You used it all up

"Yang Qing…Yang Qing…..SUPERIOR CORE COURT JUDGE YANG!!!" Mao Yunru called out, trying to snap Yang Qing out of his stupor.

She finally resorted to hitting him with a water spell to jolt him back to reality.

"Huh, where am I?" Yang Qing muttered, confusion clouding his eyes. He'd drifted off into a spiral of worst-case scenarios, imagining what horrors Supervisor Lei Weiyuan's last words might hold for him.

From years of dealing with that person, he knew even his wildest guesses would likely fall short of the old demon's true plans.

"Yi Jie, why didn't you stop me? You know how much we've suffered under that monster's hands!" Yang Qing shot a death glare at Yi Jie, who was wearing a smug, unconcerned smile.

"I'm sorry, Yang Qing, I too was caught up admiring your selfless sacrifice to the Order," Yi Jie replied, a mocking tone barely concealed in his voice.

"No wonder you're among the youngest judges to be promoted to Palace Court Judge. A true role model. I'm deeply honored to be... sniff, sniff... an inquisitor under your court." He even choked up with emotion at the end.

A soft laugh echoed around the empty courtroom. Mao Yunru had tried all she could to stifle it but failed. She couldn't believe the usually solemn, respectable Yi Jie was mocking his boss with such relish.

"Yi Jie, you…you!!!" Yang Qing pointed a shaking finger at Yi Jie, anger and embarrassment mixed in his voice. But in the midst of his outburst, his expression shifted, and a calm smile appeared on his face.

"You know, Yi Jie, my most loyal inquisitor, I just remembered something interesting."

Yang Qing flashed a crescent-eyed smile at Yi Jie.

Yi Jie felt a sudden sense of dread. He could have sworn he saw the silhouette of a purple, ram-horned viper slithering behind Yang Qing, and the sight made him involuntarily shrink back.

"What could Yang Qing be planning? Whatever it is, it doesn't matter because he can't make me take the fall with him for whatever Supervisor Lei Weiyuan has in store for him. I have a right to...re...." His thoughts trailed off as his pupils narrowed, shock freezing him in place.

"Seems like you realized it too. Astute as always, Yi Jie. That's why you're one of the finest inquisitors out there. Nothing gets past you."

Yang Qing's whole demeanor had transformed; he exuded the wisdom of a seasoned cultivator, as though he could pierce through the Time Dao itself, seeing past, present, and future in one glance.

Yang Qing stepped down from his podium, his steps echoing through the courtroom. He even went to the extent of covertly executing the Mountain Crushing Steps cultivation art to add a little weight and momentum to his steps as they echoed around the silent courtroom.

He stopped at the center, his back to Yi Jie, gazing upward to a non-existent with a solemn look.

"Yi Jie, we've climbed up from the lower ranks together. What trials haven't we faced? At the Institute we almost died to whatever those devils they call 'Instructors' threw at us, and after we graduated and stepped into the real world, we faced even more monsters, but despite it, we are still here, aren't we? We've endured and withstood it all..." Yang Qing paused, as his shadow extended valiantly throughout the courtroom. An effect of an art or a spell no doubt.

"It was my passion for justice that caught the attention of the higher-ups, like Lei Weiyuan, who entrusted me with more responsibilities."

Yang Qing paused, letting the silence add a dramatic effect as if measuring the weight of his words.

"The Order grants each inquisitor five revocation chances—opportunities to reject a judge's order if they deem it too dangerous or unreasonable. But because of the work placed on me, because of my passion, I felt it unfair to have you bear that weight, so I convinced them to give my inquisitors more chances compared to the rest, because of all they would have to face for associating with me. They agreed to give you ten. You, Feng Xin, and the rest are the only inquisitors with that many."

Yang Qing went silent again to mentally count the number of times Yi Jie had invoked those chances to ensure it matched his earlier calculations.

"Yi Jie, you've already used your ten revocation chances. I know you're glad to no longer have them around because of your deep sense of duty and admiration for me. After all, you said it yourself of how deeply honored you felt to be my inquisitor.

Well then, Yi Jie, this court needs you now for the great mission Lei Weiyuan is about to bestow upon us. I know you will not refuse me and it's not because you have no more revocation chances left or a fear that you may lose if you tried to fight me on this on account of my recent boost in strength.

No...No..No... I know you will do this because the same flames of justice that burn in me, also burn in you. You will not leave a friend, and your BOSS, to face the unknown flames by himself. Let's blaze forward my friend."

With an exaggerated sense of duty, Yang Qing placed a hand on Yi Jie's shoulder. His 'friend' stood frozen, mouth agape.

Yi Jie thought back, recalling how all these new rules were born because of Yang Qing's…unique work style. He had shamelessly pushed his workload onto his inquisitors until the higher-ups noticed, punishing him severely. Though Yang Qing was the root of the problem, his actions led the Order to realize the potential for abuse of inquisitors, resulting in the creation of revocation orders and the duel challenge rule for handling disputes.

Since Yang Qing was the root of all this, of course, he was justly rewarded for his part in this. His inquisitors got two times the rest of what others had.

Yi Jie had heard that once the order was released, Yang Qing in typical fashion went and begged the higher-ups as he had said before, but the true motive for his begging and its contents were where the discrepancy lay. He incessantly complained about how unfair the new rules were and how the inquisitors were always begging to do more and that the new order would only dampen the flames of service and justice he had set ablaze in their hearts.

He was ruthlessly rebuffed, and punished with even more work so he could "carry the torch of justice" on their behalf.

Yi Jie and the rest of the inquisitors under Yang Qing were ecstatic upon hearing the new rules, and Yang Qing being given additional work, was just the icing on the cake. A great part of their attention and excitement was on the rule about using a duel to reject an order aside from the revocation chances. What excited them about the duel was the opportunity it gave them. Yang Qing had that face that one always felt like beating up, especially his smug smile.

Then there was his character too. His character alone would make a mild-tempered monk transform into a crazed lunatic with anger issues. One can only imagine what his team felt like. The duel had given them an official outlet for their well-concealed urges. Therefore even with revocation chances on hand, they chose the violent route.

Yang Qing as shameless as he was, at the end of the day, was someone whose talent managed to shine even in a hotbed of monsters. He swiftly defeated them all, and even made sure not to injure them too greatly lest they decide to be shameless about it and use it as an excuse to not show up for work. He was a considerate Boss like that, and a vindictive gentleman too as he mocked them endlessly for their losses to him.

His team not being able to defeat him in combat, at least in the short term that is, the revocation chances transformed into precious staffs of vengeance, that they used to ruthlessly beat Yang Qing with since their fists were incapable of the task.

For a time, they used the revocation chances to dodge tasks, delighting in the look of frustration on Yang Qing's face each time they succeeded.

This indulgence led to the current situation. Over the past three months, Yi Jie had used up all his revocation chances just to gloat over Yang Qing's workload, thinking nothing of it since only a week remained in their term, with Yang Qing's promotion ceremony looming.

But now he was trapped. Yang Qing would surely drag him into whatever nightmare Lei Weiyuan had planned, and without any revocation chances left, he had no choice. As for the duel challenge—Yang Qing was now at the palace realm, putting victory far beyond Yi Jie's reach.

"Well then, Mao Mao, what's on the docket for today?" Yang Qing asked as he sank into his chair with a triumphant grin.

Mao Yunru could only shake her head, tossing a white jade slip towards him.

"The cases today are relatively light," she explained. "You have a dispute between the Sect Master of Green Fog Swamp Sect and their sect guardian, the Emerald Leaf Cow.

"A three-way conflict involving a sect, its core disciple, and a merchant organization pursuing the sect for unpaid debts.

"A complaint from Earthvine Restaurant against three core-stage cultivators who damaged furniture and refused to pay.

"And finally, a lawsuit from an itinerant cultivator at the peak of the core formation realm against Falling Meteor Blacksmith Shop for selling a defective sky-rank sword."

Yang Qing inserted his spiritual consciousness into the jade slip, skimming over the case details. Unlike typical jade slips, the white jade ones didn't disintegrate after use.

"Alright then, let's begin. Yi Jie, open the doors and let in the Sect Master of Green Fog Swamp Sect and the Emerald Leaf Cow. We'll start with them."