Old Man Lightning gritted his teeth as he heard Gravis refer to the Lightning Sect as trash. The Lightning Sect was the second strongest Sect in this world, only surpassed by the Heaven Sect. How could something like this be considered trash?
"How dare you say that the Lightning Sect is trash?" Old Man Lightning transmitted with anger.
Gravis didn't relent. "In this lower world, the Lightning Sect is incredibly powerful, but imagine the people from the higher world. They hear that someone comes from this world, and they immediately assume that everyone from there is trash. After all, we send one person that ascended via the Tree Stage after another into this world. If there were some ascension pool or something similar per lower world, ours would probably be considered as the worst one. Are you fine with that? Are you fine with the higher world looking at us like this?" Gravis asked with a severe voice.
Old Man Lightning gripped his cane hard and clenched his teeth with power. "Even if that were the case, where would those disciples even find tempering? After all, we can't just be the only ones that cultivate to the Self Stage."
Gravis continued looking severely in the direction of the Sect Hall. "Why not? What speaks against that?"
"Everything! Where would our Sect even find tempering!? Are we supposed to kill each other for tempering?" He asked.
"Yes!" Gravis shouted.
Old Man Lightning looked taken aback. "What? I was being sarcastic! I won't allow our disciples to kill each other!"
Gravis sneered. "Aren't you already doing that? After all, isn't the whole issue that we are discussing that people start killing each other? It's normal! The cultivation path is the most important! You don't need to force anyone into these fights. If you just set up such fights, the people will join on their own. As for the others, they just have to wait!"
Old Man Lightning still wasn't convinced. "What do you mean with wait?"
"Simple," Gravis said with a smirk. "How do you think the other Sects will react if they start seeing more and more people with Destruction Lightning? They will surely start forcing people into the tenth level of the Energy Gathering Realm. After all, they can't lose out to another Sect!"
Old Man Lightning opened his eyes wide in realization. That actually made sense! Since no Sect had supreme power over the others right now, the other Sects might start doing just that. After all, that was the easiest way to increase the power of every disciple.
"But if we also force our disciples to go through the tenth level of Magic Gathering, the whole thing of tempering will reappear again. After all, Destruction Lightning is way more powerful than any other element," Old Man Lightning said. Apparently, he had calmed down somewhat.
Gravis also looked more relaxed now. "You know, I was actually quite surprised that only lightning has this way to become very powerful. I also felt it strange that an element's purity can only be decided in the Body Tempering Realm. I am pretty sure that there is a solution to both of these problems. Other worlds have different methods, and those worlds might not be bound by the limitations of our Elemental Seeds."
Old Man Lightning thought about this. "The more I think about this, the more I think that you are right. We have a predetermined way to cultivate, so no one tries to search for a new way. After all, it has stayed like this for an eternity. It has always been like this, and it has shown its effectiveness."
Gravis snorted. "Because you don't have any comparisons in this lower world. I am pretty sure that there are more ingenious ways to cultivate an element. On top of that, I am also sure that there are other, stronger variants of the other elements. Is there some kind of legend about stronger variations of other elements?" Gravis asked.
Old Man Lightning thought about this. "There is a legend about Primordial Fire. That is an incredibly hot fire, which can only be found in volcanoes in the Core-Continent. The Fire Sect actually owns such a volcano. Yet, they have never been able to harness its powers."
Gravis thought about this but then started smirking. "You know what I think? I am pretty sure that there is a way to make this fire one's element, and I think other worlds have managed exactly that. After all, our world has a restriction that the other lower worlds don't have, which makes it impossible for us."
Old Man Lightning was confused. "We have a restriction that other worlds don't have?"
Gravis nodded. "Yes. This whole thing about killing people with a Will-Aura at the Body Tempering Realm shouldn't exist in other worlds. In actuality, this whole thing goes against the goal of Heaven. After all, doesn't Heaven want as many powerful cultivators as possible? Why would it restrict the power of cultivators then? I'm pretty sure that only such an incompetent buffoon like this lower Heaven would think of something so stupid," Gravis said in disdain.
Old Man Lightning thought about this situation some more. "So, you think the Fire Sect might be able to harness the power of that volcano with people that have reached a Will-Aura in the Body Tempering Stage?"
"I think so, at least," Gravis said. "Why would such a resource be provided if cultivators couldn't take advantage of it? Keeping something like this going would surely cost a lot of Heaven's Energy. If there was no way to make the cultivators become more powerful, why even bother creating that or keeping it up?"
"There are others as well. Basically, every Sect is situated in a place where a very powerful element runs rampant. Funnily enough, our Lightning Sect is the only one without such a powerful elemental source," Old Man Lightning said.
Gravis' brows furrowed. "That's probably because Heaven considers lightning as its own domain and has some kind of inferiority complex about it. Could also be that it is afraid of someone with Destruction Lightning. After all, that kind of lightning is its most powerful weapon by far, and people with Destruction Lightning have a very high resistance to it."
Old Man Lightning's mind was in overdrive. All these new perspectives and information made him think about all predetermined truths of this world. The more Old Man Lightning thought about this world, the more he realized that they might actually be trash in the eyes of the higher world.
They weren't able to increase the purity of their element after the Body Tempering Realm. They were not able to harness all these powerful elements. They didn't go through the Self Stage. Old Man Lightning laughed bitterly as he realized all the missed opportunities and weaknesses of the cultivators in this world.
Old Man Lightning sighed. "This is very eye-opening, but it won't change anything. After all, people with a Will-Aura in the Body Tempering Realm are still forbidden."
Gravis smirked. "What if they aren't?" he asked smugly.
Old Man Lightning furrowed his brows. "You can't tell me that isn't true."
Gravis continued smirking. "I am pretty certain that the Heaven from my homeworld is keeping a close watch over this world right now, and it likes its rules. I am sure that as soon as it had noticed this particular thing, it immediately stopped it from happening. Tell me, have there been sightings of more people with a Will-Aura in the Body Tempering Realm?" Gravis asked.
Old Man Lightning quickly turned to the elder responsible for the subservient branches of the Lightning Sect. "Has there been a reported increase of people with a Will-Aura in the Body Tempering Realm?" he asked.
The elder was taken aback that Old Man Lightning suddenly talked to him. "I have gotten some reports about a higher number of those joining the Entrance Exams. Of course, we didn't accept them. After all, the Heaven Sect would just kill them in a couple of months. It's basically wasted resources."
Old Man Lightning's breathing became quicker as he heard that. A higher number of those? Hadn't Gravis just said that the suppression of those people had stopped? This couldn't be a coincidence, could it?
"There have been higher numbers of those," Old Man Lightning transmitted to Gravis.
Gravis' smirk intensified. "Just as I thought. Think of this as a visiting elder that inspects the workings of a lower branch. The elder sees all the issues and immediately starts rectifying them. With the return of people with a Will-Aura in the Body Tempering Realm, it is only a matter of time until the other Sects find their more powerful elements. On top of that, those people have an advantage in regards to their will, so they will also be more likely to choose the tenth level of Energy Gathering."
Gravis continued talking with more fervor. "Think about the future! More cultivators of other Sects will have more people going through the tenth level of Energy Gathering with stronger elements. As soon as other people notice their compatriots and enemies taking more risks to become more powerful, they will feel inadequate. At that point, many of those will also decide to follow this path. The tenth level of Energy Gathering won't be special anymore. And maybe, in the future, all Sect Masters will be in the Self Stage, because Tree Stage cultivators have become too abundant."
Gravis continued striking while the iron was hot. "If we don't take the first step, we will lose our advantage. Accept all people with a Will-Aura in the Body Tempering Realm! Go out of your way and actively scout them if necessary! It won't be too long until the other Sects notice the change. We have two advantages that will make us the overlords of this lower world!"
"We have received the information first, giving us a head-start, and we have a way easier way to cultivate our stronger element. As long as the Lightning Sect is the first to act, it will become the overlord! On top of that, we get incredible tempering from other Sects in the future."
Old Man Lightning remained silent, but a fire was burning in his eyes.
Gravis said one last thing that sealed the deal.
"This lower world will become incredibly powerful in the near future! Don't get left behind!"
