The patriarch explains that the dark guild sent their forces to fortify their defenses. He tells the elder of the family that the son of the Heavenly Marks did not follow his father's instructions at the holy orchid institute and was punished with a hundred cane strikes. The elder refuses to accept this, saying that the strikes are too severe and that the cultivation of the son is too weak. The patriarch says that the alchemist association helped the family in exchange for their help in cultivating herbs. He says that it is reasonable to assume that the heavenly marks knows how to cultivate herbs, and that they would give 30 percent of the purchase price to the family if they knew how to do so. This is reasonable, the patriarch says, because there are so many families that can cultivate herbs. But the elder points out that this is not the same as hitting the family of another family member and sending gifts to make it up. He thinks that the elder is comparing the two situations because the elder cares only about the other party's thoughts.