Lassim panted heavily as he sprinted across the storm-tempered landscape, chasing the fleeting form of Sect Master Volten above.
The grandmaster floated effortlessly, barely a blur in the distance, while Lassim struggled to keep pace using his [Tempest Steps].
The technique allowed him to glide swiftly over the ground as a lightning bolt at high speed, but Volten’s speed was astonishing.
Lassim could only keep him within his Spirit Sense, which the Sect Master seed keenly aware of sohow, maintaining just enough distance not to lose Lassim entirely.
The journey from the Tempering Field wasn’t that bad but after fighting the two Spirit Transcendents and then being questioned, he’d had basically no break to recover his physical stamina. Plus, he was still bleeding from several places across his chest and arms.
Every muscle in Lassim’s body burned with exertion as the storm’s energy crackled around him. Volten’s pace was relentless, pushing Lassim to his limits.
After what felt like an eternity to his tired muscles and now clotting wounds, the formidable silhouette of the Lightning Sect’s entrance lood up ahead.
The massive, arching gate stood as a beacon, etched with intricate runes that pulsated with electric energy. They were a unique script that gave off the aning ’Lightning Sect’ to anyone that viewed them with spirit sense.
The gate itself was flanked by statues of mythical lightning beasts, Kirin, their eyes glowing with a fierce light as if actually alive but not.
The kirin was a unique dragon-horse type beast known to command heavenly lightning and seeing one in the flesh was a good on that would bring luck. Each beast statue was sculpted with ticulous detail, appearing almost lifelike, as if they might spring to life at any mont to guard the sect from intruders.
Beyond the gate, Lassim’s eyes widened at the sheer scale and grandeur of the Lightning Sect.
The sect sprawled across the barren heart of the desert, a city unto itself, alive with the hum of busy disciples and the crackle of lightning mana everywhere.
The sky above was in a perpetual state of storm, dark clouds swirling and sending down bolts of lightning that seed to dance in harmony with the sect’s energy.
The landscape was dotted with towering spires and grand halls that beheld lightning rods atop their structures, all constructed from dark stone and tal that shimred with an inner electric light.
Disciples moved with purpose about the entrance in and out of the sect, their robes fluttering. It seed the main color of the robes were always purple, but the accent colors varied greatly between dark gray, light gray, dark blue, light blue, red, bronze, silver and gold.
The air humd with the energy of countless cultivators, more than Lassim had ever spotted in a single gathering. The sect was vast, as large as a major city, with buildings and courtyards stretching as far as the eye could see.
"Hurry up, slowpoke," Volten barked at Lassim as he neared the gate, his voice dripping with impatience. "At this pace, you’ll never make it past the first week here."
Lassim clenched his teeth but said nothing, channeling his frustration into his legs as he pushed himself faster.
Finally, he stumbled to a halt before the grand entrance, panting.
"Faster next ti," Volten scolded, not sparing him a second glance. He floated towards the main courtyard, his robes billowing with an aura of authority.
Lassim followed, eyes wide with wonder at the bustling sect around him.
The grand entrance led to a massive main courtyard paved with polished obsidian tiles that reflected and absorbed the constant lightning strikes.
The courtyard was vast, capable of accommodating large assemblies of disciples; possibly tens, if not hundreds, of thousands all at once by Lassim’s estimate.
In its center stood a colossal statue of Sect Master Volten, his Grandmaster, depicted with lightning coursing through his outstretched hands and a lightning serpent coiled around his figure.
The statue seed to pulse with life as well as endless lightning bolts targeted the statue relentlessly for so reason.
The Central Palace within the sect dominated the skyline, a towering structure built from a combination of dark stone and gleaming tal. The palace was designed to resemble a jagged lightning bolt piercing the sky, with sharp, angular spires reaching upwards.
Each spire served as a lightning rod, channeling the energy into the palace and infusing it with power for so reason. The building’s exterior shimred with a purplish hue.
Volten led Lassim to a grand building nearby, its entrance marked by a pair of massive doors carved with scenes of legendary battles between lightning-infused cultivators.
Inside, the hall the doors led to was even more imposing, the high ceilings adorned with hanging orbs of lightning that cast an eerie, flickering light.
The walls were lined with statues and murals with what Lassim assud were depicting the sect’s history and notable mbers. He’d need to read the plaques or borrow a book on the history of the sect to learn more, which he intended to do after passing the trial.
"Elder Qin," Volten called out, his voice echoing through the hall.
An elderly man, his eyes sharp, stood at the end of the hall before stepping forward and bowing with closed fists.
"Yes, Sect Master," Elder Qin responded respectfully.
"Are there any recruits waiting for the next admission testing?" Volten asked, his tone brusque.
Elder Qin nodded. "Yes, Sect Master. We have six young candidates ready for the trials."
"Good. Retrieve them and bring them here. Were holding the trial a week earlier than expected for this brat following ," Volten ordered.
Elder Qin bowed once more and swiftly left the hall.
Lassim stood silently, taking in the grandeur of the place. The energy within the hall was palpable, a constant hum of power that resonated with his own lightning affinity as the building’s lightning rod atop its’ spire absorbed and channeled the lightning through its’ walls.
After a few monts, Elder Qin returned with six young cultivators from sowhere nearby.
They were all around Lassim’s age, their faces a mix of excitent and nervousness.
Each one wore plain white uniforms of a similar style, the faint rune of three bolts of lightning lined together underneath a cloud embroidered on their chests. Their bearing and aura revealed their similar levels of cultivation and youth, each still in the first level of the Spirit Growth stage.
"This is the batch of new recruits that have arrived themselves or been transported here by the Sect’s gathering missions," Elder Qin announced.
Volten surveyed the group with a critical eye. "Let’s get started. Elder Qin, assist with their registration and oversee the tests. I’ll observe for now."
Elder Qin nodded and stepped forward. "Thank you for your kindness Sect Master. Very well, young ones. First, we will conduct the bone age test. Step forward and pass through this Arch to my left. This will tell us exactly how old you are as we do have a limit for new disciples.
You must be between 14 and 20 years old. These are the pri years for you to be in your Spirit Growth stage and it’s an age limit for one of our earliest dinsional pockets that we conduct classes and exercises in. You’ll learn more about that later… Please line up properly and make your way through."
The recruits lined up, each taking a turn to pass through the archway.
As they did, the arch emitted a resonating set of chis for years and bells for months that revealed their true ages. Lassim watched with interest, noting the different reactions of the recruits as their ages were confird.
When his turn ca, he felt a slight tingling as he walked through the arch. The chi repeated itself and then was followed by 7 bells which confird his age as 14. Though he was the sa age as the others, he had more bells ringing than the others so that put him a few months older than them.
"Next, we will test your cultivation level and elental affinities using the Elental Orb. We are the Lightning Sect, so I hope you all understand we are looking for Lightning spirit warriors. We’ll start with the youngest first," Elder Qin announced.
The orb, pulsating with various elental energies, was placed on a pedestal. It seed like a standardized device for multiple different elents.
Each recruit placed their hand on it, and the orb glowed with a differentiating intensity to indicate their cultivation stage and elental affinity.
The youngest recruits stepped forward, their faces lighting up as the orb revealed their potential. Lassim was last.
As he placed his hand on the orb where he felt a slight tug at his mana. Instinctively, he poured in a surge of his mana energy into it like the others must have done.
The orb glowed intensely, then suddenly cracked and shattered under the pressure of his divine mana. It wasn’t able to give it’s reading before it exploded into tiny pieces.
Gasps from the youth filled the hall in reply to the sudden explosion. The Elder Qin’s eyes darted to the Sect Master, but Volten rely nodded, as if he had expected this.
"Put him in the records as being at the Peak of Spirit Transformation stage with water and lightning elents," Volten declared, his voice calm. "Yes, two elents. He’s a bit of an annoying brat, but ignore it for now."
Elder Qin nodded, though his eyes lingered on Lassim with a mix of curiosity. "The final part of the testing is a group battle. You will pair up and fight against lightning-infused constructs."
Grandmaster Volten chid in, "Lassim, you will stand aside for now and observe."
The recruits drew lots to determine their pairs before they moved as a group to the training area in a separate hall adjacent to the main one, where lightning constructs, set to the Spirit Growth stage level 3, awaited them.
The constructs were humanoid figures made of pure lightning and plates that floated and looked like armor, crackling with energy and poised to attack.
Reviews
All reviews (0)