Lightning Is the Only Way

Chapter 5

"Yeah, you already have tempered organs and blood,” Forneus said.

"But that's impossible! In my entire life, | have not even heard anything specific about cultivation. How could | have alreadytempered my body?" Gravis shook his head.

Forneus looked at him with boredom in his eyes. "Remind me, who is your father again?"

Gravis understood. So, it was his father, after all. But when? He couldn't remember any time where his father could havetempered his organs and blood.

Seeing how Gravis looked absentmindedly at the ceiling, Forneus chuckled. "You don't need to look so confused or think about atime when that happened. Your body slowly grows stronger with time with tempered organs and blood. Judging by how vigorousyour blood is flowing through your veins, it probably happened around 15 years ago. You should also be around 15 years old, soit would be a miracle if you actually remembered."

Gravis’ eyes widened. "But how?"

Forneus shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know. Don't ask me. Ask your father. Tomorrow, we will have a guest who will strengthenthe Dantians of everyone. You can skip that one too. Your Dantian has been strengthened as well. You don't need to cometomorrow." Forneus then turned to the class and looked around the youngsters. "Alright, everyone has ingested their pills. Now,let's continue.”

Forneus cleared his throat again. "Let's continue with the next cultivation realm. After you have tempered your whole body, yourbody will be able to resist the pressure of natural energy. That means that you can start to absorb the energy in the air. Energy isin the air, soil, water, fire, lightning, stone, ore, wood, humans, beasts, basically everywhere."

"So, the first step after tempering is feeling the energy and pulling it into your Dantian to create a swirl. The swirl will then absorbthe energy automatically. Then you have officially stepped into the second major realm: The Energy Gathering realm. Just likethe name says, that realm is all about gathering as much energy as possible. As you accumulate more energy, it grows, and atsome point, you will reach a situation where your energy can't grow anymore."

"That means, you are at the threshold of the next lower realm in the major Energy Gathering realm. When that happens, make apause, get a drink, get some food, sleep a little, and simply relax for a couple of hours or days. When you are at your peak,release all your willpower and gather your energy like your life depends on it. You will need a strong enough push in order toincrease the density of your energy. When you can't condense it anymore, you officially reached the next smaller realm. You dothat nine times, and you have reached the tenth level of Energy Gathering. Most lower worlds only do eight condensations. Youneed a strengthened Dantian to do nine. You will get your very own strengthened Dantian tomorrow."

“Now, don't be confused when you hear terms like 'Qi Condensation’, ‘Breath Accumulation’, ‘Magic Whirling’, or somethingsimilar to that in the lower worlds. It’s all referring to the same thing. Since middle and upper worlds have no contact with lowerworlds, there is no overarching terminology for natural energy in those worlds. We call it energy since it's the moststraightforward definition. Also, our world is the highest, so we kinda got dibs on naming rights." Forneus chuckled.

“Other than that, you might be sent to a world where people create their energy swirl somewhere else, and not in the Dantian.Experience has shown that the most stable and most accessible part for the energy swirl is in your Dantian. By the way, for thoseof you not knowing where your Dantian is: It's an empty space somewhere between your intestines. As soon as you guide theenergy into your body, you will find a very fitting and empty place in your gut. That's your Dantian."

Forneus walked to the front of the podium. "Now, on to the next part of the agenda. Did you know that 90% of all people with fullytempered bodies never reach the Energy Gathering realm? Well, that's at least true for the lowest worlds. The reason is that it ishard to feel the energy in the air. That's especially true for people in the lower worlds. There isn't much energy in the air, sofeeling that little amount is especially hard. So, let's get that out of the way first."

Forneus opened his hand and held it out. Suddenly, a light blue stone appeared on top of it. "This is energy ore. When a hugeamount of energy gathers in one place, its increasing internal pressure transforms parts of it into energy liquid. Energy liquidslowly seeps into the earth, and some naturals ores can absorb it, thus creating energy ore. If energy ore leaves its natural placeunder the earth, it slowly gives off the energy it has accumulated over the years. We are going to use that to get you to feel theenergy in the air."

Everyone looked at the shining blue ore, but before they had their fill, the stone vanished, and another stone appeared, this oneblack. "This is a void stone. It's one of the very few ores that don't have any energy. None at all! Finding those in nature isextremely hard." Forneus smirked. "Good thing we can just create them artificially. When void stones come into contact withnatural energy, they absorb it like crazy."

The class was focused on Forneus. Most of them have never come in contact with energy stones or void stones. This wassomething entirely new to them. "In the next couple of minutes, | will switch between the energy stone and the void stone everyfive seconds. The energy in the room will then go up and down. In a couple of minutes, everyone should be able to feel theenergy freely. One thing to note: Do not, under any circumstance, try to absorb the energy into your body, or you will explode.”Forneus smiled while some people in the class gasped.

“Now, let's start." With that, Forneus started alternating between the two stones. Some youngsters closed their eyes, while otherslooked transfixed at the rocks. Gravis closed his eyes and tried to feel.

Some time passed. Gravis was not sure how long he concentrated. He felt nothing but a slight wind in the classroom. He tried tofocus harder. His eyebrows furrowed, but he felt nothing but that annoying wind. This wind was honestly driving him crazy. Whenhe tried to drown it out, and get used to it, it suddenly changed direction and blew from the other side. Then it blew again fromthe other side. Gravis opened his eyes. They were already red from frustration.

He looked at Forneus and the stones. Suddenly, Gravis noticed that the wind was synchronized with the switch of the stones.Wait, was that energy? Gravis was not sure. It did not feel any different than if he were outside. He had to be sure, but how couldhe find out?

Gravis suddenly got an idea. Forneus said that they should not gather the energy in their bodies. He never said anything aboutgathering it outside their bodies. Gravis opened his palm and looked at it with concentration, willing the energy to come here.After a while, he felt more wind coming to his hand. That made him concentrate even more, and the wind increased again. Aftera couple of seconds, the air in his hand was emitting a very faint light blue light.

Forneus noticed this, smiled, and nodded. He walked towards Gravis and spoke in a voice only they could hear. "Gatheringenergy outside the body is a possibility. It's not really useful since it takes a while to concentrate it into a sufficient density, butjust doing this can train one's will. You can do that more in the future if you want. It will make it easier to concentrate and helps inthe training of the third major realm."

When Forneus first started speaking, Gravis lost concentration and the energy dispersed. Gravis just felt a strong wind comingfrom inside his palm, but strangely enough, the 'wind' was not pushing his hand or fingers away. It felt bizarre. Gravis looked up,but Forneus had already walked back to his podium.

After about 30 minutes, everyone had signaled to Forneus that they felt the energy. Forneus took back the stones. "Alright, whenyou have tempered your bodies, just remember this feeling and try to imagine the energy entering your body and gathering inyour Dantian. That should not be a problem in the future."

“Now, for the last part of the cultivation lesson. The third major realm is the Spirit Forming Realm. This realm is all about trainingyour mental energy. Your mental energy is your will, your understanding of the world, and your understanding of yourself. As youprogress, you get smarter, your sensitivity grows, your willpower improves, and you get more creative. You probably heard thesaying that in secluded cultivation, years pass in the blink of an eye."

Forneus laughed and shook his head. "That's not true. Actually, the opposite is true. Doing the same thing over and over withoutany outside stimulus is dull and boring. Only our improved willpower helps us through those years of boredom. As soon as youhave condensed your energy nine times and have grown your Dantian to the point where it can't grow anymore, can you stepinto the Spirit Forming Realm."

"It's not hard to step into the Spirit Forming Realm or train in it. Just push your energy, meaning the energy in your Dantian, intoyour brain. You will feel some pain, but after you emptied your Dantian once, you will start to feel different. It's hard to describeactually. It's just different. Just keep doing that. At some point, you will feel like something is growing in your head. That meansyou have reached the first stage of Spirit Forming: The Seed Stage."

“At that point, you can observe your own body and soul. If you peer into your soul, you can see your own small space. That isyour Willspace. There, you will find a seed growing. The more energy you put into your Willspace, the further the seed will grow.It will grow to be a sapling, then a tree, and finally, it will transform into a copy of yourself. Most lower worlds don't know aboutthe last stage. They think the tree stage is the last one."

Forneus walked around the podium and started walking to the exit. "When you have achieved the Self Stage, you willautomatically know what to do. The remainder is up to you." Forneus opened the door and waved his hand. "That's all. See youtomorrow."

And just like that, Forneus left theclass first. The class was confusedbecause usually, a aeyerwould |

| ve the\atass fact. ravis wasthinking about a lot of things. Finally,he knew how to cultivate. Finally, heknew what to do. The fog in his mindhad cleared. Finally, he could- Thecontent is on NovelDrama.Org! Readthe latest chapter there!

SMACKSomeone had smacked the back of his head. "Hey, you deaf? Let's go out!" Ballor shouted.

novelbin

Gravis looked up and saw that theywere the only ones left int e lags.Gravis bedithelbackor his head."Gory was thinking about somethings." The content is onNovelDrama.Org! Read the latestchapter there!

"Thinking? We got no time forthinking! We need pee tightwi Ballanfaughe and starteddragging Gravis out by the elbow.The content is on NovelDrama.Org!

Read the latest chapter there!

“Wait! I've never touched any alc-""Shut up! We will not stop drinking until you call me brother!"“But I-"

"Shut up! Drinking! Now!"