Outside the courtyard.
Gongsun Yan, the fifth disciple of the Lanhua Heavenly Palace, sat cross-legged beneath a pearl-lit tree, breathing in Heavenly Dao Origin and nourishing his entire body.
Eleven cosmic grand charts revolved around him, while the power of Order formed a dense cage of laws.
Not yet five hundred years old and already close to the Qu Realm, an achievement like his ranked within the top twenty among all black Myriadpath Ring Fortune Disciples—and throughout all of Myriadpath Valley.
If he returned to his own realm now, even the Qu Realm Realm Kings there would have to bow before him and attend to him with care.
His cultivation was even a realm higher than Li Fan's, despite Li Fan being nearly two thousand years old.
"Little Eight has been tormented badly by us these past ten years. Though he has learned to behave and had his sharp edges worn smooth, there is still a breath of resentment in his heart. If he does not vent it, the knot in his heart cannot be untied, and neither his cultivation nor his comprehension of Order can rise. He must have waited far too long for this little junior brother... Just don't play him to death outright."
At that thought, a strange smile curled across Gongsun Yan's lips.
"The older ones bullying the younger ones—that is the tradition when entering Myriadpath Valley as a disciple. Those who come in from outside must have their sharp edges ground down before they can survive. So how can this be called 'bullying'? This is helping them. Especially this little junior brother—those are not mere sharp edges. He is covered in thorns from head to toe."
Gongsun Yan had gone through this process himself.
He ranked fifth and was four hundred ninety-seven years old this