By this point, Multi-pupil Grand Scholar was the calmest of them all. His perspective and depth of thought made him the most reliable person to assess the situation.
Times had changed. After suffering one setback and upheaval after another, Titan Academy's authority and standing in the Heartlands had been undeniably weakened.
As senior figures of the Academy, Purple Gold Ribbon Grand Scholars like them had to keep pace with the times, learn to accept this, and adjust their thinking and actions accordingly. If they still clung to their lofty attitudes and believed they could send anyone they pleased to settle things, they would only be fooling themselves.
Multi-pupil Grand Scholar would never put it so harshly, much less say the words "fooling themselves" outright.
But his words had already made the current situation perfectly clear.
The Chief Grand Scholar had to go in person. And that alone wouldn't be enough; he also had to offer tangible benefits and commitments.
Put plainly, they had to pay up for real, instead of relying on empty promises and Titan Academy's reputation to cow people as they had in the past.
Even then, whether Five Elements Academy would remain neutral was another matter.
Though Five Elements Academy was weaker than Titan Academy, it still had the basic confidence to stand its ground. If they approached them with the same attitude as before—or even expected them to come to Titan Academy for talks—
That attitude would amount to pushing Five Elements Academy straight into Taiyi Academy's camp.
Would they join the big brother in beating up the little brother, stay neutral and watch the big brother beat him up, or team up with the little brother to fight the big brother?
It might sound almost childish, but that was the heart of the matter now.