Daily life of a cultivation judge

Just as he was lamenting his luck, Yang Qing continued,

"In addition, for conspiring to murder Chen Xue, while we have no jurisdiction in such feuds, should any one of his kin at some point in time, whether today, tomorrow, ten years or hundred years from now, decide they want to collect on that debt, despite you being in our custody, the Order will facilitate the blood debt duel, in accordance to the customs of the cultivators' code of conduct.," said Yang Qing with his gaze pausing momentarily on the Chen Clan patriarch who seemed to be clenching his fists in frustration.

Yang Qing was right, Chen Zian felt deeply frustrated, especially after learning of Chen Xue's death.

Other than Chen Zholan's betrayal, what frustrated him was, he realized how weak their clan was. Even if they had realized back then that Song Ba had been involved in the death of Chen Xue, he and the rest of the clan, bar Chen Gutian would have been hesitant to act.

Song Ba's identity as a subsidiary owner under the banner of the Golden Bamboo Pavilion would have made them hesitant, bordering on unable to do anything about it. Chen Zian could have easily slaughtered Song Ba, but would he?

Song Ba by himself was nothing, but the Golden Bamboo Pavilion behind him was enough to strike fear in the hearts of many. He did not doubt if any of the founding families, even including the royal family, were in the same situation as him, they would have the same hesitation and considerations he was having right now.

For what Song Ba had done, the Golden Bamboo Pavilion was sure to draw a huge line with him, but if Chen Zian took Yang Qing up on his offer and challenged Song Ba to a debt-blood duel, would the Golden Bamboo Pavilion let him go scot-free, even after cutting ties with him?

It was a risk he couldn't take, and that thought made his blood boil over. Red Maple Empire was littered with other Song Bas. What if they just like Song Ba decided to target a member of his clan? Would he just have to shut up and take it? He knew already knew the answer to that, and had known for a while, because if he was keen on avenging Chen Xue, why did he choose Chen Zholan who only schemed, and did not challenge Song Ba who actually worked on the plan, or Shen Mu who hired the assassins that did the job.

The answer was he couldn't. One had the stamp of the Golden Bamboo Pavilion on him, and the other, assuming he could even match Shen Mu in a fight and win, he still had to consider his domain expert mother standing behind him.

Facing the realities of one's weakness was always difficult, let alone swallowing it. It always left an unpleasant aftertaste.

Whatever thoughts he had, Song Ba seemed to have come to the same conclusions too, as he seemed undisturbed by the announcement, as he even managed to spare Chen Zian a nonchalant glance before he went back to worrying about how bad the experience of the Chaos Yang River would be.

As for worrying about Chen Zian or any other person from the Chen Clan taking up the offer. he could care less. There was a reason why he chose to settle in the Red Maple Empire or dared to deal in pill slaves and human cauldrons with one of the so-

called founding families.

Red Maple Empire was just the glorified back garden of Golden Bamboo Pavilion, and those nobles were gardeners. It might seem like they had a partnership with the Golden Bamboo Pavilion, instead of being subordinates, but everyone knew what the relationship was truly like.

Why else would the subsidiaries behave wantonly within their territory as if they were the true overlords of the place and why would the Empire let them?

Even with their relationship severed, Song Ba knew Chen Zian would never escape the shadow Golden Bamboo Pavilion had cast on them. He had no choice but to swallow it, either that or the Chen family produces a domain expert. But what were the odds of that happening?

If they struggled so much producing a palace realm expert, was a domain expert even remotely in the cards for them?

Song Ba felt he had a higher chance of surviving the Chaos Yang River for 247 years than the Chen Clan had of ever having a domain expert, and even if by some freakish chance they were able to, what were the odds they would be able to produce one before his lifespan ran out.

In all this, there was one thing that gave him confidence that that would never happen for them, and it wasn't because the Chen Clan lacked the talent and the resources to actually pull it off, which it did, but it was because of the Golden Bamboo Pavilion.

The Pavilion would never let them or any other family in Red Maple Empire for that matter, ever produce a domain expert, and risk losing their back garden. A merchant would never accept the loss of a valuable resource like that. Part of the reason Song Ba willingly agreed to kill Chen Xue was because Chen Xue by virtue of his talent had granted him immunity even if he was found out. In the pavilion's books, his actions were considered merit.

Why has the Empire since it was founded never moved past the ranks of barely average among rank four organizations despite its long history and its foundation being the territory of a long-

lived spiritual plant that had once touched the doors of the domain realm?

In all its history, it has never produced a palace realm expert that had touched the seventh stage of the palace realm. Not one late-stage palace realm expert, despite the resources of the red maple spirit at their disposal.

Were they truly that incompetent generation after generation that not one person could ever reach the seventh stage or was it because of something else?