Although the ship had moored, none of the sailors had made landfall. In fact, the ship had not even extended the boarding platform, that normally was used as access while moored.

"They will sail off as soon as we board, let's go" Deng Zian said while quickening his speed. Wu Guang followed suit and a few moments later, both of them jumped over the small gap between the pier and the ship, landing on the deck.

As soon as they landed, a few sailors dressed in sleeveless robes and short pants surrounded them. Every one of them was a cultivator, albeit their level was hardly impressive, being in different levels of the beginner Spirit realm. Still, such an amount of even low-level cultivators was shocking. Especially if considering that only a tenth of the overall population, at least on Half Island, cultivated.

"Stand down! They are our passengers" A calm but loud voice sounded from behind the sailors, and a few moments a figure came to the front.

Wu Guang supposed that this man was the captain of the ship and so examined him closely.

40 or so years old, weathered skin, and shortly cut black hair. Stocky and not higher than 5 and a half feet, with a pointed face and narrow eyes. With the common grey robes added to the mix, he would pass as a common passerby anywhere. Anywhere except this ship, as his sure steps and the respect irradiated by the sailors instantly gave away his status. His cultivation was also nothing to scoff at, being at the 4th level of the Soul realm.

The captain was also examining Wu Guang in turn. As for Deng Zian, he either had seen or knew him, because the captain only spared a single glance before nodding in acknowledgment and loudly commanding

"We are sailing, to your places! Tao Hu, take charge, set course towards homeport"

As the sailors orderly moved to their positions, the captain motioned for Wu Guang and Deng Zian to follow him.

Led by the captain they entered the forecastle of the ship. A small corridor-like common space with three doors opened to them. At this moment, Wu Guang could not help to notice that the bearing of the captain had changed. Outside he did not even speak to them, but right now, he was acting like a servant before Deng Zian. He even addressed the latter as a lord!

"Lord, the doors to the sides lead towards two rooms. As instructed both of them were equipped with an extra set of security measures"

"About two weeks to our destination?" An interesting detail was that Deng Zian did not show any reaction to such a change. Thus indicating that such subservience was something normal.

"If the waves will it, we will drop anchor in 13 days"

"I see. Are the other instructions also...?"

"As instructed by the Lord, an honor-bound has concealed on the ship. And all of the sailors don't know anything except that we were ordered to pick two people from here and take them along on our return journey"

"Good, you're dismissed"

"Understood" After saluting and bowing almost to the floor, the captain left.

"I think it is time for us to speak, follow me inside my cabin" A few moments later a qi transmission reached Wu Guang.

Complying, Wu Guang followed Deng Zian into the right side door.

_________________________________________________________________________________

When the door closed and a set of concealing runes was activated, the Head Treasurer started speaking or better said, transmitting.

"I suppose you have accumulated a lot of questions. But first, let me tell you a story. After you hear it, you should be able to make a few guesses and get some answers as well"

"Understood"

"90 years ago, in the middle of Summer, the Astral Gate of our plane suddenly activated. The guards posted around it instantly informed the Black Palace, and when a man exited the gate, he was received by two of the strongest experts beneath the Emperor.

After confirming the lack of hostile intentions and that the man had arrived while on an exploration journey, he was invited to stay as a guest in the Empire.

Unsurprisingly the visitor was an expert, and albeit his cultivation was a bit weaker than the strongest people of the Empire, his other skills far surpassed them. Especially his skill with formations"

After taking a short pause, Deng Zian continued

"As you can guess, the man was invited to the Imperial Palace and asked to teach the formation masters, to which he agreed without hesitation. There were not even talks about rewards, even so, the Emperor declared that the man would be considered under imperial protection and that he could request anything he needed or liked. Obviously, a few restraints were added, but practically he was someone that only the Emperor himself could touch. Not to mention that he was allowed to enter any place, even the treasury.

Regretfully, even his wise imperial majesty failed to see that the person that was so elevated by him was not a good one"

Another pause followed, during which Wu Guang heard something like a sigh.

"This fact was discovered only a few months later when the Minister of Wealth found out that the entire treasury was emptied. Initially, nobody suspected the guest expert, and even planned to ask him for his help in searching. After all, the protective formation around the treasury was something he had analyzed and strengthened. But... there were no signs of the man anywhere in the Palace. Nor he was in the residence granted by the Emperor.

An urgent meeting of the ministers was called, and it was decided to start an island-wide search. Which resulted in nothing. In just a single day and night he was not seen by anyone, the man had robbed the entire treasury and disappeared"

"..."

"Some of the treasures had distinctive auras and so all the possible tracking means in their disposal were used. Still, it was like both the man and the treasures disappeared from the plane. In the end, this was the conclusion reached by the Ministers and the Emperor himself.

Albeit there were no signs of the Astral Gate activation, they thought that the expert had prepared some kind of escape plan and accomplished it"

From this moment on, Deng Zian began transmitting without stop.

"A few days later, the Astral Gate activated and a new visitor arrived. Because of what had transpired, this one, a woman, was treated coldly. Even though she was not touched, she was told that the Empire does not allows interactions between its subjects and travelers like her. So if she wanted, she could either leave the plane or take a ship to leave the island. In the future, she would have to request and be escorted towards the gate again as to leave the plane"

"She did not resist but requested to meet with someone from the important people of the Empire, explaining that she needed to ask about a person. This request was granted, after all, the Empire knew that powers far stronger existed on other planes. Granted, they would be limited by the plane itself on arrival... But a few dozens of Earth realm cultivators would be enough to overwhelm the best imperial experts anyway. Plus, guests wishes should be respected, especially if they were not hard to comply with"

"During the meeting, she took out a portrait and surprised everyone. The man she was looking for was none other than the robber! An explanation also followed and it turned out that the man was a criminal of her power. He had escaped after killing a few of their experts and she was one of the people sent to capture him. It took a long time to track his movements between planes, and only now they managed to pinpoint his location to the 'Seven Islands'. In return, the Minister of Wealth who was the one meeting with her explained what had transpired"

"She was not surprised at what had he done but refused the idea of him leaving the plane. Taking out a strange compass-like item, she explained that a tracking device made by the strongest expert of her plane could not be mistaken, and the man was hiding somewhere. Using the treasure was time-consuming, but she should be able to activate it and track him down. Hearing this, the Minister instantly informed the others as well his Imperial Majesty and so she was not only allowed to stay but also granted some resources and assistants to activate her treasured item. A few days later, the woman managed to track the criminal and informed them of it. His location? Half-Island, or as it was called at that time, Great Mountains"

"It was decided that she would be allowed to capture and take him, but the treasures had to be returned. In exchange, the Empire would provide help and means for her to do it. After she agreed, the Emperor ordered one of the throne protectors, a peak Sage realm cultivator to take a few experts and accompany the woman. A formation powered ship only required a day to reach the island, and so on that fateful late-autumn day the group made landfall at Pearl City"

"If you read about the Islands war, you should be able to guess that their arrival turned into what was called later 'Nine Experts Massacre'. To remind you, it is described as an assault by the Black Empire to a trade summit between powers from all the islands. In truth, it was nothing else than a scuffle over the criminal. Paying with the imperial treasury contents, the man had bought the support of a few of the summit attendants and they protected him. Imperial orders are absolute, and so the experts from the Black Empire did not back down. In the end, a fight between them began. During which, nine experts from the Eagle Kindom, Flaming Sun Sect, and the powers from the Fiery Island were killed. As for the number of weaker cultivators and even townsmen, it easily surpassed a hundred"

"The people led by the Throne Protector also suffered losses during the fight, with the man escaping and their ship about to be surrounded, they had no other choice but to retreat. A few days later, the man had been taken in by the Flaming Sun Sect while the other powers behind the killed experts began clamoring for the Empire to explain itself. With no other option, a summit between the parties was arranged. And so, for the first time in decades, the leaders of practically all powers met. The location for this grand meeting as you know was none other than the Qiu family city on Half-Island. Thought at that moment it was called Goldenport and led by a council of merchants"

"Nobody will know what happened in the room where his Imperial Majesty and the others talked, but the things that transpired outside it are known to everyone. Indeed, who on this plane does not know about the battle that officially started the Islands war? Even though the eyewitnesses claim that a guard from the Black Empire was the first to take out his weapon, the truth was that it was all orchestrated. By whom? Even I am not sure, albeit the main suspect is the same man"

"When the Emperor was assaulted by the other power leaders and forced to retreat to the Black Island, his entire army and fleet were dispatched in response. Now it is said that all was a plan of his Imperial Majesty to take over all of the islands, but it was nothing else than a preemptive strike against an alliance of the other islands that suddenly was announced right after the Goldenport battle"