Daily life of a cultivation judge

The moment Song Ba finished the statement it was like a thunderclap had exploded in the courtroom. First came the thunderous explosion then came the defeating silence that was accompanied by the heaviness in the eye.

Chen Gutian's eyes were as wide as they could be, overflowing with shock and disbelief. Chen Zian wasn't that far behind as his eyes flashed with bewilderment as he alternated his gaze between Song Ba and Chen Zholan.

He had been hoping Song Ba was lying to try so he could get whatever deal the Order would give him after this, but when he saw Chen Zholan's reaction, whatever hopes he had were quickly shattered. Shock, anger, and confusion flashed in his eyes as his eyes fell on Chen Zholan.

He couldn't believe it nor understand it at all. Today was the most lost he had ever been in. Finding out that some of the elders were keeping pill slaves and human cauldron didn't hit him that heavily when he learned of it. Bar the involvement of the disciple from the Medical Saint Garden which guaranteed that they would suffer significant damage to their reputation once everything was exposed, that was about the only part he was worried about.

But when it came to the rest, if he was being perfectly honest, a huge part of him was glad those elders got caught, especially those from Blacktear County.

Because of his rivalry with Chen Bo and the amount of influence Chen Bo had which included support from one of the supreme elders, his authority was always fragmented even if he was the Clan's patriarch. He never truly had full control of the clan.

To him, it always felt like he had split that authority with Chen Bo, as indeed it was. He could never implement whatever ideas he had for the clan, meeting constant stumbling blocks and opposition at every turn. Even when it came to enforcing clan rules, he was always restricted on those he could or could not punish.

The faction war between him and Chen Bo had infected every area of the clan, stifling its progress greatly, but now with the largest number of elders involved in pill slaves and human cauldrons coming from Chen Bo's faction, he had felt things had taken a turn for him. The elders involved, which included his son, were Chen Bo's core force, and with him in seclusion, it was mostly Chen Bo's son and those elders who were in the driving seat of the opposition.

But now, his core force was about to be eliminated for good, and at the Order's hand at that, and even better yet the crime they were being convicted of was dealing in pill slaves and human cauldrons. With such a crime over their heads, all the other members of the clan would draw a wide berth, severing any association with the Blacktear County, even the supreme elder who supported Chen Bo would have to withdraw his aid, and that was even without Chen Zian bringing up the involvement of the Medical Saint Garden Sect into the matter.

Even if Chen Bo somehow broke through to the quasi palace stage like he suspected, with the taint of the deeds of his son and faction on him, he could forget about claiming the seat of Clan Patriach, or wielding any form of authority. He was already guilty by association.

He had already planned it all, how he was going to use today's charges to galvanize the clan and do a thorough clean up, quelling all dissidents and finally consolidating all power and finally holding it firmly under his grasp.

He could already see it and he was excited for it, but there were a few aspects that he felt deep regret, and one of them was Chen Gutian and Chen Zholan being involved in the matter, especially the latter. When it came to his uncle, as cold as it was, he didn't mind it too much if he got executed.

After Chen Xue's death, he had become so unstable to the point that Chen Zian at one point had contemplated having him forcibly detained because of how he acted. In the pursuit of his son's killers, he constantly triggered feuds with the other major families who he felt were the greatest suspects.

Things among the founding families were already as volatile as it could get without an angry and reckless Chen Gutian stirring more things up with his actions. Luckily, Chen Gutian managed to gain some semblance of calm at some point and stopped acting out which surprised Chen Zian a bit, but with the information that had been revealed, he could guess why.

It finally made sense to him why his uncle who was always loyal to the clan would do something to jeopardize it.

But to Chen Zian, even his involvement, while it was unnerving when he saw him among those charged, he quickly adjusted to the realities of it. Chen Gutian didn't have long to live. He was closely approaching the end of his lifespan. He knew it and everyone else in the clan knew it and as a consequence of it, Chen Zian no longer needed his support as he did when he was at his prime. With him soon approaching his limit, whatever sway he had with the clan reduced concurrently with his dwindling lifespan. The future of the clan no longer had anything to do with him.

Losing Chen Gutian wouldn't affect the clan in any way, and as for the rivals using his charges against Chen Zian like he planned to use the same charges against Chen Bo and his cohorts, Chen Gutian had the least number of pill slaves and human cauldron, and if his guess about why he did it in the first place was right, no one would blame Chen Zian for what Chen Gutian did.

Plus the cold rational side of him welcomed his end, even. As a leader of any organization, one has to constantly expect and plan for the worst to avoid being blindsided and ensure the longevity of the clan. For him, his predecessor told him, he would need to constantly nurture his paranoia and learn to embrace it if he wanted the Chen clan to be able to survive the treacherous waves it swam in.

Chen Zian faithfully followed that advice and it served him well. This was why even after Chen Gutian showed he was stable,Chen Zian always treated him as an unstable element that one never knew when he would explode only that at some point in time in the near future, especially when he approached his end, that lid that was holding things together would definitely explode.

Chen Zian gave him the post as the supervisor of Misty Caldera County in part to keep a close eye on him to prevent that eventuality. But with Chen Gutian having involved himself in taboo matter, and thus falling under the clutches of the Order, as cold as it was, Chen Zian no longer had to worry about that unstable element.

The Order would take care of it for him, but it was Chen Zholan that he couldn't get to grips with in his involvement. While Chen Zholan didn't show the same prodigious talent as Chen Xue, he was still one of the most talented young figures of the sect, even whilst Chen Xue was alive.

Currently, he was among the youngest, standing at just a few years over a hundred, he was among the youngest people to cultivate up to the fourth leaf of the legacy their ancestor left behind, and with the preparations they had made, in another ten years, he would have been more than ready to try the fifth.

His talents were one of the reasons Chen Zian favored him as his successor, something he had long considered even when Chen Xue was still alive. While Chen Xue was exceptionally gifted with the sword, he was never that good at dealing with people, preferring to keep to himself or cultivate most of the time.

Chen Zholan was different, his aptitude for cultivating matched his ability to deal with people and establish relationships. He had good relationships all around not just within the clan, and even among Chen Bo's factions, despite their antagonistic nature, had favorable impressions toward Chen Zholan.

To Chian Zhen, Chen Zholan was the perfect candidate, and considering how close he had seemed to be with Chen Xue, with Chen Xue supporting him, the duo would have pushed the Chen clan further and maybe finally close the gap with the royal family.

But, Chen Zholan not only colluded with the Red Flaming Lotus Alchemy Pavilion to nurture pill slaves and human cauldrons in their domain, but he broke the one line that even Chen Bo and Chen Zian despite their rivalry, would never break, and that was to seek an outsider to murder one of their own, especially one with a rare talent like Chen Xue.

As a cultivation clan, and a considerably large one at that,clan members fighting one another was par for the course, and even ones leading to deaths, happened, but those deaths were always above board and direct like a death duel.

But even with the infighting,there were a few lines that were never crossed, one was murdering a clans member using an outsider's hands and the other was, geniuses of the clan, regardless of which faction they belonged to were untouchable, especially when it came to one of a kind genius like Chen Xue had been.

When it came to such individuals, it was the duty of the entire clan to support them to the best of their abilities. Chen Xue was a direct relative to Chen Zian, but Chen Bo and even the elders of his faction treated him with the same sincerity as anyone from Chen Zian's side would.

That was the reason, the clan elders despite standing trialand riddled with nervousness as a result of it, when Song Ba accused Chen Zholan of ordering the murder of Chen Xue, the fear they all had was replaced by huge surprise and something else, especially when they saw the evident guilt in Chen Zholan's face.

For the first time since stepping in the courtroom, they showed remorse, and shame.

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