Daily life of a cultivation judge

According to the report, it turned out that the pavilion master of the Banyan Treasure Vein Pavilion had falsified several details about himself, including his condition. He had more years to live than he let on. The fictitious age he had "let slip," ensuring it would reach his competitors, was bait designed to expose any infiltrators within his organization.

While the Banyan Treasure Vein Pavilion was not as strong as the Gold Earth Bank, it was far from weak. If it had been an easy opponent, the Gold Earth Bank would not have resorted to a strategy of subterfuge spanning thousands of years to absorb it. The fact that they did so showed their wariness of the pavilion's strength and the potential costs of a direct confrontation.

Despite their careful preparations, the Gold Earth Bank underestimated the pavilion master. They failed to account for the cunning of a powerful, long-lived cultivator, who just like them, was also a seasoned merchant.

Records indicated that the pavilion master was a ninth-stage palace realm expert, a fact he skillfully concealed from everyone, including those in his inner circle. Outwardly, he was believed to be at the seventh stage.

This meant that the Gold Earth Bank was up against a cultivator just a few steps shy of the peak of the palace realm and a deeply scheming merchant. They should have anticipated his ability to foresee their plans, and his dissemination of false information about his age clearly showed that he had.

As a merchant, he had already anticipated how others of his kind would react to news of his dwindling lifespan and planned accordingly, laying a carefully crafted trap of his own. A crucial part of that trap was concealing his true strength.

All of this was done with the intent of purging his organization of the snakes that had slithered into his nest. He had no desire to become like those unfortunate birds whose eggs are devoured by a snake, only for the snake to leave its own eggs behind for the bird to unwittingly hatch.

Despite the strength he had concealed and the misinformation he deliberately allowed to surface about his age, part of it was rooted in truth. The best-crafted lies are always those built on a large foundation of truth. While the age he "let slip" may have differed slightly from his actual age, the discrepancy wasn't significant enough to raise suspicion among those he intended to deceive.

This inevitably meant that his lifespan was still a genuine concern. It would have remained so unless he managed to either break through to the quasi-domain stage or the domain realm itself, both of which would have significantly extended his life.

The report made it clear he lacked the confidence to achieve such breakthroughs, given the extreme measures he took to cleanse his pavilion of any hidden threats before his time ran out.

However, for all his meticulous planning and foresight, he had not anticipated that the bait he cast would attract predators as terrifying as the Gold Earth Bank.

Though the Bank chose a long and indirect approach to devour the pavilion, that decision did not reflect a lack of power.

Even with the true strength of the Banyan Treasure Vein Pavilion's master accounted for, the Gold Earth Bank remained a formidable force. At the time, they boasted nearly 30 palace realm experts, including two peak-stage palace realm cultivators among their directors.

The reason the Gold Earth Bank avoided a direct confrontation, despite their impressive lineup, lay in the costs they would incur. Nothing was more dangerous than a cornered beast. A ninth-stage palace realm expert willing to risk everything could still inflict catastrophic damage. Yet, even with their extensive resources, the Bank had not anticipated that the Banyan Treasure Vein Pavilion's master had reached the ninth stage of the palace realm. This critical underestimation cost them a blue-grade alchemist.

As for the pavilion master, he had not expected his bait to draw in a predator as formidable as the Gold Earth Bank. Despite his strength, his plan ultimately failed in several ways. While he used the succession battle as a trap to flush out traitors and conspirators, it also served as a trial to identify his successor. Among the eight participants, he had identified four as perfect candidates for the role. One of these candidates was Bai Chen's father, while the remaining three were those Bai Chen's father swiftly eliminated early in the succession battle—with substantial support from the Gold Earth Bank.

The speed with which Bai Chen's father dispatched those three rivals drew attention and scrutiny, particularly from the Banyan Treasure Vein Pavilion's master. Over time, with focused effort, the master pieced together clues pointing to Bai Chen's father as a plant.

But by the time the truth came to light, the damage was irreparable. Bai Chen's father had already killed the pavilion master's three most promising successors. His betrayal effectively crippled the pavilion's future.

Enraged, the pavilion master personally attacked Bai Chen's father, revealing his true strength in the process. It was he who ultimately killed Bai Chen's father and all those associated with him.

Despite the measures the Gold Earth Bank had taken to protect their asset, including a late-stage monarch-grade artifact, none of it proved effective. The Bank's preparations had been tailored for dealing with a seventh-stage palace realm expert, not one who had reached the ninth stage.

For their misjudgment, the Gold Earth Bank suffered significant losses, including a blue-grade alchemist, a top-tier monarch-grade artifact, and several palace realm experts who had been sent in secret to support Bai Chen's father.

With these setbacks, they could no longer afford to rely on their indirect approach and were forced to intervene directly. Fortunately for them, the plans laid down over 4,000 years—and the damage caused by Bai Chen's father before his death—had already sapped much of the Banyan Treasure Vein Pavilion's strength. This made their conquest somewhat easier, though the cost of the operation was still considered steep.

The Gold Earth Bank ultimately succeeded in absorbing the Banyan Treasure Vein Pavilion. However, the price was high: one director, a blue-grade alchemist, a top-tier monarch-grade artifact, and countless other fatalities were lost in the process.

Despite these losses, the resources and influence they gained from the pavilion enabled the Bank to solidify its position on the continent. This was especially evident when, 300 years later, they produced their first domain expert.

But given the sacrifices they made, was it truly a victory or a loss?

"Suppose it depends on who you ask," murmured Yang Qing.