Daily life of a cultivation judge

Chapter 1225: Searching for clues (2)

“This is the border, and the route Bai Chen normally uses whenever he passes by,” said Elder Wan Li as he pointed to the gorge.

“It stretches for 20 kilometers, and apart from the vegetation, there are no other living things inside it, which provides great cover for moving undetected, hence why we advised Bai Chen to use this area whenever he came by,” he added.

“What about the Huang family?” You share a border with them. Surely they’d see him using the route?

“We have a decent relationship with them, and they know Bai Chen’s importance to us,” Elder Wan Li said with a gentle smile and tone, though there was nothing gentle behind the implied meaning of his words.

Judging by that look in his eye, the Huang family may as well be a lackey to them, even though they’re a noble family themselves, mused Yang Qing.

But then again, given the vast disparity in ability between both sides and the fact that they’re about to produce a domain expert if all goes as planned, their attitude toward them isn’t all too strange.

Having reached his destination, Yang Qing cupped his fists in gratitude to Elder Wan Li for bringing him here. The elder returned the greeting in kind, along with a few parting words, before turning to leave.

“What did Branch Chief Zou Wen do to them…” Yang Qing murmured as he watched Elder Wan Li’s departing figure, who, given the speed with which he left, looked like he couldn’t wait to be rid of Yang Qing, as if he were some hot potato he wanted no association with.

Yang Qing shook his head as he chuckled before finally bringing his attention back to the forest ahead, shrouded in a faint white mist.

“I hope you have something for me,” he muttered as he straightened his coat at the chest and adjusted the hem of the sleeves.

“Haishi, let’s go,” he said spiritedly, pointing toward a random cluster of trees ahead.

Haishi nodded and immediately flapped her wings.

“Fly slow,” Yang Qing quickly added the moment he felt the strength behind her flaps.

What he needed now wasn’t speed but finesse. The reason he’d come here was to find any and all anomalies that might hint at what had happened to Bai Chen or his disciple.

And among the anomalies he was looking for, one in particular had to do with nebulous yin qi.

While his Yin Yang Peerless Jade Nature Bones physique granted him a deep sensitivity to all forms of yin and yang energies, he still needed concentration and effort to properly sift through the surrounding energies, especially since he was searching for a specific kind of yin energy. That meant a slow, methodical approach was needed if he wanted good results.

After flying around for almost twenty minutes, from one end of the gorge to the other, Yang Qing finally settled on a location that sat roughly at the midpoint.

He didn’t choose that location because it was at the center, but rather because it was one of the few places where all the energies of the gorge seemed to flow into and out of—like the eye of a hurricane. That made it an excellent anchor point for him to spread out his senses from.

Having found the right spot, Yang Qing ordered Haishi to descend.

The area he selected had a ten-meter-tall, sky-rank Spirit Water Fig Tree growing at its center. Its trunk was partly covered by another sky-rank spiritual plant—a Healing Gorge Fog Vine—whose form was obscured by the fog and the oak’s many leaves.

Once they landed, Yang Qing walked over to the Spirit Water Fig Tree and gently patted its trunk, which shimmered with a soft aqua-blue glow.

“I’ll be intruding on your home for a bit—I hope you don’t mind,” he said softly.

Even though it was faint, he could sense the formation of an embryonic spirit within the tree, hence the respectful tone.

“Don’t worry, I won’t stay for free,” he added, as a gentle green flame ignited in his palm—the same hand resting against the tree.

The flame flowed like water, seeping from his palm into both the Spirit Water Oak Tree and the Healing Gorge Fog Vine. They responded almost instantly. The oak’s bark took on an even deeper blue hue, while the vine’s surrounding gray fog thickened and turned richer—its white mist gaining a tinge of dark green.

It wasn’t just the color that had changed in both plants. The shift in hue was merely a visible sign of the transformations occurring within. Their bodies, their souls, and the energies within them had been purified by Yang Qing’s flame.

The flame, known as Nature’s Green Flame, was a spell Yang Qing had developed after studying the abilities of his Green Flame Tree. It was a fusion of three elements: yin, yang, and wood. The flame nourished the body, soul, and vital essence of living beings, though its effects were most pronounced when used on spiritual plants.

What the two spirit plants had experienced was akin to a cleansing that both purified and strengthened them, whose resultant effects would greatly contribute to their paths ahead, especially when it came to fully forming their spirits. Yang Qing’s flames had basically reduced the amount of rubble that was in the path leading to that.

Though they weren’t sentient yet, their excitement was palpable. It could be seen and felt clearly from both plants. The Healing Gorge Fog Vine even extended one of its slender vines to curl around Yang Qing’s palm, its fog slowly swirling around his hand.

“That tickles.” Yang Qing chuckled as he gently withdrew his hand.

“You can both rest beside him and cultivate,” Yang Qing said as he pointed to the oak tree. “Especially you, Bolin,” he added as his attention fell on the rainbow mist toad.

“The fog of the healing gorge fog vine will help you deepen your understanding of the restorative aspects of your innate abilities,” Yang Qing added before shifting his attention to Haishi.

“As for you, Haishi, in a bit I’ll need you to immerse your senses into feeling and understanding the energy around me. How much you glean from it is up to you,” said Yang Qing.

Haishi enthusiastically nodded and moved to the left of the oak tree, while Bolin picked a spot on one of its branches.

Yang Qing chose the ground, sitting cross-legged with his back pressed against both the oak tree and the Healing Gorge Fog Vine.

“Time to start,” he whispered.

His hair began to shift from its dark green color into pristine white, his skin taking on the same lustrous sheen. Faint glyph-like markings, shaped like commas, appeared above and below his eyes. His gaze had already transformed, his eyes now resembling the moon in shape and radiance.

His entire being looked as though it had been carved from jade harvested from the moon, giving him the elegant, ethereal appearance of a solitary immortal. Mist slowly emanated from his body, cloaking his robe and enhancing the aura of transcendence around him, as a deeper, more profound energy began to unfurl from within.

Slowly, Yang Qing brought his hands together and formed a seal.

“Yin Yang Genesis, the vestige whispers of Yin.”