"Judge Yang Qing, we of the Wind Gliding Mercenary Escorts are willing to handle the investigation, and there is no need for us to be paid. We already owe the Order a lot, this can be considered our way of paying back," said Yun Wei as he grabbed the shard Yang Qing handed to him.

"While I appreciate the sentiment, Chief Yun Wei, the Order's regulations not only bind those who pass through its doors but us to, and the organization as a whole.

Some of the rules we can be flexible with, but not when a case is involved. I can freely accept your help during evaluations but a case is a different matter altogether. Because of its severity, all members associated with the case are bound by its rules and none is exempted from it, including the Order.

So I must insist Chief Yun Wei, for me to accept your help, it must be within the confines of the regulations that make an allowance for it. I can't accept the help for free because of the various implications behind it. If you were to insist on doing it for free, then I will have no choice but to terminate the request." Yang Qing politely said.

"Since Judge Yang Qing has put it that way, then on behalf of the Wind Gliding Mercenary Escorts, I accept the terms and conditions set on the request,' Chief Yun Wei solemnly said as he offered a daoist salute.

"Thank you very much, Chief Yun Wei, for your cooperation and understanding. I hope for a fruitful venture for us both," Yang Qing said as he cupped his fists in return.

"Since you're not new to this, the same terms of remuneration grading apply.

Though I still don't know the full story yet, with the few insights I've managed to obtain, the case may involve someone either at the peak stage of the core formation realm or someone at the palace realm.

The basis of that judgment is, as you can tell Ma Yuan is someone who once had a middle-stage core formation cultivation base. While I don't know how strong he was before he lost it, I can tell he had a gold stage body, so he couldn't have been that bad.Despite his strength, his dantian was shattered cleanly and in one strike at that. The traces of the attack left in his dantian share the same energy as the one in this shard.

Using both of these clues, the person who could successfully pull off that attack has to be someone who at the very least is a peak stage core formation realm expert, with a strong foundation at that or he/she is someone at the palace realm.

As such, because the case may potentially involve someone at the palace realm, the standard rates of the palace realm are the ones that will be in effect for this commission.

The Wind Gliding Mercenary Escort will be receiving an upfront fee of 45,000 high-grade spirit stones or may redeem it for something else from the Order in the equivalent of that amount.

Your final payment at the end of the commission will be subject to the strength of the perpetrator and quality of the information, whose grading will be in respect to the completion of the case," Yang Qing said as he took out a golden-colored scroll which he used to draft a promissory note and an official contract between the Order and the Wind Gliding Mercenary Escorts.

As a superior core court judge, it was well within his rights to do so. After he finished drafting the document, he stamped it with his gold eagle medallion and left a gap for Yun Wei to sign on behalf of the Wind Gliding Mercenary Escort. They would present that document to the administration department, sub-office; remunerations, to get their payment and their contract on file.

"I know you know this already, with the numerous commissions and contracts you have done for the Order, but the Order asks us to be redundant about these matters.

If the case ends up involving someone or an organization with the highest powerbase being someone at the early stages of the palace realm, your maximum payout for that case will be 250,000 high-grade spirit stones or a redeemable item of that amount. The quality of your information will determine whether you get that maximum payout or not and the judgment is left to the discretion of the Judge in charge of that case, which will be me.

If the matter involves a party in the middle stages of the palace realm, then the maximum payout is 500,000 high-grade spirit stones or a redeemable item of that amount.

If the matter involves a party in the late stage of the palace realm, the maximum payout is 750,000 high-grade spirit stones or a redeemable item of that amount.

At any point during the course of your investigation, should you suspect the matter involves a party in the domain realm, you are to cease all investigations immediately and present your speculations to the person in charge of the case, which will be me.

The Order will hold payment pending an investigation into your claims. If the speculation is found to be true, then the Order will pay you 1,000,000 high-grade spirit stones, a blue-grade formation blueprint, a blue-grade cultivation art, and a double quota will be given to your organization for five years.

Please note, you are not to investigate the matter further if you have even the tiniest of suspicions the matter involves a party in the domain realm. All your investigations are to cease immediately, I repeat all your investigations are to cease immediately and you are to present your findings to the Order.

Should you ignore the warning, and proceed, whatever circumstances arise from it will be borne by you alone.

Do you understand?" Yang Qing asked in a serious tone.

He had to reemphasize the last part of his statement over and over again because there had been a number of organizations in the past that got greedy for success and tried to handle matters that were above their abilities. The result of that greed was the annihilation of those organizations, leaving the Order to bear the infamy of being labeled as the cause of their destruction.

It was for this reason, the Order emphasized caution above all else when they gave out commissions and contracts to outside organizations.

"I understand," Chief Yun Wei solemnly replied.

"Okay then, thank you for your help Chief Yun Wei, should you require additional support, please don't hesitate to ask," Yang Qing said in a relaxed tone as he smiled.

"I will gladly take you up on that," Chief Yun Wei said with a chuckle.

They exchanged a few more words after that, to iron out a few details here and there in regards to the commission.

After Yang Qing was done with that, he immediately set off for the final evaluation point within the upper half of his quadrant. The final point of that half would be in the White Baobab Kingdom, a rank 4 kingdom favored for its delicacies. It's the one place Yang Qing in his whole route that he was actually excited about visiting even if work was involved.