Daily life of a cultivation judge

Yang Qing's mood, which had begun to sour thanks to thoughts of his clan—and the humbling realization that a four-year-old could write better than he could—instantly brightened when he caught sight of a blue pearl-eyed monkey.

The monkey, dressed in a simple white robe, was seated opposite a middle-aged man, both of them staring intently at the table between them. The object of their shared focus was a game of Go, in which the blue pearl-eyed monkey appeared to be doing better than its opponent.

Yang Qing's eyes widened slightly in surprise. What caught him off guard wasn't the fact that the monkey was winning. After all, having just seen a four-year-old with handwriting far superior to his own, a monkey playing and winning at Go wasn't that shocking. Well—it was, but the child definitely took the crown for most surprising.

Maybe that kid is a reincarnated old monster, Yang Qing mused, still unable to accept that he'd lost to a toddler.

As for the monkey, what truly surprised him wasn't its skill at Go but its qi. It was pure, elegant, and noble—its nature perfectly aligned with that of the middle-aged man seated across from it.

Clearly, the blue pearl-eyed monkey, despite being a spirit beast, had unlocked the Haoran Qi that the scholars of Hebei were so renowned for.

Yang Qing's gaze shifted from the blue pearl-eyed monkey to Bolin, Haishi, and Wenling. As he had expected, all three of his spirit beast companions were fixated on the monkey. Each wore an expression of surprise, though Haishi and Bolin had a trace of apprehension in their eyes as well.

The blue pearl-eyed monkey was at the fifth stage of the core formation realm. Though it matched Haishi in cultivation and was technically weaker than Bolin in terms of stage, it was still clearly stronger than both of them, and the two spirit beasts could feel it, hence their reactions.

Haoran Qi didn't just purge evil; it also strengthened the user's breadth of spirit and mind. For spirit beasts, that translated directly to the refinement of their wisdom pearls.

A spirit beast's strength came from three core aspects: their bloodline, their body, and their wisdom pearl. Of the three, while bloodline was the most paramount in terms of potential, it was the wisdom pearl that was most regarded. Because even if a spirit beast had a weak bloodline, with a highly developed wisdom pearl, they could refine and elevate their bloodline as they grew stronger.

To spirit beasts, the wisdom pearl was the dragon gate—it was the key to evolving from carps into dragons.

"Don't worry, your paths ahead will not be shorter," Yang Qing said softly to the two spirit beasts, who nodded appreciatively at his words.

Yang Qing wasn't just offering empty consolation—he truly believed they would both reach great heights. Especially Haishi. With all the secrets hidden within her, he was certain she, more than anyone, would soar.

As for Bolin, while his nature as a rainbow mist toad was rooted in poison, his elemental nature aligned closely with Yang Qing's universal qi. Bolin had an attunement to multiple elements—seven, to be exact. Though spirit beasts couldn't cultivate human techniques, once Bolin began knocking on the doors of the Palace Realm, that limitation would no longer matter.

From the Palace Realm onward, progress was driven by one's understanding of the Grand Dao. And at that point, given how similar their elemental natures were, Yang Qing could share his insights with Bolin to help him advance further.

Even so, the cultivation researcher in Yang Qing couldn't help but marvel at the unorthodox system of the Hebei Kingdom. Spirit beasts were normally unable to cultivate human arts, but Hebei's system didn't require that. All it needed was a sincere and singular focus on something, to the point of triggering enlightenment.

Yang Qing couldn't help but wonder whether the blue pearl-eyed monkey had triggered its enlightenment through Go—or was it something else entirely? If it were Go, how had it been introduced to it in the first place? As far as he knew, while blue pearl-eyed monkeys were highly intuitive spirit beasts with eyes capable of piercing through illusions, they weren't like the natural yin array cicadas, who were born with fully formed wisdom pearls from birth.

Without a wisdom pearl, how had the monkey first encountered Go? And after that, how had its interest been stirred and nurtured to the point it had developed to this level?

As much as it pained him to admit—especially after the humbling incident with that four-year-old—Yang Qing was fairly certain he wouldn't be a match for that monkey in Go.

The only comforting thought was that the middle-aged man didn't seem to be its match either. From the looks of it, he was only three or four moves away from defeat.

Just as Yang Qing was taking solace in that, both the blue-eyed pearl monkey and the middle-aged man looked up. The monkey's gaze drifted toward Haishi and Bolin, before flickering strangely as it fell upon the general area where the cicada was supposed to be.

With Haishi's massive frame and Wenling's tiny one, it should have been impossible to spot the cicada, especially from below, where the monkey was seated.

And yet, somehow, it had still managed to pinpoint Wenling's position.

After a cursory glance, the blue-eyed pearl monkey cupped its fists in greeting toward them before returning its focus to the match. The middle-aged man, meanwhile, let his gaze drift over to Yang Qing and offered a smile as he lifted his clay cup—filled with what looked like green tea—in a silent toast.

Yang Qing returned the gesture with a small nod, a smile of his own, and a casual wave of the hand holding a wine urn.

With that brief exchange concluded, the middle-aged man turned back to the game.

"Third-stage Palace Realm expert," Yang Qing murmured with interest, his gaze shifting from the pair at the table to take in more of the surrounding sights.

Since flying in, he had sensed the auras of a fair number of Palace Realm experts—some weaker than him, others at his level, and a few stronger.

"Luckily, no Domain expert yet," he muttered, casting a glance at the open parchment in his left hand.

The parchment was aged yellow and marked with ten overlapping circles, each lined with faintly glowing runes. At the very center was a blue dot about the size of a melon seed, encircled by a white glyph—that dot represented Yang Qing.

Scattered throughout the parchment were other dots as well. Some shared the same color as his, though they lacked the white glyph, while others were red or orange, the orange ones being the most numerous.

That parchment, unassuming as it appeared, was in fact an ascendant-grade artifact known as the Map of Illumination. It revealed the presence of cultivators within a 20-kilometer radius of Yang Qing, with color-coded markings to indicate their general cultivation realms.

Blue represented Palace Realm cultivators, orange denoted Core Formation, and red marked Foundation Establishment. As for Qi Refinement cultivators, they weren't registered— and not because the artifact disdained to do so, but rather, because their overwhelming numbers would flood the map and drown out the other colors.

Yang Qing had been keeping an eye out for gold dots, which signified Domain Realm cultivators, specifically those at the early stage. The artifact couldn't detect middle or late-stage Domain experts, and even with early-stage cultivators, it wasn't foolproof. It worked best with those in the first and second stages, while those in the third and fourth could sometimes evade detection entirely, especially if they possessed deep foundations.

Worse, some of those experts might even be able to sense the artifact's presence.

If Yang Qing were visiting the core regions of the Hebei Kingdom, he wouldn't dare use the artifact. While the map was an ascendant-grade treasure, it was only useful for reconnaissance and completely useless in every other regard. A determined Core Formation expert could destroy it without much effort.

Because of that, Yang Qing only felt safe using it here, near the border, where the odds of a powerful expert lurking nearby were much lower. At least he hoped there wasn't one.

Maintaining a steady pace and continuing to admire the charm of Hebei Kingdom—with its vibrant scenes, lit lanterns, and captivating atmosphere—they slowly made their way toward Yunnan. Entry there was just as easygoing as it had been in Baishui Province.