Rescue

"How dare two puny disciples come here all high and mighty, making ruckus in my Judgement hall!?"

As these arrogant words rang out, the large, wooden door sprung open, knocking Yu Hui a few steps back.

Fury was visible in his eyes, yet he held himself back, simply stating, "We heard that elder Song brought a disciple here, and I wish to know who it was and what he was accused of."

The elder in Judgement hall simply laughed at this, saying, "and who do you think you are to be asking me questions!?"

The elder was the Judge who had sent Li Zhu to Solitude Peak, and he would of course not admit any wrongdoings or give in to disciples, who had no rights demanding information from him.

"Do not worry about that, senior Yin... I only need the information, since my friend may have been wrongly accused. If the person brought here was not my friend Li Zhu, or if he did something wrong, then I will simply back away, and apologize for my intrusion." Yu Hui seemed unwilling to reveal his identity just yet, remaining polite in front of the elder, who he immediately recognized as one of the three judges of Judgement Peak.

"If you won't say who you are, for all I know you could be an enemy to the sect! I will now execute justice, for the good of the Flaming Saber sect!" replied the Judge with an evil grin, before charging towards Yu Hui, winding up a punch.

Although he was not using much heavenly energy, with his cultivation at the golden core realm, this strike would heavily injure Yu Hui, and possibly kill him on the spot.

Yu Hui, seeing the elder choosing to attack him so viciously, sighed, before quickly pulling out a small stone from his pocket, and holding it up in front of him.

'This kid thinks some talisman can stop a golden core realm expert!?' thought elder Yin, seeing Yu Hui's actions. In order to not have his attack blocked by the talisman, which would be embarrassing for him, he increased the amount of strength used in his punch, now enough to destroy any talisman weaker than rank three.

The judge elder had miscalculated the strength of Yu Hui's talisman, though, and the moment his hand reached the small stone, a burst of energy engulfed him, and he was blown across the hall, his hand now bloody.

Where Yu Hui had held the talisman, the projection of an old man appeared, towering over everyone. The projection was five meters tall, and flickered in the dim lighting of Judgement hall.

Seeing the old man, watching him from above, the Judge elder began to shiver in terror, as an expression of incredulity appeared on his face, "You... the Grand Elder... how can you have his seal!?"

Yu Hui, sighing, explained, "I am the first and only disciple of the Grand Elder, so of course he would give me his seal!"

"You, an elder, attacked me, a disciple, simply for asking questions. I don't know about you, but I think my master would think that is unjust, so what should we do about it?" continued Yu Hui, not the least bit intimidated by the golden core realm elder in front of him.

Standing beside Yu Hui, Hua Shu had a shocked expression, clearly not having expected this turn of events. The Grand Elder hadn't been seen for years, supposedly being in seclusion, yet he had trained a disciple?

'And that talisman...' Hua Shu was no rookie when it came to talismans, since her family had connections with a Formation Master, which had resulted in her using many of them in her lifetime. That said, she had never seen such a powerful talisman, to be able to block the attack of a golden core realm expert.

Spirit talismans had a very simple ranking system, with the rank of a talisman corresponding to the cultivation realm it would be effective in.

For example, a second rank defensive talisman could block the attack of a core consolidating realm, and one of the first rank could block the attack of a qi gathering realm cultivator.

The elder had used most of his power, which was enough to easily destroy a rank two talisman. the reason the elder did not think Yu Hui was using a rank three talisman was that the highest ranked talismans which could be bought in Crouching Tiger Kingdom were rank two, and even they were very rare and expensive.

This was due to the scarcity of Formation masters, which were the experts that made Talismans. In Crouching Tiger Kingdom, there were only six such people. Each of the three sects had a formation master, and the royal family also had one. The last two masters were independent cultivators, not part of any large faction.

In Flaming Saber Sect, only the Grand Elder was a formation master, which, as well as his strength, was one of the reasons he was so respected.

As she was lost in her thoughts, the Judge elder, of surname Yin, changed his attitude towards Yu Hui, not wanting to offend the disciple of the Grand elder. As an elder, he could still hold his ground against Yu Hui, but in this case he was in the wrong, having attacked the young man for no reason. If this was discovered by the Grand elder, there was no knowing what would happen to the Judge elder, and he did not wish to find out.

"Sorry, young master, it was my fault. The disciple brought here by elder Song was in fact named Li Zhu, and I sent him to Solitude Peak. It was not my fault, though, since elder Song pressured me into the sentence! if you don't tell your master, I will owe you one, and you will also be in the good graces of the Yin family behind me."

The judge elder was one of the top figures in the Yin clan, part of the four great clans, which Hua Shu's Hua Clan was the strongest of. With his status in Crouching Tiger Kingdom, as an elder of both the Flaming Saber sect and of a great family, he had acted arrogantly for years, yet now he had met an opponent he could not afford to offend. To lessen the blame that could be put on him, he immediately threw his friend, elder Song, under the bus, revealing his true colors.

"Just direct me to Solitude Peak, and I will consider closing an eye on your wrongdoings" replied Yu Hui, not tempted by the elder's offers.

Although he was furious at the way he was being treated, the judge elder simply nodded, before explaining to both Hua Shu and Yu Hui how to reach Solitude Peak, which was still covered in its everlasting ice.

Solitude Peak had always been covered in ice, since at its core was a stream of pure Yin, continually feeding frost qi into the atmosphere. Many had tried to tame the violent Yin energies at the core, including the Grand elder, yet it was all to no avail, and the peak was made into a place to punish disciples, who would need to survive the harsh environment, and reflect about their mistakes.

"Where is Li Zhu?" this time it was Hua Shu who spoke up, not seeing anyone on Solitude Peak. Although it was the size of a small mountain, no trees could live on the peak, so it would be easy to spot a human.

"Do not worry, he probably just entered one of the caverns" replied the Yu Hui, who was more knowledgeable about this particular punishment in the sect.

As they talked, a burst of energy emanated from a cave, the entrance of which was blocked by ice.

Hua Shu and Yu Hui instantly turned their heads in the direction of the cave, curious at the source of the chilling energy.

As they neared the cave, the energies grew stronger, causing them to shiver from the cold. The ice was very clear, so they could somewhat see inside of the cave, where a young man was bathing in a transparent liquid.

LI Zhu had moved much of the Yin liquid from the lake to the entrance of the cave, so that he did not risk spirit beasts interrupting him at his weakest.

He had used large spirit stones to transport the liquid, making them into makeshift bowls, which could not be destroyed by the violent Yin energy.

Hua Shu and Yu Hui, seeing the young man, both exclaimed, "It's Li Zhu!, but... his power!"

The two could clearly sense the cultivation of Li Zhu, which had risen by two stages in his time at Solitude peak. Furthermore, even Yu Hui looked at the Yin liquid with dread, knowing his meridians would without a doubt start freezing from the intense frost qi. Being a skilled alchemist, Yu Hui knew the power of that Yin liquid, which was deadly for humans.

Yet Li Zhu had his full body inside the Yin Lake, and though he seemed in pain, he was clearly alive and well, which left both Hua Shu and Yu Hui dumbfounded.

Yu Hui, seeing Li Zhu in his current state, had one thought on his mind, "I thought I was talented, the only disciple of the Grand elder, and an alchemy prodigy. This man, though, he does the impossible... if I reach the limit of what is possible, then Li Zhu has broken through that limit!"