Daily life of a cultivation judge Chapter 1507: The Yang family grows (2)

"What are you acting so pretentious for? You just scammed your guest, didn’t you? What did he give you? Given his stature, it was likely something nice. Come on, what did he give you? The nest has reached a bottleneck and needs some upgrades."

Yang Qing’s sage-like demeanor instantly shattered. His expression crumpled and transformed into that of a vengeful rogue about to collect payment.

"You vile bird," Yang Qing said through gritted teeth as his body instantly disappeared from the entrance of his abode and reappeared beside one of the tables, where Yang Shitong was already seated, chopsticks in hand, helping himself to the leftover shredded beef.

Seemingly having anticipated the attack, Shitong swung his sleeve, intercepting Yang Qing’s punch.

"See if I don’t defeather you today," Yang Qing coldly said as he poured more force into his fist.

"Today you’ll call me Grandfather," Shitong immediately retorted as resplendent purple feathers coated the sleeve defending against Yang Qing’s strike.

Without missing a beat, the two traded over a hundred punches in the span of a few seconds as the figures of both combatants blurred and disappeared from the table, their forms crisscrossing throughout the abode while colorful lights from their attacks flashed around them. Not a single attack spilled beyond its intended target, leaving the surroundings completely undisturbed and allowing anyone who wished to watch the exchange to do so without fear.

One such spectator was the starlight crab, whose body was partially submerged in the pond, with only a small part of his head, namely his eyestalks, peeking above the water. A dangerous gleam flickered in those beady eyes, as though the crab were seriously entertaining an utterly unhinged idea.

Whatever unhinged idea he had been entertaining, the starlight crab seemingly decided against acting on it. He remained where he was, though he continued watching with passionate interest.

There were other spirit beasts who shared that same interest, though without the unhinged glint in the starlight crab’s eyes. They were simply enjoying the spectacle. The bouts between Yang Qing and Yang Shitong had long since become a form of entertainment around the abode. A few birds and butterflies had even gathered together to animatedly watch the exchange, while the other residents went about their usual business as though the fight raging around them wasn’t happening at all.

...

"You’ve improved," Yang Qing snarled at Yang Shitong between labored breaths as they both leaned against the Green Flame Tree for support.

From the disheveled state of their robes and hair, and the way they struggled to catch their breath, one would think they had fought nonstop for a week instead of the mere three minutes they had actually exchanged blows.

"Seems like you weren’t slacking off out there," Yang Shitong spat, wearing the expression of someone itching to throw another punch but lacking the strength to do so.

His venomous stare suddenly froze and turned to one of surprise when it fell upon the leaf-shaped ornament attached to the left sleeve of Yang Qing’s inner robe.

Yang Qing, who had been struggling just to remain standing, swiftly pulled his outer robe over the leaf, shielding it defensively as though guarding against a thief.

"Whatever designs you have on it, forget them, Shitong!" Yang Qing fiercely said as he pulled his robe tighter around himself. "I’m warning you," he added when he saw Shitong’s gaze refusing to leave it.

Shitong’s gaze finally shifted from the concealed ornament to Yang Qing.

"Fine," Shitong said, clicking his tongue in dissatisfaction before making his way back to the table with the shredded beef slices.

After a few seconds of debating it, Yang Qing decided to join him, though he kept watching Shitong warily the entire walk over. Even after he sat down, he kept one hand clutching the side of his robe concealing the leaf, while the other remained free in case he needed to throw a punch.

After all, just as Chen Yu’s eyes had kept inadvertently darting toward the nest, Shitong’s eyes kept wandering to the side of Yang Qing’s robe hiding the leaf.

"I won’t snatch it from you," Shitong said in exasperation. "I still have my pride as a mythical race."

"Where was that pride when you were bleeding every ounce of resources from me? Not even sparing a blade of grass. Where was your pride then?" Yang Qing retorted as he reached for another slice of beef with his free hand.

"Where did you find it?" Yang Shitong finally asked after a brief pause, his tone softening somewhat, almost as though he were relenting. "You can tell me at least that much, can’t you?"

Yang Qing observed him for a short while, and after deciding against following the temptation of leaving him hanging, he decided to be upfront. He revealed his encounter with Tang Xiadan, including the origins of the coin, now morphed into the leaf, the Treasure Coin Palace, and the arrangements he had made with Tang Xiadan.

His explanation of the latter was a calculated ploy meant to divert Shitong’s attention away from the coin and toward the mysterious realm Tang Xiadan would be venturing into should his breakthrough to the Domain Realm prove successful.

His plan worked.

Shitong’s attention shifted from Yang Qing’s coat to the slip Tang Xiadan had given him, which contained the coordinates to the mysterious realm along with all the relevant information.

Leaving Shitong absorbed in his own thoughts, Yang Qing smoothly and swiftly cleaned the plate of the remaining shredded beef slices.

Feeling satisfied and, more importantly, safe in the knowledge that Shitong wouldn’t try to strong-arm him into handing over the coin, Yang Qing finally had the peace of mind to settle his new guests.

He gently buried the Treasured Dung Beetle’s egg beneath a layer of fallen leaves and soft soil a few steps away from the Green Flame Tree before carefully covering it with more earth and leaves.

There was no better place to help the beetle hatch than the ground next to the Green Flame Tree. Not to mention using the tree’s leaves as incubation material. That patch of ground and those leaves were like the Holy Ground of nurturing.

Yang Qing rarely used that spot. This would only be the third time he had done so, the first two being for Shitong and Ellie. Apart from those two, he had never used that place to hatch another spirit beast or nurture a spiritual plant. Not even the pupa of the Dream Ambrosia Queen had received such special treatment from him.

And yet the Treasured Dung Beetle had.

Yang Qing had little choice. He was looking forward to the honey the Dream Ambrosia bees would eventually produce, but as sumptuous as that honey was bound to be, the Treasured Dung Beetle was destined to play an even more integral role in the abode, especially with Ma Yuan on the cusp of leaving.

Yang Qing needed a caretaker who would cultivate, tend to, and grow his "wealth," and at the same time do so cheaply and diligently.

The Treasured Dung Beetle was exactly that candidate.

"Yang Qingfeng," Yang Qing whispered tenderly as he poured some of his qi into the leaves and soil surrounding the egg before channeling another stream into the egg itself.

"This courtyard and all its riches, both present and future, will be in your care when you hatch. I am not hoping for much..." he softly said. "Just use what you find around here to cultivate a few hundred Ascendant-grade herbs, and you’ll never want for waste again. If only you could see the amount of discarded waste around you."

Yang Qing paused with a wistful sigh, his gaze deliberately drifting toward Yang Shitong before returning to the packed earth concealing the egg.

"It will be a paradise for you," he whispered movingly.

What was family for if not for exploiting... helping one another in times of need? Just like how his clan and grandfather had always sought him out whenever they needed someone to test one of their countless body refinement theories or sudden bursts of inspiration and epiphanies that he somehow always seemed to be the perfect candidate for, as though there weren’t countless other Yang clan members they could have tried them on instead.

"Don’t forget... at least one hundred," he repeated, affectionately patting the dirt before standing up and walking a few meters away from the Green Flame Tree. There, he dug another hole and planted the Resting Root Spirit Oak sapling, whose leaves shone with even greater radiance than they had at the auction.

"I told you you’d love it here, little Ning," Yang Qing whispered tenderly to the sapling, whose response to his words was to wrap one of its supple branches around his finger, its leaves radiating with a resplendent light that rivaled the Celestial Linden Tree and its multicolored flowers of different kinds and shapes.

Still crouching on one knee, Yang Qing gestured with his eyes toward the Green Flame Tree.

"That is the big sister I was telling you about," he warmly said. "She is called Sister Yang Wen. Yang Wen, meet Yang Ning, your new sibling," Yang Qing cheerfully said, introducing the Resting Root Spirit Oak sapling to the Green Flame Tree, and the Green Flame Tree to the sapling.

Yang Qing thought with a deep sigh of gratification as his gaze fell on the Resting Root Spirit Oak sapling before drifting to the Celestial Linden Tree, where the Dream Ambrosia Bees had made their nest. From there, it moved to the spot where he had buried the Treasured Dung Beetle’s egg, then lifted to the Green Flame Tree before finally settling on Yang Shitong, whose eyes remained closed as he continued analyzing the contents of Tang Xiadan’s jade slip.

Another sigh escaped Yang Qing’s lips as he stood up and took a deep breath, his eyes shining with appreciation and satisfaction as they took in the abode in its entirety.

"It has really grown. The Dream Cloud is slowly becoming what I daydreamed it would be," he softly murmured as he soaked in the sight of his abode, from the lush grass to the pond, to the various plants, insects, birds, and other spirit beasts, to the towering trees and finally the courtyard itself.

His eyes warmed with emotion as they lingered on the fruits of his blood, sweat, and tears.

Now, all that remained to complete the picture was upgrading the formation array.

Yang Qing’s smile widened into a grin as he patted his storage ring.

he smugly thought.