u/m0blackmad

Not much happens. Songyan counts his money. Turns out Bull is a gooner. Songyan writes his story under the scrutiny of Xiaoqing. The next day her tells the story and then runs into Ren Youyang, who offers to take him to the Zhen household so that he can ask about training. Master Zhen doesnt question him about the day before. But the distinguished guest knows songyans intentions.

Not too much happened these 2 chapters. Songyan went to the entertainment hall for the encounter the guest of the Zhen household told him about. He comes across Ren Youyang, who is a true disciple of the True Spirit Sect, which is a prominent sect. He is also in the Orchid Rankings

After some socialising, a guard tells Ren that 2 people are tailing Songyan, one is someone from the Zhen household, and another is a seemingly ordinary man.

Songyan leaves so Ren can investigate, where he runs into Chang'an, who compensates him for helping with the affair to do with his master.

Ren appears and tells songyan that he couldn't catch the guy tailing him

The guest The Zhen household wanted Songyan to tell stories to seems to be able to read minds, though he doesnt seem to harbour ill intent. This is similar to when Daly was going through Klein's mind, though he had the grey fog to protect his secrets. Songyan isn't that lucky.

Next chapters will probably be him visiting that man to get answers

Songyan finds out that the original Songyan copied down the Classics of Mountains and Seas before selling it. It was also revealed that the Zhen household were the original owners of the Secret Classic.

Songyan goes through the different divine beasts and the effects of consumption for some of them. He notices that some divine beasts have more clauses in their description than others, corresponding to strength most likely.

He also learns of Celestial Thearches, which may be a title upon reaching a certain level of strength.

Songyan learns basics of martial arts from Nuansheng.

First you need to refine Qi and train ur apertures. This is the initial realm where you begin your foundations. Then you can actually start learning martial arts.

The human realm is the first one, with 9th, 8th and 7th ranks. You are barely stronger than a normal human here

The order of realms is

Initial Realm, Human Realm, Great Proliferation Realm, Dharma Realm, Heaven-Man Realm, Spirit Platform Realm

Most people get stuck at Great proliferation realm Most their lives, and the Dharma realm is where you become a Grandmaster.

Furthermore, cultivating multiple martial arts with overlapping apertures can lead to qi deviation, madness, or death. Though some arts can overlap, eg one of a snake to one of a dragon.

For his service, the Zhen household offers to help him find a hall to begin refining his Qi to begin his journey as a martial artist

Xiaoqing is revealed to be a snake yao.

Chang'ans master goes missing, so him, songyan and and Bull go to search for him, only to find his dead body. They report this to the Zhen household, who take the matter into their own hands.

Other than this, Songyan continues preparing and telling stories.

Not much happened these chapters. The trio found Chang'ans masters corpse, and reported it to thr Zhen household as Ding Songyan assumes its related to his own disappearance. The zhen household found a book on thr master and another body buried nearby, who thry assume to be the one to have stolen the Secret Classic.

Other than that, because of Songyan's great service, the Zhen household offers to get a hall for Songyan to refine his Qi if he wants to join a sect and practice martial arts.

We learn the order of realms fully

Initial Realm, Human Realm, Great Proliferation Realm, Dharma Realm, Heaven-Man Realm, Spirit Platform Realm

Most disciples spend the whole lives stuck in the Great proliferation realm, and dharma realm is where you become a grandmaster.

Yes I know im late. I had an exam unfortunately. Just read the chapters. Chapter 14 didnt have much, just Songyan telling stories, getting food. Then he visits Nuansheng to thank her.

She gives him info on cultivation. It's expensive to become a martial artist unless sponsored, and the Brightnight sect only takes in people once a year if I remmeber correctly. Otherwise u need to be really talented, from a distinguished background, or have a master take interest in you.

We then started to learn the process and the levels. First is the initial stage/realm or life realm where you train your aperture which is basically the core where qi comes out of and circulates your body if im interpreting it correctly. Think of this perhaps to be like how Arthur leywin formed a mana core early by mediating and gathering ambient mana in the beginning after the end.

Then you enter the mortal realm, Which non martial artists call Ranks 9 8 and 7, since they dint know much. This is the lower realm. This is basically identical to lotm, sequences 9 8 and 7 being lower sequences. Ay the human realm, you are hardly stronger than a regular human and things depend more on your weapons, equipment, will power. Nuansheng said that if a rank 7 isn't careful then someone of the nineth rank can kill them. We know Klein killed a sequence 7 magician as a sequence 9 so it adds up.

Also, we know that you must follow a path of martial arts where apertures don't overlap, or else learning a superior one where they do could lead to madness, qi deviation or even death. Exactly like what happens if you try and take a potion for another sequence in lotm

However, some overlaps don't have negative effects if they're under a similar umbrella I assume. The example Nuansheng uses is a snake martial art and then moving on to a dragon. Just like being able to switch to a neighbouring pathway in lotm

The similarities are there and its nice to see the power system develop. Again I feel like Songyan will choose or at least develop into some sort of dragon martial art.

We also see that Xiaoqing isn't as innocent as she seems, and practices a snake martial art. Perhaps to begin with Songyan will learn a snake martial art from her and then advance to a dragon.

Good chapters overall

Holy info dump. By far the hardest chapters to digest thus far. Had to read each chapter twice to understand what was going on.

Chapter 12 was a dump on a bunch of Divine beasts. Turns out OG Songyan copied lots of info. Aside from the four beasts mentioned in the novels description, we get numerous others, and the effects you get from consuming some of them:

"Northern Emperor Zhuanxu: virtue of water, lord of winter, from whom the stars emerge, wielding the north to spread calamity, establishing prohibitions and setting law.

"…

"Zhulong, the Torch Dragon: the result of consuming it? Chaos parts, the underworld is lit, day and night bend to your command, the four seasons turn at your will, wind and rain answer your call."

"…

"Progenitor Yu, the Primal King of the Yu: the result of consuming it? The hearts of men turn treacherous, shadow and darkness bend to your command, sand is harbored to shoot at men, the shadow is harmed and the body follows.

"Shetuo, the Arbiter: the result of consuming it? Rectitude bends to your command, merit and fault are judged, the three realms are distinguished, and possess radiance.

"Xiegou, the Rat-tailed Duck: the result of consuming it? Climbing and clinging come with ease, the five plagues travel with you, wherever you dwell there is pestilence.

"Lizhu, the Keen-Eyed: the result of consuming it? The great sun bends to your command, all shadow is purged, the tip of an autumn hair is perceived, sight reaches beyond thousands of miles.

"Great Yi: vanquishes evil, shoots down nine suns, succors the hundred hardships, the pinnacle of man.

"Taotie, the Glutton: the result of consuming it? Evil is warded and disaster averted, heaven is devoured and earth swallowed, all things dissolve, greed knows no satiation, desire knows no end.

"Queen Mother of the West: administers heaven's plagues, commands the five destructions, communes with the netherworld, severs untimely death, gestates fortune and begets gold.

"Houtu, the Earth Mother: virtue of earth, mother of the land, dwelling at the center bearing all things, nurturing and transforming the multitude of lives, sovereign of the netherworld.

"Xiangliu, the Nine-Headed Serpent: the result of consuming it? The earth corrodes, mountains are swallowed whole, poison endures across a hundred generations, nine heads each moving to their own design.

Among others. So far ones we recognise are Great Yi, as earlier on we learn of a group of martial artists whos martial arts originate from an archer that shot the sun, and then Fengying, who swallowed a phoenix egg.

We also see that the more clauses you have in the description, likely the more powerful they are, like how in lotm a 3 part honorific name belongs to gods.

The one that interests me the most is Zhulong the Torch Dragon. The description mentions commanding the four seasons, and the original cover for the novel, im assuming it's songyan, and then each corner or the page is a different season. Zhulong also has 5 clauses in its description, the highest tier we know so far.

On top of that, we learn of the celestial thearch. Im more leaning to it being a position you can become more than it being a martial art style.

"Celestial Thearch: the Central Yellow Emperor, first of the Five Thearchs. Unites with the Great Way, commands yin and yang, governs all things, rules heaven and earth, ordains the fate of living beings."

After all, this description is kinda vague and just represents a path that cultivators follow that being yin and yang, so im assuming any martial artist that gets strong enough and fulfils a certain condition will become celestial Thearch.

We know that there's differnrt emperors, yellow, black, white, flame, green i think. The ultimate power when it comes to martial arts, and they became human emperors, but its been a while since a celestial thearch was last recorded. That's why our ding songyan will become the strongest in the verse and become a celestial thearch.

Other than that, we learn more of the history, conflicts, different Dynasties. Some from Earth, some new ones, generally in the right chronological order, and the ones from Earth share the same culture as the original ones Songyan knows from his previous life. Lots of lore. Interesting chapters

No way this guy took a copy of the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas. This guy was lowk a scammer but fair enough. Next chapter we'll see whether he copied one bit, or all of it. We know feiyi the 2 tailed serpent is there. Knowing CF, he wont just give Songyan everything. So my 2 guesses are either he has info on just feiyi, or info on fengyi plus the other 3 beasts that are in the novels description. Perhaps those 4 beasts in particular are special. I think its too much for him to have everything, though it'd be good knowledge. On the other hand I think its too little for him to only have 1. So I hope my guess of him having the 4 beasts in the description is correct.

Also is seems that the Zhen household were the ones who originally owned the Classic and they lost it 9 months ago. Did songyan steal it from them? Or did he get it from someone else. The Ding family have only been in Dingjiang for 7 months, so perhaps it wasn't him. For now the Zhen family are kinda shady, though Master Zhen seems chill despite his ruthlessness and detached nature. Novel starting to pick up now im enjoying it. Also really impressed with og Songyan

Ding Songyan was a businessman with a hard past, but things started looking up for him. While trying to stop a fight, he ends up getting stabbed, and transmigrates to another ancient Chinese world in a body sharing the same name.

He is discovered by his sister, Ding Qingyan and he tells her he lost his memory.

They return home, in the Dingjiang district, where Ding songyan meets his family, his father, Ding Shengyi, mother, liu yuzao and half brother Bull Ding.

After hearing of his situation, his mother suggests he goes see a doctor, and maybe this is an affect of the soul departure sickness. He visits the doctor but there's no wounds or any signs of anything on him, so he can't do much.

Songyans cousin, Nuansheng, gets Master Yu to protect Songyan, by invoking the name of their family and the disrespect to them.

Songyan goes out to listen to stories, where he learns about martial artists, beautiful and powerful women such as Feng Yining. He learns of the Emperor's Shun, Zhuanxu, Qin, the history of this world, it's geography, the different races and Dynasties. He learns about different sects.

He notices that lots of figures, mythology, and poems from ancient times match those from Earth, but start to diverge after a certain point.

After listening to some stories, Songyan notices someone in the crowd, looking at him with disbelief, but the man quickly leaves.

He then tells a story to a young rich girl by the name of Xiaoqing, earning her favour and a dozen other listeners. Xiaoqing tells songyan to find her if he's ever in trouble.

He then goes to a quiet street, where the man watching him appears again. Songyan tells the man he lost his memory.

The man explains that Songyan should've left Dingjiang district under the orders of Hallmaster Chen, and the reason is that Songyan found a Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas, which is a manual containing info on numerous divine beasts and martial arts, so songyan was supposed to leave so that the word doesnt spread, and he'll be killed if he doesnt.

Songyan asks the man where hallmaster chen is. However, it already seemed that Chen was watching them. Master Yu gives chase to him, while the other man ran also. Assuming he had no martial ability, Songyan also gave chase, but Bull Ding killed him.

Bull revealed to have divine strength since birth and likes killing people, but his mother prevents him from doing so.

Elsewhere, Chen, who practices thr Black Turtle martial arts, fought Master Yu, who possess a sort of wind based martial art. It was more or less an equal fight, but Yu managed to slice at Chen's face and eyes.

Chapter 8 didn't have too much going on, unless CF somehow is using the story of the white snake to hint at something in the future. We will see as time goes on. Other than that, we've learnt that Songyan does have a skill in presenting, though not PowerPoints this time but stories. We also know that he was initially really independent and believed a competent person should be able to so things alone. However after some hardships he realised the importance of connections and maintaining relationships with those who are useful, which is the reason why she is trying to captivate the young girl, who we now know to be named Xiaoqing. It seems to have worked and Songyan is now free to visit her if he ever needs anything. It was a smart play on his end to tell her briefly about his situation. As the chapters go on it's evident that the guy is really strategic.

Other than that, in chapter 9, we meet the man that was watching him in the crowd, but we find out he didn't kill Songyan, but he was meant to leave Dingjiang district under the orders of Hallmaster Chen, a leader of The small boat gang.

Seems that the original Songyan found the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas, a document containing information about the divine beasts that humans got their martial arts from, their features, and the side effects of consuming them. These books was said to be destroyed and each sect only kept information relevant to them. Possession of this book leads to execution, so Chen told Songyan to run away so that he doesnt spread the word, or else they'll kill him.

The Classic of Mountains and Seas was said to be left behind by a Celestial Thearch. And we also learn that martial arts come from them also, or other lesser gods as well as the divine beasts. But the power and number of divine beasts went down when Emperor Zhuanxu severed the connection between heaven and earth.

What else could be in this book? This whole scenario is really similar to the Antigonus Notebook ordeal in lotm.

Perhaps Songyan will try and steal Classic for himself like how klein attempted to steal the notebook.

But this all leads back to one question. Who killed Songyan and why? Was he really killed or did his soul just leave.

Perhaps even tho he was given an opportunity to run away, he was still killed as they didn't trust him to not spread anything.

Maybe someone who was trying to intercept it and find out who Songyan gave it to?

Or maybe just like the antigonus notebook the Classic of Mountains and Seas is mystical itself in nature. Perhaps some forbidden knowledge in there lead to Songyan's mysterious demise.

We will see in upcoming chapters.

Just like a typical Cuttlefish novel, the past couple chapters were mainly info dumping. It's gonna be hard as hell remembering all these names. We has it easy for lotm. But so far, we've learnt of numerous different sects and martial art styles I won't bother naming. It seems that the hierarchy of strength goes Sage>Supreme Master> Grandmaster> Master. There are only 14 sages around, 10 orthodox and 4 heretics. Martial artists are divided into orthodox and heretic which is obvious what that means. We also learn of Feng Yining, who was a grandmaster who swallowd a phoenix egg as a child and one of the most beautiful people in the jianghu, who defeated a powerful heretic and then disappeared for the past 8 years. Since she was mentioned like that it's probably likely she will become an important character. Also my prediction of Songyan attempting to join the Brightnight sect was correct. It makes sense since that's the local sect.

We also learn of the First Emperor Qin, who united the great wilderness and brought the 100 races to heel. His Dynasty lasted for 200 years. Poetry from Earth was also around during this time, but the storyteller was really vague about this time period. Censorship or lack of knowledge? Perhaps the key to transmigration leads back to this period. This reminds me of the Ancient sun god who arrived and united humanity against the other races that oppressed them. Perhaps Emperor Qin is also a transmigrator.

The current Dynasty is referred to as the Great Zhao. The imperial family claim to have descended from Zhurong, the fire god, and they controlled everything until numerous races all rose in rebellion. It's important to note that one of the groups who rebelled were well known for their virtue, so perhaps the imperial family wasn't all that good

After the rebellion, the 3 northern nations were Xu, Gan, and Feng. Rong split off from them and other nations like Ba and Tiandu border the Wilderness.

Other than that, we learn that there has been no evidence pointing torwards divine existences in this era and the jianghu contains the great wilderness and the mountain and sea realm.

We've also got rip off Audrey now which is quite nice. The thief Xu Chang'an is also a likeable character.

That's all from me for now.

Will be a long one so get ready.

**Characters**

Our main character is called Ding Songyan. Troubled past but managed to make things better for himself. Things were looking up, but he ends up getting stabbed trying to break up a fight. He transmigrates into a sort of Ancient Chinese civilisation.

Unlike Zhou mingrui, who had Fragmented memories and pretended to be klein, Songyan knows nothing and immediately claims amnesia. He is smart enough to know that running a whole charade and making people suspicious of him is a bad move.

Thus far, he seems cautious, smart, sarcastic, straightforward and practical. He's aware that his life is in danger and acknowledges that he should learn how to defend himself before it's too late.

Unlike Klein who immediately cemented his goal of returning home, Songyan doesnt seem to care much nor does he seem alarmed. He is to an extent but not too much. Perhaps the result of poor life before he got things back together? Maybe he isn't too fussed with disconnecting with his original world. However in one of his monologues he does think about whether those back on Earth are mourning him so there may be lingering attachments.

He is described to be average looking and the original Songyan made money from storytelling.

The first person who finds him is his younger sister, Ding Qingyan. She appears to be around 14-15 and is described to be really beautiful. She immediately comes off as playful, asking Songyan if he's forgotten his elder sister when he said he had amnesia, thinking he was joking. She's a good person who cares about her brother and her family, telling Songyan everyone's names in advance so they wouldn't be too worried.

His father is named Ding Shengyi. We dont see too much of him thus far. Both Songyans parents are implied to be in late 30s to early 40s

His mother is named Liu Yuzao. She is also described as really pretty and looks fsr younger than she is. She seems caring of Qingyan and Songyan, but rather cold to Bull Ding.

Bull Ding is the eldest brother, and is about 9 feet tall, with a monstrous build and abnormal strength. He doesn't look like the rest of the siblings. His mother was cold to him so I assumed he was adopted, but it turned out before she was married im assuming she was raped. Though the perpetrator got killed, the baby was already conceived. Seeing him must make Liu remember the bad things that happened to her. It may also be a reason why Qingyan was wearing a veil when we first saw her outside. Knowing what happens to pretty girls, she may have advised her daughter to wear one. The Jianghu is a ruthless place after all as seen in other murim.

We also see Songyans maternal cousin, Nuansheng. She is also beautiful and Songyan comments that everyone on his mother's side have stunning looks. She's a concubine of the Second Master Yu, the eldest legitimate young master, which seems to give her prestige. She is worried for Songyan and seems quite smart, immediately finding what words to say to make Master Yu guard Songyan.

**Transmigration Theories**

The key thing to note here is how Ding Songyan transmigrated into a body that had the exact same name as him.

There's also the fact that many names from Earth also exist in this world, such as Zhuanxu, Shun, Qiguren, Xiangliu, Zhulong, some being straight from Chinese mythology.

There are a few ideas that come to mind.

Actual transmigration

The simplest explanation.

Earth Songyan dies. This world's Songyan suffers soul departure sickness. Earth Songyan enters the empty body.

The problem is that the names matching is absurdly unlikely.

Parallel world theory

The Ding Songyan on Earth and the Ding Songyan here are actually alternate versions of the same person.

This would explain the identical name.

The existence of a soul departure sickness also reinforces this. The other characters assume that's what happened to Songyan. If it's as simple as the name suggests the soul just leaves the body and Earth Songyans soul just took an empty body. He also questions whether local Songyan took his body back on earth.

Also could explain why Songyans body had no wounds, no signs of possession or damage anywhere. There is however the possibility of attacks that harm the soul directly and not the body.

The world isn't another world at all.

It's Earth either before or after a massive civilization reset.

This would explain the similarities in names, mythologies. Yada yada.

The technology is interesting because it doesn't feel like normal wuxia.

Flying wooden bird. Camera. Glassware. Mechanical devices.

Combined with the author's note references to Song and Ming daily life, I think Cuttlefish wants:

Historical lifestyle + Mythological cosmology + Advanced craftsmanship

rather than pure ancient China.

This could also explain this being real earth since the technology is somewhat advanced, maybe past knowledge and inventions weren't fully lost.

If this is anything like lotm, it could be possible that just like how roselle was a transmigrator before klein, there could be some here.

Maybe Emperor Shun, or emperor Zhuanxu, who seems really significant as he was the one who severed the connection between heaven and earth, just like how roselle was really significant in the development of lotms world. Could also explain the jump in technology.

**Power System**

"Zhulong, the Torch Dragon: the result of consuming it? Chaos parts, the underworld is lit, day and night bend to your command, the four seasons turn at your will, wind and rain answer your call.

"Xiangliu, the Nine-Headed Serpent: the result of consuming it? The earth corrodes, mountains are swallowed whole, poison endures across a hundred generations, nine heads each moving to their own design.

"Feiyi, the Two-Tailed Snake: the result of consuming it? Insects and beasts are subdued, the spirit is fortified, a hundred ailments find no purchase.

"Yu Chong, the Three-Legged Turtle: the result of consuming it? Stealth becomes second nature, and deathly sand flies from your lips."

"How is this world's secret Classic of Mountains and Seas so different from the one I knew in my past life?"

Lost in silent thought, Ding Songyan turned to the person beside him:

"You're saying—these creatures vanished from the world long ago. Only the martial arts remain, forged by those who first consumed them, shaped by the transformations wrought upon their very bodies. And these arts... can still be cultivated?"

This is what's written in the novel's description. From this we can see that martial arts and supernatural abilities came from ancient beings, which was confirmed in the opening chapters. They originated from divine beings that existed before emperor Zhuanxu severed the connection between heaven and earth.

Before you consumed bits from these beings, but now you cultivate their martial arts.

Both these methods lead to changes in your physiology as you become stronger and more proficient. Songyans sister mentioned that the more someone looks different from a regular human, it is likely that they are a master in their martial art.

This seems similar to lotm sequence system.

Consume something originating from the divine, advance through stages, unlock qualitative changes and adopt different characteristics.

It's also quite similar to avatar the last airbender, how humans got the ability to bend from lion turtles, but learnt the different forms and how to effectively bend from the Original masters, dragons for fire benders, sky bison for air benders, the moon for water benders and the badger moles for earthbenders.

These people in this world got the abilities directly from the creatures, and then learnt the forms of their martial arts.

So I assume it'll be similar in that particular tribes/sects will all specialise in a specific martial art style just like how different nations specialise in different bendings. Maybe Songyan is the avatar and can use every single martial art 💔💔

**Sects**

We can also see that there are Sects that seem to legislate over different areas ever since the Emperor of the Youqiong Dynasty passed the Jade Scroll Covenant, that allows sects and clans to reduce grain taxes, oversee prisons and patrol cities.

The Dingjiang district, where the mc lives, is under the jurisdiction of the Brightnight sect.

Their martial art originates from goddess sisters: Brightnight and Candlelight, daughters of Emperor Shun. Since this is the sect in his city, this may be the main sect we will deal with, like how we had the Nighthawks in lotm, and songyan may join them.

**Daily Life**

"Some of the details of ancient daily life and certain passages in this book are drawn from the following works. After all, I'm not a person from ancient times and cannot conjure such things from thin air. Reference texts include but are not limited to: Dreams of Eastern Capital's Splendor, Ancient Matters from Wulin Garden, Recipes from the Garden of Contentment, Tales of the Jianghu, 54 Daily Lives of Ancient People, A History of Chinese Architecture, Treatise on Superfluous Things, A Dream of Splendor in the Great Song, Daily Life and Social Customs of the Ancients, The Lives of Women in the Ming Dynasty, How Much Was the Money Then?, Traditional Chinese Attire, Chronicle of Han Dynasty Fashion, Six Records of a Floating Life, Grand Spectacle of Han, Wel, and Six Dynasties, A Dream of Splendor in the Great Ming, The Refined Life of Ming Dynasty People, The Emperor's Banquets, Three Words and Two Slaps, Customs of the Ming Dynasty, Where Did the Ming Dynasty's Money Go?, Dream of the Red Chamber, The Golden Lotus, Water Margin, and so on and so forth."

These are sources CF said he used for detail of daily life (mentioned in an authors note on webnovel)

From these, we get things about:

Culture and Daily Life:

Tea houses and wine houses

Storytellers, singers, performers

Festivals and seasonal celebrations

Ancestor worship

Temple visits and religious rituals

Gift-giving customs

Social etiquette and manners

Common greetings and forms of address

Entertainment such as gambling, opera, music, chess, and poetry

How ordinary people spent their free time

Local superstitions and folk beliefs

Architecture

Courtyard homes

Scholar residences

Merchant mansions

Temples and shrines

Pagodas

City walls and gates

Watchtowers

Bridges

Gardens and pavilions

Sect compounds

Noble estates

Government offices

Inns and taverns

Market districts

Women:

Marriage customs

Engagement traditions

Concubinage

Household management

Family expectations

Women's education

Beauty standards

Clothing and cosmetics

Relationships between wives and concubines

Property rights

Social restrictions

Motherhood and child-rearing

Women's influence within families

Food and Cuisine:

Regional cooking styles

Banquet etiquette

Noble vs commoner diets

Street food

Seasonal foods

Tea culture

Alcohol and drinking customs

Cooking methods

Food preservation

Feast traditions

Kitchen management

Economics and Trade:

Currency systems

Tax collection

Merchant guilds

Market regulations

Grain prices

Wages

Land ownership

Debt and loans

Long-distance trade

Luxury goods

Economic classes

Family businesses

Fashion and Clothing:

Everyday commoner clothing

Noble attire

Official robes

Hair styles

Hair ornaments

Jewelry

Seasonal clothing

Textile production

Symbolism of colors

Rank and status shown through clothing

Government and Administration:

Prefectures and counties

Magistrates

Taxation systems

Local law enforcement

Prison management

Official examinations

Bureaucracy

Record keeping

Imperial decrees

Local governance

Family Structure:

Clan relationships

Filial piety

Elder-younger hierarchy

Inheritance

Family reputation

Ancestor halls

Marriage alliances

Adoption

Extended family obligations

Family disputes

Cities and Urban Life:

Market streets

Night markets

Commercial districts

Entertainment quarters

Inns

Workshops

Warehouses

Public transportation

Urban professions

Wealth distribution

Jianghu (Martial World):

Wandering martial artists

Escort agencies

Martial sects

Brotherhoods

Heroes and outlaws

Reputation and honor

Martial disputes

Secret techniques

Rivals and sworn brothers

Interactions between officials and martial artists

Literature and Storytelling:

Folk tales

Legends

Historical romances

Professional storytellers

Poetry recitals

Scholars

Public performances

Oral traditions

Ghost stories

Mythological narratives

Religion and Spirituality:

Taoist practices

Buddhist customs

Local gods

Ancestor spirits

Temple festivals

Divination

Omens

Ritual offerings

Exorcism traditions

Sacred mountains

Beauty Standards:

Pale skin

Long hair

Refined manners

Delicate features

Elegant posture

Literary talent

Graceful speech

Fine clothing

Cosmetics

Fragrance and perfumes

Military and Security:

Local militias

City patrols

Guard units

Weapons ownership

Frontier defense

Military households

Escort services

Watch systems

Bandit suppression

Social Classes:

Scholars

Officials

Merchants

Artisans

Farmers

Servants

Beggars

Religious figures

Nobility

Martial artists

Medicine and Health:

Traditional remedies

Herbal medicine

Physicians

Disease treatment

Dietary therapy

Childbirth practices

Longevity beliefs

Physical exercises

Preventive healthcare

We can see that most of these are to do with ordinary life rather than the supernatural, martial arts, action yada yada. We can clearly see that just like how Cuttlefish read books and articles on Victorian daily life to make lotms world as immersive as possible, he's doing the same here to make the world as vivid and alive as he can.

**Trivia**

Songyan is pretending to have amnesia and has a mole behind his right ear. Azik in lotm also had amnesia and a mole behind his right ear and ended up being a sequence 2 death consul

Could it be Songyan is actually a super ancient powerful death being??? Gulps

Alright guys thats it. I know it was a long read so I hope you stuck to the end!