Lightning Is the Only Way

After a lot of talking, all the cultivators made up their minds on which Sect they would join. Eros and that other disciple that had stepped forward earlier decided to join the Lightning Sect, while the others decided to join other Sects. Temperament was important. Thus this decision had not been an easy one for the disciples.

Surprisingly enough, most of the cultivators decided to join the Fire Sect. Though, if one thought about it, it actually made sense. Being suppressed for years, always having to think about the Sect first, had changed the temperament of a lot of disciples. They wanted to release their long-suppressed hot bloodedness and battle intent. This changed the temperament of most of the disciples into battle maniacs after they had found their new freedom.

The Fire Sect and Earth Sect were about as opposite as any two Sects could get. The Earth Sect always defended, while the Fire Sect always attacked. Yet, when someone with one disposition was pushed too hard, their mindset might do a complete 180. This was what had happened to these former Earth Sect disciples.

Gravis, Old Man Lightning, Eros, and the last disciple went back to the Lightning Sect while the others traveled to their new Sects by themselves. They had bodies inside the Spirit Forming Realm, so their survival shouldn't be an issue. They might not be able to take on Seed Stage cultivators, but they could win against cultivators at the initial stage of Spirit Forming. Getting to their new Sects wasn't a problem.

After traveling for over two days, the four people reached the Lightning Sect. Gravis and Old Man Lightning had to slow down due to their new members. After they arrived, the group split apart. While the two new disciples went through the procedures of joining the Lightning Sect, Gravis asked Old Man Lightning about the saber fragments from that one priest the old man had killed.

Old Man Lightning smiled. "I already guessed that you were interested," he said with pride. "The fragments have already been reforged into a new saber. Your Contribution Points wouldn't be enough to exchange for it, though. The addition of the Ogre's corpse gives you a lot more Contribution Points, but you are still just short." Then, Old Man Lightning snickered a little. "But, I guess, with those new disciples that you convinced to join, it's enough. Here, take it!"

An utterly red saber appeared before Gravis. It shone with a multitude of different Formation Arrays, some of which Gravis had never seen before. This surprised him quite a bit since he had learned a lot about Formation Arrays in his homeworld, even if that knowledge could only be considered basic.

"What's with these new Formation Arrays?" Gravis asked as he inspected the saber.

Old Man Lightning snickered again. "Normally, your Contribution Points would be enough to exchange for three Peak-Grade Spirit Weapons, but this saber has taken up all of them. These new Formation Arrays are one of the reasons why this saber is so expensive."

"So, is this saber stronger than a Peak-Grade Spirit Weapon?" Gravis asked.

"No," Old Man Lightning said with a smirk.

Gravis frowned. "Then why is it so expensive?"

Old Man Lightning continued smirking. "Because these new Formation Arrays have specifically been created for your Lightning Crescent, and it took me a lot of work to design them. These new Formation Arrays allow you to unleash your Lightning Crescent up to and including the Sapling Stage. After all, what would you do if you destroy your saber already at the first trial of the inheritance? The future ones would become way harder like that."

Gravis looked at Old Man Lightning with a raised brow. "So, this thing that I will go to is an inheritance?" Gravis asked, unsure.

Old Man Lightning waved his hand dismissively. "Don't think about it. Joyce will tell you everything when the time comes."

Gravis noticed the thoughtfulness that Old Man Lightning put into the saber and smiled. "Thank you. This saber is perfect for me," he said.

Old Man Lightning waved his hand again dismissively. "Don't mention it. After all, you have exchanged for it with Contribution Points, so it's rightfully yours. I'll need to talk with the elders. In the meantime, you should think of a good time when we should pay the Darkness Sect a visit. When you got one, inform me. See you later!" with that said, Old Man Lightning walked to the Sect Hall.

Gravis nodded and then left the Lightning Sect again to plan out the fight. Meanwhile, Old Man Lightning entered the Sect Hall and saw two elders sitting on their thrones, talking about some things regarding the Sect.

"We need to talk," Old Man Lightning said as he sat on his own throne beside the Sect Master's.

The elders were surprised by the serious expression on Old Man Lightning's face. "Should we call the others?" they asked.

Old Man Lightning nodded.

The two elders narrowed their eyes and went outside to contact the other elders. After about a minute, all the elders gathered. There were six in total, leaving four thrones empty. The Lightning Sect had ten thrones for elders just as a precaution for any additional elders. The Lightning Sect only had six elders in total right now.

"Everyone's here," said the elder who sat closest to the Sect Master's throne. He wasn't the strongest elder, but the one who had held the position the longest. He was already very old, looking even older than Old Man Lightning.

Old Man Lightning nodded. "Have the disciples with Destruction Lightning shown a different behavior than the other ones?" Old Man Lightning asked.

Everyone looked at the elder responsible for internal affairs. His whole job was to be informed about how the disciples felt and what they all did. The cohesiveness and morale of the Sect was important. "We have noticed a percentual increase in deaths in fights between the disciples. The number of fights between Sect members hasn't gone up, but the deaths have increased. Of course, that is only logical. After all, the disciples with Destruction Lightning are more powerful than the others in the same Stage," the elder narrated.

Old Man Lightning combed his beard while he furrowed his brows. "This would seem logical, but I think you are attributing the additional deaths to the wrong thing," Old Man Lightning said.

The elder raised his brows. "Then what do you think is the case?"

"As most of you know, I accompanied Gravis to watch his fight with the Ogre. Gravis won the fight, by the way," Old Man Lightning said.

The elders clapped a little. "That's really impressive!"

Old Man Lightning lifted his hand to silence the elders. "This is not the issue," he said with seriousness. "The battle between the Ogre and Gravis drew over some disciples of the Earth Sect. There were two at the Sapling Stage and ten at the Seed Stage."

The elders knew about the Earth Sect's weird behavior, so they didn't ask if Gravis got a reward, even though that seemed to be the most logical conclusion. "How did that go?" one elder asked.

Old Man Lightning took a deep breath. "Apparently, the Earth Sect had some stupid and unnecessary enmity with Gravis, and they said that they would kill him. After that, they charged at him."

Now, the elders were very interested in the situation. If Gravis killed those people, the Earth Sect wouldn't be happy with the Lightning Sect. Now, they understood why they were all gathered. "How many died?" one elder asked. They didn't even consider that Gravis lost.

"Four died, while all the others had their beliefs broken," Old Man Lightning said.

The elders fell into thought again. With the Earth Sect's irrationality, they might actually declare war on the Lightning Sect because of this. Yet, that was hard to conclude. After all, the Earth Sect was hard to understand. "So, we should make preparations for a war?" one elder asked, while the others nodded.

"That's not why I have gathered you here," Old Man Lightning said, surprising the elders. There was something more important than a war with another Sect?

"Is there something more important than an eventual war with the Earth Sect?" one elder asked with a confused expression.

Old Man Lightning continued combing his beard while he furrowed his brows. "I noticed something about how Gravis handled the situation. I think there is something that we have neglected to take into account, and if we don't acknowledge this issue and plan ahead for it…"

"The whole Lightning Sect might break in two."