Lord Bei was somewhat disappointed upon hearing this. He suggested that Meng Zhao stay a while longer, so that Sifang City could properly show its goodwill.
Meng Zhao politely declined. He was not some naive Little White who knew nothing of the world; of course he understood Lord Bei's intentions. Lord Bei wanted to keep him here to serve as a protector—at the very least, until Sifang City had withdrawn, or even until the entire matter was over, only then would he be at ease.
However, Meng Zhao did not wish to do so, much less give the other man such expectations.
Meng Zhao was indeed incomparably covetous of Sifang City's elite force of several hundred thousand Human Clan members. He also wished to gain benefits and harvest from them, laying a foundation for his future domination of the Divine Land.
He had even, out of consideration for the Human Clan's greater cause, taken the initiative to step forward and fight the Blazing Sun Divine Clan's two great experts in duels to the death.
But that did not mean he would pay for the people of Sifang City without limits. Once the sunk cost became too great, the primary and secondary could be reversed.
He was a selfish man, and also a generous one. The two did not actually conflict. The difference was merely that acts of generosity were often an extension of his selfish nature.
For example, if these several hundred thousand people of Sifang City were Meng Zhao's elite subordinates, then forget staying behind—even helping them move Sifang City away would require no second word from him. It would be an excellent way to bestow favor upon his own people.
Only, that was not the case at present.
To Meng Zhao, Sifang City was at most a collaborator,