Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis quickly broke through into the fifth level of Energy Gathering. With his powerful will, it was only a little more difficult than breathing for him. Many cultivators couldn't even reach the second level of Energy Gathering due to their relatively weak wills.

The more Gravis cultivated, the more he realized how right all his seniors in his homeworld were. They always told him that the will was most important, and it had proven to be true. The will was an essential component of every breakthrough starting at the Energy Gathering Realm. Without a powerful will, one wouldn't be able to even reach the second level of Energy Gathering.

After Gravis finished his breakthrough, he grabbed the sack of Energy Stones and the jade token. After that, he walked to the outside and whistled loudly. Some seconds later, Skye appeared and rubbed its head against Gravis. By now, Gravis was used to the gigantic head rubbing on his body, and he only ruffled its gigantic feathers lightly.

Gravis quickly jumped up on Skye's back, and they flew into the horizon. The Wind Guild was closer than the Lightning Guild, but not by much. They would still need around two days to get there. While flying, Gravis talked a lot with Skye, and Skye was getting better and better in communicating with him.

Ironically enough, Skye was also sometimes teaching Gravis its own language. A bird used more than just their vocal cords to communicate with others, but Skye could only use its verbal cues to communicate with him due to their species difference.

Skye told Gravis that it was close to reaching the realm of a high-grade Energy Beast. When Gravis heard that, he was quite surprised. Skye was growing even faster than him. It had started weaker than him, and it would soon grow to be much stronger than him.

Energy Beasts first needed to go through some kind of metamorphosis to reach the next stage. Without this metamorphosis, their strength would increase only slightly. A human in this lower world had nine stages in the Energy Gathering Realm, and their strength always increased noticeably with every breakthrough.

Yet, the strength of beasts remained about the same in their grade. Based on Energy, a human on the fourth level of Energy Gathering would be weaker than a mid-grade demonic beast. Someone at the fifth level would have the same amount as one, and someone at the sixth would have a higher amount.

Of course, humans were still considered weaker due to their battle experience, will, and physical strength. One could say, based on Energy, that an Energy beast could only be at either the second, fifth, or eighth rank of Energy Gathering. With every metamorphosis, their strength would increase as much as a human that rose three levels.

Skye and Gravis flew for two days until they saw the Wind Guild on the horizon. It looked entirely different from the Lightning Guild. In comparison to the Lightning Guild, the Wind Guild resided on a mountain range with lots of trees around it, and their buildings were built all around the mountains. They were built at the mountains' bases, cliffs, and tops.

The buildings seemed to be made of some kind of wood, and their style didn't look as imposing as the buildings of the Lightning Guild. Gravis was also a little confused when he saw that some entrances on some buildings were not at the base of the building, but in the middle or even at the top of them.

Though, Gravis was not surprised anymore when he saw a disciple flying up to a building and entering. The wind element allowed easy movement in the air, and disciples in the middle of Energy Gathering could fly for a short amount of time. Of course, the flight depended on their Energy reserves and how far away they were from the ground.

Cultivators at the Energy Gathering Realm had impressive eyesight, and they had no issue with seeing such details from kilometers away. Gravis also noticed how they were using their wind to fly. They used their Energy to compress a lot of air under them. Due to their Energy, the air couldn't escape to the sides, so it could only go up or down, and it was way easier to push a human upward than to push the ground away.

The higher a disciple flew, the more air they had to compress. Gravis guessed that flying like this probably took up a lot of Energy and also a lot of practice and concentration. Keeping one's balance like this would be a nightmare. Yet, if they managed to control it well, they could switch from a 2D battling style into a 3D one.

Just like the Lightning Codex had said, the cultivators cultivating the wind element were the most unrestrained. The element might not have the best offense, defense, or versatility, but it was above average in every single aspect. It was hard to hit them. It was hard to defend against them. It was hard to flee from them or chase them.

Skye also saw the Wind Guild, and it grew excited. It felt a familiar feeling from all this wind, and it felt like this place was made for it. Every beast with a wind element would want to live in an environment that facilitated wind this much.

While Skye looked around the guild excitedly, Gravis furrowed his brows. He had noticed two other shocking things. There were actually Energy Beasts walking around at the edges of the guild. Yet, surprisingly, the disciples didn't seem to mind them and even played with some of them. Gravis grew a little confused when he noticed that not a single beast fought another one in the Wind Guild.

Usually, when beasts met, a bloody fight would break out. They needed to kill and eat other beasts to grow stronger, so there were always wars between beasts. Here, they seemed to ignore the other beasts. "Is this some kind of symbiosis between the Wind Guild and nature?" Gravis asked himself.

The trees were another surprising thing. There were some regular trees, but there were also many tall and mighty ones. Gravis could already guess that all those trees were also Energy Beasts. Some buildings were even built on the branches of those gigantic trees. Gravis considered himself part of the Lightning Guild, and everyone wanted their own guild to be the best, but Gravis could only admit helplessly that the Wind Guild was superior in nearly every way.

"A nearly unassailable terrain, hundreds of powerful trees, a lot of friendly beasts, and the ability to fight enemies from above. In a war, the Wind Guild would stomp the Lightning Guild into the ground, as long as the number and cultivation level of the Lightning Guild and the Wind Guild were about the same," Gravis said to himself in contemplation.

"SCREE!"

A majestic shout echoed throughout the whole Wind Guild, and all the disciples stopped what they were doing and looked around. Gravis felt his body vibrate from the powerful sound. 'High-grade Energy Beast!' he immediately concluded. Gravis looked to the origin of the shout, and his eyes widened at what he saw.

A gigantic, green bird flew at Gravis and Skye with incredible speed. Gravis couldn't believe his eyes.

This was Skye's parent!