Daily life of a cultivation judge

Yang Qing remained unmoving as his eyes fell on the words he had written. He had only strung the sentences together to see if something would jump at him. Reading the history of the Bi Xie Empire, the scholar Long Wan said the Wang Patriarch had never forgotten what the crown prince said as he was trying to tempt him, a ticket to true ascendancy. For it to have stuck with the founder of the Bi Xie Empire for all that while, there may have been something there, but whether it had any relevance to the present era, Yang Qing had no idea and was just grasping at straws.

How did the Bi Xie empire meet its demise? He wouldn't have wondered too much about it had he not read their history. Even though they didn't have the real Pi Xiu beasts with them, Long Wan proclaimed the two statues more than likely had relations with one, them changing the fate of the Wang Patriarch was already proof that they were special.

A place so rich in resources and abilities, to the point that even someone from the Jade Leaf Empire admitted to being inferior to them in certain aspects. An area recorded to have been filled with the densest auspicious aura of golden dragon luck.

How did such a place end up facing destruction to the point that little of what it was remained to date? If it wasn't for Gu Xing mentioning it, he would have remained oblivious to the Empire, and if he didn't have his library clearance temporarily raised, much of its history would have escaped him until he gained the qualifications to read what was stored in the low tier orange grade floor.

"Long Wan said they had made a lot of connections, so even if what they faced had been beyond their abilities, surely their connections would have come to their aid or provided a way out for them.." muttered Yang Qing before he shook his head with a bitter smile.

"Or were they the ones that had a hand in their fall?" he added.

The cultivator world even the mundane world was filled with stories of the depths of treachery, more so for the former. Tales surrounding cultivators always portrayed them as ascetic beings who were indifferent to fame and fortune, other than deciphering the mysteries of the heavens and the earth, they cared for little else to free their hearts and minds from being tied down by the bounds of the mortal world.

However, it was all nonsense. Cultivators were the most greedy, if they weren't there would be no need for the Order to be founded or continually exist. There were no lengths they would not go to to satisfy it including betrayal. No matter how close the relationship, there was always a likelihood of betrayal happening provided the subject matter was tempting enough.

Over the years, Yang Qing had presided over countless cases supporting the notion. Disciples who plotted the death of their master because they coveted their master's legacy, a father who butchered his child because the child's internal organs had been tempered by their special physique and the father hoped to use the internal organs to improve his cultivation base, kings that betrayed the families of their loyal retainers despite there being an oath in place that spanned thousands of years, in which the king's predecessors promised to protect a particular liege's family because of a meritorious sacrifice they made, only for said promise to be dishonored by one of their descendants.

Yang Qing had seen countless such cases enough to last him a lifetime. He didn't think his suspicions about the Bi Xie Empire were too farfetched, after all, with how rich Long Wan purported it was, surely countless organizations had thought of seizing it for themselves. Leaving the flooded areas with resources aside, just the ability to increase the chances of surviving a tribulation is enough to tempt the greed and envy of countless cultivators.

Out of curiosity, Yang Qing willed his mind, calling out information about particular topics.

"Information on the fall of the Bi Xie Empire.."

"All information surrounding organizations that had a good relationship with the Bi Xie Empire.."

"Any and all information about the Sky Rendering Sword Sect.."

Yang Qing waited for a few seconds before he smiled wryly as he said,

"Figures.."

None of what he asked for came, which he had expected, though, he would be lying if he said some part wasn't hoping for it to succeed.

"I am better off trying my luck at the cultivation market.." he added as he remembered the strange tablet he got from the place that ended up being something that was tied to the blue fairy race, a race that he knew next to nothing, but said race held the same esteem as the phoenix or the dragon race in that they were direct descendants to the ancients.

For one reason or another, he couldn't access certain information which could either be because the information was missing or it was being deliberately restricted by the Order, and if his guess was right, he could only access said information when he reached a particular level, as to what level, Yang Qing felt it was likely when he became a domain expert, because it was at that level that he would meet one of the requirements of having access of the gold floors, which he felt likely held such information, or maybe it was held in the infamous purple floor and if it was, he could forget accessing the information any time soon.

If he wanted to find out anything within the realms of his humble strength and abilities then his best bet was to try his luck at the cultivation market and hopefully stumble onto some object, a diamond buried in the rough that hid some mystery and information within it. He couldn't help but feel giddy about his next visit.

What mysterious object would he stumble onto? He couldn't wait, however, all that would have to wait.

Yang Qing forcibly calmed himself as he gazed back at the map, specifically the territory of the Deer Mountain Kingdom, and the sacred graveyard of torches.

After alternating his gaze between the two places, Yang Qing took out the urn he had been given by Gu Xing which contained the voice of the lunar fury heron that they both suspected had interacted with the figure that had once filled Gu Xing with dread when they lingered outside the sacred graveyard torch.

Yang Qing became very attentive as he listened to the description the heron made, slowly visualizing it in his mind. He replayed the urn almost over a dozen times before he was satisfied.

With the luminescent charcoal still in his hands, he started jotting down a few things on one of the blank parts on the map that housed the territory of the Deer Mountain Kingdom.

"Eyes swirling with dread that can break the mind of even a lunar fury heron, a spirit beast known for having a powerful soul suggests the perpetrator's ability to befuddle the mind is high. If it was done via a cultivation art, for it to have such an effect on the heron at the very least it needs to be at the blue grade and the perpetrator's mastery of it needs to have reached perfection.

Points of focus:

*cultivation art that targets the soul and mind that are at the blue grade and above

* Inherited and acquired physiques known to create an ocean filled with endless wails and dread. Spirit beasts and spiritual plants can also be included in this.

*Sects, clans, and other organizations known for such characteristics in their attacks, be it through cultivation art, special physique, a combination of both, or through an artifact..."

Yang Qing put the charcoal down as he looked down at the list to see if he had missed anything. As the gears in his head constantly turned with countless ideas and possibilities flooding his mind, his gaze inadvertently fell to the middle of the parchment where the name of the Bi Xie empire lay in bold.

"Could there have been remnants of that battle back then that survived..." he muttered as he tapped on the charcoal with his index finger which he then picked and wrote something on the part that was close to the sacred graveyard torch.

Hua Clan, Xin Clan, Flowing fist sect, Moon essence cauldron sect..

"If things went as planned and they ended up joining the Deer Mountain Kingdom, a battle would have soaked the entire kingdom which is what I suspect the mastermind was after in the first place.

All those corpses would be ripe for the purgatory flames of damnation that the purgatory black tiger cult used back then. Could the mastermind be a survivor of that cult? But from what Long Wan said everybody of importance died in the kingdom, and I doubt the Wang Patriarch after coming to power would have spared any remnants of that cult.

If I was in his shoes, I would not ..."

Yang Qing furrowed his brows as he pressed his lips together.

"Maybe a few survived and went underground and spread their legacy which somehow survived, and they continued covertly passing it down their inheritance and it has survived to this date.

If that is true .." Yang Qing paused as his gaze fell on the Deer Mountain Kingdom, specifically the capital.

"Then it stands to reason they would know about where the Bi Xie empire, formerly the White Mulberry Kingdom was located. Could the mastermind be from one of the founding families of the Deer Mountain Kingdom and their coming there wasn't due to some stroke of luck but rather deliberate?"