Chapter Summaries

At the Orchid Grass Resettlement Community’s opening ceremony, Xu Yi discussed future housing projects with President Cruz and suggested building homes on nobles’ private estates. After the ceremony began the village relocation, Xu Yi left the publicity event and arrived at the crowded Magic Research Institute, where he encountered an angry Akali.

• President Cruz asked Xu Yi how the Xinfei Merchant Guild would profit from its investment in the resettlement community, and Xu Yi explained that the nearby villages stood within Bunta City’s planned Industrial District.
• President Cruz proposed building homes for sale, and Xu Yi suggested partnering with nobles to develop their private estates.
• Count Samo introduced Bunta City’s redevelopment project at the ceremony, and Xu Yi and President Cruz pledged their guilds’ support.
• Count Samo announced the relocation, and the first hundred village households moved into their assigned homes while reporters interviewed them.
• Xu Yi left the ceremony’s publicity event for the Magic Research Institute and found Akali approaching with a furious expression.

Xu Yi addressed a dangerous experiment at the Magic Research Institute and ordered Avita to establish safety standards. After hearing about major progress on stronger magic arrays for harvesters, he learned the institute might have to close for a few days.

• Akali told Xu Yi that Xiuqi had ignored her warning, causing the Sunfire Array to explode and damage the laboratory, so Xu Yi charged him for the losses.
• Xiuqi challenged the penalty, but Xu Yi insisted that researchers had to consider safety before conducting experiments.
• Xu Yi tasked Avita with creating safety standards for magical research and reassured her that she could handle the responsibility.
• Avita reported that the institute was studying stronger wind arrays for larger Magic Harvesters, and Xu Yi approved research into all four candidate arrays.
• Avita explained that the modified Gale Array 3.0 produced thirty percent more power, and Xu Yi praised the institute’s progress.
• Avita told Xu Yi that the Magic Research Institute might have to close for a few days.

Xu Yi brought the Magic Research Institute researchers to Anvilmar City for the Mages' Guild Qualification Certification Examination and arranged for them to stay at the luxurious Shelton Hotel. After meeting Alex and inspecting the researchers’ new uniforms being tailored, Xu Yi visited Victor and his companions’ household magic machinery shop and warned Urgat that it faced a crisis.

• Xu Yi checked the researchers into the Shelton Hotel and explained that the Guild examination had prompted him to give them a week off and arrange their accommodation.
• Bella and Akali asked Xu Yi about building a road between Bunta City and Anvilmar City, and he said it might be built the following year.
• Alex arrived with five tailors, and Xu Yi had them take the researchers’ measurements for uniforms before leaving with Alex to inspect the shop.
• Xu Yi saw that Victor, Urgat, and their companion had opened a carefully arranged household magic machinery shop on a busy street.
• Xu Yi met Urgat at the shop and told him that the business was facing a crisis.

Xu Yi confronted Urgat over the threat the Walmart Merchant Guild posed to their Xinfei specialty shop, then proposed turning it into an officially supported service center for the guild in Anvilmar City. He left Urgat to discuss a strict new contract with Victor and Mulu, disappointed by Alex’s lack of initiative and his suggestion that Xu Yi visit a brothel, and headed to find Stille and Great Mage Camilla.

• Urgat blamed Xu Yi for the Walmart Merchant Guild’s plans to sell household magic machinery, and Xu Yi learned Victor and Mulu shared Urgat’s complaints.
• Xu Yi explained that the Walmart Merchant Guild could not be beaten on price and presented a contract to make the specialty shop an official Xinfei Product Service Center.
• Urgat praised the proposal but said he would discuss the contract with Victor and Mulu, while Xu Yi warned that he would enforce its terms strictly.
• After leaving the shop, Xu Yi reflected that he had little choice but to rely on Urgat, Victor, and Mulu to represent the guild in Anvilmar City.
• Alex offered to take Xu Yi to a place with attractive girls, prompting Xu Yi to coldly tell him they would go find Stille and Great Mage Camilla instead.

Xu Yi attended the opening of the Walmart Household Magic Machinery Mall in Anvilmar City and discussed its expansion plans with President Lundes. He warned that other cities had less purchasing power and higher delivery costs, and Lundes pressed him to lower prices, revealing the real aim of their negotiations.

• The Walmart Household Magic Machinery Mall opened to a huge crowd, drawn by heavy advertising, limited stock, and opening-day discounts.
• Xu Yi explained hunger marketing to Hank Wilson and President Lundes as they watched customers rush into the mall.
• President Lundes complained that Kennard had joined the Xinfei Merchant Guild, and Xu Yi said he trusted Kennard while preparing for eventual staff changes.
• Hank Wilson gave Xu Yi the Walmart Merchant Guild's proposal to open household magic machinery malls in other major cities.
• Xu Yi cautioned President Lundes that lower purchasing power and transportation costs would make expansion harder than the proposal suggested.
• President Lundes asked whether the Xinfei Merchant Guild could lower prices, and Xu Yi realized Lundes had been leading toward that request.

Xu Yi refused President Lundes's request to cut magic machinery prices and proposed building highways to reduce transportation costs instead. While strolling through Anvilmar City with Stille, he considered founding a magic machinery academy, but their outing ended when they encountered a young man staring greedily at Stille.

• Xu Yi rejected President Lundes's call for the Xinfei Merchant Guild to lower prices and suggested that the Walmart Merchant Guild invest in highways to reduce shipping costs.
• Stille told Xu Yi that the Great Mage had hurried away with someone from the Mages' Guild, then invited him to explore Anvilmar City with her.
• Xu Yi and Stille visited shops and the Rhine River, and Xu Yi proposed creating an academy to train magic mechanical engineers.
• As Stille started leading Xu Yi toward the Lampari Royal Academy, she stopped after spotting a young man and woman across the street, and the young man stared at her with amazement and greed.

Xu Yi and Stille encountered Vincent in Anvilmar City, where he shamelessly pursued Stille in front of his fiancée, Michelle. They left him behind and reaffirmed their love as they continued toward the Lampari Royal Academy.

• Stille identified Vincent as her former classmate and introduced Michelle as his fiancée.
• Vincent invited Stille and Xu Yi to his home, but insulted Xu Yi and claimed he still loved Stille despite Michelle being present.
• Stille rejected Vincent's advances and walked away with Xu Yi.
• Xu Yi laughed at Vincent's behavior, and Stille explained that her old crush had been an adolescent fantasy.
• Stille told Xu Yi that he was the most handsome man to her, and they continued toward the Lampari Royal Academy.

Xu Yi visited the military training grounds, where officers thanked him for improving the army’s equipment and described the kingdom’s severe shortages and battlefield losses. After he recorded soldiers’ suggestions for armor and weapons, Major Maikongli explained that the men wanted to meet him and build a relationship with the Xinfei Merchant Guild, warning that Xu Yi had already become involved in consequential matters.

• Xu Yi met Major Maikongli and military officers at the training grounds, where they praised the Xinfei Merchant Guild for supplying fifty thousand affordable equipment sets.
• The officers recounted the army’s inadequate weapons and armor, including heavy casualties suffered by the Northern Garrison against the Sark Kingdom.
• Xu Yi listened to soldiers’ feedback on their armor and weapons, recorded measurements, and agreed to make improvements.
• Xu Yi watched twenty soldiers perform a skirmish exercise and asked Major Maikongli why he had been invited in person.
• Major Maikongli said the soldiers wanted to meet Xu Yi because his guild’s help could save their lives, then told him that he had already set important things in motion.

Xu Yi signed major military supply and research agreements for the Xinfei Merchant Guild, knowingly entering the Joseph Family’s territory. After Great Mage Camilla told him that the Level Seven Mage certification examination would be held in Anvilmar City, Xu Yi prepared to take it and hoped she might pass him.

• Xu Yi agreed to complete Servini’s slave-transfer paperwork and signed military orders for a weapon-and-armor production line, tires, and specialized magic machinery.
• Xu Yi recognized that supplying the military would challenge the Joseph Family’s near-monopoly and planned to negotiate with the family.
• Great Mage Camilla returned and asked Xu Yi whether he had reached Level Seven Mage strength; Xu Yi said he had.
• Great Mage Camilla told Xu Yi that the mage certification examinations for levels six through nine would be held in each country, so he could take his examination in Anvilmar City the day after tomorrow.
• Great Mage Camilla explained that all five Great Mages in the Lampari Kingdom would attend the examinations, and Xu Yi asked her to give him a passing result; she gave him a cold look.

Xu Yi and Stille attended the Second-Level Mage examination to support the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s mages, where Xu Yi reunited with his former classmate Elwin. Elwin chose to continue adventuring despite Xu Yi offering him a job, and he advised Xu Yi to recruit interested mages at the examination.

• Xu Yi and Stille arrived at the examination grounds, where the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s mages and many other candidates noticed them.
• Xu Yi met Elwin, who said a year of adventuring had improved his combat experience but left his magical abilities nearly unchanged.
• Elwin greeted Stille and praised Xu Yi’s success in founding the Xinfei Merchant Guild.
• Xu Yi offered Elwin a position at the guild, but Elwin said he had grown to love adventuring and declined.
• Elwin told Xu Yi that many candidates were interested in the Xinfei Merchant Guild and encouraged him to recruit them.

Xu Yi visited Great Mage Eisenka's estate to discuss two completed magic-array research projects and their commercial terms. Eisenka proposed selling the technologies jointly and charging the Xinfei Merchant Guild to use them, but Xu Yi refused and left Eisenka to decide whether to break their agreement.

• Xu Yi welcomed mages interested in joining the Xinfei Merchant Guild before the assessment began, then departed with Stille and went to Great Mage Eisenka's estate.
• Great Mage Eisenka showed Xu Yi the research center and explained that his mages had made breakthroughs in stable magic-array power output and long-term array integrity.
• Eisenka proposed that they sell the two technologies to other merchant guilds and split the proceeds equally, while charging the Xinfei Merchant Guild to use them as well.
• Xu Yi agreed to share proceeds from sales to other guilds but rejected paying to use the technologies in Xinfei products.
• Eisenka warned that he could pay the breach-of-contract penalty and take sole ownership, but Xu Yi told him to do as he wished, visibly unsettling him.

Xu Yi finalized a household magic machinery factory partnership with Great Mage Eisenka but refused to share control of the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s technology. Haines then brought him to lunch with Reeves, where Xu Yi met two foreign guests whose purpose remained unexplained.

• Xu Yi and Great Mage Eisenka failed to agree on technological cooperation but reached a preliminary deal to fund and build a household magic machinery factory outside Anvilmar City.
• Xu Yi returned to the Outer Residence, rested, and fell asleep while waiting for Stille and Great Mage Camilla.
• Haines woke Xu Yi and took him to lunch at the Delitz Hotel, where Reeves greeted him.
• Xu Yi met Angklu, who came from the Stantin Duchy, and heard about his homeland’s isolation and vulnerability to disasters.
• Newman introduced himself as a visitor from the Rulson Kingdom, leaving Xu Yi puzzled about why Reeves had invited the two foreigners.

Xu Yi negotiated a major farmland machinery order with Newman, a royal business agent from the Rulson Kingdom, and learned that Angklu had an offer from the Stantin Duchy. The chapter ended with Xu Yi agreeing to buy two iron mines and a copper mine, while the payment terms remained undisclosed.

• Newman asked Xu Yi to sell farmland magic machinery to the Rulson Kingdom, and Xu Yi agreed to accept an order if Lampari’s king approved it.
• Newman revealed that he handled business dealings for the Rulson royal family, and Reeves acknowledged his similar role for Lampari’s royal family.
• Newman proposed buying ten thousand units of each of the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s six types of farmland machinery.
• Angklu told Xu Yi that the Grand Duke of Stantin wanted to sell the guild two iron mines and one copper mine.
• Xu Yi agreed to buy the mines, but Angklu withheld the details of what the grand duke wanted in exchange.

Xu Yi studied the Stantin Duchy’s coastline and discussed a possible trip there with Stille, then learned that his weak grasp of advanced magic threatened his Mage assessment and the Mages’ Guild’s Patent Law Bill. He ended the chapter claiming he had mastered one advanced spell exceptionally well.

• Xu Yi told Stille that Angklu had approached him about bringing technology to the struggling Stantin Duchy, and he explained how its coastline could become an advantage once his engine was developed.
• Great Mage Camilla warned Xu Yi that the Advanced Mage assessment the next day included a test of advanced magic.
• Xu Yi admitted to Great Mage Camilla and Stille that he had not fully mastered even one advanced spell, despite his strength in magic arrays.
• Great Mage Camilla explained that Xu Yi’s assessment performance could influence the Mages’ Guild’s Patent Law Bill, prompting Stille to urge her to teach him a spell.
• Xu Yi suddenly declared that he had mastered an advanced spell long ago and was exceptionally good at it.

Xu Yi brought the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s mages to Anvilmar City for their qualification examinations, drawing attention with their matching robes and luxurious carriages. After the group joked about confessing their love for Xu Yi, Akali’s sudden reaction left the carriage silent and Stille wondering what had happened.

• Xu Yi and Stille gathered the Magic Research Institute’s mages at the Shelton Hotel and headed for the examinations in matching robes.
• The onlookers recognized the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s emblem and marveled at its many mages, fine uniforms, and ten Duke-Class carriages.
• Inside the carriage, Bella jokingly confessed that she had fallen in love with Xu Yi, and Stille said she did not mind as long as Xu Yi did not love Bella.
• Xu Yi explained that the robes were partly for publicity and told the mages they could keep them, prompting Claire to joke that he could choose her instead.
• Akali stared at Xu Yi as her expression changed, and the joking stopped while the others fell silent.

Xu Yi arrived at the Mages' Guild examinations with the Xinfei Merchant Guild's mages and clashed verbally with Anko Allen, who was startled to learn Xu Yi planned to take the Level Seven Mage examination. Xu Yi entered the Advanced Mage examination hall with twelve researchers, where he saw Great Mage Camilla, Great Mage Eisenka, and former Guild president Parmes Allen among the examiners.

• Xu Yi brought the Xinfei Merchant Guild's mages to the examination grounds in ten luxurious carriages, drawing envious attention.
• Anko Allen mocked Xu Yi, but Xu Yi reminded him of their clash last year and revealed they would take examinations in separate halls.
• Anko Allen was shocked that Xu Yi intended to take the Level Seven Mage examination after earning Level Five certification the previous year.
• Xu Yi encouraged Stille and the researchers taking the Low-Rank Mage examinations, then entered the Advanced Mage hall with twelve researchers.
• Xu Yi recognized Great Mage Camilla and Great Mage Eisenka among the examiners and exchanged a glance with Parmes Allen.

Xu Yi took the Advanced Mage Qualification Certification Examination in the Lampari Kingdom and demonstrated a lightning spell he had developed himself. As the spell’s lightning elements surged through the examination area, dazzling bolts appeared around him, leaving the crowd amazed.

• President Allen announced the examination rules and introduced the five Great Mages who would examine the candidates.
• Xu Yi completed the written examination and stepped forward to demonstrate high-level magic.
• Xu Yi told the examiners he would demonstrate lightning magic, which he described as an advanced form of wind magic.
• Great Mage Eisenka worried that Xu Yi had lost control of the lightning elements, but Great Mage Camilla explained that he was casting a new type of lightning magic he had developed.
• Xu Yi drew the lightning elements into a furious flow, and countless bright streaks of lightning burst around him.

Xu Yi passed the Level Seven Mage examination after demonstrating powerful lightning magic, then advised the Lampari Kingdom Mages' Guild on fees for the proposed Patent Law Bill. The Great Mages agreed to submit both of his fee approaches to Guild Headquarters and asked him to prepare analysis reports.

• Xu Yi's lightning spell scorched the examination grounds and disrupted the Magic Defense Array, but President Allen determined that the unusual spell had neutralized the defenses rather than overpowered them.
• President Allen and the other Great Mages approved Xu Yi's advanced magic demonstration, and Great Mage Eisenka examined him in combat; Xu Yi passed the Level Seven Mage examination.
• Three of the twelve Xinfei Merchant Guild researchers passed and advanced from Level Five to Level Six, while a little over half of all forty-six other candidates passed.
• President Allen invited Xu Yi to discuss patent protection fees, and Xu Yi proposed either fixed annual fees graded by the importance of the research or fees chosen by applicants and linked to licensing charges.
• Xu Yi argued that patent licensing could encourage mages to share discoveries and fund more research; Great Mage Camilla agreed, and Great Mage Eisenka supported the second approach.
• President Allen decided to submit both approaches to Guild Headquarters and asked Xu Yi to prepare an analysis report for each.

Xu Yi explained how his miniature wind-powered generators produced currents that he controlled as lightning magic, helping him pass the Advanced Mage examination. Great Mage Camilla took a generator to study, while Xu Yi wondered whether powerful mages could generate electricity directly.

• Great Mage Camilla questioned how Xu Yi’s small wind-powered device had produced such powerful lightning during the examination.
• Xu Yi explained that he had built miniature wind turbines that used Wind Magic Arrays to spin coils and generate current, which he controlled as lightning magic elements.
• Great Mage Camilla activated the generator herself, produced small bolts of lightning, and said it challenged her understanding of magic.
• Great Mage Camilla took the miniature generator to study, and Xu Yi imagined her powering the household by generating electricity with her mana.

After Anko Allen badly injured Aleri during a mage assessment, Xu Yi arranged medical care and promised to seek justice. He asked Haines to investigate Anko, hinting that he intended to punish him without relying on violence.

• Xu Yi learned that Anko Allen had left Aleri unconscious with several broken bones, then promised to cover Aleri’s salary, medical care, and recovery expenses.
• Great Mage Camilla agreed to confront President Allen about Anko’s conduct, while Xu Yi reassured the angry researchers and arranged for Aleri’s care.
• Haines arrived, and Xu Yi and Stille heard that Anko Allen, Victor, and Vincent Yose were known as Anvilmar City’s Three Great Menaces.
• Xu Yi asked Haines to investigate Anko Allen because he doubted Great Mage Camilla could persuade President Allen to act.
• Xu Yi told Haines that beating Anko was not the only way to make him suffer.