Daily life of a cultivation judge

Keeping that particular suspicion to himself, Yang Qing decided to probe indirectly.

"Other than you, who else knew about the method of getting into Banyan?" he asked.

"My parents, my grandfather, and his parents before him," Xia Fang replied. "The line stops with his grandparents—specifically his grandmother. She was the one who uncovered the method and passed it on to her children, who then passed it to theirs. My grandfather was one of them."

"It was decided long ago that the clan's fail-safe measures would only be effective if as few people as possible knew about them, even within the clan. Because of that, individual families began making their own arrangements, only receiving the necessary resources from the clan to make it happen.

In fact, the only reason I even knew about the Dreamscape Swallow's Nest being a refuge was because a close friend of mine told me she was heading there the night we broke through the blockade..."

"And did you tell her where you were headed?" Yang Qing asked.

A guilty look clouded Xia Fang's face.

"I did," she admitted. "Though... she wouldn't betray me," she said with forced conviction—though it was clear a part of her wasn't fully convinced. She didn't believe her friend would willingly betray her, but that didn't mean others couldn't find a way to pry the information from her.

It was likely why her grandfather had kept reminding her—nagging her, even—not to share the coordinates or the method of getting through the battlefield with anyone when he gave them to her.

But she had broken that promise.

"I told her where I was headed... but I didn't tell her how to get in," she added softly, as if hoping that withholding that detail might have salvaged something from the promise she had shattered.

"What about Lai Hou?" Yang Qing pressed.

Flashing another guilty smile, she answered, "He knew."

"The location, or even how to get in there?"

"Both," Xia Fang said as she lowered her head. "Though he doesn't know the exact location of the abode or how to access it. Only I do. The abode's restrictions will only lift with this crystal—and the bloodline of my family members," she added, revealing the necklace she had been subconsciously patting.

The crystal was cyan-blue, about the size of an orange seed, shaped like a teardrop. The fluctuations it emitted suggested a sky-rank treasure, but Yang Qing's trained eyes and refined spiritual sense picked up something off about it.

"Looks like a storage amulet," he commented noncommittally, having pinpointed the oddity. Someone had gone to great lengths to disguise that aspect of it. He only noticed it thanks to the combination of his powerful soul and the sheer number of storage artifacts—both novel and commonplace—he'd come into contact with.

In fact, during one of his many money-making daydreams, becoming an artifact maker specializing in storage rings had been a potential venture he'd seriously considered.

Alas, the Order and its ruthless working hours left little room for 'side projects.'

No doubt by design, he thought with an inward scoff. So we'd all stay hopelessly dependent on them for our financial needs. Shameless...

Xia Fang, on the other hand, had her eyes wide open at Yang Qing's remark. Her grandfather had once told her that not unless a late-stage Palace Realm expert examined it, anyone below that stage would have great difficulty in seeing through the illusory disguise and uncovering that the necklace was actually a storage artifact.

Yet Yang Qing had done just that—with only a few cursory glances and in mere seconds at that.

She couldn't help but eye the amulet suspiciously, wondering if the concealment mechanism had somehow been damaged during her escape. Maybe that was why Yang Qing had been able to see through it so easily. But after carefully inspecting it, she found it was still functioning perfectly. Then again, there was no real need for her to do so as she had been habitually confirming its condition since her escape.

After confirming it was intact, an unbidden thought formed in her mind, and her eyes widened again.

Could he be a late-stage Palace Realm expert? Xia Fang wondered, the possibility making her anxious.

It filled her with equal parts dread—thinking back on how she had acted toward Yang Qing earlier—equal parts relief, knowing she had the help of someone so powerful, which greatly increased the chances of finding Lai Hou, and lastly, equal parts shame.

The shame was because to her, Yang Qing looked to be around her age—yet he was already miles ahead of her. He had, in effect, accomplished everything she had been naively daydreaming of accomplishing but sadly couldn't.

Her confidence was already in the pits to begin with, but the thoughts about Yang Qing's accomplishment and age served to plummet her confidence further into the crust of the abyss.

Maybe he's old and just donning the face he had during his youth, Xia Fang guessed, trying to console herself.

If only she knew—while Yang Qing wasn't a late-stage Palace Realm expert and was but a third-stage Palace Realm cultivator, he was a third-stage palace realm cultivator in his early twenties. By mortal standards, just looking at age, their age gap would have put Xia Fang at the same age as his grandmother. They were nowhere near age mates.

Luckily, this was a topic neither of them would delve into, sparing Xia Fang the likely embarrassment that would've come with it.

Having gotten all the information he needed, Yang Qing agreed with Xia Fang that she would remain at the inn he'd placed her in, where she would wait for the results of her two requests. Learning what had happened to her clan after her escape likely wouldn't take long, provided the Order had up-to-date intelligence. As for finding Lai Hou—that would take time.

Yang Qing's top priority was still Bai Chen—his disciple—and the missing flying ferry. If Lai Hou happened to be among them, then all the better. But if he weren't, then a separate investigation would be needed, one that could only begin after Bai Chen's situation had been clarified.

Yang Qing made sure to explain all that clearly to Xia Fang so she would understand the timeline they were working with. Fortunately, she didn't make a fuss and accepted the arrangement without complaint.

Once they were done, he took her back to the inn, and he went to his abode to make his final preparations before he left for the Azure Sapphire Kingdom, which was the last sighted location for both Bai Chen, his disciple, and the ferry.