Everyone stared at me. I brushed past them, even though the Spirit Engraved Pillars were still glowing behind me.

"I can"t do it," I told them with an annoyed frown. "Who do you think I am? Qin Lie? I"m not a Mary Sue protagonist who can trigger a response from all nine Spirit Engraved Pillars. I"m just a regular guy who deciphered some of the meanings of a couple of pillars thanks to my training as a literary scholar in graduate school."

I could tell that they had no idea what I was talking about, but I couldn"t care less. My priority was to leave this place as quickly as possible.

Honestly, I had no idea what the motifs on the other Spirit Engraved Pillars were. I had tried to study the demons and beasts on that scary Spirit Engraved Pillar, but other than my scant knowledge on Dante"s Inferno and Paradise Lost, I honestly had no idea what to make of it. Furthermore, none of the other Spirit Engraved Pillars were responding to me despite my best attempts to engage them in spiritual dialogue.

Only these three Spirit Engraved Pillars were willing to cooperate with me. The rest remained silent, their secrets closed to me. I had no choice but to give up.

Not only that, but I could sense the cracks on my spiritual qi barrier. The creepy qi tendrils were rewarded for their relentlessness as they finally dealt minor damage to my invisible spiritual protection. If I lingered on for too long, they would smash through the spiritual aegis and grab hold of me. Then the a.s.sault on my soul would begin, and the demonic ent.i.ty would possess my body, using it as a vessel to mete destruction and death upon the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect.

There was no way I was going to let that happen. Even if the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect was my secondary sect, it was still my sect, and the people here were my friends and comrades. I wasn"t going to let them get hurt if I could help it.

"Where are you going?" Luo Zhi Chang asked me, puzzled. I had stepped to the edge of the plaza, approaching a stunned Elder Zhao and Elder Cheng.

"To the Fire Prison Cliff," I replied with a shrug. Turning back to Elder Zhao and Elder Cheng, I bowed slightly. "I"ll have to trouble both Elders to lead me there."

"Eh? Why…?" the second Great Elder was stupefied by my response. I raised an eyebrow, feeling a little exasperated at their amnesia. Had these old fogeys gone senile or something? They were the ones who sentenced me in the first place.

"My punishment. I"m supposed to spend three days reflecting in the Fire Prison Cliff, remember?" the Spirit Engraved Pillars continued to glow gently before the divine lights gradually faded away. "Now that I"m done here, I might as well serve my sentence and get it done and over with."

"A…are you serious?" the third Great Elder blurted out in disbelief. I nodded.

"Yeah. Why wouldn"t I be?"

"Screw your punishment! We"ll absolve you of that! Take as much time as you need and comprehend the wonders of the Spirit Engraved Pillars!" the fourth Great Elder shouted. "You don"t need to waste your time in Fire Prison Cliff!"

Huh? What? Didn"t I just trigger a response from the Spirit Engraved Pillars and light them up? I already engaged them in dialogue, right? Was there still a need to comprehend the wonders of the Spirit Engraved Pillars? There was still a next step after this?

Uh oh. This was bad.

Suppressing my panic, I tried to keep a straight face and shake my head while pretending that I knew exactly what the Great Elder was talking about.

"No need for that." I had made sure to record the Spirit Diagrams on my gla.s.ses anyway, so if I needed to replicate them, I could rely on those. I honestly didn"t know what else I needed to do, or what I was supposed to do next in order to "comprehend the wonders of the Spirit Engraved Pillars." Not that I could tell the Great Elders and expose myself as a fraud. Moreover, I didn"t want to stay here, not with that demonic ent.i.ty still battering my slowly weakening spiritual aegis. "I already got the Spirit Diagrams here." I tapped my gla.s.ses.

The Great Elders stared at me as if I was a genius. I wasn"t, seriously. Stop looking at me like that and giving me unnecessary pressure.

"You what?!"

"Is that a problem? Do you want me to delete the files from my device?" I asked, feeling somewhat anxious at their reaction.

"No, no, no!" the fifth Great Elder said hurriedly. "Keep them there! We"ll give you a personal workshop, and you may begin inscribing those Spirit Diagrams whenever you feel comfortable!"

"Yeah, I"ll do it in the Fire Prison Cliff, if I"m allowed to work during my punishment, that is." I waved the Great Elder"s words away.

"You don"t have to go to the Fire Prison Cliff anymore!" the sixth Great Elder a.s.sured me hurriedly. I shook my head.

"That will not do. The rules are the rules. I broke them and I am being punished for it. Just because I triggered a reaction from the Spirit Engraved Pillars doesn"t mean I"m suddenly above the law. Isn"t that right, Sect Leader?"

"Hmm…" Sect Leader Zi stroked his chin for a second before he nodded, an amused smile on his face. "You do have a point…"

"Sect Leader…!" Luo Zhi Chang cried out furiously, but the latter merely spread out his hands helplessly.

"You guys were the one who asked for him to be punished, not me."

"But…but…"

I cleared my throat. "The rules have been established for a reason. It makes no sense to bend them or ignore my uh, "crime" just because I suddenly triggered a response from the Spirit Engraved Pillars. No one should be above the law, even the most prominent of inner sect disciples. We should be fair and just, and not change the rules to our benefit." I bowed my head in what I hoped was a respectful manner. "The rules exist to protect everyone, after all. The moment we start bending them and selectively ignoring them based on the defendant, we will no longer be able to preserve proper justice. And it won"t be fair to the other disciples."

The Great Elders fell silent, at a total loss for words as they glanced at each other uneasily. Surely they couldn"t miss the subtle criticism in my words regarding their biased treatment of Liang Shao Yang.

Elder Zhao and Elder Cheng turned to Sect Lady Da Ji, not knowing what to do. As I expected, she smiled mischievously.

"Well said," she said with a clap. "I rarely see anyone with integrity like you, Fei Wu. I knew it was the right decision to nurture and train you. You bring honor and pride to our Blood Blades, and have set an excellent example for all your comrades to follow."

"You over-praise me," I muttered as I lowered my head.

"Sect Lady!" the second Great Elder protested. "But this boy…he"s an unprecedented genius! We can"t let him waste time in prison!"

"It"s only three days, and I won"t be wasting my time," I muttered, crossed.

"He"s the future sect leader! We can"t just punish him like this!" the third Great Elder added frantically.

"Whoa there." I held up a hand to forestall any more of such talk. "Who says I"m going to be a future sect leader?"

"…eh?"

The Great Elders all stared at me, taken aback. I shook my head.

"Like h.e.l.l I"m going to be the sect leader of anything." Nine-Tailed Fox Sect was my secondary sect, not primary. I couldn"t afford to run it. "I"ll support Qi Hong, but otherwise I want to stay out of politics as much as possible."

"Hey!" Tang Qi Hong snapped. "Don"t just push the responsibility to me!"

"That"s right." The fifth Great Elder looked grim. "For all of her accomplishments, Tang Qi Hong is a girl. She"s not suited to be…"

"Oh, shut up," I snapped, momentarily forgetting myself. Sorry, but their misogynistic att.i.tudes p.i.s.sed me off. "So what if Qi Hong is a girl? Being a sect leader has absolutely nothing to do with gender, and everything to do with one"s competence. If Qi Hong can run the sect well and bring it to greater heights, then what"s the problem? Who cares if she"s a girl? Who decided that girls can"t lead a sect? Are you stuck in ancient and medieval times or something? Stop wallowing in these outdated patriarchal thinking!"

The Great Elders gaped at me, completely not expecting my outburst. I sighed heavily, and then continued.

"Besides, I"m not suitable to be the next sect leader. Why are you guys making the selection based on how many Spirit Engraved Pillars were lit up, anyway? What does that have to do with leadership capabilities? A talented blacksmith doesn"t necessarily make a great leader. Conversely, you don"t have to be a genius Spirit Engraver to lead a sect to great heights. Those are two completely separate fields."

In the distance, Sect Leader Zi nodded, somewhat disappointed.

"And there has been a precedent," he muttered as he cast a glance at Elder Hai Mo. First Elder Hai Mo had refused to take up the leadership role as well, and Sect Leader Zi was unable to force him. So he knew it would be impossible to force me too.

"You can"t just…" the sixth Great Elder protested.

"Can"t what?"

"…can"t abandon your responsibilities!"

"My responsibility is to the Blood Blades, and to the protection of this sect." I puffed my chest out proudly "I"ll be honest, I suck at blacksmithing and Spirit Engraving. The only reason why I comprehended the Spirit Engraved Pillars is because I"m a literature student and can read and understand the visual motifs, not because I"m some genius Spirit Engraver."

"The Spirit Engraved Pillars do not lie," Luo Zhi Chang said heavily.

"No, they do not," I agreed. "But their responses can be open to various interpretations. What makes you think they are solely for blacksmiths and Spirit Engravers?"

Granted, the Spirit Diagrams concealed within them were most likely for Spirit Engravers, but inscribing them into forged Spirit Artifacts was not my job. My job was only to replicate them. I knew I would do a terrible job of actually inscribing those Spirit Engravings into a Spirit Artifact…a.s.suming I was even able to properly forge the vessel for that Spirit Diagram in the first place.

"If you don"t believe me, you can ask Elder Tie."

"Oi! Don"t put me on the spot!" Elder Tie complained hastily, waving his hands. "You"ve been a diligent student!"

"Diligent doesn"t mean good. I screwed up a lot, didn"t I?"

"Everyone starts somewhere," Elder Tie replied evasively, but he was unable to meet the gaze of the Great Elders.

"Well, the point is…I"m not necessarily the genius blacksmith you guys seem to think I am," I declared, saving poor Elder Tie from being scrutinized. The guy was my teacher and I had learned a lot from him, after all. "I"ll use the time in Fire Prison Cliff to replicate the Spirit Diagrams I saw when communing with the Spirit Engraved Pillars, if you have no objections."

"None…"

The Great Elders looked helplessly at each other. They turned toward Sect Leader Zi one last time for help, but he merely continued to smile.

"The three days will pa.s.s by really quickly," he said. I didn"t know if he was a.s.suring me or the Great Elders.

"Are you seriously just going to walk into prison?!" Tang Qi Hong demanded as she made her way toward me, flanked by Lian Rou and the rest. I didn"t blame her. Even Tong Xue looked stunned at my decision.

"Why not? That"s the sentence they gave me."

"Uh, they lifted it, didn"t they?" Tong Xue pointed out in disbelief.

"Don"t be an idiot," Lian Rou added, trying to keep her exasperation concealed, to no avail. I merely smiled.

"Like I said, I want to prove a point."

"What point?" Zi Xiao Ji asked curiously.

"That no one should be above the rules. I want to set an example, so that no more of that bulls.h.i.t with Liang Shao Yang will ever happen again. That just because you can trigger a response from these stupid Spirit Engraved Pillars, doesn"t mean you are free from any punishment."

After all, if someone like me was willing to accept the punishment despite supposedly being of higher status than the murderous Liang Shao Yang (because I triggered a response from three Spirit Engraved Pillars as opposed to his one), then what excuse would anyone else have to not be beholden to the law and escape punishment?

With that, I turned away from my friends and toward the astonished Elder Zhao and Elder Cheng, and waited for them to lead the way.

Elder Zhao shook his head in disbelief. "You"re really something, aren"t you? You never cease to amaze me."

Evidently he was thinking back to when he first recruited me into the sect. Even though he thought I had potential, he never imagined that I would cause such a furor.

Luo Zhi Chang sighed, and suddenly seemed to realize for the first time that the entire plaza was crowded with people, not just from the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, but several outsiders who had been drawn to the commotion. I didn"t realize they were here either, having been so engrossed in trying to comprehend the Spirit Engraved Pillars.

"Clear the plaza!" the first Great Elder shouted.

A male dressed in blood-red armor suddenly appeared, almost as if he teleported from somewhere. He struck an imposing figure, emanating a fearsome aura that almost suffocated everyone in his vicinity.

"Sire."

"Sire."

The Blood Blades martial artists who were surrounding the plaza quickly bowed the moment they saw him. Even though I had only met this guy for the first time, I knew who he was, being from the Blood Blades.

I had seen his photograph hanging in the Blood Blades dojo and office, after all. He was supposed to be away on a mission for a long time, so I hadn"t seen him at all the past year when I was training in Blood Blades, but I never imagined that this would be the first time I had seen him.

"You"ve finally returned," Sect Leader Zi greeted him warmly. The man in blood-red armor nodded faintly, surrounded by Blood Blades. Even I had fallen to my knee and knelt alongside Tong Xue and Pang Feng.

The man then nodded toward the Blood Blades to acknowledge our respect and stepped forward to stand beside Luo Zhu Chang. He bowed slightly as he cast a gaze across his surroundings, his visage intimidating but polite.

"Everyone, please leave Nine-Tailed Fox Sect."

A thick, almost tangible aura of bloodl.u.s.t permeated the air as he spoke.

All the outsiders obeyed, mumbling apologies or expressing their respect. I thought I caught sight of Wu Tuo, but why he would be here was beyond me. Not that it was any of my business. I wondered why he didn"t take the chance to meet up with Pang Feng, but again, that was none of my business.

One by one, the outsiders left as they gave excuses, offered sincere apologies or did whatever it was that they needed. I didn"t pay much attention to them, having not even noticed their presence from the beginning, but before long, there were only disciples and masters of the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect left on the plaza.

"This lowly officer will take his leave first."

Once his job was accomplished, the man in blood-red armor bowed toward Luo Zhi Chang and Sect Leader Zi.

"Thank you for doing your job as always," Sect Leader Zi said, but the man in blood-red armor shook his head.

"Just doing my duty."

He then glanced at Elder Zhao and a faint hint of a smile crossed his intimidating visage.

"In the time I was away, it seems that you"ve picked up quite the amazing subordinates."

"You praise me too much," Elder Zhao told him. The man merely nodded, and just like that, he was gone, as if he was never here.

Once he disappeared, all the Blood Blades relaxed and stood up.

"The Colonel of the Blood Blades," Tong Xue whispered in disbelief, his legs still trembling. "Second in rank only to Sect Lady Da Ji. I never thought we would get to meet him."

In his absence, Elder Zhao was acting vice-commander, but this was the real vice-commander who reported directly to Sect Lady Da Ji. Sect Lady Da Ji, being her husband"s personal bodyguard, rarely interfered in matters of the Blood Blades or commanded the martial organization directly, and thus this man was the de facto leader of the Blood Blades, as well as the second most powerful martial artist in the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect.

There were rumors that he was a match for Sect Lady Da Ji, perhaps even surpa.s.sing her in combat capabilities, but because he held great respect for her and her position, he refused to challenge her.

But he had always remained a mystery, particularly to the newest generation of Blood Blades, who had never seen him in the flesh while he was away on a particularly high-ranking mission for a year.

"When did he return?" Lian Rou asked softly.

"…he must have been back for weeks," Tang Qi Hong guessed, overawed.

"Why did he come out today then?" Zi Xiao Ji asked nervously. Beside her, Zhao Shi and Da Ge were perspiring heavily, having also been intimated by the presence of the vice-commander. Like me, Tong Xue and Pang Feng, they had also fallen to their knees to respectfully greet him, and from their ashen complexions, I could tell that they were…afraid of him.

"Three of the nine Spirit Engraved Pillars were lit up. I mean, he is after all a human like us, of course he would get curious." Tang Qi Hong was saying something that did not sound quite right. "No matter how cold-blooded and cruel he is, he is still human."

Oi, don"t talk about our vice-commander like that.

"Additionally, Father and the six Great Elders are all present. It"s only natural that he would come out to protect them from the other sects."

Lian Rou nodded at Tang Qi Hong"s explanation. I frowned. When did those sects come in? I thought this was Nine-Tailed Fox Sect territory. How could outsiders just waltz in as if the place belonged to them?

Later I would learn that the Blood Blades all rushed over to see the Spirit Engraved Pillars lighting up that they weren"t able to stop the people in Tushan City from rushing into the sect"s main grounds and watching the event. b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l, what was there to watch other than a bunch of ancient pillars lighting up? Did these people have nothing better to do?

Speaking of which, I did have something to do…

"Elder Zhao, um…which way is the Fire Prison Cliff? The sooner I go in, the earlier I can get out."

"…true." Elder Zhao sighed, still disturbed by the presence of the real vice-commander. He smiled wryly and led the way.

"This child…" Sect Leade Zi was grinning as he leaned over to whisper to his wife. "He has a bright future ahead of him."

*

Unfortunately, my immediate future was pretty dark. I found myself locked inside a dingy cell, with the bare necessities. Settling into the hard, uncomfortable cot, I watched as Elder Zhao swung the bars close and locked the door.

For a moment, I regretted my impulsive insistence on obeying the law to the letter and wondered if I should have just taken the Great Elders" offer and escape punishment. But if I didn"t set a precedent, then in the far future, people like Liang Shao Yang would exploit the corruption present within the Great Elders and did whatever they wanted.

But with my actions, I was confident that in future, there was no excuse for anyone to bend the law and escape punishment. After all, if I was willing to accept my punishment and sit in prison despite having triggered a response from not one, not two, but three Spirit Engraved Pillars, what right did anyone else who triggered a response from one or two Spirit Engraved Pillars have to avoid punishment and bend the rules to their advantage?

"You really didn"t have to do this," Elder Zhao told me wryly with a shake of his head. "With your achievements, Nine-Tailed Fox Sect will give you whatever you want!"

"Do you really think I"m going to behave like Qin Lie and spend an hour finding fault with everything, complaining and making demands? I"m not that sort of overbearing guy." Frowning, I shook my head.

Elder Zhao chuckled. "Indeed. We can see that very clearly."

"That was quite the statement you made," Elder Cheng added as he sat down wearily at the warden"s desk. "If you need anything, let us know. We"ll try our best to make your stay in here comfortable."

"That won"t be much of a punishment then, would it?" I pointed out dryly. However, he was right. I needed something. "Do you mind providing me with a tablet and a stylus?"

"Oh?" Elder Zhao raised an eyebrow, and immediately understood why I was asking for it. "You want to start drawing the Spirit Diagrams right away?"

"That"s right."

"Okay. Give me a second." Elder Cheng hopped up. "I"ll get them for you."

"You sure don"t waste any time," Elder Zhao added with a smile. I shrugged.

"Well, I"m going to be spending my next three days here. Since I have nothing to do, I might as well get started immediately."

Elder Zhao laughed. "You really should consider becoming our next sect leader. Honestly, I"ll trust you to run the sect properly more than anyone else."

"Sorry." I shook my head again and leaned against my cot. "But it"s too much of a ha.s.sle. I got things I want to do, and running a sect will take away too much of my time and energy."

Closing my eyes, I reached for the Golden Dragon Medallion inside my pocket and gave it a squeeze.

As much as I love Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, restoring Heaven and Earth Sect to splendor and glory will always be my topmost priority.