Chapter Summaries

Fang Weiyan separated the county officials and used false claims of confessions to make Liu Yiming reveal extensive corruption and abuse. He ordered Cheng Feng to arrest Squire Lin and Squire Liu and seize their shops, while the townspeople began to see that he intended to act decisively.

• Fang Weiyan ordered the officials detained separately and began collecting testimony and grievances from commoners.
• Cheng Feng confronted Liu Yiming with accusations of crimes and claimed another official had already confessed, prompting Liu Yiming to confess in turn.
• Fang Weiyan recorded Liu Yiming's admissions about grain theft, embezzlement, collusion with gentry, and abuse of commoners.
• Fang Weiyan sent Cheng Feng with fifty bailiffs to arrest Squire Lin and Squire Liu and confiscate their shops.
• Cheng Feng's bailiffs fought Squire Lin's armed thugs, captured Squire Lin, and brought him back as commoners watched.

Fang Weiyan executed Squire Lin and his accomplices, secured control of Pingshui City, and planned to take over the other counties in Jiangling Commandery. Back on Earth, he discovered he had won second prize in the lottery and asked Silver Scale how koi luck could be measured.

• Fang Weiyan rejected Squire Lin’s bribe and ordered him and the other captured men executed in public.
• Fang Weiyan confiscated the men’s estates and considered how to govern the ten counties whose magistrates had been implicated.
• Fang Weiyan returned to Earth and found that his lottery ticket had won him over four million.
• Fang Weiyan planned to expand his warehouse, buy more supplies, and set aside some goods to support children in impoverished mountain regions.
• Fang Weiyan asked Silver Scale whether koi luck could be measured precisely.

Fang Weiyan questioned Silver Scale about her fortune and clansmen, then returned to Pingshui City to organize its administration and assess the local gods’ strength. He learned that the Wu River Dragon King was a Spirit Platform Realm expert and considered using his reserved divine seats to strengthen the City God.

• Silver Scale told Fang Weiyan that she knew of no other clansmen in her branch, and he returned to his room after replenishing the incense and candles.
• Fang Weiyan returned to Pingshui City the next day, where Cheng Feng and the bailiffs reported that the city was calm and assigned them to gather information about households, counties, and artisans.
• Fang Weiyan visited the City God Temple and learned that the City God’s power had waned below the Transformation Realm.
• The City God told Fang Weiyan that the Wu River Dragon King had reached the Spirit Platform Realm and that he could no longer suppress him.
• Fang Weiyan considered using his reserved Earth God divine seats to restore the City God’s strength.

Fang Weiyan learned that neighboring counties were suffering from famine and demon attacks, then ordered their residents to relocate to Linbei County or Pingshui City and began recruiting more runners. He planned to return to Earth to buy supplies and promised Tao Lingluo he would bring her fertilizer that night.

• Fang Weiyan learned that the Dragon King was a blackfish from the Wu River and heard reports of famine, lost contact, and demon attacks in neighboring counties.
• Fang Weiyan ordered residents of nearby counties and villages to relocate to Linbei County or Pingshui City, and told runners to kill the local county magistrates.
• Fang Weiyan ordered Lin Liyun to recruit five hundred runners and investigate each applicant's character.
• Fang Weiyan decided to return to Earth to buy supplies for the incoming residents.
• Tao Lingluo reminded Fang Weiyan that he had not given her fertilizer recently, and he promised to bring her some that night.

Fang Weiyan bought a warehouse and large quantities of supplies on Earth, then planned a work-relief program to rebuild and administer Pingshui City. He estimated the costs, arranged more supply orders, and prepared to recruit thousands of workers, with his funds and confiscated silver expected to support the effort.

• Fang Weiyan cashed in his lottery winnings, bought a warehouse, and filled it with rice, flour, fertilizer, and other supplies.
• Fang Weiyan gave Tao Lingluo fertilizer, then planned to put confiscated farmland to use and protect Pingshui City from flooding.
• Fang Weiyan ordered manufacturers to provide supplies in unmarked packaging.
• Fang Weiyan drafted a recruitment notice for a work-relief program and calculated the grain wages and monthly costs for as many as fifteen thousand workers.
• Fang Weiyan planned to reopen rice shops and recruit accountants and wage distributors, relying on his cash and confiscated silver to fund the administration of Jiangling Commandery.

Fang Weiyan recruited workers in Pingshui City for paid repairs and rebuilding, then organized supplies and overseers for the work. Although only fifty-nine people signed up on the first day, he expected more craftsmen to join once they trusted that the wages were real.

• Notices announced paid work digging canals, repairing streets and walls, felling trees, and rebuilding houses, prompting residents to question whether it was another round of unpaid corvée labor.
• A literate young man explained the rice wages listed for different jobs, and residents recalled that Fang Weiyan had previously paid silver for information as some decided to sign up.
• Fang Weiyan prioritized recruiting skilled workers and transported tens of thousands of bags of rice to temporary warehouses guarded by yamen runners.
• Fang Weiyan returned briefly to the Daoist temple to replenish incense and candles and check the wishing pool, then went back to Pingshui City to manage the work.
• Fang Weiyan appointed inspectors and overseers, assigned craftsmen to deepen drainage channels, reinforce the city walls, and rebuild collapsed houses, and arranged for yamen runners to patrol.
• On the first day, only fifty-nine people joined the tally, but Fang Weiyan expected hesitant craftsmen to come once they saw that wages were paid.

Fang Weiyan oversaw Pingshui City's construction and arranged paid work for arriving commoners, then gave the City God incense power to strengthen him. Exhausted but hopeful that the city was getting on track, Fang Weiyan considered seeking Divine Farmer Valley for spirit medicine.

• Fang Weiyan directed craftsmen and assigned work to arriving commoners as construction and migration kept him busy handling problems across Pingshui City.
• At sunset, commoners collected polished rice as their wages and returned home overjoyed.
• Fang Weiyan visited the City God Temple and gave the City God a spirit tablet containing incense power, which the City God absorbed and decided to keep secret from the Underworld Administration in Yanhuai City.
• Fang Weiyan took the spirit tablet back to the Daoist temple and considered asking about Divine Farmer Valley as a possible source of spirit medicine.

Fang Weiyan uncovered a clerk stealing disaster-relief grain and ordered him executed, while the little black fish was mysteriously sealed and caught by a fisherman. The fish was being taken toward Pingshui City, where men had been waiting to kill any black fish caught in the Wu River.

• Fang Weiyan examined a crude map for Divine Farmer Valley but could not locate it.
• Cheng Feng brought Fang Weiyan a clerk who had falsified worker records to steal grain, and Fang ordered the clerk beheaded at dusk.
• The little black fish finished cultivating, then an unknown force sealed its cultivation and Divine Sense as its Human Tribulation began.
• A fisherman caught the helpless little black fish and hauled it onto his boat.
• Burly men waiting near Pingshui City discussed their orders to kill any black fish fishermen caught for their master.

An old fisherman’s plump blackfish was stolen by burly men and taken to Pingjiang City, while the Dragon King realized his son had entered his Human Tribulation. The men began cutting open the blackfish, leaving the Dragon King’s son in mortal danger.

• The old fisherman caught a large blackfish and planned to sell it in Pingjiang City, but burly men seized his fish and kicked him aside.
• The old fisherman followed the men toward Pingjiang City, hoping the prefect would punish them for stealing his catch.
• The Dragon King sensed that his son was in danger, discovered he had entered his Human Tribulation, and sent fish demons to search for him.
• In Pingjiang City, the burly men borrowed a knife and began slicing open the blackfish, which struggled as blood ran across the chopping board.

After discovering that the snakehead was a demon, Zhang Chang'er and the other men tried to kill it, while its father, the Dragon King, sensed its peril. Fang Weiyan arrived in time to stop the killing and used a life-preserving rootlet in an attempt to save the wounded fish.

• Zhang Chang'er tasted the snakehead's blood, realized it was strange, and told the others it might be a fish demon.
• The burly men decided to kill the snakehead before its family could retaliate.
• The Dragon King sensed his son had been harmed and began searching for him.
• The City God realized the snakehead was undergoing its Human Tribulation and feared Pingjiang City would suffer the Dragon King's wrath.
• Fang Weiyan connected the fisherman's description of the snakehead to the Dragon King, hurried to the scene, and ordered the men to stop.
• Fang Weiyan examined the snakehead's mortal wound and used the rootlet Emperor Kaide had given him to try to save it.

Fang Weiyan saved the Wu River Dragon King's son by feeding him spirit medicine, then asked the Dragon King to stop disrupting river traffic. The Dragon King thanked him but denied ever capsizing boats or stirring up storms.

• Fang Weiyan fed the wounded snakehead a root and waited anxiously to see whether it would help.
• The Dragon King of the Wu River appeared, found his son apparently dead, and seized the burly men who had injured him.
• Cheng Feng told the Dragon King that Fang Weiyan had tried to save the snakehead, and the Dragon King recognized Fang Weiyan as Jiangling Commandery's governor.
• The snakehead revived, thanked Fang Weiyan for saving him, and asked his royal father not to harm him.
• The Dragon King bowed in gratitude, and Fang Weiyan asked him not to capsize boats or stir up wind and waves; the Dragon King denied doing so.

Fang Weiyan learned from the Dragon King that false reports had blamed him for sinking boats, then heard how a ruler could become a Human Sovereign by gathering a kingdom’s strength and fortune. He left the Dragon King’s repayment favor outstanding, while considering his own future ambitions in the Jiang Kingdom.

• Fang Weiyan questioned the Dragon King, who denied sinking tax and relief boats and suggested someone had fabricated the reports.
• Fang Weiyan asked for a mortal Cultivation Method, but the Dragon King said he had none.
• The Dragon King explained that a powerful ruler could become a Human Sovereign by strengthening a kingdom and gathering its strength and fortune.
• Fang Weiyan considered waiting for Emperor Kaide to die before attempting to carve out territory, while resolving not to scheme against him while he lived.
• Fang Weiyan declined the Dragon King’s offer of treasure and asked to call in the favor if he faced danger or difficulty later.
• The Dragon King agreed to remain in Fang Weiyan’s debt, and his son broke free to circle and nudge Fang Weiyan before leaving with his father.

After the Dragon King took away the men who had tried to kill his child, Fang Weiyan kept the Human Sovereign secret and shifted his ambitions toward becoming one by strengthening Jiangling Commandery. Meanwhile, the conspirators who had planned to provoke the Dragon King’s wrath saw their scheme fail and withdrew to seek another method.

• Fang Weiyan suspected the fish thieves had been part of a plot to blame disasters on the Dragon King, ordered Cheng Feng to keep the Human Sovereign secret, and compensated the fisherman with a hundred jin of grain.
• Fang Weiyan returned to his office and decided that becoming a Human Sovereign was a better goal than seeking cultivation methods, so he would focus more closely on governing Jiangling Commandery.
• The conspirators watching Pingjiang City realized their plan had failed because the Dragon King had not flooded the city, and they left to discuss another way to destroy the Jiang Kingdom.
• Fang Weiyan studied economic policies at the Daoist temple and planned infrastructure projects, factories, academies, and higher compensation to build Jiangling Commandery’s strength and prosperity.

Fang Weiyan planned to begin industrial development in Jiangling Commandery with simple machinery and educational materials, then raised wages to stimulate the local economy. After setting new pay rates, he summoned craftsmen to plan Pingjiang City’s development.

• Fang Weiyan decided to start with basic machines such as spinning jennies and paper mills, postponing large production lines and power infrastructure.
• Fang Weiyan returned to Jiangling Commandery and told the carpenters to build machines from the plans he had brought.
• Fang Weiyan learned that 18,932 people were on the wage registers and calculated the cost of raising their pay.
• Fang Weiyan set daily wages at three jin of grain for strenuous work and two jin and nine liang for field workers, while clerks received two jin and five liang.
• Fang Weiyan summoned the craftsmen to plan Pingjiang City’s future development.

Fang Weiyan managed Pingjiang City’s construction, recruitment, and farmland reclamation while responding to inquiries from Emperor Kaide and Princess Jin'an. After the transformed black fish boy visited him, Fang Weiyan learned that the Jiang Kingdom was only one of several human dynasties and that its ancestors had abandoned the Human Sovereign title to avoid being tracked by rival Human Sovereigns.

• Fang Weiyan answered Emperor Kaide’s and Princess Jin'an’s questions about the Dragon King’s son and sent his reply to the Underworld Administration in Yanhuai City.
• Fang Weiyan ordered Cheng Feng to organize the recruited bailiffs and report when people from nearby villages and counties had relocated to Pingshui City.
• Fang Weiyan warned Tao Lingluo not to sneak fertilizer, raised her wages by two bags of fertilizer, and instructed her to continue reclaiming farmland according to the workers’ suggestions.
• The transformed little black fish boy visited Fang Weiyan, thanked him, and promised that river fish demons would not attack his ships.
• The little boy told Fang Weiyan that the Jiang Kingdom’s ancestors had fled after defeat, and that their Human Sovereign had renounced his status and destroyed the texts to evade other Human Sovereigns.

Fang Weiyan learned where Divine Farmer Valley was and sent Tao Lingluo there to negotiate an exchange of fertilizer for spirit medicines. Meanwhile, Emperor Kaide discovered that ministers had deceived him and colluded with demons, while Princess Jin'an refused to flee and declared she would die for the Jiang Kingdom; the conspirators then considered how to destroy the dynasty after their attempt to kill the Dragon King's child failed.

• Fang Weiyan learned from the little black fish that Divine Farmer Valley lay about a hundred li from Pingjiang City and that its powerful spirit medicines might accept fertilizer.
• Fang Weiyan sent Tao Lingluo to Divine Farmer Valley with fertilizer to offer in exchange for roots or spirit medicines, promising her fifty bags as a reward.
• Emperor Kaide read Pingjiang City's report, learned that rebellious ministers had falsified reports and blamed the Dragon King for stolen tax revenue, and suspected they had colluded with demons.
• Emperor Kaide proposed sending Princess Jin'an to Pingjiang City for her safety, but she refused and declared that she would die for the Jiang Kingdom if it fell.
• The conspirators learned that their attempt to kill the Dragon King's child had failed and debated whether demons could overcome the Underworld Administration by force.

Fang Weiyan prepared to buy grain and sent Tao Lingluo to find Divine Farmer Valley, where she discovered its spirit medicines were eager for fertilizer that could harmonize yin and yang. Tao Lingluo proposed trading fertilizer for rootlets, but the spirit medicines distrusted humans and hesitated to meet Fang Weiyan.

• The conspirators abandoned the idea of forcing an abdication and planned to stir up rebellions among the starving refugees to weaken the Jiang Kingdom.
• Fang Weiyan ordered ships bought and grain purchased in Pingjiang City, then offered incense to the City God and asked Silver Scale about Divine Farmer Valley.
• Silver Scale told Fang Weiyan that his luck might help him obtain younger spirit medicines, while Tao Lingluo searched for the valley on the ground.
• Tao Lingluo found Divine Farmer Valley and scattered fertilizer, prompting its spirit medicines to recognize it as valuable and invite her inside.
• An old spirit medicine learned that the fertilizer could harmonize yin and yang, and Tao Lingluo proposed trading it for rootlets on Fang Weiyan's behalf.
• The spirit medicines questioned whether they could trust Fang Weiyan, and the old man worried that visiting him might lead to capture and being eaten.

Fang Weiyan negotiated a trade with Uncle Bai, exchanging fertilizer for spirit-medicine rootlets from Divine Farmer Valley. After receiving a thousand bags’ worth of medicine and a gift to strengthen his body, Fang Weiyan planned to use spirit medicine to develop new pharmaceuticals for Huaxia, then asked Tao Lingluo to check the gift before he drank it.

• Tao Lingluo brought Uncle Bai from Divine Farmer Valley to meet Fang Weiyan in Pingjiang City.
• Fang Weiyan agreed to trade fertilizer for spirit-medicine rootlets at rates based on the medicines’ cultivation levels, and Uncle Bai requested a thousand bags.
• Fang Weiyan hauled the fertilizer to the warehouse and planned to have Su Qingyun develop new medicines that could benefit Huaxia.
• Uncle Bai collected the thousand bags, gave Fang Weiyan sorted spirit-medicine rootlets, and gifted him medicinal liquid to strengthen his body.
• Fang Weiyan diluted the medicinal liquid in water, then called Tao Lingluo to check it before he drank any.

Fang Weiyan drank spirit-medicine essence, arranged to develop medicines with Su Qingyun, and prepared for their meeting in Cloudwater City. After a storm exposed the hardship of a woman and her sons in Pingjiang City, Fang Weiyan met Su Qingyun and her father, Su Chuanyun, at a restaurant.

• Tao Lingluo confirmed the spirit-medicine liquid was safe, and Fang Weiyan drank it before letting her collect the fifty bags of fertilizer he had promised.
• Fang Weiyan sent a clerk to buy grain with silver and yamen runners, then arranged to meet Su Qingyun in Cloudwater City the next morning to discuss developing medicines from medicinal rootlets.
• Su Qingyun agreed to meet Fang Weiyan, and her father, Su Chuanyun, decided to accompany her; Su Qingyun later went shopping with her best friend to prepare for the meeting.
• Fang Weiyan ordered the people in Pingjiang City to stop working during a torrential rainstorm, while a woman and her two sons struggled to find shelter in their dilapidated home.
• The next morning, Fang Weiyan met Su Qingyun and Su Chuanyun at a restaurant, invited her father to join their meal, and noticed Su Qingyun warning him not to say anything out of line.

Fang Weiyan gave Su Qingyun medicinal rootlets and asked her to test them as the basis for a pharmaceutical company, then returned to Pingshui City and discovered that rain had left migrant residents sick and living in leaking, unfit houses. He ordered rootlet medicine for the sick and confronted the officials responsible for their housing, leaving the problem of finding them proper shelter unresolved.

• Su Chuanyun left Fang Weiyan and Su Qingyun to talk, and Fang Weiyan asked Su Qingyun to test his medicinal rootlets and develop medicines with him.
• Su Qingyun agreed to arrange testing, but she could not bring herself to confess her feelings to Fang Weiyan before he left.
• Fang Weiyan returned to Pingshui City and learned that more than two hundred residents had caught colds after heavy rain.
• Fang Weiyan visited the residents' homes, found their bedding soaked and their houses leaking, and ordered Tao Lingluo to prepare rootlet medicine for them.
• The housing official said the city had too few habitable houses and that he had hoped to repair the damaged ones; another official confirmed his account, and Fang Weiyan turned to the unresolved need to house the residents properly.