Daily life of a cultivation judge

"Please don't die," hoped Yang Qing as he held nothing back in his punch.

The region around them had already been sealed by the domain experts around, the moment they detected Yang Qing was about to take action.

A thunderous bellowing darkness swallowed the shocked sect master of the Flying feather sword sect whole accompanied by crackling sounds of white lightning.

Yang Qing could detect that his punch was much more refined than it usually was. This was thanks to the heightened effect of the Veiled Destiny which gave him the senses of a domain-level expert.

With this discovery, he was much more eager to try all his other techniques to try and deepen his understanding of them while he still had the chance to, and the only person who could give him that chance was currently swallowed in his fist of oblivion.

The moment of truth had arrived; would it end as just a one-shot denying Yang Qing the opportunity to create a scene where he could brag endlessly for years to come or would the sect master produce a trump card of his own and go toe to toe with Yang Qing?

Yang Qing didn't have to wait for too long to get the answer to that question. His punch that would have instantly destroyed any cultivator that was at the seventh stage of the palace realm and below, was instantly neutralized by a dark red smoke that was accompanied by the agonized wails of the dead.

The dark red smoke seemed like it had a corroding effect on it as it ate away at the massive black hole that surrounded it. The only thing that it seemed to be struggling against was the white lighting that was rapidly crisscrossing within that hole. Every time the smoke came close to the white lighting, a sizzling sound like something being burnt up would be produced. 

However, the accompanying wailing sound of the black-red smoke seemed to have a restraining effect on the white lightning which gave a little breathing room to the dark-red smoke to eat away at the black hole and then moved on to the white lightning.

Despite his technique being effectively neutralized, Yang Qing had a beaming smile on his face, like he had just received the best news ever.

"Thank you, sect master Ai Shan," Yang Qing gently muttered as he calmly stood by waiting for the clash of their attack to clear up.

….

"That kid," muttered Lei Weiyuan who was observing the position from a different area. 

Next to him was Meng Chao, Dean Zhu Lao, his wife, the Yu couple, Dean Chu Zhen, Ren Shu the vice hall master of the medicine valley, and Shao An, the vice warden of the Requiem. 

They were all standing in the same area along with other Order employees as they observed the situation.

"He isn't too bad. In terms of execution, I can see he didn't hold anything back," said Dean Chu Zhen the head of the survival and adaptability department.

eαglesnᴏνel "He seems careless and cheeky at face value, but he is rather devious," said Yu Hong as she laughed with a shining glint flashing in her eyes as she eyed the attack that was clearing up.

"Mmh, his choice was the right one. Attacking suddenly and with such power will force the opponent to react reflexively increasing the chances that they will reveal their true selves in the process.

Scarlet blood ghost hand syndicate members are notorious for keeping things compartmentalized and hidden even from each other so as to ensure their own safety and anonymity. So other than maybe their master and handler to the syndicate, their identities are a well-guarded secret even from each other which makes using one member to track another, next to impossible.

However, there is one thing that can reveal them to another syndicate member despite not being familiar with each other...

Their core cultivation art," said Yu Long the vice dean of cultivation art dissection and history.

"How many have you spotted?" Meng Chao asked with a competitive smile.

"11," said Yu Long

"10," said Ren Shu

"11," said Ling Meimei

"11," said Yu Hong

"11," said Chu Zhen

"12," said Lei Weiyuan

"12," said Shao An.

"What about you Zhu Lao?" asked Meng Chao to the silent Dean Zhu Lao.

"Leave him be, I doubt his mind is even here," said Ling Meimei as she shook her head at her husband whose eyes were shining as they locked onto Yang Qing's location.

"Maybe he might come up with ideas for another cultivation art," said Yu Long with admiration in his tone.

"How many did you spot, Meng Chao?" asked Lei Weiyuan.

"Just like yours, my number is 12," answered Meng Chao as his gaze fell on a certain young lady mixed within the crowd of guests.

"Technically there are 13 but 12 is just about right."

The response came from a young man who had pristine black robes that were similar to the one Meng Chao had on. His looks were ordinary along with his short wavy black hair. 

However, there was one thing that made him stand out, his eyes. His irises were star-shaped and they were light orange in color. He had five pupils in each eye. Four were at the end of each of the four cardinal points of his star-shaped iris, while the fifth one was at the center of the center.

"It seems like nothing can hide from your eyes, Hou Dehui," said Meng Chao.

Were Yang Qing here, he would have recognized that name to be of the inner court domain judge who would step in for him should the leader of the Golden Bamboo Pavilion interfere in his son's case.

"Who's the 13th one?" asked the taciturn Shao An as he furrowed his brows at the guests that surrounded the area Yang Qing had just clashed against the sect master of the Flying feather sword sect.

"Shao An, you can be competitive at times too? Who knew," Hou Dehui said as he chuckled. The others smiled along too which brought out an embarrassed smile from Shao An.