Lightning Is the Only Way

Surem fell into thought. On one hand, all of these things clashed with a lot of his beliefs, but on the other hand, they made sense. 

Yet, it wasn't so easy to change one's entire outlook. 

"Thank you for your teachings, senior brother," Surem said respectfully.

"Don't mind it," Gravis said with a smile. "I'm only talking to myself mostly. Is there anything else I should know about the Sect?"

"There isn't much you need to know about the Sect," Surem said. "You can live anywhere you want in the Unrestrained Lands, and you can talk with whomever you want. However, we have a central hub for miscellaneous things."

Gravis felt his Spirit Sense being pulled to another mountain. There, he saw some huge buildings made out of stone.

"This is the central hub," Surem said. "If anyone inside the Sect or outside the Sect wants to commission someone from the Sect, they can put up a notice there. Of course, it's up to the individual if they want to accept or not."

Gravis nodded. "That's exactly what I need right now," he said.

"Weapon Cultivation, right?" Surem asked. "You said that you wanted to learn Weapon Cultivation."

Gravis nodded.

"Actually, I'm still in shock about this whole thing," Surem said. "Someone with your power doesn't even know how the basics of Weapon Cultivation work. It's so unreal."

"However, you also explained that you lived among beasts for a really long time, which makes this whole thing more understandable. Weapon Cultivation doesn't exist among beasts since it requires a Spirit and a Will-Aura," Surem said.

"That's the main reason why I have no idea about Weapon Cultivation," Gravis said. "I fought beasts for over a thousand years, and I haven't even seen a human during that time. After around 2,000 years, I returned to the human world, but I didn't really fight anyone else after that. I simply concentrated on learning more Laws."

"Speaking of," Surem said. "If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?" he asked.

"About 4,000 years old," Gravis said.

"4,000 years!?" Surem asked in shock. "Sorry, I didn't mean any disrespect, but 4,000 years is a really long time to become an Immortal."

Gravis didn't take it as an insult and only chuckled a bit. "What? Do you think you can reach my Battle-Strength in only a thousand years or so? I have actually been an Immortal for around 2,700 years."

"2,700 years, and you haven't raised your Realm?" Surem asked in shock. "How can you stand that? I would feel stifled in your situation."

"Understandable," Gravis said. "Everyone else would have long reached the next Realm, but I don't compare myself to others. My Battle-Strength is still not powerful enough. I need even more."

"Even more!?" Surem shouted. "Why!? Killing someone an entire Circulation above yourself is something that hasn't even happened in the legends. I'm certain that you have the most powerful Battle-Strength for your Realm in the entire world. Why would you want even more?"

"Sorry, but I can't tell you that," Gravis said. "I have my goal, and I want to reach it."

"Oh, okay," Surem said with some disappointment. "Anyway, regarding your Weapon Cultivation, I can teach you."

Gravis scratched his chin in thought. "Sure, why not? What do you want in return?" Gravis asked.

"Oh, nothing," Surem said. "You saved my life, and I would be happy to teach you."

Gravis only smirked. "We'll see about that later, but sure, I would be happy to learn Weapon Cultivation from you."

"Great!" Surem shouted with a smile, "but there's something else we have to talk about first if you don't mind."

"Oh?" Gravis uttered with a raised eyebrow.

"Well," Surem said in discomfort as he rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. "Dad said that after I show you the Sect, I should ask you if you would be willing to speak to the elders."

"Why?" Gravis asked.

"I don't know," Surem said with a shrug. "So, do you want to or not? It's your decision."

Gravis scratched his chin. "Eh, why not? He's my Sect Master from now on. If he had ordered me, I would feel disinclined, but since he gave me a choice, I'll accept it."

"Great!" Surem said with a smile. "This is my home," Surem said as he pointed at a house made of wood with quite a sizable garden. "When you're done, you can find me here. We can start with your lessons any time."

Gravis nodded. "Sure. See you later, Surem."

"See you later, Senior Brother," Surem answered.

Then, Gravis slowly flew to the central hub of the Sect. He didn't want to teleport since he wanted to take in the general feeling of the Sect more. It simply felt great to watch all the people talking to each other. Immortals were even talking to mortals from time to time. 

Gravis also smelled a sweet fragrance. This fragrance was present throughout the Sect due to all the different gardens of the Cultivators. A lot of Cultivators that lived free liked to hold plants and watch them grow. It was a hobby for them. Additionally, selling expensive plants could also bring them a lot of money without needing to kill others.

"Hey, you!" a shout came as an Immortal appeared in front of Gravis. "You new?" he asked.

The guy had brown hair and looked rather gruff. One would think that he was a smith.

"I am," Gravis said. "I just joined."

"Great!" the guy said with a smirk.

Then, he went into a battle stance and clenched his fists. 

"Sadly, you have horrible luck!" he said as he did some quick practice punches in the air. "You ran into the powerful owner of these lands, Long Johnson! Today, you-"

"Pfffft!" Gravis couldn't help himself as he broke out into laughter. "Long Johnson?" he asked.

Long Johnson was seemingly used to this and frowned. "Yes, laugh it up. I didn't choose that name! My father came from a distant land, and they have weird names there. Apparently, Long is an old word for dragon where they come from, but my mom came from here, and she wanted to give me a normal name. That's how I got my name."

Gravis still had to laugh. "Fucking Long Johnson," he shouted.

"Anyway," Long Johnson said. "You will pay for your crimes of disrespecting me!"

"Why?" Gravis said, still smiling. "You gonna beat me up?"

"Exactly!" Long Johnson said. "People who don't know to respect their elders will be beaten up! Then, I will take part of your money! However, you can also just directly pay to avoid the beating."

"Wait," Gravis said. "So, you, Long Johnson, will beat me up unless I give you my lunch money?"

"Well, I wouldn't call it lunch mon-"

"AHAHAHAHA!" Gravis shouted as he laughed again. "Man, you're a treat. Here!" Gravis shouted as he threw an Immortal Stone over to Long Johnson. "Keep it as payment for entertaining me."

Long Johnson looked in shock at the Immortal Stone. "An Immortal Stone!?" he shouted. "You don't have to pay me that much, you know. I would feel bad if I took so much from you."

Gravis didn't care and simply passed Long Johnson. "Don't mind it. Your performance was worth the money."

Long Johnson wasn't sure how to react. "Ehm, thank you, junior brother?" he said in uncertainty.

"No problem, dude," Gravis said as he continued flying to the central hub. 

Originally, Gravis wanted to punch this guy and be done with it, but after Long Johnson pulled out his secret weapon, his name, Gravis just became helpless. How could he bear to beat up poor old Long Johnson? The guy was already punished enough.

The third person that Gravis met in the Unrestrained Sect already made him laugh. 

The more Gravis stayed here, the more he liked the Unrestrained Sect.