Daily life of a cultivation judge

"Contain myself, you want me to contain myself?" Fan Cai said as he let out a laugh that wasn’t really a laugh.

"What child would be able to contain themselves if they just heard that their mother was about to become a slave?

What child would be able to contain themself to such a news? Tell me?!" Fan Cai said with a maddened look on his face which suddenly turned cold and tranquil in a split second.

"If our roles were reversed, maybe you could do that. You might even encourage such a choice but not me. I am not you, mother," Fan Cai said, his voice turning low, and his gaze turning sorrowful and filled with regret.

" I can’t be like you. You said great cultivators only become great by not only improving their strength but cultivating their hearts and minds too.

If I remained silent and swallowed all this without questioning your choice in the matter or being sincere about how I truly felt about all this, would pretending and hiding what I feel be considered as cultivating my heart and mind?

Is indifference and avoidance considered cultivating the mind and the heart?

If it is then I’d rather be a worthless cultivator.

If I was someone who was capable of calmly accepting their only parent being taken away from them then I would be no different than those traffickers you threw me to. In fact, I would be worse. I doubt they would treat their loved ones with such callousness.

So no, I will not contain myself, Mother," Fan Cai said as his eyes shone with stubborn defiance and resolution, slowly turning his attention from his slightly stunned mother.

Meng Jiayi who had been calmly sipping his wine, opened his eyes, laughed as he said,

"Well said kid, truly well said.

"Fan Ha, you produced a fine boy, no a fine man. Truly well said, cultivator Fan Cai,"

Meng Jiayi’s aura seemed to change as he stood up and gave Fan Cai a daoist salute which startled the young man. He may have not interacted with a lot of people but even he knew of the separation lines that existed between cultivators and what it meant to be given a daoist salute by a cultivator more powerful than him.

It wasn’t something that commonly happened. It was only something that was done amongst fellow peers, and for a powerful cultivator to offer one to someone weaker than them, It was the highest form of respect and acknowledgment to that cultivator.

Fan Cai had spent all his life trying to win the respect and acknowledgment of his mother, and all he caught were disparaging remarks and looks of disappointment.

How he longed just a tiny bit of her acknowledgement and now getting a daoist salute from a palace realm master, someone she likely respected, it left him feeling out of sorts.

In his highly emotional state, he cast a sideway glance at his mother with one of his eyes, in the hopes of maybe seeing her look at him differently. Maybe he would catch her looking at him, similar to how Meng Jiayi was.

She wasn’t, but it wasn’t a total loss, as Fan Cai saw a different look in her, it was a conflicted look.

"So she can make that face too," thought Fan Cai, quickly filing away his mother’s current look before turning his attention to Yang Qing.

"Can something be done about her contract?" He asked.

In response to Fan Cai’s question, Yang Qing looked over to Li Tian, the envoy from the Silver Vermilion Rose Pavilion.

Fan Ha’s intentions aside, neither she nor the Yu clan or the Starlight Lake Sect would be able to make any changes to the contract without their approval since it was them who enforced the contract.

The fact that it was still active, meant they had given their tacit approval on the matter.

Li Tian already telling what Yang Qing was about to ask, answered with a helpless smile,

"The clause was violated and even though the Starlight Lake Sect has no intention of pursuing it, Fan Ha as one of the main parties in the contract has the power to trigger its enforcement just the same.

She exercised that right, and we have no choice but to abide by it with her reasons having met the threshold of approval for triggering the clause.

As it stands, only Miss Fan Ha has the power to call it back if she so chooses and or the Yu Clan."

On receiving the response, Fan Cai looked at his mother.

"Don’t do it," he said, his tone leaving no room for rejection, sadly he had chosen his target poorly.

"I won’t,"

"Why not?"

"I owe a debt and have to pay it,"

"There’s no way to change your mind?" Fan Cai asked changing tact, as his tone turned softer and pitiful.

"If there was another way, I would take it, but there isn’t," she answered, her tone matching Fan Cai’s, in its softness.

"Then I will be a guardian too. I want to be in the contract too," Fan Cai finally said as he turned his face toward Li Tian.

"Can I be put into the contract too?" he asked the envoy who smiled uncomfortably as his gaze went to Fan Ha.

"Cai’er stop it," she softly said as she reached out her hand toward him.

When Fan Cai, felt the warmth of her hand against his, it was like he had been electrocuted. One of his greatest wishes had just been fulfilled but he couldn’t even enjoy it.

Turning his attention toward the Yu clan elder, he bowed his head as he said,

"I know my strength and abilities are lacking and are in no way worthy of a prestigious clan like yours but I am my mother’s son, and just like her, I have the confidence of reaching the palace realm and quite possibly even the latest stages," Fan Cai said with a powerful resonating voice.

"I am willing to work for your clan for the rest of my life if you will have me, and if I do reach the late stages of the palace realm, I hope you can extend the grace period afforded to the Starlight Lake Sect.

Please accept me!"