Daily life of a cultivation judge

In the time it took to blink, they had exchanged over fifty blows, a testament to their abilities and experience in combating other cultivators. They didn't try to gauge each other's strength, probing each other here and there while trying to slowly build up momentum. No, such superfluous actions were reserved for the young ones, those who still had not yet been baptized by the true flames of the cultivation world.

Those who did, like Chen Zholan and Chen Gutian, knew how easy it was to lose one's life in the cultivation world. A moment of carelessness and you could easily lose your life. There have been countless accounts of where a weaker opponent managed to catch a stronger opponent off guard, especially when it came to the lower realms between the early stages of the core formation realm and the qi refinement realm.

It was something those like them who had been baptized in the fog of war had seen over and over again, especially in their fights against the Five Clovers Kingdom.

Case and point, there was a time when a figure within the Mo family with above-average talent came to the battlefield for the first time with a cultivation base that was at the middle stages of the foundation establishment realm. While he didn't completely stand out, his skills were a cut above the rest, and was quickly garnering merit points on the battlefield.

However, that figure, who was even touted to have the potential to reach the quasi-palace stage some day got killed by a late-stage qi refinement cultivator, and the reason, the carelessness and arrogance of youth. He had gotten so overconfident in his abilities, that for those he thought beneath him, he would use the barest of minimum, despite being warned by his superiors whether he was facing a lion or a rabbit, he was to lay waste to both with his utmost strength.

He ignored that advice and because of it, a qi refinement military personnel of the Five Clovers Kingdom who was thought to be dead, waited patiently for that Mo family member to let his guard down and then launched one attack, burning every essence in his body to deliver that one fatal attack. That family member got stabbed through the head and died without even knowing how he died.

Someone lauded to have the potential of reaching the quasi-palace stage ended up dying to the blade of a qi refinement cultivator that was already at death's door.

That was a reminder of how ruthless the cultivator's world was, where a moment's carelessness would spell your end. Chen Zholan and Chen Gutian as veterans of war would not dare make the careless mistake that Mo family members did and it was evident in how they faced off against each other.

Chen Zholan before the fight believed his odds against Chen Gutian were better than if he faced off against Chen Zian, but regardless of what he thought, the moment the battle commenced, he challenged Chen Gutian as though he was challenging the greatest foe he had ever faced off against. He held nothing in reserve and neither did Chen Gutian, they both went all out.

The air around the platform went solemn and silent save for the relentless clash of blades between the two.

The fruits of their cultivation and attainments were laid bare for all to see as they crisscrossed all around the battlefield looking like the incarnation of wind demons looking to rip each other's lives.

"Their cultivation art is really something.." muttered Yang Qing as he carefully observed the two fighters.

He knew a bit about the core cultivation of the clan, the owl's vigilant sword art. The art was built on speed, precision, hyperawareness, and sensitivity. The art's strength was in countering an enemy's attack with extreme swiftness, taking their lives in the process.

Yang Qing could see the spirit of the art in the way the two combatants in Chen Zholan and Chen Gutian went at each other. Their movements were fast and precise without a pause in movement, which answered the question Yang Qing had before the start of the fight.

What would the fight be like when counterattack meets counterattack? The answer was a relentless fluid attack that constantly changed in a single heartbeat. Chen Zholan and Chen Gutian delivered lightning-fast attacks with each attack either aiming at the vital organs or looking to incapacitate the opponent such as attacking their wrist or the tendons in their arms and legs.

They rapidly switched from attacker to defender with one continuous motion.

With a light twist of the wrist Chen Gutian's sword moved like a viper looking to strike Chen Zholan's right eye, Chen Zholan gently glided to his left, slashing upwards deflecting the attack in the process as his attack aimed to sever Chen Gutian's fingers. Chen Gutian instantly let go of the sword dodging the attack by a hair's breadth and recaptured his sword almost instantaneously with his body lowered aiming for Chen Zholan's knees with a horizontal slash looking to cleave it through.

The longer the fight continued the faster and more lethal their attacks became as the line between attack and defense blurred. With how fast they moved, anyone at the early stages of the core formation realm and below would be unable to follow their movements. All they would be able to see are dense cyan streaks of light crisscrossing at rapid speeds around the platform.

Yang Qing couldn't help but sigh in amazement the longer the fight continued. As powerful as their moves were, they were silent like a gentle breeze, but as lethal as a viper's venom. The force in their attacks or counters would be compressed into its utmost limit and when released, it would be with contained pinpoint precision, and with minimal energy loss. Even when they moved it was with silent glides. Their breaths and entire being were perfectly melded with the air around them.

Their attacks and defense would turn soft and firm when needed, and the two fighters knew exactly when to make the switch. Looking at them, one would not believe the cultivation art they practiced was a wind-based one. It felt more like a blend of water and earth elements. It was fluid and malleable like water when needed, and a second later it would turn firm and immovable like earth.

"No wonder there has been no one recorded to have reached the blooming phase of the art. It may just be a blue-grade art, but its demands on the cultivator are not any less than that of a gold-grade art.." said Yu Gen.

"The speed and demands the art has from attacks to counterattacks, the user has to have a strong soul for their spiritual sense to notice those intricacies fast enough to react accordingly.

There are also the demands on their bodies, I doubt anything less than the body of a core formation expert would be able to truly execute this art, even in the beginner stage of mastery.."

"I doubt just the body of a core formation expert is enough.." Yang Qing added with an inscrutable glow in his eyes.

"From what I can see of the art, it seems to have a transformative aspect to it. Its users have their bodies continuously changed by it so they can execute it better.

It has to have a minimum threshold in each stage which might be the reason the Chen Clan hasn't had someone cultivate it to the blooming stage.

By my guess, at the body refinement stage at the very least, they need to use the art to achieve a gold body, but even that might just be at the threshold.

Considering the capabilities I'm seeing now, it could help someone achieve a diamond body provided they have a great understanding of the art, and have the resilience to actually endure it to that stage..." he added.

"Those are my thoughts exactly. The art demands precise and intricate manipulation of one's body in response to the art's dynamic changes. A core formation expert's body is hardly enough. There is also the demand on their qi capacity. It needs quite the storage capacity to sustain it.

I've only come across a handful of blue-grade arts that are as demanding of it.." Yu Gen paused as an idea struck him.

"Now that I think about it, Yang Qing this art suits you perfectly, with your abnormal qi capacity and the strength of your soul, not to mention you have the peerless jade physique. It's perfect for you.."

When he reached this point, Yu Gen's gaze alternated between Yang Qing and Chen Zian.

"It might be their core art, but who knows, their clan leader seems to be more of a merchant than even Song Ba. He might let you take a peak.."

"But I am not a sword cultivator.." Yang Qing said with a wry smile.

"I've always wondered about that. With your talent, you could have chosen any weapon to master, but from what I have heard, you haven't. Is there a particular reason you haven't?"

With a sigh, Yang Qing answered,

"Well, when I was young I did want to be a sword cultivator, but after I joined the Order, I was dissuaded from it by Assistant Dean Yu Long and Ren Shu, I mean the deputy valley master of Medical Valley.

Because of my physique, while it doesn't hinder me from mastering the sword, if I did so, I'd be losing out a lot from some of the innate qualities it offers. The only way I can be a sword cultivator without losing out is if I master other weapons or styles to the same level as the sword to balance it out, like the saber, spear, fist, or palm. If I achieve intent in one, I have to achieve intent in all, and it needs to be at the same scale.

Discounting the difficulty involved in actually achieving it,I don't know if my physique would accommodate it like Huilang's.

Every peerless jade physique has its specialty. Accommodating different types of intents is Huilang's while mine is the sensitivity to life and balance.."

"It's a pity.."

"I know. I could have been a sword immortal by now if that wasn't the case.." Yang Qing shamelessly said, provoking a twitch in Yu Gen's eyes.