Daily life of a cultivation judge

"Rhythm of dao?" Yang Qing muttered in shock as his eyes lit up.

"Is he really someone from the kingdom?" Yang Qing increasingly wondered in confusion as he cupped his chin on his hand.

The Summerfield kingdom was a rank 4 kingdom whose forte lay in spiritual plant propagation. Due to the favorable climate of the kingdom coupled with a long heritage of herb cultivation arts, they made their bones in producing a wide variety of spiritual plants.

They produced the most common varieties of spiritual plants but their quantity and quality were a cut above most rank 4 producers. Yang Qing had read they had some skills in formation arrays but not to the degree of what he was seeing before him, on the field with the white tree.

Their skills in formation arrays mostly lay in utility arrays. Most of their farms had these types of arrays whose major function was to mimic and enhance the biome in the area where they were laid at.

Spiritual plants required specific conditions to optimally grow and if you wanted to grow a variety of them together, special measures were needed and just having abundant qi wouldn't be enough.

These conditions were what propelled the Summerfield kingdom to research arrays meant to assist them in the successful growth of their spiritual herbs. However, the arrays before him were something different.

Though there were some utility arrays mixed in there, the resonance between all the arrays in the area and the seamless symbiotic relationship between the arrays and the artifact was not something that just any formation master could pull especially when you consider said formation master may be a weapon's refinement specialist with matching skills.

In addition, the interconnection between the arrays, the artifact, and the tree had even created a subtle dao rhythm. Even though it was just in its infantile stage, this was the defining feature of a genuine blue-grade formation.

A formation could only be considered a blue-grade formation if it could draw upon the world principles of its surrounding to the extent that it blended with it. For example, an illusory array that had blended so perfectly with the illusion it's creating that it invokes the world's element to support that illusion to the point it borders on reality.

In simpler terms, a blue-grade formation was a formation that gained the world's recognition and acceptance to the point of evoking its support.

The array before him was slowly approaching that stage. Yang Qing wasn't sure what the final product would look like since it involved different elements i.e. the maple moon wood tree which was the white tree, the arrays planted in the place, and the artifact with a budding spirit.

"Maybe they want to create a blessed cultivation ground with Yin Yang balance," Yang Qing thought.

The maple moon tree had a gentle yin nature, while he detected the artifact had a major yang component to its attribute and the array might be a link between the two, whose job was to create and maintain a subtle balance.

However, Yang Qing soon decided to give up on investigating further. He had made Ellie fly a couple of times around the place so he could get a clear view and the more he saw the more engrossed he became.

If he indulged any further, maybe weeks would pass by without him noticing. He could feel himself slipping into a trance the more he examined the formation. His cultivation had even started circulating as new ideas circled in his mind. He had Yin Yang jade bones which made him extremely sensitive to areas that exhibited a duality of yin and yang like the arrangement before him.

"Ellie let's go," Yang Qing reluctantly said as he tore his eyes away from the field.

The field had too many things that drew his attention, even without considering the trigger it had on his physique.

Who put that formation there? Was it one person like he had assumed or was it a collaborative effort of different parties like a formation master, weapon refiner, and herbologist?

If it was a collaborative effort between three parties or a one-man show, what was their end goal with the whole setup?

Was it just to create a blessed cultivation area as he had guessed or was there something deeper to it?

The more he thought about it, the more he felt that maybe there may be a larger goal than just creating a cultivation ground. Maybe the real goal was hidden just like how the rhythm of dao had evaded his perception on his first cursory glance, and it was only when he closely studied the layout did he discover it.

As Yang Qing was entertaining these thoughts, another idea popped up on the purpose of the field, this was double spirit nurturing.

The maple moon tree at the field had already reached the peak of sky rank. Maple moon trees at their peak would reach the top of monarch grade which was the equivalent of a palace realm cultivator.

Plants rarely developed spirituality but if they did they would be no different from cultivators except for the fact that most would usually remain immobile and anchored to the area they took root in. But other than that, there was no difference between them and spirit beasts and human cultivators.

They could communicate and cultivate proactively other than it just being a triggered response.

In terms of degree of importance, there was a huge difference between a tree with its spirituality awakened and one that did not. A tree with spirituality could decide which aspects of its abilities to magnify and which to lessen, instead of its actions being an automated response to external stimuli.

This was why he thought so highly of the Green fog swamp to the extent he went out of his way to help them. If nothing unexpected happened, with the Tupelo tree's help they could develop into a rank 3 sect since the tree was already sentient and knew which of its abilities would benefit the sect.

"Maybe they're trying to use the artifact's budding spirit as a catalyst to trigger an evolution in the maple moon tree. But all this is just conjecture and my knowledge of the subject is small.

I should consult Chief Song when I get back. Maybe i could make improvements at my place with the results"

Yang Qing reluctantly looked back sighing before he finally firmly fixed his gaze ahead.

The farms decreased in size and number the deeper they moved into the Summerfield kingdom. It didn't take long before the capital was within their sights.

He had chosen their capital as one of his collective evaluation point. About 200 organizations would be evaluated there together to help cut back on the time he needed to complete all his evaluations.