Kapitel 2: Close to realizing the dream
Thus, close to the peak of Qi Refinement, he left his family and went to the trial grounds of the Order. He quickly passed their screening as a 10th-level Qi Refinement cultivator, which at his age was nothing short of a genius.
The cultivation realms on Blue Origin Planet are as follows:
Body Refinement → Qi Refinement → Foundation Stage → Core Formation Stage → Palace Stage → Domain Stage → Soul Formation Stage.
Yang Qing had heard there might be a stage above Soul Formation, but he had no idea what it was. In fact, in all his life, before joining the Order, the most powerful cultivator he had ever interacted with was a core Formation expert which it turned out was a palace realm expert masquerading as a core formation expert.
That interaction happened when he was at the Body Refinement stage, and that experience left an unforgettable mark on him. It shaped the person he was today.
Within the Body Refinement stage, there are 6 levels: Iron Body, Bronze Body, Silver Body, Gold Body, Diamond Body, and lastly, the Peerless Jade Body. As long as one reaches the Silver Body stage, they will have opened enough meridians to begin Qi absorption and enter the Qi Refinement stage.
Most opt to break through to Qi Refinement at this stage, as cultivating a Gold or Diamond Body. other than improvement in strength doesn't necessarily add longevity. In addition, it takes considerable talent, effort, and resources just to break through from Silver Body to Diamond Body. Some have taken decades, losing time they could have used pursuing higher realms.
The older you are, the less vigor your Qi has, to achieve a successful breakthrough. Among the many things that hinder a smooth breakthrough—other than comprehension and accumulation—age is a considerable factor.
As for the rest of the stages from Qi Refinement onwards, they all have 12 levels.
Upon his evaluation, Yang Qing was found to have already cultivated a Peerless Jade Body and was at the 10th level of Qi Refinement. This created quite a stir among the evaluators and instructors, though such cases weren't unheard of.
Given how many people applied to join the Order over the centuries, a few talents like his, some even exceeding his, appeared from time to time, who grew into their potential and ended up becoming pillars of support for the Order.
Yang Qing was easily admitted, exactly as he envisioned. He was lavished with resources, given special one-on-one trainings, and had access to all kinds of cultivation techniques and facilities.
Prior to joining, he had already decided that once admitted, he would do everything in his power to stand out. In his mind, the more he stood out as a one-of-a-kind talent, the less likely they'd send him on dangerous missions. In fact, he was willing to bet they were likely to shelter him like a household treasure.
"Maintain a low profile? NEVER! I won't end up doing grunt work that's bound to be dangerous and tiresome. I, Yang Qing, am a soft-life cultivator." He repeated this mantra to himself every day at the training institute.
Thus, he threw himself into cultivating, ensuring his brilliance shone. He even involved himself in various occupations to show he was well-rounded: studying arrays, beast taming, alchemy, herbology, weapon refinement, talisman production, and medicine. He did it all.
Of course, he ended up being terrible at most except for arrays and medicine, so he was forced to rein in his zealousness and add humility to his amiable traits.
However, all his effort paid off, as he stood out among his peers, becoming one of the strongest in his class with an early Core Formation cultivation stage, also known as the Illusory Core stage. His results, though showy, earned him a direct entry as a judge, bypassing the normal route he would have had to take had his results been average.
This is, he would have had to undertake the role of an inquisitor first and do his duties to a certain standard before finally accruing enough experience and time on the job to qualify for the role of a judge.
He wept in joy when he heard the news. The higher-ups believed his tears were from a deep sense of duty to the Order. They even admired his character and berated the other trainees to show similar dedication.
Little did they know his tears were from realizing his dream.
Who were judges? Where were they stationed?
Judges were high-ranking officials and worked in the main headquarters, which was heavily fortified and protected beyond any empire or first-rate sect.
Wasn't this exactly what he always wanted? He could sit all day in a safe courtroom, judge people, get paid handsomely, and not have to risk his neck. He had even secretly planned to shift some of his workload onto his inquisitors, so he could properly slack off.
This was the dream that had taken root in him after his terrifying encounter with a Core Formation expert during his Body Refinement days, living comfortably in a place where his safety was guaranteed and wasn't relied upon to be part of that safety measure. Having stronger trees surrounding him, protecting him from the elements like the fragile shoot he was, as he basked in the warm shade they provided and occasionally siphoned some nutrients from them. It was the perfect life.
"GET READY WORLD, SOFT-LIFE YANG QING HAS ARRIVED!" he internally yelled.
He couldn't wait to start—so he thought. He was swamped with cases as soon as he began, with set targets and careful monitoring from a superior, whom Yang Qing believed was the physical embodiment of his inner demon.
Judges started as Outer Court Judges and worked their way up based on cultivation and work performance. As the lowest rung, Outer Court Judges handled cases from Body Refinement to the peak of the Foundation realm.
The bulk of the cultivation world was occupied by these realms. A Qi Refinement cultivator? You could wake up tomorrow and find a blade of grass cultivating Qi. A qi refinement cultivator was being birthed every other day, as a result, the cases involving them never stopped flowing through the doors of the Order. And since a Core Formation expert could go without food or sleep, Yang Qing soon learned the truth of that saying.
He was worked to his core and reserves, and for some cases, he even had to leave the comfort of the courthouse. He was utterly disheartened by how heartless the place was. He couldn't run—the consequences for traitors were drilled into them through illusion spells, vividly displaying the fate of those who betrayed the Order's code of conduct.
Thus, Soft-life Yang Qing died, and in his place, sleepless and broken-down Yang Qing was born.
Luckily, amid his despair, an epiphany hit: if he improved his cultivation realm, wouldn't his caseload decrease?
The cases a judge handled were correlated to their strength. If he reached the Palace Realm, he'd handle Palace Realm cases— which were bound to be far fewer than Foundation or Qi Refinement ones because of the number of Palace Realm cultivators that were considerably fewer in comparison to the two groups.
How many palace realm cultivators were there on the continent? Probably a lot with how rich the continent was, but they were not as many as the foundation establishment cultivators and were definitely a drop when compared to the Qi refinement populace;
And of those palace realm experts, how many of them would be feuding? Likely a lot, considering the history of the continent and the need for the Order, but even then, if there are feuds, how many palace realm experts will want to bring their grievances to the Order?
Do they not have any self-respect? Where are their backbones as powerful palace realm experts? They should solve their issues themselves and not go tattling to the Order.
"Soft-life Yang Qing, prepare for your revival," Yang Qing muttered with a grin.
"HEY! HEY! YANG QING! What are you daydreaming about at the court entrance? We'll be late and end up with sect evaluations again."
Yang Qing snapped out of his stupor with a yell from Yi Jie. He hurried toward him with renewed vigor. At 23, he had already reached the Palace Realm and passed the internal evaluations to become a Palace Court Judge.
He would have started three months earlier, if not for his supervisor discovering he'd lied about the time it took him to break through. It took him five months, but Yang Qing, in his infinite wisdom, pretended it took him eight, rewarding himself for the feat with three extra months to sleep.
His ruse didn't escape Lei Weiyuan, his domain-level expert supervisor, who easily deduced his breakthrough timing. After a bit of coercion, Yang Qing confessed, and those three months were happily added to his schedule along with a few 'reasonable' fines for his indiscretion.
Geschenke
-- Geschenk
erhalten Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein