Main Hall. In the sect's palace.
"This is outrageous! Who does she think she is?"
"Right. Right. This is so wrong!"
"How could the guardian spirit beast become someone's pet?"
"This is a great crime against our sect. We must punish her!"
"I agree! We should chain her to the Heavenly Punishment Altar and let her endure lightining strikes for at least two weeks!"
"Right! Two weeks, no less!"
The three elders were greatly upset after hearing that Ming Yue had ridden the sect's guardian spirit beast into town and then also left with him to go on a mission with Yao Yao.
"Silence!"
Suddenly a shout came from an old man with ridiculously long beard and a pair of thick eye brows that seemed so heavy the old man couldn't keep his eyes open.
The Patriarch was currently sitting in the head chair burying his face in one of his palms. Normally the Patriarch wouldn't involve himself with sect business anymore as he saw it as a trial for the upcoming generation to deal with problems, but now the elders were so emotionally upset they didn't realize they were steering away from the sect's core beliefs, so he had no choice but to intervene.
"The girl hasn't broken any of our sect's rules, how dare you suggest punishing one of our precious disciples on the Heavenly Judgment Altar?"
The three elders quieted down.
She hadn't broken any rules? Impossible. But the more the three elders thought about it they realized it was indeed so. There were no rules when it came to the guardian spirit beast.
"Then... then how about we make a new rule?" One of the elders suggested.
"Right. Right. Let's make a new rule! No one is allowed to make the guardian spirit beast into a pet!"
Bang!
The Patriarch suddenly slammed his fist hard against the armrest of his chair. "A-add new rules!? Are you trying to rebel against our sect!" The Patriarch trembled upon hearing their treasonous talk. All the sect's rules had been written by the sect's ancestor and founder and had since then never changed. Suggesting adding or changing the rules was no different than wanting to change the very foundation the sect was built on.
The three elders immediately kneeled in fear and shame upon realizing what they had suggested.
"We're at fault Patriarch. Please punish us!"
The Patriarch sighed. How could he blame them, everything they had said so far was thoughts he himself had already had. So he just waved them off, letting them stand.
"T-then what do we do, Patriarch?" One of the elder's asked.
"What can we do? The guardian spirit beast has a will of its own and while it's a spirit beast we shouldn't forget that its status and age is higher than any of us. Even the ancestor treated it with great respect. How could we dare go interfere with it?" The Patriarch grumbled. "Just let it be."
The heads of the three elders drooped down. As their feelings cooled down they realized how foolish they had been, after all who were they compared to the guardian spirit beast? They were acting just like children when their parents didn't do according to their will. Even the elders venerated and bowed toward the guardian spirit beast, however today they had put themself on a position that was higher. This was a great sin!
The three elders kneeled down on the floor and kowtowed three times toward the patriarch. "Patriarch, we've sinned! We'll lock ourselves up in the punishment hall for six months!"
The punishment hall was a place were the elders could experience various tortures, some times they were physical other times they were psychological. However, the torture they experienced could be beneficial to their cultivation if they managed to overcome the torture.
***
Ming Yue and Yao Yao were riding on the giant panda down the ninth peak at a slow pace.
"Where are we going and what's the mission?" Ming Yue asked.
Yao Yao seemed to wake up from a daze when she suddenly heard Ming Yue's voice. "A flower thief has been disturbing the mortal village below the mountain and they've asked our sect to capture the perpetrator as they haven't been able to do so on their own." Yao Yao said.
"A flower thief?" Ming Yue tapped her chin as she began thinking. "Was it very expensive or rare flowers?" She thought out loudly.
"I don't know. Must've been." Yao Yao said as she was just as confused as Ming Yue. "Either way, the mission is worth 100 points!" Yao Yao continued as a dreamy look appeared on her face.
"100 points? What are they good for?" Ming Yue asked.
"You don't know?" Yao Yao looked strangely at Ming Yu but then explained, "Points earned in the mission building can be used to purchase anything from weapons to pills to techniques. It can also be used to rent time in the various cultivation formations."
"What are cultivation formations?" Ming Yue asked.
"Cultivation formations are formations setup so that you can cultivate your body or mind much easier. For example, in the lightining cave you can experience lightining strikes which is particularly good for cultivators with a spiritual root with a lighiting attribute, or the gravity cave where you can experience up to hundreds of times the normal gravity, which is good for all cultivators. Of course, there are many more types of cultivation formations. Hmm... haven't your Master explained this to you already?" Yao Yao said as she thought it was strange there was a disciple in the sect who knew even less than her.
"Ah!" Ming Yue's face blushed from shame. "Well, we've been so busy with everything else and I've only been in the sect for a few weeks. So Master hasn't really had time to explain everything yet."
"I see... Don't worry, big sister Yao Yao will take care of you!" She said confidently and beat her chest with her thumb pointing toward her.
Ming Yue clasped Yao Yao's hands as her eyes sparkled with happiness, "En!"