House Arrest

"Unbe-fucking-livable! That damn brat!" Grand Elder Ge Ting fumed and slammed the door behind him. "Fo, come with me. We are going to meet the Sect Master.""Yes!" The Disciple ran behind his master, excited to finally meet the leader.As they came out of the Law Enforcement Hall, Grand Elder Ge Ting wrapped him in his Qi and they shot into the sky, through the clouds, higher and higher they went, out on the other side where the mountain was devoid of life and full of eternal snow and ice, and flew even higher, reaching the top in mere moments.The mountain range stretched into the distance like the back of a sleeping Dragon, snaking side to side, yet the highest point was right there, on the eastern ridge. A glowing golden pyramid sat at the top of the mountain, surrounded by a halo of Qi, its density so intense you could taste it."Woaaah…" Fo gasped seeing the magnificent sight. His skin began to tingle as Qi forced its way into his body, invigorating him and giving him inexhaustible energy. His senses sharpened and his sight improved, giving him the feeling as if he enchanted every part of his body at once. It was magical.Grand Elder Ge Ting landed at the foot of the pyramid and walked respectfully on the golden steps, up to the main chamber at the top, with his Disciple right behind him. He bowed and cupped his fists before the closed doors."Elder Ge Ting greets Sect Master." He said, leaving the word Grand out of his introduction. Few were grand in front of the Sect Master.He waited with a bow for some time before a Formation flashed on the doors, a large circle with complex runes and arrays unraveled and the doors opened inward. The old Elder walked inside, accompanied by his Disciple."Grand Elder Ge Ting. Why the hurry? Did something happen to our guest?" Yo Shi asked with his eyes closed as he sat on a cushion, his back straight and his hands resting on his knees. Qi visibly pulsed in the room, its density many times higher than outside, as he absorbed it in big gulps."Forgive me, Sect Master. But it's worse than we have imagined." Elder Ge Ting said as he fell on one knee and lowered his head. The Disciple behind him kowtowed and let his forehead touch the ground, remaining motionless like that. The intensity of Qi in the room was so great that he felt his Cultivation slowly advancing on its own despite his attempts at stopping it out of respect.Sect Master Yo Shi opened his eyes and let the swirls of Qi inside them diminish. "It's that bad? Tell me what happened.""Yes, Sect Master! It was like this…"Elder Ge Ting spoke and explained, in extreme detail, everything he learned from Gerald. After learning of the Spirit Rejuvenation Pill, he demanded to know everything. And he got what he asked for, all the relevant memories. He knew it all. The accidental sacred ground destruction, the crazy Sect, the arrogant Elders, the exorbitant compensation demanded, and the sheer stupidity of handing over such a treasure, unprompted!The Sect Master started with a flat expression, but by the end, his face completely changed."That damn brat!" He nearly shouted and then pinched the bridge of his nose, beyond frustrated. "A Spirit Rejuvenation Pill is exactly something that the Ancestor needs.""Oh, yeah… How is the Ancestor?""Not good. He is nearing his end despite constant Cultivation." Sect Master looked down, his eyes piercing the solid golden mountain, to the depths of the thickest Spirit Veins where a special chamber was hidden. "Another few decades I would say. That's the most I would give him. The damage from the previous failed breakthrough was too severe. He can't hold on for much longer."Elder Ge Ting appeared concerned. "His death would be a devastating blow to our Sect. As long as nobody knows how wounded he is, we should be safe, but the death of a Sky Realm Cultivator is too violent to be hidden. Unless we take special precautions to contain his decaying Soul, our enemies will immediately know.""The fact that he's still alive is probably the reason the Brilliant Sword Sect hasn't attacked. We are about equally matched, but with the threat of the old Ancestor around, they have to satisfy their bloodlust with simple skirmishes and sabotage." Sect Master rubbed his forehead and frowned."That brat, Gerald, he made quite a mess. I would have even been willing to forgive all of it had he handed over the Spirit Rejuvenation Pill. But he's still young, I can't blame him for not recognizing its value. Not to mention that he has no idea of the real situation… What a mess.""Well, at least his commitment to the Sect seems genuine." Said Elder Ge. "And his Talent is nothing less than incredible. Both Spirit and Body Cultivation. He could be a great asset to the Sect.""You have tested him?""In detail. I doubt anyone could force him to do something he doesn't want to do. Even I had trouble, and that was even when he was willing to work with me. The other Elder who tried to interrogate him first was nearly driven to murder in just a few short minutes. Crazy stuff.""Is that so? Hmm…"They remained silent for a while, each of them deep in their own thoughts."Permission to bully a third-rate sect?" Elder Ge Ting suddenly asked."Hmm?""I'd like to try and recover the pill from the Joyous Weed Sect." He said.Sect Master's eyes narrowed. "It's been weeks since then. They would have to be insane to keep the pill there with them.""Still, I would like to try my luck. If nothing else we can show them our members are not to be bullied. Those weaklings dared to extort and attempt an assassination on one of ours. It doesn't matter who it is, the name Myriad Beasts Sect still means something in this world."Sect Master sighed. "Fine. But don't go overboard. And may the Heavens shine upon you.""Thank you, Sect Master!"Elder Ge and his Disciple stood up, ready to leave."Oh, by the way… Your Disciple." Sect Master said just as they were about to leave."Ah, of course." Elder Ge Ting turned to Fo and lifted two fingers. "Fo, my Disciple, from now on and forevermore, the memory of today will be locked away in the depths of your Soul. Till the day you reach the Spirit Realm, you will not remember a thing. Now sleep."Fo barely had the strength to open his mouth in confusion when his eyes rolled back and he collapsed into the Elder's embrace.***I looked at the sky and sighed. I was free, kind of. After giving the Grand Elder Ge Ting what he wanted, I was released, with a ten-year house arrest around my neck. It basically meant that I was banned from leaving the Sect for a decade. Heck, I couldn't even leave the mountain. If I for some reason left despite that, there would be a kill order issued on my head. And since I like to stay alive, I had no choice but to endure.Damn it.After mentioning the pill, the Grand Elder started beating me. That was so unfair! And he wasn't even holding back. Every punch and slap of his would break something, and that was without using any Qi to empower himself. The chasm between us was really too large.Of course, I kept healing myself the entire time and he just continued beating me without saying a thing. It took me way too long to figure out that he wanted me to just take the punishment and not resist. When I finally figured that out, and I lay bloodied and bruised on the floor, he stopped. He then demanded I reveal everything, and so I did. He then said that I had to stay like that for an hour and then I was free to leave.It was surprising, but I didn't complain. He helped me advance my Body Cultivation a tiny bit, and the pain wasn't really bothering me too much, so I waited. He left, and I waited for an hour before regenerating and then stood up to leave. The guards just let me go, but before I exited the building a man came to tell me about my ban.That sucked, but it was understandable, even if it wasn't completely my fault I came back late. Okay, it was a large part my fault, but whatever. I had learned my lesson. Don't get caught.Kidding, I'm kidding! I wasn't going to break any more rules, promise!At least not anytime soon.I was happy they didn't demand to examine my ring. The wealth I had was significant. The Grand Elder noticed it for sure, but he didn't seem to care. My guess was that he didn't think I had anything of value. I was a poor Golden Core Cultivator, and even if I did steal a few things, he probably didn't imagine the wealth Elder De Danw had.And his rings were probably a lot better anyway. Mine was kind of small and unassuming. Even smaller than the ring I got back in Neloron. Too bad that one was destroyed when I resurrected. Then again, it was really old after all. Over 10.000 years.In any case, I went back home. It has been a while since I spoke with Elder Li, and I was missing Vilya as well. I needed some friendly human contact after all the nonsense I went through. And I was also curious how she was doing. I wondered if she managed to remove some of the curse from her Soul. The impurities also, maybe she had some success in clearing out those.I entered the Elder's courtyard and opened the secret door, descending into the earth.Elder Li was in his workshop as always, tinkering with crystals and building new, intricate golems.[Disciple Gerald greets Master.] I cupped my fists and bowed.The Elder turned and looked at me, shaking his head, and sighed. "So you have survived… What did the guards say? I doubt they just let you through."[No… I was interrogated by the Law Enforcement Hall. Oh, and I got a ten-year house arrest.] I said and sighed in shame."Hmm. A light punishment." Elder Li said, appearing surprised.[I got beaten up by Grand Elder Ge Ting too! He broke nearly all my bones and beaten me bloody.]Elder Li gave me a long look and then just turned around and continued shaking his head. "Light punishment indeed."I was rendered speechless for a moment. If that was considered light punishment, what was considered severe!? But then I remembered they also killed people. Kind of put things into perspective.I scanned the underground and saw everything was pretty much the same as when I left. Only one thing was missing.[Master, where is Vilya?] I asked.Elder Li turned around and I could see genuine confusion on his face. "Who?" He asked. I was stunned by the question, but I could see the cogs slowly turning in his head. "Oh, is that the young girl who went with you on that mission? She was the one that brought the news if I remember correctly.""As for what happened to her, I have no idea." The Elder said. "I've never met her myself. Everything I learned about the incident came from the Law Enforcement. She probably went back to her life down in the Outer Sect, would be my guess."My mouth remained open and I was rendered speechless. It occurred to me at that moment that I never introduced Vilya to my Master. The two didn't know each other, and with Elder Li being so focused on his work, he probably didn't even realize I had a guest! She didn't eat much and she was as weak as a mouse compared to the rest living beneath his roof, he must have overlooked her!And then I also remembered she couldn't enter the Core part of the Sect by herself. She was too weak! The nausea barrier would stop her.I groaned and wanted to facepalm. I had no idea how I overlooked that detail. I've been gone for over a month, and for all she knew, I was dead.Feeling a giant headache forming, I went to my room and closed the door.[Great… How I'm going to find her now?]The Sect was massive. Unless she went back to her usual place of work, which I seriously doubted, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. It was such a mess!