And… nothing. There was utter silence in the arena. One moment two utterly strong forces were closing in on each other and the next they vanished without a trace. It happened too suddenly and caught everybody off guard.

Xiun Wu, Ming Lu, Ming Xu, Xi Fe, Fang Zuwa, Xiao Pao, Akata, and even Jiandan Fuza, who was in his tower watching from a distance, had wide eyes. They were shocked to see that nothing happened when clearly something big was supposed to.

The arena grounds were mostly clear as no cultivator in the 1st Grade could be seen, as well as most of the 2nd Grade cultivators. Only those who could defend themselves with their own strength still remained in the area. And all those people's faces were lost too.

“Wha… what happened?” Fang Zuwa asked.

“Nothing… nothing happened, that’s what’s wrong right now.” Xiao Pao retorted with slight derision.

All of a sudden a drunken laugh could be heard in the middle of the arena floor. Everybody turned their heads in the direction of the laugh. Sitting in the middle of the arena floor was a young man in his mid twenties drinking from a flagon of alcohol. He wore brown furs and was an Elder of the sect.

“Fourth Elder?” Ming Xu said.

“Fourth Elder took a sip from the flagon and looked out at the various disciples around. He stood up and walked towards them. His walking was very profound as with each step he advanced by multiple meters at a time. In the blink of an eye he was right beside Ming Xu.

He took another sip and then spoke out in a deep brooding voice. “Kids, you all sure are strong these days. To think your battle prowess would be this astonishing at such a young age. Of course that sparring session got a bit out of hand just now. If I hadn’t have stepped in, not to mention the people with lower cultivation bases, even you kids would have been seriously injured if not killed.

And to top it all off you three were the main contributors.” Fourth Elder turned to face Akata, then Ming Lu, and finally Xiun Wu. He gave each of them a look and then addressed the crowd as a whole. “As of right now this challenge is over. Akata has beaten Ming Xu and is now the Seventh Ranked cultivator of the sect. You four come with me.” Fourth Elder waved his sleeve where Ming Xu, Ming Lu, Xiun Wu, and Akata were swept up. “The match is over, why are you all still here?” He took another sip of wine and started to walk off.

“Umm… Fourth Elder? Why didn’t you take me with them?” Xi Fe asked courteously.

Fourth Elder turned to look at Xi Fe and after a moment he laughed out loud. “Hahaha for what kid? Did you do something? From what I saw, you just stood there behind that Xiun Wu trying not to get hit. That hardly counts as doing something. From my perspective you aren’t involved at all.” He took another sip of alcohol and turned back around to leave.

Xi Fe was left standing there. He didn’t know what to do right now. He couldn’t face Fourth Elder so he could only stand there for a moment. After a bit of time he clenched his teeth and turned to go to the Fifth Cabin.

After a bit of strolling through the sect and making a visit to refill his flagon of alcohol, Fourth Elder made his way to Red Cloud Hall. He walked right in drinking from his flagon. The Sect Leader and Third Elder were inside of the hall and watched as Fourth Elder waltz in.

Third Elder shook his head while the Sect Leader looked at him calmly. Fourth Elder swished his sleeve and sent out the kids. Xiun Wu, Ming Lu, Ming Xu, and Akata landed on the ground in front of Fourth Elder. They looked around until they noticed the Sect Leader there.

“You all caused quite the commotion just now and put many people in danger. I want to know the reason why.” She looked out calmly at the group and then pointed. “Xiun Wu you’re up first.”

“Sect Leader the reason for all this-” A snort could be heard from the Sect Leader as she stopped Xiun Wu mid sentence.

“If you remember correctly I said I wanted to ‘know’ why. I didn’t say I wanted to ‘hear’ why. Obviously I don’t intent to listen to all of your biased perspectives.” With that she swished her sleeve and Xiun Wu started to glow with a blue light. The light quickly converged on his head and then flew to the Sect Leader.

After a brief amount of time she nodded her head and then swished her sleeve again toward Ming Lu, and then to Ming Xu, and once more towards Akata. The same thing happened to each of them. A blue light surrounded them and converged on their heads and then flew back to her.

The whole process happened rather quickly. The four of them didn’t even feel anything weird happen to them. Not even a tingling sensation could be felt in their bodies all they saw was a blue light surround them and it fly back to the Sect Leader.

After a bit of thought the Sect Leader nodded her head and stood up. “After reviewing your memories I have come up with some consequences for you all. Each consequence of mine is to be taken into effect immediately.” She looked out at the four of them standing there.

She turned her attention to Ming Lu first. “Ming Lu, for you to start the brawl and cause so many casualties amongst the sect, you are hereby banished from the Red Cloud Sect.” The Sect Leader swished her sleeve and instantly Ming Lu disappeared.

Ming Xu’s eyes went wide and before she could even speak the Sect Leader addressed her. “Ming Xu, you are targeted by certain people in the sect as of this moment so it will not be safe for you to stay here, therefore you are also banished from the sect.” She swished her sleeve again and Ming Xu also disappeared in an instant.

Xiun Wu had a fearful look on his face. He didn’t know if banishment meant being thrown out of the sect or being killed in body and spirit. It all happened so fast that he couldn’t tell which happened. His heart skipped a beat when he noticed the Sect Leader turning her head to look at him now.

Before he could even cry out and beg for forgiveness her words rang out. “Xiun Wu, you have caused much trouble and death within and out of the sect. You had organized assassins to kill Akata but instead managed to heavily injure Peizhi Xiuying to the point of her almost dying. You attempted to kill Ming Xu, and had also ordered her to kill Akata. If I add up all the people who you order to kill Akata it would amount to 23. Now tell me what should your punishment be? Banishment also?”

When Xiun Wu heard the word banishment his body froze in fear. No longer concerned over his dignity he got on his knees and pleaded for mercy. “Please I beg of you spare me. My family can get you anything you want. I was raised in a prestigious household filled with royalty. I can provide resources and money and cultivation techniques to you or the sect. Just please spare me!”

Xiun Wu gave no effort to conceal his wish for living. Nothing else mattered but his life at the moment. He would disgrace his family name in order to continue living.

The Sect Leader gave a cold snort at the way Xiun Wu was acting. It was utterly disgraceful. Third Elder was displeased as well as he watched Xiun Wu. Fourth Elder on the other hand laughed out loud, spitting out the alcohol he had in his mouth.

“Bwahaha! Spoiled rich kids have no backbone at all! No pride at all! When it comes to their lives they just cower and beg for it, trying to bribe others with pleasantries in order to save themselves. I’ll let you know now kid, if someone wanted your life just because, you won’t be able to save yourself with treasures or your background.” Fourth Elder took another sip of alcohol and continued to laugh afterwards.

Xiun Wu heard this but he didn’t care in the least. He just wanted to preserve his life at the moment.

The Sect Leader gave a long look at Xiun Wu and then spoke out. “Xiun Wu, I have decided that you will also be banished from the sect.”

Before his heart could drop, the Sect Leader swished her sleeve and Xiun Wu disappeared. When he reappeared he was extremely shocked to see where he was.

He stood in front of a giant gate. The gate had five imposing words on it which read, Holy Water Merchant House Sect.

“I’m… home?” He looked around and found a bag next to his body. He went to the bag and looked inside where he found all the stuff he had taken to and gotten from Red Cloud Sect. The bag was one of those special bags of holding which could hold many things inside of it.

“So being banished is actually being kicked out of the sect? That’s a relief.” Xiun Wu let out a deep sigh of relief. He strode forth toward the gate until he was right in front of it.

“Who goes there?!” The guards standing at the gate bellowed out as they saw a figure approach. When the figure didn’t stop walking forward the second guard yelled out, “Stop now or we’ll attack you soon.”

After those words the figure stopped and snorted. “How dare you talk to me in that way! Mere people such as you don’t even qualify to stand in front of a gate. Call my father this instant and tell him I have returned home with news.” Xiun Wu yelled out.

The guards instantly filled with an intense sensation of fear. Xiun Wu was a terrifying figure in the Holy Water Merchant House Sect as he held a high position. And yet he wasn’t exactly a lenient figure.

“Ah! Yes Young Master Xiun Wu. Right away, sorry we didn’t recognize you earlier. It won’t happen again.” One of the guards waved his sleeve as a jade slip appeared in his hand. He quickly wrote something on it and then sent it flying inside of the sect.

Xiun Wu didn’t go inside of the sect gate yet but stood outside and waited. After a bit of time a carriage came through the gates from inside the sect. It wasn’t being pulled by anything and in fact was hovering off the ground as it moved. The carriage was white and had gold trimmings around it.

It stopped in front of Xiun Wu and out stepped a person with white robes. He was a middle aged man and had a black beard. He gave Xiun Wu a slight bow at the waist. “Welcome back Young Master Xiun Wu. I hope your travels were easy going. Please step inside.” Xiun Wu stepped into the carriage and the man climbed in as well.

The carriage began to move and was soon on the other side of the gate. Xiun Wu looked at the middle aged man and then spoke calmly. “Elder Hong Tian I think we need new guards at the gate.” His face was blank as he spoke. The Elder nodded and then waved his finger.

The guards released a sigh of relief as they watched the carriage go by. Sweat even dripped from their foreheads. “It looks like he forgot about us hehe.” One guard laughed off nervously. As the words left his mouth two regular sized golden raindrops fell from the sky. They couldn’t detect it and as soon as the raindrop fell onto their heads, their bodies turned into a golden puddle and then evaporated into the sky above.