Daily life of a cultivation judge

"There you have it, Elder Yu Hui," Yang Qing said in response to Fan Ha’s confirmation.

"Knowing what you know now, do you think it wise to continue with the contract? You can go ahead with it if you don’t fear the retaliation of a flood dragon and quite possibly her disciple too, but I would not advise it.

Maybe the future I have described might never come to pass. You could strike a deal with Miss Fan Ha, and her sister might never appear, or her disciple, or other figures she had ties with during her time at the Deer Mountain Range.

Maybe none of them will appear on your doorstep demanding an explanation, but is that a risk you are willing to take?

It takes a million steps to achieve success, but it only takes one single misstep to experience failure.

Your clan needs to decide what matters to you. Your continued existence and survival, or your face," said Yang Qing, burying the room into a period of silence.

A few seconds passed by, with Yu Hui seated and unmoving, except for the faint twitches of his eye. He was the very picture of someone standing at the edge of a precipitous cliff. Someone who was standing at the edge of that cliff, while to his back were enemies numbering in the thousands rushing over to take his life in the most brutal way possible, while to the front of him was a swallowing chilly abyss, whose depths one could not see. He could only choose one or the other.

As time passed by, one could see the color drain from his face. Eventually, he spoke, his voice sounding raspy as he did.

"This isn’t fair. We are the aggrieved party here and somehow we are the ones swallowing this loss. How is this fair? Even after they injured our members, we didn’t pursue them as hard despite our advantage.

We didn’t raze their sect to the ground, not a single person of their sect lost their life, yet here we are, we are the ones staring down at the abyss of destruction.

How is this fair?" Yu Hui said as he cut a sorry figure. His head was buried in his palms, afraid to even look up.

Of all the likely worst-case scenarios he had envisioned with this whole matter, none of it came close to what it was.

Making an enemy of a flood dragon and her quasi-domain disciple was not in the realm of possibilities on what could potentially go wrong for them. Yet here they were.

With a resignation and tiredness in his voice, Yu Hui asked,

"What about the injuries to our members and the things that happened before."

Based on the awkwardness and fear that could be heard in his voice as he said the latter part of his sentence, no matter how vague he was about it, everyone knew what he was alluding to with the ’things that happened before’.

He was obviously worried about reprisal for all the things they did to Starlight Lake Sect over the years such as snatching countless territories away from them over the years to the point that they had already reached their gates and it was only a matter of when they would snatch the gate too before they moved for the things that laid within.

"For the injuries suffered by your parties, and the figure you quoted, considering they were not as severe, as is standard practice for agreements of such nature, the Starlight Lake Sect is to pay three times the quoted figure," Yang Qing said.

"Why do we have to pay, Judge Yang Qing yet they were the ones who encroached on our territory and triggered the whole thing into motion?" asked Xie Yuan.

The Starlight Lake Sect’s finances, despite the numerous setbacks they had faced, were not so low to the point that they couldn’t afford 52,000 high-grade stones. They had the spirit stones and the resources of equivalent value that could comfortably cover the cost, but Xie Yuan felt indignant about accepting it, considering the cause of it.

It was like paying your robber’s medical bills for them tripping over immediately after robbing you.

It was humiliating for her to say the least. They had already shamed the sect for so long over the years, and she didn’t have it in her to do that anymore. She wasn’t the only one, otherwise, they would not have resolved themselves to fight it out with the Yu clan, even if it meant their destruction.

Yang Qing sensing the boiling emotions within her answered,

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"The payment isn’t for their injuries, it is for them not retaliating after. A different group at the same level would have reacted differently, don’t you think?"

While he felt for the Starlight Lake Sect and believed they had been dealt a bad hand, especially considering how they supported the Yu clan during their heyday only for said clan to turn on them after they lost their domain expert, and their quality of cultivators started dropping.

Yes, the Yu clan were thankless, but their actions were reserved in a sense. The Starlight Lake Sect while did suffer losses in terms of resources, they didn’t experience the same figures when it came to the lives of their cultivators.

Whether it was because the Yu clan was afraid of confronting them directly en masse, or they preferred the subtle long-term approach of slowly strangulating them by bleeding them dry of their resources, or maybe because somewhere deep down there was still a part of them that appreciated what the Starlight Lake Sect had done for them, whatever the reason was, despite the friction on both sides, it never devolved to a full-blown fight.

The casualty numbers borne by the Starlight Lake Sect from their friction with the Yu clan over the past 20,000 years were no more than 100 which is really low considering they were the weaker party and none of those 100 were key figures of the sect.

It was undeniable, the Yu clan in a twisted sense, had been merciful. A different clan with the same level of strength, and those casualty numbers would not have been as low as they were, and this was even considering that the Yu clan domain master never took action against them.

If he had decided to act personally, while whatever trump cards and secret means the Starlight Lake Sect would have prevented immediate destruction, it would only support them for so long, and said means were finite.

How many treasures and resources did they have capable of stopping the power of a domain expert?

With how precious said things were, likely not many.

How long would said measures last? If the Yu clan’s domain master decided to attack nonstop, would they be able to hold for a month, for a few months, or what about a year?

A living domain expert was more threatening than whatever means a deceased domain expert had left behind, no matter what measures said deceased domain expert had left behind, especially when one considered that the deceased domain expert of the Starlight Lake Sect was still an early stage domain expert.

Whatever means he left behind could guarantee protection for his sect to a point, but it could likely not threaten the life of the domain attacker, even if said attacker was at the first stage.

The Starlight Lake Sect could thus only defend impassively as they watched that guillotine slowly descend on their helpless necks.

Thus the payment Yang Qing asked for wasn’t for the injury but for giving face to the Yu clan and its domain master, and gratitude for the odd peace they enjoyed.

"We agree to the terms," said Meng Jiayi.

"It is only right we do so," he added, with his eyes facing Xie Yuan, showing said statement was meant for her more than anyone else.

"I know," she answered with an unresigned and pained look in her eyes as she clenched her fists.

"Elder Yu Hui, are you okay with that?" asked Yang Qing to the pale elder.

"I am," Yu Hui answered.

Despite the deal being in his favor, he was in no mood to appreciate it. With a flood dragon lingering on the horizon, who could?

"Now on the matters of the contract, do the new parties still want to continue with it, or do the original terms come into play?" asked Yang Qing, his question directed to Fan Ha and Yu Hui.

"The Yu clan no longer wishes to proceed with the contract," said Yu Hui.

"Neither do I," curtly answered Fan Ha, her response eliciting an excitable look in Fan Cai, who did all he could to keep himself from leaping over the table in joy.

"Envoy Li Tian would you please?"

"Certainly," said the envoy as performed an incantation on the contract in his hand. The moment he did, three ethereal lights appeared in the room, and its sources were Fan Ha, Xie Yuan, and Meng Jiayi.

The lights came out of their wrists and combined mid-air to form a silver vermilion bird that had all the grandeur and majestic presence of a real live vermilion bird. The bird dived into the contract, with its entire body covered in silver flames. The contract instantly burst into flames the moment it made contact, and a second later, the contract and the bird were no more. They both disappeared.

"The contract between Fan Ha and the Starlight Lake Sect is henceforth considered completed.

The Silver Rose Vermilion thanks you both for your patronage," said Li Tian as he cupped his fists to said parties who responded in kind.

"Thank you, envoy Li Tian," said Yang Qing, nodding gratefully to the envoy.

"The matter can now be considered closed, though there is something I wish to add, if you’ll all indulge me," Yang Qing gently said.

"Speak freely, Judge Yang Qing," said Meng Jiayi, who seemed like he had alternated roles with Xie Yuan, leaving his carefree appearance from before, adopting the air of a sect master.

"You may have come here because of the contract, but I truly hope we can put the feud on all sides to rest.

The Starlight Lake Sect, you more than likely feel aggrieved from all the things you have had to endure over the years because of the actions of the Yu Clan, understandably so.

As for the Yu clan, with the information on hand, you’re more than likely worried about what happens next where your clan is concerned, and quite potentially the actions of Miss Fan Ha’s sister.

Whatever has happened, has happened. It doesn’t make it any easier to swallow things despite saying that but this is the world we live in, the only thing we have in our control is our reaction and our choices on what comes next, and that is true for you two and Miss Fan Ha.

At this point, you get to decide what comes next for you all. You can pursue past grievances, or you can let it lie here. I understand it may not seem fair or right, but from where I am sitting, the world is already chaotic enough and it doesn’t need more additions to the pot," Yang Qing said as his gaze fell on the three groups.

With their attention on him, he pulled out a large piece of parchment that he unfurled on the table. It turned out to be a map.