Daily life of a cultivation judge



Zhang Qinggee who seemed dazed suddenly looked up at Yang Qing as she answered,

"It's about Jiang Fu, do you think he is okay? senior Meng Chao never called us. It's been over a month now.." she said.

"It really has.."

Yang Qing realized in the middle of the craziness, from the sect evaluations and the mess he dragged in the name of the Golden Bamboo Pavillion, supervising and setting the exams for the new entrants, and the whole fiasco with Ma Yuan, in the midst of it all, the matter with Jiang Fu had sipped his mind.

It had already been a month since Jiang Fu left in preparation to break through to the palace realm. During the welcome party for Dean Zhu Lao, Jiag Fu seemed to have a connection with the Dean, deputy hall master Ren Shu, and superior domain court judge Meng Chao.

He still remembered the case he had which was a three-way disagreement between the Yellow Lotus Sect, their core disciple Zhao Qi, and the Mountain Springs Pavilion merchant organization.

The case ended up being a ruse that the Yellow Lotus Sect had set in motion as a bid to protect Zhao Qi, in the event that the sect got destroyed. 

It had a few twists here and there, however, the biggest twist was the presence of the spiritual wisp of a quasi-soul formation expert inhabiting their core disciple, Zhao Qi.

The expert had once been the founder of a rank 2 sect, 900 years ago by the name of the Crystal Palm Jade Sect, and had been one of their strongest combatants who was the reason the sect had managed to hold on for 3 years despite being besieged by multiple rank 2 sects at the time.

The sect had been destroyed because there was a rumor they had found a saint-grade treasure at the Millionsfold Treasure Ocean, which turned out to be true, as that expert survived the final onslaught thanks to the treasure.

The expert's name was Deng Chao, and when he made an appearance, Yang Qing noticed something, something that seemed familiar at the time that he couldn't place his figure on until the end of the case, which he later realized was the crystallized smooth shine, the incorporeal figure had on his entire body, though that shine was more concentrated on his hands. He had seen something similar in Jiang Fu.

His hands were smooth as if they had been carved from white jade, though he usually hid it. Yang Qing guessed that maybe Jiang Fu and Deng Chao may have had the same connection, his guess was maybe their cultivation art had the same origin, or maybe a familial tie, which was why he had asked Deng Chao if that was his real name, to which he said it wasn't but didn't explain further.

Meng Chao had made an appearance that day during the case, specifically because of the presence of Deng Chao whom he admired for his bravery in the fight those years back. Meng Chao had stood witness to everything that happened back then, to helpless to intervene because towards the end, quasi-soul formation experts intervened, and the Order at the time was too young and understaffed to do anything about it, including himself.

However, Meng Chao continually made investigations into what happened to that sect that day, including the identities of the third hidden attackers, who eventually destroyed the Crystal Palm Jade Sect along with Deng Chao.

According to what Lei Weiyan had insinuated that day, it seemed like Meng Chao had made significant progress in the investigation.

Yang Qing that day did go to find Jiang Fu and verify his guess on him having ties with Deng Chao, but he missed him, as he already left to prepare for a breakthrough to the palace realm.

However, the interaction between Dean Zhu Lao, Ren Shan, and Meng Chao during the welcome party more than confirmed his guess as Meng Chao even told him he would invite him over to discuss something that concerned them both.

The meeting never happened and Yang Qing had almost forgotten about it. If it wasn't Zhang Qinggee bringing the matter up, he would have taken some time before he remembered the matter.

Jiang Fu was one of the few people Zhang Qinggee wasn't shy with. She had taken to him ever since she was small during her days working at the restaurant in her early years. It was a nerve-wracking job for someone so shy and nervous. 

It was Jiang Fu who helped her get through that period. Despite being one of the busiest chefs in the restaurant, he always walked with her as she did the rounds, and after her shift was done they'd share deserts.

Yang Qing became friends with them during one of those times, as he realized he could score free dessert and tea personally made by one of the greatest tea brewers in Jiang Fu.

In exchange for free dessert and tea, Jiang Fu had Yang Qing help Zhang Qingge with her rounds at the restaurant, to which Yang Qing readily agreed, and he even pulled over Xia Boqin whom he was already friends with at the time since they were in the same year, to help. Yang Qing knew Xia Boqin with his righteous nature would help, then he went on further and roped in Kang Huilang, who owed him from a lost bet, and later Dai Chen joined too.

Dai Chen was a year ahead of them, but he became friends with Yang Qing first, on account of Yi Jie, whom Yang Qing always hung around with, and Feng Xin. Yi Jie had already been brewing wine since their institute days, which drew in the wine fiend Dai Chen. 

When Dai Chen came in, Yu Huifeng who always secretly liked him back then, wasn't far behind, so she too got roped into the help Zhang Qinggee bandwagon, and thus the six-judge friendship was born along with Jiang Fu who made after-work deserts and tea a regular thing for them.