Daily life of a cultivation judge



The atmosphere turned sombre at Yang Qing's statement. It was a common occurrence around moments like this. Everyone conveniently imagines themselves getting through but none ever thinks about the other side of it, which was a failure despite the high failure rate with tests like these ones.

"I will reiterate again; this test has one rule and one rule only which is to make it to the top. As long as you reach my table at the top of the mountain you will have considered to have passed the exam. 

And now let me give you kind words of advice; be very attentive to everything around you, be adaptable, do not let your guard down, and do your best, should you make it, this will be a lifetime opportunity to change the trajectories of your lives, so make sure you leave no regrets behind…" said Yang Qing as he made eye contact with every single one of the participants.

"Oh, I almost forgot, within the mountain, there will be special locations spread about. If I were you, I would make it a priority to make it to those areas. 

Those areas could be considered to be safe zones. Within 50 meters of those areas, nothing can attack you, in addition, there will be other special features that will be even more crucial to you more than the safety those areas provide.

In there, you will find certain things I've left for you all to make use of. It will help increase your odds of survival as you scale up the mountain. 

The areas are randomly spread about around the mountain, so be keen and it looks like this," said Yang Qing as he used his qi to create a vivid image of a maple tree that had the symbol of a bullfrog on its trunk.

The participants narrowed their gazes to commit every single part of the tree to memory, even its grains.

"Does anyone have any questions up to this point?" Yang Qing gently asked.

The crowd went silent for a few seconds before one of them hesitantly raised his hand. 

The participant who fearfully stepped forward to ask the question was a kid with a slender build which didn't seem it was out of choice either. He was thin to the point one would think the wind blowing in the place would easily carry him away. He had deep sunken eyes, grey flakey hair, bronze skin, and dark eyes. He was one of the tallest people around but because of his clearly malnourished look it, he was slouched over like a strung bow.

In terms of age, he looked to be sixteen but Yang Qing could tell the kid was 13 years old.

His robes though clean were worn out and filled with patches all over. Some of the well-off participants looked at him with mockery in their eyes. As for his cultivation, he was only in the iron stage of the body refining realm.

"What's your name?" asked Yang Qing as he offered a genial smile to try and ease the grey-haired participant.

"My name is Lai Rou," answered the youth, his voice shaking as he answered.

"What is it you wanted to ask? I will answer any questions you have, no matter how small or silly you may think it is, I don't mind. So ask away," said Yang Qing.

Lai Rou went silent for a second trying to collect his thoughts along with his courage together.

"Will we all be taking the test together?" he quickly asked. 

"What I mean is, we...not all of us are in the same realm, if we all got in at the same time then…"

His eyes quickly darted around to some of the participants with cultivation bases in the qi refinement and above. His implications were clear on what his real worry was about which invited no small number of ridiculing eyes from some of those participants while others were indifferent to it.

"Yes Lai Rou, every participant here regardless of their age or cultivation base will be taking the same test at the same time…"

Lai Rou's expression turned downcast once he heard that. He wasn't the only one, as those with weaker cultivation bases all shared the same looks. Even Zou Yi and Zou Liqin had troubled looks at Yang Qing's statement.

"The world is an unfair place, and I don't need to tell you that. Some of you have personally experienced that fact. That fact will not change here and it will not change even after you join the Order. You will be thrown into unfamiliar situations that may or may not be advantageous to you. 

Should that happen, what would you do? Will you abandon your duties because the circumstances were unfair, or will you do what some of you have learned to do in unforgiving and unfair circumstances, which is to use what you have to survive and that is what will be expected of you, each one of you…" Yang Qing paused a bit as he let that reality sink into the participants.

"That being said, you will be given a fighting chance, like I said those special zones have certain things to them, and safety is the least of those things, in addition, I will also be handing out a cultivation art to you all, which depending on how much understanding you gain from it, may very well carry you to the top of this mountain despite the realm you will be at.

While the world is unfair, in some regard, nature is fair to all, so do keep that in mind as you scale the mountain.

Does anyone have any other questions?" asked Yang Qing.

With Lai Rou taking the plunge, two more participants found the guts to raise their hands. One was from the special group and the other was one of the unique participants present. Both were at the middle stages of qi refinement. The only difference was their gender and age. 

The cultivator from the special group was a young lady who looked to be 11 years old, and the other cultivator was an old man in his late sixties. He wore a farmer's light green robes, a straw hat, and had a smoothened wooden stick for support.

He drew a lot of eyes in because of his age. He was the oldest participant present.