Daily life of a cultivation judge

When he was several kilometers outside of Gold Eagle Town, Yang Qing dispelled his camouflage.

"Now this is more like it.." Yang Qing said as he cracked his neck and massaged his cheekbones as he admired his appearance from the reflection on a water mirror he had conjured up.

"Nothing beats this look.." he muttered, enlarging the water mirror to reflect his entire body. He spent a few minutes gazing up and down his reflection to ensure his body was exactly as it had been. Only after he was satisfied that he was 'naturally handsome' as before did he make his way to the Order.

Once he arrived, he made a stopover at the External Logistics Division to meet with the Shadow Hawks liaison, Mei Cheng. As always, the place was swamped with eager cultivators looking to redeem their pay.

Yang Qing didn't have to wait long before Mei Cheng pointed communicated with her eyes for him to meet her in the room they met prior.

"Sorry to keep you waiting.."

"No, not at all, senior Mei Cheng.."

"How was the trip?"

"Informative, different, and a bit pressurizing if I'm being honest. Meeting with them has changed things for me.."

"In what way?"

"Well,.." Yang Qing paused as memories of the fate of the Ice Emerald Sect, the Hua Clan, the Xin Clan, and the Moon Essence Cauldron Sect flashed in his mind.

"The world we live in is unforgiving, ruthless, where the line between growth and destruction is very thin. They are living in that world every day. If something were to happen to them, would I be able to make it in time to avert it, or prevent the absolute worst from happening or would they end up like the rest, suffering the fate of the cases that come across my courtroom?

The weight is heavy.." Yang Qing said with a somber sigh.

"I would like to say it gets easier with time, but it doesn't. It is a worry that will continue to follow you as long as you continue to care about them.

It's not a bad thing though. That worry, as long as it continues to exist will keep you alert and invested in their wellbeing. You will think and do everything you can to prevent whatever worries you have from being a reality.

From my experience, stopping your contacts from acting recklessly is one way and the other... This one has much more guarantee than the former.."

Mei Chen paused slightly, taking a sip of her tea before leaning back comfortably in her chair, locking her gaze with Yang Qing, who couldn't hide his curiosity.

"If you want to prevent your worries from becoming a reality, the surefire way I know is.. you just have to be strong. Strength at the end is everything.." Mei Cheng said with an air of seriousness.

"When you reach the domain realm, the concept of distance shrinks considerably. You can cover tens of thousands of kilometers in the time it takes me to gulp down this cup of tea. You will always have comfort in knowing that if something happens, you can make it in the shortest amount of time possible.

And if distance is an issue, domain experts have countless means to protect others even at a distance, imprints being one of them or other means available to them, and as a domain expert, you won't have to worry about someone deciphering your connection to them like you are now, so you can act freely.

The more powerful you are, the more you can do about those worries you have, but until then as your senior, I will share my insights and you can borrow from others who are in a similar situation to you, on the various safeguards you can use..."

"Thank you for that.." said Yang Qing with a sincere smile of gratitude.

"Anytime. I know the burden is not a light one, that and everything else you have to deal with. I'll help in any way I can, but with this old bones of mine, there is only so much I can do. You need to break through to the domain realm by this time next year soI can get my well-deserved rest.." Mei Chen teasingly said as she feigned the look of an old frail lady.

"I'll do what I can.." Yang Qing said feigning the serious look of someone undertaking a grand mission before he and Mei Cheng burst out laughing.

Yang Qing exchanged a few more words with Mei Cheng as he gave her the information slip Zhang Tao had handed to him as he left his store, while Mei Cheng handed him a slip containing all the information they had gathered about Jiang Xiang, the emerald spirit weaving fox that had helped the fire adler bear with the evolution of the daughter of the obsidian couple.

After they were done, Yang Qing left directly for his abode, skipping his routine of passing by one of the dining establishments at the Order as he always did immediately after coming back. He still had a lot of leftovers from his little excursion on the restaurants and sideway stalls he visited on the trip back.

Just before he reached his abode, he felt a reaction coming from his communication talisman.

"Is it Meifeng?" he muttered as he took out the talisman. Not a single day passed by without her calling, even during his trip, she made sure to call each day.

"Huh.." Yang Qing said in surprise before answering the call.

"Grandpa Ma Bo, how are you? I was just thinking about you.." Yang Qing fawningly said.

"No need to waste your bootlicking you shameless squirt, I don't have any resources for you to mooch off. How can you still be this way even as a palace court judge? You probably get more resources than I do by now. How can someone be this greedy.."

"It's not greed, it's sentiment. Since I was small, I always enjoyed your gifts. That hasn't changed. You could give me an earth-rank treasure and I'd still be excited.."

"Yes, yes..fine, while I don't have anything in the way of resources to give you, I did dig into that matter of the foundation circle."

"What did you find?" Yang Qing said his gaze turning serious.

The obsidian serpent's daughter had her evolution guided by a foundation circle which was what human cultivators used in the body refinement realm. However, that circle was altered and used on the daughter and even succeeded in helping her evolve into a flood dragon.

The foundation circle was created with the human body in mind, and as far as Yang Qing knew, spirit beasts had no need for it because of their naturally powerful bodies. He didn't even know it worked on them but Jiang Xiang had managed to use it to support an evolution, whose difficulty was miles ahead of body refinement which was enough to draw his curiosity if something like this had ever been done before which was why he contacted Ma Bo to use his connections as a guest lecturer of the Jade Leaf Academy to dig into the matter. Their collection of arts and techniques was vaster than the Order's.