Daily life of a cultivation judge

Before she could sink deeper into the endless wonder of who their founder would side with if he were to resurrect—his bloodline or his disciples—Yang Qing's voice pulled her back.

"He didn't take more?"

Xia Fang took a moment to collect herself before answering.

"Yes and no," she said, her response drawing a questioning look from Yang Qing.

"He did take in more disciples, but in terms of personal disciples, it was just the five… The rest were only in-name disciples," she slowly explained.

Yang Qing nodded in understanding.

This was what both angered and filled Xia Fang with shame. Their founder, despite losing his cultivation base and leaving the Silver Crane Sect, still maintained the same standards and vision as a member and disciple of a rank-two ancient sect.

Though he had only been a core disciple, reaching the peak of the core formation realm before his crippling, he had been someone whose talent stood out even within a hotbed of geniuses. His talent, coupled with his former status as a core disciple of a rank-two sect, would never allow him to lower his standards by even an inch, no matter his circumstances. Those he deemed worthy of becoming his personal disciples were bound to be exceptional.

The stringent test he had set for his descendants—just to be considered for admission into the Silver Crane Sect—was proof of how high his standards were. And that was what filled Xia Fang's heart with shame and anger.

Using that test as a reference, she could only imagine the level of talent those five possessed. And her anger—particularly toward the three—would flare up whenever she thought about how they had been deemed worthy by her founder, especially given the hatred she held for their descendants.

The thought of her ancestor recognizing their founders as worthy felt akin to her own parents heaping praise upon a partner who had cheated on her.

She took a few steadying breaths to calm herself before quickly apologizing to Yang Qing, who casually waved it off.

"Did the other two disciples also end up becoming retainers and founding families like the Fan, Chi, and Ning families?"

"One did," replied Xia Fang as she softly nodded her head. "That one went on to establish the Lai family, while the other left immediately after our founder died and was never heard from again. No one knows what happened to them… or if they're even alive for that matter," she added, a soft sigh escaping her lips.

Most within the clan had long since considered that disciple dead, given the sheer amount of time that had passed since their departure. The only plausible way they could still be alive was if they had reached the domain realm. Otherwise, they would have either succumbed to the natural exhaustion of their lifespan or met their end through external means.

Not that their status—whether dead or alive—would change anything for her clan.

From the way Xia Fang looked when she mentioned them, Yang Qing gathered that she didn't seem to think too poorly of the Lai family like she did the other three. There was a softness in her tone and expression when she spoke about them.

Seemingly sensing Yang Qing's thoughts, Xia Fang smiled pitifully as she said, "They were the only ones who didn't betray us when things went bad for us.

But the rest..." she paused as her expression quickly shifted from gentle gratitude to cold, murderous vengeance.

"Those three snakes..." she said icily. "They waited a few years after the incident with the rogue cultivator's son before they showed their true colors," she added through gritted teeth.

"What happened?" Yang Qing asked gently.

"Those three clans have long coveted our inheritance, but because of the strength we had, they never dared act on it. So they hid, concealed their greed pretty deep under the mask of loyal retainers, all the while waiting for the right moment to strike. That moment finally came when that rogue cultivator's son attacked us," Xia Fang began, her voice growing sharper with every word as anger seeped into her tone and demeanor.

"After we lost all our palace realm experts, a chance finally presented itself. But they didn't act immediately. They were still wary of the Silver Crane Sect and how it might react. So they waited," she said, her voice laced with venom. "They acted like true snakes, slowly biding their time, exercising considerable patience as they lay in wait."

"When we were rejected, they obviously found out… since we still considered them our allies, fools that we were," Xia Fang said, as a self-derisive chuckle escaped her lips.

"They played their role perfectly because even after the rejection, they didn't act immediately. Instead, they maintained their masquerade as loyal retainers, even going as far as to 'selflessly' donate resources to help us rebuild—all while keeping a close watch on us to confirm that the Silver Crane Sect had truly washed its hands of us," Xia Fang said, her voice laced with contempt.

"It was only after thirteen years had passed since our rejection, and they saw no movement from the Silver Crane Sect, that they finally began acting on their desires, working to slowly devour us," she continued. "Our repeated failures in producing a palace realm expert likely also played a part in emboldening them to act," she added with a wry smile.

"When they started, they kept it small, doing little, inconsequential things. Sending stand-ins for important clan meetings, arriving a few minutes late, delaying tasks we had entrusted to them… Things that, given our weakened state, we wouldn't give much thought to. But to them, these were tiny needles, used to test the waters—each one growing slightly larger with each use as each act of defiance grew slightly bolder. Until, finally, they no longer needed needles… and moved on to test us with a sword," Xia Fang said, her voice dark and bitter.

"By the time we realized what they were plotting, it was already too late," Xia Fang said coldly. "By then, their wanton greed was already out in the open. They had seized control of all our external businesses, and the ones they couldn't take, they let slip into the hands of our enemies or so-called allies.

And once they were done with the outside, once they had ensured that they had suffocated us and dried up all our incoming resource channels… that was when they finally came at us openly," Xia Fang said, her voice filled with deep-seated resentment.

"That was when we realized just how much strength they'd been hiding, and how deep their scheme went," she added, her expression grim.