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n“I Yang Qing as a judge of the superior core court hereby exercise my authority as presiding judge to pass the verdict on the case between Sect master Cheng Yuan vs Wen Chang after having ascertained that I have enough information to make a sound judgment.

nI hereby declare Cheng Yuan sect master of the rank 4 sect the Green fog swamp innocent of the accusation made against him of being derelict of his duties and obligations towards Wen Chang. In that line I also declare Wen Chang innocent of welching on her end of the bargain struck between her and the sect. Her innocence is predicated in that her actions were guided and manipulated by the elders from the sect who contrived a false tale and picture that drove her into a feud with sect master Cheng Yuan i.e. Dong Yanlin, Peng Zhen, and the rest of the elders who planted treasures in the sect vault to gaud her into fighting with Cheng Yuan.

nHowever, even though you are innocent in this I would advise you to pay back the amount in emerald milk that you owed to the sect despite having been tricked into your feud. The reason for this is simple, the sect kept its end of the bargain in feeding you and your end of the bargain fell short. As you can already tell through the changes in your current body, the herbs the sect continuously fed you may have not been in the sky rank but they were all mid to high-grade earth-rank treasures whose energy and nutrient is responsible for the huge and explosive change in your body. Without it, the cultivation art wouldn’t have helped bring such an enormous change in you.

nDo your part Wen Chang to give back to the sect that has spent all it could afford into helping you this far,” Yang Qing softly said as he looked at Wen Chang. Wen Chang had her head lowered in embarrassment and was teary-eyed. It was only after her sudden evolution that she realized how spoiled she had been acting.

n“I will,” Wen Chang’s firm voice sounded.

n“Good as for you Cheng Yuan don’t be stingy with your sky grade resources. I get saving them for the future of the sect but never forget young plants need tall trees to shelter them from the harsh weather before they are able to do it for themselves. You need Wen Chang in her optimal state and that will help give you the needed time and support for your plans. Plus her emerald milk in some circles especially alchemy will be highly valued. They can agree to swap some sky-grade herbs for it, it won’t be high-grade ones but it is still sky-grade herbs in the end. I’ll give you contacts for some of those alchemy organizations, the negotiations after that will be up to you. Introductions are the best I can do in my capacity.” Yang Qing said

n“Thank you Judge Yang Qing for all you have done I even don’t know how to repay you back,” Cheng Yuang said as he offered a bow of gratitude.

n“There’s nothing to repay. I’m doing this as my duty as a judge of the Order and an advocate of its ideals. If you still want to repay me then ensure I don’t see you or the Green fog swamp sect members in these courtrooms again. Having less workload is the best payment you can give me,” Yang said as he lightly smiled. Cheng Yuan could only helplessly smile at the statement while Yi Jie and the rest knew Yang Qing was very serious about that suggestion despite coming off as a joke.

n“Now as for you two, Elder Peng Zhen and Gui Bingwen. While I respect, understand, and even sympathize with all you had to do for the survival of your sect, it still doesn’t change the fact you dragged the Order in your schemes to jump right in the mud with you. You had what you wished for as the Order is thoroughly in waist deep in this now. Dragons have their reverse scales and the Order has its bottom line and you touched upon it despite your well-meaning intentions.

nWhat you did at the very least warrants for your cultivation to be crippled and have you spend the remainder of your days as a laborer in some of the war-torn villages we help support as part of our outreach programmes. In the worst case id sentence your death and fulfill it instantly. But your situation is rather tricky. If I was in your situation with my back against the wall I don’t think I’d do anything different and to cripple your cultivation or sentence you to death would make us the villains in this no matter how I look at it but then again I can’t pardon you for it because there was a chance Feng Xin would have died in this case for going in blind without having the full picture of things.

nAs such this is my judgment and punishment afforded to that judgment. Peng Zhen, I find you guilty of making the Order an unwitting accomplice to your actions and schemes and for withholding information vital in the conduct of our duties and thus leading to the potential endangerment of a member of the Order. This is in violation of the full divulgement Act that falls under article 45 of the Cultivation order.

nWith this, I hereby sentence you to a life and death sentence of 30 years. In those 30 years, you will serve as a duel partner to the students of the institute of the Order. You will fight with your life on the line as indeed it will be. You will have to engage in a life-and-death battle with the students of the institute who will be in the middle and late stages of the foundation realm. You are to fight them with everything you have and they will do the same. However, for them should their lives be in fatal danger the instructors will step in but for you, they will not. Whether you live or die is entirely in your hands.

nThese are the ground rules for those battles;

nThe battle will end either in incapacitation or death. If you incapacitate your opponent or the instructor steps in, it’s your win. As for the opponent, their win is either if they incapacitate you or it ends in your death. If you find a kind-hearted opponent you may live even if you lose. The instructors will not interfere in any way.

nThe battles will happen once every month and they will be one vs one. Any injuries you suffer from the duels will be taken care of by the Order should you survive after each battle.

nYou are not allowed to hold back otherwise if the instructors detect you holding back your sentence will be alternated and you will be executed on the spot.

nThat is all for the ground rules if there is anything extra the instructors will inform you.

nSince how things penned isn’t entirely of your choosing and you didn’t have malicious intentions, you won’t be imprisoned in the Order. You are allowed to go back to your sect. You only need to be here on the day of your duels. Someone from the Order will bring you back and forth from your sect. I will also give you a blue-grade cultivation art that you may choose to use in your duels since all the cultivation arts the students from the institute use will occasionally be at that grade though some may choose an orange-grade art to temper themselves against you. But to add to your odds having a blue-grade art wouldn’t hurt however you are forbidden from sharing it with your sect. All the best Peng Zhen, fight with all you have who knows you may end up benefitting from this should you live till the end of the 30 years.

nNow for Gui Bingwen since you were not directly involved in the scheme to drag the Order into the mud and were just a loyal friend, you are fully pardoned of this. I had no intention of punishing you even without Peng Zhen pleading for your acquittal. With this I call the case of Sect master Cheng Yuan vs Wen Chang to a close,” Yang Qing said as he banged his gavel downwards.

nMao Yunru lifted her dainty slim hands as a white jade talisman flashed intermittently with a blinding white light. This went on for a few seconds before it stopped. Yang Qing nodded at her as she placed the talisman on his podium which then disappeared immediately after. The white jade talisman was used to record the proceedings and the final ruling of the case and was sent to the higher-ups for recording and review.

n“Judge Yang Qing I still want to receive the same punishment as Peng,” Gui Bingwen hurriedly pleaded at the side with a firm expression.

n“Elder Gui Bingwen I admire you for being a good friend but what you’re suggesting will be detrimental to your friend Elder Peng Zhen. With what he will be facing even a moment’s distraction could lead to his death. Do you think he would be able to fight at 100% if he is worried about his friend facing the exact same scenario as him? And forgive me for being blunt but Elder Gui your odds of surviving the first duel are less than 10%. I might as well just sentence you to death. Don’t look down on your friend, this may not be as hopeless as you imagine it for him. Isn’t that right Elder Peng Zhen?” Yang Qing suddenly asked nodding to Peng Zhen

n“It is Judge Yang Qing. This is a great opportunity far more than what old bones like myself deserve. Gui, and Cheng, you both know me well enough from a kid till now, one thing has never changed nor wavered and it is my love for cultivation. To anyone else, this would be a tormenting sentence but to me, this is a dream come true, a precious treasure that I would never come by in my lifetime. Clashing with the talents of the Order and gaining firsthand experience of the cultivation moves through the hands of these prodigies, I couldn’t think of anything better. I can’t help but want to duel with them this instant even a once a month duel doesn’t feel enough.

nGUI, CHENG, I WILL LIVE!!!!DON’T LOOK DOWN ON ME,” Peng Zhen suddenly roared filled with a battle lust so high that it even seemed to manifest physically as a cloak around Peng Zhen. Wen Chang was visibly shocked at his current look as for Gui Bingwen and Cheng Yuan they were silent at first before they smiled in unison with renewed confidence in their eyes. 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘭．𝑜𝘳𝘨

n“I’m sorry I had forgotten what a nut case you are. It’s been long since I saw that side of you that I thought it went away,” Gui Bingwen said as he lightly chuckled to himself.

n“You better keep your word Peng, otherwise I’ll have to beat up that caiman by myself,” Cheng Yuan added as he smiled too.

n“This is actually a boon for me Cheng. Other than you there’s barely anyone from the sect who’s my match and our spars are not life-threatening either. These duels may give me the stimulation to finally breakthrough to the core formation realm. Plus I even get to learn a blue-grade cultivation art. We will need everything to skin that caiman, we both know he is not weak,” Peng Zhen solemnly said as Cheng Yuan nodded in agreement.

n“I knew I was right about him. Someone who willingly goes through a cleansing thunder tribulation to improve the grade of his pillars without breaking through isn’t a normal person. Not many people would take that risk. Thunder blue grade pillars, what an interesting person hehehehe those students from the Order will be in for the toughest fights of their lives,” Yang Qing thought to himself as he smiled cheekily.

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