Daily life of a cultivation judge



After getting pumped up with the prospect of reaching the mountain peak, the team worked on the potions as they evaluated the different recipes they were given.

"We were out for almost three hours?!" Zou Yi suddenly yelled.

Curious, he asked Zou Liqin how long they had been unconscious. He thought it would be one hour or thirty minutes like He Shan had told them before they consumed the mushrooms, but three hours was way over what He Shan had said.

"Yes, it was three hours, I also thought something was wrong, but your breathing were normal.." Zou Liqin casually replied, which, despite the casualness, did little to ease Zou Yi's expression.

"You bastard, I thought you said one hour at most? How did we end up asleep for three hours?" Zou Yi asked He Shan with clear dissatisfaction in his tone.

He Shan looked just as shocked as Zou Yi was from the revelation. However, to not give Zou Yi the satisfaction of calling him out, he quickly switched his expression to one of calm seriousness.

"That's what Grandpa told me. Today is the first time I've ever tried it. The other times I couldn't take the risk since most of the time, I'm usually by myself during the hunts. Being alone and unconscious for nearly an hour is a risk I couldn't afford to take..."

"You...You...How careless can you be?" Zou YI struggled to talk as he pointed his shaky fingers at He Shan. 

He usually prided himself in keeping his emotions in check, especially in Purple City, where it was one of his tools of trade. Still, ever since he met He Shan, he struggled more and more to keep his emotions in check, i.e., mostly his outbursts. 

Is the red suckle berserker mushroom still in my system?

He wondered when he saw how easily agitated he had become.

"I don't think Grandpa lied...Yu Mei, didn't you say you were the only one awake when we got swallowed by the river?.."

Yu Mei nodded at He Shan in response to his question.

"Maybe the river did something to us since Zou Liqin passed out too. Also, the mushroom works only if your body is at least intact, which you were not...You were just a pile of broken bones stitched together by some herbs.

How could a body in that state handle the potent effects of something like the red suckle berserker mushroom so easily? Aren't you thinking too highly of yourself?" He Shan mockingly said.

"Weren't you unconscious for three hours too? At least I had broken bones as an excuse. What's yours?" Zou Yi quickly fired one.

They went back and forth before finally, Zou Liqin intervened when the potion He Shan had been working on almost spilled over.

He Shan worked quickly as he threw a bunch of herbs into the bullfrog cauldron, which resulted in the mixture almost spilling over to simmer down.

"Which potion is he making?" asked Zou Liqn as she took out her handbook with the 108 steps of the autumn leaves technique Yang Qing had handed them before the exam began.

She flipped the manual to the page highlighting how to move from the bronze stage of the body refining realm to the silver stage. In that section, there were eight different recipes.

"We decided on this one... the Azure grace elixir.." Zou Yi said as he pointed to the recipe with that name.

Below it were the ingredients needed, the general description of the order they were to be placed in the cauldron, and how the finished product should look.

It was purposefully left out when it came to other matters such as measurement, how to process the ingredients, heat control, and other specific measures to be considered when brewing an elixir or potion.

Zou Liqin couldn't help but shake her head at this. The one saving grace was the ingredients written on the recipe had accompanying images at least. The recipe needed about 21 spiritual herbs and over a dozen parts from spirit beasts and mineral ores. Zou Liqin may have been born in a rank two clan that had no shortage of earth-rank resources, but looking down the list, she couldn't recognize half of the herbs and mineral ores, and when it came to the parts from spirit beasts, she was completely clueless about it.

"He Shan, you know alchemy?" Zou Liqin asked with genuine surprise in her tone.

She didn't mean to look down on He Shan. Still, alchemy was a subject that required an astronomical amount of resources to make any progress in, similar to artifact and weapon refinement or even the study and creation of talismans and formations.

Based on Shan's equipment and clothing, he didn't seem like someone who had access to a mountain-sized resource.

"My Grandpa may have been undependable in a lot of things, but when it came to the study of herbs and their application, he was a different person the clumsy old geezer who would get trapped in his traps would turn into a bottomless pool of wisdom when it came to alchemy and herbs, even the study of spirit beast and which parts are the most delicious.."

He Shan couldn't help but lick his lips with greed when he said the last part.

"As his sole student, while I can't match him, I know enough to get by, at least better than a certain someone.." He Shan smugly said as he cast a mocking side glance at the infuriated Zou Yi.

Zou Liqin couldn't help but chuckle seeing the reaction of the two as she threw a questioning glance at Yu Mei that seemed to ask:

"When did they get so close?"

The team soon focused back on the brew He Shan was making. Zou Liqin, like a good teammate, offered to lend a hand, but after she was given a few pop quizzes by He Shan on her herb and alchemy knowledge, she was ruthlessly sent away when she showed herself to be severely lacking in these areas.

Though He Shan was gentler when he chased her away, unlike how he was with Zou Yi, which surprised her.

"Let him be. I can't wait for the cauldron to explode on his smug face.." Zou Yi venomously said.

Zou Liqin reserved her comments as she doubted He Shan would fail. While she wasn't skilled in alchemy, she had seen a few shares of good alchemists in the Zou clan, and when she saw He Shan and how he handled and processed the materials, she could tell he had exceptional skills. She knew Zou Yi could say to it too, which was why he had such a sour look.

His grandfather must have been a skilled alchemist. I wonder what grade he was in—wondered  Zou Liqin.

"Liqin, Yu Mei, which techniques do you intend to use with the herb solution?" Zou Yi eagerly asked as his eyes shined with anticipation when he perused through his handbook.

"Look at all these techniques; fist arts, palm art, sword arts, leg arts, movement arts, spear arts...There are so many aspects of the 108 steps of the autumn leaves cultivation art to choose from. 

I think I would be  great with the sword.." Zou Yi valiantly said as he grabbed the tang sword next to the alchemy table and pointed it to the sky.

"Can you not fool around?" Zou Liqin said as she laughed at her brother's goofy look.

"Liqin, don't you think your brother has the skills to be an excellent swordsman.." grumbled Zou Yi with a pitiful expression as she put the sword away.

"We've already wasted close to five hours just making it here. Working on the fist, palm, leg, or movement arts would be better for us in terms of getting results in the shortest amount of time possible..." Zou Liqin said as she went through the arts concerning these four areas.