"In case you've forgotten, Second Elder Mist, it is I who presides over the Punishment Faction of our Guild. If there are penalties to be handed out, it isn't your turn to do so. Not in this life, nor the next.

"But, I'm glad you've brought up the topic despite overstepping your bounds. For the crime of entering the Dark Ocean without proper permissions, Chrysanthemum will be sentenced to 5 years of seclusion and her position as core disciple will be stripped for said duration to that of a working disciple.

"For the crime of enabling poor and rebellious behavior in her Junior Sisters, Anabella will be forced into a probationary period for the next 50 years."

"You're taking advantage of the situation!" Second Elder Mist couldn't remain quiet for much longer than a few seconds.

Everyone knew that the title of Legatee couldn't be handed out lightly, this was because stripping someone of this title was almost impossible. In addition, Sects and Clans had limited Faith that needed to be slowly rebuilt over an entire generation. A Legatee was highly important to this rebuilding, but it was also for this reason that only three could be chosen per generation regardless of the size or strength of a Clan.

However, there was a singular exception

A probationary period was enacted when a Legatee committed an irredeemable evil. During this time, the Faith a Legatee had protecting him or her could be forcibly taken if they are defeated by another member of their sect who shared the same generation.

Normally, this tall task was impossible to fulfill. After all, Legatees would already be the cream of the crop. Where would they find other disciples capable of defeating them? However, Anabella was a special case. It was precisely because the Water Mist Sect knew she was unworthy of being a Legatee that they suppressed the three 7th Order and two 8th Order geniuses of their Sect.

But now There was Ri!

One might wonder at this point why Anak and Anabella hadn't used their faith to protect themselves from Dyon, and the answer to that is very simple.

The matters of Faith were very powerful, but they were also finite. One wouldn't wantonly use their faith unless they absolutely had to. In a situation where they both knew that a dao expert who had their backs was on her way, this definitely wasn't an end all be all situation.

However, it should also be noted that only smaller Clans and Sects had this sort of worry

While it was true that every Clan and Sect, no matter its size or age, could only choose three legatees per generation, it would be foolish to say that there weren't differences between them that remained. One such difference was this very limitation here.

Those from weaker Clans like Anak had a finite amount of Fate they could use over the course of their lifetimes. This acted as a life saving treasure that was even beyond their soul bound one. One wouldn't use it unless they absolutely had to.

Then there were simply weak Legatees like Anabella. Not only was the pool she had access to finite, she also couldn't mobilize much of it due to how poor her talent was.

Maybe to most, Anabella's 6th Order cultivation was outstanding. But in the face of true geniuses, she was nothing more than an ant. If God Goldeen had 4 7th Order bodyguards, you can imagine how the cultivation world's upper echelon viewed Anabella's strength.

However, stronger Clans, especially the number one and three quadrants of their tower quadrants, didn't have this problem. Or, more accurately, even when they used up the Faith they had, their Clans were so powerful that it would only take a few years for them to be back at full capacity once more.

For the Mist Clan, who was already declining so severely, how could they build up more Faith in such a short period of time? While to the outside world, there was no drastic difference between the 4th and 9th ranked quadrants, many even believing they were all equal, those with sharper intellect had begun to realize that the Water Mist Sect was slowly slipping. It wouldn't be long before their 9th place was taken from them.

"Taking advantage of the situation?" First Elder Viola frowned. "For the Crime of questioning the Punishment Faction Executioner, Second Elder Mist is sentenced to 1 month of seclusion and will have her monthly quota of resources halved for half a year."

"You."

"Would you like a worse sentence?"

Second Elder Mist sealed her lips tightly, begrudgingly taking the three injured geniuses away along with her Clan's Minor Elder.

In truth, she didn't understand why Viola had suddenly become so fiery today. She had never exercised her Executioner status in this way before.

However, what Second Elder Mist didn't know was that it was precisely because Ri had come back safe and sound that she acted so boldly to support her now. With Ri proving herself in this way, the idea of her building up her own coalition to support the Palace Master wasn't impossible at all. Coupling this with the Palace Master's still growing cultivation, and they definitely had a chance.

If things kept moving along like this, not only would the Palace Master soon have cultivation rivalling the Sect Ancestors, Ri would become a pillar to hold them up as well.

It wasn't just this either, but also the fact Ri had such a powerful husband to her back. Major speculation about the masked wife stealer having royal Elvin blood within him had been circulating for years already. Of course, this was because he had suppressed Anak who had high grade human blood. Some even believed he had angel blood due to his wings.

The only reason this latter theory was ignored was because Ri's connection with the Elves had been revealed. Considering that wing growth techniques weren't exceptionally rare, and the fact it was too odd for two seemingly extinct rulers of the human race to appear as husband and wife, the first explanation was easier to accept.

Viola had many worries, as did the Sect Master.

Why was it that such a powerful Sect had such a weak key wielder in Anabella? It was because they didn't want to give the Palace Master a chance to nurture a Legatee of her own.

The truth was that before Anabella's birth, the Water Mist Sect already had two outstanding Legatees, one of whom was of the 8th Order, and the other of whom was a False True God. Anabella was a hurriedly chosen third Legatee who was only nominated to fill the last quota and cut off all opportunities for the Palace Master's faction to rise.

The fact that Viola had taken this chance to put her on probation would cause waves in the Sect The Grand Elder and the Mist Clan Ancestors would never take this lying down.

At this point, one might wonder, why was the key given to Anabella and not one of the two true geniuses? Why had things ended up like this and seemingly not in a manner that made much sense? The answer was simple: timing.