“Don’t worry Mr. Shen Shi we will ensure fairness will be upheld above everything else,” Yang Qing said as he faintly smiled. Shen Shi cupped his fists in acknowledgment.

“Before I make my ruling, Zhen Hu would you please?” Yang Qing said as he placed his palms open to receive something from Zheng Hu. Zheng Hu happily obliged as he removed a square-shaped block of wood with rough edges that seemed like it had been forcibly snapped. The wood was orange-red like the sun during a sunset.

The Shen brothers had their pupils constrict once they saw it before they calmed down a second later.

Yang Qing fiddled around with the block of wood as he nodded to himself a couple of times with his gaze flickering. The calm soothing feeling like cool and gentle water calming things around it already gave the identity of the wood away as the earthvine wood. It was one of the few trees to have a mild and gentle nature with soothing effects that could even soothe the soul.

“With this, I should have everything I need to make my judgment,” Yang Qing said as he placed the block of the earthvine wood aside and crisscrossed his fingers together.

“The earthvine wood may not be the sturdiest plant out there but I agree it should be able to withstand the attacks from an early-stage core formation expert.”

The Shen Shi were all in glee filled with smug expressions when they heard this.

“However due to its special mild and gentle nature, there are a few objects out there that can negatively affect it and render it no different from any common wood out there. I found a trace of one of those substances in this wood here. The inquisitor of the case Zheng Hu grabbed a piece of the wood from the table that was broken and it’s this piece right here.

First things first, I want to declare unequivocally that this is real earthvine wood, and based on its quality it has been procured from an earthvine tree that is atleast 20,000 years old and whose effects can affect everyone up to the peak of the core formation realm. As for the price, mmh well better to let a specialist explain it. Zheng Hu can you call Chief Song Chuanli in, hopefully he isn’t in a sour mood from being torn away from his contraptions,” Yang Qing couldn’t help but say with some worry in his voice.

Zheng Hu quickly rushed outside and came back in with a short old man whose hair was white and a long beard that reached his chest. He had on a white robe that was covered in sawdust which had strange properties to them as there were even a few that would occasionally flicker with purple lightning, while some had a golden glow to them with others changing into a myriad of colors every millisecond.

The old man walked with firm steady steps with his hands behind his back. He had a stern almost impatient and irritated expression on as he made his way over.

“I’m sorry Chief Song for interrupting you from your busy schedule but I need your expertise in something and you are one of the best in this field,” Yang Qing said as he stood up to cup his fist with an apologetic smile. Mao Yunru, Yi Jie, and Zheng Hu also respectfully cupped their fist to him. This drew curious looks from the Shen brothers and also Zhong Quan too. They wondered what bigshot this was to draw such a reaction from a judge and the inquisitors. They didn’t try to probe his cultivation but from a brief glimpse, they could tell he was just at the late stages of the core formation realm. They couldn’t understand why they showed so much deference for an old geezer who seemed he may kick the bucket any time, especially the Shen brothers. In their world and most cultivators’ world, strength was the only metric that deserved respect.

“Mmph typical of sheltered cultivators,” Shen Tian thought with contempt feeling his heart as he looked at Yang Qing’s and the rest’s respectful looks.

“You better fund some of my expenses from your discretionary fund Yang Qing for tearing me away from my work for your case. Don’t you know we got a few rare materials this time? If I leave too long those old geezers will nab a few more samples for themselves and leave me with none. So be quick about what it is you need.” Chief Song Chuanli impatiently said.

“Hehehe I’m in your debt Chief Song as for the funds it will have to wait till after my ceremony. I’ll compensate you better then. I called you in for this,” Yang Qing said as he tossed over the block of the earthvine wood which Chief Song caught deftly despite looking like he would tip over from any sudden movements. He caught it with his right hand while his left hand was still behind his back.

“Mmh an earthvine wood made from an earthvine tree that is 23,900 years old. The craftsmanship to harvest the timber from its log was subpar only retaining 70% of its original value,” Chief Song brought it to his nose as he took a gentle sniff as he closed his eyes.

“The period from the harvest, refining the wood and its subsequent use after that it seems 27- 29 years have passed no its 29 years.” He then did something that shocked Zhong Quan even more than he was currently. As Chief Song had got every single detail correct despite Zhong Quan not divulging anything.

Chief Song took a bite out of the wood like it was a piece of bread. His expression which was serene suddenly turned frosty as he spit out the wood with anger.

“Which bastard snuck pollen from the grey phantom deadnettle in there? That thing destroys the very nature of the earthvine wood. No wonder it smelled disgusting and the taste was rotten,” Chief Song said as he spat a few more times and tossed back the block of earthvine wood like it was some piece of trash.

“Can you tell how much efficacy the earthvine wood retained after the 29 years Chief Song or was it too degraded for you to tell,” Yang Qing asked as he put the block away and secretly evaporated the saliva stuck on his palm from the block.

“Who do you think you are talking to? Before you grew those greedy teeth of yours how many precious kinds of wood do you think passed through my hands? The efficacy was at 43%,” Chief Song offhandedly said.

“Is that it? I need to leave,” Chief Song asked as he was turning away to leave.

“No wait Chief Song there are a few more things. Zhong Quan what were the dimensions of your table,” Yang Qing hurriedly asked as his eyes pleaded with Chief Song to wait who snorted in irritation but acquiesced to the plea.

“The table was a six-seater table that was 40 inches wide and 72 inches long,” Zhong Quan said without a second of hesitation.

“Chief Song can you give me an estimate of the amount of timber used to make something like that and based on the current wood’s efficacy what its selling price would be? That’s the last question,” asked Yang Qing.

“To make something like that from earthvine timber a conservative estimate would be it required 50 of them. One log from an earthvine tree that is 23,000 years old would go for 600 high-grade spirit stones and that log would produce about 400 boards of timber there about.

If I were to convert it to mid-grade spirit stones the 50 boards of timber would go for 75,000 spirit stones but that is only if the wood was processed retaining atleast 90% of its efficacy but the one who did this job retained 70% and I’m even generous in that estimation. The prices would drop to 50,000 stones then when we factor how much time has lapsed and its current efficacy level its worth would be half that so its price would be around 20,000-25,000 mid-grade spirit stones though most shops wouldn’t go lower than 20,000 even if it was at 43% efficacy. I hope that is it, I’m going now. I hope those bastards left me the sun-peak cherry wood atleast. If they went too far this old man will have to settle scores with them,” Chief Song mumbled to himself like a warrior heading off to a life-and-death battle. He didn’t even hear the words of gratitude from Yang Qing.

“Before I forget Yang Qing make sure to come help me on my farm when you have time. It will help you deepen your understanding of the path you are walking on. Yi Jie come along too so this kid actually does something and does not eat all of my fruits. Bring that snow plum blossom wine of yours with you too. I finished the last vat you made me. You can harvest a few things from the farm as payment,” Chief Song trailed as he closed the door behind him.

Yang Qing could only smile bitterly at Chief Song’s antics. He had always been this way. Erratic and passionate when it came to craftsmanship. He was one of the craftsmen that retrofitted the furniture used in the lower core courts, upper core courts, and some of the superior core courts in the main headquarters and some of the personal offices among many other works around the Order. When it came to botany, processing, and craftsmanship his skills were unrivaled and could match even one in the domain stage. The breadth of wisdom he has is enough to write books for decades and it still wouldn’t cover all that he knew. He was also one of the trainers of the institute. A lot of techniques in handling different kinds of plants had been devised by him that even the alchemist of the Order highly value. He has created a few gold-grade techniques in his road as a craftsman.

Yes, he was only a core formation expert but the only reason for that was because he was an eccentric workaholic. He has postponed breaking through to the palace stage for the past 120 years claiming he was too busy to afford the time he would waste breaking through and solidifying his cultivation base. He would rather spend that time creating furniture and honing his craft and when he feels like taking a break he would give some thought on breaking through. For the past 120 years that feeling never came so he remained at the peak of the core formation realm not taking a step forward.

However, despite being at that stage he had honed his dao path deeper than what even Yang Qing had done. Before Yang Qing broke through to the palace realm, Lei Weiyuan once told him that when Chief Song does decide to breakthrough it would not be a stretch for him to directly reach the peak of the palace realm in a single day and even touch the cusp of the domain realm. His foundations in his dao were that deep and robust. Now that Yang Qing had broken through and was walking in his dao path from interacting with Chief Song he could immediately tell why Lei Weiyuan thought that way. Chief Song’s whole body felt like a massive tree that covered a whole kingdom filled with the strength and knowledge of time surpassing each era. He had a density and profoundness to him that Yang Qing wasn’t close to matching at the moment.ｎｏｖ𝚕．𝚌ｏｍ