Sect Punishment

Pei Ling naturally had no idea what had happened in the Inner Sect.

Worry weighing on his mind, he rode the Yin Corpse Cloud down and hurriedly pressed a Spirit Stone into the hand of a passing senior brother, asking him for a ride to Logistics Peak.

After a while, the disciple at the General Affairs Hall heard Pei Ling out. His eyes held a trace of amusement, but he said nothing. He quickly completed the paperwork, accepted the two demon beasts, and promptly handed over the rewards.

Delivering the letter had been a simple favor; most of the work had been traveling back and forth, for which the reward was twenty Low-grade Spirit Stones. Eliminating the flower demon earned him forty-seven Low-grade Spirit Stones. As for the Purple-Eyed Sable, it had reached the sixth level of Spirit Awakening, so the mission reward was a full hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones. Altogether, he received a hundred and sixty-seven Low-grade Spirit Stones.

Pei Ling carefully counted them, then sighed inwardly. If the sect's punishment weren't hanging over his head, he would've made a tidy little fortune from these three missions falling into his lap.

But compared to the five-figure fine, a hundred-odd Low-grade Spirit Stones were just a drop in the bucket.

Just as the thought crossed his mind, several cultivators in fitted robes and quick boots came straight toward him as he exited the General Affairs Hall.

The man in front had a silver streak embroidered on his sleeve. He strode forward with the bearing of a dragon or tiger, his dark face framed by a short beard. His narrow eyes glinted sharply, and a sword case was strapped to his back. He blocked Pei Ling's way in front of everyone. "Pei Ling, the new disciple from Huaiyin Peak? Come with us."

Pei Ling's heart sank. "Who are you? Why do you want me to go with you?"

"Huaiyin Peak's Deacon Hall." The man's tone was even. "You've been caught. Either come with us quietly, or we'll 'invite' you."

As he spoke, he made a gesture of invitation.

Pei Ling's expression shifted several times. In the end, he slowly let out a breath and said in a low voice, "Fine. I'll go with you."

This was the Outer Sect. He had no chance of escaping.

Besides, though the other man seemed calm, his aura remained poised and ready to strike. The slightest move from Pei Ling would bring a thunderous assault.

"New disciple Pei Ling." Half a day later, Pei Ling was brought back to Huaiyin Peak. The Deacon Hall stood in a ravine on the northern side of the peak. It was a three-story building built entirely of black stone, with what seemed to be cleared land all around it. There was hardly a plant in sight. A broad plaza paved with bluestone stretched nearby, empty and lifeless.

The man who had brought Pei Ling back introduced himself as Jiang Liang. He was one of Huaiyin Peak's three silver-sleeved deacons and had been given full responsibility for the deaths of Li Siguan and the other two.

In an interrogation room in the northeast corner of the first floor, Jiang Liang sat at the head of the table, casually flipping through the case files before him. "Fourteen days ago, three hours and two incense sticks before now, you disembarked from the Xuan Gu Ling Yin Boat at Zhan Chen Platform and entered the Sacred Sect. After that, under the guidance of your clan brother Pei Hong Nian, you went to..."

Pei Ling had still been racking his brains for an excuse. But as he listened to Jiang Liang, cold sweat trickled down his back.

Jiang Liang had laid out everything in meticulous detail, from the moment Pei Ling first set foot on Zhan Chen Platform to the moment he left the sect with Chen Huan and the others. Every last detail was clear, down to the exact time. What chilled Pei Ling to the bone most was the account of his clash with Li Siguan and the other two. Jiang Liang described it as if he'd witnessed it in person: who struck first, who used which technique and when, who moved where, and how each of them counterattacked...

Even the woods where Pei Ling had gone to practice were brought into view beside them, as Jiang Liang casually cast a Light-Round Technique, illuminating every detail.

Jiang Liang even took the time to comment, "Judging by the damage to the vegetation, this saber art is fierce and powerful. Quite impressive."

He followed that with another precise, detailed account. The only thing he got wrong was the reason Pei Ling had returned from the woods, ambushed Li Siguan and the other two, and killed them. It hadn't been out of resentment or deliberate revenge, nor had Pei Ling cultivated some exceptionally profound movement technique. It had simply been the system's doing!

"...The evidence for all of the above is conclusive." At last, Jiang Liang finished recounting the whole affair and asked amiably, "New disciple Pei Ling, do you have anything to say in your defense?"

Pei Ling gave a bitter smile. "No."

Jiang Liang nodded, then picked up another stack of documents. "Then let's discuss the punishment."

There followed another batch of painstakingly detailed analyses and assessments: Li Siguan, Miao Chengan, and Zhou Yi's time in the sect, their cultivation and temperaments, their contributions to the sect, their spending power, the resources the sect had invested in them, their respective backgrounds, and the many consequences of their deaths...

The final conclusion was: "The total is seventy-four thousand, eight hundred and forty-one Low-grade Spirit Stones, payable in full within three months from today. If you're even a single day late, you'll be handed over to the sect for disposal. Any questions?"

What?

It wasn't ninety thousand Spirit Stones, but only a little over seventy thousand?!

And they weren't even counting the time he'd spent absconding out of guilt—cough, no, out on a mission?

He'd spent so long thinking he'd have to pay ninety thousand Spirit Stones, with the clock starting from the day he killed Li Siguan and the other two, that Pei Ling actually felt a little moved.

But he quickly composed himself and tried to bargain. "Miao Chengan and Zhou Yi were both at Qi Refining Layer 5. They joined Li Siguan in attacking me, and I killed them. That proves they were beyond reform and wasted the sect's painstaking efforts to cultivate them. So isn't a fine of over seventy thousand Spirit Stones a little unreasonable? I think thirty thousand would be fair."

"Seventy-four thousand, eight hundred and forty-one Low-grade Spirit Stones. That's the exact figure calculated by the Deacon Hall." Jiang Liang smiled and pushed the documents aside. He laced his fingers together and studied Pei Ling with interest, speaking at an unhurried pace. "In truth, Li Siguan, Miao Chengan, and Zhou Yi's friends and family are all quite dissatisfied. They think the amount should be ninety thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones."

"Outer Sect Elder Li Ping, in particular, hosted our Deacon Hall Master just yesterday. During the banquet, he happened to mention you!"

"But our hall master has always been fair-minded. He rejected the request outright, which is why the fine stayed at seventy-four thousand, eight hundred and forty-one Low-grade Spirit Stones."

At that, Jiang Liang smiled. "Do you still think the Deacon Hall's ruling is unfair?"

"...I understand." Pei Ling took a deep breath and cupped his fists. "Thank you, Deacon Hall, for upholding justice."

Jiang Liang nodded and said indifferently, "You may leave. If you can't pay the fine by the end of three months, we'll come find you again. You're free to do as you like until then. If you want to run, you can try that too."

"You jest, Deacon." Pei Ling's voice was grave. "A nation has its laws, and a household its rules. Now that I've joined the Sacred Sect, I'll naturally defend its rules to the death!"

Damn it, of course he wanted to run.

The problem was, given how certain Jiang Liang seemed, could someone at Qi Refining Layer 4 really get away?

After leaving the Deacon Hall, Pei Ling thought it over for a moment, then decisively headed toward the mountainside.

A short while later, the old disciple who'd received three Low-grade Spirit Stones beamed as he summoned a Yin Corpse Cloud for Pei Ling. "Don't worry. If you were looking for some other Inner Sect senior brother or sister, I couldn't make any promises. But we know the Pulse Masters' residences like the backs of our hands. The Yin Corpse Cloud will take you right to the gate of Kulan Courtyard. If Pulse Master Zheng isn't there, one of the Jiansang lineage's disciples will be. Just ask them then. Since Pulse Master Zheng brought you into the sect, they definitely won't turn you away."

To Pei Ling's surprise, he'd assumed that since the Outer Sect disciples all lived among the peaks above the sea of clouds, the Inner Sect disciples must live on even taller and grander mountains. But once the Yin Corpse Cloud entered the Inner Sect, it actually descended.

A landscape of plains and valleys spread out before him.

The vegetation was lush, and birds and beasts were everywhere.

Now and then, clouds of seven-colored mist rose among them, shimmering with brilliant colors and breathtaking beauty.

Just as Pei Ling's eyes were darting everywhere, the Yin Corpse Cloud suddenly turned into a valley. In front of a small courtyard beside a waterfall, it sank into the earth and vanished.

Seeing no one outside the courtyard, Pei Ling carefully straightened his robes and composed his appearance. Then he stepped forward and cautiously knocked on the door.