Daily life of a cultivation judge
Chapter 1192 - 1192: Are you willing to trade?

"I really owe Fan Mei," Yang Qing whispered with a sigh, silently recording the favor he owed.

"I should send her different varieties before I leave," he added, toying with ideas of which tea flavors to send to Fan Mei. During his brief meditative seclusion at the nest, he had created a few batches, though 'create' in this sense was just him imbuing his spiritual qi and grounded leaves from the green flame tree into already brewed tea.

"If only Ol' Jiang were around," he muttered with a longing sigh, the image of the skilled tea maker from Thousands Flavors Restaurant floating into his mind. His masterclass oolong tea would have produced great results if paired with Yang Qing's spiritual qi and the grounded leaves from the green flame tree.

But alas, the tea maker was still in seclusion, attempting a breakthrough to the palace realm. Who knew how long that seclusion would take? When it came to a breakthrough, it wasn't just surviving the tribulation one had to account for, but also the time needed to stabilize one's realm and familiarize oneself with the newly gained abilities borne from the transformation brought about by the breakthrough.

Given the importance of stabilizing one's realm, it was a stage one couldn't afford to be careless with. Many even argued that stabilizing one's realm, in terms of degree of importance, was more crucial than even transcending the tribulation.

Yang Qing was part of the camp that agreed with that sentiment. To him, stabilizing one's realm properly and making use of all the advantages that came from a tribulation, such as the epiphanies and enlightenment it provided, was crucial. Those who made the most of those advantages were able to not only quickly stabilize their realms but even deepen them further, which would be of great help in paving their steps forward.

Most palace realm cultivators who stalled at the first or second stage of the palace realm, one would find that almost over half of them stalled out because they didn't give stabilizing their realms the apt care and attention it deserved, hence, in doing so, shortened their path ahead.

Yang Qing shook his head free of his wandering thoughts before finally deciding he would use the teas from the Celestial Soup Garden. Their teas were not at the level of Jiang Fu's teas—after all, the latter's love for brewing tea was so deep that he ended up establishing his dao path in brewing tea—but they were still good enough to work with, and luckily for Yang Qing, he had a few vats of their tea on hand.

Knowing he only had a few minutes to work with before Fan Mei brought Li Gang, Yang Qing quickly got to mixing his spiritual qi and the green flame tree's leaves into those batches. With a familiar, practiced ease, he quickly mixed up three vats, which he would add to the four he had already prepared at the nest, and hand them to Fan Mei when she came by.

It wasn't long after he finished the last batch that he heard a gentle knock on his door.

"Thank you, Fan Mei," Yang Qing immediately said upon opening the door, where he found his external logistics advisor standing outside, dressed in the familiar white and black robes of the administrators. Flanking her was a slightly slender man who looked to be in his mid-thirties.

He had a lean frame and wore immaculate dark blue robes. His long black hair was tied into a scholar's topknot with an amber ivory clasp inlaid with a blue crystal ice jade bead.

His appearance, though neat and meticulous, wasn't ostentatious. He carried a quiet grace and elegance that marked him as a person of importance, but not one who intimidated others. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Because of his bearing and the aura he exuded, he gave the impression of someone you could trust with your important affairs.

Just like how war veterans and old soldiers carried an aura about them from surviving countless battles, that man, too, had a similar aura. Albeit, his was of a different nature. It was not as bloodthirsty as that of war veterans, but it had that same hardiness to it.

"Judge Yang Qing, this is Branch Chief Li Gang," Fan Mei said, immediately beginning the introductions as they both crossed the threshold into Yang Qing's office. "And Branch Chief Li Gang, this is Judge Yang Qing," she added, gesturing to both parties.

"With that, I think my part in this is over. Sorry, Yang Qing, I can't stay long," she continued, flashing him an apologetic smile for her hasty exit.

"No, it's okay. I'm the one in your debt here," Yang Qing hurriedly said as he fished out the storage pouch containing the vats of tea he'd prepared, along with some snacks and incense sticks made from the branches of the green flame tree. He felt they did a better job at renewing the mind and soul than other incense sticks.

"I have a few items in there for you," Yang Qing said as he handed her the pouch.

Fan Mei smiled softly and nodded in appreciation for the gesture. She hadn't intended to look immediately, but curiosity got the better of her, and she peeked inside. Her eyes instantly lit up when she sensed the nature of its contents.

"Thank you, Yang," she said with a soft smile before giving her goodbyes and immediately leaving the office to begin her appraisal.

"Now then, Branch Chief Li Gang, would you like to have a seat?" Yang Qing said, turning to face the young branch chief as he made an inviting gesture toward one of the seats opposite the table he had been dining at moments earlier.

"Thank you," Li Gang said with a polite cup of his fist before making his way to the offered seat.

"Some tea?" Yang Qing asked as he made his way to the seat directly opposite.

"It would be impolite to refuse," Li Gang said. "And judging from the aroma, I would be crazy to refuse," he lightly added with a smile.

"Not to blow my own horn, but I think it may be one of the finest teas you've ever had," Yang Qing said with a light chuckle as he poured snow jujube tea for them both, along with producing a jar of osmanthus biscuits.

After the customary first sip of tea and a sampling of the biscuits, Yang Qing continued the conversation.

"Did Senior Dong Ping tell you why I asked for you?"

Li Gang placed his teacup down and answered, "He didn't tell me much, other than the fact that there is something important you needed from me."

Yang Qing nodded as his demeanor and gaze slowly turned serious.

"He is right," he said.

"I do need you for something," he admitted as he interlocked his fingers and leaned forward slightly.

"If it were any other time, I would have preferred to handle this better, go through the motions of negotiation, a little back and forth, but time is lacking at the moment. I'm afraid the only option available to me is to be direct," Yang Qing continued, as the atmosphere in the office grew solemn.

Li Gang, a seasoned merchant used to operating under all kinds of atmospheres, adapted accordingly.

"Please go on, Judge Yang Qing," he said.

Yang Qing nodded.

"There is an item you recently acquired," he said slowly. "The Heart-Quenching Mulberry Dew," he continued, immediately revealing the identity of the item.

Li Gang was slightly taken aback by Yang Qing's mention of the Heart-Quenching Mulberry Dew, given the lengths he had gone to in keeping all information about his possession of the item hidden. Which was to be expected, considering the temperature surrounding Vast Blue Merchant Company and the heated competition amongst its members for the successor's position.

If information got out that he had such a precious item in his possession, he had no doubt that all the other candidates would gang up against him. After all, he was one of the candidates favored to be the next successor, and an item like the Heart-Quenching Mulberry Dew would only serve to edge him closer toward that end.

After a brief moment of worry over how Yang Qing knew, a sense of calm quickly washed over him as he rationalized the matter. While he was capable of hiding it from his competitors, it was next to impossible to keep a secret from a behemoth like the Order.

What didn't they know? If they could dig out the locations of well-concealed secret bases of nefarious organizations, surely uncovering the secret dealings of a nobody like himself would be nothing to them.

Once his thoughts reached that point, he stopped fussing about it and even started growing excited, sensing the chance for a deal of a lifetime. While the Heart-Quenching Mulberry Dew could improve his odds of being chosen as one of the successors of the Vast Blue Merchant Company, gaining the favor of someone from the Order, and a judge, no less, was bound to make him a shoo-in for the position.

The merchant gears in Li Gang's mind quickly started spinning, thinking of how he could profit from the situation before he forcibly calmed himself. Given the disparity between the two sides—one being himself and the other being Yang Qing—he couldn't afford to be negligent or anxious. He couldn't afford to be the slightest bit careless.

He cleared his head and put his full focus on what Yang Qing wanted. As for what came after, he would only think about it then.

"There are two things I need to know regarding that item," Yang Qing began. "One is, how did you end up getting your hands on it? Did someone entrust or sell it to you? If so, who was it? Any and all information surrounding that deal would be important. The second is why you decided to use the Bluefin Spine-tailed Escort Agency, despite never having used its services before, and also, why the hurry?

Why let a quasi-palace stage cultivator handle the dew's transport, especially given its importance?" Yang Qing asked, as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"I know I'm putting you on the spot here, given the nature of my requests," he continued, his tone slowly mellowing.

"But it's information I urgently need at the moment, as it may help me with a case I'm working on," Yang Qing explained.

His expression softened, though it still bore traces of seriousness within his gaze as he said, "As such...

In exchange for that information, I'm willing to compensate you with something of equal value to the price of the request. Provided it's within reason, I'm willing to agree to any request you may have.

What do you say, Branch Chief Li Gang? Are you willing to trade with me?"