery and suggested that the Xinfei Merchant Guild keep producing the machines while the bureau promoted their use.
• Servini warned that Xu Yi’s prices could hinder the kingdom’s agricultural policy, so Xu Yi proposed ending the machines’ tax concessions and funding benefits for purchasers himself.
• Xu Yi told Servini that he wanted a territory of his own in exchange for his cooperation.
• Parmes Allen refused his wife’s plea to avenge Anko Allen after learning that Anko had brought his injuries on himself.
• Parmes Allen investigated Xu Yi’s connections to Camilla, Viscount Leslie, and Count Samo, and learned that the king would receive him the next day.
• A servant announced that Xu Yi had come to see Parmes Allen, who sprang to his feet in surprise.

Xu Yi prepared a proposal for the King arguing that farmland machinery could boost agriculture and free up productive capacity, while considering how much to say about industrial development. He then pressed Sanchelli to explain the unusual features of the magic array in his Crystal Ball.

• Xu Yi recalled how he had used his encounter with Anko Allen to secure a meeting with Parmes Allen and had proposed paid patent protection for the Magic Fan's magic array.
• Xu Yi considered how the King's support could shape the Xinfei Merchant Guild's future and revised his proposal to include a cautious account of industrial development.
• Xu Yi completed and titled his proposal "On the importance of freeing up agricultural productive capacity."
• Xu Yi found Sanchelli struggling to write down the theory behind the Crystal Ball's magic array and asked him to explain its differences from an ordinary array.

Xu Yi worked with Sanchelli to study a wind magic array and investigate how magic arrays could produce programmed changes. After the Royal Palace summoned Xu Yi, he entered it for an audience with the king but was left alone in a locked room, suspecting a trap.

• Xu Yi paid Sanchelli in advance and offered bonuses for teaching him the wind magic array and modifying a Burning Magic Array.
• Xu Yi studied Sanchelli's wind magic array but found that neither of them understood the principles behind its programmed changes.
• A messenger from the Royal Palace summoned Xu Yi to meet the king, and Xu Yi followed him to the palace.
• Xu Yi inspected the modest palace and waited alone in a small room after an attendant left him there.
• Xu Yi discovered that the room's door had been locked from the outside and suspected that he had walked into a trap.

Xu Yi discovered that someone had trapped him in a room to make him miss his audience with the King, but he escaped and Harvey escorted him onward. Before meeting the King, Xu Yi recognized that he had been caught in a power struggle as a pawn and focused on the audience as a crucial step toward establishing an industrial system.

• Xu Yi found Windburst Arrays covering the room and dismantled the one on the door to escape.
• Palace guards tried to seize Xu Yi, but Harvey stopped them and identified him as the King's guest.
• Xu Yi told Harvey what had happened, and Harvey escorted him toward his audience with the King.
• Harvey advised Xu Yi not to mention the trap and said the King had praised the Xinfei Merchant Guild's trial results.
• Xu Yi warned Harvey against interfering with the Farmland Magic Machinery situation, and Harvey coldly told him he lacked the ability to intervene.
• Xu Yi accepted that powerful figures had used him as a pawn and focused on persuading the King to support his goal.

Xu Yi demonstrated the Small Magic Harvester to King Cains, who agreed to promote Xinfei's farmland magic machinery while protecting the guild's ownership of its technology. Their negotiations ended with Cains offering valuable assets in place of the money needed for the kingdom's large order.

• Xu Yi explained how the Small Magic Harvester could finish harvesting a field in under an hour, and King Cains asked about plans for larger models.
• King Cains said he had already decided to promote the machinery and assured Xu Yi that Xinfei Merchant Guild would retain ownership of its technology.
• Xu Yi proposed a Patent Protection Law, and King Cains approved the idea but rejected Xu Yi's more complicated promotion plan.
• King Cains offered a straightforward Agriculture Bureau contract for ten thousand Small Magic Harvesters, with Xinfei responsible for training, repairs, and service.
• Xu Yi pointed out that the order cost seven hundred thousand gold coins, and King Cains admitted he had no money but offered valuable things instead.

After securing a massive royal order for farmland machinery, Xu Yi faced pressure to expand production and deliver the first batch by next spring. He skipped the Level Four Examination to take the Level Five Examination and unexpectedly passed despite demonstrating only Level Four-level magic in the practical test.

• Xu Yi negotiated a royal order for six types of farmland machinery, with the first batch of 500 units of each due before next spring’s planting.
• The King agreed to compensate Xu Yi with two iron mines and three Magic Crystal Mines, subject to inspection.
• Xu Yi chose to skip the Level Four Examination and use Great Mage Camilla’s special recommendation to take the Level Five Examination.
• Xu Yi completed the written test quickly, but his practical performance appeared too weak to pass.
• The Mages’ Guild announced that Xu Yi had passed the Level Five Examination, surprising him and the other examinees.

After passing the Level Five Examination, Xu Yi arranged the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s shipments and demonstrated its magic air conditioners to Victor, securing a long-term business partnership. He appointed Alex as the guild’s representative in Anvilmar City, then went to meet Viscount Leslie.

• The Mages' Guild explained that Xu Yi passed the Level Five Examination because he ranked first in the written test, despite other mages resenting the result.
• Alex brought farmland machinery and fifty magic air conditioners from Bunta City, and Xu Yi assigned him to become the guild’s transport supervisor.
• Xu Yi demonstrated the air conditioner’s heating and cooling functions to Victor, who praised its performance and expressed interest in buying more units.
• Xu Yi introduced Alex as the guild’s representative in Anvilmar City and finalized a long-term partnership contract with Victor.
• When Supervisor Lam announced Viscount Leslie’s arrival, Xu Yi left Victor and Alex to meet the viscount.

After passing the Level Five Magic Mage examination, Xu Yi learned that Duke Stark still would not meet him and heard Viscount Leslie apologize for the Royal Palace incident. Xu Yi returned to Bunta City with new mages and Servini, who had come to observe the Xinfei Merchant Guild and its agricultural projects.

• Viscount Leslie congratulated Xu Yi on becoming a Level Five Magic Mage and explained that Duke Stark still did not consider Xu Yi influential enough to meet.
• Viscount Leslie told Xu Yi that Haines had been confined to his home for a month and asked him to deliver a letter and contracts to Wenlai.
• Viscount Leslie apologized for the Royal Palace incident, and Xu Yi replied that he understood his place as a pawn.
• Two days later, Xu Yi returned to Bunta City with Sanchelli, more than a dozen Low-Rank Mages, and Servini.
• Servini explained that she would observe the guild's Farmland Magic Machinery, farmland renovation, and Farmer Support Plan on behalf of the king and Agriculture Bureau.
• Count Samo welcomed Servini at the City Lord's Manor while Xu Yi continued on to the Xinfei Merchant Guild.

Xu Yi returned to Bunta City and showed thirteen mages from Anvilmar City the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s factories, hoping to recruit them. The mages were impressed by the magic air conditioners being assembled, while Xu Yi discussed the guild’s need for experienced workers with Heinz.

• Xu Yi returned to Bunta City and learned from Supervisor Riley that the new workshop would be finished in about half a month, then asked him to arrange a meeting with President Cruz.
• Xu Yi brought the mages into the Domestic Magic Machinery Production Workshop, where they watched workers manufacture and assemble magic air conditioners.
• One mage told the others that Viscount Lanqi’s magic air conditioner cost thirty-five gold coins and could provide both warm and cool air; Xu Yi noted that Victor had raised his price above the agreed amount.
• Xu Yi told Heinz that he had brought thirteen mages from Anvilmar City and hoped some would stay with the guild.
• Xu Yi explained that he had offered the mages at least ten gold coins a month, with their exact pay depending on their output.

Xu Yi hired nine mages to work on magic arrays and discussed a massive farmland machinery order with Canby and the dwarf craftsmen. He introduced new press-machine designs to boost production and reassured the dwarves that their expertise made them indispensable as magic machinery engineers.

• Xu Yi accepted the nine mages who chose to join the Xinfei Merchant Guild, while Elwin, Bob, and two others left to pursue their own paths.
• Xu Yi arranged temporary lodging for the new employees in Bunta City and signed their employment contracts.
• Xu Yi told Canby and the dwarves that the guild had to produce three thousand units of farmland magic machinery to meet the king’s minimum requirement and avoid surrendering its manufacturing technology.
• Xu Yi showed the dwarves a drawing of the Roll-Forging Magic Press Machine Tool and described other machines that could reduce manual work and raise production.
• Potteru worried that machinery would make the dwarves useless, but Xu Yi praised their skills and said experienced workers were essential to the guild.
• Elim embraced the title, and the dwarves happily called themselves dwarf Magic Machinery Engineers.

After a long day at the factory, Xu Yi met Anise, who asked him to help save her tribe from a drying river and threatened forest. He agreed to visit before the end of the year, but Anise decided to stay by his side until he was ready to go.

• Xu Yi finished discussing new Magic Power Forging Machine Tool designs with Canby and walked toward Bunta City after discovering he had no carriage.
• Anise emerged from the shadows and told Xu Yi that her tribe’s river was drying up and trees in the Falling Rain Forest were withering.
• Xu Yi deduced that upstream soil erosion had likely damaged the river, and Anise asked him to help her people.
• Anise said the elders had accepted Xu Yi’s request to survey the tribe’s lands and offered any affordable reward for his help.
• Xu Yi explained that he had urgent work but promised to visit before the end of the year.
• Anise told Xu Yi she would stay with him until he was ready to return to her tribe.

Xu Yi returned to find Avita and Akali had developed two Magic Lamps using Glowgrass, but the fragile material limited their durability. He proposed grinding the Glowgrass into powder and testing it in a Thunderflash Array, and the experiment succeeded as the powder began to glow.

• Xu Yi visited Akali and learned that Vivian was upstairs, while Anise remained concealed nearby.
• Avita showed Xu Yi a Magic Lamp she and Akali had developed, and he examined its improved magic array and Glowgrass lining.
• Xu Yi found that the Glowgrass was brittle, and Avita explained that glass covers protected it from damage.
• After reviewing their research, Xu Yi proposed grinding withered Glowgrass into powder and testing whether it could still absorb lightning and emit light.
• Xu Yi and Avita activated a Thunderflash Array beneath the Glowgrass powder, which began glowing brightly.

Xu Yi brought Vivian home and reassured her that he would not abandon her, then invited Anise inside for the night. Anise designed a beautiful new exterior for a magic lamp, leaving Xu Yi excited by its commercial potential until Vivian pointed out that the design might not work.

• Xu Yi joked that Vivian could live with Avita and Akali, then comforted her when she feared he was abandoning her.
• Xu Yi invited Anise into his home rather than let her spend the night outside.
• Anise admired Xu Yi's magic lamp and explained that she would make it prettier.
• Anise used Vivian's drawing tools to sketch an elegant new magic lamp design.
• Xu Yi recognized Anise's talent as an exterior designer, but Vivian warned that the design did not seem functional.

Xu Yi watched Anise and Vivian refine a Magic Lamp design that combined beauty with a workable structure, and realized their talents could fill a need he had been searching for. At the workshop, nine newly hired mages boosted production, while Xu Yi recognized that recruiting mages for research would be even more valuable.

• Vivian spotted that Anise’s ornate Magic Lamp base left too little room for its magic array and drew a design that preserved space and improved how the lamp directed light.
• Anise and Vivian repeatedly revised each other’s drawings through the night, eventually producing Magic Lamp designs that were both attractive and structurally sound.
• Xu Yi found Anise and Vivian asleep over their drawings the next morning and chose a design he believed would attract buyers.
• Xu Yi saw that the nine recruited mages could draw magic arrays faster than students and had already eased the Domestic Magic Machinery Production Workshop’s production bottleneck.
• Heinz suggested the workshop would not need more mages or students, but Xu Yi considered the guild’s need for mage researchers and the profits enabled by improvements to the Magic Air Conditioner arrays.

Xu Yi assigned Vena her first magic-array research task and approved a new Magic Lamp design for the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s next public product. He then visited Great Mage Camilla to request help with research for farmland machinery and learned that Stille had been upset he did not visit her first.

• Xu Yi gave Vena a drawing for the Roll-Forging Magic Press Machine Tool and asked her to design an explosive fire magic array for one of its parts.
• Xu Yi showed Avita and Akali a Magic Lamp design by Anise and Vivian, and decided the guild would make it its next product for the general public.
• Xu Yi checked on Sanchelli’s work before visiting Great Mage Camilla to seek help developing magic arrays for farmland machinery production tools.
• Great Mage Camilla scolded Xu Yi for visiting Avita and Akali before seeing Stille, who had prepared dinner to welcome him back.
• Great Mage Camilla pointed Xu Yi toward a magazine-like volume after telling him that his rise to Level Five Magic Mage had made him famous.

Xu Yi learned that Great Mage Eisenka had praised his magic-array examination answers in the Mages' Guild periodical, though Great Mage Camilla warned that Eisenka likely had an ulterior motive. Xu Yi then sought Camilla's help developing Magic Power Forging Machine Tools, and she agreed to mobilize the entire Magic Tower to assist him.

• Great Mage Camilla explained that the Mages' Guild periodical had made Xu Yi famous among the continent's leading mages.
• Xu Yi read Great Mage Eisenka's article praising his magic-array answers as work of master-level talent.
• Great Mage Camilla warned Xu Yi to be cautious because Eisenka never acted without a reason, and Xu Yi suspected Eisenka valued his position as president of the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
• Xu Yi told Great Mage Camilla that he needed to develop Magic Power Forging Machine Tools within a month to speed up production of Farmland Magic Machinery and help prevent hunger.
• Great Mage Camilla agreed to help and ordered the entire Magic Tower to support Xu Yi's magic-array research.

Xu Yi showed Servini the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s factory and explained its working conditions and high wages, which other guild owners considered wasteful. He refused to lower wages and suggested that the guilds could cooperate so everyone could still profit.

• Xu Yi introduced Servini to the factory and its new Magic Machine Tool Workshop, while Supervisor Riley said construction would finish by the end of the month.
• Servini expressed concern about the tight construction schedule and worker safety, and Xu Yi assured her that safety was a priority.
• Riley explained that Xinfei workers had eight-hour workdays and overtime pay, and Xu Yi said they earned eight gold coins monthly before overtime and ten to sixteen with it.
• Servini learned that Amli workers earned roughly four to eight gold coins a month, and Riley said other guild owners accused Xu Yi of squandering money on wages.
• Xu Yi defended his wage policy as beneficial to workers, consumers, and economic growth, and said he would welcome Riley’s workers if they quit.
• Xu Yi told Riley that Xinfei would not lower wages but could cooperate with other guilds so everyone could earn gold coins.

Xu Yi assured Servini that the Xinfei Merchant Guild could mechanize farmland machinery production without sacrificing quality, then proposed labor permits to make life easier for its dwarf workers. Servini thought the fee-funded proposal could pass and was surprised when Xu Yi offered up to five gold coins per worker.

• Xu Yi told Servini that new magic machine tools would raise farmland machinery output while maintaining or improving quality.
• Xu Yi explained that the guild's two hundred dwarf workers could not gain citizenship for years and asked Servini to help them.
• Xu Yi proposed labor permits that would grant noncitizen workers temporary rights to live and work in the kingdom under their guilds' responsibility.
• Servini said application and annual residence fees could help the kingdom approve the permits despite the administrative costs.
• Xu Yi said the Xinfei Merchant Guild would pay up to five gold coins for each worker's permit, and Servini praised his treatment of the workers.

Xu Yi revealed the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s newly developed cement to Moon Cruz and Supervisor Riley, then negotiated an exclusive supply deal with Cruz’s merchant guild. The chapter ended with Xu Yi promising to provide instructions for reinforced concrete, which further excited Cruz and Riley.

• Servini told Xu Yi that the kingdom had cleared an iron mine for the Xinfei Merchant Guild to take over after it completed its first order of Farmland Magic Machinery.
• Xu Yi met Moon Cruz and Supervisor Riley at a construction site and showed them cement, which Riley tested by laying bricks with it.
• Cruz recognized the cement’s advantages and asked Xu Yi to name terms for a deal rather than hand over the formula.
• Xu Yi offered cement for six gold coins per ton, and Cruz asked to buy the guild’s entire production at a higher price.
• Xu Yi agreed to supply the Lamuli Merchant Guild exclusively for two years and offered instructions for using cement, including reinforced concrete.

Xu Yi discussed ways to address the Elf tribe’s water shortage with Anise, then reviewed Master Anlisos’s portrait of Stille, which failed to emphasize the Magic Lamp enough for an advertisement. Anise’s sudden appearance gave Xu Yi an idea, but the chapter ended before he revealed it.

• Xu Yi told Anise that the Amli Merchant Guild would help rebuild the river embankments and suggested that the elves might find groundwater beyond the underground rock layer.
• Xu Yi told Anise that her tribe might have something valuable enough to attract an Archmage and said he had an idea for a temporary solution to their water shortage.
• Xu Yi watched Master Anlisos paint Stille holding a Magic Lamp and asked him to make the lamp more prominent in the picture.
• Master Anlisos added strokes to emphasize the Magic Lamp, but Xu Yi decided the picture worked better as a portrait than as an advertisement.
• Anise appeared beside Xu Yi and Stille, grabbed Stille’s arm to stop her from punching Xu Yi, and prompted Xu Yi to think of an idea.

Xu Yi discovered Anise’s exceptional artistic talent and asked her to work for the Xinfei Merchant Guild, though she preferred to return to her tribe. The chapter ended with Anise agreeing to Xu Yi’s proposal that her tribe give her to him as payment for solving their problem.

• Xu Yi thanked Stille for once inviting him to dinner, and Stille forgave him and offered to cook for him sometime.
• Anise finished a portrait of Stille beside the Magic Lamp, impressing Xu Yi and Stille with her skill.
• Xu Yi realized Anise could replace Master Anlisos and help design products for the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
• Xu Yi asked Anise to live in Bunta City and work for his guild, but Anise said she would rather return to her tribe.
• Xu Yi proposed that Anise’s tribe give her to him as payment for solving their problem, and Anise calmly agreed.

The Magic Desk Lamp became a huge success, earning the Xinfei Merchant Guild nearly one hundred thousand gold coins in orders during its first week. Servini discussed the lamp’s popularity and artwork with Xu Yi, then ended their conversation by warning him she had bad news.

• Xu Yi oversaw rapid progress on the Magic Power Forging Machine Tools and planned to use the project to build magical engineering expertise among the mages and dwarf craftsmen.
• The Magic Desk Lamp’s affordable price, practical benefits, and attractive design prompted heavy purchases after the Bunta Daily published an article explaining its value.
• Heinz’s orders for the Magic Desk Lamp exceeded fifty thousand, bringing the Xinfei Merchant Guild nearly one hundred thousand gold coins in revenue and close to seventy thousand in profit.
• Servini told Xu Yi that Bunta City’s art masters had condemned the mass production of the lamp, while praising the billboard painting and asking about its anonymous creator and Stille.
• Xu Yi avoided Servini’s questions about his relationship with Stille, and Servini told him she had come to deliver bad news.