Daily life of a cultivation judge

Only after the excitement had sufficiently died down did Yang Qing continue with his verdicts.

"Owner Song Ba for being one of the primary instigators of this whole ordeal, and your association with a blood fiend group, your verdict would have been execution under the heavenly inquisition blade, and the sentence would have been carried four years from now.

However, because of your cooperation, and the court judging the information you traded to be valuable, that sentence has been vacated with another taking its place.

You will spend the remainder of your life imprisoned, never to see the light of day..."

Song Ba heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that, however, he instantly became wary when he saw Yang Qing's attention on him like he wasn't done.

"In addition, while the trade does guarantee your life, a bit of a price needs to be paid for what you did..."

Song Ba's heart dropped when he heard those words, and his eyes widened.

"As such, it is my recommendation pending approval from Supervisory Judge Lei Weiyuan, Supervisory Judge Hou Dehui, the Judicial Review Committee, and the Spirit Council, that Song Ba be subjected to the baptism of the Chaos Yang River Of Redemption for three days, or the limits through which his body and mind can remain intact.

Afterward, the Order can heal the injuries that present themselves as a result of that duration..

What do you all think?"

Song Ba filled with the courage of self-preservation, hurriedly spoke up.

"But Judge Yang Qing, I thought we had a deal.."

"We did.."

"Isn't this a betrayal of that deal? You promised an easy death for what I offered.."

"Haven't you heard my sentence? You will still receive an easy death by getting to live out the entirety of your lifespan incarcerated instead of what your original sentence should have been.

I can promise you this, death by heavenly inquisition blade would have been a truly horrifying end. The agony it would have left on you would have followed you well into the afterlife.

But because of the information you provided, such a death has been removed from the equation.."

Yang Qing raised his hand as a gesture for Song Ba to let him finish.

He didn't lie, for someone with a lot of blood on their hands, especially ones whose victims held a lot of grievance, facing the heavenly inquisition sword was the worst thing they could ever face, even worse than being thrown into the Chaos Yang River Of Redemption.

At least with the latter, it didn't discriminate, and though any death brought by it was painful, it could be considered relatively swift, but the heavenly inquisition sword was different, it was especially ruthless to cultivators like Song Ba or Shen Mu who had the scent of grieving souls on them. Souls that were unable to find rest because of the reasons behind their death, and how they lost their lives.

As far as Yang Qing knew, almost every Order employee had interacted with the sword, the moment they started working for the Order because they all swore an oath to uphold the principles of the Order, with the sword bearing witness to the oath.

Yang Qing could never forget the memory of his interaction with it. He didn't even know where that sword was when he was taken there, only that the room was dark save only for that sword that looked to have been crafted from the purest crystal in the world, unblemished by anything.

The sword had a gentle mystical light that flowed through its entire body, which made all who saw it feel like all their hidden thoughts and desires were laid out to bare beneath that light.

Even with the gentleness it evoked, Yang Qing felt a binding pressure on his soul, which came from feeling entirely exposed. There was nothing he could do or hide that the sword would not know.

Even after interacting with it,that sword was still a complete mystery to him. He knew next to nothing about it, other than, no one could ever lie in front of it and those judged by it would experience pain worse than death. The sword had this ability where all the aggrieved souls would be brought to life, albeit shortly, and they would all have a chance at enacting their vengeance several times over on the one they accused.

The accused would have to endure the torture by every restless spirit that haunted them. The sword as a conduit would transmit the wrath and everything those spirits would wish on the culprit.

It was the deliverer of the wrath of the aggrieved and restless souls who even in their death knew no peace and once the last victim had their vengeance, only then, would the accused get slain by the sword.

Yang Qing didn't know how that was able to do all that, hearing only rumors here and there such as the sword being tempered in a rumored dao treasure, similar to the Chaos Yang River, only this one was called the Chaos Yin River of souls.

Yang Qing wasn't sure how true that was, but he did know the sword's abilities were terrifying and Song Ba could consider himself extremely lucky to have avoided that fate.

"The deal was for you to have a simple and easy death which you will... For them, surviving the cleansing of the Chaos Yang River Of Redemption depends on their abilities, the Order has no influence whatsoever on their survival or death.

Our only job is to take them to the river, where they will stay for the duration of their sentence. Their life and death in there has nothing to do with us, but for you, things are different.

Your association with blood fiend cultivators already guarantees you a painful death, let alone being the mastermind in creating pill slaves and human cauldrons.

Me agreeing to the deal is an act of magnanimity and consideration, but even then, you still need to pay for what you have done, even by a tiny bit so the souls of your victims, be they living or dead, can have some form of justice.

This is why I have suggested that you be subjected to the same treatment as them for three days or til the upper limits of your endurance, whichever is longer.

You owe a debt and it has to be paid, one way or another, and this is the most efficient way, and unlike them, where their survival is up to them, in your case, the Order will personally guarantee your survival at the end.

Make no mistake, Owner Song Ba, this is not your death sentence, but a debt collection... Is that clear?" asked Yang Qing.

"It is.."Song Ba said with a low voice as he tried to hide his dejection and nervousness.

As a merchant, he had long grown wary of things that were too good to be true, especially when it came to deals. When there was an imbalance in the deal, when one side seemed hugely advantageous to the other, that always set off huge alarm bells in him because to him, no matter the advantages there was usually a hidden corresponding price to pay.

The sentence of the Chaos Yang River, surviving it might seem like a path to redemption, but considering the crime done, Song Ba knew the river was sure to collect in kind. There was no way the Order was going to be at the losing end of that deal, and now being sent there even for a few days, he couldn't help but worry.

He wasn't exactly known for having strong willpower, if he was, he would likely not be in the situation he was in today. His only saving grace was he would not die from it, but even that thought left him in a depressive and frightful mood. Pain worse than death must have come from places like the Chaos Yang River in mind.