Lightning Is the Only Way

"No, you can't just cultivate all of the Elements. That's not how it works."

A middle-aged man with black hair was currently standing in front of several youngsters in a lecture hall. The students listened intently to their teacher as he taught them the basics of Cultivation.

"Why not?" a youngster near the back asked with a frown.

"Because, no matter what you do, the Elements will clash in one way or another," the teacher said.

The teacher walked over to the blackboard, and three pictures appeared on the blackboard like magic. All three pictures showed a stickman and a white sphere.

The first picture showed how the white sphere was inside the stickman.

The second picture showed how the white sphere was bound by a chain, which was being held by the stickman.

The third picture only showed the stickman, but there were lines that indicated that he was shining.

"As you all already know," the teacher said. "There are three ways to cultivate with an Element. However, every single method has an issue when more than one Element appears."

The teacher pointed to the first picture.

"The first method is to absorb the Element into your body, creating an Elemental Seed. As you all know, this method is the easiest to cultivate, but you can't use it forever. At one point, you have to switch to one of the other two. Yet, the later you do it, the harder it becomes."

Suddenly, a black sphere appeared beside the white sphere in the first picture.

"Now, can anyone tell me what will happen if we introduce a second Element?" the teacher asked.

One of the very few girls in the class stood up. "They will clash inside your body. You will most likely die, but if you somehow manage to survive, the two Elements will either have canceled each other out, or one will have prevailed, leaving you with that one."

The teacher nodded with appreciation. "Correct."

"Now, the second method," the teacher said as he pointed at the second picture, the one with the chained white sphere. "The second method is to completely subdue the Element. Cultivating this method is harder, but you won't be influenced by the temperaments of the Elements."

Then, the black sphere appeared again.

"What if we introduce a second Element?" the teacher asked.

The same girl answered again. "The same thing will happen. Just because you have the Element under control doesn't mean that they won't clash with each other."

The teacher nodded.

Then, he pointed at the third picture. "The third method is to assimilate the Element. This is one of the easiest and most powerful ways to connect with an Element. Your affinity towards it will also increase by several ranks. Sadly, advantages come with disadvantages, and disadvantages come with advantages."

"This method will slowly change your mindset until you are not yourself anymore. You will slowly adopt the temperament of the Element until your own temperament nearly perfectly reflects it."

The students didn't think much of these words since they had heard them before.

However, if any member of the Nine Elements Sect or its subsidiary Sects had heard these words, they would explode with righteous anger.

This was forbidden!

a forbidden way to

Elements was possible, and yes, it would increase one's affinity

become incredibly dangerous depending on which Element

The person cultivating

Element was also fine. The person would become

as better and always right, but they could still

The person would only desire freedom and become more

taciturn and inflexible. However, they

might seek battle more than others,

problems were the last three remaining

own moral compass. Even more, the Cultivator would retaliate with deadly force against anyone that was perceived to be going against them. Humans needed to work together. One

would require constant bloodshed, destruction, and battle. Humans

would manipulate other humans for their personal gain, which would

as forbidden in this world was being taught by

he

about the third method?" the teacher asked with a smile. "What if

girl answered again. "You

The teacher nodded. "Correct."

who asked

looked at the teacher with furrowed brows and threw the girl that had answered all of these questions

there is a fourth method?" the

The students groaned.

the

fourth method. After all, I don't know everything. However, I'm pretty confident that you won't find

student gritted his

was underestimating

you so sure?" the student asked with an

strong, you know. Also, as you see, I'm rather old. I only came to this academy as a guest-teacher

bit of the world," the teacher said with a nostalgic voice. "The entirety of my knowledge

student dismissed what

student that had been arguing with the teacher. "Get off your high horse! Our last elemental teacher only knew of a single method, and it was far worse than

to argue back, but

of the class and

would tear him to pieces

student sat

the student a glance and looked

Big Barry bowed politely. "Excuse me for my choice of words," he said politely. "Please

Gravis nodded and waved off Big Barry's apology. "It's

down, and Mr. Gravis continued

later, the students

streets with a happy and excited smile as he bought some food from a middle-aged lady in an

was very remote since she enjoyed standing in the cool shadows of

two bowls of noodles and

of walking, Mr. Gravis reached the outskirts of the city. However, he only

went past the