Daily life of a cultivation judge

Appraisers and competent ones at that, could be considered jacks of all trades and could be considered geniuses in their own might because of the wide array of knowledge and skills they had. One appraiser could have knowledge about beast taming, alchemy, weapon refinement, geomancy, and spirit stone survey and mining. The knowledge they had on the subject would not be rudimentary either but would be deep and vast even extending to lost techniques. 

Almost every competent appraiser would have knowledge in different subjects at base value and then specialize in certain subjects. Yang Qing was confident in his knowledge of certain subjects such as medicine, formation arrays, and the deciphering of the grade of broken cultivation arts. 

That knowledge and skill left him barely passable when it came to being an appraiser. If he wanted to be an independent witness then he would have to buy the services of a skilled appraiser and they would have to be very skilled since he would essentially be tying his name and reputation to every treasure being sold. Gaining the services of a skilled appraiser would likely consume 70% of the amount he would get paid for the commission. If that was the case, it was better to accept the Order's terms. 

"In that same vein, you will also need to represent the Order in various ceremonies around the continent, from the sects, clans, kingdoms, empires, and other organizations, to keep up appearances. In some of these ceremonies, you may go as the main representative while in others you will go as a tag along.

The former is if the ceremony is from a rank 3 organization and below, while the latter would be for rank 2 organizations and above.

The gift you will offer in these ceremonies will be provided for by the Order and you will be given a one-week notice in advance to help amend your schedule.

When it comes to the events, to avoid adding more burden to you, you will only be required to attend a maximum of 12 a year, which is one event per month, though it may not come in exactly that order," said Shi Tian.

He had an incredulous look on his face because he wasn't sure if he had Yang Qing click when he said the events would be 12 a year. However, when he saw Yang Qing's attentive look, he assumed he misheard it, so he went on with his explanation.

"The auction events and the ceremonies are our way of maintaining a connection with the organizations around the continent, so even though they're not technically your main duties, please give the same seriousness and attention as you would your cases. 

You will be the face of the Order when you're out there," said Shi Tian.

"I will," Yang Qing solemnly said.

"Now for the last two duties while I will give you an overview of them, however, you will need to visit the respective places for further clarification due to the sensitivity of their nature…"

The atmosphere within the room turned heavier and somber.

"One of the duties is the supervision of the prisoner release and rehabilitation programme. Certain prisoners on the recommendation of the Requiem officials get approved for the programme. Those prisoners can be repurposed to support various works of the Order such as restoration and reclamation efforts around the continent, and temporary guards for some of the victims. 

The duty depends on what is urgent and the shortages of a particular role. Every outer palace court judge will be assigned a certain number of prisoners to closely monitor along with members of the review committee.  You are to continuously judge the progress of the prisoner and eventually after a certain set period, you will make a ruling if they continue with the programme or be sent back to Requiem, or in some cases their execution.

When you visit Requiem later, they will fill you in on further details.

And as for your final duty, you will be assigned your information network. I am afraid I can't explain much more than that. Someone from the Shadow Hawks should already be on standby to guide you through.

With that, I think we are done with your induction. Your assigned courtroom is number 24. You can access it using your gold eagle medallion..."

Shi Tian paused to confirm a few things in one of the scrolls he had next to him.

"I can see none of your inquisitors has reached the palace realm yet and thus would not be able to handle some of the cases you get, as such you have been assigned two roaming inquisitors.

I think they should already be waiting for you in your courtroom. You can meet up with them the moment we are done here, which I think we already have, not unless you have questions, which I'd be more than happy to answer?" asked Shi Tian with an amiable smile.

"For now, I do not," said Yang Qing. 

He was already familiar with most of the duties due to his interaction with Dai Chen and Zhang Qingge. The only thing that caught him by surprise was the discretionary fund which the two conveniently decided not to disclose. Other than that, he more or less knew what was waiting for him when he got into the palace courts.

"If you don't have any questions, then I wish you all the best in your journey ahead and it's been my pleasure serving you," said Shi Tian as he offered Yang Qing a Daoist salute.

"Thank you for your assistance and succinct explanation of my new role. It's been most informative. For that, I'm thankful," said Yang Qing as he offered back a Daoist salute of his own.

They exchanged a few pleasantries and Yang Qing left after, heading in the direction of his courtroom. There were three things he had to complete today; he had to meet with the two roaming inquisitors to plan for the cases ahead, of which Ma Yuan's case would be a priority, meet with the Shadow Hawk representative to gain further explanation on his network along with a few things and finally finish with a visit to the Requiem.

After he was done with the three things, he could start planning for the entrance examinations to the Institute and there was also the meeting with Meng Chao which he knew was bound to happen in the next few days.