Daily life of a cultivation judge Chapter 1367: Confusing bow of gratitude (1)

It took a few seconds for Yang Qing to process what he had just learned about ’Wandering Scholar Song Quan,’ though "process" was a loose term. He was still very much in shock, and the thoughts swirling within him kept running, increasing in pace with every second that passed.

"What about him looking for dragons?" asked Yang Qing, his mind and attention split two ways. One part was in the present, while the other was in his mind, shuffling through all the information he had gathered about Song Quan. "Was that even true?" he wondered aloud.

"Oh, that is very much true," Dean Zhu Lao casually remarked, smiling with amusent, possibly at Yang Qing’s shifting expression.

Yang Qing’s split mind instantly rged at Dean Zhu Lao’s reply. "So that one was true..." he repeated, his intrigue clearly showing.

"Yes, it was," said Dean Zhu Lao, laughing. "But his reasons for looking for them were not exactly what you think," he mysteriously added.

"Not what I think?" said Yang Qing, frowning at the words as he thought deeper on the insinuation. The Dean didn’t let him dwell on it for long, offering the answer to the mystery.

"Like I said before," he began amusedly, "Song Quan is a person hugely obsessed with plants and herbs, to the point he would risk his life in their pursuit. You can clearly see that from his Green Fog incident.

So..." Dean Zhu Lao said, his voice dipping into a conspiratorial tone, "if you paid attention in your alchemy, herbology, or even survival adaptation classes, you would know that while it’s not a definite guarantee, more often than not, wherever a precious spiritual plant or herb grows in the untad wild, a dangerous spirit beast is never far behind, guarding it.

And the more precious the herb, the more dangerous the spirit beast. Going by that logic, can you imagine what type of rare plants and herbs are likely to be found in areas inhabited by mythical creatures like dragons?

Driven by his obsession, Song Quan sought to find the answer to that question by searching for them, forgetting his ager abilities in the process. He was a lousy planner with a penchant for attracting danger, but he always knew how to sniff out a good adventure and the worthy spoils and tales that ca with it. And, ironically for soone who seed to attract death, he had heaven’s own luck for avoiding it by a hair’s breadth every single ti.

Different cultivators would have died several tis over if they jumped into a third of the things he did," said Dean Zhu Lao.

"It is why I quit adventuring with him," Dean Zhu Lao added, sighing with a touch of fear. "I must have used my entire life’s worth of luck just surviving. Things have been going to the pits for ever since then," he softly grumbled, shivering.

Yang Qing couldn’t read minds, but given the Dean’s history, he could more or less guess what mory had induced that last shiver.

"Searching for plants..." Yang Qing dryly murmured, shaking his head with a smile.

He had assud Song Quan was a peculiar character, given the subject of his journal and what he had written. He seed like a free spirit who would, at the drop of a hat, go wherever his whims and interests took him without a second thought. Yang Qing rather envied that free spirit, and he was being perfectly honest, if he weren’t plagued by his very rational fear of losing his life, Song Quan was the kind of adventurer he wished he could be.

That was part of why he wanted to learn more about the person. And now that he had, Yang Qing was once again in awe of him and his daring spirit. He wasn’t sure he could ever reach that level of daring, no matter how powerful he beca.

Would he go hunt down a phoenix just because he was interested in trying phoenix drumsticks, or hunt a dragon out of curiosity to see if braised dragon at was heavenly? Even as a Soul Supre, those desires would forever remain unfulfilled in his heart.

He loved food to an obsessive degree, but he loved his life more.

Pulling his thoughts back, Yang Qing forced himself to calm down and address the pertinent parts of Song Quan’s history.

"What about his associations with treefolk mbers? Was that exaggerated too?" he tentatively asked. This was the part he hoped aligned with what Ren Shu had told him.

"He was acquainted with more than a few of them, but I can’t say with definite assurance that the Aurora Dark Winter Jade Spruce tribe was among them," Dean Zhu Lao said, so seriousness showing in his tone and expression. "But it is not entirely impossible either. Song Quan loved researching, even more so with like-minded individuals. It is how my..." Dean Zhu Lao paused as a trace of sadness flashed in his eyes. "...brother and I beca close with him in the first place," he softly added, his gaze drifting briefly in lancholy.

A heavy silence hung in the air, with Yang Qing throwing a consoling look toward Dean Zhu Lao while Yu Long gently patted his back.

Yang Qing still had no idea what had happened to Dean Zhu Lao’s brother, and he wasn’t about to ask. With heavy topics, he had co to discover the best way to handle them was to be silent and present for the person, letting them dictate the progression of things—whether they wanted to share, and if so, to what degree. Everything in that mont was theirs to decide.

After a few seconds, Dean Zhu Lao cleared his throat as his characteristic mischievous smile colored his face before it lted back into a smaller one, carrying a hint of sadness and softness as he looked at Yang Qing.

"Yu Long tells you created a Blue Grade cultivation art," Dean Zhu Lao said softly, looking at Yang Qing.

Yang Qing nodded, his gaze shifting to Yu Long. "The Assistant Dean helped with it, and others too. I couldn’t have done it by myself," he said with sincerity.