“What?!” Flame Clearspring said. “You want to give a gift to Yun Hailan and ask her to put in a good word with the Crown Prince? Are you kidding me? She’s my sworn brother’s biggest adversary! All of us hate her guts. Sucking up to her would be siding with the enemy!”

“Clearspring,” Pontifex Flame said, “you’re really acting muddle-headed. If she's the only one who has the Crown Prince’s ear, what else are we supposed to do? Do you really want to bring about the destruction of our church? The Flame Clan has been building up this organization for thousands of years. Do you realize that, back in the martial arts competition, not a single of the Great Sages did anything about the Crown Prince breaking the rules? Don’t you understand what that means? His rise to power has only just begun. Besides, everyone says he’s a god from heaven descended into the mortal world. He’s an invincible force who is destined to become a Great Sage. In fact, he might even progress beyond the Great Sage level. And he's also the future chancellor of the Demi-Immortal Institute. What is Yang Qi in comparison? In fact, I would bet money that Yang Qi is in a...