Without any protests from Sect master Xuan Zi, Luo Yi managed to suppress the storm of outcry that rose amidst the assembly.

"If you keep trying to refuse your fault, a more severe penalty shall be awarded. I'd like to see that, though. So by all means, keep yelling."

With an ironclad approach, Luo Yi chose to show no mercy even as the defending team begged her.

"Sect master Zi, do you have any recommendations for what kind of penalty I should award to your sect?" Luo Yi said, ignoring their tearful requests.

"None at all! Since it is up to the counselors to judge and punish the rule-breakers appropriately, I'll leave it to you. But..."

"But?"

"But if you really want my opinion to help you choose a penalty, I'd say that you can allow the Abyss Guild's attacking team to take away the treasure without a fight."

Countless disciples gasped. That harsh? Sect master, whose side are you on? Do you want us to lose in the tournament?

Luo Yi, on the other hand, laughed uproariously.

"Sect master Zi, how can you take advantage of our good friendship like that? Such a light penalty! Is it not certain that the Abyss Guild's team could've taken away the treasure easily anyway? Your defending team looks terribly unprepared to handle the challenge, resorting to tricks to try to fool us. I say, we should allow Abyss Guild to not only take away this treasure, but also the rest of the treasures that your sect had managed to gather during the exploration of the Archipelago. That should be an appropriate penalty!"

The disciples gasped once more. Even the disciples of Abyss Guild looked a bit dumbfounded by the possibility of getting such a huge reward.

"Madam Yi, you're being too harsh," Xuan Zi replied.

"Such intentions need to be punished harshly, or more may begin to foster and grow. This is a competition among righteous sects. How can we allow trickery?"

Luo Yi refused to listen, passing that judgment as the official penalty.

Sect master Xuan Zi didn't try to dissuade her further, allowing her to leave the assembly.

While all the disciples watched with red eyes, Elder Shen sent someone to fetch a box from the treasury. Five minutes later, Abyss Guild's ship began to rise up in the air, with all of its disciples on board.

Han Xuhan could see the jeering looks on the faces of those disciples as their ship carried them far above, until with a sudden pop, it disappeared into an overhead spatial crack.

As he looked down at his peers, he suddenly realized that many, many unfriendly gazes were being cast his way. This time, their target was him, specifically, not Mu Ran.

The realization struck him. His minion had represented him and cast the vote in Abyss Guild's favor. Although they weren't clear on the details, they knew that he had basically ruined it for everyone.

His martial siblings, however, didn't give a fuck. Noticing the animosity-filled gazes, Mu Ran even pushed his chest out and snorted at some groups nearby.

"What are you looking at, trash? Never seen an impartial judge before?"

Han Xuhan felt touched. This was the Mu Ran he knew. This was the Mu Ran who'd defend him. This wasn't the man who was grooming children since his childhood. This wasn't the villain who could scheme against his childhood sweetheart, craving her blessings.

Who the fuck was the other persona hiding inside Mu Ran?

"Disciples, I understand that you're feeling indignant. Now try to use all that rage and information for something useful, for example, robbing other sects to bring back some treasures here. I believe you have the ability to take our sect to the very top of the rankings! Your masters shall inform you of your group allotments, all except the Heavenly Hailstorm peak, of course. The disciples of this peak will need to achieve the goal I've set for them by themselves. See you tomorrow!"

Sect master Zi too, took his leave. The Elders came down to the assembly of disciples and divided them into groups of tens, after which, they bade them farewell for the day.

Han Xuhan and his martial siblings were about to discuss their strategy when they realized that almost every group was staring daggers at them.

First, it had been Han Xuhan's transgression. This time, they were feeling dissatisfied with being added to groups of unfamiliar disciples while the four of them got the special privilege.

A conflict with his peers, it seemed, was inevitable today.

"Han Xuhan, you better have some answers for the rest of us here!" shouted a tall youth, his hands holding a sheathed sword.

"Do you think you're better than the rest of us somehow?" Another guy yelled angrily.

"You must have accepted a bribe to cast the vote in their favor!"

"These guys are always breaking the rules. But they manage to evade punishment because of their Elder's good relationship with the sect master."

"That Xuhan guy is always entering the treasury and taking away so many resources. I heard he doesn't even pay!"

"Him and Mu Ran, these guys need to be straightened out. Come, brothers and sisters!"

Han Xuhan watched them closing in with a pensive expression. All the pent-up frustrations, every malicious rumor, each slanderous accusations ever made at them were beginning to accumulate into a crescendo right here.

He was sure that if Mu Ran couldn't protect him, he'd be beaten black and blue today. Yuen Zhou might not even interfere, and Xiao Wu wouldn't be able to even if he tried.

Suddenly, several figures broke through the encirclement and surrounded the four martial siblings...with their backs facing them, as if they wanted to join forces to save Han Xuhan and Mu Ran from their inevitable fate.

Everyone froze...because these guys turned out to be the members of the defending team.

"Wh-what the hell are you all doing? He cost you more than the rest of us! Why are you shielding him?"

"Have you gone mad?"

"Don't try to stop us out of goodwill for those brats! They deserve every punch and kick we'll be rewarding them with!"

"Get out of the way!"

But the members of the defending team did not move. Instead, their leader, the girl who was still holding the empty treasure chest, raised a hand in the air to quiet the voices.

"Brother Xuhan cannot be faulted for his judgment...Because we indeed cheated today."

Her voice wasn't loud. But it sent tremors throughout the assembly. Even Han Xuhan was dumbfounded.

What the hell was happening here? His unasked question was the same question in everyone's mind.

The girl began to explain.

"Yesterday, at midnight, the sect master handed us the treasure inside this chest to protect from the invading teams of other sects. But as you can all see clearly, none of us have a very high cultivation, or even a foundation powerful enough to achieve anything in this tournament. This was the reason why we ranked at the bottom in the competition to check out the spatial cracks around this floating island!

We knew that even if we managed to hold out against the first few teams, we'd begin to lose treasures every time they are given to us for protection. The sect's collection would be emptied by the end of this round."

"But the rest of us wouldn't be spending our time sightseeing! No matter how many treasures you lose, we'd bring more back from other sects!" One of the leading disciples from the crowd shouted angrily.

"How?" the leader of the defending team replied. "Elaborate how you'd go about doing that, brother Chong. What's your plan?"

"...Erm..."

"Right, thought so. Anyone else got an idea how to track down treasures inside the territories of the foreign sects? Please, feel free to share."

Her voice was akin to an executioner's axe. It killed the wrath of the crowd, silencing every whisper, wiping out every determined expression. All that was left, was the aura of defeat.

The disciples of the Crimson Snow sect looked looked beaten by harsh reality.

But a smile was beginning to crawl into Han Xuhan's face. Because, he had figured out what she was going to say next.

Truly, the world of cultivation was a place full of crouching tigers and hidden dragons...