Daily life of a cultivation judge
Chapter 1220 - 1220: Leaving for azure sapphire kingdom (2)

As the discussions went deeper, Yang Qing went from active participant to active listener, with him soaking in all he could from the two experts before him.

The insights he gained proved to be invaluable, as some of his fragmented ideas became more tangible, while fresh new ideas and perspectives cropped up alongside them. He could feel his overall understanding of various spells and techniques improving significantly, but his greatest gain came with the Brilliant Ray Fist Art.

At some point in the discussion, Yang Qing had shared certain aspects of the technique, which surprised the two seniors, given how open he was about it. While he hadn't revealed the core elements, the parts he did disclose were, to domain experts like them, whose specialty lay in cultivation arts, more than enough to trace threads and extrapolate key functionalities of the technique.

Hence their surprise at his openness.

As for Yang Qing, he wasn't too bothered. True, he may have shared it in the heat of the moment, swept up in the flow of conversation, but even when the euphoria of the moment faded, he was sure he wouldn't regret it.

He strongly held to the hope of pushing his art to the very peak of cultivation arts. If he wanted the Brilliant Ray Fist Art to one day become a purple grade art, then he would need to do all manner of things to help it get there, one of which was seeking insight from others.

His own eyes and mind weren't enough. He needed others. And he'd be a fool not to take advantage of a moment like this, where he had the chance to pick the minds of seasoned seniors whose specialty and passion lay in dissecting everything and anything related to cultivation arts.

Who knew how many techniques had passed through their hands? How many arts they had created, completed, broken down, reformed, and elevated? Likely countless.

If the price of gaining their insight was sharing parts of his own art, then that was a trade he was willing to make, without a shred of hesitation.

After he explained his reasoning, the two seniors set aside their hesitation and began to share their insights freely.

Yang Qing didn't call them out on it, but with how easily they gave in, their earlier reluctance seemed to have only been for show, like someone being offered food at a friend's house, pretending they were slightly full, only to 'reluctantly' accept after a bit of back and forth… and then proceed to devour a mountain-sized portion of said food.

Seeing through them, which didn't even take much effort, Yang Qing served up his art, gaining valuable insights in return. The trade-off wasn't bad. In fact, the two seniors even reciprocated by sharing some of their personal arts they were working on, which benefited Yang Qing immensely.

The trio became so absorbed in their exchange that Yang Qing didn't even notice how quickly time slipped by.

The discussion might have gone on far longer than the three hours it already had, if not for the timely interruption of Hou Dehui and Peak Master Luo Xuanji, who passed by the peak. The inner court domain judge had come to say his goodbyes before he left for Golden Bamboo Pavilion headquarters.

Their arrival was what finally pulled the trio out of their deeply engrossed state. And though Yang Qing was reluctant to end it, he was secretly glad for the interruption, considering the long to-do list still waiting for him.

After making a promise to keep in touch with both seniors, especially Senior Shuyuan, who was adamant about it, much to Peak Master Luo Xuanji's surprise, Yang Qing departed with Hou Dehui, along with Haishi and Bolin in tow.

Not long after leaving the sect, and though it was a little out of his way, Hou Dehui dropped off Yang Qing and the two spirit beasts just outside the grounds of the Violet Feather Sword Sect before continuing on to Golden Bamboo Pavilion.

Floating a few thousand meters above the sect's guardian array, Yang Qing announced his presence, and the reply came swiftly, with the sect master personally emerging to welcome him.

Part of the reason for the swift response—and for the sect master personally leading the welcome entourage, aside from the weight of Yang Qing's identity, was the call Xia Cangfu had made ahead of time. Upon learning that Yang Qing was headed to the Violet Feather Sword Sect, he had asked them to extend the greatest courtesies and offer whatever assistance Yang Qing might require.

It spared Yang Qing the trouble of having to verify his identity, and more importantly, it allowed him to follow up on Bai Chen's matter without the usual delays or red tape.

When the sect master introduced himself, much to Yang Qing's surprise, he wasn't someone from the Ning family, as he had expected. Given that the Ning clan had fielded the most palace realm experts during the Xia clan incident, Yang Qing had assumed they would naturally occupy the sect master's seat.

But instead, the sect master was from the Lai family, and not just that, he was a fifth-stage palace realm expert.

It was surprising to Yang Qing, given that from Xia Fang's account, it didn't seem like they even had a palace realm expert. He'd assumed they had been in the same situation as the Xia clan, where they had a lot of core formation experts but no palace realm expert.

Perhaps the Lai family was the true sleeping dragon among the four retainer clans.

Aside from the slight surprise, Yang Qing couldn't help but feel thankful for his lineage, as the Sect master being from the Lai family made things easier. Given that they had planted one of their members next to Xia Fang, the same member that she had been desperately looking for that she ended up causing an incident in Bluefin Escort Agency, there was a chance they'd know where that clan member was.

And if they didn't, then it more or less confirmed his suspicions that they were not involved in the kidnapping of Bai Chen, his disciple, and their ferry along with everyone on board.

Yang Qing was still of the mind that Lai Hu, the person Xia Fang was desperately looking for, likely hadn't been caught up in the kidnapping, and had just disappeared on her after he got what he wanted, which Yang Qing guessed was the coordinates to the abode in Banyan Battlefield.

Luckily for him, the person who could confirm all that was standing before him.

Without wasting any time, Yang Qing broached the matter with the sect master, and his response was as expected. Lai Hu wasn't missing, but was instead already back in the sect, and in seclusion, preparing for his breakthrough to the palace realm.

After a bit of coercion, the sect master admitted to ransacking said abode of all its contents. If Xia Fang went there, she'd find nothing but an empty abode.

However, while they may have stripped that abode in Banyan Battlefield clean and played Xia Fang like a fiddle, what they did not do was kidnap Bai Chen or the ferry.

Given how the sect master vehemently denied the charge, even offering to swear by the heavenly dao, Yang Qing was inclined to believe the man.

So after getting what he came for, Yang Qing swiftly left for the Azure Sapphire Kingdom.