"That thing must really be something for it to need 11 mountains and En Sang's blood essence just to seal it."
Vice Warden Shao An's eyes turned into a golden flame with while his pupils morphed into the shape of a tree. A few minutes later he sighed and went back to lounging under the tree, as he read some booklet he had.
…
Yang Qing didn't spend too much time with the three elders of the judicial committee when he came out. He exchanged a few words with them, one of which was he will send his decision of the seven inmates he would be supervising to Vice Warden Shao An through them.
After the experience he just had, the less interaction he had with the place the better. It was better and safer to use the Judicial Committee as the go-between.
Once he was done, he made his way to his abode but not before informing both Zheng Hu and Ma Yuan to meet up with the two roaming inquisitors attached to him; Xia Ting and Yu Gen. He needed to get the case going which he hoped would have made some major headway in the coming week or so before he got swamped in his other cases.
Ma Yuan tried to act composed and not impatient but Yang Qing could tell underneath he was as anxious as any man who lost his wife and daughter could be. In fact, one could argue Ma Yuan was even more nervous from the moment Yang Qing took over the case.
While finally there was a glimmer of hope that he may be able to find his wife and daughter, a newfound fear cropped up from that possibility and that fear was what would be the status of his wife and daughter when they were found?
Would they be alive? What would be their condition in case they were found alive?
The cultivation world was ruthless as it came, it didn't matter whether you were a man, woman, child, or an elder with one foot in the grave, as long as you were weak you were subject to the grim realities of the underside of the cultivation world where the strong preyed on the weak.
When Ma Yuan had little to no hope of finding them and was wishing for his death, the one positive thing he had which was more wishful thinking than anything else, was they were alive and well. But now with the Order's help and all these grounds they had started making in just a few days, he now had to face the realities of what would he find at the other end of that venture.
As an orphan and a rogue cultivator, he knew how bad it could get which was why even though he seemed ecstatic when Yang Qing told him about the progress and having more hands on the case, he couldn't hide the fear in his eyes from Yang Qing.
Yang Qing sympathized with him but he knew not knowing would be a far worse fate for Ma Yuan. That torment made Ma Yuan want to take his life in the most painful way possible and had Yang Qing not been around, Ma Yuan may have very well succeeded in his endeavor.
Yang Qing left the preliminary investigation to the roaming inquisitors and Zheng Hu could assist where possible even if he was in the core formation and the case more than likely involved someone in the quasi-palace realm or the palace realm.
With how much information they had to sift through, every help would be needed, which was why Yang Qing even contemplated having certain aspects of the case on commission for an outside contract in case the Wind Gliding Mercenaries failed to come up with anything in the coming week.
After Yang Qing was sure he had handled everything i.e. the things that concerned Ma Yuan's case and the things for his induction, he left for his abode to prepare for the entrance examination that would be starting in just two days. He had today and tomorrow to ensure everything was in place.
With how desperate the Order was for talent and manpower, the entrance examination for new recruits was much more serious than other organizations and Yang Qing's role as the chief examiner this time was likely to be closely monitored.
If he did a good job, he was likely to get rewarded with merit points and other tangible benefits, but if he messed it up, he had no doubt the Order with all its creativity would find a way to make sure he would pay dearly for it. He didn't want that to happen which was why despite how much it pained him, he decided to ask for help from the one person he never wanted to.
…
"You sure kept me waiting a while, o' mighty palace court judge."
Yang Qing immediately had veins throbbing on his forehead when he heard those words and the mocking look of the person saying them.
"Huilang can you not eat my food and mock me at the same time?" said Yang Qing in exasperation as he pushed Kang Huilang's feet off his table.
"You're the one who called me. So, what is it?" asked Kang Huilang as he returned his feet back up the table.
Yang Qing exhaled in defeat and went to take a seat opposite him and took out a worn-out bamboo scroll from his storage ring.
Kang Huilang who was nonchalant before with a lazy look leaned forward to the scroll with interest in his eyes.
Yang Qing proceeded to unroll it over the table revealing all its contents, though with how aged it was, almost half of it was illegible, however, there was one part that was clearer than all the other texts and images. It was the cursive title at the top of the scroll.
It had the name '108 Steps of the autumn leaves.'
"Where did you get this?" asked Kang Huilang as he traced through some of the texts with his fingers.
"I got it from hall master Ren Xin of the Rapids spear hall."
Kang Huilang who was about to be enthralled by the scroll, flinched as an angry look appeared on his face.
"Don't think I don't know it was you who goaded that she-devil Wei Liling to attack me," Kang Huilang angrily said.
"You know she would have attacked you regardless of what I said, especially after what happened in your duel last time," answered Yang Qing unperturbed by Kang Huilang's angry glare.
"So, what do you need from me? It can't be to help you complete this art, you're better at that sort of thing than me and if you needed help, Boqin would have been a better choice than me," Kang Huilang curiously asked as his attention was drawn back to the contents of the bamboo scroll.
"Ordinarily, yes, I'd ask Boqin for help if I needed it, but right now I need your particular expertise. I'll be the chief examiner for this year's entrance examination for the institute and as such I need to make sure it's prepared thoroughly and one of the ways is through this cultivation art.
I think you may have noticed already, that this art has a rather in-depth layout towards laying down fundamentals however those fundamentals are built for those already in the qi refinement realm, and even for them it only becomes relevant to those in the late stages, preparing for their journey into the foundation establishment realm.
But the problem is the bulk of those coming for the test will have no cultivation, or will be in the body refinement realm or the early stages of the qi refinement. While there will still be a lot of them in the late stages, their numbers pale in comparison to those in the body refinement or the early stages.
I need help in refining the cultivation art so it can be usable with those groups. The first part of the art is still intact, which we can use as a basis to create something simple and usable by those without a cultivation base or in the body refining realm and the early stages of the qi refinement.
With the short amount of time I have, I'll need your help with the combat arts attached to the art while I focus on the art as a whole," said Yang Qing.
The 108 steps of the autumn leaves was an incomplete gold-grade cultivation art he had received from the hall master of the One thousand hall battle palace.
The art seemed to have been created with the sole purpose of reinforcing the cultivation base of the practitioner by solidifying their fundamentals at each stage from the late stage of the qi refinement realm to the foundation establishment realm. The legible part of the technique had reached the peak of the core formation realm, while from the palace realm going forward was incomplete.
It not only helped the user improve their cultivation realm but it also touched on different combat arts that were integrated into the art to help with its purpose of solidifying the fundamentals.
It had palm arts, fist arts, saber arts, sword arts, spear arts, and movement arts attached to it. However, these arts were created for someone in the late stages of the qi refinement realm, any one weaker would struggle to execute them, thus Yang Qing had to modify them along with modifying the entire cultivation art for those weaker than its minimum requirement.
Tackling the combat aspect and the cultivation art would require some effort and time which he didn't have, therefore enlisting the services of a combat monster with already three different types of intents and an aptitude for every weapon, was the next best option. Kang Huilang, just like him, had a peerless jade physique. His was the Harmonious cataclysmic jade bones, which gave him an unnatural aptitude towards combat sense and attunement of different combat arts.
With his help, they would be able to complete everything in time, and one part of his preparation would be done.
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