Chapter 51: Sect Punishment

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Pei Ling naturally did not know what was going on in the inner sect. He was worried the whole journey here. After getting out of the Corpse Cloud, he quickly stuffed a Spirit Stone into his senior brother’s hand and asked him to take him to the General Affairs Hall. When the disciple from the General Affairs Hall heard the reason for Pei Ling’s visit, there was a playful look in his eyes, but he did not say anything. Soon he completed the paperwork for him. After accepting the two demon beasts, he nimbly gave out the rewards.

Delivering a letter was as easy as lifting a finger. The main reward was 20 inferior-grade Spirit Stones for traveling back and forth. Getting rid of the flower demon was 47 inferior-grade Spirit Stones. The last purple-eyed ferret was at the sixth-level of the Awakening Realm, after all. The mission reward was 100 inferior-grade Spirit Stones, totaling 167 inferior-grade Spirit Stones.

Pei Ling counted carefully and sighed inwardly. If not for the punishment from the sect, he would have gained a small fortune from the three missions. Compared to a five-digit fine, 100 inferior-grade Spirit Stones was just a drop in the bucket. Speak of the devil. He had just left the General Affairs Hall when several cultivators in tight-fitting clothes and soft-soled boots arrived.

The person in the lead had a silver mark embroidered on his sleeve. He walked like a dragon or tiger, had a dark face, a slight beard, and a pair of narrow eyes that shone brightly. On his back was a sword case. He blocked Pei Ling’s path in front of everyone. “New disciple of Shady Sophora Peak, Pei Ling? Come with us.”

Pei Ling’s heart sank as he said, “Who are you? Why do you want me to go with you?”

AnimeDaily.Net

“The Disciplinary Hall of Shady Sophora Peak,” that person said calmly. “You’ve been exposed. Either you follow us obediently, or we ‘invite’ you to leave.”

As he spoke, he gestured with his hand.

Pei Ling’s expression changed several times. In the end, he slowly exhaled and said in a deep voice, “Alright, I’ll go with you!”

This was the outer sect. He could not escape.

Furthermore, even though the other party’s attitude seemed to be calm, his vital energy was ready for action. If Pei Ling made any untoward moves, he would definitely suffer a heavy blow.

“New disciple, Pei Ling,” Half a day later, Pei Ling was brought back to Shady Sophora Peak. The Disciplinary Hall was located in a valley on the north side of the peak. It was a three-story building made entirely of black stone. The surroundings seemed to have been cleaned. There was no vegetation, but a large square was paved with bluestone. It seemed deserted.

The person who brought Pei Ling back said that his surname was Jiang and his name was Liang. He was one of the three silver-robed deacons of Shady Sophora Peak. He was fully responsible for investigating the deaths of Li Siguang and the other two.

In the interrogation room in the northeast corner on the first floor, Jiang Liang sat in the seat of honor and flipped through the case file in front of him casually. “On the 14th, before 6:30 am, they took the Dark Bone Phantom Ship and entered the Holy Sect! Then they were led by their elder brother, Pei Hongnian, to…”

Pei Ling had originally been racking his brains for excuses. At this moment, as he listened to Jiang Liang’s words, he broke out in a cold sweat!

Jiang Liang recounted everything that had happened, from the moment he stepped onto the Dust Severing Platform to the moment he left the sect with Chen Huan and the others. He covered every detail big and small and even the timing was not the slightest bit off! What made Pei Ling’s blood run cold was the conflict between him and Li Siguang and the other two. Now that Jiang Liang said it, it was as if he had witnessed it with his own eyes at the scene. Who attacked first, who used a spell, who moved, who counter-attacked

He also described the dense forest where Pei Ling had gone to train in vivid detail. Jiang Liang even took the time to evaluate, “From the damage to the vegetation, this set of saber techniques was fierce and ruthless. It was really not bad.”

Then it was another series of precise and detailed descriptions. The only mistake was that he had returned from the dense forest to his residence to launch a sneak attack and kill Li Siguang and the other two not because he held a grudge or was deliberately taking revenge; nor did he cultivate any exceptionally brilliant escape technique. It was purely the system’s doing!

“… The evidence is conclusive.” Jiang Liang was finally done with the whole story. He asked amiably, “New disciple Pei Ling, do you have any objections?” Pei Ling smiled bitterly and said, “No.” Jiang Liang nodded and took another stack of documents. “Then let’s discuss the punishment.”

There was another round of detailed analysis and evaluation. From the moment Li Siguang, Miao Cheng’an, and Zhou Yi entered the sect, to their cultivation, personality, their contributions to the sect, their spending power in the sect, the sect’s investment in them, their respective backgrounds, the series of effects caused by their deaths, and so on

In the end, he concluded, “A total of 74,841 inferior-grade Spirit Stones. Starting from today, they have to be paid within three months. If you’re late by a day, you’ll be handed over to the sect to be punished. Is there a problem?” What?

It’s not 90,000 Spirit Stones, but only about 70,000?!

And he did not even deduct the time that he had fled to escape punishment. Pui! It was time for him to go out on a mission.

Perhaps because he had always thought that he had to pay 90,000 Spirit Stones all this while since he killed Li Siguang and the other two, Pei Ling was actually a little touched.

However, he quickly calmed down and tried to bargain. “Miao Cheng’an and Zhou Yi were both at the fifth level of Qi Refinement. They attacked me together with Li Siguang and were killed by me. It’s obvious that they couldn’t be educated and wasted the sect’s painstaking nurturing. In that case, isn’t more than 70,000 Spirit Stones inappropriate? I think 30,000 Spirit Stones is more reasonable.”

“74,844 inferior-grade Spirit Stones. This is the result of the Disciplinary Hall’s precise calculations.” Jiang Liang smiled and pushed the documents to the side. He crossed his fingers and looked at Pei Ling with interest, saying slowly, “In fact, Li Siguang, Miao Cheng’an, and Zhou Yi’s friends and families are not satisfied. They think that it should be 90,000 inferior-grade Spirit Stones.

Especially the outer sect elder, Li Ping. Just yesterday, he even personally held a banquet to entertain our Disciplinary Hall Master. At the banquet, he inadvertently mentioned you! However, the Hall Master has always been fair and rejected him immediately. That was why he maintained the amount of 74,841 inferior-grade Spirit Stones.”

He smiled. “Do you still think that the Disciplinary Hall’s judgment is unfair?”

“.. understand.” Pei Ling took a deep breath and cupped his fists. “Thank you, Deacon, for upholding justice.” Jiang Liang nodded and said nonchalantly, “You can leave! When the three months are up and you have not paid the fine, we’ll look for you again. You can do whatever you want in these three months. If you want to run, you can give it a try.” “Deacon, you’re joking,” Pei Ling said in a low voice. “A country has its laws, a family has its rules. Since I’ve entered the Holy Sect, I naturally have to defend the sect’s rules with my life!”

He wanted to f*cking run.

The key was that judging from Jiang Liang’s confident look, he, a fourth-stage Qi Refinement realm cultivator, would not be able to run away.

After leaving the Disciplinary Hall, Pei Ling thought quickly for a while and walked resolutely to the mountainside.

A moment later, an old disciple, who had obtained three inferior-grade Spirit Stones, summoned a Corpse Cloud for him with a smile. “Don’t worry, if you’re looking for other inner sect senior brothers and sisters, we might not be able to help you. But we know the residence of the inner sect master all too well. The Corpse Cloud will send you directly to the entrance of his courtyard in Kulan. If Master Zheng is not there, there will definitely be disciples from the branch there! You can ask again then. Since you were brought in by Master Zheng, they will definitely tell you.”

Pei Ling had thought that since the outer sect disciples lived high up on the mountains above the sea of clouds, the residences of the inner sect disciples would definitely be on even higher mountains. Contrary to his expectations, however, after the Corpse Cloud floated into the inner sect’s territory, it instantly descended.

Before him was a stretch of plains and valleys. There was lush vegetation, and many birds and beasts.

Occasionally, there was a seven-colored mist rising in the air. It was a beautiful sight.

Just as Pei Ling was taking in the scenery, the Corpse Cloud suddenly turned into a valley and descended to the ground in front of a small courtyard beside a waterfall. Then it disappeared.

Seeing that there was no one outside the small courtyard, Pei Ling solemnly adjusted his robes and appearance before stepping forward and carefully knocking on the door..