Daily life of a cultivation judge-Chapter 1185 Ingenious till the end

1185: Ingenious till the end

1185: Ingenious till the end

“A few hours…” Yang Qing murmured as he did a few calculations in his mind.

“That should be enough time for me to chart my next steps…

There’s also the matter with Xia Fang and her request.”

Xia Fang had made two requests of him—one was to find out what happened to her clan after she left, and the other was to locate her traveling partner, Lai Hu (whom he suspected could be more than just a ‘traveling partner’ to her).

While his ability to fulfill the second request remained uncertain, the first was well within reach.

Before leaving his office, he had already passed on the task to his Flying Shadow Hawks liaison, asking for all available information on the Violet Feather Sword Sect, with a specific focus on the events of the past eighteen months, thus covering the period since Xia Fang’s departure.

Given that a few hours had passed, he felt it should be enough time for his liaison to have gathered the file, hopefully with up-to-date details.

Even if Xia Fang hadn’t made the request, Yang Qing would have still sought out information regarding her clan and the retainer clans.

Despite how detailed her account had been, it still left noticeable gaps in the story, especially ones tied to the most fundamental question:

Why did those three clans choose to betray them?

While greed is a sufficient motivator, when it came to all matters, betrayal and the Xia Clan was in a weakened state, in Yang Qing’s mind, that still didn’t feel like sufficient reason given the history surrounding all five clans.

They may not have been blood-related, but their roots came from the same source.

One was a bloodline descendant of that source, and the others were descendants of personal disciples nurtured by it.

And now Yang Qing was supposed to believe that those three clans just woke up one day and decided their turn to rule had come?

He had seen people get betrayed for less, and when it came to motivations for betrayal, power was certainly among the strongest.

But something about this didn’t sit right with him.

Something was off.

The Xia Clan may have once been powerful, but all that changed the moment the rogue cultivator’s son acted.

He not only destroyed their most powerful experts but also shattered their very foundation.

With the potential of annihilation staring them in the face, the Xia clan would have likely thrown everything they had into securing even a slim chance of survival.

So then, how many resources could they have possibly been left with by the end of that calamity?

Likely not many, and those three clans would have known that.

They were there.

They bore witness to what happened.

Yet despite knowing all that, they attacked anyway?

Why?

Why risk the lives of their own clan members?

Was it all just to seize the leadership position and stop living as retainers?

If that was truly their reason, then there were a million other ways they could have gone about it that didn’t involve risking thousands of lives of their clan members.

If usurping the Xia clan’s position had been their goal, they could have just let things play out naturally.

Given how things were going, the Xia clan would have declined without them having to lift a finger.

The clan was battered and traumatized by mental demons as a result of said experience, and as a consequence of it, would have struggled to produce powerful experts, something those three clans saw happen.

In addition, the resources they had weren’t enough, and the one powerful backer they relied on had already drawn a clear line against them.

Given enough time, the Xia Clan would have deteriorated, while the three clans continued to improve themselves.

They could have just waited.

Clearly, given their actions, it showed them to be extremely patient individuals.

Yet despite all the advantages that came with waiting, they decided to attack anyway, and slowly torture the Xia Clan to its destruction.

Something was definitely missing, and Yang Qing hoped the report from the Flying Shadow Hawks would help tell him what.

As he was leaving, Yang Qing took one last glance at his abode, knowing he wouldn’t be back for another few days, given that he already planned to leave for the Azure Sapphire Kingdom today, immediately after meeting with Li Gang.

There were also two other pieces of information he hoped to get updated versions of before he left.

He hoped to learn about Li Gang’s standing within the Vast Blue Sky Merchant Company, his history within the merchant group, and also his background as a resident of the Yue State.

As for the Azure Sapphire Kingdom, the only information he wanted was its most current details regarding its power dynamics, especially concerning the five leading noble families and the reclusive royal family.

That information would help him understand what kind of boiling pot he was walking into.

And luckily for him, given the fragile balance the kingdom was in, with it being on the verge of fragmenting into separate kingdoms, its developments were something the Order, and by extension the Flying Shadow Hawks, would be very much interested in.

With the framework of things to do already planned out, Yang Qing left for his office, where, to his pleasure, he found three grey jade talismans waiting for him.

The good news didn’t stop there.

On his way to the office, Fan Mei called, informing him of the arrival of one of the captains of the Silver Frost Eagles and the imminent arrival of the escort captain of the Wind Gliding Mercenary Escorts.

Upon her update, Yang Qing instantly transferred all new information he had on hand over to Fan Mei.

This included the numerous hypotheses and guesses he held, which he left to her discretion on how, or whether, she’d share them with the three commission takers.

Satisfied that her end was taken care of, Yang Qing immediately poured his attention into the new pieces of information contained within the three talismans.

Without a moment’s hesitation, he began with the talisman that contained information pertaining to the Xi Clan’s current status.

After going through the usual safety procedures of unlocking said talisman, its information was immediately transferred into Yang Qing’s mind.

After going through the usual safety procedures of unlocking the talisman, its information was immediately transferred into Yang Qing’s mind.

The contents weren’t much, so after just a few seconds, Yang Qing was already acquainted with all of it.

Its contents left him sighing.

The Xia Clan had been completely destroyed.

Not a single person who remained behind had survived, not even Xia Fang’s grandfather.

He had imploded himself.

About the only good news from it all was that the Xia Clan took its pound of flesh even in its destruction.

Xia Fang’s grandfather managed to kill both of the Ning Clan’s palace realm experts, including that fourth-stage palace realm member who had been on the verge of breaking through to the fifth stage.

With those two dead, and the two from before the implosion, Xia Fang’s grandfather had robbed the Ning Family of all their palace realm experts.

It would definitely be a significant blow to them, even with the illustrious Song Kingdom backing them.

Other than that, Yang Qing also got an answer to the question he had earlier as to why the three retainer clans were so intent on attacking the Xia Clan.

On his thoughts reaching here, Yang Qing let out another involuntary sigh…

As it turns out, the Xia Clan had confiscated the legacy treasures of the three clans under the guise of keeping them safe.

Those legacy treasures were monarch-grade artifacts that their founder had left for his disciples.

Additional information in the report suggested that the Xia Clan’s founder had imbued the arts he taught those disciples into those artifacts.

There were even hints that he may have left behind more within them, hence the reason the Xia Clan took the artifacts the moment their strength grew ahead of the three clans.

Given what they had done, it was no wonder the three clans secretly sent out their talented descendants to other places, and why they tortured and tormented the Xia Clan in the manner that they did.

Given what the Xia Clan had done to them, they likely hated them with the same vigor that later Xia Clan descendants like Xia Fang had for them.

What the Xia Clan did by taking their legacy treasures was no different than spitting on the graves of their ancestors, while at the same time, robbing them of their futures.

Yang Qing couldn’t help but let out yet another sigh as he once again admired the patience the three clans had shown.

Despite the indignation and humiliation they suffered, they endured and schemed patiently, waiting…

just waiting for a chance to present itself.

They patiently waited for thousands of years, never revealing their fangs.

And had the rogue cultivator’s son not given them that chance, Yang Qing had a feeling—given their conduct—they would have likely shown no impatience in waiting even longer.

They were the perfect embodiment of a saying: for a gentleman, even ten thousand years would not be too late for revenge.

“That greed was their own undoing…” wistfully murmured Yang Qing as he thought on the Xia Clan.

It was their greed that made them draw the ire of a domain expert to their doors, and it was that same greed that eventually led to their demise, despite surviving that first calamity.

Given their actions, their end was predictable.

It had happened to countless others before them and would happen to countless more after.

What did surprise Yang Qing, though, was the makeup of the newly formed sect that had risen from the ashes of their home.

The Violet Feather Sect wasn’t only comprised of the three retainer clans.

Its leadership featured a fourth party—the last retainer clan, the Lai Clan.

“I wonder how Xia Fang will take this news?” Yang Qing murmured with concern.

Given all she had endured and the growing list of bad news, could she handle more, especially another betrayal, or would this be the straw that finally broke her?

“Is Lai Hu even missing, or did he just fake his disappearance after uncovering the location of that abode in Banyan?” wondered Yang Qing.

After all, the report didn’t specify whether the three clans had recovered their legacy artifacts after destroying the Xia Clan.

That left him wondering—were the artifacts destroyed in the clash between the rogue cultivator’s son and the Xia Clan?

Or had they already been taken out of the clan grounds before that calamity struck? freēwēbηovel.c૦m

If it was the latter, then those artifacts were likely hidden in one of the clan’s refuge sites… places like the abode concealed in the Banyan battlefield.

“They played it perfectly… The three clans to mount pressure outside, while the fourth clan ingratiates itself using the mounting pressure as a cover, and with it use the gained trust to uncover those hidden locations,” mused Yang Qing.

“Ingenious to the end…” he added with another sigh.

If it was as he suspected, then those four clans were as ruthless to themselves as they were ingenious.

They sacrificed four palace realm experts—and who knew how many countless other experts—just to pull off that scheme.

Was it because of honor, and what those artifacts represented?

Or was it because there was something worthwhile hidden within those artifacts that made it well worth the risk?

Or was it because they just couldn’t forgive what the Xia Clan did… or was it a combination of all?