Daily life of a cultivation judge

He cupped the moonlit orchid almost as if he were trying to hide it from view. Yang Qing inwardly praised his luck that it was the moonlit orchid that was asked for and not some spiritual plant that he would have had to fork out spirit stones to get.

Moonlit orchids were one of the few things he wasn't short on; they grew like weeds in his abode. And if he were being modestly honest, his were among the best in quality at the Order—only surpassed by those specially cultivated in the Medical Valley, and even then, the difference wasn't too large.In fact, the very fact that his orchids could compete with those from the Medical Valley, despite him doing almost nothing to grow them compared to the meticulous care given over there, only made a stronger case for how special they were.

The reason Yang Qing kept them around his abode was because of their aesthetic value. From dusk all the way to dawn, they gave off a gentle blue-white glow and released a comforting, slightly chilly breeze that eased the fatigue of the soul.

They worked similarly to the incense sticks Sun Bayi had given him, though the moonlit orchid had far greater effects when it came to refreshing the soul and mind—plus, they could be eaten. On their own, they were nearly tasteless; chewing on the petals was like biting into soft, silky ice. But when added to various teas and wines (especially cold ones like snow ginseng tea), they not only enhanced the drink's effects but also improved its flavor.

Yang Qing preferred using them in tea rather than wine, as they usually added a mellow sweetness to whatever they were mixed into.

He absentmindedly fiddled with his moonlit orchid, pensively observing his surroundings as his thoughts began to swirl.

The person who kidnapped Bai Chen's disciple asked him to bring the moonlit orchid here. That means they judged this place safe enough for the exchange... but why? Why would they feel this safe here? wondered Yang Qing as he looked around.

It certainly had the privacy needed for conducting trades one wouldn't want many people knowing about. But to Yang Qing, that couldn't be the only reason. If privacy was the key factor, there were a million other places to choose from—even the gorge where he found the message would have been a serious contender.

No, whoever asked Bai Chen to come here had to have chosen the Velvet Orchid for more than just safety, especially since, in the message, the kidnapper had instructed Bai Chen to present the moonlit orchid to any staff member of the Velvet Orchid. That alone implied one of two things: either the kidnapper was a staff member here, or they weren't, but had a close enough relationship with the staff that they were willing to be involved in the kidnapping, knowingly or not.

If they were unwitting accomplices, then perhaps the kidnapper hadn't told them the full story—only using them as go-betweens to receive the moonlit orchid and, in return, pass on instructions to Bai Chen. Maybe they truly believed they were helping with something innocuous, unaware they were being used to facilitate a kidnapping and ransom.

The kidnapper could have been a friend of the staff and taken advantage of that. Or, still on the idea of them being unwitting accomplices, perhaps some spell or technique had been used to influence their actions. After all, the kidnapper had managed to plant a sophisticated formation array on the natural yin array cicada—and she hadn't sensed a thing.

That clearly pointed to a level of skill capable of influencing the soul, and by extension, the mind. They could have implanted a suggestion that triggered a set of predetermined actions upon seeing the moonlit orchid.

However, Yang Qing shook his head, dismissing that possibility.

Just because they managed it with Wenling doesn't mean they could pull off the same feat here. For one, some of the staff members are palace realm experts. I doubt they'd be able to manipulate them the same way—especially not Cai Shan. And Sun Bayi is no slouch either, Yang Qing mused.

Influencing or manipulating the soul of a palace realm expert without them noticing was nearly impossible—especially if you were at the same cultivation level.If the person were in the domain realm, maybe it could be done, given the vast difference in ability. But a palace realm expert trying it on another palace realm expert? That would be no less difficult than trying to steal treasure from a dragon.

Not to mention, by his estimations, the kidnapper was likely at the fourth stage of the palace realm—fifth at most. No matter how skilled they were at confounding the soul, their success had only been possible because it was done on a quasi-palace stage spirit beast. Trying to replicate that same feat on a first or second stage palace realm expert would raise the difficulty by at least a hundred thousand times.

The gap between them and someone like Cai Shan or Sun Bayi was simply too small. Had the kidnapper been at the peak of the palace realm, Yang Qing maybe might have entertained the idea. But at the fourth or fifth stage, it seemed highly unlikely that they could manipulate the souls of every staff member here.

Not to mention that a few of them possessed Haoran Qi.

Among the many effects Haoran Qi had on the body, one of the most prominent was that it strengthened the user's mind by purifying and reinforcing their soul. This refinement allowed the soul to be sensitive enough to detect and interact with the laws and principles of the world. Souls imbued with Haoran Qi were the last anyone would dare tamper with. Pulling it off without detection—or retaliation—was next to impossible. And even if they didn't react and simply lay still, few would even be capable of penetrating the natural defenses of such a soul due to how overwhelmingly powerful it was.

As such, Yang Qing found it unlikely that the kidnapper could have tampered with the souls of the staff members here—especially Cai Shan's. She was a second-stage palace realm expert, and one who possessed Haoran Qi to boot.

As for Sun Bayi, while she didn't have Haoran Qi, she was still a first-stage palace realm expert—and someone who had proven her Dao through her weapon. She might lack Haoran Qi, but the sturdiness of her soul was no less than that of a Haoran Qi user. Weapon path cultivators, especially those who had advanced far, had to temper their will, their hearts, and their weapons to forge their way forward. In that sense, her resistance to soul tampering was just as strong as Cai Shan's.

Of course, there was always the slim chance that the kidnapper possessed some ascendant-grade treasure that could make it possible. After all, they had access to nebulous yin qi. But Yang Qing dismissed that possibility soon after.

If the kidnapper truly had a treasure of that caliber, they would have gone after Bai Chen directly, rather than using a roundabout method of kidnapping his disciple to lure him in.

The very fact that they had chosen such an indirect route only served to prove that they didn't have the confidence to influence Bai Chen's mind the way they had with the cicada.