Daily life of a cultivation judge

"Something worthwhile…" said Yang Qing in a contemplative tone. "What exactly counts as worthwhile?" he added, his gaze shifting from the painting to Sun Biya.

"Anything, really—paintings, poems, stories, musical compositions, even research journals on any topic, whether related to cultivation or more mundane subjects like agriculture, infrastructure, and so on. Cultivation arts or even broken treasures with a verifiable history attached to them are also acceptable.

Anything and everything that stimulates the mind would be welcome here," Sun Biya patiently explained, a friendly smile on her face. Yang Qing wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but ever since she'd brought up the idea of him donating something as an alternative means to gain access to their collection, her smile—and the faint shine in her eyes—seemed to grow in intensity, for lack of a better word.

"That's still pretty vague, isn't it?" said Yang Qing with a light smile. "Anything can hold worth in the eyes of the beholder, but that doesn't mean it will be valuable to others. Which can only mean…" He paused, his gaze settling solely on Sun Biya.

"For something to be considered worthwhile, it has to meet a universal standard—something that many, as long as they're observant enough, can instantly recognize as special. Like that painting," he said, gesturing toward the mysterious artwork. "Is my assessment correct?" he asked, still smiling.

"It is," Sun Biya replied with a smile of her own.

"So what is the standard grade?" Yang Qing immediately followed up.

"Blue grade," Sun Biya answered succinctly.

"And am I correct in assuming that the collection I get access to will have items of a similar standard?" Yang Qing asked slowly, his pupils flickering slightly, reflecting the combined glow of the luminescent reeds and the lanterns around him.

"Not all of it is at that level, but we do have a sizeable number that are," said Sun Biya. She still maintained the same affable demeanor, but Yang Qing could sense something else mixed in now.

Having made plenty of deals himself—in and out of the courtroom, and during his occasional visits to cultivators' markets—he could sniff out a mercantile air anywhere, and Sun Biya was positively oozing with it at the moment.

"If I give you something and it meets the standard," Yang Qing said with interest, "when it comes to your collection, could I leave with it?" He quickly added, "I know I obviously can't own it. What I mean is—could I be loaned a particular item for a set period of time, outside your premises?"

"I'm sorry, that option isn't available," said Sun Biya, her tone dipping slightly, tinged with apology. "Our collection can only be used here—they've been bound to this building," she added, gesturing around her.

"While we would like to be able to do so one day," she continued, "at the moment, it's impossible for us because we don't have the means to guarantee the safety of our collection outside these walls," she said with a strained smile. "I hope you understand."

"Mmh, I do," said Yang Qing agreeably. "So, about the item to trade…" he trailed off, pausing briefly to consider what he could donate.

He'd already ruled out blue-grade cultivation arts. He didn't have many to begin with, and nine-tenths of the ones he did possess came from the Order. According to the rules, he couldn't teach or gift them to an outsider without the Order's permission. As for the ones he personally owned, while he technically had full rights over them, he couldn't bring himself to hand them out—especially his self-created art, the Brilliant Ray Fist Art.

He didn't have a problem sharing his cultivation arts. After all, he had once given a copy to Elder Peng Zhen of the Green Fog Swamp Sect at no cost. What he did have a problem with, however, was not having a say in who could or couldn't learn his technique once it entered the teahouse's collection. Cultivation techniques were weapons capable of causing catastrophic damage, and as the creator, he felt a personal responsibility for whatever his technique might end up doing in the world.

The reason he had given Peng Zhen his cultivation technique—despite only knowing him for a short time—was because the elder's actions had revealed him to be a principled and conscientious man. He hadn't hesitated to throw himself headfirst into an extremely dangerous situation, one that had a high chance of death, all for the sake of saving his sect.

For someone with that kind of character, Yang Qing had no qualms about sharing his cultivation art. But here, where he had no control over who might receive it, he'd rather keep it to himself.

With cultivation arts off the table, that left recipes, research, and broken treasures as potential items to trade. He immediately eliminated the broken treasures.

He had an entire mound of them—so many in fact, that he had set aside an entire room at his abode to serve as a vault for them. Even inside his storage ring he kept a sizable collection of treasures long past their prime. But as many as they were, with some bordering more on trash than treasure, Yang Qing couldn't in good conscience hand any of them over.

He knew himself too well. If he gave even one away, he'd spend the rest of his life wondering if he'd made a mistake—wondering whether the treasure he'd parted with still held secrets and mysteries he had failed to uncover, and what potential those might have had. It would drive him mad.

So no—his collection of broken, trashy treasures, for the sake of his sanity, had to stay with him.

So that left research material as his only plausible option.

He had reservations about sharing his cultivation arts, but he definitely had no qualms about sharing his insights. And as a researcher who dabbled in a lot of things, he had plenty to choose from.

I could use those! He thought with a spark of excitement, having settled on which material to share.

It boiled down to a few choices one of which was insights he had about the body refinement realm. The research was mostly made up of his own speculations, more specifically, on which type of physique offered the greatest long-term advantages.

Was it the acquired kind, where cultivators progressed from the iron stage all the way to the peerless jade physique?

Was it the natural kind?— These were physiques granted at birth by the Heavenly Dao, bestowed seemingly at random.

Or was it the contractual bloodline physique?—These were formed when cultivators made contracts with spirit beasts, spiritual plants, or certain special natural or artificial treasures, thereby inheriting their innate attributes, which could then be passed down through bloodlines to their descendants?

Of these three, which offered the greatest advantages in the long run?

It was a topic Yang Qing had spent a great deal of time thinking about. Given all he had endured to obtain his peerless jade physique, one could say he was more than sufficiently motivated on the matter.

Fortunately, his background with his clan, combined with his personal experiences walking that very path, made him something of a grandmaster when it came to acquired physiques. And his recent accidental happy stumble(well, definitely not happy given he almost died), into the peerless jade physique, only enriched his understanding even further.

And when it came to natural physiques and bloodline-related ones, he was in the perfect place to research them. The Order had no shortage of members who fell under those two categories—some of whom were even his close friends. Mao Mao and Luo Meili both possessed naturally born physiques, while Dai Chen had a bloodline-related physique—his lineage traced back to the legendary Hou mythical creature.

As for the acquired type, if he needed more peerless jade physiques to research beyond his own, there was always Feng Xin, Zhang Qingge, or that yellow-haired dog, Kang Huilang. He was spoiled for choice.

His research into the topic had started back in his second year at the institute, after a heated argument broke out among his classmates about which type of physique was superior. Was it the acquired physique—mainly the peerless jade types? Was it the naturals? Or was it the bloodlines?

For such a rich and nuanced topic, and with so many passionate students invested in uncovering the answer, they had all unanimously agreed that there was only one surefire way to find out: to fight.

A choice they soon came to regret, once the instructors walked in on them, and decided to join in the fun by specially curating a list of fighters for them from Requiem's permanent inn for seasoned murderers, who each possessed a physique from the three categories in question.

Yang Qing never forgot that day—mostly because of the vicious beating he suffered. Honestly, he believed he was going to die at one point, and so did his classmates. All thanks to the instructors' well-meaning input into their little debate.

But beyond the beating, what stuck with him the most was the topic itself. He continued digging into it long after the incident.

At first, his motivation had been simple: to find out which physique was stronger. A part of him was afraid he had endured all his clan's experiments for nothing—especially if acquired physiques turned out to be the weakest of the three.

But as time went on and his research deepened, his focus gradually shifted. Instead of asking which was stronger, he began examining the advantages each physique type offered, particularly in relation to a cultivator's long-term path.

And with his most recent discovery—what he'd unlocked in his own physique—his desire to keep researching only grew stronger.

He was certain that the insights he had, along with the topic itself, would tickle the bones of many scholars here. A divisive subject like this was exactly the kind of thing they'd eat up.

Having made up his mind and dismissing the other options, a turquoise-blue jade slip appeared in his palm.

"Will this suffice?" he asked, handing the jade slip to Sun Biya.

Her eyes dimmed subtly when she saw it. Yang Qing caught it nonetheless. She had likely realized that the Velvet Orchid wouldn't be adding a new painting to its collection, as she had hoped.

However, she quickly perked up as curiosity lit a spark in her eyes once more as she reached out and carefully took the jade slip. She promptly, though cautiously, read its contents through her spiritual sense.

A few seconds in, after the jade slip's contents had fully transmitted to her mind, her expression froze—her eyes widened, looking stunned, as if struck by lightning.

It took a moment for her spirit to return, but even as her gaze regained focus, her friendly composure had vanished. She looked visibly astonished. Her eyes showed no sign of blinking anytime soon, and her breath seemed just as frozen as her stare.

"You're sure you want to donate this?" she asked in a slightly dry voice filled with disbelief.

"Mhm," Yang Qing nodded lightly, as he scratched the back of his head a little sheepishly. "Well… It's just some thoughts I had. So, would that be enough to get me the access in place of the spirit stones?"