"That's faster than expected.." said Yang Qing.

He had four more days left before his tenure as the branch chief of the Deer Mountain Branch was over. He had expected the Judicial Review Committee to come to a decision on the last day, or have him extend his stay while they deliberated on who the next replacement would be.

"The call is being held at the communication nexus room I take it?" asked Yang Qing as he made his way into the branch.

"Yes, considering the confidentiality of the matter, it's the only place we can guarantee the conversation won't be eavesdropped on," administrator Mo Guang said as he led Yang Qing to the designated communication room which was stacked with antiscrying arrays and other features that prevented one from being spied on including even isolating karma.

One could consider the room one of the most expensive and important places in the whole branch. Things of utmost importance were done in that room which was usually the receiving and sending of important information and even the receiving of strategic resources.

There was a transportation array in the room that worked similarly to teleportation arrays except it could not support living organisms passing through it. Despite its apparent limitations, any array that touched on the elements of space was difficult to lay down and consumed a lot of resources both to lay it down and operate it.

The transport array was considered a strategic resource that the branch would only use in dire circumstances, for example, if they were besieged by an enemy they couldn't escape, and the protection array in the branch wasn't enough to contain the enemy long enough for help to arrive.

In such a scenario, they would relay their current state to those at the headquarters in charge of handling such situations, who would then provide the necessary expedient assistance. That assistance usually came in the form of sending an artifact or a talisman of varying abilities which was dependent on what they were dealing with.

Yang Qing knew they were different grades to the transportation arrays. The grade was dependent on the level of danger in the area where the branch was located, the distance from headquarters or major branches, and the strength of the personnel within that branch. The one at the Deer Mountain Branch was a top-tier blue-grade transportation array that could handle the transportation of top-tier monarch-grade artifacts, but with the dangers around the place, Yang Qing didn't know if they would elevate it to the gold grade.

But with a kingdom-wide array being laid down on the range, Yang Qing felt it was less likely. The Order was pretty frugal in how they used their resources. With a whole continent to cover, they never had enough.

It wasn't long before Yang Qing and Administrator Mo Guang arrived at the communication and transportation room. They both stood before a bamboo pot with a young bamboo shoot growing out of it. Yang Qing took out his branch chief token and muttered an incantation that triggered a reaction from the token as produced a silver drop that contained an ancient-looking glyph within it.

The drop trickled down the bamboo shoot making its way downwards to the soil and leaving a trail of silver runes that combined to form a silver swirling entrance.Yang Qing and Administrator Mo Guang walked into the silver swirl, appearing in a tiny courtyard with small bamboo shoots that had concentrated to the point they looked like verdant grass, a small pond, and a five-meter wooden bridge that led to the lone building in the area. The building was a thatched bamboo hut.

The area looked simplistic and tranquil and despite its minimalistic look, the resources used to build the area were more than the total spent on the rest of the branch. Just the bamboo alone was worth an entire mountain of resources in the branch. The bamboo growing about was a spatial shield bamboo which was used as a spatial node that anchored the courtyard to the rest of the branch, as the courtyard was an artificial mysterious realm built from tearing space and stitching a portion of it.

Yang Qing made their way into the hut which was just as simplistic as it looked. Inside were smooth wooden floorboards and mats that looked like had seen better days and at the center of the room was a bowl with crystal-clear water.

Both Yang Qing and Mo Guang took seats directly opposite each other while encircling that bowl. Yang Qing used his index finger like an inscription pen as he inscribed something on the surface of the crystal clear water. With every movement, ancient-looking gold-grey scripts appeared on the surface of the water.

When Yang Qing wrote the last script, a gentle light was released from the crystal clear building, with its gentle crystal glow covering the entire building, changing the scene along with it.

In a few seconds, the walls, the roof, and the floor of the bamboo hut disappeared, and they were within a different courtyard that looked somewhat similar in that it had bamboo plants growing about except this time they were mature.

"Greetings, seniors.." Yang Qing said as he cupped his fists to the four figures leisurely sitting across from him with genial smiles on their faces.

"We heard you took to your role quite well, Yang Qing...We could give you the post permanently if you want it.." said one of the figures with a teasing smile on their face.

"Surely you jest, Senior Long Enlai, without administrator Mo Guang's help or the rest, I'd be fumbling about.." said Yang Qing, using a humble way of saying he did not want the job.

"Are you sure?" asked Long Enlai with a meaningful look.

"The pay is not bad, the environment will be safe once the array is completed, the caseload isn't that high, the pay is better, kind working hours, and because of how good you are, we could be amenable to adding another chef to your retinue here..

What do you think?" added Long Enlai.

Yang Qing's face went pale as every word spoken by Long Enlai felt like a soothing voice guiding his soul to the paradise of his dreams.

He could feel an enthralled voice within him whisperingtake it, take it, take it, this is what you have always wanted, take it.

"I am sorry Senior, I think I still have much to learn before I can take on such enormous responsibilities.." said Yang Qing with heavy panting almost as if he had come from the greatest fight of his life.

It took all he had to not say 'yes', he had to dig deeper into his inner coward for him to resist the temptation. He also had an unresolved battle with Lei Weiyuan that fueled his will to leave the same as his fears.

"Stop teasing him, Enlai.." softly said the single woman from the group of four. It was Xu Biya another one of the members of the Judicial Review Committee.

"I told you he wouldn't agree. I expect that 20,000-year-old ancient pine breeze wine when we are done here.."

"He was close, a few more seconds and he would have caved in.."

"Seniors, can't you be serious? You even made bets? How unprofessional....wait, shouldn't I be entitled to a part of the winnings? It is about me after all..that 20,000-year-old ancient pine breeze wine, I wonder how good it is.." Yang Qing greedily thought as his gaze fell on the two gamblers from the Judicial Review Committee.

One was Jiang Chen who had won the bet, while the loser was Jia Bohai.

After a minute, the mood instantly turned somber from the lightheartedness and this was due to Long Enlai's announcement.

"Yang Qing, your predecessor, Branch Chief Li Wan has chosen to resign from his post and will be taking a break to decide what he wants to do next, though by his admission, he has said he would not be considering a return to a branch chief post even if it's to a different branch.

Along with him, Inquisitor Ye An chose the same. She too has permanently resigned from her post as an inquisitor and will not be doing so for the foreseeable future. She has decided to transfer to the Talisman Refining Division.

As for Chief Inquisitor Hao Da, as you know he was due to be promoted as the next branch chief of the Three Fires Branch. He is still willing to take up that post and will be taking up that role in two months after his treatment has been completed.

And lastly, the previous administrator, Administrator Su Cheng while he has agreed to retain his job as an administrator, he has requested to be posted to a different branch, which we will agree to.

Ideally, we would have sent him to the branch Hao Da was going to, being former colleagues and all, but his current cultivation base would make him ill-suited for the role, and the current administrator of the branch made a request to remain at the branch as he already has family there, from his wife's side. Relocating him would be a bit improper..." Long Enlai said.

Yang Qing couldn't help but sigh at the announcement. While he had expected some to refuse to come back, considering the experience they had, all of them refusing was a surprise though not too much of a surprise when one considered they had lost two members.

If he lost members of his team, Yang Qing felt he would likely make the same choice as the previous branch chief and resign his posting and do something else.

"Who will be their replacement?" asked Yang Qing with a somber sigh.