Lightning Is the Only Way

Sear brought Gravis to their campfire. The others had listened in on their conversation, so they already knew what had happened. Though, they didn't seem to care much about it. Sear and Gravis both sat down at the campfire, and Gravis noticed that there were multiple pieces of meat being cooked over it.

The Vice-Guild Master of water noticed Gravis eyeing the meat and smiled. "They'll be done in a few minutes. We all went out and hunted a Spirit Beast together, so this is good stuff," then she winked at Gravis again, "You can have some of mine."

Gravis smiled a little. "Sounds good. Thank you," he said. Right now, Gravis was actually a little happy. He didn't have many opportunities to just talk with some people, so he was rather happy to eat with people who weren't out for his head.

"So," Gravis started speaking, "are you actually doing something other than just eating and talking, or is this a simple get-together?" he asked.

"After we've eaten," the Vice-Guild Master of Darkness started speaking, "we discuss what has happened in the last couple of months and share experiences that we have learned. We talk about how we manage our guilds, exchange experiences on how to educate the younger generation, and experiences on how to further temper our wills."

"Oh? What do you mean with that last thing?" Gravis asked with interest.

"As you know, we have already stopped searching for life and death tempering," he answered evenly. "Our survival has become our highest priority, so we are not ready to put our lives on the line. In these discussions, we exchange ways to increase our will without life and death tempering. There are always alternatives."

Gravis thought about this and nodded. "Yes, that's true. I have a good example of that."

Sear looked pleasantly surprised at Gravis. "You are ready to share such personal experiences?" he asked.

Talking about tempering experiences and how someone managed to rise to power needed a lot of trust. Others might find weaknesses in that or use it for their own gain. Knowledge and experience were worth more than Energy Stones to these cultivators. That was why Sear was surprised.

Gravis nodded nonchalantly. "I don't mind," he said.

The others, except for the Vice-Guild Master of earth, smiled. "Then go ahead, and thank you," said Sear.

explaining, "I have learned a technique that allows

you would be the weakest Spirit Forming expert in existence and even ruin any of your

smiled slyly. "I know, but there is another use for

asked Sear

the reason why people need a Will-Aura to reach

resist the unreal pain

mind him. "Exactly. Now tell me what things can increase your will?" he

it was the Vice-Guild Master of darkness who answered. "Life and death tempering, physical pain, emotional pain, and a change of

deep thought. Sear and the Vice-Guild Master of wind also fell in thought. The

will give you immense pain. You don't have to push through to Spirit Forming. You only need to put in as

Gravis with a severe look. "I don't think you know how incredible that is. With

"That's why I told you about it. Take

older than him,

a big plate. "Gravis, you choose first. You gave us the greatest contribution, so

smiled, and a medium-sized piece of meat flew to him. The others also quickly chose their pieces. Food wasn't really necessary at their levels. The Energy that they passively absorbed kept their bodies in top condition. To them, food was enjoyable, but not essential for survival.

minutes, Gravis finished eating. The others, except for the Vice-Guild Master of water, were already finished. It seemed like they wanted to get

how to educate their disciples. Gravis didn't have any experience in that, so he kept mostly quiet, just listening. He also learned many new things. Gravis was mostly alone in his journey, which didn't let him gain much social experience. Gravis' curt sentences,

were not really important. Learning social norms and customs might be important in the secular world, but to him, only power was important. Socializing was nice, but it didn't help in

didn't have many more experiences to share. After several seconds of silence, Sear

stood up. Gravis was a little confused by

Gravis. "Yeah, we