'First elder, you sent for me?'

'Little ancestor, you have to go to the sect and inform the grand elder to come at once.'

'What is going on?'

'Isn't it that unscrupulous Lei xiao yu'

'The Purple wind sect leader. What did he do?'

'He used his connections to invite a delegate from a two star sect. He must have been informed about the flying aircraft we came with so he has been whispering falsitudes into the delegate's ear. I am afraid that we will be forced to give up the fan to protect the sect from being attacked by a two star sect if grand elder mu doesn't show up.'  

Bai li yue knew that the fan was just an excuse. Even if they had come empty handed, the Purple wind sect would have found another excuse to put them in a difficult position.

'What about the other sects? Can't they say anything in our favour?'

'They both pretend to be neutral. The golden aurora school knows they can't swallow us without help, so they are just waiting for someone else to take a first stab at us. As for the cloud peak mountain sect, nobody knows what they are thinking, but they are probably the most dangerous of the bunch.'

'So we are the sheep in a den of wolves.'

'Little ancestor, we don't have much time. You have to leave now. We'll stall them until you return with the grand elder.'

These people were too daring. Did they think we are already dead? 

Sudden hot anger filled her. Her eyes flashed with madness for a second. The thought of an outsider getting his hands on the fan filled her with more anger. Did they know how much her teacher had suffered to return to the sect? Even i had to be selfless and gave my inheritance to the sect. How dare these people eye something that doesn't belong to them. That delegate is too greedy. Let's see how greedy he'll be once i'm done with him.

Her thoughts raged inside but she spoke in a calm voice.

'There is no need to bother the grand elder. Her cultivation is important. She mustn't be disturbed. I shall handle it.'

'How?'

'Bring the fan to me. Quickly!' 

Zhao li ming didn't know what to make of the order. 

'Why are you standing there? We don't have a lot of time.'

He nodded and took off running. He didn't know what little ancestor had in mind. She had done some things that were short of miraculous. He had no reason not to trust her. Most importantly, she was one of them. 

A never before seen rune started to take form in the air. 

'Yes, that will do perfectly.'

She commented that same calm voice as she took a jade tablet from her ring and concentrated on inscribing the rune. It looked like a three pronged arrows overlying a circle. She produced another tablet and cast the linking array. The two tablets glowed in tandem as the link was established. 

Zhao li ming was constantly glancing around when he returned. He'd made the trip to and from the tournament as fast as he could without raising suspicion. He handed the fan over to her and and watched to see what she would do. She picked up the first jade tablet and gave it to him.

'What should i do with this?' 

'Sit down over there. You need to slowly inject your spirit energy into the stone.' He nodded and acquiesced.

'What is the plan?'

'It's no fun if i tell you.'

She turned her attention to the fan. It was an exquisite looking fusion of black wood guards and gold silk leaves. The head featured a golden bird inlay. She inspected the fan until she found what she was looking for. The enlarge rune and wind rune were present just as she'd thought. The array containing the runes was more complex than anything Bai li yue had ever casted, but she now glanced at it with a bored expression. She did not tamper with the array even though it would be easier to put it into a dormant state. Her aim was to put an end to their problem without future repercussion. The delegate had to believe their ruse. In the case he didn't, then she'll have a way to take the fan away. She quickly linked the fan to her jade tablet and finished it off with a concealment array. She returned the fan to its original state and sat down to watch the first elder.

Zhao li ming swallowed a few couple of energy restoring pills when he felt the energy inside his body disappearing into the tablet in his hand. After the time of an incense burning, he looked up to ask if he should continue. The little ancestor was fanning herself and watching him so he focused on pumping more energy into the tablet. After another incense stick burned out, he felt her move. She took the tablet back and turned it in her palm. She injected some more energy into the tablet. A sliver of golden energy sank into the tablet. She threw it to him along with the fan when she was done. 

'Return the fan to the second elder. He shouldn't give it up so easily since it is a gift from his master. If the delegate insists, he should accept only on the condition that he can ask his master's permission. The tablet is a communication stone. I'll take care of the rest.'

He adjusted his condition and set off feeling calmer than he'd been a couple of hours ago. Maybe it was her calmness that had affected her. 

Bai li yue also returned to the stadium. Her seat was taken so she squeezed in with some students from the immortal bamboo sect. They were excitedly discussing the previous fights she'd missed. Lu dou had fought in her absence and won.

'His acting must have improved.'

'Ao wei run into a tough opponent, otherwise he would have won. If senior Bai zhang wins his fight, well even if he doesn't win we are still better off than the Purple wind sect. They've only won seven fights so far while we have twelve wins for certain already.'

The students laughed in schadenfreude.

She quickly glanced at the combat board before searching the crowd for the second elder. She found him having a hushed conversation with the first elder. 

The Cloud peak mountain sect was in the lead. The Golden aurora school was second with eleven wins. The thousand bamboo immortal sect was in third place with ten wins and finally the Purple wind sect came in last place with seven wins.

Lei xiao yu was not having a good time. He'd cheated against the Thousand bamboo immortal sect, but they'd still come out in front of his people.

'Congratulations sect leader Chang kong.' 

He said, his every word dripped with falsitude.

'It's all thanks to your hard work.' 

Chang kong's reply drew a smile out of delegate Wu who didn't bother hiding his mirth from his host. Lei xiao yu's anger vanished and was replaced by a sneaky smile a second later, reminiscent of a snake preparing to strike.

'Delegate wu has no doubt noticed my curiosity with regards to Qi rong fei's fan. I hear tell that it isn't a simple fan. I, for one would die to see a demonstration. What do you think?'

'Is that the case? Call him over, sect leader chang kong. I am somewhat of a collector. I would like to see this fan for myself.'

Chang kong was at an impasse. His fears were turning into reality. Much earlier than he'd thought. He hoped that zhao li ming had followed his instructions. They couldn't hide the fan or Qi rong fei from delegate Wu lest they angered him. The only solution was for it to be the property of the grand elder. They had wanted to keep her recovery a secret but this was an unfortunate turn of events. 

Lei xiao yu gleefully sent an attendant to bring Qi rong fei over when chang kong wasn't quick to obey. This wasn't the final confrontation between them. He didn't need the backing of another sect to swallow the thousand bamboo immortal sect. No, this was about something else. He'd not placed much importance on Qi rong fei calling his sect the purple fart sect. It was a grave mistake on his part because it was now a common insult that others used when referring to his sect. When he heard about the flying artefact, he knew that his day had come. He would finally have his revenge against that damned Qi rong fei.