Daily life of a cultivation judge

"I know you have a lot to get through, it being your first day and all, we will leave you to it, but in case of anything you can reach us via the communication talisman or at the Herb garden soup restaurant, we are always there most of the time in between cases. Though occasionally we do pass by at the Thousand Flavors restaurant, Dai Chen told me you are regulars there, so that can do as well," said Yu Gen.

"The Herb garden can work as well, I happen to like the soup there, it's just that Thousand Flavors restaurant has a wide variety…" Yang Qing despite himself found himself going on for a full three minutes on the pros of both restaurants.

He only came to himself when he saw the weird looks he got from Xia Ting who finally showed some emotion on her taciturn face with her eyes wide open.

"You really like your food, don't you?" she said with interest in her eyes.

"Sorry about that," said Yang Qing as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Yang Qing we will leave you to it, it's been a pleasure meeting you and I hope for a successful cooperation," said Yu Gen as he prepared to leave with Xia Ting in tow, who nodded her head in goodbye.

"Actually seniors, there was something I needed your help with," Yang Qing suddenly said causing the duo to halt their steps.

"What is it?" asked Xia Ting, beating Yu Gen to the punch. 

"There was an impromptu case I stumbled onto during my evaluations last week. I have already done a bit of the groundwork and even had my inquisitor Zheng Hu help with a bit of the details. I was hoping for your assistance on the case and if need be, it could be among the priority cases along with the three you have already started on, if it's not too much trouble," Yang Qing hesitantly asked.

"What's the case about?" asked Yu Gen.

"It's about a father who lost his wife and daughter, seven years ago. The father's name is Ma Yuan and he was a cultivator in the core formation realm however his cultivation got crippled on the day his wife and daughter got taken. 

Based on my personal observations and also his account, Ma Yuan had reached the gold body in the body refining realm and also had a blue-grade core because of some fortuitous encounter. The attacker had been able to subdue and cleanly shatter his dantian despite him being at the fifth stage of the core formation real, which shows at the very least the attacker seemed to be someone either at the peak of the core formation realm with a superior core or she was in the palace realm.

Ma Yuan was well on his way to getting killed, but his wife intervened on his behalf and had his life spared. From the version of events, it seems like the wife knew the attacker and purposely let herself be caught.

She was more than likely deeply afraid of the attacker which was why she put a seal on her husband that blurred the image of the attacker. 

I did manage to get an image of her which should roughly look like this based on Ma Yuan's description," said Yang Qing as he used a cultivation spell to conjure a rough image of the woman based on Ma Yuan's description.

"She's pretty," Yu Gen carelessly said and shrunk back when he saw the looks of mockery Xia Ting was throwing his way.

"In addition, he also handed me an ice shard that was produced when that lady attacked them," added Yang Qing as he handed over the shard to Xia Ting who shook her head and pointed to Yu Gen.

"He is better at this kind of stuff," she said.

Yang Qing had a baffled look as he handed the shard over to Yu Gen. He had automatically made the assumption that Xia Ting would have more insights since she had a stronger soul, thus her sense towards Yin-related matter would be stronger than Yu Gen whose body was like boiling magma, which more than likely meant he had a high affinity towards Yang related techniques.

"The fact that we managed to fool your eyes must mean our proficiency with the Ten thousand droplet transformation of the white veiled tree is getting better," Yu Gen cheekily said as his whole body transformed except his voice.

His brown hair was replaced with silver hair and silver eyes, and his build got slender and taller. The boiling sensation Yang Qing sensed from him, changed to a mellow coolness. 

Almost at the same time as Yu Gen's transformation, Xia Ting also changed. Her silver hair changed into red-brown, and her body now seemed like a volcano that would erupt. The transformation wasn't only physical, Yang Qing detected a liveliness about her.

"You didn't do too bad Xia Ting, I didn't expect you to last that long," said Yu Gen.

His tone was no longer excitable but had a calmness to it like the one Yang Qing detected in Xia Ting when they first met.

"What do you mean!? Of course, I'd try to outdo you, especially with the urn of merry soup on the line, I'd give my best and since our new boss couldn't tell our nature apart, I count that as a win. Don't welch later, Yu Gen, like you did last time," said Xia Ting.

The change in personality came as a shock to Yang Qing, especially from Xia Ting's end. He found it hard to reconcile the reserved taciturn Xia Ting from a few minutes ago and the fiery person he saw before him.

"Is this your true self?" Yang Qing absentmindedly asked.

"Who knows," answered Xia Ting with a cheeky grin.

"Mmmh, the attacker seemed to have a fine grasp over the cold yin element and the grade should be no lesser than blue grade, but something feels off with it…" Yu Gen said as he rolled the shard around in between his fingers. Every time he rolled the shard; a blue flame would be produced from his fingertips with a seal attached to it.

"Can I hold on to it for a while?" asked Yu Gen as he handed the shard over to Xia Ting who had stretched her palms over for it.

"You can. I have already analyzed it enough to remember its structure and characteristics. As you well know I will also be busy in the next few days. It would be better in your hands than mine," said Yang Qing.