"King of the South, you just heard Senior Su. How much are three thousand Flying Dragon Guards and a flying vessel worth?" Zhang Yang got straight to the point. "As for this useless prince, consider him a bonus, a free gift to you. So, I want to ask, how much ransom has your Cloudmount Empire prepared?"

King of the South, Shen Jun, gave a bitter smile. "The empire took over a decade to train the Flying Dragon Guards, exhausting decades of the empire's resources. That's why His Majesty values them so highly.

We sincerely wish to redeem the Flying Dragon Guards, but if the ransom requires millions of spirit stones, we simply can't afford it.

To be honest, the empire's annual spirit stone production is only a few hundred thousand.

In such a situation, how could we possibly come up with millions of spirit stones?"

Seeing Azurecloud Sect's tough stance towards Heavenmyst Sect, he decided to play the sympathy card.

"Of course, we could force the entire nation to mine spirit stones, and maybe in two or three years, we could gather enough. But doing so would leave the empire in ruins, with millions dead and only a few million left."

Lingyunzi couldn't help but transmit his thoughts to Zhang Yang: "Maybe we should just let it go?"

Zhang Yang replied irritably, "Uncle, are you on their side? Why don't you sit over there? Can't you see he's trying to guilt-trip us? Forget it, just focus on your cultivation from now on and leave these matters alone."

Lingyunzi glared at Zhang Yang but said nothing.

Zhang Yang shook his head and sighed, "That's truly pitiful! Hearing King of the South say this, I can't help but feel compassion. In that case, let's just forget about the ransom!"

King of the South felt a sense of triumph, thinking to himself: Young people are indeed young!

He bowed deeply to Zhang Yang with a compassionate look. "Thank you, Sect Master Zhang, for your generosity. On behalf of the empire's millions of citizens, I thank you. When I return, I will properly discipline those Flying Dragon Guards for daring to offend Azurecloud. Especially, I will report to His Majesty to ensure the Third Prince is well-disciplined to prevent similar incidents."

"Of course, of course!" Zhang Yang replied emotionally.

"Thank you, Sect Master Zhang!" King of the South thanked him again. "Shall I take them back now?"

"Huh?" Zhang Yang seemed to snap back to reality. "You want to take the Third Prince back? Go ahead, take him. He can't do any work here, just wasting food. Eating and excreting, it's a stinking mess."

The Third Prince was speechless, wanting to say, "Master, that's enough!"

But he was currently playing the sympathy card, so he couldn't speak.

King of the South quickly asked, "What about the Flying Dragon Guards?"

Zhang Yang sighed, "If we keep the Flying Dragon Guards, Cloudmount Empire will surely spend vast resources to continue training them, which is a huge burden for the empire's millions of citizens. How can we let them live such a life?

Let Azurecloud Sect shoulder this pain.

We'll take care of the Flying Dragon Guards!

Coincidentally, Azurecloud Sect is short on people. Three thousand Foundation Establishment cultivators will all join Azurecloud Sect.

Rest assured, we will treat them well, teach them cultivation techniques, and provide them with alchemical pills to help them succeed.

This pain, the empire won't have to endure anymore."

King of the South was dumbfounded.

He came to Azurecloud Sect with the sole purpose of taking back the Flying Dragon Guards; everything else was nonsense.

His eyes shifted, and he shook his head. "The Flying Dragon Guards are the children of the empire's citizens. Their parents are still waiting for them to return home. Before I came, their parents specifically asked me to bring them back. Some of their parents are gravely ill, waiting for them to return and care for them in their final days!

So, no matter how poor the empire is, we can't let those elders down. I have a proposal: how about using some materials to offset the ransom? What do you think, Sect Master Zhang?"

Realizing he couldn't guilt-trip Zhang Yang, he immediately switched to negotiating prices.

"How much material?" Zhang Yang asked.

"One hundred fifty thousand pounds of copper ore, three hundred thousand pounds of iron ore, thirty thousand pounds of gold ore, one hundred thousand pounds of silver ore..." He listed some of the prepared materials.

Zhang Yang glanced at King of the South. "With such a small amount of material, those elders are bound to be disappointed!"

This novel is available on "p𝑎wread.com".

"Plus one million spirit stones!" King of the South added.

Zhang Yang retorted, "My junior sister is the daughter of the Yunteng Trading Union. When she joined Azurecloud, she saw the sect was poor and generously donated a million spirit stones. Right now, Azurecloud Sect isn't short of money. Maybe it's better to let the Flying Dragon Guards join Azurecloud Sect; we can afford it."

"Hmm?" King of the South widened his eyes.

No wonder Azurecloud Sect wasn't tempted by these materials.

He quickly said, "We can double the materials and add another fifty thousand spirit stones. This is truly all we can offer at the moment. Please, Sect Master Zhang, be merciful."

Zhang Yang said calmly, "Your Excellency King of the South, do you think I don't know the value of those materials? I've estimated that the materials add up to over a million spirit stones, meaning you're still short by over a million spirit stones to take back three thousand Foundation Establishment cultivators. To be honest, Azurecloud Sect is really short on people right now. Since you've shown sincerity, I'll be generous. You can take back two thousand people, leaving one thousand for Azurecloud Sect."

"I want all three thousand Flying Dragon Guards!" King of the South gritted his teeth. "The thousand-mile territory of Qing Prefecture will belong to Azurecloud from now on. The value of Qing Prefecture surely exceeds two million spirit stones, right?"

This was the maximum he could offer.

Zhang Yang was momentarily stunned, feeling elated inside.

The Qing Prefecture, with its thousand-mile territory, was larger than Azurecloud's current domain. How many resources did it hold?

Most importantly, the people—this was incredibly beneficial for Azurecloud.

He thought it was entirely agreeable.

Just as he was about to speak, Qingyunzi's voice sounded in his ear: "Don't take Qing Prefecture! Don't take any land!"

"Master!" Zhang Yang was taken aback.

"Listen to me on this matter," Qingyunzi insisted.

Zhang Yang had no choice but to shake his head and say to King of the South, "We are a sect, not interested in establishing a dynasty. So, what use is Qing Prefecture to us? Besides, I can't bear to see you divide your land.

How about this, you can repay the remaining debt over ten years. But since we're giving you this benefit, you must agree to one condition."

"What condition?" King of the South remained cautious.

After dealing with Zhang Yang, he realized Zhang Yang wasn't simple.

Zhang Yang smiled and said, "We plan to establish a trading union to sell talismans, alchemical pills, magical treasures, and such. We hope Cloudmount Empire will support us. These items should be beneficial to you as well. What do you think? Of course, we'll pay taxes according to your laws, but you must offer us tax incentives."

In short, open trade!