"So, what will you be doing now?" asked the Vice-Guild Master of the Fire Guild.
Gravis stretched his neck, creating some satisfying cracks. "I'll stay near the Fire Guild for some days and then leave. You fire cultivators might be aggressive, but I prefer that over this hypocrisy. Wanna join me?" asked Gravis with a casual smile.
The Vice-Guild Master only smiled bitterly. "No, thanks. I am too old for all this excitement. I'll just stay here and do my job. Thank you for the offer, though," he said.
Gravis shrugged. "Alright, suit yourself. Have fun!"
With that said, he left for the Fire Guild. This whole thing with the Earth Guild had taken longer than expected, but it was actually better this way. Gravis had tested a lot of things and managed to extend his arsenal of fighting techniques. Gravis also finally got to fight people at the Spirit Forming Realm. Even though they had been pretty weak, the fight still gave him a lot of information.
What if they had been at the Seed Stage with fitting weaponry? At that point, Gravis would have probably needed to activate his Will-Aura. The level suppression would still allow the experts to move, but they would still have been weakened by over 30%. Yet, Gravis wouldn't have been able to crack their defenses like that. He would have probably needed to use his weapon to exhaust their Energy at that point.
On top of that, their stronger elements would have probably also allowed them to use other attacks. As soon as they had noticed Gravis' powerful body, they had probably already abandoned all thoughts of injuring him with their element. Though, it would have been different if they had been at the Seed Stage. It would have also become nearly impossible to block or parry their attacks.
What had surprised Gravis was their apparent vulnerability to lightning. The magnetism of lightning had been very useful against their weapons. His lightning also allowed him to outspeed them. Lastly, it was also very strong when attacking them. By all intents and purposes, lightning seemed to counter earth, which was weird. Usually, one would think that earth would counter lightning, but apparently, that wasn't the case.
When Gravis had left, the Vice-Guild Master of the Fire Guild sighed to relieve some stress. Then, he went over to the Guild Master and Vice-Guild Master of the Earth Guild. He had to report to them what had happened.
When he arrived, he saw them sitting down, concentrating on healing. By now, they looked way better. Taking healing pills required the user to concentrate on distributing the healing effects. That was why no one took healing pills during a fight since they wouldn't have any concentration to spare.
"What did he do?" asked the Guild Master stoically as he noticed the Vice-Guild Master of the Fire Guild return.
"He kept his word," said the Vice-Guild Master of the Fire Guild. "He walked into the guild, collapsed the entrances to the residence caves, and then walked out again. The belongings inside the homes were not damaged, and no one was injured. He has done what he said. He only annoyed the guild."
BANG!
The earth before the Guild Master exploded as he furiously punched it. "Bullshit!" he shouted enraged. "This is not a mere annoyance! This is a humiliation! He walked into our homes, destroyed our stuff, and then left like he owned the place! How can we keep our heads straight when some nobody can just waltz into our home and destroy our stuff!?"
The Vice-Guild Master of the Earth Guild also clenched his teeth in anger, fury radiating from his eyes. He was of the same opinion. Gravis had gone too far! He had to pay!
"So, what will you do?" asked the Vice-Guild Master of the Fire Guild. "You can't beat him."
Battle-intent raged inside the Guild Master's eyes. "I can't," then he clenched his teeth, "but the Earth Sect can!"
The Vice-Guild Master of the Fire Guild lifted an eyebrow. "You are going to involve the Earth Sect because of this? Isn't that a little too drastic? No one got injured or killed."
The Guild Master's eyes narrowed in anger as he looked at the Vice-Guild Master of the Fire Guild. "Silence! You don't understand the ways of our earth! Keep yourself out of this matter!" shouted the Guild Master in anger.
The Vice-Guild Master of the Fire Guild furrowed his brows. "Don't act like I haven't helped you all for over 50 years. I even nearly see myself as part of the Earth Guild. Your matters are my matters."
The Guild Master looked at him for some seconds, then sighed. "I know, but if you see yourself as part of us, then you should realize why we can't let this slide," he explained, a little calmer now.
Now, it was the Vice-Guild Master's turn to sigh. "Earth doesn't bend," he said.
"Earth doesn't bend," the Guild Master repeated with a nod. "I'll report this to the Earth Sect. When he arrives in the Core-Continent, he will pay for this humiliation!"
-----
Gravis didn't know that he had made an enemy out of the entire Earth Sect by doing this. Would he have still done the same if he knew that this would happen? This question had a complicated answer.
Usually, he would have avoided doing something like this. Provoking slightly stronger people would offer good tempering, but provoking another peak power of this world was stupid in his eyes. He would have probably only asked for some compensation.
Yet, with him being closer to lightning than ever before, all of this had changed. The lightning inside his mind demanded revenge for all transgressions. When Gravis had repaid the Wind Guild and Lightning Guild, he had already noticed that controlling his lightning had become even easier. Open debts had been paid, and enmities avenged. As his conscience cleared, the control over his lightning smoothened.
The closer Gravis got to lightning, the more the state of his conscience mattered. People that had helped him deserved repayment, while people that had antagonized him deserved revenge. By actively going against his conscience, he would form a disconnect between himself and his lightning. Controlling it would become harder and, maybe, he would even lose his immunity to it if the disconnect became too significant.
This unprecedented affinity towards lightning gave him many advantages, yet those advantages came with some restrictions. His Elemental Synchronicity had vanished, and the state of his conscience became more crucial than ever before. On top of that, there was no going back. His mind had already formed, and an unbreakable dependency on lightning had been created.
Right now, to him, lightning was literally the only way left.
There was no other way.