It is tradition for the children of the family to receive the blessings of the family before they leave probably forever. But since the boy didn't want to go, he had to push the blame to someone else.
If the boy's father had given him the permission to avoid the party, then he would have beaten the boy's father and punished him for breaking tradition.
On the side, Arthur returned and began preparing to leave. They were going to throw a party for him for the day. Then he would leave the following morning.
After the invitations were sent out, everyone was given a week to decide which sect they wanted. They have to reject or accept every invitation that they have received.
If an invitation is not accepted in a week, it will be automatically rejected. After a week, a new round of invitations would be sent out by the sects to fill up the spaces that had been rejected.
