Hall Of Elders

The two senior disciples looked at each other and nodded. They owed it to Chu Fan to at least know who it was that he had saved. They both stood up and bowed as they introduced themselves. The handsome one went first followed by the uglier one.

"I am Boulder Peak's Hallmaster Jue Jiang's direct disciple Tu Di."

"And I am Iron Peak's Hallmaster Wu Neng's direct disciple Tian Peng."

Chu Fan stood up and cupped his hands while bowing to the both of them.

"Ah, so senior disciple Tu Di and Tian Peng were both direct disciples. This explains a lot about how you were able to fight off the Venom Clawed Leopard. I have much respect for you."

"Hmph! A simple beast like the Venom Clawed Leopard was nothing. If I had brought my Dragon Bone Shattering Mace, I would have won without any effort."

"Right, had I brought my Hydra Fang Rake, the match would've been over instantly."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. A true master works with what he has on hand to seize victory." Chu Fan said while shaking his head.

The two senior disciples turned red in anger and raised their balled fists high.

"Shut up! You wouldn't have won without taking advantage of the situation."

"Dammit! You're lucky I'm injured."

Chu Fan shrugged his shoulders and sighed.

"All is fair in love and war."

The two direct disciples began hyperventilating and had to be seated as their injuries flared up. They coughed up a bit of blood and Chu Fan ran over to check on the two.

"Alright, calm down you two. I am only teasing you. It's rather shameful for a cultivator to die of anger than in battle, wouldn't you say so yourself?"

They had no energy to argue and could only glare in contempt at their annoying benefactor. Chu Fan laid the two against a tree and finished his meal. He went back to hunting shortly after, leaving the two to rest at camp.

................................

Chu Fan returned to camp later in the evening. He had finished his hunting and amassed enough ingredients to feed Nian Gao for many weeks. His weekend was coming to a close and he returned to the sect with his senior brothers.

They were welcomed by Hallmaster Chen Si, who was pacing back and forth. He had been anxious hearing of Chu Fan's venture into the forest filled with many magical beasts. Hallmaster Chen Si had made up his mind to confront Chu Fan about the matter and receive a full explanation from the boy.

Hearing the sect portal activate, he looked in anticipation. Seeing Chu Fan appear alongside the two injured direct disciples, he ran over. He pushed the two injured direct disciples aside and knelt in front of Chu Fan. He held Chu Fan by the shoulders and inspected every part of him.

"Chu Fan, how could you be so rash? What are you thinking? I can't have you going to the forest alone, the magical beasts there are frightening for such a young child like you."

The two direct disciples bit their lips in anger as they felt rejected; they were the ones that were injured, yet no one came to receive them or give any pity. They both bowed to Hallmaster Chen Si.

"Greetings Hallmaster Chen Si. It seems that Chu Fan is actually very adept in his wilderness survival skills. He returns unscathed, while us two seniors are wounded all over."

"Yes, Hallmaster Chen Si. Chu Fan was able to single-handedly kill a Venom Clawed Leopard and retrieve its core."

Chu Fan looked up at the two who praised him, he nodded happily as tears formed in his eyes.

"Please, I could not have done it without the help of my seniors here. But please, I'll gladly accept all forms of praise. You two did good in weakening it while I delivered the final blow. This junior humbly offers thanks and respect to his seniors for their assistance."

He made eye contact with his senior brothers who were twitching as they smiled. They could not act out of line with Hallmaster Chen Si present. They both bowed looked at Hallmaster Chen Si and cupped their hands together.

"We shall excuse ourselves as we need to seek medical attention for our wounds. Have a great day Hallmaster Chen Si."

"Right, have a great day Chen Si. I will have to excuse myself also."

Hallmaster Chen Si stood up and nodded at the two direct disciples.

"Okay. Make sure to report to your Hallmasters after you get treated, they will be happy to hear about your return."

Tu Di and Tian Peng left as they headed towards the sect's health clinic. They stumbled along the way as they fought over who would be the first to get treated. They were not seriously wounded, they were just excited as they finally had a reason to go and bother one of the sect's beauties that worked as the sect physician.

Hallmaster Chen Si looked over at Chu Fan and smiled.

"Chu Fan, we really need to talk about certain rumors going about the sect concerning you and a certain person."

Chu Fan looked up and smiled.

"Oh, you mean my master, the God of Cookery?"

Hallmaster Chen Si looked at Chu Fan very seriously, wiping the smile off Chu Fan's face.

"Yes, let's go talk in my room."

The two walked towards Forest Peak and into Hallmaster Chen Si's room, receiving stares along the way. Disciples began to crowd around Forest Peak; for once the peak seemed to be very popular with its amount of visiting disciples.

Hallmaster Chen Si quickly closed the door and activated an array formation, sealing off his room from any eavesdroppers. He turned to Chu Fan and grabbed the boy, plopping him down onto a chair. Hallmaster Chen Si sat himself down across from Chu Fan and poured a cup of tea for the two of them.

"Chu Fan, how did you meet this 'God of Cookery'? And do you still keep in contact with him?"

Chu Fan sighed and shook his head. He was growing a bit tired having to repeatedly give the same explanation over and over again.

"I already told the two direct disciple seniors, I only stayed with master for a month's time. In that time, we never talked about his past with the sect. If the sect suspects that I went out to meet with him, then they can dream all they want. If I knew where master was, I would not have come to this sect. And if I wanted to wreak havoc within the sect, I would not have to wait this long. After all, I am the head chef of the Skyward Sword Sect."

Hallmaster Chen Si stayed silent, in his heart, he felt he had wronged the child before him. He owed Chu Fan many things. To see the sect falsely accuse a child of treason without evidence made him feel even more ashamed, he allowed it to happen, as he dared not go against the elder and protest Chu Fan's innocence.

Hearing Chu Fan's argument, something clicked in his head. He gained the motivation to defend Chu Fan's innocence. He stood up from his seat with an inspired look and noticed something.

*Wooong* The formation shut itself off and Hallmaster Chen Si walked over to the door opening it. He cupped his hands and bowed.

"Greetings to Former Sect Chief Su Chow."

Chu Fan walked up to see a youthful and scholarly looking man with a pleasant smile, standing before Hallmaster Chen Si. This man was Hun Lian's grandfather, he had passed down his position as sect chief onto his son-in-law to enter closed-door cultivation. He had made a recent breakthrough and came out. Upon hearing news of the Divine Demon Butcher after many centuries, he chose to personally investigate. Following behind Former Sect Chief Su Chow was Sect Chief Hun Xiao and his wife, Su Yin.

Chu Fan followed suit and bowed to the former sect chief.

"Disciple Chu Fan offers his respects to Elder Su Chow."

All he got was a nod from Su Chow as he only spared, but a momentary glance at Chu Fan. Su Chow turned over and looked at Hallmaster Chen Si.

"Chen Si, bring this child over to the Hall of Elders. We shall talk there."

Su Chow turned around and walked in the direction of the Hall of Elders, his step light and graceful in nature, but incredibly fast. Hallmaster Chen Si complied with a simple nod and grabbed Chu Fan by the hand leading him along the way.

The mood was now very tense as Chu Fan saw the amount of sweat forming on Hallmaster Chen Si and Hun Xiao's faces; while Su Yin was . They all remained quiet for the remainder of the walk to the Hall of Elders. A massive group, comprised of both outer and inner-sect students, followed them to the Hall of Elders as they saw Chu Fan being escorted.

Every step felt heavy and long for Chu Fan as he felt a sharp and cold sensation run across his neck, giving him goosebumps. Eventually they came to stand in front of the Hall of Elders, and all they could do was look up and sigh. The Hall of Elders was a giant multi-storied building with great pillars depicting many mythical beasts coiling them. The massive doors had one stone guardian lion on each side, making the building a very intimidating.

Reluctantly, they began to ascend the steps to the massive doors that were open. They all entered the doorstep except Chu Fan who paused for a second. He slowly placed one foot in and a mysterious force pulled him in, shutting the massive doors behind Chu Fan. The crowd was a little upset that they would not be able to peer into the Hall of Elders.

"Hmph! Stop stalling for time!"

He was whisked in the air and flew past those he had come with. He was pulled along until he was placed onto a platform in the center of the room. He was dropped without any warning and landing on his butt.

"Ow! Ah! No need to so rough!"

Chu Fan stood up and dusted himself off, he started to look around the room and turned white with terror. He was currently standing before 8 of the most respected individuals of the sect, they were the powers that allowed the sect to stay prominent despite the sect being in decline. Chu Fan knew this was true because the various hallmasters were all standing and Vault Keeper Wang was one of the many elders that were seated. Former Sect Chief Su Chow stood up and pointed at Chu Fan.

"Chu Fan, you stand before us in the Hall of Elders today. We have a few questions for you today. These questions are simple in nature, yet they determine your status in the sect. Please be careful in the manner in which you speak today. Are you ready to start?"