The Order was imnsely powerful, with a formidable foundation built from the vast resources it possessed and the terrifying cultivators it had produced from those sa resources. The fact that it had remained standing all these years despite the enmity it faced across the continent was a testant to its strength.
He wasn’t one prone to making arrogant statents, but Yang Qing genuinely believed that with the strength they had, the Order was capable of going toe to toe with any powerhouse on the continent, even when considering the two holy lands. Perhaps they couldn’t face both at once, but he was certain that if it ca to confronting one of them, the Order had enough strength to make them hesitate.
That being said, as confident as he was in his organization’s strength, he wasn’t naive enough to believe it was completely infallible. He had been trained better. The Order was powerful; there was no denying that, but he would be a fool to think it held a monopoly over powerful and talented cultivators, techniques, or resources.
They had soul formation experts, but so did other organizations out there. They possessed the much-coveted and rare ancestral dragon vein, but others had that too, and so were the last one would expect to own such a thing, like the Silver Crane Sect. It took Yang Qing visiting them in person to realize that this ancient sect actually had one. How many other organizations were like the Silver Crane Sect, concealing incredible wealth that others could never imagine them possessing?
They had purple grade arts, but so did other sects and organizations. In fact, his own purple grade art hadn’t been created within the Order but had originally belonged to an ancient sect. How many purple grade arts from forgotten legacies were still scattered out there?
Whatever the Order had, the outside world had as well.
And even when it ca to specialties, being of the sa classification grade didn’t an knowing everything; it only ant being skilled and knowledgeable within that field to a certain level. A gold grade formation master knew formations to an extraordinary degree, but that didn’t an they knew everything about them within that level. It wasn’t unreasonable to think that another gold grade formation master might know sothing they didn’t, or vice versa.
The Grand Dao was endless, and the truths and mysteries it held were more nurous than the grains of sand that covered the earth. A gold grade formation expert might know a great deal about formations, but when asured against the Grand Dao of Formations, their knowledge, no matter how profound, was but a drop compared to the vast secrets it contained. The sa held true even for a purple grade formation master.
As such, while it was surprising to Yang Qing, it wasn’t entirely unexpected that soone had managed to sneak sothing past the Order’s defenses, especially if that object had been created by three individuals whose mastery placed them among the very best in their crafts.
So as he walked along, smiling and greeting those he passed on his way to Ren Shu’s courtyard, part of his mind remained caught in a spiral of uneasy thoughts: What if those "bombs" weren’t all unearthed? Or what if there were other equally dangerous objects of different origins hidden throughout the Valley, objects the staff didn’t even know existed, let alone how to find?
They couldn’t always depend on Yang Qing’s dumb luck and his tendency to brag at every chance, as their sole ans of uncovering hidden dangers. Eventually, they would have to rely on good old-fashioned toil.
As he walked, Yang Qing found himself torn between hoping that nothing would go wrong and worrying that sothing inevitably would, and, given his luck, that he’d sohow get caught up in it.
Fortunately, his well-honed instincts, sharpened by years of living under paranoia, stress, and constant anxiety, kicked in once they sensed he’d had enough. By the ti he reached the corner leading to Ren Shu’s courtyard, the tension in his brow eased, and his face finally relaxed.
I’m just a grunt earning low pay. Let those at the top worry about uncovering these things.
Years of being overworked and underpaid had taught him the fine art of passing on responsibilities that weren’t his to bear. If there really were dangerous objects hidden around, that wasn’t a task for an underpaid little outer palace court judge. That kind of job was far beyond his ans, and he was la... humble enough to admit it.
Also, while his paranoia was sothing he had developed as a young hatchling of the Yang clan due to his living conditions, the level it had reached now was entirely thanks to the Order’s ticulous grooming. Which ant that whatever paranoid thoughts or suspicions he had in his present self, the Order (the very entity that had trained him to be so paranoid and suspicious) had surely thought of the sa things. In fact, they had likely thought of even more. After all, they were pinnacle masters in the Grand Dao of Paranoia. The fact that they managed to uncover other hidden bombs in just a few hours with nothing to go on other than Yang Qing’s happy accident, was proof of that.
If there were still hidden contraptions around, he was certain his paranoid overlords would root them out in due ti and even devise more counterasures for threats that had not been realized. That, in Yang Qing’s book, was sothing worth celebrating, which was why he couldn’t help but grin widely as he whistled in joy.
The more paranoid the Order was, the safer it was for him. In fact, the more he thought about it, the less terrible uncovering that quasi-saint grade bomb seed, even if it had nearly killed him. That bomb’s existence and that of its other siblings would ensure the Order quadrupled its defensive efforts against anything similar and other dangers its paranoid mind would think up now, thanks to that defensive oversight.
Who knew what extres their paranoid minds might reach? Yang Qing hoped for unhinged.
A mix of relief and vindictive glee washed over Yang Qing as he swaggered into Ren Shu’s courtyard, inwardly celebrating that his turtle ho was about to gain even sturdier shells atop its already solid one.
"It seems the universe is plotting against ," Yang Qing whispered with a mock sigh. "Seems like wanderer adventuring Yang Qing will have to be retired," he added in feigned lantation.
His wide grin instantly shifted to gnashing teeth as he looked ahead. "I knew it," he muttered venomously, glaring at the sight before him. Given the intensity of his glare, one would think he had witnessed sothing unforgivable, and in Yang Qing’s petty mind, it indeed was.
Ren Shu was leisurely drinking tea in his back garden, resting languidly in his chair and smiling lazily at Yang Qing.
"Oh, you’re back. How was the trip? Care for so tea? It might be my finest batch yet. You’ll love it."
If it were not for the tea, whose aroma had already left him salivating, or the fact that he deeply fe... respected Ren Shu, an impetuous Yang Qing would have certainly taken a swing at the man’s unguarded chin.
Can’t he even straighten his back a little? What is with that folding lazy posture? thought Yang Qing as envy burned in him.
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