"Isn't that aiming too low?"
"Too low? There are lots of powerful sects in the surrounding prefectures!"
"Too low. Try again."
"Then I want Jade Feather to become... the best in eight prefectures!"
Pei Ye raised her arm. "One day, all fifty prefectures of Shaolong will know Jade Feather's name!"
"..." Li Piaoqing stared. "That's not ambition. That's a fool's wild dream."
"...Besides, we won't be called Jade Feather later," the girl said, looking up. "Master said that once the Cicada lineage returns, we might restore the name Jadeite Mountain."
"Then all fifty prefectures of Shaolong will know Jadeite Mountain's name!"
Qi Zhaohua smiled. "Now that's a lofty ambition-Young Master Yang, if you don't want to drink a toast, you mustn't lose."
Yang Yan looked bewildered. "Huh? I... I don't have any ambitions."
Qi Zhaohua smiled gently. "Then there must be something you want to do, whether in the near future or the distant future."
"..."
"Right here, right now, isn't there anything your heart wants?"
"I want..." Yang Yan stared blankly at the lake. "I want to go back to my sect and sleep one more night in my own bed."
"..."
"Of course... that's impossible now," the boy said quietly.
Qi Zhaohua fell silent for a moment, then gave an exceedingly gentle sigh. "...Yes. The most unattainable thing in this world is 'back then.'"
Then she composed herself and looked up with a smile. "Miss Zhang, what about you?"
Zhang Junxue raised her head, but first glanced at Pei Ye. The boy was looking at her with a smile.
"I want... to create saber arts higher than Mount Tai," she said earnestly.
Qi Zhaohua paused, then looked at Pei Ye. "That's beyond my understanding. Young Hero Pei, how does that ambition compare with Miss Li's?"
"Let me think...