Spirit's Awakening: The Path of Lightning and Water-Chapter 381: The Elder Summit Begins

Lassim stood with his arms crossed, a faint smirk tugging at his lips as he watched Sect Master Volten still stare at him with a mixture of shock and calculation.

The silence had stretched for far longer than he expected.

Volten, the Lightning Sect’s most powerful cultivator, the newly advanced Spirit Prince, the strongest man in the entire southern continent , the man whose mere presence could bend the will of entire sects and kingdoms—

Was still staring. Motionless.

Lassim let out a breath, shifting his weight onto one foot. "So… are we just gonna keep standing here, or are we going to the Summit?"

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Volten’s eyes narrowed slightly, snapping out of his stunned daze. He let out a low huff through his nose, before turning on his heel. "Let’s go then."

A second later, Lassim barely had time to react before the world blurred.

The underground chamber walls vanished. The air around him compressed, twisted, and shattered with the force of Volten’s movement technique as the Sect Master dragged him along through a step that warped speed itself—not with space manipulation like Lassim’s [Teleportation], but through sheer, brute-force acceleration.

The next moment, they were already soaring upward through the sect’s underground corridors, shooting like lightning bolts up through the hidden passageways.

Lassim had experienced this before when Volten first pulled him into the sect to have a meeting to become his personal disciple. But this time, it felt different.

The weight of his new Spirit Transcendence stage cultivation stabilized him far better than before—his mind no longer struggling to keep up with the pressure of movement at this speed. Part of this was also because of the training he’d done by using the [Space] element so frequently that stressed and tempered his mind as well.

They traveled through the last tunnel and up the hidden steps behind the secret entrance to the underground, entering the massive main chamber beneath the Sect Master’s building, and shot upwards through the layers of reinforced formations.

And then, they emerged.

The moment they left the underground, the familiar sky of the Lightning Sect greeted them—

The ever-churning storm rumbled far above, its dense black clouds swirling endlessly across the massive 50-kilometer-wide, array created storm dome that existed above the sect.

Lightning arced in rapid successions across the skies, illuminating the towering spires of the sect’s headquarters. The streets and buildings below were lit not by the sun, but by the constant flashes and the additional glow of lightning-powered streetlamps, ensuring that the entire sect was always illuminated despite the perpetual storm overhead.

They then shot up between the towering spires of the sect’s many buildings and shops and residences, Volten carefully taking them through and weaving around the spires.

The air was thick with lightning mana and a something else, a tension of excitement. The entire massive Lightning Sect Headquarters alive with activity and grand banners celebrating the Elder Summit were everywhere. Tens of thousands of disciples entered into Lassim’s spirit sense as they zipped past the many still preparing for the grand event about to unfold.

Lassim’s gaze flicked downward. It had been a full six months since he last saw it and the progress they made since his last visit was remarkable.

From up here, the rebuilt structures of the Lightning Sect stood tall—stronger than even before the war against the Eternal Sun Sect had occurred. Buildings were much larger and training grounds wider. The library even seemed much larger with an additional two floors added to it as well. The streets were spotless and new cobblestone pavements added to once sand filled alleyways.

Everything had been reconstructed, improved.

The largest arena where Lassim once dueled a Spirit Transformation stage disciple had been entirely rebuilt into a massive coliseum. Standing in a central part of the sect as a grand arena of competition, its newly constructed lightning spires acting as conductors all along the edges of the amphitheater style walls for the ceaseless lightning that rained down from the storm above.

His eyes flicked toward the arena—toward the massive, spiraling platforms that hovered at different heights and carefully spaced between each other in the center of it all, likely for multiple battles to occur at the same time.

A hurricane of cheers suddenly erupted from below as they approached—the tens of thousands of disciples and nearly two thousand elders already gathered, waiting for the official start of the Elder Summit.

Then—Volten shifted them one last time.

Lassim barely had time to register the movement before he was dragged along again, this time toward the highest platform in the northern section of the stands that were overlooking the grand coliseum.

A balcony stood at the peak, serving as the main stage and podium for the Sect Master and key Elders that Lassim recognized from the former War Council that were standing carefully in a row. They had sensed Volten’s approach after the chaos caused underground that shook the entire sect, and adjusted themselves accordingly—some nearly sweating bullets as they thought he might be angry with their incessant messages to his communication disc.

In a blink, they landed.

Volten released his grip on Lassim’s shoulder, letting him adjust as he took his place at the front of the platform, overlooking the gathered sect below.

Lassim instinctively stepped behind him, hands resting at his side as he observed the massive crowd.

The entire Lightning Sect was here. This was no small-scale gathering. This was the most important event in the last five years.

And then—Volten finally spoke.

"Disciples of the Lightning Sect!"

His voice boomed like thunder, carried effortlessly over the massive crowd.

Instantly, the noise died. The entire sect froze—waiting, listening.

"Five years."

The single phrase hung in the air, weighted with meaning.

"Five years since the last Summit. Five years since the last time we gathered here to celebrate our Lightning Sect’s strengths, our growth, our ambitions. For many of you, this is your first attendance to our Sect’s Elder Summit Tradition."

His golden-orange lightning eyes swept over the crowd, assessing, commanding, challenging.

"But this time—it is different."

A hush fell over the sect as Volten’s voice darkened.

"Five years ago, we were not the dominant force of the Southern Continent. Five years ago, we stood at the top but were on almost equal footing with the Eternal Sun Sect. Five years ago, we believed there was balance and cooperation that had existed for millenia between the Lightning element and the Day element cultivators of our Southern Continent."

A pause.

"And yet, they sought to break that balance."

The weight of the war and the losses so many incurred from loved ones, friends, and even their favorite shop keepers, all lost to their attacks, still lingered over the crowd.

"The Sun Sect sought to burn us. To shatter us. To claim dominion over the Southern Continent and erase our legacy from existence. They even worked with the Abyssal Cult and the Abyssal Legion to try and overthrow us, attempting to consume everything and everyone in the process. They failed."

Thunder cracked overhead, as if the storm itself agreed.

"The Lightning Sect does not fall."

A roar erupted from the crowd—disciples and elders alike shouting in agreement.

Volten raised a hand and released a tiny bit of his Spirit Prince stage spiritual pressure, silencing them instantly.

"But victory is not just about surviving. It is about building what comes next."

His gaze flickered—just briefly—toward Lassim, then toward a few other figures in the crowd, individuals who had proven themselves in the last five years.

"Not only have we rebuilt the sect, but the war has uncovered many diamonds that needed to be molded and cut. These new heroes have risen among us. New strength has emerged from within our Lightning Sect. And today, we celebrate that strength!"

A surge of energy rippled through the crowd, anticipation building.

"For those of you attending for the first time, the Elder Summit is not just a singular competition. It is a test of the efforts put forth by me to see how well your Teachers and Masters have done. A proving ground, if you will, for their ability to teach the future leaders of the sect."

His voice rose in strength a bit further, commanding absolute attention.

"For this one week, every disciple who has joined our sect in the last five years will compete in trials of skill, knowledge, talent, and battle."

He swept a hand toward the massive coliseum below.

"Every discipline of the sect’s many professions will be tested. Martial combat. Array mastery. Alchemy. Invention and research. Cultivation comprehension. And many other fields will all hold competitions for you to enter and strive to win."

He paused—then smirked slightly, his eyes flashing with fierce amusement.

"Some of you might think—’this is simply a tournament.’ It is not."

A pause.

"This is the single most important event for determining who advances in the next five years. It’s a war."

The crowd visibly stiffened—the weight of those words pressing down on them.

"This Summit is not just for you. It is for your Masters. Your Elders. Your Guardians."

A ripple of realization passed through the disciples.

"The better you perform—the more prestige your Master earns. The more resources they gain. The higher they rise within the Sect."

Lassim’s storm-filled gaze flickered slightly. His master was literally the Sect Master, so he assumed all he was looking for was bragging rights…

"Your victories are not just your own. They affect the power of those who guide you. And, for those who prove themselves above all others—"

Volten let the words hang—the air itself seemed to buzz with tension and the lightning mana in the air began to surge.

"The grand prize for every first-place winner of each competition—will be a special priority entrance token allocation to the next opening of the Gods’ Trial in two years."

Shock spread through the crowd among the new disciples that were unaware of this prize. It was actually the standard prize and the biggest benefit for being accepted as a Personal Disciple by the time the Elder Summit came around. It was your chance to not worry about the internal rankings the rest of the years if you managed to earn one of the tokens.

Lassim’s brows lifted slightly. That… was huge.

Volten’s gaze sharpened.

"Now—"

His arms spread wide, the storm crackling behind him.

"Let the Elder Summit… BEGIN!"

A thunderous roar erupted from the sect.

As the deafening cheers shook the arena, Lassim shifted slightly, arms still crossed as he watched the chaos unfold.

Volten turned to face and greet the Elders, rolling his shoulders slightly as he met Lassim’s gaze. "Well? What did you think of my speech?"

Lassim smirked. "A bit dramatic, don’t you think?"

Volten side-eyed him, controlling his voice to a whisper that only Lassim could hear, "Says the kid who not only created but successfully walked through his own spatial tunnel like it was a door. Can’t wait till the rest of the sect also loses their minds."

Lassim chuckled, his storm-filled eyes flickering excitement.

Volten’s voice raised so the gathered Elders could hear their conversation, "Now, you’ll be entered in the Martial Tournament portion. I can’t let you compete in the Arrays Competition because of your new gift to the sect, but they’ll be properly rewarded for their contributions to your education. I can’t let them go unrewarded for their efforts, but it would be unfair to the rest of the disciples since you’re clearly going to win the Spirit Transcendence stage competition."

As the Elders carefully listened in, their jaws all dropped and minds began to spin in unison as they reevaluated Lassim, the Sect Master’s Personal Disciple with fresh eyes. He had clearly just entered the Ascension stage when they last saw him!

Lassim watched as Volten began to double over in laughter at their expressions. In between breaths Volten barely managed to get out, "Oh… hahaha, Now… This… is going to be a fun week. Hahahaha!"