Daily life of a cultivation judge

Chapter 573 Case against the Striding Falcon Sect (4)

With the 370 years almost up, he, the sect master at the time who had also been a disciple of the founder's disciple and was a quasi-palace stage expert, along with other elders, all charged towards the empire.

They were not alone in this, as some of the clans, merchant organizations, and other entities with a tie to them all threw their hat into the fight regardless of the consequences because of their admiration for the founder's disciple.

A wide-scale battle soon ensued as the Striding Falcon Sect aimed at not only getting rid of the remaining two palace realm experts but also destroying the entire Storm Cloud Empire. There was already an irreconcilable feud between the two at this point. One could not exist while the other lived.

City by city fell under the onslaught of the Stiding Falcon Sect with the retired supreme elder leading the charge. Six months in, they finally reached the capital and a day later they were meters away from the palace itself.

The effect of the taboo art cast by the founder's disciple had not yet dissipated, so the team made up of the Striding Falcon Sect waited in silence until it did, and when it did, a thunderous blood bath washed the palace.

The two palace realm experts already weakened by the taboo art ended up getting killed after two months of relentless fighting. The retired supreme elder held off the two of them long enough for the sect master and the other allies to kill one of them and when that was done, he went on to kill the remaining one.

Despite their success, they paid a severe price for it. The sect master had his cultivation crippled in the attack, over a dozen high-ranking elders of the sect died along with the prominent figures of the clans and the organizations that had allied with them in the attack, and the retired supreme elder had also suffered grievous injuries of his own.

Even though they won, it was a pyrrhic victory at that. The Striding Falcon Sect used the resources of the Stormcloud Empire to rebuild themselves whilst also splitting up the spoils with the organizations that had joined them.

The alliance between them continued as those organizations sent their members to the Striding Falcon Sect to be disciples of the sect, especially since they now had a palace realm expert at the helm and despite the damage they suffered, with a palace realm expert and the resources they plundered from the Stormcloud Empire, they were bound to regain their vitality and rise to even greater heights.

Those organizations hoped to ride that momentum, and from the support they had given, the Striding Falcon Sect was all too glad to welcome them. 

However, something slowly started developing within the sect, seeds of class. The descendants of those who were in the fight to oust the Stormcloud Empire felt they were superior and true disciples because of the sacrifices their seniors made in the fight in comparison to new disciples who had just gotten into the sect with no affiliations to any of those organizations.

They felt the new disciples were nothing but leeches eating off the laurels and the sacrifices their seniors made.

At first, that budding division wasn't considered a big deal and was even encouraged so the sect would have intense competition amongst its disciples, that way it would not stagnate, but slowly the chasm grew and that sentiment wasn't only shared by the juniors but also some of the senior figures both within the sect and their affiliated organizations.

Though the flames of a divided line were there with the sentiment growing day by day, it wasn't to an uncontrollable level because despite what the descendants of the alliance felt or even the progeny of the sect members who gave their lives in the attack against the Stormcloud Empire, the supreme elder Liu Kang though didn't interfere much acted as the anchor of sanity and cordiality between the two sides.

His presence gave room for the 'outside' disciples room to grow while the alliance faction didn't dare act too much out of bounds because of his presence. However, all that changed when he went into a death seclusion. 

Without anyone to hold their reigns, the alliance faction that had a lot of members and more power grew and had a firm chokehold over the sect and its affairs. Their true disciple and true member sentiment pervaded throughout the sect with an even greater intensity. From what was written in the report, the affairs of the outer sect halls fell under the hands of a few disciples from the alliance faction with support from the core elders.

The sect master did try to control the situation but his hands were tied as his faction was weaker by a fair margin compared to the alliance faction. It was mostly made up of the 'outside' disciples who managed to make something of themselves, but even then their influence was limited when compared to their opponents who had the backing of the alliance organizations who had considerable influences of their own especially when one considered they too got a share of the spoils of a rank 3 empire.

The sect master didn't dare act too out of turn in this, especially with the status of the retired supreme elder being unknown, he couldn't risk it. 

The alliance faction was led by the grand elder, he was called Hu Miu, and was at the eleventh stage of the core formation realm, while the sect master called, Fang Wu, led the other with a peak stage core formation cultivation base.

Even though he had the highest cultivation base if the retired supreme elder wasn't put into consideration, he couldn't act. On a cumulative power level, his side was weaker when compared to the alliance faction and the organizations backing them, some had quasi palace stage experts which limited him on the things he could do despite being the sect master.

That passivity led to the present situation, and by the look of things, it would only get worse as long as the status of the supreme elder remained in limbo.

"A sect founded by rogues, those with no backing or background, is now discriminating against those very people..." Murmured Yang Qing with a sigh.

"Good morning, i take it you're outer sect disciple Ma Qi.." Yang Qing said as he turned to face the nervous stricken Ma Qi.

"Ye..ees y....eeees i am, senior.."

"Just call me, Judge Yang Qing, and please have a seat.." Yang Qing said as he pointed to one of the chairs in the courtroom.

With the way Ma Qi's legs were shaking, he was worried they would give out.

Ma Qi seemed hesitant, and it was only under the guidance and gentle persuation of Luo Meili did he agree to take the seat, and even then he was close to the edge.

"You're filing a suit against your sect for negligence and hoped to be let out of your discipleship with them. Is that correct?" gently asked Yang Qing.

"It is.." Ma Qi nervously said after a slight hesitation.

"Are there others who share the same sentiment?" 

Ma Qi went silent for a while before he finally said,

"yes.."

"Okay then. Thank you for the information you collected via the recording talisman. Now all i will need from you is a vivid and concise account of your life and all you have seen and experienced as an outersect disciple of the Striding Falcon Sect from the moment you became an outersect disciple to now.

I will leave it to you to decide on the parts to share, though from time to time i may interrupt to ask a few questions for clarification. If that is okay with you.."

"It is.."

"Okay then, disciple Ma Qi, you can begin.." Yang Qing said with a gentle smile.