Daily life of a cultivation judge

Ignoring Lin Duyi's actions, the rest of the cultivators who walked in with him all moved to the center of the courtroom before Yu Ge directed them to stand in the direction they pleased, all except a few, whom he brought with him to where Lei Weiyua and Hou Duhei were.

The group that Yu Gen guided to the two domain experts was comprised of five individuals.

From the group, there was a slightly elderly woman who looked to be in her early fifties. She had graying white hair tied in a bun which gave her a motherly charm. She was a third-stage core formation expert and she was standing next to a young man who looked to be in his late thirties.

From the proximity she was standing next to the young man and the unconscious air of familiarity it evoked, it suggested the elderly woman and the young man had some relation with each other. Though the faint resemblance in some of their facial features was a dead giveaway that they did.

The young man had a simple face. One couldn't call him ugly, they would not call him handsome either. It was a face that would easily get lost within a crowd, but as uninspiring as his looks were, he did have a pair of high-spirited eyes that stood out. The eyes spoke of someone who would remain determined even if the skies were to fall. His eyes seemed to match perfectly with his cultivation base which was that of a quasi-palace stage expert.

Other than the two whom Yang Qing assumed were mother and son, right behind them were a pair of cultivators walking side by side whose eyes kept darting around the courtroom reflecting the nervousness within them.

The wariness they showed, and the way they scanned the room, almost as if looking for exits was done all too naturally. Such a habit, to be naturally ingrained as it was, could only be gained by those who were constantly exposed to dangerous situations at every turn. One of the pair was thin and tall, with a hawkish face, donning blue robes, and had a cultivation base that was at the peak stage of the core formation realm.

The cultivator next to him who mirrored his actions when it came to warily scanning the room for dangers and exits was also a peak stage core formation expert, wearing light green robes and was slightly shorter than the previous cultivator and his body wafted with a smell of pounced herbs.

Behind them was an elderly man, who looked to be in the twilight end of his years. He was hunched over, with silver-white hair and, a long beard that had reached the floor, and he looked emaciated. He had on silver robes with cloud embroidery at the sleeves. His cultivation base matched that of the spirited young man, which was at the quasi palace stage but unlike the latter, his lacked the firmness and robustness that the young man had.

Yang Qing could tell whatever fragility the old man showed, it wasn't because of his age. With his natural sensitivity to the vitality and flow of life in living things, Yang Qing could roughly tell the elderly man's age from the fluctuations his body and soul released.

The fluctuations showed he couldn't be more than 2,000 years old despite looking to be at death's door already. His current degenerated look wasn't because he had exhausted his lifespan but rather from Yang Qing could tell, his soul had been damaged, and from what he could tell, it looked like a part of it had been forcibly ripped from it. That separation not only severely injured his soul but had impacted his foundations too, hence the weakness.

The elderly man was the only one in the group who didn't seem slightly apprehensive at being in the courtroom, but rather he seemed to be sending vicious glares, not masking his killing intent at all as his gaze fell on the branch manager of the Golden Bamboo Pavilion branch in Red Maple Empire. His sights alternated between the branch manager and Lin Duyi who was still hidden in his mother's embrace.

That elderly man didn't seem to care that he was openly showing hostility to Lin Duyi in front of his domain expert parents, and from the level of intensity showed in those hate-

filled eyes, if given the chance, it looked like it wouldn't take much for him to consider risking it all and attacking the branch manager and Lin Duyi. Only a sliver of rationality seemed to keep him in place.

Maybe because they were aware that the old man already had one foot in the grave, but neither Cai Hong nor Yao De, the pavilion's branch manager showed any reaction to the open hostilities shown by the old man.

After the group of five arranged themselves next to Lei Weiyuan, all that remained was for the branch manager and the former emperor to decide which side they wanted to stand in.

For the branch manager, it went without saying, he went to the side where Lin Guiren was, but when it came to the former emperor of the Red Maple Empire, he looked conflicted but more than that from the moment he walked into the courtroom he showed a perplexed look when his eyes fell on the burly palace realm expert that was standing next to Deng Wei. He showed a look of disbelief, unable to tear his eyes away from him on the walk over.

"Gong Jie, is that you?" asked the former emperor, his expression and demeanor showing he bewildered he was.

"Retirement has not been good on you, Duan He.." answered the burly Gong Jie with a coldness to him.

Seemingly unable to believe it still, the former emperor ended up asking what it was that made him so confused in the first place.

"When did you reach the palace realm? Last I heard you were stuck in the peak stage of the core formation and now...." Duan Hu paused as he narrowed his eyes, growing more baffled as his gaze fell onGong Jie.

"You're already in the second stage.." he absentmindedly added.

"I got lucky, is all. It was all thanks to our founder.."

"Founder?!"

Duan Hu's eyes widened as he saw Gong Jie's eyes reverentially dart toward the young man he was standing next to.

"What founder?" Duan Hu muttered, fully confused by the whole thing.