Yang Qing quickly pushed those thoughts away as he focused on the matter at hand.
"As you have heard, the earthvine wood was 23,000 years old, and based on the amount of timber used to make the table you brothers destroyed its worth is between 20,000-25,000. The quote Zhong Quan gave you of 15,000 middle-grade spirit stones was even more than fair on his part.
So the accusation of whether it was true earthvine wood has been disproved and the charges he gave on the broken table have been found to be reasonable. With all these facts in place…"
"WAIT JUDGE YANG QING!!!! What do you mean by fair? Is this how the Order conducts its business? Colluding with the aafluent to oppress those in the rogue cultivators because they have no backing other than themselves.
You really expect us to trust the judgment of an old man who looks to already be on his deathbed. He is just a senile old man that you have involved in this case to create the illusion that everything was above board when in the actual sense you had already decided to side with the unscrupulous merchant over there. Some beacon of fairness and justice the Order is. Just wait until we leave here and tell anyone who will listen how the Order really does its job, especially against the rogue cultivating community. I and my brothers won't stand for it, we are not willing to continue with this sham of a case procedure," Shen Shi vehemently said as he scoffed in displeasure. The rest of his brothers seem to be in agreement with him as even Shen Tian spat on the courtroom grounds in disdain.
"Is this sentiment shared by you two?" Yang Qing calmly asked as he stared at the two brothers beside Shen Shi.
"Yes it is," Shen Ding coldly said
"Me too, though I think Shen Shi was a little tame with his words. Shen Shi you really try too hard to be 'refined' like those aristocrats. Like I always say Shen Shi with sufficient strength even a boar could be seen as more of a gentleman than a king.
If we had enough strength do you think we would be put through this farce of a ruling," Shen Tian said as he mockingly smiled.
"The Order is said to be the hotbed of talents but they don't seem much to me just soft cakes puffing themselves up. Just you wait, I'll make sure to grow powerful enough to openly spit at the Order's face," Shen Tian thought as a smile of contempt crept on his face as he dead-eyed Yang Qing.
Zhong Quan's brows frowned in displeasure at the whole thing but they soon smoothened out as he looked at the calm indifferent expression that Yang Qing and the rest had. He could even see a hint of playful craftiness in Yang Qing's eye as he stared at the three brothers.
"Good since you are all in agreement this makes things easier. As rogue cultivators, I would have thought you would have a bit of awareness. How have you stayed alive being so reckless and clueless? That old man you call senile is one of the frontmost figures in craftsmanship who has created a few sentient artifacts and how many materials do you think have passed through his hands from sky grade to ascendant grade. The number is sufficient to bury a whole town and you have the gall to doubt his judgment over a single sky-grade material.
You are lucky he didn't hear your words even I am incapable of surviving one punch from him let alone three puny 4th stage core formation cultivators who have their heads so swollen with pride from surviving insignificant trials that any person from the Order would have blazed through as early stage foundation experts.
Do you think core formation cultivators are enough for the Order to pull tricks and besmirch its name with? even a soul formation cultivator isn't worthy let alone you three.
Besides, do you three think we are children playing cops and robbers here that you can get out of the case procedure anytime you want to?
I asked you beforehand if you were sure you wanted to submit yourselves wholly to the ruling of the court to which you did. Your chance to refuse went away with that agreement and you're in it now. Any act that maligns the ruling or acts in disobedience of it is another penalty much stiffer than what you would have gotten had you agreed to my ruling. You have to prepare yourselves for what comes next. This is the Order and not someplace you can behave however you wish," Yang Qing said with an indifferent expression.
Shen Ding couldn't help but nervously gulp as he wondered if they pushed their luck a bit however Shen Shi and Shen Tian looked undaunted but Shen Tian's body seemed tenser than before and one of Shen Shi's fists was tightly clenched.
"I Yang Qing as a judge of the superior core court hereby exercise the authority vested in me by the Order to pass the verdict on the case between owner of the Earthvine restaurant Zhong Quan vs The three Shen brothers.
Having judged the information at hand to be sufficient to pass a ruling, I hereby declare the defendants Shen Shi, Shen Ding, and Shen Tian guilty of destroying the earthvine table whose worth in middle-grade spirit stones is 20,000- 25,000 spirit stones as valuated by a master grade craftsman Chief Song Chuanli. Owner Zhong Quan's valuation of 15,000 middle-grade spirit stones is found to be fair and above board.
As for the sentence, the Order is willing to pay the amount owed in full to owner Zhong Quan or have the three brothers pay their amount in labor to the restaurant. The amount will be considered paid off when the three brothers have worked for a month. The payment will be 500 middle-grade spirit stones a day is considered to be the standard amount for the remuneration of the services of a 4th-stage core formation expert. Which option would you prefer owner Zhong Quan?" Yang Qing asked.
"Judge Ya.." the three brothers jumped out in fury to oppose the ruling.
"Silence you have no say in the matter. Just stand still and wait your turn," Yang Qing cut them off before they said anything. The three brothers had wanted to speak but they felt some energy surround them and forcefully petrified their bodies. They couldn't even blink their eyes, about the only thing they could do was breathe.
This sudden change made their bodies grow cold. They didn't even understand what happened to them. They just lost all control of their bodies. Fear sunk into their hearts but their bodies didn't show anything.
Zhong Quan noticed there was something strange going on among the three brothers especially when it seemed like their words were quite literally forced down their throats.
"There may be more than meets the eye with this judge. Maybe earlier…" Zhong Quan paused midway as a scarier thought popped into his head as he looked at Yang Qing with more reservation.
"Judge Yang Qing if it's okay with you I prefer the first option. As much as I would have liked to employ the services of core formation experts for a month. Having them around the restaurant may be more trouble than it's worth especially if they don't want to be there. The first option is the safest and most expedient option for me," Zhong Quan humbly said.
"You have nothing to worry about if you chose the second option. The Order has ways to ensure their discipline on the job. So do you still want the first option or will you reconsider?" Yang Qing asked with a smile.
"Thanks for the consideration but I prefer the first option," Zhong Quan said as he offered a smile of gratitude of his own.
"Okay then, Zheng Hu will take you to the restitution and reclamation offices. They will pay you back the amount in full there whether you want it in high-grade spirit stones or middle-grade or even low-grade spirit stones they accommodate all choices and take this with you as proof," Yang Qing said as he quickly drafted a small note in an ancient-looking paper. He stamped it at the end with his gold eagle medallion which made the writing glow in a pure gold light before the paper rolled itself and a gold eagle spirit appeared and swallowed the paper it then flew to Zheng Hu and parched itself on his shoulder.
