Daily life of a cultivation judge-Chapter 1252: She might have that side too

Yang Qing smiled to himself, thinking that today hadn’t turned out so bad after all. When he left the Order to conduct this little investigation, truth be told, hopeful as he was, he hadn’t expected to find much on this excursion.

At best, he’d hoped to cross it off his list—to say he’d at least tried, even if it led nowhere. Never in his mind had he imagined he’d get the kind of results he did. His trip to the Silver Crane Sect had gone as smoothly as one could hope. Not only did he find answers to Xia Fang’s request, but he also uncovered truths tied to his own questions, like why the Silver Crane Sect allowed the Xia clan to be destroyed despite their deep-rooted relationship.

And as if that weren’t enough, he’d even had the chance to engage in a Dao discussion with the Xia clan elder and the treasured spirit of Silver Breath Peak, Elder Shuyuan. This exchange had benefited him immensely. While his cultivation base hadn’t advanced, his control and depth of understanding had grown significantly, enriched by that discussion.

And now here he was—within the gorge marking the boundary between the Huang and Wan noble families—achieving his primary objective having found a clue that tied back to Bai Chen’s and his disciple’s disappearance.

To be perfectly honest, he hadn’t expected to find anything by coming here. At best, if he did find something, he figured it would be something minor—nothing that would bring him any closer to uncovering what had happened to Bai Chen, his disciple, or the ferry his disciple had been traveling on.

But thanks to the immense luck he seemed to be riding, he had found something worthwhile—something that more than shed light on Bai Chen’s matter. And as a bonus, he’d even bagged himself a free formation while he was at it. As his thoughts reached this point, his expression brightened as his gaze fell on the ninefold natural yin array cicada.

Earlier, after delivering a gentle correction for her disrespectful remarks—where she had more or less called him a shady and unscrupulous figure—he had explained her situation and offered her two choices. The first was that she was no longer in danger of being possessed, as the imprint that had once resided in her soul had vanished. As for the rune, it had disappeared as well, a few seconds after Yang Qing finished playing the recording. Since the framework and functional core of the rune had been tied to the spiritual imprint, the destruction of the imprint naturally led to the rune’s collapse shortly after.

And so, after Yang Qing informed her of the changes in her circumstances, he presented her with two choices.

The first was for her to continue living as she always had—peacefully within the uninhabited gorge. However, out of nothing but genuine concern and the unrelenting goodness of his heart, Yang Qing made a point of enlightening the cicada about how dangerous her next-door neighbors to the left and right truly were. He spared no detail, going to great lengths to explain the strength of both sides, and capped it off with a concise history of the Azure Sapphire Kingdom, ensuring she fully understood its current state.

Only after fulfilling his duty as a concerned friend did he present the second option: to leave with him. Just as he had done with the first, Yang Qing took care to paint a vivid picture of the life that awaited her should she choose this path. It would be no different from her current life in the gorge—save for one or two minor differences: there would be no terrifying neighbors, no environment teetering on chaos due to conflicting vested interests, and most importantly, she would never want for yin qi again.

She would have her fill of every delectable strand of yin qi she desired. Unlike the gorge, where she had to make do with the lowly cavern well yin qi, her new home would offer her something far richer and more nourishing.

Yang Qing made sure to twist his lips in disgust when he mentioned the cavern well yin qi. And to prove he wasn’t trying to trick her, he produced a few berries from his abode—berries that had been growing by feeding off his own yin qi.

The ninefold natural yin array cicada, being an insect and all, might not have had tear ducts, at least physiologically—but Yang Qing could have sworn he saw her weep when she hesitantly nibbled on the berries he offered.

Given the voracious eater she’d shown herself to be, the moment she took that bite, Yang Qing knew he’d secured himself a self-sustaining, self-growing formation—all for the very low, low price of a handful of berries.

The quality of those berries, along with the richness of his abode’s environment, would more than make up for a few things he’d conveniently omitted when pitching her option two. Chief among them was... Ellie.

He hadn’t lied—he truly didn’t have dangerous neighbors like the cicada did here. But he did have a troublesome pest with an insidious nature and a dangerous appetite for both chaos and food. And he had no doubt in his heart that Ellie would try something the moment she became aware of the cicada’s presence.

The only good thing about the whole situation was that she was stronger than Ellie, which would naturally limit Ellie’s actions. Secondly—though this was more of a hunch—Yang Qing felt the cicada harbored the same level of insidiousness as Ellie. Wenling hadn’t visibly done anything to provoke that suspicion, but after years of dealing with characters like Ellie, Kang Huilang, or that damn leech he called his nest mate, Yang Qing believed he’d developed a sixth sense for sniffing out that particular trait.

And his instincts were telling him that the cicada currently chatting away with Bolin had just as nasty a personality as Ellie did.

Yang Qing had half a mind to revoke the welcome he had extended to her. With Ellie and the Celestial Nesting Weaver already being a handful, he really didn’t want to add another source of migraines to the pile. Just thinking about those two scoundrels was enough to give him a headache, an ulcer, and a mental demon all at the same time. But as he looked at the cicada a little longer, he started to feel that bringing her along might actually do more good than harm.

Putting aside the benefits she brought as a rare lifeform skilled in formations, her upkeep wasn’t nearly as costly as Ellie’s or the Nesting Weaver’s. And when it came to her insidious side, hers was different from the two incorrigible birds. Those two would actively use their nastiness against him, but the cicada... she didn’t have the guts to.

Whatever underhandedness she had, he was certain it wouldn’t be directed at him. And if that was the case, then he had all the more reason to bring her along.

Ellie had a natural gift for rubbing people the wrong way and riling them up. While she was an expert emotional manipulator—at least when it came to humans—around her own kind, she was a straight-up menace. Yang Qing had no doubt she’d try something direct with Wenling. And as for Wenling, being insidious herself, she was sure to retaliate in kind. From that back and forth, a balance would be established.

Maybe Wenling might even force Ellie to finally take her cultivation seriously. A couple of painful losses were bound to stir that petty, vindictive spirit of hers into putting in some real effort.

Yang Qing couldn’t help but chuckle as he imagined Ellie’s impending doom.

"Things just keep going my way," he murmured, as his spirits soared.

"Come to think of it... she might have that side to her too," he added thoughtfully, his gaze drifting toward Haishi, who had joined the two spirit beasts in conversation, taking great care to avoid eye contact with the pod of salmon surrounding her. Some luck she had on that front, because one salmon in particular was following her with intense fervor, doing all it could to get her attention.

Thankfully, she held strong, keeping her massive eyes and head lowered to the ground. The fact that Bolin and Wenling were smaller than her worked in her favor. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com

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