"I wanted those things too. But I couldn't reach out for them. The moment I did, it would affect the case. I, Qiao Tian, couldn't let a lifetime's good name come crashing down over this case." Qiao Tian shook his head.
"Your lifelong integrity commands respect, sir. But things are different now. Someone already has their eye on your position.
"With the Northwestern War dragging on until now, fighting has broken out along the coast too.
"So, urged on by some ministers, the Imperial Court has stepped up its training of martial artists.
"Along with that, martial strength has gained greater weight in the assessment of court officials.
"In this climate, everyone feels threatened.
"The capable rise, and the mediocre fall. I hear the Haisheng Six Fan Office is going to be upgraded," Cheng Jiang said.
"Yes! Someone proposed sending down a deputy commandant to take charge of the Six Fan Division, to deal with foreign invasions and the overall situation in the Jianghu. That is the tide of events. No one can stop it." Qiao Tian sighed, gazing out the window with somewhat vacant eyes.
"Reform has to happen. Right now, even leaving foreign invasions aside, the major sects of the Jianghu have grown considerably stronger.
"Take our Ten Sects of the Sea Saint. The Moving Wood Palace has crumbled to dust, and the remaining nine major sects have all made substantial gains in strength.
"The Flying Heaven Sect in particular supposedly found a secret cultivation sanctuary left by their forebears. Talented people keep emerging from their ranks.
"I heard that even their Grand Elder, Tian Botong, has reached great perfection in the Divine Sense Realm.
"Some even say he is half a step into the Human Realm, while their sect master, Cao Tianye, can supposedly rank among the