Lightning Is the Only Way

It had been two months since Gravis started going to the research assistant preparation course. In that time, he learned more about pitfalls in cultivation and what he had to look out for in the lower realms. Some basic fighting methods and general weapon usages were included as well. He also got a crash course in every essential side-path in cultivation.

Pill refinement: Alchemists mix and refine natural resources into pills, which increase aspects of a cultivator. Faster cultivation speed, one-time upgrades, auxiliary uses, and many more different pill effects were all covered. A general overview of how pill concocting worked was also part of the course.

Equipment forging: Forgers mix and refine natural resources into armor, weapons, artifacts, and treasures. At some point, either the cultivator got too strong to use mortal armaments, or the necessary natural resources got too hard to refine into useful gear. Gravis also learned the absolute basics of that.

Formation arrays: Rules, attributes, laws, and similar things were used as a basis to create a specific effect. It required one to be at the energy gathering stage in order to make any progress in formation arrays. Without energy, it was impossible to come into contact with these kinds of concepts. It was even harder to manipulate them for one's wishes.

Cultivation inscription: at early levels, everyone could write down their cultivation and battle techniques, but starting at the spirit accumulation stage, the description of said methods only got harder. Words were not enough to describe all concepts at this stage.

There were, of course, other side-paths in cultivation, but those four were the essential ones. Every single one of them was vital to progress in one's path. Pill refinement was necessary to speed up or stabilize cultivation. Without useful equipment, one can't bring out their full battle power. Formation arrays were essential for fleeing or for fortifying one's base. Without cultivation inscriptions, one would not be able to learn new techniques from others, starting at the third major realm.

that the theoretical part was over. The remaining four

into the building, the only source being the door behind them.

Inside those portals, you will fight a varied mixture of things. Monsters, humans, plants, cultivators, and even the environment itself will be your enemy. Since it's your first time, you will only face one enemy at a time. Your only goal is to

saw that, he grinned maliciously. "That is a bad thing. It means that,

first test." Forneus grinned more. "Good luck!" With a clap from Forneus, everyone shot into a portal, no matter if they wanted to or not. A comfortable chair appeared, and Forneus sat down, having no care in the

looked like

sabers, poles, axes, poleaxes, hammers, daggers, and many more. Every weapon was made of black stone. Through his basic course of equipment forging, he could tell that all weapons were made entirely out of void stone. Void stone was very sturdy for the lower realms, but using it as a weapon was senseless since it absorbed all the energy it came into contact with, including the users. Fortunately, Gravis

were still ringing in his head. He could actually die here. He thought this was just a practical test a couple of minutes ago. His excitement from being able to fight vanished, and was replaced with nervousness and fear. He quickly skipped the other weapons and took

it lacked the purity of killing power the saber had. While a sword could cut both ways,

his choice and could not change it anymore. The tortoise was only around a meter high, but