"It should be people from Qing Province. Nine times out of ten, they're from the Free and Unfettered Palace."
One of the Green Lake Island elders spoke in a low voice. Although everyone across the vast Nine Provinces spoke the same language, the accents and dialects varied from place to place. It was easy to tell the differences.
"The Free and Unfettered Palace!"
Gu Yong said nothing, but the wrinkles between his brows deepened.
In terms of prosperity across the Nine Provinces, Yang Province and Yu Province naturally ranked first. Yang Province's salt merchants and Yu Province's wealthy merchants were both famous.
The salt merchants' association in Yang Province was especially renowned. The Li Clan salt merchants of Yicheng had become famous throughout Yang Province and even the Nine Provinces in recent years.
Yang Province was certainly wealthy, but in terms of size, it was not particularly large. Rong Province, Liang Province, and Yan Province were all vast and sparsely populated. However, those three provinces were mostly bitterly cold, so they could not be considered particularly good territories.
The places with truly excellent environments and population densities were central Yu Province and eastern Qing Province.
The Free and Unfettered Palace of Qing Province benefited from its large population. Qing Province had eighteen commanderies, and it had not fully unified them. Even among the fifteen commanderies under its rule, there were quite a few problems. Yet even so, the palace had produced a great many experts.
The people from Green Lake Island did not have to wait long before the three major sects arrived together.
The Snow Eagle Cult brought six Xiantian experts and six other powerful figures. Sun-Shooting Divine Mountain brought eight powerful figures. The three who had come alongside its five Xiantian experts were said to be sworn brothers.