Chapter Summaries

Tang Wen returned to Jiangzhou, where he investigated reports of a ghost haunting the Mei Residence and arranged surveillance to catch it. At a banquet, he discussed Ridge-Sea Academy’s punishment of Tang Hao with his guests, who considered asking Sun Tianjun’s father to intervene.

• Tang Wen used Marrow-Washing Pills and a cleansing treatment to help Gu Hanyan, then traveled with his party to Jiangzhou the next morning.
• Tang Jun and Luo Chaosheng told Tang Wen that ghostly shadows appeared near a stone wall at the Mei Residence and that they felt someone touch them at night.
• Tang Wen reviewed surveillance footage showing shifting shadows and ordered more infrared night-vision devices while assigning Yan Beitian to watch the wall.
• Xiao Gai, Sun Tianjun, Li Zitong, and their companions gathered at the banquet, where Tang Wen asked Li Zitong about Tang Hao’s expulsion from Ridge-Sea Academy.
• Li Zitong said Zhao Shilong had arranged the punishment, and the guests condemned the academy’s treatment of Tang Wen and Tang Hao.
• Li Zitong suggested that Sun Tianjun ask his father to persuade the Education Commissioner’s Office to lift Tang Hao’s punishment.

Tang Wen used Spirit Stones to win information and learned about Sky-Stone Island, a limestone-rich island whose owner wanted to sell it despite threats from the Cloud-Sea Sect. Wu Guangfeng bought a hundred Spirit Stones from Tang Wen for ten thousand taels of gold.

• Sun Tianjun and the others discussed Ridge-Sea Academy and Zhao Shilong, while Tang Wen asked Wu Guangfeng about limestone mines.
• Yan Beitian confronted Wu Guangfeng over the Wu Family’s treatment of him, then pinned Wu Guangfeng’s hat to the wall with a thrown blade after Wu insulted him.
• Tang Wen gave Spirit Stones to Xiao Gai, Sun Tianjun, and Li Zitong, who discovered their value and agreed to help Tang investigate the academy and his younger brother.
• Wu Guangfeng told Tang Wen that Gui Wusong wanted to sell limestone-rich Sky-Stone Island for four hundred thousand taels, while the Cloud-Sea Sect threatened anyone who bought it.
• After experiencing a Spirit Stone’s power, Wu Guangfeng bought a hundred from Tang Wen for ten thousand taels of gold, leaving Tang wondering if he had set the price too low.

Tang Wen negotiated with Gui Wusong to buy Sky-Stone Island and secured the sale for three hundred thousand taels. He then offered to help Gui Wusong’s guard Li Wu reach Sixth Rank, leaving Li Wu hopeful as Tang Wen proposed using a high-grade Qi Condensation Pill and Yan Beitian’s assistance.

• Tang Wen and his party visited Gui Wusong at Gui Family Bay to negotiate for Sky-Stone Island.
• Tang Wen talked Gui Wusong down from one million taels and agreed to pay three hundred thousand, while Yan Beitian intimidated the Gui family into honoring the deal.
• Tang Wen and Yan Beitian criticized the Gui household guards’ weakness, and Gui Wusong complained that Li Wu’s cultivation had not improved.
• Li Wu explained that he could not afford better Qi Condensation Pills, then angrily threatened to quit when Gui Wusong berated him.
• Tang Wen offered to help Li Wu reach Sixth Rank and said a high-grade Qi Condensation Pill with Yan Beitian’s assistance should help him advance.

Tang Wen sold the Gui Family pills, cultivation guidance, a high-grade cultivation method, and weapons, strengthening its guards while securing Sky-Stone Island. He planned to investigate the Cloud-Sea Sect before landing on the island and continued preparing to monitor Ridge-Sea Academy.

• Yan Beitian used High-Grade Qi Condensation Pills to help five Gui Family Guards reach the sixth rank or the half-step sixth-rank realm, and the Gui Family bought Tang Wen’s earth-tier high-grade cultivation method and several High-Grade Treasure Swords.
• After Tang Wen’s group left, Gui Wusong realized he had given up Sky-Stone Island and cursed Tang Wen, while Tang Wen’s companions celebrated gaining the island.
• Tang Wen sent Qiao Xiao and Tian Hao to investigate the Cloud-Sea Sect on Sky-Stone Island before the group attempted to land there.
• Tang Wen told Luo Yiwu to have his son watch Ridge-Sea Academy, and Gu Hanyan suggested installing cameras there.
• Tang Wen said he would obtain wireless cameras from the Western Lands and planned to set up Mobile Base Stations so people could communicate without Walkie-Talkies.

Tang Wen explained his plan to build a cement factory and deepwater harbor on Sky-Stone Island, then returned in alarm to organize construction. At Ridge-Sea Academy, the elders learned that Mo Yungang was unlikely to survive his hidden-dart wounds.

• Tang Wen revealed that limestone could be made into cement and said he planned to build a factory on Sky-Stone Island.
• Tang Wen realized the islands needed a deepwater harbor and wharf for enormous cargo ships, and urged everyone to return and prepare.
• Gao Qiu opened a meeting at Ridge-Sea Academy while Elder Li and Elder Zhang were away on business.
• Yuzhenzi reported that physician Gu Qingfeng could not safely remove the darts lodged in Mo Yungang's bone marrow and gave him less than three months to live.

Ridge-Sea Academy's leaders plotted to ruin Tang Wen and his family, while Tang Wen received a visit from Yanling Garrison Commander Zhao Zhilong. Zhao and Yang Yun praised Tang Wen's inventions, leaving the visit on friendly terms.

• Zhang Mingdong urged Ridge-Sea Academy to destroy Su Mei Island and the Tang family, and Cui Tingjiang proposed first dismantling Tang Wen's firearm unit and business.
• Gao Qiu assigned Zhang Mingdong responsibility for the scheme, while Li Xinyang and Luo Wen dismissed the danger to Tang Wen's family as his own fault.
• At his camp, Tang Wen learned that Zhao Zhilong and Yang Yun had arrived with more than a thousand people.
• Tang Wen welcomed Zhao Zhilong and offered him white tea, which surprised the commander because Chu Kingdom tea was steeped rather than boiled.
• Zhao Zhilong admired Tang Wen's electric lamps and privies, and Yang Yun explained how Tang's portable toilet had delighted their families.

Tang Wen rewarded Zhao Zilong with a fine saber and offered weapons to the officers at the front, then learned that more than a thousand villagers from Moyun Stockade needed a new home. He arranged to welcome them to Su Mei Island and sat down to a meal with Zhao Zilong, Yang Yun, and Chu Zhao, where they prepared to test Vodka.

• Zhao Zilong admired Zhao Du’s saber and accepted a superior saber from Tang Wen, who also offered ten weapons for the officers and soldiers at the front.
• Yang Yun explained that a mountain fissure had flooded Moyun Stockade with black liquid and ruined the villagers’ farmland, so Tang Wen agreed to consider settling them on Su Mei Island if they sold themselves to the Tang family.
• Tang Wen told Luo Yiwu to give the villagers clean clothes, two taels of silver, and a dou of rice even if they refused the arrangement, and invited them to eat after touring the island.
• Tang Wen hosted Zhao Zilong, Yang Yun, and Chu Zhao for a meal and offered them Vodka with ice after they discussed the strength of Zhao Zilong’s aged Daughter’s Red.
• Zhao Zilong declared that no liquor could satisfy him and asked for large bowls instead of cups.

Tang Wen hosted Zhao Zhilong and Chu Zhao, whose attempts to drink his powerful vodka ended with Zhao passing out. Chu Zhao then explained how the Northwestern War could help Tang Wen earn a marquisate and build a private army, leaving Tang to consider the advantages of gaining real power.

• Zhao Zhilong demanded large bowls of liquor, while Chu Zhao joined him and quickly spluttered after tasting Tang Wen's vodka.
• Zhao Zhilong drank two bowls of vodka, collapsed unconscious, and was carried to a guest room by Luo Yiwu and his adviser.
• Chu Zhao praised Tang Wen's liquor and toilet, and Tang promised to send him a case of vodka and arrange installation of a toilet in Sea Saint City.
• Chu Zhao told Tang Wen that donations during the Northwestern War could earn Merit Points toward a marquisate, which could bring land and permission to establish a private army.
• Tang Wen questioned whether the Imperial Court would allow powerful nobles to maintain private armies, and Chu Zhao explained their limits and military advantages.

Tang Wen offered to help Chu Zhao advance in rank and free his mother from the Chu family’s mistreatment, but demanded that Chu Zhao become a servant of the Tang family. Chu Zhao was skeptical until Gu Hanyan demonstrated her power and Tang Wen revealed a spirit stone and the promise of a heaven-rank high-grade cultivation technique, leaving Chu Zhao wavering.

• Chu Zhao explained that his low standing and lack of money kept him from advancing, while Yang Yun described how the Chu family mistreated Chu Zhao’s mother.
• Chu Zhao asked Tang Wen for high-tier elixirs and military tents so he could reach fourth rank, earn merit, and return with enough authority to protect his mother.
• Tang Wen offered to help only if Chu Zhao sold himself to the Tang family, promising to keep the arrangement secret and help him reach his ambitions.
• Chu Zhao rejected Tang Wen’s offer, insisting that his Chu family lineage and aspirations mattered more than the benefits he had been shown.
• Tang Wen revealed that Gu Hanyan practiced a heaven-rank high-grade technique, and she lifted Chu Zhao into the air to demonstrate her strength.
• Gu Hanyan explained the value of spirit stones and Tang Wen’s offer of powerful resources, leaving Chu Zhao unable to decide whether to accept.

Tang Wen persuaded Chu Zhao to join the Tang family with the promise of wealth and cultivation, then offered Gu Hanyan a Void Bag. Gu Hanyan revealed that her enemy was a powerful official at court, while Tang Wen demonstrated the bag’s ability to store objects.

• Chu Zhao absorbed a Spirit Stone, swore loyalty to the Tang family, and signed a deed of sale.
• Tang Wen promised Chu Zhao rewards and a Profound-Rank cultivation method, and Luo Yiwu escorted him to his new room.
• Gu Hanyan asked Tang Wen to teach her the Mountain-Moving Art and disclosed that she sought revenge on a powerful enemy in the Imperial Court.
• Tang Wen gave Gu Hanyan a high-grade Void Bag, then demonstrated how it could store and produce objects.

Tang Wen gave Gu Hanyan and his core members High Grade Void Bags, then learned that Ridge-Sea Academy’s elders planned to have his soldiers conscripted. He moved to bring the Moyun Stockade group into the Tang family while considering how to counter the scheme.

• Gu Hanyan playfully coaxed Tang Wen into teaching her to use a Void Bag and guessed that his own bag was large enough to hold his machinery and vehicles.
• Tang Wen gathered his core members, demonstrated the Void Bags through Gu Hanyan, and gave each of them a High Grade Void Bag.
• Tang Jun brought footage of Ridge-Sea Academy’s elders plotting to have Tang Wen’s soldiers conscripted, prompting the group to debate ways to protect them.
• Tang Wen told Luo Yiwu to fetch Mo Dachang and planned to bring the Moyun Stockade group into the Tang family before Ridge-Sea Academy could act.

Tang Wen tried to persuade Mo Dachang and his people to join Tang, but Mo refused to give up his freedom and challenged Tang’s strength. Yan Beitian fought Mo to a standstill before breaking Mo’s saber, leaving Mo to reckon with the gap in their weapons.

• Mo Dachang refused Tang Wen’s offer to join Tang and said he would find land and work elsewhere with his people.
• Mo boasted that his people could protect themselves and insulted Tang Wen and Su Mei Island, prompting Yan Beitian to challenge him.
• Tang Wen’s group took Mo to the drill ground in an off-road vehicle, where Mo was astonished by the lights and equipment.
• Yan Beitian and Mo exchanged punches and fought evenly through the training ground’s obstacles.
• The two men drew their weapons, and Yan Beitian’s sword chopped Mo’s saber into pieces.
• Yan Beitian said their cultivation and strength were equal, but his sharper sword could have killed Mo many times over.

Tang Wen used his advanced weapons and armor to persuade Mo Dachang to bring Moyun Stockade into the Tang family, then fused his popularity and advanced to the Third-Rank Early Stage. After training his new recruits and returning to Yunhai City, he discovered that the system had extended the luggage input period at his traversal destination to five days.

• Yan Beitian and Luo Yiwu demonstrated how their treasure weapons and bulletproof gear could defeat or withstand Mo Dachang's attacks, and Mo Dachang conceded to Tang Wen.
• Tang Wen persuaded Mo Dachang to join the Tang family, and the system confirmed that his land had expanded enough to activate traversal.
• Tang Wen fused nearly two thousand streams of popularity, reached the Third-Rank Early Stage, and raised his popularity eye to the Fifth Rank.
• Tang Wen taught the Heavenly Wood Star-Pegasus Art to his core members, then gave Zhao Zhilong vodka, silver, and weapons before Zhao Zhilong left Su Mei Island.
• Tang Wen returned to Yunhai City through the Traversal Gate and learned that the system had extended the luggage input period to five days.

Tang Wen used the Great Landlord Space to gather equipment and supplies, then brought a speedboat to Sky-Stone Island. He learned that the Cloud Sea Sect had captured Qiao Xiao and surrounded Yan Beitian’s group.

• Tang Wen exchanged gold for silver and currency, bought bulletproof gear, and invested in wind turbines, cement-plant machinery, vehicles, and other supplies.
• Tang Wen commissioned portable cement equipment, learned how to operate it, and arranged for technicians to translate its instructions into Chu.
• Zhan Dongwen’s workers prepared a site on Sky-Stone Island, while Luo Yiwu sent a three-hundred-man firearm guard unit for protection.
• After four months, Tang Wen returned and installed wind turbines on Su Mei Island, Divine Turtle Island, and White Tiger Island.
• Tang Wen took Gu Hanyan, Luo Yiwu, and technicians by speedboat to Sky-Stone Island, where Yan Beitian told him the Cloud Sea Sect had captured Qiao Xiao and surrounded their group.

Tang Wen reached the construction site on Sky-Stone Island and used the island’s deed to confront the Cloud-Sea Sect, which had captured Qiao Xiao and Tian Hao. While his team rapidly installed wind turbines and unloaded a cement factory’s equipment, Tang Wen prepared to learn more about the sect and its strength.

• Tang Wen arrived at Yan Beitian’s camp, where the Cloud-Sea Sect had surrounded the site and detained Qiao Xiao and Tian Hao.
• Tang Wen presented the deed proving he owned Sky-Stone Island and ordered Ding Yuandong and Li Liancheng to release his men and clear the area, but the sect members withdrew without complying.
• Yan Beitian showed Tang Wen the limestone mountain and prepared foundations, and the crew installed two wind turbines and unloaded factory machinery despite their tight deadline.
• Tang Wen’s group worked through the night, completing prefab houses by morning as Mo Dachang arrived with more than a hundred personal guards.
• At a meeting, Tang Wen ordered his leaders to investigate the Cloud-Sea Sect’s numbers and strength, while Yan Beitian warned that the sect had powerful experts.
• Dongfang Ming described the island’s terrain and the Cloud-Sea Sect’s riverside base, which stretched along a great river through a vast fissure.

The Cloud-Sea Sect elders debated whether to surrender Qiao Xiao and Tian Hao to Tang Wen, weighing his official rank against their island stronghold and local support. Ximen Taigao decided to hold the prisoners and wait, but a report that Tang Wen could use magic unsettled the discussion.

• Wang Haiting urged the elders to negotiate carefully, while Lin Tianwei and Li Liufeng argued that the sect could resist Tang Wen by force.
• The elders considered Tang Wen’s youth, noble rank, possible family backing, and whether his connections could bring the Linghai Navy against them.
• Ximen Taigao ordered Zhang Qian to investigate Tang Wen in Linghai and decided not to release Qiao Xiao and Tian Hao yet.
• Ximen Taigao said the sect would kill anyone who attacked its headquarters and would ignore Tang Wen’s men unless they came within twenty li.
• Su Xin reported that Tang Wen could use magic, and Lin Tianwei angrily dismissed the claim.

The Cloud-Sea Sect learned of Tang Wen’s strange machinery and discussed driving him from the island, while Tang Wen planned to negotiate with the sect. The next morning, several thousand people charged toward Tang Wen’s camp, shouting.

• Su Xin reported that Tang Wen had raised a huge windmill-like structure, luminous pearls, and iron machines on the island, frightening the Cloud-Sea Sect elders.
• Wang Haiting warned that Tang Wen’s wealth and official rank made a direct fight dangerous, so Ximen Taigao and others planned to stir up islanders against him.
• Luo Yiwu reported that the Cloud-Sea Sect had thousands of members and powerful martial artists, and Yan Beitian warned that attacking them would bring heavy losses.
• Tang Wen rejected a frontal assault and decided to meet the Cloud-Sea Sect to discuss business, taking Yan Beitian, Gu Hanyan, and Luo Yiwu while Mo Dachang guarded the camp.
• Li Liao rushed to Tang Wen at six in the morning and warned him that several thousand people were charging toward the camp, shouting.

Tang Wen faced island residents incited by the Cloud-Sea Sect and tried to persuade them that he had legally bought Sky-Stone Island and would provide well-paid jobs and benefits. As residents began considering work and service in his household, Li Cuihua asked whether he would hire her.

• Tang Wen ordered his guards to hold their positions and frighten the approaching crowd with gunfire, then declared that anyone forcing entry would be killed.
• Tang Wen showed the residents the deed proving his purchase of Sky-Stone Island, and Schoolmaster Luo confirmed it was genuine despite Wang Baozhang's objections.
• Tang Wen offered residents jobs at a limestone workshop, promising monthly wages, while Luo Yiwu described the Tang household's pay and benefits.
• Zhang Delin and others asked about work, and Tang Wen offered to sign contracts and pay wages in advance as residents began to show interest.
• Luo Yiwu invited residents to join the Tang household, and Li Cuihua asked Tang Wen to hire her after her husband's death, prompting Luo Yiwu to ask whether she could cook or sew.

Tang Wen recruited workers and servants in town while proving his medical skill by treating Yu Chang’s hidden-weapon injury. After buying hundreds of people and hiring Zhou Meier, he offered Master Luo a teaching post, which Luo Kai had not yet accepted.

• Li Cuihua agreed to work as Tang Wen’s cook in exchange for wages, her mother-in-law’s treatment, and schooling for the children.
• Tang Wen challenged the crowd to bring him injured people, then exposed Hero Fish’s leg wound as damage from three barbed hidden weapons.
• Tang Wen removed the weapons and treated Yu Chang, who pledged to become Tang Wen’s personal guard and signed a Deed of Sale.
• Tang Wen agreed to buy Zhou Meier so he could provide treatment for her sick father.
• Tang Wen bought three hundred people and signed several hundred more to work contracts despite attempts to dissuade the crowd.
• Tang Wen offered Luo Kai five taels a month to teach at his school, and Luo Kai hesitated.

Su Xin reported that Tang Wen had won over the islanders with generous wages and medical treatment, frustrating the effort to stir up trouble against him. Tang Wen then planned the cement operation’s road and port improvements and proposed using the Cloud-Sea Sect’s ships to transport its goods.

• Su Xin told Ximen Taigao and the others that Tang Wen’s wages, immediate contract payments, and treatment of Hero Fish had turned the townspeople against further protests.
• Ximen Taigao and his allies decided to wait for Tang Wen’s workshops to become unprofitable rather than attack them immediately.
• Gu Hanyan showed Tang Wen drone footage of the Cloud-Sea Sect’s fortified base, while Luo Yiwu and Yan Beitian described its harbor and defenses.
• Tang Wen instructed Zhan Dongwen to stockpile cement ingredients, build a road to the wharf, and expand and reinforce the upper wharf for future production and shipping.
• When Luo Yiwu asked how they would transport the cement, Tang Wen proposed hiring ships from the Cloud-Sea Sect, surprising Yan Beitian.