Chapter 204
Duke William Blackwood stood with his back to the fire, the flames creating his tall frame in moving gold. The room was silent save for the low crackle of burning logs and the faint tap-tap-tap of a booted foot.
Three barons sat before him, arranged neatly in high-backed chairs more ornate than most deserved.
His study was not meant for hosting, but power often...
Chapter 97
The talk with Chief Muyang was brief.
Once the old man gave his word to protect Meadow Village, he left with a spring in his step—most likely to inform the other elders of the village, blissfully unaware that Chen Ren had wanted exactly that.
The moment Muyang escaped his sight, Chen Ren's gaze turned distant.
This place can’t fall, he thought. Not jus...
Chapter 203
Kai had been hearing about the plague here and there for a while now, but it was mostly exaggerated rumors, mixed up with fear and uncertainty. Sifting through the noise for real information had been frustrating at best.
A part of it was due to the plague originating in another kingdom, far beyond his reach—the western edge of Vanderfall, to be precise. Another fact...
Chapter 96
Haoran moved through the marbled halls of the lord’s estate in Cloud Mist City, his soft-soled boots making no sound as he walked behind the servant guiding him. The young man bowed every few steps, showing the kind of trained courtesy that only came from a well-managed household. Haoran, however, paid him little mind.
His gaze swept from wall to pillar, tracing the c...
Chapter 95
Chen Ren lifted his hand, studying the ring in his hand, polishing it with a cloth as he felt a grin stretch on his face.
The black metal, dull and almost matte but with a thin silver groove running along the band had a faint shine to it. It was unassuming at a glance, the sort of thing a poor merchant might wear, but it sat on his finger with a weight that had nothing...
Chapter 202
Although Kai was fulfilling his duties as lord well and pushing himself toward the fourth circle, there was one more position and a responsibility that followed with it—one that he could only oversee once a week. Being the Tower Master of the Sorcerer’s Tower.
Thanks to the efforts of Earth Mages, the tower had been built. He admitted that the pace was impressive a...
Chapter 94
There were only a few moments in Xueying Shenmu’s life when he had truly felt humiliated. There was the time he had lost to his brothers after they had begun their cultivation journeys—when he, once the most talented among them, had been left in the dust.
Then there were the bitter losses he had suffered in his early years of business, each one a wound to his pride...
Chapter 201
Silvren moved through the sprawling crowd, his sharp, blue eyes scanning every man and woman bustling along the lively streets of Veyrin.
A few months ago, these same streets had been almost deserted—silent and lifeless, with merchants abandoning their shops and people disappearing behind locked doors. But since the new lord had taken over, the city had started to b...
Chapter 93
Talking to Wenqing was only the first step of his plan, but once that was done, he moved to the next step; moving towards the other union members, but only going to the ones he believed were more likely to turn against the Xueying clan.
He couldn't take a massive risk and fall head first, like letting the clan know what was going to hit them in advance, and handing the...
Chapter 200
It took time to settle everything after the attack. Cleaning up the mess and calming the nobles’ nerves took hours in itself. They were rattled—more than Kai expected—and annoyingly oblivious to the fact that he’d just saved them. Instead of gratitude, they demanded better security measures, which, in fairness, he could get behind… if only they had been more civil a...
Chapter 92
The initial crowd demanding compensation for counterfeit perfumes had been just the beginning. By mid-morning, the trickle turned into a flood. More and more furious customers kept arriving, slamming down cheap wooden bottles with deceptive labels and demanding their money back. To save face and protect their reputation, Chen Ren had no choice but to hand out replacements from...
Chapter 199
Kai knew from the sheer strength of the Mages attacking the estate that their leader had to be someone in the same circle as him. But what he hadn’t expected was for the man to have a Shadow affinity. That revelation, however, explained a lot. Shadow spells weren’t just destructive—they were notoriously good for sneaking around unnoticed. And getting so many Mages insid...
Chapter 198
More and more shouts echoed through the estate. A thin trail of smoke drifted in through the window, curling ominously. Without wasting a second, Kai flicked his hand, summoning a wind barrier that pushed the smoke away and sealed the room in a protective bubble.
Amara’s eyes widened and clutched Kai’s hand, shaken by the sudden chaos outside.
“Princess....
Chapter 91
Chen Ren hadn’t expected it, but the opening day was simply the prelude to what was about to come. Due to their initiative in marketing, discounts, and the perfumes already being pretty cheap, word of mouth had spread pretty fast. There were now twice the amount of people entering their shop that were on the opening day.
The public samples helped, but it wasn’t just...
Chapter 90
Chen Ren knew there were certain things that could draw humans like moths to a flame, and among them, crowds stood at the top of the list. In both his previous life and this one, he had learned that nothing stirred curiosity more than the sight of people gathered together, craning their necks to see what the fuss was about. It didn’t matter if someone was headed somewhere im...
Chapter 197
What Kai discovered in his experiments with Amyra wasn’t just groundbreaking. It was the kind of breakthrough that every Mage in his era, and countless ones before it, had spent lifetimes chasing. The ability resisted, absorbed and purified dead mana. It should’ve been impossible, unprecedented that even ancient archives of the Sorcerer’s Tower held only vague theories ...
Chapter 196
Kai stayed with the Lombards for another day, sharing everything he knew about the different types of Enforcers and more into the lost art of the Berserkers.
By the time he was born, Berserkers had already become legends of the past, their peak etched into history during the second golden era of magic. Back then, they had built an empire fueled by fury and unmatched m...
Chapter 89
Tang Yuqiu couldn’t help but marvel at the sight before her. The machine, made of copper and gears, hummed steadily as it stitched together a dress—something that would have taken weeks by hand. Two weeks, eight hours per day. Now, it felt like it would be done in just two days. And it was only two days because the woman using it was still adjusting to the new process.
Chapter 195
The city of Dyerich was almost dead. Feroy moved through it, his boots clicking softly against the stone streets as his retinue followed behind him. Everywhere he looked, he was rewarded with thick silence. But despite the stillness, the tension was there. He felt it and he was sure that others did, too.
“Knight Feroy, I’ve told you, you aren’t going to find an...
Chapter 88
Xueying Shenmu, clan head of the prestigious Xueying clan, swung his sword, feeling the ripple of his biceps. His muscles strained as each blow landed. A sharp crack formed against the wooden dummy in front of him.
“Argh!” He swung it again, this time aiming at the dummy’s neck. It once again caused wood to splinter. Beads of sweat ran down his face as he brought ...
Chapter 87
Yushu yawned. His long, bulky hands stretched behind his neck as he sat on top of a small hill, overlooking a road. His back was against a tree as he felt himself almost falling asleep.
When he had first become a cultivator and realized that, rather than soaring over cities and practicing techniques that could shatter entire buildings with a single strike, ‘Cultivati...
Chapter 194
Kai moved through the new lands of the Lombards, taking in the sight of the growing settlement. He had to admit, everything felt meticulously planned out. When he’d told Francis to lend a hand in designing the territory, he hadn’t expected the Lombards to follow the guidance so well.
Afterall, they had no reason to follow the structure that nobles provided, but sur...
Chapter 86
Chen Ren moved through the corridors of the building with steady steps and entered the one in the middle.
Inside, a man from the Tang Clan was already waiting for him. As he stepped inside the room, the man, who’d been leisurely sipping tea, raised his head to look at him. Almost immediately, he set the cup down and bowed.
“You are Young Master Chen Ren?”...
Chapter 193
Kai talked to Isolde for a while longer, but apparently, she had other places to be and soon left after ensuring that he had received the royal message and getting Kai’s seal over a document. Once he was alone, he moved to his office on the upper floors, leaving Killian to fetch one of Francis' apprentices who was well-versed in kingdom law.
As Kai sat waiting in his...
Chapter 192
Like Kai thought, a little show of power was enough for Kairnso and Vensar to fall in line. They still seemed displeased, their pride wounded, but it was clear to them now—their lives were in Kai's hands, and there was nothing they could do but hope whatever fate he had planned would be merciful. It was almost satisfying to watch the prideful lords fall into an awkward sile...
Chapter 85
The prototype gun model firing a bullet was a big win, even if it didn’t seem like much. For Chen Ren, however, it was just the start. He knew there were countless improvements to make, both in the design of the gun and the powder itself. He shot the bullets a few more times, and while the weapon didn’t explode in his hands, it did jam after a while. It seemed the residual...
Chapter 84
Chen Ren looked over at the farm that scattered across him.
When he had gotten rid of the locust problem, the village farms had been in a miserable state—worn-out soil, trampled crops, and a thick air of defeat clinging to the land like a curse. He had assumed it would take seasons before anything would grow again. Yet now, as he gazed at the fields stretching beneath...
Chapter 191
Kai stood before the gathered crowd, their eyes locked onto him. Hundreds of gazes bore into him, heavy with emotions he couldn’t fully decipher. But if he had to name them—reverence and authority would be at the top.
A sea of faces stretched before him, each marked by loss, by hardship, by survival. Some clutched at the hands of loved ones, others held themselves ...
Chapter 190
Killian, Knight of Veralt, moved along the roads leading to the city, taking in the crisp morning air. His sword—the one Lord Arzan himself had gifted after the beast wave rested securely on his back, a familiar thing he barely noticed anymore.
It was rare for him to forgo morning training, but today, he had chosen to jog the perimeter of the city instead. By now, hi...
Chapter 83
It took a while, but Qing He was finally on board with moving to the sect temporarily to work on the gunpowder and assist with the casing of the gun itself. By the end of their discussion, she had even provided ideas for the weapon’s construction, suggesting the use of runes to reinforce the structure and improve durability.
Chen Ren hadn't given much thought to that ...