“Now that the interloper is gone we can resume where we left off.” Yang Qing as he waved his hand. A green-blue flame ignited the remaining blood stains on the floor in an instant it was pristine black as before.

“Here, take this for your injuries,” Yang Qing said as he tossed a milky white pill that had two orange stripes on it. The stripes were an indication of its suitability to a certain realm. Pills with one stripe were suitable for those in the qi stage and even those at the body refining stage could consume half of the pill safely. Those with two stripes could be used by someone at the foundation realm, those with three stripes were suitable for those in the core formation realm. The higher the number of stripes the higher the cultivation realm it suited. This went on till the domain realm in which the pill had five stripes. As for pills usable by those in the soul formation stage need to have a special characteristic, one of them is the pill needs to induce a tribulation just like a cultivator does when they breakthrough to a higher realm. Pills that survive tribulations are as rare as qilin horns and phoenix feathers. Anyone of them can cause a major upheaval around the continent and an alchemist who can concoct such a pill would be highly sought after and valued in any place even in Holy lands.

Peng Zhen caught the pill and just from a whiff he could feel his whole body being restored and energized. From this, he could tell even among pills that were of this rank it was among the top in quality. He consumed it without a second thought. Dong Yanlin being forced out of him had caused tears to his meridians and he could even tell a third of his blood essence had been forcibly consumed when the technique Dong Yanlin had used was forcibly removed. The pill flowed down to his dantian where it dissolved and started sending a warm current throughout his body. Wherever the current passed through would be repaired and strengthened. Within half a minute every single meridian and internal organ had been nourished by the pill. The pill had even gone to the extent of purifying his internal qi making it denser and more fluid. Peng Zhen was shocked at how a single pill could do all this. Cleansing qi was something only mid-grade sky-rank treasures could do which despite being mid-grade still cost quite a hefty sum due to how welcomed those effects were.

“Thank you judge Yang Qing,” Peng Zhen said as he offered a solemn bow.

“It’s nothing. Giving you the pill is not a huge sacrifice on my part. I have thousands and thousands of them lying around. Since they have no use on me I just treat them as candy due to their sweet and refreshing flavor,” Yang Qing frivolously said behaving like a spoiled young master. Peng Zhen almost vomited blood once again once he heard what Yang Qing said and that I can waste without care because I’m rich look. Peng Zhen was even tempted to take a swing at him. Yang Qing even went to the extent of removing a handful of those pills from his medallion before he stuffed them in his mouth.

“It seems you’re not joining the blood ghost hands syndicate?” Yi Jie calmly asked with a straight face.

“I’m afraid we couldn’t quite agree on the terms plus I have the feeling the syndicate will work me to the bone more than the Order would and the jobs would be riskier. I’d rather stay here and deal with one fiend than go into that place which would make the geezer Lei Weiyuan seem like a saint,” Yang Qing said as he returned to his podium.

“Tsk” Yi Jie clicked as he made a small frown that disappeared shortly after. Yang Qing couldn’t help but stare at him suspiciously after that click.

“This bastard wasn’t kidding with that question. He really wanted me to become a lackey of the syndicate. How badly does he want to get rid of me? Just you wait Yi Jie whatever hole Lei Weiyuan throws me into I’ll make sure to drag you INTO ALL OF THEM WITH ME. That should teach you mmph,” Yang Qing thought to himself as he glared vengefully at Yi Jie.

Yi Jie had been coldly staring forward like some seasoned expert before he felt a huge shiver in his spine as if something dangerous was waiting for him. He couldn’t help but look around only to meet Yang Qing’s venomous stare. .

“What’s this guy planning now?” Yi Jie thought with worry flooding his whole body.

“Ahem now on the case of Sect master Cheng Yuan vs Wen Chang I Yang Qing superior court judge of the Order hereby offer my verdict and judgment after having heard all sides of the story…..”

CRACK.

Just as Yang Qing was about to continue his deliberation was interrupted when a soft cracking sound like that of an egg was produced in the courtroom. Cheng Yuan had a nervous and hopeful expression once he saw the origin of the cracking sound. It had come from the black blob surrounding Wen Chang that had shrunk further and solidified into an almost clay-like structure. That black substance was filled with cracks all over. Peng Zhen and Gui Bingwen had no idea what was inside that black blob. Because of how everything was moving so fast and how eventful their day had been the black blob didn’t really register in their minds when they were in the courtroom. Peng Zhen looked thoughtfully at Cheng Yuan’s reaction before he made a guess at what was in the black blob.

“Good, now we can have all members present for the final verdict,” Yang Qing said as he placed his head beneath his interlocked hands staring at the black blob that was almost shattering.

The cracks increased in number however the explosion Cheng Yuan expected to happen wasn’t produced. Once the cracks on the blob were as numerous as the cracks of a dry river bed they turned into black vapor revealing Wen Chang before flowing into her body through her skin. It seemed to pass right into her body.

Cheng Yuan and even Peng Zhen and Gui Bingwen couldn’t help but be surprised once they saw Wen Chang’s current look. She looked completely different than before. For one her size had completely shrunk. Before she was about 20 meters in height and girth but currently she had shrunk to the size of a normal calf that was about 1 meter tall. As for her coat, even someone who didn’t know anything about spirit beasts would be able to tell she was a special spirit beast. The leaf symbol on her coat was more vivid and lifelike. One would even mistake it for being the real deal. If one looked more closely one would notice small glyph-like symbols on the midrib of that leaf. They were radiant red in color but their glow was swallowed by the emerald green color of the leaf.

“She seems to have had a better harvest than I expected. Though I think as long as Sect master Cheng Yuan makes the best use of his harvests from today his strides will be longer. But this sect really has interesting people, especially Peng Zhen. Who would have thought there was someone crazy enough to use that method to improve their pillars,” Yang Qing thought to himself as he thoughtfully looked in Peng Zhen’s direction.

Wen Chang who had her eyes closed suddenly opened them. They were deep black with a sense of profound wisdom hidden beneath that gaze. She blinked a few times before she readjusted and looked around the courtroom to get her bearings. When her gaze fell on Cheng Yuan it halted for a moment before she bowed her head so low that it touched the floor of the courtroom.

“Thank you so much for taking care of me Sect master and for tolerating my selfish outbursts and greediness. I now realize how foolish and childish I have been. I will make sure to make up for it a hundredfold with this little life of mine and help share your burden for the sect if you’ll let me,” Wen Chang said solemnly and softly. One could feel the remorse and also maturity in her tone. She still had the voice transmission ball around her which she used to transmit her thoughts.

“You are not at fault Wen Chang. I was at fault too for neglecting my duty as the sect master. You were born in the sect making you an integral part of it. I’ve been so focused on the bigger picture that I lost sight of the things that were just straight ahead. I will have to shamelessly ask for your help because the sect will need for the trouble that awaits us” Cheng Yuan said as he sighed softly. He was glad Wen Chang was okay but the looming threat of the ghost hands syndicate still gnawed at him and there was also the fate that awaited Peng Zhen and Gui Bingwen. Discounting his emotional ties to them, the sect couldn’t afford to lose two peak foundation stage members at the same time. Wen Chang was confused at what Cheng Yuan was hinting at but she didn’t dwell too much on it as she offered another deep bow of thanks to Yang Qing. She literally owed him her life and without his timely intervention, she may have lost her sanity and gone berserk, and end up imploding. She even profited from his intervention as she felt much clear on her road ahead and her whole sense of self seemed to have metamorphosed. The energy levels within her body were four times as much as before. She looked smaller but she could beat four of her from before effortlessly. It was only now that she realized how wasteful she had been. Her body had ballooned because she never tried to process the energy from the herbs she was fed efficiently. A lot of energy went to waste or stored as fat instead of being converted internally. She had only been focused on eating in quantity instead of converting every herb and converting its nutrients as her own. This was one of the reasons once she woke up she had remorseful toward Cheng Yuan because of how wasteful she was.

“Wen Chang I’m glad you’ve made it out okay. We have already arrived at the conclusion of your case and Peng Zhen from your sect is also here with us so don’t be alarmed as things are more complicated than it seems. Your sect master will fill you in on the details after we are done here,” Yang Qing patiently explained.

It was only now that she noticed there were two people to her right. She had conflicting emotions when she saw them, especially Peng Zhen. She has known him since she was a calf and he had basically raised her. He couldn’t reconcile the person from then and the traitor she assumed he was. But she held herself back from having an outburst. She doesn’t know how but some tiny part of her was keenly away how terrifying Yi Jie, Feng Xin, Mao Yunru, and most of all Yang Qing was despite not releasing any of their cultivation. Something intrinsic in her told her they were not to be trifled with.

Yang Qing nodded appreciatively seeing Wen Chang keeping her emotions in check.

“Now we can finally close this case. And this is just the first day of the week. The Order sure is as black-hearted as usual. Hopefully from next week when I’m in the palace courts the string of cases will be simpler and fewer.” Yang Qing couldn’t help but lament inwardly.