The four incoming soul formation experts all had the same type of robe. It was a pure white robe that had the symbol of a small mountain embroidered on it. The mountain had dense white mist on it and the mist could even be seen moving within the mountain embroidery.
Yang Qing became a bit nervous when they showed up. From their robes he already knew they were from the Spirit Council just like the bare-feet lady, however, the ones present seemed to be of a higher station than her. Yang Qing made that distinction based on the mountain embroidery. It was present on the robes of the four newcomers but was absent in the lady with the white robe.
He was shocked when he saw the degree of familiarity Wu Ling, their Vice Chancellor, had with them as they communicated, whereas Assistant Director Jun Pei and the lady in white showed a hint of reservation.
The current display came as a shock to him since he always assumed when Vice Chancellor Wu Ling was part of the Spirit Council, he was part of the common council.
The Spirit Council was shrouded in mystery even to the members of the Order themselves. What was known was, aside from the elusive president, the Spirit Council held the highest authority in the whole Order, even higher than the individual three vice presidents combined, who were just as elusive as the president himself to Yang Qing since he had never seen either the president or the vice presidents. However, he did hear the Directors of various departments, the chief judge, and even the Chancellor of the institute do have regular meetups with them.
The Spirit Council was known to have two divisions within it; the common council and the high council.
Yang Qing's clearance level didn't allow him to learn more than that, but based on their titles he assumed the high council was of a higher level in comparison to their counterparts from the common council and he had assumed Vice Chancellor Wu Ling was from the common council before he joined the institute, but from their interaction, he had to reevaluate this happy go lucky Vice Chancellor of theirs.
Of the four Spirit Council members, one was an elderly female who looked to be in her mid-fifties. She had tied her hair in a simple bun and had greying hair accompanied by a stern-looking face. Yang Qing felt she gave the same vibe as Lei Weiyuan did. A stern supervisor who will ding you at every turn, even for the smallest of things.
Next to her were three elderly men. One had the looks of someone in their early forties and in terms of aesthetics, Yang Qing despite how much it pained him, had to admit his own inferiority. Even Xia Boqin who was thought to be the looker in their group would lose to the member of the Spirit Council and not only him, even the bare feet lady who Yang Qing stared at for a bit before he was warned, seem to lose a few points when she stood next to him.
"Did he eat the brilliant midnight jasper fruit?" Yang Qing wondered. The fruit in terms of grade could be considered an ascendant-grade tonic but when it came to costs, it could rival the price of a low-grade saint treasure. The reason for that was because of its beautification effect, which would make even the stars weep.
Yang Qing's jealous trait had kicked in without him knowing, which was why he struggled to believe that someone would look that good without 'foreign measures.'
Next to the middle-aged man who Yang Qing was still unreconciled if he was even born that way, was a short middle-aged man with a stocky build. Yang Qing couldn't stare at him for more than a minute because he felt a searing pain in his body every time he did so. It was like a scalding furnace that could refine the earth and the skies, was hidden within the body of that elder.
"Could he be the owner of that domain?" Yang Qing fearfully wondered as he recalled one of the fearsome domain manifestations he was exposed to when he had gone for Dean Zhu Lao's welcome ceremony.
When he went there, he got exposed to a few terrifying domains and one of them was a smelting furnace that looked like it was melting the skies and fashioning it into a weapon. He couldn't help but suspect that domain may belong to the short but stocky member of the spirit council.
The saint-grade treasure in the dark valley had stored almost all domains of every domain expert that has joined the Order since it was founded. Of the domains he saw that day, some may have belonged to present-day Soul formation realm experts.
"I wonder if the president's domain is recorded? It's bound to be a paragon domain," muttered Yang Qing as his eyes gleamed in excitement at the prospect of putting faces to the Domain manifestations he experienced that day.
Even though he still didn't know anything about the classification of domains other than what Lei Weiyuan told him that day, which was nothing other than the name Paragon domain. He nevertheless knew Paragon domains could be considered the purple core version of the domains based on the terrifying experience he and Mao Yunru got when they were exposed to them.
That day he was exposed to four of them; there was the sky-smelting furnace that he experienced on his way back after the party and there was the giant purple eye that had a swirling cosmos in it filled with stars, which he felt may have been the domain of their chief judge who didn't have pupils but instead had an iris that was filled with stars.
It was the other two, that he remained curious about. The massive book which produced a single syllable that made his head almost explode, and the mountain that was filled with swords and at the top of that mountain lay a single simple sword that seemed to use the whole mountain as its sheathe, and had a ribbon tied on its hilt with the words 'all are equal'. He couldn't help but wonder if their owners were present.
…
The last member of the spirit council looked to be the oldest. He looked to be in his late sixties. He had an average build and an average height and had this lighthearted aura to him that seemed to permeate everything he did, even walking. If one met him on the streets, they would mistake him for that friendly grandpa who liked sharing his stories with anyone who would be willing to listen.
Yang Qing froze when he saw that elderly man casually head in his direction with a friendly smile on his face. His body was mildly bent and he walked with one hand clasped behind his back while his other hand stroked his white beard.
"You must be Yang Qing, what a promising young kid…. How was the experience of using three saint-grade treasures?" asked the elderly man when he was just a few steps away.
Yang Qing was caught off-guard by the whole thing. He didn't know whether to greet him first, but he didn't know his name and their difference in stature made him a little nervous, especially when he got a glimpse of what it felt like to be an early-stage domain expert.
If an early-stage domain expert was that powerful what about a soul formation expert? By the looks of things, the elderly man before him was likely to be above the soul beginner stage and even the soul adept stage. He felt nothing more than an ant in front of him.
The suddenness of the moment left him flustered and he ended up blurting out the first thing that came to mind which was,
"It was awesome, I wish I could do it again."
Yang Qing's eyes widened at the end in shock at what he had just said.
"Pppfthahahhaha!!!!!!!…. well said, kid. If it wasn't due to their peculiar nature, I would be more than glad to help but alas they're sensitive but I see you seem to have struck a bond with Senior Green Cocoon, which in some regards is even better than keeping the three of them with you.
I wish you an amazing ceremony, Judge Yang Qing," said the elderly man as he turned back and headed to his seat. The platform had 17 stone seats. One was left for the prime figure of the ceremony, which in this case was Yang Qing, while the remaining 16 were left to the soul formation experts of the Order and special guests.
In all the graduations Yang Qing has been to, the number of soul formation experts present has never been more than 10, in any single time.
Yang Qing was left rooted on the spot and only came to himself when the elderly man added a few words.
"My name is Mo Ye, the Wing Vice-President," said the elderly man which sent waves of explosion in Yang Qing's mind.
"What's a vice president doing here? They don't even show up for promotion ceremonies into the domain courts…. Will I be safe?" Yang Qing was visibly terrified.
In his mind, there was no way someone of their rank would come out casually for a stroll, not unless there was something that prompted their presence. Yang Qing couldn't help but feel fearful. As of this moment, he even felt the three saint-grade artifacts may not be not enough for whatever worst-case scenario he envisioned in his mind.
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