Daily life of a cultivation judge

But no matter how careless or poorly she felt her seniors had handled the matter, she couldn't fault them entirely. It was always safer to overestimate an enemy than to underestimate them, but even overestimation had to be guided by reason, and for the finishing touches it needed to be tempered with a dash of healthy absurdity.

Despite not expecting it, her clan had been right to assume that the three clans might be hiding a palace realm expert. But once that assumption had been proven true, they should have raised their estimations further, considering the possibility that the other two clans were also likely concealing similar strengths to the Chi family. But even then, that assumption had to have a limit.

If it had been her, she would have assumed that each of the three clans possessed a single palace realm expert. After all, for a true cooperation to be born, beyond just having aligning interests and motives—it required a balance of power. If the Chi family had one, it stood to reason that the Ning and Fan families would have had one as well, otherwise they would be too paranoid to truly and genuinely cooperate with the Chi family.

Yet, no matter how much she might have overestimated them, never in her wildest dreams would she have expected them to suddenly produce seven palace realm experts all at once. Not with how they had chosen to act during their first skirmish. With such a force, they could have afforded to go all out from the start instead of resorting to probing, scheming, and dragging out tactics that they used.

This was why she couldn't blame her clan for failing to anticipate it.

As if reading the question on Yang Qing's mind, Xia Fang offered a bitter smile and said,

"Just like how we sent our clan members to the Silver Crane Sect, those three clans did something similar, albeit for entirely different reasons than ours."

"While we had no choice in the matter since we were following the decree set by our founder, the same couldn't be said for them. As it turns out, over the years, they had been secretly and deliberately sending some of their talented members to cultivate in other sects.

In our case, we sent our clan members just to one sect and that was the Silver Crane Sect, whereas the three clans, scattered their members across various sects, some equal in strength to us and others weaker. In fact, the majority of them went to weaker sects," Xia Fang slowly explained.

"What do you mean by weaker?" Yang Qing asked. "Do you mean those sects were rank three, like your clan, but lacking in overall strength and foundation? Or do you mean weaker as in they were ranked lower—like rank four or below?"

"It's a mix of both," Xia Fang replied, pausing briefly to gather her thoughts.

"They did send some of their clan members to sects of similar rank to us," Xia Fang continued, "but almost all of them were relatively young, and those sects themselves weren't particularly strong as most had no more than three palace realm experts.

The rest, which made up the greater majority, were sent to rank four sects. But even then, they were careful in their choices. They picked the strongest among them. These were sects that either had once produced a palace realm expert in their history or had the foundation and potential to do so given enough time," she explained.

"Ah," Yang Qing muttered in an understanding. He couldn't help but inwardly sigh in admiration at the foresight and planning of the three clans.

They likely sent them off when they were still young before they had even begun cultivating, to avoid drawing suspicion from both the sects and the Xia clan… and even spread them out as well to make it even harder to notice, Yang Qing mused as he thoughtfully cupped his chin.

The more he thought about it, the more he admired the three clans' strategy.

By sending their clan members to lower-tier rank three sects and the more established rank four sects, they had effectively killed two birds with one stone. Not only did those sects provide their talented members with cover from the Xia clan's prying eyes, but they also nurtured them with resources and an optimal environment for growth. And the best part? The three clans didn't even have to spend their own resources to do it—the sects, completely unaware of the deeper scheme at plan would unwittingly shoulder that burden for them.

The relationship between those sects and the three clans was akin to a snake that devoured a bird's eggs, only to leave its own behind for the bird to incubate and hatch.

Due to the ranks of those sects, they likely wouldn't have been able to see through the scheme. And even if, by some chance, they did, the three clans wouldn't have been overly concerned. Their background alone was more than enough to intimidate those sects, even the lower-tier rank three sects that had a palace realm expert or two. The relatively young foundation of those sects, when compared to the three retainer clans, would have given them cause for hesitation, even if they uncovered the fact that their resources were being siphoned to nurture the three clans' own members.

Of course, even with all those advantages, it was still far safer and preferable for the three clans if their plan remained undiscovered. While their background and foundation gave them leverage, it wasn't an absolute guarantee that it would be enough, especially when dealing with the lower-tier rank three sects and, in some cases, even the more powerful rank four sects.

As long as these sects had half-decent leaders with sharp insight and intellect, they would be able to see through the three retainer clans' plan and recognize that they were acting behind the Xia clan's back. Those sects could then use this knowledge either to blackmail the clans or to gain favor with the Xia clan by exposing their actions.

Because of this risk, it was in the three clans' best interest to keep their scheme hidden. Rather than making any overt moves, they benefited more from gradually integrating their members into these sects—biding their time and allowing them to establish themselves naturally. And since the clans only sent their most talented individuals, as long as those talents shone through, they were almost guaranteed to rise into the higher echelons of power within those sects. This, in turn, would make it significantly easier for the clans to maneuver when sending more members in the future.

After all, it was much easier to execute such a scheme when one of your own was an elder, a supreme elder, or even the sect master.

By successfully doing so, the three retainer clans would end up creating countless nests for themselves without spending a single spirit stone.

It was a masterful plan, and judging by the results, they had executed it flawlessly—having managed to produce seven palace realm experts as a result. And who knew? That number might be even higher, spread across countless sects.