Chapter Summaries

Fang Weiyan returned to Earth for the New Year, gave his parents immortal peaches, and arranged to renovate their home before returning to the Jiang Kingdom. There, he introduced new currency called Kaiping Treasure Currency and visited the peach saplings with Yunxi.

• Fang Weiyan returned to Earth, paid his designer, booked a flight home, and arrived in his village with New Year supplies.
• Fang Weiyan gave his parents an immortal peach each, collected the pits, and told them he had arranged to renovate their old house into a villa.
• Fang Weiyan returned to the Jiang Kingdom and ordered Ji Chunzhe to exchange silver for the new currency and establish banks for deposits and exchanges.
• Ji Chunzhe suggested naming the currency Kaiping Treasure Currency, and Fang Weiyan warned him that he would be held accountable if officials embezzled it.
• Yunxi visited Fang Weiyan in the imperial study, and he explained that he had returned to prepare for the arrival of people from other dynasties.
• Fang Weiyan and Yunxi visited Tao Lingluo in the imperial garden, where she showed them two sprouted peach trees and planted two more pits he gave her.

Fang Weiyan ordered the Ministry of Rites to promote later marriage and childbirth using a medical manual, hoping to increase the Jiang Kingdom’s population and strengthen the Yin Gods through incense offerings. The ministers recognized that he had won the people’s support and secured control of the kingdom, leaving Ji Chunzhe wary of discussing his methods further.

• Fang Weiyan asked Yunxi which Yin Gods were worth nurturing, and she praised the Yanhuai City gods for their bravery against the centipede spirit.
• Fang Weiyan summoned the Minister of Rites and the Minister of Revenue and told them the Jiang Kingdom’s population of thirty million was too small.
• Fang Weiyan gave the ministers his childbirth manual and ordered the Minister of Rites to publicize later marriage and encourage families to have more children.
• Ji Chunzhe reported that the commercial tax plan was drafted but still needed refinement, and Fang Weiyan ordered the ministers to review it before submitting it to him.
• After leaving the palace, the Minister of Rites warned Ji Chunzhe that Fang Weiyan had made himself powerful by winning popular support and building a capable administration.
• Ji Chunzhe realized how firmly Fang Weiyan controlled the kingdom, warned the Minister of Rites to stop discussing the matter, and hurried away.

After spending New Year at home, Fang Weiyan returned to the Jiang Kingdom and began planning where to release the river in his jade bottle. He ordered the Ministry of Works to resurvey mineral deposits and ended by asking whether the Mountain Spirit had been found.

• Fang Weiyan reassured his parents that rebuilding their house would cost only a few hundred thousand, then discussed his pharmaceutical research and development company with Su Qingyun.
• After New Year, Fang Weiyan hired a renovation company and returned to the Jiang Kingdom, where he showed Yunxi the jade bottle that could produce a river.
• Fang Weiyan explained that he wanted to plan the river’s route around drought-stricken areas, transport, bridges, and economic development before releasing it.
• Fang Weiyan asked the Minister of Works about drought-prone regions and mineral deposits, then ordered a fresh survey because the existing records dated from the previous dynasty.
• Fang Weiyan asked whether the Mountain Spirit had been found.

Fang Weiyan reviewed the Jiang Kingdom’s currency, living conditions, reclaimed farmland, and plans for next year’s crops. He identified a river route for hydropower and transport, then returned from Earth with seeds and fertilizer for the coming planting season.

• Fang Weiyan read a report showing that the Kaiping Treasure Currency was circulating successfully and that old money was being collected.
• Fang Weiyan discussed housing and roads with Yunxi, then spotted a suitable river and terrain for a hydropower plant and nearby factories.
• Yunxi told Fang Weiyan that demons and monsters had been driven out of several regions, and she read him reports on farmland recovered by the inspection commissioners.
• Fang Weiyan reviewed the farmland register and began planning how to allocate land for grain, cotton, and other crops.
• Fang Weiyan returned to Earth, bought seeds and fertilizer, and brought them back to the Jiang Kingdom.

Fang Weiyan welcomed the Mountain Spirit into his service, and his answer to her inquiry into his ambitions unlocked many Divine Abilities and raised her strength to the flower blooming realm. After the Ministry of Works was told to repair the collapsed imperial study, Fang Weiyan let the Mountain Spirit stay with Tao Lingluo by the peach tree.

• The Mountain Spirit arrived at the imperial palace and offered to serve Fang Weiyan, then asked what he sought as Human Sovereign.
• Fang Weiyan said he sought peace and prosperity for heaven, earth, and the people, causing the Mountain Spirit's power to surge and collapse the imperial study.
• The Mountain Spirit explained that Fang Weiyan's answer had unlocked numerous Divine Abilities, and he recognized her three flowers as a sign of the flower blooming realm.
• Fang Weiyan learned that the Mountain Spirit could pray for blessings and extend his lifespan, and he welcomed her strength as a new asset to the Jiang Kingdom.
• Fang Weiyan dismissed the Ministry of Works officials after ordering repairs and allowed the Mountain Spirit to stay with Tao Lingluo.

Tao Lingluo learned that Mountain Spirits were dwindling because other Human Sovereigns exhausted their lifespans to prolong the lives of rulers and their relatives. The Mountain Spirit remained skeptical of Fang Weiyan’s heaven-bestowed immortal peach tree, while Fang Weiyan decided to stop probing her and keep a discreet watch.

• Tao Lingluo questioned the Mountain Spirit, who explained that Mountain Spirits’ tribulations could consume their lifespans when Human Sovereigns used them to extend the lives of royal relatives.
• The Mountain Spirit said she had come to the Jiang Kingdom because Fang Weiyan cared for his people, though she worried he might exploit her race as other rulers had.
• Tao Lingluo told the Mountain Spirit that Fang Weiyan possessed heaven-bestowed treasures, including an immortal peach tree that could produce fruit extending lifespans by decades.
• The Mountain Spirit doubted that the immortal peaches were real but considered that they could offer hope to her dwindling race if they proved genuine.
• Tao Lingluo reported her conversation to Fang Weiyan, who accepted the Mountain Spirit’s explanation for now and told Tao Lingluo to watch her without probing further.

Fang Weiyan learned that drought threatened the lands north of the Wu River and asked Weiwei to bring rain, while he continued overseeing the Jiang Kingdom’s affairs. Envoys from other dynasties reached the border, where the kingdom’s shabby walls made them doubt the reports about its Human Sovereign.

• Fang Weiyan heard that rain had nourished the lands south of the Wu River but that the regions north of it were suffering from drought.
• Fang Weiyan asked Weiwei to regulate the Water Qi, and she quickly completed a rain prayer for the drought-stricken lands.
• Weiwei wondered whether Fang Weiyan was trustworthy and considered inviting her clanspeople to the Jiang Kingdom, but decided to wait; Tao Lingluo told her that Fang Weiyan had unknowingly helped demons through their Human Tribulations.
• Envoys from several dynasties arrived at the Jiang Kingdom’s border and mocked its low, weathered walls and apparently weak guards.
• A minister of the Zhou Kingdom urged the envoys to enter the Jiang Kingdom and judge its strength and Human Sovereign for themselves.

Envoys from Great Zhou, Great Liang, and Qing'an entered the Jiang Kingdom and traveled toward Yanhuai City under escort. They marveled at the smooth cement road, which let their carriages speed along comfortably, and continued toward the capital eager to see what else the kingdom held.

• The envoys presented their credentials to the guards and entered the run-down border city.
• Lin Liyun offered the envoys personal guards to escort them to Yanhuai City, and they accepted.
• The envoys learned that few townspeople were in the city because they were working the fields or repairing roads.
• The envoys and their carriage passengers were astonished by the broad, smooth cement road and how comfortably it carried their carriages.
• The envoys' carriages picked up speed on the road as they continued toward Yanhuai City.

Envoys from several nations arrived in Yanhuai City, while Fang Weiyan inspected the blooming immortal peach trees and learned they might bear fruit in about half a month. As incense offerings began recovering alongside the Jiang Kingdom’s strength, Fang Weiyan considered having the state provide incense and candles to the people.

• Envoys from several nations reached Yanhuai City, refused to give silver to their personal guards, and were settled by the Ministry of Rites.
• Fang Weiyan visited the imperial garden, where Tao Lingluo said the peach trees had bloomed overnight and might bear immortal peaches in about half a month.
• Tao Lingluo credited Weiwei with helping the trees bloom, and Weiwei asked to save her reward for a future request.
• A guard told Fang Weiyan the envoys had arrived, and Fang Weiyan ordered the Ministry of Rites to host them before he received them at court the next day.
• Fang Weiyan reviewed reports of successful spring plowing and plentiful rainfall, then Yunxi told him that incense collections had increased.
• Fang Weiyan asked whether the state should provide incense and candles so the cost would not discourage the common people from making offerings.

Fang Weiyan ordered the court to provide incense and candles to strengthen the Yin Gods and reduce the common people’s burden, then discussed foreign envoys’ gifts with the jealous Yunxi over hot pot. The next day, he heard reports at court on spring planting and the progress of his reforms.

• Fang Weiyan ordered incense and candle workshops built so the court could supply offerings to the common people.
• Fang Weiyan reviewed reports of shortages in money and cement and concluded that production needed to expand.
• Yunxi asked Fang Weiyan about foreign envoys bringing beauties; he said he might give them to court ministers, then agreed to leave any arriving women to her care.
• Fang Weiyan shared hot pot with Yunxi, who delighted in the unfamiliar food.
• Fang Weiyan received a report that spring plowing was complete and cultivated land had expanded, while his inspectors continued purging local officials and gentry.

Fang Weiyan received congratulatory envoys from five kingdoms, who offered gifts and asked him to suppress demons, accept their vassalage, and open trade. Suspicious of their motives, he agreed to nothing outright as the Jin Kingdom's envoy shifted to probing his temperament and ambitions.

• Fang Weiyan welcomed envoys from five kingdoms and heard them present lavish gifts, then granted each delegation unfamiliar Jiang Kingdom goods in return.
• The Great Zhou, Great Liang, Jin, and other envoys asked Fang Weiyan to pacify demon-infested territories so their kingdoms could expand and gain access to resources.
• The envoys offered their kingdoms as vassals, but Fang Weiyan suspected they were withholding information and said he would consult his ministers before deciding.
• The envoys proposed establishing trade, and Fang Weiyan expressed interest but again deferred his decision until he had discussed it with his ministers.
• The Jin Kingdom's envoy changed tack and began probing Fang Weiyan's temperament and desire to expand.

Fang Weiyan rejected the foreign envoys’ proposal to become vassals and agreed to open trade, after Yunxi explained why neighboring dynasties might seek Jiang Kingdom’s protection. The envoys were astonished by the emperor’s gifts, and a Ministry of Rites minister arrived to question them while they puzzled over the unfamiliar goods.

• Fang Weiyan consulted his ministers about the envoys’ requests, and they advised caution and suggested probing the visitors for information over wine.
• Yunxi told Fang Weiyan that the neighboring dynasties might be submitting because they feared the Human Sovereign and hoped to gain his help against demons.
• Fang Weiyan decided not to accept vassal states but agreed to open trade with the foreign dynasties.
• The envoys opened the Jiang Kingdom’s gifts and marveled at their fine craftsmanship and colorful glass pearls, realizing they seemed far more valuable than their own tribute.
• A minister from the Ministry of Rites visited the envoys and saw them bewildered as they tried to identify the unfamiliar gifts.

Fang Weiyan inspected the Jiang Kingdom’s expanding farms and busy docks, then planned new industrial projects and artillery production. Meanwhile, Mountain Spirit women hurried toward the kingdom to find Weiwei and remove her from danger.

• The Minister of Rites explained the uses of the treasures His Majesty had given the foreign envoys, who realized the gifts were valuable.
• Mountain Spirit women flew toward the Jiang Kingdom, fearing Weiwei might approach its new Human Sovereign to face her tribulation and be captured.
• Fang Weiyan inspected vigorous crops and giant vegetables with Yunxi and Weiwei, while Yunxi reflected on how the farmland had changed since her imperial father’s reign.
• Fang Weiyan visited the busy docks, noted the Jiang Kingdom’s growing national strength, and considered buying more cargo ships.
• After returning to the palace, Fang Weiyan reviewed his plans and decided to pursue industrial projects and seamless steel pipe processes for producing artillery.

At court, Fang Weiyan rejected the foreign envoys’ offer of submission but welcomed trade and announced that Jiang Kingdom would clear demons from the mountain ranges between their nations. He gave the Ministry of Works plans to build an industrial foundation, then returned to the palace as tribute women admired him and marveled at Jiang Kingdom’s comforts.

• The foreign envoys asked Fang Weiyan to accept their nations’ submission after discovering Jiang Kingdom’s cheap grain, cement roads, and prosperity, but he said he wanted trade rather than submission.
• Fang Weiyan announced that Jiang Kingdom would eliminate demons in the intervening mountain ranges, prompting the envoys to agree despite fearing he would claim the cleared territory.
• Fang Weiyan instructed the Ministry of Works to prepare factory buildings and raw materials for steelmaking, while he planned to buy equipment from Earth and seek funds from Su Qingyun.
• Fang Weiyan encountered tribute women collecting scented soap, and they praised his appearance after he left.
• The women recalled their first night in the palace, describing the fragrant soap, fine clothes, comfortable bedding, and other unfamiliar comforts they had experienced in Jiang Kingdom.

Fang Weiyan issued an edict claiming Heavenly Dew Mountain for the Jiang Kingdom, then met Su Qingyun in Wenhai City, gave her a peach, and asked her for five billion in research funds. The civil judge reached Heavenly Dew Mountain to proclaim the edict, but the mountain lord attacked before he could read it.

• Fang Weiyan ordered the civil judge to proclaim that Heavenly Dew Mountain belonged to the Jiang Kingdom and left for Earth.
• Fang Weiyan visited the Daoist temple, observed that the koi had grown stronger, and flew to Wenhai City to meet Su Qingyun.
• Fang Weiyan gave Su Qingyun a peach, took its pit after she ate it, and asked her for another five billion in research funds.
• Su Qingyun agreed to provide the funds and invited Fang Weiyan to watch a movie with her.
• The civil judge arrived at Heavenly Dew Mountain, where the mountain lord hurled a boulder at him and then pounced when the judge defied him.

Judge Wen used Fang Weiyan’s imperial edict to claim Heavenly Dew Mountain for the Jiang Kingdom, but the Mountain Lord and other demons began considering resistance. Fang Weiyan returned from Earth to Yanhuai City, visited Yunxi, and then received the returning Judge Wen in the imperial study.

• The imperial edict nullified the Mountain Lord’s spell, and its golden dragon struck him down while declaring Heavenly Dew Mountain part of the Jiang Kingdom.
• After Judge Wen left, the Mountain Lord gathered the mountain demons, and they debated whether to resist the Jiang Kingdom’s claim.
• On Earth, Fang Weiyan accepted a coin from Su Qingyun so he could change her luck, then returned to the Jiang Kingdom with two sundaes.
• Fang Weiyan found Yunxi training the palace maids at Purple Cloud Palace and gave her a sundae before returning to the imperial study.
• Judge Wen returned looking bedraggled and requested an audience, prompting Fang Weiyan to suspect that something had gone wrong.

Fang Weiyan sent Weiwei to bring Heavenly Dew Mountain’s demons under Jiang Kingdom’s control, while Weiwei reunited with her Mountain Spirit sisters and told them about the possible life-extending peaches. At Heavenly Dew Mountain, Weiwei killed the Mountain Lord and cowed the demons into submission.

• Fang Weiyan learned that Heavenly Dew Mountain held many demons and sent Weiwei to negotiate, telling her to avoid fighting if she could not prevail.
• Outside Yanhuai City, Weiwei’s Mountain Spirit sisters prepared to leave after believing she was trapped in the Human Sovereign’s service.
• Weiwei reunited with her eldest sister and explained that Fang Weiyan had not asked her to bestow blessings and that immortal peaches might help preserve their clan.
• Weiwei told her sisters to remain near Yanhuai City until the peaches ripened, then set out to persuade Heavenly Dew Mountain’s demons to submit.
• Weiwei released her presence over Heavenly Dew Mountain, killed the Mountain Lord, and caused the other demons to submit.

Weiwei spared the demons of Heavenly Dew Mountain after ordering them to obey the Jiang Kingdom’s laws, while Su Mu reviewed the kingdom’s mineral resources and planned industrial expansion. The foreign envoys departed Yanhuai City as Su Mu focused on raising iron production and building more cement plants.

• Weiwei questioned the demons of Heavenly Dew Mountain about defying the emperor’s decree and heard their concerns about losing their territory.
• Weiwei allowed the demons to remain on Heavenly Dew Mountain if they stopped harming people and obstructing mining, warning that she would hold them responsible for future crimes.
• Su Mu reviewed the Jiang Kingdom’s ore deposits and considered buying machinery and improving people’s education to support mining and industry.
• A guard told Su Mu that the foreign envoys had left Yanhuai City before dawn, and Su Mu dismissed the news.
• Su Mu noted that the Jiang Kingdom produced only 8,000 tonnes of iron the year before last and planned to increase output and build cement plants in more cities.

Weiwei reported that she had subdued the demons of Heavenly Dew Mountain, while Fang Weiyan reviewed plans for the steelworks and domestic incense and candle production. On Earth, Su Qingyun noticed that she looked younger and learned that two drugs developed from Fang Weiyan’s medicinal rootlets had passed trials with better-than-expected effects.

• Weiwei told Fang Weiyan that she had killed the strongest demon, a tiger demon, and that the other powerful demons were around the Spirit Platform Realm.
• Fang Weiyan praised Weiwei and let her leave, then reviewed the Ministry of Works’ report that two smelting plant buildings were expected to be finished by month’s end.
• Fang Weiyan confirmed that the court had begun organizing incense and candle production and considered how the steelworks and cloud iron ore might be used.
• Su Qingyun, having transferred five billion to Fang Weiyan, noticed that her skin looked clearer and that she seemed younger.
• Su Qingyun learned by phone that the first two drugs developed from Fang Weiyan’s medicinal rootlets had passed clinical trials without adverse reactions and performed better than expected.

Su Qingyun learned that clinical trials for two drugs, including a potential diabetes cure, had succeeded and planned to submit them for registration and invite Fang Weiyan to celebrate. In Great Qian, its Human Sovereign investigated Fang Weiyan’s rise and sent the findings to Empress Wanxi, who considered the coming battle in the Land of Ten Thousand Witherings.

• Su Qingyun received reports confirming that the two drugs had passed their clinical trials and ordered her staff to prepare the registration applications.
• Su Qingyun decided to invite Fang Weiyan to a celebration banquet because he held shares in her company.
• Great Qian’s Human Sovereign heard that Fang Weiyan had restored the Jiang Kingdom and raised its national strength, then questioned how he had learned Universe in the Sleeve.
• Great Qian’s Human Sovereign ordered a Wind Luan to carry Fang Weiyan’s information to Empress Wanxi.
• Empress Wanxi read the report and reflected on the approaching opening of the Land of Ten Thousand Witherings and the battle ahead.