Yang Qing spent the whole night by the rattan chair lost in his thoughts and dreading his future life as another exploited worker in the cog known as the Order that he didn't notice until the morning rays hit him that the night had passed.

Luckily once cultivators reach the core formation realm they can live without taking shower since most of their body's impurities will have completely been cleansed by then and the mechanisms in which their bodies operates also completely transform at that point like no longer having the need to eat too as they can subsist on spiritual qi alone.

Therefore the stress of preparing themselves before leaving for work was virtually non-existent for a cultivator more so in Yang Qing's case who was a palace realm cultivator with a peerless jade body to boot. His body was as pristine as it could be and due to his nature's Yin Yang jade bones, he always had the scent of nature on him. As for clothing, the Order issued robes came with dustproof arrays along with self-cleaning arrays and thermal regulation arrays not that cultivators of Yang Qing's level were affected by temperature.

This was even without considering the materials used in making the robes that were atleast of the monarch grade and were chosen because of their specific attributes that targeted protection, comfort, and maximum utility. Yang Qing had to admit when it came to the Order issued robes they didn't spare any expense, unlike other areas where they did the bare minimum coupled with hidden schemes that made the users spend more of their resources whilst making it seem like they are doing them a favor.

….Yang Qing lethargically put on his robes as he grabbed a snow peach he had gotten from Yu Huifang's place and made his way out.

Yi Jie had already filed his seclusion and breakthrough leave and was currently staying at the celestial nesting weaver's nest to take advantage of the environment there and make sure he was at his peak state before he attempted to break through to the palace realm.

It was because of his stay that Yang Qing decided to rest on his porch. Yang Qing wasn't sure how long Yi Jie would be around but at the bare minimum, he thought it would take a month or two before Yi Jie gained enough momentum then after which he would head to his own abode to complete the breakthrough.

Yang Qing would have to sleep in a different place for those two months. His office would be the ideal place but if he could avoid it he would not spend his nights there. It was always a slippery slope. You sleep there one day, two days, a week next thing you know it's 2 years and your office has become a permanent home, falling right into the Order's schemes.

Yang Qing always found it suspicious why the offices seemed a couple of times more comfortable and well-equipped than even their abodes. Almost as if the Order wanted to bait them to live there with that environment that was filled with very dense spirit qi, retrofitted with all kinds of life improvement arrays and other facilities that just draw you in.

If it wasn't for his riots and the punishment he got for those riots in which he ended up with his office downgraded and the reduced supply of materials necessary for the maintenance of the office, Yang Qing was sure he would be another unwitting victim who spent his entire life within the confines of the courtroom building.

….

"Maybe spending the nights there a day or two wouldn't hurt. There are only three days left to my ceremony, two if I count today. I should spend some time in that office before it is given away to someone else," Yang Qing pensively thought as he rubbed his chin.

"Three days it is,'' Yang Qing thought before he whistled.

Moments later the two peak core formation stage black dragon horses appeared before him with the carriage already tied to them.

"After having Yi Jie act as a carriage driver for a month, it feels off getting on this thing without one," said Yang Qing as he sighed.

"Hei, Ma, the both of you will soon be leaving right? Time sure flies fast. The two arrogant colts from back then have grown into fine steeds about to break through to the palace realm and after that, you'll finally gain the ability to transmorph into humans," said Yang Qing as he patted the two dragon horses' heads with a gentle smile.

The two dragon horses were brother and sister. He knew them when they were just colts and he was a student then. During his overzealous stint in the Institute where he had taken a lot of courses just to stand out, spirit beast nurturing and taming was one of them.

As part of their curriculum, they would occasionally take care of the spirit beasts at the Beast hall. When he saw the two black dragon horses with their sleek black coat, and silver scales on their feet and back along with the dragon horns, and add to that their regal aura owing to the thin dragon bloodline in their system, he thought they looked cool.

The two horses were at the late stages of the foundation realm at the time and even with that cultivation realm, they had an inborn arrogance about them that they always picked fights for supremacy with the core formation spirit beasts who shared nesting grounds with them. They won some and lost some but despite the result, the arrogance still remained. It was with that arrogance that they always gave a small welcome beating to the students who were put in charge of taking care of them.

When Yang Qing's turn came he never saw the beating coming. He was mid admiring the black dragon horses saying how cool they were and how he would look amazing riding them when he got knocked out with a flick of their tails. Next time he came to, he was neck deep in manure and phlegm with spirit beasts throwing mocking condescending looks. The worst of the looks came from the black dragon horses.

Yang Qing went through that repetitive torture of being knocked out and buried in manure for a month before he decided to drop the spirit beast nurturing course for something else. He was only at the perfect qi circulation realm by then and miles away from tussling with spirit beasts that were cross-realm fighters.

He swallowed that bitter pill and engraved the experience in his mind. For a gentleman, 1,000 years is not too late for revenge. Soon the moment came when he got the post as an outer core court judge.