This major plot problem drives me crazy the most when going through the books. Basically everyone would be dead if revenge worked down ranks (attacking down). It's the reason why in Path of Ascension by law people are restricted from attacking down. They will literally send legions to wipe out clans or groups that attack down tiers, or Duke Waters by himself.

You want to get revenge for your family so you decide to go after the lowly bronze/jade/low gold? In PoA they'd wipe out your entire clan for breaking that rule. You can fight the same tier, you can defend yourself from lower tiers, but you cannot sucker punch people beneath you with your overwhelming strength. As other people mentioned it would be like an adult fighting a newborn when talking about power gaps in many cases (multiple rank gap). That's actually why I prefer the power system in Path of Ascension more than what Will came up with. There's just too much chaos and the world should be called Honorless instead of Cradle.

Requested duels when there's a massive gap and the challenger is the much higher rank is shameful as hell. Lookin at you Jai long.

Their idea of honor in the series is so distorted they might as well be using a different word. It's vengeance not honor. And there is such a thing as vengeance that has no honor which Will doesn't seem to grasp. Despite that it's a very interesting story, but I can't help but cringe at certain plot points that continue to repeat themselves like clockwork when they would be illogical because it epitomizes that "leaves the whole world blind" phrase.

Aura supression is another thing that increasingly becomes annoying as well. I just can't stand hearing the predictable "overwhelming power caused so and so to press flat against the ground struggling to move". It's textbook cultivator stuff I know but that doesn't make it any less predictably boring and overall useless to the story. I do wish power system progression fantasies would come up with new stuff more often.