Daily life of a cultivation judge

"Yes... not bad at all," Yang Qing softly muttered, a smile of appreciation warming his face as he gently pulled Zheng Hu's unconscious body toward the green flame tree.

Before the fight, he had expected to use maybe 30% of his strength at most, and he was well on his way to doing just that—until that last move by Zheng Hu forced him to alter his plans.

The Central Cardinal Path of the Yellow Dragon Monarch was the most powerful move in Zheng Hu's arsenal, a skill Yang Qing didn't know he had mastered, until today. Well, not fully mastered. Yang Qing could still see numerous flaws within it which he easily exploited to dissolve the attack at the end.

Still, the level Zheng Hu displayed proved he had at least grasped its essence. Removing the flaws was just a matter of time and experience.

Even now, he could hardly believe Zheng Hu pulled it off. But on reflection, it made sense considering the rapid progress he had made in improving his cultivation base in such a short time.

Only two months ago, Zheng Hu had the lowest cultivation base in his team, discounting the new additions, Haishi and Bolin. Now, he had already caught up with the rest. Given how dense his aura was, Yang Qing was willing to bet his breakthrough wouldn't take long.

It may take him the same amount of time as it did Yang Qing, that is five months. Those five months weren't just for a breakthrough; they were for stabilizing one's cultivation base. This meant shoring up foundations, familiarizing oneself with newfound strength, and digesting the insights that often flooded the mind immediately after one survived the last tribulation of lightning. It was heaven's gift to the cultivator. However much you grasped, depended on your abilities.

With how deep and dense Zheng Hu's aura was, it wouldn't take him long to internalize a lot of those insights, which would, in turn, affect how quickly he stabilized his realm.

By Yang Qing's estimates, while Zheng Hu may not catch up to Yi Jie and Feng Xin, who were close to exiting their seclusions, he had a chance of completing his advancement around the same time as Su Jinjing or Luo Meili—and all of this was likely in no small part due to his mastery of the Central Cardinal Path of the Yellow Dragon Monarch.

Zheng Hu practiced a gold-grade art known as the Five Aggregate Sacred Lotus Beast of the Celestial Vault. This art, because of its profundity, had a difficulty level similar to that of some purple-grade arts.

The Five Aggregate Sacred Lotus Beast of the Celestial Vault was unique, even among gold- or purple-grade arts. Its essence involved forming five different types of intent within the cultivator. Technically four, if one considered the requirements and nature of one of the intents.

These intents were not like Kang Huilang's state, where he cultivated different forms—like fist, spear, and sword intent—within his body. Though he did borrow certain inspirations from it. Instead, Zheng Hu's art aimed to create variations of a single intent: five variations to be exact.

For a sword cultivator, this art would guide them to cultivate five variations of sword intent; for a saber cultivator, it would focus on five variations of saber intent, and so on.

The art had five moves: Roar of the Azure Dragon Lotus of the East, Black Lotus Tortoise Warrior of the North, Descent of the Vermilion King of the South, Moon Lotus Stride of the White Tiger of the West, and finally, Central Cardinal Path of the Yellow Dragon Monarch.

The Roar of the Azure Dragon Lotus of the East cultivated a fluid intent, seamlessly balancing attack and defense. This adaptability made it particularly effective against unknown opponents, allowing its users to respond to various threats with remarkable adaptability.

The Black Lotus Tortoise Warrior of the North produced a robust, stable intent that was great defensively, improving mental resilience while minimizing qi consumption and maximizing output—perfect for drawn-out battles.

On the other hand, the Descent of the Vermilion King of the South resulted in an intent geared toward absolute destruction with a flair for the spontaneous. Of the five moves, this was Zheng Hu's favorite, as it suited his aggressive fighting style.

Then there was the Moon Lotus Stride of the White Tiger of the West, which shared some similarities with the Black Lotus Tortoise Warrior of the North as a defensive intent. However, it differed in approach. The latter focused on heaviness and endurance, making it effective against multiple opponents, while the former emphasized agility and swiftness, designed for facing singular foes in intense, defensive battles.

This move strengthened the user's spirit, improving focus to react swiftly. Though defensive, its rapid counterattacking capabilities offered moments for offensive opportunities.

Lastly came the Central Cardinal Path of the Yellow Dragon Monarch. While the other moves could be mastered in any order, this final move had to be learned last, as it emerged from a culmination of the previous four.

Only when one's understanding of the other four moves reached a certain level could one comprehend the path of merging their strengths into a single, potent force of destruction: the Central Cardinal Path of the Yellow Dragon Monarch.

Its difficulty was understated, as it had managed to stump even combat prodigies like Zheng Hu for years.

The reason Zheng Hu lagged behind others in cultivation was that, at some point, he had halted advancing his cultivation base. Instead, he chose to deepen his understanding of his art in hopes of mastering this final move.

Seeing the results now, especially since his skill forced Yang Qing to increase his output, it was well worth it.

Forcing him to use 35% of his abilities might not seem like much, but Yang Qing was confident he could defeat certain first-stage palace realm experts with just 35% of his strength. The former branch manager of the Golden Bamboo Pavilion in the Red Maple Empire came to mind among palace realm experts he could overcome with this output. In fact, Yang Qing was confident he wouldn't exert nearly as much effort against that manager as he did against Zheng Hu.

A few months back, defeating the combined efforts of the branch manager, the former Red Maple Empire emperor, and Lin Duyi, the profligate scion of the Golden Bamboo Pavilion, had taken nearly 65% of Yang Qing's power. At that time, he was only at the first stage and had not yet triggered the reactions of his Yin Yang jade physique or reached the second-stage palace realm as he had now, standing on the threshold of reaching the third stage.

If he faced them now, he estimated he would need only 50% of his strength to defeat them and in much less time at that.

The fact that Zheng Hu drew out 35% of Yang Qing's strength spoke to his skill and foundation. This didn't mean he could beat a palace realm expert. However, he could at least make someone at the level of Yao De struggle before defeating him.

As it stood, even without a breakthrough, even though Zheng Hu might not be able to defeat a palace realm expert, he could at least ensure his survival against some of them for a time, a noteworthy achievement.

Yang Qing couldn't help but get excited about Zheng Hu's prospects once he broke through to the palace realm. It wasn't just him, he was excited about the rest, whether it was Yi Jie, Feng Xin, or the others in his team. The stronger they were, the less he would have to do.

His ambitions of slacking off only grew with each passing year, especially now when the goal was nearly in sight.

His heart, previously tense from Mao Yunru's gift, seemed to lighten at the thought.

"I'll leave him to you," Yang Qing said to the green flame tree, placing Zheng Hu beneath its trunk.

At his words, a green flame-like blanket appeared beneath Zheng Hu, enveloping him. If one looked closely, one could see his many wounds gradually knitting together.

Despite the high regenerative abilities of cultivators, Zheng Hu couldn't heal from the injuries Yang Qing gave him—not by himself, as they were coated with Yang Qing's Dao. That energy kept his wounds from closing up. He would need to reach the palace realm to heal them alone, so Yang Qing entrusted the task to the green flame tree.

As for why he didn't heal Zheng Hu himself when he could have done so in seconds, it was to allow Zheng Hu's body to absorb the lessons from the beating he received.

He definitely was not using the spar to vent some of his recent frustrations or holding back against healing him for that same reason. He was not that type of person.

The body records much, and examining those records is one of the fastest ways to improve. This was why the Institute held so many intense sparring sessions, that is aside from the sadistic personalities of their instructors from the Institute.

Certain lessons could only be understood fully by feeling them. Healing Zheng Hu himself would rob him of those lessons. This was why he never healed Ma Yuan after their spars, leaving it to the green flame tree, which had the innate ability to preserve those lessons while restoring the body.

Leaving Zheng Hu to his introspection, even unconscious, Yang Qing walked to one of his seats and took out a few dishes to celebrate his lifted mood.

However, his celebration was cut short when he sensed an unfamiliar presence outside his abode.