Daily life of a cultivation judge



"They were not the conventional kind in everything that they did or who they were. The copy Fan Ru gave you, you can tell wasn't damaged, so the fact that it is incomplete was deliberate, and more than likely the intentional doing of the Origin Universe Light Sect.

It's something they would do, including even inscribing part of it in the bark of a regular tree with no protections whatsoever.

If there is a full copy out there, it is either long lost by now or it's hidden in a place you'd never think of looking, or they never left a complete copy of the art.

You're better putting all that effort into completing it on your own, who knows, maybe in doing so, you might uncover something...

Those tricksters were crafty like that.."

Yang Qing could detect a wariness from the tone of the auspicious grove wood tree.

"Senior you seem to know them well, were you part of the sect or acquainted with them?" 

"Part of them?! Are you cursing me?! They would have scammed me to no end if I was part of them...sorry about that.."

"They seem to have history," thought Yang Qing.

"I wasn't part of their sect, but I had the misfortune of being acquainted with one of their members who let's say is one of the reasons I never roam the continent as I used to.." said the auspicious grove wood tree with a wary tone.

"Roam? How does it do that in its form?" wondered Yang Qing as he secretly sized the tree.

"You seem to doubt me. I was a renowned traveler back then, I even managed to get the highest membership grade at the Horizon Odyssey Guild using this.."

One of the blue stones flashed with refracted light and quickly morphed into a humanoid figure which finally transformed into an elderly looking man with autumn orange robes, deep blue hair, and and crystal clear eyes that matched the purity of the brook.

The elderly man seemed to be the embodiment of serenity as he stood there with his hands behind his back. He turned around and faced Yang Qing with a gentle smile.

"Any one of these stones can be my clone if I want, though the further they are from my main body the weaker they get. The weakest they get is a peak stage domain expert, but that is only if I stumble onto some mysterious realms or sneak around the territory of some powerhouses.

Little Zhu and his brother used to pester me so much.." the elderly man said with a light chuckle as he stroked his beard.

"Pardon me senior, little Zhu is it Dean Zhu Lao?" asked Yang Qing as his eyes marvelled at the lifelike clone before him. It felt real in every sense of the word.

"Yes it's him, I can't believe he became a dean. How is he?"

Yang Qing could tell the clone of the Auspicious Grove wood tree seemed worried.

"He seems okay as far as I could tell..." Yang Qing answered.

"Though he had been in forced seclusion for 50 years.." Yang Qing went on to spill the beans about Dean Zhu Lao's embarrassing tale.

As long as others were talking about him, he would do the same. He wasn't about to let his stories be the only thing floating around.

"Ah if he's okay, then that's good.." said the auspicious grove wood tree in relief.

Yang Qing seemed to hesitate about asking something before he finally decided to pull the trigger and ask.

"Senior if you don't mind me asking, his brother, what happened? I have never heard of him before.." asked Yang Qing.

It was something he had always wondered about since the welcoming party.

"I am sorry I can't speak of the matter since it's not mine to share, but I can say his brother had a talent so high which honestly in my opinion no man, no beast, no plant could ever hope to match, either in the present, the past or the future.

The term defying was created with him in mind..." said the Auspicious wood grove tree in awe.

He went on to softly mutter the words pity before he turned to face Yang Qing.

"What I need your help with is this?" said the auspicious grove wood tree as he pointed to the brook of clarity.

"You must have learned the spring of resplendence right?" 

"Yes," answered Yang Qing as he moved toward the brook of clarity, where the clone of the auspicious grove wood tree was gently brushing its water with his palm.

"When you reach the peak of the domain realm, you can come here and pour a drop of the spring of resplendence into this brook, that's all, will you do it?" asked the Auspicious grove wood tree with a smile.

"I will senior," Yang Qing solemnly answered with relief clearly written over him.

"What does he need it for?" he wondered. 

The spring of resplendence was a healing technique, he didn't know what use it would have on an inanimate thing as the brook.

But he didn't ask, since it didn't look like the auspicious grove wood tree would answer as it dissipated its clone after receiving Yang Qing's answer.

Silence ensued, and Yang Qing began his torturous session with the brook of clarity as it exposed him to his experiences from the destruction of the Ice Emerald Sect, adding more scenes than it did the previous day.

For the two hours, Yang Qing still struggled as he did the previous day, and when the two hours were up, the brook cleansed him as it did, alleviating the mental burden from the prior two hours.

After four hours had lapsed, he took out a small flask with space expansion runes on it and put in a bucket's worth of water from the brook of clarity.

He thanked the auspicious grove wood tree after he was done as he eagerly waited for it to transport him back to his abode, so he could boil some rice with the water, and see how much the water improved the taste.

Once at the abode, Yang Qing quickly took out a red earthen clay he had where he gently poured the water from the brook of clarity.

He then took out a 50kg sac of rice from his storage ring and scooped out a handful which he sniffed with pleasure. The rice was pure white and crystalline and looked like tiny gems in rice shape.

This was rice from he had received from the Green Fog Swamp Sect as a gesture of gratitude. Yang Qing couldn't refuse, it would have been rude to do so.

Yang Qing smiled in pleasure as he washed them with the spiritual spring water he had before he finally poured them into the red earthen clay pot.

"I wonder how good it will be.." he muttered to himself with saliva dripping from his mouth as he lit a gentle fire under the pot.

"Oh, it seems I came at the right time.."

Yang Qing couldn't help but click his tongue when he heard the intruder's voice.

"How does he always time his visits?!" he angrily thought.