Daily life of a cultivation judge

Yang Qing also noted the sudden change in Wen Yingjie. He could even detect his spiritual essence seemed purer, calmer, and denser than before. This would serve as a good foundation when finding his own dao.

"Good, Yang Qing may I?" Yi Jie asked at the side.

"It's your show to see to the end. I'll go by your judgment and suggestion on this since it's more in your wheelhouse than mine and the case is basically resolved now," Yang Qing lazily said seeming all too glad to throw this whole thing on Yi Jie's shoulders.

"Cultivator Wen I don't know if you have any soul-binding techniques of your own and if you do for greater success they need to be atleast at the Orange grade and above," Yi Jie asked.

"Uuum I don't have any. My family may have some but it's difficult for me to get them with my current situation," Wen Yingjie said as he smiled in embarrassment.

"The order can lend you one if you want. Though full disclosure it's an incomplete technique but even in its incomplete state it's solidly a top tier blue grade technique," said Yi Jie.

"Blue grade!!!! and a top one at that? I don't think I can afford that and I don't want to impose on the Order more than I have already. I'm already deeply indebted for the clarification and advice you gave me concerning the saber which is more than I could ever repay," Wen Yingjie bitterly said. Since becoming a rogue cultivator, resources had been tight unlike when he was the youngest scion of the Wen family where he was drowned in resources more than he knew what to do with.

He could get whatever he set his eyes on, but now he had to decide what was a priority and what wasn't. He had used most of his reserves in crafting the saber and also digging up information and tracking the whereabouts of the grey weasel the executive of the black jade syndicate. In fact he had spent more on the latter than the former as the grey weasel was an overtly cautious person whose whereabouts were next to impossible to track. It had taken Wen Yingjie decades of false leads and astronomical resources to even get an inkling of his routes and all he got for all his efforts and time was a short window in a location that was heavily fortified.

With all that Wen Yingjie didn't know how he could afford a blue-grade technique. He had an inkling how astronomically priced they were and even their family that has been standing for over 10,000 years had less than four in their treasure vault and were treated as the most prized possession surrounded by numerous arrays with its location so secretly guarded that only the family head and the supreme elders had access to it. His current cultivation mantra the golden soaring dragon was one of the four blue-grade cultivation arts they had.

"Let me finish first then you can decide whether you want it or not. You will have four months at most to master that soul-binding technique. The reason for that is after those four months lapse you will forget everything concerning that technique. Everything including the insights you make tied to that technique will be wiped clean from your memory but the physical harvests of it will remain. Since we are only lending the technique to you there is a mechanism in place to wipe itself off from the user after a set period of time.

The price we will charge you for lending you the technique will be a third of its original prize. The going rate of a top tier blue grade art is around 18,000 high-grade spirit stones so you will only need to pay 6,000. If you can not afford it you can pay using other means such as selling your services and doing contract jobs for the Order. We have a whole list of the jobs, requirements, their accompanying remuneration, and degree of difficulty. You can decide which jobs to take and you don't have to choose solely from here you can get them from any of our branches all over the continent. We will deduct the amount from the jobs you complete successfully and we can also accept any treasures or materials you have as a form of payment. We will use an independent appraiser to decide on the price of your material should you decide to use it as payment.

In addition, we also have a cultivation abode available for rent that you can use during this period of time. It has arrays and treasures in place that will ease your concentration and increase your odds of success and it is also secure. You will be in a weakened state so finding a secure place is a necessity and a place that will help improve your concentrate despite the enormous pain you will be in. The rental charges for the abode will be 1,000 middle-grade stones a month.

That is all, you can now make your decision," Yi Jie calmly said as he placed back the saber on Yang Qing's podium.

Wen Yingjie had his jaws wide open once he heard all those astronomical figures. 6,000 high-grade spirit stones!!!! The closest he had come to that figure was 100 high-grade spirit stones and that was what he had managed to save up for 3 years from going on dangerous excursions that left him half dead on a daily and now he was meant to give 60 times. He couldn't help but worry about how long that would even take or whether he would even be alive long enough to clear that debt.

"We may not pay as much as the rich merchant organizations but it's decent pay , we never run out of jobs and their range is an abyssal pit so you will never lack choices in what kind of jobs you want to take. At your current skill level, I'm sure you could get jobs that pay as much as 50,000 middle-grade stones just for a single job and they are not few in number either though they come with an equal measure of risk," Yang Qing softly said seemingly reading Wen Yingjie's thoughts.

The apprehension Wen Yingjie had seemed to have been worn out by Yang Qing's words as his creased forehead eased a bit.

"Do I have a deadline on when I'm supposed to clear the debt," Wen Yiingjie asked.

"Ideally no you don't. However, an annual 1% interest is charged on your remaining balance. That is to keep you honest and diligent in clearing your debt. Other than that the rest is up to you to decide the jobs you take, and the amount you repay each month or year.

Oh yeah, Yi Jie didn't mention it but after every job, you can decide to either have your whole pay deducted to service your debt or give a percentage of it. The minimum you can give is 30%. Other than that there is nothing else," Yang Qing patiently explained.

Wen Yingjie went silent for a moment before he exhaled and he formed a carefree smile.

"It's just 6,000 high-grade stones for the chance to learn a top grade blue grade cultivation art. Most people can only dream of such an opportunity," Wen Yingjie told himself in an effort to lift his spirits under the enormous weight of that potential debt.

"I agree to the conditions. I accept the blue-grade cultivation art and also the rental services of the cultivation abode."

He decided to go with the latter as his cultivation abode only had the barest of minimums. He had skimped out on using formidable arrays as he thought his cultivation realm was sufficient and he didn't have the surplus of spirit stones to power such powerful arrays or even the resources to hire a skilled formation array master. Wen Yingjie thus didn't dare risk it especially if he was going to be in a weakened state. Who knew he may end up with the worst luck where some scavengers broke into his abode and caught him in his weakened state.

This was a common occurrence in the cultivation world, especially among rogue cultivators. Since their abodes had the worst securities in place they were often targeted by scavenging groups. These groups would track down injured rogue cultivators to their abodes, break into them and loot everything in there and the rogue cultivator too after they finish them off. It's the reason why some of the veteran rogue cultivators liked to maintain privileged membership in certain powerful inns and pavilions that ensure the protection of their customers' wellbeing as long as they are within their establishment.

"Okay then. I'm happy to declare the case of Wen Yingjie vs the fallen meteor blacksmith shop closed. Yi Jie you'll handle settling down Wen Yingjie and everything he will need," Yang Qing brought his gavel down signaling the end of the case. The noise of the bang finally managed to pull back Tan Delun from his celebration party with the other Tan generational masters.

"Huh is it over?" Tan Delun asked as he laughed sheepishly scratching the back of his head. In his reverie and jubilation, he had completely forgotten himself.

"Yes, it is. You can go home now everything is resolved," Yang Qing said as he smiled.

Tan Delun nodded as he stared longingly at the saber that was being handed back to Wen Yingjie by Luo Meili. In his eyes, this was just as much a treasure to Wen Yingjie as it was their shop. The culmination of the dream of 17 generation Tan masters finally realized. He couldn't help but feel emotional when he saw it and moreso he wanted to rush back and tell his father of the news.

"I'll make sure to pass by the shop later after I am done with my issues and let your dad see it," Wen Yingjie said as he smiled at Tan Delun's gaze.

"Thank you," Tan Delun said as he laughed trying his best not to tear up. The duo made their way out as Yi Jie followed them giving a few instructions to Wen Yingjie on where he would wait for him to meet after his shift.