Mo Chen was thundered to the ground, where the shatter of the bone in his legs resounded throughout the room. And yet, even with the powerful pressure that had descended upon him, the floor did not break.

Elder Zhan Rui, whose shout had punished him was one of the women. Though maturely beautiful, her expression was fierce.

Her shorter, shoulder cut hair was tousled from her own pressure.

Meng Jue’s shoulders slouched and Xiao Bo cowered a few staggering steps back.

"The supposed suspicion and sect interests that you speak of? All crawling nonsense! What would you dare not say when you have been shamed, and by consequence shamed this sect, with your ignorance, and must now face your rightful punishment? Another word from you and our decision could hardly become any worse thereafter." The Elder’s expression fell threateningly taut, her eyes glared as she stabbed one accusing, long finger towards them.

Mo Chen forced himself to choke on the pained scream that wished to tear through his throat.

And regardless of him, Grand Elder Yan Huai raised his hand, gesturing for her to relent. She only scoffed as she leaned herself back into he seat.

Grand Elder Yan Huai’s eyes had not, for even a moment, left the snobbish ly tall, slightly shivering figure to the middle of their pack of halfwits.

"Meng Jue, look at me."

At the man’s demand, Meng Jue’s neck creaked to rise, and his jaw tensed as harshly as it had in shame, as it had when his mind had been taken with thoughts of his loathing towards Ouyang Qianye.

"Your father, a great Castellan, is a man of honour and a respected leader of men." Grand Elder Yan Huai’s brows furrowed deeply, "And despite the efforts he has expended towards raising you, the behaviours you demean yourself to are that of a starving swine? You need not linger here long. All of your punishments have been decided already."

The Elder beside Han Tieliang, Elder Wei Canghai, leaned forwards from where he sat, "The arrogance to plot the assassination of a disciple within the outer bounds of the set, masking it under the guise of righteousness for whatever grievances that you hold is complete disregard for the authority of both this Disciplinary Hall, and our Clear Sky Lotus sect."

There, the man’s attention moved over to the suffering Mo Chen and then briefly over Xiao Bo.

"The two of you. For allowing yourselves to become the blunt instruments of this foolish malice, and sorely lacking the demanded discernment of a cultivator, your inner disciple status will be striped. You are hereby banished from the sect grounds, and your names will be blacklisted from any institution under out banner."

Xiao Bo’s eyes shut rightly, and his lips quivered as his head fell.

There, rather than Wei Canghai, it was Grand Elder Yan Huai that spoke to Meng Jue directly.

"As for you," he spat, and paused briefly, his jaw tensing. "Because your victim survived, your punishment will be split between material compensation and your warranted punishment."

Elder Yan Huai’s eyes narrowed, and at the same time, the enforcers that were standing along the walls had approached to drag and guide Mo Chen and Xiao Bo out.

"Five years’ worth of resources that you should have received from the sect will hereby be defaulted in their entirety as a bulk sum, paid towards Ouyang Qianye. And for the crime of your accusations, abuse of authority and attempted assassination, you will be subjected to ten thousand lashings, and sentenced to four months within the Gorge."

Meng Jue’s countenance had been engorged with blood in its silence, his eyes bloodshot and his fists clenched.

Elder Han Tieliang glanced across himself briefly, to the other female elder and their gaze between each other didn’t linger too long as he eventually silently glanced back at Meng Jue. He shook his head to himself with a sigh.

Grand Elder Yan Huai, having paused briefly, then muttered in a lower voice, "Your father will be informed of this decision shortly, and what I will tell hm, without dressing up the foolishness you have done, is that this is the least you could have paid for your irreverent audacity."

Suddenly, Meng Jue’s eyes snapped wide. His body was shot back, hurtled through the air by the powerful pressure that shot through his gut.

He was slammed through the door. His back crashed against the ground, and he tumbled down the hall, under the witness of the enforcers, and Xue Jingde, who had remained outside in waiting.

By the time his body dragged to a stop, he was wheezing with blood coughing out of him.

His arms trembled as he tried to list himself as quickly as possible, groaning through the suffering.

"Now get out of my sight!" The words had been said the moment the impact had hit, however, they only registered in his mind as he barely rose to look up through his swimming vision, as the closing double doors.

’OUYANG QIANYE, I WILL KILL YOU!!!!’ His teeth cracked in his bleeding mouth and he wobbled to rise.

There, without caring for his condition, Xue Jingde approached him, and he caught him by the shoulder.

"You will receive your lashings at the gates of the gorge." And the two of them, in a blur, had sped out of the Disciplinary hall.

They reappeared as a streak of blue flying through the sky, higher ad higher above the ground, with Meng Jue seated cross legged over Xue Jingde’s flying sword.

He had to collect himself, for both the lashing and the gorge.

If he was not in his best state, he could easily lose his life in that place.

If that happened—at this thought, his jaw creaked and grated—he would never be able to redeem himself! He would never have the face to look his father in the eye, nor would he be able to kill that bastard Ouyang Qianye!

The two of them flew for a long while, past the core disciple mountain, and by now they were rounding to the back of the sects Main Peak, where the Patriarch and all the elders and important people of the sect like the enforcers resided.

A swath of green, lush land expanded ahead of them to the back of the main peak mountain, and they travelled a long distance down it before suddenly, Xue Jingde sent them into a nosedive.

They hurtled like a reckless meteor, and within the next dozen seconds, they had disappeared beneath the forest expanse.

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