Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis flew slowly, so it took him about an hour to arrive. Several other people also appeared in front of him, asking him if he was new. They introduced themselves and told Gravis that he could come over to their place and talk.

Gravis was quite surprised about why so many people came to him, so he asked one of the later arrivals why everyone was so friendly. Apparently, the fact that Gravis slowly flew through the Sect and didn't teleport gave others the impression that he wanted to start a conversation but didn't want to intrude. It was like someone waiting politely near someone's home.

Gravis didn't mind and decided that he might as well get to know more people of the Sect. Everyone was rather forthcoming and polite, except Long Johnson. Apparently, from what Gravis had heard from others, Long Johnson loved being a kind of schoolyard bully. He thought that it would spice things up a bit in the serene and boring surroundings.

Gravis had to agree that Long Johnson's conduct really spiced things up. That guy was hilarious!

After Gravis arrived at the central hub, he quickly entered the largest building he could see. The building wasn't isolated by Formation Arrays, which allowed everyone to look and listen in. Gravis thought that this was quite nice and transparent of the upper echelon of the Sect.

There were no guards or anything similar in front of the building, and Gravis could enter without being stopped. Probably any member of the Unrestrained Ones could enter if they so chose to. The Sect really embraced freedom.

There were no doors in the entire building, and Gravis stepped into a relatively small hall with a couple wooden chairs. Gravis could see a total of twenty chairs, but only seven were in use right now. There were even tables filled with drinks and different kinds of fruit.

Yet, in comparison to the simple surroundings, the people being in there were nothing but simple. Liran sat in one of the chairs, seemingly at random. If one entered this room, they wouldn't know who the leader was based on the position of the chairs.

On two other chairs, Gravis saw two other Immortal Kings, but in comparison to Liran, they were in the Early Minor Circulation Realm. Those were probably Vice Sect Masters.

The remaining four people were Peak Immortals. Those were probably the elders.

"Hey, Gravis," Liran said with a smile. "Glad you could make it. Grab a seat."

Gravis shrugged with a smile and simply took a seat close to the Sect Master.

"It's actually scary how well you fit into the Sect," Liran said with a chuckle.

"Why?" Gravis asked.

"You think just any new disciple would dare to sit closer to the Sect Master than the Elders or Vice Sect Masters?" Liran asked with a smirk. "Even if they knew our philosophy, they would still be nervous about where to sit."

Gravis grabbed one of the fruits on the table and ate it. The taste was sweet but also kind of thick. It was like biting into a piece of meat that tasted like fruit.

"I know why you called me," Gravis said unceremoniously after swallowing. He skipped the small talk and directly went to the topic at hand.

"Why?" Liran asked.

"You want to know about freedom," Gravis answered as he grabbed another fruit.

Liran smiled in embarrassment. "Yes, that's why I asked you to come," he said. "Could you show us your Avatar?"

"You've already seen mine," Gravis said after he ate even more fruit. These things were great! "I want to see yours first."

The people in the hall looked in confusion at each other. This whole conversation already confused them, to begin with. Gravis could show his Avatar? Did this mean that he wasn't a Weapon Cultivator?

"I can't," Liran said.

"Why not?" Gravis asked as he stopped eating. He had expected that Liran would agree. This didn't conform to his impression of Liran and the Unrestrained Sect.

Liran sighed. "You really know nothing about Weapon Cultivation. This is so hard to grasp for me."

"What's it got to do with your Avatar?" Gravis asked.

"Well, this is my Avatar," Liran said as he took out his bow and showed it to Gravis.

Gravis furrowed his brows as he looked at the bow. "I don't get it," he said.

"Us Weapon Cultivators fuse our Avatar with our weapon," one of the Vice Sect Masters said. "This increases the connection between our normal Laws and our Weapon Law. Taking out our Avatar from our weapon takes a lot of time and Energy, as is putting it in a new weapon."

"Huh," Gravis commented as a lot of things made sense now.

The guy that killed himself when Gravis took away his spear?

Gravis hadn't just taken the weapon away from the guy but also his Avatar. Putting one's Avatar in a weapon probably came with a ton of risks, and one of these risks was probably that the Avatar could be stolen and couldn't be easily called back.

Having one's Avatar in their weapon meant that the Avatar was physical and could easily be broken and stolen. Taking the weapon away from that one guy probably broke the connection between the Avatar and him. He probably even forgot all the Laws inside his Avatar.

The fact that Liran and Arthur fought without their Avatars even though they tried their best to kill each other?

That also made sense now. It wasn't that they hadn't used their Avatars, but that they had fought with them from the very beginning.

Another problem with this action was that weapons could be destroyed. If a weapon broke, the Avatar would also break. Yet, was that really a disadvantage? A normal Avatar could also be attacked, and it was definitely not as resistant to an attack as a weapon.

Gravis knew because Gravis had eaten the Avatar of the middle Heaven. Gravis would probably still be fighting against the middle Heaven right now if its Avatar had been inside a powerful weapon.

So, on one hand, one couldn't fight without their Avatar anymore, but on the other hand, they could use the full power of their Avatar the entire time without fear of it being destroyed by a sneak attack.

'No wonder all these Weapon Cultivators are willing to sell an arm and a leg for a good weapon,' Gravis thought. 'When I operated the Gravitas, most of my customers were Weapon Cultivators, and they always wanted the best.'

"That's weird, but I get the use," Gravis said.

"Yes," Liran said. "I would show you, but I need to be at my peak at all times due to Arthur. He could come at any moment."

"Or he could be outside, trying to raise his Realm," Gravis said.

"Or that," Liran agreed with a nod, "but I can't find out which it is. If I also go out to increase my Realm, he might attack while I'm not here. I know Arthur, and I'm certain that when I'm not here, he will destroy the entire Sect."

"Additionally, when I increase my Realm, I would only have a very limited time remaining before I had to leave. Otherwise, the other Sects get angry. Then, Arthur would have free reign over the Sect again."

Gravis nodded. Arthur had the initiative, and Liran could only react. All in all, Liran was in a disadvantageous position right now. If Liran were willing to also annihilate the entire Punishment Cleaver Sect, both of them would be on neutral ground. Sadly for Liran, he wasn't willing to do so.

Kindness was a luxury that was hard to afford.

"So, can you show us your Avatar?" Liran asked.

Gravis ate another fruit.

"You know," Gravis said.

"This is exactly why you don't know the Law of Freedom."