“Crackling, crackling...” The early morning tranquility of Wangshan City was torn apart by a series of thunderous explosions that echoed across the sky. Some residents, still in their dreams, were startled awake, leaping from their beds to the floor. People hurrying to the morning market on the streets scattered in panic, screaming and fleeing. The city guards rang the alarm bell, and amidst the urgent clangs, the city guards of Wangshan City—whose ears were purely decorative—rushed out of the barracks in disarray, their uniforms askew, swarming toward the city walls. The ones in front ran while pulling up their pants, those behind stepped on the pant legs of those ahead, and then, like dominoes, they all toppled over in a row...

In the chaos, an archer accidentally let loose a stray arrow. The commander of the city guard, Lord Samuel Barnes, had just rushed out of his house wielding a giant sword when, with a “whoosh,” a gust of air swept past his ear. Turning his head, he saw a feathered arrow quivering in the front door, still vibrating! Lord Simon Barnes’s morning erection instantly deflated from the fright.

Merchants who had just opened their doors hurriedly called to their assistants to close up again, bracing the door with a wooden stick from behind. Then, after gathering up their valuables and gold coins, they dug a pit in the courtyard to bury them...

The city lord’s mansion received the report and issued an emergency mobilization order for the entire city. People in the Starforge World were not unfamiliar with the sound of explosions—fire magic often caused such blasts. But such a dense barrage of explosions had never before echoed across the skies of the Starforge World.

To be able to unleash “fire magic” so intensively could only mean a massive enemy force was at the gates, with mages so numerous their robes formed clouds.

The city lord donned armor that hadn’t been touched in decades. After so many years of peace, Wangshan City had forgotten what war tasted like.

William Graham never imagined that setting off a string of firecrackers would cause such a commotion throughout Wangshan City. Fortunately, this string was only a little over a thousand shots and finished in a moment. If he’d set off tens of thousands, lasting several minutes, wouldn’t he have scared the entire city’s residents out of their wits?

Still, William Graham admitted that, being his first time making firecrackers, he lacked experience and had used a bit too much gunpowder, making them a bit loud. But did they really have to make such a fuss?

After the burst of firecrackers, the city guards finally stumbled up onto the city wall. Looking out, they saw that everything outside the city was calm. The wind blew over wildflowers, and dandelion-like seeds floated everywhere.

Quiet. Too quiet. It was as if the entire Wangshan City was holding its breath.

“Rumble, rumble, rumble...” A rolling thunder passed down the street directly opposite the city lord’s mansion and, in the blink of an eye, arrived in front of William Graham’s shop.

The “Qi Si Feng Deng” lantern hung high, unlit since it was daytime. Below it, a long cloth banner fluttered in the wind, bearing two large characters: 葛门.

William Graham had knocked down the wall facing the street and replaced it with a glass wall. This world did have glass—it was the dragons’ favorite, second only to gemstones, even surpassing gold. But dragons weren’t fools; “warriors” who tried to trade cheap glass for gold with dragons had all perished under the dragons’ fearsome breath.

Most people used glass to make vessels; no one had ever been so bold as to replace an entire wall with it.

The technology for making glass was nothing special to William Graham. He made two large panes himself and built a glass curtain wall. Everything inside the shop could be seen from the street. With William Graham’s skills, the strength of this glass wall was no less than bulletproof glass on Earth. However, given the abundance of violent types in this world, William Graham had added a few tricks to the glass wall to prevent break-ins.

Such a strange little shop appeared before Lord Walter, the city lord. The face hidden behind his lion-shaped visor, once fierce, now showed surprise. Although William Graham had given him a shock, this could not deter the dignified city lord from punishing the troublemaker.

“Was it you who just cast the fire magic?” The city lord pointed his riding crop and asked coldly. William Graham was taken aback, but quickly understood. He nodded honestly, “It was me.” “Hmph, very well. Men, seize him!” Five guards rushed out from behind the knights, surrounding William Graham.

Because William Graham had just unleashed a string of “fire magic,” and although its destructive power was yet unseen, anyone who could cast so many spells in succession was not to be underestimated. Everyone instinctively regarded William Graham as a formidable figure. Although it was well known that mages were physically weak, high-level mages could cast spells instantly, so the five who came to arrest him were all among the best guards in the city lord’s mansion.

The five spread out to encircle William Graham, circling him for two steps before suddenly pouncing together.

“Bang! Bang!” Two of them were sent flying, landing five paces away and struggling to get up, but failing for the moment. These five were the elite of the city lord’s guards: two level-three warriors and three level-four warriors. The two who had just been knocked flying were one level-three and one level-four. The remaining three were stunned, realizing that even if they charged, their fate would be no better.

Fangshi (Taoist alchemists) cultivate both external and internal elixirs. External elixirs are for refining pills and artifacts; internal elixirs are for self-cultivation, with the goal of forming a golden core, achieving ascension in broad daylight, and attaining immortality.