Daily life of a cultivation judge



He Shan was prepared for this, as three more arrows were launched in quick succession of the earlier ones. As he was busy tangling with the scarlet hummingbird, Zou Yi, and Zou Liqin were already called into action when the willow tree launched three vines in their direction at an alarming speed.

Luckily its speed was way inferior to the scarlet hummingbird, which was still a blur to them despite being well prepared for it.

"Yu Mei, tell us if you spot the white flakes, or fog," yelled Zou Yi as he and his sister launched the century iron pebbles in their hands.

With their strength as bronze body refining cultivators hurling the five-kilogram pebbles with ease and accuracy wasn't a difficult feat for them.

They both managed to halt two of the vines of the snapping willow tree dead in its track. Zou Yi didn't pause, as he ran forward and picked, He Shan's axe which he immediately flung at the third vine.

All three of the vines seemed to be specifically targeting He Shan who was currently locked in a firing battle with the scarlet hummingbird.

From what Zou Yi could tell, He Shan had thirty or so arrows in his quiver, and within the short span of the reappearance of the scarlet hummingbird he had already launched twelve of them.

Zou Yi couldn't help but worry about what would happen when the arrows were finished. Those arrows seemed to be the only things keeping the high-speed bird at bay. 

However, he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind as he focused on the matter at hand, which was dealing with the vines of the snapping willow while still being on guard against the other spirit beast in case, they made an appearance.

When Zou Yi and Zou Liqin launched their century iron pebbles they were mindful enough to throw them low to the ground and at a distance where they could swiftly recover them.

They only had three pebbles for each of them, they, therefore, had to use them carefully, and from the results they saw, it was their most important asset.

Two of the vines that had been hit by the pebbles had been punctured through at the point of contact. There was a large piece of the vine that had separated from the main vine and immediately in front of it were small fist-sized holes with the century iron pebbles neatly tucked in.

"Liqin be careful as you grab them," Zou Yi said as he kept guard behind Zou Liqin who was in charge of recovery.

The part of the vines that had broken off were releasing green-purple liquid that had a sweet nectary scent to them.

Zou Yi wasn't sure if that liquid was poisonous or not but it was best to err on the side of caution.

Just as Zou Liqin was going for the last pebble, the willow tree launched two more vines toward her direction at an increased speed. 

Zou Yi wasn't sure but he felt some sort of agitation from the vines, like they were filled with anger, hence the ferocity and speed.

Does injuring the vines hurt it? He wondered as he launched two pebbles in quick succession.

The first one missed as the vine was speedily retracted before his pebble made contact, while the second pebble did hit the vine but not most of it, as it too was being retracted it just wasn't as fast as the earlier one.

Zou Liqin picked up the last pebble and dashed to her position while Zou Yi rushed forward and picked up the pebbles he had just thrown while Zou Liqin covered for him.

Their cooperation was seamless, and as people who have fought and survived alongside each other for the past five years since their eviction from the Zou clan's main grounds, it was only to be expected.

Zou Yi easily picked the last pebble with no attack launched his way.

The short reprise gave him a moment to observe the confrontation between He Shan and the scarlet hummingbird.

He Shan may have questionable traits to him, but Zou Yi had to admit, when it came to skills, even he a former scion of a rank 2 family felt inferior. 

The way He Shan fired those arrows; it was almost as if he could direct them mid-air to perfectly land on the scarlet hummingbird's flight trajectory. No matter where it moved, an arrow was always there to welcome it. 

He Shan looked like a puppet master, controlling both his arrows and the scarlet hummingbird into the perfect dance. However, no matter how beautiful the play was, its end was about to arrive since He Shan was only left with six arrows and three of them were already in his hands ready to be fired.

Zou Yi hesitated on whether they should lend a hand to He Shan. His hesitation was he didn't want to cause problems with his ill-timed amateurish interference. He still didn't know how He Shan kept track of the scarlet hummingbird's movements when he was at the same cultivation base as Zou Yi, who still struggled to keep track of it, though he did get short quick glances of it, whenever it twisted and turned to dodge, He Shan's arrows.

It was just about the size of a grown man's palms. It had a gem green coating on its plumage around the head and neck, and circular black rings around it. At its neck the plumage was white. The beak was the most distinctive. It was scarlet red, almost looked as if it was coated in blood, and was as thin as a needle.

He couldn't believe that such a thing almost punctured a hole through his sister's and Yu Mei's heads.

"You two, when I say it, I want you to throw those pebbles to the left and right of my arrows. Don't bother with accuracy just focus on speed..." said He Shan as he rapidly fired the three arrows in his hands.

Zou Yi and Zou Liqin both tightly clenched their pebbles awaiting his instruction.

In quick succession, He Shan knocked the three arrows and fired them as he simultaneously yelled,

"NOW!!"

Zou Yi and Zou Liqin immediately launched their pebbles with so much speed that they produced a hissing sound as they flew.

That was when they saw an incredible scene. The scarlet hummingbird which seemed like it was pinned down by their attack, dodged He Shan's arrows, and gently glided downwards passing in between the gaps of the two pebbles Zou Yi and Zou Liqin had launched.

If it wasn't an opponent that would butcher them given the slightest of opportunity, Zou Yi would have whistled in admiration at the finesse in which it dodged.

"That's what I was waiting for."