While waiting for his food at the restaurant, Lu Heng extended his consciousness into his spatial dimension. Since the currency here was these crystal stones, he wanted to prepare more for himself.
To be safe, he decided to move more of those crystal stones from the City Lord's Mansion within his space.
Fortunately, items within his space could be obtained infinitely. Every time he took something, an identical item would reappear in its place.
He moved about several dozen boxes. He didn't quite understand the local price levels, but he felt that those several dozen boxes should be enough for some time.
Withdrawing his consciousness, Lu Heng watched as the people in the main hall gradually increased. Soon, various thoughts and conversations from everyone reached him.
Filtering out some valueless information, Lu Heng began to listen to some gossip.
"Hey, have you guys heard? The City Lord's Mansion recently posted a notice saying that the annual selection test is about to begin."
"Yes, at this time every year, major sects send disciples to recruit people. I wonder how many children from our Jinyang City this year will be able to cultivate."
"Alas, they say the population is decreasing too quickly. The number of people who die at the hands of magical beasts each year far exceeds the number of births."
"Indeed. One can only test whether they can cultivate at the age of twelve, and after a few years of study, they can go to kill magical beasts. And every few years, there's a beast tide. Those magical beasts reproduce much faster than us."
"Then why don't you marry a magical beast as your wife? You'll definitely have many children. Hahahaha..."
"Get lost! If I were to marry, I'd find someone fertile, one child a year, two in two years, three in three years, hahahaha..."
Lu Heng... changed the channel.
"Old Chen, how's your shop's business this year? Our area is still a bit remote, and every few years we suffer from magical beast incursions. Business is tough."
"Alas! My family sells medicinal herbs. By rights, it should be okay, but business is usually not good. Only after a beast tide, when more people are injured, can I make a substantial profit."
"So, you don't open for a year, but when you do, you eat for three years..."
Lu Heng, changed the channel again. It seems coming to this restaurant was the right choice; there's a lot of news here.
"The bounty posted by the Mercenary Guild to hunt the leader of the Slippery Wolves is really difficult. So far, no team has been able to complete it."
"No kidding. Slippery Wolves are pack animals. Although they are low-level magical beasts, they are numerous. How many mercenary teams can withstand them?"
Lu Heng inwardly agreed, "Indeed, wolves are pack animals. Before the apocalypse, people who encountered wolf packs in the wild had little chance of survival."
"Yes, unless there's an absolute level advantage, no one can really defeat those Slippery Wolf packs."
"Which powerful cultivators would come to a low-level place like ours."
"True. Hey! Waiter, another roasted Frost Mountain Goat leg!"
"Coming right up!"
...
"I need to go to the City Lord's Mansion to get a travel permit. I'm going on a trip in a few days."
"Oh? Where are you going this time?"
"To Guanzhou. The magical beasts there are said to be slightly higher level than those here. The magical beasts here are no longer suitable for my improvement."
"Haha, congratulations, brother! You can finally leave this place. But remember to bring your Ding Ji, don't go for nothing."
"Yes, I know. My wife packed it for me early this morning. I'll go after dinner. I invited you brothers this time to say goodbye..."
Lu Heng thought, "Travel permit? Ding Ji? Are these like household registration books?"
"Guest, your dishes have arrived. This is the roasted Frost Mountain Goat leg, this is the roasted Ash Wild Rabbit head, this is... and our best wine in Jinyang City – Jinyang Huadiao."
Just as Lu Heng was pondering the household registration and other things people mentioned, the waiter had already brought his dishes and wine. As the waiter continuously announced the names of the dishes, four plates were placed on the wooden table in front of Lu Heng.
It seemed the waiter was honest and didn't bring a full table of dishes.
Lu Heng pointed to the four dishes on the table, "Are these all magical beast meats?"
"Guest, you jest. If not magical beast meat, what else could it be?" the waiter said with a smile.
Then, he took away the tray used for serving the dishes and bowed to Lu Heng, saying, "Guest, please enjoy. If you need anything else, just call me."
"Okay."
Picking up the chopsticks on the table, Lu Heng picked up a slice of stir-fried meat. The waiter had said it was miscellaneous spotted wild boar meat, but the color of the meat was redder than he knew, resembling beef from before the apocalypse.
He tried a slice. Hmm?
The taste was really good, tender and smooth, with no strong gamey smell.
After eating a few more bites of the other three types of magical beast meat, they all had good textures.
It seemed the meat of these magical beasts was indeed more delicious than the artificially ripened farmed meats he had eaten before.
Before long, the storyteller also arrived in the center of the hall. He was talking about a mercenary group killing magical beasts somewhere. Although he described the killing of zombies in a very thrilling way, Lu Heng knew that most of it was exaggerated.
Lu Heng was very satisfied with his meal. He paid the bill cheerfully, which, including the wine, cost eight crystal stones.
Lu Heng also generously gave the waiter one crystal stone as a tip. He didn't know if tipping was customary here, or if it was appropriate, but seeing the waiter's smile stretching almost to his ears.
Well, it seemed he hadn't given too little.
Anyway, these crystal stones were easy to come by, so he wouldn't hesitate to give a tip.
...
City Lord's Mansion, Ancient City in Space.
Finding a secluded spot, Lu Heng flashed into his space.
He had just heard about needing things like Ding Ji and travel permits, and Lu Heng wanted to see what those things looked like. If he wanted to move around openly outside, he needed to get some documents to prove his identity.
This time, Lu Heng went directly to the front courtyard of the City Lord's Mansion. The entire front courtyard of the City Lord's Mansion had two halls, where the City Lord handled official business.
Passing through the second hall, behind it was the back garden, which was arranged with rockeries and ponds, surrounded by pavilions and towers, serving as a leisure place for the City Lord and his family. Further behind was a three-courtyard residence, presumably the inner quarters, where the City Lord's family lived.
Lu Heng searched through the second hall in the front courtyard and indeed found booklets labeled Ding Ji and travel permits on a table.
Looking at the styles of these two types of booklets, Lu Heng took out identical blank booklets and began to write on them, imitating the handwriting on the original ones.
But... how should he write the characters "Lu Heng"?
Ah! He could copy the others, but how should he do his own name? He didn't know how to write these two characters.
Right!
With a thought, he went to the study within his space. There must be calligraphy copybooks there that teach reading and writing, so he could search slowly.
Working until midnight, Lu Heng finally created seven or eight Ding Ji and travel permits for himself.
Why so many?
Of course, it was for his convenience in changing identities. After all, these were forged documents and wouldn't withstand close scrutiny.
He not only created an identity document with the name Lu Heng, but he also replicated several seemingly ordinary identity documents, such as a butcher named Wang Da, a shopkeeper named Zhao Si...
Those replicated identity documents were genuine. Even if someone checked later, the information could be found. After all, in ancient times, there were no ID cards with photos. As long as he didn't run into acquaintances, these identities would generally not be exposed.