Fang Qianyuan had agreed simply to do them a favor that cost him nothing.
Since the Azure Cloud Sect had wealth to spare, it had chartered the ships in their entirety. Apart from the sailors and shiphands who came with the vessels, there would be no other merchants, travelers, or rogue cultivators aboard-only the Warrior Administration subordinates accompanying him into battle and the Heavenly Observation Court envoys responsible for liaising with the Flying Immortal Sect.
These attendants, together with their manifested spirit creatures, numbered fewer than three thousand. Never mind taking a few extra people along; there would still be room for another three to five thousand.
Only a Grand Elder like Fang Qianyuan traveled this way. An ordinary elder could have met all his needs by renting a single treasure ship. The two extra vessels were purely for spacious comfort and a suitably grand display.
Since he had already agreed, Fang Qianyuan decided he might as well be more generous. "I can give you a thousand places. Any merchants, travelers, or Spirit Tamers eager to put out to sea may board and travel with us. That should keep them from saying the Azure Cloud Sect Members are overbearing, monopolizing the treasure ships and preventing them from making their journeys. But beyond that, I cannot help. We paid to charter these ships, too."
After dismissing the lord of Sea City, Fang Qianyuan returned to his lodgings to rest for a while, preparing to board and depart that afternoon.
Meanwhile, within Sea City, in a lavish mansion overlooking the sea in the Eastern District where the wealthy aristocratic clans congregated...
A woman clad in sumptuous brocade sat cross-legged on a stone platform in the courtyard, facing the sea as she silently drew in and released the origin energy surging between