Sect Rules

Ye Wuzhi lasted an hour under Wu Qianyu's care. Most of that time, he actually managed to resist quite stubbornly. However, she managed to grasp a small breakthrough in her pain-filled spiritual energy and how to transfer it efficiently into the intended target.

Once that happened, her prisoner's screams were three times as loud and filled with wretchedness. He only lasted a few touches afterward before spilling his guts. He blurted everything he knew and it was a tale as old as time.

Nalan Wan'er was the most coveted maiden in Black Rock City, not only for her beauty but for the businesses and wealth that her family commanded. She was pursued by many capable and talented young men.

Xiao Yan of the Black Sword Lodge had been the victor in the pursuit of Nalan Wan'er's heart. Ye Wuzhi of the Shattered Peak Sect had been the loser. Everything was already set in stone when the monster invasion upended the province. It didn't take long for the Black Sword Lodge to fall and for vultures to circle the corpse.

The Shattered Peak Sect was the most opportunistic and shameless. Ye Wuzhi was responsible for hiring expert mercenaries to kill Xiao Yan but he wasn't acting alone. His father knew of everything and was the one who actually approached the Nalan Family to break their previous engagement and form a marriage alliance with the Shattered Peak Sect instead. Therefore, he was equally guilty and needed to be interrogated until he confessed.

Wu Qianyu entered another dingy dungeon where the venerable sect master of the Shattered Peak Sect was shackled upright against the wall. Ye Zongxie's long gray hair was a wild mess. His formal attire was torn and dirty. He was nevertheless an expert at the peak of the Spirit Initiate Realm so there wasn't much the enforcers of the crime and punishment division could do to him. His spiritual energy was still strong and filled with defiance.

"Let me go!" He shouted at her, "You can keep me here!"

"Do you confess to conspiring with the Nalan Family and plotting to kill Xiao Yan?" She asked evenly.

"Black Rock City has rules! You can't do this! I am an ally of the Zhou Clan! I am an ally of Ten Thousand Flower Valley! Ask anyone! Ask Governor Zhou Guanyu!"

Wu Qianyu raised a finger. A pulse of familiar spiritual energy emerged. It was filled with pain.

"What… what are you doing?" Ye Zongxie shrank back upon sensing that ball of energy.

She touched his arm.

"Ugggh!" He grunted and gnashed his teeth while straining against his bindings.

She frowned. His resistances were much better than his son's. She collected much more energy at her fingertip and tried again.

"AhhhhH!" He wailed in agony.

He really felt it this time, that much was clear. His spiritual aura wavered and became disordered. His eyes rolled around without control and it was like he was drunk.

"What… what…" He panted after the pain subsided.

"I call it the Touch of Pain. It is a secret art I am working on. I apologize for the discomfort…"

"You apologize… what… ahhhhHHH!"

---

Wu Qianyu left the room a couple of hours later. She managed to complete the rudimentary form of the Touch of Pain. She decided that it would become the first ability in her brand-new secret art. It had the ability to transfer pain into an opponent to disrupt their physical body and even interfere with their ability to control spiritual energy. The touch could also numb a person's spiritual veins as well as their spiritual sense.

Therefore, if she could inflict an opponent with the Touch of Pain during a fight, it would give her a momentary but very deadly advantage. The only drawback was that she had to physically touch them. The ability to send out waves of pain-filled spiritual energy with long-range attacks like in her dreams was still too far away.

But it wasn't impossible. She just needed to continue to train...

She kept the prisoners locked up and returned to her quarters at the governor's castle. Ye Zongxie and Ye Wuzhi had already confessed so their fates were sealed. They now belonged to her.

Working with the Crime and Punishment Division was convenient. She didn't want to subject random innocent people to pain for her cultivation. She could only do it with criminals and detestable people since they deserved it anyway.

She meditated in her room and pondered her recent advancements for many hours. She contemplated pain and more methods on how to use it on others. She didn't find any pleasure in torturing people. There was nothing pleasurable about pain. But she found it fascinating, the same way a person might find strange and disturbing things fascinating.

"Mistress Wu?"

Wu Qianyu opened her eyes when there was a knock at the door.

"What is it?" She called out.

"Mistress Wu, dinner is ready. Mistress Zhou has also arrived." The servant said.

"I will be down in a moment!"

"Yes, mistress!"

Wu Qianyu let out a small sigh. Her actions no doubt caused some chaos for Zhou Ziyun. She would have to find a way to apologize to her.

"Sister Wu!"

Wu Qianyu entered the private upstairs dining room. Zhou Ziyun got up from the small table that was already laden with food and bottles of wine. The two sisters greeted each other amicably there was an unspoken tension in the air.

Wu Qianyu decided she had to break the ice first, "Sister Zhou… I apologize for causing trouble for you. I got caught up in the moment and was a little too eager to carry out justice."

Zhou Ziyun tilted her head and studied Wu Qianyu for a moment before smiling, "Sister Wu, you've gotten stronger!"

She hugged Wu Qianyu who was surprised but also happy. The friction between melted away and they sat down together at the table. After some small talk and exchange of wine, Zhou Ziyun started on the matter at hand.

"Regarding the matter with the Shattered Peak Sect, they fully deserved what they got. The others who talked back to you also deserve whatever you have in store for them." She said and then smirked, "Zhou Guanyu has been harshly reprimanded by me. His behavior in your presence was beyond unacceptable. He's lucky it was me punishing him instead of master."

They shared a knowing look and giggled. They both knew Chen Wentian's dislike of other people ogling his disciples.

"But I have to ask," Zhou Ziyun continued, "I will fully support you if you want to take over Black Rocky City and Cloudy Mountain Province for yourself. Master has me managing basically everything that is under his control. It is difficult for me to keep an eye everywhere. It's not like I want to own everything even though it might seem that way."

Wu Qianyu blushed slightly, "Actually, I am not very good at managing a city, let alone a province. I also won't be staying in any one place for long. It won't be good for my training."

Zhou Ziyun nodded, "I had a talk with master before I came and he guessed you would say that. He also told me to pass you a message, that he is awarding you the new rank of Punishment Elder of Ten Thousand Flower Valley. You will have the authority to carry out punishments for anyone and everyone who break the rules of the sect as well as rules of provinces under the sect's control."

Wu Qianyu choked on a bit of wine, "Cough… Sister Zhou, what sect rules is he talking about? They don't even exist!"

This was indeed the case. Ten Thousand Flower Valley was only recently established. Even though its influence and territory were vast, it was still a tiny sect. Chen Wentian had, up until this point, done whatever he wanted. He had encouraged each disciple to do what they felt was right. This was okay for principled disciples but it would be disastrous if there was an immoral disciple.

"Master decided that the sect needs formal sect rules." Zhou Ziyun said, "But he wants all of our input on it. There will be a meeting at the sect in one month. Every disciple has one month to submit their suggestions."

"Sounds good!"

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