Daily life of a cultivation judge



Ma Yuan remained in the same posture beneath the green flame tree. He was seated, his head bent down and one of his palms supporting it, leaving one free hand.

Tears continually poured out of him, as he muffled his cries. If he started yelling, he was afraid he would never stop.

"Shun Fei, why did you leave?" he weakly said with a cackled voice.

He still made no attempt to reach for the talisman. Every time he would try to reach out, fear would overwhelm him, and his hands would refuse to move.

He stared at it, and before he knew it, the talisman seemed to have transformed into the visage of his wife. Her cold, stern, breath-taking face that hid her emotions, those limpid black eyes that hid a curiosity in them, and a presence that he could never forget.

The years he spent with her, the laughs, the occasional ice beatings he received when he pushed her buttons one too many times, and the beautiful bundle of life they created in their daughter. Those ten or so years would probably be the best his life could ever be.

When his memory reached his daughter, his foggy mind seemed to suddenly clear up.

"Ma Ling is alive.." he muttered to himself, as he slowly stretched his hands and finally picked up the talisman.

He held it hesitantly before he firmed himself to listen to its contents. No matter how afraid he was, he had to listen to her last words. It was the least he could do since he couldn't protect her.

"I hope it's not a one-worded message, with her calling me a blockhead.." he said as he smiled wryly.

"But knowing her, I wouldn't be surprised if she did.." he added as he took a deep breath.

Ma Yuan pulled spiritual qi from the surroundings to use it to activate the recording white jade talisman. Even though his dantian was shattered, he could still pull in spiritual qi from his surroundings, it's just that his body would be unable to store it or refine it without a dantian.

But pulling enough qi to activate the white jade talisman was something he was more than capable of doing, especially with his sturdy foundations of having a gold body, and had reached the core formation realm with a blue core. His aptitude at gathering spiritual qi and manipulating qi was still there, though what he could do with it had dropped multiple levels, without a dantian in place.

Ma Yuan nervously took a gulp, with expectant eyes that had sadness in them as the talisman let out a soft white glow from the runes inscribed on it being triggered from the input of qi.

His eyes gleamed and trembled when he heard his wife's voice.

"Ma Yuan,

You're a blockhead.."

Ma Yuan flinched in trepidation on reflex as he heard those first lines. They were all too familiar to him, and how he would always make a break for it when he heard those words from intentionally pushing her buttons before he got slammed by his wife's ice hammers.

He had an embarrassed smile when he realized his cowardly reaction before he perked up his ears to the rest of the message.

It didn't take long before he heard the entirety of the message.

He had a gentle gaze as he stared at the talisman in his hands, with a weak but mirthful smile. Even though there was sorrow, there was relief and comfort in him.

"This was a pleasant surprise, Li Liu... Thank you for an amazing life too. You were an exceptional wife, too good for me, and an even exceptional mother. It's sad Ma Ling won't get to have you in her life as she grows older, and even maybe have kids of her own.

I will always remember you too, to the end, and I'll make sure Ma Ling does too.

You've always been unreasonable, but I promise, I will live, Li Liu, for you, for our daughter, and for myself.." He said with a deep sigh as he stared at the sky above him, envisioning his wife's rare smile.

"Am I a shameless braggart though?" he wondered as he rubbed his nose with a bitter smile.

He slowly got up and gently and carefully stored away the white jade talisman. Other than his daughter, that talisman had become the greatest treasure he could ever have. He would hold onto it until his last breath, continually listening to it, on easy days and especially on the hard days, which he was sure would be plenty.

He couldn't help but smile when he realized his wife knew him too well. Without her encouragement and plea, he knew himself too well, and he would have likely given in to the pain of the grief and chose to accompany her.

While he would accompany his daughter until she was safe and better, he knew he would be no different than a living dead, present but continually absent with the memories of his wife, counting the days until he reunited with her, ignoring everything else. 

But now, no matter how hard it would be, he had to present for his daughter, and also for himself, to live his life, which he wasn't sure what it would be.

He had no cultivation base or connections that he could use.

"I'll just take it a step at a time.." he muttered to himself as he slowly made his way to where Yang Qing and Zheng Hu were.

"Thank you.." Ma Yuan instantly said as he performed a deep bow toward Yang Qing.

"There's no need for that.." Yang Qing said as he helped him up.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save your wife..." he added with a look of regret.

"You did more than enough.." Ma Yuan said with a smile, which seemed to have lessened the weight on Yang Qing's mind and heart.

"What happened to Ma Ling? Can I see her?" Ma Yuan desperately asked. 

With his mind cleared up a bit he want nothing more than to be next to his daughter.

Yang Qing went on to explain the matter concerning the memory-altering gu and the repercussions to look out for.

However, Ma Yuan wasn't hit hard by the news nor surprised as he had expected him to be. It turned out Ma Yuan had seen his fair share of memory implant gu, and when his wife and daughter were taken, he had expected whoever took her, to do something like that.

Though he was still worried about the extent of damage done to his daughter, the worry wasn't that high especially when he got the guarantee that his daughter would be monitored and healed by cultivators from the Order.

After finishing the explanation, Yang Qing and Ma Yuan made their way to the Medical Valley.