Daily life of a cultivation judge
Chapter 1203 - 1203: I can take you there (2)

"Mmh... Silver Crane Sect..." Hou Dehui hummed with a nod. "One of their elders is a close friend of mine. We can go now. I'll appraise them on our way," he added.

"Is t-that okay?" Yang Qing asked hesitantly. "We can wait an hour or more for you to give prior notice before we leave," he offered.

"Don't worry about that. Like I said, we're friends," Hou Dehui said with a light laugh. "Besides, she does the same too... showing up unannounced at my workplace. About time I reciprocated," he added cheekily.

With the assurance given, Yang Qing didn't waste time on more words and simply thanked Hou Dehui for his assistance and for taking time out of his day to help.

Hou Dehui waved it off. "Don't worry. Besides, it's not entirely out of my way. I was already planning to pay our friends at the Golden Bamboo Pavilion a visit one of these fine days. Your request just gave me the impetus I needed to actually follow through on the intent."

"Isn't it a few months off from your scheduled visit?" Yang Qing asked with a puzzled look, doing a quick mental calculation of when Hou Dehui was supposed to visit the Golden Bamboo Headquarters.

The visit was to ensure they were keeping their end of the bargain in helping Jiang Huang, the supreme elder of the Azure Rain Sword Sect, who had sustained a soul injury when Lin Duyi, son of founder Lin Guiren, had forcibly taken his sword, whose natal spirit had already bonded with him.

That separation left the supreme elder with an injured soul. In his ruling, in addition to returning his sword to him, Yang Qing also had the Golden Bamboo Pavilion heal the damage done to his soul. In exchange, Yang Qing wouldn't challenge Lin Duyi to a life-and-death duel because of his attempted kidnapping of Ellie during his time in Red Maple Empire.

Given the stakes, the pavilion agreed, and Hou Dehui volunteered to monitor the progress himself a year later. Going by the count since the case was concluded and the appointed visit, there were still eight more months left before the scheduled check. Unless... Hou Dehui had other ideas in mind, which, judging by his scheming smile, he clearly did.

"It is," Hou Dehui casually answered in response to Yang Qing's question. "But don't you think an unscheduled visit will keep them more honest?" he added, wearing a conspiratorial smile.

"Besides, I'm about to head into seclusion in a few months, so I may not be around to do it later. Better to do it earlier and keep them on their toes to ensure everything goes as agreed," he continued. His casual tone dimmed slightly, replaced by a faint seriousness, before his easygoing demeanor returned again.

"So, shall we leave, or do you have some preparations to complete? I don't mind waiting."

Yang Qing shook his head. "No, we can leave immediately. I've prepared all I need."

"Good," Hou Dehui said, casually waving his sleeve. Yang Qing, Bolin, and Haishi were sucked into his sleeve and reappeared in what Yang Qing liked to call a domain bubble, given how it looked.

It was just that, a bubble, though it had an ethereal quality that set it apart from a normal one. Since it wasn't his first time inside one, Yang Qing wasn't all that surprised when he got sucked in. The same couldn't be said for his companions, who both had exaggerated reactions that landed on opposite extremes of fear.

Bolin had immediately released his poisonous fog, which was instantly neutralized, not by Yang Qing, though he easily could have, but by the bubble's own mechanisms.

Haishi, on the other hand, clung tightly to Yang Qing's back, cutting a sorry sight given the disparity in their sizes. Yang Qing's height barely reached halfway up one of her limbs, and in terms of even girth, he could barely match those limbs. So her trying to use his back as cover made for a bizarre scene. One could have easily mistaken her for a predator about to devour Yang Qing, if not for her head nervously darting in every direction and her trembling body.

"Relax, this bubble is for protection while we travel," Yang Qing said casually, as he pried Haishi's limbs off his shoulders. Though she had him beat in size, she was nowhere close in strength. He effortlessly removed her despite her complaints and pleading, then pulled out a jar of wine and decided to enjoy the sights, at least, what little he could catch.

The scenery kept changing too rapidly for him to process, and he only managed to catch the rough outlines of a few places. He couldn't help but feel it was a pity, after all, it wasn't every day one got to sightsee the world from the comfort of a domain bubble. But ultimately, he didn't feel too bad about it since the tradeoff for missing the views was reaching his destination quickly and safely at that.

After about half an hour, Hou Dehui's voice rang out within the bubble."We're there."

"Already?!" Yang Qing asked, looking gobsmacked as he did. Had he traveled alone, he estimated it would have taken about thirteen hours, and that was with him flying at his highest speed without breaks.

So when Hou Dehui offered to take them, Yang Qing expected a significant time reduction, given the abilities of a domain expert. He figured it might take around three hours, which was nowhere close to the thirty minutes it had taken.

That time frame was both sobering and terrifying, offering yet another sharp reminder of how fearsome domain experts truly were.

Given the speed Hou Dehui had displayed, if someone of that level were after him, forget him surviving even just a single one of their casual attacks, could he even run away?

That frightening thought was soon followed by a sigh, as Yang Qing reminded himself to take things one day at a time. He might not be able to reach that level now, but in time, as long as he kept going, he would get there.

As his fear drifted away, Hou Dehui dispelled the domain bubble, letting Yang Qing and the rest float in the air by themselves… well, two of them. Bolin wasn't yet in the palace realm, so he could only rely on Haishi to keep them afloat, who seemed to have a hard job at it given how stiffly her wings moved from being afraid as she snuck glances at Hou Dehui.

Hou Dehui, meanwhile, seemed to be waiting for someone or something, his eyes trained on the region north of them.

The area he was looking at was a valley with a few trees, a small river, and a lot of shrubs and grass, with nothing else in sight or noteworthy. But given how intently Hou Dehui was staring at it, Yang Qing guessed that the entrance of the Silver Crane Sect was likely to be there.

Seconds later, his guess was proved to be true as golden light immediately appeared from that direction, rapidly heading toward them.

It had been a dot at first, but within seconds of reaching Yang Qing and the rest, it had transformed from a golden dot to the figure of a person.

The person in question was a man who looked to be in his mid-thirties, clad in a crisp light grey robe that had a flying silver crane on the chest. He had dark hair tied in a loose half-tail, with his hair reaching his shoulders. His features were sharp, as he carried a graceful and composed aura about him.

"Greetings fellow Daoists, my name is Shen Mu, and I welcome you to the Silver Crane Sect," the man said as he respectfully cupped his fists toward them.

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