Yang Qing decided silence was his best weapon at the moment as he didn't have the mental bandwidth to bicker with Yi Jie, arrange for the welcome party and also secretly worry and panic over Lei Weiyuan's plan for him.

He thus decided to do the only reasonable thing one would do in his situation which was to savor the moments day by day conveniently ignoring and pretending there was no noose potentially hanging over his neck. His years of being on the receiving end of the Order's reprimands and disciplinary actions made him a seasoned expert of the willful ignorance dao.

The duo went about their actions in silence. One neatly arranged the delicacies around the dining table while the other formed multiple hand seals that lit a pale white flame under the cauldron as he immediately started pouring different ingredients into the cauldron as he carefully stirred.

Two of the sigils of the Ao cauldron lit up as Yi Jie pumped his Qi into the cauldron. There was a gentle swooshing sound as the hundred-leaf wine was being stirred with a blue ice ladle. The brown wine was stirred in a clockwise pattern till it formed a small whirlpool in the cauldron. It slowly started changing its color from the initial dark brown with the color growing lighter and mellower with every swirl.

Yi Jie's stirring seemed to be measured to a specific rhythm. He would add fruits and herbs of different elements every now and then but despite the contrasting composition, they did not disrupt the balance, flow, and look of the wine. He had thrown in a storm raven wheat which is high in yin energy along with redeye baobab which is high in Yang energy along with other plants with contrasting attributes which if handled poorly would result in a cauldron explosion but despite all this, his pace never changed and the expected implosion never happened as the wine didn't so much as even form a bubble.

The river symbol on the ancient giant tortoise lit up with a blue glow which in turn slowly started transforming the almost light yellow hundred-leaf sugar cane wine into a clear crystal color that had tinges of blue color. Once Yi Jie saw the transformed color he smoothly slowed down his stirring until he came to a gentle stop. The swirling didn't stop as it continued by itself albeit in a gentler, slower motion. A small tortoise spirit appeared in the swirl as it swam with the swirling current. Yi Jie poured a few blocks of hundred-year-old tempered lunar ice that turned the whole brew into a white mist as he finally closed the cauldron's lid in satisfaction.

Yang Qing who had thought of giving Yi Jie the cold shoulder and pretend he didn't exist was already next to him staring greedily at the cauldron.

"Your cauldron's spirit seems a bit larger and more defined than when I last saw it," Yang Qing said as he moved closer to the cauldron to inspect it.

"I managed to trade my merit points for a cup of night ashen spring water which helped unlock more of its river attributes. It wiped out ten years' worth of merit points but it was all worth it," said Yi Jie.

Getting just a single cup of the night ashen spring water had cost him close to 250,000 merit points. Ordinarily, a hard worker in the core courts would earn atleast 1000 merit points per month barring extraordinary circumstances that may result in those numbers increasing. But those circumstances were rare as they involved someone either getting into unexpected perilous circumstances and surviving or bringing in unexpected results. For example, Feng Xin bringing in Dong Yanlin, a blood ghost hands member, and the Ao Yin saber along with him would result in him getting more than 1,000 merit points in his case evaluation.

It had taken Yi Jie surviving a few near-death experiences and exemplary results for him to get over 200,000 merit points in ten years. However, in his eyes spending all his saved-up merit points on a single cup of night-ashen spring water was well worth it. For one, the night ashen spring water was a top-grade monarch rank natural born treasure that was a must-have ingredient for any seasoned blue-grade blacksmith and above. When a blade was quenched in water that had just a single drop of night ashen spring water even if the ingredients were in the earth rank it would automatically raise the rank of the weapon to a sky rank weapon.

It was a dream ingredient for all blacksmiths due to its ability to improve an artifact's quality even finished ones. Yi Jie had been eyeing it ever since he bought the Ao cauldron from an auction. The cauldron may be a monarch-rank artifact but that was because it was still incomplete. If Yi Jie continuously nourished the cauldron with valuable treasures of the water attribute, earth attribute, and plant attribute to match the river, mountain, and forest symbols on it, it could evolve into an ascendant-grade treasure.

It was Chief Song Chuanli who had made Yi Jie aware that the cauldron was incomplete as even the auction house he bought it from was unaware otherwise they wouldn't have let such a treasure slip off their hands for the price Yi Jie bought it for.Yang Qing didn't mock Yi Jie for blowing all his merit points for a single treasure as he understood its purpose. He would have donated his merit points but merit points were nontransferable which was a measure the Order employed to ensure individual productivity and reduce chances of people leeching off each other. They had most likely created it with Yang Qing's tendencies in mind but unluckily or luckily merit points were the one thing Yang Qing never lacked especially with his seasoned archeology skills and cultivation art dissection abilities that have netted him no small amount of merit points.

…

Yi Jie took a bite of a spring roll as he took a sit on one of the rattan chairs as he waited on the wine to stabilize. Yang Qing was still busy moving about arranging the food and cutlery. When he was done, he went to his backyard and came back with a dozen logs over his shoulder. He sliced the logs with his palms as easily as a knife through butter. He picked a few of the cut logs and neatly arranged them over the fireplace as he snapped his finger and a fireball was produced which then jumped onto the logs instantly lighting them up.

He picked one of the wine pots that had the 1,000-year-old silent lake elderberry wine along with two wine urns. He poured a cup for Yi Jie and himself. It was deep, dark, rich ruby red and purple in color, with fantastic violet nuances. Yi Jie the wine enthusiast he was had his eyes light up when he saw it. He went through all the motions one would expect from those who gave proper respect to wine while Yang Qing slurped his like a thirsty man stumbling near river water as he quickly poured himself another.

"It doesn't quite match your creations but it is still something. I'm afraid only Jiang Fu's oolong tea would match your wine," said Yang Qing. Though despite his criticism his eyes narrowed into a crescent shape every time he took a sip.

"Just one thing is missing to push the taste even further," Yang Qing said as he rose up and put a few sweet and sour spare ribs onto a plate, and came back to his seat.

"P..e..r..f..e..c.t, truly delish," Yang Qing said as he pared the wine with the ribs. Yi Jie looked at him as if he was looking at an oaf but he too picked up the ribs as he ate along with the wine. His eyes lit up once the flavor of the ribs met up with the wine as they exploded in his mouth.

"Qi Shan has made another leap in her dao," Yi Jie said with praise as he savored the sweet and sour spare ribs.

"Mmmh," Yang Qing replied in a muffle as he stuffed another rib into his mouth.

As the two were enjoying themselves two ladies appeared out of the corner of their eyes. The lady on the left had a white coat that had green leaf images on it and beneath the coat was a pale yellow robe which added a nature vibe to her that perfectly blended with the surrounding. She had a gentle and mature beauty to her that was further enhanced by the bun that was tied up with three magnificently polished bones. It was Luo Meili.

To her right was Su Jinjing whose average looks and unadorned short hair made her big limpid pure eyes stand out along with her light cherry pink dress that added an innocent charm to her.

"Starting off the party without us how ungentlemanly of you boss," Luo Meili said in a gentle smile as she made her way over with her gaze lingering briefly over Yang Qing's eclipse tree.

"Yang Qing can redeemer sleep in your green flame tree for a few days. I have a feeling he would enjoy it there," Su Jinjing pleadingly said as she skipped over.

"Sorry Jinjing, the green flame doesn't work well with non-l...i mean it doesn't work well with other living species that are not birds," Yang Qing said as he almost let slip a Su Jinjing taboo word. She hated her spear being called an artifact or anything that made it remotely seem like an object instead of a living thing.

"Don't worry Jinjing I can lend you my Zodiac twilight rock. It will do wonders to nourish redeemer," Zheng Hu's voice trailed over before he appeared on the corner. He had a red short sleeve robe and shirt that was left open at the chest exposing his well-toned body and white shorts as he walked bare feet.

"Really?" Su Jinjing's mood lit up as she asked.

"Sure, I won't be using it for a while as I'll be using the next few weeks to a month to break through to the peak of core formation. I can't have our two bosses leave me behind. The gap is already big I can't have it grow any wider," Zheng Hu said with a carefree smile.

"I need to work harder too," Su Jinjing somberly said as she clenched her fists in determination.

Yi Jie and Yang Qing were still busy with their ribs before Yang Qing decided to speak up when he had finished wolfing down the spare rib in his hand.

"If you're confident then do it. I know you're not the reckless type when it comes to cultivation. You've stayed in the 9th stage long enough, your foundations are more than sturdy. If only that gluttonous Feng Xin would have your drive instead of loafing around clearing his name off the blacklists," Yang Qing said in exasperation.

"Boss I..," Luo Meili who was always a picture of gentle calmness now had a guilty look appear on her face.

"It's okay, take your time. I know your situation is a bit more special especially when it comes to your physique. Do not be in a rush, the deeper you excavate its mysteries the easier your journey ahead. Yi Jie and I will make due though he will also be going into seclusion soon. I wonder how I will survive the palace courts by myself," Yang Qing said worriedly.

Luo Meili who had a guilty expression couldn't help but chuckle lightly at Yang Qing's switch in emotions.

The more he thought about it the more things didn't seem like they would get any easier, especially without his nan... I mean chief inquisitor Yi Jie.

"I see staggering fines in his future,"

"Hugely,"

"No doubt about that,"

"It's him so it's a given. I bet the higher-ups can't wait,"

Everyone present gave a word in, taking pleasure in Yang Qing's upcoming misfortunes.

"Is there no good egg among you, even you Jinjing? I thought you'd be the nice one. Who poisoned you? is it Yi Jie or the other leech,?"

"Regret hurrying to the palace stage now are we?" Feng Xin mocking laughter sounded as he appeared with a rainbow mist toad to his right and a 60-meter mirage dragonfly to his right.