Daily life of a cultivation judge

Yang Qing's outstretched hands trembled ever so slightly as he held the parchment. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The faint aura radiating from the parchment and its contents proved it was no figment of his imagination.

The parchment glowed faintly, its radiance carrying a subtle spirituality—one of the unmistakable hallmarks of cultivation arts at the blue grade or higher.

Eager to confirm his suspicions, Yang Qing quickly skimmed through its contents. After confirming his guess, he went through it again, this time slowly and attentively. Nearly seven minutes passed before he finished, his smile growing wider with each word.

How could he not smile, given the contents of that parchment?

The earlier rearrangement of the letters had transformed into his cultivation art—it was not just notes or observations as it had been before where it seemed more like a research journal. It was now a completed manuscript of the Brilliant Ray Fist Art in its perfected form. Every change and improvement he had made, including the profound insights gained during his state of enlightenment, was flawlessly integrated into it.

If Yang Qing hadn't seen the transformation with his own eyes, he might have thought he had written it himself during some trance. The parchment before him wasn't just any transcription; it was the definitive, fully realized version of his art embodied in the spirit of all he wanted for the art.

The parchment now contained the improved cultivation formula for the Brilliant Ray Fist Art. No longer a low-tier blue-grade art, it had advanced to a middle-tier blue-grade art. The denser spirituality leaking from the parchment was proof of its elevated status, having been baptized and acknowledged by the world's laws and principles.

When one creates or evolves a cultivation art, the medium used to inscribe it for the first time undergoes a phenomenon known as the baptism of the world. This baptism not only validates the art as being in harmony with the world's principles but also bestows a blessing upon the medium itself.

Were Yang Qing to hand this parchment to someone like Peng Zhen to cultivate, he could guarantee Peng Zhen would reach the blooming stage of mastery within six months—even though he was only a foundation establishment cultivator attempting to master a middle-tier blue-grade art.

Under normal circumstances, cultivating the art with the copy Yang Qing had given Peng Zhen earlier, would have taken him at least three to four years to reach the emergent phase of mastery. That estimate was based on cultivating the older, low-tier blue-grade version of the art, and with Yang Qing still personally giving him pointers twice a week as he was doing during his spars with Ma Yuan.

That disparity was not because Yang Qing was a poor teacher, nor because Peng Zhen was a poor student. The difference lay entirely in the parchment's unique properties, imbued by the baptism it had undergone.

The parchment was no less valuable than a heavenly treasure. The reason Peng Zhen would be able to achieve such rapid progress using it was simple—he would be getting tutored by the world itself.

There was no better teacher than the world, whose principles underpinned the cultivation art. It could make the profound seem simple and the complex easy to follow and digest.

This was the favor bestowed upon the first medium used in the formulation or evolution of an art. That medium became infused with the raw, all-encompassing power of the heavens and earth, enabling cultivators to grasp the art with unparalleled ease.

From what Yang Qing had read, this power was wondrously adaptable. It adjusted itself to the reader's comprehension level, strengths, and weaknesses, ensuring they could glean the maximum benefit from the art. It truly was the perfect teacher.

However, as wondrous as it was, that power was not infinite. Though it possessed an air of endlessness, it diminished with every use. The exact amount consumed varied, depending on factors such as the user's natural talent, comprehension abilities, and the difficulty of the art.

Records indicated that those with lower aptitude—be it in cultivation talent or comprehension—would consume more of the parchment's power. The same was true for particularly challenging arts. For instance, someone with poor aptitude cultivating an orange-grade art would deplete far more energy than someone with higher aptitude attempting the same.

All cultivation arts regardless of their grade—white, red, orange, blue, or higher—would receive this baptism when first transcribed. But because this power was so precious and finite, it was rarely used carelessly.

Take Yang Qing, for example. When he successfully formulated the Brilliant Ray Fist Art and evolved it from a red-grade art, he inscribed it onto one of the larger leaves of the green flame tree.

The moment he completed the final syllable, the leaf was baptized by the world's transcendent power. It became infused with spirituality, signifying the art's elevation to a low-tier blue-grade art.

Since its formulation three years ago, Yang Qing had used only about a quarter of the leaf's power—and only when absolutely necessary.

This wasn't uncommon among creators. The reluctance to use that power wasn't due to stinginess but practicality. While it could teach others with unparalleled efficiency, its greatest effect was on the creators themselves.

For someone like Yang Qing, who held ambitions of further improving his art, that power was an invaluable tool. By reading through the art baptized with that power, he felt inspired, refreshed, and clear-headed, as though seeing it with entirely new eyes.

This clarity was essential for creators aiming to elevate their art to the next level.

His being here today, was completely unplanned because if things had followed the original script, he would have been brought here in three months. Being brought here today only pushed forward what he had already planned to do when it came to the Brilliant Ray Fist Art.

His spar with Zheng Hu, coupled with guiding Peng Zhen during his spar against Ma Yuan, left him inspired with ideas on how to improve the blue-grade art and he had every intention of borrowing the worldly power contained in that green flame leaf, to give substance to his insights in the hopes it would be enough to propel the art forward.

That power had the same abilities as the Sage Mountain when it came to things like that.

But now, thanks to whatever the elm tree had done in creating the parchment before him, there was no need for that. It was why he was so joyous at the moment. He now not only had one, but two baptized original versions of his art.