Daily life of a cultivation judge

"I wonder if natural physiques have levels of assimilation and ease of familiarity." Yang Qing wondered as he thought about the different explanations given by Mao Yunru and Luo Meili. 

He suspected maybe the reason why Mao Yunru struggled with her explanation was because her physique had melded deeply into her and asking her for her feeling was like asking someone why they breathed in and out and not out and in. 

"Well it's not like I can figure all this out in one day, I'll let Grandpa and the rest continue with it," thought Yang Qing as he decided to push the matter to the back of his mind until he had some leisure time.

His coming week would be packed with a lot of things, from induction training, a visit to the requiem, supervising the upcoming entrance examination test, the discussion he was to hold with Meng Chao and Zhang Qingge concerning Jiang Fu and the founder of the crystal palm jade sect, there was also Ma Yuan's investigation into his missing wife and daughter, the investigation into the scion of one of the founders of the Golden bamboo pavilion along with the Red Maple Empire to see if they had any cover-ups and also the report he was to make to the spirit council so a branch of the Order could be created in the ungoverned territory of the Spiritual Temperance Sect, where a member of the Dark Helminth Ghost sect had tried to ambush him during his evaluations.

Just thinking about all the mountain of things that were waiting on him made him feel fatigued deep into his soul and he hadn't even begun on the cases he would get the moment he stepped into his courtroom.

He decided to bury his woes into his food and leave all those troubles to the future Yang Qing. Procrastination and cheating one's mind were beautiful things at times.

"Tomorrow can worry about itself," Yang Qing thought as his mood turned jolly. He even took out a zither from somewhere and butchered a few songs with overwhelming glee.

His guests stayed till three in the morning before they left but not before giving him their good wishes. After his ceremony, Yang Qing planned to invite them over along with other friends who were not from the Order, like the king of the White Baobab Kingdom, and a few others he had made over the years in his post.

For once he wasn't worried at all about the cost of hosting a party for all those people since he would be swimming in spirit stones and treasures tomorrow. It was the one good thing to come out of the ceremony, the treasures he would be getting from all the 'fat guests'.

Yang Qing snickered a bit at the thought of it. He couldn't help but daydream about the kinds of gifts he would get.

"Mmh, maybe I can even afford the early fines for the robe. Just a few hundred thousand high-grade spirit stones, it's nothing much," Yang Qing arrogantly said pretending to be a nouveau riche young master.

"What are you feeling so smug about?"

"My upcoming wealth, maybe I might have enough to get you a good gift in celebration of your upcoming breakthrough," Yang Qing said as he addressed the young man standing next to him pouring himself a cup of the snow ginseng tea. It was Yi Jie. Yang Qing had already sensed him when he came out of the nest of celestial nesting weaver.

Even though Yi Jie hadn't broken through yet, Yang Qing could feel a dense charm of Dao on him, and his cultivation had been reinforced and strengthened to the tip. He felt like a lonely moon overlooking the lake that had a sheathed saber at the bottom. All this was a reflection of the cultivation art Yi Jie cultivated, 'The silent phases of the moon saber draw', a top-tier gold grade art that placed a huge emphasis on extreme swiftness, to the point there would be no ripple in sound or light. Few people within the Order were able to meet its strict requirements and Yi Jie was one of them.

Based on Yang Qing's estimate, if Yi Jie so wished, he could break through right then and there.

"You'll be leaving for the Wise arc mountain, I guess?" asked Yang Qing.

"Mmh," Yi Jie nodded in reply

"How long?"

"Five months or less,"

"Good,"

…

The Wise arc mountain was a special location set aside for breakthrough by the Order. The whole mountain was a natural treasure tied to the origin of the world and it had the ability to isolate someone as though they were in a separate space and dimension. The effect was so strong to the point it affected even tribulations by preventing overlapping tribulations.

If two cultivators were in the same realm and one of them triggered a breakthrough tribulation with the other cultivator closeby, that tribulation would affect the other cultivator into triggering their own tribulation on the spot, whether they wanted to or not, resulting in a compounded tribulation that could threaten the lives of both of these cultivators. 

However, a compounded tribulation could be a blessing or a curse. On one hand, it could get so powerful that both cultivators perish beneath it, or both survive but fail their breakthrough, or one survives with a failed breakthrough while the other dies, but should one or both of them survive and successfully complete the breakthrough, they end up with their sturdiest of foundations, in addition to getting an upgrade to their cultivation realm, whether it's a pillar, core or palace realm and so forth. If a cultivator was suited to form an orange grade pillar, should they survive and successfully breakthrough a compounded tribulation they would end up with a blue grade pillar, and if the cultivator had blue grade pillars and were breaking through to the core formation realm, after surviving the tribulation they would end up with a gold grade core, even someone with gold pillars could end up with a purple grade core if they survived it.

However, the purple core would only work if two people with top-tier gold-grade pillars triggered their tribulations at the same time. The resultant tribulation was enough to kill a peak core formation expert, which was why rarely would anyone try to achieve a purple-grade core through this method.

Therefore to avoid the risks of compounded tribulations, the Order set aside a location for breakthroughs. All top-tier organizations had similar locations.

Yang Qing and Yi Jie sat in complete silent eating and drinking. Yang Qing had taken out his vermilion wine at some point and shared it with him. It was only when the sun was almost up did Yi Jie finally leave.

"See you in three months, "said Yang Qing as he got into his courtyard to change into his ceremonial robes.

"Thanks, I'll leave something for you here before I leave," Yi Jie said as he walked away.

"The day is finally here, I hope there are no unexpected surprises. Soft life Yang Qing, you just have to survive this upcoming week and you will be one step closer to your dream," Yang Qing silently chanted to himself as he clenched his fists.