Daily life of a cultivation judge-Chapter 939: The abode of parasites

Back at his abode, Yang Qing found Ma Yuan absent Ma Ling, whose absence was because she had reached a critical stage in her treatment. The memory gu’s effect not only on her memory but also on her soul had been completely removed and healed, especially its contamination on her soul.

Memory gu like most gus was highly toxic, and while the Ice emerald sect had contained the venom, Ma Ling’s soul still had traces of contamination because of how long she had the gu in her and also how low her cultivation base had been when she had it placed in her. In the short term, it wouldn’t have had that much of a detrimental effect, especially when one considered the cultivation art she practiced was of a cold-yin nature that was effective when handling toxic substances.

However, if left unattended, the poison would have sipped deep into her soul, and removing it would have proved impossible. And as to the effects, if it did, it was a roll of the dice whether that would be a good thing or bad.

On the pro side, Ma Ling could have gained immunity to certain toxins and miasma, but on the con side of things, her soul would have become impure and deformed, affecting her chances of breaking through to the other realms, especially when it came to facing tribulations.

Breakthrough tribulations be it in the foundation establishment realm, core formation realm, or the palace realm, were especially nasty to someone with some ’flaw’ in them, and Ma Ling’s soul, because of the gu poison, had a flaw in hers.

Luckily, her stay at the Medical Valley wasn’t wasted. The particular flaw was completely removed and with it, the memories that had been suppressed started flowing out like a dammed river that had just been unclogged.

With her memories suddenly flooding back, she had to be kept in isolation and closely monitored and those memories controlled in a trickle-like flow so they don’t break her mind, making the phase extremely crucial and dangerous.

To prevent any mishap, she was in induced meditation, with all her other senses shut out, and this has been going on for the past four days, which meant Ma Yuan couldn’t interact with her as they did whenever he went to visit her, or whenever she came by to see him work in Yang Qing’s abode.

Having gotten used to having her around, even though he tried to hide it, Yang Qing could tell he was slightly sad about it, and worried too, because of the crucial juncture of the treatment his daughter was in, which in turn he responded by immersing himself to work and cultivation.

Whenever he was not caring for the new inductees into Yang Qing’s abode, he would be training in the cultivation art Yang Qing had handed to him, the mortal’s path to transcendence, and whenever he was not doing that, he would be swimming in concoctions, continuously prodded and experimented on by some old geezers of which the prime geezer of the group bore some faint resemblance to Yang Qing.

Yang Qing couldn’t help but sigh as he felt a migraine hitting him at the sight of Ellie. Ellie was currently using one of her wings to point at one of the fruit trees, bringing it to the attention of Ma Yuan. She had this excitement and enthusiasm about her.

She was not the most reliable, especially with her ill manners, she was always guaranteed to stir up something, but she did have her moments in which she showed a rare air of competence and that was only when food was involved, a trait she had picked from her parents in Yang Qing, Feng Xin, and Yi Jie. Yi Jie may not have been a glutton for food like Yang Qing and Feng Xin were, but his obsession with making wine was nearly the same.

Ellie developed an eye for quality ingredients by hanging out with him, especially when said ingredients could be eaten. I.e. fruits and even parts of spirit beasts and just like the rest, she steals from him too.

Right now she was using her squeaks, and parts of her body to inform Ma Yuan of the various things that needed his attention. This went from the vermilion flame grapes to the spring scent mangoes, to the crystal barked apricot tree from which the lunar bees had built their hive at and was already ripe with honeycombs.

Ellie could sniff out the essence of their flavors and could tell if they were slightly lacking. Its guidance was for Ma Yuan to shore up those slight deficiencies. It was especially adamant when it came to the plants that were around the new pond Yang Qing had added to the place to accommodate more of Ma Yuan’s ideas.

He had a variety of fish in there, along with new plants to ensure their flavors and quality were up to par. Ellie’s attention was on those plants. The sage anacharis stream, the emerald duckweed essence, the serpent hornwort spirals, and the verdant watercress haven. They were all top-tier plants whose greatest value was in being the best feed for fish.

Yang Qing had traded a few favors to get them, of which he would be paying back one of those favors tomorrow.

Though Ma Yuan didn’t speak kite, he did understand Ellie perfectly, after all, they had been communicating that way for a few weeks now. When it started, he had mistaken Ellie’s actions for her wanting some of those fruits, honey, or plants thereof. He only realized it wasn’t when Ellie smacked him in the head with one of the fruits with a look that seemed to suggest her disbelief at somehow could be so dense.

Whatever pride Ma Yuan had left was shattered that day. He could never forget that look which was what spurred him on to read deeper into Ellie’s actions and that was when he discovered it, the negligible flaws he had overlooked.

Yang Qing’s abode was a natural haven for life and all the plants around could have grown decently without any care with some even growing to their best quality, but not all.

As with all things, no matter how rich the area was, competition amongst them would still be there which would affect the quality, along with other factors. Ma Yuan’s main job was to address those factors and ensure a balance was achieved but with the quality he was working with, some things slipped through, as it was his first time dealing with certain plants and insects. They were demanding as they were precious. If he wasn’t doing it in Yang Qing’s place which gave him a huge advantage, the amount of failures he would have seen would have been numerous, unlike the scant few that he managed to spot thanks to Ellie’s keenness.

"He is completely under her talons," murmured Yang Qing with a sympathetic sigh as he watched the earnest look of gratitude Ma Yuan had plastered on his face, as he moved around correcting the ’mistakes’ Ellie had spotted, completely oblivious to the bird’s true nature.

To Ma Yuan, Ellie was a noble spiritual beast who protected him when he was attacked by the starlight crab and was even now helping him refine his talents as an herbologist. He had nothing but admiration for Ellie, an aspect Ellie will no doubt exploit to the fullest.

Ma Yuan was her laborer, it was just that he wasn’t aware of it yet, and Yang Qing wasn’t about to break that bubble. He didn’t have the strength to, especially when he realized what his current social circle looked like. It left him with despair.

"Speak of the devil," Yang Qing murmured with an exasperated sigh as his attention shifted from Ellie to the rotund object radiating with colorful light that fell from the top of the green flame tree to where Ma Yuan and Ellie had been standing.

Despite falling from a tree that was at least fifty meters tall, the rotund object fell with grace, even as it bounced off the ground on impact, no blades of grass were twisted, no soil became unsettled, the whole fall was cushioned with splendor like the ground was welcoming its emperor.

The rotund object moved slightly and a face appeared, a bird’s face whose eyes radiated with unfathomable wisdom, and whose presence was heavenly, especially those feathers that gleamed with countless lights that shone with the radiance of the stars and the mystery of the heavens, striking awe to all who gazed upon it.

With the presence it had, almost anyone who saw it for the first time would dub it ’ the emperor of all birds’ and with how it looked, it wouldn’t be a stretch for one to call it so, especially if one considered its lineage.

Yang Qing had been one of those people, the day he saw it hatch. He couldn’t help but smile bitterly at his naivety from back then and the disappointment he currently lived in.

The bird before him may look like the emperor of birds, but he knew all too well that the apt description for it was "the scumbag of all birds"

Ma Yuan on seeing the bird, bowed slightly, while Ellie squeaked threateningly. Both were ignored by the bird as its sole attention was on Yang Qing, disdain, and disappointment in its eyes.

"Here I thought the Order had grown some sense and decided to imprison you or better yet work you to death indefinitely," it said, its voice just as graceful and majestic as its presence.

"And here I thought I’d find you have choked on one of your feathers.." Yang Qing replied as the man and bird stared coldly at each other.

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Ma Yuan having already experienced the interaction a couple of times, stealthily walked off, while Ellie threw a few threatening glances at the bird before pulling Ma Yuan to different areas that needed attention.

"The nest needs.."

The bird had only opened its beak when Yang Qing flew over kicking it in the stomach.

"You bastard, you hope for my imprisonment and you still have the cheek to ask for resources. Why don’t you use the resources the Order gives you for informing on me to them? What did they give you this time?" Yang Qing said as he threw a barrage of fists at the bird, which also started retaliating as it pecked at Yang Qing at a speed that betrayed its body.

"What do you care?" the bird asked in between its attacks.

"You still benefit from it like the parasite you are," it venomously added.

"Parasite?!" Yang Qing said, clearly incensed by the remark.

"I’ll show you parasite," he added as he increased the intensity of his punches moving even to kicks to which the bird retaliated in kind as it began using its talons.

The duo turned into streaks of blurs as they crisscrossed throughout the abode trading blows, which though powerful, oddly enough was contained within the sphere of contact, with no outflow which left the surroundings completely unharmed. It was a testament to the duo’s fine control of their power.

Ellie looked at them shaking her head showing a human-like look of disappointment as she thought to herself.

"I am the only sensible one here. I better not see both of you parasites eyeing the fruits of my labor, but just in case I will have to convert this human to my side completely," thought Ellie as a scheming glint flashed in her eyes as her gaze fell on the oblivious Ma Yuan who smiled awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Did I miss something, master Ellie?"

"It won’t take much," she smugly thought as she feigned the look of a master like she had seen Yang Qing do a million times, as she used one of her wings to point at the swan lake guava tree.