Daily life of a cultivation judge

"Good, but I have to warn you. Every lie is a debt to the truth. You already owe a lot, please don't add to the debt by lying or misleading us in any way. .." kindly exhorted Yang Qing.

"My word may mean nothing, but I promise not to lie. If there is one thing I value it's my life," said Song Ba as he solemnly cupped his fist to show his sincerity.

"Good, but before that, can I ask you something?"

"Yes?"

"The information you have offered to share, is some of it related to Elder Chen Gutian's son?"

Chen Gutian's eyes widened at Yang Qing's remark as his eyes filtered through to Song Ba, eagerly anticipating his response.

"It is.."

"Okay then, you can start with that first ..." Yang Qing said before pausing suddenly before he decided to ask another question.

"Chen Xue's death.. Was the Golden Bamboo Pavilion involved?"

"Remember Owner Song Ba, no lies, please.." Yang Qing added with an ominous allure to his soft tone which caused Song Ba to flinch even more.

Song Ba took a few seconds to gather his thoughts before he spoke, his eyes and voice clear as he did.

Chen Zian was infected with the same tenseness Chen Gutian had. If the Golden Bamboo Pavilion was involved, then the ramifications were much higher than Chen Xue just getting murdered.

Even if he didn't know why they would involve themselves in their affairs, it did show they were within the Pavilion's sights. At their peak when their ancestor was still alive, they were unworthy of gazing upon Golden Bamboo Pavilion let alone now.

"Why would the Golden Bamboo Pavilion care enough to have a junior who wasn't even in the palace stage, assassinated?" was the question that continuously circulated in his head as he waited with an abated breath for Song Ba to answer.

If the Golden Bamboo Pavilion then their family would be in a state of emergency. He would have to involve not only the three supreme elders of the clan and the entire clan, but he would also have to inform the rest of the major noble families and even the royal family would have to be roped in too.

The threat would be that dire. They may be at each other's throats all the time, but in the face of an external force like the Golden Bamboo Pavilion, they would have to join together.

If the Golden Bamboo Pavilion could have Chen Xue assassinated, then wouldn't they do it again to another family, and maybe it won't be just juniors with potential but it could leap over to people like them, the main pillars of the clans.

Chen Zian couldn't help but grow in worry. Assassinations were one of the few things the Order did not involve itself too much in. They would only get involved if the entire clan was massacred to the last man, or if the assassination was done by some heinous organization that they were after, but other than that, if Golden Bamboo Pavilion was doing assassinations then that matter was theirs to settle.

From what he knew, the best the Order could offer was maybe offer asylum to some of their seedlings or act as brokers to help them fall under the backing of another organization that was at the same level as Golden Bamboo Pavilion or act as a mediator.

But with the things some of his clan members had done, would the Order even help them? and even if they did act as a broker, ultimately it would be up to that organization to decide whether they would shield them or not, and the level of protection they would offer which may not be enough.

Then there was also the matter of paying the corresponding price to get that help, which would be anything but light. This was why Chen Zian felt that he had to rope in the other families if it was found out that the Golden Bamboo Pavilion. Alone, his family would not be able to afford it, not even if they traded the cultivation art their ancestor left behind, and that was about the last thing he wanted to do.

With their poor talents that forced them to divert to alchemy, they already shamed their ancestor as it is, he did not want to add more to it.

Luckily for him, all his assumptions and scenarios were proved moot when Song Ba answered.

"Chen Xue's deathhad nothing to do with the Golden Bamboo Pavilion, though when I agreed to act, part of my motivation to do so was because I had the Golden Bamboo Pavilion in mind, but they had no part in it at all.."Song Ba firmly said bringing relief to the Chen Clan Patriarch.

"Continue.."

"Thank you... " Song Ba said with a polite bow.

"Patriarch Chen Zian, you hid him well.." Song Ba added out of the blue catching Chen Zian in surprise as his eyes went somewhere briefly before centering back on Yang Qing.

"So he was involved.." thought Yang Qing as he noticed the glance Song Ba made.

"Prior to the few months leading to his death, I had no idea your clan had someone as talented as Chen Xue which is something I am sure you went to great lengths to hide, especially from the other families.

I can understand why you did it. If someone with his talents appeared, I would do the same. For someone with his achievements, you do everything and anything to ensure they live to their fullest potential and Chen Xue had plenty of it.

I doubt the other families, including the royal family, have someone as talented. Someone breaking through to the foundation realm with quasi-gold grade pillars, I doubt the Red Maple Empire has ever produced such a figure in its entire history.

And it didn't just stop there, that same figure had also achieved sword intent before he was even thirty-five. Such achievements are enough to garner him the attention of even rank one organization. I find it strange why you never sent him to one.."

Seeing the glaring look Chen Zian and Chen Gutian were giving him, he quickly resumed to his original lane leaving the duo who exchanged a look.

With the talent Chen Xue had shown, they could have sent him to Jade Leaf Academy or Thousand Battle Hall Pavilion but they didn't do so because of Chen Xue and the inheritance their ancestor had left behind.

There was no denying the benefits the inheritance gave those who took its test and made gains. It was because of the tempering and nurturing effects of the essence contained in the leaves that Chen Xue was able to make the most of his talents. When he started, he was able to gain the diamond body from surviving the tempestuous sword qi which he used to temper his body, and then later, he was able to achieve sword qi and quasi-gold grade pillars because of the firm foundations and benefits refining the essence within those leaves gave him.

But even with such apparent benefits, there were some within the clan, including Chen Zian and Chen Gutian who felt Chen Xue would be better served in a rank one organization, but Chen Xue refused, insisting he needed to reach the 16th leaf before he paid any thoughts of cultivating elsewhere.

To him, it was his way of acknowledging and thanking his ancestor for his efforts. Leaving before reaching the end was the greatest disrespect he could ever show, and it could potentially leave him with a heart demon if he did.

Hearing the reasons he gave, how could Chen Zian and the rest insist on it, especially when to a sword cultivator tempering their hearts was just as important as tempering their way with the sword? Therefore he was left to stay.

Both Chen Zian and Chen Gutian could see the regret in each other's eyes.

"When I heard about him, I couldn't believe it myself, up until I saw it for myself..." Song Ba paused as he smiled in a self-

deprecating smile.

"Before true talent and strength, everything else is truly immaterial. When I saw him, I felt a deep sense of inferiority. I am a subordinate of a rank two organization, but in front of someone with a talent like Chen Xue's I felt utterly inferior, which I figure is one of the reasons it didn't take much to convince me to have him killed as the person who told me about him in the first place wanted..." Song Ba said as he looked up.

"With his talent, I knew it was only a matter of time before the Chen Clan birthed a palace realm cultivator, and with his identity as a sword cultivator, and the talent he showed, he was bound to be one of the most powerful one the Red Maple Empire had to offer.

If he reached that level, I would have to cancel all the deals I had with the elders I had roped in with the pill slaves and human cauldrons. With things as they were, that was something I could not afford to do.

I was already struggling to hold onto my identity as a subsidiary of the Golden Bamboo Pavilion. The potions and spiritual herbs I got from the Chen family were about the only things keeping me afloat. I couldn't afford to have anything that would interfere with it.

I judged Chen Xue's strength and potential as one of the greatest dangers to it. I could not let him grow to what he could be, doing so would mean I would lose everything I worked so hard to achieve. It was something I couldn't do.

The day I was told about him, I laughed thinking the heavens were cheering me on and helping me. What a joke.." said Song Ba with a bitter laugh.

"The person who told me about him and especially made the request that I kill him was none other than Elder Chen Zholan, the Elder you were grooming to be your next patriarch.."