Daily life of a cultivation judge



The images formed were a bit hazy at first but were soon filled with high clarity.

Yang Qing and the rest quickly recognized the image with the courtyard and bamboo around it, because at some point they had all visited that location, especially as part of their induction.

Yang Qing had even been there, just a month ago when he was going to the Requiem. The courtyard with the green bamboo had an ancient wooden plaque hanging above it with the name 'Judicial Review Committee' and in front of the courtyard were five elders in pure white robes with an image of a hammer and a podium embroidered on it.

Three of the five elders, Yang Qing had met on his way to the Requiem. They were; Long Enlai, one of the five soul formation experts in the Judicial Review Committee, Jiang Heng and Jia Bohai who were late stage domain experts. 

As for their exact level, Yang Qing had no idea. He only knew they were at the seventh stage or above. Even Lei Weiyuan who regularly got in trouble with, despite being nemeses for all these while, Yang Qing still didn't know his exact cultivation base.

All he knew was Lei Weiyuan was a late-stage domain expert skilled with the sword, who had excellent stalking abilities and more than likely had a charm on him that warded off curses, otherwise with how diligent Yang Qing had cursed him over the years, there was no way he would have left unscathed without the assistance of an object known to ward off curses.

Other than the three, there were two faces next to the Judicial Review Committee members who were not there when Yang Qing came by.

One of them was a lady with light purple hair that was neatly braided to her back and had a purple gem on her forehead. It looked like it had been embedded there. She looked to be around 40 years old, with breathtaking beauty.

She had a genial smile on her face as she looked at Yang Qing and the rest, like that of a grandparent looking at their grandchildren.

It might as well be true since just like Long Enlai and the other two judges, she was among the original judges when the Order was founded. Going by that timeline, she was at the very least 1,000 years old, which was old enough to be their ancestors, which Yang Qing would not dare mention.

Next to her was a middle-aged man with hair that was a mix of red, black, yellow, blue, and green. His irises had the same coloring pattern. Instead of a single color, it was a swirling mix of the five that extended to his pupils.

His name was Tao Wen and of the seventeen members of the Judicial Review Committee, he could be considered the most recent addition, and unlike the others wasn't a judge beforehand but was a requiem guard, who moved over 200 years ago.

From what Yang Qing heard, he had a special physique that was similar in nature to the five-colored deer which gave him proficiency over the five elements, which was why he was able to become a gold-grade alchemist and formation master, and rumor had it soon enough he might be the next soul formation expert of the Judicial Review Committee.

In the other image, the mist cleared up and revealed two people. One of them was a nine-year-old with purple eyes that were filled with a cluster of stars, and the other was a scholarly-looking man with snow-white hair tied in a half bun, a young-looking face that made him look like he was in his late twenties, which was narrow, and an ethereal charm to it. His eyes, however, showed the vicissitudes of time in them.

He had on apricot robes.

Of the two people, one was the Chief Justice Lai Ning, as for the other, Yang Qing didn't seem to know him and when he looked at the others, they didn't seem like they knew him either. Yang Qing could only guess maybe he was another member of the Spirit Council.

"Seems like we have another destruction on our hands.." the man with snow-white hair calmly said.

"Mmh, it seems so.." muttered Chief Justice Lai Ning as he munched on a crispy brown biscuit that was packed in a wooden bowl before them. Next to it was a white porcelain tea set and kettle.

Yang Qing ended up taking a gulp as his eyes narrowed on those biscuits, that just seemed to draw him in, along with the wafting smoke from the kettle.

"Are those biscuits normal?" he muttered in greed. 

Everything within him wanted to rush over there. He had had his fair share of biscuits before, and while he liked them, it wasn't to the point that they could affect him as they did now.

"Little Qing don't be greedy. If you had even a shaving of this, you'd likely explode. If you reach the middle stages of the domain realm, maybe you can handle half of it.." Chief Justice Lai Ning said as he gingerly grabbed another and bit into it, with Yang Qing licking his lips like he was the one who took the bite.

  He immediately shook his head to clear his head of the greedy desires slowly welling up.

"Just what are they made of?" he wondered.

...

"Now for the matter at hand, we have heard the case put forward, and it is a compelling case. Thank you for the efforts you have put into it.." said Long Enlai.

"As for the decision of the panel, three have put a vote for sect demotion, while two have put a vote for its destruction.

"The five votes are essentially the same at its root with one slight difference which I will get to.

But first, let's get our own votes out of the way. What do you think Chief Justice Lai Ning, Vice President Tao Wen?" Long Enlai asked as he conferred the question to the two people in the other image.

The five-panel judges, along with the two roaming inquisitors all had looks of shock when they heard the words 'Vice President Tao Wen.'

The three vice presidents were just as elusive as the president and the chancellor. They were rarely seen and in just under a month, Yang Qing had seen two of them. 

There was Mo Ye who appeared during his promotion ceremony which had a lot of surprises including the arrival of representatives from the two holy lands and now they got to meet another one. 

While information about the three vice presidents was usually scant, those at the Order knew a bit about them such as their name, and their moniker or epithets.

Vice President Mo Ye was known as the eagle's wing, Vice President Tao Wen was known as the eagle's talon, and the last one, Vice President Zhu Bai was known as the Eagle's eyes.