"That spineless wimp! And to think he promised me he would do something. This was it?"
Rao Zongzhi ground his teeth. He had been responsible for contacting this man, who could be considered a sensible fellow with a Dao Heart. Clearly, though, he had failed to hold firm under pressure from his own prefecture and had ultimately chosen to compromise.
Hou Niao smiled. "Perfectly normal. Back when I'd only been cultivating for a dozen years, I would have done worse than him up there! Not only would I have compromised, I'd have blown my own trumpet too... This lad's not bad. He has much better prospects than I did."
Fang Yazi curled his lip. "That wasn't blowing your own trumpet. That was honey on your lips and a sword in your belly, wasn't it?"
Hou Niao was speechless. "Yazi, just what books have you been reading lately? Your reading's led you astray. Read less of that idiotic drivel by down-and-out scholars. Apart from giving you a venomous tongue, it does you no good."
Things had not gone as smoothly as imagined, but that was also expected. After all, Leisurely Clouds and Cranes of the Four Wilds had been away from the center of power in the Jade Capital for too long. If they did not cultivate their connections, where would they find followers to call upon?
Yu Shangjiang's remarks were brief, ending in less than a quarter of an hour. Those were the rules. How could a minor Profound Connection Realm cultivator be allowed to speak longer than those upper and great cultivators? There were no profound words of wisdom. His own abilities were limited; he had merely gone up to state his position.
Next came Lan Kecheng, a Perceiving the Divine Realm cultivator from the Minister of Works Prefecture.