Snow drifted down like willow fluff onto the docks, where a jostling crowd of martial artists headed uphill, their conversations overlapping endlessly:
"Fortunes turn like a wheel-that's no joke. Ten-odd years ago, marrying a Wu daughter into the Chu family would've meant marrying up. How many years has it been? Now it's marrying down..."
"That's the good thing about the martial world. The strong devouring the weak looks barbaric, but when that's the rule, it's the fairest place under heaven. Ability brings status and power. Background, birth, lineage-none of it means a thing before a great spear. Unlike ordinary society and officialdom. Born a commoner, you stay a commoner your whole life, never able to contend with the lords and young masters of the Capital City..."
"If you ask me, North-Severing Cliff won't remain top dog for long either. Word came from Beyond the Pass a few days ago: Ye Jingtang of Yunzhou killed Northern Liang's King Gouchen with a great spear. The Spear Chief title stands half a notch above Blade Overlord. If Ye Jingtang wants to climb higher, a fight with Duansheng Ji is probably inevitable..."
"I think Hero Ye Jingtang's reputation is a little inflated. Being chief of the Black Bureau gives him an advantage, after all. And he rose far too quickly. I heard a rumor that Hero Ye was so handsome that the reigning Prince Jing took a fancy to him and made him her intimate companion, deliberately pushing her lover to the top. That time with Xuanyuan Chao, he deliberately lost under pressure from the Imperial Court, becoming Ye Jingtang's stepping stone..."
"Could be. Still, to forge iron, you have to be tough yourself. Anyone the Imperial Court can promote into the Eight Great Beauties must have some real ability..."
Behind the chatting