Scripture of Days Past

That night, a carpenter snuck out of the county town and arrived at a relay station.

A traveling salesman met up with him and asked, ”Have you made up your mind?”

The carpenter hesitated for a moment, then said, ”I have a piece of information to sell to you, and I guarantee it’ll be useful.”

”What is it?” the traveling salesman asked.

”I want a thousand taels of silver, and you have to get my family and me safely out of Azure Sun County,” the carpenter said.

”A thousand taels of silver is far too much,” the traveling salesman argued.

”The information I have will surely spell Chu Qiguang’s demise. It could perhaps even bring down the entire Wu Clan as well,” the carpenter proclaimed. ”You should consider yourself lucky that I’m willing to sell it to you for such a low price.”

Right as the two were speaking, they were startled by a loud meow. They turned to discover a white cat watching them from nearby.

Chu Qiguang had assigned cat fiends to keep an eye on the workers in case of this exact scenario.

***

That night, the traveling salesman’s body was transported to the dock before being dumped into the river.

”That’s all for tonight. Let’s all go back and rest,” White Rice said with a yawn as he watched the body sink into the river.

The cat fiends behind him quickly dispersed into the night. Shortly afterward, a furry head emerged from the surface of the river...

That same night, a startling incident took place in the workshop. All the workers were awoken in the dead of night by loud screams. They then discovered that one of the carpenters had taken on a half-human, half-fiend form.

The terrifying sight gave everyone nightmares for many nights in a row. After the event, a rumor began to circulate, claiming that the carpenter had been struck by divine punishment from the Profound Origin Dao Lord for trying to sell out the workshop.

The workers already fully believed in the Profound Origin Dao Lord’s ability to perform miracles after their physical constitutions had been enhanced by the Heavenly Fiend Foundation Establishment Technique. The carpenter’s fiendification had them so terrified that none of them dared to even consider selling out the workshop anymore.

Meanwhile, the Wu Clan and the Daoist temple sent out invitations to all of the most powerful figures in the county, inviting them to the gathering that was set to take place in ten days.

***

In a textile workshop that belonged to the Chen Clan in Past Sun County, an old master pointed at a piece of fabric as he declared proudly, ”This double-sided embroidery is a skill passed down in our Su Clan for generations. Even in Jiangnan, I can count on one hand the number of people capable of embroidering this Qilin Treasure Offering Artwork, and even for me, it took half a year to complete.”

Chen Yuebai nodded with satisfaction at the sight of the intricate embroidery, and he decided that he was going to use this piece as their shop’s headline treasure.

Recently, the Chen Clan had been using its immense wealth to crush the Wu Clan in the cotton market, buying up the majority of the raw cotton that was available and leaving only a small portion for the Wu Clan.

On top of that, the Chen Clan had also hired many skilled workers from the Jiangnan region, and this double-sided embroidery master was one of them.

In addition to him, there were also around a dozen other highly skilled embroidery masters, as well as over two hundred experienced workers in the textiles industry.

To further extend their advantage, the Chen Clan had even brought in a batch of the latest pedal-powered spinning wheels and hand-operated looms from Jiangnan. They had also hired local skilled workers to modify the machines so they would better operate in northern conditions.

Chen Yuebai followed one of the skilled workers into a cellar, and the worker explained, ”The climate in the north is very dry, which makes it difficult to form cotton yarn. The yarn can still be woven into fabric, but the quality will be lacking. Over the past few months, we’ve developed a method of working in cellars, as it’s much easier to control humidity underground.

“With the improved humidity, the cotton yarn that we’re able to produce is on par in quality with what they produce in the south. Please take a look here, Young Master. This fabric is tight, fine, and white. It can take on color extremely well, and it’s also very durable.”

As he spoke, the worker picked up a piece of fabric to show Chen Yuebai.

Chen Yuebai nodded with a pleased expression. After investing in new machines and skilled workers, the Chen Clan was now able to produce higher-quality cotton fabric at lower costs than before.

No matter how much the Wu Clan decides to sell their fabric for, we’ll outdo them in price. The more cotton fabric they produce, the heavier their losses will be. If they don’t want to suffer a complete loss in their cotton business, then they’ll have no choice but to come and beg us for mercy.

Once we eliminate the Wu Clan, our Chen Clan will become the sole dominant force in the Northern Mountain Manor textile trade. As soon as trade relations are established, we’ll begin raking in enormous profits. The initial investment has amounted to over a hundred thousand taels of silver, but it’ll all be worth it in the long run.

Right at this moment, a servant rushed into the cellar, then whispered something into Chen Yuebai’s ear.

Chen Yuebai’s brows furrowed slightly as he turned to the worker beside him and said, ”Chu Qiguang claims to have invented a new type of machine that can produce cotton fabric at twenty times the rate of traditional machines, and uses only the power of flowing water without any manpower or horsepower required. Do you think that’s possible?”

”That is absolutely impossible!” the worker scoffed. ”Even in Jiangnan, such machines do not exist. Do not be fooled, Young Master.”

***

Talk of the new water-powered spinning machine and loom was already spreading like wildfire in Azure Sun County, and on this day, it was finally time for Chu Qiguang to hold his press conference.

All the wealthiest and most powerful people in Azure Sun County were invited to the textile workshop.

All the county’s elites and their entourages added up to several hundred people, making the workshop feel extremely crowded and stifling. If not for the grand promises made by the Wu Clan and the Daoist temple, many people would’ve most likely have already left.

Placed before them were two machines covered by sheets of cloth. Chu Qiguang stood before everyone, and as he clapped his hands, a pair of servants unfurled a massive banner. Written on the banner were the Ding Clan’s annual cotton sales figures to the northern fiends.

Looking at the hundreds of spectators gathered before him, Chu Qiguang was immediately struck by the violent urge to beat a few of them to death.

That confirms it then; my condition really does flare up when there’s a large enough audience.

He resisted the symptoms as he began, ”As we all know, aside from species like wolf fiends, bison fiends, and sheep fiends, all of the northern fiends require warm clothing to survive the harsh conditions. The same applies to fiends who want to maintain their human forms.”

He clapped his hands again as he spoke, and a second banner was unfurled, laying out how much demand for cotton fabric there would be from the northern fiends once trade relations were established.

”One million pi. That’s how much cotton fabric the northern fiends will require on an annual basis.”

As the banners were unfurled one after another, everyone’s attention was gradually drawn to what Chu Qiguang words The banners presented a series of important demand and supply figures, and the more everyone saw, the more they came to realize just how much potential there was in the cotton market.

As Chu Qiguang continued to speak, his symptoms began to lessen, and he could feel his mental state beginning to rise.

”Over the past few years, many places in the north have been ordered by the imperial court to plant cotton, and there are many areas that even have a cotton tax. Right now, cotton is being grown across more than half of the Spirit Province, but despite that, we’re not producing much cotton fabric in the north.

“Instead, our raw cotton has always been transported to the south, where conditions for textile production are more favorable. In other words, we have to send our cotton to the south, then buy it back in the form of cotton fabric. However, today, we are going to revolutionize the textile industry!”

Chu Qiguang tore away a large sheet of fabric as he spoke, revealing two machines that had been constantly working up to this point, producing cotton yarn and cotton fabric.

Chen Gang immediately erupted into applause, and everyone quickly followed suit.

Basking in the applause, Chu Qiguang felt as if his soul had flown out of his body and risen high into the heavens, where he could see the end of space and the unfathomable, boundless abyss that was beyond anything that any living being could ever hope to comprehend.