"What is the chance?" Shen Shi, the brother in blue robes, hesitantly asked, his concern mirrored by his other brothers. What Yang Qing had just mentioned was like a dehydrated person spotting a single clear drop of liquid—one they weren't even sure was water, but if it was, it could save them from their current predicament.
"Well, it's simple, really. I'll give you two options," Yang Qing said, his tone casual. "In option one, I'm willing to drop all charges against you. The Order will still pay the 15,000 middle-grade spirit stones, and you won't have to pay a single spirit stone. In exchange, all you have to do is survive a single attack for ten seconds. If you fall unconscious or die, that's your loss—but if you survive and stay conscious, it's your win. I'll even heal any injuries you incur during those ten seconds.
As for option two, it's even simpler—just accept the results of the ruling, take your punishment, and make the most of it. If you keep your noses clean, stay diligent, and work hard, a few recommendations could reduce your ten-year sentence—or you might even gain something even more valuable along the way besides the sentence reduction. But all of that depends on your attitudes going in.
However," Yang Qing added, his voice growing a touch more serious, "you should know—if you choose option one and fail, two more years will be added to your sentence. That means twelve years of hard labor instead of ten.
I'll give you five minutes to decide." Leaning back comfortably in his chair, he watched them with a relaxed smile.
On any other day, the three brothers would have chosen option one without hesitation—but the memory of being paralyzed in mere microseconds lingered heavily in their minds. That display of power couldn't help but worry them. Right now, it felt as if they were being offered poison in one hand and flammable liquid in the other to quench their thirst.
The three brothers huddled together, arguing back and forth in low voices. Before the five-minute deadline was up, they seemed to have reached a consensus—though their faces did not show the relief one might expect after making a major decision in record time. Instead, they were pale, glistening with beads of sweat, and fraught with worry.
Shen Ding and Shen Tian exchanged a glance before nodding toward their brother, Shen Shi, who returned the gesture and stepped forward to face Yang Qing.
"Judge Yang Qing, if it isn't offensive, may we clarify a few things before giving you our decision?" Shen Shi humbly asked, his posture and overall demeanor a stark contrast to what it had been earlier.
"Sure, you can," Yang Qing lightly said. "Seeing as your lives are on the line here, gathering as much information as possible is only natural when making life-altering decisions. So, what is it you want to ask, Shen Shi?" He leaned forward slightly, a cheerful smile on his face. "Like I said, I'm feeling magnanimous today, so I'll accommodate you as much as I can.... to a point." His voice sharpened on the last phrase, and his eyes narrowed in a way that made the brothers instinctively tense.
The casual mention of their lives being on the line sent chills down their spines as they felt like Yang Qing was particularly deliberate when he said that bit. When the day began, none of them had expected things to spiral like this.
Shen Shi secretly heaved a sigh of relief as he cupped his fists in gratitude."Thank you for your generosity, Judge Yang Qing."
"The thing we wanted to know is...." he continued cautiously, "....what exactly do we need to survive against? If it's a person, who would it be? And… what is the power level of the attack? Also, can we use any means available to us to defend ourselves?"
"The attacker would be me since I'm the one passing the sentence," Yang Qing said with a smile, which though gentle-looking managed to accomplish the opposite as it sent shivers down the spines of the Shen brothers.
Shen Shi couldn't help but glance back at his two brothers, his eyes filled with deep worry and an underlying unspoken question—"Do we still go through with this?"
Facing Yang Qing felt like the worst possible outcome. Before the paralysis incident, they hadn't given him much thought—or feared him for that matter. In their eyes, the most intimidating person in the entire courtroom was Yi Jie, while Yang Qing seemed like little more than a young man lounging comfortably in his chair, basking in luxury. A basic silkplants.
But after that effortless display of power, they had no choice but to reevaluate the green-haired judge before them. During their hasty discussion, Shen Tian had repeatedly warned them about his intuition screaming of impending doom every time he looked at Yang Qing since he paralyzed them and that feeling grew more pronounced by the second.
Completely ignoring the uneasy glances they exchanged, Yang Qing continued,
"As for the power level, it'll be just this much," he said, casually raising his right index finger. His actions only deepened their confusion and worry.
Seeing their confusion, Yang Qing moved to elaborate.
"What I mean," he said, wiggling the finger playfully like a harmless worm, "is that I'll only be using this finger to attack. The strength you'll face will be no more than the power stored in this one finger. I don't think it'll exceed a full-blown strike from a first-stage core formation expert," Yang Qing said, wearing a harmless look as he did.
"As for your last question, you're free to use whatever means you have available to defend yourselves. You won't be facing the attack separately but together, so use whatever you can—whatever you have. I have no objections," Yang Qing said, putting on the most generous and magnanimous look he could muster.
"Can we choose to face a different person's attack?" Shen Shi asked, his expression filled with pleading hope.
"Like I said, I'm the one passing judgment, so it'll have to be me," Yang Qing replied with a patient smile. "Besides, I can tell you for a fact—I'm your best option. Your odds of surviving my attack are much higher compared to the others.
"Yi Jie?" He shook his head slightly. "He'd likely dismember your arms and legs and leave you crippled for life. Mao Yunru would break your minds leaving you guaranteed to live out the rest of your days as idiots. And as for Zheng Hu…" Yang Qing let out a soft chuckle, "he's young and rambunctious. He might torch you alive, cripple your foundations, or leave you in a state where you'd wish you were dead."
He spoke with the warmth of a caring elder, but his words only made the brothers' faces grow even paler.
Unable to help themselves, the three turned their gazes toward the rest of the panel.
Yi Jie remained aloof, his cold indifference as unwavering as ever. Mao Yunru—usually the gentle one—wore an unsettlingly detached expression. But it was Zheng Hu who made their stomachs churn. He was smiling… but there was a malevolent glint in his eyes as he licked his lips.
The brothers exchanged one final look before nodding firmly in unison.
"We choose option one," Shen Shi said, his voice filled with desperate resolve.
"You're sure?" Yang Qing probingly asked.
"Yes, we are. We're rogue cultivators," Shen Shi said with some measure of pride.
"Our whole lives have been built on taking risks. If there's even a chance we can get out of this, we'll fight for it," Shen Shi declared. "We'll take this as just another tempering experience. It's not many who get to witness the might of the Order firsthand.
We may be a lot of things, but cowards isn't one of them."
A valiant expression settled on his face, as a commanding aura burst forth from his body. He looked like a general standing tall on the battlefield. The surge of confidence became infectious as it quickly spread to his brothers, and helped them cast aside their lingering fears. In just a few seconds, the earlier worry faded and was replaced by calm and unyielding looks.
Yang Qing couldn't help but admire their composure. Whatever their faults, they are valiant
"Good," he said, leaning forward as he rested his head against his left palm. His right hand lay casually on the table, index finger pointed down. He looked more like someone preparing to daydream than someone about to launch an attack.
Without hesitation, Shen Ding reached for a round, white, gem-like amulet hanging from his neck. With a faint flash of light, a worn-out marble emerged, and from it, a massive pavise shield materialized in front of them.
The shield stood an imposing ten meters tall and three meters wide which was more than enough to completely cover the three brothers. It was crafted from dark grey wood and lined with blue-white fur. At the center of the shield, the head of a white wolf was mounted, its sclera a chilling, pitch-black void.
At a glance, Yang Qing could tell the shield was an upper mid-grade sky-rank weapon—capable of withstanding a blow from a typical 7th-stage core formation expert. The fur and wolf's head embedded in the shield came from a dark cinder white wolf, a beast renowned for its balance of offense and defense. The wolf's dark flame corroded the qi of incoming attacks, while its white fur grew tougher each time it absorbed qi from its surroundings.
The grey wood forming the shield was tenfold cedar—a rare material that amplified the effects of anything attached to it tenfold while possessing a natural ability to draw in qi. That shield was one of the key reasons the Shen brothers had managed to survive so long as rogue cultivators.
They had chosen the full defensive route. Although their weapons had been confiscated, the shield remained in their possession. Even if their weapons were returned, they would still opt for the shield. Even if they were just facing the might of a single finger, none of them dared let down their guard, as such it was much better to concentrate all their power on one singular concerted focus than spread it out by attacking separately.
Their only goal was survival, so defending seemed like the most reasonable option for achieving that goal.
Huddled behind the massive shield, the three brothers poured their qi into it with reckless abandon.
"WE ARE READY, JUDGE YANG QING!" they roared in unison, their spirits burning with determination.
Shen Tian's skin hardened, transforming into the thick, stony hide of a rock rhino. Shen Ding's body glowed with a metallic golden sheen, while Shen Shi's skin cracked with fissures that spewed arcs of blue lightning.
"Okay then," Yang Qing's soft voice drifted over, calm and unyielding.