After this great fight, the end of the year was really uneventful. The excitement was still in the air and everyone was talking about the greatest fight they had ever seen. Even the elders and the chief elders had been impressed by Chan Weifeng and Long Jian's fight. Having an outer disciple reach this level of achievement in such powerful martial arts before they even turned twenty-five was rare. But having two of them at the same time was miraculous. They even came from the same province. Sadly, both of them wanted to join the military, not their sect.

As was the case every year, all the chief elders attended a great meeting with the Sect Leader. They gathered in the courtyard of the Sect Palace all the way on the top of the Heidai Peak. It was forbidden to fly in any way around the Sect Palace. As such, all the elders arrived walking. As they were all late Spirit Warriors, walking such a distance was not a problem at all.

All the chief elders who had been present during the trial of Cao Yun were now gathered. Apart from them, there were nine more chief elders. All were dispatched through the outer and inner sect and rarely met. In fact, the chief elder of the disciplinary pavilion was probably the one who met the other chief elders the most. Indeed, he was in charge of all the administrative aspect of the sect. And, especially during the end and the beginning of a year, he had to meet almost every single chief elder to make many reports.

However, he also had to take care of it along the year as well. The Imperial City liked to keep a thorough record of everything that was going on inside the Wubei Sect. Thus, the disciplinary pavilion, that was thankfully seldom used to actually discipline the disciples, had to take care of it.

And right now, the current chief elder of the disciplinary pavilion was Chief Elder Luoming, also the chief elder of the art pavilion. He had been the last one to arrive and his face was darkened by fatigue. This was a very rare sight as Spirit Warriors could stay awake for weeks if not months without any sign of fatigue.

Chief Elder Suxian went to him.

"My friend, you look like you went through hell... How I wish I could share some of my Exquisite Purple Jasmine tea with you..."

As Chief Elder Suxian was laughing, Chief Elder Luoming had not even enough energy to retort cleverly.

"Brother, you have no idea how much paperwork I had to do... Brother Bian's organization was absolutely insane. He's kept an archaic system in place as if time had been frozen thousands of years ago. Talk about inefficient! No wonder there were no many dysfunctions with this disciplinary pavilion. It took me seven weeks just to reorganize one administrative branch of the pavilion. Seven weeks! How can one an be so inept at his job?!"

Seeing the lack of life in his friend's eyes, Chief Elder Suxian decided to stop trying to tease him. For an instant, he almost proposed his help but thankfully, he stopped himself before saying it out loud. There was no way he would put his hands in that much paperwork.

As a matter of fact, all the other chief elders were also keeping their distance from Chief Elder Luoming. All of them feared that they would have to help in any way. Administration was really a plague for them. And they were happy to have found someone to take care of it in their stead. Moreover, they were all rather pleased with Chief Elder Luoming.

Contrary to Chief Elder Bian who was obsessed with respecting the rules to the letter, without any flexibility, they knew that Chief Elder Luoming was more practical. He was the chief elder of the art pavilion after all. His mind was more free. And they all had sensed a real difference with the exigences from the disciplinary pavilion during the end of the year.

As they were in the courtyard of the Sect Palace, all the chief elders were whispering when talking to one another. This place was sacred as this was where the ancestor of the Wubei Sect had officially founded it more than ten thousand years ago. It was said that he had done so by killing thousands of demons. According to the legends, he had been helped by an Immortal Beast.

Immortal Beasts were another kind of demonic beasts. But since the beginning of the Forsaken Dao Era, no one had been able to see one of them. Thus, many people doubted that story. But according to the legends, the corpse of this Immortal Beast was buried right under the Sect Palace and it was protecting the Wubei Sect with its presence. All this history could be felt in the air by the chief elders. Even though they had the right to speak normally, they felt as though they needed to stay quiet so as to not disrespect these sacred grounds.

Right now, they were all wondering why they were still waiting outside. Usually, the Sect Leader would receive them as soon as everyone was present. There were rumors about the health of the Sect Leader and the invasion by demonic cultivators added to these rumors. Maybe the Sect Leader was really at the end of his life. Maybe that was why the demonic cultivators had been able to invade as easily. And apparently, there was even a Spirit Warrior strong enough to evade Xiao Xuefeng's spirit senses. Worry and even traces of fear could be subtly heard in the chief elders' voices.

With their powerful senses, they all heard the Meridian Gate being pushed open once more. Looking all around, the chief elders recounted, but they were indeed all present. The only missing person was Chief Elder Bian but he had been demoted and was in seclusion right now. Who was going through the Meridian Gate at this time?

Before they could speculate any further, the Sect Palace opened its gate and a gong resounded throughout the courtyard. After that, a voice echoed. This voice was weak and feeble. However, it strangely echoed throughout all the Sect Palace and everyone felt as though the person speaking was right next to them. This presence was very faint but extremely reassuring.

"Chief Elders of my Wubei Sect, the 10,483th year of our prestigious sect is over. Let the meeting for our 10,484th year begin. Please, come inside."

Hearing the voice of the Sect Leader, the chief elders turned their gaze toward the Sect Palace and they did not wait to see who had opened the Meridian Gate. Obviously, this was according to the Sect Leader's orders. Despite the many rumors, Sect Leader Xuan was known as the most powerful cultivator in the Hongchen Kingdom and maybe the entire Piaolu planet. Some were still wondering whether the current Emperor would be able to defeat him, no matter how old he was getting. However, it was clear that on the matter of cultivation and martial arts, Sect Leader Xuan was above the Emperor. There were other ways to win a fight though.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

As the chief elders were all taking place in the Sect Palace, a woman walked into the courtyard, Xiao Xuefeng. Many of the chief elders were surprised. Even though she had taken control of the alchemy pavilion, she was only a guest elder. As such, she couldn't officially partake in this meeting. Many watched her with incredulous eyes, without saying anything. Others were more calm. If she was here, Sect Leader Xuan was obviously behind it and they would wait for his explanation. In the meantime, they would abstain from any reaction at all.

Finally, Chief Elder Baishen and Chief Elder Suxian welcomed her warmly. Xiao Xuefeng felt that her presence was confusing many people but she was ready for it. Perfectly following the etiquette, she saluted the chief elders and stepped into the Sect Palace with them.

The room they entered was extremely spacious and full of wonderful architecture and arts. Made in Ageless Marble, there were sumptuous columns rising from the floor and disappearing in the ceiling.

Along the walls, magnificent paintings were exposed through various scrolls and engravings. Even though they were coming here each year, no chief elder could stop himself from admiring them. Many techniques had been used to make these masterpieces and the prodigious art looked like it was full of life. Among the scenes it depicted was an incredible fight between Ancestor Wu and thousands of demons.

Ancestor Wu was riding an enormous beast that was completely black, as if it was made of shadow. No one could see what kind of beast it really was as it was even larger than the entire room and the paintings were full-scaled. And all over this beast, thousands of demons were running away from Ancestor Wu and his wrath. Most demons looked like humans, but some had strange bodies with horns, red skin, fangs or claws. The scene was really abstract but it had a great evocative power. By watching it, the chief elders felt that mankind could eventually triumph over the demons who had tortured their species for tens of thousands of years on this planet. Some could even imagine the spectacular fight of Emperor Nuwa against the demons way back then.

The room lead to some kind of throne. In front of it, there was a bead curtain hiding the figure behind it. On each side of the room, there were nine seats. The inner chief elders sat down on the right of the throne while the outer ones were on its left.

Finally, Xiao Xuefeng surprised everyone by sitting down in the closest seat to the throne on the left. As Sect Leader Xuan said nothing, no one dared say anything, but many ideas were popping in their minds. They could have spoken telepathically but this was disrespectful in front of the Sect Leader. And he soon started speaking.

"I know that some of you may be wondering why Spirit Master Xiao is among us. I also know that some of you have been distressed by the threat of demonic cultivators invading our Wubei Sect. By now, you should have realized that this was the initial reason why Spirit Master Xiao joined us.

"Sadly, the threat is still alive and even stronger than we initially thought possible. As such, the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute has agreed to let Spirit Master Xiao stay among us for as long as necessary. Given the nature of her presence, I decided to grant her all the privileges of a chief elder. She is the most talented alchemist in the entire Hongchen Kingdom. Her spiritual senses are the most developed and she even succeeded in forging a legendary pill. I'd like to hear my chief elders' opinions."

As one, they all bowed down. "We salute the sage decision of the Sect Leader."

Then, they bowed down once more. "We welcome Spirit Waster Xiao in our esteemed Wubei Sect."

Just like the Sect Leader, they referred to her as 'Spirit Master'. Insisting on it reminded everyone that mankind was slowly walking out of the Forsaken Dao Era. This was a powerful symbol for everyone here. The idea that once forgotten pills could be refined again opened the idea that the higher stages of cultivation could be reached once more.

In turn, she bowed down and thanked Sect Leader Xuan and the chief elders.

"I promise to serve the prestigious Wubei Sect and its long history as best as I can."

"Good! With our young disciples becoming stronger and Spirit Master Xiao refining a legendary pill, it seems like the future of our kind is bright indeed. However, in this bright future, there is also darkness. I won't hide it any longer. Our sect is indeed under attack by demonic cultivators, stronger than anything we have ever seen. With the Forsaken Dao Era, many cultivators turned toward the Evil Path in search of greater power.

"Those who betrayed their own kind for power are no different from the demons who mean to subjugate us all. Spirit Master Xiao will stay with us in the years to come. Unless we are confident that the threat is completely rooted out from our Wubei Sect, the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute agreed to let her stay. But we'll also need a powerful disciplinary pavilion. So let's discuss the replacement of Bian Gui."

The mere fact that Bian Gui was addressed by his name and not his former title showed what Sect Leader Xuan thought of him.

"Chief Elder Luoming?"

"Yes, Sect Leader."

"I heard great things about your work in the disciplinary pavilion. I understand that you're still reorganizing it. How long do you think you'll need?"

"Sect Leader. This is hard to say, but it will at least take several months."

"Then, this is official. You will become the new Chief Elder of the disciplinary pavilion. Your pavilion must give everything she needs to Spirit Master Xiao during her investigation. I'll also give you full authority to choose among your elders someone to replace you in the art pavilion."

Chief Elder Luoming stayed quiet for a few moments and everyone sympathized with him. However, no one tried to save him. It was better that all this work fell on someone else than them. Unable to refuse a direct order from the Sect Leader himself, Chief Elder Luoming bowed down and accepted.

"I understand, Sect Leader. Even though I'm not very confident in my abilities, I think that the disciplinary pavilion is up to the task." Chief Elder Luoming turned toward Xiao Xuefeng. "Spirit Master Xiao, no matter what you ask, we'll try our best to help you."

"Fine! The demons are active at our borders and the Emperor is busy organizing our defenses. At the same time, the demonic cultivators are active within our borders and it is our duty to root out every last one of these traitors. Finally, we have young people who give hope to our Hongchen Kingdom. In time, they will outgrow the older generation. But we must still protect them until they can fend off for themselves. Remember our ancestor's teachings! 'Mankind is the treasure of the Hongchen Kingdom!'.

"What do you think about our current disciples? It is a pity that we're losing Chan Weifeng and Long Jian. But their prestige will still rain down on our sect. And I am sure that they will bring immense glory to our kind. I also heard great things about Chen Guo, Mei Hua and Sun Liao. What is your opinion on them?"