Chapter 1417: The Weakest in the Family

Joining the Old Lands...

Ye Guan fell silent.

Sui Gujin continued, "There are many benefits to joining the Old Lands. First of all, we'll become allies. Your people will be able to cultivate there, where their progress will be at least dozens of times faster than it is now.

"In addition, we'll have an alliance. Everything will be shared between us; we'll rise and fall together. Don't you think that's greatly beneficial for you, considering your current situation?"

Ye Guan stared deeply at Sui Gujin and asked, "What about the future?"

Sui Gujin smiled. "We can worry about the future when it comes."

Ye Guan was at a loss for words.

"I know what you're worried about. You're afraid of being taken advantage of by me, aren't you?" Sui Gujin asked.

"That's not what I'm trying to say," Ye Guan replied with a smile.

"It is. You're cautious of me, afraid that I might betray you."

Ye Guan chuckled awkwardly. "Not to that extent."

"Young Master Ye, going back to our earlier topic, the issue of Order. Since some class divisions can never be completely eliminated, why not think differently? Instead of trying to eliminate them, why not coexist with them?

"To coexist, you need to understand them first. Right now, the Old Lands have three civilizations. The fact that these three civilizations have developed to their current heights proves that each one has its merits.

"Their systems may not necessarily be worse than yours. If that's the case, why not take the time to understand them and then absorb their strengths to improve your own order?"

Ye Guan nodded slightly. "Makes sense. I know that if I joined the Old Lands, there would be a lot of benefits. But will the Old Lands be willing to accept me?"

"It's not easy, but if you agree, leave it to me."

"You have a way of doing so?" Ye Guan asked, bewildered.

"Everything is possible with effort."

Ye Guan smiled. "All right."

Sui Gujin nodded. "Young Master Ye, there are three things we need to do now. First, we need you to become even stronger. To do that, we need to test your current abilities and find your limits.

"Secondly, we need to prepare for Shang Hongyi's next move. She hasn't shown any movement yet, but she certainly won't give up, so we need to discuss and anticipate her next actions to prepare in advance."

"Lastly," she continued, "we need to join the Old Lands. Right now, the three major civilizations of the Old Lands are all hostile toward you, so we must first change their perception of you...

"You don't have to worry about any of that. I'll take care of it for you."

Ye Guan nodded. "Alright."

"Let's test your strength first."

"How do we do that?"

"Follow me."

With that, she led Ye Guan away, and in an instant, they disappeared from their original spot.

Soon, they arrived in a star field where countless bronze pillars stood tall across the starry skies.

Ye Guan saw that there were tens of thousands of bronze pillars supporting a gigantic bronze disk, and complex runes were etched in the middle of the disk.

"What is this place?" Ye Guan asked, curious.

"We're before the Divine Martial Arena, the sacred cultivation grounds of our Suiming Civilization. Once the arrays inside are activated, it'll consume twenty-six Pure-grade Supreme Emperor Origin Essence Veins every day."

Ye Guan was taken aback. "Twenty-six Pure-grade Supreme Emperor Origin Essence Veins per day?"

Sui Gujin nodded.

Ye Guan turned to look at the Divine Martial Arena, filled with curiosity. "Miss Sui, can I cultivate here?"

"If you're willing to pay for it, you can."

Ye Guan's expression darkened.

"Follow me," Sui Gujin said. With that, she led Ye Guan to the altar.

"Miss Sui, what is Shang Hongyi's cultivation realm?" Ye Guan asked.

"She's a Domain Lord Realm expert."

Ye Guan turned to her. "Domain Lord Realm?"

Sui Gujin nodded. "She is above all things, commanding all Daos and Laws... Of course, none of our three civilizations expected her to reach that level. She's hidden her strength very well."

Ye Guan whispered, "The Domain Lord Realm... I'm still far from that."

Sui Gujin glanced at him but said nothing.

In fact, Sui Gujin thought Ye Guan was the true prodigy. While he was still a Supreme Emperor, his strength was already almost invincible compared to those below the Domain Lord Realm.

If those three Immortal Emperor Lors hadn't injured him, he would have been able to fight Shang Hongyi properly. However, there was no doubt that he couldn't defeat Shang Hongyi at present.

Ye Guan asked again, "How about that Beixin Ci?"

"She's the same as you; she doesn't cultivate the realms."

Ye Guan was speechless.

"The true top cultivators all walk their own Dao," said Sui Gujin.

"Who is stronger between Beixin Ci and Shang Hongyi?"

"Beixin Ci," Sui Gujin replied without hesitation.

"Miss Sui, isn't she from your Suiming Civilization? How could she betray you?"

Sui Gujin turned to look at him and sharply said, "Don't be so curious, alright? She has her own beliefs, and we have ours. Conflict was inevitable."

Ye Guan glanced at her, starting to understand.

Sui Gujin continued, "The core of Order is faith, and the core of faith is kindness and virtue. The kinder and more virtuous you are, the more people will have faith in you. But there are two drawbacks to this. First, you'll become increasingly dependent on faith power. This power can be addictive.

"Once you start relying on it, you'll become its slave. Secondly, this path is extremely difficult to navigate, as there is only one reference, and that reference is a legendary civilization..."

Ye Guan asked, "The Ancestral Civilization?"

Sui Gujin nodded. "That's right."

Ye Guan asked, "Miss Sui, can you tell me more about this Ancestral Civilization?"

"It is said to be the origin of all civilizations. Every civilization in the vast expanse traces its roots back to this Ancestral Civilization. As for the specifics... I don't know much about it."

Ye Guan looked up at the vast starry sky. "Miss Sui, you're really smart, so do you know how vast this vast expanse is?"

"I don't."

Ye Guan fell silent.

Sui Gujin continued, "Once, I visited a very small planet. The martial arts civilization there was so primitive that they couldn't even leave their starry region.

"The starry light they saw was from billions of years ago. By the time they saw it, the planets that emitted that light had already been destroyed. They were extremely lonely in the universe."

She looked at Ye Guan. "Your father once said something; do you remember it?"

"What was it?"

"He said, 'the observable universe.'"

Ye Guan spoke quietly, "Are you suggesting that my father has seen what's beyond the observable universe?"

Sui Gujin nodded. "That means he must have been to what's beyond the observable universe."

Ye Guan smiled.

Father is indeed impressive.

Sui Gujin continued, "As I said, they couldn't leave their starry region. The only universe they could observe was their own. And because of the way light travels, everything they saw outside was from the distant past.

"In other words, they were constrained."

Ye Guan frowned. "Constrained?"

Sui Gujin nodded. "Every universe and every starry region has its own constraints. Low-tier civilizations have their constraints, and high-tier civilizations certainly have their constraints as well."

She looked at Ye Guan. "That means we also have our constraints. But are those constraints natural or man-made?"

Ye Guan fell silent.

"Can I ask you a question? It might be a bit presumptuous," Sui Gujin asked.

Ye Guan smiled. "Ask away."

"Are you the weakest in your family?"

"Yep." Ye Guan nodded and laughed.

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

Sui Gujin nodded but said no further. She had begun to understand a few things.

Soon, they arrived at the center of the Divine Martial Arena. Sui Gujin turned to the side and said, "Thank you for your hard work."

At that moment, a middle-aged man walked out. He wore a simple robe, and there was a thick rope tied around his waist. His long hair hung over his shoulders, and his eyes exuded a subtle pressure. His aura was sharp and unorthodox.

Ye Guan turned to Sui Gujin.

"You can use any method to fight him," Sui Gujin said. Then, she turned away and stepped outside the arena.

Ye Guan stared at the middle-aged man.

Swoosh!

The middle-aged man vanished from sight. Ye Guan's eyes narrowed, and he quickly defended himself with his sword.

Boom!

In an instant, Ye Guan was sent flying backward, but just as he was about to fly out of the arena, an invisible force blocked his path like a wall. The impact dealt damage, and Ye Guan felt as if his fleshly body was about to shatter. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

From a distance, the middle-aged man looked at him with a calm face.

Ye Guan wiped away the blood on his mouth and vanished.

In the blink of an eye, his sword was already upon the middle-aged man.

The middle-aged man raised his hand, delivering a punch. The immense force shattered Ye Guan's sword light, and he was sent flying again, crashing into the mysterious force.

The middle-aged man didn't attack further. He looked at his fist, now cracked, with blood oozing out.

From afar, Sui Gujin's voice suddenly echoed in Ye Guan's mind.

"Don't hold back. He's the Chief Martial Officer of the Suiming Civilization. Among all the elites in our civilization, he ranks within the top four."