Daily life of a cultivation judge

"The reason I say that is because, while the earlier Heart Mirror Dawn Sepal allows you to figure your path out, it is this Enlightening Sublimating Sepal that will allow you to walk that path. And however long you walk, the path paved forward, and the distance traveled will be thanks to this sepal," he said, his fondness for the sepal showing more and more in his voice.

One might even think he would choose to abscond with it, given the deep appreciation he showed for the sepal.

"This sepal, as its name suggests, triggers enlightenment for those who use it. Said enlightenment is not just a simple enlightenment," he said, his voice now becoming more solemn.

"The enlightenment it triggers allows a cultivator to consolidate their entire accumulation, meaning their insights, experience, understanding, and everything they have learned and gained throughout their cultivation journey. All of it," he emphasized, "is consolidated through that enlightenment. Everything that is scattered is compressed into a single essence through that enlightenment, which also allows the user to sieve out what is needed and what should be discarded from it.

That final essence," Li Gang said, pausing briefly, "is what paves your path ahead and gives you the qualification to pursue higher realms. For those about to break through to major realms, like from the Core Formation Realm to the Palace Realm, this Enlightenment Sublimating Sepal is exactly the kind of thing to increase your odds of a successful breakthrough, significantly."

"It is amazing, is it not?" he softly said, smiling at the crowd before his expression shrank back into a solemn one.

"That being said, I feel I should clarify something," he said, his voice growing more serious as he looked at the crowd. "This sepal works with what you have. The essence it produces comes from grinding it out from your experience and accumulation. So all it really does is help you make sense of what you have in your lifetime's worth of collection and consolidate it into an easily digestible form.

Whether what comes out of it can push your realm through into another one depends entirely on the quality of what it is working with. Everything it feeds you comes from you and you alone," Li Gang warned before moving on to the next sepal.

That enlightening sublimating sepal differed from the enlightenment aster flower in that regard, as the latter's enlightenment was not restricted to its user's experience. It allowed one to peer into the mysteries of the Grand Dao that, while tied to one's Dao, were not limited to what one had personally accomplished... for example, a sword user gaining insight into profound mysteries of the sword beyond their current accumulation.

Li Gang gestured to the next sepal. "This coral red sepal is also known as the Awakening Dawn Sepal."

"Its effects are pretty direct," he continued. "Just like its name already shows, it carries a thirty to forty percent chance of helping cultivators awaken their dormant physiques. And when it comes to those with bloodline physiques, whether human or spirit beast, it helps thicken the quality of their bloodline, especially those with impure or weakened bloodlines. Of note, though," he said, pausing,

"It has restrictions... It will only work on physiques related to the water, earth, wind, wood, and yang elements. Anything outside of these elements will have zero effect," Li Gang warned.

His fingers then moved to a green, emerald-colored sepal.

"This next one is the Emerald Sepal, also known as the Revitalizing Sepal. It heals all manner of injuries, from poison-related to physical ones, and it can restore some damage done to the soul, though not by much. For minor soul injuries, it can offer full recovery, but from moderate going onward, it helps more in stabilizing the injury than healing it," Li Gang explained.

"The sepal's strength lies in offering balanced, holistic healing, which means that while it does not offer extraordinary effects, it does address all injuries that you may suffer, from poisoning, to expended qi, to consumed blood essence, to damage to the soul and body.

It revitalizes your entire being. The healing may be average, but it makes up for the potency through its effects covering a wide range of issues," said Li Gang before he moved to the final sepal. It was a pearl-white sepal.

"This pearl white sepal is also known as the Purifying Sepal," he said as he gently stretched it out, which truly embodied its name, as it had both the look and aura of purity.

"When consumed, it gently and thoroughly filters accumulated impurities within the body. It could be from undigested energy from pills, potions, or natural treasures.

Or it could be leftover energy and qi from an attack you took that your body has not completely gotten rid of.

As we all know, our bodies keep a thorough account of everything we put them through, and given the path we walk, getting injured is expected," Li Gang gently said as his eyes were met with agreeing nods from some within the crowd.

"Some injuries will heal completely, while others will stubbornly stay behind, and our bodies, resilient as they are, will change and adapt to accommodate those injuries and the effects they have on us, which more often than not is not a good thing.

Even when our bodies adapt, we can feel it: our movements slow down. The force behind our attacks has a slight strain to it than usual. The qi moves sluggishly. We struggle against certain environments that we did not use to before. Improving our cultivation feels like trudging through deep mud while scaling up a steep cliff. Our stamina wanes.

We can sense that our bodies are not what they used to be. The debts we have accrued have grown beyond the body's ability to offset the damage, and we become weaker and slower. The effects are subliminal at first, but as time goes on, that faint feeling that something isn't quite right grows more apparent with time," Li Gang slowly said.

"This purifying sepal helps tilt that balance to your body's favor by helping you filter out the accumulated impurities within your body, specifically those within your qi, and in doing so, the flow of your qi becomes smoother, faster, and filled with a renewed sense of vigor.

And with that improved flow and vigor, you can use it to deal with the other entrenched damages in your body," Li Gang patiently explained as his hand settled on the petals.

"As for the petals," he said, "while they do not contain any unique abilities as the sepals do, they do serve an important purpose too, with that purpose being that they amplify the effects of the sepals' ability twofold, if all six petals are used on a single sepal. If you decide to split them, the effects will be reduced according to the split.

It is up to you to decide how you want to use them," said Li Gang as he placed the flower back into its case.

"I hope the explanation is to your satisfaction," he said, smiling to the crowd, who nodded with murmurs of "it was" accompanying the nods.

"Good. Now for the bid," Li Gang said with some eagerness in his voice.

"For those who do not know, auctioning the Dawn Lotus Flower has been a custom of our Vast Blue Merchant Company, where we auction twelve Dawn Lotus Flowers, each with a set price of forty thousand lesser dragon jade crystals, with the winner chosen at random, rather than it going to the highest bid, since the figure wanted is already set and capped at forty thousand," Li Gang explained.

"But," Li Gang said, smiling wider and mysteriously as he looked around with a look that seemed to say, " This time there will be a change to the format.

"Because of the value of the items that have graced us today and also our appreciation of your patronage, the owners have decided to increase the number of Dawn Lotus Flowers being auctioned today to thirty-six."

Before the crowd could process the first announcement, Li Gang delivered another hammer blow. "We will also reduce the bidding price by half. Meaning, for just twenty thousand lesser dragon jade crystals, you can have your Six Sepal Dawn Lotus Flower."

"What is the catch?" immediately asked one of the guests from the lower floor.

"Astute as always, Daoist Fuming," said Li Gang, smiling at the guest who asked the question. His response more than confirmed the guest's assumption.

His gaze turning earnest, Li Gang said, "The catch is only this: you will owe Vast Blue a favor."

"Just one," he said as he raised his index finger.

"For the promise of a single favor and twenty thousand lesser dragon jade crystals, the Six Sepal Dawn Lotus Flower is yours," Li Gang said.

"What kind of favor?" asked another cultivator.

"Nothing specific as of yet," Li Gang lightly said. "But," he continued, pausing, "the favor in question will be worth twenty thousand lesser dragon jade crystals," he slowly said as a small smile tugged on his lips.

"Are you willing to make that bet?" he said, smiling to the crowd as his gaze swept over them.

Yang Qing, in his room, smiled as he softly muttered, "Well played, Vast Blue. Well played."