Daily life of a cultivation judge Chapter 1525: Multi-eyed flower (2)

But, alas, treasures of such a level were hard to get to. She would know. She had tried. She begged to be given access, even for a few seconds, to Veiled Destiny. She had realized the Order had such a powerful and deeply profound treasure during her Palace Realm promotion ceremony when she interacted with Veiled Destiny and the two other Saint Grade Treasures that every Order member wore during their public promotion ceremony to the Palace Realm.

Since that event, Fan Mei had never forgotten Veiled Destiny, Blue Universe, or Green Cocoon, or the gains the mastery of her cultivation art could achieve with the three Seniors.

That brief interaction she had with them that day allowed her to immediately leap from the first stage to the third stage of the Palace Realm. What would the results have been if she had more interaction with them?

Sadly, she’d never know because, as her Superior so vividly told her, not even if she became the Head of the External Logistics Division would she gain access. All she got was that old adage cultivators liked throwing around: "I

" she wondered as an awkwardly smiling green-haired youth filled her eyes.

Sensing the strange look from Fan Mei, Yang Qing smiled bashfully as he said, "I only received the Senior’s help by luck. The Judicial Review Committee were the ones who forwarded my request. If not for them, I might not have gotten her help."

Yang Qing paused as another thought crossed his mind.

"What?" Fan Mei asked, looking at him quizzically, while inwardly assuming that look had something to do with the case.

"The Senior did mention that the kidnapper is a descendant of a friend of hers. I’m wondering whether that had to do with her accepting the request. She may not have known the particulars, but the karmic entanglement of the case, made when the Committee’s letter arrived, may have triggered something in her that told her it was connected to her somewhat, and that’s why she agreed," Yang Qing said, wearing a thoughtful expression.

His understanding of Karma was about the same level as Ellie’s understanding of self-restraint where food was involved, but as shallow as his understanding was, he felt karma was likely to have such triggers, where you didn’t need to have the full picture of something to get the faintest of triggers that that thing may have ties to you.

With how powerful Senior Veiled Destiny was, and how profound her abilities were in the Supreme Dao of Karma, surely she was powerful enough to have triggers from the minutest of things.

Karma must be a Supreme Dao for a reason.

"Maybe," said Fan Mei, agreeably. She didn’t have much understanding of Karma either, but given the mystical things she had seen in the treasures and relics she had interacted with, Yang Qing’s assumption didn’t seem all that impossible.

After a few more exchanges, Yang Qing finally left, much to the relief of Fan Mei, who celebrated by hugging the jade slip and giggling, with an unstable glint in her eyes as she brought the slip closer to her eyes. "A rare item," she said in an eerie, enchanted whisper.

...

Outside her office, Yang Qing sighed in some regret before he perked up when his gaze fell on his left sleeve. "I still have the coin," Yang Qing muttered, trying to rouse his spirits as he made his way to the Formation Hall.

Formation Hall.

It was located within the grounds of the Institute. It hardly seemed like part of the Institute, given how large its grounds were. There were countless peaks as far as the eyes could see. The plain stretched endlessly, with hundreds of pavilions and manors sprawling across it. Hundreds of cultivators donned in half-black, half-white robes, with an eight-trigram seal motif on the back, walked busily around, some discussing amongst one another, others lost in their own worlds.

Yang Qing clicked his tongue as he watched the drones who only had eyes for runes, scripts, and the way energies below and above could perfectly blend with one another, and what phenomena such interactions could create if altered in certain ways.

The aesthetic beauty of the environment was entirely lost to them, unless it manifested in the form of formation arrays, scripts, and/or inspiration that led to the creation of more arrays, scripts, and sigils or provided deeper understanding of them. They could care less about the cyan river that looked like it had been carved out of heavenly gems, or the countless spiritual plants and herbs around them that radiated with splendor, all of which, on top of their beauty, were also quality materials at the monarch grade and above. Yang Qing had seen no shortage of at least thirty ascendant-grade spiritual herbs immediately after walking into the compound.

He clicked his tongue in envy once more when he saw the manifestation of the wonders of the Grand Dao, rising from the ground in the form of gold, blue, white, violet, and purple mist. It transformed into various forms: birds, fish, trees, rivers, hills, shooting stars, and sometimes even an actual sigil. But mostly it adopted the form of multicolored mist that faded slightly as it rose to the skies. Yet, even fading, its presence was the most profound and palpable in the entire place, as it was the breathing source of the life and grandeur of this place, which looked no different from an immortal’s lair.

The presence of an Ancestral Dragon Vein was undeniable. And yet, it might as well be humid air to the cultivators walking around.

Yang Qing hated coming here. He always felt like vomiting blood for countless reasons, one of which was the sight before him. The Formation Hall was one of two Halls supported by an Ancestral Dragon Vein, the other being the Alchemy Hall. Yet, looking at the reaction of its occupants, one wouldn’t think they had such a rare and highly coveted treasure running through its grounds.

Hurrying his pace, driven by the lump of metallic-tasting substance forming at the back of his throat, Yang Qing raced to one of the sprawling peaks which had a certain blue undertone to it, as if veiled in faint blue mist.

The closer Yang Qing got to it, the bigger that lump in his throat felt. That peak held another reason he felt like vomiting blood every time he came here. How could he not, when it housed a stubborn, blood-sucking traitor who showed no ounce of concern for an old friend?

Yang Qing paused and took a deep breath when he reached the foot of the peak, patting his storage ring as he did. "I am armed," he told himself, taking one more breath as he looked at the sign hanging at the entryway stairs leading to the peak of that mountain. That sign read ’Blue Peak,’ which was where Blue Grade Formation Masters usually resided, and one of the targets of his visit and the source of his lump was among them.

Puffing his chest with the knowledge that he had thousands of dragon crystals in his storage ring, Yang Qing walked those stairs leading to the peak of the mountain like a warrior going to redeem his honor.

"Zhang Rei, vengeance has come knocking, you stingy, multi-eyed flower," Yang Qing muttered through gritted teeth.