"She is at Peak Core Formation," said another elder, his voice completely empty of all affect.
"Yes," said the second elder. "She is."
The two of them stood with this information for a moment.
"Outer sect disciple," the first one repeated.
"Seventh year," confirmed the second.
More silence.
Tianlong looked at them with the patient, interested expression of a man watching a group of people arrive at a conclusion he has already drawn.
"You are," he said.
His voice landed on the clearing the way a stone lands in still water — not loud, not pressured, just present, with an immediate and total displacement of everything around it. Several of the elders flinched at the sound before they could stop themselves.
"Descendants of the small sect I passed through. Yes?"
He tilted his head.
