"By the way before that, Yu Gen, Xia Ting, did you try to sneak in there?" asked Dai Chen.
"We did, but we only managed to penetrate the outer periphery of the sect, the core areas had a much more powerful array guarding it.
Any interference on our part and we risked alarming them.." answered Yu Gen.
"I guess the part you had access to, didn't reveal much.." said Mo Liwei.
"What is it Xia Ting?" asked Yang Qing when he noticed the slightly hesitant look on the gluttonous thick-skinned soup fanatic.
From their brief interaction over the last couple of days, he didn't peg her for the reserved type. She was the kind to speak her true thoughts before even thinking about them, but he still wasn't sure if it was her true character or another one of their masks.
"I may be off but I felt something dangerous and ominous coming from the core region of the sect. It was only for a quick second and then went back to normal.
I could be off about it since it isn't the first time I have gotten such a sensation wrong with the nature of our work we spend so much time being hyper-alert and anticipating attacks that it sometimes warps our senses after doing it for so long.
I may have been overly sensitive, especially with the information we dug about them weighing over my head, it may have influenced my senses for a second.." answered Xia Ting.
Even though she said that, her facial expressions showed she truly believed what she sensed even if it was just for a brief second.
"Yu Gen, you were with her at the time, did you get the same feeling as her?" asked We Ying.
"I did not, though that doesn't mean her judgment may be wrong on what she sensed.."
"Occasionally there have been moments when one of us has sensed something the other hasn't, and what we sensed ended up being a tangible threat.." Yu Gen added after a pause.
"As per the records we have, the person with the highest cultivation base from the sect should be Zhao Ju, the current sect master, and she should be at the third stage of the palace realm.
How recent was this assessment?" asked Mo Liwei.
"As per what we have, the report is about 10 years old," answered Yu Gen.
"I assume you already checked in with the Shadow Hawks?"
"We did, and while they did do an evaluation about 4 years ago, the findings from 10 years ago are still the same.
They have seven palace realm experts and the person with the highest cultivation base still remains Zhao Ju, at the third stage of the palace realm..."
Yu Gen's answer drew contemplative looks from the five judges. They could now understand why Xia Tign was hesitant and doubtful about the feeling she got.
Both Yu Gen and Xia Ting were at the third stage and second stage of the palace realm respectively.
If the person with the highest cultivation base in the Ice Emerald Sect was at the third stage, that was insufficient to make Xia Ting classify the feeling as dangerous.
The one minor level gap between the two was insufficient to threaten her. When it came to a fight between the two, the odds were even in Xia Ting's favor.
While level skipping fights got harder the higher up the cultivation realms one moved, the degree of difficulty only became prevalent in the domain realm where the gulf between the first and the third stage was so huge that a third-stage domain expert could effortlessly defeat a first stage domain expert with half his energy left to spare.
However, even with the strictness of the domain realm, there were exceptions that were brought about by the quality of the domain, which was why someone like Meng Chao who was at the eighth stage of the domain realm during the besiegement of the Crystal Jade Palm Sect, was able to witness the whole fight a fair distance away, when other domain experts were afraid of being swallowed in the aftermath of the attacks of the fight.
Quality always helped to a point, especially when the quality was extremely superior which was why Yang Qing could wallop the three palace realm experts, and the same could be expected of Xia Ting who would have been given the best training and the toughest at that as a roaming inquisitor.
As long as the opponent was within the first four stages of the palace realm, also known as the early stage, she should be able to handle her own against someone at the fourth stage. The same was expected of Yang Qing and the rest.
As long as it wasn't someone from the Order with similar foundations or some legacy disciple from the top tier rank 1 organizations and holy lands, they should be able to guarantee their lives against anyone within the same stage. It was par for the course, so Xia Ting saying she felt a dangerous threat from the Ice Emerald Sect, was highly suspect considering the strength of the sect in comparison to her, and there was also the fact that Yu Gen didn't sense anything.
Yang Qing's eyes flashed with a thought as his gaze alternated between Yu Gen and Xia Ting.
"Senior Gen, Senior Ting, there is something I'd like to ask if you don't mind?"
"What is it?" asked Yu Gen with a curious gaze.
"Do the two of you have natural alignments to certain elements, if so, which?" asked Yang Qing.
"Though you can decide against answering, it's okay.." added Yang Qing with a light smile.
Even though they were from the same organization, Yang Qing was cautious in the question he asked, since what he was asking touched upon things that could be termed as a cultivator's secrets and arsenal.
The rules of the cultivation world still needed to be observed within the walls of the Order. As cultivators, they kept certain things to themselves such as their trump cards.
The question Yang Qing asked could very well be misconstrued as him searching for their weakness or looking for clues to their trump cards which was why he opted to ask for natural affinity rather than outright ask if they had special physiques.
His relationship with them was still new, unlike the one he had with his team or with Dai Chen and the rest where they basically dissected each others' special physiques and moves. Caution and respect for bounds had to be observed.
"What are you being all wishy-washy for? We already shared soup, in my book we already have a bond..." Xia Ting said as a greedy glint flashed in her eyes.
"I'm attuned to fire, and his is water.." she added.
"It' s as she has said, no need to be reserved.." said Yu Gen with a smile.
"Thank you for your trust, seniors.."
"No problem, though why did you ask that?"
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