Daily life of a cultivation judge
Chapter 1210 - 1210: Ancient spirit (2)

"Greetings, Senior Shuyuan. Pardon the intrusion, but Silver Talon Peak Master Luo Xuanji has tasked me to bring Judge Yang Qing from the Order here. He hopes to meet with Senior Xia Cangfu," Shen Mu solemnly explained, respectfully cupping his fists.

Seeing his demeanor, Yang Qing mirrored the gesture, cupping his fists both in greeting and as a sign of respect.

"Forgive this junior for his lack of manners and my untimely visit," Yang Qing said.

"You're a creator?" the elderly man asked, his tone tinged with interest and slight surprise, though the calm austerity in his voice masked most of it.

It took a moment for Yang Qing to register what he meant. "Yes, I am," he replied with a slight nod.

"What grade?"

"Middle-tier Blue Grade," Yang Qing answered, drawing an incredulous look from Shen Mu.

"Not bad," Senior Shuyuan calmly muttered, his hands clasped behind his back.

"I'll take you to him," said the old man. "They're your companions?" he asked, gesturing toward Bolin and Haishi with his calm gaze.

"They are."

"Very well. I'll bring them along too," Senior Shuyuan said as his attention drifted to the two spirit beasts. "In there, don't touch anything carelessly," he warned.

The two spirit beasts nodded their heads vehemently.

His form immediately transformed back into the parchment from earlier, which then released a white mist that swallowed Yang Qing and the two spirit beasts. A second later, they vanished into the clouds above, leaving Shen Mu behind, who sighed lightly as he made his way to a nearby mountain that housed several tea houses and restaurants.

Given how vast the sect was and the fact that its members rarely left its confines, certain regions within its territory functioned much like towns in the outside world. These areas had bustling environments filled with businesses such as tea houses and restaurants, usually run by disciples or tertiary members affiliated with the Right Silver Wing, which oversaw the sect's internal administration.

Such places helped break the tediousness of cultivation while at the same time helped the sect members interact with another and improve cohesion, otherwise given the scale of the sect, seclusion and other factors, the members may end up not knowing their own sect members outside of those they shared a peak or a master with So as mundane as these "towns" seemed, they played an essential role within the sect, so much so that the sect awarded merit points and even rewards to the most frequented establishments.

Shen Mu chose to wait for Yang Qing and the others at one such place, hoping a bit of rest would help settle his nerves after the day's surprising events. His master's potential romantic entanglement was certainly high on the list of unsettling revelations, but the biggest shock by far was Yang Qing.

Being a member of a sect like the Silver Crane Sect, and a chief disciple of one of its main peaks at that, gave Shen Mu confidence in his talent and abilities. He even believed that, were he in one of the holy lands, he would still be able to stand out.

He would be right in assuming so. A talent like his would definitely be appreciated, even in a holy land. Whether he would receive the same treatment or rank was another matter entirely.

Still, given his achievements, Shen Mu had confidence in his abilities. So when he was told he would be welcoming guests from the Order, a competitive spark within him had been quietly lit by the prospect of measuring his talents against someone from the Order.

He got his wish alright, but the results were far from what he'd hoped for.

He was hit with a twenty-year-old, third-stage Palace Realm expert, only the surprise didn't stop there. While he hadn't probed Yang Qing deeply, his experience as a peak Palace Realm expert—and as someone raised in an ancient sect like the Silver Crane Sect— gave him enough insight to recognize that Yang Qing wasn't a normal third-stage palace realm expert.

The feeling he got from him was eerily similar to certain two monsters of his generation. Said monsters were seeded legacy disciples of Silver Head Peak. Their talents were so overwhelming that they put other legacy disciples and chief disciples to shame. Even the current members of Silver Breath Peak, for all their brilliance, couldn't compare to those two.

And as someone who had regularly sparred and interacted with both of them, Shen Mu could say without hesitation or doubt, Yang Qing evoked the same aura that those two did.

But just when he thought that was all, another bombshell dropped. Yang Qing was not only far more talented than he was in cultivation, he was also a creator, and not just any creator, but one who had produced a middle-tier Blue Grade cultivation art.

How old was he?

As someone from a sect with ancient roots, while he may not be a creator himself, he definitely knew how difficult achieving such a feat was, especially at twenty years of age. Even the two monsters of Silver Head Peak could not compare. In terms of difficulty, it was much easier to become a twenty-year-old, third-stage Palace Realm expert with terrifying foundations than it was to create a Blue Grade cultivation art of any tier.

No wonder the administrator of Silver Breath Peak had come out to welcome him personally. The elder he called Senior Shuyuan, was the artifact spirit of a top-tier Ascendant Grade artifact. The artifact in question was the repository hall where the sect's main cultivation art had been created and later stored during its infancy. The repository formed a nascent spirit the day that art was created.

This meant that in terms of seniority, few within the sect could match him, not even the sect master. Shen Mu was unsure how long Shuyuan had existed, but rumor strongly suggested it was upward of one hundred thousand years.

Given his power, age, and cultural significance, Shuyuan was held in the highest regard within the sect, afforded the same respect as the sect master, perhaps even more. given that he was always consulted whenever a new sect master or elder was about to be chosen. Even Shen Mu's master, despite her testy personality, treated Senior Shuyuan with the utmost courtesy.

So him coming out to personally welcome a Palace Realm expert. and an outsider at that, was something Shen Mu hadn't expected, especially given Senior Shuyuan's position within the sect.

Yang Qing's identity as a cultivation art creator, however, provided an answer to that strange occurrence.

Senior Shuyuan cared for very little, but if there was one thing that captured his attention, it was cultivation arts. From their creation, learning, and deciphering, to the teaching of techniques—whether combat-based or utility—so long as it was a cultivation art, it would pique his interest. That obsession was the very reason he had anchored his main body within Silver Breath Peak.

Given his importance to the sect, it would have made sense for him to remain at Silver Head Peak. And for a time, he had been there. But when Silver Breath Peak began to rise in talents, Senior Shuyuan immediately relocated his main body, which was a three-story papyrus pavilion, and permanently anchored himself at Silver Breath Peak, becoming the peak's guardian spirit.

He was known for treating most sect members with calm indifference, but when it came to those from Silver Breath Peak, he was like a doting grandfather. A perfect example was how he treated Yang Qing and Shen Mu. One was an outsider, while the other was a prized disciple of the sect, and yet, from the way he interacted with them, one wouldn't be able to tell who was who.

One was acknowledged and engaged with, while the other was disregarded like a fly on the wall. Shen Mu hadn't even been given a glance, let alone a reply.

He sighed inwardly at the thought, but his expression quickly brightened as he remembered the red amber scholar jade box in his storage ring and its contents.

At least not everything had gone awry today.