Daily life of a cultivation judge
Chapter 1227 - 1227: The mastered, unwanted spell (1)

Gentle winds flowed from Yang Qing's position, spreading outward from the silver thread ball and drifting deeper into different parts of the gorge. Invisible silver threads rode along with the wind.

That wind carried the intent of both Yang Qing and the silver thread ball, the two working in tandem to retrace the pathways of the yin energies the ball had absorbed.

So far, Yang Qing had detected three types of yin qi. The first was baleful yin qi, which was expected given the location's proximity to the Wan Family's territory, an area filled with baleful sapphire mountains.

Other than the baleful yin qi, the remaining two types he had detected were cavern well yin qi and woody mist yin qi. Just like the first, it wasn't surprising to find them here either.

Cavern well yin qi and woody mist yin qi were among the most ubiquitous yin energies one could encounter. They could be found almost anywhere that had even a little vegetation and a water source, whether dried up or active.

As he slowly immersed himself deeper into the spell, Yang Qing began catching faint traces of other yin energies, so thin and elusive that they would have likely evaded the senses of most cultivators.

This was where his physique showed its strength. As long as any yin energy existed in the area, no matter how faint, he would be able to sense it.

He found two more types of yin qi, namely, spiritual jade yin qi, which was usually found around jadeite veins. Judging by how faint it was, the jadeite vein that had produced it was more than likely completely hollowed out and mined of all its contents, leaving the vein dry. The spiritual jade yin qi being produced was nothing more than a byproduct of whatever dredge was left behind.

Had it been anyone else but Yang Qing, they would have likely missed its presence altogether. Well, maybe Feng Xin could have sensed it, given that he possessed just as much sensitivity to yin energies as Yang Qing did, thanks to his Yin Frost Soul Peerless Jade Physique. Other than him, a domain expert— even one without any yin-related affinities—could likely sniff out the spiritual jade yin qi thanks to their powerful domain and the abilities that came with it.

As for the rest... unless they had stepped into the domain realm, they could forget about outperforming Yang Qing in this regard.

Aside from the spiritual jade yin qi, he also detected faint traces of heaven's blanket yin qi. This particular yin qi was produced between midnight and 3 a.m., when yin energy was most dominant and at its peak. It also went by other names like: zenith true yin qi or midnight yin qi

Heaven's blanket yin qi was considered to be in the top ten of yin qi, in terms of purity and also use. One would find great ease in cultivating yin-related techniques or soul arts when using midnight yin qi. They'd be getting twice the results with half the effort.

However, just like with nebulous yin qi, midnight yin qi had a shared weakness, and that was its frailty. Its strength and defining feature was its purity, and the moment any other energy mixed with it, it ceased to be midnight yin qi and became something else entirely.

This meant that for one to acquire true midnight yin qi, one had to do so during the narrow three-hour window between 12 and 3 a.m., when yin energy was at its absolute peak. Just like with nebulous yin qi, though the latter had an even stricter window, appearing only once or twice a year, while midnight yin qi could be harvested daily within that time window as long as the environment wasn't predominantly yang-based.

But after that window... things got trickier. Cavern well yin qi and woody mist yin qi were, in fact, tainted forms of midnight yin qi.

The traces Yang Qing had detected were genuine, untainted midnight yin qi—but they were far too faint to be of any real use, even for someone like him. Using it would be like trying to stave off two days of dehydration with a single drop of grass dew.

The faintness was to be expected. After all, it was just about two hours away from midday. The fact that there was even a trace of midnight yin qi was a testament to Yang Qing's ability, the cool, temperate environment of the gorge, and the midnight yin qi's own stubbornness to linger.

As time went on and Yang Qing gradually settled into the rhythm of things, his range began to extend, while his senses slowly permeated deeper into the gorge, where more types of yin qi began to reveal themselves. Most of them were remnant traces—evidence of what once was, like ruins that told stories of bygone powers.

Case and point was when Yang Qing detected black lotus yin qi, yet when he traced the energy to its source, all he found was a bare patch of cotton soil with only minute traces remaining. There was no black lotus to be found. It wasn't surprising, though. Given how precious it was, especially to soul cultivators, any black lotus, even a budding one, would have been scooped up the moment it appeared.

Besides black lotus yin qi, he also detected traces of death yin qi. Death yin qi was a byproduct of corpse yin qi—or more specifically, a refined version of it. Corpse yin qi that had been ground down by yang energy usually gave rise to death yin qi, assuming it wasn't completely eviscerated in the process.

Death yin qi was the distilled byproduct of that process. And because of the method through which it was formed, its purity stood on the same level as midnight yin qi.

In the cultivation world, it was considered taboo to use corpse yin qi for cultivation. Those who did were attacked on sight—and with good reason. Corpse yin qi was unstable as it was dangerous, both to those who wielded it and to those it was used against.

Because of that, most techniques requiring corpse yin qi were almost always nefarious in nature, either poisonous or corruptive. That was why injuries caused by corpse yin qi-related spells and techniques were so difficult to treat, and why those who cultivated with corpse yin qi were often unstable themselves. It was a double-edged sword.