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Justice in the cultivation world was an interesting concept in the sense that not only did it have no discernible standards, but that it wasn't even meant to have them in the first place.
On modern Earth, there had been written laws and institutions. Even if, in the end, you could usually buy your way out with enough money.
Here, however, laws didn't even exist in the way that Jin had known them in his past life.
Since there were no laws, every issue simply became a debate of interests. If you had no one in your corner to support your interests, you would get no justice.
Sure sects did have a basic sense of morality and dissuaded their disciples away from committing crimes just because they could. However, that was simply the perception that affected the reality.
When the crimes were actually committed, you would find yourself in a room with the relevant authorities, who were essentially trying to determine who had the better backing.
If both sides were equally at fault, and the backing was equally powerful, then the punishment would be a fair 50/50. If both sides were at fault but had unequal support, the punishment would be an unfair 25/75. If both parties were at fault and one of them had zero backing, it would be an unfair 1/99.
If one party was at fault and both had equal backing, that was when you could get to a 10/90.
Had Jin attempted what he'd done with Lung Junior with no backing, the result would have been no trial, let alone a punishment.
However, he had backing, witnesses and irrefutable evidence. In this case, where the situation was unfair, he hoped to get a 10/90 sentencing in his favour.
Of course, simply because he had evidence and backing didn't mean he was assured he'd get exactly what he wanted. For that, he would still have to go through the process.
What sort of process existed in a world without justice, you might ask?
Were there courtrooms, presiding arbitrators, and a legal system where someone who didn't have representation could be granted one from a public office?
The answer was, of course, none of the above.
The person presiding over the case was the one responsible for the inner ring because they had the most authority here.
A fat old Elder, whom Jin had never seen before, which was possibly indicative of his attitude towards his position. Back when he had been in the outer ring, he'd had several interactions with Elder Qin, whom he'd found to be dutiful. If anything, the man had even been a bit kind. In other words, by the standards of this world, a complete softie.
In contrast, the first expression that hushed over Elder Pangzi's face when Jin, Lung Junior and Elder Flower entered his rather ostentatious office was annoyance. It disappeared quickly, but it was obvious that the man would have rather preferred they not come.
But, if he didn't want to be responsible for the inner ring then he should step forward to let go of the job if it was a privilege that he had worked hard to attain, or he should have manoeuvred better to not be laboured with it if it was something that he wished to avoid.
Unfortunately, regardless of whatever wishes Elder Pangzi might have had, they could not start the discussion until whoever was responsible for Lung Junior showed up. As for the question of who that would be…
"What exactly is going on here?" Elder Lung asked as he stormed through the bright red door and into the office of the inner ring overseer.
Jin at least appreciated that Elder Pangzi showed the same brief flash of annoyance at Elder Lung as he had at him and Elder Flower when they'd come in dragging a petulant Lung Junior with them.
It seemed that the Elder was at least consistent.
"I would like to know that as well," Pangzi asked impatiently, turning to Elder Flower. "Was there a need to involve me in this matter? Couldn't you resolve it yourself?" he flat-out complained.
For her part, Elder Flower remained unfazed and stood there in her usual position with arms crossed and a distant look on her face, indicating that she didn't care too much about what was happening.
In fact, in the plan that they had laid out before committing to the heist, Jin had designated Elder Flower as more of an influence bot with a few chat options. She only had to argue his case for about an hour or two before she could leave. Essentially, she was just here so he didn't get ganked, metaphorically and literally speaking in this case.
"I, too, would like to know why exactly you felt the need to drag one of my descendants here," Elder Lung questioned acidically. At the same time, Lung Junior shamelessly took his place slightly behind the man using him in a way as a cover between him and the stupid shit that he'd done this time.
Jin seriously wondered what was wrong with that guy, considering that from what he had found out, he was closer to a 100 than 20.
Was this what happened when kids never grew up? They become whiny baby adults even when they were well into their seventies?
"Explain," Elder Flower briefly said to Jin, who, instead of pretending to pretend he was crying or something, simply recounted the events without much emotional inflection. He wasn't an outstanding actor, and trying to hype it up inaccurately wouldn't have been suitable for the results they were trying to achieve.
"This competition for the army commission has been very stressful," he began. "There hasn't been much time, so I've been taking my Illusion Room with me occasionally to add to it whenever I get a flash of inspiration. Today," he pointed his chin towards Lung Junior, "he and his friends separated me from my Room. They looked at it before me until Elder Flower came to stop them."
"Do you have any proof?" Elder Lung snorted with distaste, at which Jin could only shrug.
"They did it in the food hall in front of all the other disciples."
"Also in front of me," Elder Flower finally piped up.
It was then that a look usually reserved for those who had just stepped in dogshit flashed over Elder Lung's face. If the elder didn't have better control of his emotions, his eyes would have likely rolled into the back of his head, and he would have vomited blood.
It looked like it wasn't the man's first time cleaning up after his junior.
Which begged the question of why he was doing it exactly. What was so important about Lung Junior that had to be protected? Was it just principle, or was there something special about the boy?
"So what if I did!" Lung Junior suddenly piped up angrily, apparently having had his patience tested enough and now feeling braver from the presence of an Elder in his camp. "I took a look; not like I got anything out of it. His Illusion Room is so stupid. It's just about some girl dying. Then you run after some smuggler!" he exclaimed angrily. "There's basically no zombies!"
Jin barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes at this incriminating moment. For some inexplicable reason, he suddenly felt some pity for Elder Lung. With descendants like that, you didn't need enemies.
"The point, of course, isn't," Elder Flower spoke, "if you gained anything from the deed, but rather that it was committed in the first place. It is for this reason that we seek arbitration, rather than for whatever benefit was gained from it. Additionally, of course, the inner disciple is not a judge of the competition and is therefore not qualified to determine the value of what he has managed to see."
"What do you suggest then, Elder Flower?" Elder Pangzi sighed.
"Nothing much, I imagine. It's just boys fooling around," Elder Lung interjected.
"That's hardly the case," Elder Flower rebuked. "The moment an act such as this involves scenarios currently being developed, it becomes an act of espionage or sabotage. Considering the current competition, these can be judged even more harshly."
"The standard rule for Illusion Room scenario theft is a year in solitary confinement," Elder Pangzi spoke up in a bored tone of voice, playing right into Jin and Elder Flower's hands.
When there was no book of laws to determine such punishments between two parties of equal influence, precedent became important.
Considering that Illusion Rooms were at the centre of life in the sect, it made sense that they were some of the most protected entities, right behind the actual lives of the disciples.
Sure, there were copyright infringement cases in the libraries, which were considered to be alright because everything in the library was public domain. It thus simply became distasteful. Breaching someone else's privacy by looking at a Room they were currently working on was a somewhat more serious offence. In the past, it had been punished by two years of solitary confinement. Offering only one year was thus already giving face to Elder Lung.
"Well, it is exactly because of the current competition that such a punishment is inappropriate," Elder Lung argued while nervously touching his moustache. "After all, if my inner disciple disappears for any amount of time, he will be unable to hand in his project with his group."
"Perhaps he should have thought of that before he did what he did?" Elder Flower said almost teasingly, causing Lung Junior to run red in the face.
It was pretty stupid of him, Jin thought to himself.
"But we have to keep the interest of the sect in mind," Elder Lung argued. "His group, in particular, has the highest chances of winning the competition, and it is exactly in times like these, where borders are being threatened, that we do not have the luxury of disrupting the defence efforts with internal conflicts. Additionally, to me, it sounds like it wasn't the entirety of the scenario that was viewed, which means that if anything, any punishment should be a fraction of a year."
At this point, Jin lightly shook his head, knowing they'd finally gotten somewhere. Now, Elder Lung was arguing for a reduction of the punishment rather than a suspension thereof.
"How much of the scenario was viewed?" Elder Pangzi asked, turning towards Jin.
Jin didn't have a reason to lie. "He saw 10% of it," he said.
"Well then," the fat Elder started. "The boy saw a tenth, and therefore, he gets only a tenth of the sentence, which in this case is one month," he rounded down.
"Already one month is crucial, Elder Pangzi; you must be joking," Elder Lung interjected. "I'm sure we could perhaps at least postpone to the end of the competition."
"Perhaps the issue we should first resolve is the unfair advantage gained by viewing a competitor's scenario. If the advantage is not cancelled out, the punishment becomes moot in its effect," Elder Flower spoke.
"But you must agree, Elder Flower, that Elder Lung makes a good point. It doesn't make sense to exclude one of our disciples from competing at a critical time such as now."
Elder Flower seemed to think about the suggestion for a moment. "Regarding the restoration of the equilibrium, then, wouldn't it be fair to have inner disciple Jin view the work of inner disciple…" she trailed off, staring blankly at Lung Junior.
Lung Junior gasped angrily, "Our work is hardly equal!"
"A suspension of the solitary confinement and a viewing of 10% of the material," Elder Lung said after mulling over it for a bit.
"Rather than focusing on viewing 10% of the material, which is somewhat hard to determine," Elder Flower started calmly, "perhaps it would be better to simply look at the amount of time that the Illusion Room was in use for and double it. The first half is to restore the equilibrium, and the second is to pay back the damages."
Elderly Lung seemed to consider it for a bit. "And how do we know that the Illusion Room viewed in the food hall was actually the one that will be submitted for the competition?" he asked suspiciously.
"And how will we know that the Illusion Room you will allow inner disciple Jin to view will be the one that will be used for the competition?" Elder Flower replied with a quirked eyebrow.
Elder Pangzi sighed after they both turned to him. "Let me look at the damn things," he grumbled. "I'll certify that these will be the Illusion Rooms appearing."
"It is decided then," Elder Flower said, turning to Jin. "Present your Illusion Room. We can read the amount of time for which it was breached by the metadata."
Jin extended his arms with the artefact he had been carrying. Elder Flower glanced briefly at something beyond the material before handing it to Elder Pangyi.
"27 minutes," they both confirmed.
Elder Lung reluctantly looked as well before nodding. "54 minutes then," he said. "No more, no less."
Jin, for his part, was rubbing his hands together.
Everything was coming together.
Sure, Lung Junior had glimpsed a part of his project, but now Jin would have more than a glimpse. He was sure that Lung Junior hadn't brought any techniques to scrape information from other Illusion Rooms when doing his little deed because he hadn't planned it. It had been a crime of passion.
Jin, however, had time to prepare and had something that Lung Junior most likely didn't.
A photographic memory from before he'd even started cultivating.
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AN: It is not as exciting as the last chapter, but it is a necessary bridge and event. In the next chapter, we take a deep look at what other inner disciples are doing. If you want to read ahead, there's Patreon ;)