For the next several days, Wu Guang as he had said entered seclusion. Granted, he had lied about the real reason, it being to break into the heavens secret level of the Spirit Realm, but he did spend the time working on his cultivation.

The process itself had no danger more than the one implied by damaging one's dantian while separating a piece, but Wu Guang had enough experience with the matter to avoid any mistakes. After that, it was a simple, repetitive, task of infusing qi and energy from the wood essence he had stored inside to quicken the process itself.

And so when he left his cabin on the 9th day since they left the fishing village, Wu Guang cultivation had been improved. Even though no one could actually determine his level as the secret level was undetectable by normal means, any examination of Wu Guang's current cultivation would show that he had practically surpassed the peak of the Spirit realm.

Basically, he was ready to make an attempt at breaking into the Soul realm. Obviously, he would not do it here as any realm breakthrough required a guarded location and an assurance of no incidents, but he was already told by the head treasurer that such a place would be provided on landfall. In truth Wu Guang was not feeling calm about the matter, after all, he did not know what would happen after he fused with his original, Bai Qi, soul in place of awakening the one from the body... Still, cultivation was always accompanied by risks and he had no other choice except make such an attempt anyway. At least if he did not want to stay a Spirit realm cultivator for the entirety of his lifetime.

There would be also a few issues about secrecy and making sure to prepare for the worst cases, but thankfully, his breakthrough was a matter of interest for a lot of people and so he should be able to make them act or grant him what is needed. In any case, as he had between four and five days of sailing remaining, Wu Guang decided to go visit the captain first.

The captain, called Tian Xue, as Deng Zian had said, was instructed to help him however it could be possible and also explain to him about the customs and life of the Empire.

Wu Guang had no real needs at the moment, and so after the captain freed a bit of time and arranged for some tea, simply listened to the explanations.

The start was obvious, that the Island was ruled by a sole, practically divine, power. Going even farther, there were actually no other forces except the ones affiliated to the Empire present. Every citizen or cultivator was a subject of the Emperor, and from what Wu Guang could understand, was almost fanatically devoted to him. An interesting, even funny, fact was that the title of the Emperor was 'The One Blessed by the Sun' or shortened to 'Sun Emperor' which was a bit strange considering the 'Black' character in both island and power name.

Society was clearly divided into four strata, which were also explained.

The Imperial family and the closest aides of the Emperor were not included in this categorization, being considered something akin to deities. Or at least Wu Guang's opinion was such after listening to the revered intonations of the captain.

As for the strata, the first one was one of the commoners, people who did not cultivate and dedicated themselves to mortal trades. They were equal to the other strata in all matters except during war-time, where they were obligated to contribute and don't ask questions.

The second was comprised of clerks and other bureaucrats. Strangely there was no division between being a cultivator or not, and to resume their status and life a simple phrase was enough - The unpersonified hands of his Imperial Majesty, who work tirelessly under his wise direction. Such a way of thought appeared strange to Wu Guang who was used to the prepotency of even the smallest clerk, especially towards mortals. Still, it seemed that the Empire was different, at least if the Captain's words, which sounded honest, could be believed.

When the captain mentioned that merchants were part of this strata Wu Guang was surprised, but after a brief explanation, he understood. It turned out that all the merchants were part of the Imperial Merchant Guild, which was an office of the Ministery of Wealth. Basically, they worked for the Emperor. They did get some profits for themselves, but most of the real wealth went towards the Empire.

All cultivators were also considered part of the armed forces while non-cultivators had the same situation as the commoners during a war.

The third strata was the one comprised of warriors. Cultivators that dedicated themselves to improve and were part of the military at some grade. Even though the army and fleet were not so big as to give all of them something to do, the organizations that enforced the laws, protected merchants against bandits, or simply taught cultivation would be called into the armed forces and have to fight as part of them without choice.

That left the fourth group. The captain was a bit reluctant to speak about it, but after a brief thought reached some kind of compromise with himself and quickly went over the matter.

This group of people was called the Dishonored, and basically comprised everyone who had committed a crime or failed to complete imperial orders. Some of these people turned to banditry and were consequently hunted while others tried to regain their honor.

The latter could be achieved in two manners, depending on if one was a cultivator or not. For the cultivators, regaining one's honor meant to complete missions or tasks issued by the Military or the Imperial Palace. In short, it was akin to pay a debt in blood.

As for non-cultivators, they would be considered clear after working honestly for a few years and not getting involved in anything bad.

Later, Wu Guang was informed about the customs of the Imperial people. To resume, there were three sacred things, two taboos, and two martial customs that he had to remember.

The sacred ones being the Imperial family, Honor, and never stopping improving oneself.

The taboos were to never say the names of the Imperial Family and to never hide one's strength or status.

As for the martial customs, they were comprised of the traditional technique exchange and the honor bout. The second one was self-explanatory and basically was a duel as Wu Guang knew them.

As for the first one, it was something that he had to take note of. Basically, it was a conditional duel until first blood between cultivators of similar strength. It served to exchange pointers and constantly improve one's techniques. The conditions varied greatly and could be a duel with no qi or only by using weapons, etc.

The captain also made sure to explain how to differentiate the status of different people and what was the correct way to greet or speak with them. He also explained that as hiding one's strength or status was taboo, Wu Guang would be considered a part of the warrior strata while on the island. There were not many obligations, but he would need to openly disclose his strength, carry a weapon, and try and not deny any technique exchange challenges.

"Is everything clear?" Finishing his explanation, and also his sixth cup of tea, Tian Xue asked.

"Yes. Though I have a small doubt about the last part"

"Tell me"

"Why I can not deny technique exchange challenges?"

"Well, it's not that you can not deny them. Mostly it has to do with the understanding of honor that some warriors have. If you deny their challenge, they will consider that you are weak or a coward... basically attack your honor. If that happens, you will be forced to fight them in an honor bout. And the latter always finish with the death of one side"

"Always?"

"Yes. If you spare the life of your opponent without giving a good reason, its akin to stripping them of their honor as well"

"I thank you for the explanations" Wu Guang said before excusing himself and taking his leave. Inwardly he pretty much liked what he had heard, and considered that such a system was very good. Especially the part of never stopping to improve oneself. Still, this was only possible because the populace was fervently devoted to the Imperial family. A thing that Wu Guang lacked and so should be very careful to hide while on the island. After all, he doubted that Deng Zian could help him escape the following honor bouts or worse.

______________________________________________________________________________________

On the 11th day of the journey, while Wu Guang was observing the sea while sitting on the bow of the ship, he sensed that someone's mind-power scanned him. This alarmed him, but after a few moments, he felt that there was no hostility hidden behind the act, and so calmed himself. After a few moments, he noticed that the origin was a well-endowed woman not older than 40 years. Her identity was easy for him to guess, she should be the honor-bound mentioned to the Head Treasurer by the captain before.

Wu Guang had actually retrieved most of his senses after meeting with Deng Zian, fearing that the latter could have some means to discover Wu Guang's Earth realm sensing capacity. After all, the Empire had at least some experience with Warrior realm cultivators.

And so after hearing about a concealed expert, he attempted to scan the ship once. He found nothing else than a decently strong mind-power was used for concealment by someone below the deck. Granted, Wu Guang would have no issues breaking through it, but that would obviously alarm the expert. Plus, it would inform everyone of things he preferred to keep hidden. So in the end, he recalled his senses and continued to feign ignorance.

"Young man, let me introduce myself. I am an honor-bound guard of the Minister of War. My name is Xian Zhenya" Surprisingly the woman walked towards Wu Guang and spoke to him on her own accord.

"Senior" He did not know the reason for this sudden approach, and so stood up and saluted.

"There is no need for honorifics, honor-bound as I have no real status and so can be spoken as equals"

"I respect the customs of the land I am about to enter, but for me, someone who has cultivated for longer and more successfully is still a Senior" Albeit in fact Wu Guang a real senior for all the people of the plane, he still had to play his role as a youth. While making such a declaration also served to indicate his character.

Something respected in the Black Empire, at least from what he was told by the captain.

"Mmm, that is nice to hear. In any case, we have already entered the Imperial Seas, so..." As expected she was not offended, and in fact made a joking rebuke.

"Excuse me for not knowing. Does senior needs me for something?"

"Right now? No. I mainly approached to make introductions as I will be accompanying you during your stay on Imperial land"

"Senior means?"

"Foreigners are not allowed on our island. Albeit your situation is a bit special so permission was granted. Well, at least while you are accompanied by someone from the Empire. So, there's me as a member from the War Ministry to follow you around"

"Oh" Wu Guang was not really surprised to hear this, albeit he wondered why the Head Treasurer would not suffice. But after remembering that the latter had entered seclusion right after the talk and showed no signs of leaving, he suspected that most probably it may take more time than the one remaining now. He did not know exactly why, but his mind came up with a probable theory. That being that the corpse puppet condition had deteriorated, and so it could not be controlled well enough.

So it seemed that Xian Zhenya would serve as his guide. He could not really trust someone who he only saw now, but overall it was not so bad. She seemed both capable and easy to get along with. Adding that her cultivation, which Wu Guang managed to hiddenly examine, was nothing less than the 5th level Sage realm. Meaning that she was actually stronger than any Half-Island powerhouse!