"Senior, join my Burying Earth Sect!" a guy shouted suddenly, and as soon as he opened his mouth, the floodgate was opened.
"No, join my Dark Descent Sect!"
"Join my Burning Light Sect!"
All of the guards immediately started stepping forward and assaulting Gravis with offers. Usually, they would take turns in getting the Ascenders. That was also why only the grey guard appeared in the beginning. If an Ascender didn't fit their Sect, the next Sect would be allowed to make an offer.
"Shut up! It's the turn of my Flowing Water Sect!" a blue guard shouted.
Yet, no one cared. Even if they had to break the agreement, they had to get Gravis! Someone that knew so many Laws would increase the power of every disciple immensely! Gravis could teach them a lot about their auxiliary element and all the other kinds of Laws.
Gravis' status had transformed immensely. Weak Elemental Cultivators were called servants, but powerful Elemental Cultivators were called Elemental Teachers! A Weapon Sect that used an auxiliary element would need these Elemental Cultivators to comprehend more Laws so that they could teach the disciples these new Laws.
Elemental Teachers were very valuable to every element-related Weapon Sect, and it was basically unheard of that an Ascender was already one. Usually, the Sects would have to create their own Elemental Teachers out of Servants.
Gravis only smiled. 'Power is everything. That's true in every world. The weak become suppressed while the powerful ones gain freedom,' Gravis mused in his mind.
"Calm down," Gravis said with a smile. "I really appreciate all your offers, but I'm looking for a specific one."
The guards calmed down immediately, waiting for Gravis' words. Would they be the lucky ones?
"I specialized in lightning and sabers," Gravis said. "Is there a fitting Sect?"
Immediately, all the guards started grimacing.
Except one.
"Yes, here!" a guard in white and blue armor stepped forward. He had a saber on his back, and Gravis could feel some lightning inside the guard.
One had to remember that humans kept their elements separate from their Energy. The elements lived in the entire body of the beast, but they only lived in a small part inside humans. Additionally, their element was fragile in its base form but would be able to unleash an incredible power when they infused it with Energy.
"Oh?" Gravis asked. "You specialize in lightning and sabers?" he asked.
The guard nodded thrice in quick succession. "Yes, we do!"
Gravis scratched his chin in thought. "That's unusual," Gravis said. "As far as I know, spears and normal swords are more common among people with the lightning element. It's quite surprising that there is an entire Sect dedicated to lightning and sabers."
Instead of becoming offended, the guard looked embarrassed. "Yes, we hear that everywhere," he said quietly.
The other guards looked with disgust at this guard.
Gravis noticed their actions and realized several things. 'This is not the look of envy or jealousy, well, at least that's not all of it. They also look at this guy with genuine disgust. Additionally, sabers and lightning normally don't really go hand in hand, which would make it very hard to find new disciples.'
'People that reach the Immortal Realm have already refined their Battle Style as much as possible, which means that they won't easily change. This means most of the Ascenders have already chosen a more fitting weapon for lightning. This means that nearly no Ascender would choose this Sect.'
'With fewer recruits, the entire Sect won't be able to fill up the elites of the Sect since not everyone can reach sufficient power. So, this Sect probably has a very weak overall power in comparison to all the others.'
'Yet, this Sect is still able to get a spot for a guard here,' Gravis thought as he looked at the hall. 'The fact that over a hundred guards of different Sects are here means that this is probably an Ascender Hub or something. This means that the Ascenders come into this world in fixed locations and not at random.'
'So, if such a weak Sect can get a spot here with a weak upper echelon, it probably means that they have someone holding down the fort. They probably have a mighty Sect Leader or Ancestor or something similar. Otherwise, this Sect wouldn't have the opportunity to vie for something as important as Ascenders.'
'Well, as long as there is someone powerful enough to actually teach me something, I don't mind.'
Gravis had thought of these things in just a few seconds and nodded at the guard. "Sounds perfect!" he said with a smile.
The guard perked up when he heard Gravis' agreement. For a second there, he had feared that Gravis would notice the conduct of the other guards and realize that their Sect was relatively weak. Luckily, Gravis had noticed none of this!
The other guards looked away. If they weren't fearful of Gravis, they would have sneered at him. How had this Ascender become so powerful without the ability to discern context clues?
All of them thought that Gravis didn't notice their activities, when in reality, he had noticed more than they would have thought possible. Yet, as long as there was one powerful person in a Sect, they would be able to teach Gravis.
Now, Gravis only had to find out how powerful this person was and how far along on the path of weapons they were. However, for starters, it would be enough to learn from anyone. Gravis was probably the only Immortal in the world that didn't even know the basics of Weapon Cultivation.
"What's the name of your Sect?" Gravis asked.
The guard puffed out his chest in pride. "Punishment Cleaver Sect!" he announced with pride.
Gravis rubbed his chin. "How did your Sect get that name?" Gravis asked.
"Our Ancestor created the Punishment Cleaver, an incredible attack that allows him to remain undefeated in his level! Our Sect has been named after this attack since it serves as our basis and core teaching!" the guard said with reverence.
"Punishment Cleaver, huh?" Gravis mused.
"Yes," the guard said with a nod. "The attack you demonstrated earlier looks very similar to our Sect's technique but weaker."
"Weaker?" Gravis asked in shock.
The guard became nervous as he realized that he might have phrased that statement incorrectly. "I don't mean weaker, but less refined. Your attack is missing two essential things. One of them is Saber Intent while the other is proper Law Focus."
"Oh?" Gravis uttered with interest. "What's that?"
The surrounding guards were shocked when Gravis asked this. These two things served as the absolute basis for Weapon Cultivation. Even though Gravis wasn't a Weapon Cultivator, he should know these concepts! These concepts were about as basic as moving one's Energy through one's element to create an elemental attack.
It was like this Ascender had never seen a Weapon Cultivator before.
Yet, how was this possible!?
All worlds below them followed the path of weapons, and even though there might be worlds where the path of weapons doesn't rule supreme, there should still be enough Weapon Cultivators walking around.
This Ascender was incredibly strange. How was it possible to become so powerful while having absolutely no knowledge about weapons? Whom had this Ascender fought to become so powerful? Had he never fought a Weapon Cultivator? Had he been living among beasts for all his life?
"Well, Saber Intent is-"
WHOOOOOOOM!
The entire hall started shaking as an intense pressure appeared suddenly.
"Who dares to kill my soldier!?" a mighty voice appeared.
Everyone looked outside with shock at the new arrival. It was a middle-aged man with a grey beard, a grey spear, and grey armor.
Meanwhile, Gravis narrowed his eyes. 'Finally, this is getting interesting now! I want to have a proper fight!' he thought.
This was someone in the Early Major Circulation Immortal Realm, three Cultivation levels but four power levels above Gravis. On top of that, this person was a Weapon Cultivator.
"Oh no," the guy from the Punishment Cleaver Sect said. "A Core Captain from the Dead Earth Sect!"
"What's your name?" Gravis asked the person from the Punishment Cleaver Sect.
The person was shocked that Gravis seemed so calm. "Roger," he answered out of reflex.
"Okay, Roger, would you please inform your higher-ups about this situation?" he asked as he stepped forward.
Roger immediately realized what Gravis wanted and nodded. "I just informed them that they should arrive as quickly as possible. You need to survive until then."
Gravis only smiled. "That's not what I meant. What I meant was that they should be ready to negotiate with the Dead Earth Sect."
"After all, the death of someone in the Major Circulation Realm is probably not a minor thing."
