In the calm coastal waters, all the boats sailed forward.
These were no ordinary vessels, but wondrous creations formed from poetry. They relied on neither sails nor oars, and had no mechanisms at all. Their speed and every other aspect of their sailing were determined entirely by their poems.
When they first set out, the boats were loosely scattered, but a quarter of an hour later, two enormous fleets had formed at the front. The Fang Yun Fleet accounted for ninety percent of the boats. Although the fleet of the Zong and Lei Families lagged only slightly behind it, their total number of vessels was much smaller.
Besides the two enormous fleets, dozens of tower ships sailed at varying distances, each followed by a number of smaller boats.
These tower ships represented the major powers, their divisions as clear as the waters of the Jing and Wei Rivers.
Behind the vessels at the front were still more boats.
Bamboo rafts and dugout canoes were scattered everywhere, creeping forward like snails. They looked rather forlorn, and some of the small boats were scarcely better off.
These small boats had either missed their chance to follow a large fleet and could no longer catch up, or their owners had decided to search slowly for Literary Heart Fish in the Outer Sea.
The farther ahead they went, the more Literary Heart Fish there were, and the better their quality.
It was utterly impossible to catch a peerless literary heart in the coastal waters. Even ordinary literary hearts found there were only the poorest lower-grade ones, and most were incomplete. Several Literary Heart Fish had to be consumed to form a complete one.
The owners following the large fleets did not immediately lower their fishing rods. They concentrated on steering their vessels to avoid