Heading to the Commandery City

With that, Meng Haoran, a younger member of the Xinghua Village Meng Family, dropped to one knee and cupped his fists. "Haoran will obey Clan Leader Jingshan's command!"

The Xinghua Village Meng Family's elder clan leader, Meng Jingshan, raised his voice. "Our Xinghua Village Meng Family has now risen to become a Ninth-Rank Cultivation Family—an Eighth-Rank Cultivation Family. All Lineage affairs must be conducted to the standards of higher-ranked Lineages. Therefore, I hereby establish the position of Discipline Elder to help Clan Leader Bohai manage all affairs of the Xinghua Village Meng Family. This elder's authority will be second only to Clan Leader Bohai's. Haoran, you will be the first to hold this position. Step forward and receive your appointment!"

Meng Haoran gripped the elder clan leader's hand and nodded. "Haoran accepts!"

His words stirred an uproar among the members of the Ranked Families and Lesser Cultivation Families.

Among their Cultivation Families, the highest-ranked were Ninth-Rank Cultivation Families like the Xie Family and the Zhao Family. Most of those present belonged to Lesser Cultivation Families, and most of the Lineage rules they followed had been passed down by other Lesser Cultivation Families.

But the position of Discipline Elder that Meng Jingshan had described had evolved from the practices of higher-ranked Cultivation Families.

The Sixth-Rank Cultivation Family to which Baili Shouxi belonged, the Baili Family, had a Discipline Elder. Now Meng Jingshan had suddenly created the same position and appointed the young Meng Haoran to it. That showed how highly he valued Haoran—and that his ambitions reached far beyond anything the assembled members of the Ranked Families and Lesser Cultivation Families had imagined.

The heads of those Lineages began to entertain different ideas. If Meng Jingshan truly intended to reach a higher rank and bring their Lesser Cultivation Families and Ranked