Spirit's Awakening: The Path of Lightning and Water

Yoren stood lazily on his side of the arena, the embroidered edges of his custom-tailored Personal Disciple robe fluttering slightly as a random breeze, from the perpetual storm blew across the stage on the otherwise still morning. He took his time adjusting his sleeves, his movements slow and deliberate, as if the outcome of this match was already decided in his favor.

He finally turned his gaze toward Han Shiyan, lips quirking into a smirk filled with disdain.

"I suppose it's only natural that I'd be matched against someone like you," Yoren drawled, his voice carrying just loud enough for the audience to hear. "The sect wants to humble me, no doubt. Put me against some no-name stray to make a point about 'effort' and 'determination.'" He let out a short laugh, shaking his head. "It's almost insulting."

Shiyan remained silent, unmoving.

The Sect Master and Lassim shared a frown from their platform. It seemed like their hunch on his acceptance as a Personal Disciple was likely as shady as the dark clouds above.

Yoren let out a dramatic sigh, rolling his shoulders as if this entire event was beneath him.

"Well, I suppose this is an opportunity for you, at least. A chance to share the stage with someone important. You should be grateful, really." He flashed a condescending smile. "Not every random person gets the privilege of standing before the future of the Feng Clan."

Still, Shiyan did not react.

This seemed to irritate Yoren. His smirk thinned, and he tilted his head, his voice adopting a mocking lilt.

Elder Baruun, stared on as referee, shaking his head at the childish display in front of him. He was already conjuring ideas on how to find out who Yoren's Elder Master was and make both of them run laps around the entire headquarters after the match was over.

"Ah. I get it now. You're doing that 'stoic underdog' act. Very dramatic, very inspiring." He waved a hand in mock encouragement. "By all means, continue staring blankly at me—it won't change the fact that you'll be flat on your back in a few moments."

Shiyan finally moved, but only to raise his hand, preparing his mana circulation through his body as his elemental weapon, a white jade looking sword with clear indents left for lightning runes along its sharp edges, appeared.

Yoren scoffed, flicking his wrist as he nonchalantly conjured his own [Lightning Bolt] with his cultivation that was two levels higher than Shiyan's. He didn't even bother summoning his elemental weapon either, just sending out the attack completely unassisted.

"Fine, let's get this over with," he said, voice heavy with bored confidence. "I have better things to do than entertain the ambitions of a nobody."

Then, with an almost dismissive flick of his wrist, Yoren moved first.

He sent out a light blue [Lightning Bolt], its form the most basic version of the technique but lacking power, or rather held the amount of power you'd expect of a middling Spirit Growth cultivator that was still quite young and inexperienced. It crackled across the arena, controlled and efficient—but simple.

Han Shiyan remained silent, holding his sword outstretched in front of him. However, the moment his lightning flared to life along the blade, everything changed.

A blazing yellow bolt surged forth, far thicker and faster than its counterpart. The moment it left his sword tip, the air itself shimmered with heat, the space around him subtly warping from the sheer intensity of it.

The two attacks collided mid-air.

The result was instantaneous.

Shiyan's lightning didn't clash with Yoren's—it consumed it.

The blue arc disintegrated on contact, swallowed whole before the remaining yellow [Lightning Bolt] surged forward, utterly unimpeded.

Yoren's eyes widened in shock, his body twisting awkwardly as he barely managed to avoid a direct hit. His heavily embroidered sleeve ignited at the edges, blackened fabric curling from the residual heat before the fire was snuffed out by his hands.

A sharp gasp erupted across the coliseum.

But up on the highest platform, it wasn't just a tiny surprise that left the mouth agape—it had much deeper implications.

Lassim's brows furrowed slightly, his red colored, storm-infused lightning swirling faintly around his fingertips. His own comprehension of lightning laws was reacting instinctively to what he had just seen.

That wasn't some random variant colored lightning; bright yellow like the sun.

It was lightning that resonated within Famthar's domain of [Lightning] laws.

Beside him, Volten's expression remained still, but his orange lightning flickered once in his irises as he, too, registered exactly what had just happened. His hand had stopped mid-motion on the armrest of his chair, the faintest trace of a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Lassim was the first to voice it.

"That's not normal lightning." His voice was low, but with their elevated platform, many of the nearby elders overheard.

Volten finally leaned forward slightly, his voice casual but thye smirk had grown into a full blown smile.

"No, it isn't."

Elder Baruun, standing at the edge of the arena, finally spoke, his thunderous voice ringing through the coliseum, "Extreme Yang Lightning!"

The coliseum was silent in the wake of Elder Baruun's declaration. One might believe it impossible for someone without a Lightning law of their own to recognize one so easily, but Elder Baruun was no ordinary battle-obssessed cultivator within the Lightning Sect. He was in the later levels of the Spirit Mystic stage and had already come to the realization—thanks to Sect Master Volten's hints—that he must obtain an established or create his own Lightning individual law if he wished to reach the Spirit Prince rank like Volten had managed.

Yet, no one had known about this young Spirit Growth stage newcomer.

Not the elders, not Sect Master Volten, and certainly not Yoren Feng, who had just narrowly avoided having his entire sleeve incinerated.

An [Extreme Yang Lightning] body had been hidden within the sect—unnoticed, undiscovered, by the masses until this moment.

Up on the highest platform, Volten's gaze narrowed as he watched Han Shiyan standing confident and preparing to charge up another [Lightning Bolt], his bright yellow lightning crackling faintly around his hand as he lifted it up.

Volten, without turning his head, wiped the smile and put on his most serious face as he spoke, his voice carrying over the platform and magically through the air directly into the ears of every Elder within the sect with the authority and weight of the most powerful individual in the entire Southern Continent.

"Shiyan's master, come forward."

The elders seated around him and those down below in the Elder section shifted slightly, some glancing toward each other. No one had expected this revelation, and now all eyes turned toward the elder who had taken in this previously unknown talent that was now rising.

From among them, a thin, almost unassuming elder hesitantly stood.

He was not well-known among the sect's upper ranks. He was one of the elders that was often seen managing the day-to-day processes and organization of the various food halls across the headquarters for the lower ranked disciples—a fairly unnoteworthy position but a vital one.

His violet elder's robes hung slightly loose, as if he had once been heavier but had since lost weight in recent years but had been unbothered to visit the Sect Quartermaster for a new pair. His violet hair was medium length but neatly tied back, and though his features carried the wisdom of a slightly older cultivator, possibly a thousand years or so older than Lassim's father, there was a nervous energy about him at this moment.

This was Elder Ren Shulin.

He cleared his throat quietly before flying up and landing before the Sect Master, offering a deep bow.

Volten summoned and gestured toward the new open seat that appeared from his magic pouch beside him.

"Sit."

Elder Ren hesitated for only a moment before moving forward and taking the seat. His posture was somewhat stiff, as if he were unsure whether he truly belonged among the sect's most powerful figures.

"You hid this talent from the sect," Volten said evenly. "Explain."

Elder Ren shifted slightly, rubbing his hands together briefly before speaking.

"I—I didn't mean to hide him, Sect Master," he admitted. "It was never intentional."

Volten remained silent, waiting.

Ren swallowed, then exhaled slowly. "I found Han Shiyan entirely by chance. It was… late, roughly four hours after midnight, I think. I was passing through the training grounds near the eastern region's food hall after dealing with some administrative work for the evening. We've had to really figure out the number of surviving low-ranked disciples after the sect war and it's been challenging to send our extra stores of food to other regions so the food isn't wasted. But, anyways, most of the disciples had already retired for the night, but I happened to notice a single figure still training."

A few elders raised their brows.

"Training? At that hour?"

Ren nodded. "Yes. Alone. No one supervising him, no one assisting him. Just… practicing the most basic [Lightning Bolt] technique over and over again."

One elder behind the Sect Master frowned slightly. "I know that field you're referring to. That area isn't open to new disciples at night, is it? It's next to that hermit Elder's residence and he always complains about the noise if there's training going on."

"It isn't," Ren confirmed. "Which is why I stopped to observe. I assumed he had simply snuck in, possibly unaware of the rule since he was still new at the time, but then I saw his lightning."

His fingers curled slightly against his robes as he spoke, his voice steady but filled with a quiet sort of amazement.

"The air around him was warping from the heat. I could feel it, even from where I was standing, nearly fifty meters away. Every time he cast his [Lightning Bolt], the ground beneath his target dummy would blacken just slightly, they would come away with melted scorch marks instead of just burns. I had never seen anything like it and knew it was special."

A murmur passed through the seated elders.

"So you took him in immediately," one of them surmised.

Ren nodded. "I did. I tested him first, of course—I had him strike a reinforced plate of Thundersteel I'd bought off one of the other Elders the next day to see if I was imagining things. The moment his lightning hit, the ore softened. Not shattered. Not scorched. It softened, like molten metal. That was when I knew there had to be some special unique aspect of his lightning elemental mana that made it more powerful. It wasn't until much later, when the Sect Master advanced, that I felt there was some sort of connection between Shiyan's lightning and the esteemed Sect Master's."

His hands tightened briefly before he relaxed, shaking his head. "He hadn't even known what he had. No one had told him. He had just assumed he was weaker than the other disciples because he struggled to fully control his lightning and that's why he was practicing long after the others. He thought he was the one lacking."

Volten let out a quiet exhale, his fingers tapping against the armrest of his chair. Then he broke out into a wide grin before slapping the nervous elder on the shoulder, catching him off guard.

"You were lucky to find him! Wonderful job," he said. "The sect will now have not only Tessa with her [Life-Lightning] constitution, but now we have another blessed disciple with [Extreme Yang Lightning]."

Elder Ren dipped his head in a slight nod, his face still carrying a touch of nervousness but mostly relief now.

"I only did what any other elder should have when recognizing talent that should be nurtured," he murmured. "I just happened to be in the right place at the right time."

Volten didn't reply immediately, instead returning his gaze to the battlefield below.

"Watch closely," he finally said. "Your disciple is about to prove himself. We'll talk later on improving the resource allocation to him while also involving some other elders in his teaching. I'm sure you're doing well, but he's going to be moved up into some harsher training to live up to his potential."

"Understood Sect Master," Elder Ren replied as his eyes, too, went towards his disciple that was swinging his sword, launching his next attack.