Gravis stopped thinking about Morus rather quickly. The guy had only been a short time with him, and Gravis also wasn't the biggest fan of him. It didn't really concern him if Morus was alive or dead. So, Gravis concentrated on learning about Weapon Cultivation from Surem.
Gravis and Surem found a free spot for themselves, which wasn't really hard considering that this desert went on for over a thousand kilometers. After that, they sat down, and Surem took out some wine.
Surem offered some to Gravis, but he declined. If wine had some kind of effect on Gravis, he might decide to try it, but he knew that his Spirit was vastly different from ordinary Cultivators. This meant that wine was nothing else but just a random drink for Gravis, and he preferred the taste of coffee and tea more.
Surem shrugged and chugged a whole bottle in an instant, letting out a refreshed breath.
"You're missing out, Senior Brother," he said with a smirk.
"I'm not," Gravis answered with a smirk of his own.
Surem only shrugged. "Your loss."
Surem put the wine away again as he readied himself for a lesson.
"Alright, so, Weapon Cultivation," Surem said. "You know absolutely nothing about it, right?"
Gravis nodded.
"Alright, then I'll just treat you like one of our lowest disciples, no offense," he said.
Gravis waved dismissively, showing that he didn't mind.
"Weapon Cultivation is everything," Surem started, his voice transforming into a solemn one. The casual atmosphere had immediately vanished with these powerful opening words.
"Weapon Cultivation is not only a tool for us. Weapon Cultivation is our entire cultivation path. It is who we are and who we will be. Without our weapon, we are not complete. Our weapon is part of us, and we are part of our weapon. We become one."
"Without our weapon, we can't grow. Without our weapon, we are helpless. Without our weapon, we don't have a future. Without our weapon, we are not complete," Surem said.
"Therefore, we worship our weapon. After all, our weapon represents our cultivation and our future. When we worship our weapon, we are worshipping our power and reaffirm our path forward. We put all our trust and being into our weapon."
"When you put all you are into your weapon, you will feel that your weapon is you. Your Spirit and being enters the weapon and becomes it. Therefore, your weapon also becomes you."
Gravis nodded. All of this sounded rather vague and profound, but he let Surem continue.
"The closer you are to your weapon, the greater its potential becomes. Your very essence supports the weapon, allowing it to unleash more power than it can produce on its own. Your weapon becomes harder, sharper, more flexible, more durable. Overall, it becomes far more powerful."
"You already felt this when you fought the captain of the Burial Ground Set," Surem said.
Gravis nodded as he remembered the Early Major Circulation Immortal that he had killed.
Surem nodded too. "The captain has used a spear made out of the Higher Hard Material Law, and it had been created for someone at the Late Minor Circulation Immortal Realm."
Gravis realized that the Higher Hard Material Law Surem referred to was the High-Tier Hard Pure Material Law. Yet, something else made Gravis furrow his brows.
"You said that it has been created for someone at the Late Minor Circulation Realm?" Gravis asked.
Surem nodded.
Gravis looked at the ground as he recalled the fight. Gravis was powerful enough to forge equipment for the Early Major Circulation Immortal Realm, and all of his equipment had been on that level. Yet, when he had clashed with the captain, Gravis had felt like his equipment was of lower quality. Gravis even had to use several Laws to stop his saber from breaking apart.
But now, Surem said that the equipment of his opponent was actually inferior? Yet, Gravis had been the one that had to protect his weapon from breaking?
Usually, this wouldn't make any sense to Gravis, but after Surem's explanation, it made sense. This was the power of the connection between a Weapon Cultivator and their weapon.
This realization also showed Gravis that he had misjudged the power of the Core Disciple of the Punishment Cleaver Sect. This Core Disciple probably had appropriate equipment for his level, which meant that any single strike would probably have completely destroyed Gravis' weapon.
In short, Gravis had underestimated the Core Disciple.
"I understand," Gravis said.
Surem nodded and continued. "Us Weapon Cultivators dedicate a lot of our time to our weapon. Each time we worship them, our connection improves. Depending on your faithfulness to your weapon, you can decide how much time you want to spend with your weapon."
"Yet, remember that your weapon always takes priority over everything," Surem said solemnly. "No matter what happens, your weapon demands its attention, and if you skip the dedicated time for any reason, you will feel a sharp drop in your connection with it."
Gravis nodded. "What's the usual amount?" he asked.
"Most beginners dedicate three hours per day to their weapon," Surem said.
Gravis immediately frowned. Three hours per day? Then how was he supposed to comprehend Laws?
"Luckily," Surem continued, "you are already an Immortal. These three hours per day are for Cultivators that don't yet concentrate on comprehending Laws. As soon as they come into contact with some Laws, their schedule would need to be adjusted."
"This means that they either need to reach the next level of Intent or lose a lot of their progress. You can directly start with a fitting schedule. A good example would be dedicating ten years to your weapon after 100 years of something else."
Surem had already noticed that Gravis had a question and also knew what this question was.
"Intent is what we call our Weapon Law," Surem said. "A Low-Tier Weapon Intent has the power of an Initial Law. A Mid-Tier Weapon Intent has the power of a Low-Tier Law. A High-Tier Weapon intent has the power of a Mid-Tier Law."
'So, Weapon Intent has three levels that correspond to the levels of Laws. A High-Tier Weapon Intent would therefore correspond to a level three Law,' Gravis thought.
"Raising your Weapon Intent is like comprehending a Law," Surem explained. "Yet, in the end, it's all up to you. There have been cases of people directly understanding the Weapon Heart from nothing. Comprehending Weapon Intent depends on your faithfulness and trust that you place in your weapon."
"Heart?" Gravis asked.
"That is what comes after Intent," Surem explained.
'A level four Law then,' Gravis thought.
"I can't explain to you what you will understand with each level of Weapon Intent," Surem said. "This is something that you have to learn on your own, and no one can help you with that."
Gravis nodded. "And how can I go about creating a connection with my weapon?" he asked.
"You sit down, shut everything else out, forget everything else, and only concentrate on your weapon," Surem explained. "Your entire being must focus on your weapon, and your focus must not waver. Otherwise, you will have disappointed your own path, and everything that you have built will start to collapse."
"Remember, there is nothing more important than your weapon," Surem said with severity.
Gravis looked with skepticism at Surem. "Don't take this the wrong way, but it feels rather farfetched and a bit wishy-washy."
"Farfetched? Wishy-Washy!?" Surem shouted in shock. "What are you talking about!? This is the same as understanding Laws!"
Gravis blinked a couple of times in confusion. "It isn't?" he said in confusion. "I simply look at Laws and find out how they tick and what makes them do the things they do. According to your explanation, Weapon Cultivation sounds like some mystic, spiritual journey with profound concepts or something."
Now, Surem was the confused one. "What? Look at Laws and look at what makes them do stuff?" he asked in confusion. "No, that's not it! I concentrate on the Law and feel its being, its soul, its personality. Then, when I feel a close connection to it, it allows me to wield its power!"
Gravis looked with skepticism at Surem again. "You're not serious, are you?"
"That's what I should ask you!" Surem shouted as he slammed the sand in front of him.
"Hey, hey, hey, what's going on?" the voice of a third person appeared. It was a young girl, a Mid Major Circulation Immortal.
"He said he comprehends Laws by looking at them and seeing what they do," Surem said.
The young woman grimaced as she looked at Gravis with a confused and skeptical expression. "What? How would that even work? What, you think just because you know how a Law works that you can wield it? That makes no sense. Knowing something doesn't mean being able to use something. The Law must give you its permission to be used. You think just by knowing how it works, it magically does whatever you want?"
'Is this even real?' Gravis thought. 'Is this actually happening? Do these guys honestly believe that the Laws must first give their permission to be wielded? What, is understanding during tempering some kind of test to see if you are worthy?'
'These are Immortals! What the fuck is going on with this superstitious, mysterious, profound, borrowing-the-powers-of-nature shit?' Gravis thought.
Then, his Spirit Sense went around the training area to look at the other Cultivators more closely.
'They are actually praying!' Gravis thought in shock. Earlier, he had seen some Cultivators looking at a river made out of Frost, the level three Law equivalent of water. Gravis thought that these disciples were concentrating on it, but on closer inspection, it was like they were opening up their Spirits to it, trying to build a connection.
'Wait! Does this mean that this entire world comprehends Laws by building an emotional connection with them, or is it only this Sect? I mean, it's a valid method. After all, this is a Sect that has several Immortal Kings. If this didn't work, there wouldn't be any Immortal Kings in this Sect.'
'Holy shit, this is so weird!'
"Hey, Surem," Gravis suddenly said as he looked back at him.
"Yes?" Surem asked. He wasn't really mad at Gravis. He was just bewildered.
"I need to think about all of this over the next couple of days or so. Let's resume after that, okay?" Gravis said.
Surem was a bit taken aback but nodded. "Sure. See you later, Senior Brother."
Gravis also said his goodbyes.
Meanwhile, the girl from earlier shook her head in disappointment at Surem. "Surem, you need to stop being this gullible. This Junior Brother obviously was only messing with you."
"You sure?" Surem asked.
"I'm sure," the girl said with a nod. "You know how Laws work. Everyone knows how Laws work."
Then, Surem started laughing.
"I didn't know that Senior Brother was such a prankster!" Surem said with a laugh.
"But I'll let him keep his days of 'thinking'. He got me, and he got me good. Might as well give him this small satisfaction," Surem said with a smile.
Meanwhile, Gravis teleported a couple of times until he was far from the Sect.
'Fuck this! I ain't learning shit about Weapon Cultivation from these nutcases!' Gravis thought.
SHING!
Gravis took out an Emblem and looked at it.
'No wonder the guy told me that I might receive wrong information or something. He probably knew how these people thought. I'll just get over there, get my question answered, return, and then just cultivate my own way in the Unrestrained Sect. I did join it, after all.'
'Also, the Unrestrained Sect has some enemies now. This might just be the perfect opportunity to find some tempering.'
Gravis' eyes shone as he looked at the Emblem.
'Anyway, let's go meet this teacher character and get an actual explanation about Weapon Cultivation.'
CRACK! SHING!
And Gravis was gone.
