Daily life of a cultivation judge-Chapter 1106 - The most crucial part

1106: The most crucial part

1106: The most crucial part

Vice Warden Shao An’s remark instantly yanked Yang Qing from the depths of paranoia, pulling him back to solid ground.

“Treefolk?” Yang Qing repeated, his incredulous gaze fixed on the grey flames.

“Could Bai Chen have their bloodline?” he muttered, his brows knitting together.

“But I didn’t sense any signs of it,” he added, mentally retracing every detail of his interaction with Bai Chen, searching for anything he might have missed.

With his powerful soul and cultivation base, recalling memories with perfect clarity—as though reliving them—was no challenge for Yang Qing.

Yet, no matter how closely he examined his recollections, he found nothing that hinted at Bai Chen possessing a treefolk bloodline.

This only deepened his confusion.

It wasn’t that treefolk were so distinctive that anyone could pick them out in a crowd; most people would struggle to recognize one.

But for Yang Qing, it was different.

His Peerless Jade Physique was intrinsically tied to the fabric of nature, and the Dao he cultivated was rooted in the Life Dao.

These two factors granted him an inherent sensitivity to individuals or objects connected to nature.

If Bai Chen were a treefolk—or even carried a trace of their bloodline—Yang Qing should have been able to sense it without difficulty.

Treefolk possessed immense vitality and were deeply connected to the elements of nature—both of which fell squarely within Yang Qing’s specialties.

He should have been able to sense such traits in Bai Chen, experiencing a resonant effect similar to how scattered pieces of an artifact would begin to react when brought near each other.

When Yang Qing interacted with Bai Chen, he should have felt something akin to that resonance.

But he didn’t.

If Bai Chen had been qualitatively stronger than him, then it would have explained Yang Qing not reacting, if he did indeed have treefolk bloodline, just like it did with Deng Wei, one of the founders of the Red Maple Empire, who had a treefolk bloodline and was at the domain realm.

Because of the gap in their cultivation realms, Yang Qing wasn’t able to sense it, or have a resonance with it, despite being in close quarters with the founder within his courtroom.

But Bai Chen’s case was different.

While his cultivation base was higher—being at the fourth stage of the palace realm—qualitatively, he was not stronger than Yang Qing.

At the time, Yang Qing had been at the second stage, yet his comprehension of the Dao, the strength and quality of his cultivation, his accumulations, and his Peerless Jade Physique, alongside his use of a purple-grade art, made him stronger overall.

With such an advantage, Yang Qing should have been able to sense it if Bai Chen had a treefolk bloodline—unless Bai Chen had been using an artifact or treasure to obscure it.

“Could he have a variant treefolk bloodline that I don’t resonate with?” Yang Qing muttered, holding his chin in deep contemplation.

“Not necessarily.”

Shao An’s calm voice broke Yang Qing’s musings, pulling him back to the present.

Yang Qing turned to face the vice warden, seeking clarification.

“The treefolk energy I detected might not have come from Bai Chen,” Shao An explained.

“In fact, I am more than convinced it didn’t,” he added after a brief pause.

“What do you mean?” Yang Qing asked, his curiosity piqued.

“This natal bone is infused with two distinct auras.

One obviously belongs to the bluefin spine-tailed swift, while the other—considering its density—more than likely belongs to Bai Chen.

But these flames…” Shao An said, gesturing toward the grey flames burning within the soul lantern.

“There’s no trace of either aura within them.”

“The signature of the treefolk bloodline in these flames belongs to an entirely different entity.

That’s why I don’t believe it’s his,” Shao An explained patiently, his eyes narrowing slightly as the reflection of the grey flames danced within his pupils.

“Then the question becomes: how did that bloodline end up here when this soul lantern is linked to Bai Chen?” Shao An muttered, a note of curiosity threading his voice.

“A soul lock art, perhaps?

Or possession?” he speculated, voicing a few guesses aloud.

“Parasitism, maybe—but it doesn’t quite feel like that either,” Ren Shu interjected, his brows furrowing slightly.

While he couldn’t sense the treefolk bloodline as Shao An could, he had picked up on certain intricacies within the flames—the yin energy they contained and the absence of Bai Chen’s aura among them.

Shao An’s ability to extrapolate the bloodline wasn’t a testament to him being more powerful than Ren Shu.

The two were equals in strength, both being early-stage Soul Formation experts.

Instead, it stemmed from Shao An’s origins, which gave him a natural affinity for all matters related to the treefolk.

After all, he bore the bloodline of a mythical divine tree.

“While I can’t speak to the treefolk bloodline—that’s Shao’s domain to elaborate on—what I can say is…

your friend is likely alive,” Ren Shu said, fixing his gaze on Yang Qing.

Yang Qing’s eyes widened in surprise as he snapped his head toward Ren Shu.

“He is?” he asked, his tone laced with disbelief.

Though he hadn’t completely ruled out the possibility that Bai Chen was alive—especially after noticing the faint green flicker in his soul lantern—Yang Qing couldn’t deny that a significant part of him had believed otherwise.

How could he not?

His experiences as a judge had taught him the harsh reality of the cultivation world: it was a ruthless place.

When someone went missing, the odds of survival were slim.

More often than not, they ended up dead—if there was even a body to find and confirm the state.

In most cases involving murders or disappearances, the remains were rarely recovered.

“He is alive?” Yang Qing asked again, a hint of desperation in his voice, as though afraid he had misheard.

“He is,” Ren Shu softly confirmed.

“But as to how alive he is right now, I can’t say—not with so little to go on.”

Ren Shu gestured to the dark grey flames flickering ominously.

“These flames are acting as an obfuscation spell, shielding any information about Bai Chen from being probed.”

The rosy relief that had briefly colored Yang Qing’s face instantly drained, leaving him pale as he processed Ren Shu’s words.

“If it’s a spell, and you can’t break through it…

does that mean a Soul Formation expert is involved?” Yang Qing asked warily, his mind flashing back to the horrifying encounter with the red abyssal thorn tree.

That sinister memory gripped his thoughts.

He vividly recalled how it had nearly claimed his life—and those of Dai Chen, Zhang Qingge, and the other two judges—when they executed the demotion verdict on the Ice Emerald Sect.

After dealing with the sect’s founder—a grueling and dangerous battle even with the odds in their favor when they ganged up on her, five to one—they had barely emerged victorious.

But upon her death, a crimson thorn tree, emanating an aura of malevolent bloodlust, had materialized out of nowhere.

The tree froze them in place, its deadly intent unmistakable.

It would have consumed them all had it not been for the timely arrival of one of the Order’s vice presidents and the Chief Inquisitor, whose intervention saved them from certain doom.

Yang Qing couldn’t help but draw parallels.

The Ice Emerald Sect had been hunting down individuals and organizations with subset arts tied to the Frozen Serenity Scripture.

Bai Chen, as a holder of one of those arts, would have been one of their targets.

Now, with Ren Shu unable to pierce the spell obscuring Bai Chen’s soul lantern, Yang Qing’s thoughts inevitably turned to the red abyssal thorn.

Could it be involved?

If it was, then no matter how much he wanted to see this through personally, his paltry cultivation would leave him no choice but to step back.

He wouldn’t hesitate to hand the case over to those stronger than himself.

Yang Qing was neither reckless nor prideful enough to cling to something he knew he was unequipped to handle.

To him, true incompetence was stubbornly pressing forward in the face of overwhelming odds, knowing full well one’s abilities fell short of the task.

For both his and Bai Chen’s sake, if that red abyssal thorn tree was indeed involved, the wisest course of action would be to hand the matter over to the more powerful figures within the Order.

To try and handle it himself out of pride or a warped sense of duty would lead only to his death—and, quite possibly, Bai Chen’s as well, along with those trapped with him.

He valued them both too much to take that gamble.

Now, all that remained was Ren Shu’s answer.

If this case required a new handler, Yang Qing would act without delay.

He’d even cancel the commission he had left with Fan Mei.

Allowing the Silver Frost Eagles, the Wind Gliding Mercenary Escorts, and Dong Ping—a peak palace stage rogue cultivator—to continue investigating while knowing a Soul Formation expert might be involved would be no different than sentencing them to death.

And that, Yang Qing would not allow on his conscience.

“It’s not necessarily the work of a soul formation expert,” Ren Shu began.

“It has more to do with Bai Chen’s strength.

That’s why I can’t discern much beyond the fact that he’s alive.

If he were in the domain realm, I might have been able to glean more from the flames.

Though, if he were that strong, he likely wouldn’t be in this situation,” Ren Shu patiently explained.

“Conversely, if he were in the core formation realm or below, I probably wouldn’t have been able to discern anything at all—not even his state.

The fact that I can at least tell he’s alive suggests that whoever or whatever is holding him isn’t much stronger than he is,” Ren Shu added, bringing much-needed relief to Yang Qing.

Yang Qing let out a sigh of relief, his tense shoulders easing as he reached for his tea, hoping to calm his tense nerves.

“Good,” he murmured, lifting the cup to his lips.

“It’s good that he’s alive,” he added, the warmth of the tea soothing him as relief washed over his body.

If Ren Shu said Bai Chen was alive, then Yang Qing had no reason to doubt it.

Ren Shu wasn’t just any healer—he was a gold-grade healer, standing near the pinnacle of his craft, second only to the Valley Master.

Yang Qing knew Ren Shu well enough to trust his words implicitly.

The man was meticulous in everything he did, especially when it came to diagnoses.

He wasn’t the type to speak carelessly, nor would he offer empty reassurances to comfort Yang Qing.

If he said Bai Chen was alive, then it was as close to a certainty as one could get.

The tightening grip that had been closing in on his heart eased slightly at the news.

He still wasn’t any closer to finding Bai Chen, but knowing he was alive, at least for the moment, was a much-needed salve for him as it not only soothed him but also gave him the energy needed to continue with the case.