Mortal in a World Without Immortals

In the 23rd year of Hongzhi reign of the Great Yong Dynasty, an era of apparent peace but underlying turmoil. The dynasty's system mimics the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, with centralized power coexisting with local magnates, budding commodity economy, and increasingly sharp social contradictions. Official corruption grows, the judicial system becomes rigid, and folk tales of supernatural forces prevail. Against this backdrop, an institution called the 'Imperial Observatory' quietly expands, with departments like 'Astrology', 'Medicine', and 'Occult Arts'. Nominally in charge of astronomy, calendars, auspicious omens, and disasters, it actually gathers extraordinary individuals from across the land, incorporating low-level supernatural powers (such as pharmacology, divination, basic martial arts, and folk witchcraft) into the bureaucratic system, forming an invisible power. Locally, river transport gangs, salt smugglers, and other underworld forces are deeply entrenched, colluding with government clerks for profit. At the bottom, the 'mean people' (including coroners, prostitutes, entertainers, etc.) are forever condemned to a lowly status, serving as indispensable yet trampled cogs in the social machine.