Daily life of a cultivation judge

Just as the terrified crowd wondered what was the source of the primal bestial roar, they saw the platform light up with a few indescribable writings, and seconds later the floor seemed to have turned into the night of the sky that had no stars. 

Within that darkness, a golden spark could be seen, and with it came an overbearing pressure that made everything around it including space, quake. In just a few breaths, the small spark enlarged into an enormous golden dragon that charged up to the skies above the Star blooming mist valley.

Its size was humongous. Just one of its claws was enough to fill the whole platform. As it flew up, the shade from its figure created a darkness that covered the whole valley.

As it roared, the skies seemed to churn and a golden swirling cloud appeared along with numerous golden stars. The guests who had never been here finally realized why that location was called the Star blooming mist valley. 

A cluster of stars of different sizes danced around the skies of the Star blooming mist valley, even though the sun was still up just a few moments ago.

The golden cloud produced by the massive golden dragon had blotted out the sun. As far as the eye could see, the sky was filled with golden clouds that had thousands upon thousands of stars in them.

"Fellow Daoist Mo Ye, it seems the spirit of your ancestral dragon vein underwent a metamorphosis. Despite being young, it's releasing the energy waves of a late-stage soul master cultivator," said Elder Han Meng of the Radiant Sword Sect with his eyes shining with a strange glow.

"You have a keen eye, Daoist Han Meng. It was by a stroke of luck that it reached this point. That spirit has been in hibernation for the past seven years. We were even worried something may have happened to it since this is a variant ancestral dragon vein after all, and doesn't compare to the real thing, like the one you have at the Radiant Sword Sect or the Flowing Valley Sect.

It was only eight months ago that it finally came out, and when it did, we were shocked to discover the huge transformation it had undergone," Vice President Mo Ye said with a light smile.

"Is that so? I guess congratulations are in order for the Order. With its transformation, there are countless benefits to harvest from it," said Elder Han Meng as his gaze narrowed on the dragon that was still roaring in the skies.

However different from its earlier roar, those in the palace realm and above could notice there was now Dao being produced within that roar, which then sublimated into a small gold mist that mixed into the golden cloud.

"The Order's continual rise for eternity is all but guaranteed with this. I think congratulations are in order for being recognized by the populace as one of the three Holy Lands of the Southern Continent," said Elder Luo Yong of the Flowing Valley Sect.

"Surely you jest Daoist Luo Yong. We are but humble servants of the continent and young at that. We are unworthy and unable to bear the burden of the title of a Holy Land. 

Only both your sects are worthy of such a reputation, especially for standing up for the whole continent when outsiders threatened to swallow the continent whole. Our achievements both now and in the future, I think will pale in comparison to that," said Vice President Mo Ye.

A period of silence ensued between the three as Chief Justice Lai Ning wrote an edict with his finger in the air which charged toward the dragon in the golden skies.

The dragon roared as it charged at the edict and swallowed it. Immediately after it produced a golden pearl which it spat towards Chief Justice Lai Ning, who easily caught it despite the force and speed at which it charged towards him.

The dragon gave one final roar that was louder than the rest which left even the domain experts present at the edge of their seats.

After the roar, the dragon charged at the night sky hole it had flown out of, in the middle of the platform. Seconds later the platform closed and resumed its normal appearance. The skies were still filled with the golden cloud and stars and a bit of the dao mist mixed within.

"Consider this as a token of appreciation by the Order, for you all availing yourself today," said Chief Justice Lai Ning.

The stars in his eyes all started swirling with a mild glow as he muttered something inscrutable for a few seconds. Immediately after the clouds above along with the stars within it condensed into tiny golden droplets that had a tiny golden mist around them. Those droplets fell on the guests below.

The perceptive ones glowed with excitement in their eyes as they saw those droplets fall on them. They cleared their minds of all distracting thoughts and immediately started circulating their own cultivation arts to try and refine and also sense the mysteries within the droplets that had fallen on them. Those who reacted this way were the guests who had come from prominent backgrounds like the rank 1, rank 2, and some of the old rank 3 organizations.

They had sufficient information to know about the importance of the droplet that fell on them. This was a natural Dao tonic, a commodity that could only be gotten by chance and not bought. That single droplet had immense value to any cultivator whether they were in the domain realm or in the qi refinement realm. It could help them cleanse their bodies, shore up their foundations, give them insights into different forms of dao, and strengthen their soul, to some it could even help unlock their special physiques, if it was hidden. And that was only when it came to the cultivator themselves. The droplet could also be used as an ingredient for an alchemy potion or it could be used to refine an artifact to help increase its spiritual awareness or trigger one in an artifact that doesn't have a spirit yet.

Its uses were endless. If any one of them wanted such a tonic they'd have to source it from a saint-grade natural treasure or seek it from the Holy Lands that had ancestral dragon spirit veins. Both of these options showed how rare it was to get one, but here they were, getting it for free from the Order. 

The high-ranked organizations that knew the value of the tonic were the most ecstatic. Members of the lower ranked organizations on noticing the unconcealed excitement from those in the higher ranked organization, instantly knew the object was something valuable even if they had no idea on much of its use. 

Most chose to copy what those guests from the high-ranking organizations were doing and circulated their cultivation arts as they tried to refine the golden droplets that fell on them. Looks of shock could be seen on each member when they realized what a treasure it was.

Rapid small breakthroughs, epiphanies triggered, hidden injuries being instantaneously healed, shaky foundations being strengthened and even physiques being unlocked were some of the things these guests experienced within a short moment of being exposed to the Dao droplet.