Daily life of a cultivation judge-Chapter 1005: Striking an agreement (8)

"How much time do we have left till the deadline?" asked Meng Jiayi.

"About four years and some change. What, have you changed your mind and decided to do as our esteemed ancestor asked?" Yu Hui, asked, his eyes glittering slightly in the process.

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"Could that sword have had a change of heart?" he thought inwardly with a stir of anticipation in his heart.

Back when his ancestor made the offer of giving the Starlight Lake Sect 100 years to offer up the sword used by the domain sect master, the offer wasn’t directly made to the sect itself but rather the sword itself.

In truth, their ancestor cared less about the opinions of the Starlight Lake Sect. He only made that offer and gave that time on account of the sword.

100 years, I will give you 100 years to decide on whether you will submit and accept me as your master or I will destroy the sect that your master dedicated his life to protect.

That was the implied meaning behind his offer. If there was one thing their elder coveted most from the Starlight Lake Sect, it was the sword. The sword that accompanied the domain sect leader of the Starlight Lake Sect in his journey.

The reason their ancestor coveted it wasn’t because of the materials used, or for the reason they had outwardly proclaimed, with the sword being made from the resources of the Yu clan, no that couldn’t be any further from the truth.

While void stones were precious, it wasn’t precious enough to draw the attention of a domain expert. Once one broke through to the domain realm, they gained the ability to tear through space and access the void zones within. It was still a dangerous place for domain experts, but he could still manage to get void stones, in the mildly safer outer zones if he still wanted them.

The reason he asked for the sword was for the value it held. It had accompanied the domain expert of the Starlight Lake Sect, throughout his journey, and since it was his sole weapon throughout his life, whatever insights the sword had, were born from that sect master.

It may not yet be an ascendant-grade weapon, but it definitely had the insights of a domain expert, and while it couldn’t make use of said insights yet, owing to its current cultivation base, it didn’t mean those insights couldn’t serve someone else. Someone else like the ancestor of the Yu family.

The Yu family had never produced a domain expert, and as such, their ancestor was a pioneer, charting uncharted waters. The breakthrough was monumental with the whole clan celebrating and reveling in the achievement and will likely continue to do so for years and years to come, but after the dust had settled, while the rest of the clan could continue with the celebration, the same couldn’t be said for that ancestor.

He was treading in unfamiliar territory with no one and nothing to guide him. There was nothing in the clan that illuminated his path ahead. He could only rely on himself and grip the dark with several trials and errors, as he tried to find his way through that path.

But with how tough the path of the domain realm was, even with the long lifespan afforded to him now as a domain expert, there was a risk that even if he lived to the entirety of his lifespan which was 100,000 years, there was a chance he would never take even a single step forward past the first stage of the domain realm.

Reaching the domain realm was an arduous task already, but improving once you stepped onto that realm was a thousand times harder, and that difficulty only grew higher if you had nothing to rely on other than personal insight.

The domain expert from the Starlight Lake Sect despite his supposed talent only ever managed to reach the third stage of the domain realm. He never broke past the early stages, and the primary reason for that was, that he was the first ever domain expert in the entire history of the Starlight Lake Sect and he had to figure everything out on his own.

There wasn’t a master to guide him, some treasure or resource to draw guidance and insight from, and neither did he have a social circle of domain experts to rely on.

That was the same fate that awaited the ancestor of the Yu clan ancestor who was in the same predicament. If things remained the same, his ending would likely be the same as that of the domain expert from the Starlight Lake Sect.

No one who toiled and toiled and finally managed to drag themselves up that mountain up to the domain realm would just be comfortable and okay at never improving and be forever stuck at that same spot.

Maybe there might be some domain experts out there who were more than content at just being a domain expert and never improving, but that sure wasn’t what the Yu clan ancestor envisioned for himself.

He, at the very least, hoped he could match the achievements of the domain expert from the Starlight Lake Sect. But for him, it didn’t stop there. His heart yearned for greater heights beyond the domain realm, but the only way he could even entertain such thoughts was by first ensuring he didn’t spend too much time taking the wrong paths in the domain realm.

The sword of the domain expert from the Starlight Lake Sect could help with that. The owner had likely shared all he knew unreservedly with it due to the bond they shared and also in the hopes of improving its strength. Having that sword to the Yu clan ancestor was no different than consulting a third-stage domain expert. The sword being weaker than him might not be able to instruct him, but he could treat it like a scroll, and read the contents inscribed on it.

This was the advantage ancient organizations with powerful legacies and members had over the new and upcoming sects, clans, and other organizations. The young members didn’t have to take erroneous paths and discover things for themselves, they had people and resources to borrow insights from, rapidly improving themselves in the process by not taking the wrong paths.

The Starlight Lake Sect might not know this, but part of the reason the Yu clan were so adamant in provoking them and doing all they could to slowly suffocate them was in part due to that ancestor who couldn’t stand how the Starlight Lake Sect despite their clear advantage of having a domain expert, never produced a single domain expert while he was alive and even after his passing, they still couldn’t do it.

To that ancestor, it was a waste of heaven’s blessing. He would rant in anger how he would have stepped into the domain realm much earlier than he did, had he been in the same situation as the Starlight Lake Sect.

Had that domain expert remained in the Yu family, he could have consulted him, and broken through to the domain realm much earlier, and once he did, they could discuss the dao and help each other improve on that path, despite having nothing else to rely on.

That thought would fill him with so much anger. The thought that the Starlight Lake Sect was desecrating the opportunities afforded to it, especially, when some of those opportunities were directly and indirectly provided for by the Yu clan.

"Since they can’t make use of it, they have no right to maintain ownership of it. They might as well start from the bottom if they are going to desecrate their heavenly opportunity that most people don’t get the chance at having," he would always say when he was drunk.

Within the Yu clan, yes some resented the Starlight Lake Sect because they were unable to let go of the past, and wanted to shed the identity of being a lackey to them, hence why they attacked them every chance they got, Yu Hui felt no shame in admitting that he was part of this group, but then not all within the clan felt that way.

There were some within the clan, and it was a substantial number at that, who greatly revered the domain expert from the Starlight Lake Sect, they revered him just as they did the ancestors of the Yu clan, there was no difference, and to them, the performance of the Starlight Lake Sect brought shame to that domain expert, a shame they would not let slide.

That domain Yu clan ancestor was part of this group. He deeply revered the domain expert from the Starlight Lake Sect, it was to the point that he had said once the Starlight Lake Sect was no more, their domain expert would be returned to the ancestry records of the Yu clan, just like the Yu clan patriarch who had been his master had wanted when he had announced he wanted to adopt him as a son.

Their current leader wanted to fulfill that wish and have him inserted into the clan’s records and get worshipped by the descendants as they would the other Yu clan ancestors. His reverence was the reason he didn’t want to seize the sword forcefully despite having the means to do so.

Yu Hui’s heart couldn’t help but stir excitedly at the thought that the sword had decided to submit to their ancestor. As an eighth stage palace realm expert, it went without saying that he held ambitions for reaching the domain realm, but the further up he moved, he came to realize how difficult it was.

If he relied on his efforts it would prove impossible to reach that realm but if his ancestor were to help, the better the odds would be for him and the stronger his ancestor was, the higher those odds became.

After all, the higher up his ancestor moved in the domain realm, the deeper his insights into the domain realm became. Insights that could in turn be shared with his descendants to help increase their chances of successfully breaking through to the domain realm.