Daily life of a cultivation judge

Yang Qing's nap was cut short as he woke up slightly nervous at a reaction from his communication talisman. His expression relaxed considerably once he saw who was on the call.

"We are back with him. Where should we bring him?" asked a slightly mature, aged male voice from the other end of the call.

"You can use the token I gave you to bring him to my abode," said Yang Qing as he got up, neatly returning the goose pillows to their original places.

As he placed the last pillow, he asked, "How did she do?"

"I can see why you wanted me to go with her."

"Did something happen?" Yang Qing asked, raising an eyebrow as he paused midway with the last pillow.

"Not so much her fault, but the swamp seems to have experienced a monumental change in the lower zones. From what your guest has told us, it's something that happened recently.

Because of that change, it's become more volatile than usual, especially in those outer zones."

"Changes?"

"Yes. It is no longer how it was before, with weaker spirit beasts with low cultivation bases inhabiting the fringe regions of the swamp.

It's a complete mess. A region that didn't have spirit beasts is now swarming with countless spirit beasts that are at the Foundation Establishment realm, all haphazardly strewn about with no delineation of territory among them, which only adds to the chaos.

Fights are breaking out all over the place. The same thing is happening in zone nine, which features spirit beasts at the Core Formation stage—all riled up, frightened, and volatile, just like those Foundation Establishment spirit beasts in zone ten.

The Green Fog region was already chaotic, but at least it had some semblance of order in how those spirit beasts arranged themselves with the established hierarchy. At least one knew what to expect in each zone. That is no longer the case."

"Do you know what caused it?" asked Yang Qing as he decided to take a seat.

The Green Fog region was one of the most perilous zones in the continent. If a huge change happened there, it had the potential to shake up the continent, adding more work to the Order in case it spilled over.

"From what your guest told me, there seems to have been a power struggle among a few of the leading spirit beasts in zone eight, and the ensuing chaos of their fight affected the spirit beasts in their zone. That chaos spread from there as they fled to the lower zones, disrupting the balance.

They are all a bit high-strung, which is why, despite the gap in our realms, there was no shortage of spirit beasts at the Foundation Establishment realm and the Core Formation realm attacking us."

"I am guessing Luo Suyun retaliated in kind?" said Yang Qing.

"She did."

"How many?"

"Nine. Six in the Core Formation realm and three in the Foundation Establishment realm."

"Were there any problems after?"

"Luckily none this time."

Yang Qing sighed as he massaged the bridge of his nose.

"It looks like I will have to trouble you to go with her for a few more rounds. Hopefully, she catches on," he said as he approached the unactivated teleportation array at the center of his office.

"No problem."

"I will see you at the abode in a few minutes," Yang Qing said.

Just as he was about to end the call, his eyes flickered as something flashed in his mind.

"I have a temperamental crab in my place and two annoying birds. Don't let her kill them, especially the crab. It will likely attack you both the instant you appear. Tell her I forbid her from acting against any creature there. Restrain her if she decides to act," Yang Qing warned, envisioning the starlight crab, Ellie, and the celestial nesting weaver.

"Will do," said the figure on the other end of the call.

Yang Qing quickly ended the call, using the same urgency to activate the teleportation array in his office.

During the call, he had thought about maybe passing by either the Celestial Herb Soup Garden or the Thousands Flavors Restaurant, as was tradition. But with the thought of Luo Suyun, the saber spirit of the crescent moon, and those three spirit beasts—especially the starlight crab—he instantly extinguished the thought of stopping at any place but his abode.

Of the three, he was most worried about the starlight crab, which wasn't the brightest tool in the shed. Other than cultivation and violence, it had nothing else on its mind. It would definitely attack Luo Suyun and Han Xing on sight as intruders, just as it had done with every other person who came to visit Yang Qing when he wasn't around to warn it off.

Its simple-minded nature was one of the reasons Yang Qing had brought it back in the first place. If he assigned it a task, he was sure it would follow it faithfully, which suited him perfectly since he had a prolific thief he wanted to guard against robbing him blind of his fish. Considering the nature of the thief, there was no one better than that simple-minded crab, which would stubbornly try to uphold its task, regardless.

Whether the opponent was at the Foundation Establishment realm, Core Formation realm, or even at the Palace realm, the starlight crab would act without hesitation. A trait that would no doubt land it in several beatings, one of which risked turning fatal if Yang Qing didn't reach his abode in time.

Once the array transported him to the hallway of the tower, he immediately executed the Phantom Void Steps in full, making a hasty dash to his abode as he cursed himself for not having a teleportation array installed there.

He knew the reason why. He was a cheap idiot who would rather spend that money on food and his hobbies than fork out an obscene amount of high-grade spirit stones for an array he didn't really need.

Yes, his abode was a fair distance away, but he could make that distance in a few minutes, and that time would only shrink further as his cultivation base grew.

Besides, before today, Yang Qing had never thought there would be a need that would force him to arrive at his abode in such a short time that even a few minutes would feel like an eternity, as it did at this moment.

Maybe if he was fleeing from that old fiend, Lei. But knowing the capabilities of the old geezer, he wouldn't even make it a few steps.

So, other than that, he could see no other reason he would need to reach his abode in a hurry. Maybe on the few occasions when both Feng Xin and Ellie were missing at the same time and he had a school of fish ripe for harvest, he would have to make a mad dash, but other than that, there was not much reason.

As he closed the distance to his abode, a few images flashed in his mind: the dismembered bodies of the starlight crab and Ellie. One of those images made him increase his speed while the other caused him to reduce it slightly as another memory flashed in his mind. It was of him walking arrogantly, legs apart, gait raised, back slackened, straw in his mouth, and a profound look on his face as he arrogantly said:

"Teleportation arrays? They are what is wrong with this world. As cultivators, we need to walk with our own two feet, experiencing the mortal dust and all its splendor that we are quick to forget when we become cultivators.

A young blade of grass striving for survival against its millions of siblings, the effect of the warm sunlight as it hits the grains of sand, the rhythmic flow of the river, a child's glow as he meets with his friends, the friendly grandmother by the roadside heating her wok, two people haggling over price until their necks bulge and their faces turn red.

This is the privilege of walking and being an active spectator of life... To think those idiots dared charge me 1,000 high-grade spirit stones for a small-grade teleportation array. The nerve of them!

I, Yang Qing, will not betray my fundamentals as a mortal. Using my own two feet, I will appreciate the splendor of this blade of grass, this glowing grain of sand, and in my heart, the pathway of the heavens and all its mysteries will be revealed.

A grain of sand in my finger births the universe in my palm."

Yang Qing's expression twisted and darkened in shame as he vividly recalled that young version of himself arrogantly spitting the straw from his mouth as he reached out for a grain of sand, flamboyantly brandishing it and raising it to the skies like it was some treasure.

Over the years, he had said some pretty audacious things, but this definitely took the prize in terms of shamelessness. It was to the point that he, known for his thick skin, was getting embarrassed at the memory of it, despite there being no audience.

"I am definitely getting that array," he muttered with a pained expression on his face as he made his way to the last twist on the road leading to the entrance of his abode.