Great Chang Empire, Fufeng County, New Territories Harbor.
It was early in the morning, and the distant sea surface was covered in a thin layer of sea fog. The newly risen sun shone its warm golden rays down, and the originally silent harbor began to turn noisy again.
New Territories Harbor had been established for less than ten years, but due to its location in the far west of the empire, it had a favorable location. It was also a deep-water harbor, so business was booming. There was an endless stream of passenger ships that came and went, bringing a rich income to the tax officials.
In fact, in the Great Chang Empire's hierarchy, even Fufeng County was a recently established county that had been annexed.
Back then, the Great Chang Empire had issued the Order to Station Lands, declaring that any citizen of the empire would be given fifty acres of farmland in Fufeng County. Those with noble titles would receive an increment in rank. Furthermore, taxes would be waived for the first three years. After ten years of farming, the land would officially belong to the citizens.
As a result, there was a wave of westward expansion in the empire. And in order to ensure Fufeng County's stability, the Great Chang Empire often set up a garrison army there. It had the nature of a garrison army, and as it often fought with the natives and the Xiyi, it was a rather infamous force in the empire's western borders even though it was not part of the official army.
"Is this New Territories Harbor? It sure is lively! "
Wu Ming was dressed in azure-colored robes, with a piece of high-quality white jade hanging by his waist. He fanned himself and looked like a young master as he strolled along the harbor's streets.
At that moment, he was naturally not using William's appearance. Instead, he had returned to his original appearance. His black hair and eyes were identical to most of the people around him. As he walked, it was as though he was still in a Dazhou World. It left him in a trance.
Of course, as it was a harbor, it was common to see Xiyi merchants that came from the sea. Most of them were mixed-bloods, and there were even people of other races that looked horrifying!
The other races here did not only differ in skin color, but they were a completely different species from humans!
For example, beside Wu Ming, there was a stocky man with a tiger's head. He walked past without any qualms as he swaggered through the streets.
"Beastmen? No … According to the Great Chang Empire's official name, it should be the Mountain Lord race? Interesting … "
As this world had accepted a large number of transmigrators, it had undergone many wonderful changes. Many intelligent creatures might even have originated from other worlds. Therefore, Wu Ming was not surprised at all.
"Humans … are not the rulers of this world …"
Thinking of the news he received, Wu Ming sighed, and his mood could not help but be a little heavy.
The Great Chang empire was indeed vast and rich. Even the western countries were flourishing and reigning supreme. However, there were many intelligent races in this world.
Some of them were natives of this world, while others were visitors from other universes who had migrated here as a whole. They similarly occupied quite a lot of territory in this world, presenting a situation where many races stood in great numbers.
Under such circumstances, regardless of whether it was the East or the West, the human kingdoms all advocated martial arts and constantly encouraged their people to expand outwards.
Fortunately, this world was vast enough, and there were plenty of new continents and undeveloped wastelands to supply them. That was why the few big countries didn't start fighting each other to solve the problem.
As the sun rose, the entire port became even noisier.
After leaving the dock area, all sorts of shops filled Wu Ming's vision.
Gold and silver shops, grain shops, cloth shops, teahouses, restaurants, gambling dens … It could be said that there was everything.
Of course, there were also places like martial dojos and sword palaces. It was obvious that they were places for cultivation. However, those that were opened in such a bustling city probably didn't have much ability. They only relied on one or two moves to earn money.
To truly learn the teachings, one had to have outstanding talent and a good master. Otherwise, one had to be like Zhang Fan and spend large sums of money.
"Street dojos are the lowest level. Above them are the various academies! These are the true academies that impart the Transcendence Dao. For example, the Seven Swords Academy that Zhang Fan once learned the way of the sword is famous for producing a few Sword Dao grandmasters. In Fufeng County, it has the best reputation! "
Wu Ming didn't know much about this world's power system. However, to be crowned with the title of grandmaster, it was likely that they were only below the Legendary stage.
Of course, even if it was the Seven Swords Academy, money alone wasn't enough to truly learn the teachings. Otherwise, Zhang Fan wouldn't have fallen into Wu Ming's hands so easily back then.
If it wasn't for him, Wu Ming wouldn't have thought of coming to Xin Jie Harbor to take a look.
Moreover, apart from the various martial dojos and academies, there were also a few strange places that attracted Wu Ming's attention.
This was because the Transcendence Spiritual Light above the buildings was impressively the strongest in the entire port. It had a sacred aura that surpassed ordinary mortals by leaps and bounds.
"Tao Zhu Shrine?"
Walking along the spiritual light seen by the Heavenly Eye, Wu Ming looked at the vast shrine in front of him and the bustling procession of merchants. He was somewhat speechless.
"This should be a shrine that enshrines a true god. But why is the business so good?"
Wu Ming glanced outside and saw a row of windows that resembled a bank's counter. Many merchants were depositing and withdrawing gold and silver, and they also had vouchers in their hands. He immediately understood. "So this is the otherworld's version of a bank. The Tao Zhu God of this world is really business-minded …"
There was no doubt that in any era, banks and the financial industry were always the most profitable, and the commerce here had already evolved to the point of using paper money.
It was just that the merchants weren't using paper money, but gold and silver vouchers instead. It couldn't be any more authentic!
This was because every single one of these vouchers had the Tao Zhu God's divine power imprint! It was impossible for outsiders to imitate it.
"No wonder the spiritual light is so strong …"
Wu Ming didn't rashly enter the shrine, and instead slowly retreated.
With so much wealth gathered, the Tao Zhu God of this world must be extraordinarily powerful. He was probably on par with himself at the seventh rank.
Moreover, the Tao Zhu God was a god of this world, recognized by heaven, earth, man, and chaos origin force. He, on the other hand, was just an outsider who hadn't reached the Grand Heavenly level. He was ultimately suppressed by this world, and if he were to recklessly barge into the shrine of such an existence, he would immediately be in huge trouble if he were discovered.
"According to the memories of Zhang Fan and the other sailors, the Tao Zhu God and Mazu God's incense is the best in Xin Jie Port. There are also some scattered gods at the side, so it's best to start from the lowest to the highest."
There were naturally strong and weak gods in the divine path.
The strong ones were Golden Immortals and Grand Heavenly Immortals, while the weak ones were a village of earth or mountain gods. They were considered at the bottom of the divine path, and any demon or ghost could bully them.
Of course, ordinary earth and mountain gods weren't qualified to be worshipped in Xin Jie Port. Those who could survive in the cracks between the two shrines were at least Righteous Gods, similar to Legendary Ones in the divine path.
In Wu Ming's eyes, he was at level five of the Divine Path.
He sat in the main shrine, understood the use of origin force, and integrated the great dao of the myriad worlds into his origin force. It was immediately clear that he could use destiny to classify them.
Level five gods were neither high nor low. Although they weren't true gods according to this world's standards, they were only a step away.
Wu Ming took one last look at the bustling Tao Zhu God Temple before vanishing into the darkness.
…
"Four Seas Trading Company, this should be the place, right?"
After searching for a long time in the port, he finally found a trading company in a corner.
Calling it a trading company was too much of an exaggeration. It looked like a small shop, and one could clearly see the inside of the store from the outside.
It was just that the curtains and doors were extremely clean, a sign that the person who took care of it was very capable.
"Please come in, sir!"
A sharp-eyed employee noticed Wu Ming the moment he stepped into the store and approached him with a flattering smile. "What are you looking for? We have everything you need! "
Just from the way he was dressed, one could tell that Wu Ming was either rich or noble. How could this employee miss out on such a big deal?
"I'm not here to sell anything, I'm looking for your shopkeeper!"
Wu Ming shook his head.
"Shopkeeper? Very well, please wait a moment … "
Perhaps it was because of Wu Ming's temperament, but the employee didn't dare be negligent despite his suspicions.
Before long, a skinny, dark-skinned old man with a long beard walked out and bowed toward Wu Ming. "This old man is Xiang Zhitian, the shopkeeper of this store. May I ask what business you have here?"
"I've been asked to deliver something!"
Wu Ming fished out a letter. "Corporal Zhang Fan, is he your owner?"
"Yes …"
The old man was shocked. "Judging from the time, he should be back by now. Don't tell me …"
Cold sweat trickled down his forehead as he spoke.
The oceans of this world were far more dangerous than those of Wu Ming's previous world. After all, there were some Ancient-level sea monsters and magical beasts that even a god would feel apprehensive about.
There were even some that couldn't be killed and could only be sealed.
In such an era, traveling to the sea as a merchant naturally earned money by risking one's life.
The shopkeeper had seen many people who ventured out to sea only to lose contact with them, or even to have their ships destroyed and their lives lost.
"I only chanced upon Corporal Zhang at sea, and then encountered a huge storm. I really have no idea where he is now!"
In fact, Zhang Fan was currently in the Seer Kingdom's prison.
As for Wu Ming, he had done something to him and obtained his handwritten letter. He was prepared to use it as a springboard to obtain a new identity and begin his travels in the Great Chang Empire.
In a world, one had to abide by its rules.
With his current strength, even if he mobilized all the Temple Lords, they probably wouldn't be able to do a thing to the eight Lords.
Since that was the case, he naturally had to keep a low profile and abide by the rules of the game.
With this as an entry point, he could obtain a legitimate identity. Although it was a little complicated, it was very safe. Furthermore, it wouldn't be easy to track him down.
"This is your owner's handwritten letter. Take a look!"
Wu Ming handed the letter over casually as he sipped his tea in a composed manner.
As Xiang Zhitian read, his expression changed from relaxed to solemn, as though he had encountered a huge problem.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
