Daily life of a cultivation judge

A stifling atmosphere swallowed the room whole after Yang Qing's statement but was broken almost immediately by the least talkative member of the group.

"What if we are willing to shoulder the burden and risk that comes with it?" asked Queen Huo Mei.

Contrary to how cold she looked her voice carried a sense of soothing clarity. It was like the melodious chirps of birds as they welcomed spring.

"The Queen is right, what if we are willing to take the risk? The matter of being targeted by other organizations because of your help may or may not happen. The risk isn't certain but when it comes to the two obsidian serpents and the fire adler bear about to break through, the risk they pose to the kingdom is all but guaranteed.." said Consort Zhang Quifen.

"Others don't have to know you helped us..."

 A meek voice filled with hesitation, trepidation, and a bit of resolve immediately sounded after Consort Zhang Quifen had made her statement.

Yang Qing turned to the source of the statement. It was a young lady who looked to be seventeen years old. She was a beauty in her own right and bore a striking resemblance to Consort Zhang Quifen and the third prince, she was his sister.

Seeing everyone's gaze fall on her, she shrunk back a little before she feigned a look of composure clumsily at that when her gaze inadvertently fell on her mother and the head of the Zhang family.

"While that seems simple enough to do Princess Zhou Ai, ensuring it is another matter. Things always get out.." Yang Qing gently said.

"As for your willingness to take the risk, while you might be willing, I don't think the Order is. Should anything happen to you because of our intervention, we are the ones who would have to live with the result of it, and who knows what kind of storm such an event would create?

Things are already tense as it is. Do we really need to add more to that flame?" asked YAang Qing.

"That being said.." said Yang Qing as he clasped his hands together.

"When it comes to the obsidian serpents they killed one of our own so it's within our rights to act. You won't have to worry about them anymore.."

"You mean?" asked Imperial Secretary Hei Shan with a look beset by all sorts of overwhelming emotions. There was disbelief, relief, wariness, confusion before it came down to excitement and joy.

"They are not around your territory anymore.." Yang Qing succinctly said which drew shared looks of relief and joy all around.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you branch chief Yang Qing.." the Imperial Secretary hysterically said with tears in his eyes.

"Thank you.." said the king who even in his calmness one could hear the sound of relief in his tone.

Everyone around took turns giving their thanks before the topic circled back to the other worry the fire adler bear. 

Truth be told, to them, the fire adler was what gave them the most scare and worry. While the obsidian serpents were a threat, with the array they could hold out for a few years as they figured a way to diffuse the situation. 

If worst came to worst, the king was prepared to empty their vaults to hire the services of skilled hunting organizations and have them hunt down the obsidian serpents.

If that wasn't enough he would force the other clans to send their contributions. He was certain if they pulled their resources together they would be able to hire some of the seasoned ones with skills to hunt even late palace-stage spirit beasts, but the fire adler was a different case. They would have to hire the services of a domain expert and it would have to be one who has already stepped at the second stage of the domain realm for them to be able to kill the fire adler without risk of suffering heavy injuries themselves.

Other than the Ebony Twilight Sanctuary Array, they had nothing of value that would draw the eyes of a second-stage domain expert. Their only option was for the Order to intervene. With their abilities a mere freshly broken through domain fire adler was nothing of note. The fact that they already took care of the two obsidian serpents was already proof of that.

"When it comes to the fire adler bear I am afraid we cannot intervene. We do not have any feud with it. Not unless you want us to attack it for what it may potentially do.." Yang Qing said as he narrowed his gaze.

"With the history of your kingdom, I can understand why you would be weary of spirit beasts but once they reach the core formation realm and become more self-aware and less feral, they are no different from us and that fact becomes more distinctive the higher up the cultivation bases they move.

I am sure you are well aware that there are sects, clans, and other cultivation organizations that have spirit beasts among their ranks. And I am not talking as mounts but as respected elders within those organizations.

Some even go as far as to have a spirit beast as its head. The Northern Lights Sect is a prime example. The current sect master is a celestial road lark and she has been holding that seat for the past 20,000 years.."

The Northern Lights Sect was an up-and-coming rank 2 sect whose rise was all but guaranteed. The reason for that was they had a legacy and had developed all sorts of esoteric techniques that were useful in the exploration of unfamiliar territories filled with peril like mysterious realms and ruins that had some functionality.

Rumor was that the founder of the sect was a gifted explorer of the Horizon Odyssey Guild. He founded the sect and poured all his experiences into it. Using the skills taught to them, the sect rapidly grew from the dangerous zones they explored over the years that netted them hefty resources.

There was even a saying when going to a mysterious realm if you want to live to harvest anything, hug the thigh of the Northern Lights Sect.

It was because of its feats that the sect was well-renowned throughout the continent, from young babies playing in the mud to young cultivators drawn by the romanticism of exploring the unknown to seasoned cultivators who knew how much of a feat it was for what the Northern Lights Sect had managed to accomplish over the years. 

This same sect whose fame could reach the heavens now had a celestial road lark as a sect master. She wasn't hatched in the sect but had been accepted as a disciple by one of the core elders during one of their adventures.

From what Yang Qing read she had been in the early stages of the core formation realm at the time. She was first admitted as an inner disciple, and slowly rose through the ranks till finally, she became their sect master admired by all within the sect.

Yang Qing mentioned it in the hopes that the Deer Mountain Kingdom would stop looking at every single spirit beast as the enemy.