Daily life of a cultivation judge-Chapter 937: External Affairs Department
Two men stood shoulder to shoulder above the skies of Gold Eagle Town with countless cultivators roaming the town none the wiser that the two figures were there.
One of the men had a slender and tall build, with black hair meticulously tied into a daiost top knot and he had strands of white hair running in the middle of this hair that gave him a mature and refined aura. He wore black and white robes, with not a line out of place.
Everything about him from the way he dressed to the way he stood with his hands clasped behind his back, to his ramrod straight posture to the calm eyes, spoke of a person who took great attentive care in everything associated with him.
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The other person next to him was also a man, middle-aged, and though his black hair was neat and his silver robes were perfect. The unrestrained aura radiating from him suggested he didn’t much care about his appearance and was likely someone who went with the flow and adapted to things as they came.
He was slightly shorter than the man with the black and white robes, and slightly pottly. He looked like the uncle who liked a little to indulge a little too much in pig feet, braised ribs, and all manner of pastries, and washing it down with rice wine.
His carefree nature made him more approachable than the middle-aged man in black and white robes.
But as carefree as he was, his eyes were different. They swirled with wisdom with no end. His eyes seemed to contain answers to mysteries and secrets that most couldn’t even fathom.
Both men had extraordinary presences to the point of unfathomability.
"That caterpillar seems to have held a deep grudge for what you did, Dean Zhu Lao," the middle-aged man in black and white robes said to the silver-robed man who was none other than the Dean of cultivation arts study.
He was the same Dean whose party Yang Qing attended the other day for him coming out of his 50-year seclusion.
That had been the official story while the real story was less noble as he had been locked up by his wife for 50 years for sneaking out of the abode for months on end to go drink with colleagues. He ended up creating a stealthy art, the phantom void steps, a gold-grade art to further that end.
His dao partner, the formation hall master, eventually caught him in the act as he was sneaking back in and for all his efforts, he was driven to a forced seclusion for the past 50 years, only breaking it a few months ago, a few days before Yang Qing’s promotional ceremony.
The art he created to sneak around, the phantom void steps was one of the most valued arts the Order had, with every inquisitor and judge required to master the art before they assumed their roles.
The art itself wasn’t the only gold-grade art he had created, he had created about seven others. A feat that was harder than scouring around for a saint-grade treasure.
Few within the Order could match his achievements with the only person being another figure, his younger brother, Zhu Li who had done something even more stupendous than him by creating four purple grade arts.
Having a purple-grade art was no different than establishing a dynasty. Holy lands might be slightly tempted by a gold grade art but still not entirely moved by it but if a purple grade art appeared, the entire world would be moved.
This not only highlights the worth of a purple-grade art but also its rarity and someone who can create four is rarer than even sighting a dragon or a phoenix.
Dean Zhu Lao chuckled lightly casting a playful gaze over the region the Green Mulberry Inn had been. Both he and the black and white-robed man were staring at the same place.
"I didn’t even do much, I just had a little exchange with it, that’s all. I haven’t had a lot of interactions with special dao life forms, I couldn’t help myself," Dean Zhu Lao said, slightly embarrassed.
"If you were that curious why didn’t you just grab and bring it back with you instead of letting it go?
We are already overworked as it is, I don’t think we have time to keep a close eye on a vindictive dream crypt moth," the middle-aged man said with an exhausted spy which prompted Dean Zhu Lao to rub his nose
"It’s not that I didn’t want to," Dean Zhu Lao said with a sense of indignation and unresigned willingness in his voice.
"The inherent traits, mystical abilities, and their innate manipulation of dao, with qualities like this, how could I not be tempted to grab a special dao life form, but with the agreement we have with their kind, I couldn’t push it.
If we disagreed with it, sure, maybe I could get away with it but as it stands forcing it to exchange pointers with me that one time under the auspices of little Yang Qing’s case was the most I could do.
But if it does act on its grudge.."
Dean Zhu Lao’s eyes shined with a fascinated glint as his smile widened with greed and anticipation.
"I will gladly handle the matter. You won’t have to do a thing, brother Li Kang," Dean Zhu Lao added.
"I better hope so, otherwise I will be forced to tell Sister Ling that you have returned to familiar ways. Who knows how long she’ll keep you locked up if she finds out," slowly said Li Kang, showing a bit of emotion on his face as his lips tugged slightly for a smile.
Zhu Lao instantly went pale as he hurriedly looked around, afraid that someone was there.
Seals and incantations flew out of his mouth and hands in rapid succession flooding the area within a ten-kilometer radius of him.
His actions drew a look of surprise from Li Kang as he raised one side of his brow.
"How afraid of her are you?"
Dean Zhu Lao didn’t respond as complex runes adopting the shape of auspicious beasts like the golden roc, the black tortoise, the vermilion bird, and the green kun flew from his mouth and fingers forming a ten-kilometer dome around him.
His demeanor was that of a tense person. Only after a few seconds had passed did some color return to his skin, as he sighed while his face and body relaxed before throwing Li Kang an angry look.
"Do that and I’ll tell Yu Hong to stop doing you favors," Dean Zhu Lao coldly said.
"Fine, you win," Li Kang said as he sighed, his response welcomed by a snort of disdain from Zhu Lao.
"But make sure you keep your word though. It may not have achieved chrysalis yet, so it is not a threat to any competent middle-stage domain expert. However, even as it is, with its abilities it can still cause a lot of damage to our various branches and facilities.
With what happened at the Deer Mountain Branch and the other countless waves and storms around, we at the administration department are struggling to stay afloat as it is,"
"Are things that dire?"
"It is not something that we didn’t expect, but it is nonetheless cumbersome to deal with especially with certain elements from the past resurfacing, adding to the chaos.
With the way things are going, we may have to pull the senior students to fill up the gaps but luckily we are not at that stage yet and the talented staff we have at the moment are adapting and thriving in the chaos buying us more time to breath, but just in case, the students still need to be prepared," Li Kang solemnly said.
"We will," Dean Zhu Lao said with an air of seriousness as an inscrutable glow flashed in his eyes.
The two stood there in silence before finally fading out of existence with none aware that two major figures of the Order had been there. One was a gifted genius in the dissection of cultivation arts earning him his post as the Dean of Cultivation Arts Study, while the other was the Assistant Chief Administrator of the Administration Hall, whose post could even be considered higher than Dean Zhu Lao’s as the former was above many and only below one person in the Administration Hall, the Chief Administrator, whose rank was equal to that of the Chief Justice, the Vice Heads, the Chancellor and the Chief Inquisitor.
The administration hall had two assistants, one was the Internal Affairs Assistant Chief Administrator, and the External Affairs Assistant Chief Administrator.
Li Kang was the external affairs Chief Administrator and he handled the management and functionality of all facilities that were outside of the headquarters. This meant things like the Gold Eagle Town, branches, mines, and other facilities that were under the control of the Order such as the merchant organization Yang Qing inherited to conduct his affairs with his intelligence organization. All of it fell under the docket of the External Affairs Department.
Because of how tumultuous the continent was, the department could only be handled by someone meticulous, talented, and powerful, with a far-sighted vision, of which Li Kang was all, in spades, as a soul formation expert and a lower spirit council member.
