Chapter Summaries

Xu Yi negotiated with Lord Wellen to acquire a roughly 240,000-hectare territory for the Xinfei Merchant Guild in exchange for military machinery, factory technology, and Guards Corps support. After signing a preliminary agreement pending recognition by the Grand Duke of Stantin, Xu Yi began to see the land as truly his own, then returned to the Guards Corps and received a backpack of orders from Hart.

• Xu Yi and Lord Wellen bargained over a territory, settling on land between a river near Xinfei Farm and the coast, totaling about 240,000 hectares.
• Xu Yi negotiated the land's price down from ten million to eight million gold coins, to be paid through military equipment, factory construction and technology, and possible Guards Corps reinforcements.
• Xu Yi and Lord Wellen initialed a preliminary agreement that would take effect once Xu Yi gained the Grand Duke of Stantin's recognition as a lord.
• After Lord Wellen left, Xu Yi celebrated the prospect of owning a territory he could govern and defend himself.
• Xu Yi praised the returning Guards Corps at the training base, then Hart handed him a backpack containing orders.

Xu Yi reviewed a rush of military magic machinery orders and received a request from the Lampari Kingdom's West-Garrison Army to supply its troops. Hart also reported that the Single-Soldier Magic Rocket Launcher had performed impressively but cost the guild hundreds of gold coins in rockets; Xu Yi then met Great Mage Camilla at the Magic Research Institute, where she gave him a new toy.

• Hart told Xu Yi that the Guards Corps' military magic machinery had attracted thirty-seven orders, including thirteen from merchant guilds inside the Lampari Kingdom.
• Xu Yi agreed to send the orders to Kennard and considered how to respond to Varian Landis's request for the Xinfei Merchant Guild to equip the West-Garrison Army.
• Hart described how the Single-Soldier Magic Rocket Launcher had routed a group of orcs, then admitted that he had fired fifty rockets costing four to five hundred gold coins.
• Xu Yi warned Hart against wasting rockets and took his combat notes before leaving the training base.
• Great Mage Camilla met Xu Yi at the Magic Research Institute and tossed him a new toy.

Great Mage Camilla gave Xu Yi a Magic Communication Box that let him speak with Stille in real time, and Xu Yi learned that Camilla and Akali had created it by modifying a Spatial Magic Array. He realized the invention could lead to mobile phones in the Sains Continent and warned Camilla that it would have a tremendous impact.

• Great Mage Camilla gave Xu Yi a metal box and told him to feed it mana.
• Xu Yi activated the box and spoke with Stille, who was using another Magic Communication Box at home with Akali.
• Xu Yi joked that Akali's bonus would be docked for hiding the invention, and Akali protested before Xu Yi cut the connection.
• Great Mage Camilla explained that she had modified a Teleportation Array to transmit sound through space.
• Xu Yi learned that Camilla and Akali had used Akali's Magic Array Resonance Technique and realized the invention's potential impact.

Cantona struggled to keep his harvesting business running after a City Lord's Manor regulation forced him to use unreliable Zaotian machinery instead of his proven Xinfei harvesters. As he prepared to pay for repairs or risk defying the regulation, a Pure Black Mana Sedan arrived at Mexilan Village.

• Cantona's Zaotian harvesters repeatedly broke down, leaving the chamber unable to finish harvesting Mexilan Village's fields.
• Cantona's workers urged him to bring back their reliable Xinfei harvesters, while complaining that the City Lord's regulations had also driven up bus fares.
• Makaro reported that the Zaotian Merchant Guild would charge for repairs, potentially costing the chamber close to two hundred gold coins for fifteen broken machines.
• Cantona weighed paying for repairs against abandoning the chamber's core business or violating the regulation by using Xinfei machinery.
• As Cantona prepared to send Makaro back for repair staff, a Pure Black Mana Sedan drove toward the fields.

Baron Rover and Cantona used Xinfei farmland magic machinery to harvest Baron Rover’s wheat despite the City Lord’s Manor’s restrictions. Officials and City Guard soldiers arrived to seize the machinery, and the confrontation ended with a worker impaled on a harvester.

• Baron Rover urged Cantona to bring out the Cantona Chamber of Commerce’s Xinfei machinery and harvest his fief, assuring him he would handle any trouble from the City Lord’s Manor.
• Cantona’s workers harvested most of Baron Rover’s wheat with the reliable Xinfei machines before officials and City Guard soldiers arrived to stop them.
• The leading official presented a Nobles’ Council resolution requiring nobles to obey local City Lord’s Manor regulations and ordered the soldiers to confiscate the machinery.
• Baron Rover and Cantona objected as the soldiers tried to seize the machines, and workers clashed with the guards in the fields.
• A worker fell across a Small Magic Harvester’s tipping hopper with a spike through his neck, and blood stained the field.

King Eric reviewed the kingdomwide backlash triggered by a fatal clash in Bunta City over the city’s requirement to use Zaotian farmland machinery. As cities rejected the Magic Industry Administration and its designated guilds, Eric was left powerless to contain the crisis.

• Bunta City guards killed a civilian while enforcing rules that barred the Cantona Chamber of Commerce from using Xinfei harvesters after Zaotian machines repeatedly broke down.
• Newspapers across the kingdom challenged the city’s authority to mandate a brand and condemned Zaotian’s poor machinery, while some outlets blamed the Xinfei Merchant Guild for allegedly withholding technology.
• Canby told the Lampari Weekly that Xinfei had shared all relevant technology and that Zaotian’s failures stemmed partly from its use of cheap, inferior steel.
• Cities across the kingdom began boycotting Zaotian machinery and then the products of all ten merchant guilds designated by the Magic Industry Administration.
• Count Samo and eleven other cities declared they would reject the administration’s authority and support local machinery guilds, while many more demanded an investigation.
• King Eric reviewed the protests, felt unable to control the cities or government departments, and wondered whether Servini would have fared better as queen with Xu Yi’s support.

King Eric reluctantly allowed Duke Stark to pursue a purge of the kingdom’s opponents, while reflecting on his loss of control and the damage caused by driving out the Xinfei Merchant Guild. Meanwhile, Xu Yi’s guild expanded its sales abroad, and Xu Yi received a title and private fief in the Stantin Duchy, where he would rule his own land.

• Duke Stark called the unrest an opportunity to expose and eliminate King Eric’s opponents, and Eric reluctantly told him to proceed.
• King Eric recognized that the Xinfei Merchant Guild had helped the kingdom prosper, but felt unable to oppose the nobles who had driven it out.
• Xinfei Farm finished its harvest ahead of schedule, and the guild received nearly a thousand orders for new farmland magic machinery from several neighboring countries and duchies.
• The Xinfei Merchant Guild surpassed seven million gold coins in sales in less than five months as its markets expanded beyond the Lampari Kingdom.
• Xu Yi secured the Grand Duke of Stantin’s approval for a private fief after spending over one million gold coins and completing the required procedures.
• The Grand Duke of Stantin granted Xu Yi the title of Honorary Lord and his private fief, making him sovereign over that land.

After establishing his territory in the Stantin Duchy, Xu Yi organized a private guard and expanded the Xinfei Merchant Guild Guard Corps. When he finally turned his attention to the Lampari Kingdom, he learned that King Eric had begun stripping nobles of their titles and estates, and that Duke Stark had expelled his son Leslie Stark.

• Xu Yi formed a five-hundred-member private guard from the Xinfei Merchant Guild Guard Corps, while elf and dwarf warriors joined his service and the corps grew to fifteen hundred members.
• Xu Yi spent several months organizing his forces and planning the Xinfei Merchant Guild's development before gaining free time in July.
• Xu Yi learned that the Nobles' Council had stripped numerous nobles of their titles and property, including two powerful great nobles, and that King Eric had arrested them.
• Xu Yi noted that many punished nobles had supported Servini and wondered why Eric had acted after nearly a year of peace.
• Baron Haines's newspapers published sharp criticism of events in the kingdom, reflecting the discontent of the nobles behind him.
• Duke Stark expelled his son and heir, Leslie Stark, from the Stark Family, shocking the kingdom's nobles.

Xu Yi welcomed Leslie, who had left the Stark Family and come to see the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s latest Mana-Powered Ship. At the shipyard, they watched a massive steel vessel emerge, leaving Leslie astonished by its size and strength.

• Leslie explained to Xu Yi that he had chosen to leave the Stark Family after giving up on changing its path, and that he had come to see the guild’s new invention.
• Xu Yi greeted Freya, and Leslie gave her a red Crystal Jade Pendant before dismissing Xu Yi’s suggestion that marriage might help him return to his family.
• Xu Yi took Leslie to the expanded coastal docks and shipyard, where Kennard prepared to begin the launch ceremony.
• The shipyard gates opened, revealing a steel Mana-Powered Ship more than fifty meters long, and Leslie marveled at the vessel’s immense size and potential.

Xu Yi discussed ocean voyages with Leslie, who ordered a custom military Mana-Powered Ship despite the costs. The successful launch of the Medium Mana Cargo Ship marked major advances for the Xinfei Merchant Guild, though building an ocean-going fleet would take years.

• Leslie told Xu Yi he dreamed of exploring the Endless Sea and becoming its overlord, and Xu Yi warned that the ship was not yet safe enough for ocean voyages.
• Leslie explained that he planned to explore gradually and said he needed combat Mana-Powered Ships rather than cargo ships.
• Xu Yi agreed the guild could customize a smaller, faster warship with weapons, and Leslie paid a deposit for the first one.
• Xu Yi reflected that the cargo ship's launch proved major breakthroughs in engines and large-scale machinery, while the guild's limited production capacity would delay its ocean fleet.

After Duke Stark’s crackdown on the Lampari Kingdom’s nobles brought the realm to the brink of civil war, Eric confronted him over sending the Second Garrison Army against rebellious Colebo City. Eric ordered the army to halt and, for the first time, felt that he had truly acted as king.

• After Leslie’s expulsion, Duke Stark intensified his purge of the kingdom’s nobles, imprisoning Duke Festarlin and stripping four counts of their titles and city lord positions.
• Nobles resisted arrests with armed force, and Duke Stark deployed the Kingdom Garrison Army, prompting powerful nobles to prepare for conflict and newspapers to warn of civil war.
• Eric confronted Duke Stark after learning that Count Arnobi had declared Colebo City independent and that Stark had sent the Second Garrison Army to retake it.
• Eric ordered Stark to halt the army and argued that Count Arnobi’s concerns should be addressed peacefully rather than by force.
• After Duke Stark left, Eric collapsed into his chair, exhausted but satisfied that he had finally acted like a king.

After Xinfei military magic machinery helped Lord Wellen and Viscount Angklu win major victories, lords across the Stantin Duchy sought to buy weapons, while Xu Yi focused on ship development and magic studies. Elder Elusia and Elder Lysania examined him and concluded he might be able to learn the Elf Race-Specific Mana Meditation Method to help him become a Great Mage.

• Lord Wellen defeated Count Fran, killed him, and seized his territory after equipping his Private Guard with Xinfei military magic machinery.
• Viscount Angklu used Xinfei military magic weapons to defeat several lords and expand his domain.
• Xu Yi instructed Kennard not to sell military magic machinery to Stantin lords who might directly conflict with Angklu or Lord Wellen.
• Xu Yi studied magic with Great Mage Camilla and received help from Elder Elusia and Elder Lysania, who were concerned about extending his lifespan.
• Elder Elusia and Elder Lysania examined Xu Yi and decided his body was in excellent condition for learning their Elf Race-Specific Mana Meditation Method.

Xu Yi endured an exhausting examination and body purification by Elder Elusia and Elder Lysania, which improved his mana flow and senses. As the elders continued studying him in the bath, they asked whether he would marry an elven woman as one of his wives.

• Elder Elusia and Elder Lysania examined Xu Yi's body and mana channels until he was physically and magically exhausted.
• Great Mage Camilla told Stille to help Xu Yi rest, warning that the elders might need him again that night.
• Xu Yi woke covered in expelled impurities, discovered that his mana flowed more smoothly, and hurried to bathe.
• Xu Yi found Elder Elusia and Elder Lysania in the bathing pool, but Elder Lysania used water magic to stop him leaving and the elders resumed their examination.
• Elder Lysania asked whether Xu Yi would be willing to marry an elven girl as one of his wives.

Xu Yi rejected Elder Elusia and Elder Lysania’s politically motivated proposals for him to marry an elven girl, reassuring Stille that he wanted her as his only wife. He then examined the guild’s profitable cooperation with the two elven tribes and considered how much greater economic ties might influence them.

• Xu Yi told Stille that he had rejected the elders’ marriage proposals and would not take another wife against her wishes.
• Xu Yi explained that Elder Elusia and Elder Lysania hoped a marriage and children would strengthen their tribes’ integration into human society.
• Stille warned Xu Yi that the elders might persist, but he left the manor to investigate the guild’s elven partnerships.
• Xu Yi asked Kennard to detail the Xinfei Merchant Guild’s cooperation with the Night Song Tribe and the Moon Shadow Tribe.
• Kennard reported that the projects were worth nearly five hundred thousand gold coins and earned the tribes roughly one hundred and fifty thousand to two hundred thousand gold coins in profit.
• Xu Yi considered whether expanding the tribes’ profits could persuade the elves to risk their lives for him.

After mastering the elves' special meditation method, Xu Yi returned to his business affairs and met with Commander Landis to discuss a sale of military magic machinery. Landis proposed paying with mineral deposits inside the Sark Kingdom, revealing a plan that made Xu Yi suspect the commander was willing to take extreme risks.

• Xu Yi mastered the elves' special meditation method, which greatly accelerated his mana growth, and Elder Elusia and Elder Lysania returned to their tribes.
• Xu Yi went to Black Rice City, where the merchant guilds governed the sprawling industrial and residential center through the Commercial Association.
• Commander Landis told Xu Yi that the Lampari Kingdom's Military Department would not interfere with the West-Garrison Army's purchase of military magic machinery.
• Xu Yi asked how the West-Garrison Army would pay, and Landis showed him iron, magic crystal, and nonferrous metal mines on a map.
• Xu Yi realized that the mines were in the Sark Kingdom and understood that Landis intended to offer foreign mineral deposits as payment.

Xu Yi negotiated a military magic machinery deal with Admiral Landis in exchange for the West-Garrison Army's support, then urged Black Rice City merchant guilds to resist the Lampari Kingdom's new standards by abandoning its market. He left the guild representatives with confidence that they could enter broader markets and that Lampari would eventually welcome them back.

• Xu Yi rejected Admiral Landis's plan to equip the West-Garrison Army and invade the Sark Kingdom, citing the Xinfei Merchant Guild's limited production capacity.
• Xu Yi agreed to supply the West-Garrison Army with military magic machinery worth nearly two hundred thousand gold coins in exchange for its support in the Black Rice Wasteland and Stantin Duchy.
• Xu Yi returned to Black Rice City and convened the merchant guild representatives to discuss the Lampari Kingdom's new magic machinery standards.
• Xu Yi warned the representatives that complying with the standards would leave their guilds at the Magic Industry Administration's mercy.
• Xu Yi advised the guilds to abandon Lampari's market temporarily and pursue broader markets, predicting Lampari would eventually reopen its doors to them.

Old Kuchi discovered that the Servini Merchant Guild's shop would soon close and, furious over the poor quality and scarcity of Magic Fans, smashed his broken Weideke fan. He decided to buy the shop's last two Silubond Magic Fans.

• Auntie Ailiman argued with Old Kuchi over his repeatedly broken Weideke Magic Fan and blamed the Weideke Merchant Guild for driving out rival guilds.
• Old Kuchi reflected on Bunta City's declining prosperity after the Xinfei Merchant Guild and other machinery makers left the kingdom.
• At the Servini Merchant Guild shop, Old Kuchi learned it would close in a week and saw that only two Silubond Magic Fans remained.
• Old Kuchi smashed his Weideke Magic Fan on the shop floor and ordered the assistants to pack both remaining Silubond fans.

Servini closed her merchant guild and arranged work and legal status for more than two thousand displaced people, while hoping Eric would regain control of the kingdom. Jiawen arrived seeking her help after his family was murdered and gave her a package left by his father, whose letter shocked her.

• Servini ordered the Servini Merchant Guild's final earnings spent on grain for flood-stricken villages outside Tagg City.
• Servini recalled Eric's request that she stop interfering in kingdom affairs, and she closed her guild and transferred its factories to the ten designated merchant guilds.
• Xu Yi helped find work for more than two thousand displaced people among merchant guilds on the Black Rice Wasteland, and Servini considered securing their legal status in the Lampari Kingdom.
• The chief steward brought in Jiawen, who begged Servini to save him and said attackers had killed his entire family.
• Jiawen gave Servini a package Steward Derma had left for her, containing a sealed letter, a booklet, and a bottle of purple-tinted liquid.
• Servini opened the letter and was visibly shocked by its contents.

Servini learned from Steward Derma’s letter and diary that Duke Stark and Prince Eric had arranged Lampari the Thirteenth’s poisoning, and she hid the evidence while protecting Jiawen. Meanwhile, Xu Yi and Kennard traveled toward Kuraka City, where they discussed the Rulson Kingdom’s expanding road network and need for Magic Locomotives.

• Servini read Steward Derma’s letter confessing that he poisoned Lampari the Thirteenth under threats from Duke Stark and Prince Eric, and asking her to spare his surviving family member.
• Servini examined Derma’s diary and the vial of poison, confirming how the king was killed and that Derma feared his family would be purged.
• Servini sent Jiawen away with the chief steward and ordered them to conceal his arrival, then mourned Eric’s apparent betrayal after they left.
• Xu Yi and Kennard rode a Mana Sedan along the Rulan Road toward Kuraka City and discussed the Rulson Kingdom’s plans to expand its roads.
• Kennard argued that the kingdom would need more Magic Locomotives as well as roads, and Xu Yi invited him to make a bet.

Xu Yi explained why he would not agree to a joint venture transferring Xinfei’s Magic Locomotive technology, though he remained willing to help the Rulson Kingdom build its magic industry. As he and Kennard approached Kuraka City, Xu Yi spotted a large welcoming crowd and wondered whether the Rulson Kingdom’s show of sincerity had gone too far.

• Xu Yi told Kennard that he would refuse a joint venture to manufacture Magic Locomotives because their complex engineering system could not be easily mastered, but he would help the Rulson Kingdom build a basic magic industry framework.
• Kennard asked Xu Yi to attend Sophia’s engagement ceremony next month, but Xu Yi refused to reconsider his decision to have only Stille as his wife.
• Xu Yi explained that he had come to the Rulson Kingdom partly to escape two Elf Elders who had left seven or eight Elf women at the Xinfei Merchant Guild for him to choose from.
• As Xu Yi and Kennard approached Kuraka City, Xu Yi saw a dense crowd gathered outside a way station and remarked that the Rulson Kingdom’s welcome seemed excessive.