Chapter 768: Dachang

Zhang Fan was not the first unfortunate soul whose memories Wu Ming had accessed.

In fact, due to his status, he was the last one Wu Ming had targeted among this group.

And Wu Ming’s guess was correct—being the leader, along with that sorcerer, they had provided the most intelligence.

Through constant piecing together, a map of an Eastern dragon-like nation emerged before Wu Ming.

It was a centralized empire, whose appearance bore great resemblance to the Great Zhou World, yet with subtle differences.

The most obvious disparity was its size!

Wu Ming’s continent of Seer was already vast, with a population nearing ten million—by ancient standards, it could barely be called an empire.

But over there, it barely equaled a few commanderies!

The entire Eastern empire’s territory was more than ten times larger than Seer, not even counting the newly developing colonial territories.

Compared to that, Wu Ming found his Seer Continent reduced to the status of a mere island, while that Eastern nation was known as—”Chang”!

The Great Chang Empire!

It was an empire where the ways of gods reached their pinnacle, filled with numerous true deities, each possessing unfathomable magical powers and frequently intervening in the mortal realm.

Above all these true gods, stood the Eight Supreme Deities—beings of unfathomable might, without fixed forms or established churches, yet regarded as embodiments of ultimate principles. Collectively known as the Eight Lords, they represented Heaven, Earth, Yin, Yang, Sun, Moon, War, and the Four Seasons!

“No fixed form, yet Supreme beings?”

Wu Ming murmured.

Since the universe’s ascension, he had sensed the world’s capacity had risen to an astonishing level.

At least, his Primordial Golden Immortal body, and even using the full power of the Temple of the Sovereign, could be sustained without issue.

In such a terrifying world, being called “Supreme” meant what level of power?

Great Immortal? Or even above, ninth tier? Perhaps even Eternal?

Wu Ming felt both cautious and excited.

After all, the existence of the Eight Lords meant new hope along his path forward.

Even the weakest true god must have reached the sixth tier. Judging from this, the upper echelons of this world’s power were the strongest he had ever encountered, surpassing even the Great Zhou World.

“Still… as the newly integrated ruler of the original Seer Continent, I do have certain advantages…”

Wu Ming could clearly sense that, along with the world’s upgrade and the universe’s ascension, a mysterious force had been bestowed upon the entire Seer Continent. As its ruler, he had benefited greatly.

With a bit more time, he might accumulate enough power to break through his current bottleneck.

This world was too dangerous; he must prioritize strengthening his own power first.

“And… this Zhang Fan also has a bit of a complicated background. I didn’t expect him to hold a title… although it’s just that of a junior knight…”

Wu Ming sighed.

This “junior knight” was not a military rank, but a noble title! The Great Chang Empire resembled his past world in some ways, possessing a unique system of noble ranks, from Knight to Gentleman, then to Minister, each tier further divided into upper, middle, and lower. Upon reaching Upper Minister, one would receive a county as a fief—though one couldn’t station personal forces there, merely collecting tax revenue in monetary form, still enough to make others envious. And this wasn’t even the pinnacle of nobility.

The truly noble were enfeoffed with land and established states!

Above Upper Minister came the ranks of Marquis, Earl, and Viscount. These ennobled aristocrats could establish states in the colonies or newly developed wilderness, becoming vassals of the Great Chang Empire.

For example, last year, after acquiring a large colonial territory, the Emperor of Chang immediately granted a batch of small rulers such as Viscount Shangshui, Earl Zheng, and Marquis Wei, transforming the colonies into small Eastern-style vassal states.

Although there was a rule that not an inch of land within the Empire’s borders could be enfeoffed, the wilderness and colonies outside had no such restrictions.

As for the ranks of Duke and Baron? They did not exist in the Great Chang Empire. Instead, these titles were found in Western nations, maintaining the feudal system of Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount, and Baron, consistent with Seer Continent’s own, revealing the mysterious differences between East and West.

And Zhang Fan himself held the lowest noble rank of junior knight. Though merely the lowest tier, he had also pledged devotion to the goddess Mazu. Even as a superficial believer who prayed to any deity in danger, he still attracted the attention of true gods, especially concerning his soul after death.

“This is a world of extremely high power levels…”

After reviewing these people’s memories, Wu Ming silently concluded, “and it has frequent interactions with other worlds. Even individual translocations and entire continent fusions are not rare… Is this the manifestation of a high-tier universe? Especially… there’s also a Western world, reportedly no less advanced than the Eastern Great Chang Empire…”

Unfortunately, even Zhang Fan knew little about the Western nations, since the distance was simply too great. Had it not been for that strange storm that diverted his ship’s course, he might already have docked at Fengfeng Commandery’s port by now.

“Two powerful civilizations, an endless expanse of land, and numerous undeveloped wilderness and colonies, with the entire world constantly expanding, new continents and territories ‘translocating’ in from time to time…”

Wu Ming furrowed his brow, beginning to carefully consider Seer Continent and his kingdom’s position within this new world.

Geographically speaking, Seer Continent was not directly connected to either the Eastern or Western continents. Instead, it appeared as a new landmass, or rather, an island in the middle of the ocean.

—Due to its frequent reception of transmigrators and entire planes, the world’s tolerance was very high. Although the initial impact could be earth-shattering, in reality, it caused little chaos.

Otherwise, if an entire continent fell like a meteorite, the resulting tsunami alone could bring a cataclysmic flood—though, of course, the true gods of both East and West would not allow such disasters to go unchecked.

Thankfully, this time the integration had been smooth, with minimal impact on the world.

“Just now, what should be done with this kingdom?”

Wu Ming rubbed his chin.

Clearly, whether considering his subjects’ appearances or his own identity as William Wallace, he could not possibly integrate his entire nation into the Great Chang Empire.

That was the Eastern world’s supreme power, with countless vassal states beneath it, likely disdaining to accept a foreign nation.

Even if accepted, due to racial differences, equal treatment was out of the question.

But would the Western world be any better?

Wu Ming sighed inwardly, realizing he needed to investigate both worlds simultaneously.

For now, his kingdom remained isolated on the ocean, with the sea providing enough buffer time for preparation.

…

“Your Majesty!”

By the time he exited the dungeon, Caritan was already waiting.

“The matter regarding Viscount Tie’erbao has been fully investigated… His death was no accident, but deliberately orchestrated by Merk!”

“Murdering a royal noble? Was it the Church’s order?”

Wu Ming asked coldly, while Caritan trembled involuntarily. When a king was enraged, even the entire Church might not withstand it.

Still, she fulfilled her duty, explaining the truth to Wu Ming: “No, it was Merk’s personal decision. He was secretly an extremist, deeply dissatisfied with many of Viscount Tie’erbao’s actions. This incident seems connected to the Viscount’s younger brother, Kravir…”

He was a failed contender for the title.

In this era, the competition among noble offspring for the sole position and inheritance was only natural, often ruthless and unscrupulous.

Wu Ming merely needed a moment to reconstruct the events.

“Immediately arrest both individuals and ensure a fair trial—we must give the poor Viscount Tie’erbao justice!”

Wu Ming declared solemnly.

As for the main culprits, those Eastern sailors and the captain, he conveniently ignored them, and Caritan wisely asked no further questions.

In the current kingdom, even the Pope would face judgment if he violated the law.

But Wu Ming was the King, holding ultimate authority, and could pardon any criminal—this was the benefit of sovereign power!

…

A few days later, at the trial.

Since it involved a royal noble, the trial was held within the House of Lords. Citizens of the capital could only watch the gallows for Bishop Meik and Kravir from afar.

“Murdering a noble…”

“A bishop and a noble heir, committing such heinous crimes…”

“Execution is too lenient for them…”

…

Amid the murmurs, a pale-skinned, androgynous “individual” also blended into the crowd, watching the scene.

“Executing a bishop with secular authority?”

His face initially bore intense anger: “This is an insult to all clergy… Wait… This isn’t even a true divine servant; there’s no trace of divine power, only supernatural energy… A follower of a false god! Is there not a single true god in this nation?”

From a god’s perspective, seeing any divine servant judged by secular authority would never bring joy—it meant divine authority was losing to royal power.

But if the servant was false? Then the situation immediately changed.

“These despicable followers of false gods should all be executed and hanged!”

Heretics were often more hated than pagans.

To a divine messenger, any true god’s servant could earn his respect, but these blasphemers deserved only destruction!

Yet, in that very moment, the divine messenger’s expression suddenly changed.

Behind him, unknown to when, someone had appeared—none other than Wu Ming himself, drawn by the unconscious divine power the messenger had emitted in his emotional outburst!