Daily life of a cultivation judge-Chapter 1083: What if it ends up like last time?
After obtaining the information he needed from the administrator, Yang Qing prepared to leave—but not before making one final request. He asked for one of the Silver Guards to keep a close watch on the Bluefin Spine-tailed Swift Escort Agency's building, in case incidents similar to Ming Wa's occurred again, where people showed up to lodge complaints about missing goods or loved ones.
Given his involvement, Yang Qing specifically instructed them to notify him immediately if any disturbances arose, no matter how minor.
With everything seemingly in place, Yang Qing finally left the administrative building and headed toward the town's outskirts. However, just as he was about to leave, an inexplicable tug of hesitation held him back.
After silently debating with himself for nearly a minute, he turned toward Ming Wa. The sudden movement made her visibly tense, no doubt fearing he was about to press her for answers she wasn't ready to share.
"There's somewhere I need to stop by first," Yang Qing said gently. "It won't take long. Could you wait here? I'll come get you when I'm done. Five minutes—no more," he added, nodding toward the administrative building's entrance gates.
Ming Wa's shoulders relaxed as visible relief washed over her. Whatever she had feared, it clearly hadn't come to pass. She gave a quick nod and moved toward a shaded spot near the building, settling beside a dragonscale fir tree that grew near the wall.
The tree wasn't exactly the prettiest thing to look at, whether it was the hardy bark that twisted and knotted to resemble dragon scales or the grey leaves that made them look like metal sheets that had been beaten down by the endless sun. Yet, Ming Wa upon reaching it, breathed in with contentment as she went behind its stem and hid behind its massive girth and frame.
Yang Qing couldn't help but shake his head and smile when he saw her actions. Dragonscale Fir trees were not the most aesthetically pleasing trees to look at, which was rather bizarre given their innate qualities and grades. Like the ones growing within the Administration compound were all in the middle stages of the monarch grade.
Had they been allowed to develop and retain their spiritual awareness they would have been in the middle stages of the palace realm. But they had not because they had been refined by the Order into formation flags for their arrays.
When spiritual plants or treasures reached a certain standard—say, the monarch grade—they were almost always expected to exude a charm that made them captivating, even mesmerizing. But Dragonscale Fir trees defied that expectation. Even if they reached the saint grade, they would still retain their ghastly appearance and rigid aura.
They weren't the prettiest, nor were they even remotely close, but their hardy and adaptable nature gave them a charm that was uniquely their own. They could make do with any type of spiritual qi in their surroundings—whether dense with metallic essence, water, fire, or wood. Even spiritual qi tainted with baleful essence, which most plants and treasures avoided like poison, could be absorbed and refined by them without issue.
There wasn't a form of spiritual qi these trees couldn't absorb and transform into nourishment. On top of that, they were almost bottomless pits when it came to storing spiritual qi. Take the Dragonscale Fir tree before him, for example—despite being at the middle stages of the monarch grade, its spiritual qi storage capacity could rival that of a top-tier ascendant-grade treasure or even a late-stage domain expert.
Yang Qing often took pride in the size of his qi reserves, but even he couldn't hold a candle to these trees. Perhaps as his understanding of the Vitality Dao deepened, that might change, but for now, his capacity—despite all its advantages—was but a fraction of what the Dragonscale Fir before him could hold.
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These two features—its ability to utilize any form of spiritual qi and its staggering qi storage—made it an invaluable tool for formation arrays, especially mobile ones that didn't need to rely on spirit veins for power. A Dragonscale Fir tree could sustain an array entirely on its own, provided it was sufficiently charged, and its versatility made it ideal for autonomous operation.
And yet, here was one being appreciated by Ming Wa—not for its remarkable ability to absorb and store spiritual qi or its role as a cornerstone of formation arrays—but simply for the comfort its massive trunk provided as a hiding spot.
Yang Qing couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he imagined a few formation masters turning in their graves at the sight. Some would gladly trade half their lifespans for just a single branch of the Dragonscale Fir tree, yet here was Ming Wa, comfortably leaning against it, treating it as little more than a shady refuge and hiding spot.
Shaking off his amusement, Yang Qing quickly left the administrative grounds and made his way deeper into town. His destination? The Dreamscape Swallow's Nest Restaurant.
Try as he might, he couldn't forget about the violet membership card tucked securely in his chest pocket—or the sheer power it held. Nor could he forget the countless dishes he had yet to sample. And eventually... he caved.
Before heading back, he decided he might as well continue his longstanding tradition and pick up a few takeout dishes to bring with him to back to his abode. Only this time, he had absolutely no intention of sharing. Not even in the slightest.
He wasn't sure how long it would be before Wei Shen asked for the membership card back. And with his current financial state—coupled with the _insufferable leech_ he had back at his abode—Yang Qing knew he couldn't afford to sponsor his own membership anytime soon.
So, for now, he planned to maximize every last bit of privilege the violet membership card afforded him, milking it for all the dishes and drinks he could get his hands on. Sharing? That word didn't even exist in his vocabulary at the moment.
Luckily for him, the people he was most wary of—especially Feng Xin—were nowhere around. Not only that, but even his other acquaintances and regular interlopers were out of the picture.
Dai Chen was undoubtedly somewhere being overworked by the Order, Zhang Qingge was off cultivating at the Millionsfold Treasure Ocean, and Yu Huifeng, Zhang Huilang, and Xia Boqin were all busy breaking through and his team had recently joined that mix too.
Yang Qing licked his lips in glee as he thought about the perfect timing of it all. The card couldn't have come at a better moment. He wouldn't have to share. He wouldn't have to sneak around for a few bites of the dishes he wanted to hoard. For once, he could eat freely and openly at his abode without a single care in the world.
"I won't have to worry about Ellie either," he said, whistling in joy as he swaggered through the grand doors of the Dreamscape Swallow's Nest Restaurant.
When he returned from Sage Mountain, Yang Qing immediately noticed something amiss—the number of fish in his pond had dwindled. Exactly nine were missing. And with the short list of suspects available, only one name came to mind: Ellie
Like the habitual offender she was, Yang Qing knew without a shred of doubt that she was the one who took them. And, as was standard practice for her, after pulling off such an audacious heist, she would go into hiding—avoiding his abode for at least five to eight days, depending on how badly she had cleaned him out.
Nine fish was a big haul, so Yang Qing expected her to stay out of sight for the full eight days. That was eight days he wouldn't have to see her scheming mug or deal with the shameless look she always put on whenever she wanted him to share his meals.
As much as it pained him to admit it, he usually fell for her antics half the time. But this time? This time he wouldn't have to factor her shamelessness into his plans.
With a spring in his step and a smug grin, Yang Qing made his way to the nearest attendant at the Dreamscape Swallow's Nest Restaurant and skipped the formalities. He outright asked which dishes were already prepared so he wouldn't have to wait long. The plan was simple—order, collect, and leave.
Luckily, like the fine establishment it was, the Dreamscape Swallow's Nest had plenty of dishes ready for him to choose from. After a quick scan of the menu, Yang Qing settled on red braised beef, shredded pork with sweet bean sauce, sweet and sour pork fillet, pan-fried dumplings, and spring rolls. To cap it all off, he added two jars of the thousand-flower nectar wine he'd had previously.
The entire process—ordering and getting served—took no more than two minutes.
When it came time to pay, Yang Qing drew out the violet membership card like it was some sacred treasure—his weapon of choice—and handed it over with practiced ease before 'humbly' walking out of the establishment.
It took him all of one minute to get back to the Administrative Building and collect Ming Wa, and just like that, he was ready to leave town—his haul secured and his plans of not sharing, intact.
The entire trip back, though brief, was steeped in silence. Yang Qing didn't seem to mind. Half his thoughts were preoccupied with the dishes tucked away in his storage ring, practically burning a hole through it, while the other half wandered to the troubling question—what were the chances that Bai Chen and his disciple were even alive? And if they were, where could they possibly be?
Yang Qing let out a quiet sigh, doing his best to push the uncertainty aside.
"I can only take it a step at a time," he told himself, crossing his fingers and hoping his luck wouldn't be as terrible as the last time he tried helping with a missing-person case.
Even now, he wasn't entirely sure why he'd volunteered. Something about the whole situation made his nerves itch, and no matter how much he tried to ignore it, a small voice whispered at the back of his mind—persistent and unwelcome.
"What if it ends up like last time?"
The memory of the Ice Emerald Sect lingered like a shadow. Try as he might, Yang Qing couldn't shake it loose.
