Daily life of a cultivation judge

Yang Qing looked up, his gaze taking in the clear sunny sky above and the cool wind brushing up against his skin as his mind slowly drifted a few months ago.

...

Eight months ago, Dai Chen's judge chamber

"Lei, why are you still taking missions when you should be preparing to break through to the palace realm? 

Cheng Qing and I can't handle the workload by ourselves, and the two roaming inquisitors I was assigned, one of them has already taken a break from work to prepare for her breakthrough and the administrative department has said it will be quite some time before they send another one.." said Dai Chen as he poured himself a crystal clear rice win.

He proceeded to pour Lai Lei one.

"Mmmh, is this Yi Jie's work?" Lai Lei asked in surprise as the savored the chill mellow flavor of the rice wine.

"No, though his skills have undoubtedly grown over the years. I found this thanks to Yang Qing's suggestion.

He told me there was this old man who just moved into the White Baobab Kingdom, whose ply of trade was in winemaking. From what his king friend had told him, the old man's family has a long history of wine-making that dates back 50, 000 years.

So during my sect evaluations, I decided to pass by the kingdom and sample his wine for myself and see if there was some truth to what Yang Qing told me, and it turns out there was.

Old man Feng's Silverleaf nectar wine is really something special and easily among the top ten wines I've had..." Dai Chen said as an infatuated flame burned in his eyes as he swirled in his eyes.

"I will need to make another trip there soon, the batch he gave me is almost done, and it should be about time for the frost snake wine he told me about to be ready. 

Lai Lei can you believe it, he has been brewing that wine for ten years. I can't wait.." Dai Chen excitedly said as he licked his lips. Lai Lei could only helplessly shake his head at this as he took another sip.

"Yang Qing should already be at Tribulation Mountain, right?" asked Lai Lei trying to change the topic from wines.

"Mmh, it should be his third month now..." Dai Chen suddenly laughed when he finished his statement.

"What?"

"Yang Qing was practically beaming with joy when he was about to head to the mountain. Most people would be slightly anxious due to the pressure of breaking through safely and the threat of the tribulation lightning, but with how joyful he was, one would think he was going for a vacation.."

"But isn't he? To him, even tribulation lightning is better than working and there's also the free time he gets before and after the tribulation lightning falls. How bad does he hate working?" Lai Lei said before he and Dai Chen burst laughing.

"He has always been an odd one. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up pulling something there.."

"There's no doubt about that, he always had a knack for attracting trouble, even during our Institute days.."

"Your year sure had a lot of talents coming in. I can't believe you, Kang Huilang, Xia Boqin, Feng Xin, Yi Jie, Huifeng, Hu Jiaying, and Yang Qing all came in at the same time.

All we could hear about from the Instructors back then was how we had terrifying juniors behind us and if we dared slack we would soon be overtaken by them.." said Dai Chen as he leaned back in his seat.

"Don't lump me in with their lot, especially Kang Huilang, Yang Qing, Xia Boqin, and Hu Jiaying. They were complete freaks, especially with the manner in which they survived the purple grade test at Rest Gaze Peak.." Lai Lei said with a bitter smile and a flash of fear in his eyes.

"Hahahaha, I heard they abandoned all caution and created a chaotic storm in there. Drawing the attention of all the spirit beasts in there, especially the lords, and triggering almost every trap they came across to add further chaos to the mix.

I feel shivers just imagining it.." 

"I doubt any group could have pulled off what they did and lived through it. Their lineup was the perfect grouping for it. A team that complemented itself on extreme attack and extreme defense.

Because of the chaos they created, the test grew harder for the rest of us, especially the team I was in. We ended up stumbling onto two lords; a blood rage bear and a mist blight pangolin. Half our team along with another team we had partnered up with got wiped out before we managed to defeat those two.

At the time, we thought it was the Instructors doing that things got suddenly chaotic, only after did we know it was Yang Qing and the rest, and at that time we were too exhausted and traumatized to do anything..."

Dai Chen let out an uproarious laughter when he saw LaiLei's pitiful face as he recalled those events.

"But at least it helped you all hone your survival skills in a chaotic environment. I bet the life and death duels were less frightening to your lot after that experience.."

"That's one way to look at it.." Lai Lei said as he took his last sip and got up.

"Dai, I'll be off. After I'm done with the case I'm currently handling, I will head directly to the mountain. Save me the frost snake wine after I come out, will you?"

"Good, I will...by the way what's the case? Is it another walk-in one?" 

"Mmh, a rank 4 clan is claiming ownership over an artifact in some rank 4 sect. The clan claims the artifact is their clan's heirloom from 7,000 years ago, and it got lost when one of their elders who had it on him went missing.

They've requested a death duel challenge to the sect and requested the Order to act as the witness since the sect apparently has some connection with a rank 3 empire.

I am just going to confirm if the artifact really belonged to the clan at some point in time and present my findings to the administration department, and if it does, then handling the duel may very well be sent to the outer palace courts, who knows, you may even end up presiding over it.."

"A treasure tribunal showdown huh.." Dai Chen said with a sigh.