Chapter 203: The Tower of Ascending Heavens (Seeking subscriptions and votes)

In the blink of an eye, three days had passed since Xiao Xie arrived in this world, and the entire Xiao estate had begun to operate normally.

“Young master, what are you doing?” Murong Huang looked curiously at Xiao Xie, who was drawing something on a stone tablet with charcoal.

“I’m writing down the method of papermaking,” Xiao Xie replied, patting Murong Huang’s head with a smile. For some reason, whenever he saw the adorable little girl, he always felt like ruffling her hair.

Startled by Xiao Xie’s affectionate gesture, Murong Huang froze, her fingers almost tearing the edge of her clothes. When Xiao Xie withdrew his hand, she shyly lifted her rosy face and asked, “Young master, what is paper?”

“What is paper? I won’t explain it to you now. Once it’s made, you’ll understand,” Xiao Xie said with a gentle laugh, lightly scratching her delicate nose as he watched her blush.

Xiao Xie’s motivation for inventing paper wasn’t to popularize it or spread culture—after all, he could only stay in this world for two years, and promoting paper nationwide within that time was unlikely. His true reason was practicality. Every time he wanted to record something, he had to carve it onto bamboo slips with a knife, which was cumbersome. More importantly, without paper, there was no rough paper for everyday use. Every time he needed to relieve himself, he agonized over whether to use bamboo strips or leaves, which made him tense up down there.

Soon, Xiao Xie finished writing the papermaking method and said to Murong Huang, “Take this stone tablet to Murong Feng and have her instruct the craftsmen to produce paper according to what’s written here.”

“Understood, young master,” Murong Huang obediently nodded and carried the stone tablet off to find Murong Feng. Though the tablet weighed dozens of pounds, it was light enough for her to carry with ease, thanks to her mastery of the internal energy from twenty years of Yijinjing training.

Though Murong Feng and Murong Huang were twins, their personalities were vastly different. Murong Feng was fiery and decisive, so she managed most affairs of the Xiao estate. Murong Huang, gentle and mild, followed the lead of Murong Feng and Xiao Xie, serving as Xiao Xie’s personal maid, attending to his daily needs.

“We’re a bit short on money,” Xiao Xie said, a hint of frustration in his voice. In just three days, most of the valuables taken back from Qingyun Village had been spent. The next projects would require even more funds, so he needed to find a way to make money. He couldn’t just keep robbing bandits indefinitely; even if he looted every bandit camp, it wouldn’t yield significant profits. And he couldn’t waste all his time dealing with bandits.

“Got it!” Xiao Xie’s eyes scanned around until they landed on a bronze mirror. Then he knew what to do. To prepare for the current situation, he had previously recorded some knowledge—including how to make paper, glass, fine wine, and more. With his extraordinary spiritual power, memorizing these details was easy.

This time, his goal was to manufacture glass. In the era when Ying Zheng had just unified the six kingdoms, glass did not yet exist. Producing glass at this time would be like creating a rare treasure, and selling it would bring immense profits.

Mainly, Xiao Xie was in a challenge world and couldn’t take items out of his storage space. Anything he retrieved would be priceless in this era.

“But before that, I need to borrow some money! What a hard life!” Xiao Xie sighed. Although glass would surely be profitable, making it required expensive materials and tools upfront. So, he had to focus again on those bandit camps.

Thus, within a thousand-mile radius of Qingyun City, all the famous bandit strongholds were targeted by Xiao Xie.

...

Three months later, Qingyun City had undergone a great transformation. A nine-story tall tower called the Ascension Tower had appeared. It was said to be filled with rare treasures, with the first floor housing the least valuable items and the ninth floor the most precious. Each floor had access restrictions based on one’s status; even the city lord could only enter up to the third floor.

Rumors about the Ascension Tower were almost mythical. Some had tried to invade it, but three innate masters who dared to enter were swiftly killed by the tower’s guardians. Since then, no one dared to covet the tower.

“Young master, the production of white paper, glass, and fine wine has increased significantly. Over the past three months, we’ve established branches in ten major cities around Qingyun City, selling wine nationwide. After some promotion, glass has become a coveted jewel among the nobility. In total, we’ve earned three hundred thousand taels of gold,” Murong Feng reported to Xiao Xie.

“Good, noted,” Xiao Xie said, handing a book to Murong Huang, who was standing by to serve him.

In these three months, Xiao Xie had eliminated five large bandit camps, absorbing nearly eight hundred years’ worth of refined internal energy. As a result, there were no longer bandits within a thousand miles of Qingyun City. The grateful local people had given Xiao Xie over three hundred thousand admiration points within a month.

After three months of growth, Xiao Xie’s slaves numbered more than 3,200. Three thousand were assigned to produce white paper, fine wine, and glass. The remaining two hundred handled affairs within the estate. As his influence expanded, the Xiao estate grew several times larger.

Murong Feng and Murong Huang had also cultivated the Lone Sword Technique to a minor accomplishment. Xiao Xie had infused each of them with fifty years’ worth of internal energy, raising their pure internal energy to the equivalent of eighty years, successfully stepping into the innate realm.

Besides the two sisters, Xiao Xie had spent seven hundred years of refined internal energy training ten innate masters. These were his loyal warriors, skilled in combined attacks. Eight of them were stationed in the Ascension Tower, explaining why the three innate masters who tried to enter were instantly slain.

The remaining two warriors guarded the Xiao estate to prevent trouble during Xiao Xie’s and Murong Feng’s absences.

“Young master, I’ve been tasked with gathering information about Sword Saint Gai Nie. According to the latest intelligence, the Qin Kingdom’s top swordsman, Sword Saint Gai Nie, has defected from Qin. The reason seems to involve a child,” Murong Feng said with a strange expression. She was surprised when she received this news; Gai Nie was a favorite of Ying Zheng, so his defection was shocking.

“Murong Huang, get ready. Looks like we’re going on a long journey,” Xiao Xie said, slightly taken aback, then smiled at Murong Huang.

“Yes, young master,” Murong Huang obediently nodded.

Seeing Murong Feng hesitating to speak, Xiao Xie smiled and said, “You’ve worked hard lately. You’re coming with us.”

“Thank you, young master,” Murong Feng replied, her face lighting up with genuine joy.

Xiao Xie’s eyes softened as he looked at her heartfelt smile. Though she had managed things well in recent months, she was still a sixteen-year-old girl carrying a heavy burden.

“Shadow One, Shadow Two, during our absence, you will protect the estate,” Xiao Xie said calmly.

“Yes, sir!” Two black shadows suddenly appeared behind him, kneeling respectfully.

...

The steady clatter of iron hooves approached rapidly. A force of three hundred troops had surrounded two figures on a narrow path flanked by cliffs on both sides.

One was a middle-aged man dressed in a white robe with black trim, the other a lively, mischievous-looking child.

The middle-aged man’s sharp eyes and sword inscribed with the words “Deep Rainbow” identified him unmistakably as Sword Saint Gai Nie. The child was Jing Tianming, the son of Jing Ke.

The commander, mounted on a warhorse, rode forward a few steps and shouted to the soldiers, “These two are fugitives personally ordered captured by the Prime Minister. They carry secrets that threaten the entire empire.”

Drawing his sword and pointing it at the two, he suppressed his fear of the world’s greatest swordsman and commanded, “Without my order, no one is to act rashly.”