Ch. 61..70

Chapter 61

Gravis looked at the indecisive spider and frowned. He didn't want it to remain standing there. If it came, he would show it a good time, and if it retreated, he could finally temper his bones. Yet, it just continued standing there.

Gravis took his saber and started cutting off a big rock from the cliff. The spider continued watching him, not sure what Gravis was doing. Gravis quickly cut off a big chunk, and before it could fall, he grabbed it with both of his hands and lifted it up. This stone weighed several hundred kilograms, but he could lift that easily with his body.

He lifted the rock above his head, changed the hold, so he held it only with one hand, reared back, and threw it like a ball at the spider. Even though the spider seemed to look at him, its eyes were not that good. It was feeling Gravis' vibrations on the ground, and it heard his breathing and movement. So, of course…

BANG!

The stone hit the middle of its head, and it screeched. Its carapace didn't crack, but the impact shook its brain. It staggered to the side and shook its head, trying to get its bearings.

BANG!

In the time where the spider was still shaking its head, Gravis had cut off another rock. This time, it hit two of the spider's knees. The spider's legs were curled up, and its 'knees' were actually higher than its body, so it was pretty hard to hit its body from the side.

Yet, the carapace on its knees seemed to be weaker, and it cracked a little. Gravis couldn't see the cracks, but he could hear them. Gravis decided to concentrate more on the legs as he cut up his third rock.

The spider, on the other hand, started retreating into the forest. It seemed like this prey was too much for it. Gravis threw one last rock for good measure and hit its abdomen. The abdomen seemed to be more fleshy, and the rock bounced off, but not before the spider screeched again.

Gravis nodded in satisfaction, waited a little, and jumped back down. He was already kind of stepping on the border of the rules by being above the cliff. He didn't want to stress the Guild Masters' patience. Who knew, maybe they were watching?

Gravis reached the bottom and looked around. Nothing else seemed to be in the surroundings, yet he couldn't trust this place. Maybe the spider decided to come back? This was its territory, after all. So, Gravis followed the cliff and started running along its edge.

After several minutes and several kilometers, Gravis stopped. He had not seen any caves until now, and he decided that it was probably easier making his own. He looked at the cliffs and decided that it would be better to make it halfway up the cliff.

Gravis jumped and 'stuck' himself to the cliff's side at the height of about five meters. Then, he slowly started creating a cave. He mainly used his Elemental Synchronicity to break the stone down and then moved the gravel to the side, changing it, so it stuck to the side. If it fell down, it would be a chore to carry it back later. He still needed that gravel.

After some minutes, he had created his 'cave'. Well, it was more like a small hole, and less like a cave. Yet, it still reached a depth of about two meters. Gravis went in and moved the gravel back to block the entrance. He stacked it up and blocked nearly everything of the entrance. Only two small holes remained, one at the top and one at the bottom.

The one at the top would funnel in fresh air, while the one at the bottom released the used-up air. Gravis had learned this design for a 'cave' in the theoretical lessons, back in his homeworld.

Gravis sat down and sighed to relax. Finally, he could temper his bones. Yet, Gravis noticed that he was rather tired. He had been awake for a long while, ate a Fire Torture Pill, and fought a middle-grade demonic beast. Gravis decided to get some sleep first before he started tempering his bones.

Like this, Gravis went to sleep, and the night passed without another incident.

Gravis woke up when light shined through the upper hole, right onto his eyes. He wanted to stretch, but he couldn't due to the limited space, at least not without destroying his entrance. Yet, his stiff muscles annoyed him to no end.

Gravis destroyed his entrance without a second thought and stretched himself. He looked into the basin but couldn't see very much. Even though he was at the height of five meters, many trees were still taller. He could hear the birds singing, and he saw some small rodents running around at the floor before they all vanished. Apparently, they had been scared by Gravis breaking open his entrance.

The animals reassured Gravis that this was a safe territory. He stretched himself until he was happy and then went back to work. He started making his hole bigger and shoveled all the rocks and dirt out of the entrance. He wouldn't need it this time.

After nearly two hours, Gravis had created a nice cave with enough space to move around. He could also stretch himself, which was a plus. Happy with his creation, he jumped back into the basin to get some food. He was starving.

After some minutes, he came back with some wood and some dead critters. He placed the wood down before the cliff and took out a particular stone from one of his small sacks tied around his waist. He had bought that stone in Body City when he saw how useful it could be.

He took out his saber and rubbed the stone against his saber, creating lots of sparks above the wood. Making fire with the stone was a lot easier than the traditional method. Gravis cooked his food and ate

until he was full.

Seeing no more need for anything else, Gravis jumped back into his cave and started moving gravel from the cave to the entrance, blocking it again except for two holes.

He sat down in the middle of the cave, the light from the holes illuminating parts of the cave. He took out one of his sacks and opened it to find seven pills inside. He took one out and looked at it with a smirk. Gravis' profile and the pill's shadow were painted at the back of the wall by the light shining through the holes.

"Let's start!"

 

Chapter 62

Gravis sat in his cave and consumed the first Bone-Pill. Compared to his time when he had tempered his skin, he didn't do any additional training while consuming the pills. There were multiple reasons for that.

First of all, back then, he had tried to cut the consumption of Skin-Pills by one pill, since he had seriously lacked money. The other reason was that it was quite hard to temper bones with training. Theoretically, he could punch and kick the cave walls to temper the bones in his limbs, but what about the ones in his torso and head?

Instead, he stayed in the cave and consumed one pill every few hours. He felt his bones slowly growing more durable, and every increase only fueled his hunger for power. This time was different from when he had tempered his skin.

Over the last three months, he had grown used to his isolation, and his new short-term goal was getting back to his family in his homeworld. If he came back to his homeworld, he would no longer feel isolated and alone.

He would have his father, his mother, Orpheus, and potentially other family members. Gravis may be alone in the lower world, but not in his homeworld. It might look dark and isolated here, but he only had to get through this, and everything would resolve itself. He only needed to break through the firmament of the lower world to return.

Greed and motivation drove Gravis to continue tempering his bones. Every increase in strength brought him closer to his goal.

Day turned to night, and night turned to day again. After a full 28 hours, Gravis had finished tempering his bones. He felt their vitality and their incredible hardness. He was sure that he would not be able to break his bones, no matter how hard he tried.

Bones were, by nature, harder than skin, and this also translated into tempered bones and tempered skin. Gravis' skin was incredibly challenging to break already, but his bones were multiple times harder. Over were the times, where he would have to deal with a broken shoulder in a fight. Because, seriously, it was always the shoulder that broke.

A medium-grade demonic beast may break his skin and sever his muscles, but it would have significant difficulties in breaking the bones. As long as the limb was not severed, Gravis could regenerate.

Gravis smiled in happiness. He had realized that his increase in strength was not worthless like he had thought back when he tempered his skin. With every increase in power, he came closer to his goal in fighting Heaven and, more importantly, he came closer to returning to his family.

He no longer feared the isolation because he had a goal in mind. It might still hurt in the future to deny a friend his deserved friendship, but he could deal with it. With enough willpower, he could get through all this and reach his goal.

Gravis smirked a little. "Forneus said that when we tempered our skins and bones, some of our muscles latent potential would release itself. Our body would no longer keep a "limiter" to not damage itself. Every part of my body, except my muscles, is tempered, and my muscles can't hurt me anymore, no matter how hard they try. Let's see…"

Gravis stood up, reared back, and punched with his full power at the cave wall. The cliff trembled, and he created a hole in the wall. "Just like I thought. I've had tempered organs and blood for so long that the true natural power of my muscles already rivals others' tempered muscles," Gravis smirked to himself.

This was the reason why he wanted to temper his bones this badly. If his bones only increased his survivability, it would not help much in fighting middle-grade demonic beasts. He might survive a hit or two, but he would still have huge issues in actually hurting them.

With tempered bones, he finally had a framework that could use the full power of his muscles. His skin would not break by the muscles' pressure. His bones would not crack by the muscles' power. His organs would not get squished by the muscles' movement, and his blood was able to provide all the nutrients the muscles needed to go wild.

Now, with tempered bones and muscles that rivaled the power of other people's tempered muscles, Gravis basically counted as someone with a fully tempered body. Together with his Will-Aura, Elemental Synchronicity, and his incredible battle experience, Gravis was sure that he was the strongest cultivator in the Body Tempering Realm in this lower world.

Finally, his incredible foundation was showing its effect. Finally, he was powerful enough to not be constrained. There was nearly no one in the Energy Gathering Realm in this outer continent. When he tempered his muscles in the Lightning Guild, he would be able to break through to the Energy Gathering Realm immediately.

The biggest issue of breaking into the Energy Gathering Realm was feeling the Energy in the air. Forneus had taken out two stones with no Energy, and lots of Energy to prematurely destroy this bottleneck of the Research Assistants.

The Energy Gathering Realm no longer needed treasures or medical pills to progress. Of course, those things could accelerate the progress of cultivation, but it was no longer a necessity like it was in the Body Tempering Realm. Gravis only had to find a good place with lots of lightning and absorb it. That would already increase his strength by a lot.

After so many hardships and so many issues with money, Gravis finally saw a clear, unobstructed path forward.

"Hehehe," Gravis slightly laughed. "Ahahahaha-"

RUUUUUUM!

While Gravis was madly laughing in glee, the cliff crumbled above him and buried him. His punch was maybe a little too strong.

After some seconds, the front of the cliff blasted open, and Gravis stuck his head out. "Phew, I just entered the Bone Tempering Realm, and I already encountered a situation that would have killed me earlier." Gravis looked into the sky. "Maybe, I shouldn't grow too arrogant," he said to himself.

Gravis quickly dug himself out, cleaned his clothes, and started running along the cliff. His speed was, at least, three times faster than before. Gravis enjoyed the wind blowing in his face, and he felt like he could fly if he just jumped.

He quickly found the place from two days ago, saw the cut off pieces from the cliff, and he knew that he was back in the spider's territory. Gravis smirked and bolted into the forest.

Low-grade demonic beasts could be hunted by a group of people with tempered skin, or by a single individual with tempered muscles.

Middle-grade demonic beasts could be hunted by a group of people with tempered muscles, or by a single individual with a fully tempered body.

When Gravis first fought the spider, he was a stronger person in the Tempered Skin Realm. Now, he had basically skipped the Tempered Muscles Realm and already counted as someone with a fully tempered body. His strength was incomparable to before.

"I'm going to tear you to pieces!"

 

Chapter 63

Gravis burst through the forest at full speed, carrying his saber in his right hand. He ignored everything, and simply ran around. He had already activated his Will-Aura to lure the spider out. It was daytime right now, and the spider was probably sleeping somewhere underground or on a tree.

Gravis' breakthrough had not influenced his Will-Aura. Will and physical strength were two completely different things. So, when he released his Will-Aura, the spider would know that it was him and would surely attack. He only needed to find it.

He continued running, but the spider didn't appear. Even after several minutes, there was no inkling of anything big running around. However, Gravis saw multiple smaller animals and birds. Gravis narrowed his eyes. "The spider changed its territory," he concluded.

Heaven's plan had failed, and now it quickly made the spider retreat. It didn't want Gravis to get its treasure. That would be a big problem.

Heaven might not be able to influence people much, due to their consciousness, but it wasn't difficult to change beasts' emotions. It might move some animals in one part to get a stronger beast to migrate to this fertile land. It might influence the weather to make certain areas uninhabitable by others. Heaven could do a lot of things with beasts.

So, when Heaven had seen that it couldn't kill Gravis anymore with the beasts, it started pulling back all of them. It might throw a ferocious beast at him, so Gravis would get his treasure to pass the entrance exam. It couldn't possibly hide all the creatures from him.

As Gravis continued sprinting around the forest, he saw a big wolf to his front. It was grey and had a height of about one meter. Gravis judged that it was a ferocious beast, and Gravis saw that a pill was bound around its neck. As Gravis saw the pill, he sneered. "Now, after I have tempered my bones, you send beasts with Bone-Pills to me?" he sneered.

The wolf noticed him and readied itself to kill Gravis. Humans were delicious. Yet, when Gravis reached a distance of 30 meters, and the wolf came inside Gravis' Will-Aura, it stopped and froze in fear. Gravis didn't stop and ran the wolf over. Multiple of its bones broke, and it got smashed into a nearby tree.

Gravis didn't pity the beast since it had just shown its willingness to kill him. He ignored the pill and continued sprinting, and he was intent on finding the spider… or at least something with a similarly valuable treasure.

As he continued running, more ferocious beasts appeared before him. The chances that Gravis would find so many ferocious beasts in such a short time, even though the Basin of Nature was so big, showed that Heaven was trying to throw trash at him to make him stop. He just needed a treasure to pass the entrance exam, and Heaven knew that.

Yet, why did this small mortal creature not accept Heaven's treasure, that it had so magnanimously bestowed upon it? Heaven felt frustrated. It was already taking a step back by offering Gravis the treasure. It could just do its best to keep all beasts away from Gravis. Yet, Gravis didn't seem to appreciate its kind gesture and kept running around like a wild animal.

Gravis didn't give a fuck about Heaven. He was going to get his treasure, one way or another. Heaven could influence the beasts, but if Gravis continued running around like a madman, Heaven wouldn't be able to keep them hidden for much longer.

As more ferocious beasts appeared, Gravis started seeing that they actually started carrying some useful things. Some of them carried battle pills, that increased one's strength for a short time. Others carried some excellent weapons. Yet, Gravis kept ignoring the beasts and rolled over them. He didn't even pick up the treasures.

Yet, after Gravis noticed that more weak creatures came, he started getting an idea. 'Heaven wants to give me treasures?' he started grinning madly. 'Then I won't decline!"

Starting from this point on, Gravis began to collect all the treasures of the beasts. Heaven thought Gravis would continue hunting until he got a suitable treasure, yet Gravis now started collecting all of them. Heaven grew furious after seeing that and stopped sending beasts at Gravis.

Yet, even when Heaven sent the beasts away, Gravis was just too fast. The beasts wouldn't simply run in full sprint if Heaven said so. Heaven had to influence them slightly so that they would move on their own accord. That speed was no comparison to Gravis'.

Gravis had also passed by several other participants. They couldn't even react to him since he already vanished before they could even really see his profile. They didn't know what had just passed them, but they became fearful.

Only a middle-grade demonic beast could be so fast! No participant had tempered muscles, so they knew that it couldn't possibly be another participant. They all felt lucky to still be alive.

Gravis started finding fewer beasts as the treasure mountain, strapped to his back, grew. While passing by a tree, Gravis noticed a beast hiding on the tree. Gravis only sneered. "Oh, running doesn't work, so you hide them now, eh?" he said in disdain as he punched down the tree.

The tree fell over, and the beast jumped off. Before the beast could even react properly, Gravis had already punched it away, breaking many of its bones. He quickly retrieved the treasure and continued running, but this time, he did something different.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

Gravis didn't avoid the trees anymore and continued running through them, and one tree after another got violently thrown away. Animals and beasts ran around in panic and fear, and nothing dared to hide anymore. Gravis continued finding more beasts, and their power also seemed to increase steadily. He smirked as he realized that he was probably growing closer to the demonic beasts.

The Guild Masters had long arrived to look at what was going on, and when they saw Gravis' rampage in the Basin of Nature, their jaws dropped. Gravis didn't even have tempered muscles, but he showed the strength of someone with a fully tempered body. He was crazily destroying everything in sight.

"Should we stop him?" asked the Guild Master of Earth.

The others were unsure of what they should do. It was technically still part of the entrance exams, but it seemed to lose any meaning with Gravis. Gravis was collecting treasures like crazy, and treasures that he deemed unworthy, were simply left behind on the bodies of the heavily injured beasts.

This was no longer a test of strength and luck. Now, this was only a test of luck. The other participants were so much weaker than Gravis that their power grew meaningless. Now, they could only rely on their luck to find some beasts with treasures that Gravis deemed unworthy. Yet, before the Guild Masters decided on what to do…

"Heaven!" Gravis shouted loudly at the sky. "Give me the spider, or I will continue rampaging around, and I will gather one treasure after another!"

And Heaven answered!

 

Chapter 64

Black clouds appeared in the sky, and Gravis saw lightning moving from side to side in the clouds. Loud thunder exploded throughout the sky, shaking the earth and instilling deep fear in every living creature, except Gravis.

The Guild Masters blanched and ran as far away from Gravis as possible. This guy was insane! He was provoking Heaven with no concern for any consequences. Everyone could feel that Heaven was absolutely enraged right now.

"You decided to send the spider to me yesterday!" Gravis continued shouting as thunderbolts struck different parts of the basin, turning it upside down. "You wanted to bet big and send a strong beast!" More lightning struck the earth, and the clouds churned. "So, pay up!" Gravis shouted with all his might.

Lightning struck the earth one meter in front of Gravis, and its shockwave blasted parts of his clothing off, yet, Gravis continued looking into the sky, fearless. "Give me what you owe!" he kept shouting aggressively.

The participants and the Guild Masters were in a full-on panic right now. Gravis angered Heaven even more, and if this continued, every living thing in the Basin of Nature might die. More bolts of lightning struck around Gravis, yet none touched him.

"Stop bluffing! You don't dare strike me!" he continued shouting, and the clouds were moving around like violent waves in a storm. Thick clusters of lightning appeared between the clouds, and it felt like the world was about to end.

Suddenly, Gravis looked to his left. He had felt a vibration in the earth like an earthquake was coming. What he saw was an army of demonic beasts charging at his position. They feared Heaven and Heaven commanded the beasts to attack Gravis. Every pretense was lost! Heaven even bent its own rules with this move.

Gravis sneered and sprinted into the middle of the beasts, his burst of speed destroying the surrounding earth. A giant mantis immediately shot its claws forward, and Gravis quickly jumped over that attack. This was only a low-grade demonic beast, and Gravis was way faster.

SHING!

Gravis took the mantis' head and its treasure while he flew over. A wolf jumped at him, and Gravis concentrated his Will-Aura on it. It closed its mouth in fear, but it couldn't stop its jump.

BANG!

Gravis punched the side of its neck, breaking it in the process. Gravis now finally landed, and he put up his saber.

SCRRRRRRR!

An Armadillo had rolled itself into a ball and tried to roll over him. Gravis blocked the attack with the edge of his saber, and the more the armadillo spun, the deeper the saber cut until, finally, the armadillo was in two. The two halves of the armadillo shot past him and hit two other beasts. The armadillo's treasure was destroyed in the process.

Gravis saw a panther running at him, and tried to jump forward.

BOOM!

A lightning bolt hit the place where his foot was and destroyed his foothold. Gravis lost his balance, as he slowly fell forward, multiple more lightning bolts hitting all around him, making it hard for him to see and hear his opponents.

BANG!

The panther hit Gravis in the chest with its claws, and Gravis got blasted away, breaking through two trees until he stopped. He quickly stood up again and noticed that only a slight scratch appeared on his chest. Everything else was fine.

SHIING!

With a turn, Gravis beheaded a tiger, which tried to bite him. With a loud cry, Gravis concentrated his Will-Aura on a scorpion that wanted to stab him, freezing it in the process. With another hit, he split its head.

BOOM BOOM BOOM!

The earth tore open into a gigantic ravine, and Gravis fell. The Guild Masters only saw tens of birds shooting after Gravis into the ravine, and loud sounds of fighting could be heard.

Gravis jumped from wall to wall in the ravine, killing one bird after another. They all screeched and tried to claw him, and Gravis couldn't evade all the attacks. His skin broke in multiple places, and some of his muscles tore, yet he continued with a berserker's cry.

RUMBLE!

The sky seemed to darken, as an absolutely gigantic worm fell into the ravine, its gaping maw full of teeth locked on Gravis. This was the first middle-grade demonic beast that joined the fight. Gravis' eyes grew more bloodshot, as he jumped off the wall with all his power, and shot himself right into its maw.

Inside, he stuck his saber into the side of its stomach and started sprinting upwards while cutting through its body. The muscles couldn't constrict due to them being split in two.

SHING!

The sound of his saber cutting through the back end of the worm resounded throughout the ravine, and he jumped back to the wall.

BRRR Clank!

A pair of shears from a scorpion broke through the place on the wall where Gravis was, but he blocked them with his saber and used their power to shoot himself to the other wall. On the way, he killed another mad bird.

When Gravis arrived at the wall, he slashed through it with all his power, and blood burst out of the wall. Gravis was sure that something would wait for him here.

Back on the surface, the Guild Masters saw one beast after another jumping and climbing into the ravine, seemingly having no care for their lives. Even horses and other similar beasts, who had no chance of stopping their fall, charged into the ravine like their life depended on it. The Guild Masters heard loud explosions continually coming from the ravine.

BOOOOM!

The colossal worm carcass finally hit the floor, and its impact shook the whole ravine. Gravis jumped to the next bird, but before he could reach it, a lightning bolt completely incinerated it, making it impossible for him to use it as a foothold.

NEIGH BANG!

The body of a massive horse hit him, as it pushed him down. Gravis couldn't stay in this position, or the weight of the horse would blast him apart if he hit bottom. He pushed himself off, readied his saber, and cut through the horse.

It was a medium-grade demonic beast, so it took multiple swings, but he managed to get out before he hit the ground. When he came out of the horse, he saw many more beasts raining down on him. Gravis jumped off the horse, the power from his jump accelerating the horse's fall by a lot, and cut through a lizard.

He then used one half of its body to jump back to the wall. Gravis continued jumping from wall to wall and took out more birds, while the constant impact of heavy bodies came from the bottom. More lightning destroyed footholds and birds before Gravis could use them to move forward, and many stones from the walls broke off, adding a rain of rocks to the storm of beasts.

It grew increasingly difficult to move around, and he couldn't keep track of everything around him. His injuries became more severe, and he started getting hit more by attacks from stray beasts. His eyes grew more bloodshot, and his shouts more aggressive.

He hit another wall again, looked around, spotted something, and immediately shot off.

BANG BANG CRRK!

Gravis' saber broke through two legs of the spider and split its head. His target had arrived, and he had killed it. He quickly cut a hole in its abdomen and crawled in. The birds immediately slammed their claws at the abdomen of the spider to make it fall faster.

SHING SHING!

Gravis broke out from the spider's abdomen and cut off both birds' heads. His black saber was in his right hand, while his left hand carried a red saber with different runes shining on its surface. 'So, this is why Heaven didn't want to give the spider to me. This weapon is perfect!' Gravis thought.

With two sabers, it was easier to deal with the absolute onslaught of bodies, stones, and attacks. Gravis continued dealing with everything, but soon noticed that nothing new came anymore, so he quickly jumped to the surface in a zig-zag motion.

BANG!

When he jumped out, the ravine slammed together and closed. Heaven might have given Gravis his new saber, but it wouldn't allow him to get the other treasures!

Gravis was drenched in blood, and cuts could be seen all over his body, yet he smirked at Heaven. "See? I have the saber now. Was that so hard?" he laughed loudly.

BOOOOOM!

Heaven exploded, and a gigantic bolt of lightning flew straight at Gravis, but before it could reach him, it vanished. Directly after that, all clouds blew apart and shot over the horizon with unbelievable speed. With a bang, everything immediately fell silent.

Gravis just continued smiling.

'Seems like Heaven went too far and got slapped by father.'

 

Chapter 65

Gravis smirked as he looked up into the sky. For the first time, he managed to get one over Heaven. Even though he was still incredibly weak, when compared to Heaven, he had still managed to anger it that much that it ignored every consequence to attack him.

Gravis knew that his father would not save his life if everything went its usual way. Yet, Gravis had absolute trust that his father would not allow Heaven to break its own rules to deal with him. The fact that Heaven directly controlled the beasts was already a breaking of the rules, yet it was still in the range of something that Gravis could manage.

"Ouch!" as Gravis moved his arm, he felt a pain shooting throughout his body, and only now did he realize how injured he actually was. Luckily, there were no broken bones, and it should only take around a day to heal back to his peak condition. If he didn't have tempered organs and blood, this would take weeks to heal.

He put his black saber back onto his back and inspected his new saber. It had the same length as his old one, but it was red, and multiple lines were crisscrossing across its surface. When Gravis looked at it closer, he smiled in happiness. "An Energy Weapon!" he said to himself.

Gravis had learned the basics of Equipment Forging in his homeworld, and he was knowledgeable enough to realize how much this saber was worth. An Energy Weapon was, like its name suggested, a weapon fit for an Energy Gathering expert. Only by infusing one's Energy, was one able to bring out the full potential of such a weapon.

Gravis had wanted to find a long-term weapon for a while now. His Void-Stone saber was great, but the, right now, positive aspect of absorbing Energy would become negative as soon as he broke through the Energy Gathering Realm. The saber would start absorbing his own Energy.

"Could this actually be considered luck?" Gravis asked himself but quickly shook his head. The treasures here were not natural treasures that were placed here at random. Those were treasures that

were put here by the Guild Masters.

On top of that, Gravis already had enough strength to roll through the entire Basin of Nature. He could take any treasure he wanted. Yet, to get this one treasure, he had to fight an onslaught of beasts, as well as Heaven continually trying to make his life hard. This was a treasure that required Gravis to use his own strength to get. Luck had nothing to do with it.

Gravis put his new saber also on his back. Right now, it was just as good as his old weapon. Even more critical, Void-Stone might actually be harder than this saber. Using it now was unnecessary. Only when he reached the Energy Gathering Realm, would this saber truly shine.

Gravis looked around and saw several participants and the Guild Masters looking at him with shock. He took one step forward, and everyone took one step back, including the Guild Masters. When Gravis saw that, he frowned.

That the participants retreated seemed logical, but Gravis was sure that the Guild Masters would still be stronger than him. Everything he had done earlier, they could do as well, and with even more ease. Gravis took another step.

"Stop!" shouted the Guild Master of Wind, her hair fluttering more aggressively than before.

"Why?" Gravis asked.

She narrowed her eyes. "Heaven and Earth were enraged and attacked you," she explained. "You have gone against Heaven and Earth, and we do not want to be implicated by you."

Gravis looked around but sneered inside. Anyone that called Heaven, 'Heaven and Earth' had no idea about how Heaven worked. Earth was part of Heaven. Earth was like Heaven's limbs and not its own entity. Earth couldn't judge anyone, because Earth was only an arm, metaphorically speaking.

"Heaven keeps to its own rules," Gravis half-lied. "It has sent the spider to attack me yesterday. I survived the encounter, and when I broke through into the Bone Forging Realm, I wanted my payment. Heaven has lost the bet, and we fought. In the end, I've proven myself worthy, and Heaven retreated," Gravis pointed at the sky.

"I'm obviously not strong enough to battle Heaven, and it could destroy me if it wanted to. Nothing was stopping it from destroying me, yet it didn't. Heaven had shown that it followed its own rules and that it was just. It was only testing me," Gravis lied through his teeth.

The Guild Masters looked at the clear sky. The last lightning bolt came and vanished too quickly, so they never noticed. In their eyes, it looked like Heaven had scattered its clouds by itself after the fight was over. The more they thought about it, the more Gravis' words seemed to make sense.

They knew that Gravis couldn't possibly fight against Heaven. He was way too weak for that. Yet, Heaven had not killed him. The only reason why someone with ultimate power would not kill someone weaker is that they didn't want to. There was no other explanation.

When the Guild Masters realized that, they sighed in relief. Maybe this was a unique way of tempering a Heavenborn? Maybe Heaven and Earth had only sent all those beasts because it knew full well that Gravis could win. That intense battle surely also increased Gravis' will.

'Heaven is really too kind to its own children,' they all thought. Heaven had bestowed Gravis, its favorite child, a treasure, as well as a tempering experience. The Guild Masters grew a little envious. They also wished that Heaven would love and care for them like it loved and cared for Gravis.

The Guild Master of Light walked forward and smiled. "Then, congratulations on receiving your reward!" and he shook Gravis' hand. Gravis simply smiled back.

"Thank you!" he said happily. Gravis had one-upped Heaven, got a new weapon, and even went through another real life and death battle. His strength had increased explosively with his new breakthrough, and he would soon join the Lightning Guild. For the first time since arriving in the lower world, things were actually going his way.

The other Guild Masters also congratulated him, and now seemed to be fine around him. Only the Guild Master of Lightning thought that things weren't as they appeared. He knew that Gravis was no Heavenborn, and he also doubted that Heaven only wanted to temper him. To him, it looked like Heaven tried to do everything in its powers to kill him, except directly strike him, for some reason.

Yet, the Guild Master of Lightning decided not to ask Gravis about these things. They had a deal, and as long as Gravis' strength increased, the Guild Master of Lightning would be happy.

When someone in their guild broke through to the Magic Gathering Realm (Energy Gathering), they would be sent to the middle-continent parent-guild. Every time a new recruit got sent there, The Guild Master of the local guild would earn a reward. The Guild Master of Lightning was sure that Gravis would quickly break through to the Magic Gathering Realm (Energy Gathering).

"So," said the Guild Master of Earth. "How are we supposed to judge who passed, and who didn't?" he asked into the round. All the treasures were gone and buried in the ground. Due to Gravis, the whole entrance exam got turned upside down.

How were they supposed to judge who passed?

 

Chapter 66

"Tournament!" shouted the Guild Master of Water, and the others groaned.

"Really? A tournament? That's going to take forever with over 200 people," groaned the Guild Master of Wind.

"Do you have a better idea?" Asked the Guild Master of Water back.

No one answered.

"Tournament, it is," sighed the Guild Master of Lightning. "This is going to be a pain in the ass." He looked around at the 50 participants who had gathered. The other 200 were not here right now. It was understandable since many people would prefer fleeing to getting closer to such an apocalyptic scene.

"Let's first call them back," said the Guild Master of Light as he created another ball of light. The other Guild Masters followed suit and also created a ball of their elements. Then, they all shot them into the sky, and the balls exploded one after another.

Everyone in the Basin of Nature should be able to see this and realize that they should gather. If someone was so stupid as not to realize that this was a gathering sign, they might as well not join the guilds.

The Guild Masters waited for several hours, as one participant after another gathered here. After around six hours, no more participants arrived. The Guild Masters did a quick count and saw that 217 People had gathered. The others were either already dead or too stupid to realize that they should gather.

"Alright, everyone!" shouted the Guild Master of Earth. "Follow us back to the arena!"

The participants groaned again, realizing that another hard marathon awaited them. Everyone ran after the Guild Masters with their full power. This time, it was even harder to keep up since not everyone was

in their peak condition.

Gravis seemed to be only walking a little faster, yet every step shot him forward for multiple meters. With his new muscle strength, keeping up with the Guild Masters was even easier, even though he was still injured.

When they finally arrived back at the arena, all the participants fell on their knees in exhaustion. The same scene from back when they had arrived at the Basin of Nature repeated itself.

The Guild Masters gathered in the middle of the arena and discussed the details. They had to make this tournament as fair as possible. What if the second strongest fought against the third strongest in the first round? Would they throw away such a talent?

Even though the previous entrance exam also tested luck, it was held in the wilderness, with only a little bit of human element mixing into the results. The Guild Masters didn't want to risk it here. Who knew how luck would work in a tournament?

In the end, they decided to make five drawings of opponents and five rounds for everyone. Anyone who won three or more rounds would pass. Yet, they groaned again as they realized how long this would take.

"What about rewards?" asked the Guild Master of Darkness, and everyone shot him a look of anger. Everyone had that thought in the back of their minds, but they didn't want to voice it. Like that, it would take even longer. Yet, the Guild Master of Darkness had shamelessly exposed this fact. So, they couldn't ignore it anymore.

So it was decided that every participant that won five rounds would then fight in a traditional tournament. The top ten would receive rewards, while the others got nothing. The Guild Masters felt bitter about all the lost treasures in the Basin of Nature.

They could ignore the cheap rewards that ferocious beasts carried. The lost treasures that the low- grade demonic beasts carried had hurt them.

Yet, the biggest problem was the loss of the seven treasures that the middle-grade demonic beasts carried. Those treasures didn't originally belong to their guilds, but their parent guilds. Their parent guilds had granted them those treasures so they could be awarded to extraordinary new recruits.

Explaining the loss of all those treasures would be a pain in the ass. They couldn't even ask Gravis for any of his collected treasures, since most of them got lost in the battle in the ravine. How was he supposed to protect the treasures, when he wasn't even able to safely preserve his life?

The Guild Masters scratched together any remaining treasure they could find and would award them in the tournament. After everything had been planned out, they called the participants to gather, yet they grew angry when they saw something.

"What are you doing there? Do you want even more treasures? Get out!" shouted the Guild Master of Water as she spotted Gravis standing among the participants.

Gravis lifted an eyebrow in confusion. "Does that mean that I don't have to participate in the tournament?" he asked.

"No!" shouted the Guild Master of Water back. Testing that madman in a tournament? There was no logic in that. Gravis would just win and get another valuable treasure. He had already gotten his saber, so he should shut up and go to the side.

Gravis shrugged and walked to the corner of the arena and sat down. The reactions of the other participants were mixed. Those 50 who had seen what Gravis had done, sighed in relief while the others looked at him in anger. Why did they have to fight while he could just sit this one out? This wasn't fair!

Yet, they didn't show their annoyance openly. They still were not part of the Elemental Guilds, and if they stood out negatively, they might lose their qualification. Everyone remained silent and did not comment.

The tournament took multiple days. The participants always gathered at noon and scattered in the late evening. Since the arena was big enough, there were always seven fights happening simultaneously, with one Guild Master looking over one match.

After five days, they had finally finished the first part of the tournament. Only around 60 participants had gotten three or more wins. With several participants gathering four and five wins, the number of overall winners was reduced more than necessary.

Gravis had not appeared for those five days. The Guild Masters had just told him that he could come back on the sixth day. So, Gravis was spending his remaining days looking through some more Martial Arts and also continued training the compression of his Will-Aura.

Gravis had also sold some treasures he still had on his person. Most of his gathered treasures were lost in the ravine, but some remained. In the end, he made another 80 gold. He was sure that gold would also be useful in the Elemental Guilds. If it were useless to the guilds, the Guild Master of Lightning wouldn't have looked so heartbroken when he heard that he had to buy seven Bone-Pills for Gravis.

When Gravis came back on the sixth day, he saw that only around 60 participants remained. The contrast between 5,000 initial participants and 60 was massive. The arena had been nearly packed back then, and now, it looked desolate.

Gravis sat down in his usual corner and concentrated on his Will-Aura. He had no interest in the tournament since it was merely some sparring. Sparring was useless to him now. One could even say

that it was actually damaging to him. Too much sparring would dull his killing-intent and his feeling of danger.

The participants looked at him and judged Gravis' dismissal of the tournament as arrogance. Only 12 of the 60 participants had seen what happened that day. The majority had no idea what had happened, and they also wouldn't believe the wild exaggeration of the participants who had told them.

In the evening, the tournament ended, and a stalwart young man had won the first place. He had silver hair and was fighting with a spear. He had used several Martial Arts, and he also had tempered bones and skin. His defense was solid, and together with the precise counter attacks of his spear, he had received the respect of every other participant.

"Congratulations on winning the tournament, Brother Sigur," complimented one of the other participants. Sigur had already collected a loyal following of participants. He was the strongest!

Sigur looked in ecstasy at his reward, an Organ-Pill. With this, he would be able to temper his organs. Organ-Pills were extremely pricy. Supply never met demand, and they were only sold in auctions. One pill would often go for over 500 gold!

"Alright. Everyone has received their reward, and we know the winners," said the Guild Master of Water.

"Excuse me for interrupting, Guild Master," said Sigur politely.

The Guild Master of Water narrowed her eyes in annoyance but nodded for him to say whatever he wanted to say.

"I think I represent every participant when I say that I do not accept the special treatment that he has received!" Sigur pointed at Gravis. "He should also be subject to the rules!"

Sigur was motivated by his new following and his public place as the strongest. He wanted to make a showing of his newfound strength and gain more respect form the others.

Many others also nodded but didn't step forward. The Guild Masters saw that and were not sure how they should proceed. They couldn't possibly give Gravis another treasure. He had already gotten the most valuable treasure, by far.

"Which guild do you intend to join?" asked the Guild Master of Water neutrally.

Sigur was not sure why she asked, but he straightened his back. "I intend to join the Fire Guild!" he announced in confidence.

"Wait-"

"Sure, then you can fight him, but if you lose, you need to trade your treasure with the second place!" Before the Guild Master of Fire could stop Sigur or the Guild Master of Water, she had already agreed to the fight.

The second-place winner was a gentle girl who used softness to overcome hardness. There was no doubt that she would join the Water Guild. So, by telling Sigur that he had to trade his reward with her, the Guild Master of Water had found a way to strengthen her guild.

The Guild Master of Fire wanted to object, but trading the treasure with the second place was really the fairest method. Gravis wouldn't get another treasure, and the first place would still receive a substantial reward. It might not be as good as the first place reward, but it was still solid.

"I agree!" said Sigur with power, and the Guild Master of Fire clenched his fist and teeth while the Guild Master of Water just smirked at him in arrogance and victory.

 

Chapter 67

Gravis was concentrating on his Will-Aura and never took notice of anything happening over at the tournament. The tournament was held in the middle of the arena, and Gravis sat in a corner. That was a distance of over 500 meters.

"Hey!"

Gravis was trying to compress his Will-Aura. His will had increased again after the massacre of the Basin of Nature, so he wanted to gain further mastery in it. By now, he managed to compress his Will- Aura to a 30-meter cone in front of him. It was no longer affecting all his surroundings, but everything in front of him in a 180° half circle.

"Hey!"

His Will-Aura was now twice as concentrated and also twice as powerful. He judged that his Will-Aura would make a medium-grade demonic beast freeze in fear. He had managed to do that with low-grade demonic beasts in the past, but now he could also do that with medium-grade demonic beasts. He might even be able to surprise a high-grade demonic beast.

"Stop ignoring me!"

This time, the shout came from right beside him, and Gravis got startled and turned to the source. With Gravis' turning, his Will-Aura also shifted, and the Guild Master of Water, who had just shouted at him, received the full brunt.

She blanched and stopped breathing, but only for two seconds. Then, she shook her head and looked at Gravis in fury. "You asshole!" she shouted as she blasted a concentrated beam of water at him. Gravis almost couldn't react to the beam.

Almost.

He was barely able to lift his saber to block the attack. Luckily, he had used the Void-Stone saber, and it absorbed the water. Gravis looked at her in confusion and anger. "Why did you attack me?" he said in anger.

"You bitch!" She shouted in rage. "You killed some beasts, and now you think you can suppress me with your Heavenly Pressure? I'll show you!" She immediately summoned a colossal wave that crashed towards Gravis.

Gravis split the wave in two with his saber. His Void-Saber had its advantages and disadvantages. While he couldn't use it in the Energy Gathering Realm, he could still use it now.

And right now, the Energy absorption qualities of the saber worked against the Guild Master of Water. If he used his other saber, he wouldn't be able to block any of those attacks.

Gravis quickly jumped away. "What's your problem? I didn't use it on purpose! You just startled me!" shouted Gravis while running to the middle of the arena.

The Guild Master of Water seethed in rage again and angrily watched Gravis leave, yet she didn't chase. Instead, she sighed to calm down. Gravis' Will-Aura was way stronger than last time. Last time, it was only effective on her because she hadn't been prepared.

Even though she also wasn't prepared this time, she still felt the difference. Even if she were prepared, the Will-Aura would still reduce her battle strength. She had been so shocked that her fighting instincts kicked in, and she attacked.

'He is terrifying,' she concluded. Gravis was still in the Body Tempering Realm. What if he broke into the Energy Gathering Realm?

The other participants only looked on in amusement. To them, it looked like the Guild Master of Water was only shooing him away. If she were serious, Gravis would probably be splattered across the arena.

The other Guild Masters knew the truth and looked at Gravis' saber with intense interest. They had realized that it was thanks to this saber that Gravis could block the two attacks. What was this weapon, that it allowed a Body Tempering Realm user to block an attack from someone in the Energy Gathering Realm?

Gravis quickly arrived by the other Guild Masters and looked warily at the Guild Master of Water. Though, that was unnecessary since she had calmed down already.

"Hey, can I take a look at your weapon?" asked the Guild Master of Lightning quietly.

Gravis turned to him and slyly smirked. He threw his saber to him, and the Guild Master of Lightning caught it in glee. He wanted to know what the deal with this weapon was.

Immediately, the Guild Master of Lightning's face whitened, and he gasped after he had caught the saber. Without hesitation, he dropped it to the ground and took multiple steps back. The other Guild Masters looked at him in shock, while Gravis simply took his saber back.

"Do you understand now?" Gravis asked with a shit-eating grin.

The Guild Master of Lightning breathed heavily for some seconds, glared at Gravis, but then sighed with a bitter smile. Yeah, that was probably his own fault. Yet, when he thought back to the saber, he felt a cold shudder.

The saber had started absorbing his Energy like crazy, and the whole Energy in his body started flowing towards it. Worst of all, he couldn't even stop his Energy.

It completely went out of control and left his body. Luckily, he had only carried the saber for a second. If he had actually carried it for more seconds, his realm might even drop. The saber's hunger was insatiable.

The saber was made of Void-Stone, and Void-Stone came from the highest world. The amount that the saber needed to get saturated was terrifying. It could probably absorb the whole Energy in the lower world and still not be full.

Yet, it was useless for everyone in the Energy Gathering Realm and upwards. A perfect, unexploitable weapon for a newbie. Not even Gravis' homeworld was able to make Void-Stone into a useable weapon for people in higher Realms.

"Let me try," said the Guild Master of Earth as he stretched his hand towards the saber.

"Stop!" shouted the Guild Master of Lightning immediately, and the Guild Master of Earth stopped. The mood of the others changed too. They thought that the saber might hurt them a little and nothing more. If it were just that, the Guild Master of Lightning would smirk at them and tell them to go ahead.

Yet, the Guild Master of Lightning had shouted 'stop' in an absolutely severe tone. This meant that touching this saber was dangerous, and would go beyond a mere practical joke. The other Guild Masters realized that and looked at the saber seriously. "What does it do?" asked the Guild Master of Darkness.

"It absorbs Magic," said the Guild Master of Lightning. Gravis had already realized that this lower world referred to Energy with the word 'magic', probably because they mainly used elements. As he thought further, he saw the similarities between the look of elemental attacks and the mythical concept of a 'magical spell'.

"That's all?" asked the Guild Master of Darkness, skepticism shining from his eyes.

The Guild Master of Lightning laughed bitterly. "Let me rephrase that. If you carry this saber in your hand for ten seconds, I will give you everything I own if you still remain in the Magic Gathering Realm after that."

The other Guild Masters gasped in shock. Now they understood why he stopped them from touching it. One careless moment and their foundation would be severely injured. They also looked at Gravis in annoyance. This was no longer a practical joke.

Gravis simply smiled back. "Don't covet other people's treasures," he simply said.

They gritted their fists but sighed. He was right. Greed had gotten the better of them, and that was unbecoming of a Guild Master. They calmed down and even looked at Gravis with slight apologetic looks. Though they still had to keep up their image, so they didn't publicly apologize.

Gravis had already realized that they were all good people. Even though he was disrespectful a couple of times, and also was at fault for costing them a fortune in treasures, they never even scolded him. So, Gravis didn't mind that slight slip-up.

"So," he turned to the Guild Master of Water. "What's the matter?" he asked.

The Guild Master of Water harrumphed. "The other participants are not happy about you skipping the tournament. The winner of the tournament has challenged you to a duel." She pointed at Sigur.

Gravis didn't even turn around. "Not interested."

 

Chapter 68

The other participants watched Gravis first in surprise, but then in disdain. He was obviously afraid of the fight. Only the very few participants who had seen what had happened that day knew that he actually meant what he said.

"Why not?" asked the Guild Master of Earth. "Don't you want to prove yourself?"

"No," Gravis simply answered. The Guild Masters waited for him to say more, but apparently, Gravis was finished.

"Nothing? Really?" asked the Guild Master of Fire, confused. He was in tune with the element of fire, so he was naturally hotblooded. Who wouldn't want to prove themselves by suppressing someone else publicly? "Well, nothing we can do about it. Let's just get back to our guilds."

The Guild Master of Water didn't want to let the chance slip to give her future disciple a better reward. "You have to fight. We are still in the entrance exams. So, go out there and fight!"

Gravis narrowed his eyes. "You told me I am not allowed to fight in the tournament, and now you tell me I have to fight?" asked Gravis, annoyed. "So, you are just playing around with me as you like?"

The Guild Master of Water got angry again. "Listen here, you runt! We are still in the entrance exams, and if you want to join our guild, you have to follow what we say!" she snarled.

Gravis didn't relent. "And what's that got to do with you? I'm not joining your guild anyway. I have proven myself enough already!" Gravis also grew more annoyed.

She clenched her teeth. "You little-"

"Hey, come over here for a second," said the Guild Master of Lightning and politely pushed Gravis to the side, so they could talk where no one else could hear them. Gravis just looked at the Guild Master of Lightning neutrally.

"Put yourself in our shoes for a second," he started whispering to Gravis. "We need to uphold an image of fairness and justice. You might not care about what others think about you, but to us, it is important due to our position. If we don't quell the disciples' unrest, they might start looking down on us," he explained sincerely.

"I mean, sure, I get that, but first you tell me not to fight, and then to fight. To me, it looks like I am just getting pushed around to your guys' liking," Gravis complained.

The Guild Master of Lightning sighed. "I know, and you're right. Could you just do me this little favor? You don't even have to fight really. Just punch him once, and he won't be able to move anymore. Come on, please," the Guild Master of Lightning implored.

Gravis sighed. "Alright, but only because you're my future Guild Master," he finally conceded.

The Guild Master of Lightning gave him a thumbs up. "That's the spirit. Thank you! I won't forget this." Then they both turned around and walked back to the others. The Guild Master of Water was still mad.

"So?" asked the Guild Master of Earth. The Guild Master of Lightning just gave a thumbs-up, and the Guild Master of Earth nodded.

Gravis walked to the middle of the arena, where one person stood proudly in the middle like he owned the place. "Alright, who's my opponent?" asked Gravis as he looked around, apparently not noticing the big guy in the middle with the spear.

Sigur grew angry by Gravis' disregard. He stood imposingly in the middle of the arena. Every normal person should be able to judge that he was the strongest of every participant here. Sigur took out his spear and pointed it at Gravis as a provocation. "I am your opponent! Today, I will-"

BANG!

With unreal speed, Gravis had closed the distance and punched Sigur in the gut. Sigur immediately puked out the contents of his stomach and keeled over, seemingly not being able to breathe.

"Done," said Gravis as he turned around to get back to the Guild Masters.

Sigur fell over and landed on his knees. He was still not able to breathe, and his whole body hurt immensely. He vomited a couple more times, and cold sweat was breaking out all over his body.

The participant's faces whitened. They had not seen the attack coming, at all. One second, Gravis just stood there, and on the next, he had already buried his fist into Sigur's gut. Gravis' strength was the real deal.

The Guild Masters looked at the spectacle with slight disgust. Gravis didn't even let the guy posture before he punched him. This was rude and a little dickish. Why did nothing go its normal way when it involved him?

The Guild Master of Lightning sighed. "Can't you win with a little more grace?" he asked helplessly.

"Grace won't help in a fight to the death," Gravis nonchalantly answered.

"But this isn't a fight to the death," the Guild Master of Lightning said back, with another helpless sigh.

"Spars are worthless. Why train specifically for a spar when a spar is not dangerous to your life?" Gravis asked rhetorically.

The Guild Masters sighed collectively. They knew where Gravis was coming from, but why did he have to be so serious in something so insignificant? It was only a short spar.

"YOU BASTARD!" came a shout from Gravis' back, as a spear shot towards him. Sigur had gotten control over his body back and was furious. He had shouted and stabbed his spear towards Gravis' back.

If he had remained silent while attacking, he might have hit Gravis. Gravis wasn't omniscient and couldn't look behind his back. Yet, Sigur decided to announce his attack loudly.

Gravis quickly turned around and caught the spear in one hand, stopping it easily. In one fluid motion, Gravis broke off the head of the spear and put it into Sigur's gut.

It didn't even look like an attack. It looked more like someone put back a weapon in its sheath. Gravis just slid the head of the spear into Sigur's gut like it was the most normal thing to do.

"Don't attack people with the intent to kill if you are not prepared to lose your life," berated Gravis bored, like he was lecturing his kid who just made a mistake. If Sigur had actually been a danger, Gravis might have killed him, but in his eyes, Sigur was only a kid who made a mistake.

Sigur looked at his body in shock. This seemed so surreal. His spear was sticking out of his gut, but he didn't feel the pain. He couldn't comprehend the situation.

"Tch," spat the Guild Master of Fire, as he jumped to Sigur and pulled out the spear. Then, he shoved a pill into his mouth. After some seconds, Sigur seemed to finally realize what just happened and started screaming in hysteria.

The other participants watched in cold shock, and a shudder went over their bodies. Gravis didn't show any emotion while stabbing Sigur. It just seemed to be the most normal thing for him. He was a madman!

The Guild Master of Fire didn't complain, even though he thought that Gravis went too far. Sigur did attack him from behind with the intent to kill, so the Guild Master of Fire couldn't say anything. He was also disappointed in Sigur. Sigur had been acting like a spoiled child that demanded more and more, and when something didn't go his way, he would cry.

"Are we done now?" asked Gravis bored.

The other Guild Masters sighed again, something that they had been doing a lot since they met Gravis. The Guild Master of Water walked forward, a smile on her face.

"The Entrance Exams are officially over!"

 

Chapter 69

"Alright, everyone," shouted the Guild Master of Water. "Please step forward and announce your name. We will then tell you which guild is willing to accept you. If more than one guild is willing to accept you, you may choose which one to join," she explained.

Every participant scattered around and then waited. The participants threw some glances at Gravis, waiting for him to go first, but he didn't move and just continued waiting. So, the first person stepped forward.

"I am Karl!" he announced.

"The Earth Guild is willing to accept you," said the Guild Master of Earth.

"The Fire Guild is willing to accept you," said the Guild Master of Fire.

"The Darkness Guild is willing to accept you," said the Guild Master of Darkness.

No other Guild Master stepped forward, and Karl chose the Earth Guild. He walked forward and stood behind his Guild Master.

The next person stepped forward, and the same thing repeated. The person chose their guild, and the next one came. This cycle repeated itself multiple times until only Gravis was left. Sigur had chosen the Fire Guild, and the second-place winner had chosen the Water Guild. Sigur only watched Gravis with terror in his eyes.

Gravis stepped forward, said nothing, and just walked behind the Guild Master of Lightning. The Guild Masters of Fire, Darkness, and earth sighed in helplessness. However, they were prepared for that. Gravis and the Guild Master of Lightning seemed too close lately. The others saw that coming.

In the end, most people joined the Earth Guild. From 60 participants, the Earth Guild ate up 15. The guild with the least new recruits was the Light Guild, with only five people, and the other guilds were in

the middle. The Lightning Guild had nine new disciples, including Gravis.

The Guild Masters sighed. "Only 60 new disciples. That's really meager compared to the last entrance exams," said the Guild Master of Light helplessly. Gravis had turned the whole exam upside down, and they had to adapt. "This was also the most stressful one."

"Protection disciples, assemble!" shouted the Guild Master of Earth, and all 28 protection disciples ran into the arena. "We're done!" and with that, the protection disciples all went to their respective Guild Masters.

"Alright, this is where we part ways," said the Guild Master of Light with a smile, and all the disciples looked at him. "I wish you all good luck in your cultivation path."

The disciples looked back and bowed slightly in thanks. Everyone said their goodbyes and the disciples left with the Guild Masters. What was strange, was that the protection disciples didn't follow, but went to a different side of the arena. After a while, they drove several carriages around the arena.

The carriages were loaded with a lot of things. Treasures, boxes full of pills, and even the tower bench were on the wagons. So that was why the Guild Masters always seemed to be prepared for everything. They had carriages full of different stuff.

"Alright, let's go home," said the Guild Master of Lightning to his new disciples.

"Home," Gravis didn't know how to feel about this word. He didn't have a place where he belonged in this lower world. He didn't even own a house. Theoretically speaking, Gravis was actually homeless. Yet, he had a home now in this lower world. It might not be his real home, but it still felt nice.

The Guild Master of Lightning walked at the front, while Gravis was slightly behind him. The other disciples left several meters of space between them and those two. The Guild Master of Lightning didn't walk as quickly as when they ran to the Basin of Nature. It was more relaxed now.

"You know," said the Guild Master of Lightning to Gravis. "Most of the Guild Masters are bitter and angry about your participation." Then, he smirked. "But I'm not! Know why?"

"Because I joined your guild?" asked Gravis.

The Guild Master of Lightning laughed. "That is part of it, but not the whole reason. Whenever we hold the entrance exams, we split the costs. Some guilds bring the Fire-Torture Pills. Some guilds bring healing pills and treasure. It always costs a lot of money when we hold the entrance exams."

Gravis looked back at the carriages following them and noticed boxes filled with pills. "I guess we were responsible for the Fire-Torture Pills?" he asked.

The Guild Master of Lightning noticed that Gravis didn't say 'you' but 'we'. He grew even happier when he heard that. "Exactly. Just imagine the cost of producing 5,000 Fire-Torture Pills. Yet, we didn't need to waste any of them. Well, except for the one you took. We saved a lot of money," he said with a smirk.

"That's nice," commented Gravis.

"It is nice," the Guild Master said back.

The Guild Master then looked like he remembered something. "By the way, let me tell you something about how things work in our guild," he started, and Gravis nodded.

"Every disciple is, officially, of equal rank. We are not that many, after all. We are about 100 people in total. Yet, there are, of course, unofficial rankings. Those are based on how far the person has come in their path."

"The lowest disciples are the new recruits," he pointed back with his thumb. "Those guys behind you."

"I don't count as a new recruit?" Gravis asked.

The Guild Master laughed. "You have tempered everything but your muscles. You are basically already at the end. Here, catch," said the Guild Master as he threw a book towards Gravis, who promptly caught it. "This is the way to create a Lightning Seed and how to use it to temper your muscles."

Gravis furrowed his brows. "You're just giving it to me like that?" he asked. Gravis also strangely didn't see any threat of Heaven behind the Guild Master. It seemed like Heaven was fine with it.

"Hehe, normally, you would need to buy it for 1,000 gold." When Gravis heard that, his face blanched, yet, the more he thought about it, the more affordable it seemed. He was not in a minor Hunting Guild anymore. Everyone could take on low-grade demonic beasts, and more experienced disciples could probably even take on middle-grade demonic beasts.

"But you don't have to pay," continued the Guild Master. "Because thanks to you, we saved around 5,000 gold since every Fire-Torture Pill costs around one gold. Giving it to you for free is the least I could do."

Gravis felt some warmth inside. Even though he had saved the Guild Master a lot of gold, Gravis had never intended to do that. It just happened. The Guild Master could have kept this a secret, and Gravis would still be thankful. Yet, the Guild Master had given him something he desperately needed, just like that.

"Anyway, let me continue," said the Guild Master. "After new recruits arrive, they first need to temper their organs and blood. They have to pay with their own money for that. So, how do they get their money?" asked the Guild Master.

"Missions, probably," guessed Gravis.

The Guild Master laughed. "Exactly. We get many different kinds of missions. Transportation, escort, monster hunting," the Guild Master grinned. "We even act as mercenaries sometimes."

"Why mercenaries?" asked Gravis.

"Because our disciples need to learn how the real world works. We have a lot of bad and selfish people in the cultivation world. It's every individual disciple's decision if they want to hunt those people or become those people. My job as the Guild Leader of the Proxy-Lightning Guild is just to send strong disciples to our parent guild."

Gravis lifted an eyebrow. "Proxy-Guild?" he asked.

The Guild Master nodded. "Yeah. Our Lightning Guild is only a subsidiary of our parent guild in the middle continent. Our specific parent guild is responsible for twelve Proxy-Lightning Guilds. The parent guild receives all disciples from the Proxy-Lightning Guilds that have broken through into the Magic Gathering Realm."

The Guild Master laughed a little more. "Actually, our parent guild is also a subsidiary of the Lightning Sect of the Central Continent. That is our true headquarter," explained the Guild Master with pride.

Gravis was really shocked by that. He didn't know that he had joined such a gigantic organization. "So, the Lightning Sect is probably very powerful?" he asked.

The Guild Master smiled in disdain. "There is one organization above everyone. Then come our seven Main-Elemental Guilds. Then there are several Clans and some Secondary-Elemental Guilds. So yeah, the Lightning Sect is pretty powerful."

"That is impressive," said Gravis.

The Guild Master laughed, but then noticed something and grew annoyed. "Could you stop asking all these questions? You've constantly been sidetracking the conversation. Let me get back to the topic," he said in mock annoyance.

Gravis smiled. "Sorry," but judging by his tone, he obviously didn't mean it.

"Hehe, cocky kid," the Guild Master smiled a little. "Anyway, the lowest rank disciples are the new recruits. Then come the disciples with tempered bones. Then come the disciples with tempered blood. Then come the disciples that had tempered everything, except their muscles. Lastly, the highest disciples are the ones with a fully tempered body that only need to break through into the Magic Gathering Realm."

Gravis nodded. So, in short, he was the strongest person around, again. Wherever he went, he mainly found good people and was always the strongest person. Gravis knew that this couldn't be a coincidence. Heaven was still trying to reduce the pressure on him as much as possible.

Heaven tried to stop Gravis from making any enemies. No enemies meant no life and death tempering… at least not with humans. If Heaven succeeded with this plan, Gravis might not be able to temper his Will-Aura anymore, and his advantage would vanish in the latter part of his cultivation.

Gravis frowned as he realized that his way was too clear. It was so clear, that if he just continued cultivating, he would probably reach even the Spirit Forming Realm in no time.

Gravis could already guess that when he broke into the Energy Gathering Realm, and went to his parent guild, that there would probably be more coincidences that would destroy all obstacles in his way. Reaching the Spirit Forming Realm would be a piece of cake like that.

Yet, he might start meeting people with a similarly strong Will-Aura when he reached that realm. On top of that, the lack of enemies for months or maybe years would have weakened his fighting instincts and killing intent. Heaven was playing the long game.

"Anyway," said the Guild Master, and Gravis looked at him. "I kind of noticed something awkward."

Gravis furrowed his brows. "What?"

The Guild Master smiled bitterly. "I don't know your name," he confessed.

Gravis suddenly understood. Every disciple at the will test stated their name, but since he never participated, he never announced his name. The disciples also stated their names in the tournament, but he didn't participate in that either. The participants also announced their names when they chose their guild. Yet, Gravis had just walked to his Guild Master.

"Huh, I never said my name," commented Gravis as he thought.

At this day,

The Guild Master smiled. "My name is Gorn."

The fate of Gorn,

Gravis smiled. "I'm Gravis."

And the entire Lightning Sect changed.

 

Chapter 70

It took three days until they arrived at the Lightning Guild. The group was on top of a cliff, and they could see the whole Lightning Guild. It looked simpler than Gravis had thought. There were some stone houses, but not that many, only around 150. The streets were made out of stone but were not particularly impressive.

There were no walls, no gates, no guards. Anyone could just walk into the Lightning Guild and do whatever they wanted. This really didn't look anything like the residence that a hegemon like the Lightning Guild should possess.

"Pretty simple, isn't it?" asked Gorn with a smile.

Gravis could only nod.

Gorn just laughed. "What's the point of having walls, gates, and guards when every single person living here has sufficient strength? Everyone knows each other, and no suspicious people would dare walk around."

Gravis understood where Gorn was coming from. Added security was unnecessary, and everyone could protect themselves. Instead of wasting money on guards and ostentatious looks, they could just use that money to increase the strength of the disciples.

It wasn't that the Lightning Guild was weak. In fact, the opposite was true. The Lightning Guild was famous, and everyone knew about it. No one had the guts to do anything disrespectful here.

"Everyone!" shouted Gorn to the new disciples. "Come forward so you can see your new homes!" he commanded, and the disciples walked to the edge of the cliff so that they could see the guild. Sadly, no one was impressed by its looks.

"On the left side," said Gorn as he pointed to the Lightning Guild's left side. "You can see the residence area, which takes up around 80% of the guild. This is where you will live from now on. We have plenty of unoccupied houses, so you can just choose one."

Gravis looked at the residence area and saw a lot of identical-looking stone houses occupying the majority of the guild.

"Guild Master, what about the bigger house in the middle of the residency area?" asked one of the new disciples.

Gorn puffed out his chest. "That's where I live!" he declared proudly.

Gravis looked over and saw a building, which was only one floor taller than the others. It wasn't even broader or longer. It just had an additional story. Was this really a residence that a Guild Master should occupy?

"On the right, you can see a big plaza," Gorn continued explaining. "In the middle of the plaza, you can find lots of different notice boards. They all offer different missions. You will frequent that place a lot since you need a lot of money to continue cultivating."

The new disciples grimaced. "We have to work?" asked one.

Gorn laughed. "Of course! The Lightning Guild is not cultivating greenhouse flowers. Only wildflowers that have proven themselves by weathering storms and have gotten their own resources are worthy of being part of the Lightning Guild."

One of the disciples grimaced. "Then what's the difference of joining or not?"

The others looked at him in shock, yet the Guild Master didn't seem to mind. "The difference is opportunity!" Gorn said with pride. "Only using the elements can get you to the peak of the world. If you

don't join an organization, you may still find your resources and get further, but you will never be a match for their disciples. Only we know the way to start cultivating the elements."

Of course, not everyone was happy with that explanation. The new disciples had thought that they could finally rise and get all the resources they needed. Yet, they were confronted with the reality that they still had to fight for every scrap of meat. Overall, the mood was somber and disappointed.

"Oh right, Gravis," said Gorn as he turned to Gravis. "Due to your new saber, you should take the house right beside mine. You can't always carry it around, and I've seen that you are not used to using two sabers at once. You can just keep it in your house. I will immediately notice if anyone tries to break into your house."

Gravis thought about it and nodded. He wouldn't use his new saber until he reached the Energy Gathering Realm. Carrying it around all the time was cumbersome. The saber was not light, after all.

"The hall at the side of the plaza is the Exchange Hall," Gorn pointed to a big hall at the plaza. "That's where you can buy everything you need. That includes Bone-Pills, Organ-Pills, Blood-Pills, and the Lightning Codex."

The Lightning Codex was the book that Gorn had given Gravis previously. Gravis probably wouldn't need to visit the Exchange Hall. The mood of the disciples perked up when they heard that they could buy the illustrious pills for organ and blood tempering. Finding those was really difficult in Body City.

"Guild Master, what's that tower beside the plaza?" asked another new disciple.

Gravis looked over and saw a tower with four floors beside the plaza. It was greyish blue and seemed different from every other building. The other buildings were all created with the same materials and had the same building style, yet this tower seemed to be entirely out of place.

First of all, it was way bigger than all the other buildings. Then came the fact that Gravis couldn't judge, which material the tower was made out of, and furthermore, Gravis also saw multiple Formation Array lines crisscrossing over the tower. While everything else seemed simple like a village, this tower looked like the center of an imposing city.

Gorn laughed slyly. "That is the Lightning Tower. Our parent guild has built it. How would you be able to get in tune with lightning if we didn't have a place where we could watch and absorb it?" Gorn explained. "You can find different rooms in the tower with different intensity of lightning. When you cultivate the Lightning Codex, you will need to visit the Lightning Tower."

The disciples were impressed. There was lightning inside a building? How was that even possible? Where did the lightning come from? Where did it go?