Chapter 771: Observations

“Originally, my master should have returned already, but he encountered another major business deal, which made him unavoidably delayed…”

After a while, Xiang Zhitian put down the letter, stood up, and bowed to Wu Ming: “Thank you, my good sir, for delivering this letter. According to what my master mentioned, the guest appears to be an overseas Chinese residing in the West?”

“That’s correct…”

This was the identity Wu Ming had fabricated for himself: an Easterner who had been living in the West and had recently returned to the Dachang Empire.

My surname is Wu, and my given name is Ming. There’s no need for the shopkeeper to be so courteous.

“Very well, very well!”

The innkeeper happily replied and continued, “Originally, our master instructed us to guarantee the business for Mr. Wu to obtain a foreigner’s travel permit; it was merely a simple matter. However, there have been some recent complications!”

“Oh? What complications?”

Unexpectedly, there were twists even at this point. Wu Ming’s lips curled slightly as he asked curiously.

“Sigh… It’s all because of a group of Western fugitives who have recently been lurking around the port, committing multiple crimes with extremely brutal methods, causing widespread uproar… For security reasons, the entire garrison has issued strict orders to intensify inspections of merchants, especially Western traders, and the approval process for travel permits and other documents has also become stricter…”

This was a new development after Zhang Fan set sail, naturally unknown to Wu Ming.

“I see!”

Wu Ming nodded: “That indeed complicates things!”

The Dachang Empire was an extremely well-regulated nation; without a travel permit, one would face a series of troubles.

Firstly, accommodation was out of the question. More importantly, Wu Ming was concerned about accessing collections of books and arcane academies across various regions, which had strict entry requirements.

Although with his abilities, he could easily barge through and use minor tricks to deceive ordinary people, it would inevitably leave traces. Facing the vast pantheon under the Eight Principal Deities, Wu Ming had little confidence that he would go completely unnoticed.

After all, among the principal deities of the Dachang Empire, there was even a suspected Great Immortal!

If he were an ordinary person without a travel permit, leaving the New Port would be nearly impossible. Relying solely on force was even less advisable. Now that Wu Ming was disguised as a commoner, he was only limited by mundane forces. Once he displayed power beyond the sixth level, he would attract the attention of a host of true deities.

It was even possible that the deeply hidden Eight Principal Deities would eventually be forced out.

“I’m very sorry for not being able to assist Mr. Wu this time…”

A moment later, the shopkeeper personally escorted Wu Ming out of the store, his face wearing an apologetic smile. He had originally intended to offer some gifts, but how could Wu Ming, who disdained such things, possibly accept them? Naturally, he politely declined.

…

“A small trading house naturally cannot obtain a travel permit when border controls are strict, but other forces might not necessarily be constrained…”

After leaving the Four Seas Trading House, Wu Ming aimlessly wandered the streets, silently contemplating: “I’ll first check out all the books available at the port. If that doesn’t work, I’ll have no choice but to risk venturing deeper into the empire…”

Regarding this pantheon, where every city had temples and divine surveillance networks spread throughout the empire, Wu Ming had little confidence in repeatedly acting without being discovered.

The more he learned about the Dachang Empire, the more terrifying and unfathomable it seemed.

Before long, the sun had risen high, and the restaurants and eateries were bustling with business.

Wu Ming casually entered a tavern, tossed out a silver Wu Zhu, and was immediately treated as an honored guest, escorted to a private room.

The Dachang Empire used gold and silver as its standard currency, with some slight differences. Besides copper coins, there were also large quantities of gold and silver Wu Zhu coins, the same size as copper coins but far more valuable.

The Dachang Empire in this world was rich in resources and had discovered several massive gold and silver mines in its colonies, so precious metals were not in short supply.

Above the gold Wu Zhu were various kinds of promissory notes, imbued with divine power and guaranteed by true deities, thus enjoying high credibility.

As the ruler of a nation, after obtaining samples of currency from Zhang Fan, Wu Ming naturally prepared a stockpile for emergencies.

“May I ask the honored guest what you’d like to eat?”

A waiter, with a white towel draped over his shoulder, asked briskly.

Due to the port’s influence, seafood in this tavern was quite cheap, including many delicacies.

“Just bring a wind-dried chicken, stir-fry a few side dishes, and pour me a pot of the finest wine.”

Although this body no longer needed food essence for sustenance, Wu Ming had not abandoned his taste for delicacies. He smiled and replied.

“Coming right up!”

The waiter hurried off. Not long after, he carried a wooden tray, setting out several dishes, and poured Wu Ming a full cup of wine: “Please enjoy at your leisure!”

The aroma of food and wine was intoxicating. Several vegetables stir-fried with chicken offal emitted a unique fragrance, while the wine was so concentrated it resembled amber, seemingly thick enough to be pulled into threads with chopsticks.

After tasting a few bites, Wu Ming couldn’t help but inwardly praise.

At the very least, the chef here was no worse than those in King William’s palace.

At this time, the first floor of the tavern gradually became noisy, with rising voices.

Many dock laborers, wearing only short jackets or even bare-chested, flooded in like a tide, filling large bowls with rice.

The staple was snow-white rice, accompanied by salted fish and a bowl of soup rich with oil droplets. Compared to the laborers in the Zhou world, the food here was indeed quite good.

Even under Wu Zhi’s rule, having three meals a day with white rice and fish or meat at every meal was a privilege reserved for landlords.

A wise man can discern the season from a single leaf. Just from this scene, Wu Ming realized that the prosperity and wealth of the Dachang Empire far surpassed that of the Zhou world.

…

After leaving the tavern, Wu Ming slowly walked along the street, arriving at the edge of the port.

Here, the flow of people gradually thinned, and distant fields were visible, exuding a rustic atmosphere.

Yet high in the air, a clear spiritual glow, carrying the majesty of a deity, caught Wu Ming’s attention.

“Unexpectedly, even in the suburbs, there’s a shrine.”

Wu Ming became slightly interested and approached the shrine.

The temple was not large, nor particularly grand in construction, but its weathered plaque was spotless, bearing an ancient charm that seemed to speak of its long history.

“Xuandu Jiutian Zhaoling Tongyuan Zhenjun?”

Wu Ming murmured, reading the name of the enshrined deity.

Generally speaking, in the Dachang Empire, deities enfeoffed as lords on the divine path, ranked below true gods, were mostly around the fifth level.

At this stage, deities, like earthly immortals and other fifth-level beings, possessed domain powers, capable of forming their own realms.

Within the domain’s influence, they could grant blessings to followers and even bestow spell-like abilities—only true gods could confer complete divine spells.

Such deities in the Dachang Empire were known as local deities—after all, their power was limited to specific regions.

When these local deities advanced further and achieved true godhood, their power would undergo a complete transformation.

Throughout the Dachang Empire, there were countless local deities, such as mountain gods, land gods, and enfeoffed lords, but the number of true gods was relatively small, with a ratio of nearly one percent, illustrating the difficulty of advancement on the divine path.

“Perfect, around the fifth level, neither too high nor too low…”

Wu Ming smiled and directly entered through the main gate.

Buzz!

With his keen perception, he immediately noticed that after crossing the threshold, it was as if he had entered an invisible barrier separating everything inside the temple from the outside.

“Xuandu Zhenjun, being a local deity with a domain, could transform the entire temple into his temporary divine realm in a crisis…”

For any true god, or even a local deity, the temple was an impregnable fortress.

Relying on temples as strongholds and faith as a bond, a “divine power network” spread throughout the Dachang Empire was formed, with the Eight Principal Deities at its core.

Under such a tightly organized system, it was truly said that “three feet above one’s head, there is a god watching,” and not a single detail could be concealed.

“Is the kind believer here to burn incense? This way, please!”

A temple attendant stepped out, gave a slight bow, neither arrogant nor servile.

After washing his hands, Wu Ming took the incense and entered the main hall of the temple.

Colorful offerings adorned the table, with fragrant incense smoke curling upwards. On the altar sat a deity in the form of an elderly man, wearing wide sleeves and a sash, his expression gentle and his eyes kind.

As a deity, unless specifically a god of death, war, or slaughter, one naturally had to cultivate a friendly image to attract worshippers.

Of course, that was not what Wu Ming was observing.

Amidst the curling incense smoke, he opened his heavenly eye, instantly seeing a field of green before him.

Thick green energy gathered, swirling around the statue before piercing into the void, unknown where it went. This green was truly refined within, reaching the highest level, formidable indeed.

“Sure enough, fifth level!”

Upon seeing this, Wu Ming immediately had certainty. He tossed a gold Wu Zhu coin to the temple attendant and left in large strides.

…

“In the Dachang Empire’s divine power network, true gods can only focus on monitoring major cities. In other areas, local deities like Xuandu Zhenjun are more common…”

After touring the temple, Wu Ming gained a basic understanding of the Eastern pantheon.

“As long as the right methods are found, there are still loopholes. However, this requires extensive groundwork and experimentation—I need data, a lot of data! Such requirements… I’m afraid only the Union can satisfy me.”

Although the Dachang Empire was prosperous in the divine path, it was not solely dominated by it.

In fact, the divine path was a system of one deity per position, and advancement through trials was difficult unless one had both good fortune and virtue.

What was truly connected to the lives of ordinary people were the various forms of arcane professions.

For example, the Seven Sword Academy, which truly initiated sword cultivation, allowed one to advance to the rank of swordsman. Such talents would be courted and treated with great respect wherever they went.

Arcane practitioners united to form a loose but vast guild, which was the prototype of the Union.