Chu Chaofeng was also feeling troubled. The scouts he had sent out brought back battle reports of the clashes between the Taiping Army of Liangzhou and Prince Wu of Jizhou. It was said that the Taiping Army hadn’t suffered a single casualty—instead, they had used sorcery, causing the troops of Jizhou to collapse instantly.
Chu Chaofeng knew his hopes had been shattered.
Now, only two paths lay before him: either march south to attack Youzhou or surrender directly to the Taiping Army.
Fang Zhiyi was equally frustrated. The only cannons they had were taken by Wang Erxi to Jizhou. Given their current production capacity, it would be difficult to manufacture a new batch of cannons in a short time.
As for firearms… Fang Zhiyi glanced at the crooked iron pipes lying nearby and shook his head with a sigh.
The path of industrialization was not an easy one.
City after city in Jizhou fell, with the Taiping Army crushing through them effortlessly. Later, they didn’t even need to fire their cannons—the cities would open their gates and surrender as soon as the Taiping Army lined up outside.
Prince Wu was exhausted from fleeing. The Taiping Army followed him relentlessly, never in a hurry, as if they had nothing else to do.
Finally, he snapped. Prince Wu charged alone into the Taiping Army’s camp, grabbing Wang Erxi by the collar and shaking him. “What do you want? Huh? What do you want?”
Wang Erxi calmly removed his hands and stared at him in silence, making Prince Wu uneasy.
“What do you people even want?”
“Run,” Wang Erxi said.
“What?” Prince Wu didn’t understand.
“Run,” Wang Erxi repeated seriously.
Prince Wu frowned. “You want me to run?”
“Yes. The Great Celestial Master said, ‘You run, I chase.’”
“I demand to see your Great Celestial Master!” Prince Wu was losing his mind.
The banners of Jizhou were replaced with those of the Taiping Army, and news of Prince Wu’s capture spread across the land, drawing the attention of warlords to the once-obscure Liangzhou.
Looking at the disheveled Prince Wu before him, Fang Zhiyi could tell how rough his recent days had been. According to Wang Erxi’s report, he had chased Prince Wu relentlessly—setting up cannons the moment the prince entered a city.
“Fang—no, Great Celestial Master, just tell me, how do you want me to die?” Prince Wu’s face pleaded for death.
Fang Zhiyi remained silent, deep in thought.
Prince Wu suddenly sprang up, startling the guards who immediately drew their swords. Ignoring them, he shouted, “Fang! Let me tell you, push me too far and I’ll do anything!”
Fang Zhiyi slowly turned to him. “Really?” There was a hint of excitement in his eyes.
The next day, Prince Wu stood dumbfounded by the roadside, dressed in a Taiping Army uniform, holding a brush and a bamboo slip, watching a group of commoners enthusiastically mixing grayish-white mud.
“Supervisor Wu, does this hardness look right?” someone called.
Snapping out of his daze, Prince Wu walked over, inspecting the mixture. He tentatively stepped on it, his face lighting up with amazement. “Incredible!”
“Then it’s settled. Mark me down for a day’s work.”
“Supervisor Wu, mine’s done too!”
“And mine!”
Prince Wu was swamped with work.
At the statewide assembly, Fang Zhiyi raised his voice in a rallying cry: “To prosper, first build roads!”
The crowd echoed his words.
“Road construction is now our top priority. Selling sugar? Dirt roads are too slow. Transporting salt? Mountain paths are too dangerous. Even if we mobilize troops to Yongzhou, paved roads will save time. So, what we need now is roads! That concludes my speech. Next, the newly appointed Minister of Agriculture will speak.”
Amid applause, a frail scholar hesitantly took the stage. “Under the Great Celestial Master’s guidance, I’ve successfully improved the second-generation rice seeds. Results will be visible next month—I estimate yields will double.”
The hall fell into stunned silence.
“What?”
“Double? So a hundred catties becomes two hundred?”
“But he already improved it once before.”
“This kid’s really something.”
“Didn’t you hear him say it was the Great Celestial Master’s guidance?”
“Wow… the Great Celestial Master truly is remarkable. When will he guide me too?”
“Silence!” Fang Zhiyi stood, and the murmurs ceased.
“Next, our newly appointed head of commerce will speak.”
A woman stepped onto the stage, causing an uproar.
“A woman?”
“Is this a joke?”
“A female official?”
“The Great Celestial Master’s schools admit girls too. Are you discriminating?”
“No, no, no! Don’t twist my words!”
The woman cleared her throat and slammed her fist on the table. “Shut up!”
Her booming voice silenced the hall.
“Ahem. The Taiping Granary project proposed by the Great Celestial Master is nearing completion. Next, we’ll need the Agriculture Ministry’s cooperation.” She glanced at the young scholar nearby. “In recent internal meetings, we’ve decided to establish Taiping Markets along major trade routes in Liangzhou and Jizhou. These markets will be under Taiping Army protection, with low taxes and free trade for merchants.”
The crowd buzzed again, but no objections arose.
After all, even allowing merchants to hold office had been the Great Celestial Master’s idea.
“Now, the newly appointed Minister of Taxation will speak.”
A middle-aged man nervously took the stage, stammering until the audience burst into laughter.
Finally, red-faced, he announced, “The land tax will be set at one-thirtieth, with exemptions for refugees and slaves.”
Thunderous applause followed.
This was direct relief for the common people, and most present understood its significance.
“Lastly, a statewide campaign to eradicate feudal superstitions will commence, with all materials prepared by the Great Celestial Master!”
The first statewide assembly concluded, leaving the elected representatives abuzz with discussion.
“Meetings like this should happen more often. The Great Celestial Master is truly wise!”
“More often? It takes over a month just to travel here.”
“You’re from Wuwei, right? I hear road construction is progressing quickly there. It won’t take so long in the future.”
“Still, it’s not so bad now. Bandits in Liangzhou have been wiped out, so the journey isn’t as exhausting.”
Prince Wu, who had been listening the whole time, couldn’t close his gaping mouth. He finally realized one thing: with the Taiping Army and Fang Zhiyi around, he would never unite the realm. These common people genuinely stood with the Taiping cause!
Though he still glared at Wang Erxi with resentment, Prince Wu had to admit that supervising road construction was oddly satisfying. Fang Zhiyi even paid him a monthly salary—not in heavy copper coins or silver, but in strange, lightweight sheets they called “paper.” Prince Wu treasured them, carefully storing them at home.
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
] This is a dark fantasy-themed dating simulation game. The main gameplay involves containing various monster girls and investigating the truth of a world shrouded in mist alongside your companions. However, due to his love for the dark and bizarre atmosphere, Luo Wei ended up turning a dating game into a detective mystery game. Women? Women only slow down his quickdraw! To Luo Wei, the female leads in the game are more like tools to perfectly clear levels and squeeze out rewards. For Luo Wei, flirting with every girl he meets and then discarding them is standard procedure. Worried about characters losing affection points? No need. With his maxed-out charm stat, Luo Wei is practically a "human incubus." A little psychological manipulation and those points come right back. It's a bit scummy, but the paper cutout heroines in the game won't actually come at him with real cleavers. However... Luo Wei has transmigrated. He's accidentally entered the second playthrough of this game. His past actions have caused all the girls to transform into terrifying yanderes. Due to the game's setting, most of the heroines he once contained are "troubled girls." Obsessive, twisted, mentally unstable, all aggressive yanderes... The type who will kill you if they can't have you... Luo Wei wants to cry but has no tears left. "I really just want to survive..." In short, this is a story of battling wits and engaging in a love-hate relationship with yanderes.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
with countless casualties. As a top-tier gamer, Liu Xuan volunteered to join the fight, intending to dominate with his skills, but instead he obtained the hidden class: [Pacifist]. Unable to attack. Unable to use active skills. Fortunately, with each level gained, he acquired a new passive skill. And so, armed with a body full of passives, Liu Xuan slaughtered his way through the battlefield of ten thousand races! [You attacked Liu Xuan] [You gained the debuffs: 'Poison', 'Fear', 'Burning', 'Bleeding', 'Freeze', 'Silence', etc.] [Your attack speed has been reduced by 99%] [Your armor and magic resistance have been reduced by 99%] Warriors of the Ten Thousand Races: How the hell am I supposed to fight this?!
