"..."
"Why don't you want to attend the Sword Cultivation Academy?"
"...I want to go to the Divine Capital, my lord."
"The Divine Capital Martial Exam? An official career? Yet graduates of the Sword Cultivation Academy have no shortage of prospects either." Sui Zaihua looked at him. "Even if you don't join the academy, I wouldn't advise you to go to the Divine Capital. Shaolong Prefecture is already a sea deep enough for a young dragon to tumble in. In the Divine Capital, even true dragons must fear golden rocs. A country boy with no one to rely on would find it very hard to spread his wings-do you know what matters most when you want to rise in a place like Shaolong or the Divine Capital?"
"A powerful backer."
Chapter 213: Heart-to-Heart Talk
"...So young, yet you see things clearly." Sui Zaihua smiled. "Quite right. However sharp your edge, someone has to give you room to wield it. Otherwise, excessive rigidity will snap you, or compromising to accommodate others will blunt your spirit-so, do you have a backer in the Divine Capital?"
"Yes."
"Hmm." Slightly surprised, Sui Zaihua looked him up and down. "Which family?"
Pei Ye fell silent for a moment. "...I don't know."
"?"
Pei Ye felt his face grow a little hot too. "We haven't met. I have to pay a visit somewhere first before I can count myself acquainted with them."
"Then that hardly counts as a backer. It's merely somewhere to settle."
Grandpa Yue had said they were a backer, and Pei Ye believed him. But he truly had not met them yet, so there was little point arguing.
"Come, show me a few sword moves." Sui Zaihua did not dwell on it. Changing the subject, he extended a hand.
"...Oh."
"I only want