Daily life of a cultivation judge

Chapter 606 Sole survivor

Yang Qing continued his walk slowly his eyes closed slowly sensing the powerful energies around him. He detected yet another powerful energy filled with the profundities of earth. It had the firmness and stubbornness of earth. The energy contained within it was just as masterful and deep as Hao Da's.

"This energy should belong to the Branch Chief. I heard he cultivated an earth-based cultivation art. These fluctuations seem to resemble the Sovereign warrior earth flow descent cultivation art.." muttered Yang Qing as a gold-red silk wisp of light gently drifted to his hand.

The light had the firm stability of the earth but other than that it contained a desolate air of destruction that was ancient.

This was something he had seen with Sovereign warrior earth flow descent cultivation users. They borrowed the force of the earth with every movement and from it they also pulled out an ancient warrior's spirits.

The art itself was perfect in every way except it had one risk, the user ran a risk of having his or her body possessed by the ancient spirit if they were not careful. Every user needed to have a powerful sense of self and willpower to be able to cultivate the art.

They would continuously cultivate the art to achieve resonance with the ancient spirit they had drawn. The spirit that was drawn was unique to each user. It could be a humanoid, a spirit beast, or a spiritual plant. What came out was entirely dependent on the qualities of the user. 

With a spirit connected to the earth, they would have the ability to draw the force of the earth and they would also gain some unique abilities from those spirits. The deeper the resonance they had with the spirit, the more power they could exert from those abilities.

Yang Qing could detect a disintegrating power coming from the wisp in his hand, in addition, there was something animal-like about it. He could feel a claw strike behind the disintegrating power.

Yang Qing continued with his walk when the gold-red wisp disappeared from his hand. He continued sensing the qualities of the different energies around him as he walked. He didn't dare use his spiritual sense in this place for the risk of harming his soul. He used his yin-yang peerless jade physique as the conduit for his analysis.

Slowly by slowly, he made it deeper and deeper into the battleground with the energies becoming more powerful, violent, and chaotic.

Glowing Dao glyph markings appeared on his body which formed a protective green-like barrier around his body.

When he went further in he could see a black-purple smoke still eating away at the ground. Yang Qing crouched to one of the crevices producing it and with his hand that was releasing an ephemeral green light, he reached out his hand to the smoke.

The smoke seemed alive as it trembled with an almost lifelike sensation of fear. A radiant ethereal light was immediately released from Yang Qing's hands which covered a potion of the black-purple smoke.

"This should be from the obsidian serpent couple...mmmh, based on the noble aura coming from it, this should be from the male serpent.." Yang Qing muttered to himself as he sensed the intrinsic qualities within the smoke.

He didn't linger too long on that crevice as he moved to another and then another not staying too long in one crevice. Every crevice he went to was specifically releasing the purple-black smoke.

It looked like he was looking for something in particular. He only stopped when he reached a particular stump of a tree that was slowly melting away as it released the purple-black smoke.

As he did before, Yang Qing released an ethereal golden light that encapsulated the purple-black smoke. Though the smoke reacted with a frantic tremble like the other purple-black smoke he had come across this seemed weaker and less alive in some way.

"This should be from the female serpent. Now only the signature of their child is left, hopefully, some traces of it still remain.." muttered Yang Qing before his gaze lingered on the stump of the spring crystal larch tree.

Spring crystal larch trees were usually vibrant, resplendent, and full of life so infectious they transformed those around them by filling them with vibrancy and vigor. The tree looked like a polished gem that contained sun rays within it. One look at them and you would feel refreshed.

Those with the means to sustain them liked to keep them around because of their renewing and refreshing nature and were beautiful to look at. The fact that they only grew in places with at least a high-grade spirit vein meant that not most could afford to keep them.

The spring crystal larch before Yang Qing was but a weathered husk of its former self. It lacked the life and vibrancy common with its kind and all it had was a bleak desolate look and air, however, within it, Yang Qing sensed a stubbornness to hold on.

"You did well to hang on.." Yang Qing said as he placed his hands on it.

"As the only surviving resident of this place maybe you can help me with something, it won't be for free of course.." he added.

Even though he didn't use his spiritual sense, Yang Qing could detect that within that area of utter destruction, that almost withering stump was the only living thing in the area.

He didn't know whether it was because of the vitality dao he cultivated or his yin yang peerless jade physique or both, but he has always been sensitive to life. He never needed his spiritual sense to detect even the slightest signs of it. Conversely, he was also just as sensitive to the aura of death.

A faint weak light flashed for a brief second before it disappeared.

"Thank you.." said Yang Qing with a smile.

Ever since he formed his peerless jade physique he always felt an intimate connection to things he didn't before whether it was small birds that flew by his home, the herbs his brother grew when they were little, the tree he liked to sleep under, the dog that he chased around. He could feel their emotions and thoughts and that sensation grew with time. 

Whether they were completely sentient or not, no matter the species be it animal, plant, or even the earth beneath his feet, he could always sense their thoughts and emotions more so when he triggered the dao glyph markings of his physique which he sensed seemed to have grown stronger.

Yang Qing stretched his index finger over the stump and a green drop filled with a myriad of lights immediately formed at the tip of it containing an aura of life capable of supporting a whole ecosystem.

Spring of resplendence

The moment the drop made contact with the stump, the aura of vitality contained within the drop immediately burst forth within the body of the crystal spring larch, and all the damage and miasma and other energies eroding its body were all purged in an instant.

The overflowing life energy within the drop then spread to every part of the stump, restoring and revitalizing it with a speed too fast for the eye to catch. The withering root was immediately restored and strengthened even further.

 Massive web cracks appeared within the ground as the renewed root ballooned in size and started burrowing in all directions.

The life aura that was burning lowly like a candle wick about to go out was instantly renewed and now burned like the flaming sun.

The stump that was barely hanging on started shedding off as a more radiant crystal formed from within with vivacious light swimming within it.

Inch by inch the crystal reformed as it moved upwards while releasing air that carried the promise of life and renewal. It felt like the earth was breathing again after a period of slumber and bleak darkness.

Within seconds the stump had transformed into a mature fully formed tree filled with lush leaves that released the scented fresh air of the vibrancy of spring while the crystal that formed its body released a warm gentle glow that welcomed all into its embrace filling them with liveliness and a sense of excitement and jubilance to welcome the season of spring.

The swimming lights within its crystal body that seemed to dance with playful joy, the earthy refreshing scent of the lush emerald leaves, and the gentle rustling of the leaves created an intoxicating atmosphere of relaxation and invigorating beauty of nature's essence.

Yang Qing couldn't help but sigh at the scene before him. He always felt a sense of awe and humility in such scenes. Whether it was his peerless jade physique or the crystal spring larch all these were gifts bestowed upon them by nature itself. Cultivators couldn't replicate it no matter how powerful they seemed.

Every time Yang Qing saw its essence in action, he couldn't help but be awed by it. Him getting the yin yang peerless jade physique was one of the greatest things to happen to him. Even cultivating the myriad world universal resonant light cultivation world cultivation art was an unexpected fortune for him. It helped him see and experience a world he would have never imagined.

The leaves of the crystal spring larch rustled with excitement almost as if to thank Yang Qing.

Yang Qing gently placed his hands on its back with a smile as he sensed the jubilant emotions within.

After a few seconds, he took his hands off the bark as he delved deeper into the area.

"I'll need your help in a bit.." Yang Qing said as he walked in with his eyes closed to which the crystal spring larch released colorful lights in response.