"I WILL DO IT," all the three brothers clamored up to do it.
"No, I will do it!! As the oldest, it's my responsibility to shoulder things and speak up for the rest," The brother with the blue meticulous robe suddenly said with a serious expression that seem to leave no room for debate.
"Who said you were the oldest? I'm clearly the oldest and also the smartest so clearly, I should be the one to speak up," said the other brother with the yellow robes who had a crafty and calculative look.
"Why are you two wasting time arguing, clearly the one with the biggest fist is the one who should speak up for the rest. Might has always spoken in the cultivation world and I'm clearly the strongest unless you two want a refresher in that regard," the other brother in brown patched robes said with a provocative smug look.
"Isn't someone so full of himself? You seem to have forgotten the tally Shen Tian. All those blows to the head from head-bushing spirit beasts must have done a number on you. You were not gifted in the mental regard to begin with but it looks like things have dropped even lower than before," the yellow-robed brother said mockingly.
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY YOU MONEY GRUBBER," Shen Tian who was the brother in the brown patched robes aggressively said as he clenched his fist preparing to take a swing.
Yang Qing shook his head sideways once he saw Yi Jie about to interrupt these brothers' spout. He had an amused look as he was watching the show of the three brothers go on.
"Be mindful of where we are Shen Tian besides what Shen Ding said isn't a lie either. What was the tally again of your fights against us?
You have won 23 bouts against me lost 22 drew 15 and against Shen Ding you have won 12 bouts lost 14 drew 34 while my tally against him is I have won 18 lost 17 drew 25. With these results, you still want to claim you are strongest and on what grounds. Wait until we are done with this we can settle the score later.
For now, I think it's fair to have the one who had the most recent victories be the one to speak for the rest. You both agree with this yes?" the brother with the blue robe suddenly asked directing the question to his two brothers.
"Fine," Shen Tian the brother in the brown patched robes suddenly let up and his earlier display of aggression changed into a normal expression in an instant.
"Better you Shen Shi than him," Shen Ding the crafty-looking brother in the yellow robe said as he shrugged.
Yang Qing only continued to smile in amusement at the charade. The three brothers may look to have come to a sudden agreement but they only did that when they noticed Yi Jie was about to flare up.
"I guess living their lives as rogue cultivators has made them rather sensitive to dangerous situations," Yang Qing thought as he drummed his index finger on the podium as his eyes gleamed with an idea.
"Sorry for the rude display judge Yang Qing. We meant no disrespect to the Order, my brothers and I have lived in the wilderness all our lives since we were kids so we sometimes struggle to keep our mannerisms in check," Shen Shi the blue-robed brother said as he performed a curt bow.
"It's okay, I'm already used to it. Being on this desk I've seen all kinds of people, especially from the rogue cultivating community," Yang Qing said as he dismissively waved his hand. He could tell Shen Shi had only performed a perfunctory bow without any sincerity either.
For those who have lived most of their lives as rogue cultivators, there were certain traits that some were bound to have. Some of them were contradictory to each other whilst some were similar. In as much as a rogue cultivator's life was filled with freedom and a sense of unrestraint, it was also fraught with danger all around more than what cultivators belonging to sects, families, royalty, or organizations could see or experience in their lifetime.
Those dangers made these cultivators either value their lives too much or be indifferent in the face of life and death. They were either valiant or cunning to the extreme. There was also another thought that was ingrained into these rogue cultivators the more dangers they survived with little to no resources. In their eyes, their survival proved them superior especially with so many odds stacked up against which in turn developed into contempt for cultivators who belonged to sects, clans, royalty, or organizations. In the same way, the cultivators of sects looked down on rogue cultivators the same sentiment was reciprocated as some of these rogue cultivators looked at these cultivators as domesticated cultivators who had no bite and would never survive a day in their shoes. The more dangers they weathered through the more that contempt for others and pride in themselves was ingrained. Some even dubbed themselves as true cultivators.
Yang Qing noticed the three brothers were part of that group. They may look restrained and showing deference right now but all that was a pretense. There was a veiled contempt hidden in their eyes when they looked at him and everyone else in the courtroom.
"No wonder despite their talent they never joined any sect. The arrogance of defying death a few times sure is something but I never quite understood how this makes them true cultivators though. How are they the better cultivators if something they fought tooth and nail to defeat it takes me just a pinkie and a millisecond to defeat?
That reminds me, what did happen to that rogue cultivator who was at the early stage of the core formation realm that Kang Huilang had fight against one of the students who was interning with him and was just at the peak of the foundation realm? Hehehe I heard the cultivator was beaten black and blue and almost suffered qi deviation from how serious that beating was. Kang is really insidious at times. But seeing the look of these three brothers even I am tempted to break their wills in the most insidious of ways. Let me be magnanimous for once seeing it's my final week in this court," Yang Qing thought as quickly threw those thoughts aside in time to hear Shen Shi's introduction.
"My name is Shen Shi and these are my brothers Shen Ding and Shen Tian," Shen Shi said as he pointed to the yellow-robed man and the brownpatched-robed man respectively.
"We three brothers are rogue cultivators to others it might seem like a path for those with no prospects or as a last resort but to us, it's a gift that keeps on giving. We get to travel all over, experience different things and learn new things with the sky as our blanket and the earth as our bed. It was during those travels that we heard about the Earthvine restaurant as we were making our way across the Emerald lily kingdom for a job. We decided to patronize the place to enjoy a good meal and taste the effects of the earthvine wood and see if they are good as they say it is.
The service wasn't bad though we've seen better but I can appreciate that the Earthvine restaurant doesn't discriminate against who it serves. The food was okay and as for the earthvine wood, its effects though minimal on us could still be felt. It was during one of our discussions as brothers that it got heated and before we knew it due to our passionate natures it got to trading blows. But we didn't use much force we were mindful of where we were and restrained much of our abilities seeing as only the table was the only thing that broke is a testament to the truth of my statement.
However, despite us holding back the earthvine table broke way too easily. Isn't something touted with so many great effects meant to be resilient even against the attacks of a core formation expert?
We couldn't make heads or tails of how something that is atleast of sky rank broke at the minute of our attacks. But since we were at fault we agreed to compensate for it. But the owner said it was 15,000 mid-grade spirit stones. The owner was clearly trying to take advantage of us since he may have guessed we were rogue cultivators and we may not be informed on certain matters.
Judge Yang Qing my brothers and I truly do not believe that table was made of true earthvine wood. We may have not seen one ourselves but we have seen other sky-rank woods such as the condor's caller wood, ghost stream wood, and wood from the thunder-thorn tree and they were all able to withstand an attack from an early-stage core formation expert without a doubt. But I'm supposed to believe that an earthvine wood broke to an attack that wasn't even at the core formation stage.
As we didn't want to create a commotion we decided to compromise and do one job for him but he insisted we lend our services for a month to make up for the 15,000 mid-grade spirit stones. However, the math didn't add up. We are three core formation experts at the 4th level whose might is as strong as someone at the early stages of the 7th level of the core formation realm. How could our worth be simply 500 mid-grade stones a day? The going rate to hire someone of our caliber is ten times that at 5,000 a day. After telling him that negotiations broke down and we are.
I plead Judge please look at this case fairly. Despite being conned by the owner we didn't act out and wanted to find a peaceful resolution but the owner just insisted on trying to have his way and take advantage of us brothers just because we are rogue cultivators. We hope the court will be fair in this matter and let the world know there are no distinctions in this place even if you are royalty or just a commoner justice and fairness are meted out all the same," Shen Shi said as he performed an even deeper bow.
