Daily life of a cultivation judge-Chapter 933: Winners and losers

At Lin Duyi’s insistence, Cai Hong and the rest quickly left the courtroom, the moment the administrator from the review committee appeared. Supreme Elder Jiang Huang thanked them again as he was exiting the courtroom, leaving only the team from the Red Maple Empire and Yao De, behind.

Yao De looked a little lost as to what to do. He had already burned his bridge with the Golden Bamboo Pavilion by stealing a deal from them, Duan Hu, the ’sworn brother’ already knew he had been exploited by him, and even if he didn’t the long line already drawn by their founder was already an indicator that he would not offer shelter to someone like him, not with what he did in his time as a branch chief in Red Maple Empire.

Then there was the catacombs caterpillar. Truth be told, he was most afraid of that caterpillar compared to those he had offended. In exchange for asking a favor from the crypt keeper, the payment he was asked for was a favor once he reached the upper echelons of the pavilion.

The caterpillar didn’t specify what favor it would ask for, but Yao De was in no mood to care, all he wanted was his secret guarded as he searched for the rest of the artifacts or anything that would have healed his injured soul.

Now that he thought of it, he couldn’t help but smile bitterly. Jiang Huang had been in the same predicament he was, an injured soul, but now he was well on his way to get healed, by the organization he was a part of, who refused to heal him when he needed despite being one of their own.

Now, he still had his injuries and had thoroughly offended those who he shouldn’t have especially the caterpillar. When it came to it and how it would deal with him, being granted death would be a merciful ending, and the crypt keeper was anything but merciful.

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He couldn’t help but sigh at how their fates had switched. 83 years ago it was Jiang Huang who left with his spirit destroyed, and his future bleak, and now 83 years later, it was Yao De leaving with his future bleak and spirit destroyed.

He was half tempted to ask the Order to imprison him just so he could at least live out the rest of his years in peace as opposed to what awaited him once he stepped outside the courtroom doors. But based on his read on Yang Qing, he was likely to be rejected.

Of the three, he was the only one not to have any demands asked of him from the proceedings. Lin Duyi’s life was wagered in exchange for Jiang Huang’s treatment; Duan Hu in exchange for Wu Mingli not issuing a life-and-death duel would have to clean up all the mess and misgivings in his empire, but when it came to him, there were no demands asked of him, yet he was going to be the one paying the biggest price.

Lamenting his future, Yao De left the courtroom casting a sorry look leaving behind Deng Wei and Gong Jie.

Deng Wei had purposefully remained behind because of Yang Qing which in no small part was the former’s interest in the resonant feeling he got from Yang Qing.

Yang Qing found it surprising when Lei Weiyuan and Hou Dehui excused themselves, leaving him alone with the domain expert. From their actions, despite assumingly having interacted with Deng Wei for a short period of time, they judged him trustworthy enough to leave Yang Qing alone with him.

Yang Qing came to understand why after Deng Wei introduced a bit about himself. He turned out to be an in-name disciple of the founder of the Medical Saint Garden. Even though an in-name disciple wasn’t exactly a true disciple like a closed-door disciple or a legacy disciple was, being an in-name disciple was still a feat in and of itself, especially when one considered who he was an in-name disciple of.

The founder of the Medical Saint Garden could be considered one of the most renowned and powerful figures on the continent. Someone like him stood toe to toe with the leaders of the two Holy Lands and even the mysterious president of the Order. For someone of his stature, anyone associated with him was bound to be crowned in the same glory he had from his legacy disciples, to his closed-door disciples, to the in-name disciples, to regular members of the Medical Saint Garden down to even the person who brewed his tea.

Every one of them would be treated with respect everywhere they went because of their association with him and that was especially so when it came to his disciples, regardless of what type they were.

Becoming an in-name disciple for a figure like him was worthy of praise and Yang Qing could now see why Deng Wei had the confidence of being openly antagonistic toward Golden Bamboo Pavilion, even though he had been subtle and polite about it.

Yang Qing hosted both he and Gong Jie in his chambers, and since he didn’t have any other case for the day, he served them wine instead of tea to help lighten the setting which it turned out didn’t even need much effort. Gong Jie had a brash personality which made him more straightforward, while Deng Wei didn’t seem like the type to put on airs or act aloof, which matched perfectly with Yang Qing who decided to be more of himself.

When Yang Qing completely revealed his nature and character, both individuals were surprised to different degrees with Gong Jie being hit the hardest, especially when he saw Yang Qing quickly excuse himself to go procure a few dishes and the child-like joy he showed as he brought them back.

Gong Jie couldn’t believe the joyous glutton before him was the same as the person who had gone toe to toe with a domain expert and didn’t lose out when it came to sheer presence. Yang Qing let himself go completely, exposing his indolent nature too as he slumped himself over on some comfortable futons made from some of the feathers of the celestial nesting weaver that he had forcefully plucked out as payment.

His conduct became infectious and it eased the atmosphere. The conversation was a light one which was mostly between Deng Wei and Yang Qing who shared a bit about their experiences.

Deng Wei shared a bit about his time with the other founders of the Red Maple Empire and their exchange with the Red Maple Spirit. It turned out that it was the Red maple spirit who recognized his bloodline and was also the one who helped him unlock part of it, and even increase its purity.

It was also the Red maple spirit who referred him to the Medical Saint Garden as it had an acquaintance there and had also judged that to be the best and safest place for someone of the tree folk bloodline to grow, with the garden having a few tree folk within its ranks.

On receiving the suggestion, Deng Wei had been reluctant to part with the other founders, which was what prompted the Red Maple Spirit to leave its legacy to them, and as to why Duan Qui was the one chosen to receive the majority of its legacy, was purely because she had the greatest talent within the group, excluding Deng Wei and had nothing to do with Deng Wei speaking up for her like that one account Yang Qing had read, suggested.

Though Yang Qing had a feeling had Deng Wei spoken up for someone from within the group, the Red Maple Spirit would have likely obliged.

Before it passed, the Red Maple Spirit contacted his acquaintance from the Medical Saint Garden who came and personally brought him back to the sect. Yang Qing shared a bit about his background too taking no care to paint his grandfather and the other members as the crazy villains he believed them to be and for some reason, he even revealed his peerless jade physique to Deng Wei, despite not knowing him that well.

Deng Wei returned the favor and revealed his ancestry. He was a sunwood treefolk, and like that Yang Qing befriended a domain expert with ties to the founder of one of the most powerful organizations in the entire continent.

It was a matter worthy of bragging which he intended to do once Yi Jie and the rest were around. When it came to matters like this, the honorable thing was to release it when there was a big audience, anything less was a disservice.

Their casual conversation devolved into a dao discussion that Yang Qing thoroughly benefited from as his path had overlays with Deng Wei. After a few hours, the duo left, leaving Yang Qing to consolidate his harvests from the discussion.

As for what is next for the Red Maple Empire, Deng Wei had revealed he intended to cede the territory taken from the Five Clovers Kingdom back to them, along with enforcing other austerity measures which included punishments for those with hideous crimes to their names. Subsidiaries from the Golden Bamboo Pavilion would not be spared from that roundabout, and most would be banished from operating within the territories of the Empire. Those left behind would be those of impeccable reputation with the public.

As for the branch, it went without saying that Deng Wei had no intentions of entertaining it within the territory. As a replacement, the Medical Saint Garden would be opening a branch there, which would have a greater effect and reception than the Golden Bamboo Pavilion ever would.

With its presence there many would swarm to the empire, and in terms of deterrent, discount Deng Wei’s presence aside, that branch would have been more than enough to ensure peace and security of the Empire.

The Red Maple Empire was bound to experience a complete overturn. Those at the top were bound to be brought to the bottom, while those at the bottom finally had a chance to look up and maybe even take that step up.

Deng Wei had no intention of becoming emperor, but he would remain in the Empire as its guardian for the foreseeable future. With his presence there, the Red Maple Empire had officially been promoted to rank two and its accompanying perks with Hou Dehui handling the promotion process which included delivering the news around the continent of its ascension.

Deng Wei’s return didn’t only profit the Red Maple Empire, but also the Order via the Yellow Plains Branch that was situated at the border of its territory with the Five Clovers Kingdom.

The branch’s primary focus there was to combat the Blood Grim Scythes, the fiend organization that had been running rampant in both these nations. It was the reason that the branch had a domain expert as branch chief, and with Deng Wei’s presence, adding the Medical Saint Garden branch to the mix, the Blood Grim Scythes would either have to shift their operations elsewhere or risk annihilation.

If things settled down, the branch chief would be switched with one who was in the palace realm while the domain expert would be relocated elsewhere that desperately needed a domain expert.

With all matters resolved things seemed to be looking up for a lot of parties which put a big old smile on Yang Qing’s face as it meant the evaluation and review on this case would be high, and that meant today or tomorrow latest he would be swimming in merit points. It was one of the rare occasions that despite being fatigued, he was happy to work.

"Merit points, Merit points," he gingerly whistled a tune as he swaggered out of his chambers.